Chapter 1 - Homecoming

Summer had now come and gone in the city of Metal Bey, the change to Autumn (a change that many appreciated compared to the sweltering heat they had been forced to endure) very evident in the now chill air that blew through the streets, the clouds that lingered in the sky all day and all night with still the brief moments of sunshine to make people happy, the flimsy tank tops that changed to long-sleeved shirts and sweaters in windows of local shops, and the green-yellow leaves on the trees now turning a beautiful golden-orange and red color.
While summer meant standing in front of fans in next to no clothing and endless days at the beach, Fall typically meant cozy sweaters and jumping into piles of leaves, with chill days and nights where hot chocolate could finally start to be a thing to desire again. Not that it never was but fall and winter were definitely more appropriate for such a drink.
However, Fall also meant that it would soon be time to head back to school, which at least 95% of children were unhappy and frustrated about, with audible groans to be heard every time an adult or anyone that was remotely excited for it brought it up. Because of this, the many children and teenagers that inhabited Metal Bey City were making the most of their last few days of summer vacation, being extra sure not to let it go to waste and to cross as many things off of their 'Summer Vacation Bucket Lists' as possible. One of those things, however, was definitely not going to be checked off for quite awhile, and it was one that a lot of people - children and adults alike - had been most eager to see.
The Bridge To The Future Tournament had never started back up again after it had been called to a stand-still by Director Tsubasa Otori, and so far there had been no further updates on what was happening with it. Many people were firmly convinced that Director Otori had simply decided that it wasn't worth the time even with how serious had been taken at first and that he decided to call the whole thing off even without the evidence of doing so, and so far no one had said anything to prove this theory wrong.
Tsubasa didn't blame them of course, since what was he to tell them after this long? No one could or would know the truth behind why he had stopped it in the first place, and even if he did decide to announce it to people, no one in their right, sane minds would actually believe it. He had thought about starting it back again within the last few weeks, but he knew that that would not be a very smart plan of action. He had actually planned for the tournament to be over by this time, with Japan's representatives chosen and sent off, but that had been greatly compromised by the whole Alcorin incident. Besides, starting it up so close to the start of the school year wouldn't be doing the kids that participated any favors - he respected that they needed their education since Beyblade would not take them far forever. So he had simply decided to not bother, and got on with all regular business at the WBBA.
The younger bladers of whom he was acquainted and friends with did not seem to mind all too much even if they were a little disappointed, and reassured him and each other that there was always next year or whenever it was given a chance. He wasn't too sure how the ex-DNA bladers were though, since they were always a mystery and barely anybody ever saw them. They typically seemed to stay at the 'dorms' provided in the Metal Bey Stadium, with training sessions here and there, but otherwise no other social or outside contact. Zyro supposedly saw Kira every now and then, but that was about as much as he'd heard, aside from the rest of that team supposedly seen to be wandering around the city from time to time. Whether Kira was back with them or not was also a mystery yet to be discovered to him, since Zyro - the only one who ever saw the Bahamoote Blader - never really said anything about it. For all they knew he may not be very sure himself, since Kira was a pretty hostile and solitary person who was never too keen to getting close to people, even with his slight affection that he may have towards Zyro (or so Ren and Shinobu sometimes implied at least). As for the Ifraid Blader himself, Tsubasa knew that it was probably about time that he start heading down towards the train station on the outskirts of the city to see him off with the others. Zyro was scheduled to catch the train back to Omitama that afternoon, the town that was closest to his hometown that actually had a train station, since the school year was about to start up again and he knew he had to get back there to start it, even with as much as he wanted to stay in Metal Bey City. All of them had understood this and had decided to work around their afternoon to see him off until whenever he would be able to return - which may very well not be until next summer for all they knew, so it would be a good idea to head down for him. Tsubasa smiled softly from where he sat at his desk, gently pulling his eyes away from the wall of windows on his right, and picked up the receiver of the phone at the corner of his desk. He dialed several numbers in, listening to the beeping sound that each one made as he pressed them, and then waited patiently for someone on the other end to pick up.
"Hello, Director." Greeted the cheery voice of Tamako, his secretary, on the other end of the line.
"Tamako, I'm going on my break." Tsubasa explained to the woman, "I'll be gone for about at hour, so would you please handle all incoming correspondence while I'm gone?"
"Of course, Director." Tamako replied happily.
"Thank you." Tsubasa then hung up the phone and stood up from his seat, grabbing his coat off of the coat rack in the corner as he made his way out of the sliding glass doors that lead to his office...

