Teddy Bear

 is the twenty-fifth chapter of Natsumi Mukai's +Anima manga.

Synopsis
Senri rushes through the streets of Sandra, holding a child with a teddy bear, and being chased by some guards.

Earlier in the day, the child stole the teddy bear from Arthur's home. At the same time Cooro and friends arrived in Sandra. While Husky explains about the town and Nana Alba decides to look at the shops, Senri notices the teddy bear over the top of some bushes and wanders away from the group to check it out. There he finds the child, and soon after the guards arrive looking for the teddy bear thief. The child is scared, so Senri grabs her and runs away. Not long after, the other +Anima children notice that Senri is missing.

Having escaped the guards, Senri stops to rest beneath a tree. The child introduces herself as Penny, and the teddy bear as Lopie. Senri asks about the bear's father, but is told it doesn't have one; he then tells her his own name. Penny then starts playing with the beads in Senri's hair, before moving onto his eyepatch; this however triggers one of his memories, that of being given the eyepatch and being told never to take it off; Senri stops her.

The guards return to Arthur's home to inform him of the theft. He is panicked by the news and demands they take him to where they last saw the thief.

Now in an area of Sandra she has never been before, Penny wants to explore and insists Senri take her up onto a roof. She is enamoured by the view, however also sees Arthur and the guards. Penny starts to panic insisting they run away while also pulling on Senri's hair, but she ends up causing him to falls to the ground in front of Arthur. Senri runs away carrying Penny, while Arthur and the guards chase after them.

Every chance they get, Penny asks Senri to stop for something. First for some water, then for a lollipop, to pet a puppy, and to pick a flower. Still unable to catch them, Arthur is getting frustrated and compares it to a game of tag. The guards start theorizing what is so special about the teddy bear; Arthur orders them to stop, and dismisses them back to the Giesrieg Estate.

Senri and Penny stop at a bridge, having not seen their pursuers for a while. Penny decides it is time for her to go home, and places the flower in Senri's hair. Senri hugs her, but is grabbed from behind by Arthur. In the struggle, Lopie is knocked off the bridge into the river below; Penny dives in after it. Arthur dives in to rescue Penny, but back on land she is still concerned about Lopie. She looks back to the water to see Senri carrying Lopie above his head. He returns Lopie to Penny, but Arthur swipes at him, trying to distance the two. Arthur proudly states that Penny is a daughter of Sandra's governing family, the Giesriegs, and that she is his fiancée. Penny tries to stop the fighting by explaining that Senri was only helping her because she had asked him to. She had given Lopie to Arthur as an engagement present, but since then she hasn't seen him often because of his work. Arthur removes an engagement ring from within Lopie and places it on her hand; he had also felt uneasy about the time they were spending apart. Senri uses the conversation as an opportunity to quietly leave.

Back at the Giesrieg Estate, Igneous is waiting for Arthur. Penny notices the stern look on his face and warns him that he will never capture a lady's heart like that; then she runs away. Arthur apologizes for her, however Igneous dismisses it. The two then discuss their plans for their expedition to the western mountain range.

Senri finds his way back to his friends. Cooro points out the flower in his hair, so Senri presses it into his book. Husky questions him over where he had been, but all Senri says is that there was a bear.