Rukei dully watched the incessant arguing between Killua and Asta. Granted, Rukei was pretty annoyed at the woman as well, but they needed to start planning how to stall Genthru, preferably stop all together, from clearing the game.

They managed to go on somehow as Gon explained Genthru's abilities. Several people appeared to be victims within the group and Gon quickly told them how to best counter Genthru's ability and the way to disarm it before another fight could begin.

The woman seemed to finally come around to them, teaching them how reuse a spell over and over again and how to obtain all the B-rank cards even after she had given up the two S-rank cards. They had been given quite a bit of information and methods that they had never bothered to try out in return for Genthru's abilities.

"The question now is which card we should try to monopolize," Kazsule announced.

"It's probably impossible to monopolize the #75 we have," Killua reasoned, "Each team can only get one and the limit is twenty, which is too high."

Rukei scanned the crowd of fifteen carefully, looking for any kind of reaction as she went on, "#77 is already being monopolized. We won't be able to obtain it until someone find the designated target."

She had received a good amount of rumors from them as they agreed amongst each other. "She's right, though it's honestly hard to believe. I thought all the experiments from that syndicate were put under prison or guard. They're dangerous, aren't they?"

"Seriously. I guess one of the Alliance members are trying to track them down? I heard that there were a bunch of prison breaks."

The brunette feigned a look of apathy over disappointment. These people didn't know anything. The only recorded Zyphon experiments to be imprisoned were Jen, Elaine, and Knight. In any matter, if the Alliance was trying to find someone, they wouldn't give out something as vague and impossible as blood color.

They had checked other cards to see what they could monopolize. #9 was already held within a couple teams, but #2 was yet to be obtained. With Guidepost, they knew that #2 was in Soufrabi, and with an Accompany, they warped there.

-

"Who are you guys? We booked this place for the night. Get lost!"

In front of them were scattered beer bottles and a laughing group of the supposed pirates wearing a sort of uniform of odd black hats. They jeered and snorted when Kazsule told the group to leave. Humoring the fifteen players, the largest man stood up and created a circle of fire about him with the alcohol and a lighter.

"No need for talk," the man announced boastfully, "Use force to make us leave. I don't care how many of you attack at once. If you can move me from this ring, I'll take you to see the boss."

One of the men from their ranks stepped forward, mirroring the pirate's confidents, "We just have to move you out of the ring, right? If it's brawn you want, I'm your man."

Rukei looked on doubtfully as he rushed head on, and her worries were proven to be with substance as their teammate was picked up easily and held over the flames of the ring. Gon intervened with a slam of his foot against their opponent's face, angry at the pirate. "He admitted defeat. Why didn't you let him go?"

The man looked down at Gon in a mocking manner, explaining the rules slowly as if he was much younger than he actually was. "I explained the rules. You lose if you step outside of the ring. Anything else, including admitting defeat is totally meaningless. You kicked me, then stepped outside of the ring. You've lost."

"Ah!" In realization, the boy lost his stern expression completely, looking down at his feet to confirm that it was true, "Crap! Hold on! Give me another try!"

"Don't bother Gon," Killua stepped in, placing a hand on his shoulder, "You're probably looking to use your new technique but you shouldn't use it in front of all these people."

Rukei offered to just give the guy a toss. He wasn't that much bigger than all the opponents she threw in Heaven's Arena.

But the boy still shook his head and told his friends to leave it up to him. He sauntered over to the other side of the ring, where an unopened bottle of liquor sat. "I'll be borrowing this."

With a flick of his thumb, the cork was sent flying off and Killua had darted up in an invisibly fast movement, pouring the contents all over the pirate's head, before lighting him on fire with a little zap.

Landing lightly in the circle, while the man screamed and rolled about trying to put out the flames, Killua grinned devilishly at the scene. "There, I win."

