Disclaimer: I do not own any of the X-Men movie characters.
Title: Unforgivable Sinners
By: Cmdr. Gabe E.
Note: This fanfiction occurs entirely in the X-Men movie-verse . Characters' unspoken thoughts are enclosed in .
= = = = = = = = = = = = = =
W00T!!! Chapter 45 is finally up =D!!! Thanks for the wonderful reviews, everyone =D! I'm actually glad that you find this new 'charater' aka the 'young' Stryker (yet still old, though technically, him and Yuriko are of the same age) rather interesting. Anyway, kewl to know you're enjoying the story, 'Rose goes GRR' =D! I hope you like this new chapter as much as you liked the previous ones =D!
= = = = == = = = = = = = =
Chapter 45: Clarity
He suddenly felt his heart pounding in his chest as he looked at her. Her white tanktop exposed her smooth, tan shoulders and it emphasized the curves of her torso. Her shorts wrapped snuggly around her hips and revealed too much of her firm, well-shaped legs. He really couldn't deny how beautiful she looked. But then, he shouldn't even be looking at her in that way. He had to stop. It wasn't right and he wasn't that kind of man. He had to look away.
"As for your glasses..." She said, breaking the silence.
Stryker almost felt his heart jump when he heard Yuriko's voice. For a second there, he thought that she had caught him looking at her. Perhaps it was a good thing that Yuriko had spoken. If she hadn't, he might have stared at her longer, and she really might have caught him looking at her. The last thing he wanted was for Yuriko to think that he 'yearned' for her in that kind of 'perverse' way.
She placed her hands on her waist and searched the floor with her eyes. The room wasn't really that big, so if it had fallen on the floor, she would have already seen it by now. Then she looked at him. "...It probably slipped under your bed. Either that, or it slipped under mine." She said matter-of-factly.
He looked at her and clasped his hands together. "Well, then I'll go look for it right now." He said with a smile.
"Okay. You go look under your bed, and I'll go look under mine." She said as she motioned her hand towards her bed. She walked to the side of her bed and went down on her hands on knees. She lifted the covers that draped over its side and started to search underneath it. She had to get down on her elbows to be able to fit her upper body in there. "It's pretty dark in here." She said as she looked for his glasses.
Stryker's eyes opened wide when he saw Yuriko in such a position. While most of her upper body was under the bed, her legs were left out in the open. And if there was one thing he noticed, it was that her shorts were really 'too' short from where he was standing. Why did she even have to wear something like that?
/"Stop looking!"/ He thought to himself. /"Turn around!"/
"Is it under your bed?!" She shouted as she continued to look under her bed. "I think it's not under mine."
He quickly turned around and walked towards his bed. "Um...I'm going to look for it now." He shouted back at her.
He quickly unbuttoned his jacket and slipped it off his shoulders. It was the only suit he had and he didn't want it to get dirty. He placed the jacket on his bed, and then he quickly slipped the tie off his neck and flung it over his suit. Then he unbuttoned the two topmost buttons of his polo shirt and quickly rolled his sleeves up. He definitely felt more comfortable now. Those formal clothes made him feel constrained and suffocated.
He carefully went down on his hands and knees and lifted the cover that draped over the side of his bed. Yuriko was right. It really was quite dark in there. He went down on his elbows and searched underneath the bed. He extended his hand and felt the area for any signs of his glasses. He could barely see anything due to his poor eyesight, and the darkness didn't help either.
"Yeah...It's not under mine." Shouted Yuriko from under her bed. "It must really be under yours." She took one last look in the area, and then slowly crawled out of it.
Stryker searched further under his bed and he suddenly felt his hand run over something solid. He clasped his hand around the object and instantly knew that it was his glasses. "Finally." He whispered under his breath.
