We crisscrossed through the crowd before finally making it to a tall hill covered in the petals of the surrounding cherry blossom trees.

The takoyaki stall man sat down on top of the hill, his golden-brown eyes darting toward the stars. There was a sense of nostalgia in them.

"I never thought that I would've met a lost relative here," he said. "Tell me, how is my brother doing?"

Yuko removed her hat, revealing down-turned ears. "Papa is dead. So is Mama..."

Yuko's uncle patted her head. His now revealed ears were also down-turned. "I see..." He tilted his head. "You smell like my sister too... more than should be expected from a niece."

'She's a pure-blood' was what Kuroshi had told me when he sold her to me. Yuko also has a... I stepped back. Could it be that...

"Hey, how many of you were there?" I asked, as I tried to keep the thought away.

"Four," he responded, giving me a concerned look.

"I'm not asking what the m..." My face flushed. Great, now each time I think of the number four, I'll think of Kohri's math question. "Four?"

"You're talking about how many of us were left in captivity, right? When my oldest sister, and I escaped, we left behind our other two siblings. The middle children." His eyes widened, unable to deny what was in front of him. "Wait, are you trying to say that Yuko is my niece from both sides?"

Akane gasped. "What in the world?"

I couldn't blame her for her reaction. I felt the same way. That cloaked man sure did care about keeping the bloodline pure, even if it meant creating a sick child as a result. But Yuko had said that her parents loved each other... Was that true?

I took in a deep breath. "I think so. She's the child of both the brother and the sister that you left behind."

"Wow," was all Akane could say. I on the other hand couldn't say a thing.

"I shouldn't be surprised," Yuko's uncle said, shaking his head. "My own parents were also relatives."

Akane and I stood there, our mouths agape.

"Our grandparents were cousins," he added. He glanced up and gave us a sad smile. "You think that we're freaks, don't you? Inbred children..." He lowered his head. "It's a miracle that we're still alive and don't have more deformities or illnesses than we do."

He has an illness too?

"No, that's not true. I don't think you're freaks," Akane said, shaking her head. "It's just that... it's surprising."

He looked down at his hands. "The people who've held us in captivity throughout the generations wanted all of the good traits. They would sell those who they deemed 'inferior'. They treated us like domesticated animals."

Right, farmers select for desired genes but inbreeding to this scale... that wouldn't happen.

"Is your wife your relative too?" Akane asked, averting looking at him.

He shook his head. "No. She's from this realm. Our stock came from thousands of years ago," he responded.

"Don't refer to your ancestors as stock," I said, looking down. "You aren't animals. But what I don't understand is what that guy, Kuroshi, wanted. And when you said, 'people', there were others who owned you prior?"

Yuko's uncle stared at me, his sad face became a scowl. "Now that I look at you again... You kind of resemble that man."

"Huh?" I said, looking up at him. His eyes were filled with rage.

He sniffed the air and suddenly a wand was against my throat.

"Master!" Yuko yelled, inching closer.

"Stand back!" Yuko's uncle advised. "This man is not to be trusted for he bears the blood of our oppressor!"

Right, Kuroshi is a Kuroriku.

"I do but we're not closely related. Well, okay, maybe he is. I think he might be an uncle or something," I corrected, raising my hands in the air as if I were being arrested.

The man snickered cynically. "I clearly remember his smell. You're his..."

"What's going on here?" Serrano yelled as he ran toward us. He was by himself. His eyes widened as he saw that I was being pinned down. "Tetsu! W-what did you do?"

"Nothing!" I yelled back. "This guy suddenly attacked me."

Serrano narrowed his silver eyes at the tanuki.

"Uncle," Yuko pleaded as she pulled on his apron. "Master isn't like that guy, even if he does bear his blood."

Yuko thinks the same thing? Just who was that man who sold her to me?

Serrano gasped at Yuko's words. "Bear his blood? Who are you talking about?"

Yuko's uncle glanced over at Serrano. He gave him the same distasteful scowl. "He too bears his blood but not as much as you."

Huh? How can that be? If Kuroshi should be my dad's brother, so he should be as equally related to Serrano as he is to me. Or is Kuroshi my dad's twin? That'll explain the similar names.

