December 8th, 12:30 am

"You know, I would prefer if you didn't appear outside my door injured."

Phillip looked over his work as he said this, tightening places where the bandage wrap was loose and wiping off any extra salve. He then looked up at Kiana's face as she stared down at her right wrist.

Kiana had come up to his door at midnight, hammering at it at the pace of a woodpecker to wake him up. While Phillip wanted to tell the girl to go to sleep when he first opened the door, the sight of the girl covered in bruises and cuts stalled his anger about being woken up so late. Thus, the current situation played out.

"I'm guessing your date didn't go as planned," Phillip questioned as he sat down beside her on the couch.

"Something like that," Kiana muttered as she examined the bandages herself. "It wasn't like I was actually going to leave Mei-senpai, to begin with."

"Yeah, I didn't think you would," Phillip started with a flat look. "That doesn't tell me why you came to my room scratched up to hell, though."

"I got stood up, and some idiots thought I was an easy target," Kiana said suddenly, a pout now on her face. "They got off easy, though, cuz someone called the cops before I did anything serious."

"I was under the impression no guy could handle you."

Kiana gave him a victorious smile. "Of course, they can't. No one can handle this Kaslana."

"Then explain why there are some many bruises in comparison to the last time."

Kiana pouted at Phillip's probing. "You don't let things go, do you? See, this is why no girl like you." Phillip simply glared at her, completely ignoring the jab at his love life. She huffed at this before continuing. "Fine, so I got a little cocky, so what?"

Phillip rose an eyebrow at this but simply rested a hand on her shoulder, hiding a tiny shimmer of green as he did. "Then, I suggest you keep cool next time you get into a fight."

Kiana snorted at this. "Who made you my dad?" Once the words escaped her mouth, she froze for a brief moment before looking vacantly at a nearby corner.

"Kiana?"

She jumped at Phillip's voice, looking back to see his concerned expression. "I-It's nothing! I was just thinking about Mei's mini-cakes, is all!" She stood up abruptly and walked over to the door. "Anyway, I should get ready for my slumber party at Mei's house tomorrow. We're going to be doing a whole lot of stuff without you."

Phillip rolled his eyes at the girl's one-upmanship. "Do what you wish, but remember to change those bandages regularly." She simply gave a wave back to him to acknowledge his comment before exiting his apartment for her own.

"Do you believe her?"

Not in the slightest, Phillip replied to the angel before letting out a sigh of resignation. But I can't force her to tell me everything. She'd clam up if I tried.

"That's a fair assessment. Though I'm fairly certain you learn the true nature of what occurred tomorrow."

I'm guessing you're not going to tell me what it was, are you?

"Nope," Gabriel said in a teasing tone. "You're just going to have to figure it out yourself."

Figured, Phillip responded as he rolled his head, earning a couple of pops for his troubles. Can't help it, though. Let's see what's in store for us.

At this, Phillip shut off all the lights and headed for bed.

December 8th, 7:25 am

"Seriously? I'm not a problem child, ya know!"

"Of course, you aren't."

Kiana pouted at this and turned away from Phillip at his comment. He simply shook his head at this, ensuring they didn't crash into anything during their conversation.

As soon as Phillip had awakened, he made sure to get Kiana up and moving. Once she was out of her apartment, Kiana found out just how insistent Phillip could be, once again asking for the details for her injuries. He got to the point that he was actually annoying her, which didn't sate his curiosity but did grant him some minor amusement.

"I told you what happened yesterday. What else do you want?" Kiana paused in her musings for a moment before looking at him with disbelieving eyes. "Is this some trick to get into my pants or something? Because it's kinda low if it is."

"Please don't say that in public," Phillip started while staring down the couple of people that looked their way with incredulous looks. "I don't need people calling the police on me just because of your loud mouth."

"I doubt there's any police left in the station to Safeway you," Kiana said aloud before clamping a hand over her mouth.

Phillip narrowed his eyes at this. "How would you know that?"

"Hey, look, Mei's here already!" Kiana rushed forward, trying to ignore how sloppy the subject change was, and almost ran into Mei as she reached the other side of the street. Phillip followed after, sending both Mei and the chauffeur a wave as he crossed.

"Are you okay, Mei?"

Mei gave a vibrant smile to Phillip's question. "I'm fine, Phillip-kun. Thank you for asking." Almost immediately after, she gained a worried look as she glanced at the school gate. "Though I believe something strange is happening at the school."

