In March, Daigo trampled through her mind. The resilience four years with Worldwide gave her began deteoriating in the existence of the first or second resurrected man the world might've known, and the worry Ryumi had succeeded smothered her thoughts like a warm wind that made grass lose its green. She had destroyed another hotel to keep a host from touching her eyes in to diamonds, and hadn't told her squadron why she skipped this autograph session as she sat backstage alone, thinking.

Serena walked in through the curtain, and Mia looked for any unnatural movement or conversation that might've betrayed her Daigoness. "Hey, um - Samuel and Sylvia are still finishing up. Did you want to go back now?"

Mia stood, trying to imitate Matoi. "Y-Yes. Please."

"Okay." nodded Serena, and Mia almost imperceptibly shuddered as she brushed against her. She let Serena open the door for her, asked her to check outside, and took the route with the least civilians. Mia gripped her jacket's sleeve to yank them away from the corner.

"Mia, are you okay?" winced Serena.

"No civilians. No civilians right now."

"Okay." nodded Serena, letting Mia lead her away. "Um, do you want to go underground?"

"Y-Yes." 

A puff of purple disintegrated the ground, and in to the hole fell the women, Serena refilling above as they walked. Yuruko had given her experience dealing with panic attacks, but she hated seeing Mia this anxious; she still looked up to her & knew there was no trivial reason for it. She'd been refusing to meet with anyone but her squadron for the past month, never allowing herself in public for long.

"C-Check outside, please." said Mia. "Not right here."

Serena nodded and disintegrated fifty feet of tunnel before Mia gestured to her. After a few tries, they got to their hotel  hallway without anyone seeing them.

"Check our room." said Mia, two walls of ice blocking the hall. She watched Blackburn's fog sweep the room, then chided herself for losing focus.

"Clear."

Mia stepped inside and sat on her bed, her eyes hunching over. Serena sat down beside. "…S-Serena. I don't want you to tell anyone else about this."

"Sure." said Serena. "What's wrong?"

Mia relayed Daigo, and Serena stayed silent for a while.

"…that's why he gave you Worldwide."

"Y-Yes." Mia grimaced. "A-And now, I don't know if Ryumi failed or if anyone walking on the street could be Daigo and I-I wouldn't know until they touched me a-and -" - she hugged Serena tightly as her tears started.

"It's, it's okay." Serena quickly hugged her back.

"W-When I was f-focused on Sylvia, I w-was able to keep my mind o-off of it, a-and now I-I can't stop -"

" - he wouldn't know to target you, though, right? U-Um. If, if he's even still alive. I-I can ask Yuruko about that. I bet she would know something."

Mia wiped her tears. "…I-I suppose. I-I don't know if h-he would know, either."

"…b-but, um… I know you can do it if you have to, right? If - if he comes back, then - then he's… I-I'm sorry, I just don't really know what to say. I know you can do it if you have to, and I don't want to say you might not have to, because…"

Mia's phone vibrated and clenched her eyes. "…I need to stay at Timepact. I-I need to take time away from - I just need to…" She took a deep breath, heart reeling over Ryumi. "I-I need to take time away from U-Urasaria, u-until I know more."

◆◆◆

She told the rest of her squadron about Daigo and temporarily left Urasaria for Timepact.

Over her month there, she almost resented the Revenant that locused her for the past four years - then towards Magnus. She should've known something was amiss from the start - he wasn't a spiritual man, and she now doubted he *ever* believed that crap about Ryumi's spirit living on through her. As Timepact had made copies of the tapes, she listened to them again, hoping to construct a personality out of the headless man that had seemed a force of mist in her first Urasaria months.

Ryumi appeared no more worries about Daigo than she was any other host, and spoke candidly about a villain she had disintegrated along with two hostages via Sun Ray. There was no guilt in her tone. What emotion appeared to Mia was only positive confidence, never any negative introspection. Yet Mia hoped that was only for the tapes. Certainly, Ryumi's arrogance didn't bother her - true confidence usually appeared inverted as arrogance, the way the sun appears to revolve around the earth when one looks from the ground. Appearance and essence rarely coincided.

