His first memories were simply of darkness.

Cold. Empty. Darkness.

Who knows how long he had been there.

All he knew was that, whenever his eyes opened, there was always nothing but destruction around him. Loud sirens would then fill the air, people in red and blue surrounding him. He could escape by simply letting out a war cry. The energy that burst out of him would take care of the rest.

So it surprised him when he suddenly woke up inside a cottage. What was he doing before that...?

Oh, right.

He had raided one of El Dorado's machine caches. After that, he was chased out. He tried to retaliate with his powers, but their numbers were too great. They were all too prepared to go against him too.

He managed to escape thanks to the sphere device he took. Checking his pockets, he let out a sigh when he felt its retracted form inside one.

But as he recalled, he teleported himself to a forest... So why was he in―

"Oh, you're awake!" A blonde woman came into the room, smiling wide. "Thank goodness! You've been out for quite a few days, you know!"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "And who are you?"

"Haha! I knew you were going to say that!" The woman placed a tray on the counter beside him. On it was a plate full of food and a bowl of soup. "My name's Kimetha Avalon. You can call me Kia. And before you ask, yes, this is my house."

"And why―"

"'Why am I here' is what you want to ask next, right? As well as 'What do you want from me', and perhaps also 'Is the food poisoned'?"

His eyes narrowed further with every word that came out of her mouth.

She chuckled. "Don't worry, don't worry! I'll answer them. First of all, you're here because my husband and I found you laying in the middle of the forest path a few days ago. Of course we couldn't leave a boy passed out in the open like that, so we took you back with us. Second, we just want to make sure you're alright. And third, no, it's not. The cream soup's my best dish actually, and I am very proud of it!"

"And how do I know you're telling the truth?" He asked.

"Well, if we were planning to turn you in, we'd have taken everything you owned and left you for El Dorado to take."

"And how do you know El Dorado's the one after me?"

A holographic screen appeared between her hands. On it was a picture of his face with quite a sum of money below it.

"And as for why we decided to help a wanted criminal..." Her smile seemed to turn brighter. "Let's just say you aren't the first child we came across who was running from them."

"And what happened to them?"

"Oh, they all have their own paths they want to follow." She chuckled. "Some want to create a haven for other children like them, others want to live while quietly blending in, and so on. None of them took a liking to this little cottage in the forest, though. Then again, children do tend to prefer places with a big space to move around in, so I apologize in advance if you find this place to be cramped too."

"That's not... Nevermind."

It was clear that she really didn't have any intention of harming him in any way. He also had to commend her courage in letting herself get involved with people like him.

... Or perhaps it's naivety.

Well, I'm not in a position to comment either way.

Looking up from his thoughts, he finally noticed the woman staring at him expectantly. She was waiting for him to try her food.

So he did.

"It's... alright."

She laughed. "Well, even if you can't be honest through your words, you seem happy, so that's good."

As he continued eating, Kimetha― or Kia, as she insisted― kept going around the house doing who-knows-what. Just as he finished the last of the soup, he heard a male's voice coming from the other side of the door. And right then, it opened to reveal a man with brown hair and round glasses over his purple eyes.

He blinked at him before giving a smile. "Ahaha... Sorry for the intrusion. My name's Houou... Though, you probably heard that from my wife already."

"Indirectly."

She didn't mention it to him, but she kept humming the name loudly and happily as she scurried about.

He chuckled. "Well, that's fine. What about you? What's your name?"

"Ah!" Kia's yell came from further out the room before rushing towards them. "I completely forgot to ask that!"

"I thought so." Houou said, patting her head while turning back to him. "Then?"

He stared at them for a moment before shrugging. "Don't have one."

"Oh?" They exchanged glances before he spoke up again. "Your parents never gave you one?"

"Don't have those either."

"How long have you been on your own?"

For a moment, he observed them. He didn't want to be pitied. But that wasn't what he saw. In their eyes there was nothing but curiosity.

It seemed they really were experienced in dealing with kids like him.

"For as long as I can remember."

"Hm, is that so?" The woman hummed. Suddenly, she clapped, making both him and the man jump. "Then, how about I name you?"

"... Huh?"

"No offense, honey, but your naming sense is..."

"Oh, come on! It couldn't hurt, right?" She pushed the man's face away before sitting down by his legs. She stared at him for a while before snapping her fingers. "I got it! Zanark!"

"... What?"

"Zanark!" She repeated. "It's a cool name, isn't it? I think it suits you!"

"What does it even mean?" Houou asked.

"No idea!"

Both him and the brunette sweatdropped.

"Why do you sound so proud?" He couldn't help asking.

"Haha! I thought you'd say that! It's fine to admit when you don't know things, isn't it? It's better than lying that you know everything!"

That was true.

"Anyways, for your last name..." She hummed in thought once again. "... Maybe... No, that doesn't go well with that... And neither does that... Hmm..."

