Chapter 5
The sound of graceful birds emanated throughout the village as the sun slowly took its place in the sky. Aganii took in a slow, deep breath as the curtains were drawn back exposing his pale face in the sunshine. He slowly opened his eyes, which were a somewhat burnt shade of amber, and sat up stretching. He smiled as he saw Jarai let his hand drop from the curtain string in order to turn the page of his book.
"Good morning, Jarai. Only halfway through that first novel I see. How surprising... You have a long way to go." Aganii said, letting his bare feet swing over and touch the ground. Jarai bookmarked his page and closed it with a smirk. Aganii blinked. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"This is the third installment. I couldn't sleep last night." Jarai admitted sheepishly as he turned his head towards the bathroom, which had a horrible retching noise coming from it. "You missed breakfast Aganii… but from what I can hear, that might not be such a bad thing."
"Is that Loki?" Aganii asked, genuinely concerned as he stood up and pulled his hair back. Jarai nodded, tossing Aganii a banana.
"There was nothing wrong with my food, at least, I am not having a reaction to it in the way she is. Yakua, are you going to check on he-…" Jarai trailed off as he turned to Yakua who was snoring loudly on the couch next to the window.
"She's still asleep. I'll check on her." Aganii replied and made his way over to the bathroom, knocking on the door twice. "…Loki?"
"Don't come in! I feel like I'm dying! This is so disgus… oh no…" Loki grew quiet and Aganii opened the door, only to be welcomed with the 'beautiful' sight of a half-naked Loki profusely vomiting into the commode. She covered her chest, sweating bullets and glared at Aganii who just stared at her face in extreme worry. She tore the toilet paper at him. "I SAID GET OUT!"
Aganii instantly closed the door and leaned against it. He had not planned for this… They had to find out if this was just an upset stomach. Hopefully that was the case and Loki would be better in a couple of days. Unless… she was chosen to fight in the opening matches today, and that would be disastrous. One look at her and any medic with even an ounce of common sense would have her disqualified. That would mean their village would not be able to compete. Aganii felt his stomach twist into knots and felt a little sick himself at the thought of what his punishment would be.
'He'll punish me through her… I know it.' He thought, and swallowed as he clutched the door handle. Jarai walked over and put his hand on Aganii's shoulder.
"Shall we break the bad news to Chang, or get a medic to examine her first?" Aganii asked, not knowing what to do. Jarai looked away in thought.
"We could do both I guess…" he replied and headed outside, Aganii close behind. Chang smiled at them as he saw them walk down the stairs, and offered Aganii breakfast. Aganii refused, throwing out the banana peel he just remembered he had in his hand. It had been quite a good banana.
"I'm glad you have some food in you this morning. Who knows which two of your village will be chosen later today? Nerves never benefit from hunger." Chang explained, and noticed the troubled look on their faces. "What seems to be wrong boys?"
"Loki seems to have become very ill in the last few hours." Aganii said, looking at the ground.
"It was soon after she ate her breakfast." Jarai added. "Is it possible that the food may have been tampered with? Excuse my accusations… It's just odd."
Chang tilted his head to the side.
"I assure you, the food here is safe. It was prepared by the chefs from the restaurant down the street! No one had access to the trays, I know it. Perhaps she is allergic to peanuts? There were peanut butter sandwiches…" Chang suggested, perplexed. Jarai shook his head, no. Chang scratched his chin and motioned for a medic to come over. "There is a girl upstairs in guest room C who has fallen very ill. Can you examine her?"
The medic nodded and headed upstairs, Aganii watched him leave as he spoke, "Chang… if she is unable to fight for the next few days…"
"Then I'm afraid you will have to find a replacement from your village or your entire group will be disqualified. I'm deeply sorry." Chang replied sadly, his hand resting on Aganii's shoulder for a moment before he turned to greet the awakening members of the Crux village. They ignored him almost completely, except for a boy who was younger than the rest, who just bowed as he passed.
"I'm going to get some air…" Aganii sighed to Jarai who nodded and sat down at a table, reopening his book. As he stepped outside, Aganii took a deep breath and looked up at the clouds.
'I wouldn't know what to do if he hurt her…' he thought to himself, a bit scared as he imagined what would happen if they were all sent back.