Earlier that day Zyro had gotten out of bed at the B-Pit and eaten breakfast fairly early before anyone else had woken up, having set his alarm clock on his phone ahead of time in his plan to get together all he needed for the trip home and to make a few select stops that he wanted to go to before he left for the school year. After that he had gone back to the spare room that he was currently inhabiting and retrieved his travelling pack from the closet, proceeding to stuff various things that he had brought with him to Metal Bey (and several things that he had obtained there) into it neatly so that he would have enough room. He packed what clothes he had in the room into his bag, and figured that the rest were more than likely in the wash, but he could deal with those later after he was done running around.
He left his backpack in his room on the bed before heading back down to the kitchen and writing up a quick note to Madoka (mainly about that he had gone out for awhile to do some things and that he would be back within a few hours) which he left on the table. Then he went down the two stories of the building to the front doors of the shop, grabbing a spare set of keys that Madoka kept behind the front desk to unlock the doors and then lock them again, and looked up at the building briefly once he stood out on the sidewalk, the shadows of the morning looming over him while the ever-present chill in the air nipped at the edges of his skin.
He was going to miss this place when he went back. It had become like a second home to him, with Madoka's kindness and hospitality being something that he was eternally grateful for. She had told him a couple days ago that he was always welcome back whenever he returned to Metal Bey, and he thanked for it. Even still, he really didn't think he'd be returning anytime soon.
Maybe Winter or Spring Break if he was given the time and chance, but even he knew he might not be back until next summer. Even with that fact, he didn't let it get him down. It wasn't like he was going away forever, so there wasn't too much need to worry - he'd definitely be coming back; he'd made too many friends and memories here not too.
Zyro smiled and laughed softly to himself, and then turned away and made his way off down the sidewalk so that he could get done what he wanted too.
First he went around and went shopping for some school supplies that he knew he would need (even though the shelves were mostly picked clean, but it wasn't like he couldn't get whatever else he needed in his hometown anyway), and get a couple of new clothes of which he had delayed getting until now. He could always get some clothes from the few shops back home, but then he would probably be wearing the exact same outfit as 96% of the boys at school were, so with this way there was at least some diversity.
After that, he met up with Ren and Shinobu at a Starbucks near the center of town, where he had lunch with the two of them and bickered over the starting of the school year, which all three of them were either excited about or loathed - there was basically no in between.
After that they had gone to visit Benkei at Bull Burger and assure that he would be there later for Zyro's departure, and the raven then left them there as he raced off to the hospital. He had been hoping to maybe see Kira somewhere along his travels, but the Bahamoote Blader was an (supposedly) indirect no-show. Zyro decided not to bother trying to find him either since Kira was very evasive of people even when he wasn't trying to be.
Pushing the thought of the other boy from his mind, Zyro got to the local hospital within a good 20 minutes from Bull Burger, and signed in at registration for permission to see the redhead that had been a patient there for the last month and a few days.
The psychiatric ward was never a welcome place, no matter how many times he went there, but Zyro did his best to block out the rest of the screams and moans and odd looks from other patients as he made his way to Gingka's room, which wasn't too far down the first hall. Zyro knocked on the wide open door frame, telling Gingka that someone was there, before he peered into the room, seeing the redhead in question up and standing (actually standing now) over by the window and seeming to close it where it had originally been open.
Gingka appeared to jump slightly at the sound of the knock on the door frame - something that all of them had grown accustomed too from him - before he turned around to look at the door. His slight deer-in-headlights look faded almost immediately as he saw the young blader in the doorway, and a warm smile made its way onto his face.

