Me: "Hello again, good readers! Now that we've obtained the Lastation Key Fragment, we're gonna turn our attention back to Lowee as the party searches for the final Key Fragment."

Heero and Neptune: (Enter IC) "We only need one more, and then we'll save Histy! Are you as excited about this as I am, Heero?"

Heero: "While I share in your enthusiasm, we have to find the Key Fragment first. It is best not to celebrate before accomplishing our objective."

Red: (Crashes through window and lands in the middle of IC) "I feel like I'm being left our here! Where's my time in the story?"

Me: (Totally blank faced for a moment) "Crap, that's right. We still have one more DLC character to add to the party roster."

IF and Compa: (Enters IC from Lounge) "What's going on in here? We thought we heard breaking glass."

Red: "My Wifey Number 1 is here! I knew today was going to be a good day for me!"

IF: "How did she get in here?"

Me: (Looks over at broken window) "She broke one of the windows. AND she's gonna pay for it."

Compa: "But… doesn't that mean she won't get paid this month? She doesn't make a lot to begin with."

Red: "No! I don't wanna! I've been saving my money to get something special for my Wifey Number 1!"

Me: "Well, too bad. You wrecked my window, and I'm taking away this month's check to cover the replacement. Now, enough chatter. We need to get this chapter underway. The sooner we finish with this, the sooner we can get back to the search for the Lowee Key Fragment. And since I don't feel like waiting for the others to get here, you guys will have to handle the disclaimer for us." (Points at cast) "From the top."

Heero, Neptune, Compa, IF, and Red: "HeeroUzuki does not own Mobile Suit Gundam Wing. Hyperdimension Neptunia, Super Robot Wars, or any work pertaining to any of these franchises. However, he does own the idea of crossing over Gundam Wing and Hyperdimension Neptunia."

Me: "We hope you enjoy another chapter of the party's… questionable adventures. Now if you'll excuse me, I hear a liter of soda calling my name."

Me, Heero, Neptune, Compa, IF, and Red: (Leave IC)

Ch. 31 Red the Wifey Hunter

It was the day after the party had obtained the Key Fragment on Lastation, and they were on their way to Lowee to search for the final Key Fragment... At least, that was the original plan. It wasn't until the group had arrived at the Land of White Serenity that they realized that they had more than a handful errands to run before they could commit themselves to searching for the item that was supposed to save Gamindustri.

Between Neptune's request for more limited edition pudding, Heero and Lady Green Heart's video game tournament and Lyrica's upcoming concert, it was clear that the party wasn't going to be able to search for the final Key Fragment at the moment.

The Sky Harbor would connect Lowee to the Land of Purple Progress in ten days, but that was a problem since the Planeptune video game tournament was scheduled to take place in nine day. Instead, the party decided that they would take the Sky Harbor back to Lastation in one week, then take the Sky Harbor to Planeptune the day after they got to the Land of Black Regality.

With a whole eight days to burn before the two landmasses were linked together, the party decided to take some time off to relax and recharge. IF in particular had slipped into town as soon as she had put away her belongings, deciding to take this opportunity to indulge herself.

The brunette was in the center of the city with cell phone in hand, scanning the snow covered buildings that made up most of her surroundings. Eventually IF's eyes stopped on a crepe shop, taking a moment to look at her cell phone before putting the device in her pocket, her lips curving into a smile, "This must be the crepe shop Nep mentioned. I've always wanted to try it so she can finally shut up and stop pestering me about it."

IF closed her eyes and took a moment to think about the treats she had came out to buy in the first place, and couldn't help but drool a little. "But crepes made in Lowee, the magical fantasy kingdom… That does sound magically delicious!" The Guild Moderatist approached the counter to order her crepes. "Well then. Could I get two custard crepes? One with the apple topping."

"In that case, make mine with pork cutlet and natto toppings, please!"

IF knew that voice anywhere. She heard it enough times to know just who was shouting. The brunette turned around to look for the girl responsible for the shouting, "Red?!" IF was surprised to find that the red headed girl wasn't behind her. In fact, she wasn't anywhere to be seen. IF scanned the area around her for Red. "Where are you? You sound far away..."

"Here I am! Atop this ropeway!" A cold bead of sweat ran down the side of IF's cheek from sheer disbelief as she looked up in the direction of Red's shouting, narrowing her eyes in an attempt to find the ropeway in question. "I… I can't see that far. The voice is coming from that way, but..."

"Waaah! I can't get down, Iffy!"

IF waited for a moment to see whether or not Red would shout anymore, but was met with silence, "...The voice has faded."

Suddenly the red headed girl popped up next to the brunette, a broad smile on her face as if nothing was wrong, "I'm back!"

The Guild member jumped from surprise as she turned to look at the girl who had a moment ago been shouting about being on a rope and unable to get down, "Whoa! H-How'd you get here so fast?"

Red waved off the girl's question, "Oh, don't sweat the small stuff! Where's my squid and radish crepe?"

"That's completely different from your initial order."

Red looked at the crepes in IF's hands, growing more impatient over the readiness of the crepe she had ordered. "...Yours looks good, in that sweet, girly, wifey sense." The young girl looked over at the shop owner, "Is mine ready yet? I'm kind of anxious..."

With a timid smile, IF held out one of her crepes to the awkward girl next to her, "Um, you want to share my custard-only one? I haven't taken a bite out of it or anything."

Red looked at IF with a starry eyed look, and the brunette thought she could actually see hearts in the girl's eyes. "Thanks, Wifey Number 1! Then why not order another one? My treat! I can't make my dearly beloved pay for me." The red haired girl paused for a moment before flashing a grin at the brunette, "...How's that? More points for giving a good impression?"

It was another instance in which Red was trying to score points with IF, though how she could expect that given how IF had given her a crepe was anyone's guess. "I gave you one, so we're even now." Despite them being even, IF decided to humor the girl, not seeing the harm in doing so, "But… sure, I'll give it to you. 'Plus ten points,' as you might say."

"Oh, then let's do +40!"

Having been offered 'points' for her generosity, Red decided to haggle for more. IF wasn't simply going to give in to the girl's demand, "...Twenty."

Red wasn't going to give up so easily, not with the prospect of winning more points with her Wifey Number 1. "+30?"

"Okay, okay. Then, you can have thirty points. Is one-hundred the limit?"

The red head flashed a wink at IF, "The first wifey to give me one-hundred points total gets a bonus item and hotel event!"

IF tilted her head to one side. The brunette didn't know what Red was talking about, "Bonus item? H-Hotel… event?"

Before IF could get any details, Red perked up her ears and turned around, "I think I hear potential wifey number 2! Wait for me, wifey!"

And just like that, Red took off in search of another 'wifey,' though whether or not she would get another girl to agree to being her wifey was questionable. Now that she was alone again, IF returned her attention to her crepes. Just as she was about to enjoy the first bite of her crepe, IF heard a second familiar voice, only this one was emanating from her thoughts, "(Why do you even bother with that brat?)"

IF wasn't even startled by this, perhaps because the voice in her head had surprised the brunette enough times that she had come to expect these sudden surprise 'visits,' "Haven't heard from you in a while. Where have you been anyway?"

"(Where the hell do you think I've been? I'm in your head 24/7. Ever since that whole fiasco in Leanbox and with no-tits being added to the group, I've had to go back to the proverbial drawing board to come up with some new plans to get closer to Heero. Speaking of which...)"

The Guild Moderatist was curious as to why her inner self had suddenly trailed off, when IF noticed a certain Gundam pilot enter the plaza she had come to for her crepes. "(Tell me, what special crepe are they serving today?)"

IF took a bite out of her apple topping crepe before giving a response to… herself, "The Lover's Crepe, but what does that have to do wit-" The brunette stopped when she thought about the special crepe that was being served today, "(Supposedly, if a girl gives half of a Lover's Crepe to a boy she likes, they're guaranteed to have great success in the romance department.)"

Suffice it to say, IF was rather skeptical as to whether or not such a thing would actually work, "I didn't think you actually put stock in legends or superstition."

"(C'mon, this is Lowee! Magic is a real thing here. You can't tell me that you don't want this to work.)"

The brunette shifted her gaze to the ground as her cheeks took on a light pink hue. "Well, I'll admit... It does sound kind of romantic. I guess it's worth a shot."

IF turned around to order the Lover's Crepe as Heero took a seat on a bench, trying to relax as best he could against the cold wood seat. The last time the party took a break from searching for the Key Fragments they spent most of their furlough fighting monsters instead of relaxing. Before Heero had a chance to get too comfortable, IF approached the Perfect Soldier with the Lover's Crepe in hand, "You look tired. What have you been doing?"

Heero looked at the brunette for a moment before leaning back in his seat, "Patrolling the surrounding area. I don't think I have to remind you what happened the last time we took a break from our mission."

IF didn't have to be reminded… hell, the party ended up using two of their three day break fighting monsters. The Guild Moderatist sat down on the bench next to Heero, looking away for a moment before turning her attention back to him. "Have you eaten anything yet? I've had two crepes already, and I don't think I can eat this one by myself. Guess my eyes were bigger than my stomach for a moment."

"I get the impression you're trying to ask me something."

The brunette scratched her cheek sheepishly, knowing that Heero had caught on to what she was really asking, "Do you… wanna share this crepe with me? You don't have to if you don't want to."

Heero thought about the girl's offer for a brief moment before nodding his head, "I have no objection if you don't."

IF turned her attention to the crepe in her hands that, if the legends surrounding it were true, meant she would experience greater success in regards to romancing the boy next to her. The Lover's Crepe, as it was called, had a rather stereotypical romantic motif on it; a heart, from the way the strawberry topping had been placed on it.

Carefully pulling apart the crepe so that both halves had half of a strawberry, the brunette handed one half of the crepe to Heero. The Gundam pilot examined the treat in his hands with IF watching him intently. After taking a moment to look at his half of the crepe, Heero began to lift it towards his mouth, at which point IF began to do the same, "(If this works, I may have to rethink my position on these fairy tale cliches.)"

Heero and IF were about to take their first bite of the Lover's crepe when the sound of someone screaming began to draw closer. Before either could react, a strange black mass with a hint of blue passed right in front of them, taking their crepe along with it.

IF looked at her hand, then toward the brick wall that the strange mass had just slammed into, partially destroying it in the process, "What the hell was that?"

The object that had collided with the brick wall slowly pulled itself out of the rubble, which turned out to be Nisa. A piece of brick and mortar fell off the heroine as she stood up, rubbing the back of her head as she did, "Oww… I didn't think it would be quite so powerful."

As IF and Heero watched Nisa pick herself up, Gust came running onto the scene, concern evident on her face, "Is Nisa alright? Gust explicitly said use little amount. Cause big explosion in large doses."

Nisa thumped her chest while flashing a confident grin in an attempt to reassure the small girl that she was fine. "There is nothing to fear. A true hero wouldn't be injured by something like this."

As Gust inspected Nisa, Heero stood up from his seat on the bench, "I should be going."

