As usual, big thanks to Andrew Glasco for his help. Everyone, read his Vindictive Beasts Bloody Roar fic, damn it! …Err, I mean, please? ^.^
Chapter 11
The Power Game
Sitting outside on her usual large rock and staring quietly at the afternoon setting, the auburn-haired youth breathed a heavy sigh as she raised a hand to absentmindedly run her fingers through her long tresses, combing the strands, an action spawned from peaceful boredom. Surprisingly true to his word, the assassin had left his captive alone for the past three days and allowed her to heal; in fact, by the time she awoken each morning, he was already gone and she had the cottage all to herself. Since she had been given leisure time to recover in preparation for certain upcoming battles, her body now no longer resembled a horrifying picture of brutality and her tender skin was slowly reverting back to their normal default tenderness. The Kenpo student had also started practicing her fighting techniques as of late yesterday, but she still undoubtedly felt like an amateur compared to the higher level of skill displayed by the arrogant, yet admittedly superior ninja.
However, to give him a little credit, he had left her alone while she was training and that privilege alone brought her great relief, igniting an illusion of privacy, considering how he hovered over her so often, his ever-watchful eye on each of her actions when the two were in the same vicinity. As a result, the amount of hours of solo period she received gave the girl much-needed breathing room, and she found it slightly easier to put up with his serpentine verbal remarks when darkness covered the sky, forcing her to finally return to the cabin at night. The days presented little conflict, because she could practice former fighting skills to her own convenience and rest as well, if she felt suddenly winded and her past injuries happened to surface in reminder of yet another humiliating defeat from her estranged captor. It had now been a full week since Uriko was kidnapped from the forest and brought to the cottage; she was unsure of how long it would take before her sister would get worried regarding the silence, but then the younger sibling recalled that the camp was supposed to last a fortnight.
A somewhat melancholic sigh breezed past her lips at the thought of having to put up with Bakuryu for at least another week before the possibility of a search party being formed to look for her missing person could take place. The sixteen-year-old indeed found the days tolerant only because she was away from the deadly assassin, and yet when she returned to the cottage after sundown, that was when she immediately began to feel uncomfortable. It was the nights that Uriko found more than just a little creepy… she still had not gotten used to bathing with someone watching, but the biting knowledge was, she unfortunately had to put up with that harsh reality until she was free, just considered it another test of her endurance. Even more bewildering than that was the few strange looks that she had caught from her forced companion, and she could not tell what he was thinking, but it was probably along the lines of inflicting horrible and atrocious acts to her as usual.
"Sis… I miss you so much." The petite brunette whispered forlornly, stretching out her arms to wrap around her knees and hug them to her chest in a protective gesture, in spite of the constant danger she encountered on a frequent basis from Bakuryu. "You have no idea how badly I wish I was back at home, with you, the other friendly faces of our friends, being surrounded by civilized people, and law enforcements… …and indoor showering too, of course."
A gust of wind caught her braid and blew it upward, passing by her cheek to do so, ever chilling and emotionless, and Uriko quickly turned away, grimacing and feeling as though the hand of death had just marked her as the next victim in the lethal game. She already had Bakuryu as a daily reminder that her life was in danger and did not like some invisible figure siding with him on this matter; it seemed as if many wanted to see his victory and witness her failure, such cold, cruel-hearted unseen spectators. Scowling at the hidden entity, she aimlessly kicked a pebble with her shoe and continued to verbally vent her frustrations, her eyes focused on and never leaving the beautifully bright orange sky, keeping track of time and making sure she would depart before it got too late. "Geez... out of all the people in the world I had to get stuck with, I got Mr. Gloom & Doom, Mr. I'm-The-Reaper-And-I-Totally-Love-This-Killer-Job…" she seemed to not have noticed the pun, "Sigh… And not to mention his arrogant, smirking face, too! Argh! Sometimes I just wanna sock him in the nose…!"
