She was dead. The final gunshot was an exclamation mark to everything that had led to this point. The moment he released his finger from the trigger, and then it was all over again.

The detectives were brought to interrogation to give the sides of their stories of tragedy. Their acts an extension of Midare's and therefore her crimes. When given a chance to be bailed out for the lack of knowledge behind her actions they refused, sticking beside the agency to the very end. Even Hyde… who reluctantly made the decision on a whim.

Their combined trials were soon coming and the agency to be seized by the director herself who visited the cafe one last time. Not for the cafe itself but for her former friend.

Touching the dusty wood shelf and inspecting her fingers, the director turned around to face Midare,

"Don't pretend to care about this place." Midare hissed before the director spoke. "I don't need any of your sympathy."

Syrup was severely injured, perhaps dead thanks to Mary's antics. Her detectives planned to have a trial and the agency on track to shut down all thanks to a series of circumstances that could've been avoided. What made matters worse was the director here to rub it all in her face. "And you recruited Dulivale in your scummy organization. I saw her dead and split open like a nut. Why is she alive?"

The director eyed Midare's wrapped arm "I figured you already knew. Besides, she was planning to join on her own."

Midare stepped closer to the director, grabbing a pair of handcuffs as she passed her desk "I don't need to hear anymore of your lies."

The director remained stoic as ever, though stepping back yo get away from Midare's face "I could ask you the same, why are the members of Noble Third still alive? You're giving refuge to the criminals you just exposed."

Midare spun the handcuffs around her finger, "Their crimes aren't as bad as yours. You're a disturbance to Japan's peace. I'll arrest you here and now!"

The director changed her stoic expression to a more annoyed look, "Try it!" She was pushed back into the wall by Midare who struggled to put the cuff around her wrist with one arm. Sylvia stepped in trying to split them apart from fighting but it was a struggle to even do that.

────── 〔✿〕──────

Hyde's emotions were fractured like the salt in water. His emotions were salt, reduced to grains after being dragged back into the agency due to his past. Fate needed him to be here but he didn't want to be anywhere, or exist at all. After the interrogation Yamiko brought him to the fated place where they used to go and asked if he remembered it at all. If he was asked prior to meeting Sasaki then his answer would be no, but since then, his answer has changed. For better or worse..? It was up to him to decide but there is a wrong answer to all of this.

"I later found out you had schizophrenia." Yamiko looked out to the field of withering sunflowers with her blindfold slightly raised so one eye could see. "The illness doesn't seem to be there anymore after that event."

Hyde fell to his knees defeated under reality. The chains of the handcuff around his left wrist ringing to fill the silence. "Why..."

Yamiko looked down at him with sorrowful eyes "You did it on your own. Though, the other option was death."

Hyde raised his head confused "Why are we all still alive? We should've died years ago. What's keeping us from getting killed and how? I want to know everything." He stood up and wiped his eyes.

Yamiko closed her eyes and let out a sigh "I know you stumbled upon my secret files. I have been meaning to tell you as well as the others the truth that was lost."

"Did you know the whole time?"

Yamiko shook her head. "It seems I was affected by it as well. I only found out by reading the many files and records in that basement. I was unaware I cataloged such events in great detail but I'm thankful for it."

She heard a rustling from behind and turned around to see Mary, Ibuki, Mikael, Hoka and Oscar arrive in a hurry, stopping and gasping for air from their sprint to her location. Hoka on the other hand, ran straight for Hyde, tackling him with a tight hug nearly making him fall over. Though he didn't reciprocate her feelings.

He pushed her away, holding her by her shoulders "Stop, you can just stop doing that. You can find someone else more capable of protecting you. I'm not the brave, cool hero to look up to."

"How did you find us..?" Yamiko asked curiously to the group.

"Thanks to Ibuki piecing together those documents we found in the dorm's basement, we managed to locate you here. There was a small chance of you and Hyde coming here so I guess we got lucky." Mikael replied and looked out at the field of withered flowers then back to Yamiko "I'm guessing you come here whenever you're not at the front counter?"

