Needless to say, there was chaos in the Mizuhashi household as soon as Itsuki was brought in unconscious. Thankfully, they didn't do any running while carrying the composer because of Helen's teleportation ability. Without a doubt, it was another part of Helen that they were surprised to know. But they could do the interrogation later.

At the moment, helping Itsuki was their top priority.

"How did he end up like this?" Hideoki asked as he faced Eichirou.

The photographer sighed. "The Triske Monster targeted him, for some reason. But that's all we could tell. Helen-chan was able to help us out in saving Itsu-chan when she gave us instructions."

No words were said after that. The father and son could only watch as Misae was using her Hasureiki to heal Itsuki's wounds that he sustained in that ordeal. Erika did her best to help as she channeled some of her Hasureiki to Misae that the archer could use to heal her older brother. Of course, they knew it wasn't enough.

While it was going on, Erika was only thinking of one thing. She had to push through in talking to her brother about what was really happening to him. She knew it wasn't just him who was curious about the meaning of the words he said to Helen before he collapsed and lost consciousness.

Her other friends were curious about it, too.

The other thing that was worrying the pianist was Helen. Yes, she knew that her childhood friend was an illusionist — which was, according to both Hideoki and Nanami, an ability rarely seen to be a power that a Vessel Support could possess. But it wasn't something that could be considered impossible. So they couldn't say that it was unusual. But for the novelist to determine if someone was an illusionist…

How in the world was she able to do that? And also the amount of Hasureiki that Helen used to transfer to the ground to snap her older brother out along with her sound Hasureiki… Regardless of what other people would think, it was still a crazy amount. A lethal one for a Vessel Support, at that.

Just what kind of training did Helen undergo to be able to provide support to the Vessels to this degree?

Both ladies had finished trying to heal Itsuki, both to replenish his lost energy and heal whatever wounds he sustained in dealing with Otoguri. But it seemed that more rest was needed in order for the composer to fully recover. Itsuki who remained unconscious even after Misae had used her healing wind Hasureiki was proof of that.

"You did what you could, Misae. He'll be alright now," Hideoki assured the archer after that with a tap on her shoulder.

Misae nodded and then sighed before looking at her unconscious friend. "He really pushed through in dealing with that Triske Monster. But I wonder what sort of illusions Itsuki-kun had seen in that space."

"Normally, Otoguri would show illusions about what the victim feared the most," Akira explained as he entered Itsuki's room with a pitcher of water and glasses in tow. "He must have seen you guys getting hurt or injured or worse, dead, for one."

The other Vessels nodded, agreeing to that statement. Each of them took a glass that Akira brought and helped them with a glass of water. At the moment, it was something they needed.

"Ah! That was refreshing!" Eichirou exclaimed as soon as he downed a full glass of water. "Thanks for this, Akira."

"There is that possibility, if you ask me," Misae said in response to Akira's words. She did so after downing her own glass of water. "But there's still the question of what Itsuki actually fears the most — even if it was about Erika-chan, most of the time."

But the pianist shook her head. "I don't think that's the only thing that my brother feared so much that Otoguri would use to lure my brother."

"There's also the question of why that Triske Monster targeted Itsuki," Shuichi said, his eyes focused on the carpeted floor. "I don't think it's only because he was the only one who arrived in the area earlier than the rest of us."

The other Vessels also thought back on what happened earlier.

"Now that you mentioned it... the Triske Monster did create a barrier when we got there. It even made sure that we're not going to interfere at all when the Gargonemas appeared, as well."

Everyone in the room looked at each other, as if doing so would provide an answer to their unspoken questions about the event.

Well, everyone except Helen.

She was staring at the floor while sitting on the stool not far from where the others gathered around the injured Itsuki. At that point, they had a clue as to what could have made Helen like this.