A delicious sparkle ignited in her eyes at the thought, but it disappeared as instantaneously as it had appeared; the Kenpo student had to stick with the facts in this harsh reality, and striking her captor unexpectedly might cause her to take the blunt hit of a violent reprisal. "But I-but I know I can't do that… I don't ever wanna get hurt as badly as I did last time, again… Ugh, Bakuryu's so bloody strong and he knows it, and loves to flaunt that in my face! I hate it when he does that!" Her voice lost its passion just then and dipped to a lower level, feeding her contemplative state; "And… and at night… he's always looking at me really funny, like he wants to… to do something really awful…and probably perverted…to me."
She shivered, hoping that her worst nightmare was indeed just that and would never become a reality, but his unreliability and unstable mood changes made anything a possibility, which brought her great apprehension in always wondering what his next move was. "But at least he hasn't tried to sleep in the same bed with me yet…"
This perplexed her more than anything else; she had presumed that after he thought to establish and cement his supposed superiority over her, the ninja would stop granting her the luxury of a private bed to herself and sleep aside her to cause her additional discomfort. But for the past week, he continued to reside in his personal, special position against the wall, across the room from her slumbering form, his dark eyes always on her body and she had to turn her back to him in order to avoid those avid watchers. Though she could not actually see her captor's face in that position, Uriko could practically feel him burning holes into her skin, staring so intensely as if she were some great spectacle, an unusual animal on display in a circus act, and she hated his silent, but obviously condescending gesture. Falling asleep had never been so hard before and the girl wished she could take the same pills she used previously to render him unconscious, but feared that if he merely glimpsed them, he would become furious from recalling the memory.
Temporarily discarding that thought, Uriko reached down and delicately picked a sunflower up from its dirt bed, bringing it close to her face to observe the dainty plant, feeling annoyed when her mind perceived her own person just as slender and weak. The headstrong teenager grumbled inaudibly and began to pluck the pedals off as she willingly submitted to an age-old decision maker, which also could serve as a predictor of the future, muttering to herself, "I'm gonna get away… I'm gonna be stuck here…" on and on it went.
Distracted by her self-created task, the female youth failed to notice a figure approaching from behind, hazy amber eyes watching her back carefully as tabi-covered feet walked over the grass, silent and furtive, true to the developed characteristics of the owner. A partial smirk creased his lips as Bakuryu lowered his head a little, shaking it slightly to express the amused exasperation he felt toward his captive, his bodily stance casual for a rare occasion as opposed to the usual more rigid posture. Blissfully ignorant, Uriko kept plucking the petals off of the flower, murmuring to herself all the while as he got closer, unaware of the fact that she was again being inspected, something she witnessed everyday and was considerably annoyed at. His arms elevated to cross over his chest, intentionally emitting an aura of authority and arrogance while the ninja stopped mere inches away from the slender form before him, suppressing the urge to chuckle, wondering how long it would take before she woke up and finally noticed his presence.
"I'm gonna get away… I'm gonna be stuck here… I'm gonna get away… I'm gonna be stuck here… …Oh, stupid flower!" The concentrating girl finished stripping the plant and when angry with the results, she flung the stem away over her shoulders, unknowing that it hit Bakuryu full in the chest before the pale green lightweight fluttered helplessly to the dirt floor. "Grrr… Argh, how I can't wait to leave this dumb place and that stupid, haughty ninja boy…! He can take all that darned, arrogant nonsense of his and shove it up his nose!"
He chose that particular moment to speak and reveal his position to daunt her passion; "You seem just a tad disgruntled, little girl… Hmm, I do wonder why…"
Oh yay, my darling, wonderful roommate has arrived… she thought, sarcasm coating each word in her mind as the girl jerked her chin to the side haughtily before replying, "I don't care what you think, so be quiet, you jerk… you're just an annoying bug – and not to mention perverted too, ick - on my shoulder that I just gotta brush off to get rid of."
