"Obligation and Duty"
Chapter 37
.oO{*sigh* Jin is gone}
#Ascot clears throat# There ARE other guys in this story, you know. #-_-l|l#
#Author# Whoa! Where'd you come from? Yeah, I know, but my being a little Irish makes me like him more. ^_~ This is my last episode on my last tape, and you know what that means?
#Eagle coughs# Buy more tapes? #^_^#
#~_~()# Toonami has taken YYH off again.#*gasp* Author goes and kills Tom from Toonami#
*****
"Team Masho is pathetic! They started out five-against- two and now there's only one left!" a demon yelled from the stands.
"Team Masho and Team Urameshi only have one more match to fight. Whoever wins this match goes on to the finals," Koto said. "Will the last member of Team Masho please enter the ring."
The last cloaked fighter stepped into the ring and faced Yusuke.
"Slap on your game hats, boys. This match decides the winner of the round!" Koto added. Team Masho's fighter took off his cloak and said, "Sorry to say, Urameshi, but you're going to die without ever laying a finger on me."
He was a dark haired man with hair that touched his shoulders. His outfit was similar to the other Masho fighters', but his was black with a red piece if fabric hanging from the shoulder plates. Koto yelled into the mic, "Begin!"
Yusuke started running at the man and said, "Alright, I'm kickin' your ass out of principle."
Just then, a female voice over the speaker said, "Stop the fight immediately."
Yusuke fell flat on his face barely five feet from the man and Koto asked into the mic, "Tournament Committee, please clarify: Why have you stopped this fight?"
There was silence for a few moments before they answered, "Upon reviewing the film of the last fight, it has been discovered that Koto delayed her ten-count significantly during Yusuke's first ring-out."
Koto was embarrassed, "Since when do we pay attention to that?"
"Therefore, by complete and unanimous decision, the fight between Yusuke and Jin has been ruled as a double-loss, and therefore, Yusuke is ineligible to fight for the duration of the round."
All the demons talked amongst themselves; some in favor of the committee, and the rest disagreeing with their ruling. The Masho fighter chuckled and said to Yusuke, "My condolences."
Koto dropped her mic and seemed dazed. The man said something as Koto bent down to pick up the mic.
"As an experienced officiater and as a lover of this tournament, I must object," she said.
"There will be no further deliberation," the committee answered. The demons cheered but Koto looked crestfallen. A blue and green haired boy started walking toward the ring from the other side and talked to the man. The man seemed to get mad at the boy, and he lifted his right arm.
His arm seemed to be covered with rock and he hit the boy in the stomach, throwing him from the ring. The man looked at his 'good work' and turned back to Koto. "And now, as for you, Koto. Do you really think it wise to be on the human's side in this stadium?" he asked her, walking towards her.
Koto walked backwards, trying to get away from the freaky guy. Yusuke stepped forward and put his arm in front of Koto, to protect her from any sudden attack.
"You know, you seem really anxious to intimidate everyone except me," he said. "What do you think that means?"
The man turned his head and smirked. Hiei spoke up from the medical tent, "Detective, don't waste your time trying to change their minds. Fight by their meaningless rules and you'll be pulled down with them. There's only one real law of the Dark Tournament: the strongest man prevails!" Hiei's energy started whipping all over the place.
"I've retrieved enough energy to rip my way out. Let's show this entire stadium a new definition for victory," Hiei made a fist. Yusuke was glaring at the man and answered, "Sounds good to me. I'm already about to go off."
The demons in the crowd cheered and Hiei's energy went even higher. Ruka was thrown backwards and her clothes were getting cut. One of the demons said, "Uh, I don't want to sound like a traitor or anything, but maybe we should cheer for Hiei?"
"Ohhh, I absolutely hate seeing such a good competitor go out of the game without having a chance to inflict pain on someone," Koto said. "But due to Yusuke's ineligibility to fight, and as there are no others on his team AVAILABLE, and there's still a member on the Masho team, by forfeit, the winner of the round is--!" Koto was cut off as Yusuke started running towards the man, but he was also cut off by Kuwabara.
