Hello again everyone. I hope you are all ready for this next chapter. I don't know how long it'll be until it's fully done, but I hope you are all willing to stick with it until the end.

I should clarify that the bit with Akira last chapter and what's going to happen in this chapter take place around the same time.

With that out of the way, let's continue.

Shin Yokosaki Mall [East End]

After arriving at the mall around 12:00 PM in the afternoon, Es and Mei walked around the mall enjoying themselves. The two girls agreed to grab some lunch at the food court as soon as soon as they finished looking around the shops. For the time being, they were just doing some window shopping as nothing caught the eye of either girl yet. Regardless, this made Mei feel better as she was letting the tough news she heard earlier not bother her for the time being. This alone brought a smile to Es' face as she was able to relieve Mei some of her troubles for the moment.

After walking around the mall for a while, they sat at one of the benches at the mall around 12:15 PM.

"Thanks Es. I really needed that." Mei thanked her friend for helping take her mind off of things as she was no longer stressed now.

"You're welcome Mei. I'm just happy to see your spirits have raised." Es replied back. At the same time, this helped Es take her mind off the anxiety of how to speak with Touya about her feelings. Es knew Mei is right in that she can't put this off forever. Es figured that as soon as they got back home, she plans to talk with Mei about setting up a place to where she can talk with Touya and tell him how she feels. Even if Touya's heart belongs to another, sad as that sounds, Es will at least be able to get this thought off her chest. As long as he's happy and as long as she can continue being his friend, in spite of her own heartache, Es will be happy too. After all, to love someone means sacrificing your own happiness if it means securing theirs.

"Anyway, shall we get something for lunch Es?" Mei asked.

"Sure Mei." Es replied back, but as soon as they got off the bench...

"Ahhhhhh!" Screamed a woman's voice.

This startled the girls as they saw a masked man make off with a woman's purse. With that, they ran over to the woman to see if she was unharmed.

"P-please, help me! That man stole my purse..." The frightened woman said as a young boy, who appeared to be a least 5 years old, was standing behind the woman.

"My mom's stuff is in that bag, please help her." The boy pleaded to the two girls as he peeked out from behind his mother.

Es and Mei aren't used to dealing with... hell, they NEVER got involved in regular crimes as it rarely happened, but here they are dealing with a mugging of all things and the victims just so happened to be a woman with her child. As Mei looked at them, while they were frightened by the experience, the two remained unharmed for the most part. Mei's blood boiled as she thought it was low to steal from someone, especially since the victim is a mother spending time with her child.

"Es, I'll watch over these two while I call the police. Go get this woman's purse and drag that bas- I mean that jerk back here!" Mei said. She caught herself and changed her wording as she didn't want to swear in front of a child.

"Roger." Es nodded, saying her signature line as she immediately turned and ran off in the direction of where the masked man was running. Fortunately, he didn't get far as he was busy dodging the other people trying to stop him from getting away. Even then, the people far ahead didn't know what was happening as he ran by them and sped down the staircase to the lower floor. As soon as he got down to the lower floor, the masked man thought he was safe despite the weird looks he got from the people around him.

'Well, at least I be living good with the cash in this bag for a while...' The man thought to himself, but then he heard faint footsteps and as soon as he looked up, he saw Es running toward where the staircase is. At first, he thought that maybe she's late to meet her friends so they can hang out as all teenagers want to do, but than he witnessed Es jump down a few flight of steps at once while keeping her momentum without hurting herself or knocking over the other people going up and down those stairs. As soon as the man saw that impressive feet alone, he turned pale and started running again.

'OH SHIT! That little girl is chasing me!? Doesn't she have a group of friends to meet up with!?' The man thought to himself as Es cleared the second flight of stairs before reaching the bottom floor and proceeded to chase the man down.

"STOP! THIEF!" Es shouted, hoping it would get the other civilians to try and slow him down. Naturally, as soon as the other people heard that, they attempted to apprehend him, which began to slow him down as he avoided being grabbed. But just as Es was starting to close the gap between herself and the man...

*BANG! BANG! BANG!*

A loud noise filled the area as the masked man pulled out a gun and fired above his head. This frightened the civilians, most of them screaming, and caused them to back off or cower in fear. Even Es halted in her tracks as she now knew that it was suicide at this point to approach an armed man.

