Ayumu brought the rest of the meal out and finally glanced up, "Can I get you anything...else?" He stared at the people he had just served, "It's them. They're all here...they ordered a lot of food."

Kousuke was the first one to speak, "Hey, Ayumu, miss me?" Ayumu could only nod, he was completely blindsided. Where had they been this past month? Why hadn't they contacted him? Who ordered all of that food? Kousuke grinned and pulled Ayumu onto his lap, wrapping his arms around him and kissing him, "I missed you, too." He whispered.

Ayumu regained his train of thought and looked at the redhead, "Where have you been? It's been a whole month since I've seen you, what were you doing?"

Kousuke looked at the others who all traded uncomfortable glances. The former looked back to Ayumu and sighed, "We haven't been doing much...Just hanging out mostly." He answered honestly, "When we disappeared from the apartment, we woke up at some laboratory. We got out of there as soon as we could, and came back here."

"But...where have you been since then? If you haven't been doing anything, then...why didn't you come back to me?" Ayumu asked, sadly. Did he do something to drive them away?

"It was Kanone." Kousuke told him, "He didn't want to come back."

"What?" Ayumu looked up to see that Kanone wasn't there with the rest of them. He also noticed Hiyono was missing, "Where's Hiyono?"

"She's with Kanone. He said that he didn't want his daughter around a liar."

Ayumu was confused, "What did I lie about?"

Kousuke shrugged, "He won't talk to any of us, even Eyes, he just sits there, staring out the window."

"Even if Kanone didn't want to see me, why didn't you try to contact me? I've been worried sick about all of you."

Kousuke frowned, "I didn't mean to worry you, but we all decided that it would be best to not contact you until Kanone was ready. He didn't want to come today, but if you come with us, he says he'll talk to you."

Ayumu hesitated, if he left now, he would surely lose his job. But did he need work anymore? He wasn't sure so he went with the need to make everything okay between him and Kanone, "Alright, let's go."

Kousuke hesitated, "Ummm, can we eat first?" Ayumu sighed and grinned a little. He started to get up, but Kousuke stopped him, "Hey, where are you going? We ordered food for you, too."

"So that's why they ordered so much." Ayumu decided to get his own chair; bad things could happen when you got in between Kousuke and his food.

After an hour or so of straight eating and telling his boss that he was quitting, Ayumu and the others made their way outside, "So where have you guys been staying?" Ayumu asked.

"Rutherford got us a place a little way from here." Kousuke told him.

As they all started to walk towards the Blade Children's temporary home, Ayumu fell in step with Eyes, "So, Kanone hasn't said anything to you?"

Eyes shook his head, he didn't look all that worried, but Ayumu could tell he was, "He hasn't said much since we've been back. Only that you lied to him and that he would never trust you again."

This caught Ayumu's attention, "Where exactly did you guys end up?"

Eyes hesitated, obviously not wanting to talk about whatever had happened or whatever they had seen, "It was like Kousuke said, some sort of laboratory; there were...experiments going on there."

"Experiments? What kind of experiments?"

"Perhaps Kanone could explain it better." Eyes said, avoiding the question all together. Ayumu nodded and decided not to push it.

A few minutes later they arrived at the hotel they were all staying at, "Wow, they obviously weren't planning on staying long." Ayumu thought, "They aren't even staying in an apartment."

Rio was first in the door, "Kanone, were home!" She yelled. She entered the fairly small living room, followed by Ryoko, Kousuke, Ayumu, and Eyes.

Instead of hearing Kanone, Hiyono answered Rio, "Welcome home! Did you guys have a good time?" Her sight traveled over the group and landed on Ayumu. Hiyono walked up to him, cautiously, "Daddy?" Ayumu nodded and Hiyono smiled brightly, "Daddy, you're home!" Hiyono ran over to hug him and Ayumu picked her up, "Where have you been, I missed you!"

Ayumu smiled, "I missed you, too, Hiyono. Don't worry, I'm back now. How have you been?"

"I've been great, but daddy isn't doing to well." Ayumu knew that she was talking about Kanone.

The latter then entered to see what the commotion was all about, "Hello, Ayumu." He said bitterly, his eyes that were usually so friendly were now glowing with betrayal.

