As daytime came, Inigo, already being in the area, had a couple of things he needed to do upon waking up. His first order of business was, naturally, the pawn shop. He still had his loot from yesterday, after all, and he had to sell them. The profit was fairly decent, but as it turned out, the gems were fake, so he didn't get as much as he had been hoping or expecting.

Next order of business was getting breakfast - he felt he might need an extra sugar in his tea to make up for his annoyance at the fake jewels. It wasn't Sir Umbrella's fault, he obviously hadn't expected to get his stuff stolen, but it still frustrated Inigo to no end. So he resumed his status as a semi-regular haunt of the Hole, walking in and looking around.

He'd woken up fairly early that day. At one point, the nightmares simply got unbearable, so he gave up on getting any more sleep. So he got there at around eight in the morning, and joined the queue just in time to see the bespectacled girl taking her order.

"The usual."

...and, unfortunately for her, the new barista. He'd enrolled a few days ago, and Inigo had been unfortunate enough to have been served by him. He'd recognise that tanned skin, his long brown hair, his red eyes, his muscled physique, his yellow "Java Hole" apron, and his name tag, reading "HELLO! MY NAME IS: Silas". He wasn't bad at his job or anything, nor was he particularly mean, but...

"The usual, huh? Let's see, that's...a carrot smoothie and a bunch of plain pancakes, right?"

"Correct."

"Ah, carrots. Those are good for your eyesight." Silas chuckled, jotting down the order. "Because they're full of vitamin see."

While he smiled at his own joke, the glasses girl didn't seem quite as amused. "It's the vitamin A in carrots that helps with eyesight."

"Right, of course, it does." Silas nodded, crossing his arms. "Vitamin eyy, it's a regular, amirite?"

Then came a few seconds of silence, though Inigo could imagine she was glaring at him rather meanly. Silas chuckled nervously, shrugging a little. "Heh, tough crowd, huh?" he commented. "You having it to go, or in here?"

"I'm eating in the building."

"Hi, eating in the building. I'm Silas." Silas chuckled, gesturing to his name badge before keying in her order into the cash register while he audibly heard a mild groan from the customer. "Now, that'll be 730V. Cash or card?"

"Card." she responded, pulling out an indigo-coloured card while Silas presented a card reader in response. The transaction went through without a hitch, and Silas smiled as he watched the receipt getting printed off, taking it.

"Alrighty. Hey, did you know there are thirteen vitamins?"

"I did."

"Well, that'll come in handy, won't it?" he said, handing her the receipt. "You're number 013. When that number is called, that's your cue. Catch you later, Vitamin Girl!"

"...don't call me that." Vitamin Girl murmured, stepping off to her usual table as Silas went to call in the order. Inigo raised an eyebrow, seeing that he was now in front of the queue and seeing that Silas was now the only barista who was free.

.........

"There are two gods watching over our world, you see, and it is from them that Natura originates."

"Deus Spero, the god of light, order and hope, and Deus Luctus, the god of darkness, chaos and despair!"

"Don't be fooled by their domains, though. This isn't a 'good god, bad god' deal, because both of these deities are a solid Lawful Neutral! It's thanks to their juxtaposition that we have stability."

.........

"Yeah, well, fuck them both." Inigo thought, staring at Silas as he stepped towards the cheerful barista, his hands in his pockets and a stoic expression on his face.

"Woah, we meet again! Inigo, was it?" Silas grinned.

"Apparently." Inigo deadpanned in response.

"Well, Inigo, it's nice to have you back! We really do appreciate your patronage, you know?" Silas said, taking out his pen and paper. "What can I fix for you?"

"Tea, five sugars." Inigo told him. "And a strawberry muffin."

"Sweet! That'll be a piece of cake!" Silas gave what Inigo assumed was his best shit-eating grin as he jotted that down. "Anything else?"

"No."

"Okay, then. That'll be 630V, cash or card?"

"Card, please."

"Alright! Credit card or doner card?"

"Doner card?"

"You sure about that? It'll cost you an arm and a leg!"

"Gimme the card reader, man." Inigo groaned, staring at Silas with narrowed eyes as the latter chuckled, presenting the reader.

"Haha, sorry about that." he said, watching Inigo press his white card to the reader as the transaction went through. He printed off the receipt and looked it over to make sure he had things right. "Now...I hope prime numbers are your cup of tea, because you're number 19! Just wait, and we'll call you over when your meal is done."

"Sure, sure." Inigo nodded, stuffing his card away and sitting at his table as he waited for his order to come, humming a tune to himself as he looked forward to what the day held in store for him.

