Chapter 2
They approached the high school slowly, after parking their cars in the school's parking lot, taking in the surroundings. They had had to bring three cars for everyone, Nasty's jeep, Seiji's sports car, and Shu's pickup.
The boys, thanks to Nasty going shopping for them, were all dressed in the dark blue school uniforms, that were customary for boys, and Nasty wore a long maroon skirt and jacket with a white blouse that was ruffled at the collar and her wrists. The boys were not happy with their uniforms and Shu thought the little string tie they had to wear was especially wimpy.
Much to the Ma-Sho's irritation, Nasty had firmly told them that they couldn't wear armor to high school. It would simply draw unwanted attention to them and, besides, there was no real reason for it. Sh'ten pulled the collar of his shirt uncomfortable. "I get the feeling I'm not going to like this 'school' thing." He complained. "Must we really wear these...uniforms? We look absurd."
"You'll get used to it, dude. Try to think of it as another kind of armor." Ryo reassured him, not sounding any happier. "I went to high school before the war started. It's not a lot of fun, but we can suffer through it. How hard can it be?"
The Samurai and the Ma-Sho were silent as they walked up, looking for all the world as if they were going into battle, with Nasty in the middle of their group, laughing and joking, as she tried to help everyone to loosen up. She didn't seem to be having much luck.
It was a sort of unspoken agreement that they would protect Nasty until they knew whether or not this place would be dangerous. The samurai's weren't all that worried, but to the Ma-Sho this was all unknown territory and they didn't know the rules of survival. Shu stood very close to Nasty, the current love of his life.
It wasn't that Shu didn't love Nasty, but he loved everyone so much that he just couldn't settle his heart on any one of them for an extended period. Therefore, it was generally accepted that Shu switched his loves every couple of weeks. Nasty was doing well and had lasted as Shu's love for almost a month. It was a record. Last month Shu was head over heels for Seiji and, Nasty expected that in about a week and a half he would dump her for Naaza, though Rajura might object to that. Still, he knew Shu well enough to know that it wasn't serious.
Duo-
"Hey, look. New kids." Duo Maxwell said to his best friend as he pointed with his thumb at the new students walking up the pavement to the school. Duo and Heero Yuy were on the front steps of the school and watched as a group of eight boys approached slowly with a girl standing in the center of their group. Some of the boys were joking and laughing, the others looked worried. She really didn't look like she belonged there. While the boys were all rather large, she was small and, in Duo's opinion, just about the prettiest girl he'd ever seen.
Not that she could compare to his Heero, of coarse. Still, a girl friend might be nice.
Heero barely glanced up at the strangers. He cared about very little, least of all new students. This school was just a hiding place for him and Duo until the next mission.
Duo was still staring at the brown haired girl, laughing at something the big guy with dark hair said. Jeeze, she was good looking. Suddenly, the group was passing them and Duo, on the spur of the moment, jumped up and, managing to get his arm through the boys surrounding her, grabbed the girl's arm. "Hey, you're new here..."
He never got any further as one of the large boys with dark hair and an orange bandanna in his hair, instantly had his throat and pulled him away from the girl. "You will not touch her!"
"Shu!" the girl said, seeing Heero take out a gun and put it at Shu's head. The world froze. Shu's friends glared at Heero and wondered if this was some new threat, or if the kid was just crazy.
Shu kept his hand on Duo, slowly squeezing the breath out of him, and smiled at Heero. "Maybe this won't be as dull as I'd feared, Nasty." Shu really didn't take Heero or his little toy seriously and Duo felt himself start to black out, hoping that Heero would do something soon.
The girl, Nasty, planted her fists on her hips. "Let him go, Shu. We're not here to fight!"
Shu reluctantly let Duo go with a pout. "Aw...you're no fun, Nasty."
While this was going on, Naaza had snuck (he was good at sneaking) around to Heero's side and made a sudden lunge. Heero swung on Naaza, only to be disarmed by Anubis. Anubis looked at the small piece of metal in his hand curiously, while Naaza grabbed Heero's arms and held him easily, not letting the boy attack again. "Don't move, child." Naaza hissed into Heero's ear while pinning Heero's arms behind his back. "You'll be safer if you hold still."
