Morning had arrived rather painfully for Keitaro. He was having trouble sitting up from the soreness of his body. The boy looked over at his clock, it read six forty five, but the daylight spoke otherwise. He knew this was inevitable. His clock had been acting up for some time now. It wasn't simply the batteries, the clock's time was just up. He would have to replace it soon. There was always the option of buying another one, but he had little money to spend since he was still on B rank missions. As Keitaro tried to find another solution, he at last thought of one. The day he eft, he remembered he put some of his belongings in the attic. He could only hope that there was still a clock in there somewhere. Keitaro grunted in pain as he tried to stand up.

"Damn Draconian", Keitaro cursed under his breath.

The healing wound from his shoulder, the tear in his back, and the bullet wound in his leg began to take its toll on Keitaro. There was no helping it. Keitaro was going to have to take this slowly. Sometimes slow and steady won the race, but no one ever said it wasn't painful.

In the attic, Keitaro used a flashlight to scour the boxes. He coughed from the flying dust as he moved some things out of his way. Rewarding his efforts, Keitaro found the box with his name on it.

"It's still here", Keitaro said somewhat surprised. "Thankfully Aunt Haruka didn't throw away my things."

After digging through the contents Keitaro found what he was looking for.

"Score", Keitaro exclaimed in victory.

As he was about to close up the box, he found a few more things. It was as if his old memory lane was contained in a cardboard cube. Something that caught Keitaro's attention was his old sketch book.

"Wow, I haven't drawn anything in years", he told no one as he flipped through the book.

Inside were more familiar belongings, including his old journals. Keitaro turned page after page, remembering how young and naïve he once was. He couldn't help break out a small smile as he decided to take the entire box with him, back to his room.

In the hallways of the dorms, Sarah stood in the doorway munching on a banana. Su was surprisingly not around, leaving Seta's daughter bored to no end. She wanted something exciting to happen, even if it was still early in the day. Sure enough, she got what she wanted. Unnoticed to Keitaro, Sarah watched as Keitaro climbed out of the attic with a large box in tow. He was sluggish, and appeared sore from some unknown cause. This was something the little devious girl preyed upon. As Keitaro slowly made his way back to his room, Sarah lazily tossed the banana peel on the floor. It wasn't because Keitaro was slow-witted, even if he was, it was just the fact that he was caught off his guard that Keitaro fell for the classic trick. Like all slipping tricks, there were consequences to them.

As Keitaro fell on his back to the hard wooden floors, the box landed on his chest. Keitaro cried out in searing pain. However, it wasn't just one cry he wailed. He continued to scream out like a wounded animal. By now Sarah would have fled the scene of the crime, but Keitaro's echoing pain froze her steps. With whatever strength he could comprehend, Keitaro pushed the box off his chest as he rolled onto his side. Sarah put her hands to her mouth as she thought, "Oh no, what have I done?!" While he was on his side, Sarah's face paled as she saw blood pool in his shirt, and on the floor.

Despite her mischievous ways, Seta always taught her that she should help someone when they were in need. The small girl walked around to Keitaro's side. She stepped around the blood as he curled into a ball. She tried to talk some sense into him over his wailing. As the young girl knelt by Keitaro, he finally noticed she was there. He didn't even suspect that she was responsible for this incident. The soldier boy was only glad that she was there at the moment.

"Sarah, go get Haruka!"

Without anymore delay, Sarah ran in another direction yelling, "Haruka, Haruka!"

It didn't take much time before Keitaro was in his room being treated for the damage. However, it did take a lot of bandages to patch up, and a lot of soap to wash up the the blood in the hallway. Everyone was in his room for concern for Kaitaro. The worse had passed as laid on his stomach to ease his back. Haruka, Su, Naru, Mutsumi and Kitsune had all gone to the store to get some thing for Keitaro's wounds. That left, Sarah, Motoko, Kanako, and Shinobu to attend to their manager.

"Thanks for helping me back to my room, and sorry for all the trouble. I promise, I'll scrub the floor later today."

"Oh no you won't", Kanako broke in. "Until you're fully recovered, you're not leaving this room brother."

