Disclaimer- I do not own Pokemon, Yu-Yu-Hakusho, Rurouni Kenshin, any of the Final Fantasy's, Harry Potter, Princess Mononoke, Dragonball Z, any of the Tekken's, or any other anime/games/books I have in this story. I do however, own the OC's which are not many.
This story is dedicated to the late Rick Powell, who was my 7th grade Ela teacher. It is because of him that I was inspired to write for the heck of it and to have fun with my writing.
Here's another chapter for Palett High! Surprisingly, the daily lives of teenagers are hard to write. But, getting over that, chapter six is ready to be written, and here it is!
Ch.6- Practice and Dates
As the final bell of the day rang, the seniors on the football team were cherishing their last few moments of freedom before going out to the hell that awaited them.
The tryouts had been mere precursors to what was to come, and what was to come wasn't easy.
Gohan sighed as he walked into the locker room. He took in the room with a rather bizarre pride, feeling that now, in his final year of high school; he would accomplish something, aside from being co-student of the year with Kurama every year. He knew that every player on the team was dying for what had eluded them for their entire four-year stay at Palett.
A championship.
However, it was hard to see the makings of a championship team with what was in the locker room. It seemed to be the same atmosphere that had always greeted Gohan at this time of year, an almost playful and carefree one.
Yusuke and Hiei taunting Kuwabaka…er…Kuwabara, about his oversized head. His little brother Goten and his friend Trunks, two of the very few freshmen who had made the varsity team, throwing each other's equipment across the room, Bit and Brad slapping towels at each other, and Harry and Ron getting bad mouthed by that Draco Malfoy punk, to name a few.
Again he sighed, this time in frustration as he shook his head and made his way over towards his locker. He had one in the corner next to two of his fellow defensive teammates, Mune and Nuke.
"Another year huh?" Gohan asked, while lifting his shirt over his head.
"Yeah," said Nuke, "however it's hard to see how in the hell we're supposed to win with these idiots!" he finished, gesturing over his shoulder with his thumb at an enraged Zell who was chasing a laughing Seifer around because he had just given him a purple nurple.
"Yeah," Gohan said, "miracles happen." He tied up his pants and pulled the facemask of his helmet up through the neck of his shoulder pads. He was now clad in the usual practice attire, a gray sleeveless cutoff shirt with blue sweat shorts under his padded pants. To finish it off, he wore on his feet black cleats with rubber spikes rather than the old metal ones.
He hoisted his pads over his shoulder and walked out of the locker room with both Mune and Nuke, closely followed by Yusuke and Cloud.
To get out of the damned locker room was a challenge in itself. It was almost as bad as earlier that day. However, now you had to get past and/or through fellow dressed out teammates. And with the added addition of pads, it was no small feat.
As Soujiro and Squall came out of the locker room they noticed Seifer, Draco and Gary (Pokemon Gary) harassing a couple of the freshmen varsity players.
"So, you punks think you're so good just because you made our team?" Seifer drawled, "You two don't even know how to fluff a chocobo!"
Soujiro shook his head and said, "Do you Seifer?"
"You stay out of this Seta!" With that, he and Gary shot them the birdie and walked outside and towards the field.
"Pleasant bunch aren't they?" Harry asked as he stepped out of the locker room after hearing the conversation.
"…" Was Squall's reply as he opened the door to get out.
"Look you two," Soujiro said, "Uh…what are your names again?"
The one on the left with the spiked hair said, "Goten."
The one with the purple bowl cut hair said, "Trunks."
Soujiro nodded, "Don't listen to them. They're just a bunch of morons."
Harry nodded in agreement, "Yeah, the slimy git Draco, the one with the slicked back blonde hair, he couldn't tackle a pillow if it was already on the floor!"
Soujiro smirked, "Yeah and the other two, Seifer and Gary, they're on you're side of the ball so, it doesn't really matter. Just watch out for them in the gauntlet, ok?"
The two freshmen nodded as they too exited the building.
Harry turned to Soujiro and asked, "Watch out for them? What are you, gay? They couldn't hit the broad side of a barn!"
"True, but if they miss the broad side, then whoever their target was ends up like Squall, with a gash going diagonally between the eyes!" Soujiro countered.
"Ah…point made!" With that the two left the hallway to join their teammates outside under the blazing sun.
Once all the players were outside, with a few exceptions due to after school tutoring, Coach T. started the practice off with a, as he said, "simple" lap.
It included a brisk jog around the school, then a rather long run along the perimeter of the acres of field next to the school, and finally, an all out sprint spanning two hundred meters across both.
Needless to say, all the players were thankful that they had been able to leave their shoulder pads on the field.
The downside?
Nobody knew whose pads were whose. They were all the same dull white and black.
"Wait, wait, wait," Yusuke shouted, "I know which one's mine." Cloud stared at him.
"How the hell can you tell the difference Urameshi?" he asked.
"Simple," he gestured towards a set of pads, "I put mine next to Kuwabara's, and I could spot his helmet a mile away! All I had to do was look for the biggest one!"