Heero turned his head slightly to look at Naaza and the Warlord of Venom was surprised by the dead look in Heero's eyes. 'Interesting,' Naaza though. 'The boy is fearless.'
Ryo got a little tense as Anubis looked down the barrel of the gun. "Er, Anubis, why don't you give that to me? It can be dangerous." Ryo held his hand out for the gun.
"Really? What is it?"
"It's called a gun and you're looking down the wrong end. It could hurt you."
"Why, Recca, I didn't know you cared." The scarred young man said sarcastically. Anubis crushed the gun in his bare hands, shocking Duo.
Now that the threat was taken care of, Nasty looked at Heero disapprovingly. "It's against the rules to bring weapons to school. Don't you know someone could have gotten hurt? Come on, boys, school's about to start and we don't want to be late on our first day."
Heero rubbed his arms where Naaza had grabbed him and noticed that Shu stayed behind just a moment longer than the others to cast a black glare at Duo who was still gasping for air.
"Shu? Are you coming?" The girl, Nasty, called.
"Yeah." Shu rushed to catch up with his friends.
Duo had a large bruise on his throat where that guy, Shu, had grabbed him and he glared at the front of the class where all nine new students were standing. He would get revenge on that Shu! They didn't look like they belonged in high school, Duo thought. Sort of like Heero, there was something different about them.
They were at the front of the class where all new students were introduced to the class, standing in a stiff, straight row.
"May I introduce your new class mates? Sanada Ryo," A dark haired boy with blue eyes bowed with a cheery smile. He looked, to Duo, as if he didn't care very much about what other people thought about him. His clothes were sloppy and he looked uncomfortable in the uniform, as if he weren't used to dressing up. His hair was long and shaggy, not even tied into a neat pigtail or braid. He did, however, look very happy and carefree.
"Date Seiji," this blonde gave a curt nod to the class. His arms were crossed over his chest and he studied the class with an expression that was not unlike the one that Heero wore, as if the world around him wasn't worthy of his attention.
"Mouri Shin," A brown haired boy with a slight build bowed low. He had an innocent look to him, as if he'd been sheltered from most of lives hardships. He also smiled, but it was a shy smile.
"Shu Rei Fuan," A heavily muscled boy waved happily. His eyes were guileless and Duo knew this boy could never keep a secret. He was also the violent one who'd attacked him outside. Duo scowled, but at the same time wondered how he could look so innocent one moment and then act like a thug the next.
"Hashiba Touma," this boy actually had blue hair and a serious expression. He carried several books in his arms all ready and bowed as well as his full arms would allow.
"Oni Sh'ten," A red head with sinister, slanted eyes and a sharp featured face. This one did not bow or make any kind of acknowledgment that the class was even here. He had pride and arrogance screaming from the whole set of his posture. Duo was almost certain that he would NOT like Oni Sh'ten.
"Doku Naaza," This one was very strange looking with green hair and eyes that weren't quite normal. His eyes were too large and he didn't seem to blink very often. He also seemed to be wearing make up, purple eye shadow to be exact. Weird.
"Yami Anubis," A boy with dark blue hair and a nasty scar that ran over his eye and down his left cheek. He was as large as Shu was, those two being the tallest and most muscular of the group, and had a wicked smile on his face. His eyes didn't reflect the smile, though. His eyes were hot and smoldering, as if he were thinking thoughts that were best kept in the dark.
"And Yagiyu Nasutei." Duo almost sighed. Her name was as beautiful as she was. Nasutei had long brownish red hair and a sweet smile. She, alone of everyone up there, seemed to be perfectly happy and at ease.
When they sat, Duo saw (now what were their names again? Oh, yeah!) Touma and Naaza whisper to each other.
Samurai and Ma-Sho-
Once they all sat, Touma whispered to Naaza, "Where's Rajura?"
Nasty scowled when she heard the question and answered for Naaza, not sounding very happy. "He never showed up. I haven't seen him since yesterday."
Then the teacher spoke again. "Next, I want to introduce the newest addition to our teaching staff, Mr. Gen Rajura. He will be our new gym teacher." The new teacher walked out in front of the class, a very nicely tailored black suit and shoes polished to a shine. He was unusual in that he had long silver hair and an eye patch.
