"How long is this going to take, Akira?" Eichirou asked his cousin who was still tinkering with Shuichi's treasured motorcycle.
Right after the talk Shuichi had with the cousins Natsume and Kanako, he eventually agreed to the idea of placing the upgrade on his motorcycle. It appeared that Hanasaki-sensei's autograph and the small note did a lot to dissipate the hesitation lingering in his mind and became resolute with that decision. But instead of going back to the mansion to personally observe the upgrade placement, Shuichi entrusted the cousins with his motorcycle and decided to leave the cliff ahead of the two.
Not long after, Kanako started getting busy with her laptop together with the presence of the Fire Lion Firion that Shuichi had lent to them. While Natsume immediately helped Akira who already started proceeding with the plan with the help of the Wind Falcon Skylon that Misae got ready.
"You can't rush perfection, Eichirou-san. And stop asking any more questions or else, I won't be able to concentrate on doing my job properly. I don't want to deal with Shuichi-san's wrath if I made a mistake and ended up destroying his treasured motorcycle. You know how machines can be truly delicate when it comes to handling Hasureiki," Akira replied without even looking at the photographer.
Itsuki only approached Eichirou and tapped his shoulder. The latter looked at the nonchalant composer who just nodded, indicating that they should trust the younger Vessel Supports with their jobs.
It seemed like hours had painstakingly passed before the placement of the upgrade was done. At least, that was how it felt to the Vessels who were anticipating the outcome of the upgrade placement and also of Motross' next attack.
When Itsuki checked the time, he was surprised to see that only an hour had passed. Did Akira and Natsume manage to finish doing the job in that amount of time? He couldn't help smiling at the fact that they had Vessel Supports like those two in their league. They could only hope that Shuichi would be pleased with the result.
At that point, the Vessels' trail of thoughts was interrupted by a familiar beeping. Not just one but four beeping. Each of the Vessels took out their Celestial Shifters creating the noise and decided to check on the situation.
But even though they anticipated it, the Vessels still couldn't hide the surprise they felt upon seeing the situation. Motross had indeed expanded his area of attack. All they could see from one of the projected screens was the damage that the Triske Monster had already dealt with the city and the citizens.
"That monster's going to get it this time!" Itsuki said with gritted teeth.
"No kidding! The damage right now was worse than last time."
"But if we're heading out now, do you think Shuichi-san will catch up and deal with Motross again?" Erika couldn't help asking in worry.
"This is Shuichi we're talking about, Erika-chan," Misae said reassuringly. "Not once did he back out in the middle of a challenge laid out in front of him. Knowing that guy, it was for sure that he'd have an upper hand as soon as he cleared his mind from all the thoughts that disturbed him until now."
"That means we have to deal with Motross until Shuichi arrives, huh?"
The rest nodded somberly at Eichirou's words.
"Then let's head out!"
xxxxxx
Shuichi had been looking around for quite some time now. But there was no trace of the one he was looking for. He couldn't rely on his powers or even his Shifter to locate that person since he had no idea about the exact flow of Hasureiki that the person he had been trying to find was possessing.
Yes, the person that he needed to locate for quite a while now possessed a considerable amount of Hasureiki. Though he wanted to give up looking as time passed by, there was a nagging part in his brain that told him he shouldn't and that he could locate Helen.
At that thought, he halted to a stop. He just met Helen. And yet... a part of him was acting weird by doing all this just to find her. Yes, he could partly blame her mysterious personality for him to be quite a curious person when it comes to her.
But there was more to that nagging part in his brain than just mere curiosity. Though for now, he had other pressing matters to think about and prioritize.
Once more, Shuichi looked around the area where he stopped. A few moments later, he stared at a certain dessert shop where he finally spotted the person he was looking for. To his confusion, however, Helen was just standing outside the shop. It seemed that she was looking at something over there.
Before his mind could even think of a possible answer, Shuichi found himself already walking toward Helen. He soon realized the reason for his body to act on its own (again) as he approached the said girl.
'Why was she looking from outside the shop with that kind of expression?'
He was only a few feet away when he saw Helen suddenly becoming startled and turned in his direction not long after. He stopped as soon as their eyes met.
"H-Hiwara-san? What are you doing here?"
"Looking for you," Shuichi answered matter-of-factly.
Of course, he already expected a surprising response. Yet in Helen's case, it was only shown slightly. One thing he noticed about this girl--she was doing her best not to show too many emotions. And for some reason, he wanted to find out why.
