"Ow... ow! Ow, ow, ow! Okay! Stop!" Kagami flinched, gently shoving away Elise's hand. "That hurts!"

The brunette sighed, slowly taking back her hand which held a damp washcloth. "Listen, we at least need to clean it off so it doesn't get infected."

Groaning, she glanced down, glaring at the deep gash in her upper arm. "I know... I know." She groaned a bit more, grumbling as she crossed her arms. "You know if I had my hoodie I wouldn't have gotten so many cuts on my chest and arms."

Elise awkwardly chuckled, rubbing the back of her head. "Come on. This hoodie is really amazing. I always feel at the perfect temperature with it!" She hugged herself, swinging around a bit.

"That why I like it..." The jade haired girl narrowed her eyes, glaring back at her friend.

She simply chuckled weakly back at her team leader, holding up the damp cloth. "On to more important matters though," She flashed a smile, hoping to change the subject. "We do need to clean that wound out."

"I agree." Cheyenne spoke up softly, leaning over a desk which had several stones with small holes in them. In her hands was a string, a few rocks already laced onto them. "You should at least clean it out and wrap bandages around it. If it gets infected then you'll get sick."

"And I'm pretty sure you don't want to get sick." Kris stretched out across her bed, letting her head hang down off the side. "You don't seem like a person who would be happy if you got sick."

"Or a person who would take medicine when they're sick." The deer Faunus spoke up.

"You're... suppose to take medicine when you get sick?" Kagami's eyebrows raised up a bit. "My mom would normally just give me tea and put a bunch of blankets over me. Also a bunch of citrus fruits like limes, lemons, oranges, apples, and so on." She waved her hand a bit before yelling as Elise snatched her wrist and pulled her arm close to her.

"For the love of Oum, you damn idiot." Elise held onto her friend's hand extremely tight, dabbing softly at the cut on her bicep. "I'm cleaning this off before you do get sick. We really don't need you with a fever."

"Aw, can you not function without me as a team?" She joked, chuckling softly.

The brunette groaned, grumbling heavily as she washed away dried blood from Kagami's arm. "Shut up..." She grumbled.

"You know," Kris smiled, kicking her legs up and down. "I still think you two would make the cutest couple ever."

Cheyenne took a deep breath, laying down the bracelet she was making while she lowered her head, pressing her forehead onto the desk top. "Sometimes... I swear I don't know how we deal with you and your immaturity..."

"Whaaat?" The red head rolled her eyes before turning her body over. "I can't be the only one who thinks that. I mean, they would be a great couple. And that Nihilus and Val girl would make a cute little couple too. I also think my sister would be great with Julia." She chuckled softly. "Such a kinky little relationship there-OOF!" She grunted, a pillow hitting her in the face and knocking her off her bed with a thud.

Kagami sighed, lowering her arm down as she shook her head. "I still don't understand this whole shipping thing you guys do."

"Don't worry." Elise smiled with a chuckle. "It's sorta a fangirl and fanboy thing. See, in Rainbow Time Dancers there is this really hot eighth grader and holy moly!" She tossed her head back. "The war between who he should date is never ending. Some people really want Lem," She glared up at Kris.

"And some people really want Rosa." The redhead glared back over, narrowing her eyes.

"But anyway," Elise waved her off. "It's usually the leader who ends up with the guy anyway."

"Not all the time!" Kris quickly shot back in a defensive tone. "Sometimes the side members of the team get to date the hottest guy in the upper class!"

"That never happens in any sort of story." Cheyenne spoke up softly. "Not unless the main character dates them and then they break up and the side character dates them. And then a whole bunch of drama and yelling happens."

"That doesn't matter!" The young red head rapidly flung her arms around. "Lem and Chad were meant to be together!"

"No they weren't!" Elise shot to her feet. "Rosa Buds and Chad Republica were meant to be together! That sweet and shaggy blonde hair... that tight red shirt that shows off his muscles... and those blue skinny jeans..." She took a deep breath, her eyes sparkling like little red heart. "He's so amazing!"

"He is Lem's!" Kris shot to her feet.

"Rosa's!" She took a step towards her.

"Lem!" She snarled.

"Rosa!" She reached up, poking the younger girl with a finger.

Kagami sighed softly, shaking her head just a bit. "And here I thought they had grown up. I guess some things never change." She chuckled softly.

