Evangeline Mech:

A few days went by in a flash. Jin's grandfather still doesn't know we're rebelling. There was something wrong with him. He's been completely unresponsive lately.

I sighed as I looked out of the train window. Jin just had the idea of going to Akihabara to see Yamano Ban... Who was looking for Otacross.

How did I know? My tablet wasn't only programed to analyze battle data, it can also be used to hack the Infinity Net. And with my 'brain-chip', that's not hard to do.

When we got off the train, i got hold of Jin's jacket upon instinct. I hate crowded places, unless if it's a tournament of course.

We walked around and found Yamano Ban by the river bank. I sat down below one of the trees near by while they have their own chat.

I leaned against the tree and sighed. Kaidou Yoshimitsu... Innovator... Kamiya Craft... Haibara Yuuya... What connection do these four things have?

I sighed again and took out my tablet. I decided to look through the Infinity Net for some clues. I could hardly find anything...

"Evangeline, we're going!" Jin called. He was on the hill with Ban.

"Coming!" I scrambled to my feet and caught up with them. I grab hold of Jin's jacket again and we kept walking.

I can see Ban eyeing us strangely but the fact that he didn't say anything was respect enough for me.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"To Otacross' lair." Ban replied.

I sweat-dropped. When you say it like that, it makes him sound like an evil scientist...

When we got to the top floor of some building, I covered my head with my jacket's hood. I have a hard time trusting people. And some of these guys gave cold stares while others (*cough* Otacross *cough*)... Are just plain weird.

When he landed his eyes on me, he went all willy-nilly. "A pretty girl!" He went closer. "And who might you be pretty lady?"

"E-Evangeline... Mech..." I said hesitantly. I still haven't let go of Jin's jacket. He didn't seem to mind though.

"Eva-tan!" He called me.

"E-Eva-tan?" I said surprised. Why the hell is he calling me that?!

"Can I make a model out of you?" He asked me. "Along with Ami-tan as well!"

"No way." I said firmly. He's gonna be an irritating one.

"Why is Kaidou Jin here?" Kazuya asked.

"I invited him and Evangeline." Ban said.

"You're not planning something sneaky, are you?" Kazuya asked, still not trusting us. My grip tighetned but he didn't stop me.

"He's not. We can trust him." Ban said. Everyone's paying attention to Jin... Without him, it's like I don't even exist...

"So you say..." Kazuya muttered.

"Come on," Ami said. "What're you muttering about?" She turned to face us. "Let's put it behind us. I'm glad you're here." Jin just nodded but my grip stayed firm.

"I don't approve, but if Ban's okay with it..." Gouda said.

Sendou shrugged. "I don't care either way. I only trust myself in the end."

"Hey you." Otacross suddenly said.

"Me?" Kazuya asked.

"Yeah. You've got a guest." Otacross replied. He pointed to the door, just as a man walked in.

Tiny Orbit's director, Uzaki Yuusuke... I watched him gave a case to Kazuya and when the latter opened it, there was peices to put together an LBX, Fenrir. He then put them together.

"I've got preparations to make." Yuusuke said.

"Preparations?"

"Tiny Orbit is the one who organizes Akihabara Kingdom, after all." Akihabara Kingdom, the tournament that decides who has the right to face off Master King... Whoever that is.

"Take good care of them." He told Otacross.

"Leave it to me." Otacross replied.

"Yuusuke-san, thank you." Kazuya said.

Yuusuke nodded. He started walking towards the exit but stopped when he saw me. "Evangeline Mech?" I held my breath and nodded in reply. Then he smiled and pat my head before walking out the door.

I tensed up at first then blinked. What was that about?

Otacross cut off my thoughts. "Then I'll announce the teams!"

"Teams?" Ami asked.

"Didn't I mention it?" He asked. "Akihabara Kingdom is a team battle. Each team has up to 3 people."

"I see." Ban said.

"Then here's the first team." He said. "Ban, Gouda, Sendou."

"With this guy?" Gouda said, glaring at Sendou.

"And the other team is Kaidou Jin, you and Ami-tan." 'You' refering to Kazuya i take it.

"Wait a sec!" Ami said.

"Don't just decide that on your own!" Kazuya said.

"Too late, I just registered you guys with these teams." Otacross said, stroking his beard. Then he widen his eyes. "Argh! I forgot about Eva-tan! Now she won't be able to battle!"

