Welcome back everyone! Last time, Kiri gaimed a better understanding of Touya and Es' secret romance and even though Wendy's attempt to trail Akira failed, Es was able to slowly open the Wind Mage up to trusting her.

On the other end, Yuki attempted to stop Haruki from stealing medical equipment before she was knocked out by the thief.

With things set in motion, what will happen now?


Shin Yokosaki Hospital [Office]

Yuki led the police officer to her personal office to speak with him in private about Haruki's presence while making sure not to push herself too hard. After all, being slammed into a wall and getting punched in the face gave Yuki a MASSIVE headache for certain...

"Are you alright Doctor Himezuru?" The officer asked Yuki as she sat down.

"Just a big headache, but I'll live. Thank you for your concern." Yuki replied while rubbing her forehead. While she should rest, right now, it's important to let this officer know what is happening in regards to what Haruki was doing at the hospital, but first...

"First of all, you know about the Agency, correct?" Yuki asked cryptically in order to make sure he knows about the Mitsurugi Agency.

"Yes, I am aware of the Mitsurugi Agency. You must be the doctor that treats these Drive Unions." The officer replied with a degree of surprise and understanding. He and a select group of police officers know about the Agency as a result of their connections. Yuki can only nod in confirmation.

"What does this have to do with Haruki Kiyama?" The officer followed up, baffled that he would come here to begin with.

"It involves a dangerous Drive Union Mei told me about. He stole medical equipment in order to revive him and cause trouble." Yuki replied with a stern look to convey to the officer how important this is. Needless to say, while he and his men didn't see many unions, the Ripper case was proof that this should take caution.

"So you know Miss Mei Amanohokosaka as well? Strong girl for someone of her age..." The officer followed up, having known her for the past 10 years. He couldn't help but feel sad that a young child would put her life on the line for people she doesn't know. It if weren't for the Agency, he would have done everything in his power to ensure she wouldn't have to be out there. Granted, things changed now that she was in charge of Sleipnir, but it's only natural for an adult to have concerns for a child.

"Yes, however, this information mustn't leave this room. We can't afford to cause a panic, but we should be on the look out for Haruki though." Yuki said, knowing that 30% of the Hospital doesn't know about Unions and doesn't want to cause a scene. The officer nodded in agreement.

"Yes. Thank you for the information. I assure you we will catch this man. Take care now." The officer said as he bowed and took his leave. With that, Yuki walked over to a nearby bench and laid down for a while in order to soothe her headache.

'Hopefully I won't be sent home for this...' Yuki thought to herself in regards to he job. She already stayed home for prolonged periods the past few days, even leaving on an emergency, and she needed this job to not only save lives, but provide the much needed income for her family. Yuki only hoped the higher ups would understand her situation in long run in regards to her family.


Secret Laboratory

Sometime after Unomaru and Haruki returned, they walked over to a table in the middle of the room to find the man of the hour strapped down with an EKG tied to him. This was the only piece of medical equipment Unomaru had in the lab and currently, the heart rate was slow, but alive and stable.

"So this is Diablo...?" Haruki asked in awe of the individual in question. He had a large muscular build with reddish brown skin, spiky red blood hair that reached down to his back, dark purple pants and silver spiled cleats for shoes. His right armed as before is in the form of a giant silver sword. His face has a dark scowl, even when he's in a state of limbo. Haruki also noticed the special "collar" Unomaru made around Diablo's neck.

"Indeed my friend. Is the portable defibrillator ready?" Unomaru said with a hint of nervousness as the thief handed him the device. Unomaru turned it on and made sure to ready the voltage.

"You may want to hide somewhere safe for this will get rough. Leave the pain medicine right there and I will handle the rest." Unomaru cautiously warned his ally as Haruki nodded and did as he said before leaving the hideout to remain out of the conflict that might occur. Unomaru knew he would have to rely on his body's agility to handle Diablo without his weapons. With that, the defibrillator turned green.

