Author's Note: I'm back! Here it is, the much-awaited episode 2! I updated this fairly quickly for me. It's longer than the last chapter, I got really into it. Thanks to everyone who favorited, followed, and reviewed! I appreciate the support! Please enjoy episode 2!
Disclaimer- I don't own these beautiful boys. T^T
Binan Koukou Chikyuu Bouei-Bu Love!: The Seven
Episode 2: Love is Meant to be Shared
"You're brimming with confidence, as usual." Io says, falling into step beside Ryuu. "You do realize that thing almost killed you, right?"
"Oh come on, that was just because I couldn't transform. I would've kicked it's ass if I could, and you know it!"
"All I know is that you're acting like yourself again." Ryuu stops in shock, glancing over at his friend. Io's kind smile makes him flinch, and, for a while, it's silent, the only sounds being the wind blowing through the trees overhead, the sunlight dappled through the branches illuminating the sidewalk in front of them.
"About that-"
"It's fine." Io cuts him off before he can continue. "If you don't want to talk about, then I won't make you. Sorry for calling you out in class." Ryuu just stares at him for a moment before replying.
"You have nothing to apologize for. I was the one who messed up. Now that things are like this, it's probably better I do tell you. I was, in a way, kind of missing it."
"Missing what?"
"Transforming. You know, fighting for justice, saving the world, the costumes, the action."
"The thrill?"
"You took the words right out of my mouth. And besides, that costume looked really good on me, and you know it!"
"Better on you than me."
"What're you talking about, you looked great too!"
"Oh?"
"Just not as good as me."
"Why am I not surprised." Io laughs, placing a hand on Ryuu's shoulder. "I'm just glad you're back to normal. An energetic Ryuu is the only Ryuu I need."
"And I only need the level-headed Io. You make up for my…. my…"
"Recklessness? Irresponsibility? Foolhardiness? Hotheaded temper? Idiocy?"
"Okay, okay, enough! You know what I'm trying to say! And here I was giving you a compliment too! You're mean, Io!" Ryuu pouts, skipping a few steps ahead, looking back to flash a grin at his friend.
"I'm only speaking the truth." Io sighs, shaking his head. "You know you're too reckless for your own good. That's what got you into trouble in the first place. Anyway, I see where you're coming from. We make up for each others flaws, right?"
"Right! And that's why we're a pair!"
And if Ryuu has chosen to turn around in that very moment, he would have seen the soft blush creeping slowly up Io's cheeks.
"Right. A pair."
…
Beep. Beep. Beep The alarm clock's noisy ringing woke Ryuu with a start. Blinking sleep from his bleary eyes, he made a half-hearted attempt to find the button to turn it off, only to give up and yank the cord from the socket. As the bird chirps, he groans, rolling onto his side, head buried in the pillow, trying, and failing, to block the sunlight filtering through his curtains.
"I'm all sore." He complained, finally sitting up. "My back hurts where I hit that glass yesterday." He stretched as his mother's voice sounded from downstairs, telling him to get out of bed. Yelling a reply, he started wandering around his room, trying the find the school uniform he had just tossed on the ground the night before.
Walking into the bathroom, the first thing he does is shriek. Well, almost. He had managed to clamp a hand over his mouth first, before his parents heard and saw the sight awaiting him in the mirror. His assumption of a bruised neck had been a bit of an understatement. Large black-and-purple bruises circle around his neck in a perfect ring.
"How the hell am I gonna cover that up? Does my mom even have enough concealer for that?"
"Ryuu!" A voice calls from the kitchen.
"Yeah, yeah, I know mom, just a sec! Geez!"
"Don't talk to your mother like that!" She calls back, and he can hear her continue in a softer voice to someone else. A boy that sounds suspiciously familiar answers back, and he can hear footsteps trotting up the stairs.
"Hey, I got- Eesh." Io breaks off, plastic bag in hand, when he sees the bruising around Ryuu's neck.
"I know. How am I supposed to hide this, really. Couldn't he have grabbed some place else? Like my torso. That would've worked. We don't have gym today."
"Well, no need to worry about that anymore. I figured you'd be unprepared, so," he pauses, removing the contents from the bag. "-I got you this." He holds up a small vat of concealer and a few swabs to apply it.
"Io, you're a lifesaver! My mom and I are different skin tones, so it never would have worked. I can't wear Creamy Beige, I'm a Vanilla!"
"I'm not even going to ask why you know what color of -"
"Shade."
"What?"
"It's a shade, not a color."
"Fine. What shade concealer you wear. And wouldn't you be more worried about the fact that, oh, I don't know, your mom would wonder why she was suddenly missing five of her concealer compacts?"
"Oh. Yeah, that too."
"Anyway, I also had the clerk lady explain to me how to put it on. Hold your hair back, so I can -"
"Wait! The concealer, is it -"
"Yes, it's hypo-allergenic."