IF hurriedly got up in response, ""I-If you're willing to wait, I can get another crepe."

"Unfortunately, I cannot wait. Compa has already asked for my help for when she goes grocery shopping."

Heero walked away from the girls to make good on his previous obligation. IF stood in silence while the heroine that had caused the interruptions dusted herself off. In the process, Nisa ended up brushing off the two halves of the Lover's Crepe from her rear-end, "What are these? They're all sticky and look like they'll leave a stain on my outfit!"

IF turned her attention over to the bluenette, and as soon as she saw the Lover's Crepe fall to the ground from her ass, the Guild Moderatist suddenly found herself hit with the irresistible urge to beat the heroine to within an inch of her life.

Without wasting another second, the brunette walked over to Nisa, who failed to notice her until she was right in front of her, "Good morning to you, my comrade in arms. What can I do fo- blarg!"

Before another word could come out of her mouth, IF had her hands around the heroine's neck and was throttling her, shaking her back and forth as violently as she could, "You idiot! Do you have any idea what you've just done?!"

Between IF's vice-like grip and violent shaking Nisa was having a great deal of difficulty getting anything out, "N-No… what… did… I... do?!"

"You've ruined everything!" IF abruptly stopped strangling the heroine and spun her around so that her back was facing her. Nisa's first instinct was to run, but found it impossible when IF wrapped her arms the blue haired girl, pinning Nisa's own arms to her sides. The brunette dug her heels into the ground before bending backwards, lifting Nisa off the ground and ultimately driving her into the ground head first with a skull crushing suplex.

IF put so much force behind the attack that Nisa's head went right through the pavement and into the ground beneath. Gust had to look away, simply because it was too painful to watch the heroine being driven into the ground. The Guild member allowed herself to fall onto her back before dusting herself off, all the while shooting a glare at Nisa, who's head was planted firmly into the ground, "If you do anything like that again, I'll kill you!"

With that the angry brunette stormed off to cool her head. It was only once she was sure that IF was gone that Gust helped to get Nisa's head out of the ground. The bluenette had to put in a significant amount of effort to pry her head out, and once she did all she could feel was a constant throbbing pain all over, "Ouch! That was… painful… Is she really an assassin type? She's way too powerful for such a role."

"Is Nisa alright? Gust was certain you would die."

Nisa had to sit down for a moment as she tried endure the immense pain in her head. "This must be what they call a near death experience. But I will not be deterred! As a heroine, I must continue my battle against evil wherever it may be!" Despite her claim, the heroine fell flat on her ass as soon as she tried to stand up. Gust had to help Nisa with her second attempt. "Perhaps Nisa should rest for now. Head injury may be quite serious."

The two girls began their trip back to the safe house, not wanting to cross IF for the rest of the day. Meanwhile, a few blocks away from where all of this had transpired, Neptune and Compa were enjoying crepes. As the duo was about to take their first bite of the treat, Neptune suddenly began to frown while looking up from her food, "...Iffy's just tried to score points with Heero. I can totally feel it."

Compa had taken a small bite of her crepe when Neptune had made her statement, feeling just as irritated as the purplenette next to her, "Iffy must have been planning this. Maybe she tried to make us look bad while she was at it?"

"C'mon Compa, you should know that Iffy's always gonna take shots at us to make herself look good."

Neptune and Compa spent the rest of the walk back to the safe house in a bad mood.

Xxx

It was day four of the eight day waiting period, and the party was enjoying their time off from searching for the fourth Key Fragment. IF was seated on a park bench not too far from the party's safe house, with a few children playing on the park rides across from her.

As IF was looking at her cell phone, Red suddenly popped up in front of her with a bright smile on her face, "Iffy, ready for a pop-quiz?!"

Because the brunette had been completely preoccupied with her phone, she was taken by surprise when Red showed up, "Whoa! ...Such a sudden appearance and random topic. What kind of quiz?"

The red head was unable to contain her excitement. "It's a 'How Well Do You Know Red?' quiz! You will answer personal, perhaps even private, questions about me!"

IF wasn't sure she heard the girl correctly as was evident by the uncertainty in her eyes. "Um, okay. Is there going to be a question I actually know the answer to?"

Red flashed a wink at the Guild member, "I dunno! We'll find out."

As much as she didn't want to take part in this pop-quiz, (mainly because she didn't think she would get a single question correct) IF didn't see anyway out of it, "I don't see this working out, but fine."

"Okay! If you get it wrong, you have to do whatever, and I mean WHATEVER, I tell you to do."

IF didn't expect nor like the sound of that, as suggested by the bug-eyed look on her face. "Wait, what…?!"

Ignoring the brunette's obvious dismay, Red proceeded with her pop-quiz, "Question the first! What is Red trying to collect right now? 1) Gummies, 2) Fishies, 3) Moneys ...Five seconds!"

Between the short time span, Red's apparent inability to spell, and the fact that the question's correct answer wasn't among the available choices, IF wasn't sure this was a fair or legitimate quiz, "F-Five seconds?! I don't see the right answer anyway!"

Red began the five second countdown, regardless of the fact that her quiz was unfair. "Five… four… three..." As soon as she got to three, Red stopped her countdown, "Another choice appears! 1) Gummies, 2) Fishies, 3) Moneys, 4) Sleepies ...Which is it, Iffy?!"

The fourth answer that was added wasn't even the correct answer, irritating the brunette. "What's the point of the fourth one?!"

Red gave something of an apologetic look as she made a sound to signal that time was up. "Bzzzt! Sorry, time's up. The correct response was 'wifeys.'"

"Grr, this is totally unfair. You didn't even offer the right answer in your choices."

A bright smile formed on Red's face after IF finished commenting on how unfair the quiz was, "Correct! In this case, Iffy wins! The answer is 'none of the above!'" IF could not hide her confusion, trying to figure out just how it was she won... Not that she was going to complain. Red went on to explain how the Guild Moderatist had won. "Choosing isn't always right! Sometimes, not choosing is the correct answer! It may be referred to as the 'harem' option!"

IF couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief, "Okay, then I'm right. Good… I was worried for a minute."

"It was fun, right?" Red began to cozy up to the brunette, seeing an opportunity to add to her 'charisma.' "...By the way, this should also add points to my charisma level."

IF wouldn't go so far as to say the quiz was fun, but it had been fairly interesting. "Sure, it was interesting. So, the points added will be..."

"Good! Charisma +40!"

The Guild member hadn't even been given ten seconds of deliberation, and already Red had decided to award herself forty points, "...So you've given yourself eighty points total already, huh?"

Before IF could broach the red head's decision to award herself so many more points, Red turned around and ran off, presumably in search of 'wifeys.' As the Guild Moderatist watched the girl run disappear from sight, Neptune, Heero and Compa approached, with Neptune stuffing her face into a some noodles, "Hway, Iwfy! Fwach ya doin'?"

IF couldn't believe that the party's leader was still in the habit of talking with food in her mouth, "Were you raised in a barn? Stop trying to talk with your mouth full."

The purplenette finished inhaling the noodles in her mouth before repeating her question. "What'cha doin', Iffy? You lookin' to hook up with somebody other than Heero? I will totally support you!"

Although she had expected the girl to have said something like that, IF still couldn't help but frown, "You're not funny. I was just sitting here minding my own business when someone that I've been running into lately asked me a question."

Thinking back on the question she had been asked, IF questioned how Heero would have answered if given a similar question, only more serious and without any answers that were 'wrong.' "Hey, Heero. I wanna ask you a hypothetical question."

Heero raised an eyebrow, curious as to what sort of question the brunette would ask, "Neptune, Compa and I are in a life or death situation, and you can only save one of us; who would you save?"

Neptune tossed her now empty cup of ramen into a nearby trashcan while responding to IF, "The answer is so obvious, Iffy. Heero would save me! I mean, we are lovers after all."

Compa made her usual pouty face when the girls went into debates regarding the Gundam pilot's affections, "You don't know that for certain, Nep-Nep. Heero might choose to save me!"

IF rolled her eyes as the two girls quarrel over who Heero would save in a life or death situation, "You get ten seconds to decide. Starting now."

The trio directed their attention toward the Gundam pilot, eagerly awaiting his answer. Heero on the other hand, looked back at the three girls with the stoic expression that may as well have been his trademark.

Even as the time limit to answer the question quickly slipped away, Heero simply continued to watch the girls, leaving IF to question why the boy had not answered yet, "(Why hasn't he answered yet? I mean, this is supposed to be a difficult question with some thought put into… But Heero shouldn't be having any problem answering.)"

Once the allotted time was up, Neptune immediately began to voice her discontent at the Perfect Soldier's unwillingness to answer the multiple choice question, "C'mon Heero, why don't you just set the record straight for everybody and tell them that you would pick me."

Compa began to press her cheek up against Neptune's as she frowned at the purplenette, "You don't know that for certain, Nep-Nep. Heero might choose me instead."

"Yeah right! Heero's MY lover and he would choose me over anybody else!"

As the two girl's began to pull on one another's cheeks, Lyrica, Gust and Nisa approached from a nearby snack stand. The sight of the two girls trying to force one another away raised an eyebrow since the trio had just got there, "Why are Neptune and Compa acting like that? They normally get along so well."

IF shifted her attention to the three girls so as to address their question regarding the two feuding party members, "Nep and Compa are arguing about a question I asked Heero."

Gust took one look at the two girls who were still arguing, "What question would make them argue like this?"

"I asked Heero which one of the three of us he would save if we were in a life or death situation."

Lyrica couldn't help but get upset about the question, not because of who it had been presented to for answering, but for the answer choices given, "How come he can only pick between the three of you? What about us?"

IF looked away from the cerulean haired girl, she had had a feeling that someone was going to bring that up. "Well, I felt the question was difficult enough as it is without adding any more people to the list of choices." The brunette turned her gaze back to the Gundam pilot in front of her, "But what the hell, Heero? I know it was a hard question, but why didn't you answer?"

Heero stuffed his hands in his pockets and gathered his thoughts before responding to the Guild Moderatist, "Given what the question entails, not one of the answers given is correct. That being the case, simply not answering seemed to be the only real option available."

Neptune and Compa had stopped their arguing and cheek pulling, confused by what exactly the Gundam pilot meant when he said that not answering was the 'only real option,' "What do you mean? Wouldn't saving one of us be better than saving none of us?"

"Yeah! What Compa said! Don't you love me, Heero?"

Heero couldn't believe they were actually asking that question, "I was to pick only one of you to save in a life or death situation. Naturally, I find such an outcome to be unacceptable, so by not choosing one of the given answers, I was able to choose the answer that I wasn't given."

The look on the girl's faces told the boy that the didn't quite get what he was saying. "Let me put it in a way you will understand. Instead of choosing one of you over the others, I would find an alternative solution and save all three of you."

A broad grin formed on Neptune's face upon hearing the boy's reason for not answering the question, "That is such a Heero answer."

Compa's eyes began to gleam like jewels , elated at Heero's response, "I should have know Heero would answer like that. Even if we were all in trouble, he would find a way to save everyone."

