Raven had worried about letting Yuuhime do work in the Union HQ at first. Not only did she worry that she still might still be an enemy, but that she might distract Tang Xuan.

Fortunately, the complete opposite happened. Not only did Xuan's workflow became better, almost everyone else's improved as well in just the day she had been there.

She shared a lot of interesting and legit information, as well.

"You have to focus all your energy to one part of your body," She had explained to Raven, "like in your finger or something. Then, you just gotta aim and let it all out-"

And then she zapped a can right off its feet! The silvery metal sizzled from the heat, it making a mess. But this was enough to get Raven interested and impressed.

Raven herself decided to try it out, and managed to make many little holes in a training dummy. She requested for Espers with healing powers to try it out, hoping to have finally found the cure to Divine Weakening.

When Sally tried it, she found that it only quickened the healing of a tiny area, and it didn't even work for the burns from Yamato's attacks.

"It was a good thought." Sally had told Raven, who was disappointed.

"Keep working," Raven said, "we must find a cure."

Xuan felt his arms. The burns speckled his skin in a way that made him feel horribly embarrassed. Not only did these burns refuse to heal, they got worse while he was being controlled by Yamato. It wasn't a mystery why; Yamato had made him do grueling work sometimes, and more often than not he couldn't even remember what he did.

"Knock-knock." He heard Raven say, opening the door to his office.

"Come on in!" He said, smiling.

"So, you've been back for a day now," she sat down by his desk, "and I want to talk. And no secrets this time."

"Yeah," He rubbed the back of his head, "secrecy is what got me into this mess...but Yamato threatened me, he threatened you!"

"I heard. Heng Yue got ahold of that letter. I understand how you felt, but we're all capable adults here. You should have told at least me."

Xuan nodded, looking down. "Maybe. But Yamato is really strong, a force to be reckoned with."

"Li Ling and Tang Yun surely took care of him easily."

"That was the exception."

"We have lots of Espers to fight against him. You need to stop worrying."

Xuan sighed deeply, leaning back on his chair.

"How are your burns treating you?" Raven gestured to his exposed arms.

"I wish I could say fine, but they're killing me."

"We're working on an antidote, just hang tight."

He nodded, sighing. "I know you wanna ask about Yamato, so spill."

"You read my mind," She chuckled, "first off, what did he make you do? Anything particular?"

"Remember the Golden Theater burning down?"

"He made you do that?!"

"No! No! He did that himself, I just beat up...someone?"

Raven sighed deeply. "You can't remember who you hurt?"

"No. I don't know why. It's something to do with the music box."

"Do you know if you did anything else without remembering?"

He was silent for a long time. He felt his gloves, where they were horribly dirty from hurting those people at the theatre. Even though he'd cleaned them over and over again, he could still feel the crusted rips. He still remembered waking up in the middle of the night, his limbs sometimes sore, but he never thought it mattered since he thought it was just his burns.

"...no." He slowly said. Raven sighed, rubbing her temples.

"You're sure?"

"Yeah, s-sorry."

"Don't be, this isn't your fault." She stood up. "We've checked the house you were first in and found nothing."

"He took us to a different house, but I don't know that one's address."

"Would Yuuhime?"

"Maybe. I'll ask her."

Raven nodded and smiled.

"Thanks for all the work you've done. We'll bring this Yamato joker to justice."

And with that, she left. Xuan's face darkened, knowing full well that his coworkers over confidence was going to slow down things. He knew a few people understood the dangers of Yamato, but even more seemed to blow it off as Xuan being "irresponsible" and having "an overreaction."

One of the most annoying was David. When he found out Yun was the one who ultimately took out Yamato (temporarily), he laughed and said Xuan must of been "getting rusty or something."

"Go hit the gym!" And left it at that.

Yuuhime was having her own struggles, too. She came into Xuan office and buried herself in his long hair, groaning.

"Barden?" Xuan guessed. Yuuhime nodded.

"I don't get why he feels the need to talk about his brother like that." He flung her hands up. "It's just his brother, who I may add, left him for the Shadow Degree."

"Hah..."

"Like, you're normal about your brother and you're in similar boats. Why can't he?"

"That's just how he is, I guess." Xuan said softly. Her cheeks puffed out, and he couldn't help but chuckle.

"Just ignore him if it's bugging you so much, alright?"

"...I'll try."

He smiled then returned back to his work. She glanced at his burns, her stomach flip flopping.

"How are your arms?" She asked, stroking them.

"Been better, been worse." He replied, standing up. "Come on, let's go get lunch."

"It's that time already? Today's gone fast." She followed him.

"Yeah, well, that's life. Hey, by the way, do you know the addresses of those mansions you stay at?"

"I wish. I only know the Utgard's one, but thats not really helpful. Sorry."