Naturally, the man was furious as he pulled his head out of the wall that he had managed to smother the flames against and turned to attack the boy. To her surprise, one of the man's fellow pirates kicked the man back down angrily. "You made up the rules... Don't get upset," he stated harshly before giving a short gesture towards the fifteen, "Follow me. I'll take you to the boss."

So they did have an honor code of some sort, at least, because when they followed their guide, they were not lead into some kind of trap or monster's den, but to a place that resembled a gym. Oddly enough, the pirates were spread about practicing sports like boxing or basketball. She had unconsciously gotten the idea that they would be standing around sharpening swords, singing some random tune while getting drunk. It was somehow abnormally practical of them to be working out.

"Boss, we have visitors."

The larger man who was addressed did not turn to face them yet. "Oh? And who are they?"

"They want to chase us out of town," the subordinate replied with a mocking lift at the end of his words.

"'Chase us out?'" The man repeated, turning around with a smile after setting down a pair of heavy weights he had been working with, "Then let's have a contest. If you win, we'll leave this island. However, we choose the contest."

"And if we lose?"

"Nothing in particular. You'll just have to leave."

Of course, they agreed to the straight to the point deal. At first it appeared simple enough with the theme of the battle being sports, but she realized that it would be impossible to win with their current members from the boxing match.

But she had learned other things from that match too. In the ring, an odd pattern reached across the floor; the center of it closely resembling the backs of the cards in the game. Rukei quietly asked Bisky what the symbol was for. Was it some kind of trap?

"Oh, that?" Bisky followed Rukei's gaze over to the platform, "It's one of the sacred Nen patterns. That one's for boosting Nen."

Rukei studied it carefully before following the group to leave for the next match, the contest being centered around juggling. Bisky volunteered only to drop it immediately as they decided to lose and gather information instead. The following matches looked much similar to this and just as they had agreed, they left.

Everyone had decided to leave besides Gon, Killua, Rukei, Bisky, and Goreinu under the reasoning that Genthru wouldn't be able to obtain the card so they were therefore safe but if they got the card, that would only put them in danger as the Bomber's target.

But it was important to get the card as soon as possible to avoid any conflict that would come with getting the card in a large group because of the card transformation limit.

"Assuming that we are capable of winning," Goreinu continued, "We need at least four more that are up to the task. Ideally, they'd already be in a party of eleven. Do you have any leads?"

"I know someone."

Rukei knew this was her best option right now. An uneasy feeling had begun to crawl under her skin, and as if it were an attempt to stop it, she gripped her hand tightly behind her back. It was risky but there was no way he would try anything while she was in a group especially while the bait of a card was dangled in front of him.

She turned to Gon and asked him to open up his binder, "He was the fourth person to enter the game after the screening, so you should have him registered in your contacts since the moment he passed you at the starting point."

"Who is 'he'?" Gon questioned while looking up at the girl expectantly for a name.

Rukei handed him an Accompany card she had on hand, "Hyoshi."

"Wait just a minute!" Biscuit called, looking towards the brunette in disbelief, "That guy's one of your suspects, isn't he?"

She nodded, already taking into the account of all the possibilities that she could, "Yes. But that's more advantageous for us," Rukei started, "I doubt he'd make a move for us while he has a chance for the Patch of Shore. During this time, I can find out whether Hyoshi really is Flask or not."

"And so if it's not Hyoshi, we'll focus on Seira, I guess?" Killua finished which Rukei confirmed.

"I would invite both since they seem to have the skill, but I think it would be easier to keep a watch on one person," Rukei explained briefly, "This will knock us down on a member, so I apologize."

"Don't worry about it!" Gon chimed.

Killua turned to Goreinu and asked him to round up any members if he could. They'd meet up with him later if everything went well with Hyoshi. And with an "Accompany on! Hyoshi!" they were off.

-

"Visitors!" The man held out his arms in a joking welcoming manner as he grinned, "What can I do for you guys?"

