It was break time for Miko. A hefty meal of 7/11 chicken and leftover mushrooms and tomatoes from that morning was just what she needed to speed on through this whole security camera business. She stayed vigilant as she let a piece of chicken dangle from her mouth to munch on as she worked. She remembered what Frankie had clued her in on before they all left for the day.

"Everything was mostly fine, but they still weren't pleased with what they saw, and Pyra needs to get social security soon or else it could lead to a lot of trouble for me."

"Balderdash…" she thought. "Nobody got hurt, big bro didn't do anything… Pyra didn't even cause any property damage… I won't stand for it… Justice will be served…" Miko chomped down particularly hard on the chicken leg in her mouth and let it fall back in to her lunch box as she reviewed both the security camera footage as well as all the notes Frankie had given her. All she needed now was Pyra. And right after work, that's what she'd go to do, she decided.

As the day was starting to wind down, one of Miko's cattier classmates came by to look over at her work. As they were still all technically in law school, none of them were permitted to take on cases yet, with the exception of Miko. The extra curricular work she took part in as the leader of the disciplinary council in both her middle and high schools, as well as her impeccable work ethic and dedication to her studies, meant that her mentoring lawyer had given her special credence to take on smaller court cases without supervision.

Once she'd heard that Pyra's sudden appearance and the investigation behind it had warranted such a court case, she thanked her mentor for this allowance since it meant she could help her surrogate older brother's new companion where it's doubtful anyone else would, given her lack of connections, funds, and citizenship.

That being said, this special treatment did nothing to assist her life at university, as while it drew a lot of respect and admiration from those outside her field, it just brewed jealousy and disdain from those within it. Case in point, the woman who worked right next to her in most classes.

"Hm? I thought you were reviewing the legal documents today? Don't tell me you're slacking, Iino-"

The tiny brunette cut her off by sticking one of the cleaned off drumsticks toward her face without breaking her gaze in the slightest.

"Got all of that done before the lunch break, try and keep up, would you?"

"Ugh, well the least you could do is pick up after yourself, slob."

Miko slammed her hands down on the table before standing and picking up her trash.

"I was just about to, as a matter of fact." She lightly whipped her hair as she walked over to the garbage and composting to place the oily box and chicken bones respectively. As she did so, her brain was wracking with how to manage her time on Pyra's case.

"Hopefully I can get through the rest of the materials I need when I get home, may have to pull another all-nighter though…"

Her catty classmate chimed in -without permission- again. "It's getting pretty late, don't tell me a little girl like you's gonna have to walk home all by herself?"

She leaned over Miko a bit to emphasize her height over her as she said that, to which Miko flinched a bit, but continued mostly unfazed.

"Actually, my boyfriend is coming to pick me up-" She happily skipped by to collect her things in her bag.

"Is that so?"

"Yep! In fact, I bet he's waiting outside right now ready to catch me in his arms as he takes me to his nice car where there's a box full of donuts and more fried chicken and a reservation for a nice restaurant with a great buffet-"

She rattled that off, no longer trying to convince the girl but more just daydreaming, which caused said classmate to squint.

"Uh…Iino…might wanna get your head back down to earth, hun."

"Hm?"

"There's no way that scruffy, lazy dunce would go that far out of his way for you. And all that food? Seriously? You'll get fatter than you're already get-"

She was cut off again by an extremely piercing death glare by the shorter woman, a technique she picked up on from an old upperclasswoman of hers.

"What…did you…call him?"

"I-I…well-"

Before the altercation could continue, Miko's phone rang. She quickly and aggressively picked it up, before her expression softened into an immensely cheerful glee as she saw the name of the person on the other end.

"Hi Kaito! Work done for you too?" She spoke with an almost child-like excitement.

Miko simply nodded with various "Yeahs" and "Uh huhs" as she conversed, while her classmate watched on in bewilderment and partial fear at how snappily Miko switched moods.

"Waiting right outside? Alright, Kokonut!"

She hung up before she hurriedly packed the rest of her belongings and rushed for the door, her coworker following in curious pursuit.

Much to her shock, the man Miko was waiting for was in fact, already parked outside their building, his silver car shining nicely in the evening LA sky.

