A/N: Hey, everyone. Sorry for the long update, but I was gone for a few days. I just arrived from an L.A. trip but now I'm back and ready to wrap this story up. Hopefully, you're still interested in reading. Again, thanks for the reviews and enjoy the next chapter.
Chapter 9
"Behind The Truth"
Shane, Tori, and Dustin have completed another lesson at the Wind Ninja Academy as the well trained and dominant trio headed out the to the waterfall to meet with Sensei. Once they've open the portal and greeted him on the other side, the three bowed respectably before him and stood at attention. He nods slightly in return. "At ease." Sensei tells them as Shane, Tori, and Dustin stepped to the side in unison and place their hands behind them. "So, how are our students progressing thus far?"
"Very nicely, Sensei." Tori spoke first for the group. "They are showing much improvement."
"That's good news, Tori." Sensei smiles impressively. "What about your twins?"
"Our twins?" Shane wasn't able to comprehend at what he meant by the statement as he shares bewildered looks with the others.
"Kyle, Eric, and Tally." Their Sensei answers.
They remained lost and quiet. "Oh." Dustin suddenly chuckled out of nowhere. "I get it. Good one, Sensei."
Tori scoffs. "I do not look like Tally."
"Yeah, and Kyle?" Shane thought wrongly. "No way."
Sensei cracked a smile, and despite his serious personality, he'd like to lighten up and teased his former students a bit. "I'm only kidding. It's not the physical appearance that makes you all alike, but your way of being. Don't forget, the three of you were once like them during your first year in the Wind Ninja Academy."
"So much alike!" Dustin adds with enthusiasm. Tori and Shane turned to him in unison. "What?"
"Speak for yourself, Sensei Dustin."
He scoffs. "Hey, dude."
"Silence!"
The former Wind Rangers shuffled back in a standing right position. "Sorry, Sensei." They chorused at the same time.
"Alright, at ease." Sensei stood in front of them. "I asked that you meet me over here to fulfill a task that I hope you will all accept."
Shane's eyebrows furrowed. "What kind of task, Sensei?"
"Well," he stops in mid-sentence to recollect his thoughts, "it's something that I hope you'll enjoy doing." They listened carefully. "I have spoken with Hayley and Tommy Oliver of Reefside and they need your help with a simple favor."
"We're up for anything, Sensei."
Dustin slightly elbowed his shoulder. "Dude, what if it's like picking dog poop or something." He hisses silently.
Shane leans over and whispers. "You kidding me? Then it's something you'll be doing."
"Dude."
"Are you even listening?" Sensei snaps at Shane and Dustin as they straightened their posture.
"Yes, Sir...I mean, Sensei."
Tori rolls her eyes.
"As I was saying, Reefside High is holding a Valentine's Day Dance, and you three are invited. I may have to inform Hunter with the news later on."
"Alright!" Shane and Dustin shared a quick high-five as excitement filled their voices. "I'll be grooving in my new dance shoes. YOW!"
"I didn't know you two could dance." Tori found it amusing.
Shane grins. "You're not the only one that can bust a move yah know."
"Ahem."
The three quiet down for Sensei to continue on. "Sorry...again, Sensei...sir."
"Very well. I take it from your enthusiasm that you three are willing to do this."
"Of course." Dustin blurts out excitedly. "How often do we get a big break like this? And plus, I haven't been to a high school dance since...well...forever!"
"It's been only two years, Dustin." Tori replies vaguely. "Besides, aren't we a bit too old to be going to some stupid high school dance? We should be clubbing or something."
He scoffs. "Whatever, dude. I just want to go and take Marah out."
"You won't be necessarily dancing, Dustin." Sensei informs him as all three look up quizzically.
"What do you mean, Sensei?"
"Well, you can still have a good time..."
"Ha!" Tori interrupted his train of thought. "I knew there's a catch." Tori casually takes her place. "Go on, Sensei."
Shane turns to Sensei as they wait for his answer. "But..."
"Well, Reefside High need a few chaperones...and unfortunately, they don't have enough people who are willing to work extra hours that night, so..."
"So that means we're babysitting high schoolers on Valentine's Day." Tori finishes it off for him, followed by a deep sigh. "Great."
"What!" Shane and Dustin shrieked in unison. "Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Don't chaperones just stand around and watch?"
"Gee," Tori places her hand on the goofball's shoulder, "I didn't think you were that smart." Dustin glares at her.
"Well, it's all settled then." Sensei pats them on the back and smiles. "I'll tell Tommy that you're up for the challenge."
"But-"
"You are all dismissed." Sensei says as he disappeared into the portal. All eyes turn to Shane.
"What?"
"Oh we're up for anything, Sensei." Tori mocks her skaterboy friend as Shane pursed his lips.
"Hey!" He snaps at them. "We're teachers now. We should be able to take any challenge that comes our way." He explains to the group. "Besides, how hard could it be?"
