"So deputy, we've got a new recruit eh?"

"Indeed we do sheriff!"

"What is happening?"

"Then I reckon we're gonna need ta' test em!

"How have we come to this?"

"Yessir! Kanako, are you ready!?"

"What?"

The trio, now actually at The Wild East, was practically hopping with energy! And it's actually only a duo hopping with energy, the final member, Kanako herself, was merely confused.

"You're gonna be a cowboy! Or, I guess a cowgirl. Don't worry though, they're both the coolest things in the Underground!"

"Alright missy, now that Ceroba's gone ahead and given you the go ahead, it's time for you to join us out on the frontier!"

"...Do I have to?"

She was rather unenthused at the prospect.

"Well, I guess ya don't have to. If you'd rather do somethin else that's fine." Starlo mumbled. Those very words broke Clover's heart.

"You... Ya... Ya don't... Want to...? Neither... Neither of you... Really...?"

"Uh..." Kanako mumbled and avoided Clover's eyes. "Not really."

"..."

"Ah lighten up deputy! It's not like we can force er into doin anything she don't want to! They can just hang out at the saloon! I'm sure Dina wouldn't mind watchin em."

"Mrs. Ketsukane told me to keep an eye on her. If she's not out and about... Then I'll still have ta' stay with Kanako regardless." Clover frowned and let his head fall.

"Oh please, I'm sure she didn't mean anythin that strict. It'll-"

"No, no... I'll do it. Mrs. Ketsukane hosted me in good faith, and then entrusted me with her daughter. No amount of missions or practice could ever make up for breakin somebody's trust like that."

Starlo hesitated for a few seconds, but within short order a wide smile broke out onto his face and he nodded in affirmation. "I'd expect nothin less from my deputy! Honorable to a fault, good monster."

"I..." Kanako broke out of her temporary silence, drawing the attention of both the sheriff and deputy. "Look... Maybe it wouldn't be... SO bad...?"

Clover blinked twice, before his eyes seemed to practically glow in enthusiasm "Are you sayin...?"

"Urgh-yes, Clover! I'll spell it out for you." She gave a half serious "harumph" and crossed her arms. "I'll play cowboy with you guys, or whatever... But only cause it'd make you sad if I didn't."

"Hey, bein a cowboy is serious business, nothin play about it." Clover's beak twisted upwards into a mirthful smile and he laid a hand on Kanako's shoulder. "But if you're gonna join us, you're gonna need the proper attire y'hear?"

"Are ya thinkin what I'm thinkin deputy?"

"Ya betcha buckle I am sheriff!"

...

"I feel ridiculous." Kanako mumbled.

"Nonsense, that hat's just about perfect for ya!" Starlo chuckled and patted Kanako on the back. It was lucky that he just so happened to have a purple hat with ear holes in it. Real convenient like. It was odd that he had needed to grab somebody a new hat, and just so happened to have the perfect one on standby twice within the span of a few days... But hey, sometimes things just worked out like that!

"I think you look pretty good, it's definitely an odd aesthetic but it kinda works." Clover nodded to himself as he appraised her outfit.

"Thanks, I guess."

"Lighten up Kanako! I mean it!" Clover smiled and extended a hand. C'mon, I'm sure you'll have a great time!"

"...Alright, I'll take your word for it. So, what are we doing anyways?"

"That, is an excellent question Kanako." Clover turned on a dime to face Starlo. "What are we doin sheriff?"

"Well, I did have plans, but now that Kanako will be joinin us, I was thinkin you and I should talk for a moment." Starlo grinned and backed away from Kanako, beckoning for Clover to step outside with him.

"Sure thing sheriff, gimme a bit Kanako, I'll be right back."

The two slipped out into the open sun. By now it was a bit before noon, and despite The Wild East being at it's hottest Clover couldn't think of a time where he felt stronger.

"So, Clover, I was thinkin, you've really done enough to be called my deputy by now. You've truly graduated from training, y'hear?"

Clover stood up just a little straighter and puffed out his chest. "Thank you sheriff!"

Starlo hesitated for a moment, before smiling and shaking his head. "Just call me Starlo from now on kiddo. You've earned it."

"Y-yes sheriff! Starlo!" Clover looked as if he'd burst at any moment.

"So, I was thinkin, that now that ya' done with your training, I reckon you ought to be part of the training yourself, y'know?"

"...Whaddya mean Starlo?" Clover tilted his head just a little too far, and had to catch his hat.

