"So…that's what happened."

Hotarou sat with his fingers interlaced with a thoughtful expression. He didn't say anything at hearing the news of Isa's passing, but sat in this position. Tomoe had pulled Hotarou to tell him the news away from the others so that, whatever his reaction may be, his friends wouldn't have to see it, and while Tomoe liked to play with her brother, she knew that any type of play at this point would result in a severe lashing. She had never seen this sort of doleful expression on his face before and it made her glad. He was changing, whether he noticed it or not.

"When you're ready to come back with the others, you're welcome," she said so quietly that it almost passed over Hotarou's mind.

Hotarou opened his hands and pressed his forehead into them and clicked his tongue in frustration. She says it was natural, but I shouldn't have left her. I should have brought her along so she could see a doctor!

What are you saying! Another portion of Hotarou's brain argued, and have brought along another dead-weight? Think! She died in her own home, so she couldn't have been in a better place!

But she was alone! by herself! If I was in that situation…

Don't start with the 'what if's.' It's over Hotarou, move on!

It is over, and there's no point in making yourself sick over it. At least…it wasn't, strictly, my fault…Hotarou still felt weak even as he stood to join the others. He decided that taking his mind off it for now would be best.

Back in the brightly lit room filled with books and treasures from all over the galaxy, Hotaoru was dazzled. Sure he had a lot of things back on Dione, but these were extremely exotic objects, ones that usually wouldn't ever be seen by the average moon or planet dweller. And the most impressive of all was the woman who walked in just after Hotarou.

"I was just informed that we have visitors that were unplanned for?" the woman rumbled scanning the room with eyes that held so many emotions at once that she became very difficult to read. Her eyes were a rich golden color and they darted piercingly at her guests. Her hair was a honey-brown and partially shaved on one side exposing a massive hoop-earring. She wore a yellow-orange sari-type robe over one shoulder and a long, studded corset. But her most striking feature was not the tattoo on her left arm, nor the scar on her chest, but the fact that she kept her nose and every feature below it covered.

Tomoe glided to her side, and while the prior was taller, the two could have been easily mistaken for sisters; both toned, but not muscly; both were mentally strong and gave off a similar energy—that of power and authority. "Suzie, this is my brother," she gestured first to Hotarou then to the rest of the crew, "and his friends."

So this is the infamous Suzie, Hotarou thought. Suzie suddenly locked gazes with Hotarou and seemingly peered into his soul with a gaze that at first, felt genial, but with time began to fill with spite as if she had seen all of his history and deepest motivations. Hotarou strangely felt drained as she released him from her spellbinding stare. The room fell silent as she examined each of the guests, but as she searched each it gave the impression of constant conversation.

"Well," she said after a majestic pause, "I suppose you can stay for a short bit." Her glance swiveled back to Hotarou and this time it had no hidden agenda behind it. "Where are you weapons?"

"We don't have any," Hotarou pressed his gaze against hers.

"No weapons? Then how are you supposed to…" she shook her head. "Never mind. I will train you and supply you." Hotaoru was surprised by her lack of accent of the poor class and wondered about this woman even more. Why did she decide that they needed weapons? This was flight, not fight—she must know something that I don't.

She gestured for them to follow her down a passage that was carpeted with velvet and lit by some gas lamps that had electricity running in them. She turned to a door on her right and spun the lock back and forth several times then the door opened. The room was filled with weaponry from all ages, including the most modern styles of guns. She gave no explanation, and stepped inside without an indication for the group to follow so they stood respectfully in the hall. She gave a different weapon to each as she saw fit but all of them seemed powerful. When she gave Hotarou his, he saw her hold it with such ease then he thought it must be lightweight but he almost dropped it as he received it.

He grunted as he lifted the object. It had a glossy black surface and several switches on the side. If fit along his arm and could be adjusted according to the length of the user's arm it also had a telescope that flipped out from the top. After examining this he looked up at her. Her face crinkled proudly in the corners of her eyes, her golden eyes shimmering in the dark. "These shall be your choice weapons."

Hotarou glanced at the others and even noted that dainty Eru had a weapon—and it certainly did not suit her. Satoshi held an older model gun and Ibara had something similar to his but both looked uncomfortable with them. The only exception was Irisu who, already having slipped her weapon on—a pair of gloves that shot cords and utilized the great conductor that metal was for electricity—was proudly admiring it.

