As soon as the Ryusoulgers defeated the newest Minosaur, they made their way back to the Tatsui home with Koh and Asuna chatting and Melto trailing behind them in deep thought.
"...Tyramigo said that Pachigaroo told him that Chibigaroo made a friend."
"Really?" Asuna clapped her hands in delight. "That's great. Did Tyramigo say who this friend is?"
"He didn't know." Koh shrugged. "Not even Pachigaroo knows apparently. What do you think, Melto?"
"Huh?" Melto finally looked up and blinked. "What was that?"
"Mou, what are you thinking about? The battle is already over. Lighten up!" Asuna pouted, shoveling him lightly. But her version of 'lightly' made the blue haired Ryusoulger stumble slightly.
Huffing, Melto straightened himself and gave his friends a serious frown. "I was thinking about the two people who fought the Druiddons before we showed up. One of them even took on Kleon."
Koh and Asuna blinked back before remembering the two people with swords at the park. Koh rubbed the back of his head, saying, "Now that you mentioned it…" He grinned at his friend, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. "Well, it's good that someone showed up to help. If we see them again, we can thank them. But for now, I don't think we need to worry about them. They don't seem to be bad guys anyway."
"That's right!" Asuna copied the gesture on Melto's free side. "Relax a bit. We're going to rub it in Towa, Bamba and Calano's faces for not showing up for the fight."
"Speaking of which, where are they?" Koh wondered.
"Towa and Bamba had personal business. I didn't get to ask." Melto sighed, a shiver went down his spine at Bamba's glare when he tried to ask. "As for Canalo…"
"He's probably flirting with a girl again." The other two finished with cheeky grins and Melto smiled in agreement. At the moment, any questions regarding the two people at the park were pushed aside, but Melto knew he would revisit them soon. His curiosity meant that he would find it difficult to have unanswered questions and it might help to have more non-Ryusoul allies in the long run.
"Mou, how can I create a deadly Minosaur?" Kleon bemoaned as he wandered around the forest. His last few tries were failures and Wiserue was nowhere to be found.
"Kleon!"
The green alien jumped and spun around quickly. "Pricious-sama!"
Said Druidon commander was not alone. He smirked cruelly at his seemingly human companion. "Meet Krosh, our newest ally."
"She is not a Druidon." Kleon noted nervously.
"No," Krosh's smile was all sharp teeth despite her human appearance. "I am half human…half Gedoshuu. And I have been waiting for sixty for my revenge." Krosh placed a cold hand on Kleon's shoulder, making him gulp. "So I hear that you can create Minosaurs with your slime. Good. I have a plan that will benefit me and the Druidons greatly and you are the key player in it."
Kleon tilted his head apprehensively. On one hand, working with a new player in the game is dangerous. On the other, it might be a good chance to create a strong Minosaur that will gain Pricious and Wiserue's respect.
"I'm listening."
"Hiromi!"
Hiromi flinched as her mother stormed out into the yard with a piece of paper which she knew was her Japanese history test from this morning. Kaoru held up the paper which showed a miserable 70%, a sorry score for a Shiba.
"I can explain." Hiromi said weakly.
"Why is your history test scores so low? Has sneaking out to play worsened your performance?"
"You know." Hiromi lowered her head in guilt.
"Yes." Kaoru huffed angrily. "I let you get away with it. But clearly it has been affecting your studies. So I'm putting my foot down. No more sneaking out to play. From now on, your focus will be your training and studies to become the next Shiba heir."
Hiromi's lips trembled as her fist tightened around her practice sword. "Will you be happy then?"
"What?" Kaoru narrowed her eyes at her daughter.
"Will you be happy if I do work hard to become your successor only?" Hiromi hissed, throwing her practice sword on the ground. "No matter how hard I try, you only see my faults! It doesn't matter if I try hard or if I slack off. You will never be happy with me anyway!"
With those words, Hiromi ran out of the house, intending to seek out Chibigaroo.
"Hiromi!" Kaoru called her back to no avail. Sighing, she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Why is she acting like this?"
