Author's Note: Sorry for not updating earlier, school got in the way. Normally we see events revolving Ryoko in this fic, however, I think I'll change some stuff around for this chapter. We'll still see events revolving around Ryoko in the beginning, but Shizuma will get much more screen time in this chapter. With that said, let's get to the story.



Chapter 6: Love and War... What is the Difference?



"Are you serious?!" was Hitomi's first reaction upon hearing the news.

"Uh huh," Ryoko nodded with a smile stretched across her face.

She, Hitomi, and Daisaku were having lunch together that day, all three of them sitting at a table in the northeast corner of the cafeteria. It was crowded as usual, conversations about classes and the events that transpired over the last K-Fight were common in the room. Ryoko had just told her friends of her first kiss with Shizuma that happened the other day, her face burning with that same feeling she felt when he placed his lips on her's. Ryoko could just close her eyes and feel her mouth suckling against his again, fighting with his tongue over the ambrosia locked within his mouth.

"Oh man, I wish I was there," Daisaku whined, "that would've been a great picture to add to my collection!"

"Speaking of pictures, Daisaku, can I ask you a favor?" Ryoko turned to her number one fan.

"What is it?" Daisaku asked.

"The baby is due in eight months," Ryoko began, "I'd appreciate it if you could accompany Shizuma and me on some our outings to take pictures of the two of us."

"Really, do you mean that?" Daisaku hurried to her side with calf eyes.

"Yeah," Ryoko nodded.

"ALL RIGHT!!!!" Daisaku yelled at the top of voice, grabbing the attention of the entire cafeteria.

"On one condition though," Ryoko continued. "You'll only come when Shizuma and I ask you to, okay?"

"Sure, no thing, Miss Ryoko," Daisaku agreed with a smile. "This is one of the most happiest days of my life," Daisaku chanted as he made his way to the lunch line.

"Hitomi, I have a favor to ask of you too," Ryoko turned to her best friend after.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I'd like you to be my advisor during this eight months," Ryoko answered. "I'd like to you to give me advice on what clothes I should buy and what toys to get my baby since your good with kids."

"I guess I can do that," Hitomi answered.

"Thanks a lot, Hitomi," Ryoko thanked her. "By the way, have you seen that Red Monkey today?" Ryoko changed the subject. "He told me yesterday that he'd see me today, but I haven't caught a single glimpse of him."

"I haven't seen him either today," Hitomi answered. "He's usually a half hour late to Geometry, but he didn't even show up today."

So where exactly was Shizuma? Sure he was one to come to class about half an hour late, but he'd never miss class, even if he did fall asleep on his desk five minutes later. Where else would the street fighter be?

"Argh!" a thug suddenly came crashing to the arena's pebble-ridden floor.

"Man you're pathetic," Shizuma spat at his opponent, cracking his knuckles as he spoke. "Even holding back I still feel like I'm abusing a baby."

'A baby,' Shizuma thought to himself after, 'that's why I'm doing this right? For our baby. I'm not doing this for my own personal greed, it's for my kid, the kid that Ryoko's holding in her womb. Ryoko, I don't see why I can't make a living with this line of work, I mean, if I enjoy what I do and it pays for our kid, it shouldn't really matter, right?'

"All right, Nagi!" Sarah cheered from the crowd's boos.

"What number was that, Sarah?" Shizuma called to his young follower.

"That was the twentieth guy you knocked out since you came here this morning," Sarah answered.

"Twenty? Jeez, I haven't even broken a sweat," Shizuma boasted. "All right, who's next?" Shizuma turned back to the arena.

A man from the crowd suddenly pushed his way through the crowd. He was about Shizuma's height, muscles pumped in every part of his body. His arms laid five inches from his side, the path of his veins was very visible even from a mile away. His legs were as thick as a tree trunk, and possibly as thick as cement. He wore a tattered white shirt, it's sleeves ripping once the man began flexing his muscles. He was wearing ripped denim shorts, the right leg of his shorts were half as long as the left. A scar was scratched on his temple, stretched from ear to ear. The man looked intimidating even to the fight's spectators, but Shizuma didn't even flinch at the sight of his new opponent.

"Hey there, handsome, care to dance?" Shizuma taunted as he readied his fists once more.

"I'll wipe that smirk off your face with the ash on the floor!" the man said sharply.

"Bring it on," the smirk on Shizuma's face stretched.

The man pushed forward, his left arm taking the plunge. Shizuma quickly halted the attack with the back of his left wrist, only to suddenly find himself pushed to the floor by a force exerted on his stomach. Pushing all of his weight into his back, Shizuma was able to roll away from his opponent's following stomp attack. The man froze for a second as Shizuma began to pull himself back to his feet, a grin stretching across his face as the young street fighter readied his fists once more.

