'Buddy skill on!'
"Yuna, you should take a look at the sunset," Tasuku told the girl, gliding in the air at a strolling pace.
"I refuse," Yuna told him.
"Still? I thought you finally got over your fear… Just a peek?" the boy said, pouting a little and puffing up his cheeks.
"I, really, flat out refuse," the girl said, closing her eyes tighter.
"I won't drop you or anything, promise."
Yuna's body loosened up a little after being reassured by Tasuku. "Promise…?" she repeated.
"Will this prove to you that I'm not lying?" he sighed, bringing her up a little and kissing her cheek affectionately.
"…. Y-yes.." she muttered, pressing her face back onto his chest.
"Alright, lift your head up and away from my body slowly. You'll be fine," Tasuku said, shaking her a little.
Yuna did what Tasuku told her to do and slowly lifted her head away from his chest.
"Doing good so far. Now open your eyes."
Jack and Psy flew a circle around the two and stopped on either side of the two students as Tasuku slowed to a halt. Tasuku nudged Yuna's face with his own, asking her to open her eyes.
"Mmm… mm..!" Yuna groaned as her face was being nudged repeatedly.
"Alright already! I'll watch the sunset with you!" she exclaimed, a blush appearing on her cheeks as she said so.
Yuna slowly peeked at the setting sun with an eye and opened the other right after getting a view of a purple-blue sky colored with vibrant colors of pink, violet, orange and yellow.
"Wow, the sunset is so pretty…!" she said with awe, a soft smile appearing across her lips.
Tasuku smiled with relief and began gliding towards the sunset, heading to the police headquarter as they watched the bright sun slowly go down.
"Very pretty indeed. Just as beautiful as you," he muttered joyfully, glad he was able to get the girl to listen.
"A-ah… I think that's a bit too much… But thank you.." Yuna murmured shyly.
"Tasuku, how long were you planning to stay out?" Takihara asked sternly. "Oh? Yuna, hello! Good job with your concert today!"
Yuna gave a nod to the man as she was being set down back onto her feet.
"Thank you.. About those photos Stella sent…."
Takihara's smile dropped when Yuna mentioned the incident. "Right, about that…. Someone decided to spread those photos around the internet. You might be caught soon," he said, petting her head.
"Anyways, Player-san here needs to get to work, so let's go greet the others," Takihara told the girl, leading her to base.
"P-player….-san..?" Tasuku repeated, a shocked expression appearing on his face.
"WHEN DID I EVER BECOME A PLAYER?!" the boy exclaimed, running after the two.
The three entered the room as the two boys continued to bicker with Yuna still being led by Takihara and Tasuku tugging at the man's arm grabbing firmly but softly onto her shoulders.
"Ah, Yuna! Hello, dear!"
The girl turned over to look at the Commander who called her out.
"Good evening, Commander I," she greeted back.
"Tasuku, we were just about to contact you. You have a mission to serve."
Tasuku glanced at the Commander with his head still turned over to Takihara. "Is it another criminal?" he asked.
"The same one that managed to hide from us all. Are you up for it?" Tasuku suddenly frowned and faced directly at the commander, the atmosphere suddenly changing.
"You're kidding, right? It's been a while ever since he escaped," he said, voice deadpanned and serious.
Yuna stared at the boy worriedly and exchanged a look with Takihara.
'Long story short, but on the day he planned to stay over at your place and take a break from work, a criminal unexpectedly appeared and attack several people,' Takihara whispered.
'So that's why he told me to go home that day and took off all of a sudden….' Yuna mumbled, remembering what happened that day.
"Yuna, please go home without me for the day. I have to take care of something."
Yuna looked over at the boy curiously and tilted her head. "I can't come with you to the mission today?" she asked, picking up her bag.
"Not today. It's a different kind of job and a lot more dangerous than the usual missions," the boy told the girl.
Yuna nodded slowly as Tasuku turned on his communicator.
"Commander I, is it alright if join him on this search for the escaped fugitive?" the boy asked, speed walking for a little bit, leaving Yuna behind.
"What about school, are you ditching?" Stella suddenly asked through the communicator.
"I'm all done with school for today. Don't worry. How did the criminal manage to escape and hide?" he asked, taking off and pulling out Jack's card.
"S-sir?" Yuna suddenly asked.
Everyone's attention was now on the shy and quiet girl.
"Yes, Yuna? What is it?" the commander answered.
"I-is it okay if I come along with Tasuku-kun for this mission..?" she asked nervously, playing with the brim of her cap.
"What? No! I'm not allowing this, Yuna! I don't want you to get hurt! This person somehow managed to get away from me and disabled the barrier I called on! He managed to break a core deck case and injured Mr. Takihara," Tasuku told the girl angrily.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Calm down, Tasuku. We all understand that you want to protect her, but take it easy will you?" Takihara said, pulling the surprised girl closer to him.
Tasuku's frown continued to stay on to his face for a few seconds until he realized what was happening.
"…S-sorry.. Did I scare you..?" he asked quietly, looking away shamefully as his expression softened.
"I-it's fine…" Yuna answered, barely audible.
"Yuna, I'll allow you to come along with him, but know that you are taking a risk. It's your choice to stay here where it's safe or to go with Tasuku where you may get hurt badly," Commander I said, handing the girl a communicator.