On the other side of Blue Bay Harbor, Hunter informed his students to meet him at a designated area, outside the Thunder Ninja Academy. Once they arrived in their street clothes like they were told to, his students all gave each other puzzled looks without the slightest clue what to expect in training that day. As they start a discussion on the topic, Hunter appeared from a portal as they quickly stood at attention upon his approach. Hunter stopped in front of his students and nodded. "At ease." One student raises a hand. "Yes, Robert."
"Sensei Hunter, shouldn't we be in our ninja uniforms during training?" He asks politely.
"You're right, but we're not training today." Hunter tells them as they all muttered away in excitement. "But we'll be doing something else." They fell into complete silence.
"What are we doing, Sensei?"
Hunter smirks as he revealed them a great number of buckets, sponges, hoses, and posters placed on the ground. His students wrinkled their foreheads in utter confusion as they wait for an explanation. "We'll be doing a car wash today and hopefully raise alot of money out of it."
"Alright!" They cheered on excitedly as Hunter raised an eyebrow, taken by surprise with their eagerness on the idea.
"Hmm...I expected worst from your responses."
"You kidding?" One chuckles. "Anything to get out of training is fine by me!"
"Yeah!" Another exclaims as Hunter nods his head in dismay.
"Sensei?"
He looks at the blonde female. "Yes, Maggie?"
"What are we raising money for anyway?"
Everyone fell into silence once again as all eyes turn to him. "Oh...well, umm...it's for a good cause really." Hunter groans while scratching the back of his head.
"What kind of cause?" One plasters a playful grin.
"Well...a friend of mine who teachers at the Wind Ninja Academy encountered a car accident about a week ago and unfortunately doesn't have a car, so I thought it'd be nice if we help and hopefully raise enough to buy a new one."
"Is this friend...a girl?"
Hunter chuckles. "Yes, it's for a girl."
"Do you like her?"
He scoffs. "I am not discussing my personal life with any of you."
"This must be for a Valentine's Day gift! That's so sweet!" One of his female students gushed over in awed.
"I never said that." Hunter retorts.
"It is huh?"
"No."
"Sure, Sensei. Sure."
Hunter rolls his eyes as he becomes annoyed with their immaturity. They would make fun of him quite often during and out of class, which was amusing to Leanne at times. Regardless of their off and on moments, Hunter has become attached to his students and vice versa for the past year. They've become like family; a disoriented one. "So...are you guys up for the challenge?" He asks, getting right to the point.
"Oh yeah! Let do this!"
He smiles. "Alright. Let's get to work then."
Conner kicked the soccer ball into the net as Kira and Ethan cheered him on from outside the field. A satisfied grin spread across his face as he runs over to get the ball and stuffs it in his red duffel bag. "So am I doing better?" He asks once Kira and Ethan approached him in the middle of the field.
They smiled. "Much better, dude."
"You got game after all, Conner." His female companion teased a bit as he turns to her with an evil glare "I'll catch you two later."
"Hey, where you going?"
Kira looks over her shoulder. "Girl's locker room. Need to pick up a few things."
"Do you need a ride to Hayley's after?"
"No." She smiles brightly. "Trent is giving me a ride. I'll meet you guys there."
Conner arches his brow as he turns to Ethan confusingly. "She seems very happy today, don't you think?"
"Oh yeah." He grins. "That's because Trent asked her to the dance."
"What!" Conner yells out surprisingly. "He what!" His eyes grew larger in outrage.
"Whoa," Ethan backs up away from him, "you need to calm down, my friend."
Conner runs a hand through his light brown hair to ease up a bit. "Well, why didn't you tell me?"
"I don't know." He shrugged. "I thought you knew it was going to happen sooner or later." Conner looks down and bit his lip. "What's the big deal anyway? It's not like you sent her those flowers in attempt to ask her to the dance just in case someone else asks her when all she could be thinking about is the mysterious person that sent them." The jock remained quiet as he slowly looks up at him. Ethan furrowed his eyebrows. "What? Say something."
He grunted in defeat. "Dude," Conner looks down and sighs. "You got me."
"What are you talking about?" Ethan asks. Conner just makes a face as he watches the computer whiz look more confuse than ever. Just then, his eyes widen. "Oh...my...gosh..." He covered his mouth in shock. "No...freaking...way!"
"SHH!" Conner pulls him to the side as people walk by them. "Don't say anything." He hissed out of paranoia.
Ethan's mouth fell open. "So it was you? It was you that sent those flowers to Kira wasn't it?"
He looks down and blushes. "Yeah."
"Wait a minute. You were precisely late that day because-" Ethan pauses in mid sentence and smirks, "Oh...my...gosh."
Conner scoffs as he rolls his eyes. "Will you stop saying that?"
"This is huge." He thought excitedly. "I mean...how are you gonna tell Kira? Better yet, Trent!"
"I don't know." Conner sighs out of frustration. "I'm just gonna use Tori's advice."
"Tori?"
"Yeah, I ran into her yesterday while I was at Blue Bay Harbor."
"Oh." Ethan nodded his head. "Our football team defeated them last night in overtime by the way."
Conner turns to him weirdly. "Since when do you care?"
He grunts. "Okay, never mind. So what are you gonna do?"
Conner looks at Ethan. "I'm going to tell her the truth."
