The Tokei Kyutama.
Despite the need for it, Balance secretly hated it. He hated looking at it, and he hated hearing about it.
12 keys needed to be turned within a certain time frame, in order to obtain the Tokei Kyutama. Balance figured this was easy enough. However, he didn't count on the obstacles, which turned out to be illusions from the team's own memories, caused by the twisted time. Balance wondered who was so important from his past that he might see. Well, there could only be one person...
"Found it!" he said as he bounced over to the key. But he was taken aback when he saw who was standing there. "Naga! I knew it would be you who appeared before me! Agepoyo way!"
Turning the key was simple. Balance knew he had done his job well. He wondered if Naga's illusion had included him. He was too curious to not find out.
He raced to the sixth key, and saw Naga easily turning it. "Naga! Who appeared before you? For me, it was you, Naga!" Balance chuckled. "Did I appear before you?"
With his usual straight face, Naga replied, without even turning around, "For me, no one appeared."
Balance stopped dead in his tracks.
"Perhaps I have no heart," Naga continued.
Balance had no idea what to say to that, except for the obvious. "You do too have a heart, Naga."
Naga finally turned and faced Balance. "You're just saying that. This proves it. I still have no emotions."
"Naga... that's not true."
"Then why didn't I have an illusion?"
"I... I don't know, Naga."
Naga sighed and sat down. "I know you're trying to help, but you aren't. I don't understand. I'm a Kyuranger. They all have emotions. And I still have none. Why can't I have emotions?!"
Balance sat down next to him, trying to stay calmer than Naga was at that point. "You're 21 years old and grew up without emotions. It's a hard thing to learn. Some people have emotions their entire lives and still don't understand them. But you're doing just fine."
"I'm not fine!" Naga cried out.
"You're angry, Naga. That's an emotion." Balance sighed. Anger was the first emotion that he had seen Naga pick up, and he had learned it very quickly. Actually, many times when Naga was trying to use an emotion, he always seemed to lean towards using anger, despite what the moment was calling for. It didn't seem like Naga realized he was doing that. Balance always figured it was because the people of the Hebitsukai system originally had intense, violent emotions. But he also knew that that wasn't the kind of emotion that Naga was seeking. "I'm sorry, Naga."
"You wouldn't understand," Naga said quickly. "Your emotions are all over the place. Everyone always knows how you're feeling." Naga felt a wave of jealousy running through him, though at the time he didn't realize that was what he was experiencing.
Balance fell silent. Naga was in a place that Balance could never even experience. But Balance felt like Naga was wrong. He was gaining emotions. But that wasn't something he was ready to explain to him. Balance suddenly felt himself guilt-stricken. He was supposed to be helping him, and Naga felt like he wasn't at this point. But Balance loved Naga. He was his best friend and... for awhile, his only friend. "Is it possible that my love for him is clouding what I'm trying to do for him?" Balance thought to himself. Then it dawned on Balance. "Wait. This man is my best friend. But he ... doesn't know what a best friend even is. He's not close to me because he loves me too... he's close to me because it's all he knows!"
The thought that Naga might not even know what a friend actually was... just clinging to him on the hope that emotions would come... paralyzed Balance's soul. Balance just wanted to cry. Why did he just now realize this? Naga was trained to be Balance's best friend. He wasn't a person. He was a little trained puppy dog getting treats in the form of emotion.
"Naga, we need to go. I'm sure the others are waiting for us."
Naga didn't move. He barely looked like he was breathing.
"Naga, let's go. I promise we can talk about this later."
Naga stood up but didn't move. After a few seconds, Balance walked over in front of him, and picked him up. "You're going for a ride."
"Balance."
"Naga."
"Is this supposed to be fun?"
"You're on my back, so yes. Lots of fun. Totes." Balance was uncomfortable at that point, but not physically. He actually kind of liked giving the piggyback ride. But he wasn't going to tell Naga that he was enjoying himself. In fact, Balance thought it was great that everyone was working, and Naga wouldn't see anybody enjoying themselves.
The first person they saw was the Commander. And of course, he just had to be enjoying himself with his illusion. They were talking and laughing and drinking...
Naga jumped off of Balance's back. "He appears to be having fun... yet I..." He trailed off.
