There was no doubt as to where the kid would've gone, just disbelief that he would've even attempted to make it there on his own. Usagi's home was several kilometers away - that a child would consider walking that distance alone and in the dark made Helios question their confidence in his whereabouts, but with Midori backing him up about how desperate he was to stay with Usagi, they had no other options for where the kid would have willingly attempted to go. Mamoru's earlier aggravation surfaced yet again – if he could use his powers to locate Mamorin there would be no questions, just a recovery operation; however, he did not know how to recognize the kid's glow, even if his headache would let him try psylocation again. Helios went ahead, teleporting to Usagi's to fly back to their location, keeping an eye and ear out for anything suspicious; as soon as he disappeared they transformed and, once outfitted in their dark grey Kings uniforms, they jumped out of the window, their capes slowing their descent where it mattered, and hit the ground running.

Midori was openly furious, but didn't say anything as they ran; Mamoru was tempted to tell him to stay at the mansion as means of not scaring the kid when they found them as much as providing them someone at their base in case they were wrong and Rin was just hiding somewhere else, but Kobai's silver eyes were staring through his blue mask at the brunet and Mamoru let it go, trusting Kobai to have done something differently if he thought Midori couldn't handle himself.

They were past the mansion's driveway and running down the mostly empty road back towards the city, searching the road ahead and shadows near the road for any sign of the missing child, and despite his annoyance at Rin for causing them such a problem again, he couldn't help but worry about him.

"Why does he want to stay with Usagi-chan so badly?" Hanada asked as they ran, green eyes quizzical behind the green mask.

"I don't know," Mamoru answered honestly, his voice raised slightly to be heard over the wind. "He never explains – he just insists he wants to stay with her!"

"And she has no knowledge of a connection to him?" Kobai asked.

"None that she can recall," Mamoru replied, looking back at him.

Kobai hummed thoughtfully at his response; "Maybe it has something to do with the Moon Kingdom?" he offered after a pause, "Something from Usagi's past as Serenity that she might not remember yet? Maybe Diana and Elysion weren't the only problems the Moon Kingdom had, but now that they're out of the way –"

"They're able to resurface and take center stage," Hanada finished pointedly, turning his attention back to Mamoru. "Those visions of destruction – could they have been from the Moon Kingdom?"

Mamoru considered, but shook his head, "I don't know – it didn't seem like it, but I've never been to the Moon Kingdom so I can't know for sure." He didn't really know how to feel about the suggestion one way or another – there was still no way of knowing, but even the idea turned his stomach with worry over Usagi; if Rin were related to her and wanting to find her, was it for help from the Silver Crystal? Were the enemies chasing him after him for being Moon Royalty, and if they find Usako, would they change their target to her for being heir?

He wanted to contact her, to make sure she was okay, to see if Rin were there or if she had seen anything odd lately – again he cursed her lack of communicator, his nerves calmed only by the knowledge that Helios would get them if something had happened. … Assuming Helios could get back to them if something had happened –

"THERE!" Hanada pointed, the cry of alarm making hairs stand on the back of Mamoru's neck; he skidded to follow the direction indicated by North King's white glove, and in that change of direction Midori and Kobai quickly outpaced them, using their momentum to carry them forward and off the road, heading for the sleek flying form of the demon-woman they had faced on Saturday. Or, rather, a demon woman – this one was different from the blue-and-blonde version he had encountered the other day; while still covered in short fur and sporting some sort of feathered head-dress and collared ensemble, her colors were red and maroon, her long brown hair curly as opposed to the blonde's straight locks.

"Looks like playtime's over, Little Red!" she teased, her wasp-like wings flitting to take her out of East and West King's paths effortlessly. From a higher vantage point above the grocery store's parking lot she raised one hand and a blood-hued orb formed and shot outward from her palm, streaking towards the cowering child cornered by the walls of the storefront –

At once the creature jerked, her ankle caught by the icy ends of a whip, and the red orb popped as a rose slid neatly through it. His boots slid on tiny pebbles as Cardinal King moved to cover the kid, his arms outstretched just in case the rose hadn't worked, but as the bubble popped and the thorned flower burst into flames, he dug his heels in and stopped. Mamoru's cape appeared at his shoulders, falling to the ground to effectively hide Mamorin from the creature's sight, and he summoned another rose. "It's going to be okay, Rin," he stated boldly over his shoulder, the kid's soft crying sounds barely audible over the sounds of the fight in front of him.

