Hello again to everyone - not one person reviewed sob - who should happen
to read this. Sorry for the delay in this chapter but I am in the Kansas
City Renaissance Festival so my weekends and part of the week will be busy
for a while. I'm a fairy in the enchanted forest there YEA fun for me! All
disclaimers apply I don't own and never will. Oh I've decided to add more
Japanese but nothing too much 'cause I have a hard enough time getting my
spelling correct in english. I also changed the rating because so far it
hasn't earned an R rating.
Most of the students from Rayearth High were sitting together taking a break from competition and having a short lunch on the lawn outside the convention center when Lantis and Eagle next saw them.
"Hikaru, I don't understand how one so little can eat so much and never gain a pound! It's not fair the rest of us normal human beings have to watch our weight while you can pig through anything and probably lose weight in the process!"
"Now Miss Umi I don't think that is entirely correct, after all Miss Hikaru does expend a lot of energy at all times so she probably needs to eat a lot in order to keep up her boisterous pace."
Hikaru sat in-between the two girls just smiling. "Gomen Fuu-chan but I ."
"Hello minna, Hikaru-san, I see that whatever problems you had earlier seem to not be troubling you now."
Hikaru swung around to see a pair of golden eyes less than a foot from her own and smiled. "Hello Eagle-san! I was hoping to get to see you again today. How have you been doing in your competitions so far?"
"Fine and you?"
"Fine, I am really enjoying all the competitions so far! It is really fun to be able to compete here."
At this groans from her teammates were heard. "Jeez Hikaru-chan" "Only you could get away with saying something like that" "I wish that were true for the rest of us" This caused Eagle to get a slight frown on his face.
"What do you mean?" The group looked around to see Lantis standing slightly behind Eagle with a slightly annoyed look on his face. Lantis was thinking to himself 'I wonder why they all make such odd/negative comments about her views on competition.' "Hello Hikaru-san, I hope your earlier troubles at sign-ins have all been cleared up?"
"Oh, it was no trouble at all, they just wanted to make sure that I still wanted to compete." At Lantis' and Eagle's confused expressions she started to explain, "You see the judges were concerned about my."
"Oh Hikaru-chan," Umi interrupted her with a gleeful expression on her face. "I'm sure that the guys could care less about the trivial details of the situation. All that matters is that you are able to compete, right?"
She looked a little confused then nodded, "You're right Umi-chan! I am really excited for the finals tomorrow, I can hardly wait!"
At this Lantis and Eagle noticed her teammates giving her more disbelieving looks and shared a look of confusion at their expressions. Umi saw this and smiled to herself 'they don't even have a clue as to who she is, the baka's. I can't wait to see their faces when they find out! Until then though, it's better to keep the art of surprise in our favor even if she doesn't need it. Hehehe' "Don't worry so much you two, everything all worked itself out in the end, and isn't that what's important?"
Lantis gave the girl a disbelieving look, noticing her gleeful expression and wondered what she was thinking. Eagle however just smiled and nodded at the blue haired girl.
"Isn't what important? My Fuu-chan? Of course, she is the most important thing that matters."
The group looked around to see Ferio as well as several other teens behind him, coming upon the group. This helped to divert the attention to the red faced Fuu who Ferio was currently hugging from behind.
Hikaru and the others noticed that the man they had seen that morning who looked slightly older, but who was almost the exact copy of Lantis. "Lanis, Eagle-chan there you are, we have been looking all over for you. You shouldn't go off alone here before you let someone know where you are at." The young man looked over the group, "Hello Clef-san it is good to see you again. How have you been?"
"Fine, fine, and you Zagato-san? I must admit that I have missed seeing you and Emeraude-chan these past few months since winter break," he then waved at the beautiful girl standing beside Zagato with extremely long wavy blond hair.
The girl who they all surmised to be Emeraude answered him, "Hello Clef-san it is good to see you again also. We wondered if we would see you here."
"Yes I decided to attend after a sort-of last minute discussion by our coach and I. We decided that it would be a waste if I didn't enter the Zen competition at least one more time before I graduated this spring."
"That's wonderful, I hope that you do well," with a look at Zagato she paused "although not too well. After all you know how I hate consoling someone when he loses to you."
Zagato just looked down at her and smirked, "I know that you must be speaking of someone else because I never sulk after I lose because it so seldom happens. Perhaps you are mistaking me with Lantis."