"Here goes nothing!" With thay said Unomaru pressed the paddles on Diablo's check and sent the voltage through him, causing his vitals to spike. After a few more moments, Unomaru repeated the process as Diablo's vitals began to take on a more natural heart rate. Unomaru then activated the paddles one time and after that...

"Grrrr..." Growled a deep voice thay bared fearsome bear like teeth that resembled spikes and than his eyes snapped open to reveal blood orange colored eyes.

"GRAHHHHHHHHHH!" Diablor roared as he slashed the table he was on with his Drive. Unomaru ran the moment he stired and picked up the five shots of pain medicine and managed to inject one into him from behind.

"It... IT HURTS! IT F***ING HURTS!" Diablo roared as he attempted to tear Unomaru apart. As Unomaru suspected, all that time in the deep freeze combined with being revived like this is causing the Strange Red a great deal of pain and one dose wasn't going to be enought to pacify him.

"This will take a while..." Unomaru grunted to himself as he prepared to deal with Diablo's wake up call.


Hakuo North Academy [Rooftop]

Es took the time from 12:55 PM to 1:20 PM as she ate her lunch to explain parts of what she knew about the Embryo Incident with Wendy in an effort to earn the Wind Mage's trust and needless to say, this served as a wake up call for the Wind Mage. As they finished up lunch and walked to the entrance, Wendy wanted to clear up a a few things.

"I find it so surreal thay you were an artificial life form... that along with what you told me... Unomaru never told me half the things you said..." Wendy asked the Azure Maiden as she tried to wrap her head around the whole thing.

"It generally... is hard... to make of it..." Es said, speaking a bit slowly as her throat began to hurt from talking. Es took out a Throat Lozenge and popped it in her mouth after unwrapping it as she sucked on it, feeling the relief it came from it.

"Still, why end it on a trip to effing pool?" Wendy asked the Azure Maiden as during her tale, she did mention Acht and Drei in the story from her perspective so far in addition to what Kuon toldnher about them. Note for note, what Es said was accurate and while it was irreverent, Wendy did find some things cute like Es taking a massive liking to pudding and nearly spat out her lunch laughing when she heard that Es snuck into Touya's bed JUST to keep an eye on him. Needless to say, Es was kind of... nice to be with and they only spent 25 minutes together.

"I will... reveal more... when school has... concluded... in the meantime... please don't... harm my friends... if you can... promise that..." Es said as she sucked on the Lozenge. Wendy never intended to start a fight to begin with and she needed to know truth anyway.

"Hmmm... okay. I never wanted to start a fight here anyway. Where should we pick up again?" Wendy agreed while wanting a spot to resume their conversation. Es actually had to think about that for a moment.

"There is... a building... called Maja Raja... we can continue there..." Es told the Wind Mage, who was a little confused at first.

"The place that used to be a Curry Restaurant? Uh... sure." Wendy said scratching the back of her head, clearly nervous at this point. After all, curry was Kuon's favorite food and Wendy was still feeling off about her. With that, Es nodded in satisfaction as she began to make her way back to class until...

"Es, wait a moment!" Wendy called out to the Azure Maiden as her amber eyes locked with Wendy's jade eyes. Es cocked her head in curiosity.

"I... should warn you that some creep has his eyes on you... a boy with spiky blonde hair and sharp teeth with two punks for friends, one wearing a bandana and another with slicked back hair. I heard he intends to make "moves" on you while Touya is indisposed." Wendy said witha look of concern for Es. Needless to say, Es didn't like what she was hearing, but appreciated the warning all the same.

"Thank you... I will... be careful..." Es replied with a small smile, happy that Wendy at least showed concern for her well being, taking it as a sign that Wendy is opening up, even if just a little bit. With that, Es left for her hoomroom. Wendy than lept off the rooftop into the trees and climbed down to make her way to her own hoomroom and saw Akira heading in.