He brought his glasses close to his face and carefully ran his fingers over the lenses, wiping some of the dust away. Their room was actually one of the rooms that had just been repaired, which would explain the excessive amount of dust under their beds. He wore the glasses over his eyes and once again had a perfect, twenty-twenty vision...though he really couldn't see much of a difference from underneath the bed.
"You found it!" Said a familiar voice.
Stryker suddenly looked to his side and his eyes opened wide with surprise as he saw Yuriko right beside him under his bed. "Yuriko!" He shouted. His entire upper body suddenly jerked up and his head hit the railing that supported the mattress of his bed from underneath. "Ow!!!" He cried out in agony as he felt his newly stitched forehead hit the railing hard.
He shifted himself and fell on the floor on his back, with most of his upper body still underneath the bed. A look of intense agony could clearly be seen on his face and his eyes were closed tight from the throbbing pain. His chest heaved up and down as quick breaths escaped from his gritted teeth. He placed a hand over his head injury and was careful not to touch it too hard. "Oh God...Oh that hurts." He groaned. He continued to wince in pain as he felt the raw, aching sensation on his newly stitched cut.
Yuriko's eyes opened wide when she saw what happened to him. Stryker was practically right next to her when he hit his head. And from the looks of it, he hit his head really hard. She even heard the impact of his skull hitting the railing. "Oh my God are you okay?!" She asked with a panicked, worried tone in her voice. She moved closer to him and placed a hand over his chest. "William?" She asked. She could still see him wincing in pain, and his eyes were still closed.
His eyes slowly opened into narrow slits and he looked at her. "Are you sure you're not trying to kill me?" He muttered with a joking tone in his voice. He could barely talk from the intense pain that was throbbing in his skull.
She sighed and smiled back at him. "If I really wanted to kill you, then I could have at least chosen a more spacious location. I don't think killing someone under the bed is that dramatic." She said with her eyebrows raised. Then she gave out a humble laugh.
Stryker forced a smile upon his lips as he looked at her. Then he suddenly noticed how close she was to him. Her hand was on his chest and her face was only a couple of inches away from his. After all, the space underneath the bed wasn't vertically high enough for two people to move about comfortably.
He felt his heart pounding in his chest as he looked at her. She was definitely too close for comfort. He could almost feel her breath against his face. Then his eyes glanced down at her body. Because of how she was leaning on her elbow, her loose tanktop hung from her chest with its plunging neckline innocently exposing the cleavage of her bosom. He quickly moved his eyes away from her body, but he felt his heart beating faster and harder than before. Why did he keep on getting into situations like this?
"So, are you all right?" She asked curiously. "Your heart's beating really fast. Are you sure you're okay?" She gently pressed her hand against his chest. She could really feel his heart pounding in his ribcage as if he had just run for a full hour.
Stryker's entire body tensed up as he felt her hand pressing against his chest. The feeling of her fingers against him sent shivers up his spine. Their physical closeness, her touch, her voice, her face, and the view of her body was definitely too much for him to handle.
His eyes opened wide and then he smiled at her. "Okay. I'm fine now." He said with a happy smile on his face. He couldn't take the atmosphere any longer. He had to get out of there before he thought of her in a way that he didn't want to think of her.
He quickly moved himself from underneath the bed, and then immediately stood up and brushed himself off. He could still feel the stinging sensation in his forehead, but that was the least of his concerns now.
/"Damn you, William!"/ He thought to himself.
Yuriko crawled out from under the bed and stood up. She brushed herself off and straightened her clothing, and then she looked at him and smiled. "Well, if you say you're fine, then I guess you are." She said with her eyebrows raised. Then she stepped towards him and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "That is your body after all." She looked at the bandage on Stryker's forehead. "Though if I were you, I'd have Ororo check your stitches really quick, just to be sure."
Then the smile on her lips suddenly faded. Her eyes opened wide and she quickly stepped away from him. Her eyes looked so empty, as if she was staring at something that wasn't there. She looked like she had just seen a ghost pass right in front of her face.
