(Three months ago, about more than a week after the fall of Wall Aya - at the Minami household....)

KOTORI'S POV

"....k.......tori....kotori....Kotori are you alright?"

I heard a faint voice....I slowly opened my eyes to see who it was.

"Mom...?", I said when I saw my mom looking over me. My mom is Kimi Minami, currently the second-in-command of Love Live Corps.

I still felt a bit hazy, but I am now alright. I found myself at the bedroom with my mom sitting beside me. Everything looked fine.

"Your doctor is a very good one dear. If it hadn't been for her, you would still not be feeling well right now."

Mom reminded me of Doctor Noriko Yazawa, the lady who treated my illness for the past weeks. I remembered how painful my head was back then and how Mrs. Yazawa comforted me with her talk. If it weren't for her, I probably would have died by now.

Still, at the time I barely noticed her since all I could've done back then was rest and complaining about some parts in my body becoming painful. I did not notice her leaving, perhaps she left while I slept.

"Where did she go?", I asked my mom. I wanted to thank Mrs. Yazawa for treating my illness.

"She went back home. I never heard from her though ever since."

I kinda felt sad when I heard that. More so, I suddenly remembered something that gave me an uneasy vibe.

"What's wrong?", Mom said as she noticed me getting all depressed.

"Well....mom, besides wanting to thank her for saving my life, I wanted to ask her about something she did......"

"What did she do?"

I tried as hard as I could to remember something I noticed before.

"...mom...I feel like she is troubled...."

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

"Mom...I dunno if I heard or saw it all correctly but.....", I talked slowly, doing all I can to remember what happened.....

"...during the entire time she treated me, even though I was feeling too bad at the time due to my headaches and fever....I think I saw her act strange..."

"Strange?"

"...yes, mom...it's like.....I dunno....it's like she did not seem too happy when she tried to cure me...."

As I talked, my mom quietly listened to my details.

"....but most of all....I think I saw her shaking her hand when she was about to inject me with her medicine...."

"Shaking?"

"I think so....mom....it was like....ummm...she was shaking her hand and she looked really troubled...."

Clearly, my mom got curious. She felt the same way as I did - that something was up.

"...Kotori....what else do you know?"

"......ummm....uhhh.....", for a moment I thought nothing else would come up but I managed to force myself to mention one final detail.

"....I think....I think I heard her say "Why am I thinking of doing this?" or something along the lines of that."

There's silence after I stated that detail. I could tell my mom is probably interested to interrogate Mrs. Yazawa later on. I, on the other hand, did not give it much thought as young as I am.

"....mom....is that how doctors usually behave?"

"....I dunno, dear....I assume they are too, I am not a doctor myself so I have no idea about how one should behave....."

Eventually, I decided to tell mom how I feel:

"....mom....I would like to see her again...I wanna thank her for making my illness go away!!", I said which made my mom smile.

"Sure Kotori. If I ever find her, I will tell her to visit you so you can thank her, okay?"

"Yay!! Oh, by the way mom, why are you still wearing your uniform? Shouldn't you suppose to be outside Wall Aya by now, killing Alpacas?"

"....well, our Expedition failed so we had to come back to rest. I decided to take a break and spend time with you immediately without thinking of changing, afterwards I will go and visit Commander Hiroto Kousaka.", she replied in a depressing mood.

"Oh....so it failed....oh well, at least Love Live is still fighting on, right mom? I am sure you and the Corps will return to Wall Aya and - "

"We're not coming back there anymore, my daughter."

"Huh?"

Mom looked at me with sadness as she started to talk straightforwardly at me.

"Kotori....Wall Aya has fallen."

"Huh? What?", I got caught by surprise.

"Wall Aya....fell after two Alpacas known as the Colossal and Armored broke a hole through Akihabara. The entire land inside Wall Aya's vicinity is now lost to us."

"T-that's.....no way....", I started to feel despair and fear.

"By the way, your friend Umi has just lost her dad. Right now, she is probably still sobbing about it."

"Umi....that's....this is horrible....", I felt even more depressed as I tried to get in my head all the things she is saying.