Nisa nodded her approval, equally pleased with the Gundam pilot's choice of words, "I would expect nothing less from my fellow hero in arms. A true hero would not leave a single comrade behind."

Lyrica was left to question Nisa's logic once again, "I think that's something any sensible human being would do, not just heroes."

IF found herself unable to look the Gundam pilot in the eye at the moment, "(When Red told me about how not answering could be considered the correct choice and how it was the 'harem' option, I found it difficult to believe her. But hearing Heero say that… It makes him sound really cool.) Sorry for the sudden pop quiz. I was just curious to see how you would answer."

Neptune started rubbing her stomach as she looked around for a food vendor, "If you guys are done, let's go get some food!"

Compa stared at the Purplenette who had been eating the entire time they had been walking to the park, "But Nep-Nep, you just ate."

"Compa, three noodle cups is not even a snack for me. I need a lot more before I'll be satisfied."

Gust's face paled slightly as Neptune talked about her bottomless pit for a stomach, "Gust can hear wallet crying right now. It is VERY sad."

Xxx

Day six of the party's break arrived before they knew it. The Sky Harbor connecting Lowee and Lastation would open tomorrow, and the group was taking care of last minute preparations before their departure… all except one.

IF had made it a point to leave the safe house early each day for the past six days, her intention unclear to the party. The reason the Guild Moderatist had been waking early was… to get to a bakery.

Now, normally IF wouldn't have gone through so much effort solely for the sake of food. But what made this different was the fact that their was a certain delicacy that could only be bought at this one establishment, and IF was determined to try it for herself.

After waiting in line for what felt like an eternity, the brunette finally reached the counter and wasted no time in ordering the pastry she had been trying to get for the past six days; blanc-manger. Once she had it, IF wasted no time in leaving the bakery, completely ignoring all the looks of envy from those who were still waiting in line, as she had bought the last one.

IF quickly made her way to the nearby park and plopped down on the first park bench she saw, heaving a sigh of relief once she was seated, "Phew, finally got it. Coming here every single day has been worth it." The Guild Moderatist looked down at the gelatin in her hands, pleased with the results of her efforts. "The top-rated bakery on all of Lowee! Their blanc-manger with white peach is their specialty."

IF couldn't help but drool as she marveled at the sweet treat in her hands, "They only make a set number each day… I've been waiting to get my hands on this for such a long time… I only could get one, but that's infinitely more than zero."

"What are you talking about?!"

The brunette flinched out of surprise upon hearing a voice talk to her from out of nowhere. IF looked around for the source of the voice and it wasn't until she looked down that she found it. Underneath the bench she had seated herself at was a mass of red hair, and after a few seconds the red haired object revealed it's face to be… Red, "Red?! What are you doing underneath the bench…? Have you been waiting their all along? Were you… sleeping there?"

Red looked underneath the bench at the numerous ants marching to and fro, "Well, actually, these ants are..." The red headed girl rapidly shook her head before returning her attention the IF, specifically the blanc-manger she was holding in her hands. "B-But anyway! What's that? Wiggly-squiggly gelatin?"

"A dessert called blanc-manger. I heard people talk about it, so I thought I'd try it out too."

Red found herself entranced with the gelatin in IF's hands. "Oooooh..."

IF could tell based on the red headed girl's face that she was hungry, and was hoping to get a bite of the gelatin. The brunette gave a hesitant smile, not really wanting to give up her treat that she had struggled so long to get, but was willing to take pity of the girl, "...Do… you want to try a bite?"

Red's eyes lit up, overjoyed with IF's offer, "Can I?! Sweet! Well then… Agump!"

When IF offered to give Red a bite of her blanc-manger, she meant a 'bite,' not the whole damn thing. Before IF knew it, the blanc-manger in her hands was devoured all at once. The Guild Moderatist stared at her hand where the blanc-manger had been, her hopes of tasting the specialty item dashed to pieces. "Y-You… ate it all in one bite..."

Red hadn't bothered to moderate herself and it was only after IF had said something that Red realized that she had indeed eaten the blanch-manger in its entirety, "...Huh?! There's no more left for Iffy! No chances for indirect kisses!"

IF was disheartened by this turn of events. A moment ago she felt as though she was on top of the world , but now she felt as though all of the energy had been sucked right out of her, "Aww..."

The Wifey Hunter could only watch as IF trudged away, "I feel like I've upset my wifey… This calls for an idea!"

Red took off in another direction while IF sulked all the way back to the party's safe house. When day seven arrived the group had begun packing their gear while waiting for the Sky Harbor to open. When IF woke up she was surprised to find a large box taking up most of her room, "What the hell's this? My room is being taken over by a weird, giant box."

Upon closer inspection, IF noticed a tag on the side of the box, and that said box was addressed to her, though the one responsible for it's delivery was unknown. "It's addressed to me… Who in the world would send me this? It's packed full of… something..."

Shortly after reading the tag, IF found an envelope taped to the side of the box, "...An envelope. Let's see… 'Sorry for the other day.' Uhh… 'Disappointing my beloved wifey definitely deserves minus points.'"

IF's lips curved into a small smile as she continued to read the envelope. "Minus points? 'As an apology, I got you a bunch of that blanc-something. -Red'"

The brunette's cheeks turned a bright shade of red at the heart felt sentiment, "Aww, I didn't know she was beating herself up over that. Oops. She didn't have to do this..."

IF opened the box that Red had delivered to her overnight, but fell silent as soon as she was able to see the contents of the box… Which wasn't exactly what she was expecting. "What's all this crap…? Manju…? Lowee's specialty, Lady Blanc's Manju."

IF couldn't help but laugh at the honest mistake the girl had made, "Pffft… Hahaha! I don't blame her for getting them mixed up. This is so like her..." The brunette may have been upset about not getting to try the blanc-manger, but she hadn't held it against Red. If anything it was an accident and accidents happened.

Outside of the brunette's room, hidden behind a row of bushes was Red who had been waiting anxiously for IF to open the box. The red headed girl was close enough to hear IF while still being far enough so as to be concealed by the bushes, "Looks like my wifey loves the gift I left her. This should make it easier to get back those points I lost."

There was a knock at IF's door, though the person on the other side didn't wait for a reply before opening said door, "Iffy, we heard you laughing in here. What's so funny?"

"Nothing, really. Just a misunderstanding with the contents of this gift that was given to me."

Neptune popped her head out from behind Compa, and immediately caught sight of the treats contained within, "Oooh… you gonna eat all that, Iffy? I will totally help you!"

IF frowned at the purplenette before looking at things from a more realistic perspective. Realistically she wouldn't be able to eat all of the treats in the box without putting on weight, and there was no way go through that. The Guild Moderatist released an irritated sigh. "Fine. You can have some."

As soon as she received the brunette's permission, Neptune began to dig into the Blanc Manju. Eventually, Nisa, Lyrica and Gust found themselves congregating in IF's room as well. Although the room was full of life and merriment from the girl's playful banter, the lack of the party's only male member caught the attention of the group's self-proclaimed Keeper of Justice, "Where did Heero run off to? I would have thought he'd be here reminding us to have our gear ready."

Lyrica paused for a moment before recalling that Heero had gone out just moments ago, "He said he had some kind of errand to run or something. I sure he'll be back any second now."

"As you are talking about me, I can only assume that you need me for something."

The two bluenettes yelped out of surprise, not expecting the boy they had just been talking about to pop up right behind them. Lyrica took a few deep breathes before turning to face Heero with her cheeks slightly swollen, "Please stop doing that Heero, I get scared easily."

Gust caught the fresh scent of baked goods coming from the bag dangling at Heero's side, "Did Heero go to bakery? Gust smells something very good."

Compa's nose was soon filled with the same sweet aroma that had gotten Gust's attention, "I'm getting hungry just smelling it."

Heero turned his attention to the large box that Neptune was helping herself to. "Neptune, what are you eating? And did you check to make sure it isn't poisoned?"

Neptune's mouth had been stuffed to the brim with the Blanc Manju that had been left for IF. As soon as Heero had asked her whether or not she checked the treats for poison, the purple haired girl began to panic as she recalled the last time she ate food given to the group by someone outside of the party.

The party's leader quickly looked around for a trash can, and as soon as she found one, spit up everything she had stuffed into her mouth. Neptune turned to IF with an angry expression on her face. For the purplenette, something like poisoned food was nothing short of betrayal, "That stuff was poisoned, Iffy?!"

IF was upset with Neptune for having insinuated such a thing when the contents of the large package was meant as an apology for an accident, "No! There's no way it would have been poisoned! And even if it was, the way you shove food into your chubby face you wouldn't be able to tell if it was anyway, Neptune."

Neptune and IF got in each others faces and sparks began to fly, "My face ain't chubby! And I got poisoned last time cuz you were making deals behind our backs, lazy eyes!"

"No, you got poisoned because you pissed off the wrong people, porker!"

Compa, Lyrica, Gust and Nisa watched with fearful eyes as the two began to dig into each other verbally. Before the fighting could turn physical, Heero dropped the bag he was carrying, grabbed both Neptune and IF by the collar and lifted the two off the ground and away from each other.

The sudden sense of weightlessness caused the hostile air between the two girls to disappear, replaced with confusion, "Both of you. Stop it, now."

Neptune and IF flinched. Normally Heero didn't get this stern with the girls unless he was about to get involved. "I asked if you had checked it for poison, that doesn't mean start making accusations or attacking one another."

Heero set Neptune and IF back down on the ground, and both girls had grown quiet as the Gundam pilot continued to lay into them, "Neptune, by now I would have hoped that you would at least take a moment to check the food since it came from outside the group. There's no way of knowing whether or not the person who sent it has ill intentions or not. And IF, after what happened on Leanbox you should know by now that you can't just accept gifts from people that the rest of us don't know about. If the food had been poisoned, Neptune could have died and it would be on your hands."

Both girls looked down in shame. When Heero laid everything out the problem in front of them, the two girl's realized how pointless their fight just now was. Neptune stuffed her hands in her pockets and looked away from the brunette across from her, "Sorry for yelling at ya and calling you lazy eyes, Iffy..."

IF heaved a deep sigh, feeling just as guilty about what had transpired as the girl in front of her, "I'm sorry too… for calling you chubby."

Heero didn't like seeing the two like this, and he certainly didn't like having to get on to them like this, but it was the only way to keep them from fighting, "I'm only getting on to the two of you because I am concerned for the well-being of everyone here. I don't want anything happening to any of you."

Neptune rubbed the back of her head and grinned as Heero's rough exterior gave way to his more compassionate side, "Aww, you're so sweet, Heero."

Nisa went into another one of her spiels as to how Heero was a hero based solely on how he handled the situation, "A true hero always thinks about the safety and well-being of their comrades."

Lyrica was once again questioning the girl's claim that this was something only a 'true hero' would do, "Nisa, you keep saying that only a hero would think about the safety of their friends. I'm telling you, any sensible human being would care. Compa would, and she's not a true hero."

