Just like every morning, Hitsu rose with the sun. As the light shined through the window and into the boy's room Hitsu let out a yawn and stretched. He wiped the sleep from his eyes and looked around the room. Sel was fast asleep in the bed to his left and Jinsuke in the bed to his right, Juno rolled over in her pet bed next to Hitsu. Quietly, Hitsu stepped out of his head, lifted Juno into his arms, and made his way out of the room.
He quickly glanced into the girl's room as he walked towards the stairs. As he scratched Juno Hitsu tiredly made his way down the stairs to the first floor. He entered the dining area and grabbed a set of clothes off of the table. He had set them there the night before so he wouldn't have to wake anyone up by getting dressed. Hitsu stepped into the bathroom and changed out of his pajamas.
Feeling a little more awake, Hitsu walked to the wall next to the doorway to the lounge. Most people would look at the wooden wall that helped make up the staircase without a second glance, Hitsu however isn't most people. Hitsu reached out and pushed on the wall, with a quiet clicking sound the secret door opened. Hitsu and Juno descended the old wooden stairs silently. They reached the bottom and turned the corner to see exactly what Hitsu knew he would find.
The room at the bottom of the stairs was a library, a very large library. Thousands of books filled a least a dozen giant bookshelves. A layer of dust had covered most of the room which wasn't a surprise considering the room had remained relatively untouched until recently. On the day of Enai and Sel's battle, the group had found out that Enai was very fond of reading. The moment Hitsu showed her the secret library Enai fell in love and had spent most of her time in the room. It was her that Hitsu found, asleep in a chair in the center of the room, the book she was reading lay open on the floor.
It wasn't a surprise to Hitsu that Enai was in the library, it was clear she was when he saw he absent from the girl's room. Hitsu walked to the side of the chair and gently nudged Enai awake.
"Wake up," he said softly, "or I'll have Juno eat you."
"Noooooooooooooooo," Enai mumbled tiredly, "I don't wanna get eaten." Enai attempted to sit up in the chair but ended up just leaning forward. "Is it morning already?" she asked with her eyes still shut.
"Yes," Hitsu responded as he placed Juno on Enai's lap. The cat's presence only made it harder for Enai to fall back asleep. "I'm making breakfast so don't fall back asleep."
"Yes sir," Enai said with a weak salute, her eyes remaining shut the entire time.
"I told you not to fall asleep down here," Hitsu scolded, "you could mess up your back."
"I know... I'm sorry," Enai said with a yawn.
"Just don't fall back asleep," Hitsu said as he retrieved his pet cat from Enai's lap, "All of us are going on patrol today."
"Yes sir," Enai responded.
As Hitsu made his way back up the stairs he had a suspicion he would have to wake Enai again.
...
Half an hour later the dining table was occupied with four faces. Nox, Sel, Enai, and Jinsuke sat around the table enjoying the breakfast Hitsu had prepared. Enai was the last to arrive as she had fallen back asleep and Juno had to wake her again. Jinsuke looked just as tired as Enai despite the fact he regularly got more sleep than the rest of the group.
"I get how the skeleton is about to face plant into her plate but why are you so tired?" Sel asked Jinsuke.
"Yeah," Nox added, "you sleep all of the time."
"Sleeping is my hobby," Jinsuke said bluntly.
Nox and Sel laughed at Jinsuke's response but the earth-controller stayed silent.
"I don't know if you're joking or not," Enai said with a yawn.
It had been two days since Jinsuke's arrival and Takeshi had not returned from his mission yet. The thought of failing his trail had been a scary thought for the three who hadn't officially become members yet. As the days passed, however, the group found that being around one another helped calm their nerves. Sel and Enai found distractions from their nervousness by bickering with each other and Jinsuke had spent his time finding the most comfortable places to sleep. Different as they may be the teens had found themselves friends in a very short amount of time.
"You said that Jinsuke always sleeps this much?" Nox asked Hitsu between laughs. When she didn't receive a response she turned to the chair next to her. Hitsu sat in his chair lost in his own thoughts, the fork in his hand was held loosely between his fingers. Hitsu stared down at his food with vacant eyes but a soft smile on his face.
"Hey Hitsu," Enai said finally fully awake.
Hitsu didn't respond, it was as if he hadn't heard her at all. Soon Jinuske and Sel also noticed Hitsu's silence and the room became deadly quiet. Even the sudden lack of noise didn't break Hitsu from his spell. His vacancy was enough to cause Juno to leap onto the table and stare with everyone else.
"Hitsu?" Nox said cautiously as she lightly nudged his shoulder.
"Ahhh!" Hitsu shouted startled. He looked around the room to see everyone staring back at him.
"You alright boss?" Sel asked.
"Uh... Yeah, I'm fine," Hitsu said embarrassed.
"Having happy thoughts over there?" Jinsuke asked jokingly.
"Honestly..." Hitsu said softly. His cheeks took on a red tone as he talked. Nox realized at this moment this was the weakest she had ever seen Hitsu.
"...I was thinking that this day might never come," Hitsu said with a smile. "The day that other people would be sitting around this table with me, other heroes with the same goals as me. I've been here so long I thought I might be the only one, that I might walk alone for the rest of my life. Ever since I was a kid, when I first joined the Future Veins, I always dreamed of being around people like me. I always dreamed of being apart of a team... So we could change the world together."
Hitsu looked up the see the smiling faces of the others at the table. They all smile in their own unique way. Sel grinned smugly at Hitsu's speech while Enai looked amazed, as though she was meeting her favorite celebrity. Jinsuke's smile felt as though he was proud of his friend while Nox looked touched, her smile was filled with more joy than Hitsu thought possible.
"A team?" Sel said, "that sounds pretty cool."
"I can see it now," Enai said with stars in her eyes, "five heroes all fighting together for what's right."
"A team needs a leader doesn't it?" Jinsuke added.
"Well a leader won't be hard to find," Nox said, her eyes never leaving Hitsu.
"Wait," Hitsu said surprised, "are you guys serious? You don't think the idea is stupid?"
"Of course not," Jinsuke replied.
"It's a great idea," Nox added.
"We owe you one anyway," Sel added, "we would have joined if you just asked."
"Now we have to try even harder," Enai said excitedly, "so we can all join the Future Veins and make Hitsu's dream a reality."
"Isn't that right Hitsu?" Nox asked.
Even with all eyes on him, Hitsu didn't hide the tears streaming down his face.
"That's right," he replied with a smile, "do your best."
...
"I don't believe it," Jinsuke said in shock.
"How could he? How could he do this?" Sel yelled angrily.
"This can't be real," Enai whispered in disbelief.
"Why is this happening?" Nox whimpered.
"Why Hitsu?"
...
End of Episode 39