Howdy friends and enemies alike. L.O.R here. Sorry for the wait i once again bring to you the latest chapter. Also because I forget to say it sometimes, I don't own angelic layer or it's official characters in any way shape or form. If I did, there might be some cause for alarm on their part...
chapter 10 of the seven sins saga: Training, and an unexpected match.
It was late afternoon when Misaki found here self waiting beside the training layer at the Tokyo Piffle princess. She gripped Hikaru tightly and tried here best to be calm. Today was one of the days that her and Ojiro were supposed to train together for the Kanto preliminaries and he was already ten minutes late.
Misaki wasn't so much worried as she was nervous, and excited. The longer he took to get there the more her mind would spiral with all kinds of questions she didn't have the answers to. One good question was what would happen during the preliminaries? If the sins really did show up, could she win? She knew it was pointless to worry, she just had to believe her and Hikaru could pull through.
But at the same time she was plagued by doubt. If she lost, she would let all the people looking up to her down. Somehow that idea scared her more than the idea of just losing. And worse, the sins themselves scared her, whatever they wanted she had a feeling it couldn't be good. No point dwelling on it now though. In the end, the layer was were it was all going to go down. If she wasn't ready for them it would be her own fault.
Without much thought she looked down at Hikaru and smiled. The little angel had become everything to her. Hikaru had let her meet all her wonderful friends in angelic layer, and even bring her together with her mother. There was a magic on the layer between the angels and their users, a deep connection that went deeper than master and toy. It went as deep as friends, family, maybe even deeper than that to some.
Hikaru was an extension of her own soul on the layer, yet at the same time her own entity. A powerful angel gleaming for all to see. If she could just keep the positive feelings in here heart when she thought these things she could do anything she set her mind to.
With her resolve once again set and firm she decided it did no good to stand around and worry, and activated the layer and began to run Hikaru through the paces to make sure she hadn't gotten rusty from the break between seasons. Hikaru moved as smoothly as ever and the sight of her angel in action again gave Misaki a strange sense of calm, it was always a never ending source of amazement to her at how well Hikaru responded to her. That such a a fragile looking thing could become a fierce warrior at the whim of her thoughts and feelings.
This was angelic layer, and it was made to make people feel happy like this. If the sins wanted to take that feeling away from people for their own selfish reasons, than that was that. They couldn't be allowed to win. She couldn't afford to give them an inch.
"Hope you didn't wait too long for me."
the sudden feeling of a hand on her shoulder and the sound of Ojiro's soft voice pulled her from her thoughts as she smiled up at the tall boy.
"It's okay Ojiro-san, there wasn't any reason for you to have rush. Come on lets get training!"
With a smile Ojiro was seated and his trusty Wizard was out on the layer, ready to take on Hikaru once more. With out a second to spare Wizard was upon her and the sparring match began, the two angels moving in an almost perfect unison as they exchanged blows with one another, as if dancing together. In no time at all it had turned into a game of give and take between the two of them as each one took turns taking the defensive, testing out which moves worked and what didn't.
The rest of the world was drown out for that short time spent between them and their angels. Noting else mattered but the layer.
Before long though one of the attendants came by to alert them that due to crowding they had wait at least an hour or two if they wanted to renew the layer rental. Misaki hadn't even noticed how quickly time had gone while training with Ojiro, and it felt odd to end it so abruptly. It was just as they were packing that Misaki's stomach gave a tremendous growl.
Ojiro Smiled politely like he always did and pointed to the restaurant across the street.
"Perhaps, if you aren't too tired of my company we could go and get something for lunch. We can worry about renting another layer after words."
"Tired? Of course not Ojiro, I like spending time with you. Lets get some lunch."
It was with that, that the two of them found themselves sitting silently at a small table, each one trying their best think of a good conversation.
But it wasn't easy. Training on the layer was one thing, but being together like this was just plain nerve racking.
It was Ojiro to speak first, his attention focused rather intently on his tea cup.
"Are you worried? About the preliminaries that is? The Kansai Preliminary starts tomorrow, and the Kyushu prelims start today. Not much longer till they start here in Tokyo."
Misaki thought about it for a moment before answering.
"I'm a little scared, but I know I can do it. What about you Ojiro-san? Are you worried?
"Only if I have to face you in the first round Suzuhara-san." Ojiro gave a slight chuckle and looked out the window at the street and let a small yet warm smile settle on his face.
Misaki couldn't help but notice how mature Ojiro looked most of the time. He was only a few years older than her, yet he seemed like an adult at times. It didn't seem fair that he should have to grow up so quick to her. Of course at the same time it made him all the more interesting to her as well.
