"Here, this should be far enough from prying ears." Artorian would say, opening a door for the nurse.

Stepping out, Miharu took note of how they were at the top of the tower on Little Garden, an unofficial crow's nest for the vessel. There were safety railings in place, but it was clearly not meant to have visitors up to see. Especially with Artorian requiring his Selections identification to get past the security checks.

"So high…" The nurse would mutter, stepping up to the rails as she looked out to the endless ocean.

"Afraid of heights?" Artorian asked, placing his sword against the door before walking next to her.

"No, I've just never been so high without being in a plane before." She said, closing her eyes to feel the breeze. "It's so freeing, seeing so far and feeling the wind like this."

"Guess keeping yourself holed up in a hospital would make someone feel like that." He'd say, taking a second to look down before shifting his gaze up immediately. "I'm not a huge fan myself, falling's a little too common for someone like me when there's a long drop like this."

"Aw, well don't worry Artorian. I'll hold your hand if it makes you feel better."

"Very funny." The two would laugh, relaxing as they leaned against the railing.

After a minute of looking out, Artorian would clos his eyes and sigh, steeling himself for what would come next. "So then, you wanted to know why I'm always looking after Karen?"

"You don't need to answer if you don't want to." Miharu responded, looking to the hybrid in concern. "It's clearly personal to you, you shouldn't force yourself to tell me if you'd rather keep it to yourself."

"No, it's only fair after you told me so much about yourself." He'd say, turning to rest his waist against the railing as he looked up. "Now where to begin? I guess going from the beginning would be the best, no point trying to dodge that short story. So yeah, we'll start roughly sixteen years ago."

"Daddy, where are we?" A young Artorian would ask, rubbing his eye tiredly as he was sitting on Artorias' shoulders.

"We're at the hospital Artorian, something special had happened." Artorias responded, looking over his shoulder to his son. "Hayato's mom and dad had another kid, apparently a little girl."

"Hayato's a… brother?" The boy would ask, sounding awkward on the word rather than the implication on it.

"Yes, he's a brother now. You've been paying attention to our classes."

"Then why are we… here?"

"Because Mr. and Mrs. Kisaragi are close friends, and as close friends we need to show our support and meet their new kid." The Lord answered, occasionally bending down to avoid Artorian hitting his head on a light. "Besides, don't you want to meet her?"

"I'm tired, couldn't we just do it tomorrow?" Artorian yawned; barely keeping his eyes open with how late it was.

"We could, but there's no point in pushing something back when you can do it today." Artorias countered. "It would be rude for us to simply wait for tomorrow when they invited us today."

"But it's soooo late."

"Oh I see, when we're home you want to stay up all night. But when we're somewhere else you'd rather go to bed."

"Daaaaddy!"

"Hehe, I'm just pulling your leg. Besides, we're already here." Artorias would say, opening the door to Hamaki's hospital room. Upon opening it, Artorian's eyes would squint, trying to see everyone who was in there. He saw Hayato first, the one-year-old sleeping soundly in the chair next to his dad who remained wide-awake.

"Artorias, you made it." Hamaki would say, looking up from her arms to see the Lord enter.

"I came as quick as the cub here would let me." Artorias said, grabbing Artorian and helping bring him down to the floor. "I would've wanted to come sooner, but I was in the middle of an inspection with Charlotte."

"Of course, we understand." Matsuda responded, smiling at the Lord while the hybrid rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Hey there Artorian, you still with us big guy?"

"I'm here…" He half whined as he yawned, looking up to Matsuda. "Daddy woke me up, and he wouldn't let me sleep on the drive here."

"Well, that's just rude of him." Hamaki giggled, looking to the Lord. "You have no shame Artorias, waking your little cub so late into the night."

"Couldn't have him miss this, he'd hold it over me if he did." Artorias would then gently hold onto Artorian's hand and help guide him to Hamaki's bed, grabbing another chair for his kid to sit up on. He then looked to Hamaki, seeing the newborn baby cradled gently in her arms. "So what's her name?"

"Karen." Matsuda answered, looking over to his newborn daughter.

"A beautiful name for such a sweet girl. Don't you think so Artorian?" The Lord would ask his son, looking down to the boy as he took a look at the girl.

"She looks… squishy." The boy stated, saying what first came to mind in regards to Karen's appearance.

"And she is, she wasn't born that long ago." Hamaki would giggle, seeing the boy take a closer look. "Many girls are squishy when they are born, and they can be like that for some time."

"Isn't that a bad thing?" Artorian asked, looking to the woman. "If she's squishy, can't she be hurt bad?"

"That just means you'll have to protect her." Matsuda responded, shifting over a bit so that Artorian could get closer. "She has Hayato, but you're the oldest of you three. Which means it's up to you to be the brave one and keep them safe."

"Keep them safe…" Artorian muttered as he looked closely at Karen, appearing confused at the girl's face and bringing a finger up to poke her cheek. "But she's just so… so squishy."

At his poke, Karen's eyelids twitched, almost opening as she slowly woke up. The three adults flinched in panic as the girl would begin to sob, on the verge of crying from being woken up.