"Oh, hey Zyro." He greeted.
"Hey." Zyro greeted in turn, walking into the room a little ways, "Sorry, I just came to visit for a bit, if that's okay? We're you doing something?"
Gingka shook his head. "No, just closing the window." He said, "It's a little cold to have it open..."
"Yeah, I guess so." Zyro said with a rub of the back of his head. Gingka just smiled before making his way back across the small room, holding into the railing of the second bed briefly for support.
After about a month of physical therapy, Gingka had finally managed to regain the strength in his legs to stand and walk around, and still took multiple sessions each week to help improve him on it. Even so, his movements were stiff, and he had trouble getting up and down stairs (which was being worked on), and he could just barely do a fast walk down the hallway, and that was with assistance. Not to mention that it could definitely tire him out easily, especially after long periods of time with no rest periods. It was still a work in progress, but he was getting better, even it was still going to be awhile before he was physically ready to leave the hospital.
Being mentally and emotionally ready to leave, however, was another story.
After making his way over to the side of the room, Gingka carefully sat down on the side of his bed, the thin sheet that he typically wore over his legs when laying down pulled up nicely in an organized way.
Zyro wasn't too sure if that was the nurses or the man himself, since it was noted that Gingka had a bit of an unconscious habit to organize things every now and then. A trauma thing, seemingly, but for what reason was unknown.
He saw Gingka briefly gesture to the bare bed that lay opposite to him, and Zyro quickly got the message, moving over to it and sitting down on the edge of it himself, directly across from the Legendary Blader. He then sat the few bags that he had with him down at the foot of it.
"So, you're heading back to town today, huh?" The redhead asked rhetorically once the Ifraid Blader settled himself, and the raven nodded.
"Yeah, well, I can't really stay here all the time." Zyro said sheepishly, "Wish I could though... I wanted to come say goodbye to you before I go, though, since I know you won't be able to be there."
Gingka chuckled softly. "Well, thanks." Gingka said gratefully, a soft look in his eyes, "That means a lot... I'd be there if I could be, but you know how the doctors are up here."
Zyro smiled a little nervously at that.
As friendly as the doctors could be up in the psyche ward, they were still a little scary when it came to dealing with patients, especially ones marked down as violent, like Gingka was still considered as. He didn't really see the reason in that, though, since Gingka would never dare hurt anyone as long as he could help it. And the redhead was actually terrified of doing so now, as was evidently so. The 'violent' part was reserved for the times when he actually freaked out, which were now few and far between (so they'd been told).
"Don't worry about it." Zyro said dismissively, "You need to stay here and keep getting better, anyway!"
To that, Gingka laughed softly. "Don't I know..." He said with a sigh and a playful role of his eyes, "Madoka's been giving me that enough as it is... And Minoru's practically been fussing over me every spare chance he gets... He told me the other day he was going to be there to see you off. I hope that's true?"
"Yeah, he said he would be." Zyro answered, "He's been a lot friendlier around us recently, so I'm pretty sure he'll show up. I still don't know where he goes in his spare time, though, other than here..."
"Yeah..." Gingka said with a soft sigh and a smile, "I don't know either, but he seems to take care of himself just fine, so I don't worry too much about it. But it's good to hear that he isn't hiding from you guys anymore. For the most part, anyway..."
"He's actually pretty fun to be around!" Zyro said with a laugh, "The other day he taught me and Maru how to tie six different knots."
"Well, he seems to be pretty resourceful in that way." Gingka said with a smile, a distant look of admiration and pride in his eyes that was fairly easy to see, "It's good for him, to be opening up with you guys like he is."
"Well, yeah, but..." Zyro started, adverting his eyes slightly before looking back at the redhead, "I've never seen him here, before... None of the others ever have either."
Gingka smiled somberly and nodded. "I know..." He said, "Madoka's mentioned that before, too. He knows you guys don't mind him being around, but... I think it's just a matter of that he minds if he's around. He's not the most confident person, as I'm sure you've seen."
Zyro nodded, rubbing the back of his neck with a sheepish smile.
"Yeah, I know." The raven said reassuringly, before his expression faltered.

