THIS IS THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THE FIRST MASS POST. YOU MAY PROCEED.

Time to take another breather, guys. That last chapter was very saddening for me, and I'm not sure why. The first set of lines is a slightly modified quote from "The Grey," one of my favorite songs. The rest I wrote myself.

The companies I mention, PCN and Reishinka, are from Thanos of Titan's fanfictions 'Rebellion' and 'Coming to Terms.' The other companies, NEIS and KESS, are from x00r's fanfiction Electric Dawn. All are used with permission. Both are really good stories that I would recommend highly.

Looks like I'm going back to my old chapter lengths, huh? I really couldn't help it this time. I went a bit overboard.

I'm standing on the edge of

Returning or just running away

I am letting myself look the other way

And the hardest part in all of this is

I don't think I know my way back home

Is it worth the journey, or do I let my heart settle here?

Chapter 24: Swimsuits and Tentacles

Hoards of helicopters encircled the area, with news crews looking upon the unfolding scene before them with growing curiosity. Some of them felt like they had seen something similar to this before, but something was preventing them from remembering.

Two girls were clashing with each other. Blows were exchanged. Flashes of light arced back and forth like a surreal fireworks show, exploding in all directions.

One of the girls plummeted to the ground, and someone's name echoed across the city.

…

Smiling softly to herself, Yuzuki watched her young master's sleeping face with subdued contentment. With his tiny palm resting beside hers, she recounted the beats of his heart.

32...33...34...

Every minute she would do this, and would wonder why she did.

How fearful she had been a week ago! He had been kidnapped, not just for his connection to Ms. Lee-Young, but for his uncanny resemblance to that deranged doctor's son, Shinji Lestat. Yuzuki frowned upon dwelling on the incident, but she still thanked whatever powers that be for his safe return. Yuzuki personally thanked everyone who had made it possible for him to make it back to her unharmed.

As an apology for putting them in danger, Amber had offered to bring them, all expenses paid, to a private resort reserved for magical folk. It was called the Hidden Triangle Resort, and the moment Amber had told them the name of the resort, Minoru accurately concluded the location of such a place, that is, in the Bermuda Triangle.

They had already been transported through the magical gateway from the Chi-On temple in Kyoto, which had been a short train ride from Tokyo. That had been last night, however.

It was already morning, and for eight whole hours, Yuzuki had knelt beside her Master's bedside, watching over him. Now, as the morning's early light painted the walls of the room, her worry seemed to melt away.

'He's alright. Stop worrying… You're being neurotic.'

"Good Morning, Min-kun!" shouted a familiar heiress.

Six people barged into his room.

At the sudden blast of noise, Minoru's eyes sprung open. Knowing full-well what was probably in store, he sighed and sat up in bed. Blinking away the last vestiges of sleep, he looked at the crew of happy-go-lucky beach-goers. He couldn't even sleep in, could he?

In one graceful motion, Yuzuki quickly rose to her feet. "Good Morning, everyone." She had been charging overnight, so she would have plenty of battery life left for today's activities. "I trust everyone slept and/or charged sufficiently?"

Varying degrees of agreement rung out, with the Persocoms, and Amber, agreeing the most heartily. On the other foot, Kojima looked like a dragon had trampled him. Likewise, Hideki looked slightly wrinkled, and was barely standing up. Junji, if he had been here, would have been in the same state, but he and Minako couldn't attend the getaway, due to the last report they had turned in. He was a Section Chief, after all, and this latest incident had turned into a Pretty Big Deal only an hour after it happened.

Junji's supervisor was unhappy that he had been "reckless" as the man had put it. Those types of situations were delicate, and if it had not been handled properly, Junji, Minako, or any of them could have ended up dead instead of that deranged doctor.

