Author's Notes: For those of you who've been waiting for me to update this fanfic, that's right folks! This fanfiction is not dead yet! And I would also like to apologise that it took way too long to update. It's just that with what's been going on in my life, this fanfiction has taken a backseat in my priorities. But I promise to try to update it more earlier than this one.
With that said, here's another installment of Will of the Dragon God: Beginning Saga. I hope that everyone is liking the fanfiction so far. If there's anything I need to fix, anything wrong with the fanfic, tell me about it. If I can fix it, I can. If it's about changing the story, it may happen, but it depends on how it affects the plot of the story.
I would like to add that I will try to keep these notes as short as possible. As for this chapter, I didn't expect it, but it somehow became longer than intended.
But enough of that, let's get on with the story. But before we do, I should do this.
Disclaimer:
Medaka Box belongs to Nisio Isin.
Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.
Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo.
I realised that I forgot to add this in Chapter's 1 and 2, but fortunately I was able to fix that problem. Now, the story.
Edit: The character bios for my 3 OCs are now in my profile if you wish to see more about them. Also, remember the technique Jake used to finish off the Hollow in Chapter 2? Yeah, from hence forth, it will be known as Ryujin Tenbatsu. Reasons why is because it really translates into Dragon God's Divine Punishment than Ryujin Shinikari did.
A week has passed since summer vacation ended, and everyone returned to their school life seemingly no problem. Jake is attracting fangirls unintentionally and running away from them while beating up thugs here and there, Diane is still in a heated rivalry with Medaka while still being a genius badass, and Carter is still a pervert and returned to being beaten up by the entire female student body.
Yep, some things never change. Though, this one day will be slightly different.
At the moment its a free period, so Jake is taking a stroll through the school, both to relax and find a perfect spot to hide from the fangirls since most of the spots he tried at this point didn't work. As he did he heard some shouting and screaming nearby.
"What the hell?" He followed the noise to find the source behind the school, where a couple of boys, presumably 3rd years, were teasing a girl around his age, long orange hair that reaches her middle back, gray eyes, and a developing figure. From what he can tell, they're teasing her about her orange hair. It's no surprise to him that they would do that, since the only other person with the same hair color is in his class.
As he got closer, he could hear what the bullies were saying.
"Man, this girl's hair is like an orange!" Bully #1 stated.
"It's almost like that Kurosaki's hair." Bully #2 replied. "You think she dyed it too?"
"P-please leave me alone." The girl tried to squeak out.
The 3rd one, who is probably the leader, got up in her face. "Oh, we'll let you go, IF you promise to give us a 'good time'." The 3 bullies grins soon became like that of a rapist.
"N-no thank you." She meekly replied.
Suddenly, the leader bully grabbed her by the hair. "Well why the fuck not?" This time, she didn't replied. "Not talking huh?" He turned back to his cronies. "Oi, you 2, hold her for me!" They both nodded and pinned her to the wall. Once she's unable to escape, he pulled out a pair of scissors, making her eyes widen. "Now that I think about it, your hair is too damn long and stupid as hell! Time for a little haircut!" He then proceeded to cut her hair. All the while, she tried to fight back, but the cronies managed to keep her pinned down until her hair is now neck length. "How'd you like that, huh?"
"P-p-please stop!" She cried again, causing the leader to push her to the wall again.
"Oh yeah, and what're you going to do about it, huh?" He threatened with a grin.
"How about I kick your ass?"
"Oh yeah, like that's gonna happen." He taunted, completely unaware that Jake is right behind him, unlike his 2 cronies who are now pissing themselves upon hearing his name and saw that he's right behind them.
"U-um, boss?" Bully #1 said in terror. "You might wanna turn around."
"It better be important!" The leader yelled at him without bothering to turn around.
"It is!" Bully #2 added.
"What could be more important than what I'm doing now?" He finally turned around and saw Jake. "Beat it buddy!" He turned right back after he shouted at him.
Jake, with his arms now crossed, brought up 3 fingers and counted back. "3... 2... 1." When Jake reached one, the leader began to shake in realization as to who he just shouted back at.
He slowly turned around and saw Jake right behind them. "J-J-J-J-J-J-J-J-J-J-J-J-J-..." Was all he could say since he's now scared out of his life.
And can you blame him? Throughout the 1st term of the year, Jake beat the crap out of anyone who bullies and/or messes with those weaker than them. And it wasn't exclusive to only those in his school. Any thugs or gangs hanging around were pummeled by Jake, and on rare occasions Diane, so they won't cause any trouble. What's more, if anyone was crazy enough to try to mess with one of his friends, or threaten to, he would pummel them so hard, that they'll be in the hospital for the next week.
"Just what the hell are you 3 doing?" He asked in an annoyed tone.
"Uh, well... we... uh... we were just..." The leader tried to come up with an excuse so Jake wouldn't beat them up, mainly himself. "G-getting to know her!" He motioned to the girl who's still leaning against the wall.
"Really?" Jake replied with a brow raised. "Because it seemed like that you 3 were bullying her and forcing yourself on her. Should I also add that you cut her hair by force?"
All three of them froze when he retold everything that they did. Despite that, they tried to feign ignorance. "Wh-what make's you say that?" Bully #1 tried to act innocent.
"I saw everything from over there." Jake said plainly as he bob his head to the left. "You know, you guys should try to be more quiet if you're trying to bully someone. Otherwise anyone nearby would hear you."
"R-really?" Their leader replied shocked, almost as if he was about to piss his pants.
"That, and you're holding your evidence." The younger Ryujin pointed at the leader's hand where he's still holding the scissor that cut the girl's hair, making him sweat uncontrollably when he realised that he still had the scissors. "So..." Jake proceeded to crack his knuckles, indicating that he's ready to unleash a beat down on the trio. "Who's the first victim?" Right after he said that, the 3 sprinted out of sight, leaving a trail of dust cloud. He wanted to give chase, but he figured that they're smarter than most of the thugs and bullies he met, so he decided to let them flee to live another day. That is, until they were to try something like that again.
He turned back to the girl, who sighs a bit now that she's safe. "You okay?" He asked. She simply replied by nodding. To make sure, he checked her a bit to see if they haven't physically harmed her. After a quick scan, he saw that the only damage done was with her hair. "Well, that's a relief. But just in case, I'll take you to the infirmary."
"I'm okay, really." She reassured him by flexing her arm up and down. "See?"
From her reactions, he thought that she's probably trying to show she's fine when she's really hurt a little to not be a burden on him. However, since she is fine, from his standpoint, he decided to just go along with it. "Alright, if you say so." He turned around and proceeded to walk away.
As she watched him walk away, she realised something. She forgot to ask his name. "M-m-matte!" She cried, getting him to turn around half way. "Can I at least know your name?"
That question made Jake suddenly realise that he didn't bother to introduce himself in the heat of things. "Oh yeah, I forgot to introduce myself." He turned completely towards her. "I'm Ryujin Jake! Mind if you give me your name as well?"
Wanting to be courteous, she gave her name. "It's Inoue Orihime! Thanks for asking!"
"I'll be sure to remember that. Well, see ya!" He waved goodbye and proceeded on his merry way.
Once he left, Orihime began to think about him. "Hm, Ryujin Jake... so he's the guy I've heard so much about?" She tilted her head to the right. "He doesn't look like a dragon at all."
The Next Day
"So those assholes were still stupid enough to bother someone? And that someone, was you?" Jake asked.
"Yep. Apparently, they thought that I would be more easier to talk with. And from that logic, I figure that they haven't heard about the rumors about me." Diane replied.
The next day, Jake recently heard that the bullies that bothered Orihime yesterday tried to pester Diane to go out with them and do 'things' with her, to which she harshly said no. And by that, she told them to 'screw yourselves, piss off, and eat a dick, motherfuckers'. Unfortunately, the leader didn't take that lightly and tried to force themselves on her, but that mistake made Diane beat the living crap out of all 3 of them in less than a minute. As for what current state they're in... let's just say that they'll be living out the rest of the year in the hospital.
Currently, they're walking down the halls towards their classroom, where Diane had just finished retelling her little encounter with the 3 bullies.
"Still, it was a little harsh to beat the crap out of them that badly." Carter stated, feeling almost sorry for them.
"Yeah, well, in my defense we were on the rooftop where no one was around. They figured that they would get away with raping me. So I responded properly, and gave them the beat down of their lives." Diane responded in a way that she's innocent.
"Okay, now I almost feel sorry for them for doing something this stupid. Even I wouldn't try it, not even in the next life!"
"But man, to smash their leader's balls repeatedly throughout that, talk about brutal." Jake added. "What did he do to make you do that?"
"He grabbed my boob and squeezed it, with no warning." She replied with a hint of anger.
"Okay, I almost feel a little sorry for them." Jake added again. "But not because you were the one to beat them up, but for being stupid enough to try it."
"That's what I said." Carter exclaimed. "But anyway, do you think that Medaka would be a little miffed if she finds out?"
"Who cares what that blue-haired idiot thinks? I don't." She replied rather quickly.
'Does she always have to insult her whenever we talk about her?' Jake and Carter thought with a sweatdrop.
"But, seeing as how the rumors are already flying, I figured it won't be long." She added as they heard the various students talking on how she beat the crap out of the 3 bullies. There were even some exaggerations of the said rumor.
As they walked on, he saw Orihime, acting a little miffed about something. She's also talking about something, but at a whispered tone, so he only got bits of what she's saying.
'-pid Onii-san... me that... it's too chi... me. Why... buy it?'
'What's she talking about? Is she probably mad at her brother? I wonder why?' He thought, only getting that she's mad at her brother about something. Then, another thought occurred to him. 'Wait, why am I concerned about a girl I just met yesterday for about a few minutes?' He only shrugged and looked back forward. 'Eh, must be my nature to be naturally concerned about others. But I'm sure it would pass by.'
Later that evening
That evening, Jake is now carrying groceries alongside Hitomi to restock the fridge, while back at the house, Anko is looking after Carter and Diane.
A special note to add about their lifestyle. Since they have 2 people looking after them, there are those rare occurence when Hitomi would bring Zenkichi along with her to their house to hang out when Anko was busy at the same day her babysitter was busy. Another rare occurence is when both Anko and Hitomi would both be free and decided to babysit them both and there's that very rare one when Hitomi's babysitter wouldn't be available so she would bring Zenkichi along so both she and Anko would look after the 4 of them. Today is currently the 2nd occurence.
