Unknown to those in the shrine, the snow outside was finally melting. On the streets, a young man dressed in a black shirt with a jacket hanging loosely from his shoulders was walking gravely.
"It has been such a long time…would the Souma family be able to keep their promise?" he thought to himself, ignoring the curious stares he got from the passers-by on the road, for his appearance was strikingly different from the locals.
The lad had a tall and strong figure, with a stunningly gorgeous face. His dark eyes were a sharp electric blue, his nose was firm and he had shoulder length hair of a silvery blue colour.
"I wonder where she is…"
At the same time Yukina used her power, the man felt the vibration coming from the shrine, and he moved swiftly to the building. Without knocking on the door, he barged straight into the shrine at the very moment Yukina fell into a dead faint on the floor.
"Althena!" he yelled and sprinted to her side. He placed a hand on her chest and then shot a furious glance at everybody else, making them shrivel up inside.
"I assume you are from the Souma family. Who is the leader of the clan?" he asked coldly without introducing himself.
Timidly, Akito moved forward and presented herself.
"I am the leader of the Soumas…may I know who you are?"
His eyes flared up and he replied, "I entrusted Althena in your care, so how could you allow her to use her power without my presence?"
Before Akito could reply, Hatori held up his hand and interrupted the conversation.
"Are you the one Yukina was talking about? The person who was talking to her when she was unconscious?"
The man narrowed his eyes and looked closely at Hatori.
"Yes, I am the one, and you must be the Souma closest to her, from what I have heard," he answered.
The others watched on in interest as the two men appraised each other coolly, and had a shock when they suddenly smiled at each other cheerfully.
"Nice to meet you at last, I'm Hatori Souma," Hatori began to introduce himself.
"It's my pleasure, Hatori-kun. You can call me Evan or Kyosuke, like how Althena is also Yukina," the blue-eyed man replied.
Shigure could not stand the peculiarity anymore and he waved a hand between the both of them, getting their attention.
"Hey, would you mind telling me what is going on here?" he asked.
Hatori grinned and started to explain. "It's quite a long story, Shigure, but we knew each other through Yukina…I will explain all of it later."
Speaking about Yukina, Hatori suddenly remembered that she was wounded from her actions, and he turned to see that Rutherford was already tending to her. Quickly, he went to kneel by her side and check her pulse, which was beating normally, to his heart's relief.
Together, Hatori and Rutherford brought Yukina back to the Souma main house, which was only a few hundred metres away. They laid her down on a bed, and Rutherford grasped Yukina's hand tightly in his, secretly transferring his energy to her.
In the meantime, the others were celebrating the fact that they were finally free from the zodiac curse, but only after ascertaining that Yukina was well taken care of. To the males' annoyance, most of the girls found the mysterious newcomer, Evan to be extremely appealing and attractive, for his dark eyes and stern expression charmed all of them.
After a while, Yukina opened her eyes, still weak and drained. She saw Evan at her side, also exhausted from transferring his energy to her. Gently, she reached out a hand to touch his face.
At the very first moment she set eyes on him, all her locked memories from her past flooded back into her mind. A century ago, Evan Rutherford as the prince of the sacred tribe Ceres that came from the sky was forced to do battle with their life-long enemy, the Strata tribe. Before it happened, they had led a happy and blissful life with each other as company.
Her thoughts were interrupted as Rutherford sensed her touch and looked straight at her. His eyes held an unfathomable expression as he stared at her, silently questioning whether she could still remember his name, as he had not disclosed it to her the time they met in their thoughts.
"Evan…my dear brother…" Yukina said weakly. Nevertheless, the soft sound found its way to his ears, and he moved forward to hug her tightly.
"So you can remember…although I haven't lifted the spell from you yet," he spoke, deeply touched.
"Of course…" Yukina broke free from his embrace and glared at him. "Are you trying to test me, Evan Rutherford?"
He chuckled, noticing that Yukina or Althena as he called her had not changed one bit in the way she treated him even after a hundred years have passed.
"I'm very sorry, my dear. I just wanted to know whether you could remember me after one hundred years…you are still the impertinent sister I have. By the way, Hatori-kun and the others are waiting for us downstairs, very anxious and concerned about your state of health, Althena."
Yukina poked out her tongue but did not pursue the subject, and with the help of Rutherford, she made her way to the living room, where everybody greeted her with joy and relief.
Once they had settled down, Rutherford began to explain everything that had been haunting all of their minds, including Hatori, of his and Yukina's past.
"I know all of you have many questions, but I will start with our introduction first," he gestured to himself and Yukina.
"I am Rutherford, from the Ceres tribe in the sky. Those of us living in the sky have eternal lives, unless it is taken away by force, then we would have no choice but to die. My sister, Althena, or Yukina here…we have always been together, just she and me living up there. Our bond is almost like the Yin-Yang concept, where she is the negative energy and I'm the positive, and we will always be together."
