All In All

Yulina was surprised, but returned the hug tightly. "Thank you! Um so are like Adell then Kyoko?" She frowned at herself, realizing she hadn't said the name right. "Kyouko. I mean, like the same race?" She didn't say Farian, because she still didn't know what one was. Adell actually didn't know a Farian was, mostly because where he came from there was a lack of information.

*  *
As they were lead on, Emanulle got the feeling his feeling that the cat was in fact intelligent was correct. Granted he had nothing concrerete but everything from before and until now gave hints that was the case. He wasn't going to let Michru go further until he got something or had a idea of what they were trying to do.

"Michru, stop."

The little girl actually did stop this time from her adopted father's tone. He didn't use it much or even change his normal voice but she got the underlining message and ceased trying to catch the cat.

Emanulle watched them silently. "I'm not sure what you're up to, or even if you'll answer but what do you want?" It was obvious, to him at least they wanted them to follow, or at least him since he was the one they encountered earlier. If they didn't answer or played around he'd just take Michru and leave. He didn't think they were hostile or anything. They were with Kaori who had some hidden agenda of some kind, but they didn't seem bad from what he was able to gleam.

The cat was a even bigger unknown. He wasn't going guess what they wanted or anything, not with Michru around anyway.

Kyouko blinked. "Oh, you mean a Farian? Yeah, I am. Apparently our race isn't well known in Perene, but there is a lot of information here in this Multiverse. Mom and dad like to read up on the history of our people... kinda cool, really..."

~~~~~

The cat seemed to be evaluating him, before it finally spoke in a smooth and decidedly female voice. It was also rather seductive, which was odd considering it was a cat. How it managed to speak without lips was also odd, but magic was funny that way. "I want a great many things, but from you, just some answers. First, what kind of person meddles in affairs in which they are clearly not welcome, and uninformed?" She eyed Michru. "Particularly someone who apparently has a child to worry about."

Emanulle frowned a bit. I'm not how this is this even relevant exactly. Why did it feel like he was being interrogated when he hadn't seen the girl or her cat in days or bothered to try to contact them?. "..Normally I don't but I wouldn't feel right just ignoring a group of young girls in the middle of a melee when its right by me. As for your other question, that's obvious. That's why I left your friend alone. I haven't seen you or her since, so why bring this up now?"

The cat seemed to raise a brow. "Because I saw you here just now. I was not aware there was a deadline for asking you questions. Forgive me, should I make an appointment next time?" Sassy. "As for your reasoning... it's only valid to a point. It was valid when you stopped the fight. It ceased to be so after you came after her and attempted to strike up a conversation, for some reason. You spun quite the fascinating little yarn about the world you come from being oh so dreary, with the strong abusing the weak and a 'man child' with an apparent god-complex, and being used to being the underdog... you poor dear." She sounded quite unimpressed.

Emanulle was normally a very calm, nice person but there was certain triggers and things that he couldn't just shrug off. Anything revolving belittling and mocking what he or anyone else had been through on Perene was one of those things. He had seen too many good people shredded and been through enough there.

He clinched his fist a bit, then took a deep breath calming down. His voice came out controlled but cold. "I said that simply if she wanted help. You know what..never mind. Just leave me alone. Michru let's go." He wasn't going to put up with it, and he didn't want Michru witnessing hurting a cat if it kept hitting his buttons enough. So the best thing was to take himself out of the a emotionally charged situation.

"Hm. Seems I pushed some buttons... maybe what you went through is worse than I had assumed? Or you are just overly sensitive, but I'll leave that be, I suppose. I have no evidence either way." She moved around them, cutting them off before they could leave. "And I wasn't done talking with you. Contrary to what you may believe, this conversation is important. And it WILL happen, whether you want it to or not. I can be quite persistent. Now, tell me. Why would you offer to help Kaori? By all accounts, she was the aggressor in that exchange. So, why seek out the attacker to offer help, and not the victim?"

Emanulle regarded the cat coldly. He actually didn't even say anything for about thirty seconds. "When Kaori accidentally shot Naoki, she had a look of horror on her face. I couldn't see what she was shooting at but it wasn't her. This, and the fact while I don't know her apparently she changed practically over night to being how she is according to one of her friends, Mami. She still didn't want to hurt anyone, besides what she was aiming at. Was there blackmail involved? Some type of mind altering effects? Something else? It could be anything, given the nature of the universe we live in. All and all, its obvious it wasn't black and white. Not everything is what it seems."

