Introductions and Disclaimers:
"Angelic Layer" belongs to the wonder women of CLAMP
This is a sweet, but lengthy, story of middle schoolers and first love set outside the normal AL setting. Please enjoy ^_^

Golden Week Memories

Part 3
The rest of the week went by quickly. At night Tamayo would explain any new
kicks or holds she had learned. Misaki would talk about learning punches and
effective stances. They came up with ideas on what Hikaru could use to battle
in the layer. They also talked about Aino Shizuka's cold personality, and
Misaki decided that if they met up at nationals, she could deal with it better
then.

The camp was physically challenging. Both Tamayo and Misaki fell asleep easily
after their shower. Morning would come too soon and the camp schedule would
repeat. The only change was the lesson and the delicious meals.

Friday night was the last full night that they'd be in Nyuzen at the dojo.
Saturday morning would be full of personal demonstrations of what had been
learned. It was like a mini test to see if you could do the move correctly
under pressure. After that, camp was over and people would return home.

Misaki was tired and sweaty from the day long lesson. It was finally her turn
for the shower, but Yumiko stopped her before she could go in.

"Ne Misaki, with all these people here it's been impossible to take a relaxing
bath. There is a public bath house just down the road. Would you like to come
with me?" Misaki closed her eyes and envisioned the warm bath water. She
nodded her agreement to Yumiko.

"Great! I'll gather some stuff and find Kotarou. You grab Tamayo-chan and we
can all go together!" She took off to fulfill her tasks, so Misaki went
upstairs to grab Tamayo. They all met outside and started to walk to the
bathhouse. The stars were shining brightly and Misaki listened while Kotarou
hummed the tune to one of Seto Ringo's songs.

"Oh no!" Tamayo suddenly exclaimed. "I've forgotten something I need at the
house. Can you come back with me Yumiko-san? I don't want to get lost."

Yumiko looked a bit puzzled. "But Tamayo, you've been here many times. I doubt
you'll..."

"Please?" Tamayo said and added emphasis with her eyes while looking straight at
Yumiko.

"Huh? Oh! Sure!" Yumiko turned to face Misaki and Kotarou. "Kotarou knows the
way, so you two just go ahead. We'll catch up later!" Yumiko and Tamayo ran
back towards the house and Misaki swore she could hear some giggling. She and
Kotarou continued to walk to the bathhouse.

"The stars are really pretty tonight," Kotarou said.

"Huh?" Misaki looked up. "Yeah, they really are shining brightly. See that
tiny one over there? It's shining as bright as the others, but I bet people
don't notice it much."

Kotarou looked at the tiny twinkling star Misaki was referring to. "Actually, I
bet people notice it alot."

"Huh? Why is that?"

"Cause it's part of a constellation. If you draw a line and connect it with
those other ones, it makes up Orion."

"Orion?"

"Yeah. He was a warrior or something. Just shows how something small can
contribute in a big way." Kotarou smiled at Misaki."

"Kotarou-chan knows so much!" Misaki thought and she smiled back at him. They
arrived to the outside of the bathhouse. One entrance was for guys and another
for girls. Misaki paused at the entrance.

"Huh? Is something wrong Misakichi?" Kotarou asked, noticing her hesitation.

"Well... the truth is... I've never been in one of these before."

"Never?"

Misaki shook her head. "Nope. I'm not really sure what to do." She blushed a
little with embarrasement.

"Well, there are lots of faucets and showerheads inside. Wash off first, and
then wrap up in a towel and go down to the pool. It's actually a natural hot
spring. There are several small ones in the area. The bathhouse is like a
cross between a public swimming pool and a bathroom. It's fun sometimes.
Nothing to worry about."

Misaki nodded and headed inside. It looked fairly empty, only a handful of
people. She set herself to work and quickly washed away the sweat and grime of
a long day. Then she did as Kotarou had said and entered the hot spring pool.
She noticed that Aino Shizuka was sitting at one side and obviously didn't want
to be disturbed. That left an area near the large dividing wall and she decided
to sit near it. From that location, Misaki could listen to the excitement that
seemed to be going on in the men's side, but also see the women's entrance for
when Yumiko and Tamayo arrived.

The hot water definitely hit the spot. Yumiko had a great idea. Misaki sunk a
little deeper into the water.

