Hello everyone, I hope you like this chapter as well as sorry for the wait, been busy as well as it was somewhat difficult putting the chapter up, all thanks for this chapter goes to the beta Fallen-Ryu.
Chapter 7
SOMETIME LATER BACK AT ASHFORD ACADEMY, IN THE STUDENT COUNCIL'S ROOM
"I SAID NO!" Shouted Leloucia just as the door opens to reveal the tired Kallen. What the teen saw surprised her since they were wearing cat theme clothing. Nina only wore a tiger head piece while at the computer but unlike her, Rivalz, Naruto, Rai, Suzaku, Milly, and Shirley wore outfits. Her gaze focused on the struggling Leloucia who was sitting on a chair, all tied up with Shirley and Rivalz painting her face to make cat features as well as having Suzaku hold her head with Naruto holding her right arm and Rai the left. Clara was just sitting down with only a pair of cat ears on, petting the cat. Milly was the first to notice the unmoving Kallen in the toon before facing her.
"Good meowing!" Milly said to the surprised Kallen who just stares at the group before entering completely.
"What is all this?" She questioned the group of students in confusion.
"What do you mean, didn't we tell you? It's our welcome party for Arthur." Rivalz said, signaling the cat to "meow" aloud.
"Sounds...fun..." Kallen said, still not letting it all sink in.
"Ehehe, classes are postponed so we might as well as have fun, right?" Milly told her classmate just before Shirley spoke again.
"I set some stuff aside for you, over here. To make up for all my getting so upset before, take your pick!" Hearing that, Naruto was now curious.
"Getting upset for what?" When he asked that, immediately Shirley began too blush while Suzaku started to sweat.
"Well-" He was silenced by seeing Rai mouthing the word "No" as well as receiving a glare from Shirley that shut him up. Milly could only smile before approaching Naruto so she could wrap her arms around him with her head leaning on his shoulder. Seeing this, Shirley immediately blushes.
"Pres, why are you hugging Naruto like that for?!" She demanded the smiling student council president.
"Nothing at all, I just wanted to get a better look at his face since he looks good in whiskers!" When she said that, Naruto blinks in surprise when he heard that before he jolted when he felt two "assets" pressing against his back. Almost immediately, Leloucia's eyes narrowed at seeing what was happening to him, showing a glint of annoyance in her eyes but their attention was drawn towards the now tearful Suzaku.
"I'm glad...that we could all be together again, you know like this?" Suzaku said, wiping away his tears before hearing a meow and stops to see Clara sticking out the cat towards him.
"Stop making things sound depressing or I'll have Arthur attack you." When she said that, Rivalz thought she was joking about the threat.
"Come on Clara, you can't possibly think-" He was cut off by Clara tossing Arthur on Rivalz before the cat's claws dig into him before it starts scratching its face with loud and angry "meow" sounds.
"Get him off! GET HIM OFF!" Rivalz shouted just before Rai grabs the cat which he too was then viciously attacked by the cat until it stops after hearing Clara say its name, walks past the two teens who lay on the floor, holding the faces in pain.
"That...was harsh..." Naruto muttered, watching the cat jump back into Clara's arms so she could once again pet the cat calmly.
"So, calm yet so dark...she didn't even bat an eye at the two getting attacked..." Suzaku muttered in shock, watching Clara only smile down at the cat before looking back up.
"I just showed him I wasn't joking..." Clara said with an innocent tone in her voice, adding to the air around her that she's even more innocent...not that they believe it after seeing that mess. Rai finally stands up with scratches all over his face as well as showing a depressed expression at getting his ass kicked by a cat of all things.
"So, what are you girls planning on doing now since you can't leave the school?" Rai questions the ones knowing who he's talking about. Hearing that, Milly placed a hand on her chin in wonder due to reporters being outside the academy as well as questioned many times by classmates including in the bathrooms…
"Yeah, you're not letting any of us leave while you're stuck here." Spoke Rivalz who has to stay in the school like the other student council members but at that moment, Milly had gotten a very interesting idea.
"Let's go on a trip, just us in the student council!" When Milly says that, they were all curious where exactly it would be.
"What about the reporters outside?" Naruto asked Milly who only smiles.
"Leave that to me!" She told the fellow blonde classmate.
"Where exactly would we be going?" Spoke Rai, who was very curious where she plans to go.
"To the beach, it's Friday after all and classes are already over!" When she said that, they were all now surprised by her words.
