Let's Be Friends! Extra: Akemi

Today was yet another sunny day in Dreamland. Kirby was on his way to the usual place where he and his mentor did their training sessions. Meta Knight had sounded extremely tense when he called him yesterday and the child got a vague feeling of déjà vu about the whole situation. This was just going to be another training session, wasn't it? If that were the case, what reason would he have to be so uneasy?

Regardless of the reason, Kirby simply continued his trek.

As he arrived, he saw Meta Knight waiting for him, visibly tense.

"Meta-sensei, what's going on? Did something happen?"

The knight appeared to be thinking about something, as he instantly reacted like he was knocked out of his thoughts upon hearing his voice.

"Hello, Kirby. Nothing bad has happened, I can assure you." He replied.

Kirby could tell that he was having one of his internal debates with himself but wasn't quite sure what it was about exactly.

In truth, Meta Knight was trying to think of the best way to reveal what exactly was going to happen today. Well, he had a good way to start the conversation at least.

"First of all, I'd like to tell you that Kurabe is coming to visit."

The puff's eyes instantly lit up in excitement upon hearing that.

"Ms. Kurabe is coming?!"

"Y-yes, and she's bringing someone with her."

This seemed to only make the child more excited.

"Is it Ms. Mercury?!"

The knight hesitated for a moment.

"...she might bring Mercury as well, but she's bringing someone else new..."

Kirby looked at his mentor with curiosity.

"Hm? Who is it? Is it someone you know, Meta-sensei?"

"I've met her a couple of times. Let's just say the person she's bringing isn't very vocal."

This slightly confused his student.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that..." "I see that you're here on time this time, Meta."

The knight was cut off by the familiar voice of his mentor. She stood in a way similar to her student, where she had her cape wrapped around herself. However, Kirby could also see someone else standing behind her, as if hiding from sight. It was an orange puff with a dark green beret and a blue band tied to the side of their head. In their gloved hands, they held a spear, which they seemed to be using more as support than anything. The person also hid their eyes by looking down, so the child couldn't see their exact expression.

"Now, don't be shy. Go and introduce yourself." Kurabe said to the person behind her in a warm voice.

The person only jumped and became even more nervous, hiding even more.

"Um... how about I introduce myself first?"

The puff walked forward a bit to try and make even a tiny bit of eye contact.

"Hi, I'm Kirby! What's your name?" He asked in his usually friendly tone.

The response was further tension from the stranger.

"I... I'm... Akemi..." They managed to squeak out, barely able to keep eye contact.

"Akemi? That's a nice name!"

The girl only remained silent.

"So, um...how are you related to Ms. Kurabe?"

He saw her mouth move, but he didn't hear a response.

"Um..."

"Please speak up. He can't hear you if you're whispering from this far."

The orange puff jumped a bit after Kurabe said that and fiddled with her spear.

"...I'm ...I'm Kurabe's current student."

"Ah, so you're just like Meta Knight then, right?"

The sudden response made her shiver.

"Uh... n-n-no... I'm not like..." She suddenly cut herself off.

More awkward silence passed.

Suddenly, Kurabe cleared her throat and spoke up.

"Anyway, Kirby. I brought young Akemi here to meet you. I think the two of you interacting will be great for the both of you." She seemed to put extra emphasis on the word "interacting".

"Oh, is that what you and Meta-sensei were talking about the other day?" Kirby asked in curiosity.

"Indeed, it was! Among a few other subjects, of course, but that was the main thing that we were talking about!"

As Kurabe gave that response, the puff noted that Meta Knight seemed to give a slightly annoyed sigh at that.

"Talk is not the word I would use..." He said under his breath, his thoughts going back to his discussion with Kurabe.

It was about a month ago when it happened.

During that time, Kurabe had come to Dreamland to spend time with Meta, and while he was glad to see her, he knew there was something else going on. Specifically due to the fact that she had also brought Mercury along and asked her to watch over Kirby while they were gone. That was more than enough to draw his suspicion. It was finally confirmed when they stopped to admire the public gardens.

"Meta, I have a question. Has Kirby shown any interest in anyone?" She asked in her usual blunt fashion.

