Author's Note: Okay, talking to my bff about some Virtua Fighter gave me the inspiration to start this chapter. So, here we go.

Lots of fighting... hopefully, I have enough creativity left after finishing my manuscript to get it all out. I hope so.

--

Look Away

An Akira/Aoi fanfiction by Strike To Incinerate.

--

"(What follows) me as the whitest lace of light
(Will swallow whole) just begs to be imbrued?
(What follows) has led me to this place
where I belong, with all erased
What follows"

Girls Not Grey - AFI

--

The plane ride was long, but there was no avoiding that... from Tokyo to London? A twelve-hour flight wasn't that bad, and two hours into the flight, Aoi had gotten tired (or bored), and fallen asleep on Akira's shoulder. Not wanting to wake her, he decided to flag down a stewardess, get a pillow, and take a nap himself.

When they awoke, it was only three more hours until they landed in London, and the time passed rather quickly.

Soon enough, Aoi had her nose pressed to the window next to her seat, looking down at the dim city lights from above the capitol of the United Kingdom. Every so often, she would glance back at him, trying to hide that anxious half-smile, but he knew, and he smiled back at her.

As they got ever closer to their destination, he found his thoughts drifting to the tournament. Usually, he kept his head clear until after the first match was over, but this time was different. This time, he had a partner. He wanted to win, as he always did, but this time... he wanted to win for her, too. If they won, she would have something to concentrate on, something to distract her from the pain of her mother's passing. Something to be proud of again. And, it would attract more students to her family's gym, and they wouldn't fall into financial ruin.

He shook his head. He had to focus on winning for himself... he couldn't use Aoi as a crutch. And he couldn't let her use him as one, either.

But when it was so easy...

The fasten seat belts light came on above their heads, and the stewardesses began to walk by, checking. They were about to land.

Aoi grabbed his hand, squeezing it, but not out of fear... just pure excitement.

"I can't wait until we get to the hotel... I love the tournament!" she said, forgetting that she had ever considered not going. He could guess why she liked it so much; she got to meet new people, and the tournament sponsors put all of the competitors up in a nice hotel... in suites.

Ah, he hadn't considered that. Would the tag-teams be sharing suites?

Not that it should matter... he and Aoi had slept in the same room. But that was in her family's home. This was different... this was a hotel.

This was a tournament. He sighed. He was over-thinking it. He and Aoi both clearly knew the boundaries of their relationship now. They were friends... any romantic encounters were doomed to end in an argument. They relied on each other as friends should.

She hadn't let go of his hand yet.

It wasn't feeling very friendly.

--

At the airport, they picked up their bags, and went to hail a taxi, but they found a man with a sign bearing their names. After all, they had entered together. Aoi walked towards him, unconcerned, dragging Akira and her rolling suitcase behind her.

He was a chauffeur, who ushered them into a black Escalade with tinted windows. The back seat was spacious, and he loaded their luggage into the trunk, before getting into the driver's seat.

"Oh, the hotel sent you?" Aoi guessed.

"Yes, ma'am," he replied.

"Alright, that was nice of them..." she said. They had never done that before, but with individual entrants, they would have had to send too many cars, she figured. "Do you have a copy of the tournament program?" she asked him.

"Yes, ma'am, right there in the pocket behind my seat," he answered.

Aoi grabbed it, immediately flipping through it. She kept them as keepsakes from each tournament, in lieu of expensive souvenirs, and had one from the third, fourth, and fifth tournaments, all in protective plastic sleeves.

Akira was quiet during the ride, staring out the window, to avoid looking at Aoi while she read. Even looking at books or magazines while he was in the car made him nauseous... he'd been like that ever since he was a kid, but he wasn't sure if Aoi knew. No sense in troubling her.

Within a few minutes time, he could see the hotel... it was much grander than the venue of the last tournament, and much more elegant. Looking at it gave him a feeling of foreboding... not because he knew that he wouldn't fit in there. He never seemed to fit in anywhere.

Well... I guess I fit in at the Umenokouji house pretty well... and bars. But anyone can fit in at a bar.

Why were the sponsors spending so much more money on it, this time? It seemed odd... Aoi probably hadn't noticed, and he didn't blame her for it. With all of the hassles she'd had to deal with over the past months, having someone, or something, else take care of everything and treat her like a celebrity was probably not something she was going to question. Plus, she was so excited.

Bigger, more ritzy hotel, bigger venue, chauffeurs to pick them up... he wouldn't be surprised if the suites turned out to be more like villas; miniature, fully furnished apartments. Where was all of this money coming from? Certainly, the sponsors weren't making that much off of the advertising... it just didn't seem possible. Sure, the World Martial Arts Tournament was one of the biggest tournaments in the world, but... this was just so much. And every year, more and more people attended.

