This one was a blast to write, so I hope you all enjoy it.
Disclaimer: No.
Lime…Lemon…Sweet
Daniel Kuso had a peculiar way of seeing life. Throughout his long, meaningful sixteen years of existence, he'd developed the philosophy that everyone had a certain taste about them.
He liked to think of himself as spicy and flavorful, while someone like Runo was as sour as a lemon (not that he'd say that to her face). And while we were mentioning bitter people, let's throw Shun in there, too. Well, he could be sour when he wanted to be.
Then there were complete opposites, such as Joe Brown and Marucho. They were more along the lines of sweet.
Keep in mind, those were the two extremes. There were people in between, too. Dan classified Alice and Julie under than category, a blend of sugar and acid.
Of course, Dan had naively believed that people were sealed into a certain flavor forever. Little did he know that it would take one friendly conversation gone wrong to teach him that.
The day had begun innocently enough. The six Brawlers chilled at their usual location, the Misaki's restaurant, but today an excitement charged the atmosphere of the empty eatery. No, not because the fiery brunette, who had at least five stomachs, was not engorging himself with food, but simply because Joe, whom they hadn't seen in years, had decided to grace them with his presence.
The group anxiously gathered around a central booth of the café. Julie pressed her forehead against the glass window, as if that would make Joe arrive faster.
"Oh, where is he?" she wondered impatiently, making a face at her reflection.
"Julie, I just cleaned those windows, and I'm not gonna do it again just because you—" Runo began with a scowl before being interrupted by Dan.
"Chill out, Runo," he advised, leaning back in the booth and placing his hands behind his head, nearly smacking Shun who sat beside him.
"You're taking Julie's side?!" the bluenette huffed. Her boyfriend sighed. That was exactly the reason she was a lemon.
"Guys, can we please just get along until Joe gets here?" Alice pleaded from her place across from Dan.
Dan leaned forward now, folding his hands on the table. Shun inched toward the window to avoid having his eye taken out by Dan's flailing arms. "Marucho, he is on his way, right?" Shun asked the younger boy, not wanting to sit through another of Runo's eardrum-shattering rants.
"I am quite positive that our friend will be arriving any moment now," the blonde responded, pushing up his red-rimmed glasses and giving the other a reassuring smile.
"Well, he'd better hurry up," Runo grumbled, plopping down next to the Pyrus Brawler.
Julie screamed suddenly. "There he is!"
A tinkling sound caught their ears and each one whirled to face the door. A casually dressed man grinned back at them, his honey-blonde hair falling into warm, gray eyes.
"Joe!" the six Brawlers shouted in unison.
Dan carefully appraised him as he joined the group in relaxed conversation. Joe's appearance hadn't changed much throughout the years, still maintaining that easygoing, childish innocence he'd always had. It always amazed Dan how he could be so tranquil in seemingly every situation that popped up. He attributed it to his sweetness, a quality that hadn't faded and still wafted over to Dan as strongly as it did when they'd met.
"You know, if it weren't for the Bakugan we never would have met you, Joe," Alice remarked, while the rest of them nodded in agreement.
"Remember that time you challenged me to a brawl?" Dan asked with a nostalgic smile, remembering the good times he'd had with Drago.
"Not really, Dan," Joe answered, and Dan looked hurt for a moment, before Joe added, "Well, I remember most of it, until I blacked out."
"Too bad you didn't get to battle Wavern," Runo lamented. "That would have been something to see!"
"I concur," Marucho piped in. "Drago and Wavern were both formidable Bakugan."
Julie slammed her hands down on the table. "Guys!" she yelled shrilly. "Drago and Wavern were in love! You would have been so cruel to make them fight each other!"
Dan pretended to gag, and Runo smacked him on the arm. "Fine, fine, but it would've been fun to see Wavern and Skyress go at it, right, Shun?" Dan conceded, turning to the quiet ninja.
