Ch.11

JULIE POV

This totally was not right. Though Dan had sat down with the rest of us at the table we'd set up, he wasn't chowing down on Alice's food as he usually did, which made Runo both worried and angry, "Dan! Eat! Alice and I worked hard to make this stuff! Enjoy it!"

Nothing. The silence pierced through all of their hearts. Dan's face was still holding a fake smile. For some strange reason, his eyebrows were slightly down, like he was tryin to forget something.

"Dan! Answer me!"

He snapped, "I don't really care. This'll probably taste bad anyway, since you made it."

I winced at that, looking at an enraged Runo,"See? That's better. That's more like the Dan I know."

All of our jaws dropped at Runo not getting mad, but we realized what she was doing. I shut my mouth and turned back to my food.

After we all finished, we all sat idly, as if Dan would speak to us in this time. But Drago tried anyway, "Daniel," he whispered, while the other bakugan were keeping their partners occupied. Like that was going to work. I wasn't going to be distracted by Gorem that easily.

DAN POV

"What's wrong? You're freaking all your friends out. I know you're not happy right now, but focus. Shun is going to need time to recover from everything and you're not helping by sulking," he glanced at julie who turned back to her food.

"This isn't about bakugan, or me leaving. It's about- never mind. It was a long time ago. It doesn't involve you, Drago. Please don't ask."

Drago could probably hear the small quivering of my voice, and let it go. I knew that he was ok with me telling him later.

I looked over at the empty seat where Shun would sit. Somehow, even Fabia and Mira's group hadn't sat there. I blinked realizing that he'd always sat there. No matter where we were. He was always at the edge. It was HER seat…

"Get out of my seat!" She yelled, pushing me out of the end seat. "This is my chair! You know that," she simply finished.

I groaned from my spot on the floor, rubbing my butt, "Ow! You could've said so!"

"And have you ignore me?" she said, crossing her arms.

"I would've listened!"

"No, you wouldn't have."

"Shun! Tell her!" I yelled at Shun, who was sitting at the table, reading a book.

"No, Shun'll side with me! Right, Shun?" the girl said, extra sweetly. He eyelids were fluttering, her hands clasped against her cheek.

"I'm not going to get into this."

"But, Shhunn!" the girl pouted.

"No."

"SHUN!" both I and she yelled.

we grinned as soon as he turned back to his story. I nodded at her. Quietly, we snuck up to the silent boy, trying to tip his already unstable chair over. Without looking, Shun grabbed my arm and semi-flipped me, but simply grabbed her wrist.

"That's not fair! You're so much nicer to HER!"

Shun simply shook his head sadly at both of them. They were so much alike sometimes…

FABIA POV

"Dan. Dan!" Keith repeated, getting worried about the pyrus brawler. He was staring at Shun's chair with a smile, obviously thinking about a time before they had all met.

Runo, on the other hand decided to pinch him, "Ow!"

"Dan, we've been calling you for a while. Snap out of it," Runo said.

"Are you ok?" Tigrerra asked.

"I'm fine."

"Why are you so upset? Shun's sick, but he'll get better. It's not that bad."

Dan almost grinned grimly, thinking about something that we clearly didn't know…

He snorted, "Yeah, but that's not the problem, now is it? It's what he does and says when he's sick that's the problem."

"What do you mean?" Helios asked.

Dan shook his wild mane of hair, "Nothing."

I was rather angry now, and I could tell everyone else was too. Exactly WHY were there so many secrets between the two boys? And why weren't the rest of us allowed to know?

"Dan," I started tightly, but Aranaut bounced on my shoulder, signaling me to stop. I leaned back into my chair, looking at the empty seat as well.

Mira couldn't let it go, "What are you hiding from us, Dan?"

"What do you mean?" Dan asked, pretending he hadn't said anything that had upset the occupants of the table. He finally started to fill his mouth with food. "Good food, Alice."

"We mean you and Shun. What was that fight back there?" Diablos asked, curious rather than angry.

"What fight?" he questioned innocently.

Ren spoke up, "The one between you and Shun before he collapsed. You were exceedingly upset. Why? What were you guys talking about?"

Dan stuffed his face, trying to get a way out of talking.

"Dan," Helios started.

Dan looked at his empty plate, "It was no big deal," he answered, not facing Drago either. That was scary. Even Drago didn't know? Just what had happened?

"DAN! THIS ISN'T FUNNY ANYMORE! WE ALL WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED! WHY WERE THE TWO OF YOU FIGHTING? WHAT WAS IT EVEN ABOUT?" Runo yelled.

"You think I wanted to remember?" the boy asked, his voice scratchy and dangerously low. He looked up at all of us, facing his girlfriend. Dan had tears in his eyes beginning to form. "You think I like fighting with Shun?" his fists were tightly clenched on the table.

Runo sat slowly, shocked by the venom in his voice. His eyes were brown, but they seemed almost to be tinged deeply with a firey red. "What she meant was, could you please tell us why the two of you were arguing?" Tigerra asked.

"Something happened a while ago that I could of stopped. But…"

Preya pressed on, "But… but what?"

Dan shook his head, "Never mind. It happened a long time ago." His hands stayed in fists on the table, but he'd calmed down a bit.

"But," I started.

"Just leave me alone," Dan said, standing up and leaving. The conversation was over.

Drago stared at the retreating form. His partner had forgotten him on the table. His friend…

Jazz is back! Hey! Here's the next chapter! Hope you guys liked it! It reveals a bit more about the background of the girl, but she (hopefully) remains a mystery to you. She'll be introduced in the story, but not any time soon. R&R! See ya'll next chapter!