A/N Okay guys! Sorry it took me so long. I've been busy lately... or to be more exact, my sister's been talking to her b/f... - - At any rate, here's chapter five at long last. I hope you enjoy it!

Sunday Morning's Child

Chapter 5

Red, Blue, Brown and Bullies

"Heh, stupid baka. Don't you know better than to get in our way?" Genma Suki jeers at the girl as she sits on the floor, her books scattered around her, her head bowed. "I've told you before to stay out of our way, but you just don't seem to listen, do you?"

Silently, the girl slowly starts trying to pick her books back up, a large task for her since her left forearm literally had no muscle in it, an injury from when she was a child on vacation with her parents. Ayka Bujou kept her face lowered and her eyes downcast as she struggles to get her books together again, the most weight she could lift was just barely a pound if that with her left hand.

"Didn't you hear me, Bujou?" A foot swings out, kicking the books that she didn't have in hand yet out of her immediate reach, cruel snickering sounding above her.

"Knock it off right now."

"Huh?" Genma turns with his arms crossed over his chest to glare at the one interfering. A young man standing around five nine with blue tinted hair, long bangs and a pony-tail with one good eye, the other scarred over, calmly looks at Genma.

"I said, leave her alone."

Ayka remains where she is, practically trembling. She had run into Genma and his crew on a few different occasions, she wished her 'savior' would leave before they decided to play games with him instead. 'Go away, please, just go away.' If he would just leave, then she just might be able to handle Genma like she usually did.

"Oh really? Who are you anyway? I don't remember seeing you here before."

"That's because I'm new here, and my name shouldn't matter to you. Now leave the girl alone."

"Oh yeah? You and what army, tough guy? She's nothing but a problem and none of your concern." Genma promptly turns his back on him, kneeling down next to Ayka. "So, are you going to listen to me from now on, Bujou, or not? All you have to do is nod your head."

If he thinks I'm going to agree to any of his terms, he's a lot crazier than he seems! Ayka remains silent, not even bothering to move at all.

Genma grabs her by her hair, yanking her head back to look at her face, a couple tears rolling down her cheeks from behind closed lids at the sharp pain. "Oh boo-hoo. Go ahead and cry. It'll only take one word from you to get me to leave. I'm waiting."

Ayka carefully slits her eyes open, glaring up at him as a few more tears run down her cheeks. "Bastard."

Genma shakes his head in a mockingly regretful manner. "Nope. Wrong word. Try again!" He gives another sharp pull on her hair as he rises to his feet.

"This is your last warning, I said let her go."

Genma shoots a glare at him. "Still here, huh? All right then." He releases his hold on Ayka's hair, shoving her back down to the floor, before cracking his knuckles. "It's your funeral, Cyclops."

"It's yours if you keep it up. You want any help, Ri?"

Chichiri keeps his eye on Genma before answering the red-head that showed up. "Not yet, Tasuki. Do me a favor though."

"What?"

"Help the girl with her books and get her out of here."

Genrou shakes his head slightly for a moment before moving towards Ayka, only to find his way blocked by one of Genma's goons.

"She's not going anywhere unless the boss says so."

"Is that so? So you guys really are lookin' to get suspended, huh? Oh yeah, real smart." Genrou shakes his head again slowly, shrugging slightly, a fanged smirk on his lips. "All right, if that's your choice. Let's go!" He lunges at him, attempting to knock him off of his feet.

Genma glances behind him to find out what the sudden noise was about, giving Chichiri the opening he was looking for. The fight was over before it even starts, the four other members of the gang grabbing their wounded comrade and Genma before high-tailing it when they saw that they were out-skilled.

"Well that wasn't much fun. The guy didn't land a single punch." Genrou shakes his head in wonderment.

Chichiri could only wryly smile at Genrou. "Tasuki, only you would lament at how long a fight lasts."

Genrou looks at Chichiri, his eyes innocently wide. "Well, a fight isn't a fight unless it lasts longer than fifteen seconds."

Chichiri shakes his head as he bends down and starts gathering the scattered books together, placing them back in the nearby empty back pack.

"You shouldn't have done that." Ayka's voice came at barely a whisper.

Chichiri lifts his face to look at her. "Hmm? Why not? He deserved more than what he got, ya know. Who was that guy anyway?"

