As it turned out, Kousei had been telling those in the room about some of the friends his father had made while he was stuck in the other world. He had been talking about one of the few male colleagues Ritsuka had in there when Mash came in. "There's also Aunt Teri, or Theresa; she's the headmistress of the academy my sister and I are in. Then Gruncle Welt who Dad sees adores as a fellow toku enthusiast. He owns his own animation studio and from what I heard, borrowed some details of Dad's life for inspiration with royalties."

Though they came here to ask Kousei about his mother, they let him continue relaying tales about Ritsuka's close confidants. "Oh, there's Aunt Griseo too. She and Mom go way back. Like way way back and… technically with Dad too?" Kousei did not sound too sure of himself with that last part, drawing confusion from the others.

"What do you mean?"

"It's a complicated story," sighed the young man. "I guess you can say… they knew Dad before they actually met him." That did little to help anyone understand things. "Let's just move on. I'd rather not get into the details of that please; I won't be able to give the story the justice it deserves."

"In that case, why don't you tell us more about your mother?" Mash took the opportunity to turn the topic towards her. "You said her name was Fu Hua, correct?"

"Mhmm, one of the greatest heroes of our world… though she wouldn't tell you that. She claims her fighting is over now though she's always willing to put nearly anything aside if asked to help," Kousei explained with a smile. "Always kind, reliable, and strong… and also strict. Very strict." He let out an involuntary shudder as he recalled several memories. "She trained me and my sister as we were growing and let me tell you, she didn't become so skilled doing nothing. Being her children meant nothing during training; hell, she probably pushed us more because we're her children. We got back at her during game night though."

The more Kousei spoke of her, the more wistful Mash felt. Barring the intense training she subjected him to, Kousei clearly adored his mother and a tiny part of her felt jealous about it.

"I remember Dad once saying that he didn't know it at the time, but he fell in love with her when they first met. The first thing he thought when he saw her was "beautiful" …Why did the air suddenly feel heavy now?" Kousei shuddered yet again as the room dropped several degrees in temperature.

Before Kousei could find himself in any more trouble, Da Vinci quickly interjected to save him. "Uh… Anyway, Kousei. We were taking a closer look at your results earlier and noticed some oddities about it."

"Oh, you mean my MANTIS genes?" Kousei replied, already knowing what she was referring to. "Inherited those little things from Mom. To make a long story short, she had undergone genetic modification surgery in the past and those genes got passed down to me."

"And what benefits do they have exactly?"

"You know, the normal stuff like strength, endurance, stamina enhancement. The type of enhancement you'd expect from something called Project Soldier," he elaborated. "Though the type she got given were a bit special 'cause they… actually, it's better I show you."

The young man reached behind him and took out a strange-looking sword from nowhere and, before anyone could stop him, cut himself along the arm. Kousei let out an audible wince as the blood oozed from his wound. "Wha— what are you doing?!" Mash tried to rush to him but one of the Servants was already there.

"A deep incision like this requires severe medical attention," Nightingale stated as she inspected the cut. "I would also suggest a mental health evaluation for committing such an act so thoughtlessly."

"That's… not needed. Either of those things, just wait," Kousei chuckled nervously before gesturing to his wound. Then, to the amazement of everyone watching, it rapidly healed on its own until not even a scar remained. All that was left was blood stains and that was it. "Though Mom's regeneration is more potent than mine, I still inherited it."

Needless to say, most were left speechless by the sudden display. A couple though— "Come with me."

"Huh? Woah! Wait, where are you—?"

"The training room." A slightly sadistic grin was on Scathach's face as she dragged Kousei along. "Now that I know that, I have little worries about seeing what you can do. I do hope your mother thought you well."

"What?! Why?! Someone help me!"

"So that's the situation…" The worry in her father's voice was palpable. "And no one knows where he went?"

"No, the headmistress and I were reviewing the security footage," Hikari shook her head despite him not seeing. "He simply walked out of view and vanished without a trace."

"Hmm… could it be…?" Ritsuka muttered.

"Do you know something, dad?" She asked as she leaned against the table.

Her father replied that it was only a theory and needed more evidence before sharing it. "In the meantime, find out what you can. We will be on our way to St. Freya."

"Are you bringing those two?" Despite her best attempts to hide it, Hikari could barely contain her excitement. It's been a while since she last saw those two in person though she wished it'd be under better circumstances.

Her father's light laughter came through the speaker, making her blush slightly. "Well, I was planning on leaving them with a babysitter but since you miss them so much…"

"Ah… ahem, that would be nice," Hikari tried to recover but knew it was too late. "When can we expect you to arrive then?"

"Tomorrow. I'm sure Theresa has already sent a transport ship our way to pick us up," replied Ritsuka. "Good luck with your investigation. Hopefully, Kousei is—" "HOLD STILL YOU LITTLE SHI— BRAT!"

The sudden shout over the phone made Hikari flinch from surprise before she giggled. "Was that mom?"

"Uh, yeah… Sounds like Hanshu is being rowdy again. I swear he's worse than all of you combined." An exasperated sigh followed after. "As I was saying, I just hope Kousei is doing fine wherever he is. Take care of yourself and stay safe too, Hikari. Love you. Now I better go help Senti with bathing your little brother."

"Love you too, Dad," Hikari smiled before ending the call. "Alright… now to find you, Kousei. Wherever you are…"

A/N: And now we're all caught up with everything and I no longer have any excuse for delaying stuff. So uh... just hang on a bit longer. I'm like halfway done with chapter 18. I just need to get off my ass to finish it. See you then~