Author's Note: Well, what can I say? I guess I can tell you readers there's a bit of lime in this chapter, I hope you enjoy it. So let's get to the story now.



Chapter 2: A Blessing or a Curse



Shizuma stood shocked over Ryoko's words. The words "I think… I'm pregnant" had left him paralyzed, speechless. There were many titles Shizuma has held in his lifetime, K-fight champion, a no-name user of Kamui, street thug, and now he was to hold a new one, one that he was afraid of carrying. This new title was the father of Ryoko's child.

"You're kidding, right?" Shizuma broke the silence a moment later. "I mean, what makes you think…"

"Do you think I'd joke about something as serious as this?!" Ryoko spat as she slammed her palms against the railing. "Do you think I'd joke around with you after what happened that night?!"

"No, it's just that… how should I say this, how do you know if you really are pregnant?" Shizuma asked. "It's not that I want to sound rude or anything, but you could just be sick and…"

"I'm not sick, Shizuma," Ryoko assured him. "I thought so at first because I was throwing up a lot in the morning, but then other things started happening. Like today, just a while ago I blacked out in kendo practice," Ryoko recalled.

"You know, that doesn't really justify pregnancy," Shizuma said, trying his best not to sound insulting, "all that vomiting could've just sucked up all your energy."

"There's still more," Ryoko continued. "It's embarrassing to say, but my nipples have been tingling a lot lately, and my chest seems to be heavier than usual. Not only that, I would normally have my period two days from today and it never came."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Shizuma quickly held up his hands. "That's a bit too much info there!"

"Do you believe me now, Shizuma?" Ryoko asked, turning to the navy-haired street fighter.

"Yeah, I believe you," Shizuma nodded, "but there's just one thing I have to ask you. How do you know if I'm the father of that kid you're carrying and not some other dude you slept with?"

"Are you doubting the responsibility of our child?!" Ryoko spat as her fingers balled around Shizuma's collar.

"It's not that I'm doubting you," Shizuma said as he held his hands up in defeat, "it's just that if had been with anyone else..."

"I haven't been with anyone else!" Ryoko yelled as her grip on Shizuma's shirt tightened. "You were... the first, and only, person I've ever been with," Ryoko said as her fingers slowly began releasing their hold.

"Really? Ryoko, I had no idea. You know, I can say the same about you. It's funny that neither of us can remember our first time huh?" Shizuma tried to put on his best laugh only to stop a second later after seeing the frown on Ryoko's face.



It was a week ago when it all happened; Daisaku was having a huge party, Ryoko and Shizuma were among the many who were invited. Ryoko had no intention of going to the party at first, but somehow Hitomi was able to drag Ryoko along. The party didn't seem to interest Ryoko, in fact, she tried to leave several times but Hitomi's pleads always dragged back in to the very same corner. Alcohol was pretty abundant at the party, aside from all the blaring music, the cheers and screams of drunken teenagers had blasted through the entire party. No one seemed to know who smuggled in the beer, but no one seemed to have minded, whoever brought in the keg would have been considered a godsend if they knew who brought it. Ryoko often found herself traveling to the steel barrel, filling her cup with hit's gold yellow content every time it had emptied into her throat. Even she doesn't know how much she traveled to the keg that night, the last thing she can remember clearly was her third trip to refill her drink. Everything seemed to have been a blur after that, with the exception of a few events that she was able to recall a few days later. She remembers she was talking to Shizuma a few minutes after she found out the keg was empty, he was just as (if not more) buzzed than she was. Neither remember what the other was talking about, but that conversation made the two leave the party together.

The two had been stumbling down the street for hours before they finally stopped at Ryoko's place. If Madoka was home that evening, she would've kicked Shizuma out of her house and scold Ryoko for her underage drinking, but Madoka wasn't home, she had the late shift at the hospital that evening. As soon as the two had entered the house, the two suddenly found each other in Ryoko's room. The two seemed to have been chatting away about something, neither of the two seemed to have remembered what they were talking about. What happened during the middle of the conversation was a surprise Ryoko. Just as Ryoko was flapping her mouth during their conversation, it was quickly sealed shut by Shizuma's. Ryoko lay frozen as Shizuma began plucking her lips, suckling the remaining contents of the alcohol from her mouth. There was a sweet aroma locked within his lips, Ryoko could taste it as their tongues wrestled one another. Her hand slipped down the side of Shizuma's face, her thumb resting behind his ear as her fingers found the comfort of his cheek. Ryoko was drowning in the taste of this new found sweet, lowering her entire body to her mattress, dragging Shizuma with her by the lips. Her mouth was as smooth as honey, but what of the rest of her body? Shizuma had to know, trying his hardest to free his lips from her's, his tongue sliding down her chin and then her neck.

"Shizuma...," his name barely escaped her lips between her breaths.

Her breathing was music to his ears, the rising and falling of her body was like silk to his skin, he just had to have more. His fingers slowly traced the path his tongue had laid, slipping from it as they reached her neck, traveling beyond, finding their place before the ribbon on her shirt. His thumb and index finger pressed against it's soft texture, slowly tugging it in one direction, freeing it from her dull yellow garb. He just had to free the rest of her cotton restraints, his hand slowly traced the area of her abdomen, stopping at the base of her shirt before he began pulling it above her head. His mouth had began a new path beyond her neck, traveling downward, stopping before the two spheres a few inches below her neck, his mouth pulling at one of the nubs. Ryoko's arms began to cradle Shizuma's head, her fingers pulling the red fabric resting on his shoulders until it was finally free from his body, now strewn across the floor. This still wasn't enough, Shizuma still wanted more. His hands began tracing further this time, stopping before red fabric, his fingers pinching the outside of the him as his thumb pushed against them from another cotton layer. The garments slowly traced down Ryoko's legs, joining the rest of the uniform on the floor. Ryoko's arms had begun sliding toward Shizuma's hips soon after, her fingers taking hold of the rough material he wore on the lower half of his body. One hand ventured before his abdomen, stopping directly below it, her fingers tracing down the zipper on his pants, prying it downward as her thumb freed it's button.

