*Author's notes at the end

Chapter 6: 'Differences'

'Yesterday was…refreshing' I thought the next morning, for the hundredth time I was sure, as I slipped on my shoes at the front door.

"I'm off!" I alerted my parents as he headed out the door, back pack slung carelessly over my shoulder.

The morning was crisp and the breeze languidly and silently swept through the trees, while leaves of brown, orange, and red danced about. I inhaled the autumn air and let a small smile grace my lips. I continued on my way to school in a comfortable silence, until a voice called out to me. I was torn between playing nice with the stranger, who sounded much too 'happy' for seven in the morning, or letting my ugly rear its head. I had yet come to a decision when I found a peppy brunette by my side.

"Morning Syuusuke!"

"Ah…Ah! Good morning Rei," I said a little off guard. I hadn't expected the distant voice to be Rei's.

"Not a morning person?" she asked.

All I could do was let out small laugh.

"Understatement."

"Me neither, but I usually pretend I am just so I can annoy everyone else. It's a devious plan, I know," she said with a wink.

I laughed again. She was so good at this. This whole 'making me laugh' thing. It was strange really. Nine times out of ten, half the things Rei said shouldn't even be considered funny. Maybe it was the way she delivered the jokes…

"I've never seen you walking to school before," I said as light conversation.

"Oh, that's because school starts earlier for us poor high schoolers. In truth, I'm actually an hour late…" she trailed off.

"Rei!" I reprimanded.

"Oh, not you too? Don't sweat it. I'm almost certain Tomoka told me off enough for the both you."

When she put it like that, I almost felt that Tomoka probably did more 'telling off' on Rei than Tezuka did the entire team.

I let out a sigh. She really was a reckless one and certainly different from myself. In all honesty, we were rather like polar opposites. If everyone jumped off a bridge, I would've walked across the bridge as if I had seen nothing, while Rei, I was certain, would've been the one to jump first. Not that we didn't have anything in common. No, of course not. I'd discovered Rei and I had quite a few things in common last Wednesday.

As well as quite a few not-so-common things….


"So…your treat, huh?" I teased.

She grinned as she innocently fluttered her eyelashes.

"Whatever do you mean?" She said with a smirk, daring me to continue on.

I shook my head. I had the faintest feeling I wouldn't win anyway.

"So your family owns a restaurant?'

"Yeah. Tomoka never said anything?' Rei asked before sipping her Dr. Pepper.

"No, but now it makes sense as to why she always has delicious food to share."

"She shares it with you?" Rei said with narrowed eyes.

I couldn't tell if the disgruntled look was directed at me or Tomoka.

"Yes, but I meant the tennis team more specifically."

"Ah yes, the tennis team. And a certain Ryoma Echizen happens to occupy a spot amongst these tennis players, no?"

I grinned. I knew exactly what she was getting at. Tomoka's crush on Ryoma-kun was probably known to the entire world by now.

"It's a pity he isn't interested," she mumbled as she swiveled left and then right in the barstool chair.

I raised an eyebrow at that remark and she threw me a look that positively shouted, 'really?'.

"Oh, come on. The kid practically cringed when Tomo walked over to him at the theaters. It was almost painful to watch."

I chuckled. It was true that Ryoma wasn't all that fond of Tomoka, but I hadn't really figured Rei'd picked up on those vibes. I also gathered she'd be a full-on supportive sister in categories such 'boys', but even she seemed to notice a lost cause when she saw one.

"Don't get me wrong. I'm no love expert and I'm not saying she should give up, but maybe backing down a little might the kid some room to breath, ya know?"

I nodded as I stared at her, somewhat in awe. It was surprising to see Rei behave so maturely. Very surprising indeed.

Mrs. Osakada returned the pizza and a few words about not breaking their deal to Rei, who simply crossed her arms and harrumphed at the remark. With a motherly wink, she made her way off to a table across the way, seeming content leave the discussion with her eldest at that.

Rei and I talked about a million things. Her favorite color is maroon. Her favorite food is shawarma with jalapeños and frozen OJ. Her hobby is collecting decks of cards and playing around with tarot cards and horoscopes. She hates math classes, but she loves her theatre classes. Her favorite sport is baseball, or kickball because it has a similar premise, and she hasn't the slightest about tennis except for the words, 'love', 'set', and 'match.' Lastly, she was born March 11.

I also learned what we had in common, starting with our fondness of spicy foods and Fuji apples. Rei and I love horror movies and video games, which was shock seeing as none of my male friends dared to dabble with the horror genre. With Rei being born in March, we discussed what it was like to be a Pisces. I've never been all that enraptured by the thought of the stars determining our fate and what now, but Rei seemed so eager to share that I couldn't say no. It was adorable really.

