The sky had finally cleared the next day. They took their seats in the cockpit and Jin made a call. The rest of them could agree easily that it was nice to see him and Eva sitting next to each other again. They were both quite happy about it too, even if they'll probably never admit it. At this point, it was probably considered a mission to them to get the two together. Or at least, the girls see it that way.

The trip took a two hours. Even with the storm gone, the snow still made it difficult to fly at a high speed. The Duck Shuttle landed on the empty field across the university. They all got off with Jin leading the way.

At the enterance, a police guard blocked their path. "Halt. Do you have permission to be here?"

Jin opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by a woman's voice. "Stand down. They're with me."

The police guard nodded and let them through. They went through the gate and spotted the woman who granted them entry. She had long brown hair and black eyes. She was wearing what seems to be some kind of uniform.

"Reina-san, it's nice to see you again." Jin greeted.

"Likewise." She replied, her face nearly void of emotion. She began to walk deeper into the building. "Though I didn't expect to meet you again here."

The others followed them, keeping quiet as she and Jin talk. "Where did you expect our next meeting?"

"The school."

"I think I've told you that I have no intention to be a teacher."

"We'll see about that."

"Um, hello?" Niara inserted herself into the conversation.

Jin cast a side glance to her before turning back to the brunette. "Everyone, this is Mito Reina-san. She is one of the students here. Reina-san... You already know who we are."

"I do."

Niara stared at the two for a moment before blinking. "And... That's it? No background? No story? No telling us hOW YOU TWO MET MAYBE?? Because I don't know about the rest, but I'm confused as hell."

"You're not here to question irrelevant things, so there's no need for small talk." Reina stopped by a door and knocked before opening it.

It led to a large room with many bookshelves. At the back, there was a man, hard at work on a desk full of papers. The brunette walked up to him. "Father."

The man looked up and smiled. "Reina." He glanced at those behind her and his smile widened. "Jin. Good to see you're well."

"You as well, professor." He replied.

"Professor..." Hugo muttered out loud, earning the attention of other. "She called him father and her name is Mito... Then you're Mito Eisuke? Neuroscience specialist?"

"And you must be Eric's most prized son."

"I'm his only son, but yeah."

The man scanned over the group, knowing them all from the Mizel incident. His eyes stopped at the blonde girl that looked very much like his friend's son. "And you are Evangeline, no?"

Eva nodded hesistantly. "N-Nice to meet you..."

"Exactly as Jin described." Prof. Mito said to himself. He stood up and faced Cobra and Hugo. "So what is it that you need my help with?"

"We think that Hugo's parents hid something here some time before Aval-Tech went bankrupt." Cobra explained. "You seem to know them, seeing as how you recognize their kids right away."

The professor seemed to frown. "It could be that..." He muttered. After thinking in silence, he nodded. "I think I have exactly what you're looking for. But I want only Hugo here to see it. Everyone else, please wait outside... Or actually, Reina, why don't you take them on a tour? You can explain some of the things I told you and Jin last time he was here."

They were confused, but agreed. Walking out of the room, Cobra went back to the Duck Shuttle to contact Tiny Orbit and NICS HQ, while the rest of them followed Reina around the building.

~~~~~

"So now will you explain how you two know each other?" Niara asked, in her most exaggeratedly annoyed voice yet.

"Didn't we came to the conclusion that he went to university before starting high school?" Jessica said sarcastically.

"Again, it was more like private tutoring." Jin replied.

"He went to another school several blocks from here and during one of his special lectures there, my father took an interest in him." Reina explained.

"Because he's a finalist in Artemis or the grandson of Kaidou Yoshimitsu?" Kazuya asked.

"Because he's probably the only one in the school that actually understands what Father was talking about."

Kirito turned to said boy. "You know, I'm starting to think Lev's right about you being cursed by knowledge. There was the student council, and then this. There's also everything else you knew about whatever happened in the past incidents you were involved in."

"Wouldn't that make you somewhat of a victim too?" Jin retorted. "What with Omega Dain and all. And you were the first one of us to encounter a Vector."

"Fair enough."

"So what exactly did Professor Mito talked about?" Asuka asked.

"A special ability that humans may possess." Jin explained. "'A state of hyper-focused attention and energy that enhances one's performance and where the full extent of their talent can be expressed' is how he described it."

"You... lost me at 'hyper'." Ami sweatdropped.

"Would that be the thing that Hiro could do?" Ban asked, recalling the times when Hiro would use his LBXs to a large extent regarding performance.

"Couldn't Kousuke do it too back then?" Eva thought out loud, referring to Lucifer's Seraphic Mode. Everyone turned to the two in question. Hiro stared back nervously while Kousuke just shrugged.

Reina hummed in thought. "I'll have Father take a look at you both later."

She led them into a room that had a few dioramas for them to battle in. Strangely, no one went off on their own and stuck with her to listen to what else her father was researching. Pass that room was another one that had couches and chairs to sit on along with a few coffee tables. What was most noticeable was the billiards table in the middle.

"What about what you mentioned earlier?" Yuuya spoke up. "About... Jin being a teacher?"

After a moment's thought, Jin answered, "You all heard about the school for LBXs, right?" They nodded. "Professor Mito is part of the project. He's creating a large diorama for that school to use as some sort of simulation of war."

"The school itself is almost finished. They're already getting hundreds of student applications. All that's left is to find teachers." Reina continued. "I'm considering heading there myself when I've graduated from this university."

"On the other hand, the professor wants me to teach as soon as the school opens." Jin said with a sigh. "I declined because there are other things I want to focus on for now."

"Like Eva?" Ran teased, making the blonde nearly choke. The others either snickered or sent knowing glances at each other, Jin shaking his head and trying not to groan.

Reina hummed. "Huh... you never mentioned you had a girlfriend. You should've told your classmates then. If you did, then maybe your classmates wouldn't ask you out every week."

"Oh wow." Kousuke snickered. "Kaidou not only being at the top of the class, but also a heart-rob?"

"I wish I could say I'm surprised, but..." Ami thought back to when they first met Jin at school and how her classmates reacted.

"It's not like I asked to be born with this look..." He muttered.

"Uh guys." Niara called from the back of the group. "Eva hasn't stopped choking."

"I'm okay-" The younger blonde coughed. At first she was just taken by surprise, but then she really did started choking on her own saliva. After a slap on the back by Niara, she finally stopped and sighed. "Thanks."

"Anyway, with all that said," Reina walked over to the billiard table. She picked up two sticks and tossed one to Jin. "Let's continue the conversation over a game."