Hello everyone and welcome to part one of the epilogue to the second arc of Stand Up, the LRIG!. I hope you'll enjoy the first of the two parts that will be here to close off the second arc and set up the beginning of the third. To ease the transition from there through this two part epilogue, I have taken into account the results of a previous poll that would determine my course of action into setting up the third arc onwards. That action has been for me to change some of the character lineup that you have seen beneath the short synopsis. If too many readers find this minor change jarring in any way through the long run, message me about it and I'll revert it back to the way it was. With that aside, I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Several minutes ago...
Vanguard World: Card Capital
(Cardfight! Vanguard Unreleased Soundtrack: Unsettling)
"See you around!"
The call came from a boy with spiked black hair and red eyes as he left the premises of the shop along with one taller boy beside him, just as the sun was setting over the horizon in the distance down the street. Kamui and Miwa had been going around their usual routine for the day when it came to visiting the shop, especially more often now that it was during their summer break. The two continued to brush up on their skills as cardfighters in their own respective fields whilst in turn with one other individual did the best they could to keep things under control, in regards to the absence of both Aichi and Kai at this time. A lilac haired girl with blue eyes, albeit in a much darker shade than Aichi's, stood outside of the front doors of Card Capital, having now closed up the store for the evening.
"Misakin!"
Misaki, now addressed as 'Misakin', turned around to the source of the voice just in time to see a dark skinned girl with purple hair, a small diamond shaped red marking on the center of her forehead and goldish yellow eyes run up to her, panting as she tried to catch her breath from running all the way to the front entrance of Card Capital. She wore a white dress with long sleeves with the collar, the ends of the sleeves and the bottom edge of the 'skirt' being coloured in a bright turquoise and was much shorter than Misaki, having only been either just as tall or a little higher than Kamui in height comparison.
"Ratie?" Misaki murmured "Is something wrong?"
"Misaki..." panted Ratie as she eventually caught her breath "... I need to talk with you."
Noting that the former Quatre Knight's tone seemed rather serious, given that she had rushed all the way to the front of Card Capital just to speak with her, Misaki looked over to the alleyway that was to the left of the store. She walked over with Rati to sit down on one of the benches there, so they could start their conversation without anyone else listening in.
"What is it you wanted to tell me?" she asked.
"It's about Aichi," Ratie answered "It's just that last night... I could have sworn I heard him screaming."
"You have?" Misaki pondered.
"Yes. I called Galliard and Neve about it and for some reason, they've had similar scenarios to mine," she replied "I was wondering if you had experienced something like that."
The Oracle Think Tank and Genesis user was almost surprised to say the least, given the circumstances that Ratie had just brought up at this moment. Now she knew for a fact that this was no conincidence that something like this would have happened at that time and that she was not the only one to have come across something like this from the previous night. This was indeed a concern that had been bothering her for some time as well and she knew for a fact that she wasn't the only one to have known about this subject.
"I see now," she spoke "I can say for myself that I and a few others heard the same thing as well."
"Misakin... I'm worried," Ratie murmured.
"I know..." Misaki replied "But for now, unless we are sure that Aichi is in any danger, we keep to his word and hope that he along with the others will return soon with Kai. If he doesn't return within the next 10 days like he said, we'll take action. All of us."
"Right..."
Their conversation did not go unnoticed however as from high on the rooftop above the alleyway on the building next door to Card Capital, a girl with long, wavy brown hair styled on left side tail that was seemingly cut short and what appeared to be bluish grey eyes observed the two cardfighters closely as they talked about what they had experienced within the previous night. If anyone from this world knew of the Selector Battles, they would have sworn that she looked familiar in some way. Remembering the full reason as to why she arrived here and what she had in mind, she continued to listen in on Misaki and Ratie's discussion as she gazed upon them, before speaking out under her breath as a breeze whistled over the rooftop in contrast to the setting sun.
"This has only just begun."
(End Music)
Photon's Lab
"Mayu... lost?!"
