"Good morning, President!"

Kinshiro raised a hand in acknowledgment. "Good morning, Arima. You're punctual as always."

Arima smiled as he fell into step alongside Kinshiro. Akoya, who had been leaning against a lamp post and checking his hair in a small folding mirror, straightened up and came to join them.

"And you're running behind," he observed. "How late did you stay up last night talking to your friend Kinugawa?"

Kinshiro tried not to let his discomfiture show on his face. He hadn't realized he'd been that obvious. But then again, perhaps it had only been a guess. Akoya could be remarkably shrewd at times, and it wouldn't take much observation to figure out what Kinshiro had been doing with his free time lately. Over the last few days, he had been spending as much time around Atsushi as he could reasonably get away with. He had years of lost time to catch up on, and between his work with the Student Council and Atsushi's own social life, whatever time they could find together was precious.

Kinshiro had even unbent enough one afternoon to let Atsushi coax him into the Kurotama bath house. That had been something of an eye-opener all on its own. He'd gone in expecting something one step shy of a health hazard, but he'd actually found it oddly comfortable. Atsushi's friends had welcomed him more warmly than he'd ever imagined they would. He would have expected to either be treated with distant deference, or else snubbed entirely, but after a bit of initial teasing, they'd more or less accepted his presence and treated him like he'd always been there.

Atsushi's friends had come as a surprise, too. The little blond first-year who had always seemed so irresponsible showed a surprising streak of professionalism where his family bath house was concerned. Kinshiro had been prepared to loathe Yufuin, and equally prepared to stoically tolerate him for Atsushi's sake, but the man was strangely fascinating in his own way - a philosopher of sorts, who noticed the remarkable in the everyday. Kinshiro had come away from that meeting in a pensive mood. He'd never quite understood what someone with Atsushi's intelligence and good breeding wanted with a crowd of rabble like that, but being there, seeing them together, he was starting to get an idea. If anyone had asked Kinshiro last month if he had friends at school, he'd have pointed to Arima and Akoya, but the truth was, he couldn't quite bring himself to completely trust them. He was constantly watching them for signs of betrayal, waiting for them to either try to seize power if they succeeded in their plans or cut ties with him if they failed. There was none of that watchfulness around Atsushi and his friends. They teased and taunted each other with no sign of fear that a wrong word would lead to rejection, no sense of jockeying their position. There was only absolute trust, and he found himself envying it just a little.

"How late did you stay up talking to your secret admirer?" he asked Akoya, going on the offensive, and was somewhat gratified to see Akoya's cheeks go slightly pink.

"I have so many admirers," said Akoya, raising his chin. "To which one might you be referring?"

Liar, Kinshiro thought, amused. There couldn't be that many people in the world who admired Akoya as much as he admired himself, or were at least willing to pretend they did.

"Maybe you should arrange to meet whoever it is," Arima suggested cheerfully. "It seems to have worked well for Kinshiro."

Akoya ducked his head. "Oh, no, I couldn't." Collecting himself, he added, "It's one thing to pass the time chatting online, but it's another thing entirely to mingle with commoners face to face."

Kinshiro translated deftly: Akoya was afraid that whatever persona he'd crafted for himself online wouldn't hold up once he met his admirer in person. He wouldn't be able to bear finding out that they didn't really like him once they got to know him, and it would be even worse if it turned out they had been lying about liking him the whole time as some sort of cruel prank.

"Perhaps we should find out who this person is," Kinshiro said slowly, "and scout him out to make sure he's fit company for you."

"That's a good idea," said Akoya, seizing on the offer with evident relief.

"So, will we be continuing with our project today?" asked Arima, with what sounded like completely idle curiosity. It might have been. Kinshiro had never been entirely sure what was motivating Arima to try to conquer the world - for all anyone else knew, he might have just been along for the ride. The thought gave Kinshiro an odd moment of perspective. He'd often wondered what Atsushi saw in the people he spent time with. Maybe other people wondered why these two spent time with Kinshiro.

Still, it was a good question. It had been several days since the Caerula Adamas' last attempt at world domination, and that had been fairly half-hearted. They'd targeted a notorious pessimist in the hopes that his wet-blanket personality might at least be a little tidier than the last monster. Sadly, his attitude had also meant that he didn't have much faith in his own ability to defeat a team of superheroes, and he'd been throughly trounced almost before he'd gotten started. Still, getting everything he touched sopping wet had made things cleaner.

Yes, it was time for a renewed effort. Zundar was a surprisingly patient and supportive mentor, considering that he openly claimed to be an evil alien from Planet Evil. He'd been entirely understanding about their recurring failure to conquer the world, and equally supportive of Kinshiro taking a little time to renew bonds with his old friend. Still, his patience couldn't possibly be endless, and Kinshiro felt he should be setting a good example for the other two.