The nurse in training made a pouty face at the songstress, somewhat offended that Lyrica had said that she wasn't a hero, "What do you mean by that?"

With her hands up in a defensive manner, Lyrica tried to assure the pink haired girl that she hadn't meant any harm by what she said, "I didn't mean it in a bad way, honest! I just meant that even though you're not a hero like… well, Heero, you still think about everybody in the party and their well-being."

Ignoring the bickering going on behind him, Heero picked up the plastic bag he had set down, "We still have a few minutes before the Sky Harbor opens. With that in mind, I bought you all these."

The Gundam pilot reached into the bag and pulled out a clear plastic container, the contents of which was quickly identified by IF, "Is that… blanc-manger?"

"I bought one for each of you, so I don't want you fighting over it."

Each girl received one container of blanc-manger, happily digging into the gelatin that was sought by both local residents and adventures alike. Red continued to watch IF, noting the change in her behavior upon receiving the blanc-manger, "Is that the blanc-thingy that Iffy was looking for? It must be, or she would be paying attention to the treats I got her."

Before IF took her first bite of the blanc-manger she stopped and thought about her attempt at getting Heero to share the Lover's Crepe with her and how it turned out. The brunette directed her attention to the boy as he was about to leave the room, "Hey, Heero. Would you… like to share this blanc-manger with me? I tried sharing that crepe with you last time, but you know how that went."

Heero deliberated the matter for a moment before giving the girl the reply she wanted, "If you do not mind, then I will not object to your offer."

Red began to look concerned as IF cut her blanc-manger in half to share with the Perfect Soldier, "Why is Iffy looking at that guy with the eyes of a maiden in love?"

As the two indulged in the blanc-manger IF couldn't help but giggle at the sight of some of the gelatin sticking to Heero's bottom lip, "Heero, you don't eat sweets very much, do you? You've got some stuck to your lip."

Heero stopped to try and examine himself, only to have IF take care of it. "Here. I'll get it."

The brunette gently slid her finger across Heero's bottom lip to clean off the gelatin that had stuck to it. After scooping up the remainder of Heero's half of the blanc-manger, IF stuck her finger in her mouth so as not to waste the sweet tasting dessert.

Outside the room, Red was in a state of shock. She had just watched IF clean off Heero's lip, then stick her finger in her mouth, "I-I-Iffy just… got an indirect k-kiss from that guy! My wifey is cheating on my!"

IF really hadn't thought much about what she had done, until her inner self commented on it, "(Well, haven't we gotten bold? Guess you didn't need my help this time.)"

The brunette questioned why the voice in her head was calling her bold, "(What are you talking about? All I did was clean off some gelatin from Heero's lip. It's not that big of a deal.)"

"(How little you know. As you said, you clean Heero's lip, but you then put your finger in your mouth. That is what we call an indirect kiss, IF)"

IF's cheeks began to burn as she realized just what she did. Even if it was indirect, a kiss was still a kiss, and the thought of kissing Heero had crossed IF's mind more than once. Neptune wasn't at all pleased when IF cleaned the boy's mouth, "That's not cool, Iffy! I'm the only one who should be cleanin' Heero up and getting kisses!"

Compa looked at the fuming purplenette, "But Nep-Nep… you already ate all of your snack."

Neptune looked at the container in her hand, and the lack of its contents. Since she didn't see something like this happening, she hadn't bothered to save even a little bit to attempt an indirect kiss with Heero. The boy in question didn't understand what the girls were talking about, and didn't really care. Heero cast a brief glance over at the clock on the wall at saw that it was 8:05 AM, "The Sky Harbor opened five minutes ago. We should leave now."

The group gathered their belongings and headed for the Sky Harbor. Meanwhile, Red was tailing the group from a distance, "That guy's trying to steal my wifey! There's no way I'm losing Iffy to him."

Xxx

After crossing the Sky Harbor and entering Lastation, the party dropped all there gear at the safe house and… spent the rest of the day doing whatever came to mind. Neptune, Compa, Lyrica and Gust stayed at the safe house, reveling in another day free from questing or fighting monsters.

IF decided to take on a job request for the sole purpose of getting away from Neptune. The party's leader had given her an earful all the way from Lowee to Lastation, and the Guild Moderatist really didn't want to deal with her right now.

The job request seemed easy enough, she just had to deliver a package to a factory. Of course, just because a job seemed easy didn't necessarily mean that it would be easy. IF heaved an exasperated sigh once she delivered the package to it's destination, "Finally finished. I thought it would be an easy quest, since all I had to do was deliver a package to some factory."

IF hadn't exactly planned on having to deal with any monsters during the job, but lo and behold not only were there monsters along the way, they had jumped her when she wasn't looking. "I didn't expect monsters to ambush me on the way there. Would've sucked if I died."

Once she was done ranting about the monster encounter, IF stopped to look at her surroundings. The factory she had come to deliver the package to appeared to be geared toward weapons manufacturing based on what was rolling down the conveyor belts, "This is a weapons manufacturing factory? I've never seen weapons actually getting built from scratch before. Firearms are getting passed along an assembly line."

"Nerrrrrrr… Merrrrrrrr… Errrr..."

IF shifted her attention away from weapons on the assembly line toward whatever it was that was making all that noise, "What's this weird noise? That one part there looks gigantic..."

"Yo, Iffy! I don't know what's going on, but look at me getting carried away!"

IF knew that voice and it was coming from somewhere close by. The Guild Moderatist scanned her surroundings until she found the source… sitting on one of the conveyor belts overhead. "Red? What?! Get down from there this instant! It's dangerous!"

Red continued to look toward the conveyor belt's destination, which was actually the end of the development process where the finished weapons were boxed up and shipped off to their new destination. "Huh? The conveyor's leading to a big, scary black hole! Ahhhh!"

IF was worried about what happened to the red headed girl, until she noticed what she fell into a breathed a sigh of relief, "Ooh. Looks like she fell into a crate of weapons. I wonder if she'll get shipped out with them?"

The brunette shook her head, remembering that this was actually a serious situation and not the time for jokes. "...I mean, Red! Get out of there!"

Doing as she was told, Red pulled herself out of the crate full of weapons, "Harumph! I'm alive!"

IF began to reprimand the young girl for her carelessness, as it tended to get her in trouble, "Don't play around like that. Last time you were on top of a ropeway, before that was on top of me… What's next? On top of a monster?"

Naturally, IF had only been joking when she through out that last one, but Red seemed to take it seriously… as in, she seriously considered doing it. "Oooh, I didn't think about that! But I must stay loyal to my wifey."

The Guild Member gave a nervous smile, not sure Red quite understood about the idea of getting on top of a monster. "Red… Monsters are dangerous." IF began to inspect Red for any weaponry, though she didn't seem to have anything on her person that would qualify, "Don't you have a weapon? If you're traveling alone, you really should carry something for self-defense."

Red grinned as the brunette inquired about her weaponry, "Meh, no worries! I'm armed to the teeth. I've got..."

IF waited to see what the red headed girl was going to pull out, but was gravely concerned by what she saw. Red began to name off her 'equipment' as she pulled it out. "Kendama… yo-yo… throwing disc… and..."

The 'weapons' that Red had on her person were… questionable to say the least. What IF saw couldn't be considered as actual weaponry. Hell, they wouldn't scare a person, let alone a monster, "Those aren't weapons. You don't have like a sword, spear, or gun?" IF stopped herself when she realized just who it was she was talking to. "Actually, I'm not convinced you can be trusted with them."

"Nuh-uh! These are most definitely weapons of mass destruction! Haven't you heard? According to some legend, there was a hero who fought off aliens with a yo-yo to rescue his dad!"

IF questioned the validity of the girl's claim. Anyone else would when taking into consider that Red was talking about using a yo-yo as a weapon, "I've just never actually seen anyone use them as weapons."

Red tried to reassure the Guild Moderatist that her questionable arsenal was the real deal, "Well that's because they can only be wielded by the chosen ones! So that's why you've never seen anyone else use them!"

IF still wasn't completely sold on the idea. That said, she wanted to give the girl the benefit of the doubt, so just smiled and nodded. "Okay, so you're a chosen one, like that hero? That's pretty amazing."

The little girl was quite happy to receive praise from her wifey number one, "Yup, I am definitely amazing!" Red's eyes began to dart around the factory floor. "I've been meaning to ask… where's that guy friend of yours?"

IF had to stop and think for a moment before realizing just who Red was talking about, "You mean Heero? He should be back at our safe house resting." It took IF a moment to realize that she had never mentioned the lone male member of the party to the red headed girl. "Wait… how do you know about Heero?"

"Cause I saw you with him earlier. You were acting all lovey dovey with him, sharing indirect kisses and stuff."

Having been reminded of what had transpired before coming to Lastation, IF's face turned bright red, "I-It's not like I planned for it to happen! N-Not to say I didn't like it or anything… I just wasn't expecting it!"

Red was fuming as the brunette went on, "You can't cheat on me, Iffy! You're my wifey number one! I saw you first!"

IF looked at the young girl as she began to throw a tantrum, not liking where this conversation was going, "Well, technically I was with Heero before meeting you, so..."

By this point, Red was steaming. Red didn't like the idea of IF already being involved with someone else before she had proclaimed that the Guild Moderatist was her first wifey, "No! I'm not giving you up to him!"

Before anymore words could be exchanged, the sound of a familiar voice filled the air, "IF, where are you? Heero and I came to get you!"

The owner of the voice was Lyrica, and like she said, the songstress came to find IF with the Gundam pilot. There was an evil glint in Red's eyes as she picked up a nearby crowbar. "The wifey stealer approaches."

Red immediately hid amongst the machinery as Lyrica and Heero drew closer. IF knew just what it was that the red headed girl was going to attempt, and couldn't help but laugh to herself, "This should be good."

It didn't take long for Heero and Lyrica to find IF, who was waiting to see just what Red was planning to do to Heero, "What are you doing out here, IF? You took off so suddenly when we got to the safe house."

IF smiled sheepishly as she recalled how quickly she left the safe hose to pursue the job request she just completed, "Sorry about that. I just didn't want to listen to Neptune nagging at me."

Heero could understand IF's need to get away from the party's leader, "While I understand why it is you left so abruptly, you should at least tell us where you are going next time. Despite what you may think, the others are worried about you."

As the trio were getting ready to head back to the safe house, IF caught sight of Red standing on top of some of the factory machinery with the crowbar she had picked up held overhead. The young girl's facial expression made her look like some sort of villain. Red's legs were wobbling as she tried to support herself, "I'll teach him to try and steal my wifey!"

Seeing Red position herself over the Gundam pilot, IF began to freak out, "(She's not seriously going to try and hit him, is she?! Heero will get hurt is she hits him with that thing, but Red will get hurt if he dodges it.)"

The brunette wasn't sure what she should do in the current situation, as she didn't want either Heero or Red getting hurt. Deciding now was the time to strike, Red jumped from the top of the crane she had positioned herself on, with the express intent of hitting Heero upside the head with her crowbar.

