5/16/01
Disclaimer: the characters such as Kenji, Uriko, etc. all belong to Hudson Soft.
Dedication: God, my parents, my 'brothers', Hudson for creating Bloody Roar I-III, and my readers, especially Xion, PokeDigi, LazzyQ, Alica, Deoku, VGuyver, Flyby, StarryPeach, Xavier, and Niteflite.
Bloody Roar II: Passage Into The Previous Years Series
Next installment following Bloody Roar I: The Destruction Of Impeccability Series
Bloody Roar II: Giving Into Persistence
By Tiger5913
POV - Uriko
5:14PM
June 5th, 2015
Dear Diary/Journal,
OK, I managed to drag Kenji over to the Teen Zone earlier this afternoon, this place that's a popular hangout for our fellow high school peers! If would've been a better-atoned triumph if he hadn't seemed so bored and looked so disapproved of being there! Of course, remembering my project, I immediately started asking if he liked any of the girls in our school. Being stubborn as he is, Kenji said no, like I had expected and was ready for.
After he sent me home later, I went into action. I made a list of the top three girls - I know there's gotta be more though - that I know who like him; I'll put a copy of it in here:
Jessica Newton - 14, good friend, fellow 9th grader, black hair, brown eyes, 5'1", cheery, bubbly, unattached, gymnast
Mary Starr - 15, English class acquaintance, 9th grader, brunette, blue eyes, 5'5", snobby, high-classed, just broke up recently, track runner
Wendy Kesler - 14, Biology class acquaintance, 9th grader, red hair, green eyes, 5'3", popular, attractive (according to some guys), 9th grade representative, single
Jessica's one of my really good friends, not best like Erika though, and she told me that she had her eye on Kenji since this one day he stopped these people who were hassling her. She's too shy to ask him out, but when I told her that I got Kenji for my partner in the phobia project, Jessica kept saying how lucky I was. I know she'd love to go on a date with him.
Mary's not my cup of tea, oi… She's one of those girls who go through guys like tissues. It's always someone new every week, and a chase if what she loves the most. I think she wants to make Kenji her newest catch because she's been giving him these flirtatious little looks lately. Of course, he doesn't respond; just kinda snorts and continues on his business. He's smart to do that, hehe.
Wendy… she made herself my rival at the beginning of the school year, for some weird reason. She's one of the most popular ninth graders, so I don't know why she's bothering with me. I heard from Erika that Wendy dislikes me because she's jealous that "lots of guys" at school like me and think I'm cute. I think that's a ridiculous reason; sure I've been asked out by a couple guys before and I was one of the few freshmen that went to the senior prom this year, but that's no reason to be jealous. Those guys usually just end up being regular friends of mine anyway, or others that are jerks I tell them to step off and leave me alone.
OK, I think the best choice out of those three is Jessica. And I think I'll get started on the setting-up part right now…
POV - Kenji
10:47PM
June 6th, 2015
I never thought that I would ever say this: I just came home from a date. Just imagine that - me, going on a date. I don't know whether I should laugh or yell at Uriko. Yes, she's the one who convinced me to go out with a good friend of hers; this girl named Jessica… Houton, I think?
Well, Uriko had called me before school this morning, and told me that she had a date setting up me with one of her friends, and she'd prefer my cooperation. I was groaning inwardly but I did agree because I knew she would badger me otherwise. So at 6 o'clock this evening, I met that girl Jessica at the Teen Zone.
All right, to be blunt, that date wasn't very, how you say, thrilling. I mean, nothing against Jessica, but she is too shy and drawn in for my tastes. I had to scrunch up little tidbits of conversations that pretty much felt one-sided. I think I would be better off with a wall or something, because a wall can't turn away from when I'm trying to force eye contact.
As for looks, Jessica can be considered cute, I suppose, but I really don't think that she's my type. We just didn't click because she's just too quiet, and I don't think I really even know the color of her eyes since she avoided my gaze the whole two hours of our date. Her hair is nice, but I can't help thinking how much more I like Uriko's, auburn brown, almost always tied in a braid, and hangs down to her waist.
