Colt, Jax, Hisa, and Hemiko were all gathered around the table in Dakota's dining room. Test papers, pencils, pens, erasers, booklets, and any other school supplies were scattered about. Smooth jazz music played on Jax's bluetooth speaker, as the dim lights of the kitchen submerged them in the atmosphere of a study hall.

Hisa slouched against the table as a groan escaped her mouth, "My brain hurts! Why can't we just cheat on the test part?"

"Because it's damn near impossible," muttered Jax as he scanned one of the booklets. "You'll be disqualified and blacklisted from the exams if you get caught trying."

She sat up and readjusted her 3d glasses stolen from a movie theater, which she swore were real prescription glasses. "I guess I just need to focus!"

"Why are you wearing a schoolgirl costume?" asked Colt.

"Because, Yuri told me about this thing that's called method acting. You get into character, and you can do whatever that character does!"

"Your description is a bit off, but I guess I understand." He put down his pencil and looked towards Hemiko, who was standing by the stove. "Whatever that is-"

"Don't look!" shouted Hemiko as she stood in front of the stove. "I-I'm sorry. I just really want to surprise you all. I know you'll love this dish I'm cooking."

He chuckled, "I can't wait."

Jax closed his test booklet and leaned back in his chair, "I'm done. Can you all hurry up so I can leave?"

"Why don't you just leave then?" asked Colt.

"I want to, but Dakota says that no one is allowed to leave until we all finish."

"Oh...well," Colt took a look at his booklet, "I'm on number 98."

"What number are you on, Hisa?" asked Jax.

She grabbed her booklet and stared at it intently, "Uh...I think this says...twelve?"

Jax sighed, "We've been here for an hour, and you're only on twelve?"

"This stuff is hard!" Hisa slammed the booklet back on the desk, "Give me your answers if you don't like my pace!"

"No! Whenever I think there's a limit to how stupid you can be, you prove me wrong..."

Hemiko ran over to the table, resting a plate of four hamburgers down in front of everyone.

"Hemiko, how are you so good at cooking?" asked Colt. "I suck at cooking..."

She giggled, "Oh, my older sister taught me how to cook."

"Well, I remember that pie from the other day, so I'm sure this is gonna be a banger too."

Hemiko sat down next to Hisa and gestured for everyone to try the burgers.

Taking a large bite of out his burger, a torrent of savory juices flooded into Colt's mouth. Paired with the sweet taste of the fluffy buns, crisp lettuce, and perfectly heated cheese, the burger was enough to send him down a spiral of ecstasy. As he continued to chew, the generous seasonings and spices from the pulled pork began to dance on his taste buds. He hated spicy food with a passion.

Hot chips? No

Peppers? No.

Anything with jerk seasoning? Hell no. As a youngster, he tried some jerk ribs, and nearly lost his life.

Despite the dodgy relationship with spices, the burger managed to pull it off without a hitch.

"Damn..." was the only word that came to mind.

"Hemiko!" Hisa pulled her into a tight hug, "It's amazing!"

"No kidding." Jax took another bite of his burger, "You're a really good cook. Not a lot of people can say that about themselves."

"That was probably the best hamburger I've ever eaten in my life." said Colt.

"Thanks." Hemiko grinned ear to ear and relished in the waves of praise she received from everyone.

Once everyone finished their treats, it was back to work.

"Um...guys?" Hemiko twiddled her fingers, "Those burgers weren't made with meat. I used jackfruit."

Colt's face went pale, "Are you for real?"

"I honestly couldn't even tell. It was that good." said Jax. "I've tried some vegan foods, and a common issue is that you can sometimes tell that the food isn't actual meat."

"Really? So, mines was okay?" asked Hemiko.

"Definitely. It was the best nonmeat burger I've tasted in my life."

Hisa rubbed Hemiko's shoulders and kissed her on the cheek, "Hemiko! You're so talented! You're cute, strong, and you can cook! You're wifey material!"

"What's that?" asked Hemiko.

"Hisa, no." muttered Jax. "Just stop."

"No!" Hisa accusingly pointed at Colt and Jax, "And when I say wifey material, that doesn't mean that she's open for you guys!"

"No one was thinking of that in the first place you idiot!"

Colt shook his head and sat his booklet down, "I'm done."

Hisa briefly snatched her pencil and ran through the rest of the questions, choosing random answers, "I'm done too!"

Hemiko sighed as she lowered her head in defeat, "I-I'm sorry everyone. I'm still on question twenty..."

"Really?" asked Jax in a gentler tone than he scolded Hisa with earlier.

"Yeah. I'm still not used to reading stuff. We never had to do anything like this in my village."

Colt pulled his chair next to her and sat down, "We'll work through it together. Don't worry."

"Really?" She wiped away her tears and smiled, "Thanks!"

Everyone spent the next thirty minutes helping Hemiko read and answer all of her questions. With them all pitching in, and enough hard work, the task was complete.

"Dakota!" shouted Jax, "We're done!"

A few moments of silence passed before Dakota stepped inside of the kitchen, with Yuri trailing behind her.

