Hi all! First few weeks of vacation and my parents fly us off to the middle of nowhere... but now I'm back! With a million bug bites TvT

Epilogue

"Hiro, don't run ahead too much!"

"Got it!" the child laughed, running ahead even farther.

"Geez, this kid," Tadashi sighed, jogging to keep up with his little brother. They were meeting up with their friends at the park for a picnic. It was a beautiful and sunny, not a cloud in the sky. It was too nice a day to waste.

"Hurry up, Tadashi! At this point, it'll be night time by the time we get to the park!" Hiro groaned.

"Stop being so dramatic," Tadashi scoffed. "Don't forget to wait for the light to turn before crossing the street!"

"Yea, yea…" Hiro muttered, kicking at pebbles as he waited for the pedestrian light to switch. Suddenly, a sly look crossed over his face. Almost immediately, the light switched, much to the confusion of every driver and pedestrian.

Tadashi froze, then shot a pointed glare at his little brother. "Hiro, what have we said about using your abilities in public? Especially with traffic lights?"

"Sorry," the child muttered, but proceeded to run across the street anyways. Tadashi sighed and followed. It had been a few months since the whole Tomoe and Project New Life incident. As Yoichibei promised, it wasn't the last the Hamada brothers saw of him. For the first couple of weeks after Hiro's release from the hospital, he sent guards to watch over the brothers' home, in case Koestu decided to drop by for an uninvited visit. He even sent them a fruit basket, much to Hiro's chagrin.

"I see them!" Hiro exclaimed happily as he ran up a small hill.

"They're not going anywhere, slow down!" Tadashi gasped, clutching a stitch in his side.

"Wow, you're getting old, big bro," Hiro tsked, turning around to grin at the older Hamada. "Hurry up, jii-san!"

"Jii-san, he says…" Tadashi muttered under his breath as he continued climbing after his brother. "Why does he have so much energy, he just got out of a hospital a few months ago for crying out loud…"

"If you keep mumbling like that, people are gonna think you're turning senile, Tadashi!" Gogo called from the top of the hill.

"Who chose to have this picnic at the top of a hill!" Tadashi panted. When he finally reached the top, he collapsed on the cool grass, rolling around in sweet relief. "Finally… flat surface," he breathed.

"Drama queen," Gogo snorted. "Now I see where Hiro gets it from."

"I am offended," Tadashi gasped theatrically.

"Hey, hey, foods ready!" Fred called happily. "Wasabi and the girls should be here soon."

"Wasabi's here already," another voice called from behind them. The tall African American male panted as he reached the group, Honey Lemon and Chiyeki by his side.

Chiyeki was looking exceptionally well, especially considering the fact that she had been shot just a few months ago. Her hair had grown out in those few months. After therapy and psychiatric care, Chiyeki was up and ready faster than most gunshot victims. During those months, she kept close contact with the group, and they gladly helped her if she needed anything. There were nights that she couldn't sleep, or she would feel anxiety and panic, but she was reassured by the fact that she had people to call and talk to. According to the doctors, it had greatly helped her recovery.

"How's your stomach?" Tadashi asked jokingly.

She grimaced. "It still hurts occasionally, but I'll be fine."

"You healed miraculously fast," Tadashi noted matter-of-factly.

A shrug. "I heal fast."

"Are you gonna stay around for our little picnic, Chiyeki?" Wasabi asked politely.

The girl smiled, but shook her head. "Sorry, but… today's the day."

"Ah…" Honey Lemon murmured. She smiled back at the girl and gave her a sympathetic hug. "Maybe next time."

"I'll definitely hold you up to that," Chiyeki laughed. She waved at the group cheerfully before descending carefully down the hill.

"So how you feeling, little dude?" Fred asked as he rammed sandwiches and chips into his mouth. "Heard you've been practicing with that whole technology control thing."

"Yeah, it's pretty tiring, to be honest," Hiro mumbled through a mouthful of food. "One to two hours every night. I've learned to control basic connections and lights and stuff, but anything else bigger gives me a headache…" He lightened up and excitedly said, "I learned to keep the voices out of my head though! I can't hear everything shouting anymore."

"That's a relief," Wasabi chuckled. "Hearing so many things at once has to be the worst thing ever."

"It was…" Hiro muttered. "You have no idea how much complaints technology has, it's worse than humans…"

"Hey, lighten up!" Gogo said gruffly, landing a soft punch on the kid's shoulder. "It's too nice of a day to be talking about so much depressing stuff."

"How are your classes going?" Wasabi asked.

Hiro shrugged. "Drove off another home tutor the other day. Didn't know eighth grade material was that easy."

"That's our little prodigy," Fred chuckled.