Everyone, Rukei aside who walked ahead to speak to the man, shared a questioning glance. This man sure didn't seem threatening, but both Killua and Gon remembered that Flask was the same friendly man that had taken their picture at the airport. Anyone could be threatening.

Rukei shortly explained the situation. Hyoshi nodded at every few words she said with a very thoughtful, though somehow comedic, look on his face. "I see, I see... And what do I get out of this?"

"What do you get?" Rukei repeated a little bewildered by his question while she went on to state the obvious, "A copy of the Patch of Shore."

"Now, I'm a nice fellow but you can't possibly think I'm that naive, Rukei?" Hyoshi questioned to her surprise and further confusion, "We can only get three Patch of Shore and there are fifteen of us."

Rukei racked her brain for a quick answer as he had so swiftly confronted her with the problem that she tried to keep under the radar. Gon jumped in with a "We'll figure something out!" getting a burst of laughter from the man. Rukei wasn't sure who to direct her disapproving gaze towards.

"Okay, okay. I'll help you out," Hyoshi relented after a moment, proposing a new trade, "But instead of taking the Patch of Shore, maybe you can help me find another card."

"Let's hear it," Killua spoke up after having a quick and silent discussion in glances with his friends.

The man was glad that they were up for the exchange as he stood a little taller and began to explain, "See, #77 has been monopolized for the longest time now, and I haven't got a clue as to who's holding it. Apparently they're putting this card up as some kind of reward for someone with a weird blood color. Think you can lend a friend a hand?"

Rukei hoped that no sign of discomfort or nervousness crossed her features as she gave a rehearsed and scripted response. "I haven't heard anything of this person. Blood color seems vague and difficult to track."

"Man...," Hyoshi gave out a long sigh, leaning his head to the side at the note, "What a pain. I thought that at least you had enough conscience in you that you wouldn't lie to my face," All within a second the thick layers and perfect masks crumbled as his smile turned into a snarl and his features were darkened by a threatening fury that had been withheld for a long time, "Puzzle."

By the time she had sprung away from the man, a gash that was not there before had already begun to spill out inhuman blood across her shoulder. Ah. She understood now. The odd familiarity with the way he spoke and carried himself, to the haunting similarity of how her cut burned with an unnatural chill even without the presence of the weapon in her shoulder.

"You knew Jen."

Hyoshi sneered at her observation and her friends as Bisky quickly interrogated Rukei about her injury and Gon and Killua stood close to attacking, only held back by Bisky's command. "What abilities does he have?"

"He can transmute acid, can't he?" Gon looked for verification from the girl behind him.

"Rukei, I thought you said that he wouldn't make a move for us."

Rukei shook her head at the two boys, setting her eyes forward on the man with bandaged arms, "This man isn't Flask. He called me 'Puzzle' not 'Subject 9'," she spared a short look towards the wound in her shoulder, "His Nen is modeled after Jen's ability. Hyoshi's probably a Transmuter."

Sure enough, with a spike of aura she could see the faint colors and resemblance to the crystals in the Nen that jutted out of Hyoshi's arms. Who was this man? He wasn't Flask and he wasn't an ally.

"That's right," he confirmed with a sharpened tone that seemed to be made to cut deeper through her open wound, "Remember what I said on the train about my stupid friend that got involved with some trash to help me? That was Jen."

Hyoshi looked down at his arm guarded in the transmuted Nen with a caustic smile. What was it? For not even a quarter of a second, he seemed confused and anxious as if he were trying to pick his way out of a maze.

"Jen faced everything with that lunatic grin- even me after I finally found him working for your messed up syndicate," he rushed out in a blur of sentences, "But he was a good guy. He didn't turn traitor or pull any kind of half-baked trick on someone, not even your garbage heap of an organization! So tell me, Rukei! Why were you treated as some kind of pitiful victim while he takes the role of some kind of monster?!"

-

It was not a few months before the Zakuya had fallen.

