Mega: And we're back!
Kirino: Why must you be so cheesy?
Mega: Because I'm the author! Duh!
Kirino: That is not a reason…
Mega: Sure it is! Now for the reviews!
Reviews
do your best: Thank you! *Takes exaggerated bow* When I write, I actually have the last chapter up so that I can follow it accurately. I'm glad that my efforts are noticed!
Fujoshi Girl 101: GOOD! Here's the next chapter, and sorry for the late(ish) update.
2gatita8: Five words:
Next. Chapter. Is. Here. Enjoy!
Guest: It is continued! I'm glad that you enjoy the kawaiiness!
Guest #2: Here you go! *hands Guest #2 the new chapter* Hope you like it!
OTP's are all you need: Fallon is pleased with your review. Fallon: Muwahaha! I am liked! Mega: I don't know how you see it. Maybe I should write in your PoV, Yan. Here's a new chapter, so enjoy Fallon's insanity. Fallon: Yeah!
Guest #3: The next chapter is out now and is available at your local . Haha! Just kidding, but here's the next chapter, so I hope you like it!
Mega: More awesome reviews! How much better can this get?
Fallon: 'Sup, Mega?
Kirino: Oh no… Not you, too…
Fallon: Yup, and I'm here to help Mega write another Kirino-torture chapter!
Kirino: NO! *runs away to find Shindou*
Mega: Oh well. Thanks, Fallon. Now, onto the chapter, minna!
Chapter Ten: Reward
~Kirino's PoV~
When I finally awoke from my slumber, I cracked my eyes open tiredly. Takuto was by my side as he had been for the past few days reading a book, but I could sense that presence again, the protective one. It wasn't very noticeable, really. It was one of those presences that you could barely feel, but it was there. It was a nice feeling knowing that someone was watching over you. I had felt it from Takuto, sure, but this was different. The presence almost felt sibling-like. It was slightly peculiar, but it was calming none the less.
"Takuto?" I whispered as I tugged on his arm gently. He jerked at the contact before his eyes settled on me, and he calmed down.
"Yes, Ranmaru? How do you feel?" He asked gently as he pulled me into a sitting position.
I looked at him for a second before answering, "I'm fine, but what happened, Takuto? You seem tense."
He froze before he hugged me tightly. "It's nothing. I just got a little scared. That's all."
"What were you scared of?" I hummed into his shoulder as he continued to hold me.
"Of losing you," he breathed into my ear.
"Losing me? Why would you be scared of that?" I sighed as his grip tightened even further.
He paused before he answered me, "when I got here earlier, you were gone, Ranmaru."
"Gone?" I parroted before it all clicked. The feeling of being pulled, carried, dragged, that was all by the person whom was responsible for my brief disappearance.
"Yeah," he nodded. "I looked like you were taken somewhere, so I went to look for you, but when I got back, you were here like before."
"Oh," I murmured, deciding to keep quiet about my brief "outing".
"Mmm. So you're feeling better, then, Ranny?" He laughed softly.
I glared at him good-naturedly, "I was until you called me by that ridiculous nickname, Shindou."
He feigned a wince, "ouch! I thought that we were on a first name basis here."
I grinned before punching his arm gently. "You should've thought of that before you started calling me "Ranny", Mr. Prodigy!"
"Yeah, I guess so." He chuckled before his face became serious again. "Do you really feel better, Ran?"
I nodded simply. "Of course I am. I've spent the past day sleeping, haven't I? I have enough energy to compete with Sasuke!"
"Really, now? If that's the case, are you up for some lunch, then?" He asked as he got up off of the chair he had been sitting on.
"Fine with me. I could eat." I told him as I slid off my bed and onto my feet. I wobbled slightly before regaining my sense of balance and walking towards the door.
Shindou joined me, and, together, we left the room and headed towards the cafeteria. I bounced down the hallway excitedly. It was the first time in a while that I had felt so good. I could hear Shindou's soft laughter at my attitude, but I didn't care. I actually felt GOOD! For a while, I was just okay, and then I got sick, but now I felt so much better. It was a great relief to not feel, just, well, sick.
We reached our destination quickly and entered together. Most of the team was there, excluding Tenma for obvious reasons. I glanced around the cafeteria before locating Tsurugi at a table in the back corner of the room.
I swiftly made my way towards the lone striker, giving brief replies to some calls of my surname. Shindou followed me and we both sat down at the table.
Shindou turned to me, "I'll go get us some food. I'll be right back." He then darted towards the line for food.
I nodded to him as he moved away from me. I turned towards Tsurugi and looked at him solemnly.
"How is Tenma?"
Tsurugi sighed tiredly. "He's fine now, but he's spiked a fever."
"Oh. What does Wonderbot think?" I pressed.