"Hold it right there," Kuwabara was standing up. "We've still got one more fighter on our team." Kuwabara threw off his shirt and everyone had something to say about it.
A guard called to Botan from the doorway and she turned. "C'mon, Rei," she said. Botan and kinena-Rei ran after him and Keiko waved at them from outside. "I hope this is important, I was in the middle of a great speech!" Botan exclaimed.
"Ah, Botan," Yukina was standing outside. They stopped running and Yukina smiled, "Nice to see you."
They walked a little ways from the doorway and sat down on some rocks as Yukina told them why she was there.
"I came partially to cheer Kazuma on, but... I also came looking for my brother," she said. Thankfully she had her back to Botan, because instantly Botan freaked out. Rei tried to think how many people knew about Hiei being Yukina's brother, but right then Hiei sent a telepathic message to her, Botan, and Shizuru: 'You talk, you die.'
Shizuru stood up, "Well, sure. We'll help you look for him." Botan turned to her and Rei wondered if she had gotten the message. Shizuru whispered into Botan's ear as Keiko said, "Well, do you know what he looks like? What he does? Stuff like that?"
"Well," Yukina started, "I only know he's a skilled martial artist. So I thought this tournament would be the best chance I had at finding him."
Right then, Yukina looked towards the screen where they were showing Kuwabara. They started walking towards it and Botan jumped up and down and said something to the gist of, "I forgot to tell you; The committee has ruled Yusuke unable to fight and now Kuwabara is trying to fight in his place!"
They all understood her run-together words and Yukina said, "I can barely see. Is there any way we could get closer?"
Shizuru ran up the steps and tapped two demons on the shoulders. "Excuse me, boys," she said and punched them out of the way. They made a fuss, but she looked at them lethally, "Step aside or experience serious pain!"
All the demons moved out of the way and the girls stood in front of the screen. They watched for a few minutes before Yukina decided she wanted to get into the stadium. Rei just went back the way they had come right before a big green guy stood in the way. Turning, she looked back at the others.
"Go ahead, we'll be there in a minute!" Botan said. The green guy chuckled and said, "Not if I have something to say about it."
Rei ended up getting turned around in the cavernous stadium, and by the time she got back to the ring, Kuwabara was getting back into the ring. Botan, Keiko, and Yukina were in the audience, cheering him on, and Koto announced that Kuwabara was the winner of the match and the Urameshi team could go to the next round!
The look on Hiei's face was absolutely priceless when he saw Yukina. Yusuke hopped into the ring and patted Kuwabara on the shoulder, but Kuwabara was too weak to stand any longer. They managed to pull him out of the stadium and they all took a walk. Keiko and Yusuke went off somewhere, as did Kuwabara and Yukina. Rei was left with Kurama, because the Masked Fighter and Hiei also went seperate ways. Rei and Kurama walked past some trees and saw Botan crouching behind some bushes.
"All I'm saying is, you coulda atleast dropped by our room or something. It's not like we're on some stupid field trip with chaperons," Yusuke's voice said. Rei started inching closer to where Botan was sitting so she could listen in on the conversation also, but Keiko's answer stopped her.
"Maybe I didn't want to interrupt. You seem to be having plenty of fun with those demons."
Kurama pushed Rei along and gave a reprimanding glance to Botan. "You should know better," he whispered to her.
"I can't help it!" Botan whispered back. Rei and Kurama walked further from the trees and stood on the beach. They heard Keiko saying, "Yusuke, you jerk!" and two slaps.
They sat down and Rei turned to Kurama, "Do you think I read too much into things?"
Kurama stared out towards the horizon. "What do you mean? By what Keiko said?"
She nodded. Kurama pulled his left leg towards him and set his left arm on it. "Maybe. Don't worry about it."
Rei sighed and looked at him a few seconds longer. She turned towards the horizon and watched as the sun slowly sunk into the sea.
"Question."
Rei was startled and turned to Kurama, "Answer, hopefully."
