The room was silent and for Ranko, it felt cold as well. Her eyes went from Ryoga, who was clearly upset and worried for her, to Lotion who appeared to be deeply in thought, and finally to the telephone, the handset already back on the base; she blinked twice, silently trying to find answers to what she had just heard while her mind tried to process the information. Lychee kidnapped? It couldn't be, she was such a sweet girl, why did this happen?

"...How?" She managed to say, her gaze settling on the elder. "And who?"

"Lychee's mother didn't say much," Lotion said. "But she did tell me this: the person who took her daughter is one of the Seven Lucky Gods from Nekonron."

"That's where the final ingredient for my cure is," Ryoga mentioned, not liking this turn of events at all as he imagined it would complicate obtaining Nekonron made vinegar quite a lot.

"What do you mean by Lucky Gods?" Ranko asked, ignoring Ryoga for the time being and fixating on the one detail that had caught her attention. "Was Lychee taken by reincarnations of Gods or something? Are they immortal?"

"No, they are normal people, but their martial arts skills…" Lotion made a pause and took in a deep breath. "They are said to be beyond human."

"Well, I don't care!" Ranko exclaimed, her hands turning into fists. "They kidnapped my friend and I'll make them pay for that, I swear!"

"You will try to save Lychee, then," the elder said, crossing her arms as she looked up at Ranko.

"I'm not gonna try!" Ranko furiously disputed. "I will save her, I swear!"

"And I'll go with you," Ryoga assured, placing his hand on the redhead's shoulder. "Lychee is my friend, too."

Ranko turned to look at Ryoga and nodded, offering him a small smile and feeling glad that he was there, ready to help her in this time of need. "Thank you, Ryoga… I'm sure you and I can take out those seven punks!"

"Before you end up causing trouble in Nekonron you two should go see Lychee's parents and ask them what really happened," Lotion advised. "But you need to prepare before you go to Bao; come with me, you'll need to take food and other things for the trip."

----------------------------------------

Not too long after…

Ryoga and Ranko walked out of the narrow forest path and entered the main road that would take them north, to Bao.

The two hadn't spoken much since leaving Lotion's farm, as the boy had noticed quite soon how tense and upset his girlfriend was by the situation; he had tried to find something to talk about, but his attempts at conversation had been shot down almost instantly, so he simply continued trailing Ranko in silence, hoping to find a way to help her ease her mind.

Ranko, on her part, was aware she was making Ryoga worry, but she couldn't think of that at the moment. Images of Lychee being hurt kept repeating in her mind, a product of her overactive imagination that she could do without, and while she kept telling herself her friend was fine, the chance that someone could have hurt Lychee was keeping Ranko on edge.

'No, she is fine, I'm sure she's fine,' she thought, stopping and leaning on a tree by the side of the road. 'Lychee's such a nice girl, there's no way anyone would want to hurt her…'

Well, if not hurt her then the Lucky Gods surely wanted something else that Lychee had, but what? The only thing Lychee had that could be of any value to a group of weird martial artists was…

'The half of that scroll she carries everywhere!' Ranko realized. 'It's gotta be!'

"But there hafta be more than that…" she muttered, thoughtful. "If they only wanted to steal it, they wouldn't have taken her… maybe she resisted and…?"

"Did you say something?" Ryoga asked, he had stopped to wait until Ranko decided to move again to avoid getting lost and decided to take this chance to try to talk to her. "Are you ok?"

"I'm ok, really, just worried and wonderin' why the Lucky Gods kidnapped Lychee," she said with a sigh. "I just… I can't understand it."

"We'll know more about it once we talk to her parents," he offered, his voice low and full of concern as he went to her, softly holding her by the shoulders. She took in a deep breath and leaned into him, allowing Ryoga to hug her. "And we'll save her, you'll see."

"I know we will, but…" Ranko made a pause and hugged Ryoga back. "This is shakin' me more than I thought… I mean… I have you, but she's all alone and…"

"She's your friend," Ryoga completed, kissing her head and then bringing his hands to her sides, just to have enough space to properly look at her. "I admire how important friendship is to you, Ranko."

"You do?" She asked, looking up and smiling shyly, feeling fully reassured that worrying for her friend was right and thinking, for the first time that morning, that she and Ryoga would fix things and rescue Lychee with ease. "You… don't think I'm acting weird?"

"No, I don't," he told her and returned the smile. "It makes me happy to know you're such a good friend, Ranko."

"Thank you, Ryoga, you… you make me feel a little better," she said in a low voice. "Let's keep going, shall we?"

"Yes, let's," he agreed, watching as she returned to the road. She seemed to have recovered her spirits, and for that Ryoga felt glad. Observing her, he noticed that even if her hair was a little shorter and once again tied in her typical pigtail, she still looked as stunning as usual, but the way her shorter hair framed her face made her look… far more cute and feminine than before. And the way the orange, sleeveless Chinese shirt and the slightly more form-fitting dark blue pants she was wearing revealed more of her athletic figure didn't do anything to lessen her femininity at all; they in fact seemed to enhance it.

"Are you gonna stand there staring at me all day?" The redhead asked after looking back to confirm if Ryoga was following her or not. "I know I'm gorgeous but c'mon, you see me every day, we've no time to waste, Ryo!"

"I… was just wondering why you changed clothes, that's all," he said, catching up as he adjusted the straps of the backpack full of provisions Lotion gave him; it was smaller than the one he usually carried and he was having some trouble keeping it balanced with his heavy umbrella tied on top of it, but he didn't feel like telling Ranko that so he decided to ask her about the new clothes instead.

"These? Lotion's idea," she explained with a shrug. "The old bat told me I should try wearing something more appropriate to my fighting style and gave me this outfit… said I'd be able to move better. I kinda think it accentuates my butt a bit too much…"

"It looks very good, actually," Ryoga said.

"What, my butt?" Ranko asked with a frown. "Who told ja you could stare at it?"

"Not your… oh, you're just making fun of me aren't you?" Ryoga said, shaking his head as he smiled, having recognized the mischievous grin on his girlfriend's face.

"You're getting better at reading the mood, Ryo," she chuckled. Ranko was honestly feeling a bit more optimistic now and thought that playing a bit with Ryoga would help keep her in a good mood until they reached Bao. "Anyway, you changed your clothes, too."

"No, I didn't?" he said looking down at himself.

"You did, it's been a while since ya wore that black shirt and those baggy green pants."

"Oh… they're not new, so…" Ryoga scratched the back of his head and smiled. "I thought you meant I had new clothes. Yeah, I left my sweater at the farm, the weather's been getting warmer, so I thought this would be better."

"Well, it does show your arms, I like it," she said, winking as she patted him affectionately on his right shoulder. "But let's stop wasting time, ok? We gotta get to Bao."

----------------------------------------

Somewhere far from there…

The Royal Airship, considered to be the pride of Nekonron, sailed through the clouds with ease, swiftly flying to Seven Luck mountain.

The ship, larger than it appeared, at first sight, had many cabins under the deck, a large storage room below them and, on the lower level, the engine room was located. Near the storage room, there were five small cells, and it was in one of these cells where Lychee was being kept. The girl wasn't bound anymore, and could even admit the space, while limited, wasn't really that unbearable; she had enough legroom to sit comfortably on the small chair by the corner, and she could even stand up and give a few steps back and forth. The only problem was how dark the room was, as the only light source was a small porthole. The relative comfort did very little to ease her fears, however.

'I wonder why they want Ranko so badly?' Lychee thought, sitting on the chair and nervously linking her fingers together. 'I just hope nothing bad happens to her, and that they let me go soon!'

The door opened then, and before Lychee could try to escape Monlon had already closed it.

The Lucky God stood with her arms crossed, staring at the orange blonde with a doubtful expression on her face as if she didn't know what to make of her.

"I must apologize for kidnapping you," Monlon said after another moment of silence. "I regret it came to that, but I have orders and it is my duty to follow them."

Lychee frowned and turned left to avoid seeing the other woman, refusing to talk to her. If this Monlon believed apologizing would convince her to sell out Ranko then she had another thing coming.

"Not feeling like talking, uh?" Monlon said. "I can't blame you all things considered."

Still not getting any answer other than an angry glare, the Lucky God sighed and shrugged as she approached Lychee.

"I'm here to do a search on you," Monlon informed. "You may be carrying something useful."

"No way! Who gave you the right to do that?" Lychee spat. "Don't you touch me!"

"Well, at least you're talking now," Monlon smirked. "Listen, unless you want one of the men on the ship to do the search then you'll have to let me do it, or do you want them to…?"

"Of course I don't want a man doing that!" the girl said, frustrated but giving up once she realized arguing was futile. She was convinced Monlon could perform the search either by force or leave her in the hands of one of her men. "Ugh! Fine, but you better not take any of my things, and I do know how many coins I have in my pocket!"

"I'm not going to rob you, now stand up and face the wall," Monlon said, smirking again at the girl's last comment. "And calm down, I don't need your money."

After waiting for Lychee to do as she was told, Monlon approached her and started searching. She first checked the pockets in the girls loose pants, finding a ridiculously small amount of money, keys, and a spearmint flavored piece of candy. Nothing unremarkable or useful, so Monlon restored the items to the girl's pockets and then moved up to see if there was anything hidden under her sweater. That was when she felt it.

'What's this?' the Lucky God thought, frowning at the hard cylindrical object she had found under the girl's clothes. 'A weapon of some sort?'

"Wait, don't take that!" Lyche complained, actually trying to move away from Monlon, but her actions only increased Monlon's curiosity, who used her left hand to press her against the wall and her right one to dig out the tubular object.

"Hm… intriguing, what could this little thing be?" Monlon mused, releasing the girl and taking a step back as she appraised what turned out to be a roll of paper.

Bringing it to the light to better look at it, Monlon unrolled the scroll a little and her pupils widened at what she was seeing. Her mouth a gape, she found she didn't have the words to express her surprise. Because this was the other half of the Scroll of Luck! But how?

"Give me back my scroll" Lychee demanded with an angry tone, but not daring to reach out for it. "I'm guarding it, you can't have it!"

"Where… where did you get this?" Monlon finally managed to ask, her eyes still on her people's lost treasure.

"It's been in my family for generations," the girl explained. "Now give it back, it isn't yours!"

'I can't believe this… I've found the missing half of the Royal Scroll…' the martial artist thought, her eyes moving from the royal heirloom to the girl in front of her. 'But then that means this girl… is the next Queen of Nekonron!'

"This is… unexpected," Monlon muttered. "I never imagined this would happen. How did your family obtain it?"

"Someone gave it to my grandmother, and before you ask, you can't have it," Lychee replied, finally risking extending her hand towards the other woman. "Can I have it back, please?"

"I see… yes, yes you can have it," Monlon said after blinking a couple of times to clear her thoughts. "Sorry for not returning it right away."

"It's fine," Lychee answered, placing the scroll back in the inner pocket of her sweater. "What now, are you going to keep searching me?"

"No, I won't," Monlon said, her voice softer now, losing the icy tone from just a few minutes before. "I wouldn't even think of doing something like that again to you."

Lychee nodded and then asked. "Is there a chance you'd let me go? My parents must be really worried."

"I'm afraid I can't. In fact… it is now imperative I take you to Nekonron," Monlon answered, then bowed and walked to the door. "My sincerest apologies for inconveniencing you, my lady, but I had no way to know… I hope what happened earlier didn't leave you with a poor impression… please think of our dedication to follow orders as evidence of our loyalty."

"What are you talking about?" Lychee asked, surprised by the sudden change, but Monlon didn't answer her and simply walked out of the cell, locking the door behind her. "...What is going on?"

