*Tetsuya*

Setsuko had gone on ahead with Maki, Ximena, and Nori to get Rosalba a place where she could rest. If only I could've gone with them. But doing so might've simply caused more pain. Both to Rosa and to me.

So, in the meantime, Yuko, Kohri, and I went with Akane to look around town while Serrano and the others went off to look for Hideo.

Yuko's eyes gleamed as she looked around the shopping district. It was lit up by lanterns with symbols I couldn't read written upon them. My guess was that it was the ancient language of the people here as it didn't look like the Xelerian writing I had seen in my dad's books.

The smell of various dishes ranging from sweets to that of meat cooking wafted across the area. Kids and adults dressed in robes walked around, laughing. It certainly felt very festive.

"Want something?" Kohri whispered into Yuko's ear.

"We got no money to buy stuff," I pointed out, stopping by a ramen shop. The only money I had on me was the Zionian gold coins and those might not be worth anything here. Especially since the people here seemed to dislike our kind.

"I can exchange your money for Ciels," Akane said, taking out a small wad of paper money from her purse.

How nice of her. Though I didn't know the exchange rate so she could've been ripping us off...

"What's the exchange rate?" I asked, eyeing her skeptically.

Kohri sighed. "Come on, Akane is trustworthy."

My tanuki girl nodded. "Yuko thinks so too."

I shook my head. These two were too trusting for their own good. Sure Kohri managed to see through me despite all the lies told about me, but still, there had to be a limit to his skill.

Yuko glanced up at me with pleading eyes.

"Alright, fine," I grumbled, taking out my bag of gold.

Akane chuckled as she handed me three hundred ciel for my bag of two hundred coins. Hmm, now that I think about it, did they accept parts from the Abyss here?

"There, the ratio is two to three," she was kind to point out, even though that was obvious.

"Alright, now you two can buy something," I said.

Kohri slapped my back. "Thanks, man."

Wasn't he calling me 'master' some time ago? Now he suddenly drops the formalities? Hmph, this guy.

"Hmm," Yuko said, touching her cheek as she looked around. "I want..." She pointed at the stand next to the ramen shop behind me.

Personally I would've aimed for the ramen instead. Still, Yuko's nose was great so the food must've tasted divine.

We made our way to the open air stand. They were deep frying meat of some kind. Some sort of sea creature was my guess as it didn't look like any meat we had back at the farm. Actually, it reminded me more of that starfish we saw in the abyss.

"Hello," said a young man with dark lines under his eyes.

"Give us two plates of octopus balls," Kohri said as he took a seat on one of the stolls.

Oh, so that's what it was... balls made out of octopus meat.

"Right away," he said, turning his back to us to fetch some recently fried octopus balls.

The young man had light brown hair like Yuko. There was no sign of ears on the side of his head. Did he have ears under that chef hat of his?

The woman frying the meat also had dark lines under her eyes and her long hair reminded me of fur. She looked what I imagined an older Yuko to look like.

"Is something the matter?" the girl asked, looking up.

"Everything is fine," I responded, lowering my head. Was I staring too much?

"Hey, are you into animal-girls too?" Kohri asked.

My face became red. "Eh?"

Kohri chuckled. "Just kidding. I wanted to see your reaction. It's surprising adorable."

I curled my hands into fists. I wanted to sock the guy in the face, that would teach him what happens when one teases me.

"Papa?" Yuko asked as she came closer. Her wide brown eyes became teary. "Papa!"

The young man eyes widened as he placed our order on the counter.

"Papa?" Kohri and I asked, standing up.

"He's your father?" Akane asked, tilting her head.

Yuko shook her head. "He looks like him but..."

He stared at Yuko as if he recognized her and smiled.

"What's your last name?" he asked.

"Yuko's last name is Akiyama, why do you ask?" she said, tilting her head. "Wait, are you one too?"

The young man's smile widened. "Akiyama?" He pointed at himself. "I'm also a-"

"Papa, Mama, we're back!" yelled a young boy. He seemed to be between eight and nine. Following closely behind him was another kid who looked identical to him. The second kid grumbled as he carried in cotton candy, and several stuff animals.