"Maybe..." Wendy said to herself as she followed him to the hoomroom.


Secret Laboratory

"Grrrr... God... damn... it..." Diablo growled as his pain began to lessen and his voice losened up as Unomaru managed to inject four of the five pain killer medicine shots into him, calming down the Union in the process as his Blade arm began to change back to normal.

'That took 30 minutes... but it was worth it now that he's stopped rampaging...' Unomaru thought as he slowly picked himself up and, while still remaining on guard, cautiously approached Diablo. Looking around, it was a miracle none of the laboratory was damaged other than the area they were in.

"Hey there, have you calmed down my firend?" Unomaru said with his hands up with the last pain killed shot in hand. Diablot look up at him with clarity in his eyes.

"I... I think... so... who or... what are you...?" Diablo asked the Metal Man in question, wondering if he was still out of it or if had died and gone straight to hell.

"I am Souichiro Unomaru. Right now, I just revived you thanks to a friend of mine who's currently hiding. I injected these pain killers into you to calm you down." Unomaru explained himself as Diablo recalled that name.

"Aren't... you with those... lapdogs who capture me?" Diablor growled with a semblance of rage as his memories came back to him, clearly not liking what he was hearing.

"Before you go ballistic, I want you to hear me out. If you do, I will make it worth your while." Unomaru said with his charming voice, preparing to rely on his "collar" just in case, but to his surprise and relief, Diablo sat down on the floor with a loud thud and...

"Fine. First, bring your friend in..." Diablo replied with a semblance of curiosity before Unomaru went to reteive Haruki as he took in his surroundings.

"How long have I been frozen? And more importantly... why do I sense... worthy opponents...?" Diablo said to himself, wondering so many things while sensing new meat to challenge despite being inside a room with no way out as far as he can tell.

"Whoa man, he caused all of this?" Haruki said as Unomaru led him back in now that things have calmed down. Diablo wasn't impressed with the thief however and glared him down before turning his gaze back to Unomaru.

"Now than, allow me to explain what is currently going on here Mr. Diablo." Unomaru said as he began to take the next few hours to tell the infamous Mad Dog of Unions about what was going on up to his revival.


Hakuo North Academy [Akira's Home Room]

It was around 3:15 PM when class was dismissed. Most of the students have left already with Akira slowly packing up his books before he went to meet up with the others. Wendy was doing the same thing as well before she glanced back at the boy in question and as soon as the teacher left to go to the Faculty Room, the Wind Mage turned to Akira, who jumped upon her gaze at him.

"Um... sorry..." Wendy let out as she finished packing up and got ready to meet up with Es. After all, meeting her was important at this point. However, Akira got in front of Wendy before she could leave...

"Uh... mind saying that again?" Akira said with some suspicion. Not just because she chased him around the school, but because she DID try to kill Mei and Kuon yesterday and this was what she had to say to him? Granted, Es apologized for what she almost did to Hinata a year ago, but the difference was that Es felt genuine remorse and Akira wasn't completely in his right mind at that time.

"I said that I'm... sorry... for chasing you school around like a creep..." Wendy said with some degree of embarrassment. Even her tanned skin had some degree of red showing as the Wind Mage rarely admitted fault unless it was truly necessary. This caught Akira a little off guard, however, after taking a look around to see that it's just him and her alone in the room, he cleared his throat to say his piece...

"Okay, look. I can get you came here wanting to understand what happened to your friend a year ago and if I were in your shoes, I'd probably feel the same. But that doesn't change the fact that you were gunning for my friends. So, I can at least accept the apology for chasing me in the halls, but if you want to apologize for last night, it'll take more than "I'm Sorry" to cut it." Akira said with a calm yet stern tone, accepting the apology for earlier while making his thoughts about what happened last night perfectly clear. Granted, he wasn't very fond of Acht for luring him with promises of power that nearly killed him and his friends, but he'd rather not anger the girl who can send him flying out the window with a mere thought. Upon hearing this, Wendy's face grimaced a little before slinging her school bag over her shoulder with a huff, taking a deep breath to calm herself down before she blew the windows out of their stills.