Balance, who was not surpised at this point that it would be the Commander having fun, ran straight over to break up the party.
"Commander! Sorry to interupt your fun, but Naga's getting depressed. Hurry up!"
The Commander nodded, and for some reason, handed Balance his drink, which Balance took in one shot. "Supreme Commander Big Bear, it appears I have to go." He got up and turned his key, watching as the Supreme Commander disappeared into a cloud of blue dust. He saluted him. He then looked up to Naga, still watching from the cliff. He then turned the seriousness back on. "Everyone, what's your situation?"
Balance calmed down at this point, knowing they were all back to work. He was actually relieved to hear that some of the team were in the middle of a battle. But he couldn't stop thinking about Naga and what he had realized. He grabbed Naga by the wrist, and, along with the Commander, raced to go meet up with Lucky and the others.
There was a new battle. And Naga and Balance... both distracted by their own problems... knew to keep their head in the game. But even after obtaining the Tokei Kyutama, neither one could let it go.
Balance was exhausted. Even though he just wanted to sleep, he couldn't. He laid in bed and just wondered how things could have gotten this out of control. He just wanted to help Naga. It wasn't that way at the start, but Balance felt that he cared more and more for Naga as time went on. In that meantime, he had found a great friend. Or so he thought. Was it possible that Naga didn't even share feelings even close to that? What did Naga see Balance as? Could the concept of friendship be something so foreign to people like Naga? Was Naga seeing Balance as paternal, maybe? Balance wondered if people from the Hebitsukai system could have any time of normal relationships without emotion. Was there a way? Was it possible that Balance was overthinking the entire thing? No. There was no way. Obviously, he wasn't teaching Naga the emotions he needed.
At that point, he knew he'd have to break away a little from Naga. Not by much, but maybe he encourage him to pursue a friendship with Spada or Hammie. Maybe if he spaced out his time, and explained to Naga that he shouldn't be rushing, it would help Naga. It could also benefit Balance in the long run, too, because he just wanted his friend to be ok. Giving Naga his space wasn't what Balance wanted, but if it helped Naga, he would deal with it. Having some sort of plan for it at this point, Balance was finally able to fall asleep.
The next day, during a routine, pointless battle, it was quickly noticed by Tsurugi that Naga was just not himself. Naga was spacing out, and since he had control of the left leg, it was making it difficult to defeat the idiots in front of them.
"Who's in charge of the left leg?!" Tsurugi was calling out. "Stop slacking!"
"Leave it to me!" Naga cried out. He tried desparately to get back into the game, but his focus was so far gone that eventually Tsurugi benched him.
Balance did his best to remain focused for the rest of the fight, which, sad to say, seemed easier without Naga, in that moment. The fight itself didn't last much longer. Balance tried to see where Naga went, but couldn't spot him.
Somehow, though, Naga made it back to the ship in time for a small meeting. Tsurugi was attempting to talk about going back to the past, but Garu opened his side of the meeting with "What were you doing, Naga? Get your act together!"
Balance's heart skipped a beat. Why would Garu bring it up now? Couldn't he see that Naga was hurting?
"I'm sorry," Naga said quietly.
"What's wrong?" Hammie asked, a bit more polite than Garu was. "This isn't like you."
All of the focus was on Naga now. He stood and said, "I've been here for quite some time, but I haven't obtained any emotions!"
"Irritation because of your problems... that's an emotion, too," the Commander stated bluntly.
Balance knew at this point, that Naga needed more help than he could give him. So he quickly spoke up, saying out loud what he had only practiced to himself the night before: "Just learn about emotions at your own pace. You'll be fine." Balance couldn't even look at Naga while he said those words out loud. But he finally looked over at Naga. "Let's take our time."
"Balance..."
"So, what's our current status?" Tsurugi asked, trying to get off of the subject of Naga's emotions.
"The project to integrate the Tokei Kyutama is going well," Balance said, letting out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. "Very soon, the Orion-gou will be reborn as a time machine!" He held up that stupid Tokei Kyutama. He knew that every time he saw that Kyutama in the future, he'd think of this moment and the thought that Naga might not even see him as a friend.
While the team continued making plans, neither Naga nor Balance could pay full attention to the conversation. The team seemed ready to go to the past, but the Commander quickly told them it would take some time and offered them a break. Balance momentarily cried out in joy, before remembering that he was the one who was working on the project.