But she realized quickly Ryumi was not entirely similar to her. Judging by how she spoke to Magnus, she had enjoyed as much precedent in the bedroom as Mia did with Aimee, but she placed little value on others' minds. She was a loner in her early 30s and spoke scornfully of Akira's shitty writing, preferring her philosophers. She loved her husband, but not obsessively in the way Mia thought Serena was with Yuruko, and Mia recognized in their dialogue a romantic undercurrent that had kept in to their marriage - in some ways better than Mia's own, which she resolved to fix.

She found herself forced to relisten to catch any of Magnus, as only Ryumi's voice lingered in her mind's ear, and Ryumi's confidence began sparking a counter-reaction in her. This was something many felt around people like Ryumi, but in Mia, it was a secret hope Ryumi had failed so she might finish Daigo herself and prove her mastery of Worldwide. 

Sometimes grateful she wouldn't need to rely on anyone else, she was exasperated other times - couldn't Magnus have found a better instrument than *her*? Then again, it was probably good he did choose her, and she realized a week before why he hadn't trusted Akira with Worldwide's strength.

"Schultzy." said Aimee before she came in to Mia's room. "Yuruko thought you should see this."

Mia nodded. Yuruko had been sending her papers of phenomena similar to Daigo's possible revival, checking satellite data for the past ten years to disprove Mia's fear Ryumi had succeeded. If he had been disintegrated without a single atom left, the universe should've shifted.

Aimee showed her an article on her phone.

"…what is this?" Mia frowned as she played the video. 

"Says that people started seeing this back in, uh, 2015 - but it was usually out in the middle of nowhere, so… First time enough people've gotten video of it."

"…it's blood."

"There's a few videos where it's - yeah, that one. Pieces of skin appearing in midair and just floating off. Like it's … going somewhere."

◆◆◆

Mia had been trying to think of a righthanded way to reconnect with Marisa - Daigo's possible reappearance had put one on her lap. There was always a good side to adversity if a woman looked hard enough.

"(What did you see, exactly?)" said Aimee in Thai, standing outside of his house in a Bangkok suburb.

"(It was r-right in my backyard.)" he said. "(T-These drops of blood started appearing in the grass, and when I reached my hand out to them, t-they began moving like they were alive. And yesterday, I-I thought I saw the K-Krasue in my bedroom, b-but she disappeared when I turned the lights on.)"

"(…uh. The Krasue?)" said Aimee, glancing back to Mia & Marisa 12ft away.

"(A-A female spirit, with only organs below her neck.)"

"(You saw intestines?)"

He nodded. "(Y-Yes, and this isn't the first time. That -)" - he glanced over his shoulder - "( - that damn academy. T-They never investigate anything I ask them to.)"

"(I'm sure.)" nodded Aimee. "(Did you see what direction the blood or intestines were going?)"

He pointed to a crimson spot on his window. "(T-That was there when I woke up.)"

"(…north, then.)" Aimee frowned. So far, everyone they'd investigated had the same direction. "(We'll look in to it. Been dealing with a host in America that matches up with that. Any questions for me?)"

"(Y-Yes.)" He pointed to Mia & Marisa. "(Why are your friends staying so far back?)"

"(Uh, she's got a host flu.)" said Aimee, relevantly. "(Super contagious. Probably would kill you if you got it.)"

Mia adjusted her N95 mask. It was purple to match Worldwide's flames.

"(T-Then why is the other one standing right next to her?)"

"(I don't believe in germs.)" shrugged Marisa, relevantly.

He nodded. To him, the existence of Revenants disproved most real science; there was not much difference between spirits and hosts. "(M-May I leave?)"

"(Sure thing.)" said Aimee. "(We'll look in to it and let you know if we find anything.)"

"(T-Thank you.)"

The three walked away, and once they were around the corner, Mia winced and pulled her mask down. "How the hell does anyone breathe in these?"

"Uh, try this one." said Marisa, giving her a Boudoir-brand mask. 