"How are you holding up? By the way, there's blood on your sleeve."

Rukei checked her sleeve. Sure enough, the end of her sleeve was dyed in red. She folded the fabric back and gave a short reply to the first question. "I'm fine. Nothing unusual."

"Wow, I'm impressed," Rock chimed while he opened up the dark umbrella to shield the two of them from the night rain as they headed out towards the main streets, "You've stabilized really fast."

"They haven't given me an ability yet," she reminded quietly, barely audible over the steady rhythm of the showers.

But he could hear her as quiet as she spoke and as loud as the downpour pounded. "Still. But I honestly can't tell if the Zakuya hates or loves you."

"I don't understand."

"Well, I mean, sending out a subject that's still under experimental stages out on a mission? They really have some high hopes for you, Puzzle."

"I suppose so."

"... You're not a very talkative person, are you?"

Rock suddenly jolted, whipping his head around behind him so fast that Rukei imagined that he had broken something. With a series of colorful words, he shoved the umbrella into her hand and pulled up the hood of his windbreaker as a substitute for himself. From what she gathered, Rock was found by someone he didn't want to be found by.

He was about to take off in a different direction then their headquarters but stopped suddenly, bending down to look Rukei in the eye. "Go back. I gotta erase some evidence."

"I will help-" Rukei offered, reaching for the gun and silencer before she was stopped by a firm hand on her shoulder.

"No, I'm going to deal with this. Go to headquarters. Make sure they don't send reinforcements, it'll be a pain to work with them."

"I don't understand-"

"You don't have to understand!" Rock insisted with exasperation clear in his tone as he gave her a very strong shove in the direction they were originally heading in, "Just skedaddle your way back to headquarters and tell em' that everything went fine. Run, Puzzle!"

Rukei obeyed.

Hyoshi was simply going to get a late dinner while mulling over everything that had happened because of that single event years ago. That man had died and that woman had vanished. Jen was the only person he had left and Jen, always grinning, had said, "Hey! I'll find a way to fix this mess! So don't be so down. When this is all over, let's all hang out again!"

Of course, Hyoshi took that as a joke. But Jen disappeared. A part of Hyoshi took that Jen was dead.

A ghost appeared before him that night.

He didn't recognize him at first. It was just another man with an umbrella and a little girl that he assumed to be the daughter. If that single rolled-up sleeve had not struck Hyoshi as odd, Hyoshi would have never seen Jen.

Hyoshi peered a little closer at the young girl and grew cold, not from the rain, to see a faint and hardly noticeable trace of red. There was no sign of cuts on the girl's body. His eyes drifted to her socks. They were loose, but even through it's floppy form, he could make it out behind the fabric. A silencer.

What about the man? Hyoshi quickly tried to make out the man holding up the umbrella. He tried to analyze the man for any suspicious sign. Was this man some sort of criminal too?

The man turned his head to the side to speak with the girl.

Fear was first. Hyoshi did not realize that he stopped walking until he realized that the man and the girl were getting smaller and smaller, farther and farther. Another fear spread through him so that he did not realize that he began running. A part of his mind had already realized it. Hyoshi's body acted on the instinct of not wanting to lose someone again.

With a ludicrous grin spread across his face, the man laughed and talked to the girl about their ranking within the Zakuya.

Of course, what better way to get those things than teaming up with those underground fools?! All those years, the vivacious Jen had been set among those dead and hollow puppets of the Zakuya, like that girl beside him who hid a silencer in her sock and blood behind her sleeves!

It must have been careless of Hyoshi to call out to Jen. Jen reacted immediately. He tensed and pushed the girl further along the road so she would be lost in the crowds of Aos Langes and out of Hyoshi's sight while Jen himself took a turn towards the more deserted areas of the city.

Jen the Idiot was running away from him!

