A/N: El reviews! Yo el happy! (Okay, I don't take spanish. TT) Seroiusly though, thank you to all who support me!

Disclaimer: I don't own Ronin Warriors. I just own Rhonda, Maria, Liz, Danny, Mr. Kantu, and whatever other OC I come up with.

A Fine Line Between Love and Hate
KiahWMConnie
Chapter Nine: The Park

Rhonda impatiently tapped her foot on the sidewalk. She would occasionally check her watch and shake it in disbelief. What the heck was taking so long?

'We agreed on 3:00. He's supposed to be here now!'

"Uuuuugh," she groaned. That lazy-ass of a student was so late!

How the heck did he get such good grades anyways?


"Just gimme a few more seconds," Maria typed away at the computer.

"Hurry up! I don't want to get caught," Rhonda glanced around nevously.

"Eh, you worry too much," she continued to type, "Trust me, no one is coming. It's midnight, for crying out loud!"

Rhonda opened her mouth to say something, but instead closed it and continued to walk around nervously. There was just something creepy about breaking in a school and hacking into the computers.

Maria rolled her eyes, "Look, you wanna find out more about Ro, but you won't believe anything I say. This way, it's 100 proof."

About ten seconds later, Maria cracked her knuckles, a sign of victory, "Piece of cake."

Rhonda shoved Maria out of the way to see the computer screen, as if her life was in danger if she didn't see his records. She scanned over Rowen's reports, soaking in any information she could about him.

'A's.A's.A's...holy crap. Thejerk does make excellent grades!'

She looked for any flaw that she could find, any little blackmail for the future. There was one thing in the records that was very prominent: all of the tardies. Most of them were for first period.

'So that's his weakness,' Rhonda thought, 'He's a slumber-freak. This is a good thing for me.'

But still, those grades. How in the heck...?

Maria caught Rhonda's angonizing face. She held back a chuckle as she quickly explained.

"He gets amazing grades. He does have an IQ of 250, remember?"

Rhonda continued to stare at the screen, "...I don't understand. He's not the personality of a braniac."

"Yeah," Maria shrugged, "But in his free time he usually has his head in some book with words that most people can't understand. That, or playing chess or go or-"

Rhonda slammed her hands on the table, and quite loudly and abruptly.

"And what is this?" She asked with a cute, evil tone.

"That's what I was thinking," Maria huffed as she let go of her chest. That scared her to death!

"It seems that, back in 9th grade, Hashiba got a 0 on a major math test."

Geez. Was she a nit-picker! It was a good thing that Maria didn't care what others thought of her. Otherwise, Rhonda and she wouldn't have gotten along so easily. Or...maybe it was just because she hated Ro. Who knew what when on inRhonda's head.

"I know what that's about," Maria casually chuckled, "Cye told me about that one."

Rhonda listened intently as Maria continued, "Apparently, Rowen studied a TON for that test. Stayed up all night. Right after he was done, he checked his answers in the book and he was positive he had made a 100. Well, when he got it back it was a big, fat, goose egg. He got a 0 because he forgot to put his name."

They both laughed heartily, one because of hatred, the other because...well, it was just funny.

"So, what other stories do you have that I can use against him?"

Maria blinked for a second, then crossed her arms and huffed, "Oh, no. I'm not gettin' in the middle of this. You and Ro are both my friends and I don't wanna hafta choose sides."

Rhonda groaned, then decided to play hell-maker with Maria.

She got a sudden evil smirk, "Is Hashiba really your friend, or are you nice to him just because he's Cye's friend?"

Maria's eyes snapped open and she blushed immediatley.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she yelled at her giggling friend.

"Oh come ON!" Rhonda teased between laughs, "Everyone knows it! Except you. You and Brit Boy, himself."

"Oh, yeah? Well...I bet you start liking Ro before it's all over with!"

Rhonda rolled her eyes, "Puh-lease, Maria! Don't make me barf."