"Did you notice Hiei's sudden power surge before he used the Dragon of the Darkness flame?"
Rei blushed and Kurama turned to her. He swiped a strand of hair behind his ear as the wind blew it around and Rei tried to find some easy way to answer his question.
"You probably saved his life, you know," Kurama said. He turned back toward the sea and stretched his legs as he leaned back on his hands. He seemed to be thinking about something, because he was frowning a little, but Rei wanted to know what he was talking about.
"What do you mean?"
"If you hadn't 'recharged' him, his whole arm probably would've been incinerated."
"You serious?" Rei asked.
Kurama nodded, "I think so."
They sat in silence for a few minutes until a lightning bolt shot through the sky and landed in the trees. They both stood up, but it looked like there was no fire, and no one had sounded an alarm.
"Maybe we should go back to the room?" Kurama suggested. Rei agreed and they walked back to the hotel. Kurama went to up to the room, but Rei waited in the lobby. She got herself something to drink from one of the vending machines and noticed Shizuru with a dark haired man. He was very good looking, though he had a scar on his face and long, black hair. They were smoking together and seemed to be enjoying each others company, even though they didn't really talk. The man put out his cigarette, nodded to Shizuru and walked away.
A few minutes later, Botan came in. "Hey, Rei!" she called, walking up to her. "Have you seen Keiko and Yukina?"
Shizuru had just walked up to them and said, "They're up in the room. Do you need them?"
Botan looked like she had been laughing her head off for the past half-hour, and she answered, "Well, just tell them to meet me at the Urameshi room."
"Is that an invitation for me, too?" Shizuru asked, tossing hair over her shoulder.
"Yeah, c'mon," Botan said as she walked down the hall. Shizuru followed, and Botan turned around, "You too, Rei!"
Rei followed after them and wondered why they were going to Yusuke's room. Shizuru branched off to go to the girls' room and Rei walked next to Botan.
"What happened?" she asked.
Botan giggled, "You'll see it in a few minutes."
"It?" Rei raised an eyebrow. Botan opened the door and Chiba hopped onto Rei's shoulder. Botan sat on the couch and Rei checked to see if Kurama was asleep.
"Okay, he's not here. Neither is Hiei. And what about that Masked Fighter guy?" Rei leaned against the doorframe. Just then the door opened and Yusuke came in. That is, Yusuke and a blue, penguin-ish animal with floppy ears and a spotch of black hair on its head. Rei pointed and laughed aloud, "What the heck is that?"
Yusuke's eyebrow twitched and he gave Rei a glare. "It's Puu; my Spirit Beast."
Rei and Botan couldn't control their laughter, and Chiba jumped from Rei's shoulder as Puu jumped from Yusuke's head. They seemed to sniff at each other as Yusuke sat down. Puu jumped back onto Yusuke's head when the door opened again. The girls plus Kuwabara entered and they all sat down before they burst out laughing at Yusuke.
"I didn't know your inner heart was that cute, Yusuke," Kuwabara teased. Yusuke almost wallopped him as Puu jumped off his head.
"C'mere, little cutie," Keiko said and picked up the blue puff. They teased Yusuke some more and Puu flew out of Keiko's arms and back onto Yusuke's head. Laughing, Keiko said, "He does look like you, Yusuke. He's got your hair, after all."
Yusuke didn't seem convinced, "Yeah, I'll say he's got my hair. Right between his little claws. You better not leave me any Spirit Surprises!"
After a few minutes, they all couldn't take it anymore and had to leave; laughing at Yusuke the whole time. Rei was following behind Kuwabara as he left, but Yusuke called to her. "Hey, Rei? Can I talk to you for a minute?"
She stopped and turned to face him. He was looking at the floor, and looking quite ridiculous with Puu half-asleep on his head. "Whatcha need?" she asked.
"Ummm..." Yusuke was having a hard time starting. "I'm gonna have to... keep my distance for a while."
Rei looked at him questioningly. "What do you mean?"
"I mean," Yusuke took a breath, "We won't be able to get lovey-dovey for a while."
