'Wha...what happened? Where is Kara? Who is he?' Elly thought as she looked at the handsome, mysterious man before her, his dazzling silver hair flowing gently in the night winds as the lights from the surrounding lamps causing each strand to sparkle like stars.
She thought for a bit and remembered that she was knocked out by thugs, now that she observed the surroundings a bit, she noticed that the hateful face of the one that killed Kara was lying in a pool of his blood.
'I... I was careless, was he the one who saved me? I... I have to thank...' Elly was about to make up her mind, but right now, a familiar voice was heard.
"Oh, so you're finally awake, that's good; you should leave here now, Elly," Nero said as he turned towards her with a smile.
Elly was a bit started that the stranger knew her name, but as she recalled the voice, she pointed at him in surprise before she spoke, "N-Nero? Are you Nero?"
Nero chuckled as he stretched his arm out to the side, his body glowed in a bright silver light before it receded towards the glowing style mark on his palm's back.
Not long after, his body, which was once again revealed, had returned to its usual look, but as he had exhausted a lot of his magic power to use the Digitize Bit, he now had a slight look of fatigue.
"Of course it's me, now hurry along, the matters after this will only get more troubling," Nero said, he didn't want her to get involved in anything that might happen next.
Elly, upon seeing his appearance felt better, but as she recalled how Kara died, her young heart still couldn't bear it, her eyes started to grow misty as she spoke, "I don't want to leave! Kara was murdered!"
When Nero heard this, he sighed, he knew that even if she was strong, she was still a young girl his age, how could she bear the death of someone close, or even someone that they had slowly begun to form a bond with?
'Oh hell, from one thing to the next, I really hope these guys will let me go home,' Nero thought as he felt as if he was being watched by a group of hawks in the surroundings, he pretended not to notice them and walked towards Elly.
"Elly, come on, it's time for you to leave this place," Nero said as he stooped down and looked at the crying Elly.
Elly stared at Nero with a pitiful look as if she'd been wronged, the petite beauty with her large rounded eyes had traces of tears that fell down her flawless skin. Her chestnut-colored hair fully illuminated by the bright night lights, basking her in a tender brightness that could soften the souls of any hot-blooded youth.
Just by staring at her for a moment, caused even Nero's firm heart to move. Not to mention Adult Nero, who had a slight jolt, even more so as he superimposed her current form to her stunning 'grown-up' image from his past. He shut his eyes and took a meditative posture while repeating in his head, 'I am a grown man, a child will not move me! It will never happen! I will not! I will not!'
Naturally, Nero didn't know about his older self's dilemma; he felt his heartbeat sped up before it returned to normal as he calmed himself.
'She's more decent looking than I'd thought... maybe if with a little tweak to her personality...' Nero was about to think something, but right then, his ponderings were cut off.
"I won't leave without Kara!" Elly shouted as it seemed she was reluctant to accept that Kara had died, the psychological strain manifesting itself as it brought out her innate stubbornness.
'I spoke too soon...' Nero sighed as he thought for a moment before his eyes flashed, he gritted his teeth while thinking, 'I'm sorry Kara, but it seems that I might need to use your name for a bit, please forgive me as your soul rest in peace.'
Having made up his mind, Nero made a warm smile as he stretched his hand out and spoke in a gentle tone, "Elly, you might be mistaken, the bullet didn't hit her vitals, it was a bad wound, one such that it forced her into a state of unconsciousness. By now, she should have already been sent to the hospital..."
Elly looked at him in surprise, her watery eyes fading by a bit as her expression turned to one of joy, "Really? Are you sure?"
Nero nodded and spoke, "That's right; you can check on her tomorrow after speaking with your parents."
Elly thought for a bit before biting her lip and nodding her head. Nero looked at this while in thought, 'Ah, that's so cute...'
When Nero thought to here, however, he shook his head, clearing those thoughts, he spoke with a smile, "That's right, now come on, we've been here for too long, and I also have things I need to take care of at home."
When Elly heard this, she nodded and acted more cooperatively; she saw that Nero's hand was still stretched out, waiting for her to grab it.
She hesitantly grabbed on it with small and slender palms, feeling the sturdiness behind it as her cute little face turned a bit red as she went off into her own thoughts, 'T-this pretty face bastard, h-he's definitely doing this to tease me, hmph! Fine, I'll let it go this time, s-since he came to save me...'