(Selector Spread Wixoss OST: Battle ~ Consternation)
Ulith could only stare at the screen that had been displaying the earlier battle that had eventually concluded between Mayu, Kai and Aichi with the two cardfighters having emerged victorious, thanks to Tama wielding the Blaster Blade that the Swordsman of Light himself had temporarily entrusted to her. The cruel demanored Selector's expression had turned to utter shock the moment she saw the girl of white deliver the final blow to Kuro, freeing both her and Ruko from both Reverse and the mastermind's control over the both of them. The Radons that were standing guard over Takuto had immediately turned their attention to the monitor, upon hearing and seeing the overall outcome of the battle, remaining somewhat motionless as they did so.
Seeing that the Cyberoids had just now been distracted by this turn of events, the Cray being decided that now was his chance to take action in order to free both Umr and Tawil from their imprisonment before Ulith could properly merge them into the being that she named "Ut'ulls". Before he did so, a familiar green aura surrounded him as he suddenly felt a nourishing feeling seep through his veins. Thankfully for him, the glow wasn't bright enough to bring the attention of the Radons or Ulith back to him as he felt more of his strength returning back to him at last.
I can sense more of my power leaving Mayu he thought It's not all of it, but it should be enough. Thank you Sendou Aichi, Kai Toshiki.
Moving closer to the console that was now only inches beside him, he slipped his left hand into his pocket to reach out for something that he felt could aid him, now that a majority of his power had come back to him. Just as Takuto was about to pull out the object in question, Ulith immediately turned around to face him, her gaze having fallen upon him once more. Before she had a chance to call out an order to the Radons beside her, his forehead marking suddenly emitted a blinding green glow that forced her to cover her eyes whilst the Radons that had turned around were unable to see through the chaos before them as a shadow rose up from the glow with the sound of blades being unsheathed to follow on.
Taking advantage of what few seconds that he had just bought himself, Takuto rushed to the console and hit a rather idented button. The result caused the cylinder at the center of the lab to open up as the Cray being ran over towards the raised platform. By that point, the blinding glow had disappeared and in front of Ulith and the Radons beside her, emerged a tall warrior clad in a mix of very light brown, white and black armour, mixed with what appeared to be a black undersuit of some kind that left his bare chest rather exposed. Mounted on his wrists and the helmet which had a single light brownish spike running up the center were several crescent like blades almost in the shape of scissors to be almost exact.
The warrior's long flowing hair and eye colours were pratically, if not almost completely identical to that of Takuto's own respective hair and eye colours and over his back, he wore a large flowing red cape. Speaking of whom, the Cray being had now jumped down from the cylinder's platform, carrying both the motionless bodies of Umr and Tawil over his shoulders as he turned to the being that he had summoned. He quickly placed back into his pocket what appeared to be a card which he had presumably used to summon this warrior to his aid.
"Ezel!" he called, bringing the warrior's attention down to him "Hold them off whilst I get Umr and Tawil to safety!"
The other being, now addressed as Ezel, nodded in response as Takuto hurried through the unguarded corridor, barely managing to dodge the shots of the Cyberoids that were still present within the lab as the doors immediately closed behind him. He then turned his attention towards Ulith who had seemingly remained mostly unfazed from the sudden appearance of the Gold Paladin unit that the Cray being had summoned in front of her to buy him as much time as he could get.
"The Swordsman of Light was rather informative about you, Ulith," he spoke, his tone seeming somewhat blunt "Given your previous acts of cruelty that you told him all about in your last bout, I won't forgive you for the psycological scars you've given to 'my Vanguard'*!"
"So then, the power Takuto got back from Mayu was just enough to summon you here all the way from Cray," the cruel demanored Selector spat bemusedly "Given your impressive record in succeeding to drive out the Void from your home planet, only to run like a coward from the face of Glendios, you are hardly a threat, Salvation Lion."
As Ezel prepared himself for a possible clash to ensue between the two of them, the Radons that were surrounding them immediately turned their beam rifles upon him. However, Ulith raised a hand in response, prompting them to back away from the two.
"Don't touch him," she interrupted "The Cray scum is mine!"
