Chapter 11

"Yes! I got it!" Zircon ran into the Crystal Sanctum, holding up what seemed to be some kind of DVD box. "Zircon? What's going on?" Steven leaned over the railings from the second floor in his bedroom.

"Come on down and see!" Zircon had a big smile on his face going back to look at what he was holding. Steven ran on down the stairs and looked around Zircon's arm, seeing the DVD box. In big letters it said "Inuyasha: The Final Box Set". "Huh?" Steven tilted his head in confusion, looking at the title that was unknown to him, "What is it?" Zircon looked back at Steven, shocked, "It's Inuyasha, an anime."

"What's an anime?" Steven's response made Zircon's eyes go white, "You don't know what anime is?!" Steven shook his head followed up with Zircon taking Steven over to the couch and sitting down with him, "Anime is like…one of the most well-known forms of animated entertainment."

"Soooo, it's like a cartoon?"

"Eeeeh almost…The term "Anime" is what people over here in America call Japanese Animations due to how unique and different the style of animation is from what you would see in Western cartoons. Do you understand?" Zircon looked at Steven who slowly nodded his head before the nodding turned into shaking. Zircon slammed his face into his palm, "Hold on, I'll be right back!" He ran over to the door before quickly looking back, "What kind of movie genres do you like?" It was too easy for Steven to answer, "I like Samurai movies!" This just made Zircon smile, "I got just the perfect thing to show you." He then slipped out the door to get what he wanted.

Returning after a couple minutes, Zircon held another DVD box in his hand, this time the title said "Samurai Champloo: Full Season". "Whoa! This anime stuff has samurai things too?" Steven held the box as he looked down at it with an excited face. "But um…we don't have a DVD player." He looked up a little disappointed. Zircon then started to think, "Do you know someone who possibly could have one?" Steven started to think too before his expression brightened up, "Peridot!"

"Peridot?" Zircon scratched his head.

"Yeah! Her and Lapis have all sorts of things in the barn with them. They're bound to have a DVD player."

"Well what are we waiting for?!" Zircon and Steven both bolted out the door towards where Reaper was kept.

It didn't take long for Zircon to take them to the barn, almost speeding most of the way there. As soon as he stopped his bike, he carried Steven onto his back and ran on up to the barn, "Whoa, you're really anxious for this Zircon!"

"Are you kidding? Anime was one of my biggest influences during my life, what with not having a father or mother around. It taught me certain lessons about life and was what inspired me to train myself to be the best I can, just like some of my favorite characters. That's how amazing anime is to me. They create these characters that people can relate to."

"Wow…" Steven's eyes had stars in them, never hearing Zircon ever talk about something so passionately before. Once they were in the barn, Zircon yelled up, "Oi! Peridot!" Soon after, Peridot's head poked out from the second floor balcony, "Oh! Bloodstone!" Zircon pinched the bridge of his nose, "Peridot, I told you, it's Zircon."

"Haha right!" She jumped down, landing in front of the two, "So what can I do to help?"

"You wouldn't happen to have a DVD player now would you?" Zircon leaned over so he could actually look at Peridot. She stood there, holding her chin in thought. "Hmmmm…hold on for a sec." Walking over to the side, Peridot started rummaging through things she collected and fixed. Getting out, she held up a tiny, mechanical box, "Is this what you're looking for?"

"Yes! That's it! Man you're a lifesaver Peridot!" Zircon complimented, making Peridot's cheeks blush green, "U-U-Um, no problem Bloodstone." Zircon shook his head smiling at what she called him, "For this I'll let it slide."

Zircon immediately went to work on plugging up the DVD Player and starting up the show's main menu. "So what exactly is this that you guys are watching?" Peridot asked, standing behind Zircon.

"We're watching an Animu!" Steven shouted out, making Zircon's eyes roll, "That's AnimE, nut-head."

"Hmmm, intriguing. You know what, I got time to spare. Scoot on over Steven!" Peridot sat right in the middle of the makeshift couch her and Lapis made from car seats. "Alright you two," Zircon turned around holding the remote, "Are you guys ready for some cool, samurai, anime action?"

"YEAH!" Peridot and Steven yelled out.

"Then let the binge watching commence!" Zircon started up the show, plopping himself down beside Peridot.

They watched the anime up until it started to get dark outside, the only light at the moment coming from the screen of the TV. It was the ending of the final episode when the main female character in the show said, "You know, I have something to confess to you two." The other two main males in the show turned to female while Steven and Peridot were munching on some popcorn. "When I tossed the coin back at the restaurant, it didn't land on heads for me."

"WHAT?!" Steven and Peridot lunged forward with some of the popcorn falling over. The female lead then smiled and walked off with the two main males smiling after her. After that, the show's credits came up with Peridot and Steven cheering out, "Oh my god! That was amazing!" Peridot yelled.

"That ending was probably even better than Lonely Blade! Sure there were no fancy moves, but the choreography and animation were amazing in the fight scenes!" Zircon was laughing at how happy the two, "I told you, you guys would like it."

"Not only that, but the samurai, Mugen, was really good looking~!" Peridot squealed with a huge smile.

"I like Jin! He was the classic, calm-headed samurai~!" Steven commented. "What about you Zircon?"

"Hehe, I liked both of them. They were really good foils to each other." Zircon smiled.

"Are you guys still up?" Lapis walked over, but her eyes narrowed when she saw Zircon, "Oh…it's you." Zircon looked at her with the same expression before Steven jumped up at Lapis, "Lapis you just missed probably one of the coolest shows we've ever watched!" Lapis was smiling seeing Steven so happy, "Oh really? Well I guess I should watch it with you then at some point."

"Heh, alright Steven, it's time for us to get going. Don't wanna have Pearl start worrying." Zircon stood up.

"Ok! See ya Lapis! See ya Peridot!" Steven hugged Lapis and Peridot before he began to walk back outside with Zircon. "Hey, Zircon?" He looked down to see what Steven wanted, "What is it?"

"That was really fun."

"Hehe told ya you would like it."

"Well, not just that." Steven added, making Zircon look at him in confusion, "What else was there?" Steven went silent for a brief moment before answering, "We bonded…" Zircon's eyes widened slightly before looking away and rubbing the back of his head, "Y-Yeah. I guess we did."

"You and I have been so different with interests, ever since you came here, that we were never able to have a bonding experience like this." Zircon smiled, listening to Steven, "So I'm guessing you like anime." He was shocked to soon feel Steven hugging him, "Yes I do, but I also like it because it's helping us grow closer." A small smile crept across Zircon's face as he helped Steven up onto his back, "Whoa~! Hahaha~!" Steven laughed.

"C'mon you nut-head, let's hurry on back." Zircon laughed along, running over towards Reaper with Steven.