"Argh! What should I do?" Misaki could hear a guy's voice from the men's side
of the bathhouse. She moved just a little closer to the dividing wall. "I
can't even tell her I like her! How can I be so weak?" Misaki's eyes got wide
as she realized the speaker was Kotarou. "Who was he talking about?"

"It should be easy right? Hmmmm. And I just know that Tamayo-chan was probably
setting us up to be alone. And it was a perfect night. Argh!" Misaki's eyes
got even wider. Was Kotarou talking about her? Misaki felt like she shouldn't
listen anymore, but couldn't force herself to move away.

"All I have to say is, Misaki, I like you."

"Misakichi! Yahoo!" Tamayo came running into the public bath. She quickly
rinsed off and soon both Tamayo and Yumiko were next to Misaki in the pool.

"Ah! Misakichi! Is something wrong? You look as white as a ghost."

"Well, um, I.. um.." Misaki stuttered and leaned over to whisper something in
Tamayo's ear.

"WHAT!!?" Tamayo stood up and screamed. "Kotarou confessed to you?!"

Yumiko giggled and Misaki panicked with embarrassment and dunked herself under
water. When she couldn't hold her breath any longer, she surfaced.

Tamayo got really close to Misaki and whispered "Whatcha gonna do Misakichi? Ya
gonna confess as well?"

Misaki sank back under the water. "What am I gonna do?"

On the way back to the house, Misaki dragged behind a bit, deliberately avoiding
Kotarou. She didn't know what to say. Kotarou noticed Misaki's distance and
felt puzzled. A small part of him felt relieved he hadn't confessed to Misaki.
If she was distant now, how would she react to that?

The rest of the night was blissfully busy, so Misaki didn't get a chance to
dwell on her problem. Many of the campers were celebrating the end of camp by
playing games or sparring. Some had gone downtown to enjoy a festival for the
holiday. Music played on a radio and it was fun when everybody would sing along
with the most popular songs. It seemed everybody know the words to Seto Ringo's
"I Can't Be An Angel" song.

Morning came just like those before, but Misaki woke up feeling a bit different.
She lacked her usual spunk. Misaki had been awake most of the night wondering
what to do. Technically she could try to ignore it since Kotarou didn't know
she had heard him. However, Misaki knew she couldn't do that. Tamayo was bound
to say something, and it'd only embarrass her and Kotarou more. It'd be better
to deal with it. But when? and how? "I can't say it," she mumbled to herself.

"Say what?" Tamayo rolled over to face her.

"mmm, nothing. Let's get breakfast. It looks like Yumiko already left awhile
ago."

Breakfast was nothing special. People were either sitting quietly (nervously
waiting for the demonstation tests) or so filled with excitement you couldn't
shut them up. Misaki ate quietly. She needed to concentrate on her
demonstration. Kobayashi- sensei could pick anything of what they had learned.
It could be a punch, or a proper stance, or a kick. She mentally reviewed
everything in her head, but thoughts of Kotarou kept distracting her.

Kotarou sat beside her and grabbed some breakfast. "Good morning Misakichi!"

"G..good morning Kotarou-chan."

"Ready for your demonstration?"

"Yeah."

"Ummm, about last night..."

Misaki's eyes got a little wider. "Um.. yeah?"

"You seemed preoccupied after the bathhouse. Was something wrong?"

"Huh? Um... no"

"Oh good! I'd hate to think your first time at a bathhouse was bad." Kotarou
smiled and giggled.

"He has such a funny laugh." Misaki giggled too. "Alright! It's time to start!"
Uncle Kintarou shouted. "First, let's get Kobayashi-sensei's 5-8 year olds
group demonstation." Everyone headed to the largest training room and sat on
the floor. The 5-8 year olds stood bravely before their audience. Only Kotarou
looked nervous as he began giving commands.

"Bow" and the class bowed.
"Alright. Front Punch" and all the little kids punched together in unison.
"Okay! Last one, Side Kick" and some of the campers managed it and others tried
hard. They all looked so cute.

"Good job!" Kotarou smiled at his students. They bowed as a group and ran to
sit down.

"Nice job students and good work Kobayashi-sensei." Uncle Kintarou patted
Kotarou on the back. "I've never seen a young class look so together." Kotarou
blushed and bowed to his uncle. Then he sat with his advanced class.