"What it is, I don't know. Whatever her reasons, she keeps them close to her chest and won't even tell her closer friends. Or..perhaps they wouldn't believe her and that's why she hasn't." He theorized.

Again, the cat seemed to be evaluating him. "Hm. You are more intelligent than I had given you credit for. And less naive, which is even better. You seem to look beyond the surface; a good quality. It won't do you any good here, but it's something, at least. You are right that Kaori doesn't want to hurt them. She isn't being blackmailed, however, nor is anyone controlling her. She acts of her own free will." She was circling him and Michru now. "I don't know what you have been through in Perene, but there is no doubt that you are strong, at least. Perhaps you could be of use. Perhaps not. Remains to be seen. It is not my business to tell you what Kaori is thinking, or why she is acting as she is. However...."

She stopped in front of them again. "If you wish to know more... well, you'll just have to be persistent with Kaori. Only she knows the truth of things here. Only she can tell you what has been happening to everyone on this planet for the past several months. Only she can tell you what she has learned has been going on for thousands of years. Goodness knows you'll never get anything out of those other girls. Her story is quite extraordinary, I must say. I feel sorry for her, you know. Her friends have no idea just what kind of tragedy she has gone through, all for their sake. And she will continue to suffer in silence until she either succeeds in her goals, dies in the effort, or falls into despair and brings about the ultimate destruction of everything she holds dear in life." She was staring into Manny's eyes now.

"So, 'Emanulle Santos'... you don't even realize that by taking interest in Kaori's motives, you've opened Pandora's Box, as it were. So, you are faced with a choice. Two paths. Down one path, you can continue to try and break through to Kaori, to get her to open up to you about what is going on with her. A long, hard, and frustrating road, I can assure you. Her heart is closed off, and I'm not even sure anyone could ever get through to her. Or, you could take the other path, and do as Kaori wishes, and leave her alone. Pretend you never met her. You'll eventually forget anyway, people always do. By far, the easier path. And definitely less frustrating." She turned, and began to walk away, before looking at him over her shoulder.

"Of course... if you take the easier path, the path of non-interference, I have a bit of advice. Enjoy your time with your daughter while you can. Once she's older... say, around thirteen or fourteen, you may just lose her to her own despair, and never even understand why. Such is the fate of young girls these days..." And with that, the cat disappeared, seemingly just fading away like a spirit.

Emanulle said nothing when she was done, he had a lot to think about. He looked down back at Michru then back where the cat had been.

He would have a lot to think about even by the time they headed home and went to bed.
* *

Naoki woke up around the next day happy and ready to go. Today was a Saturday which meant school was out for two days and with no home work she could spend time with her friends. She really wanted to introduce Kirito to any of the others but it depended if she ran into them or not. As usual, she took Samara with her, the two were rarely apart from each other for long. If Samara wasn't with Naoki, she was with one of the other family members.

I think this is it hm.. They arrived at the compartment complex Kirito was suppose to be staying at. It was actually one that was more up scale, she wondered where he got the money from but she wasn't going to pry. After a pause, she knocked on the door and waited.

After a moment, Kirito answered the door, and smiled. "Hey Naoki, how are you?" He had to admit, he enjoyed her company. She was a nice girl. The fact he had to observe her and the events surrounding her was merely incidental now. He'd reported what he'd learned from her already; his orders were to continue his present course for now.

Naoki smiled. "I'm pretty good. Me and Samara were just going out to spend a day on the town. Do you want to hang out with us? Um, unless you're busy then its fine."

Kirito shook his head. "No, I'm not busy at all, just doing a couple things at the moment. You want to come in for a minute? I won't be long."

Naoki smiled. "I don't mind. Come on Samara." She waited to be lead on inside, she was really curious of what his place looked like. You could tell a lot about a person by the things they had in their living space. Kirito hadn't really told her what kind of powers he had as a Magic Knight, but then again she had never really asked.

