The secret lair of Faust.
The Smash created from Tatsuya struggled and flailed around in the glass case full of green Nebula gas and liquid. It was being subjected to another exposure once again.
Blood Stalk was leaning over top of the case, observing the pitiful creature squirming underneath him while several men in white lab coats took notes.
Night Rogue was also present, he lounged in the comfort of the old wooden chair he treated as his throne while watching the men in white and Blood Stalk fussed over the Smash behind the glass. Night Rogue suddenly spoke in a disapproving tone.
"All you've done so far is use him to raise Build's Hazard Level..."
Night Rogue paused for a moment, leaned further forward, meshing his fingers together while tilting his head before continuing.
"...What are you trying to accomplish?"
Blood Stalk spun around and looked up at Night Rogue, startling the lab coat closest to him.
"I'm just hungry for strength."
Blood Stalk left the Smash as well as the men in white behind and headed up a set of concrete stairs to where Night Rogue was sitting, then leaned on the yellow safety railing next to the stairs and sighed, "Before we have the boys take the next step, they need to learn a bit about themselves."
...
The next day, at Café Nascita, Soichi finished setting up the exterior of the shop. He brushed his hands together and smiled before nodding in satisfaction of his storefront.
He opened the front door and headed back inside, just as he did, Ryuga emerged from the secret lab.
Soichi grinned, leaned forwards on a nearby chair and struck up a conversation with Ryuga.
"Hey! So you're up... Misora told me about what happened."
Ryuga walked past Soichi and headed for a stool at the bar counter.
Soichi followed behind questioning, "You tried to transform?"
He grabbed Ryuga by the shoulder just before he reached the seat he wanted to sit at and spoke softly, "It's dangerous, so don't try it..."
Ryuga narrowed his eyes at Soichi, shrugging him off and plunking down on the stool.
"Shut up."
Ryuga looked around the place before looking back at Soichi. "Where is he?"
"At the lab. Sento is looking up something about the Sky Wall." Soichi answered while pulling out his coffee press.
He pulled on the green straps of his apron, cracked his neck and started preparing coffee.
Soichi glanced over at the younger man, then continued with his explanation.
"He wants to find a way into Faust's hideout, and he wants to save Tatsuya as soon as he can."
Ryuga shook his head in disapproval, "He's hustling for a friend he doesn't even remember..."
"It's not that he's doing it because they were friends, Mr. Banjo..." Soichi dropped his gaze back to the press, carrying on with with his craft while speaking.
"If that kid sees anyone in trouble, he'll reach out to them."
Ryuga snorted and rolled his eyes, "So it's God almighty, wise Buddha and saint Sento? Give me a break."
Soichi smiled and wasn't bothered. "It's not like that. He's just... Worried. He lost his memories, and doesn't know anything about himself. That makes him worry non-stop. So he's trying to act like the kind of person he'd want to be..."
Soichi poured the brew he had been making into a cup carefully, placed it on a saucer and walked around the counter towards Ryuga.
"...Of course, the feelings he gets from doing the things that he does is sincere."
The steaming cup was placed in front of Ryuga, who placed his hands on it. Ryuga enjoyed the warmth of the hot cup on his palms.
"But for as much happiness and kindness he shows..." Soichi's tone became a little softer, and he spoke a little slower while saying this.
Ryuga looked up and met Soichi's eyes, they looked a little sad.
"...Sento is carrying a kind of loneliness that the rest of us can't imagine, too."
Ryuga's moody look lightened a little bit after hearing that, he looked thoughtful while pulling the cup to his lips and taking a large sip of the hot liquid.
As soon as the dark beverage was inside of his mouth he squinted and grimaced.
"Bitter!"
...
Sento sat hunched in front of a computer at the Touto Institute. He scanned through multiple reports of the Sky Wall and its physical properties, looking for clues on ways to infiltrate Faust's base.
He had just clicked on a fresh document to read when two men dressed in grey administrative clothing approached him.
It was was Gentoku Himuro and his assistant Nariaki Utsumi.
Gentoku stood behind Sento, looking at the content of his screen. He tilted his head and asked, "What is it? You seem pretty focused."
Sento turned his head around in acknowledgement of his boss before turning back to the screen and casually replying, "I was just checking on some things about the Sky Wall..."
