Haruko grunted when her body collided with the asphalt. She rolled to the side as Jakun's base swung down toward her. It tore into the ground, leaving a massive crack in the cement.
"How long do you think you can keep avoiding me?" Jakun snarled as he took another swing. Haruko ducked it and returned with a swing of her own, which Jakun then deflected with his bass.
"Just about as long as you can keep being a jerk!" she threw back. She hurled her bass at him; it spun through the air, flying toward him in an unstoppable arc. Jakun leapt high into the air, somersaulting, and the twirling weapon flew beneath him, his feet slamming back to the ground just as flew further away.
"Missed!" he cackled.
"Don't be so sure" Haruko said with a mousy smile. Jakun realized what she meant when the guitar made its return flight, swinging around like boomerang. It crashed into him from behind, leveling him like a wrecking- ball. Haruko collapsed and rolled on the ground, roaring with laughter.
Jakun looked up at her and grunted with frustration. He stuck two of his fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly. Haruko was at a loss for what this meant until Jakun's motorcycle ran right over the top of her, leaving tread marks along the back of her clothes. She raised her head, snarling, and watched as he mounted his bike. He screamed, revved the engine, and came charging toward her.
Haruko leapt to her feet. She smirked mischeviously, tossed her bass to the ground, stood on it, and took off in the air as if she were riding the waves of the ocean on a boogie board. They charged each other like knights ready for the joust. As they crossed, Jakun made a swing, which Haruko jumped over, landing back on her bass expertly. She skidded to a stop and quickly picked her bass up once again.
Handling it like a shotgun, she fired off a shot, which tore into the tire of Jakun's bike, causing it to slip and come crashing down to the ground. Jakun yanked himself from the wreckage, and then scrambled for cover when Haruko began shooting like a madwoman. He grabbed his bike, hefted it over his shoulders, and threw it at her. It never reached her; Haruko blasting it to pieces as it sailed through the air.
When the smoke and flame cleared, Jakun leveled his own base and fired off from the hip, just like Haruko. Except he fired a rocket, which roared through the air. Haruko leapt out of the way as it crashed into one of the massive cables that suspended the bridge, blasting it to pieces.

"They're tearing the place apart!" one of the agents commented. The main staff of the IIB all sat huddled in the central chamber, glued to the massive monitor. They watched the battle that was raging with keen interest. Kitsurubami sat in the former commander's chair, watching nervously.
"I'll put fifty-yen on the crazy one!" one of the agents said suddenly.
"They're both crazy" Another added.
"Will you both knock it off!" Kitsurubami shouted, drawing startled stares from her fellow officers. She stared at them, a vein bulging in her forehead. Finally she sat back down in her chair and groaned with resignation.
"Pardon me, ma'am, but shouldn't we move in?"
"We can't interfere in this" she replied sadly, "Naota will take care of it. We just have to give him the time."
"But there are two people's lives hanging in the balance!"
"I know, I know..." she rubbed her temples. "We just have to watch and pray..."

The firefight went on for several minutes, Jakun firing a stream of rockets, Haruko returning with a hail of bullets. The bridge itself was showing the wear of the battle; the concrete pavement was being blasted to pieces, whole sections of the metal railing torn from its place, massive pieces of debris falling down into the river below.
Mamimi and Eri watched helplessly as these two lunatics slugged it out, not sure who they were hoping won. Maybe, they both hoped beyond hope, these two would destroy each other. But that still left the question of how they would free themselves unsolved. They both squirmed against the ropes that held them as their captor battled it out with Haruko.
Haruko blasted one of the rockets as it sailed through air, the explosion momentarily blocking out her line of sight. As the smoke billowed up, Jakun leveled his bass as if it were a golf club, and swung hard, smacking a small piece of debris, sending it flying. It soared through the flames and smacked Haruko in the direct center of her forehead. She stayed upright for a moment, her vision growing blurry, and then collapsed. She reached up and touched her head where the stone had struck her. When she examined her fingers, she found drops of blood.
The sound of a chainsaw roaring to life drew her attention. She looked up, and found Jakun holding up his base. A series of blades had grown out of it, and now they whirred to life. He grinned maniacally and loosed a loud scream as he came galloping toward her, his bizarre weapon held high overhead. He brought it down in an unstoppable arc, but Haruko raised her own bass above her body, blocking the bow at the last possible moment.
They strained against each other. Sparks flew from their struggling weapons, from their hate filled glares. Jakun's eyes bulged, bloodshot and full of rage. Haruko's eyes narrowed, determined and planning. Finally, she gave a shove with all the strength she could muster. It threw Jakun back. He stumbled, fell backwards. The whirring blades of his bass dug into the concrete and proceeded to drag him along the ground, his screamed protests drowned out by the sound of the concrete being shredded. It finally came to a stop at the edge of the bride, leaving him mere inches from falling to the waters below.
Haruko rose, ready to press her advantage, but Jakun now imitated the trick she had used earlier, throwing his bass into the air. Haruko tossed hers up as well, and the two guitar's began clashing against each other like swords in a duel of honor. They stabbed, parried, dodged, and thrust against each other, without any hands guiding them. But eventually they flew back to the hands of their masters, except that Haruko's bass ended up in Jakun's hands, and Jakun's bass ended up being clutched by Haruko. They glowered at each other, and then prepared to exchange weapons. Haruko tossed Jakun's bass back into the air; it floated to him without needing any direction. But Jakun, rather than return Haruko's weapon of choice, smashed it against the ground. It shattered into a thousand splinters.
Haruko screamed at the top of her lungs and charged Jakun, but was leveled by a punch that threw her to the ground. Jakun stood over her now, his blood soaked grin frightening Haruko now more than she had ever been frightened before.
"I would have waited centuries for this..." he hissed between his missing tooth. "Its over, Haruko." He began to raise his bass over his head...
"Not yet its not." Both their heads swung to see this new voice. Jakun grimaced. Haruko vaulted.
"Takuuuuuun!" she shouted. And it was indeed, the one and only Nandaba Naotao. He stood facing them, his own guitar in his hand. He gulped nervously, and stepped forward.

OOOH, things are really picking up! Hi true believers, this is your humble author once again. It seems I have been frustrating a lot of people with the lack of updates recently, but I have just been busy, busy, busy! But, to try to make up a little bit, I would like to take this opportunity to respond to a few of my wonderful reviewers! mamimi my alter ego : I thought of them when I heard this song too! That is why I chose to quote it in the beginning chapter, and to use it for the title. I just found the lyrics to be totally descriptive of Naota's relationship with Haruko. My-name-is-Wacko : Well, thanks very much for you very flattering review. I do try my best. Hope it keeps up to your expectations. Gecko, and Iloveraharu : Well, I am not sure if Naota will end up with Haruko yet. I really rarely ever know the way my stories will resolve when I start, and this one is no exception. I am sure the answer will reveal it to me soon. Doomboy2000 : Jakun is neither southpaw nor righty, he is just out on his own, heh. To add a lil tidbit for you fans of this story; when I started writing, I originally intended for Jakun to be similar to Agent Smith from The Matrix. He was a neat and clean kind of guy wearing a suit and tie with sunglasses. But, as I continued to brainstorm, I decided it would be better to have him be like Haruko on crack; crazy, unstoppable, nonsensical. And to all the rest of you who have reviewed, thank you from he bottom of my lil heart! I have received more reviews for this fic than for any of my other ones here on ff.net. I appreciate it more than you can never know. Keep reading, true believers, the calm will come after the storm!