His volume level was low enough to trick her into thinking that he was a considerable distance behind her instead of standing so closely, never considering that all he had to do was reach out his arms and he could wrap his hands around her susceptible neck… "You have a surprisingly loud bark for one with such a weak bite, Uriko Nonomura…"
"In case you couldn't tell from before, I'm a cat," she retorted, eyes flashing with annoyance at his constant presence, always seeming to be around her when she was enjoying the most privacy, as if he wanted to shatter her self-erected protective barrier. "And your insults are so repetitive, you know that?" She scoffed, "Come up with something new already."
There was a twinge of irritation lodged in his next words and his eyes narrowed, evidently displeased with her continuous verbal barrage in an attempt to resist him in that department; "You are hardly in a position to talk down to me, little girl… Perhaps you need a reminder of what happens when one spews forth words too loose and carelessly…?"
The girl scowled aloud, but quickly covered that reaction by absentmindedly playing with her hair, avidly combing through the strands with her fingers to show him how little she cared about what he just said. "I can say whatever I want; censor me with your ears if you don't like it. …What're you doing out here anyway? Don't you have some poor, innocent people to slaughter and other lives to ruin?" She wished fiercely that for once, he would just respect her feelings and go away, leaving her alone…
"You may find this calamitous to hear, but I am afraid that you are my sole agenda as of late."
She groaned inwardly, agitation enticing her expression while she fired at him blatantly, "Afraid, yeah right. You enjoy buzzing around my ear, breathing down my back and torturing me with your ugly face everyday…"
He chuckled near-silently, a devious smile curving his lips, casting aside the insults she just shot at him, unfazed by her usual pathetic retorts; his pupils shone a mysterious light as he gradually leaned down toward her. "Does my presence really disgust you so much, dear kitten…?"
"Do ya really have to ask? You watch me everyday, after all; it's already been a long, torturous, endless week and I thought for sure that you'd be able to find that answer yourself by now…" She inhibited the urge to shiver at his nickname and instead focused her eyes on the beautiful rays in the sky as the unoccupied hand drifted down and found its way to her lap to scrunch up a fistful of her shorts material. This was the first sign admitting that she felt a bit nervous in acceptance of the knowledge that he was behind her, and the younger youth was grateful that he could not see her actions on the front side, or witness when she started chewing her lower lip gently. Her heart increased its rate by pounding faster, forcing the girl to release her breath in shorter, shrill sessions, and she closed her eyes, forcing the apprehension to leave her body despite his dangerous close proximity threatening her life.
"...Is it that you truly believe your statement is obvious… or do you not know, perhaps made turned your own eyes purposely blind, and even failing to grasp the true answer to that question yourself, Uriko Nonomura?"
She remained oblivious to his movement, far too intent on watching the more pleasuring setting ahead than focusing on his words, thus disallowing his authority to sink into her mind and try to control her; she thought him to be too overconfident in his abilities. "Stop playing games with me, you creep… I know what you're trying to do, and it isn't gonna work, so give it up already."
"Hmm, have my person all figured out, do you…?" He closed the distance between the two opponents, craning his neck down and leaning his face down directly next to hers, just above her shoulder, feeling smug, yet somewhat disappointed in her character that she still had failed to notice his closeness. From his position, he spied her treacherous fist tightly clutching her shorts as if she was drawing strength from the inanimate material; he chuckled in his mind at her foolishness, reveling in her futile attempt to hide timidity. Grasping her forearms with his hands to make sure she would feel the full blunt of his next words and not escape the impact, he tipped his head to whisper hotly into her ear, breathing heatedly onto the sensitive skin. "I am not so sure that you can truly realize my intentions, dear cat… beware of what you presume of me, for you should never judge a person that you know next to nothing about."