"Training will begin with Chitanda-san, followed by Mayaka-san, Fuyumi-san, Fukube-san, then Oreki-san. The first couple of sessions will be with me then with others on this ship who specialize on the same utensil as you. I will look forward to it."

Tomoe popped up beside him. "You could train with me, if you'd like!" she said ruffling his hair affectionately. "I use the same gun as the one she gave you!"

Anyone else but you! Hotarou sighed but turned his attention back to Suzie as she began to speak again. "You will train as long as your ship is being fixed; from there you must learn how to synchronize yourselves in battle and techniques unique to you. I am giving you these weapons and training so that you have them, but I hope you won't need to use any of them."

Hotarou had seen his friends' reactions, one-by-one as they came from their training. It unnerved him. But the one that was always called back was Eru. She had several sessions with Suzie but each time she came out with an indescribable expression. Hotarou didn't ask her directly what happened or how she was handling the training, but anytime someone asked her she would always say something simple most often, "It's a little difficult for me, but I'll manage somehow."

He wondered what was going on behind those closed doors to these people he had lived with for several months because they certainly weren't coming out as the same lot he knew. When his turn came he was called by his sister early in the morning. But he was awake anyway, waiting, listening for any indication that his time had come. His sister touched his shoulder and he turned over to look at her. She had, from what he could tell in the spare light that shone on the walls and now on her face, a smile, but because of the angle looked disconcertingly mischievous. He stood as Tomoe left and dressed himself in some clothes that Suzie had also provided—a gray tunic which he attempted to tuck into his baggy brown trousers. To these he strapped suspenders for fear of a great amount of physical activity in his training. With this he went towards the dining area to see if he could grab something to eat before he went but ran into Suzie, in what looked to be a very thick dress that shone like silver. She looked him in the eyes easily because she was just about as tall as he was. She blinked then began to move forward, forcing him to the side.

"Come along," was all she said as she brushed by him and stepped lightly down the hall. He stomach grumbled with the thought of food and was about to mention this when she added, "We will have breakfast after some training. Come along." He grumbled inwardly then followed her to the room along the still dimly-lit corridor, quiet with the air of sleep. She waited for him to open the door for her which he did with a grunt of irritation. The room was deep and on all sides were mirrors. Hotarou disliked this place already, never really having a fondness for admiring himself in the mirror, but in an instant the mirrors on the wall to their left and right became solid and a cart rolled toward them with two of the same weapon she had handed him before. He waited for her word, but rather than telling him to take it she had two seats rise up from the floor; she gestured for him to sit.

"Do you have a guess as to why you are last?" She asked casually taking a tea cup from a tray beneath the shelf that held the weapons on the cart. It steamed with something hot that smelled nice, to his gladness she handed him a cup as well.

"Not really," he said with a shrug as he tasted the liquid. With the taste his lips curved in a disgusted way, Bitter. I guess that's to be expected. You take what you get on a ship like this.

"I'll ask again. Do you have a guess as to why you are last?" he glanced up and perceived her narrowed eyes, searching for something.

Then something inside of him, despite his great fight against it, began to speak, "Well, I figured that because I was last you wanted to single me out for something," what am I saying?! "Was it that you wanted to get information out of the rest before you came to me? Then again, why are you constantly calling Chitanda back? That can't be right." A smile appeared in Suzie's eyes, Hotarou noticed it and despite his better judgment blurted, "What's with that smirk? Who do you think you are? I don't know what your deal is, but I don't like you. At all."

Her eyebrows raised with interest. "Think Oreki-san, you are smart. Your sister has told everything about you to me so I know it is true."

While he didn't want to speak out loud he did anyway, but before he did he took another drink of the bitter tea. "The order was Chitanda, Ibara, Fuyumi, Satoshi then me. It wouldn't just be girls then guys would it?" Suzie nodded her head in confirmation. "Maybe youngest to oldest?"

"How would I know your ages? This is the first time I have ever met you. Think harder about the people."

"I don't want to think. There's too many guesses I could make and we'd be here all freakin' day. I don't want my time wasted with circular discussions," he retorted to his surprise.

