Bloody Roar II: Unwanted Betrayal
Part 4
"Yes, we're serious!" the brown-haired girl insisted stubbornly to Mitsuko, her older 'sister', and Yugo.
"Really, after we beat the crap out of them and used our rage moves, they just disappeared," her boyfriend defended. The adults raised their eyebrows at his language; Uriko nudged him in the ribs.
"We-ell…let's not worry about that right now," Alice told them, eyeing her younger sister and Kenji curled up together on the couch across from the adults.
"Are you guys okay?" Yugo questioned, following the gaze of his girlfriend and noticing the two teenagers' position.
"Uriko, Kenji, did you get hurt?" Mitsuko chimed in, quickly looking over her daughter.
"No," they answered in unison while shaking their heads.
"The new techs you taught Uriko and what Yugo taught me helped us out; we combined some our moves." Kenji said gratefully.
A technique involving both of them? Yugo wondered.
"Yeah, thanks Mother," Uriko smiled and went over to give her mother a hug, then returned to her previous spot next to her boyfriend.
"Don't they look cute?" Alice whispered to Yugo.
"I'm surprised you guys aren't fighting or arguing with each other," He replied out loud, addressing his brother and Uriko.
"Why would we be doing that?" Kenji questioned while making eye contact with Yugo.
"I think he means because of your rough first meetings," Alice answered for him.
Kenji's eyes clouded over as he said bluntly, "I wasn't myself."
"Besides, I was kinda feeling crazed with quickly learning moves from Master Long and Mother being kidnapped and all," Uriko hastily jumped in. "…And speaking of Master Long, I haven't seen him or the others in a while."
"They have their own things to do and lives to run, Uriko," her boyfriend said. "…But I know what you mean."
She looked up at him. "You miss them too, Kenji?"
"Well…not particularly Busuzima," he answered dryly. "But the others, yeah, even though I'm kind of scared of Stun and I don't think that Shina really cares for my company." Uriko grinned.
"She cares about us, just doesn't show it. I think it's hard for her to show much emotion, and I know someone else who can identify with that…" she teased.
"Hey, I'm not that bad!" Kenji shot back, carrying on the conversation as if they were the only ones in the room.
"Hmm…this is a rare moment; better take it down," the sophomore girl continued, pretending to write something down on an invisible pad of paper. "You're showing signs of surprise, irritation, sensitivity…"
Growling lightly, he mock-threatened, "Better cut that out or else…"
"Or else what?" she asked, glancing at him with wide, innocent eyes.
"Or else I'm gonna…" All of a sudden, he imprisoned her with one arm and began tickling her with his other one.
"Ahh! Mercy!" Uriko protested, growling at her vulnerability. Laughing and gasping for breath, she socked Kenji's arm repetitively until he'd loosened his grip on her.
"Ahem…" Alice interrupted as politely as she could.
Blushing, Uriko and Kenji parted and sat on the opposite ends of their couch, away from each other.
A serious look on her face, the brown-haired girl said softly, "I'm glad I get to live to see my fifteenth birthday," She smiled at her boyfriend. "Thanks."
"I still feel a little sorry for not watching out for you in the first place," he replied, guilt reflecting in his eyes.
"Don't!" she insisted.
"Only three more days, Uriko," Mitsuko reminded her daughter after smiling at Kenji.
"Yeah," Uriko grinned excitedly. "Can't wait!"
"Um, not to be rude, but it's getting a little late," Alice announced. "We should get going."
"Yeah," Yugo agreed and stood up. "Let's go, Kenji."
"…Okay," he said a bit reluctantly, casting a quick look at his girlfriend.
Her eyes suddenly brightening, Alice jumped up from her spot and she tugged on Yugo's arm. Glancing questioningly at her, they left the room for a few moments and Mitsuko went with them while Uriko and Kenji shrugged at each other. Soon, they came back and Alice said, "Come on, Kenji."
Smiling sadly at Uriko, he went over to his girlfriend and the young couple hugged tightly before he followed Yugo and Alice out of the room. Letting out a heavy sigh, Uriko called out, "Good night, Mother!" as she trudged up the stairs after they had left, and went into her room to sleep.