Rei still wasn't following totally. "Yusuke, make yourself clear."
"I... have to give Keiko a chance. I mean, I've known her all my life... and well, she can be a bitch if she doesn't get her way sometimes," Yusuke kinda chuckled nervously. Rei--understanding somewhat-- thought for a moment and asked, "If we were going out, this would be a break-up, then. Wouldn't it?"
Yusuke looked away and scratched his head. "Well, kinda. But it's not like a regular break-up. And it doesn't mean we still can't be nice to each other."
It was becoming pretty clear now. Rei looked at her hands until Yusuke came over and lifted her chin with his finger. He kissed her lightly on the cheek and asked, "You aren't going to kill me, are you?"
Rei smiled the best she could and shook her head, "Nah."
Yusuke seemed almost to sigh in relief, "For a second there, I thought you would."
.oO{Yeah, so did I,} Rei thought as she turned to the door.
"Where are you going?" Yusuke asked.
She turned, "To get a drink."
Rei powered down her kinena form as she walked down the hallway and straight past the vending machines. She walked out the double doors and into the cool, night breeze. Chiba held on for dear life as Rei ran as fast as she could towards the sea. Skidding to a stop, inches from the waves, she sat her ass down and looked out across the horizon. "Promise you, huh?" she asked, remembering their most recent bedroom experience. "Promise you forever, you bastard...."
She grabbed handfulls of sand and threw them into the tide. Only until Chiba stuck his head straight in front of her face did she wake out of her stupor. Her kinena's tear-drop eyes reminded her of all the times she'd cried over stupid things. Stupid things that just usually happened to her. This time she made up her mind not to cry. She'd forget about it, and stay friends with everyone. Including Yusuke.
"Pheh..." she breathed. "Pheh, heh, heh, ha,hahaha," she started laughing. Rei laid down in the sand and stared at the stars.
It wasn't so bad; she didn't have many more troubles than most girls her age. She just let her mind wander, and let her immediate troubles drift through her toes and out to sea.
Chapter 37
.oO{*sigh* Jin is gone}
#Ascot clears throat# There ARE other guys in this story, you know. #-_-l|l#
#Author# Whoa! Where'd you come from? Yeah, I know, but my being a little Irish makes me like him more. ^_~ This is my last episode on my last tape, and you know what that means?
#Eagle coughs# Buy more tapes? #^_^#
#~_~()# Toonami has taken YYH off again.#*gasp* Author goes and kills Tom from Toonami#
*****
"Team Masho is pathetic! They started out five-against- two and now there's only one left!" a demon yelled from the stands.
"Team Masho and Team Urameshi only have one more match to fight. Whoever wins this match goes on to the finals," Koto said. "Will the last member of Team Masho please enter the ring."
The last cloaked fighter stepped into the ring and faced Yusuke.
"Slap on your game hats, boys. This match decides the winner of the round!" Koto added. Team Masho's fighter took off his cloak and said, "Sorry to say, Urameshi, but you're going to die without ever laying a finger on me."
He was a dark haired man with hair that touched his shoulders. His outfit was similar to the other Masho fighters', but his was black with a red piece if fabric hanging from the shoulder plates. Koto yelled into the mic, "Begin!"
Yusuke started running at the man and said, "Alright, I'm kickin' your ass out of principle."
Just then, a female voice over the speaker said, "Stop the fight immediately."
Yusuke fell flat on his face barely five feet from the man and Koto asked into the mic, "Tournament Committee, please clarify: Why have you stopped this fight?"
There was silence for a few moments before they answered, "Upon reviewing the film of the last fight, it has been discovered that Koto delayed her ten-count significantly during Yusuke's first ring-out."
Koto was embarrassed, "Since when do we pay attention to that?"
"Therefore, by complete and unanimous decision, the fight between Yusuke and Jin has been ruled as a double-loss, and therefore, Yusuke is ineligible to fight for the duration of the round."
