Here again! here to provide you with something to read: hopefully... but here it is--chapter 1.

Summary: The a year after the battle game, Ueki and Ai plan a reunion among their companions during the Battle game. However, only one came. Will it be a fun reunion?

Chapter 1

The Incomplete Reunion

It was during midsummer, on an unusually hot morning, when a girl named Ai Mori was walking on a town square towards a very well known park in a town in Japan. She was carrying a large picnic basket with both of her hands as she struggled to move as fast as she could.

She was wearing a dark blue dress that danced gracefully behind her back with the wind blowing a gentle breeze from the direction she was heading to. The blazing rays of the sun made her bubblegum-blue hair and her red sunglasses, which she wore over her head like a hair band, stand out among the other people walking on the same street. She was running a bit late and she hoped that the people she was meeting hadn't left her out. Still, she knew this day was going to be special because this was the day she and her friends agreed to have a reunion.

Its been a year since we met, she thought excitedly. I'm glad I'm about to see those guys again! And she ran joyfully towards the entrance of the park. When she saw the park entrance, which had only been a few feet away, she immediately noticed a young man, with bright green hair and was wearing a plain white shirt, brown shorts and white shoes with no socks, standing groggily next to it. The boy had his head bowed deeply, which made Ai wonder why he was in an awkward posture as he was waiting for his other companions.

As she came next to the boy, who still hadn't noticed her presence, she saw that he also had his eyes closed and was snoring silently. The boy was asleep!

"Ueki!" yelled Ai and immediately the boy, whose name was Kosuke Ueki, ended up falling to the ground. He took another second but he got up slowly as he stared at Ai with blank, drowsy eyes.

"Oh, hi Ai," Ueki greeted sleepily. "What took you so long?"

"Cooking our lunch of course!" said Ai loudly, as she proudly showed Ueki the basket that she brought.

Ueki looked at it with a worried expression as he surreptitiously held his stomach and said, "It's not another one of your creepy tentacle recipes, is it?"

"Don't eat if you don't want to!" snapped Ai hastily as she took the basket away from Ueki's outstretched hands. "So what if there are tentacles? They're still delicious!"

"Calm down," laughed Ueki comically, "I was just joking!"

Ai snorted continuously as Ueki tried to grab the basket from her hands. "It wasn't funny," she said tauntingly still keeping Ueki's grasps from the picnic basket. "You can't have a look, it's a surprise!"

"Come on, Ai, let me have a—"

"Hey guys!" a voice called in front of them. Instantly, the two stopped bickering and went to look at where the voice came from. In front of them was a tall girl with long, vivid, pink hair tied in pigtails and extended to her front. She was bespectacled with horizontally rectangle glasses, and she was wearing a pink, striped blouse and exclusive white jeans. She also wore a friendly expression that made Ai and Ueki easily recognize who she was – Rinko Jerrard.

"Rinko!" Ai exclaimed as she finally dropped the basket to Ueki's hands and rapidly ran towards the girl and slowly embraced her at the chest. Rinko hugged her back and when they broke up, Ai said, "How are you?" There was a hint of longing in her voice. "I really missed you!"

"And I really missed you as well," said Rinko with a warm smile that reached to both of her ears. "Hi Ueki!"

Ueki, who had managed to fully examine the contents of the picnic basket already, turned to Rinko and also gave her a jubilant grin. "Hello, pinky! How are you?"

Rinko grimaced a little. "I see he hasn't changed at all," she sneakily said to Ai, who nodded in agreement, before returning to Ueki. "I'm really fine," she replied to him, "but I'm happier now since I saw you again! Had a fun summer lately?"

The three of them already entered the park and quickly resorted to a slow-paced walking. "Pretty normal…" Ueki said as Ai and Rinko listened, "…not as much fun as last year, though."

Rinko smiled warmly again, but Ai grimaced as if he was sick.

"Yeah," said Rinko, "this summer's been pretty ordinary."

"At least we don't have to risk our lives any more…" barked Ai silently, which was ignored by both Ueki and Rinko, who were both having reminiscences of the last summer that hey had.

The thing is, Ai, Ueki, Rinko, together with some other friends, had been part of a tournament called the Battle Game during last summer. But they weren't just part of the game they – were the winners! As a result, they chose a heavenly being named Inumaru to be the next King of the Celestial World or the next god. Moreover, Ueki, being the leader of "Team Ueki," which was the name of their group, obtained the blank talent and he secretly chose the talent of reuniting friends.

But now, it was all just a memory that most of them simply loved to recall, excluding Ai of course since she wasn't originally a contender in the Battle game. But since she incidentally gained a power from Inumaru himself, she had been part of the game whether she liked it or not.

"Anyway," began Rinko, "I have some bad news."

Ueki looked at Rinko immediately and Ai stopped sulking to listen for a while. "Both Sano and Hideyoshi said they wouldn't be able to come today…they said they had some important stuff to do, but they didn't tell me what."

Seiichiro Sano and Soya Hideyoshi were also prominent parts of Team Ueki. But since they all separated, Ueki and Ai were the only ones who had easy contact to each other since they lived at the same town and they went to the same school at Hinokuni Junior High School.

"And I was really looking forward to seeing everybody again," sighed Ai sounding depressed.

"It's okay, Ai," said Ueki encouragingly. "If they can't come now, then I guess we'll run into them sooner or later."

"Yes, and Sano was just telling me that he was already able to find some pretty wonderful hot springs all over his travels," said Rinko happily.

"Really?" asked Ueki trying to recall when he and Sano first met. "That makes me want to see that towel boy once again!"

"I'm pretty excited as well!" said Rinko.

"What about Hideyoshi?" Ai wondered suddenly. "What's he been up to?"

Rinko put a finger on her temple and said: "Well actually, he's still running the old Sun house… The children there are really happy with him around, too. I guess he's just too busy to come, but don't worry, he said he'll be in touch soon."

The three of them reached a part of the park where hundreds of towering trees stood. If they hadn't known that they were in a park, they might have guessed that they were in some mini forest. They found a good spot to have a picnic and settled there, still telling stories of how each one's summer went.

"Actually," said Rinko while Ueki listened and Ai prepared the food (there really were squirming tentacles in each recipe, which made the other two anxious about lunch), "I've been having sewing lessons lately, you know, fabrics and needles, and—"

"Beads!" suggested Ueki. But then, as he spoke the word, Rinko's cheerful expression transitioned to a worried and wavering look. Ueki noticed this and wondered, "Uh, something wrong Rinko?"

Rinko who was oblivious to Ueki's stare rapidly looked up and changed her expression to a jovial one once more. "Oh, it's nothing really," she said with a small laugh. "I just remembered something, that's all."

"Okay guys," said Ai suddenly, holding out spoon each to Ueki and Rinko. "Let's eat!"

The other two were anxious and reluctant at first but after they ate their first bite, they continued all the same. They ate with much laughter and merriment as they continued to tell stories to one another. However, after they finished eating, they heard a loud explosion near by and the sound of birds fleeing from something.

hmmm... what could that sound of explosion be?

Next: Battle Away from the Battle Game!