BISHLOV: This took me two weeks and a half to write and it still didn't turn out the way I wanted. Sorry in advance. But still it's longer than the previous chapters. That's a bit of a consolation, ne? Oh, and OOC warning is up (*snort* like it hasn't been up since chapter one). Responses to reviews are in my email.
This chapter is dedicated to the many cups of coffee that I drank for the past month. ENJOY!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own FoR or any of its characters. This plot is a product of my imagination. Any similarities to other fan fictions are unintentional.
BABY YOU'RE MINE
By bishounen lovah
Chapter 9
Over a week had passed and Kaoru was still floating in cloud nine. He and Ganko were officially dubbed as the couple. Boys and girls alike envied them and didn't stop bugging the two until the third day of the charade. They couldn't believe it. They wouldn't believe it. Nothing could convince them. Not the handholding. Not the mushy looks he'd been giving Ganko. Not their super glued closeness.
He knew that only one thing could convince their seething fans. So when he picked her up after the last class Friday afternoon, he did that 'thing' despite the life threatening risks.
He kissed Ganko on the lips in front of her classmates (and others).
It was just a light brush of lips. No pressure but equally breathless. Ganko's face turned red. The audience's faces turned white. All of them were suddenly immobile. He had to drag her through the crowd at first because she was too shocked. But by the time they were outside the building, he knew that she was furious.
And that was why such an act was life threatening. Not because there could be an angry mob but because there would be an angry Ganko. When they got home to her apartment, she gave him a whopper of a punch. One that he wouldn't forget anytime soon, not unless that bump on his head went down. Fortunately for him it wasn't that visible because of his spiky hair.
Ever since then he did not dare kiss her in public. There was no need to anyway for the entire student body was convinced that their so-called relationship was real. Heck! Even Kaoru himself was convinced that it was real. It was only during the night that he falls down from cloud nine and it was always a hard fall.
Though this game may not be pretend to him, it may just be one to her.
He wanted to believe that the past week had been real. And most of the time he did believe it. Who could blame him? Ganko was such a good actress. She acted so sweet to him when there was a crowd and sometimes even when they were alone. Not that he was complaining or anything. Though he couldn't help but wonder if this was as real to her as it was for him.
Nah! It couldn't be...could it?
He sneaked a look at the reclined form beside him. It was midnight and they spent most of the evening training with an occasional pause to rest and get some homework done. Right now they were sprawled on the warehouse's roof, gazing at the stars.
She looked so peaceful. Her cute face showed a variety of emotions even though he knew that she was trying not to show them. She had always been an open book to him. Unfortunately there were pages that he couldn't read.
Like chapter 8, pages 120 to 141—What Ganko's ideas of a perfect guy for her are.
Or chapter 11, pages 193 to 215—Ganko's love life. Had she ever been in love?
And of course there was chapter 17, pages 293 to 307—What Ganko's opinions of Kaoru are...brother, friend or boyfriend?
Oh why couldn't he just put himself out of his own misery and fess up already? He kept on telling himself that her life was complicated enough as it was. She didn't need the additional bother of making a real relationship work out. That is, if she responds positively to his confession of undying love.
But that was the real problem, wasn't it? Whether or not she would return his love? He was scared of rejection. He could take it if any other girl would reject him (not that there were any sane girls out there who would do so). But Ganko was not just 'any other girl'. She was his first and most definitely only love. No matter how mushy it sounded, it was the truth. Looking at her now, he could feel his heart pound against his chest at her sheer innocent beauty then slowly calmed down in his contentment to stay like this all night. He watched her facial expression turn from a small secretive smile to a pouty frown.
"What's bothering you, Ganko?" I'll fix it for you, I promise.
"Hm?" She briefly glanced his way once then went back to gazing at the dark sky.
"You're too quiet."
"And that's unusual?"
"Heck, yeah! You've become as noisy as Fuuko ever since Hong Kong."
At the sad look on her face, Kaoru mentally cursed himself. It was a silent agreement between them that the topic was off limits. He didn't want to explain his actions (or lack thereof) while she didn't care about his explanations (or it seemed like she didn't). But that was then. He didn't want to see that sad look on her face. He'd rather she be angry with him than see her sad.
"Ano...about that...I didn't write because..."
"It doesn't matter anymore," Ganko interrupted before he could go on.
"Of course it does matter," he almost yelled. "It would have mattered even if I didn't have a reason. It was a rotten thing to do. And I do have a reason."