Mouths hit the floor. It was Rajura, with an illusion, obviously, to make himself look a few years older, who walked into the class. His imposing presence made all the students go quiet suddenly and he smirked at them.
Sh'ten, rather nervously, whispered to Ryo. "What's a 'gym'? I thought it was that place in the basement where we work out."
"It's also a physical education class." Ryo whispered back, keeping his eyes on Rajura, dressed in a suit and tie and looking about twenty years older. "They teach kids to do sports and things."
The Ma-Sho all groaned miserably and Touma asked, "What's wrong?"
"Rajura was our teacher for many long centuries. I don't want to go through that again!" Naaza hissed angrily. "Oh, Kami, I can't take it."
"It's only gym class, not a battle school. How bad can he make it?"
Anubis crossed his arms in a pout. "You'll find out soon enough."
"But won't he take it easy on you?" Shu asked Naaza. They all knew that the two were lovers, and he thought that would count for something.
Naaza laughed. "If anything, he'll be harder on me. He's just a touch sadistic and likes to see people suffer, especially me."
Rajura left the room after a quick wink at his friends and grinned at them. I'LL BE WAITING FOR YOU. He whispered through the telepathic link they all shared.
WHAT ARE YOU UP TO? Ryo asked. WHY AREN'T YOU WITH US?
YOU'LL FIND OUT. I THINK THIS WILL MAKE THINGS MUCH MORE INTERESTING.
Rajura didn't contact them again and they were introduced back into the life of ordinary high school students. Until lunch time, that is.
Nasty-
It was crowded in the cafeteria and Nasty had quickly went to find her friends. Unfortunately, she had only two classes with Shu, but she and Touma shared several of the more advanced classes. It was lunch time and Nasty had figured that the best thing to do would be to go to the cafeteria and find the others. They had to be here somewhere. She carried under her arm a rather large and heavy picnic basket she had picked up from her car earlier.
Nasty was looking for her friends when a hand caught her arm. Nasty turned, half-afraid it was that guy with the cute braid who'd grabbed her this morning, and found it was a blonde girl, smiling brightly.
"Hello." The girl smiled brightly. "I'm Relena Darlian. You're Nasutei, right?"
Nasty smiled back. "Right. Nice to meet you." Well, this might not be so bad, she thought to herself. It had been ages since she'd had a girl friend to talk to. The boys seemed to be her whole life, lately. Not that that was a bad thing, she mentally smiled. What girl wouldn't want to live in a house with nine supernaturally sexy studs?
"Why don't you sit with me, Nasutei?" Relena invited. "I'll introduce you all around. It must be hard on your first day, not knowing anyone." Relena started to lead her to a table, but Nasty pulled away.
"Oh, but I do have friends." Nasty insisted. "I came here with my friends, and I'm trying to find them. I can't see them in the crowd, I'm afraid. They said they'd meet me at lunch."
Relena thought back. "Oh, all those boys you came in with this morning?"
"Yes, have you seen them?"
Relena frowned slightly. "Yes, they're outside." Disapproval was strong in her voice.
"Is something wrong?" Nasty asked. She didn't want to have trouble on their first day of school, but she also wouldn't have anyone insulting her friends. Nasty knew her boys were very good, but she knew some people in this modern world wouldn't understand them. They were...different, especially the Warlords.
Relena started to walk with Nasty, guiding her outside. "You're friends are fighting out there. They say they are only sparing, but they have weapons!"
Nasty smiled. "Oh, is that all?"
Relena walked with Nasty out to the track field where she saw all the boys. They were still in their school uniforms, with the exception that they were all now in bare feet and had the jackets off. Each of them was using one of the wooden swords used in the Kendo classes and bashing each other with them.
Nasty guessed that either Seiji had used his considerable charm to get the instructor to lend the bokten's out, or Naaza had stolen them. Naaza did that occasionally. Perhaps Rajura had gotten them for everyone, now that he was a teacher.
"How can you ask, is that all?" Relena asked, watching Nasutei's smiling face. "You approve of their fighting?" She sounded amazed and horrified that anyone would approve of fighting.
