Youth of the Nation Chapter 29: Losing Control, a ranma fanfic

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma 1/2, nor claim to.

Chapter Twenty Nine: Losing Control:

"I'm dying, praying, bleeding, and screaming. Am I too lost to be saved? Am I too lost?" Evanescence: Tourniquet

"What are you talking about?" Sauske asked gently, watching the male Amazon warrior standing in stance he had not seen before.

The other boy had his body low, seemingly cutting his height in half, his front leg stuck out in front of him, straight and fully extended, with his back leg, the right one, bent below him, the knee facing out. His left arm was low as well, reaching slightly below his chin level and fully stretched, palm down. His right hand was straight back, his arm angled towards the ground with the pinkie, ring, and middle finger of the hand curled in, with the index finger and thumb extended.

"A fight, Sauske." Chii replied, holding the position solidly. His body simply held itself, unmoving, in that stance. "You and me. Here and now. This might be my only chance to meet you."

"Huh?"

"Sorry, sorry, I meant beat you." Chii repeated. "This might be my only chance to beat you."

"Does it have to be today? I'm tired, and I can't get into fights."

"It has to be now!"

Sauske blinked. "Why is that?"

Chii snorted, before sighing. "You're better, Sauske. If it's going to be flair, it has to be now."

"Fair?"

"Uh . . . yes. I meant fair."

Sauske paused, before quickly shaking his head. "No, Chii, I can't do it." Sauske said loudly, adjusting the straps of his back, before beginning to turn away to walk home.

CHSHH! Sauske turned, the sound of moving earth drawing his attention. His eyes re-locked on Chii just in time to see what had happened.

The boy had pushed himself forward and up, his arms drawing together by his sides, balancing only on his left foot, the one which had been totally extended just a moment before. His face was calm and focused, as he began to tilt, and seem to fall, forward. Suddenly, though, something changed. "It's already started, Sauske."

KA-CHHSH! Sauske almost lost sight of the Amazon when he bolted forward, a large cloud of dust kicked up behind him. It was four meters before he had to take another step, although that was barely an instant's time. The boy's feet pushed off as fast as they could go, already falling behind in the speed of the jump. His body was low as he ran, his feet struggling to push off the ground fast enough to keep himself from falling further forward. As his body began to rise up, and the distance between him and Sauske rapidly shrunk, his left hand drew back.

CHHHHHHH! Kicking down one of his feet, Chii slid the last three meters, standing tall, before swinging out with his left hand, aiming for Sauske's right shoulder.

Twisting back away partly, putting his shoulders parallel to the fist, Sauske snapped his hand out, grabbing Chii by the wrist.

"YAH!" Chii shouted, swinging out with his other hand, attacking the side of Sauske's head this time.

Sauske immediately recognized the hit, and instead of blocking, he ducked, turning parallel with his opponent's arms. The fist passed overhead, while a tug pulled Chii forward, leaning the boy over him. Sauske shot his free left hand out, grabbing the Amazon by the belt. Gripping tightly, he shoved his shoulder up, followed by his whole body.

With a fling to his right, Sauske sent Chii to the side, the boy flipping halfway in mid-air, to slam down on his back flatly with a loud WHAM! The sound caused nearby students to cringe.

Sauske wasn't in great shape either though, hunched forward and grabbing his left biceps. There was pain there; a lot of pain. It may not be dislocated, but the muscle was still bruised, and that throw reminded him of it and the light pain in his chest. It took a moment to compose himself, before he leaned up, looking for an exit.

Then he realized what he should have known from experience. Sure, school may be over, but that didn't mean that a crowd wouldn't form. The Saotome noticed a ring of people, several deep, all around, watching intently. He could probably jump them, but the pain in his chest told him that might not be a good idea. And Chii would probably not let him get away that easy.

"Sauske." Chii muttered behind his target. The boy in question turned back to see his opponent rising to his feet. "We're fighting now. We're going to finish this."

Sauske could do nothing but sigh, turn back, and throw his school bag as far over the crowd as it would go. He heard a dull THUNK! as it landed beyond his sight. He raised his hands, his left one a bit lower than the right.

