Chapter 2: Hanging out

(continued from chapter one, which means that its still the flashback )

The next day I wore my new kimono. It was adorable if I do say so myself. It was below my knees and it fitted me perfectly. It was the perfect shade of blue, sky blue. The green was a light green, which made me feel all warm and soft. The cloth on the outside was very silky. The inside was soft and warm and cozy.

I continued to walk around the village until I saw a road that led to the castle, where the lord lives in. Usually guards were always in that area. I'm guessing that the soldiers live in the castle. I followed the trail until I got to the border. I stood where I was staring at the gate. I then sat down where I was. I sat there staring at it for a couple of minutes for no reason. Then I heard footsteps. I stood up and wiped my kimono, and waited for whatever to come, to come.

" Well that was entertaining!" A familiar voice said.

" It sure was, but it was over much too quickly." That voice I recognized. It was Jakotsu.

Why are they here?? I thought in my head.

" Yeah. I like it when they beg for mercy." One of them said. They all laughed at this.

" Is that? Rika?" This voice I did not recognize at all.

" Rika?" This was Bankotsu, "Oh, yes her."

" The girl with the charming smile. She is very cute for her age…" That was that nasty toad, Mukotsu.

" You will never change now will you?" The Baldy, Renkotsu said.

I stood there, frozen. I couldn't move even if I wanted too. My legs were glued to the ground. Then I saw them all. Bankotsu, Jakotsu, Renkotsu, Mukotsu, and three others whom names I did not know. One of them was the wannabe cat, the other one was the one that didn't have one eye. The last one was a really big guy. Like, really huge, larger than trees, and it didn't seem that he blinked. At all.

"Well if it isn't Rika!" Bankotsu said. For some reason they all seemed different. Happier. Like they just cam back from something that they .I don't know why but I started smiling when I saw him. Like for no apparent reason I started to smile.

"Hey isn't that the kimono we got you?" Renkotsu asked me.

I nodded. "She looks really good in it." Jakotsu said looking at me from head to toe.

I smiled and ran up to Jakotsu hugging him. "GAHH!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME!?!" He yelled.

"That was the first time you said something to me that was actually nice." I said with a sad expression that made it seem like I was about to cry.

"Aww. Com'n now, Jakotsu, don't make her sad." Bankotsu said.

Jakotsu sighed, " Alright I'm sorry." He said crossing his arms.

" Why don't you hang out with us Rika?" Bankotsu said patting my head with his hand since the other one held his halberd.

"What about her friends?" The wannabe cat said.

My smile faded. "I don't really have any friends…" I said glumly.

"Well you do now!" Bankotsu said rubbing my hair with his fingers. I couldn't help but smile at this, so I practically hugged his leg.

"Aww." Jakotsu whispered elbowing Bankotsu, "Hey, are you blushing? Cause I see a hint of red in your cheeks." Jakotsu said pointing at his left cheek.

"Be quite." He snapped. "Rika can you let go now? I can't walk." Bankotsu said trying to free himself from my super mega hug.

"Really?" I choked out. I couldn't help it I was just so happy that someone was actually being nice to me. I wiped the tears before they managed to come out.

"Yup." He replied.

"Ooh, I smell some love in the air…" The cat joked.

"Oh please Suikotsu, she's like five years old." Renkotsu replied.

"I'm six." I snapped.

They all laughed at my sudden act of anger. I pouted, and stuck my tongue out at them.

After that day we all started hanging out like one big group of friends. There was this one time when I saw all off them fighting with each other, in a playful way. That was really entertaining. We always spent time together when we could, but they never really told me where they went when they had to leave. They said it was urgent, so I would always wait by a certain tree (Piko Tree) and they would come a few minutes later, like in thirty minutes. When they came back from where ever they went sometimes I would find bloodstains on their clothes. I always asked but they never replied.

Then after three months, they finally told me where they went. They're the advance team.

"Advance team?" I asked, cocking my head to one side.

" I don't think we should be telling her this Big Brother…" Renkotsu said in a doubtful tone.

