Phoneix From the Ashes

Chapter 3

by Bottou-chan

recca.lamssu.net

"Don't forget your umbrella, Fuu-ko," Mrs. Kirisawa called to her daughter from the kitchen.

"Don't worry, Mom!" she yelled back. Inwardly, she thought, Small chance of that. It was pouring rain outside. Fuuko wriggled into her raincoat and picked up her blue-and-white striped umbrella. "I'm going!"

"Is Domon walking with you to school today? Usually he comes inside," said Mrs. Kirisawa, appearing in a doorway, wiping her hands with a dishtowel.

"He called last night. His mom needs some emergency help at the shop today, so he'll be skipping the morning classes." In a flurry of raincoat, Fuuko hurried from the house. The sooner she got to school, the less time she would have to spend walking through the rain.

She kept her eyes on the pavement, watching the raindrops viciously splatter against the cement. The gutters were full of swirling, muddy water and she took great care when passing too close to speeding cars whose tires carelessly kicked up great plumes of water.

Too bad I don't have Ensui, she thought, imagining the silver-haired swordsman absorbing the splashes into the blade of the sword.

The random thought saddened her momentarily. She remembered the fun and excitement of possessing the Fuujin. Even though there was no further use for Hokage madougu, their destruction seemed senseless. What she wouldn't give to have the warm, familiar weight on her arm once more!

Fuuko approached the gates of the school and looked around for a familiar face. All around, students were hurrying through the downpour, trying to keep heads and backpacks dry at the same time with their umbrellas. There was one person who stood out, however… one of the teachers was standing patiently by the gate, watching the hurrying students.

As she drew closer, she realized that the figure was not that of a familiar teacher, but rather, a familiar enemy.

Her throat tightened.

Raiha.

* * *

"So, you're okay with skipping school?" asked Raiha, as they sat inside a tea shop. Fuuko nursed a hot chocolate, steaming hot, between her cold hands to warm them.

"It's no big deal," said Fuuko. "Unless they have a pop quiz, but my grades won't suffer too much if I miss one."

Raiha smiled. "Maybe you shouldn't be here after all. Five minutes, and I've already led you down the path of wrong. I'd hate to contribute to your delinquency."

Fuuko thought about retorting that she could handle her own delinquency just fine without his help, but somehow, that didn't sound right. So she concentrated on her hot chocolate, studiously ignoring his jokes.

His face fell just a tiny bit. "If you don't want to be here, that's fine. It was probably a mistake to try to talk, anyways." He dug into a pocket, put a handful of assorted change on the table, and rose to leave.

Fuuko reached out automatically for his hand.

"Don't go," she said earnestly, and then realizing she was touching him, she hastily drew her own hand back. "I mean," she said, not looking at him, "I, um, wanted to see you. I still wasn't sure about last time. You know?"

Raiha gazed at her for a few moments, then sat down again.

"Okay. So… let's try this again. How's school going, anyways?"

"They're helping us prepare for college entrance exams. It's pretty intensive. But not as hard as the high school entrance exams, so I'm feeling confident."

"How nice. Did you figure out a place you want to go yet?"

"I think it would be fun to go overseas," said Fuuko. Yeah. Let him know you're not afraid of adventure, she told herself. That you like doing different things, taking risks, taking chances. Another voice pointed out that he already knew that, but Fuuko primly reminded herself that it never hurt to drive an important point home. "I don't know if my family can afford it, but I think it would be exciting."

"Anything you want to study?"

"I'm currently looking. To be honest, physical education stuff might be good. Like coaching a girl's team or something. I think the competition would make that kind of job interesting, and I think that a school would be a cool place to work. Always full of kids with dreams and goals and drive and stuff." She blew gently over the hot chocolate to cool it, and took a ginger sip. Still too hot. "How about you? Did you go to college? I can just see you majoring in business school, throwing your books out the window one day, and running off to join the Uruha." She giggled. Yeah. Let him know you can talk about the Uruha and stuff and not let it affect you. That it's in the past.

He grinned. "No… my family didn't put so much stock in higher education. We were of a more, ah, traditional mindset, so to say. I had developed certain, ah, skills early on in life that proved valuable to me over time. Maybe that's why I can't get a job flipping burgers. There are just some things you can't put on the resume."

Fuuko beamed back at him, but her mind was churning. So his family's a bunch of ninja, too? I should have guessed…

"But we talked about that before," said Raiha. "During our fight."

"Yeah," said Fuuko. "I guess we did." Some parts of it were burned into her soul… other parts were decidedly hazier. "So… what are your plans now?"

Raiha gazed steadily at her. "I think it would be best for both of us if I was to disappear."

The energy seemed to drain from her body once more. "Disappear?" she asked, almost not trusting herself to speak. "But… you can be normal now. You don't have to worry about fulfilling your obligation to Kurei. He's gone, remember?"

"There's a good chance I can go meet him. I'm planning on doing that."

She stared at him in shock. "But--- that's impossible! The madougu are destroyed, you can't do Time Manipulation, he said he wouldn't be able to come back…"

"We both know he's very resourceful. If he wants something, he'll find a way to make it happen. He didn't survive for so long by not taking action."

"But—I thought that the whole reason you came back was to see about how much of it was the Fuujin and Raijin… and how much of it was us," said Fuuko miserably.

"I thought I would," he said coolly. "But instead, it just sort of turned into goodbye."

"Goodbye?" It was barely a whisper.

"It's been fun, Fuuko." With one easy movement, he rose from the table, leaned over to kiss her on the top of her head, and slipped easily from the coffee shop.

Darn ninja stealth.

She was reeling from the shock of "goodbye". She was reeling from the kiss… somehow, it seemed wrong for it to be so casual and nonchalant. And she was reeling from his choice of parting words.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU MEAN, IT'S BEEN FUN?!" she shrieked at the door which had closed behind him. The other patrons of the tea shop craned their necks around to look at her, but the door remained closed. No meek purple-haired ninja came hurrying through to soothe her frazzled emotions. Flushed-faced, she threw herself back into her seat and tossed back the contents of her hot chocolate. It scalded her tongue and throat, but she was beyond caring.

What do you mean, 'It's been fun'? she repeated numbly to herself. If you'd just stuck around, it could have been so much more fun…