Disclaimer: So far, I'd say the previous chapter was my favorite to write. The battle was just the most intense we've had so far, and I love what I added to Andy's arc as well. Let's hope I can keep it up for our two main characters by showing the fallout of Orion's loss to Hanajiro! Not the mission itself of course, but I think we all knew that was still ongoing.

Also, I don't own any Ginga characters, aside from any OCs I add in.

The Ginga Legend: Orion's Story

Puppy Army arc Episode six: First Mid Mission Recovery

The evening after Hanajiro attacked Shepherd Prefecture, Orion was training Andy in his ability to prepare for a counterattack. They were training on the hotel roof, where they had plenty of room. Orion aimed a kick at Andy that he was barely fast enough to block, and when Andy blocked it, he aimed a counter punch at Orion. Orion grabbed the punch with ease before throwing Andy over his shoulder and slamming him on the ground. Orion helped Andy up before giving him some more advice. "Try countering a kick with another kick. A low sweep would work."

Andy noticed that Orion was going harder on him than usual this time. Orion attempted to continue focus on training once he did. "Okay, let's take it from the top."

"Before we do..." Andy began, confusing Orion as Andy pointed out how hard he was being. "You're usually not this rough when it comes to training. Are you still upset about your battle with Hanajiro?"

Orion sighed, knowing he couldn't get anything past Andy. He was way too observant for that. "You know it takes me a while to get over every loss I face in battle. But that's not it." Orion walked past Andy and over to the edge of the hotel roof as he spoke. "I just have a lot on my mind right now."

Andy watched Orion look over the horizon, showing a rare instance of being deep in thought. Worried about his friend, he walked up to Orion in the hopes he would talk about it. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

Orion looked back at Andy, who showed a genuine desire to help Orion feel better about this. Orion looked ahead as his anger over this started to show even more clearly. "Hanajiro and I exchanged some words during the battle. One thing he said stuck out to me."

"I'm guessing this is why you were tense in the hospital room too?" Andy asked, and Orion nodded his head yes to confirm it. Andy wanted to understand Orion's feelings in full, so he asked about what exactly Hanajiro said. "It must've felt really personal to affect you this much. You usually don't let it affect how rough you are in training."

"Damn. You're right about that." Orion said with a chuckle at the end, and then he shook his head and clenched his fists while explaining what Hanajiro said. "After I called Hanajiro out for what he was doing with his Puppy Army, he tried to compare me to them, saying that how I did things was similar to theirs."

"Ah." Andy said, getting a better understanding of Orion's emotions. Any comparison like that would hurt, regardless of how much it actually stuck. Granted, Andy didn't know if it did, but still.

Orion then got down to telling Andy what Hanajiro responded with, and why it pissed him off. "He said I was... forcing myself into servitude." Orion turned around, facing Andy as he vented about what Hanajiro was saying. "Who the fuck does he think he is telling me what I'm doing!? I don't give a shit how long he's apparently been spying on us for; he has no business comparing MY life to those poor puppy soldiers!" Orion then realized Andy wasn't there for the spying on part. "Oh yeah. He also told me he'd been spying on Akita Prefecture for a while now."

"Gotcha." Andy assured Orion, and then he gave those words a bit of thought before responding. "I guess we won't know for sure until we actually SEE Puppy Army Village."

Orion scoffed, showing that he'd dismissed Hanajiro's words, and was just pissed that he bothered to attempt that. "I doubt I'm actually similar to those soldiers. And the fact that Hanajiro had the gall to say I did pisses me off even more!"

Andy started to show concern after Orion said that. The words he said from Hanajiro kind of reminded him about what Martha said about blowing stuff off back home to train. And also what she said about making time for other things he cares about. He never confronted Orion about it, but he hoped he would understand. "Actually... I think he might have a point."

That surprised Orion a lot. He didn't think Andy would consider an enemy's point. Still, he knew Andy. And he felt he should hear him out. "How so?"