"This is partially your fault." Her husband stated with a frown as he showed up, having overheard his wife and daughter's argument. "Have you ever considered Hiromi's feelings regarding this? What if she doesn't want to become the heir in the first place?"
"We are not having this conversation right now." Kaoru glared at him. She went to pull on her shoes, "I'm going to find her and bring her back."
"Kaoru…" Kaoru cut him off by closing the door on him and rushed out to look for her daughter.
But despite asking around, nobody had any idea of where Hiromi went. Kaoru was getting frustrated with her lack of progress. "Where could she be?" She wondered, coming to a stop at the now empty park.
Footsteps sounded along the pathway, though there was something wrong. Kaoru tensed, slipping her Shinkenmaru out at the aura she was sensing. It was dark, and it was something she has not sensed in years, not since the Gedoshuu was defeated.
When the footsteps got close, she raised her sword to block what would have been a fatal blow.
"As expected of a Shiba. You have fast reflexes." The half human, half Gedoshuu mocked the 18th head of the Shiba clan.
"Who are you?" Kaoru circled her attacker cautiously, reaching for her Shodophone to transform at notice.
"I have been known for many names, both as a human and as a Gedoshuu. Now, you can call me Krosh." Krosh smirked as her human form melted away to show her Gedoshuu form. She had purple skin and white knee and elbow guards, long yellow talons and malicious eyes. She held a sword that Kaoru found vaguely familiar but could not recall where she saw it.
"Whatever you have planned, I will stop you." Kaoru quickly transformed and launched her attack on Krosh. But the Gedoshuu was strong and skilled…no, it was more than that. Krosh is able to perfectly read Kaoru's moves.
"Who are you?" Kaoru wondered when their swords locked.
"That is a very interesting question. Has your grandfather erased every mention of me from the Shiba records?" Krosh purred and snapped her fingers. The foot soilders that the Ryusoulgers fight against then materialized around them with a monster that strongly resembled a Samurai in armor.
"Grudge…Grudge!" The Samurai monster slashed everything in its path and the same green light Kaoru saw the other day coming from the boy that made the cupid monster stronger was emerging from Krosh and into the Samurai monster.
"Go! Find the Shiba Manor and burn it to the ground!" Krosh laughed maniacally.
"No way we're going to let you!" Just in time, the Ryusoulgers showed up and fought the foot soldiers and Samurai monster, this time with their Gold. Kaoru took advantage of Krosh's attention with the Ryusoulgers to contact Tanba.
"Tanba! Contact Takeru and have him come here with the retainers! There is a Gedoshuu in the park. And find Hiromi!"
"U-understood, Princess! Stay safe!"
"Those meddling Ryusoulgers!" Krosh huffed in annoyance and turned back to Kaoru. "Never mind. My Minosaur and the Drunn soldiers will take care of them. Let's continue."
Kaoru went into position and tightened her grip on her sword. "With pleasure. Hah!"
"Hiromi-sama!" Tanba called as he and several Kuroko searched the forest where Hiromi's father told them she might be. "Come out please! We need to get you to safety!"
One of the kurokos then spotted something and waved Tanba over to a small stream where Hiromi was cleaning up with the green kangaroo like mecha.
"Hiromi-sama! Get away from that beast!" Tanba immediately rushed to her, intending to carry her away from the strange mecha, only to be met with a punch from both Hiromi and the mecha.
"Chibigaroo is my friend! And I'm not going back!" Hiromi scolded him, planting her hands on her hips. If Chibigaroo was human, he would have copied the gesture.
Tanba quickly scrambled back up to try to persuade the girl to return with him. "Hiromi-sama, you need to return to the manor with me. It's not safe. Your friend can come to if you want."
"I'm not going back! I'm staying out here with Chibigaroo!"
Tanba was ready to pull his hair out. Kaoru was not this difficult when she was Hiromi's age. "This is not the time for a tantrum! We need to go before the Gedoshuu finds you!"
"Too late."
Screams echoed out in the forest as something attacked them.
