Fighting for a day of living out a dream


Day 6 of 7 at the beach house

Joe's Dream

This time he was fighting against Garaa of the Sand.

"Desert Coffin!" Garaa said, and trapped Joe in his sand.

Oh, no, now here comes Desert Funeral, and I die, Joe thought.

"Car Funeral!" Garaa said.

Car funeral? That's not right, Joe thought.

Instantly, the sand let go, and dropped Joe into a car, and he was immediately buckled in.

"Well, then, time to go!" Yukari said from the front of the car

Oh, no, not again, Joe thought

"Have fun" Garaa said, with that psychotic smile on his face.

The car drove on, and then eventually went off a cliff.

"Good thing I have an ejector seat for the driver only!" Yukari said, and immediately ejected from her seat.

The last thing Joe saw was the car crashing into jagged rocks.

Joe snapped awake, with the same thing going as he had with the first dream.

"I'm now scarred for life. Thanks a lot, Yukari" Joe said sarcastically.

Joe checked his clock. It was midnight.

Guess I'm not sleeping anymore tonight, he thought. Wonder what everybody else is dreaming.

Joe sat up, turned on his Nintendo DS, and played for a while. After about an hour, he got bored, got up, and went down to sit at the table.

He flashed back to all the fun times he and Chiyo had. When he taught her chess, and she taught him Shogi, among other favorite memories.

Joe snapped out of his flashbacks. It was still only 1:30.

Joe sighed heavily. This was going to be a long day.

Morning (finally)

The sun peaking up on the horizon signaled morning. Joe was up, stretching out arms and legs. What amazed him was that they didn't feel in any way worn out or tired, like they usually do from lack of sleep.

Then Chiyo walked out the door. She had a determined-happy look on her face.

"It's been a while since I've fought you, Joe-san," she said.

Joe smiled. "I guess it has"

They both took a defensive stance.

"Ready…" Joe said

"Set…" Chiyo responded.

"Go!" They both said.

Both of them launched themselves at each other.

Sakaki woke up to Neko-san licking her face. This told her that Joe was already up, but she couldn't help but blush at Neko-san's cuteness.

She got up and went onto the balcony. That's when she saw it.

Chiyo and Joe were fist-fighting.

She could see that the both of them were enjoying it, but they were also fighting their hearts out. Even though their punches and kicks were flying through the air at super speeds, neither of them was landing anything.

Chiyo was then airborne, with one fist getting caught by Joe's hand, her knee came up to smack him. Joe blocked with his elbow, as Chiyo's other arm swung around to hit Joe on the back of the head. Joe whipped around, and just barely managed to catch Chiyo's fist. Her back was now right above his head. That's when he saw it, all too late. Chiyo's free leg, the last thing that Joe had to block, was bending back to kick Joe in the face. This was a weak point, because Joe had nothing else to use to block it. Joe bent his head back, and Chiyo's back kick just missed. Her leg was too short to actually hit him, he just needed to bend his head a little bit back to avoid being hit. Chiyo then put weight on her fists that were in Joe's hands, and pushed off. Joe let go, and Chiyo spun herself, and landed on the ground on her feet.

Sakaki could only watch in amazement as Joe and Chiyo went at it some more. They finally backed away from each other, and fell to the ground, exhausted.

"Nice job, Chiyo. You've definitely improved" Joe said between breaths.

"I've been practicing" Chiyo responded.

A moment of silence passed as they both regained their breath, and then they just both stared at the sunrise.

"Hey Chiyo," Joe said. "What's a dream of yours?"

"Well, I've always wanted to be cool and tall, like Sakaki" Chiyo said.

Sakaki's eyes glistened as she heard this. She had always wanted to be cute and short like Chiyo, but she knew that could never happen.

"Do you think Sakaki ever wanted to be like you, Chiyo? I mean, as far as being short and cute?" Joe asked.

Sakaki's interest immediately perked up. She was now listening intently.

"Why do you ask?" Chiyo said.