"But they're not fighting. Not really." Nasty said easily. "They're just practicing. No one will get hurt."
At her reassuring words, Ryo swung his wooden sword with enough force to strike Sh'ten on the head and send him crashing to the ground. The sword broke as a result, splintering violently.
"You were saying?" Relena snapped sourly.
"Just watch."
Sh'ten, as Nasty knew he would, stood up, completely unhurt, except for being a little dizzy, and waited as Ryo went to fetch himself another sword.
"They know what they're doing." Nasty assured Relena. "You don't have to worry about them." She was so proud of the boys. Although, Nasty didn't like to see them hurt each other, they worked very hard to be the best at their skills and they were very, very good.
Relena-
Relena was quiet a moment. "I hate fighting. It only leads to pain." She remembered her father's death and watching the devastating war, the war that was threatening to kill them all. She would do anything to avoid something like that. Anything.
"Sometimes fighting is necessary."
Relena looked at Nasutei, surprised by the solemn tone. As Nasutei watched the practice she seemed to be remembering something. "If you want something badly enough, you have to fight for it. Nothing is free." Nasutei smiled, shaking off the somber mood. "Well, it was nice meeting you." Nasty said to Relena and gave a little wave. "I have to join them. They're waiting for me, I expect."
Relena's eyes widened. "You? You fight?"
Nasty blushed a little. "Me? Goodness, no! I'm no fighter, but they are waiting for lunch." Nasutei held out the picnic basket she'd been carrying.
Relena, strangely, felt a surge of something in her heart. Something she hadn't known had existed before. Feminism.
"You mean you just carry their food around for them all day?" That feminist part of Relena's mind screamed in pain. It just seemed very unfair if that's all they used Nasutei for, to carry their food.
"Not exactly." She smiled slightly. "They need me. Whether they know it or not, they need me. Excuse me." Nasutei gave a small bow and walked over to her friends. As soon as they saw Nasty, the boys all stopped their sparring and ran to her. She was greeted with smiles and hugs and set the basket down while the boy with a yellow bandanna dug in eagerly.
Continued...
They approached the high school slowly, after parking their cars in the school's parking lot, taking in the surroundings. They had had to bring three cars for everyone, Nasty's jeep, Seiji's sports car, and Shu's pickup.
The boys, thanks to Nasty going shopping for them, were all dressed in the dark blue school uniforms, that were customary for boys, and Nasty wore a long maroon skirt and jacket with a white blouse that was ruffled at the collar and her wrists. The boys were not happy with their uniforms and Shu thought the little string tie they had to wear was especially wimpy.
Much to the Ma-Sho's irritation, Nasty had firmly told them that they couldn't wear armor to high school. It would simply draw unwanted attention to them and, besides, there was no real reason for it. Sh'ten pulled the collar of his shirt uncomfortable. "I get the feeling I'm not going to like this 'school' thing." He complained. "Must we really wear these...uniforms? We look absurd."
"You'll get used to it, dude. Try to think of it as another kind of armor." Ryo reassured him, not sounding any happier. "I went to high school before the war started. It's not a lot of fun, but we can suffer through it. How hard can it be?"
The Samurai and the Ma-Sho were silent as they walked up, looking for all the world as if they were going into battle, with Nasty in the middle of their group, laughing and joking, as she tried to help everyone to loosen up. She didn't seem to be having much luck.
It was a sort of unspoken agreement that they would protect Nasty until they knew whether or not this place would be dangerous. The samurai's weren't all that worried, but to the Ma-Sho this was all unknown territory and they didn't know the rules of survival. Shu stood very close to Nasty, the current love of his life.
It wasn't that Shu didn't love Nasty, but he loved everyone so much that he just couldn't settle his heart on any one of them for an extended period. Therefore, it was generally accepted that Shu switched his loves every couple of weeks. Nasty was doing well and had lasted as Shu's love for almost a month. It was a record. Last month Shu was head over heels for Seiji and, Nasty expected that in about a week and a half he would dump her for Naaza, though Rajura might object to that. Still, he knew Shu well enough to know that it wasn't serious.