"....right now, everyone here is living in a cage, begging for their lives. That cage is Wall Emi. Everyone here right now are desperate for life amidst starvation, poverty, cruelty - "

"Mom.....", I stopped mom from talking any further by holding her hand.

"Stop it.....don't tell me all these things.....show them to me!"

I looked at my mom and demanded her to take me out of this house.

"To think that I have been somewhat unconscious all this time....unaware that things have changed....mom, bring me outside! I wanna know what is going on!!"

"Sure....Kotori.....", mom said as she brought me outside.

------

(Present day. Still two days before Expedition One took off. In the middle of a forest....)

NICO'S POV

.....uhhh....I...I opened my eyes....

I opened my eyes to find myself in a dark place. I tried to look again, but I found myself not able to speak or move at all.

I felt that a towel is covering my mouth and that a lot of ropes tied me up. Even though it was dark, I felt like wood surrounded me...no...I think I am inside a box.

I don't know what is going on outside. I could hardly understand the voices beyond this box.

"Checkpoint, sir."

"Go ahead. Our carts are loaded with fruits and food, nothing else."

"I see."

I had no idea what is happening. I just thought that I have to save my siblings somehow. However, I did not know what to do, considering I have no idea where I actually am.

A long time passed until I suddenly found that the darkness above me disappeared. I slowly raised myself up to find myself inside a cart.

"Get up.", said a man in front of me. From hereon I realised that I found myself inside the cart of the two thugs, hidden inside a box. I don't see my siblings anywhere. The man grabbed me and took me out of the cart.

I jumped outside to find that I am in a forest. Another cart was in front of me - I saw my siblings coming out whilst another man guarded them.

"Cocoro!! Cocoa!! Cotaro!!", I shouted as I proceeded to come to them but another man aimed his musket at me and said:

"Girl, if you try to move, you'll be dead before you know it."

I am surprised when I saw the man - he is the one who was injured from back then. His name is Jason.

"No....you...you're part of all this?!!!"

"Sorry, I don't want to do this just as much as you do. Nor do these two companions of mine. My son already died because of illness, this is our only choice left for us to survive - "

"THIS IS WRONG!! THIS IS NOT THE WAY YOU SURVIVE YOU DIRTY OLD - "

I lost consciousness when the man guarding my back hit me in the head with the butt of his musket.

"Hey!! You might kill her if you keep hitting her - ", Jason replied.

"It is this girl's fault!! She talks too much without seeing sense!!"

I lost consciousness again.

COTARO'S POV

I remained calm even though I just saw my big sister get knocked out and fell into the ground. My two other sisters got scared as the three men gathered us up. The Jason dude carried big sister Nico over his shoulder.

All of us stayed quiet and listened to the men without question. Our hands are tied tightly whilst our legs are left free to allow us to walk. At this point, it is too risky to attempt an escape.

All of us are brought to a small open area amidst trees to build a camp. It looks like the thugs wanted to rest here, certain that no one would spot or hear them. The first thug burnt wood in order to make a bonfire. Soon, they brought out one box of food from their cart which contained meat. They started to cook it.

I looked over at my older siblings. Besides me, Cocoa and Cocoro remained silent yet curious of what these three men would do. Afterwards, I looked at my helpless big sister Nico - tied up to a tree unconscious.

"Here, eat this."

"Sir, where did you get this meat from?", I asked curiously.

"Let's see....the first cart we have contained food which we harvested and bought. The second cart contained food we stole from a village earlier. This meat belongs to the second cart."

"Sir....I refuse to eat stolen meat..."

"So you refuse to live, then? Boy, if you don't eat, you die. Same with us, if we don't steal, we die."

"Okey.....", I reply as I reluctantly eat the piece of meat.

For many minutes we spent the night eating. None of the thugs tried to sleep - all of them stayed awake to guard us. As for us, we tried to stay awake, but Cocoa and Cocoro ended up sleeping. I dunno why I managed to keep my eyes opened.

Big sister is still tied up to a tree unconscious. I looked around to find that there is no way to escape here.

"Guys, let's wait for tomorrow, then we should start leaving."