There was silence for a couple of minutes as Kaoru waited for her response. Would she give him a chance or was she too angry to give him one? He could take the anger any time but not the indifference.
"Alright, tell me your lame excuse," came her edgy response.
Not so indifferent after all. He almost grinned in relief but of course didn't. He knew she found his grins annoying. He stared back at the stars, telling himself that it was because he was getting a crick on his neck and not because he was too much of a coward to see her reaction.
"You were getting too dependent on us and it was wrong, you know. Having a madougu is like being cursed. Danger would always come to us and I won't always be there to protect you. I figured that you could use your free time and irritation towards me to train harder and you did." He risked looking at her and saw her grimacing.
"I was right. That's such a lame excuse. It's stupid of you to think that I would train any less harder if you would send even the briefest call or note." She raised herself on an elbow and threw an accusing glare at him. "So tell me, if you thought that I'm such a burden then why are you even here? You could be at home in bed or maybe out on a date with one of your ditzy fans. If you thought that my being dependent is such a bad thing then why do you follow me night and day?"
How could he answer that without admitting his feelings? Should he? Maybe he should but he chose not to. Initial reason still standing: he chose not to complicate her life any further by giving her a love she probably wouldn't even return. When he didn't answer back, he saw for a brief moment a hurt look but then was instantly replaced by a glare.
He sighed in frustration and then got up to follow her inside. She could really move fast when angry. Two minutes later he was still chasing after her. "I never said you were a burden, Ganko! I just said you were too dependent."
"Well, who asked you to be my protector anyways? I certainly didn't," she turned around to give a heated yell. "And maybe I was dependent but I'm not anymore! I can take care of myself so you could go to Papua New Guinea for all I care!"
"Ganko...baby..."
"DON'T YOU CALL ME THAT!!!" It made her remember that he was only doing this because Fuuko and Tokiya ordered him to. That endearment which he so frequently used in school was as hollow as his desire to be with her. He was just forced to.
"I told you we should have just waited outside."
Kaoru and Ganko turned to look at the source of the slightly loud whisper. Standing at the middle of the ground floor were Tokiya, Fuuko and Kondo. It was Fuuko who spoke while Tokiya just looked up at them with a contained amused smirk. Of course, Kondo was not as reserved as they were.
"NYAHAHAHAHA! LOOKS LIKE THE LOVEBIRDS ARE HAVING THEIR FIRST QUARREL. WHAT DID YOU DO, KOGANEI? DON'T TELL ME YOU'VE CHEATED ON HER ALREADY?"
"URUSEI!" Kaoru shouted back then followed Ganko over the railing. They jumped from the upper level to the ground floor then walked toward the others with a wide gap between them.
"What are you doing here?" Ganko asked, trying her best to ignore the monkey behind her.
"Oh, we just wanted to check that you two weren't doing anything kids shouldn't do like se..."
Kaoru gave the fox a withering scowl.
"...elling pirated cds ehehehe." (B/N: Lame, I know.)
"That's enough, Kondo," Tokiya ordered and the fox followed. The plushy found out long ago that going against the Ensui master's wishes was not a wise thing to do. One wrong move and his seams would automatically tear open. Of course Kaoru's Kougan Anki posed the same threat but the boy wasn't bright enough to realize that yet.
"Recca and the others are going to meet us here. The Uruha are back with the madougu. They should be here any minute now."
As soon as Fuuko said those words they heard sounds coming from the darkest corner of the building. Kagerou appeared from the shadows with Yanagi, Kurei led Recca while Raiha was carrying a twirly-eyed Domon behind his back @.@
"That was so cool 'niichan! Can we go through that wormhole again? Can we, huh, can we?" said the chibi Recca sounding like a kid in an amusement park.
"Idiot," Kurei muttered with a sweatdrop. "Dang it, Recca! If you don't stop yanking on my arm I swear I'll burn you to a crisp!"
"Consider yourself lucky, Kurei-sama. Tell you what, I'll handle your brother while you handle this gorilla." Raiha hoisted the overgrown baby higher on his back.
"Er, no thanks. Just drop him. How that sissy got out alive from the tournament is beyond me."
And so Domon was unceremoniously dropped among the pile of broken limbs from Ganko's training mannequins. No sounds of protests were heard from the still dizzy man. That must have been one heck of a trip. It was a good thing he didn't throw up all over the bishounen raijin wielder.
"Let's get this over with. I need my sleep." Kurei nodded at Raiha once they reached where Ganko and the others were standing.
