"You made her cry-y, you made her cry-y! Kidou-chan made a girl cry!" Jin chanted at Kidou as he stared heartlessly out the window.

It was only ten years prior, 2115, when most of Asia had become uninhabitable. The great war at the end of the twenty first century and Cagaster, the strange disease that followed soon after the war, devastated social order. Citites, no longer able to function, guickly became feeding grounds for the Cagasters and grew into massive dens. These dens were called cages. The cages continued to multiply in number-- spreading faste from the eastern desert. Soon, the Extreme East was born-- the boundary line between humans and the land claimed by insects. The world was simply divided into eat and west where the eastern society became governed by a militaristic regime called the Eastern Alliance Government.

Kidou and you had lived in the Extreme East up until your departure and the only place you knew to travel to was further east. It wasn't easy, however, for Kidou to deem a city as safe to stay in. Each city scattered across the land was given an anti-Cagaster armed force and a district number. Thirty years after the first insects were discovered, the human society was finally showing signs of recovery. And it was Trade City E-05 that was deemed to be home.

And it was Trade City E-05 that Kidou returned to that night, with Ilie in hand. Or technically on shoulder while she slept.

"...Oh? You're back early Ki-- OH!" Mario, the owner of Garden Mario, responded with surprise to see such a sight.

"What?" Kidou's face was hard. This wasn't what he wanted to be doing right now, and he certainly didn't want to put up with what he knew was coming next.

"Oh, dear! Kidou, you finally brought home a girl... You're finally interested in women, huh? We should celebrate! I'll make something special!"

"SHUT UP!" He kicked a stool. "Mario, can you look for someone named Tania? It's supposedly the name of this girl's mother."

"Huh? Sure... Looking for her won't be a big deal." With that affirmation, Kidou began stomping up the stairs to the bedrooms.

"And you said you wanted more help running this place, right? You can use her starting tomorrow." And with a slam, he was gone.

"What's gotten into him?" Mario asked, readjusting their hair and replacing the flower they had tucked behind their ear.

"Oh? You mean today's war spoils?" Jin wiggled his eyebrows. "We went to the edge of the bug cage today."

"Again? You're all going to die!" They put their hands on their hips, emphasizing their massive biceps.

"...We found her stranded, so Kidou brought her back." Jin finished.

"Oh. Helping someone in need? What a good boy! Then why did he have to act so crabby? He just had to tell us what he was doing... Does he think he'll reap some bad karma for flaunting his good deeds or something?"