Miki Takeda, his mother, had not been happy, either. After missing dinner, he already wasn't on her good side. When he told her he had missed it because of work, she wasn't lenient on him because of that. How many times when he was attending Mahoukari Academy had she told him to get a more stable job, like becoming a Potions Master? He could have taught potions classes at any accredited magical facility. He had to go and choose magical law enforcement and study some Mundane profession, such as being a Psychologist. It also didn't help that his wife had encouraged him to take this path… Anyway, Miki made him promise to reschedule dinner, because, in all honesty, she was worried about her son.

At his request, Johan had been put into "stasis," and as such, he was currently slumbering beside Miimii and Fiifii in the basement of Gub Jogasaki.

For a moment, Junji wondered if they should have turned him in to the authorities for being an accomplice to a rouge mage. However, the magical government, although having proved that Persocoms had souls, would deal harshly with him, most likely without a fair trial. At the very most, he would be permanently decommissioned. After the few strange happenings over the years concerning magic, The Council wasn't going to take any more chances. In Tokyo alone, there had already been three major incidents where the existence of magic was almost revealed. In Mahokari there had been three incidents as well, and throughout the rest of Japan there had been twelve major incidents.

Luckily, though, Minoru and his friends did not have to worry about answering to The Council just yet. Thanks to the Takedas, the aftermath of the incident didn't make too much of a ripple within the Sector. He and Minako personally had vouched for everyone involved.

Anyway, at the moment Minoru was clawing at his beadspread, trying to keep himself from slipping off the mattress. Amber was already dragging the groggy boy out of bed while he was still in his blue-striped pajamas. Chii helped with this task as well, smiling brightly as she helped to hoist the young man onto their shoulders. Kotoko refused to partake in these shenanigans, and stood on the sidelines with a stoic expression, trying not to laugh.

Covering her lips with the tips of her fingers, Yuzuki chuckled at the enthusiastic girls' actions. They certainly were lively this morning, weren't they?

"You sure are the ladies' man, aren't you, Kokubunji?" said Kojima, yawning. He covered his mouth in modesty and took in the odd sight with some humor dancing in his eyes.

"Sh-shut up!" Minoru blushed, having been thoroughly roused by Amber and her accomplice. He didn't dare struggle, or they might have dropped him. They were marching in a circle around the room, chanting "To - the - beach, Min-kun! To - the - beach!"

So, of course, after this continued for quite some time, Minoru ordered them to put him down.

"Fine," said Amber—she gave a knowing look to Chii, "we'll put you down."

"Chii," agreed the blonde.

"Um..." began Minoru, not liking their overly mischievous tone. "Wait, I changed my—,"

The two girls hefted him onto the bed like a sack of flour.

Minoru landed face down on the plush yellow comforter, arms and legs sprawled out in all directions.

"Perfect score!" said Chii and Amber, both holding up peace signs.

"Pufujjjizagsg," mumbled Minoru, his mouth full of comforter.

Pursing her lips, Amber innocently cupped a hand around her ear. "Didn't quite hear that, Min-kun."

Minoru propped himself up onto his elbows. "Please leave," he ordered them, scowling deeply.

Amber began shaking her head. "I don't think I heard that, either. Maybe you should expla—,"

Whipping out his wand from beneath his pillow, Minoru responded in the form of a spell.

"FRIGERANS EXARMATIO!" he shouted, glowering bitterly.

A flash of blue light shot out from the star-shaped instrument. The two giggling forms of Chii and Amber dodged too slowly. Their clothes already had been snagged by the magic. Within two seconds, the cloth had begun to stiffen and freeze, with beads of ice gathering on the surface.

'You little punk…,' thought Amber, smirking at his boldness.

"Dispelsatio!" Using the wand that she often stashed under her sleeves, Amber countered the spell before the desired effect could take place. However, Chii had no knowledge of such a spell, and so the petite Chobit stood there, tilting her head in vulnerable question.

Amber's spell dispersed the effects of Minoru's own, and her clothes immediately returned to normal. Chii had no such luck, and only a moment later her clothes completely turned to ice and shattered, leaving a stark naked girl standing in the middle of Minoru's room.