Mia put it on and nodded. "Much better. What did he say?" (Rosetta could only give one language per host.)

Aimee glanced at Marisa. "Uh, you wanna tell her?"

"Go ahead." shrugged Marisa.

Aimee nodded, a bit disappointed as she started relaying it.

Marisa kept watch as they came in to the city. As Bangkok's annual pride parade was that week, they kept away from the sidewalks with civilians, and the flags she saw over the shops reminded her of the past year. She had volunteered for a few LGBT organizations, but found them filled with activists whose experience with those they claimed to advocate for ended in a textbook. That she, as a lesbian, had been lectured by a man twice her age for using the word 'dyke', was only one incident that had led her to a dismal view of the type of intellectualism her parents had once thought Urasaria would teach in to her.

She took pride in her knowledge of lesbian history, but it seemed to her as if these academics couldn't conceive of it; they believed rights had been won through debates and not bricks & bats. It bothered her how a movement that had started at a Mafia-owned bar was now debated in boardrooms, even knowing, firstly, that it had actually begun at Cooper Do-nuts, ten years earlier, and secondly, that this was why the last time she had heard 'dyke', it was from Makoto's mouth & not a car window.

Marisa passed the corner, then gestured Mia & Aimee to her to the next sidewalk, and in the next instant -

- she pushed Aimee & Mia back as her back hit the corner, wincing as she pointed around it - " - Revenant."

"What is it?" whispered Mia, Rider's tendrils in her veins.

"Careful." muttered Aimee. "Might accidentally go purple if you Solar Beam."

Marisa peeked around the corner, seeing a man tearing apart a rainbow flag, rainbow-colored fabric-dogs sitting beside him. "…uh. Don't see a badge…"

"Check how he reacts." whispered Aimee.

Marisa showed herself around the corner, and in the next instant -

- one proud dog turned and started running towards her; she raised her palm as it came within range, shouting Boudoir as it leaped towards her -

- and a volley of fabric bullets committed fratricide as they tore it in to kibbles & bits; ahead, the man caught sight of her and pointed right at her -

- and another Boudoir-barrage tore the next three animals to bits, Mia & Aimee coming up behind Marisa now, 60ft separating them & their foe already tearing apart a new flag.

"Ten seconds already passed." muttered Aimee. "Can't use Time Spiral."

"Use what?" said Marisa, glancing back.

"Nothing." she muttered, smiling a little to Mia.

Ahead, another bunch of fabric formed a rainbow dog that rushed at them, but a pillar of purple flame disintegrated it without a single she left.

"Uh, how are we gonna knock him out?" whispered Marisa. "Mia-Mia?"

Mia frowned, realizing the only non-Worldwide option was strangulation. "…I still don't want to get in close."

Aimee nodded and pulled her knife out, and in the next instant -

- he was headless in the next - Marisa & Mia-Mia burst in to laughter as Aimee reappeared beside them -

" - Aimee, just because I said -" - cackled Mia - " - you didn't have to -"

" - what the fuck -" laughed Marisa, relevantly - " - I would have just like, choked him out or whatever -"

" - works every time." chimed Aimee, corpse falling to the ground ahead. "Just gotta hope Chokchai doesn't find out."

Mia glanced at Marisa, and a strand yanked the evidence in to a wall of purple flame.

"Gonna get another letter about you." chimed Aimee and Marisa laughed.

"What letter?" chimed Mia, having already seen it.

Marisa laughed. "Okay, so - like, we didn't really get that many contracts last year, so I asked Aimee if I could take some time off to work with some lesbian groups and stuff. Like, activism and stuff, but -"

" - and you -" - Aimee laughed - " - you tried to get one of them to let you rob a bank for their fundraiser -"

" - yeah." laughed Marisa. "And they, like, reported me and sent Aimee a letter, but… yeah."

Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

Mia laughed, then wondered if she was overreacting. "That - that sounds like you, yes."

Marisa nodded, staying quiet for a few seconds. "…yeah. Uh. I need to find a bathroom real quick."

