Precure Academy: Stardust Story Episode 20 Part 1

Precure Academy: Stardust' Story

Episode 20: The Green Flower Of Freedom! Cure Nature's Offer!

The throne room of the Twilight Citadel was always seen as
one of the most dark and foreboding places in the entire
fortress. Unless you had business, you would be smart to
avoid it like the plague.

However, recent events were after causing the uneasy
atmosphere it emitted to reach new levels. Dark Phoenix
found himself especially frustrated.

Oh, he put on a brave front before his lieutenants but
you didn't need to look hard to tell how on edge he really
was.

Phoenix was use to failure, to seeing carefully laid-out
plans fall to pieces because of one small slip-up...but
the loss suffered at the Fire Spirit's Shrine left
him particularly frustrated, especially considering
the plan used was full-proof.

He needed to talk to the others but right now, he needed
to focus on present matters,"Andros....you better have a
good reason for being in here."

The machine general kneeled at the steps leading up to
the thrones, head bowed,"My lords, forgive the intrusion
but I come to you today with a proposal."

"A proposal?" The White Witch quizzed, inspecting her
nails, only being half-attentive,"What kind?"

Andros took a deep breath and prepared himself,"We are
all aware that the Precure use the human values of friendship
and comraderie as the source of their power,correct?"

"We know that, yes," Phoenix acknowledged with a nod.

"What if I told you there was a way to turn that same power
they regard so highly back on them?"

"If you're talking about brainwashing them, don't bother,"
Dark grunted out,"Cardinal already tried that and it failed
miserably."

But Andros was about to surprise him,"With all due respect,
Lord Phoenix, I'm not talking about controlling them..at least,
not directly," This piqued the interest of his superiors since
he now got their attention.

"Explain yourself, Andros, and for your sake, pray what you
say is to our liking." Chronos remarked.

The general looked up to them,"I will. As we are well-aware,
the Legendary Warriors have always fueled their power with
human emotion..but there is a darker side to the human heart,
the side filled with rage, sorrow, pride..."

"My plan involves taking advantage of those repressed feelings.
I already have a device that can do this, once implanted, it will
magnify those negative emotions to dangerous levels and once they
reach their peak.."

"It'll turn whoever's infected into a berserk monster.." The
witch smiled evilly,"I must say, this plan has potential.."

"Especially considering how poorly most humans can control or
manage their emotions." Chronos added with a hint of approval.

Dark Phoenix nodded along to what was being said,"For once,
you've actually put some real thought into your plans, Andros,"
He needed to be sure of something though,"But are you positive
that this plan of yours will work? Your track record has been
less than...respectable."

Andros did his best not to show his displeasure, speaking in
an even tone,"I've run the tests, my lord. It will work, I
guarantee it."

The two locked eyes for several seconds, one not giving the
other an inch..until Phoenix backed down,"Very well...do as
you wish."

"But we expect results this time, Andros," The lord of Twilight
warned,"The Precure's power grows with each passing day and we
must not allow this to continue...Do not disappoint."

The machine man stood before giving a bow,"As you command, my
master." He vanished in a pile of data digits.

With him gone, Phoenix let out a sigh before bringing up a
screen showing the results of the battle at the Fire Shrine,
"I've gone over this a dozen times, and I still can't see what
went wrong..."

"One moment we're about to finally win, the next, that dragon
girl goes and ruins everything!" He slammed a fist down on the
arm chair before relaxing his shoulders.

"She does hold a considerable amount of power though.." The
witch wondered aloud,"What kingdom does she swear loyalty to?"

Chronos spoke up for her,"The Land of Spirits..but since I've done
away with that place, it's better to say she swears loyalty to no
kingdom..."

"No loyalties,huh?" The woman in white stroked her chin,"Hmm...how
interesting..." She would make note of that fact.

"If things keep going the way they are," Phoenix stood up from
his chair,"I may have no other option..but to get involved personally.."