All the demons talked amongst themselves; some in favor of the committee, and the rest disagreeing with their ruling. The Masho fighter chuckled and said to Yusuke, "My condolences."
Koto dropped her mic and seemed dazed. The man said something as Koto bent down to pick up the mic.
"As an experienced officiater and as a lover of this tournament, I must object," she said.
"There will be no further deliberation," the committee answered. The demons cheered but Koto looked crestfallen. A blue and green haired boy started walking toward the ring from the other side and talked to the man. The man seemed to get mad at the boy, and he lifted his right arm.
His arm seemed to be covered with rock and he hit the boy in the stomach, throwing him from the ring. The man looked at his 'good work' and turned back to Koto. "And now, as for you, Koto. Do you really think it wise to be on the human's side in this stadium?" he asked her, walking towards her.
Koto walked backwards, trying to get away from the freaky guy. Yusuke stepped forward and put his arm in front of Koto, to protect her from any sudden attack.
"You know, you seem really anxious to intimidate everyone except me," he said. "What do you think that means?"
The man turned his head and smirked. Hiei spoke up from the medical tent, "Detective, don't waste your time trying to change their minds. Fight by their meaningless rules and you'll be pulled down with them. There's only one real law of the Dark Tournament: the strongest man prevails!" Hiei's energy started whipping all over the place.
"I've retrieved enough energy to rip my way out. Let's show this entire stadium a new definition for victory," Hiei made a fist. Yusuke was glaring at the man and answered, "Sounds good to me. I'm already about to go off."
The demons in the crowd cheered and Hiei's energy went even higher. Ruka was thrown backwards and her clothes were getting cut. One of the demons said, "Uh, I don't want to sound like a traitor or anything, but maybe we should cheer for Hiei?"
"Ohhh, I absolutely hate seeing such a good competitor go out of the game without having a chance to inflict pain on someone," Koto said. "But due to Yusuke's ineligibility to fight, and as there are no others on his team AVAILABLE, and there's still a member on the Masho team, by forfeit, the winner of the round is--!" Koto was cut off as Yusuke started running towards the man, but he was also cut off by Kuwabara.
"Hold it right there," Kuwabara was standing up. "We've still got one more fighter on our team." Kuwabara threw off his shirt and everyone had something to say about it.
A guard called to Botan from the doorway and she turned. "C'mon, Rei," she said. Botan and kinena-Rei ran after him and Keiko waved at them from outside. "I hope this is important, I was in the middle of a great speech!" Botan exclaimed.
"Ah, Botan," Yukina was standing outside. They stopped running and Yukina smiled, "Nice to see you."
They walked a little ways from the doorway and sat down on some rocks as Yukina told them why she was there.
"I came partially to cheer Kazuma on, but... I also came looking for my brother," she said. Thankfully she had her back to Botan, because instantly Botan freaked out. Rei tried to think how many people knew about Hiei being Yukina's brother, but right then Hiei sent a telepathic message to her, Botan, and Shizuru: 'You talk, you die.'
Shizuru stood up, "Well, sure. We'll help you look for him." Botan turned to her and Rei wondered if she had gotten the message. Shizuru whispered into Botan's ear as Keiko said, "Well, do you know what he looks like? What he does? Stuff like that?"
"Well," Yukina started, "I only know he's a skilled martial artist. So I thought this tournament would be the best chance I had at finding him."
Right then, Yukina looked towards the screen where they were showing Kuwabara. They started walking towards it and Botan jumped up and down and said something to the gist of, "I forgot to tell you; The committee has ruled Yusuke unable to fight and now Kuwabara is trying to fight in his place!"
They all understood her run-together words and Yukina said, "I can barely see. Is there any way we could get closer?"
Shizuru ran up the steps and tapped two demons on the shoulders. "Excuse me, boys," she said and punched them out of the way. They made a fuss, but she looked at them lethally, "Step aside or experience serious pain!"
All the demons moved out of the way and the girls stood in front of the screen. They watched for a few minutes before Yukina decided she wanted to get into the stadium. Rei just went back the way they had come right before a big green guy stood in the way. Turning, she looked back at the others.