"That took way too long!" Keira muttered angrily to herself as she burst out the door. She hadn't changed into her ninja clothes today; there would be no sparring with Sauske today, now that he was recovering from his injuries. The best she could hope for was to either go to his house, her restaurant, or that ice cream place they went to occasionally.

There was another reason for the more natural clothes she was wearing. Naruto. He would listen to her and cut Sauske a break, but only if he knew that there was no way Sauske would be fighting anyone today. If he thought Sauske would even contemplate sparring, Naruto wold be after his rival immediately.

So, that's why she had put on the blue jeans and a white button up shirt she had found in her dresser, along with the small bag she had slipped into her belt, holding only one kunai and a pair of shuriken stars. If her mom hadn't ordered her to get something to go over the top, shouting about how cold it was getting in the third week of December, she wouldn't have had to spend so much time searching for a sweater to wear too. It had been so long since she had needed one; her ninja clothes were designed to be warm and thin, so she rarely had to pull out anything beyond that. Besides, it doesn't get that cold in Tokyo.

But, her mother had been insistent, so, now properly dressed, she was running through the streets Sauske normally took home, searching for Naruto.

And had found nothing yet. "Why is he so hard to find all the time!" She muttered again, before turning another corner. "He disappears just like his dad does, except he gets where he wants to go. Now, why can't he just go somewhere I'm looking!"

"All right, Aki," Ganko continued, turning to the next page of the test. "Translate 'The man is building his house across the street.'"

Aki grimaced at Ganko's horrendous pronunciation, but the words made sense. She began to write furiously on her scrap of paper in front of her, before finishing and sliding it to the girl sitting next to her.

"Wow, that was fast." Ganko muttered to herself. "You shouldn't rush, Aki. There's plenty of time to do the test, so don't go too fast, or you'll make a lot of mistakes." She glanced down at the sheet, sighing, before circling the fourth kanji. "Like here. The crossbar doesn't go all the way across like it should. That's wrong already."

Aki sighed, ignoring Ganko's voice for a moment, staring at the sheet as four more kanji were circled as wrong. This was going to be much tougher than she thought. And, as the teacher had so kindly reminded her, she had to have her make up re-taken before finals. Less than a month to drag her grade up to a passing score.

This was going to be very difficult.

Sauske cursed under his breath, but stood firm. "I don't want to fight you, Chii."

The Amazon nodded. "Well, I configured that. I mean . . . figured that. But, we are." he finished very matter-of-fact-ly.

The dirt slid under his shoe as Chii bolted forward again. Instead of causing Sauske to tighten up, or even step back in shock, he did something quite different.

Sauske's arms dropped a little, as he blinked at the oncoming attacker. He was just going so . . . slow. Yes, he was still quite fast for a normal person, but compared to how fast he was running a moment ago . . . it was like watching a car drive by at a hundred miles per hour, then turn around and go back at fifteen. The difference was huge.

Then again, he was still running towards him, so Sauske quickly returned his arms to their proper position, clenching his hands. Just because he was slow didn't mean it would be easy.

Chii finished his approach, before swinging out at Sauske again with his right hand. Sauske caught it as well, like last time, but Chii knew that would happen. Now it was time for the differences.

Shifting his weight to his left side, the Amazon lifted his right foot, swinging it to his left side, before it went up and back in a quick inside-crescent kick. Sauske turned aside like last time, but instead of escaping the kick, he took it in the chest.

The Saotome fell away, stumbling backwards a few steps, gasping his chest in pain. That hurt! If the pain in his left arm after the throw had been bad, remembering he had two cracked ribs, and he had just been kicked in them, was not worse news.

He was getting careless. Chii had said he was worse, but Sauske wasn't focused. If he didn't pull it together soon, things would be a real problem. He glanced up, breathing laboriously through the pain.

It was then he realized how long he had been hunched. Several seconds, several valuable seconds Chii could have used to attack, had passed. In a fight a split second could change everything, but Chii hadn't even moved. He simply watched the black haired Japanese boy with a curious glance. Why was he waiting?