North's whip had sublimated, but not before East had slugged the creature; she had hit the ground but recovered quickly, getting airborne again before Kobai could pin her with his scimitar. "Boys, boys, boys!" the red creature chided as she shot out of reach, "This isn't necessary - just hand over the little redhead and I'll be out of your hair – " She grinned and flipped her hair only for bursts of flame to erupt from the motion, flames that she spread with a flick of her wrists, flames that writhed like snakes as they shot through the air towards them.

Mamoru turned and knelt to grab the kid, holding him tightly and trusting his cape to handle most of the damage; heat warmed the back of his head, flames licked his back, but it wasn't so bad overall. The moment he felt it back off he tightened his hold to be supportive and took off with a jump, keeping Rin close as he moved for a more defendable position: the rooftop. Helios always preferred the high ground. They landed and he put Rin down, ready to turn and fire another rose or rush in with his sword to help, but as he stepped away, Rin took his gloved hand, the pressure so light that it would've been easy to brush away but so unexpected that Mamoru could not ignore it.

Blue eyes met red, his anxiety towards the unknown making every twitch of the young boy stand out, but the furrowed brows, wet cheeks, and quivering lips spoke only of fear, until a sudden flash of movement behind the kid sent his reflexes into overdrive. He tightened their connection, pulling Rin closer to him even as he threw himself backward off the edge of the roof. It was a stupid move, but he had just managed to hug the kid close as another of the demon women grazed overhead, her green hand just missing Rin's school uniform.

"Rats."

"CARDINAL KING!" North shouted in alarm just as Mamoru landed flat on his back on the ground, bouncing uncomfortably, his head hitting the pavement twice in the process. Fresh pain screamed through his head to reinforce the already overwhelming migraine and his ears rung, muting the fight. To top things off, he had lost his breath – he couldn't move, momentarily paralyzed from the two story drop, leaving them defenseless. Rin raised himself off of his chest – it looked like he said something, but Mamoru couldn't make it out – and then quickly, tearfully, scrambled off of him, hesitantly huddling between him and the wall of the building.

The green one had turned and was sailing back, her dark hair streaming back behind her, one arm casually outstretched towards Rin – until she was struck from behind and thrown into the wall of the building just beyond them. As the wall cratered with the force of impact he was finally able to breathe, and as East pulled him to his feet he threw his own weight into it. Within the next breath, North and West had joined them, surrounding them defensively as Mamoru regained his breath fully, the rose in his hand snapping into the shape of a sword as the red one faced off ahead of them, near the hole the green one had created. She reached back towards her hair, a smile shining in the electric parking lot lights –

The green groaned, pulling herself out of the wall as rubble clattered to the ground behind her. "That sucked," she said, rolling her shoulders, the thin transparent wings fluttering in the process. "Let's go, Rosie – this doesn't have to be this much work." She stood on the ground, her legs shaky in the dark green heels, and suddenly shot skyward.

The red one smirked, "See you later, Red!" and waved goodbye as Rin flinched, and followed after the green.

Both Mamoru and Kobai continued to look skyward, staring through their masks to see if the pair would turn the apparent retreat into another attack, but a hand on his back finally took his attention. North's blond brows were furrowed as he motioned to Mamoru's nose; tentatively, releasing his grip on his sword in his other hand to return it to a simple rose as he did so, Mamoru touched his face to find fresh blood on his white gloves.

"Are you okay?" Hanada asked quietly, green eyes insistent.

"Just a headache," he muttered in response, wiping again at his face with the back of his sleeve, still somewhat alarmed to see that amount of blood coming from him.

"Don't worry," East commented, the levity in his tone sounding almost like bravado, "the blood cleans itself out." The brunet smiled tauntingly, but there was something else in his face before he turned away, looking at the crater he had helped create and whistling lowly. "They are not going to like that."

"We should go," West announced, tearing his eyes away from the skies above them. "We'll take the child back to the Midori household." North looked taken aback by the announcement, but didn't question it outright at that point. Kobai continued, glancing down in an attempt to meet Rin's gaze, "Midori and his friends were worried about you, Mamoru. You should not have run off like that – especially with people like that after you."

The kid mumbled something, but didn't look up.

"What is it?" North asked, Hanada's attempt at patience more genuine now than in past interactions with him.

"I want to stay with Tsukino Usagi."

East strode off, his gloved hands in fists as he took better stock of the mess the battle had made, which, honestly, wasn't much compared to other battlefields they had left behind. Mamoru watched him for a moment, but Hanada's following question drew him back quickly: "Why do you want to stay with her?"

