Chapter 2: A fork in the road
Back in the plane they were, journeying to yet another country again, Finland to be precise. Asuka had no complains to bring forth –after all, wasn't she having the window seat again? Yes, it was a peaceful flight despite the fact about it being oddly silent. As much as Lars would like to hide it, the results of the roulette had made quite an impact on him. He was reading a martial arts oriented magazine spread in his usual fashion, on his lap but every now and then, he would look up, eyebrows furrowed in thought, then back to the magazine it was.
There was something wrong but how could she actually ask him about it? He would surely –the most gentlemanly way possible- tell her to start minding her own business. She remembered having already asked about it before and he had brushed it of as being "nothing". "I'm sure it's got something to do with the girls…Don't tell me he really has issues about fighting against a girl even if he had said he wouldn't before." Her head swirled with thoughts and as much as she had liked for an answer to pop out of nowhere, she was left answerless.
The time passed rather quickly with Asuka still munching on snacks the moment she was sure that Lars had fallen asleep and napping when she felt sleepy. The air had been overwhelmed with awkwardness since no words were spoken between them –apart from the obvious good nights and good morning's. Something was most definitely up but she would have to wait until they reached the hotel to get him to talk.
Finally off the plane and now standing in a lobby a modest looking hotel, Asuka was this time determined to pay for her stay with her own money but grew slightly disappointed seeing Lars absentmindedly looking at the ceiling. She had to call him back to earth by raising her voice to which Lars finally reacted and went to pay for his stay, his eyes momentarily resting upon the key she held in her hand before actually heading off. "Even while being distracted he made sure if I had already paid for myself."
Although she should be happy –congratulating her victory even – in having proved in some way her independence as a woman, her heart wasn't really in for it. They took the elevator together, being silent all along the way when Asuka, at last, decided to take her chance. "Lars, I noticed that you're behaving a little oddly these days. If I were to take a guess, I would say that ever since you heard who our next opponents are, you seem to appear uneasy albeit evasive. Is there any chance that you actually know them?" She heard the famous "ding" coming from the elevator as soon as she had finished her sentence, the door swiftly opening revealing a long rustic looking hall decorated with a few flower pots haphazardly put here and there. Lars started to walk without saying a word or taking a glance back at her and she followed him, determined to get any kind of answer. Suddenly he stopped and taking a quick glance to the nearest door's number, she found it to be hers.
"I'm sorry but could you please refrain from asking about my matters?" It hadn't been a question, and if Asuka had to put it in her words then it would have mostly sounded like "get the hell out of my business". She had wanted to insist but Lars had already started to walk away, entering his room a few feet away from hers. Strangely, the question as to why he had stopped in front of her door when she hadn't even said her room number was a mystery until she suddenly remembered that he had taken a glance at her key –into which her room number was inscribed- earlier on.
With a sigh, Asuka turned back to her door, opening it with her key. A soft clank echoed in the empty hall before she pushed her door open, shutting it delicately back into place after her. Modest furniture, cream colored woolen bed sheets, rustic looking shelves, and a lone chair –nothing particularly standing out like the room back in Brazil had. She sat on her bed for awhile, looking at nothing in particular on the wall as she tightly formed fists with her hands. "I'll definitely ask him at dinner."
Unfortunately, she didn't find Lars at the hotel's restaurant later at dinner and she could have sworn that he hadn't left his room either since she had glued her ear to the door of her room, opening the door in a rush when she heard footsteps echoing in the hall and apologizing to the people she surprised with it –with some having looked like having had the greatest fear of their lives.
She went back to the 2nd floor, where her room was currently located and her feet led her to the front of Lars's door and as she held her hand up to knock, she stopped. All kind of warnings flowed in her mind while she questioned herself if it would really be a good idea to bother him when he had clearly said for her –really gentlemanly one should add- to keep out of his business.
While still contemplating the idea of doing it or not, she vigorously shook her head. "No, this is no time to falter. We're partners for Tekken lord's sake! I wanna win this with or without him."
With renewed resolution, she knocked on the door and surprisingly so, it opened after only a few seconds. Lars stepped to the side without a word, his eyes unfocused as he let her in. His room was an exact copy of hers, all furniture and even the bed sheets looked exactly the same. The only thing telling it apart was Lars' open suitcase lying on the bed.
He sat on the bed, looking up at her with a slight smile. "You could not leave it alone now, could you?" It wasn't exactly a rebuke but she could perceive a tiny bit of self-restraint in his voice as if he wanted to sound angry but simply couldn't.
"We have to talk." Never had she imagined uttering that sentence –she used to hear from her former boyfriends when they wanted to break up – in this situation. Casting away any past occurrences out of her mind, she positioned herself in front of Lars, towering over him to increase the seriousness with which she was about to talk with.
"The fight's tomorrow shortly after dinner and whatever you might be hesitating about, now's the time to get it out with." She knew her words to be quite forceful but somehow it had pained her to speak like that. He meekly shot up his eyes, his brows furrowed as he appeared to think about it.
"Asuka, it is my business but don't fret, I will be there to assist you even though I appear to be quite distant at the moment." She tightened her fists, why was he so keen on pretending that it wasn't worth to share? She knew them to be still quite unfamiliar with each other even though they had already talked for a good while but she had hoped them to be close enough to share their worries, even more so if it concerned the tournament itself.
"Don't give me that crap! Don't forget I'm a fighter too, I can sense when they're clearly backing away from a fight but you know what? If you won't go, I'll go all alone. I won't need someone who'll meekly lock himself up in his room without giving any sort of explanation about what's going on. You don't want to exchange fists with women, people you know or have affection to then be my guest. Stay in here and grow mushrooms while you're at it." She stormed out of his room after her outburst not bothering for him to give her an answer. "He would most probably only evade or let it go into one ear and straight out of the other without trying to even give a damn about it."
Asuka had always had a strong natured character but never was she mean or angry without a solid reason. Truthfully, she hated to feel angered by anything or at anybody. What was so good about it? Getting angry has never given anyone more power than he has in being calm. It sure gives you adrenaline but do you really want to rest your power on anger? She hated it but still wasn't able to channel it properly. Her father always characterized her as brash, strong-willed and very susceptible to anger and he was right. From her mouth, she shouted words which could hurt someone very deeply were she willing to dig in right and bringing forth the ugliness in people. Her confrontation with Lars had been rather calm compared to what she had already done in the past but there was something holding her back when looking into that ocean blue eyes which seemed to rapture any creature it wanted. Maybe it had been for the better; maybe kicking some sense up his butt may prove to be useful.
