Title: Blending the Rules
Pairing: Takumi x Akira, of course.
Warnings: Mild violence, language, seriousness, humor, fluff, an OC, and possible errors. My beta is in Japan right now.
Rating: T/PG-13.
Disclaimer: Not mine, dude. You can have her. She's psychotic.
Notes: Things have been very up and down lately, mostly down, so I apologize for the more serious tone in parts of this fic. There is humor and fluff, but much less than usual. I'm not completely satisfied with how this turned out because I think I put too much in it. I've been watching Honey and Clover/Honey and Clover II again over the past few weeks, and I think it shows in the more introspective parts of this fic. XD;; Oh well, please don't let my words discourage you from reading and offering feedback. I'm happy to be writing again. It's been a while, and I'd like to thank everyone who I have had contact with over my absence. Y'all are so supportive and totally awesome. Kisses.

***

He wondered if it was a mistake to let his friend accompany them to the festival. At the very least, he should have warned him about his girlfriend's inhuman skill at carnival games. Honestly, Takumi was quite amused by how the scene was unfolding before him, although the constant fighting was starting to grate his nerves. The festival was noisy enough already, but the shouting and cursing was too much. All the lights and smells and colors formed what should be an ideal evening with friends, but his current company made a fun outing a nightmare. As the night progressed, he felt more and more detached from everything and everyone. All he could do was sit back, wait for things to explode, and hope for the best.

He did not have to wait long. Once again, his friend's angry voice burst through the haze of noise.

"Dammit, Okuzaki!" Takumi's friend exclaimed disgustedly after the green-haired kunoichi beat him at the ring toss for the fifth time in a row. "You're making us guys look bad!"

"Not my fault if you can't keep up, Yamada!" Akira shot back, clenching her fist. "Why can't you take it like a man?"

"Pretend to lose or something, geez! Start acting like a girl! Our pride as men is at stake!" Yamada whined. At his words, something inside Akira snapped.

"Oh, is THAT it? You guys can't take losing to a GIRL? Would you get this mad if I had beaten you last year when you thought I was a guy?!" She grabbed the boy's shirt collar, and yanked his face down until it was level with hers. "Say it. You don't like a girl kicking your ass. Wimp! Loser! I hate guys like you!"

"Akira-kun, maybe you should go easy on him…" Takumi muttered, speaking up for the first time. He placed his hand on his girlfriend's shoulder to calm her, but she simply brushed him away. Yamada glanced at his friend, begging for help with his eyes, but the brown-haired boy ignored him.

"WHAT, Takumi? Not you too! I swear, all guys are the same! Manly pride my ASS." She shoved the boy back and raised her fists. He did the same and the two began to circling each other warily, waiting for the first strike. Passersby stopped and stared, wondering what had caused the commotion. A few of their classmates were standing around them, cheering, waiting for what promised to be good fight. The owner of the game booth had long since given up on trying to break the fight, and instead resorted to offering the winner of the fight the biggest stuffed animal prize he had. Takumi closed his eyes, unable to ignore the way Akira's voice broke when she screamed. He had hoped for a fun, casual night at the school festival, but it had turned into what threatened to become an all-out brawl. The pair had carried their innocent fighting too far and Yamada would get hurt if someone did not interfere. With a jolt, Takumi realized that he was the only one who seemed to care if the fight stopped or not. Everyone else seemed too wrapped up in the spectacle. Taking a deep breath, he stepped forward and someone in the crowd screamed.

"Did you see that? What is she, like, a ninja or something? The kid doesn't stand a chance!"

The rest of the scene was lost in the adrenaline rush. As Takumi joined the fight, his five senses were working at full power, but all of them seemed to run together. The red and gold light from the lanterns blended with the smells of sweat and roasted meat and the indistinct sounds of the crowd. Without further thought, Takumi grabbed his girlfriend and wrestled her away from the other boy. His new heart was racing dangerously fast, and he felt his body weakening, but he was not going to let the two of them hurt each other. He had not recovered fully from his surgery, but he had the operation so that he could be strong. Now was his chance to prove his strength, even if it meant restraining the person most important to him. Looking around, he noticed that the situation was calming somewhat. Although shaken, Yamada appeared to be alright. A classmate of theirs was tending to him, and the crowd was beginning to disperse. Takumi's mind was also clearing, and his heart rate had slowed to normal levels. Reality set in, and he became very aware of the guilt he felt for holding Akira back and angering her further. He sighed, focusing instead on the feeling of her small body in his arms. When he pulled her away from the fight, he expected her to lash out against him as well, but she was oddly calm. Takumi took this as a sign that he would be forgiven. Pulling her close, he kissed the top of her head.