"I just… do." Mamorin replied in a quiet voice.

Hanada crossed his arms, the patience fading.

"Mamorin," Mamoru addressed calmly, hoping that his super hero form would have more sway over the kid than his untransformed self had. He knelt down and put his hands on the kid's shoulders to hold his attention. "Those things that are following you are dangerous. They could have really hurt you just now if we hadn't found you in time. They were able to find you tonight, and they have found you before; if you were to stay with Tsukino Usagi they could find you still, and then what would happen to you?" He didn't want to scare him, honestly, but he had to stop him from putting Usagi in direct danger. The running away had to stop. "What if we didn't know you were in trouble? What if we could not get there in time to help? You could get hurt, or Usagi could get hurt, or her family. Do you want that to happen?"

Rin didn't look at him; Mamoru squeezed his shoulders gently, prompting again, "Do you?" and finally he shook his head. He let him go and stood.

"It's important that you stay with Midori and his friends because they can contact us if you ever get into trouble," Kobai added.

"Why are they after you, Mamoru?" Hanada asked, turning down another line of questioning, "What do they want with you?"

He shook his head and shrugged, his whole body tense.

"You can tell us," North gently pressed. "We're here to help, but we could help you better if you told us what was going on."

They waited, breathing quietly as they watched Rin, but as he sniffled loudly and swiftly moved to wipe his face on his sleeve, it was clear they weren't going to get anything more out of him. Mamoru gave Hanada a look that communicated that he appreciated the attempt and was just as frustrated that it hadn't gone anywhere, but believed it needed to stop. Hanada met his gaze easily and nodded, agreeing.

"When you want to talk, you can tell our friends and they'll tell us," Kobai stated patiently, his gaze glancing skyward again. "Let's get back before it gets too late."

Once again Mamoru caught Hanada looking at Kobai with disbelief but said nothing; he wondered why, but if he wasn't offering it willingly he had his reasons and Mamoru trusted he'd hear about it later, whatever the hesitation was. Mamorin nodded and reached out towards Mamoru, but was lifted up by West King instead. "North, make sure Cardinal King is alright. East, go ahead of us and tell Midori and his friends that we're on our way."

Without looking back, Midori took off running back towards the manse. Kobai started at a slower pace, Mamorin's red eyes looking over his grey-caped shoulder back at the pair of them; Mamoru nodded to him, attempting to assure him that he was okay and everything would be okay, but Rin did not return the nod or even blink back at him.

'Usagi-chan is fine.'

Mamoru had to resist the urge to snap his head up to see Helios, knowing that if he did Mamorin would surely follow his gaze and see him; Hanada grabbed his wrist as though to warn him, but he needn't've worried. Mamoru waved once at Mamorin, keeping his attention level.

'There was no sign of any enemies, or of the child – oh,' Helios stammered, apparently catching sight of the kid and taking in the signs of battle around them. He seemed to understand their situation. 'I'll keep watch from above.'

Kobai looked up as he had been doing and inclined his head in silent thanks, and, once they were out of hearing range, picked up speed, running smoothly with the kid balanced on one hip.

"Are you really okay?" Hanada immediately asked, moving forward to face him square on, his green gaze critical.

"I'm fine," he replied, shrugging, aware that the other's hand was still wrapped around his wrist, pinning his dark grey cuff to his skin. "Just a little banged up."

"The headache?" he prodded, reaching up with familiarity to dab just beneath his nose – Mamoru brushed him off, stepping away and breaking from the hold the other had on his arm so he could dab at his own nose, wondering if it were still bleeding. It wasn't.

"Still there," he said, double checking for any new blood on his jacket cuff but finding nothing there.

"What do you think happened?" he asked, leaning in now to examine his eyes at an uncomfortably close distance.

He blinked, but tried to keep looking into Kaito's eyes, knowing he was checking for signs of concussion. "I don't know – exhaustion maybe? Overexertion from earlier?"

"But it hadn't happened when you used your location powers," he mused, apparently satisfied with what he saw in Mamoru's eyes – satisfied enough, anyway, to walk back towards the crater the green one had made in the wall.

"It did," Mamoru clarified, following him over. "The headache just got worse when I used my usual stuff."

"Hmmm," Kaito hummed thoughtfully, "Maybe… the power hadn't built up enough?" His eyes scoured the dark crevasse.

Mamoru could do nothing but shrug, "Who knows."