Suddenly a thought struck her and with a mischievous glint to her eye that was uncommon for her, Misaki used her little finger to pick up the last dab of whipped cream from off the top of her hot chocolate.
"Hey, hey! Ojiro-san!"
Ojiro turned his head, taking her bait perfectly as her cream covered finger flicked him, plastering the tip of his nose in the white substance, as Misaki was up and out the door giggling. (Having already paid, she free to make good her escape.)
Ojiro sat confused for all of five seconds before he was up and after her, a huge grin on his face.
"Think you can best the prince of the layer so easy, eh?"
Of course Misaki was already across the street, her slender legs running for dear life as the bubbly sound of her laughter guided Ojiro in the right direction after her. With in a few minutes of this Misaki had led the chase to the park down the block from the piffle princess, and with out hesitation took to hiding among the brightly colored equipment as Ojiro nearly tripped stopping himself to turn into the park.
Although he wasn't entirely sure why, Ojiro felt his heart racing in excitement from this simple game, the youthful gleam in his eyes shinning through like the sun through a stained glass window. He was ducking and bobbing in and out of the bars and ladders of the playground catching small glimpses of Misaki's skirt in the breeze or the tip of her collar before she vanished again as sly as a nymph from old mythology.
Realizing he had no chance of catching her like this Ojiro decided to turn the tables, and waited till he was sure she couldn't see him before hiding as well. Just as he thought, it wasn't long before Misaki peeked out of her own hiding spot and looked around confused, before walking out and exposing herself.
"Ojiro-san? Where are you... Hello?"
At this point Misaki was looking into every nook and cranny around her in a slight panic. Feeling he had teased her enough, Ojiro slipped from his hiding place and snuck up behind the girl before putting his hand on her shoulder.
"Got you Suzuhara-san."
Misaki shrieked in surprise and fell backwards as she lost her footing whilst trying to turn around to see Ojiro. Completely on instinct Ojiro went down as well, catching Misaki in his arms in bridal style before she could hit the ground.
"Misaki-san! Are you alright?"
Misaki had to take a moment to gather herself as the world stopped spinning and her sense of balance came back to her, unfortunately as soon as it did, her world began to spin again, but for a different reason.
Ojiro's arms had her firmly held just above the ground, and in the position she was in, her head was pushed against his chest, the rhythm of his heartbeat filling her senses.
Further more it was one of the first times he had used her first name instead of calling her "suzuhara" and for reasons beyond her explanation found her legs had suddenly decided to become made of wiggling springs that refused to stand as her own heart started to beat faster.
"Im...fine Ojiro-san...um...i think I can walk now."
It took a moment for her voice to register with him, but when it did Ojiro suddenly realized the position he was in with Misaki and stood up quickly, giving himself a slight head rush from the motion.
"Right, well than Suzuhara-san... what shall we do now?"
Misaki had to take a moment to gather her wits before answering.
"Maybe we should just get back to the piffle princess..."
Ojiro nodded and the two of them walked in near silence back to the piffle princess, each ones mind racing to think of something to say to lift the tension that had settled between them. Unfortunately nothing came to either of them as the ascended the stairs to the second floor in hopes of renting a new layer.
Just as they reached the top though one of the attendants approached Misaki and handed her a layer rental card as if expecting her.
"Thank you for returning. As soon as you had left, someone came in and reserved a new layer for you. Said they would wait till you got, back. They even paid cash up front to make sure we held it for you Suzuhara-san. He's waiting for you at layer five at the far end of the floor."
Both Misaki and Ojiro looked at each other in apprehension but decided with a silent nod to each other to go for it. As they approached layer five a short young man stood up to greet her.
He had to be no more than four and a half feet in height, yet his face appeared to be that of someone in their early to mid teens. He wore a bright blue jacket zipped all the way up to his neck, and a pair of faded cargo pants.
What caught Misaki though was his red hair, it had been gelled back into two almost dagger like points at the back of his head to make it appear that he had horns of some kind.
His face was plastered with a smug grin.
"Misaki Suzuhara. Allow me to introduce myself, you may call me Falco... and I am here to defeat you."
Misaki stared, uncertain of how to react. Here was this odd person introducing themselves and now calming he was here to beat her.
"Defeat me? Why?"
Falco looked horribly confused by the question and stopped to think for a moment.
"'Well..because your the Angelic layer world champ right now... beating you proves I'm better...or something? Look, why does it matter I'm laying down an official challenge, I even paid for this layer, so it would be rude to turn me down."
