Heh…I'm so glad people still read this.
To answer some questions: This action will pick up a little more probably in this chapter I think, umm…not really in terms of the stuff related to the Universe of the Four Gods, but more with the personal lives of the girls, if that makes any sense. Lily's parents are dead, it was her uncle that was talking to Jason in the last chapter, the whole goddess thing will end inside the book, they're all going to go back inside when ever I feel like putting them back there, and I really don't know what I'm gonna do with Yui...she isn't really important to the story. Oh yeah um…to the person who asked about Nakago (and anyone else wondering about him), he's probably gonna end up dead again. I really don't like him. On 2nd thought, saying I don't like him is being very polite about it. On a scale for 1-10, one being hate 10 being love, Nakago is like negative infinity. I can't stand him period. He's so evil and frankly, I personally find it impossible to make him a good person. A better author probably could, I've seen it done, but I can't. Sorry if I insulted anyone who likes Nakago and wanted to see a good outcome for him. That's really just my opinion of him and I hope no one holds it against the story. If you want to hold it against me, by all means do. If I insulted you, you have the right to hold it against me if you want. Send me all the e-mail you want if you are so inclined to.
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Kei woke up slowly. The first thing she noticed was that she wasn't in her own room. As she began to roll out of the bed, a strong arm pulled her back in.
"What the?" She franticly turned to face whoever held her.
It was Tasuki. "Where do ya think yer goin'?" He sleepily muttered and pulled on her again.
"Huh? What am I doing in here?" She rubbed her eyes a bit.
"Ya came in here in the middle of the night 'cause ya said Hotohori an' Taki were makin' too much noise next door, remember?"
"Oh yeah…" Kei recalled trying to sleep next door to Hotohori when he'd been getting busy with Taki. She blushed. "Now I remember…"
"What are ya blushin' for?"
She made a face. "Hearing your best friend get busy with a guy isn't the kinda thing you wanna hear in the middle of the night…I mean I'm glad they finally admitted their feelings for each other…but they didn't need to be so…uh…vocal about it…"
Tasuki laughed at her embarrassment about the subject. "Well, if they ever do it again, you can always come in here to sleep ya know."
"Thanks. I get the feeling I'll be spending a lot of nights in here…"
"Just outta curiosity, why didn't you go to Lily's room?"
"She was already in Chichiri's room. Same problem I guess." Kei pushed herself into a sitting position as Tasuki rolled out of bed and stretched.
"Gotcha." Tasuki never wore a shirt to bed unless it was really cold.
Kei watched him as he walked into the closet only wearing his boxers. 'Damn, he's hot!'
Tasuki came out of the closet with his clothes.
Kei got off the bed. "I'd better go change and start breakfast."
"Sure. Might wanna get a tray up here for Taki and Hotohori. I'd bet they'll be very late for breakfast…"
Kei gave him an "I'm gonna smack you if you say that again" look then rushed out of the room trying to stifle her giggles.
When Kei went downstairs to start breakfast, Lily was already downstairs. Kei pulled out the orange juice.
"How'd you sleep?"
"Once I left my room, fine, but before that, not at all. You?"
"Same. Who thought that Taki, who's never been with a guy until last night, could be so loud in bed? It'll be a miracle if she still has a voice after that."
Lily snickered when Taki came down rubbing her eyes. "Sleep much?"
"What? I slept fine. Why?" She filled up a cup of coffee.
"I'll bet…" Kei giggled while Taki looked at them both confused. "Boxers or briefs?"
"What are you talking about?" She was beginning to get the idea.
"Why, Hotohori of course. You act like we didn't hear you two last night." Lily snickered even more.
"Oh…" Taki blushed bright red. "That."
"Yeah that." Kei giggled as she sipped her juice. "Ta wanna keep it down next time? I couldn't sleep."
Taki was mortified. "Oh God…I'm really sorry… We didn't mean to…uh…you know…uh…keep you up…" She buried her face in her hands and peeked through her fingers.
Lily handed her the milk for her coffee. "It's not really that big a deal…I mean it's about time you stopped denying you love him. You dragged it out for so long."
"I know…I know…and God I'm sorry I did…" She looked out the window dreamily.
"Eww! Mental picture not wanted here! Please keep details to yourself!" Kei put her hands over her ears.
"Sorry." Taki smiled and stopped talking. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Lily's POV
We all had our fun teasing Hotohori and Taki about their first night together, but I think it really made the rest of us realize we really do love each other. I couldn't really talk to Chichiri the rest of the day, I felt like crying every time I saw him. I want to tell him I love him, but I'm really good at that whole love thing…at times I think I wasn't meant for it, then others, Chichiri just seems like that perfect person and everything will be just fine if I tell him I love him…
What a bunch of bull shit…
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Saturday came sooner than I would have liked…it's the day of another tournament for me. Normally I don't mind I look forward to fight days, but with the guys here, I'm a little uncomfortable. Taka's been making a big deal about it, saying he'll get his rematch and win. Fat chance. I really hope someone knocks him out before he gets to me.