"Kia, maybe―"

"Oh, this is taking too long! How about just using ours instead?"

"Wha―?!"

"Kia." The man finally placed his energy on his words. "You're making the kid uncomfortable. You haven't even asked what he thought about the first name yet."

"But he didn't look like he's against it." She turned to him with her head tilted slightly. "Are you?"

...What the hell am I supposed to respond to that face with? Despite being older, at the moment, she looked like a child that would cry the moment she was denied anything she wanted.

But as for the name itself...

"... I'm a member of the lower-middle class without a name... Zanark Avalonic." He finally said.

"Eh?"

"I'm not your child." He stated. "I'm not anyone's... but the name's not bad."

Kia smiled. "I see. Zanark Avalonic, hm? Very unique! It really suits you!"

"I thought you'd say that." He teased back.

"Kia's rubbing off on you this fast, eh?" Houou chuckled. "Oh, I can already tell the next few days would be interesting."

~~~~~

Several months passed by.

He hadn't meant to stay as long as he did, but he didn't have any other plans just yet. The two were very welcoming of him too, so there was no reason to leave so quickly.

At the moment, he was questioning why Kia's stomach was getting rounder. But he was being far too obvious and was caught staring so they told him that they found out she was pregnant the last time they went out to the city.

"Zanark! I want you to be the older brother!" The woman suddenly said one day, grinning with her eyes sparkling.

"Excuse me, what?"

"You heard me!"

"Ack―!"

"Kia, let the boy breathe, please."

He gave a small, thankful nod at the man as he choked in some air after being released from the hug-turned-deadlock. As for the offer itself, he declined it, insisting they were not family.

"Consider me your son all you want, I'm still not agreeing."

"Just like all the other kids." Houou sighed. "Well, it's fine. We still like having you around, so even if you're not our biological son, we won't kick you out."

"I do hope you won't leave, though." Kia huffed. "Really, at this point, I'm sure if all the previous children had stayed, we would have a full soccer team along with the reserves."

"A soccer team, huh?" The man chuckled. "That would be nice."

That made him raise an eyebrow. "Is soccer really all that great?"

The two adults exchanged glances before turning back to him with wide eyes. And immediately afterwards, he regretted asking. The brunette dragged him out of the house with a soccer ball while the blonde stayed on the porch to watch. The two went on a ramble on how it was the world's best sport, popular with everyone. From children to adults, and much more.

By the time the sun began to set, he was able to do more than the average beginner could. It turned out, his physical abilities and fighting skills could be put to good use in the sport.

It was... fun.

A soccer team, huh... An idea came to him that night.

The next day, the couple woke up to find their guest room empty with only a single note left behind.

'I'll be back! -Z'

~~~~~

How many years had it been? He couldn't quite remember.

He'll just assume it's been five. Inputting the coordinates to his bike, he time jumped to that many years after he first met them. They're in for a huge surprise!

"You seem pretty excited, Zanark." His most recent addition, Rasetsu, pointed out as they made their way to the clearing. "Are these people that special?"

"Oh yeah, you don't know, do you?" His number five, Engir, chuckled. "These people are the reason why Zanark went out to find us in the first place."

"Make sure to behave, boys." Yasha, his number three, chuckled.

"You're the one who needs to be reminded the most, Yasha." Maze, six.

"You aren't any better." Org, four.

"Now, now. Let's just make sure we don't cause them any problems." Gouzu, two.

"The one we should worry about most is the small one, though." Shura, nine.

"You shut it! I'll grow soon enough, and when I do, you'll be sorry!" Goblis, eight.

"But he didn't deny the fact we need to worry about him, huh..." Shinjami, seven.

"Will they be alright with all eleven of us suddenly coming in?" Shuten, the first person he pulled along, came up beside him, ignoring the argument that broke out behind them.

"It'll be fine. They love company." He walked up to the porch and knocked as loudly as he could without breaking the door. "Hey! Anyone home?"

However, he didn't expect to find a child opening the door. One that looked almost too much like that woman. The little girl blinked up at him for a moment before letting out a huge grin. "Papa! Papa! Someone came to visit!"

"Who's that someone, Kimmy?"

"A big, red man with green hair! And a lot of other people!"

"...Who?" Footsteps came from where he remembered the master bedroom was and a brown haired man appeared. His purple eyes widened when he saw him. "Zanark! It's you!"

"In the flesh." He smirked. "I told you I'll be back, didn't I?"

"You didn't tell us anything, actually. You just left a note."

"Same thing."

"It really isn't..." Houou sighed, but gave him a smile. "It's good to see you're doing well. You've grown up a lot."

"Yeah, and your wife shrunk apparently."

"She's my daughter actually." He went over and picked her up, getting giggles out of her. "Kimmy, this is Zanark."

"The one mama first gave a name to?"