"You know me so well!"
"I know. Now hold still." Ryuu does his best to obey, but he can't help flinching at the feel of the cool cream smoothing over his bruised skin.
"Sorry, I'm trying to be gentle."
"It's fine. I know. And anyway, I'm worrying about something else. That stupid monster, how am I gonna get a date now while I have to worry about whether or not I have enough makeup or whether or not it's smeared or - Ow!" Ryu pulls away, grabbing his neck, hissing at the sudden touch and yanking his hand away. "That hurt!"
"Sorry." Io replied. "I guess I pushed a little too hard. I'll be more careful, let me finish. You smeared it when you grabbed your neck."
"What it rubs that easily?" He complains, moving back in front of Io, pulling his bright pink hair into the same ponytail he always wears, messing with the stray hairs.
"It wasn't dry. And as for your girl situation, you shouldn't play around so much anyway. You're going to regret it one day. Who knows, this could be a good thing."
"There you again, mommy Io. You know I only date one girl at a time."
"That doesn't stop you from flirting with another twenty."
"Okay, okay." Ryuu laughs as Io pulls away, moving to wash the makeup off his hands. "I guess I get what you're saying. Fine, I won't go out until my neck heals okay? And I'll try to keep flirting to a minimum."
"See that you do"
Ryuu skips out of the bathroom in a good mood. Io can hear him begging his mom for food even though he already missed breakfast. As the sink water washes over his hand, he sighs looking in the mirror.
"One girl at a time, huh?"
…
When Io and Ryuu had first gotten to school, they had met up with Yumoto, Yufuin, and Atsushi. The five had talked briefly about their plan of attack with the monsters, ultimately deciding to just wait for them to come to them.
"They're after us, right?" Atsushi said. "Then they'll come looking. Until another one appears, we have to act normal and just wait."
He had made a good point, and although Yumoto and Ryuu had wanted to get straight to the butt-kicking, they had thankfully been outvoted by the other three. They had gone their separate ways then, Io and Ryuu heading to their classroom. However, when they got there, there was the very same teacher who had transformed into a bloodthirsty monster the day before. The young man has looked up, smiling at the two shocked students.
"Zaou-kun, I see you're on time today. Let's try to keep this habit, shall we?"
"Uh, y-yes." Ryuu couldn't help but start to tremble at the sound of the voice belonging to the person that had almost killed him.
"Um," Io stepped in front of him, noticing his fear. "Do you remember your talk with Ryuu yesterday, sensei?"
"Yesterday? Let me think… No, I can't say that I do. Funny, I can't seem to remember anything right after the bell had rung ending school. Why? Is there something wrong?"
"No, nothing at all. You just… gave Ryuu some good advice and he wanted to thank you. Right, Ryuu?"
"Y-yeah. Thanks, sensei."
"Ah, you're welcome. I don't really remember though…"
"That's fine. Come on, let's go." Ryuu let his friend lead him to his desk, where he practically collapsed in his seat.
"Thanks, man." He says, smiling weakly up at Io. "I guess part of me is still a little freaked out from yesterday."
"That's not surprising. Anyway, it seems like it's the same case as back with the Loveless. It seems as though he has no memory since after he got possessed."
"I'm not sure whether that's a good thing or bad. Now I have to sit and act like everything's normal."
"Well, that shouldn't be so hard."
"And why is that?"
"We're magical boys again. For us, that's normal. Right?"
"...Right."
...
Io had been right. After the initial shock of entering the classroom this morning, Ryuu had promptly gone to sleep in favor of listening to the lecture of ancient history. It had been easier slipping into normal than he had thought. Before he knew it, the lunch bell was ringing.
"Ugh, finally! Class was so boring."
"You were asleep literally the whole class period."
"I know. It was so boring, it put me right to sleep."
"Your logic has something to be desired."
"Doesn't it always?"
"Good point. Now then, let's go find Yumoto and the others."
"Why?"
"We need to tell them that sensei doesn't remember. I'd say that's pretty important information, wouldn't you?"
"I guess." As they turned the corner, Ryuu walked smack into a familiar face. His light brown eyes narrowed as they met the icy stare of the two blue orbs glaring back at him.
"Gero."
"Zaou. What are you doing here."
"Walking. You don't own this school."
"Sadly, I know. If I did, unbeautiful creatures like yourself would be kicked out immediately."
"Why you-"
"Now, now, you two." Io says, stepping between the two before their at each others throats. "There isn't any reason to be fighting right now. And actually, Gero-san, I'm glad we ran into you."
"Someone took that a bit too literally." He scoffed, flipping his pale pink hair. "What is it."
"The other day, Ryuu was attacked by a new kind of monster."
"A new kind of monster? Attacked him? Too bad it didn't finish you off." He snickered, but stopped when Io almost immediately replied.