"Thinking about me? so cute." A voice said. Aganii turned to look at the tree next to the dojo and his mouth hung open as Hanurè smiled at him, swinging her feet as they dangled from the branch she sat upon. "I heard you need an extra hand."
The shock left Aganii's face as he watched her jump down from the tree and jump into his arms, forcing her lips on his hungrily. He let his arms wrap around her body and pull her closer as he slowly closed his eyes, taking in her scent.
'I should be angry with you…' He thought, tucking a stray hair behind her ear as she pulled away to stare into his eyes, which he immediately felt water at the sight of her. She smiled and embraced him once more, her body trembling ever so slightly. He sighed in elation, rubbing her back soothingly. '…but I couldn't be happier.'
Ching had just finished braiding her hair when Abyo walked inside the dojo with a very sad looking Garu. She frowned as she watched them walk in and headed over just in time for Abyo to look back towards the door and shout, "Hey Aganii, you and your girlfriend should get a ROOM!"
"Aganii has a girlfriend?" Ching interrupted, stopping in front of the boys who looked at her. Abyo nodded in amusement, pointing at the couple just feet away who were still locked in a deep kiss, oblivious to everyone around them. Ching smiled and let out an aww. Garu kept walking inside and went over to the food table, keeping his head down. "What's up with Garu?"
"He went to apologize to Pucca last night, but apparently that just made things worse." Abyo sighed, shrugging. "I don't get what their deal is. I just hope they figure it out soon, because his bad mood is seriously bringing me down. He has some deep issues and won't open up to anyone about them."
"What issues? You mean like things that happened to him before he came here?" Ching asked, watching Garu as he took a bite out of an apple and staring back at her. She quickly looked away, but knew he already caught her gossiping about him. Abyo shrugged and wrapped his arm around Ching's waist.
"I dunno but he's going to have to figure it out on his own it looks like. I'm hungry… Can we go get some tea and cookies after the fights are announced and everything?" Abyo murmured, his breath at Ching's neck. She giggled, a shiver going down her spine as she nodded.
Rin-Tou's village headed down the stairs as others slowly began to file into the dojo. He looked like he hadn't gotten much sleep and was wearing a grey scarf around his neck. As he passed the one of the men from the Crux village, he snickered. Rin-Tou shot him a glare in an attempt to shut him up, but the man threw his head back and laughed.
His name was Koar, the warrior from Cruz Village that everyone seemed to be placing their bets on. He was a huge wall of pure muscle and testosterone, a large hammer slung behind his back. The hammer was bigger than Koar himself, though he seemed to not even notice it behind him. His skin was rough looking, huge calluses on his hands. Koar's eyes were a muddy blue and looked at the scarf with sheer amusement dancing in them. Rin-Tou stopped in front of him and growled under his breath. He didn't have the patience to deal with an arrogant asshole.
"What's so funny?" Rin-Tou snapped at the towering bully who raised an eyebrow in response. Koar got closer to him, trying to intimidate him.
"Oh I don't know. It could be your crooked nose or your puny little noises. Nothing at all to do with the stupid scarf around your neck." He added, "Faggot."
"Say that again you piece of shit!" Rin-Tou snarled at him, feeling his temper build. Sharp claws threatened to emerge from his fingertips as he took a step towards him, getting a lot of heads to turn. A sudden pain ripped into his neck as he clutched it with a gasp, momentarily forgetting about his anger. Sorra, a woman from his village, stepped up behind him and pulled him back.
"Calm yourself." She ordered. He shrugged off her hand from his shoulder in response and distanced himself. Koar laughed loudly.
"Who are you, his owner?" he asked, wiping tears of amusement from his eyes. Sorra didn't respond. She simply turned away from Koar and walked over to her village area. She sat in a chair next to a pretty young girl with brown hair and ponytails, who was rubbing the head of a boy. The boy looked somewhat bored as he sat on the floor, leaning into the touch of the girl above him. Koar observed that the boy wore a scarf around his neck that was nearly identical to the one Rin-Tou wore.
Arms draped over Koar's shoulders as his sister, Nakita, yawned in his ear.
"What's up with them?" Nakita asked in slight interest. Koar shrugged as he turned to get his food.