"Nah, it's chill, don't be sorry." He said and squeezed her hand. She smiled slightly and squeezed back.

"Hey, Tang Xuan, Miss Yuuhime!" Jin-Hee came running over.

"Yeah, what is it?" Xuan asked.

"Me and Bardon-"

"Me and Xuan are busy." Yuuhime said stiffly at the mention of Bardon.

"Hm? Oh, sorry, this'll only take a minute." She apologized to Yuuhime. "As I was saying, me and Bardon got assigned to go search that underground miracle later today for any potential citizens trapped. Think you two could come out and help?"

"Sure!" Xuan said.

"Why us?" Yuuhime asked at the same time, a little more coldly than she meant.

"You two were in there first-hand," Jin-Hee explained, "I even heard about Yuuhime's impressive feat of taking down five massive miramon down there!"

"Alright, I don't think I have anything else going on." Xuan said thoughtfully.

"...I don't either." Yuuhime mumbled. She really wanted to make up an excuse, but she didn't want to lie in front of Xuan.

"Aight, sweet!" Jin-Hee cheered. "Meet us at the car lot in two hours, please."

"Course." Xuan waved as she left. He then pulled out his communicator to let Raven know about this recent development, and Yuuhime dragged him along.

"Alright, half an hour-ish for lunch and one hour to get ready." He said aloud, calculating. She liked it when he calculated because his face got all squished and thoughtful. He liked it because she would smile and stare at him.

"Is Bardon annoying on missions?" Yuuhime asked.

"I don't know," Xuan replied, "I'm not usually on the same mission team as him."

"He better not be, or else I might become a wanted criminal."

"Aw, don't become a convict. Then I'd have to become one too to see you."

She giggled and leaned on his shoulder. "Aww, you'd do crimes for me?"

"Nope! I still have a moral compass."

"Good. You'd make me very disappointed if you turned bad."

They soon arrived at the small cafe nearby the HQ. They ordered a large muffin to share, since Xuan hard time eating a whole one and Yuuhime wanted to simply share something with her Xuan.

"That took us only 20 minutes," Xuan said as they left the cafe, "what ever will we do with all this time?"

"We can get extra prepared." Yuuhime suggested.

"How so?"

"Well, for one, these shoes aren't meant for extreme hiking."

"Makes sense. Maybe I'll put on something more flexible."

"We can pack some snacks just in case."

"Maybe!" He smiled. "Well? Let's go back to my place and get fixed up real quick."

She nodded excitedly. And so they did, going back to Xuan's apartment.

The small space felt more and more like home by the day. Yuuhime felt more comfortable leaving her things on the counters and floor by the door. Their hygiene products were now one. She even still slept with Xuan, even though she didn't have nightmares anymore. That's what couples do, right? Sleep in the same bed?

Yuuhime bent down and changed her platforms to hiking shoes, ones that Xuan had gifted her. She slipped on a jacket, then realized she didn't have a hair tie to tie her hair back.

Last time she was fighting miramon, she wished so desperately that her hair was tied back. Today she could do that! She quickly opened the bedroom door instead of the bathroom door on accident and had to pause for a long time.

Xuan stared back, shirtless. His face turned pink, hers scarlet.

"Eek! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to come in here!" She went to close the door but hesitated when she noticed scars all over his torso.

"It's fine," He said, rubbing the back of his neck, "not what you were expecting?"

"Eh?! Hey, I-I don't imagine you shirtless! That's weird, r-right?"

He shrugged, picking up his shirt. "I guess I was just a little too slow changing shirts."

"U-Uhm, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, course."

"What are those scars from?..."

"My scars? Miramon, falls...I think I got this one was from a Shadow Guard or something."

"What about that really long one on your stomach?" She stepped closer, reaching out.

"O-oh, that one? It was from..." He inhaled deeply, "it-it was from Yun."

She was stunned, surprised, then angry. She had to bite back her anger before she even tried to talk. 

"Why would he do that?" Yuuhime said.

"I honestly don't know," he admitted, "it was a while ago, we were 16 or 17, something like that. I think it wasn't on purpose, don't be angry."

He went to put his shirt on, when Yuuhime quickly ran to him and kissed him.

"You won't get anymore scars." She said, her breath making his face flush.

"How come you're the one who always gets to kiss first?" He asked.

"I'm just bett-" She couldn't finish when he kissed her, brushing the hair out of her face.

"I won't let you get any scars of your own, either." He said, causing her to peep like a cardinal.

"You tricked me!" She gigged and quickly backed up. "You better put that shirt on before I do more."

He rolled his eyes and slid his shirt on. "Ready?"

"Yep."

"Then let's go!"

***

Bardon tapped his foot. Where the heck were those two?

"I told them to be here in two hours," Jin-Hee said, "so they still have time, 30 minutes to be exact."