Most of the group of people that came from Cephiro High just sniggered.
A very tall man with black hair fashioned in a sort of long crew-cut laughed, "Come on Zagato-san being Lantis-chan's older brother you should know better than the rest of us that he never would stoop so low as to actually show his emotions. He would rather just give us all the cold shoulder and either go back to sleep or practice some more." Most of the group laughed at his comment.
Eagle turned and looked at the man looking very innocent, "Now Geo-kun I don't think that's fair to Lantis-kun. After all most of the time when he disapproves of something or someone if you watch very carefully you can see a small sneer of disapproval at them, and he has also been known to smirk after he has beaten an opponent who has been known to brag too much." He then broke out into a huge smile, which just made the group laugh harder, while Lantis watched the whole display with a neutral face.
Hikaru stood and came to stand in front of the group and took Lantis' hand and smiled startling most of the group from Cephiro, "Now Eagle-san I don't think that you should tease Lantis-san that way. After all it was his kind idea this morning to try and help me find my way around the sign-in tables. You really should be nicer to him."
Most of the group from C.H. looked surprised by this revelation, and the girl who was holding the hand of one of the most eligible bachelors in their school. Lantis was known for dismissing all those who had taken an interest in him with kindness but in a way that left for no doubt that he meant it, yet here he was allowing a stranger to hold his hand without any complaints. Eagle smiled down at the girl, "Perhaps you are correct Hikaru- san. I should try and be nicer to him." He looked at Lantis and gave a him a big grin, "After all what are best friends for, if not that." This caused a couple of the C.H. group to laugh again.
Hikaru looked at the group obviously confused as to why they were laughing at his statement, "Nani?"
At this most of the C.H. gang sweat-dropped and looked at Hikaru wondering if she was really that slow on the up-take, while the gang from R.H. just shook their heads used to her innocent behavior. "Hikaru-chan I believe that they were just laughing at Eagle-san's further teasing of Lantis-san," Presea smiled at Hikaru and explained from her place beside Clef.
"Oh OK!" ;)
The group's attention was drawn towards a the edge of the R.H. group as a dark-skinned red headed girl with her hair up in a high braid sighed loudly, "Jeez-louise, Hikaru-chan. How innocent can ya be? You obviously need more time away from those overprotective brothers of yours."
"Now Tarta-chan that's not very nice. You should apologize to Hikaru-chan and offer her some tea!" *_- The Cephiro group looked at another girl who looked almost exactly like the first except she seemed to have a more mature air about her and had her hair down, and instead of the intense look on her face she had a smile which seemed to be permanently plastered on her face. "Also watch your language sister, you were slipping back into your accent."
The first sister blushed at her last remark, then seemed to recover herself enough to almost shout at the second, "Tatra-sama I am just telling the truth, and why is tea your answer to every the problem onee-sama? And I wasn't slipping into my accent!"
At this the older stuck the tip of her first finger into her mouth and seemed to look ready to cry. "Tarta-chan you are so mean to your onee-sama, all I want is for you be at your best in front of everyone." She than seemed to perk up considerably and the smile appeared on her face again, "and you really shouldn't yell in front of everyone. What would ma-ma and pa-pa say?" Tarta just sighed, mumbled something about giving up and went back to her meal while Tatra started pouring tea for her.
Most of the C.H. group looked a little surprised at this outburst, but for the most part it was ignored by the R.H. group because it was such a common occurrence.
"Lantis-san," he looked down at the smiling Hikaru and realized that she was still holding his hand. "Would you and all your friends like to join us for lunch? I'm sure that you must be getting hungry also." She looked a little worried and then bit her lip, "Unless you have already eaten, or already have plans, then I wouldn't want you to feel like you have to change them or join us if you don't want to."
Lantis thought that even though he usually enjoyed eating alone, he wouldn't mind spending a little more time with her. He was however unsure of the rest of the groups plans and looked to Zagato for confirmation, who answered for him "I think that would be a wise idea, we were just searching for a spot to eat as well. As long as the rest of your party doesn't mind us joining you."
At this there were negative nods and people began moving over to make room for everyone. A tall brunette boy with long bangs that covered his eyes came running up to the group and managed to get out in between gasps for air, "There you are I have been looking all over for you." He then saw that part of the people in the group he was unfamiliar with and turned a slight pink.
Ferio, from his spot beside Fuu spoke up, "Hey Ascot! We just sat down to eat come join us. How did your forms go?"
