-blink-blink- Wow… these chapters are getting done rather fast. I want to get up to chapter ten done quickly, because if I had to split my story up into two parts or 'seasons', chapter ten would be the end of season one. Thanks to everyone who has stuck with me thus far and given input and their two cents in on my story. I'll try and finish the first half as quickly as humanly possible.
Chapter Seven: Foul PlayAnd I'd give up everything only for you…
It's the least I could do…
A week flew by as if nothing had happened. Everyday it was school then coming home soon after to play 'The world,' only breaking for dinner and for stops in the bathroom. Sunday was spent at the hospital and online. Tawna tried calling Mai, but was only told by her mother yet again that she didn't want to speak to anyone. Sighing in defeat she resolved herself to taking on a dungeon with Hiko. Balmung hadn't made any notion to contact her in three days, and while she was slightly worried and aggravated she let it pass.
One the other hand, Hiko was spending more time online and everyone seemed to notice it. Nenji wasn't going to question his best friend, but Raine blatantly spelled out the fact that spending a lot of time on the net was not a good idea, especially when he was going after a girl who was obviously already taken.
Hiko retaliated by blocking her for the night. He was furious at the accusation his friend had thrown at him. Hadn't he clearly told everyone that he was not becoming romantically involved while he was finishing high school? He had turned down offers from girls a lot prettier, smarter and more popular then the redheaded junior, so why did Raine suddenly get bitter about the subject of Tawna. She was just his friend correct?
It did become more obvious, even to him, that he enjoyed the younger girl's company. She had the ability to make him laugh with her comments and make him worry at the slightest chance that she might be hurt in battle. She was a great ally when it came time to explore a dungeon and she never wanted payback, no matter how many items she wasted from her inventory on a single fight. She was also open with her conversation and always had something to talk about with him. In a game where you should be on guard every second, he felt himself wanting to relax when he was by her side.
It was the following afternoon that something clicked inside of him. They had been exploring an area alone and had come out with the treasures from the Gott Statue.
"What a raid!" she cried, dashing out into the sun-filled meadow. "We did an awesome job. Thanks so much Hiko!"
"It was no problem." He blinked, shading his lavender eyes from the bright light as he emerged from the darkness of the dungeon. In the sun's glow, he watched her spin around, that long curtain of dark scarlet hair falling shaggily over her shoulders and around her face and back as she stopped. Those bright amber eyes shined back at him in admiration and she tilted her head playfully, her lips curling into a smile. "So are we going to try out another one?"
He stared at her for a moment, not sure if he was staring at the same girl. Her simple armor showing off most of her lean body, that great smile, those beautiful eyes. This character was based off her own player…why hadn't he realized before how cute she was? He blinked his eyes, still not trusting his sight. It was as if someone had changed her look altogether, as if somehow…this wasn't the same girl in front of him.
"Hiko…?" she stepped forward, looking at him questioningly. "Are you okay?"
"Y-Yeah." He stuttered shaking his head slightly. "But unfortunately I can't stay online any longer."
"Oh…" she pouted, which made her look even more adorable. God, what was wrong with him? She smiled after a moment. "Okay then. I'll see you in school tomorrow."
"Right, school. Tomorrow." Quickly he gated out, logged off and threw the visor aside. Grabbing his glasses off the counter he scrambled across his room to a small frame sitting on the bedside table. Staring at it, he scanned the faces of his English class eleventh year. There she was, and it wasn't the game that was playing tricks on his eyes- she had the same unmistakably beautiful features to her face. He ran his fingers across the photo, making sure what was in front of this time was real. Staring at the picture for sometime, he recognized himself in the back row, standing right behind her. Why hadn't he seen it before?
"Tawna!" Hiko called to her the next morning. He had purposely come to school later so that we would be able to meet up with her in the locker room.
She turned and smiled at him, that same smile he had realized last night was so sweet. "Morning Tobuowanai-kun."
His eyes widened slightly as he realized the change in his name. Usually she only called him '-kun' teasingly, because she was still stubbornly using formality as long as they were in school. But this morning he could hear the difference in her voice, and he knew it wasn't his mind playing tricks on him. She had called him by it truly, meaning she really meant that they were close friends. He grinned. "Good morning to you too."
"I wanted to thank you last night for taking me on all those dungeon trips. I felt bad, because usually the only one willing to drag me around for such a long period of time is Balmung."
"Oh?" he blinked. He hadn't even remembered that she was hanging around with the winged Lord. 'Which I knew and have known since I met her. What's wrong with me?' This newfound mood his body switched into when he was near her was beginning to aggravate him.
