3/14/01

Disclaimer: the characters such as Alice, Yugo, etc belong to Hudson Soft, not me

Dedication: God, my parents, my 'brothers', Hudson for creating Bloody Roar I-III, and my readers, especially Xion, PokeDigi, LazzyQ, Alica, Deoku, VGuyver, Flyby, and Niteflite.

Bloody Roar II: Hushed Admissions

By Tiger5913

Items shuffled, interrupting the silence in the dark night, as underpaid workers lounged boxes off of the truck. Trailing down the narrow stone path leading to the house, they stepped through the door, setting the belongings down inside. A figure with a head of blue hair watched as process was repeated eyes settling upon their cautious acts. When a box was accidentally dropped, the worker was immediately scolded as a young man darted out of the house and confronted them.

A chuckle escaped as the cyan-haired person as sneakers met the ground to proceed over to the two. A hand was gently placed on the arm of the fiery-tempered male and he calmed down, glancing sheepishly at his companion.

"Finally…" the brown-haired protagonist murmured as the last of the objects were set on the carpeted floor of his home. "Wonder how many 'casualties' there were…"

How sweet, always willing to help and stick up for me… Although you can't really tell that based on how he was acting a month ago… His accomplice smiled warmly, "Don't worry, I'm sure they were just accidents…" Maroon eyes went to follow his movements as he rolled up his sleeves and began to pick up a couple of the boxes, baring his firm biceps.

She moistened her lips timidly. "…Need assistance?"

He looked up and smiled at her, shaking his head. "That's okay; this is your first day here. Just relax. We'll take care of it."

Smiling back a bit wryly as her response, he nodded the confirmation and turned away, calling out, "Hey, little brother!"

"Yeah?" came the faint reply. "Do you need something?"

"Do you have a sec? Come here and help me move the boxes please!"

Her expression softened at his selfless acts, her eyes glancing upon him fondly.

A few minutes after the request, a teenager with hair resembling hers, although in a darker shade, appeared in the room. Taking note of his older sibling and his girlfriend, he shrugged and said, "Okay," then picked up one of the cardboard items, leaning it atop his shoulder.

The brown-haired man grinned. "Thanks, Kenji."

Kenji Ohgami gave him a small smile and proceeded out of the room, "It's no problem, Yugo."

"You know, it's very nice of you to do this…" the lone female remarked. "I mean, letting me live here with you guys. I didn't want to impose on Aunt Mitsuko anymore, but now am I imposing on you two…?"

"Nah, of course not," Yugo Ohgami assured her. "I don't mind, and I don't think that Kenji does either, since he hasn't said anything to me." Kinda surprising… I thought Kenji had a thing against girls…

"Well, you know him…" she started to say. "If anything was bothering him, he probably wouldn't say anything because of how he is…"

Seeing the skeptical look on her face, he smiled. "You don't have to worry about it

"Hmm, I guess you're right…"

"Hey, I doubt you bring any real unease to him, Alice." Her companion remarked. "You're a really good friend of mine, after all."

Alice Nonomura (Tsukagami) grimaced inwardly at the reference. "Right… Okay, I trust you." Watching him leave the room with her belongings, she sighed and took a seat on the couch, thoughts running through her mind.

A good friend… her face scrunched up slightly. I followed him around on his trip to go find Kenji, and I'm just a 'good friend'…

…Huh, why do I feel so disappointed…? She looked down and absentmindedly picked a piece of lint off of her pink nurse uniform, flicking it away. Yugo and I are only… friends… accomplices… It's not like I'm in love with him or anything like that weird woman, Jenny said.

…Or am I…? Feeling a bit baffled, her brows knit together in a slight frown; her facial features brightened when the wolf zoanthrope reemerged briefly, flashing her a smile as he retrieved another one of her boxes and left again.

Another sigh escaped her lips when he went off, mystifying her even more. Should I tell him about this… strange issue of mine…?

Her head fell back to rest against the soft pillows of the couch and her eyes fluttered to a close. Maybe I shouldn't… Darn it, I'm too stubborn.

No, perhaps we're both too stubborn… A half-snort came from her at the thought. Right, Yugo having the same feelings? He cares too much about Kenji to worry about such petty things…

She didn't know how sleep had come over her, or how long she had slumbered before a nudge aroused her to awareness.

Shaking her head numbly, Alice blinked, her vision filled with darkness as she noticed that the lights were turned off and she was unable to see the shadowy figure before her. "H-huh? Who's there?"