"Yuriko?" Stryker asked, with his eyebrows furrowed.
But Yuriko didn't respond. She neither moved nor looked at him. She just stood there, with her wide, open, empty eyes...as she had another glimpse of her past.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
It was the three of them again...her, Logan and the young Stryker. She found it odd that she had never had a vision with just her and Logan. Stryker always seemed to be there, tipping the scale like a foreign force. Like her previous visions, this too was void of any sound. It also played like a silent movie in her mind...a silent movie that felt so real and vivid, as if she could reach out and feel everything against her skin.
The three of them seemed to be in some sort of training hall. Each side of the spacious room had shelves and racks filled with different kinds of weapons. One wall was filled with guns, the other wall was filled with swords and other close-range armaments, and the other side of the wall had long-range hand weapons. The room was definitely well equipped with almost every kind of artillery.
All of them looked like they had just finished some intense physical training. She saw herself wearing a tight-fitting gray tanktop that went down to her chest, and gray cycling shorts that looked snug around her thighs. As for Logan and William, both of them wore nothing on their top, except for the dogtags that hung around their necks. They were both wearing jogging pants and Stryker had his glasses on his face...those same glasses.
She saw herself walk towards Logan and wrap her arms around his neck. And Logan wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her close to him. Both of them had gentle smiles on their lips, as they looked deep into each other's eyes. She could almost feel his sweaty chest and muscular physique against her skin as she saw herself and Logan together like that. Then she saw their lips moving. They were talking to each other. As always, she heard none of their words, not even a faint whisper. What were they talking about? Were they really in love before? Were they?
Then she saw the young Stryker...He...he was looking at them and he had a gun on each hand. She really couldn't really tell what kind of guns they were, for her vision became blurry when it showed her unimportant things. He smirked and then walked towards the gun rack. He had a disgruntled look on his face as he carelessly put the guns back in their appropriate place. He didn't look happy at all.
Her vision suddenly drifted back to her and Logan. Their arms were still wrapped around each other's bodies and their eyes were still locked in each other's gaze. Then he slowly moved his face closer to hers...and he gently kissed her on the lips. It was a brief kiss, but it was a kiss nonetheless. They really were in love before. She could see it in their eyes. They really were in love in the past.
They both smiled and Logan gently pulled away from her. His lips moved again, and so did hers. What were they saying now? Then Logan looked at Stryker and called out to him. Stryker turned around and said something back to Logan. She wished she could hear what they were saying. The two men laughed and Logan gave Stryker a small salute. Then he looked back at her again with those tender, loving, and piercing eyes. His lips moved as he said something to her.
She saw herself smile back at Logan. Then he smiled back at her. He turned around and walked to the entrance of the training hall. He turned his head to smile at her for the last time, and then he went out of the hall, leaving her and Stryker alone.
Then the two of them, her and Stryker, were left standing there, staring at each other for what seemed like forever. She still couldn't believe how different he looked in his younger years...that strong face, those sharp blue eyes, and his brown hair that swept over his thick eyebrows. She didn't want to admit it, but he was a rather good-looking young man. His physique was different too. His body wasn't as muscular as Logan's, but he had the body of an athlete...tall, lean and well formed. She couldn't imagine how this young man had turned into the old William Stryker she had known.
The Yuriko in her vision smiled at Stryker and she walked towards him. She stood in front of him and stared deeply into his eyes. Her lips moved and then she laughed. She was saying something to him. Then Stryker sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. He placed his hands on his waist and arched an eyebrow as he looked back at Yuriko.
She arched an eyebrow back at him and smirked in a taunting way. What was going on between the two of them? What were they talking about? Then she laughed and suddenly snatched the glasses off his face. He shouted in protest, and Yuriko took a few steps back and teasingly dangled his glasses by the edge of her fingers. She was laughing as she did. What in the world were they doing?
