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Howl's life had been all about research recently. If it wasn't the strange stone the General Painite had given him, it was researching afternoon activities due to the lack of a school sport. Since his roommate was too busy sulking about lately in the dorm room, it seemed like today was better spent investigating various local businesses.

It was strange for the teal-haired lad to wear his hair in a low ponytail, but it was necessary while on a job search. For some reason it seemed more professional. His normal everyday clothing was far dressier than what many young men his own age wore, so he was set for any on the spot interviews. He had several copies of his resume at hand as he went scouring the various businesses for any signs stating they were interested in hiring.

He had decided to take a chance on investigating an eatery called Maize Maizier. There wasn't any hiring sign, but he couldn't help but be intrigued by the fantastic upkeep of the facility and the unique theme. He had spoke to management, and after the owner had discovered the fact that Howl had a rather lovely English accent, it seemed an impromptu interview had occurred. From Howl's own perspective, things sounded quite promising. The lad couldn't help but exit the facility with a smile upon his face.

However, that smile was not destined to last very long. He had maybe walked half a block away from Maize Maizier when something seemed to stomp out into view.

"We're tiredsssss of waitingsssss..."

In front of the teal-haired lad was a large creature that resembled the mythological creature, the hydra. It only had two heads and two sets of glowing eyes. It clawed at the ground slightly before one of the heads leaned in dangerously close to Howl.

"Starseedssssssssss... we wantsssssss them!"

It wasn't difficult to understand what this strange monster was saying. However, it didn't make it any less of an ear-sore with the hissing and the improper english. There were many natural reactions to encountering monsters. Some people ran out of cowardice. Some people tried to meet the challenge through the bravery of a hero. Some shrunk back in fear, essentially freezing in place.

Though it seemed as if Howl had frozen in place, it was not necessarily out of fear. It was not his first time encountering the monsters that were called youma. In his previous encounter, the strange creature had horrific eyesight. So his teal eyes were upon the head that was closest to him, as if he was trying to judge how good its eyesight was.

He did hear a vaguely familiar term, but the connection between the stone in his breast pocket and the term was not made. "Starseed...?" He uttered aloud before hushing his voice again. If he made even the most subtle utterance, it would still assist the creature.

However, Howl couldn't help but feel this youma was not vision impaired like the last one. Not with the way two of the eyes were staring at him hungrily right now.

"No... not Starseedsssss.... Starseedsssssss!" it hissed at his utterance. Apparently the first word was meant to be singular, but with the addition of a hiss, it was hard to distinguish what it really meant. In its annoyance, it simply just lashed forward, snatching the boy up by his pants leg, clamping down with its teeth while the other head began to loom closer as well.

The trashcan was an extremely wonderful weapon to use against the strange 2-headed youma. The hit was a decently solid blow, but the head that was latched onto Howl still held him firmly.

That was, until the senshi made that offer of hers.

The head that was holding the lad seemed to spit the edge of his pants out of its mouth, causing the boy to land rather gracelessly on his shoulder. Now that its mouth was free, it could talk again. "Yessss... sssenshi starseedssss ssoundsss much better..."

The secondary head shot the first head a look. "You're craziesssss.... that humansssss starseedssss are better..." It attempted to try to latch onto Howl in its own mouth, but the first head nipped at the second head defensively.

"Nooo... Sssenshi starseedsssss!"

Howl was not in the mood to listen to the arguments, his shoulder ached something fierce at the moment as he attempted to roll himself into a sitting position so he could assess the damage.

One of the heads once again lunged towards Howl, but again was stopped by the secondary head. One of them managed to catch the sound of the senshi's taunts and hissed out in reply "Sssstupid sssenshi! Sssshe can't even senssse itss..." The head that spoke once again tried to go for the intended victim, but again was blocked by its other half.

Howl, after getting over the initial pains vibrating through his arm, carefully began to try and scoot backwards to create some distance between himself and the youma.

He almost got away with it too. Until one of the clawed legs seemed to reach out and block the escape route. "Jusssst becaussssse I wantssss the sssenshi doesssn't meanssss I don't wantssss you laterssss..."

Howl gulped nervously and rather obediently stayed put after such a warning. Not that he liked the idea of being a two-headed hydra's lunch.

It was at this time that the senshi struck the youma, digging her fists into the creature's flesh. The first blow caused the creature to shriek something fierce. She pulled back long enough for one head to try to actively investigate the injury. The second hit smacked the creature along the jaw. While the knuckles were still in its flesh, it tried to lash out in an effort to push the senshi away.

All Howl could do was sit and watch. If he moved, the youma would have certainly injured him worse than the mere bruise he'd probably end up with upon his shoulder. So with vaguely wider eyes than he usually watched things go on around him, he watched as this senshi defeated what he felt was a large monster.

The senshi was quite a polite young lady it would seem, as she turned and tended to him slightly. For a moment, he was breathless, simply allowing her to seemingly circle him as she did her own inspection. However, if there was one thing he was not, it was afraid. That sort of feeling had crumpled into ash along with the youma.