Outside, Monlon had to take a deep breath to calm down before moving again. She just couldn't believe it; she had found the other half of the Scroll of Luck and not just that, she had also found the next Queen of Nekonron!

"I really hope she can forgive me," she muttered, running a hand over her face, feeling embarrassed by all the things she had done to the girl that morning. "If she doesn't, things will be awkward between us once she's married to Prince Kirin."

Monlon sighed and resumed her way to the upper deck, still trying to assimilate the fact that she had kidnapped the future Queen of her people by mistake and hoping it wouldn't cause her trouble later. 'Well, I guess I can't change that now… I just hope she agrees to be friends if I apologize for what I did.'

And thinking this, the thoughtful woman finally reached the deck, where she found the twins amiably chatting about two girls they had met in Yakusai.

'Might as well tell them the good news,' she thought with a small smile, it was for the best to share this information, as the twins would have to apologize to their new Princess, too.

----------------------------------------

Sometime later…

Bao was bigger than Shangjie, but smaller than Yakusai. Its streets were wide and the houses well built; there weren't as many stores as in the other villages, but from what Ranko and Ryoga could see, shops here were fairly well stocked with clothes and other general items, there were many of them also selling fruits, vegetables and fish. People were busying around and chatting excitedly about the strange events from that morning, and as they walked through the streets searching for Han's restaurant, the two teenagers discovered that the event villagers were discussing involved a flying ship and the kidnapping of the only daughter of chef Han.

"Seems everybody already knows about Lychee," Ryoga said. "I do wonder what they mean about a flying ship, however."

"Those Lucky Gods may have a blimp," Ranko guessed. "Or a balloon, not that I care."

"Do you know where her family's restaurant is?"

"Lotion said it was near the other end of town, close to the river," Ranko recalled. "Shouldn't be too far now."

And Ranko wasn't wrong, a few minutes later and after turning left in a corner, they were greeted with the view of an elephant sleeping on the street, right outside a restaurant.

"That's Jasmine!" the redhead said, rushing to the elephant's side.

"Is she alright?" Ryoga asked after catching up to his girlfriend.

"I believe she's fine, she's only sleeping," Ranko answered with relief in her voice. "Hey, Jasmine, wake up!"

"I don't think she can hear you," the boy said, crouching and touching the elephant's trunk, as he had noticed a speck of strange dust on it. "Interesting."

"What's interesting?"

"The tip of my fingers went numb when I touched that dust," Ryoga explained, wiping his hand clean on his pants. "I think the people who kidnapped Lychee sedated Jasmine."

"Makes sense, there's no other way they could've taken her," Ranko nodded. "Jasmine would've flattened anyone who threatened Lychee."

"That means these Seven are not just good fighters, but clever, too," he said. "I think we should talk with Lychee's parents and hear what they have to say, don't you agree?"

"Yeah, agreed," Ranko answered and entered the restaurant.

But the moment she walked in…

"So you are the reason why one of The Seven took my daughter!" Lychee's mother sourly accused when she noticed Ranko had entered Han's restaurant.

"Me?… What do you mean?" Ranko asked, feeling confused and hurt at the older woman's tone of voice, and finding she was actually a little intimidated by her angry glare. Were all mothers like this when their children were in danger? "I didn't do anything… I just want to help…"

"Dear, calm down," Han said, walking out of the kitchen and placing both hands over his wife's shoulders, a gesture that somewhat managed to help Lychee's mother relax a little, but that didn't change the way she was staring at Ranko. "She's here now, so we can tell her what the woman from Nekonron wanted."

"Whatever it is, I assure you it wasn't Ranko's fault," Ryoga said then, doing the same thing Han did and placing his hands over his girlfriend's shoulders.

"He's right… we have no idea what's going on, we're here to help you," the redhead said.

"We know your name, but who is he?" the man asked Ranko while gesturing at the boy behind her.

"His name is Ryoga, he's with me," she answered. "He's here to help, too."

"If you want to help us you must go to Nekonron," Lychee's mother said after taking a deep breath. "I don't know why The Seven want you, but Monlon, the woman who took Lychee, said you must go there and meet their prince; it's the only way they will release my daughter."

"Please, promise that you'll do it," the father said. "Save our daughter, she's all we have."

"I swear," Ranko promised. "I won't rest until Lychee's back home!"

"I promise we'll rescue your daughter," Ryoga swore. "You have our word as martial artists."

"Very well," Han said. "In that case, you should hurry to Nekonron."

"The fastest way to get there is by boat," the woman pointed out. "I imagine you don't have one, do you?"

"No, ma'am, we don't," Ryoga answered.

"We'll let you use one of ours," Han told them. "It's a bit old, but it'll get the job done. I'll give you a map so you can navigate the river, and some food if you want it."

----------------------------------------

Far from there, high above the sky…

The mighty drums on the Nekonronian airship roared thunderously as they neared Seven Luck Mountain. Signaling their arrival proudly as they drifted closer to their base: the Royal Tower.

Hovering just off to its side they descended the airborne warship.

Beneath it appeared to be four giant wooden arches, each curve made to allow the ship to land precisely and almost unnaturally smooth as they docked the ship's weight on the crude-looking landing pad.

With one last strike the drum players on the ship stopped, immediately after the flying boat's presence caused everything beneath it to buckle and creak when it finished docking.

From behind the sharp square end of the ship, it opened similarly to the way a drawbridge from an old medieval castle would.

Standing on the other side as it descended was Monlon. Behind her was Lychee, while the twins stood by her sides, Daikokuse to her right, Daihakuse to her left.

On Daikokuse's face was a look of unmitigated pride, whereas the twin with the white circle around his chest appeared utterly delighted; smiling warmly.

Lychee appeared confused but remained quiet, 'Why did they untie me? Why would they apologize? Do they know something about my prince to be or do they just want me to-' she thought?

"Please, follow me," Monlon advised while looking over her left shoulder, one of her bangs covering her right eye.

Not wanting to anger the people around her in this confusing situation she swallowed thickly, nodding her head.

Monlon hummed calmly before leading the pack at the forefront. They walked down the exit ramp, the twins making sure to keep up with her pace; much like some guards or a pair of escorts.

Lychee wasn't sure which by the looks of it but given how little she knew about the place she was at and the people taking her there.

She didn't know how to act, so, she simply opted to keep her eyes down, trying her best not to purse her lips in a noticeably nervous way but clearly, she was failing miserably.

Not too far from them but standing in the way of the nearest entrance to the tower was the small fisherman; Ebiten. Arms crossed with his fishing rod tucked between one of his arms.

"Lord Kirin will be most pleased by your resourcefulness, well done, Monlon…" The huge eared luck god congratulated as he bowed his head in respect.

Monlon narrowed her eyes a little before bowing her head quickly in return. Raising her hand to seize the twins and their unbound captive.

Straightening their heads they looked up to see the master of the fishing rods and good fortune in wealth spotting the scared restaurant worker. He was briefly perplexed before Monlon's intense gaze was focusing on him.

"I must speak to Lord Kirin at once!" Monlon demanded, seeking an audience with her Prince.

"W-why the sudden urgency?" Ebiten inquired with a look of utter confusion.

"We've found it," Daikukose and Daihakuse spoke calmly as they turned to look at Lychee.

"She possesses the other half of the Scroll of Luck…" Monlon's voice trailed softly as she then looked over at the strawberry blonde again.

Lychee's eyes resembled saucer's for a second before she swallowed again, this time it had hurt, 'Are they going to take away my chance at meeting my prince?' she thought in dismay, fighting the urge to cry by refusing to let herself break down.

"Nonsense! I'll need proof before I'll go believing anything like that!" Ebiten exclaimed, pointing to the girl in question.

Leaning back in terror, Lychee shut her eyes, scared for her own well-being. Nodding her head she complied, opening her eyes to see that Ebiten was holding his hand out now.

Reaching up into the folded portion of her outfit, Lychee pulled out what Ebiten had been asking for. Holding both of her hands out, she cautiously waited for him to take what he had asked for, squinting as tears flowed freely from the corners of her eyes, 'My prince! Am I ever going to see you now?' she pondered in fear as she felt Ebiten's hand snitching her scroll.

Eyeing it, the shortest member of the Seven Lucky Gods inspected the scroll with shocked eyes; his mouth hanging a gape. "It's the real deal," he commented then held his hand out with the scroll to Lychee.

"A-are you handing me my scroll back?" Lychee asked, seriously expecting them to have taken it for their own needs or just confiscated it until she was proven innocent; neither was a pleasant idea for the strawberry blonde.

"Please, Monlon, Lychee, Daihakuse, Daikokuse," Said the minuscule man, looking at everyone as he spoke their name before making an about-face.

"Follow me…" Ebiten's voice trailed.

----------------------------------------

Somewhere else…

Running water flowed across the river, Ranko and Ryoga perched atop their gifted raft, legs crossed as they sat next to each other.

At the moment, there was nothing but a tranquil silence. Both teenagers appeared lost in their own worlds. All the spectacles around them they've already seen or were expectant of, so there wasn't much for them to do but dwell in silence and eat.

Their vessel wasn't much to look at either, if there was one word that both could describe their boat as it'd most certainly be "rickety".

Ryoga spotted a Chinese goose flying off from near the river, pointing to it with his chopsticks in awe.

Ranko looked momentarily surprised, almost as if she were about to get up to her feet and ready herself for battle. Though, when she saw that wasn't really going to happen, she sighed and closed her eyes; feeling quite silly but smiling and chuckling at how she overreacted.

"It's good to see you smile," Ryoga said, offering a warm but understanding smile.

"Guess it's because I'm still a little worried, ya' know?" Ranko remarked, looking down at her bowl as her smile faded a little.

"I don't blame you if that was my friend, I don't know what I'd do," Ryoga commented, looking at Ranko with a soft but reassuring smile.

It did bring something up to Ranko, how long had they been out there together? Something became much more obvious to the redhead, "Ryoga, do you have any friends?" Ranko asked, accidentally asking out loud what she undoubtedly meant to be a thought.

Ryoga froze for a moment but then looked off to the side, head tilted down enough so that his hair obscured his eyes. "I guess I used to but then we started dating," he answered while blushing, his lips wobbling.

The Lost Boy's girlfriend put a hand over her mouth, 'Me and my big mouth!' she thought, mentally berating herself for letting that slip.

That changed, however, when she heard Ryoga say that she had been his friend up until they became official. Granted going from friends to lovers was a better upgrade for them, that still meant that his only friend was her.

"So, you were never actually friends with anyone before me? Not even that Ranma guy?" she questioned.

An image of a younger Ranma in a white Chinese silk outfit appeared, holding his hand. From Ryoga's perspective, he was clearly on the ground and looking up at the slightly annoyed-looking middle-schooler.

The blush on Ryoga's face faded as Ranko spoke to him, to be reminded that he had no lasting relationships because of his curse, the one he was still lying about to this day, desperately hoping that all the pieces don't fall together before the perfect time could present itself.

He was snapped from his current thoughts about being a friendless liar and that became background noise when presented with the idea of Ranma as a friend.

"No. We were never really friends…" Ryoga's voice trailed softly.

Ranko reached her hand over her chest to clinch it over her heart, a tightening in her chest caused her to cringe in pain for a second.

"But if things had been different, who knows?" Ryoga mused off handly as he reached for his cup, sighing as he took a calming sip of his green tea.

"If you two talked about it maybe you two could patch things up," Ranko suggested, reaching her hand out to place it on his shoulder.

His eyes widened, then he looked to see her giving him a warm smile. "I doubt it, I remember how Saotome used to be, I doubt a guy like that would change so easily," Ryoga responded, smiling as well.