As they walked pass the crosswalk, Jake noticed someone about to cross the road. The man is tall and slim with long, brown hair and is wearing a dark blue suit and tie.
Hitomi turned around and noticed that Jake had stopped. "What's wrong?"
Upon hearing her voice, he looked back at her and shook his head in response. "Oh, i-it's nothing." Unconsciously, he looked back at the crosswalk. The light turned green, allowing the man to walk across. However, he remained unaware of a car barreling towards him, showing no signs of stopping at all. 'Aw crap!' By instinct, he dropped the groceries and dashed toward the man, followed by a shout. "WATCH OUT!"
"Huh?" He looked to his right and saw that a truck is rushing towards him, about to run him over. Fortunately, Jake was able to push him out of the way right before the truck came barreling through. Hitomi put the groceries down on the ground and ran toward them as the 2 fell on the ground with a thud, and a rather painful one at that.
"You alright?" Jake asked the man, who was getting over his adrenaline rush from nearly being ran over.
He eventually got over it and faced Jake, who got off him after saying that. "Y-yeah, thanks."
"Ryujin Jake! That was completely reckless of you!" Hitomi told him once she's close enough.
"Heh heh, gomen gomen." Jake replied sheepishly while rubbing the back of his head. "But I saw him about to be run over, so I had to help him."
"Speaking of which, arigatou." The man said as he managed to sit up. "If you haven't helped me back there, I would've been killed and..." His eyes suddenly widened. "Aw crap, I forgot that she's still all alone back at the apartment!" He tried to stand up, but sharp pain shot throughout his left foot, forcing him back down. "Dammit! I think I twisted my ankle!"
"Whoops. I must've accidentally caused you to twist it when I pushed you like that." Jake said with guilt. 'I didn't mean to push him that hard as to twist his ankle. I thought that it was just a shove.'
"Well, it's better to have a broken ankle than a dead body." The guy in the suit pointed out.
"Anyway, you need any help?" Hitomi asked him. "From the condition of your ankle, I don't think that you'll be able to walk." Although her last job was a type of psychiatrist, she didn't have to be a doctor to figure out that, in his state, he couldn't walk.
"Yeah, could you call 119?" He asked.
"But shouldn't we get you home first?" Jake asked. "After all, it could just be a sprained ankle."
The man was about to argue, then he remembered that someone back home is still alone there. What's more, she's also 13 years old, so she's probably still waiting for him to cook dinner. So, reluctantly, he decided to head home. "Alright, I'll go home first."
With that said, Jake opted to carry him back, since he would be able to do that and the only other person who can do it has nearly the strength of a 9 year old. Upon mentioning that he'll take him home, Hitomi protested.
"We can't just take him all the way to his home! We should call 119 first."
"But I can't just leave him here. After all, I kinda did get involved with him." Jake responded. "Besides, his family back home probably doesn't know that he's hurt!" The mention of the word, 'family',made the guy twitch a bit, which Jake didn't notice but wasn't unnoticed by Hitomi.
She was about to argue again, but began to think about the logic behind Jake's logic. If they call the emergency number now, they might check if it's really just a sprained ankle or a broken ankle. But either way, his family would be worried sick if he didn't call or didn't come home on time.
With a sigh, she decided to go along with it. "Alright, we'll take the man home." Her response made Jake happy as they walked toward the sidewalk where Jake and Hitomi were on before.
As they walked on, the man decided to talk to Hitomi. "Your Onii-chan sure was brave back there, wasn't he?"
"Huh?" Hitomi looked at him confused as she dig through her pockets for a phone.
"You know, he did save me from that scary truck."
'Here we go again.' Hitomi thought, having been through this kind of thing before.
"Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. That 'little girl', just so happens to be 39 years old." Jake told him.
The man's eyes widen in shock from this revelation. "Holy- 39 years old?!"
"That's correct." She responded.
"B-but you look like a 9 year old!"
"Yeah, I get that alot." She said with a sigh. "By the way, Jake, I'm gonna be calling home and tell them about our situation."
"Sounds good." Jake replied as Hitomi dialed in the number of the person she needs to call.
When they reached the sidewalk, where the groceries still remained, the young Ryujin decided to start a conversation.
"So, what's your name?" Jake asked.
"Huh?" The guy in the suit looked at him with an eyebrow raised.
"Well, I just wanted to start up a conversation, that's all. Usually telling someone your name is usually an ice breaker."
"Oh, then my name is Inoue Sora."
Upon hearing the family name, Jake's eyes widen a bit. "Wait a second, Inoue?"
"Uh-huh."
"Are you, by any chance, related to a girl by the name of Inoue Orihime?"
"Yeah, she's my younger sister." He replied. "Why'd you ask?"
"Well it- wait a minute, younger sister?" Jake's eyes widen in shock upon hearing what he said. "She's your sister?"
"Of course. Orihime's my younger sister. We live together alone in an apartment complex that's not too far from here."
Jake is still trying to process that this guy, who seems to be around 28 years old, is the older brother of Orihime, who's probably 13 years old. But upon hearing that the 2 are living alone, he began to become more sympathetic.
"You 2 are living alone?" Jake asked with a sad look in his eyes. "What happened?"
"Well, to make a long story short, our dad was a hapless drunk and our mom was a prostitute. They would always argue and beat me and Orihime up to let out some frustration. So, when I became 18, I took Orihime, who was 3 at the time, and ran away from there." Sora explained.
"Oh, so that's what happened." Jake replied. He is a little upset about the fact that they didn't suffer through what both he and his sister went through, he still sympathize with him for living with abusive parents for nearly 18 years.
Then, realization hits Sora once they reach the sidewalk. "Oh, I just realized that I don't know both of your names."
Realization soon hits Jake as well. "Oh yeah, I forgot. I'm Ryujin Jake." He motioned to Hitomi, who's on the phone with someone. "And that's Hitoyoshi Hitomi, my caretaker."
"It's nice to meet you 2." Sora replied.
"Okay, thanks Anko." Hitomi ended her call and put her phone away. She turned to face Jake. "I just got off the phone with Anko. I told her that we'll be a little late, so we're fine for now."
"That's good. At least they know what we'll be doing." He then turned his head to look at Sora. "What about you? Do you want to call your sister?"
Sora suddenly starts laughing sheepishly. "Eh heh. I uh... forgot my phone... at home." The 2 simply responded by staring at Sora with blank expressions. "Look, me and Orihime got into a little fight this morning and during that time, I completely forgot my phone!"
Hitomi sighs at this. "Alright, just forget it. Let's just go." She went and pick up one of the grocery bags. She looked at the grocery bag that Jake dropped, seeing some of the contents have spilled over.
Jake also notice the bag that he dropped. "Oops. Guess I forgot about that during the excitement." He turns his head to face Sora again. "Would it be alright if I grab the groceries for a second?"
"Nah, it's okay." Sora replied. "I'll help out if you want?"
"Yeah well, thanks." Jake set Sora on his knees as both them and Hitomi picked up the groceries and put them back in the bag. Once they got all of them, Jake carried Sora over his shoulder again while Sora opted to carry the bag for him. "Now then, where's your house?"
"It's not that far from here." Sora points straight ahead. "It's just a few blocks down that way and take a left. After that, keep going forward until you see a small apartment complex on the corner. It should take us about 6 minutes to reach the apartment."
"Isn't that the apartment complex me, Carter, and Nee-san pass through when we go to school?" Jake said to himself.
"Huh?"
"It's nothing. Let's get going." Jake, with Sora over his shoulder carrying the groceries, and Hitomi carrying the rest, they proceeded towards Sora's home.
Inoue Residence
Meanwhile, Orihime, wearing a red shirt with grey shorts, had just finished all of her homework and is now watching TV. At the same time, she's wondering where her brother could be. She looked at the clock again and noticed that it's been about 21 minutes. Usually, her brother get's off around 8:00 and get's here by 8:10.
'I wonder what's taking Onii-chan so long?' She wondered. Although she's still upset with her brother because he bought her that gift, she's still is dependent on him to take care of her.
Just then, a knock on the door was heard, so Orihime got up and head to the door to see who it was. Once at the door, she opened it.
"Hello?"
At the door, she spotted her brother there, slinged over Jake's shoulder while carrying groceries, probably Jake's, with a little girl next to them.
It didn't take her long to figure out what possibly happened to him considering that he's leaning on someone, despite the said person is shorter than him.
"Onii-chan! Are you alright?" She ran up to her brother to see if he's okay, while completely forgetting the argument they had in the morning.
Sora simply smiled at him. "It's alright, Orihime. I just got into a little accident and sprained my ankle." He replied rather calmly. Orihime step to the side when Jake brought him into the house to set him on the couch while he set Jake's groceries on the floor. "At least I hope I just sprained my ankle."
"You're hurt! There's no reason in acting so calm!" She exclaimed.
Her outburst made Sora raise his eyebrow. "I thought that you weren't talking to me?"
That very mentioning made Orihime stop to think, only to look down at her feet, feeling a little depressed. "I was, but..."
"Uh, shouldn't we check to see if his foot is still normal?" Jake asked. If there's anything he knows about sprained or broken ankles, is that swelling definitely indicates that it's broken. And he should know, Carter broke his foot about a few years ago and it swelled to the size of a grapefruit.
"Yeah. Check his foot." Hitomi instructed as she set her groceries on the ground next to the entryway to the door.
Jake nodded and removed Sora's left shoe and sock to show that his ankle is a little swollen. Although it's not that noticable, it's swollen.
"Okay, it's safe to say that his ankle's broken. I'll get the ice." He got up, walked a few paces to his right, then turned back to Sora. "Uh, where's the kitchen?" Sora pointed forward towards, signalling Jake to face a counter in front of a refrigerator, a sink, and other kitchen appliances. "Oh, yeah." He entered the kitchen and made an ice pack in about several seconds. He left the kitchen and place the ice pack on his swollen ankle. "Here you go."
All the while, Orihime was looking at the little kid sitting down in front of the low dining table, waiting to see if they need to do anything else.
"Can I get your name?" Orihime decided to ask.
"Huh?" Hitomi looked at Orihime. She sorta heard what she said and replies. "It's Hitoyoshi Hitomi."
"Nice to meet you, Hitoyoshi-chan." After a while, she asked again. "So where's your daddy?"
She tilts her head to the right a bit in confusion. "Huh?"
"You and Ryujin-san couldn't have come here by yourselves, so is your daddy outside?"