"What makes you say that?" Kiana asked in a way that would hide her nervousness from most but not Phillip. He gave a silent but brief glare at her before looking off to the school gate.

A couple of police offers were stationed at the walkway, decked out in entirely blue outfits. However, they remained almost entirely still as Phillip stared at them, looking slightly less than statues.

"Why have the police here when the school already has a security system?"

"Who cares?!" Kiana suddenly shouted, starling Mei and forcing away Philip's question. "If there are cops at the school, then it's shut down for the day, right?"

Mei tilted her head at this before looking to Phillip to see if he had the answer. When a quick shrug was his response, Mei looked back at Kiana. "I suppose so?"

Kiana gave a fist pump at this, seeming far more excited, so much so that she failed to notice one of the school guards walking towards them. "Awesome! Then you and I can start that slumber party already." She turned to Phillip with a far less enthused look. "You go do boy things."

Phillip shook his head at this before greeting the officer that got close. "Good morning, detective. Do you need anything from us?"

The officer nodded at this. "I wanted to let you know that the school will be closed for today. Also," the officer pointed at Kiana, causing shocked looks on the girls and a narrowed glare from Phillip. "I need to talk with this one for a moment."

"WHAT?! WHY?!"

Phillip flinched hard against the volume of Kiana's scream, cupping the ear closest to her. Meanwhile, the officer looked completely unfazed on the matter.

"Eyewitnesses state they saw a white-haired girl fleeing the school last night," the officer explained calmly. "Analyzing the student data in the school's computer system reveals you to be the only student with white hair." Officer stepped to the side and gestured to the gateway of the school. "Please. It will only take a moment."

"B-B-But…" Kiana looked at both of her companions, looking for any way out before settling on Mei. "Mei-senpai, help me!" Mei stammered for a couple seconds before looking at Phillip, once against desperate for aid in the situation.

Phillip sighed in exasperation before looking the officer dead in the eyes. "This is just to confirm whether she's a suspect or not, correct?" The officer nodded. "And you will not be going overboard in searches or forge false evidence just to call her guilty, right?" The officer gave him a bewildered look before nodding once more.

Phillip took a deep breath before looking at Kiana. "Go with him."

"You're just gonna trust him like that?!" Kiana complained, now latching onto Mei's left arm. "You just want to ditch me to steal Mei-senpai away!"

Mei blushed at this. "K-Kiana-chan, don't say something like that out loud. And that's not what's happening." She looked at Phillip expectantly. "Right?"

"Why do I feel that you believe Kiana," Phillip groaned inaudibly before speaking louder for Kiana. "We're not going to leave you here, but the faster you get this over with, the faster you can get to that slumber party."

Kiana reluctantly released Mei's arm and followed the officer past the gate, sending Phillip a stink eye as she walked through.

"She won't be in actual trouble, right?" Mei's voice was laced with worry as she watched Kiana leave. "She's only really going to clear her name, right?"

"More than likely," Phillip replied, his tone far more composed than Mei's. "Kiana is a trouble maker, but she's not going to commit crimes for laughs." Seeing as Mei didn't calm down at his words, he nudged her shoulder to pull her attention to him. He then pointed across the street, where a bakery was located at.

"I haven't been there before. Want to try it?"

The way Mei's eyes sparkled at the idea gave him all the answers he needed.

8:00 am, outside the bakery

"Sorry, I should have seen that one coming."

Mei gave him a calm smile. "It's fine. We still got something from there, after all." With this said, she rose the chocolate-chip cookie in her right hand and bit into it, eyes wandering back to the school gates.

Obviously, the shop's employees were not welcome to Mei's presence. As soon as they entered, everyone immediately glared hard at Mei, making the girl feel self-conscious. Once they reached the counter, the cashier tried to turn them away, but Phillip wasn't having it. It would have turned into a fight had the manager not come out. He gave the two some free cookies and dismissed them before railing at the employee for trying to force out customers.

Now, the two stood beside the limo back on the school's side of the street, chowing down on the cookies as they waited for Kiana to be released from police custody. They had been waiting for some time now, with Mei growing more worried by the second.

"You're certain that she'll be okay?"

"Positive," Phillip stated before pulling another cookie from the white paper bag they came in. "But, if she isn't, it just means more for us."

"No!"