"DON'T MOVE! Stay where you are or I'll shoot!" The man shouted with a terrified voice. His hand slightly shook as he aimed it at Es. This was becoming a HUGE problem now!

Shin Yokosaki Mall [East End, 4 Minutes ago]

"Yes! There's a thief who just mugged this woman here! Yes, she and her son are unharmed. Es is currently pursuing him and attempting to detain him. I know this is different from our "regular" business, but we need some men over stat!" Mei finished calling the police as she notified them about the situation. Fortunately, it was an officer who knows about the Mitsurugi Agency, including her and Es, so it wasn't difficult getting some men over to the mall. With that, Mei turned to the woman, who is hugging her terrified son.

"Hey, I just called the police and my friend is going to get your purse back." Mei reassured the woman in question.

"W-what do you mean?" The woman asked, wondering how a young girl can chase down a grown man who'll likely toss her aside.

"Trust me when I say that Es is tougher than she looks. Can you stand?" Mei said as she extended a hand to the woman, who nodded and accepted her hand to stand up.

"Come on, if we hurry we can-" Mei said, but...

*BANG! BANG! BANG!

"AHHHH! Mom! What was that!?" The woman's son cried as loud banging sounds echoed across the mall with faint screaming in the direction of the entrance. Mei knew that sound and a cold sweat went down as she heard that.

'Gunfire!?' Mei thought briefly, but that could mean...

'OH SHIT! ES!' Mei thought in a huge panic as that sound could have meant her friend was gunned down. With that awful image in mind...

"Stay close to me but you two keep a good distance!" Mei ordered the woman as she began to run toward where the gunfire was as the woman and her son began to follow her. Mei's heart began to race as the thought of Es bleeding out from being shot haunted her.

'How could I overlook that!? Of course a thief would carry a weapon! Please Es! Please, be safe!' Mei frantically thought and prayed as she hurried over to where she heard the gunfire.

Shin Yokosaki Mall [Entrance Area, Present]

Es just stood where she's at, thinking about how to apprehend the man without him getting a shot off.

'What do I do? He's armed and everyone present is in a panic. If he fires that, someone could be hurt or killled...' Es thought to herself, wondering what she could do in this situation.

While she could pull out Murukumo and disarm him while slicing the bullets, it would cause HUGE problems for herself, Touya and Mei later as even though the police know who she is, they would not approve Es pulling out her weapon in public just to stop a thief. Es primarily used Murukumo to fight Unions and would only use it in self defense of herself against another human if they attempted to harm her in a place where there aren't too many people around.

Not to mention that the people would fly into a panic if they saw a high school student pull out a huge sword in the middle of public. The last thing Es needed was is for the people to be scared of her. Lastly, Es no longer had her artificial body's super human strength and speed anymore, so if she attempted to rush down the thief from where she's standing, either she would be gunned down or one of the civilians would get shot to keep her from chasing him.

"N-n-now, all of you stay right where you are and no one gets hurt!? You understand me!?" The thief threatened everyone as he slowly backed away to the exit, looking all around him to intimidate the civilians around him. Es could tell that the man doesn't want to shoot anyone and that he sounds desperate, but she didn't want to risk anyone getting hurt or killed and it wouldn't do her friends and family any good if she got killed in the process by this man. But before the thief could get further away, he bumped into someone back first...

'Wait. Isn't that?' Es thought to herself, eyes widened as she immediately identified the man the thief bumped into.

"Excuse me? You might have a reason for doing this, but I don't like bad guys who threaten innocent people with guns, ESPECIALLY my friends..." Said the voice of a young man.

'What!?" The thief said as he turned around, only to get punched in the gut by the man and than kicked away. As the thief was staggered, he got a good look at the guy who attacked him. He appeared to be wearing a black and blue bag like suit, wore cuffs with chains on his wrists, had grayish black hair with a strand of white hair in front of his forehead and carried a Brain-Cat plushie with him. What caught the thief's attention is the fact that underneath the young man's hair is that he wore a white eyepatch with a blue x in the lower corner of it over where his left eye should've been.

'No way! By a guy with one eye and one of his arms occupied!?' The thief thought in disbelief as he regained his balance and prepared to aim his gun at the young man, intending to only shoot his arm in an attempt to incapacitate him non-lethally. But before he could pull the trigger...