"Feeling better yet?" Chii asked calmly.

Sauske stared. He had to attack at full force if he wanted to win . . . but after what happened a few days ago . . . could he still control himself? He was told he could, but that didn't mean he would do it. What if he lost control again? In front of everyone? Even Sakura turning into her cursed form wouldn't be as bad as his aura letting loose in front of his friends and classmates. He couldn't let that happen no matter . . .

"Are you going to stand?" Chii asked, still watching his opponent hunched over, panting from pain. "We have a fight to finish."

Sauske stared up, weighing his options. He wasn't above using what he thought he would have to. It didn't mean he liked to, but this time, there was no choice. No other way out.

Slowly, the Saotome stood up, balancing himself on his legs, trying to even out his breath as he rose, blocking out the pain. "It's over, Chii. I can't go on. I've taken too much, and I'm still recovering from Saturday." Sauske found it hard to look Chii in the eyes, since he was lying directly to his face. The boy knew he had a good amount of strength to fight left, but it was too much of a risk to go on. He couldn't let his aura out; not in front of all of these people. "I have to give . . ."

Chii interrupted him. "What do you mean you can't go on? You ought to have another trick up your sleeves, as they say. Like your aura?"

Sauske's eyes widened, staring in horror at the boy in front of him. His face quickly paled, as his body began to sweat a little, his left leg sliding back to keep him balanced.

"You have more strength left, Sauske. I've seen it. An aura that makes you stronger, an aura that is more powerful than any other one I've seen. Surely you haven't forgotten about it?"

Sauske could hear the murmured whisperings of the crowd around him.

"Is that true?"

"Sauske has an . . . aura?"

"So that blond kid wasn't lying?"

"What's Sauske going to do? Is the King going to give up?"

He gulped, his arms feeling limp and heavy. What could he do! If his aura came out, it was all over. But there was no way he could just walk away now. Everybody would just keep hounding him and questioning him until they were satisfied if he quit, and they wouldn't be until they knew what his aura was. He was running out of time.

Inside, he realized there was only one action he could feasibly take. Out of three, there was only one he could do and have a chance to get out with a winning situation. He didn't like it, and the chance of success was low . . . but, considering both his other options, run or use the aura, were lose-lose situations, he didn't have much of a choice.

"Well, Sauske, what do you say?" Chii asked calmly, watching the boy as the last of the blood drained from his face.

Sauske sighed, before straightening himself up. "Sorry."he muttered, before his legs moved.

Chii moved as well, but it was well beyond too late. WHAM! A hand imbedded itself in Chii's gut, causing the boy to double over before being shoved back a few meters, falling onto the ground in shock. Sauske had, almost instantly, raced up and slammed his left hand into his stomach.

That's not to say that Sauske wasn't hurt too, though.

"AAGH!" Sauske cringed, grabbing his left arm again, his focus shot. He could barely move it now without the pain racking his brain.

There was a cough, a sputter, then the Amazon began to lean up. "Hurt your arm," HACK! "eh? Too bad, Sauske. You only have one left." Slowly, he rose to his feet.

"I only need one." The boy, still white in the face, replied. He had to strike hard and fast, before his aura came loose. It was a race against time, and a fear of losing, a fear of humiliation, and a fear of himself drove him on to win.

Ironic, isn't it?

After all, fear drives the red aura too.

Keira cursed as she turned down the next street. "Nothing, still." she muttered on her endless search for the son of the lost boy. If she didn't find him soon, it was assured he'd catch Sauske. And a battle, in his condition, would be very bad for her friend. She had to find Naruto . . .

"THERE!" she shouted before realizing what she was seeing. But she had been right. There was Naruto, walking steadily towards Furinken High School. "Finally." she murmured, before racing up to meet with the boy.

"Can you see them fighting, Sapphire?" the Chinese girl next to her asked calmly, standing up on her toes to try and see over the crowd.

The other girl shook her head, her long hair swinging around. "No, Ruby, I cannot. But why is Chii attacking him like this?"