However as she opened her eyes Artorian would be staring back, icy blue meeting bright violet. And where Artorian stared in curiosity and confusion, Karen stared back in fascination.

The little girl would then reach her small hand out, wrapping it around the finger he used to poke her with and began to giggle. The hybrid's eyes widened in captivation, the sound of the baby's gentle voice and bright smile enthralling his attention. He remained almost perfectly still as the Karen continued to giggle and smile, a solemn vow going through Artorian's head as he looked to her.

'I... I want to hear that laugh more.' He'd think, making a promise to himself while the adults in the room smiled at the scene.

"Hold still Artorian." Artorias would say, putting a bandage patch onto his son's cheek.

"Ow!" The boy would wince in pain, the bruise on his cheek sensitive from when he got it. It had been four years since Karen was born, the hybrid now at the age of six with his features appearing more defined, the most notable his eyes as the once ice blue turned several shades darker.

"I know it hurts, but that's what happens when you pick fights like that." Artorias scolded as he finished patching the bruise up. "You're only six, but you should know better than to try and fight three other kids at once."

"But they were picking on Karen." Artorian argued, looking down as he did.

"Then why didn't you get Hayato? If there was two of you, the bullies would have left without causing any trouble."

"Because they wouldn't leave her alone. It's like that thing you tell me, No-boss Ogorge. I couldn't just wait when I was able to help."

"Noblesse Oblige, but your heart's in the right place." Artorias chuckled, poking his son's chest. "And that means you have to be willing to help everyone, having power means you must protect those who don't have it. So while you were in the right for helping Karen, you weren't when you fought those bullies."

"I don't want to help them, they were mean to Karen!" Artorian shouted. "They didn't care about being nice to her, so why should I care about doing the same for them!?"

"Because you're better than them Artorian." The Lord answered, placing his hands on Artorian's tiny shoulders. "They abuse their power over others, but your goal is to help protect Karen. And while you are stronger than them in most standings, you have to understand the responsibility of that power is also placed on your shoulders. You can't just use it whenever you want, and I know you threw the first punch."

The call out would cause the boy to look down in shame, unable to argue as his father was correct in his actions. But despite that, the man would pull him into a hug, smiling softly as he held his child.

"You have a pure heart Artorian, you want to protect those close to you. You just don't know how to yet." Artorias said, pulling back to smile to his son. "But you'll learn the most important step in protecting what's precious to you is with a reactive approach. Never throw the first punch, but always be the last one to land a punch."

"O-Okay…" Artorian responded, keeping his stare away until he spoke again, looking up to his dad. "Dad, can I… could I walk with Karen to and from the bus for a few days? I just want to make sure she and Hayato aren't picked on more for what I did."

"That's my boy." Artorias smiled, placing a hand on Artorian's head and ruffling his hair. "You'll have to make up the time in our lessons you miss, but as long as you work to fix your mistake I'll let you take some time out."

"Thank you!"

"You didn't have to come Arti." Karen would say, her walking next to the boy and her brother after she had gotten off the bus. "You scared them last time, I don't think they'd do something again."

"I just want to be safe." Artorian smiled in return. "Can't let you two deal with my own mistakes."

The bus that dropped the pair off never was able to get close, as the tight schedule of dealing with several grade levels made the driver have to move quickly. So the trio would have to walk for at last a kilometer. And since the siblings' parents were still finishing up work for the day along with Artorias on a temporary assignment in the heart of Yamato, they would be on their own.

Which would prove to be the draw that Artorian thought it would b. As when they weren't even halfway back to the Kisaragi residence they came across the three bullies from the day before. The two on the sides had small but fading cuts on their faces, while the one in the middle had a black eye from the first punch the hybrid threw.

"They look mad." Hayato said with a narrowed stare, his protectiveness over Karen acting immediately. He wasn't there for when they picked on Karen, but seeing the bruises on Artorian made it clear they weren't just going to let the incident go.

"Arti, Hayato…" Karen whimpered, grabbing the hybrid's hand while he remained calm.

"It'll be okay Karen, I promise." Artorian would say to her, smiling to help keep her from getting too worried.

"So you showed up without you're parents huh? That's some nerve after what you pulled on us." The leader of the three growled, his good eye narrowing at Artorian as the boy turned back to him.

"You were picking on Karen, Kai. I just wanted to keep her safe." Artorian responded. "But I understand that I was wrong to throw a punch, there was a right way to handle it and that wasn't it."

"Hmph, you think that makes up for hitting me when I wasn't looking?" Kai said, pointing to his bruised and swollen eye. "It still hurts! You hit me out of nowhere!"

"And I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done it. Is there any way that I can prove that I mean it?" He asked. "I don't wish for this to continue, and hope we can move on from this."

"Heh, you really want to go there?" Kai would question, sneering as he saw Artorian's calm expression.

"I would appreciate the chance."

"Fine, want to say you're sorry? You can start by bowing at my feet and apologizing for hitting my eye. Maybe after that I'll consider forgiving you."