"Hyah!" Es shouted as she got in front of the thief and knocked the gun out of his hand into the group of people. As a random civilian grabbed the gun and put the safety back on, Es proceeded to grab the thief, kick his left leg out and, after a little effort, threw him over her shoulder onto the ground hard. This act greatly surprised everyone as they never thought a girl of her size and stature would subdue a fully grown man like him.

"Y-you... little... bitch..." The thief said as he couldn't believe that this small girl was able to catch and knock him like this before he passed out.

"Whew..." Es let out a sigh of relief after she confirmed that the thief was unconscious. Silence filled the air for a moment as Es retrieved the woman's stolen purse from thief. Once she did, Es was suddenly greeted by cheers and applause by the surrounding civilians, most likely at the efforts of both her and the young man she knew for subduing the potential danger to the public. This felt strange to her as she never got praised for doing something that was natural to do. However, Es couldn't deny that to be praised for doing the right thing, to be treated like a hero... it made her feel good and brought a smile to her face.

Soon after, the police arrived through the entrance and after Es explained the situation, they arrested the thief and retrieved the gun from the civilian after they kept it away from him. As soon as the police left with the culprit...

"ES!" Mei shouted as she along with the woman and her son arrived. Her face looking pale as she ran over to Es.

"Are you okay!? I heard gunfire all the way back there!" Mei asked in a worried tone as she also knew that Es can't pull out Murukumo in public, still struck with the thought that Es could've been shot and killed for all she knew.

"Yes... I'm fine." Es reassured Mei as she smiled at her friend. Once Mei started to calm down, she immediately pulled Es in and held her tight.

"I'm just glad your safe..." Mei said as she hugged her friend. Es was surprised that Mei would hug like this, let alone in public, but she smiled and returned the gesture. Mei's rarely honest with her feelings like this. It made Es happy that Mei was becoming more open with her feelings than she was previously. As soon as they ended their hug, Es than turned to the woman and handed her purse back after making sure everything was accounted for.

"Thank you so much, young lady." The woman said greatfullly while also relieved that Es was unharmed.

"Thank you for getting my mom's purse back miss." The boy added with his dearest gratitude.

"You're welcome, but I wouldn't have done it without a little help." Es said as she looked back at the young man with a thankful smile. When Es saw him get behind the thief, she was surprised him to see him at the mall of all places, but was happy to see him nonetheless.

"I-I hope everyone's okay." The young man nervously said as he approached the group. While Es greeted him with a reassuring nod, Mei was surprised to see the young man as she instantly recognized him.

"Kiri!?" Mei said the man's name in surprise as he was the last person to see here at the mall.

"Hi Es. Hello Mei. Long time, no see." Kiri replied as he smiled at the two girls with a small wave. This was sure to be an interesting reunion.

Himezuru Residence [Living Room]

At around 12:15 PM, Touya and Yuki were helping out Hinata clean up around the household for a while, intending to eat lunch after they finish up. Normally, Hinata would clean up the house by herself, which she didn't mind of course. In fact, Hinata found it more fun when the others gave her a hand. Yuki put on some J-Pop songs while they cleaned up the place. Whenever Es and the others were around the house, they would help out as well. It was then Touya looked at the clock on the wall and noticed it was around 12:17 PM right now.

'Akira's most likely on his way here right now. I wonder what we're going to do today?' Touya thought to himself as after breakfast this morning, Touya, Hinata and Yuki just did their own thing. Touya just relaxed in his room reading a book, Hinata was handcrafting something that she didn't want to show to anyone yet and Yuki was playing Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on her Switch that she bought with spare money she saved up. It was around 12:08 PM that Touya and Yuki heard Hinata leave her room and as soon as they saw Hinata preparing to clean the room, Yuki turned on the radio, which surprised Hinata for a moment. As soon as she saw Touya and Yuki, no words were needed as they just exchanged smiles as they started cleaning up the house together.

It was around 12:20 PM when they finished up. The living area wasn't too dirty, but it felt nice for the three to do something together, even if it was something simple as cleaning.

"Thank you, guys." Hinata said sincerely with a big smile as she, Touya and Yuki sat down on the couch together.

"It was no problem, Hinata. It's good to help out." Touya replied back with a smile of his own.

"Besides, it's nice when I get to spend more time with you and Touya, Hina." Yuki replied to Hinata, smiling back too.

They enjoyed each other's presence for a few minutes until they suddenly heard loud knocking at the door at a rapid pace, surprising the three as they figured it was Akira. But why was he banging on the door like that and why is he here so soon? He usually arrives at 12:30 PM. Not too early, but not too late either.

