Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma 1/2, nor claim to.
Chapter Twenty Eight: Love and Lunchtime:
"It's the perfect time of year somewhere far away from here. I feel fine enough, I guess, considering everything's a mess. There's a restaurant down the street, where hungry people like to eat. I could walk, but I'll just drive. It's colder than it looks outside." Barenaked Ladies: Pinch Me
Sauske groggily sat at the table. Even if it was Monday, which meant school, and he was in much better shape than Saturday night after Happosai knocked him around, which meant he could go, he really didn't feel up to anything today. He would, of course, but his body was still sore. Hopefully, it would loosen up after a brisk walk to school. He had no plans on running today.
Which meant getting up early.
Which is why he felt so tired right now, sitting there at the table with his parents and younger sister, silently eating his breakfast and avoiding spilling any on his school uniform. He sighed, brushing his black hair with his fingers, messing it up a little more, before sighing again. Glancing aside, he saw Amy and Joseph walk into the room, also in their school uniforms, before sitting down at the table to eat. The three youngest children began talking, but the boy ignored it. He was still just sitting struggling to stay awake. He hated early mornings.
"Well, I better get going." Sauske said after a minute, finishing off his rice and fish, before placing the bowl on the table.
"Why are you going so early?" Joseph asked, glancing up at him.
Sauske glanced back, shrugging his shoulders and replying with "I'm taking my time today, Joseph. So I'm going to school early today."
The boy nodded as Sauske turned and walked, a slightly stiff limp in his step, before Akane called out, "Have a good day, Sauske!"
"Okay, Mom!" Sauske shouted as he disappeared around the corner, slid into his shoes and his jacket he pulled off the wall, snatched his bag from the floor with a painful lean down, and walked up to the door.
KNOCK KNOCK!
Sauske stopped, staring at the door. "Uh, I got it." he muttered, sliding the door open. "Hello?"
"Oh, Sauske-kun!" Keira said loudly, surprised he answered the door. "Uh, um, how are you?"
"I'm fine, Keira. How are you?"
"Good, thanks for asking." She replied, a nervous expression on her face.
Sauske paused, waiting for her to say something more. Eventually, he spoke. "So, . . . why are you here right now, Keira?"
"Huh?" the girl replied dumbly, before shaking out her head, and brushing her uniform straight. "Oh, right, I came by to see if you were going to school today."
"Well, I am. I'm leaving right now, as a matter of fact."
"Oh, really? Oh, um, well, then . . . uh, mind if I go with you?" the girl replied, stepping aside to let the boy walk out.
"Certainly." The boy replied with a smile, shutting the door. "It'd be better to walk with someone than all alone, right?"
"Yeah." the girl replied, smiling even though she cringed at the word "walk". The brisk pace, however, made it much better from Keira's view, and Sauske wouldn't allow himself to do any less. He needed this exercise, after laying in bed all day yesterday. "So, how are you feeling today?"
"All right, I guess. My arms still a little stiff, and my chest hurts a lot. But otherwise, I'm okay." he paused for a moment, glancing around as they dashed across a street, before slowing slightly to reach their walking pace. "What about you?"
"I've felt worse. The only thing that still really hurts is my back. Other than that, I feel fine." She sighed, readjusting her bag on her shoulder. "Well, at least we won in the end, right?"
Sauske blinked, walking silently. He stared at the ground for a moment, remembering everything that he could. Once he gave Keira to Naruto, most everything was just a blur. A couple of scenes stood out, although he didn't really want to remember those scenes right now. The aura had come out. He would have to be careful for a long time if he ever wanted to hold it in as long as he did last time.
Keira glanced over at him. Suddenly, she realized what he must be thinking about. It wasn't like it would be too difficult to figure out. She sighed, letting her head fall forward a bit. "Sorry, Sauske-kun. I didn't mean that. I'm . . ."
"What?" Sauske interrupted her suddenly. The girl looked up to see his smiling face. "You're right, we did win. Sure, I messed up, but we won."
Keira stared at him for a moment, before nodding, smiling as well.
The boy gave a little nod at her smile, before turning his face to the sidewalk. He had to be careful from now on. He really had messed up, and he had to contain that mistake. For his friend Keira, for his sister Sakura and Auska, for Joseph and Amy, and his parents, and Aki, he'd have to get better with his control.
He would never let that aura out again.