(End Music)
Present day
Wixoss World: City Streets
Ruko's eyes fluttered open as she yawned for a moment. Even at this moment, she felt as if she could barely keep her eyes open, as if they were weighed down by something heavy. Gaining what little sight she could in the dark atmosphere around here, she suddenly made a small but quiet collective gasp, having realized that she was now resting on Aichi's back as he held on to her legs whilst her arms were over his shoulders. Looking all around her, she could see Kai and Hitoe, the Selector of whom was holding out Yuzuki's card, walking alongside the two to her left and to her right, her eyes came across Ren, Leon and Naoki. The Narukami user upon seeing her gave her a brief thumbs up in an attempt to reassure her that everything was alright. Bewildered for a brief moment from everything that had just happened, Ruko at first seemed puzzled as to the circumstances surrounding her current scenario.
Then it suddenly hit her. She immediately realized that she could no longer feel the power of Reverse or Mayu herself having a hold over her which could only have meant that Aichi and Kai had defeated her through their previous battle only minutes ago. Even though she had been possessed throughout the remainder of the ordeal, she could still see and hear everything that had gone on for the entire battle, unable to regain control of her own body until Tama and Blaster Blade's combined efforts had forced Mayu and Reverse out of not just her, but Kuro as well. Upon noticing that she was just barely awake, Aichi turned his head slightly to have his gaze meet the Selector's, noticing the tired glint within her brown eyes.
(Selector Infected Wixoss OST: Daily Life ~Missing Parts~)
"Aichi…" she murmured.
"Are you alright, Ruko-san?" he asked in concern.
"Y… Yeah…" Ruko replied, yawning for a brief moment before looking down on the pavement that was passing by the cardfighter's feet with every step he took. "It's just… I'm sorry. I didn't think…"
"There is no need to apologize," Yuzuki spoke out from her card "The nightmare's long over now and neither Link Joker or Mayu will be coming after you again any time soon."
The Selector yawned drowsily in response to the LRIG's answer for a brief moment, but her current expression still held great worry which had only served to concern Aichi and the others as he continued onwards whilst carrying her on his back.
"But my family…" she said "They'll find out that something's…"
"Let us worry about that," replied Hitoe "We'll make sure that nothing get stirred up from your disappearance."
"The last thing any of us want to do is spread a panic," Ren interjected "Though I can't see them believing us about the Selector Battles, even if we do openly tell them."
"Ren-san..." Aichi murmured nervously.
He briefly sweatdropped for a single moment, as did almost everyone else around him, knowing that the Shadow Paladin user's attempt to lighten the mood had only served to make the situation a little more awkward than it needed to be. When the brief silence that followed had passed over, Ruko turned her attention over to Kai as he looked back to her in turn, knowing that there was much to be done in order to properly 'patch' things up between the two of them, along with Tama and Kuro.
"Kai… I'm..." she yawned "I'm sorry… for what happened in our last battle."
"That was not your own doing," he replied "Reverse is still an inner demon I must eventually come to conquer myself. Once that has happened, I am certain that I will have moved on from the person I was at that time."
"Kai-kun…" murmured Aichi.
"Right now, I can tell that you aren't in any condition to remain awake since Reverse must have been affecting your sleep," the Kagero user continued "In the meantime, your grandmother and brother must be wanting to question you about where you were and what was going on."
"Y… yeah…" Ruko replied "I don't see how you could fool them though…"
"We'll do our best to avoid mention of Reverse and the Selector Battles to Ayumu or your grandmother," Leon spoke "Right now, you need to rest."
"I see. Thank you, everyone…"
Ruko then yawned loudly as she went back to sleep on the Royal Paladin user's back, her drowsiness and tiredness both contributing to eventually getting the better of her. Eventually after a few more minutes of a long walk, the group eventually arrived back to the apartment block and started the long trek up the stairs to the Selector's apartment where hopefully she could finally settle back at her home, without the risk of endangering anyone there. Kai and Hitoe remained a step directly behind and below Aichi in the event of him somehow falling backwards from the extra weight that he now had on his back, not that he would comment for a fact that Ruko was heavy in any way as he knew for the most part, that wasn't true in the context.