Hideki did not anticipate this sudden bout of nakedness, and desperately tried to cover his girlfriend up. He snatched the sheets off Minoru's bed so quickly that the youngster slipped backwards and fell onto the mattress, blinking away the spots in his vision.

In all the commotion, Yuzuki snatched away Minoru's wand, blushing deeply.

"Enough with the fighting," she said firmly, shooting Minoru a sharp look. "Lord Kokubunji will meet up with you all shortly, after I speak to him. I apologize, Miss Chii, for his behavior." She bowed to the little Chobit who was hurriedly being wrapped in a makeshift toga.

"Chii is okay! Chii doesn't like clothes, anyway," said Chii, giving the sign for 'ok' before getting scooped up into Hideki's arms.

As she sighed in exasperation with her young ward, Yuzuki noticed Amber trying to sneak away. Right now, she wasn't about to let the instigator off with just a warning.

"Vinctus Aquarius," said Yuzuki, gently waving the wand in the direction of the escaping fiend. Circles of water materialized around Amber, and then squeezed upon her like ropes.

Gobsmacked, the heiress struggled. She didn't know Yuzuki could do that. When did she start learning magic? The others apparently wondered the same thing, because they all had their jaws touching the floor.

Even while tied up, the young heiress tried to inch away like a worm out of the door. This, however, was to no avail, as the irritated maid had walked over very briskly, grabbed hold of Amber's collar, and said in a mild tone:

"Not so fast, Ms. Lee-Young." Yuzuki tried not to frown, but managed to press her lips into a hard line. "You did instigate this, after all."

...

After nearly getting their ears talked off, Minoru and Amber joined the others down at breakfast, with Yuzuki following behind them closely. It had almost been a five minute lecture, but it had felt more like hours had gone by. When the trio finally met up with the others, Kotoko looked up from the book in her hands that she was occupying herself with, one entitled "I am Not a Thing."

Normally Kotoko would buy digital copies and speed-read, but this was not something she wanted to skim. It was not necessarily a new book, nor was it too hard for her to understand (the thought that it would be too difficult had humored her, actually), but after meeting Mrs. Takeda she felt at least a little obligated to look into her published works. The fiery woman had been a joy to speak to, and the last time they had spoken through email correspondence, Minako had given her some tips with how to deal with Kojima. Because of that, Kotoko was very glad to have asked for her email address when they had last met up.

Nevertheless. Kotoko was knocked out of this reverie, along with ten other thought processes, when Minoru and his entourage arrived. Without much fuss, the three of them sat down at the table that had been reserved beforehand for the large group.

Minoru was flushed with embarrassment, but he kept his expression decidedly neutral, while Amber was sporting a dour, pouty look.

"I apologize for what I did earlier," said Minoru dispassionately, in the respectful tone he reserved for his distant relatives. He was trying desperately not to recall the stunning image of Chii's naked body, but as the girl in question was sitting in front of him, he couldn't help it. His face reddened as he spoke. "Mr. Motosuwa and Miss Chii, I sincerely hope you forgive me. I promise not to try and purposefully strip anyone naked in the future."

He hadn't said anything about accidental magic, like what had happened in his duel with Amber, but the sentiment was good enough for now.

"You as well, Miss Lee-Young," insisted Yuzuki in a saccharine voice.

Amber pouted even more, if possible, and traced circles on the tablecloth in front of her.

"I am sorry," muttered the heiress.

"For what?" prompted Yuzuki. More and more she seemed like a stern mother scolding her child.

"I am sorry for invading Min-kun's personal space and instigating mischief much like what happened this morning. I promise not to force any of my friends into using magic against me in any malicious way."

"We apologize," said the both of them, bowing their heads so low that they almost touched the table.

Yuzuki looked pleased at this. She folded her hands and let the austere expression on her face melt away.