"How should I know? I know Chii would avoid a worthless fight like this . . . so there's probably a reason for it. But I don't know what it is." Ruby replied, before quietly pondering the situation. "Where can we go to get a better view?"

"Hmmm."

Suddenly, an idea hit them both. They turned to each other, pointing up behind themselves. "The classrooms!" Nodding to each other, they took off into the building.

Sauske was staring now, waiting for his next strike, trying to hold some control over his anger. He had to. Unfortunately, he forgot about the fear aspect. But, then again, Chii was much higher on his "To-Do" list than remembering the rules of the Akuma aura right now.

"Here I come!" the Amazon shouted, running forward. This time, Sauske wasn't surprised, nor bothered, by his slow charge. That was his real strength. It was like Aki's aura burst. It may let him be strong once, but his general strength was much lower.

He hoped.

With a snap of his arm, Chii swung his fist out straight for Sauske's chest again. Sauske, like every time before, turned parallel to the blow. But this time, he didn't grab the wrist of the Amazon. And Chii didn't stop there, either.

Bending in his right arm to cross it over himself and towards Sauske again, he shoved it forward, twisting his body to keep the punch strong. The Japanese boy leaned aside calmly, letting the punch miss widely, before Chii tried another strike. Lifting his left leg, he swivelled and swung with his left foot in a wide roundhouse, aiming for the top of Sauske's chest.

Sauske ducked down, letting the foot graze the top of his head, before standing up instantly. With Chii open, Sauske struck, swinging one hand out and crushing it into Chii's gut again. The boy chocked at that, before Sauske drew his hand back, and smashed it out again into Chii's cheek.

But before the Amazon could fall away, Sauske made one last attack. Turning his body to be in front of the boy, Sauske swung out with his raised left foot, keeping his attack low. His foot contacted with his opponent's knee, shoving it back behind him and putting him further off balance, as well as turning the fall from backwards to forwards. Swinging his foot around in a crescent, Sauske moved his leg around enough to allow the Amazon to fall down in front of him without obstruction. And now, his foot was high above Chii. Sauske clenched his teeth as he prepared himself.

WHAM! "GAAAH!" Chii shouted as an axe kick landed square in his back, causing a rush of pain to flood his mind as Sauske's heel dug into his spine. His right hand dug into the dirt, trying to find something to let the pain out on. His left hand, however, reached for a different target.

Sauske jumped back as Chii's hand snaked out after his ankle, before hopping back several more steps to put a large distance between them, before swinging up his right hand to protect his face, leaving his left arm limp to avoid another painful incident. He was panting a little, but he wasn't hurting too much anymore. The adrenaline must have blocked that out. His chest wasn't giving him much of a break with the occasional heaving breath, but it was ignorable. Chii wasn't.

The Amazon, however, was slow to stand. His back was aching and his body was feeling weak. But, he still placed his hands on the ground, pushing his shoulders up and pulling his legs back underneath himself. One foot after the other, he began to lean back into a crouch, before slowly forcing himself up onto his feet. "Is that it, Sauske?" He said with a calm expression, before his eyes widened. There it was.

Sauske blinked, before noticing his hand. The red glow, flowing between his fingers. "No! I can't let it out!" he screamed in his head, clamping his hand shut. But this time, the red didn't disappear. It swirled and swished, but continued to flow around his fist. "NO! Get away!" he continued in his thoughts, only causing the red to glow.

"Here it comes." Chii muttered to himself, watching everything Sauske did. Any slight movement, little sign, and odd flow of aura, he would spot and remember it.

The red began to glow brighter. "What's happening!" Sauske continued in his thoughts, watching the red expand around his hand. "Why can't I stop it!"

Ganko glanced around the room. The teacher had been gone for a few minutes, and it was unlikely that he would be back for a while. This was her only chance. It was time to take it. "So, Aki . . ." the Amazon glanced up at her, "I heard that you are engaged to Sauske."

Aki blinked, watching the black haired girl curiously. Her face was still turned down, checking Aki's answers, as if the question was as casual as her tone. She decided it was best to just go along with it. "Yes, I am . . . not by choice, but I am."