The boy looked at the spot Ferio was pointing to, was between him and a beautiful girl with light blue hair and bright blue eyes, 'her, he wants me to sit next to her?' he thought to himself.
As if she could feel him staring at her she turned to him, "Hello, you must be Ascot-san. I'm Umi, nice to meet you." She then smiled at him, which caused Ascot to turn a bright shade of pink. "Did I just hear Ferio mention that you do forms? So you are in the Zen competition I take it. How do you think you did?"
Ascot just stared at the beautiful girl sitting in front of him unable to answer her question, when a pair of tanned arms grabbed him around the neck from behind. "Ascot! How've ya been sugar?" This caused the teen to start in surprise and turn around to see a tanned face and powder pink hair about 3 inches from his own.
"Caldina-chan! I didn't know that you were here!"
"What do you mean that you didn't know!" she yelled at the boy. "I saw you briefly this morning remember, when you were talking to my girls." At that she pointed in the general direction of Umi, Fuu and Hikaru.
"O-Oh, gomen. I-I forgot."
Caldina looked down at Umi who was sitting with a confused look upon her face and got a sly look on her face. "Oh, I see how it is. All of a sudden you meet our beautiful Umi-chan here and you forget all about poor little me."
"Caldina-chan!" protests were heard from Ascot and Umi both.
"Now Caldina-chan why don't you leave the poor bot in peace."
"Lafarga!" The group saw that the tall blond had come up behind them, at which Caldina removed her death-grip on Ascot and moved to cling to Lafarga's arm causing him to become a shade of pink, "Hello sweetie pie. I wondered where you had gotten off to. By the time I had caught up with the rest of our group I had lost you in this crowd."
"I saw an old acquaintance from past tournaments and said a brief hello." At this he noticed that the group from Cephiro High had joined his group while eating lunch and narrowed his eyes at a certain black haired young man who glared back.
This was noted by most in the party who knew of Lafarga and Lantis' mutual dislike but most stayed silent until Clef spoke up, "Lafarga-san, why don't you and Caldina-chan come and sit over here with Presea-chan and I."
Lafarga gave one last glance Lantis' way before he and Caldina made their way towards Clef to eat. Hikaru looked confused at the proceedings, "What happened? Why didn't Lafarga-san and Caldina-chan want to stay and eat with us?"
Most of the remaining group looked at Hikaru for a time before Umi decided to explain the situation to her. "Hikaru-chan I keep forgetting that you just transferred in to our school, so it's like this. Lafarga-san and Lantis-san are competitors and have been since they knew each other in junior high."
Hikaru just looked more confused at her attempted explanation and turned to Lantis, "But why does that mean that you two don't want to eat together. If you have know each other for that long than that means that you two should be good friends by now." Hikaru smiled at her last statement
Eagle smiled at the innocent girl in front of him and realized that she meant every word that she said. "Personally Hikaru-chan I think that it is because they are both so silent and moody that they can't stand to see someone else who has almost the exact same personality traits as them. Although personally I think that Lantis-chan is moodier than Lafarga-san, even if he doesn't show it." This caused most of the group to either break out in smiles or laugh.
During his speech Lantis just narrowed his eyes at the shorter boy but other wise showed no outward appearance that he even cared or heard what he had said. "Hikaru-chan what are you having to eat it looks." Lantis started to change the subject until a pair of arms wrapped around Hikaru and picked her up.
"Oh Hikaru-chan my adorable baby sister how are you? Are you well? None of your fights so far were too hard so far were they? Just tell me if someone was to rough with you and I shall make them pay!" About half the group astonished to see another boy who looked almost like the first proceed to yank her out of the first one's and into his own.
"Oh my little Hikaru-chan, did you say someone has hurt you? Just you tell your big brothers who and we will go and take care of it." The boy then knelt with Hikaru in front of him still squeezing her, "If things get too tough this week just let your big brother know and I will make sure that you are safe." He then seemed to notice how close Lantis was to her, "And just who are you? Do you think that you can take advantage of my baby sister?" This seemed to catch the first one's attention as well, and they bantered back and forth at Lantis.
"What! Who are you and qualifications do you have to date my baby sister?" "Hikaru-chan don't worry your big brothers will take care of him." "Yes don't worry Hikaru-chan we will determine his worthiness by test his fighting skills before you are ever allowed to date him." "Yes that's right before you can see her you must first defeat all her brothers in battle to determine whether of not you are worthy of our delicate baby sister."