It had become apparent to me that Rei did most of the talking, but I also become the aware that I felt more inclined to talk about myself with her, especially when she'd accidentally mention an embarrassing situation she'd managed to tangle herself up in and her cheeks would flush red as she'd laugh it off. Like I said, adorable. Soon we found ourselves at an arcade. Apparently she was also exceptionally skilled at air hockey, although I did give her a decent run for her money.

"Another round?" She teased from across the table.

I laughed as I shook my head, "I accept defeat."

She just grinned proudly. Soon dusk was upon us and I offered to walk Rei home. She gave me look before rambling away about not being some damsel in distress. I paid her empty words no mind and chuckled as when headed down the orange lit streets.

"Ugh. It's gonna cold soon," she mumbled and I 'hmm-ed' in response.

It was while we were heading back home when Rei's name was shouted. Well, I suppose slurred loudly would be more appropriate. She gave me a quick glance before we both turned to face whoever had summoned her. Upon seeing who called her, she smirked and placed both hands on her hips in an almost taunting manner.

"Come to get your ass kicked again have you?"

The blonde boy across from us practically snarled at Rei's remark and he swayed slightly. He was visibly inebriated. Rei just chuckled. The boy then turned his hazy gaze on me and gave me a sloppy smirked.

"Whooo's he? Your boooyfrieeend?" he garbled and slurred and I could practically see some sort of drunken, devious plan being conjured behind his eyes.

Rei 'tsked' as she shook her head.

"Really, you are so nosy Oohira? If you must know, this here is Hijikata and he's actually a ninja from another time. You see, he's trapped in our dimension and it's my job as his assistant to help him get back, but you wouldn't understand."

Yes, Rei definitely loved her theatre classes.

The boy, Oohira, gritted his teeth and clenched his fists; he was most unamused while Rei, on the other hand, didn't even to sense something was amiss.

"We'llz sees how funny you be afta I beat you senseless Osakiiiida!"

"Ooh! And my little dog too!"

The blonde furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, the joke obviously lost on him.

"Ugh, the arts would be wasted on him," Rei said with a sigh to me, a small smirk curling upon her lips and I could help but let out an amused and undignified snort.

"Enough games Osakiiiida!"

"You are so right! How'd you know we just left the arcade?"

Obviously fed up with words, Oohira unstably yet swiftly lunged towards Rei with blatant fury. Rei quickly snatched me aside towards a bench. She gave me an apologetic look before turning her full attention to Oohira, who lunged forward again, evidently lacking any other sort of tactic. With swiftness and pure agility, Rei easily managed to dodge Oohira's attack.

"Oohira just quit. You're not going to win. You're not even sober," Rei pleaded, sounding genuinely worried about Oohira's well being despite her earlier taunts.

"Jusss shut up!"

He leapt for Rei once more and with determined eyes, Rei delivered a spectacularly timed round-kick to Oohira's middle. The drunk teenage crumpled to his knees with a painful gurgle. Rei quickly made her way over to Oohira before he collapsed on the ground. I promptly made my way over to assist her with holding up the blonde.

"He'll be fine," Rei assured, "We almost always travel in packs, so I'm sure his pups are looking for him now."

"Let's get him to that bench," I suggested.

Rei nodded and we somehow managed to get Oohira up on the bench. It wasn't as if he was overweight, but Oohira was undeniably well-built. Not to long after we heard voices calling out for the unconscious boy. Soon a group of five teenage boys were upon us and I wasn't sure what they'd do. Would the try to avenge their fallen leader? And it wasn't as if I would be capable to handle them, though I had a vague feeling Rei could. Something about that thought irked me. If I didn't know any better, I'd assume I'd be the 'damsel in distress' in this particular situation. Vexing, indeed. The boys turned their gaze from the fallen banchou to Rei, who stood somewhat loosely and almost relaxed. I was not prepared for what they did next.

"Thank you!" they all shouted in unison as the bowed to Rei, who waved her hand nonchalantly with a sweet smile on her face.

"Oh, don't sweat it," she assured considerately.

After another bow of unison, the two strongest looking of the group gathered the banchou before heading off back to where they'd come from. To say I was shocked would be a massive understatement.

"Why didn't they do anything?" I subconsciously asked as we started to head home once more.

"Because I could've done much worse."

I looked down at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Contrary to popular belief, not all of us banchous are out for blood. We have rules and guidelines. For me to have fought him while he was like that would've the lowest of low. They were just thankful it was me and not someone else."

'Someone else?"

"I said 'not all of us'. There are still a few banchous who fight for blood."