"You remember what Martha said about you always dismissing other stuff to train?" Andy asked, and Orion thought back to those words, despite not doing so much beforehand. "I can't name a lot of times you spent time with someone else when you didn't have to."

Orion thought about that before pointing out the night they met Hanajiro's soldiers and learned about his army. "I went to that last crab finding thing Sirius invited us to."

"You did, but I was there." Andy replied, reminding Orion that Martha specified him as the exception to who Orion would blow off. "Do you think you would've gone if I didn't?"

Orion was about to answer, but then he gave it a bit more thought. After shaking his head, he gave a conflicted answer. "I don't know. Maybe?" Orion groaned, starting to get even more confused about this whole thing; both because Hanajiro might actually have a point about him, and because he'd never had to confront what he was told today. "He might've just been trying to piss me off."

Andy considered that possibility before making his response. "Maybe. But consider that he said it in response to what YOU said about his army."

Orion was still incredibly confused about all of this, and needed time to process it properly. He put a paw on Andy's shoulder when walking up to him, letting him know he needed some time to himself. "If it's alright with you, Andy, I need some space." Orion headed back to the motel room before stopping to mention Andy's feelings. "You'll get it next time. I know you will." While Orion meant that as encouragement, Andy couldn't help thinking about his blunder after that. As Orion went back to his hotel room, Andy sat on the edge of the roof to reflect.

Meanwhile, Sirius was eating out with Jen and Senshi, waiting for their food as Senshi reenacted how insane the mission was. "And then this third asshole tried to jump me from behind, so I headbutted him with the back of my head and watched him fly back at least five feet!"

Sirius and Jen laughed in response to Senshi's story, leaving Jen to point out something else that happened during the battle. "You should've seen the one who got surrounded by my clones. I think I broke his mind a bit."

Sirius couldn't help laughing again at that thought in his mind. Too bad he was in a different part of Shepherd Prefecture. "I wish I could've seen that." Just then, Sirius' stomach growled, making him chuckle a bit before speaking up about it. "Guess I'm hungrier than I thought."

"Good thing we went for ramen then." Jen responded, and then he noticed Sirius start to look a little concerned about something. Worried about his friend, Jen asked about it. "You okay, Siri?"

Sirius knew he could open up to Jen and Senshi about anything. Not wanting to worry them, he opened up about what was on his mind. "It's about Orion." Jen and Senshi let Sirius talk about what was bothering him in regards to Orion. "I just wish we could connect like real brothers do. I know they always compete and sometimes fight, but with Orion, he seems to always get this way when I'm around." Jen and Senshi saw where Sirius was going with this. "I'm also worried about him regarding yesterday. But I don't know if he'll listen to me."

Jen had siblings of her own, so she could understand where Sirius was coming from. And where Orion was coming from. "These problems are best talked about directly. If Orion wants to get the mission done, he'll be willing to at least tell you why he's so easily pissed off by you."

Sirius hoped that Jen was right about that, knowing that he wasn't Orion's favorite person to talk to. "You might be right. He really cares about stopping Hanajiro."

Senshi pointed out something else that might help Sirius with his talk. "Look at it this way. He can't act like you don't know about it if you tell him."

Sirius saw Senshi's point, and at that moment, the waitress came over and set down their ramen bowls. "Okay; one barbecue pork ramen, one spicy chicken, and one beef ramen ready for eating. Enjoy! I'll be back later." The waitress walked off with Sirius reaching for the barbecue pork bowl, Jen reaching for the spicy chicken one, and Senshi reaching for the beef one. However, as they reached for their bowls, Sirius, who was sitting down, ended up lifting his butt up just a bit. And once he grabbed his, he ended up unintentionally releasing...

PFFFFFFFFFFT

...a loud and bassy five second fart, letting out a yellow cloud of rotten eggs from his vibrating butt that surprised him, Jen, and Senshi. Sirius looked back to find his fart cloud lingering in the area, and the patrons behind him were very grossed out by it. Sirius smiled sheepishly while blushing and wafted the fart cloud away while apologizing. "Sorry! Sorry, everyone!" And after he did, he made a suggestion to his friend. And he was very clearly mortified. I say we get out of here before my butt gets us banned."

