I looked up at the clear blue sky and took a sip of dark coffee. It was more bitter than usual.

"Hey, are you alright?" I turned and saw Koukyuu take a seat next to me on the park bench.

"Yeah," I said, moving my mug around to stir its contents.

"Is that dark coffee? Didn't expect a kid like you to like that stuff."

I grumbled. "I'm not a kid."

She sighed. "Such a childish reaction. So, what's bothering you?"

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Well, right now, you."

She flinched. "Guess I deserved that one. I meant before I arrived. You seemed pensive. Did something happened before our training session?"

I took another sip from my mug. "What makes you think that?"

"Well, you were upbeat when we returned to town, but once you returned without your sister, you seemed out of it. Wait, did something happen with her?"

I stood up. "Thanks, but it's none of your business."

She took a deep breath and got up. "Fine. I won't press you on it. Just settle things before the next battle begins. Having you distracted will be detrimental to our objectives."

I nodded. "I know."

Koukyuu walked away without another word.

Argh! Why did I act like that?

I sighed and sat back down. For a genius, I could be really dumb sometimes.

My eyes fell on my half empty mug again. Kou, she'd hit the nail on the head.

***
[Earlier]

"Where did Kiara go? Didn't she ask us to train?" I asked.

"Yeah," Dad said as he stopped reading to Alex and his new friend.

"That reminds me, I need to find my little sister," Eli said, jumping off. It was funny how Alex's friend shared her name with Nate's elephant.

"I'll help you! I might find mine too!" Alex said, chasing after her.

The two opened the door and gasped as a pair of red eyes looked down on them.

"Oh, it's Bora, Sabine, and Hide's friend!" Alex said, waving. "Bye, Bora, Sabine, Hide's friend!"

"Hey, brother," Eita said, waving at Eiichi.

"Oh, so this is where you went."

"Where are the runts off to?" Borasco asked.

"To find their sisters. I'm heading out to look for Ki too. Hopefully Alex or me can get her so we can start our training session. We'd waited long enough."

"She probably had something to do," Eiichi said as he and Borasco stepped inside. He leaned in his cousin's shoulder as he walked. It looked like he could barely stand on his own.

"Are you okay? Were you attacked? Are there demons out there right now? Or is it abysmals?" I asked.

"Calm down, Shorty," Borasco said.

I glared at him. "I'm not short!" Not anymore at least.

Sabine nodded. "Bora is right, no need to be alarmed. Well, in regards to an attack. Eiichi pushed himself too far again."

"Sounds like Princess Setsuko's fiancée," Haname said. She and the other Seven Flames had come back with us.

"Serrano? Tetsu must've rubbed off more on him than I thought," Eita said.

Eiichi rolled his eyes. "I'm nothing like Tetsuya."

Kiara sometimes was the same way. Especially with her skating.

"I'm going to go get Kiara," I said, running off.

"Alright. I'm going to go make the preparations to return home. Want to get there before Mom does," Eiichi said.

I stopped. He was leaving already?

"Rest a little longer," Sabine said.

"Think that's wise. All three of us are exhausted," Eita said.

"Here," my cousin said, handing him a sports drink.

Eita blushed. "T-thanks."

Suzuki scoffed. "Don't mention it consider it as thanks for earlier."

He held it back to her. "Wait, what about-"

She put a hand over his mouth. "I said that I would consider it. That still stands, so just drink it."

"Hmm," Eiichi mumbled, smirking at the too.

"Something wrong?" Borasco asked.

Eiichi sighed and shook his head at his cousin. "Nothing your obliviousness would understand."

"Rude."

"Rest, you idiot," I said, passing by Eiichi.

"Hey!" my fellow knight snapped.

"He's not wrong," Borasco said, chuckling.

"I don't want to hear that from a doofus!"

I resumed running. Wanted to know what Suzuki was talking about, but right now wasn't the time to play around. I had to get Kiara. Hopefully she wasn't alone with the abysmals. It wasn't good that she was getting too attached to them.

"Wait, I think she went to uncle's study," Suzuki said.

I turned around. "Why didn't you say so sooner?"

"I'd forgotten."

I sighed. "Save that for Reno."

"What was that?" Reno snapped as he and his brother entered my house.

"Being forgetful suits you better."

Reno smiled. "Yeah, I- Hey!"

"Hide's insulting everyone today," Eiichi said, glaring me.

