[hr][hr][i][h1][color=dodgerblue]Lihua Zhao[/color], [color=cornflowerblue]Shizuka Takashiro[/color], [color=darkslateblue]Reed Taylor[/color], & [color=aqua]Jennifer Caspin[/color].[/h1] [sub](with [@Mr Allen J] and [@Zombiedude101])[/sub][/i] [hr][hider=Armored Core OST - Someone is Always Moving on the Surface][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OyVMdD_zAQ[/youtube][/hider][hr] [b][code]Starrybanks, White Coast_[/code][/b] "This way," Reed said as he rounded the corner on their way out of the bar, "Jen can't have gotten far." Lihua patiently followed behind Reed, swaying her hips with every step, with Shizuka bringing up the rear of the trio. She didn't think Jennifer could have gotten far, but what she [i]did[/i] think was her aggressor could have gotten plenty of time to have their way with Jennifer again. However, should Jennifer be in danger, she has the full might of the Zhao matriarch at her side, and few could contend with it... then it came to her. "...How about we call Jennifer?" Lihua asked. "It's more sane than mindlessly searching around for her." "Good idea," Shizuka agreed, shrugging. At this rate it would take them forever to find that aggravating girl. "...I don't have her number, though." Why would he have her contact details? They weren't even... 'Friends'. She might be friends with Haruka, but that didn't mean he would automatically become dandy with her just like his elder twin; he was well aware that she didn't like him as much as he wanted to avoid her. He couldn't help feeling paranoid about her comeback - even if she didn't mean anyone harm, her presence, her [i]very existence[/i], spelled nothing but impending doom to him and his brother. He didn't hate her - he genuinely thought he could try to give her a chance, given their experience back in Verthaven - but now he's so done with her emo bullshit. "I don't have her number either... I could get it from Meifeng, but..." Lihua followed her statement with a shrug. Reed dug a hand into his pocket and fished out his phone, speaking up, "I've got it." After finding her in his contacts, he started to call her. "Oh, Mr. Takashiro, there was something I wanted to discuss with you," Lihua said, walking over towards Shizuka with a calm, casual look on her face. She looked at him. "I have to personally say that both you [i]and[/i] Jennifer were at fault here. You for escalating the situation, and Jennifer for hiding useful information from us," she bluntly said, without a care that Shizuka could take it the wrong way. "You still seem to have difficulties dealing with people, yes?" Lihua asked. "While I can say that you have the best interests at heart, you needed to take other people and their issues into consideration... See from their perspective, yes. Jennifer might be frightened, or could have been intimidated into keeping silence." Shizuka let out a sigh. To think that he would get a lecture from Lihua of all people... considering the kind of things she had done in the past to be able to stand here today, he thought sarcastically. Still, he listened to her quietly, and he knew that she was right. "...I shouldn't be so rough to her," he began. "I guess I'm feeling tired to deal with her... emotional issues. How is this fair, that she expects me to try to understand her, but she refused to be honest with us... with herself?" he sighed again, and looked to one side. "The girl is confused, simple as that," Lihua said as she reached into her purse and pulled out a flask... filled with a vodka combination of vodka and iced tea, that she managed to put together from the various drinks in the Liu household. She drank some of the alcohol, before wiping her mouth off with her sleeve. "Inside her head must be a million different thoughts, weighed back by the past, while attempting to push on into the future when she doesn't have the strength to..." Lihua shrugged. "She likely believes that she's doing everyone else a favor by keeping herself closed off to the rest of the world," Lihua said. "That she doesn't want to become a burden for the rest of the world by making us worry about her... but, keeps herself closed up until we absolutely [i]can't[/i] ignore the problem anymore." She took another sip. "...If she doesn't stop now, we'll only repeat what happened in Verthaven." "Yeah..." Shizuka put his hands into his pockets, agreeing with Lihua. "She's doing the complete opposite: the more she keeps to herself and thinks that she's trying to stay out of our way, it only makes everything unnecessarily complicated... She thinks she's trying to protect her