Shuichi took a deep breath and stood up from where he was sitting. This wasn't the first time that Shuichi had seen Helen like this. In fact, there were a lot of times that the novelist would stare at the wall while tapping her fingers on her laptop. Normally, he would associate it with the fact that she needed to meet deadlines for her novels as Hanasaki Kikue.

But that wasn't the case all the time.

In this case, however, he knew fully well that the reason was something else. The one that even the other Vessels had wanted to ask to Itsuki since they heard his last words before fainting.

He crouched down on one knee before flicking the girl's forehead. With that, of course, she yelped and raised her head to face the one who did it. Helen's eyes widened upon seeing Shuichi face to face in front of her. On her level.

"Shuichi-san...?"

The biker took a deep breath first before he spoke. "You're not yourself since we got here. Are you sure you're okay? Did you exert yourself too much again when you used your Hasureiki to power up Erika's ability?"

Helen didn't know where to start. Even she was confused as to what exactly transpired in the barrier between Itsuki and the Triske Monster that made the composer say something like that before passing out.

"I could actually write what he said in a novel, to be honest. But..." Helen paused and looked around. Her heart beat faster when she saw the others looking at her with worry. "I wonder why he said those words to me. What does he mean by saying that 'I finally came to life'? It's not like I died or I existed in a fictional world or anything like that."

The other Vessels didn't know what to make of what Helen asked continuously. Even they were confused with Itsuki's words. But they were all sure of one thing.

It originated from somewhere. It could be a dream, an experience, or even from what he had heard or read over the last ten years since the tragedy. Something happened that they were not aware of.

Yes, it was crazy for Itsuki to say vague things like that. But only the young composer could answer their questions.

Once he felt like answering them, of course.

Shuichi took a deep breath and put a hand on Helen's head. It made her look up to him in confusion.

"Look, we're all confused as you are because of what Itsuki had said. But knowing that guy for ten years already, he wouldn't say things without a plausible reason. For now, only he knew that reason. What you need to do right now is to rest and take it easy. I have a feeling that we'll be needing your help when Otoguri starts attacking again," Shuichi said and smiled warmly at the novelist.

Helen could only look at Shuichi even after he said that. But she knew he was right. She was the one who knew how to deal with an illusionist, so it was natural that the Vessels would be needing her help to conquer the enemy. And if her hunch was right about the reason for Otoguri to seal off Itsuki in that empty space…

'Wait… seal off? It's obvious that only Itsuki-san was in the area at the time the attack started. But wouldn't it be faster if that Triske Monster had sealed off the Seitengers in one area as soon as they arrived together? Why was it targeting just one Seitenger at the time?'

Did that monster actually think that killing one Seitenger would prevent something from happening? But the only event that could possibly happen was —

'Great minds think alike. If the records are right, then Otoguri should be working under that particular Great Shadow Defender. He must have observed a certain pattern among the Seitengers that we didn't.'

"Helen-chan, are you okay?"

That voice startled the said girl. Once Helen managed to snap out of her reverie, she noticed that the Vessels and even the other Vessel Supports were all looking at her with worried eyes. She turned to look at Shuichi once she managed to calm her mind down from so many thoughts running.

"What's wrong?" the biker asked, his hand still on the top of her head.

She took a deep breath before speaking. "Please take care of Itsuki-san. I have to go to the records room after this."

Of course, what she said confused the others once again. But she held her ground.

"Helen-chan, I know you're dedicated to helping us get stronger. But you should also rest and take care of yourself," Eichirou said, his tone reprimanding.

Helen shook her head. "This is something I have to do, since I think I have an idea why Otoguri targeted Itsuki-san and sealed him off, preventing us from going inside and helping him immediately."

The statement created more confusion among the people in that room. But the novelist knew what she meant. It wouldn't take long before the others could catch on to that.

"Hey… you're not saying —"

Helen nodded. "It's just a possibility. But Otoguri must have been ordered to target a certain Seitenger who has the greatest possibility of achieving another feat if they let that person live. That Triske Monster's master must have wanted to make sure that it wouldn't happen at all."