Cheyenne smiled, resting her head on her head as she leaned onto the table. "I think it's kinda nice." She tilted her head slightly at the two girls arguing. "It shows even after everything, we're still the same four girls at the beginning."

"I don't think we're exactly the same." The jade haired girl quietly spoke up. "We've grown in so many ways." She glanced down at the cut on her arm, shaking her head with a chuckle and a half smile. "There's so many ways we have changed."

There was a sudden knock on the door to which each girl flinched and looked up at it. Elise blinked slowly, raising an eyebrow. "Who's... there?" She quietly asked.

"Um..." A male voice came from the other sighed. "It's... Andrew Barq. I um... I'm Christmas-" He stopped himself taking a shaky breath. "Kris'... father..."

The three other girls all slowly turned to the redhead, who herself was blinking rapidly and confused. After a moment, she shook her head and crossed her arms, growling softly. "Don't you have a bar to be drinking out of?" She snapped.

The rest of her team was slightly taken aback, all slowly looking towards the door. On the other side, Andrew took a deep breath, resting his left hand against the door. For once, his brown hair that was so dark that it was nearly black, was combed back and behind his ears, staying there due to the grease in it. His extremely hard beard shaven, only a bit of stubble left behind.

"Listen, I was stoppin' by 'cause I heard Jessica..." He trailed off once more, shaking his head. "Heard Jess was still in town and helping those out from the Attack on Vale... honestly a shame it happened..." He took a deep breath. "But was talkin' to her and learned you were here to chillin' so I decided to drop by and uh... see... tell ya the same I told ya sister..."

"And what if I don't want to hear it? What if I don't want you to be here and would like it if you left?" The young redhead took a step towards the door. "Huh!?"

"I wouldn't blame ya..." He muttered quietly. "I get I ain't the best father ever... and marrying that hag of a mother didn't help out any for ya two... and I know I ain't around much..." He took a deep breath, lowering his left but. "But I just came down to say... how proud I am of ya sister and ya... if somethin' like that happened while I was a Huntsman or a Huntsman in trainin'... I probably wouldn't have done what ya did..." He sighed.

Kris blinked slowly, stopping in place as her brows furrowed. She stared at the door for a moment, not saying a word.

Kagami sighed, blinking once as she stood up. She slid past the redhead, grabbing the doorknob and opening it. She remembered meeting Glenis once, hating even the way she spoke to her daughter, but this man sounded far different than the way Kris had described him. As the door opened up, her eyes met with his. "You try to pull anything funny, I'm kicking you out of this room."

"Ya must be the girl who that wrench of mine complained about when she went to get Kris... said you were a scary bitch and almost killed her." He chuckled, flashing his teeth. He reached up, pushing his hair back with his left hand as he held his right hand behind his back. "Probably was bein' a pussy anyway."

"Uh..." Kagami blinked rapidly, staring at him blankly as she took a step back. She shoved Kris forward, shaking her head as she turned on her heels and stepped away. "Yeah... you can tell he drinks way too much."

Kris stared suspiciously at her father, her brows still furrowed. Her eyes narrowed intensely, her teeth showing. "You honestly expect me to believe that?" She inhaled sharply. "After EVERYTHING?"

"N-No..." He stumbled on his words a bit, taking a deep breath and sighing. His shoulders slowly lowered, his eyes dropping down some. "I really don't... and I don't blame ya..." He sighed again, shaking his head. "I just... wanted to tell ya... even if ya don't believe me." He then started to chuckle, running his left hand through his hair again. "Also say I'm sorry for marrying that old hag and makin' ya and ya sister have to deal with her. At least I can divorce her stupid ass."

She blinked few times, trying not to smile but being unable to hide it. "I can agree with part of what you said." She rolled her eyes, quickly looking away.

"Well... I came here for what I wanted so..." He slowly reached down, placing a small cardboard box down on the floor with his right hand. "Here's... this... hope yalike it... and I'm sorry for it all..." He gently smiled, stepping out. "And also proud of ya."he gave a slight nod, a few strands of his hair falling in front of his face as he shut the door.

Blinking slowly, Kris glanced back at the box before quickly looking away again. "Probably my first flask or something stupid like that..." She grumbled softly, eyeing it once more.