The next thing Ryoko could remember, she was lying in bed, the sun's light had begun to break through the darkness in her eyes. Her head felt was throbbing like hell, and the rest of her body seemed to have been sore. Something was definitely not right, Ryoko knew it. Was it just her, or did her bed always lift up and down? Ryoko turned to the side for a moment only to find a shade of navy blue poking out of her covers.

"AAAAAHHHHH!" Ryoko screamed at the sight of her arch-rival.

"Huh? WHOA!" Shizuma quickly found himself on the floor. "Where the hell am I?!" was Shizuma's first reaction. "What the, Ryoko?!" his eyes quickly found the site of the red-haired samurai girl.

"What the hell are you doing in my house?!" Ryoko screamed, covering her bare skin with one of the pillows on her bed.

"What are you talking about, I don't even know how I got here, Big Woman!" Shizuma snarled, using one of his favorite insults for her.

"Oh God, this can't be real, this has got to be dream...," Ryoko mumbled.

"Well if it is a dream I sure as hell would like to wake up and now!" Shizuma growled as he jumped into his boxer shorts.

"Ryoko, is something wrong in there?" Madoka's voice echoed from the other side of the hall.

"Damn, I gotta get outta here!" Shizuma said as he quickly gathered the rest of his clothes, dashing toward the window as fast as he could.

"This never happened, you got that?" Ryoko suddenly told Shizuma.

"What?" Shizuma stopped for a second to take another glance at his one night stand.

"Nothing happened between us last night!" Ryoko repeated herself. "Don't you dare

tell a single soul or you're a dead man!" Ryoko said sharply.

"The same goes for me, I don't want anyone to know about my one-nighter with a sasquatch!" Shizuma spat as he made his way out the window.

"Take that back you Red Monkey!" Ryoko yelled just as Shizuma had made his escape.



"You haven't told anyone about it, did you?" Ryoko asked Shizuma, her eyes fixed back on the school.

"No," Shizuma shook his head, "you?"

"Not even Hitomi," Ryoko answered, "but that will all change soon. Before you know it, everyone will know our little secret."

"You mean you're keeping it?" Shizuma asked.

"...yeah," Ryoko answered, her hand taking hold of the fabric laying outside her belly.

"Are you sure, Ryoko? You know this means you'll have to give up on a whole bunch of stuff just so you can raise that kid," Shizuma explained.

"I don't care. They say that he who seeks two hares usually only ends up with one. Our child is one of those hares I don't want to lose, Shizuma, please understand that," Ryoko replied as a translucent river ran down her cheek.

"I understand, but don't think you're in this alone, I'm the one who got you into this whole mess in the first place, so let me help you out," Shizuma said as he placed his hand on Ryoko's shoulder.

His touch was gentle, comforting, it was so different from the rough impact his fists made during their K-fights. This touch was strange to her, yet, she felt as if it had touched her before. Was it this touch Shizuma had used that night? Her face began to burn, her heart was beating as fast as a humming bird would flap it's wings, why was she suddenly beginning to feel this way?

"Ryoko, I'll be there for you," his voice flew into her ears with the afternoon breeze. "I'll be there for you and our child."

Those words had locked Ryoko in place, echoing over and over again in her mind. His voice was reassuring and caring, not spouting out any insults or sarcasm as it usually would. Another stream of tears began to flow, this one not of sadness, but relief. It was good she would not be in this alone.

"Nagi!" Shizuma's nickname suddenly broke Ryoko out of her state. "Nagi!"

"Sarah!" the feel of Shizuma's hand slowly left her shoulder with the sound of Shizuma's voice.

"Nagi, I've been looking all over for you," Sarah informed the street fighter. "Oh, I didn't know you were with Ryoko," Sarah quickly turned to the samurai girl.

"Well, the two of us were just having a little talk," Shizuma's words suddenly shot through her Ryoko's heart.

The word "just" had never hurt Ryoko so much in her life, and it came from the one person who's words never meant anything to her until now. She began to hold the tears back once more, holding them in place with the baring of her teeth and clenching of her fist.

"Hey Ryoko, is it okay if I take Nagi out of your hands?" Sarah asked as she clung her arm around Shizuma's.

"Yeah, it's best if you get that Red Monkey outta here, if I hang around him any longer I'd probably get lice," Ryoko told Sarah.

"Shut up, Sasquatch!" Shizuma snapped back, acting as if what had happened moments ago had never occurred. "I'm sure you'd enjoy grooming it out of my hair if I had any!"

"What was that?!" Ryoko snarled as she took up her wooden sword.

"Hey, hey, both of you just calm down," Sarah said as she began to pull on Shizuma's arm. "Come on, Nagi, let's go."

Sarah made her way back to the path she came from as Shizuma began to follow. Before he took off, he turned back to Ryoko with his serious expression on his face.

"I'll see you at your place later tonight," Shizuma told her, his voice comforting her once more, "I want to help you."

"All right then," Ryoko nodded, "at eight, no later."

"I'll be there at eight then," Shizuma said.

With that said, Shizuma quickly turned back to where Sarah had gone and began tracing her steps. Ryoko, in the meantime, turned back toward the school, her lips stretched across her face.

"At eight then," Ryoko said as she closed her eyes.



Author's Note: Well, how was it? Go ahead and leave me a review and not a flame. I'll try and get the next chapter up as soon as possible, and sorry about this one being a bit short.