"Right now... I just want to know the real truth and if I'm in the wrong, I... well, we'll see when we get there. Besides, I promised Es that I wouldn't start anything in the meantime. Even warned her about trouble on the school grounds." Wendy followed while revealing what she said to Es earlier. Akira felt conflicted. On one hand, he's at least relived to hear that Wendy IS hearing Es out, but on the other, can Wendy be trusted? It was at that point, he heard Wendy saying something concerning in that last sentence.

"Wait, wait! Trouble? What do you mean by that? Did your "friends" come here?" Akira said with an air of suspicion, which Wendy understood that he had a right to be.

"No! Hell no... I cut ties with that mad scientist and his group yesterday. In fact, if I see that metal creep, I'll melt him into a nice belt buckle!" Wendy said with a small growl that made Akira shrink a little. The Wind Mage calmed down before speaking again.

"I'm talking about this student I saw near the School Entrance. There was one boy with slicked back hair, one boy that wore a bandana and their so called "Boss" is a boy with bleached blonde hair with shark like teeth. Apparently the blonde hair kid wants to make Es his girlfriend, which based on how he phrased it really disturbed me." Wendy said to Akira as his face went white a bit which didn't escape the Wind Mage's notice.

"What...? Did I say something weird?" Wendy asked the young man as he shook his head in disbelief.

"I... I know who're you're talking about. That guy... is trouble around the school. I appreciate you warning Es and telling me about this. Es is strong, but that asshole is a sneaky devil." Akira said with a sense of dread. Wendy knew that the boy is a disgusting pig as she said, but to think she was on the nose about this.

"Anyway, I need to meet up with Es... so, I'll see you tomorrow..." Wendy said as she walked by Akira with a slight blush. Akira than stood there for a moment before leaving himself.

"Yeah... see you tomorrow..." Akira said as he left. Right now, he needed to talk to the others about this guy and fast before he started something. He figured that if he, Hinata, Mei, Kuon and Elise are all there with Es, the guy in question would back off.


Hakuo North Academy Gates

After saying her goodbyes to Hinata, Mei, Kuon and Elise, Es went on ahead to meet with Wendy at Maja Raja, walking through the school before nearly arriving at the gate around 3:25 PM. As other students were most likely cleaning the school or at an after school club, the gate was virtually quiet without a ton of people in sight. When she got near the gate, two boys stood in front of her, blocking her way. Es recognized them based off of Wendy's description.

'Slicked back hair and one with a bandana...' Es though as she surveyed the two boys in question. They were both third years, as shown by the yellow ties, wearing the male Hakuo North Academy Uniforms like Touya and Akira.

"Mitsurugi, just the gal we wanted to see." Said the boy with the bandana. He had gray eyes and his bandana is red with a scorpion picture on it. He appears to have brown hair underneath it.

"Who... are you?" Es replied with a calm tone while trying to make it sound that she isn't hurt. She didn't need the trouble right now and she wasn't going to be intimidated by these people.

"Me? I'm the one and only Hanzo Sasori!" The bandana boy replied. If Es recalled, Sasori means "scorpion" i Japanese and considering that he has a scorpion bandana, Es strangely found the name fitting.

"As for me, my name is Yuto Adachi." The boy with slicked back hair and black eyes followd up in a calm, yet condescending tone. Yuto means "excellence" and to "soar" while Adachi means "foot" or "stand", implying this boy comes from a rich family, but unlike Akira, has no kindness whatsoever.

"What do you... want with me?" Es replied with a stern glare, keeping her guard up as a third boy walked up from behind the gate to stand between his friends. He had spiky blond hair, which appeared to be bleached, had razor sharp teeth and a muscular yet lean physique. This was the man that Wendy warned her about. The one who wanted to make "moves" on her, which Es had a good understanding off and is not pleased to deal with a boy like this.