"You're the first person to actually hit me today," Shizuma grinned, "and because of that, there's no way I'm holding back on you."

"Come on," the man signaled with the wave of his fingers.

Shizuma struck first this time, his legs pressing to the floor and launching him to the air after. His left foot took the lead as he plummeted back down toward his opponent's face. He struck nothing but the ground, finding his opponent's left leg coming at an angle after. Shizuma crouched to avoid the kick, returning to stance after with an uppercut with his right arm. His fist made contact with the man's chin, causing him to stagger a bit. Shizuma's left hand followed next, striking at the man's chest, followed by his right foot coming in contact with the man's abdomen. The man staggered a bit more, and after a few more hits, he began parrying. The two began exchanging blows from there, punches and kicks came in flurries, back and forth, striking air, arms, legs, bodies, anything that got caught in their path. Shizuma had to admit, this guy was good, he was no ordinary street thug, even he was starting to have some difficulty with him. A wide lunge from the man's right arm came suddenly, Shizuma's decided to take a risky maneuver, one he attempted on Keichiro Nagumo when the whole Solvania incident began. Shizuma quickly wrapped his arms around the man's attacking arm, pulling all him to the floor as Shizuma forced all of his weight down.

"Now whatcha gonna do, huh?" Shizuma said with his usual cocky grin over his face.

"This!" the man forced his left leg into Shizuma's stomach.

The grip Shizuma had on the man's arm suddenly loosened, freeing his opponent in the process. His face was suddenly turned to the side from an unknown force that planted itself against his right cheek, turning back when a second hit his left. Soon he found the wind cutting against his skin and the feel of wood slamming against his back. Cheers began to echo throughout the arena as Shizuma laid on his back against the arena's wall, they grew louder as a streak of scarlet began to slip from his mouth.

"Nagi, get up!" Sarah screamed. "Nagi!"

'Can't lose here,' Shizuma thought to himself, 'not now. This is all for my kid, all that yen is gonna be their's. It'll all go to my kid, not some street trash punk like this guy!'

"Hm, you can still stand?" Shizuma's opponent scoffed.

"I actually felt that one," Shizuma said as his arm wrapped around the oozing red crater in his arm. "Like I always say, no pain, no game, but playtime's over," Shizuma grinned as arms began to glow with red and orange.

"What's this?" the man began to step back.

Flames began to gather around the navy-haired street fighter, swirling before his feet and spiraling toward his fists. All those who had fought the mighty Shizuma Kusanagi remembered this attack well, it was one of his favorites.

"Houno-No-Tora!" Shizuma screamed as he fist pressed forward.

An stream of inferno suddenly shot from the street fighter's fist, spiraling toward his opponent. The man began to step back only to find a stream of fire before his feet. The flames began to move upward as they started to consume his feet, crawling up his legs and entire body. The man was engulfed in fire soon after, screaming from the burns he was receiving from his opponents attack. The inferno soon died, the man on the floor unconscious as clouds of smoke began to lift from his skin.

"Damn," Shizuma said as his fist barely caught his fall.

"Nice one, Nagi!" Sarah cheered.

Shortly after, Shizuma found himself and Sarah in the back of the arena, collecting Shizuma's earnings that he won that day.

'It's all going to a good cause,' Shizuma thought to himself, 'I dunno why Ryoko told me not to do this anymore. I know she'll worry and stuff, but it's not like I'm really going to get hurt, besides, this is the best way for me to earn some cash for our kid.'

"Here you go, kid," the owner of the arena slipped five stacks of bills into Shizuma's hand.

"We'll see you soon," Sarah told the owner as she and Shizuma began to leave the arena.

"That was a great fight, kid," the two suddenly found themselves greeted by Shizuma's opponent once the left the owner's office.

"You want something?" Shizuma asked impatiently. "Look dude, I got places to go, so if you'll just get out of my way...," Shizuma and Sarah began to make their way passed the man.

"You wanna make more money?" the man's voice suddenly froze the two in place.

"What'd you say?" Shizuma turned back to his former opponent.

"I know a great place that pays a lot more than this place," the man continued. "What you got in your hand right there is only a sen compared to what this place pays you."

"I'm listening," Shizuma turned back to the man.

"One fight can pay you at least 90,000 yen, that's how much you got in total for all your fights today, right?" the man continued.

"Nagi's not really interested in money," Sarah told the man, "he's not your typical greedy..."

"So where's this place at?" Shizuma asked.

"It's at the docks, warehouse number seventy-six," the man answered. "The fights start at midnight and last until five in the morning. Just knock on the entrance and tell them my name. My name is Hiroyuki Watanabe, tell the guy at the door my name and he'll let you in."

"All right, thanks," Shizuma nodded at the man.

"See ya then," Hiroyuki said with a nod and began making his way out of the arena.