"You should at least see what it is." Cheyenne spoke up in a hushed tone. "I'd love to get any type of gift from my dad. I would... just love to get something from him... even if it was from my childhood..."

Kagami glanced a her, glancing down at her hands as she fiddled with the blanket below her.

"Whatever. It's still probably something really stupid." The redhead muttered, kneeling down next to the box and opening it.

Once it opened, Kris froze. Her eyes slightly widened as she slowly reached in, pulling out a red triangular hat with white trimming and a white puff ball on the top.

"What..." Elise blinked slowly. "What the heck is that?"

"It's... from my favorite fairy tail when I was younger." She blinked rapidly, smiling softly. "It was a story about a magical man who once a year went all across the globe delivering toys to poor children..." Her smile only grew a bit more as she slowly sat down, holding the hat gently in her hands. "He was one of my heroes when I was younger and the reason why I always loved little toys so much... Jess use to read it all the time to me. I didn't even know he knew I liked it..." She trailed off, inspecting the perfectly trimmed hat.

"The Legend of Old Saint Nicolas and His Wife, right?" Elise spoke up, leaning over to look at the hat herself. "I remember having a book about that. Pretty sure it was on my bookshelf as a kid."

"Yeah..." The redhead smiled some more, finding some stitching in the inside of the trimming. Stitched in red, Kris was sown into the fabric. The young girl's eyes slowly widened. If there was one thing her parents never did, it was actually heartfully call her Kris or call her sister Jess. But this hat, that was something else.

Her heat puffed out as her eyes started to swell with tears. She quickly put the hat back in the box, jumping up to her feet and waving her hands in front of her eyes. "No! I can't cry! This is bad!"

"Why... can't you cry?" Cheyenne asked.

"Because my mascara WAS FORTY LIEN!" She snapped back.

Elise blinked once before suddenly bursting into heavy laughter. She shook her head, flopping back onto the bed she was sitting on. "That's the stupidest reason I have ever heard!"

"Shut up!" Kris snapped, glaring at her. "It's true! This mascara cost a lot!"

"It's still a stupid reason!" The brunet laughed, shaking her head around as she rubbed her eyes the the palms of her hands.

As the two began to bicker back and forth again, Kagami slowly made her way over to Cheyenne. "You know, I bet your father would be happy if you went to visit." She smiled.

The Faunus quickly shook her head no, gulping as she glanced down "It's fine... like I said before... I'm not... I'm not ready to go back... and if my mom is dead... then he would most likely be too and I just can't... then I'll actually know I'm..." She trailed off, her voice cracking. "Then I'll know I'm actually alone..."

The jade haired girl smiled softly, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Well, you're not alone. You need to remember that. You have me. And you have them." She eyed the two girls who were fighting. "You'll never be alone, even when they're gone. You'll always have us." She smiled some more.

Cheyenne blinked softly, her vision blurring slightly. She reached up, rubbing her eyes dry before glancing up. "It's fine... I'd rather now... I really don't want to know. Plus," She glanced up at her leader. "Don't you have a family you need to go back to?"

"Uh..." She blinked once before slightly grinning with a raised hand. "Natus is way closer than Vytal. So it's only logical we see you family first. I mean, Elise's parents showed up and now Kris' father." She usher towards her friend. "I believe it's your turn."

She quickly shook her head no, filling as she glanced down. "I... I couldn't..."

"Okay, let me rephrase that." Kagami crossed her arms. "Instead of do want to go there, how about do you want to go see them?"

Gulping even more, Cheyenne slowly glanced up. "I..." She took a shaky breath, slowly nodding. "I've... wanted to God a while. I'm just too afraid to go back... it's been three years."

Flashing a smile, Kagami placed her hand back in her friend's shoulder. "And now you have three great friends who would stick by yours side during it. What do you say?"

Slowly nodding, Cheyenne took a deep breath, slowly looking up. "I guess... if everyone else is okay with it, we could go tomorrow morning. It might take half the day to get there though. Especially if we go by foot."

Chuckling, her safer nodded with a smile. "Trust me, I'll get those two dopes to go one way or another."

Smiling up, the Faunus slowly looked down at her hand. "Thanks, Kagami."

"No problem. Well head off to Natus in the morning." She then blinked some, her usual grin forming. The grin she got when she had an idea. "You know, I'll be back soon." She rushed past, picking up her sword and strapping it on as she bolted out the door. "Later guys!" She called out as is shut.