"Roger."

I wondered why they would try so hard to do this to survive. Then I thought if asking them questions would help me find a way out of here.

"Ummm.....guys....can I request something?"

"What, kid?!"

"I would.....I would like to know how valuable we are to you."

"Huh? Value? As in, you are asking us why we kidnapped you?"

"Yes!"

The men are caught off guard but nevertheless the first thug spoke first.

"Never thought you are actually smart enough to ask that. I guess having a soldier and a doctor as parents makes you smart, huh. Basically, we want to sell you off via slave trade. You know what a slave trade is, right?"

"Yeah.....my dad has told me about it one time ago."

Dad mentioned once before about slave trade when he told us a story where he once had a conversation with a UTX Policeman who investigated such a case. Slavery is a legal business in this world according to him. It works the same way as any other business but the products sold are actual people.

"Then you should know how valuable slaves are. You four are gonna be slaves, servants for other people, it is somewhat similar to adoption into a new family basically."

"Wait......are we really that important?"

"Huh? Well of course you are......no....not all of you actually."

"What do you mean?"

"Listen, kid. Specifically, your three sisters are more valuable than you are. They're girls, perfect for prostitution - and I don't plan on telling you what kind of job that is. Unlike you, however, you won't sell for that kind of job."

"Why did you guys bring me in then?"

"One, we don't want any witnesses running away to tell anybody what we did. Two, you should be thanking Jason, here. He wanted to bring you because he wanted a new son."

"Me? As....a son?"

"You go ask him. We are against his idea but as his friend we decided to agree nonetheless and do him a favor."

It gave me pause, the thought of a kidnapper actually wanting to do that to me. When I gave Mr. Jason a glare, he just looked away.

"Whatever, get to sleep kid. We won't ask anymore questions. If you think you can get away or find an escape route, you won't."

The second thug spoke and added another statement.

"We did not choose this spot to hide if we did not know the terrain and cliffs around here."

After that long talk, the two men decided to sleep. The third thug, Jason, watched over us. I looked around me if escape was possible. It wasn't - Mr. Jason will immediately either shoot us or wake his companions up if anyone of us tried anything funny. Besides them, I am not familiar with the forest around here so gambling a way out is not the best thing to do.

I first went to him and asked something. The distance between the tree and where the thugs and my sisters are sleeping at is a bit further enough to allow some conversation which will not wake up the thugs so long as it isn't too noisy.

"Sir, why is big sister tied to a tree?"

"My partners find her annoying. She talks too much and she struggles a lot. I won't let you free her though if you try."

I had an idea. I decided to walk closer towards him (my hands still tied). He is a bit surprised about it.

"Sir.....could you set my big sister Nico free?", I asked him straight to the point.

"What?!", he said sarcastically, surprised and confused with that statement I gave.

"Listen. I am willing to join you guys if you want us to be your slaves or something. I am willing to convince Cocoa and Cocoro to be with you guys....but please, let big sister Nico go at least."

"You crazy? I cannot do that. Also, your reason is not convincing enough to - "

"I am not done talking yet!!", I interrupted.

"Listen! My big sister Nico is stubborn, someone who refuses to give up! She will resist you guys no matter what. Even if it kills her, she is the type of person who will never listen to anyone if she chooses not too. I know her well! She will just be a liability to you - she might even get you guys caught!"

Jason looked obviously baffled by what is going on. He totally did not expect a kid like me would suddenly come up to him and negotiate.

"Boy.....give me one more reason why I should let her go. While your arguement makes sense, it still does not do the job of convincing me. We can handle stubborn kids just like her."

"She....she....", I struggled to think of something. This is my chance to help her get out! I kept thinking of something to motivate him to free my big sister. After struggling to think hard, I found one reason.

"My sister wants to be a Legionnaire!!"

It caught him off guard. I continued to explain further.

"That's right! She wants to kill every Alpaca!! Her dad keeps scolding her for it, but she gives no care about it! She wants to kill all Alpacas and free us!!"

"Kill....all alpacas?", the man tried to confirm if he heard it right.