- - -
"He . . . he said he missed the bus?! Ha! That's hilarious!" Keira half-shouted, before continuing to laugh at the horrible excuse Hojo used only a few weeks ago.
"He's used it before." Sauske added as they approached the school.
"He's used it before?!" Keira said, looking up at her friend with wide eyes. Sauske nodded. She stood still, staring at him in disbelief, before she broke down laughing again, forcing herself to keep walking as they passed through the school gates.
"Sauske!" a voice said from inside the schoolyard.
It wasn't the fact that his name was called that got their attention, but the seriousness of which it was stated. Ice cold. The boy looked to the source immediately, the girl following his action only a moment later, after she stifled her laughter in an instant. "Who's there?" the Kuonji asked.
"I talk, you listen, Sauske." the voice replied, stepping forward two steps to stand in front of the Saotome, looming over him.
"Tenchuu-san?" Sauske replied, cautiously staring up at Aki's older brother. "What is it?"
"Friday, when school done, you go to game field behind building." Tenchuu replied with a stone cold glare through his glasses. "I meet you there. Understand?"
Sauske stared back, blinking a few times. "Uh . . . sure." He muttered quietly.
Tenchuu just nodded, before turning and walking into the school, wearing his specially made school uniform, with extra long, and very loose, sleeves, the bottom shortened to appear tucked in while it hung over the plain black pants. A moment later, he was gone, the door slowly closing itself behind him.
"What was that for?" Keira asked, looking around. "Who makes challenges like that?"
"I don't know, Keira."
The girl glanced over at him. "Are you going to be better by Friday? After all, Dr. Tofu said you had two broken ribs."
"Cracked, not broken." Sauske corrected. "And yeah, I'll be fine. I just have to stay out of fights for a few days."
Keira nodded knowingly. "I'll talk to Naruto."
"Thanks." Sauske said, smiling. "Now, come on, it's cold out here."
- - -
It was break time in class. Lunch would be in a few periods, but now it was time to relax a little. So, Chii was confident to simply slouch down in his chair and not worry about things for a minute, simply observing the people around him a little. The room was quite packed, and with his location at the back of the desks it was easy to see everyone.
Next to him, Aki sat reading and ignoring the rest of the room.
One seat in front and one to the side, Sauske sat, alternating between glancing at some book and up at his friends he ate lunch with.
On the side of the room were two of the people Sauske sat with at lunch. One was a girl with black hair and glasses, and the other was a boy with short brown hair. They were talking, the boy saying much more than the girl, the girl looking between him and wistfully at Sauske, as if she wanted him to come to her rescue. Eventually, she apparently heard something she didn't like, turned angrily to the boy, snatched a book off her desk, and slammed it on his hand, shouting "PERVERT!"
The boy howled in pain, pulling back and blowing on his hand to dull his injury, before he was suddenly better, and took a step back from the girl, massaging the back of his left hand. But it did get Sauske's attention, as the boy rose and walked over to see what was going on.
Keira was in the room, off on the other side talking to her own friends, looking up to see what was going on. After seeing it was Sauske and his friends, she sighed, and turned back to her own group.
Up at the front of the room was a small congregation of girls, three to be exact, only one of which stood out. She had long, blond hair, a beautiful frame, and the ability to turn away the second he looked at her. It had taken a week to figure out she was almost always looking at him whenever he wasn't. He had a good idea why, but it was not something he wanted to get into right now. Love was not what he was looking for.
Then again, she was quite beautiful. Nobody could really say anything against that. He certainly wasn't about to. And while beautiful girls were not necessarily hard to find, finding one that had interest in him was. And . . . no, she wouldn't really be interested in him. Let's not forget Amazon law. He had a code to live up to, and he really doubted that she would want to try to go through that just for him. Heck, even if she practiced really hard, she probably wouldn't make it through the initial challenge needed for a female to become an Amazon.
Whoa. Was he really thinking that? About her being an Amazon. After all, getting to that point would already mean marriage. And while that was not something he was opposed to in the least, when he reached that point, it was highly unlikely that she was either ready for that point or that a pair of people who don't even know each other would start working towards that goal. This wasn't real love yet. It was just ordinary attraction.
There was a squeak of a chair sliding as Sauske sat back down, returning to his book. The girl in glasses and the boy she was talking to were apparently on civil terms again, the boy no longer nursing his hand either. Keira was still talking with her friends.