Duo-
"Hey, look. New kids." Duo Maxwell said to his best friend as he pointed with his thumb at the new students walking up the pavement to the school. Duo and Heero Yuy were on the front steps of the school and watched as a group of eight boys approached slowly with a girl standing in the center of their group. Some of the boys were joking and laughing, the others looked worried. She really didn't look like she belonged there. While the boys were all rather large, she was small and, in Duo's opinion, just about the prettiest girl he'd ever seen.
Not that she could compare to his Heero, of coarse. Still, a girl friend might be nice.
Heero barely glanced up at the strangers. He cared about very little, least of all new students. This school was just a hiding place for him and Duo until the next mission.
Duo was still staring at the brown haired girl, laughing at something the big guy with dark hair said. Jeeze, she was good looking. Suddenly, the group was passing them and Duo, on the spur of the moment, jumped up and, managing to get his arm through the boys surrounding her, grabbed the girl's arm. "Hey, you're new here..."
He never got any further as one of the large boys with dark hair and an orange bandanna in his hair, instantly had his throat and pulled him away from the girl. "You will not touch her!"
"Shu!" the girl said, seeing Heero take out a gun and put it at Shu's head. The world froze. Shu's friends glared at Heero and wondered if this was some new threat, or if the kid was just crazy.
Shu kept his hand on Duo, slowly squeezing the breath out of him, and smiled at Heero. "Maybe this won't be as dull as I'd feared, Nasty." Shu really didn't take Heero or his little toy seriously and Duo felt himself start to black out, hoping that Heero would do something soon.
The girl, Nasty, planted her fists on her hips. "Let him go, Shu. We're not here to fight!"
Shu reluctantly let Duo go with a pout. "Aw...you're no fun, Nasty."
While this was going on, Naaza had snuck (he was good at sneaking) around to Heero's side and made a sudden lunge. Heero swung on Naaza, only to be disarmed by Anubis. Anubis looked at the small piece of metal in his hand curiously, while Naaza grabbed Heero's arms and held him easily, not letting the boy attack again. "Don't move, child." Naaza hissed into Heero's ear while pinning Heero's arms behind his back. "You'll be safer if you hold still."
Heero turned his head slightly to look at Naaza and the Warlord of Venom was surprised by the dead look in Heero's eyes. 'Interesting,' Naaza though. 'The boy is fearless.'
Ryo got a little tense as Anubis looked down the barrel of the gun. "Er, Anubis, why don't you give that to me? It can be dangerous." Ryo held his hand out for the gun.
"Really? What is it?"
"It's called a gun and you're looking down the wrong end. It could hurt you."
"Why, Recca, I didn't know you cared." The scarred young man said sarcastically. Anubis crushed the gun in his bare hands, shocking Duo.
Now that the threat was taken care of, Nasty looked at Heero disapprovingly. "It's against the rules to bring weapons to school. Don't you know someone could have gotten hurt? Come on, boys, school's about to start and we don't want to be late on our first day."
Heero rubbed his arms where Naaza had grabbed him and noticed that Shu stayed behind just a moment longer than the others to cast a black glare at Duo who was still gasping for air.
"Shu? Are you coming?" The girl, Nasty, called.
"Yeah." Shu rushed to catch up with his friends.
Duo had a large bruise on his throat where that guy, Shu, had grabbed him and he glared at the front of the class where all nine new students were standing. He would get revenge on that Shu! They didn't look like they belonged in high school, Duo thought. Sort of like Heero, there was something different about them.
They were at the front of the class where all new students were introduced to the class, standing in a stiff, straight row.
"May I introduce your new class mates? Sanada Ryo," A dark haired boy with blue eyes bowed with a cheery smile. He looked, to Duo, as if he didn't care very much about what other people thought about him. His clothes were sloppy and he looked uncomfortable in the uniform, as if he weren't used to dressing up. His hair was long and shaggy, not even tied into a neat pigtail or braid. He did, however, look very happy and carefree.
"Date Seiji," this blonde gave a curt nod to the class. His arms were crossed over his chest and he studied the class with an expression that was not unlike the one that Heero wore, as if the world around him wasn't worthy of his attention.