And yet, he found himself dragging his feet. For one thing, he couldn't help but feel that Atsushi would not approve of conquering the world. He was so gentle, so accepting. He'd never understand why the world needed to be taken in hand properly. At the same time, Kinshiro was starting to feel a marked lack of investment in the whole plot. It all seemed a little silly, now, like boys playing "King of the Castle" on the playground, just one big game of let's-pretend. He was having trouble imagining, now, just what he was going to do with a world once he had it.

"Perhaps," he said. "If we find someone suitable by the end of the school day, we'll use them. If not, we'll wait."

"That seems fair," said Akoya agreeably. So agreeably, in fact, that Kinshiro wondered if he was planning on avoiding looking for a target on purpose, just so he could continue basking in admirer's attention for a little longer.

Maybe we're all losing interest in this scheme, Kinshiro mused. He wasn't sure how to feel about that. He hated to give up on anything, especially something he had already invested so much energy into.

Very well, then. He'd give it one more try, and he'd give it everything he had.


Atsushi tried to be discreet as he glanced at the time. He and his friends had gathered in the club room for their usual entertainments, and he didn't want them to get the idea he was anxious to get away from them. No one seemed to have noticed anything out of the ordinary, anyway. Io had his laptop open in front of him and his tablet laid next to it, and kept glancing from one to the other. Atsushi watched him with a degree of fascination. He admired his friend's ability to multitask, which apparently extended to operating two different computer systems while participating in En's lecture of the day and studiously ignoring whatever Yumoto was doing to the poor Wombat.

Ryu leaned over Io's shoulder for a better view as Io manipulated the touchpad on his laptop with one hand and typed something into his tablet with the other.

"Who are you chatting with?" Ryu asked.

"Gero Akoya," said Io casually.

Ryu spluttered. "What? Why are you talking to him?"

"Because he's talking to me," said Io simply.

"So why is he talking to you?" Ryu asked. "And don't say it's because you're talking to him."

"His family owns a multi-trillion yen financial institution," said Io. "That's reason enough for me. It turns out, he's surprisingly amiable if you talk to him the right way."

"Let me see that," said Ryu, snatching the device away. "Geez, have you been flirting with him?"

"I've been flattering him. That's different," said Io. "Anyway, you flirt with people. Why shouldn't I?"

"Yeah, sure, but not with Gero. He's a jerk," said Ryu. He continued studying the screen. "Anyway, how do you know it's him? This just says Holy Angel."

"It's him," said Io. "His style is rather distinctive. Anyway, no one but Gero Akoya would be so eager to talk about Gero Akoya."

Ryu stared at the screen a moment longer before giving the tablet back to Io. "So let me get this straight - you're seducing Gero for his money?"

"That's not how I'd put it," said Io, a little defensively. "I prefer to think of myself as making a valuable contact."

Ryu shrugged. "Well, I don't think much of your taste, but I can't fault your methods. Maybe if he hangs out with you enough, he'll learn better manners."

"Thank you, I suppose," Io replied.

Atsushi smiled. "It's nice to see everyone getting along."

"Are you going to see your friend again today?" asked Yumoto, mercifully relaxing his grip on Wombat.

"For a while," said Atsushi. "We promised to have an early dinner together. I'll come join you at the bath house after that, probably. Maybe I can talk him into coming with me again."

"He's taking you to dinner? That's good," En opined. "Tell him I said he needs to make sure you eat something. You need to eat more. You're too thin."

Atsushi could only laugh. "That's a personal opinion. I'll tell him you said so anyway." He smiled. "I'm glad you're not jealous."

"Takes too much energy to be jealous," said En honestly. "Anyway, it's good you two are friends again. Maybe you can make him relax. If ever there was a guy who was wound too tightly..."

"You think everyone in the world is wound too tightly," said Io.

En shrugged. "Most people are. There aren't but so many things it's worth getting worked up about."

"I'll tell him you said that too," said Atsushi, amused. "I'll meet you guys at the Kurotama after we eat, all right?"

Everyone agreed that they'd look forward to seeing him there, and Atsushi strode out of the room, swinging his school bag casually in one hand. It was, he thought, rather odd to have multiple claims on his time this way. He hoped that with time and exposure, Kinshiro would feel more comfortable around his friends, and they'd be able to spend more time as a group. From what little Atsushi observed, the vice-president would follow Kinshiro's lead, and if Io was able to get onto Gero's good side...

It would be such a relief if we didn't have to keep defending our club from the Student Council, he thought. Aliens and monsters were quite enough to worry about.