"We'll wait here." nodded Aimee and Marisa left.

Mia watched her go through a restaurant's doors, then leaned against the wall. "…does she seem a bit distant?"

"Little bit, yeah. Might just be tired."

Mia's head shook. "No, it's… I'm worried she's still offended from when I chose Serena as my maid of honor."

"Could get someone to ask her about it, if you want." said Aimee, rubbing her wife's shoulder.

Mia sighed. "I've known her longer than Serena, but - Serena was my protege, and…"

"I mean, how would you feel if Serena chose Naomi as her maid of honor?"

A sense of guilt came over Mia and she did not like it. "I would think I did something wrong."

"Might be what she's feeling too. She did seem a bit, uh… down at our wedding."

Mia looked over the line of shops. She could see Chokchai Academy in the distance, and as far as she remembered, Kamon's street was a mile beyond that.

She could call to mind the yogurt restaurant where Serena had asked the three to let her place their orders with her new voice. A few streets over, they'd ate at a diner where Serena kept glancing at her new face in the glass. That night when they left for the airport, Naomi had pointed Chokchai's transsexual student across the street to her. They couldn't socialize without a common language, but when Serena mentioned Kamon, the student hugged her before leaving to respond to a call.

In recent months, Mia had noticed Serena's aversion to pictures of herself in her first & second year. The past year has given her an idea of Serena that she unconsciously accepted to where, until she spoke with Yuruko that December, she forgot had once been another way.

Marisa came back out, smiling to Mia as she stepped up. 

Aimee tapped her tablet and the wall shimmered behind them; the three stepped through it -

- back in to Timepact's meeting room.

"Still need to hire our own transporter." muttered Aimee, glancing at Mia.

Mia shook her head. "There aren't any new students with one."

"Damn." muttered Marisa as they sat down. "Still gotta pay for in-flight internet."

"...yeah." mumbled Aimee. "Uh. Was going to get a call from Charlotte in a few minutes, and I need to talk to Codex, so…" She stood up, gesturing vaguely as she left.

Marisa nodded, turning to Mia and smiling.

 "So, what's been going on with you?"

"Er, I'm feeling better." said Mia. "Knowing he's alive is… I'm still nervous, but - it's better than not knowing."

"Yeah." nodded Marisa. "I know you can do it. You used to be my protege, and now you're president, so..."

Mia tried to read her expression. There was a time where it wouldn't have come with much difficulty.

"I'm sorry I didn't choose you as my maid of honor."

Marisa blinked. "Uh, what?"

"I realized that I - I probably offended you by choosing Serena, because I've known you for longer, and -"

" - I - Mia," Marisa laughed. "I wasn't like, offended you chose Serena instead - she's your protege -"

" - you weren't?"

" - no, like -" she laughed - " - that's - I would've like, felt weird if you chose Matoi or somebody, but - she's your protege, like. You were together for a whole year, and I wasn't really around until we were in the Elite Four, so…"

"…I suppose, but… I feel like I've been ignoring you."

"Uh, Aimee said you nearly worked yourself in to a coma the first month you were president, like." Marisa laughed and Mia smiled. "But like, I know we haven't talked in a while, but - I'm not mad at you, Mia-Mia. I figured we'd just start talking again once you graduated."

"We will." Mia smiled. "I simply… I was worried after last New Year's Eve that I had done something wrong."

"…oh." Marisa stared at the floor grimly. "…yeah. That was kinda, uh... not really a good night for me."

"Did something happen?"

"No, it's just… I dunno. I guess you're right that it kinda was - like, seeing you and Aimee get married, and Matoi and Rin were there that night, and Saya and Luna, even like - Atori and his weird boyfriend, and… I dunno. I felt like I was the only person there without anyone else."

"Did it not work out with Tiffany?" Mia frowned.

"No, she was like - she didn't want to date anyone, and then she just blocked me for some reason."

"Rochelle is single." chimed Mia, relevantly, and Marisa laughed.