"Kokonut!" Miko ran over to him and jumped in his arms, to which Kaito responded by holding her tightly and swinging her around once.

"Awww, hey Koko Puff. Rough day?" He put her down but kept his arms on her.

"Yeah, but I made a lot of progress on the case!"

"Heh, you're always such a hard worker Miko, thank you." He lightly squished her cheeks and gave her a tender kiss on the forehead, which made her face red and led her to hugging him tightly again.

The woman watched on from inside in shock at how lovey dovey the couple was.

"And as a reward, I got your favorite fried chicken-"

Miko's eyes widened.

"-a box of fresh donuts-"

They widened again.

"-aaand a reservation at that nice Indian place that opened recently, I know you've had your eye on it for a bit!"

Miko could hardly contain how overjoyed she was and just jumped on Kaito yet again, and this time he simply laughed and carried her in his arms to the car.

"H…huh…" Miko's classmate sighed in utter defeat.

After the two had entered the car and left the parking lot, Miko waited for them to hit a red light, scarfing down two whole donuts in some rage, before she lightly tugged on Kaito's arm as they stopped.

He looked over at her, only to see her clenching his arm tightly and tightening her face, likely to hold back tears.

"...really rough day, huh?"

She swallowed. "I…don't know why she has to do that…say all those things about me…about you…"

"Oh Koko Puff, it's gonna be alright." It was a pretty hefty traffic jam so he reached his arm out to brush her face.

"You're doing your best and helping people in need. No amount of dumb, petty insults can take away from that. You're an amazing person for what you do."

Miko's face softened with a warm smile as she held his hand at her cheek. He knew she felt so comforted by that motion and would always do it when she was feeling stressed or upset.

"Heh…you dork. You're helping out a lot too."

"Well then we're helping together, aren't we?"

She chuckled.

"Yeah…"

Earlier in the evening, at Frankie's own work, he was busy editing a few formatting mistakes on a spreadsheet he had thought he finished only to find the text off center and the wrong formulas applied to a price tag or something of the sort. The air was still awkward around his work, just the other day, they got together to celebrate his birthday… now they were looking at him like he committed a serious felony… well, he did have one supporter…

"Hey, Frankie, don't worry about those clowns, they're just jealous. Every last one of them. Matter of fact, I'm pretty dang jealous… hahah… not every day you get to make your own girlfriend or something like that…" His tall, black haired co-worker chuckled in his deep and tired sounding voice.

"Sure…" Frankie responded back. The other young man left, that kind of response was just par for the course for young Frankie. He really hoped Miko knew what she was doing… get all this work over with, hang out with Pyra some more.

Yeah… Pyra. Just the thought of her made him perk up ever so slightly. The week was almost over. Maybe Friday he and Pyra could team up to make some delectable hors d'oeuvres… then he can bust out his ol' dad's cookie making recipe and the technique to get perfectly baked perfectly dunkable chocolate chip cookies every single time. Sure, they were a winter staple for him, but Pyra was special, and maybe he could show off to her for a bit, that twinkle in her eyes whenever he pushed himself a little bit harder always made him jovial on the inside.

"Wonder what she'll think of Kovu…?" He thought to himself, already thinking about evening storytime at the library, all his theories and headcanons swirling in his mind, he just couldn't wait to share them all with her.

With a lightened mood, Frankie got back to work and just kept her on his mind, keeping him emotionally occupied throughout the whole day. That also gave him the perfect opportunity to refocus himself during that lunch break; for in his lunch bag, he had a set of flash cards at the ready, overlooking them carefully as he looked up towards the sky and began reciting them from memory the best he could.

"Our facility isn't only one building, of course, there's the business location itself where I work, and then a second building further off where all the sensitive data is stored…"

—————————————————————————

"He thought how he had been persecuted and despised; and now he heard them saying that he was the most beautiful of all birds. Even the elder-tree bent its branches straight down into the water before him, and the sun shone warm and mild. Then his wings rustled, he lifted his slender neck, and cried rejoicingly from the depths of his heart: "I never dreamed of so much happiness when I was the Ugly Duckling!"" Pyra just finished afternoon storytime and the children surrounding her all looked on with wide eyes and open mouths before cheering quietly as she finished the story.