"Never do that again," he whispered in her ear. She turned around and narrowed her eyes.

"He deserved it," she muttered. "Why the hell did you stop me? Is 'manly pride' THAT important to you guys?"

"You could have killed him."

"Not kill. Just make him realize that being a girl has nothing to do with it."

"Then why were you so worked up over what he said?"

"He refused to hit me because I'm a girl, so I tried to make him fight back."

Takumi sighed, planting his forehead on her shoulder. "I thought being a girl had nothing to do with it, hm? He only said that because he doesn't want to hurt you."

"Like he could," Akira scoffed. Takumi smiled.

"We know."

"If he has so much manly pride, why doesn't he take me on in a fair fight?"

"No normal human could take you on equally at the ring toss, Akira-kun. I think Yamada-kun was just upset because you caught him off guard and beat him. Kind of like how you get upset when people underestimate you. The gender bit is just a cheap way to cover up true feelings. It's kind of hard to explain," Takumi said with a small laugh.

The ninja sighed. "I really hate cheap shots. I mean, seriously. If he didn't know I was a girl, would he react differently? I don't get it!"

"You beat him so bad, I think he would have been angry either way," Takumi chucked. His girlfriend punched his shoulder lightly.

"Shut it," she snapped, although her lips twitched upwards slightly. "He would've acted differently and you know it. At the very least, he would've fought back."

"Probably," Takumi agreed, releasing his girlfriend from his embrace.

"Guys are weird."

"Definitely. Now let's go see how Yamada-kun is doing." Grabbing her hand, he led her to the picnic blanket where Yamada and his classmate sat.

"Thanks for that, man," the classmate said, shaking Takumi's hand, before adding privately, "You really saved his ass." Waving casually over his shoulder, he darted off into the crowd. Akira overheard his words and smirked.

"Dude, thanks for taming your psychotic girlfriend," Yamada said, rolling his eyes. "She really had me there. She's all yours."

"Oh come on, you could have fought back or something!" the ninja mocked.

"I told you, I don't…"

"Hit girls. I know. Lame. It gives us too much of an advantage."

"If you were a guy…"

"Drop it," Takumi said sternly. "It doesn't matter. My girlfriend has trained at ninjutsu all her life, so you would lose just as badly to her anyway."

"Then I won't say anything about how amazed I am that a femmy boy like you managed to grow balls all of a sudden. I mean, damn, it was intense watching you stop the fight."

"I've always had balls, thank you very much," Takumi replied dryly, sitting next to his friend. The tips of his ears were pink.

"Aaaand this is getting awkward. I think I'm going to go now. Takoyaki, anyone?" Without another word, Akira turned on her heel and disappeared into the crowd.

While she was gone, Takumi paused to reflect on what happened; it had been a strange night. There was a fight, but everything turned out well in the end, right? Looking back, he realized that insults had become jokes and the fighting was turning into a rather unorthodox friendship. A person walking by would not be able to tell that just minutes ago, Akira and Yamada were at each other's throats. Now that things were calm, he could sit back and enjoy the blur of lights and colors and smells that made the festival. There were so many events going on, he was unsure of what to do first. Should he try a game himself, or would he rather just sit here, eat takoyaki, and enjoy the festival experience? Everything he had been through that night was a part of what would become a pleasant memory. There was no reason to detach himself from world, when he was here living in it.

"Dude, I think you're drooling. Wake up," Yamada said, poking his friend in the ribs.

"Huh? Oh, sorry. I was kind of in my own world, I guess."

"Whatever. Come back into ours now. Okuzaki has food."

Takumi took the takoyaki his girlfriend offered, but before any of them could eat, a voice called over to them through the crowd.

"Excuse me, miss, but you won the fight earlier. You can have any stuffed animal you want."

Suddenly, the ninja looked embarrassed, although there was no mistaking the twinkle in her eye. "Really?" she squeaked. Casting a death glare at her confused male companions, she walked over to the stand and returned momentarily carrying an enormous stuffed frog. Both boys did not bother hiding their giggles.

"What, no teddy bear? No bun-bun?" Yamada teased.

"Can it," Akira snapped. "I wanted this from the beginning."

"So that's why you were so ruthless at the ring toss. You wanted to win a froggie. It looks like someone CAN act like a girl."

With a loud "hmph," the girl cuddled her hard-earned prize and sat next to her boyfriend.

"I think it's cute that you got the frog," Takumi said, wrapping an arm around her waist. Pretending not to notice his comment, she began shoveling takoyaki into her mouth. He smiled, then added, "Although if you had let me be a gentleman, I could have won it for you."