Phillip noticed Kiana leap from his right when she yelled and allowed her to take the cookie from his hand. As Kiana gobbled it down like a starving person, Phillip glanced sideways at Mei.

"See?"

"Kiana-chan, please don't eat so messily," Mei scolded without any anger in her voice. "It's rude, and you're likely to choke." Getting a rapid nod as an answer, Mei sighed in acceptance and said, "Well, I'm glad you're alright, Kiana-chan. Was everything alright?"

"Ah, it was nothing," Kiana stated through a mush of cookie, brushing off Mei's concern to focus on her food. "They said a couple of complicated things but let me go a few minutes ago."

"Kiana-chan, swallow your food before speaking," Kiana did as she was told, prompting Mei to turn to Phillip with a mildly relieved look. "I guess you were right to not worry too much. I should have been more confident about Kiana-chan's chances."

"I wouldn't say I was confident or not worried," Phillip responded as he watched Kiana finish off the cookie. "I just felt that she wouldn't get charged with anything." He pulled the last cookie from the bag and tossed it over to Kiana, who caught it in her teeth like a dog. "The bigger issue is that we now have an extra free day. What should we use it for?"

"Well," Mei started, cupping her chin. "We could explore the city more, or maybe we spend the day at my house."

Kiana quickly eviscerated the cookie at those words and jumped in front of Mei, eyes sparkling. "Really?! An entire day at Mei-senpai's house?! That's awesome!"

Mei giggled at this before nodding in confirmation. "Yes, Kiana-chan. You and Phillip-kun are both invited to my house for the day."

Kiana slumped forward at this. "Wha-, come on, Mei-senpai. Just me and you today. We don't need a third wheel."

"Ignoring the high opinion Kiana has of me," Phillip stated, gathering both Mei's attention and a flat stare from Kiana. "I'll probably stay the morning and leave before night, so you two can have your sleepover. Don't wish to disturb your plans."

"Oh, it's alright," Mei said calmly, a gentle smile forming on her face. "We can always reschedule it for later." She then sent a scathing eye at Kiana, drowning out any possible rebuttals. "Isn't that right, Kiana-chan?" All she received in response was a pout and grumble, which she took as begrudgingly acceptance. "Honestly, it will be fine. You two could even learn how to get along during this."

Phillip and Kiana shared a glance, one that showed disbelief on the matter, before speaking the same word.

"Fine."

12:30, at Mei's house, after some grocery shopping

"Why did you have to come along?"

Phillip looked up out of his bowl of potato chips to look over at Kiana with a flat stare. "Because I can, and I was invited."

"You could've said no."

"I did try to compromise."

"Shoulda tried harder," Kiana bemoaned as she flipped through the TV channels, sitting limply on the sofa. Phillip sighed before placing the bowl on the long wooden table before him and his leather chair as he gazed around the room he hadn't been in.

Mei had led them to another side of the house, opposite of where he was the other day. A wide lounging area was placed on this side, wide enough to hold thirty people at most. The place seemed set for kicking back and relaxing with a large television and seating, including a sofa and four leather seats. Though, Phillip doubts it was used much by Mei or her father, considering how busy the two were before the arrest.

Phillip was pulled from his thoughts when he found Kiana, now laying flat on her back, flattering at him vehemently. "Do you have anything better to do than to glare holes into my head?"

"You ruined it," she hissed back, as if afraid she'll get heard by Mei despite Mei heading to the kitchen to gather snacks. "This was going to be the closest I got to Mei-senpai, and you blew it!"

"Why exactly is it my fault," Phillip questioned, confused by the girl's logic. "Mei's the one that invited me, and I'm still not planning to stay the night."

"You still accepted it!"

Phillip let out a sigh at this. "Look, I'm sorry I ruined your plan to woo Mei, but you still have other days. Try then and don't ruin what's going on right now, okay?"

Kiana crossed her arms under her chest let out a hmph before turning away with a pout. As Phillip was about to lean back into his chair, he heard her next words.

"Mei-senpai seems to like you a lot, though."

"Mei and I are friends," Phillip's words startled Kiana from her pout, causing her to at him with suspicious eyes. Phillip ignored it as he leaned forward and propped himself with his elbows against his knees. "In fact, that's something I want to talk about."

"What's that?"

