Little Battlers eXperience (Revised ver.)

Starting Again

Three days had passed since the confusing incident at Artemis. Well, it was as confusing as it was tragic. A number of people who had been guarding the Metanus GX were reported to have been killed.

Jin stood in front of Yuuya's unconscious form. He thought back to the events that had happened. How the boy in front of him went insane because of the suit, the thrill of his battle against Ban, how Evangeline had been taken control over and the fact that he hadn't seen her since that day. Finally, his thoughts led to the conversation he had with his butler when Yuuya was first admitted into the hospital.

"There's no way to treat it?!" Whether it was a question or an exclamation that left him, he didn't really know.

The elder man showed him a disheartened expression. "Yes. The doctor said he doesn't understand how this boy came to being in this condition, other than that he breached his capacity and put a large amount of stress on himself. He says they can only continue monitoring his condition."

The images of the boy's expressions during the finals came to his mind. The screaming, the laughter, the tears...

Yuuya...

~~~~~

As soon as he got home, he headed straight for Evangeline's room. The door was just across his. He didn't bother knocking and let himself in.

The room was smaller than his. It didn't have dioramas, trophy cases, statues or a tea table like his did. Instead, it had bookshelves that tower above all else. A table was on the side with lots of different equipment surrounding it. That was where she usually takes care of maintenance and upgrades, either on their LBXs or on other electronics she could get her hands on. The bed was on the far corner, beside it was another desk with papers and files neatly arranged on top of it. The closet was beside the door leading to the bathroom.

Aside all the furniture, the room was empty. The blonde girl was nowhere in sight. He turned to leave, but that was when the door opened and the one he was looking for came in.

She was shocked to find him there. "Jin? Wha... Where did you come from?!"

"I could ask you the same thing." His eyes narrowed at her tattered outfit. "You're a mess." He eyed her wrist. No bracelet.

She seemed to notice his gaze. Sighing, she brought her arm up to show him what it left behind, a red mark. "All I know was that in the end, you lost to Ban. Everything after was a blur. Then, earlier, a few glitches appeared in my vision. That's when the bracelet broke off and exploded."

"Exploded?!" The reaction he gave made it clear to her that he had been on edge lately, and she felt awful for being one of the causes.

She gave him a smile, in hopes to lessen his worry. "It wasn't anything huge. An electrocution and a bit of fire, but it had all been taken care of." Seeing how his gaze wouldn't relax, she began to grow nervous. "S-Seriously... I'm fine. I just have to wash up and it'll be like none of it ever happened."

But it did happen... He watched as she made her way into the bathroom and left when he heard the water running. He needed to know more of what happened and why, and the only way he could get those answers is by going straight to the source.

~~~~~

Night time came by and his friend had gone to sleep. He stood in his room, staring blankly at the trophies he had earned. They were all meaningless to him right now.

The door opened and the gentle voice of his butler resounded. "Young Master Jin, your grandfather has returned." With that, he headed straight for his office.