.........

Makoto stepped inside the Hole, poking his head around the door and looking around with a serious look on his face, before sighing in relief. Good. Inigo was here. And even better, that glasses bitch had left. Which made sense; it was past 8:20 by now. With that out of the way, all he needed to do was keep Inigo in his sight. He wouldn't escape him again.

He stepped inside, looking around to see that the place was somewhat busy by now. Even so, Inigo sat by his lonesome, sipping on his mug of tea. Makoto stepped into the queue, shooting a glare at the man who killed his father. Inigo himself was quietly looking around, but when their eyes met once again, he seemed to freeze up.

Then and there, Makoto revised his schedule for that day. First, breakfast. Second, revenge.

Family values had always been important to those hailing from the land of Han'ei. It was how they showed their reverence to Deus Spero and his domain of order and law. The Kozuki family was no different. The concept they had chosen to value was a simple one - honour. And he was going to get his father's back with his own two hands.

So he waited impatiently in line, and when it was his turn, he saw there were multiple baristas free. He would've just gone to whoever was rightmost, but when he saw a friendly face, he decided to pay him a visit instead. As Silas looked up from his counter, he gave a cheerful smile as he watched Makoto approaching.

"Oh, hey, Makoto! Can I call you Mack?"

"I'd...rather you didn't."

"Heh, okay. The customer is always right." Silas crossed his arms, looking at him with a raised eyebrow, noticing the dark ambience Makoto was giving off. "How's it going? Hope you've been getting enough rest."

"I'm fine." Makoto lied.

"If you say so. If you're ever not, though, don't be afraid to reach out to someone." Silas commented, and Makoto almost got the feeling that Silas didn't quite believe him. "Now, what can I get you? Some green tea, perhaps?"

"Water, please." Makoto replied. "And a white chocolate cookie."

"Okay, you're the boss! Water you paying with, cash or card?"

.........

Silas' joke notwithstanding, the transaction went off without a hitch. Makoto, having seen that Inigo was in quite a hurry to finish and be out of there, more or less rushed his meal once he'd gotten it. He was determined to take this opportunity by the horns and slay his hated enemy. As such, he was able to finish his meal not too long after Inigo did, and was out of there like a flash of light.

After a brief search, he saw Inigo looking around anxiously, and once again, their eyes met, and Makoto felt a deep pounding in his chest. Now unable to run, Inigo turned around to face Makoto, watching him as he summoned his spear to hand, pointing its blade at him and stepping closer.

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"You've been running for three days, Inigo." Makoto said as he walked towards him. "But you can't run anymore."

Though Inigo's stance was now a defensive one, his face held no emotion but a sliver of sadness. He remained silent, simply watching for Makoto's next move, which irked Makoto a little.

"You're standing before one of your victims, Inigo. After all this time, justice has finally caught up to you." he snarled, stopping as he stood a few feet in front of Inigo. "Don't you have anything to say?"

"What can I say that I haven't already?" Inigo asked emptily. "I'm sorry for killing him, but I won't let you kill me over it. That's all."

Makoto clenched his teeth and his fist at once, taking a deep breath that barely hid his fury. "You didn't just take a life that day, Lenahan." he murmured angrily. "By killing my father, you stripped my family of their honour, you forever stuck us with that shame!"

He took a step back as he sniffed a little, and when Inigo noticed tears beginning to roll down his cheeks, he felt the guilt inside him rising uncontrollably. "But most of all, you took my father from me! You took the man who meant everything, who I looked up to above all else!" he exclaimed, desolation leaking into the anger in his voice and forming a truly heartbreaking combination. Pointing his spear once again, he continued. "If you're truly sorry, you'll stand still and let me kill you."

Inigo stared at Makoto with pitying eyes, once again feeling the painful waters of remorse wash over him. But he couldn't help but stand by his position. So, shaking his head, he stepped back. "I...can see why you feel that way." he said. "But I'm not going to stand back and die. Not while I have questions that need to be answered. I need to know who I am, who I was. And dying will get in the way of that."

"Who you are is a murderer! That's all the answers you need!" Makoto roared, pointing at him as he flinched briefly, suddenly conscious of the civilians who were watching and listening. Makoto didn't seem to care much, though, as he continued. "Now, Inigo Lenahan, I challenge you to a duel! This time, I won't let you escape!"

Inigo did not respond, watching as Makoto thrust his spear at him, keeping the sharp blade pointed in his direction. He looked up to a nearby house and sighed, feeling a pool of water generate beneath his feet. He exchanged one last look with Makoto - a saddened, sympathetic one, before he used his signature geyser to leap into the air. Landing on the roof, he began to run away, keeping the buildings ahead in sight.