That question confused him.

"What do you mean? Kirby's always curious about others."

"Not that kind of interest, Meta." She replied.

Then the exact meaning of her question clicked.

"As far as I am aware, no. Why do you ask?"

"You've met my current student, Akemi, correct?"

"...sensei, no."

"What? You don't want them to be friends?" Kurabe asked with a frown.

"I have no issue with those two being friends. However, we both know that's not what you really mean, sensei."

"It'd be cute, don't you think so?"

"They're still children."

"Cute children!"

"Regardless of how cute it might be, neither of us need to be concerned about playing matchmaker for our students."

Kurabe only seemed to pout at that in response.

"I'm not opposed to the idea of them meeting, however."

Her pout then seemed to change to a small smile. "Alright, then. How about I bring Akemi next time to meet Kirby? Do you think that sounds like a good plan?"

Meta Knight gave a nod and followed. "I will agree under one condition: We allow them to be alone. I'm aware of Akemi's issues, some time alone with Kirby might help her."

His mentor then clapped her hands together.

"It's a deal then!"

She then gave a smile that was strangely unsettling to the knight. He hoped this wouldn't end up backfiring somehow, knowing exactly what thought had gone through his mentor's mind at that point. However, there's no doubt that Kirby might be able to help Akemi with her issues. They were actually quite close in age, with the pink puff being a bit younger.

Well, they would just have to wait to see what will happen next time.

Now it was that next time and things were so far going just as well as Meta Knight had expected. The four of them were simply standing across from each other in awkward silence. Seeing that things weren't going to change anytime soon, Meta Knight decided to make the first move.

"Kirby, how about you show Akemi around Dreamland?"

"Ok!" He then turned towards the girl, who was still hiding behind Kurabe. "Hey, do you wanna go explore Dreamland? There's a lot of cool places for you to see!"

Akemi seemed to jump a bit and stuttered, as if trying to find a proper answer for him and became gradually more flustered at being unable to.

"Go on, Akemi." The female warrior gave a sidestep and pushed her student towards the pink puff, causing her to faceplant into the ground.

"Ah! Are you ok!?" Kirby asked frantically while helping her up.

"I-I-I'm fine..." Akemi uttered back with a whimper as she bowed while clenching on to her spear. "I'm so sorry..."

"You have nothing to be sorry about." Kirby bluntly said, getting a surprised look from Akemi in response.

"Now, come on, let's go!" He said while grabbing her hand and leading the way.

As their two mentors stood and watched, Kurabe finally spoke up. "So, I've fulfilled your condition, Meta. What would you like to do now?"

"...it's been a while since we last sparred, don't you think, sensei?"

She gave a slight smirk upon hearing that. "Indeed, it has. I've been itching to have another sparring session with you, Meta."

She turned towards him and then began to draw her swords. "Prepare yourself!"

The knight's eyes flashed pink as he unsheathed his sword. "Very well."

Meanwhile, Kirby was taking Akemi to one of his favorite locations, Orange Ocean. It was a beautiful tropical area where the sun always looked like it was setting.

While they were walking, Kirby suddenly looked behind him.

He then said "How long are you going to be hiding Ms. Mercury?"

Out of seemingly nowhere, Mercury revealed herself. Well, the pink puff at least knew that she had actually jumped down from a nearby tree.

"You really are good at finding things aren't you, Kirby?" She said in amusement.

"Why are you following us?" Akemi spoke up, a little less tense from before.

"Meta asked me to keep an eye on you two, but don't worry. I'm going to keep my distance. Though if you need anything just call my name." She said before disappearing from sight again.

"Well, let's keep walking, shall we?" Kirby said, receiving a nod in response.

Eventually they arrived at Orange Ocean and Akemi was honestly surprised by just how beautiful the area was. She had read and heard from the others about how Dreamland was a beautiful place, but she never expected anything like this.

"Pretty, isn't it?" Kirby asked, being given a quiet nod in response.

"Um... sensei often talked about how pretty this place was..." She managed to utter.