But it was Sauske that had Chii's attention now. He was the one he had something important to "talk" about, some might say. And, it was obvious today would be that day. There would be no hesitation once school ended. Except for, of course, the hesitations he had promised himself to follow two months ago. Those weren't about to change. But it didn't matter.
What he could do would be enough.
- - -
The sun was out at lunch, giving a warm glow to the schoolyard. Unfortunately, the cold breeze was starting to be a problem. And yet, nobody wanted to surrender the outside to winter and eat in school. Besides, today was a bit warmer than yesterday, so everyone thought it might just be okay for one more day.
And so, Ganko, Sauske, Mayu, and Hojo were now all sitting at the base of the same tree they always sat at, all pulling out their homemade lunches as they began talking. Except for the weather, the day seemed perfectly normal.
"Sauske, are you feeling any better today?" Ganko asked, looking up at the boy.
"Better?" Hojo asked, looking at the black haired girl. "What happened?"
"Well, I got, um, beat up in a fight." Sauske replied sheepishly.
The Saotome boy was already acting quiet; seeing the stunned and shocked faces on Mayu and Hojo's face just made it worse.
"Yeah, you did." Ganko replied. "But that's just half the story. It was Happosai who did it."
"Happosai?!" Mayu asked. "Is that the old, pervert guy you were talking about a while ago?!"
Sauske nodded. "Um, yes. I was fighting him, and . . . I lost. But I am feeling better."
"Well, that's good." Ganko replied. "How's your arm?"
"Better too." Sauske muttered, opening up his bento box, starting to eat.
The girl nodded. "Uh, Ganko?" She turned to Hojo. "How do you know about the fight? Were you there?"
She blinked, before sliding her glasses higher on her nose, shaking her head as she did so. "No, I just went to visit Sauske yesterday at Dr. Tofu's. My parents heard about the fight, so I went by. Is that so surprising?"
Hojo shook his head. "Nah, it's not that. I just didn't know how you found out, is all. Unless there's some 'ulterior motive' you haven't told us about."
Ganko glared at him, Mayu watching the scene unfold, and Sauske slowly eating. Hojo was about to get his comeuppance when a new sound broke attention.
SHWUNK!
Sauske stared up from his food, seeing another box being shoved at him, held about half a meter from his face, floating there. A single arm held it, and tracing it up, he saw the body the arm was attached to. She didn't look too happy to be there, but she was.
"Uh . . . Aki? What are you doing here?" the boy asked carefully. "And what's in the box?"
The girl, taking a deep breath, shook the box a little to try to get him to take it. "It's . . . it's . . . lunch, for you, with herbs . . . Chinese herbs, to help heal bones . . . You don't have to eat it . . . but here it is."
His friends staring at him, Sauske gently reached up, taking the box from the girl while placing his own lunch on the ground. "Uh, thanks." There was a quiet pause. "But why?"
"Why?" Aki replied with a slightly scornful voice. "Because . . . I want to make sure you heal . . . after all, you are . . . still my 'future-husband' . . . even if I don't like it." She finished by crossing her arms over her chest and turning her head away.
When she glanced back, she noticed eight dinner plate sized eyes staring up at her. There was a long, silent pause as the four sitting teens stayed staring at her. "What is it?"
Mayu, placing her lunch on the ground, reached over and wrenched the box Aki had handed to Sauske free from the boy's hand, placing it on the ground too. She glanced over quickly at Hojo, who nodded. She then turned back to Aki. "Could you . . . excuse us for a second?"
Aki tilted her head, looking at them, confused. After a moment, she nodded.
Mayu smiled. "Thanks."
WHOOSH!
Aki blinked, stepping back in surprise to keep her balance. Staring at the ground, all four teens were gone.
- - -
WHAM!
About twenty meters away, Sauske was slammed into a chain link fence by Mayu and Hojo. His back pressed against the fence, he stared up at his friends. "That hurt!" he muttered with giant, crying, puppy dog eyes.
"Sauske! What the hell was she talking about?!" Mayu shouted.
"What do you mean?"
"She called you her 'future-husband'!" Hojo shouted. "Are you really hitched?! Really and truly?!"
"Um . . . yes?" the trapped boy replied sheepishly.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Ganko asked, a lot calmer, standing back a few feet, watching him carefully.
Sauske glanced at his arms, which were pinned against the fence by Mayu and Hojo. "Because I didn't want this to happen!"
"When was it?!" Hojo shouted again, still shocked by the event.
"Ah . . . about a month ago. Maybe longer." Sauske replied, starting to struggle with his right arm.