God, he always hated this turn in the conversation whenever they all came to visit, and he knew Gingka didn't like it either.
He briefly considered not going to that subject, and he would have gladly listened to that part of his brain had his slightly more logical side not been more convincing. They all hated asking by now, but even Dr. Amori had said that t was a good idea to always ask. Supposedly give him 'motivation' for it, so he'd put it.
The redhead looked at him expectantly for a few seconds, and his expression slowly became one of soft concern.
"Yes?" He questioned flatly, as if he knew what Zyro wanted to say. But of course he did. He always did at this point.
"Well..." The Ifraid Blader said slowly, "I know this is a little sudden, but... how have you... been doing, exactly?"
Almost immediately did Gingka look away, although he didn't physically turn his head to do so. He knew what Zyro meant, he didn't have to ask. By now, he never did.
He was doing well in his physical therapy, and that was clear - none of them had a problem talking about that at any time of the day. But it was the matter of his psychological therapy that was not mentioned lightly, and something that Gingka wasn't ever comfortable mentioning. He would talk about it, but all of them would be damned if he were actually okay with it.
"Fine, I guess..." He said, evidently more detached than he had been, "... The doctors would say otherwise, though..."
"Okay..." Zyro said awkwardly, suddenly wishing that he hadn't decided to ask that damned question, "W-why's that..."
"Because I never say anything..." Gingka answered flatly, "... I don't talk when I'm there... And if I do then nothing ever makes sense to them."
Zyro furrowed his eyebrows lightly, but didn't say anything to that. He knew just as well as everyone else did that Gingka wasn't doing so well in his (psychological) therapy sessions, as they had been told numerous times by Dr. Amori in their visits. He never spoke to the therapist about what was wrong, never spoke to them about what was wrong, and nobody had any idea how to help him because of it. Whether or not he spoke to Minoru about it was something that none of them had ever really gotten out of either of them, which they supposed was reasonable. If the younger twin did know anything then it was without a doubt that Minoru was just respecting his brother's privacy, as he rightfully should.
The only real thing that he had ever said to them was about seeing 'him', hearing 'his' voice, with the name of 'Mizarice' mentioned sparsely. He never did say who 'Mizarice' was, claiming that they wouldn't believe him no matter how much they insisted that they would.
Even so, he never said a thing.
"...You shouldn't be bothered with my problems, it's not fair to you..." Gingka said softly, shaking his head, "It's clear you don't want to hear it anyway."
"No, no!" Zyro said hurriedly, jumping slightly where he sat, "I-it's fine, really! I didn't mean it like that. Honest..." For a moment Gingka finally looked at him again, his face unreadable, blank but for the sober emotions that were still clearly there but unable to be placed. Then he looked away again, looking slightly agitated by the way his eyebrows were brought together and how the muscles directly underneath his eye seemed to twitch unconsciously, an uncomfortable aura practically visible around him.
It wasn't anything new, though. Gingka got like this sometimes, which could be caused by any number of things. Typically, it was a sign that he should maybe be left alone for awhile.
Zyro had noticed until right then how quiet the room really was.
"Umm..." He started softly, standing up slowly from his seat, "I... I should probably go now.. I've only got an hour or so before I have to be at the train station." That was a guilty lie; he didn't have to leave for at least another two and a half hours, but whether or not Gingka could tell he didn't know, "It was good seeing you, Gingka. I'll see you some other time, when I'm not busy with school, okay?"

Slowly he made off towards the door, feeling that prickling unease of uncomfortable awkwardness pulling at his skin as he made his way to leave, but a voice from behind stopped him. A soft voice, insecure, shaking. Nothing like the man he had originally known from so long ago.
"Zyro?..." Gingka questioned so softly, voice just barely above a whisper, that Zyro had to strain his ears to hear. The raven stopped and looked over his shoulder briefly, seeing Gingka doing the same. The redhead's eyes were partially hidden by his hair, but he could still see the silent apology and forlorn concern in their brightly dull surfaces.
"Y-yeah?" He asked, and cursed the stutter in his voice.
Gingka sat perfectly still for a few moments, before letting out a soft breath of exhaustion. "Be good, okay?"
Zyro stared at the redhead for a moment in confused surprise, but brushed it aside all the same with a bright grin. "Hey, don't worry about it!" The Ifraid Blader said reassuringly, "I'll be fine! And I'll be sure to stay in touch, too."
Gingka nodded slightly and gave a poor attempt at a smile, but Zyro knew he meant it to be genuine. With one last bright smile - something that he knew Gingka liked seeing from most of them more often than not - Zyro turned and left from the room, leaving Gingka alone with nothing but the sound of the call bells and faint bickering from outside.
The redhead slowly looked away from the door once he was sure that Zyro had left, and turned his golden-brown eyes to look down at his knees. He was hunched forward slightly, his hands placed together in his lap, his bangs - of which he rarely cut - falling over his eyes.
Of course he had scared Zyro away... He always managed that with all of them...

Your fault your fault

He raised his hands up and put them on either side of his head just above his ears, squeezing his eyes shut as he curled in on himself, biting the inside of his lip to stop himself from crying, to stop himself from screaming, from breaking down, from making them all think that there was something wrong with him.