"Yup! It really is! This place is Orange Ocean! It always looks this orange... except for at night, of course! But it has a ton of islands spread throughout it! It's also close to Rainbow Resort, where the Fountain of Dreams is! Did you hear about the Fountain of Dreams?"

He was given another nod in response.

"I took Mercury there the last time she came to Dreamland! She said it was really pretty!"

Akemi nodded yet again but didn't say anything.

"Anyway, one of the islands in this area is where Meta Knight's base is, so you could say that this is where he lives. Though even then that's not completely accurate since he mostly lives on the Halberd nowadays."

"Uh... huh..." But that was all she said.

Noticing how quiet his traveling companion was being, Kirby then walked over to a nearby bush and pulled out two fishing poles. Upon seeing her confused face, Kirby gave a small chuckle.

"I keep them here for whenever I go fishing. The second one is for Meta Knight, but he won't mind you using it."

The girl only nodded and took the rod.

As the two sat down and fished, Kirby noticed that Akemi looked like she wanted to say something but just couldn't, so he decided to take the initiative.

"Would you like to hear some stories Akemi?"

She seemed to jump a bit upon hearing that. "If... if you wouldn't mind I... would like that..."

The puff then gave a smile. "Ok! Well, let's start with my very first adventure. This was something that happened when I first came to Dreamland. Dedede, the king of Dreamland, stole all the food in Dreamland because he believed everything should belong to him."

Akemi then looked like she was about to say something before falling silent again, as if waiting for more of the story.

"So, I decided to stop him. Food's important after all and it's not fair if only one person gets to have it! So, I journeyed to his castle, beat up his guards and took him head on. Thinking back to it, he was a bit of a pushover... but at the time I thought he was really tough."

After that, Kirby thought he heard her faintly utter something along the lines of "But didn't you beat senpai...?" before shaking her head slightly and nodding, as if asking to continue.

"Oh, you want to know about how I met Meta Knight? Well, Dedede broke an item called the Star Rod into seven pieces. One of those pieces was given to Meta Knight. During my quest to retrieve the pieces he would help me and sometimes have his crewmates fight me. At the time, I didn't understand why, but now I know that it was 'cuz he wanted to train me. Anyway, I had collected five of the seven pieces, so it was time for us to fight. Meta Knight really gave me a hard time during that fight. Though, I honestly wouldn't say I won."

Akemi only looked at him in confusion.

"I think I just got lucky. I hit his mask pretty hard, and it shattered. Then he left while leaving his fragment behind. I was really confused why, but now I know that he's just shy about showing his face. Oh, but please don't tell him I said that!" He said with a slight laugh.

"...is that so?" She uttered questioningly.

"What?"

"N-nothing... just... I've never seen...no, no, no... forget I said anything..."

"Akemi, just say what you're thinking. I won't mind." He said kindly.

She let out a nervous squeak and seemed to sweat a bit. "Um... I... I don't know if it's important but...I've never seen senpai without his mask..."

There was a brief moment of silence.

"Oh, is that all?" Kirby replied bluntly then gave a slight shrug. "Meta Knight doesn't really show his face to anyone outside of me and his crew. Probably Ms. Kurabe and Mercury as well, but I don't know. But I'm sure you'll see it someday!"

Akemi nodded in response, becoming quiet once again, but also looking like she was trying to think about something.

"Why did you become senpai's student?" She asked, immediately closing her eyes in embarrassment.

"Well, I guess there's two reasons, but I'll go over my main reason." Kirby's tone became gentler as he continued. "I never knew my parents or any other family. Meta Knight was the first person of our race I ever met. I just wanted to get to know him better and becoming his student seemed like the best idea."

She nodded in understanding. "And the other reason?"

"Well, before I became his student, I had already fought various monsters that wanted to destroy Dreamland. I figured training with him would help me get strong enough to protect Dreamland even better than before!"

"So, then you fight because it's the right thing to do?"

"Uh-huh!"

"...I wish I had that good of a reason..." Akemi uttered sadly as she averted her eyes.

Kirby blinked in concern. "What do you mean?"

The girl shivered a bit. "I... I first started training with Kurabe-sensei because I wanted to get over my own issues. I thought it'd make me more confident, but... that's clearly not the case..."