Mayu was also calming, but not much. "What happened to Keira?!" She shouted. "Did you just abandon her?!"
"What do you mean "abandon her'?!" Sauske shouted back, wrenching his right arm free. He began pulling at his left arm, but stopped from the pain it brought. "We're friends! If you had listened to me over the past month, you'd know that!"
"Do you love her?" Ganko asked, still in the unusually cold voice.
"What?" Sauske asked, clawing at Hojo's arm with his right hand, trying to free his left one. "Who?"
Ganko paused, before rephrasing what she had said. "Do you love Aki?"
Sauske shook his head. "No, it's not like that. We didn't choose to get married, it just happened. Because she has this special set of Chinese laws to follow, since she's an Amazon, anyone guy who beats her in a fight has to marry her."
There was a whole new set of surprise looks from the three of them. "Wait, . . . what?" Mayu asked.
"Are you saying that when you fight her and win, she has to marry you?" Hojo asked too.
Sauske nodded. "Yeah. She's from a Chinese village of the Amazons, and that's the law there. I . . . uh, didn't know that until after."
"That didn't answer my question, though, Sauske." Ganko replied, still quite calm. "Do you love her?"
There was a pause. Sauske sighed. "No, I don't, okay?! She's a friend, nothing more. It's just the way things worked out."
"So you don't love her?" Ganko replied.
"No, I don't."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I am. I don't ha. . ."
"Sauske!" Aki commanded, causing all four friends to jump. "Just don't forget . . . to eat that food . . . You cannot get hurt . . . any more than you are."
"Uh, uh . . ." Sauske sputtered, his brain working overtime to figure out how to follow that up after what he had just said about her. Glancing at her face, she didn't seem angry or upset. Probably a good thing, right? "Oh, um, . . . okay, Aki. Thanks."
The Amazon nodded, then turned to leave the boy to explain everything to his friends. "Now I know how he feels." she mused to herself in her head, before smiling. "I'm glad we feel the same way. He can hate me if he wants, or call me a friend, or whatever." A single stone accidentally was kicked to the side. "But he better not get used to the idea of us falling in love, or something like that."
- - -
"What was that about?" Kagome asked, glancing back at her friends.
Chidori nodded. "Sheesh, it must have been big for them to drag Sauske to the fence at the back of the schoolyard."
Keira sighed, not saying anything, content to continue eating in silence.
"Keira?" Chidori asked, noticing her friend's downcast appearance. "Is something wrong?"
"Nothing." was her snap reply.
"Really?" Kagome asked in a sarcastic voice.
"Yes, it's nothing."
"This wouldn't have anything to do with that girl Aki spending time with Sauske, now would it?"
Keira mentally kicked herself. Kagome was just too damn perceptive. Then again, it was kind of obvious. She'd have to play it cool. "No, it's not that."
"Phh! Yeah, right!" Chidori snapped. "It's so that! Don't even pretend that you don't care about it!"
"Fine! That's what it is, okay?!" Keira shouted, before making her voice quieter. So, there goes the idea of playing it cool. So, quiet would have to be the minimum.
Kagome paused, looking back to see Aki walking away, quite cheerfully, back to a few people whom she began to eat lunch with recently. "What did she do? Go out with Sauske on a date?"
"I wish it was that." Keira replied without thinking.
Chidori turned back. "What could be worse than that?"
Keira turned, and said nothing.
"You . . . you don't mean?!" Chidori surmised, staring at Keira and blushing.
"What?" the ninja asked quietly.
Letting her friend lean in and whisper into her ear, Keira paused, listening. As soon as she understood Chidori's thinking, her eyes widened and her face turned red. "No! Nothing like that! Absolutely not that!"
"Are you sure they haven't done it?!" Chidori asked.
"NO!" Keira screamed, before that idea fully entered her mind. "I . . . no, he wouldn't have! No chance to . . . GAAH! Don't think like that, Chidori!"
"Then what was it?" Kagome asked, her voice still calm.
Keira opened her mouth to respond, before letting her head drop, thinking. "What is it, Keira?" Chidori asked, calming back down. The ninja paused, still working the idea in her mind, thinking how to best express it.
"They . . . they're engaged."
"WHAT?!" the other two girls shouted.
"They're engaged to be married." Keira replied monotonously.
"I get that!" Chidroi shouted. "When did they get engaged?!"
"About a month ago, or . . . sometime around then."
"Why?!" Kagome shouted as well.