As the bantering continued most of the party sweatdropped as the R.H. people were used to such a reaction from her family but the group from Cephiro was wondering if perhaps they would have to fight to defend one of their own against the two obviously crazed brothers. Zagato in particular was worried and spared a look to his younger brother who didn't seem to bothered by the situation.
The two however just continued not really noticing anything but their plans of protection for Hikaru, "I know after he defeats us individually then he can take on all three of us to see if he is able to protect our little Hikaru-chan against all the evil in the world." "And maybe father also just to be certain." "I think that's a great idea also."
"Enough."
The group turned to see a man coming up behind the two, "I believe that you need to release her before she suffocates."
As the boys did just that most of the Cephiro group started to notice one- by-one who the tall man was and whispering was heard. "Isn't that?" "Shidou Satoru! Isn't he going to be judging some of the final rounds?" ".the head of the Shidou dojo. What's he doing here?" "I wonder if they are going to get into trouble for causing such a ruckus?" "Should someone tell him that they are related and weren't really hurting her?"
By this time Hikaru had regained her breath and bowed to the older man, "Hello Satoru-chan how are you? I thought that none of you would be here till tomorrow when the finals start."
At this a whole new round of whispers started up as to how the little redhead knew one of the most famous kendo instructors in Japan. In fact he was known all over the world because of his ability with a sword and was ranked internationally on the fight circuit.
At this her brother's spoke up, "We wanted to come and see how our cute little Hikaru-chan was doing so we came a day early." "It looks like it's a good thing that we did to if not who knows what this guy might have done to our innocent little Hikaru-chan." But a look from Satoru and both of them quieted again.
"I also heard that you had some troubles this morning when you went to sign- ins. I assume that all of that has been taken care of to everyone's satisfaction."
Hikaru just smiled up at the tall man before her and gave him a hug surprising the C.H. group. "Don't worry Satoru-chan. They were just making sure that I was comfortable with this level of competition." Lantis and Eagle looked at each other and thought about the earlier incident today at the sign-in table and both wondered if perhaps she wasn't in over her head if Satoru was worried about her. This made the next words quite shocking to them as well as most of the group.
"I heard that they gave you a bi for the first two qualifying rounds today in the weaponry competition."
"Hai. I told them it wasn't necessary but they just insisted, saying that they didn't want to insult me." She looked a little confused at the last statement. "I wonder why they thought that I would be insulted?"
"I also believe that it is for the best Hikaru-chan. Since you gained your international ranking last year you have been steadily improving and sometimes you forget your own strength. I would hate to see you hurt someone because they thought that you would be easy prey, and they ended up doing something foolish which could easily get them hurt with someone at your skill level."
"But onii-chan I have never hurt anyone before. Why do you think that it would happen now? I am always careful not to go so far as that." Since none of the Cephiro people had heard Hikaru's last name they were surprised to find out she was one of the Shidou's, who were known as one of the premiere martial artist family's in all of Japan.
"I know, but I'm afraid that a too inexperienced fighter may have too much of an adrenaline high and do something foolish."
Ferio suddenly jumped up and stated very loudly, "Wait does that mean that you are the Hikaru Shidou who gained an international female ranking while you were still in middle school!!! No way!"
Hikaru just blushed, "H_Hai although it really isn't that big a deal."
"Not a big deal! Are you nuts that's so cool I've never known anyone before who was on the international rankings list!"
Umi meanwhile was laughing at the expressions on most of the C.H. faces, "Hahaha. You think that's cool just wait until you have to face her in the arena! She's unstoppable! Plus she's going to bring home the all-around trophy for us! Oh just you wait, she's going to beat all your sorry buts until you cry in humiliation."
"Listen you blue haired harpy. Doesn't that mean that it's possible to be fighting up against you at some point? Then who will be crying in defeat?"
"Why don't you be quiet you little retard. Nothing bothers me as long as I know that we will be bringing home the trophy, and besides we're all used to getting our butts kicked by her everyday in practice."
Most of the group snickered as Ferio sat down mumbling about stupid loud- mouthed harpies. Satoru spoke up again, "Hikaru-chan I think that we will go so you can finish eating. We shall see each other later." At this her other two brothers ran over to give Hikaru good bye hugs and glared at Lantis until Satoru cleared his throat and they released her saying that they were off and wished her good luck.