"Why are you all here?" asked Yuri.

"Yuri!" Colt waved at her, "What's up?"

She walked over and stood behind his chair, "Are you studying for the CCU exams?"

"Yup. I'm feeling pretty confident! The questions are more geared towards logic rather than stupid standardized tests." He leaned back into her and let out a sigh, "What were you guys doing?"

"None of your business."

Hisa covered her mouth as she stared at Colt and Yuri, "Oh my God! Yuri's having a conversation with Colt without trying to hurt him...She hates everybody!"

"Shut up you psychopath!" spat Yuri as she stepped back from Colt.

Gathering all of the booklets, Dakota let out a deep breath. "I can't believe you all actually did this. I'm so proud!"

Jax readjusted his glasses, "Don't praise us yet, you haven't graded them."

"Buzzkill..." Dakota walked away with the booklets, "You guys can go do whatever you want, I'll call you back when I'm done grading."

"Yay!" Hisa leapt from her seat, dragging Hemiko along with her, "Let's go play in the forest, Hemiko!"

"R-Really? Shouldn't we relax for a bit?"

"Relax? We've been sitting for hours! You can watch me kill some core beasts!"

She simply nodded, giving in to Hisa's requests.

Jax went off to his own devices, leaving Colt and Yuri alone.

Colt leaned forward in his seat and yawned, "When do these exams even start?"

"Registration's been open for about a week." She sat down next to him, "The exams start in two weeks, so you should register sometime before next week. I'll text you a link, so get it out of the way."

"Thanks."

Thinking back on the mission he received at the last meeting, he was told to keep it a secret from Yuri. Of course, that wasn't an option. If something was truly going on within her family, she more than anyone has the right to know about it. There's no point in sucking up to some higher ups when Yuri's the one who helped him get this far.

"Do you know who Hiroaki is?"

She dropped her phone as her expression steeled, "Where did you hear that name?" Her voice was as cold as it was when they first met, missing any of that playful sarcasm or tranquilized delivery. If Yuri had behaved like the merciless monitor the higher ups sent her here to be, then this may be the closest she came to it.

"One of those guys from the Core Foundation told me about him," He struggled to keep eye contact, as her eyes froze him down to the bone. "The higher ups want me to capture him. Something about his core power helping them defeat Fuchsia."

"Did they tell you where he was at?"

"N-No, they only know that he's taking part in the exams."

The tension in her face eased up as her tone relaxed, "I bet they told you to keep it a secret from me. Why'd you tell me?"

"Because, I wanted to. Aren't you glad that I did?"

She paused, "I don't know."

Was this really the best course of action? Even if it weren't there was no dial button on life to run to. She deserved to know what was going on either way.

"Is he a cousin or something?" he asked.

"No. He's my younger brother."

"Really? That's dope."

"How is that dope?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "Don't know. I just think it's cool that you have a little brother. I've always wanted a younger sibling to look up to me."

She scoffed, "I don't even know if I want to call him my younger brother though. It's creepy..."

"Creepy? Is he a weirdo or something?"

"It isn't him, it's something else. He's my brother by law."

Running the words of the higher ups through his mind, he shook his head. "The higher ups made it seem like you had some deep attachment to him. I thought he'd be some blood relative."

She glanced his way before rubbing her head, "Just forget it. Act like you never told me about this at all. I know why they kept this a secret from me, so I'll pretend like you never did. You'll get in trouble otherwise."

He smirked, "I don't even work for these people for real. What can they do?"

"Don't play around with any of 'these people'. They may seem like background characters in your life, but they're called the higher ups for a reason. Anyone affiliated with the CCU automatically has superiority over most citizens in the Seishin Realm."

"A-Are they going to kill me?"

She laughed and slapped his shoulder, "Calm down. You won't get executed for something this light."

"That's good..."

He closed his eyes and leaned forward. Even if she claimed execution wasn't needed for anything this miniscule, that only implies that execution is still on the table for other acts of "misconduct". All he could do was hide his eyes, since the fear had to be visible in them.

However, he was pulled out of this pool of fear by the warmth of Yuri's body as she hugged him.

"Don't worry about it too much, Zombie. I'll make sure no one hurts you."

"Th-Thanks..."

Did he feel pathetic for needing to hear her say that?

Maybe.

But that still did nothing to change the fact that it was truly comforting.

It still served as a reminder that there were things he couldn't handle in the Seishin Realm on his own. Back in the Normal Realm, managing on his own was rather easy. Before he reached the point of no return of course. Perhaps his flaws were only highlighted in the Seishin Realm, when they simply existed for as long as he lived.

"Do you want to go home?" asked Yuri. "I'm gonna be out on a mission for a bit, so today might be our last chance to hang out for a while."

"That sucks..."

"I know. The higher ups are probably trying to keep me out of the picture. That's why I need you to promise to capture Hiroaki for me."

"Hm?"

"I'm gonna be gone, so I want you to watch him for me. Make sure he's safe until I get back. I still don't trust the CCU with him."

He nodded his head and saluted, "I got it! I promise to keep watch over your brother until you're back."