"Alright, good call." Jen then called over to their waitress to see if they could get their food to go. "We need some to go boxes when you can, miss!"

Andy was reflecting on the mission, and what Orion said, as he sat on the roof of the hotel. He wanted to believe he would get it next time. But the way he almost fled today made him fear otherwise. He had no idea how to maintain pressure in battle. He didn't want to just run away, but he couldn't help wondering if he deserved to be out here. Then, Izou's voice was heard from behind Andy. "That first mission is always a tricky one."

Andy looked back and saw Izou walking up to him, realizing why he was up here very quickly. "So you froze up in your first mission too?"

"Oh yeah. And it was rough." Izou confirmed, and then he walked next to Andy to continue helping him out. "Mind if I sit here?"

"Not at all." Andy assured Izou, and he allowed him to sit on the right side of him. "It's just that... I almost ran today. Soldiers aren't supposed to almost run. Martha didn't. Sirius didn't. Orion didn't." The mention of Orion especially made Andy second guess his abilities. "Hell, Orion got his ass kicked by Hanajiro, and he STILL didn't run! I wish I had that kind of confidence. The kind that'll help me become a combat medic."

"You mean like you were today?" Izou asked, and Andy wasn't expecting a response like that.

After giving it a bit of thought, Andy realized that in a sense, Izou was right. He was healing Canines on the field today. But what if things got more intense, and he was forced to battle? Could he handle it? "Except, most of that didn't have me doing any actual fighting. I want to be able to do both when I have to. I want to be able to shift into battle mode when I have to; both on, and off the battlefield. Not just do the healing part and running as soon as things get tough."

Izou placed a paw on Andy's shoulder, assuring him that he was making the right step towards his goals. "Actually getting out there on the fields today was a big step. Now, you just have to work on composing yourself when things get intense." Izou looked forward, telling Andy about his very first mission to help him out. "I was a lot like you during my first mission. I almost fled my first battle because I was so overwhelmed by how things turned out." Izøu laughed a bit at one particular moment in his first mission. "I think I almost pissed on the battlefield too."

Andy snorted before composing himself, and Izou's smile showed him it was okay to laugh at it. Andy then took into account how Izou was during today's mission. "But you're so confident now. How did you stop being scared?"

"Oh, it never stopped." Izou admitted, surprising Andy with the knowledge that even today, he'd get scared on the battlefield. What Izou said next helped Any better understand this. "Someone I knew once gave me the same advice I'm giving you now. It takes time. But I think you can manage proper mission composure. You saved Martha from that Spirit knife after all."

"Yeah, but I didn't even think with that one." Andy said, looking down at the ground while worrying his story wouldn't be like Izou's. "It was hard enough learning about the documented battles Weed's army went through. And the stuff after they fought Hougen. Being on the battlefield. I didn't even know what I was doing half the time."

"We all learn at our own pace." Izou started, catching Andy's attention again and allowing him to share his words of wisdom. "Being scared doesn't make you weak." Izou then pointed to Andy's heart, which was the core of every Canine's Spirit, as he continued his advice. "It's the choices we make from our emotions, and our morals, that dictate our strength." Andy placed his paw on his heart with Izou stepping up to go and get some food. "Well anyway, I'm gonna go and get something to eat. You wanna come?"

"Maybe later." Andy answered, and as Izou started to leave, Andy thanked him. "And, thanks, Izou. I'll try to remember what you told me." Izou nodded with a proud smile, confident that Andy would be able to do just that. As Izou made his leave, Andy looked over the village again. He looked at the paw he placed on his heart, and after a bit more thought, he clenched it gently. He still had his doubts. One conversation couldn't erase that. But at least now, he had an idea of what to do. Not to let his fear drive him. But to let his heart drive him instead.