"Give up on love." Phillip rose a hand to silence Kiana's incoming protest. "I'm not saying forever. However, Mei doesn't need a boyfriend or girlfriend right now. What she needs are friends." Phillip leaned back as a wave of comprehension swept over Kiana's gave. "So, for now, let's just be Mei's best friends. Okay."

Kiana took a second to ponder it before crawling across the sofa to reach him and held out a hand.

"Deal. So long as I'm the bestest of best friends."

Phillip shook his head at the terrible grammar but shook her hand regardless. "Whatever floats your boat."

As they finished the deal and Kiana moved back to the other end, Mei appeared down the hall behind the sofa with several bags in her hands and a brilliant smile on her face.

"Sorry, it took so long. I hope I didn't keep you two waiting."

Phillip shook his head at Mei's question, a slight smile on his face. "You're fine; we weren't bored here." He stood up from the chair and walked around the table to get to a clearing for foot traffic between the halls. Once there, he got closer to Mei and took a few bags from the girl. Kiana followed soon after to take the rest of the bags, and the three were seated back down, bags sprawled across the table while Mei took the couch seat between Phillip and Kiana.

"So, what should we watch? Or would you prefer some games?"

Kiana, who was already diving into the potato chips, lit up at the latter part of the question and had to swallow down what was in her mouth to answer. "Definitely games! Fighting games especially!"

"Eh," Phillip responded dismissively as he pulled the large soda bottles out and placed them on the side of the couch. "I'd rather watch a movie instead."

"Scared I'll kick your butt?" Kiana suggested with a cocky smile.

Phillip rolled his eyes at this. "Not really, but this is Mei's choice in the end." Phillip then looked at Mei, who stared down at the bag containing candies in contemplation. "What do you want to do?"

Mei looked at him for only a brief moment before looking down again, still pounding the correct course of action. After a few more seconds, she came to her conclusion. "Let's start with a movie, then do games later."

Kiana apparently didn't like that, evident in the pout on her face. She then gave out a counter-offer.

"One game each first, between the three of us. The winner picks the movie."

Phillip narrowed his eyes at this and prepared to scold the girl. "Kiana-"

"No, that seems fair," Mei interjected, pausing Phillip from his reprimand. "This way, no one can complain about the movie choice."

Kiana brightened at that, giving a massive, goofy smile, before looking at Phillip in victory. "You wouldn't deny Mei-senpai's rule, would you?"

Phillip looked between Mei's calm, collected smile and Kiana's overconfident smirk for a full minute with exasperation before accepting the situation with a sigh. "Fine, I'll do it. Just don't throw a fit if I win, Kiana."

"Wha-, Hey! I'm not a sore loser!"

8:30 pm, longer

"Not a sore loser, she says."

Phillip continued his blank stare when he said this as he watched Kiana attempt the highest difficulty of the CPU HOMU one more for the thousandth time. It had been like this for the last couple of hours.

Phillip had won the little tournament easily. So easily that Kiana once again claimed he cheated. Once he and Mei convinced her he didn't cheat, she then demanded rematches that never ended in her favor. After two straight hours of this, Mei forced the games to end, to the chagrin of Kiana, and allowed Phillip to pick his movie, which happened to be one of the old Arahato movies.

Once the movie ended, Kiana immediately jumped back on the console to rematch Phillip again. He dropped out after a couple more, leaving Kiana to battle the highest level CPU.

"I understand what you're saying," Mei started calmly, eyes not leaving Kiana's form before her expression devolved into a wistful look. "I just wish I was better at the game."

Mei had lost most of her battles in HOMU Fighters, a complete Street Fighters knock-off to Phillip. The only ones she did win were from Phillip throwing the matches. When Kiana decided to bring it up, Mei deduced it quickly.

"You just need more PvP experience, that's all," Phillip explained. "It's not your fault your past 'friends' never came by." The venom in his voice when he said "friends" was almost palpable. However, it remained undetected by the enamored Mei watching the hyper-focused and motivated Kiana battling the computer.

He gave out a sigh before looking out the window placed high up on the outer wall to his right. Pale moonlight trickled through, absorbed by the light of the room. He had lost count of the hours between the movie and Kiana's demands, allowing the night to begin without him. Standing up from the chair, he moved towards the hall that led to the entrance.

His movement caused Mei to snap out of her trance and rush over to meet him. "Are you sure you won't stay?"

Phillip turned to face her and nodded. "There's something I need to do back at my apartment. I can't say how long it will take, so just do that slumber party you promised Kiana."