"I mean you're part of the regiment now Clover! And for your first job, you'll be helping Kanako through her first mission." Starlo winked and did his signature finger gun pose.

"R-really!?" Clover barely managed to stop himself from bouncing up and down.

"Yup! Well, I guess it wouldn't be her first mission, but she don't remember all that much, so I'm looking to see if I can jog anything for her, capiche?"

"Gotcha! Just like you tried for me."

"Exactly Clover, so listen in real close, and let's get this show on the road!"

...

"Hey, where'd Clover go?" Kanako squinted in the sun as she tried to spot her friend.

"Word of the wise, pull ya hat down a little bit kiddo, that's part of the reason we have em." Starlo advised.

"...Part of the reason?" She turned to Starlo with a raised eyebrow that she'd copied from Clover. "What's the other part of it?" She asked incredulously while she followed the advice.

"Heh, looks cool, what more reason do you need?" Starlo smirked and readjusted his own hat.

"...Right, so as I was saying, where's Clover?"

Starlo confidently strode ahead of Kanako and beckoned for her to follow as he started speaking. "Deputy's just up ahead, don't dilly dally now, let's get goin!"

...

The barn was abnormally dark. A melancholic environment alien to the usually searing terrain of The Dunes. As Kanako stepped inside she felt a forboding sense of impending doom, something had happened here... Something diabloical. A single light flared into existence, revealing a solemn Clover standing dead center above a pile of dust.

"C-Clover...?"

"A murderer is on the loose Kanako. A truly sneaky monster among monsters... Look what they've done."

"W-what...? A murderer!? Here?!"

"That's right... And they're still in town! In fact, we've got our suspects rounded up already. And we need YOUR help to figure out whodunnit!"

All at once, the lights cut back on, flooding the barn in the bright power of the sun.

Three monsters stood at the ready, each with their own especially bright spotlights over them.

"Yo."

A mysterious, cat like monster with a bandanna stood to the left, a snake monster in the center... And to the right stood a dusty fish, somebody who Kanako distinctly recognized as Moray.

"T-that's not real? Right?"

"I told you Kanako, bein a cowboy is serious business." Clover stared evenly at Kanako... His poker face was good... And that's because it was his normal face. His stoicism served him well.

"I-I'm not sure I'm..."

"Nonsense Kanako!" Starlo chimed in from behind her. "We have complete faith in ya. Just ask them some questions, and come to a conclusion by the end of it."

"O-okay..." Kanako took a piece of paper that Starlo held out to her, took in a deep breath, and walked past Clover.

"Psst, hey, Starlo." Clover leaned back to speak with the sheriff without being heard... "Did I do good?"

"Did the best kiddo."

Kanako rapidly glanced between the list of questions she now held and the snake in center stage. With one final act of bravery, she sucked in a breath and walked up to them.

"Where were you at the time of the murder?"

"I was at the sssaloon, thisss here monster was m'friend. He wasss out to do sssome work, but before I could even sssee em again, he was nothin but dussst." They spoke in a particularly raspy tone of voice.

Kanako frowned and checked the list again.

"You seem... Awfully dispassionate about your friend being... You know... Dead."

"Ah, didn't know em that well."

"...Right."

Move onto next suspect

"...Really?"

Kanako shrugged and did as instructed, next up on the list was the cat...? Thing?

"Uh... Where were you at the time of the murder?"

"Why I was right outside of the barn o'course, I assure you I have nothin to do with the murder." The cat eyed Kanako as they pulled on their bandanna.

"And..." She squinted in disbelief at the next question. "Why do you feel" say it with an accent??? "the need... Ta' defend... Yaself when I hadn't even asked ya if ya dun did it???" Kanako managed to force it out in the most forced accent she'd ever mustered in her life. Or at least, the most forced accent that she remembered.

"Why, because I haven't done it o'course."

Move onto next suspect.

Her mouth twitched in confusion, should she like, ask for help? This all felt exceedingly ridiculous.

"Hello... Ma'am." Kanako gazed in confusion at the monster who was, literally standing covered in dust... And the first question she should ask was the same as the other two?

"Where... Where were you... At the time of the murder?"

"Why, I was in the barn!"

"...What?"

"You heard me!" They smiled cheerily.

There's no way any of this is real. And... Next I ask... Where did they get their clothes from??? WHY AM I NOT JUST ASKING WHY THEY'RE DUSTY???

Kanako's suspension of disbelief had reached the limit. She scanned through the rest of the list and... Oh holy saying she wouldn't use because she was eleven... She was supposed to cycle through all of them THRICE?