"Bunch of weak kinky freaks if you ask me." He replied which got a giggle out of his sister. Koar turned his head towards Ceo, the weakest in their group. "…I have a bad feeling about that wimp."
"Me too. He's gunna drag us down!" Nakita whined. "You should have heard him last night. He wouldn't shut up about how nervous he was. Koar, he's such an insecure dumbass. What if he messes us up?"
"Then he'll have to suffer the consequences." Koar smirked at Nakita who gave a devious smile in response. They headed over to their table with a large amount of food.
Garu was lost in his thoughts as he leaned back into the table behind him. How could he possibly concentrate on anything after what happened last night? Someone stood in front of him, and cleared their throat. Garu looked up, his mouth falling open at the sight before him. Pucca was in a graceful violet sundress that draped over her body, stopping just above the knees. It hugged her curves in all the right places, and had a faint floral pattern across her waist, a little bit of cleavage peeking out beneath the cloth over her chest. Her hair was in one braid that draped over her bare shoulder, and she smelled of lavender. Garu felt his face get extremely hot once he realized he was staring at her. He cleared his throat, trying to remember how to speak.
"Pucca..." Garu managed, swallowing nervously. She blinked a couple of times in response, her face blank. "You look very-"
"Carrots." She cut him off.
"…What?" Garu asked, wondering if he heard her wrong. She pointed behind him, and he looked.
"You're standing in front of the carrots." She said, her eyes impatient. Garu blinked and moved away immediately.
"Oh s-sorry… I didn't realize I was…" He said, watching her fill her plate with some carrots. "Listen Pucca… about last night."
Pucca turned around, looking annoyed.
"I shouldn't have-"
"Oh hey Rin-Tou!" Pucca waved at Rin-Tou who was across the room and he smiled at her, waving back. Garu's mouth was still open as she interrupted him, clearly not listening. She shoved her plate into Garu's hands. "Hey Garu hold this will you?"
"O…kay." He responded, taking the plate as she rushed over to the red-headed boy and embraced him. Garu blinked, feeling his face heat up.
"Ouch. Well that had to hurt." Tobe snickered, leaning against the wall next to Garu. Garu just scowled, shoving the plate into Tobe's hands.
"Shut up." He spat and walked away. Tobe shrugged and took a bite out of a carrot, walking away with the food. He was still trying to find Chang.
'That guy is too damn busy.' Tobe thought. 'My problem is way more important than mingling with stupid outsiders, and now I aint gonna wait for that stupid challenge to be announced.'
Tobe caught sight of Chang walking inside while speaking with a medic. He looked really frustrated, but Tobe didn't care.
"Hah! There you are…" he mumbled and started towards Chang, but Aganii walked in front of him with some chick. "OI! What gives?"
"My apologies, this is urgent." Aganii muttered to Tobe, turning back to Chang and tapping his shoulder.
"It's not that urgent asshole!" Tobe responded nastily, receiving a deathly glare from the girl. Fearing for his life, he shut up immediately.
"I overheard you talking to the doctor about Loki. This is Hanuré, Chang." Aganii explained, his hand on the girl's shoulder. "She's also from Driftyne village and would be a more than capable replacement for Loki. Is it possible that we can still compete?"
"Sure, let me speak with the officials. You couldn't be more perfectly timed, they were just about to write you out of the competition." Chang replied and smiled at Hanuré, shaking her hand. "Welcome and good luck."
"Thank you its an honor and a privilege." Hanuré replied with a slight bow.
"Great. Perfect. Chang I need to talk to you already!" Tobe exclaimed, almost stomping his foot. Chang scowled in irritation.
"Later, Tobe." He replied and walked off. Tobe was livid.
"Oh come ON!" he snapped and turned to Aganii, pointing a finger at his chest. "You just had to cut in front of me didn't you?!"
Hanuré pushed Tobe away from Aganii roughly and shot him a second death stare. Aganii laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Now now… no need for violence Hanuré…" Aganii said to her.
"He touched you. …And he's irritating me." Hanuré replied walking away. Aganii looked at Tobe, slightly guilty.
"Again… my apologies." He offered to shake Tobe's hand, only to feel his wrist slapped away.
"Save it." Tobe spat and walked off. Aganii shrugged and headed over towards Hanuré. Aganii wasn't very comfortable around negative people, so situations like that were always awkward for him.
As the morning continued, Chang introduced the officials to the competitors. The officials seemed to take an interest in each village, discussing how clashing cultures would prove to be very entertaining. Sixteen competitors in all, this would hopefully prove to be an exciting year for The Golden Kunai. Just as they had every year, officials brought in a very old machine which took the name of each competitor and randomly determined who would face who in battle. Tomorrow's opening matches would be announced soon.
Crux village seemed content to remain by themselves at their own table, but everyone else seemed to enjoy mingling. Ching, Abyo, and Garu decided to sit at the Driftyne table. Aganii introduced them to Hanure, Jarai, and Yakua.
"I would have introduced you to Loki, but she's been very ill since this morning." Aganii explained. Garu could have sworn he caught a flash of guilt on Hanuré's face, but he ignored it. It wasn't his business.
"It's so lucky that Hanuré arrived this morning. We wouldn't be able to compete otherwise." Jarai added, smiling at her. "It's been too long."
"Yeah, where have you been?" Yakua demanded, sitting up. Ching noticed Abyo staring at the girl's overexposed chest and bashed him on the head with her cup.
"I've been really busy that's all." Hanuré replied in a very low voice. "Let's not talk about that. I'm surprised that the competition is here this year. It can't be just because you three came of age."
"Why do you say that?" Garu asked his head perking up a bit. "We've been working very hard."
Hanuré rolled her eyes and Aganii nudged her in the shoulder muttering, "Behave…"
"She has this pet peeve about ninjas." Yakua purred, reaching out to touch Garu's hand. "But I don't…"
Aganii cleared his throat awkwardly and Yakua pouted as Garu pulled his hand away, raising an eyebrow. He couldn't help but think the girl was somewhat of a slut, the tightness and shortness of her outfit not helping his assumption. Abyo must have noticed this too, because he almost choked on his tea.
Pucca and Rin-Tou were sitting next to each other on the window sill. He watched her carefully and took a deep breath.
"I understand if you're not really interested in going out with me." He said after a while. Pucca looked up at him, slightly shocked.
"No I want to!" she exclaimed quickly, but slumped when his expression didn't change. "…okay fine. I'll be honest with you. There is… was something going on between Garu and I."
"Anyone could figure that out, Pucca." Rin-Tou smiled at the flustered look on her face when he said that. "But I think it's sweet that you could care about someone that much… but I don't want to be used as a tool to make him jealous."
Pucca looked up and met his forest green eyes, which were filled with curiosity. She smiled a bit and looked away. "Don't worry about that. It was an in the moment thing and… I'm sorry if I lead you on. Garu and I had a talk last night after what happened and… I can honestly tell you that I think it's over."
Rin-Tou watched her speak, and felt sadness for her.
"Did he reject you?" he asked tentatively. She laughed a bit, pursing her lips.
"He's rejected me over and over for the last seven years. I just got sick of it. It's… unnatural for me to keep fighting for his affection. I gave him a chance last night to open up to me like he did before, but he didn't. And I don't want to keep feeling this pain. I've had enough." Pucca sighed, swinging her legs a bit and watching them dangle off the window sill. Rin-Tou listened to her carefully. "I just… want to get away from the stress. I need a break from the awkwardness that he makes me feel, you know?"
"Yeah actually. …When someone hurts you and you see them every single day, you feel like you can't breathe." He replied, looking away. Pucca nodded.
"Exactly. I just want a break. Just to get away for a little while." She said with a sigh. Rin-Tou looked at her once more.
"I should have said it before, but you look very pretty in purple." He muttered sincerely. She blushed and giggled quietly, covering her mouth to hide it.
"Sorry my laugh is so embarrassing… it has a mind of its own. It's annoying…" She turned a very light shade of red and Rin-Tou smirked.
"You shouldn't apologize for something like that. Anyone who thinks that laugh is annoying must be out of their mind!" he replied, leaning forward but keeping his distance from her out of respect. "It's cute."
"Thanks." Pucca smiled, sitting up. "So… I couldn't help but notice your scarf. It sure is a fashion statement. Is it part of your culture? I'm just curious."