Bankotsu turned to face Renkotsu, "Relax Renkotsu it's about time we told her the truth about ourselves. I mean we practically know everything about Rika. So shouldn't we be fair?" He said, cracking his knuckles.

"Well, I guess you're right…" Renkotsu said.

Bankotsu then turned to face me, "Well Rika, we're the advance team. That means that we're all, you know, the advance team." He said scratching his head.

I nodded my head pretending to understand, but I really had no idea what he was talking about. Bankotsu, though, saw through my act.

"You don't get it do you?" He asked me with a bored tone.

"Not really…" I smiled half-heartedly.

He sighed, "Well," he sat down next to me on the door step, and for some odd reason pulled me closer to him, "Lets just say that we're the team that attacks first before any of the other soldiers do." He moved his free hand a couple of times to show emphasis.

"Oh, I see!" This time I did get it.

He put his arm around my shoulder, which was really muscular that it hurt. "So now you get it? See Renkotsu, I told you see was smart."

Jakotsu laughed, "You've got some competition Renkotsu!!" Everyone laughed at this.

"Wait, but that means that you fight like, a lot of people right?" I asked frantically.

"Yeah…. So?" Bankotsu said.

"But what if Ban-Ban di-"

"Did you just call me 'Ban-Ban'?" Bankotsu interrupted with an are-you-serious look.

"Y-yeah. You don't like it?" I said pouting.

"No, but it sounds like a name for a dog…"

"Anyways, but what if you di-"

Everyone but Bankotsu and I, bursted out laughing. I whined. "BAN-BAN!!! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Jakotsu was literally rolling on the floor laughing. He was laughing so hard he cried. Everyone didn't overreact like Jakotsu did, they just laughed. Bankotsu took his arm off me and I suddenly felt unusually cold. I shivered. I turned my head to find that he was glaring at me.

"I-I'm sorry I didn't mean to make you mad. It's just that your name is really a mouthful so I gave you a nickname. Hee hee." I giggled then put my serious face back on, "Anyways, like I was saying earlier, what if you die?" I mumbled the last part, and everyone stopped laughing.

" I won't die." He said laughing at the thought of it.

" Yeah don't worry Rika we'll be alive for a really long time. We don't die easily." Jakotsu laughed at the thought of it as well. Little did they know, that they did pass away, but I'll get to that part later.

Once again, everyone laughed. Except me. I sighed. I then stood up.

"Where are you going?" Jakotsu asked.

"I'm reaaaaally hungry…" At the saying of that my stomach growled. I blushed a bit.

"Gssh." Ginkotsu agreed.

"They are right we haven't eaten yet Big Brother." Renkotsu said.

Bankotsu stood up, "Well lets go eat somewhere." He stretched, "Hey where's Banryu?"

"Banryu?" I tilted my head to side. I really did not know what they were saying.

Thankfully Jakotsu answered my question, "Banryu is Bankotsu's halberd. You know the really big halberd?"

"Oh, yeah that is really big. It's practically taller than… Ban-Ban…" I said realizing my big mistake at saying 'Ban-Ban'.

Of course, Jakotsu laughed again. "Whats so funny? Ban-Ban Ban-Ban Ban-Ban Ban-Ban!!! WHAT IS SO FREAKING FUNNY!?!?!?!" I screamed. This was also, a very big mistake. They all laughed at my pity.

"You sound so cute when you say 'Ban-Ban'!!" Jakotsu shrieked in a girlish way.

"Like I said, she is a charming, cute, sweet girl…." Mukotsu said.

Bankotsu did something really unexpected then. "Mukotsu if you do anything to cause her pain I swear I am going to hurt you." He practically towered over him with a deadly glare.

"Awww Big Brother is being… Brotherly!!" Jakotsu kept laughing along with the others. He laughed so hard that he started to complain about how his cheeks were hurting.

I hugged Bankotsu to show him my thanks. At this everyone started to say, "Oooh" or "Aww". Mukotsu didn't 'ooh' or 'aww'. He hissed. Bankotsu blushed. I even heard his pulse quickening; this made me let go of him.

"Ahem, so then what are we gonna eat?" Bankotsu asked slowly.

" I don't know. Something that's really good and delicious of course." Jakotsu said. I could tell he was daydreaming by the slight drool coming out of the corner of his mouth. " How bout some fish? Oh, with some rice on the side? Yes… that sounds good." He made a happy face from the thought of the meal.

"Yes that sounds very satisfying." Suikotsu said.

" You want that Rika?" Bankotsu asked fixing his hair.

I nodded, "Sure!"

"Well then, lets go eat some fish~!!" Jakotsu said in a singsong tone. I couldn't help but laugh.

"This is really good!!" I said plopping some fish into my mouth. I then noticed that I was the only one still eating.

" Hey you gonna finish that?" Bankotsu asked nodding his head towards my food. He was eyeing my food as if it were the last edible thing on the planet.

"Y-yes." I stuttered. I pulled my food towards myself. I then heard a very familiar voice out side and turned my head around for just one second to see Kenjiro and Soshi. I shrugged and turned back to my feast to find my food gone. "Eh? EH?!?! Where'd my food go?!?" I said panicking. I looked under the table, turned left and right and saw no trace of my fish. I slumped. "Oh well…"

"Bankotsu took it." Jakotsu laughed. I didn't notice but Bankotsu was munching on something. When I turned to look at his direction he stopped chewing.

"Wime sowwe Wie couldin resist." He said with his mouth full. He then swallowed his food, "I'm sorry I couldn't resist." He said backing away slowly from my reach.

I straightened up, "It's okay I was starting to get full anyways…" I put my head on the table and groaned.

"What's wrong?" Renkotsu asked.

"I ate so much that I think my stomach is about to explode…" I groaned again.

Bankotsu chuckled, "If you would have given my your food earlier your stomach wouldn't be hurting right now." He said while standing up. "I'm gonna go walk around for a while…. I ate too much too…" He groaned.

Everyone laughed at this I then looked outside to see that it was really dark. "Oh, I have to go. My mom is going to have a panic attack." I stood up and walked outside.

"I'll walk you home. Anyone else wanna come?" Bankotsu asked aloud.

"I'll come with you guys." Jakotsu said wiping his mouth with a cloth.

"I'll pass. I'm just going to go straight to bed." Suikotsu said.

"Same here." Kyokotsu commented.

"I would like too, but after all of a sudden I feel so tired… Don't do anything to her Brother Bankotsu…" Mukotsu groaned.

"Well then I guys its just us three." Jakotsu nodded.

" Yes! He's not coming! WOO!" I exclaimed happily and pointed up at the sky for no reason.

Bankotsu and Jakotsu both laughed. Bankotsu then said, "Why are you so excited? Who's not coming?"

"Nasty Mukotsu. He scares me." I pouted and crossed my arms.

Jakotsu and Bankotsu both laughed lightly. "I thought he did." Jakotsu laughed. Bankotsu laughed a bit. He put his hands on his head and said, "Heh, he won't do anything to you as long as I'm with you."

"He wants to do something to me?" I cried. "Why?" I whimpered.

"He thinks you're reaaally cute." Jakotsu pointed out.

I groaned. "Great. I mumbled. "Everyone says that about me." I said.

"Well you are cute Rika." Bankotsu commented.

Before I knew it we were already at my house.

"This is your house?" Jakotsu and Bankotsu both said at the exact same time.

"Yup." I nodded. Their jaws dropped.

"Damn... It's huge." Bankotsu mumbled under his breath.

"Yup. Well I have to go now so I'm going to go, now. Bye bye!" I dashed towards the door and went up the steps. I turned around and waved towards them both. They waved back.

"Bye Rika!" The both yelled back.

I smiled and waved again and slid the door open. My mom was sitting down eating watching the cat.

"Oh hello Rika. Where were you?" She asked. Petting Nezu, our cat.

"Hanging out with my friends." I replied.

(A/N Next chapter coming out tomorrow!! If not, I apologize ahead of time.