However, before Red could even get close to Heero, a crate of weapons rolled down the assembly line and right into the path of the red head. Red landed right in the open crate, and was carted off down the assembly line until the conveyor belt stopped. Then, in comedic fashion, a wooden lid was placed over the open top of the crate Red was in, and subsequently nailed shut.

IF watched as the crate was rolled down the assembly line and into the back of a truck. The Guild Moderatist still couldn't believe how that situation played out, but attributed it to Heero's incredible luck, "(...I can only imagine how much easier my life would be if I had even a fraction of Heero's luck.) Well, let's get going. I'm kind of hungry for some takeout, and since you guys went to the trouble of coming out here… I guess I'll treat you."

Lyrica began to fidget at the idea of takeout food, "As long as I don't have to go in with you to get it. You know how I am around people."

"We really need to do something about that."

With a potential accident averted, the trio left the factory while Red, who was stuck in the weapons crate, was taken elsewhere. Presumably to some weapons distribution center or shop.

Xxx

Day eight of the party's abrupt break arrived and with it the opening of the Sky Harbor connecting Lastation to Planeptune. Neptune was actually the one to get the party moving toward their destination, which was surprising, until the group found out that their leader's motivation for doing so was because the Land of Purple Progress was having another sale on limited edition puddings. As soon as they arrived, Neptune dragged Heero and Compa off to go find the shop where the pudding was being sold. Nisa ran off on her own, claiming to have heard the 'call of justice' and both Gust and Lyrica stayed at the safe house.

IF roamed into one of the park's close to the city center as she tried to decide on what she was going to do to entertain herself… that is, until Red showed up. Apparently the crate of weapons the red headed girl had fallen into the previous day were actually some of the defects, and was shipped off to a facility close to the Sky Harbor that handles the process of melting down the equipment for their resource and returns the remains to be remade into functioning weaponry.

Of course, remembering that Red had not only been stuck in a crate of weapons, but the thought of her winding up some place like a government facility where she would have been in real trouble, IF couldn't help but worry for the girl's parents, "Red, aren't your parents worried about you traveling alone like this?"

The brunette felt bad about what had happened and was feeling charitable. "If you want, you can use one of my cell phones to talk to them."

At the mentioning of her parents Red cast her eyes to the ground, "...Mommy..."

Just from looking at the girl's face IF felt that she had touched on a subject she really shouldn't have, "Oops. Was that something I shouldn't have brought up?" The brunette rubbed the back of her head, feeling terrible over how insensitive she had been. "I guess you've got your reasons for traveling alone. Sorry."

Red lifted her head, looking directly at IF. "Iffy, I actually have a second reason for my journey besides wifey collecting."

IF watched the girl with a solemn expression on her face, waiting to hear what other reason the young girl had for traveling on her own other than the seemingly outrageous task of 'wifey collecting,' "About a year ago, I was a normal girl happily living with my normal family… One day, I went to a local festival with my mom..."

"Uh-huh…?"

As IF waited for Red to explain what had happened to change her normal life, the young girl suddenly had a rather… awkward look on her face that didn't seem appropriate for the explanation of someone's past. "All of a sudden, this giant flower monster rose up from underground!"

Seconds passed as IF looked at Red in silence. There was something about the way she explained the events that led to her journey that told the brunette that she wasn't being serious. Red's facial expression continued to undermine her 'tragic' life story, "My village was overrun with violent shrubbery and all the residents, including my mom, were taken by the flower monster!"

IF could not help but look at Red in disbelief. At this point it was clear that Red was feeding the brunette a load of crap, yet still she continued with her wild claim. "I barely escaped from the attack… So after gathering enough wifeys, I'm going to use them to rescue my village."

The Guild member couldn't believe she had felt sorry for this girl. IF gave a look of disapproval as she folded her arms, "...I don't believe it for a second."

Red was shocked to hear that IF had seen through her story, "Aww, really?! I thought that was a pretty convincing story." Despite having been caught, the young girl couldn't help but smile. "I'm surprised you figured it so quick. But… that makes me like you even more! You're Wifey Number 1 for a reason!"

While IF was displeased that Red lied to her, she was curious as to why she would lie in the first place. "So why would you make that up?"

With a radiant smile on her face Red replied to the brunette's question with a rather… 'Red' answer, "It's a test to make sure you're worthy of accepting the title of my wifey!" Red was very pleased that IF saw through her story so quickly. "You passed, of course! Your wifey rank increased by 20 levels!"

The Guild member wasn't sure how to receive that. IF just smiled and nodded so as not to upset the young girl, "Uh-huh. Thanks."

Red quickly took off in search of more wifeys, and IF was left to her thoughts… and the inner manifestation of those thoughts, "(I still don't see why you waste your time with that brat.)"

The brunette scratched the back of her head as she tried to think of a way to reassure… herself? "C'mon, it's not that bad. Besides, she's just a kid."

"(Need I remind you that 'kid' tried to go upside your man's head with a crowbar? Don't think I wasn't watching that. Maybe I need to tear that brat a new asshole.)"

While there weren't that many people in the park, the few passerby that were there that saw the brunette talking to herself were concerned… some were even a little scared. IF was too involved with conversing with 'herself' that she didn't noticed Compa walk right up to her, until the nurse in training said something, "Who are you talking to, Iffy?"

IF quickly tuned to face Compa, embarrassment evident on her face, "C-Compa?! How long have you been standing there?!"

"I just got here. Were you talking to yourself, Iffy? I don't see anyone you could be talking to."

The brunette didn't want to continue with the current topic. IF noticed Heero and Neptune approaching, the latter of whom was eating a cup of pudding. "So how did the shopping go? Did you find Nep's pudding and shut her up?"

Fortunately for IF, Compa was easily distracted. The pink haired girl turned to look at the purplenette as she happily consumed her pudding. "Well, we found the pudding Nep-Nep wanted… but we kinda went a little overboard."

Neptune tossed her now empty cup of pudding into a nearby trash can before addressing the party's nurse, "Compa, when it comes to food there is no such thing as going overboard."

Heero shook his head, disagreeing with the purplenette's statement, "I feel it imperative to remind you that the money we have is meant to be used for the benefit of the entire group. We can't buy you pudding all the time, Neptune."

With the discussion shifting from IF talking to herself to Neptune and her pudding, IF breathed a sigh of relief, "What do you guys say we head back to the house and call it a day? I'm kinda tired."

Neptune wouldn't argue with that, nor would any of the other members of the party. Not even Heero, who normally prioritized working over all else. Of course, given how the group had spent most of their time traveling around looking for the Key Fragments and not taking any substantial breaks, it was understandable that the girls would want more time to pursue their own interests. Thus, the group of four returned to the safe house for, as Neptune put it, much deserved R&R.

Xxx

It was day nine of the party's break, and normally Neptune would have been happy about having more time off from fighting monsters and searching for the last Key Fragment. But what put a damper on the purplenette's mood was the fact that today was the day of the video game tournament that Lady Green Heart had asked Heero to be her partner for.

Neptune tried everything she could think of to dissuade the boy from going, including bribing him with her pudding, "C'mon, Heero. You don't need to go and act all buddy buddy with Lady Green Heart. I'm sure she can get somebody else to help her."

The girls couldn't believe that Neptune was still clinging to the belief that Lady Green Heart was trying to steal Heero from them, "Would you give it a rest? Lady Green Heart isn't trying to steal Heero. She's a goddess for crying out loud. If she really wanted to steal him away from us she would have done it already, anyway."

Compa pat the party's leader on the back in reassurance, "There, there Nep-Nep, you're just being a little paranoid. I'm sure once the video game tournament is over, Heero will come right back to us. You have nothing to worry about."

Neptune was anything but reassured. It didn't take long for the party to find Lady Green Heart, who was quite happy to the see the group, most specifically; Heero, "I'm so glad you came, Heero. I was concerned that you might not make it."

"I made it a point to help you with this task. As such, I will take whatever action is necessary to see it through to completion."

The CPU knew she shouldn't have worried about whether or not the Gundam pilot would show. Heero had already proven himself to be a capable and trustworthy individual. The blonde haired goddess linked her arms with Heero's left arm. "I already took care of the registration. We only have to wait for the start of the tournament now."

Lady Green Heart looked back at the group of girls that made up the rest of Heero's party, "What do you girls plan to do with your day? If you're taking a break from searching for those… Key Fragments, I believe? You should consider stopping by the anime expo. Once Heero and I win the tournament that's where I plan to go."

Neptune was wearing a frown on her face as she watched the CPU of Leanbox cling to her Destined Lover, "If you must know, Heero and I were gonna spend the whole day together. But now that's ruined."

IF knew that the purplenette was not going to drop the subject, and would more than likely complain to the girls if Heero went with Lady Green Heart on his own, "If you're that worried, why not go in with them? There's a section for people to spectate so that the gamers aren't distracted."

Compa was about to sneak away and go about her own business when Neptune grabbed her by the collar of her wool top, "You're coming too, traitor."

Thus, the nurse in training's hopes of having the day to herself were dashed. IF checked the time on her cell phone, which read 12:30, "Well, I guess I'll check out the shops and see if if I can get a new charger for my cell phones." The brunette turned her head to look at the remaining three members of the group. "What are you guys gonna do? You can always go with them."

Lyrica held up her guitar, a clear indication of what she was going to do with her day, "I have a concert to go to, but I shouldn't be there too long."

Nisa put a hand on Gust's head while holding up a security badge, "Lyrica asked us to help out with security, so we'll be busy ourselves."

While Nisa had agreed to the request with good intentions, Gust had her own reason for agreeing… which involved making money, "Gust sees opportunity to make extra money."

As the trio took off for the concert, Lady Green Heart began to lead Heero towards the building where the game tournament was taking place, "We should get going as well. The tournament will be starting soon."

An irritated Neptune followed after Heero and Lady Green Heart, dragging a distressed Compa behind her. With the rest of her party gone to do their own business, IF set out to find a phone store.

It took about twenty minutes, but IF eventually found what she was looking for. At some point during their travels, IF's phone charger had gotten damaged and needed to be replaced. The Guild member had planned to drop off her new phone charger, then head over to the convention center where both the video game tournament and anime expo where held.

At least, that was her original plan. On the way back to the safe house IF decided to take a quick break from all the walking she had been doing and sat down on the first bench she came upon. Not long after she sat down Red showed up, running straight toward the brunette, "Iffy! I've been looking everywhere for you!"

Red looked over at the energetic wifey hunter who had suddenly declared Heero to be her enemy, "(Well, at least Heero isn't around. Even Red wouldn't try to attack him while he's at an important event.)"

And of course, the first thing the fiery haired girl was looking for was the Gundam pilot that IF had just been thinking about. "So… where's the wifey stealer? I expected him to be here, sweet talking you. Trying to sweep you off your feet and steal you away from me."

"Heero's made arrangements with… a VIP of sorts. He's going to be preoccupied for a bit."