Misaki thought about it realized despite the fact he was sort of creepy, she had no good reason to say no. besides, though she would never say it out loud, the idea that someone would go to all this trouble for a match with her, got her a little excited.
Also it was good practice to get ready for the preliminaries. A real fight would do her good.
"Alright Falco-san I except your challenge."
Falco sat down and cracked his knuckles.
"Perfect, lets get this started than."
As soon as Misaki had sat down and put on her angel visor, Falco dug into his jacket and pulled out what sorta of looked like an angel visor, but it was thin, and black. And as soon as he had put it on, two bats wings opened up on the ear pieces in opposition to the usual angel wing design.
"If its all the same to you Miss Suzuhara, I shall go first."
Falco removed his angel from his jacket and tossed into the layer with the flick of his wrist.
"Go and rock them AMADEUS!"
Falco's angel landed on one foot than set it's self down on one knee in a dramatic bowing gesture. Its lengthy white hair was tied back in a loose braid, and it wore rather old looking mens Victorian clothes including buckled shoes a frocked coat.
Misaki was unsure of this odd opponent, but cast Hikaru into the layer and ready for whatever Amadeus had up its sleeve. Hikaru took a fighting pose and waited while Falco just grinned and with a slight nod of his head, Amadeus was up and sent a quick jab at Hikaru, whom was able to easily dodge as a flurry of punches rained at her.
Her foe wasn't especially fast, but he seemed to know just where she would land after each move and had a blow ready for her before she even finished dodging or blocking the last.
Falco seemed able to predict her every move and use the knowledge to make sure she was unable to fight back. It was barely two minutes into the match before she finally saw an opening in Amadeus's movements and with a swift drop and spin had his legs out from under him.
Just as she was sure she had him though, he twisted mid air, as if havening known he would be tripped and used his momentum to roll away from Hikaru to the other side of the layer. He stood back up and Falco just yawned as he grinned at Misaki.
"Come on now, don't tell me thats all you got? I was hoping that this would have been harder for me. But you practically telegraph all your moves."
Meanwhile, Ojiro had watched the whole thing and was uncertain of what to make of it. It wasn't Misaki being obvious, no this guy was able to read far to well in Hikaru's movements. And suddenly it hit him.
"There must be something funny about the non-regulation visor he's using,"
Ojiro gave his full attention to Falco's strange piece of equipment and examined it as best he could from a distance. Aside from its slim shape nothing seemed out of the ordinary that he could see. All he could do now was sit and watch the fight and hope for the best.
Misaki thought and thought.
"How do I beat someone that can read my moves?"
slowly an idea crept into her head that she knew would work. It had too, because it was all she could think of.
With steadfast certainty, hikaru stopped in her tracks, and stood perfectly still. Amedaues circled her, expecting some form of attack, but when nothing happened for a few seconds, Falco began to feel agitated.
"What the heck are you doing? Were in the middle of a fight, don't act so casual with me. ...ARG! Thats it, if you wont move, than I'll make you move!"
Just as Misaki had hoped for, Falco gritted his teeth and Amedeus rushed forward, ready to strike. As soon as he was close enough, he let loose with a kick straight to the head, ready to send Hikaru flying. Misaki knew it was now or never, and with lightning speed flipped in her signature "rolling thunder", clocking Amedeus right in the face, sending him upwards and soon over the edge if the ring.
By forcing Falco to going on the offensive, Misaki had temporarily left him unable to read ahead when he had to make the first move himself.
Said deus sat dumbfounded in his chair as his angel feel lifeless to the ground. And with as much dignity as he could muster stood and gathered his angle, leaving after thanking her for the match, although she could tell he didn't mean it.
With Falco gone, Misaki breathed a sigh of relief. Sinking back in the chair.
"That was a bit nerve racking, he was kind of weird."
Ojiro sat in the empty seat across form her and thought for a moment before speaking up.
"Misaki-san, im sorry to ask this off you, but I think the two of us need to pay a visit to my brother."
Miskai sat silent for a moment before nodding her head and standing up.
"Alright, lets go!"
And soon they were off, riding the bus towards the angelic layer headquarters. Unaware of the eyes, watching them leave from behind the piffle princess.
It was Falco, to be sure and he was now turned back to the alley, counting a wad of cash in his hands.
"Youre sure this us ok? I mean I didn't beat her after all."
the tall figure or Pride slinked out from around the corner and grinned at him.
"it's fine, we got some good data from the fight. We can use what we learned here today to improve the system. You've done well."
Falco was quick to leave, as Pride waited a bit before leaving, keeping his head low till he was a block away, and inside a sleek black car now speeding down the road. Sitting across from him, a laptop beside him and a champagne glass in his hand, was Gluttony.