"...Nope. Excuse me... Fish lady, might I ask why you have dust on your clothes?" Kanako tossed the list to the wind.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Oh! Cause... I uh... No particular reason! Yup! None at all!"

Kanako turned around in disbelief to look at Clover and Starlo, both of whom were smiling and giving her a thumbs up.

She took in a deep breath, walked towards them, and pinched at her own face. "It's obviously Moray."

"Wow! You're that sure after just asking six questions?"

Kanako made... A face. And turned to look at Moray again. Her clothes were still just as dusty as when she'd last looked at them. Did they like, rub them in the sand or something???

"Among... Other things." Kanako deadpanned.

"Well, guess you passed then!" Starlo flashed her another smile, "you were totally right! And with such confidence too! I'm sure we can just skip over the second trial too with the way you proved yourself!"

"Maybe we could just... Skip over the rest of them and do something else? I'm uh... Sure I proved myself plenty, right...?"

Starlo tilted his head at Clover, whom shrugged a little sadly.

"Well, I don't see why not! We'll welcome you as an unofficial member of the feisty five, welcome aboard!"

"...Thanks, mind if I step outside for a moment? It's sorta dusty in here."

"Sure kiddo! Go for it!"

Clover waited for a few seconds for Kanako to walk outside before speaking again. "So like... Do we tell her that it was actually Ace?"

"Nah, let er have er win." Ace practically appeared behind the two of them, now once again donning his hat.

Moray followed shortly after as she shook herself out. "Should I be worried that I feel so upset? I'm not THAT dusty am I?"

"Ssso I take it thisss meansss I'm good to go?" The snake called from the back.

"Yup! You're good Sid!"

...

Kanako sighed and sat down. Of course, not in the sun. She had no idea how everyone else was just... Eating the sunlight and coming back for more like it was a buffet at the cafeteria... Huh, that's something she actually just remembered, neat. Turns out, cowboys actually were fireproof apparently. And Kanako, was no cowgirl. She was happy to see others happy sure, there was a certain enjoyment in that, but she thought she'd be happier watching on the sidelines rather than actually participating.

The problem with that was just... Every time they voiced that opinion... It wasn't like anybody outright stopped them but... Their eyes couldn't help but gravitate in Clover's direction, and well, they'd never say anything, they wouldn't even purposefully try to guilt them like Kanako had done a few times already. They just genuinely looked miserable, which was especially poignant when their usual resting face was complete neutrality.

She wasn't sure if it was just because Clover was the only friend their age that they really knew right now, or if it had been because of how they'd put up with her shenanigans, or if maybe they really were just a friendship made in heaven? But Kanako really just couldn't bring herself to say "actually yes, I would like to stop" in front of that bird. She really didn't like any of this but she couldn't stop without making her friend sad... Ok, well, admittedly, the hat was growing on her a little bit, but that was besides the point.

As she enjoyed her down time, Kanako began to plot and plan... And scheme. How exactly would she be able to change Clover's focus from this to something else without upsetting them? What could she use, or say? Or... Maybe the solution lied in being honest? After all, Clover had assured her of the ideas possibility from the very start...

"Hey Clover?"

"Yeah Kanako, what's up? I know you haven't really been havin the greatest time and m'sorry about that, but I promise you this next one will be better."

"Oh, don't worry about that. I'm having plenty of fun!" She lied through clenched teeth. "But uh, I wanted to ask when we might be able to go to Waterfall...? You said you'd show me around, and that Starlo wouldn't mind taking us?"

"Oh, ahah, don't worry about it." Clover smiled and waved Kanako off. "We'll be going real soon."

"Oh... Uh... Okay!" Had she asked for nothing...? Now she felt a little bad about it, was she being a bit rude?

A few moments later, Starlo himself came right along.

"Now Kanako, I've gotta say, I'm real impressed with your dedication! Ta' be honest I expected you to rush this along a little more! You never were too much of a fan of pl-" he caught himself. "Working! Working with us before, you always had more fun watching. But you were a real great sport today," he leaned in to whisper. "And between you and me I know Clover appreciates it."

"Wh-so what!?"

"Now, now. S'alright to want somebody's approval, especially in your circumstances. I ain't judgin you for anything. But speaking of Clover, they told me you wanted to see the Underground, right?"

Kanako paused for a moment, realized they'd instinctively started puffing themselves up, breathed out and then nodded. "Yeah, I really wanted to see Waterfall and Snowdin. Clover made them sound really cool."