Next, Misaki's class. Each student performed one move. When it was Misaki's
turn, she was asked to perform a kick. As she swung her leg up, she could hear
Kotaoru and Tamayo cheering for her. It made her blush and she quickly sat back
down. Inside she was proud. She'd actually learned a lot at camp. Now when
Hikaru did a move, Misaki could better visualize it and put more power into it.

Tamayo's class was next. Since they were more advanced, they got to pick their
own move to demonstrate. Misaki paid special attention to the demonstrations.
Most of the punches and kicks were things she had seen Kotarou or Tamayo perform
before. Someone did demonstrate a sweeping kick like Cherry had used. The
demonstrations were very different from one another given the wide range of
experience in Tamayo's class. When it was Tamayo's turn, she surprised
everyone. She bowed to the campers and then ran over and put her sensei in a
chokehold. The surprised teacher had no chance and after a moment Tamayo let go
and laughed out loud. She then bowed and ran back to her place on the floor.
The teacher rubbed his neck and then laughed and bowed. Even Uncle Kintarou
laughed and said Tamayo had great potential for a ninja, being so sneaky.

After Tamayo's class, it was time for the advanced demonstrations. It started
off by a surprise demonstration by Uncle Kintarou. And then one by one the
advanced students showed off their stuff. They seemed like pros compared to the
other campers. It was amazing to believe that Kotarou was part of that class.
And it looked like it was hard for Kotarou to believe as well. He stood up in
front of everyone looking a little wobbly like he had when leading his class.
He bowed and then addressed the campers. "Uncle said we'd learn a lot about
karate. In the advanced class, I had to work much harder than ever before. I
think my hard work will pay off though. Now I can demonstrate and use a new
move I hope will be useful." Misaki noticed Kotarou looking at her.

"He's looking at me! Why is he looking at me?! Oh... wait... 'useful'? He
means for Angelic Layer! No wonder he is looking at me. Hold yourself together
Misaki." She nodded to herself and focused intently on Kotarou's demonstration.
One of the advanced class students held up a single wooden board at about chest
height and another student held him steady. Kotarou bowed to both of them and
stood ready. Then he swung his leg around lightening fast and the board broke
in two. Kotarou hopped for a second and then bowed to his partners. Everyone
cheered for him and Kotarou smiled. And then he smiled directly at Misaki, and
she knew it wasn't because of Angelic Layer.

Shortly after, Uncle Kintarou gave a speech on how impressed he was with the
campers, hoping they'd learned a lot, and wished them a safe journey home. The
campers slowly gathered their stuff together and one by one campers left. E-ko
would drive them down to the train station and then come back to pick up more.
This pattern repeated until all the campers had left, except Misaki, Tamayo, and
Kotarou. Their train didn't leave until late in the evening. Even still, they
got packed early so they could enjoy the rest of the day. Yumiko said she was
tired of being cooped up in the house and E-ko said she didn't like the
quietness of the house after all the campers had left. They all went downtown
where people were taking down remants of the festival from the night before.
They visited a candy shop where they made old fashioned candies out of honey.
Misaki and Tamayo both bought some suckers and bottles to bring home as
presents. They had lunch at McDonalds. They had fun trying to say the name as
fast as they could: ma-ku-do-na-ru-do. They took some purikura at the booth.
Next stop was the water park, a beautiful arrangement of lights and shooting
fountains. On the way to their next stop, they passed by the sports center.

"Hey Misaki-chan. We never did have another match..."

"You're right. Maybe when you come to To.." but she was cut off.

"Mama!! Can we stop at the sports center instead of going shopping? Misaki and
I never got to rematch, and I'm sure there is nothing exciting at our mall that
they can't get in Tokyo. Please?"

E-ko frowned and looked at the clock on the dash. "Well, I suppose that's
alright. We can go to the department store tomorrow to pick up what we need.
But we can only stay for one match okay? Then we need to head to the train
station to wait for the train. Are you sure the place is still open? It's
getting kinda late..."