"'Ank you, Pyra! Did you like the story I brought?" Little Sally asked, rocking back and forth on her seat, hands on her toes in excitement.

"Oh, sweetie, of course I did, you have a great taste in literature!" She replied, petting the little girl on the head as the parents of the kids came to collect them, though Sally's mother was still in the restroom, so she had to wait by Pyra for a little bit longer.

"Did you ever get bedtime stories when you were little, Pyra?" Sally asked innocently.

The blade paused and shifted her eyes around awkwardly… she couldn't remember a time when she was 'little'. As far as she knew, she came into the world looking just as she did, and there certainly wasn't any time for bedtime stories around her time. She looked back at the small girl, looking up at her hopefully, anticipating a response. How was she to answer this? She didn't want to leave her with a sad thought in her mind, but then she also didn't want to lie to her and give her even more reason to fall back into her mood she had this morning.

"I…I can't remember… when you've been alive as long as I have you just… kind of forget things… I'm sorry, dear." She responded. 'Alive'. What a concept, she thought.

"Oh… that's okay…" Sally shuffled uneasily on the ground before picking herself up again with her firsts clenched in confidence, "Well then, when I get bigger and learn how to read, I'll read you a bedtime story myself!" Her optimistic enthusiasm brought out a little smile from Pyra, who tousled the young girl's hair affectionately.

"I'd love to hear when you get a chance…" She said sweetly.

"Pyra, I love you!" She suddenly hollered, which made the older lady stand up in surprise.

"You… you do…?" She asked, a quiver in her voice.

"Mm hmm! Mommy says that no matter where you are, if you find people who care about you, that's true love!" Sally responded. This conversation was making Pyra extremely uncomfortable, today was supposed to be nice and relaxing, a total shift from the chaos that was last night and earlier this morning, but she was just being reminded of… what happened so long ago, but what finally sealed the deal for her was what Sally said next.

"You're like my Auntie Pyra, Pyra!"

Pyra flinched as she stood completely erect now… those words, 'Auntie Pyra' being put into perspective like this was just… coated in painful memories. She had her attention drawn to all the kids leaving, and that's when she realized… nothing had changed. These children were a lot better behaved than the ones she used to deal with, but at the end of the day, she was effectively playing babysitter for 3 hours of the day with only herself for help. No matter how much she loved either sets of kids, the similarities between both situations never let her forget what she was going through all that time ago… and virtually, none of it was good.

"Okay, Sally, come on, let's get those numbers taken care of, daddy's really gonna wanna see how much you've learned." Sally's mother called as she neared her child.

"Okay! Bye Auntie, Pyra!" Sally shouted as she happily bounded out of the library with her mother close behind. Pyra's frightened scare was hardly interrupted, and she didn't even respond back. Her normally bright and shining scarlet eyes were now a deep and unsteady maroon. Too many memories came flooding back, and not just of the children she used to take care of… what came before that, and the events that transpired… she suddenly remembered Morág's words to her.

"Your heartbreak when you discover the truth… I pity you… I really do… and I'll be happy to help pick up the pieces, but let me ask you a thing or two… what have you always wanted to do with your life? And for that matter, how much does he really understand you as a whole, after all the things you went through, for yourself or… otherwise?"

And her answer remained the same as before… she didn't know.

"Pyra! There's some tampered books that need to be analyzed in the back, get to it!" Her supervisor called to her, hardly snapping her out of her daze.

"Y-y-yes, ma'am…" She replied with a stutter as she made her way to the back of the room, slowly, recounting so many unfortunate twists and turns in her life.

"Today, Pyra!" The supervisor called again. Pyra quickened her pace on instinct and hoped that a place without any kids to deal with would hopefully take her mind off things.

Big mistake.

She was the only one in the back at all, looking for tears or foreign markings on the pages of the books she was given, but she couldn't focus in the least. So many voices with so much regret, a feeling of guilt, a feeling of disgust, confusion, and worry all crept her way towards the inner parts of her brain. That's when she heard it.

"Pyra… it's gonna be okay… I'm right here… and I'm not going anywhere…"

Frankie's voice, either calling to her or remembering his words vividly from morning or in her recollection of the past.