But when Hyoshi has finally cornered Jen, he was swiftly knocked to the ground with some kind of crazy protrusion out of Jen's arm. Jen grinned down at him, and told him that he couldn't hang around and had return to his "lab partner" with the promise that he'd "definitely get those cursed papers".

And so, Hyoshi was reminded for the second time, staring up at the black starless skies, that he couldn't do anything while his friends were suffering.

The Zakuya's fall and the XX Alliance's success occupied the news for the majority of the week.

"The Zakuya held members even from the age of ten to work for them, carrying out missions since a young age. Many victims of their oppression are being treated currently."

On the screen, showed a young girl with short brown hair covered in burns getting treated by medics and others from the Alliance. Hyoshi realized that this must be the same girl that Jen had been with.

"A couple members have escaped including three of the human experiments. One of them is dead. Thankfully, several of them have been captured as well and will be put in custody."

On the screen, showed a man with an ever present smile on his face as he leaned against one of the walls, his face slightly obscured by the bars in front of him. Hyoshi realized that this was Jen.

'Thankfully?' 'Victim?' 'Oppression?'

They knew nothing!

-

"Where is Jen, Puzzle?!" Hyoshi growled, stalking closer towards the group, "Jail still? For not playing victim? For not looking pathetic like you?"

"Take that back!" Gon snapped, his eyes flaring with an indignant anger, "Rukei isn't like that at all!"

"Shut up, brat!" Hyoshi boomed, his voice slamming down like a hammer in a court. He had waited for so long to bring the criminal in front of them to justice, "This girl, the reporters, that corrupt Alliance! Every single one of them is the same!"

Rukei's voice was cold and steeled. "The Alliance is not corrupt."

A series of broken laughs rang through the air, laced with contempt and disgust. "'Not corrupt'? 'Not corrupt'?" He echoed in a spiteful disbelief, "That means a lot coming from you."

"You know nothing," Rukei replied.

"'I know nothing?'" Hyoshi friendly smile returned with all it's sunny warmth and friendliness that it could provide. "You have some nerve saying that to me."

Bisky pulled Rukei down to avoid the swipe of the copied crystals. They were longer than Jen's and had a higher range, she warned her two friends who had jumped away as they tried to weave in and out of the man's strikes in hopes of reaching the man.

Gon slid back next to Rukei and Bisky as Hyoshi's crystal grazed his nose. Killua glanced at the girl behind him quickly, "You okay?"

"Fine," she responded immediately without another look at the wound, "My abilities are long-ranged. His movements are difficult to read but I may be able to immobilize him."

"With Paint?" Bisky clarified, eyeing the distance between them and the enemy cautiously, "Do you think you can mark him six times?"

Rukei fell silent as she tried to make out a pattern in the rapid and intricate slashing and slicing of the crystals. They were far faster than Riehlvelt's Song of Defense and were much more dangerous. If they retreated with Accompany, would Hyoshi go after them? But they needed #77 and there was a chance that Hyoshi had it as well.

"I'll buy you a couple seconds."

Rukei looked up at the white-haired boy uneasily, both confused and worried. She knew that Killua was skilled but Hyoshi's ability was troublesome, and Hyoshi himself was no amateur either.

But it struck her as the four parted and jumped away to avoid a sudden slash downwards after they had been speaking with each other too long. Killua's ability was perfect for this. But she was faced with the same issue. There had to be some way for him to get in between those strikes and flails...

Gon had grasped the situation with the short look she gave him, as he darted forward with his hand in a fist and Hyoshi immediately directed his attention towards the boy. Hyoshi held his arms up for an impenetrable defense of spikes and crystals but instead of blocking a fist, blocked a hail of rock and earth as Gon smashed his fist against the ground.

Did they really think that would work on him? Hyoshi slammed away a larger rock with his arm, which only cleared his vision to see a gloved fist just in time to jump away with both crystalized arms set forward-

He could barely feel the impact of the six pellets over the numbing feel of a shock running throughout his body as he was held prisoner for a few seconds to paralysis. That brat with slanted-eyes! The moment Hyoshi could move again, he whipped around with his arm ready to slice the boy's stomach open.