Orion was training again outside Shepherd Prefecture the next day, going as fast as he could while doing an enormous amount of laps around the village. Sirius was looking for him, and when he saw him zip around him one final time before skidding to a stop, he looked at a stopwatch he conjured up. It read '9.45' on it, showing that he reached his goal in under ten minutes. He gave a confident smile as he commented on how easy this was compared to back home. "Ten thousand laps in under ten minutes. This would've taken me an extra minute back home."

Sirius expressed genuine proudness of Orion as he walked up to him. "That's great, Orion! You really have come a long way."

Orion was surprised to see Sirius there, and despite his obvious look of envy on his face, he kept his cool and looked away as he responded. "Yeah. Thanks."

Sirius walked up to Orion out of concern, having heard what happened from Izou that morning. "Are you sure you should be pushing yourself so hard? You just got beaten down by Hanajiro yesterday."

Orion got to practicing his Rhythm Spirit after hearing that, spawning a Spirit clone of himself with the snap of his fingers to fight him to test his rhythmic dodges. "Can't rest for a second if that asshole attacks us." As soon as he started his rhythmic dodges, which were pretty great, he continued the conversation. "Besides. If I wanna surpass you, then I've gotta keep giving it my all. You know how this works."

"I haven't forgotten." Sirius assured Orion, showing an interest in hanging out with Orion with his next point. "I just mean you should take some downtime too. I saw they have a basketball court in the gym here. You wanna check it out?"

Orion spun to the side before getting down and landing a sweep kick on his clone as he declined. "No thanks. I'm not interested in being beaten by you today."

Sirius sighed, having had a feeling that wouldn't have worked. "Yeah, I should've known you wouldn't be tempted by something you've never done before." Sirius walked over to a nearby tree as he thought about his relationship with Orion. Out of a genuine desire to grow a stronger bond with him, he decided to go for it when asking about Orion's envy. After making sure he was okay with it of course. "Can I ask you something, Orion?"

"We've been talking the whole time, haven't we?" Orion asked, keeping his rhythmic dodges going to the flow of the battle. "Ask away."

Sirius prepared himself to ask this question, hoping that Orion wouldn't get upset about it. "I know we haven't been close. I've always been ahead of you, and I can see you don't take it well at all." Orion grabbed his clone's fist, finishing the sparring match and having the clone disperse as soon as the dodging stopped. Hanajiro's words were still on his mind, and he still didn't know what to make of them after his talk with Andy. "It was pretty obvious how you felt about me being on this mission."

Orion looked at Sirius, who stayed where he was. It was easy to see how personal this was to both of them. "Is that why you're so... obsessed with fighting?"

Orion felt there was no getting out of this one. It definitely pissed him off, that's for sure. First Hanajiro's words, and now this. "Truth?" Sirius nodded his head yes, and Orion gave him the most honest answer he could. "I've always loved fighting. You just drive me to keep getting better." Orion then showed his disdain towards the word obsessed as he started walking over to Sirius. "But I'm not obsessed. Not like the puppies who're ruling under that assfuck!"

Sirius saw that he hit a nerve with Orion. Not wanting to to turn this into a fight, he attempted to calm him down. "Okay, maybe I shouldn't have used the word 'obsessed'."

"No shit. First Hanajiro tells me I'm a slave to our home, and now you do too!"

"No; that's not what I meant! I just don't think your way of thinking is good for you."

"Of course you wouldn't. You don't have to bust your ass to get as good as you are; it's just given to you!" Orion shouted failing to see what Sirius was trying to say. Sirius was used to Orion thinking he didn't work hard Outside of their sparring matches. "You're more liked than me, and everyone expects everything from you." Sirius was shocked by the first thing Orion said there. But not so much the second. "Meanwhile, no one expects the same from me, despite how hard I push myself!" Little did Sirius know, this was only a part of Orion's bottled up feelings. "I'm just... UGH!"

Orion flew off after running a few steps, not giving Sirius the time needed to explain things to him. "Orion; wait!" Sirius wanted to go after Orion. But he knew his temper would've been a bad thing to confront in this state.