But there is

In the silence, he could hear that voice coming back again. And he didn't like it...

That time of the day that all of them had been expecting had finally arrived, the large clock posted outside of the station reading 3:10pm - exactly 20 minutes before Zyro's train home was scheduled to arrive to pick up its passengers and head along its way.
"Looks like we're making pretty good time." Madoka said cheerfully as she eyed the digital clock built into the dashboard of taxi, and then looked out her window at the outdoor station, "Doesn't look like too many people are here yet, either..."
"Hey, there's Ren and Shinobu!" Maru exclaimed happily all of a sudden, leaning over her teacher's lap as much as her seat belt would allow her, pointing her small finger out towards the station through the glass.
Madoka looked towards where she was pointing, squinting the slightest bit in forced strain, before softening her expression again with enlightenment.
"Oh yeah, I see them now!" She said, "Looks like Tsubasa and Minoru are here too. Guess they got here earlier." The brunette, still smiling, looked over across the seat to Zyro, noticing how quiet he was being.
The raven had been sitting there with his shoulders slightly hunched and a distant look in his eyes for nearly the whole ride, and Madoka knew that - unless something else was weighing on his mind at the moment - this was probably a bit of a big thing for him. Of course he was excited to head back home and see his parents after the whole summer - he had expressed that to them clearly earlier in the day - but it was also clear that he was sad to go.
That was understandable; Zyro had really grown to become a part of Metal Bey City, just as the rest of them were. Over the summer he had become an ally, a friend, family even, if her and Maru had anything to say of it.
They were sad to see him go as well, but they knew he'd be back. If they knew Zyro at all by this point they knew that he wouldn't stay away forever.
"You okay, Zyro?" She asked regardless of her concluded thoughts, her eyebrows knitted together in concern, although her soft smile remained.
Zyro tensed a moment and immediately looked towards the woman a child away from him, as though snapped out of some deep thought. It seemed to take a few seconds for the questioned registered, but soon enough the Ifraid Blader smiled and nodded.
"Y-yeah, I'm good." He said, though not with the usual enthusiasm that typically made up his personality. It had still been an ever-present trait even after the Alcorin situation, no matter how toned down it sometimes was, but Madoka could see it in his eyes that he wasn't so sure.
"Nervous?" She asked, tilting her head to the side a bit.
"Yeah, you could say that..." The raven replied softly with an off-hand rub of the back of his neck.
The brunette just smiled warmly and nodded her head. "Don't worry about it, it'll be fine." She said consolingly, "I'm sure your parents will be glad to see you after so long. And you know you can always call and send letters whenever you want! It's not like we're just going to cut off all contact with you the moment you round the corner of the country-side." Zyro laughed softly at that, and Madoka felt her heart smile at that. "And you can always come back whenever you want." The brunette added, "We typically always have a few spare rooms open."
Zyro looked at her for a moment, glanced at Maru - who was smiling cheerfully at him in the reassurance that her teacher was telling the truth - briefly, and then looked back at brunette with a reassured smile, although it seemed a slightly uncertain one.
"Okay." He said, nodding, "Yeah, sure!"
Madoka smiled back, while Maru gave a 'Yay~!' of approval.
God, these kids would probably be the death of her one day, but she'd been lying if she said she didn't love them.