"Good by onii-chan's I will see you later!" at this she sat down and looked up to find several incredulous faces staring at her.
There how was that sorry it took so long but I'm busy and since no one reviewed I didn't hurry too much. Next the actual fighting begins! And perhaps a little romance on the side!
Most of the students from Rayearth High were sitting together taking a break from competition and having a short lunch on the lawn outside the convention center when Lantis and Eagle next saw them.
"Hikaru, I don't understand how one so little can eat so much and never gain a pound! It's not fair the rest of us normal human beings have to watch our weight while you can pig through anything and probably lose weight in the process!"
"Now Miss Umi I don't think that is entirely correct, after all Miss Hikaru does expend a lot of energy at all times so she probably needs to eat a lot in order to keep up her boisterous pace."
Hikaru sat in-between the two girls just smiling. "Gomen Fuu-chan but I ."
"Hello minna, Hikaru-san, I see that whatever problems you had earlier seem to not be troubling you now."
Hikaru swung around to see a pair of golden eyes less than a foot from her own and smiled. "Hello Eagle-san! I was hoping to get to see you again today. How have you been doing in your competitions so far?"
"Fine and you?"
"Fine, I am really enjoying all the competitions so far! It is really fun to be able to compete here."
At this groans from her teammates were heard. "Jeez Hikaru-chan" "Only you could get away with saying something like that" "I wish that were true for the rest of us" This caused Eagle to get a slight frown on his face.
"What do you mean?" The group looked around to see Lantis standing slightly behind Eagle with a slightly annoyed look on his face. Lantis was thinking to himself 'I wonder why they all make such odd/negative comments about her views on competition.' "Hello Hikaru-san, I hope your earlier troubles at sign-ins have all been cleared up?"
"Oh, it was no trouble at all, they just wanted to make sure that I still wanted to compete." At Lantis' and Eagle's confused expressions she started to explain, "You see the judges were concerned about my."
"Oh Hikaru-chan," Umi interrupted her with a gleeful expression on her face. "I'm sure that the guys could care less about the trivial details of the situation. All that matters is that you are able to compete, right?"
She looked a little confused then nodded, "You're right Umi-chan! I am really excited for the finals tomorrow, I can hardly wait!"
At this Lantis and Eagle noticed her teammates giving her more disbelieving looks and shared a look of confusion at their expressions. Umi saw this and smiled to herself 'they don't even have a clue as to who she is, the baka's. I can't wait to see their faces when they find out! Until then though, it's better to keep the art of surprise in our favor even if she doesn't need it. Hehehe' "Don't worry so much you two, everything all worked itself out in the end, and isn't that what's important?"
Lantis gave the girl a disbelieving look, noticing her gleeful expression and wondered what she was thinking. Eagle however just smiled and nodded at the blue haired girl.
"Isn't what important? My Fuu-chan? Of course, she is the most important thing that matters."
The group looked around to see Ferio as well as several other teens behind him, coming upon the group. This helped to divert the attention to the red faced Fuu who Ferio was currently hugging from behind.
Hikaru and the others noticed that the man they had seen that morning who looked slightly older, but who was almost the exact copy of Lantis. "Lanis, Eagle-chan there you are, we have been looking all over for you. You shouldn't go off alone here before you let someone know where you are at." The young man looked over the group, "Hello Clef-san it is good to see you again. How have you been?"
"Fine, fine, and you Zagato-san? I must admit that I have missed seeing you and Emeraude-chan these past few months since winter break," he then waved at the beautiful girl standing beside Zagato with extremely long wavy blond hair.
The girl who they all surmised to be Emeraude answered him, "Hello Clef-san it is good to see you again also. We wondered if we would see you here."
"Yes I decided to attend after a sort-of last minute discussion by our coach and I. We decided that it would be a waste if I didn't enter the Zen competition at least one more time before I graduated this spring."
"That's wonderful, I hope that you do well," with a look at Zagato she paused "although not too well. After all you know how I hate consoling someone when he loses to you."
Zagato just looked down at her and smirked, "I know that you must be speaking of someone else because I never sulk after I lose because it so seldom happens. Perhaps you are mistaking me with Lantis."
Most of the group of people that came from Cephiro High just sniggered.
A very tall man with black hair fashioned in a sort of long crew-cut laughed, "Come on Zagato-san being Lantis-chan's older brother you should know better than the rest of us that he never would stoop so low as to actually show his emotions. He would rather just give us all the cold shoulder and either go back to sleep or practice some more." Most of the group laughed at his comment.