*****
"That was scary, huh??"
"Yeah, geez!"
"I would have enjoyed it better if Uriko hadn't shrieked in my ear so often," Kenji kidded.
"Hey, you screamed in mine, too!" Uriko protested.
"Take a chill pill; I think all of us screamed at one time!" Erika said.
"Not our fault!" Ryan Scheller insisted; he had gone to the movies along with the others.
"Don't worry, none of us screamed as loud as he did!" a third voice toward the back of the group teased as she teasingly jabbed the ribs of the person standing next to her.
"That was you, not me!" the masculine-sounding teen replied.
The others in the group laughed as they watched the Asian girl say, "Hell no, it wasn't!"
One of their new friends, Chrysta Roberts growled playfully as she raised her fist in mock threat. A five-foot and four-inched tall girl with shoulder-length black hair and deep brown eyes, she was the tomboy of the six. Even though she was the youngest of them at the age of thirteen and the lone freshman, her friends didn't treat her any differently. Quickly adjusting her glasses, she looked at the boy standing next to her and said, "You're gonna get it now!"
"Hey, I was kidding!" Her boyfriend, Curtis Holser told her, holding up his hands protectively. At two inches taller than her, he smiled reassuringly down at the girl and absentmindedly ran a hand through his thick brown hair. Although he was fifteen years old just like Kenji, Erika, and Ryan, he was a few months their senior, making him the oldest in the group. He and Chrysta were also the most teasing and playful couple of the friends.
"Suuure you were, Curt!" Chrysta answered, rolling her eyes while grinning widely.
His blue eyes twinkling, Curt chuckled and pretended to look offended. "Well fine, be that way!"
Laughing, Uriko finally said, "Okay you two, break it up, break it up! We should be going home, ya know."
Just then, Erika remarked, "Hey, it's only 5:00; still early. Uriko, can we go to your house and hang out for a little bit? We're not exactly excited to go back to school tomorrow."
She nodded enthusiastically. "Well, sure! I don't think Mother will mind if we just don't make too much noise."
"We won't…" Ryan said.
"That is, unless we have a good reason to shout or be loud." Chrysta commented mysteriously while the group started walking toward Uriko's house.
The hostess rolled her eyes as she joked, "Chrysta, you're not gonna let out some war-cry like Xena and then decide to fight Curt or something at my house, are you?"
"Hmm…"
"Don't give her any ideas!" Curt shushed hastily, even as he was chuckling at the thought.
After a few minutes, the teenagers reached Uriko's house. Not noticing that her home was dark, she placed a finger to her lips, indicating to be quiet and took out her key. Unlocking the door, she pushed it open and called out, "Mother, I'm back-with my friends!"
Her eyes emitted a light glow as soon as they sensed the darkness of the area. Hoping that no one saw that, with the exception of Kenji, the female student shut her eyes and her hand fumbled along the wall, trying to find the light switch. When her fingers caught the small nub, she flipped it up and the room was instantly brightened. Just getting used to the light, Uriko squinted and turned back to her friends, beckoning as she said, "Come on-"
She was interrupted by loud voices shouting, "Surprise!!!" that came from the room, and she tumbled down from the impact of the noise. Stammering, "W-what?" the fourteen-year-old girl faced foreword to see who had yelled that and gasped.
Balloons bobbed around the living room and colorful streams ran along the ceiling, coming together at the center. Beams of blinking light were flashing across the walls, and music was blaring out of a boom box sitting on top of one of the couches. Beautifully-wrapped presents sat on top of a table that was near the door; a group of students from Uriko's school all grinned as they ran up to her and sprayed Silly String over her hair and body. Shivering slightly, she glanced over herself at the mess on her thin white shirt paired with black windbreakers.
"H-hey!" she protested, putting her hands up to shield herself from the long, sticky strands of string as she giggled.
"Happy Birthday!" her friends yelled in unison, even Kenji, Erika, Ryan, Chrysta, and Curt.
"I'm not gonna turn fifteen until tomorrow!" Uriko told them, still giggling.