The three of them then got out of the cab, Madoka paying the driver the requested amount, and walked over towards the station, soon met part-way by the four who were already there.
"Oh good, I thought you guys were going to decide to make a break for it, you were in there for awhile." Tsubasa said lightheartedly, and Madoka rolled her eyes at him.
"If we were going too, we probably wouldn't have been in there as long as we were." She pointed out, before raising an eyebrow at the silverette, "When did you guys get here, by the way?"
"Like 20-something minutes ago or something like that." Ren answered her with a shrug of her shoulders, "This guy, though," She gestured to Minoru who a little off to the side, "was here before any of us were even thinking about it!"
Madoka looked towards the blue-haired man and raised an eyebrow. "And that would be how early?" She questioned.
"Uhhh..." Minoru started awkwardly, not meeting her eyes, "At about 1:30?... Maybe a little earlier?"
"That's, like, two hours ahead of schedule..." Zyro speculated with a sweat-drop that was shared by everyone else, "Why would you need to be here that early?"
Minoru brought a hand up and scratched his cheek gently, avoiding eye contact through slight embarrassment.
"Well..." He started, "To be honest, I didn't know exactly what time you said you would be leaving, but I did know that it was going to be some time between two-o-clock and four, so I got here at about 1:30 or so, and I've been here for the last two hours."
"You know, you could've just come over and asked." Madoka said lightheartedly.
"Yeah, but I didn't know if you were already on the way or not, so I just decided to wait here instead of heading all the way back down into town. And by the time I even thought of it, I was already sort of here, so..."
Maru tilted her head, a confused look on her face. "Can't you teleport, though?" She asked curiously.
Minoru flushed slightly. "Well, yeah, but..."
"Okay, okay!" Madoka cut in, "Let's just drop it for now, we're all here, so how or when we got here doesn't really matter. Let's just leave it that."
Sheepishly, all of them dropped the subject. It took at least ten more minutes before Benkei and the Unabara brothers finally showed up, huffing and panting from having run all the way there, and leaving them with only five minutes to spare before Zyro's train arrived.
"You actually ran here?" Madoka asked incredulously once the three had stopped in front of the rest of them, sweat-soaked and tired.
"Of course we did!" Benkei bellowed, giving them a 'of course we did' stance, "These two were with me, so I figured it be good for their training!..." Neither of the Unabara brothers said anything to this; Kite just put out the 'OK' sign with his fingers, while Eight nearly collapsed face-first onto the smooth pavement beneath them.
"Of course you did..." Tsubasa muttered with a soft sigh, knowing that it was only typical of Benkei.
"That's a little excessive, don't you think?" Minoru questioned, eyebrows raised high with a concerned look on his face for all three of the newly arrived friends.
"He doesn't think so." Ren said to him, gesturing to the Manager, "By this point, we don't even bother to question it, and I would wisely say that you shouldn't bother either."
"He's like that all the time." Zyro said in further confirmation, "It's almost kinda scary..."
"Amen to that." Shinobu joined in, scooting over next to Zyro.
Minoru just sweat-dropped slightly, choosing to believe the teenagers around him. After all, he had seen enough of Benkei in the past little while to know that it was well to believe it.

All of them fell silent as they heard the loud whistle of the nearing train go off, all bodies turning towards the tracks to see the large metal contraption quickly coming towards the station, bearing more passengers to be dropped off.
"Well, there's your ride, Zyro." Tsubasa said unnecessarily, amber eyes straying over to the large clock, "They make good time, at least."
"Yeah, I guess..." Zyro said softly, absent-mindedly adjusting his one-arm hold on his backpack. His quietness did not go unnoticed by many, receiving several glances from the group of friends that surrounded him.
Minoru's was one of several who lingered, golden-brown eyes. so similar to his brother's, studying the boy side-long at an almost horizontal angle. His eyes narrowed slightly as he gazed at the Ifraid Blader, a calm look on contemplation on his face.
"Did you go to see Gingka earlier?" He asked, drawing Zyro's attention.
The raven was taken aback by the sudden question, and had trouble processing what exactly he had been asked. "Huh?" He asked, a questioning expression on his face as he looked up towards the slightly taller male.
"Did you see Gingka earlier?" Minoru repeated, calmly making eye contact.
"Well, yeah, of course I did..." Zyro said quietly, looking back towards the tracks uneasily, "Why?..."
Minoru seemed like he wanted to say something, but also seemed to consider it for a few brief moments before deciding against it and looked back towards the tracks as the train they were all waiting for slowly slid forward into a stop. "Just wondering..."
This wasn't exactly the place to talk about it, anyway, but he knew how Zyro probably felt. He could just be making assumptions, of course, but in the sort of 'spiritual' connection that they had always unconsciously had, he knew he was right. Beyond that, he was sure that a lot of them knew how he felt even if they weren't aware of it.
Being around Gingka these days was never really a 'bad' thing, of course not. They were always all happy to see him and be around him and talk with him, because they were all friends and relatives and the like, and they cared about it. It would also undoubtedly get boring up there in the psychiatric ward, where people were afraid to touch you or say the wrong thing.
But although that was the case, there was also the ever lingering fact that people - no matter who they were - tended to get unsettled around him, especially recently. Mainly upon bringing up the topic of how his mental health was fairing, but that was besides the point.
He wasn't too detailed upon the experiences of the others around him, but Minoru had seen a small part of what Gingka was capable of once for himself, and that had been reason enough. He had never thought before then that Gingka could be so scared of that mirror...
He had left the hospital that day feeling less than pleasant under his skin, for more reasons than one. But he kept that to himself, since he knew it may make the raven beside him feel less than comfortable, and he really didn't need that when he was about to make his ride home.
"Well, that's my cue, I guess." The Ifraid Blader announced with a sigh, looking at the awaiting train doors with an excited apprehension.
"You better call us Zyro!" Ren said firmly with hands on her hips, "Because we'll be calling you!"
"Hey, I said I would, didn't I?" Zyro reassured her with a sweat-drop.
"Just, be safe, Zyro." Madoka said with a sweat-drop of her own, "And have a good trip."
"And remember to train while you're down south, too!" Benkei said enthusiastically.
"I think Grade 11 math homework is going to be as much training as he needs, Benkei..." Tsubasa pointed out quietly, although the purple-haired man didn't seem to hear him.

