Eous flipped over a series of slashes from Miyabi's blade, rolling under her roundhouse kick and sliding forward to latch onto the Steeltusk with a mischievous grin.

"Aw, can't keep up? Even outside of a Hollow? You haven't been slacking, have you?"

Eous swung off the Steeltusk and kicked away a mercenary from off Billy's delivery truck. He bounced off their body and dodged another slash from Miyabi he didn't even have to see.

"You're far more nimble than last we met, yet you're still holding out on me." This was the first time he could see genuine frustration in her eyes.

Eous landed on top of the steel tusk and swat his hand back to deflect the suppressive fire aimed at his back.

Several cars of more mercenaries began to tail and surrounded the two vehicles, leaving Eous to tauntingly flap his hand at Miyabi before disappearing.

Eous slid across the ground before spinning up and kicking out his legs to shoot straight through the windshield of their ATVs, knocking the entire group out and into the horizon.

He latched onto the steering wheel with his tail and jerked it around to ram into the ATV tailing right behind Piper, sending the two cars out of control before he leapt away.

In the air, he swiped his hand out and negated a slash of Ice Fire from Miyabi, who still saw him as the far bigger threat.

The Steeltusk began to overtake Billy's truck, but this only left the mercenaries to go after the weaker link.

The mercs on bikes began dragging their blades against the grounds in hopes of slashing Billy's tires, but Eous flew by and snatched one by his throat.

He leapt up and spun around before chucking him right at his counterpart on the passenger side, sending both rolling away into the distance.

Eous landed on top of the truck before leaning back farther than the human body can contort to dodge a sweeping slash from Miyabi.

"Damn, you want me so bad, don't you?" Eous mused with a grin.

Miyabi grit her teeth and kicked his shin, bringing him to a knee. He rolled past her as she hacked down, leaving her open to a kick in her own shin.

She used this to change positions for a rising slash, but Eous flipped off the truck and winked at Billy, Nicole, and Nekomata.

He swung out his tail and caught onto the car ramming into the Steeltusk's sides, dragging his feet against the ground and pulling it back.

As soon as he zipped forward and crashed into the bumper, he picked up the ATV with no effort and literally tossed it aside.

He raced around to handle the next, but Miyabi tackled him into the side of the Steeltusk with a leer full of impatient.

"No more games. You're mine."

Eous smirked. "Take me out to dinner first, sweetheart."

Miyabi's grip on him trembled, but the two suddenly jerked their heads over to a homing missile aimed at the Steeltusk.

Eous kicked off the Steeltusk and pushed Miyabi aside to catch the missile with his tail. Miyabi raced ahead of him to slash the second one encroaching on Billy's truck.

Eous spun around and threw the missile away with a grunt, but it didn't make it far before exploding from the force.

Eous landed on the Steeltusk with a smug smirk before being tackled away by Miyabi again.

"Alright, I'm all for the rough housing but I've got prior commitments that won't GO for this!" Eous kicked Miyabi into the air before hopping up over the Steeltusk before it ran him over.

He zipped above Miyabi and cocked back his fist to knock her away, but she swiftly maneuvered around and kicked away his hand.

Eous could tell she was starting to take this far more seriously and scoffed.

Nicole watched the two disappear from sight and gulped nervously.

"This is really, really bad... Billy, hold the wheel stead—"

Before she could even warn him, lashes of Frost and Ice Fire littered the ground and air alongside pops and sparks of Ether, one of which was clearly trying to avoid his friends.

Steeltusk and Billy's truck began wobbling and swerving around to try and avoid the clashes of elements crashing into the ground around them, but it only got more and more chaotic as it felt like Miyabi was getting more and more impatient.

With a sudden burst of Ice Fire, Miyabi slid to a stop and staggered on her knee amidst the flames.

Eous slid across from her with a gash on his forearm from having blocked a slash.

Piper and Billy knew better than to stay in one place and were forced to evacuate the growing fire around the two.

"What the hell's up with your sword? Even it can't handle me?" Eous taunted, but his smirk was washed away hearing malicious murmurs coming from the blade.

He looked at Miyabi and saw her eyes teetering in and out of focus between him and the blade that was wavering with a red aura.

He saw a remorseful look written across her face as she battled against the manipulative whispers of the being trapped within her sword.

"Tailless... no..." Miyabi weakly tried to control the blade, only able to strengthen her grip. "The... sheathe..."

Eous eyes dart around for the black sheathe until Fairy pointed behind him. In an instant, he raced back and got it before sliding in front of her with a glare.

"The hell do I do now? Just throw it on?"

"Steady!" Miyabi barked.

Eous ignored the frosty flames peeling at his skin and held the sheathe steady. Miyabi shared the same poise and began inserting the blade into the sheathe despite the fire bursting from the steel.

Eous grit his teeth as the sword itself seemed to fight back against their seal, lashing out slices of fire that cut his skin continuously until Miyabi grunted and shoved the sword forward.

As soon as the sword was concealed, the fire dispersed into nothingness and let the two rest.

Miyabi panted and rest on the concealed blade as Eous let go. She weakly looked up and saw the cuts lining his body, remembering that he had a stark weakness for Ice due to his Ethereal Corruption.

Despite that, he stood unfazed.