"I don't like it," Hanada stated as he reached in and took out a long strand of dark colored hair, which he wrapped around two fingers to gather, then put in the palm of his hand and peeled off the glove to create a small container for it, which he then stuck into his belt. "It's never happened before, and with everything else going on… I just don't like it." He looked up, meeting his gaze again, his expression tense with worry. "We worked hard for peace, and this doesn't feel like peace."

He nodded in agreement and regretted the action immediately, wincing and scowling at the sudden burst of pain across the top of his skull. Kaito looked upset, but Mamoru waved him off, "I'll be fine."

"We should've had Helios take you home – "

"I'm not that bad off," Mamoru growled a complaint, turning to start walking back towards Midori's place. "Just – no jumping."

His response was a hum of displeasure, but he caught up with him and took an easy pace. "Maybe Midori'll think to come back with a car."

"I doubt it," Mamoru sighed, "he's not exactly a fan after – " His voice froze in his throat, unable to speak through it, to talk about it out loud so casually. "today," he finally choked out.

"You didn't do anything wrong," Hanada's voice was calm and steady, insistent, but that didn't mean Mamoru really believed him. It had been his call that had delayed them, his oversight that had put them in that predicament to begin with. If he had been more aware of himself and the situation, Moegi would still be with them. It was his fault he was missing.

…Missing, like Usagi had been. He remembered distinctly how easily Yuu had comforted Usagi's brother when he had approached them about her disappearance, and now, he realized, Yuu's parents would be doing the same thing. Would Kimiko be running around now asking after him? His stomach lurched – they hadn't been able to tell the Tsukino's anything about Usagi's disappearance, but the attack on the High School was bound to have made the news, and with Yuu being the student council president and leader of the debate club that had been having a competition at the time, he would have been noted as missing after the incident. It made sense, but he had to ask, just to be sure – Kaito knew everything that went on, he'd know this. "Do the Moegi's know?"

Hanada quieted, keeping the pace, as though considering what he would say in response. "When we arrived," he began quietly, his words soft in the night, "the police and firefighters had taken control of the situation. Students were wrapped in blankets, being checked over for injuries and trauma – parents were arriving on the scene and reuniting. We split up – Kobai went to check to see what the students were saying while I pressed in with the Press, listening to official statements but standing close enough to the rest of the cops to overhear anything they weren't officially announcing. Several teachers were speaking with the officers to one side, each holding a clipboard – I couldn't hear what they were saying, but I saw one of them mouth his name. Firefighters went back into the building to look for him. They would've informed his parents next."

"… and when they don't find his body?" he asked, the very words making him feel like he could be sick.

"I don't know," Hanada quietly lied.

They walked in silence, pavement passing beneath their feet as they strode closer to Midori's mansion, the question of earlier actions prodding Mamoru out of fixating on Moegi's disappearance and the weight that would have been too easy to settle into. "Why did you seem shocked earlier?"

"About what?"

"Going back to Nero's."

Hanada glanced up with suspicion, "The enemy could've been watching. They could easily follow us back, know exactly where Nero lives and, by extension, where you, Khalid, and the kid are staying – and me, at the moment – and Khalid was only too happy to lead them back. Assuming they weren't so nearsighted as to actually leave, they could bide their time and attack whenever they pleased – an hour from now, five hours from now, a week from now – we would have to set up watches at all hours on all sectors of that huge place just to keep the threat of them at bay!" Frustration colored his tone, his speech growing louder and faster as he continued, "He didn't even consider that, or think up taking the child back to a decoy house – something empty, to be sure – or anything. He just took him back to the Midori place easy as that." He snapped his fingers. "It's reckless – we just faced one of them in open battle with one man down and barely got out of it alive, and he's gone and invited both of them to know where we are, which makes for a total of three possible combatants against our four, and we four aren't exactly at the top of our game! This on top of figuring out who took Yuu and analyzing those visions of yours – it's just piling more on unnecessarily and I –"

Mamoru gently took his friend by the arm, making him stop and take a breath before he became too worked up. He understood, but part of him believed that Khalid had some sort of plan in mind – surely he had thought his decision through, and Kaito stressing about it wouldn't do anyone any good, least of all Kaito.

"I'm sorry," Kaito sighed heavily, looking away from Mamoru's gaze, "I just – we need more information. Neither Helios nor Beryl knew anything – I mean there's a chance she'll find something in the old libraries, but we need something else, something proactive rather than reactive. That Helios could sense where and when Diana's Phases were stealing human energy had helped immensely – if he could sense these new enemies we'd have something."