"All good things come to those who wait, my dear Phoenix," The
witch said in a comforting tone,"Relax..and our chance to strike back
at those wretched Precure will come.."

Dark Phoenix fumed but couldn't say no, only thinking to
himself about Cardinal. He'd sent him out on a mission to
acquire anything they could use as a weapon...something to
tip the odds in their favor..

He hoped to hear from him soon...

--------------------------------

Another day, another practice simulation in the battle
room for the dragon boy. Today's session took place in
an park-like setting, bordered by rows of trees.

Stardust streaked through the evening sky with the
use of her dragon wings. She glanced back to see the
Spotlight Zakenna hot on her heels.

"Zakenna!" Rows of missiles popped out from its chest
and launched forth in a heavy barrage. The girl flew
on ahead while the stream exploded against the ground
behind her.

She than pulled a 180 turn and flew back toward her
enemy who floated in the air, releasing another salvo
of missiles. Not showing any fear, she angled herself
side to side, narrowly evading the attacks.

Thrusting out her hands, she summoned up the shield
and used it as a battering ram to crash into the
Zakenna with great force, knocking the wind out of
it and sending the thing falling to earth.

Stardust streaked down after it only for her foe to
right itself at the last moment and fly off. Gnarling
her teeth, she gave herself a boost and jetted after
it.

The pair flew about like two fighter jets performing
a aerial acrobatics show. The Zakenna flew up behind
her and readied to launch its main weapon again.

"Not falling for that twice!" Its target cried back.
At the moment it fired, she turned and flapped her
wings, launching a rain of fiery darts out. The two
sides collided, creating a giant cloud of smoke.

The monster came to a stop and looked around for
its prey, the smoke creating a veil that was hard to
see through.

"Up here!" It turned its head but was already too late
as Ryu came down on the Zakenna's back with an aerial
stomp using both feet. Charged with a bit of energy, the
attack launched her foe straight from the sky and into
the ground hard.

Stardust floated there, watching for any signs of life.
Sure enough, its eyes burst to life with a crimson glow,
dispersing the cloud of smoke with one mighty roar.

It was time to end this. The two flew toward each other
one last time. Whoever fired first would be the victor.

"Precure Stardust Meteor!" Her body literally exploding
with flames, she streaked toward her enemy with a drill
kick, smashing a giant hole through it and skidding to a
stop on the ground.

"And that's a wrap." She snapped her fingers and the
monster exploded, ending the simulation.

As the room reverted back to normal, Stardust brushed
herself off as Mana and Aya entered the room,"Hey guys,
how you think we did?"

The blond glomped him while laughing,"Do you need to
ask? Super, like always."

"Same here," Mana complimented, making him blush,"Though
I do wonder if you really need this extra practice."

"I appreciate your concern," Ryu admitted, rubbing her
head, earning a purr in return,"But me and Tia just want
to make sure we're ready for whatever comes next. Our new
level of power has been a big help so far but I got no
doubt that our enemies will up the stakes to counter it."

"Kinda reminds me of when me and Kazuko first got our
sword and bow. Crow and her gang freaked." Aya giggled at the
memory.

Tia poofed out and landed on her partner's shoulder,"We
need to be careful-ia. There's loads of shards left out
there, and we got two more Elementals to defeat, plus
Gaia's up to something. We still have a long way to go-ia."

Ryu changed back to normal and stretched,"Well..I think
that's enough for now. Let's head to the cafeteria for a
bite to eat, shall we?"

"Yeah!" Both girls exclaimed as they followed him out
the door.

------------------------

Watching from the observation room, Kazuko observed
her friends leaving and nodded in approval. She than
spoke aloud without turning her back,"So, what do you
think of him?"

Leaning in the doorway was a girl dressed in the academy's
uniform for women. She was tall with a slim, athletic
appearance and her hair was black with shades of green and
in a tomboy style with a part done up in a high ponytail and
bangs framing her face. Her eyes were emerald green too.

