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Teal eyes widened in shock. "Hanabi...? You're..."

The brunette bit her lip and slowly nodded. "Hi... mom..."

The woman couldn't suppress her smile and held her arms out. Without second thoughts, she went and gave her a hug.

The woman ran her hand through her hair. "My sparkling flower is all grown up..." She pulled away, with a light sigh. "How did you find me?"

"We..." She hesitated slightly, wondering if she should mention her cousin's name. "My aunt let a few words slip, and I dug for clues that'll lead me to the truth."

She let out another sigh. "Mayumi hasn't been treating you all that well, is that right?" At her nod, she pulled her in for another hug. "Well, I'm grateful that she took you in at all after our parents died. As you can see, I'm in no condition to take care of you, and Takkun-" Her mouth shut. "I-I'm sorry... It must be a shock to you to suddenly find out... A-Anyway, who is your friend?"

On cue, the boy stepped forward and bowed. "Nice to meet you. My name is Houjou Muraku. I'm your daughter's classmate."

"It's nice to meet you too, Muraku."

"Mom." The woman's attention was back on the brunette. "I have so, so, so many questions, but... Is now a good time?"

She wanted to start asking straight away, but seeing the oxygen mask made her hesitate. It was probably too early for this anyway.

The black haired woman gave her a kind smile. "Thank you for your concern. You're right that now isn't the best time, but you're welcome to contact me so we could set up a meeting some time next week? Or really, any time Mayumi isn't here."

Her eyes widened. "May I? Really?"

"Of course. You deserve at least that much." She held on to her hands tightly. "Come talk to me soon. We have a lot of catching up to do."

~~~~~

All eyes turned to the door when it opened. The Russian boy stood in front of them, arms crossed.

"So then?"

She bit her lip, scanning over the eyes that are on her. "I... I found her. I found my mother."

The room erupted into cheers. Nikolai smiled and gave her a well-deserved hug, which she didn't hesitate to return.

Vanessa came next and punched them lightly on the arm. "That's for worrying us this morning!"

"Ow! Why was I punched? Muraku's the one who went with her!"

"He's my leader so I can't punch him. You're taking the hit for him."

"That's hardly fair!"

"Well, we're glad you're both back safe and sound." Mikhail stated, pulling the purple haired girl away. "Have you had lunch yet?"

Muraku nodded. "We ate on the way back."

"Well in that case, let's hear the details." Vanessa broke free from the white haired boy's grip and dragged them all to sit at their table, where Kageto was.

~~~~~

"You actually came here in person?"

"I can't exactly trust the net to send you this."

"The hell is all that?"

"Data. Lots of it." Mavis placed the box next to the monitor. "Where's Charlotte?"

"Here." The light blonde girl came in, carrying a tablet. "Is that all of it?"

"Hey, the box might look small, but there's a whole lot of jumbled stuff in there." She sighed. "I can't do it on my own anymore. It's driving me insane! I'm a cop, not an administrator!"

"What, you don't write reports when you capture the bad guys?" The boy beside her smirked.

"It's 2056! We have scanners and data banks! No one writes anymore."

"You're probably the only adult to have ever said that." He stood up and took out a notepad. "Hm? What's with all these scribbles?"

"The older Kenbishi got that. They assumed it would have coordinates or dates or something."

"If that's what they thought, then it's no wonder they aren't getting anywhere." He flipped through them, chuckling to himself. "These are notes of some of the oldest soldiers in the World Sabers."

"What?"

"Well, not too old. Despite the bad shape it's in, these are pretty new notes, so they're probably in their twenties if not younger. The initials on the top left is their codenames. The one on the right is what year they were born in, and below that is what date they 'joined' the World Sabers. The biggest number, like that 053 you're looking at, is the code for what ability they possess."

Mavis' eyes widened when she realized what that meant. "53 different abilities...?"

"Oh, there's a hell lot more than that. After all, the Overload is number 138."

"What?!"

He took the notepad and flipped to a much further page. The initials were 1TK. Itan Kyouji. Surely enough, the number written was 138.

"Just how many kids have they experimented on...?"

"The real question you should be asking is how long had they been doing it?" Charlotte stated. "The World Sabers made themselves known not too long ago, but can you really believe they became that large in such a short amount of time?"

No, she can't. Which means... "They had been doing this for years..."

"A decade at least. Could be more."

"That woman figured it out on her own." Kyouji chewed on the lollipop's stick. "She wanted to save them and if possible, cure them."

"Eva doesn't want anyone to be labeled as monsters. Especially when they did nothing wrong." Her eyes narrowed. "Kyouji. None of the children actually wants to be there, right?"

"There are a few who believe in their cause, but the majority of them are cowards who're just doing what they've been told to so they don't get killed."

"Then we can still do this." Mavis had a determined look in her eyes. "As long as there's a single soul there that wants to break free, I'm sure we can rally them up and take out the World Sabers. We can finish what Eva started."

~~~~~

Green eyes glowed in the darkness. He walked through the familiar dimly lit corridor. It's been a few years since he last came here. He never expected he'd need to be there again.

The room was just as he remembered it. The cold metal walls, the monitors, and everything else. The only difference was the single tank in the corner of the room.

He touched the panel beside it, opening a single bar. 87%.

"Almost there. We'll need you soon, brother."

~~~~~~~~~~

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