Rhonda again had to shake her head at Maria's remark. She didn't understand how Maria could be in love with her friend's mortal enemy's friend. Gosh, it just wasn't scriptural!

"Maxwell! I'm here," she heard a voice from behind. The rage returned when she saw the same hideous face framed by a shredded blueberry

"Are we-"

"21 minutes."

"Huh?"

"You are 21 minutes late."

Rowen blinked a few times and rolled his eyes, "Oh, please forgive me, your highness," he whined in sarcasm, "I beg of you, for I am but pond scum!"

"Hmph. At least we agree on one thing," she mumbled, "Well, let's get this over with. We've already lost enough time."

Rowen sighed in defeat and disgust and began to follow the fuming pink-head.

'Why does fate hate me so?' he thought.

Their walk was silent, as it always was. Rowen would occasionally make a goofy, kiss-my-ass type of face behind Rhonda's back. He was so temped to call upon his armor, just to see her get scared and pee her pants. Crap, he hated her.

Rhonda had similar thoughts. All she wanted to do was get away from this guy, and it just backfired more and more. They had only known each other for about a month, but that was all it took for them to disagree. She couldn't think of another person she hated more. Well, except for one person, but he didn't count...

Of all the stupid things, Rowen noticed the weather, "It's getting cloudy. Must be rain coming. Maybe we should head back."

"Well, aren't you Sherlock-freakin-Homes," she whispered to herself.

"How long have we been here?" he asked.

She annoyedly looked at her watch, "It's 3:35."

Rowen inwardly groaned. Time seemed to drag on forever.He still had another 3/4 of an hour with this!

Rhonda hated it as well. It was amazing how alike they thought, unbeknownst to them both. Fate was so cruel as to put them together in this world.

Why did this always happen? Rhonda always managed to find herself with some guy that she loathed. She started to tear up at the memory. No! She mustn't cry now. Not with the dweeb around to see her!

Rowen noticed her twitch a little bit, but thought no more of it. His focus was on the park bench they had just come upon.

"Finally," he sighed, "A place to sit."

He plopped down on the seat and rested his eyes. Rhonda kept her distance, but stood near the bench anyways. They both purposely avoided eye contact with eachother. Rhonda kept her attention on the other pedestrians. She noticed all of the lovebirds walking around; it was almost spring, afterall.

'The fools,'she thought, 'Don't they know any better?'

Rowen noticed what she was looking at. He also noticed something in her eyes. Hate? She seemed to have alot of that. He merely shook his head and sighed.

"Are you done resting yet?" she asked annoyedly, "I'd like to go sometime."

"What else is there to do around here? C'mon. Why dont 'cha sit down? You seem kinda groucy," he replied with a hint of laughter in the last remark.

Rhonda whipped her head around and gave Rowen a cold death-stare.

"Don't mess with me," Rowen remarked before she could say anything, "I'm a warrior."

Rhonda rolled her eyes and stomped off in some direction of the park while Rowen stayed seated for a minute. If only she knew the truth in the statement he just made.

"Hmph. I wanna divorce," he said as he got up and followed her.

Rhonda wanted to scream, to hit something, to hit someone...to hit him. Just what did he mean by 'warrior'? What a stupid thing to say! She'd get back at him, no matter what. But how? A sudden thought came to mind. That history report was due soon, right? They had recieved specific instructions on the assignment...and that made it very easy for her.

'Oh, Rhon...you are a genius,' she mentally congradulated herself as she plotted her revenge.

She looked down at her watch. Thank...God.

"Time's up," she said to Rowen, who she somehow knew was behind her, "I'm going home. I suggest you do the same."

That was all it took, and they didn't speak until Monday.


A/N: I know, I know! Sooo late. TT I'm so sorry! dodges reader's tomatoes I promise I'll update more! I've just been on this huge FMA kick lately. oO But don't worry! I ain't giving up on the fic! I will finish it no matter what. Until next time, I'll do my best! Also, sorry it's so short. > Again...

PS. For anyone who cares, D.C. was a blast!