Everyone laid their eyes on me. I shrugged. "I don't mind. I'm nothing compared to Jin anyway."

"Wait, what?"

Ami cut Jin off. "Then we'll be fighting with these setups?"

Kazuya and Jin then locked eyes. Gouda and Sendou did the same... While growling.

"Then, it's time to go to the stadium!" Otacross announced.

~~~~~

Kaidou Jin:

Evangeline and I walked hand in hand down town. Sometimes she'd grip it for no reason then sigh and ease up. What's wrong with her today?

I shook my head slightly. I don't want her to get a mental breakdown in a public place like this. It'll just worsen her behavior.

Otacross explained about the Akihabara Kingdom. We met up with the owner of an LBX shop Ban often goes to and his wife. Otacross got excited again for no reason, kinda like how he reacted when Evangeline came in. When they left, Gouda's gang, Ryuu and Mika came up to us.

Then alarms went off and the ground began to shake. An arena raised up from the ground and Otacross explained that the Akihabara Kingdom tournament will be held up there.

Ban looked around. "That's the famous team from L-Magazine, Metrotrain!"

"Cyber Knights is here too." Kazuya said.

"The Otarangers are entering too!" Ami said.

Then, OtaYellow ran over to her. How did i know his name? His suit gave it away. "Ami-tan! Ami-tan, let's go do our best together!" Like master, like desciple.

"Y-yeah..." Ami said uncomfortably.

". . . How far will they go? Gouda Hanzou and Sendou Daiki, I mean." Evangeline asked. Why did she suddenly called them by their full names?

"I'm not too sure myself." I replied.

We went in and the MC divided the blocks. Ban's team was in A Block while my team was on B Block. While Ban tried to stop the other two from arguing, a man came to me.

"Hi, Mr. Jin Kaidou." He said. We looked over at him. "So you're the Split-Second Killer Emperor samurai boy huh?"

"What the..." Kazuya muttered.

"Boy and pretty girl, I'm your upcoming opponent, Jason Kurosawa." He said. "The samurai code is about falling eight times and getting up seven. Only luck will tell which one of us is in the right."

"What're you trying to say?" Kazuya asked.

Jason held out his hand. "In other words, it's been Japanese tradition to send salt to your rival. Let's have a fair fight." Hesitantly, I shook his hand. Then he moved on with Kazuya and Ami. Then he left.

"What was that all about?" Kazuya muttered to himself.

Then, Evangeline locked hands with me again. Her grip was tigher than before so i thought something was wrong. Kazuya and Ami seemed to notice it too.

I was going to ask but Ami beat me to it. "Eva, are you alright?"

She barely nodded in reply but her grip was still firm. Then she suddenly let go and ran off on her own. I blinked a few times then i felt something in my hand where she held it. I looked into my palm and found a silver pendant.

Flashback~

"Hey Eva, this is your first LBX battle right?" I asked.

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm really nervous..."

I smiled at her. I took out a red collar with a silver pendant from my pocket. "Here."

"What's this for?" She asked, accepting it as well.

"So that you'll win."

Flashback End~

"So that I'll win, huh?" I smiled slightly and kept the pendant in my pocket.

~~~~~

15 minutes before the tournament starts. We started preparing our LBXs and the others came for support.

"Jin, let's do our best." Ban said. I nodded.

Then Gouda and Sendou started fighting each other again. While they're doing that...

"I'll go for the first round." I told Ami and Kazuya.

"Jin?" Kazuya still doesn't trust me.

"Sure." Ami said.

". . . If Ami says so... Then I'll leave it to you." Kazuya said. I nodded.

~~~~~

Ban managed to win his first round, so I'll have to do the same.

"Ready...!"

"Bushido!"

"Proto Zenon!"

"Battle Start!"

It wasn't that much of a battle. While Jason was busy blabbering about things that almost no one gets, I simply hit his LBX, Musya Custom and jumped back before it exploded. When I think about it that way, it makes it sound a lot less violent...

"You did it!" Ami cheered. Kazuya just stared at me. I gave each of them a glance before we left the stage.

"You did it, Jin!" Ban cheered.

"It's too early to celebrate." It's wasn't even worth celebrating. I left for Ami and Kazuya to talk to him for a while.

I sighed and scanned the audience. On the roof of a near by building, she was smiling at me. The first real smile I've got from her in a while.

Then i remembered what happened earlier. 'I'm nothing compared to Jin anyway.' What did she mean by that?