Bloody Roar II: A Hidden Bond
Part 2
A few days later, the Biology project had started to come to a close, as well as school. The students silently cheered as each school day passed, the date on the calendar getting closer to the beginning of summer vacation. Uriko and Kenji worked on their assignment together, and she was happy to see that her new friend had begun to loosen up after a few days into the project. He'd also given her a ride home everyday, since she had saved him in the strange incident.
Often, Uriko found herself looking at him and wondering if that perhaps he was the other child she'd seen nearby as she was getting injected with powerful zoanthrope genes. If so, they would have both been only about eight years old when they had acquired their strong fighting techniques.
It was the Friday before the end of the first week in June, in which the students in Uriko's class had turned in their reports. It was also the day that Uriko noticed her partner was absent; it was unusual because so far, Kenji had never missed a day of high school, with the exception of when he was under Busuzima's controluntil now, apparently.
Where is he? She wondered.
After the last bell rang, the teenage girl called out a preoccupied good-bye to Erika, and set out home alone. As soon as she stepped away from the campus, it began to rain lightly. Uriko grinned happily at the wet drops dropping into her silky brown hair, breathing in the fresh smell of the rare summer rain. Water soaked her clothes, dripping onto the black vest she wore over a white cotton shirt. With her matching black leather pants, her sneakers squeaked as she began jogging down the street. Forgetting about Kenji, she played around for a while, not feeling rushed to go home on the account of the upcoming weekend.
By the time she had finally continued walking toward her house, sometime later, the sky had begun to darken, even in the weather of early summer. The streets were damp from the rain as more gray and black clouds loomed over the area. Looking up at the sky, she decided to take a shortcut home, and darted into a familiar shadowy alley.
As soon as she did, Uriko's eyes seemed to let off a very faint yellow glow, allowing her to see her surroundings more clearly, letting her avoid stumbling over objects or falling into cracks in the street. It was toward the end of her shortcut that Uriko had suddenly recognized this was the alley where she'd first encountered Kenji. A joyous smile spread over her face as a light, sprinkle of rain continued falling from the clouds, a few drops pelting her pink, air-moistened lips.
"Enjoying yourself?" someone from behind asked in a low, sneering tone of voice. Startled, she quickly whirled around and saw a dark figure perched on a ledge in the alley. The figure swiftly jumped down in front of Uriko upon seeing that she had noticed their presence, and slowly stalked up to her. She stepped back, but sighed in relief after the person's face, all except for their eyes, was clothed in dim light coming from a street lamp overhead.
"Oh, it's just you" Uriko said with a relieved smile at Kenji, who was looking at her coolly. When she didn't get a response, she brushed her long bangs away from her forehead and glanced at him curiously. Starting to feel uncomfortable under his silent glare, she questioned softly and carefully, "Um, something wrong?"
Kenji stepped further away from the shadows and more into the light, revealing a set of glowing, blood red eyes instead of his normal brown ones. A familiar maroon scarf was wrapped around his neck and a yellow outfit covered the rest of his slim, strong body. The look on his handsome facial features made him appear eerily sinister and slightly evil.
"K-Kenji?" Uriko stammered, slightly frightened by the sight of her friend's creepy expression.
"Don't call me that" came his low murmur of a reply as he raised two fingers of his right hand in front of his face; his trademark stance back when he was Bakuryu.
"What?" she asked, pure confusion in her voice.
He didn't give her an answer, just leaned down and pulled out something from inside his boot, keeping his eyes on her the whole time. Uriko leapt back from him when she unexpectantly caught a silver light flash from the object. It was the gleam of a small, sharp-pointed dagger, the weapon of an assassin.
"What are you going to do with that?!" She questioned in slight panic.
"Come with me," he ordered, ignoring her question.
"Where? What for?"
"Busuzima wants you." Kenji stated bluntly, a tiny orange fire igniting in his eyes.
"W-what?? No way, I'm not going anywhere near him!" Uriko exclaimed firmly, and even though she had a good idea of what had happened to him, she still asked, "Kenjiwhat happened to you?"
"Come with me, or else," he threatened, his voice leaving no room for argument as he tightened his grip on the dagger.
She narrowed her eyes and said defiantly, "Over my dead body!"