"What are you going on about?" Serrano asked, walking up the hill. He reached for Aventine.

"Your blood is like that of a normal nephew." His eyes darted toward me. "However, yours is..."

The stars above us blackened as if someone had shot them out of the sky.

"What's going on?" I asked. "Is it the abysmals or magic?"

Serrano gasped. His silver eyes scanned the area. "This aura, it's that guy again."

That guy?

"He's here..." Yuko's uncle said as sand grasped my legs. "Don't try to move, or I'll slice them off!"

A black cloaked man clapped his hands as he emerged from under the cherry blossom trees nearby.

That guy had been the one who brought the other knights here, so it shouldn't have been a surprise that he was here too. Yet, it still was.

It was time for him to keep the promise he made me when I last saw him. To reveal to me his true identity. I wasn't ready, though. Not for what was to come.

"Let go of TESTUYA!" Kuroshi demanded as he summoned a pitch black wand whose tip had a moon in the center of a wheel. He raised his sword at the young tanuki man.

What? Why does he care about my safety? This guy is just making things worse. Go! I don't need your help!

Yuko's uncle transformed his wand into a small black knife. "I won't hand him over until you face the same suffering that my siblings and I did as we watched your kind murder our parents!" he yelled, rage dripping with every single word.

This guy... he's filled with hate. Odd, why is it that I can feel it emanating from him?

Suddenly, I noticed that my rosary had a light purple glow. Hanketsu. Was he trying to tell me something?

The slave-owner jumped into the air as lightning gathered around him.

"I said unhand him!" Kuroshi yelled.

The knife pressed against my skin as Serrano and the girls looked on in sheer terror. Any move they tried could mean the end of me. Likewise for any that I dared to make.

I felt dark blood start to trickle down my neck and into the tip of the knife. Even though it was a small cut, it wouldn't heal like before. Did his weapon counter my natural regeneration?

Kuroshi transformed his black wand into a long black bow with the symbol of the moon. It reminded me of my brother's angel tool's weapon form.

Why did he have access to magic? Was he part mage too? Prana wasn't something that could be used by angels due to our lack of a magicae organum. The only angels I knew who could were those like the rulers of Xeleria and Zionia, the Kasai no Ki royal family, and this guy. All others were part angel and part mage, though.

Wings as black as onyx manifested from the man's back and wrapped around his body. Back in the capital I was too distracted by making it to the place on time to realize, but I had seen them a long ago. Even though I could barely remember the face of their owner, there was no way that I could forget them. They were just like my sister's.

That combined with the words of Yuko's uncle could only mean one thing...

"D...dad, is that you!" I shouted, causing the man to strike the tree next to us.

"Uncle, Takeshi..." Serrano said, narrowing his eyes at him."

The man removed his hood and mask. He had the same face round, boyish face as Takuya. His golden eyes looked directly into my own as a sad smile danced on his lips. "You two were always a pair of bright kids."

Yuko's uncle glared at him. "Say goodbye to your son, then after him comes your nephew."

Tears streaked my face. "You're... alive... But how? Why?" I screamed.

"So you truly were alive all this time, uncle. That explains why you could use Aventine. I should've known. Your alias of Kuroshi was even similar to your real name, Takeshi," Serrano yelled as he inched closer to us.

Pa looked over at him. "I wish that we could chat but I got to save you cousin first."

He formed a dark ball in his hands. It was the same as my signature shadow attack. He had been the one who had taught me that, well he had begun to before his supposed death.

Wait...shadows. I closed my eyes and tried to think back to what I did in my battle against Serrano. Slowly my body faded into shadows and reappeared behind Yuko's uncle.

"Stop," I yelled out painfully as I walked over to Akane and Yuko. My neck was aching as more blood continued to drip down. I felt like I could drop at any moment "Dad, leave, now!"

Pa reverted his wand back to normal. "Fine. You're an adult now. You should be able to fight your own battles."

I clenched my hands into fists. When did he ever fight mine? He died... or at least he pretended to. Why... did he do so?

I stumbled to the floor and spat out a wad of crimson blood. Curse this pain, I wanted to tell him more. Ask him about why he left us. Why he had faked his death.

Akane took out a green veil from her pouch and applied the liquid over my wound, causing me to grimace. It felt as if electricity was coursing throughout my entire body, revitalizing every cell.

However, the feeling was gradually replaced by a calming sensation. It was as if all of the ills of the world were fading before my eyes. If only they were.

Yuko's uncle turned around. His eyes were like a beast's. Why had he not killed me when he had the chance? Was it simply to torture my pa?

Yuko raised her pen knife as she came between us. "Don't dare hurt Yuko's master."

"Master? Why do you keep calling him that? Are you his slave?" Yuko's uncle asked, his face contorted. He stepped forward and shook his head.

"Slave?" Serrano said, looking at me. He narrowed his eyes. "Were you really willing to fall so low?"

"I sold her to him," Father responded for me. "She's his familiar."

Serrano grimaced. "Right, I heard from Nori that Kuroshi had enslaved them. Since you're Kuroshi..." He snickered bitterly as he gave him a disgusted look. "I truly was born into a crappy family."

Father snickered. "You hate your mother, don't you? For what she did."

My cousin formed fists and lurched toward him. "Shut up! I don't need to be lectured from a disgusting slave owner who abandoned his own family! So get out of my sight, you bastard!"

I smiled. Suddenly, it felt like Serrano was the old cousin I used to know. Even though this was the first time I'd ever seen him get so angry at the mention of his mom.

Father whistled. "And here I thought that you would be a good kid. To be honest, I am disappointed in you, Serra. I gave you Aventine, thinking that you would be more cool headed than my own children. Seems I didn't anticipate the influence others would have on you."

I grumbled. Was he talking about me?

Serrano took a deep breath. "How... do you expect me to remain calm? When I learn that yet another one of my relatives is scum? First my mother, then my aunt Rocio, then Tetsuya, and now you! The one I looked up to!"

I nodded. "He's right! How do you expect one to remain calm?" I snapped. "You... I wanted to be like you, Pa..." Tears dripped down my face. "I wanted to be a hero... " I punched the ground, turning the top of the hill underfoot into sand. "Is this what Suzuki meant when she bad mouthed you and the other Seven Hills?"

"Tetsu..." Father said.

Serra and I gasped as someone went past us. Rushing toward my dad was Yuko's uncle. He unleashed a wave using the sand I had just created. The wave ripped through the tilted trees and grass without any mercy, leaving the ground looking like a desert.

Father smirked as he closed his eyes. The attack stopped midway. Dad hadn't even lifting a finger, yet the sand flew around as if there were something holding it back. An invisible wall of some kind. "Child, you should be glad that my son took after his mother."

I stood up. "And Ma, why did you leave her alone to care for us three?" I yelled, darkness surrounding me. "Did you really fake your death? Or did mom herself lie..."

My eyes widened as I recalled how Ma had reacted when I said 'Pa' at the same time Kuroshi appeared. I had thought that it was because of Kuroshi's sudden appearance. But could it have been because she thought I had figured it out?

Tears streamed down my cheeks. So it wasn't only Pa who lied, but Ma too. Was this, was this how Serrano felt? Betrayed by those he loved?

"I am wondering the same thing," Serrano said, glaring at uncle. "Speak, shitty uncle!"

Father swept his raven-black hair back. "Hmph, is everyone going to team up against me today? Especially you Serra. I transferred some of my power through Aventine to save your life, even though I couldn't tell what your status was. Now sit tight. I'll answer your questions later."

Serrano's eyes widened. "You gave me some of your energy?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I had to protect you." He frowned. "Even though you now call me 'shitty uncle'." He looked away, feigning hurt feelings. "The wounds you sustained would've killed you if I hadn't intervened. Sadly, I couldn't find you myself."

"Stop with the act!" Yuko's uncle yelled. Sand danced around him wildly.

Pa cared for others? That was laughable considering how he treated Yuko when we met again. But... Oh, God, I was no better than him, having numbed my feelings at the time.

Pa crossed his arms. "Listen. If you have a death wish then come at me. I'll happily kill you to obtain your core." A sinister smile plastered his face. "After all, that's exactly why your family was bred for"

Core? That term... it was another form of magicae organum. A crystallized form if I recalled correctly. Not much different those of the abyssmals. The beasts of this world were all said to have one along with a few of the clans. Among them were the Kyuu-Hyaku, the rulers of Kyuu Seishin.