(End Music)
Eventually, they made it to the floor where they all came across the doorway to the Selector's apartment, having previously remembered the room number from passing by it several times and in the case of everyone with the exception of Kai, their previous visit. Taking a deep breath, Hitoe stepped forward and knocked on the door, awaiting for the moment that they had all come down to. The door eventually opened, revealing Ayumu in the presence of everyone. As he looked upon the group, he suddenly gasped as he saw Ruko's sleeping form on Aichi's back.
"Y… You found Ruko?!" he exclaimed.
"Ssh!" replied Naoki in a quieter tone as he tried to hush the startled older brother "C… can't you see she's sleeping?!"
"I see…" said a voice from behind Ayumu.
(Selector Infected Wixoss OST: Grandma)
Upon hearing who it was from, the Selector's older brother quickly stepped aside to allow their grandmother to enter the sight of the cardfighters, her eyes widening in shock and surprise. Indeed from the way that it had apeared to her, the group of boys along with Hitoe had indeed kept to their word, that they would find Ruko and bring her home to them, safe and sound. She could only look on at her granddaughter at this very moment as she was sleeping peacefully on Aichi's back and seemingly unhurt now that she was no longer within the clutches of Reverse and Mayu, not that she knew of it. After briefly hearing Naoki's earlier exclamation for Ayumu to hush down, she walked over to the Royal Paladin user.
"Is Ru-chan alright?" she asked softly.
"Mhm," said Aichi "Ruko-san is worn out and she'll need a good night's rest."
"That is a relief," the grandmother answered before she looked on up to Kai, having not met him beforehand. "And I assume correctly you are Kai that Hitoe and these boys mentioned?"
"That is correct, Ms. Kominato," he answered before looking over to Ruko herself. "As far as we know, Ruko has been through a lot and she will need some rest before she can recover."
"I see…" she murmured "And please call me Hatsu." She then turned her attention back to Aichi.
"Come with me," she spoke quietly "I'll help get Ru-chan settled in."
"I understand," he replied.
When the two of them, along with the sleeping Ruko had disappeared through one of the other doors in the living space that presumably led to the Selector's bedroom, Ayumu turned back to the group and looked over to Kai, now seeing him face to face for the first time. The Kagero user's serious expression had not unnerved him in the slightest, having been told of the way he acted beforehand by both Aichi and Hitoe during their previous visit.
"So you're Kai Toshiki," he spoke "I guess... it's nice to meet you. I owe my thanks and gratitude for you and your friends in bringing my sister back safely."
"I'm only thankful that we found Ruko sooner," Kai replied "Given the way she was, there was no telling what could have happened if we were too late."
"That, I can agree with," said Ayumu "Though I must ask, how were you able to find Ruko?"
"W... We found her at the top of Daikachi Apartments," Hitoe interjected "Ishida saved her from being crushed by some construction materials that fell off a platform before she fell unconscious."
"I see..." the older brother murmured "I'll have to ask her about this when she regains consciousness. But regardless, I once again give my regards to your kind efforts. I'm sure my grandmother would want you to stay for a bit once she finishes settling Ruko down for the night."
And with that, Ayumu turned away from the group and walked off towards a different door, leaving the Selector and the remaining cardfighters standing within the living space. Their expressions seemed concerned somewhat, wondering if he had somehow managed to figure them and the Selector Battles out here and there and that there was no telling what he could say next to Ruko when she regained consciousness.
"Did he already see through us?" Naoki pondered, tensing up for a moment.
"If he has... I fear the worst for Ruko," Hitoe murmured.
"Now then, we shouldn't panic for the moment," Ren interrupted "Ruko has yet to wake up after all."
"Not helping Ren," Yuzuki muttered under her breath.
Kai and Leon didn't say a word in response, having known that Naoki had indeed raised a rather profound point. Although Ayumu didn't seem to suspect anything in regards to Ruko's involvement with both Reverse and the Selector Battles, they knew that they couldn't be complacent at this point, especially now when they had managed to bring the Selector home safely. One slip up in any following conversations around him or Hatsu and they knew that both they and Ruko were essentially 'in for it'. The Kagero user turned his gaze to the door that Aichi and Hatsu entered through, presumably the one that led straight into the Selector's bedroom.