'2 times in one night, what a surprise.' She thought to herself in a sarcastic tone as she sighs again. "I'm actually 39 years old."
Like her brother, Orihime jump back in shock. "Eehh?! 39 years old?!"
"Yeah, I'm still freaked out about that." Sora added in when he heard her.
However, unlike Sora, Orihime decided to ask more questions about her appearance.
"How do you still look like a kid even if you're a full grown adult?" She asked.
Hitomi merely rub the back of her head. "It's uh... complicated."
"Really?" Orihime began to think up of a conclusion on her own. "Did you drink from a Fountain of Youth?"
The child-shaped caretaker merely gave Orihime a weird look. "Excuse me?"
"That must be it! Then, when you drank from it, you..." Orihime began to start coming up with ridiculous scenario about Hitomi as they became weirder and weirder.
Jake and Hitomi, having just met the girl for a short time, although the former met her earlier yet for a short time, turned to Sora who merely laughed sheepishly. "Yeah, I forgot to mention that my little sister has a very over-active imagination. She tends to go off into tangents and come up with the most weirdest of stories that may be considered... very unlikely."
"So... she's a teenager, with a mind of a 5 year old?" Jake summed up.
"Well, she's actually smarter than she lets on... but yeah, her imagination wouldn't be that off in a 5 year old." Sora replied.
Hitomi looked back at Orihime as she continues on her tangent. 'Hmm, she probably has a hyperactive imagination because she's very lonely, and her little tangents are her way of coping with that.' Although Hitomi has long since quit her job as a psychosomatic surgeon, it doesn't mean that she won't analyze the psyche of a potentially mentally ill child.
"Don't mess with me! I'm a kid detective!" Orihime suddenly blurted out.
'Or her mind was always like this.' After looking at Sora for a while to see that he's fine, at the moment, she stood up. "Okay, we'll be taking our leave now." She turned to Orihime once again. "Now, Orihime-chan, if his foot shows no signs of swelling down, get him to the nearest clinic to have it looked at. Alright?" The young orange head nodded in response. "Good. Sayonara." Hitomi and Jake pick up their groceries from their places and left the house, leaving Orihime and Sora alone.
The 2 sat in uncomfortable silence for about a minute, then Orihime breaks the silence.
"Gomenasai, Onii-chan."
Sora looks at his sister confused. "Huh?"
"I shouldn't have said that this morning. I was acting like a total brat."
Sora figured out that Orihime was talking about their little 'fight' that morning. "Orihime..."
"It's just... when you gave me those hairpins, I thought that you think that I was still a little kid. So I got mad." Tears began to threaten to pour down her eyes as she looked down. "But, when Ryujin-san was settling you on the couch, Hitoyoshi-cha- uh, Hitoyoshi-san told me that you were almost in a car accident and that Ryujin-san was there and saved you. I was so happy that he save your life." A few tears began to stream out. "But then, when I was remembering about our fight this morning, I thought... what if Ryujin-san wasn't there... what if you did get hit by that car? You would've..." She didn't dare finish that sentence, because the mere thought of her only brother dying would break her heart. Not only that, the mere thought of being left all alone scared her.
The eldest Inoue sibling turned his head to look at his sister. "Orihime, would you come here?" Without looking up, she walked towards her brother. When she's close enough, Sora proceeded to rub her head. "It doesn't matter what happened in the past. All that matters to me, is that you are happy."
"Onii-chan..." Was all she could let out.
"You see, I wasn't mad at you that morning, but I was sad, and the reason for that is because you weren't happy. When I saw those hairpins, I thought of you." Orihime jumped a little when she heard that. "I got you those hairpins is because I thought that they would look good on you. I didn't think that you would think that they would look childish." She lifted her head a bit to see her brother looking at her with a smile. "In fact, to me, I should be the one to apologise, since I made you upset."
"Onii-chan..." Her eyes began to water as tears start to form.
"Will you ever forgive me?"
Those 5 words broke Orihime, for she started to cry a lot and began to hug her brother tightly. "Waaa haaaa haaa! G-gomenasa-hai!"
In response, Sora wrapped his little sister in his arms and stroke her back. "Sshhh, it's alright, Onii-chan is here."
After a while, Orihime managed to stop crying and let go of her brother. Now she's sitting on her legs, rubbing her puffy eyes.
"You know, if it weren't for Jake-san, I wouldn't even be here." Sora stated.
Orihime began to realise that as well. If both he and Hitomi weren't there, then Sora would've really been dead. It's thanks to them that she has a brother that, at the moment, can't walk at all but is alive than a brother who's dead.
'I've got to thank those 2 when I see them.' She thought to herself.
"Say, Orihime." Sora first said, breaking Orihime's train of thought. "Do you still have those hairpins?" She gave a nod in response. "Well, how about we trade those in for another pair when my ankle gets better? You can even get to choose which ones you like."
"No thanks." She replied, making Sora look at her confused. Then, he saw his sister began to smile once more. "I think I'll keep them. After all, now that I think about it, those hairpins really do match my style."
He looked at her for a few moments before smiling again and looking up at the ceiling. "That's good to hear."
"Hey, Onii-chan." The younger Inoue sibling shuffled a bit closer to him on her knees. "Can I sleep out here with you tonight?"
He didn't even need to look at her to reply. "Yeah, sure."
The next morning
Upon returning home, Jake and Hitomi explained about what happened and why it took them so long to get home. Anko wasn't all that surprised since she heard it from Hitomi over the phone. Diane and Carter, however, acted differently. For Diane, she lectured Jake on what he did was such a dangerous stunt. She even lectured Hitomi for not giving him the full lecture, which Anko snickered throughout. Carter, however, just sighed, somehow knowing that he would do something like that, since he was known for taking down gangs and bullies when he sees them. In the end, Diane was just glad that her brother is still safe, and that's all that matters to her. Once that was out of the way, they put the groceries away, ate dinner, and was put to bed by Anko and Hitomi.
The next day, the trio walk down their usual route towards the school. Along the way, Jake looked to his right to spot the apartment complex that Orihime and Sora live in.
"What is it?" Diane asked, noticing that Jake had stopped.
"Remember that apartment complex that me and Hitomi mentioned?" Jake asked.
"Yeah?"
"This is that very one." He said as he pointed at it. "When I saw it, I thought I recognized it from when we walk through here on our way to school. It's that same complex we pass through everyday!"
"Any reason you're bringing this up?" She asked once again.
"The reason I did is that we walk by here everyday, but I never see Inoue-san come out."
"Maybe she leaves around the same time we do." Carter guessed.
Jake looks at the complex for a bit before nodding. "Yeah, you're probably right."
"Ryujin-kun!"
Before they could move on, they heard a voice that they recognize coming from the complex. Coming out of the second floor rooms is Orihime.
"Hey, it's Inoue-san." Jake pointed out.
They waited for Orihime to come up to them. Once she's close, Jake noticed that she's different from yesterday. On her head now rests 2 light-blue flower hairpins that tuck her bangs behind her ears.
"I'm so glad that you're here. I just want to say something."
"Yeah, what is it?" He asked. Her response to him is a hug, which made Carter's jaw drop.
"Arigatou, Ryujin-kun." She added.
"Was this about what I did yesterday?"
She nodded as she broke the hug. "Mmhmm. If it weren't for you, Onii-chan would've been dead..." Her head lowers as her face becomes sad for a moment. "And I would've been all alone." She became cheery again as she looks at him again. "So I just had to thank you!"
In response, Jake smiles back. "Don't mention it. I was just passing by when I saw him. I didn't even know that he was your brother. I just saw that he was about to be run over, so my head was practically shouting at me to save him and I did it." Jake chuckled a bit, which earned a giggle from Orihime. He soon noticed the hairpins now on her hair and pointed at them. "By the way Inoue-san, where'd you get those hairpins?"
"Hm? Oh, you mean these?" She looks at her hairpins and move some of her bangs back. "My Onii-chan gave them to me. I hated them at first, but now I decided to give them a try." She then rub the back of her head with a sheepish expression. "The irony of it all, is that me not liking these hairpins was probably what caused that incident with Onii-chan. Eh heh heh."
Upon hearing about her brother, Jake looked back at the apartment. "Speaking of which, where is your brother?"
She looks back at her apartment room, then back at Jake, who looks back at Orihime. "About that, I did as Hitoyoshi-san recommended and brought Onii-chan to the nearest clinic. I couldn't carry Onii-chan by myself, I asked one of our neighbors to help, which she accepted. She took us to this place called the 'Kurosaki Clinic'. When the doctor there looked at Onii-chan's ankle, he said that it was just a small fracture."
"Oh, so it wasn't that bad, huh?"
Orihime hummed and nodded in response. "To get it fixed up, he put Onii-chan's foot in a small cast and told him to keep it on for about a week, then go to one of the hospitals to have it checked."
"So, he's going to recover real soon?" Jake asked again.
"Yep."
He gave a sigh in relief. "I'm glad to hear that." He slightly turned around before looking at Orihime again. "So, want to go to school with us?"
"Sure!" She replied with a nod.
"Good." He took a few steps forward before turning towards Orihime again. "And uh, about those hairpins. They look good on you."
At that moment, Orihime began to blush and look away with her right hand on her cheek. "Oh, heh, arigatou."
Jake became confused by her reaction, but didn't let that bother him. "Come on, I'll introduce you to my friend and Nee-san." Once again, she nodded and went with him. The trio plus Orihime now walk on to school as Jake introduce her to Diane and Carter, along with introducing her to Medaka when they met her along the way.
Halfway into the school, Orihime looks at Jake with a slight blush. 'Guess some of those rumors are true. You really are brave and kind. No wonder all the girls like you. Including me.'
Elsewhere, Sakura, Ino, and Hibari suddenly flinch as they all made the same thought.
'I'm getting a feeling that we just gained a new rival!'
7 Weeks Later
The weeks seem to fly on by for most people as October has already came. During the time, Orihime became integrated into their little group and became closer to Jake. What's more, Sakura, Ino, and Hibari made her their rival, although the orange head was confused about why or for what.
On another note, Sora had recovered from his injuries. After about a week, his ankle swelled down and the fracture was close to healing, so he was given a little brace to help the healing. So, after another week, his ankle has fully recovered, much to Orihime's relief.
After most of that, the weeks went on by in a flash until it reached near the end of October.
Today, Iruka had the class representatives talk to the class about something, which are Diane and Medaka.
"Alright everyone, we have an announcement." Diane started.