Eagle turned and looked at the man looking very innocent, "Now Geo-kun I don't think that's fair to Lantis-kun. After all most of the time when he disapproves of something or someone if you watch very carefully you can see a small sneer of disapproval at them, and he has also been known to smirk after he has beaten an opponent who has been known to brag too much." He then broke out into a huge smile, which just made the group laugh harder, while Lantis watched the whole display with a neutral face.
Hikaru stood and came to stand in front of the group and took Lantis' hand and smiled startling most of the group from Cephiro, "Now Eagle-san I don't think that you should tease Lantis-san that way. After all it was his kind idea this morning to try and help me find my way around the sign-in tables. You really should be nicer to him."
Most of the group from C.H. looked surprised by this revelation, and the girl who was holding the hand of one of the most eligible bachelors in their school. Lantis was known for dismissing all those who had taken an interest in him with kindness but in a way that left for no doubt that he meant it, yet here he was allowing a stranger to hold his hand without any complaints. Eagle smiled down at the girl, "Perhaps you are correct Hikaru- san. I should try and be nicer to him." He looked at Lantis and gave a him a big grin, "After all what are best friends for, if not that." This caused a couple of the C.H. group to laugh again.
Hikaru looked at the group obviously confused as to why they were laughing at his statement, "Nani?"
At this most of the C.H. gang sweat-dropped and looked at Hikaru wondering if she was really that slow on the up-take, while the gang from R.H. just shook their heads used to her innocent behavior. "Hikaru-chan I believe that they were just laughing at Eagle-san's further teasing of Lantis-san," Presea smiled at Hikaru and explained from her place beside Clef.
"Oh OK!" ;)
The group's attention was drawn towards a the edge of the R.H. group as a dark-skinned red headed girl with her hair up in a high braid sighed loudly, "Jeez-louise, Hikaru-chan. How innocent can ya be? You obviously need more time away from those overprotective brothers of yours."
"Now Tarta-chan that's not very nice. You should apologize to Hikaru-chan and offer her some tea!" *_- The Cephiro group looked at another girl who looked almost exactly like the first except she seemed to have a more mature air about her and had her hair down, and instead of the intense look on her face she had a smile which seemed to be permanently plastered on her face. "Also watch your language sister, you were slipping back into your accent."
The first sister blushed at her last remark, then seemed to recover herself enough to almost shout at the second, "Tatra-sama I am just telling the truth, and why is tea your answer to every the problem onee-sama? And I wasn't slipping into my accent!"
At this the older stuck the tip of her first finger into her mouth and seemed to look ready to cry. "Tarta-chan you are so mean to your onee-sama, all I want is for you be at your best in front of everyone." She than seemed to perk up considerably and the smile appeared on her face again, "and you really shouldn't yell in front of everyone. What would ma-ma and pa-pa say?" Tarta just sighed, mumbled something about giving up and went back to her meal while Tatra started pouring tea for her.
Most of the C.H. group looked a little surprised at this outburst, but for the most part it was ignored by the R.H. group because it was such a common occurrence.
"Lantis-san," he looked down at the smiling Hikaru and realized that she was still holding his hand. "Would you and all your friends like to join us for lunch? I'm sure that you must be getting hungry also." She looked a little worried and then bit her lip, "Unless you have already eaten, or already have plans, then I wouldn't want you to feel like you have to change them or join us if you don't want to."
Lantis thought that even though he usually enjoyed eating alone, he wouldn't mind spending a little more time with her. He was however unsure of the rest of the groups plans and looked to Zagato for confirmation, who answered for him "I think that would be a wise idea, we were just searching for a spot to eat as well. As long as the rest of your party doesn't mind us joining you."
At this there were negative nods and people began moving over to make room for everyone. A tall brunette boy with long bangs that covered his eyes came running up to the group and managed to get out in between gasps for air, "There you are I have been looking all over for you." He then saw that part of the people in the group he was unfamiliar with and turned a slight pink.
Ferio, from his spot beside Fuu spoke up, "Hey Ascot! We just sat down to eat come join us. How did your forms go?"
The boy looked at the spot Ferio was pointing to, was between him and a beautiful girl with light blue hair and bright blue eyes, 'her, he wants me to sit next to her?' he thought to himself.
As if she could feel him staring at her she turned to him, "Hello, you must be Ascot-san. I'm Umi, nice to meet you." She then smiled at him, which caused Ascot to turn a bright shade of pink. "Did I just hear Ferio mention that you do forms? So you are in the Zen competition I take it. How do you think you did?"
Ascot just stared at the beautiful girl sitting in front of him unable to answer her question, when a pair of tanned arms grabbed him around the neck from behind. "Ascot! How've ya been sugar?" This caused the teen to start in surprise and turn around to see a tanned face and powder pink hair about 3 inches from his own.
"Caldina-chan! I didn't know that you were here!"
"What do you mean that you didn't know!" she yelled at the boy. "I saw you briefly this morning remember, when you were talking to my girls." At that she pointed in the general direction of Umi, Fuu and Hikaru.
"O-Oh, gomen. I-I forgot."
Caldina looked down at Umi who was sitting with a confused look upon her face and got a sly look on her face. "Oh, I see how it is. All of a sudden you meet our beautiful Umi-chan here and you forget all about poor little me."
"Caldina-chan!" protests were heard from Ascot and Umi both.
"Now Caldina-chan why don't you leave the poor bot in peace."
"Lafarga!" The group saw that the tall blond had come up behind them, at which Caldina removed her death-grip on Ascot and moved to cling to Lafarga's arm causing him to become a shade of pink, "Hello sweetie pie. I wondered where you had gotten off to. By the time I had caught up with the rest of our group I had lost you in this crowd."
"I saw an old acquaintance from past tournaments and said a brief hello." At this he noticed that the group from Cephiro High had joined his group while eating lunch and narrowed his eyes at a certain black haired young man who glared back.
This was noted by most in the party who knew of Lafarga and Lantis' mutual dislike but most stayed silent until Clef spoke up, "Lafarga-san, why don't you and Caldina-chan come and sit over here with Presea-chan and I."
Lafarga gave one last glance Lantis' way before he and Caldina made their way towards Clef to eat. Hikaru looked confused at the proceedings, "What happened? Why didn't Lafarga-san and Caldina-chan want to stay and eat with us?"
Most of the remaining group looked at Hikaru for a time before Umi decided to explain the situation to her. "Hikaru-chan I keep forgetting that you just transferred in to our school, so it's like this. Lafarga-san and Lantis-san are competitors and have been since they knew each other in junior high."
Hikaru just looked more confused at her attempted explanation and turned to Lantis, "But why does that mean that you two don't want to eat together. If you have know each other for that long than that means that you two should be good friends by now." Hikaru smiled at her last statement
Eagle smiled at the innocent girl in front of him and realized that she meant every word that she said. "Personally Hikaru-chan I think that it is because they are both so silent and moody that they can't stand to see someone else who has almost the exact same personality traits as them. Although personally I think that Lantis-chan is moodier than Lafarga-san, even if he doesn't show it." This caused most of the group to either break out in smiles or laugh.
During his speech Lantis just narrowed his eyes at the shorter boy but other wise showed no outward appearance that he even cared or heard what he had said. "Hikaru-chan what are you having to eat it looks." Lantis started to change the subject until a pair of arms wrapped around Hikaru and picked her up.
"Oh Hikaru-chan my adorable baby sister how are you? Are you well? None of your fights so far were too hard so far were they? Just tell me if someone was to rough with you and I shall make them pay!" About half the group astonished to see another boy who looked almost like the first proceed to yank her out of the first one's and into his own.
"Oh my little Hikaru-chan, did you say someone has hurt you? Just you tell your big brothers who and we will go and take care of it." The boy then knelt with Hikaru in front of him still squeezing her, "If things get too tough this week just let your big brother know and I will make sure that you are safe." He then seemed to notice how close Lantis was to her, "And just who are you? Do you think that you can take advantage of my baby sister?" This seemed to catch the first one's attention as well, and they bantered back and forth at Lantis.
"What! Who are you and qualifications do you have to date my baby sister?" "Hikaru-chan don't worry your big brothers will take care of him." "Yes don't worry Hikaru-chan we will determine his worthiness by test his fighting skills before you are ever allowed to date him." "Yes that's right before you can see her you must first defeat all her brothers in battle to determine whether of not you are worthy of our delicate baby sister."
As the bantering continued most of the party sweatdropped as the R.H. people were used to such a reaction from her family but the group from Cephiro was wondering if perhaps they would have to fight to defend one of their own against the two obviously crazed brothers. Zagato in particular was worried and spared a look to his younger brother who didn't seem to bothered by the situation.