Keira blinked. Kagome was . . . shouting? That was certainly unusual. "Apparently, Aki is a Chinese Amazon, and since she and Sauske had a fight, and Sauske won, she has to marry him. Some village law they have."
"WHAT?!" Chidori shouted louder. "That's . . . that's crazy! How come Sauske is going along with it?!"
"She . . . he . . . it's for the best, or something." Keira replied, staring down at what was left of her lunch. "He's just letting it go because Aki has to marry him to keep her honor as an Amazon. Apparently, they're totally against getting married, and . . . I don't think either of them feel that way about each other."
Chidori shook her head. "But they've been spending so much time together over the last two weeks. I heard they met every night!"
"I was with him all that time too!" Keira replied, the final words almost bursting out of her mouth. "I was there too! It wasn't like some romantic thing; we were trying to find a really powerful martial artist in Tokyo. That's all. They barely even spent any time together during it anyway." Her voice perked up a little. "From what I saw, they were avoiding each other the whole time."
"Are you sure?" Kagmoe asked, calmer.
"Yes! Of course I'm sure!"
Kagome paused, before glancing over her shoulder at the group of four: Hojo, Ganko, Mayu, and Sauske. "Why didn't you tell us?"
"Sauske . . . he . . . I know he didn't want people to know about it." keira muttered. "So, I didn't tell anyone."
There was a short period of silence.
"Well, I guess I can't surprise anyone today." Chidori muttered quietly.
The other two girls looked at her questioningly. "What are you talking about, Chidori?" Keira asked, confused.
"You don't remember?" the girl asked. Her friends shook their heads. "Today was the day they announced the new members of the Rhythmic Gymnastics team." Both girls eyes widened. "I checked the list before lunch."
There was a long pause.
"And?!" Keira asked, her voice showing her strain in waiting for the answer.
Chidori sighed, shaking her head. "I made it."
Then, she turned her head up, smiling.
"HOORAY!" Kagome and Keira cheered, beaming at their friend. Kagome then continued. "All those gymnastics lessons finally get a use, I see."
"Sure do!" Chidori shouted ecstatically. "The martial arts part is a bit of a challenge, but I'm a hyperactive tomboy to the core! It shouldn't be too tough!"
The three of them burst out laughing.
After a minute, Keira asked the important question. "So, when's the first meet?"
"Wednesday."
"Wednesday?! Why is it so early?!"
"Well, . . . it's not a real meet. We're having a practice match with the team from St. Bacchu's School for Girls to get ready for the rest of the year. Practice starts today."
"Well, that's good. Think you'll be ready?"
"Of course I will!" Chidori said confidently. "That is, if you two are there Wednesday . . . You're going to be there, right?" Kagome and Keira turned and looked at each other with blank faces. "Right?!"
"Well," Kagome began, "I sort of need to . . . brush my hair that day . . . Aw, you know we wouldn't miss it!"
"Yeah, we'll be there!" Keira added enthusiastically. "And if you need any help, I'm here."
"Well, actually . . . I might not need it." Chidori replied, smirking. "Somebody already agreed to help me."
"Who did you get?" Keira asked immediately.
"Sauske?" Kagome replied seductively, before turning to Keira and laughing at her glaring face. "I'm just kidding!"
"Well . . ." The first girl began, blushing a little. "It's . . . Yoh."
"Yoh?!" Keira asked, surprised. "He's going to help you?!"
Chidori nodded slowly, blushing more. Kagome smiled. "Well, well, well. That's quite convenient, isn't it?"
"Did you know the dojo he practices at, where he's training me," Chidori began in a smooth voice, the blush holding steady, "is only three blocks away from our favorite ice cream place?"
Keira's eyes widened. "Now that's convenient!" Then, they all burst out laughing.
- - -
"So, how's he doing?" Akemi asked, turning to the kendoist.
"Better. My uncle says he should be healthy in a week or two." Sakura replied.
Hinata nodded. "Well, that's good news."
"So, he's not as bad as that big fight three years ago?"
Everyone turned to the fourth girl. "What are you talking about, Chise?" Sakura asked.
"That fight, three years ago. The one where you got your arm cut." Chise replied. "Wasn't he sick for a month, or something like that, after it happened?"
There was a pause in the group. "Yeah, that's right. You were back in two days, but your brother was out for a while. A few weeks at least. What happened back then, anyway?" Akemi asked, as the attention shifted immediately from Chise back to Sakura.
