Chapter Five – Ice Cream

Yuki was sitting alone on a tree branch in school grounds, bored and brooding.

"Why the hell did I say that?" Yuki ranted to herself, "Now I'm sure that they think I'm some sort of freak. I have no idea how to face them now… Oh well, I think the best answer is to skip school."

Yuki smiled to herself, pleased with her 'brilliant' answer and jumped down from the branch she was sitting on. Then she proceeded to walk out of school grounds.

-Outside-

Yuki was walking alone on the street, bored with absolutely nothing to do except for brooding. "Damn!" she sighed, "This is not any different from sitting on a tree." Unknowingly, Yuki walked into one of the more deserted and dangerous areas of the city.

"Well, well, well… What do we have here," a voice said from behind her. Yuki spun around and saw three boys. She recognised the uniform they were wearing.

"You're students from Oto Gakuen," she stated. She heard about Oto Gakuen. Oto Gakuen is a private school for the rich as well, but the students there were more of delinquents. But that's just a rumour… right?

"And you are from Konoha Academy…" the black haired boy said. He was the same one that spoke previously.

"So?" Yuki asked. She didn't believe the delinquent rumour.

A bad feeling stirred in her as the boy grinned menacingly. "We're going to have so much fun with you." Yuki's eyes widened.

"Shit," she muttered and sprinted away from the group of boys. The boys chased after her. The test details said to 'avoid violence unless charges are threatened'. Basically, Yuki is not supposed to fight unless the seven boys she is looking after are in danger, even if she is in trouble.

Isn't that dumb?

Yuki kept running blindly until she reached a dead end. Great. She sighed and turned around. She will fight even if it meant breaking the rules. Slipping into bodyguard mode, she got into a fighting position.

You see, every bodyguard has a 'bodyguard mode'. That is when they get serious. In bodyguard mode, your main purpose is to protect and/or fight. Bodyguard mode is usually automatic for any bodyguard and will come out when the charge is threatened or, in Yuki's case, if the bodyguard is threatened. Sometimes it will come out even if the charge is not threatened physically.

The black haired boy smirked. "So we have a fighter… Well that makes it even more fun," he said. He took a step towards her only to freeze.

"Get away from her," another, more familiar, voice spoke. The three boys stiffened and turned around to see a red head with sea foam green eyes standing behind them. It was Gaara!

"Leave. Now," he ordered. The three boys immediately scrambled away. Gaara watched as they ran from the scene like cowards. Then he turned back to Yuki. She was watching him with wide eyes.

"So, are you afraid now?" he asked coldly. Yuki blinked, confused.

"Why should I be? You saved my life… or whatever they wanted from me," she shivered. "I think you're awesome," she finished. Gaara was shocked. Then Yuki seemed to think about something and frowned.

"Why did you skip school?" she asked. Gaara snapped out of his daze and looked away, somewhat embarrassed.

"You just ran away like that so I followed you. I was worried?" he said the last part like a question. Yuki smiled warmly.

"Thanks," she said softly. Then in a louder voice, she added, "Hey, let me treat you to ice-cream!"

Without waiting for an answer, she grabbed his hand and dragged him to an ice-cream shop she passed somewhere nearby.

They entered the store together. Gaara was aware of Yuki still holding his hand and blushed slightly. The shopkeeper saw Gaara and paled. Yuki noticed this and frowned.

"What wrong?" she asked the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper didn't answer. He only pointed at Gaara. Yuki rolled her eyes. "Oh come one! He's not that mean! But I will be if you continue acting like this," she said. The shopkeeper took no notice of Yuki threat. Gaara sighed and looked away.

"C'mon Yuki, let's leave… Yuki?" Gaara asked.

Yuki was glaring at the shopkeeper. The previous happy air around her turned into a strong killer aura. Her bodyguard mode was activated.

"I'll say this again," she spoke slowly and darkly, "If you don't stop treating Gaara like he's some sort of danger…" She gave a forced laugh. "Good luck."

This threat got through to the shopkeeper and he turned to Yuki, shaking slightly. She smirked.

"So, are you going to keep acting like this?" she asked. The shopkeeper shook his head. "Good," she grinned and the mood lightened.

"So Gaara," she said cheerfully, like she hadn't just threatened someone, "what flavour do you want?"

"Erm… I think I'll have whatever you're having," he told her. She nodded and turned to the shopkeeper.

"Two strawberries please!" she said. The shopkeeper gave her the ice-cream. She fumbled a bit and grinned apologetically at Gaara.

"Could you hold these for me?" she asked, holding out the two ice-cream cones. Gaara nodded and took them. Yuki took out her wallet and paid the shopkeeper. Then Yuki took her ice-cream cone and they exited the shop.

They walked for a bit in silence and sat down on a wooden bench. After a few seconds of (awkward) silence, Gaara asked Yuki, "Why did you stand up for me?"

Yuki thought for a while and she answered, "I just don't like it when people treat others badly for no reason. I was like that before and I don't want anyone to feel the way I did – like shit." (A/n: In the prologue, it stated that the boys in her class bullied her and the teacher treated her like a hopeless cause).

"Oh…" Gaara muttered, not wanting to pry into her privacy. This girl was definitely different from the others and that made him want to get to know her more, treat her as a friend.

"Did Shikamaru tell you that I'm to be your housekeeper?" Yuki asked.

"Yeah," Gaara nodded, "Your work starts tomorrow. You'll come with us back to our house after school to start cleaning." He smirked, "Our house is really messy. Good luck."

Yuki sighed and muttered, "Hell starts tomorrow. Better get ready for it."