Her stomping steps were echoing in the hallway, the carpet on the floor not helping in lessening the loud noise her boots made. She was about to reach the door of her room when two muscular arms suddenly grabbed a hold of her, wounding themselves around her shoulders and halting any further movement.
Asuka thought about it being an enemy and started to struggle against the tight grasp but stopped when she heard a familiar voice. "Please, stop that. You will only hurt yourself and that is the last thing I would like to do." That mature voice she knew as being Lars' came out effortlessly of his lips, tickling her ear in the process and Asuka felt sudden relief wash over her. No kind of anger had been detected in his voice neither did that sullenness he had when she had been in his room. She relaxed in his arms wondering why his arms felt more like he was hugging her from behind than an actual hold. Her heart bumped harder at the thought and she quickly tried to think about something else for fear of having her fast bumping heart heard.
"I apologize for my behavior but if I were to choose, I would rather go with you than let you go out there alone. I will tell you my reasons so please hear me out?" His question was hesitant, as if he had been sure that she would reject it and frankly speaking she would accept to hear him out anytime if only he would let his arms go.
"I will." She sighed and heard Lars softly do the same but still not loosening his arms. After a little moment, Asuka decided to speak, wondering why the hell her cheeks started growing warmer. "I said that I would hear you out so is it possible for you to stop holding me?"
He finally loosened his arms, a flush of pink painted on his cheekbones as he clumsily rubbed his hand to the back of his neck. "Sorry, I-I didn't notice." Asuka felt drawn to his troubled smile he had cast on his lips but caught herself in time, paying attention to not stare more than she needed to.
She crossed her arms while leaning her back against the wall, clearing her throat to get him to stop apologizing. "Tell me about your reasons then." Lars looked down for a moment, joining her by also leaning his back against the wall.
"I know I have been behaving oddly since the announcement of our next fight but among the two girls is one particular girl which had suffered a lot of damage, only by having followed me during a sort of escapade. I still feel guilty about it all even though I know that she's living like a regular girl – a simple life which I'm sure she's happy to have. However, I can't explain to you why I felt so morose but I think a part of me cherishes her enough to the point where I find it hard to so even touch her in any offensive way." Asuka felt her heart taken on weight, a whole bunch of weight which she started to question the origin of.
Lars glanced at her, waiting for any kind of reaction which didn't fail to come. Putting her heavy heart aside, she spoke up. "Wait, you said "damage" and "regular girl"…am I right to assume that you're talking about Alisa?"
His eyes widened at the mention of the girl's name, pushing back from the wall to face Asuka properly. "Yes, that's her. Do you know her?"
Asuka pleated her eyes, trying to remember if she had even exchanged be it one word with the robot girl and hesitantly began to speak. "Well, I don't know her that well but I know her friend Xiaoyu better. We're not exactly friends but we do get into fights sometimes, mainly because she has a habit of "accidently" dropping my lunchbox. It's nothing serious; on the contrary, it's just for fun." She remembered all of their fights which looked like training with a comrade than actually a fighting with an enemy –not the same could be said for Lili though since their fight was out of pure hatred they felt towards each other.
"I see." Lars clammed up, silence now filling the empty hallway. Asuka noticed his fingers fidgeting as if he wanted to say something but was hesitating on it. Seeing how he wasn't decided on speaking anytime soon, Asuka decided to share her decision. "If it's that hard on you to fight her just leave it to me. I can take care of Alisa and you of Xiaoyu."
His face grew bewildered, his hands now on her shoulders, drawing her closer to him as he bore his eyes into hers. "You can't, you absolutely cannot do that! She's…a robot, nothing like an ordinary human. Well, a human in some ways but incorporated with massive destructive armor and guns –nothing you can go against so easily and win if you do not know about them beforehand."
He had looked so overwhelmingly alarming that Asuka couldn't bring herself to say anything to counter his arguments. He was right after all, she never fought Alisa and no doubt that being a robot would give someone more power than the average human. "So, if you won't let me fight her then this means you'll have to do it, right?"
Lars heaved a sigh, pushing back his hair with his hand. "Yes, I will be the one to confront her. I would have liked to avoid this but seen as this is a tournament and our mission is to get to the end of it then I guess we do not have a choice."
He still looked reluctant but it quickly vanished as his face relaxed, his gentle smile finally returning to his face. "Thank you. If it weren't for you, I would still be moping in my room eventually growing mushrooms like you said I would." He laughed heartily and she couldn't help but smile back at him. "His smile is contagious."
Lars was about to return to his room when Asuka stopped him, throwing out a chocolate bar from her "eat me please" collection, in front of his face. "I know you haven't eaten anything so here, I saved this for you." Actually, she had saved it for later and she was still surprised about the fact she hadn't devoured it with the rest of the candies back in the plane. He looked at her then at the chocolate she held with sparkling eyes. "I could never thank you enough Asuka! You're a wonderful partner." He had said it so nonchalantly while taking the chocolate from her hands but why was it that it had brought a pink tinge of color into her cheeks?
"T-that's alright." With those last words, she walked back into her room, trying to keep her beating heart from growing bigger with all the thumps it had been giving.
-x-x-x-x-
"I-it's freaking cold here." It was shortly after midday and Asuka, together with Lars had just decided to take a trip around the city they were staying at. She was wearing three layers of heavy clothing under her furry beige coat but even then she felt cold and the wind only brought about more cold waves of displeasure. Brazil had been awfully hot certainly, but it hadn't bothered her this much. She had always preferred the sun to the cold and this weather only made her want to return to the warm comforting country that she called home.
"Are you sure you'll be alright with only that?" She skeptically quirked her eyebrow at Lars who was leisurely wearing a simple white tee under a sleeveless jacket, jeans and of course, his favorite boots. While she was shaking to the bone, he was completely fine, looking as refreshed as ever. Asuka looked up to the grey sky, grateful that it had just stopped snowing. If it hadn't been the cold, she would have more fun exploring the town as she was about to speak about returning to the hotel, Lars suddenly stopped making her almost bump into his back.
"Why did you stop so suddenly?" Although she asked quite persistently, she got no answer from him, she only felt his hand taking hers, walking –and almost rushing- through the snow at a fast pace. She was too distracted by his warm hand to make any sense about what was happening and just left it up to fate instead.
After a little while, they reached a clearing after having walked through a forest not far from town. The recent fallen snow was glistening on the ground as well as on the many tree branches, almost as if jewels had been buried underneath the snow's thick layer. A good distance away, she could perceive that there were a few wooden huts, probably family homes seen as they were rather big. She turned to him for an explanation which he gave almost instantly. "I asked the reception if there were any interesting sights to see outside the town and he told me about this place while stating "where life stops to take a breather". It does truly feel as if time just stopped around us doesn't it?"