Eventually, he was able to find his voice and accurately assess the damage. "When the youma dropped me, I landed on my shoulder wrong... I suspect I will only bruise. It is something that is easy enough to cover up with a school uniform, Miss." He nodded to hint that his words were truth before he used his uninjured arm to push himself up off the ground. Once he was up on his own two feet, he glanced to his shoulder and dusted it off, trying to get any remains of the dirt off of his clothing. Once he felt he was presentable again, he offered his thanks.

"I am truly grateful for your assistance, Miss. Would it be intruding to ask your name?" He extended his hand, a gesture that Aurora might have been familiar with, though the lad had no way of knowing that Aurora and this senshi were one and the same.

In the back of his mind, he did remember instructions given to him.

"You might not be a senshi, but you must know them pretty well. The next one you see, yourself or not as the case may be, give this to them. Say it's a gift, from General Painite. And from you."

"It is a pleasure, Miss Polaris."

Even with her name now known, he still held onto his manners like a true gentleman and insisted on the polite titles. Once her hand was in his, he leaned in and placed a small kiss upon her gloved finger.

"You most certainly have quite a number of titles. All of them well earned, yes?" With a light laugh, he then reached to his pocket, letting his fingers fish out a small item.

"I hope that you can spare me a moment or two before you leave. Someone I met briefly asked me to give this to the next senshi I met."

From his pocket, he finally managed to pull out a small dimly glowing object. It looked like a gemstone that almost had a bit of starlight deep in the center. He held onto it carefully, as if it was some sort of treasure. Still absolutely clueless as to what the item was, he offered it to the senshi.

"It is a gift from General Painite." He still was not certain if he should claim any sort of credit for such an object. He was merely just the delivery boy.

The moment the girl whipped her hand back, Howl was grateful he had not followed General Painite's directions accurately. Obviously whatever this object was, it was treated as if a cursed relic. When the girl didn't take it, he merely continued to hold the gemstone out. He made certain his facial expression did not falter as his curiosity grew and doubt began to linger through his nerves.

However, a brow lofted the moment this newly introduced stranger called him by name.

With a tad more of a professional tone, he addressed the matter briefly. "Though I am intrigued by the fact you know my name, Miss Polaris, despite the fact I have not had the time to introduce myself, I will address the matter you speak of."

He took in a breath and closed his eyes for a moment. He could still see that woman's face clearly, though it was upside down due to the entire encounter. "It was General Painite."

His eyes opened, teal eyes falling upon the senshi's that nearly matched his own. "I had been walking back to school when she trapped me. I was stuck upside down for an extended period of time. She and I got to talking, and she found it peculiar I knew various terms. I must confess, Miss Polaris, you are not the first senshi I have encountered. The one I met before you was a chatterbox, using these terms quite loosely. I suspect it was not the wisest decision on my part to use these terms with this woman, for she soon enough was accusing me of being a senshi. After that point, things grow a bit fuzzy for me. She had located a man and pulled this strange stone from his breast pocket. She asked me to give this to the next senshi I encountered as a gift from herself and from me."

It was odd how calm and composed he was as he spoke of this issue, however, it was how Howl functioned. He rarely liked showing how he truly felt. "I passed out shortly after she gave me this stone."

There was a thoughtful pause as he held up the stone in front of his eye, glancing over the faintly glowing object. "Now, I do have a question for you, Miss Polaris. If you could humor me." His eye abandoned the stone again for the girl's eyes.

"What sort of stone is this? I have been researching since I obtained it, and I have yet to really figure out what it is. There are a few stones out there that seem similar, but once polished like this stone, none of them have the sort of glow this one has."

Her body language still held a strange nervousness to it. As if it would help his story, he added "If you do not believe me, you can go to the police station. The police were the ones who located me, passed out and hanging upside down. I am quite certain they would have a report about such a silly incident."

The moment Polaris finally took the stone from his hand, he was unable to interpret the girl's body language. Her actions seemed tender, yet almost distanced. It was when she opened up her hands again, almost offering the stone to him that she revealed the answer he had been seeking for weeks.

"...that is a starseed?" Most certainly he had heard of starseeds due to the loose lips on Miss Virgo. However, she gave him a very vague definition at best. She had never described what they looked like, nor had she told their full function.

This was something which Miss Polaris was now filling the gap. Giving him a full understanding of the situation he was in now. Once she had finished explaining, he stood there for a moment, as if thinking. A minute easily passed before his hands went to reach for the treasure within the girl's hands.

"...the man that this belonged to is now deceased... he bled out while I was unconscious... it is a part of the report..." There would be no happy ending for the unfortunate soul who had been nearby while Howl had been dangling there. It was his own fault that this man had died. Perhaps if he had not tossed about the words so carelessly, this man would not have been roped into his conversation with General Painite as a disposable pawn.

His fingers carefully curled around the starseed, covering that faint glow once more with his own flesh. "Perhaps you can call me sentimental, but I believe this soul deserves a proper funeral or send off of some sort. I am not certain how I will go about it... but it is my responsibility..."

Despite how calm and composed he seemed to be acting, the one thing which would reveal his true emotions at the moment was that pesky hand of his that was touching Miss Polaris'. It was trembling faintly as it held onto the tangible representation of a soul.