"Well, good for you kiddo! I figure ya got about two and a half hours before your mom gets back, so that leaves us with plenty of time to look around Waterfall! I'd love to let you go out on your own, or with Clover, if you wanted to, but if something happened to you Ceroba'd rip my head off. So I'll be comin with you two."

"Oh, that's fine." Kanako nodded readily, she apparently hadn't needed to speak up to begin with. Kanako didn't really know much about other children her age at the moment, but Clover's ability to tolerate stuff and keep other things in mind seemed... Abnormal. Well, all the better for her if they were friends she supposed!

...

"Wow, you really weren't lying..." Kanako looked up at the glittering ceiling as she sat side by side with Clover.

"Mhm, my mom showed me around a bit. She used to live in Waterfall a long time ago, and she knows some pretty cool spots. This is one of em."

"So, all the lights up there aren't really stars, right?"

"Mhm, just like the sun in The Dunes isn't the actual sun, just a huge swelter stone on rails. It doesn't make it any less pretty though."

"Honestly, I really thought you'd been exaggerating a bit. I don't know why but... Waterfall always just kind of sounded a bit upsetting to me. Like, there's no way it could've been as pretty as you were saying it was, right? Well, whatever was telling me you were wrong? It was wrong."

"Mmm." Clover nodded. He didn't have all that much to add onto what she'd said.

"Uh... Hey Clover?"

"Yeah?" He turned to face her, she looked a little bit... Upset? He immediately wondered if he did something wrong somehow...

"I just wanted to say thanks. I know that might sound weird, cause we've only really known each other for like... Half a day. But you've really put up with whatever I did. I know you wanted to get up earlier then you did... Like... A lot earlier, and I kept you up really late too."

"Ah, don't sweat it Kanako, I don't mind."

"Well... Yeah, that's why I'm thanking you."

"...Well, you're welcome." Clover didn't exactly feel like he'd done anything worthy of being thanked, he just put up with her being a little weird. And the one time she'd actually done something upsetting he'd really let her have it.

"Hey... If it's not too much trouble, when you go home... Would you mind visiting again some time later?" She leaned against Clover as she spoke. "Just... To hang out? I had a lot of fun with you." She did mean that, even if playing as cowboys hadn't exactly been... Thrilling, for her.

"Why're ya actin like I'm leaving any time soon? Hey Starlo?"

"Yeah?" He hadn't wanted to interrupt up until then. Felt like a moment.

"What time is it?"

"Hmm... Probably a little after four."

"See? I'll still be here for a few hours yet."

"Well... Yeah, but I'm just saying. You wouldn't mind, right?"

Clover thought over the past day, and his answer was pretty clear. "O'course. Heck, I reckon you can come over to my place any time you'd like... Well, at least if my mom is okay with it."

She hugged him, for real this time. "Thanks Clover."

"...Any time."

...

They'd gone back to Kanako's home a little bit after that. There were more places Clover would've loved to show her, but Starlo had said Ceroba would be back pretty soon. Lo and behold, he'd been right. Luckily, she hadn't done any freaking out of any kind, because the other members of The Feisty Five present had told her where everybody was.

"Kanako, it's good to see you again sweetie." She wrapped her little girl up in a hug, eliciting a faint "mom..." from her daughter. "I hope you had fun today." She chuckled a bit as she set her down.

"She and Clover had a great time." Starlo grinned as her eyes flicked towards him, which caused Ceroba herself to smile.

"That's wonderful. Now, Clover?"

"Yes, Mrs. Ketsukane?"

"If you'll remember... I wished to speak to you earlier today. Starlo?"

"Yeah 'robs?"

"...Please do not call me that."

"Sorry, sorry."

"Could you keep an eye on Kanako for a moment? I'd like to speak to Clover in private. It's about... You know what."

Kanako looked at her mom curiously, but Starlo didn't take long to act.

"O'course, I'll keep her in eyesight."

"Wait, about what? Mom? Clover?"

Clover was pretty sure he understood what exactly "you know what" referred to. It would be pretty obvious for anybody in the loop, but it occurred to him that Kanako herself was not in the loop.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you Kanako, I'm a human! Heh! Uh... Sort of."

She stared blankly at Clover at clover for a moment for that revelation. Then she blinked a few times and tilted her head. "Like... A human, human? Is that a problem?"

Meanwhile, both Ceroba and Starlo looked on in shock at Clover, apparently neither of them thought he'd just go around telling people that he was a human. It was rather funny, that both of them had the same thought at the same time.

We're gonna have to talk to his mom about this.