Let's Be Friends! Extra: Kurabe

It was a normal day in Dreamland. Kirby had been in a rush to the field where he and Meta Knight usually trained. The night before he called to make sure that Kirby could come to the location on time, sounding unusually tense when he did.

"Why would he sound tense about a regular training session?" Kirby thought as he reached the usual location.

He looked around the area until his eyes came across what looked to be a purple puffball with a navy-blue visor standing on a rock underneath a tree. They appeared to have their cape wrapped around themselves, just like Meta Knight usually did. At first, Kirby ran over to the stranger to greet them, but the closer he got, the more he began to feel that something was... different about them. They had a strange, dangerous aura to them, much like Meta Knight had described when fighting Galactic Knight. Was this a dangerous person like Galactic Knight?

Slightly against his better instincts, Kirby took a seat a bit away from the rock and continued to wait for his mentor to arrive. The only thing that could be heard was the wind, which he noticed tugged on the stranger's cape and veil-like headdress.

After a few minutes of silence, Kirby was finally able to pick up the courage to say something.

"Um...hello! My name's...!" he was suddenly cut off by a sword landing right in front of him, startling him.

While he couldn't see the eyes through the visor, he could feel them looking straight at him. It was a gaze all too familiar to the pink puff. "You know what to do with that." Was the feeling it had. Unsure and hesitant, Kirby reached for the sword and gained the trademark green hat of the Sword Ability. After he did that, the figure turned towards him and slowly pulled out two shining red swords from sheaths on their sides.

"My name is Kurabe. I am the woman who was once known as the second greatest warrior in the galaxy." The way she spoke was calm and gentle, with a hint of sweetness to it. But, at the same time, there was an overwhelming feeling of danger to it. It was almost as if all of Kirby's instincts were saying to run away, but he knew he couldn't.

"You have the aura of a powerful warrior and it has been quite some time since I have done a proper duel." She did a slightly elegant curtsy with the two sides of her cape. "Please, do not hold back or disappoint me." The last part was uttered in a darker voice than how she first spoke.

The now-named Kurabe made the first move, teleporting directly in front of Kirby and striking diagonally with one of her blades. Thanks to his quick reflexes, Kirby blocked the blow and instinctively jumped backwards, completely avoiding a sideswipe from her other sword. This all felt familiar to Kirby, for while this stranger's fighting style was different, it was incredibly close to how Meta Knight fights. However, he knew he wouldn't be able to play defensively.

Kirby raised his sword, which gained a blue aura. He then swung his sword down, unleashing a powerful energy slash...which was blocked by a wall of ice that seemingly came out of nowhere. Before he could dwell on what just happened, he spun around to block yet another strike from his mysterious opponent. In order to gain some distance, Kirby quickly inhaled some air and puffed it out, pushing his foe back a good few meters. Ultimately, this achieved very little, as Kurabe started to rush right towards him again. It was at that point that one course of action entered Kirby's mind. He got into a stance similar to that of a samurai, holding his blade as if it was a sheathed katana, and closed his eyes.

He then began counting to himself. "One, two, three, four."

Kurabe was getting extremely close to Kirby now, readying her blades to deliver a potential finishing blow. Suddenly, Kirby opened his eyes which were completely blank, like a navy-blue void.

"Five."

The puff suddenly sprung forward with a tremendous burst of speed, catching Kurabe by surprise, and cut with a dashing slice that was similar to one of his Ninja Ability's moves. Two things happened afterwards as time seemed to stand still. Kurabe only landed a small cut on Kirby that, while nothing major, certainly stung. On the flipside, Kirby's attack had landed and managed to destroy Kurabe's visor, revealing her true face.

"My, my. It's been a while since someone's actually landed a blow on me." She glared back at the puff with red-colored eyes and a slight smile.

"As a token of my gratitude, let me show you something special." She uttered, the amusement in her voice indicating that she was truly enjoying this fight.

