Chapter 2: Sobbing, sunsets and strawberries

Time seemed to stop...no, not stopped, slowed down. Slowed down so that he could make out every excruciating detail. So that he could feel all his emotions eating at him from the inside. So that he could regret all his actions, and still have time to be tossed around by guilt.

What right did he have to that? How could he have thought that was okay to do? A sob from the girl on her knees snapped him back to reality.

He quickly dropped down to his knees, holding the trembling girl by her narrow shoulders.

"Roka, hey don't cry, I-I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking-"

"Please d-don't take m-my dar...darkness aw-away f..from me..."

"I don't understand, Roka just look at me, you have to make me understand!"

"I n-need to s-stay in t-th-the da...dark..."

"What do you mean-"

"Cannot...c-can't l-loose it... Too v-valuable..."

"Why Roka? Why do you have to stay? What can't you loose? Why is it so valuable?!"

He couldn't help his voice from rising into a yell. She wasn't making sense, and she wasn't answering any of his questions! He needed to know what was wrong before he could fix anything... Doesn't she get it? He can't help her if she doesn't tell him! He started shaking her by her shoulders, and then yelled;

"Damn it Roka, what does the darkness mean to you, why can't you let it go?!"

She stopped her sobbing, and lifted her head, revealing puffy red eyes, and a tinge of pink coloring her nose. Her breathing became ragged, her voice barely a whisper...

"Without the darkness... Who am I?"

He let go of her shoulders, shocked by her question. He stared at her in confusion, making her squeeze her eyes tightly shut. He didn't know how to answer that...

She suddenly jumped to her feet, keeping her gaze lowered, and clenching her tiny fists. Still not raising her head, she screamed,

"What am I without the darkness!?"

She bolted pit pf the door, covering her tear streaked face with the crook of her arm, footsteps echoing down the hallway.

"Roka, wait!" He shouted after her.

Kenji got to his feet, grabbing the remains of the pouch, and stuffing them in his school bag, before dashing after her. But as he got into the empty hallways, there was no sign of the hysterical girl. He skidded to a halt in front of a staircase leading to the roof, hearing the rushed patter of brown shoes.

"Roka! You can't run from me like this!"

He ran up the steps, taking two at a time, almost tripping over his own feet. As he reached the top stairs, throwing the door open as it slammed against it's frame, he felt slightly relieved to see no other exit. Roka would have to talk and listen, there was no escaping.

Roka's point of view

Why was he so desperate? She couldn't tell him. She couldn't tell anybody. She was Roka, president of the game creation club, that's all they were allowed to see. Nothing else! Yet, here she was, on top of the roof of their school, with no way put. No exit strategy, no log out button. She was trapped. Kenji was her opponent. Her stats outweighed his, but in her current state he could easily overcome her. She didn't have any extra bags on her, so she couldn't pouch him... Besides, she wouldn't dare sack him after what he did to her old bag... Where to go, what to do? Her head wasn't working, all it could think about was Kenji's face when he tore up her beloved pouch... Did she really make him that angry?

What did she really mean to him?

Back to Kenji's point of view

She was desperately looking around for a way to get out, but the stairs had led her to a dead-end. As Kenji moved closer, she backed up, eyes not leaving him for a second. The edge of the roof was getting dangerously close, but the girl just kept moving back. Just as she was about to take the fatal step, a hand shot out, grabbing hers, and pulling her away from danger and into safety. He grabbed her by her wrists, forcing her to look up at him, and holding her in place.

"Roka, calm down! You could've fallen ya know?! You can't run from this!"

"Stop it! Why can't you leave it alone!" She snapped.

"Because I just can't okay?! Now stop bottling all of this up and just spit it out already!"

"You don't understand!" She screamed, ripping her hands from his grasp, and instead hitting him in chest, her head placed against it as well. He was firm though, and it didn't really do any harm, but he refrained from stopping her, dazed by her sudden outburst.

"You don't understand!" She repeated, hitting him in the chest again. Thump

"They don't understand!" Another blow to his chest. Thump

"Nobody understands!" Thump

"Why doesn't anybody understand?!"

