The drumming of hooves came wildly as the fugitives readied themselves to once again take flight. Takumi was prepared to ride, Leo had his arms wrapped around his lover's waist, but just when it came time to flee, Leo gripped Takumi's shoulder firmly.

"Wait."

It was Xander, Camille, and Elise, weapons drawn.

"Halt, you dog," Xander ordered, "you've taken our brother!"

But Camille and Elise had already begun to lower their weapons at the sight of their brother riding willingly with his "captor." Xander would not be swayed so easily.

"Xander, don't be an idiot," Leo said.

"Told you," chirped Elise. Camille sulked and handed over what looked like a bag of money. Elise smiled: "Hey big bro."

"Leo, think of our father," Xander urged. "Are you really going to do this?!"

"Yes, Xander, I am. I wasn't toying with you when I was drunk. I needed you to know the truth, all of you! I'm the same Leo you've always known, but don't hate me for this. Hate me for anything but this."

All their Nohrian steel was lowered, though some more reluctantly than others. Ryoma, Hinoka, and Sakura rode into the small woodland clearing, joining the party.

"Yeah! We've got your back, Takumi! ...Takumi?" Ryoma's battle cry trailed off and became almost a question when he saw Leo's arms around his brother. He looked befuddled. "Wait, Takumi... You and Hana, right? Aren't you...?"

"Hana?" piped up Hinata, "She's a lesbian, dude!"

Oboro slapped Hinata.

"Oh... wow..." Ryoma muttered. Sakura sighed. Awkwardness had saturated the atmosphere to such a degree that it was physically tangible.

But instead of choking on it, Takumi flipped out.

"All right, I've had enough of this shit!" Everybody listened because nobody had heard Takumi swear before. "Things are mess right now! All this fighting and bloodshed? It's awful, can't we all agree? I love Leo. He's a boy and I'm a boy and that doesn't matter because it's real. I'm sick and tired of my family trying to tell me what my duties are. In spite of all this hatred and fighting, Leo and I fell in love. And it's none of your damn business what we do!"

"Yeah, you all need to chill the fuck out and do an onsen," Leo added. Everybody listened because nobody had heard anybody speak like that before. Ever. Regardless, after a hard ride through the morning, Onsen seemed like the best idea in the world.