Ally

Nobu's ornamental tachi, held by Sophie in the present, remained polished and free of stains in her palms. Sophie, Ryo, and Naoto sat together in her home with the AIL version of Ash serving them matcha-flavored tea. An hour had passed after they had reunited, and Ryo calmly listened to Sophie's story from beginning to end while Naoto accessed one of Sophie's AIL main computers located in her household to search for Sumire's location. He had also been listening to the truth, and now he understood why he was ignored at such a young age. He held in his thoughts, for they were not significant at the present moment.

"So now you understand what happened," Sophie softly said, placing the knife on her coffee table. "When I saw you, Ryo-kun, I couldn't imagine how much pain you were in. But you have to know that her disappearance was my fault. I pushed her away when times were grim, and she was taken by those people affiliated with Sezan."

Ryo admired Sophie's tenacity and bravery for speaking the truth and recapping history that he yearned for. The information regarding Ash's whereabouts and Sophie's past was helpful in allowing him to recuperate from his losses. Believing Sophie to be one of the most honest people he had ever interacted with within his life, he quickly trusted her for the future if they were to collaborate together.

Naoto on the other hand still blamed himself for not being able to protect or support Sophie during her silent period. Now, all he cared about was what he could do for her and Sumire. As he continued searching through the AIL files, he dreamed of nothing but to be productive in his sister's future efforts.

"I'm truly, truly pathetic…" Sophie continued.

"Hey, that's enough," Ryo interrupted. "There's no need to keep blaming yourself for this. What's done is done. To be honest, it's both of our faults."

Sophie grunted, looking down at her palms in distress. "I know! But if only I knew exactly who that suited freak was. Damn him. He played me for a fool and I swore to myself that I'd make him pay. Him and Shibusawa… they'll all pay for what they did to Meguro-san."

"I wonder too," Ryo thought. No one he knew seemed to match the description of whoever Sophie had described. He still pondered about Sezan's role in Ash's kidnapping. Sophie's history with Ash made it clear that she had indescribable powers; Ryo remembered the first time he had seen it with his own eyes. When he tossed her lunch box at her face when he was a child in middle school, Ash was able to catch it without exerting much effort. "Whether she's alive or not, I believe there's a link between her disappearance, the Yakuza, and possibly Lucia."

"Lucia?" Sophie asked. "Who's that?"

"She's one of the main threats on our target list right now," Ryo explained. "My sister knew more about her than I did. But right now, she's in possession of a weapon that'll hurt all of Aries. She's waiting for the perfect time to unleash it. Once Genesis makes her upset, she's going to use it and send them all to her home planet."

"I see…" Sophie said. "Sounds like we all have something on our plates."

AIL Ash moved towards Ryo to collect his teacup. The thought of having a fake version of his childhood memory still roaming around the vicinity still made him uneasy. He turned to observe Naoto from his seat to see if the information he was going through was useful enough to locate Sumire. But just as he did, Naoto shut off Sophie's computer, sighing as he stood up from his seat.

"Nothing," He said with a dull expression. "Damn it."

Ryo stood up from his seat. "You couldn't find Sumire?" He asked.

"No," Naoto said, approaching the two of them. "She's not on the records. Her incident was too recent. Whether or not she's dead, it'll at least take a couple of weeks to find out."

"No…" Sophie said, clasping her hands together. She placed her hand on Ryo's shoulder, who remained still after processing the terrible news. "Ryo-kun, I'm sorry. If there's something I can do, I…" Sophie remained silent for a few seconds before bursting with energy. "You know what… fuck it. Please, let me in on this!"

Ryo and Naoto both escaped their grief for Sumire after Sophie woke them up with her rallying declaration.

"I don't know if I'll be any use to any of you right now, but at least let me try!" Sophie firmly stated, standing her ground. "I've been in the dark for too long. I want to be useful for once! I want to solve this case and find Meguro-san! I want to help!"

"Sophie, wait," Naoto warned. "We're fighting more than the Yakuza. There are more people out there. Mercenaries, assassins, and soldiers. You don't know what kind of weapons they have. They've got these suits that enhance their strength and speed. It makes our enemies nearly impossible to defeat."

Ryo smirked at Naoto, uplifted from Sophie's participation. "We've got them too, you know." He added.

Naoto glared at Ryo with contempt. "Damn it, Ryo! You weren't supposed to tell her that!"

"Then give me one of those suits," Sophie continued. "Because I'm done standing around. Ryo-kun, please!"

Ryo stood by Sophie's side and waited for Naoto's answer. It appeared as if Ryo had already known his answer based on his grimacing facial expression and crossed arms. Naoto was the only one left debating on the topic. "I think she would be perfect for Sunlight." He suggested.

"O-oh…" Sophie blushed in embarrassment. "I think I do look pretty in the sun too."

"Not that, damn it!" Naoto shoved Sophie aside and snatched Ryo's arm without worrying about the possibility of germs. Now that they were close friends, Naoto disregarded it all. "Are you crazy? This is supposed to be my time to reconcile with her. Now you're suggesting she joins us? Did you have a crush on her when you were a kid or something back in middle school?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Ryo asked, believing Naoto to be inconsiderably difficult. "With her help, we could find Sumire. She knows Japan better than all of us do. She has information about the Yakuza and the people that took Ash. Maybe she could find links between all of this and the orange crystal that we have back in headquarters. She's a perfect asset for us right now, and you two can reconcile with each other now that you know the truth."

"I can hear both of you, you know!" Sophie raised her voice to the maximum. "And I can fight! Did you forget that? I can fight!"

"Yeah, we heard you," Naoto sarcastically stated and looked back at Ryo. "Fine, damn it. But if Natia or Rose Accel gets into a fight with them, don't say I didn't warn you. Sophie won't take much of Natia's temper."

