Author's Notes: I'm back! Well, I don't really have anything to say except the usual 'thanks for your support', so… off to the chapter!

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Twenty

"OWWW! What in the world was that for?!" he heard the young Gear Master yelp in a frustrated tone, and as he cocked his head to the side to observe how things were going for Marino and his comrades, the black-haired boy was rubbing his stinging cheek. Instead of turning his attention on his Gear, he found himself watching the others thoughtfully with his deep, chestnut-colored eyes, very interested at how things were progressing at the opposite end.

Hanano was glaring daggers at the one who had just spoken; he noticed, for the first time, that Jin had definitely grown taller, for he was already as tall as the female Gear Fighter. "That was for your idiocy! You… you…"

Sighing, Manganji turned back to the matter he was supposed to be engrossed with --- changing the Gaiki's settings for the third round, that is. True, the argument of the Tobita Club members, new and old, was his business as well, considering his position and the authority he held, but he knew the fiery young woman well enough to be able to tell what she was so worked up about. Let the kids argue, he told himself, shaking his head.

It was surprising to note how frightened Kyousuke could get, most especially at how he'd pale whenever Kaoru would push her face close to his. Her indigo-hued eyes were aflame as she hissed into the Gear Master's ear, "You're letting him fall into Ming Wu's hands, you dope! I thought you knew better than that! You worked so hard all those years to keep him at bay, only to set him loose now into the Gear Fighting arena! Open your eyes, Kyousuke! This is just the perfect opportunity the GFA has been waiting for! And with Takeshi standing there---"

He turned around and chuckled, miraculously regaining his composure sooner than even he expected to. The lens of his glasses flashed against the furious light from their side of the arena. "Since when did you care about that?"

"How dare you--!" she snapped, his words stinging her badly. She thought he knew what her motives were, as he had been so kind to make a Gear for her to accomplish those, but apparently, she was wrong. She could not understand how the black-haired lad had not seen that all her efforts to reestablish the Tobita Club and everything else that went along with it had been for them, and most especially for…

Kouya had marched up to his arguing friends, settling himself between them. He folded his arms in front of his chest and glowered at the two, although Kyousuke couldn't see his expression as he had his back turned against him. "Would you please stop talking about me like that? It's getting annoying, you know! If you have anything to say to me, well say it! You don't have to talk about it in whispers --- no, you can't talk about it in whispers, because I have the right to know what's going on here!"

Immediately, the Gear Master whirled around to face the former Tobita Club captain; at least, that was what everyone else thought. However, he was instead staring at Kaoru, silently pleading that she not spill the beans about what was going on just yet. It simply wasn't the time; not when Takeshi was observing them from the opposite side of the area, not when the Asian Champion's cronies were all over the gymnasium, watching their every move and getting ready to report to the GFA anything suspicious they would be able to pick up.

Violet eyes met brown; then, her eyebrows furrowed. "None of your business, Marino."

Never had he expected to hear her use such a tone, and use one on him. And the way she called him by his last name… it was totally not like her at all. He stared at her for a few more heartbeats, into her dark-hued eyes that had become as sharp as glass and as cold as ice, probing into her very being in hopes to find traces of the girl he had known and loved all this time…

Nothing.

She bore the name, but everything else about her had changed.

With nothing more to lose and everything to reclaim, he tilted his chin defiantly, meeting her ice-cold orbs with his blazing russet ones, and replied in a carefully controlled voice, "Why, of course. It has never been my business, has it, Hanano?" At that, he made his way past her to grab the Ark Cavalier from the bench, allowing his shoulder to collide against hers and push her out of the way as he did so, not saying a word to apologize, or to anyone else, for that matter.

Then, he trudged towards the arena, unconscious of the time, aware only that his opponent --- for the third time that day --- was moving to his post in order to resume their battle. As his gaze landed on Takeshi's scathing features, he felt himself burn with fury towards Ming Wu and the GFA even more, enough to make him clench his free hand into a fist so hard, it turned as pale as sheet.

All their fault, it was all their fault.

But what has the GFA done? They corrupted the innocent and abused the weak, and above all, they brought about destruction on the Gear Fighters themselves. How many of your Gear Fighting friends are fighting the good fight now? Kaoru surely isn't; revenge is all that's in her mind, to the extent that she fashioned her Gear after the very one you owned, the very one you lost. And how about Wang Hu? Carlos? Takeshi?

"You were right, Sean. You were right," he admitted, his head bowed and his eyes downcast. He had denied it, yes; denied it when he knew, deep inside of him, that his friend had been right from the very beginning. He had been asking himself the wrong question, and above all, he had been blind to the truth that was right before his very eyes.

From the tiny part of his mind that was in tune with the rest of the world, he was alerted that the signal had been given for the third part of their match. Opening up his senses in time to hear the blaring buzzer, he lifted his eyes to face his opponent, determination surging through his veins powerfully once more. At that, he thrust his arms in front of him, holding the Ark Cavalier in one hand and supporting that with the other, falling into the first position of his release. Then, he crouched low, both arms arching sideways to his right, one leveled higher than the other…

Jirou's voice was the loudest from his gasping comrades. "That's the Shining Sword Breaker release!"

A taunting voice broke into his reverie, mocking him about his choice of a release that certainly didn't match the Gear he was using --- and about how he was going to lose anyway --- but even that wasn't enough to break his concentration. I'm back, Sean. I'm sorry I made you wait so long. But now I'm here… I'm going to fight the good fight. You can count on that, he thought fiercely, watching Takeshi slip into his release stance from the corner of his eye while he prepared himself for the risky move he was going to execute.

And the real battle began.