She returned his everlasting charming smile before turning around and contemplating her surroundings. The sun was feebly peeking through the thick clouds, sending thin rays of light their way. Asuka was silently looking around, walking here and there with no goal in mind while Lars leaned against a tree.
Suddenly, she stopped, realizing why she hadn't noticed the whole reason for being brought there in the first place. From where she stood, she spoke up a little loudly for Lars –who had been a few feet away - to hear. "You've brought us here to calm down right? Right before the upcoming fight?"
He chuckled, sign of her being right. She grew silent, she might not know what he was feeling right now but she could guess. It seemed as if he had accepted the fact that he would fight an old acquaintance but it didn't mean that he was necessarily okay with that.
She decided to let him be for the moment, leaning against a nearby tree and closing her eyes just as Lars had done a few seconds ago. They stayed in silence like that for a while with only the sounds of the wind filling the empty space around them.
Their somewhat meditation had been a little while ago and they had been walking into the direction of the hotel for some dinner when Lars spoke up. "Did something change in you?"
She crinkled her brows in confusion, while thinking back. "What's he getting to?" Lars chuckled, pausing in his walk to poke on her nose. "Your nose might be red from the cold but I've surely noticed how your teeth have stopped clashing one another and how you've stopped shaking like a little dog after his bath." Was she supposed to feel offended with the dog comparison or let it slide and thank him for having remembered her how cold it was again? Heck, she would do neither of them as anger began to boil in her stomach.
"Don't even expect a thank you from me. This was a hell of a day and though I am grateful about having spent a peaceful time in that clearing, I could have gladly refused to go out if I knew it was so cold and if someone hadn't coaxed me with candy." True, thinking back on it, Lars had knocked on her door after lunch to invite her to a walk around town and as she was feeling reluctant, he had waved a candy in front of her face, telling her that Finland made the finest caramel coated candy –something she couldn't possibly ignore. From then on, he had her in the palm of his hand as she longingly ogled the candy he held.
"You're evil." She glared at him while inwardly struggling to keep her thoughts from being voiced. Lars's eyes widened for a moment but instantly softened, putting his mischievous little child's grin back on is face. "Now, now, you could have just refused it."
Not wanting to lose face, Asuka retorted back. "Look here, you were practically holding that candy hostage so I had to set it free." "By eating it?" He mockingly quirked an eyebrow at her, laughing out merrily when seeing her lips forming out a pout. "But is it not fair? You grew accustomed to the cold which is a good thing for the battle to come. I highly doubt you would be able to fight while being under so many layers of clothing. Or, you could have very well rolled your bed sheets around yourself; I bet you could sleep anywhere then."
Asuka sighed, keeping her mouth sewn so as not to admonish him for his lame puns which only he seemed to find funny. Nevertheless, he had been right. Earlier, she had been shivering even through her clothes but now, the more she thought about it, the more she became hot. "Maybe wearing that much was a mistake. In a minute, I'll be full of sweat." They started walking again with Asuka starting to walk a little faster, her mind set on the shower she wished she could summon in front of her right then.
-x-x-x-x-
The cold wind was ineffective to her as it softly yet a bit forcefully brushed against her bare arms. Asuka was wearing her favorite blue white jumpsuit with matching boots and somehow thanked Lars for having accustomed her to the cold a while ago. He was wearing the same outfit as before; the only difference was his face –an oddly serious expression – which had been so carefree a while ago. They were stomping through the snow, making their way in silence.
Asuka clenched her fists, her heart beating from anticipation of the fight to come. She loved that feeling. Excitement pumping in her veins, the corners of her mouth turning up into smiles without her own accord and the sudden surge of energy she got after the starting bell, even falling in love was nothing compared to that feeling she got when she fought.
Although she felt all that, she casted worried glances towards Lars, wondering if he would really do alright. He caught her eye and smiled, probably to reassure her although it did nothing more than worry her more.
They neared the battle grounds which was in fact, just a snow covered field near some houses where oddly enough, Christmas decoration was a must. Every nearby tree was decorated with colorful lights in every Christmas-y color there was, life-sized figures of deer stood by a very red-colored sleigh. There were two people dressed as Santa Claus, jumping excitedly, surely impatiently waiting for the fight to come.
"So this time we've got onlookers?" It didn't particularly bother her if people were watching when she was fighting, it was more a question if they were or not at a reasonable distance which sometimes worried her. Since it was the famous Tekken Tag Tournament they were participating in, having onlookers wasn't anything new and fortunately never had one heard of causalities in the audience during the fights.
She stopped her wandering eyes as she perceived a familiar face standing a few feet away, waving ecstatically back at her. Asuka ran up to Polina who couldn't help but show the broadest grin she could muster. "Miss Kazama, how happy I am to be able to see you again!"
Asuka grinned back, patting Polina's shoulder as she spoke. "Yeah, me too. Hope you're up for more fights because we're gonna win every single one of them." She pumped her fist into the palm of her other hand, her trademark sign she showed when she was most determined to do something.
Lars approached them, Polina giving Asuka a knowing smile before whispering into her ear. "Did anything happen between you two already?" Asuka's cheeks grew immediately warm at her question, surprised how she could feel so hot even before having fought anyone.
But before Asuka could actually deny what Polina was getting at, Lars spoke up, not aware of what had been just spoken of in hushed voices. "Have our opponents not arrived yet?"
"Not yet it seems. They still have five more minutes and there is no such thing as penalty, were they coming in late but I am sure they are on their way." She flashed her professional smile back at him while Lars furrowed his brows. Asuka knew exactly what bothered him but chose to not think about it; instead, she looked back at Polina. "Polina, do you know why there are Christmas lights everywhere even though we're far from December?"
"Oh, it's simple. We are here in a region where snow falls almost every day of the year and that this town is commonly called the "everlasting Christmas town". From what I have heard, you two are staying in another town so you couldn't have known but let me tell you that, here, they never get tired of the snow." She paused, letting out a giggle before continuing. "Of course, they do not celebrate Christmas every day but like to do it once every month and let me tell you, in December the place to celebrate is definitely here since that is when this town shows its real magic."
Asuka was listening with great attention to Polina's tale but every once in a while, took a peek at Lars, who surprisingly so, had been intently listening too, the story seeming to take is mind of the fight to come.
The peaceful time they were having didn't last however, since shortly after, the two opponents made their appearance, the two of them wearing exactly the same Christmas-y clothing. Asuka curiously quirked a brow at them, her eyes meeting Xiaoyu's. "Asukaaa, long time no see!" She jumped up and down as she shouted away her words, earning a smile from Asuka. It was strange; they weren't exactly friends but not enemies either but how come she felt…happy?"