They walked to the doors of the center and found out that it was still open for
30 minutes, more than enough time for one match. Only a few people were in the
fitness center and the lights were off everywhere else. "Oh good!" Yumiko
said. "This means the table will definitely be free." Once upstairs Yumiko
turned on the lights. She pulled Cherry from her pocket. This time Cherry's
outfit was a little different. The basic outfit was the same style, but where
there were gold stars, there was now white hearts. Where it was purple, it was
now a pretty rose color. Yumiko put her headpiece on and wordlessly placed
Cherry into the layer. Misaki did the same. They both nodded to each other and
the match was on...

but...

neither angel moved. They both stood in waiting position, remembering the last
match. Speed attacks and aerial attacks wouldn't work. The angels were too
fast and equally matched. "Last time dashes didn't work and neither did
punches. What have I learned that could help?" Misaki closed her eyes for a
moment. She visualized Kotarou's forceful kick that broke the board...

"That's it!" Misaki yelled. Yumiko looked up a bit shocked and then looked
back at the layer. Hikaru began to swing around and around, mimicking Kotarou's
earlier demonstration. She kept doing it until she got faster and faster and
kicking into the air with more and more force. Cherry continued to stay in
ready position, not sure what Hikaru was doing. Hikaru started to dash towards
Cherry, but Cherry sunk into a low waiting position ready to strike. However,
Hikaru stopped short and began to kick into the air like before. Cherry
returned to a normal waiting stance, Yumiko's mind being puzzled by Hikaru's
weird movements. Suddenly Cherry flew into the air and fell back onto the
table. She quickly stood back up and returned to a more defensive position.
Hikaru was still just kicking into the air! How could she be...

Cherry flew into the air again, nearly falling off the edge of the table.
Yumiko scowled and Cherry stood back up and started to dash towards Hikaru.
"You can't use projectiles and I know you wouldn't do something like that!
What's going on!" Yumiko yelled. Misaki didn't say anything and Hikaru kept
kicking into the air in the same manner. Cherry was knocked back once again and
stumbled to the ground.

"Yay! Misakichi! Cherry's damage meter is almost all the way down! Keep doing
whatever it is you are doing!" Tamayo yelled.

Kotarou shook his head and nudged Tamayo. "You've seen this before. It's
Ranga's air attack."

"Air?!" Yumiko called out. She looked at Hikaru as the angel made one last
swing around. "Ranga's air attack? Is that like Seto Ringo's Ranga?"

"Yep! Seeing Kotarou's kick made me think I could do it too." Misaki smiled.
Yumiko shook her head and smiled too. Misaki had found a way to beat her, which
meant the match really should go to Misaki... but...

"You may have the best tactic for this match Misaki-chan, but I'm not going to
give up that easy!"

"Good!" Misaki smiled and Hikaru returned to a fighting stance she had learned
during camp.

Yumiko matched the stance and giggled. "You'll still need to practice that
stance, Misaki-chan, before you can make it your own." Cherry got up close and
the two angels began trading punches and kicks.

"You're doing better than I thought Misaki-chan! I've been watching this
fighting style for years and you are doing just as well as me!" Yumiko felt
like she was cheering Misaki on even though she was the opponent. There was a
lot of real potential in her fighting. She mastered Kotarou's kick and the
fighting stance after seeing them only a few times. Cherry swung a hard right
punch, but Hikaru dropped and performed a sweeping kick.

"My kick combo!" Yumiko gasped. Before she could react, Hikaru was kicking
straight up and Cherry flew out of the layer into Yumiko's lap. Yumiko stared
at her angel for a moment and then looked at Misaki as she had Hikaru fly
towards her to exit the layer.

"Misaki-chan..." Yumiko said quietly.

"Yeah?" Misaki asked nervously.

"Kotarou's kick, Seto Ringo's air attack, the new karate stance, and my kick
combination... you've mastered them all with only seeing them a few times! It's
hard to believe you can do that and you've only just started at Angelic Layer!"

Misaki blushed and didn't know what to say. Yumiko put Cherry back into the
ring and put the headset on. Cherry got into a fighting stance and began to
mimic the way Hikaru had moved before. She began to pick up speed slowly, but
after a short time was up to the same quick speed Hikaru had been at.
"Misaki-chan, can I practice this move against Hikaru? Without an opponent,
it's difficult to see if it's working or not." Misaki smiled and nodded
enthusiastically. Hikaru was tossed back into the layer and stood in a straight
path from Cherry's kicks. Soon Hikaru was getting moved back a little by
Cherry's air attack.