"Uh, isn't she going to work here? It'd be weird." She shrugged. "I used to tell myself that I just gotta keep looking, and keep looking, but... still haven't found anyone. I've been on dates and stuff, but there's just - it never feels super-right, you know? Like, there was one chick who was cool, but we didn't have anything in common, and another one who wasn't a student, so... and then, um… I dunno, a few other people, but… there's always just something that makes it so we wouldn't work out. You know what I mean?"

"…er. I've only been in one relationship." chimed Mia and Marisa laughed.

"Yeah. I dunno. I feel like my issue is I just can't find anyone who doesn't, like, think they can change me. Not that I should stop looking, but… I dunno. I just wanted to take my mind off of it that night, I guess. Plus it was Christmas without my family, so…" She smiled. "But I wasn't - yeah. I wasn't like, ignoring you. I'm sorry."

"It's alright." Mia smiled.

◆◆◆

Two weeks ago, Rin had made an offhand comment to Matoi about a report that'd come across her desk, and Matoi was suddenly interested in its source now.

"(What did you see, exactly?)" said Matoi in Japanese, the three standing outside of his house.

"(It looked like an eyeball, or s-something like that )" he said. "(I was in my yard gardening, pulling out a few weeds. S-Someone's been putting something in my soil recently - I've never had this bad of an infestation.)"

Rin glanced at Matoi, letting her know why she'd initially disregarded it.

"(A-And I saw this eyeball appear to my left, and when I looked at it, it began floating away. Very, very quickly.)"

"(What direction?)" said Matoi.

"(That way.)" He pointed west.

"(And nothing else has occured since?)"

"(No, nothing at all. I tried to dig around to see if there were any more, but that was the only one I saw. I-I hope it isn't going to affect my azaleas.)"

"(If you see any other occurrences like that, report it to Ueno again. One of us will look in to it.)"

"(And please do not mention this to anyone else.)" said Rin. "(This is an ongoing investigation.)"

"(T-Thank you.)" He bowed. "(I-I'm glad that Ueno has you as president now, Frostbite)-chan.)"

Matoi let Rin speak first. "(Do not address me like that.)"

"(I - I apologize.)"

"(Good.)"

Matoi figured her feminism had rubbed off on Rin by now; she had to deal with twice the disrespect President Matoi did. In America, men had known to only call her a cunt out of earshot; in Japan they diminished Rin openly.

A bit stiffly, Rin walked off with Matoi and up the road. She said nothing as they walked up another few streets, and in the next instant -

- the two heard something sizzling in the air above, and as they turned their eyes up -

"( - here we go.)" sighed Rin, relevantly, volley of scorching boulders raining down from above -

- and she pulled her Matoi back as the entire barrage hit the road ahead and blasted it to shreds, sizzling concrete shards erupting out & towards them -

- but a swift set of shockwaves blasted them up & away; above, they heard the next volley seeking their heads -

" - Sekisetsu!" shouted Rin; a dome of ice formed over the two, and as the scorching barrage hit it -

- the dome melted in to water that bent but didn't break, boulders floating downstream outside, smog leaking out of them as soon as they hit the ground. Sight & sound obscured, Rin glanced back and a tunnel of ice formed ahead, instantly melting in to a tunnel of water.

No time to waste, the two rushed through it, waters parting to allow Wedding's missiles out, shockwaves blasting away the ashy clouds outside, and as they saw something sitting on a house 100ft ahead & left -

- one boulder broke through the tunnel and smashed Rin's shoulder in a burst of fiery blood; she shrieked as Sekisetsu froze it solid, but the two started coughing as more smog leaked out of it -

" - Kekkonshiki." coughed Matoi; one laser shot towards it -

- but she sighed as the smoke swallowed up her scorching ray; another three boulders broke through the tunnel ahead -

" - S-Sekisetsu." winced Rin, snapping her fingers as the smoke started choking them out -

- and the watery walls went down; two mega-missiles erupted out of Wedding's shoulders -