"Uh wait..." Kris blinked rather confused. "What?" She turned away from the young brunet.

Elise raised an eyebrow, scratching her head as she looked over at Cheyenne. "What's happening?"

The Faunus flashed a smile, leaning back in her chair. "Well... we're going to take a trip back to my home town." She reached up, rubbing her antlers with an awkward chuckle.

Up on the rooftops of a familiar building, Kagami quietly sat with her legs crossed. She drew on the floor of the roof, sighing softly as she waited, night quietly falling as the broken moon rose into view along with several upon several stars. She shut her eyes, taking a deep breath. When she opened them, she saw a darkened outlined image. She flinched, jumping to her feet.

"Holy bloody Oum!" She inhaled softly. "How in the love of all that is holy did you do that!?"

"I'm Nihilus." The young man in the white hoodie stepped from the shadows, the corner of his mouth slightly up as he shook his shaggy blue hair around. "Did you... find anything on how to help Val?"

"I'm getting there." Kagami muttered, taking a step towards him. When she did, her stomach growled in a thirst for food. She groaned shaking it off.

Nihilus raised an eyebrow, shoving his hands deeper into his hoodie pockets. "You hungry?"

"Just a little. It's been a long couple of days." She shook her head, sighing. "It's nothing."

"Here..." He reached around, pulling out a small aluminum box and pulled off its lid, showing some warm fried rice cooked with various pieces of vegetables, bits of scrambled eggs, and chunks of chicken. "I made more than I needed. Thana was full off the first serving."

Kagami blinked a few times, cautiously raising an eyebrow as she slowly took the food. "You're... not trying to poison me, are you?" Even after everything, especially after everything, she was still skeptical of him.

Rolling his eyes, Nihilus turned away. "I'm hard to trust, I get it. Poisoning isn't my thing though. I'd prefer my target to know who I am..." He trailed off and shook his head. "Just eat, okay? I'm not hungry enough for it."

Taking a deep breath, the jade haired girl nodded. In a flash, she quickly began to devour the food even without any utensils. It was clear she was starving from what she had been doing the past few days.

Watching her consume the fried rice, he stepped back with his hands back in his pockets. "Anyway, there must be something else you need if you actually came up here."

"Right..." Kagami trailed off, wiping her mouth as she looked up. She lowered the bow empty box, smiling some with her head tilted to the side. "I need... to borrow someone in your little band of misfits. Only for a day."

He gave a slow nod, raising an eyebrow. "And...who might that be...?" His eyes narrowed.

She simply flashed her teeth, sticking her hands into her pockets. "I'd like to borrow Maya for the day."

"...Oh..." He took a deep breath and nodded again. "I won't...ask the reason... I'll simply trust your judgment..."

"Hey, I ate some food you gave me." She leaned forward a bit with a grin. "I think we're on a semi trusting relationship right now. Though... I still think I'd attack you if you have made a reason for me to."

"R-Right..." He closed his eyes and breathed in. "I'll get her to come here. So long as we eventually take care of Val..."

"Trust me, if there is anything I can actually do right," Kagami grinned, pulling her hands from her pockets and crossing her arms. "It's coming up with insane plans that just barely work. Or I winging it." She chuckled before quickly shaking her hands in defense. "But I actually have a plan in the making. I'd show you... but I'm rather tired and do have to walk all the way back the Caesar's base."

"Then we'll be here tomorrow morning. Unless you'd rather us stop by." He blinked. "Or just her."

She simply shrugged back, giving a small sigh. "Just... just her. You can watch from the distance." She eyed the restaurant her friends and her ate at when Elise's parents showed up on the day she first met Nihilus up here. "Tell her to meet us there and you can watched from up here." She glanced over at him. "Alright?"

"Sounds good. She'll be there." He blinked with a faint smile, though by the time she could notice it, he was gone.

Kagami blinked several times, sticking her hands back in her pockets with a sigh. He defiantly wasn't like any villain she had ever met. None of Valentine's crew was. Aside from Eri and Dion that is. She shook her head, glancing down at the cut on her upper arm. She took a deep breath, looking up at the moon which was falling apart.

"Well... at the rate things are going, I guess I'll be seeing you again soon, mom." She smiled a bit more, jumping off the building as she started back to her team.