"Mouri Shin," A brown haired boy with a slight build bowed low. He had an innocent look to him, as if he'd been sheltered from most of lives hardships. He also smiled, but it was a shy smile.
"Shu Rei Fuan," A heavily muscled boy waved happily. His eyes were guileless and Duo knew this boy could never keep a secret. He was also the violent one who'd attacked him outside. Duo scowled, but at the same time wondered how he could look so innocent one moment and then act like a thug the next.
"Hashiba Touma," this boy actually had blue hair and a serious expression. He carried several books in his arms all ready and bowed as well as his full arms would allow.
"Oni Sh'ten," A red head with sinister, slanted eyes and a sharp featured face. This one did not bow or make any kind of acknowledgment that the class was even here. He had pride and arrogance screaming from the whole set of his posture. Duo was almost certain that he would NOT like Oni Sh'ten.
"Doku Naaza," This one was very strange looking with green hair and eyes that weren't quite normal. His eyes were too large and he didn't seem to blink very often. He also seemed to be wearing make up, purple eye shadow to be exact. Weird.
"Yami Anubis," A boy with dark blue hair and a nasty scar that ran over his eye and down his left cheek. He was as large as Shu was, those two being the tallest and most muscular of the group, and had a wicked smile on his face. His eyes didn't reflect the smile, though. His eyes were hot and smoldering, as if he were thinking thoughts that were best kept in the dark.
"And Yagiyu Nasutei." Duo almost sighed. Her name was as beautiful as she was. Nasutei had long brownish red hair and a sweet smile. She, alone of everyone up there, seemed to be perfectly happy and at ease.
When they sat, Duo saw (now what were their names again? Oh, yeah!) Touma and Naaza whisper to each other.
Samurai and Ma-Sho-
Once they all sat, Touma whispered to Naaza, "Where's Rajura?"
Nasty scowled when she heard the question and answered for Naaza, not sounding very happy. "He never showed up. I haven't seen him since yesterday."
Then the teacher spoke again. "Next, I want to introduce the newest addition to our teaching staff, Mr. Gen Rajura. He will be our new gym teacher." The new teacher walked out in front of the class, a very nicely tailored black suit and shoes polished to a shine. He was unusual in that he had long silver hair and an eye patch.
Mouths hit the floor. It was Rajura, with an illusion, obviously, to make himself look a few years older, who walked into the class. His imposing presence made all the students go quiet suddenly and he smirked at them.
Sh'ten, rather nervously, whispered to Ryo. "What's a 'gym'? I thought it was that place in the basement where we work out."
"It's also a physical education class." Ryo whispered back, keeping his eyes on Rajura, dressed in a suit and tie and looking about twenty years older. "They teach kids to do sports and things."
The Ma-Sho all groaned miserably and Touma asked, "What's wrong?"
"Rajura was our teacher for many long centuries. I don't want to go through that again!" Naaza hissed angrily. "Oh, Kami, I can't take it."
"It's only gym class, not a battle school. How bad can he make it?"
Anubis crossed his arms in a pout. "You'll find out soon enough."
"But won't he take it easy on you?" Shu asked Naaza. They all knew that the two were lovers, and he thought that would count for something.
Naaza laughed. "If anything, he'll be harder on me. He's just a touch sadistic and likes to see people suffer, especially me."
Rajura left the room after a quick wink at his friends and grinned at them. I'LL BE WAITING FOR YOU. He whispered through the telepathic link they all shared.
WHAT ARE YOU UP TO? Ryo asked. WHY AREN'T YOU WITH US?
YOU'LL FIND OUT. I THINK THIS WILL MAKE THINGS MUCH MORE INTERESTING.
Rajura didn't contact them again and they were introduced back into the life of ordinary high school students. Until lunch time, that is.
Nasty-
It was crowded in the cafeteria and Nasty had quickly went to find her friends. Unfortunately, she had only two classes with Shu, but she and Touma shared several of the more advanced classes. It was lunch time and Nasty had figured that the best thing to do would be to go to the cafeteria and find the others. They had to be here somewhere. She carried under her arm a rather large and heavy picnic basket she had picked up from her car earlier.
Nasty was looking for her friends when a hand caught her arm. Nasty turned, half-afraid it was that guy with the cute braid who'd grabbed her this morning, and found it was a blonde girl, smiling brightly.