As Orion stormed off, Sirius contemplated what he was thinking. He already knew that Orion's jealousy of him was a big part in their strained relationship. But he really felt the village liked him more? Sirius couldn't believe how much Orion was hurting. He was so blinded by his desire to surpass Sirius, that he couldn't see how much the village loved him. If only he could show Orion how wrong he was to think that way.

After Orion stormed off, he was shown walking through Shepherd Prefecture, visibly angry over the things on his mind. These past two days have been making him more confused than ever. Hanajiro trying to compare him to his own soldiers, then his talk with Andy, and now Sirius is saying stuff along similar lines. Why was he being confronted so much about his desire to be the strongest Canine in the world lately? 'Did Hanajiro actually have a point? No, that couldn't be it. But what if it was? God damn it, now he's taking over my fucking head!'

Just then, Orion and Martha ended up bumping into each other, and Martha almost fell to the ground before Orion caught her. "I'm okay!" After another one of her usual klutz moments, this one being caused by her slipping on a wet floor she ended up walking on (While trying to be careful of course), she got back up and smiled to Orion. "Sorry, Orion. Thanks for the save."

"No problem." Orion responded, walking off immediately after he said it. Martha noticed that he was in one of his moods rather quickly.

Worried about Orion, Martha ran over to Orion to check on him. "Are you feeling okay, Orion?"

Orion noticed how worried Martha was and sighed, catching onto what she was talking about. "Guess I can't hide anything from you."

"Nope!" Martha exclaimed, giggling a bit at how quickly she'd gotten used to Orion. They haven't been friends for long, but she still knew quite a bit about him. She then showed concern again when asking about his mood. "Is this about Sirius again?"

Orion continued walking with Martha, who listened as he answered honestly. "Not primarily, no." Orion then looked at Martha, hoping she would have an answer for him. "Martha. Do you think I've made myself... a slave to servitude?"

Martha was caught off guard by that question. She especially didn't expect usage of the word 'slave'. "No, I don't think that. Why?"

Orion could feel how much Martha wanted to help her feel better. It made it easier for him to speak about things, even though he didn't go into detail. "During my battle with Hanajiro yesterday, he compared me to his Puppy Army."

"Did he bring up how you spend most of your time training?" Martha asked, and Orion nodded his head yes. "Thought so." Martha knew Andy was Orion's closest confidant, so going with his methods would probably be best. "What did Andy say when you told him?"

"He brought up how Hanajiro said it after I called him out for his army." Orion answered, and then he explained more about what Andy said. "He used you as an example too."

"Oh?" Martha asked out of surprise. Then again, Andy was very insightful, so that was probably how he did it.

"He brought up how I kept blowing others off to train." Orion explained further. He couldn't quite understand it, but he started to, regret that now. But why? He'd never given this much thought to the topic before. Why was it only starting now? "At first, I thought Hanajiro was just full of shit. But seeing Andy considering his words started to change things." Orion then clenched his fists when trying to keep his cool, unable to believe that, as cold as he was to Sirius, that his own brother would consider this too. "I think Sirius started to agree with him too."

Martha knew she'd have to pick the right words with Orion to avoid setting him off. After careful consideration, she gave her honest perspective on this. "Well, try looking at it this way. You love hanging out with Andy, right?"

"Yeah. Especially during our training sessions." Orion smiled a bit while mentioning some of the other stuff. "And whether it's manga, or anime, or video games, or whatever we do at home, I-"

Martha put a paw on Orion's shoulder, which confused him at first. Martha gave a smile to Orion when he looked at her, finishing her point. "Why don't you try having fun with other Canines too?" Orion and Martha stopped in front of the ramen restaurant Sirius and his team ate at yesterday. "You don't have to enjoy it as much as you would with Andy. Just, try to broaden your horizons, and see if there are others you like spending time with. Like you are with me right now."

Orion flinched at that mention, but then he realized Martha was right. Even if it was just a talk to help Orion, he could see that he was in fact, talking to Martha about it. He laughed a bit at how he didn't notice that until now. "I guess I am."