friends, but she's unknowingly hurting them more." "'No man is an island', after all," Lihua agreed, quoting a line that she heard before. "Every human being is connected to the world in ways that they don't acknowledge..." There was more that she had to say, however. She didn't just think that Jennifer was wrong here... "But, at the same time, take a moment, and think," Lihua started off, and took another sip... she should go back in the bar and get a refill. "...We have already gotten across that you were far too inconsiderate in regards to Jennifer, but have you ever thought about learning something from her?" she asked. Shizuka looked at Lihua curiously. "You mean...?" "You can learn more from the people you detest than the people you are on good terms with, find out things about yourself that you didn't quite know before," Lihua was quick to voice that piece of philosophy. "Even the likes of Luis... just ask yourself this one question, and this one question alone..." Lihua turned the cap back onto her flask, and faced away from Shizuka as she looked at the street. Then she dropped the [i]big[/i] question on Shizuka... "[i]...What would you do if you were put in Jennifer's situation seven years ago?[/i]" she finished the statement with a sharp glare, paying close attention to everything about Shizuka. Every moment, even the most subtle, were logged in that head of hers. "...I'll admit that I'd still prioritize my own family above all else," he replied, recalling the time when he chose to save his twin instead of Jennifer in the end. "That I'll do whatever it takes to save my family, even if it means I've to sacrifice my friends or comrades... or even myself. To be honest, I never really blamed her for what she did, because I knew I'd do the same." He let out a sarcastic laugh. "Ironic, isn't it? I can't bring myself to hate her even though Haru almost died because of her." Not just once... but on the few occasions when they crossed paths with each other. "Our cultures value family above all else," Lihua was quick to say, very softly. Then she abruptly raised a finger in the air. "In the end, there will be no friends, no allies... only [i]family[/i]... Ha, that was one thing I noticed about America..." Lihua trailed off with a coy smile on her face. "While it isn't as [i]pronounced[/i] as our own, you can tell that many people hold the same sentiment." Lihua laughed a little bit, non-sarcastically. "Jennifer most likely wasn't intending on throwing all of us 'under the bus', as they say," Lihua started off. "She was forced into a desperate situation, and she was hoping that she could get an easy out to this situation... when there was none." Shizuka looked straight into Lihua's eyes. "I know that: to save someone, I'll have to sacrifice another. I can't save both." Then he relaxed, and shrugged. "I guess I'm sacrificing my... 'friendship' with her to stop her from repeating the same mistake. She's right - back then everything was out of her control, out of everyone's control. But now it's different. If I have to play the bad guy to wake her up, then so be it." He could afford that role, since they were probably never going to be friends at this rate. "And, truthfully," Lihua was quick to agree with him. "You just have to be rough with her, if that's the only way she'll improve. Because Ms. Caspin has spent her entire life coddled, and she can barely function when faced with adversity... but, in a way, I do feel sorry for her." And that was honestly spoken as it could be. "She grew up with no friends, and lived a life of, well, nothing - then when she develops superpowers, she finally gets the companionship that she has desperately desired... only to have it [i]all[/i] dashed away by a madman." Though, there was something inherently [i]amusing[/i] about all of this. "...It's almost like a bad joke, yes?" Lihua rhetorically asked, smiling. "She's like the universe's [i]plaything[/i]." "We all are," he murmured, quietly to himself. Then he spoke louder, "I know nothing much about Jennifer - I'm the last person she'd ever want to talk to anyway - but if we have met under better circumstances, I could've tried to be friends with her. We wouldn't have become like this." And he truly meant that. "But, you can say that about a lot of people," Lihua was quick to reply. "And just because you are like this, doesn't mean it [i]has[/i] to be," Lihua said. "Plaything analogy aside, there isn't an invisible force forcing you two to be against each other... but, at the same time, not everyone is meant to be a friend; you can just agree that, while