"Yeah. I've been kind of frustrated with him. It's been almost a week since I've heard anything from him. I mean the least he could do is write me a lousy e-mail. He's got me worried."
'She's…worried about him?' "Don't worry about it. I'm sure he's just been busy." For a moment he felt a twinge of jealousy, knowing that at the minute her affections were placed elsewhere. The thought startled him and he ran his fingers shakily through his bangs to steady himself. "But you're right…he should have at least sent you an e-mail."
"That's what I'm saying. Geez, he knows how to get on a girl's nerves." She blinked, staring up at him, watching his eyebrows furrow at her last sentence. He looked upset. "Hiko…?" she said softly. "Are you alright? You look like you were about to say something."
"Huh?" he looked down on her and shook his head slightly. "I'm fine." Those eyes of his sparked as he remembered the entire reason he had come to school later. "Oh, yeah. There's a game today against Ichidgo. It's for our semi-finals. Lena and Raine are going to be there. And Nen and I are playing. Why don't you come cheer us on?"
She flashed him that weak half smile, which usually meant something else was going on. "Sorry Tobuowanai-kun, I can't. The only time I get online are 3-7, before my mom gets home, and I need all the time I can get."
"Listen Tawna. You're spending too much time online. Why are you going to be waiting around for a guy who isn't even going to bother to let you know what's going on?" He replied quickly, colder then he had meant to. The sound of his voice becoming so stern when he talked to her startled him. He had seen her eyes widen slightly at his tone, and it to had surprised her. "Tawna, I-" he started again, but she just bowed in front of him, cutting off any of his words.
"I'm sorry Tobuowanai-kun. If I don't hurry I'm going to be late for homeroom." She turned, heading off down the hallway.
He didn't have the heart to go after her. He stood there and watched her disappear into the crowd of students mingling their way through the locker room and upstairs. He had never meant to sound so harsh, but the thing unsettling him the most was that he had actually meant what he had said.
"Hiko? You still down here?" A pair of blue eyes rounded the corner and widened as they caught sight of their friend. "Hiko you look sick man. Come on, now's not the time to get ill on me. We need our captain for this afternoon's game. Come on," he put around the taller boy's shoulder. "We're going to be late for first period if we don't hurry."
The boy took the help willingly. "Nenji…I just blew her off. I didn't mean to get mad at her. I don't know what's going on with me…"
"Huh?" those cerulean eyes blinked twice. "You yelled at Tawny? Let me guess, she was going on about Balmung and you got upset."
"How'd you know?" he looked up, shocked and then narrowed his eyes. "Were you eavesdropping?"
"I don't know, was I?" he asked blankly. "I don't think I was. I know that the problem you have is pretty obvious though. You're just jealous, cuz you like her."
"Of course I like her. She's my friend." He looked over at his friend who just shook his head. "Come on Nenji, I don't like her like that!" But his face had already gone bright red in response to his thoughts.
The other senior laughed. "I think your face says otherwise bro."
"Not funny." Hiko growled.
"Look, bro. I'm not surprised that you like Tawna. It kind of hard not too. She's…what's the word…. she's sweet. She has to be one of the nicest girls I've ever met. I know you had this thing in your head that you didn't want to be with anyone until you graduated, but let's face it, you can't help it when you fall in love." He sighed. "I know I couldn't."
"Nen, I'm not in love with her." He told him defensively.
"No, but at the least you have a crush on her, and that's a start." He smiled. "Bro…Hiko. You worry too much man. You're always worried about school, or sports or something. You think to much. For once don't think about it, use your emotions and your instincts. It is what makes you human after all. And besides," he grinned. "When you worry, I worry and my brain can't handle all that thinking."
"I think you're smarter then you think Nen. This entire conversation. You know a lot more about relationships than I do." He admitted willingly.
"I'm just more open with people then you are. You're a nice guy man, you just don't let people see how nice you really are. And besides," he smiled. "When it comes to women, I've been around the block or so."
"I'll have to keep you in mind for manly advice when I get my first girlfriend." He teased.
"Or you could start asking me questions right now about Tawny." He shot back.
"That's not funny."
So all in all the two boys were late to class, but at least Hiko felt a little bit better. He tried to do as Nenji asked and not think too much on the subject but for a few random moments throughout the day he opened up his brain to the subject, and all he got back were questions. Questions he didn't even think he could answer himself. He would just have to accept the fact of what Nenji had told him- he had developed a crush on Tawna and was jealous because of her fascination with a guy she had met online. Christ, the entire thing sounded like a bad soap opera to him when he thought about it that way. It was still his way of denying the fact that he liked her, only because he wasn't still a hundred percent sure himself.
