AUTHOR'S NOTE: in this story, Onogoro is not a part of the nation of Orb, nor PLANT. And I would like to apologize if you find this chapter sucks.

Chapter 3

Kira reached the Kage's office. He knocked the door.

"Come in Kira," Mu said from inside. Kira went in.

"Kira, meet Miss Stellar Loussier, from the Palace of PLANT. Miss Loussier, this is Kira Yamato, aka 'The Heir of Freedom'," Mu introduced them. Kira and Stellar shook hands.

'Shinn would be glad to know that the girl he liked is here in the academy,' Kira thought to himself.

"Kira, Miss Stellar here brings a job offer from Emperor Clyne. His Majesty wishes to hire 'The Heir of Freedom' as Princess Lacus Clyne's bodyguard," Mu explained.

"Kira can negotiate with His Majesty himself about your wages, if Kira decided to accept the job, that is," Stellar told Kira.

Kira thought for a moment. Being a bodyguard would mean that he'll be occupied with a job mostly all the time, and that's kind of good as life had been pretty boring these days. The missions he received so far have been very easy. On the other hand, this job may be permanent. He might miss doing missions with his friends from the academy. Then he suddenly thought of something.

"Miss Stellar, may I ask how Emperor Clyne knew the name "Heir of Freedom'? I thought only ninjas knew the name, and only a few knew where I am," Kira asked.

"Stellar told His Majesty about Kira. Stellar had heard of Kira from Stellar's former teacher," Stellar replied.

"What do you think, Sensei Flaga? Should I accept this job?" Kira asked Mu for his opinion.

"That, you will have to think by yourself. I suppose it wouldn't turn out bad. Your best friend, Athrun is doing quite well as Princess Attha's bodyguard since last year," Mu told him.

"Can I bring my partner along?" Kira asked Stellar.

"Sorry, but Stellar thinks that His Majesty only intended to hire one bodyguard," Stellar answered.

'Too bad for you Shinn,' Kira said in his head. "Can I give you a reply by this evening? I think I need to think talk to my partner about this," Kira told Stellar.

Stellar agreed. Kira thanked her and went to find Shinn.

Kira found Shinn in their room. He told Shinn what happened just now.

"You get to work at the palace? Man, am I jealous of you right now. If I were you, I would immediately accept it," Shinn said to Kira.

"You will do that because you will think of it as a chance to get to know Stellar better," Kira said.

"Well, I don't deny having such thoughts," Shinn said sheepishly. "But if you accept the job, there's an advantage for you too," He grinned after saying that.

"What do you mean?" Kira was puzzled.

"One- Princess Lacus is beautiful, graceful, sweet, kind, gentle, friendly and most importantly, single. Two- Remember what I said about having a girlfriend to stop Fllay or any other girls from annoying you? Three- If you accept the job; you can get close to the 'Pink Princess'. Add my three points together and you will get what I meant," Shinn said.

Kira thought it over, and said, "You sounded like I should try to make the Princess my girlfriend. Just tell me what exactly do you mean by that "advantage"?"

Shinn clapped his forehead. "Should I call you dumb or naïve? Maybe you are both, coz that is exactly what I meant!"

"You can't be serious! Of all your silly brainstorms, this is the most ridiculous one I have ever heard," Kira muttered.

'Okay, how about this for an advice: Why don't you go to Orb Castle and ask Athrun? After all, he has become your sister's bodyguard for a year. You can ask him for his opinion," Shinn said.

"Now that's what I call an advice. Oh, by the way, I think Stellar's at somewhere near the academy entrance, walking in the garden," Kira told Shinn. As expected, Shinn immediately went off to find her.

At Orb Castle……

Princess Cagalli was sitting on the roof of her room, watching the sunset. She was missing her secret ninja lessons. Ever since Athrun became her bodyguard, Kira had given her less training. Now she's stuck with her normal lessons like how to talk and walk and dance like a proper princess, which happen to be lessons that a tomboyish girl like her rarely enjoyed.

"On the roof again? What if your nanny or someone else saw you? You would have a hard time explaining how you managed to get up without a ladder," Athrun said from below.

"Just how many times have you and Miriallia said that? I'm getting fed up," Cagalli replied to her bodyguard.

"You sounded bored," Athrun said.

"I am bored. Usually at late evenings like this, Kira will give me ninja lessons. That, of course, is before you came and be my bodyguard," Cagalli gave a little sigh.

"Just why do you want to learn more ninja skills? The reason I taught you before Athrun came is just to let you protect yourself," Kira suddenly appeared on top of a nearby wall.

"Hello Kira! Long time no see," Athrun greeted his best friend.

"Same to you too buddy. And hello to you too Cagalli," Kira greeted as he jumped down from the wall. Cagalli jumped down from the roof.

"I see you haven't forgotten your basics," Kira commented.

"Life's been pretty boring with all those how-to-be-a-perfect-princess lessons. So are you here to teach me some new skills?" Cagalli said to her brother.

"Well, I would like to teach you more if you are so interested, but I am afraid I can no longer do that," Kira said.

"Why? You have a long mission?" Cagalli asked.

"Emperor Clyne of PLANT wishes to hire me to become his daughter's bodyguard, but I haven't decided to accept the job offer or not," Kira told her and Athrun. Kira then asked for their opinions whether he should or should not accept the offer. Kira also asked Cagalli about Lacus, as these two girls had been friends for quite a long time, long before Kira and Cagalli knew that they were twins. The two only get to know about their true family two years ago, while they were 14.

"Lacus is a very friendly princess. You won't be having problems with her if you become her bodyguard," Cagalli told her.

"And being a princess's bodyguard might not be as easy as you think. Just last week, while you and Shinn were away, there had been 5 murder attempts on Cagalli," Athrun informed.

That information shocked Kira. "FIVE! Just what kind of psycho will want to do things like this?"

"Psychos like the maniacs who tried to kill Lacus ever since she was born. That's why she's usually stuck in her palace. Her father will only allowed her to go out if she accompanied by four or more guards. I think her father wants to find her a bodyguard this year because she will be starting her new school year at the Onggoro High School. Hey, that's it! Kira, accept that offer!" Cagalli grinned as she had a sudden idea.

"Huh, what do you mean?" Kira doesn't understand what his sister is talking about.

"I think I know what she means. Kira, you know that Onogoro, other than being the only ninja village left in the world, it also boasts of having the best high school education for non-ninjas. Many people studied there, including those from royal families. Cagalli will also be sent to study there too, but since this castle is so far from Onogoro, Emperor Attha had discussed with Emperor Clyne, and Emperor Clyne had agreed to let Cagalli stay with Lacus while school opens," Athrun explained.

"And if you become her bodyguard, you can protect her and continue to mentor me," Cagalli said. "Not to mention, you might find yourself falling for her," Cagalli teased.

"You reminded me of Shinn's stupid idea," Kira said.

"Come on; just think of doing your sister and your sister's friend a favour. It's rather annoying and boring to be followed by some boring adults when you want to go somewhere. And with you as her bodyguard, her life can be less in danger," Cagalli told Kira.

"What do you think, Athrun?" Kira asked.

"Well, if you become Princess Clyne's bodyguard, and Cagalli will be staying with her, yours and my life may just be like the good old days while we were still at the academy. Remember? Both of us doing the same mission, same kind of duty, it will be just like the time before we graduated," Athrun said, refreshing his memories.

"Since you all think it's a good idea, I might as well accept," Kira said.

The three of them continued to chat for a while. Then Kira said goodbye and returned to Onogoro, to give Stellar his reply.