"I'm coming!" Hinata said as she went up to the door and as soon as she opened it, she saw Akira, who was out of breath and worn out.

"Hi-Hinata, w-where's Touya...?" Akira let out as he tried to catch his breath.

"Akira!? What's the matter?" Hinata asked out of concern as she led Akira to the couch. Once inside, Akira took a moment to calm himself down and rested for a bit as he sat down where Hinata was sitting.

"Akira, what's wrong? You look like you saw a... bad thing." Touya said as he swapped out the last part of his sentence. The last thing everyone needed was Hinata freaking out and punching everyone out all because of Touya asking if Akira saw a ghost, something that Hinata was deathly afraid of.

"W-well, I was on the way here when I saw a group of familiar looking jerks talking about something strange from last night..." Akira said as he recalled what the thugs were talking about.

"Akira, tell us what you heard." Yuki replied, wanting to know what Akira heard that it made him run all the way to the Himezuru Residence to the point that he was breathing heavily like that.

"Well, here's what I got..." Akira said as he began to explain about how one of the thugs he saw was beaten up by a 'Metal Man' from last night which surprised Touya, Hinata and Yuki. Akira told them that he thought it may have been a new Union, but Touya ruled it out as he got no notification from the Mitsurugi Agency about a new Union... yet, nor did he sense a Discover Call from around the city. A Discover Call is a unique sound that Unions make when they activate their Drive Abilities. If it was a Union, Touya would've heard a bell like chime before Akira could tell him.

Akira then noted that the thug said the 'Metal Man' had light blue eyes similar to a robot and that his body was so hard that the thug broke his own hand on the Metal Man's face. Finally, Akira mentioned that this 'Metal Man' is apparently looking for Touya and Es for some reason, which made everyone concerned.

"This 'Metal Man' is looking for me... and Es?" Touya said with worry in his voice. Out of all the people that pursued him so far, from rogue mages, to mad scientists, to serial killers, all of these were bizarre people to be pursued by. Now, Touya has to deal with a ROBOT of all things chasing him down? Granted, Touya can now defend himself if this thing found him, but still, a ROBOT? To be fair, the ES-N Units are like robots, but at the same time, they aren't. What worried Touya more is that this 'Metal Man' is also looking for Es too. Sure, Es can defend herself as well, but what if this thing got the jump on her with Es none the wiser? The thought alone made Touya's heart ache with worry.

"From what I heard, yes. I came to you first because I was already coming here and since you have Mei's number, you might be able to call her and Es about this ahead of time." Akira explained as he made a good point. The Himezuru Residence wasn't far away from where he lived and he was already headed here to begin with. Plus, since Es is currently visiting Mei, they'll kill two birds with one stone in warning them both through Mei's phone.

"You made a good call Akira, but just to be safe, let's check the news to make sure this 'Metal Man' isn't causing problems around the city." Yuki said in a serious tone as the others nodded in agreement. With that, Yuki turned on the TV News and after 10 minutes passed, they saw nothing about a 'Metal Man', so it wasn't causing damage around the city, which is good, but then they saw reports about a couple of store break ins, which left them worried for the time being. After seeing what they needed to see, Yuki was about to turn off the TV, but before she could do so, Yuki and the others saw something that they didn't expect to see on the News.

"According to this next piece of news, at the Shin Yokosaki Mall a few moments ago, a mugging took place when a masked man stole a woman's purse and attempted to flee the scene, even carrying a firearm on hand. The culprit was detained due to the efforts of a young man and a young woman. Both the victim and the police gave these two a great amount of gratitude. The culprit will be questioned at a later time, so stay tuned for more on this story." The News Anchor Woman said as she concluded her report and is starting up on the next one.

Touya, Akira, Hinata and Yuki all stared at the screen with thier eyes wide and mouths open, along with Yuki dropping the romote in the process as they witnessed that Es apparently stopped a mugger, who was carrying around a gun no less. Not only that, Kiri, who everyone haven't seen in a while, was also there, having helped Es capture the thief.

"Damn..." Akira let out as this blew his mind.

"Oh my god..." Touya mentioned as he didn't expect Es doing something like this.

"Oh wow..." Hinata said, as while she thought of Es like a super hero, she didn't expect Es to detain a thief like that. A moment passed before Yuki regained herself as she picked up the remote and turned off the TV with the same shocked expression. After another minute or two passed.