4:30 PM, AREA 11 TIME, ASHFORD ACADEMY
"I don't know how she did it, but were somehow away from the academy." Naruto muttered as he and the rest of the student council boys sat in the back of the decent sized bus that the Ashford's had for school trips like this.
(of course, being an expensive school where noble children went to it did have some of the best things for it after all!)
"Try to not let it get to you Buddy! But man, I can't wait to see what beach we're going to!" Rivalz said as he cheerfully leaned over his seat in the back wrapping an arm around both Naruto and Suzaku who were sharing one seat...though in the very back you could make out a good number of suitcases that had somehow gotten aboard the bus.
Rai could only sigh as he rubbed his aching face, the scratches were healing thankfully for modern medicine, but frankly he was slightly jealous that rivalz seemed to have the better healing out of the two of them that were attacked by Clara's demon cat. Said girl was with the other Ashford ladies in the front, and somehow again they had managed to get Nunnally with them though Naruto guess correctly Leloucia had used her evil glare of doom on any poor fool who dared ask why a blind, crippled girl was going to the beach with them, along with their maid Sayoko. Milly on the other hand was busy making plans getting together Ashford's two heartthrobs (not that Naruto and Leloucia know it!) together, and tease Shirley about her tiny crush on Naruto...though she would admit only to herself that she might have a tiny bit of feelings for the said blond...mostly due to spending so much time together over the years.
Milly could only faintly smile as she dwelled into memories of the past...before her ever-evil smirk made its way to her face as she found Shirley in front of her talking excitedly to Leloucia who was mostly staring out of the window in her typical thinking form, Nunnally had long gone asleep on the other seat next to Sayoko so Leloucia could relax a bit. Well, as if she could with Milly around trying to find blackmail on her.
As it was, Nina was busy typing on a laptop Computer and Clara had somehow gotten Arthur to come with them, both sat on opposite sides of the small bus dividing the boys with the luggage and the girls who either talked or made plans to mess with everyone else.
Leloucia, as she stared out on the passing form of the settlement could only sink herself into her memories of happier times, though she could still remember them after what she had through was a small miracle, no thanks to a certain blonde haired friend who had come into her life...it was almost that day to when they had met but still as with everything she had her goals to settle with, and until that time she would do anything to make Nunnally's dream world a reality. A truly peaceful place, and she could think of no one better to stand by her side than Naruto. That thought caused a small blush to appear as she wondered why that thought came to before a racket in the back caused everyone to look as Arthur had found his way to Suzaku...again.
Kallen was busy sitting next to Clara and trying to not nod off after a few night raids Zero had them do recently, mostly just a few drug busts and raids on a small time military outpost for supplies and equipment. Thank goodness, some of the group had skills outside combat, turns out Tamaki was a decent mechanic, and with time and effort could do something other than getting his knightmare trashed even if he did a large amount of damage to the enemy.
Other than this motely group of people few people were heading to the beaches of the settlement or near them due to the recent high jacking of the hotel. So, the beaches would have been clear... But knowing Milly, there was going to be an interesting time. Like the shadow of a sword passing over them the entire group besides Nunnally, Sayoko, and Milly shuddered as one...as if a thousand timelines were screaming to not go there...and were utterly silenced by something in the name of entertainment.
"Kukukuku, let the student council beach time...COMMENCE!" Milly thought to herself as the bus finally stopped at the location, they could have a few hours until sunset, and even then, it was at most an hour's drive back to the settlement, plus with it being the weekend and the papers that were signed allowed Milly to...requisition her little minions for an Ashford academy sleep-over event. She will be getting her chance to embarrass Leloucia into admitting to liking her fellow cute blonde, even if she had to bring out her secret weapons of doom. Leloucia could only feel a slight onset of unknown fear course through her and a strange sense of annoyance and satisfaction strangely enough. By the time they had arrived, they found themselves on a beach with almost no people there, the few who were far down on the beach. Naruto was standing there on the beach with his toes digging into the sand with Rai, Rivalz, and Suzaku who were taking off their shirts and placing them on the towel that was set for them.
Each of them had gone for wearing their swim-wear underneath their clothes, unlike the girls who had to go to the nearby changing station/bathroom to do so. Along with some stands that had sleepy looking cashiers and slow business, everything was shaping up to be a Ashford beach party!
When the boys finished with their changing, they heard Milly call out as she walked out of the changing rooms followed by the other girls.