The four contestants faced each other in silence when suddenly Alisa tilted her head to the side, hesitantly speaking up. "Lars? Is that you?" Asuka had felt Lars' body loosening up from its previous tense state as he brought up a smile. "Alisa, how have you been?"
They exchanged pleasantries as Xiaoyu began to nudge Asuka's ribs with her elbow. "Hey, hey, are you seeing the same spark as I am? Alisa couldn't stop talking about him during all of the travel from Germany to here." She giggled and just like that, the happy feeling Asuka had been feeling was gone, giving place to something most commonly called "jealously" and which she tried so hard to suppress.
"He's my partner mind you." With whatever inner strength she had, she was able to keep her mouth shut, not accepting how easily she could feel threatened about someone being taken away from her right under her nose. "Wait, wait, wait…he can do what he wants what do I care!"
Asuka turned around, looking at Polina who was making the preparations to get the camera ball to run which rapidly after few seconds, began to fly around. Polina clapped her hands to get everyone's attention, turning afterwards to the metallic ball looking camera to shout out her next words. "This is round two for both participants which will fight against each other in this beautiful scenery called the everlasting Christmas town! I suppose everyone knows the rules?" She paused to get everyone's confirmation before ringing the bell. "Get ready for battle!"
The four of them immediately distanced themselves from each other, Lars leaning closer to Asuka to whisper in her ear, his warm breath crashing into her frozen cold ears which lost all sensitivity she normally felt. "I will distance Alisa from you so that I'm sure she won't be targeting you. Try to remain as far from the woods as possible, that's all."
"That's all? Who does he think he is?" She could barely contain her anger at his words even though all they sounded like were in no way offensive but rather protective. Before he could head off, she grabbed onto his arm, hissing back at him. "I can take care of myself and are we not a team? The two of them are our opponents whichever way you see it; there should be no one to target only a single opponent. If someone comes at you, you just fight it without waiting for your partner to show up but rather showing up a smile when he does come around." From the incredulous look he gave her, she could tell that he wanted to macho-tell her off but resigned to, only sighing as he began to walk off.
"Just do not get hurt, that is all I will ask for." She nodded even though she was facing his back but quickly went back to face Xiaoyu who had been talking with Alisa in hushed voices too. Not a second later, Lars had already engaged the fight, trying to avoid Alisa's counters which were often made by transforming her hands into chain saws –much to Asuka's amazement.
It seemed that Lars was sticking to his plan in distancing Alisa from the main grounds and soon disappeared into the woods, only the faint sounds of the chain saws to spot them if need be. Xiaoyu went into battle stance, the camera floating nearby in the distance –one of them actually since a second one had went after Lars and Alisa.
Asuka prepared herself for any move Xiaoyu might decide to make as they stood in silence, only gazing at each other, not a trace of hatred in their eyes. "This is it Asuka, we've never been able to finish a fight at school but this is different. I have a mission here and Jin is waiting for me, so I'll definitely accomplish it!" She gleefully exclaimed, taking it as cue to run towards Asuka.
Her first hit had been rather weak and easy to block and probably was only meant as a warning about things really starting. Xiaoyu didn't have a peculiar fighting style and Asuka knew her moves all to well to feel threatened by them which could also be a bad thing since Xiaoyu knew exactly how she fought too.
They were exchanging blows, Xiaoyu's words replaying in her head as she remembered how the name "Jin" made her body shiver. It hadn't been out of fear but definitely out of despise. Yet, there had been a somewhat nostalgic feeling in her gut when she had heard his name and she wondered why.
They separated to take a breather, Asuka taking the chance to finally ask what's been bothering her. "Hey, you said something about Jin, what exactly are you talking about?"
Xiaoyu didn't answer; her head was tilted down with her bangs covering her eyes, making it impossible to get any kind of reading from her face. Asuka was about to repeat her question but Xiaoyu had suddenly thrust her leg at her, dodging it at the last second. More blows came at her, one more powerful then the next. She didn't recognize this strength which she should have known after so many fights but this…was completely new, foreign even.
Asuka peeked at her face, only to notice that her eyes were oddly serious –they almost never were, not that much. Her teeth were clenched, as she threw fist after fist, sometimes combining fist and leg throws which Asuka was able to dodge though with difficulty at first. Xiaoyu's blows were driving her back, and seen as she wasn't familiar with these snow covered grounds, she feared to fall over a tree root making her then vulnerable to blows. Xiaoyu's been continually attacking without pause when suddenly; she swiped her leg against Asuka's making her fall backwards onto the ground.
It happened in a matter of seconds, Asuka's back hitting the ground painfully as Xiaoyu hovered on top of her, holding her down with her hands on her wrists. She awaited the pig tailed girl's next moves and tightly closed her eyes as she awaited any kind of impact –secretly hoping it wouldn't be the face that would be aimed.
"Why are you going easy on me?" Her voice sounded broken, whether it was because of the weather or because she felt hurt was a mystery. Asuka tilted her head in confusion and lifted her eyes to look at the girl hovering above her. "You…knew?"
She didn't know why she had been holding back when she could have easily won this –and it wasn't her confidence speaking here. Even now, she could easily break free from Xiaoyu's shaky grasp but she had no desire to, no need to. However, Xiaoyu was still waiting for her explanation which Asuka hesitated to give since she, herself, didn't know why.
"This is not the school grounds; I can understand you holding back at school since we aren't seriously fighting and all but why do it here? Are you acting out of compassion? Is that why he's taken a liking to you which he refuses to let go?" Her feelings came out like water breaking out of a dam, question after question was thrown at her while Asuka tried to sort out to which question she actually had an answer to when a certain question hit her. "He? Who's he?"
She didn't voice her question but only looked back at a glaring Xiaoyu who was repeatedly pressing her opponent for an answer. "Let me tell you this, I don't know why I can't give my all into this. I mean, we aren't friends much less enemies but I still feel reluctant to hurt you."
Asuka's heart stopped at her words, these feelings she recognized having never had but surely remembered who could have felt the very same way about it. "Lars…" Now she knew what he'd been feeling, maybe not entirely so since Xiaoyu wasn't her old acquaintance with whom she had overcome hardships together like Lars and Alisa had. Still, she felt guilty all of sudden but not regretful at all. She had said those words to him back then to get Lars' fighting spirit back but failed to try putting herself in his shoes. Some words had seemed inconsiderate and if there had been any way to go back to that moment, she would have done the same but maybe this time, she would have been more understanding.
Xiaoyu widened her eyes in shock, her grasp on Asuka's wrists softening. "Why though? I know your fighting spirit better than anyone and I know that fighting against someone you know and maybe came to appreciate couldn't in no way weaken your resolve –during a tournament no less."