They all laughed, except Kuwabara who was in fact pissed, "See if I block for you, you little shit!"
At that moment, Coach T. and Coach Swarzenneger came over.
"Okay men, vere going to see if jou remember any of ze playz we ran last jear!" he pointed to Yusuke, "Urameshi, get your offense togezher and see if you can beat ze defense."
And so, the first "true" practice of the year played out this way the entire time. That is until the end of it, at which time Coach T. instructed every one to line up behind the end zone on the line.
"Okay fools, we're gonna run some sprints! And I pity the fool who thinks he won't get caught walking! GO!"
All the players completely decked out in pads and the works took off towards the other end of the field. Soujiro was the first to reach the other side, followed later by Zell and then Ash and finally, the rest of the team.
They listened for the whistle as Coach T. raised his hand on the other side of the field. Then, there was a faint, high-pitched whistle as he threw his arm down, signaling them to go.
Again, the end results were the same, however, the rest of the team seemed to be slowing down.
"I'll say it again, if I see any fool walking or jogging, I pity the fool!" He blew the whistle abruptly after that and they took off again.
Soujiro finished first again, this time however, closely followed by Kenshin. The two had only beaten the rest of the team by a few seconds though.
Another whistle, another sprint, and then another, and another, and another. It went like this until Haru, bent over double and struggling to breathe, finally threw up.
"AWW MAN!" shouted the team in unison.
"Well, I can see that now you're getting tired. Okay then," Coach T. said looking at his watch, "If you ladies can finish the hundred and back in twenty-five seconds, we'll call it a practice!"
"Come on guys!" shouted Ashitaka enthusiastically, "We can do this! Come on, clap it up!" With that, he began clapping his hands slowly at first then as others joined him, steadily faster.
The whistle blew.
Soujiro was hauling ass. He was going to beat every one again. 'Come on Sou!' he thought to himself as he noticed Kenshin and Hiei catching up, 'Come on you can beat them!'
Ash and Ashitaka looked at each other as they noticed the team start to slow down. Then in unison, they shouted,
"COME ON GUYS JUST FIFTY MORE YARDS TO GO!"
And that seemed to do it. As one, the team kicked it into sixth gear and took off. They passed Coach T. as he was looking at his watch. Once they stopped, he read their time out,
"Twenty-four and a half seconds."
There were shouts of relief as they got up and made their way towards the two coaches. They made a circle around them and then took a knee.
"Okay fools, you guys had a good practice and we're already proud of you," Coach T. said, "but don't slack off, because Coach Swarzennegar and I will be on your butts faster than you can say shit!"
There were snickers at this statement.
"Okay fools, hands in, brothers on three!" Everyone got up and placed their hands on top of the two coaches.
"Ready? ONE, TWO, THREE, BROTHERS!"
"Alright everybody take it in! Oh and don't forget we have a game Friday night!"
Saturday couldn't have come any faster for Ashitaka. He was so nervous that he couldn't even tie his shoelace much less dress right for the occasion. His only reassurance came because he and San were double dating with Bit and Leena.
However, he was sort of sad, he had wanted to be alone with San, but something made him ask Bit to go with him. He didn't know what.
He was dressed in khaki cargo pants and a blue long sleeve shirt with dark blue sneakers.
"Thank god we're meeting them at the movies and not at the park. That gives me what, ten, maybe twenty minutes alone with San? God she's so beautiful…." He said to himself.
With that he made his way out of his house and towards the park, which was about a block away from his home. As he walked he felt his leg almost give in, as a result of the strain he had put on it the previous night.
They had had a football game and he had hit the opposing halfback and then he'd been landed on by a whole half of his teammates. After he sat out, the school nurse came over and checked out his leg. She had said he had a contusion.
"What the hell is a contusion? Is that a disease?" he had asked in worry.
"No, a contusion is the same thing as a bruise, you'll be fine." The nurse had said.
'Sheesh," thought Ashitaka, 'couldn't she have just said 'You have a bruise? She scared the crap out of me!' he thought to himself as he made his way into the park.
He looked around and saw no sign of San yet. Glancing at his watch, he realized why. They had said seven and it was only 6:50.
"So I jumped the gun, no big." He said aloud. He sat down on a bench and started waiting.
It wasn't long before two hands had covered his eyes rendering him temporarily blind.
"Guess who?" said a soft female voice.
"Mom? What the heck are you doing here?" he said with a smirk, "I thought I told you I wanted some "alone" time!"
"Ashitaka!" Said the voice as its owner made its way around the bench and into his view. "It's me, San!"
"I know, I just wanted to see what you would do." He got up and hugged her. She hugged back and gave him a peck on the cheek.
Both teens' hearts sped up and they broke apart. Smiling, Ashitaka said,
"So, we've got half an hour until the movie starts and we have to meet Bit and Leena. What do you want to do?"
"Well, I would like to get to know you better Ashitaka. Tell me something about yourself."
"Hm, let's see…umm, I'm on the football team at school and I play linebacker with your brothers." He said, "Okay your turn."
"Ummm…well, I have an obsession with pizza." San responded. She had expected him to ask, but she still wasn't ready to answer. "Now you."