"Yes!! If you make her a slave or prostitute, you will be taking away another opportunity for mankind to free us from these Walls! You will be taking away the one person who could maybe even help you and your friends live better, even just a bit!"

"Can she actually do that?"

"Big sister Nico can do anything!!"

Afterwards, it becomes silent all over us as Jason tried to grasp my idea. I could see in his face that he is interested in what I said. I could tell that even a thug like him cared about what is actually happening to mankind. He looked at the sky and the bright moon.

"Sir.....do you truly believe that mankind has no more hope of fighting back?", I questioned him further to make him hopefully think again over what I said. After remaining silent for a long time, he turned to look at me and say:

"You're a kid....kids don't lie, right?"

Then he looked at the horizon which is filled with the glimpse of a big world filled with forests and bluish skies and grass.

"And also....this world does not lie..."

He walked up to me and continued to speak.

"Nobody would actually say those things. Very few people talk about being Legionnaires to free mankind...."

He further added:

"Even more so, I have never seen a kid like you actually asking his kidnapper to reconsider a lot of things in life for one person's life...."

Mr. Jason looked like he seemed to agree with me. I am still uncertain if my negotiations worked on him at all.

"But.....there's one more thing....I need to know before I make a decision...."

He knelt down close to me and said:

"Why me? Why ask me?"

"Because....I believe that you are still a good person.", I replied with a smile. I looked at him in a way to let him know I trust him and I ain't lying.

"Even though you do bad things like this, no bad person would say he wants a kidnapped kid to be his son. That is what convinced me."

"Why not those two then?"

"Because I don't trust them. Unlike you, they are not nice enough to talk to."

He gave me a long look before he patted my head.

"Alright....I will let her go."

"Really?!", I replied just as I thought that I succeeded to my surprise.

"But, I make the rules, alright?"

"Rules?", I asked.

"Kid, I will let her go but I won't send her to a safe place, city, or any area where I will end up getting caught, either because someone will see us or Nico will run off and tell everyone where we are. I will bring her down this hill while her hands are tied. Afterwards, she will leave by herself."

I got nervous when he said that.

"But....if you do that, Nico might hurt herself or die - "

"And that is what I want to happen. If your claims are true that she will be a Legionnaire, then she needs to be strong then. If she fails to leave this forest, she is not fit for it. Simple."

"But...."

"Kid....you have two choices: let her go my way or not have your way of letting her go."

He's right. Jason has a point to be cautious enough to allow an offer like this. I wanted to disagree but I too am convinced that his way is logical - at least he won't hurt big sister.

"Kid, in both decisions you need to gamble. You can't survive or move on without gambling risks. You will get used to it once you grow up, but now at your age you must know what it's like."

All through the night, this man talked nicely to me. He never tried to be harsh at me. It felt unusually comforting.

I nodded at him to signal that I agree to his methods.

NICO'S POV

I lost consciousness again. I think I barely recalled being with my mom in a dream or something.

I felt something moving around my arm. Slowly, I woke up and opened my eyes to see a dark forest in front of me. As I am about to ask where I am.....

"Sister.....", Cotaro suddenly whispered to me.

"Cotaro!!?", my eyes widened.

"Ssssshhhh...(points at the two sleeping thugs)...sister.....we will get you out of here....."

"What do you mean by - "

I turned around to find the third thug in front of me.

"W-what the?!! What the hell? Why are you - "

"Girl, if you get too loud, you will blow your one chance of escaping."

"Huh?", I replied when Cotaro walked up to me and explained what is going on, whilst the old man untied me off this tree and tied another rope all over my two hands.

Cotaro told me the deal he made with Mr. Jason. In exchange for my freedom, he and Cocoa and Cocoro will stay with the thugs. He narrated how he managed to convince Jason to listen to him.

As much as I wanted to say how surprised and happy I am to find out how smart my little brother is, I am quickly filled with denial and frustration. I am not leaving!! Why should I abandon my siblings?!! I am not gonna go without them!! That is what I thought!!

I talked back while keeping my voice low enough. I faced them with a bad face.

"No way!! Cotaro, I ain't gonna go without all three of you!!"

"Sister!"