(End Music)
Needless to say, his assumption was correct in that regard as the Royal Paladin user took a seat from Ruko's desk and sat down whilst he watched the Selector's grandmother bring the covers of the bed over Ruko. Now seeing that her granddaughter was settling down to recover much better, not knowing the experiences that she had been through since she went missing, Hatsu turned over to Aichi who was still seated at Ruko's desk.
"I can't thank you enough for what you and your friends have done for me and Ayumu," she spoke gently "I could tell that you had a kind heart and that you meant everything when you wanted to help us find Ru-chan."
"I'm happy to hear," he replied "Though the credit should go to Hitoe-san and Kai-kun for finding Ruko and Naoki for preventing her from being injured on the rooftop. I just did what I could to try and help them get her back home safely."
Hatsu smiled warmly in response, feeling as if the Royal Paladin user's genuine kindness had done well to help bring Ruko back home. Initially, part of her felt somewhat hesitant to trust him after he had inadvertently stumbled across the Selector's old family photo from his previous visit, resulting in her revealing the basic outline of what happened in the past around Ruko's mother in the event that her disappearance happened to be something to do with that particular event. For the moment however, that did not appear to be the case and Hatsu was just happy to have her granddaughter back home safe and sound and she had both Hitoe and Aichi, along with all of the Royal Paladin user's friends to thank for that.
"Please stay for while if you can," she spoke "It's still early in the evening, so Ru-chan may recover later."
"Yes," Aichi replied "I'm sure Kai-kun and the others won't mind."
And with that, the two of them left the bedroom to give the Selector both the space and time that she would need to recover from her long rest.
The White Room
Back in the White Room, Mayu had reappeared in front of her negative hue coloured throne that was currently occupied by Photon, who had been observing the entire conflict from start to finish. The Cyberoid simply glanced at her through his opaque visor whilst she rose up to her knees, her expression currently seething in complete anger and with the way that the battle had ended, it was understandable as to why exactly she was feeling this way.
"Impossible..." she muttered "I lost... to the two of them?!"
"I already told you once before not to underestimate Kai Toshiki," Photon spoke "I believe it would be wise to learn from this loss should you wish to confront him or Sendou Aichi once more."
Mayu simply hissed under her breath as she rose up to her feet, with the dark purple aura of the Void surrounding her at this very moment before she let out a very loud scream of fury as all of the windows that were within her domain that were not covered up by any shut gates shattered in an instant from the volume of the noise. Suprisingly, Photon's visor had not shattered from the result of the loud scream and he did not seem the least bit fazed by this sudden turn of events. When the mastermind had finished her fit of anger, she turned back to the Cyberoid commander, her temper having not cooled down in the slightest.
"Has she been dispatched as I had requested?" she asked.
"Indeed," Photon replied calmly "Our other associate should be within their world by now. Her orders have remained clear and she shall begin her operation by tomorrow."
"No matter..." Mayu muttered as she tried to regain her composure "For now, I must turn my attention to the completion of Project: Locked Soul and..."
A loud noise suddenly sounded as the foundation of the White Room shook all of a sudden, throwing her right back down to the ground. Turning her attention to one of the windows that had not been shattered, as did Photon in turn, they could see that from the Cyberoid's lab, Ezel and Ulith were in the midst of fighting each other with the cruel demanored Selector having equipped a spear that she previously wielded during her time as Kuro's LRIG. The Salvation Lion bellowed a loud battle cry as his wrist 'scissor' blades came into contact with her weapon once more as the two of them leaped from portion to portion of the lab, their battle having damaged portions of the room as evident by the scratches and slashes on the walls and floor. Then looking closely in the center of the lab, Mayu gasped to see that the cylinder that previously contained Umr and Tawil had been opened and that Takuto was no longer present.