"Frankie…" she sadly sighed, letting a few tears fall onto the pages of the children's book she was currently scanning for blemishes. Her feelings towards him were escalating more and more each day despite how soon they had met, but… that was just it, her life up until now was so blended together that these few days with someone who knew more or less what he was doing felt incredible… too incredible even, like it wasn't even real or that someone was just playing a sick joke as punishment… she didn't know what to think anymore. All over the words of a small child too… she always knew she was pathetic.

—————————————————————————

7:00. Frankie sighed heavily. He wasn't going to be able to make storytime today. And Pyra had sounded like she really wanted him to be there too. If he drove 100 constantly on the freeway he might be able to cheese it, but he didn't need another strike on his record, nor to give Pyra any more reason to worry, not after the progress they made today. Accepting his fate, he closed out of his work station and clocked out dutifully, glancing upward at the security cameras yet again. This time it was pointed right at him instead of swerving side to side as usual. It was an awkward situation to say the least.

'Miko… for the love of Christ… please tell me you know what you're doing…' He thought to himself as he left work, somewhat satisfied as Pyra would be right there waiting for him.

As he pulled into the parking lot of the library, Frankie saw her already standing outside, waiting for him. His joyful, if a bit tired, smile turned into a grimace of concern when he got a good look at her face and body language. She had a clear frown on her face and she was just sheepishly rubbing her arm, looking down the whole time. He was already thinking it was because he missed storytime but… she was right there, he'd find out soon enough. He parked the car and immediately came up to her.

"Pyra…?" He asked. Pyra glanced upward to see her driver standing a bit forlorn before her, immediately, she looked back down again and just sighed heavily, worrying Frankie even more.

"Hey…" She answered back. "You missed storytime, you know…"

"I know, Pyra, I'm sorry… things just got… swamped at work, I really wanted to come, I just…" Frankie was cut off by her as she walked over to the car, leaving him behind a little bit.

"It's okay… really it is…" Her monotonous form of speech didn't help matters in the least, all Frankie could think about what went wrong, if work was just hard, or that reading that story with him in the audience really meant just that much to her. He was scared of pressing forward but proceeded to follow his blade to the car anyway, where an awkward conversation proceeded to follow suit.

"I… take it work wasn't very friendly today…?" He asked.

"You could say that." Pyra responded, not even facing his direction and continuing to look out the window in her similar forlorn state. He hadn't gotten a chance to see her like this before. She wasn't upset or angry or sad or scared, she was just… distant…

'Guess there's always room for surprises in one week…' he thought as he drove off. No other choice but to be blunt about it.

"Pyra, you're scaring me… what's wrong…?"

"Sorry." Was all she said, further worrying her driver.

"Pyra, please, tell me what's wrong, I don't like seeing you like this…" Pyra sighed and obliged after thinking over a bit too hastily what exactly she wanted to say to him.

"Frankie, I appreciate your concern, I really do, but… this isn't a conversation I want to have right now… I'm tired and don't think this warrants any kind of discussion, okay?" Frankie looked at her sadly before turning to face the road again with a heavy sigh. There was an uncomfortable silence between the two of them, one that Frankie wasn't sure to break, so he just kept driving when all of a sudden…

"Grgllllllll…" Pyra blushed a bright pink as she held on to her stomach in embarrassment, causing Frankie to break out in a sympathetic smile and chuckle.

"You didn't get to eat lunch today or something, Pyra?" He asked.

"Well, it just kind of… slipped my mind…" she admitted sheepishly, still clutching her stomach, eyes darting either way in embarrassment.

"Hm… I could eat a little something too… how about I hook us up something quick, easy, and delicious? And I'll do you one even better; something that comes directly from my culture!" Now Pyra was interested, she didn't fully face him like how she did when explaining herself just then, but she did turn her head ever so slightly to listen in better.

"Your… culture…?" She asked. Now it was time for Frankie to put on just a touch of flare.

