Disclaimer: Flame of Recca and characters are properties of Anzai Nobuyuki

A/N: Certain events of Flame of Recca manga, from Raiha's (and later could be Fuuko's) perspective. Pairing: RaiFuu.

Another side, another story

Volume 6 Chapter 6: The Person Who Should Be Here

Camera 1…

Check.

Camera 2…

Check.

Camera 3…

What's Mikoto doing outside of my room?

Camera 4…

Ah, he's coming here.

Camera 5…

Nothing special.

Camera 6…

He's getting closer.

Camera 7…

Is that-

Suddenly, two big hands covered my eyes.

"GUESS WHO!?" The voice sounded exactly like a man with a heavy kansai accent, desperately trying to sound like a woman. It almost made me laugh, but I was able to suppress it to a smile.

I decided to play his silly little game. "… Miki?"

"Guess again!"

"Umm… Neon?" - Which was impossible, since I just saw her leave for UBS preliminaries.

"Wrong-o!"

"Mikoto?"

The person behind my back snorted. "How could you! Don't I sound like a sweet, gentle and elegant lady? You're comparing me to that wench!?" He snapped at me effeminately.

But you sound almost like her. I didn't say it to him out loud, of course.

"Err… Kirin?"

"Tsk, tsk! Wrong again, Raiha! How dare you think that such a good girl like her is-"

I decided to give him a good lesson, and slowly my fingers went to gently touch his hand that was still covering my eyes. "Kurei-sama, I know you can't wait till tonight, but if you want… we can do it here-"

He immediately let go. "AHHH!! Stop it, stoppit, I'm not Kurei!"

I turned around and found Joker. My fellow uruha was rubbing his arms furiously, trying to get rid of the goose bumps he attained from my touch. "Next time you want to play 'Guess who?', make sure that person you're gonna abuse isn't keeping watch in the surveillance room." I said.

He shrugged and grinned. "Raiha-han, it's just a joke."

"Haven't learned a thing, did ya? I thought Neon gave you a nice slap last week."

Joker suddenly has this dreamy look, and caressed his left cheek. "Yeah… I wanna see her do that again."

"I guess you must have like that s-" But my words were cut short by a figure that was seen approaching the castle. It was a girl, age around 15-16, slender body, a face that was slightly familiar…

"Kirisawa Fuuko," Joker said from my back. He whistled. "Ah, would you take a look at that body! I can't believe she's only 16!"

She didn't bring Fuujin with her. Then I found my head was ringing with Kurei's order he had told me yesterday. 'Make sure that Koganei Kaoru can participate in this tournament. Do anything that you deem …necessary.'

"Neon said that Koganei has arrived on this island," Joker said with a teethy grin.

"Joker, I have a favor to ask," I shifted up from my chair and went outside. "Ask somebody to keep watch here. I have things to do."

When I left the surveillance room, Joker called me just to say, "Hey, Prince charming! Don't overdo it! Make sure that you won't break her heart!"

I watched her intently from my new found location, a tree branch that was quite hidden. From my observation, I could assume that she had a bouncy attitude, very lively from head to toe, very tomboyish, very high spirited, very brave, or should I say very foolish. She's trying to enter the Uruha grounds on daylight. And without the Fuujin madougu… I never knew that person was gonna be a 'she', though…

Now, should I:

1. Walk nonchalantly from the castle, introduce myself and then ask if she's lost or something? …………………Corny.

2. Lean on a tree with a style and act like a Casanova: "Hey girlie, want me to give you a tour around the castle?" ………………… Naah, that's Joker's style.

3. Pretend that I don't see her and ignore her completely? ……………………That's Rasen's style, so far it only works on Kirin.

4. Purposely bump into her so that I can ask her where she's going? …………………………clich.

5. Walk to her, and say, "I think I've fallen in love with you. Ever since the first time I see you, I never felt so sure that we're meant to be together. Wanna be my partner in life?" ………………I've been reading too many romance novels. Why does Neon like them so much?

6. Point my sword at her... then ask her to scream. …………………Was I thinking like Mokuren just now?

7. Save her from a life threatening situation like a prince in fairy tales?

She's getting closer.

Joker's gonna tease me mercilessly. I bet he'll say, 'What, an idiot like you, seducing a 16 year old girl? Just make sure that she or her friends won't kick your ass!'

…Closer.

She cast a glance on the castle, set her fists on her waist and said to herself, "Aha! I guess I'll go check out that castle! It looks weird and I'm curious."

Well, well, curiosity killed the cat. Wait, curiosity only harmed the cat. A cocaine overdose killed it.

"LET'S GO!" She bellowed and suddenly quickened her pace.

Drastic times call for drastic measures.

I jumped down from the branch at the same time with my lightning speed. The girl literally crashed onto me, and almost fell from the impact, but I caught her hand at the right time.

I looked at her –Kirisawa Fuuko- as though noticing she was there for the first time, feeling the skin of her hand and the existence of Fuujin beneath my fingers. "You all right? I asked, the usual smile tugging on my face.

Somehow, she was slightly blushing from our glance exchange. "I'm fine."

She looked a li'l bit cuter than the photograph our investigation team gave me, since the portrait couldn't picture how she stammered and widened her eyes at my sight.

It was too soon to say that I scored with her. Then I wondered vaguely if Joker was watching us from the surveillance room. "Good. Are you lost?" I dared to ask.

"You could say so, but not really, I-"

"Are you a participant of the tournament?"