"You remember that tea house we were at yesterday?" Joe asked. Chiyo nodded her head "There is a kendo girl there that specializes in spiritual stuff. I talked to her yesterday, so that's how I know. But she might be able to perform a spirit switch on you two to make you switch bodies."

"Seriously?" Chiyo asked, obviously interested. Sakaki was listening very intently now, having to hold on to the railing of the balcony because she was shaking so hard. A chance to be cute? Surely he must be joking.

"But it would only be for a day." Joe added.

Of course, Sakaki thought. There's always a catch. But still, even if it were for a day, it would still be enough for her.

"Well, I'll go see if Sakaki's awake and ask her" Chiyo said.

"You don't need to" Joe said, as he looked behind Chiyo. "She's already awake, and standing on the balcony." Joe pointed, and Chiyo looked. Sakaki was standing there with a determined look on her face. She was nodding her head as if to agree.

After Joe, Chiyo, and Sakaki had eaten breakfast; they headed out to the teahouse. They got there to find the kendo girl, Motoko, sitting there in a meditation state.

"I know what you have come here for, and I'll tell you right now, I won't do it." she said without even opening her eyes.

Then Sakaki did something that neither Chiyo nor Joe expected. She went right up to Motoko, and looked her straight in the face. Motoko opened her eyes, and looked straight into the eyes of Sakaki.

"Please" Sakaki said in a voice that was barely audible.

Motoko then stood up, and smiled. "All right, then. But first, I want to test a loyalty here." She threw a sword at Joe, who juggled it around before finally catching it.

"I challenge you. If you win, I will do what you wish. If you lose, you must work at the teahouse in my place today…for free," Motoko said with a smile.

Joe took a deep breath, took the sword out of the holder, and held it forward. "I accept your challenge." He wasn't doing it for himself, he was doing for Chiyo and Sakaki, who wanted more than anything not to be themselves, but each other.

"I mean all three of you" Motoko said with a smile.

Both Chiyo and Sakaki were surprised by this statement, but they still nodded their heads in agreement.

The smile disappeared off of Motoko's face. "Fine, then. ZanKouSen!" She yelled, and whipped up some wind, that blew by all three of them, but left a few rips in Joe's shirt, and also left scratches where those rips went in his shirt.

"So, you want to be serious, do you?" Joe said, and took off his shirt. The new scratches that had been left by the previous attack were now bleeding, but that didn't seem to bother him. He tossed his sword far up in the air, and charged at Motoko.

"ZanKouSen!" Motoko yelled again. She kicked up some more wind, but Joe expected it. He charged right through (now getting more scratches, even a few on his face). Motoko then swung her sword to cut through Joe so that he would end up on the ground. Joe stopped her sword with a strike stopper. They stood there for a minute.

It was then that Joe's sword came flying down and stuck in the sand. Motoko saw a few of her hairs fly down to the ground, as well as a deep gash open on her face. Joe's determined face stared back at her as her anger welled up.

"Why, you…" Motoko pulled the sword out of the strike stopper, and jumped back. Joe took this moment to grab his own sword.

Meanwhile, Sakaki and Chiyo just watched from the sidelines.

Joe then pulled out from his back pockets some sharp cutting knives he had taken from the kitchen before they had left. He threw those up into the air, and Motoko watched them. She then looked back down to see Joe charging at her.

She quickly calculated that both the kitchen knives from above and Joe from below were going to hit her at the same time. She jumped out of the way so that the kitchen knives wouldn't hit her, and blocked Joe's sword swing with her sword.

Joe's fist came out to hit her, but it wasn't far enough. Motoko just smiled.

Not far enough, Motoko thought.

Then from nowhere, a kitchen knife came flying down. Joe opened his fist, grabbed it, and flipped it in his hand so that the pointed edge was at Motoko's neck.

Game over.

Motoko was stunned. "But…how…?" she asked.

"I watched your eyes when I threw the knives up into the air. You're eyes followed them. So I threw two knives in two separate directions, away from the group of knives, and charged you. You were so intently caught in the group of knives and myself, that you never noticed the one that was flying higher than the other ones." Joe explained

Motoko's face turned serious as she realized how she had been caught. "So, the knives you threw first were just made attract my attention away from the real attack."