This tournament works funny. The guys are separate from the girls. The only girl/guy fight is the final fight. It's more like a battle of the sexes, the strongest girl against the strongest guy. Like I said before, normally I like this kinda thing, but I just feel like this is the one I can't win…this is the one where I go down…I'm not ready to go down yet, nor do I want to…
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I felt like just my body was going through the day, my mind and heart were elsewhere. I didn't even feel like smacking Taka when he was going on about beating me.
"Daijobu, no da?"
Chichiri's voice broke derailed my weak train of thought. "What? Huh? I'm fine…really…" We were standing alone on one side of the gym while the others walked around.
I felt his hand on my shoulder. "If you aren't feeling well, maybe you should withdraw no da."
"Really, I'm fine Chichiri…I don't need to do that…"
"Lily…you know you can't hide from me no da…"
"Can't I at least try for a little while?" I looked up at him with pleading eyes. "I don't like it when people worry about me."
"Whether you like it or not, I do worry about you. I don't like it when you hide things from me no da."
I looked at the floor. "And it's really hard to hide from you, but it's the way I've always been. It's really hard to change though I'm trying."
"That's all I'm asking." His lips briefly brushed against mine.
I didn't have much to say. I just kinda made a small squeak and pressed myself into his arms. When he hugged me back I felt like melting.
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Jason's POV
I saw her hugging that guy. I wonder who he is. Alana…Lily is so close to him. She trusts him. I saw it when he took her by the hand, her left hand. She generally never lets anyone touch her gloved hand, but she lets him. What's different about him? But he's one of the people I saw appear with her in that video my camera accidentally caught… What has she been doing here? Practicing some Japanese form of black magick? (Note: No, I didn't spell it wrong. That's the correct spelling for like Wiccan type magic (which is technically white…but anyway…), which is what I'm talking about. Not the Vegas stuff…for anyone who didn't know.)
I also wonder about Nuriko, she was with them that day too. Who are they? But the problem is that I like her. I can't get involved with her. I won't be here for long. As soon as my business with Lily is finished here, I'm going home. If I got involved with her, I'd only hurt her and even though I don't know her very well, I care enough about her to try to make it as painless as possible. I'm such an ass, scum really. I'm not a good person. Any bad thing you can think of will probably describe me in one way or another…
"Jason…didn't take long to met again did it?" A voice snapped me out of my thoughts of self-hate. A very feminine voice…
"Nuriko?" I turned. It was her again. Damn…does she follow me or do I follow her?
She smiled at me. "I guess I do see more of you all the time…"
I wasn't sure what she meant at first. Then I looked down. I wasn't wearing my shirt. I chuckled a little. "So you're right…very interesting."
"Are you fighting today?"
"Yeah…I…uh…decided to do a little competing while I'm here."
"While you're here? You're on vacation?" She looked disappointed.
I scratched the back of my head. Vacation? Not really. "I guess you could say I'm on vacation…"
"Oh…Where are you from?"
"The U.S. California to be precise."
"How long will you be here?"
"Not sure really. No time limit actually…"
"I see…"
We were quiet for a time. She's so cute…Probably the only girl I'd ever say that about. But I can't think like that. I can't get involved with her and hurt her.
"You look like something's bothering you…care to share?"
"It's nothing…"
Her hand on my shoulder almost made me jump out of my skin. "Are you sure? I'm willing to listen."
I stared at her for a long time. She's a lot shorter than me. Before I really knew what I was doing, I had kissed her. As soon as I did, I felt her kiss back, which was the worst thing she could have done. She should have pulled away and smacked me. It would make things easier really.
My mind buzzed when I was kissing her. After about a minute, I pulled myself back to reality and pushed myself away from her. "Sorry…" Sorry? Was that I'll I could come up with? Yep. It was. And this was probably the stupidest thing I've ever done in my life. I tried to tell myself not to get involved, so what do I do? I kiss her and get involved, that's what I do. Jason…you're an unbelievable idiot.
"For what? It's not like I didn't like it." She looked at me with confused eyes.
I struggled to find my voice. "I shouldn't have done that." I stepped away from her.
"I don't think I understand…"
"Nuriko…I'm…I'm not a good person. To be frank, I'm probably the worst person you'll ever meet. I've hurt every woman I've ever had a relationship with and I can't do that to you." I tried not to look at her.
She looked even more confused and stepped towards me, making it so that there was almost no space between us again. "Why does it matter whether or not you hurt me? We really just met."
Why did it matter? Did I have to ask myself? I knew why. I like her a lot. "You…we…I know we just met, but I do like you I won't deny that, but already you mean too much to me. I don't want you to get involved with me and get hurt. You're the only woman I've ever met that I don't want to get hurt. Please, just go and forget about me." I backed up again and turned around. I couldn't even look at her.
I felt her hands on my shoulders. "Jason, don't you think if you feel this strongly about not hurting me, it might be different? Maybe this is the time it could actually work?"