Suzie seemed to think about this for a moment then nodded. "All right. That makes sense, Oreki-san. Besides, everyone thinks differently and has different motivations." Hotarou took another sip then eyed her carefully as she stood and paced around to the side of the cart. "By the way, did you enjoy your truth tea? It has a certain chemical combination that allows the thought and speaking portions of your brain to access each other more easily. The result is speaking everything that's on your mind." Her eyes crinkled in the corners as if she had made a hilarious joke.

"I didn't like it," he said plainly, "It's bitter, but it's better than nothing I suppose. Why did you give it to me? Did you do the same for the others? How does it work? I wonder how the brain distinguishes between words to speak and thoughts to think? How can chemicals become words and words have meanings? How is our brain so elaborate that we can come up with whole plans and implement them so that they become reality? Everything that happens in there is a combination of chemicals working. How did scientists figure out what chemicals to use…?"

Suzie began to laugh as Hotarou dribbled off his thoughts he paused for a split second as she laughed. "Rude …"

"That is enough!" Suzie snapped before he could speak. "Perhaps this tea isn't for everyone. I gave this tea to everyone—yes—in order to determine some things about them. I picked you to go last because I knew that you wouldn't have very many reservations about killing as, say, Chitanda-san, would."

"That's why huh? She'd never hurt a fly!" Hotarou rambled, "I'm sure she couldn't even step on an ant without crying."

"You think that badly of her?" Suzie said with an impressed tone, "You know, she thinks the world of you. I could hardly get her to change the subject!"

"Really? I wonder why? I really haven't been all that nice to her."

"Well maybe you should try to be nicer. She has the most trust in you as their captain out of all of them, next to Fuyumi-san. She was a tough nut to crack!"

"Fuyumi?"

Suzie nodded. "It was strange, almost as if she had had time to build up a resistance to this stuff," she jerked her head to motion to the tea. "She said she liked it and that it tasted nostalgic to her. But that doesn't matter. I want to know what you think."

"'Bout what?" the tea was making Hotarou a little sleepy, he yawned.

"Would you be able to shoot this at someone?"

"Sure, why not, if I'm threatened."

"What if one of your crew members was threatened? Would you shoot it to save them?"

Hotarou hesitated this time. He tried to restrict his thoughts and if anything, not say them aloud. While he tried, it didn't work, "I don't know. It would have to come to the situation."

"If you had to choose between yourself and someone else, perhaps that you knew, who would you save?"

Suzie's eyes glimmered like a snake's waiting to catch its prey at the wrong move. Hotaoru averted his gaze and cursed under his breath, just like Tomoe asking these stupid philosophical questions. "It—it would have to come to the situation. Then I would know what to do."

"The tea must be wearing off," Suzie said with a new tone of voice, no longer acting like he was her toy, "You're lying."

"How do you know?" Hotarou snapped.

Suzie lifted her head and narrowed her eyes again with a haughty air, "I can see it. When you are lying your body language changes as does the feeling you give off." Hotarou narrowed his eyes in response to hers.

"Your color is gray." His expression slowly changed to that of surprise as she continued, "each person I meet gives off a color. I associate that color with a person and the color varies in hue and in light depending on the person's mood. When you, Oreki-san, are lying your color darkens—I've noticed because you tend to do it a lot without even saying anything. When Tomoe lies her color lightens and takes on a different hue."

"And what's her color?" Hotarou scoffed, not strictly believing what she was saying.

"It's somewhere between red-orange and yellow-orange, depending on the day," she replied with a cool look. "It shouldn't matter to you. Not many people understand what I mean."

"I certainly don't," Hotarou confirmed. "Anyway, aren't you European? You speak really good Japanese, but it's out-of-date."

"I'm Turkish-Japanese. But I was raised speaking Japanese because that's where I was born—on Saturn," Suzie at this point turned and handed him his gun, indication that discussion was over.