Zyro flashed all of them that grin that wasn't seen as often these days as they had been previously, and then turned around and hurried over to the waiting train doors.
"Bye, Zyro!" Maru called, and her call was echoed by the others as well, various waves heading off in his direction.
It was hardly a few moments after Zyro entered the train that the metal doors closed behind him, and the high pitch of the train whistle shouted off into the air in its signature call. As soon as he was inside, the raven immediately made a direct right and looked out the closest window he could get too, dropping his backpack onto the empty seat next to him and looking out at his friends through the fiber glass. Their voices were muffled from the outside, but they still reached his ears nonetheless, their friendly faces doing all the speaking that they themselves could never do.
"Bye." Zyro said softly even though they could not hear him, raising his own hand shyly and waving off in response to them, sky blue eyes following the moving figures of his friends (family) as the train gave a jolt before slowly starting forward along the tracks, "Bye..."
He followed their faces with his eyes, watched as they grew smaller and smaller, their friendly and heartfelt expressions never wavering and sticking behind his eyelids like glue. He kept waving and they kept waving for as long as they were all in sight of each other, even after their individual voices could no longer be heard, willing the moment to last for as long as could be possible. Even after the train rounded the bend and they were gone from his sight, Zyro didn't stop looking out the window for a good few minutes, half staring out at the landscape and view before him, and half staring at his own vague reflection on the window pane. He had always known he'd be leaving Metal Bey City, ever since he had first arrived. But he had never really pictured what the goodbye would be like before now.
It took him awhile before he finally turned away and sat down properly on his seat, facing the inside of the train where reality was, where all the other passengers in there were reading newspapers or books, listening to music, doing crosswords, playing video games.
Man, was he suddenly thankful again that Madoka had gotten him that Word Scrabble to do on the way home. Granted he was terrible at those things, but it would be able to keep him busy nonetheless. It was only then that Zyro let out a breath that he hadn't realized he'd been holding, a sense of relief and calm coming over him at last.
The stories he was going to be able to tell his parents when he got home... They would be so blown away!
Smiling at the thought, Zyro reached over with anticipation to his bag to seek out that word puzzle...