Hammie suggested a barbeque, and everybody seemed on board with it. That is, until Naga spoke up.
"I'll pass," Naga said.
The team turned and looked at him. Naga somehow managed a quiet smile. "I'll help Balance."
"No," Balance thought. "Naga needs this right now. He needs to be social with everybody else." So even though he didn't want Naga to go at all, he said, "I'm fine. Go have a good time."
Balance felt even worse before when he saw the rejected look on Naga's face. But Balance thought that was good. A good emotional reaction. Balance was disappointed, but knew he'd be able to catch up with Naga later.
Balance worked as hard and fast as he could. He only hoped that Naga was enjoying his break. He wondered if a good meal meant anything to him. He wondered if he was enjoying the conversations with his comrades. Finally, Balance decided he needed to just focus on the damn Kyutama and get it over with.
After running off for a couple of supplies, Balance made his way back in. "Agepoyo!" he shouted to the Commander. "It's almost done! Hey, is everyone having fun?"
"Yeah, lots of fun!" said the Commander. "They're in high spirits!"
"I envy them," Balance said. "I want to hang out with Naga and the rest after we've returned from the past."
"Well, please finish up the work soon," the Commander said, but Balance wasn't listening. He hoped that Naga's break from him would help him out. Balance was actually ready to see Naga's reaction to being apart from him, even if it was just a couple of hours.
Balance hurried and finished his work on the Tokei Kyutama. He hoped to be done with it soon. And the timing of it couldn't have been better; the others showed up a few minutes after the work was completed. Except for one person.
"Where's Naga?" Balance asked.
The team looked at him, and then at each other. Hammie and Kotaro both looked like they wanted to cry. Lucky explained to him what had happened. How Akyanba had coerced Naga into joining her, in order to unlock his emotions, which had ended with Naga turning against his own comrades and him becoming the Dark Warrior, Hebitsukai Metal. Lucky explained that they did everything in their power, but that Naga wouldn't come back to them, and left with Akyanba.
"Naga..."
"I'm sorry," Lucky said. "Even though we were with him."
"I'm sorry," Hammie said, "it's because I said something to Naga that I shouldn't have."
Balance saw tears in Hammie's eyes. "It's not chan-Hammie's fault!" he exclaimed. "Worry not! Anyway, the Tokei Kyutama is all plugged in. Yay yay!"
"Balance!" the Commander said. "You don't have to force yourself."
Balance dropped his hands. He felt that it had been his own fault. He couldn't give Naga what he wanted. This was a desperate act from Naga. He regretted pulling away. If he had told Naga he could stay, this would never have happened. But now Balance needed to take responsibility and fix this, immediately.
"Then, could I ask for one selfish thing? Mind if I don't go to the past with you?"
"You want to save Naga all by yourself?" Garu asked.
"Naga is..." Balance almost said what he really wanted to, but didn't. "I have to take Naga back."
"Looks like we can't all afford to go to the past," the Commander decided.
"I will remain," said Lucky. "Balance and I will save Naga."
"Me, too," said Hammie. "I can't just leave Naga behind."
"We will definitely take back Naga!" Garu announced.
Kotaro agreed.
"Guys..." Balance said. He never thought about it before, but it didn't seem like he was the only one who thought of Naga as a friend.
"Leave the past to me," said Tsurugi. "Right, Spada?"
Spada didn't look like he wanted to go back to the past, but agreed. "Everyone, be sure to bring Naga back."
"Partner," Champ said.
"Yeah," Stinger said. "We are also going to the past."
"I have to pilot the Orion-gou, so I am also going to the past," spoke up Raptor.
"All right, it's decided then," the Commander said. "Lucky, Balance, Hammie, Garu, and Kotaro remain in the present time to rescue Naga."
"Okyu!" agreed the five.
"Going to the past are Tsurugi-kun, Stinger, Champ, Raptor, Spada, and myself."
"Okyu!" replied that team.
"Everyone, even apart, our hearts are one. Do not forget that."
The team agreed. They quickly planned their next moves. As Tsurugi's team left for the past, Balance knew they had a hard fight ahead of them.
He was ready to fight for his best friend.