Hotarou dragged himself back to his room after training completely exhausted. He collapsed on his bed just as Satoshi came in, "Hotarou! Breakfast is ready! Come eat!" Hotarou waved his hand dismissively and grunted. His friend gave a sympathetic smile. "Suzie's really strict when it comes to meal times," Satoshi mentioned casually leaning in the doorway, "but I'll see if I can grab you a roll or something when I get back." Hotarou grunted again to show his thanks then the door closed behind him. The tea he had was now trying to overthrow his stomach, so he didn't feel like eating at all, especially after all of the training and physical activity; he just felt like going back to sleep. At the same time he felt fidgety, as if being active stirred up some long-lost desire. He turned just onto his side then opened his watch to see if there was any signal from a browsing network.

As expected, the huge garbage-ship blocked any signals. So instead he rolled over, very carefully, to his other side and closed his eyes. That feeling that you get when you are half-asleep, but half-awake slowly washed over him and he dreamt.

Back during the time he was with Isa, they loved to sit and write about thoughts, though neither knew English well enough to say some of their deepest ideas. On this day, it was snowing heavily outside and the two had sat in front of the fire all day, moving as little as possible to conserve heat, writing and sometimes even talking though the other didn't understand. Without being provoked to ask this, Isa wrote, "Hotarou, have you ever been scared?"

He contemplated this for a moment then responded, "Yes, I guess so."

She erased what she wrote and scribed on it again, "I heard a song that's really old now. And there is a line from it I think is very good when I am afraid." She drew a dash as Hotarou watched her then wrote a phrase; he wondered about the meaning. "You don't have to feel safe, to be unafraid."

Hotarou thought it was a nice phrase, but he wondered why she liked it. The fire was so warm, snapping and crackling rhythmically it made him sleepy but he didn't care. He let the couch absorb him into it and pulled up the blankets around his face. He was a child again and Isa a caring grandmother who watched over him as he slowly drifted into sleep, stroking his head and…

"Oreki," a hand touched his shoulder gently. He jumped and snapped his eyes open he turned over and saw Eru standing above him, his body relaxed only slightly; he forced himself to sit up. "Oreki, I'm sorry to wake you, but you've been asleep for a while and Suzie called a meeting."

Hotarou blinked and translated the words in his mind. He blinked sleepily and yawned with a nod to respond that he'd come soon. She stood, having sat on the edge of his bed, and made her way to the door. As she began walking down the hallway Hotarou caught up with her and the two walked on together. He noticed that she seemed a little uncomfortable so he tried at starting a conversation.

"How's your training been going with her anyway?"

He noticed her draw her shoulders up and a frown curve her lips down. "It's been fine."

Hotarou sighed and waited for her to continue; knowing that she apparently had a lot she wanted to get off her chest. "Oreki, she really wants to teach all of us to use a weapon of some type and I…I don't want to learn to kill! I don't think we'll ever need to and I don't want to even think about it! I keep telling her that I don't want to learn and she insists that I have to! I don't ever want to bear the burden of knowing that someone died because of me," she folded her hands together and brought them to her chest looking away shyly, "I'm sorry for putting all of that on you, Oreki—"

"If you don't want to, don't."

She stopped in surprise; Hotarou continued to walk down the hall without waiting for her. He turned just to add, "Where's the room for this 'meeting?'" She blinked and moved after him telling him that it was around the corner. Eru smiled, relieved that someone understood.

The room the two entered was filled with Persian rugs and tapestries and gave off the smell of spices. These were evidently very strong for Eru who sneezed a dainty sneeze as she entered. It was also filled with old, worn, leather bound books whose titles had faded and many dark-wood furniture pieces. It was if they had walked into a Persian palace. Suzie gestured to a couple of pillows on the floor around a table which the others already sat at while she and Tomoe reclined. Some Delights were sitting in a bowl in the middle to which Suzie recommended everyone take part Tomoe joshed that she'd be offended if we didn't because she made them herself.

Eru neatly folded her skirt underneath her legs and sat on a cushion. Hotarou crossed his and sat back waiting for the meeting to start. Suzie sat up as if ready to speak, and at the same time, Tomoe stood and let the room.

"Today we will discuss your future plans," Suzie said, he voice falling on deadened silence.

Hey, it's another chapter! I hope you enjoyed this one and I'm sure plenty of you will drop this story because of this chapter…and if not then, well, yay! Anywho, sorry for taking so long, school's back in session so it's hard to bring myself back around to this…