At Kai's demand, Artorian remained in place for several seconds, his expression calm but focused. Kai and his cronies weren't exactly known in the neighborhood for being forgiving or remotely generous, but they were also often the ones with the power in a situation. He figured that since he fought them to a draw last time, perhaps a more open offer was possible, even if it was a small chance.

"Arti…" Karen would say, scared as the boy carefully pulled his hand out of her grasp.

"It's okay Karen, I'm not worried." The boy responded, trying to keep her from getting too scared while Hayato stood protectively in front of her. "This'll finally be put to rest soon, so don't be scared."

"Artorian, be careful." Hayato said, not nearly as trusting to Kai as Artorian was being right now.

"I'm sure it'll work out okay, trust me." Artorian promised, giving his friend a thumbs up before walking towards Kai. It was almost dead silent when the hybrid reached him, Hayato and Karen staring nervously as he got down to his knees.

"I am sorry for punching you in the eye. It was wrong and I shouldn't have done it." The boy would apologize, going further onto his hands and prostrating himself before the three bullies. "I hope that we may put this past us and find a way to be friends, rather than being mean anymore."

"Well, this is different from before, where'd this come from?" Kai sneered, looking down to Artorian as he remained face down. Not much was known on Artorian, but word around the neighborhood was that his father was a big shot in the Slayer ranks. Enough that rumors said that the person who made the Slayer weapons saw him frequently.

"My father told me about something important, a rule I should follow." Artorian responded, not looking up as he did. "It's a weird phrase, Noblesse Oblige. It means that someone who is tough should help those who aren't. I do not wish for you to be the one I use my power against, and hope we can move past our anger."

"Your power?" Kai asked, his teeth clenching together as he heard that. "Are you saying that you hold power over me, and that you don't need to use it?"

"I do, but that doesn't show any less to you. I just recognize that I'm stronger and don't want to hurt people. But you are tough too and can use it to-gck!" Before Artorian could finish, he'd grunt in pain as Kai stomped his foot down on the back of his head, his face hitting the ground and kept pushed down.

"You're joking, I never thought a Slayer kid could joke. Isn't you're dad some kind of fighter?" Kai would ask with a glare, grinding his foot more on Artorian's head, pushing his face more into the ground. "You were lucky, not tough. That was it, luck!"

"W-What are you… doing?" Artorian grunted, tears of pain escaping as he felt blood come out of his nose. He couldn't tell, but his nose was certainly broken from being slammed into the ground without readiness, not to mention the pain he felt from Kai's foot further pressing his face down. "I… I left myself vulnerable, you had the power here and you still-ahhhh!"

"Of course I do, I always do!" Kai shouted, pushing down more on Artorian's head. "You're just a jerk who hits people by surprise! You're not tough, I'm tough! And this proves it, I use my power, you just let it waste like a wimp!"

"Hey! Let him go!" Hayato shouted as he ran forward, curling his hand into a fist in preparation to strike at Kai. However before he was able to get close enough, Hayato was caught by a surprise punch from his side, two more kids appearing from the bushes.

"Hayato!" Karen shouted in concern, the boy managing to stay on his feet but getting wrapped in a full nelson by one of the two.

"I figured you'd get scared and bring a friend, so I decided to bring some of my own." Kai grinned, looking down at Artorian as the boy tried to push himself up. "You know, keep things interesting?" On pace with his words, the kid not holding Hayato punched his stomach, getting a pained gasp from him.

"No!"

"K-Kai don't…" Artorian whimpered through the pain, pleading to the boy as he struggled to push up. "This is about you and me, leave them out of this… they don't… they don't have to-"

"Would you shut up!?" Fed up with Artorian speaking, Kai raised his foot up only to slam it down on Artorian's head again, the pain spiking even more with his nose taking the brunt of the force and further damaging it. "You don't tell me what to do, I'm the toughest so I make the rules! Not you!"

"You're… you're cheating…" The boy on the ground shook from the pain, tears freely rolling down his face to the dirt as he couldn't even push up. "You got friends to… to deal with Hayato and pushed my face into the ground… nothing about this is being tough."

"I have power and I use it however I want." Kai said as he grinded his heel into Artorian's head one last time before pushing off it, relieving him of the pain of his head being pushed down. "They follow me, their power is mine as well. I beat them and now they listen to me. Keep him down."

Artorian attempted to push himself up despite the pain in his face, but at Kai's order the kid on his right delivered a hard kick to his stomach, forcing the air out of his lungs and causing him to fall back down as the kid to Kai's left kicked his side.

"Not so tough now, are you?" One of the kid's sneered, grinning as the two kept kicking and stomping on his back, Artorian unable to fight back from the pain.

"You jerks!" Hayato groaned out, still reeling from the punch to his gut. "When Artorian and I get free we'll-!"

"You'll what!?" The kid in front of him laughed as he punched his stomach again, this time getting Hayato to cough in pain from the impact. "You seem pretty stuck at the moment, you weakling!"

"Pfft, I hate that you got a hit on me." Kai couldn't help but laugh, seeing Artorian cover his head to avoid any serious injuries, but the kicking was certainly testing his pain threshold. "You're both wimpy and an idiot, just as stupid as your friend and-AH!"

