Part 1:

One of Yuuki's free time activities involved walking around town and looking around. Though not exciting, it was a nice slow paced activity he liked to do after helping out people or defending those who were getting attacked by monsters. Today was no different, with Yuuki simply doing just that.

"Hey Yuuki!"

Yuuki turned to see Hiyori, who was carrying a large amount of luggage with her. Both her arms were filled with two heavy looking bags.

"What are you up to?" she asked.

"Just on a walk, what are you carrying?"

"She's helping me carry some luggage from home." chimed an old lady. "Are you perhaps a friend of hers? If so, why don't you help her out."

Yuuki nodded and without a second thought, grabbed two of the bags from Hiyori.

"Thanks. I was helping out that old lady because she was struggling to carry her stuff. I didn't realize how heavy it was until I picked it up."

"Yeah…this is pretty heavy." Yuuki said, feeling the weight of the bags pull him down. He pushed forward though and helped carry the ladies bags to her home with Hiyori. Once outside of her house, Yuuki and Hiyori set the bags down outside the ladies house.

"Thank you so much. She said in a cheerful tone. "Those bags were heavy weren't they?"

"It's fine. We should help each other out when we run into trouble after all! Right Yuuki?"

Yuuki nodded back at Hiyori.

"I'll repay you guys another time. Be careful on your way back OK?"

The two nodded before heading back towards town.

"The feeling you get after helping someone out is just so refreshing right?"

"Yeah. It's nice. It's why I go out of my way to help people."

"Oh?"

Hiyori said, cocking her head to the side. "Is that why I always see you helping people out around Landsol?"

Yuuki was about to answer that, but was starting to get drowsy.

"Hey, Yuuki, you alright?" Hiydori said as Yuuki sat himself down on the ground. Just then, a light shined on the two.

"What? This light? Go away!"

Hiyori tried swatting at the light, but it just went through her hands. Before she knew it, she too was feeling sleepy, and fell asleep beside Yuuki.

Part 2:

"Senpai! Hey, Senpai!"

Yuuki turned around to find a girl with short dark brown hair standing before him. This girl was Hiyori, the same one he was just talking too back at Landsol, minus her cat ears, gloves, and tail.

"Were you headed home too?" the girl asked. The two of them were in a local park located in the city. It was late in the afternoon, with the sun starting to set.

"Or perhaps were you taking a detour?" the girl continued.

"No, I'm just on my way home after school." Yuuki said. "What are you doing here?"

"Killing some time. Though the wound on my leg has been healing, I still want to take it easy and not agitate it. It sucks not being able to do any club activities, but at least I got more free time!" she said with a smile.

"And hey, I was able to run into you today."

"That's true…" Yuuki said. Despite them being a guild in Astrum, and going to the same school, Yuuki didn't see HIyori that often, with him mostly busy doing other things around the town.

Just then, the two heard the sound of a little girl crying in the park.

"M-m-mom? Where'd you go?"

"Uh oh, it looks like that girl may be lost. Let's go over and see if that's the case Senpai."

Yuuki and Hiyori went over to the little girl who was looking around for her mom.

"Hello!" What's the matter, did you get separated from your mom?"

The little girl responded by crying.

"Oh no! Don't cry!" Hiyori said, panicking a bit.

"Hmm, is there anything we can do that would calm a kid down?"

"Maybe we could get her some ice cream?"

"Yeah, wait. I thought of something!"

HIyori grabbed something from inside her backpack and pulled it out. The object in question was a cat keychain.

"Nya, nya. What a strong kid you are, looking for your mom all by yourself-nya!" Hiyori said, moving the cat key chain around as if it was talking.

"Look at this little guy and cheer up."

The girl stopped crying to look at the cat keychain.

"It's a cat."

"Yep." Hiyori said with a smile.

"It's all beat up though…"

"I know, it's pretty old, but it's very important to me. It was given to me by a friend. He's someone who's saving people whenever he sees someone in trouble."

"That's why, to help you find your mom, my cat's going to help you look-nya!"

"Okay…" the girl said with a sniffle.

"Thank you for helping me look for my mom Mr. and Ms." the little girl said.

"You're welcome." Hiyori said with a smile.

"Say Hiyori, if it's alright, can I see that cat keychain for a second?"

"Oh, sure Senpai."

Hiyori held up the cat keychain to Yuuki. The keychain in question had some pain scratches and dirt on it, but for the most part looked to be ok.

"I feel like I've seen this before? Who gave you this?"

Flashback:

Outside of a mall, a young Hiyori found herself lost, unable to find her mom.

"Mom? Mom? Where are you?" she said, crying. That's when a young Yuuki came up to her.

"Here, you can have this," he said, handing her the cat keychain. The young Hiyori stopped crying to look at the keychain.

"It's…a cat." she said, slowly grabbing the keychain from Yuuki.

"I'll stay with you until your mom comes."

"Really?"

Yuuki nodded.

"Thank you. You're a really nice guy." The girl said, smiling.