The gears in Red's mind began to turn, thinking of how best to take advantage of this moment, then an idea came to the red head. As IF was about to get up, Red immediately plopped down on the bench with her head falling into the brunette's lap, I'm tired, so my wifey needs to let me use her lap as my pillow."

IF looked at the girl as a wave of irritation washed over her. She was JUST about to leave, and Red decided to pull something like this now? "Red, I have somewhere I have to be."

"No! As my wifey, you have to lend me your lap whenever I want."

IF knew that Red was rather difficult to reason with. Heaving a defeated sigh, the Guild Moderatist resigned herself to being a pillow for the young girl, "Fine. But only for a few minutes. I have somewhere I have to be."

Unfortunately for the brunette, what was supposed to be a few minutes had turned into a few hours. Every time IF tried to leave, Red would be difficult and refuse to let her up. It was 3:30 PM, and IF made another attempt at asking Red to get up, looking somewhat depressed at this point. "Are you good now?"

"Noooo… not yet… My wifey must lend her lap as my pillow..."

The Guild member's lips formed a timid smile. She REALLY didn't want to be there anymore, "I have to go soon, though. I'm meeting up with my party."

As expected, Red was resisting. "Nope! You're my wifey and mine alone, aren't you?"

IF tried reasoning with the red head. "Before that nonsense, I've got my responsibility as a party member. Here, come on."

"Nuh-uh. This is a wifey's job..."

A nervous bead of sweat ran down IF's cheek as Red continued to resist her pleas and be unreasonable. The brunette smiled as she thought of the one thing that would get the girl to move, "You're gonna… get points taken away if you keep this up."

Red abruptly sat up. The threat of losing points with her wifey was enough to move the wifey hunter, "Wh-?! No!"

In her haste to sit up, Red's head slammed into IF's chin. The brunette rubbed her sore chin as a few tears welled up in her eyes. "Oww… Don't get up so suddenly. Ouch..."

Red offered an apologetic smile "I'm sorry! But you said I'd get points taken away..."

The pain in IF's chin slowly began to subside, though it still ached from the sudden headbutting she received, "Owwwww… You look fine, though."

"Huh? Yeah, of course I'm fine."

IF was left to question just how it was that Red hadn't felt any sort of pain. "Is your head made of stone or brick or something? You're like a barbarian who powers up by eating caveman meat."

Red didn't quite understand what the Guild Moderatist was saying as evidenced by the fact that she just looked at IF with her head tilted to the side out of confusion, "Huh?"

IF checked her cell phone, her face contorting as soon as she saw the time, "Crap… the tournaments probably over by now. I was hoping to see Heero and Lady Green Heart, too."

With a disheartened sigh, the Guild member got up from the bench and made her way back to the party's safe house. As soon as the brunette opened the door she was greeted by the sight of Neptune scarfing down what seemed to be a cake and a surprised Compa, who had been standing right in front of the door as IF entered, "Oh, Iffy! We were about to go look for you."

Neptune swallowed the sweet treat in her mouth before finally speaking, "I told ya Iffy would get her butt back her on her own."

IF rolled her eyes as she listened to the two girls. Had they really waited until NOW to go looking for her? "Nice to know you two were SO concerned about me. How did the tournament go?"

"Heero and Lady Green Heart won. But anyone with half a brain would know that Heero was did all the work."

Compa gave the purplenette a nervous smile as she voiced her rather biased opinion, "Nep-Nep, Heero didn't do all of the work. Lady Green Heart helped out, and she was playing really well."

Neptune continued to rant over how Heero had done all the work during the game tournament to Compa, who seemed as though she wanted to get away from the party's leader… which was rare, considering the two normally got along so well.

IF ignored the two girls, instead focusing her attention on the Gundam pilot sitting on the couch with his eyes closed. The Guild member walked past the two girls and sat down next to Heero, noting that he seemed to be falling in and out of consciousness, "Someone looks tired. Let me guess, Nep hasn't been able to keep her mouth such since you finished the tournament?"

Heero glanced at the brunette next to him before closing his eyes again, "Unfortunately. It is moments like this where dealing with Neptune can prove to be rather… taxing."

The Guild Moderatist understood all to well what it was like to have to deal with Neptune during one of her rants. And being her bodyguard, Heero had no choice but to listen to her. "It's pretty exhausting, isn't it? I've listened to Nep enough to know."

Outside of the safe house, Red was slowly making her way over to one of the windows. The red headed girl had followed IF all the way back to the party's place of residence without her knowing, to check in on her 'Wifey number 1' and the person who she mistook for a 'Wifey stealer,' "Iffy's party must be staying here. That means the wifey stealer lives here, too."

Red slowly peeked through the window so as not to give herself away, and sure enough she saw IF, Heero, Neptune and Compa. "I see Iffy, two potential wifeys… and the wifey stealer." The young girl's cheeks began to swell at the sight of the boy, "Just look at him… sitting next to my wifey. He makes me sick."

IF's eyes shifted to the other side of the room for a moment as Heero tried to stay awake, "Well… if you want to, you can… you know… use my lap as a pillow. Again, if you want to. I don't want you to think that you have to."

Heero silently deliberated over IF's suggestion to rest his head on her lap. He could either take the girl up on her offer, or walk upstairs to his bedroom. And for some reason, the Gundam pilot really didn't feel like walking all the way up to his room, "(Perhaps I am picking up on Neptune's laziness… which could be a problem.) Sorry to impose on you."

The boy let his head fall into IF's lap, and oddly enough the feeling of the girl's thighs against his head was rather… pleasant. This of course did not go unnoticed by either Neptune or Compa, as the two girls turned their attention to the duo on the couch, "Hey, are you scoring points with Heero when we're not looking, Iffy? Not cool!"

IF looked away from the two girls in front of her, taking on a more condescending tone, "Well, it's your fault Heero's exhausted to begin with, Nep. And instead of taking responsibility, you're just complaining to Compa. And Compa, if you really are the party's healer you should have focused on taking care of our most important member."

Compa felt insulted by the Guild Moderatist, as if she thought that the pink haired nurse hadn't tried to get away from Neptune, "Well. Nep-Nep wouldn't stop. And besides, I can still take care of Heero's ailment right now."

"Nope. Too late."

Neptune pulled a Katana out from behind one of the nearby chairs. The purplenette had received the sword from Heero shortly after they had returned from the video game tournament, "I'm gonna test out my new sword on Iffy in a minute."

Heero really didn't want to listen to Neptune complain anymore, not when he already had to listen to her complain since that morning, "Neptune, don't make me take that sword away from you."

Neptune and Compa weren't the only ones feeling dejected. Outside of the safe house, Red watched as IF sat on the couch with Heero's head in her lap. Not only was the boy she came to view as her enemy resting his head on her wifey's lap, but said wifey had OFFERED to let him. Sure, Red got to rest her head on those thighs a while ago, but she had to… coerce the brunette into doing so.

Red's eye was twitching from pure rage as she watched the travesty before her, "...The wifey stealer is putting the moves on my wifey. This means war."

The red headed girl quickly departed from the safe house, contemplating how she was going to get rid of the Gundam pilot.

Xxx

Day ten of the party's break arrived, and for IF, it was another day that featured a run-in with Red. The two girls were in the park, of all places, and IF was busying herself with her phone while Red was… being Red, "So who do you travel with? I wanna meet your party."

IF looked up from her phone, "I don't particularly mind, but why?"

"It's my wifey's party! I have to make sure they aren't competition. Plus, it's be a shame if I don't say hi." Red then turned away from the brunette while muttering under her breath. "Except for that wifey stealing jerk who's trying to put the moves on my wifey."

A cold bead of sweat ran down the side of the brunette's face as she thought about the reasons as to why Red would want to introduce herself to the party, "Why…?" After a moment to think on the idea, thoughts of the party's leader suddenly came to IF's mind. "...But, I would want you to meet Nep."

"Nep?"

IF could tell that Red's curiosity had been piqued. "One of the girls I'm traveling with."

Red was ecstatic at hearing that the person IF wanted to introduce her to was a girl, "...A girl?!"

"My party consists entirely of girls."

The red head girl was unable to contain her excitement upon hearing that IF's party was made up of nothing but girls. "What?! You should have said so sooner! If I join your party, I could get them all to be my wifeys! Number 2, Number 3, and beyond!"

A timid smile crossed IF's face as she watched the overly enthusiastic girl, "I… I don't know about that, but… No. We fight dangerous monsters. And you while I said that my party was made entirely of girls."

"Fine with me! I'm a pretty tough cookie, y'know?" Red was bound and determined to join the brunette's party for the sole purpose of acquiring more wifeys. "Oh-kay! I'm gonna conquer your entire party!"

IF was dumbfounded upon hearing Red's declaration to 'conquer' her party. "Listen, Red..."

With thoughts of more wifeys racing through her mind, Red didn't want to waste another second standing around, "Let's gooooo!"

The Guild member watched as Red ran on ahead of her. She had contemplated keeping silent about the fact that her party was made up mostly of girls, but decided to spill the beans anyway. IF was quickly regretting her decision to do so now, "Ugh. I should've kept my mouth shut."

IF raced to catch up with the young girl. "Red, I know I said that my party was made entirely of girls, but I should tell you that Heero is one of our members."

Red came to a dead stop. Her dream of an all female party shattered. It was bad enough knowing that it wasn't an all girl party, but hearing that the boy who was trying to steal her wifey was in fact one of the members of said party was demoralizing. The red head wasn't sure she could join the party just yet, not while Heero was among their numbers, "(It was too good to be true. I had a feeling that guy was in her party… I was just hoping it wasn't true. The only way I'm gonna win over Iffy's party is if I find some way to get rid of him.) Uhh… I need some time to… get some stuff together, Iffy."

With that, the red head took off once more, leaving a confused IF behind, "...What 'stuff' could she possibly need?"

"(It's obvious that brat is just plotting to try and get rid of Heero. I say we dispose of her now and be done with it.)"

IF had come to expect this. Yet another back and forth conversation between herself and the voice in her head. "Come on, you can seriously think a little girl like her could be plotting something?"

"(I know she's a dyke, AND she doesn't like Heero. How can you be so sure she won't try something?)"

"She's just a little girl. What could she possibly do to Heero?"

The brunette couldn't believe she was having this conversation with herself… for more than one reason, "Look, even if Red were to try something, this is Heero we're talking about. There's no way a kid like her could beat him. And if it comes down to it, I'll deal with her… non-violently."

A brief moment of silence before the voice in IF's head responded. "(Fine, YOU can deal with her. Just remember, it's him or her, and I don't exactly like her.)"

IF heaved a sigh as the conversation with 'herself' ended. Of course, as soon as IF was finished talking to herself Nisa startled the girl by speaking to her from behind, "What are you doing here by yourself?"

The Guild Moderatist could swear that she lost a few years of her life from the scare she had just received from the self-proclaimed heroine, "We need to put a bell on you."

Nisa looked at the brunette for a moment, a puzzled look on her face as she tried to decipher the meaning behind IF's words, "You mean… I need a theme song? Well, I do agree that a true heroine requires fitting theme music to announce her arrival… But I don't think a bell would suit me."