Sakura paused, thinking about what to say. "Well, he was . . . hurt . . . a lot worse than this time. Yeah, . . . he got beat up really badly. So, my uncle made him stay home then." She said quickly, hoping the issue died. "He had a lot of trouble catching up in his school work."
"Really? Must've been tough, missing a lot of school." Hinata replied.
"Oh yeah. His friend Ganko and I had to work with him for weeks to get him caught back up."
"Ganko." Akemi muttered to herself, before the memory clicked in her head. "Right! That girl with the glasses!" Sakura nodded. "I remember her . . . oh well, I guess it's better that he comes back quicker than, instead of resting again and getting piles of work to make up."
"Yeah." Sakura replied, calm now that the issue was gone. "He's fine."
- - -
DING-DONG!
"All right!" Chidori shouted immediately. "School's out!"
Despite a dull stare from the teacher, the class began to walk out, Chidori leading the group as she packed up and disappeared out the doorway in a second. "Aki, could you please come up here for a moment." the teacher announced loudly, trying to be heard over the noise of the class.
There were a few glances; Keira and Sauske at Aki, Aki at the teacher, and Chii at his sister and Sauske. After a moment, though, Aki unhesitatingly turned towards the desk, slowly and confidently walking up. Chii watched her for a moment, before sighing, realizing it wasn't his business, and gathered his things, leaving the room in a hurry.
Sauske lingered a little, putting away his things slower than normal, which Keira noticed and followed. After a moment, though, everything was packed, and he too, along with Keira, began walking towards the door. By the time Aki reached the desk, they had left, along with most everyone else. An then, they were gone.
"Aki, I have your Japanese Aptitude test here." The teacher said calmly, pulling a pair of sheets from his desk. "To be blunt, . . . you failed."
That crushed the Amazon's spirit pretty quickly. But, other than the internal destruction, she kept a facade of perfect calmness, simply nodding to his explanation.
"It's not hopeless, but it's not enough either." He sighed. "I can give you a second test, but you need to get more help outside of class. If you fail the second one, I'm going to recommend you for remedial classes and pull you out of others. There's nothing else I can do. You need a passing grade to stay where you are."
"Is that why you asked me to wait here too?" another voice asked. Aki recognized the feminine tone. Turning and glancing in her direction, she noticed that the room was now empty except for the teacher, the other voice, and herself.
"Well, yes." the teacher replied quietly. "I know you tutor a lot of other students, and you might not be able to, but I wanted to ask you if you could help Aki for a little while."
"Its no problem." She replied, smiling. "Tokaiya's gotten his math up, so he's cancelled the rest of his lessons. I'm free today and Thursdays now. So, I'll gladly help out." She turned to the Amazon. "That is, if Aki want's my help."
Aki blinked. Why wouldn't she? "Thank you . . . very much, Ganko."
The girl smiled, pressing her glasses further up her nose. "No problem. I don't have any plans to fill my time I just had open, so I can help out. It's on the house today."
The teacher nodded, handing Aki the test. "Well, then, if you two want to work in here, I have other papers to grade, so I won't be leaving for a while. I just can't let you take the test with you." He paused, thinking. "If you two want to have another session, let me know, and I'll make a copy for you."
"Thank you, Hanabishi-sensei." Ganko replied, before walking over to a desk, motioning for Aki to sit down.
Aki, although still a bit surprised at the turn of events, sat down as well. After all, it wasn't like she had much choice. If she failed the next test, . . . uh, it would be bad. Somehow. She didn't really understand that part. But it was important she didn't fail! So, she would have to work hard!
- - -
"What do you think Aki needed to stay behind for?" Keira asked offhandedly as she and Sauske walked down the halls. They stopped at her locker first.
"Don't know." Sauske muttered. "It could be anything. Hanabishi-sensei is pretty quiet about things like that. But I'm sure everything is fine."
Keira nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right." Digging through her locker, grabbing what she needed while leaving what was already in her bag there, she slammed the metal door shut. "Well, I'm off to find Naruto. See you later, Sauske."
"Bye, Keira." Sauske said with a smile, waving to her as she began to run down the hall.
Keira smiled widely, waving back as she jogged away. He looked so cute in his uniform like . . .
WHAM!
Smashing into a locker which had been left at head height, Keira tumbled down onto the floor, dazed. A moment later, Sauske was helping her up. "Keira! Are you okay?!"
