Time to start the battle. ^_^

Alexia: Merry Christmas to you too! Btw, checked out the contest since you seemed so serious about killing me. I can see why you're excited about being the judge! (I've never been a judge for anything except when my friends fight and they tell me to decide who's right). Hope you have fun! And about me nominating myself? Nah. No way. That's like, morally wrong or something. I'm not that good yet.

Unchained: Addictive, eh? Ha ah!

Reika Zelon: No, you're not wrong. ^_^

Fer-chan: Omigod. Legolas?? NOOOOO! Home? NOOOOO! Babies? AAAAAAARGH!

Frozenfemale: Ha ha! *joins in with the staring*

Crazy4u: Whoops! Me didn't realise I'd made Fujima OOC (I guess I moulded him into what I'd have liked him to be! Heh heh!) But I'm glad you don't mind. But I can imagine him as a flirt in the anime (though not a very good one) There was this episode where some girls approached him and he gave this super sexy smile. Waaargh! And nah, I wasn't insulted. ^_^ happy belated birthday!

Tensaispira: Aaah… okay then. *takes out tensaispira's mother from the Rukawa fan list* Ha ha!

Fiery-ice: Merry X'mas to you too!

Silver Leviathan: Why not? I think Fujima'd make a nice enough flirt (not as good as Sendoh would've been, though)

Tiran: You're probably right! *tries to distinguish between Fujima and Sendoh* Oh boy. Darling, if I make Fujima fall of a cliff, there won't be anymore Fujima fics for me to write!

SLL: You're continuing your fic? HOORAY! *throws painfully-prepared confetti*

Jo-sen7: Why shouldn't I make all the SD characters attractive? ^_^

Aeris: Thank you! Am continuing!

Patty g: We'll see! Rui's a bit stubborn, as you've probably noticed!

Joy: Chapters incoming! Thanks for reading, joy-san!

            "They're coming," Kiyota reported cautiously as he slowly crept back on all four, taking his scouting job rather seriously. His eyebrows furrowed in concentration, he looked at Rui. "Their faces are painted blue."

            Rui only scoffed. "Show-offs."

            "Hey, Rui."

            "Yes?"

            "Let's paint our faces green."

            Rui stared, saved from commenting when Sakuragi's head popped out from the bush he'd made himself comfortable in. "Green? Stupid monkey, you're out of your mind. It should be RED!"

            "Hush!" another Ranger said nervously. "Guys, be quiet!"

            "Red?? YOU'RE out of your mind and body. At least with green, we can hide between trees and not be noticed!!"

            "Stop it! They'll hear us!!"

            "Hide between trees? Hey, monkey, you can CLIMB up the tree, so what's the fuss??"

            "Sakuragi!! Shut up!"

            "Red's just great – for you, you red baboon! Then you'll be an obvious target with your red head and red face! And then, you'll be the first to be kicked out of the war! And then we'll all be relieved – oof!" Kiyota lay with his head firmly pressed to the ground.

            Rui held him there, her teeth gritted. "And if you keep on screaming like that, I'll get rid of you myself."

            Sakuragi was delighted with the view. "Aha! Ahahahahaha!" And then he too, faced the same fate. "Umph!"

            With the two of them kissing the ground, Rui carefully made her way to the back. "They're almost here," she informed Fujima, who was sprawled almost comfortably, peacefully staring up at the sky. "They're probably about ten metres away."

            "Hmm."

            She looked quietly at him. "Captain."

            "Hmm?"

            "Let's paint our faces black."

            That jolted him out of his relaxation. "What??"

            Rui sighed and shook her head. "No, nothing." She sat up and scanned the area. "Just a passing thought."

            He looked enormously relieved. Pulling himself up from his semi-nap, he stretched a bit and smiled at the Rangers who watched him curiously. They blushed and quickly pretended to be engaged in their duties.

            Rui was absently fooling around with her shoelaces, a purely nervous reaction to the situation. "I don't like this," she muttered. "I really don't like this."

            "What?"

            "We're doing nothing at all," she burst out, though careful to keep her voice down. The look on her face was frustrated. "They're out there, about to attack us and we're…" she trailed away helplessly. "I mean, look at you! You're all but daydreaming!"

            He yawned. "I don't daydream, actually."

            "I don't like this," she repeated again. "I don't like this at all."

            He only smiled and gave a dismissive wave at that. Flicking his fingers, he sent signals over to the frontline of Rangers, and with a curt nod, they prepared for counter attack.

            Rui watched in envy. "Why didn't you put me in the front line?" she demanded. "Why do I have to be here at the back? How come I have to stay with you?"

            Fujima tried to hold back to the sigh – unsuccessfully. "Don't argue with me, Rui," he murmured pointedly. "Just this once." He ignored her snort of dissatisfaction. "Remember what I said. Don't ever –"

            "Go out of the base," she finished dully. "I know. I know. All I have to do is sit here like a witless block of wood while they infiltrate our camp. Maybe even smile at them and serve them tea. You know, ask them to sleepover and things like that."

            He laughed, which irked her all the more.

            Then there was a mild shout and all attention focused over to the line of trees surrounding their defence base. The enemy were starting to crop up, popping their blue faces out every now and then before quickly ducking back again. They seemed rather surprised at the absence of attack.

            "Weapons identified," Kiyota reported again, sounding dangerously military. "Small, hand-made catapults and stones. Also thick, sturdy sticks designed to whack your brains out of your head."

