Looming over the gathered boys, the monster took a lumbering step forwards, as if intending to crush them all under one of its ponderous feet. It stumbled on a parked car, sending it skidding across the road. The monster watched bemusedly as the car slammed into a nearby lamp post. Something about its posture suggested that it hadn't been expecting that to happen.

"Uh, guys," said Cerulean, "I really don't think we can tackle this without Epinard..."

"Then we need to get him back on his feet," said Aurite firmly.

He bounded across the street to land next to Wombat, who was still frantically doing whatever it was he was trying to do, green lights crackling and popping all around him until his fur stood on end. Aurite was relieved to see that the bleeding seemed to have stopped, and Atsushi's chest still rose and fell with shallow breaths. He didn't seem to be getting any worse, but he was obviously a long way from well.

"Can't you hurry it up?" Aurite demanded.

Wombat gave him a nervous look. "I'm trying! This isn't easy! If you want me to hurry, I'm going to need a lot more power to draw on."

"Then we'll just have to get you some," said Aurite. He looked over his shoulder. "Everyone, get over here! That means you too, Battle Lovers!"

The Battle Lovers looked dubiously at each other. Cerulean was the first to move.

"It's for Atsushi," he said, and raced across the rubble to join Aurite. The others followed him, gathering in a loose circle around their fallen friend. Aurite nodded, satisfied.

"If you need more power, take it from all of us," he told Wombat. "Between the seven of us, we must have enough."

Wombat looked up thoughtfully, then nodded. "Battle Lovers, hold out your Love Sticks!"

The Battle Lovers obediently extended their wands. Aurite glanced at his companions, who nodded and wordlessly held out their swords, touching the tips to those of the wands. Wombat raised one paw, and immediately Aurite felt something, like a faint electrical hum, running through the hilt of the sword. As the hum slowly built, it seemed to spread through his entire body, drawing power from sources he hadn't realized he had. He closed his eyes, trying to focus, to force all that energy where he wanted it to go.

Help Atsushi. Give him strength. Bring him back to me. I'll spend the rest of my life making this up to him and be glad to do it, if only he'll come back...

There was a surge, powerful enough that it was all Aurite could do to stay on his feet, and a flash of light so bright that even with his eyes closed, he was dazzled. Blinking, he opened his eyes to see that the light had gathered itself around Atsushi, pure and white and gleaming like moonlight on snow. Slowly, Atsushi began to rise off the ground, until he was hovering upright a few inches off the cracked pavement. The lights began to coalesce on his skin, until they had formed a new version of his Battle Lover uniform, this one completely white. Then, with a final flare, they gathered at his back and became two glistening white wings. Everyone stared.

"An angel?" said Scarlet.

"Did he die?" Vesta blurted.

"He's not dead!" said Wombat, annoyed.

Cerulean turned to glare at him. "You keep saying that and nobody believes you."

"He's not dead!" Wombat insisted. "That power infusion was strong enough to unlock his More Better mode! He's back and better than ever!"

It seemed to be true. Atsushi's wings twitched slightly, then spread slowly their full extent, and he opened his eyes. He looked around wonderingly, clearly with no idea of what had just happened to him. Kinshiro felt relief wash over him until he was limp with it. Later Atsushi would probably hate him for what he'd done. Probably he would never want to speak to Kinshiro again. For now, though, Atsushi was alive, and Kinshiro couldn't help but smile.

"Welcome back," he said.

Vesta gave a whoop. "We're back in business! Let's get this party started!"

Atsushi blinked at him, clearly puzzled. "What exactly are we doing?"

There was a crash somewhere nearby. The monster had apparently gotten bored with whatever they were doing and was trying to knock a building apart. It wasn't doing the most effective job. Apparently having three minds in one body hadn't done much for its ability to function. Still, the sheer size of it was enough to do a fair amount of damage, if only by accident.

"Oh," said Atsushi. "That."

Wombat was the first to rally.

"Well, what are you all sitting around staring at?" he shouted. "Everyone, use your More Better modes!"