Milly was wearing a dark-red bikini that looked well on her and a pair of sunglasses atop her head. On her right was Shirley wearing an aqua colored bikini. Behind them was Nina wearing a one piece yellow swimsuit with sun hat atop her head as well as having two pigtails on each side of her head braided. Kallen stood next to her wearing a black bikini with an opened orange sleeveless shirt. Clara was at the back, also wearing a one-piece swimsuit but was grey with Arthur being held in her arms. Among the group was also Sayoko pushing Nunnally's chair, the adult wore a light-green dressing while Nunnally wore a pink single piece swimsuit with her hair in pigtails. When Naruto's eyes fell on Leloucia he started to blush before looking away since she wore a dark-purple bikini, showing off her body. Seeing that, Naruto's gaze was focused on what she was wearing, she looks away with a blush while rubbing her left arm.
"Stop staring, it's embarrassing." Hearing that, he immediately looks away with a blush.
S-Sorry...it's just...you're not the kind of person who wears a swimsuit..." Naruto said, unable too recall a time that she wore a bikini.
"Well Naruto, are you going to be staring at our Vice President, or are you going to take off your shirt for the rest of the girls." Milly teased Naruto with her classic grin while both Naruto and Leloucia both blush at the implication, of course the rest of the gang had their own small smiles.
Nunnally was having her own little dream of having Naruto as a big brother, and mentioned as such to Sayako who also giggled behind her hand.
"O-o-oh right..." Naruto mumbled as he looked to the side while Leloucia looked away from him, her own blush covering her face making her cheeks red. Naruto starts to remove his shirt and the moment after he removed it, he could clearly see all the females were staring at him with faint blushes, Leloucia's face burning even more then before she swiftly turns around to calm herself down. Milly on the other hand was grinning even more as she eyed Naruto, Clara and Nina both had a small blush each while Shirley did have her blush but noticed quickly something about him she didn't know he had before-hand.
"What?" Naruto asked, clearly not understanding that he is the only guy among his classmates being the most physically fit, besides Suzaku...and even then, he didn't really have much time to perfect his martial arts and train himself since the Britannian army really didn't like it, and the engineering corps for Camelot didn't let him have time besides either working on the Lancelot or going over combat data. Milly could only smile, fighting the urge to drool but noticed the scars on his body.
"Naruto, where did you get those scars at?" Hearing Shirley ask that, he just blinks in surprise before looking down at his abdomen. A short-lived frown came on his face before he schooled his features and responded.
"Don't know exactly, I can't really recall." Naruto responded in a calm tone, Shirley looked like she wanted to say more before Milly cut her off with her usual cheer.
"GUTS! ITS TIME FOR THE ASHFORD STUDENT COUNCIL VOLLEYBALL GAME!" Milly shouted aloud while having the same grin as always, he poise looking as energetic for her newest scheme as always.
At this point, Rai could only make a single question.
"Where's the volley-ball?" He asked with a small frown on his face as he tried to remember when they got the ball. Milly could only grin as she pointed to a rather large inflatable ball next to some of the luggage she had the boys bring on board.
All the boys could do was sigh as they trudged over and then did the age-old rock-paper-scissors to see who gets to lose their breath first while the girls set up their spots on the beach.
A few minutes later the larger then normal ball (which was more of an inflatable beach ball rather than a volley ball) was ready and the teams of 4 were chosen, one the left side of the little sand-court was Suzaku, Rai, Naruto, and Rivalz while on the girl's side was Shirley, Clara, Leloucia, and Milly...of course said blond haired menace was crackling internally as she began her plans to mess with her minion's heads.
"First stage: Mess with Naruto and Lulu by "accidently" bumping them into each other, hopefully they fall onto one another! If they do so then Nina is to take the picture and hand it to Kallen to give to Sayako for safe keeping!" Milly thought to herself with an even more darker grin. Not noticing their President's plan, the players for the Ashford "volleyball" game got to their respective sides...and all was decently well for the ladies team...of course the reason why the boys tend to either get distracted (in Naruto and Rivalz case with Milly and Leloucia respectively.) Suzaku had to avoid Arthur coming after him via Clara, and Rai was to busy trying to keep the peace on his team and avoid the distractions the blond haired menace from the women's side of the team kept doing.
Which was not limited to: Taunting or messing with the front row positions when she was there with somewhat exaggerated movements...of course Shirley caught on and tried to reprimand the young women...didn't work and made the situation worse. Steadily getting behind Leloucia when she was up front...which was right now for when her plan was finally put into action. With a good punch to the beach-ball and her being close with Naruto and Leloucia maneuvering to stop or block each other, they didn't realize that Milly had purposely picked a shorter net than normal, in order for the players to barely reach the bottom of the net just by standing underneath them.