"Oh? Really?"

Aki glanced at her again, before returning to her work. "Yes . . . it was not supposed to . . . turn out the way it did . . . I had no reason to marry him . . . but life does not always let us . . . live where we want."

"So, you didn't love him when you got engaged?"

Aki shook her head. "No."

Ganko slid her glasses up her nose more, making sure not to look up or alter her tone. She wanted her voice to be as detached and calming as possible to keep herself from causing Aki to lock up. "So, what about now?"

The Amazon stared at her tutor for a moment. "What about it?"

"Do you love him now?"

Aki blinked, pausing and considering the question for a moment. She knew the answer she wanted to shout out; that hadn't changed since the beginning. Now all she needed was the confirmation of her heart. "I . . ."

"In here!" a female voice shouted, followed by a bunch of running steps. Aki and Ganko looked up to see two Chinese girls running into the room. Aki blinked as her friends ran by to the window. "There! They must be taking a break from fighting or something!"

"I see them!" The second girl, with the light blue hair, called out as well.

"What's going on?" Aki asked, standing up and walking a few steps towards the window the two girls were at. Ganko slid out of her chair and followed. "Who's fighting, Ruby, Sapphire?"

The redhead turned back, staring at Aki. "You don't know? It's your brother and your future husband!"

"What?" Aki asked, in shock, her eyes glazing over a little.

The redhead gulped, before stepping aside, opening space at the window. "Chii and Sauske are fighting, Aki."

There was a short period of silence.

"WHAT!" Aki screamed, running forward to the window, looking out to see the crowd surrounding the two tired fighters. She stared out for a moment, before turning and running out the door of the classroom. "DAMMIT!"

The three girls watched the doorway carefully.

There was a pause.

Ganko gulped. "Is it bad?"

The other two nodded. "Yes, very bad."

Then, the three of them crowded around the window.

Sauske clenched his hand. What was wrong with him! Why couldn't he pull in his aura! What was doing this to him! If he let it out . . . everything would be gone! He had to stop it!

But he couldn't!

"Strike." he thought to himself suddenly. "Strike now, so you finish the fight. Then there's nothing to be afraid of."

Gulping once, he resigned to his only option again. Attack before he lost everything.

Chii was stumbling a bit, but the pause in the fight had given him some extra strength. He could force the pain out of his mind, but if he started moving, it might come back. He'd have to try to stay as still as possible. Get Sauske to come to him, so that . . .

Sauske was already moving, racing towards him. His reaction was instantaneous, and unintentional. His fingers spread, before swinging up and connecting index finger and index finger, thumb and thumb, forming a large triangle in the center of his hands, the rest of his fingers pointing up.

"No! Don't!" He suddenly shouted in his head, realizing what he was doing. His hands broke apart, and, realizing how little time he had to do anything to protect himself from Sauske, he simply gave up. "I messed up." he thought softly. "It's over."

Sauske began to slide along the ground, right up to the Amazon. His right hand was slid back, ready to punch, before it shot forward, flying up towards his face. Chii clenched his muscles, waiting for the next hit.

He stood, waiting.

"God, thankfully that's over." Keira muttered to herself, already walking away from Naruto, who was going home, having agreed to not attack Sauske. "Then again, where was Sauske-kun? He should have passed Naruto long ago." She thought as she walked, resting and trying to guess where he might be. "Maybe he hasn't left the school yet."

Turning towards the school, she saw something off in the distance. "Hey, what's that crowd doing at school?"

She thought about that as she began jogging in that direction, before an idea come into her mind. "Hey, maybe there's a fight going on . . . oh no!"

Then, she began running.

There was nothing.

Realizing he had shut his eyes, Chii opened them to see Sauske's fist, frozen in place in front of him, the gentle red glow gone. The boy's face was no longer pale; instead, it was confused.

"Why did you stop?" The Amazon asked calmly.

"Why did you?" Sauske replied.

"What are you talking about?"

"Your hands. They were formed into something, but then you split it up. Why did you stop?"

