No more than an hour had passed when Naru, Haruka, Mustumi, Su, and Kitsune arrived back home.

"We're baaaack", Su cheered as they all entered Keitaro's room.

At the moment, Kanako, Motoko, Sarah, and Shinobu sat around Keitaro as he showed them a photo album.

Kitsune asked, "What do you have there Keitaro?"

"It's photo album I had", Keitaro answered the girl.

They newcomers noticed that Keitaro was wearing his glasses again. Thankfully for the eye drops he carried, there was no visible evidence that he had been crying less than an hour ago. The others seemed very intrigued by the contents of the book he skimmed through. Soon everyone from Su to Aunt Haruka took a seat behind Keitaro. The page he was on was a familiar one. It was the same picture they once found in Keitaro's wallet.

"Who are those people", Haruka questioned.

Keitaro pointed to one person with thick, wavy, brown hair.

"That's Simon, he was from Norway." Keitaro pointed to the last person with black hair as he said, "And that's Metaru, he was always playing pranks on us."

Keitaro chuckled to himself as Mutsumi asked, "Why were you both so dirty? Was it your first day of training?"

"Uuuhh, no, it was actually our first basket ball game together."

"Your first basketball game", Mutsumi asked.

"Yeah", Keitaro said as he drifted back to his old memories. "It was our first game together...and...the first time I spoke to any of the guys on the base."

Haruka noticed how Keitaro ran his hand across the photo. His eyes looked heavy with a hint of sorrow. She was knowledgeable enough to put two and two together.

"Did they pass away Keitaro", Haruka asked knowing very well what the answer was.

"...Yes...a long time ago" Keitaro said.

"Oh Keitaro, I'm so sorry", Naru told him. "Were you close to them?"

"Yeah", Keitaro answered with a long pause after. "They were murdered by one of our own units."

Everyone drew their attention from the photo album to Keitaro.

"What happened, was it Neon?"

Keitaro shook his head, "No", to Naru's question. Normally he wasn't supposed to tell anyone about his military life, but he was willing to make an exception to this. Avianna's wrath was the least of his worries, and he needed to talk to someone about the bottled up emotions he held.

"...His name was Draconian, he was another soldier in our unit. I didn't know him all that well, but he was Metaru's best friend. The four of us signed up for the ERT. Our chances of success were small with four against fifty, but we didn't care. The higher-ups told us that we would be making a break through in science if we signed up. It's classified to tell you exactly what we were signing up for, but we had to train for three intense months. I didn't meet any of the requirements, but Metaru was chosen for something called the Dragon Project. We were so proud of him, all of us were...all except for Draconian."

Most of the girls noticed that Keitaro said Draconian's name in a grim tone in that last sentence.

"He wanted the Dragon Project. He was obsessed with the power. Draconian took the project by force, but he wasn't alone. There were two others with him, including Neon. Along with Project Dragon, four other projects were stolen. I didn't have the power to stop them. We lost nearly all of the ERT units. Only a handful survived, including me."

"I'm sorry Keitaro", Naru told her heart-broken friend. "That must have scarred you for life."

"It did some damage", Keitaro Urashima said to her. "It was also a wake up call. I needed power, and I needed it fast. I wound up at the Oni-Zakura Dojo. The sensei taught me how to fight, how to protect, and how to believe in myself. There was only so much he could teach me, and I went back to the ERT. However, the ERT had changed. Instead of candidates for Projects, they were looking for people to stop the criminals with the projects."

"And that's why you wanted the S-Class Missions", Motoko clarified.

"It's just that...", Keitaro tried to answer her question as honestly as he could. "...I need to stop them Motoko. I can't let them get away with what they've done. Especially to those who were precious to me."

"Brother", Keitaro turned his head to Kanako behind him. "I know that stopping them is important, but don't go in so recklessly."

"It's alright Kanako, I'll be fine."

"No Keitaro, you won't be", Kanako pressed with her words. "Look at what happened to you. These arent wounds you can just walk away from. If you're not careful, you might lose more than just the fight, brother."

Keitaro couldn't argue with her. Not because she was a girl, or because she was his sister, but because he had no defense against this. Hoping to change the subject to something else, Keitaro flipped the page of the photo album. The next pages were of various things. Some were of him training in the military, or in the Oni-Zakura Dojo. There were a few of him spending time with Metaru and Simon. They asked frantically why he was holding a baby in one picture, but Keitaro explained that it was Simon's. Another interesting picture was of him holding a young Skinny.

"That was the first day I had Skinny", Keitaro told them. "I honestly didn't know what the heck he was. All I knew was that he was fuzzy, he was small, and he was on sale. I bought him at the "First Animal Sanctuary", and I've had him since.

Keitaro smiled as he watched the small pine martin snoozing in his bed. Keitaro turned the page to something a little more joyful. This part of the book looked as if he had been on a safari with different exotic animals.

"What is all of this", Su asked more interested in the animals.

"Well I do volunteer at the sanctuary. Sometimes they need help training the exotic animals, and I can safely say I'm pretty good at it."

"You don't say, huh", Kitsune asked.

"Yeah, one of these days I'm gonna have to bring one of them for you all to see."

This put some excitement in the air for them. The last page was of him with a girl with long black hair. Seeing this, Keitaro quickly closed the book.

"Hey, what's that last page", Sarah asked.

"Nothing", Keitaro tried to cover up.

"Are you hidin somethin", Kitsune asked.

"Nevermind Kitsune" said Keitaro.

"Who was that girl on the last page", Su asked clinging to Keitaro's arm.

"Nothing, no one, who are you talking about, who are you", Keitaro started to sweat from fear at this point.