Rin-Tou looked at her for a moment, his eyes looked at her painfully.
"Something like that." He responded with a frown. "It's a long story. …hey is that an origami bracelet?"
Pucca looked down at her wrist and smiled.
"It's a friendship bracelet. I made one for Ching and one for me. I used to be really into origami." She explained. Rin-Tou lifted her wrist examining it.
"This is some intricate stuff… I think I recognize these folds. When I started out, I think the crane with the diamond base took me a whole week." He chuckled, letting go. Pucca's eyes widened.
"You're into origami?" she asked and he laughed nodding.
"Ever since I was five I think. I can make these cool kites with origami dragon scales if I had enough paper." Rin-Tou said, beaming. "The kite takes a couple of hours to make, but it's really worth it once you start flying it."
Garu couldn't help but look where Pucca and Rin-Tou sat on the window sill. She looked so happy and animated as she talked with him. The thought made Garu's chest tighten up.
"Garu?" Aganii asked, snapping him out of it. "Is everything alright? You seem troubled."
"Hey is she your ex-girlfriend or something?" Hanuré asked with an amused smirk. Garu felt his face grow extremely hot and his mouth grow dry. Jarai and Yakua laughed, Aganii shaking his head.
"Hanuré, don't be so insensitive and nosy." Aganii scolded her, but Hanuré kept her eyes on Garu with interest, waiting for an answer. Abyo and Ching looked at Garu with concern.
"…It's complicated." Garu finally said, his jaw tightening. "…so you have something against ninjas then?"
Hanuré's smile faded, answering his question. She crossed her arms and tightened her jaw as well.
"I think they're arrogant hypocrites who hide behind a false sense of strength in order to appear more powerful than they truly are. …No offense of course, FireWasp." She replied. Garu's eyebrows went up in surprise.
"…is that so?" he murmured unsurely. "Then you must not have met many top rank ninjas."
"I still haven't." Hanuré added and shot him a devilish smile that almost begged for a challenge. Garu felt the corners of his mouth slowly perk up.
"We'll see about that." He replied in earnest.
Chang stood up and got everyone's attention as the officials wheeled out the old machine behind him. Everyone quieted so that Chang could explain what the opening fights would entail.
"Tomorrow afternoon there will be two matches. These matches will be two people from one village against two people from another village. All of your names have been entered into this machine by village. Two people at random from each village will be chosen to fight alongside each other. Teamwork is essential for these matches. The two losing teams will have to select from one of their own teammates who participated in the match in order to decide who will be disqualified. Now! Tomorrow's first match will be…" Chang began, turning to the machine which began to make whirring noises. The officials pushed buttons on the machine until it came to a stop. Once the results printed, Chang lifted the paper and read from it. "Crux Village VS Za-Un Village. Ceo and Torin will be facing Sorra and Rin-Tou."
Rin-Tou's face grew extremely pale as the Crux table snickered, overconfident. Pucca looked back and glared at them, and then back to Rin-Tou again with concern in her eyes.
"The second match will be Sooga Village VS Driftyne Village. Ching and Tobe will be facing Aganii and Hanuré. Good luck to all, and I will see everyone here at 1:30 tomorrow afternoon!" Chang finished and turned back to the officials in order to plan the following matches. The room began to fill with discussion once more, Hanuré smirking at Ching.
"Good luck tomorrow." Hanuré said politely and stood up. With a heated glance at Garu, she walked away and Aganii smiled apologetically.
"She means well, I promise." He said and they all chuckled as he headed after her.
"Abyo, I'm gunna grab my sweater and then we can head out on our date." Ching said and kissed his cheek, walking away. Abyo blushed at the look Jarai and Yakua gave him, mumbled something about needing to use the bathroom, and left. Garu watched hopelessly as Pucca and Rin-Tou headed out the door, laughing and talking about getting some ice cream. Jarai patted his back in an attempt to be reassuring, but Garu just sighed.
"Garu you can come with us if you'd like." Yakua suggested. "We were going to go to that restaurant across the street."
"Thanks, but I think I'm going to head home and get some training done." Garu replied, standing up. "Tell Aganii and Hanuré I wish them luck."
Jarai nodded and Garu headed home. Yakua watched him leave smirking.
"What?" Jarai asked her, an amused look on his face. Yakua giggled.