The minute I got home, I immediately picked up the phone, called Uriko, and told her my side of the date. She said that Jessica had called just a few seconds before and told her she had a great time, but thought that I was too foreword. I couldn't believe that; I had almost hung up after hearing Jessica's review, but Uriko assured me that I was not like that, and she said that she knew how Jessica could be with guys.
But after that, Uriko barreled on ahead and told me she was thinking up who my next candidate could be. I just hope that all this will blow over soon and I can find someone that'll satisfy both of us…
POV - Uriko
4:03PM
June 7th, 2015
Dear Diary/Journal,
I knew I'd be kicking myself for this later, but I set Kenji up with a date with… Wendy; I swear, when I told him that in Biology class he turned as pale as milk!! I had Erika play messenger girl and go ask Wendy if she wanted to go on a date with Kenji. Stupid question, Wendy almost pounced on Kenji the minute he walked into the classroom, bugging him about where he was going to take her, what she should wear, and blah blah blah.
After he somehow peeled her off of him, Kenji gave me this look as if to say, "What on Earth did you get me into this time??" So I went over to him, put on my cutest smile, and said that he was going out with Wendy after school, and to meet her at the smoothie parlor down the street. I swear if there weren't other students around he probably would've taken a swing at me or something of the sort…
Geez, setting up Kenji with my "rival"… I think that's a big mistake, what if they click and decide to go steady? Wendy most likely wouldn't "allow" Kenji to hang out with me, and I still wanna be his friend, of course! I like him after all! …Yeah, in that way also, oi…
Oh man, I just got back from a phone call. It was Kenji, and he had called to tell me that Wendy wanted to go to dinner with him, and he wanted to know the most polite way to "blow her off". Hehe, I never thought that Kenji of all people would know or use such a term… Anyway, I should've been relieved that he had already come to a conclusion about dating Wendy but for some stupid reason, I started scolding him instead, saying that he barely even gave her half a chance. I can tell that Kenji was annoyed at my persistence, but he finally agreed, on one condition - that I'd be there somehow.
Well, I didn't wanna be the third wheel on their first "official" date… although secretly I'm glad that I can be there to keep an eye on them, so I offered to double with him and Wendy. I called and asked this guy, A.J. Haru to go with me on the double date a few minutes ago, and agreed pritty quickly. I guess it's gonna be the four of us then: Wendy & Kenji, A.J. & me. I hope this won't turn out to be a disaster, 'cause I don't have a very good feeling about how everything's gonna end up…
POV - Kenji
9:17AM
June 8th, 2015
I have only one thing to say right now: if dates in the future are going to turn out the way things did last night, then I am never going on another date again. Ever. Wendy is very provocative; I can say that with certainty, and how unfortunate it is for me… For goodness sake she practically sat in my lap when the four of us were in the theatre watching a movie! She kept saying how nice it was that the place was so dark and - get this - told me that her favorite part of a movie was necking with her date.
Needless to say, I did not want to hear that, and I didn't care how much Uriko was going to yell at me later, but I just flat out refused Wendy. I do not want to get that friendly on a first date. Sheesh, what is with people like Wendy anyway?? I don't get why someone would put out so much on the first date; don't they care about their image at all?
Another part of the date that I felt ticked off about: all right, I had gone to use the restroom after the movie, and Uriko's date, T.J.-something-or-other went to the restroom also. I guess the girls did so as well. The thing is though, as he and I were washing our hands at the sink, he suddenly turned toward me and said, "Can you please stop making googly eyes at Uriko? She's my date after all… make them at Wendy if you want to."
One of my eyebrows immediately shot up, and so did a sudden urge to punch him in his snotty, obnoxious face. Who was he to order me around like that and to make such accusations of me trying to nab his date anyway? Uriko is closet friend right now, so why aren't I "allowed" to look at her at times and maybe give her a smile? I think she likes it when I smile, and pleasing her feels rather nice.
Also, ever since my date with Jessica a couple of nights ago, some of the guys that sit near me in my Biology class have been bugging me to switch partners with them so that they could be with Uriko. That is utterly ridiculous, the project is more than half over, so what good would it do to switch partners so late into it? I said no of course, and then they started ragging on me about how I was "juggling multiple chicks" and that I should give them a chance. Bull. She's my partner, my friend, and I have come to respect her for who she is, not for her body and looks or whatnot.