Makoto watched this, growling angrily and pointing his finger at him. "You craven coward!" he announced, sprouting his angel wings from his back and flying up to the sky. There, he saw Inigo running across the roof, and at once he began to fly after him.

Inigo made sure he was heading in the right direction, running to the edge of one roof so he could jump onto another. And then he did it again, repeating fast, graceful leaps and landing safely on the next. It was actually fairly fun to parkour here, much like he'd suspected, but he didn't expect to do it in this context.

He briefly had to pause, however, when he felt the familiar feeling of holy magic striking him in the back. He looked back, narrowing his eyes as he saw Makoto flying towards him on his wings, his spear in one hand. His other hand was glowing a bright orange, and it was held out in front of him. He watched Makoto generate a cross-shaped light beam in his open palm and fire it at him. In response, he ran ahead, completing another jump and watching as the blast struck where he had once been.

Inigo, now on a different rooftop, summoned his cane to hand and looked at his surroundings. At the rooftops and buildings of varying heights, at the sign at the entrance from where he had first entered. And at Makoto, who was coming at him like an angel of death, emerging from that direction; the one he had wanted to go in. So he'd have to turn around and evade him if he wanted things to go his way.

Turning around, he began to run towards Makoto, whose spear began to glow as he thrust repeatedly at the air in front of him. With each jab, a cross of light formed, and each one flew towards Inigo's position. But he was able to dodge, batting some out of the way with his cane, with the rest colliding with the roof's tiles, which were only mostly protected by the ambient Natura. While dodging, Inigo channelled Natura into his feet, making a light jump, but on contact with the ground, he made one of his signature hydro-springs to vault himself into the air. While in the air, with Makoto watching him cautiously, Inigo generated a disk of water beneath his feet. Before Makoto could react properly, Inigo landed on his shoulder and used his geyser again, propelling himself upwards while Makoto fell to the ground, now soaked.

Makoto stood up slowly, listening out for Inigo before taking to the skies again and watching him. He saw his parkour tricks, the way he leapt from one rooftop to another, before jumping off to swing on a curved lamppost and land atop a nearby bin. From there, he immediately hydro-springed off and made it back to the roof. With each passing second, Makoto grew angrier, aiming his spear at him only to have to try and keep up with his movements.

But he just wouldn't stay in one place, and he was annoyingly fast, making aiming a chore. And firing haphazardly would risk hurting innocents, an unacceptable violation of his code of honour! He'd have to try and catch up. So he followed, flying in Inigo's direction as the latter advanced towards the town exit.

Makoto, having seen the whole time, followed him at full speed, and watched as he eventually jumped onto the wooden entrance sign. There, he glanced backwards to see Makoto advancing, but on the dirt path ahead, he could see a group of four approaching in the distance. Deciding that didn't matter just yet, he stepped out of the way of Makoto's light blast, almost slipping and falling, but righting himself in time to slip down onto the ground, kicking himself off the surface and landing on the ground, where he would run further along the path and away from the town. Makoto, seeing him escape, remained hot on his heels and chased him.

In due time, Inigo stopped randomly on the road and turned around, seeing Makoto flying towards him. Now that he had stopped, Makoto had a chance that he wasn't going to miss out on. He took aim and hurled a light-cloaked spear right at him. Inigo jumped backwards, but the spear was too fast and forceful for him, so he felt it impact his chest in a brilliant blaze of orange light that blew him away, sending him tumbling across the earth.

Makoto landed next to his spear, but did not pick it up, instead charging towards Inigo at full speed as the latter stood up. The amnesiac saw two spheres of light generate in his palms before each one took on a cross shape; the last thing he saw before Makoto reached him and slammed him in the chest with a palm strike. Inigo couldn't react in time before Makoto delivered palm strike after palm strike, skilfully alternating between each hand and throwing a few finger jabs into the mix as Inigo was helpless to counter. Eventually, he called his spear to hand, delivering a mighty thrust that Inigo was just about able to dodge.

Recovering from his daze, Inigo moved his cane in front of Makoto's spear to prevent a slash, and then kicked him in the side, pushing him away. The two of them stared each other down for a little while, readying their weapons while trying to find a way past the other's guard. Makoto attempted a few spear thrusts, but Inigo swiftly evaded them, sometimes moving in with a feint jab that would usually hit, but Makoto sometimes saw through the ruse and parried. They went at each other for a little while longer before a booming voice pierced their ears:

"Freeze! Both of you, freeze!"

