Chapter 33

A week had passed and the classes began again. Hitomi was currently sitting in one of the last rows and wrote down anything, that could be important, inside her notebook. Her thoughts swayed to her girlfriend who should currently be in her own class.

She had been very excited about it all and just a few days earlier had given Leifang the grand tour of the campus and its surroundings. Leifang had told her that the majority of her lessons in this semester would consist of German. Though she still participated in her majors it wouldn't help her much if she didn't understand the language now, would it?. Leifang had also told her that she took music as another minor, something that she had wanted to do for a long time after she stopped her piano lessons in favor for martial arts training.

It was really too bad that they shared none of their subjects. But they could always see each other during lunch break. Hitomi prodded her chin on her left fist and exhaled deeply.

Still they needed to make something of a schedule as sad as that sounded. She'd rather spend all her time with her girlfriend, but the truth was that the time that she could spend with her might just become even less depending on the outcome of a certain situation she was currently in.

At the very least they could see each other in the evening... she hoped.

Hitomi let out a deep breath and absentmindedly started to doodle around in her notebook. Today, she thought, she wouldn't be able to digest a lot of subject matter anyway. While she was no Rembrandt she thought she was pretty good at drawing things.

She drew her pencil across the paper for a few minutes, sometimes stopping to erase a line that was no good. A smile formed on her lips when she saw the cute, chibified picture of Leifang that she drew, smiling back at her.

The clearing of a throat made her jolt upright in her seat and slam her notebook shut. Damn she had been caught!

The professor cleared his throat once more to get everyone elses attention, then looked at his watch. "I'm afraid I have to leave earlier today, so you'll be dismissed ahead of time. Please review what we discussed today. Good day" he said and Hitomi sighed in relief. Got lucky this time.

She gathered her things, put them in her bag and walked out of the classroom into the hallway. Walking down the hallways she headed to where Leifang was having her German class and leaned against the wall.

Checking her own watch she saw that there were still a good twenty minutes left until it was lunchtime so she crossed her arms in front of her chest and decided to wait patiently.

While waiting she thought on what Harald had said to her a few days ago.

"They agreed to meet with me on Wednesday and I'll try to get you as good a deal as possible." he had said, but she could already tell that the chances of her getting away cheap would be slim to none.

They should have had the meeting by now. Hitomi wondered if she should just call him or play it safe until he called her. Knowing him he wouldn't call until way later.

But it would probably be better to wait, even if it would be a little aggravating. The Katareka huffed in annoyance. She had wanted to be there during the whole thing, but Harald told her they refused because they thought that she might just harm then again.

Morons she thought. She just wanted this to be over.

Hitomi waited until the doors opened and the students came spilling out of the room. She couldn't really make it out but it sounded as if the professor was calling after them.

The students cleared and Hitomi waited for Leifang to appear but didn't see her. She looked after the crowd then walked over to the door, which was about to fall shut and saw her girlfriend still talking with the female professor. Smiling she leaned against the doorframe and simply watched her.

They were talking about the current route of the curriculum and if she could get some extra material. After they had finished their talk Leifang said goodbye to the Professor and headed for the door where Hitomi was already waiting for her.

"Hey stranger." Hitomi said.

"Well hello to you too." Leifang smiled.

They stood there for a moment, just looking at each other, before heading off. "See you tomorrow." Leifang said once more to the Professor.

"Wow, that doesn't sound too bad." Hitomi complimented her. "Only a few days in and you're already improving."

"Yes, well she told me something along the lines as well. I asked her if I could get some advanced material to practice at home."

"Just tell me if I can help you, you know what with being native and all." Hitomi said and Leifang held her hand in front of her lips to hold back a giggle.

"I'd be delighted to get your help in that matter, Hitomi-sensei."

"Ouch, that makes me sound a bit old now." she said, grinning wide and rubbing the back of her head. The shared a laugh, then walked on in silence.

As they walked side by side she reached out with the fingers of her left hand, brushing them against Leifang's right. The action drew a smile on their faces that they shared. Before the semester began they had decided that it would be better to keep their relationship a secret between the two of them.

Well, and Viktor.

Hitomi came up with that idea and Leifang was incredibly grateful for her thoughtfulness. It was one thing to have a few select people know about them, but to have a lot of people know, and it would certainly get around that two beautiful girls were in a romantic relationship, would be overwhelming to her.

Besides, Hitomi thought to herself, looking at the people that passed them on their way to the canteen, It isn't any of their business.

She hadn't even told her father yet. Though she planned on doing that the next time she saw him. He was her father after all.

She turned her gaze to Leifang and wondered if she planned on telling her parents in the near future. She had confided in her that her parents didn't know the exact reason for why she actually wanted to study abroad and something told Hitomi that it was probably better that way for. At least for now.

As polite as Jintao had been towards her she couldn't see him as the type that would look positively upon his daughter taking up studying in another country simply because she wanted to pursue a relationship with another girl, who happened to be her best friend.

Hitomi frowned. Man that sounded bad even in her mind now that she actually thought about it. Definitely better to wait until they dropped that bomb on them.

Hitomi and Leifang entered the canteen together and walked up to the counter. Not really out for something special today they both agreed on the soup and searched for a place to sit. The Karateka spotted Viktor sitting alone. "Hey over there." she said and pointed towards him, then started walking over.