"So," said Hideki, looking up from his breakfast. "Does everybody have a good idea what we'll be doing today?"

"I have some plans," admitted Kojima, idly scanning his eyes across the table. "I figured that I should learn as much as I can about magic. This seems like just the place to do it." He gestured vaguely with his free hand to their surroundings.

"You mean I coerced you into trying to learn more," Kotoko interjected, still reading her book.

"You mean you inspired me," he said, softening her correction.

"I had to convince you first," insisted Kotoko, her voice hardening in response.

"…more like force me," he couldn't help but mutter, knowing full-well that she heard him.

Kotoko ignored those words and continued to read.

"Aside from that lovers' spat," began Amber slyly, peeking over the edge of her menu. However, Yuzuki raised a thoughtful eyebrow, and that quickly shut her down.

"Ahem." The girl coughed into her fist and looked intently at the list of breakfast entrées.

"I assume you have plans as well," Garrett finished for her, looking at Hideki and Chii as he did so. Chii was curiously poking the mass of scrambled eggs on the young man's plate and wondering why he would want to eat such things. She wanted to try what that was like at least once.

"Well I did want to visit the beach," Hideki admitted meekly, now staring down into his plate. "But I'm up for anything you guys want to."

"But then you'll meet Charlie Sheen in a bathhouse and reenact scenes from Platoon," quipped Garrett, nudging Amber in the arm. She rolled her eyes but giggled all the same, agreeing that they should go to the beach, as she and Chii had been chanting earlier about that.

"What?" said Kojima, staring at the two odd ducks who seemed to be having a bout of hysteria. He had no idea who they were talking about, or what 'Platoon' was.

"Nothing," said Amber, looking thoughtful. "Just an old video my sister sent to him once. I don't think it translated well into Japanese. Besides, Charlie Sheen is way too old to do that anymore, anyway."

Hideki also didn't know who that 'Sheen' person was, but knowing how these two were huge media buffs, regardless of year or genre, they would probably giggle over anything they deemed as a hilarious reference.

After they had stopped giggling, Minoru admitted that he wouldn't mind accompanying Kojima with his magical research.

"Oh no," protested Dragonfly, stabbing one of the sausage links on his plate and shaking his head. "I don't need you poking your nose in my project." He wagged the breakfast delectable back and forth disapprovingly.

Shocked that he had been rejected, the young boy rested his chin in his free hand and looked over the menu for breakfast.

"We'll go to the beach with you four, if that's okay?"

Minoru's question was directed more towards Yuzuki than the others, but when he saw her nod in approval, he cracked a smile.

Hideki wasn't too fond of water, but Chii did enjoy it very much. He did like the sun very much, though, and intended to lounge on the sand, slathered in suntan lotion. Speaking of lotion…his eyes wandered to Chii. His petite girlfriend would need to use that special gel to protect her from the saltwater, didn't she?

...

Before parting ways after breakfast, they all stopped by the resort's gift shop. It had an interesting name, Eva's Elysium, and looked quite quaint. Somehow the atmosphere within the store had a higher concentration of mana than in the resort, which had an energizing effect on most mages, and within minutes everyone had gathered by the checkout counter carrying several items of interest.

Minoru was the first to arrive at the register, his hands full of merchandise. He was closely followed by the rest of the vacationers, who also had a variety of items. The young prodigy had no less than twelve items, including: a potions making kit for novices, a tiny cauldron, a wand that was made of wood, two spellbooks, a good luck amulet, and a strange top-like object called a sneakoscope.

Trailing behind the boy-genius, Hideki carried two medium-sized bottles of protective gel for Persocoms, as he couldn't afford much else. Chii had a pinwheel that let off multicolored sparks of magic when blowed upon.

Kojima had several books on spell theory that could shrink down to the size of erasers for easy travel. Beside him, Kotoko had a pair of beginner's wands, both of which the store clerk helped them to pick out according to their birthdays. For Kotoko it was more like her activation date than her manufacture date, though.