They stopped fighting, both of them looking at the speaker - one of the strange people Inigo had seen earlier. And, naturally, there were four of them, each one wearing a sharp suit, summoning a weapon to hand - one of them had a sword, one a pair of metal gloves, one a stylised pistol, and one a dagger. As Inigo gazed on in confusion, Makoto pointed his spear at them, more annoyed than anything.

"Libera again? When will you learn to leave me alone?" he demanded, a statement that immediately grabbed Inigo's attention. "I'm busy! Don't interfere!"

"Wait, these guys...are Libera?" Inigo raised an eyebrow, now more interested in these newcomers, who all brandished their weapons at him as if to threaten him.

"You bet we are!" the cocksure-seeming swordsman replied. "And by the gods, what a jackpot! The Red Joker and the Dawnspear?"

"The, uh, who?"

"The Red Joker." the more stoic gunner repeated casually. "That's you."

Inigo looked down at his decidedly not red choice of attire and found he was left with more questions than answers. "Uh...okay. But what do you want with me?"

"We've received intel that you've finally shown yourself, and a little birdie tells us that you were in the area!" the swordsman smirked as he explained himself.

"Now we've confirmed that, we're taking you with us." stated the boxer. "The Mikado wishes to see you."

"The Mikado, huh?"

"That's what they call their boss." Makoto clarified, gripping his spear tightly. "She's been after me for a while, too."

Inigo nodded slowly, listening to all these words and considering his options. He could just run away in a mist cloud and leave Makoto to fend for himself, but he really didn't feel like doing that. And fighting alongside Libera was a no-go, too, considering his earlier discussion with Scarlett and immediately suspecting who the 'little birdie' was. Oh well, he'd certainly have some rather choice words for their next meeting, but that would have to wait. For now, he looked at Makoto, who was more focused on the Libera members.

"Then it seems like we have a common enemy, right?" he said, grabbing his foe's attention and earning a glare in response.

"You're not suggesting we fight together, are you?" Makoto asked incredulously, shaking his head. "Not with you!"

Inigo audibly sighed, glancing at the readily-advancing criminals. "Consider your options, Makoto. Doesn't fighting with me seem wise? They could take us both out if we're distracted." he said. "Or, think of it this way - don't you want to be the one to kill me? Seems like they'd get in the way if they snatched me away first..."

Makoto glared at him even harder, shaking his head again and facing the Libera members. "The second they're defeated, you're dead. Got it?"

"Sure." Inigo deadpanned, rolling his neck before jumping into the fray, Makoto following him in tow.

And as the battle broke out, with elements flying through the air, the two struggled, but ultimately came out victorious, standing over the criminals with their broken Natura shields. Multiple flashing teleport stones and a thick cloud of mist later, and Makoto was all alone, which he noticed once the cloud cleared away. And so he raged, and after a few seconds, calmed down enough to continue the hunt.

.........

But as night fell, it became apparent that Inigo's powers of evasion exceeded Makoto's tracking abilities. So that was a bust, but Makoto reminded himself that there was always tomorrow, and made his way to the inn.

As for Inigo, he had spent the day camping out in the forest, avoiding anyone wearing a suit as he slowly made his way to the village of Viren. And then, he spent the entire rest of the day laying down at the Come On Inn, attempting to use the horrible pun to distract himself from all that was happening - and that he was sure would only continue to happen.

As for a certain third party, however, he stood outside in the grassy village, a mobile phone in his hand, he entered a contact named "Azurine" and began to call, pressing it to his ear and humming to himself until he got an answer.

"Hey, Silas!"

"'Sup, Azurine?"

"It's been great! I found some Libera guys at Furvus, so I took care of them! And it was so cool!"

"Haha, I'm sure it was. Sooo, I've found a guy, and I think he might be a big help here."

"Ooh! C'mon, who is it? Tell me, tell me!"

"Well, I've only spoken to him at the Hole, but he's had a little scuffle with them just today. His name's Inigo."

"Ooh! And he's around the Arc/Viren area, right?"

"That's right! White hair, blue eyes, looks kinda done with life. You'll know him when you see him."

"Alright, can't wait! I'll look for him tomorrow! Talk to you then!"

"Later, Azurine."

As the girl on the other end of the line hung up, Silas put his phone away and sighed slightly, crossing his arms and looking up to the sky, feeling the gentle breeze against his skin. "Ah...thanks, Makoto. What an informant you are." he said, more to himself than anyone in the vicinity. "Well, let's see what happens next."