The two sat on a bench as Hiyori explained how she got separated from her mom. The two were out shopping for stuff for school, when Hiyori got distracted by something neat she saw in the window of a shopping store. When she turned around, her mom was nowhere to be found.

"I see. Well I'm sure if you stay here your mom will come and find you." Yuuki said, patting her head. Not long after Yuuki said that, Hiyori heard someone calling her.

"Hiyori! There you are! I was so worried about you."

"Mom, mom, this nice person helped me out when I got lost."

"Thank you so much for watching her, you're a good child." Hiyori's mom said.

End of flashback:

"I never did get that kid's name back then, but I held onto it in hopes that I would run into him again." HIyori said.

"Yeah…"

"Say…senpai, the fact that you recognize this, does that mean that it was you who helped me out back then?"

Before Yuuki could answer, the little girl spoke up.

"Ah! It's mom! Mom, I'm over here!"

"There you are. I was looking all over for you." The mom said, rushing over and embracing her daughter. "Thank you two so much for looking after her, I can't express how much it meant."

"It's no problem. We should all help each other out when we're in trouble."

"Miss, minister, thank you! Bye bye!" the little girl said, before walking off with her mom.

"Bye bye!" Hiyori said back to the girl.

After that, the two stood there in silence, watching the girl and her mom walk off in the distance.

"Say…senpai, that was you who gave me that keychain back then wasn't it?"

"Y-yeah. It was." Yuuki said, scratching the back of his head nervously. Yuuki remembered that day well, but never thought that he would run into that girl again.

"I appreciate what you did for me back then Senpai. You probably went on to help several more people after that, didn't you?"

"Well…I don't quite remember."

"That's alright…" Hiyori said with a giggle.

"I know it's a little bit late, but I'd like to return this little guy to you." Hiyori said, holding up the cat keychain.

"It's because of how you helped me back then, and this little guy here, that I became the person I am today. Someone who wants to help out others when they're in trouble. To you, it might not have meant much, but to me on that day…"

Yuuki could feel his face getting red. He was touched by the compliments that HIyori was tossing at him, but also somewhat embarrassed. Since that day he's certainly changed as a person and doesn't help too many out, at least in real life. In the video game world of Astrum, that was a different story.

"Look Hiyori, I'd like you to keep him."

"Really?"

"Yes. He's yours forever." Yuuki said with a nod.

"Then from now on and ever, and ever, and ever, I'll take good care of it!." Hiyori said, her smile as bright as the sun. Seeing her smile like that made Yuuki start to smile, while also feeling guilt over not remembering that day. Even more so when Hiyori revealed that it was because of that day that she went out of her way to help people in trouble.

"You…did all of that because of what I did?"

Hiyori nodded.

"Helping someone out, no matter who they are, doesn't that give you a warm and fuzzy feeling inside?"

"Yeah." Yuuki said, though a bit hesitant.

"From here on out senpai, let's do our best OK?"

Yuuki nodded.

"Great! Now then, why don't we race each other home?"

"Are you sure that's a good idea Hiyori? I don't want you to trip and hurt your injured leg."

Hiyori didn't hear him, however, and started running. Yuuki sighed and simply played along with HIyori, running after her.

Part 3:

Yuuki found himself facing Ameth, who greeted Yuuki with a smile on her face.

"See, you weren't such a bad guy back then. You helped out Hiyori in her time of need and inspired her to help out others in the process."

"Yeah…" Yuuki said, scratching his cheek.

"You seem to be a bit nervous?"

"Well…I feel bad for Hiyori. I didn't seem to remember the time I helped her out that meant so much to her. It makes me feel like a jerk…"

"I won't lie, while you were a bit of a jerk in the past, you still overall were a good guy. Even now, you can make it up to Hiyori by continuing to be there for her, and help her when she needs it. You certainly come off as someone who cares about others feelings. Just like with Kyaru."

"I was hoping you wouldn't find out about that."

"As someone who watches you all throughout the day, monitoring your progress, I can't help it. That said, I'd appreciate it if you continued to take their feelings into concern. I don't know how you've advanced into the state you're in now, but I'm not complaining. You're almost like you were in the past, minus being a jerk."

Part 4:

"Hmm. Hah! I fell asleep again!?" Hiyori said, jumping up from the ground. Yuuki also slowly made his way up from the ground.

"I should have asked Ameth if there was a way she could do this when I'm not in public." he thought to himself.

"I feel like I saw a really nostalgic, important dream, but I can't remember what it was?"

"What do you remember about it?" Yuuki asked, dusting himself off.

"Well…I can't remember all the details, but I know you helped me out when I was lost. It was…when I was little. Say…Yuuki, have we already met a long time ago?"

"I can't tell you for sure…" Yuuki said, still shy about the memory. "Say, why don't we go to a restaurant and get something good to eat? That should wake us up."

"Ok.' Hiyori said. While the two walked towards the restaurant, Hiyori hoped to herself that what happened in the dream was real.

Next story: Sticks and stones-October 31st