Yamiko slowly nodded in silence and her eyes caught sight of the stained and worn newspaper in Ibuki's hand. So that's what she used. Yamiko let out a sigh before speaking "It's best you all know the truths of why we're still alive. I'm sure you're wondering about the strange occurrences behind your origins."

Their lost memories, supposed deaths, and the false memories of their past that implanted themselves into their mind. Everything, every moment before their arrival in Osaka and leading up to it all came back to Midare. That fateful day she destroyed the world and its memories.

"Midare was possibly the most intelligent researcher who was at the front of a secret project called the 'Nightmare Project' along with the director. She was in Imperia's military and worked with the TGA to make this project for the future a reality..."

Midare back when wasn't as sour as she is now. She used to be so cheerful and bright and didn't take being left in the dark well. It's because of that why the incident occurred. The director and another scientist in Imperia proposed a new plan without telling their peers, taking the Nightmare Project in a completely new direction with a different goal; to completely erase magic and suffering forever. Yamiko didn't know all the specifics but Midare felt betrayed by this.

Midare took action into her own hands and completely destroyed the Nightmare Project, almost dying in the explosion in the process but somehow lived. This created a huge divide between the TGA and Imperia for her reckless actions. No one knew why she did it, not even Yamiko.

"I found out about this while taking care of you, Hyde. And after Mikael murder his father." Yamiko said, looking at each boy respectively. "This happened before you arrived in Japan, Ibuki. And Mary… well I didn't know about you at the time."

It was after the incident that Midare arrived with a young Mary trying to hide from both Imperia and the TGA searching for her. But she couldn't stay hidden from the director for long.

"I'm certain for sure the director planned to kill you Mary, to get back at Midare for ruining the Nightmare Project. You were injured in a car accident by one of the TGA officials when you were crossing the street. I don't know how you lived but it's a miracle you did."

Mary held her head trying to remember the earliest memory she had. She never recalled ever being involved in a car accident. But knowing Midare was behind it made her ever more bitter towards her caretaker. "I had no idea…"

"And I can't remember the trip I took that brought me here." Ibuki grew anxious to hear how the story ended.

Yamiko closed her eyes. "That is because I believe Midare was in possession of a legendary magical artifact. A unique object named 'Super emblem' that grants one wish. She must've used it to erase the memories of everyone to fix the state of the world."

"This is so crazy. How… just…" Mikael was speechless after the story. The world they inhabited was beyond supernatural. This was the price of humanity with magic.

Ibuki dropped a sweat "I've heard of that object before. It was something used to repel the dragons in the war on dragons centuries ago. I had no idea Midare was in possession of it the whole time."

"Not anymore. It disappears once it's used." Yamiko looked at her hand "I'm sure she truly wanted the best for everyone…"

The best for everyone was erasing their memories so they could start anew. It was a weird way to solve the state of the world at the time. She was only human, it was the only thing she could do. Maybe it was the only thing anyone in that position could do.

"The past is far behind us." Yamiko looked at the withering flowers much like their past, fading away. But in its place would arise a new present and future. "We can't do anything to change it. Only fix where we are now. Midare is trying to fix her mistakes."

"My mistakes…" Hyde thought back to when he killed Sasaki. What even compelled him to shoot? His past was coming back to haunt him and the only way to get rid of it was by killing that past, every ounce of it. "..."

Ibuki touched her eyepatch, "I see…"

"You're all good people deep down in your hearts!" Oscar exclaimed "You saved me and Hoka and protected us. Fighting crime even if you got in trouble. Bad people don't do that kind of thing."

"Right…" Mikael trailed off "I think we should finish this mission of ours. We have 2 weeks until our trial. Let's make the most of it to atone for our mistakes."

"Hmm…" Mary still couldn't help but feel like there was more missing. She shook the feeling off, thinking it was just the realization hitting her unpleasantly.

Hoka looked up at Hyde with tears in her eyes. It wasn't about his promises he made to her or his strength or bravery. They were friends and had a deep connection with each other. Hyde just refused to see it. He needed to fix his mistakes one step at a time instead of running like he always did. His friends managed to get over their problems even if they got hurt. He needed to do the same.