"In the sky, we learn everything there is to know about Earth, except one: the different races and cultures. I guess this would explain why Althena was able to communicate with you easily, as well as her knowledge in different fields. When one has been living for so long, one tends to know almost everything. We lived happily together until one day; I was summoned to a battle between my tribe and a rival tribe called Strata that came from beneath Earth, or more commonly known as hell. The battle was estimated to last for a year, and as I have to leave Althena behind, I don't want her to be lonely, nor I want her to worry about me every day that I am not with her. Therefore, I made the decision to send her down to earth for that year that I'm away."
Here, he paused for a short while, drawing his breath, and Yuki interrupted.
"Rutherford-san, you said that the battle only lasted for a year, so why did you send Yukina-chan to Earth for so long?"
"Ah…I forgot to tell you that the time goes by in different speed on Earth and up in the sky. The ratio is about one to a hundred, so I sent Althena here for a century, according to your time."
"Why did you choose this family, and not others?" Kazuma asked the inquiry that had been on his mind for a long time.
Rutherford grinned and answered, "That is because in the few times I had come down to Earth, I encountered your ancestors and became good friends with them. Then, I asked for their help to take care of Althena when I was enlisted for battle. Besides, I checked, and I found out that this family's compatibility with Althena was the highest compared to the other families I had in mind. Did that answer your question, Kazuma-san?"
Kazuma was startled as to how Rutherford knew his name, but quickly brushed it aside, for Rutherford clearly was a careful planner when it came to matters that concern Yukina.
"Then, I guessed you must have heard about how her memories will reset themselves after a certain period of time. Now, it is your turn to tell me…why did Althena use her powers just now?"
At this, everybody chattered at once with the exception of Hatori, who moved closer to Yukina and put an arm around her.
"How are you feeling, Yukina?" he asked softly. Yukina just smiled and leaned on him, enjoying the feeling of warmth and security he brought.
On the other hand, Kazuma was narrating the story his ancestors passed on to him to Rutherford, who was quite astonished to know that Yukina had actually went missing before coming back to the Souma family.
"…so that is what happened, Rutherford-san," Kazuma finished.
"I see…so I had made the right choice in leaving Althena in your care then," Rutherford relaxed and smiled, making him seem all the more alluring.
"Uh…now that you have returned from battle, what are you going to do with Yukina-chan?" Yuki asked hesitatingly, being unable to contain the question.
Rutherford eyed Yuki interestedly. So this is the boy who has feelings for Althena… he thought.
"Evidently, we would return to the sky to continue living together, Yuki-san," he smirked slightly, and Yukina sensed the change in the atmosphere. She got up of her comfortable position in Hatori's arms and went to sit beside Rutherford, laying a hand on his warningly.
"I…I have not decided whether to continue staying here or going back, Yuki-kun. But, my destiny lies in the sky, and so I must go back eventually," she said softly, her tone carrying a hint of apology.
"I think Yukina has enough for tonight, everyone. Yukina, Rutherford, we should go home now," Hatori stood up, breaking up the conversation, and the three of them returned to Hatori's house, leaving behind the rest staring after them wonderingly.
After they arrived, Hatori and Rutherford helped Yukina to the couch and all three of them sat down. Rutherford took off his shirt and Hatori was surprised to see the same mark he saw on Yukina's back on the exactly same place on Rutherford's body. Then, he deduced that it must be a symbol of their clan, and did not ask about it.
"You are extremely observant and quick to catch up on things, Hatori-kun," Rutherford grinned. "Will you be reluctant to let Althena return to her rightful place?"
Hatori looked at Rutherford, his eyes betraying nothing.
"That is the choice of Yukina, and it is not for me to decide for her," he replied steadily, his eyes on Yukina all the while.
Now, Yukina was caught in a real dilemma. She loved both Hatori and Rutherford, the former being the one to save her and shower her with love, and the latter was the reason she existed for. Rutherford saw her expression and smiled reassuringly.
"Don't worry, Althena, I will not force you to separate from each other…" Rutherford then looked at Hatori. "However, Hatori-kun, you must prove yourself worthy to be with Althena before you can be with her forever."
Hatori narrowed his eyes at Rutherford.
"What exactly do you mean by that?"
"Let's see…I mean that you will be sort of put on probation for about two weeks…do you accept the challenge?"
"Of course, Rutherford," Hatori answered promptly. "Anything to be with Yukina…" he added silently.
"Is it really necessary, brother?" Yukina beseeched.
"Yes, my love…did you forget that one must prove his worth before being able to live in the sky?" Rutherford patted her head gently. "If you are so worried, then you can help him, Althena."
Yukina's eyes brightened up.
"Okay then." She smiled happily.