"We know that," Erika answered, stepping up next to her best friend. "Kenji told us!"
"Yeah, we were gonna do something special tomorrow," Ryan started. "But he said that you'd probably expect it."
"Teehee, Uriko, look at him now!" Chrysta jerked her head at her friend's beau.
Kenji was flushing the whole time they were talking and when everyone glanced at him, he turned away with a shy smile. Grinning widely, Uriko ran up to him and gave him a hug from behind, and admitted into the soft fabric of his shirt, "You guys are the greatest; I love ya all!" Her boyfriend's face turned an even deeper shade of crimson at her words.
I love you too, Uriko…just wish I had the courage to tell you… he thought silently to himself.
"Hey, let's dance!" Uriko exclaimed as someone stuck a CD into the boom box and some of the students moved toward the center of the room; she tugged Kenji to them and motioned for her other friends to go along.
An hour later, the sky had started to darken outside and the majority of her friends began to leave. She individually gave them all a hug, then called out "Bye!" as they walked out the door.
"Hmmm…" she mused as she sat down on the couch.
"What?" Kenji asked; he was planning to stay overnight.
"I'm not trying to sound inconsiderate," his girlfriend started to say. "But something was missing at the party…"
He smiled and pointed at the dark kitchen, where the only source of light was tiny flames from sixteen lit candles. "Cake?"
Uriko grinned. "You know me too well!"
"It was a guess," he admitted a bit sheepishly.
She shrugged, still grinning. "Well Kenji, It's the thought that counts."
The couple went expectantly toward the kitchen, nearing the candles and cake. Right when they stepped into it, Uriko could see a silhouette of her mother standing behind the cake, a warm smile on her face. Thanks to the glow of her eyes, the birthday girl could also make out two shadowy figures standing next to Mitsuko; she assumed that it was Alice and Yugo. Her mother snapped her fingers, and a low murmur of voices sang "Happy Birthday" in unison.
When they stopped, Uriko gushed happily, "Wow, thank you, Mother, Alice, Yugo, Kenji!"
As the light suddenly turned on, she linked arms with her boyfriend and smiled at the three people standing before her.
"What about me?" a voice from behind asked casually.
"Hmm…? Who's that…?" Uriko turned to see who had addressed her.
Leaning against the wall, a tall figure in a light blue tank top and matching shorts snickered when spotting the surprised look on the brown-haired girl's face.
"Shina!" Uriko exclaimed.
"Jane, please," was her reply. With a half-smile, Jane Gado stepped up to the birthday girl and said, "By the way, surprise."
"I apologize, mademoiselle Uriko, but I couldn't convince my daughter to change into something more 'appropriate'." Came the words from the shadows as a man with the same spiky blonde hair as Jane appeared into kitchen from the living room; Uriko guessed that it was Alan Gado, and she remembered that Alice had told her about him.
"U-um, hi! Oh, and it's okay, I know that Shi-I mean, Jane doesn't like dressing up," the young girl replied shyly.
"Hey there, little kitten." Someone else chimed in. Uriko grinned and questioned, "Jenny?"
"Don't wear it out," replied the slim woman with short blonde hair. A half-smirk over her red lips, Jenny Burtory slowly strolled in from the open door in the living room and positioned herself next to Jane and her father.
"Wow…I can't believe so many of you are here!" the female sophomore exclaimed excitedly as she gave a couple of little hops and twirled giddily. "But…what about Master Long?"
"What about me?" a voice asked her from behind.
Grinning widely, she whirled around expectantly and saw an Asian man with long black hair tied together in a tight braid hanging over his back.
"Master!" Uriko blurted out.
A small smile on his face, Long Shin clasped his hands over his head and bowed at her in respect; his pupil did the same.
"How did you find them all?" Kenji asked his older brother, looking just as surprised as his girlfriend.
Eyes widening, Uriko glanced at him questioningly. "What? Kenji, you mean, you weren't in on this?" He shook his head.
"Wasn't very easy," Alice replied for her boyfriend.
"But there is something called a phone that helped us out." Yugo said, grinning.