IF wasn't sure if Nisa was being sarcastic or blissfully ignorant. "No, what I mean is… never mind. It doesn't matter."

"Anyway, Heero asked me to check on you and to make sure you had all of your gear put together. We're leaving for Lowee first thing tomorrow."

IF nonchalantly waved off the Keeper of Justice, having taken care of packing her equipment and personal effects before hand, "Already taken care of. If anything, you guys should be more concerned about whether or not Nep has packed her stuff. She'll put it off until the last moment and we'll be stuck waiting on her."

A well known fact among the party was that their leader had a bad habit of procrastinating when it came time to move to another landmass. Most of the time they were kept waiting either because Neptune was still asleep or was being difficult about food.

Before IF had a chance to run off, Nisa asked the question that Compa had asked her the previous day, "By the way, who were you talking to?"

The brunette flinched. Every fiber of her being had come to rejected that question. "I wasn't talking to anyone. Certainly not myself. (Not this again. First Compa, now no chest? Who's going to ask that question next? Lyrica? Nep? Heero?)" IF stopped her thought process the moment she asked herself if Heero would ask the same question. "(...No. Anyone but him. I don't want Heero to think I'm crazy.)"

Nisa watched the girl carefully to see if she was lying. "Are you sure?"

IF didn't like that the self-proclaimed heroine was prodding for answers, and wasn't sure how much longer she could keep herself from beating the bluenette into submission, "Don't you have somewhere else you need to be?"

With an eyebrow raised in suspicion, Nisa began to question whether or not the Guild Moderatist was trying to change the subject. Before she could interrogate IF further, Nisa suddenly realized that the brunette was right; there WAS somewhere else she had to be, "Oh crap! I just remembered I'm supposed to help out with security at the expo!"

The blue haired heroine darted past IF and headed straight for the community center. A sigh of relief ensued as IF watched Nisa run off. "I can't believe that worked. I really should be more careful. The last thing I need is for everyone to start questioning my mental stability."

Xxx

Day eleven of the party's break came, and with their business in Planeptune wrapped up, they decided to move back to Lowee. Fortunately the last of their errands could be taken care of in the Land of White Serenity, and once that was done they could immediately shift their attention back to finding the last Key Fragment on said landmass.

While everyone else went about their business, IF decided to take on a few low risk job requests to pass the time and put away some extra spending money. The brunette had decided to take a break after her third job, wandering into the park to relax. After finding a tree to rest on, the brunette began checking her phone, when a sneeze from a familiar girl caught her attention shortly thereafter, "Achoo!"

The Guild member shifted her gaze toward the red head sitting on the bench next to her. Red had made her presences known to IF shortly after she had completed her job requests and had followed her to the park.

Oddly enough, IF wasn't all that surprised that the red headed girl had shown up on the same landmass as the party. Although, the fact that she wasn't surprised by Red's appearance was somewhat disturbing.

IF flashed a weathered smile at Red, "What's wrong? Are you getting sick? Maybe you should stay in bed and rest."

The young girl rubbed her nose, trying to figure out what might have caused her to sneeze or get sick in the first place, "I wonder if I caught something when I was on top of the ropeway?"

Disbelief was written all over IF's face as she looked at Red. Considering that Red's little ropeway episode happened over a week ago, it was rather unlikely that that was the actual cause of her sickness. "And you're getting sick now? It's been way too long since then… Anyway, just go to your room, drink lots of water and sleep, okay?"

Red could feel herself growing weak, but did her best to persist. "No way! What if my wifey leaves me and goes to another land while I'm resting?"

IF knew Red would be difficult and did her best to reassure her, "I won't. I'll make sure to stay in Lowee until you're all better."

Red was looking at the ground with a frown on her face, her hands balling into fists, "Yeah right! It's not like I'm an official party member or anything… My Charisma level hasn't gone up at all lately… I've got to keep working hard! I can't rest now!"

While the red headed girl was resisting the idea of resting, IF knew how to persuade her, "If you listen to me, you might get like twenty points..."

Upon hearing that she would receive points for listening to the Guild member, Red stopped her pouting. "I'll get +20?! Then if I add it to my existing +80… Umm..."

IF smiled as she pat the girl on the head, "You'll have exactly one-hundred points."

Despite being sick, Red's mood greatly improved upon hearing that she had accrued her 'one-hundred points,' "You're right! Then, will you let me join your party when I'm all better?!"

The brunette managed a nervous smile as the young girl talked about joining IF's party. "When you're better."

Red inched closer to IF as thoughts of the two traveling together coursed through her mind. "You'll travel with me?!"

A cold bead of sweat ran down the side of IF's face as she took a step back as Red drew closer, "When you're better."

With at an all time high, the young red head drew ever closer to her first wifey, "You'll introduce me to other wifeys?!"

IF was slowly beginning to regret her decision to reward the girl with her twenty points, but knew she wouldn't be able to take it back now. "Uh-huh. I bet the girls will all love you."

Red was looking to get all she could out of this moment, including IF's devotion. "You'll have a wedding with me?!"

The Guild Moderatist frowned at the idea of having a wedding with someone that wasn't Heero. "That's another issue altogether." Having convinced Red to rest for the day, IF decided to escort the young girl back to the place she was residing, "Anyway, let's get you home and in bed."

As IF turned around to walk Red home, Heero and Neptune walked into her line of sight. The purple haired leader of the party was stuffing a crepe into her mouth with Heero walking next to her.

Once Red caught sight of the boy, she was reminded that he was an obstacle (at least in her own mind) to winning IF and her party comprised almost entirely of girls. A wicked smile formed on the girl's face as she pulled a small bottle containing a strange liquid out from her pocket, "That's right. Before I can truly join my wifey's party, I need to get rid of the wifey stealer. This should get rid of him."

IF was about to question the girl on what she meant, when she saw Red remove the cork from the bottle and a strange aroma filled the air around them. Suddenly, the brunette heard loud noises coming from the forested area near the town, then turned her attention to the bottle in Red's hands, "Where did you get that?"

A grin spread across Red's face as she held out the bottle, "I got it from some hooded guy who was hanging around one of those adventurer shops. He said if I open this bottle it would summon monsters to do my bidding. I even got it for five-thousand credits! Pretty cool, huh?"

The brunette snatched the bottle out of Red's hand to look at it. Once she got a good look at the bottle, IF could tell that Red had been taken for a fool. "Red, this bottle doesn't summon or let you tame monsters. This is one of those bait bottles that adventurers use to lure out monsters. And these things only cost five-hundred credits. You paid ten times the actual price for this thing."

Before anymore words could be exchanged between the two girls, bits and pieces of tree bark went flying past the duo. IF shifted her attention once more to the collection of trees to see a triplet of Yetis, and not one of them looked friendly.

IF began to back away from the monsters, pushing Red in the same direction. She would only be able to fight the monsters if she was dealing with them one at a time, but since there were three that wasn't an option. "There's no way I could fight off three of these things. We need to get out of here."

Red was astounded by the brunette's proposal, "Why? I used that stuff to bring the monsters here so they would get rid of that wifey stealer who's always hanging around you."

Now it was IF's turn to be surprised. Red knew what she was doing the entire time, and had been planning to use the monsters to kill Heero? That was taking things too far, "Red, you can't just do something like this! You're endangering a lot of people by doing this. And you can't seriously mean to want to kill Heero."

"Well, he should have known better than to try and come between me and my wifey!"

As the two girls were bickering the Yetis continued to advance on them, until the one in front took a swing at IF with it's large wooden club. Before the blunt weapon could make contact with the brunette, a large blade flew through the air, severed the wooden object and sliced into the monster wielding it.

The Yeti stumbled back in response to the pain of being cut into, and IF had her attention fixed on the one responsible for thwarting the attack, "Heero?! When did you-"

"Did you really think no one would notice this?"

Neptune surprised IF by shouting into her ear, "What's up, Iffy?"

IF jumped in surprise, shooting a glare at the purplenette once she turned around, "What the hell was that for?! This isn't the time for you to be goofing off!"

Neptune was about to throw (in her mind) a witty retort when she noticed the bottle in IF's hand. "Isn't that one of those things that adventurers use to lure monsters out of their hidey holes? We're supposed to be on break Iffy, ya killjoy."

"This isn't mine. And anyway, we need to deal with the monsters first."

During the time Neptune and IF had been bickering, Heero had finished dealing with the first Yeti; removing it's and ultimately driving his GN Sword through the large creature.

Neptune shoved IF in the direction of the second Yeti, wanting to get at least some revenge on the brunette for 'scoring points' with Heero during their break, "Alright Iffy, this is what you've been training for! Show 'em just how good you are at being a tank!"

The Guild Moderatist stumbled as she tried to regain her footing, "I am not a tank! I not in this party to intentionally take hits!"

As IF was getting ready to spout off another round of insults the monster she had been shoved toward swung its free hand at her, no doubt to throw her off balance. The brunette ducked underneath the Yeti's first attack, followed by its second attack which was just an attempt to strike her with it's large wooden club, although her cheek was slightly grazed her cheek.

Rubbing her cheek, the Guild member growled in irritation. "Damn you Nep, you did that on purpose. I'll get you back for this!"

Red watched as the team of three dealt with the monsters, and she was not satisfied with how things were going, "That Heero guy is pretty strong. And my wifey and some other girl are helping him! They're supposed to let the monsters beat him up!"

The red headed girl stopped her ranting when she noticed that one of the monsters was missing. "Wasn't there three of them? Where did the other one go?"

As if to answer Red's question, a low sounding roar emanated from behind her. Red turned her head to see the third Yeti towering over her, "Oh… that's bad."

The bi-pedal monster threw it's fist toward Red, eliciting a shriek from her as she narrowly escaped the attack. Red took a moment to look at the spot where she had been, only to see a small crater and chunks of pavement. Had she stayed there for another second, she most likely would have been reduced to paste.

Unfortunately, the monster wasn't about to let up. Rearing it's arm back, the Yeti prepared to smash the red head with its weapon. Worst yet, Red was really starting to feel her illness take its toll on her. There was no way she would be able to avoid the next attack, "(No… this can't be how it ends! I've only gotten one wifey! There's so much I still wanna do!)"

The young girl could do nothing but watch as the monster swung its blunt weapon at her. Just as she was about to be turned into a pancake, Heero suddenly appeared in her peripheral and blocked the oncoming attack.

Red was flabbergasted. She didn't expect the boy to defend her from the monster. As Heero held the Yeti at bay, Neptune was already running towards the monster with Katana in hand, "I got it! I got it!"

The purplenette's sword cut into the monster's side, the sharp blade of her weapon sliced through the monster with ease. With the gaping wound in it's side the creature fell down on one knee. IF was not about to give the monster a moment of respite, as she jumped onto Heero's shoulder and then just as quickly jumped off.