"Yuuto, Yuuta," the woman said. She narrowed her eyes at the two. "I told you two not to buy too many sweets. You're going to get cavities."

"Aww, but mom!" said the first boy.

"Don't 'but' me, little man," she said, putting her hands on her hips.

"Told ya so," the second boy said, glaring at his brother.

I glanced at Kohri who was holding back a chuckle. He was probably thinking the same thing as I was, the two sounded like Hyosetsu and him.

Yuko smiled at the two boys. "They're so cute!" She ran over and hugged the two, causing the second child to drop some stuff animals.

"Let go of me!" snapped the one holding the stuff animals.

The loud one hugged her back. "So warm!"

It was a good thing that there was no line behind us as this would've been embarrassing.

"You smell similar to Papa," said the loud one. "Right, Yuuto?"

"She does?" the mom asked, puzzled.

Yuuto sniffed Yuko's hair. His jaw dropped. "Yuuta's right. She does!"

The young man narrowed his eyes at them. "As I was saying; I'm also an Akiyama."

Yuko let go of the twins and glanced up at her relative. "Are you my older brother?"

Older brother?

He shook his head. "No, I'm too old to be your older brother." He walked over the counter. "Yuno, I'll be leaving you with stand, have these two help you out."

"Yay!" Yuuta yelled as he ran to the front of the counter. "I'll be attending customers."

Yuuto shook his head. "Let me do it, you suck at math."

If I didn't know any better, I would say that these two were the Xelerian versions of Kohri and Hyosetsu.

Yuuta pouted. "That's not..."

The cold one snickered. "Alright then, what's two plus two?"

Yuuta started to use his fingers to count. "Two, three, four! It's four!"

"He's right," Kohri said, chuckling.

Yuuto stared at the idiot resembling his brother. "Yes but he took too long."

"Oh then let's test you," Kohri said, grinning widely.

The smart twin puffed up his chest. "Bring it!"

I snatched one of the two styrofoam containers from the counter and left money for Kohri to pay. I chased off after Yuko and Akane who had already left with the twin's father.

*Hideo*

I found myself staring at Koukyuu as we followed after Sonata. We had left the stadium and made our way toward Koukyuu's suite which was several blocks ahead. It would've been quicker to have flown there, but Koukyuu had warned me against flying. If I did and I was spotted, I could be shot down with little warning. In this world we Zionians were looked on with suspicion.

"You're interested in her?" Zydeco asked as he walked beside me.

I turned away. "No," I answered blankly.

It's also not like I got time to worry about sappy stuff like love when the lives of my siblings are in danger.

I put my now empty hands into the pockets of my jeans and look up at the sky. Kuroshi had Eiichi's team and mine change out of our armor as to not raise alarm among the populace. I had changed into black silk pants, a white button-up shirt, and black slacks. To top off my look I decided to use the emerald silk cape that Kiara had made for me years ago.

I recall laughing until my stomach ached at the reaction Dad and the others' had when Mom said Kiara had made it. Though, I was also the one who was the most surprised to learn that she took the time to learn to sew from Mom. More so in order to make me a present, especially when she could afford to buy one... or several with her allowance.

For that same birthday, Dan had given me a card he drew using his digital tablet. It was of me, holding a rifle and wearing a camouflage combat uniform. Nat and Dossie also gave me drawings of their own. The others meanwhile had given me games.

"Hey, you okay?" Zydeco asked as he placed a hand on my shoulder.

I sighed. "Why do you care?" I asked as I removed his hand from me. "Don't act all buddy-buddy with me!"

Zydeco smiled. "You're hurting, aren't you?"

My emerald eyes widened. "How..."

He closed his red eyes. "Seems I was right. You know, it's perfectly natural to feel pain." He placed a hand on his chest and stared at the gray concrete sidewalk. "To keep it all inside can hurt you. To try to run from it can destroy you."

I turned away. He was younger than me by a year, yet he sounded older.