Ayumu set Hiyono down and walked over to Kanone, "Hello, Kanone. I think we need to talk." Kanone nodded and Ayumu followed him into his bedroom, "Kanone, why are you so angry at me?"

"Because you lied. You told me to trust you, and I did."

"But what's the problem? Everyone is fine as far as I can tell."

"We're not hurt, if that's what you mean." Kanone answered, standing up as Ayumu sat next to him on the bed.

Ayumu saw this and sighed, "Eyes told me that there were some kind of experiments going on, is that what you're upset about?"

Kanone shook his head, "You wouldn't understand, Ayumu, and you're lucky for that. We all saw some horrible things down there. I don't know why we were sent there, but you told me that it was your will that sent us to that place. How can you expect me to be okay with knowing that you sent us there?"

Ayumu was dumbfounded at how close minded Kanone was being, "You think I sent you there on purpose? Why would I do that, Kanone?"

Kanone shook his head, "I don't know, Ayumu. But whether it was consciously or unconsciously, you did send us there."

"How can you accuse me of sending you to a place that I've never been to? I did everything in my power to help you, Kanone, and you still found something wrong with that. I did my best, and I never thought that you would be this cold towards someone trying to help you." Ayumu thought about what he had just said and realized that it wasn't true; Kanone never accepted help from anyone.

As if reading his mind, Kanone snapped, "I never wanted your help, Ayumu. I told you once that there was no way that you could save us, and it turns out I was right. Despite us being freed from our curse, we're still bound to our destiny."

"What are you talking about? What destiny?"

Kanone sighed, "You saved us, Ayumu. We owe you our lives, and we are bound to repay that debt. Until we do, we cannot have peace of mind."

"But why? I don't want your lives in my hands; I just want you to be happy."

"We are the Blade Children, Ayumu, we are not meant for happiness or hope. Only despair."

These words sent a chill up Ayumu's spine, "So what am I supposed to do now?"

"There is nothing you can do. Despite you trying to help, you've only made matters worse."

"There has to be something, there's always something. If I've brought about this fate that has doomed you, then shouldn't that be enough to repay your debt to me?"

Kanone smirked at the irony, "You've saved us only to destroy us?"

Ayumu milled over these words, "But...I don't want to destroy you. If you owe me your lives, then you also owe me everything else. You owe me your hope and your despair, your pain and your happiness."

"But to us, you are already all of those things." Kanone pointed out, "Yet we still owe you something."

"Then the question is, what can you give me to replace your lives?" Ayumu questioned.

Kanone nodded knowingly, he had already figured it out. Kanone was a mastermind at puzzles and riddles, though Kiyotaka's words had stumped him for a while. When you took away everything else, all emotion and feeling, what was left? The essence of life itself; the Blade Children owed Ayumu their souls. Realizing this, Kanone felt a slight tingly feeling and he started to glow again. It was the same as before, but instead of disappearing, Kanone stayed in the room and the light flew to Ayumu. It engulfed him and then seemed to sink into his skin, making Ayumu himself glow for a moment. A second later, five identical lights flew in through the closed door and seeped into Ayumu as well.

Confused, Ayumu looked to Kanone, "What just happened?" Ayumu was a little slower than Kanone on the riddle thing and sometimes needed to be given hints, though he always figured it out in the end.

"I figured out what I could give you, my essence, my soul." Kanone answered, "You already have every other part of me, of all of us, with you. That was the only missing thing."

"But...don't you need you soul?" Ayumu asked, hesitantly.

Kanone thought about, "No...I don't think so. Not as long as you're close to us and always keep us in your thoughts."

"How can you be so sure that that will be enough?" All of a sudden, the two heard a soft melody coming from the other room. They walked out to see Rio, Ryoko, Hiyono, and Kousuke sitting on the couch. Eyes was playing a piano that Ayumu had failed to notice earlier and had his eyes closed, but it seemed to be more in peace that in concentration.

Kanone smiled and grabbed Ayumu's hand, leading him over to the couch. They sat down and listened to the beautiful melody that was drifting off of the professional's fingertips. Kanone leaned over and whispered his answer to Ayumu's question, "I believe."