"Well, after we rescue Lychee and get our cures from Lotion, we can find that out together…" Ranko's voice trailed as she remembered that her only friend was in danger.

Although the sentiment behind Ranko's words didn't go unheard, Ryoga could still hear the pressure in her words. "I haven't spent much time with Lychee but I can tell she's a survivor, so we're going to save her, come hell or high water…" Ryoga's voice trailed on in determination, he put his bowl down and took Ranko's hand before it had slipped off his shoulder.

Ryoga dodging her suggestion for Ranma didn't go unnoticed, still, the fact remained, that he was willing to give his all to save someone close to her, and that made her feel very grateful.

Her eyes trembled, subconsciously putting down her chopsticks as she gazed into the burning spirit in his eyes. "Thanks, Ryoga…" Ranko replied softly, her face's cheeks slightly resembling the color of her hair.

Their eyes drifted down to their hands, Ryoga's bigger and sturdier hand grasped the redhead's seemingly gentle hands. It didn't matter to Ryoga that Ranko's fingers had developed enough callus to feel so rough, to some degree they were still soft, besides, they were both martial artists, so naturally, this should have been expected.

"No problem," he muttered softly in return, giving her hand a gentle squeeze before letting it go.

"Though, what do these Lucky Gods want with me? I get those Amazons, sorta but now 'these' guys? Geez!" Ranko exclaimed, shaking her head, still not letting go of Ryoga's hand by taking it before he could fully retract it.

"I got an idea," Ryoga commented as his thumb rubbed against the back of Ranko's palm, almost as if he were petting her hand with his digit.

Ranko's blush returned for a second when she felt his thumb caress the top of her palm. "O-oh?" she inquired while looking away.

"My guess is that that has something to do with you before you lost your memories, your family could be there for all we know, they might even be their hostages too," Ryoga speculated in a low, almost whispering voice.

Letting Ryoga's words sink into her, Ranko pondered the notion for a moment. There wasn't much they knew about her past; only what they had experienced together.

Nodding her head in agreement, 'Ryoga's probably right, so that means I gotta' save them too! No matter what crazy bullshit they throw at me!' she pondered with a renewed fire in her belly.

Squeezing Ryoga's hand as he had to her. She narrowed her eyes, pursing her lips.

"Maybe that's true, maybe not, but right here and now, I wanna' save Lychee…" Ranko spoke firmly.

----------------------------------------

Back at Seven Luck Mountain…

Walking towards the King's throne room where the four Lucky Gods and a single Lychee, along the way, Lychee admired the large marble pillars lining the walls. Eventually, they came across a flight of stairs; one that spiraled upwards from the look of the curve they were approaching.

For what felt like a good little while, Lychee had to wonder if these steps were a little unnecessarily long. Staving off her boredom she saw that the stairs flattened out, meaning that they had finally reached the top.

Both double doors leading to the room opened as if they were part of some automated machine. The lighting in the new room was better than everywhere else in the tower Lychee noted to herself.

After her vision cleared she noticed that across the room was a teen male seated upon his chair. Next to him had been an elderly advisor with a feather pen and paper in hand.

"I take it there's a reason for this intrusion?" Kirin questioned with a confused brow, staring at his visitors, posed so that his elbow was on his armrest, his chin resting on the back of his palm; chopsticks in hand.

"Prince Kirin!" All but Lychee and the old man said with impeccable harmony, taking a knee before bowing their heads together respectfully.

Not expecting such synchrony Lychee's eyes widened as all her kidnappers bowed before a single but attractive man, 'This Lord probably just wants to take my scroll personally and hurt my only friend!' she thought, mentally cursing her luck and the thieves or possible murderers that surrounded her.

Stomping her foot in a huff before crossing her arms, the blonde shut her eyes, 'It's a real shame he's after Ranko too, he's really handsome,' Lychee thought to herself while blushing so slightly it was nearly invisible to the naked eye.

"Where are your manners!? You stand in the presence of our Lord and dare not show an ounce of respect!?" Ebiten chastised the strawberry blonde.

"I'll ask you all again, why am I being interrupted?" Kirin straightened his posture, then looked at the old man next to him.

The kind elder gestured with a backward sway of his head, more or less asking if he should leave. He received a nod in confirmation before bowing once to all of them, leaving them to their discussion.

"Lord Kirin, this girl here has the other half of the Scroll of Luck!" Monlon explained, knowing that directness was the best course of action for this momentous occasion.

Kirin's look of modest confusion changed to one of pure delighted bliss, moving so quickly out of his throne that he was now mere feet from the humble restaurant waitress.

His eyes looked upon this radiant beauty before him, "Surely luck favors me and all of Seven Luck Mountain on this day," he said as he gazed into her uncertain eyes.

Finally paying their formerly unwelcome quest some more attention, something became abundantly clear to the young Prince.

"Why do you say that?" Lychee asked, leaning back a little but maintaining a strong glare.

"To think the bearer of the other half of the Scroll of Luck could be such a beautiful young lady," Kirin said, pausing for a moment to lower his chopsticks and bowl.

"Villians who hurt my friends have no right calling me that!" Lychee vehemently defied, averting her eyes before shutting them closed.

Ebiten's eyes widened, and without even thinking he came to a stand, clenching the fishing rod in his hand, clanking it to the ground as though it were a powerful staff of sorts. "Lord Kirin is Prince of Nekonron! Anyone in possession of the other half of the Scroll of Luck is also fated to marry our beloved prince so I'll remind you to show your future husband some respect!" The short advisor proclaimed.

Taken back by the reveal, Lychee's eyes trembled, her breath taken away. Here she was, standing before the prince she had hung onto for so long; hoping that one day her lonely nights would find some vindication, 'T-this is my prince? But Ranko is the only real friend I've ever had and he wants to-to,' she thought, unsure of how to feel about this, two conflicting interests raging on in her mind.

"Daihakuse, Daikokuse, please escort Lady Lychee to the guest chambers; also, while you're at it, assign some guards there, I wouldn't want her escaping before I've had the chance to plead my case…" Kirin's voice trailed a little as he spoke, losing a bit of confidence as he spoke; looking at Lychee.

The twins used their incredible speed to stand by Lychee's sides. Politely they ushered for her to follow them, the strawberry blonde cooperated but not before stealing one long glance at the would-be King of Nekonron.

Kirin offered a longing smile in return, although saw that her face remained that way before she was led out. "Your report, Monlon?" he asked softly, slowly turning his head back to the elegant musician.

"My lord we only happened across your future bride on our mere luck as the Seven Lucky Gods," Monlon explained then opened her eyes, raising her head.

"Please stand Monlon," Kirin advised as he met her eyes. "And of course, I wouldn't have expected it any other way." The prince commented, chuckling a little.

"And to wrap it all in a neat little bow Prince Kirin, I'm almost certain I've found the redhead Prince Herb is looking for…" Monlon's voice trailed as she responded, standing up in the process.

Kirin's eyes widened, not expecting her to have killed two birds with one stone. After his initial reaction, he calmed down, just about ready to sing her well-earned praises until…

"Though she will be coming here, for you see my lord, we've challenged her to come to Seven Luck Mountain." Monlon finished elaborating, shutting her eyes, mentally preparing herself for the eventuality of the wanted redhead.

"Then I imagine they'll want to take my bride from me," Kirin said, narrowing his eyes as he clenched his utensils enough to make them shake once.

Ebiten had crossed his arms in annoyance when he had been more or less ignored, facing the wall off to their sides he waited patiently for his next orders. That didn't mean he wasn't listening though, after relaxing his face he stared off into space, doing his best to always be at their Prince's side.

"I agree with The Prince, it is most likely they will come for Kirin's bride, especially considering the manner in which she was brought here." The large-eared Seven Luck God pondered openly.

Kirin stood in place, weighing his options as best as he could. What was he to do? After a solid five minutes, the future King of Nekonron hummed in determination. "All Lucky Gods must return to their gates! The mysterious redhead is upon us and must be brought into custody for Prince Herb!"

"By what means sire?" Ebiten turned to face their leader.

"By any means necessary I'm afraid, though violence should be used as a last resort, I do not wish to further upset my new fiance…" Kirin trailed but as he finished saying those last few words, it seemed that voice gave out near the end.

Wasting no time the two other Lucky Gods nodded their heads, leaving the throne room and the Prince to his thoughts.

Kirin watched as the double doors behind his fellow kinsmen closed. How was he supposed to take this? It almost seemed like a cruel joke to the dark green-haired royal. This started as a mere chance to improve relations with a powerful ally, to do something even his own father couldn't accomplish!

Then of all things to happen, the girl needed to seal their deal and also happened to make friends with the holder of the other half of an exceptionally important Scroll of Luck.

"To think my fated bride could befriend someone needed for me to prove my abilities as King, either this is our innate luck or the fates are conspiring something tragic." Kirin mused in a melodramatic sort of way, looking over his shoulder at his throne, staring at it not with any sense of pride or admiration but with a look of doubt in his eyes.

"I can only hope further violence won't be needed, though the chances of that not happening I sorely doubt," Kirin commented as he knew that all this was coming together in a way he couldn't confidently predict.

"I mustn't allow Nekonron to face the wrath of the Musk Dynasty!" Kirin declared to himself, flipping his cape behind him, and marching towards his royal throne.

----------------------------------------

Outside the throne room…

Walking back from whence they came, the large-eared man and supposed elegant egotist strode quickly but proudly towards their stations. With no need for words they marched on, Monlon looking over her shoulder after some distance between them and their leader.

"You heard The Prince, we must get to our stations!" He exclaimed loudly as his voice echoed throughout the tower.

Appearing at the far end of the hall, near the bottom of flight stairs were the two twins, arms stuffed in their sleeves.

"Daihakuse, Daikokuse report to your gate, Monlon you heard Lord Kirin…" the fisherman ordered as he made his way off to the side, getting closer to an old dragon-themed Chinese rotary phone.

"What of Bishamonten?" Monlon asked, crossing her arms as she continued on, having expected him to be there or something from the looks of her worrisome expression.

"I'm calling him now," Ebiten informed her as he hopped up to a stool placed in front of the phone.

Monlon nodded her head, although, during her sudden sprint she shut her eyes for a moment, 'That's right, my duty has kept me from witnessing the birth of my Master's and dear old friend's child.' The otherworldly beauty thought, her inner voice solemnly lost in her responsibilities; yearning to have the time for every special moment in her life.

Ebiten's ears wiggled as he quickly stuck his finger out, his hand quickly began spinning the proper numbers, eyes narrowed as he waited for the plastic plate in the middle to reset before continuing to enter each individual number.

Once finished he held the phone up and waited.

----------------------------------------

Not too long after…

Resting atop a hospital bed was Monlon's Master, her long wavy teal-colored hair hung loosely and in knots, though her expression was anything but unhappy.

Against her body but nestled in between her arms was a small bundle of joy, an adorably cooing baby girl with dark skin but a small teal-colored patch of hair on her head.

"My sweet, would you care to hold our precious newborn daughter?" His wife asked, shutting her sunken and tired eyes.

"To believe the day has finally come," Bishamonten muttered in disbelief, he felt tears threaten to leak from his eyes yet held strong.

Taking calm almost shaken steps towards his pale beauty, Bishamonten took his little girl into his arms. He couldn't believe the fact that he was standing there, basking in this moment, thanks to the kindness of his fellow member of The Seven.

"I know you've always wanted a daughter but it doesn't happen to be because daughters favor their fathers, would it, dear?" The mother of his newborn child inquired with a soft smile.