Kirito's apartment was fairly standard. Wasn't really decorated at all, but that could be attributed to him having recently moved there. There was, however, a really nice computer set up of to the side. Before the eventual question could be asked though, Kirito spoke up. "My family are still on Hihat for now. Sugu has to finish out her last year at her school before she can come out this way, and my aunt and uncle are staying with her for now. I kind of proved I can take care of myself, so..." He shrugged, as he sat down at the computer. He seemed to be programming something.

Naoki nodded a bit slowly, she wasn't sure how Kirito managed to do all this by himself. "You're a lot more bold then I am Kirito-san. I don't think I would be able to move all the way to a new planet by myself like this and start over like you.."

Her gaze fell to the computer. "Are you making something? Mom does a lot of computer stuff too."

Kirito grinned. It couldn't hurt to tell her a bit about this. Part of the truth, and just a little bit of a small, white lie. "Well, I told you that Yui is an AI, right? So she's stuck in the digital world, essentially. Well, the ultimate goal is to create a body she can inhabit in the real world. Basically, to make her 'real', just like you did with Samara." He smiled at Samara as he said this, causing her to blush a bit. "Until that can be done though, I'm making a way for her to at least be able to see the real world, and communicate with me, and not just at my computer. In fact..." He pulled up a window, typing in a few commands. Immediately, a window into the game of LRO, the re-released version that had protections enabled to prevent another incident, opened up. As there was no NerveGear involved, there was no interaction... mostly. There was Yui, running around playing with friendly mob animals in the game. When the window opened, however, she stopped and turned, smiling.

"Papa! I thought you were going to be doing some work today!"

"Change of plans, Yui. For now, meet Naoki Kaname. She's a friend of mine. Naoki, this is my daughter, Yui. With a bit of programming, I'm able to use the camera and mic on my computer to talk with Yui like this. Usually when I don't have time to dive into the game."

Naoki's eyes widened at what was going on, the game was more life like then anything else she had seen. She liked video games herself but hadn't played any good ones recently due to her life as a Puella Magi and school taking up her time. That was Yui? She was cute.

"Hi Yui-chan. It's nice to meet you. I've been wanting to meet you since your father mentioned you." Another thought occured, maybe it would be good for Samara too to have someone else that was like her. We'll, when Yui got a body but they could still talk.

Kirito just smiled again. "Alright, I'm gonna take a quick shower and change, why don't you three get to know each other?" Kirito got up, offering up his chair, before disappearing into his room.

Naoki smiled and pulled a nearby chair so she could sit at face level to Yui. "It looks like you were having fun in there before we came. What do you like to do for fun?"

Yui just smiled brightly. "Just this, or help players who are having trouble with a quest, or computing information... mostly I just like spending time with Papa, Mama, and my Aunts and Uncles!" She paused, looking right at Samara, tilting her head. "Who are you? Papa didn't introduce you."

Samara looked suddenly shy again. "Ah... Samara... I'm supposed to be learning to be more outgoing, and introduce myself to people..."

"...Oh. Well we can be friends then! Once I get my own body, we'll play together, okay?" Samara seemed pleased by that.

Naoki smile grew brighter at that. "I would love to hang out with you too Yui! There's a lot of things to see and do back at home and my friends would like you too." Naoki was thinking. "Can you jump to different computers, or are you stuck there?" She was more curious then anything else.

Yui smiled. "So long as Papa is at the computer and is connected to the internet, he can reach me. He's working on a way to give me more access to the real world... I'm really looking forward to it..."

"Me too." Naoki meant it of course too. "When you get your body, how about me and my friends show you around earth? Not sure how long your papa will be staying here but it sounds like he'll still be here by the time you get your body." School usually took time to do, and whatever else he planned to do. Hihat was so much more advanced though, she wasn't sure why he would pernamently move here but she wouldn't have minded..

Yui just smiled, and continued chatting with Naoki and Samara until Kirito returned. Of course, he was still wearing mostly black. "Alright, all done."

When they left the apartment after saying their goodbye's to Yui, Naoki had began thinking of how to spend their day. They could go to the mall and see some of the things they had their. Or they could go to the arcade. There was a lot of things they could do actually, thinking about it.

"I'm not sure what you want to do, but since I'm your guide I thought I'd let you know of some places I had in mind. We could go to the mall, there's a lot of interesting places there. There's a arcade I go to a lot, I know the manager there and they're really nice. There's this old couple I help sometimes on the weekends. I mostly just keep them company though. Anyway, what do you want to visit first or do you have another idea?"