"It's working!" Yumiko giggled and continued to focus on making Cherry's kick
faster and more powerful. Hikaru got knocked down, and then moved to a position
just slightly off a straight path from Cherry. From that stop, she didn't have
to block anymore and Yumiko was puzzled. Then she had understanding.

"If you aren't in a direct line with the person, the move doesn't work huh?"

"Yep! That's it's weakness. I learned that while fighting against Ringo-san."

"That's so cool you got to fight her!"

E-ko told the girls they had to get to the station soon, so it was time to wrap
things up. Yumiko grabbed Cherry and started to head down the staircase, with
Tamayo and Kotarou following behind. Kotarou turned for a moment. "Ready to
go, Misakichi?"

Misaki was about to nod but then she realized the perfect way to deal with her
crisis. She asked Yumiko to tell E-ko they'd be down in a moment and asked
Kotarou to sit in one of the seats around the layer. Misaki put her headgear on
and gently tossed Hikaru into the layer. Misaki closed her eyes, and Hikaru
slowly walked over to stand directly in front of Kotarou. She bowed to him,
which make Kotarou giggle a little. Misaki started to talk, her voice trembling
a little with nervousness.

"Earlier..." she started. "When you asked if anything was wrong... I lied."

Kotarou's eyes widen a little. "Lied?"

"Yeah... the truth is..." Misaki started to blush and her voice trembled even
more. "I could hear you talking on the other side."

Kotarou instantly turned bright red and knew exactly what Misaki was talking
about. He looked at his feet hoping the ground would swallow him up. "Well...
um..." he stuttered.

"Kotarou-chan" Misaki said, starting to lose the tremble in her voice.

"Yeah?"

"They say an angel's movements follow the heart of the desu." Kotarou tilted
his head not really understanding and looked at Hikaru. Hikaru looked straight
back at Kotarou and blew him a kiss.

Misaki immediately took the headgear off and grabbed Hikaru. She started to run
towards the staircase but Kotarou was just a bit faster. He grabbed her arm and
pulled her close. They both stared at each other nervously, and then Kotarou
quickly leaned over and kissed her cheek. Both of them blushed and were quiet.
Slowly, they both smiled together and walked down the staircase to the waiting
car.

All the kids tried to sit together in the backseat and looked at the latest
issue of "Kira Kira" that Yumiko had. It was a magazine all about the latest
developments in Angelic Layer, along with fashion, idols, tournament
information, and places where you could buy Angelic Layer goods. Misaki noticed
that names of the contestants for the national tournament were listed. It felt
weird yet exciting to see her and Hikaru's name printed on the list. Yumiko
pointed out an article about the latest idol fashion trends and how people were
designing similar outfits for their angels. She blushed slightly and pointed to
an angel wearing a pink outfit that looked just like Seto Ringo's.

"They had a contest on making angel clothes, so I decided to enter. I didn't
win, but I got my picture in the magazine. I hope someday I can make angel
clothes professionally for Piffle Princess." Yumiko's eyes got a little starry
as she talked about her dream job. "That's why Cherry has so many outfits
instead of just one."

They didn't have to wait long at the train station for the train to arrive.
Everyone gave their final hugs and said goodbye. Kotarou told Yumiko she should
come visit next time she had a break from school. She said she definitely would
and to tell Hatoko to be prepared for battle. The three Tokyo bound children
got on the train and waved through the windows. The train rolled out of the
station, and soon it was pitch black outside. They ate the boxed meals Yumiko
had packed them, and then they drifted off to sleep. It had been an exhausting
week. Physically. Emotionally.

Misaki shifted in her sleep and propped her head on Kotarou's shoulder.
Instinctively, the sleeping Kotarou put an arm around her. The train passed
through many stations during the night. As they approached the outskirts of
Tokyo, Tamayo woke up and yawned.

"Hey Misakichi, we're almo..." she started to say. But then she noticed her two
friends sleeping soundly against each other and stopped. She giggled quietly to
herself and whispered "Way to go Kotarou-chan!" Tamayo wondered what would
happen next. Somehow, she didn't think they would pair off quite yet. However,
when the time was right... they'd be there for each other.

Tamayo would make sure of that. ^_~

~The End~