The nurse in the room began to giggle as she saw that the Father laughed at the accusation, bringing his little girl closer to her chest. Right after lowering her hand from her mouth, she felt someone tapping her shoulder and whispering into her ear.

Eyes widening she quickly nodded her head with her mouth a gape, closing it she went over to the spear user. "There's a call for you, honored member of The Seven," she told him with a slight bowing of her head.

"I need but only a minute…" The mighty bearded man answered with a soft trailing tone.

His eyelids drooped while he cradled the newest addition to his family, elevating her closer to his face he leaned the side of his face against the top of his baby's head.

"My sweet child, please grow to be strong and dignified in your life, and though the worries and woes may leave you wanting, know that your Father will 'never' cease loving you." He finished, opening his eyes and letting the tears that had gathered at the corner of his eyes fall.

Bishamonten's wife clasped her hands together, her eyes closed as she felt herself crying from his first words to their first daughter. "Aww, you're so sweet my dear," she commented, whipping a tear from one of her eyes.

Shutting his eyes with a content smile, he didn't even notice as his little girl's tiny hand reached out to touch the side of the armored warrior's cheek.

Looking over at his significant other with a shocked look, quickly his surprise turned into a warm smile. Blinking once he put his much larger hand over her tiny delicate one.

"Oh, she touched your face!" The love of Bishamonten's life commented excitedly. "Same as her brothers, she must really like her father!"

The nurse off to the side cleared her throat, catching their attention.

"I was told this is an urgent call from Ebiten himself," she announced.

"Are you sure it can't wait a bit long-"

"No. My dear, my country, and my duty calls, I've met my daughter, so peace between The Musk and Nekonron must come first…" The proud warrior looked to his daughter, then shut his eyes and walked over to her mother.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Adjusting himself so that he could hold his sweet child in one arm, he pulled up a chair with his one free hand, plopping himself down and making sure that he could bring their child together between them.

"Just one last thing my sweet, then you're free to go." His love requested, though, she spoke no words, instead, she scooted a little closer to him as best she could, from what Bishamonten could see, this was a strong representation of what they'd eventually have to do in the future; survive.

Needing no further ques, Bishamonten moved so that he and his wife could lean their heads against one another but over their newborn daughter's head.

Their heads met in the center, it was as if they could feel the strength of their future together. Once feeling that they had enjoyed the moment long enough, Bishamonten pulled back from the two, handing their child back to her mother.

"Forgive me but I'm being called," The bearded man explained as he handed their first daughter back to his dearest wife.

"Please come back to us," The mother of their child pleaded, holding their baby girl in her arms.

"You needn't worry, I will cement this momentous occasion by claiming victory over the enemies of Nekonron…" His voice trailed, his proud demeanor never once faltering during his rebuttal.

"Don't strain yourself if you don't need to," His wife advised as she attempted to lull their baby to sleep.

"Your concern is unnecessary my sweet, I will not suffer from the hands of defeat but come back, displaying the strength of the Nekonron people!" he declared, walking over to his trident against the wall.

Clenching his palm around the shift, he squeezed the shaft tightly before hoisting it up and against his shoulder.

His eyes narrowed in determination.

----------------------------------------

Somewhere else…

A large but humble home stood amongst smaller more average ones. Behind it, however, was a massive but beautiful rice field. Field workers either wiped the well-earned sweat from their brows as others sang or remained hunched over in their rice paddy terraces.

"What a lovely day," A soft-spoken girl in a green floral hanfu with thick shoulder-length pigtails commented while looking at the scenery out her window.

Ring! Ring! Ring!

Not having expected someone to call then, she blinked a few times before looking over her shoulder to see a brass rotary phone ringing again.

Moving over to the counter near the kitchen archway into the living room, she picked the handset up from the hook and held it to her ear.

Her eyes widened for a moment before she nodded her head, "I'll make sure he knows right away!" she exclaimed, nodding her head while furrowing her brow.

Putting the phone back where she got it, the girl in the hanfu ran out the wooden backdoor towards the rice paddy fields.

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Outside…

A man roughly as tall as an elephant stood at the crossroads between several terraces. He practically stood in the middle of the semi-submerged segments. His cheeks shifted around, causing small grains of rice to come flying off his face.

Reaching his arm out he panted a mighty Ox's head, his other arm carried a ginormous rice basket.

"One more…" he mumbled while chuckling wholeheartedly, putting down the comically large rice basket right before reaching for the bag tied to the side of his Ox's saddle.

Pulling a large rice ball he crammed the ridiculously sized hand food into his mouth whole, mushing the whole thing against his face so that even more grains of rice lined the outside of his mouth.

Wu closed his eyes, tilting his head back as he savored the harvest they had worked so hard for.

It was then that he heard the sounds of a horse trotting at a distance, chewing faster, he lowered his rotund cranium when those steps grew louder and closer to him.

"Father! Father!" The pretty teen in the green hanfu from earlier repeated, her horse running as fast it could carry her.

Wu's eyes widened and his ears flapped once, looking out in the distance, towards the sun he saw his child running over to him as fast as she could. "Huh?" he wondered, tilting his head.

"Father! The Seven need you at-" the daughter tried to explain, although shrieked when her horse suddenly came to a stop as it refused to jump over a small fence between them.

Wu's eyes widened with terror as he watched his only daughter fly through the air, he narrowed his eyes, taking the fetal position as best as he could be given his size. Rather than recoiling in fear like those who normally took this stance, he instead used it to roll over to her faster than he could run.

Before Wu's daughter could hit the ground, the round member of the Seven speedily rolled over.

He stopped before she could land, holding his arms out to catch his beloved kin.

Both exhaled sharply as they smashed into each other, the daughter of the member of The Seven blinked in shock.

She looked up from the plump belly in front of her. She could see that Wu had an anime sweatdrop over his head as he sighed in a content manner.

"Careful!" Wu advised with a wide and scolding expression immediately after.

"Apologies, father! But The Seven need you at your gate as soon as possible…" Her voice trailed, embarrassed that she needed saving.

Wu's eyes widened as he stood still for a brief moment, standing up straight he planted his daughter back on her feet and on the ground.

"Father…" The child of Wu mumbled as she looked up at her parent's calm if almost vacant looking expression.

Smiling, he looks down at his child. Flinging his bag of rice balls over his shoulder, he began walking away.

"Must go, tell mom."

----------------------------------------

Back at the Royal Tower…

Wistfully looking out the window to the guest room, Lychee stared at the beauty and wonder that was the overly pickled province of Nekonron. This may have been substantually better than her earlier arrangement.

Though her new room was lavish, it was still under watch. The strawberry blonde could see that much, given the number of people stationed outside her door and window.

Placing her hands down on the window frame she sighed heavily, her eyes trembled as she tried to cope with everything that was happening around her.

Her room door creaked open gently, Kirin making no attempts to cautiously close the door behind him. What was there for him to worry about? She was on the other side of the room and also hasn't proven herself to have much if any martial arts prowess.

"Lady Lychee, might I have a word with you?" Prince Kirin inquired, although she wasn't in many positions to deny him he was at least going to ask.

Lychee closed her eyes before opening them again to meet his eyes. "Fine. But permit me to ask, what do you have against my friend Ranko?" she inquired, her expression completely devoid of any emotion.

"Your friend has been suspected of stealing an invaluable treasure from the Musk, The very prince of The Musk himself felt that he needed to come to me personally, though worry not, he has not mentioned any harm come to her, merely her capture, for the sake of peace between Nekonron and the people of The Musk Dynasty," He explained, closing his eyes and shaking his head.

"Ranko is no thief! She is my friend and I've never met anyone nicer!" Lychee defended vehemently, glaring at Kirin when he opened his sympathetic eyes to hers.

"Yet how long have you truly known her? How can you be so certain she herself isn't keeping secrets from you?" Kirin asked, posing other possibilities to the girl in the room.

Hitting every major insecurity she couldn't outright say anything in Ranko's defense. Much like she had a feeling that Kirin wasn't as bad as he looked, neither was her redheaded chum. A tinge of doubt surfaced but was soon replaced by the kind words and gestures between them, bolstering her resolve, 'Something must not be right, there must be someone not getting something!' she thought, pursing her lips before looking away in a huff.

"You are still wrong about her! I may not know everything about her but much like I feel you're not all that bad, I can honestly say the same for her!" Lychee expressed her thoughts, closing her eyes in frustration.

Kirin was at a loss for a moment, had she just shined a light of hope for them? Blinking for a few good seconds, he found himself staring at that cautious intensity in Lychee's eyes, 'Her tenacity is only rivaled by her beauty,' he thought.

"Perhaps you're right, but I'm afraid I've given my word, so, unfortunately for my honor as the future king, I must ensure that my promise is kept," Kirin said, starting off stoic in his response to Lychee but getting quieter and more melancholic as he finished.

Lychee didn't have anything to say, she just put her hand over her chest, looking at the ground as he went on.

"I had only hoped we could have met under different circumstances, Lady Lychee, though I hope you'll mayhaps see me in a new light when your friend Ranko is finally under custody." Lord Kirin explained in a gentle tone.

Eyes widening, the sheepish girl leaned back a little, her eyes glistening as she envisioned them coming closer together in the middle, 'No! He's still after Ranko! Even if he's my prince!' she thought, maintaining silence.

"Though it pains me to say this Lady Lychee I must be off, should this girl prove troublesome, we should at the very least prepare for her arrival, then after, perhaps we could become better acquainted?" He suggested, noticing a blush spread across her cheeks as he gave her the most sincere smile he could.

Breaking eye contact, Lychee felt her heart race, she clenched the fabric of her shirt, causing it to make a slight stretching noise, 'If I never met Ranko then would my prince have ever come? He's nice too but also far more polite than I'd imagine any royal, he's so attentive an-and I don't like what he wants to do to my only friend!' she thought in utter dismay.

"I'll leave you to your thoughts," Kirin excused himself by bowing politely, turning around, and opening the door.

Lychee looked up in time to see the door to her room just about shut, spotting one of the guards with a spear before it closed entirely.

Taking it all in wasn't an easy pill to swallow.

First, she was just some girl with some family scroll with hopes of meeting a prince, and when she finally starts taking enough time for friends, one of them ends up being chased by what was supposed to otherwise be a dream come true.

"Was Ranko maybe a thief before she lost her memories?" she pondered openly to herself, staring at the floor in front of her again.

Fighting that thought off she closed her eyes, shaking her head in denial. "How could I say that about someone who-" she thought back to Ranko's kind words.

"We ought to do this again sometime!"

"Nah! If anything ya' helped, so, it's whatever ya' know?"

"No! Shame on me for even considering Ranko would!" Lychee denounced said notion.

"Ranko is no thief! This is all a misunderstanding! It must be!"

----------------------------------------

Somewhere else…

Reaching somewhere near the northeast portion of Nekonron territory, the two Martial artists pulled up to the coastline. Rowing as quickly as they could they immediately ran out, avoiding any guards they could if any.

Ranko acted as a lookout, while Ryoga covered their raft with as many leaves as he could. Looking at her as she looked back at him, they nodded their heads at the same time. Cautiously Ranko led them, Ryoga stripping his umbrella onto their supplies like it were some sword.

"I think we should get to the top of that hill," Ryoga commented, pointing to it as he caught up to Ranko.

"Get a bird's eye view, huh?" Ranko crossed her arms, blinking a few times as she decided that was an excellent idea; offering a smile in response.

"You got it," Ryoga confirmed confidently, smiling warmly as they approached the upcoming hill.

Once reaching the top Ranko put her hand to her forehead, keeping the light out of her eyes as she looked around. From a distance, she swore she could see guards patrolling the city grounds.

"Lookin pretty well guarded…" Ranko's voice trailed with a grimace.