The real matter at hand was going to be apologizing to her for being so rude this morning. Different ideas had popped into his mind all day…get out of class to go to her lunch to explain, take her out after the game was over….but each one sounded as if he was setting up some kind of date. So at the end of the day, he had still thought up nothing and he was still confused as ever.
Stalking into the boy's gym locker room, he gave his locker dial a quick twist, put in the combination and threw open the door. A slight smile took his face as he stared at his uniform and cleats. Soccer would be the one thing to take his mind off today's events.
"Hey, Tobuowanai-sempai!" One of his varsity members came walking up to him, already dressed in the red and black uniform. "Some girl asked me to give this to you. A redhead. I think she was a sophomore? Maybe a freshman, I don't know."
Hiko took the letter from him calmly. "Thanks Daisumono." Opening the paper, his eyes scanned the small manuscript, skimming down the page quickly. 'Damnit…' He shut his locker with one hand. "Hey Daisumono, where'd you go?"
"Yes?" the boy blinked, looking around the lockers, his red eyes focused on his captain.
"I have to get going. If I'm not back before the Ichidgo team gets here, tell Amiya-san that he is to take over as captain."
"Tobuowanai! This is our semi-final game. You can't ditch us now!" The boy cried, putting as much defiance into his words as he was pleading.
"I'll be back. Just…ask our advisor to wait or something!" he yelled as he raced down the hall. He had exactly a half an hour to run home and back again…just getting there would take him twenty minutes. Running around the corner, he caught a glimpse of the sky over the city. Dark gray clouds were tumbling in, blocking out the sunshine. 'Come on storm, call the game on account of rain.' It was the first time he had ever wished a soccer match had been postponed. Turning another sharp corner the letter fell out of his coat pocket and skidded to the ground.
Hiko,
I'm sorry for whatever I did to upset you. I think it had something to do with us online, because you've been acting this way since last night. For whatever I did wrong, I'm sorry. I want us to be friends again. I'll be online this afternoon, but I really am sorry that I missed your match. I called Keita at lunch from Lena's cell phone and wished him good luck, and I said good luck to Nenji when I saw him in the hall at my break. But I haven't said it to you. So Hiko-kun I want you to have fun and good luck in your game today. Keita says you're going to need it.
Tawna logged on, but sat there a moment staring at her computer. Why should she be here, when her friends were out having fun at a soccer game? 'I can't stop now. I'm doing this for Tomonari's sake, not my own.' Instead of logging in she brought up the compose command and stared at it for a long time. "I have to write that letter to Raquel. I can't keep putting it off. I told her I'd write her if I ever met Balmung again and it's been a good three weeks since then."
Her letter was short and sweet, merely saying who she was and that she met up with Balmung and that they both would be happy if she were to come join a party with them sometime. As she sent the message out, she got a glimpse of her mailbox, which she hadn't checked all day. Her eyes widened as she stared at the one letter awaiting her attention. "About time I heard from you…"
Savana entered Mac Anu, confused and yet curious. The e-mail had made little to no sense, only the destination had been clear. The blademaster easily found the small back alley where the winged swordsman had been waiting. Balmung's emerald eyes looked up slowly as he pushed off the brick wall, standing up straight. "Perfect timing." He said almost monotone. "Good afternoon."
"Why haven't I heard from you? You've been gone a week. Ever since that incident with Kite, you've been quiet." She demanded.
He turned, his gaze drifting down to the ground. "I want you to know," he started, his voice just as dull. "That I want nothing to do with that twin blade and his party."
"Why? Because Kite is actually trying to do some good?" she replied, irritatingly. This was neither the conversation nor the idea she had had in mind when she had logged into the game.
He snorted in disgust, glaring at her over his shoulder. "You don't even have a clue."
"About what? That Kite is a decent guy who's trying to help his friend? That he -is- a friend of Orca's?"
"That's-" he whipped around, looking at her half with shock, half with anger.
"Don't worry I found out through Kite himself. You could of at least told me you knew. I meet the kid and you've already introduced yourself? I thought we were supposed to work together on this!"
"We are supposed to be working together, but I'm not going to bother you with anything while you're running off with you're friends." He snapped back.
"Since when do I have time with my friends? Every minute that I know you're online, I'm right there with you!" she shot back.
His face went red, a reaction she certainly hadn't been waiting for. He muttered and turned his eyes elsewhere. "I do hear what goes on when I'm not around you know. Hikaru does tell me. Not that I've asked her to stalk you or anything, but now that she and I are on speaking terms again, I do let her know that I want to know what you've been up to. I'm not good with speaking to people. And I can't ask you simple questions because it's not really my business. But I do know you've been spending a lot of time with Hirelena and Hiko, and when she tells me about the stuff you all have been up to-" Those long ivory bangs slipped into his face, making it impossible to read. But his words were still the same. "I begin to miss you."