Kenji smiled slowly, a dangerous curve quirking at the corner of his lips. The female student thought he sounded wicked as he replied in a low voice, "That can be arranged"
Her pulse pounding in her ears, Uriko glanced at him, feeling a little scared as she said, "And what do you mean by that"
"If you won't go, then I'll have to kill you." She was surprised her friend could say something so bluntly like that, and not even flinch.
"You shouldn't play with sharp objects," Uriko told him with a serious edge in her voice as she immediately kicked away the knife from his hand. With that done, the dark-haired teenage boy glared angrily at her and grabbed both of her hands. He swung his body in between her legs, leapt up into the air behind her, and delivered a powerful kick to her back, landing perfectly after doing so. She cried out in pain and fell to the floor, dropping her school bag as her body connected with the cold, hard ground. Wincing, Uriko stood up as quickly as she could, and turned around to face Kenji, her newest friend as well as her present opponent.
An emotionless and blank expression on his face, Kenji ran toward her, fists raised in a ready-to-attack mode. More prepared this time; she back-flipped onto a small ledge just before he was about to strike her in the chest with one of his strong punching moves. Spotting her perched above him, he jumped up to the same ground level as her and after catching her breath, the fourteen-year-old girl hopped off the ledge to escape.
"Kenji, snap out of it!!" she yelled as he somersaulted down to follow her.
"Don't waste your breath," was his quiet reply, one of his former sayings.
I didn't want to do thisbut it looks like I don't have much of a choicecan't go on defense forever Uriko bit her lip as she decided what to do.
"I hope you'll forgive me later," she whispered to herself as she hurriedly ran up to him.
Keeping her body a safe distance away from him, Uriko quickly launched several punches at his chest while yelling out, "Hah!" Kenji was slightly knocked back at each hit. Right after the fourth time, the fourteen-year-old brought her fist down toward his head and performed a fury of numerous blows on top of his skull. At the thirteenth punch, she struck especially hard and he dropped to the ground as a little bit of blood dribbled out of his mouth.
Not pleased with being knocked down, Kenji growled angrily and swung his leg around to trip Uriko. Once she fell, he hopped over her head and as soon as she stood up, her back was unfortunately turned to him. He clasped his hands around her waist and leapt the both of them high into the air, then turned his victim upside down. A split second before she would connected roughly with the cold ground, Uriko realized what was going to happen and her arms went up to protect her skull. The provided defense still caused an immense amount of pain to her elbows and major discomfort to her head; tears sprang to her eyes as she let out a painful moan.
Ohhhhhthat hurts she thought, clutching the side of her black vest tightly. He's not leaving me any choiceI have to do this
Uriko stood up dazedly and twirled around in a full circle, trying to brush off the pounding in her head as she knocked Kenji several feet away from her. Speed being a stronger point of Uriko's than his; she had already morphed into her beast form by the time he stood back up. Before he could transform as well, she screeched loudly, "Mrowl!"
The tiger-striped cat darted at him and leapt onto his head, performing her rage move. Grabbing onto him as a blue ball of energy encased them, she and Kenji were tossed against the walls, flying wildly around the dark alley. Her opponent screeched in pain everytime he hit a wall and Uriko winced at his reaction, her heart feeling like it'd been ripped apart as she watched him cry out repetitively.
Finally, she threw him roughly to the ground and swayed slightly, feeling really dizzy on top of the pain she felt. After a few seconds, Uriko recovered and ran over to where her friend was and a few tears dripped from her saddened brown eyes. Kenji was lying on the floor and unconscious, with some tears in his clothes from the attack revealing nasty, bloody cuts and a couple of bruises on his muscular body.
"Oh God" she whispered, regretting what she had did.
Letting the tears trickle freely down her cheek, Uriko grabbed her backpack and slipped it on. She then went back to her friend and gently raised his body up, slinging one of his arms over her shoulder. Supporting him, the female student slowly walked down the alley, toward her home. Her conscience nagged at her, Uriko's guilt building up more and more until she felt like screaming out her rage. Biting back the outburst, she ducked her head and continued leading her friend to her house.
Over at a hidden corner, a surprised voice murmured hoarsely, "Sothey're here" With that, the observer darted off.
*****
He'll be okayright?
Unable to sleep, Uriko sat up on her bed and let out a heavy sigh. After bringing Kenji to her house, her mother, Mitsuko had taken care of his wounds and phoned Yugo Ohgami about the situation. They both decided that it'd be better to let Kenji rest there for the night. During that time, Uriko had kept watch of her friend, looking after him and hoping that he'd get better soon. For once, she was glad for Alice frequently teaching her lessons on how to help aid others. Kenji was sleeping in the Nonomuras' guestroom, which Uriko was silently glad that her room was right next to it. She'd hoped to be the first one to see her friend conscious again.