The distinct crack of a bone breaking and a pained scream drowned out the quiet clack of the Rubik's cube.

Hyoshi tried to reach over to grab his ruined limb but he couldn't. Something held him in that position with his limp arm and feet planted to the ground that he couldn't fight. He could not even lift his eyes to see the brown-haired girl approach him and stop just a few feet away.

"Well, that's what he gets trying to challenge four people at the same time," Bisky huffed, folding her arms.

Killua made his way over from behind Hyoshi to the rest of the group while addressing the man, "Hey. You have #77, right? Hand it over."

"Doesn't Flask have #77? He's the one looking for Rukei, right?" the blonde questioned, giving a skeptical glance towards the fellow on the ground.

The white-haired boy had already figured out what was going on entirely. "If Flask was looking for her, he would have given out more details about her appearance rather than just her blood color. Hyoshi probably wasn't sure wether Rukei was really a Zyphon experiment or not, so he might have been looking for some kind of reassurance," Killua concluded, turning his gaze towards their attacker, "Am I wrong?"

There was no answer aside from the fiercely burning anger that was lit in his eyes. He did not spit or scoff, nor could he even direct the angry eyes towards the person he felt it towards.

"He can't reply," Rukei informed dully, "I'm not skilled enough to decide where my control can or cannot reach. I apologize."

"Well, at least you know what you need to work on," Bisky encouraged her lightly.

"Can you release him for a second?"

Rukei looked over towards Gon at his question. "You know he'll attack. What do you need him released for?"

When he turned to face her, she realized that he was still angry. "Because if he can't talk, then he can't take back what he said about you."

"You can't be serious," she finally replied after being able to gather her words, torn between feeling very annoyed or extremely touched, "It doesn't really matter, Gon."

"But you do need to release him at some point," Killua pointed out, "Because we do need #77."

That was true also. Rukei could not manipulate Hyoshi's body into bringing out his book with Nen; the game wouldn't allow anyone to do that. But Hyoshi for sure was going to attack or run, and she preferred not to break all his limbs to immobilize him completely.

"I'm disengaging Paint," Rukei relented with a deep breath before backing up a couple steps outside of Hyoshi's range.

To her surprise, he did not move aside from grasping his injured arm and falling back to sit on the ground. "I'm not stupid, Puzzle. I can't run or attack under these conditions. You'll just reactivate that ability, won't ya? But," Hyoshi looked up towards Gon evenly, "I won't take back what I said. Everyone that escaped punishment while Jen didn't deserves to be in the slammer about now. To me, the Alliance is still corrupt."

Rukei managed to keep some of her cool this time around as she took a moment of breath before asking, "Did you think Jen was happy to work for the Zakuya?"

"What kind of stupid question is that?" Hyoshi demanded, hostility returning, "Don't tell me you were. Was it entertaining, being a spy and playing with guns and lives as a kid?!"

"Of course not," Rukei answered, barely keeping her voice beneath a yell, "Does it seem fun to burn your ankles to hide a silencer or wash out someone else's blood from your clothes? The Alliance saved us. And if Jen had reasoned with out superiors exactly why he joined the Zakuya, they would have listened. But he didn't. Jen has never brought this up to any of us."

Hyoshi wasn't sure what 'us' or 'our' meant to her, but it almost appeared as if she appeared to be talking about two different people or groups as she continued on without any clarification, the pronouns blurred in between others he did not know.

"I looked into every interrogation dealing with us," Rukei reported, "The Alliance asked every single one of them why they joined the Zakuya. Do you know what Jen said?"

Hyoshi knew it wasn't what Jen said, but he said it anyways. "Jen joined the Zakuya to find a stupid music score and stick it in a shredder. It's why my arms are already messed up. A snapped bone is nothing compared to what my arms look like underneath these bandages."