"Ah, sì…" He boasted briefly, "I am a proud Latino Americano! You call me Francois in the kitchen, but Mi madre, Ah, it was Francisco out in the garden! Cuz that's what Mexicans do, we do gardens…" Pyra stifled in a chuckle, she wasn't quite in the mood to feel better but… darn it if this strange language her driver was spewing didn't challenge that feeling. "I tried to get Kaito and Miko to form a band of three gay caballeros, but uh… there were problems with copyright, the fact that none of us are exactly the most musically inclined, though if you ask me, Miko's a darn good singer; oh yeah, and Miko isn't a caballero. That means 'man' in Spanish by the way."

"Spanish… so that's what you've peppering in to your speech… I can't say I've ever heard of that language…"

Frankie chuckled. Pyra was far far more old fashioned than he had originally thought, but he was more than welcoming of it with how genuinely excitable she became over it, even if it wasn't the most at the moment.

"So! As such, I'll hook us up a little bit of frozen carnita, throw it in a quesadilla, right on the placa, maybe break out the papitas and salsa, and there's dinner!"

"Oh of course! …what are all those things?"

"You'll find out soon enough, Candela."

'Candela'? That was a new one. Immediately assuming it to be a nickname, it made her a bit flustered that Frankie was so comfortable around her to just… go off like this, though even she could tell that this 'Spanish' wasn't his first language, it at least made things just a little more bearable after how disastrous this day has been.

—————————————————————————

With the work day behind them, and the duo of blade and driver finally home, Frankie at first made sure Pyra was comfortable before heading off into the kitchen to start dinner. He fluffed the couch pillow a bit for her to rest her head on and let her seat herself as he excused himself to get to cooking. Pyra wasn't quite ready to start much of anything without him in the room, but she was looking forward to dinner nevertheless, she just needed a quiet moment to herself to relax…

But when she shut her eyes to do so, all she could see were the awful nightmares of the distant past, the deaths of so many loved ones in the nearer past, and with that came that same feeling of aloneness she felt so long ago, and she wasn't even asleep. These feelings ate at her heart the more she thought about them and she couldn't keep them away, Frankie was just in the other room but she knew he just wouldn't be able to understand any of this, much less want to help after seeing her earlier that morning, all she could do was curl up and cry silently as horrible memories flooded her brain, caused her to overthink and just… be confused about everything that led her to being here right now… it was almost too much to bear.

"Still having a hard time keeping up, huh, Pyra?" A voice, completely unlike Frankie's suddenly called out to her.

The door opened, catching Frankie's attention.

It was Kaito, dragging a very tired Miko along into the house, carrying both of their bags.

As he closed the door behind him with his foot, he walked slowly by Frankie in an attempt to go unnoticed. This failed immediately as Frankie acknowledged them as they walked by, noticing this attempt.

"So, I take it the dinner date went well?"

"I…guess you could say so." Kaito responded and slowly turned his head to face his brother.

Frankie took the rare instance of him looking up and away from his cooking to take a glance at his brother's face, causing a raised eyebrow when he saw it was covered in about 3 or 4 kiss marks.

"All of that teasing, and you two are even more of a lovestruck mess than I could ever be, ay chistoso…" He teased.

"Aw, shut it you." Kaito chuckled at his brother as he slowly dragged his half-asleep girlfriend to the couch, where she promptly tried to kiss him again before flopping onto it.

"Hehe…Kokonut…"

Kaito couldn't help but smile at her delirious yet happy self.

"Work was hard on her today, so she's pretty drained."

"I understand, she's been doing enough for us already." Frankie smiled at his little sister as well.

"That said…hey Miko! I'm almost done with dinner! Still got room?"

Like a light switch, Miko's eyes shot open and she practically jumped upwards.

"You betcha!"

A slightly younger Kaito and Frankie would have been flabbergasted that this girl was still raring for another meal after how much she'd already eaten, but they'd known her long enough for this to be just accepted reality.

"Oof, I'll have to pass myself, big bro. Sorry. I don't exactly have Miko's stamina."

"Heh, not a problem little bro. I just need you two to go wake up Pyra for me." Frankie started setting the table.

"Yes sir!"

"Yes sir…"

They both saluted (Miko doing so with much more gusto and energy) as they made thier way to the room Pyra was sleeping in.

As the door was closed, they opted to knock before entry.

"Pyra?" Miko called as she tapped the door with her knuckle.