The girl blinked a few times, before groaning as she leaned up. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just need to pay attention." Standing up, she shook out her head, before smiling to Sauske. "Well, let's try this again." She turned, jogging down the hall, forcing any thoughts of Sauske out of her mind.
- - -
Ten minutes later, with Keira long gone, Aki with Hanabishi-sensei, Mayu and Hojo had already left, and Ganko somewhere, probably tutoring again, Sauske walked out of the door alone. The day was sunny, with only a single cloud in the sky. He smiled as he approached the gate, passing a single tree beside him as he walked.
"HEY!" a voice shouted.
Sauske paused. It sounded like it was . . .
"SAUSKE! DON'T YOU CLEAVE!" A pause. "I MEAN, LEAVE!"
Chii. Above him. Sauske glance up, and there was the Amazon, standing on the fifth branch up on the side closest to him. He was balanced easily, standing tall while leaning one hand onto the trunk, the other resting on his side. He had changed out of his school uniform. Despite the cool temperatures of mid-December, he was wearing a plain white shirt with short sleeves and no buttons. Those wraps could be seen easily, covering his whole arm from the wrist to the shoulder, at least. He still wore his school uniform pants, the black a perfect contrast to the white cotton.
"Don't think you're leaving yet!" Chii shouted a little quieter, before jumping forward.. Plummeting down, he landed on the first branch, before hopping immediately and dropping to the ground, neither grumbling or groaning at the impact on the branch and ground.
Sauske, wearing a thin, light blue windbreaker over his uniform, his bag slung over his shoulders, watched him carefully. "What is it, Chii?"
"I know you're a good fighter, Sauske." Chii replied with a smile. "I just wanted to see how good you are."
"What do you mean?"
"Right here, right now." Chii responded, his smile growing, raising his hands up into a fighting stance. "Let's see who's better."
Next Chapter: Sauske and Chii face off; but with two cracked ribs, will Sauske be able to win the fight?
Finally! I got chapter 28 up! Sorry about the extreme delay, but I'm finally back. I'm hoping not to miss any more chapters for a while, and with college applications and schoolwork done for a while, there doesn't seem to be anything that should hold me up for a while. I'm not sure how good this chapter is because I added a lot of stuff on the fly. So, I hope it wasn't too bad. But, it should have some really good stuff coming up in the next chapters.
Anyway, on with the reviews:
Paige C: YAY! The primal idea worked! One of the founding points of the story worked out! Hooray! Anyway, Sauske's feelings on it will be coming out in small doses in the story, just like you hoped, and Aki said she wouldn't try to draw out Sauske's aura. It's up to you if you believe her or not. As for Happosai's apprentice, let me just say . . . it'll be a while. But they will be back, and, if my ideas work out as well as they have, you will be, pleasantly or not, surprised. But that's in the future. Oh, and Pai is cool, too! She's a fun character to write about!
nonengel: Yes, Happosai lost the battle, and won a different one. The war, if there is one, is not yet decided. (-evil laughter in background-) Anyway, Sauske's fighting is dramatically changed by that aura, because his regular personality is so pacifistic, and the aura is extremely violent. In fact, by my count, and the wayI thought of it, he has three distinct styles. First, his brawler/bruiser beat-and-smash style for his aura. Second, his speedy strike and precise takedowns, which he uses against Naruto and used at the very end of his big fight with Aki. Third, his dodge, throw, and demoralize style, which is how he beat Aki the first time, and his general style to use on weaker opponents. In this style, he just dodges, throws, and avoids fighting to not only prevent his opponent from injury, since he doesn't really want to fight them, but cause them to feel so weak, because they can't hit him, that they eventually get to the point that they give up after being hit because nothing works. That's how he defeated Aki in their first fight. She wasn't actually beaten up, she just felt as though no matter what she did, she would lose. At least, that was howI meant it.
As for Keira and Sauske interactions, that's definitely going to happen. But, not just them, but all of the characters, ifI can get everything lined up and written properly, will be getting a lot more time in the story.
The Liz: Good,I was worried thatI might confuse people with all that primal stuff. And I'm always glad to hear that people like my fight scenes! Oh, and even though it's late, Happy New Year to you, and everyone else.
Shinjiku: Yep, Aki's back. And she's not going to start to fade from the story as much as she did those few chapters. Okay, maybe sometimes, but that'll happen with a lot of characters as the story goes on.
And to everyone, thank you for your reviews! They all mean a lot to me.