The Battle Lovers responded to this with an alacrity that told Kinshiro that these were people who were so used to getting ridiculous requests from a pink animal that they didn't even think about it anymore. Kinshiro shrugged. The creature had said "everyone", so...

And the Wombat must have been right, because when he reached for the power, it was there, rising eagerly to his call, as if it had always been waiting for him to look for it, clean and strong and full of vitality. If he had known he had such a power, he never would have done things any other way. It was as if he'd been drinking from a stagnant puddle before, and this was his first taste of fresh clear spring water.

So this is the power of love, he thought distantly. No wonder his monsters always looked so happy after they'd been freed, if it felt anything like this.

And speaking of monsters...

The mecha had finally noticed that it had airborne company, in a form of a whole flock of winged superheroes. It took a lumbering step forward, taking a swing with its microphone mace in Argent's direction. He dodged easily and fired off several blasts of silvery energy from the tip of his sword. It didn't do much obvious damage, but the mecha-monster bellowed in pain and tried to find room to dodge. Kinshiro found himself smiling. That was Arima for you. No matter what happened, he would still find a way to try to follow orders.

"Hey, monster!" shouted Scarlet. "Up here!"

The monster raised its ponderous head, only to get a blast of red glitter in its single mechanical eye for its troubles. Other blasts, fired by the Battle Lovers and Caerula Adamas alike, rained down on it.

"This isn't right!" it wailed. "You weren't supposed to be the stars!"

Scarlet shook his head. "You've got it all wrong. Being famous is fun, but it's no good if you never let anyone get to know you. It's better to have one person who really cares about you than to have the whole world know your name. Instead of trying to be famous, you should be trying to make friends!"

"He's right," said Aurite gravely. "The good regard of one person who truly matters to you is worth more than the idolization of a million strangers. You should learn that, before it's too late for you."

Just like it's too late for me...

A hand touched his shoulder. He turned, surprised, to see Atsushi hovering next to him.

"It's never too late to realize you've made a mistake," he said. "Or to start putting it right."

Kinshiro stared at him in disbelief, not sure what to say.

Fortunately, he didn't have to. Scarlet had taken over.

"Yeah, that's it!" he said. "Come on, guys! Let's show these guys what we can do together!"

He raised his wand, and the others copied his motion. Without thinking about it, Kinshiro did the same, adding his own power to the others'. He felt all their blending powers gathering around him like the electricity of a rising storm. As Scarlet raised his wand, the sky above him began to fill with the familiar cotton-candy clouds.

"More Better Love Shower!" Scarlet exclaimed, and the air was suddenly filled with sparkling raindrops. As they pattered gently down on the monster, they seemed to fill the world with a gentle warmth and the smell of flowers. Kinshiro had never been so close to the Love Shower before. He had always wondered how something that seemed to harmless could be enough to stop a monster in his tracks, but now, just brushing the edge of it, he began to understand. It made him wonder if he would ever feel anything like this ever again.

The monster, confronted by this literal outpouring of emotion, swayed on the spot, looking dazed. It dropped to its knees, staring up at the falling raindrops as if they were the most incredible thing in the world. Then, in a puff of pink smoke, there was no monster there at all, only three teenaged boys sprawled in various ungainly poses, their faces suffused with bliss.

"Love is seriously over!" Scarlet declared, looking satisfied.

Kinshiro slanted a cautious look at Atsushi. Atsushi wasn't looking at him. He was whooping and cheering with the other Battle Lovers, congratulating them on their victory.

Yes, Kinshiro thought. Maybe it is.

The chaos of the afternoon wasn't over, though. Defeating the monster solved the immediate problem, but there were still a few loose ends to wrap up. Fortunately, they didn't take very long. It seemed that losing his entire media force and having his hidden cameras destroyed by an angry man with an axe had put Hireashi in some difficulties, and his superiors didn't seem to be in any hurry to send him any new equipment. That, plus the fact that the entire Caerula Adamas had decided to throw in their lot with the Battle Lovers, meant their television program had come to a complete stop.