"Yes. That's him..." He trailed off when he finally noticed he wasn't alone. "I'm not quite sure who his friends are, though."

His smirk grew wider. "Zanark Domain. A soccer team made up of members of the lower-middle class without names."

"You gave us names, though―"

"Don't bother. He won't listen."

"Oh..." The man blinked before his smile returned. "Well, it's nice to meet you all. Come on in!"

They spent the evening catching up and getting to know each other.

He told the man about how he started his trip by raiding more of El Dorado's caches and building himself the time traveling bike he had before time jumping to all sorts of periods to escape them. Each time he jumped, he searched for someone who was in a similar spot as him, wandering in the darkness aimlessly, and gave them a name and a purpose. His team was completed just a few months before, and since then, they had been doing whatever they could to make trouble for their enemies.

The man chuckled in response. "Well, you can do whatever you want. All I ask is that you don't target the labs."

"Why not?"

"To put it shortly, I work there." Someone choked on their drink and the man quickly explained himself. "I won't report you kids or anything! That goes against everything my wife and I had built up all these years!"

"Still, I don't think you were working there last time I was here." Zanark said with an eyebrow raised.

"Well, I did get my position after you left. I worked my hardest for it too." He smiled at the blonde girl playing with the boy that was just about her size. "I had to for her sake."

Immediately, he understood. "Second Stage Children, huh... And since she's here, then that means..."

"Kia has passed on." The man nodded before nudging him with his elbow. "She really wanted to see you again, you know."

"If I came back after aging up this much to a time that was only a few months after I left, she'd get a heart attack."

"Ahahaha! No way! If anything, you're the one who'd be in trouble with her choking you in another hug."

"Ugh..." He rolled his eyes and they landed on the girl, who was sliding down Org's belly. "The kid's a splitting image of her, though."

"Yeah... I promised to keep her safe no matter what." The man suddenly stood up and picked the girl off the ground. "Come on, Kimmy. Time for bed."

"Aww... Okay..." She peeked over his shoulder and turned to his team. "Will you all still be here tomorrow?"

"We don't have any immediate plans." He replied.

The girl beamed. "Okay! See you then!"

~~~~~

"And these are...?"

"You always say your eyes hurt when you go too fast... So, here! For you!"

The blonde girl in front of him held up a pair of goggles. He took them from her tiny hands and tried them on.

"Huh... Not bad."

"Hehe! Papa made it! But there's something I want too!"

"And that is...?"

She stated her request. He gave her a look.

"No."

"Please!"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"Pretty no."

She pouted. "That's not how that works!"

"You're in my territory, so I make the rules. Whatever I say, goes."

"I won't stop bothering you until you say 'yes'!"

"Oh really? And just how are you going to manage that?"

She responded by going over to his bike and sitting on it. "I won't leave! And if you teleport me home, I'll just come back!"

He pushed the goggles to his hair, rolling his eyes. "I don't need kids on my team."

"Goblis is right there!"

"Hey!"

"Goblis is at least five years older than you." He pushed her forehead with a finger, making her topple over to the ground.

However, she stubbornly climbed back up. "I still want to join!"

"No."

"It's fine, isn't it?" A new voice suddenly joined them.

"Uncle four-eyes..."

The man didn't seem to be bothered by the rude nickname at all. "After watching you guys for so long, I can understand why Kimmy wants to join you. Why don't you let her? At least to your soccer team?" He went over to the girl and patted her head. "She just wants to play."

He grumbled a lot of disagreements, but after enough badgering he eventually agreed to give a small test. All she had to do was keep up with Rasetsu's plays. The purple haired boy being their latest edition, he wasn't as good at soccer as the rest of them, but that's not to say he was bad. If she could keep up with him for 20 minutes, he'll agree to her joining them.

Apparently, he set the bar too low.

The girl was much faster and agile than he expected. She also had a lot of energy.

Second Stage Children... He could only give a sigh as the timer ran out. He couldn't go back on his word, especially with the father cheering for her. When the girl ran back to him with her eyes sparkling, he groaned. "Fine. You're in."

"Yes!" She high fived with her father before turning back to him with an expectant look.

"What now?"

"You give all of your teammates names, don't you?" She asked.

"Yeah, so?"

"So, what's mine?"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Your mom gave you one already."

"This is different!" She said, puffing her cheeks out.

"How?"

"It just is!"

"Just give her one, Zanark." Yasha chuckled. "You know you're not winning this."

"You'll suffer less if you just go along with it too." Shura nodded.

"Yes, I am well aware of that, thank you." He snapped at the two before turning his glare back to the child, who was still looking up to him with those... eyes. "... Kiko."

"Huh?"

"That's your name now."

She blinked, tilting her head to the side. "What does it mean?"

"No idea."

"Eh?"

The man gave a chuckle. "Kia's really rubbed off on you, huh?"

He smirked, putting the goggles back on. "I thought you'd say that."