Well, maybe that did balance it out.

But it still seemed excessive...

He shook his head. It seemed excessive to him, because he spent all of his time travelling or training, and he wasn't rich. He just wasn't accustomed to it. Maybe this was perfectly normal for an event so large.

"Oooh... you know that this is the biggest hotel in London?" Aoi said, tugging at his sleeve.

"Yeah, I kinda guessed that," he chuckled wryly.

"You know that the American President has stayed here? And the French Prime Minister?" she continued. "And a ton of movie stars!"

He shook his head again, smiling this time. "Maybe we'll meet one," he said to her.

"You think so?!" she said, her excitement growing. She was like a kid again... he just hoped that all of this excitement wouldn't spoil her performance at the tournament. She would need to be level-headed in the ring.

Of course, Aoi knew that, too.

--

Aoi was more than happy with the suite... almost as soon as they arrived, she was rushing around the suite, marveling at everything inside. "There's a kitchen! And a couch! And a balcony!"

Akira didn't bother to remind her that her house had those things, too, but she was never excited about that.

"Um... anou..." her voice had lost some excitement, and he worried, setting down their bags to go and find her.

"What is it?" he called, quickly finding himself lost in the too-large hotel suite.

"I'm in the bedroom, Akira!" she said.

"Oh," he sighed, and found his way there. As he had expected, there was only one bed. It was one of the large, Western-style ones, with a big wooden frame and a sturdy headboard, all carved out of solid mahogany... but it was still just one bed. He shrugged. "So what?"

She glanced up at him, blinking. "Ara... it's okay if we share a bed?" she asked him.

"Well... I guess they just assumed that we were an item. Or someone told them as much," he said sheepishly. "But we've slept together before, Aoi. It's fine."

"Anou... I know that..." she agreed, a light blush on her face. "This is a hotel room, Akira. We're alone."

"We were alone in the guest room, too," he responded. He knew what she was getting at. In her house, they weren't ever actually alone. Her sisters or father could burst in on them at any moment, and they probably would, too, if they thought anything was going on. It was actually pretty weird. "Would you feel more comfortable if I slept on the couch?" he offered. Of course, they had tried that once, too...

She shook her head quickly. "No, no! It's okay. The bed is big enough..." she said, looking down at it intently, studying it. Her voice dropped very low, and she mumbled, "I'll just, um... sleep on one side, and you sleep on the other..."

He gave her an odd look. "Why are you acting weird about this?" he asked her. "Are you sure you're alright?"

She blushed again. "Y-yes... I'm okay. You're right, I don't know what I was thinking," she apologized.

So, they stood there for a moment, both of them silent, looking at the bed. They both knew what she had been thinking.

"Aoi, just because we're alone in a hotel room doesn't mean---" he began, but a knock came at the door.

Aoi was far too quick to chirp, "I'll go get it!" She rushed out of the room, and he wasn't sure if he was relieved or annoyed about it.

Slowly, he followed after her. It was probably just the bell-boy, but...

"Ah! Lion-san! Mushi-mushi!"

Aoi sounded very, very excited again.

"Mademoiselle Aoi!"

Akira frowned a bit. It was that blond, French kid... the annoying one. And he seemed to be friends with Aoi.

Well, that figures. I bet she's friends with Jacky and Sarah, too... he thought. And Shun-Di and that little Chinese girl and that Mexican wrestler... she was probably friends with all of the other fighters that he found annoying. Sure, he respected them as competitors, but personally, they grated on his nerves. All of them were either loud or concieted or just had some odd tics that made him uncomfortable.

"Is it true?" Lion asked earnestly, as he leaned against the doorway, while Aoi held the door open. He still hadn't noticed Akira.

"Huh?"

"That you're teaming with that brute, Akira Yuki. That's what the tournament program had listed... so?" Lion asked him.

Akira chuckled, and the blond suddenly noticed him, blue eyes bulging for a moment. He swallowed, clearly embarrassed.

"Well... yes," Aoi said. "And please don't call my teammate a brute, Lion-san. Only I get to do that," she giggled, placing a hand over her mouth.

"This brute is going to watch television. Have fun, kids," he told them, heading into the living room, indifferent. He could care less about what Lion Rafale thought of him. Lion was arrogant, to put it mildly. He didn't know when to keep his trap shut, and when he won, he bragged to no end.

Aoi certainly had odd tastes in friends. Maybe they found some common ground because they were about the same age.

Who cared?

"So, who are you teamed up with, Lion-san?" Aoi asked him. He could still hear their conversation in the living room, so he turned up the television.