Amber had a large assortment of magically-infused sweets, and Garrett had a stack of questionable magazines that blurred the images of the contents when in the presence of minors. His partner gave him a slightly disgusted look for his choice, but beneath that expression was a slightly thoughtful air.

When Amber noticed Minoru and Kojima whipping out their wallets, though, the girl cleared her throat loudly and pouted.

"I thought I said this was an all-expenses-paid trip," she protested, dashing her items on the counter beside Minoru's own pile of things. "You too, Hideki and Kojima, put your things up here, too." Slapping the counter, she motioned for them to hand over the items they wanted.

The shopgirl looked amused, but said nothing as she fiddled with her pointed hat and continued smiling.

"It feels a little strange, that's all," admitted Minoru, shrugging. He never lacked money, and for that reason, it felt odd for someone to foot the bill for anything. Hideki also felt awkward, since he was quite the opposite of Minoru, and normally he wouldn't ask for financial help. Kojima, however, had no such pride. He put his items on the counter without any fuss, and motioned for Kotoko to do the same.

Scowling, she complied, but not before saying that he shouldn't take advantage of Miss Lee-Young in such a way.

"I'm not taking advantage," Kojima countered, "I'm accepting her generous proposal."

Hideki conceded as well, and Chii followed suit. He squirmed when he placed them there, though.

Amber nearly snorted with laughter but she kept her face open and friendly. "Take advantage all you want," she said breezily.

Everyone felt even more awkward, then. Kojima looked like he had swallowed an entire orange in one gulp. Minoru had a hand covering his face in shame. Hideki was now a living tomato. The other girls, excluding Chii, just rolled their eyes.

"Is that an invitation?" Garrett piped up hopefully, giving her a very devious smile.

Realizing her slip of the tongue, Amber blushed. She coughed and turned to the shopgirl, wondering if she should put those magazines back.

"What currencies do you take?"

Smiling despite the strange visitors, she nodded and said "We take all of the major ones, such as American dollars, Japanese Yen, Euros, Pounds, and even Galleons."

At the mention of Galleons, Hideki perked up.

"Aren't those fictional?" He said this in an awestruck voice. If she wasn't joking, then the book they had translated in school was...

The shopgirl, Rachelle, as her nametag said, was baffled by such a question.

"Why would they be? Britain uses three currencies the last I checked."

As Hideki picked up his jaw from discovering the wonders of goblin gold and double bluffs in fiction, Amber stifled a giggle. She whipped out a clear plastic card. ADiamond-level card was rare among even the rich these days, and handed it to Rachelle, who was still confused from the young man's question.

"Do you take MasterCard?"

...

While Kojima scuttled off with Kotoko to do some "research," the others made a beeline straight for the shoreline. Something about the sand and sea was alluring to humans and Persocoms alike, and no one bothered to argue that it was indeed a beautiful sight.

Other sentient beings either liked it because it was pretty and fun to play in, or avoided it because they were exceedingly fearful of the dangers associated with the sea.

Earlier, before they departed from Gub Jogasaki, Amber had to vehemently shake off the urge to pack a one-piece swimsuit. Garrett never even looked at her anymore, and it honestly made her jealous. Why, this morning she practically heard the servos in his neck whip around to stare at Chii, that lecherous beast of a man!

Not that his servos would make much noise. They were some of the most advanced joints money could buy, and designed so similarly to human joints that under x-ray that at the airport some of the security officers had been baffled by the artificial muscle fibres surrounding his skeleton.

They also had been startled by the gyroscope and other systems, but his ears at the time had explained everything.

Still, Amber was jealous and she knew it.

It pissed her off something awful.

On this trip, though, she was bringing out the big guns. Not quite literally, but she was definitely upping her game.

