Welcome back to the next chapter of the story. I hope everyone's ready to continue the plot once more.

The plot will start picking up here soon, so just bear with me here. Let's get going.

Shin Yokosaki Mall

The hour that Es spent with Touya, Hinata, Mei, Akira, Yuki and Kiri at the mall was definitely a fun time indeed. While Es and Mei were at the mall earlier, they only looked around at a few stores, which included a Book store where the two girls browsed through some manga for instance. Now that the others are with them, they encouraged the two girls to check out some other shops in the mall with them, which included a music shop, a gardening shop, a clothing store and even a video game store. Needless to say, even though they didn't buy anything, they all had a good time.

It was around 2:00 PM when everyone was relaxing at the food court while Es went outside for some fresh air. The only ones to order food were Touya, Hinata and Yuki as they forgot to have lunch at home due to wanting to check up on Es, Mei and Kiri. They were all chatting and having a good time. As soon as Touya finished his lunch, he got up out of his seat and pushed his chair in. He figured that now is a good time to talk with Es about what she wanted to ask him.

"Excuse me, everyone. I need to speak with Es, we'll be back soon." Touya said to everyone as he headed outside to where Es is at.

"I wonder what Es wanted to ask Touya about?" Hinata asked with curiosity. She hoped it wasn't anything too bad though as it saddens her when her friends and family have a falling out.

"Whatever it is, it must be important if Es wanted to talk to Touya in private." Akira chimed in. He knew Touya very well, but this was definitely something different for him and Es. What could it mean? He might have an idea or two, but Akira would be surprised if it is what he was thinking about. Akira figured Hinata might have a thing for Touya, in spite of his own feelings for the girl next to him, but what would happen if it turned out that Es loved his best friend with Touya feeling the same? Akira figured he'll only worry about that bridge being crossed if that is the case.

"We should respect their privacy. After all, they will tell us if they want too in time, right?" Kiri added, as he knew Es well from the short time they met. He knew full well based off of how Es described Touya as 'The most important person in her life', that Es either had a strong familial attachment with him or is love with the guy. Kiri doesn't know what it is like to have a family or fall in love with another person, but after getting to know everyone, he started to get a good idea of what family is like and he hopes that one day, he might find someone he can trust his heart too.

Mei and Yuki both nodded in agreement as they watched Touya go outside to meet up with Es.

'Good luck, Es.' Mei thought as she wished Es her the best in finally confessing her feelings to Touya.

Shin Yokosaki Mall [Parking Lot]

Es was standing outside with the cool breeze softly brushing against her face, once again reflecting on everything up to this point, including today. She was a bit worried about this 'Metal Man' Akira mentioned, but also knew that she aand the others are ready for anything that will be thrown at them. However, Es knew that there was always a risk that Touya might die without ever knowing how she felt and with this 'Metal Man' thing happening, it scared her. Es began to calm her anxiety as she was about to head inside and ask Touya to meet up with her in a private spot, but as soon as she turned around, Touya was already standing before her.

"Oh, Touya! I thought you were having lunch with the others." Es asked, nervously twirling the tip of her braid.

"I was. I just finished a while ago. Besides, I thought that while we're here, I thought we'd talk about what you wanted to ask me." Touya said, nervously scratching the back of his head.

"S-sure, Touya." Es replied in a nervous tone as they walked over to where Yuki's car is parked. They leaned against the driver's side as they remained in silence before trying to say something to the other.

"So...? Huh? What was it you wanted to!? N-nothing!" Both Es and Touya said at the same time before going silent again, their faces blushing all the while as they looked away.

'What are you doing Es? He's right next to you, just tell him.' Es mentally called herself out as once again, she was getting tongue tied.

'Ugh, what are you doing Touya!? You've talked to her many times before, why are you getting nervous now!?' Touya also mentally called himself out for getting cold feet.

With that, the two teens both took a deep breath and made sure they weren't blushing before looking at each other. Es knew that she needed to start with something to ease into the conversation in order to get to that point where she tells Touya her how she feels about him.

"I... I was surprised to see you and everyone here today, Touya." Es started off. To be fair, she WAS genuinely surprised to see him and the others here at the mall, so she figured that it's not a bad way to start off this conversation.

"Well yeah, I mean you stopped a mugger, who had a gun no less! I'm just glad that you and Kiri didn't get shot!" Touya replied in a worried tone. He wasn't angry with her or Mei as he knew that they didn't know the thief had a gun, but he was worried regardless.

"Thank you for your concern Touya, but wouldn't you have done the same to help the woman and her child too if you were in my position?" Es noted, once again acknowledging Touya's desire to prevent violence from harming other people.