Martha saw that Orion was feeling better and gestured him to the ramen restaurant. "Andy and I were hoping to have lunch with you. You wanna get some food here and eat together on the hotel roof?"

Orion started to think about that, along with what Martha just told him. He was starting to realize how much he enjoyed her company, even if at a slow rate. He also thought about Hanajiro's words. Since he still had yet to see how the Puppy Army operated, he wasn't quite sure how true Hanajiro's words were. But he started thinking there was a chance they had some merit to them. And so, he decided to accept Martha's offer. "Yeah." And when he did, he smiled. Not just because he got to eat with Andy. But he also started to see Martha's heart.

"I'd like that."

Meanwhile, Sirius was on the phone with Weed, hoping to talk about what just happened between him and Orion. "And he thinks everyone back home likes me more than him. It's no wonder he's been upset with me for so long." Weed was on the other end getting some late evening work done in his office. He was shown to be concerned for his son, and there seemed to be some remorse in his expression as well. "I think what pisses him off the most is what he said after that. He wants people to expect great things from him. Like they do with me."

Sirius cringed a bit as he thought about the expectations on himself. They were a lot to deal with sometimes. Weed shared his perspective to help Sirius better understand where Orion was coming from. "When Orion and I get the chance to spend time together, he always tells me about how he wants to become the leader of the Ohu army. He said it's his start to becoming the strongest Canine in the world." Sirius looked down at the ground as Weed finished. "I think he wants people to see him as capable of that."

"That lines up pretty well with what he told me." Sirius said, looking down at his free paw while thinking about Orion feeling he worked hard enough to deserve greatness. "You've seen it too, right? How much Orion pushes himself."

Weed laughed a bit, finding it impossible to deny that side of Orion. "How can I not? I still remember when he discovered his Spirit Specialty."

Weed ended up flashing back to three years ago, when Orion attempted a massive jump during an obstacle course in the school. "It's jumping tiiiiiiiiime!" However, Orion failed to make the jump, only reaching about seventy something percent of what he needed. He ended up face planting on the ramp, causing him to slide down until he started flying. Out of anger at himself for not making it, he kicked the ramp he missed the jump on. "Fuck!" The ramp moved forward a bit as Weed was shown watching Orion from above. "Fine then! I'll just get faster!"

Weed smiled at his son's determination before the flashback ended, leading to Weed explaining more about Orion's thought process. "If there's one thing Orion's never been, it's lazy." Sirius nodded in agreement to that, even showing a brief smile in regards to Orion's hard work. "He wants people to recognize how hard he's pushing himself. That he's as capable as being someone amazing as we are."

"I'm sure he can. I think he doubts himself sometimes too." Sirius admitted, remembering how Orion reacted after finding out he couldn't become a Super Canine. "That could be why he's gotten colder since he found out I could become a Super Canine, and he couldn't." Sirius thought about that before asking Weed a question. "Do you think all of this has something to do with me being a prodigy?"

Weed struggled to answer at first due to what it would end up being. But he spoke up anyway, not wanting to lie to his son. "He's not shy about admitting how jealous he is of you for it." Sirius listened as Weed mentioned something else remorsefully. "I think he's also angry about how I spend more time with you."

Sirius felt his heart ache as that thought came to his mind. He DID spend more time with Weed than his siblings. That had to be one of the reasons Orion was so jealous of him. "I hadn't considered that. I knew it was because of my training to become leader."

"Now, to make it perfectly clear, Sirius, I love all of you equally." Weed told Sirius in reference to all four of his children. Weed then looked at a photo of himself with his family in the backyard. He focused on Orion's image in particular, and how he was seemingly upset about Weed being closer to Sirius in the shot. He picked up the photo and realized something he should do with those words. "And I should tell Orion that too next time I see him. He needs to know we're all there for him."

"I know he'd love that." Sirius said assuredly, showing that he was able to pick up on part of why Orion behaves the way he does. "That's another thing. I think he's hurting himself with how he does things." Sirius sighed, speaking up about how Orion focused so much more on training than anything else. "As admirable and ambitious as Orion's goals are, I feel like he's letting his negative emotions drive him. I want to talk to him about that, but when he snapped at me earlier, he mentioned Hanajiro telling him that he was a 'slave to our home'."