She then began to cry. "I-it's selfish, I know! And it doesn't even help at all!"

Suddenly she felt a pair of arms wrap around her.

"There's nothing wrong with wanting to improve yourself. Besides, if you remember, I mostly train with Meta Knight to spend time with him. Isn't that more selfish than your reason?"

Akemi was silent for a while before looking at Kirby with a small smile. "Thank you."

Before the pink puff could reply, someone new interrupted them.

"Yo, Kirby! What's up?"

It was Kirby's hot-headed friend, Knuckle Joe.

"Oh, hey Joe, what's up?"

"I thought I sensed someone strong over here." He replied, clearly in the mood to fight someone.

"Hmm? Who are you?" He asked Akemi, who averted her eyes nervously. "

I-I'm..." She whispered.

"Come on! Speak up already!" Joe cut in impatiently.

"Joe, stop that." Kirby said, in an uncharacteristically serious tone. "Her name's Akemi. She's the student of Meta Knight's mentor."

"Really? You'd think she wouldn't be so quiet then. Don't even seem all that strong either."

As much as Kirby liked his friend, he had to admit that Joe had a tendency to not think about what he's saying and right now was one of those times.

"Heh, must be a pretty lousy mentor 'cuz she's such a nervous wreck. Bet I could defeat 'em no problem." Joe declared proudly.

"Joe!" Kirby yelled out.

"What? Oh..." Joe then saw that Akemi was shaking.

"...Joe, you idiot, you did it again..." He uttered to himself before quickly replying. "Look, look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

Before he could finish his apology, Akemi punched him in the face, sending him flying.

"You can insult me, but no one insults my sensei!"

Kirby could only look on in shock. Akemi's entire demeanor had completely changed, as shown by her now dark green void-like eyes. Knuckle Joe quickly got to his feet.

"So, you want a fight huh? Bring it on!"

A fight wouldn't be an accurate description of what happened next. It was more of a one-sided beatdown with Akemi being the dominant force.

"Ah great, I was hoping this wouldn't happen." Mercury said, revealing herself.

"Huh? You know what's going on, Ms. Mercury?" Kirby asked.

"Of course. Despite her difficulties with talking to strangers, Akemi actually has a lot of potential as a warrior. She enters this sort-of berserk state whenever she's angry."

"Is there any way to stop it?" Kirby asked, slightly worried.

"Either waiting for her to calm down or beating some sense into her."

"Well, I'd rather not have to fight her."

Mercury then gave a sigh. "We could wait, but I'm worried it'll be too late by the time she calms down. I'm going in."

Just as she began to walk, the pink puff stopped her. "Wait, Ms. Mercury. I said I didn't want to fight, but I never said I would just wait for her to stop."

The woman then looked at him in confusion. "Kirby, what are you...?"

"Trust me, please."

With that Kirby ran towards the fight and got right in front of Akemi. The girl paused in her attack.

"Get out of my way, Kirby!" She shouted.

"Akemi, it's OK. Joe can barely stand right now, there's no point in continuing."

"YOU DAMN RIGHT I CAN BARELY STAND! I CAN'T FEEL MY LEGS!" Joe shouted from behind him.

Akemi seemed to be calming down already, realizing what she had just done.

"I'm so sorry about this!" She tearfully uttered with a quick bow before quickly running off.

"Ah! Wait!" The puff yelled out and let out a slight sigh. Then he began to chase after her.

"I've never seen her get out of that state so quickly before." Mercury uttered in slight surprise.

Then she turned her attention towards Knuckle Joe.

"I don't know you, but I think I should give you a lesson in proper etiquette so that this doesn't happen again." The woman said darkly.

As for the fighter, he only sweated nervously.

As Kirby was running, he was slightly surprised to see that Akemi was actually quite fast and he was having a hard time catching up to her. It seemed like he'd have to wait until she got tired, or he'd have to grab a Copy Ability like Wing or Wheel to help with that. Then a third option presented itself. Pulling out his cell phone, Kirby summoned his Warp Star and jumped onto it, managing to catch up to Akemi in a matter of seconds. He then grabbed her hand and pulled her aboard.