She walked up beside the other girl,"He's good, very good
infact. A little rough around the edges and could use some
work on conserving magic but not really too much to complain
about."

Kazuko turned to face her,"I'm still not entirely sure about
this. I mean, don't you think it's a bit too soon?"

The mystery girl chuckled and pat her on the shoulder,"You
worry too much,Kazuko. Trust me, I wouldn't be doing this unless I
knew that kid was ready."

"I just..don't want us to put more pressure on him than
necessary," Kazuko replied hesitantly,"He's got enough to
deal with as it is."

"All the more reason to do it than," The other girl turned
to go,"Rest assured, In the long run, I think this will benefit
all of us," She glanced back and winked,"So kick back and
enjoy the show,ok? I'll see you later." With that, she was
gone.

The room's remaining occupant took one last look back into
the viewing glass than strolled on out.

------------------------

Ryu was sitting with the girls at a table in
the cafeteria, enjoying an idle chat,"So, what you
guys feel like doing this afternoon?"

"Shopping!" Both Aya and Verity shouted together,
before realizing what happened,"Jinx! You owe me
a soda!" They laughed together with the dragon boy.

Seira smiled before frowning and turning to Ryu,"I'm
sorry you weren't able to recover that other crystal,
Ryu."

The black-haired lad only shrugged,"Meh, it's not that
big a deal. We still got one with us, and there's
two more out there. Besides," He gave Verity's hair a
playful rub,"What's more important is what little missy
here went and did."

"H-Hey!" She shoved his hand away, trying not to look
embarassed,"It's...not really that big a deal.."

"But it is!" Seira insisted,"You finally got Mel and
Sadia to accept you onto their team. That's a big accomplishment
so be proud of yourself."

The brown-haired girl sank low into her chair, the
praise causing her to flush,"I..I am...I'm really glad,
even though I..but I..oh.." She needed a way to change
the subject,"Oh! Ryu, have you got your own team yet?"

That question hit him like a wrecking ball, he balanced
his chin on one hand before speaking,"Not yet..."

This seemed to dampen the mood slightly as everyone's
faces went down,"I guess that's to be expected...seeing as
there's not many dragon-themed Cures in this school...or ones
based on mythical creatures," Aya acknowledged before brightening
up,"But cheer up! I'm sure you'll find your own someday."

"Until than, you got us!" Verity glomped him, grinning,"Hehe..come
on, hug back, Mr Not Touchy Feely."

"If you say so.." Ryu replied, not sounding entirely
convinced before hugging her back,"On a lighter note, what
you guys think we should get for-"

"Yo Ryu!" He was interrupted by the arrival of Flopi who
was carrying a wrapped parcel and letter in her arms. She set it down on
the table,"Seems a certain somebody is finally taking notice
of you." She wore an amused smirk.

Wondering what was going on,Ryu needed to ask,"Where did you
find this?"

Flopi didn't lose her smirk though she did furrow her
eyebrows,"A girl came by when I was reading out by the
trees and left this for you. She said it's very important
that you read it."

That almost immediately rose his suspicions, even moreso
when he caught both her and Aya sharing a secret look. Cautiously,
he took the envelope and opened the seal.

"No pretty sparkles this time.." Tia murmured, feeling
slightly dismayed.

Ryu snorted, humoured, before pulling out a sheet of
paper with writing on it. He began reading what it said:

"Dear Ryu Maxwell,

Hello, how are you? I hope your time here is going
well. Now, before you ask any questions, you may not
have heard of me...but I, or rather WE, have heard plenty
about you and your accomplishments.

Who are we, you maybe asking? Oh, I could tell you but
where's the fun in that? All you need to know for now is we're
a group dedicated to keeping the school safe. I even admit to have
taken a personal interest in you.