Weed was shocked to hear those words, being even enraged that Hanajiro would dare to say that to his son. "That fucker. I'd kill myself before I saw my son or anyone else as a slave!" Weed composed himself long enough to think his next words over. He knew Orion always focused entirely on training over anyone but Andy when given the choice. He wanted to encourage his son to grow bonds with others, since he knew he was capable of forming them. "I'm sure Orion can learn that close bonds can make anyone stronger."

Sirius smiled as he gave those words some thought. The fact that Orion was so close with Andy meant it was possible. However, it did make Sirius curious about why Orion was close with Andy specifically. "If his bond with Andy is anything to go by, I think so too. Thanks, dad." Weed smiled, glad he was able to help. Sirius then realized he should tell his father about something else regarding the mission to stop the Puppy Army. "Oh, one more thing, before you go." Weed listened patiently, despite Sirius' tone worrying him. "I think Hanajiro's been spying on Akita Prefecture."

Orion, Andy, and Martha were eating ramen together on the hotel roof as Martha was telling them a funny story about her home life. "So when we headed upstairs to figure out what the crash was, we found dad in the closet, and his first line after seeing us was 'Funny. I thought I already came out'."

Orion and Andy couldn't resist laughing at that story. Martha definitely had an interesting life with GB and Rocket. Andy confirmed to believe this with his words. "Never change, GB."

Martha noticed that Orion laughed too, which made her more curious about his opinion of the Canines in Akita Prefecture. "So you DO like some of the Canines back home."

Orion finished eating what he was chewing of his ramen before backing his reaction up. "It's pretty hard not to like GB." Orion saw that Martha was still confused, so he decided to address what exactly was throwing her off. "Look, Martha. Just because I don't hang out with a lot of Canines back home, doesn't mean I don't like any of them."

"I know that. But you're not exactly the most patient puppy or polite back home." Martha pointed out, recalling plenty of moments where he lost his cool. "You weren't exactly a good sport when you lost to Spiral."

Orion struggled to explain why he felt that way then, and Andy placed a paw on his shoulder to help him out. "She hasn't judged you yet, Orion. I'm sure she'll get it."

"And she, can confirm it." Martha said with a smirk, reminding Andy that she was still in earshot.

Orion breathed in through his nose, and out with his mouth, hoping him opening up now wouldn't be weird. "That wasn't anything against Spiral. I just hate losing." Andy, having already heard this, allowed Orion to tell Martha while sitting beside him for support. "Whenever I lose a battle, it feels like I'm failing or doing a shitty job at what I'm striving for;" Martha nodded in understanding as Orion finished what he had to say. "and that everything I do is for nothing."

Martha smiled, knowing that the time Orion spent pushing himself wasn't for nothing. "If it WAS for nothing, you wouldn't have graduated from Spirit School, which you did." Orion saw Martha's point, and she then gave some more for him. "You were also the only one to land a hit on Izou when we met him. And from what you told us about Hanajiro, surviving a battle against him was no easy feat."

As Orion thought about what Martha was saying, she continued what she was saying. "A small step is still a step, Orion. And win or lose, for every small step you take..." Orion looked at Martha, she gave a peace sign and smile as she expressed her confidence in him achieving his goal. "You'll get one step closer to leaving all of us in the dust!"

After a cheerful laugh from Martha, Orion gave Martha's words some consideration. He never thought about how his small achievements could pave the way to his bigger ones. Perhaps he should've appreciated how well he did in graduation. "I guess I never thought of it that way before."

"Maybe soon enough, you will." Martha suggested, and then she remembered the three puppies were eating their dinner. "Anyway, we should eat our food before it gets cold. Nothing's worse than cold ramen." And so, the three puppies got back to eating, all of them being glad that this talk happened. Even though Orion didn't show it much, Martha was definitely helping him get closer to appreciating life.