"Go ahead, we'll be there in a minute!" Botan said. The green guy chuckled and said, "Not if I have something to say about it."
Rei ended up getting turned around in the cavernous stadium, and by the time she got back to the ring, Kuwabara was getting back into the ring. Botan, Keiko, and Yukina were in the audience, cheering him on, and Koto announced that Kuwabara was the winner of the match and the Urameshi team could go to the next round!
The look on Hiei's face was absolutely priceless when he saw Yukina. Yusuke hopped into the ring and patted Kuwabara on the shoulder, but Kuwabara was too weak to stand any longer. They managed to pull him out of the stadium and they all took a walk. Keiko and Yusuke went off somewhere, as did Kuwabara and Yukina. Rei was left with Kurama, because the Masked Fighter and Hiei also went seperate ways. Rei and Kurama walked past some trees and saw Botan crouching behind some bushes.
"All I'm saying is, you coulda atleast dropped by our room or something. It's not like we're on some stupid field trip with chaperons," Yusuke's voice said. Rei started inching closer to where Botan was sitting so she could listen in on the conversation also, but Keiko's answer stopped her.
"Maybe I didn't want to interrupt. You seem to be having plenty of fun with those demons."
Kurama pushed Rei along and gave a reprimanding glance to Botan. "You should know better," he whispered to her.
"I can't help it!" Botan whispered back. Rei and Kurama walked further from the trees and stood on the beach. They heard Keiko saying, "Yusuke, you jerk!" and two slaps.
They sat down and Rei turned to Kurama, "Do you think I read too much into things?"
Kurama stared out towards the horizon. "What do you mean? By what Keiko said?"
She nodded. Kurama pulled his left leg towards him and set his left arm on it. "Maybe. Don't worry about it."
Rei sighed and looked at him a few seconds longer. She turned towards the horizon and watched as the sun slowly sunk into the sea.
"Question."
Rei was startled and turned to Kurama, "Answer, hopefully."
"Did you notice Hiei's sudden power surge before he used the Dragon of the Darkness flame?"
Rei blushed and Kurama turned to her. He swiped a strand of hair behind his ear as the wind blew it around and Rei tried to find some easy way to answer his question.
"You probably saved his life, you know," Kurama said. He turned back toward the sea and stretched his legs as he leaned back on his hands. He seemed to be thinking about something, because he was frowning a little, but Rei wanted to know what he was talking about.
"What do you mean?"
"If you hadn't 'recharged' him, his whole arm probably would've been incinerated."
"You serious?" Rei asked.
Kurama nodded, "I think so."
They sat in silence for a few minutes until a lightning bolt shot through the sky and landed in the trees. They both stood up, but it looked like there was no fire, and no one had sounded an alarm.
"Maybe we should go back to the room?" Kurama suggested. Rei agreed and they walked back to the hotel. Kurama went to up to the room, but Rei waited in the lobby. She got herself something to drink from one of the vending machines and noticed Shizuru with a dark haired man. He was very good looking, though he had a scar on his face and long, black hair. They were smoking together and seemed to be enjoying each others company, even though they didn't really talk. The man put out his cigarette, nodded to Shizuru and walked away.
A few minutes later, Botan came in. "Hey, Rei!" she called, walking up to her. "Have you seen Keiko and Yukina?"
Shizuru had just walked up to them and said, "They're up in the room. Do you need them?"
Botan looked like she had been laughing her head off for the past half-hour, and she answered, "Well, just tell them to meet me at the Urameshi room."
"Is that an invitation for me, too?" Shizuru asked, tossing hair over her shoulder.
"Yeah, c'mon," Botan said as she walked down the hall. Shizuru followed, and Botan turned around, "You too, Rei!"
Rei followed after them and wondered why they were going to Yusuke's room. Shizuru branched off to go to the girls' room and Rei walked next to Botan.
"What happened?" she asked.
Botan giggled, "You'll see it in a few minutes."