Mei didn't seem ecstatic about the proposal but accepted it nonetheless, giving him a bow. "I'll call my chauffeur to give you a ride back to your apartment. Thank you for staying with us for the day, Phillip-kun."

Phillip returned the gesture. "The pleasure was mine." Once he stood tall, he took one more peek at Kiana, who barely defeated the CPU. "You better behave yourself while you are here, Kiana." She simply responded with a shoeing motion, eyes never leaving the screen.

Phillip shook his head at this before walking down the hall, back to the entrance.

8:45 pm, in the city,

"What IS your plan exactly?"

Something was bothering me at the school.

"Ah. So you're going into detective mode."

Phillip rolled his eyes as he darted from building to building, leaping through the crisp late-autumn air.

In contrast to his talk with Mei, he had no intentions of returning to his apartment. Thus, he left a clone behind for the chauffeur to escort while the real him snuck away to handle his actual business. Now, he was making his way back to the school to determine what the police were hiding exactly.

Granted, it wasn't his first idea upon leaving Mei's house.

Well, I would be handling the deliveries, but you scared them off.

"Hey, it's not my fault that they stopped after one day of a hard crack-down. I didn't know they would be this cowardly."

Regardless, Phillip dismissed the angel's rant, stopping on a rooftop to peer over the edge at the school below. Because of the retreat, I can't focus on the real threats. So, let's dig up what happened here instead.

"Can you even be certain you can enter without being detected?"

I doubt I won't trigger some sensors, Phillip replied before dropping down to the street below and prepared to charge. But I'll be too fast for them to know who it is.

With this, Phillip blurred through the gate, knowing he was setting off alarms upon entering but not stopping to react to anything.

9:00 pm, Security Room,

"Ya know, maybe I was expecting too much from the school Ryoma donated to."

Phillip watched the multiple screens before him in disappointment, looking at them with scrutinizing detail to see how much they could capture of his entrance. Needless to say, they were of poor quality.

Several cameras and sensors were triggered along his path. Still, none of them could capture a single detail from him, even at the lowest frames possible. At least ME Corp could get something off his when moving at lightning speeds. That also didn't go into how easy it was to get into the security room or hack into the system. So much for that "impenetrable fortress" thought he had the first year.

Phillip sighed as he tapped one button and watched as all the footage and sensor data disappeared. "Well, I guess one good side of this is I can leave whenever I desire."

"Don't even think about it."

Uptight angel.

Phillip dropped the conversation there before they could devolve into an argument. Pressing an index finger to his forehead, he pushed his thoughts towards a clone he left to investigate the school.

How's it going?

Clone: Well, I found the crime site. The nighttime cops took off to the entrance when the alarms went off, so they're gone for now.

Not for long, though. Disperse when you find everything you can. I'll handle the escape.

Clone: Fine with me. Though, I don't think you'll like what I found. Some of this seems… weird.

The connection cut there, leaving Phillip to ponder the clone's words for only a moment before its memories collected in his head. A scowl formed on his face as he witnessed the things his clone found, but he couldn't stay for too long. The system freeze would only last a couple minutes longer, and he still needed to avoid the cops that were around.

Turning on his heels, he sped out of the room and down the hall. Luckily, Phillip had a direct line to the entrance, allowing him to exit the area with no hopes of anything tracking him.

He didn't stop until he was on the roof of the apartment complex. Still, the scowl on his face never wavered, even as he opened the rooftop door and stormed down the stairs. Phillip had only one thought process during that time.

I need to talk to Kiana.

December 9th, 6:30 am,

The following morning, Phillip made sure to arrive at the school early, long before the chauffeur would come with Mei and Kiana. Thus, he was the first to realize they may have another day to themselves, as the police had swarmed Seems High. Now, not only was the school entrance blocked off, but several police cars lined the street in front of the school. Phillip had every right to believe that it was because of his entrance last night. Still, it didn't bother him because he destroyed any possible evidence that night.

Phillip looked over his right shoulder to see if Mei's limo would appear. Indeed, the black limo came strolling down the street, looking for any position possible among the myriad of police cars. Phillip followed the vehicle during its search and stopped when the limo finally came to a stop across the street. Mei gave him a wave once she stepped out, followed by a sluggish, drowsy Kiana, who slumped over as soon as she stepped outside. The two crossed the street swiftly, Mei dragging Kiana across as they died, before stopping in front of Phillip.