The corners of Gentoku's lip curled up a little bit, "Did you know that it emits a gas?"
Sento turned on his chair to face Gentoku. "No... What gas?"
Gentoku put his hands in his pockets and leaned against one of the whiteboards in the room.
He looked at Sento and smiled, "The gas comes from underground, and seems to contain elements not found on Earth... Katsuragi called it 'Nebula Gas'. Great name choice, right?"
Sento stood up from his chair, his attention fully grabbed by the mention of what must be the green gas.
"Nebula Gas?"
"Yes, Nebula gas, Katsuragi realized the importance of Nebula Gas before anyone else..."
Gentoku wandered over to another computer and waved Nariaki over while saying, "Can you bring up his research data?"
The man in glasses looked bothered by this and it was evident in the tone of his reaction. "Are you sure you want to show that to him?"
Gentoku shrugged his shoulders and responded simply.
"Yeah."
"...Alright."
Nariaki leaned over the computer and input some commands rapidly, entering several portals and using a few different security passcodes before standing back and looking coldly at Sento.
"This is Takumi Katsuragi's research data."
Sento walked over to take a look.
Sento sat down and looked for less than three seconds before the back of his hair stood on end in excitement.
His eyes grew wider with every passing second while going through the files. They marked every spot along the wall where a breach of gas was visible from, among other characteristics of each section of Sky Wall.
This was exactly the breakthrough that he was looking for.
Gentoku looked down and observed the excited Sento, as he did, a small grin crept onto his face.
...
Back at Café Nascita.
Misora and Sawa Takigawa were busy catching up on events. There was a large spread of entries and pastries, as well as other delicious looking treats on the table in front of them, more doughy snacks were sitting on the counter as well.
They both enjoyed a large milkshake while they chatted and gossiped.
Sluuurp.
"Ah that's good...Urp... So Sento and Banjo did that huh..."
Sawa patted her chest after a long drink of the creamy beverage.
Misora paused with her straw just about to enter her mouth and replied, "Yeah, it's been like that non-lately, I hate how tense it is."
Sawa took a bite of the pasta in front of her and spoke with a mouth full, "Munch...Don't sweat it too much...munch munch... They'll make up soon enough."
Misora stirred her drink while looking down at the glass, "Hhhmm, it seemed kinda permanent this time to be honest." She took a large drink of the milkshake and shrugged her shoulders.
Sawa suddenly leaned forward and grinned, "Misora, do you have a boyfriend?"
"PPPPfffttt....What?!" Misora sprayed the mouthful of milkshake in surprise at the question.
She stared at Sawa, grabbed a bottle of hot sauce and started shaking it over top of the pizza in front of her like crazy.
"Of course not!"
Sawa started laughing, causing Misora to put even more hot sauce on her pizza; it was nearly covering the entire pie at this point. Sawa grinned slyly and asked another question.
"Soooo then are you interested in Sento or Ryuga...?"
"Obviously not!!!" Misora snapped back quickly and blushed. "Hey! What's with that question?!"
Misora stood up, still flushed and shook her finger at the giggling Sawa.
While doing so she accidently got a little bit of hot sauce on her face and squinted in pain, "Oww, Hot!"
She closed her eyes while Sawa reached for a few napkins. The door to the café opened and Sento walked through.
He walked up to the still blushing and squinting Misora, put his hands on her shoulders and spoke softly beside her ear, "...It's love..."
Sawa paused, napkins in hand with her eyes and mouth wide open. Misora forced her eyes open and looked at Sento, who was mere millimeters away from her face, causing her to start blushing even deeper.
"What!?"
Sento moved his head back from Misora's a little bit before looking her up and down, then shouting, "It's LOVE!"
He grinned and dropped his voice to a normal volume while shaking her softly, "I absolutely love that I found this opening!"
"Wh-what opening?!" Both of Misora's hands instinctively reached down to cover herself up, even though she was fully covered by her pajamas already.
"There's an opening in the Sky Wall...!" Sento let go of her shoulders and his face scrunched up, "...What were you thinking about? Get your mind out of the gutter, weirdo."
Sento's face returned to normal and he moved swiftly towards the secret lab entrance, disappearing from sight.
Misora fell to her knees, her face crimson at this point, "...Wait...y-you're the one with the love for openings...what?"
Sawa shook her head, "What did I just watch?!"