I smiled nervously and ran off. It didn't take me long to get to the room. I opened the door but quickly stopped myself from opening it completely. Kiara and the abysmals were talking, and not to each other as other voices were talking. I peered through the crack I'd made.

The man that I'd met in the dungeon smiled slightly at a girl with dark blue hair. She appeared to be around the age of my younger siblings. "Your big brother Row would love that."

"Row?" Kiara said as she stepped closer to the abysmals.

Rocio narrowed her eyes at her. "Why are you talking in front of that girl?"

My sister smiled. "Don't worry, Lady Rocio. It's me, Dine. That said, Kiara is aware of what's going on. But she isn't exactly an enemy. All she wants is to help Etsuo get back home, not fight him."

I lowered my head. That much I knew. Ki was defending them as much, if not more than Rosa whom they'd befriended and betrayed. Hyosetsu thought that we could obtain valuable information from them, but it'd proven to be useless. Or maybe not! This was our chance to get something valuable.

Rocio scoffed. "That can't be guaranteed, unfortunately. Not until this war comes to a close. At the moment, that means the end of that girl's home. I doubt she would stand for that."

Damn that woman! If she hadn't stopped Setsuko's Alma, we might've been able to retrieve Dan when they first took them!

Kiara nodded. "Yeah, I wouldn't. But, I can tell that you want your sons back."

The vile Rat Pillar turned aside. "How can you? Are you like your mom? Can you peer into the hearts of others?"

Ki blinked just like I did upon hearing those words. "Mom can do that?" Kiara asked what I was thinking.

The abysmal lady sighed. "Figuratively speaking, yes. An introspective yet odd girl that one was."

Huh, Mom as a kid does sound like Ki.

"Come to think about it, you're around her age. Since your older siblings were co-workers and eventually married, you must've interacted with Mom. Right? Were you two friends?"

Wait, what?

"Rene tried to be, but Cio resisted opening up. I think they eventually reached something akin to friendship, not that my sister would admit it," Serrano's mom said, chuckling. 

So, she had returned with them. That woman wasn't to be trusted either.

"Selena!" Rocio said as her ears turned red. She sighed and turned her eyes back to the boys. "Since Conrad is gone, would you like me to go get you?"

"Free us you mean?" Man-kin asked, grinning.

My body tensed. If they were to come, that meant we had to prepare for another battle. No, relocating them would be better. We couldn't risk the lives of the villagers.

"We aren't really imprisoned, though," Etsuo said.

Man-kin nodded. "True, true. But we are still guarded by a figurative fence. We can't be too far from the Makkuroyama without getting tied up."

Etsuo sighed. "Yeah, but we can't go back without breaking the vine binds first."

Selena smiled. She must've stepped toward the crystal on their side as she grew bigger on the image on our end. "I can be of some assistance." A plant root formed in her palm.

I gritted my teeth. Seemed I was right.

"It's alright. While Conrad is gone, there's someone of interest still around," Etsuo said.

Her eyes widened. "Who?"

"Piedad."

Piedad? What do they want with her? She's a demon. Well, housing one.

"She's still alive? I thought it was a possessed dead body Mammon was using," Selena said.

"I'm not sure what she is, but that's why I want to keep an eye on her. We will be fighting the demons, no?" Etsuo said.

Rocio nodded. "Yes. Guess it won't hurt to watch over her. If things look like bad in regard to her, exe-" My eyebrows twitched as she directed her eyes at me. Was it possible she could see me? But how? I was invisible? "Seems that I have to end the call here. Remembered there's something I must do."

No way... She can see me...

"Huh? But I can at least talk to them, no?" Daisaru asked.

"I'm going to need your help with it."

Daisaru sighed. "Don't remember you mentioning a thing, but fine."

"It's fine. We were going to train anyway, no?" Man-kin said. Did he mimic his father's way of speaking just now? Or was it a family tic?

"Oh, right. Hideaki should be here at anytime," Etsuo said.

Kiara turned around and stared at me. I stepped back. It was then that I realized how obvious I'd made it seem. Was that how Rocio figured out someone was watching? Hopefully. Else, my invisibility wasn't as strong as I'd originally thought.

I moved back some more, but only enough that the hologram coming out of the crystal within sight and earshot.

"Bye, Etsu-Etsuo! Man-man! Di-di!" a pink-haired girl said, waving at them.

Man-kin smiled slightly. "Take care, Piggy."

Piggy? Wasn't that rude? Sure, she was chubby, but she wasn't that fat!

Piggy's smile faded somewhat. "You two should too. You're still in the camp of the enemy. Though, if Rosa is there, you should be safe."