The path from here onwards was uncertain…

────── 〔✿〕──────

Late at night the next day…

Second hour of the banquet only the rich and invited could attend from all over Japan and few from France to see the child of Reanne be appointed with the dragon princess crown. Why it was being done in Japan instead of France was unknown to the detectives who were invited to be guards. They could only assume it was for political reasons to further strengthen the alliance between the TGA and the knights of France.

Hyde, Mikael, Ibuki, and Mary were off to the side in the ballroom standing nearby the white cloth covered tables, away from the crowd of dancing noble men and women to talk amongst themselves in the brilliantly lit ballroom. Unlike the others, they were dressed like bartenders, wearing a black vest over a buttoned shirt and black pants (a black pencil skirt in Mary and Ibuki's case) and a black tie that was symbolic of the agency's alliance to no one.

Mikael pulled on his collar "Feels a bit tight. I've gotten too used to what I normally wear." He tried to let in some air and not ruin the suit gifted to him. Unfortunately he didn't get to take his cowboy hat to the occasion but it was going to bring too much attention to them. They were future fugitives after all.

"Y-yeah." Mary nervously smiled feeling the tightness around her particularly large chest. But another thought came to mind, "It feels unusually cold here…"

There weren't any windows in the room for them to look outside from. They weren't allowed to go exploring around either, not until after Queen Reanne gave her announcement. They were guards but also detained under Reanne's supervision for the meantime. However the Blue Corps were not present for some odd reason.

"I guess they're on outdoor guard duty." Ibuki rubbed her chin "Reanne probably knows Soap is going to attack. This is the perfect place for him to cause confusion."

Hyde clenched his fist "Hoka and Oscar are at the dormitory with Lambda. What's to say he won't go there first?"

This was probably a bad position for the detectives to be in, if it wasn't bad enough. Mary noticed their morale lowering and directed their attention to Midare and Yamiko dancing among the waltz on the dance floor "Check that out! I didn't know Midare and Yamiko could dance. We should dance together Hyde."

Hyde moved his eyes to glance at them then felt second hand embarrassment from their terrible coordination, he smirked but it was awful to watch "Ehhh… no."

Unlike the performance of their waltzing peers, Midare and Yamiko were locked in a foxtrot dance unable to decide who took the lead. Their footing almost overstepped each other as they spun slowly. Midare wanted to go left but Yamiko wanted to go also left? After messing up Midare went right and Yamiko also went right… Wait, that's not right. Er… then Yamiko let Midare spin her once before rejoining in arms.

"Don't you think you're being a little too quick?" Yamiko whispered and averted her purple contact covered eyes from Midare's reds.

"Watch your footing! Maybe I should've left the blindfold on you." Midare sneered and nearly bummed into another dancer "Let me take the lead. I know your vision hasn't completely healed yet."

"And your arm has?" Yamiko said, glaring at Midare directly. She wore long black gloves that covered the snitches where the arm was cut..? Midare was tight lipped about what happened when she returned with a cast.

She furrowed her brow rather annoyed for her concern. "This isn't about me, Yamiko." Their pace started to synchronize, quickening in pace. "It's never been about me. Only my mission."

They were enraptured in their own world, their own tempo unknowingly with the music following their quick step around the dance floor. Midare's black halter top dress that faded into a black and white chess board at the end swayed like an angel's wings.

Yamiko's all white dress in contrast to Midare had a puffy skirt that bounced with her sudden movements to keep up with the pace.

"Your head is in the clouds Midare."

The crowd started to turn their attention to the two dancers in the center of the room.

"Of course you would know that well."

Mary started to clap alongside the beat and soon after Hyde and Ibuki joined in adding to the groove.

Midare spun Yamiko and spun herself with the lady. They grasped each other's hands and Yamiko gave her retort, "I'm really worried about you Midare. Angels that fly too close to the sun, are they really angels?"

"My destination has always been heaven." Midare's dark bangs covered her eyes giving her that look of her past. It was a flash that made Yamiko gasp. They split apart into their own step and dance, continuing the fluid rhythm.

