No Guts; No Glory
By: Sophie5
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to any of these characters except Aine and Akito. All others are the property of Pioneer, AIC, and FUNimation Entertainment. Original story/concept for the OVA's are credited to Masaki Kajishima and Hiroki Hayashi. Thank you.
Prologue
Double Trouble
December 2, 2019
Just one more week.
That was the one thought that kept all the students in Mr. Fujisaki's Japanese Literature Class from passing out in sheer boredom. It was just one more week until the school year was drawn to a close; one more week until final exams; one more week until the start of their very long winter break. Their hard-earned, one month vacation would begin in just one week and they could flee from their prison known simply as Okayama High School.
One student, Aine, sat in the middle desk near the window. Standing at 5'8" tall, Aine's beautiful brown eyes looked out at the bare trees while the brilliant oranges and reds of the previous autumn blanketed the ground beyond the school gates. Though only seventeen and about to conclude her junior year in high school, Aine still held many different goals and aspirations for herself. Her lithe and elegant frame gilded many secrets such as her extraordinary fighting ability (as well as other secrets those in her family realm only knew about) but with a gentle smile, anyone would want to give her the world and everything in it.
She tucked a strand of her jet black hair behind her ear as she sighed, not exactly pleased with the upcoming season. Winter. It brought too many bad memories for Aine.
I wish winter never existed, Aine thought bitterly.
"—Masaki! Aine Masaki! Are you listening Miss Masaki?" screamed Mr. Fujisaki from the front.
Aine jumped from her chair, eyes wide as she bowed in apology. "Sorry Sensei! I'm sorry!"
A scowl formed on her teacher's face. "Runs in the family no doubt."
Aine Masaki blushed and took her seat slowly as the class erupted into gales of laughter.
"Silence!" boomed Mr. Fujisaki's voice, instantly quieting the other students. "Now, as I was saying, this story is about a love triangle between a demon, a warrior, and a princess..."
After a few hours (which felt like an eternity), school concluded with the normal toll of the age-old chimes. Aine went downstairs and was about to go to her art club meeting when she heard someone struggling with their locker. Immediately redirecting her steps, Aine made her way to the locker area to see a young boy, 5'10" and the same age as her, fumbling with the latch to his locker and muttering under his breath irritably.
"Damn locker…dammit!" he said, rearing his fist back and punching the door hard.
The locker door rattled for a couple of seconds and then burst open. A wave of love letters and gifts spilled out from within the tiny depths of the container. The boy ran a hand through his spiky black hair in frustration while the items littered the floor and had him ankle deep in the stationary.
Aine leaned up against the framing of the entrance while folding her arms across her chest and crossing her feet at the ankles. "Another wave of hopes and dreams, Akito?" came the teasing sarcasm.
At hearing the voice, he looked up and a grim expression formed on his face. "Can it, Aine!"
She shrugged, making her way toward him while crushing the heels of her street shoes into the letters and boxes of small gifts. "It's what you get for being so nice all the time," Aine replied, shoving piles out of her way with her foot.
Akito rolled his yellow eyes at her while bending down to pick up the letters and gifts. "And what would you propose I do? Be mean like you?" he said, scooping up the stationary in his arms. "I'm nice because I want to be, not so they can jam my locker every damn day!"
Aine watched Akito deposit the items into the trash and smirked. "Not reading any of them today?" she teased again.
He snorted, dusting the back of his pants off. "Why bother? I pretty much already know what they say at this point." Akito paused a minute, smirked at Aine fiendishly and ripped her locker open only to be disappointed with a clear view of her school sneakers. "That's weird. Even with that attitude of yours, you never fail to get crap either. Your rotten personality finally wearing them out?"
Aine frowned, slamming her locker as Akito pulled his fingers out of the way. "My personality is not rotten I'll have you know. And no, I still get them. I just dump mine out during last period when I ask to go to the restroom."
Akito placed his school sneakers into his locker and put on his street shoes, his school bag slung over his shoulder lazily. He walked over to Aine and grabbed her hand, yellow eyes glowing as he gestured toward the door. Aine looked back at him curiously.
"I already told your club you can't make it this afternoon." At the building annoyance forming on her face, Akito squeezed her hand gently. "Did you forget what we have to do today?"
Aine paused; looking up at the ceiling a moment to try and remember what it was, exactly, Akito was referring to. It quickly dawned on her, eyes widening in realization. "Oh yeah! Crap! Let's hurry up and get to the bus then!"
The two continued to grasp hands and tried their best to dodge any oncoming admirers as they flew onto the bus. After muttering about going through this everyday, the bus driver drove off and left a crowd of male and female students wailing in the dust. Soon the city began to disappear as the bus traveled along the winding country roads leading away from the city limits.
Akito let the back of his head rest against his seat while Aine flopped down beside him. After catching their breath, they looked out the window to gaze at the countryside in pleasure – bittersweet though it was. The both of them felt so isolated from the rest of the world at times.
"I hate the long commute to school," muttered Aine as she hefted her school bag onto her lap. "It can be a real drag sometimes."
Akito nodded. "Yeah, but it's not so bad. Besides, you know how adamant Dad is about staying out here. Especially since-"
"I know, Akito," cut in Aine shortly. She sighed, her brown eyes filling with deep sadness as she looked out the window with her twin brother. "I know."
There was a sort of comfort in the silence that enveloped the two as they clutched onto each other's hands. Akito smiled softly as he looked at his sister through his yellow eyes. "How long has it been, Aine? Since we held like hands like this?"
Aine smiled back at him as she felt Akito gently squeezing her hand once more. "Last December…and every winter's beginning for the past nine years."
"Now it's the tenth year. Ten years…"
"…since we lost Mom."
The silence that now shrouded them felt deafening.
"Don't you mean since she die-"
"We don't know that Akito!" snapped Aine, brown eyes glaring harshly at her brother.
"But you remember what Grandmother told us! There's no way she could have survived!"
Aine attempted to free her hand from Akito's, but he continued to hold on tightly. "Mom's stronger than that! She's probably still alive!"
Akito's ebony brows furrowed sadly. "Aine, even Dad's hopes are starting to wane."
Tears formed in Aine's brown eyes and Akito pulled her into a reassuring hug as she let her tears fall onto his shirt. While his sister was hiding her face, Akito looked back out the window – his own silent tears began to spill from his yellow eyes.
To be continued…
Author's Note: Wow. One thing I'm really surprised about is that I haven't written a fanfic for Tenchi Muyo! I mean, I loved the show so much when it first came on TV back when I was in Jr. High. I'm pretty sure I attempted to write one, but I looked over it and had to make a face of complete and utter disgust. So, I scrapped it. It really didn't make sense now that I'd taken the time to look over it. It was called I Am Ryomo, and it was so Mary Sue I almost cried from laughter. So, instead of meshing both the OVA and the TV series together, I took an approach from the OVA perspective. After all, Ryoko's portrayal in the OVA was how I favored her the most. I'll always love Ryoko. Hope you enjoyed this part of No Guts; No Glory. Look forward to the next chapter!