"Heh heh, you got me there." Touya laughed nervously as he scratched his cheek softly. She was right, Touya would have definitely try to apprehend the thief and wouldn't let him steal some poor woman's purse. So in a way, Es raised a valid point.

"But, I'm guessing this isn't the reason you wanted to talk to me, right?" Touya asked Es, now having calmed down a bit. He figured that some light talk with Es helped relieve some of his anxiety.

"Yes, you are correct." Es answered, having calmed down herself. She was thankful that starting off like this also helped with her anxious feelings too.

"It has to do when I "zoned" out yesterday, Touya." Es added, trying to get the conversation where it needed to go in, slowly but surely.

"Oh, what about it?" Touya questioned, as he has wondered what Es was thinking about yesterday.

"Well, it depends if a particular memory came back to you or not." Es said as she clutched the rim of her dress, doing her best to not chicken out. She took a deep breath before continuing.

"Do you remember the day when we parted... during the Embryo Incident?" Es asked Touya, finally making some headway. There was no turning back at this point.

"Ulp!" Touya was caught off guard as Es just confirmed what he was speculating this morning. But, to be looking back at the day they parted at the end of that incident? Suddenly, Touya remembered the kiss he and Es shared. Is she trying to...?

"Um... yes, I do remember it now, Es. Why do you ask?" Touya replied as he felt his heart begin to race.

"It has to do with what happened before I left this world, before I "erased" everyone's memories..." Es said, but before she can continue, Touya intervened as she brought up a point that he wanted to ask her for a while now.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but why did you take our memories away?" Touya asked, wanting to hear Es' reasons from her own mouth while also unconsciously stalling her as he was nervous about a potential love confession from the Azure Maiden.

While it was off topic, Es thought it was fair that Touya deserved to know her reason for doing what she did back than. She didn't mind if he relayed this to everyone later, even if it would result in an earful from everybody.

"As I said in the past, the Embryo isn't something that should exist here in this world. I didn't want to risk a phenomenon that could potentially harm this world. Of course, while I know that you or any of our friends wouldn't misuse it, keeping the Embryo's power out of the hands of people like Unomaru is just one of two reasons I erased everyone's memories." Es said with a serious tone.

"And the second reason?" Touya asked, wondering what made Es do what she did.

"The second reason is... is because I wanted all of you to live your lives, unburdened by the thoughts and feelings of... never seeing me again." Es said as her eyes closed in sadness. Touya look surprised, yet he got what Es was saying. He and everyone would be sad if one of their friends disappeared without a trace, wondering what became of the Azure Maiden.

"I didn't want all of you to be in despair at "losing" me. I even figured you would all dedicate the rest of your lives trying to pull me out of the Boundary and... I didn't want you to waste it. Not when all of you had a promising future." Es continued while Touya listened, all while remembering a certain pink haired girl she met in the Boundary under a different name and form.

"The reason I'm here again is because of... what could've happened because of Freaks. If it weren't for "Me" bringing me back here, you and everyone else would have died. I couldn't let that happen, even if I didn't remember everything at the time." Es kept saying as her eyes began to water slightly in remorse as she truly wanted to stay with everyone back then. Yes, she was here now, but that didn't change the fact all her friends went on for some time without her.

"I'm sorry... for taking your and everyone else's memories away... I know it isn't what you wanted, but I still did so anyway..." Es apologized. Suddenly, Es was pulled into a deep embrace by Touya.

"Es, you've done nothing to apologize for. I now know you only did it to ensure all of us lived in peace without the Embryo's influence. Even if we didn't lose our memories, of course we would have done everything we could to bring you back home, but we wouldn't be wasting our lives if it meant that we got to see you again. Not to mention that we would still be living our lives while trying to set you free from your fate." Touya said as he hugged Es, before pulling back to look at her face, whose eyes are now laced with tears.

"We'd still be going to school and continue to have a future. But since Freaks kept it from happening, you came back and saved us all. You're the reason why me and everyone still HAVE a future." Touya continued as he wiped the tears from her face before softly placing one hand on her cheek, with Es holding it tenderly.

"You made a great friend in that other 'Timeline', Es. I'll always be greatful to "Me" for bringing you back to us, because you're an important part of all of our lives." Touya finished as Es looked up with a greatful smile, recalling the story of the fiery mage that Es befriended, even managing to heal the trauma in "Me"s heart.

"Touya... that means so much to me. Thank you..." Es said as she and Touya stared into each other's eyes intimately. Suddenly their hearts began beating together as one, with the two smiling at one another. Touya now realized that just by seeing how Es is acting around him, even if she isn't saying those words to him, he understood that their kiss back than was done out of true love and not something in the moment as he thought. He finally was prepared to hear Es say those words to him, no longer afraid as he decided that he wants to be with her.