"Touya, Hinata, Akira. Get in the car, please." Yuki calmly said as she stared at the blank screen.

"Huh?" Everyone else replied as they looked at Yuki.

"Come on, let's go! Get in the car!" Yuki repeated herself in a higher tone of voice as she hurried everyone outside, with Yuki locking the house up as they got into the car. Once everyone buckled up, Yuki immediately drove to where the mall is.

'Geez, first a Metal Men is hunting Touya and Es down, now Es is stopping a mugger at the mall! I just hope Es and Mei are okay!' Yuki thought to herself as she is processing what she just saw on the News. The two girls appeared unharmed on the News, but Yuki wanted to make sure they were both unharmed herself. Dealing with a Union was one thing, but Es was dealing with a man who had full control of what he was doing. And as for Kiri...

'I was wondering where Kiri went off to ever sense the Hospital discharged him during December. He's gonna have a LOT to explain!' Yuki continued thinking as she drove to where the Es, Mei and Kiri are.

Touya, Hinata and Akira look concerned as they knew when Yuki gets like this, it's serious. They hoped Mei can explain why Es is detaining muggers all of a sudden. Not to mention Kiri also being there. They haven't seen him for a while now and he shows up again. Something tells them this will be a rocky reunion.

Shin Yokosaki Mall [Food Court]

At 12:30 PM, Es and Mei bought some sandwiches for lunch. Although the employees tried to give them to the girls free of charge for their valiant effort, they still paid for their food. They also bought a third sandwich for Kiri as they figured he must be hungry and they wanted to catch up with him on what he has been doing for the past few months.

Kiri is a mysterious young man that Es met during the Freaks Incident. While Es was out with Hinata one day, they went through the playground as a shortcut to get back home when they met Kiri. While Es regained her memories during her Welcome Party, she thought it was best to not tell anyone as they still didn't remember her, so when they first met the boy, Es and Kiri instantly bonded over their shared plight as Kiri also had amnesia. While he is distant, he had a good heart and he meant well.

However, the reasons for his amnesia was because he was actually Ripper's reanimated corpse. After Ripper was slain by Avenge, the Magic Guild retrieved his body and started performing experiments on it. Eventually, Ripper's body was resurrected, however his body underwent a physical change and developed a new personality, which happened to be Kiri. Ripper's will found himself trapped inside the Brain Cat plushie he always wore like a necklace. Ripper would eventually take control of Kiri and kill the Magic Guild Leaders before escaping back to Shin Yokosaki City. After the Guild started calling him "Freaks" due to his gruesome method of killed the Guild Leaders, Ripper liked the name so much that he decided to use it.

Upon arriving in the city, Freaks manipulated the kind hearted Kiri through the Brain Cat plushie that if he defeated the leader of a group of bad guys named Touya Kagari, he would get his memories back. Every now and again, Freaks would possess Kiri's body to kill other Unions and eat their crystals, restoring his lost power, leaving Kiri none the wiser of what was going on.

When Freaks tricked Kiri into attacking Touya and drained his power, Freaks took full control of the body. But after a difficult battle, Es and Touya destroyed his Union Crystal in his left eye, which housed Freaks' soul. With Freaks' soul destory, Es and Touya permanently killed the evil serial killer, ensuring that he will never harm another person ever again. As a result, Kiri was able to retake his body, but due to the injuries as a result of Freaks' possession, along with losing his left eye, Kiri had to be administered into the Shin Yokosaki Hospital under intensive care.

Kiri hated being touched due to the inhumane experiments the Magic Guild performed on him, but under Yuki's kind and gentle care, Kiri slowly grew less apprehensive to being touched. He would recieve visits from Es at the Hospital and would get properly introduced to Touya and the others. Es would even give Kiri her old eyepatch after Hinata fixed it up to wear it over where his left eye used to be. Hinata would also fix and clean up his Brain Cat plushie, because even though Freaks manipulated him through the plush toy, Kiri still held a lot of fondness for the doll and knew that the doll was not to blame for Freaks' evil deeds.

However, after learning who Freaks was, Kiri felt remorse for killing people that weren't evil to begin with and wished to make amends, but due to losing the Union Crystal, he no longer had Sissor Hands, so he had to find a way to help his new friends out. Once he was discharged from the Hospital after he fully recovered, Kiri would send a letter to the Himezuru Residence that he will stay in Shin Yokosaki City to help out in whatever way he could, but he never once visited them in person, which worried everyone.