"Feel like turning back?" Ryoga asked with a slight smirk, knowing the answer from his kind-hearted girlfriend.

"As if," Ranko scoffed, returning the smirk right after.

Meeting eye to eye they silently agreed that despite the hardships they were willing to face the challenge head-on. After checking their surroundings again, the two hummed to themselves as they looked for any immediate solutions to their problems.

They were too far off from the city from the looks of it, but that still didn't mean there was something they could use to enter.

"Think you could throw me onto the other side or something?" The redhead pondered aloud, looking at her fang-toothed boyfriend.

"Then what? Hope you land on something soft enough not to kill you then get a pair of ridiculously large ladders without being noticed?" Ryoga questioned Ranko's plan, outlining its flaws in it.

"Nevermind," Ranko replied, sighing as she put a hand to her head. "If only those walls weren't so high up." She added, looking a little miffed.

"Those walls look beyond impenetrable too…" Ryoga commented, considering the things he felt were breakable it was probably a wise idea to take his word for it.

"And that's coming from you of all people," Ranko added further, shutting her eyes in annoyance.

"Maybe there's something I'm not noticing," Ryoga said, humming to himself as he put his hand to his chin and dug into one of his backpack pockets at his sides.

As Ryoga is digging through his things, the redhead continued trying to see anything that could possibly help them get within those walls. Eventually, her eyes fell on the mountains near the city, it towered over the manmade structure but was there anything they could really use to help at that angle?

"If only we had a paraglider," Ranko said, muttering in annoyance.

"I think we could try sneaking in through the left side here," Ryoga announced, with one hand holding the map while the other pointed out their next destination.

Staring at the Mountain rises, the beautiful ginger looked at the spot on the map Ryoga was pointing at, 'Better than running out to the front gate, best case scenario there is I'd get chained then sent back to those crazy Amazons village…' Ranko thought of the alternative.

"I was just looking that way, let's get going!" She declared, gesturing to where they needed to go.

----------------------------------------

Back in Seven Luck Mountain…

The descent to the second gate had been uneventful, and the twins walked while making idle conversation between them, though both of them silently wondered why Monlon had decided to go with them instead of staying at the Fourth Gate, her designated position. That she had remained silent for most of the way only added to the mystery, and neither Daihakuse nor Daikokuse liked it, as Monlon's silence made them feel nervous and under pressure. Just what did she want?

"It's odd we didn't see Wu," Daikokuse said once they made the final turn and their gate was finally in sight. "You'd think he'd be there already."

"He's working the fields, remember?" Daihakuse recalled. "He's probably already on his way."

"Then we'll see him soon when he passes by our gate," Daikokuse said while making a discrete gesture with his hand, signaling Monlon who was still walking behind them.

"I hope he has food with him," the other twin replied, answering the gesture with one of his own, signaling his brother that he was as confused by Monlon's actions as he was.

"You two will have to apologize to Lady Lychee once this is done," Monlon said once they reached the back of the Lucky God's second station, her melodious voice carrying a serious tone with it. "I will do it first since I am the one who kidnapped her, but you will be with me when I do it so you can offer her your apologies as well."

"Understood," Daikokuse said, recalling that he and his brother had taken part in their new princess's abduction and reasoning Monlon was right. "I suppose we really should do that."

"We did throw a fishing net at her parents, after all," Daihakuse nodded. "And the two of us bought the Mandragora root dust we used to paralyze and neutralize her elephant."

"A terrible oversight," both twins concluded at the same time as they started circling their designated gate.

"This is strange," Daikokuse announced with a frown as he walked. "There should be people working here, and the place is dead silent."

"Not to mention deserted," Daihakuse likewise observed. "The workers were here not even two hours ago, I saw them when we passed by on the airship."

"They may be resting inside," Monlon suggested with a shrug. She didn't favor the changes the twins had requested but respected their right as members of the Seven to ask for modifications to their gate. "I guess we'll see soon."

Feeling curious about the absent workers, the Three Lucky Gods rounded the fortress, expecting to see the doors open and a few workers sleeping or silently eating. What they found was completely unexpected.

The doors were open, yes, but there at the threshold, they found a young man, not older than twenty, resting comfortably with his back leaning against the doorframe, his hands behind his head and his right leg resting over his left knee. The man kept his eyes closed, and was skillfully balancing a mahogany cane on the tip of his right boot.

"Ebiten called a few minutes ago," The man announced, tossing his elegant cane up with a quick leg move and catching it with his right hand as he got up, his eyes still closed while he moved. "He told your workers to take the rest of the day off, though I didn't catch the reason why, and I'm hoping you kids can fill me in."

"Jurojin…" Monlon gasped, perplexed and a little flushed at the sight of the rather handsome man in front of them. "You… aren't supposed to be here."

"I'm just passing by," he said, smiling at the flustered young woman. "It's nice to see you again, Mon."

"Mister Jurojin…" the twins said at the same time, surprised at the sight of the man in the black and blue tangzhuang. "We… weren't expecting you."

"Calm down, I'm not here to take your place," the one called Jurojin said with a good-humored chuckle. "I'm hearing you're getting along well with the other members of The Seven, right?"

"We do," Daihakuse said with a small smile.

"Thanks for your concern," Daikokuse added.

"So, what is going on?"

"I found the Scroll of Luck," Monlon said with a prideful tone. "And our new Princess, too."

"You don't say?" Jurojin grinned. "Well, that's good, but why aren't The Seven gathering at the Royal Tower for a celebration? Instead of that Ebiten sends our workers away and puts you all on guard duty… is the Princess in danger?"

"A redheaded girl will come for her…" Daihakuse started.

"And we have to arrest her," Daikokuse completed.

"That's rather unusual… is there a reason for it?"

"It involves a deal Lord Kirin made with the Musk Dynasty," Monlon rejoined. "Prince Herb wants this redheaded girl, and we are to help him capture her, if we do we'll have a new pact of no aggression with the Dynasty."

"A pact with the Musk," Jurojin crossed his arms and took a deep breath. "No wonder Lord Kirin is taking this seriously if Nekonron fails to deliver…"

"We don't even want to think about it," the twins said, glancing to the horizon, in the direction they knew the Musk Citadel was.

"Don't worry, we will capture that redhead," Monlon told the twins, offering them a reassuring nod. "Going by what I heard in Shanjie this girl is probably a merchant's daughter who's been getting lucky so there's no way she's dangerous… though her boyfriend may be a good fighter, so you should be wary of him."

"Particularly because the modifications you requested for the Second Gate aren't complete yet," Jurojin observed, staring at the massive doors behind him. "It seems to transform the main hall into a game board so you can drop giant Go pieces on invaders with a pressure-sensitive mechanism wasn't as easy as you made Ebiten believe at first. Will you be able to defend your gate without that trap ready?"

"I hate to admit it but I worry about that, too," Monlon said.

"We appreciate your concern, but we can defend the gate just fine," Daikokuse said, hands on his hips as he smiled confidently.

"My brother is right, the giant Go board trap is not all we can do," Daihakuse boasted as he followed his twin's gesture.

"We are stronger than we were months ago when we last met," both twins said as they addressed Jurojin. "Our Odayakana Hansha Ken is almost perfect now!"

"You finally mastered all the special techniques of your school?" Monlon asked.

"Eh… not yet," Daikokuse said as he scratched his ear. "We mastered the first one."

"The others are still a work in progress," Daihakuse concluded with a slightly nervous chuckle. "But the one we can fully use should be enough to stop the redhead's boyfriend."

"Or anyone else who tries to pass through," Daikokuse assured. "You can trust us!"

"Very well, I'll trust you," Monlon said, "but I doubt the girl will get to this point, Bishamonten should be able to arrest her and the boyfriend."

"That's what I think, too," Jurojin said. "Still… you two should be ready in case they defeat Bishamonten, not that they will, of course."

"Anyway, I do have to go back to my gate," Monlon said. "Don't forget what I told you."

"We won't," the twins said. "And we agree, it's for the best."

With a final nod as a farewell, Monlon turned and started the long ascent back to her gate. She didn't look back as she walked, but could feel that Jurojin was following her, just as she knew he would. Good, they had some things to talk about and she'd rather their conversation was private.

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A little later…

They had left Wu's gate behind several minutes before and would reach the fourth station soon.

The woman was starting to wonder if the man following her would ever say a word. She had considered starting the conversation a few times, but she would not give him the satisfaction of being the first one to talk now that they were alone and, if that meant they would not speak at all, then so be it, his loss anyway.

"So… is the new princess cute?" He asked once the Fourth Gate appeared in the distance.

"Excuse me?" She said, stopping to look at him with a confused frown. That was his question? After months of not seeing each other all he was interested in was knowing if the new Princess was attractive? "Why are you asking me that?"

"Because it would be a shame if the Scroll of Luck was in the hands of some woman in her sixties or something, I'm just curious," Jurojin said, chuckling as he walked and distractedly attached his cane to his belt. "But it would be very funny if Prince Kirin had to marry a woman old enough to be his grandmother."

"For your information, Lady Lychee is a beautiful young girl," Monlon informed with a frustrated tone. "Is that the only thing you have to ask me after all this time?"

"Why are you upset? Is she prettier than you?" He wanted to know, his left brow up as he smirked. "Now I'm even more curious."

"If that's the way you're going to act then this conversation is over!" Monlon huffed, crossing her arms as she turned, giving him her back. "Go back to hide in the shadows or whatever it is you do!"

"I'm only teasing you, Mon…" he said with a playful tone. "But if you're going to be jealous when I ask those questions about the next princess, then I'll…"

"You'll what?" She demanded, turning to look at him with a frustrated sigh, their reunion was really not going the way she had expected, and the situation was starting to annoy her.

"Have to give you a big hug!" he announced, spreading his arms wide and smiling in a mischievous way. "You won't refuse that, would you?"

The musician's brow knit and she blinked, puzzled at his goofy smile and the way he kept his arms open. His expression was what did it, and she ended up chuckling at the sight of him waiting for an indication that she would let him hug her, all while making that dumb face.

"Oh, I wonder about that," She said with an amused grin. "I may let you if you can catch me."

"Is that a challenge?"

"What else could it be?"

"In that case…" Jurojin made a pause and then lunged forward almost too fast for Monlon to react. "Prepare to be hugged!"

"Hug the ground, dummy!" Monlon laughed cheerfully, ducking and dodging to her left, sticking her feet so she struck his ankle at the exact moment to make him fall flat on his face.

Jurojin, however, simply stopped his fall with his hands, then twisted his legs to change directions while briefly doing a handstand, and was quickly back on his feet, right next to a very surprised Monlon, who hadn't expected him to do something like that. And just before the musician could react, the man got even closer, to the point his forehead was almost touching hers.

"You almost got me, Mon," He said with a playful grin. "You're faster than before, more precise too."

"And you're as much of a dummy as the last time we met," she retorted, recovering her cool quite quickly and refusing to let him see her impressed by his skills. "That hasn't changed."

"You wouldn't like me otherwise," Jurojin said jokingly as he smirked, straightening to look up at the clouds for an instant before returning his full attention to the woman in front of him. "I truly missed you, Mon… that's why I came to Seven Luck Mountain instead of reporting to Prince Kirin… I just had to see you."

"You really wanted to see me that much?" Monlon whispered, feeling suddenly shy once he was standing as tall as he was in front of her. She observed him fully for the first time in months and finally realized he was now a full head taller than she was and noticed the way his shoulders had broadened as well as how his arms filled his clothes better. She wondered for an instant if he was as deliciously muscular as she was imagining, and had to chase the thought away, she couldn't let him distract her the way he usually did. Still… she had to tell him she had also missed him, it was only fair, wasn't it? She thought it was. "I wanted to see you too… I didn't think we could meet again in years, did you quit your training to succeed your father as the next Royal Bodyguard, or…?"