you don't hate each other, your differences stop you from being friends." Lihua was probably overloading him with philosophy at this point. She just had to giggle like a schoolgirl for a second. She only lived for fifty years, but it felt like she had [i]two-hundred[/i] years of experience. "Aaaaah, this is all [i]so[/i] complicated," Lihua mused out loud. "Experiences like this are why I prefer to be on my lonesome." Shizuka merely gave her an amused look. "Haru said that you've changed... and you've certainly changed, even though sometimes I still feel that same prideful vibe from you... just more subtle." Lihua laughed, covering her mouth. "I'd say that I became less arrogant, and condescending..." She gave him a playful look. "...But, with [i]so[/i] many things to be proud of, my pride is still as strong as ever." Meanwhile... After the second time had failed, Reed made one last attempt to dial Jen. While Jennifer didn't answer her phone, the sharp scream that pierced through the air was more of a clue to the trio. Before the others could get a word in, Reed bolted in the direction of the scream. "Wait---" Lihua called out, sticking her hand out, before she resigned and started chasing after Reed... fast as she could in heels. Which was basically a slow jog that even an eighty year old could outpace. "I'm not as fast as I used to be..." she muttered. Shizuka raised an eyebrow at her. "...Maybe you should just forget about those heels." He could offer to carry her if he felt gracious enough, but no way he would do that with how huge she was compared to him. He decided to stay with Lihua instead of leaving her behind and following after Reed - it would be better for Jennifer to see Reed first, and Shizuka's presence might make that cranky girl throw another fit at him. "...And run [i]barefoot[/i]? On this dirty sidewalk? [i]No thank you[/i]," Lihua quickly retorted. Shizuka could only facepalm. Maybe he should take back his words - [i]this woman is as vain as ever.[/i] [hr] Scurrying off into an alleyway, Jennifer was trying to piece together what happened. Shizuka - the others - just didn't understand. Why couldn't he just leave her alone? She's just as confused as he was, but she had to compose herself. She was literally diving into emptiness here, letting her anger to guide her to bad places... she was just about ready to try to kill Shizuka over a misunderstanding... there was no way she could take him on unless she could catch him off guard. [i]Okay, just calm down Jennifer... it's all going to be okay.[/i] She tried to mentally reassure herself as she took in deep breaths over and over again. She was going to apologize to them... but, she she didn't know what to tell them because of what happened to her hand. She had already lost it. "...Hey, broad," a man said as he walked up to her menacingly, producing a switch-blade. "Drop your clothes and get up against the wall." He pointed the knife at her, and she couldn't tell if he was being serious or not. Even if she wasn't superpowered, all she had to do was run off. "What are you deaf?" the man asked as he got closer, grabbing onto Jennifer by the neck and pushing her up against the wall. "...You and I are about to have a lot of---" His statement was cut short when a bone spire came out of Jennifer's hand and pierced him through the thigh. He looked down, and what he saw was best compared to a horror movie. He let out a loud scream. [hr] It was Reed who was the first to witness the would-be thug clutching at his bloody thigh with one hand and frantically jabbing a blade at Jen with the other. A cop's instincts kicked in from this point and without another word, Reed practically grappled with the man until he was able to twist his wrist, forcing him to drop the blade. Jennifer was quick to raise an eyebrow when Reed stepped into the mix... and she was quick to retract the blade, making it even worse as it oozed crimson. "Reed!" Jennifer loudly said, feeling guilt that she almost killed this man. "I-I am so sorry! He... tried to... he tried to force himself on me and..." "You f-f-fucking cunt, get of-off of me!" the man spat, cutting her off as Reed forced him to the ground. "Help! Help, I'm dying cos' of this freak!" He started to scream, until Reed planted his knee against his back and pressed down hard, eliciting more agonized groans. "Don't tempt me to use force," The ex-cop's voice was a low growl and one could tell it was only the fact he had those instincts that kept him from delivering a beating of his own, instead resorting to planting his face against the hard ground. "There's