Upon Kira's arrival inside the woman's locker room, she heard a bunch of girls coming in from cheerleading practice as the musician rushed inside a bathroom stall. "Great." Kira thought agitatedly as she sat on the toilet and waited patiently for them to leave.
"Ugh, I swear." One of the girls grunted. "If coach yells at me again, I'm going to have a total bitch fit."
"Like right now?" Her teammate chuckles.
"Yes, Melanie. Like right now!" She yells out of frustration while kicking her gym back from off the bench. "She's driving my nuts. I say we sue her ass and fire her!"
"Better yet, let's seduce her hunky boyfriend. I heard he cheats on her."
Kira rolls her eyes from behind the bathroom door as she continues to listen.
"Get a rip, all of you!" Their captain yells out as all eyes turn to her. The room fell silent. "Damn...enough bitchin' already! She led us to three national championships in a row, and because of her we are considered one of the best squads in the state. We're the shit, the best there is out there." She added. "Now I don't want to give that up. Do you?" They exchange bewildered looks and remain quiet. "I thought so."
"Ugh." Another beams coldly at her. "Who made you boss, Joanna?"
She stares down at her long time rival. "I'm team captain, Megan and I'm in charge. Don't like it, then you should resign as co-captain. Better yet, quit if you dare." Megan crosses her arms and pouts. "Didn't think so."
"Yeah? What kind of a cheerleader goes out with a geek like Ethan James anyway?" Megan giggles. "Oh wait, I forgot. You're playing him just like the little ho I always thought you'd be. Some role model you are for the team." She adds sarcastically.
"You want to say that again, bitch?"
"Whoa, guys." Melanie stood between them before they start to lash out at each other with their fist. "Shit. Enough already." They glared at each other as they slowly ease up their temper. "Damn."
"Ethan is a nice guy." Nicole, one of the nice and gentler members of the cheerleading squad shyly spoke up. "You shouldn't be toying with his feelings."
"Says who?" Joanna scoffs with an attitude. "I get big bucks just to go to the dance with him, and there's no way I'll be losing the bet. Besides, losers don't care." She joked. "They just want the attention."
Kira looks down and bit her lip, appalled at what was just heard. "Poor Ethan." She sadly whispers. "I gotta tell him."
"Thank you." Tori handed the cab driver some money as she steps out from the vehicle, holding on to a few grocery bags. She decided to stop by at Dustin's where all the guys usually hang out right after class or work aside from their sport activities. Instead of ordering up pizza and Chinese food every time for the past couple of days, Tori agreed on doing all the cooking, which her male companions enjoy having when they ever get the chance to. Once she reached the front porch of Dustin's home, she slowly reaches over the doorbell and gently presses on it. Tori waits patiently under the cool darken night when suddenly the last person she wanted to see opens the door and sticks his head out. 'Uh oh.' He thought as he smiles weakly in her presence. "Umm...Hey, Tor." Hunter steps outside and closes the door behind.
"Hunter." She replies vaguely. "Is everyone in there?"
He bit his lip and nodded. "Uh huh."
"Well...can I come in?"
He rubs the back of his neck nervously. "Oh come in? Now?" Hunter chuckled as he takes the grocery bags from her grasp and places it down on the rocking chair nearby. "It's a beautiful night. Let's stay out here for a bit." Tori furrowed her eyebrows curiously.
"Why?"
"Because," he pauses in mid sentenced to think of something realistic to say, "it's clear and nice out." Hunter smiles. "Don't you want to see the stars and count them?"
Tori stares at him weirdly as she crosses her arms. "Okay, what's going on?" She demanded an answer.
"What do you mean?"
"Counting stars? Beautiful night out? Uh yeah, it's definitely something you would say." Tori thought sarcastically. He frowned as she rolls her eyes. "Cut the crap out, Hunter and let me in."
"Wait!" He steps in front of her before reaching the doorknob. "You can't go in there. Uhh...it's a total mess! You wouldn't like it."
"Why am I not surprised?"
"Well, it's pretty smelly in there too." Hunter makes a face as Tori narrows her eyes. She wasn't convinced by him one bit.
"You're hiding something." She says suspiciously. "I know it."
"No, I'm not." He argues back.
"I'll see for myself then. Move!" The blonde roughly pushes Hunter out of the way as she easily makes her way inside the house. 'Damn.' He muttered while following Tori behind towards the livingroom. 'Not good.' Once Tori stepped inside where all the guys were, her mouth fell open in surprise as her gaze lingers on one unexpected visitor. "Blake?" She whispers breathlessly. The guys all exchanged worried glances as the Factor Blue rider looked over his shoulder and smiles.
"Oh hey, Tori." Blake wraps his arm around some redhead. "You two get to finally meet." The mysterious, beautiful woman turned around to look her way as Tori arches her brow in bewilderment.
"So you're the infamous Tori Blake can't stop talking about." She smirks. "It's finally great to see you."
The blonde forces a weak smile. "Not to sound rude or anything, but who are you?"
She shifts her gaze over to Blake and smiles. "Tori, this my girlfriend Irish."
A/N: Don't forget to review!