"Well... pickings are pretty slim in Europe. Most of the real competitors are from America or Asia..." Lion said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I ended up paying a visit to Monsieur Burns," he admitted.

"You'd have been better off entering solo," Aoi muttered, her face getting red. She and Brad were a sore spot... Brad was a womanizing, overindulged idiot who made Lion look like a polite, refined young man. His main reason for entering the World Tournament? To find better competitors. He was the undefeated European Kicking Boxing Champion. His reason for returning every year? Women. He kept hounding all of the female competitors for their phone numbers, trying to get into their pants. Unfortunately, he had made a rival out of Aoi... and at their last match, she had tauntingly promised that if he beat her, she would go on a date with him.

Brad was the reason Aoi hadn't made it to the semi-finals at the last tournament.

After their match, she screamed for Vanessa and Sarah's help, and Vanessa literally beat the snot out of him while Sarah hid her in the hotel room. Afterward, both women had chided her for her cockiness.

But something told Aoi that Brad wasn't going to just forget about it.

"Don't worry, I haven't told him what room you're in. I told the front desk not to let him know, either," Lion assured her.

"Oh, thank God..." Aoi sighed. "You're a real friend. I can't deal with that jerk right now. I have a lot on my plate. This tournament is actually kind of a vacation for me," she told him.

He gave her a funny look. "That bad, huh?"

"Well, let's just say that anything seems like a vacation after someone's tried to kill you," she responded.

"Ah... I think we've all been there," he agreed.

She wasn't sure if he was kidding or not.

"Hey, Lion? Buddy, where are ya?"

Oh, SHIT. It was Brad. Aoi instantly grabbed Lion's arm, dragged him into the room, and shut the door, locking it as well. She pulled him into the living room, placing a finger over her mouth.

"Aoi, what the hell?!" Akira growled. "I'm trying to watch tv. Can't you and Rafale-san go play hide and seek outside?"

"No. Brad Burns is It. This is important. Just shut up," Aoi demanded, her voice barely above a whisper as she placed a hand over his mouth.

It felt like an hour before they stopped hearing Brad's insistent call, and Aoi sighed, flopping down on the couch. "God... he's so creepy..."

"You don't have to share a room with him," Lion shuddered.

"So, what's the deal?" Akira asked her. "Did you guys fuck or something?" he asked Aoi.

"Why? You jealous, Akira-kun?" she asked him, raising a brow. He was being awfully gruff about it.

"... No."

"Huh, then I guess it doesn't matter if I tell you," she said, pulling her knees up to her chest.

"Aoi promised him a date if she lost, and she's not paying up," Lion blurted out.

Aoi slapped him.

"Man, you can be a real bitch sometimes..." the blond groaned, rubbing his cheek.

"So can you."

Akira merely laughed. "Is that all? Little Aoi got in over her head?" he teased her. It was nice to see that even the almighty Aoi Umenokouji could bite off more than she could chew.

She picked up a pillow and beat him with it. "You shut up, too! Don't gang up on me! I just wanted to beat the tar out of him! He goaded me into it!" she responded.

Akira grabbed the pillow. She didn't doubt that Brad had goaded her into making that little bet, but he also knew that that probably wasn't his intent. Brad wasn't cunning enough to think that far ahead. He was stupid, but he was also a showman. "You know, it's a really easy fix," he told her.

"It is?" she looked surprised.

"Yeah," he said, setting the pillow down. "I just go out there and tell him that if he even looks at you again, I'll stuff his head up his ass."

Aoi blushed deeply, and so did Lion.

"I fucking knew it!" Lion hissed. "Damn it, I told Jacky that you guys were together, and he didn't believe me! Hah! That moron owes me a hundred bucks!"

Aoi picked up the pillow again. "You were making bets about me?!" she demanded.

"Well, I mean, it was so obvious--"

Aoi began to swing the pillow, but Akira grabbed it from her again.

"First of all, Aoi and I are friends. We've known each other for twenty years. That's most of her life. We're not fucking." Aoi was still blushing. "Secondly, some friend you are. You could've just cheated and asked her."

"Well, that's not very honorable..." he said, then trailed off, realizing the hole he had dug himself into. "Oh, wait..." Akira beamed the pillow into his face. It knocked him onto his back.

He looked at Aoi again. "So... you want me to go out there and tell Jock McBoner to back off?" he offered her.

She shook her head. "No, it's okay... I don't want to bother you or anything. I'll just beat him this time, and that'll set him straight," she answered.

"You sure?" he asked.

"Keep insisting like that, and people will really think that we are dating," she responded, standing up. "Come on, Lion... let's go get your money from Jacky."