When the day to pick class representatives came, Diane and Medaka jumped at the chance. At the end, the 2 of them, somehow, got picked. They asked for a recount, and the results were the same. They would've argued over who should've been picked, but unfortunately for them, the school day had ended by the time they finished, so they had no choice but to reluctantly work together. Somehow, they made it work.
"The culture festival is coming up." Medaka stated, but some of them didn't care. "As always, we need to pick a theme for the festival."
Diane brought up 4 cards. "We only had 4 submissions for the themes we can use for the upcoming festival. You may vote for one of them. The suggestions are the 'Break Room', 'Study Room', and the 'Relaxing Room'."
Upon hearing the first 3, everyone seemed, unimpressed.
"Wow. That's all we got? No 'Dining Room' or 'Snack Room'? Talk about a waste." Choji complained.
"Well what'd you expect? Most of the guys here don't want to make an effort out of it." Kiba pointed out.
"That's true, but at least there's less work to worry about." Shikamaru added.
"The last one is... 'Group Date Cafe'?" Diane added. Saying this suggestion made everyone surprised.
"Where'd that come from!?" Hibari exclaimed.
Unconsciously, Jake turned to Carter. "Did you put that in?"
Said guy glanced away at him. "Maybe..." Then he looked back at Jake. "But I put that in as a joke. Most of the guys here are a bunch of stiffs."
"That's your reason?" He asked with a sweatdrop.
"Alright, we'll pass down a voting sheet." Medaka announced as she placed it on the desk in the far left corner. "Be sure to properly circle in one of the suggestions."
After everyone had voted, Diane and Medaka tallied up the votes.
"Alright, the votes are in." Diane announced. "The theme for our classroom is... Group Date Cafe. Seriously?" Everyone became surprised at what they voted for the theme.
"How the hell did this happen?" Carter asked surprised just as much as everyone else.
"Well, it's your fault for putting it in there." Jake stated.
"Yeah, but it was a joke! I didn't expect people to actually choose it!"
"Hey guys." Sakura called out, getting both of their attention. "If you want to know, I kinda voted for it."
"Huh?"
"Me too." Ino added.
"You too?!" They cried in shock again. "Why?"
"Well, I was kinda curious and wanted to see what a 'Group Date Cafe' looks like." Ino explained her reason, since she never been to, seen, or even heard of one.
"Ditto." Sakura added, who's in the same boat as Ino.
"But it was Carter who made that suggestion!" Jake emphasised.
"Once again, to be used as a joke!" Carter stated once again. "I didn't know that people would actually vote for it!"
"Well, with the majority rules, the Group Date Cafe will be our theme for the festival." Medaka announced. Then she entered deep thought. "But what is a 'Group Date Cafe' anyway?"
"How the hell should I know?" Diane retorted.
"I wasn't talking to you."
"D-do you think that Iruka-sensei would approve of this?" One of the students asked.
"He told us that whatever we decide is alright with him." Diane replied.
"But is he really going to be fine with this?" Another student pointed out.
The genius Ryujin just shrugged. "We'll just have to wait and find out."
Medaka exited her train of thought to add something else to the conversation. "And, if Iruka-sensei approves, it's up to everyone to pitch in to make this Group Date Cafe a hit!"
Jake turns back to Carter a little irate. "You do know that this is your fault, right?" Carter's reply is by scratching his cheek while laughing sheepishly.
6 Days Later
It wasn't long until Culture Day arrived and the Culture Festival began. Every student in Hakobune Middle School has set up their stands, the clubs are showing off what they do, and all the classrooms are now ready to show off their theme. Right now, every classroom is filled with students and other visitors, seeing what each theme is about.
All except for one in particular, and that's the one with the Group Date Cafe idea.
Somehow, Iruka actually approved of the idea of the Group Date Cafe. Apparently, he figures that it'll just be a friendly little café where couples would get to hang out and play a few games, which they stuck to. Diane actually looked up what a Group Date Cafe really is... and isn't too pleased with what it is. So they went with what Iruka thought of what it was. However, despite putting their best effort into making the room seem attractable, the only people in there are just a few handfuls of the students of that room.
Currently, Carter and Ino were trying to get people to come to their little café with no luck.
After a while, they both went into the classroom with a sigh.
"Ugh, about an hour waiting, and not one damn customer!" Ino complained. "And I really thought that people would want to come!"
"Maybe they either figured out or already knew what a 'Group Date Cafe' really is." Shikamaru suggested, leaning against the window with Choji right beside him, eating a bag of chips. Upon finding out about what it really was, she told her class, who all became a little disgusted at the idea while some of the perverts in there gleefully smiled, which earned them a death glare from most of the women in there.
"It could be." Jake said, sitting on a chair in the center of the room. "Or thought that it wasn't all that great."
"You're probably right." Kiba replied, beside the center table at the front of the room. "When I went to take a look at the other classes, they all had something to attract some people. All we got are cute decorations, some food, and a few tables."
Jake later noticed that Kiba has a Great Pyrenees puppy, with its eyes squinted, a dark brown nose, dark brown patches on its ears, and a dark brown outline around the mouth, resting on his head.
"Hey, Kiba, are you sure that it's okay for Akamaru to be out in the open like that?" Jake asked.
Since becoming friends with Kiba, Jake, Diane, and Carter were curious about what he was hiding in his bag. What sparked that curiosity was because he would always keep it with him at all times, even going as far as to put food inside it during Lunch. So, a few weeks ago, the trio decided to find out what he was hiding. Their chance came when Kiba mistakenly allowed the dog to be out in public, which the trio saw. After Kiba's failed attempts to shrug it off, he told them that the reason that his dog was there was because the last time he left the dog, which he told them is named Akamaru, he was nearly killed by a bigger dog who happened to stumble upon his yard somehow. Fortunately, he was able to scare it off, with the aid of his mom. After that, Kiba was afraid of what would've happened if he left him alone again, so he decided to take Akamaru with him, both to keep him safely by his side and because he was very lonely at school. He hoped that the trio wouldn't rat him out for bringing a dog to school, but he was lucky that they happen to have a soft spot for little animals, especially Diane, which Kiba found it odd. Since then, the trio would always help Kiba keep Akamaru a secret from the teachers and nearly everyone else. Another thing to note is that their friends knew about a few days after that when they were getting suspicious of them helping Kiba when he needs it, so they forced him to tell them when they were able to discover Akamaru. Now, the only people who knew about Akamaru is everyone in that classroom at the moment. As for Medaka, she didn't knew for a while because she's not one to pry for information if they don't want to hand it out. She only found out about it when Carter accidentally blabbed about Akamaru, to which she tried to find Kiba to pet the puppy. It didn't go so well.
Kiba pat Akamaru on the head, which got a happy expression from Akamaru and a soft whining sound from him. "Sure is. I was able to train Akamaru to act like a stuffed animal to fool everyone."
"And that works?" Carter asked.
"Yep." Kiba nodded. "Watch this." He then look up at his dog. "Akamaru, act like a toy."
"Arf." Akamaru barked in response and immediately acted lifeless. Once he's sure that Akamaru is now acting like a stuffed animal, Kiba lifted him from off his head and placed him on a nearby table. The dog made no movement for about 10 seconds. "Alright boy, that's enough."
And just like that, Akamaru sat up and barked. "Arf!"
"Wow, that's impressive." Diane said, sitting in a seat next to Jake.
"Thanks!" Kiba replied as he petted Akamaru. "Hana taught her dogs that trick, so I asked her to help me teach Akamaru that trick. Took us about a few weeks to get him to hold still for so long."
The Ryujin Class Rep cleared her throat to get their attention. "Now back to the subject at hand." Everyone's eyes soon turned to her. "At the moment, our class is the only one with no one checking it out."
"And how, exactly, are you planning on getting people to visit?" Shino asked from all the way from the back of the room.
How they became... relatively close with him, well, he just saw Jake peacefully watching a few butterflies and ladybugs flying around one day and decided to befriend him. Apparently, Shino saw Jake as, and these are his own words, 'A man who's not afraid of insects and won't maliciously kill them when they just fly by. A man like that is a man who I find... tolerable'. Since then, he hung out with them a few times, though he would mostly either drop by to say hi or just stay with them for about half a minute before leaving. Basically, he's more like an acquaintance than a friend.
"Excellent question, Aburame. And for that..." Diane turns her head towards Kiba. "Inuzuka, just what were the other classes doing?"
"Huh? Uh, well..." He thought about it for a short while, before finding an answer. "From what I saw, the most popular ones were the ones where the class was demonstrating and talking about what their theme is mostly about and what it does."
It didn't took long for Shikamaru to sum up Diane's little plan. "So, you're saying that if we want to attract customers..."
"We need to show them how fun our Group Date Cafe is." Diane finished. "And for that, we need 6 volunteers to prove that." Immediately, the room became silent. "No one's planning on volunteering?"
Jake sighs out of nowhere, breaking the silence. "Alright, me and Carter will volunteer."
"Yeah, that sounds good." Carter replied, though it took him several seconds to process what Jake just said. "Hey wait a minute! Why did you add me into it?"
"It's your fault that we're stuck with this stupid theme. So, you have to help out." Jake pointed out.
"He has a point." Medaka added, standing near the door at the far end of the room with Sakura and Hibari.
"But we're still short 3 people, we need 3 more to help out." Shikamaru stated.
At that instant, Medaka is now sitting across from Jake.
"What the? How did you get-" Jake exclaimed in shock, looking back and forth from where she was to where she is now.
"Are we going to do this or not?" Medaka asked, completely ignoring the fact that she had just popped right in front of him.
Although she'd prefer someone else to help out, Diane reluctantly sighs since she would need all the help she can get. "Alright, anyone else willing to join?" Silence filled the room once again. "Seriously?"
"I would like to help out, but I really don't know if I can do this." Sakura told her. 'Besides, Medaka-san took my spot with Jake-kun.'
Diane looked around the room to see if anyone else is willing to join, only to see no one else is coming to help at all.
She sighs once again when she realise that no one is planning on volunteering. "Fine, I guess we'll have to make do with 4 then."
Unanimously, or reluctantly in most of these cases, the 6 people, now reduced to 4, to show how great the Group Date Cafe can be is now composed of Jake, Carter, Medaka, and Diane. In order to make the 'group date' real, Jake got paired up with Medaka, something that was quickly established by Medaka oddly enough, while Carter got paired up with Diane, much to the latter's chagrin.