Stryker laughed and walked towards Yuriko. He was talking as he approached her. Then as soon as he was an arm's reach away from her, he moved his hand forward in an attempt to snatch his glasses off her hand. But as soon as he did, Yuriko quickly moved her hand behind her back and took another step away. She smiled and winked at him.
A sly grin formed on Stryker's lips as he glared at her. He quickly walked towards her and tried to snatch his glasses from behind her back, but Yuriko was able to avoid him with ease. He tried again, and again, but she was able to evade his every move, stepping back whenever he get closer. They were both laughing as they tried to out-maneuver each other. And from the looks of it, Yuriko had the upper hand. Though he was taller, she was more agile and faster than him.
He suddenly had a determined look on his face as he watched her movements. He spun around and sent a low kick towards Yuriko's ankle. Yuriko yelped as she fell backwards on the floor. As soon as she hit the floor, Stryker quickly got on top of her and pinned her arms on the ground. His dogtag dangled from his neck and gently brushed against her chest. He arched an eyebrow and grinned as he stared at her, and she stared back at him and smiled. Then he said something, and the two of them started laughing again.
He turned his head to look Yuriko's hand. She was still holding on to his glasses. He moved his hand away from her arm and reached out to take his glasses from her. But as soon as he let go of her arm, Yuriko quickly rolled him over and pinned him down so that she was now the one on top. She looked down at him and grinned in a taunting way. He tried to struggle, but Yuriko held his arms down on the floor without any difficulty. Then he stopped struggling, and they just stared at each other. Neither of them even moved. They just stared. Then Yuriko slowly moved her face closer to his and...
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
"Yuriko!!!" Shouted a familiar voice.
Yuriko's eyes opened wide and she saw the face of the older Stryker looking at her. She was finally back in the present. She could feel her heart beating so fast in her chest, while quick, rugged breaths escaped from her lips. She felt like a person who had just been pulled out of the water. She looked around and found herself lying down on her bed, with Stryker seated right next to her. He had a panicked, worried look on his face.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Title: Unforgivable Sinners
By: Cmdr. Gabe E.
Note: This fanfiction occurs entirely in the X-Men movie-verse . Characters' unspoken thoughts are enclosed in .
= = = = = = = = = = = = = =
W00T!!! Chapter 45 is finally up =D!!! Thanks for the wonderful reviews, everyone =D! I'm actually glad that you find this new 'charater' aka the 'young' Stryker (yet still old, though technically, him and Yuriko are of the same age) rather interesting. Anyway, kewl to know you're enjoying the story, 'Rose goes GRR' =D! I hope you like this new chapter as much as you liked the previous ones =D!
= = = = == = = = = = = = =
Chapter 45: Clarity
He suddenly felt his heart pounding in his chest as he looked at her. Her white tanktop exposed her smooth, tan shoulders and it emphasized the curves of her torso. Her shorts wrapped snuggly around her hips and revealed too much of her firm, well-shaped legs. He really couldn't deny how beautiful she looked. But then, he shouldn't even be looking at her in that way. He had to stop. It wasn't right and he wasn't that kind of man. He had to look away.
"As for your glasses..." She said, breaking the silence.
Stryker almost felt his heart jump when he heard Yuriko's voice. For a second there, he thought that she had caught him looking at her. Perhaps it was a good thing that Yuriko had spoken. If she hadn't, he might have stared at her longer, and she really might have caught him looking at her. The last thing he wanted was for Yuriko to think that he 'yearned' for her in that kind of 'perverse' way.
She placed her hands on her waist and searched the floor with her eyes. The room wasn't really that big, so if it had fallen on the floor, she would have already seen it by now. Then she looked at him. "...It probably slipped under your bed. Either that, or it slipped under mine." She said matter-of-factly.
He looked at her and clasped his hands together. "Well, then I'll go look for it right now." He said with a smile.