"I didn't quit. King Hirin was summoned to Beijing; my father had to go as well to protect him and Queen Lirin in case someone tried to hurt them before they met with the people from the Central Government," Jurojin explained, his voice sounding suddenly serious. "He said I could take a few days of rest from my shadow fist training, so I came here."

"Because you wanted to be with me," she said and smiled.

"Because I wanted to be with you," he repeated, gently placing his hands on her shoulders and feeling very pleased when she didn't lean back. "More than anything else in the world."

"I'm… glad, Juro, I'm happy to hear you say that, but…" Monlon sighed and lowered her face, moving away from him and walking to the edge of the road to gaze at the distance, the cool wind running down the mountain playing with the silky ribbons adorning her outfit. "This isn't the best time for us to be together… not when there is so much on the line… the safety of our new princess, the peace treaty with the Musk Dynasty, if we fail here…"

"We won't fail. Bishamonten will arrest that redheaded girl," Jurojin offered, trying to give some reassurance to the woman in front of him.

"What if he can't stop her?" the beautiful musician asked, her thoughtful eyes still set in the distance. "I don't think it's wise to underestimate that girl and her boyfriend, they have avoided Musk trackers for quite a long time while traveling around the region."

"Hm… well, you did say she seems to be unusually lucky," Jurojin said. "But even if she and the boyfriend somehow get past Bishamonten, then Wu and the twins will stop them."

"I wonder if…" Monlon started, but Jurojin closed his arms around her, hugging her from behind and bringing her close to him so that her back was pressing against him.

"You worry too much," he whispered to her ear. "Things will be alright, Mon, you'll see, I'm sure the new Princess will forgive you for bringing her here against her will."

"How did you know?" she asked, turning so she could face him without breaking the hug.

"I heard you and the twins talk when you were walking to the second gate."

"We weren't near their gate when I mentioned that," she said, her left brow raising. "Were you following us?"

"Eh… yes? I apologize, I was on my way here but I saw you walking with the twins so I thought it would be best if I didn't interrupt until you got to the second gate. I followed you three for a bit and then rushed ahead to wait for you," Jurojin explained. "I hope it doesn't bother you?"

"No, not really, I'm just surprised we didn't feel your presence," Monlon observed, sighing and leaning on his chest, enjoying the safety his arms provided, finding it helped her relax. "I guess your Kage No Ken is useful for gathering information, too."

"It's one of the many uses of my family's Shadow Fist," he said, risking bringing one of his hands to slowly run his fingers through her hair and feeling glad when she accepted the gesture. "It's a versatile fighting style in that sense."

"You should teach me a few of your tricks later…" the musician said after taking a deep breath. "What do you say, would you like to train with me?"

"There's something else I would like to do more than that," Jurojin whispered, bringing his face forth, closing the gap between their mouths. "Something we haven't done since…"

"No time for that, Juro," Monlon sighed, placing her fingers over his lips, stopping him before he could kiss her. "I need to prepare before that redhead arrives."

"A pity… but I guess I can understand."

"We'll do this later," she said as she finally broke the hug, giving his face one last caress. "I promise, alright?"

"Yes, alright," he nodded. "Go and get ready, I'll stand guard down the road… if that redhead and her boyfriend manage to defeat Wu, I'll stop them before they get to your gate."

Monlon returned the gesture, for an instant it seemed she wouldn't say or do anything else, but before Jurojin could leave, she acted on an impulse and reached for his shoulder, went on tiptoe, and placed a soft kiss on his cheek.

"For luck," she told him.

"Thank you," he said. "I swear I won't be defeated if I have to fight."

"Just make sure you don't get hurt, ok Juro?"

"They won't even land a hit on me, Mon."

"Make sure to keep that promise," she said, to which he answered with a confident nod.

Saying nothing more, Monlon simply stayed where she stood, smiling as she silently observed Jurojin walking down the wide mountain path, and she remained there until he turned and was out of her sight. Once alone, the beautiful musician shook her head and entered her gate. She had to fine-tune her lute for battle, and she also wanted to meditate and refocus, as that morning's events had sent her into a swirl of emotions that kept her off balance, something that could mean defeat in case of a fight and Monlon could not afford to be defeated, not when so many things were on the line.

'At least I was able to meet him again,' she thought as she sat in the middle of her gate's main room. 'With some luck, we will have a proper date once this is over…'

----------------------------------------

Somewhere else…

Walking through the rows of vegetables while being careful not to draw unwanted attention had been a boring chore for Ranko, who was starting to feel impatient about the time it was taking them to reach the city proper; Ryoga was faring much better, as he was actually interested in the many different plants they had come across. After living with Lotion for a few weeks the young Hibiki was now quite familiar with many types of Chinese vegetables and found himself developing an interest in farming. Because of this, while Ranko couldn't really care less about what the Nekonronians farmed out here, Ryoga had instead paid attention and identified rows of bok choy, lo bok, cucumbers, eggplants amongst others. This interested him as they were the same ones Lotion had on her farm with the difference the plants here were larger and seemed healthier, as the large eggplant field they were traversing clearly indicated.

'I wonder what kind of fertilizer they use…' The young Hibiki thought as he examined one of the plants. 'Must be something really good…'

"Down, Ryo!" Ranko said suddenly, grabbing Ryoga by the collar of his shirt and pulling him into a kneeling position next to her. "Some farmers are coming this way."

"Ok, ok," he whispered. "It's a shame most people here would probably call the guards if they saw us, we could've bought some vinegar from a farmer by now."

"No time to think about that, saving Lyche comes first!" Ranko reminded him with a frown.

"I know, Ranko," he said, raising a hand to placate his girlfriend. "I didn't mean it that way, of course saving Lychee is our top priority."

"Don't forget it," she murmured as she went on her stomach, using the plants for cover. "Now hush, the farmers are almost here and I don't want trouble with them."

Ryoga didn't answer and instead laid on his side so that the large eggplant leaves covered his backpack and umbrella, as well as most of his body.

It didn't take long for the sound of steps and conversation to reach them, to remain audible for a moment, and then slowly fade until nothing but the wind rocking the leaves could be heard.

"Are they gone?" he asked, his voice low, after a couple of minutes of waiting in silence.

"Lemme check," she said, moving very slowly and peeking between the foliage into the next row of plants to confirm a group of four men was already far away enough from them.

"Can we move?"

"Yeah, we can," Ranko nodded as she stood up, her eyes set in the distance, on the tall walls surrounding Nekonron. "We're almost there, once we're out of this field we'll just have to go over a small hill and that's it."

"Good, let's hurry, then."

----------------------------------------

Not too long after that…

Ranko and Ryoga were experiencing mixed emotions.

On the one half they were both glad they had managed to cross Nekonron's farming fields and the rocky, barren area surrounding the city unseen, reaching its walls without any trouble; on the other, they were now faced with the task of entering the citadel, which for them seemed even more impossible now that they could actually see the impressive fortifications surrounding Nekonron.

"How the hell are we supposed ta' get in?" Ranko asked, sitting behind a rock for cover, hands behind her head while staring at the tall walls as if she could crumble them with a mere thought. "There's nothing to grab on to! The stupid walls are as smooth as glass!"

"I noticed," Ryoga said.

He was contemplating several options, and the one he was feeling more inclined to try was to use his strength to punch holes on the wall and use them as grabbing points as they climbed.

The problem was that if he did that it would be too noisy, drawing attention to them right away so he dropped the idea. Looking to his left, he saw the hill they had hiked through to get here continued going up, rising sharply at that point, leaving a very narrow space between rock and wall.

For a moment he thought they could try climbing from there, but doing so would leave them in the open and exposed to attack, so that was a no go, either.

"Don't you think this place smells kinda vinegary?" Ranko asked then.

She had gone to the wall and was idly poking it with her finger, wondering if her boyfriend could blow up a section so they could get in, but discarded the thought as she realized a Bakusai Tenketsu explosion would only summon everyone in Nekonron to their location.

"A little, it's not too bad, though," Ryoga answered, going to where the wall and the rock met, as he believed he had seen something odd and wanted to take a closer look.

"Well, I think the smell's annoying," she told him. "But yeah, you kind of get used to it after a while."

"Uh-huh…"

"Are you even listening to me?" Ranko asked, a bit ticked by Ryoga's disinterest.

"I found a door," he said, ignoring her question. "It's locked, though."

"You… what?"

"I found a door," he repeated, only to be interrupted by Ranko practically landing on top of his head so she could have a look.

"Well, what do you know? It's really a door!" Ranko said happily from her perching position, noticing the door was cleverly hidden so it wasn't easy to spot from afar, and the dark iron blended in well with the rocks and walls. "It's very narrow but I think we can fit in there…. c'mon, open it!"

"I will as soon as you get off my head," he protested.

"Hey, me being on top of you has never bothered you before," she giggled, her good humor returning now that they had found a way to enter the citadel. She did slide off her boyfriend, though, standing next to him and paying attention to what he did. "Is this better?

"Yeah, thanks," he said as he examined the door. No knob and no keyhole which was not surprising if this was a secret entrance. "It seems to be locked."

"So? You've carried boulders taller than you all over Lotion's farm quite a few times," Ranko told him as if the answer was obvious. "Use your brute strength to push it open, you knucklehead!"

"I could, but…"

"Just do it!" the redhead ordered, tired of Ryoga's indecision.

"I was going to say there could be a trap or something," the young man said with a sigh. "But since you're so anxious…"

Planting his feet firmly on the ground, Ryoga pressed his hands on the door and gave it a hard push. The door resisted longer than he thought it would, but after a few seconds, the lock gave out and broke with an almost inaudible creak.

"Done," he announced, swinging the door inwards and revealing a long, dark, and very narrow corridor, so narrow they would have to walk in a line.

"Good job!" Ranko exclaimed, giving Ryoga a hug as she figured he deserved some form of reward for finding them the way in. "Do we have a lamp?"

"No, I don't think we packed one," Ryoga said, enjoying the feel of Ranko's body against his, blushing lightly with a soft smile.

"Bummer… oh, well, we'll just have to be careful," she said as she broke the hug while staring at the cold blackness beyond the door and not exactly liking it. "Alright then, you go first!"

"Me?"

"Of course you!" she said, bringing her knuckles to her chin and making sure her expression was as cute as possible. "You wouldn't ask your adorable, fragile and lovely little girlfriend to enter that dark, dark, daaark place first, would you? Besides, it is your duty as my boyfriend to protect me and make sure there is no danger ahead, remember? It's what boyfriends do!"

"I… guess so," Ryoga said with a sigh, he didn't exactly feel like risking falling into a pit, but Ranko looked so lovely he couldn't find it in him to refuse; plus she was right, it was his duty as the man, and from what he could see the corridor seemed to go straight so he probably wouldn't get lost in there or anything. "Very well, just make sure you stay close to me, alright?

"I will, you lead the way, Ryo."

The two entered the dark hallway and Ranko closed the door behind them to avoid raising suspicion in case a guard patrolling the outside walls approached the secret entrance. This left them trapped in absolute darkness, forcing Ryoga to use his umbrella as a cane to feel the floor ahead of them as they walked.

"Wait," Ryoga announced as he felt the tip of his umbrella bump into an obstacle. "There's something here."

"What is it?" Ranko asked. The redhead felt a bit claustrophobic, being trapped in this dark and cramped space was bringing back memories of that dream with the boy who tried to lock her inside that house, and she didn't like it. She really hoped they could find an exit soon.

