Fionn stared at the letter for what seemed like an eternity. His mind couldn’t process the malicious words on the sheet of paper at first—he had to read it a few more times in order to fully understand the letter. The person who wrote it had to be insane; they drifted off from the topic several times and started to blabber on about nonsense. When he finished reading the paper, he allowed it to be pulled out of his hands. [i]What...?[/i] That was one of the words that crossed his mind, along with many others. All he knew was that he was terrified. He hadn’t fought anyone except for his brother, and Reiner often beat him in brawls. How the heck was he supposed to be useful if he couldn’t even fight?

A panicked chatter surrounded the table, and Fionn felt more horrified than he already was. They were just kids, and they were supposed to fight a person who could probably kill all of them in the blink of an eye. He began to tremble as his eyes drifted over the faces of the boys and girls that surrounded them. Jak looked like she was about to cry, Abby was definitely angry. Ben and Prospero seemed to be prepared to leap into battle that very instant. His amber-colored eyes drifted over to Sonya. [i]I can just leave, right? If I do, I won’t be bothered by them again. I’ll live a peaceful life…[/i]

Then Naoto spoke up. Fionn blinked in surprise at his words, his gaze dropping back to his lap. Something told him that he should just get up and leave, that he would die if he stuck around. Yet… Naoto needed him. He was always there for him when he screwed something up, and now the roles were switched. Naoto needed him… no, he needed all of them to be a family. He bit the inside of his cheek and looked up at the pink-haired boy. [b]”I’m staying, too.”[/b] his voice was low and shaky, but it was enough to be heard. [b]”We have to get Cyril’s aunt back.”[/b]

Even though he was trembling, he knew that he made the right choice. Even though he was currently useless, he knew that he would get better. Yet, he couldn’t do anything about the panic that was rising in his chest. [i]God help me.[/i]

---

Hajime’s words chilled Cyril to the bone, but he was determined not to show that he was afraid. They would have to fight against Vincente alone, without the help of Hajime or Sonya. [i]If only they could have helped.[/i] he thought, his hands curling into fists. [i]If they did, we would have been on our way to get my aunt back.[/i] Yet, Sonya was only going to train them. He knew that the training sessions were going to become more intense and frequent, and that it was going to be a tough, sleepless week. There was no way that they could become skilled fighters in a week. They only had to be decent enough to beat Vincente back to whatever hole he crawled out of.

Someone grabbed at his collar, yanking him out of his chair. An annoyed scowl crossed his lips as he glowered at Naoto. [b]”What do you think you’re doing?”[/b] he snapped, grabbing Naoto’s wrists in an attempt to pry him off of him. [b]”Let me go!”[/b]

When Cyril’s eyes met Naoto’s, his anger began to fade. His words made him blink in surprise. He wanted him to tell him that he needed their help, that he had to hear how much he cared for his aunt so he could be able to resolve himself. The dark-haired boy didn’t know how to feel at the moment, but he knew that he wanted his aunt back, safe and sound. [i]It’s my fault that she got taken away. I just wanted to get away from the mafia… yet they came after me.[/i]

[b]”I need your help.”[/b] Cyril said, his eyes locked onto Naoto’s. That was all he said. He didn’t know how to give a small speech like most of the others had; he never liked to be the center of attention. But he was sure that he had gotten his point across with those four words.