"Okay. You go look under your bed, and I'll go look under mine." She said as she motioned her hand towards her bed. She walked to the side of her bed and went down on her hands on knees. She lifted the covers that draped over its side and started to search underneath it. She had to get down on her elbows to be able to fit her upper body in there. "It's pretty dark in here." She said as she looked for his glasses.
Stryker's eyes opened wide when he saw Yuriko in such a position. While most of her upper body was under the bed, her legs were left out in the open. And if there was one thing he noticed, it was that her shorts were really 'too' short from where he was standing. Why did she even have to wear something like that?
/"Stop looking!"/ He thought to himself. /"Turn around!"/
"Is it under your bed?!" She shouted as she continued to look under her bed. "I think it's not under mine."
He quickly turned around and walked towards his bed. "Um...I'm going to look for it now." He shouted back at her.
He quickly unbuttoned his jacket and slipped it off his shoulders. It was the only suit he had and he didn't want it to get dirty. He placed the jacket on his bed, and then he quickly slipped the tie off his neck and flung it over his suit. Then he unbuttoned the two topmost buttons of his polo shirt and quickly rolled his sleeves up. He definitely felt more comfortable now. Those formal clothes made him feel constrained and suffocated.
He carefully went down on his hands and knees and lifted the cover that draped over the side of his bed. Yuriko was right. It really was quite dark in there. He went down on his elbows and searched underneath the bed. He extended his hand and felt the area for any signs of his glasses. He could barely see anything due to his poor eyesight, and the darkness didn't help either.
"Yeah...It's not under mine." Shouted Yuriko from under her bed. "It must really be under yours." She took one last look in the area, and then slowly crawled out of it.
Stryker searched further under his bed and he suddenly felt his hand run over something solid. He clasped his hand around the object and instantly knew that it was his glasses. "Finally." He whispered under his breath.
He brought his glasses close to his face and carefully ran his fingers over the lenses, wiping some of the dust away. Their room was actually one of the rooms that had just been repaired, which would explain the excessive amount of dust under their beds. He wore the glasses over his eyes and once again had a perfect, twenty-twenty vision...though he really couldn't see much of a difference from underneath the bed.
"You found it!" Said a familiar voice.
Stryker suddenly looked to his side and his eyes opened wide with surprise as he saw Yuriko right beside him under his bed. "Yuriko!" He shouted. His entire upper body suddenly jerked up and his head hit the railing that supported the mattress of his bed from underneath. "Ow!!!" He cried out in agony as he felt his newly stitched forehead hit the railing hard.
He shifted himself and fell on the floor on his back, with most of his upper body still underneath the bed. A look of intense agony could clearly be seen on his face and his eyes were closed tight from the throbbing pain. His chest heaved up and down as quick breaths escaped from his gritted teeth. He placed a hand over his head injury and was careful not to touch it too hard. "Oh God...Oh that hurts." He groaned. He continued to wince in pain as he felt the raw, aching sensation on his newly stitched cut.
Yuriko's eyes opened wide when she saw what happened to him. Stryker was practically right next to her when he hit his head. And from the looks of it, he hit his head really hard. She even heard the impact of his skull hitting the railing. "Oh my God are you okay?!" She asked with a panicked, worried tone in her voice. She moved closer to him and placed a hand over his chest. "William?" She asked. She could still see him wincing in pain, and his eyes were still closed.
His eyes slowly opened into narrow slits and he looked at her. "Are you sure you're not trying to kill me?" He muttered with a joking tone in his voice. He could barely talk from the intense pain that was throbbing in his skull.
She sighed and smiled back at him. "If I really wanted to kill you, then I could have at least chosen a more spacious location. I don't think killing someone under the bed is that dramatic." She said with her eyebrows raised. Then she gave out a humble laugh.
Stryker forced a smile upon his lips as he looked at her. Then he suddenly noticed how close she was to him. Her hand was on his chest and her face was only a couple of inches away from his. After all, the space underneath the bed wasn't vertically high enough for two people to move about comfortably.