"He says that Tenma should be fine, but at the rate that Tenma's recovering, I'm starting to doubt that."
"Yeah," I agreed, "but we need to stay positive. He'll get better soon. I now that he will! He is Tenma, after all."
"You're right. Since when has Tenma ever let something like that keep him down?" Tsurugi grinned for the first time since Tenma's collapse. "Are you coming to practice, Kirino? You seem to be doing better."
"I want to, but Shindou's probably going to be a mother hen again, so I'm not positive yet." I answered him.
We waited in silence for a few more seconds before Shindou appeared again with our food in hand. He placed a tray in front of me and sat down with his own tray. I didn't really bother to look at what he'd gotten for me and just started eating it hungrily. I finished it quickly, my hunger now satisfied.
"Someone was hungry," Shindou laughed.
"Yeah. Going without food for a day will do that to you." I snapped back.
Shindou just laughed again before resuming eating. Tsurugi looked slightly amused by our banter, but he kept it hidden well.
We sat in silence for a time while Shindou finished eating his meal. When he was done, we began discussing a plan of action on how to get our team back in shape. Most of the conversation was just Tsurugi and Shindou bickering, but I did put in a word or two here and there. The conversation stopped abruptly when they realized that it was time for the team's afternoon practice.
"Kirino, why don't you go back to-"
"No. I'm going to practice too." I cut him off sharply. "There is no way that I'm not going to practice when I'm completely fine."
"But last time…" He tried to reason.
I shook my head. "I wasn't completely better then, but I am now. It won't be like last time, Shindou. I can promise you that."
"Fine, but if you start feeling sick or tired, promise me that you'll rest," he told me.
"Of course, Shindou. Now, let's go."
He still looked uneasy, but I had reassured him enough that he agreed. The three of us walked towards the field in silence. The trip was short, but it sure was awkward.
We reached the field quickly, but we slowed to a halt at the surprising sight that awaited us on the field.
In the middle of the field stood a girl holding a thick book. She had curly brown hair that fell below her shoulders and ended an inch or two past her collar bone. Her face was covered with a pair of teal glasses, and her strangely colored eyes were resting calmly on us.
"Well it took you long enough. Honestly, I was beginning to think that you'd gotten lost on the way here." She sighed lazily, one of her hands drifting down and resting on her hip while the other held her book tightly. "I'm glad to see that you've all arrived in one piece."
"W-who are you?!" Shindou yelled, seeming very flustered. Tsurugi looked suspicious too, but I couldn't shake the feeling that I knew her from somewhere.
Then I remembered. Her voice and attitude matched my unknown savior perfectly, so she must've been the one to bring me back to my room after the other stranger dragged me out of it. She also had the presence that I had been feeling all day. Now everything seemed to fit together perfectly.
"So you remember me, then, Ranmaru?" She hummed, seeing the realization on my face.
Shindou wheeled on me suddenly, "you know her, Kirino?"
"Uh, y-yeah. I guess I do." I looked at my two friends shocked faces before I decided to explain the whole story to avoid any misunderstandings. "When I went missing for a little while today, she found me and brought me back to my room."
"Really?" Shindou turned to the girl curiously.
She laughed mockingly. "I'm not denying it, am I?"
Shindou gritted his teeth in anger, "that doesn't mean that it's true!"
"Perhaps not, but do you think that Ranmaru would lie to you of all people, Takuto?" She asked him calmly. She did have a good point… I wouldn't lie to Takuto, and he knew that.
Shindou looked ready to snap back at her, but then he realized her point. Instead, he balled his fists and glared at the girl.
She laughed at him before looking at Tsurugi. "What's your plan, Kyousuke? I'd ask Takuto, but I'm afraid that he'll end up crying."
Geeze, this girl really knew how to hit nerves, didn't she? Shindou wasn't too happy about her statement, either. "I would not!"
"Oh, I have no doubt," she smirked sarcastically. "Not that it matters. Do you or do you not have a game plan for fixing your team, Kyousuke?"
Tsurugi nodded, "I do, but I want to know who you are before I'll even consider telling you."
"Demanding, aren't we. Oh well, it can't be helped, I suppose. I am Fallon, an ally and friend, and you'll do well to remember it." She said, authority filling her voice.
Tsurugi looked at her for a moment before I decided to jump in. "You should listen to her, Tsurugi."
"Yes, do listen to Ranmaru, please." She told Tsurugi nonchalantly.
Tsurugi hesitated once more before he looked over at the female brunette, "fine."
He walked towards her, and they began discussing ideas on how repair our fractured team and teamwork.
"I don't like her…" Shindou hissed to me.
I stuck out my tongue, "that's just because she totally just showed you up."
"It is not!" He flushed, embarrassed that I had guessed his reason for disliking Fallon correctly.