"Kirby let go of me!" She yelled out, attempting desperately to escape from his grip.

"Nope!" Was Kirby's simple reply.

"Why? Why are you being so nice to me?"

"We're friends, aren't we? Or at least I want to be friends with you!"

Hearing this made Akemi teary-eyed.

"But... but... but why? Why would you want to be friends with someone like me?"

"Why wouldn't I? You're nice to be around."

The girl only looked even more confused by that.

"B... but I hurt one of your friends, didn't I? Aren't you getting annoyed with talking to me?"

The pink puff shrugged a bit. "Stuff like that happens to Joe all the time. He actively picks fights with anyone he feels like fighting. It's nothing to be upset about and Akemi, if I were annoyed with you, why would I chase after you?"

There was a moment of silence, as if she were processing what she had heard before she pulled her hat over her eyes with a fit of embarrassed squeaking. Honestly, Kirby had no idea how to react to that.

"Are you ok, Akemi? Should I look for our mentors?"

A red blush shot across the girl's face.

"I-I-I'm ok, thank you. And... and we probably should go look for senpai and sensei..." She uttered, but still didn't pull her hat from over her eyes.

With a nod in response, they flew off.

As Kirby steered the Warp Star towards where Meta Knight and Kurabe were, he noticed a massive clashing of energy and magic. Looking down, he saw that the two warriors were sparring intensely with each other and from the looks of it, neither seemed ready to stop. In fact, it was more intense than any sparring session the child had with his mentor.

"...let's go somewhere else." Kirby said in a blunt manner as he steered away.

As they began to move away, the puff briefly looked back.

"...Meta Knight seems pretty happy though." He said absent-mindedly.

"You can tell from all the up here?" Akemi questioned in surprise.

"Uh-huh! Can't you?"

For a moment, the girl became silent, as if making a focused attempt to feel the emotions from the area.

"Now that you mention it, I can feel that my sensei is happy, too."

Unsurprisingly, the love of a good fight was something shared between those two mentors. While the students were flying away from the sparring match, Kirby began to think of good locations to take his new friend.

After a bit of thinking, he suddenly spoke up. "Akemi, how do you feel about forests?"

"I-is it a very dark forest? I don't think I'd like very dark forests..." She seemed to shudder.

"Not at all! It's in a nice place called Vegetable Valley. It's not too far from here."

She seemed to give a sigh of relief. "Ok, then. If you say so, let's go there."

"Trust me, Vegetable Valley is one of the most peaceful places in Dreamland. You'll like it!" Kirby said with a smile.

Seeing a quiet nod in response, he sped off.

Soon enough they arrived at the forest in Vegetable Valley and Akemi was honestly amazed by how peaceful the forest actually was. At this point, Dreamland was certainly earning its name in her eyes. Normally, she would constantly have to have her guard up wherever she went, and this felt like the first time in a while where that wasn't the case. Likely because the previous forests she had traveled to on other planets were quite dangerous. And with how the trees were placed, there was always a direct view of the sun. While she didn't want to stay for that long, it might even be this peaceful at night as well.

"Kirby, where exactly are we going?" She asked as they trekked.

"You'll see." He responded playfully.

Indeed, she did as the two at seemingly the largest tree in the forest.

"Here we are! Wanna start climbing?"

"C-climb?" Akemi asked nervously, looking up and fully seeing how high the tree towered above them.

"Yup! The top of the tree gives the best view of the forest. Though I guess I could summon the warp star again if you don't feel like climbing."

"I-I-I won't need it...at least I don't think so..." She stuttered, looking at Kirby for a moment before looking back at the tree.

"Ok! Hey, here's a trick to help."

Kirby walked back a bit and ran towards the tree at full speed and jumped, making it fairly high up on the tree.

"Now it's your turn!"

The girl gave a slightly nervous exhale before stepping back. She then began to run at full speed and jumped, barely managing to make it on to one of the branches.

"See? I knew you could do it! Now we'll reach the top in no time!"

Akemi gave a relieved sigh. "Uh-huh!"