At the moment, Jake and Carter are sitting side by side with Medaka and Diane sitting side by side, each with their respective 'dates'. But what was meant to be a mock group date to show how fun the place is, instead became something very awkward considering that everyone is staring.
The entire room was silent, until Jake decides to break it. "So... what now?"
Diane pondered on what to do. "Well, we can talk about something. Anybody got a topic?" The room became silent once again for a few moments. "Anybody?"
'Man, this is not how I expected this 'group date' to be like.' Choji whispered to Shikamaru.
'I hear ya.' He replied back.
"So..." Carter decided to speak up, rather awkwardly at that. "How's the weather like?"
Everyone looked at him as if he said something stupid, which he did.
"Really? 'How's the weather like?' That's your topic?" Jake questioned Carter.
"It's all I got, okay!" He exclaimed.
"Couldn't you have thought of anything else?"
Carter replied by crossing his arms. "Okay then, what's your topic?"
Jake remained quiet for a bit before looking down at his feet and replied in a low tone. "H-how's... the weather... like." Carter merely stared blankly at him. "Shut up."
"How about hobbies?" Medaka decided to ask. "What do you like to do in your spare time, Jake?"
"What do I do? Well..." Jake proceeds to think about what to say about his hobbies. He would say what he normally does, but most of them are mainly abnormal to everyone else. So he chooses what he figured most normal people would do. "I exercise whenever I get the chance. I like to use the laptop when I feel like it, or watch TV. That's it." He looked around the room to see no reaction. He felt both relieved and bored because they didn't react at all to his choice of hobbies, but it still wasn't enough to clear the awkward air. "But what about you, Medaka? What do you like to do?"
"Me? Umm..." She went on and think about what it is she likes to do in her spare time. "Come to think of it, I don't have much hobbies to talk about. Does studying count as a hobby?" She cocks her head to the side as she says that.
"Uh, kinda." Jake replied.
"Oh, then I like to study."
"Okay."
The room became silent once again.
"So, what're your hobbies then?" Carter asked Diane. Although both he and Jake know what her hobbies are, he just wants to at least start something.
Seeing his attempt to keep the conversation strong, Diane choose to reply. "I like to study, learn new things, watch the news... that's pretty much it." She put her elbow on the table and place her chin on her palm, signifying that she's bored. "But what do you like to do in your spare time?"
"Well, thanks for asking." Carter replied with a grin, hoping to make things more livelier. "I like to watch some videos."
'Mainly Hentai and Porno ones.' Jake added silently.
"Read books and magazines."
'As long as they're Hentai or Porno ones.'
"Play games."
'If they're like a Hentai or Porno.'
"And I like guns." At that point, everyone became surprised, which made Carter confused. "What?"
"You know, with your personality and what you mostly do during the day, we usually forget that you were born from a military family, and can be a gun-loving freak." Diane stated.
"Geez. Am I only known as a pervert?"
"Yes." Everyone immediately replied.
"Well you don't have to be blunt about it." Carter said a little depressed with that fact.
So, for the 7th time in a row, the room grew silent.
At the same time, Orihime, who was checking out the booths and other classrooms around the school, was about to enter the room. "Ryujin-kun, how are you doi-" Upon entering the room, she immediately felt the awkwardness in the air. "Uh..." She stood there, noticing that no one has noticed her at all. "Well, see ya!" Feeling that things would get more awkward if she would stay any longer, she slowly walked backwards out of the room and speed walked away down the hall.
"Huh?" Jake turned his head to the door. "Did I just hear Inoue-san a moment ago?"
"She was here?" Carter asked, also looking at the door.
"Must've been your imagination." Diane said.
A few moments passed before everyone looked down at the floor and sighed.
Their very first Culture Festival in Middle School, and it ended in a very strange note.
Later that Evening
Deciding that the 'Group Date Cafe' thing was a total bust, everyone decided to forget it and left to celebrate the remaining time they have in the Culture Festival. Medaka, however, chose to stay behind in hopes that someone would at least decide to visit. No one objected to the idea and let Medaka do whatever she wanted with it.
That was a few hours ago.
Anyway, Jake, Diane, and Carter were all enjoying the rest of the festival. Then...
*BE-BEEP BEEEEP*
The trio's phone's went off in a pattern, signifying that a Hollow has arrived. They picked it up, only to see that it had 6 signals.
"6 Hollows, huh?" Jake stated. "That's the most Hollows to attack since last spring."
"Fortunately, like last time, they're a pretty low level." Diane said as she put her phone away. "Let's head to their location and take them out. Unfortunately they're located near a playground, so nothing flashy." Jake nodded in response. She turned around and interrupted Carter before he said anything. "And no, you can't skip out just because there's a Culture Festival today."
Carter sighs in reluctance. "Fine."
The trio ran toward a bush near the entrance. They checked to see if anyone was around. Confident that no one was around, they pulled out their weapons, which they would hide in there for when there's a Hollow attack during the school. After securing their respective weapons, they ran toward the location of the playground.
At the playground
When they reached the playground, they immediately spotted the 6 Hollows there. Like most Hollows, they're diverse, looking like a type of mutilated animal, such as a wolf, bird, horse, lion, gorilla, and a snake.
"The plan?" Jake asked.
"From what I can gather, these Hollows must have very simple minds, so taking them down wouldn't be much of a challenge." Diane said, noticing that some of them were wandering aimlessly, trying to look for any edible spirits. "I'll deal with the 2 on the left." She said, pointing at the wolf and the snake Hollows in the far left. "You, Jake, will deal with the 2 at the center." She points at the lion and horse Hollows in front of them. "As for you, Carter. You'll deal with the last 2 at the right." She points at the bird and gorilla Hollows at the far right.
"Got it." Both Jake and Carter replied.
Neither of them have to say anything as they rushed toward their respective targets.
The Wolf Hollow sniffed the air and turned around to spot Diane running towards them. Seeing her as lunch, the Hollow Wolf jump right at her, with the Snake Hollow following right behind after noticing her as well. The Wolf Hollow jumps at her to bite her. The eldest Ryujin saw it coming and jumped to the right, slicing its left side as it went past her and crashing into a nearby tree. The Snake Hollow attempted to try the same tactic, feeling that it might do a better job than its partner. Instead, Diane used Aoi Issen to evade the attack, causing the snake to crash into the ground. The Hollow was able to pull its head out of the ground to spot Diane appearing to its right just a few feet away. Instead of charging right at her, the Hollow snaked towards her left and struck. However, Diane held up her scabbard as it attacked, causing it to clamp down on that instead. While the Snake Hollow was busy trying to spit out the scabbard, Diane used Aoi Issen to land right on the Hollows' head and proceeded to stab her Ryusaiwan through its skull, effectively killing it as it faded away. She landed on the ground just as the Wolf Hollow was able to get up and attempt to tackle her once again, this time in midair. She merely sidestepped and managed to lop its head off as it flew past her, killing it then and there. To make sure it stays dead, she aims her hand at the severed head.
"Hado #33: Sokatsui." She fires a blue blaze that disintegrates the head.
With Jake, he charged right at the Lion and Horse Hollow with a battle cry and his Zanpakuto drawn, getting their attention. The Lion Hollow noticed him and intercepts his attack by clawing at him, causing both it and Jake's Zanpakuto to clash. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the Horse Hollow attempting to run him over. In response, he use Shunpo to flash out of the way, landing a few feet away from them. However, the Lion isn't letting up as it charges straight at him, with its jaw open wide. Jake, instead of being worried a bit, just proceeds to swing his Zanpakuto horizontally toward the mouth, causing the lion to clamp down on the blade. The Lion Hollow makes an attempt to break the sword in its jaws. As it did, it was unaware that Jake was grinning as his Zanpakuto began to grow with crimson Reiatsu. Before the Lion could respond to this event, it was already too late.
"Ryu Setsuken!"
With a mighty swing backed up with the power of the attack, Jake cleaves the Hollow in half, making it fade away. Seeing his back turned, the Horse Hollow charged right behind him, hoping to catch him off guard. That attempt proved fruitless, for the younger Ryujin spun around and used the remaining Reiatsu of the Ryu Setsuken to fire a crimson crescent wave at the Hollow's mask, smashing into it and promptly killing it.
As for Carter, he was taking more of a stealthy approach since the Gorilla Hollow happens to be the toughest out of all the Hollows there. Hiding under the table, Carter takes aim with his gun, ready to unleash a headshot. Unfortunately for him, the Bird Hollow spots him underneath the table, signalling the Gorilla Hollow to his presence.
"Well, so much for a stealthy approach."
Coming out from under the table, Carter proceeds to fire flame bullets at the larger Hollow's head, which the Hollow merely blocks by bringing up its hulking arms to cover its mask as the bullets merely singe the skin. He sees the Bird Hollow flying up in the air and proceeds to shoot it down. But before he cound even fire a single shot, the Gorilla Hollow throws a punch at him, forcing Carter to use his rifle to block, pushing him back a few feet. Using that chance, the Bird Hollow swoops in to pierce him with its beak. Seeing it fly towards him, he flips his gun to unfold the sword out. Once the bird is close enough, he swings the blade diagonally up, cutting into its wing and causing it to crash into the ground. With the bird down, he ran towards the Gorilla Hollow and uses his gun-sword to slice it, only to make a small scratch.
"Okay, that doesn't work."
The hulking Hollow throws another punch at him, making Carter to jump back. He hears another screech and turns around to find the Bird Hollow leaping right at him. Immediately, he ducked, causing the Hollow to fly past him and crash into the Gorilla Hollow, followed by a shriek of pain. Carter turns around to notice the larger Hollow struggling to get up while the Bird Hollow tries to pull itself out of the Gorilla's gut.
'Well, that was unexpected, but I'll take it.'
The spiky red head concentrated and encased the blade of his gun with fire, a trick he learned about a year ago and tried multiple times to get it right. Once the encasing finished, he quickly charged right at them, hoping the flame enhancements would carve into the Gorilla Hollow more. He jumped right on its torso and ran up until he reached the mask and went to jab the blade right through its skull. The blade was able to pierce through and kill the thing. Not letting up, he quickly folded the blade back and fired a fire bullet into the Bird Hollows' mask when it conveniently pulled itself off, killing that one as well.
Once the last of the Hollows fell, Carter put his gun away and let out a deep sigh of relief. Fighting against Hollows are tough for him, since his only means of combatting the things is his rifle. The reason it's able to do so now is because the modifications to the gun were just making it heat resistant in order for him to shoot the fire bullets out of it. The first time he tried using a normal gun, the barrel melted after a few shots.
He looked back towards Jake and Diane, who've finished off their opponents more quickly than he did.
"Took ya long enough." Jake said.
"Well, can you blame me?" Carter asked in response. "I don't have an exorcising sword or can cast magic like you 2 guys. My only choice of weaponry is a gun... that I'm still trying to get used to! I mean seriously, who attaches a pile bunker on a gun?"
"You got a point there."
"Okay, let's head back. Some of our friends will be suspecting where we went by now." Diane pointed out.
Both Jake and Carter nodded as the trio walk off. As the 3 did, they didn't notice that a figure was watching them.
"Those are some nice moves. Seems they did a good job at raising them, before that incident."
7 weeks later
Soon the Cultural Festival became a distant memory, more so for most people anyway, until Christmas arrives. Despite being celebrated in Japan, the schools aren't closed since it's not an official holiday. Hakobune Middle School is no exception. Right now, school hasn't started yet and already everyone is giving their friends presents, which they either made or bought during the holiday yesterday. At that moment, Jake is buried deep in presents given to him by nearly the entire female student body.
"Why me." Jake groaned, somehow speaking through the pile of presents.
"Is it alright if I have some of them? You know, to lay off the burden?" Carter asked, rather sad that he got no presents, not even from some of his other friends, not even a single card from any of them.
"Take them. At least I'll have less stuff to take home if you did." He groaned again, prompting Carter to grab some of the presents.
"I still can't believe that the girls gave you this many presents. Shouldn't gaining a ton of presents from these girls be in, well, Valentines Day?" Diane pointed out with a present, a new chessboard with new pieces courtesy of the Chess Club for helping them with the regionals some time ago, with her.
"I was expecting that too." The younger twin replied. "But I do get some free stuff out of this."
"Konnichiwa, Ryujin-kun."
Jake moved several presents out of the way to make a hole, seeing Orihime standing right in front of him, with her arms right behind her. Since the trio last met her, Orihime has been growing her hair out. Now her hair reaches her upper back.
"Oh, hey Inoue-san. What's up?" Jake said to her.
She responded by bringing her arms out, revealing a red present with a green bow. "I got you a present!"
Jake took the present and shook it a bit. "What's in it?"
"Wait until you get home." Orihime replied. Jake set his gift aside as she continued on. "By the way, who's coming to your party?"
Diane's eyebrow raise when she mentioned party. She turned her head right at Orihime, a little surprised. "How did you know that?"
"Medaka-chan told me." Orihime responded. "Apparently, she's inviting your friends and said that the party is at 7:00." Her smile grew bigger. "She said that I can bring whoever wants to come. So obviously I picked Onii-chan, because I want Onii-chan to see how many friends I made."
That caused Diane to pinch the bridge of her nose. "I simply wanted this party to be for me and my brother."
"What about me?" Carter complained.
"Yeah, yeah, you too." She lazily waved her hand at him. "That's all I ask. I didn't ask her to invite people over."
"I don't really mind." Jake voiced his opinion with a shrug. "In fact, I was about to ask you if I can invite a few people, but Medaka seemed to have beaten me to the punch."
She looked at her brother for a while, then shrugged. "Okay, we'll have a party with our friends."
This made Orihime surprised. "Are you alright, Diane-chan?" When they first met, Orihime would've wanted to call her 'Ryujin-chan'. But since both Jake and Diane both have the same last name, it would be confusing to tell who she was calling if they were in the same room. As such, Diane allowed her to use her first name, since she's the first girl she'd encountered that's both sweet and intelligent. Most of the girls she had met were either sweet or a little ditzy.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, usually when Medaka-chan does or thinks of something, you would always hate it, be against it, or criticize it. But you changed your mind when Ryujin-kun went along with it. So, I figured that something may be wrong." Orihime explained, remembering all the times she's been with the gang whenever Diane and Medaka are in the same room.
"I'm not agreeing with Kurokami, I'm agreeing with Jake." Diane defended.
"But, they both had the same idea." Carter added.
"There's a difference between someone inviting people behind someones back and asking someone to invite people." Diane defended herself again. "Plus, Jake had the idea first."
'Does she do this whenever she and Medaka-chan agree on anything?' Orihime asked in a hushed tone to Jake.
'Oh yeah.' He responded in a whisper too.
Diane crosses her arms under her bust. "Anyway, since we're now having a party with our friends here, we should buy some drinks, snacks, and more food. Our current supply won't be enough."
"We could ask either Hitomi or Anko to get some of them." Carter suggested.
"Very well."
"I'll help set up the decorations." Jake added his two cents.
"Good, then we have a party." She stated. "We'll get started immediately after school."
Orihime hops up and down with glee at the thought of heading to a Christmas party at Jake's house. "This is gonna be great! I can't wait to tell Onii-chan!" Then she rushed out the doors.
"What should we do for presents?" Jake inquired. "We now have more people coming over, so that means we have to get more presents to exchange with the others."
Diane merely smirked and . "Don't worry, leave everything to me."
Later that Evening
Once school ended, the trio headed home to prepare their party. When they got home, Anko and Hitomi were there, asking why they were in such a rush. They told them that they're getting more supplies for the party. The 2 adults ask about why they want to do it, to which the trio explained that their friends from school are coming tonight. That news made Hitomi happy that they're inviting friends over to celebrate with them this Christmas. As such, they decided to help out and headed to a mall to get all that they need; once there they split up to gather them at a quicker pace. Anko and Carter were to go out and get food for the party while Hitomi, Diane, and Jake went to buy decorations. After Jake and Hitomi got the supplies they needed, Diane asked Hitomi if she can take her to certain stores in the mall without Jake and buy certain things. Hitomi wondered why, but Diane whispered to her what it was, and agreed. To keep what they're doing a secret, Hitomi brought Jake to Anko and Carter, who are halfway finished with their shopping. Hitomi also told Anko of what they're doing and asked if she can keep it a secret, which she did. After about an hour and a half, they founded all that they needed, as well as Diane and Hitomi with full bags. Jake and Carter asked about them, only to reply that it's a secret.
After returning home, Anko opted to cook the food. Reason why is that Hitomi decided to bring her son, Zenkichi, over to get to know the trio's friends. For the next couple of hours, everyone worked hard on preparing the party, with Jake and Carter setting up the decorations and Anko cooking the food, with Hitomi and Zenkichi helping out. As for Diane, she's locked up in her room with all the bags she and Hitomi brought home. Eventually, the house began to emanate a Christmas-like feel, with Christmas lights strung up across the hallway and along the ceiling along with white cloth set along the walls to resemble snow.
As for the living room, most of the furniture has been moved around to make it more spacier, with all the food on a large table underneath the flat screen. Said food consists of trays full of roast chicken, both home cooked and KFC style, ham, sandwiches; bowls of chips, soda, and eggnog, one that's non alcoholic and another alcoholic, both labeled appropriately to make sure no one accidentally got a cup of it. There's also plates, cups, and napkins as well. Sitting in the lower left corner of the room is a christmas tree covered in decorations and ornaments.
"Alright, a job well done everyone." Anko congratulated everyone while holding a cup of the alchoholic eggnog. She's wearing a red santa cap.
"And not a moment too soon. Your friends should be arriving any second now." Hitomi pointed out, wearing elf ears and hat. She checked her watch to see that it's already 7:00.
Zenkichi, on the other hand, is wearing deer antlers because Hitomi insisted. He wore them in the spirit of the season, but when Anko suggested he wore a red nose, he flat out argued against it.
As if on cue, the doorbell rings, getting their attention.
"You weren't kidding." Carter, wearing a long sleeved red shirt and camouflage pants, said as he went to get the door.
"Wait, how can someone be this punctual?" Zenkichi questioned. "Even if the party was supposed to start at 7, they should've been, I don't know, at least a couple of seconds late."
"It's Medaka!" Carter cried out.
"There's your answer." Diane, wearing a green dress and knee-length socks, replied to him with a slight twitch, knowing that she would be the first to arrive, and exactly on time.
Carter came back into the room with Medaka in tow, who's wearing a red sweater, a denim skirt, along with thigh high stockings. She's also carrying 4 presents.
"It's nice to see everyone here." Medaka turns to face Zenkichi. "And I see that Hitoyoshi Zenkichi is here as well."
When the gang was 10, Medaka met Zenkichi on one of the days when Hitomi's babysitter couldn't be in and had to be brought along with her. Their initial counter was basically Zenkichi being impressed by Medaka's intelligence, even going as far as stating that she's smarter than Diane, which she didn't like at all. Also, when he recently showed off his dyed hair to the gang, they commented that it looked weird on him, much to his shock and at least hoping that some of them, mostly Jake and/or Carter, would think it was cool.
Zenkichi responded while rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah, Kaa-san kinda brought me along, wanting me to enjoy it with the guys."
"And I see you brought presents." Anko pointed out, noticing the presents while drinking eggnog.
"Yeah, I bought them before coming here. There's actually more near the entrance, and each one is specifically bought for each and every one of my friends." She lifted the 3 gifts in her hands. "These 4 here, for example, are for my closest friends here." Medaka was looking at Diane after she said that. "Well, friends and rival."
"Why did you get me a gift?" Diane asked, slightly surprised and almost guessing that she would've chosen not to get her a gift at all.
"Well, it is Christmas, so I decided to be nice during this time of year." 'Unlike some people.' The last part Medaka whispered to herself. However, Diane was able to catch that part, which caused her eye to twitch. "Besides, it's to owe you for the gift you gave me at school."
"Well, at least Medaka is in the Christmas spirit." Jake said with a sweatdrop. He's wearing his red dragon shirt with the long sleeves and jeans.
A few minutes later, Hibari shows up, wearing a light blue sweater that shows off her left shoulder and skinny jeans.
She walks up to Jake and hands , or more like shove, him her gift, all while trying to hide her blush "Here. I wanted to give this to you during school, but all those damn girls keep getting in my way." He took it and gave it a quick look. "B-but that doesn't mean that it's anything special! So don't go crazy over it!" She kept trying to hide the blush while she said that.
It was well known that when Hibari tries to do something nice for Jake or gets his attention, she would always blush, look away, and try to come up with an excuse. That got everyone to figure out that Hibari has a crush on him. But when anyone tries to tell that to her, she would either flat out deny it or punch them in the face.
"Thanks, I think." Jake said and put her gift under the tree as Hibari went to the buffet table for a quick bite.
Later, Ino and Sakura came in. Ino is wearing a purple turtle neck and skirt with white winter tights. As for Sakura, she's wearing a red blouse and dark green tights, as well as holding a present.
"Yoohoo! Ino has arrived" Ino proclaimed.
"Ino, did you really have to announce yourself?" Sakura asked with a raised eyebrow. "There's not that many people here yet."
Ino just flip her hair back. "Hey, I just feel like making an entrance."
"To get Jake-kun's attention?"
The comment made Ino glance nonchalantly toward somewhere else in the room. She later change the subject and pointed at Jake, sitting on the couch. "Oh look, it's Jake-kun!" Ino ran towards him like that and sat next to him.
Sakura knew she's trying to change the subject, but let it slide, since it's Christmas. Instead, she went place the present under the tree with the other ones and sat on the unoccupied side of Jake.
It wasn't long when Orihime and Sora came into the party. Orihime is wearing a white dress with black knee-length tights while Sora is wearing a blue v-neck t-shirt and thermal pants.
"Konnichiwa, minna!" Orihime cried out with a wave as Sora did the same.
Hitomi walks up to Sora with a smile. "I see you're still active."
"Hey, I have to take care of my Imouto." Sora stated.
The short mother looks down at Sora's left leg. "So, how's your leg holding up?"
He stomped his left foot a bit to indicate that it's alright. "It's holding up alright, Hitomi-san."
"Sora-kun, there's no need for you to address me so formally."
"I know. It's just that both you and Jake-san helped so much. I just felt that I had to repay you guys some way. So, adding the 'san' in both of your names is the only thing I could think of." He replied while rubbing the back of his head.
She looked at him for a while before shrugging. "Fine with me. If that's how you want it to go, then I'm cool with it." Hitomi then bop her hand against her palm. "Oh, I almost forgot!" She ran elsewhere, making Orihime and Sora look at each other in confusion. A few seconds later, Hitomi came back, dragging Zenkichi along with her. "I would like to introduce you 2 to my son, Zenkichi!" She proceeded to hug him and talk about him, albeit in an embarrassing mother-like way. "Isn't he just the most adorable thing ever? Plus, he's looking for some friends, and I think that Orihime-chan would do nicely."
Zenkichi, as anyone would expect, feels embarrassed about this. "Kaa-san! Don't embarrass me like this!"
Hitomi merely looked at her son all innocent like, which she practically felt she is. "I'm only introducing you to these people. What's wrong with that?"
"What's wrong is how you're doing it!"
Meanwhile, everyone noticed the commotion and just continued to stare.
'Better you than us, Zenkichi.' Jake, Carter, and Diane all thought simultaneously.
Soon enough, Shikamaru, Choji, and Kiba came into the party as well. Shikamaru's attire is merely a grey long sleeved shirt with dark-blue jeans; Choji's outfit consists of a short sleeved shirt, green jacket, and khaki pants; while Kiba's outfit is a dark-brown long-sleeved shirt, a fur hoodie with the hood up and Akamaru sitting on his head, and grey thermal jeans.
"We're here." Shikamaru said unthusiastically.
"C'mon Shikamaru, it's a party, so liven up!" Kiba told him. "*Ruff*" Akamaru barked in response.
"Hey, we sorta don't celebrate the holiday much. After all, it's not an official one." He stated in response.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm hungry. Where's the buffet?" Choji proceeded to walk toward the buffet area.
Jake looks around to see everyone enjoying the party. He looked at the clock besides the doorway to see that it's now 7:14.
"Well, seems like everyone's here." He said.
"Not everyone." Medaka, standing right next to him, complained.
"What do you mean?"
"Aburame Shino isn't here."
Jake became a little surprised, but not too surprised knowing she would've tried to invite him as well. "Wait, you tried to invite him?"
"Yeah, but he said the party just isn't his style." She began to feel a little down, probably from the fact that she couldn't get Shino to come along to enjoy the party. That, in turn, made Jake feel sorry for her.
"C'mon dude, join the party!"
Jake and Medaka faced the doorway to see Kiba trying to get someone to get in, and succeeding little by little.
"Then stop pulling on me!"
Their eyes widen when they heard a familiar voice, more or less, shouting at Kiba.
"Not until you agree to join everyone!" "*Arf Arf*"
"Will it get you to stop pulling on me if I do?"
That comment made Kiba stop. "Yep." "*Ruff*"
It was a little while later when a sigh came out. "Alright, I'll join."
"Great!" "*Ruff!*" Kiba moved out of the doorway to reveal that Shino is there. He's wearing a teal coat and turtle neck that covers his face, sunglasses despite the time of day, and grey pants on.
Medaka began to perk up when she saw him. "Aburame Shino! You came!"
"More like forced." Shino glanced at Kiba, who's currently looking away along with his dog, then back at Medaka. "I still have no intention to arrive since this holiday seems too, commercialized for my tastes." He stated. "But, Kiba practically dragged me along, so I have no choice but to join at this point."
Jake could only shrug in response. "Well, at least you have something to do until your parents pick you up." He pause for a moment before replying. "They do know that you're here, right?"
When each one arrived, he asked them how they're planning on getting home. Each replied that someone is picking them up, either their older sibling or their parents. He's just glad that they have a plan when this is all over.
"Oh yeah." Shikamaru replied. "They wouldn't have known where he's going if I didn't tell them before leaving."
Anko decides to interrupt as she raise her cup of alcohol eggnog. "Hey, don't worry about stuff like that! This is a party! So... PARTY!" Nearly everyone cheered along as the party went underway.
Throughout the night, everyone enjoyed the party to its fullest. Some people even made it more fun for others. Anko tried to get Sora to drink eggnog, but the latter refused. Eventually, she got him to drink a cup, only to soon learn that he's a very light drinker. He would've been a drunken mess throughout the party, if Diane hadn't come in with a bucket of water. Choji pretty much devoured half of the buffet after a few hours there. Fortunately, after discovering who Medaka invited, both Diane and Hitomi were able to make a second batch in case Choji gobbled up the first one. Carter and Kiba went and have a karaoke duel. No winner was crowned due to everyone booing at them after a few minutes of their rather bad singing. Ino, somehow, set up a mistletoe in front of the doorway halfway in the party in an attempt to get a first kiss from him. Unfortunately for her, Sakura and Hibari found out about it and they too tried to get a kiss from him. It eventually led to a 3 way brawl over a kiss. It immediately ended when Orihime saw the mistletoe and pecked his cheek, followed by a random hug from Medaka out of nowhere, saying that it isn't Christmas without some mistletoe.. Once she did, Jake walked away to get some food, feeling hungry by that point, much to the 3 girls disappointment in missing their chance. Shino and Shikamaru were probably the only few who didn't get involve with the party much.
After about a few hours of partying, it eventually became time to open the presents. The first thing everyone noticed was that there are only 5 presents, 2 of which goes to Jake and the rest goes to either Diane, Carter, and Zenkichi.
"Why the hell are we doing this when there's only 5 frickin presents?" Kiba questioned.
"Wait, didn't you guys forget to bring presents?" Jake asked him.
"It's not like we're obliged to." Kiba stated.
"At least I gave them a gift." Ino boasted.
"Me too." Hibari added.
"Technically, you 2 only gave gifts to Jake." Carter pointed out.
"Shouldn't giving presents be reserved for couples?" Shikamaru asked.
"He's right. Christmas isn't celebrated as much in Japan." Medaka explained.
"I know that!" Carter told her.
As this conversation went on, Jake begins to notice that someone is missing. "Has anyone seen Nee-san and Anko?"
Everyone soon notice that, indeed, Diane is missing from the group.
"Come to think of it... where is she?" Carter asked.
"They're up in Diane's room." Hitomi answered for everyone, causing all heads to turn towards her. "She told me that she's getting things upstairs and to tell no one what she's getting and why she's up there. Anko's with her to help out."
"How come?" Orihime asked.
"You'll see." Hitomi replied, since both she and Anko are the only ones to know what she's up to.
The sounds of footsteps got everyone to turn towards the stairs. Coming down the stairs, everyone saw Diane and Anko, carrying several presents in their arms.
"Alright, I've got gifts for everyone." Diane called out once both she and Anko reached the 1st floor.
Seeing all the gifts, Jake came to a realization. "Wait a minute, so the huge bags that you got back at the mall..."
"Were presents." Diane finished for him. "I figured I should try something nice by the end of the year. Rather fortunate enough that the blue-haired troll gave me a chance by using your idea of inviting everyone over."
"Hey!" Medaka cried out insulted.
Both Diane and Anko set all the presents next to the tree. "Alright, we'll be handing out the gifts. Just so you know, I only got each and every one of you 1 gift. If you don't like it, then exchange it for all I care. Once you open your presents, they're your responsibility."
'Man, she can even find a way to be mean when trying to be nice.' Nearly everyone thought.
Diane handed everyone their gifts. She made sure to buy gifts that would fit their personality, needs, wants, and how they would react.
For Shikamaru's present, she can tell that he's more intelligent than he leads on. She remembered how he would mumble that his Sudoku puzzles are getting a little easy for him, so she bought that as to stimulate challenge. The gift she gave him is a Puzzle Box for him to solve whenever he feels like it.
Upon receiving it, she couldn't tell if he was happy in receiving the gift. He just glanced at her and said "Thanks." and went to work with it. It was enough for her to tell that he likes it.
For Choji, she can tell that he's a big eater, and loves Doritos a lot. So she was able to enter him into a Doritos contest for a year's worth of Doritos. Basically, his gift was a note that said he's part of the contest and that they'll announce the winner by December 31st.
Choji jumped for joy at the aspect of having a years supply of Doritos. She would've told him that there's still a chance he could lose, but Shikamaru told her not to rain on his parade until after the contest, reminding her how he can over-react to food.
For Kiba, Diane remembered how he would tell Akamaru that he would try to get him a new toy to play with, but couldn't due to circumstances. Luckily for him, she bought one for him.
Kiba's gift was a wool cat chew toy that's very durable and comes with a squeaker in its belly. He loved it and gave it to Akamaru, who too loves it. For him, his gift for Christmas was to find a way to make Akamaru happy, and he got it.
With Shino, she didn't really know what to give him. In fact, she was at least expecting him to skip out on the party. She didn't expect for Kiba to actually force him to come along. All she knows about him is that he loves bugs, which was fortunately enough for her to find something for him.