"Good morning, Phillip-kun," Mei said with a bright expression on her face. "I hope your night went well."

"I'm fine, Mei," Phillip said absentmindedly, making sure to give Mei some attention while his eyes started glued to Kiana. "Who's the walking zombie you brought with you?"

"Sleepy… food…"

Both he and Mei sweatdropped at Kiana's mustering, though Mei retained her smile through it. Mei then turned to Phillip and tried to explain.

"She spent too much time on the console yesterday. I had to drag her away from the games just to sleep, and she still managed to wake up like this."

"Doesn't help that she never wakes up at the right time," Phillip added before slinging his backpack around to his front, opening it, and pulled out a granola bar from it. He tried handing it to the white-haired girl. "Eat this, see if you can get some energy back-"

In a blur, the bar had jumped from his hands to Kiana's, where she held it like it was a blessing of God. In another moment, she was devouring the food like a ravenous beast.

Phillip let out a sigh at the sight before turning back to Mei. "It looks like we'll be getting another free day today. Do you have anywhere you need to be today?"

Mei gave an apologetic smile in response. "Unfortunately, I must continue practicing today. I ate far too much last night, so I need to burn it all off tonight."

"Mei-senpai, you could easily take another cheat day," Kiana stated firmly, trying and failing to stealthily take another granola bar from Phillip's bag. She sent Phillip a pout and a glare returning her attention to Mei. "I always eat a lot, and I don't gain a pound."

"Kiana-chan, not everyone has your metabolism," Mei stated to Kiana in a kind voice before stepping back and giving them both a bow. "I see you two off here. Maybe, later on, we can meet up once more." With that and a little wave, Mei returned to the limo. The other stood there, rooted in their spots, as the limo took off down the street and disappeared around a corner.

Once the limo was no longer seeable, Kiana rounded back to him with a smile. "Well, I don't need to be anywhere today. Let's hit the arcade so I can beat you!" Her sudden excitement faltered when Phillip looked at her this time, anger burning in his eyes. "Um, did Mei-senpai tell you about that moment I looked through her underwear drawer?"

His answer was grabbing her by the back of her collar and dragging her to an alleyway on the other side of the street.

"Let's talk, Kaslana."

6:45 am

Phillip leaned back on the wall behind him, pinching the bridge of his nose as he sighed through the information given to him. Kiana stood tall in the middle of the alley, though looking slightly more anxious than before. She had her arms behind her, looking off to the side with a light blush on her face.

As he finished sorting out the info, he looked up at Kiana. "Is that all you can tell me freely?" Kiana nodded, still not looking him in the eyes. Phillip let out a sigh and pushed off the wall.

"So, that's where Yuki went."

"Huh?"

Kiana finally looked back at Phillip with surprised eyes while a humorless chuckle escaped his lips. He pushed off the wall with a groan and locked eyes with Kiana.

"So, you were helping the police to deal with a slavering," Phillip explained back to Kiana casually, not pausing when she flinched. "And got into a tussle with you 'date' here at school because of it. Is that the gist of it?"

"Kinda," Kiana replied hesitantly, clearly cautious on Phillip's calm demeanor. "You're not going to tell Mei about the drawer, right?"

"We'll sort that out later," Phillip stated, his expression breaking for a moment to let out a sigh. "Why couldn't you tell me this back then?"

"It was still under wraps, ya know," Kiana explained, using her right hand to rub the back of her head. "I'm not supposed to explain it to-"

"Kiana, you killed someone."

The bluntness of Phillip's statement caused Kiana to go stiff, doing her hands while looking down at her feet. "I didn't mean to. It was a fight, and I was reacting and-"

"Kiana, I don't care about that," Phillip started firmly, grabbing Kiana by the shoulders to make her look at him. "What I care about is why I had to go snooping just to learn this."

"O-oh, that makes sense," Kiana mumbled to herself before gaining a thoughtful expression. "Wait, wouldn't that mean-"

"Are you okay?" The question carried a calm yet worried tone, something Kiana caught as she finally locked eyes with him. "Because doing… that isn't something people can walk away from easily."

Kiana took a deep breath before giving the largest smile she could muster. "I'm fine. See?" She pointed at the smile with both hands to emphasize her cheerfulness. "I can handle anything the world throws at me." This time, the comment was enhanced with a more cocky tone and confident stance.