Kurabe gently tossed her swords into the air… where they stayed completely stationary. That was the case until they suddenly started moving on their own, diving straight towards Kirby. The puff knew what was going on as he gave one quick look to see a familiar wave of energy emitting from Kurabe's hands. She appeared to be using the ESP Ability, or at least something similar to it.

"Well, if she can use that, it's only fair I get to use my own tricks." Kirby thought to himself.

He then discarded his Sword Ability, and did something that truly caught Kurabe off guard: he inhaled Kurabe's swords. Upon swallowing, instead of regaining his Sword Ability like he expected, he gained a headpiece similar to the one Kurabe was wearing and now wielded her swords. In the back of his mind, the child thought this was something similar to the Master ability he had obtained back when he used Meta Knight's Galaxia. Regardless, it was obvious that the fight was far from over.

"Clever trick, child. But I have some more of my own up my sleeve..." She uttered with a dangerous grin.

Just then, she touched the ground, freezing it sold. If that wasn't enough, she summoned a large array of ice spikes and chucked them directly at Kirby. The spikes were easy to deal with, thanks to Kirby's training and the sheer power of the new swords. However, the real problem was the frozen ground, as Kirby's focus kept being broken as he forced himself to not fall down. Unfortunately for the pink puff, Kurabe wasn't going to give him a choice. The warrior gracefully skated around on the ground, showing off her familiarity with the element of ice, and delivered a swift and brutal kick to Kirby's face, forcing him to fall to the ground while dropping one of the two swords.

"Ahh, Rubis, back to where you belong. Now, let's reclaim your sister."

Before Kurabe could make another advancement towards her prey, Kirby got back up and punched the ground with so much force, it completely broke the ice.

"Alright, now we're even again, miss!" Kirby shouted cheerfully, making Kurabe give a small smile in response.

"That we are." She said as she went for another dash, with Kirby doing the same.

The fighters reached each other and unleashed a flurry of slashes, with none of them making contact with the other. The two were truly equal at that moment and then Kurabe jumped back.

"I haven't had this much fun in such a long time, I'm so glad I decided to come here." She said with a bright smile. A smile that then quickly became much more sinister. Using her ESP abilities, Kurabe grabbed several chunks of the ground created from Kirby's earlier punch and formed them into a giant rock golem. Not to be outdone, Kirby made his sword grow massive, an obvious sign of him getting ready to use an Ultra Sword Slash. But before the fight could continue, the golem was struck down by a new arrival.

"What is going on here!?"

Both Kirby and Kurabe stopped their battle the moment they heard that. They both turned to face the voice and saw that it was Meta Knight.

"Meta-sensei!" Kirby shouted as the knight transformed his wings back into a cape which he then wrapped around himself.

While the puff couldn't see his mentor's face, the aura he gave off clearly indicated that he was crossed, and his voice seemed to confirm that.

"Would one of you care to explain to me why in the world you both were fi-"

Before he could finish his sentence, Kurabe, without saying a single word, took her blade and quickly cut his mask in half.

"SENSEI!?"

Kirby was slightly surprised at both the action and what his mentor immediately said afterwards. Even more so, the lady known as Kurabe then began pulling the knight's cheeks in irritation, much like Meta Knight himself did to Kirby when he was scolding the puff.

"You are late! Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting here!? Your student was at least nice enough to entertain me while I waited, but I am still furious with you regardless! You should never make someone wait, do you understand!?" She rambled, emphasizing each point with a pull.

"Owsh! Owsh! Sh-shotph that, pleash! Shen-Kurabe! OWSH!"

"DO. YOU. UNDER. STAND?!"

"Y-yesh! Owsh! I undershtand! Owsh! I'm shorry, shenshe-OWSH!"

During this ordeal, Kirby could only stare awkwardly. "Well...this explains where he gets it from..." he thought. However, there remained only one major question on the child's mind.

"Meta-sensei, who is this lady?" Kirby asked, making Kurabe stop her scolding. The knight gave a slight glare as he rubbed one of his cheeks from pain.