some cable ties in my pocket," He began. "Left coat pocket. Pass them to me." Jennifer reached into his pocket and pulled out what Reed had asked for and passed them to him, to which he began to bind the man's hands together behind his back. At this point, Lihua had ran up to the scene... and immediately bent over and began panting heavily. Just a simple run like that was so straining that she had to take a break from a run as simple as that. Her weight wasn't helping. After collecting herself, she stood straight up, and looked directly at the scene and just had to raise an eyebrow. Reed was pinning a man to the ground, who had suffered an injury, while Jennifer was looking doe-eyed... what the hell happened here? She just had to gaze at Shizuka for a second. Shizuka wasn't as tired - he pretty much got here at walking speed next to Lihua. He caught Lihua glancing at him; he merely sighed and shrugged to her before he said to Reed, "Better get that guy to a hospital or whatever to get his thigh treated, and let BPD handle the rest about him." "Mr. Taylor, can you handle him?" Lihua asked as she walked up to Jennifer. Having sufficiently restrained Jen's would-be attacker, Reed shifted backwards a little and bluntly planted a few fingers against where the girl's spike had pierced his thigh, then concentrated. "You're lucky I don't leave you to bleed out." Perhaps for just a second, he felt a semblance of his ability's original owner channeling through him as a part of him considered it, before he eventually shook the thought off. Shizuka then turned his attention to Jennifer and waited silently. Half expecting an explanation from her, while the other half to avoid flipping another wrong switch in that emo girl's unstable mind. "Shizuka... guys..." Jennifer said, as she grabbed onto her other arm. "I'm... sorry. I shouldn't of reacted like I did... I was just confused and scared, but if I just came clean from the beginning we could have avoided all this..." Shizuka was a little surprised at how quickly the girl had apologized. He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "...I'm sorry too - I shouldn't be so harsh with you." He stared straight into Jennifer's eyes. "Also... [i]you are not alone in this world.[/i]" Then he kept his mouth shut and looked away. "I... accept your apology," Jennifer said, nodding her head. At least she acknowledged it... Lihua thought to herself as she faced Jennifer. "I understand where you are coming from, but you have to acknowledge something..." Jennifer looked up at the Zhao matriarch, and patiently awaited her response. "While the death of your family was a tragedy that has saddened even me..." Lihua start off, reaching into her purse again and pulling out her flask. Gently turning the top as she spoke. "...You have to understand that, regardless of your tragedies, [i]the world doesn't owe you anything.[/i]" She just bluntly said as she drank some from her flask, when she wiped the rest of the alcohol off with her sleeve, she followed up, "Not an apology, no help, no [i]happiness[/i], nothing..." Jennifer clenched her fists as she considered Lihua's words. "That is up to you to find for yourself," Lihua said. "We are merely helping you out of kindness, but you also have to understand that, each of us, are being pushed to our... [i]figurative limits[/i]. While we want to help you, you are making that difficult by being so secretive over things that could really help us... Prevention is better than the cure, after all." "I..." Jennifer said as she looked down in shame, before she kept her mouth shut. "You also have to understand that the world isn't going to stop what it's doing over your personal problems... This... Founding Family, yes?" Lihua looked at Shizuka for confirming, receiving a curt nod from him. "They are drowning the world in [i]blood[/i]... The Black Hound... with every person he kills, they grow stronger. And I'm just going to be frank here: the threat they pose to the world is more important than your self-loathing..." She spoke each word with a stern honesty, and didn't care if Jennifer would take it the wrong way. She drunk some of her alcohol, before she realized it was close to the bottom, and shrugged. "So, you [i]have[/i] to stop acting like you and your problems are the center of the universe," Lihua said. "And realize that no one [i]has[/i] to help you." Letting out a sharp exhale, Jennifer listened to every word that Lihua had to say. It was never her intention to act self-important - but, maybe she was getting blinded by her own lies. Honestly... she just