She looked hesitant. "Em, yes, excuse me, I-"

"Yes?"

She pointed at her hand which is still in mine. "Can you let go of my hand?"

"Oh, sorry!" She pulled her hand brusquely the moment I loosened my grip. "It's kinda rare to see a cute girl like you around here, so I literally got carried away."

Her cheeks turned a brilliant shade of scarlet for the second time of the day. It's fun teasing her! "So, what exactly are you doing around here?"

"I want to have a look around that castle," She motioned the Uruha mansion slightly with her chin, and I slowly turned to the building's direction.

"I live there."

That, expectedly, got her fully undivided attention. From the way she was glancing moments ago, she didn't cared a thing about me. I found her fixing my figure with her curious green eyes now, as I walked casually to the castle and she followed suit. "So you want to tour the castle? No problem! I'll be your guide!"

"Huh! You are the guy who lives in the castle?" She said, obviously unaware of the fact until now. "Oh. So that's it."

In the castle, security guards in black greeted us with suspicious stares on the girl.

"I'm back," I said.

"Raiha-sama, who is the young lady?" One of the MIB asked me.

I didn't give it another thought and replied coolly. "My girlfriend."

She "PULLED" me to the side with a head lock and whispered indignantly to my ears, "Who the hell is your girlfriend?"

"Sorry. I was just kidding…" I grinned nervously.

Touchy. That explained why she didn't forgive Fujimaru. She let go of my neck quickly and hissed a line that she'll break my neck if I try to pull that move again on her.

I smiled, opened the door and welcomed her. "Come in......"

Kouran Mori's antique statues and middle century armors collection are lining in the great hall. She followed me warily, casting a curious look to each artistic object. "What do you think? Pretty isn't it? Too bad I can't take you upstairs. But the first floor is all open......" The moment I turned around, she's out of sight.

"Huh?" But her presence is still somewhat vague, and felt close.

CLANK CLANK

"Raiha-han!"

Joker's head popped out from one of the ancient armors. Each of his word is followed closely by the sound of the armor's visor clanking. "GREAT JOB! Genjuro reports that Koganei Kaoru is entering the UBS dome right now!"

"What are you doing in there? Mori'll kill you!"

"Ah, who cares? You know the best he can do is have a bunch of bodyguards follow him everywhere, and let 'em do the dirty job. Before those assholes can do a thing to me, I'm already at Hawaii, drinking Kahlua on the beach with a bunch of D cupped chicks!"

"Joker, what will we ever do without you?" I replied mockingly.

"Hey, that's what I'm here for, my man!" He grinned. "By the way, Kurei-han is waiting for you in his room."

"What about you?"

"I'm gonna watch Koganei's match with my own eyes. Don't trust those cameras. See ya!" He left by hopping inside the armor, making a loud 'CLANK' that echoed throughout the great hall every time he moved.

I was halfway to Kurei's chamber when Joker yelled.

"Raiha-han! Nice work on the Hokage girl!"

Kurei's unmasked face immediately greeted me the moment I entered his chamber. He sat on one of the couch, resting his chin on his right fist. "The chimaera's against Kaoru on the first round," He said, watching the monitors inside his room which was showing the match of division A, round 2 ( Koganei Kaoru vs. Shiju ) from every possible angle.

The creature with enormous fangs shrieked and lunged to Kaoru's direction.

"Is that Genjuro's experimental human and animal fusion?" I asked.

A sinister smile tugged on my master's face. "A combination of human and lion genes. Quite interesting, isn't it?"

"Kurei-sama, Genjuro seems to be conducting another experiment under the command of Mori Kouran. If he can create such thing, only God knows what he's maki-"

"As long as he still proves to be useful to me, I will keep him at my side. Use or be used."

I was about to open my mouth to protest, but he cut me in. "Understand?" His tone clearly said that the matter was settled.

"Affirmative," I replied, the answer was obvious.

"Good. You're dismissed."

Just when I was wondering where that Hokage girl could be, Kurei with his stare fixed on the monitors said, "The Hokage girl accidentally pushed the water dungeon's switch."

----

Volume 7 Chapter 2: Feast of the Illusion Master VI (Menou)

I walked inside the water dungeon, and found her lying on the floor - wet from head to toe, and unconscious. And just when I thought of giving her a CPR, ironically I found her …asleep. So I put her on my lap, and waited the sleeping beauty to wake up from her long-beauty slumber.

So I stared at the girl on my lap. She doesn't look like a fighter right now, in fact, she looks just like any other normal sophomore girl. Her eye lashes are long, and her skin, though filled with scars and bruises, felt a certain smooth. And her lips… I focused upon her lips. So full and so sensual, and yet so innocent. No lipstick used. Maybe if I just touched it a little…

This is what you'll get if you hang around Joker for too long. I'd better wake her up before I do something illogical or… irresponsible.

I gently patted her cheeks. It took several minutes of effort until she vaguely open her eyes, "hey...... hey... are you alright?" I said.

And her reply to me was, "Is it my prince calling me?" Immediately after, she observed her surrounding in a mere second and eventually found out that she just slept on my lap.

So I smiled and bowed at her. This would be the kicker. "Your prince at your service. I'm here to save you."

Her face was a deep shade of crimson, but whether it was due to rage or embarrassment, I can't really say.

"You're not supposed to listen to a lady's dream!!"

B A N G !

After she left, I stood up and shake my head, which was now aching terribly, and instantly knew: It's due to rage AND embarrassment.