He felt his heart pounding in his chest as he looked at her. She was definitely too close for comfort. He could almost feel her breath against his face. Then his eyes glanced down at her body. Because of how she was leaning on her elbow, her loose tanktop hung from her chest with its plunging neckline innocently exposing the cleavage of her bosom. He quickly moved his eyes away from her body, but he felt his heart beating faster and harder than before. Why did he keep on getting into situations like this?
"So, are you all right?" She asked curiously. "Your heart's beating really fast. Are you sure you're okay?" She gently pressed her hand against his chest. She could really feel his heart pounding in his ribcage as if he had just run for a full hour.
Stryker's entire body tensed up as he felt her hand pressing against his chest. The feeling of her fingers against him sent shivers up his spine. Their physical closeness, her touch, her voice, her face, and the view of her body was definitely too much for him to handle.
His eyes opened wide and then he smiled at her. "Okay. I'm fine now." He said with a happy smile on his face. He couldn't take the atmosphere any longer. He had to get out of there before he thought of her in a way that he didn't want to think of her.
He quickly moved himself from underneath the bed, and then immediately stood up and brushed himself off. He could still feel the stinging sensation in his forehead, but that was the least of his concerns now.
/"Damn you, William!"/ He thought to himself.
Yuriko crawled out from under the bed and stood up. She brushed herself off and straightened her clothing, and then she looked at him and smiled. "Well, if you say you're fine, then I guess you are." She said with her eyebrows raised. Then she stepped towards him and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "That is your body after all." She looked at the bandage on Stryker's forehead. "Though if I were you, I'd have Ororo check your stitches really quick, just to be sure."
Then the smile on her lips suddenly faded. Her eyes opened wide and she quickly stepped away from him. Her eyes looked so empty, as if she was staring at something that wasn't there. She looked like she had just seen a ghost pass right in front of her face.
"Yuriko?" Stryker asked, with his eyebrows furrowed.
But Yuriko didn't respond. She neither moved nor looked at him. She just stood there, with her wide, open, empty eyes...as she had another glimpse of her past.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
It was the three of them again...her, Logan and the young Stryker. She found it odd that she had never had a vision with just her and Logan. Stryker always seemed to be there, tipping the scale like a foreign force. Like her previous visions, this too was void of any sound. It also played like a silent movie in her mind...a silent movie that felt so real and vivid, as if she could reach out and feel everything against her skin.
The three of them seemed to be in some sort of training hall. Each side of the spacious room had shelves and racks filled with different kinds of weapons. One wall was filled with guns, the other wall was filled with swords and other close-range armaments, and the other side of the wall had long-range hand weapons. The room was definitely well equipped with almost every kind of artillery.
All of them looked like they had just finished some intense physical training. She saw herself wearing a tight-fitting gray tanktop that went down to her chest, and gray cycling shorts that looked snug around her thighs. As for Logan and William, both of them wore nothing on their top, except for the dogtags that hung around their necks. They were both wearing jogging pants and Stryker had his glasses on his face...those same glasses.
She saw herself walk towards Logan and wrap her arms around his neck. And Logan wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her close to him. Both of them had gentle smiles on their lips, as they looked deep into each other's eyes. She could almost feel his sweaty chest and muscular physique against her skin as she saw herself and Logan together like that. Then she saw their lips moving. They were talking to each other. As always, she heard none of their words, not even a faint whisper. What were they talking about? Were they really in love before? Were they?
Then she saw the young Stryker...He...he was looking at them and he had a gun on each hand. She really couldn't really tell what kind of guns they were, for her vision became blurry when it showed her unimportant things. He smirked and then walked towards the gun rack. He had a disgruntled look on his face as he carelessly put the guns back in their appropriate place. He didn't look happy at all.