"I don't know." Xiaoyu sighed at her answer but quickly put aside her negative feelings and smiled. "You know, I thought that maybe if I fought you and won I could have a reason to hope for Jin's approval of me. Then I would have stopped his evil doings and be his heroine at last." Her eyes were sparkling, Asuka clearly aware about this going into a weird direction.
"But now, I think I get it what he sees in you." With that last sentence Xiaoyu grew silent, letting go of Asuka's wrists and lifting her upper body, completely forgetting the fact that she was still straddling her without thinking it odd.
"He, again. Who exactly is she referring to here? Jin?" She almost wanted to burst out into a fit of laughter but refrained from doing so, clearly aware that they had to somehow continue the fight. "I'm glad you finally calmed down but could we go to the subject at hand here?"
Xiaoyu nodded, "Yeah let's". She enthusiastically beat her fist into the ground to which a cracking sound echoed around and they both automatically froze.
"A-Asuka, what w-was that?" Xiaoyu's voice was shaking, her eyes darting back and forth, searching around them. Asuka propped her arms up to lift her upper body, looking around for any sign of what it could be.
Straining her eyes, she noticed a crack forming on the ground and it didn't take her more than a second to realize that they had been lying on a frozen lake –which was definitely slowly but surely continuing to crack. Xiaoyu took notice of this too and suddenly started to panic. "Oh god, w-what do we do?"
"No, don't-." Asuka had been too late in stopping Xiaoyu from brusquely standing up, thus leading to another crack breaking out in the ice. Xiaoyu yelped in fright though managing to stand still as Asuka carefully stood up to put a hand on the younger girl's shoulder to calm her down.
"The first thing is to keep calm, avoiding any sudden movements so let's stand still for a moment and think of a solution to get out." Xiaoyu nodded, hugging herself with both arms and breathing slowly.
Asuka looked around, noticing for the first time that the lake was indeed of great size with no way of knowing where it actually ended or even started. They were in an extremely delicate situation. One misplaced move and the lake could crumple right then and there, letting them in into the coldest water there is. "We'd probably die were we to fall." Her body shuddered at the thought and suddenly she noticed her shivering coming for a different reason. It had grown incredibly cold and she assumed it to be because of the lack of movement. Time around them seemed to stand still, no sound was to be heard nor seen apart from the white trail of steam coming from their breaths –and the ball thingy which was certainly hiding and filming somewhere– and if it wasn't enough, it began snowing.
"But if we don't do anything soon, the lake might crumple on his own be it with us moving or not." She turned to Xiaoyu to explain what she was about to do, hoping she wouldn't terribly freak out after hearing it. "Okay Xiaoyu, I will try to take a step very delicately to see if there is no danger alright?" Xiaoyu widened her eyes, "no way" written all over her face.
Asuka thought for a moment on how to convince Xiaoyu and then spoke up. "Look, someone has to do this. Should we make sure which one of us has the lightest weight so we decrease the risk of forming any cracks?"
"I think it'll be for the best. Mine's- wait." Xiaoyu looked around, probably in search of the floating camera, and then she leaned into Asuka's ear to whisper.
"Seriously? That much? You didn't include your panda's weight now did you?" "Now you're exaggerating!" They laughed, the heavy situation they were in momentarily forgotten before Asuka decided to be the one to take the steps.
"Okay, here we go!" Whispering this to herself before taking a deep breath, Asuka slowly took a step forward. It went well until she brought her other foot with her. The moment her second boot had made contact with the ground, the crack widened, making Xiaoyu jump in surprise, joining Asuka in panic –which caused two other cracks to form.
"This is bad." Xiaoyu nodded, grabbing hold of Asuka's arm not refraining from digging her nails in as far as possible. Asuka cringed but not at her arm starting to hurt but because she felt awful at her idea not having worked well.
They were feeling helpless when she felt her arm being finally released from what had seemed to be raven claws. Looking at Xiaoyu she found her to be thinking hard about something. After her while, the younger girl voiced her thoughts. "I thought of something Asuka. I maybe scared but I'm still a fighter. I shouldn't let this keep me from being strong but now I realize that maybe this is it for me. I was never ready for this tournament anyway but before that I want to do something heroic."
Asuka frowned in confusion, not sure where Xiaoyu wanted to get at and suddenly widened her eyes, danger screaming right at her face when she saw Xiaoyu suddenly doing a back flip, landing a good distance away. Due to this, the ground shook, more cracks than she could count now were forming all around them.
"Xiaoyu what are you doing? Trying to get us killed? Stop that!" Her shouts fell onto deaf ears as Xiaoyu looked back into her eyes. "Oh yes, before that, Alisa's weakness is a button which was installed to make her look as if she's asleep. You'll find it-."
"W-what are you-?"Asuka blushed at her last words before regaining her cool composure, trying to find the words to stop whatever Xiaoyu was intending to do.
Before she could actually speak up, Xiaoyu began to sprint, cracks appearing and following behind her as she ran. Asuka stood petrified, losing all ability to talk as her mouth and body refused to corporate in taking any kind of actions.
Everything looked as if time had suddenly gone from "stop" to "fast forward" as she saw Xiaoyu rushing towards her, pushing with superhuman strength her two hands into Asuka's chest, sending her fly a good five feet away. Asuka landed onto the soft yet icy snow which was definitely not covering a part of the lake. Lifting her eyes, she saw Xiaoyu falling into the water with a last sentence which said: "Good luck, let's have a real fight soon!"
She was about to go look for Xiayou but stopped when she heard a bell ring, Polina coming to join her with a smile, the camera ball following her every move. Then turning towards the camera she said, "Well this was certainly interesting! This might be the first time we've seen something so emotional yet I am sorry to announce that Xiaoyu has been claimed unable to continue the fight. Meanwhile, Lars and Alisa are still engaged in a decisive battle in the deep woods a little distance away, will there be any supportive help?" With a meaningful glance casted towards Asuka then at the woods behind them, Polina seemed to play with her eyes, trying to help Asuka without it being too obvious.
Asuka clearly understood her intentions, heading now with full speed towards the forest, the only thing on her mind being Lars. A part of her knew that he wouldn't feel at all pleased with her presence but she hated to wait. Waiting for him to finish his battle while she stayed arms crossed, looking at her opponent who had pushed her away of danger while revealing what she had to do to take Alisa out? No, that wasn't her style, that would never be her style. Nevertheless, she thanked Xiaoyu in her heart, hoping that the tournament staff would come to her help as fast as possible.
She had ran quite a distance after having come into the woods, all the while straining her ears to hear any sound of what might be chainsaws or battle cries. After a moment of running –following the fallen trees that had been properly cut down without anyone's consent, she finally caught up to the two fighters.
Alisa had put her chainsaws away –at least for now – and was floating in the sky, circling Lars in search of a good angle for her next attack. Lars on the other hand, was keeping his eyes on her, his clothes shredded at several places with bloodstains plastered here in there. His breathing was heavy and looking at Alisa who looked completely fine –apart from a few dirty stains here and there – Asuka could clearly tell that he might still feel uneasy about fighting his friend.
"Just like me." Asuka waited for a good moment to leap in, hiding herself behind some left over trees. Suddenly, Alisa dived down, her fist aiming at his face. Lars caught her fist with his hand, slamming her into the ground by grabbing her onto the wrists. Unfortunately, she quickly rolled to her side, evading Lars' coming punch.
They continued to fight in this fashion, not letting Asuka a single opening to finally come out. She understood soon enough that if the battle would continue, Lars would surely break down in exhaustion, on the contrary, because of her robotic genetics; Alisa would have the upper hand. While she searched for a good moment to erupt out of the bushes, she suddenly saw that Alisa's back had been turned to face her.
"Exactly, the moment I was waiting for." With a long jump, she started to run towards Alisa but before she could actually touch her opponent, Alisa unexpectedly turned around. She grabbed Asuka's wrist, lifting her off the ground as she took off. Noticing the robot's modern odd looking wings taking shape, she immediately foresaw the worst.
Asuka tried to shake off the hold Alisa had put on her wrist but no avail, they were already high above, almost reaching the same height as the treetops. She could hear her name being shouted and she recognized it as being Lars'. Looking down for a brief moment, she saw him straining his neck to look at them, a bewildered expression on his face –for a good reason no doubt.
She could so imagine what he would say after this –most probably accusing her brash behavior while shouting how careless her action had been. Truthfully, him scolding her sounded way better than being dragged in the sky by her robot foe in her mind right now.
The ground under Asuka's feet was becoming smaller, her heart beating faster at the thought of falling from so high above. Neither of them had spoken a word, why would they even? Alisa couldn't compare to Xiaoyu who friendly talked to anybody be it friend or foe and Asuka wouldn't step so low as to beg for her life although it started to sound as a rather appealing idea the more they were flying up.
She was starting to panic –something very unlike her – when something caught her eye. The panicking quickly dissipated as she thought of her new plan of action. It sounded risky but she would not let herself be dragged like this any further. She noticed Alisa stopping to move upwards as she changed directions, now moving straight, her eyes seeming to search for something on the ground.
"What is she doing? Searching for a lake to throw me into?" She had meant it as a joke but if there was a way to eliminate without killing being involved than that solution sounded almost perfect. Even though she knew she would most probably not get an answer, Asuka started to question Alisa. "Why exactly are you dragging me all the way out here?"
Asuka waited for a few seconds when an unexpected answer spoken in quite monotone voice finally came. "I will have no one get in the way of my fight with Lars. That is why I shall quickly dispose of you." Her answer had annoyed her in many ways. Taking it from a different perspective it had quite sounded as if she had wanted to privilege the moment of fighting she had with Lars –and to do that she had to "dispose" of any disturbing brash women.
"Yeah, like I would let you "dispose" of me so easily! You grabbed onto the wrong woman." With her free hand, she grabbed onto Alisa's clothes to wound her arm around her waist, entangling her feet around Alyssa so that her face was positioned right in front of Alisa's chest. "What are you doing?"
She heard Alisa's question but being far too embarrassed to even get an answer out, she pressed her face onto her opponent's chest. Alisa showed no sign of stopping her flight but only repeatedly uttered the same question. "Ok, Asuka, you're a woman just like her –well in some ways at least. You can do this."
"I will not ask you again. This is where we part so I apologize for the coming injuries, farewell." She suddenly stopped and straightened herself, Asuka tightly keeping her hold on her waist. Casting a glance down, she noticed the so familiar lake Xiaoyu had fallen into and froze in astonishment.
She let go of her embarrassment and clenched her wrist which was still held by Alisa with determination. "I'm sorry to say this but the one who should say goodbye is me. Good night!" Asuka smirked a last time at a confused Alisa before pushing her free hand onto Alisa's left breast. It made a sound of something being clicked after being pushed.
Asuka lifted her eyes to look at her opponent whose eyes had closed, a peaceful expression on her face. "Just like she said…Thanks Xiaoyu." Of course she had doubted if Xiaoyu had been telling the truth or not but why would she have the need to lie? There was no benefit for her in this but she still had told Asuka how to defeat what had been her own partner. Now that it was over, Asuka started to question why the button had been placed at such an odd place but quickly shook her head, not wanting to dig deeper into a hole she hoped to never fall into afterwards.
Suddenly, Asuka felt the body she'd still been holding growing heavier and that's when it hit her. "It's falling!" Because of its weight, Alisa's body turned to face the ground while Asuka still stood lying above. She tried to position herself so that every body part of hers was covered by Alisa's, heaving a sigh of brief relief when she noticed that they weren't falling in the direction of the lake. The wind harshly collided with her cheeks as if someone was slapping her in her face over and over again.
They were approaching the ground at a rattling pace while Asuka closed her eyes, bracing herself for the harsh collision to come. The moment they touched the ground, Asuka felt her muscles all over her body struck against the metallic body of her former opponent. It had hurt her more than she had imagined but everything was better than having dropped dead with having nothing to cushion her fall.
Asuka lied still for a moment, genuine relief flowing over her body as her heart gained back its steady rhythm. She was also relieved that Alisa's body hadn't sustained too much of a heavy damage –she had used her body after all, of course she felt a little guilty at that.
She heard a bell ring in the distance and the voice she recognized to be Polina's announcing their win. Although she had wanted to move, every single part of her body refused to listen, aching at every attempt she made. Her consciousness was no near of possibly fading which surprised her given the fact of what she had been through that day but she felt suddenly extremely cold to the point where she began shivering. Soon enough, she heard footsteps approaching her from behind, a hand gently grabbing her shoulder.
"Is everything okay? Are you hurt?" She could smile so much his concern was visible on his face as well as in his voice. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's only my body which refuses to move. I think that it'll be fine in a minute." Her voice came out a little hoarse, her words not convincing Lars at all since he began frowning at her.
"If I leave you here, I fear you might catch a cold but I might as well ask you now to stop taking such reckless actions. Not everything that sounds particularly clever in your mind is perfectly safe to do in real life. I had been fighting her just fine." His scolding had sounded good when she had been with Alisa above the clouds but now it just sounded…unfair.
"Who are you kidding? You weren't fighting her just fine at all. I know that because I had been hesitant too. I was going easy on Xiaoyu without knowing why until I realized that she had been someone I had considered a friend, making it difficult to just go at it. You were feeling that too that's why you couldn't give it your all, your shredded clothes prove it." Her voice was firm as she talked and Lars pursed his lips giving out a defeated sigh.
"Still, it didn't mean you had to go that far as to-wait how exactly did you beat Alisa anyway?" Asuka clammed up, not sure if saying that "word" would be a good idea. "It would definitely make him self-conscious so I'd rather keep it to myself."
"Oh dunno, maybe a breakdown?" She evaded the question, praying that he wouldn't push further –which he fortunately enough did.
"Alright, let us get you up for now." He helped her up, putting his arm around her waist to prop her up and she hissed at the pain, and then let out a smile to brush away Lars' worried eyes. They slowly walked towards Polina who although was professionally acting in front of the camera, was also casting worried glances at Asuka which quickly vanished at Asuka's returned smile.
"After this passionate battle let us turn once again our beloved roulette! Which opponent's will Team number 11 and 22 fight against this time?" The roulette was spinning and as everyone stared with anticipation it finally stopped.
An annoyed expression overran Asuka's face as she let her hands form fists. "This is it! The next fight will be against-."
"Ugh, should've known that that sneaky blonde rich girl would go this far too! Who's her partner anyway? It wouldn't surprise me if it were her butler though. She'd be able to go as far as to hire a trained fighter were it not for the cut in her funds." Since the revealing of their next opponents, she had done nothing else than venturing her hatred to a very complicated-looking Lars –who reluctantly nodded every time she threw him a "right?" kind of question.
He was still helping her walk since she was unable to keep her legs steady but he stopped in his tracks as he noticed the stairs. "What's wrong?" Asuka asked before noticing where his eyes had settled upon. She remembered the fact of there having been a notice on the elevator saying that it had broken down this morning. In her condition, it would take forever until reaching her floor and as she was pondering about what to do, Lars spoke up. "There is only one way to speed things up faster than any escalator could do concerning stairs." She arched a brow, clearly finding his laughter at his own –joke? – quite worrisome for some reason.
Before her mind could come back at the problem at hand Lars had already lifted her up and was now walking up the stairs. She froze, her body cradled in his arms was warm and although she had wanted to fight back against him for not having asked permission or even for having notified her of his intentions beforehand, her body had ached too much for her to do any reckless movements.
They remained in silence during their little journey up the staircase. Fortunately enough, they didn't encounter anyone maybe because it was rather late or because there hardly were any tourists since it wasn't holiday season. Whatever the case, she was relieved of any embarrassment and that had been enough to ease her mind. Still, why was it that she still couldn't keep her aching beating heart at bay?
They were in front of Asuka's room when Lars finally let her down, asking her if he should call over a doctor for her. She dismissed him by saying that she would soon feel better to which Lars only dubiously eyed her as reply. However, he let her go back to her room without further attempts on convincing her about bringing a doctor and returned to his own room soon after.
Asuka slowly limped towards the bed, collapsing on it with her back against the soft fresh scented sheets. "Ah, they changed it during our absence." Her eyes grew heavier when suddenly she remembered the words the receptionist had given her when she had checked in. "We hope you will enjoy your stay and please do not hesitate to take a dip into our many hot springs –our specialty!"
"Oh right, they have hot springs in here. I should check them out while I'm here and maybe it will help with my sprained muscles." She whispered to herself, taking her time in figuring how exactly she would even get there or even be able to.
After a long moment, she finally left her room, a clean towel around her shoulders. She quickly –if you call 30 minutes being "quick" – found the hot springs and without further ado she took of her clothes, made up her hair into a bun and wrapped her towel around her body. "Even though I know this is for girls only, I still feel reluctant to show myself to unknown women –if there were to be ones that is."
She opened a door to reveal a rather grand hot spring with a huge rock implanted in the middle. There was a lot of steam covering the area, making it almost unable to spot someone else, were there to be someone else. So far she saw no one as she entered into the water, its hotness wrapping around her body and she sighed at this new feeling. Feeling awfully contented, she sank deeper into the water with only her nose poking out of it.
Suddenly she heard water being splashed, sign of someone else being there with her. She rose instantly up, biting her lip as she felt that her aching had yet to fade. Through the steam she saw a shadow approaching her. She slowly braced herself and as she was about to call out, she froze again.
"Asuka?" He was right in front of her, close enough to finally be able to identify him clearly. She still stood stunned not knowing what to do when she heard other voices a little further away. Her first reaction was to quickly dip her entire self under the water but as she did, she felt another surge of ache all over her body.
Lars quickly noticed too and carefully holding her arm up, he hid her behind him. "Whatever you do, do not make a move. I think you mistook this for the woman's bath but as you can see, it is the men's one. I spot two other men coming from this direction and if it were just me it wouldn't have been that much of a problem but I think they had too much to drink and seeing a woman wrapped in only a towel would excite them too much to just be able to let you go were they to spot you. Let us not hurt other people needlessly." He protectively stood before her, his broad exposed back glued against her chest and she tried as hard as she could to think of something else. This was certainly not how she wanted to spend her peaceful nightly dip and definitely not with a half naked Lars –yes, she'd checked –and two other unknown men who were drunk –according to Lars.
He was slowly backing away towards the big boulder at the centre of the spring, his hand holding hers to guide her better. Suddenly, she was starting to feel hotter –even more than the water was – nervous about the men who were approaching at a fast pace. "Do not leave me, you can hold onto me but make sure you are not visible to them." He had turned his head to whisper to her, slicking his hair back and somehow that action had made her heart beat faster and she prayed that he wouldn't hear it through his back.
Soon, two tall towering men stopped in front of Lars while Asuka tried to remain as immobile as possible, her hands flatly pressed down onto his back. She knew the situation they were in could be resolved rather quickly if they would just knock the two men out and declare this case closed. However, were they to do that –thing which Lars would never approve to do – the two men would most probably cause an uproar in the hotel as soon as they awakened, and the last thing wanted here was the gathering of unneeded attention.
"Hey mate, how's it goin' for ya?" One of the man spoke up, his words slurred and even at such a distance, Asuka could smell the alcoholic sent emanating from their breaths –not at all pleasant for her nose naturally.
"I'm fine thank you. I had just decided to head back for the day." Lars courtly answered them all the while backing slowly away, taking care to guide her with his hand on her lower back.
"Don't say that mate, let's go hav' some fun together. I hear the ladies' bath is rite next to us. Let's go take a look." Asuka bit her lip at the second man's words, all kinds of insults forming in her head, impatiently waiting for her to shout them out but she restrained herself. "Calm down Asuka. You have something more important to think about, your escape."
