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“Of course!” Runelucia chirped firmly, “As chibi senshi aligned with the Order, the both of you are capable and ready to solve this matter involving that strange creature. And other spooky things. With me around, I could provide you two some valuable support.”

It… wasn’t much of an assurance coming from a bright-eyed over-believing guardian cat, but Rune hoped to get these two chibi senshi some valuable experience and attempt to quash this trouble at the same time. That’s what a mentor (even in guardian cat form) of a sort would do, right?

As to how this arrangement came to be… It all began with a disturbing video that was recently decimated on the internet, enough to catch the eyes of a certain guardian cat. Runelucia had come across that certain video containing blurry footage of a strange and bizarre bear-like creature causing trouble. She immediately felt wary about believing what she was seeing on video, but this time, she was not certain it was another hoax. While she had been told plenty of times by a certain someone that she best is on her guard and not believe everything she saw or heard without further research (if the effort warranted at all)… things seem different this time. Shortly after the video’s release, Rune had initially thought of scouting around just in case. At the site, she experienced uneasiness and promptly left. She wasn’t sure what to make of it, but she didn’t like it. She better finds some reliable help quickly.

Fortunately, on her way back from her aborted solo investigation, Runelucia came across a very familiar face. The familiar face named Satori too recognized the little kitten. And thus, both of them plotted to face the menace, real or not.

----

Naturally, the transformed Aomori also couldn’t resist dragging Hokkaido along for the ride.

“Hokkaido… don’t worry too much about it. With the both of us combined, we’ll be unstoppable! And besides, if you add both of us together and Rune as well, we’ll be able to figure out what’s going on,” Aomori smiled widely, hoping this nugget of wisdom would be of any comfort to the visibly frightened Hokkaido.

It’s been a long time since all three were together for the ride, so Aomori was honestly ecstatic for the opportunity. She had plenty of tricks on reserve, ready for action.

"Really? Where?" Aomori blinked. She glanced around with gusto and unneeded exaggeration to see if she too could hear the voice.

Then, she heard a sound that resembled wood sticks and chips breaking from steady yet heavy footsteps. Aomori immediately gasped and whispered to Hokkaido and Runelucia, "Hey, did you both hear that? What if it's from the spooky creature?"

----

"A-ahem.." Rune frowned slightly and coughed faintly in an attempt to override Aomori's imagination from getting wild. "No need to fear, and especially you Hokkaido, you shouldn't worry much. Not only is there still light in this forest, but the both of you also have a good ability to keep calm and examine for clues around us."