wanted to live. "...You're right," Jennifer was quick to answer. "I have been acting selfish lately, really selfish. Even if I didn't mean to. I forgot that... there's other people - and they have problems, too!" "Good..." Lihua said, screwing the cap back on, and put the flask back into her purse. "Now, I'll say one last thing," Lihua said, pointing her finger in Jennifer's face. "...From here on in, there will be no more secrets." Jennifer sighed. "Okay... I keep saying that I have nothing to hide," Jennifer said. "But, it's about time I start acting that way." She nodded her head. "I was just confused... I just kept my mouth shut because... I didn't want anyone to worry about me. I didn't want to be a nuisance, but, I guess I just wasn't helping, right?" Jennifer shrugged as she looked off to the side. "I need to stop feeling sorry for myself, I... yeah, I'm going to stop myself here because I'm feeling sorry for myself again." She just frankly shrugged. "I spent so many years doing... well, nothing... and now I feel like it's time for me to do something..." She stared at her hand which was regenerating slowly. "[i]...Because now I have all the time in the world.[/i]" "There is something you can do for us now," Shizuka finally spoke up again, when he felt that the whole philosophy lecture had pretty much come to an end between the two women. "You can start by telling us what happened to you, which made you lost that hand." "I need you to believe me here," Jennifer said as she stared at Shizuka. "I was telling the truth back in the bar... I was walking here, then I woke up in an alleyway with my hand missing... and my head's been hurting like hell lately..." She said, truthfully as she could because she honestly had no idea what had happened. Maybe there was someone (or some[i]thing[/i]) after her. Shizuka considered what Jennifer had said - it sounded like the assaulter did more than just cutting off her hand. She kept mentioning that she had a headache - both when Meifeng asked about her hand in the bar just now, and here. Did they do something with her brain too? He thought about using his power on her to check for any physical injuries to her head just to be sure, but he held back, not wanting to repeat the same drama as the bar incident. [i]...This is so awkward and troublesome.[/i] Giving shits about how other people feel greatly hindered his decision-making, making it harder to get the more important things done... but it wouldn't do him much good if he provoked her again. Jennifer stared off towards the side, towards Reed... ...And saw him stemming the flow off blood from her would-be attacker's wound with his ability. Jennifer could see Reed at full concentration as the blood seemed to flow back into the wound, clotting in mere moments. Suddenly, Jennifer froze up as she stared at Reed. That looked... nah, it couldn't be. Could it? Jennifer was quite frankly shell-shocked as that ability made her regress mentally. Standing there doing nothing but stare. "...R-Reed..." she trailed off, her anger rising, before she shook it off. It couldn't be. She was just overreacting. "Um... I'll tell everyone everything... let's go back to the bar!" she said, full of passion and determination. ...But, Lihua was quick to deflate it by saying, "...Let's not. They were ready to kick us out." "Oh?" Jennifer, who missed most of Cindy's antics, merely raised an eyebrow. "So, how about we just walk?" Then the mention of Cindy reminded her. "Oh, what about Cindy and Meifeng?" "Cindy's drunk off her ass right now..." Lihua looked back at the bar and just laughed a little. "...I wish I could be there to see Cindy's reaction to showing the entire bar her rear." She laughed. "I suggest that we just walk... it's not like our enemies will send their army of loyal ninjas..." She wished that she could get a refill on her alcohol, but unfortunately no. "Yeah..." Reed began, somewhat tired of the evening's events. "Look, you three go and I'll catch up once I've called in a cruiser from BPD." [hr][hr][i][h1][color=salmon]Haruka Takashiro[/color], and...