A silence overtook them as they stood there, far behind their friends and colleagues.

Eous shook his head and groaned before placing a hand on his hip. "Quit looking so awkward. I'm fine."

"You're bleeding all over."

"Been through worse as of late."

"Yet you won't tell me." She pouted.

"Yeah, cause now you've got a warrant on my back? Cause you've deemed me evil?" Eous leered back.

"It's business, Eous. It's the best course of action after they discovered that you were at the scene of many Vision related incidents." Miyabi reasoned.

"Yeah, well, I should've signed an NDA. Thought you guys would've gave me some freedom." Eous rolled his neck and began walking.

"Where are you going?" Miyabi called out with a glare.

"Where else? Gotta get your HSO friends off my team's back. You heard Nicole. We don't need your help after all."

"You clearly do. You're limping." Miyabi noted, pacing over to him with a frown.

"Again, been through worse. 30 minutes and I'll be in top shape—" He was yanked down to a crouch as Miyabi dug around in her uniform for first aid.

He groaned as she sat on her knees, watching her pull out bandages she happened to keep on hand. "I'll humor you, yeah?"

"Thank you..." Miyabi closed her eyes as she unwrapped the roll. "Please, can we converse as... friends."

Eous looked at her tense expression, clearly able to tell she was fighting her own inner turmoil between business and personal affairs.

"Alright, lay it on me. What's up?"

"Today is election day, and Nicole of the Cunning Hares has given us a reason to reinvest our efforts into the Vision case with the addition of Perlman's accusations on Bringer. If we don't understand what's going on soon, if Perlman's words hold true, we would be allowing an enemy of peace come into power. So... please forgive me for being so snippy."

Eous chuckled and looked at her hands delicately tracing his arm. The bandage was snug, but he knew it wouldn't last long the way he fought.

"Don't make fun of me. This was the least I can do after being so weak..." Miyabi leered at him as he smiled.

"Weak? It was clear you were holding back. You knew I was outside of a Hollow and you couldn't endanger the Cunning Hares and Perlman. Appreciate you not going all out on my friends."

"You too were holding out on me. I can feel a far greater presence from before. You're hiding something." Miyabi pouted as she finished wrapping his right arm.

"I'm certain you'll see it soon enough but... you won't like it." Eous frowned and held out his left arm.

"Why is that?" She questioned with a thin smile, refusing to believe she could dislike anything about him.

He kept quiet. How could he tell someone whose job it was to cut down Ethereals, that he had fully embraced becoming one. Would she understand that he needed the power to find his path?

Miyabi began to frown seeing he wasn't ready to share. She wanted nothing more than to know that she was someone he could rely on, the same way she relied on him as a pills of pursuit.

"I understand if you're not ready, but know that I am always willing to listen. If it may help, could I..." She slowly began to advert her gaze from him, making him confused. "Could I take you up on that offer you made?"

Eous zoned out, trying to recall what he had said. "...Dinner?"

A small nod.

"The Void Hunter of H.S.O Section Six is asking out this lowly proxy to dinner?!" Eous dramatically clarified.

Miyabi squinted her eyes and frowned. "I can take it back—"

"Nah, you pick a place and I'm there. Wouldn't ever turn that down. I just... hope you'll hold yourself to that." Eous smiled weakly and looked away too.

She caressed his arm just after she finished the left bandage. Her attention was locked only on her sense of touch as Eous thought about what it meant to Ionize in front of her.

He knew the day would come, but could she handle it? Could he?

Their worlds would either separate or collide.

Their silence was suddenly broken by— "Miyabi, your sword!"

"What?!" Miyabi shot up and held out her sheathe with a wince, but slowly opened her eyes to see that clearly nothing was wrong.

She glared down at Eous and saw a smug grin on his face. "That's not funny."

"Lighten up, we've got a long jog ahead of us. Gotta break the ice somehow, eh?"

"That was also not funny." Miyabi yanked him up to his feet by his collar.

"Tough crowd. We've gotta find your funny bone, Icy Hot!" Eous slung his shoulder around Miyabi and practically nuzzled up to her with a grin.

"I would strike you down for being this close if it were anyone else." Miyabi sighed and pushed his face away.

Eous placed a hand on his cheek, "I can't believe I'm so special."

"I think a better word is challenged."

"Says you! I was whooping your ass earlie—" He was cut off by her grabbed his cheeks and pulling them apart.

"You were doing no such thing. For the sake of your friends and my connection with Nicole, I was forced to withhold my power." She let him go but stuck closer to his side regardless.

"Yeah, yeah, sure. I'm 70% nerfed and still had you on your toes. You been slacking?" He wondered.

Miyabi recalled the events with the H.I.A and shrugged. "Not necessarily, but I have been caught up as of late."

"You and me both." Eous yawned and stopped in his tracks. "Wanna race?"

"Are you certain this is a fight you can win? Are you not nerfed, as you say?" Miyabi challenged.

"Don't worry about me. Just try and keep up." Eous planted his feet and glared forward.

Miyabi smiled thinly and did the same with a far more trained starting position.

Eous created an orb of Ether and tossed it up. "When it pops."

3.
2.
1.

With a pop, the two's figures raced into the horizon in black and blue blurs.