"How is this possible?!" she growled "Takuto shouldn't even have the power to call upon a unit from Cray here...! Unless..." Don't tell me!
"It would seem when you lost to Kai and Shiro, you lost some of Tatsunagi Takuto's power which returned back to him," Photon interjected as he gazed upon Ezel.
"I shall deal with him myself," Mayu replied as she walked towards an empty gap in the White Room, to begin her pursuit of the Cray being with the purple aura of the Void still surrounding her. "In the meantime, speak to your superiors. I wasn't planning to do this until later, but alas, those two have forced my hand. For the remainder of the Selector Battles will now be an all out war."
Photon said nothing in response, having already acknowledged what the mastermind had already told him. The Cyberoid rose up from Mayu's seat and went into the direction of his lab, presumably to put a stop to the fight between Ulith and Ezel and contact his 'superiors' as she had put them.
Photon's Lab
(Selector Infected Wixoss OST: Negativity)
The cruel demanored Selector laughed as she continued to fight head on with the Salvation Lion who seemed to be on the offensive for the moment. So far, their clash without the need of any outside interference from the surrounding Cyberoids had seemed to have the two of them stuck in a stalemate in terms of force alone, despite the damage that had been done to the lab in the result of their fight so far. However, Ezel knew from Blaster Blade beforehand that he couldn't take Ulith lightly with what little the Swordsman of Light already knew about her, given both her previous exploits prior to and during her time in the Selector Battles, especially with the pyscological torture that she inflicted upon Aichi during their previous battle.
Their respective spear and blades came into contact with each other once again as the Salvation Lion desperately tried to overpower the Selector as she held out her spear's pole horizontally in front of her to block his attack. Whilst his guard was down, Ulith smirked at him before thrusting her spear upwards to knock him off balance and kicking the Gold Paladin unit right in his exposed chest with the heel of her boot. Ezel was knocked back several steps as he grunted in pain, having not anticipated her action just now to have as much force as it did as he tried to stave off of the pain he now felt in his ribs.
"I must say Cray scum, I'm somewhat disappointed," she spat "I only wish your comrades from Gold Paladin were here to see that your effort is meaningless."
"Takuto has had his reasons for summoning me here alone," he replied "Even if it's only temporary, I'll fight to the bitter end if it means aiding him in helping those two girls escape."
"Umr and Tawil, huh?" Ulith mused "So he's trying to get the byproducts of Project: Locked Soul to the outside world so they can be out of harm's way. If only he knew."
"What do you mean?" Ezel asked as he held out the blades that were on his right wrist to the cruel demanored Selector.
"Unless Takuto can find a gateway to the outside world from Mayu's White Room," she explained "He will never leave this place. And even if he does, who's to say that he'll not end up being an LRIG himself, just like all the others."
His eyes widening in horror, the Salvation Lion suddenly realized that the Cray being himself was rushing straight into a trap and Ulith had taken advantage of the fight that was meant to buy him time to escape and turned it into a means to keep him distracted from what would happen next. Deciding to abandon his fight with her to go and aid Takuto, Ezel rushed towards the entrance to the lab that the Cray being had exited through, only to be stopped by a pair of black rings that suddenly encircled him, preventing him from moving as he was brought up into the air. Looking down, he could see that it was Photon who had stopped him in his tracks as the Cyberoid entered the premises of the lab.
"Your resistance in my premises has been most... illogical," he spoke as he gazed upon the Salvation Lion.
(End Music)
Apartment 802 "Kominato"
Ruko slowly opened up her eyes as she gently rose from her bed, now seeing that she was back in her bedroom after Aichi had managed to carry her from the rooftop of the incomplete Daikachi Apartments back to her apartment. She yawned for a brief moment as she stretched her arms and tried to properly reorient herself now that neither Mayu nor Reverse had its dark and power grip over her and that she now had some time to rest properly after that ordeal. Noticing some light from the door leading to the living space from her bedroom, she walked over to the doorway and peeked out through the gap to see that Hitoe along with all five cardfighters were now present in the apartment with both her older brother Ayumu and her grandmother, Hatsu.