However, they continued to look at each other in the eyes instead of talking further. Es than took a deep breath, closed her eyes and began to slowly inch her face close to his intending to kiss Touya, to show him that she loves him instead of just telling him. While Touya was surprised by the motion, he calmed down and also did the same, to meet her halfway. Maybe this way he and Es can finally say those words the other wanted to hear afterward. But just as their faces were closing in to each other...

*RING*

'!? A Discover Call!? NOW!?' Touya thought urgently as his eyes snapped open as he sense a Drive being activated, knowing that something is coming at them, while also angered that this is happening at a most pivotal time.

*RUMBLE RUMBLE*

As soon as that rumbling happened, Es' eyes also snapped open, noticing only too late to see what appeared to be a wave of dark energy heading in their direction.

"ES, LOOK OUT!" Touya shouted in worry as he grabbed Es, throwing both her and himself to the ground in between Yuki's car and another car as the dark energy exploded in front of them, knocking a couple of cars in the first row in front of them up into the air before they crashed down onto either the pavement and other cars, causing some explosions as a result.

Car alarms went off as smoke rose from the vehicles that exploded, with some of the people around getting hurt as a result. Es and Touya were lying unconscious on the ground holding on to each other, shaken but unharmed as none of the cars landed where they were at, nor did any explosions go off in their vicinity.

How could this have gone from what would have been be the most romantic day of their lives to dealing with a close brush with death once again? Touya groaned as he began to stir, only to see his dear friend apparently motionless. This brought great worry and fear to his heart.

"Es? Es!? Are you okay!? ES!" Touya asked out of worry, shaking Es' shoulder, hoping for a response. While he's upset that this moment between them got ruined by what appeared to be a Union, he's more concerned about the Azure Maiden's well being. Fortunately, Es slowly opened her eyes and she looked back him, bringing calm and relief to his heart.

"Y-yes. I am thanks to you." Es said with a reassuring smile. While she's upset that her chance to reveal her feelings to Touya got cut off like that, she's glad that he is still alive and is deeply thankful that he saved her life.

'Thank goodness...' Touya thought to himself as he slowly got up, giving Es a hand off the ground while trying to reorient themselves as to what happened.

As soon as their minds cleared up, they saw a man with black hair and a gray jacket, with swirling vortexes of dark energy around his hands. Touya took a look at the man and listened to the man's Discover Call to determine what Phase he was in.

"He's in Phase Three!" Touya shouted to Es. They both knew instantly that he's halfway through the Union Crystal Phases.

"Argh... dammit! What are these voices saying!?" Yelled the man as he grabbed his head. He was clearly beginning to lose his sanity.

"ARGHHHHHHHH! GET OUT OF MY HEAAAADDDDDD!" The man roared as he ran away from the parking lot to a different location. Touya can sense he was heading to the Restricted Ward. Even though he ruined this moment for them and put other people in danger, Es and Touya still felt bad for this guy as he's suffering from the effects of being a Union and they knew that they couldn't hold this against him.

"ES! KAGARI!" Mei shouted as she and the others hurried out to Touya and Es. While they were inside the mall, they heard the explosions go off, prompting them to rush outside.

"Are you both okay!?" Hinata asked out of concern, hoping that Touya and Es were unharmed.

"Yes, we are. A Union just attacked!" Touya mentioned, surprising the others as they didn't think a Union would show up here at the mall.

"Well, there goes our day of fun..." Akira weakly mentioned as he and the others heard people moaning in pain and calling for help.

"What we should do now is to put these fires out and help out everyone here." Yuki said seriously, with everyone nodding in agreement.

"Right. Kagari, Es and I will detain the Union while Hinata, Kamewari and Kiri will help you out with the situation here." Mei filled in as everyone understood what they need to do with every nodding in agreement.

"You guys be careful out there." Kiri said to Es, Touya and Mei as they nodded too before heading off to where the Union ran off too as he, Hinata, Akira and Yuki immediately began doing what they could to help out the injured. Before Yuki stepped in to help, she began making calls to the fire department to deal with the flames cause by the explosions and to the Hospital to recieve assistance from her fellow doctors to help the injured.

Riverside Walkway

It was nearing 2:30 PM as Es, Touya and Mei were chasing the Union to the Restricted Ward. Fortunately he hasn't activated his Drive since his attack at the mall, but with the man in Phase Three, they had to act fast before he hits Phase Five or he won't be able to be treated for his condition.

"Kagari, what sort of Drive was the target using!?" Mei asked Touya, as she wasn't there to see what the Drive looked like or what it could do.