"I bet you are wondering how I can predict your moves."
Kaoru grunted as she parried another blow. No matter what she does, Krosh is able to guess her moves before she uses it and deflect or take advantage of an opening.
"Let me tell you a secret of why I chose to become a Gedoshuu and why I know all your moves. I was supposed to be the 16th ShinkenRed and Head of the Shiba clan."
Kaoru's eyes widened in disbelief and kicked Krosh away. "You lie!" She hissed.
"Am I?" Krosh mocked her. She lunged towards Kaoru again and whispered the sealing character into her ear, making Kaoru's jaw to drop and lower her sword. This gave Krosh and opening and she slashed Kaoru, causing her transformation to dissolve.
"Believe me now? I trained my entire human life to master that symbol. And I did. But instead…" Krosh's grip on her sword tightened and she slashed the ground in frustration. "Shiba Yojiro was chosen to be the next ShinkenRed! After I toiled and slaved to master the symbol, I was casted aside like yesterday's trash! So I vowed that if Yojiro will take away what belongs to me, I will take the sealing character with me when I join the Gedoshuu! They will never be able to seal the Gedoshuu as long as I live!"
Krosh's malicious eyes then turned to Kaoru with anger. "But you came along!" She hissed. "You managed to master the sealing character and even passed it on to your successor to seal the Sanzu river forever!" Krosh then lighted up and gave Kaoru a cruel smile. "But it doesn't matter anymore. I can still get my revenge by destroying the Shiba clan once and for all. It's a pity Doukoku could not do it, after I gave him a way around the protection spells surrounding the Shiba manor."
Kaoru slowly pushed herself up with anger in her eyes. "It was you! You were the reason Doukoku was able to kill my father!"
"My wrath knows no bounds. I will do whatever it takes to wipe the Shiba Clan and the Samurai off the face of this world, even if it means sacrificing part of my lifeforce for my Minosaur."
"That won't happen! Mera mera soul!"
Krosh quickly ducked out of the way of the flaming sword and she hissed when she saw who it was. "You two!"
The Green Ryusoulger whistled as he and Black came to stand in front of Kaoru protectively. "Wow, sixty years and you're still as ugly as ever."
"How are you two still alive?! You should have died in the explosion!" Krosh shrieked in frustration.
"Yojiro and his team saved us at the last minute." Black raised his sword threateningly at her. "I warned you that I will stop you if you came after the Shiba family again."
"Curse you and the Ryusoulgers!" Krosh screamed as she moved to attack them.
"Haya Soul!"
With the power boost of their Ryusouls, Towa and Bamba were able to take Krosh on with their speed and power.
Kaoru sucked in a deep breath as she pushed herself up, leaning heavily on her sword. These two Ryusoulgers knew Krosh and had some history with her and her grandfather. They were the ones who likely knew if Krosh was telling the truth. But there was a nagging feeling that bothered her. The two sounded young, but from their words with Krosh, it sounded like they knew her grandfather very well when he was the ShinkenRed which should not be likely for their age.
"Mother!" Takeru called as he showed up beside her, Chiaki and Ryuunosuke behind him. He narrowed his eyes at Krosh and the Minosaur.
"Lord, that is…" Ryuunosuke gaped at the half Gedoshuu half human.
"That's Krosh, she's like Juzo and Dayu. Be careful, she is able to read my every move and likely other Samurais, especially you Takeru." Kaoru warned them. If Krosh is telling the truth, it would make sense that she was able to read her moves as she was trained similarly to her, and likely Takeru too.
Takeru did not have time to ponder Kaoru's words and turned to Chiaki and Ryuunosuke. "Take care of the Minosaur. I'm taking on Krosh."
"Got it. Can't let the newbies have all the fun." Chiaki waved his sword lazily. Ryuunosuke elbowed him but Takeru knew the green samurai was in fact serious. More than 10 years later, Chiaki was still the same.
"Let's go. Shodophone!" Takeru, Chiaki and Ryuunosuke flicked their Shodophones to brush mode and held them up. "Ippitsu Soujou!"