The result ending with Leloucia being bumped into Naruto who tripped behind himself (Arthur had been behind him so he had stepped up a bit in order to not step on the cat, which resulted in said cat running after Suzaku to bite) and she fell on top of him face to face. Needless to say, Nina was burning red even under the shade of a nearby sun-umbrella all the while taking a few photos...Kallen was gawking at the situation and the rest of the council was stunned as Milly let out her usual witch-like crackle. Nunnally was busy wondering what was going on as Sayako giggled in her hands. Naruto and Leloucia were busy staring at each other with a blush slowly growing on each other's faces. Until the laughter of Milly knocked them out of their trance states and had them scramble up and a bit away from each other while awkwardly trying to say sorry about the indicted...of course Leloucia easily knew that Milly probably planned this out...how that young women could make a complex plan for her festivals and plots while not able to effectively manage the council budget or even keep order in the school was beyond her at the moment...well besides her own skills in management that had grown due to having to deal with Millys shenanigans. Naruto was busy trying to cover up the fact that Leloucia had once again been on a little too close for comfort due to her attractiveness in his eyes and he was feeling the effects of being a teenager at this rate...thankfully it hadn't gotten out of hand like the time in the Sutherland..though it was VERY close call, and he was wearing the baggier version of his swimwear this time. No need to have the pool incident happen again.
Other than that incident the resulting few more hours of beach time were surprisingly pleasant...if you counted the fact that Milly embarrasses Shirley, Clara, and Leloucia on several small occasions...such as the Ashford twin water tag incident that had the boys try to knock each other into the water while the girls sat on their shoulders trying to get at a ribbon on each other's left arms...needless to say she had paired the people together quite interesting. Again, Naruto and Leloucia were in a team, with her and Rivalz (surprisingly Rivalz was able to stand during that time-frame for a good while!), Rai and Clara, and Shirley and Suzaku. The boys were thankful the water was cold enough to calm down their blood, while the girls besides Milly were blushing from the interesting conflict the she-witch had put them through. Of course, the prize was that the winners had to give each other a kiss...needless to say Rivalz was motivated enough to cause some havoc even for A Suzaku unused to maneuvering in water. At the end however it was a tie as Leloucia had Naruto maneuver them to a perfect spot to insure such a situation wouldn't happen...though her cheeks kept burning red whenever she got into more contact with him and she had noticed Naruto's own glances at her. She sighed as she rubbed her face as the group took a break...it would be an hour or two before sun-down and she was tired out from Milly's shenanigans, but it was a welcome break from the business with the black knights. Though Milly's attempts to throw both Naruto and her together was plain as day to her after the beach-ball incident...which was labeled now as being a direct contender to cross-dressers day...how Naruto managed to pull off that dress she will never know, but it still brought heat to her cheeks when she thought about it from the embarrassment. Still, sitting on some of the nearby rocks while she looked out at the sea had a small calming effect on her as she smiled when she saw Sayako carefully bring Nunnally into the shallows of the beach. Needless to say, she would be a handful over breakfast, lunch, and dinner over the next few days would bring some life to place they called home.
"Everything all right Lulu?" Naruto asked her as he sat down next to her causing her to be a little startled...though she calmed down when he presented a soft drink to her as he had his small smile she knew he had on...even if he tried to hide it in his drink. That smile she loved to see on him at times...his real one...that he reserved for her and Nunnally and no one else.
"Yes, everything is going as expected of Milly, even if she tried her usual tricks." Leloucia mused with a small caring smile on face.
"You know, I've been looking up at the internet these days, and frankly there's some pretty interesting things going on these days." Naruto started slowly...something that Leloucia noticed and look at him questioningly.
"There's a scientist in India that has been experimenting with both cybernetics and some biology...and get this it has to deal with muscular atrophy and bones, specifically in the lower parts of the body." Naruto finished as he looked at her directly while bringing out Nina's extra laptop out with the said web-page for the scientist's articles as well as several other links that would help with research. Leloucia's somewhat watery smile was something he wasn't expecting, nor the fierce hug she gave him...
But her whispered thank you's...told him so much more as he carefully gave the hug back gently. After a few minutes Leloucia composed herself with her true smile on her face as she carefully looked through the articles, her eyes gaining that sharp look that he honestly found endearing to her as he also helped...while he wasn't a genius as she was, he did have his moments of sheer ingenuity. The next hour would see the two leaning on each other as they looked through the medical articles that may one day help Nunnally walk again.
xxxxxCHAPTER ENDxxxxx
NEXT TIME, BATTLE OF NARITA.