"Hello." The girl smiled brightly. "I'm Relena Darlian. You're Nasutei, right?"
Nasty smiled back. "Right. Nice to meet you." Well, this might not be so bad, she thought to herself. It had been ages since she'd had a girl friend to talk to. The boys seemed to be her whole life, lately. Not that that was a bad thing, she mentally smiled. What girl wouldn't want to live in a house with nine supernaturally sexy studs?
"Why don't you sit with me, Nasutei?" Relena invited. "I'll introduce you all around. It must be hard on your first day, not knowing anyone." Relena started to lead her to a table, but Nasty pulled away.
"Oh, but I do have friends." Nasty insisted. "I came here with my friends, and I'm trying to find them. I can't see them in the crowd, I'm afraid. They said they'd meet me at lunch."
Relena thought back. "Oh, all those boys you came in with this morning?"
"Yes, have you seen them?"
Relena frowned slightly. "Yes, they're outside." Disapproval was strong in her voice.
"Is something wrong?" Nasty asked. She didn't want to have trouble on their first day of school, but she also wouldn't have anyone insulting her friends. Nasty knew her boys were very good, but she knew some people in this modern world wouldn't understand them. They were...different, especially the Warlords.
Relena started to walk with Nasty, guiding her outside. "You're friends are fighting out there. They say they are only sparing, but they have weapons!"
Nasty smiled. "Oh, is that all?"
Relena walked with Nasty out to the track field where she saw all the boys. They were still in their school uniforms, with the exception that they were all now in bare feet and had the jackets off. Each of them was using one of the wooden swords used in the Kendo classes and bashing each other with them.
Nasty guessed that either Seiji had used his considerable charm to get the instructor to lend the bokten's out, or Naaza had stolen them. Naaza did that occasionally. Perhaps Rajura had gotten them for everyone, now that he was a teacher.
"How can you ask, is that all?" Relena asked, watching Nasutei's smiling face. "You approve of their fighting?" She sounded amazed and horrified that anyone would approve of fighting.
"But they're not fighting. Not really." Nasty said easily. "They're just practicing. No one will get hurt."
At her reassuring words, Ryo swung his wooden sword with enough force to strike Sh'ten on the head and send him crashing to the ground. The sword broke as a result, splintering violently.
"You were saying?" Relena snapped sourly.
"Just watch."
Sh'ten, as Nasty knew he would, stood up, completely unhurt, except for being a little dizzy, and waited as Ryo went to fetch himself another sword.
"They know what they're doing." Nasty assured Relena. "You don't have to worry about them." She was so proud of the boys. Although, Nasty didn't like to see them hurt each other, they worked very hard to be the best at their skills and they were very, very good.
Relena-
Relena was quiet a moment. "I hate fighting. It only leads to pain." She remembered her father's death and watching the devastating war, the war that was threatening to kill them all. She would do anything to avoid something like that. Anything.
"Sometimes fighting is necessary."
Relena looked at Nasutei, surprised by the solemn tone. As Nasutei watched the practice she seemed to be remembering something. "If you want something badly enough, you have to fight for it. Nothing is free." Nasutei smiled, shaking off the somber mood. "Well, it was nice meeting you." Nasty said to Relena and gave a little wave. "I have to join them. They're waiting for me, I expect."
Relena's eyes widened. "You? You fight?"
Nasty blushed a little. "Me? Goodness, no! I'm no fighter, but they are waiting for lunch." Nasutei held out the picnic basket she'd been carrying.
Relena, strangely, felt a surge of something in her heart. Something she hadn't known had existed before. Feminism.
"You mean you just carry their food around for them all day?" That feminist part of Relena's mind screamed in pain. It just seemed very unfair if that's all they used Nasutei for, to carry their food.
"Not exactly." She smiled slightly. "They need me. Whether they know it or not, they need me. Excuse me." Nasutei gave a small bow and walked over to her friends. As soon as they saw Nasty, the boys all stopped their sparring and ran to her. She was greeted with smiles and hugs and set the basket down while the boy with a yellow bandanna dug in eagerly.
Continued...
