After returning to his dorm room, getting dressed and warming up, Hoshi hears the bell for homeroom to start. Once he's put on his school uniform and goes outside, he sees Naoto.

Naoto notices the slight shiver in Hoshi's bones. He walks up to him and says “Dude, you don't look too good....”

“No, I'm fine, just a little cold is all.” Hoshi says, trying to keep the clattering of his teeth down as best he can. “Did you sleep well? I know I had one hell of a time on the storage-”

Naoto notices Hoshi's words despite him trying to stop himself “Um, storage what? Where were you last night?”

Hoshi hesitates, not wanting to let his best friend know that the Sigil heads are after him. After saying “Umm...” a few times, Hoshi runs off into the school building, saying “Sorry! There's somebody that I need to meet right now! I'll see you later, Naoto!”

Naoto stares at Hoshi as he runs into the building, with multiple questions floating around in his head. “Okay, something definitely happened yesterday....” he thinks before walking into the school building.

After some searching, Hoshi finds his way to room two o' one. He opens the door and walks in, looking at all of the upperclassmen that are around the room. He finds the boy that Raphael had indicated after a bit of surveillance. He walks up to the table he is sitting at, where in which there is also another girl with blonde hair standing nearby the table.

“Um, excuse me? Are you the leader of that investigation group that I was told to meet.” Hoshi says, a hint of hesitation in his voice given he's talking to an upperclassmen.

Jian looks up immediately after hearing Hoshi say something about the investigation group. He looks at the tan freshman in front of him and then says “Did Raphael send you...?”

Hoshi gulps and then says “Yes....”

Jian and Carie simultaneously sigh. “Damn, guess this was the person he was talking about....” Jian says before moving his hand out for a handshake. “The name's Jian Orien, and she's Carie Blain. I'm the leader of the investigation group and she's one of the members.”

After Hoshi shakes both Jian and Carie's hands, Jian says “So you're the Dusk Avenger, huh? Didn't expect him to be a freshman....”

Hoshi is taken aback by Jian's comment. After a moment of shock, he says “...How did you know that I'm the Dusk Avenger...?”

“Raphael told us.” Carie says bluntly “He knows quite a lot of things. Eh, I guess it comes with being an alien. Anyway, we won't tell anyone about you being the Dusk Avenger as long as you don't tell anyone that we're trying to stop the Sigil heads.”

“Speaking of which, we shouldn't be talking about the investigation group here.” Jian says, tapping his pencil against his desk. “Meet us in my dorm room after school. It's on the second floor of the male dormitory, directly at the end. We'll tell you more when you get there.”

Carie glances up at the clock on the far side of the room and says “Homeroom is going to start soon, you should head to your class if you don't want to get into any trouble.”

Hoshi thanks Carie for informing him of the time and gives Jian and Carie a bow before exiting from the door he came from. Carie and Jian look at each other, not saying a word until eventually Carie says “So, the Dusk Avenger is a first year....”

“It doesn't matter what grade he's in, he's still going to be a good asset to the investigation. Although, I wonder exactly what Raphael has planned for us....” Jian says, tilting back in his chair.

Hoshi stands in front of the door that Jian told him he should go to. He takes a deep breath and then knocks on the door. He waits there for a few moments until a voice on the other side of the door says “Who is it?”

“It's me, the guy you met earlier today during homeroom. Can I come in?” Hoshi says politely.

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There's silence from the other side of the door for a few seconds. Suddenly, Jian's voice calls out “You can come in, we've been expecting you.”

Hoshi adjusts his collar and then opens the door. Inside of the room are all five members of the investigation group. Carie and Sin are sitting on the left two beds, Boz is standing along with Jian, and Lera is sitting on the right near bed.

Boz turns around and gives Hoshi a large smile. “So you’re the Dusk Avenger, huh? Well, it's a pleasure to meet ya!” Boz extends his hand to Hoshi, expecting a handshake.

“Shh, not so loud!” Hoshi says in a low voice. He shuts the door quietly and then says “Yeah, you heard it right, I'm the Dusk Avenger. Oh, and the name's Hoshi Yashigori.” Hoshi grabs Boz's hand and gives him a stern shake. “It's a pleasure to meet you, umm....”