Savana gasped, her own face blushing. She could say the exact same thing back to him. And she wanted to. But the only word coming from her mouth was his name, soft and comforting because she couldn't bring herself to say much else. "Balmung…"
Hiko threw open the front door to his apartment, just as his cell phone started to ring. Snatching it from his pocket he dashed up the stairs, taking them two at a time. "Hello?"
"Hiko? This is Nenji. Where the hell are you?"
"I'm at my house." Turning the knob to his room the door burst open as he ran in and sat down by his computer.
"Your house?! What's going on?" he asked frantically.
"I'm acting on instincts and impulses man." He replied before he knew what he was saying. A crooked half grin lighted his face. "Tell the coaches something. I'll be there soon."
"Wait! Don't-"
"Sorry Nen." He started with a slight smile staring at the phone. "But I need to figure this part out by myself."
Slipping on the visor he immediately logged himself in. Bringing up his address book, he sent her an instant message.
Tawna, if you're there, answer me!
Savana looked up as the sound of an IM went off above them. After hesitating a minute, she decided to ignore it. Right now, something wasn't quite right with Balmung and if she could do something right today, she wanted to help him.
"Balmung?"
He swallowed. "As for Kite, the only thing I hold against is him is my bitter jealousy. The fact that he's out there everyday, doing more then I can to help Yasuhiko out…I'm the advanced player here, and for some reason I'm completely powerless!" His armored fist hit the nearby wall in frustration. "And he's so nice. He's so willing to let everyone help him, even though that bracelet has enough power to destroy an entire party in an instant. He's a lot stronger than I could ever be, as a player and as a person. That's why I can't stand him." His eyes slowly closed. "Do you have any idea how weak that makes me feel? That I've been playing since Fragment and a newbie has better luck against this thing than I do."
"You've been trying your hardest! We both have!" she told him with a smile. "Come on, don't give up on me now! I need you! I need you to help me with this!" she stepped over to him and touched his shoulder. Blushing she swallowed, determined. "You can't hide from this. You said you would help me out. I've put to much trust in you to let you just walk away from me now."
He looked down on her, pain and surprise mingled in his dark green eyes. He couldn't believe through all of this that she still willingly wanted to stay by his side. She had been a great help and a great friend. And even now when he had been avoiding her to get his feelings in place, he still couldn't help but to regard her as more then his friend. He swallowed. It was way to quiet between them.
Hiko was growing more impatient with each passing second. She wasn't answering, but she was clearly online. Thinking that she might be more upset with him then he had first thought and wanting desperately to make amends by this point he entered Mac Anu. A group of players had gone idle in front of the chaos gate and he asked them if they had seen a red-haired blademaster pass by.
"Yeah. Good-looking girl, right?" a long arm spoke up. "She passed here about fifteen, twenty minutes ago. Seemed to be heading over the bridge into the alleys."
"Thanks for your help." He said, dashing off in that direction.
Balmung's hand on her own startled her. He carefully pulled her away from his side, to stand right in front of him. Questioningly she stared at him, realizing he hadn't let go of her yet.
"Why?" he asked softly. "You aren't like anyone else I've met here in this place. You don't care that I'm powerful, that I'm famous. That I'm a total asshole and that half the time I act like a jerk. To you, I'm just…Balmung. Why is that?"
"Because you are." She responded, just as quiet. "To accept somebody, to care for that person…you have to be able to accept the good and the bad. Everyone has their bad moments, but I believe its only because they see the bad in themselves first. You're not a bad person Balmung. You're just not used to being around people." She watched his eyes widen at that comment and knew she had hit the point. "I could tell. You have an edge around everyone because you're not used to being around everyone. It's something you have to get used on your own but you're getting there. I know you're bad points because I care but knowing that doesn't make you any different. You're still the same gallant knight that swooped down to save me when I needed help."
His arms reached out, pulling her up against him. He closed his eyes, the crimson taking his cheeks as he held her. "Thank you." He whispered. She accepted him because she cared…that was something completely new to him. No one else, not in his life, had treated him this way. He had been so afraid that she would just leave, like all the other people who have come and gone in his lifetime. But she was here, and she cared for him, just as much as he did for her. "Thank you so much. You don't know what you've done for me…"
She hugged him back, her arms having a hard time encircling him in that heavy armor. The feathers draping down his arms tickled against her back as he comfortably held her against him. "You don't have to thank me." She looked up at him. "I only do it because I want to. You mean a lot to me Balmung, whether you realize it or not. I'm happy to be by your side."