"I think we all know who would have won if Skyress and Wavern had battled," Shun replied, smirking slightly.
Joe nodded with a friendly smile. "Wavern," he answered at the same time that Shun voiced his former Bakugan's name. The two guys stared at each other for a minute before laughing away the tension. Everyone joined in nervously, multiple pairs of eyes shifting between the Haos and Ventus users.
Dan glanced at his best friend, knowing well that he tended to be competitive. Then he turned his attention to the mellow adult. Joe seemed as calm as ever, though there was a flavor in his eyes that Dan couldn't place. Spiciness? Lemon-lime?
No, that couldn't be it. Joe just didn't have that flavor. But there was something there, something other than sweetness, and he was going to figure it out.
It was only a matter of time before Shun's sour side showed, too. Shun did always pride himself Skyress's power, and he'd defend her through thick and thin.
"Skyress would have kicked major butt," Dan voiced, hoping to get a reaction out of one of them.
Joe calmly shook his head. "I think Wavern would have defeated Skyress."
There it was. Out in the open. The Brawler's exchanged worried glances, feeling the maelstrom brewing below Joe and Shun's collected expressions.
Inwardly, Dan allowed himself a wicked smile. He saw the agitation in Joe's eyes, and the determination in Shun's.
"No way." Shun retorted, extracting himself from the booth and standing beside the group with a frown on his face. "Skyress was evolved."
"I'll give you that," Joe compromised. "Wavern did have the Infinity Core, though."
"Bet she wasn't as strong without it," he shot back fluidly, his smirk reappearing as Joe's brow furrowed.
That hit a nerve, Dan thought to himself, watching the anger that flickered across Joe's face.
Minutes passed in uptight silence. The girls, and Marucho, stared at the arguing Brawlers in disbelief. Two of the most composed people they knew were fighting. Surely, they had to be imagining it.
"Are you picking a fight, Shun?" Joe asked slowly. Shun remained quiet, calculating his response before voicing it. Joe continued. "Because if you are, then I suggest we take this outside."
A collective gasp filled the restaurant. Dan pinched himself, just to make sure he was actually seeing Joe get riled up. Man, he wished he had a camera. The hints of spice were beginning to show through his sweet façade, and Shun was helping him out without even knowing it!
"Sorry, I don't hit girls," Shun answered evenly. Dan had to admit that Shun had a point. Joe was a tad effeminate sometimes. Joe stood up suddenly, fists clenched and angry frown in place.
"At least, I didn't look like one," he argued, referring to the long-hair phase that Shun had gone through when they were younger. Dan chuckled, remembering how Shun did look like a girl when he had his hair down.
Shun gritted his teeth. "It's on, Webmaster Joe," he hissed, taking a menacing step forward.
"It's been on," he snapped, coming forward as well. "Let's settle this like real men…"
"Fight, fight, fight!" Dan cheered, but quickly shut up when the others stared at him oddly.
"Yeah, fight!" Runo called out after a while and everyone except the two guys in question joined in.
"Looks like the crowd wants a show, Joe," Shun pointed out, and then he breathed out the forbidden word. "Tic-tac-toe."
"Oh, of course, you can have a Tic Tac, Joe," Julie replied, fishing out the candy from her purse.
They ignored her, and Shun whispered threateningly, "I have the pen and paper, and I'm the O's."
Dan laughed when Shun humiliating lost the match, and Joe's sourness shined through when he bragged about his win. These men, however, were not done yet.
"Checkmate," Shun declared, after capturing Joe's king.
"I sunk your battleship," Joe gloated.
"You went bankrupt, Joe, and not only that, you go to jail," Shun announced, tossing Joe's piece onto the Jail space for fun.
Dan merely shook his head as they competed to see who was the best. He'd definitely learned his lesson.
One: don't call Shun a girl.
Two: First they're sweet, then they're sour.
Well, this one was a little…weird, but I liked it. Did you? Huh, did ya?
Cocoacharm15