Raiha reached inside his ninja suit and procured a small rusty metal cube the size of a ring box. "It was hidden at the deepest end of the cave and had more than ten traps surrounding it. That was why it took us this long to get it. Joker and I didn't get much help from Neon because she broke a nail and sulked the whole time."
"Ne, Kurei-niichan, I thought you said it was a Spirit Ball. That doesn't look like a ball to me." Kaoru pointed out, obtaining a whack on the head from the flame caster.
"Baaa-ka. That's the casing. The madougu is inside." Kurei replied.
"Apparently, the Hokage elders thought the Spirit Ball was such a powerful device and locked it in that box," Kagerou added.
Kaoru took the cube from Raiha and observed it closely then shook it near his ear. Ganko forgot her earlier anger to Kaoru due to curiosity and went to his side.
"How do we use it?" she asked.
"Forget how we could use it. We should first find out how we could open it," Kaoru said as he rolled the cube from one side to another, looking for a latch or opening.
"We don't know how to open it," Kurei shrugged. "We figured since you're the genius when it comes to puzzles you'd be able to open it."
"But I think Ganko's right," Fuuko butted in. "What if you do find out how to open it and as soon as it's opened it could suck in our souls or something. We should at least know how it works first."
"No I think Kaoru's..."
"No Ganko..."
Everybody started to talk all at once except for the teens. The two looked at each other with big fat sweatdrops hanging on their heads.
"Ne, Kaoru, this sounds like that 'who came first—the chicken or egg' riddle." she whispered to him.
"Aa," he whispered back. By then all hell broke loose and nothing could be seen except a big cloud of dust and occasional swinging arms and legs. Kaoru grabbed Ganko's hand and inched themselves away from the chaos.
Several bloody noses and broken limbs later, the gang stopped arguing and realized that the two were missing. They looked around and found them in one of the many storerooms. All of them (yup, including Raiha, Kurei and Kagerou) crowded against the wall and eavesdropped through the slightly open door.
"Are you sure about this?" Ganko asked.
"Shh. Keep it down. They might hear you. Help me take my shirt off." Kaoru replied then the sound of clothes being discarded was heard.
The gang's eyes grew wide in disbelief but still they gave the two the benefit of the doubt.
"Hold this, Ganko, while I get..."
"I don't think this is going to work. It's too long and too big." There was a tinge of worry in her voice as well as excitement.
"Do you want to do this with me or not?"
"Well yes but..."
"Good. Do you want to wrap it or should I?"
"You do it. Make sure it's snug okay? And do it fast and hard."
"Okay, stay still or you might get hurt. Just tell me if you want to stop. Brace yourself, baby, here I come."
"IYAAA!!!" Yanagi's conservative mind just had about enough. The rest of the gang fell to the floor through the open door in a tumbled heap.
"Aha! I never thought you had it in you, Koganei," Recca stood up and pointed at Kaoru with a mischievous grin. A grin that fell when he realized who had the hentai mind.
The two stared at the others with question marks all over their heads. Kaoru was not as naked as the others thought him to be nor was Ganko for that matter. They were standing a few feet away from each other with his shirt bundled between them on the floor. He was still wearing all of his clothes, save his shirt and was holding a 'long and big' stick poised over the bundle.
"Er, hey guys!" Ganko greeted.
"What have you two been up to," Fuuko demanded, quite relieved that her imouto's innocence wasn't compromised.
"Well, you see, we wanted to find out if we could smash the box open."
"Smash the..." Kagerou sent a reproving look to Kaoru and Ganko then took the box from within the bundled shirt. "Kids these days don't know how to respect a madougu."
Tokiya reinforced her words by giving Kaoru a noogie. "Nobody's smashing or opening anything. Not until we find out how it works. Obviously its size is not to be underestimated. It's too dangerous to use the Spirit Ball just yet."
"But we don't have much time!"
Everybody looked at Ganko because of her sudden outburst. "He'll be back soon. He always comes back after a week."
"Ganko..." Kaoru went to try to comfort the shivering girl but she shrugged away and wrapped her arms around herself.
"No! Don't come near me! He'll only hurt you. He's coming. I can feel it," she sobbed hysterically.
And as if to prove her point there was a sudden draft of wind that entered the abandoned building. Everybody looked around, aware of the eeriness of the situation. They were expecting a spectral image of the ninja to pop out of nowhere.
But none appeared.
Just as none of them noticed the brief flash of light emitted by the Kata Kugutsu. Nor did they pay attention to the stuffed kitsune standing at the doorway and eyeing Ganko with an evil grin.
To be continued...