Her blows were becoming softer, as her anger drained and sorrow took it's place, making her voice break. Instead of hitting him again, her fingers clasped his shirt, her head pressed against his chest.

"They never...understand..." Sobs racked her body, as she slowly dropped down to her knees for the second time that day, still holding onto his shirt, as if her life depended on it. He looked down at her, compassion filling his eyes. She had reached her limit.

He slowly knelt down, crossing his legs as he pulled her onto his lap, wrapping his arms around her, and resting his chin on her head. She froze, eyes wide with surprise, her sobbing coming to a halt.

"Shhhh... It's okay... I'll understand, I promise..." he whispered into her silky hair.

She was silent with shock for a few seconds, before clinging to his shirt even tighter and burying her head in it, staining it with fresh tears. He held her like this, rubbing her back and stroking her hair in silent comfort. By the time she had gotten her emotions under control, the sun was setting, bathing the building in beautiful colors of gold and orange. Roka had turned around, so that she faced away from him, still sitting on his lap. His arms were hanging loosely around her, her small hands resting on his as she enjoyed the last warm rays of the sun, before the moon would rise and night enveloped the sky.

"I'm sorry... I didn't mean to..."

Roka looked up at Kenji, as he apologized. He kept staring ahead of him, unable to look at her face because of guilt and shame.

"I'm always so competitive at everything... You must've noticed it by now. I'm always jumping at the chance to win against someone, to prove I'm on top..." He sighed, closing his eyes before continuing.

"I guess this time, it was a competition to see who could have control over the other... You could always stop me with that bag of yours, and it surprises me how resourceful and cunning you can be for a girl like you. I guess at the time, it felt like, if I got rid of the bag, I could win... I'm sorry... I knew it the second I saw your expression that I had gone too far..."

Silence fell over the two of them, the girl taking some time to digest all of what he had just said. It was true thought. She thought back on the tournament they had, when they were all competing for her bag. Kenji and Roka had ended up in the final battle. A battle of luck. Kenji didn't even play fair. He cheated just so that he could win, even if she revealed that they ended in a draw, he had still gone to extraordinary lengths to claim victory.

"Forgive me? I know I sorta don't have any right to ask but-

"All is forgiven. I am content..."

It was Kenji's turn to be shocked.

"Seriously? Not kidding around?"

"As club president, underground boss and your friend, I forgive you Kenji Kazama."

"Thanks... I'm also sorry about your bag..."

Roka grew grim at his words, avoiding his gaze.

"It was something very dear to me... But that was a long time ago..."

"I've seen you use more than one bag on a few occasions before...I even have one from the tournament..."

She nodded, staring off onto the distance, as if remembering something from long ago.

"Indeed... But some are more special than others. They are different."

He decided not to press for answers. She had a long day, and he did not want to damage their friendship any further. He had crossed a line with her, and he was not planning on doing that again any time soon. Delinquent or rebel, he would stay in her club and stay close to her... She might not admit it to anyone, least of all herself, but she needed to let someone in. Satisfied with his conclusion, he relaxed and watched the sunset in soft bliss. Roka being so close made him feel at ease... Strange in way as well. Like an indescribable feeling roaming in the pit of his stomach. He pulled her a little closer, not wanting the feeling to stop. He was perplexed by his emotions, not understanding what they were, or what they meant. But decided to face them another time.

For now...he simply basked in the setting sun, breathing in the sweet smell of strawberries...

The scent of Roka.

Author's Note

Second Chapter is up! Accidentally deleted it and had to retype it. Ug, I think I speak for every writer when I say it's awful, and takes a long, damn, time. Please leave comments, reviews, suggestions and positive criticism. There was a refrence to episode 3 of the anime in this chapter, if you didn't notice. There will definitely be more refrences to the anime in the future, though I might change something here and there. The next chapter will be posted before the end of next week. I don't own D-Frag. Feel free to ask questions as well! Goodbye for now my little elementals!