[/h1][/i][hr][hider=Fate/stay night OST - Corrupted Pedigree][youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFKWBhsNeDc[/youtube][/hider][hr] [b][code]Greencrest Heights, White Coast_[/code][/b] Instead of going back to his aunt in Little Seapond after being discharged from the DOVE/RAVEN Headquarters' hospital wing, Haruka chose to stay at his twin's and Holly's shared apartment in Greencrest for awhile. The gun wounds had healed up nicely, but he was told to avoid doing strenuous physical work for another couple of days to avoid tearing open those holes again. The shared house of his RAVEN siblings (Holly was like an older sister to him even if they weren't related by blood) was relatively clean and tidy, though there was a thin layer of dust collecting that suggested the two of them hadn't been around for days. Which made him even unhappier towards his brother. He could tell that Shizuka was trying to hide it from him, that the insane plan at the mall got him suspended from RAVEN for a month. He had expected that his pragmatic counterpart wouldn't be bothered much with something like that, cheering at getting a break off work (which he had been complaining about it for [i]months[/i]), and would come to annoy Haruka with all his grand holiday plans. He wondered what his twin was doing now. He turned on the TV - the news about the hostage incident was still a hot topic even after a week. He couldn't bear to look at all the hate posts on the various social media sites... and he didn't even want to face his college 'friends'. All those things only serve to add more oil to the fire - making him even more infuriated. He, of all people, knew [i]exactly[/i] how it felt like to be powerless. Before he even got this air manipulation ability... He was constantly jealous of Shizuka, he knew he was weak and useless in a physical fight, he knew that he couldn't protect the ones he cherished and needed them to protect [i]him[/i] instead... He had both desired for, and [i]feared[/i], power. The contradiction had always raged within him even till now - he didn't want to go back to being his powerless old self, yet he knew what his twin said was right: to save one person, he would have to hurt the others. He knew it all along, especially during the arena matches when he was still in the academy. In order to end the violent matches, he had to defeat every single one of his opponents... in cold blood. Haruka could see where Shizuka was coming from with unsympathetic logic, but he still felt that his twin could have at least a pinch of regret for those unfortunate ones who had perished in the chaos to get away from the Black Hound. ...No, Shizuka did nothing wrong - it was just like he had said to one of Haruka's 'friends': DOVE and RAVEN were trying so hard to save the hostages, but what did they get? The public flamed them, and Shizuka ended up being the scapegoat for these [i]ungrateful morons[/i]--- He tightened his grip on the beer can, almost crushing it in his hand. The thought of losing his 'good side' scared him. He took a sip of beer to calm himself down (Holly had kept some in the fridge; Shizuka would never drink alcohol). How long could he keep up with this 'nice guy' facade? How long could he keep the angry beast caged deep inside of him? He might not be as apt as Shizuka in a physical fight, but even his twin had admitted that Haruka would be formidable in a battle of tactics if he ever got serious, and that he understood people better than his brother. His air power might not be as destructive as the other elemental types, but his control over his ability was fast and precise; even with sheer willpower, he was still more accurate than most others. Nobody knew the [i]full[/i] extent of his power except for his mentor Lihua, and his own brother. If there was one thing that made him exactly the same as Shizuka... He would do whatever it takes to protect his twin, even if he would have to get blood on his hands. No mercy, no moral bullshits. Especially since he had a superpower in his arsenal along with all the knowledge and information he had gained over the years--- [i]What the heck am I thinking?[/i] He turned off the TV and dumped the remaining beer in the can back into the fridge, then headed for the door. Maybe taking a walk would help to expel the dark thoughts out of his clouded mind. [hr][hider=God Eater 2: Rage Burst OST - Losing Ground][youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYdw1uWXhuw[/youtube][/hider][hr] The walk did help - he usually felt better outdoors, for the air indoors were stale and suffocating. He suddenly stopped before a cafe; Thanks-A-Latte. Wasn't this the place where he had met Jennifer a week ago? He thought about their conversation, and wondered if he should ask her to tell him the rest of her story. He entered the shop, and a quick look at the counter hit him with a subtle disappointment. He walked up to one of the staff, and he was told that Jennifer was off from work today. As he was about to turn and leave the cafe, a woman brisked in through the door. Not just Haruka, but the eyes of almost every single person in the cafe were hopelessly sucked towards this lady. She was a rather tall woman, made even taller with the stylish black heels. Diamond-studded golden belt tightened around her slim waist, which made her curvy figure show through even with the bright-red trenchcoat over a very dark green turtleneck. She wore heavy makeup with blood-colored lipstick, her eyes covered by a pair of sunglasses framed using jade, and a black derby sitting at an angle on her head. "[i]Can anyone speak Chinese here?