Looking over the group, she suddenly remembered from earlier that Leon mentioned that they would do all they could to cover up any trace of the Selector Battles or Reverse from surrounding her 'disappearance' from the family that she had left which meant she would have to do everything she could to do the same as well. Pushing the door open slightly, everyone looked over to the Selector, now seeing that she had finally woken up from her long slumber.
"Ruko, are you alright?" asked Ayumu.
"Yeah..." she murmured as she rubbed her eyes for a brief moment "How long have I fallen asleep for?"
"You've been asleep for about an hour since we last talked on the way back here," answered Kai.
"I see..." Ruko spoke as she came over to join them before looking over to Hatsu. "Grandmother, I..."
"There's nothing to be sorry about, Ru-chan," she said warmly "Aichi told me about how they found you and whilst all of us have no idea as to how you went missing in the first place, I'm thankful to them and Hitoe for bringing you home safely."
"Right," the Selector murmured as she clutched her head, remembering to follow along with what Leon had told her earlier "If... if I only I could remember what had happened when I 'disappeared', I'd..."
"Are you saying you don't remember how you could have went missing?" Ayumu pondered.
Ruko nodded in response to her older brother's question, though she knew that response alone would not put her or any of the others in the clear just yet.
"I... I last remember heading into the city," she continued "And... Onii-chan, how long was I gone for?"
"You went missing around... five days ago," Hitoe answered.
(Cardfight! Vanguard OST: Tadayou Kehai)
"Five days...?!" Ruko gasped in shock as she knew for a fact, she had never kept track of how long she had ran away for.
"It's natural that this news comes as quite a shock," Leon murmured "That would account for the lack of sleep or nourishment that you had been getting in your absence."
"Your grandmother suggested to us that you might want to stay at home for the moment until things calm down," Aichi spoke "But she has said we're welcome to visit until they are sure it is safe for you to head outside again."
Ruko silently nodded in agreement, knowing that it was only natural for something like this to happen given her long absence from home and from the way things had played out recently, who could blame Hatsu for such a decision. Regardless though, she was glad that the ordeal she had been through had finally passed over, like an enormous weight being lifted from her shoulders. And she knew that she had both Hitoe and her new friends to thank for it. When the silence had passed over, Hatsu had stood up from her seat and looked over to Ayumu.
"Ayumu, if you would kindly help me with preparing dinner for Ruko," she spoke "She has much to catch up on."
"I understand," he replied.
As the two left to the kitchen area of the living space, the remainder of the group almost 'huddled' around each other so that they could discuss further about the current predicament that had finally passed over. Before they did so, Kai reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out two familiar cards along with something else in his hand, that being the deck he had used to battle Ruko in their battle as of recently.
"I believe these belong to you," he spoke as he revealed the two seperate cards to be both Kuro and Tama's respective cards, both LRIGs having been sound and asleep since they arrived back at the apartment.
"Tama... Kuro..." she murmured "Thank you, Kai."
Aichi and Hitoe smiled warmly, knowing that the conflict that had previously drawn a wedge between all of them and Ruko herself was finally over and that the Selector could finally settle back into a normal lifestyle. But they, much like the remainder of the group knew that Mayu's game was not over yet. And little did they know was that their true fates still lay in wait for them, deep inside the darkness of the future before them.
(End Music)
And there we go! As Ruko slowly returns back to her normal life whilst keeping any omitted details of her involvement with the Selector Battles in check, Takuto, having regained a majority of his powers back from Mayu, summons Ezel to hold off Ulith as he makes his escape with Umr and Tawil in tow. But as the Salvation Lion holds off the Selector, he suddenly discovers that Takuto may be walking into a trap and is captured by Photon before he can go to aid the Cray being. What will happen in the next part of the epilogue? And who is the girl that is observing Ratie and Misaki all the way back in Aichi's world? Join us next time as Arc 2 truely comes to a close and begins the start of the next part of our story. Feel free to leave any thoughts or critiques within the reviews and I'll see you all next time. Until then!
*Ezel has also referred to Aichi as 'My Vanguard' in Episode 85.