- and the shockwaves blasted all of the smog outside away, clearing their vision to see a 20ft tall volcano planted on somebody's roof; the two saw a spot of motion they knew was their foe behind it, and rushed forward with no time to waste. More boulders crashed around them and filled the air with ashes, but shockwaves erupted out of Wedding's shoulders to clear them out -

"( - it's - ) - fucking - ( - starting to clog it.)" coughed Matoi, tapping the two holes in Wedding's shoulders her missiles launched out of. A micromissile exploded in it and when the ashes cleared out they sent a few scars down Rin's cheeks, and they felt the heat growing as the smog covered them again -

- and as it cleared again, they saw lava flowing out of the volcano's mouth 50ft ahead & approaching fast, constant volley of meteors hitting the road and destroying their path forward. Rin's foot tapped as they rushed forward and a platform of ice formed between two rivers of lava, and as she rushed on to it -

- her ice melted to water, bending but not breaking as she ran, volcano only a few seconds up & away now as her water broke -

- but not that kind, and the next scene was instant.

"Sekisetsu!" "Kekkonshiki!"

A volley of missiles erupted from Kekkonshiki's shoulders, and Rin tapped them as they flew past her -

- freezing them in to mid-air platforms; she vaulted up one and jumped on to the next, Sekisetsu freezing it as she leaped on to another -

- and another, one final leap up on to the roof -

- and Matoi watched her ice plug up the volcano for good as soon as she touched it; Rin swept behind & out of her sight, and she heard the host screaming as the volcano & lava disappeared. 

A few seconds later, Rin threw his frozen body off the roof and in front of the house, smiling a little as she came down & Matoi came up.

Matoi noticed deep bruises on his frozen neck. So far as she knew, Sekisetsu didn't normally cause them.

Rin tapped her phone and a familiar transporter appeared.

"(Junpei.)" said Rin. "(Take this host to the police. Let them know I'll visit later for my report.)"

"(Yes, Frostbite.)" he said, bowing, and he was gone.

Rin checked her phone for directions, then started walking.

"(You're not usually that violent.)" said Matoi evenly. "(Something's bothering you.)"

Rin sighed. "(It's not that it's bothering me, it's simply … Ever since I became president, I've had to deal with men constantly disrespecting me. Someone called me Rin-san last week, the man earlier called me Frostbite-chan - even one of Ueno's students, and... I know it sounds like I am overreacting, but -)"

"( - you know I would tell you if you were.)" said Matoi, rubbing her shoulder. She still rarely showed affection in public; as with their formal dates, she did for Rin's sake.

Rin smiled. "(I know you would, too. I still remember when you told me that my writing was too emotional.)"

"(I still think it is.)" chimed Matoi and Rin laughed.

"(You think everything romantic is cheesy, Matoi. You're still too stiff.)"

"(Haven't I improved?)"

"(Mm. In some areas.)" Rin winked, then sighed. "(...still. I've been receiving a few complaints at Ueno, too. Some of the new students think I'm too overbearing - that I talk too much.)"

"(Is it only men complaining?)"

Rin laughed. "(Well, I've never heard any of the other women say anything, but I don't want to think of it like that. Just because I'm a lesbian doesn't mean I have to hate men.)"

"(No, but I've found they make it easy.)" said Matoi and Rin laughed. "(Most Japanese men think it's overbearing having a woman give them orders at all. I wouldn't worry.)"

Rin nodded, staying silent for a few seconds. Sometimes a lesbian didn't want a too-honest partner, but she wouldn't trade her Matoi for ten of her ex-girlfriends. "(…I wish you would consider moving back. It's, it's not as bad as I make it sound - I'm sure you would like it better here now.)"

"(My mother and I didn't move away because we didn't like it here. You know that.)"

"(Yes, but that was ten years ago, and you did not have a Rin.)" chimed Rin, relevantly. "(It isn't all anime and manga, you know.)"

Matoi laughed. 