As he reached the front door of the school, he paused long enough to text a quick message to Kinshiro, letting him know he was on his way to the restaurant they'd agreed upon. Almost immediately, he got a reply, saying that Kinshiro was wrapping up some student council business and would be running a few minutes behind, but he'd be along as soon as he could. Atsushi nodded and put his phone away.

I suppose it's no wonder he's so tense most of the time, he mused as he began ambling up the sidewalk. He has an awful lot of responsibility.

Still, the least he could do was make sure there was a good table waiting for Kinshiro when he arrived. He set off at a brisk walk towards the restaurant.

He had very nearly made it when a sound caught his attention. That was stating the case mildly. One second, he'd been strolling through a peaceful city, the air filled only with the sounds of birds, passing cars, and quiet conversation. The next moment, there was an ear-shattering blast of sound that made Atsushi stumble and clap his hands over his ears. He emitted a few impolite words that thankfully couldn't be heard over the general ruckus. All around him, he could see other people rushing to get out of the blast zone, but all he could do was stand there, paralyzed, until the noise mercifully ceased. Atsushi straightened and looked around cautiously.

Yes, there it was, standing at the intersection behind him: a monster. This one appeared to be some sort of microphone monster, with arms and legs made of speakers linked together and made flexible by twists of wire.

"Oh, please, not now..." Atsushi groaned. He didn't think this boded anything good for his dinner date.

"So, you don't want to listen to me, huh?" the microphone bellowed. "That's so typical! No one ever listens to me! I am so sick of being ignored! Well, you're going to listen to me now!"

Fleetingly, Atsushi wondered just who this monster really was - which schoolmate had been sitting quietly all this time waiting for someone to notice him and provide a listening ear, only to be noticed by the Caerula Adamas instead. Then there was another blast of sound, a shockwave that threw him off his feet and sent him slamming into the railing of a café patio. He hit it so hard that he actually managed to bend it out of shape, and the point of one of the ornamental spikes jabbed deeply into his shoulder. Atsushi cried out in pain as he slumped down to the ground, stunned both by the noise and his injury. As he fell, his bag caught on the twisted metal fence, and in the silence that followed the sonic blast, he heard a metallic tinkling sound. His frog charm had gotten snagged and broken loose, and was now lying on the sidewalk a few inches away from Atsushi's nose.

"All right, that does it!" he said. "That was special!"

He tried to stand, and nearly fell over again. Whatever he'd done to his shoulder, it couldn't be good. He could see a splash of blood on the sidewalk where he'd fallen, and feel more trickling hotly down his back. His initial shock had passed, replaced by throbbing pain.

You'll feel better when you transform, he told himself. That gave him enough motivation to lever himself to his feet and cast a quick glance around the area. The noise from the monster seemed to have driven everyone to safer ground. Good. That meant there would be no one around to see what he did next.

An instant later, Battle Lover Epinard stood proudly beside the wreckage of what had been a rather nice patio until someone had thrown him at it. His shoulder still ached, but the power sustaining him made the pain manageable, and his friends would be here as soon as they figured out where the monster was. With the racket this thing was making, that probably wouldn't take long. Atsushi would have been willing to bet they were hearing those blasts all the way on top of Mt. Binan. All he had to do was hold on until they got here. He could handle a monster by himself for just a few minutes. He'd had enough practice with monsters by now. He'd be fine.

Then someone stepped around the corner, and he realized just how wrong he had been.


Kinshiro was fairly pleased with his afternoon's endeavors. The new monster he and his compatriots had created had proven to be a strong one as well as proactive. It hadn't been content to hang around the school grounds and make trouble, which Kinshiro appreciated. He loved Binan High, and he hadn't been happy about repeated structural damage inflicted by his creations. Far better for his newly fledged monster to go raise a ruckus somewhere else, where it wouldn't bother his students. He was only sorry that he'd already made plans for the afternoon. Still, with any luck, the monster would have finished off the Battle Lovers by the time his date was over and he could return to find his path to conquest cleared. That would be a nice end to a good day.

He was wrapped up enough in his planning that he didn't realize at first that something was wrong. It was surprisingly easy to tune out crashes and bangs when he knew exactly what was causing it and was confident in his ability to stop it if necessary. His only real worry was that the fight would come close enough to interfere with his dinner. He toyed with the idea of suggesting to Atsushi that they should go take cover somewhere safer, like his own house. It was far enough removed from the main part of town that it was unlikely to be the scene of any battles and tucked behind sturdy enough walls that he doubted even a monster would have the temerity to come in without permission. That was assuming that Atsushi hadn't already taken fright and run for cover. Kinshiro would honestly not have blamed him if he had decided he wasn't prepared to cope with a monster. Atsushi was one of the most non-combative people Kinshiro knew. He wasn't equipped to deal with a violent battle.