"Hiya." she greeted and sat down in front of him.

"Hi Hit-girl." he said simply then looked over to Leifang who sat down beside Hitomi. "Hey."

"Hey." Leifang said simply and started eating her soup, then grimaced at the stale taste and grabbed the salt shaker. Her lips drew into a thin line as she listened to the two of them talk. She hadn't forgotten her last talk with Viktor and from how things looked he didn't either, as he avoided gazing at her at all costs.

Hitomi didn't notice a thing. "Haven't seen you the past week. Been up to something?"

"Nah, I just spend my time getting ready for the semester is all. Probably should've done those extra classes too, huh?"

"And then have me see your face all the time? No thanks."

"Yeah, well you aren't exactly Scarlett Johansson either." he said in a mock insulted tone, a grin forming on his lips.

"True, because I'm way prettier." Hitomi said and Viktor snorted in amusement.

"You telling yourself that so that you can sleep at night?"

"Oh now it's on!"

Leifang watched the two of them bicker back and forth while she ate in silence. Unconsciously she clenched her teeth and felt something wreathe inside of her, deep down, coiling itself around her heart. She counted herself lucky that they were busy bickering or else they might have seen the scowl forming on her face.

For just this little moment that she watched the two she wanted Viktor gone. Then she realized what she was feeling. That little snake in the back of her mind. She was jealous.

That was a new one. She couldn't remember ever having been jealous over Jann Lee, but that was in no small part due to him having never shown interest in anything that wasn't connected with martial arts, women included. He didn't have anyone that was close to him.

Unlike Hitomi, who had friends.

And one that was a bit too close for comfort to her right now.

Forcing herself to look as neutral as possible she continued to eat, watching them from the corners of her eyes. Suddenly Hitomi, who must have noticed that she had been quiet, turned to her and was about to say something when her phone rang.

Hitomi looked at the display who the caller was. It was Harald. "Sorry, gotta have to take this." she got up from her seat and walked away, leaving Leifang and Viktor alone. Both of them just stared at each other in silence, narrowing their eyes, before deciding to simply look somewhere else.

Once Hitomi was out of the door she pressed the answer button and held it to her ear. "Hello?"

"Hitomi, it's me, Harald." it came from the other side. "Are you busy right now?"

"No, I'm just eating lunch so I've got time."

"Splendid." he said and Hitomi heard a little bit of rustling on the other side of the line. "I've met with the young gentlemen – and I'm using that word lightly here – and their counselor. To make it short: they are willing to retract their charges in exchange for reparation payments, but we knew that already."

"So how much do they want?" Hitomi asked, her voice making it clear just how anxious she actually was. Here it comes.

Harald sighed and there was more rustling. He seemed to hesitate for a moment then told her. "...fifteen-thousand."

"Come again?"

"Fifteen-thousand euros and you're off the hook."

"Fifteen grand?!" she exclaimed and grabbed a fistful of her hair. Looking to the side she saw a couple of students standing in the entrance staring at her, as they were about to enter. Seeing the look that she was giving them made them hurry along.

"Yes I'm afraid so."

"Why? How would they know I can afford that?"

"Their lawyer investigated a little, clever man by the way, and it was easy to find some stuff about your participating in that tournament and the prize money." he told her and Hitomi had to frown at the compliment he gave the guy that was making her pay so much. Sure it wasn't that big a dent in her savings, but she didn't want to use that cash in the first place. "Actually the boys you beat up wanted to bleed you for more money but he convinced them that fifteen would be the most they could make."

Hitomi let out a sigh. "Well it's a bit of a shock, I didn't think they would want THAT much."

"Sorry, that was the best I could do. Of course if you want I can call them and say that the deal's off."

"No no." she shook her head even though he obviously couldn't see it. "It's fine, really. I'll pay them and it's over."

"Alright. Just come over to my office later and we can go over the rest."

"Ok, I'll be there. And Harald?"

"Hmm?"

"Thank you." she smiled and by the tone of his answer she could tell that he was smiling too.

"No problem, really. See you later."

"Later." Hitomi hung up and walked back into the canteen, placing the phone into her back pocket again. As she walked back towards their table she noticed that Viktor had gotten up and was carrying the tray he had taken back to the counter. Then he turned towards the exit and headed out, waving and giving her a smile as he passed her.

"See ya around." he said and she simply waved him goodbye, then walked back to the table and sat down opposite of Leifang, pulling her tray towards her new place.

"Hey, are you alright?" Leifang asked her immediately. She hadn't touched her food once after Hitomi had left. Hitomi fixed her gaze on Leifang and saw the worry reflected in those beautiful brown eyes and instantly felt bad about causing her to feel that way in the first place. She wanted to reach out with her hand, cup her face and kiss her to make her know that everything would be alright now and that she was glad that she was here with her.

But she couldn't, so she gave her a reassuring smile.

"I'm fine now." she said and added with a small voice. "You're here after all."

Hitomi just hoped that the blush on her face wasn't too obvious.

Nothing much to discuss here, so why not something more up to date: Do you guy love Hitomi's new ponytail look in DOA5 Ultimate as much as I?
Gonna have Hitomi wear it more often later in the fic.

That's it for this week. See you around. :)