"Genma Suki. You'll be on 'the list' now. You'll have to constantly watch your back. All because you tried to rescue me, it'll also be worse for me now because he'll think I know you." Ayka tries to keep her voice from trembling, but doesn't succeed very well.

"Well then, we might as well introduce each other. My name's Ri Houjun, and my friend here," Chichiri pauses for a moment when Genrou mutters something under his breath, "is Kou Shun'u. But my friend's call me Chichiri, most of the time." Chichiri shoots a look at Genrou a moment. "Kou usually goes by Genrou or Tasuki, ya know. So, what's your name?"

Ayka looks at the floor uncertainly for a moment before looking up at Chichiri, brushing away the remnants of her tears with her good hand. "Ayka Bujou. My friend's would call me Ayka."

Chichiri raises an eyebrow slightly. "I hope I'm not being rude by asking this, ya know. But what do you mean by 'would'?"

Ayka looks away from his brown eyed gaze, carefully forcing herself to her feet. She already knew what she would probably see there when she told him about her choice of words, pity. "People tend to avoid me. Frankly, that's just fine with me. I've been alone except for my family for most of my life now." Ayka forces a slight smile into her next words. "Besides, I'm used to it. It really doesn't bother me. Look, I got to go. It's bad enough your going to have to watch your back because of me now."

"Ayka, it's not a problem."

"Oh for cryin' out loud! Let her go, Chichiri. She didn't ask for help and apparently doesn't appreciate that we gave it to her whether she actually needed it or not! I'm going to go find Tama-boy. I'll catch back up with you in a few minutes, he's probably already at a table by now." Tasuki turns from them, waving a hand over his shoulder as he walks off through the hall towards the main cafeteria doors, his other hand stuffed in a pants pocket.

Chichiri grimaces slightly. "You'll have to forgive Tasuki, he doesn't like women much, he looks at them as pains that shouldn't be dealt with. Period." He holds out her back pack to her.

"Thank you, I need to go now." Ayka hefts her book bag over her good arm onto her shoulder before starting to head off to the cafeteria herself.

Chichiri watches her go for a moment before deciding to act on impulse, stepping up beside her before grabbing her free forearm, his eye widening slightly at the feeling of what seemed to be literally nothing but skin and bone beneath his fingertips.

Ayka had halts in her steps as soon as he grabs her forearm. Her long sleeves hid what she thought was the ugly disfigurement from sight, but it they didn't do much when someone grabbed her. "Let me go, please..."

"What happened, Ayka? Is this why they treat you so badly? Because they know about your arm?"

Ayka keeps her head bowed, her eyes shadowed by her bangs. "A long time ago, when I was a little girl, I was on vacation in the woods with my parents when I wandered off. A wolf came along and found me. His teeth sank into my arm when I put my arms up to protect my face, he tore out a good amount of muscle. I almost died from the amount of blood I lost, the doctors said I was lucky. I've been consistently picked on since then and ended up burying myself in my schoolwork and became a loner."

Chichiri stares at her for a moment before releasing his grip on her arm. He looks at the spot where his hand had just been, his lips set in a grim line. All it would take is one bad fall caused by Genma Suki and she could easily break her arm. He looks down at her for a moment longer before enveloping her in his arms, speaking softly when he feels her stiffen suddenly. "You told me how that happened, now I'll tell you how I lost my eye and ended up with this scar. My little brother, Oh Do-Kun, or Chiriko as you'll often hear him called, was in danger of being attacked by a stray dog. He was only about three at the time. I got between him and the dog, the dog attacking me instead. Even in the daze I found myself in as they rushed me to the hospital, I couldn't stop asking if he was all right, that was all that mattered."

Ayka wanted to move away from him, they just met! What did he think he was doing?! She forces herself to stay stiff until he releases her, casually placing his hands in his pockets. "You didn't have to tell me that. I wasn't, curious." She started walking away from him, if they stayed out in the hall much longer, she wouldn't have much time to eat.

Chichiri walks along side her, easily keeping pace with her, shorting his long strides to match hers. "Hey! Why don't you sit with me and my friends? You said you were a loner here, ya know. So maybe you could give us some pointers on what teachers and students we should and shouldn't avoid, ya know."

Ayka didn't even actually know him, but she was beginning to like him already. She shrugs disinterestedly. "Sure, but you're buying my lunch then!"

Chichiri shot her a grin as he walks alongside her into the cafeteria, the two of them heading towards the line.