I'd like to meet with you in person if that's possible,
considering you must be a busy man. If you wish to meet with
me, I'll be in the field out back between 1 and 2 PM this
afternoon. Look for the obnoxious green flying furball.

If you are not interested, no harm done. Simply enjoy this little
token of our appreciation and we need not speak of this again. I
won't pressure you into something you don't want.

As for my interest in you? Let's just say...I have an eye for talent.

Hope to hear from you soon! Sincerely, Rona Kazashimo, Cure Nature."

"Cure Nature?!" Seira exclaimed, snatching the paper from him and
studying it over diligently,"W-What could she want with Ryu?!"

"Took the words right out of my mouth," Ryu said with a nod as
he went to unwrap the parcel that came with it...only to see it
already open, revealing an empty bento box,"Oh, come on...Aya!"

Said blondie was licking her fingers clean wearing a face of
pure innocence,"...What?"

Kazuko could only shake her head in dismay of her partner's
antics than noticed the uneasy expression on dragon boy's face,
"What's the matter, Ryu? You look like you got something on your
mind?"

"That obvious,huh?" Ryu retorted before staring off into space
for a moment and sighing,"...I guess I'm thinking of how ironic
this all is."

"Ironic? How so?" The black-haired girl asked.

He explained,"One word: Popularity. As you already know, I wasn't
exactly the most well-liked guy back in my old school, and I didn't
do the things I've done to become some celebrity..."

"Ryu did them because he wanted to, and he's super nice-ia!"
Tia cheered as she cuddled him, making him smile a little.

"I suppose it is quite surprising," Aya nodded as she wiped
her face with a forearm,"But if you ask me, you really should
take more pride in what you've accomplished."

"And don't you go putting yourself down again either, I won't
stand for it." Verity added, shaking her head.

"I'll try not to," He replied while nodding again,"I only got
one question though...who exactly is this Cure Nature?"

"Only one of the popular Cures in the whole academy!" Verity
squealed with delight while looking skyward with stars in her
eyes,"Oh Cure Nature..."

Ryu leaned over to Flopi and whispered,"Is she..going to be ok?"

She nodded,"Don't worry, she gets like this anytime Cure Nature,
or someone like her, gets brought up...she'll snap out of it in
a little while.."

"But yeah, Nature is considered a very strong and highly skilled
Precure, she's both the leader of her own team AND their most
formidable member. It pretty much justifies her status as an
Elite Cure."

"Wait, Elite Cure? What the heck is that?" Ryu asked, surprised to
have never heard of this despite his time at the school.

Flopi opened her mouth to answer...but than closed it,"It's kinda
hard to say...what I can tell you is that being labelled as one is
like a special badge of honor...a symbol of your potential. That's
the best way to describe it right now."

"I would suggest you go see her. When she of all people asks for
a personal meeting, it's usually worthwhile to comply." Aya advised
with a nod.

"Why do I get the feeling you say that from experience?" The dragon
boy quizzed.

Aya only chuckled nervously and averted her gaze,"Hehe...well, she
is quite popular around the school...so yeah.."

Ryu wasn't buying it,"You're a horrible liar, you know that, Aya?
You speak from experience, don't ya?"

"Umm...err.." Aya than stood up and pointed out the window,"Look!
It's Cure Moonlight! I'm going to get her autograph!" Before anyone
could say anything, she ran off.

The gang sat there for a moment, until Ryu quipped,"Ok, it's obvious
I'm not getting anything out of her...guess I gotta go talk to this
girl after all,huh?" He figured he wasn't getting anything out of the
others for now.

"You go do that," Flopi nodded,"And you should probaubly get moving...word
travels fast around here. Don't worry about class, we'll cover for you."

Ryu hesitantly got up, looked around at his friends one more time,"..You
must have a good reason for wanting me to go see her..so I'll trust your
judgement." He bidded them good-bye and headed out.