To keep two wildly different chibi senshi in line, Rune felt the need to assert her influence and be some kind of voice of reason. Hopefully, that worked, but even a part of her wasn't too certain about that, not with reluctant Hokkaido and ready-to-go-spelunking Aomori in the same space.

```“D-don’t panic!” Aomori commanded in a valiant attempt to remain as calm as possible, but with the wariness of a squirrel, she didn't strike herself as terribly confident.

She promptly positioned herself in a combat stance and quickly glanced around for anything that might be amiss. She wasn’t really sure if the sound came from a youma either as she too couldn’t detect its signature, but hey, better be safe than sorry. Under normal circumstances, she would have acted impulsively, do a hit (or attack) and run, but she was with her more delicate twin sister and a kitten, so she couldn’t just skip on character development. This does count as meaningful character development, right? Or a sign of maturity? Well, that’s neat, too.

----

On the ground level meanwhile, Rune’s hair shot up upon hearing the snapping and cracking and anything that may present itself as trouble. Her eyes widened as she watched the twin chibi senshi seize up on the situation. She realized she had to be some kind of voice of reason, especially as a mauvian dedicated to the meaningful role of serving as a helpful hand to the hardworking senshi. She then hopped to a nearby stone and attempted to offer her words of encouragement or wisdom or just some helpful ideas for what to do next.

“Good words, Aomori!” Rune commented. “And Hokkaido, stay close together with Aomori. We cannot afford to be separated. Let’s keep an eye out on the strange creature… if needed, we can strategically retreat.”```

“N-no, don’t panic!” Rune stammered to the poor cowering chibi senshi. If only she were in her humanoid form… but alas, her glamour allowance was all but used up for the remainder of the day, and she bore little to no batteries to replenish it. She didn’t have many useful abilities either. In the end, Rune reasoned that she may as well function as a deterrent until the two chibi senshi cooperate on a tactical retreat.

“You know what… why don’t we three make a swift and wise retreat… maybe I could scrounge up some change to get you two ice cream or something..?”

Rune attempted to console the agitated Hokkaido while making a broad-stroke attempt to bribe to encourage Aomori to finally make the retreat to safety. It’s a slight shame that the two young senshi aren’t bravely united, but as they are young, they still have plenty to grow. Today’s just not that day, apparently. And, that’s okay, too.

—-

On the other hand, Aomori couldn’t help but feel a bit miffed over the situation. It would have been an event to write home about… well, in her secret journal or something, if she remembered to fill it out, perhaps. But, seeing Hokkaido shrink and quiver in fear made her change her mind a bit. While Aomori herself would love to jump into the screne and make an attempt to confront the strange creature, her inner voice or something of that sort was just not having it today. Instead, a part of her insisted that she should join the other two on the way back and leave the confrontation to more skilled and senior members of the Order.

For once, her waking thinking mind felt inclined to agree with her inner voice of reason. Besides, ice cream or some cool treat from Rune sounded more than exciting compared to beating up the strange creature.

“Ohh… all right. I guess now’s a good time to head baaack….” Aomori furiously whispered and hissed to herself as she heard some scratch marks from who knows where except close. Honestly, she was actually feeling a bit scared.

To make their retreat more successful than not, Aomori decided to deploy her singular skill. It’s not the quietest, but she could try directing the sounds in the opposite direction. “And I guess, I better go use this while we run for it… tokotokoshiiii…”



Will it work? Hopefully! Aomori seemed to think so.

Rune noticed Hokkaido wavering slightly, seemingly dizzy, and flagging slightly behind during their jog through the forest.

‘Oh no, she seems unwell… was it from the strange scary bear creature?!’ Rune inwardly exclaimed. That’s not great. What would she do if both chibi senshi fell to the ill effects? Rune wouldn’t be able to do much, not in this state. In other words…. ‘Better hasten our retreat, then!’

“Hang in there, Hokkaido! Let’s hurry away,” urged Rune. “You too, Aomori!”

—

“Uh oh… that doesn’t look good,” Aomori commented out loud, turning her head towards Hokkaido. Seeing Hokkaido appear slightly nauseous almost made her wonder if she would be feeling it, too. Still, there’s no time to wonder about that. Something else more important was floating in her mind now, and it was that cool and sweet creamy confectionary Rune offered to the both of them.

“C’mon Hokkaido, let’s hurry back and get some ice cream. Rune promised us!” Aomori grinned as she jogged. To make things a bit easier for the both of them or worse, depending on how things went, she extended her hand and latched it onto Hokkaido. A bit of help doesn’t hurt to give, especially during a tactical retreat. If the creature was going to catch up to them, at least neither twin nor cat would be alone, right?

Eventually, she saw a familiar clearing through the forest, which was made clear by the increasingly diminishing sea of trees and the widening of their path of choice. Minutes later, they reached the entrance they chose to enter from earlier. It seems that they are allowed to live yet another day.

As soon she reached the smooth path close to the lot, she paused and sighed in relief. Fortunately, it appears that Rune and Hokkaido too made it out as well. Not bad for an escape, Aomori thought to herself.

By the time they arrived at the open lot, she had a good look at the worn-out twins. Aomori was panting a bit for air, but she appeared fine otherwise, and Hokkaido… well, she definitely tried her best. She definitely deserved ice cream after all of that.

“Wonderful job escaping the threat,” Rune complimented the both of them.

Like her sister, Aomori powered down back to her civilian form. She patted her clothes in an attempt to shake off some dust a moment after that and then glanced at Rune and Nemu.

“I guess it’s time for ice cream~” grinned Sato. “Right, Rune? You promised us…”


–

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Rune repeated her agreement, waving her paw. “One scoop on a cone each and no more than that, okay?”

And with that, the trip departed towards the city center. Rune had to go and hide in one of the girls’ day bags while she attempted to count out the change she had on her.