Chapter 11

Before heading for her last class of the day, Sarah first looked down the hallway, glancing left then right before rushing to her destination. All day Erika had been trying to talk to her while she tried to avoid Erika. Well, Sarah suspected Erika wanted to talk. With the look she had on her face every time she spotted Sarah, the brunet might want to just kill her right on the spot.

Not that Sarah blamed her for those sentiments. After yesterday, well, she was more surprised Ikki hadn't been asking her questions in class today. Glancing over her shoulder, Sarah entered the class, hoping Erika didn't know her class schedule somehow. There was no angry reporter standing in the classroom though so Sarah guessed her childish avoidance tactics had worked.

"Ah, Sarah, just the person I was looking for." Mr. Season came over to Sarah, holding a wrapped bundle. "Here you are," he said in a pleased voice, handing her the bundle.

"Oh, thank you," Sarah said, surprised. She took the bundle over to the table she sat at and unwrapped it. Mr. Season was watching her reaction as she saw what was inside.

"Oh wow," Sarah said in a hushed voice as she picked the sword piece up. "This is really light. I didn't know they made weapons this light." Mr. Season smiled while Sarah examined the yellow, pincer like sword.

"They normally don't," Mr. Season said. "My friend used a new alloy the Medabot Corporation just came up with. Far lighter then anything else they've used in the past."

"That's awesome. How strong is it though?" Sarah asked, suddenly sifting from amazement to skepticism. "I don't want it snapping after only a little impact."

"My friend assures me it's also one of the strongest alloys they have used," Mr. Season replied with a chuckle. Sarah thought she heard him mumble something about suspecting she would ask that.

"What?" Sarah asked, looking over at her teacher.

"Just saying I'm glad it seems to meet your standards. The bell is about to ring so get your things ready," he answered, heading over to his desk.

"Thanks again," Sarah said, eagerly heading to her locker and pulling out everything she needed.

When the hour was finally over, Sarah had the arm piece fully repaired. Shoving her tool box into the bottom of her bag instead of her locker like normal, Sarah picked up the part and left, impatient to be back at the shed. She planned to head directly there so she could put Rokusho back together and he could head back to his parrot friend.

"Hello again Brian," Dr. Aki said once Season had picked up the phone.

Season sighed, glancing at his empty classroom. "Hello Dr. Aki. Didn't we go over you calling me during work already?"

"Come now, we both know the school day is over. So, how did it go?"

"How did what go?" Season asked, feigning ignorance.

"How did the girl react when you gave her the piece?"

"She was rather happy to get it. First thing she did was gush over how light it was."

"That's all?" Aki asked, sounding a bit disappointed.

"No, then she asked me how strong the metal was, telling me she didn't want it falling to pieces easily."

"Hmm…this shows promise. It appears that supporting the start of that class was worth it."

"I still can't fathom how you convinced the board to fund this."

"Simple skill," Aki replied with his normal modesty.

"Am I correct in assuming they don't know your real reasons for funding this class?"

"Yes you are. The board doesn't need to know I'm looking for someone to take over when I finally retire. Of course, retirement is years away."

"Because the world still needs the genius of Dr. Aki," Season said dryly, rolling his eyes even though the older man could not see him.

"Precisely," Aki replied, ignoring the sarcasm. "And while anyone we find will be nowhere near my genius, we can still find a talented replacement in that class, I'm sure of it."

"And you expect Sarah to be that person." Season's comment was a statement, not a question. As enlarged an ego Dr. Aki had, he could still recognize talent.

"I have my hopes." Suddenly, Aki changed the subject. "Did she by any chance tell you where she got that part at?"

"Said she found it in her attic," Season replied, "I suspect she was lying though."

"I know she was," Aki chuckled. "Have you heard of a medabot named Rokusho by any chance?"

"A little bit here and there. He's the one without a medafighter and has a rare medal, right?"

"That would be him," Aki confirmed. "He has been missing since Monday night though."

"Shouldn't you find that a bit more worrying? If he has a rare medal, well, just remember six years ago," Season said, his own concerns clear in his voice.

"I was worried, until you asked me for that sword piece. I suspected it belonged to Rokusho. He's an older medabot and you really don't see many like him around anymore. Since you asked for the piece, I figured he couldn't be in bad care a least."

"So that's why you asked why I needed the sword," Season said, realization dawning.

"Yes. It turned out to be one of your students, yet another reason not to be worried. What could a high school student possible do that would threaten the world?"

"Although she obviously had something to hide," Season pointed out.

"Yes, but I get the feeling it doesn't have anything to do with some insane plan for world domination so I figure we're alright." There was a pause in which Season could hear the sound of another voice in the background. "I've got to go," Aki said suddenly.

"Okay. And stop calling me at work." He didn't get a response because Aki had already hung up. Grumbling, Season hung up the phone himself.

"There we go," Sarah said, putting the medal in place. A moment later and the medabot moved, turning to look over at Sarah. Everything seemed to be working fine but she still was worried that something had gone wrong.

"How is it? Everything working properly? How many fingers am I holding up?" Sarah asked anxiously, holding up two fingers.

"Everything is fine," Rokusho replied patiently. Sarah continued to look at him worriedly. "Two fingers," he added.

Sighing in relief, Sarah sat down. "Oh good, I thought something might have gone wrong."

"I couldn't tell," Rokusho said dryly, causing Sarah to glance at him.

"Oh, be quiet you." Smiling, she stood back up. "So, what do you think?"

Rokusho flexed his arms, then answered. "I think I'm very gratefully I ended up outside your door. I feel wonderful."

"Good. I suppose you want to leave, so I'll show you the way to the road. Don't want all my hard work going to waste because you ended up at my house" Sarah was already out the door when she realized Rokusho wasn't behind her. Turning around, she saw he was standing in the same place. "What's the matter?"

"I just don't know how to thank you," Rokusho replied in concern.

"Is that all?" Sarah waved his concern away. "Don't worry about it. Think of it as my way of thanking you for your help. Now, come on."

This time Rokusho followed Sarah, waiting as she pulled her bike out of a bush. Grumbling about faulty kickstands, she finally started to lead the way to the road.

It was a pleasant afternoon, the sun shining through the tree leaves, the noises of animals moving around in the trees and underbrush filling the air. Right near the edge of hearing was the faint sound of running water, something Sarah hadn't noticed before. On the whole, it was rather peacefully and Sarah soon stopped grumbling, enjoying her surroundings.

"There are a lot of oak trees around here," Rokusho commented when they were about half of the way to the road. Sarah looked up and nodded.

"Sure are. I rather like oaks myself." They continued on in relative silence after that, one of them occasionally making a comment about their surroundings. When they reached the road, Sarah took a quick look both ways, then pointed to her left.

"That's the way back to town. The other way leads to the house, so I don't recommend you head that way."

"Thank you again for all of your help," Rokusho said simply.

"No big deal." Shrugging, Sarah pulled her bike onto the road, snapping her helmet into place. "Well, it was nice having you around Rokusho. Watch out for those medafighters. They may come after you again."

"You be careful too," Rokusho replied. "Good bye Sarah, thank you for your help."

"See ya Rokusho." Waving good bye, Sarah watched as the medabot did the same disappearing act he had used when they first met. Shaking her head at his abrupt disappearance, Sarah got on her bike and started peddling for the house.

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AN: I just want to apologize for this really short chapter. I would have combined it with the next one but I don't think they'll go together well. Anyway, thank you everyone for reading this far, I really appreciate it. I hope you enjoy the story so far.