Chapter 7
"So what did Mom say?"
Kia was leaning on Tala's car. Sariah and Aurin were sitting inside. They had just arrived from the mall and were in the next street from Kia lived.
"Ryushi's not at home" Tala answered
"Thank God. I better get home before he does come back" Kia said
"What are you doing tomorrow then?" Aurin asked from inside the car.
"Don't know, but we can fix something up"
Kia then said her goodbye and made her way home.
When Ryushi came home, earlier than expected, his face darkened the moment he saw Kia. She avoided him by keeping close to her parents and not talking to him.
Come on, she didn't want to die young!
Now she was in her room trying to devise a plan to stay away from him at least till tomorrow afternoon so he would calm down, a bit.
She came up with one, but only one and even that was difficult.
She would have to wake up early.
Oh the horrors! The early sunshine, the duty to get out of the warm bed.
Could she bear it?
She would have to.
Then she would go for the one and a half hour swordsmanship class.
Early in the morning.
It was better that dying.
Kia was sulking. Really sulking.
Well what would you expect?
First get up early, then, because there was no air in the cycle, walk all the way to the dojo.
'And over all that' Kia thought, looking round the dojo 'Kai's here too'
'Wait' Kia's eyes widened as she checked again 'KAI"S IN THE CLASS!'
So much for not dying.
She grabbed the arm of the boy standing next to her (whoever he was) and made him stand in front of her.
"Don't move" she hissed at him.
He nodded, slightly nervous by her tone.
Kia waited until Kai walked to the other end of the room and then relaxed and stepped out from behind her cover.
At that moment Hochi arrived.
It was as if he knew who she was avoiding and the next thing she knew she was standing opposite Kai.
A very angry Kai.
"Now I don't want you both to fight, well I do, but not in that way" Hochi was saying " Kai, I want you to refresh Kia's memory and take good care of her. Alright?"
"Oh I'll take good care of her sensei"
Hochi smiled and walked off, missing that all too evil look on Kai's face.
"Looks like it's just you and me" Kia gave a shaky laugh.
Kai just glared.
Then suddenly he raised the wooden practice sword he was holding and brought it down on her. Kia barely dodged it.
Talk about violent.
He came back again, this time aiming for her ribs. She blocked it.
And so it continued, with Kai trying to hit her and Kia trying not to die. Nobody noticed because they were too busy with their own sparring.
Of course their fight was much less intense.
Kia was tiring. Blocking his blows took some strength, okay, a lot of strength.
'Though, he did look cute when he was sweating'
Kia stopped blocking the blows.
SHE DID NOT JUST THINK WHAT SHE THOUGHT SHE THOUGHT.
Oops, back to blocking before Kai killed her.
But apparently he had stopped too.
Kia glared at him. He wasn't even breathing too hard. And why was he trying to kill her anyway?
Oh ya, she was the reason his sister kissed his best friend.
Big deal!
"Hiwatari, what is your problem?" she asked him finally.
"You"
Well, appropriate enough answer. For Kai.
"You're just acting childish" she said.
He just glared again.
"I want to talk to you after class. Don't run or I'll think you're a coward" he told her and then launched into another attack.
Kia barely blocked it. Coward! She? He had just insulted her pride and he was going to pay.
And they did say offence was the best form of defence.
Just over and hour later we find the two individuals still at battle, that was until pryed them apart.
Kai stepped out into an open courtyard to wait for her. He wasn't going to let her escape this time.
She came out then, hair in shambles and all; he didn't wait for her to speak just asked the question that had been irritating him for the last few days.
"What the hell is wrong with you?"
Kia looked surprised "Pardon?"
"You heard me; you've been acting strange and ignoring us for no reason!"
She looked relieved and, to his astonishment, smiled.
"No reason?" she asked quietly.
Kai didn't say anything.
"You know nobody likes being ignored and I'm one of those nobodies"
"So that is the reason!"
"So you do know"
He didn't say anything again.
"So you also know why I went to Tala"
"It's obvious"
"So obvious that only the most observant could notice or was it that the others didn''t want to notice"
"What's your point?" People were looking. Fights between the two of them were common but they had never seen Kai loose his temper before.
"My point is that I don't like being used and also my pride doesn't get in the way of me seeing my mistakes and apologising for them" Kia told him, now angry.
"That's why you went back to your best friend" Kai wasn't looking at her.
"He's your best friend too"
Kai was quiet yet again.
"I know it's hard to admit, but you know you're wrong" Kia grinned at him.
Kai saw her expression and was slightly relieved. She was right, he knew, but he hated it when she became all sensible.
"You're loving this, aren't you?" Kai smirked.
"Yup!"
"Fine, but if you repeat what I say to anyone, I will kill you"
"OK" Kia said, a little bit too easily.
"I'm serious"
She realised he was and sighed "Whatever you say"
"You were right and I'm…….sorry. But after you started ignoring us, we all started to feel a bit guilty, even me"
Kia's mouth hung open and she was staring at him incredulously.
"I can't believe the great Kai Hiwatari just apologised!" she said finally, trying not to laugh.
"Don't even get there" he said, walking towards the exit.
"Of course not!" this time Kia couldn't stop the laughter.
"And if anyone finds out……….." he warned.
"Yes, yes, I know" she was hysterical.
"So do you think the others will get around" Kia asked after she finished laughing.
"I think most of them already have" Kai said seriously.
"That's great!"
"So…………" Kai asked after a few minutes when they reached outside "Do you want a lift home?"
"That won't be necessary Kai" a familiar voice interrupted.
Kia turned and her face paled visibly.
Ryushi was standing there, looking very serious and very very angry.
It looked like Kia's funeral was going to take place earlier than expected.
Cliffy! I'll try to update soon but as school's starting again I might not be able to. But I'll try!
Hope it was good!
Review.
Kia