Since being released from the hospital, Kiri would wander around the city helping people whenever he can and would occasionally take some part time jobs to earn some money to purchase food for himself or rent out a hotel room to sleep for the night. Kiri would also write letters to Es and the others to let them know how he was doing with them sending letters in return, which Kiri would recieve and treasure. However, Yuki was worried about Kiri being out on his own, but whenever she tried to locate him, Kiri left the hotel he was currently staying at. Considering that his only possessions are a plushie and the clothes on his back, it made sense that he was able to move around as quickly as he did. This only served to frustrate Yuki as she believed the hospital shouldn't have discharged him even after he showed improvement in his physical therapy.

Kiri just happened to be wandering around the mall out of curiosity when he saw the masked thief running away from Es before he pulled his gun out. Kiri would have intervened even if Es wasn't chasing the thief, but seeing the masked man pull a gun out on his friend and a bunch of innocent people made his blood boil, so he got behind the man, attacked him and the rest was history. When the civilians praised him and Es for their bravery, it made Kiri very happy as he believed that this is what it must feel like to be a hero.

"I must thank you again for helping us Kiri. If you didn't show up, the thief would've have gotten away." Es one again expressed her gratitude to her friend.

"It was no problem Es. It's the least I can do, especially if it means if I can make up for what I have done as Freaks..." Kiri replied, still feeling guilty for what he did under Freaks' influence. Es and Mei are saddened that Kiri still blamed himself for what the Serial Killer did. It was then that the Shrine Maiden decided to speak up.

"Look Kiri, I know you mean well, but what Freaks did wasn't your fault. That monster killed those Unions, not you." Mei said to Kiri, understanding that he wasn't in control of himself. She knew that if the Old Guild Leaders didn't mess with Freaks corpse, the whole incident wouldn't have happened to begin with. However, Mei took the bad with the good as Es returned and Kiri was given life in place of the homicidal maniac.

"I understand Mei, but I just want to make amends. If I hadn't listened to him, Freaks wouldn't have caused so much damage." Kiri bitterly noted, as he hated being deceived or lied too. Mei still thought how strange it was that Kiri has the body of a murderous sociopath, but his personality is the exact opposite.

"It's okay Kiri. Freaks is gone and everyone's alive and well, so you don't need to be so hard on yourself." Es said, as she knew what it is like to do bad things under the influence of someone else. While Es was not going to put the blame on Unomaru for killing Unions herself, she knew he was just as culpable as he used her as a tool for his mad schemes all the same.

"Thanks Es, you too Mei..." Kiri sincerely said to the two girls, his eye feeling misty.

"You're welcome Kiri." Es smiled at her friend.

"No problem." Mei also smile at Kiri. With that, they continued their meal and talked about other things, including Kiri's travels around the city.

Shin Yokosaki Mall [Parking Lot]

After finding a parking spot at around 12:40 PM, everyone got out of the car. Yuki has managed to calm down at this point after processing everything. Es and Mei are very kind girls, so it was natural for them to stop someone from mugging an innocent person and is very proud of them for helping out the woman the way they did. However, Yuki wanted to tell them at least to be careful when dealing with stuff like this in the future, just as much as Mei tells Touya to be careful in regards to dealing with Unions. Besides, if she and the others were at the mall, Touya would have most likely tried to stop the man too if he were in Es' shoes to begin with.

'This is nothing new at this point anyway. I trust and believe in Es and Mei to do the right thing in the end, just as I have with Touya, and I have no intention of doubting that now.' Yuki smiled to herself, reaffirming her belief in the two girls along with the young man she sees as a brother.

Kiri still had to explain himself though. Yuki was NOT letting him off the hook that easy.

'Kiri, on the other hand, has to learn not to worry his friends like this though! He could have stopped by just to say hi to his friends in person!' Yuki thought sternly. She wasn't angry per say, but she needed to know if he was doing okay. Tough Love is the right word for this. Until she knows her patient is well and good, she keeps close tabs on them.

While Yuki went to the trunk to get some emergency medical supplies just in case the three got hurt, the others were left alone thinking. While this worried them, they were all thinking the same thing Yuki was too, but in their own way and opinion.