"Well, Kirby, this is-"

"Meta, allow me." Kurabe said, cutting Meta Knight off quickly. She then turned her attention to the child and gave a slight curtsy with her cape, just like she did before their duel earlier. "My name is Kurabe. I was Meta's teacher for many years. Everything about swordplay and almost all of his skills and techniques, he learned from me."

That was when it all made sense to Kirby. "Ah! So, then you're Meta-sensei's sensei!"

"That's correct." She gave a slightly satisfied smile.

"And you also said something about being the second greatest warrior in the galaxy!"

"Yes, that was a title I formerly held."

"What happened that made you lose it?"

"What else? My own student defeated me and took the title for himself!" She seemed to give a slight glare towards Meta Knight, who had just finished putting on a spare mask.

"Um...so, Miss Kurabe, why are you here in Dreamland?" Kirby asked.

"Well, Kirby..."

"Meta, I can explain."

The knight seemed to sigh as he was cut off again.

"You see, I remained in contact with Meta even after I had nothing left to teach him and he left in search of new challenges. Over these past years during his stay in Dreamland, Meta constantly talked to me about a child who caught his interest and eventually became his apprentice. He would tell me these stories constantly about the magnificent feats this child performed to defeat various planet-class threats."

Kirby couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed about being praised by someone as strong as Kurabe.

"Well, after years and years of hearing him talk about his student, I decided to come to Dreamland to meet him in person."

"And you had to spontaneously decide on that yesterday?" The knight seemed to mumble.

"Do not interrupt."

"Well then, um... Miss Kurabe..." Kirby suddenly spoke up.

"Oh please, just call me Kurabe." She replied in a gentle voice.

"But Meta-sensei keeps telling me I need to respect my elders."

Upon hearing that, Meta Knight's eyes widened in alarm. If there's one thing his mentor hated more than disrespect, it's being called old.

"Well, I appreciate the thought, Kirby, but I prefer to be referred to by just my name. That's something I've been trying to beat into Meta's thick skull for years now."

Meta Knight wasn't sure what bothered him more: his mentor's last sentence or the fact that she didn't react to being called an elder.

"You know, Kirby, I find it quite odd..." The puff then tilted his head in confusion as Kurabe continued. "The fact that you're being quite kind towards someone who just randomly started a fight with you somewhat confuses me."

Kirby only gave a smile. "Well, you're Meta-Sensei's sensei, so you have to be a good person! Also...well, during the fight I didn't sense anything bad from you either! So, to me, that means you're in no way a bad person!"

Kurabe simply smiled back and patted the child on the head. "You have a good heart, Kirby. Make sure you never lose it."

Seeing an opportunity for him to finally speak, Meta Knight cleared his throat. "S-Kurabe, how long do you plan on staying here?"

"What, do you really not want me here?" she replied with a disappointed sigh as she placed a new visor over her eyes.

"That's not what I meant, and you know it."

"Oh, lighten up, Meta. You'd think by now you'd be able to take a joke."

"Please, just answer my question." The knight barely managed to suppress his irritation at that time.

"Fine, fine. I plan on staying for at least the rest of the day, maybe two days if I feel like it."

"In that case I can show you around Dreamland!" Kirby offered with another smile.

"Well, then...thank you for your offer, Kirby. I'd be happy to follow you."

"Then what are we waiting for!?" Kirby suddenly grabbed Kurabe's arm and dragged her off to who-knows-where.

Meta Knight's mask hid his expression, but his eyes changing color from yellow to blue and then to pink clearly showed that he was pleased by this interaction.

For the rest of the day, Kirby showed Kurabe around Dreamland, taking her to some of his favorite locations. Meta Knight followed along, albeit at his own pace. This was to ensure Kirby and Kurabe had plenty of time between the two of them. If he were being honest, the knight really didn't need to come along. Even Kurabe herself suggested that he should just go back to the Halberd. However, Meta Knight knew in his heart that there was no way that he would want to miss the chance to see his mentor and student bond.