"AHH!" The girl shrieked in surprise, then tried to scramble away as quickly as possible, disgruntled when she discovered he had her trapped, but nevertheless, she struggled anyway, despite what he would retaliate to her resistance with. The dark-haired ninja actually had to use some strength to hold her in place, and when her constant movement began to prick irritation into his cool emotions, he let her go all of a suddenly, causing his captive to lose her balance and fall off of the rock. Too frantic with the momentum, Uriko landed rather forcefully, but thankfully it was on her rear end so she had cushion to protect that area; still, she looked up and glared acidly at the smirking adversary. Finding only amusement in her deadly gaze, Bakuryu had to fight back the urge to laugh in delight and instead settled for a wider grin of smugness, permitting a shake of his head to further show his pleasure in such an unwillingly entertaining display.
"You jerk!" She screeched from her downed position, her arms flailing about in the air for emphasis as the auburn-haired youth spat fire with her words and her eyes were filled with a rare ferocity that she herself was unaware of. "Don't do that! And for your information, I know what kind of person you are, so trying to trick me isn't gonna do you any good!"
He brushed off her insults as usual, keeping a casual emotionless expression as he replied, "Is that what you believe…? Well, then… perhaps when our little game is over, you will finally be forced to glimpse reality and start to see situations through my eyes, Uriko Nonomura…"
"Not unless I kick your butt first, and win!" Uriko shifted into a brief sitting position, tucking her legs underneath her knees in preparation to ascend to stand proudly before him, her voice never faltering as she threw a very insistent and confident proclamation at her captor. "My Master always says that overconfidence leads to a lot of people's failures, and I'm sure you're one of those many stupid fighters, looking at where you come from and all!"
A malicious spark glimmered in his bleak pupils for a second before vanishing from sight and then they returned to normal, revealing only a dark abyss that was endless in its depth; "Hmm, what great pleasure I shall derive from proving your 'Master' to be a poor liar, little girl…"
At those words, the Kenpo student instantly jumped to her feet and thrust herself forward at him, extending an arm to poke a finger into his chest considerably hard as she spoke passionately, almost causing the self-perceived invulnerable assassin to grimace a bit. "Hey, don't you dare talk badly about my Master, you heartless ninja jerk! You don't even know him, so hush up! He can beat you in battle any day of the week if you two ever met!"
Carefully maintaining his reserved pose, he merely reached up and grabbed her hand, clasping her palm to his chest firmly, initiating a rather provocative advance, a partial smile gracing his lips when he spied her annoyed expression at his action. She began to pull away as the ninja had presumed ahead of time, and he immediately lashed through the air to grasp her free arm, retracting to place it next to its partner, resting against the pounding rhythm of his steadily beating heart. Uriko narrowed her eyes and peered at him, uncertainty lingering in her chocolate-shaded irises as she slowly tried to move back, tugging and fighting his hold, but of course, he did not relent, kept her imprisoned with a wide, visible smirk on his face. "If his frail, pathetic amateur of a student is any indication… then it is safe to presume that your words are utterly powerless and empty, and your Master is no more than a cheap replica teaching to gain profit rather than holding the intention of truly training to make sure that his inferior acolytes rise to success in the fighting world."
With a ferocious yank, she ripped her hands out of his grasp, stepping back to put distance between them while hissing intensely, "Don't touch me…! And for your information, the only reason why I'm not as good as him is because I didn't train as much, or as long as he did. If I was given the choice and learned everything that he had to teach me, I'd definitely be a better fighter than you today!"
He chuckled softly before informing her slyly, "'Ifs' bear no meaning on reality, my little kitten…"
The younger youth placed her palms on her hips, thrusting her upper body forward rather aggressively, trying to prove that she was un-intimidated by his arrogance and could indeed overcome his self-established superiority. "I'll be happy to give you a taste of reality: you're not as great as you think are, and I'll prove it to you! I'm gonna train hard and beat you at your own game…"
"Your passion is foolishly misguided; truly a shameful waste of an attribute that could be a valuable allocation if developed correctly." His statement was an interesting mixture of insult and compliment and the girl frowned her confusion, unsure of what he truly meant, wondering if he was implying that she should become more insistent, and considered the validity of his advice. "Let us not dance around and willingly coat our own eyes blind - the fact of the matter is, according to my accurate count, you have already fallen at my feet three times, and our deal has not even begun yet, Uriko Nonomura…"
Her eyes narrowed despite the humiliation that suddenly flooded her senses at his reminder; he certainly was clever and perceptive, knowing which of her buttons to push but the more he exercised that ability, she was given the equal opportunity of developing resistance against it. "Grrr… you caught me by surprise all those times! And, and… I haven't exactly been keeping up with my training, which gave you that little edge too. But I'll get my fighting techs back, just you watch, and when I do, I'll give you a good battle! I'll surprise you, you'll see!"