I tried to push her away. "Nuriko, listen to me. There is no one out there for me. I care about a girl for a little while and then leave them broken and hurt. You're not like them. You're different. I said it before and I'll say it again, I don't want to hurt you." I began to walk away.
"Don't you think if you walk away now, it won't matter whether or not you want to hurt me, you'll have already done it?" She sounded so hurt.
I froze. She was right. If I left her like this, I'd hurt her before I ever got the chance not to. I turned. She looked at me with teary eyes. "Nuriko…"
"Jason…"
I took two long strides back to her and wrapped my arms around her. She stood on her toes to get closer to my face. I bent down a little and kissed her again. Her hands crawled across my bear chest. I think I died and went to Heaven. I don't deserve this.
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Narrator's POV
"Where's Nuriko?" Kei looked around the gym.
"I dunno. He…she walked off a while ago. Damn, its weird seeing Nuriko as a girl. Though it makes a little more sense." Tasuki was sitting in a chair next to her.
"Well she'll probably come back later. I'm not gonna worry. The fights are starting soon though.
After a few minutes, Nuriko came back looking a bit flushed. Taki questioned her, but Nuriko said she was just a little warm.
The fights started with all the girls. It was really no surprise that Lily quickly made her way through the ranks and won the women's division. Now she would fight whoever won in the men's division.
The men's fights weren't much different. Some won by actual skill, others through cheap tricks. Jason quickly became a crowd favorite by taking out most of his opponents in under 20 seconds. Which made it no real surprise that her made it to the finals of the men's division, semi-finals of the whole tournament.
Taka was Jason's final male opponent. The semi-finals of the tournament had come. The announcers' voices boomed over the loudspeaker.
"Well Hiro, here we are, the finals of the men's division. The winner of this match will go on to fight everyone's favorite fem fighter, Lily Kazama! Let's have a look at who her possible opponents are, shall we Hiro?"
"Alright, Sota. In the blue corner, we have Taka S. Age 21. He faced Lily once before and lost, so I think he's looking for a rematch. He's won a few major tournaments, but he's a newcomer to this fighting ring."
"And our other fighter?"
"In the red corner, we have Jason T. Age 25. An American guy who has won quite a few major tournaments. He knows a number of martial arts including traditional karate and Tae Kwon Do, which he has adapted to his own style. Definitely the crowd's pick for this fight. And I must say, my pick as well."
"Well we're really not supposed to pick who we favor, but I'm with you on that one, Hiro."
"Thanks Sota. Let's watch and see how the fight turns out."
"Alright then. LET THE FIGHT BEGIN!"
Jason and Taka began to approach each other.
Jason smirked. "So, you lost to Lily, huh?"
"She cheats."
"That's sad." Jason sidestepped his attacks. 'What a dumb ass. Saying Lily cheats. She couldn't cheat it she tried.' "Blaming your own failure on your opponent. You need to learn to lose gracefully." Jason swung his leg around and his foot connected with Taka's jaw. "And I'll be the teacher for that lesson."
Taka sneered and made another attempt to attack.
Lily watched the fight from the sidelines with great interest. This fight would determine her opponent after all. She held Jason's entry folder in her hand and casually flipped through it. "Name: Jason Talon…Age: 25…Nationality: American. Family: N/A." She stared up at him. "Jason…what are you doing here? What made you come out here? Are you looking for me?"
It was no surprise to Lily that Jason won. He'd never lost a fight in his life. She lost to him every time she faced him. A sinking feeling began to creep into her stomach. "I am gonna lose today. I had that feeling earlier today…now I know why. I can't beat Jason." She frowned and went into the locker room to get herself as ready as she could possibly be.
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Taki poked Kei. "Hey, was it just me or did that Jason guy look familiar?"
"Sorta, but the Jason we know didn't have a last name that started with T. Jason's last name was Reddinbaour. He was her cousin…through adoption yeah…but he had her last name."
"Well yeah, but he's 25 and he could change his name if he wanted to. He doesn't have to stay with any particular name if he doesn't want to."
"Well, I see your point there but why would Jason be here? I'm mean I didn't think anyone knew Lily was here. Unless he actually went through computer records and found her. He was good at that ya know."
"Well Lily's closer than we are and she's gonna fight him too. We can ask her after the match."
"Yeah I guess."
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Lily stood at her corner of the arena. Her mind was totally focused on the fight at hand.
Jason stood at his corner. His mind buzzed. He was about to make one of the biggest mistakes of his life. This definitely wasn't the best way to go about reacquainting himself with his cousin and friend.
Neither one of them really moved much when the fight began. The crowd quieted down as the two fighters slowly approached each other.
"What are you doing here?" Lily growled at him and took her stance.
"Nice to see you too, Lily." Jason rolled his eyes and took his stance.
The crowd began to cheer and yell as the fight all of a sudden truly began. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Cliffhanger? I know I'm evil. More reviews means more chapters. I hope you all like it. I really do try my best. I shall return with more in a couple of weeks or so. Later!
~*~Shadow Hawk~*~