Her vision suddenly drifted back to her and Logan. Their arms were still wrapped around each other's bodies and their eyes were still locked in each other's gaze. Then he slowly moved his face closer to hers...and he gently kissed her on the lips. It was a brief kiss, but it was a kiss nonetheless. They really were in love before. She could see it in their eyes. They really were in love in the past.
They both smiled and Logan gently pulled away from her. His lips moved again, and so did hers. What were they saying now? Then Logan looked at Stryker and called out to him. Stryker turned around and said something back to Logan. She wished she could hear what they were saying. The two men laughed and Logan gave Stryker a small salute. Then he looked back at her again with those tender, loving, and piercing eyes. His lips moved as he said something to her.
She saw herself smile back at Logan. Then he smiled back at her. He turned around and walked to the entrance of the training hall. He turned his head to smile at her for the last time, and then he went out of the hall, leaving her and Stryker alone.
Then the two of them, her and Stryker, were left standing there, staring at each other for what seemed like forever. She still couldn't believe how different he looked in his younger years...that strong face, those sharp blue eyes, and his brown hair that swept over his thick eyebrows. She didn't want to admit it, but he was a rather good-looking young man. His physique was different too. His body wasn't as muscular as Logan's, but he had the body of an athlete...tall, lean and well formed. She couldn't imagine how this young man had turned into the old William Stryker she had known.
The Yuriko in her vision smiled at Stryker and she walked towards him. She stood in front of him and stared deeply into his eyes. Her lips moved and then she laughed. She was saying something to him. Then Stryker sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. He placed his hands on his waist and arched an eyebrow as he looked back at Yuriko.
She arched an eyebrow back at him and smirked in a taunting way. What was going on between the two of them? What were they talking about? Then she laughed and suddenly snatched the glasses off his face. He shouted in protest, and Yuriko took a few steps back and teasingly dangled his glasses by the edge of her fingers. She was laughing as she did. What in the world were they doing?
Stryker laughed and walked towards Yuriko. He was talking as he approached her. Then as soon as he was an arm's reach away from her, he moved his hand forward in an attempt to snatch his glasses off her hand. But as soon as he did, Yuriko quickly moved her hand behind her back and took another step away. She smiled and winked at him.
A sly grin formed on Stryker's lips as he glared at her. He quickly walked towards her and tried to snatch his glasses from behind her back, but Yuriko was able to avoid him with ease. He tried again, and again, but she was able to evade his every move, stepping back whenever he get closer. They were both laughing as they tried to out-maneuver each other. And from the looks of it, Yuriko had the upper hand. Though he was taller, she was more agile and faster than him.
He suddenly had a determined look on his face as he watched her movements. He spun around and sent a low kick towards Yuriko's ankle. Yuriko yelped as she fell backwards on the floor. As soon as she hit the floor, Stryker quickly got on top of her and pinned her arms on the ground. His dogtag dangled from his neck and gently brushed against her chest. He arched an eyebrow and grinned as he stared at her, and she stared back at him and smiled. Then he said something, and the two of them started laughing again.
He turned his head to look Yuriko's hand. She was still holding on to his glasses. He moved his hand away from her arm and reached out to take his glasses from her. But as soon as he let go of her arm, Yuriko quickly rolled him over and pinned him down so that she was now the one on top. She looked down at him and grinned in a taunting way. He tried to struggle, but Yuriko held his arms down on the floor without any difficulty. Then he stopped struggling, and they just stared at each other. Neither of them even moved. They just stared. Then Yuriko slowly moved her face closer to his and...
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
"Yuriko!!!" Shouted a familiar voice.
Yuriko's eyes opened wide and she saw the face of the older Stryker looking at her. She was finally back in the present. She could feel her heart beating so fast in her chest, while quick, rugged breaths escaped from her lips. She felt like a person who had just been pulled out of the water. She looked around and found herself lying down on her bed, with Stryker seated right next to her. He had a panicked, worried look on his face.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = =