*Tetsuya*

I smiled and dashed past Osamu as I won our little struggle for the ball.

My eyes widened as the twins zigzagged across the court. Their movements were symmetrical. Didn't think that a pair of fraternal twins who squabbled this much could be this in synch with one another.

"Eita!" I yelled, launching the ball even as the twins got closer to him. They would try to pincer him, but Eita wasn't a stranger to such strategies. Surely, he wouldn't let them catch him this easily.

Eita caught the ball and as I'd predicted, the brothers applied pressure on him immediately, causing the ball to slip from his hands.

"Agh! Eita!" I yelled, rushing over.

"It's fine! Stay where you are!" he yelled, running for the ball.

"Nice try, kid," Azami said, picking up the ball from the ground and throwing it at Osamu. The pair continued passing it between the two of them.

Which do I focus on?

"Focus on His Majesty!" Eita yelled as he dashed toward Azami.

Azami looked over his shoulder and chuckled. He threw the ball behind him.

What?

Eita gasped as Osamu appeared beside him and caught the ball. He jumped and threw the ball into the air.

I leapt as well, but Azami hopped into the air and pushed back. Ugh! So, his leap toward Leviathan wasn't only the doing of his wings after all. His sons got his high jumps for sure!

Serra's dad grinned at me. "I'll beat you today, old man!"

I gasped. Old man? Did he confuse me for someone else? Maybe he wasn't all that right in the head. Those drugs he took had to have scrambled his brain long term.

I chuckled as my eyes glowed. "I won't lose to you, kiddo!" i said, much to my surprise. The voice was mine, but the one speaking felt as if it were the other me. The one from the trial, the fake Agnes.

"Don't go easy on them, young man!" the voice echoed in my head.

W-who are you? Really, I mean. I know that you aren't my real guardian angel.

"Hmph, I'll tell you if you win, kid! Beat these kids!"

Kids? They were older than me! Wait, was he the one that Azami was seeing? Oh, well. That didn't change a thing. I set out to beat these two from the start!

*Hyosetsu*

"Hey, try this on, son!" Rene said, lifting a white button up shirt toward her son.

Hideo blushed. "Mom. I'm eighteen now. I can pick out my own clothes."

She frowned. "Okay."

"Aww, Hide! You made Mom sad!" Ki said, glaring at him. She and her siblings had all joined. Even Silas. Though, he was busy arguing with Marina who was trying to get him to put on something she had picked out.

"I-I didn't mean to! Ugh, fine. I'll try it on," Hideo said, sighing.

Rene smiled slightly. "It's okay if you don't want to. You're right about being a big boy now." She looked away. "I probably should've let you kids fend for yourselves earlier."

"Mom," Cami said. She wrapped her arms around her.

Rene squeezed her daughter's hand. "Thanks, Mila."

"Hey, Hyo!" Kohri said as he came out of the dressing room with a hoodie and baggy pants. He only needed a gold chain to look like an old-time rapper.

I laughed. "You look nice."

He grinned. "Thanks! I picked out a matching outfit for you!"

I frowned. "I was being sarcastic. You look awful."

Kohri sighed.

"See?" Onami said, chuckling.

Yuko giggled. "Yuko thinks Kohri looks kind of cool. In a funny way."

Kohri grumbled. "You could've stopped at 'cool'."

Mom tried not to laugh but failed miserably.

Kohri stomped his foot and frowned. "Aww, not you too, Mom!"

She smiled. "I think Yuko's right. You look funny but cool. Reminds me of when Azami was younger."

My brother grinned. "Maybe I should give the matching outfit to Con. Hmm, but the size is too big for him. Going to have to pick a smaller one."

I walked away from them and sighed. Mom probably just said that to make him feel better. Why did I even come here?

My eyes turned as from the corner of them, I saw big green neon letters across from the store we were in saying, 'book shop'.

As if in a trance, I walked further away from the others who were too busy with their own things to notice. 

I had not felt this way since I was a kid. Dad used to take me to buy books whenever I did well in school. Which, in my case, was always. Even after his death, I would reward myself with a book after passing a test or achieving some other kind of milestone.

The scent of coffee tickled my nose even before I stepped inside. If Hideo came close, he probably would buy himself one. Hmm, should I get one for him? Maybe some rose tea for Rosa. But could she still drink the stuff? She was pregnant. It would be best to look it up before buying it.

I stared at the shelves, looking for any titles that popped out at me. Most of them were bland Isekai. Ugh, I hated the majority of them. Couldn't the authors be more creative with them? A guy who gets a harem and is overpowered is only interesting for the first couple of pages of a single novel. 

My eyes finally came to a stop at a blue spined book with big white letters spelling out 'Fantasia'. I picked it up and saw a girl resembling Rosa riding a giant blue dragon on the cover.

"Oh, it's me," Baldo's voice echoed in my head.

"Aren't you my guardian angel? How can you be so full of yourself?" I asked, rolling my eyes.

"It was a joke..."

"Oh," I said, feeling my face flush. I still wasn't very good at catching them.

I sat down in one of the seats in the cafe-style bookstore and glanced through the pages of the novel.

"You're smiling," Baldo said.

I shook my head as I realized I'd gotten immersed in the book. I'd already finish half of it before I knew it. Even by my standards, that was quick.

"Well, it is a good book," I said, continuing to read.

"It is!" a voice called out.

I jumped and turned around to see Rosa looking over my shoulder. "Rosa? Since when were you there?"