No response.

Miko and Kaito exchanged a look.

"Uh…Pyra?" Kaito called this time. He'd heard from Frankie before that she hadn't eaten lunch today, so they'd expected her to be jumping for a meal, especially with how late it currently was.

"I…guess we should…" Miko gestured to the doorknob.

"Y-yeah…"

Kaito opened the door slowly as he and Miko entered the room.

To their shock and amazement, Pyra was nowhere to be seen… the room, however, was far from empty. Sitting right on the edge of the bed was an equally tall, but noticeably more slender woman, whose outfit was donned in whites and golds as opposed to Pyra's previous reds and blacks; a thick, luxurious mane of silky golden hair reaching all the way to just above her backside, with sharp, demanding eyes to match. The couple backed away slowly, instinctively closing the door behind them as the woman glanced their way with a very displeased look on her face.

"Not who you're looking for? Don't worry, I'm used to it, thanks for reminding me." She said dryly.

"You… you're not Pyra…" Kaito whimpered.

"A keen observation, what do you want from me?" Now standing up, the woman made her way over to the confused couple.

"What… what did you do with her…?" Miko asked with a quiver in her voice.

"She needed some time alone, so… here I am." The woman's monotone attitude didn't waver one bit, they couldn't tell if she was friend or foe, but her completely different personality from Pyra was far too intimidating for words, and her vague, blunt way of speech wasn't helping matters.

"No… for real… WHAT. Did you DO. With her?" Miko asked, her tone harshening, and her eyes sharpening in an equally intimidating fashion.

"M-Miko come on now… there's no need to-" Kaito was desperately trying to stop his girlfriend from making a grave mistake, but she trudged forward with no regrets.

"There absolutely IS a need to, Kokonut… this lady knows where Pyra is, and I'm not leaving until I get an answer…" Miko still trudged forward, waiting for the larger lady to make some sort of mood, but she remained as stoic as ever, barely impressed that this little girl was trying to stand up to her at all. On the inside, however, there was something eating her, and trying to make a point by 'defending' herself was too risky a move to make. Instead, she glanced upwards to Kaito, who was still clearly trying to figure out what in the world was going on.

"You're Kaito, right?" She asked.

"Y-yeah…" Kaito sheepishly asked.

"How do you know that, what's it to you…?" Miko asked with a steely focus on her person.

"If you didn't immediately pounce on me for just existing, maybe I'd clue you in on a thing or two." The woman replied, still undeterred.

"Okay then. Clue us in." Miko stood her ground and waited for an explanation.

"I did say, 'maybe', after all."

"You-what???" Miko stared up in complete disbelief at this woman. She held such an aura of power and impose, but she was acting so childish, and as a result, hard to get a read on.

"You're not my driver, why do I owe you an explanation?" She asked.

"That's besides the point! We're looking for our friend! Why don't you stop acting like such a big baby and tell us already?!" And now the taller woman reacted in an appropriate manner and not just as an aloof trespasser.

"You're one to talk! How old are you, 12?!" She asked with an intense blush on her face.

"I'm twenty, you simpleton! And at least I aged gracefully! Compared to you, you must use a loooot of face lifter cuz I know a dumpy old geezer when I see one!"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"

Both girls went back and forth with each other for minutes on end, exchanging insults and snide comments at each other like nobody's business, no punches flew, just verbal lashings. Poor Kaito was witness to it all and he didn't know how to stop them, Frankie would be worried by now… and then that's when he saw a very familiar looking emblem placed on the taller woman's chest.

"Your core crystal… it's just like Pyra's." He pointed out, immediately getting the two ladies to stop their bickering, and drawing Miko's attention to the same thing.

"Y-yeah… it is…" she intoned as the taller lady covered it up in a fluster.

"W-w-what are you looking down there for! Perverts!" Her blush deepend even more as she chastised the two younger people.

"It was just an observation Miss… er…" Kaito struggled to put a name to this individual, but judging by her body language, she wasn't going to give one so easily.

"I say we take her to Frankie, as Pyra's driver, he might be able to get some answers out of her." Miko strictly suggested.

"N-n-no! Nonononono! You are NOT doing that! No way! Not on your life!" Her blush deepened even further as she backed away from the couple, but Miko wasn't having any of it.