"You know Rosa?" Kiara asked.

She smiled slight and nodded. "Yeah. She's my best friend!" Her smile faded again. "B-but I might have to fight her soon. Hopefully, I won't have to."

Kiara frowned. "I see."

A man with pepper hair put his arm around her and pulled her to his chest. "If you want, I can fight her. My wool will only tire her out, not hurt her."

Was that guy Haname's boyfriend? Dad had told me that her ex told her to come to this region. How he knew what would happen, I had no idea.

"That's assuming you have the patience," Rocio said, raising an index finger up. "You could've done so in your original spar with Selena, but failed as you got impatient."

He gulped and sighed. "Good point, Sis."

"Rosa gets tired easily, so maybe you can do it," Piggy said, smiling hopefully.

"She's been training hard, though," Etsuo said.

As have I, abysmal scum. I'll be ready for all of you when you come.

Piggy lowered her head and sighed. "Thought so..."

That girl. Did she honestly care for Rosa?

Roa's father patted her head. "Cheer up, Plu. I can just duel her again."

Rocio grinned through tears. "Yeah." 

She turned her attention back to the stone and reached her hand toward it. "Be more mindful of what you say," she whispered before cutting off the link.

I turned away. Indeed.

"Who's there?" Kiara asked, looking around the hall.

My head turned. I made it so that only my eye could be seen. "Who else do you think, Ki? Or should I say, Dine?"

She gasped. "Hideo?"

I turned my back to her and continued walking. "Do you seriously plan to betray us?" I whispered.

"Betray you? By helping get those two free. They're our enemies. Don't forget what they've done. It's because of them that Dan got hurt."

"You're still on about that?"

I swatted the air. A gust knocked her out of her feet, crashing into the wall.

"Kiara!" Etsuo said, running out. He glared at me. "You can hurt us, but why are you turning against your sister?"

I grasped my arm. "I-I..." I turned away and ran. I didn't mean to!

***

I sighed. Kiara acted as if nothing had happened when she'd finally shown up for training, while I actively avoided her. But, I could tell she wasn't the same. Her eyes had become as dull as mine.

"Should I say sorry?" I asked, staring at my mug once more.

"For what?" a voice called out, making me jump. Kiara leaned toward me from behind the bench.

"Hey, you made me spill my coffee!" I snapped as I pointed at my stained jeans.

Kiara chuckled as she walked around. "Come on, don't cry over some spilled coffee, silly!"

I narrowed my eyes at her. "You're the silly one, sis." Acting as if nothing had happened. Oddly, her eyes were no longer dull.

She sat down next to me. "Can I sit here?"

I grumbled. "You're the second person to ask that today and already be seated."

"Huh? Who's the first?"

I turned away. "Kou-Koukyuu."

Kiara grabbed my shoulder and shook me. "Ahhh! Is a girl finally interested in our little Hideo?"

"L-Little? I'm far taller than you now, pip-squeak!"

A playful smile remained on her face. "You really have grown, Brother." She grabbed my head and patted it.

"What are you doing, Ki?" I asked with a deadpan stare.

She closed her eyes. "I'm consoling you, Silly Hide."

I grumbled. She couldn't done without the 'silly'.

"It's alright. You don't have to blame yourself. I know it was an accident. As for what you said... I... I'm not sure what to do."

Wait, why was she telling me that? Wouldn't that get in the way of their plans?

"But, more important than some friend or some boy are you guys. I want what's best for everyone, but I'm not willing to let you get hurt either."

"Ki," I said, trying to stop myself from looking up at her. How sad. My rambunctious little sister was more mature than me. Well, not like the gap in age was big, only a year apart, but... still.

Ki stroke my head. "So, please don't be so down. Your friend will have it harder if you have that face."

My friend? Did she meant Eii? Right, the funeral would be in a few days. If he were to see me gloomy, he would probably feel worse.

I rubbed my eyes. "Fine, but Eiichi isn't my friend."

She chuckled and patted my head again. "Sure, sure, Tsun-deo."

I grumbled but laughed with her soon after.

I might not have been able to save Dan, but at least I had Kiara by my side. Who knew what I would've done without her. Hopefully, it would remain that way. If she were to continue getting involve with those troublesome guys, I feared I would lose her for good.

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed the chapter ^^. This was originally going to come before 72. Hopefully, the change in order works. Though, I might flip them back to how intended at a later time, depending on the flow of the rest of the story.**