He smiled. So this was the time to make confessions was it? This was definitely the last thing he had thought would happen today. "You mean a lot to me too. I've actually never been happier then when I'm with you and I guess that's why I miss you so much. I envy anyone else who gets your attention besides me."
She grinned behind her blush. "Is that so?"
"Yes it is." His eyes sparked playfully. "And it's not the only thing." Leaning down, he hesitated for a moment as if silently asking, before he dropped his lips on hers. For a moment Savana tensed from the shock. She hadn't been expecting that, but with his soft touch and warm kiss…her eyes fluttered close seconds before he pulled away. Extremely blushing, Balmung wore a proud smirk on his face as if he had accomplished something of great importance. "There. I claim you as mine."
"You…!" she struck out to hit him, but he just gracefully sidestepped out of the way. Savana stumbled before she turned. "You had that planned all along, didn't you?!"
"Actually I didn't, but it fit nicely along with the romantics don't you think?" He smiled, leaning over to her. "And I'll do it again." He said softly, teasingly as he quickly stole another kiss.
She looked at him like she couldn't take this. "I can't believe you!"
He laughed- actually laughed wholeheartedly. Pulling her into his arms again he smirked. "And if you like it, that's just the beginning."
She growled, ruffling his long bangs. She still couldn't believe what was going on herself, but she couldn't say she wasn't pleased with it. For being worried about him for so long and actually caring, it was looking like it was paying off, especially as he was becoming more himself around her and he had announced his feelings for her, just like she had.
He laughed out loud again, something she wasn't used to but it fit him well. "So what say you to my offer?"
"I say you're crazy, but that arrogant attitude reminds me of the Balmung I know." She smiled.
"Glad to know me acting like a jerk makes you happy." He grinned, stroking her hair. "I wish I could stay, but I have work to get done. Tomorrow I'll meet up with you in Cultural City Carmina Gadelica."
"What's that?" she asked.
"It's the real reason I called you out here. Tomorrow the admin are going to unlock Carmina Gadelica. After it suffered a huge crash a month or so ago, they've had it closed for repairs, but it will reopen tomorrow. Check your server list for Lambda server when you log on tomorrow. Until then," he ducked his head, dropping another quick kiss on her forehead. The golden glow surrounded him and he logged out.
Tawna stood for a minute before heading back out to the exit of the alley. As she approached the corner, she saw a figure standing there, watching her. She stopped, her eyes wide at the heavy blade that stood in front of her. "…Hiko?"
The man looked a lot like Hiko, but that cold look on his face led her to think for a moment she was staring at a different character. He shifted; the raven locks of hair moving away to show the purple crest on his forehead.
"It is you Hiko!" she smiled. "I thought so. I'm sorry for anything I did wrong. I hope you got my let-" she stopped as he turned away. "Hiko?"
Within a footstep or so he logged out. The blademaster stood there, watching him go. "Hiko…" she sighed. "I really am sorry."
The black-haired senior tossed the visor aside. He had seen it all. The fight, their make up…. and for some reason it angered him. He was frustrated with feeling this way, and it was all for nothing now. Tawna had evidently made her decision, hadn't she? Even if he did feel for her…it meant nothing now.
His cell rang; disturbing what little thinking his brain could process at the moment. Furious he picked it up and yelled into it. "Hello?!"
"…Hiko?"
He blinked. He hadn't even been thinking about the game that he was missing… "Nenji?" he said calmly.
"Yeah hey. Sorry to interrupt you or anything…" he could hear the bitterness masked in the man's tenor voice. "The game was called to rain. We made one foul shot and all of a sudden the heaven's opened and began dumping buckets on the field. It's going to be rescheduled. Keita, Lena Raine and I are still heading to the arcade though. Wanna come?"
"Sorry." He said emotionlessly. "I'm not feeling to well."
"That's right… you didn't look to good this morning." The suspicion drained from his friend's voice. "Hope you feel better."
He hung up and slunk over to his bed. He wasn't lying; it felt like something inside of him had shattered to pieces and was stabbing him on the inside. Among all the other emotions he had felt today…it was just about the all the poor guy could take. He didn't hear his cell phone ring later on, or maybe he did and chose to ignore. The letters scrawling across the screen read: The Saganachi Residence.
-- That was a heck of a lot of writing to do over one night. Thanks for that go out to Ranku because he wanted this chapter done so fast =p. I will start on Chapter eight as fast as I can (look for it out sometime over this next week). Oh and this chapter is dedicated to Hirelena, who has become a Hiko fan after following my story in writing through to the second season. I look forward to writing the next chapter!
Sora Tokumi Kazuma--