"Stairs, they go up," he said. "I think the steps are small, be careful."

Reaching for his free hand and holding it tight, Ranko followed him.

----------------------------------------

Some minutes of climbing stairs later…

The two reached another corridor, this one far wider and dimly lit by the light filtering from under a large door on the other end. Feeling lucky and finally able to stand side by side, the teenagers cautiously approached the exit, and it was Ranko who pressed her ear to the wooden door.

"I can't hear anything," she said. "It's probably safe to enter."

"I'll go first," Ryoga volunteered, reaching for the knob and turning it, finding the door wasn't locked. He opened it slowly, revealing a room with many benches and shelves full of armor, spears, and swords. There was a closed door on the other side and the narrow windows on each side of it revealed it opened to the streets.

"I think this is a guard post," Ranko said. "We should leave before the soldiers come back, and…"

The door in front of them opened.

"What…" A soldier said, dropping a basket full of towels in a surprise at what he was seeing. "A redhead! A redhead is here!"

"What's he saying?" Ranko asked with an alarmed tone. "It's times like this I wish I'd paid more attention to Lotion's Chinese lessons!"

"No idea, but I bet it's not good!" Ryoga said, "We need to shut him up!"

But before any of the teenagers could do something about it the room had filled with twelve soldiers who had all rushed in, and they all seemed ready to attack!

"Oh, joy, this is gonna end up with us fighting these guys, isn't it?" Ranko huffed in frustration.

"Surrender now!" One of the soldiers, who had understood what Ranko said and in what language, ordered in Japanese. "Lord Ebiten has commanded all redheaded women to be arrested and taken to Seven Luck Mountain to meet Prince Kirin!"

"Oh yeah?" She answered, reading her fighting stance, "Just try and take us, creep!"

The only answer Ranko got was a loud scream and all the soldiers charging at them.

"Thanks a lot," Ryoga said, blocking a soldier's punch with his forearm and responding by kneeing him in the gut, dropping him where he stood.

"Shut it, this woulda' happened later anyway!" Ranko answered, jumping towards the wall and bouncing from there so that she could kick two soldiers at the same time, knocking them down in the process. "That's two for me!"

"You're keeping count?" Ryoga asked, busy dealing with two soldiers who were trying to stab him, blocking their knives with his umbrella. Still, not wanting to let Ranko think less of him, he swung his weapon hard, sending the surprised guards flying against the wall, knocking the two of them out as well. "And I have three!"

"Good, but I'm at six now," Ranko boasted as she smashed her elbow on a particularly stubborn guard's jaw, finally dropping him. She then turned to meet the last three soldiers but lowered her fists when she heard a loud crash and saw that Ryoga had used a bench to flatten the last three guards against the wall.

"Six and six," he said with a grin. "We're tied,"

"Only until we meet more guards," she grinned back.

"I hope we don't," Ryoga answered. "If there's too many of them we'd be overwhelmed."

"Agreed, I'm strong but not 'beat a whole army' strong, unfortunately," Ranko said as she rushed for the exit. "C´mon, let's go!"

----------------------------------------

Outside…

They found themselves in a busy street, surrounded by dozens of people who had been drawn by the sounds of the brawl. The Nekonronians stared at the teenagers with a mix of fear and distrust and whispered between them while pointing their fingers at them. This resulted in the women and children stepping back, leaving only the men circling the two invaders. Their plan was obvious, the men would try to keep the strangers contained until the guards arrived.

"I'm not too fond of fighting civilians," Ryoga said in a low voice. "They're not martial artists."

"Me neither," Ranko answered. "But we need to leave or we'll be caught."

"It seems they won't let us leave…" Ryoga informed as he noticed the men were closing in.

"Do we fight, then?"

"No… we run!" Ryoga shouted then, startling the villagers long enough for him to take Ranko by the hand and drag her through the multitude, sending several men to the ground as he cleared a path for the two of them.

----------------------------------------

A few minutes later…

Ranko and Ryoga, sitting on a rather large roof and hiding behind a wet blanket someone had hung to dry, were catching their breath while listening to the commotion on the streets below, where many villagers were still trying to find them.

"Gotta hand it to you, Ryo," the redhead said with a smile. "You're very good at losing people chasing you."

"Yeah, I guess…" the young man said with a nervous chuckle, knowing quite well the only reason they had managed to lose the villagers was because he had gotten lost himself. "I don't know where we are, though."

"Well…" Ranko peeked from behind the blanket and, judging it was safe, crawled to the edge of the roof to look, she summoned her boyfriend by gesturing with her hand for him to come and waited until he was by her side. "I think we covered most of the city somehow… though I don't understand how you got us up here, you know?"

"Eh… well…"

"I'm not complaining, this was a good hiding spot," she said pointing ahead with her slim, petite hand. "Anyway, look over there, see?"

He looked to where she aimed and found a wide road paved with stone that went out of Nekonron, towards Seven Luck Mountain. There were walls surrounding that section of the city, true, but they were not as tall or imposing as the ones on the other side of the citadel.

By luck or weird chance, they had inadvertently gone where they had to go.

"That must be Seven Luck Mountain," Ranko guessed, and as she did so, they could see a massive stream of steamy water erupt towards the sky. "What the…?"

"A geyser," Ryoga said. "Seems the whole mountain is surrounded by them.

"And that means… hot water," Ranko said with a shiver. "Lots and lots of hot water."

"Don't worry, it won't touch you if we're careful," Ryoga promised, reaching for her and bringing her close, hugging her from behind to offer some comfort. "Besides, I'm sure there aren't any geysers on the mountain."

"I really hope so," she sighed, relaxing in his embrace. "I really do."

"Let's rest here for a bit," Ryoga suggested, breaking the hug and reaching for the backpack, opening it to reach for a bag full of youtiao chef Han had given them. "We should eat something, too… we'll need all our energy if we're going to climb that mountain."

"I agree," she said with a nod, sitting next to him behind the blanket. "Give me one?"

Ryoga nodded and handed her the bag with the fried, churro-like pastries, and Ranko grabbed two of them before returning them. She started munching them in silence, thinking about the geysers out there and wondering if there was a way they could avoid them, perhaps going around the mountain or something? But that would mean wasting more time, and who knew what the Lucky Gods were doing to Lychee? No, they'd have to go through there.

'I'm sure Ryoga's right,' she thought then. 'Hot water won't be a problem if we're careful…'

"Water?" Ryoga asked.

"No, thanks, I'm not thirsty right now," she replied, then stared at him for a moment and felt a strong surge of affection fill her chest. She really had strong feelings for him, didn't she? And they were getting stronger with each day, she just knew. "Hey, Ryo?"

"Yeah?"

'I think I really love you,' she thought, but couldn't put it into words; the moment didn't feel right for this declaration, and all she could do was blink and lower her face.

"You can tell me Ranko, it's ok," he encouraged, worrying that she had taken a hit when they fought those soldiers.

"I just… I mean… I appreciate you're doing this," she said, her voice barely above a shy whisper. "And I'm glad you're here with me, Ryo… it means a lot."

"I know you'd do the same for me, Ranko," he said with a soft smile, running his fingers through her hair and then bringing them down, cupping her face with his hand. "I'll always be there for you, I promise."

She returned the smile and moved forward, kissing him lightly on the lips. "Thank you, Ryoga, you're the best."

"I try, Ranko," he said, feeling happy and satisfied knowing that he could help her.

----------------------------------------

A little later…

Jumping rooftop to rooftop until reaching the last house before the stone-paved road opened into a large space that reached to the walls separating the city from the rocky plains surrounding Seven Luck Mountain had been much faster and safer than trying to sneak around the streets, not to mention a better way for Ryoga to avoid getting lost since he found fewer distractions around him.

Another good thing was there weren't many people here that they could see. It seemed most Nekonronians were still trying to find them in the city, which had left this place empty for the time being, a little detail Ranko and Ryoga wouldn't complain about.

"Seems we got lucky for a change," the redhead said, grinning as she jumped from the roof down to the street, landing gracefully on both feet.

"Let's not waste our good fortune and go straight to the mountain," Ryoga suggested after he landed next to her.

"Agreed," she nodded and started running towards the exit, towards the path that went all the way to the mountain.

But she had to stop the moment she was about to exit Nekonron; if she hadn't she would have crashed into four guards that waited, hiding, on the other side of the exit and came out just in time to try to capture her.

Their plan almost worked, but Ranko swiftly cartwheeled back out of their reach.

"Well, not all of them were in the city," She remarked, feeling smug about how well she managed to dodge a literal ambush.

"I take it they won't let us leave," Ryoga noted, taking a good look at these new soldiers. They wore teal clothes and some armor: a small chest plate, one shoulder pad, and round helmets. If the Hibiki boy had to guess, he'd say they were facing special forces of some kind.

"We are the Bishamonten squadron, and we have orders to capture that redhead," one of them said in Chinese.

"We can't speak Chinese, dumbass," Ranko groaned. "But even if you're some hotshot or whatever, we ain't letting you arrest us!"

The four spear-wielding soldiers didn't reply to that and instead chose to attack; two of them aimed to incapacitate the redhead and the other two prepared to subdue her companion. A sound strategy that could have worked on weaker opponents, but not on Ryoga and Ranko.

"Oh, please," Ranko said, ducking low under the first two spear swings. A quick glance allowed her to see the soldiers had both spun their weapons and were about to bring them down, aiming for her shoulders. The redhead countered this by somersaulting, aiming her feet at the men's faces; her counterattack worked well, catching the guards by surprise and delivering two fast and powerful kicks straight to the men's jaws, hitting them hard enough to send them flying several steps and knocking them out in the process. Once she was back on her feet, the redhead grinned in satisfaction, putting her hands to her hips when she saw her opponents were out cold. "Think you can match that, Ryo?"

Ryoga didn't even bother dodging, the guards who went after him had tried to go for his head, so he simply took a step forth and reached up, catching one spear in each hand and then, with a quick move, pushed the soldiers back hard. The young man let go of the spears at the last second, sending the soldiers crashing against the walls behind them so hard they cracked it on impact! The guards both tried to remain on their feet and continue the fight, but their strength failed them and they fell flat on their faces after just one step, finding they couldn't get back up after the mighty blow they had just taken.

"I think I just did," he answered. "Now, let's get out of here before more soldiers show up."

"Too late, here they come!" Ranko announced, looking back and seeing at least fifty guards rushing from out of two of the large houses behind them, clearly intending to use their superior numbers to pile on them until they captured them.

"Forget about them, let's run for the mountain!" Ryoga said, feeling glad to see Ranko nod and run towards the exit. Grinning, the young Hibiki rushed after her, paying attention not to let her out of his sight as they finally left Nekonron behind them.

----------------------------------------

But back in the city…

A single soldier, who had remained inside his station and watched everything that had just happened by the gate, reached for a phone, picked up the handset and dialed a number. His call was answered immediately.

"Yes?" A serious, powerful voice asked on the other end.

"My lord Bishamonten, I have a report…" the soldier said. "The redhead and her companion were here, they are Japanese and managed to defeat four of your disciples! Right now they're on their way to Seven Luck Mountain!"

"They did and are coming here? Very well, then, I'll show those two I am far stronger than my men!" The first of the Lucky Gods swore before ending the call.

----------------------------------------

Back at the foot of the mountain…

Running as fast as Ryoga could, the two ran side by side, both looking over their shoulders at nearly the same time.

No longer seeing any guards, their pace began to drop. Did they just give up considering they were supposedly lured there?

"They stopped chasing us!" Ranko exclaimed, smiling a little.

"I don't know why they would but this should buy us a little time!" Ryoga added his own thoughts, sighing in relief.