'Man, if Es could handle a mugger, maybe she'll be okay against the 'Metal Man'.' Akira thought, having forgotten how much of a badass she was, even remembering how in their second battle during the Embryo Incident, they were on equal footing. Maybe Akira didn't need to get so worked up after all.

'I knew Es-chan was like a super hero. She and Kiri stopped that thief like it was no big deal!' Hinata thought, as she was in awe that Es was so cool and fearless. She even admired Kiri's efforts too.

'It's kind of funny that Es would do something like this. If I were in her position, I'd do the same thing myself.' Touya thought, once again in surprise of what Es is capable of. Then his thoughts went to Kiri...

'Kiri... I wonder what he has been doing lately? I haven't seen him in a long time...' Touya continued thinking, recalling the recent letter he got during this month from Kiri. He than heard the trunk close as Yuki had a medical bag on hand, but she was now back to her normal self. He always knew that Yuki is very understanding and would get why Es and Mei did what they had to do. Kiri however, Touya hoped he can explain himself considering he never kept in contact with his doctor outside of the letters he sent to the Himezuru Residence.

"Okay, let's go check on Es, Mei and Kiri! Even on days off, a doctor's work is never done." Yuki said with confidence.

"Um... about that." Akira said with a coy smile as he pointed toward the front entrance. Touya, Hinata and Yuki looked where he was pointing to see Es, Mei and Kiri having come out of the mall's front entrance, just talking with each other like nothing happened. With that Touya, Hinata and Akira ran over while Yuki calmly walked behind them.

"ES!" Touya, Hinata and Akira shouted as they ran up to Es, Mei and Kiri, surprising the latter group as the former group came up.

"Touya, Hinata, Akira!? What're you doing here!?" Es said in surprise as she didn't expect them to be here today.

"Well, we saw you on the news a moment ago, that's what happened!" Akira mentioned. At this point, Mei cover her face with both of her hands, having forgotten that stuff like this would be caught and broadcasted on the TV News.

"Oh man... Yuki is going to kill us for this." Mei said to herself as Yuki came up. Es and Kiri got nervous as Yuki got closer, with Es fidgeting her braid while Kiri hugged his Brain Cat plushie tightly.

"On the contrary..." Yuki said as Es and Mei saw her come up. Yuki put her medical bag down before she pulled Es in with gentle hug.

"That was a brave thing you did Es. I know you and Mei always protect us from Unions, but you did something incredible here today and that makes me so proud of you, helping out that woman and her son." Yuki said with such a calm and strong tone she rarely uses. This brought a sense of warmth and pride to Es. But then as Yuki pulled away, she looked at Es with a serious look as she put her hans on the Azure Maiden's shoulders.

"However, you do need to be careful in the future if you deal with something like this again. It's like what Mei tells Touya to be careful in regards to Unions, right Mei?" Yuki said as she looked at Mei. However, the Shrine Maiden felt guilt pent up inside her as Yuki looked at her.

"Yuki! I'm sorry for putting Es in danger like that! I didn't even think that guy would have a gun! I was worried about the woman and her son and I sent Es to-" Mei began apologizing so fast that Yuki stopped her by pulling her in for a hug too to calm her down

"That's why I'm telling you this so you'll be more careful in the future. Thinking with your heart is not a bad thing. You weren't wrong to stay behind with them. What matters is that both you and Es are safe. I'll always put my full trust and faith in you two, no matter what. The same goes for Touya, Hinata and Akira." Yuki said with the kindness and wisdom of a mother. Mei's eyes got misty and she could only hug Yuki tight for a few minutes before parting. Touya, Hinata and Akira were surprised by this vulnerable side of Mei. It showed them how much Mei had grown as a person.

"However..." Yuki began to talk darkly as she broke the hug with Mei and looked at Kiri, who was starting to get nervous as he saw a notable glint in her eyes.

"Would you mind telling me what you've been doing all this time, mister?" Yuki said with a forced smile.

"U-um, why are you looking at me like that, Dr. Himezuru?" Kiri said nervously. Yuki than grabbed his hand and pulled him away for a talk.

"You guys wait right here and we'll be right back." Yuki said with her normal cheerful tone before pulling Kiri over for a rather stern lecture.

"Man, there's that scary side again..." Akira shuddered as he recalls that Yuki can be scary when she gets mad. He hoped Kiri wouldn't get too much of a tongue lashing.

"It just shows that Yuki cares about her patients, Akira." Hinata said, knowing that despite Yuki's occasional moments of being very stern, she looks out for any person under her care, for that is what it means to be a doctor.