"Actually, I wanted to see you babe. Allow me to introduce myself. The name's Kōji Hashimoto and I came here with a proposition for you." The boy now know as Kōji said as he gazed at the Azure Maiden, who was growing slighty uncomfortable being around these people she just met. If what Wendy said was true, she did not want to be here right now.

"What is it...?" Es asked Kōji in response. Even though she knows what he intends to ask, she'll just give the response she said to other boys before him.

"You see, you are without a doubt one of the most popular girls on campus and I'm one of the most famous men on campus and I wanted to ask if you'll be my girl?" Kōji said in a smooth tone of voice while flashing a rose in front of the Azure Maiden with what appears to be an attempt at a "cool" grin. While it is not appalling as Es feared, she had to admit that this boy was trying WAY too hard to ask her to be his girlfriend as evidenced by Yuto shaking his head in disappointment and Hanzo facepalming with both of his hands whispering "idiot". As the uneasy feeling subsided with this goofy proposal, Es still remained on guard and cleared her throat and closed her eyes before speaking...

"While I appreciate... your gesture... I have to politely decline... your proposal... I'm sorry if that... is not what you... wanted to hear..." Es said softly while making sure not to pause between her sentences too much. She didn't want to hurt this boy's feelings, but she loves Touya and has no intention of betraying that love now that she's confessed to him. After opening her eyes, she proceeded to walk by, only for Kōji to step in front of her.

"Hold up there... don't you think you may be answering prematurely? Think about it, if you're with me, no one will ever bother you again. After all, a fragile lady such as yourself needs a cool, strong man to look after you." Kōji said while smirking and trying to flex his muscle. Needless to say, this didn't impress Es in the slightest. If anything, this just made Kōji look desperate in her eyes.

"I can take care... of myself... thank you... and my answer is no..." Es said as she began to walk around Kōji with Hanzo barring her.

"Sasori... why are you blocking me...?" Es asked Hanzo as he barred her way and as Wendy warned, Kōji stepped up again, this time with a more stern look while keeping up the cool act.

"Come on Mitsurugi, I'm everything a girl could possibly want. I mean, I'm the strongest and the bravest of every boy here, not to mention the best looking. I'm the definition of what western people would call a "dream boat"." Kōji explained to Es as to why he'd be the best boyfriend. If only he knew that Touya is both strong and brave despite his hesitation and kind heart. Not to mention that looks aren't everything, for true beauty and kindness is found within. At this point, Es was slowly losing her patience with him.

"Please... leave me... alone..." Es replied with an annoyed tone, clearly not taking what Kōji is selling her. While she could throw him aside, Es knew better than that and wouldn't do so unless he was threatening her in any significant way or she would get in trouble. At this point, Kōji was losing his patience as well...

"Look Mitsurugi, I'm trying to be nice while pouring my heart out to you, but you're just being ice cold right now. I mean, you're a class act and you're hanging out with a bunch of misfits like thunder tits Himezuru, small fry Amanohokosaka, that Kamewari punk and especially that pathetic, scaredy cat wuss Kagari." Kōji said while insulting her friends by the end. Shortly after...

*SLAP!*

A loud sound echoed across the school as Yuto and Hanzo stared on in shock at what they just witnessed. Es Mitsurugi slapped Kōji Hashimoto across the face and when they turned to look her in the eyes, they saw a menacing glare looking at directly at Kōji. Es' thorat was already sore, but she didn't care as she's willing to give him a piece of her mind.

"Listen here... it's one thing to ask me out and another thing to continue harassing me when I've given my answer, but if there's one thing I will not abide, it's insulting my friends. Hinata, Mei, Akira and Touya are the greatest friends a person like myself can ever wish for and I refuse to let you talk about them that way." Es said in a complete sentence and while it hurt her throat, it was woth it to defend her loved ones. Needless to say, Kōji was left speechless with Hanzo and Yuto looking surprised and worried as Hanzo is performing a "zip it" motion while Yuto appeared nervous. Kōji than turned at Es and was looking a tad livid.