He passed by Kazuko who walked over to where the others sat,"Hey..I'm
guessing he's on his way to see her?" They all nodded,"I see...guess the
only thing to do now is wait.."

"And hope, Kazuko-san." Verity added.

"Yup." Kazuko nodded in return.

"...And pray...did we also say hope?" At this, everybody present
groaned...

-----------------------------

Ryu walked through the halls with Tia floating beside him. What
could this "Cure Nature" possibly want with him? Her letter sounded
friendly enough...but unlike before, he actually had something
to lose.

...No, he couldn't think like that. He needed to stay confident and
upright, and face this newest trial head-on.

As he walked, he couldn't help but overhear other students talking
and whispering behind his back. Normally, he'd be ticked off but
he'd grown enough to know better than that, so he simply tuned it
out.

Of course, that didn't stop a few phrases from hitting his ears,
"Hey, isn't that Ryu Maxwell?" "Yeah, the guy who beat Ifrit and
Gaia." "Wow, no wonder Miss Nature wants him. Lucky devil.."

"Ryu?" The boy stopped and turned to see his teacher Ariadna
standing there, sipping from a mug of coffee.

"Oh, sensei," He bowed to her,"Sorry, guess I was lost in my
own thoughts so I didn't notice you there."

"No need to apologize, it's understandable," She adjusted her
glasses,"I'm guessing you're on your way to see Miss Rona,aren't
you?"

Ryu recoiled in shock at this,"Y-Yeah...um..how did you know?"

Ariadna put on a small yet confident smile,"Nothing happens in
this school without me knowing about it, Ryu," She cast a curious
eye over the folks around them,"And I can see you've become quite
popular yourself."

"Yeah..." The boy did his best not to blush,"What's up with that?"

His red-headed teacher rolled her eyes,"Suki happened. I swear, that
girl can't keep her mouth shut about anything..." She glanced around,
as if looking for her fellow Oni,"But don't worry about it. Go do
what you need to, I'll talk to you later."

Ryu nodded and went to go,"Oh, and Ryu?" He turned back to her,"Best
of luck." Before he could ask what she meant, she went back inside
her office.

"What did she mean by that,Ryu?" Tia asked, perching on his
shoulder.

"Beats me, but let's just go get this over with." He turned and
walked onwards..

From behind the door, Ariadna watched them go with a smirk...and
a casual sip of coffee.

------------------------------

Somewhere, far away from civilization, in a part of the world
where man had little influence, a group of archaeologists and
diggers were hard at work excavating what appeared to be an
ancient set of ruins.

The main overseer for the group watched their progress with
silent approval, when one of the men ran up to him,"What is it?"

"Sir, we need to get everyone out of here, right now!" The guy
looked beside himself with worry.

"What on earth are you talking about, Jeffrey?" Instead of
answering, the man simply pointed out to the edge of the site...where
a huge frekkin twister was bearing down on them!

Upon seeing this, the overseer went as pale as a ghost,"G-Go tell
the workers to drop everything...and vacate the area as quickly
as possible!" The worker nodded and ran off.

Suddenly, a loud booming noise went off above them as a hail of
flaming meteors started to descend. The workers spotted this,
screamed and scrambled to escape, even as the meteors obliterated
several of their vehicles and destroyed most of their equipment.

The men could care less, as the only thing that mattered was their
own survival. Within minutes, almost everyone was out of there.

Cardinal walked amongst the flaming ruins and stopped for a moment
before frowning,"Was it really necessary to make a show of it? You
realize you two morons could've destroyed this whole area?"

"Oh, lighten up, dear Cardinal," Dualia warped in along with his
cohort, Kazega,"There's no point to this unless we don't have
ourselves a bit of fun, right Kazega?"

"But of course," Kazega gave a casual toss of his hair,"Besides,
it's always a joy to see these humans scream and beg for their
lives."

The masked man only sighed and shook his head,"Whatever, just
remember not to go blasting everything in sight. We're here on
a mission, in case you forgot."