"I'd say coming for the little runt was worth it," Jane commented, winking at Uriko to make sure the young girl knew that she was kidding about the "runt" part. "Brought us together for a reunion."
A split-second after the nineteen-year-old had said that, all the adults gathered together in a group to greet each other, casually converse and catch up with their currencies. Fanning herself, Uriko broke away from them, reveling joyously from the surprise. Wanting to go outside and get some fresh air, she smiled at her old allies, and then ran up the steps leading to the upstairs hall. Noticing that his girlfriend had left the crowd, Kenji jogged up the stairs as well, following her.
Upstairs, Uriko went into her room, and slowly opened the double doors leading to her small, personal balcony. Sweat drops glistening on her forehead, the teenage girl walked outside and leaned against the wooden beam. She gently shut her eyes and sighed happily at the cold touch of the light breeze that brushed across her cheek. It enveloped her slender figure and whisked away the sweaty moisture of her dampened body, making her feel slightly chilled.
The teenage girl peered up at the sky, then suddenly felt something get wrapped around her shivering body. Clutching the dark blue fabric, she turned and asked into the darkness, "Who's there?"
"Kenji," her boyfriend replied, retracting his fingers after placing his jacket over her shoulders.
Smiling gently at him, Uriko snuggled more into the jacket, sighing at the warmness radiating off of it that'd come from Kenji's body. Wordlessly, he stepped up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, laying his chin on her shoulder.
"Have a good party?" he asked softly.
"Yeah," she replied, nodding. "I gotta go back down soon and talk with the others…"
Silence fell between the two, and the couple started to sway slightly, standing there together while the stars above blinked at them. Finally, Uriko said into the wind with a smile, "Those people down there are my friends, I guess… Hehe, I really do adore them all. I love them too."
Before he could stop himself, Kenji asked, "And what about me?"
Idiot! He cursed himself inwardly when his girlfriend didn't answer for a long time.
"…Well," she started to say, turning around to face him. "Your situation's not like theirs."
"…How so?"
"Them, it's just as friends," Uriko explained. "I mean, except for Mother and Alice. But you, Kenji, I…kinda love you in special way." She looked a bit confused while saying that.
I wonder what means…it is the same as the way I'm thinking…? The black-haired teenager wondered.
She cocked an eyebrow in slight surprise. "That doesn't scare you?"
"No." he answered truthfully, smiling shakily at her as he continued, "Are you saying that it's in the other way, different from relatives and friends?"
"…Yeah," she said.
Nervously meeting her eyes, Kenji slowly stroked a few loose strands of her silky brown hair and confessed in a low whisper, "Just to let ya know, I love you too."
The female student let out a soft gasp. "R-really…?" His throat feeling dry, he nodded, unable to reply verbally. Stepping away from her, Kenji bent down and plucked something up from the ground. Handing them things out to her, she grasped them and looked at tall objects: two beautiful roses, one with delicate blue petals and the second was purple. Tied around both of the green stems was a small red ribbon in a knot. Smiling shakily, Uriko gently touched the cyan petals of the first rose, and was surprised at how smooth it felt.
"This is so soft…" she remarked quietly. "It feels like they're made of silk-" Looking at her companion, she asked, "Kenji, you didn't…"
His blushing told her his answer; the fourteen-year-old girl set the flowers on top of the beam surrounding and preventing the couple from falling to the first floor. A lone tear escaped from one of her wide brown eyes and slipped down her smooth cheek. Shakily, her boyfriend lifted his hand and gently wiped the tear away with his index finger. As he began to shrink away, Uriko caught his hand and pressed the palm against her cheek, caressing the rough pad with her soft facial skin.
"Riko…" Kenji murmured, sounding as if he was straining his voice to talk; she smiled at him using her nickname.
"Yeah…?" was her quiet reply.
Tipping her chin up, he slowly bent his head down and lightly touched her mouth; instantly, Uriko's eyes fluttered to a close and she went to link her hands together behind his neck. In turn, the fifteen-year-old boy wound his arms around her slender waist and started to thoroughly, but gently caress her lips. Feeling a little light-headed and dizzy due to the kiss, she relaxed and subconsciously sunk against him.
