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Tensaispira: Updated! Have fun reading!
Jo-sen7: I'd like to write a Sakuragi fic, but Sakuragi fics are supposed to be funny and I'm sure you would've noticed that a) I am not a funny person, b) I cannot write humour very well. But I suppose if an idea struck me, I'd do it, regardless of how horrible the outcome is. We'll just see, all right? : ) (Who's Eiji?)
Alexia: Sakura Wars is awesome. Not much romance, but great in the other aspects. Watch it if you have the time. : ) Why don't you recommend the Syive and Nelly fic to me? What's the title? I'd like to read it! I can't find
much Fujima fics.
: Tell me your nickname next time, okay? : ) I think I know you, but maybe you're new. ??? Just get a pen and paper or boot up the computer – I'm sure something will come to make you start writing or typing! Trust me! That's how I always do it! Ha ha!
Reika Zelon: Am writing more! Thanks for the support!
Fer-chan: Can YOU cook?? *grins* I've never heard of Rurouni Kenshin – I bet that's an anime. What's it about?
Patty g: I'm sorry I made you all confused. The story's basically about them going on a Ranger camp (do you have Rangers Society or any jungle-trekking club in school? It's something like that). Rui was the captain, until Fujima-kun came along and changed that. So now they're going on with the activities. Does that in any way clear up the confusions? I'm sorry if it doesn't.
Tiran: Why don't you like Fujima??? Why not???
Shirodachi: I hope you'll keep on 'wuv'-ing this fic. : )
Fiery ice: You and I are of one mind, fiery-chan! I've always wished Ohgami and Maria would GET IT ON too! I think they'd make an interesting couple – one being so sheepish and one so serious. Too bad it never happened, eh?
Lazuli: Looks can kill… so true. Am continuing, by the way! Thanks, Lazuli!
SLL: I'll think up a Kiyota story for you someday, okay? But it won't be yaoi – gomen, I don't write yaoi. It won't turn out good even if I did!
Kka: How long is the camp? To be honest, I have no idea. As long as it needs to be, I suppose. And no, of course Maria's not like that. Relax. Rui wasn't supposed to be like Maria. : ) She's just supposed to be … well, Rui. Have fun reading!
"I'm so sorry, Rui," Minami said earnestly soon after the news was announced and Fujima had been crowned new Ranger captain. "It's so awful. Are you okay?"
Rui smiled, though the ends of her lips twitched to go downwards. "Of course!" she said a little too gaily. "I've been waiting for this anyway. Being captain gets a little tedious after a while, you know. I'm glad the burden's off my shoulders."
Minami looked as if she didn't believe her, but decided not to comment about it.
"Looking at it on the bright side," Rui continued. "I get to spend more time with you, don't you think? And I won't have to wake up before dawn every day. Plus, I don't have to worry about people missing or being eaten by tigers."
Minami smiled. "You don't," she agreed, "but you will all the same."
Rui's face grew sombre at the truth of the statement. "Yeah, well, maybe, but at least I won't be held responsible." She jerked her jaw at Fujima, who was surrounded by the other Rangers wanting to get to know him. "He will. I'll just stand by and eat an apple or something."
Not at all awkward about his newly appointed position, Fujima briskly instructed them and by afternoon, they were packed and ready to head for the next stop. Rui had to admit that even with her two years of experience, she couldn't have achieved that in such a short time.
"Rui."
She turned. "Captain." That word twisted her tongue. Rui realised she was so used to being called 'captain' that using it on someone else seemed a bit out of ordinary. She was glumly reminded of her demotion.
Fujima's face was serious and determined, but there was a slight hint of sheepishness on it too. "I'm not very good with maps," he admitted a little shamefully. "Do you mind walking beside me to make sure I don't lead you into forbidden territory or some other world?"
"Captain's orders," she shrugged. "It doesn't matter if I mind or not."
He looked at her for a moment. "Leadership is a two-way thing. It's important that both sides are satisfied with the situation. It's necessary to avoid complications later on."
Blankly, she looked back at him. "Whatever you say, Captain."
He frowned a bit at that, but then somebody called for him and he quickly went away to answer it. Minami crept up to Rui. "Serious, isn't he?"
Rui shrugged. "Yeah, seriously weird."
"That's not what I meant."
Rui shrugged. "That's how I interpreted it."
"Captain," Rui said patiently. "You're holding the map upside down."
Fujima blinked. "Oh." He corrected the map, and then frowned. "I hate maps. How do you know which is south and north??"
"Oi!" came Sakuragi's voice, clearly heard in between the thick trees. "Why are we stopping again? SUBSTITUTE-BOY! Did you get us lost again??"
Kiyota's chortle echoed that. "Come, let Kiyota Nobunaga lead all of us here to safety. Excuse me! Make way! Make way! I'll take over, Fujima." He struggled to get to the front of the line.
Fujima rolled his eyes, looking absurdly cute even with such a distorted expression. "Stay where you are, Kiyota," he said firmly. "One wrong move and you'll be toppling down the ravine. It goes a hundred metres down, if I'm not wrong."