She found anime & manga's enduring popularity annoying, but she found most things annoying - anyone who disrespected her Rin, how no driver near Urasaria used their turn signal, and how out-of-shape Americans were. Rin had joked once that she could go down to the corner store and come back with five new people she disliked. In their first months together, this had worried Rin, but she felt slightly perverse now for finding it one of Matoi's most attractive traits. She knew, deep down, that Matoi's dislikes were usually mirrors of her past selves, and in the ambitionless faces she despised, she saw her own, if she ever let herself decay.

On their way to the subway, Rin glanced at a woman reading manga as they passed by and smiled.

"(One of your's?)" said Matoi.

"(It was.)"

Art had been a minor hobby for Rin before, and Japan's persistent survival of small presses had made it easy for her to find a publisher now. She'd hidden her identity from both them & her readers; she wanted her being from Ueno to take no part in her popularity.

Privately, Matoi didn't appreciate that her stories were often veiled depictions of their relationship - positive as it was - but she supposed a woman had to put up with a few things. Saccharine as Rin's writing was, Matoi admired her competitiveness when it came to art. 

After they took a train to Tokyo, Rin scanned her badge & eyes at the metropolitan government's building, and the two knocked the door of an office on the second floor. A familiar muscular man opened it.

"Matoi-kun, Rin-kun." he bowed. "(It's good to see you. Come in, please.)"

"Daishi-kun." bowed Matoi, stepping inside with Rin.

Besides Samuel, Daishi was about the only man she liked. While he was in an untouchable position now, he never believed any of that Japanese foolishness about seniority equaling expertise; he evaluated every idea on its own merit and rarely spoke an opinion he hadn't researched. For his fundamental decency, he was despised by every politician in Japan.

He closed the door and the three sat down. "(I apologize for not having any food or drinks to offer you. I was asked to guard the Prime Minister today, but, well. Hopefully the next assassin succeeds.)"

Matoi laughed. "(He's that unpleasant?)"

"(Japan First at least outright says they hate foreigners. Minister Nagao prefers to call it patriotism. Men like him can't go extinct soon enough.)" He pulled his notes out of a drawer and handed them to her. "(Regardless, I was able to question the woman you were asking about. She said she saw an eyeball floating southwest. I told her not to make any mention of it, but… Do you have any leads on what it could be?)"

"(I do.)"

"(I assume you can't say.)"

Matoi's head shook. "(It's caused by a Revenant, though I doubt the host is in Japan. Let me know if you find any other witnesses.)"

"(Of course. Will you be needing anything else before you return to Timepact?)"

Matoi's eyes fell towards Rin. She hardly admitted it, but she felt a bit protective of her; Rin's exterior had hardened over the past months, but she still spent most nights waiting for Matoi's next visit.

"(…no. But I would like to visit near Kofu before I leave.)"

◆◆◆

Back at Timepact, Aimee & Mia & Marisa met back with Charlotte & Makoto.

"How'd it go with the Russians?" said Aimee. "Find anything?"

"Uh, that their fetal alcohol syndrome rate is in the triple digits." yawned Makoto.

"Lot of flat upper lips." nodded Charlotte. "But, uh, they all said the same thing. Started seeing bits of blood, intestines, stuff like that - forming out of nowhere and just flying off."

"Did you check near Moscow?" said Mia.

"Yep. Everyone said it was going south, southeast."

"…everyone in Thailand said north. He may be in China." Mia frowned as Aimee sighed.

"Might be, yeah. Gotta wait on Matoi for Japan, but, uh, Timepact isn't authorized in China yet - probably never will be. Government should be able to handle it once we let them know, though."

Charlotte laughed. "He couldn't have been somewhere like - I dunno, Italy or something? Seriously, what if it's China? How are we gonna tell them apart?"

Mia winced. From what Aimee had told her, Charlotte wasn't a racist, but often told jokes to no laugh but her own & Makoto's.

"…uh. Need to call Codex and check on Matoi." muttered Aimee, leaving the room.

"Sure making a lot of phone calls." chimed Makoto.

Makoto had been one of the few who'd never matured in to Timepact, but no matter, Aimee paired her with Charlotte now anyway. The two could make every dirty joke about their co-workers they wanted to then.

"I mean, do they need to hear every time we take a shit that kinda looks like him?"