Elly took a peek towards Nero's face, but she soon frowned as she says that Nero had an ugly look as he stared directly before them.
When Elly turned to look, she saw that two men in hats were standing silently; one was a bearded individual with a bull mark on a cap as the other was a skinny man with an eagle symbol and a long face.
'These guys... aren't they from the DU, what are they doing here?' Elly pondered with complex eyes; she knew that the situation right now was certainly not the norm.
Nero felt anxious, but he didn't show it, he talked to himself, 'Calm down! Calm down! Nothing could happen, If I am not wrong, Elly should have status, they wouldn't do anything strange with someone like Elly around, and if they wanted to harm me, they would have done so while I was fighting that bunch.'
As Nero calmed down, he was able to analyze the situation more clear, Bull then took a step forward and made the most amiable expression a fierce-looking man like him could as he spoke as if trying to cheat a child.
"Little friend, it's a pleasure to meet you, I've been watching you while now, and I think that you are most suited for our society. How about it? Would you like to join the Digitizers Union's Hatman Group? Our group is one of the five most prominent in DU; each of the members is of a high standard. You will even get a fixed salary every month, and after you ascend from the Novice Zone to the Upper Zones, based on your contributions to humanity against our rivals, you will earn an equal share of rewards."
Elly hearing this was stunned, she only now realized which group it was, the hats were a dead giveaway, but as she had only woken up from a shock, she didn't pay it much attention.
'The Hatmans? So that's how it is, they're recruiting him... then doesn't this mean he was really and truly not apart of the DU since the beginning,' Elly thought to herself in surprise as she looked at Nero wit wonder, though she had her suspicions, she never thought someone from nowhere without guidance could have grown to his stage.
Nero frowned; it seemed that the opposite party was direct enough, getting straight to the point of the matter at hand. However, as he didn't know much yet, he still wanted to try his luck and avoid making any choices, he made an innocent look and spoke, "Big Beared Uncle, I'm sorry, but mother told me not to talk strangers, I have to go home right now."
The onlookers were a bit silent, but soon, a startling amount of laughter sounded off in the area. Even on the rooftop of nearby buildings, the father of the red-haired youth chuckled before shaking his head, while red-haired youth snorted.
On the other roof, the man with the coat and the hat was dying with laughter. However, the silver-haired beauty with the mask glared him and made a snort, causing him to halt and make a forced smile before returning to normal.
By this time, Yullia, who had only now appeared blocking Nero's path backward, was laughing as she spoke, "Hahaha, Mr. Bull, it looks like the little handsome isn't interested in joining your Hatman's, maybe today you wore the wrong hat, the color looks a tad green. Now please make way, our Blood Steel Society was the first to discover him," Yullia said in an unbridled manner.
After saying this, she glanced at Nero and spoke in a warm tone, "Little handsome, I couldn't help but notice your vigor and strength, you are most suited to joining our Blood Steel Society. People in our ranks are all hard bred warriors that live for battle, we don't get things handed to us on a silver plate but carve what we need through blood, sweat, and tears. If you are real man, join us, and carve the path for your future..."
Nero felt a bit curious listening to this, but Bull frowned as he heard this, he glared at Yullia and spoke, "Dark Witch, I'd advise you to keep your darn little comments to yourself, Nero is coming with us today!"
Yullia was a short-tempered woman, she shouted back in anger, "Who are you to talk to me like this? No one is getting little handsome except for our society!"
As the two went back and forth, Nero was beginning to feel a head ache; it didn't even seem that they were going to give him the chance to speak.
Avollo looked at this with anger, but Uncle Ian spoke with a smile, "Let it be, they won't go too far, they're only trying to test each other's limits."
Avollo then calmed down, not doing anything, but his eyes still stared at the scene curiously. Soon, the duo had gotten tired of verbal slurs, Elly, Nero, and the others who watched knew that it was about to enter the real act.
Bull and Yullia glanced at Nero and spoke at the same time, "Little one, tell us which of our groups would you like to join?"
Nero sighed, knowing it would come this, he paused for a bit and pondered before his eyes flickered as if he gained an idea.
Everyone looked on in silence, as they wanted to see what he would choose, even Nero's older self, who had finally managed to calm himself from his previous dilemma.
Nero then stared at them and spoke in a voice that carried weight behind it, "I have a suggestion..."