Kisuke leaned against the window of his office and watched the organized chaos that the courtyard had turned into the moment the sun crested the horizon. Alexis’ hunting party was as impressive as ever, going about their tasks as if they’d always been without the magic and enhancements granted by blastia, and it made him… wonder.

(How close to Entelexia were they?)

Even Yoruichi was having some difficulty adjusting, many of her tricks out of reach without the access to aer that a blastia provided; she was still strong-fast-deadly, still able to shapeshift — if only just — but… comparing her abilities now to how she was before Brave Vesperia had fought the Adephagos was…

Painful.

(One more thing he couldn’t fix, one more way for someone to hurt those he cared about, one more failure—)

(No.)

(He’d find a way.)

(There had to be some way to harness power without a blastia, he was sure of it!)

He tapped his fan against his chin and tried to shoo the thoughts into the back of his mind; he couldn’t do anything besides let the ideas percolate for the moment, not when he barely understood what, exactly, had happened.

Besides, he had a… different problem requiring his focus.

Rerugen— Erich looked up from the courtyard below, his focused expression softening minutely as he caught sight of Kisuke and flicked a small wave up at him, acknowledgment-greeting-warmth, and it made something ache in Kisuke’s chest.

His hand tingled with the remembered brush of warm-soft-dry lips, with the gentle trace of a thumb across his knuckles and—

He shouldn’t want more, he knew he shouldn’t, knew it was nothing but a pretense to help Rerugen— to help Erich avoid leading the Quincy, but… he couldn’t help it. Couldn’t make himself stop.

(In all his grand scheming, he’d never quite understood how… how painful it would be to have only a pretense of what he wanted.)

(He wanted to curse himself but…)

(He couldn’t bear to let even this fragment of affection go.)

The scuff of small feet trying to be sneaky drew his attention away from the courtyard and the Quincy below, and he turned to see Jinta and Ururu in the doorway. They both froze briefly, before Jinta scowled and marched across the room, anger barely masking concern.

“You’re leaving,” Jinta said accusingly, hands on his hips as he glowered up at Kisuke.

“Maa, not forever,” Kisuke attempted to reassure the boy. He knelt so they were closer in height, then reached out and tapped Jinta’s nose with his fan. “Rerugen and I have some business to attend to at his old guild, but we’ll be back soon enough!”

Jinta wrinkled his nose, gaze /suspicious-wary-hurt/. “I’m not oblivious,” he growled as he leaned away from Kisuke. “The Quincy want him back, don’t they? Even if you come back, he’s not going to, is he?”

“He will,” Kisuke said firmly, refusing to entertain the notion that the Quincy wouldn’t buy their story. “We just need to square away some details first, that’s all. We’ll be back before you know it.”

“Y-you promise?” Ururu asked softly, shyly, as she slipped closer, eyes wide and bright with unshed tears. “You promise?”

“I promise,” Kisuke repeated with as much confidence as he could muster. When that didn’t seem to reassure either of them, he reached out and carefully hooked an arm around each of them and drew them closer. Ururu practically fell against him, her little hands grabbing fistfuls of his jinbei and her face pressed against his chest, but Jinta… Jinta moved with reluctance, gaze averted and hands clenched into fists. He tucked himself into Kisuke’s shoulder, body nearly vibrating with some emotion Kisuke couldn’t pin down, and just… stared at the floor.

It was how Jinta was, the rational part of Kisuke’s mind supplied, the boy rarely accepted any sort of comfort without at least the pretense of hating it, but…

It still… felt like a failure.

(If only he knew more, could relate more, could be what Jinta needed instead of just an awkward mess, but…)

(He wasn’t, couldn’t be, could only try to apply what precious little he’d learned to mimic from Re— from Erich and what little he’d worked out through painful trial and error.)

(He’d never wanted children, but these two…)

(They were his.)

“We’ll be back. I’ll even have Benihime bring you letters while we’re gone, how’s that? You can hear all about the adventure we’re having while we’re having it,” Kisuke offered without hesitation, knowing he could guilt Benihime into playing messenger if it was for their children.

Jinta wavered, glancing up at Kisuke and then away, before finally heaving a put upon sigh and slumping against Kisuke’s side. “Fine. So long as you and Erich both write. Every time. And don’t gloss over things!”

Kisuke chuckled and pulled both Jinta and Ururu a bit closer, pleased when Jinta barely grumbled at all at the gesture. “I’ll remember, and I’ll tell him, I promise.”

“You better,” Jinta muttered, head turning just enough to press against Kisuke’s shoulder. “Or… or I’ll convince Tessai to not cook for you for a week!”

“Oh my, with a threat like that how could I dare forget?” Kisuke teased lightly as he ruffled Jinta’s hair. “Everything will turn out alright, trust me. Have I ever been wrong about something like this?”

“N-no,” Ururu said as she shook her head.

Jinta grunted. “Well… I suppose…”

“I’d bring you with us—” he wouldn’t, not when the Quincy guild was a nest of vipers he intended to violently provoke— “but you’ve seen how boring the Quincy can be when you start poking at tradition. You’d be bored out of your mind within the day.”

“That’s… true.” Jinta grimaced at the reminder. “Fine. Just… make sure you write!”

“I will, I will,” Kisuke promised again, amused by the need and also relieved that Jinta wasn’t going to insist on joining them. Things would be dangerous enough without bringing a child along, no matter how skilled Jinta and Ururu both were.

A soft noise caught his attention. Made him look up, sharp-wary-cautious, and—

Alexis stood in the doorway, her gaze soft and her lips quirked up into a tiny smile. She looked… warm, looked approving, and—

Heat flooded Kisuke’s cheeks as he ducked his head and tried to focus on Ururu and Jinta instead, fragile hope fluttering in his chest like a moth to light. If Alexis approved of him, if she came to like him—

(He didn’t need love, he didn’t, wouldn’t even know what to do if he had it, but…)

(If she liked him, if she didn’t see him as an interloper then… then maybe…)

(Maybe he wouldn’t be cast aside as soon as his use was over.)

(Maybe he could… keep what he’d gained…)

(Maybe…)