When Mitsuru woke up, she was in the comfortable room of a hospital. The room was pleasant looking, almost homely. Mitsuru sat up and she can see that she was covered in bandages. She couldn't forget even if she wanted to; she was overpowered by Ayazawa, the bald teacher who loved to pick on the weaker students...
"Yukio-senpai..." She was about to get off the bed but the door opened to reveal a blonde and a blue haired boy.
"Mitsucchi, you can't get up yet!" Kise ran over to her and gently pushed her back to the bed, "You are still hurt!"
"Where is Senpai?"
"Your Senpai and your classmate are fine. You can see them later." Kuroko said, drinking a milkshake like a little boy.
"I see..."
"Chairo-san, how are you feeling?" Kuroko asked her.
To be honest, Mitsuru was more hurt of the fact that Kuroko killed the enemy that she couldn't defeat; Kuroko just came and killed Ayazawa just like that while she struggled to do so. She was annoyed at herself that she was weak and she let her overconfidence got the best of her. And the worst part, Kasamatsu was hurt because of her.
"Mitsu...cchi?" Kise watched the brown haired girl cry tears of frustration.
"I hurt Senpai..." The more she tried to control the flowing tears, the more the feelings flow out of her eyes.
"Chairo-san..." Kuroko put the milkshake down and held her right hand with his semi-cold hands, "No one can possibly win all the time, it's okay to fall down once. It doesn't make a difference who defeated that woman back there, what's important is no one is beyond hurt."
"Damn it..." Mitsuru covered her eyes with her other hand, shielding her tears so it wouldn't be seen by Kise or Kuroko.
"I know you can get stronger." Kuroko said to her, "I am a supporting actor, a shadow. But a shadow will become darker if the light is stronger and it will make the white of the light stand out. As the shadow of the main actor, I will make you, the light, the strongest Queen in this godforsaken world..."
Mitsuru doesn't understand why Kise and Kuroko was willing to support her just because she's their 'Queen' but she decided that getting stronger was her priority for the time being.
"Kuroko, right?"
"Yes."
"Just who are you guys? You guys are Kings but I don't understand..."
"You, the Queen, have the power to pull out Soul Keys from anyone. We, the Kings, can use our own Soul Keys."
"Kings have similar power to you but we can only pull out our own Soul Key. Soul Keys differ from person to person; some Soul Keys take a physical form and non-physical form." Kise explained. "Soul Keys like mine and Kurokocchi do not take a physical form so they are very useful because they cannot break."
"Huh..." Mitsuru was learning.
"Remember when you took out Kasamatsu-senpai's Soul Key out? It formed a beaded bracelet on your wrists. Soul Keys that takes a physical forms are in danger of being broken so you have to be really careful." Kise warned the injured girl.
"What happens if they break?"
"That person will die." Kuroko was quick to the point.
"K-Kurokocchi!"
"Wait, you mean I could have killed Yukio-senpai back then?" Mitsuru asked Kise.
"That..."
"I'm sorry, Chairo-san... I have to tell you this because you had to know it." Kuroko didn't want to tell her the sad reality of her powers but he had to. If she pull out a Soul Key that took on a physical form and it breaks, it will only hurt her more.
Mitsuru said she wanted some time alone so Kuroko and Kise decided to leave the hospital and come back tomorrow.
"Kurokocchi, why didn't you ask Mitsucchi to join us?"
"You really think it's the time for it now? She is not in the mood to talk about it."
"Hmm..."
"Kise-kun, you need to be more delicate; she is a girl after all." Kuroko lectured him, "Chairo-san is a girl who goes at her own pace. She needs to see the reality of this horrible world with her own eyes before she can make a concrete decision.
"I see..."
"We definitely have to have her on our side. If she join WINGS, it will be very annoying..." Kuroko said to Kise.
"Are you worried about that person meeting her?" Kise asked Kuroko.
"Kise-kun, please don't talk about that person in front of me." Kise doesn't know why but he can feel a deadly aura from the smaller boy. Kuroko always have this deadly aura shrouding him whenever anyone bring up a certain somebody...
"I'm sorry..." Kise should have known better than to mention that person in front of Kuroko's pressence. "Kurokocchi, I promise that Mitsucchi and that person will come to our side! For sure!"
"I hope so..." Kuroko can only hope. He looked up at the sky. On the other side of the glass dome were the many stars that brighten the night sky...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That night, Mitsuru sneaked her way into Kasamatsu's room. When she went in, she found Kasamatsu reading with the lamp's light.
"Hm? Mitsuru, are you okay?" Looking at the bandages on his neck, it reminded her that he was hurt because she wasn't strong enough. She needed to be a lot stronger in order to protect him.
"Yukio-senpai, how are you feeling?"
"Better than before."
"Good." She sat down on a chair, keeping him company.
"Moriyama said he was going to visit but I bet you all of my money that he spent it flirting with Honda all day." Mitsuru rolled her eyes at his words; Moriyama will flirt with anyone who wears a skirt so betting him flirting will always be one-sided.
"If it's Moriyama-senpai, that's very likely to happen." She smiled a little.
"Is there something wrong?" Kasamatsu asked her.
"Senpai, do you remember your Soul Key?"
"Of course..."
"I'm never going to pull it out again. Not yours anyway."
"What? What are you saying? It is a useful power. In emergencies, it will-"
"I know it is a powerful Soul Key..."
"Then why?"
Mitsuru was unsure whether or not she should tell him the risk. In fact, she's shouldering a lot to be entrusted with Soul Keys that takes a physical form. Does that mean it's her destiny to have a heavy burden on her shoulders?
"Is it because you can kill me if the Soul Key breaks?" Kasamatsu surprised Mitsuru when he asked her that. "I heard your conversation with Kise and that kid..."
"Yukio-senpai..."
"Geez... You worry about me too much." Kasamatsu then flicked her forehead, "Listen up, Chairo Mitsuru. You are not that weak and I know you are strong enough to fight. You always find a way to get stronger so you have nothing to worry about if you needed to pull out my Soul Key."
"Senpai..."
"I will entrust my everything to you, I have no problem with that..." Kasamatsu pat her on the head, reminding her that he will always be on her side no matter what happened.
"Geez..." Mitsuru can feel her tears coming so she kept her head down. Kasamatsu know she was crying so he decided not to question her.
"Mitsuru, just remember that you ar entrusted with that power of yours for a reason."
"Yeah..." She stopped crying and she smiled at him.
From the rooftop of another building, Kise and Kuroko were watching them with binoculars.
"It seems like she is a lot happier..." Kise was a little jealous; she never smiled in front of him even once and that guy was able to draw out her smile after a few talks. What did they talk about? How can he easily make her happy right off the bat?
"That guy is not a candidate to become a King but his Soul Key is strong... He can be useful too, did you tell Akashi-kun?" Kuroko asked Kise.
"Yeah. Akashicchi said that guy cannot join WINGS no matter what." Kise answered, "If he join WINGS, Mitsucchi will follow him for sure." Kise then pulled out what looked like an envelope.
"That...!" Kuroko saw the address was addressed to Kasamatsu Yukio and it had WINGS's symbol on it which was a pair of wings at the corner.
"They wanted to recruit Kasamatsu... Like hell I am going to let Mitsucchi go just like that!" Kise took out a lighter and burnt the letter...
Back in Kasamatsu's hospital room, he received a message from his cell phone...