Later that night, Orion and Andy were getting ready for bed as Andy expressed how happy he was to see Orion and Martha getting along. "I think it's safe to assume you and Martha are officially friends now." Orion started considering that as Andy walked over to his bed. "She even told me how talked to her before making that ramen offer."

Orion sat up, smiling as he thought more and more about being friends with Martha. "Friend, huh? That does sound nice."

"It damn well better. You already have one in me!" Andy exclaimed, making Orion smile as Andy then brought up the talk he and Orion had yesterday. "By the way, Orion. I hope you know that I wasn't trying to put you down yesterday."

Orion snickered, instantly recognizing what Andy was talking about. "Dude, I'd have to barely know you for that to be the case." Orion laughed a bit more as Andy saw his point. Orion then started thinking about Hanajiro's words again. He didn't show the worst of how he felt to Martha, but after hanging out with her today, he started to think even more about it. He actually started to... regret some of his moments of dismissive behavior towards the smaller things in life. "Maybe she had a point too. And I can't believe I'm saying this... but Hanajiro might too."

Orion shuddered after saying that, showing that he was still disgusted at the idea of a villain being right. Andy knew Orion needed some more encouragement before he could officially start learning to value his life, and all that surrounds it. He walked over to him and sat down next to him, ready to give his advice. "You've been helping me since the moment we met, Orion." Orion looked at Andy, listening intently for what he had to say. "Now it's my turn to help you."

Orion had a feeling he knew what Andy was going to say. He let the German Shepherd speak, since he was now thinking about this very topic. "You're amazing in so many ways. And I want you to keep striving to become the strongest Canine in the world. Because I'm confident you can get there." Andy then looked at Orion, smiling as he brought up just how much stuff there was in life. "That said, I know there's a lot of stuff in this world you love just like training. Like food, racing, video games, anime, and your family. And yes, I know you love them too."

That last one was a little harder for Orion to understand, due to his jealousy of Sirius. He couldn't help but question it. The way Andy worded it made him wonder. Did he really act like he hated Sirius? Sure he was jealous of him, but 'hate' felt like a strong word to him. How DID he feel about Sirius? Andy finished his words to Orion as he thought about this. "I know you're a good Canine, Orion. And I want you to show it too. Strive for your goals, and make room for other things too."

The more Orion thought about it, the more he figured that the advice Andy and Martha, and even Sirius to a certain extent, was true. There were a lot of things he'd hate losing in life. Maybe he should start cherishing them more. "I guess I can try." Andy smiled and hugged Orion, who smiled before hugging him back. He still loved the feel of Andy's paws and fur, and Orion loved the moments he saw his soft side.

Andy then hopped down, needing to use the bathroom before bed. "I'll be right back. I gotta use it before bed."

"Take as long as ya need." Orion replied, allowing Andy to head off to the bathroom before he took out his phone. He opened up his notifications and saw Martha's birthday party invite from three days ago. He was still conflicted about taking time out of his schedule for other stuff. His desire to surpass Sirius and prove he was as capable as him was still incredibly strong. Still; he told Andy he'd at least try. He should at least consider going. So he did that in the best way he could. He smiled, and selected the option that told Martha he'd think about it: Maybe.

To be continued

Rock music played as Orion talked about what was going to happen in the next part as moments from the next episode were shown. "Don't worry; I like Martha enough to feel like I'd enjoy her party. But we still have a mission going on. Speaking of which, I might as well get to my weekly sparring match with Sirius. Of course he's still ahead of me. Oh for fucks sake; he's better against Hanajiro too!? What's he even doing back!? Don't hog him, Sirius! I have more than one score to settle!"

The words of the next chapter were shown with Orion on the right charging up his Spirit energy, and Andy trying to get his act together in an intense situation. "Next time, Hanajiro's Mission: Recruiting Orion!" Izou was shown being evenly matched with Hanajiro at full power, colliding a powerful punch after their Spirit beam clash exploded. "Damn, Izou; I knew you kicked ass, but this is something else!"