"Hey Alice…" was the soft masculine whisper that reached her ears. "Feeling tired…?"

Recognizing the voice, she breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, it's you, Yugo… Um, yeah, I guess I was… What time is it?"

"Around twelve," he informed her. "Kenji and I finished putting the boxes in your room, but, uh, we don't want to violate your privacy so we left them unopened, if that's all right…"

"Oh, sure, that's no problem…" Unknown to him, she smiled. "Thanks for doing that for me…"

I'd do a lot for you, Ally… he thought to himself. "Welcome. You wanna go sleep in your room then? Or do you like the couch better?" He grinned wolfishly.

"Heh, no thanks…" Alice said, holding up her hand in refusal, "I think I'll retire to my room…"

"All right," her companion nodded and scratched his head sleepily. Turning his back, he muffled a yawn and started for the hallway to his own room.

"Hey…" she started to murmur. "I have a question."

His attention adverted to her. "Yeah? What's up?"

"Does Kenji really feel okay with a woman living in this house?"

Yugo chuckled. "About that… You know, my brother's been hanging around your little sister lately… So maybe he's getting used to it."

"…?" The young nurse shot him a curious look. "Kenji is friends with Uriko?"

"Hmm, something like that…" he replied. "He says it's only because they're partners for this science project at school, but that doesn't explain why he always takes a shower before she comes over…"

Aww, how cute… "That's really sweet," A smile touched her lips. "Wouldn't that be adorable, the two of them…"

He grinned. "Yeah, I think it would."

"…How about you?" She suddenly asked.

"What about me?"

"Do you think about… relationships…?" Yeah, that's real subtle, Alice An inward voice scolded silently.

"As a matter of fact…" She could see the silhouette of his figure turn toward her and though she was unsure, there was a feeling inside that informed he was forging eye contact with her. "I do."

"Oh, really?" the cyan-haired woman tried to seem nonchalant. "Heh, do you have anyone special in mind?"

"Uh huh," she could see him nod. "The thing is, I'm not too sure that she returns my feelings."

"How come?" I wonder who is this girl he likes…?

"Well…" he hesitated. "I have inklings that she does, but that's all they are. Guesses, presumptions, and others of the sort. I don't know for sure, and I want to."

Alice smiled and said a bit dryly, "I… I don't think you'll ever know for sure unless you ask…" I wish I could tell for sure too…

The twenty-two year old took a few steps foreword, until mere inches separated the two and chuckled lowly. "I guess you're right… Unless, actions speak louder than words…"

Tilting her head slightly in curiosity, she was about to inquire him about that statement, but was suddenly surprised when he closed the distance between them and leaned down toward her. Their lips meet in a slight collision, softly caressing each other in unison after the shock wore off. A bit mystified by his action, the rabbit zoanthrope broke away gently, her hand travelling to rest on his arm as she looked up, her crimson irises boring into his brown ones.

"What was that for…?" She questioned, although she was acknowledged of the answer.

"Uh, you're kind of the one that I was talking about…" Yugo mumbled tentatively, glancing away abashed. "The one that I had in mind to be in a relationship with…?"

"…R-Really?"

"Yeah…" was his quiet answer. "I mean, I wasn't sure how you felt about me though…"

She laughed softly. "Are you serious…? You really didn't…?"

"Okay, so maybe I'm an idiot," he shrugged. "Or really dense… Um, I'm guessing that you… feel the same way about me… right?"

The young nurse grinned. "Like you said earlier, maybe actions speak louder than words…"

With that, she placed a gentle kiss on his mouth and retracted quickly, but her companion smiled as he brought her back and made the kiss last longer.

When the couple stopped this time, neither of them backed away; they just leaned toward each other and were enveloped in a gentle embrace.

"I'm glad we both found out tonight," Alice said quietly.

"Yeah, me too…" the wolf zoanthrope agreed. Then, bringing his lips close to the side of her face, he whispered into her ear, his breath fanning hotly on her skin and his words sending a tingle of pleasure down her spine; "Ally… How did I fall in love with you…"

The End

Author's Note: Yay, here's my first Yulice fic! Smiles happily Well… how'd I do? Sorry for the long wait, Yulice fans, but your requests didn't leave my mind; they were lingering back there with ideas for Keniko and Jang fics, hehe… Hope this story satisfied your tastes and please leave a review/feedback! Stephen's Story MSTed coming soon! BTW, this story does occur in my timeline, and it's about in between When You Love and Watching Through The Other's Eyes.