Tsukagami or Nonomura Alice, the half German half Japanese, 24 years old woman watched the cloudy scenery outside the window with her chin resting on her palm. Her ears perked up at the sound of giggles and laughter several seats in front of her. Nonomura Uriko, her foster sister, was chatting to her childhood friend, Ogami Kenji, as he played Pokemon on an old gameboy that was gifted by her sister. Alice peered through the gap between the seats and stiffed a giggle at the sight of Uriko leaning against the boy and resting her cheek on his shoulder with her arms warp around him as she talked his ears off. Normally, anyone would find her behavior to be annoying and clingy, but to Kenji, it was something that he was used to since their early rough childhood during their time being experimented by Tylon, the malicious organization which hid itself under the mask of virtue.

Besides, Kenji didn't seem to mind his best friend's overly physical affection since she inherited that trait from the hulk of a woman, Nonomura Mitsuko, and responded back with a nod or some few words whenever Uriko talk to him while his focus still glued into the gameboy in his hand. It was cute to be honest. Alice could guarantee that all of people she knew adore their strong bond of friendship and possibly something even more ? Alice giggles quietly again. It would be absolutely adorable to see them become a couple. She knew for a fact that her sister was already head over heels for her dear friend, so sooner or later, either Kenji would catch up with her feelings or Uriko would blurt it out on accidents due to her clumsiness. Maybe be the latter, judging from the years she had lived with Uriko.

Another row of laughter could be heard, making Alice to search for the source. On the right side of Uriko and Kenji, she saw Ogami Yugo, her boyfriend, who was supposed to sit right next to her, had move to a new seat to chat with Shina, the 21 years old mercenary, or Jane Gado, the name that she only allowed family and friends to use in private. Similar to the teenager pair, Yugo and Jane had known each other since they were kids thanks to the connection of their fathers, who were best friends in their mercenary years. They used to be quite close to each other until both of them entered their teenager period and drifted apart from each other for awhile prior to their sudden union two years ago when Jane was searching for her father, Alan Gado in Japan.

Ever since that day, the two of them started to spend more time together and went on their weekend camping whenever they can to catch up with each other's life. It would be a lie if Alice didn't admit that she was fairly jealous at how close they were. Yugo didn't mention anything about being friend with Jane during their 2 years of dating until recently. Sure, Alice had the right be angry at him for unintended hiding this from her, but she couldn't blame him for the small mistake since Yugo was not exactly the most informative person unless people directly ask him. Nevertheless, she wished he had told her before without she had to ask him in the first place because Alice wanted to know more her boyfriend's childhood and possibly to involve herself more into his life instead of being merely his romantic partner.

Alice let out a heavy sigh and look at Yugo, who was laughing loudly at one of Jane's jokes and slammed his hand against the table multiple times. Alice had never been the jokester type, but she had cracked some of them before and Yugo didn't react to them aside from looking at her in confusion. Not saying, Yugo was a great joker or anything, still, she could hardly ever understand his taste in humor. So far, Jane was the one who Yugo enjoyed to banter the most. They had known each other since childhood after all. Of course, Alice wouldn't be able to understand the Grey Wolf Zoanthrope as much as Jane. It was not like Alice hated Jane or anything. In contrast, she admired the French young woman a lot whose confidence and social skill were something she wished to improve herself.

Jane's father, Mr. Gado, took everyone to a trip to France as a summer vacation to celebrate Yugo's success as the leader of World of Co-Existence or WOC for short. He was generous enough to pay for everyone's expense for the trip and let them stay in his family manor instead of hotels. He even went so far to book a private jet for them to avoid pesky and nosy reporters and journalists due to Yugo was now officially a member of politic. An inexperienced young one, but important, nonetheless. At first, Yugo didn't want to meddle with politics because he was aware of his non existing leadership, one of many skills that the Gado was well known for. It would be more logical for Gado to pass the position to his daughter after he was being denied by the public and the Congress due to the scandal that was framed onto him by Tylon. However, both Yugo and Gado hadn't told anyone the reason why Yugo was chosen instead of Jane.