Before Kai could finish he was hit in the cheek underneath his black eye by a small rock, the stunt shocking his friends into stopping for a second to turn and see what happened.

"G…Get away from th-them or… or…" Karen said, her voice trembling and body shaking as she became the center of attention of the boy after throwing the rock at his face.

"Y-You…" Kai growled as he brought a hand up to his cheek, wincing at the red mark before glaring at Karen. "A girl throwing a rock at me, what kind of joke is that supposed to be?"

"I-I-It… it isn't a joke…!" Karen responded, still shaking as Kai took step towards her. "I-I'll throw another one and… and this time I-I-I'll… I'll throw it at your eye…!"

Despite her words of, the girl was unable to stop her trembling, taking a step back in fear as Kai continued to walk towards her. His presence alone scared her, but now as the center of his attention, with such a nasty glare she was terrified of the boy.

"I almost forgot…" Kai spoke, a grin forming on his face as he reached into his pocket. "You needed to be taught a lesson anyways, screw you being a girl."

"Karen! Run!"

"Run away from here!"

Both Hayato and Artorian shouted out to the girl, regaining the four other bullies attention who immediately went back to where they left off. A swift punch to Hayato's gut and two timed kicks to opposite sides of Artorian's torso had the two scream in pain, the sounds stunning Karen for a second as she heard the amount of pain in their voices.

"Don't be such a scaredy cat." Kai said, Karen's eyes widening as she registered him closer than before. "I'm not going to hurt you like them." Feeling her instincts overtake her fear, Karen attempted to run away by turning quickly. But before she could get away the boy grabbed her by her hair, pulling hard to prevent her escape.

"Ahhhhhh!"

"You're not getting away that easily!"

"Kar-gack!" Artorian tried to call out as he pushed up a bit, but was silenced again as one of the bullies kicked his stomach again. But even with the pain, he was putting all his strength into avoid falling down on his face again.

"No! Let go! Stop it-OW!" Karen cried out as Kai tightened his hold on her hair, pulling his free hand out of his pocket to reveal a pocketknife that he flipped open.

"Found my dad's old knife in his secret box." Kai would say, both Artorian and Hayato's eyes widening in shock while Karen's closed in fear. "Figured it'd be only fair since you were so mean last time that I just cut a bit of your hair off."

"No, please stop!" Karen cried as she struggled against Kai's grasp, tears running down her face from the pain and her fear.

"Karen!" Hayato called out, getting another punch to his stomach.

"You really like saying her name huh?" The kid said with a grin, delivering another punch.

"D-Darn it!" Kai would grunt as he tried to align his knife with Karen's hair, her constant struggling making his arm misplace the knife and forcing him to work against the jarring. "Stay still!"

"Arti! Hayato! Please!" Karen cried as she flailed, one of her arms going back and hitting Kai's bruise. The pain caused Kai to recoil momentarily before both he and Karen lost their footing, falling forward from Karen's momentum going in the direction.

Kai's hands held firmly on the pocketknife and hair, only just releasing as they were nearing the ground to try and change his position of falling. But as he did, the blade of the knife would puncture through Karen's clothes and meet the skin underneath, silence forming momentarily before a pained scream came out.

"A-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Karen screamed as much as her lungs could, the pain causing her to bawl her eyes as she landed on the ground.

In that second both Hayato and Artorian froze in fear as they heard her crying, the latter dropping his guard protecting his face to look back. Seeing Karen down on the ground, crying while a dark red mark began to form around the cut in her dress shook him to his core, the memory of her first giggle running through his head.

And at the moment both him and Hayato saw her blood on her skin, something snapped in the two, their eyes widening in what could only be described as pure fury.

When the kid to Artorian's left reeled his leg back for another kick, the hybrid would push past all the pain he was feeling and rise to a knee, throwing a punch suddenly that struck the side of the bully's knee.

"Ahh!" The sudden pain caused the kid to fall over, giving Artorian the freedom to catch the second bully's foot and push forward. In a second Artorian knocked one of them over and slammed the other to the ground as he stood up, getting shared shouts of pain from them.

"What the…" Both bullies restraining Hayato spoke, the one hitting Hayato stopping to turn and see Artorian get up. "How did he get up like that-gah!"

Before he could finish, Hayato brought one of his legs up and kicked the back of the bully's knee, forcing him to fall down before bringing the same foot down onto the kid restraining him 's toes.

"OW!" The kid screamed before Hayato slammed his head back, hitting hard enough to cause a small crack to come from his nose. Having been put through so much pain, the kid released Hayato and bent down, covering his nose as it began to bleed from the head-butt.

"Ragh!" Hayato shouted as he turned and tackled the kid to the ground, getting on top of him and rearing his fist back. "This is for my sister!" He'd say as he swung his fist down, punching the kid across the face as a fire formed in his eyes.

"You jerk!" The other kid shouted as he recovered and turned, getting ready to tackle Hayato before being interrupted by Artorian, the hybrid punching his from his blindside right into his jaw.