Chii gulped. That wasn't supposed to happen. He wasn't supposed to do that. If only something would come and break it up, he . . .

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" A voice suddenly shouted.

Sauske and Chii both glanced in that direction, as the crowd began to part. Neither of them needed to see who was coming to know who was there.

Chii gulped, but didn't move. "This is bad." he thought to himself.

It took another moment for Aki to finally force herself through the crowd. It was like a pair of car headlights, with Chii and Sauske being the animals caught in them. They stared back at her, almost hypnotized, as she began an angry march towards them. Grabbing Sauske's raised hand, she shoved him to the side. "Wait . . . there!" she commanded, pointing at him with her finger only centimeters from his face.

Then she turned to her brother. "Chii."

The boy took a step back. He was brave, but he wasn't stupid. "Yes, Aki?"

"Are you OUT OF YOU MIND! What the hell were you doing!"

"Um . . . sparring?"

"Don't give me that, you moron! You were fighting Sauske, something I specifically asked you not to do! This better not have anything to do with his aura!" There was a quiet pause. "You didn't?"

"Um . . . oops?"

"CHII! I only told you about that so you wouldn't go after him for it! I made a promise to not do anything to force out Sauske's aura! What the hell do you think Keira is going to say!"

"What's going on?" A girl's voice asked, coming after a soft TAK! sound as someone landed on the edge of the wall. "Sauske-kun? What happened?"

The boy in question, as well as the two Amazons, glanced over. There was Keira, crouching on the wall, wearing a pair of jeans and a white sweater. But before Sauske could answer, the Amazons went back to arguing.

"Thanks a lot, Chii! Anything else you want to mess with right now? I've already been forced to move once because of you!"

"It's not my fault Aki! I didn't want to leave either! It wasn't my idea!"

"I don't care! Everything that's happened here isn't my fault! If it were up to Pai and . . . oh god! PAI!"

Everyone watched as the female Amazon screamed out her sister's name, shoving her way through the crowd, and then went bolting out of the schoolyard. A few moments later, Chii began hobbling after her, disappearing in the same disorganized crowd.

Keira hopped down, walking through the now dissipating mass of people, heading for her friend. "Sauske-kun? What's going on here?"

He stared at the place where Aki and Chii had gone for a moment, before the events returned to his mind. His head turned down, and he sighed. "It almost came out, Keira." Sauske muttered, still calm, but with a hint of fear at the back starting to surface.

"You . . . you don't mean . . ."

"Yes, I do. Chii was after it too."

"Chii? Aki's brother?"

Sauske nodded solemnly.

"I should have known." Keira muttered to herself. "Aki's still trying to get out your aura again! After she promised to . . ."

"I don't think it was Aki." Sauske muttered back, walking to his bag.

"What makes you think that?"

"Did you see the way she was screaming at Chii?"

"Maybe it was because she didn't want us to get suspicious?"

"No, I don't think so. The fight was already over when she got here." Sauske reached down, scooping up his backpack with his right hand. "And she broke us up further. She didn't want us to fight."

The girl stood for a moment, thinking. She sighed. "That's a good point, Sauske-kun." Keira replied, walking up to him. "I guess . . . she wasn't kidding when she promised me . . . Well, at least you're safe." She finished, poking him gently in his arm.

Sauske gasped through his clenched teeth at that, now remembering the newest injury in his arm again.

"Sauske?" The ninja asked, her eyes widening. "What happened?"

"I hurt my arm throwing a punch at Chii."

"Here, I'll walk you to the clinic." Keira replied, stepping around him to be on his other side, and the two began to walk towards Ono's office.

"How could I forget!" Aki shouted to herself as she ran, dodging past all the people along the sidewalks. When it got too crowded, she jumped up, landing on the fence, and just ran on up there. "How could I be so stupid!"

She jumped off at the corner, turning as she dropped down, before touching the ground and bolting off towards the stop. She just hoped Pai had found her way home safe, or she was still waiting there. Pai would understand; she was a smart girl, so if Aki was late for a good reason, which she was, she would understand. Her brother, or her parents . . . not so much.