'Despite being an old, well known aristocratic family, the Gado is still as mysterious as ever.' Alice thought, rubbing a strand of hair from her usual pigtails against her fingers.

Alice's sensitive ears pick up at the sound of paper pages being aggressively flipped over, she shyly turned her head behind her back to meet the grumpy Chinese man who sat far back behind everyone in the corner to read his book, but it seemed that Yugo's rowdiness had disturbed his peaceful session. Jin Long, who was the former assassin/hitman of Tylon, was now a respectful teacher at Uriko's high school thanks to the help of Gado. He still remained as Uriko's martial art teacher after training her in order to rescue Mitsuko, her mother, from the ZLF under her begging request. Of course, her sister couldn't be able to handle the whole organization full of Zoanthropes, and Long had to step in, not only for her own safety, but also to search an answer from the clone of him, Shenlong. Uriko was just 15 at that time.

Alice and Mitsuko were grateful for him to take care of Uriko when they weren't able to. Alice blamed herself a lot for losing sight of her younger sister, who went to the countryside and climbed up on the dangerous steep mountains just because she heard an old master of martial art was living in a mountain cave from drunk, crazy old man in their neighborhood for a week under the lie of visiting her one of her friends. Alice failed her duty as a sister and disappointed Mitsuko greatly. Although, both Uriko and Mistuko had long forgiven her, Alice couldn't bring herself to do the same. She was a nurse, after all, dammit and she let her loved ones got hurt due to her lack of attentiveness. Kenji and Mitsuko both disappeared at the same time, leaving the young, vulnerable Tabby Cat Zoanthrope all alone in her depressed state.

Alice bit her under lip, only to stop when the taste of iron hit her tongue. A nasty habit. Yugo and Uriko advised her to stop doing it many times. Alice licked her wounded lip, feeling relieved when it healed again thanks to being a Zoanthrope. She didn't want anyone to notice her nervousness, anyway, especially Yugo. Being a wild canine, he tended to sniff out her emotions, despite not understanding half of them. Yugo was never an intuitive one. His bluntness and ignorance of subtleness always surprised Alice to no end, no matter how hard she tried to communicate him about her emotional needs. The Florida White Rabbit Zoanthrope let out another sigh. Oh well, she guessed. Her boyfriend might not be the best lover, but he tried his damn best when it came to taking of his loved ones, especially to his adopted brother, Kenji. A beautiful sibling hood that she couldn't even able to rival, nor she wanted to. What Yugo had with Kenji was as loving as hers with Uriko.

Suddenly, a friendly, feminine voice rang through the speaker to the cabin to update on their flight state. Everyone attentively listened to what she said.

"Good morning, everyone! This is your captain speaking. We'll arrive to Paris Charles de Gaule airport in five minutes. Please remain in your seat, make sure your seatbelt is securely fastened and all carry on luggage is stowed underneath the seat in front of you or in the overhead bins. Thank you!"

"Finally! My ass is getting sore from all of this sitting shit !" Yugo exclaimed as he rubbed his bum to demonstrate his statement. He's not a patient person, but Alice has to agree that seven hours of sitting still was painful. She would rather be standing a full day than sitting, since Alice was trained to always on her feet when working in a hospital.

"Me too! It's so boring to sit all the time." Uriko pouted and wiggled her legs in anticipation, bumping against Kenji's legs to ask him to join her antic. Kenji stretched his legs in response.

"Seven hours is nothing. Try 18 hours from New York City to Singapore all by yourself with no entertainment." Jane fastened her seatbelt and leaned on the armrest to look through the porthole.

"Why were you go to Singapore?" Alice asked curiously. Jane, Gado and Jenny were infamous for their odd and out of place work schedule in their circle of friends.

"Mercenary business. Someone in the Singapore's military commissioned me to deal with their "little, delicate disagreement" immediately, so I had to drop everything and dragged my ass to there as fast as possible."

"Couldn't you just decline it ?" Yugo chimed in, equally as curious as Alice.

"Negative. Father personally assigned me to the contract. Even if I got my arms chopped off, I still have to finish my serving, unless he says no. Father's words are laws. " Jane shakes her head. Uriko and Kenji frown at her words. They knew Gado was a powerful man, both in physique and influence in of politics, but they would never imagine him to be this … tyrannical.