It was like two children dancing together, inexperienced but Midare was having fun and in turn, Yamiko was. Though her worries about Midare still lingered. They finished with a bow and a lift of the hem of their dress, followed by an applause from the audience that watched their performance.

Even Reanne who stood at the top of the split staircase was impressed. Her voice caused the entire room to go silent. "It's a great pleasure to see everyone enjoying themselves here." Each step she took down the stairs, the clap of her heel gently touching the floor had the same force as a dragon's roar. "And here we have Ms. Amayda and Ms. Clotaire as the life of the party. Quite unexpected…"

Once at the bottom, she turned her head to musketeers adoring a red tabard and feathered red hat much like the Blue Corps. They stood behind a young black haired fox-eared girl standing where Reanne previously was. Hyde didn't notice them until after the Queen moved.

The young girl, the soon to be crowned princess of France was fair in beauty. Her elegant looks, sprouting fox features such as tall ears on her curly hair and 9 tails unswaying, were fitting for the successor to the throne. Her posture was straight and she kept her eyes closed like some maiden trapped in a crystal. Hyde and Mary tried to get a closer look and saw that her clasped together hands were shaking.

"I want to bring the room's attention to my eldest daughter, Rissa. She has come of age, her birthdayーtoday in fact, to be adorned with the crown of France."

The crowd emerged into 'oohs' and 'aahs' unknowing of Reanne's daughters. Even Midare was unaware the old hag had children.

However, a terrible fate would befall everyone attending the party. The chandelier lights shattered all simultaneously and the room fell into a pitch black darkness followed by sharp flashes and gunfire. Screaming ensued and Midare felt herself be pushed over and fell to the ground, hitting her head on something hard that made her pass out briefly.

By the time her consciousness returned and her eyes slowly opened to a blurry scene, it seemed that the situation had settled down slightly. The first thing she saw was Mary's red hair then the worry on her face.

"Are you awake Midare? Please let me know if you're hurt or not."

Midare sat up and looked around with the chatter of many people filling her ears. Various new information came to light such as 'The blizzard outside' and 'Locked in the mansion' but the worst of them all was the attempted assassaination of Rissa who was attacked in the dark. Reanne was nowhere to be seen near her daughter, being left in the care of the knights trying to keep her alive. 3 of her tails were forcibly ripped off and the bleeding from the bullet wound on her shoulder kept bleeding without proper medical supplies.

Mikael, Hyde and Ibuki came to Midare's side after speaking to some of the other guests. They were still just as puzzled.

"The situation's bad, Boss. Seems like the snow from the blizzard is covering the doors and no one can get in or out." Mikael made a knocking motion with his hand "The doors are frozen tight! Mary tried blasting it with some magic but it wasn't affected in the slightest. Someone is definitely behind this."

"At the moment Shiki, Lloyd and Yulie are with Reanne exploring the rest of the mansion. I think we're all here but some people may have gone off on their own." Ibuki looked around at the crowds of people sitting or standing by the tables. All planning or discussing the travesty that occurred in the dark… One of these groups of people were the killers involved in this planned assassination.

The detectives were then approached by a tall male who seemed to be an invited guest as they were. His more casualized appearance, dawning a red bandana under his baseball cap and medium length sharp hair with his dress shirt unbuttoned at the top and suspenders loose at his sides. "Yo yo you guys are the legendary detectives yeah?"

Midare stood up and brushed off his dress "That is us."

"Thank goodness you're here, ha! This situation is really bad. The name's Shotestor and I'm the kind of guy who just can't sit when there's trouble brewing." Sho cracked his knuckles "It's a little trait of mine I picked up when I was in the yakuza."

Upon hearing that, Hyde shot him a disgusted glare "The yakuza…"

"Those days of mine are long gone." Sho shrugged at Hyde's glaring and lowered his head to avert his gaze "Anyway my point is, I wanna help out with your investigations. I already caught around 4 people who left this room, not counting the Queen and those guys who used to be in Noble Third."

It didn't seem like they were going to have a choice in his involvement. He was very eager to help out unlike the detectives who really didn't want to be involved. Well… it was their duty to ensure peace and capture Soap. The masked criminal was no doubt behind this and this place was going to be his final destination.