"H-how dare you..." Kōji said in a low growl, but before he can say anything more or do anything...

"Es-chan!" Hinata yelled as she, Mei, Akira, Kuon and Elise ran out of the school to where she is. On one hand, Es is happy they're here, but on the other, she didn't want them to get caught innher mess or fight her battles for her. However, it was too late as the five were already by her side, but Kōji stopped his threatening tone and look when they arrived.

"Are you okay?" Hinata asked Es as she took a look at her with the Azure Maiden nodding.

"Yes, but... why are...?" Es asked Hinata and the others how they knew she'd be out here dealing with these boys.

"Wendy told me." Akira replied to Es, surprising her that the Wind Mage would tell him about what Kōji was planning. After that, Akira stepped forth...

"How's it going H-Man?" Akira said with a smug grin as he stared down Kōji and his entourage.

"Kamewari, how long has it been?" Kōji replied, trying to put on a nice act for everyone present here. Needless to say, no one was buying it, not even the all-loving Hinata was phased.

"Too long for my liking. Now, what exactly are you doing with Es here?" Akira asked with the same smug grin as if to intimidate the delinquent in question. With that, an awful idea flashed through his mind and...

"Oh, I was asking her to be my girlfriend and before she said anything, she slapped me in the face. Can you believe she can be so heartless!" Kōji lied to everyone in an attempt to make Es look bad in front of her friends and Es' face twitched a little, knowing what he's trying to do to get under her skin and make her look bad in front of her friends. Unfortunately for him, no one was buying any of the BS that Kōji was saying.

"Hmpf... you're just sad, you know that?" Kuon said as she and Elise walked up in front of Es, catching the boys attention as they never seen them before.

"And... who are you two?" Hanzo asked the Fire Empress as he and his friends never seen Kuon or Elise before.

"My name is Kuon and she's Elise. We're both friends of Es and we know for a fact that she would not attack people without a good reason. Right Elise?" Kuon replied, not wanting to just stand there and watch this boy slander Es' good name.

"That's right! Es is a good person and would never act unless you give her a reason to do so. Something tells me you said something really bad in front of her, causing you to get rightfully slapped in the face." Elise followed while correctly summarizing what Es just witnessed moments ago before the others showed up. Kōji was left completely speechless at this point as his means of making people look bad usually works.

"B-b-buy she had no good reason to slap another student in the face when he's confessing his love to-" Kōji attempted to savege the situation in his favor until Mei intervened.

"I don't think so Kōji Hashimoto! From Kamewari told me, you've been a problem student at Hakuo North Academy every sense you've enrolled here. You, Hanzo Sasori and Yuto Adachi are essentially the pire definition of delinquents. Sarori with his annoying as hell pranks, Adachi with his holiar than thou rich boy attitude and than there's you. You're infamous for picking fights with a lot of the make students and sexually harrasing most of the female students here. Now here you are, trying to play the victim and make Es look like the villain after she most likely rejected your offer to be your girlfriend? Don't. Make. Me. Laugh!" Mei shot back at the boys, with Hanzo looking nervous, Yuto glaring back and Kōji looking completely stunned. Needless to say, things were looking to get ugly...

"W-w-w-why you... -l-l-l-little... b-b-b-bi-!" Kōji stuttered in simmering rage until...

*SWOOSH!*

A sudden gust of wind surrounded everyone, blinding Es' group and Kōji's group with a familiar voice yelling close by Es and her friends as they ran by.

"Run Now!"

Es and the others cracked her eyes to see Wendy as she gestured them to follow her. Despite having doubts, they all followed the Wind Mage as she led them away from where Kōji and his gang are. After a while, the wind subsided and then...