"I should have known we couldn't trust anyone who likes snails," said Arima, dripping disapproval.

Kinshiro nodded, if not in strict agreement, than at least in sympathy. He'd had quite a few stern words with Zundar over his role in this situation, words that had been backed up with some emphatic gestures with his sword. That had felt good. He was still not feeling very pleased about the way this afternoon had unfolded, and it was nice to have a legitimate target to take out his feelings on. Now, though, the aliens had climbed into their spaceship and vanished into the ether, after promising repeatedly that they would never, ever pull a stunt like this again. Kinshiro felt that was only fair. He and his comrades had found themselves obligated to make a few similar promises before the Battle Lovers were satisfied - promises that he had been only too happy to make.

Even if not everyone felt quite the same way.

"I suppose this means we won't be ruling the world after all," said Akoya, rather wistfully, after he had powered down.

"Not on my watch," said Kinshiro sternly.

"I know, I know," said Akoya, "but it would have been nice..."

"Geez," muttered Zaou, who seemed to dislike Akoya as intensely as Akoya disliked him, "what's this guy's problem, anyway? We just beat the badguys together, and already he's trying to go and ruin it."

"Akoya isn't what you'd call a people person," said Arima, rather apologetically. "Surprisingly, he improves on acquaintance."

"He does, actually," said Naruko to Zaou. "I've been telling you. You just have to know how to talk to him."

Akoya looked doubtfully at Io. "But I haven't been talking to you. I don't think we've said a dozen words to each other in the last month."

"I wouldn't say that," said Io. "We've been chatting online every night for the last week."

"That was you?" Akoya blurted. Then, "You knew it was me? How did you know it was me? Why didn't you say something?"

"You seemed to be having a nice time pretending," said Io, "and I didn't want to spoil your fun."

Akoya was looking flustered now. "So... all those things you said about me...?"

"Were meant sincerely," Naruko assured him. "I hope now that the fighting is over, we'll have more time to continue our conversations."

"Well, now that you mention it," said Akoya, "I suppose I could free up a few minutes later this evening..."

The two of them drifted off to the side of the group, the better to enjoy their chat away from prying ears. Zaou looked oddly proud.

"You know," he said, smiling, "I think all that hanging around me has been a good influence on him."

"I don't quite understand it," said Arima, "but I'm glad they're having fun."

The group was fragmenting. The Hakone boy was saying something about wanting to check on his brother, and also a bath, which Kinshiro inferred was his solution to essentially everything. Yufuin was complaining that he was tired, and intended to go home and take a nap. Arima had respectfully withdrawn, which resulted in Kinshiro being left more or less alone with Atsushi. He wasn't entirely sure that was what he wanted.

"So," he said, looking down at the ground near Atsushi's feet.

"Are you all right, Kin-chan?"

Kinshiro's gaze snapped up again. "Am I all right? Am I all right? I nearly killed you! You almost died! Why are you asking if I'm all right?"

"You seemed upset," said Atsushi.

"I am upset!" Kinshiro shouted. "Of course I'm upset! Why aren't you getting this? I tried to kill you! The question is, why aren't you upset? You should be furious at me for what I did to you. You should never want to speak to me again. You should want to punish me for what I did to you."

Atsushi shook his head. "I don't think I could do anything worse than what you're already doing to yourself."

Kinshiro threw up his hands in exasperation. "You're just too nice. What does it take to get through to you?"

"I almost died," said Atsushi softly.

Kinshiro stared at him. That didn't seem to be an answer to the question he asked, but Atsushi said it with an intensity that demanded attention.