"The only jerks here are you!" Artorian screamed as he tightened his fist, punching his face again and knocking him to the ground before turning his attention to Kai.

Kai was only just getting up as Artorian ran right at him and tackled him back down, already swinging his fists down to the bully with rage in his eyes.

"How dare you do that to Karen!" He bellowed as he swung blindly, half his punches just hitting the ground as they missed Kai's face. However the ones that did land stung painfully, tears of pain filling Kai's vision yet the boy held on.

Seeing his opening, Kai would suddenly swing his fist up and punch Artorian right in the nose, the sound of the cartilage cracking only deafened by Artorian's scream of pain. He was then pushed off by Kai's foot, the hybrid managing to get up to his feet from the push and stepped to immediately engage again.

Before he could though, the two bullies that were kicking him appeared behind him, wrapping their arms to lock his and keep him in place.

"Well… isn't this more right." Kai would say, wiping his lip clean of blood as he got back up. "A wimp getting, punched!" He'd say, slamming a fist into Artorian's gut and causing him to gasp from the loss of air. It was followed by a punch to his cheek, another hitting the other side before being finished with a straight punch to his face.

"What's the matter, Arti!?" Kai shouted, continuing to punch the hybrid across his face and stomach without mercy, rubbing the salt in the wound by using Karen's mispronunciation of his name. "Where's the "tough" stuff you said you had!?"

"Only…" Artorian muttered through blood, tears and punches, the two bullies holding him feel his arms shake in resistance. "Karen…" He'd breath out, putting all his strength into his right arm to overpower the bully and swing him around, getting him to take Kai's next punch to the chin and let him go.

"Calls me ARTI!" Artorian shouted with fury, tightening his freed fist and slamming it directly into the bully's face that was still holding him. The force causing the same cracking they heard before, his nose now broken like the others as he fell to the ground in agony.

He then turned his attention back to Kai and the other bully, taking another punch from Kai that made him stumble back before retaliating, delivering a hard punch to his cheek that was hit by Karen's rock.

"You have a lot of nerve!" The bully that Artorian knocked over before attacking Kai growled, beginning to run after the hybrid before getting tackled from behind.

"You're not going to group on him any more!" Hayato shouted as he punched down, hitting the kid's face before getting a punch in return. The bully would then quickly flip the two of them over, now on top of Hayato with an angered stare.

"What's a wimp like you going to do to me!?" He shouted as he swung down, getting another solid hit before Hayato recovered, bringing an arm up to block the next punch. "He's all your strength, you're just an extra! A stupid nobody following an equally stupid wimp!"

"I won't let Artorian fight alone!" Hayato screamed as he stared directly into the bully's eyes, the raw fury shocking the boy into stopping and leaving him open to Hayato's punch upward. The punch was strong enough to snap his head up, Hayato using the opening to punch his chin hard, knocking the bully off of him.

As he'd sit up, Hayato winced in pain, wiping his hand across his mouth to get the blood from the cut on his lip off. He'd look over to see Artorian brawling against both Kai and the other bully, noting the other three seemed to be staying down from the pain they were in; the two with broken noses clutching onto their faces while the one he just beat seemed to be knocked unconscious.

Steeling himself, Hayato would punch the ground before getting up, his half blurred vision clearing as he rushed to assist Artorian. Without even thinking he reared his fist back and punched the fourth bully across the face, hitting just bellow the eye.

Due to the suddenness of the punch, the bully was knocked immediately down to the ground, Hayato working quickly to deliver a stomp down onto his gut to knock the wind out of him.

Panting from exhaustion, Hayato would collapse onto his hands and knees next to the bully, looking to see Artorian and Kai trading blows with almost unnatural resilience. He knew Artorian was hurt much more, but seeing Kai manage to hold his own despite that made Hayato almost get up to help his friend.

But before he did, he remembered the whole purpose behind the fight and moved to go check on Karen, the girl still crying in pain. She was still in the same place as before, hurting too much to even move and unable to see through all the tears.

"Karen, Karen it's me!" He'd say as he fell to his knees next to his sister, panic on his face as he saw the dark red in her dress.

"H-Hayato…?" She'd sob, turning her head to look back to him. "A-Are y…you okay?"

"Don't be scared for me, here let me see the cut." Hayato would respond, trying to look at the opening in Karen's dress to see the extent of the cut.

"AHH!" it pained him to hear his sister cry in agony, but the boy knew he had to see the cut and continued more gently. Separating the two sides of the cut cloth, he'd se where her blood was coming from and carefully wiped a bit away. Karen would whimper, but he had to be sure that it hadn't cut too far deep in her.

He breathed a sigh of relief when it seemed the cut wasn't too deep, realizing that the amount of blood sen was because of it being pressed against her clothes.

"O-Okay Karen, it doesn't look… look so bad." Hayato promised, slowly beginning to shake from both the pain and worry he had for his sister. "It probably… it probably just hurts more than it looks."

"W-what about you and… and Arti?" Karen would question her older brother's well being again, looking over her shoulder to see him.