"Correct," Joe said with a smile.

"But, where did the other one go?" Motoko asked.

"It went to the opposite side of the group of knives, in case you jumped in the other direction." Joe said

Motoko also smiled. "Where did you learn to do something like that?" she asked.

"I'm a strategist. I enjoy chess, shogi, among other games like that. It almost comes naturally now." Joe said, as he put down the knife and his sword.

Motoko just smiled. "I guess you win. Which means I keep my end of the bargain."

They both looked up at Chiyo and Sakaki. Chiyo had her mouth open, and was absolutely amazed at Joe's strategy. Sakaki just stared and blushed in amazement.

"That…was amazing!" Chiyo broke the silence

"But…where did get the knives?" Sakaki asked

"I took them from the kitchen this morning. I knew I was going to need them," Joe said

All three girls looked at him like he was crazy.

"What?" Joe asked, completely clueless.

"Anyway, " Motoko began "I'm guessing you want me to perform a temporary soul switch on these two."

"It's amazing what meditation tells you, isn't it?" Joe said. He had only ever done mediation once, and it was so weird that he never did it again.

"So, I'm going to need you two to stand there," Motoko pointed to a spot on the beach. "Approximately three cm away from each other." Chiyo and Sakaki did as they were told.

"Good, now hold still" Motoko said

"Don't screw up, Onee-chan"

Motoko stood still, frozen with fear. She had completely lost focus on what she was doing, and was now focused on the fact that Tsuruko was now standing on top of the teahouse.

"Onee-chan?" Joe asked quizzically, as Tsuruko jumped down from the top of the teahouse.

"You have an older sister?" Joe asked Motoko, but Motoko couldn't answer. She was still frozen with fear.

"Y-y-y-you were watching me fight, weren't you?" Motoko asked, backing up as Tsuruko came closer.

"Yes, I did, but the only mistake you made…" Tsuruko started. Motoko braced herself. She knew this was not going to end well

"…was fighting a man who is determined to have his friends live out there dreams, even if temporary" Tsuruko finished

Joe just stood there. He was pretty sure it was a complement. At least, that's what he thought it was.

"No one, not even I, can stand up to people who are selfish-less and determined", Tsuruko said. Motoko finally relaxed. She had done well enough in the fight that Tsuruko wouldn't lose her temper.

"Now, you just need to finish up your end of the bargain, and do the soul switch" Tsuruko finished.

Motoko knew there was some catch. Having to do the soul switch is hard enough, because you need to focus, but the fact that her sister was now watching made it even worse.

Joe put one hand on Motoko's shoulder. "Don't worry about it. Had your sister never said anything, you would have never even known she was there," Joe said

"So, you couldn't sense my presence?" Tsuruko said. She was getting mad, which made Motoko nervous.

"Hey, even I couldn't sense you, and I have superior sensing skills." Joe lied. "You hide yourself well."

Tsuruko calmed down, and even smiled sincerely. "Well, thank you. You're so polite."

Motoko then stared at Chiyo and Sakaki. She was completely focused, now that Joe had somehow made Tsuruko calm down. But she was still nervous. If she screwed this up, she knew she would be feeling the wrath of her older sister.

Joe went to stand next to Tsuruko. He kept wondering why Motoko was scared of her older sister. She seemed nice to him.

Motoko swung her sword through the air. "Soul Switch!" she yelled. She swung a ki slice threw Sakaki and Chiyo, and then turned her sword around and did again in the opposite direction. Both Chiyo and Sakaki fell to the ground.

Motoko sheathed her sword. "Success" she said, and let out a sigh of relief.

"Um…" Joe started. "How long are they going to be out?"

"Just for a minute or so, until the souls realign themselves," Motoko said, obviously proud of what she had just done.

"That's my younger sister" Tsuruko said, also proud of her sister.

Author's note: Read and Review!

Next Chapter: Body Switch