Then he walked around the corner and realized that maybe he should have been keeping a closer eye on his creature. Standing in front of him was the monster he'd created only a few minutes ago, ranting and raving, appropriately enough, about how no one had ever paid attention to him. A few yards away, standing amid the wreckage of what had been the café at which he'd been planning to have dinner, was Battle Lover Epinard. That would ordinarily not have been enough to make Kinshiro stop and stare.

What did make him stare was what was lying on the ground a few feet from where Epinard was standing. There was blood spattered on the sidewalk, enough that Kinshiro could see it clearly even from a distance. Lying next to the spill of blood was a leather satchel, the kind that most schoolboys at Binan used to carry their books. It looked like it had gotten snagged on the ruin of the fence, so that the little frog-shaped charm that had been attached to it had been ripped loose to land a few inches away.

"Atsushi..." he whispered, hardly able to make himself consider the evidence in front of him. There was Atsushi's bag, and there was a spray of blood, enough blood to indicate a serious injury, but there was no Atsushi. Kinshiro's gaze snapped up to glare at Epinard.

"Where is he?" he demanded. "Where is Atsushi?"

It was hard to see Epinard's expression through the haze that hid his face, but his posture was clearly defensive. "Ah, calm down, I can explain..."

"Where is he?" Kinshiro shouted. "I need to go to him. Tell me where he is!"

"I... I can't," Epinard stammered.

Fury blazed up inside Kinshiro. Suddenly he was racing up the sidewalk without having consciously decided to. A flourish of one hand brought his Conquest Ring into view, and in a blur of shadow and golden light he shifted into the form of Chevalier Aurite. Before Epinard even had a chance to react, Aurite had drawn his sword and fired a blast of energy that sent the Battle Lover flying several yards to slam into the awning of the café. He fell down in a tangle of striped cloth and bent wire frame. Aurite bounded swiftly across the distance between them and seized Epinard by the collar, yanking him into the air.

"What kind of hero are you?" Aurite hissed. "You're supposed to save people! The one person in the world whose life matters to me and you couldn't protect him! What good are you? How dare you call yourself a hero when you can't save the one person I actually want you to protect?"

He didn't give Epinard a chance to answer. He flung the hero again, sending him careening across the patio, overturning chairs and tables as he flew. He landed in a dazed heap, arms and legs splayed. Kinshiro stalked towards him, sword gripped tightly in his hand. There was more blood on the ground now. Good. The Battle Lover needed to be hurt. He could shed a little blood to make up for what had happened to Atsushi. The man wasn't even trying to fight back now, just lying there, apparently stunned. Aurite thought he could make out dark eyes behind the haze, staring fixedly at him.

"Don't do this," Epinard whispered. "You don't know what you're..."

"I know exactly what I'm doing," Aurite snarled. "I'm giving you what you deserve."

In a fluid motion, he raised his sword and jammed it down into Epinard's unmoving body. He felt the resistance as it cut through muscle and viscera before finally spearing into the ground, heard the sudden gasp of agony. Aurite wrenched his blade free and watched with detachment as it dripped more red stains on the pavement. For all his talk about conquest and destroying his enemies, he had never actually thought about killing someone. He hadn't realized until that moment that he was capable of doing it. He supposed he should have felt something - horror, or elation, or satisfaction - but all he felt was a sort of resignation. Atsushi was dead. His enemy was dying. Epinard's death would not bring Atsushi back. He could destroy the Battle Lovers and conquer the world after this, and none of that was going to bring Atsushi back.

But Epinard wasn't dead yet. He gave another labored gasp and a shudder, and his outline seemed to waver. Then, impossibly, he wasn't there anymore. Atsushi was, bleeding profusely from a wound in his abdomen, face white with pain and blood loss. Aurite stared.

"No," he said, shaking his head. "What? No. This can't... no!"

"Sorry," said Atsushi hoarsely. "Couldn't tell you. You'd have known... my friends...

His friends. Of course. Kinshiro could see it clearly now - Atsushi and his four friends, the Earth Defense Club. It had been right in front of his face the whole time, and he'd been too blinded by his own preconceptions to even consider it. He hadn't wanted to think about it until it was too late, and now Atsushi was dying because he had refused to betray his friends' secrets.

He was dying because Kinshiro had been too dense to pay attention.

Aurite dropped to his knees and gathered Atsushi into his arms.

"It's all right. Just stay with me," he heard himself babbling. "It will be all right. I'll get you to help. Just hold on..."

Atsushi looked up at him with unfocused eyes.

"Kin-chan..." he whispered, and passed out.

To Be Continued...