            "If you have one," Sakuragi whispered.

            "YOU –"

            "Shh!" Rui subdued the explosive duo and prodded Fujima at the elbow. "Well??"

            He glanced at her. "You're a ball of nerves." He commented. "Relax."

            Relax?? RELAX??? They were about to be crushed by blue-faced monsters and idiots with sticks designed to whack their brains out of their heads!! How exactly do you relax??

            Stones started to fly as the enemy began the war, obviously impatient by now. Most bounced off the thick stack of earth Rui and the others had painfully built, but some managed to sneak past and hit the Rangers.

            "Waaargh!" Sakuragi yelled out loud when a stone the size of a tennis ball landed squarely on his head. "WHO DID THAT?? YOU ANNOYING BLUE PEOPLE!! I'LL GRAB YOUR HAND AND TWIST YOUR ARM AND –"

            "Calm down, Sakuragi," Fujima told him from above. "You can –"

            Sakuragi was furiously hurtling his eggs.

            Fujima sighed. "- counter attack now," he finished anyway.

            At the order, the Rangers were quick with their hands. Rotten eggs and small, prickly dried fruits joined the other objects flying in the air, though heading in the opposite direction. The well-aimed ones hit the 'blue people' with a sickening, squashy sound.

            The reactions were as expected. Loud shrieks ("Eww! Gross!") rang out, obviously from the girl Rangers, whereas the boys were slightly more colourful in their expression of outrage ("What f**king shit is this??!"). More and more stones flew.

            "Don't attack too hard!" Fujima yelled out. "Just mildly. Just enough to hold them back." He looked at Sakuragi. "Our aim is not to hurt them."

            Sakuragi's eyes were flashing. "Says who?" He raised one egg. "Take this, you – aaaargh!" Another stone bounced off his face.

            Kiyota cackled. "Idiot!"

            Rui winced as one stone grazed her shoulder. Other co-Rangers were getting hit one by one, and somehow, their number seemed to lessen. No wonder. Quite a lot were lying down on the ground nursing bumps on their heads. "Captain," she said urgently.

            "No, Rui."

            She swore. "Easy for you to say. You're all cosy and nice over there."

            Twelve stones had smacked him all over the body, unless he counted wrongly (which he rarely did), but he decided Rui wouldn't believe him even if he told her. So he simply ignored her, carefully shielding his precious eggs from the offending stones.

            Rui gritted her teeth and all but bit her tongue in two.

            Then Minami was hit over the back of her head when she did the mistake of turning around for more weaponry. One shrill cry and she was down on the ground clutching at her hair. The offender was none other than the detestable enemy captain, Takeshi.

            Rui leaped up before the command even reached her brain. "You!" she boomed angrily at the grinning leader. "How dare you –" she didn't even bother to finish and sprinted away, even as Fujima scrambled to grab her – and missed.

            Sakuragi was right behind her. "Let me come too!" he said in a more demanding tone instead of pleading. "NOBODY sticks a stone on a genius' face and gets away with it healthy!"

            Kiyota leaped up too. "I'm not going to let you be the hero!"

            "Stay back, monkey! You can't –"

            "Speak for yourself, idiot!"

            "I haven't even finished –"

            All three were out of the defence base in seconds, with Rui sprinting for the lone captain of the opposite team of Rangers, muttering curses. The grin on his face should've warned her somehow, but blinded by fury, she hurried on. Only when five blue people dropped from the sky (the trees actually) and surrounded her did she stop and blink. "Not again –"

            Another blink of the eye and she was firmly held down and dragged behind the trees by two, while the other three busily tied her up. Rui yelled out for Sakuragi and Kiyota, but the two had disappeared – most probably off fighting with each other.

            "Let go!" Rui screeched at her captors. "This is SO unprofessional! You –" she paused with a hiss.

Takeshi was smiling down at her. "Hello, Rui Kiraki."

 "Takeshi, you no good son of a pig!! This is trickery! This is – "

            "Strategy," he finished for her. "And a very good one too."

            She glared at him.

            He grinned again, almost like Fujima, only more sickening. "Nice to uh, capture you again, Captain." He shook his head sympathetically. "You never change."

            "You useless son of a pig!" Rui burst out. "This is so cheap! SO TYPICAL! Kidnapping me? What sort of a plan is that??" She fidgeted furiously with the ropes around her. "And I'm not the Cap – mmmpgh!"

            He was securely stuffing her mouth with cloth. "I've always liked you when you're quiet," he said sombrely. "Only when you're quiet."

            "Mumpghgrr! Grumphummgh!"

            "Aah, don't worry. I saved all my homework and term projects just for you."

            "Mmmmghunn!! Nughherrr!"

            "My room? My room's messy enough too."

            One Ranger came jogging to the small space of clearing. "Takeshi!" he said brightly. "You were right! Capturing their captain would cause their confidence to plummet down! They're already looking stupidly hopeless. Their attacks are slowing down too!"

            "As planned." Takeshi shrugged, though he was obviously pleased. "Go back and tell them to march forward for up close encounter." He signalled the other five. "The rest of you follow me back to camp so we can deal with this girl here."

            "Grumph! Mmpherrghmum!"

            "We'll wait for the rest of her team to come surrender one by one."

He he he. Stupid Rui. Anyway, another survey: Should Fujima's team win or not? Tell me, all right? Decision decided by number of votes. ^_^