It was really a lot better than walking in silence, and the two realized that by the time they reached the theatre, that they had a rather firm grasp on what the other liked and disliked, not that they hadn't already known it, considering that the year before, they basically stalked each other.
As they walked up the sidewalk leading to the ticket booth, they spotted Bit and Leena waiting for them, with Bit's arms wrapped around Leena's waist and his chin resting on top of her head. They were talking about something but immediately shut up when they saw Ashitaka and San.
"It's about time you guys." Bit said with false anger, "What took you so long? Or more importantly, what were you doing?"
"We weren't doing anything. We thought that you guys were gonna be late, so we took our time in getting over here." San responded trying to hide her blush and failing miserably.
"Yeah, sure, whatever. Now, what are we gonna go see?" asked Leena turning around with Bit still holding her waist.
"Well, what is there?" Ashitaka asked.
"Batman Begins, Star Wars Episode III, uh…The Longest Yard, Meet the Fockers, and Madagascar." Bit read off the list of movies.
After a long and heated debate, the two couples finally decided on Star Wars. They figured that it would be dramatic and entertaining at the same time. And in addition, if the movie wasn't entertaining, then it meant about three hours worth of "cuddle" time.
"Do you want anything San?" Ashitaka asked as he got in line for the snack bar.
"Umm, no not really."
"Aww come on, are you sure, or do you just not want me to spend my money on you?"
"Well, if you put it that way, can you just get me some water and popcorn?"
"Sure, is that all?" he asked.
She nodded her head and then walked over to where Leena was standing likewise waiting for Bit to get their sustenance.
"So San, how's is the coupled life so far?" Leena asked mischievously.
"Oh you know, so-so." San said gesturing with her hand. "But then again, we've only been officially "together" for about, five days, so I really wouldn't know about the "kinky" stuff that you and Bit know about would I?"
Leena laughed, "You've got me there San." There was silence for a minute. "So, did you go to the game last night?"
"No, I had to go home early, my mom wanted me to help her with stuff around the house." San replied. "Who won?"
"We did, but just barely. I think your brothers really did a number on the running backs from Cerulean."
"Running backs?" San said.
Leena nodded her head. "They must've brought in the fourth string running back. Took the first three backs off on stretchers. Damn near insane."
San laughed, "So that was why they came in laughing and happy last night. I was starting to wonder."
"Wonder about what?" Ashitaka asked as he and Bit made their way toward the waiting girls with the snacks in hand.
"My brothers' sanity." Replied San taking the offered popcorn off his hands.
They walked towards the ticket usher situated at the entrance to the dim hallway that led to the different theatre rooms. Having already purchased their tickets they handed them to him.
As he took them he said, "That'll be the fourth door on your right."
They nodded and left down the hall. They passed by the ads for new movies and pictures of old movie stars as they came upon the entrance to their room.
"Well," Bit said, "This is your last chance to go to the restroom, and the movie starts in about two minutes so hurry up. Ladies you can go first if you need to, we'll take your stuff in." He took Leena's popcorn and drink as Ashitaka did the same for San.
The girls turned to their left and entered the restroom. Bit and Ashitaka walked into the room and looked around the slightly lit theatre. It was about half full and it was easy enough to find seats. As they made their way towards the back of the theatre, someone shouted,
"Hey Bit, Ashitaka! Over here!" The two boys looked up and saw the source of the voice. And to Ashitaka's horror, it was Mune, accompanied as always, by his brother Nuke.
"Oh shit!" Ashitaka hissed, cursing his bad luck.
Bit looked at him with sympathetic eyes. "Okay here's the deal man," he whispered softly trying not to make it too obvious that he was hiding something, "I'll make up an excuse for you while you go and get San and get out of here. After that, get tickets to another movie or something and Leena and I will meet you at that Irish restaurant when our flick is done, alright?"
Ashitaka nodded and snacks in hand, he left the theatre in haste. "Hey guys!" Was the last thing he heard as he exited.
Ashitaka was just about to go toward the restrooms when he saw San and Leena already walking down the hall. He ran to them.
"Ashitaka, what's wrong?" San asked as she looked at him in worry.
"Mune and Nuke," he gasped.
"Yeah, what about them?" Leena said.
"Their here! They're in the theatre and they already saw Bit and I!" At this, San visibly paled and looked at her friend and then at Leena.
"Look it's alright you two, they don't have to see you! Just go to another movie while we're here, and then Bit and I will meet you at that Irish restaurant afterward." Leena said hastily.
"You know, Bit said that exact same thing to me." Ashitaka laughed, "That's really weird."
"Yeah well, after a few years as a couple you start to develop this kind of sixth sense and you're always able to know what your significant other is thinking." Leena responded.
"Well, come on Ashitaka, let's go see about the other movies." San said as they turned around toward the entrance.
"Have fun you two!" Leena called over her shoulder with a smirk on her face.
A/N: Well, there you go that's chapter six. I think it's a little longer than the others because I've been so lazy in my updates through this story. Please R&R!