Before he could resist anymore, Sarah started scratching Keitaro in his ticklish spots. The older boy started to giggle from the little girl's assault. It didn't take an order for Kitsune, Su, and for the heck of it, Mutsumi, as they continued to tickle Keitaro.

"AHAHAHAHA, STOP IT, STOP IT! I'M GONNA KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU, I'LL KILL YOU FOR THIS!"

Kanako and Shinobu tried to remove the troublemakers, since they were more concerned about Keitaro's well-being. The struggle only stopped when Su seized the photo album from Keitaro's grasp.

"Oooooh, who is this girl", Su asked as Keitaro tried to regain his possession. "She's very pretty."

"Look it has a signature in the corner", Naru inputted.

"No it doesn't", Keitaro tried to cover up.

Naru read the writing out loud, "To my one true love, I hope we have many more years together. Love, Masuka. XOXOXOXO"

Everyone face was in utter shock as Keitaro retrieved the book. Haruka dropped her cigarette, and Shinobu had bolted out of the room. The question on everyone's mind was, "Who was this girl?"

"Keitaro, is she your girlfriend", Naru asked out loud...really out loud.

"NO, YES, NO...well...", Keitaro placed the book back on the floor for the rest of them to see.

The picture was of both him and her together. She was directly behind him with her arms wrapped around his neck. Her looked like it was fluttering from the wind. It wasn't idealistic for a photo, but it still didn't compromise any of her beauty. Naru stared intensely at the photo before looking back to Keitaro. He had that sad look on his face as his eyes met hers. Naru wasn't psychic, and she couldn't tell what Keitaro was going to say. However, she knew that she wasn't going to like it, and he was going to have a hard time telling them about.

"We were recruits in the ERT. We dated a while back, but it wasn't for very long."

"What happened", Mutsumi asked.

"She died", Keitaro admitted. "She was one of the victims when Draconian and the others stole the projects."

The others didn't speak. They were kind of regretting forcing the answer out of Keitaro. The Urashima closed the book in a sad, slow motion. Keitaro placed the book back in the box, but still, no one said anything. The silence was putting Keitaro on a tense edge.

"What are they thinking", Keitaro thought to himself. "Did I say too much? Are they mad?"

Still no answer was spoken out. No one could look at each other. It wasn't clear as to what they were thinking, but in any case, the silence spoke for itself.

Somehow, Keitaro had managed to escape his room. He wasn't sure if the girls had left his room or not. He didn't spare anytime to be asked questions. Even with his deep, painful wounds, Keitaro managed to sneak away and avoid any further contact with them. His eyes remained shut, and his body was in a state between tension and relaxation. His current location was under the waterfall in the forest behind Hinata Sou. The cold water ran down his shoulders and bare skin. With the exception of his bandages, and his boxers, Keitaro was at the mercy of the old water.

The Lotus position in which he sat in didn't warm him in the least, but it helped give him focus. With his training at the Oni-Zakura Dojo, the environmental change had little effect on him. Keitaro's body was at ease, but his mind was another story. His eyelids tried to fight him against remaining shut, due to ramble set of thoughts in his head.

"What happened back there. Maybe I shouldn't have told them about Masuka...Masuka..."

The girl's name echoed in his mind and memories. He let his thoughts turn back to Masuka. Keitaro recalled the times when they would walk the barracks together. He would usually walk a few steps behind her. There was no clear meaning to this, it was just a habit. He could almost feel her silky black hair brush up against his cheek when the wind was high. Another memory was of them eating lunch together. One incident happened when she dropped her sandwich. Being a gentleman, Keitaro offered her half of his. He couldn't hear her words, but her lips clearly read, "Thank You", before taking a nibble.

One of their best past events was when they walked hand in hand through the park. The light was low, and only the street lamp gave away their presence. Masuka stopped right in front of Keitaro, taking both of his hands in hers. He wasn't as tall as he was right now, but he was still an inch above her. Masuka's eyes and lips were just as inviting as he remembered. Instinct and familiarity told him what happened next. Before he could make that last move, a splash of water interrupted his thoughts. With his other shadow called clumsiness that followed him around, Keitaro fell into the deeper part of the water.

The boy struggled to the shore of the water, since his wounds were still severe. Keitaro inhaled as much oxygen as he could. The memories of Masuka crawled out of his head. Some still remained, all were good...maybe a little too good. Despite all the wonderful exents they experienced with one another, they were all painful relics to him now. Keitaro rubbed his eyes as he placed his glasses back on. With his vision back in check, Keitaro looked back into the depths of the water. In the reflection he existed. However, he could have sworn he saw others. His mind played the trick on him that Metaru, Simon, Yangu, and Masuka. The images quickly faded away with the moving water, leaving a depressed Keitaro behind.

"What's happening to me", Keitaro asked himself.

"You are recovering painful memories", another voice appeared.

Keitaro's eyes searched the bank until they discovered three old men sitting on a set of rock. He recognized them from his earlier years here before. Like before, they always said their strange philosophy to no one.

"Recovered memories may be painful", the second man said.

"But even painful memories can teach us something", the last one said.

In the past Keitaro didn't pay attention to what these men would say. They always seemed so annoying since they showed up at the worse possible times. However, they made a point here...some kind of point at least. Point or no point, the present time with the residents of Hinata Sou wasn't going to be easy now that they knew more about his past.

Meeeeeeeerry Christmas everyone! I tried my best for another chapter before the big 25th. Explaining some info about Simon, Metaru, and Masuka. How everyone will deal with this, and what will happen next, you'll have to wait and see. Best wishes for the holidays, and hope you all post some comments or thoughts.