"Nagi, why did you...?" Sarah looked at her idol confused.

"I have my reasons, Sarah," Shizuma answered.

School had just ended at Daimon High, Ryoko, Hitomi, nor Daisaku caught a glimpse of Shizuma that day.

"I guess he was sick or something," Ryoko said as she walked out of the campus with her friends.

"It's all right, Ryoko," Hitomi began to console her, "I'm sure that's it. Maybe he'll call you later today."

"Yeah, that must be it," Daisaku agreed.

Suddenly a large metal object suddenly stopped before the three. Hitomi yelped as soon as the motorcycle stopped right in front of her and a sneer began to stretch across Ryoko's face.

'Who does this guy think he is?!' Ryoko asked herself as she began to clench a fist. 'If I still had my sword here, I'd show him or two. What the heck am I talking about, I've got my fist, I'll plant right on his...!'

"Hey beautiful, need a ride?" the biker lifted off his helmet.

"Shizuma!" a smile stretched across the samurai girl's face.

"Hop on," Shizuma pointed to the seat in the back. "You guys need a ride too?" Shizuma asked the others as he pointed to the motorcycle's side car.

"Sure, I'd like a ri...," Daisaku suddenly found his mouth cover by Hitomi's palm.

"That's all right, we'll walk home," Hitomi told Shizuma.

"All right, see ya guys later," Shizuma said between the revs of his bike.

"Later!" Ryoko waved as she suddenly found herself whizzing down the road on Shizuma's bike. "Shizuma, why weren't you in school today?" Ryoko asked as they continued toward her house.

"I had a pretty bad stomach ache," Shizuma answered, lying about his true whereabouts that day.

"Oh, I see," Ryoko said as she tightened her hold on the street fighter's waist.

It wasn't long when they arrived at Ryoko's house. Madoka was already home, and it would be a pretty bad idea to invite Shizuma in after what happened yesterday.

"Thanks for the ride," Ryoko said as she slipped off the bike.

"Anytime," Shizuma winked as he removed his helmet.

"So will you be at school tomorrow?" Ryoko asked as Shizuma rose from his bike.

"Yeah," he assured her.

"I'll see you tomorrow then," Ryoko said as she placed her lips on Shizuma's.

Just as she began to pull away, she found his arms suddenly wrapped around her waist. There was a pretty small chance that Madoka would come outside so Ryoko decided to indulge. Her arms drifted toward his shoulders, her hands groping against them ever so slowly, sliding against his smooth skin. Shizuma's left hand began to creep up her neck, nestling in a spot on her cheek. Her arms began drifting downward, his skin becoming smoother until she suddenly found a rough spot that made Shizuma flinch.

"Shizuma...," Ryoko's lips suddenly parted from his.

"What is it?" he asked, his lips now finding her cheek.

"What happened to your arm?" she pointed out his wound.

"Oh this?" Shizuma turned his attention to his arm.

The wound was still somewhat fresh, the bleeding had stopped, but dried blood was still etched on his arm. A scab had taken the crater's place, but the skin surrounding the scab was black and blue.

"I fell off my bike while I was heading over to the school to pick you up," he lied.

"Really, are you okay?" Ryoko asked, concerned. "Let me get you inside and..."

"No, that's okay," Shizuma told her. "I'll be all right, it's nothing big, really. Besides, if your aunt saw me walk through that door, she'd probably put things like this all over my body."

"That's true," Ryoko chuckled.

"Oh, and, um, here's some more cash," Shizuma handed her his winnings for the day.

"Thank you," Ryoko said as she pocketed the bills.

She placed her lips on his again, only this time Ryoko and Shizuma had found themselves frozen.

"Another emergency," Madoka slammed the door open suddenly, "man, this has just been a bad...," her eyes suddenly found her niece and the young street fighter she threw out yesterday.

'Oh man, not again...,' Shizuma thought to himself.

"GET OFF HER YOU HORNDOG!!!!" Madoka screamed as Shizuma quickly hopped on his bike.

"LATER!!!!!!" Shizuma's voice echoed down the street as his bike jetted down the road.

"Get back here you punk!" Madoka yelled as she began chasing down to street fighter.

"Aunt Madoka, can't you just let it go?" Ryoko sighed.

Before Ryoko went inside, she recalled the mark on Shizuma's arm earlier. He must've had a pretty bad fall to get an injury like that one, but why wasn't the rest of his body cut? Ryoko began to ponder about this for a few moments, but then she decided to shrug it off and go inside.

'He's hiding something,' Ryoko thought to herself, 'I know it...'



Author's Note: Uh oh, looks like she's getting suspicious... Well, how was it, why not leave me a review, and as usual no flames. I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible, but there's so much stuff I have to do right now, finals are coming up soon so I need to study. I guess that's it then, later.