Back to the date, I resisted the urge to sock T.J. or whatever his name is, and instead just scowled at him and left the bathroom. I could practically feel his eyes burning into the back of my neck when I met up with Uriko in the corridor and gave her a quick hug as a greeting. Wendy wasn't around to see that, what a shame. I could tell that I had surprised Uriko by doing that, but she didn't complain, slug me, or anything like that, so I took it as a good sign.
I think that T.J. probably would have started a fight right then and there if it weren't for Uriko's presence. Wendy joined us a couple of minutes later and we all went outside to go our separate ways home. T.J. offered to walk Uriko home, which kind of irritated me, but the irritation disappeared when she told him no thanks. Wendy asked me if I could walk her home, but I just made some lame excuse and she looked annoyed at my refusal, then left by herself. Oh well, no big loss there.
After shooting me a dirty look, T.J. turned his attention back to Uriko. Watching him put his arms around her and leaning down to kiss her made my eyes narrow for some reason. A feeling inside my stomach rumbled and my hands clenched into fists. All of that disappeared though when she gave him a weak smile and gently pushed him away, saying she didn't want to move that fast.
He shot me another death glare before turning around and leaving also. I just shrugged it off and began walking toward home myself. I had barely taken a few steps when I heard Uriko call out, "Hey, aren't you gonna walk me home Kenji?"
I stopped and turned around. "…Um, I'm not your date though…" What a dumb thing to say, I know.
She kind of wrinkled her nose. "I… don't really trust A.J." Oh, so it was A.J. Heh, my bad. "After all, if he'd try to kiss me out here in public, who knows what he'd try if the two of us were walking by ourselves…"
The strange feeling that had been in my stomach earlier returned. "If he ever touches you when you don't want him to, just give me the word and I'll go after him, Uriko. Him, or anyone else. Alright?"
She nodded and flashed me one of those winning smiles of hers that were pretty rare and that I've liked everytime she did so. With that said, we started walking home together, heading toward her house first, and I told her what a disaster this date had been for me. Uriko got a funny look when I said that… hmm, I wonder why…
Right before I dropped her off at her house, she mentioned a school dance that was taking place the following night. I raised an eyebrow when she mentioned that; I'm not exactly a dancing kind of person, especially since I think most events organized by the school are absolutely lame. The way she kept giving me these secret looks while we were talking about the dance made it rather obvious that she wanted me to go.
"I'll go," I interrupted her while she was in the middle of trying to convince me that school dances weren't tacky. "…But I don't want to take Jessica or Wendy," I continued. "Or that brunette who has been looking at me in the hallways at school lately."
Uriko ducked her head and murmured something that sounded like "Mary," then peered back up at me - I'm glad she isn't too shy to meet my eyes - and said, "So you want to go to the dance alone then?"
I frowned. "Well… I presumed that you were going also, aren't you?"
"O-oh," she stammered in a fairly un-Uriko-like way. "I-I guess so… do you want me to?"
"I don't want to be there by myself," I told her matter-of-factly. "I would be defenseless and at the mercy of Wendy and her groupies if you aren't there to beat them off for me."
She laughed; a sound that differed vastly from Jessica's quiet, shy chuckling and Wendy's crooked cackling. "Defenseless? Sure you are, mole-boy…" she teased, winking at me.
I sneaked a look at her and couldn't help smiling, then retorted back, "Oh, yeah? And what about you, cat-girl?"
Uriko punched my arm, but I could tell that she was only kidding around like we were just a few seconds ago. "Okay, I'll give you a point for that battle, Kenji, but don't expect me to be so easy next time!"
I gave her a half-smirk and replied, "Sure thing, Uriko. Whatever you say."
"So…" she spoke up just then. "You want me to go to the dance with you tomorrow, right? But you know what some of other people are gonna think…"
Of course I had inklings of what they would assume; I had heard comments from some of the guys in my Biology class. Still, I said, "Enlighten me."
"Um…" her cheeks turned a little pink then, which I actually thought looked kind of cute… "They'd think that we… you and me, that is… were a… you know, a couple…"
"Disgusted with the thought of being coupled with me?" I asked, only half-jokingly.