His third favorite swimsuit was the traditional school swimsuit. His second was the racerback. However, Amber knew for sure that Garrett could not resist a good bikini, held only by strings to keep it on. It fit snugly when she tied it onto her, and Chii even gave her an encouraging thumbs up.

It was even all black; the final death blow.

This time that they were going to the beach, Chii chose her own swimsuit, much to Hideki's delight and misfortune. The only saving grace he could see was that she was completely waterproof, so he didn't have to worry about that.

As for him, he couldn't say the same, so the young man merely sat on the beach under the umbrella, watching his girlfriend frolic in the shallow waves.

Yuzuki had been modest, at least, and had enough sense to pick a plain pastel green onepiece. Otherwise, her ample figure by itself would have enchanted more than half of the beach-goers there.

As Chii and Amber skipped merrily in the water, communing with the ocean, the waves were subdued and calming. The heiress had suggested they have a contest to see who could swim out the furthest, even though she was confident that Chii or Yuzuki would win. They had been standing in waist deep water, playing with the cool liquid, occasionally splashing each other and giggling childishly. Notably, though, Yuzuki still managed to get some lecherous stares from both genders, somehow.

However. Something beneath the surface of the semi-tranquil water was drawing closer. It was dark and twisted, and approaching at an insane pace.

Chii was the first one snatched up by the awful, slimy tentacle.

...

It was a few minutes into the strange phenomenon that Kojima strolled over with a bag of popcorn and looked up. He was taking a break from his research, and had felt puckish, due to the drain of mana from his system, so he stopped by the snack bar on his way to meet Hideki and the rest. Dragonfly popped a few pieces of the buttery, salty snack into his mouth and let out a small "hmmm" of appreciation.

"Quite the show, isn't it?" said Kojima.

Normal mages wouldn't have said that. If the shocked people on the beach were of any indication, then a normal mage would have ran away. Even if they weren't frightened by the occurrence, a normal person would not have said that, either.

Fortunately for them, Kojima was the furthest possible thing from normal.

"Want some?" remarked the weirdo, offering his snack to the three young men who all declined.

"I would eat, if I could eat, a good many more things than that popcorn, there," replied Garrett, licking his lips in spite of himself; his eyes not fixed on the food, but somewhere far more scandalous. It took Minoru all of three seconds to follow his stare and connect the dots. The younger boy wrinkled his nose in response and sighed. Hideki, likewise, gathered a healthy amount of color on his cheeks.

Kotoko smacked the both of them for saying such things, but honestly, she couldn't think of any way, other than alerting any nearby lifeguards, to help. She hadn't even succeeded in trying out spells with Kojima, so that was out.

The lifeguards were panicking, though. They had their wands or staves in their hands already, but all of them were too frightened of the monster to help. This had happened only once before, and even then, a teacher had showed up and put them to shame.

Three young women were ensnared in a mass of writhing tentacles coated in slime. It snaked around their calves and ankles; binding them and leaving them helpless.

"Aahn, anhaand me this instant!" ordered Amber, blushing deeply. Without much luck, she tried to pry away the twisting appendage away from wriggling to the inside of her thighs. The creepy things were exploring places she would rather they leave alone.

Chii and Yuzuki weren't thrashing quite as much as Amber currently was, but they certainly weren't happy about this either. All three of them were struggling to free themselves from the masses of pink tentacles encircling them. The tentacles belonged to some unseen monster beneath the waves, and from the questionable grunts sounding out, Amber was being accosted the most.

"This is quite unpleasant," remarked Yuzuki, frowning. It didn't seem like this monster wanted to actually harm them, but the unwanted sensations flowing into her Neural Net were beginning to make her blush. On top of that, Minoru was watching. The young man was covering his eyes in order to be polite, but he still heard all of Miss Lee-Young's protests, all of which were hardly innocent sounds.