"Sweet. Then we can take Sarah and Vanessa to dinner," he agreed, standing up.

"Akira-kun... you coming?" she asked him.

Part of him wanted to, but he shook his head. An entire dinner with Barbie, She-Hulk and Frat Boy? Nah. "You go have fun with your friends. I'll probably go see what Wolf or Taka-Arashi are up to. It's cool," he told her.

"Oh, okay... see you when I get back, maybe?" she said, slipping on her shoes. In the next minute, she was gone, and he was left alone, watching Jeopardy.

--

"No way! Prove it!" Jacky demanded, clenching his fists. Sure, he had enough money to blow a couple hundred on some stupid bets, but he didn't like being wrong.

"Aoi, you sleeping with Akira?" Lion asked her blandly.

"Yup. Missionary position and everything," she responded, crossing one leg over the other. Sarah and Vanessa were getting ready, and it was boring her.

"God dammit... I guess you win..." Jacky said, defeated, pulling his leather wallet from his back pocket. "How the hell did Akira nail you, anyway?"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Aoi growled, her lips curling into a frown.

"No offense to you... but you're kinda... clean. And cute. And he's... not," Jacky said awkwardly, handing some bills to Lion.

"What my brother is trying to say is that Akira is gross, and every guy in the World Tournament wants to bang you, Aoi," Sarah said, stepping out of the room she shared with Vanessa.

Aoi blushed. "Th-that's not true..."

"Well... maybe not. But in any case, you look like a good little girl who does her homework and cleans her room and Akira looks like he drives a motorcycle, wears too-tight pants and chain smokes," Sarah said, shrugging.

"What?" Aoi asked, confused.

"Sorry... she watched Cry Baby last night. Tell the chaffeur not to drive past any prisons or she might burst into song," Vanessa warned.

"Um, okay," Aoi agreed, standing up. "You guys ready?" she asked.

"Yeah, let's go," Vanessa said.

"Thanks, big brother!" Sarah teased him as they all stepped out the door.

--

With all of the desserts and drinks, dinner took much longer than expected, and the bill was much larger than the hundred dollars Lion had won from Jacky... but it didn't matter. Lion was rich, something Aoi often forget, because Lion was also kind of a joker.

Aoi was leaning against the door as she fumbled for the key card to open it. She managed to get it out and slide it into the electronic lock, but the door suddenly opened, and she felt herself falling forward...

until she hit something solid and warm, and promptly passed out.

Akira sighed, picking her up and nudging the door shut with his foot. She was light, so carrying her to the bedroom was no big deal...

But it was two a.m.

She had been out with her friends all night, and something told him that they'd been doing more than just having dinner. Her head lolled to the side, against his neck, and he could smell alcohol on her breath... She probably wasn't drunk. She'd probably had just enough to make her very tired, and all of the excitement and food had just pushed her past her limit...

He hoped. She wouldn't be stupid enough to get blitzed the night before the first round of the tournament. She wouldn't be at her best if she had a hangover.

"I'm the stupid alcoholic, not you," he grumbled, setting her down on the mattress. He pulled back the blanket and covered her with it.

She turned onto her side, muttering something.

He raised a brow. "You awake, Aoi?" he asked her.

"Mmm... no..."

"Oh, okay," he said with a wry smile.

"I said... that you're not stupid... and I'm not drunk, either..." she told him quietly.

"Ah, nice to know. Get some sleep," he told her, turning off the light.

"Sleep with me."

He stopped in the doorway. "What?" he asked her.

"Not like that..." she told him, her voice at a normal level. "Just... next to me. Like we were doing before."

He was confused. She was the one that had stopped doing it... so what right did she have to ask for it again? He felt something tugging at him... almost against his will, he started moving back towards the bed. He was literally inable to open his mouth and tell her he wasn't going to.

He was going to.

"Alright..." he said, slipping under the covers. She rolled over again, towards her, fitting easily into his outstretched arms, and something about it made him feel more at ease. He knew his heart was hammering away with her head against his chest, and he wondered if she could feel it. Or hear it. "Better?"

"Yes..." She yawned. "Thank you..."

She was asleep before he could tell her that it was no problem at all.

He hadn't really wanted to sleep on the couch anyway.

--

"Did somebody take your tongue?
In worries of the words that you couldn't say if they could've saved them from
But I don't want to sleep without so I bid to you goodnight
Tonight, sleep tight, my love."

The Velorium Camper I: Faint of Hearts - Coheed and Cambria

--

Author's Note: Well, the tournament was going to start in this chapter, but I figured that it was long enough as is. The tournament will officially start in the next chapter. Which should be up sometime soon. Hopefully. I have no more manuscripts to use as excuses. xD