Which is why she skidded to a halt long before she reached the bus stop. It was in view, and she could see Pai there, safe. Unfortunately, she also saw the person next to her; the one person she really didn't want to see there.

"Aki?" He asked, walking towards her with Pai in tow. "Where were you? Pai has been waiting here for almost half an hour."

"I got held up at school." Aki replied, leaning forward a bit to catch her breath.

"Aki, you were supposed to come here to make sure Pai got home." The boy admonished, continuing to walk towards her.

"I know that! But I wasn't expecting to be held up! I only remembered that a minute ago, and here I am already, Tenchuu."

The boy shook his head at his younger sister. "You should have planned around that, gone and brought Pai home first, and then gone back to school; or brought her with you back to Furinken."

"Plan around it! How was I supposed to do that! I didn't even know about it until school ended!"

"What could have been so important for you to not come and get your sister?"

"I failed the test!" Aki suddenly blurted out.

There was a pause.

Aki sighed, dropping her head. "I failed the Japanese Aptitude test. If I fail it again, . . . they're going to drop me down."

Squeaky-Squeaky! "You failed the test!"

Tenchuu didn't turn back to see what the sign said. "Family comes first. You know . . ."

"Of course I know that!" Aki shouted. "I'm not an idiot! But I've only been practicing for that for a couple years now, and not only did I not pass, I might get stuck in that school longer!"

"You still have a duty to watch out for your sister!" Tenchuu replied, beginning to raise the volume of his voice. "Let the schools say what they may, but you cannot abandon your family without warning!"

"I didn't abandon her! I came as soon as I remembered, understand! I couldn't have been here any faster than I was!"

"A half hour late!"

"Would 'I'm sorry' fix this!"

"No, it wouldn't! You have to live up to your age. You're not only an Amazon, you're an adult Amazon female. You've passed the maturity rites, and now you have to live up to it!"

"Well, I tried!"

"Then try harder!"

She groaned."Forget it!" Aki shouted, turning and walking away, back off in some direction away from her older brother.

Tenchuu took a step forward. "Aki, where are you going!"

The girl stopped, clenching her teeth, before glancing down at her foot. She reached down, scooped something up, before standing tall again. She turned her head to look at her brother, before winding up and swinging her arm out at him.

WHIZZ! The boy, with all the speed he could muster, just barely slid his head aside in time to dodge the small rock thrown by his sister. KINK! DI-KINK-Kink-kink! The noise began to die off as the stone bounced away, and so, the boy leaned back up, turning back to the thrower.

Aki mumbled as she walked away, not turning back to see him again. "Stupid . . . over-protective . . . pompous bastard!" Then, she turned the corner, and disappeared from sight.

Next Chapter: Whether or not things go together well one day, people still have to get up the next one and continue on with life, and that's just what the children of Nerima will have to do.

And that's the end of chapter twenty-nine! I'm sorry this got out a bit later than it should have, but I had some trouble getting the chapter finished in time. This one has been a challenge from the start. I actually made too long, and had to shorten it, making the start of the next chapter the original ending to this one. Also, the fight scene might not have been up to snuff like it usually is, so, sorry about that. Hopefully that won't be too much of a problem. I think I'm starting to get back into the feel of this, though, so it should be smooth writing for a little while.

And now, took away another one of my break patterns. AllI can do now is a single dash. So, I'm sorry if the text doesn't look right.

Anyway, on with the reviews:

Paige C: Hmm, those are several interesting points. Don't worry, Sauske still doesn't know about Keira's feelings . . . for now. As for Aki, . . . well, whether or not she's starting to like Sauske is up to you to decide for now as well. I don't quite see how she's getting to be giddy, but i guess it makes sense. As for Aki and Ganko, let me just say you should watch this carefully.

nonengle: Yep, I'm glad to be updating the story again. And thanks for reviewing.

Shinjiku: Of course Aki will be in the story for a long time! She's one of the central characters, and she's one of my favorites. She's a fun character to write for (especially the dialouge).