"Yes,yes," Kazega waved him off,"Let's go before my itch to
destroy something comes back."

The trio walked on inside the doorway, Cardinal pondering to
himself upon the terms of his little plan...

-----------------------------

The back of the school was reserved as an area for extracurricular
activities or as a sort of practice grounds. Much like the Battle
Room, it was used as an area for improving one's skills...or if you
just needed a place to blow off some steam.

This was where Ryu found himself now, scanning the area for any
sign of the one who sent the letter,"See anything, Tia?"

"Not yet.." She suddenly stopped and pointed with her tiny paw
in a particular direction,"Over there-ia!"

Looking over where she gestured, he spotted a small green Heartcatch-style
fairy coaching on a girl with black-green hair and dressed in an
bodysuit used for workouts.

"Come on, Rona! One more time-desu!" She seemed to be practicing on
a training dummy...with her own two hands apparently!

He watched as her fists flew forth, impacting several areas of the
dummy's body. She than delivered a swift side kick to its midsection,
followed by several more of that same move.

"Hoyaaa!!" She brought her foot up one more time...and took the
head clean off!

This got a reaction out of the dragon boy,"Whoa...ok, that was
pretty cool!" He suddenly put a hand over his mouth.

"Huh?" The girl stopped her practice and turned to face him,"Oh,
hello there, you must be Ryu Maxwell,right?" She smiled at him.

"Um..yes, I am," He bowed to her,"Sorry, I wasn't spying on you.
I just saw you practicing and I couldn't help but watch you take
that thing's head off with one kick. It was very impressive."

"Wha.." The gal looked to where the head lied in a patch of grass,
"Oh, you mean that thing?" He nodded, causing her to chuckle lightly,
"Hehe...thanks, but to be honest, it's not that special. I do that
kind of thing all the time."

"Ehh?" Tia perked up at those words,"Wow! You must be really
amazing to be able to do that whenever you want-ia."

The green-haired girl giggled and pat her head,"Awww...thanks,
sweetie..." She than turned to her fairy,"Now why can't you say
nice things like that to me?"

The green furball simply stuck out his tongue at her, making her
fume. Ryu cleared his throat and held up the letter,"I got your
letter. You're Rona Kazashimo, right?"

"That's me!" She gave a thumbs up than gestured to her fairy,"The
furball here is Chateau. Say hello, Chateau."

"Yo," The fairy flew up to Ryu and looked him over,"So, you're
the Dragon lad I been hearing about,eh? Think you got what it takes
to hang with the popular crowd-desu?" He quizzed with a bit of swag.

Ryu could only sweatdrop and scratch the back of his neck,"Well,um.."

Rona poked her fairy in the head,"Cheateau, don't make him more
nervous than he already is," She sighed and turned to Ryu,"I apologize
for that. My fairy has a tendency of rubbing his own sense of "coolness"
in other people's faces."

The dragon boy waved it off,"Meh, it's fine. To be honest, I'm kinda
glad the school is so...well, varied when it comes to the people who
come here. I mean, variety is the spice of life, right?"

The green-haired girl snickered,"True, that's very true indeed,"
Suddenly, she heard Ryu's stomach grumble, causing her to gasp,"Wow!
Sounds like someone has an empty tummy. Didn't you get the bento I
sent you?"

"I did," He confirmed,"But Aya went and ate it on me before I got
even a single bite of it."

Rona actually flushed at hearing that,"Oh yeah...that's Aya for you,"
She went over to where her book bag lied,"Thankfully, I planned
ahead for such an event. Hang on while I go change."

She scooped up her bag and ran to the lady's changing room, leaving
Ryu to ponder what she meant by her comment about a certain blondie.
"How exactly does that girl know Aya?" Judging by the look on Tia's
face she was thinking the same thing.

He intended to get some answers out of this Rona person.