"What the hell was that about?! That was straight up out of a video game!" Hanzo yelled as he rubbed his eyes to readjust them after that strange wind storm.

"I'm not sure. I can't explain the impossible, but it would seem whatever it was, they took the chance to escape. Boss, are you okay?" Yuto speculated before asking Kōji about his well being. Needless to say, Kōji must have taken a massive blow to his pride. With that, he got up in Yuto's face.

"I will make Mitsurugi my girlfriend! Make no mistake about that! And that first year brat will rue the day for insulting us!" Kōji said as he walked off in a huff. Yuto and Hanzo glaced eachcother a brief look before following after their incensed leader, hoping that things won't get ugly.


Riverside Walkway

Es, Hinata, Mei, Kuon, Elise and Akira followed Wendy to the walkway Es and the others usually take to school and thr Himezuru Residence. Needless to say, they managed to avoid a potential fight from breaking out.

"You weren't kidding about that Kōji guy Akira! Even if I was attracted to boys, I would never date that guy even if he was the last man on Earth!" Elise yelled, making it clear that Kōji was trouble with a captain T.

"I'm sorry about... that... you shouldn't... have been... involved..." Es said, not wanting them to get involved before looking at Wendy. Did Wendy tell them because she was worried?

"Don't be. You would have been in more trouble if Wendy didn't tell me. Kōji is NOT the kind of guy you want to mess with. Period! He's everything Mei said and then some." Akira followed up, clearly feeling no shame for coming to his friends aid when she needed it. Hearing this, Wendy took a glance back at everyone and smiled a little. Yes, even toward Mei and Kuon. It was strange, but compared to last night... helping Es like this felt... good. Eventually, she saw the Fire Empress approach her.

"Wendy...?" Kuon asked her former friend before the Wind Mage smirked and flew off to where Es would meet her. Kuon could only watch her fly off to who knows where, but she smiled regardless as Wendy chose to tell Akira about Kōji's vile attempt at Es.

"Where do you think she's going?" Hinata asked in regards to the Wind Mage. While she did hurt Mei and Kuon, the Younger Himezuru didn't feel that Wendy was a bad guy.

"To our... meeting spot..." Es said as she got out her phone and saw it was 3:50 PM. That time wasted with Kōji took far longer than was needed.

"Hinata... I will be home... around 6:00 PM... please don't... wait up..." Es said to Hinata before turning to everyone else.

"Akira... Mei... Kuon... Elise... thank you for supporting me..." Es followed up with a tone of gratitude and a bow.

"Hey, what are friends for, right? Besides, you should thank Wendy as well for the heads up." Akira replied while scratching the back of his head. He still felt wary about her, but Es would've have been in a lot more trouble if Wendy didn't tell her.

"I'll always have your back Es. Besides, it puts a pep in my step telling arrogant assholes like Hashimoto off anyway." Mei followed up with a sincere smile.

"Yeah. We watch out for each other, helping the other up when they need it." Elise continued, feeling the same way as the others.

"Everyone is right Es. If you have trouble with those guys again, don't be afraid to call us for help. Also, please give Wendy this when you see her." Kuon said while giving Es an envelope to give to Wendy.

"I will..." Es smiled as she left to meet up with Wendy.

"Es-chan! I'll be sure wait for you and have a seat ready! And tell Miss Wendy "thank you" for helping us out!" Hinata called out while waving to Es, clearly intending to have a seat at the dinner table ready for her while waiting for her, the exact opposite of what Es wanted. Like Touya before her, Es could only smile as the kindness of Hinata's heart knows no boundaries.

To Be Continued...


Diablo has awakened! How will the "recruitment" go now that Unomaru has his unbridled attention?

Furthermore, how will Es go forth in regards to the devious trio of Kōji, Hanzo and Yuto?

Will Es continue to win Wendy over and is the Wind Mage starting to come around?

All this will be answered and more next time!