"I'll be okay, and Artorian's… I think he's handling himself." Hayato promised.

"You talk so much about being tough, but where do you think hurting a little girl makes you tough at all!" Artorian shouted as he delivered a hard punch to Kai's jaw, the latest blow causing the bully to fall back onto his butt.

"Shut up…" Kai responded, grunting as he wiped his face with his forearm.

"You're supposed to use your power to protect people! Not use it to hurt others who just didn't say what you wanted to!" Artorian continued, standing over Kai as he stopped his assault. "You abused your power, how could you do that!?"

"Shut up."

"You could be a great person, you and Hayato are equally tough!" Artorian shouted on, leaning down to grab Kai's collar to pull him up more, staring him dead in the eyes. "You can't be tough and hurt those below you! That isn't how Noblesse Oblige works!"

"I said shut up!" Kai would surprise Artorian by bringing a rock up, hitting him in the cheek and jarring his senses. The hybrid would feel his vision blur as he released Kai, taking a few steps back before turning and falling onto his stomach, his mind fuzzy from the blow.

"Noblesse this and tough that! You act like you're so much better than everyone!" Kai shouted as he threw the rock and hit the back of Artorian's head, getting a pained scream from him. "You're dad's stupid Slayers, those jerks did things to my dad that can't change! He can't walk, he can barely see and his skin is almost turning grey! You talk about helping people, but all your dad's done is get others hurt!"

"Th… That's not… Karen's fault…" Artorian gasped through pained breaths, slowly pushing himself up while Kai got on his feet. "She didn't… you shouldn't… it was wrong…"

"Your family hurt mine, so I'll hurt yours." Kai said as he walked towards Artorian, reaching down and grabbing his dad's pocketknife when he passed it. "My dad said his team had a saying, "an eye for an eye" or something." As Artorian got to his knees and turned, his eyes would widen as he saw Kai prepare to swing the knife. "I think that's better than stupid made up words like Noblesse Oblige!"

"Artorian!" Hayato screamed as the hybrid turned his head back to face away, attempting to duck down to avoid the blade.

But it was too late, and the boy felt the tip of the knife pierce through and cut the skin on the back of his knife. The pain was burning, the boy clutching to the injury as he shouted in pain, unable to contain it as he remained down on the ground.

'It… it hurts…!' Artorian would think with tears in his eyes, the pain becoming too much for him as he laid on the ground. 'Mr. Kisaragi, Mrs. Dimandias, dad, please… it hurts too much. Please, help me.'

"Arti!" Karen cried as she turned and saw Artorian, the raw terror in her voice causing the hybrid's eyes to snap open. Looking to the corner of his eyes, he saw the tears flowing down her face as she held her hand out desperately, the sheer horror too much for her to handle; but she wouldn't turn away, and the sight of her eyes burned into his brain.

'Karen…' A flash of red would then overcome Artorian's senses, the hybrid's eyes shaking violently as suddenly all the pain he was feeling went away, his whole body going numb as he turned back to Kai.

"What, does it hurt!?" Kai antagonized as he reared the knife back again, his adrenaline preventing him from understanding the extent of Artorian's injuries. "Well that's only the start! I'll make you feel the pain equal to the shame your-gwalck!"

"SHUT UP!" Artorian bellowed, his eyes turning bright red as he punched Kai's throat to stop his talking.

The blow caused Kai to stop breathing for several seconds, the bully dropping the knife and grasping at his neck with tears in his eyes as he tried desperately to get some air. But the moment he'd inhale, it was immediately knocked out as the hybrid rammed his shoulder into his gut and tackled him to the ground.

"YOU CUT ME!" Artorian would scream as he would grab Kai by the throat, keeping him pinned down before throwing a punch to his face. "YOU HURT HAYATO!" Another punch would be followed, Artorian's voice booming with rage as he bared his teeth at the bully.

"AND YOU MADE KAREN CRY!" He'd then continue with the punching, the amount of blows knocking Kai onto the verge of consciousness as Artorian refused to stop. "I WON'T FORGIVE ANYONE WHO MAKES HER CRY! YOU HURT HER BAD AND THEN MADE HER CRY!"

"I'LL KILL YOU!" Artorian bellowed in fury, his eyes wide in rage as he tightened his fist more, rearing it back and preparing to deliver one last, powerful blow on the side of the bully's head. He was seeing pure red, unable to think of anything but finishing off Kai, ignoring the tears of terror in his eyes as he stared up to the beast that replaced the hybrid child.

"DIE!"

"Arti stop!" An inch before his fist would connect, Karen's voice would pierce through the fog in Artorian's head, his fist trembling as it stopped just short of ending the boy.

"Please, don't hurt him any more!" Karen cried, trembling as she stared at the boy from behind. "You don't… please don't… you're scaring me Arti…"

"Artorian… it's over." Hayato would say as well, although with less terror and more concern.

As the boy remained overtop of him, his eyes were still shaking from the pressure he was feeling, his desire to strike Kai festering more as he stared down to the boy. But as he heard Karen's sobs that pressure slowly died away, his fist loosening to a hand, the glow in his eyes going away when his control finally came back.