Feeling restless, she slipped out her bed and grabbed the empty cup sitting on her nightstand. Yawning, the auburn haired girl walked out of her room, deciding to go downstairs and get some water. Her footsteps barely made any noises as she treaded down the soft carpet, one of the significance of cats' movements. Tall shadows etched across the walls of the hall, assisting the darkness of the night, and just like before, her eyes began to glow while going further down the hallway.
When she went by the guestroom, a faint sound reached her ears. Slowing down to a stop, Uriko tilted her head toward the door curiously, and slowly pulled it open. As soon as she stepped inside, she recognized what the sounds were and set the cup down on the floor. She shut the door behind her, and bent down to flicker on a small nightlight plugged into the wall, emitting the room in a dim yellow light. Uriko was trying to find the main lights, while whispering into the darkness, "Kenji? Was that you?"
"Uriko?" came a soft, questioning murmur from opposite side of the room. Forgetting to turn on the lights, she darted across the room and stood by the silhouette sitting up on the bed. "It's meare you alright?? You in any pain?"
"I'll be okay," he whispered his reply. Her eyes acting like her personal flashlight, she saw Kenji grip his head with one of hands while a pained look came over his face. Suddenly, a tortured moan escaped his lips and he reached out his arms, wrapping them around Uriko, his head lying on the middle of her chest. A little startled at the intimate contact, she felt his shivering body contact hers as a quiet sob came from him. Shaking off her surprise, she smiled sadly and held him in caring reassurance. A wet stain soaked through her cotton nightgown, the result of the slow tears that trickled down his cheeks.
"Sure you feel okay?" Uriko asked, feeling more concerned about his wounds from her beast form attack than his tears.
"Uh huh," he nodded slightly. "Manyou're getting pretty stronghope it's thanks to Long, instead of that bastard."
She knew he meant Busuzima by that 'bastard' remark.
"Urikodo you think I have a weak will?" Kenji said into her abdomen.
"Of course not!" Uriko answered firmly. "Where'd you get an idea like that?"
"Why do I keep succumbing to his brainwashing?"
"So you knowwhat happened" she trailed off. "And it's probably because he confuses you firstthat's why
"It came back to me while I was sleeping." He said, explaining about how remembered their fight.
"Oh"
"I'm sorry about what I did to you." Kenji told her.
"Not your fault, don't worry about itmy head can stand a lot." Uriko replied; her eyes closing as her own guilt gnawed away at her. Suddenly, she winced as she felt a jolt of pain in her head. Noticing her movement, he looked up at her face while he frowned.
"I hate myself for what I did," Kenji said, frustrated. "I'm really sorry, Uriko."
"I'm sorry tooI don't like fighting or hurting my friends, believe me." She told him with a weak laugh. "And don't hate yourselfit wasn't your fault."
"This might sound stupid, but why did you help me?" he questioned after a long moment of silence.
The young girl opened her eyes and couldn't hold back the shrill giggle that escaped her mouth. "Well, the last time I checked, I thought you were my friend. Along with Erika, of course."
Even though he assumed that Uriko couldn't see him, Kenji pulled back slightly and through the blackness of the room, looked into her caring eyes with his light brown ones. "I know that I never acted or showed that I did, I care about you more than that"
"More than Erika?" she teased.
"Hey, you know what I mean"
Uriko smiled. "Yeah, sorry for the dumb joke. Seriously though, thanks for saying that, it means a lot, you're like a best friend to me. Teehee, whoever knew that Ms. Gerna's project would get us to be such close friends?"
Close friends she thought, triggering up another memory
*****
"No more" A small child pleaded, eyes that were once full of bright spirit now showed pain and produced constant tears.
"Keep going, you little brats!" A harsh voice replied, raising his hand threateningly. "We're not stoppin' till you master those skills!"
The two children wept openly, but obeyed their master and continued fighting the other. Each appearing only about eight or nine years of age, their unhappy faces projected an obvious expression of maturity beyond the years of their youth. Their vocabulary was also extended to that of a regular teenager, after hours of listening to their unmerciful master scold them with vulgar words. Stringy and sweaty hair bobbed loosely in front of their foreheads and bruised knuckles struck repeatedly at their opponent.