Despite his captive stepping forward and boldly stabbing her finger at the tip of his nose while she was talking, Bakuryu made no countering move, merely stood his ground and waited for the emotion-driven female to cease speaking before he inputted his decisively final two cents. "Then I shall look forward to this good show that you have promised me just now, and I sincerely hope that you mean every word you have just uttered, little girl, for thus far, I have been sorely disappointed too much…"
Uriko scowled at his pivoting back as Bakuryu began to turn; she was quickly growing tired of him constantly condescending her and hated the way that he treated her so disrespectfully when she spoke, as if her opinions were not as important as his. "Urrrrrgh... You're so infuriating!"
"I would like to make it absolutely clear that you are the only person in this conversation that is the slightest bit concerned or interested in what is being elicited from your mouth," he provoked her; snickering at the previous remark that she had fired as an afterthought, he shook his head slightly and just continued walking away.
Unable to resist the urge, she bent down to pick up a pebble and flung it at his retreating figure, pleased to see the projectile prove true to her aim, as her succeeded intention outweighed the actual impact of the weak and flimsy small object. "The only thing I don't understand is why you didn't just attack me when I was weakened so that you don't have to bother with the whole process and just score easy victories by using your usual cheap tactics! You seem to think that no matter what, I'll lose anyway… So… so why haven't you done anything yet?"
He stopped as the tiny rock hit his back, then turned and shot his prey a dark glare while retorting, "It truly is pathetic that you disillusion yourself and fail to acknowledge my use of pure skill to defeat my opponents, not these 'cheap tactics' that you would prefer to label it as. You do not stand a chance against me, little girl, remember that… for I shall spare no mercy and defeat you at full strength, and hopefully you will then realize your futile struggle and finally submit to the helplessness and despair that will undoubtedly sink into your thick skull all the more when you lose."
A little unsettled by his words but refusing to let that show, Uriko armed herself with another small pebble before assuring both parties insistently, "You're not scaring me, I hope you know that, Bakuryu… I've figured out your plans so I know what to expect; surprises won't work in your favor anymore, sorry." Her curt apology was completely insincere, of course; succumbing to a surprising sudden urge, her free hand reached up and pulled down her eyelid as she stuck her tongue out at him in her favorite taunt, one she had used against many of her opponents when she was younger.
The ninja released a slight snort, unimpressed by her mocking gesture. "Be patient, young Uriko… All will fall into place in due time." He again turned heel and started off, pausing briefly only to command, "Come with me. We are returning to the cottage."
His captive rolled her eyes at his back but nevertheless obeyed; she dropped the rock and slowly strolled toward him, great reluctance weighing down on her shoulders as conflicting emotions dueled inside of her. She hated obeying any of his demands, but it was in fact growing late and dusk was quickly approaching, so even though she still preferred to depart at her own leisure, he might take her back by force if she had not followed willingly. The girl was surprised that Bakuryu used more verbal threats than physical antics, and wondered just how well he would fight when their first match came up; would he be as good as he promised, or was he full of hot air? One thing she had to admit that he was right about – it would indeed take time to find these answers, and annoyed with the thought of waiting for a battle that suited his own precious hours, she glared resentfully at him, furious flames in her normally kind and elation-filled eyes.
Oh, if only her master had indeed taught her more than she currently knew, for at that very moment, the Kenpo student desperately wanted to fly through the air and deliver a forceful kick to Bakuryu's head, almost as much as she equally desired to attain her blessed freedom…