"I almost died," Atsushi repeated. "It was a strange feeling. Everything was going cold and dark, and I almost didn't even hurt anymore. I wanted to come back, but I couldn't figure out how I was going to get there. Then suddenly it was as if I could feel a connection to all of you - you and my friends and your friends and even Wombat." He held up his hands, gesturing his inability to communicate clearly. "It was like I could feel what was in everyone's hearts - the way Yumoto absolutely believed everything would turn out all right and how hard Arima was trying to do what would make you happy and En... he'd have turned the whole world upside down with his own hands if he thought it was the only way to save me." He shook his head in quiet wonder. "I sensed you too. Maybe you most of all. I know how sorry you are and how much you wanted me back. I know you didn't mean to hurt me. You were trying to avenge me and you got mixed up. I don't blame you for that. Yes, you hurt me. You were also willing to do whatever it took to save me. I'd like to think it all balances out in the end."

Kinshiro shook his head. "It doesn't work that way. You can't just make the past unhappen. You got hurt, and you did it because of me. You could have saved yourself if you had been willing to show me your real identity before I attacked you, and you knew you couldn't do it because you knew I couldn't be trusted to go after your friends instead. And you might have even been right. It took knowing I was being used to convince me to give up my plans for taking over the world. That's not how a friendship should be."

"Kin-chan..." said Atsushi, and stopped. Kinshiro didn't blame him. How could he argue?

"I'm sorry," said Kinshiro. "You deserve better than me."

Then, ignoring Atsushi's protests, he turned and walked away.

Normal wasn't something Binan High did very well, but it was doing its best.

The boy who had been the Caerula Adamas's most recent target had taken over as president of the Press Society, and seemed to be enjoying his ability to make his opinions heard on campus. Several new members had joined, and Kinshiro had persuaded one of the teachers to step in as club advisor so that there would always be a responsible adult around to keep an eye on things. The club's original two members had suddenly transferred to another school and no one was quite sure where they had gone. Then again, no one really seemed to miss them.

The fad for the LocalLink program had died out as quickly as it had sprouted. Its users had figured out that they mostly weren't meeting anyone through it that they didn't already know, one way or another. Soon the only people still using it were the people who had simply gotten used to it and didn't see any reason to change over to something else. Akoya was still using it to take messages from his favorite admirer, and occasionally also from Zaou Ryuu, who seemed to consider himself duty-bound to give Akoya a hard time about all the time he was spending around his best friend. Kinshiro had already given up trying to figure out whether Akoya truly disliked these intrusions as much as he said he did, or if he was actually enjoying the battle of wits. Either way, the three of them were spending more time together than Kinshiro ever would have imagined a week ago.

As for Kinshiro himself, he wasn't using the chat program anymore. He had, in fact, been avoiding Atsushi. Not in the way he had before, when he'd been blaming Atsushi for all his problems and couldn't look at him without feeling a cold fury wash over him. No, he was avoiding Atsushi out of guilt. Not a night had gone by that he didn't dream of that moment when he'd brought down his sword and felt Atsushi's skin and muscle give way beneath it. In his dreams, there was never any last-minute rescue, no conveniently arriving friends, no angels or miracles, not even a helpful Wombat. There was just Atsushi, bleeding to death on the ground, wondering why his friend had betrayed him.

He was understandably feeling tired and irritable as he sat at his desk, going over paperwork and wondering why he'd ever thought instituting any policy involving checking even more forms had been a good idea.

His grumpy musings were interrupted by a brisk knock on the door.

"This had better be important!" he snapped.

"May I come in, President?" said a very polite voice.

Kinshiro looked up sharply. He knew that voice.

"You may," he said guardedly.

The door swung gently open, and Atsushi walked in, carrying a sheaf of papers in both hands. He walked so quietly that his feet made no sound at all on the council room's deep carpet. Kinshiro continued watching him silently as Atsushi crossed the distance between them and laid the stack of papers gently in the middle of Kinshiro's desk.

"What is this?" Kinshiro asked.

"Your forms," said Atsushi. "The ones you asked for, detailing club activities."

Kinshiro's eyebrows rose.

"You filled them out." His voice was flat with disbelief.

"You said we had to," said Atsushi, "or we'd be subject to strict disciplinary review."

"I see," said Kinshiro.