"We'll get through thisdon't worry" One of the fighters assured in an unconvincing tone of voice as the cruel master turned away briefly.
"ButI'm tired" The other kid replied weakly, sitting down roughly on the floor after saying that.
"Hey, you! Get up and keep fighting, Bakuryu!" came the immediate angry demand.
"Don't call me thatnot my real name" the one called Bakuryu whispered to himself as he stood up.
"What did your mommy call you?" his friend asked when they resumed their battle.
"I don't remember" he answered mournfully.
"Um, from now on, I'm gonna call you Kenji, after my old best friend from school! 'Kay?"
"'Kay"
"When we get saved from this 'ellhole and anybody asks what your name is, just say it's Kenji!" the child standing in front of him insisted enthusiastically.
"Okay!" he replied, a tiny smile replacing the former look of distress on his face.
"Some day, we'll get outta here!" The other fighter promised.
"Yup," he agreed with a small, timid grin. "Promise we'll stay together?"
"Uh huh! You'd better cuz you're my new best friend!"
His smile grew wider. "Thanks, Riko!"
"Wel-come!" the confident little girl said and sneaked a peek at their master who was watching them sternly. Catching his creepy, small, silvery eyes, she frowned before fake-launching a combo on her new best friend.
*****
Like when we were kids Kenji and I shared a childhood? She wondered after a moment of silence. Should I ask him about that? Would he know what I'm talking about?
Deciding to take a chance, Uriko backed off a little and knelt down to his face-level. She asked hurriedly, "Kenji, do you remember anything about your childhood?"
""
"Remember what happened between us when we were about eight or nine years old?"
"" Came his quiet reply.
"Never mind," she said finally, glancing away, feeling embarrassed.
All of a sudden, Kenji shut his eyes with a groan and clutched his head with one of his hands, grabbing his friend's arm with his free one. Worried, she gasped and questioned, "Are you okay? What's wrong?!"
" Riko?" he murmured, a slight edge of confusion in his voice.
Her eyes widened and she asked excitedly, "You remember, don't you!"
"" was his distressed, stretched out reply. "Not my name"
"Yeah, yeahgo on" Uriko urged softly as she laid his head on her lap and rubbed his back soothingly.
"Best friend?" he said shyly.
"Mmmhmm" she answered.
"" Kenji finished, breathing raggedly.
"We both remember," Uriko concluded joyously. "That's great!"
"My head hurts." He replied, wincing.
"Ken-jimine does too, but I'm not complaining. Well, now I am, but you know what I mean!" she shook her head with a sigh.
"Ye-es, barelybut I do remember" Kenji said the last part with a weak smile.
"Mother and Alice got me out of the institute when I was nine" she told him. "I was so glad to be back at home that II forgot I'm so sorry we didn't go back for you, Kenji."
"It's okay, I understandat least Yugo found me," He said in a somewhat optimistic tone of voice.
"Still, you probably wouldn't have had to go throughall that brainwashing againif we'd helped you instead of Yugo." Uriko said. She hugged him more tightly. "At least that's all over"
For now Kenji thought quietly to himself. How long will the serenity last?
The two friends stayed intertwined in the shadowy room, unknown to the other, both secretly smiling at the discovery of their past. Taking in a long shaky breath, Uriko slowly parted from him, glanced at her friend as she said reluctantly, "Um, I think I should goyou still need your rest." She giggled. "And I gotta go downstairs, still haven't gotten my water yet! By the way, Yugo'll pick you up tomorrow morning, k? I mean, if you feel better."
"I'm fine."
She grinned. "That's goodsee you later then,"
They smiled at each other, and then Uriko turned to leave the room. But before Kenji lost his nerves, he took a hold of her arm and tugged her down to him. She glanced back at him and her sparkling brown eyes widened when he pressed his mouth to hers somewhat clumsily, yet still tender. Following his instincts, Kenji pulled her body closer to his and held his friend, her silky brown hair pressed against the roughness of his cheek. Relaxing into the kiss, Uriko closed her eyes and her arms automatically went to encircle around his firm, muscular waist.
His lips were soft and warm against hers, and she could feel a gentle touch of innocence from them. Realizing that this was a first kiss for both of them, a light shade of pink flushed on her cheeks. A delightful tingle went through her body as the teenage boy nervously rested his slightly shaking hand on her hair, stroking the brown strands gently. Finally, she backed away with reluctance and waved a shy good-bye to Kenji; his wave in response was just as bashful. Picking up the abandoned cup, Uriko slowly opened the door.