"I haven't seen her this happy since the day she told me I had surpassed her." He said to himself with a small smile.

Suddenly, Kirby spoke up again.

"So, Kurabe, if you're ok with me asking, why do you wear that thing over your eyes?" He asked while pointing to the visor over her eyes.

"The eyes are the most expressive part of one's body. If you hide them, the enemy will struggle to read your emotions and therefore your actions."

"Oh, is that why Meta-sensei wears a mask as well?"

"Oh, that's a different matter entirely."

Meta Knight froze the moment he heard her say that.

"The reason why he wears that mask of his is because-"

"Isn't that Dyna Blade?" The knight suddenly shouted.

"Dyna Blade!? Where!?" Kirby looked around in the sky quickly but didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

"Oh, my mistake, must have just been my imagination." Meta Knight gave a slight shrug, hoping they would change the subject of their conversation.

"What or who is this Dyna Blade you're talking about?" Kurabe asked, gaining the pink puff's attention immediately.

"Well, she's a giant bird that-"

As Kirby continued his description, Meta Knight let out a sigh of relief. That relief went away as soon as he saw Kurabe glare at him through her eye visor. One would assume that after defeating her in the past he would no longer be afraid of her. Sadly, for Meta Knight, it just wasn't that simple.

Later in Kirby's tour of Dreamland, they came to a lake in Green Greens. As Kirby began to chatter on about the significance of the lake and Green Greens in general, Kurabe could only stare silently. However, Meta Knight could tell that she was thinking about something. Suddenly and without a single word, she placed a foot close to the water and immediately froze the lake. Kirby jumped a bit and could only look on in shock as if he were still processing what had just occurred.

"During our fight earlier, I noticed you were having problems with ice skating. Why don't we practice a bit?" she asked.

"Oh, it's fine! It's fine! I wasn't able to keep balance because I didn't have my Ice Ability, that's all!" Kirby replied with a laugh.

"I insist."

Before Kirby could object, Kurabe took his hand and pulled him onto the ice. While watching the two, Meta Knight couldn't help but think back to the days when he trained under his mentor. Back then, Kurabe was strict and expected him to do exactly what she said without fail, often making him stay awake for hours to train until he could do it right. Not only that, but there were many elements of sink-or-swim teaching to her training. But even with all of that said, she wasn't exactly a harsh teacher. In reality, she was far from it. If Meta Knight messed something up, Kurabe would instantly go to his side and help him figure out what he did wrong. Fierce yet compassionate, the perfect description for the very first person to ever earn his respect. Meta Knight snapped out of his thoughts long enough to witness Kirby fall onto the ice, only for Kurabe to immediately pick him back up.

"Some things never change, do they, sensei?" he uttered to himself with a slight smile under his mask.

Shortly after that thought, the mentor skated up to the knight. "Meta, if you don't mind, I would like to stay here another day."

Meta Knight only gave a nod, understanding what exactly his teacher was asking.

"I figured that would be the case. I'll go prepare a room for you on the Halberd." He said before transforming his cape into wings and taking off.

Upon returning to his ship, Meta Knight was greeted by Sailor Dee, who saluted immediately in his presence.

"Welcome back, sir! You're back a bit earlier than you said you'd be!" the Waddle Dee said.

"Is that so? Well... it doesn't matter. Sailor, I need you to set up a room for a guest." The knight gave this simple order.

"Right away, sir!" Just before Sailor could head off to follow that order, he was stopped.

"One more thing. While you're doing that, make sure there are two beds in that room as well."

Sailor blinked for a moment, as if processing this information. "Wait...but why? Shouldn't one be enough?"

"The second one isn't for her." The knight replied with a sigh.

Hours had passed and it was nighttime when the pair of Kirby and Kurabe eventually made it to the Halberd.