"Something like a scanner would be nice," Mamoru agreed, "Like radar but for … well, whatever these enemies are." He released his hold and they continued walking.

"I don't even know if that kind of technology exists outside of science fiction." Hanada replied, pausing, "I wouldn't even know where to start construction on something like that. I don't think we ever had anything of that kind in Elysion, either."

"Not that I can recall, no; but back then we didn't have to deal with anything like this, outside of the occasional monster that was reported to us." They strode on, Hanada even slower and more thoughtful, until Mamoru couldn't wait any longer. "What are you thinking?"

"I…" Kaito trailed off, then turned to look at him, "Do you think the Moon's computers could do it?"

He considered. The Moon's computers were apparently still up and running – or they were as of three days ago when they spoke to Luna in Elysion. Helios himself admitted that the Moon's technology was much more advanced than their own, but could it monitor energy sources in the way they were wanting? Did it even have enough life and longevity left to be of use? Could they still contact Luna through Usagi's belt to ask such questions, let alone figure out a way to utilize the information if the Moon Computer were able to gather it? It was worth a shot, in either case. "We can try to ask Luna," he stated, turning abruptly to head back towards the city, "If we can contact her, she would know – "

Hanada's hand stopped him. "You still have the headache," he asserted without question – an assertion that Mamoru was willing to deny, but Kaito knew him better than to give him the chance, and immediately followed his assertion with "We could still be being followed; let's not add Usagi-chan's house to their list of targets."

He stopped. … He had nothing to combat the statement with – he wasn't even at full strength, judging by the pounding in his head, to be of any help if something did happen. Hanada was right. He turned back around, disappointed in not being able to do something proactive after failing miserably earlier, and, honestly, disappointed in not being able to see her; he didn't deserve to feel any better, but that didn't stop the urge to. "Tomorrow, then," he acquiesced, and they kept walking.

Fifteen minutes later, lights appeared on the road ahead, heading towards them. They detransformed; unable to jump away, they both instinctively thought it'd be better to be seen as civilians rather than questionably useful superheroes, and moved to walk on the side, Hanada handing Mamoru another tissue for his nose. With a sigh of disbelief, Mamoru took it and pressed it to the slow and steady bleed, growling, "I don't understand why it's doing this."

"You heard what Helios said – next time don't push yourself so hard."

"But it's been over an hour!" he complained, "After bringing Midori back from the brink of death on Tokyo tower I searched half the world for the Silver Crystal's glow and was fine – no headache, no nothing."

"We were all worked up that night," Kaito replied quietly, remembering. "Adrenaline might've drowned it out –" as Mamoru pointed his thumb over his shoulder to indicate the battle – where his adrenaline was most certainly high – "OR," Hanada pushed through before he could say anything, "maybe that was a result of you not fully using it in a long time – your battery was full, so to speak, so emptying it didn't really wipe you out or anything. You used all of your power just three days ago, fully awakening the Golden Crystal or no, and then extended yourself beyond your reach just over an hour ago." He finished, "Give yourself a break."

The car slowed as it neared them and they both stepped farther off the road, Hanada's hand shadowing his eyes in an attempt to make out the model, but the door was open before it rolled to a stop and Midori's feet were on the ground the moment the ground stopped moving out from beneath him. Mamoru couldn't make out his expression in the dark, but he saw enough of his body language in the low light to know that something changed between that first moment and the next. "Khalid thought you could use a ride."

"Surprisingly thoughtful," Hanada snipped as he strode forward angrily towards the opened door, stepping around Nero to get in, already starting to berate their unseen fourth – "Why did you lead them…." And trailed off.

"I didn't say he was with me," Midori shrugged as Hanada glared back at him before sliding into the passenger's compartment, a slight smile on his face. Mamoru approached them, unsure of what to say, but Midori just stepped aside for him to enter without a word. He slid in beside Kaito and Nero slid in after him, tapping the frame of the car once before shutting the door and the car sped off. The barrier between back and front was closed, affording them privacy, but even with being able to speak freely, Mamoru didn't know what to say.

"Does your head still hurt?" Midori asked, the first to break the silence as the limousine leisurely turned around to head back towards the manse.

Mamoru looked up to see Midori staring at the carpeted floor, or at his hands that he had clasped together, elbows resting on his knees. "It's getting better," he replied, the pounding in his skull somewhat lessened.

"Here," Midori reached into a compartment and tossed him a water bottle, which he caught, and a small white bottle of pills. "Aspirin," he explained, and handed another water bottle over to Hanada. "It helps with other headaches so it couldn't hurt to try with this one."