"But hey, at least I got some fun out of that contract." Jane grinned after noticing her friends' sudden silent.

"Uh, what did you do?" Uriko arched her head a bit sideway as a curious manner.

"Eating food, of course!" Everyone laughed and chuckled at Jane's response, even the quiet man, Long, had to smile in amusement. Of course, it was food. Jane and Yugo were big food lovers, after all.

Soon the private jet landed onto Paris Charles de Gaule airport. The captain and flight attendants reminded them to check everything before leaving. After confirming they had not leave anything behind and secured their carry on luggage, everyone left the jet to retrieve their suitcases before being greeted by a short chauffeur at the exit entrance who held a big sign of "Welcome home!" written in French and a Japanese translation underneath it.

"Bonjour, mademoiselle Jeanne ! It had been so long ! Do you still remember me, mademoiselle ?" The old chauffeur eagerly asked in his thick, raspy French accent when they walked close enough to him.

"Ah, Gibby! I didn't expect you to still work for Father. " Hearing his nickname, Gilbert chuckled fondly.

"Oh mon. That little nickname has never gone old, isn't it ?" Jane smiles back.

"Who's the old, caterpillar eyebrows?" Yugo's bluntness showed off as he stood next to both of them. The chauffeur only stood tall to his rib cage.

"Everyone, this is Gilbert, my father's chauffeur or personal driver for Yugo to understand, and old friend. Gibby, this are my friends." Gilbert wholeheartedly shook the men's hands and gave a kiss on each women's hands, which causing Alice and Uriko to retract their hands in surprised. Yugo and Kenji immediately stood in front of them to shield them away as if in instinct.

"Mes excuses, mademoiselles! It was merely a greeting! Mes – My deeply apologies." Gilbert quickly bowed his head after realizing his mistake. Alice and Uriko were taken back at his sincere apology and also realized it was one of many forms of greeting in Europe.

"Sorry. I should have told you guys about this early." Jane gave an apologetic look, which later, Yugo punched playfully at her shoulder for it.

"Oh, it's alright! Please don't worry too much, Mr. Gilbert. We weren't used to this courtesy before." Alice tried to explain and glad that the old chauffeur briskly brightened up again. Uriko nodded her head along her older sister's words.

" Merci beaucoup. All of you must be fatigued from the long flight! S'il vous plaît! S'il vous plaît! Come this way! Let get you all to the manor. The master has been waiting for you! "

Gilbert led everyone to the black, sleek limousine, which Yugo whistled in impressment. Long, Kenji and Yugo helped Gilbert to put all the luggage away in trunk while the others settled into their seats. Jane sat near the driver seat to easily instruct Gilbert if needed while the Nonomura sat next to each other in the same row with Jane. Uriko couldn't help, but to bounce on the leather seat like a child who got to visit Disney land for the first time. Alice was still nervous at the new environment around her, added with her bad relationship with any vehicles that have more than 2 wheels since she was a late teen. She felt her heart began to race and her breath start to hitch. So far, only Yugo and Mitsuko knew about her trauma and both of them were not around right now to help her. Alice struggled to keep her calm and attempted to distract herself by tugging on the strand of her pigtails. Sensing the discomfort in the nurse, Jane placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You okay?" A worried look was on Jane's face.

"Huh? Ah... I'm alright... It's just that … I don't like being in confided space vehicles." Alice rubbed her neck anxiously. Uriko soon also noticed Alice's restless state.

"I can get some pills for you if you're scared of getting car sick, sis. I remember I packed some of them in my luggage." Uriko said as she moved over to Alice and gave a squeeze on her hand.

"Yeah. What the runt said. I think Gibby carries some pills for car sick. If not, I can grab a taxi and drive with you to Father's manor."

"It's alright. I'm not car sick. Just … nervous, that's all. I mean it's my first trip with friends, you know! " Alice nervously laugh off to ease the tension. She didn't want to be inconvenient to others, especially to her friends and family.