"Let's not talk about such serious stuff," Honey chastised. "The sun's shining, the birds are singing," she hummed cheerfully. She stood up and stretched her arms above her head. "Why not toss some Frisbees and get some ice cream!"

"That sounds great," Tadashi laughed. They all stood up, cleaning up most of their mess. As they made their way down the hill, Tadashi nudged Hiro and grinned. "Should we make this a monthly thing?"

"Sure," Hiro laughed gleefully, "after all the stuff we've been through, it's time to start a new life, don't you think?"

Chiyeki took a deep breath and walked into the building. The receptionist looked up and smiled. "Hey there, Chiyeki. Today's the day, huh?"

"Hey, Frank," she greeted him kindly. "I'm ready."

"She's in the same room as always," Frank chuckled halfheartedly, buzzing the door open.

Muttering a quick thank you, she made her way down the white halls. Screams from patients echoed through the walls. A small chill went down her back. She had walked down those hallways two times a month and the screams would still terrify her.

Finally reaching the right room, she took another shaky breath and knocked lightly on the door. A dramatic "enter," signaled her to go in. She still hasn't dropped the theatrics despite all this time, Chiyeki snorted to herself.

"Nee-san?" Chiyeki said quietly, opening the door. "It's me. Again."

"I know who it is, I'm not senile," the all too familiar voice snapped. "Hurry up and come in, you're letting in a breeze."

Chiyeki sighed, "Nice to see you, too," she muttered.

"Hmm, well… since it's part of my sentencing to deal with you every two weeks for an hour, let's get this over with," she snorted derisively. "So tell me, what's new in your boring life, hmm?"

"Well, I met with some friends today, walked around a bit, enjoyed the sun-"

"Are you mocking me?" her sister suddenly snarled.

"No, I'm not," Chiyeki sighed, taking a seat across from Tomoe. Even if her voice threatened to kill, Chiyeki knew she couldn't do anything. After all, the cuffs that kept her hands attached to the chair and the two security guards behind her made sure the woman didn't do anything dangerous.

"Poking fun at the fact that I'm forever trapped in this hell hole, never to leave, never to see the outside world again!" she screamed, pounding her fists against the chair.

"Calm down, nee-san, you know that's not what I meant."

The older woman gave an angry huff and turned her head haughtily to the side.

"Fella's, could you give us a minute," Chiyeki murmured, looking at the guards. They looked at each other unsurely, then at Tomoe. "I'll tell you when you can come back in," Chiyeki smiled pleasantly.

The guards quickly muttered an agreement and shuffled out the door. The last guard made sure to bolt the metal door shut behind him.

"So," Chiyeki said, standing up and pacing around, "you look better."

"Oh please," Tomoe scoffed. "I'm wearing all white and my hair hasn't been cut in months. They wouldn't give me a brush to straighten out the tangles, and now look at it."

"Your hair looks beautiful, nee-san," Chiyeki offered. "And you look… healthier."

"What is this, an interrogation?" Tomoe hissed. "Why send the guards out if you're just going to ask me these meaningless questions? Just get to the point!" At the last sentence, she pounded against the arms of the chair again.

Chiyeki didn't even flinch. Surprising what getting shot can do to you. She sat back down and stared straight at her older sister. Tomoe glared back, unblinking. Chiyeki whispered, "You're right, I didn't send them away for simple small talk." She pulled out several files from her bags and slammed them onto the table for Tomoe to see.

"What's this, more legal papers to fill out?" Tomoe said, boredom saturated in her voice.

"You remember the academy, don't you?" Chiyeki asked, not bothering to hide the tremor in her voice. "You should, seeing as you sent your own sister to it!"

"What of it?" Tomoe hissed back. "I sent you to a school, so what?!"

"These five people have gone missing," Chiyeki whispered back forcefully. "They specialized in genetic modification in that academy!"

"Why do you think I would know what happened, I've been locked up in this coop for the past few months!" Tomoe shrieked angrily.

"Because Koetsu was with you everyday since the accident and he had every opportunity to grab their information!" Chiyeki slammed her palm onto the stack of files. "Now, I'm pretty damn sure you've made more crazy plans than just that chip! Tell me, why would Koetsu need these people! What is he planning?"

And with that, I bid a sad farewell to this story...

It's been fun, guys. As promised, I am making a sequel right now, and I guarantee you it's gonna be AMAZING

Depending on how much success it gets, I might even go for a trilogy... hmm... what do you guys think?

Feel free to leave any questions, comments, or anything like that. If there's anything that was confusing, just leave a review and I'll answer them in this new story. Hope you guys enjoyed what I had to offer! And look forward to this new one, you're not gonna wanna miss this. Go follow and favorite it when it comes out! Please continue to support this story! :)

But until then... Good bye for now :') and I'll see you all on this next story hopefully~

KS