"It's just be easier if they didn't take the whole time," Bardon replied, agitated, "or even yet, not even come!"

"Bardon-"

"That Miss Yuuhime doesn't even like me."

"They're the two out of the four that have been in. You know I tried to get Mona and Arcana, but they already had business. No point in complaining now."

Bardon sighed but obliged. Perhaps after seeing him in action, Yuuhime would be more soft in her way of telling him she disliked him immensely.

"Why do you think she even dislikes me?" He asked.

"Dislikes? No, she full on hates your guts."

"You're not helping."

"Oh, look, there they are now."

The two finally came, as ready as they could be. Bardon smiled and gave them a big wave!

Although Xuan waved back, Yuuhime gave him the look of the year.

'Bad start! Ok, act cool!' He thought to himself then cleared his throat.

"We can finally go!"

"Yep, let's head on out."

***

"Man, this thing goes deep!" Jin-Hee remarked, staring down the gaping hole that was the known entrance of the miracle.

"All the more reason to go down." Xuan said, stepping down.

The miracle's appearance caused many people to lose jobs and homes. He remembered Yuuhime talking about how she couldn't go to work for two weeks. She was lucky, though, because her manager was able to find a new place for the escape room. Others weren't so luck, many stuck in a camp created by the Union.

When they were walking here, a little boy with stars in his eyes asked if they were going to make things ok again. Xuan had told him "of course!", but when he contributed walking, he couldn't help but feel a sting of guilt as the little boy's mother took him back, her eyes red from tears.

The group walked closely together, being careful to not stumble.

"So, Yuuhime," Bardon said, "what do you do for fun?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" She grumbled. Xuan placed a hand on her shoulder and she sighed reluctantly, "...I like collecting dolls, and eating ice cream, and watching my mecha shows."

"Ooh, what mecha shows do you like?"

"The Sunflower Warrior."

"Hey, I liked that one as a kid!"

"How many dolls do you have?" Jin-Hee asked.

"Too many to count." Yuuhime replied. "But they're at the many mansions Yamato owns."

"You made a paper doll the other day, right?" Xuan asked.

"Y-yeah, I gave it to Mona. I hope she liked it. I wanna make more for other people too." Yuuhime was quiet for a minute before pulling out a doll shaped paper. "I knew it, I accidentally brought one."

She looked at Jin-Hee and gave her it. Jin-Hee flinched at the horrifying creation; its paper body looked decaying, its hair flaky and messy, and its face something out of a grave.

"I've been practicing my art skills," She told  Xuan, "to make them look realistic."

"Very cool!" Xuan praised her.

"Yeesh, girl's bit of a freak." Bardon whispered to Jin-Hee upon seeing the zombie doll.

"Don't say that." Jin-Hee whispered back. "If you do, she'll have even more of a reason to hate you."

As they walked further in, they felt the ground start to rumble.

"Woah!" Bardon cried, reaching out to grab the wall.

All around them, rocks began to float up. The ground itself spit and flew up, revealing an even bigger cavern below them. They heard the roars of miramon around them, too, shaking the miracle even more than it already was.

"Xuan!" Yuuhime screamed as a crack formed quickly beneath her, swallowing her. Bardon shot into action, reaching for her before he too fell through.

They could hear the other two yelling, but they were quickly unable to see them anymore.

***

Bardon slowly sat up, rubbing his head. He could feel blood on his face, his whole body throbbing.

"...where am I?" He wondered aloud, trying to get up.

"Stop right there," He felt Yuuhime push him down, "you're hurt really bad."

"Yuuhime? Oh, I'm so glad to see you! Are you ok?"

"...I'm fine," she mumbled, "but our communicators aren't."

She pointed to a pile of tiny machine parts.

"Damnit, that means we can't call for help." He groaned. He looked at her and saw her arm wrapped up.

"Are you sure you're ok?" He said, still looking at her arm.

"Yes, I've endured worse." She pulled out a roll of wrap and started to bandage his legs.

"Can you walk ok?"

"Of course I can walk ok." She snapped. "How do you think I got over here?"

"Sorry, sorry." He said and held his arms up.

They were quiet for a long time. Yuuhime focused deeply on the wrapping, Bardon focused deeply on tricking himself that he was ok.

After a gruelingly long time, Bardon finally couldn't stand it.

"Sooo."

She ignored him.

"Where did your...love...for dolls come from?"

"My brother."

"Oh, you have a brother? I have one too."

"I know." He knew he could be oblivious sometimes, but he could feel the icy cold spikes from her voice.

"You talk about your brother forever," She continued, "as if he's some...some...poor child! But it sounds like he's not?"

"No, he's 25 I believe."

"Then why do you say such things about him?"

"Ehh...can you give me an example?"

