12/20/00
Disclaimer: the characters such as Uriko, Kenji, etc. don't belong to me; they're property of Hudson Soft.
Dedication: my devoted friends, my parents, God, Curt, Ryan, and Hudson for making Bloody Roar I and II
Bloody Roar II: Blind Faith
By Tiger5913
"Oh, she's out in the backyard. Through the living room, and straight down the hall."
Nodding his thanks, the young teenager went in the direction that the tall brown-haired woman had pointed out, his notebook and writing utensils gripped tightly in his hands. Shaking his long black bangs out of his face, he strode through a cozy room with a couple of couches, a table, and a television. Not paying heed to the other items, he went past all of that and walked through the narrow hallway, approaching double glass doors.
Grabbing a hold of the handle on one of the doors, he proceeded to tug it open, when a sweet, melodious tone reached his ears.
What the hell is that? The male student wondered, stepping outside and closing the door behind him, meeting the warm afternoon rays of sun.
As the blue sky hung overhead and the cool breeze swirled around his muscular fourteen-year-old body, he brushed off the caress. Narrowing his light brown eyes, he walked foreword, as the song continued playing somewhere up ahead…
Hrmp, what sap and nonsense… He thought to himself.
Turning a corner of the backyard, the dark-haired scholar stopped short upon spotting a figure.
The figure sang along, voice soft and dreamy, accurately reciting the lyrics of the song.
Still singing while oblivious to his presence, his observation began to perform stretching exercises, pausing every once in a while to throw a few practiced punches into the air.
Oh, are you sure about that? A small smirk formed over his lips.
I bet that's not always true… Although he didn't want to listen to the song any longer and was about to speak up, his companion sang the next part with a husky sense.
Slightly startled by the passion in the tone of voice, he closed his mouth, deciding not to interrupt yet.
Nice metaphor, I suppose, he thought gruffly, scowling at his acceptance of the song.
The figure shifted to raising a leg and kicked at the air multiple times, the other foot rested upon the ground for stiff support.
Sure, yeah, right… he snorted his disagreement. What kind of crap is this? Shaking his head, he took a step foreword.
A smile came over the other person's face, and their own set of light brown eyes closed, singing the next verse powerfully, with feeling in the feminine, lighthearted voice.
While singing, the young female got a bit off-balanced and lost her training posture, letting out a squeal of protest as she started to fall over.
Noticing her situation, he darted foreword on instinct and shot out both arms to catch her back before she fell.
Startled, she finally acknowledged another person present and straightened herself up, the song still playing from a black boom box sitting on the ground nearby the two.
"Is that you, Mother? Who's there!" Immediately on guard, she whirled around, her long braided auburn-colored hair whipping him gently across the face.
"Hey, watch it there!" The male teenager yelled out, stepping back and twisting his body away, almost losing his grip on the possessions that were in his hands.
"Oh, it's you, Kenji!" She glanced at him, an apologetic look in her wide brown pupils.
"Who'd you think I was, Adolf Hitler?" Kenji Ohgami scowled at her impatiently, studying her features with slit-thin brown eyes.
"Well, it's not like I have eyes on the back of my head," she countered, her voice in a gentle tone of voice.
"I told you I was coming over today, Uriko," he reminded her.
"I know that, it's just… I wasn't expecting you until later this afternoon…" Uriko Nonomura sighed and tossed her hair over her shoulder as she peered down at the digital clock in her boom box.
"It's two o'clock," the black-haired teenager informed.
"Shhh…" she hushed him gently, eyes brightening up as she sang along with the last lyric lines.
The song slowly began to die down, the singer moaning her heart-felt emotion as the music ended.
"I love that song…" A contented smile came over Uriko's face, while a dreamy look appeared in her eyes.
"Hrmp," her companion scoffed. "The lyrics are full of it."
"Excuse me?" She lost her lighthearted posture and looked at him, disbelieving. "It's sweet and meaningful!"
"Sure, in a mythical world perhaps," Kenji argued.
The female teenager grumbled, "You just don't understand… you have to learn emotion, how to show feelings, how to portray love for others…"
"And then suffer the anxiety of wondering if my feelings are returned?" The ninja shook his head in disgust. "No thank you, I have better things to worry about than that."
"Some day, I'll make you take back those words," Uriko declared confidently, flashing him one of her winning smiles.
"I'll believe it if that happens," Kenji smirked.
She just continued smiling and began to chant a couple of the lyric notes, "Close your eyes; leave the world behind…"
He groaned his disapproval, and she reached her hand toward him, brushing aside his dark bangs away from his forehead.
"Find a place, deep inside… Where, you imagine,"
Immediately, the ninja stepped back, instinctively shrinking away from her touch.
"That love… never dies…" she continued, grinning playfully at him.
"Oh, brother." Kenji commented, looking warily at her.
"Well!" Uriko tilted her chin up in mock superiority. "I'll change your mind; you can count on it!"
"We shall see about that…" he replied, turning around and starting to go back toward her house.
"Hrmp… stubborn as always…" she remarked, shaking her head. "But I know he could be sweet and romantic if he just tried…"
The brown-haired girl bent down to pick up her boom box, then smiled all of a sudden. "Kenji's cute and has the dreamiest charm; his fierce protection toward loved ones is definitely a point in his favor…"
Comely features… poetic charm… rare color shade of hair… He'll make a girl lucky some day… She predicted. What a great coincidence it was that Ms. Gerna paired us up together for the phobia project…
The Kenpo student sighed at the thought, but came back to reality with a startled jolt. Oh man, I shouldn't be thinking about him that way! We're barely even friends…
She glanced back forlornly at the spot where she had been practicing her fighting techs. I'm definitely gonna try and change his mind though… I was serious about that part…
Gripping the handle of the boom box tightly in her hand, Uriko slowly started back toward her house, the essence of their interlude hanging around, the silent promise hovering in the air.
A few days later, it was the Friday before the end of the first week in June, in which the students in Uriko's class had turned in their reports. It was also the day that Uriko noticed her partner was absent; it was unusual because so far, Kenji had never missed a day of high school, with the exception of when he was under Busuzima's control…
The End
Author's Note: Well, this was my first attempt at a songfic… How'd I do? I wrote this romance fic because I wanted to take a break from all the MSTing; I appeal more to serious fics. The last paragraph was taken directly from my first Bloody Roar II story, A Hidden Bond. This event between Uriko and Kenji happens right before those two fight in that other fic, just to clear up any possible confusion. Hope you enjoyed this; keep an eye out for chapter one of my BRIII story that will be following this fic!