When Artorian attempted to move away he immediately fell to his back, the pain returning as his adrenaline had worn off. Every punch and cut was now fully realized, and he couldn't help but let out a pained grunt.

Even after the series of blows he left on Kai, it was obvious that Artorian was the worse for wear out of all the kids present. There were several red marks across his face, future bruises that would certainly hurt more later, the cut on the back of his neck was bleeding freely, not a deep cut but enough to more than get what Kai was desiring. His knuckles were bloodied, both from punching the ground and punching Kai, the pain only just now being realized by the hybrid. And the blood coming from the two splits in his lip and broken nose, Artorian looked more like he had come out of a warzone than a kid's brawl.

"You… took it too far…" Artorian would breathe out, looking to Kai as he slowly pushed himself back up. The other boy was barely moving, his hands coming up to cover his face futile to try and numb the pain. "So much as… look at Karen or Hayato and I'll… I'll do what I said." His voice was shaky, but the message was still clear, and the violence he had shown just moments ago more than told that he was capable of doing it too.

Finding the strength to move again, Artorian would turn himself and begin to walk towards Hayato and Karen, his head down in shame as he limped over. When he was close, he fell to his knees without even trying to stay up. Both siblings looked to Artorian in concern, his stare remaining down to the dirt as he felt unable to even look at them.

"Ar… are you okay?" He'd ask, his eyes just barely looking up to see the two as he shook.

"We… we should be asking you that." Hayato responded, a bittersweet chuckle escaping his lips as he felt his eyes begin to sting.

"Arti… I… I…" Karen would sob, managing to sit up before suddenly wrapping her arms around him, clutching onto him as tightly as she could as she began to bawl. "I was so scared! You and Hayato got hurt and I… it was all my fault!"

"Nng!" Artorian groaned in pain at Karen's embrace, but hearing her cries made him take whatever pain he was feeling and swallow it.

"W-What are you talking about?" Artorian grunted in return, putting an arm around her to return the embrace. "Me and Hayato are fine, you're the one who got hurt. You're the one we are worried about."

"B-B-But… but you're both really hurt and I… I couldn't do anything and I…" Karen continued to sob into Artorian's chest, her crying causing the hybrid's entire body to feel soften.

"Karen…" He'd say, bringing his hand up to gently guide her gaze to look up to his face, her eyes widening in shock as she saw him smile brightly. "Hayato and I are tough, this… this doesn't hurt at all. So don't cry, you shouldn't waste you tears for something like this."

"B-But I…"

"No, you didn't." The hybrid interrupted. "This was all Kai's fault, not yours. So don't blame yourself, all that matters is that you're okay. Which means you can't cry, it… it isn't right."

"A… Arti…" Karen would continue to sob, lowering her head as she continued to cling onto him, her body shaking in fear and relief.

"We'll always be here for you Karen." Hayato would add, moving to wrap both Artorian and Karen in a hug. "We'll protect you, because that's what boys do. They protect their friends and family, even if they get hurt."

"Hayato… I'm… I'm sorry." Karen continued to sob, the embrace from the two slowly calming her. As she did begin to relax, as the boys were letting her cry her eyes out, Artorian looked up to the sky with narrowed eyes.

'I… I don't want to experience that again…' He'd think, recalling the last few minutes in painful detail. 'Her fear… her… her crying… I don't want to hear or see that ever again…' Steeling his resolve, Artorian would lower his head to place a comforting kiss on Karen's forehead, making a solemn vow.

'I won't let it happen again… I'll protect that smile. I won't let you cry anymore.' The hybrid promised, holding Karen close as the world seemed to fade around him.

Artorian slowly opened his eyes, looking up to the sky as the sun was slowly setting. The red in the sky reminded him of the blood he saw that day, getting a bittersweet laugh from him as he finished the story.

"I loved her smile, it fascinated me since the moment I saw it. And her crying, hurt and scared… I would never stand for it." He'd say, his hand tightening to a fist. "I promised myself since that day I wouldn't let her cry again, I'd be as strong as possible so that she never would be hurt again. That's why I have to be there for her, I won't let her ever be alone in this world."

"Oh my god…" Miharu muttered as she looked to Artorian, the story far from what she had expected from the boy. She knew that Yamato had a delinquency problem in the past, but to hear the extent of the problem and how it affected him… his protectiveness became all the more understandable. An experience like that at such a young age, it's a miracle he wasn't further traumatized.

"I still have the mark from the cut I got, it's surprisingly stuck through with me." Artorian would attempt to joke, turning back around to face the railing, bringing two fingers to rub the back of his neck on the fading scar. "I can't even remember how many stitches I got for that alone, all I remember after the fight was Karen's parents showing up and calling the ambulance immediately. Hamaki couldn't decide if she wanted to smack me for doing something so reckless or hug me until she couldn't anymore."