"Well unless you're planning to starve or melt in here, you're gonna have to come outside eventually, so it's better late than never, Goldilocks." Miko forced her to move forward by giving her a firm push from behind. The taller woman was so shocked that she couldn't even make an attempt to fight back.

"We aren't trying to hurt you, you know… we just want to help." Kaito explained.

"Th-th-this is your idea of helping?! What in the world is wrong with you two?! If it were up to me, you'd be smushed down into the ground like a couple of sad little potatoes and I'd be much happier with my position and none of us would have to deal with this crap in the first place at all, and further more-"

"She's not stopping any time soon… help me out, Kokonut…" Miko intoned as Kaito hurried behind her to push the ranting woman out of the room and back into the kitchen where Frankie was waiting… hoping he wouldn't be too surprised would be a foolish decision.

Frankie checked the inside of one of the quesadillas to make sure the cheese was melted all the way through… a combination of mozzarella and American sounded just too good to pass up, and as he did so, took a spoonful of the carnitas he was reheating in another pan to taste… he almost put more salt but remembered that the cheese itself would help a lot with that. Satisfied with his work, he helped a few onto an awaiting plate and was about to carry it over to the table when the air fryer went off. He excitedly made his way on over to it to see his French fries were done to perfection. He immediately drizzled them all with a bit of salt and took a bit for taste. Crispy, savory, and fluffy all at once. Dinner was served. He scooped up all the potatoes onto another empty plate and laid them all in the middle of the table next to the cilantro dressing and large pitcher of ice cold tea for drink.

"You guys! Dinner's ready!" Frankie called, but no one answered, not even Pyra. He worried for a bit before calling out again in a more hushed and careful manner. Still nothing… but as he waited in confusion, he did hear a faint… something, a droning rant of some kind. It SOUNDED like Pyra, but there was something off about it, much too far off. And that's when he got his first glimpse of her as she exited the darkness of the living room to the light of the kitchen, where she had stopped being pushed around by Kaito and Miko and was now just walking absentmindedly as she continued blowing up at them.

"AND FURTHERMORE, I'VE NEVER BEEN SO HUMILIATED IN ALL MY-" She turned around in a huff and stopped suddenly when she realized she was face to face with Frankie. Their noses were touching, and both blushing profusely, they took a quick but noticeable look at each other before backing away slowly and awkwardly.

"P-pyra…?" Frankie asked.

"I-I'm not Pyra, you dumbass… at… at least not totally…" The blonde haired lady looked away sheepishly as Miko and Kaito stared on quizzically. The room was dead silent as Frankie took a good long look at her.

"Guys… could you leave the room for a second…?" Frankie asked. Kaito and Miko didn't respond back verbally, and instead just backed away into the living room. Now Frankie and this strange lady were alone. It was like total deja vu, but the roles were very much switched. Now Frankie was the curious one and this new girl was the flustered one.

"If you come any closer, I can and will beat the crap out of you, you got that…?" The woman warned, still blushing.

"I won't… but…" Frankie began.

"But…?" The woman repeated. Frankie simply pointed to her core crystal, causing her to cover up once again. "My god you're even worse than they were…"

"No… I just… that's Pyra's core crystal. Why do you have it…?" He asked.

"Th-th-that's not important! J-just go away and leave me alone! I-I don't need your help a-and I don't want your help!" She protested as Frankie sighed sadly. That wasn't the reaction she expected to get… and it wasn't nice to see. She repositioned herself a small bit and stood silently before taking a deep breath and letting it all go. "Come… come closer…" She requested.

"What…?"

"J-just… shut up and do what I tell you. Come closer and… and touch my core crystal… don't even think of going any lower than that though, tubby…"

Her fierce gaze delivered a strict warning to the young man who approached her as carefully and curiously as possible. She could feel her heartbeat quickening as he drew nearer, but she tried her best to maintain composure as Frankie placed his fingers right in the middle of the crystal. The once agitated woman calmed down slowly as her quick breathing came to a normal pace as her stern face loosened up ever so slightly. Frankie heard and felt the presence of so many different people he couldn't recognize all at once that it mostly clouded his judgment. Though one thing was plainly obvious, Pyra was upset and needed a break, and that's why she was nowhere to be found.