The rhythmic 'tap...tap...' of Director Hideyoshi's finely polished dress shoe on the metal of the floor was a muffled sound in the large room compared to the seemingly endless click-clacking of hundreds of keyboards, and the 'ting'ing of the alerts and 'swishing' of various holographic files and pages opening on translucent screens.
Teal eyes behind square, wire-rimmed spectacles carefully and expertly scanned the room, flicking to and fro every screen that he could see, assuring for himself that all that needed to be accomplished was being done. But of course that was the case, since he expected nothing less from this team - one of just many in his network. He stood there, behind all of their backs, watching and observing trained eyes.
A higher presence among a world full of ordinary mortals.
The tapping of his shoe was not impatient, though, as the inexperienced person might expect. It was steady, slow, as though he were tapping to an unseen beat of music in 4/4 time, without the other beats involved. To others, watching all of these things happen as slowly, but steadily, as they were would be nerve-grating, irritating, the cause of much frustration and perhaps constant pacing. But not to him. After all, he had learned to be a patient man after all of these years, and he knew how to wait for things. Although, he would be inclined to admit that he was more than apprehensive for the soon-to-be return of their most valued research project.
He had waited many long years for such a thing to occur, for any sign of that beloved child that they had never been able to get their hands on, and his patience had paid off, as it typically did. Even after all others had claimed that such a miracle could never occur, he had waited. And now today was the day that they had all been secretly anticipating for the last fifteen years.
He gave a satisfied smirk at that thought, and then looked with pride down to his right and gazed at the boy that sat there beside him, collapsed against the chair that had been placed there for his use. Hideyoshi had had the boy accompany him for awhile that day, deciding that, considering today was such a special occasion, he should take him out around the facility, or at least for as much as he could manage. As frail as he was, it would not hurt him to walk around the place for awhile. That much was certain, if his frequent visits downstairs were anything to go by. And, as he usually did, he simply sat there, as silent as he always was and with that ever vacant expression of indifference and absent thought.
The Director said nothing to him, however, and looked back to the rest of the room after a few moments.
"Afternoon, Director." Came that sharp, solid female voice that he recognized so well, the sophisticated clacking of heels on metal resounding in his ears.
Giving his signature smug - but not too smug, mind you - smile, Hideyoshi turned at the rest and looked over his shoulder at the slender woman who came up to stand beside him, that naturally cold air of her's a breath of fresh air.
"Good afternoon to you as well, Naomi." The man said pleasantly, "I take it your day has been well?"
"With as much excitement as has been going on, I'd say so." The brunette replied, although there was hardly any warmth in her voice, "I haven't been to a single lab in the last week where at least a few people aren't giddy from all of this."
Hideyoshi chuckled softly. "But of course!" He said, "I certainly can't blame them. This is something that we've been hoping for for as long as I can possibly remember. And to think, we could have possibly have found him years ago if we had really considered anything... But we've found him now, and that is what counts."
"Of course." Naomi agreed with a curt nod, "But even though we have found him, there is still the matter of dealing with the repercussions and consequences that this could bring, legal ot not. After all, we can't fully prove that he's ours without sounding like lunatics, and the lawsuits would most definitely range in brutality, no matter if we are the main center of the Japanese government or not."
Hideyoshi just nodded. "Don't worry, I've taken expert time into planning everything out." He reassured her, "As many friends as Director Otori has, we are still all powerful and have far more claims than he could ever have. I'll have him on his knees before the weekend starts."
Naomi gazed at him through her peripheral for a few seconds, as though contemplating and consulting on things that were private to only her, and then looked away once more.
As clever and sly as the Director was, she had known him in many past years. And his ruthlessness - or recklessness - could know no bounds when it was truly stirred up. She thought about reminding him about the very beginning, where their ploy had only worked because they had claimed that child as stillborn, and had managed to dig up enough dirt on that couple to rule them down as unfit to keep that child for burial even after it was 'dead'. And the only reason that no one could actually fight them on it was that they had enough evidence of their past felonies to keep them quiet and broken down so as to never speak a word. Not to mention that neither of them had had no family, no friends, no legal figures to back them up, and that had been pure luck on their part by that point.
But Naomi said nothing of this. She knew better than to talk against the Director when he was as in a good mood as he was now.

Suddenly, the two of them heard the chair beside the Director shift and scrape against the metal tile slightly, causing both of them to look over at the boy that had been with the Director for a good part of the day. He was standing now, gripping the railing beside him with both hands to steady himself as he pushed/pulled himself up out of his sitting position.
"Ah yes, I suppose you must be quite tired, Kuro." Director Hideyoshi said with an acknowledging nod, "You're free to head back to your room if you like. I'll send someone to check on you later, once we're done here."
Absently, the boy just nodded, before gently pushing himself away from the railing and walking past the two adults, heading slowly for the door, monochromatic hair - ridiculously and unnecessarily long - following along behind him on the floor.
"Have a good rest of your day, Kuro." Naomi said politely, though her voice was hard and comfortless. As expected, Kuro did not respond in any way - he never had liked her that much.
Director Hideyoshi's teal eyes followed after the boy for a few moments, watching him steadily as he made his way to the door that opened for him, and then looked away again once he disappeared back through it.
Smiling to himself, Hideyoshi reflected on all of the years that they had cared for him, thinking back on all the times that he had spent with that boy, sometimes thinking only of their lost subject while in his presence.
Not that he didn't care, because he did. But it was still a wonder to think back on it all, and he marveled. To think that they had always looked so much alike...