"Maybe he'll appear in somebody's toast." said Charlotte and Makoto laughed.

"Be done in a few days, anyway. It'll be like every other host."

Marisa sighed. While she recognized Mia's proneness to worrying, her fear of failure had kept her from complacency. Makoto was just the opposite; she'd never met a situation she couldn't mock others for caring about. "This isn't just another host, Makoto."

"I'm still not sure I can achieve Absolute Hot yet." muttered Mia.

Charlotte blinked. "Absolute Hot?"

Aimee came back. "Still waiting on Matoi - government said they'll transport her back here in a minute. If it's China, they want us to meet with some Chinese representative, let him know what we've found. Said they would probably be able to find Daigo as soon as he shows up, since, uh - they've got a ton of facial recognition cameras."

"But he can change his face." frowned Mia.

"No, they'll know because he doesn't match up to anyone." yawned Makoto. "You have to get your face scanned to buy anything in China."

"Yeah." nodded Aimee. "Already use it for regular hosts, so."

Charlotte mused a while. "Must be pretty hard for them to -"

- she coughed as Matoi entered the room. "…uh, pretty hard to keep track of all that."

"What did you find?" said Aimee to Matoi.

"Every report mentioned it was traveling west." said Matoi as she sat down. "I spoke with Rin before I left - she offered to let Japan know, if needed." She neglected to mention the inquiry she'd asked Rin to relay to Daishi.

"Uh, it's not like they're allowed to kill anyway." said Makoto.

Matoi ignored her, as she usually did. "What were we discussing?"

"Everyone in Thailand said north." said Aimee. "Everyone in Russia said south, so… probably somewhere in China. Just gotta wait on the government for that. Should be able to find him pretty quick after he shows up, but, uh..." She gestured to Mia. "Still want me and Marisa with you?"

Mia shook her head. "Once we're allowed to enter China, I'll call my squadron."

"Sure."

The phone rang in the other room. Aimee left to answer it.

"With Sylvia or with Yuruko?" said Matoi.

"No, not Sylvia, er…" said Mia. "I'll explain it to her, of course, but I would prefer Yuruko. We have more experience fighting together."

"Wait, Sylvia's in your squad?" said Marisa and Matoi shook her head.

"Yuruko left, and Sylvia was her replacement, correct?"

"Correct." nodded Mia. "If - I should be able to ensure she has enough time for her schoolwork, but…"

"Yeah." nodded Marisa, utterly clueless. "Uh, how's she doing anyway, like? Sylvia."

Mia's mouth went grim. Before she left for Timepact, Maria had stomped unannounced in to her office & Mia had chewed her down to the bone, leaving Sylvia in the unenviable position of smoothing Maria's ruffled feathers now.

Aimee walked in and nodded to Mia.

"Is it time?" said Mia.

"Yeah."

Mia nodded and left with Aimee to a private room, locking the door behind. The two went over and sat at a computer, Aimee typing. "Said they would unlock it soon, so…"

Mia stared at the screen. Ryumi probably never had any trouble sticking up for herself, nor nights where she cried over being unable to host a Revenant. Despite Ryumi's misanthropy, Mia admired something in her - she hoped it wouldn't shatter now.

"…it's unlocked." said Aimee.

"Pictures first."

"Guess that's her as a kid. Born in 1982. Even has, um, little Worldwide."

"…y-yes."

"Adult. That's, um…"

"Her as a student. That isn't Magnus, is it?"

"Says it's Nikolai. Guess he was her mentor."

"…ah. And there's Magnus."

"Much smaller than I remember."

Mia noticed he put on muscle faster once Ryumi began standing closer to him in pictures. Aimee had too.

"…they were this thorough." said Mia, looking over the photos of Magnus & Ryumi's wedding.

"…s-still says that he killed her." said Aimee. "L-Look at those pictures and tell me he killed her."

"…I know." said Mia, placing her hand on her wife's.

Aimee closed the tab of pictures, and Mia read Ryumi's profile, reaching 'Worldwide' before she started crying.