"He looked like he created some form of red, black and purple energy! It was like a whirlpool!" Touya described what he and Es saw.

"It also possessed a powerful force to the point that it feels like an earthquake and can blow up machinery!" Es added in. Based off the description, Mei was able identified the Drive in question.

"It's called 'Shadow Vortex'! It's a Drive that can create a vortex of dark energy which can than implode as a result! It's VERY powerful and dangerous, even more so than Bloodedge and Deadly Sign!" Mei explained to her friends as she and Unomaru have heard about this Drive in the past. Es and Touya were surprised that this Drive Ability was stronger than Touya's own Ability and even the late Sechs' Ability.

"We got to detain him before he hurts others or pushes himself into Phase Five!" Touya shouted to his friends as they were nearing the Restricted Ward.

"I better get Nu ready to go! We'll need the backup!" Mei said as she was about to get their fourth operative ready.

"Are you sure Mei? I don't know if Nu can handle this!" Touya asked, not wanting to risk having Nu shut down on them in the middle of fighting a dangerous Union like this and get killed as a result.

"Trust me, Nu will be okay. Besides, you might be surprised to see how far she's come!" Mei said with a strange sense of confidence, prompting a curious glance from Es and Touya as the Shrine Maiden sent out a signal to the Mitsurugi Agency HQ Base in the Ward on her phone.

Mitsurugi Agency HQ [Laboratory]

Inside the laboratory at the Mitsurugi Agency, a capsule opened up to reveal a girl resting in it. She has white hair, wears a white horned visor over her eyes and wore a black jumpsuit exposing her midriff with white armor covering her arms and legs. She is known as Es-N, which stood for Embryo Strorage New. She is actually the last of nine units that were created by the late Soichiro Unomaru.

Unomaru created the Es-N Units as a means of replacing Es, who was starting to gain her own free will and emotions through continued interaction with Touya and his friends, something that the insane scientist did not approve of. These Units attacked in a pack and would only obey Unomaru alone as they lacked the free will Es has. He managed to create eight units with the ninth one in development. However, one was defeated by Es, three were put down by Mei and Kuon while Sechs killed the last four. In spite of their hive mind and battle data, they were all destroyed, proving that a mindless hive mind could not match the human spirit.

The last ninth unit would be recovered and completed by Mei, who would then reprogram her to assist the Mitsurugi Agency to make up for the lack of manpower in Sleipnir. However, since the first eight Units are powered by Union Crystals, Mei substituted the Ninth Unit's power source with electricity and magic instead. While the unit isn't as efficient as her predecessors, she proved to be helpful even in short terms.

The ninth unit, which Mei named Nu, has become something of a familiar to the Shrine Maiden. Even though she's a robot, Touya and Mei clearly valued Nu as a comrade and not as a weapon. Recently, Nu began to act... differently. Even though Unomaru said that the Es-N Units had no free will of their own, Nu began to change somehow, both emotionally and mentally. This caught Mei by surprise, but she knew this would make Touya and Es VERY happy once they see her as she is now.

Once the capsule opened, the once blank visor glowed red, showing that Nu has been activated. She proceeded to get out of her resting capsule as green holographic sword like wings projected from her back and she picked up a large glowing green sword next to the capsule. This blade has made of samples from Mei's blood, which allowed Nu to control the flow of Seithr. Nu looked around the lab for a moment before understanding that Mei is signaling her for assistance.

"Mei... Amanohokosaka..." Nu slowly spoke as she understood the romote directions being sent to her through Mei's phone.

"Understood... I will... head over... immediately..." Nu continued as she spoke more human like, but broken sentences as she immediately began to make her out of the building into the ward to engage the Union in question.

Restricted Ward

It was around 3:00 PM when Es, Touya and Mei arrived at the Restricted Ward. They treaded cautiously as they didn't know where the Union in question was at. He could be anywhere, ready to strike at any moment.

Fortunately, the three of them knew this place like the back of their hand, so it wouldn't take too long to find him. Mei pulled out of few of her talismans, Es summoned Murukumo to her hand while removing it's sheath to reveal the blade and Touya used his Drive, Bloodedge, to create a copy of Es' weapon.

Because he's a copy of the Original Touya Kagari, he inherited his Drive, Bloodedge, which allows him to use own blood as a weapon, even able to form it into condensed forms like swords and axes. Unlike his past self, he is permanently at Phase 0 and is not at risk of losing his sanity, meaning he can use his Drive without worry.