"I agree, what were you thinking trying to carry such a heavy box on your own", Motoko scolded.

"I'm sorry everyone, I just needed a new clock. I didn't think it would be any trouble. I must have slipped from the weight and then this happened."

No one noticed as Sarah looked sheepishly away with a guilty face. It wasn't devious or cunning, it was just guilty.

"A-Anyways, Keitaro is safe now. That's all that really matters. Right", Shinobu defended her sempai.

"Thanks Shinobu", Keitaro told her. "Wait a minute, you didn't happen to find my other contact lens did you?

"They were drenched in blood, so we had to throw it away", Motoko stated.

"Aw man, that was my last one. I'm as lind as a bat without them. I can only see out of one eye with this one. They might as well call me lefty."

The others tried to think of a solution for this problem. Yet, it was Keitaro who had the first idea.

"Hey do me a favor, check those boxes to see if you find a pair of glasses", Keitaro asked them.

The girls brought the box closer to Keitaro so he could view the contents. As they searched, and searched, Sarah found a small contained. She opened it up, and BINGO, there they were. A set of prescription glasses ready for Keitaro.

"Wow, thanks Sarah I..."

Keitaro was at a loss of words as she placed the glasses on his face.

"Oh umm, thank you Sarah.

Keitaro took a look in the mirror on his dresser. They fit him despite all these years.

"So, how do I look?"

"Like a dork", Sarah commented.

"Like the way you did when we first met you" Shinobu said as she clasped her hands together.

"Really, thanks Shinobu", Keitaro told her. "It's been so long since I've worn a pair of glasses."

"Yeah, and why is that", Sarah asked.

The question caught Keitaro off guard. He wasn't expecting this as he stared at Sarah. At first she thought he was simply trying to remember. Then she saw that he was staring at her a little to intently for her liking.

"What are you looking at", Sarah said trying to act tough.

"Keitaro came back to reality as he shook his head clean.

"Nothing, nothing, it's just...you remind me of someone I once knew."

"Who", Kanako asked.

"Uuuhh...it's complicated", the Urashima scratched his head while trying to dodge the questions.

"Please, tell us Keitaro", Shinobu pleaded with large sad eyes.

Those sad, adorable eyes were something that Keitaro couldn't avoid. He tried to think about what to say next. He let his eyes wander around the room, hopelessly trying to find the answer somewhere else. His glasses focused on the box he had brought back from the base.

"Do me a favor, hand me that box", Keitaro said as he sat on his rear.

Motoko handed Keitaro the box without opening it up herself. He thanked her before he started digging through it himself. He pulled out a red piece of cloth, and a photo album. Before they could ask Keitaro about the cloth, he handed them the photo album. Inside was a picture of him, and a little boy on his shoulders holding a balloon. The little boy was young, maybe no older than five. His hair was a dirty blonde, with bright blue eyes.

"Who is that", Kanako asked.

"That's Yangu. He was a friend of mine."

"What do you mean was a friend", Motoko asked.

Keitaro held his head low as he took a deep breath.

"Yangu was...he was a stray kid..."

Everyone gasped from this.

"He didn't have a family, or a home. One day we caught him stealing from the base kitchen. We would have sent him to the orphanage, but my team agreed not to. He kept him on the base, and he kinda grew on us."

"What was he like", Shinobu asked rather interested in the picture.

"He was a peaceful child", Keitaro said to her. "No matter what kind of bad day you were having, he could always cheer you up."

Keitaro looked back to the photo as he pointed to Yangu.

"I remember we took this picture on his birthday. He had just turned five. I remember the exact thing I bought him. I bought his a Superman comic book. If you could have seen the look on his face, he was so happy." Keitaro shifted the glasses on his face as he said, "I also remembering him saying I reminded him of Superman because Clark wore glasses. It made me happy to hear that."

Keitaro lifted the red cloth he took out of the box. The Urashima opened it up to its full extent to see that the cloth was a Superman cape.

"That year, he said he wanted a Superman cape...and I had it ready for him."

So what happened", Sarah asked.