"It?" Rei raised an eyebrow. Botan opened the door and Chiba hopped onto Rei's shoulder. Botan sat on the couch and Rei checked to see if Kurama was asleep.
"Okay, he's not here. Neither is Hiei. And what about that Masked Fighter guy?" Rei leaned against the doorframe. Just then the door opened and Yusuke came in. That is, Yusuke and a blue, penguin-ish animal with floppy ears and a spotch of black hair on its head. Rei pointed and laughed aloud, "What the heck is that?"
Yusuke's eyebrow twitched and he gave Rei a glare. "It's Puu; my Spirit Beast."
Rei and Botan couldn't control their laughter, and Chiba jumped from Rei's shoulder as Puu jumped from Yusuke's head. They seemed to sniff at each other as Yusuke sat down. Puu jumped back onto Yusuke's head when the door opened again. The girls plus Kuwabara entered and they all sat down before they burst out laughing at Yusuke.
"I didn't know your inner heart was that cute, Yusuke," Kuwabara teased. Yusuke almost wallopped him as Puu jumped off his head.
"C'mere, little cutie," Keiko said and picked up the blue puff. They teased Yusuke some more and Puu flew out of Keiko's arms and back onto Yusuke's head. Laughing, Keiko said, "He does look like you, Yusuke. He's got your hair, after all."
Yusuke didn't seem convinced, "Yeah, I'll say he's got my hair. Right between his little claws. You better not leave me any Spirit Surprises!"
After a few minutes, they all couldn't take it anymore and had to leave; laughing at Yusuke the whole time. Rei was following behind Kuwabara as he left, but Yusuke called to her. "Hey, Rei? Can I talk to you for a minute?"
She stopped and turned to face him. He was looking at the floor, and looking quite ridiculous with Puu half-asleep on his head. "Whatcha need?" she asked.
"Ummm..." Yusuke was having a hard time starting. "I'm gonna have to... keep my distance for a while."
Rei looked at him questioningly. "What do you mean?"
"I mean," Yusuke took a breath, "We won't be able to get lovey-dovey for a while."
Rei still wasn't following totally. "Yusuke, make yourself clear."
"I... have to give Keiko a chance. I mean, I've known her all my life... and well, she can be a bitch if she doesn't get her way sometimes," Yusuke kinda chuckled nervously. Rei--understanding somewhat-- thought for a moment and asked, "If we were going out, this would be a break-up, then. Wouldn't it?"
Yusuke looked away and scratched his head. "Well, kinda. But it's not like a regular break-up. And it doesn't mean we still can't be nice to each other."
It was becoming pretty clear now. Rei looked at her hands until Yusuke came over and lifted her chin with his finger. He kissed her lightly on the cheek and asked, "You aren't going to kill me, are you?"
Rei smiled the best she could and shook her head, "Nah."
Yusuke seemed almost to sigh in relief, "For a second there, I thought you would."
.oO{Yeah, so did I,} Rei thought as she turned to the door.
"Where are you going?" Yusuke asked.
She turned, "To get a drink."
Rei powered down her kinena form as she walked down the hallway and straight past the vending machines. She walked out the double doors and into the cool, night breeze. Chiba held on for dear life as Rei ran as fast as she could towards the sea. Skidding to a stop, inches from the waves, she sat her ass down and looked out across the horizon. "Promise you, huh?" she asked, remembering their most recent bedroom experience. "Promise you forever, you bastard...."
She grabbed handfulls of sand and threw them into the tide. Only until Chiba stuck his head straight in front of her face did she wake out of her stupor. Her kinena's tear-drop eyes reminded her of all the times she'd cried over stupid things. Stupid things that just usually happened to her. This time she made up her mind not to cry. She'd forget about it, and stay friends with everyone. Including Yusuke.
"Pheh..." she breathed. "Pheh, heh, heh, ha,hahaha," she started laughing. Rei laid down in the sand and stared at the stars.
It wasn't so bad; she didn't have many more troubles than most girls her age. She just let her mind wander, and let her immediate troubles drift through her toes and out to sea.