Shino's gift is a bug journal for him to catalog any and all bugs he happen to come upon. She didn't know if he liked it, but she got her answer when he looked at her.
"I like it."
It was confirmation enough that he likes her gift.
For Sakura, she couldn't think of what to give her, really. Diane needed to find that certain gift that complements her, then it hit her. The gift Sakura received is a pink necklace with a cherry blossom-shaped gem attached to it. It was basically all she could think of, since Sakura basically likes, well, Jake. So it was the next best thing. Fortunately, Sakura happens to like it.
"Thanks, Diane-san." Sakura puts it around her neck, seeing if it would fit, which it did. She poses in front of Ino to get her opinion. "Well, how do I look?"
"Great! It looks good on you!" Ino complimented.
'She likes it.' Diane thought.
As for Ino, she can tell that Ino is into flowers when, well, she told them she likes them. So, for her gift, it was easy to get. Her gift happens to be a yellow flower hair comb.
Ino's immediate response was thus. "Wow, I love it! Thanks."
With that, plus the fact she puts it on, shows that she likes the gift.
Then, there was Hibari. Like Sakura, she couldn't figure out what to give her. She, like Sakura and Ino, likes Jake a lot, so that idea is out the window. However, she remembers that one time when she said she wanted that new green hoodie, but couldn't get until probably after New Years. It was that exact hoodie that Diane got for her.
Hibari gave a small grin upon seeing it, but immediately hid it as she turned to Diane.
"Thanks for the gift." Hibari merely replied.
The slight grin was confirmation enough that she liked it.
However, those 3 girls all were thinking the same thing upon seeing the gifts.
'I wanted Jake-kun to be the one to give me the gift.'
Lastly, there was Orihime. From what she can tell, she likes those flower hairpins a lot. She also likes Jake, but unlike Sakura, Ino, and Hibari, being with Jake is good enough for her despite her crush.
For her gift, she gave Orihime a light-blue floral bracelet that matches her hairpins. She immediately put the bracelet on her right wrist and began to look at it from different angles.
"It looks great! Thank's Diane-chan!" Orihime told her gleefully.
"That it does." Sora added as he looked at it as well.
'Well, that's everyone from school.' Diane thought.
As for everyone else, Diane had already gave them to Jake and Carter early in the morning and to Anko, Hitomi, and Zenkichi before the party started. She gave Jake new sneakers, Carter a DVD of a 'special' anime he likes, Anko a new coat, Hitomi new roller shoes, and Zenkichi that karate movie he wanted. As for what she gave Medaka, she gave her a necklace with a red plate and 4 black tomoe on it. Anko was a little surprised on how Diane got her hands on it, but isn't planning on telling either of them, not yet that is.
It came time for the trio, and Zenkichi, to open Medaka's, and Sakura's, presents. For Jake, he got a digital watch from Sakura; so he can be punctual since, at times, he would be nearly late. From Medaka, he got a black trench coat with red accents, shoulder straps, and 2 belts near the end of the coat.
"Gee, thanks guys." Jake told them as he put both of them on. "I like them."
"Arigatou." Both Medaka and Sakura said.
For Carter, he got a pair of sunglasses with a red tint. It wasn't the type of present he was expecting, but he was willing to make it work.
"At least I'll look cool in them." Carter said to himself.
For Zenkichi, he got a book on karate basics, since he's a fan of it.
"Wow, thanks." He told her.
As for Diane, she got a black leather choker with a personalized blue chinese dragon on it. She was amazed that Medaka actually gave her a good gift, that is until she looked at what's written on the side of it.
'DIE RYUJIN'
Diane's eye twitch from those 2 words. She didn't know if she purposefully, or accidentally, left the 'an' in her name.
"Medaka." Diane said.
"Yes?" Medaka asked her.
"Is there... any reason why there's no 'a' and 'n' in my name?"
She shows the engraving on the choker to Medaka, who chuckles a bit.
"What?" Diane asked with slight ire in her voice.
"I might've forgotten to tell them to add those 2 letters." Medaka gave a shrug. "But I'm sure that no one will notice."
The elder Ryujin's eye twitch upon hearing her explanation. Out of nowhere, she pulls out Ryusaiwan, causing Jake and Carter to freak out and attempt to hold Diane back from murdering Medaka, all the while swearing like a sailor at the blue haired genius.
'You got to me kidding me.' Everyone thought as they watch the scene.
Eventually, Diane was able to calm down, after Anko told her that she would change the engraving during New Years, and the party continued on.
Soon it became 10:00, and everyone went home, being picked up by their respective family members. Everyone went and clean the up the living room, with some of their friends helping as they waited for their parents. Jake, Carter, and Diane went to bed afterwards, and Hitomi and Zenkichi left soon after, leaving Anko to stay behind to make sure the trio are asleep. Once they are, Anko proceeded to leave, but once she reached the front door, she heard a knock.
'That's weird. Who could that be?'
She opened the door, only to find no one there. She looks down at her feet to find a box there. Anko picked it up and opened it, revealing a diamond bracelet with her name engraved on it along with a check of 100,000 yen in it and a note. Curious, she brought the box into the house, set it on the table, and opened the note. Upon setting her eyes on it, her eyes open as she recognize the handwriting.
Dear Anko,
I'm sorry that I couldn't be with you this Christmas, something has come up. So, for the time being unfortunately, I'll be staying in America for until the kids get out of school in spring. But don't worry, I'll be thinking about you the entire time. Which is why I sent you this diamond necklace with your name. It's the least I can do to make up for it. Oh, and as for the money, it's for the kids, just in case. Until then, have a Merry Christmas, Happy New Years, and Happy Valentines Day.
Love,
Jack
A genuine happy smile appeared on Anko's face when she read that not only is he still doing fine, despite the fact that he'll be returning way later than expected.
"You always were the one to put yourself before others, just like your brother."
She took the bracelet and note, leaving the box and check on the table, and left, with her mind now thinking about her love.
One Week Later
A week has passed since Christmas. The trio and their friends all remember the fun time they had during then, even liking the gifts Diane gave them. But, soon enough, New Years arrived. What happened then isn't much to note about. Everyone went toward the Atago Shrine and prayed for a better year, while some, like most of the girls in their school, prayed that they would date Jake one day. After the bells rang at midnight, everyone went home sometime after and ate traditional New Years food, then went to sleep.
Well, mostly everyone.
When the trio was about to sleep, their Hollow alarms went off, signalling a nearby Hollow, much to their dismay. Reluctantly, they went after it, hoping that this Hollow would be a quick and easy one.
They were half correct.
They encountered the Hollow in the same park they met the 6 Hollows back in early November. The said Hollow happens to be a hulking brute, larger than the Gorilla Hollow Carter faced, and practically resembled one if it had steroids. The downside of the Hollow, which calls itself Crusher, was that it's very tough and strong. The upside, it's incredibly dumb. They figured out how dumb it was, because when it saw them, it thought that they couldn't see them even though they were staring right at it and thought that it was mere coincidence and that them talking with it was also sheer coincidence.
Crusher is an incredible dumbass. Granted it wasn't the first dumb Hollow they faced, but it was the dumbest.
Currently, the trio have the Hollow surrounded, going with Diane's plan to simply outsmart Crusher and let it overuse its weight and making it trip, constantly. After making Crusher stagger several times for the last 3 minutes, it managed to fall on the ground, facedown. It took them that long to get its mask, which it told them was its most vulnerable spot, to their level.
"Wow, that was faster than I thought." Carter thought out loud.
"Well what do you expect when your target is a complete utter moron?" Diane pointed out as if it was obvious.
"I'm surprised it managed to last so long by itself." Jake stated as the trio approached Crusher. The said Hollow was able to lift its head, but before it could get up, Diane got on it as she generated yellow energy in her palms and formed an inverted triangle with it.
"Bakudo #30: Shitotsu Sansen." Diane calmly fires 3 smaller triangles at the Hollow, pinning it to the ground.
"Dammit! Crusher cannot be beaten by puny kids!" The Hollow cried out.
"Oh yeah, well we just did, so get over it buddy." Carter taunted it.
Diane walks up toward Crusher's head with her Zanpakuto drawn out and prepares to kill it, but not before it spoke again.
"Wait. Puny Big Sword boy and puny Tiny Sword girl remind Crusher of 2 people." It told them, causing Diane to halt her action.
"What do you mean that we 'remind you of 2 people'?" Jake questioned it.
"You 2 look like powerful couple Crusher heard about. Heard they were strong Hollow killers. Was connected to Soul Society. Looks a lot like you 2."
The Ryujin twins eyes widened at the discovery while Carter remains confused.
"We... look like them?" Jake leans in closer to Crusher. "What do you mean?"
"You 2 look like Ryujin Clan Head couple. Crusher was told they dead, so was offspring. You 2 look like Head couple."
"Be more specific, as in, explain to us how is it that our appearance seem to remind you of these Clan heads?" The younger Ryujin continued to ask more, however the Hollow merely stared at him.
"What?" Crusher asked idiotically, causing Jake to facepalm.
"That's it, I had enough of this." Diane, irritated with the Hollow's sheer stupidity, decides to end it all and thrust Ryusaiwan through its mask, slaying it. "We'll be here all night if you continue to question the damn, moronic Hollow."
Jake wanted to argue, but his sleepiness got the better of him.
"Yeah, you're right." He said with a yawn. "We should go home and sleep."
"Seems Carter has the right idea."
They both turn around only to find Carter, already asleep on the ground.
"I got him." Jake went up to Carter and slings him over his shoulder. The trio, with Carter asleep and slinged over Jake's shoulder, proceeded to return home.
Hiding in the trees, a figure heard the Hollow's conversation and grinned.
"Perfect. They're learning more about their past. At this rate, they'll remember their true heritage."
Author's Note: Once again, I apologize for keeping everyone waiting for so long. I promise that I'll try to update the fanfic in less than 3 months. That is, if my school work and college preparations don't get in the way. Fortunately, the next chapter will be shorter, so I think I can keep that promise.
With that said, what do you all think of the chapter? I know most of the subplots can be long, that's because some of them were intentional. Others, they were that long by accident.
Anyway, the next chapter will be the end of the Prelude to Truth Arc, which I'm claiming the 1st, 2nd, this chapter and the next one to be.
Until then, I'll see you all on the last chapter of the Prelude to Truth Arc of the Will of the Dragon God: Beginning Saga!