"Oh, Es, Mei! There's something we need to tell you guys." Touya said as he began to tell the girls what Akira told them. He nearly forgot after seeing Es' heroics on the TV.

"You're... kidding..." Mei said in disbelief. Sure, she fought Unions, Sages and a mad scientist, but a ROBOT? This was something out straight out of an anime, but after seeing the serious looks on their faces, Mei knew that it wasn't a joke.

"You're... not kidding..." Mei said as she's trying to process that their new foe is a robot. Granted, Nu, the last ES-N unit under her care, is similar to a robot, but at the same time she isn't one.

"But, the good news is that the 'Metal Man' isn't harming the city. Granted, it wasn't right of him to attack that man though..." Hinata said. Even toward a thug, Hinata's heart is so huge.

"Yes. However, what if he's responsible for those store break ins that you saw on the News earlier?" Es chimed in. Compared to the mugger today, a 'Metal Man' could be VERY well be capable of pulling store thefts with relative ease. Es and Mei have heard about this some time ago, but they just thought it off as a very planned out heist. Unless it was a Strange Red Union like Freaks, there was no way a regular Union could do multiple store break ins without going into Phase 4, 5 and 6. Not to mention that Touya would be alerted to their Discover Call when they used their Drive. Considering they never got a good look at the culprit, it might make sense that the 'Metal Man' may be the culprit.

"Anyway, thank you for warning us Kamewari. You too Kagari." Mei thanked the two boys for taking time to warn her and Es. Now, they know to be on guard if this 'Metal Man' showed up.

"Oh, um... Touya..." Es said to Touya, deciding now would be a good time to set up an arranged meeting to confess her feelings to Touya.

"Huh? What's up Es?" Touya questioned the Azure Maiden as she twirled her braid.

"When we have time, there's something I want to talk to you about... when we're alone." Es calmly asked. Off to her side, Mei smiled as Es took the first step without the former needing to set up a meeting for the latter. This left Hinata and Akira curious about what Es wanted to talk with Touya in private about.

"Oh, um, sure Es." Touya asked. He was curious about what she wanted to talk to him about. Is it about the day they parted or...?

"Okay, we're back!" Yuki said as she and Kiri came back over. Kiri hung his head low as he got through the biggest lecture of his life. Kiri is to come back to the Hospital for a check-up to make sure he's healthy enough to be out on his own. She intends to speak with Mei about setting up living arrangements for him layer on as Yuki believed it would be best for him to be with his friends a bit more.

While they all need to worry about the 'Metal Man' in the future, for now, everyone was happy to be together. Like with the Embryo Incident and the Freaks Incident, they all enjoyed these brief respites of peace.

"While we're all here, why don't we look around the mall for a while?" Hinata suggested to everyone.

"Oh well Hinata, the three of us were just leaving and..." Mei was about to explain, but before she can finish.

"Come on Mei, you can look around for a bit longer. Besides, I still have today off anyway and it'll be more fun with the seven of us here." Yuki chimed in, cutting off what Mei said.

"Besides, I don't think you came here just to deal with a thief after looking around for a bit." Yuki said. Mei and Es knew she had a point, they did look around for a little bit before the mugging happened. If it didn't happen, they would have looked around the mall a bit more and considering they met Kiri again, it's another case of take the good with the bad.

"M-me too?" Kiri questioned pointing to himself, noting that Yuki included him when she said 'the seven of us'

"Yes, you too Kiri. You need to socialize with your friends that you can trust after all." Yuki explained to Kiri. Kiri enjoyed having friends, but he is noticeably shy. Yuki figured it would help Kiri come out of his shell more bit by bit. With that, the young man nodded in agreement.

"Oh, all right. I suppose we can look around some more." Mei gave in, knowing Yuki would just insist. Besides, it'll give them a chance to hang out together and to be honest, Mei enjoyed these moments indeed.

With that, the group spent the next hour together at the mall, having fun all the while. At the same time, Es began to feel anxious about talking with Touya alone later, but she was ready to confess to him.

To Be Continued...

Man, this might be one of the longest chapters yet so far. Yeah, this might be a 'filler' chapter, but what can you do. Filler content can be a good change of pace sometimes, you know.

Anyway, stay tuned for the next chapter everyone. Peace out!

Update: Grammer check, spell check and updated dialogue.