"Neither will I…" Ryo said, sighing. The both of them returned back to Sophie, who was impatiently waiting.

"So?" Sophie asked. "Am I in or am I not?"

"Okay," Naoto said. "You're in, but we need to hold a meeting at our headquarters so everyone knows about you."

"Have you ever been to Aries, Sophie?" Ryo asked.

"No, never…" Sophie placed her finger on her chin. "Now that you mention it, I've never really thought about going there. Why? Don't tell me your place is held there. What about…" Sophie paused, looking at the AIL version of Ash doing the household chores in the vicinity. Sophie's eyes drooped down in worry, knowing she needed to make a tough decision. "I have to… I have to do something first."

Ryo and Naoto watched Sophie approach the AIL version of Ash with a firm stare.

"Ash," Sophie called. "Deactivate.

"Vocal recognition detected," AIL Ash's machine-like qualities came alight after Sophie commanded orders. "Deactivation requested. Are you sure you would like to deactivate this AIL replication?"

Sophie looked back at Ryo and Naoto for confirmation. With a solid nod, Sophie turned back to Ash and pressed her hand on the replication's cheek. "I'm coming to get you, Meguro-san," She whispered to herself. "No replication is going to replace you. I'll bring you back home… I promise," She finished, lifting her head to face the replication. "Yes. Deactivate."

"Deactivating replication," AIL Ash's eyes began to clamp shut. "Thank you for choosing AIL! We hope you will use our products very soon. Goodbye." A holographic panel located on AIL Ash's chest area activated, revealing a sensor system that located the nearest AIL station to be stored and massacred for recyclable scrap. AIL Ash's feet began to wheel themselves through Sophie's house and out the front door. Sophie clamped her mouth shut and attempted to control her shame for replacing Ash. However, she knew it had to be done to move on.

"It's okay," Ryo said, supporting her decision. "You made the right call."

"I know…" Sophie replied, looking at Naoto in the distance. "But I know it's for the best."

Ryo continued to admire Sophie's tight decision-making and how she handled complex situations.

"Before we head to Aries, there's somewhere I want to visit in Sapporo," Sophie explained to the two. "There might be someone who knows a little bit about the Yakuza and what they might be up to. There used to be someone that was really close to Shibusawa who co-ran a club with his father years ago. It's always been a hub for important information and it's been known to be very friendly-like. I say we head there and see if we can learn more about the Yakuza and see if they link to the other people you were talking about."

"Sapporo…" Ryo thought about the location. As the capital of Hokkaido and the largest city there, Ryo knew that it would be an exceptionally crowded area. Known for their famous beer museum and presence of beer, Ryo was unsure whether or not this specific bar was still friendly with its implementation of new lifestyle technology. He hadn't heard of the capital's status ever since he was still in high school, and anything could have changed at that moment. "All right. We'll follow your lead." He confirmed.

"Good," Sophie said, heading towards her bedroom to dress. "His name was Mr. Miura. He used to take care of Naoto and me when we were young, but Naoto probably doesn't remember because he was a little baby. Ryo-kun, you can wait outside. I need to talk to Naoto for a little bit."

"All right," Ryo said, nodding at Naoto. "See you two soon." He opened the front entrance and closed the door on the way out.

Naoto was immediately greeted with Sophie pouncing and embracing him warmly. Sophie stroked Naoto's neck and began to cry in the euphoria of their reunion. "I know you have a lot to say, Naoto," Sophie whispered. "I know you do. But please, let me make this up to you. I've spent a lot of time away from home, and now that you and Ryo-kun have teamed up, I want to be a sister to you. Because I miss you," After ogling at her brother with gleaming puppy eyes, Sophie wanted the truth from him. "Do you hate me?"

"I could never hate you," Naoto admitted. "You're my sister. But what you did will take time for me to forgive. You were one of my biggest role models when we were children. Now that we know what our goals are, I want to change everything for us. That's what I've always wanted to do."

Sophie sniffled. "I don't hate you either. I never thought you were useless. I just… I just wanted to find the truth alone. But I was wrong to do that."

Naoto chuckled. "Mother and father would be proud of you. Once this is all over, let's go see them again, okay? They're waiting for you."

Sophie smiled in understanding. "Okay," She finalized. "All right. Good talk. Wait for me outside, okay?"

"Okay," Naoto said, standing near the entrance of the door. Naoto was pleased with his increase of mental strength and perseverance to stand up to his sister, ending with a positive result. He imagined Jinni and Sumire appreciating his efforts, along with Ryo by his side. Naoto was reinvigorated with the return of Sophie and knew she was the best for Sunlight's future. "I love you, Sophie." He said before Sophie entered her dressing room.

Sophie turned to Naoto and sensed her warming heart returning amongst the uncertainty and misery. Her heart was revived as well. She had a brother again. "Oh, don't say that to me right now. You're gonna make me cry." She said, entering her dressing room.

Minutes later, Sophie exited her dressing room wearing a petite brown leather jacket with an inner white mesh short-sleeved shirt. With a black skirt with one of Ash's cardinal flowered pins she received as a gift attached to it, Sophie grabbed Nobu Shibusawa's ornamental tachi from the coffee table and placed it in a porcelain-themed sheath she purchased long ago. She clenched her fists and stood in front of her house's door with her keys in hand.

"I'm coming, Meguro-san," She prayed, placing her hands on a nearby picture frame near the entrance of the door. "I'll protect you just like I have always been doing. I promise."

Sophie exited the door and reunited with Ryo and Naoto waiting for her. The light from the glass windows inside her home reflected upon the picture frame, revealing the picture of Sophie and Ash at the amusement park restored after Sophie had smashed it previously.