The two however just continued not really noticing anything but their plans of protection for Hikaru, "I know after he defeats us individually then he can take on all three of us to see if he is able to protect our little Hikaru-chan against all the evil in the world." "And maybe father also just to be certain." "I think that's a great idea also."
"Enough."
The group turned to see a man coming up behind the two, "I believe that you need to release her before she suffocates."
As the boys did just that most of the Cephiro group started to notice one- by-one who the tall man was and whispering was heard. "Isn't that?" "Shidou Satoru! Isn't he going to be judging some of the final rounds?" ".the head of the Shidou dojo. What's he doing here?" "I wonder if they are going to get into trouble for causing such a ruckus?" "Should someone tell him that they are related and weren't really hurting her?"
By this time Hikaru had regained her breath and bowed to the older man, "Hello Satoru-chan how are you? I thought that none of you would be here till tomorrow when the finals start."
At this a whole new round of whispers started up as to how the little redhead knew one of the most famous kendo instructors in Japan. In fact he was known all over the world because of his ability with a sword and was ranked internationally on the fight circuit.
At this her brother's spoke up, "We wanted to come and see how our cute little Hikaru-chan was doing so we came a day early." "It looks like it's a good thing that we did to if not who knows what this guy might have done to our innocent little Hikaru-chan." But a look from Satoru and both of them quieted again.
"I also heard that you had some troubles this morning when you went to sign- ins. I assume that all of that has been taken care of to everyone's satisfaction."
Hikaru just smiled up at the tall man before her and gave him a hug surprising the C.H. group. "Don't worry Satoru-chan. They were just making sure that I was comfortable with this level of competition." Lantis and Eagle looked at each other and thought about the earlier incident today at the sign-in table and both wondered if perhaps she wasn't in over her head if Satoru was worried about her. This made the next words quite shocking to them as well as most of the group.
"I heard that they gave you a bi for the first two qualifying rounds today in the weaponry competition."
"Hai. I told them it wasn't necessary but they just insisted, saying that they didn't want to insult me." She looked a little confused at the last statement. "I wonder why they thought that I would be insulted?"
"I also believe that it is for the best Hikaru-chan. Since you gained your international ranking last year you have been steadily improving and sometimes you forget your own strength. I would hate to see you hurt someone because they thought that you would be easy prey, and they ended up doing something foolish which could easily get them hurt with someone at your skill level."
"But onii-chan I have never hurt anyone before. Why do you think that it would happen now? I am always careful not to go so far as that." Since none of the Cephiro people had heard Hikaru's last name they were surprised to find out she was one of the Shidou's, who were known as one of the premiere martial artist family's in all of Japan.
"I know, but I'm afraid that a too inexperienced fighter may have too much of an adrenaline high and do something foolish."
Ferio suddenly jumped up and stated very loudly, "Wait does that mean that you are the Hikaru Shidou who gained an international female ranking while you were still in middle school!!! No way!"
Hikaru just blushed, "H_Hai although it really isn't that big a deal."
"Not a big deal! Are you nuts that's so cool I've never known anyone before who was on the international rankings list!"
Umi meanwhile was laughing at the expressions on most of the C.H. faces, "Hahaha. You think that's cool just wait until you have to face her in the arena! She's unstoppable! Plus she's going to bring home the all-around trophy for us! Oh just you wait, she's going to beat all your sorry buts until you cry in humiliation."
"Listen you blue haired harpy. Doesn't that mean that it's possible to be fighting up against you at some point? Then who will be crying in defeat?"
"Why don't you be quiet you little retard. Nothing bothers me as long as I know that we will be bringing home the trophy, and besides we're all used to getting our butts kicked by her everyday in practice."
Most of the group snickered as Ferio sat down mumbling about stupid loud- mouthed harpies. Satoru spoke up again, "Hikaru-chan I think that we will go so you can finish eating. We shall see each other later." At this her other two brothers ran over to give Hikaru good bye hugs and glared at Lantis until Satoru cleared his throat and they released her saying that they were off and wished her good luck.
"Good by onii-chan's I will see you later!" at this she sat down and looked up to find several incredulous faces staring at her.
There how was that sorry it took so long but I'm busy and since no one reviewed I didn't hurry too much. Next the actual fighting begins! And perhaps a little romance on the side!