"Stay on your guard guys, but let's try not to aggravate this guy just in case he can be reasoned with." Mei warned her friends with the two nodding in agreement. As they walked throught the ward, Mei noticed that her friends were slightly agitated as well. She couldn't blame them though, for if Mei had to guess, Es was probably going to tell Touya her feelings only for a near death explosion to occur. Hopefully when this Union is dealt with, they'll be able to finish what they were going say and not put it off again. If they do try to weasel out, Mei will see to it that they talk about it before the day is done herself.

After 20 minutes of searching, the three received a call on their phones respectively. Mei signaled Es and Touya to check their phones. Mei knew who the caller is, but the caller in question surprised Es and Touya.

"I have... located the... Union... should I... engage?" Nu responded through their phones.

"Do not engage yet Nu. Stay where you are, we'll be there soon." Mei replied as she and the others hung up.

"Mei, was that Nu?" Touya asked, surprised that her speech has become more human, even if it does sound broken.

"Yeah, surprised?" Mei said as she smirked.

"Y-yes. When did she start doing this? I thought the Es-N Units had no free will." Es questioned Mei as she was stunned, yet also elated, to know that Nu was developing her own free will, just like what she did before her.

"Sometime after Winter Break, she started to interact with me and some of the soldiers. Probably has to do with me reworking some of the components in her body or something else, but we'll discuss it later. For now, let's head over to where Nu is at." Mei said as she and the others headed over to the spot Nu and the Union are at.

10 Minutes Later...

After catching up with Nu, the three teens crouched near by their robotic ally.

"The Union... is in... distress..." Nu said, having observed the Union in question. While she continues to surprise the three with her growing emotional state, they know she's right.

"Let me speak with him first." Touya asked, wanting to talk to the guy first. Mei nodded, hoping that he'll be able to reason with him. Touya made sure to put his weapon away first, so he doesn't alarm the Union.

With that, Touya slowly walked up behind the Union, with the later turning around slowly, having calmed down from his outburst at the mall.

"W-who are you?" The man questioned nervously, his voice more calm and horse sounding.

"My name is Touya Kagari, I'm here to help you. Do you have a name?" Touya said in a gentle tone, trying to help out the man in question. On the side, Es, Mei and Nu watched patiently as Touya spoke with the Union.

"R-Ren... Ren Kaito..." The Union said. As Touya saw, he had black hair, gray eyes and wore a gray jacket. He wore a red shirt underneath the jacket and a pair of long dark blue pants with metal tipped gray shoes.

"What were you doing out there at the mall?" Touya asked calmly, hoping not to upset Ren.

"I-I kept hearing these weird voices, yelling at me to attack. I-I didn't mean to blow up those cars! I-I'm just tried of this bothering me! I was just trying to get rid of those voices!" Ren said. While he did attack, he was trying to silence the Union Crystals influence on himself. Suddenly the man grabbed his head as the voices came back in full force.

"R-run..." Ren said weakly to Touya. Touya was worried, for while he was still in Phase Three, he was going insane much faster than normal. This was just like with Akira during the Embryo Incident.

"RUNNNNNNNN!" Ren cried out one last time as he unleashed a Shadow Vortex at Touya as he didn't want to kill anyone. Touya dodged the attack and summoned Bloodedge into his hands. With that Es, Mei and Nu emerged from their hiding spots.

"Everyone, he's still in Phase Three! We can still save him!" Touya shouted to the others.

"Okay! Es, Nu! We must detain him as fast as we can!" Mei shouted out to Es and Nu.

"Understood... we will... capture and... save him..." Nu repeated the words Touy and Mei used as her response.

"Roger. We WILL save him! I swear upon this sword that we will succeed!" Es said with determination in her heart and voice. She will make sure that this Union's blood will not be spilled and put another burden on their souls.

To Be Continued...

Another chapter done! Sorry for those who were looking forward to the big kiss between Es and Touya, but it won't happen just yet. But yes, a new Union has come in. Ren Kaito is an Orginal Character made exclusively for this fanfic. I originally thought of him being similar to Ragna the Bloodedge appearance wise as I thought this up, but I didn't want a Ragna or Naoto Kurogane clone in this story. I'll think up of a bio for him in the next chapter. I did however make his dark themed powers different from Soul Eater into something else. Shadow Vortex's influence can be traced back to Hyde's Void Red Ability from Under Night In-Birth.

As for Nu's characterization in this fanfic; I thought it would be interesting if she developed beyond being a mere robot as I was inspired from a question I asked a Touya Kagari RP on tumblr. Nu will have some character development that will be expanded on later. For now, she's just developing some free will and is talking in broken sentences.

Stay tuned next time to see if Es, Touya, Mei and Nu will save Ren. See you than!

Update: Grammer and spell check.