"Well, that went rather smoothly. I can only wish the rest would be as easy as this, don't you agree Pride?"
Pride took his eyes off his reflection in the window long enough to smile before turning back.
"I prefer things to have a bit of challenge to them. Makes life exciting."
Gluttony just frowned and sighed.
"Screw challenge, I just want results. I'm close enough to a heart attack as it is due to stress."
he looked like he meant it too, Gluttony was rubbing his temple, as he clicked his laptop and leaned back. Soon the sound of old American classic rock filled the backseat of the car.
Pride recognized the songs, but his grasp of English was ,at best, limited to the very basics. It was in these odd moments that Pride would drown out the world. He wasn't comfortable with things he didn't understand, and the only thing he understood was himself. As long as he came out of things more or less better off, or at least break even in some way., than he had no problems.
It was Gluttony to break the silence after a good ten minutes of silent sitting.
" In case I forgot to mention, I made sure that it was you instead of sloth , that is entered in the upcoming Kanto perlims. I know its a little ahead of schedule,but I figured you wouldn't mind as long as you had something to do."
Pride thought for a moment and than shrugged his shoulders before laying back in his seat.
"Did you have a specific target in mind?"
"No, but you do have an objective. I need to make sure you finish in at least second. This takes care of two important things, one, it shows we are to be reckoned with. And two, it ensures that you get seeded into the finalist match's, or over all goal after all is to make sure we get at least four of us in to the finals."
Pride listened with a look of disinterest.
"Does it matter how"
"Pardon?"
"How I get to at least second. Does it matter how?"
"well I would assume by playing the game, but if you have so little faith in my equipment, that you need to resort to "alternative" methods, than fine, whatever."
"Good, this should be fun."
…..meanwhile...
Misaki and Ojiro sat side be side on the bus as it made its way towards the angelic layer headquarters. Misaki knew she should probably feel apprehensive about this mysterious visit to see Icchan, yet it was hard for her to feel worried when Ojiro was so close. She was far to busy being flustered to be worried. This was honestly the last thing she had wanted to think about, but recent events made it impossible to ignore.
What exactly did she think of Ojiro? They were many things, friends, rivals on the layer, yet somehow it felt like it could be more.
Misaki felt her heart flutter as she said it in her mind. That somehow there was a chance of there being something deeper between them.
Suddenly though she felt dizzy, the whole world was suddenly going to fast for her to keep up with. First the perlim's were drawing closer, she had the seven sins to contend with, and now all this confusion over Ojiro had her head spinning she held her hands to her now throbbing temples and sighed.
Ojiro for his part didn't fail to notice the sudden change in Misaki's demeanor. As gently as he could, he reached over and took Misaki's hand in his, as she rubbed at her temples in frustration.
"If there is something bothering you Misaki-san, I want you to know you can come to me for any kind of help."
The blush the graced Miskai's face was so red it could have almost been mistaken for a sunburn at a distance. She felt the heat radiate off her in waves as she tried (to no avail) to sort out her thoughts in order to form a coherent sentence.
"I...that is...thank you Ojiro-san. It's nothing though, im just frustrated, I promise. Pre-season jitters, im sure things will be better after the preliminaries have begun."
Ojiro looked sceptically at her for a moment before he could accept that for now. Of course it was about than that he rembered that he was still holding Misaki's hand. Their clasped palms resting between them on the bus seat.
He at once panicked, of course not on the outside, but in his head he heard a very reasinable voice saying he should let go now. But also another (and somewhat louder) voice saying to keep holding her hand till she says something about and feign ignorance as best as possible.
"oh I'm sorry, I just completely forgot that I hand been holding your hand for the last five miles, silly me."
Not a chance. He had to think of a way to both save face and not make it all awkward. And he had to first and foremost let go of her hand.
Until he felt Misaki tighten her grip. It might have been completely his imagination, but the sheer look of fear and misery on her face as she looked blankly at the empty seat across from her filled him with a deep dread.
It was than he decided. There was no way he could let the seven sins get anywhere near her, even if he had to take drastic measures. But first and foremost, he had to make sure he didn't let go of her hand for one second till they reached their destination.
End chapter 10.
afternotes
well that was fun to write, sorry it took me so long to get it to you all. I hope you all liked it, I felt very happy about how this one went, and thank it on my current input of somewhat more upbeat music. But whatever, please if you like it feel free to review, let me know what I can do to improve this for you.
I love feedback so dont hesitate, feel free to voice any little opinion you might have, im willing to listen. ( L.O.R)