In an instant, the Guild member's Katars decapitated the last monster. IF landed on the other side of the monster as its headless body collapsed onto the ground like its brethren. IF slid her weapons back into her sleeves, massaging her shoulder once her weapons had been put away, "I wasn't planning on fighting any monsters today. I hope I'm not gonna feel this tomorrow."

Neptune stuffed her hands into her pockets while flashing a grin at her fellow party member, "Looks like you owe me one, Iffy. I mean, Heero and I did just save your butt."

IF just gave the party's leader a disgruntled, "I don't owe you anything. You nearly got me killed with that stunt you pulled."

Ignoring the Guild Moderatist, Neptune ran over to Heero to make sure he hadn't gotten himself hurt… or so she said. IF patted down the side of her jacket, when the voice in her head began to go ballistic, "(That damn brat just tried to have Heero killed! If you don't do something about her right now, I will.)"

The brunette had a feeling that this would happen, as Red had said that she had bought the bottle of monster bait to lure out and use the monsters to get rid of Heero, "C'mon, it's not like it would have worked in the first place. And besides, no one got hurt. Isn't that what really matter?"

"IF, who're you talking to?"

IF flinched as she was asked that baneful question. Turning around, IF saw Lyrica standing behind her, confusion written all over her face, "L-Lyrica? How long have you been standing there?"

"I just got here. I hear all the noise and came to see what was going on." The cerulean haired songstress looked past IF to see the only other people on the street, as everyone else had ran when the monsters showed up. "Anyway, I don't see anyone else here, and Heero and Neptune are over there. Were you talking to yourself?"

IF could feel her eye twitch. Was the whole party going to start asking her that question? Before the discussion went any further, Neptune shouted at the brunette, "Hey, Iffy! Heero wants you to get your butt over here!"

Almost immediately, IF walked away from the singer while singing praise for Heero's sudden request for her being, "(Thank you, Heero!)"

Once she had gotten close enough that he wouldn't need to shout, Heero questioned IF on the red head who was still sitting on the ground, "IF, do you know this person?"

IF looked down at Red, who was still in a daze over the events that had transpired, "This is Red. I've been running into her for a while. Though I really should take her home, since she's sick."

Red continued to stare at the Gundam pilot. The animosity she had felt for him had all but vanished, replaced with something else, "You… saved me? Even though I wanted to get rid of you?"

Heero didn't quite catch what the girl had said, prompting him to give the girl a questioning look, "...What did you say?"

IF quickly covered the girls mouth, laughing nervously as she tried to downplay Red's confession of sorts, "Don't pay her any mind. She's sick and the sudden life or death experience has made her delirious." The brunette took Red's hand and began to lead her away. "C'mon, Red. Let's get you home before anymore monsters show up… Or you say anything else that you might regret."

Red was escorted away by IF, though she kept looking back at the Gundam pilot that had saved her life. Fortunately for IF, Red had checked in at a hotel near the party's safe house so it didn't take long to get the girl put away.

As soon as the matter of getting the sick girl to rest had been taken care of was dealt with, IF promptly returned to the party's safe house and went straight to her room. Once there, IF tossed her jacket onto a nearby chair and then collapsed onto the dessert themed bed, heaving an exhausted sigh as she did, "Glad that nonsense is over with."

IF rolled over onto her back and looked straight at the ceiling. A disheartened look formed on her face as she contemplated the events from earlier. "Wow. She's really going to reach +100." The brunette's lips formed a small, coy smile, "I planned to keep it around eighty, but I couldn't help it. Otherwise she wouldn't listen to me..."

The more she thought about it, the more IF started to regret her earlier decision to break down and give the young girl what she wanted just to get her obedience. "I hope she doesn't get too heavily involved in our journey. I doubt she'd understand even if I explained it, though."

It wasn't long before the brunette's eyes began to flicker, then shut completely as the need for sleep took her, "Oh well… at least… Red should leave Heero alone now…"

Xxx

The twelfth and final day of the party's break had arrived. With the majority of their errands taken care of, the group decided to use this day to relax before returning to the pressing matter of finding the final Key Fragment.

Before IF could even begin to use her day off, she ran into Red at the park shortly after leaving the safe house. The red head had apparently recovered from her sickness overnight and was eager to see her Wifey Number one, "Royal Emperor Dragon… Red is back! I am now a member of your party! Where we gonna go? Leanbox? Lastation? Planeptune?!"

IF felt it imperative to explain to Red just what she would be getting into by joining the party, "First off, Red, I have to talk to you about something."

The brunette didn't even get a chance to explain the party's objective when Red started jumping to the conclusion that IF was concerned about whether or not she could fight. "Don't worry about battles! I'm really super strong." Red threw a few punches into the air in some awkward attempt at reassuring the girl in front of her. "Yah! Tah!"

IF couldn't fault the girl for her confidence, but considering what the party had already gone through in their search for the Key Fragments she was concerned about Red's safety. "Listen. A lot of danger comes along with this journey, so you really should stay away from our adventure..."

It was obvious that Red seemed hurt by IF's suggestion that she stay away from the party, "Aren't you my wifey?" The red head looked as if she would pitch a fit if she didn't get her way. "My wifey and I are like main and sub! You can't stop me from joining you!"

The Guild member tilted her head to the side. She didn't get the analogy that Red used to describe their 'relationship,' "Huh? I don't get it. Anyway, you've got to understand, okay?"

"But I reached +100!"

IF folded her arms, knowing that the way the discussion had been going it would ultimately come to Red's 'Charisma Level,' and IF wasn't sure how to reply to it, "...Okay, fine. You're right. I knew it'd come to that." The brunette was feeling very regretful over the consequences of her decision to give the girl the points she had been striving to earn and how they had led up to her situation now. "I figured you'd tag along with me as long as points kept getting added. But the more points I added, the more I felt I shouldn't let you come with me."

Red was momentarily saddened to hear that IF didn't want her to join the group. Not because she didn't like her, but because what they were doing was dangerous. There was no guarantee that they would either succeed or survive the endeavor.

The red head managed a smile, "Iffy, it's okay! I know you're always thinking what's best for me. This isn't like you, though! Saying stuff like 'Uh, do what you want' is more like, y'know, a goondere!"

IF was slightly irked. Not only did she not know what a 'goondere' was, but because Red was using said term to describe the Guild member, "The hell's a goondere?"

Red winked at IF, dodging the question while stating her intent to join her party. "That's my wifey! No matter what you say, I'm joining the party."

With the way the conversation was going, IF doubted she could dissuade the girl. And aggravated growl escaped the brunette as she closed her eyes. "Ugh, fine. Do what you want."

Having gotten IF to relent, Red began to grin in victory. "Atta girl!"

During IF and Red's exchange, the rest of the party had emerged from the safe house and made their way down the street toward the two. Neptune slapped the Guild Moderatist on the back to announce her arrival, "What'cha doin' Iffy? You hanging out with a buddy?"

The Guild member had her arms folded, restraining herself from striking the purplenette, "Sort of. Red wants to join the party. I thought I'd run the idea by you guys first."

Naturally the girls weren't in opposition of the idea, with Compa being the first to voice her support of the notion, "Well, we can use all the help we can. We are trying to save the world after all."

Nisa broke into another one of her heroic spiels, "When the fate of the world is at stake, every able body helps. It is the way of a hero."

Lyrica once again questioned the heroine's claim, while hiding behind the rest of the party, "Nisa, any right minded person would do that."

Heero was skeptical about recruiting Red, but went along with it anyway, "As long as she doesn't hinder our progress, I see no reason to deny her acceptance."

Red walked past IF and stopped in front of Heero. The young girl began to size up the boy with a grin on her face, "My original goal was to collect one hundred wifeys and nothing else, but…" The red head winked at the boy. "For you, I'll make an exception. You can be my one and only hubby!"

Silence dominated the air as Red's words began to sink in. IF's head fell into her hands, not expecting this turn of events, "Oh, dammit..."

For his part, Heero wasn't sure if he heard the girl correctly. The Perfect Soldier watched the girl for a moment in case she anything else to say, "...What?"

And as expected, Neptune went off the deep-end, directing her anger towards IF, "Iffy, you invited another girl into the party that's into my Destined Lover! You suck!"

Compa was just as riled up over Red's declaration, "Iffy, how could you? We don't need anymore competition over Heero. Right Gust?"

Gust had a deadpanned look on her face. Sure she liked Heero, but she wasn't quite as into the boy as the rest of the party, "Gust has no comment."

Red just ignored the complaints as she turned to IF, "I can see why you're so into this guy, Iffy. He's gotta have an S rank Charisma stat or something! With him, I'll get my one hundred wifeys in no time!"

And so, much to the despair of the girls, another member who was interested in Heero was added to their roster. Meaning one more hand to help with their search for the Key Fragment, and another day of IF getting an earful from her fellow party members, "Man, I did NOT need this today..."

Xxx

Me: "Finally! We now have all of our DLC characters in the story. We can go back to the search for the last Key Fragment."

Heero and Neptune: (Enter ACCC from Break Room) "Does she have to join our party? She's just gonna make passes at my Destined Lover, and you know I don't like that."

Red: (Enters ACCC through already broken window) "It's about time you added me into the story. You took your time writing this one, didn't you?"

Me: (Shoots a glare over at Red) "I don't want to hear anything from you. The reason why this chapter took so long to push out was because it focused on you. Do you remember the first HDN game? I remember, and I think I speak for everyone that has played it and gotten YOUR DLC when I say that you are exhausting."

IF: (Enters ACCC from Lounge) "C'mon, she can't be that bad."

Me: "She is. Hell, Gust is stronger than her. I always put Red in the VERY back of the party rotation so I wouldn't have to use her."

Heero: "Unfortunately, we do not seem to have a choice in the matter."

Me: "Unfortunately." (Turns to readers) "Sorry for the lack of updates people, but writing a chapter that focuses on Red is soul sucking for me. Also, the Key Fragment search has taken us away from Lowee for so long, I've lost my place. So if anyone happens to know what the next cutscene in the game comes next, please shoot me a PM or leave it in the reviews section, that would save me a lot of time."

Compa: (Enters ACCC from Break Room) "Aww, the rest of us didn't make much of an appearance in this chapter."

Me: "Sorry Compa, but you do make in appearance just about everywhere else. It isn't that bad." (Looks at Red) "You. Wrap up this chapter. I don't feel like doing it and we need to work on the next chapter."

Red: "Alrighty."

Me. Heero, Neptune, IF and Compa: (Leave ACCC through Left Entrance)

Red: (Turns to readers) "Read and review this chapter, and help the author out by telling him what… cutscene thing we're on for the… Key thingy search. And look forward to the continuing adventures of the amazing Red-"

Me: (Pokes head through doorway) "Do not even try that." (Looks toward readers) "Look forward to the next update."

Red: "Hey, I was trying to win the readers over with an awesome line!"

Me: "And I just saved everyone about five minutes, and kept their brain cells from committing suicide. Now get your ass moving, we've got a chapter to work on."

Red: "I'm coming, hold your horses." (Leaves ACCC from Left Entrance)