"You sure ?" Uriko frowned, wanting to make sure Alice feel comfortable since she always had known Alice for being both more mentally and physically sensitive than others. The cons of being a rabbit.

Alice hesitated for a few seconds, and before she opened her mouth, the men return from their task and got into their seats. Kenji sat across Uriko, who latter being sandwiched between Yugo and the table while Long settled himself at the very back of the limos, avoiding contact with anyone at all cost. Sometimes, Alice wondered whether he was truly hate being near people or just socially awkward like what Uriko and Jane said. Yugo was about crack a joke until he smelled something was different in his girlfriend.

"Something wrong, Allie?"

"Huh? Oh. It's nothing." Alice waved a hand off. Her hands were still slightly shaky.

"Ya sure?" Yugo pressed again. Something was definitely wrong with her. His nose was going wild right now.

"I'm sure, Yugo. I'm just exhausted from the long flight." Yugo was about to ask her again, but thankfully for Alice, Kenji lie a hand on his brother's shoulder and shook his head. The older Ogami grunted and crossed his arms like a scolded child. Alice smiled gently and patted on his muscular arms to assure him. She understood that he was only worried for her feelings. However, she was too tired of questions for today.

Small, rapid footsteps shuffled outside of the limos car as the small older man hopped into the driver seat.

"Un, deux, trois,…, six. Everyone is in their seats, hmm? Shall we go now, mademoiselle Jeanne? " Gilbert looked into the rear view mirror.

"Hold on. Long, why are you sitting in the back like a sulking kid? "

If it wasn't for Jane and her sharp eyes, Alice and the others would had long forgotten about the Chinese man's existence due to how quiet he can be. Long slightly jolted in his seat and slowly lifted his eyes from the carpet car to meet the Amur Leopard Zoanthrope's somewhat amusing gaze from Alice's perspective. He suddenly felt uneased under the staring of others and twirled his thumbs.

"I … enjoy my solitude. Right in this spot." Long solemnly explained and awkwardly tapped the carpet with his feet. "This area is fine for me."

"I'm sorry if I have talked to loud, Long." Alice gave him an apologetic smile, which Long shook his head.

"Just get your ass up here." Jane demanded and gestured the seat in front of her with a jerk of her head.

"He seems to like his spot right there. No need to drag the poor guy up here." Yugo commented to tease his childhood friend and quickly got swatted away by her hard glare. No one dared to say a thing or move a muscle as they looked at Long for an answer.

Considering for a moment, Long, who was unable to stand the thick tension in the air, defeatedly stood up from his well protected position and moved to his new destination.

"There. It's not that bad, isn't it?" Jane flashed a smile at him before signaled Gilbert to start the engine, who happily chirped and complied.

Long wanted to protest, but found his mouth shut tight when Jane locked one of her legs into his. Alice's eyes went wide at the sudden out of character behavior of Gado's daughter. She looked at others to confirm what she had witness was real, soon to found out Yugo and Kenji had dozed off by leaning against each other while Uriko was busy in her own little world with Kenji's gameboy.

"Just making sure, you don't suddenly jump out of your seat and hides again, Tigre." Jane whispered softly. Long only glanced at her for a full second before had a staring contest with his hands.

It must be the exhaustion of seven hours long flight that messed with her vision, but somehow, she saw a tint of blush on the Kenpo master's face and it quickly got hidden under his long hair bangs. Alice snuck a glance over to the woman next to her to see her reaction, but it seemed that Jane didn't catch his expression and had already taken a nap. This whole strange event had successfully distracted her from claustrophobia, and now it was beckoning her to invest more into whatever just happened right in front of her eyes. It was not that Alice had never seen Long ever smile before. He had been seen smiling on some occasions. The recent one would be Uriko finally stepped toward the first year of high school. Long was very proud of her little sister from what she had been told and observed. He was not entirely emotionless, of course. It would be ignorant and childish to accuse him that way. However, blushing to a person was another whole can of worm to be opened, and it was not merely any random person. It was ALAN GADO's precious, baby daughter.

Feeling her head began to spin, Alice decided that it was the best for her to swept all of these thoughts aside and took a nap like others.