"It almost did." Gero's light blue eyes widen with shock as they turn to gaze at Ryuu.
"Really?"
Pointing to his neck, Ryuu said "I'm wearing concealer. It's bruised pretty badly."
"...You're lying."
"I wish we were."
"No, no, you must be. Actual monsters don't exist. Everything that happened three months ago was for a tv show, it was alien stuff, not really real. Monsters can't be real."
"Ooooh is someone scared?" Ryuu teased. "For a guy, you're surprisingly squeamish."
"Shut up!" Gero snapped back. "I don't believe in things I haven't seen with my own eyes. Especially not hideously unbeautiful things like monsters. Think up a better story if you want me to believe you." With one last hair flip, he stalked away.
"At least keep it in mind!" Io called after him. Feeling a hand on his shoulder he looked back to see Ryuu glaring in the direction Gero had walked off.
"A guy like that, we shouldn't be worrying about him. Besides, it's the Defense Club those guys are after, not the Conquest guys. He'll be fine."
"...Alright. I guess you're right. Well, let's go find everyone."
…
"So you're saying the circumstances are exactly like before?" Yufuin asks slowly, trying to make sense of what the two juniors has just told them.
"Well not exactly, but -"
"No, wait. Thank about it." Atsushi interrupted, speaking quietly, almost to himself. "If they turn into monsters like that, and have no memory of doing it, then they, themselves, weren't conscious during that time, right? That means, if they couldn't control themselves, then someone else had to have been. Which means, there are people out there who are using the ones close to us to attack."
"With the Conquest Club, they didn't actually try to do that though. They didn't use anyone directly related to us, just people we kind of knew or people who went to our school. But this seems more malicious." Yufuin adds.
"Well duh." Ryuu cuts in. "They did say they want to kill us. If that isn't malicious, then I don't know what is."
"Yeah, but it's different." Io mutters, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "By using people close to us, they're trying to get us to halt our attack. They're trying to mess with our heads."
"...That's scary." Yumoto's small voice speaks up. He had been so quiet, it was like he wasn't even there. The small boy had an upset look on his face, hugging his knees to his chest. "If anyone hurts Gora-nii, I'd..."
"Now, now, Yumoto." Atsushi says, smiling as he bends down to pat the smaller boy on the head. "I'm sure your brother will be fine."
"Yeah. You're right. Ooooh I just wanna go beat them right now! I can't forgive them for hurting Ryuu-chan! And for threatening us!" Now that the blonde boy was acting more like himself, they could turn back to the discussion at hand.
"Since lunch break is almost over, I'll keep this short." Atsushi says. "We know a few things for sure. One, the people are being controlled by an outside source. Two, they can be anyone, even one of us maybe. Three, they're dangerous. So, everyone, try to be sure that there's at least two other people with you at all times at school and around town. We can't drop our guard all the way at home either. With that said, the chances of them knowing our families are slim."
"Why's that?"
"Think about it. If they knew us, they could have picked someone closer to us, like one of our friends or relatives, but instead they chose a teacher. That must mean they're unsure of our relationships as of the moment, so they chose someone who they knew would have correspondence with us."
"Oh, I get it!" Ryuu says. "That makes sense."
"Alright!" Yumoto exclaims, jumping to his feet and clapping his hands. "Now that that's sorted out, be safe everybody! Battle Lovers, out!" He strikes a pose as the others laugh.
"Still the same Yumoto."
"Of course! Alright, I'll see everyone at the club room later then! Byebye~!" And he skips off as the bell rings, leaving the others to make a mad dash for their classrooms.
…
Ryuu stifles a long drawn out sigh as the teacher continues to drone on about chemical properties and endothermic reactions. He hears Io snicker and shoots him a glare.
"Shut up! You know I'm bored!" He hisses under his breath.
"If you'd listen, you might find it interesting."
"I haven't listened all year, why start now." Shrugging in hopeless sort of gesture, Io turns back to the chalkboard, while Ryuu's gaze shifts to the field below.
He watched as another class of second years filed onto the playing field in their gym uniforms. Smirking at a familiar face, he chuckles.
"That's one thing you can't make beautiful, no matter how you try, Gero."
The boys divide into two groups and begin to play soccer, kicking the ball back and forth. Gero stands off to the side, desperately trying to avoid any and all contact with any of the sweaty boys, the mud-covered balls, or the rusting goals. It's entertaining, more so than the chemistry lesson, so Ryuu watches him fail to stay clean. As Gero yells at someone for touching his hair, he sees the other boy laugh, quickly surrounding the pink-haired teen, pulling at his curly locks.
"So even the priss king can make friends." However, out of the corner of Ryuu's eye, he sees another boy standing to the side. His messy black hair falls around his face, thin brown eyes boring holes into Gero. The boy looks much too pale, his fists clench tight. And then his eyes flash violet.