"Chii," agreed Chii, shaking her head. She didn't like this either. One of the tentacles had been working its way into her swimsuit, and despite the little Persocom's great strength, these suction-cups and tentacles were stronger.

It was then that Hideki had a startling epiphany.

"Her reset button!"

If Garrett had been enjoying the sight before, he was now doing the opposite. What Hideki had said had made him recall a very specific trait about Chii. From what Dr. Mihara's notes said about his daughter, it seemed that he had put her reset button in a very inconvenient place. Moreover, if Amber was an example of what was going to happen to Yuzuki and Chii, then they had to act fast.

Garrett predicted that he wouldn't be able to use his superhuman strength to disable the creature, due to the factors of the water and slippery nature of tentacles. But that didn't stop him from formulating a plan.

Without hesitation, he ran towards the beach umbrella and knelt near the giant bag Amber had asked him to carry for them. Rummaging through the tubes of protective gel and sunscreen, Garrett searched for something to help. Within five seconds he had located the item—Amber's wand, and grabbed it.

Now Garrett was no-good with spells—always was. He was more into fighting head-on. So that's why, running back to the shore's edge, he yelled his Master's name and chucked the wand.

Hearing her name, she looked to the source of it. As he calculated, it soared into her open palm, and with her attention directed towards that, thanks to Garrett, she gripped it readily.

Lightning spells were a no-no. Fire spells would fizzle. They were being held above water, so water was definitely out. There was one thing that she could try.

In the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of the guys. A certain blue-haired boy gave her an idea.

Amber aimed the wand towards the water, despite her shaking arm.

"FRIGIDARE!"

A beam of white light shot into the water. Like a drop of food-coloring, the mana dispersed into the water in all directions in a colorful plume. It froze the patch of sea below them, despite the salt, in a perfectly round circle of skateable ice nearly twenty-five feet in diameter.

The tentacles dropped them almost instantly afterwards, as the creature's main body was trapped in the ice. In their descent, Amber flicked her wand, casting a small cushioning charm on Chii and Yuzuki. She couldn't point it at herself in time, but realized with embarrassment as she fell into Garrett's open arms, that she should have cast it on the ice itself.

"Woah, diet, much?" said Garrett, holding her as easily as one would a doll. This earned him a few solid punches from Amber. He knew most of her weight was in her robotic legs, so he pretty much was asking for it.

"You idiot," she shouted. "Why didn't you act sooner?"

"I was enjoying the show, thanks."

Another barrage of punches.

"You—," punch, "could-have," punch-punch, "just sliced through the monster with your sword!" punch, punch, slap.

Just a few meters away, Minoru and the others went to help Chii and Yuzuki to their feet as they recovered from the strange ordeal. Now Minoru began to feel his wits return to him, and took out his wand. With a modified cleansing charm, he waved his wand in the direction of Yuzuki and Chii. Within seconds, the slime was purged from their skin. Moments later, Hideki wrapped his arms around his dearest and vowed to get better at swimming. Yuzuki also embraced her young master and thanked him for cleaning them up. As the young men and Kotoko fret over the two of them, Chii wrinkled her brow, recalling Hideki's earlier concern.

"Actually…Mama removed Chii's button."

All activity stopped. Everyone was now staring at Chii.

"..."

"WHAT?!" exclaimed Minoru, Hideki, Garrett and Amber. When or how did such a thing even happen? How did it happen?

Most importantly, in Hideki's case, he had a glimmer of hope shining behind his eyes. Even if Dr. Hibiya hadn't told him that she had done this, it was a huge load off of his mind.

Meanwhile, Kojima looked forlorn. Frozen in place, he stared at the reunion in shock. By his inaction, he had almost "killed" another person that time too, hadn't he? Suddenly his popcorn didn't taste so good.

This dark side of my heart is

Just beating so violently

It's all right, but I can't help but cry

I don't know what to do

I don't want to die

But I have to die

Otherwise, what did all of this mean?

Am I doomed to be a martyr?