With the ticking and gentle chirping of crickets in her surroundings, the auburn-haired student heard none of that. The only sound that reached her ears was her fast-paced pulse, and the fierce pounding of Kenji's heart as one of her hands left his neck to rest on his muscular chest. Without realizing it, Uriko clenched her fist to a close, grabbing small mounds of his navy blue shirt while she doing so; a tingle of pleasure shot up her spine.
They were so wrapped in their kiss that neither of them noticed the small raindrops that began pelting down at them from the gray clouds above. Multiple footsteps stalked rather noisily up the stairs and went into Uriko's room. The noises approaching the couple were sounded, but the two didn't hear or acknowledge it. The footsteps halted to an immediate stop upon seeing the busy teenagers, and a low gasp came from Alice's mouth. Instantly turning around, the young nurse took a hold of Jane's arm and dragged the stunned tomboy out of Uriko's room.
"I don't believe this…!" the blonde teenager whispered to her blue hair, pig-tailed friend.
"Yeah, even though I kinda already knew…imagine my sister with Kenji!" Alice agreed in a hushed voice as the girls sprinted back down the stairs.
"Hey guys…!" Jane started murmuring as she reached the bottom step.
Back upstairs, the couple was unaware of their former audience; departing after long, slow moments, Kenji's eyes sprang open as he smiled lazily. He looked at his girlfriend intensely before she exclaimed delightfully, "Hey…it's sprinkling!"
Raising her arms up into the thick air, Uriko lifted her face and was soon beginning to get soaked from the rain. Her clothes dampened by the water, she wagged a moistened finger playfully at her boyfriend and asked, "Hey Kenji, do you like rain?"
"I feel alright about it…" he replied timidly.
"Mmm…" was her reply as she gracefully spun herself around in a circle before saying, "Wanna go back down now?"
"Sure," he replied nonchalantly with a shrug. Grinning as Kenji turned his back on her, Uriko pounced on him and gripped his shoulders tightly while her legs dangled freely around his waist. He protested, "Hey…" but didn't complain further; just held onto her legs and began walking out of the balcony.
With his girlfriend on him piggyback style, the young couple went back through the fourteen-year-old girl's room and walked across the hall, leaving the balcony doors open. When they approached the staircase, Uriko slipped off of his back and settled for holding his hand. Stepping down the stairs together, all eyes were focused on them as soon as the two teens reentered the living room.
"W-what?" Uriko questioned her friends. She was starting to feel a little self-conscious from the attention she was receiving.
Mitsuko and Jenny's eyes fell upon their intertwined fingers, and then looked at the others with surprised expressions on their faces; the couple instantly blushed. Uriko's mother nodded at her companions and smiled at her daughter and beau approvingly.
"Ahhh…" the young girl stammered shyly, trying to think of something to say.
"Umm…" her boyfriend supported.
"So anyway…" Alice started to say as she turned away, not wanting to embarrass her sister any longer; the other adults looked in the nurse's way.
"Whew…" both of the teenagers sighed in relief.
"Oh, I just realized something," Uriko said all of a sudden.
"What?" Kenji asked.
She smiled. "I never got to dance with ya."
"I, I don't know how…" he confessed.
After going over and retrieving the boom box, she tugged on his hand while insisting, "Come on," and led him into the kitchen, where the untouched cake still sat upon the table; the candles were blown out, though.
Uriko set the boom box on the counter and fiddled with some of the knobs and buttons, while Kenji hung back, feeling a little awkward.
A few seconds later, a low song with a soft melody starting playing from the speakers and the pleased girl grinned. Turning her attention to her boyfriend, she went over to him and said immodestly, "Dance?"
"Uriko, I don't know how…"
"This is a slow song; doesn't require much." She informed him. "Trust me…"
"Alright," he agreed finally.
Unabashed, she took his hands and placed them on each side of her waist, then intertwined her arms around his neck. As a throaty voice sung out the lyrics to the song, they both instinctively began to sway to the rhythm.