“The name's Boz, Boz Zhao. I've been part of this group since the beginning. I'm the second in command. I'm a trained swordsman and I've been training at my father's dojo since I was old enough to hold a bonkai. That pretty lady over there...” Boz says, waving his arm over to Lera, who gives a polite wave. “... is my girlfriend, Lera Fuin, ninja apprentice!”

Carie grows a frown on her face when she hears Boz say that he's the second in command. She grunts to gain Hoshi's attention after Boz is finished and says “Hey, what do you mean that you're second in command!?”

Before Boz can say a word, Jian places his hand on Boz's shoulder and says “Carie, Boz, you're both second in command, and if you start arguing about it, then neither of you are. Now how about we all go around the room and introduce ourselves?”

All of the members of the investigation group give Hoshi an explanation of who they are, their roles, and tell him what events have led up to this point.

Jian looks over at Hoshi and says “Well, that’s pretty much all you need to know about our little group. Do you mind telling us a little about yourself?”

Hoshi hesitates. He scratches the back of his head, trying to summon up the right words. “Well, there really isn’t much to know about me….”

Boz gets up from his seat, saying “But you're the Dusk Avenger, right? You have to at least have some kind of story behind that!”

A second after Boz gets off of the bed, Lera gets up too and places a hand on Boz’s shoulder “Boz, if he doesn’t have anything to say, then we shouldn’t push him any further. We’ll ask him about that later.”

With a smile on her face, Carie complements Lera's sincerity “You do not have to tell us anything if you do not want to, Hoshi. If we are going to be working together, though, then I would suggest that you at least tell us something about yourself? You don't need to, just tell us when you are ready.”

Rubbing his head, Hoshi sighs. After a second, he says “Well, I can tell you that I'm a freshman, and I just transferred here. I'm half Japanese and half Brazilian, The Japanese part on my mother's side and the Brazilian part on my father's.”

Jian has an intrigued look on his face “Brazilian huh? Didn't know that people in this city came from that far away.”

Seeing Jian's point, Hoshi clarifies “Well, there's a bit of a story to that. I'll tell you all about that if you want?”

The room fills with small chatter, all of it confirming that they want to hear about this. Hoshi clears his throat and then begins speaking. “My mother has never actually left Japan, to tell the truth. My father and mother met here in this country, but not in Ignama. He was part of a Brazilian construction company that the city my mom lived in hired to do construction work. They met when my mom was walking by the construction site, and one thing led to another. From what my dad told me, my mom didn't want to leave Japan, so my dad quit his job in the construction company and relocated here to Japan. About three years later and I was born. My dad died a year ago from a stroke though.... Don't ask me about that, I don't like thinking about it....”

A silence fills the room for the next minute, no one saying anything and the thought of death sinking in. In all honesty, each one of them had been thinking the same thing since Raphael told them that they were going from investigating and defending themselves to going on the offensive. They all know it is very possible that they could die if they aren't careful during this operation, but they still need to do this, they still need to stop the Sigil Heads if not only they want to remain safe, but they want to protect Ignama from them.

Hoshi notices that the silence is going on for a bit too long and asks “Umm, did I say something wrong? Why did everything get so solemn all of a sudden?”

Boz lets out a deep sigh before going over to Hoshi and placing his hand on his shoulder “It's not really what you said, but sort of what was brought up. Listen, you know Raphael, right?” Hoshi nods his head “Well, Raphael asked us a week or so ago to help him with something concerning the Sigil Heads. He said the Sigil Head's are planning something that will turn everyone in the city into one of them, and Raphael asked us to help him. The thing is that he's asking us to go on an assault with him and his squad. Our group has only fought the Sigil Heads in small skirmishes before, but this would be an actual battle. The thought of actually dying during this... has come up in our minds.”

Hoshi nods his head to Boz's explanation. The thought of death has come into Hoshi's mind during his time as the Dusk Avenger, and it still worries him. He, however, has taken a different perspective. He figures that everyone is going to die someday, so he should use the days he has on this world to make a difference. “Boz, I can understand where you are coming from, but trust this from someone with experience. You need to think past that if you want to help people. Don't get me wrong, I care if I live or die, but think about what will happen to other people if you don't put your life on the line to protect them?”

After Hoshi has said those words, a loud knock comes from the room's door....