Everyone's at school. No one reviews. What happened to the excitement of FF? Now school's startin…Everything's barren and wasted. *sob* WHY DOESN'T ANYONE EVER REVIEWS MY STORIES?!? Why?!? IT NOT FAIR!!!!! *sniff* Okay, I'll stop now. Oh yea, I'm gonna do less narrating and do mostly POV's. On with the story.

Chapter 9

Kiruchi stood in the middle of a large flower field. "Where am I?" She looked in front of her. A tall man and his wife were standing there smiling at her. Although she didn't want to, her body started walking towards them. "Home is a place you always love."

The man smiled at her and faded away. She turned towards the woman. "You are still the beautiful girl I know. The beautiful tigress with the heart of a dragon." With a smile, the woman faded away as well.

She stood there. "What are they talking about? A heart of a dragon?"

Kiruchi woke up rubbing her eyes. The sun was just starting to rise as she rubbed her eyes. "Home is a place you always love…I have no clue what they're talking about." She kept mumbling complaints as she dragged her feet to the rest room. The sounds of some chirping birds weren't waking Narumi since she was still sleeping soundly.

Kiruchi's POV

Another day, another tournament. When is something interesting gonna happen? It's always same old, same old. She grabbed the cloth hanging on the edge of the bucket and wiped her face. Walking to her bag, she noticed something sticking out under the door. Eh? What's this? She picked up the note. It was a plain piece of paper with a border of small lilies.

Kiruchi-

Same cliff

Hour of the dragon (6:00 am)

Feel like talking

Come alone

She smiled to herself. Ryokushi was falling for her. She laughed a bit and pulled out a thin, red ribbon from her pocket. The ends were limp from all the years she had used it. It feels just like yesterday I came to Tokyo and lived with Shikono and Yukino. But something doesn't feel right. They call me their daughter, but I don't really feel like their daughter…I have these strange…powers. All the other masters of swordsmanship keep examining me. I feel different.

Kiruchi was planning to argue with herself longer, but the sound of crashing waves caused her to lift her head up. While tying her hair up, she walked over to the door and slid it open. There was a narrow hallway there, but right on the side was the most magnificent view of the ocean she had ever seen. A few cherry trees were planted with some pines and firs. The trees were just creeping up towards the balcony. A large gust of wind blew her hair to the side along with some leaves. The leaves twirled in a small circle and when she looked up she saw the man from her dreams standing there.

End of Kiruchi's POV

Kiruchi rubbed her eyes, but the image wasn't there. Instead a small pile of cherry blossoms were replacing it. She shook her head. "I gotta stop eating bread before night." She turned back towards the ocean, but someone was already leaning on the rail. It was Yahiko.

Yahiko's POV

I didn't notice Kiruchi there until she kicked me. "What the hell was that for?!?" She stuck her nose in the air. "'Cuz I felt like it."

"Yea right." I turned back towards the view. She followed.

"Are you nervous about today?" She spoke a bit softer, but her voice was still firm.

I shrugged. "Not really." .// Hahaha…OF COURSE I'M NERVOUS!\\.

She turned back towards the lake. "Same here. I hope I made it into at least the top 5. Shikono said that he would buy me a tori if I did." I cocked my head at her.

"Why a tori and not a dog?" I had always thought that toris' were strange. They can sing beautifully, but they are very annoying.

"Not just a tori. I want a mixed tori." Now she was getting even stranger.

"A mixed tori?" She probably was still asleep or something.

"Yea, a tori with a lot of different colors and songs." I nodded my head. She was finally making sense.

"Oh, I thought you meant a mixed tori like with a lot of mixed breed. Then it would probably look all mutated and ugly like you." I froze. I knew I shouldn't have said that, but my big mouth was just too much. I was about to take it back, but I felt a hard hit on my jaw and I fell.

"You big asshole! You're the one who's mutated and ugly!" I rubbed my face. A small bruise was beginning to form.

"I'm sorry! I take it back." With this, she kicked me and walked back into her room. I sighed. "Girls, I'm never going to understand them…"

(Back to Kiruchi's POV)

Damn Yahiko. What he said was stupid and wrong. He's the mutated and ugly one. I sighed. "Oh well…" He's still my friend I know for sure. We've gone through a lot together. We helped each other to get here. It seems just like yesterday when we were training by the stream. A few flashbacks went into my mind.

"C'mon! Just a little higher." A 10-year-old girl was trying to climb on to a thick branch. She slipped on a leaf and caught another branch. Kiruchi had turned to her shoulder, seeing that it had started to bleed. Yahiko jumped down to her branch. "That's gotta hurt…"

He tore of a strip of cloth from his kimono and tied it around her shoulder. "Does that feel better?" Kiruchi was speechless and was blushing a light red.

"Y-Yea…" A voice was heard from the distance.

"Yahiko! Kiruchi! It's time for dinner!" Kaoru was standing outside the house and waved her arms at them. Both of them jumped down the branch and into a pile of dried leaves. Red, yellow, and orange colors were surrounding the two kids as they laughed together and smiled.