In her place, however, this woman. Who, upon closer inspection, did bear a striking resemblance to her, even if not totally obvious at first. What gave it away were the eyes. Just as large and round and expressive as before, if a bit more upturned, contrasting Pyra's perpetual neutral expression of childlike curiosity, and in its place, the bright yellow of sagely concern. When it was all over, Frankie let go and allowed things to return to normal. Both he and the woman were breathing abnormally in concern, just… staring at each other, not sure what to make of the other. With an awkward wringing of her hands, an action that further cemented her connection to Pyra, the woman was the first to break the silence.

"I'm… I'm Mythra…" She spoke shyly. Frankie smiled warmly as he approached her closely again.

"I know… it's good to finally meet you…" he said as this Mythra person glanced up at him nervously. His welcoming smile did wonders to her emotions, it really was no wonder that Pyra chose him to be her driver; but it was all so annoying at the same time. She didn't need any more of this, not ever again… but he did seem quite pleasant, all things considered.

"Don't worry, Mythra, I'll make sure you're as comfortable here as Pyra was… seeing as how you're both parts of each other, I'm not about to just let the other go without understanding both of them, that's… that's my duty as your driver… isn't it?" Frankie asked. Mythra turned away, still flustered in response.

"You… you're not totally wrong…" She admitted, too proud and nervous to say that he hit the nail on the head and she appreciated every word he said.

"Well then… it's a pleasure to meet you, once again, don't be afraid to make yourself at home…" Frankie added, his smile widening. Mythra just stared on nervously, unsure of what to make of this whole ordeal, but one thing was for sure… she couldn't screw this one up, not again.

"Just… just try not to get too attached, alright? I know you aren't much of a fighter and that's already a sully to our bond and… and the last thing I need is…" 'being hurt even more than before' was what she wanted to say, but what came out instead was, "…to be wasting my time with a lame driver like you."

"…Oh… okay…" Frankie's optimism faded away as he looked down guiltily, to Mythra's dismay. Not even five minutes and she had already screwed everything up. How was she gonna get her way out of this one?

"H-hey… Pyra tells me you're a good cook at least… wanna show me what you can do…?" She asked.

Frankie looked up at her again, still unsure what to make of her, but at the end of the day… she was connected to Pyra, and the last thing he needed was a portion of her to be so upset with him. He couldn't quite shake off her comment about him though, so he just silently gestured over to the dinner he had prepared for him and Pyra.

"Oh… that doesn't look half bad, actually…" She admitted as she grabbed a seat and took one of the quesadillas for herself, biting into it and immediately being taken away by the juiciness of the pork shreddings combined with the rich tangy and salty flavors of cheese all wrapped up in a crispy, warm and flavorful homemade tortilla. It was nothing like she had ever experienced in her entire life.

"Is it good…?" Frankie asked timidly.

"It's… it's nice… really nice…" Mythra responded, getting a small smile out of Frankie as he joined her to eat, both in silence as they would either grab another one or some fries or to refill their glasses with tea. It was a nice moment for the both of them in and of itself, despite how bizarre everything was not too long ago.

Unknown to both of them, Miko and Kaito had been peeking in on the whole thing in stunned silence, just glancing each other's way as they tried to figure out exactly how in the world any of that happened. A few wild and confused gestures from the both of them as they tried to reenact what any of that was caught the attention of Frankie.

"Miko? You said you were hungry?" He asked.

"O-oh… yeah… sure… I'll be right there…" Miko responded as she walked on over to the table, grabbing a quesadilla for herself and enjoying this… strangely zen moment between the three of them. No yelling, no lovey dovey flirting, or in their case, ignorant bliss, just… quiet. Calm and peaceful quiet. Kaito looked over the scene by himself as he moved positions to get a look at Mythra, who was smiling sweetly as she ate her food. It was hard to tell who she really was at all… but she did seem like her heart was in the right place at the very least.

"Mythra… If you do anything to hurt my big brother, I promise you, the power of the aegis won't be enough to help you…" He silently told himself as he continued to watch the scene in wonder.