"He has a nice ass." She mumbled and bit her finger. Jarai threw his head back and laughed.
Sorra watched Rin-Tou head out the door and scowled.
"Oaka. Kitsu. It's bedtime." She mumbled. The girl and boy looked up at Sorra, soon joining her as they all walked up the stairs. Before walking into the room, she pulled Kitsu aside and looked at him sharply. "Where has he gone?"
"O-on a date I think." Kitsu responded nervously, his scarf slipping off revealing a distinct red mark that wrapped around his neck like a collar.
"Kitsu…" Oaka mumbled, her head peeking out from the doorway, her eyes shining cutely. "Come."
Kitsu winced, the mark around his neck glowed faintly and he nodded as Sorra let him go. He headed into the room with Oaka. Sorra leaned over the banister and looked at the front door. She mumbled, "You have three hours, Rin-Tou."
As Ching turned the corner, sweater in hand, she heard voices in the next room. Curiously, she peeked her head into the room. She saw Chang and Tobe having a heated discussion.
"That's not fair! I entered the damn thing so it could be here. You didn't say I had to pass through to round 1 you asshole!" Tobe snarled, fuming.
"I want our village to look good, Tobe. So you need to try your best tomorrow. I want you and Ching to succeed. That won't happen if you don't try." Chang replied.
"You know I'm not as good as they are. And I don't give a shit about this village or about this competition. She could die if I don't get this money for that procedure. Don't you get that?!" Tobe exclaimed. "If Chief dies because I can't do something else right…"
"That's your problem, Tobe. I will give you the money if you get through to round 1. That's our agreement. Now get out, I need to discuss more important things with the officials." Chang turned away. Tobe looked like he was about to cry, he was so angry. Ching hid in the doorway as Tobe stormed past her and out the door. She couldn't believe her ears.
'Chief was sick? Tobe needed money to pay for a procedure?' Ching thought to herself, heading towards Abyo who was by the door. 'I know that dad wants the village to do well but… what if Chief died because he refused to help Tobe out?'
As Ching and Abyo walked outside, Ching hoped from the bottom of her heart that Tobe would do well with her tomorrow. If they lost… Garu and Abyo would surely vote to kick him out, there was no doubt in her mind. And what would happen to Chief?
As the sun started to set, Pucca leaned against the grass under her, her belly full of cookies and ice cream. Her mind was for the first time in weeks… clear. Rin-Tou yawned loudly and sat up looking at her.
"This seriously has to be the most fun I've ever had." He said sincerely, watching her smile. Pucca sat up as well, rubbing her stomach.
"I was about to say the same thing. You were right about the fudge and the caramel being great toppings… and the sprinkles." Pucca muttered, realizing how much she'd eaten.
"And the cookie crumbs." Rin-Tou added with a mischievous blushed and let out a giggle, standing.
"A-and the cookie crumbs too." She agreed. "We should do this again, Rin-Tou."
Rin-Tou looked at Pucca with a hopeful glint in his eye.
"Really?" he asked. Pucca nodded.
"I didn't get a chance to make those kites with you. And I honestly like being around you. You're so relaxed and funny." She told him, idly prodding at a rock with her foot. Rin-Tou took a deep breath and caught her gaze.
"Pucca, you reminded me how it feels to be… free again." He admitted, a burning look in his eyes. Pucca blinked, listening to the honesty in his words.
"What do you mean?" she asked. He opened his mouth to answer, but instead his body jerked swiftly and his hands flew to his neck, the scarf falling off. "Rin-Tou what's wr-… oh my god your neck…"
Rin-Tou had the same mark as Kitsu had, only his was much larger and was glowing bright red. He made a pained whimper, falling to one knee as it seemed to glow brighter and brighter. Pucca reached out to him in concern, but he backed away.
"I…I'll explain later… Pucca I gotta go!" Rin-Tou managed to get out, his voice cracking.
"O-okay but are you sure you're-"
"Yes! I'm fine!" Rin-Tou cut her off and grabbed his scarf. "G-goodnight!"
Rin-Tou broke into a full-fledged run down the street. Pucca watched him go sadly, feeling confused and worried.
'Rin-Tou…' she thought. 'What's hurting you?'