Kiruchi had turned to Yahiko. "Yahiko?"

He turned around. "Yea?"

She blushed redder into a deep scarlet. "Let's promise to be friends forever no matter what." A shaking hand stuck out.

"Sure. Why not?" He placed his hand on top of hers and started running towards the house. "LAST ONE THERE HASTA WIPE THE FLOORS!"

Kiruchi chased after him thinking, maybe he isn't such a bad friend after all.

I started drifting off to sleep when my nose caught a sweet scent. Sea lavender? That scent is hard to find in Japan. My eyes opened up and looked at the sun that was shining just hovering above Tokyo Bay. Oh crap! I forgot that I have to meet Ryokushi this morning!

Ryokushi's POV

I was throwing rocks on to the beach below the cliff when it finally hit me. Did Kiruchi even receive my note? I told Narumi the night before to place it on the table…Or was Kiruchi disgusted that I asked her to come meet me here? I'm such a dumbass…The only reason why I want to talk to her is well, I enjoy her being in my presence.

I picked up another rock from the trunk of the tree. Ryokushi, you really are a big, stupid los- Something caught my eye. The rock that I was holding made me somehow loose all my negative thoughts. I turned the rock over and something made me gasp.

Engraved in this black rock I had found, it finally hit me. On the rock, was LOVE. I wanted to throw this rock far into the ocean, but I couldn't. Instead I slipped it into my pocket and turned around. Sure enough, Kiruchi was standing right there…

Narration

The waves crashed against the cliffs as Ryokushi put his hands into his pockets. "Hey Kiruchi."

"Hey. What did you want to talk to me about?" He blushed, leaving a soft pink shade in his skin.

"Well, I was just wondering about…erm, well, the truth is…" She was growing impatient.

"Well, what?!?" She stepped forward as he stepped back.

"Well, howexactlydidyoumeetYahikoandSoujiro?" He took a long breath of the salty smell. She stared at him as if he were an old mutated monster. (Heh, I dunno how that came out…)

"Eh?( My line.)" He fell over. "Tell. Me. What. Do. You. Mean?!?" Kiruchi kicked him as he kept laughing.

"Okay, okay." Ryokuni stood to his feet. "How exactly did you meet Yahiko and Soujiro?" Kiruchi was speechless.

"Um…Well, Shikono and Yukino introduced them to me. Them, Misao, and Narumi were my first and best friends. We always stuck together." He opened his mouth to say something, but something made him stop. She continued on. "Misao is a bit isolated from us now, but she's back with some one else. They met together by love and now we have a total of 6 people in our little gang. Why do ask?"

Ryokushi's POV

Love. That's what separates us, yet connecting us. I still can't form the words in my mouth, but I can in my mind. I love you. Now, I do know why I do. Your courage throughout the tournament, your caring for others, and so much more. If only Yahiko and especially Soujiro weren't always there by you, I would've spent more time with you…

"I-I was just wondering that's a-all." A bell rang numerous times as Shikono ran down the halls yelling.

"Breakfast time! Everybody up!" Kiruchi had turned to leave already.

"Wait." I don't know why, but something came over me as I grabbed her wrist.

She turned around. "What do you want?" I gulped down a large amount of courage as I saw a fire of annoyance and rejection in her eyes.

"T-The truth is, I-I love you." I leaned over and tried to kiss her, but she had turned around already. The only thing my lips felt was the shoulder of the one I loved.

Kiruchi turned around again. "That's really sweet of you to say that, but…I don't love you back. Sorry." She had said all of this rather fast and flat. There and then was when I realized how much love could really hurt a person. I dropped down to my knees and clenched my hands into fists. Kiruchi, I will NOT let you get away with this. For you'll see how much those words hurt. "I'LL GET MY REVENGE!!!"

I laughed and thought up a few evil schemes already. I joined Koburo at the hallway and caught a glimpse of my reflection in the mirror. My mask has now been removed. Instead of being the oh so cute and sweet Ryokuni, I have become full of anger and hatred. Blood boiled in my veins like hot soup over an open stove. My fingers felt strong and powerful unlike the puffy and soft ones I had before. She will definitely pay…

Narration

Unnoticed, some one was watching all of this the whole time. "Ryokushi's turned into a dork, Kiruchi's the same, and Yahiko's gone abusive…What an intresting competition this is going to be…" Soujiro laughed and walked down the hallway with a cheerful smile on his face. Something tells me that the competition will be very fierce this year.

To be continued…

Okay, so I did rush a bit…And it was messed up. Is it me or is Ryokushi beginning to sound a bit like…Enishi? I'm turning weird. And yes, I also do know that it's taking forever to finish the tournament. I'm busy too you know. Yea, I'm tired today. REVIEW PLEASE THEN!!! Then I'll be back to normal.

PS Muhahahaha!!! Samurai X rules!!! I now have Samurai X: Trust & Betrayal and Samurai X: Reflection!!! SWEET! Ok, calm down. I've turned into one of those happiness dorks…Scary. O.O