Once far enough that even if any of the soldiers had been trailing them, there would be far too much of a clearing for them to see anyone coming from behind. Secure in that fact, the two slowly went down until they were finally just walking calmly.

Ranko stopped suddenly, putting her hands to her hips, "Hey Ryoga, we got any water bottles left?" the redhead inquired.

"I think so," Ryoga answered, pursing his lips as he reached behind himself to dig around in a side pocket, retrieving a clear water bottle with a single white label near the top before tossing it over to her.

"Thanks, Ryo." The blue-eyed beauty thanked, catching it in mid-air.

"That's all we got so make sure not to drink it all," Ryoga commented as he looked to his side, zipping shut the part of his backpack he opened for his girlfriend.

Right as Ranko was about to finish unscrewing the lid, a small but devious smile went across her face as she leaned her head back as though she were going to chug the entire thing in one go.

Freezing in shock that Ranko was about to do what he thought she was about to, that was until she instantly lowered her arm for more of an average sip.

Her devious smirk transitioned into a normal one as she wiped her face with her forearm, eyes shut as Ryoga pouted a little before just sighing, smiling after, she was only messing with him so it was totally like her.

After screwing the lid back on, she handed it back to him, the Lost Boy took the bottle back, taking a sip of his own.

Almost as if thinking in unison, the two began walking on the mountain path ahead of them; they did see a couple of geysers erupt in the distance, but luckily none of them erupted near them, something Ranko appreciated quite a lot and thanked her good fortune for this small favor.

It didn't take them long to reach the end of the road, and now in front of them was Seven Luck Mountain, from what they could see the mountain path spiraled upwards.

The thought of climbing the side of Seven Luck Mountain to skip the gates crossed their minds but the distance between them made the task both impractical and too difficult to seriously consider.

And even if they had, they'd be less likely to succeed alone or just risk greater injury if they had.

Ranko was the first to notice this, narrowing her eyes at how big the gaps between gates were.

Once the two reached the actual entrance to the mountain, they saw a huge Torii Gate with the words "Qī yùn shān" in Chinese marking the ample road that climbed all the way to the peak.

Ranko and Ryoga couldn't read it yet, in spite of Lotion trying to teach them the language for weeks now in their spare time. But if the pair had paid more attention they would have known the sign said "Seven Luck Mountain"...

Continuing along the walkway, the two made their first major turn, ever at the ready they looked anywhere they could see an attack coming from. Though from the looks of it, there wasn't anyone there, just an eerie silence broken by the sound of the wind and their only companions were the tall statues carved on the side of the mountain.

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Higher on the mountain...

A proud and tall man, in what appeared to be golden clothes and an imposing black chest piece of armor stood, spear in hand, in the middle of the road. He adjusted his black and golden helmet with his left hand and then clanked the pommel of his spear onto the ground, the calm and stoic look on his face changing into a determined smile as he did so.

"Even if they defeated my students, they will not pass through this point," he swore, his voice low. "I will arrest them both right here."

His vow made, the warrior took in a deep breath and prepared for whatever destiny had in store for him that day.

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In the Royal Tower…

Every brave leader whether benevolent or malicious has their strengths and weaknesses. For Kirin, it was more a matter of luck for him. Praying for that luck, he looked up from the floor and onto the guest room for Lychee.

Cautiously, he reached for the knob, with a stern look on his handsome mug, he turned and opened the door.

Inside was Lychee of course, given she was a captive there wasn't much for her to say or do, aside from resting on the comfortable bed in the room or looking out the window.

Nekonron's future Queen was this time resting on the bed, waking up as though she had just taken a small catnap.

For the would-be King, he merely marveled at her adorable almost feline-like yawning as she shook the sleep off.

"You needn't trouble yourself, you're still as stunning as you were before…" Kirin's voice trailed softly, shutting his eyes with a gentle smile.

Lychee looked at him with a deep blush across her face, leaning her head back a little before looking away with her head tilted up.

"It seems your redheaded friend was in the city earlier, the last report I got said she and another even managed to escape some of our finest soldiers, in fact," Kirin explained, taking a few steps closer to the blonde.

The restaurant waitress' eyes trembled when she heard how capable her friend was, "Oh? Has she?" she questioned, trying not to sound too delighted by that fact.

"She even managed to defeat several of those highly trained soldiers and is now making her way to Seven Luck Mountain," He admitted, shaking his head in disapproval.

Sighing in relief the orange-haired girl put a closed palm over her heart, "You should stop trying to capture my friend, I'm warning you, she and her boyfriend are much stronger than they look!" she exclaimed, making her thoughts better known to the Prince.

Shaking his head in modest disapproval, Kirin opened his eyes. "Though your concern has touched me, Lady Lychee, I and the other Seven Lucky Gods are quite strong as well, so they would be wise not to underestimate our might…" Kirin's voice trailed, and a slight but confident smile appeared on his face.

"Prince Kirin, I beg you to reconsider, this is all just a misunderstanding!" The Chinese woman exclaimed.

"A misunderstanding?" Kirin questioned in wonder.

"We can talk things out!" Lychee leaned forward, pulling her sheets back to show she was still in her outfit; minus her shoes.

"If it were only so easy," Kirin lamented.

"Are you sure?" Lychee asked with an uneasy but hitched voice.

"The Musk will not simply settle for pleasantries, they will seek out your friend, and should Nekonron fail to help them after giving my word, the consequences we suffer could be quite dire…" He warned his supposedly destined wife, not happy about what he had to tell her but he knew what his duty was calling for.

"But…" she tried to say nervously as she hoped to avoid conflict between her prince and friend.

"Forgive me, Lady Lychee, we'll have to continue this another time, perhaps…" Kirin said, excusing himself.

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Somewhere else…

After climbing for around half an hour, though for Ranko and Ryoga it felt longer, they reached a point where they could see the roofs and most of the city of Nekonron behind them. The two stopped for a few minutes to rest their legs and catch their breath; they knew they were making good progress, but they also knew they'd have to face a group of Seven highly skilled warriors during the climb and they wanted to be as rested as possible when they met them.

Nodding at each other, the two started moving again, not speaking to save their breath, going higher until they rounded a corner, coming across a seven-story tall Ming Dynasty style building that blocked most of the path; if they wanted to continue they would have to go around it.

But the man standing outside the tower, who stared at them with fierce determination, made it quite clear they would not be able to simply walk by the First Gate.

Upon getting closer, the two wayward martial artists sized their enemy up, and by the looks of him, both of them realized he was stronger than he looked. The bearded warrior before them had a hard, rough air around him that made him exceptionally intimidating.

But an intimidating look would find no victim in these two, however, after glancing at each other for confirmation, Ranko and Ryoga continued forward, closing the gap between them and the first of the seven guardians of the mountain.

"Congratulations on defeating my men! I'm certain you two would prove worthy opponents! However, this is as far as you go!" he exclaimed, quelling his excitement, remembering his duty.

The Nekonron champion caused the redhead and fang-toothed boy to tilt their heads in confusion; they were glad the man was speaking in Japanese, but they couldn't understand if he wanted to fight them or not.

"I was ordered to take the redheaded one into custody, unharmed if possible…" Bishamonten's voice trailed as he put his fist against his hip.

"Fat chance, beardy!" Said redhead replied with a clenched fist held out in front of her. "We're here to rescue Lychee and If ya know what's good for ya' you'll stay out of our way!" Ranko warned him.

"Hahaha!" Bishamonten laughed, wholeheartedly amused that this young sapling would challenge him so recklessly.

"What's so damn funny!?" Ryoga demanded to know, most likely just as annoyed as Ranko was from this guy's laughter.

"I must admit, even if I had been asked to avoid a confrontation, I will be all too honored to show you two how much stronger than my students I am!" he declared, tipping his spear forward at the blue-eyed teen.

"Looks like we're doing this the hard way, huh?" Ranko asked rhetorically, raising a brow while cracking her knuckles in anticipation.

"I'll handle this Ranko…" Ryoga's voice trailed as he stepped forth to oppose the bearded warrior.

"What!? No way!" Ranko looked so quickly at Ryoga that her pigtail ended up whipping behind her.

"Huh?" Ryoga gawked at her in bewilderment.

"This guy is just begging for a fight with me!" Ranko argued as she held an open palm out to the guardian of the first gate.

"It matters to me not, even if you both were to come at me I would still show you both the same fierceness as I have all those before you," Bishamonten clarified proudly, earning him an irked looking redhead's death glare in the process.

"You should conserve your strength, Ranko, I know you're just itching to take some of your anger out on this guy but we have to think about this in the long run!"

"So don't get in my way then, I can take him out real quick!" Ranko exclaimed in annoyance, pouting at the Lost Man.

"There's seven of them, Ranko! Do you really want to burn yourself out with the first guy!?" Ryoga tried to change the redhead's mind.

"Well, well, I'm sure that…" The blue-eyed girl stopped to think it through.

"Just let me handle this," Ryoga continued to push the point.

"I can handle this!" Ranko exclaimed, putting a hand to her chest.

They glared at each other, staring each other down before crossing their arms and looking away from the other.

"How about we just play a game of rock-paper-scissors to decide who goes first?" Ryoga asked, shutting his eyes as he turned around, holding out a closed hand.

Ranko scoffed at first but after a second or so, raised her hand up, not wanting to do this, but also finding that arguing wasn't going to get them to Lychee any sooner so she obliged.

"Fine," she replied, sighing but doing as Ryoga had, balling her hand into a fist.

Both stood so they were facing each other, legs parted as they proceeded to put an open palm over their closed fist.

"Rock!"

"Paper…" The two reeled their arms behind them so it'd be hard for the other to see behind them.

"Scissors!" They exclaimed in unison, throwing their hands out, revealing their literal hands of fate only to find out that...

Ryoga had chosen rock whereas Ranko had opted to go for scissors. Standing still for a moment to gawk, she stared at her scissors and let her hand flop.

"I win!" Ryoga said as he smiled at the results, he knew Ranko wouldn't be happy with the results, but he would still get his chance to show her how strong his resolve to help her was.

"Yeah…" Ranko's voice trailed as her eye twitched.

"Next one's mine for sure! Ya got that Ryo!?" She asked, looking over her shoulder as she walked away from the two men.

"Of course," Ryoga looked at her with a confident smile, one of his fangs cutely poking out from the corner of his mouth.

Ranko blushed a little before turning around to watch the two, her arms crossed around her chest.

"I see one of you is ready, why not attack together?" Bishamonten inquired, eyes widened with excitement and a thirst for battle.

Shaking his head with his eyes closed, the Lost Man reached behind him to unsheath his weapon, popping the metal pressure buttons from his backpack when doing so.

"Sorry but that won't be necessary," Ryoga replied while he placed the backpack on the ground and then straightened and turned, holding out his umbrella, pointing it at the armor-clad warrior.

Smirking and expecting something else, The Seven Lucky God honestly considered the chance that Ryoga was joking or something so he chuckled.

That was until he felt the wind pressure of Ryoga just practice-swinging his weapon to aim it at him, the display alone made his hair sway from the breeze, but that only served to reinvigorate his hunger for combat.

…For the teenager had done this all while holding his weapon with one hand!

Bishamonten lifted one of his arms up to his side for better balance, the other grasped tightly onto his spear shaft as he held it out to his side, the blade portion of it positioned so the moment Ryoga would be aligned he could slash him across the chest.

"Are you indeed ready then?" The spear wielder inquired, though he was done with waiting he still felt at least some pleasantries were in order.

The umbrella wielder simply nodded his head, narrowing his eyes.

Both cried out the same thing as they charged one another…

"Let's go!"