Tasuku's eyes grew big with worry as he knitted his eyebrows close together, knowing what Yuna wanted to do. Yuna noticed how concerned he was with her well-being and decided between the two choices the commander gave her.
"I….. I'll stay here then…" she said, looking away.
"Then it's decided. Tasuku, Takihara, go investigate the area 'A-60' and be careful," the commander said.
'A-60..?' Yuna asked quietly.
"It's an abandoned construction sight, see?" Takihara said, pointing at the screen above. "We label these areas for a reason."
Yuna nodded as Takihara let go of her and grabbed her hand, leading her over to Stella.
"Take care of her while we're gone."
Stella nodded and rested a hand on the younger girl's shoulder.
"Be careful, Mr. Takihara. Your core deck is already broken to pieces, so take extra precautions."
Yuna looked from Stella to Takihara, still slightly unaware of what was going on.
"The fugitive managed to give me a scar on my arm and broke my core deck as well in the process last time," the man told her, pointing at the broken core gadget.
"We'll be taking our leave now," Takihara and Tasuku told the officers, bowing down respectfully.
"Good luck you two," the commander said.
"Stella? How long has it been ever since his escape?" Yuna asked, looking at the data before her.
"I'm guessing more than a week now," Stella replied.
Yuna sighed and stuck the communicator into her ear. "That criminal must be very stealthy if he's able to hide from you all for that long…"
'Are you sure he's here? It seems empty here..' Tasuku asked, looking around the area once he landed.
Yuna watched the screen carefully, scanning the area that was shown and spotted a person behind a column, pulling out something silver from his pocket as he hid.
"Tasuku, Mr. Takihara! He's behind the second column on your left! Watch out though, it looks like he has a weapon!" Yuna warned, immediately looking over at the data Stella pulled up.
"I believe he's an aggressive fugitive, taking whatever he can when he has the chance to and risking whatever he can just to get away from us," Stella said. "His buddy, Blood Knife, Kimensai, also tends to attack those who come too close to them and unaware of their presence, injuring the people being attacked."
The commander sighed and took off his round glasses, pinching the bridge of his nose and then wiping down his glasses.
"I believe you know what to do, Tasuku," he said, putting them back on.
"Yes, sir," the boy answered standing up straight. "Buddy Police Barrier on! It's time to release the Future Force!"
Yuna's brain clicked at the name and immediately swished her head over to look at Stella.
"It's that power Tasuku-kun told me about… The ability to make the power of his cards real.." she said.
Stella nodded and then pointed at the screen. Bright luminous cards flew around the boy as his hair grew out just as long as hers.
'So that's the effect of the ability,' Yuna thought.
The criminal's buddy suddenly jumped out at Tasuku and Takihara, making their first move.
"Green Dragon Shield!" the boy summoned, blocking the monster's attack.
"So you decided to jump the first move," Takihara said, putting his hands on his hips.
"Quit being cocky. I already broke your core and I could always break the boy's and kill you both," the fugitive answered, lunging at the two from his hiding spot.
"Dragoblade, Dragofearless!" Tasuku called out to the card in time and blocked the weapon the man held.
"Give it up. It's no use to fight back," Tasuku stated.
Jack and the monster, Blood Knife, Kimensai, fought each other one on one as their buddy's continued to push each other with their blades collided. Jack managed to hit and grab Kimensai, throwing him back down onto the ground and destroyed him in the process as Tasuku was being pushed back slowly.
"So he's a Katana World user.." Stella said, adding the info into the data.
"Tasuku-kun! Keep trying! Push him back somehow! Mr. Takihara, kick the man's right leg once Tasuku manages to push him back!" Yuna said, earning an approving nod from the commander.
"Forces shall be heading out to the area now," the commander said.
Tasuku struggled to follow what Yuna told them to do and began pushing his limits, getting back at the fugitive clad in black with Jack's help. Takihara ran up to the two and slid a kick at the man's right leg before he had the chance to disable the barrier and escape again, hitting his shin and causing him to collapse in pain. Tasuku's sword shattered into a bunch of red glowing cards as he walked up to the man who was now laying on the ground, holding on the injured leg, and kicked the knife away from his reach.
Police sirens were heard wailing in a distance and as they came to a stop at the barrier the boy called up, seeing Tasuku sitting on the man's back and locking his arms behind his back as they came.
"You're under arrest!" the boy exclaimed, returning back to normal.
'It looks like we managed to finally catch him,' Takihara sighed.
'Thanks, Yuna, for the help,' Tasuku said.
"You're welcome I guess… I really didn't do anything.." she told them.
"Actually, you did quite a lot," the commander told her, patting her gently.
Yuna gave a smile and respectfully bowed to him.
"I expect a lot of help coming from you."
Yuna stared at the commander and pointed at herself.
"Really? I don't think I can do much, but okay…" she answered.
'Oh I think you can do quite a lot,' Tasuku suddenly answered, chuckling as he did so.
'He's quite right, Yuna. One of us could've been injured again if it wasn't for the heads up you gave us. Either no one would've saw him or it would've been too late by then,' Takihara said.
"Good job, Yuna. We've finally arrested the runaway," Stella said, a bright smile crossing her face.