"I'm sure," I grinned like Fallon had earlier.
He groaned, "not you too…"
I just laughed and wrapped my arms around him. "You act like you don't love it."
"Ranmaru…" He moaned. "Why do you hate me?"
"I don't hate you, Shinny. I just like teasing you!" I snickered evilly.
"You're so mean, Ranny!" He smiled before he pulled my arms away and picked me up bridal-style.
"T-Takuto! Put me down!" I flailed wildly, not wanting to be picked up by my lover in public.
"And why would I do that?" He breathed into my ear. I flushed slightly as he did so.
He seemed to take my blush as my surrender and began swinging me around wildly. I fought feebly against him, but he just chuckled and continued on. My blush intensified greatly, and I resorted to closing my eyes to deal with the embarrassment.
I didn't know how long Shindou's silliness continued, but it was cut short by a quiet laugh. I opened my eyes to see Fallon looking at us in amusement; Tsurugi was behind her, too, but he was silent.
"I'm not interrupting anything important, am I?" I snickered softly.
Shindou looked at her coldly, "not at all."
He put me down carefully and continued to stare coldly at Fallon. I wonder if he's going to act like this towards Fallon forever…
"Good. We're going to need you two to round up your teammates, as it seems that that they're not here yet."
Now that she mentioned it, none of our friends had arrived yet. I wonder where they were. Were they just late, or did something happen to them?
"Alright," Shindou growled, "we'll go get them."
I didn't have time to say anything to the pair as Shindou began to drag me away. I allowed him to pull me along for a while, but I decided to strike up a conversation with him after we had walked many minutes in silence.
"Where do you think everyone is?" I asked him casually.
He shrugged, "I'm not sure. Maybe they forgot about practice with all the recent insanity."
"I guess that's a reasonable explanation…" It was defiantly possible, but I didn't think that was the reason.
"You don't seem to agree, Ranmaru. What's your theory?" He inquired thoughtfully.
"It's not that I don't think that your explanation isn't reasonable, I just think that there might be more to it." I explained to him.
He looked intrigued, "like what?"
I shrugged, "like I said, I'm not sure. I just don't think it's as simple as you think it is."
We walked in silence again. Shindou seemed to be pondering what I had said, and I was lost in my own thoughts, wondering what had happened to our teammates. We got our answer when we got to the bedroom hallway.
In the middle of the hallway stood a girl that looked similar to Fallon, but she was thinner, and her hair had a reddish tint to it. In front of her coward our teammates. Most of them looked to be fine, but Taiyo and Fei were sprawled on the floor and had forming bruises.
The girl noticed our presence with astounding speed and was in front of us before I could even do so much as blink. She frowned before she began moving closer to us.
Shindou grabbed me and pulled me behind him. "Who are you, exactly?"
The girl just glared and continued moving towards us, "I'm surprised that you're here, Kirino Ranmaru. I would've thought that Fallon would have you under lock and key right now."
I was going to reply, but another person beat me to it. "Unlike you, I don't micromanage people, Kaen."
The girl now dubbed "Kaen" hissed in anger at the sight of Fallon, but I was just wondering where she had come from.
Fallon simply continued, unfazed by the other girl's obvious dislike of her, "I also don't kidnap people and hold hostages, but it appears that you do."
"I do not!" She growled.
Fallon just smirked, "prove it."
Begrudgingly, Kaen moved away from us and our friends. Then, she pulled out a small sphere and threw it onto the ground. I hissed in pain along with the rest of my teammates as a sudden bright light filled the room. It was gone just as soon as it had appeared, but I had to rub my eyes to get rid of the spots that had appeared in my line of sight.
Fallon just sighed before turning to Tsurugi, whom had also apparently appeared during all the chaos, and muttered a few words to him that I couldn't catch.
She then turned towards the soccer players of Raimon, "forget about her. She's just a small hindrance that I happen to have the displeasure of knowing. Come on, then. You have a practice to get to. Move it, kiddies!"
The team stared in shock at her, but obeyed her none the less. They slowly moved out of the hallway and towards the field.
When they were completely gone, I asked her, "Who was that?"
She just sighed again. "Someone you'll do well to forget."
And with that, she walked away from Shindou, Tsurugi, and I. We too began to make our way towards the field, but two questions still remained on my mind.
'Just who is "Kaen", and why does Fallon want us to forget about her?'
~Chapter fin.~
Mega: Role credits, everyone! That's a wrap!
Kirino: Wait, this story actually has a PLOT?
Fallon: Yup, and we're caught right in the middle of it!
Kirino: Oh no…
Fallon: Yeah…
Mega: Hush, you two! Now, let's wrap this up.
Kirino and Fallon: Fine… Ciao, minna!
Mega: See ya, everyone! Bye!