Phillip dropped his hands from her shoulders, seemingly ready to relent… only to grab Kiana by the ear, causing her to falter from her pose and fidget.

"Don't give me those fake smiles and that false bravado," Phillip demanded, yanking on her ear to emphasize his point. After the girl made a few vain attempts to tend herself from his grip, he dropped it and crossed his arms. "I'm a friend, so either stop getting yourself into trouble or let me help you stay out of it."

"What if I choose neither?" Kiana asked with a pout, her ear now wholly red from the pulling.

"Not an option."

Kiana gave him a raspberry for an answer before bolting the alley. Phillip would have given chase, but he felt the girl wanted space from him. Thus, he simply slumped into the wall behind him and rubbed a hand down his face.

"That was rather heavy-handed, I think."

Yeah, Phillip groaned as his hand was removed from his face. Yeah, I get that.

"Well, nothing you can do about it until you meet again. So, instead, let's hit up that bakery from yesterday. I demand strawberry strudels."

Phillip let out a light stick before pulling himself back to a standing position and walked out of the alley, his mind already on the apology he would say to Kiana later.

Meanwhile, at ME Corp HQ

~Interesting thought process. Tell me, why are you cutting ties now.~

Cocolia growled at the bored tone of the man behind the phone. "I'm sorry, are you not paying attention to your deliveries? Or are you turning a blind eye from this operation now that you have what you wanted?"

~Oh, I'm paying very close attention to your goal. Haven't you already created your miniature Honkai reactor?~

Cocolia was ready to snap upon hearing this, looking into the labs beside her where several people overlooked a strange device where a purple gem hovered inside of. "Yes, we've made it, but it doesn't produce enough energy to make an outbreak, much less an eruption."

What the man said next only riled her up even more.

~I see. It seems I overestimated your analytical capabilities.~

"What do you mean by that, exactly?" The military officer in her came out, demanding her to both take charge of the situation and gather the necessary information from her "ally." "What important detail did I miss that could help me with this dilemma?"

~The boy, of course.~

Cocolia's eyes narrowed at the remainder of the recent thorn in her side. "What about him?"

~He's quite the interesting specimen. Lacking entirely in Honkai energy, yet capable of things beyond standard human capability. When I first saw him, I saw him simply a liability, but then I noticed an odd aspect of his powers.~

"Is this going to be an extended monologue, or will I be able to get to work before the end of the day?" Cocolia was already annoyed by the man's extreme incapability to get to the point.

~Patience, my friend. I was getting to it.~

"Oh, then, please," Cocolia exclaimed, exaggerating her tone in exasperation to the situation. "Continue your soliloquy, good sir."

~Such graceful manners for you, Miss Baron.~ Her tone of voice was obviously not lost to Otto, as he responded with the exact same style before chuckling wholeheartedly. ~To leave the hostilities aside, the side effect of the boy's capabilities shows that he leaves traces of a different kind of energy in his wake. This energy, something akin to a catalyst, seems to amplify Honkai energy when the two come in contact with each other.~

Cocolia pondered the information for a minute before replying. "So, what you're saying is that-"

~Yes, my dear Cocolia. With the amount of work the boy must have put in to close down all of those deliveries, the pitiful amount of Honkai energy your reactor can output will expand into an eruption equal to that of the 2nd Honkai War.~

"…Thank you for the tidbit," Cocolia said, a smirk etched into her face. "It seems it's time to get things rolling."

~It's all up to you, dear Cocolia. Just be sure to alert me when you decide to proceed.~

"Oh, you will," Cocolia murmured back as she hung up the phone. "You will." Cocolia put the phone away, pulled a radio from her belt, and brought it up to her lips. "Alright, you lot. Pack everything up and start evacuations. Tomorrow, we launch it."

*But… Ma'am, the device isn't finished. We couldn't power a single tower, much less a city.*

"I don't remember asking for back talk, lab coat. Or are you volunteering to stay here when it goes off?" An apologetic murmur echoed through her radio before the clustering of things being moved. "That's better. Remember to leave the Honkai crystals here to increase our chances."

With her final order set, she watched through the window as the scientists scrambled around to get everything in order and it the doors, leaving behind only the crystals she asked for. Cocolia let out a sigh before murmuring to herself.

"Seele, I'm coming for you."