Hyoshi somehow anticipated Rukei's answer. "Jen told us that he thought the Zakuya would be an 'easy way to make a buck'. That's all. The Alliance did nothing wrong."

"Gosh, you get so defensive about the Alliance," he sighed bitterly, "Just 'cause they let you off scotch free, Puzzle."

"The Alliance-"

"Her name is Rukei," Killua interrupted both of them with a bored and somewhat irritated tone, "It's confusing calling her by more than one title. She's Rukei, and that's it."

Gon would not simply stand by either, "If you had the time and ability to target Rukei, why didn't you use that to search for Jen? He's free now!"

At that comment Hyoshi immediately shot to his feet, losing all the tired contempt in his voice, "What? When? Where is he?"

"He should be at Heaven's Arena," Rukei replied quietly with a ghost of a smile on her face, "Doing what he likes best."

Hyoshi knew. "Fighting."

He wasn't exactly sure what he saw in Rukei's eyes but they were different than the ones he saw on the news report and the ones he saw through the rain. They were gentle, very different from the rest of her iron expression.

"Why did you join the Zakuya?" He asked. He wanted to know.

Rukei's fingers twitched, but she quickly put away the Rubik's cube to resist the temptation of twisting it and fixing it as that had high chances of damaging Hyoshi severely with certain combinations. It was possible for her to reconnect her control. "My parents worked for the Zakuya."

"Born into it, huh?"

"Essentially," she replied curtly, "Why do you want to clear the game?"

Hyoshi was guarded but he did not withhold the answer from her. "I first came looking for a clue about the scores since there's so many weird items in this game. Nothing's turned up... How was Jen?"

"He's still very, very loud," Rukei summed up while Gon smiled in a half-embarrassed manner at the memory of him in the arena stands.

"His loud voice saved us from Flask though," the spiky-haired boy reminded.

Hyoshi looked up with a new alertness, showing interest in this topic, "'Flask' was the man you mistook me for, wasn't he? Why's he looking for you and what's he got to do with Jen?"

Killua gave the girl next to him a sidelong glance, "Should we tell him?"

"He already knows about Zyphon and the Zakuya," Bisky added with a shrug.

Their reasoning was valid, and Rukei didn't want to hide information regarding his friend from him anyways, for Jen's sake. "Flask is one of the lab assistants that worked on the Zyphon project. It appears that he was in charge of capturing and gathering the experiments for a while. Jen and I have been attacked along with one of our old partners. For some reason, he's abandoned going after us and has been trying to clear this game."

"So the Zakuya is still operating?"

Rukei was ready to counter any kind of insult about the 'incompetent Alliance' that Hyoshi was going to spit out as she gave a stern "yes".

"I'll help you."

All four stared at him with surprise, not quite sure how to respond. They couldn't just lay down all arms and team up with this guy, could they? Why would he even want to help them in the first place?

Hyoshi opened up his book and approached the girl with a renewed fire. "This Flask is trying to bring Jen back into whatever garbage he's in, ain't that right? I'd rather not have him clear the game. How 'bout an 'alliance', Rukei?"

She looked up to observe him, trying to catch any of that deceit he had masked himself with earlier or any trickery behind that outstretched hand. He still didn't seem to like her of course, but he seemed willing to put that aside. Or rather than just pushing it aside, it was different somehow. Hyoshi knew something else.

She clasped his hand firmly.

"Of course."

。。。

Wow, this chapter was rough. The pacing of the exchange is kinda bleh but there's quite a bit of important information in this chapter! To fill in the story a little more, Hyoshi's name is supposed to mean 'beat' or 'tempo'. I tried guys, I tried ^^;

I have to deal with exams since they're starting to close in and are ready to fire so I'm sorry if things are a little slow here ^^; I shall still try my best! The only way out is forward!

Thank you for reading!