She grinned. "Not long after you sat down." The princess winked. "Seems that I found out your weakness."

I grumbled. I'm pathetic... dropping my guard over a book.

She ruffled my hair and gave me a gentle smile. "Don't feel too bad. I did use my 'gentle step'."

I gasped. When did she learn that?

"Surprised that you could pull it off," I said, smirking.

She narrowed her eyes at me. "Hmph! I am a pretty good student! Plus, I had a great teacher! Anis!"

I blinked. "Tetsu's mom?"

"Yeah! She started teaching it to me during the first meeting of the five. I'd been practicing since. She gave me a few pointers to perfect it at her place."

I sighed. So, my guard wasn't at fault. Still, I should be keen enough to notice even a 'gentle stepper'.

"You're fine, I noticed," Baldo said in my head. "If I hadn't, then I would be concerned to."

"Seems that you still have to improve. Hyoryu noticed," I said, smiling.

Rosa crossed her arms. "I'll keep working at it."

"Uh, so you did want her to not be noticed?" Baldo asked.

I don't, but I figured that I could use it as motivation.

"Wait, you're talking to your angel?"

"It's more so the other way around."

"I see. Seems you have a talkative one. Would be nice if  Caelio talked more."

I shrugged. "He probably doesn't as he knows that you'll take that inch and turn it into a mile."

She laughed. "Like with you?"

I turned away. Right...

"Say, how did you find me?"

"Kohri and Miyu said that you would probably be here. Your mom said that you used to do this as a kid. Going to either the bookstore or to angel tool weapon stores. I figured that since you have Baldo, you wouldn't look at angel tools you couldn't hope to own."

I shrugged. "I only ever got two of them. I like thinking of what kind of powers each one might have." I lowered my head. "As a kid, I would make up stories for them, blabbing off to Father."

Rosa cooed. "You sound like a cute kid! Too bad that I barely remember kid Hyo. Setty sure is lucky."

My face flushed. I also used to tell my stories to Setty.

She swung her hands behind her back and gleamed. "Hey, since you like making up stories, why not write your own?"

I looked down at the blue and gray carpeted floor. "I have one. It's about a girl who finds a legendary sword. It's based on the swords of the founders. She's too kind to erase her enemies most of the time, but when angered, she'll erase them without hesitation."

She laughed. "Sounds like the real owner of Zangetsu."

I cleared my throat. "I might've gotten inspired a little by him and Piedad. In terms of demeanor. At the time, I didn't know that Conrad was the reincarnation of Hanketsu." Or perhaps I did, instinctively.

Rosa giggled. "You should show it to them. They will probably be flattered."

"I rather not. It's something that I mostly wrote for myself and friends. Well, there was a time where I wanted to be well-known, but... stuff happened. Anyway, forget it. I'm going to buy this book and some drinks."

"I'll help you. I want to get something myself. I'm parched."

I glanced at her white bag. She had picked out a lavender set of baby clothes.

"Uh, do you know if you can still drink tea? They have your favorite kind."

She smiled. "Yeah, I can. Rene and Anis gave me some while at the latter's place. They told me it was still safe."

Well, both would surely know. Especially Rene.

"Alright," I said, walking with her to the counter.

"Uh, after you finish with that. Can I borrow it?"

I smiled. "Sure."

"Yahoo! Wanna read it to my baby. Hopefully, it likes books as much as its mama and papa."

I sighed. If only I could've been its dad instead of Tetsuya.

*Tetsuya*

I panted and stared at the scoreboard. We had entered the final quarter and were still behind seven points.

"They're as tough as Mother claimed," Eita said, wiping the sweat off his face with his shirt. "I'm starting to think that we're toast."

"Come on. Don't say that! We've turned seven-point deficits around before! This isn't even the worst!"

"Yeah, but look at us. Well, me. I'm sweating bullets here while the royals look like they can play another four quarters."

"Well, our last break is about to be up. So, let's get going."

Eita sighed.

"Go, Eita! Don't give up!" Suzuki yelled from the stands.

Eita let go of his shirt and blushed. "Tetsu. We got to win!"

I laughed. Man, did she trigger his switch.

"Hey, are you two dating?" I asked, grinning.

He fidgeted like Yuko would around me. "Uh, we did go on a date, but that was more so because she owed me."

"You had her repay you with a date?"

He sighed. "I know, I'm pathetic."

I laughed nervously. I really couldn't argue with that.

"Well, did it go well."

Eita straightened out. "Yeah, I think so!"

I patted him on the back. "That's great!"

He winced. "Uh, could you please not slap me."

"Oops, sorry. Forgot to watch my strength there." I really had to work on not slipping. Especially with a baby on the way.

Eita chuckled. "You really are a beast, Tetsu."

"You two ready to finish this?" Serra asked, walking over.

Eita stretched his arms out and nodded. "As ready as I'll ever be."

I smiled. "Yeah! I'm ready to crush your old man and uncle."

Serra chuckled. "How can you manage to be so cocky despite being behind all game?"

"Can't let bad vibes take over." Whenever I do, I tend to fail.

My cousin smiled and sighed. "Wish I had that kind of optimism."

"Well, you're cocky yourself at times too," Eita said.

"Are you boys done talking?" Azami yelled from his and Osamu's bench.

I rolled my arm and grinned. "Yeah! Let's go, Eita!"

Eita adjusted his arm bands and nodded. "It's time to turn this around!"

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed the chapter ^^. Thoughts? Theories?**