"Kurabe, Kirby, I trust the rest of the tour went well?" Meta Knight asked when the duo entered the Halberd's library, where he had been reading.

"Yes, it was, Meta. Dreamland is quite the beautiful place. I can see why you chose to stay here." She replied with a smile.

"The scenery is just one of many reasons." Meta Knight added.

"Yes, well, I'm pretty sure I know one of the other reasons why." There was a slight laugh as she said that.

"Hey, Kurabe, why don't you stay in Dreamland?" Kirby asked, his voice sounding as if he was hoping she'd agree to it. Taking note of this tone, Kurabe seemed hesitant to answer.

Seeing this moment of hesitation, Meta Knight decided to answer for her. "You see, Kirby. Kurabe has an extremely serious job. She travels the galaxy, fighting dangerous threats, and training others to fight those threats. Unfortunately, she can't stay here forever as much as she'd probably like to."

"Oh..." Kirby said, a mixture of sadness and disappointment in his voice.

"But worry not, Kirby. I'm sure if you ask nicely, she'll make an attempt to come visit. Isn't that right, sensei?"

"Yes, just ask and I'll be sure to come when I can, Kirby."

Hearing that made the child's eyes instantly light up. "Really!? Thank you so much, Kurabe! I'll be sure to prepare suuupeerrr in advance, so we have so much to do together when you come and-"

Meta Knight had to suppress a laugh when he saw how surprised his mentor was by Kirby's sudden burst of limitless energy.

"And then-"

Suddenly, Kirby fell over, completely asleep in the next second. Kurabe could only stare in unsure silence.

"He's ok. I can imagine everything that's happened today made him exhausted."

The knight walked over towards one of the walls, picked up a phone, dialed a number, and talked into it.

"Sailor? Would you mind picking up Kirby from the reading room? Just take him to the guest room then. Thank you."

"Meta, take me to the Captain's quarters."

The sudden request made him drop the phone from his hand. "...excuse me, sen-Kurabe?" he uttered when he could process his thoughts.

"Hm? I'd just like to see if your organization skills have gotten better. Where else would be a better place to do so then in your personal cabin?" she questioned with a slight glare.

It was one that told him there was no way out of this.

The longer Kurabe took to examine his room, the more the knight felt he was being silently judged. I mean, she was likely doing so from the beginning, but it was even more now.

"...I assume the two other people in this photo are Dedede and this Bandana person you mentioned?" she suddenly said, pointing to the framed picture he kept on his desk.

"That's correct." The knight replied, getting a nod in response.

"And this drawing on the wall?"

"That's a gift from Kirby."

"I see."

Without another word, she turned towards him, with her visor now perched on the top of her head.

"...what is it?"

"Meta, drop the mask." The blunt way she said that almost offended him.

"What? Why?!"

"Is it that wrong that I want to make sure you're looking me in the eyes when I'm talking to you?"

There was something particularly cold about the way she said that. With a slight grumble, he relented and removed his mask, placing it on his nightstand.

"Is this better?" he questioned.

"Much better, thank you."

He gave a slight sigh upon hearing that. She then took a look at the candy jar.

"What candies do you have in here?" she asked.

"It's just a variety of mints, chocolates, and fruit hard candies...wait, what are you doing?!" The knight shouted as his mentor popped one of the lemon drops from a tray on his desk into her mouth.

"Hm... you didn't really seem like a lemon drops type." She hummed.

He could only stare at her in silence as she went back to looking around his room.

"You know, Meta, while you were gone, I asked Kirby a small question."

This statement under any other circumstances wouldn't be anything out of the ordinary. But it was the way it was said that caused Meta Knight to tense up.

"May I ask what the question was?" He managed to say.

"I asked what he honestly thought of you in terms of being his mentor."

An unexplainable chill ran throughout the knight's body for some reason.

"Oh? What did he say?" he asked, trying to sound unconcerned as possible.

In reality, he was actually extremely concerned, especially with the serious tone Kurabe had. That was when she fell quiet and looked silently at the glass bookcase.