"Help me quick!! Help me beat this man up - "

"I warn you girl. If you try to attack me and take your siblings away, I will wake my partners up - then kill you all."

"Try it!!"

Jason suddenly aimed the barrel of his musket behind Cotaro's head.

"Look, don't force the impossible. I will kill your brother if you continue to sprout nonsense."

"Sis!! Please, don't force him to do more terrible things! Just go as I promised!"

"No!!"

"Big sis, please!! I want mom and dad to see you again!!"

"NO WAY!! Not without all three of you!!"

"Listen to him kid. The more you talk, the more likely my boys will wake up from all the whispers you are making."

"Fine!! Kill us then - "

"BIG SISTER IF YOU DON'T GO, MANKIND WILL FALL!!"

I stood paralyzed when he said that to me.

"You told us, right? You told us you will be a Legionnaire and kill them all, right?"

I cannot believe he is smart enough to use my dream as a means to allow me to live and be free.

"You cannot do that whilst you are with us!"

Cotaro is beating me at our arguement. Darn it, I cannot deny how logical he is right now!

"Please sis! It is not just me who wants you free! Mr. Jason here also wants to let you go under the condition that you will become a soldier just as I said you would!"

"Kid has a point. Your little brother convinced me to let you go when he said you wanted to be a Legionnaire. I am letting you go because you owe me and my friends to fight those monsters and give us a safer life."

He lowered his musket down and said one more statement with a calmer voice:

"Be lucky that one of your kidnappers knows how to reason and negotiate."

"Nico.....just go.....please...", Cotaro begged as he hugged me.

I looked around one more time and realised there is no safe way to get out of here in the way I want. I reluctantly nodded whilst my eyes closed and tears fell out.

"Let me....let me hug Cotaro a bit longer..."

"I will let you say your farewells. I can't let you do the same for sisters over there. It might wake up my two partners."

"Cotaro...you have no idea how proud I am of you! I never thought you'd find a way out of this! Promise.....promise me that you will stand up for your sisters and protect them with your life!!"

"Sure sis!! Promise me then that you will free mankind from the Alpacas!"

I gave him one more hug before I stepped back and reluctantly went with Mr. Jason. I wiped my tears away to try and conceal my weakness from him.

"Wait....here, write your final words for your two other sisters.", Jason suddenly took out a pen and paper from his pocket and gave it to me. I am surprised.

"Why would you be so nice to me?"

"Because you and your siblings all reminded me of my son."

I did what he offered me to do. I wrote down all I wanted my sisters to know. To Cocoa, I wanted her to be strong and aware of the world. To Cocoro, I wanted her to protect her two younger siblings, be their parent, and remember all the advices that our parents taught us. The last words I wrote are: "....if you ever feel sad or depressed beyond your control, remember to do a Nico Nico Nii to relieve your stress. Take care and I love you forever."

Finally, the man took me in and brought me down the cliffs of this hill as I waved my final goodbye to Cotaro. It took a while but we managed to get down safely.

Once we are down at a safe ground, he pushed me away while aiming his musket at me.

"Now go, kid. Try to come back and I will shoot you. Don't think you can mess with me."

With my arms tied, I knew it was obvious. I turned back and started walking away. I tried to focus my thoughts on surviving first before even thinking about attempting a rescue.

My past experiences hunting with dad allowed me to travel through this forest safely. I looked all over to find that indeed there is no way I could have ran away with them in a forest like this.

The further I ran, the more I started to cry. I felt the pain of leaving my siblings behind, but I reminded myself that this is what Cotaro wanted. I had to fulfill it for him. I also reminded myself that I have to face the reality that this small body of mine cannot rescue my siblings no matter how much I think otherwise. My hands are tied - I could hardly do anything.

Finally, after hours of finding a path of this forest, I escaped...all by myself. I failed to bring any of them with me. I ran away with tears flowing down my face like a waterfall.

-----

A/N: I actually changed how this chapter was originally gonna turn out after a dream I had last night. I felt this version is better than my original draft. What do you think?

I am racing to finish this soon. Prepare for the coming final chapters. See ya!