A few minutes later, said girl came back out now donned in the
school's uniform for girls and sorting out her ponytail,"Come on,
you must be hungry. I'll treat you."

"Thank you," He sat with her as she pulled out several bento
boxes and handed him one along with a couple muffins,"You certainly
come prepared, don't ya?"

Rona gulped down a mouthful of meat and nodded,"Yup! It pays to
do so since my partner is such a glutton for food. If I don't have
seconds for him, he gets a little testy," She motioned to where
he sat, scarfing down his food.

Ryu was about halfway through his meal when he decided it was time
to start asking questions,"So...Rona,right? What exactly did you
call me out here for? You sure we couldn't have done this in the
school instead of you dropping off a letter?"

She looked at him with a raised eyebrow,"We could've...but to be
truthful, I felt if I asked you directly...it would look way too
awkward, and I think there's enough rumors going about the school
already, don't you think?" At this, she smirked in his direction.

Ryu did his best to keep the red in his cheeks from flaring up,
"Y-Yeah...but about my question..?"

"Ah yes," Rona took a slurp of water from her canteen,"Well, one
of the main reasons I called you out here is so I could meet you
in person. We don't get many Male Cures here at the Academy, and it's
even more rare to see one who becomes the opposite gender when they
transform."

The dragon boy munched on some takoyaki before giving a snort,"Heh,
guess I stick out like a sore thumb than,eh?"

"I won't lie, it is noticeable," Rona admitted with a hint of
amusement,"But from what I've seen and heard, you've made quite
a name for yourself, haven't ya?"

"Could  you be more specific what you mean by that?" Ryu asked
for clarification.

Wow, a bit slow on the uptake, Rona thought to herself before
speaking,"I meant that you've been a big help for a lot of other
Cures since you first came here. Haven't you noticed that most of
the folks you meet have a tendency to change to some degree after
being around you?"

"Ummm...err..." Ryu spread his arms and shrugged,"Your guess is
as good as mine."

The green-haired girl shook her head with a smile,"Let me clarify
for you. Kazuko's less judgmental and is more considerate of other
people's feelings, Aya is a tad more focused and determined when it
comes to work. Seira is stronger and more capable, Flopi is much
more open about her feelings and herself, Verity is slightly less
klutzy and, like Seira, has a much higher opinion of herself..."

"I could go on all day but I think you get the picture."

"Huh..." Ryu nodded along to her explanation,"Well...it's nice
to know I can be a positive influence in people's lives for once."
He could feel a sense of gratification and pride warming up in
his chest.

"Exactly, and that brings me to my point!" Rona stood up and
clapped her hands together with a smile,"Ryu Maxwell, after all
you've done, I think you've earned the reward I have in mind for
you. I just have one job in place before I can share it with you."

"A job?" Ryu was genuinely curious,"I...guess...what's the job?"

Before she could speak, Chateau's ears twitched and he flew up
to his partner before grabbing her ear and yanking on it,"Rona!
Big bad monsters! Get your rear in gear-desu!"

"H-Hey, no need to yank on me! I was just getting to the good
part!" Rona roared while flailing her arms.

"Save the rest of your explanation for later," said Kazuko who
seemed to appear from nowhere,"We got work to do."

Rona yanked herself free and grumbled,"Fine,fine.." She turned
to the black-haired boy,"Ryu, I know this is a bit sudden but...will
you fight alongside me? To protect everyone's hearts?" She stuck
out her hand,"I know you probably have many questions...and I
promise they'll all be explained in time...."

"But right now, we need you to trust her," Kazuko finished while
rolling up her sleeve,"Can you do that?"

Ryu did indeed have many questions but right now, protecting the
people came first,"...If you asked me that a few months ago I would've
turned you down without a second thought...but..with things as they
are now.." He took her hand,"Let's go."

Rona smiled and nodded,"Great! Follow me!" She led the way.

Ryu ran to keep up with her, wondering what on earth he'd gotten
himself into now...

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