"Where do I begin...?" she uttered, as if trying to figure out the best place to start her reply. "Honestly, his thoughts seemed to be all over the place about you."

As someone who had known Kirby for many years, Meta Knight understood that was a fitting response.

"He said you were strict and distant at times, but he understood that you liked having your personal space, as much as he'd want to spend more time with you outside of training."

Admittedly, that was something the knight already knew about. It was something that he himself had been working on, and he'd certainly improved ever since he first came to Dreamland. But being reminded of his distant nature, especially in the context of Kirby thinking it, made him feel uneasy. Though, he was grateful that Kirby understood his issues.

"However, he also said that you were the greatest mentor in the galaxy and that you care a lot about him. He's amazed at how much you know about his Copy Abilities and he feels happy knowing that you're always ready to guide him. In fact, he credits you as being the reason why he's able to use his Copy Abilities so well. It's clear that he thinks highly of you and sees you as his guardian."

While Meta Knight honestly knew Kirby thought of him in such a way, there was something about his own mentor explaining it to him that made it feel... different. That was when Kurabe became completely silent.

"...Kurabe?" Meta Knight asked, walking towards her.

"...Meta, I have had many students over the years. But you know that you will always be my favorite." She uttered.

"O-of course, I know!" His reply was immediate, slightly concerned about how his mentor sounded as she spoke.

"Then you must understand why..." Kurabe quietly looked towards him with tears beginning to form in her eyes. "I'm so happy to hear that."

Admittedly, Meta Knight was internally panicking now, as his mentor never shed a single tear in front of him.

"S-sensei? Are you ok?" he barely managed to keep calm at that time.

Without another word, Kurabe placed a gloved hand on the top of his head and patted him.

"I'm so happy, Meta. You truly are my greatest student."

For a moment, the knight was surprised by this action, but it then faded into a gentle smile.

"...thank you, sensei." He replied.

Kirby was currently walking through the halls of the Halberd. Just a few minutes ago, he woke up in one of the Halberd's guest rooms, realizing that he had suddenly fallen asleep from exhaustion. Now he was looking for Meta Knight and Kurabe. He wanted to properly tell them "good night" before he went to sleep.

That was when he came to his mentor's room. The puff thought for a moment before deciding to knock on the door. No response. Concerned, he immediately opened the door to see, to his surprise, he saw Meta Knight and Kurabe just standing in the room, the woman appearing to be extremely emotional about something. Without a single word, Kirby walked into the room and gave her a hug. She froze a bit in surprise at the sudden action but was quick to accept it. Silently, she then looked directly at Meta Knight with a noticeable glare that he already knew the meaning of without her saying a single word. "Get over here." Was what it said. Understanding this order, the knight walked over to the duo and joined in on their hug.

"Kurabe, are you ok?" Kirby asked after a few moments of silence.

She replied with a smile, the biggest either puff had seen her have. "Oh, I'm more than just ok, Kirby. I feel like the happiest woman in the galaxy."

For those of you who've read Dreamland on the Glittering Star: Ghost Ship and Only Neat Life, the character of Kurabe might be familiar to you, as she was mentioned in both of those works and directly appeared in both of those. After recently coming up with her design, I really wanted to do an extra chapter for Let's Be Friends where she met Kirby, and this was the result.

Speaking of Only Neat Life, yes, chapter 4 is in the process of being written and I highly appreciate your patience in waiting for it. I know a lot of people seem to be excited for the next chapter, and I'm grateful for it.

Omake (Bonus)

Kurabe: Answer me, Meta!

MK: Se-Kurabe!?

Kurabe: The School of the Undefeated of the East!

MK: Th-The winds of Kings!

Kurabe: Zenshin!

MK: Keiretsu!

Kurabe and MK: Tenpa Kyouran!

Kurabe and MK: LOOK! THE EAST IS BURNING RED!

Kirby: ...what's going on here?