Ryuu instantly shoots up in his seat, his chair squeaking and toppling over. as he stares intently out the window.
"Um… Zaou-kun?" His head turns sharply, only to notice everyone staring at him curiously. His teacher gives him an odd stare. "Is there something the matter?"
Quickly looking back at the soccer field, he sees the boy's eyes have gone back to brown, the violet glow gone.
"N-no. Everything's fine." He mutters, righting his chair and sinking into it, wishing he could disappear as his classmates snicker. Putting his head on his desk, he groans.
"What was that?" Io asked quietly. "You look like you saw a ghost."
"Something like that." He replied. "I thought I saw a-" His voice is broken off as screams drift through the window. Everyone is at the window at once, staring at the giant black monster down on the soccer field.
"-monster." He finishes. Wordlessly, he and Io nod and rush out of the classroom, ignoring their teacher's commands to get under their desks and hide. Feet smack the tile as five sets meet up in the same place.
"Did you see it?" Ryuu asks breathlessly.
"Yeah." Yufuin replies. "Everyone is supposed to be evacuating to the other side of the school, so we should be okay."
"Good. Let's go."
"You, who befoul our beloved earth!"
"No justice can come from loveless power!"
"Live for love, die for love!"
"Love is all!"
"We are the heirs to the throne of love! Feel the power!"
"Of love!"
"We all good?" Four heads shake their agreement.
"Good!" Yumoto replies happily. "Let's go!"
Leaping out the window, the five boys take off towards the soccer fields, reaching it quickly. They arrive to see the monster growling, slowly advancing on a student.
"Hey, isn't that…"
Noticing them, Gero waves frantically.
"Ryuu!" He yells angrily. "Get your ass over here and save me!"
For the millionth time that day, Ryuu groans.
"Do I have to?" A glare from Io tells him the answer. "Fiiiiine."
"We'll distract him while you get Gero, alright? And then we'll defeat him."
"Sounds like a plan."
As the monster spins around just in time to be blasted by Yumoto's Scarlet Lumiere, Ryuu leaps over it quickly and over to Gero. Grabbing the boy, and ignoring his protests to "watch the waist", he jumps into the air again, landing safely away from the monster.
"Believe me now?" He asks dryly. Shooting him an evil glare, Gero sniffs.
"Yes. I do. Bet you're so happy."
"Damn right I am. You were wrong and I was right. Suck it!"
"You little-" Gero's cut off as the two hear cries of alarm and turn to look back.
Atsushi had gotten a little too close to the monster, which now had its tendrils ensnared around his foot, yanking him into the sky. With a yelp, the boy is knocked off his feet, before being spun around in midair and propelled out. At the last minute, Yufuin darts in front of him, taking the brunt of the blow as the two smash into the ground. Immediately, the other three Battle Lovers are there, standing protectively in front of their friends.
"We need to hurry this up, Scarlet!"
"Right! Here I go!" Leaping into the air, Yumoto yells at the top of his lungs "Love Attack!" A beam of red and pink light shoots out of their combined spear, slamming into the monster.
"You shouldn't attack people like that!" He calls over to it. "That's mean and it won't make you any friends in life. Try being nicer. Love Shower!" Rays of pink hearts shower the monster, which begins to bubble and boil. The sight is disturbing, to say the least. Unlike the Loveless, who turned back with a poof, the monster literally melts away, it's blistering skin peeling and boiling as it falls away to reveal the same boy Ryuu had seen earlier, the one who had been glaring at Gero.
"Are you two okay?" Yumoto asks as the three run over to their friends, who are getting up off the small crater they left in the ground.
"I think I might have sprained my ankle slightly when it grabbed me." Atsushi replies, gingerly testing out his foot. "But otherwise yeah. Thanks, En."
"No big deal. I'm more or less fine. A little sore, but yeah."
"Good." They stop, looking at the light pink-haired boy who had walked over to them. Arms folded across his chest, Gero said in a surprisingly serious voice
"Ryuu and Io-san were telling the truth then." He says. "There is a new kind of monster around."
"Yeah. And I guess we can rule out the Conquest Club in the list of suspects."
"Hey!"
"You guys were the ones attacking last time." Atsushi points out. "We couldn't completely count you out just because you helped us at the last minute."
"I guess." Gero replies grudgingly. "By the way, I think you all should hear this. That hideous thing spoke to me. It said something about-" he pauses, swallowing heavily, a look of distress on his face. "-destroying the Conquest Club. And how it was going to kill all of us."
The looks shared between the Battle Lovers were clear. They knew something.
"If you know something, tell me!" Gero said insistently. "It's not just about your five anymore. This involves me and Kinshiro and Arima too now."
"We know." Io speaks for the group. "I think it's time the eight of us had a talk."