Keitaro held the cape in his hands as he stared deeper into the S symbol. Floods of memories came rushing back to him like a nightmare.

There was fire all around them. The big artillery and mobile vehicles had all been destroyed in the blaze. In the smokey ash and embers, the sound of clanking metal tore through the chaos. Keitaro was thrown into a destroyed jeep like a rag doll. The metal from the vehicle dented from Keitaro's impact. He was breathing heavily from a recent fight. His head and shoulder her bleeding out badly. From out of the dark smoke emerged an opponent with a red reptilian like tail. Keitaro recognized who it was.

"Why Draconian, why?"

"For the sake of Project Dragon. I was a perfect candidate for it, but hey refused to listen to me", Draconian said.

"You're obsessed with the power Draconian. Let it go", Keitaro said as he wobbly stood up."

"Give it up? Now why would I give up this awesome power? Perhaps it is you who needs to give up on this path you've chosen."

Keitaro braced himself as Draconian prepared another fire breath attack. Before he could attack, the small boy Yangu jumped onto his arm. It was more of a hinderance to the dragon than a threat, Yangu refused to let go.

"You leave Keitaro alone", Yangu shouted.

"Insolent bug", Draconian spat.

Using his razor claws, Draconian forcibly tore the child off his arm in a strong swipe. Keitaro could hear the gurgled choking as Yangu flew through the air. The blood rained through the air as Keitaro watched the event in slow motion. Before he could hit the ground, Keitaro bolted for Yangu and seized him in his arms.

"YANGU! YANGU I'M SO SORRY", KEITARO CRIED OUT TO THE CHILD"

He took a quick look around himself. Draconian had escaped from him, and there was no one else in sight.

"YANGU, CAN YOU HEAR ME", Keitaro said as he looked over boy.

His eyes were closed, and he couldn't hear a heart beat as Keitaro pressed his ear gently to Yangu's chest. Blood smeared on the side of Keitaro's face, but he didn't care.

"YANGU, YOU HAVE TO WAKE UP! yOU HEAR ME YANGU, YOU HAVE TO HOLD ON! HELP WILL GET HERE YOU'LL SEE! YOU JUST HAVE TO HANG ON, CAN YOU DO THAT LITTLE BUDDY!"

By now tears were rushing down Keitaro's face as he tried to find help.

"JUST HANG IN THERE YANGU! WE'RE SUPERMAN BUDDIES REMEMBER, SUPERMAN BUDDIES FOR LIFE! JUST PLEASE, DON'T GO! NOT YOU TOO! SOMEBODY, HELP! ANYBODY!

The rest was just a faded memory after that. It was all another part of a deep dark past Keitaro had a hard time swallowing down.

"By the time we reached th hospital, it was too late", Keitaro told them. "He just...died in my arms. There was nothing else I could do."

Tears from his eyes smeared his glasses before dropping on the cape in his lap. The girls were all heart-broken from the story, and from his crying. Sarah felt really low for causing him physical pain, when he was already suffering through so much mental pain.

"Ever since that day, I stopped wearing glasses. It reminded me too much of that time Yangu said I looked like Clark. I just...I couldn't...I never got to thank him...I, I never gave him his Christmas cape...I just..."

Keitaro couldn't finish as he buried his face in the cape. It was too painful of a memory for him to hold in any longer. He covered his face, and he wailed like a crying child. Sarah couldn't stand this. She had already heard him cry in pain earlier, and now it was really pulling at her heart-strings. She so badly wanted him to stop, and she so badly wanted to cry too. Wanting it all to stop, Sarah did the only thing she knew what to do. She wrapped her arms around him, and cried with Keitaro. Motoko, Shinobu, and Kanako felt the same way. If they couldn't stop the pain, then they could help ease it. The rest of them joined in as Keitaro and Sarah cried in unison.

So, a little more of Keitaro's past is revealed...again. It's a bit sad, and kinda gory, but I tried to keep it at a minimum. I hope you like this one, and I hope I didn't rush this chapter too much. I might not have another chapter until after the holidays, but we'll see. Tell me what you all think. :)