"Oh no, of course not!" My friend exclaimed. "I just didn't know if you would be okay with that is all…"
We were in front of her house at that point. Surprising myself and probably her as well, I hugged Uriko again, and then quickly jumped back afterwards. Looking at her, my eyes somehow wandered down to her mouth and I thought about how cute they seemed, a dainty shade of pink touching her delicate set of pursed lips. When I realized what I was doing though, I hastily shook myself out of the "trance" and glanced around to see if anyone was in the area.
"…Something wrong?" She asked, her hand mobile around the knob of her door.
"No, everything's fine," I told her.
She nodded and turned to go into her house while I prepared to teleport with the help of my Smoke Bomb technique, a move I had learned months ago that proved very useful even outside of battle. But for some reason, I called out to her before disappeared into her residence, "Hey, Uriko."
She paused and turned around to face me, her free hand raised near her chest in an interesting pose. "Yeah?"
"About other people thinking that we're together when we go to the dance tomorrow together…"
"Mmmhmm?" she regarded me curiously, tilting her head slightly to an angle that would probably have appeared weird on others, but on her, it looked charming.
I flashed her the most enticing smile that I could manage, and finished, "Well… would that really be so bad?"
Without waiting for an answer though, I waved two fingers before my nose and vanished into my Smoke Bomb tech.
POV - Uriko
11:07PM
June 9th, 2015
Dear Diary/Journal,
Oh my gosh, I can't believe what just happened - I just got my first kiss! Well, I'm not 100% sure that it counts as a real kiss because it was really short… but I think that it should count, especially since it came from Kenji!! No, I'm not kidding, the very same Kenji Ohgami who practically swore off dating since what happened last night with Wendy trying to get all over him and stuff. But maybe I shouldn't be surprised though, after he had implied that us being a couple wouldn't be such a bad idea… Let me explain what happened earlier.
OK, as I had guessed would happen, the other students thought that Kenji and I were an item when we went to the dance together. Well, we probably invoked that since I had linked arms with him while we were walking into the multipurpose room. I saw Wendy and she was giving me the dirtiest look I had ever seen on anyone's face. I didn't really want anyone to get the wrong idea though, and if I forced that "taken" label onto Kenji, I knew he wouldn't like it in the long run.
So I excused myself to the bathroom, with the excuse of going to freshen myself up. He said that I looked fine, but I insisted anyway. As I was sprinkling water into my hair just in case I would get hot later from dancing, I heard a couple of girls talking in the stalls behind me. Usually I hate hearing gossip at school, cause most of them are just stupid rumors, and I leave before I hear anything I'm not supposed to, but this conversation caught my ears when I heard mine and Kenji's names mentioned.
"Can you believe this," the girl wearing these black boots was saying just as I was starting to leave, "After rejecting all those other guys, Uriko finally picks up someone, but it's the Kenji Ohgami that most girls go after, of all people!"
"Oh, Uriko Nonomura? That chick with the brown hair that even Wendy's jealous of?" her friend asked.
I frowned when I heard that. Wendy was jealous of not just me, but my hair too? This was just getting way too comical…
"Yeah," the first girl continued. "Everyone knows that Wendy can't compare to Uriko; Wendy is such a stuck-up bitch after all! And I bet she knows that too, cause why else would she always be dissing Uriko and trying to steal her guy?"
"Her guy?" The other one repeated. "Oh, you mean Kenji, right? Well, he is pretty hot, you know! But really, really quiet. In our Geometry class, the only time he ever talks is when Mr. Wong asks him to work out and explain a math problem on the board. Even then, he tries to make his sentences short and get straight to the point A.S.A.P."
"Really?" Black Boots sounded kinda dubious. "Hey, I've seen Uriko ditch her friends at lunch sometimes to go eat with Kenji. Those two wander off somewhere and don't come back until the end of the lunch period, and they're always chattering a lot with each other when they do!"
I wanted to laugh then, but I also didn't wanna blow my cover so I clamped a hand over my own mouth and continued listening to the girls.
"So, those two are a couple then? For real? Man, Brad's gonna be hella pissed off when he finds that out; he's been trying to get with Uriko since like, November of last year! I heard that he asked her to the senior prom but she turned him down and went with another guy!"