"I'd like you to read them over," said Atsushi deferentially, "and make sure I filled them out correctly."

Kinshiro said nothing. He simply looked up at Atsushi, trying to read him. Atsushi stood silently, hands folded in front of him, his posture conveying both politeness and absolute refusal to go anywhere until Kinshiro had done as he was asked.

"I suppose I had better," said Kinshiro, submitting to the inevitable. He began to read.

It turned out to be fascinating reading, starting from a time when Atsushi and his friend Yufuin had been soaking in the bath, talking about chikuwabu of all things, when a pink wombat had fallen out of the sky and started muddling up their lives. It went on for several pages, front and back, detailing every monster and every misadventure. A few paragraphs in, he began to grow interested in spite of himself. It was so strange, to read about everything that had happened from the other side of the fence. At a few points, he found himself biting back laughter. It all seemed so ridiculous. He sobered again, however, when he reached the end of the portion on club activities. He didn't really want to be reminded of what he had done the last time the two of them had met. Quickly, his gaze skipped down to the final section, the one labeled, "Future club goals". They read:

1. Spend more time around the Kurotama. Persuade Gora to tell us more on what he knows about aliens.

2. Wait for Wombat's friends to come and fix Mr. Tawarayama.

3. Listen to more of En's philosophical lectures.

4. Independently confirm the existence of at least one of Ryuu's girlfriends.

5. Take bets on whether or not Io will reach his ten billion yen goal before he graduates.

6. Convince Kinshiro that I'm really not angry at him.

Kinshiro looked up. Atsushi was still watching him, his eyes dark and serious.

"Did I do it correctly?" he asked.

"Do you really mean that?" Kinshiro asked. "After everything I did?"

"I do mean it," said Atsushi. "I miss you. I always have. And I can tell you miss me, or you wouldn't be so upset now. You're making yourself miserable and you're making me miserable. Is that what you want?"

"No!" Kinshiro protested. "That's not what I want. That's never been what I wanted."

Atsushi nodded. "You said you wanted me to fight for you. Well, this is me fighting. So, are you going to accept this paperwork or not?"

Kinshiro stared at the papers in front of him. Then, with a sweep of his arm, he brushed the entire stack into the garbage.

"No," he said.

Atsushi looked stricken. "Kin-chan..."

"The Earth Defense Club," said Kinshiro, "is hereby exempt from paperwork. All paperwork. Forever. I don't think it's truly possible to quantify what you people do, anyway."

Atsushi laughed. "Don't scare me like that!"

Kinshiro smiled slightly. "That's a fine way to thank me for doing you a favor."

Atsushi took the two steps he needed to reach the desk and place his hands on Kinshiro's.

"Thank you," he said. "Thank you so much."

Kinshiro raised an eyebrow. "For suspending your paperwork?"

"For being my friend," Atsushi replied. He gave Kinshiro's hands a tug. "Now, why don't you come with me?"

"Where are we going?" Kinshiro asked. He was already standing up.

"To the club room," said Atsushi. "We're having our regular meeting. When I left, En was explaining his thoughts on sandwiches. You wouldn't want to miss that, would you?"

"I suppose not," said Kinshiro.

He let Atsushi lead him out from behind the desk and drag him down the hall. He still wasn't entirely sure if he'd ever be able to forgive himself for what he'd done, but he could think of no better medicine than to spend time with Atsushi and his friends. They had always annoyed him with their cavalier ways, their habit of ignoring the things Kinshiro considered most important. They weren't hung up on rules or the right way of doing things. They were following their own paths, even if they happened to lead off into brambles and uncertainty. Maybe, Kinshiro thought, if he spent enough time with them, he could learn how to let go of some of his own high standards, and then he could finally move past his mistakes.

"Atchan," he said, "do you think your club would be willing to accept a new member?"

Atsushi gave him an amused sidelong look. "Maybe, if it was the right person. Why, do you know someone who would like to join?"

Kinshiro nodded solemnly.

"Yes," he said. "I think I do."

The End