"Is this all I have to do…?" Kenji murmured.
"Yeah…" she answered. "Not as hard as you thought, huh?"
They simultaneously stepped away from each other as the song started to fade. His head suddenly perking up, Kenji realized, "Hey Uriko, you never got to blow out your own candles…"
"Well…I was too surprised by everyone coming here, that I guess I forgot!" she admitted.
In the living room, Alice overheard the couple's conversation, and hushed the other adults.
"…What about now?" Kenji asked.
She shrugged with a smile. "Why not?"
The two of them walked about halfway over to the kitchen table before she remembered, "Oh! Forgot the matches."
"Don't bother," her boyfriend assured. Closing his eyes, he raised two fingers in front of his face. As his eyes sprang open, a little image of fire flickered in the orangish-brown pupils; Kenji pointed his fingers toward the candles and flames ignited at the top of the waxy sticks.
"Wow, very cool," Uriko said, looking at him in admiration. "Guess fire's your specialty."
A sly smile spread over his lips. "Better be careful though, cause if you don't… Then play with fire, and you're gonna get burned."
"We-ell, I'll just put it out with my new ice tech!" was her confident reply.
He smirked. "Whatever you say, Riko."
"Is that a challenge, Kenji?" the fourteen-year-old asked, grinning. Her other friends began coming in from the living room.
"Maybe later…but now," he nodded toward the blue-frosted cake. "Just make a wish and blow out your candles…"
"Remember, keep it to yourself," Mitsuko said gently, approaching her daughter from behind. Nodding, Uriko squeezed her eyes shut, mouthed something quietly, and then blew hard at the candles; all of them went out at her first try and the others clapped graciously.
She smiled and glanced at her friends: her older sister, Alice, with an arm slung around Yugo. The birthday girl sneaked a look at the proud, confident tomboy, Jane standing nearby her tall, spiky headed father, shoulder to shoulder with Jenny and her Kenpo teacher, Long, speaking quietly with Mitsuko.
Last but definitely not least, Uriko's gaze fell in line with the shy brown eyes of her black-haired boyfriend. As the couple shared a private look, she smiled warmly at him and mouthed silently, "Let's go,"
Looking questioningly at her, he shrugged and obliged, pushing his way to follow her as she trailed into the living room.
"Thanks for the special effects," she said with a teasing grin.
"You're welcome; it kinda comes naturally." He answered modestly, plopping down onto the couch and beckoned her over to him.
Slowly bending to sit on his lap, Uriko linked her arms around the base of his neck. Yawning, she snuggled into him and said, "Mmm, warmth…"
"You're cold?" he asked with a timid swallow as she laid her head on his chest, over his thudding heart.
"A little mentally exhausted, maybe." Came her soft answer while she shut her eyes.
"Uriko…will you promise me something?" he questioned softly, sensing a weird, familiar feeling about her lying so still against him.
"Promise what?"
"…Don't ever get yourself so hurt, like in the fight with our terror twins," he proposed. "I dunno what I'd do if you ever…left me that abruptly."
"I promise I will try not to," was her solemn reply. "And you, Kenji?"
"Of course I promise as well," he answered, sounding just as serious as she had.
"Thanks," said the brown-haired girl sleepily, her breathing starting quieted down.
Letting out ragged breaths himself, her boyfriend sighed and slowly began to relax, placing an arm on the petite student's back. Smiling gently down at her, Kenji followed her example and drifted off to sleep after a few minutes.
Epilogue
"I wish that we'll all be together, Mother, Alice, Yugo, Jane, Alan, Jenny…especially Kenji and I…" had been what the birthday girl whispered as she blew out the candles on her cake. That wish will come true, of course, unless something occurs and happens to separate everyone…
To be continued…
Author's Note: The epilogue was a little corny, huh? Well, whoever read this, thanks for being so patient and putting up with such a long story! If you viewers want another sequel, I'll gladly write one, just be warned that I'm not gonna start it until I find more info about Bloody Roar III. Again, I want to say thank you and please look out for my future fics; also, if ya have time, leave a review!