"You know, my dad tried running away from his pains too. Back when he was younger. He had lost someone dear to him during our country's civil war. Not to mention, his body was left in a state in which he couldn't move his legs. Not even magic could heal those wounds. As a result, he cursed his fate. However, with help from my mom, he eventually learned that one doesn't need to allow unfortunate events to determine one's life. Our happiness is our own to craft."

I thought back to my dad and aunt. Kuroriku's own civil war had affected them greatly too. My dad and aunt confronted the emotions it had stirred in them in vastly different ways. Reno and Suzuki's mom wanted to destroy the kingdom, while my father sought to help the eastern province heal from the wounds of war. He sought to craft not only his own happiness, but also to contribute to those of others. At least by giving them a chance to live without fear of state sponsored violence as well as that coming from the rebels.

Zydeco watched as the girls walked on ahead. He smiled when he noticed them looking back at them.

"Let's get going or we'll be left behind," he said, jogging on ahead.

"Hey!" I yelled, running after him.

"Yes?" he asked, looking over.

"Uh..." I bit my lip. "I'm... sorry."

"For what?"

"For screaming at you," I said, averting my gaze.

He slowed down. "It's understandable. I'm only a stranger after all. Opening up even to those one knows is hard."

I smiled. "Thanks."

I looked forward and saw Koukyuu and Sonata smiling at us.

Suddenly my smile vanished as soon as I saw Serrano flying overhead.

"An angel?" Sonata said, stopping. She gathered water around her.

"Wait!" Koukyuu yelled. "He's Princess Setsuko's fiance."

"So Hideo found you. I knew that you were together recently, but had no idea you were friends," Serrano said, chuckling.

"It was actually Sonata and Zydeco over there who found him. He seemed to be moping by himself in the stadium."

"Moping, huh?" Serrano said, lowering his silver eyes.

"Why are you here? Gonna drag me back to where the others are?" I snapped.

"No. Besides, they've spread out," Serrano said as he stepped closer. "I know it won't bring Dan and Kiara back, but I want to say sorry. Setsuko also wishes to apologize... she had left her guard down against Reno and the others. Meanwhile... I wasn't able to stop them from taking them. Despite being the 'strongest' of the Seven Hills of my generation, I am still lacking. Even after all these years... I can't save anyone."

I just stood there, watching as his tears hit the ground. I had a sense that he knew how I felt. Not in Zydeco's empathic way, rather in that he too failed to save someone as close to him as Kiara and Dan were to me. But who was it? The one he seemed closest to was the peasant.

I sighed and scratched my head. "What's with the apologies? Shouldn't I be the one to do so?"

Serrano raised his head.

"As for your apology, you can make it up by saving my brother and sister. Kuroshi said that the spiral the others found you in was the key to saving them. Or rather, the doorway. After these games, I want you to lead me to it if Kuroshi's aides haven't already saved them."

The prince smiled slightly and nodded. "Of course I will!" His smile faded. "To be honest, the reason I continued to lead my team as far as I did was because I wanted to find some clues as to their whereabouts. Actually, Satoru said something about them... but I... don't recall."

"I see. Thanks for trying," I said, crossing my hands over my chest.

Serrano averted his gaze. "Well, got to go find the others. Meet up at the biggest hotel in the city. I trust that Koukyuu knows it, right?"

"Yeah, I do," Koukyuu said, nodding.  "Though why not stay over at the palace?"

"Thanks for the offer, but if it's discovered that you're housing angels, it might cause issues for you."

Zydeco sighed. "True. The people here aren't very kind to foreigners of this world, more so to those who aren't even from this universe."

"Yeah. Though Maki did offer to pay for our stay. Once we return to Zionia we'll pay him back for the favor," Serrano said as he turned around.  "Well then, I'm off to go find Tetsu...ya and the others!"

He looked down as if thinking about his criminal cousin before running off.

Eiichi often said that Serrano was cold, but looking at him now, I felt I was looking at the Serrano even the peasant barely knew. A young man who was struggling with his own pain. Was the peasant the one who had kept his pain at bay? Now without his closest friend around...

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed the chapter :3. Thoughts on Yuko meeting her long lost family? What about Hideo's talk with Zydeco? What do you think that Hideo meant when he said that Serrano is struggling?**