Wendy

Itsuki took Yol's hand and stopped him. "What is it? Why are you both standing there like fools?"

Then Akihiro came to his senses and said, "I can't believe this. It can't be this absurd."

Yol looked towards Akihiro, confusion plain on his face. Then Akihiro stood quietly. "We'll finish this another night."

He left the restaurant, leaving behind both Yol and Itsuki staring at him. Soon Itsuki looked towards Yol and said to him, "And you, are you going to leave, or stay there lost in thought like a fool?"

When Yol saw that look and this manner of treatment, he felt a little confusion and answered him. "Itsuki, it's me."

Itsuki stood thinking a little as he scratched his head. "Have we met before?"

No sign of a lie showed on Itsuki's face, so he said, "No, don't worry about it. But before I leave, can I ask you about something?"

"That's fine, speak."

"What do you make of what happened between me and that Jinn commander?"

Then Itsuki answered him at once, saying, "Before that matter, instead of you knowing which of you was in the right and which in the wrong."

At Itsuki mentioning this, Yol hesitated a little and said, "That was... to protect a friend, or something like that."

"Then the one in the wrong here is you. That makes perfect sense. Living life like that, spending it questioning others."

Yol was clenching his fist as he listened. And just as he was about to reply to him, Wendy walked in, and glances were traded in that small gathering.

While Wendy looked at Itsuki, a tear fell from her warm eye, followed by that small word from her mouth. "Brother..."

None of them understood what was happening, and no one found anything to say, until she was about to embrace him.

"Who are you calling brother? And before anything, who are you?"

And while she pressed her hands against him to hug him, "It's me, Aki."

At hearing that name, both Yol and Hiro were taken aback. "Who is Aki? This is the first time I've heard this name. And also, would you stop? You."

"I'm only happy to see you again."

Hiro advanced then and asked, in the midst of that struggle, "Before that, what does Aki mean..."

Then Aki answered while trying to ignore the question or change it. "Ah... hmm. It isn't that I was deceiving you..."

Yol cut her off, saying, "That's right, wasn't your name Sherlock? What does that mean?"

That made the matter even more confusing.

"You're the one who gave me that name, you scruffy thing."

And while they gathered around her, waiting for that convincing explanation from her, she said, "It's... it was fun."

And while she tried to fabricate a story, "So that's it, I understand!!"

"Yes, yes, that's all there is to it, heh."

Then Itsuki looked with worry towards Hiro, who seemed a little dull. "Did you really believe something like that?"

"Huh...!"

Yol slipped behind Aki and struck her hard on the head, saying, "This is for vanishing without telling me anything. Do you know how much I searched for you during the few hours you disappeared?"

And while Aki held her head, she answered him. "It isn't as though I vanished by choice, you idiot."

And in the midst of that quarrel, Hiro's gloomy look and his hesitation to speak stirred Itsuki's curiosity.

"Don't worry, I haven't forgotten this time."

That warm aura that filled the place was adorned by the gratitude that came over Hiro at that time. Those words were strangely warm to him.

A few minutes later, Itsuki was carrying his bag and putting on his wrap to hide his face. With the new year coming in, the sky was covered by dense clouds that deepened the darkness of the night. In the middle of that empty street Itsuki walked with steady steps.

"Why did you..."

He was talking to the three people walking behind him with no destination. "What do you want from me now?"

Aki answered him at once. "And what would I want from my brother? Aren't you supposed to look after me, being the older brother?"

Then Itsuki sighed, exhaustion plain on his face, and said, "As I told you..."

Itsuki turned his eyes towards both Yol and Hiro, who were already about to fight one another, and, as though he were putting the question to them, said, "I'm only following this girl here."

Hiro was struck with panic the instant he realised it was his turn now to make up an excuse, and contented himself with saying, "I'm following this scruffy one here to discuss a certain matter..."

"Who are you calling scruffy here?"

"Shut up a little."

And while each of them traded insults, Itsuki sighed again and put his hand on his face as he said, "How annoying."

When Itsuki looked towards Aki again, he said, "What is it?"

"It's nothing, only. Isn't that pile of snow a little strange?"

"Huh..."

Itsuki cast a glance over there. Panic struck him and he ran quickly to that place. Soon he reached it, cleared away a little of the snow on top, and when he saw the face he said, "Wendy...? What happened to you?"

Itsuki pulled her out of the snow quickly and carried her in his arms.

Beneath some old houses there. A few minutes later Wendy opened her tired eyes and said, "Where... am I?"

Itsuki answered her impulsively. "It's me. What happened to you here? Why were you sleeping in the middle of the street like this?"

She felt a little relief when she opened her eyes and found Itsuki, and behind him Yol and the others. "Itsuki... it's been a long time. How have you been lately?"

Then Itsuki put his hand on her shoulder and said in a sharp voice, "What happened to you?"

"Oh, don't worry about it. I ended up like this only because I'm reckless."

Then Wendy stood and made to leave, saying, "Thank you for your help just now. I'll see you later, then."

"What happened to your brother, then?"

Wendy stopped a little, then said to him, "He's dead. That's all."

While Itsuki was about to lose his composure, Hiro, who had been sensing Itsuki's feelings the whole time, was stunned by how his feelings collided with his own.

"Who killed him..."

Though the words came out of his mouth with his usual calm.

Then Wendy contented herself with saying, "It has nothing to do with you," and left the place.

After several minutes of silence, Aki asked the question that had been going through the minds of both Yol and Hiro. "Who is that girl, brother?"

The marks of anger had already vanished, and he'd returned to his usual self when he answered her. "And why would I tell you a thing like that?"

"Don't be stingy with the details."

Itsuki sighed as he went along with her conversation. "She's someone who helped me and my mother a great deal in the past. So much so that I thought, one time, that she was genuinely afflicted with madness. Perhaps because of that character of hers she wasn't lucky in something. She was betrayed and lost her parents, and now this."

While Itsuki was carrying on his words, that haunting aura was the feeling of regret and sorrow.

And before those around him noticed, someone from behind struck him hard on the back of his head with a staff. Hiro turned around then, about to hit anything he saw behind him. He found Stella there, hugging her staff while wringing the tear in her eye. She said to him, "I can't believe you forgot my existence this quickly."

"Wait a moment, what's come over you all of a sudden?"

"Shut up, don't talk to me."

While they quarrelled among themselves, at that time Yol realised the person she'd been looking for.

They know Aki too. Speaking of which...

When he felt the conversation was incomplete, Yol turned his gaze behind him quickly. There was nothing there but an empty corridor, a little eerie.

"(He had already left....)"