"Bye" she heard him whisper one last time. Smiling in pleasure, she gripped the cup tightly and shut the wooden door quietly behind her.
Kenji Uriko thought wistfully as she softly jumped down the steps and trudged into the kitchen. I hope in the morning, he'll remember what just happened. Heehee, I bet Erika's gonna be really surprised!
After filling up her glass with water, she ran up the stairs, making sure to creep quietly by Mitsuko's room before going back into her own. She took a long sip, then set the cup on the nightstand and crawled underneath the covers of her bed. Glancing joyously up at the ceiling, Uriko fell into a blissful sleep with a smile on her face.
*****
"This place is pretty, huh?" she commented.
"Yeah"
Bright rays of sunlight shone onto the faces of the new young couple lying on the fresh green grass, their arms propped up behind their heads. The moistened dew of morning smelled of dirt and sweet flowers, the valentine-colored roses in particular. Hummingbirds buzzed around the trees, wings flapping at a speed un-seeable by the naked eye.
The two teenagers glanced at their surroundings, a secluded corner of Uriko's in the park nearby their school. A small gust of wind breezed through their hair; the fourteen-year-old girl breathed in the cool, peaceful air, a dreamy smile forming over her carnation soft lips.
Turning onto his side to face his companion, Kenji murmured, "Uriko?"
Her eyes fluttering to a close, she replied, "Mmmhmm?"
"Do you remember what happened that one day after school?"
"When?"
"The day that it rained, and you found me with that weird guy in black on street?" he inquired.
"Ohh" Uriko sat up and Kenji did as well.
"Hope you don't think I'm being nosy, but can you tell what that was all about?" she questioned.
"It's okay; I'm the one who brought it up"
"Soit's story time then?" Uriko asked with a teasing twinkle in her chocolate brown eyes, yet there was a look of sincerity on her face.
"Uh huh" he sighed. "Good thing school doesn't start till tomorrow." Kenji turned over his arm to examine a - still healing - small purple bruise on his elbow.
People are gonna think I got into an accident or something He thought to himself. Looking up, the male student saw Uriko bury her head in between her knees in guilt. "Uriko"
"I feel bad for doing thatbut I didn't have a choice! Did I?" she looked at Kenji. "Are you still mad at me?"
"I never was mad," he admitted. "I was under mind-control a couple of times and did stuff that I now regret, but I didn't feel angry at you. You know, it's a good thing you have long hair to cover up thatreally nasty bruise I gave you." His fingers went to gently touch one side of her head.
She nodded. "Okay, enough of this guilt! We gotta leave the past behind."
"Um, on the subject of that guy"
"Uh huh?" his girlfriend turned to fully look at him when he said that.
"Well, do you recall how I ran out of class after giving you the paper with my phobia on it?"
"Mmmhmm"
"After that, I got on my bike and starting riding home, but I felt kinda guilty for ditching you, so I changed directions and went toward your house toapologize."
So it was because of me that he got hurt? Uriko wondered, feeling ashamed; her face showed it.
"Don't put on that look," Kenji insisted. "Hey, you did rescue me so don't worry about it."
She dismissed the subject with a quick nod and asked, "What'd he want?"
"That guy told me to go back to where I belong."
"What?"
"I think I saw him later in the lab, so maybe he works for Busuzima."
The teenage girl raised an eyebrow. "I thought all of us had beat him up."
"He's got an endless supply of lackeys; I should know Some of them probably helped him out." He said knowingly. "Anyway, I refused and the guy knocked me off my bike when I tried to ride away - that's where I got my cuts. He kept threatening to kill me if I didn't go with him and after that, you showed up and kicked him in the back."
"Glad to have helped!" She told him with a grin. "Last person I fought was Shenlong to save Mother, and that was a while ago."
At the reminder of the old times, a shadow of a smile appeared on Kenji's face and the two started talking about some of the events they'd enjoyed not too long ago. The youngest out of the zoanthrope group, it was easy for the both of them to talk to each other than having a conversation with Yugo, Alice, or the other older fighters. When the sun had turned orangish-yellow and began to set in the west, the couple left the park. Kenji retrieved his bike from the racks and after walking Uriko home; he rode toward his house and readied his supplies for school the next day.