"No, it's quite alright." His voice still had that courtly ring to it but the more the men in insisted, the more his voice grew grave. They were nearing the edge of the spring when suddenly one of the men dubiously arched a brow as he asked, "Nothing against you mate but what are ya hidin' for some time behind ya back?"
Asuka's heavily gave out a thump, thinking back if she'd done something to let them grow suspicious at some point but found nothing. The two men kept pestering, closing in on Lars as he continually backed away. Then, it happened. Asuka's back hit the border of the spring, sending her back aching again and as much as she tried to seal her lips by biting onto them, a yelp still escaped.
She could feel Lars' body tensing under her palms as the two men began laughing like a bunch of hyenas. "Yes mate, bringing yo' woman to a men's bath to share. I'm not gonna complain rather I'll thank ya fo' that." Even without having to look, she knew they were definitely wearing smug grins and as she was about to leap out behind Lars to get her knuckles warmed up, her arm got strongly pulled, Lars' warmth now completely out of reach.
It seemed that she underestimated her body because, she had tried to release the strong grip around her arms but failed miserably, her heartbeat seemed to echo all over her body. The pain was the thing that kept her vulnerable and at the drunk man's mercy.
He unnecessarily grabbed her by the waist with his one arm while the other held her around the shoulders. Her body shivered in disgust as she tried to overcome the pain to finally land a good deserved punch into his gut.
As she struggled, her eyes darted to Lars who's appearance was fuzzy due to the steam and also because the man holding her was backing away from them. "Lars!" His name involuntarily came out of her mouth and not a moment too soon she saw flashes of electricity through the steam. However before she could call him again, the man's hand covered her mouth making her unable to shout out anything else.
"Be quiet lady, and I might jus' be gentle with ya." His slurred words made her angrier than she already was, not stopping to struggle further until she felt his hand on her towel. Her body grew warm as she felt some sort of adrenaline flow through her veins and she bit as hard as she could on his hand. The man shouted in pain while Asuka distanced herself, propping her body against the heavy boulder as she thought about her next move.
She could see the silhouette of the drunken man in front of her as he wobbled, the distance between them closing at every passing second. Asuka bit her lip –which was most probably swollen by now –bracing herself for the incoming pain she would feel after the punch she'll throw. "I maybe beaten to the ground already but I'm not dead."
Her resoluteness grew stronger but before the man could actually reach her, another silhouette made its appearance, lunging its body forward as it threw a heavy punch –accompanied by the word "be gone" - at the drunken man, sending him flying out of the spring and into the nearby bushes.
The silhouette approached, revealing it to be Lars. "You call me, I come. Is everything alright?" His voice was gentle yet full of worry as he stared into her eyes. She nodded with a smile, her body finally relaxing as she breathed a sigh of relief.
Lars helped her out of the spring and after closing the door separating the spring and the changing rooms, he suddenly wrapped his arms around her in a gentle hold. She involuntarily hissed, the pain still not gone but Lars kept his hold not planning to release her anytime soon.
She felt warm again although the air around them was rather cool, her cheeks flushed and her heartbeat sped up. "I was really worried that they would do something to you." She frowned in confusion as she thought about his words. They were in a tournament where people easily got killed and he was worried about this? She was happy that he felt worried mind you but how come he didn't do this when he saw her hurt –even though she had denied it – on the ground on top of Alisa?
"I-I'm alright, really. I bit him so I sorta defended myself in my own but thanks for saving me." She embarrassingly stuttered out her words, feeling oddly comfortable in his arms. He released his hold, staring in her eyes when his eyes suddenly widened in shock, his whole face getting as red as a ripe tomato.
He distanced himself, waving his arms around and a slight uneasy expression on his features. "I-I am terribly sorry. What am I doing? Embracing a woman when having only a towel to hide our parts…! I'm terribly sorry; I hope you can forgive me!" Then, as fast as a light bulb who emits light as soon as you push the button, Lars grabbed his clothes and fled out of the room, his face clearly showing how sorry and embarrassed he was. "A late bloomer? Really?"
Asuka giggled before putting on her clothes, feeling refreshed as she arrived at her room. She sat on the bed, thinking back about what had happened when her face grew red again and she tilted her head towards the ground. "Now that was embarrassing. I fear the moment where we have to actually face each other again."
She slowly breathed in a fresh amount of air to relax her heartbeat only to have it speed up again in surprise at the sudden knocks coming from her door. She opened her door to find a pretty normal looking Lars facing her. No trace of flushed cheeks was to be seen, neither was there any sign on his posture that indicated him being uneasy or embarrassed to which her heart sunk for a reason.
"I'm sorry to disturb you but could we talk for a moment?" She let him in with a nod and he sat down on a chair near her bed. She took a seat on the bed, waiting for him to utter a sentence out.
"I hope you have forgiven me for what happened in the changing rooms. It was a very unbecoming behavior on my part and I'd rather forget all that happened, which I suppose you certainly want to do too." His words were flat as if he had just slammed her afternoon candy on a table in front of her with no feeling. She felt annoyed that he would rather just "forget" than asking her for her opinion on the matter, however, even if he had asked, she would have likely said she'd forgotten it by now. Why wasn't she revealing her true feelings concerning what happened? They've known each other for a week, how the heck could she know why she felt the way she did when he was around? Therefore, she took the safe choice, agreeing to his decisions –well to almost all of his decisions – and keep her mouth shut at least, for now.
With a strong gulp down her throat she answered, "Yeah, everything's forgotten." She paused, thinking back to the two men who had been knocked out by Lars before speaking up again. "Say, you didn't kill them, did you? The drunken guys from before..."
Lars let out a chuckle, waving his hand in front of his face. "No, no, although they would have deserved more than just a beating from me. I think we could say that I knocked them out cold –knocked them out hot in this context although it makes less sense said like this I guess." He laughed again as Asuka grimaced, thinking, "Glad he got his weird sense of humor back, oh joy."
After having calmed down, Lars finally stood up, directing a few last words at Asuka. "Oh yes, I already got us the tickets for the flight to France. It departs tomorrow shortly before noon, I will come knock on your door when I'm ready. Good night." He left the room after waving goodbye and Asuka turned the lights off, changing into her pajamas before going to bed. Her body still aching a little as she lay under warm wool made sheets. The next fight was against her dear rival Lily de Rochefort and apparently some old man whom Asuka supposed it may be her butler. She closed her eyes, feeling contentment welling up inside of her. "This is a fight into which I will pour every single ounce of energy into."
That's all for now folks, hope you enjoyed it! See you in next chapter: La vie en rose.
