Media: Ryo Hagane

When the door opened, I inhaled deeply, keeping my gaze trained on the ground. Silence trailed on for a couple of seconds before a voice broke through.

"... Tess."

"What, Shaun?" I snapped. "You're probably going to-"

"Look up."

I fell silent instantly, then raised my head.

"Mom...? Dad...?"

"Sweetheart!"

The shriek came from the human body that tackled me in a hug, sharp nails digging into my shoulders.

"Oh my gosh, I really, really, really hope you're okay, because that Ryuga bully better not have hurt you! You're fine, right? I hope you are? If not, I'll go back and hit him with your brush! You forgot that at home, by the way, and-"

"Mom, I'm not even sure I missed your chattiness," I remarked, my brow furrowing, but a smile on my lips.

My mother, Arianna Rixen, released me and stepped back, hands on her hips.

"You guys have enough food, right?" She fussed. "I hope Shaun's been making enough money-"

"-Tess has a job too-"

"So he can support you fully when you get a job!" Mom fully ignored my brother, clapping her hands together.

I didn't miss the over-executed facepalm Shaun did.

Next up was my dad, Jayden Rixen. He embraced me, not as tight as Mom did, but in a manner that only dads could do. As he pulled away, he offered me a smile and slid his hands into his pockets, letting his wife do all the talking.

"- and the friendly member of... what's the organization called... J.C.I...? His name was Timon, or something like that. He was so charming, although I wouldn't leave my sweetheart for him."

I choked on my breath, tears coming to my eyes at such a thought.

"T-Timon? Friendly? Charming?" I spluttered out a laugh.

Shaun cracked a smile, while Mom only looked dumbfounded.

It was then when I noticed the other person in the room, a redhead seated on the couch, chin rested on his knuckles, which were propped up on the armrest.

"Who are you?"

The question flew rudely from my lips before I could repress them, but I didn't attempt to cover it up or sweet-talk him or something.

The man stood. He was about as tall as Shaun, if not taller.

"My name is Ryo Hagane, but... you can call me-"

"The Immortal Phoenix, we get it, we get it," Shaun sighed. "More like the Immortal Idiot."

Ryo's serious aura dissipated, and he stared at my brother for a moment, one hand poised and pointing at himself before he anime-crashed into the ground.

"Uh... you all right there?" I asked.

Ryo sat up, and blinked at me. "Oh, I'm fine, I'm fine." 

"You said Hagane... that means you're related to Gingka, right?" 

Standing, Ryo brushed his suit and pants off. "Yeah," he stated proudly, the emotion gleaming in his voice. "He's my son." 

"I figured. You've got his eyebrows. Or... I guess, he got your eyebrows. Lightning and weird." 

"There's nothing wrong with my eyebrows!" Ryo yelped, clearly taking offense. 

Hands found my shoulders, and Dad tugged me back as Mom smiled sweetly. "She means nothing of that, she's quite a rebellious daughter-"

"Mom-" 

"- and we've trying to teach her not to insult people without her realizing it-"

"Mom-!" 

"- but our efforts fall flat, so..."

Ryo laughed it off, waving a hand. 

"So... why are you here, uh, Mr. Hagane...?"

"Ryo's fine," he shifted his stance, worry creeping over his face. "You heard about the incident with Doji, right?" 

Only my dad's hand on my shoulder stopped me from tensing up, but blackness threatened to overtake my vision. 

"Incident...?" 

His expression morphed to one of solemn sadness. "He was killed. He might have been the person we were working against, but... he was still a human being-"

"Human being, my butt," I growled. "He put me in a pod and tried to suck my life-force out!"

Ryo looked taken back at my contradiction. "I know, but-"

"What do you mean my little baby was put in a pod?!" Mom shrieked. "You said that she has been just fine!"

"I can explain-" 

Dad stepped forward. "You might call us over-protective, but we sent Tess here because it was safer then near the chemical building where we live." 

Ryo's eyes widened. "U-Uh, I have to go, so... yes, why don't you two have your family time! Immortal Phoenix, out!"

With that, he scurried out the door faster then what a man of his size should have been able to walk. 

"... I swear to god, he's never going to drop that title," Shaun sighed, then pushed off of the wall he was leaning on. "You're just fine, right? So, Mom, Dad, there's no use fighting Hagane over it."

Mom puffed out her cheeks. "I allowed you two to go because I thought my pumpkins would be safer in Japan then they would in America!"

"That doesn't mean we're not going to to conflict." 

Pouting, my mom wrapped her arms around Dad's, hanging onto him tightly. "I know, but still! You two need to be protected!"

"We're seventeen and fourteen, Mom."

I snorted behind a hand, and Mom waggled a finger at us two. "You will always be my little children!"

"To me as well," Dad chimed in, nodding in agreement. 

"We can take care of ourselves, you know. We have partners!"

Her eyes seemed to glimmer, and my mother started to bounce up and down. "Partners? Boy? Girl? Oh, tell me that you're in a relationship, then Jayden and I can all  go the protective-parent style on them, only to tell them that we adore them. Unless they're likable! Maybe you have a crush on one of your partners!"

"Mom, no," Shaun said flatly. 

"But-"

"No." 

She dropped it. This time, Dad took interest. 

"Can I meet... these partners?"

I pulled Eagle out of my pocket. 

"... a piece of metal and plastic." 

"Ru-ude! Eagle is a he, thank you very much, and him and I have been through a lot together!"

Mom blinked. "I remember that scrap piece-"

"Eagle."

"Yes, 'Eagle', as you call it, I remember Shaun having it."

"It was mine before I got Aries."

"Another one of those things?" Dad cocked his head. 

"Yeah. I... don't have her right now." 

"Wait, Aries is a her?" 

"Yeah. You didn't know?" 

I shrugged, shifting my weight between both my feet repeatedly, causing me to sway side to side over and over again. "Nope." 

Shaun's gaze drifted to the door, then down to the floor, before been aiming at his extended palm. "Yeah, well... I'm not going to be getting Aries back in the condition she was in."

"Wait, why-" I was about to demand the reason before reality and memories hit me like a truck barreling down the highway. 

Poison Aries, shattered on the doorstep of Riyui's household. Crashes and splinters as sounds of assault rang out. 

"... they destroyed hi- her," I breathed. 

Shaun nodded. 

Both of my parents were watched with a perplexed expression. Dad reached out and patted Shaun's shoulder with an awkward, kind of comforting aura, while Mom just stood there. 

"Well!" She shook herself out of her daze. "I hope you get it repaired soon!"

Shaun didn't even attempt to fix her misuse of gender pronouns for his beyblade. 

"Oh, my! Jayden, look at the time!" She squealed, flicking open the necklace that dangled from her throat. "Our plane's in an hour and a half, we have to blast!"

Dad looked startled as he checked the clock that rested just above the door, and pulling Shaun and I towards him, gave us a quick hug. Mom did an action in the same quickness, pecking our cheeks. 

"Love you two!" She called out the door. "Don't get in trouble, okay! Then Jayden and I will be back with consequences!" 

Just like that, my family was gone.

"... I forgot how overly talkative Mom is." 

"I thought that we decided that she has a mouth both for her and Dad."

"Yeah, true." 

[ Have a fun filler chapter! We should have one more chapter to go before the ending chapter! ]