She then began to continue to climb after Kirby, constantly thinking to herself to not look down. As she kept climbing, things began to feel easier for her. She was still afraid of falling but for some reason she knew that she wouldn't. Maybe it was because Kirby was with her? Or maybe she was finally starting to feel braver?

"Come on Akemi just a little more!" Kirby yelled, as he was already at the top.

Those words were enough to help her push on. She continued to scale the tree, with the puff becoming closer and closer with each pass. In just a couple of minutes, she was almost where he was. Seeing that there wasn't much distance left, she decided to make a risky move and jumped up by kicking off of the tree. The gambit paid off as she safely made it to the top.

"Hooray! I knew you could do it!" Kirby exclaimed happily.

Akemi only responded with a timid smile before looking at the sights before them. The tree provided a beautiful view of the entire forest.

Two sat in a comfortable silence, then Akemi decided to ask a question that's been on her mind for a while.

"Kirby. Do you honestly think I can be like you? Someone strong and brave enough to do the right thing no matter what?"

"Of course! I don't see why not!" He immediately responded with a smile.

Akemi looked at him in bewilderment before giving the biggest smile she ever made that day.

"Thank you."

After picking up Mercury, the duo returned to where Meta Knight and Kurabe were sparring. The intense energy radiating from the battle earlier had died down, signaling that the two had been worn down enough from their fighting. This was further confirmed upon landing when the group noticed heavy panting coming from both sides, likely from the intensity of it all. For Meta Knight, there were several nicks in his armor and half of his mask was completely missing. Kurabe seemed to be in worse shape. Her eye visor completely shattered, and her cape was partially torn. Not only that, but her left shoulder armor was cut in half and the other completely scratched.

"Meta... I'm impressed... you've improved quite a lot..." Kurabe managed to utter in between pants.

"You... expected otherwise... sensei?" He replied back, barely catching his breath.

"No... you aren't my greatest student...for nothing..."

Immediately, Meta Knight seemed to notice that the group had returned, as he covered up the other half of his face with another half of a mask.

"I see you three are back." He said to them.

"Did you have fun exploring Dreamland, Akemi?" Kurabe asked as her student ran over to her.

"Uh-huh!" Akemi replied enthusiastically, getting a surprised but happy look from her mentor.

"That's great. And how was Kirby for you? Did you two get along well?"

Kirby didn't know why but he sensed an uneasy feeling coming from Meta Knight the moment Kurabe said that.

"He's the nicest person I've ever met." Akemi replied.

"Oh, even nicer than me?" Kurabe replied playfully.

The girl seemed to visibly panic. "Oh, no, no, no, no! You're nice, too! But Kirby's also really nice in his own way so I guess... he's nice as... you?"

Kurabe let out a hearty laugh. "I'm only kidding, Akemi. Though I suppose it's time we get going. If you have anything you'd like to say to Kirby, now's your chance."

Hearing this made Kirby sad, but he knew his new friend could come visit any time, so it helped to soften the blow. Then, he saw Akemi walking over to him, a lot less nervous than before and then immediately hugged him. Honestly, it took a moment for the puff to process it due to how sudden it was.

"Thank you so much for everything today, Kirby. It really meant a lot to me..." She uttered with a smile.

"It's not a problem! I had a lot of fun, too! You should come back and visit sometime!" He replied back.

"Aw, my little student is growing up so fast." Kurabe said teasingly.

For some reason, hearing that made Akemi feel embarrassed, as she stopped hugging him to cover her eyes with her hat and let out a fit of self-conscious squeaking noises.

"Meta-sensei, what's she talking about?"

"You'll understand when you're older." His mentor said with a sigh.

Kirby simply pouted at that before turning towards Akemi and holding out his hand. "Let's hang out again soon!"

The girl slightly blushed and reached her hand out to shake it.

"Yeah!"

Another OC-focused story for Let's Be Friends. I actually finished this before the final chapter of Neat Life, but I decided to release it now. Of course, it focuses on a character that has not appeared in any of my other writings yet. I actually do have something in the works related to that, a series that's focused on Kurabe and her crew. I'll be posting more about that later.

Regardless, hope you enjoyed reading!