"Well, why didn't you say so?" came Sakuragi's happy reply. "There's no need for a wrong move, Kiyota. I'll gladly give you a helpful push."
Kiyota quickly moved back to his previous position. "No thanks."
Rui smiled. "It's only four feet deep." She corrected in an amused whisper as they moved again, this time in the right direction.
"They don't have to know that, do they?" Fujima looked over his shoulder and backpack at her and gave her a quick grin, one designed to numb a girl's brain for a few seconds. Rui almost lost her footing, but quickly balanced herself. She decided that if he used that smile often enough, she'd be the one toppling down the ravine before anybody else.
They reached the next clearing soon after the sun disappeared. In about fifteen minutes, the camp was half-completed and a fire was roaring comfortably in the middle of the arranged tents. This time, some other Ranger volunteered to cook and the meal was pleasant, made so much more delicious by their hungry stomachs.
Rui finished her third plate without the least bit of embarrassment and then crawled her way around the scattered Rangers to the captain, whose head was bent over the impossible map with a torch in his hand.
"You called for me?" she asked quietly, coming to a stop and spreading her legs on the ground in a comfortable position.
He looked up briefly and gave that killer smile again. "Yes. Have you eaten?"
"Umm," Rui murmured appreciatively, rubbing her stomach in satisfaction. "Three rounds of stew. What about you?"
"I'm not hungry."
She shrugged. "Your loss."
"I'm sure I'll survive it," he muttered good-humouredly. Then, he shone the torch on the map. "We need to plan a trail to cut across this forest to the next clearing. I haven't the faintest idea how." He jabbed at the map as if it was all its fault.
Rui looked at the map with slightly narrowed eyes. She then trailed her finger on the map, drawing an imaginary line across the paper. "The first few miles wouldn't be so hard, but once we get here," she pointed at one spot, "it's going to take ropes and a bit of hauling to get us over."
"I see." He tapped his fingers subconsciously. "What about a back-up route?"
Rui blinked. "Back-up route?"
"Plan B," he explained, a bit startled. "You know, in case things go wrong. An injured member can hardly climb or be thrown about. Worse still if landslides occur, or if it rains and it gets slippery."
"Oh." She had never even thought about that. Things have always gone as planned under her command. "Well, in that case… we go here." She drew another imaginary line. "But it's not advisable, though. Last time we went there, there were bear tracks all over."
"We'll only use it when there are no other choices," he assured her.
"Of course, captain."
He looked as if he wanted to say something to her, but then he stopped and looked at the map again. Then, following an impulse, he circled one huge spot and then suddenly started to draw lines all over the place. When he finished, he had trekked a way throughout the entire forest.
Rui stared. "Don't have the faintest idea how to do it, huh?"
He smiled. "Just got the hang of it. I had an excellent teacher."
But I did nothing more than point my finger and moved it. Rui looked away, purposefully avoiding that dangerous smile which he flashed almost every half a minute. "It'll be approximately three days before we reach the battle place."
He nodded. "Are you ready?"
Rui shrugged. "I'm more worried about the enemy. I'm afraid they'll get there earlier than us and be more prepared. Last year, they caught us by surprise when they flung down from the trees. I was knocked unconscious for three days with a broken arm."
"Oh?"
"My attacker was a hundred-fifty-pound girl. She landed right on top of me."
"Ah. You lost then?"
Rui wrinkled her nose in distaste. "Horribly. I had to clean their leader's shoes for three days and date him for a month."
Fujima grinned. "That's not so bad."
"I was the one who had to pay. He ate a lot." She sniffed. "My hard-earned money flew out the window just like that."
He pondered on the idea for a while. "Did you make any more promises this year?"
"It's called a bet, Captain. I wasn't planning to, but the captain of the other group – the very same guy – did a bit of insulting and provoked me. I agreed to do his homework and clean his room for a week. Apparently, he likes seeing me slave all over him."
"We better not lose then."
She nodded. "We better not." She gave him a peculiar look then.
He laughed. "Don't worry. I'll lead us to victory."
"I certainly hope so."
He narrowed his eyes. "You don't trust me, do you?"
"Not really," she confessed. "Some of the things you do are different from the way I would've done it. And you do have weird ideas and notions. Not to say you're a terrible leader, but I'd be lying if I said I'm confident about winning this war."
"Do you want to bet with me about that?"
The look on her face was pained. Two bets at the same time! She'd be crazy if she accepted. But refusing the challenge seemed cowardly somehow. "I don't think it's a good idea. We are supposed to cooperate, after all, and not plot against each other." She paused. "But why not? All right. Let's bet. If I win, you have the honour of wearing my bikini top and skirt and parading around the town in them."
He paled a bit at that. "Okay."
"What do you want if you win?"
He smiled mysteriously. "We'll discuss that after I win."
"If you win." She reminded him.
"There's no 'if' to it, Rui."
Rui snorted. "Whatever you say, Captain."