"And you don't?"

"Nope! I never start a fight and if ever do it's because one of my school mates is being hurt."

I gave her a look that begged for an explanation. She let out a sigh before she took my left arm and wrapped her arms around it then placing her head on my shoulder. I startled, but Rei didn't seem to notice.

"As a banchou, it's our job to protect out school, our turf. The most fighting I do tends to be within the walls of my own school. I handle bullies and all that. Sometime bullies from other schools feel the need to bother other schools."

"And that's where you step in?"

"Yup."

"Doesn't that cause tension amongst schools?"

"Yeah. Sometimes bystanders get caught up in the fights. One time, Otomiya High was in a fight with the bullies of their school when the banchou of Hatori High, Ren Obata's, sister was caught in the crossfire. Needless to say, Ren was pissed and all hell broke loose. The two schools haven't been on good terms since."

"But they mean well? The banchous, I mean."

"Yes, we mean well. We just want to keep our 'pack', so to speak safe. The students at Fujisaki High are my pack. None of them are afraid of me and they come to me when they have bullying problems, after all teachers can only do so much. We have to defend ourselves."

I let out a soft 'hmm' and Rei copied and she snuggled closer. The night air was always biting during autumn and Rei seemed a bit chilled. With a quick motion, and before thought could interfere, I removed Rei's arms from my own. She let out dissatisfied moan and was about to complain. I simply opened my school jacket and wrapped it around the both of us.

"Better?" I asked, ignoring the hitch in my voice.

"Much," she mumbled as she snuggled closer, rewrapping her arms around mine.

She was considerably smaller than me, but girls normally were. I supposed I just never really cared to take notice before. She was also warm, not to mention soft...very soft indeed. I was almost positive my cheeks were red, but I could just blame it on the chilly breeze. I glanced down at Rei after we turned a street corned. She looked positively delighted for some odd reason. The smile on her face made me smile. Wordlessly, I pulled her closer, but neither of us said a single thing.


I learned a lot about Rei then and the whole banchou thing less intimidating and more admirable. Since then, Rei and I have been spending more time together. Sometime we'd relax at the park in our neighborhood after I finished practice and just talk. Other days when I didn't have practice, Rei would come over and we'd do homework, at least I would. Rei, on the other hand, seemed content to rummage through my manga. We'd play video games after I finished my work and eat some sort of spicy cuisine before we'd part ways. Every time I would offer to walk her home and she would just grin before heading out the door with an amiable 'Bye Syuusuke' and a wave.

I looked down at Rei who had been chattering away the entire time I was lost in thought about our peculiar relationship.

"So, we still on for tonight?" she asked wrapping her scarf tighter around her neck.

"Mmm-hmm." I hummed tiredly.

Rei peered up into my face with a calculating gaze. One of which I met with a small, tired smile. I did that often with Rei. I didn't 'smile' all the time. It wasn't as if I wasn't enjoying myself, quite the opposite, I just didn't feel the need to be so abnormally and superficially happy. God knows Rei had that covered for the both of us, though all her smiles were warm and sincere. I could just be, for lack of better phrasing, me. No false and blinding smiles. Just a simple, earnest smile. Seeming assured by the small smile, she reached out and grabbed my left arm, huddling in close grinning all the while.

"You're so warm! It's freezing out here! It's ridiculous the kind of weather we students have to endure just ensure our future. Sometimes, I think teachers can secretly control the weather and that they make it really bad to determine which students are more dedicated to their education. I also think they may have secrets meetings where they decide to assign all their work on the same week so we'll be swamped with homework and…"

She's rambling again. She often does. Ah yes, Rei and I were certainly different, but it didn't matter. Somehow we worked. We made good…friends. Yes, we were good friends indeed. I absent-mindedly nodded here and there, but I was almost certain the brunette chatterbox was more than aware that I wasn't listening and simply didn't care. But I indulged her; after all, what are friends for?


Well, that was the next chapter. I tried to involve their evolving relationship. I also needed to get some banchou plot in there. My apologies if it seemed to drag on. I must once again, seeing as I am a creature of habit, apologize for my lateness in updating. I hope I was to get across the difference in speech between Rei and Fuji. For some reason it seems rather pertinent that I do so. I haven't the slightest as to why.

Lastly, I have no beta so there is only one pair of eyes examining the grammar and spelling. I feel like I might have been vicious with the commas this chapter. If you see any errors, do point them out so I can correctly them. I'd also appreciate if you did so in a polite manner. Oh, I also feel as if my writing style has changed. Hopefully it won't be bothersome to you all. But I digress, thank you for reading and have a nice day/evening/night/morning…I'm sure you get it.