"Thanks," Mamoru replied quietly, unscrewing the cap of the water bottle to take a sip before opening the other and shaking out two tablets. It was a thoughtful gesture, but if Midori was angry with him he didn't have to offer it. Was he doing it just because he was Prince?

"Is Khalid on watch?" Hanada asked after taking a sip of his water, though it was clear by his tone that he knew the answer.

"Yeah," Midori replied, returning to his previous pose, "He's on the roof; Helios is sticking with the kid."

"What's his plan for tomorrow?" Hanada continued, crossing his arms.

"… We're evacuating my house, just to be safe." Midori replied without much emotion, "Most of the staff is local so they'll just take a paid holiday; the ones that live with us are flying out tomorrow on holiday to meet with my dad in… Hawaii, I think? Anyway, they'll be clear."

Their base of operations. Midori's home. Mamoru felt horrible. "What are you telling them?" he asked.

Midori shrugged, "That I'm staying at a friend's for a while to study for finals," he laughed dryly, "They thought it was very mature of me to remove myself from distractions."

"My parents have no plans on leaving town – we can't use my place as easily as we used yours," Kaito mused, "I could maybe take one more person, but that's it. Khalid's, then?"

"It's too small," Nero replied, "and she's got a business downstairs; it wouldn't work. There's no way around it," he continued, eyeing Hanada with a slow smile, "we'll just have to throw Mamoru's apartment cleaning party earlier than expected. Aren't you excited? I'm making arrangements for tomorrow afternoon."

Hanada rolled his eyes and took another sip of water.

They wouldn't all be able to stay in his apartment, Mamoru realized; it was too small for all of them and the kid. The reasonable course of action would be for Kaito to stay with his parents and Khalid with his mother, leaving Midori, Rin, and himself at his place. … which could get really awkward if they didn't settle things out. … and agree on how to deal with the kid. For the rest of the ride he tried to hink of what to say to broach the subject, but he didn't want to drag Hanada into it, so he kept to himself until they got back to the mansion and pooled out of the car.

"I'm going to check my forums," Hanada declared, continuing his explanation in more of a mutter than an explanation, "see if anything's popped up about the incident or if there've been any other sightings of those shapeshifters."

"Good night," Mamoru wished, and Hanada raised a hand up in a way to send the wishes back. Midori mirrored the farewell much to the same effect, and the pair of them, awkwardly, followed the blond inside. As Hanada's form disappeared inside of one of the nearby studies, they were alone. Before Midori could excuse himself, too, Mamoru turned to him and quickly blurted, "Nero, I – "

"I'm sorry," Nero interrupted, his voice low and his eyes anywhere but on Mamoru. "I'm sorry – I screwed up. I screwed up big time – I lost the kid, I didn't obey West's orders, and if I had done what was asked and didn't mess up, Yuu'd still be here. I know, okay?"

Mamoru could barely believe what he was hearing.

"If I had just agreed to get to Usagi and the kid, North might've reached the school in time – if I hadn't lost the kid in the first place none of that would've happened, and if I hadn't yelled at him he probably wouldn't've run away just now, either – I'm sorry, and I know that doesn't fix anything, but –" he took a quick breath, releasing it through his nose in a frustrated way, "I won't disappoint you again, okay? I wasn't taking things seriously before but I am now, and – "

"You didn't disappoint me – it wasn't your fault," Mamoru quickly cut in, dumbfounded in Nero's choice of words, "It was mine – I had the ability to find the kid the entire time and just forgot about it like an idiot. It was my fault we had split up, and my fault we hadn't gotten there in time. I failed Yuu, and I let you and everyone else down in the process." Nero started to interrupt, but Mamoru held up his hand, asking for just another moment more, "but that's not where I'm going to leave it." He looked Midori straight in the eye, "We are going to find him and get him back."

Nero's expression changed, but as remorse became confidence, his eyes stayed on Mamoru's. "And kick the ass of whatever took him to start with." He smiled, and the tension that had been between them since earlier gradually fell away as Mamoru returned the smile and they both nodded in agreement. It seemed too grand a thing to promise, especially knowing as little as they did, but simply saying it out loud, of voicing their solidarity in the matter, helped push back the doubt that had threatened morale since the incident. Midori reached out and put his right hand on Mamoru's shoulder and Mamoru did the same, mimicking the sign of a pact made back in their previous lives.

They do it – they'd find Moegi Yuu and return him to where he belonged, no matter what the cost.