[/i]" the lady said loudly, her sharp voice echoed throughout the silent store. No one responded or moved, and merely continued to gape at her. "[i]...I do,[/i]" Haruka decided to turn back and walked towards the lady, offering his help. "[i]I can help you to order your drink... Miss.[/i]" The lady looked down at Haruka, adjusting her sunglasses with a hand covered in leather gloves. "[i]What a gentleman, to call me a 'Miss'! Let me offer you a drink for your good manners.[/i]" "[i]It's okay, I'll just---[/i]" Haruka started to protest, but the lady cut him off. "[i]I[/i] insist[i].[/i]" Haruka could feel an aura of authority emitting from her, similar to the kind of feeling he got from a stern Lihua. "[i]Um... okay.[/i]" He gestured for the lady to go first, but she simply grabbed his arm and marched towards the counter in a few huge strides (well, she was [i]taller[/i] than him). "[i]I'll have hot caffe mocha with whipped cream and chocolate syrup, largest size,[/i]" she said, not looking at the signboards but at Haruka's face. "[i]What would you like, my dear?[/i]" Haruka faced the barista at the cashier and recited her order in English, then he added, "For me, I'll just have a small cup of hot green tea." "[i]Well, what did you order?[/i]" the lady pressed him. "[i]...Green tea,[/i]" he replied truthfully. "[i]I... prefer tea over coffee.[/i]" It was a lie - he just didn't feel like having coffee at the moment. "[i]Oh,[/i]" the lady sighed, disappointed. "[i]No matter - I can get your number later so that I can treat you to a proper coffee the next time![/i]" Haruka could only gave her a weak smile - he felt that she would shush him again if he had rejected. The lady frowned at the takeaway cups when their drinks came. However, she giggled, nudging Haruka's arm playfully. "[i]You don't have to be so shy with me.[/i]" Then she grabbed his arm and dragged him to one of the empty tables. "[i]I have something that will greatly interest you - concerning someone very important to you. Are you sure you want to leave without listening to my story?[/i]" Haruka sat down opposite of the lady, narrowing his eyes at the dangerous smile on her pastel-like face. He took a sip of his tea, but merely stared at the lady and kept quiet, waiting for her to continue. The lady giggled again, and returned Haruka's glare with a smug look, pleased that she got his full attention. "[i]You're even cuter when you're angry---[/i]" Haruka cut her off coldly, "[i]What is it about 'someone very important to me' that you want to talk about?[/i]" The lady's smile broadened. "[i]Very well. But first, we should start being[/i] frank [i]with each other, you and I.[/i]" She drank a bit of her coffee. "[i]I'm here to look for your brother, Takashiro Shizuka - he has something extremely important in his possession that belonged me... to[/i] us[i]. I heard that he's currently debarred from RAVEN for the time being... and he had paid the price for being too clever for his own good.[/i]" "[i]...I wonder how I can help you, then? As you would probably have known, Shizuka hasn't contacted me ever since I got discharged,[/i]" Haruka said in his usual polite tone, but it didn't quite reach the steely look in his eyes. The lady laughed. "[i]Wonderful... Perfect... The two of you are truly the children of that woman. She wasn't so useless, after all.[/i]" She reached out a hand and caressed Haruka's face. "[i]To think that the two of you have grown so much, and developed different sets of powers... when you both shared the same energy source.[/i]" Haruka locked his gaze with her. She knew about Asami? And what did she mean by her last line - about sharing the 'same energy source'? She leaned in closer. "[i]And the two of you are more than ready to return back to us, to your true parents - to[/i] Polaris[i].[/i]" Haruka flinched at the unexpected heat he felt on his cheek, from the lady's hand still on his face. Then the lady pulled back her hand slowly. "[i]Oh, how impolite of me not to introduce myself... I am[/i] Xing Huo[i], the Spirit of Fire in Polaris.[/i]"