How do people know all this? Sheesh, news do travel like wildfire at my school, I guess… Anyway, at that point, I heard a flush so I ran out of the bathroom, and bumped right into Kenji.
"Oof!" He said while I "bounced" back from him.
"Ack! Erm, sorry," I apologized, and felt my cheeks burn up in embarrassment.
"It's alright." His half-smile was boyishly cute and I blushed even more.
After that commotion, I took him around and introduced him to some of our female classmates and ended up watching a couple of them take him off to the dance floor. Some of my guy friends came up to me and I was asked to dance, so I went to go hang out with them. Kenji and I met up a couple of times throughout the three hours we were there, but then we'd both get dragged off in different directions about two seconds later.
It wasn't until toward the end of the dance that we really got the chance to be together for more than four milliseconds at a time. This guy from my P.E. class, Henry, was trying to get me to dance with him, but I didn't want to (he has the BIGGEST ego out of all the people I know in the class). He just wouldn't stop bugging me though, and I was really relieved when I looked across the room and thankfully caught Kenji's eye.
I guess he got my silent message because the next thing I knew, he was walking over here and I immediately said, "O-Oh, um, I-I'm sorry but I already promised the next dance to my friend!" I turned to look at Kenji. "A-and he's here now!"
Henry gave him a withering look, as if he was a worthless slug, then snorted; "You're dropping me to dance with Kenny?"
Kenji narrowed his eyes almost dangerously. "I believe she refused your request of dancing with you. Why don't you respect her decision."
Even though I knew he wouldn't see me doing so, I smiled at him in relief.
Mr. Ego scuffed and shot him a cool glare. "Pssh, whatever. Shove off." Shaking his head irritably, he walked off and soon disappeared into the huge crowd of dancing people.
I sighed and met Kenji's eyes, then said with a smile, "Whew… Thanks for the help."
He looked a little wry when he smiled back. "Hm, what are friends for."
After some more small talk - I found out that Kenji didn't like any of the girls that he danced with by the way, the DJ said that the dance was almost over and played one last slow song. Surprisingly, I didn't have to twist Kenji's arm and he still asked me. While we were dancing, we talked about my "love project" some more, and of course, I still persisted, hehe.
For some reason, things got a little intense - I guess it was the direction that our conversation was going - and toward the end of the song, he looked at me while he was finishing a sentence. Our eyes met, and I got this fluttery feeling in my stomach; I don't think we even fully realize what was going on, just both started leaning toward each other…
But at the last second, and I do mean the VERY LAST second because we were so close that I could feel his breath on my face, the lights in the room turned on. Kenji and I jumped away from each other probably by instinct and then he immediately headed for the exit. I followed him out, and had to run in order to catch up to him since his pace was so fast.
By the time we got back to my house though, he seemed to be more relaxed and we even kidded around a bit. As we were saying good-bye, I hugged Kenji (I was sure he'd have been used to that by then, hehe), and afterwards, I leaned foreword to kiss him on the cheek. And that's when it happened. A second before my mouth touched his cheek; he turned his face so that our lips brushed against each other! Stupid me though, when he did that, I jumped back in surprise, and ended up embarrassing him.
With his eyes avoiding me, Kenji murmured, "S-Sorry… U-um, I have to go…" Then he hoped onto his bike, which he had left there earlier when he came to walk me to the dance, and left.
I just stood there on the porch for a moment, and sometime beforehand, I had reached up one of my hands and touched my mouth with the tips of my fingers. I watched his silhouetted figure vanish into the shadows, and emotions just surged through me inwardly. Joy, sorrow, hurt, confusion… How can I face him in school on Monday? I'm not sure what I should do… If Kenji starts avoiding me in school though, I'll be right behind him, ready to drag him back by the ear if I have to…
To Be Continued…
Author's Note: Here is yet another cliffhanger ending… Damn, what troubles I'm putting Uriko and Kenji through, huh? Looks like that project was more than both of them had counted on… This story occurs between my songfic, Bloody Roar II: When You Love, and Part 2 of my first BR fic, Bloody Roar II: A Hidden Bond. So, what's going to happen to our protagonists in the next installment? Hope you readers enjoyed this; please leave a feedback/review!