"You're always talking about how much you wanted to protect him when you two were younger, but when you tell your methods it's...like...you're trying to protect a baby that doesn't know anything yet instead of a full grown adult!"

"It's not like that at all! Why do you care so much, anyways? It's personal family matters."

He yelped as she tightened the wraps around his injured legs.

"Hey, hey, hey! That hurts!" Bardon yelled. She slightly loosened them, tying them so they would stay in place. He rubbed his legs, biting lip cheek.

"Why do you hate me so much?" He asked.

"Because you're acting just like my brother!" She snapped, scooting away. "And I don't like my brother!"

He was quiet for a long time. She was too, facing away from him. He didn't know what to say, even though he always knew what to say.

After another long silence, he heard her sniffling.

"A-are you ok?" He asked.

"I'm sorry for comparing you to Yamato..." She hiccuped, "you're better than him by a long shot by just being here."

"Hey, don't cry!" He yelped. "I'm sorry for triggering something in you."

She wiped her eyes and gave him a look. He sighed, looking away.

"C-can you, sniff, walk now?" Yuuhime asked.

He struggled to hoist himself up, but ultimately could.

"Let's go now." She got up as well, wiping her eyes. "...I'm quite tired of looking at you."

"I think the same." Bardon huffed, limping. Yuuhime glanced at him, then smirked.

"Hm...maybe you're not the worst."

"Of course I'm not! Whatever gave you that idea?" He laughed.

And with that, they were off.

***

"Not only have we lost two," Raven recalled, "the miracle is rising more..."

Jin-Hee stood to the side, waiting for the word. Lewis stood back, taping his foot. Xuan stared at the miracle, its sharp edges poking out of the earth and building. Clutching his staff, he had to be held back by Raven so he wouldn't run back in.

"Yuuhime...Yuuhime..." he murmured over and over again. Raven sighed deeply.

"Lewis, watch him."

"Course." Lewis grabbed Xuan's shoulder and glanced into the deep void of the miracle.

It had been an hour and a half since the miracle rose. Jin-Hee claimed she had to drag Xuan out of there so they wouldn't get crushed themselves.

"If she's-" Xuan hissed.

"Calm down, bro." Lewis sighed. "She's capable of taking care of herself, you of all people should know that."

Xuan bit his lip. Lewis rubbed his back, attempting to calm the red head's nerves.

"Hey! There's the entrance! Hah!" Bardon's voice echoed far within the miracle.

"There's people up there..." Yuuhime said, "Xuan! Tang Xuan!"

Her figure quickly came into view. Xuan broke free and ran towards her, sliding down rocks and into her arms.

"Don't you scare me like that!" He cried, helping her back out.

"I'm glad you're ok, that was a nasty earthquake." Bardon told Jin-Hee, who simply shrugged with a smile.

"I should be telling you the same thing." She glanced down at his legs.

"Packing extra is a good thing sometimes." Yuuhime simply said.

Bardon nodded, then collapsed, panting. "I never want to do that again."

"We'll make sure to prepare members better." Raven said, turning. "I need to take this call."

While the buzz of worried conversation happened, Raven stood far back and answered the call.

"What is it?"

"Ma'am, we've gotten intel on Shadow Degree activity, that's very nearby. They greatly outnumber you, please consider leaving soon."

"Alright, thanks for telling me." She hung up and then called, "Move out!"

***

"This moving miracle could spoil many of our plans," Fu Shi mused, staring out at the giant thing's newly revealed rocks, "what's the miramon looking like, Nichole?"

"Not good," Nichole said, "they'll be at least an inconvenience, at most destroy our bases and equipment."

Fu Shi grunted and turned to the Shadow Guards in the darkest part of the room.

"Tang Yun. You failed me once, but this opportunity will prove yourself to me once again." He said deeply. Yun stepped forward, bowing his head, mainly to hide his struggling face that held a small smile.

'Failed you?' Yun scoffed internally. 'I don't care what you think. I got what I wanted, and you'll never know.'

"But to make sure you don't fail me again," Fu Shi looked at the other two Shadow Guards, "Freddy and Leon will accompany you."

He wanted to cringe, but this was merely a small setback. This changed nothing.

"Yessir!" Freddy announced. "I'll make sure this little punk doesn't fail again."

"You yourself better not fail me." Fu Shi hissed, holding out a file. "This is the mission details. This is truly the long game, but I have much faith."

Yun slipped the folder into his hands and glanced at it. The Neather Goal insignia was painted on the fight corner. Even better, that place had anti-Esper chains.

"Let me say this," Fu Shi toward above Yun, "do not fail me again."

"I wouldn't dream of it, sir. It will get done."

Bah! He hated saying that. Once this was all over, he planned on leaving and never returning.

'Watch out, brother,' he thought to himself, 'you'll be mine and only mine soon enough again...'