"Though Yuko has the best one of out you all," Pa continued. "She even managed to have it infused with mana."

I jumped up from the ground and shielded Yuko with my broken shield. "How do you know that?"

Pa scoffed. "I've been studying your development, son. Even after the events in Grand Crater. Also, just so you know, I was the one who told Rosa to ask Serrano who give it to. Even without my abilities of foresight, I knew that Serra would pick you "

Serrano narrowed his eyes. "You mean that you used my bond with Tetsu?"

"Yes. And even though you might feel that you made the wrong decision now, it is still correct. Tetsuya is the best one for the job. Likewise for the others. That is if they take the opportunities life has in store for them. The path to victory admittedly is a narrow one, but it's a risk I'm willing to take. And just like Rosa, you also play a valuable part in its unfolding."

Serrano lowered his eyes.

Yuko's uncle stared at me. "Wait, you're one of the knights?"

"You've heard of us?" I asked, tilting my head.

He glared at my father with the same cold eyes as before. "This man had notes on weapons for five knights. Some of which we stole. In it were blueprints on the shield."

I stared at my broken shield. "Right, he's the one who made them."

Father chuckled. "Who else could possibly gather all of the ingredients to make them? Though I did have some help from Kohri's old man. Sadly that weapon of yours turned out to be the most plain." He scratched his head. "Had to remember it by memory."

"How long has this been planned?" Akane asked, looking at him with both awe and horror.

"When the most recent incarnation of Hanketsu was born. So over a decade ago."

Serrano's face grew as pale as it did when he first saw me wearing my new armor.

Yuko's uncle lowered his head. He reluctantly lowered the sand and turned around.

"Giving up?" Pa asked, grinning.

"No.  But seeing your son's reaction just now made me realize that he is more trustworthy than you. I'll be waiting below while you talk. Yuko, come. Let's keep our distance."

Yuko as well as Akane followed after him. Leaving us Kuroriku behind.

"You knew him? Hanketsu's latest reincarnation?" my cousin asked, baffled.

Pa smiled. "Did you?"

He turned away from a moment, before looking back at him with a death glare. "Don't toy with me! If you knew then were you an accomplice in his death?"

Pa shook his head. "No, of course not. But, I did hear of it after it was already too late to save him. Listen, Serra. Just because..."

Serrano turned around again. "Really? Is that the truth?" he asked, looking up at the night sky as the stars started to return. 

I walked over to him. I wanted to ask what was wrong. Though, I felt that silence was better. At least for this moment.

"Let's go get something to eat," Serrano whispered. He ran off as if someone were pursuing him.

I clenched my necklace. 'Hanketsu, do you know him?'

'Serrano,' a young boy's voice echoed.

"That voice... who are you?" I asked.

There was no response.

"Is master okay?" Yuko asked as she held the container of octopus balls toward me. "Let's eat, it'll make master feel better!"

Her uncle patted her head. "Those are likely cold by now. How about I make some fresh ones, hmm?"

She grinned. "That would be awesome, Uncle!"

Was she unfazed by everything that just happened?

Wait, now that we found her uncle, would she leave me? She wouldn't, right? But... it was only right that she would prefer her family over staying with the son of the one who killed her family. I still didn't get why she seemed to lack her uncle's desire for revenge. Had being detained in that cell warped her emotions?

I gasped as a memory suddenly flash before my eyes. Yuko had acted like a robot when we first met. She displayed very little to no emotion until we'd met again at the Palace, and even more when I'd bought her. What did Kuroshi, no, Takeshi. When he sold her to me, he had mentioned that if I wanted, I could shut down her emotions if I so willed it. Was that how he managed to hide Yuko's fear for him and make her into a loyal puppet? And was it the same but less drastic with Nori?

*Character Section*

Yusuke Akiyama- Sex: Male Age: ? Likes: Family Dislikes: Takeshi and his family/'people'

Takeshi/Kuroshi Kuroriku- Sex: Male Age: Forties Titles: Hero of Kuroriku, Maker of the Five Weapons, Grand Duke of the South, the King without a Throne, The Traitor of Abyssia

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed this chapter :3. What did you think about the various revelations?**