"The funniest part of all that… I brutalized a kid, beat him half to death and did so without blinking, all because he made Karen cry. And you know what? I don't regret it." Artorian stated, his hands tightening around the railing as he looked out to the horizon. "I know I went too far, I know beating the literal life out of him was wrong, no matter what he did to me I had the power over him and could've kicked his ass a thousand times worse. But I don't care; I'd have done it without flinching next time if he had even gotten close to Karen again."

"Do you know… what happened to him?"

"Probably got stitches for the massive cut I put on the side of his head from the punches, didn't care to ever figure out after." Artorian answered. "And after the Savage, I wouldn't have blinked if he had died. I gave Kai the chance to change and he stomped it into the dirt. I'd honestly be happy if it turns out he died to a Savage, good riddance to bad rubbish."

"You don't mean that." Miharu responded. "He was wrong, and I certainly know you hate him, justifiably so. But you would never wish someone dead."

"And how would you know that?" He'd ask in return. "I punched him until I couldn't figure out if the blood on my fist was his or mine. And with it now only being Karen left… with Hayato gone I'd be all alone to defend her. If anything, I'd be even more hellish. I wouldn't hesitate to kill him if the same thing happened again."

"Because as much as you say that, as much as you want yourself and everyone else to believe that you're willing to kill, I know that isn't you. You're a protector; you saved thousands of lives alone back on the Zwei Islands. I saw the footage, that wasn't someone fighting for a single person. You can fool yourself, but you can't fool me."

"And you're not alone." Miharu would say, placing her hand over his on the railing. "You have Emile, Claire, your fellow Slayers and me to help. You have people to rely on, you don't have to pretend you're alone anymore."

"…" Artorian remained silent, looking down as he thought over Miharu's words. He didn't feel her views on him to remotely close, aside from a select few people, he could care less for anyone's well being. He's sacrificed people for his and Karen's well being in the past and he'd do it again. But, he did admit the nurse did have a point: he was a protector, and he isn't the only one on this ship.

"…Thank you, Miharu." He'd eventually say, flipping his hand to hold onto hers for a second, smiling as he closed his eyes. "It's nice to know someone can think so positively on someone who beat down a kid."

The two would remain in silence for the rest of their time up, staring out and watching as the sun would set before them. They stayed up on the tower until the sun was out of sight; the illumination of the moon appearing behind them once the bright light was gone. And once it did, the Slayer and nurse would leave, still remaining silent as they walked throughout Little Garden back to Miharu's apartment.

"Sorry if the date ended on such a somber note." Artorian apologized as they reached her room's door.

"No, don't be. I had a good time." Miharu shook her head, smiling to the Slayer as she did. "I got to try new foods and see sights few on Little Garden can. Not to mention I got to know Little Garden's Wolf Knight better too."

"Still, I wish my story was a bit better to hear than it ends up as. The brief bit is much more charming than the brawl that went down." He admitted. "Not many people would like hearing a story about kids beating each other up." He'd then chuckle, raising a hand in a still wave as he turned to walk away. "Well, I shouldn't keep you up any more, I'm sure you'll be busy with your work. Good night, Miharu."

"Wait, before you go." Hearing the nurse speak, Artorian paused and turned back around, humming in response. But before he could expect it, Miharu gently took his face in her hands and placed a small kiss on his cheek, surprising him at the affection before she stepped back.

"A knight always deserves a kiss after his hard work after all." The nurse would tease, smiling to the hybrid before opening her door. "Don't stay up too late Artorian, you need your rest." She'd say, closing the door after saying one last thing. "Good night, Artorian."

When the door closed, Artorian couldn't help but chuckle, placing a hand on his cheek where she kissed. "Damn, that's 0-2 for me on this cutesy cheek kiss crap." He'd then shift his blade on his shoulder, turning to walk out while smiling to himself.

'What am I gonna do about this.' He'd sigh as he thought to himself. 'A nurse, a princess and an idol, this is gonna get out of control if I'm not careful.' Although that would cause him to chuckle to himself again, rolling his eyes at his own antics. 'Wish I wasn't as good as I was, taking things slow would be a lot more helpful here.'

"Eh, I'll think about it in the morning." He'd say to himself, cracking his shoulders as he walked. "For now, relaxing time. Remembering Kai's smug prick face always get's me exhausted."

(A/N): Well, so much for a break huh? I wanted to get this chapter started a little early so that when I got the drive again I would have something to work off of to ease the burden when starting. 3,000 words later and i realized I figured out how to do every single bit with a few alterations in the revision. I'll admit, it was a little weird writing for them as kids, mainly since I had to try and dumb down their dialogue a bit to make some sense, but wasn't too worried on that.

I was more focused on laughing at myself for originally expecting this section to be added onto the last chapter, which I predicted would've only added around 1,000 to 2,000 words. And with it over 8,000 words, I realized how little I would've had in if I didn't push this to be it's own chapter. So I'm glad I came to that decision as it gives more details on the thought process of Artorian, especially giving the source on why he dislikes the concept of Noblesse Oblige and where his protectiveness of Karen originates from.

But that's all besides the point, this chapter felt surprisingly good to write and I'm glad I got it out. I hope you all enjoyed reading it and I'll see you in the next chapter. Peace!