"And will you please stop with the formality? You can just call me Shuichi. Honestly, I prefer it that way," he continued as he approached Helen.
The girl smiled and faced the dessert shop once again. He, too, decided to face the said place--only to frown at the sight of a plated dessert displayed in the show window.
"They said that my father was an excellent patissier and that he used that talent first to gain my mom's attention," Helen started, soon breaking the silence between them. "But I can only remember a little about him. The only thing that's clear in my mind was the time he made me eat this exact plated dessert. After that, I declared that I'd be able to make sweets as delicious as the ones my father would make when I grow up. I don't know if I succeeded, though."
"W-what do you mean?"
This time, Helen heaved quite a ragged sigh and faced Shuichi. The melancholy in her eyes was truly visible that it took him aback.
"They were gone before I could even show it to them."
Wait... Was was that supposed to mean? 'Don't tell me...?'
"They were killed when I was five," Helen confessed soon after in a grave tone. "By a high-ranking Tarean."
Without a doubt, those words froze him to spot as the shock he felt upon hearing them spread. And to think a Tarean did it...
"So that's why you were dedicated to helping us..." At that point, he remembered something. "But does Erika know about this?"
"She knew that my parents were dead. She knew that they were killed, as well. But I never told her that it was a Tarean who did it." Not long after, Helen took a deep breath and faced Shuichi once again. This time, with a smile. "But I don't want to talk about it right now. Besides, she would know the truth soon. Anyway, why are you looking for me?"
That was when Shuichi immediately recalled the reason why he was seeking Helen out. He took the Phoenix Knight book out of his inner jacket pocket and showed it to Helen.
"They handed it to you. I'm glad," Helen said with a smile.
"Yeah. The message written inside really hit me hard. And now... I think I know the real reason why you're not showing yourself to your readers despite the success of your novels... Hanasaki Kikue-sensei."
But instead of being surprised by the way Shuichi had guessed and pointed that part out, Helen looked at the racer with pride. "As expected of my big fan. You guessed it right."
"Then the first generation Hanasaki novelist was..."
Helen nodded. "My mother, Tennouji Atsuko. And I know you're aware of the fact that Hanasaki Kaoru was killed 14 years ago."
"So you decided to take over your mother's works and continue her legacy as a novelist."
"It was Minako-san and Makoto-san's idea. I need to find a way to at least have a connection to my dead parents no matter what it was. My father's passion for making sweets and traveling... and my mother's novels... I wanted at the time to engrave at least a bit of those in me just for me to feel that they're still close to me. But I don't want to use the identity for which they were truly known. And so the idea of having a Hanasaki novelist per generation was born. That's also how Hanasaki Kikue was created."
Shuichi finally understood where Hanasaki Kikue's passion came from, and why each novel seemed to surpass each of them and was better than the last. It was her way of connecting to the person important to her all this time.
And it seemed that it was similar to the way he never wanted to give up and use that same motorcycle to defeat Motross. He wanted to use the one thing that still connected him to his dead father to destroy the monster who was a disgrace to the racing world.
"Thank you... for reminding me of what I should do at a time like this. Even though I made my resolve last night, when I woke up, I couldn't understand why I was hesitating over something that I can easily overcome, to begin with."
"Like what I said on the note, don't let anything or anyone extinguish the burning passion that you possess to treasure everything important to you. Be it a memento or the people that helped you become who you are right now. I think you will be undefeated when you do that."
This time, Shuichi couldn't help showing off a smile and Helen followed suit. It felt like it had been a while since he smiled like that when only a day had passed since he did so. He must have been completely bummed right after dealing with Motross for him to feel like that.
But before he could say something in response to that, Shuichi's Celestial Shifter beeped. He immediately took it out and projected a map to know where the Tarean attack was happening. His eyes widened upon seeing that Motross had expanded its area of attack.
"Is this for real?" he could only say before closing the Shifter.
Moments later, another beeping came from the device. This time, Kanako was the one calling.
"It's ready. You can use that to deal with Motross and finish him off."
"Thanks!" After that, he faced Helen. "I'm heading out."
"Be careful, Shuichi-san."
Though slightly startled upon hearing Helen say his name for the first time, he smiled soon after. "I will."
He was about to run and leave the place to go to the location of the Tarean attack when Helen called him out.
"Is there something wrong?"
However, the serious look on her face suggested something different.