Time was running out. Kaito and the others are frantically searching for Slumber World to save you, Flint, and the others.
"Over there!" Kaito shouted, spotting Hakaiser. He immediately contacted Jyuran and the others.
"Minna, they are over here," Kaito reported.
"Roger," came the response.
0-0-0-0-0-0
Hakaiser was the first to spot Kaito.
"Stacey, we got to fight!" he informed his friend. Stacey snapped out of his thoughts and turned to face Kaito.
"Stacey, Hakais-er. Move out of the way!" Kaito demanded, surprising both Stacey and Hakaiser with his attitude.
Stacey let out a smirk, "As if." and began to transform.
Kaito sent a piercing glare before he ran toward them as well. With 2 versus 1, Kaito was clearly at a disadvantage. He tried to avoid most of the attacks to run towards Slumber World, but Stacey and Hakaiser had no will to back down.
"Let me go! There's no time." Kaito grunted.
"Kaito!" the others called him and aided him.
"Go, we don't have much time!" Kaito told them as Zox helped deal with Haikaiser.
Jyuran nodded. He, Vroom, Gaon, and Magine dashed towards Slumber World.
Stacey wanted to stop them, but Kaito stopped him.
"Not on my watch," he stated. Stacey clicked his tongue and shot at Kaito.
"Why the rush?" Stacey asked, disliking Kaito's current attitude.
"Y/N and everyone else life is endangered right now," Kaito stated, sending another shot.
Stacey barely dodged that shot. "What do you Y/N's life is endangered?" Stacey asked. Kaito was surprised by the question, but he could sense the slight panic in Stacey's voice.
"Slumber World attacked her. He might have taken her if we didn't arrive in time." Kaito informed Stacey. They were far from the other by now. It was just him and Stacey.
Damn it...so it was really her. Gege---that damn bird. Stacey cursed in his brain. He could see the sun was almost setting. He was contemplating what to do. If he let Kaito go, indeed, that would cause more suspicion. But if not, he might lose you forever.
Kaito could sense Stacey's awkward silence as if he was uncertain about what to do.
"You care about her, right?" Kaito asked Stacey.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Stacey asked, annoyed at Kaito.
"Y/N-san. You care about her, am I right?" Kaito asked one more time.
"What do you know about it? Don't just assume things!" Stacey clicked his tongue and shot at Kaito, but he swiftly dodged it.
"Although you act cold and emotionless all of the time, I can tell you are concerned about her situation right now," Kaito stated.
Stacey remained silent.
"You like her, right, Stacey?" Kaito finally blurted out. Stacey's eye widened behind his helmet.
Like her...Impossible...I...Stacey's fists slowly clenched together. He hated it. He hated the way Kaito always assumed he knew everything about him. Seeing Stacey distracted, Kaito took this chance and shot the tree trunk, blocking Stacey's way.
Hearing the sound of a tree falling, Stacey quickly dodged it. Kuso! He stated in his mind and turned to find Kaito was running towards Slumber World already.
Of course, with Stacey's speed, he could easily catch up to Kaito. But something stopped him. An image of you smiling flashed through his mind. He tried to shake that image, but another one appeared. It was from the time you and him, shouting across the lilies field.
"Damn it! Get out of my head," he yelled out loud. He began to shoot the branches nearby before jumping off somewhere.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Back at Kaito's...
He was able to defeat the Slumber World with Jyuran and the others. Barely though.
"Oh no." was all Hakaiser could say. He looked around but couldn't find Stacey.
"Stacey?!" he called out but heard no response. He quickly ran off to find his friend.
"Zox," Kaito called, seeing the man running towards them.
"Good job."
Kaito nodded.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Over on your side, you slowly opened your eyes. Where am I?
It took you a while to realize you were in Magine's room, with Flint waking up.
"What are you doing here?" Both asked at the same time. You both looked around in confusion.
"I remembered being hit by a beam only," Flint stated.
"Beam?---The Tojitendo! I saw one in the forest earlier..." you stated, remembering a bit of what happened before you lost consciousness.
"But how did I end up here?" you rubbed your head. Secchan flew into the room and explained it to both you and Flint.
"Flint-chan, Y/N-san, so glad you are both okay. Kaito-tachi were so worried." Secchan blabbed on.
"What happened?" Flint asked Secchan.
"You and Y/N-san were both hit by Slumber World and fell asleep. So Kaito-tachi went to fight it. If you are both awake, that means they defeated Slumber World." Secchan stated.
You let out a relieved sigh.
"What happened if Kaito had failed to defeat Slumber World?" you asked, surprising Flint with the question.
"Well---it was warned that both of you and all of the other people would have stayed asleep forever if Slumber World won't be defeated by sunset," Secchan explained. You just let the information soak in before nodding.
"Are you okay?" Flint asked, surprising you. You just nodded.
"Last time, we didn't have a great meeting. I'm Flint. Nice to meet you." Flint decided to initiate the conversation and smiled.
You hesitated at first but smiled back, "I'm Y/N. Nice to meet you as well."
"So Y/N, how did you and Kaito meet?" Flint asked. You were surprised by the question since you were expecting her to bring up Stacey.
You smiled at her and explained, "I was at the Sweet Shop eating until Kaito, and the group walked in. I did not know the shop was owned by Kaito's grandmother."
"Ah I see..." Flint nodded.
"How about you?" you asked her.
"Huh?" Flint was caught off-guard by the question.
"How did you and your brother met Kaito?" you asked with curiosity.
"Ah...about that..." Flint hesitated but went on explaining the whole story to you. You nodded and were amazed to hear about how Flint and Zox are actually from a different planet.
"Sugoi, Flint-san! You're amazing!" you complimented. Flint blushed and denied the compliment. Before you both could continue the conversation, Zox and the others bombarded through the door.
"Flint-chan! Y/N-san!" Magine called out to you both.
"I'm so glad you're both safe." she stated.
"Thanks to you and the others." you said.
"Thank you saving me, Onii-san." Flint said, turning to Zox. Zox patted Flint's head.
"No need to thank me. I'm glad you're safe." Zox stated.
You spotted Kaito looking outside. Seeing the other were deep within their own conversation, you stepped towards him.
"Kaito-san?" you asked him.
"Ah...Y/N-san, what's up?" Kaito asked.
"Iie...I just want to thank you for saving me and Flint and the others." you told him. Kaito shook his head.
"It's my duty, no worries about that." Kaito stated back and continued looking back at the sky.
"Is there something wrong?" you asked again, seeing his expression.
"Ne...Y/N..." he stated, dropping the honorifics without realizing. Not that you mind or anything.
"Hai?" you replied.
"How do you feel about Stacey?" He turned and looked straight into your eyes.
TBC
Sorry for the long wait :<<<
I've been drafting this chapter over and over since it was a bit difficult to direct the story in a way that I deemed fit.
As returned, I added a bit of Y/N x Flint interaction that was supposed to be there from previous chapter.
Hopefully, I'll post the next chapter soon.
Anyhoo, hope you all enjoyed it!
Til' next time,
Adieu~~~