A/N: Hello again, everyone! This will probably be the last chapter I can get in before school starts. TT By the way, in case some of you are confused, this is set shortly after second term in their junior year. I know that the Japanese have different school systems, but I kept it like ours so that (maybe) it'll be less confusing. Also, sorry for the crappy title of this chapter, but I couldn't think of anything better.
Disclaimer: I don't own Ronin Warriors, just some OC's, some fanfics, and a crapload of fanart.
A Fine Line Between Love and Hate
KiahWMConnie
Chapter Eleven: Thinking
"Go for it, Maria!"
"Hit!"
"BAM!"
"Yeah!"
Rhonda high-fived Maria, "Great spike, there."
"Thanks," Maria huffed as she wiped away the sweat from her forehead, "I told you volleyball's my best sport."
"That's enough for today girls, short day today," Coach Riraku instructed, "Hit the showers. Hold up, Rhonda. I have an assignment for you."
Rhonda stayed with the coach as everyone else greatfully went to clean up.
"I need you to run these papers over to Coach Kindai. He should be with the boys' basketball team."
Rhonda wrinkled her nose, "Coach...you know I hate the stench of sweaty boys."
"That's why I'm sending you," she smiled and winked, "I know that you'd be the last one to flirt with any of the boys while doing business."
Rhonda took the papers and jogged to the boys' gym.
In the boys' gym, a scrimmage/practice game was happening with the basketball team. Usually, the team was split up into two different teams for practice, which was the case today.
"Hey, Ro, check it out," Kento nodded in a direction.
Rowen followed Kento's eyes, then spotted what he was looking at, "Oh, no," he whined.
Rhonda was walking around, seemingly looking for someone, and holding her nose. Oh, come on. They didn't stink that bad, did they?
"Boys, keep your eyes on the game, not on the girls!" the coach yelled and the boys were immediatly embarrassed. Rhonda didn't seem to hear, thank God.
"Yo, Hashiba!" one of his teammates yelled and threw the ball at him.
Rowen caught it with ease. He had become quite a great basketball player on his team. Whether it be because of him being so tall, or because of his intense "workout" in the Dynasty, he was one of the best on the team. He dribbled the ball around the other team's players, and came upon the basket. Stopping with just seconds to spare in the scrimmage game, he shot the ball, and it went in the basket.
"Woo-hoo!" came several of his teammates' voices, "Nice one! Way to go, Rowen."
"Nice practice, boys," Coach Kindai said to the team, "We'll call it a day."
Rowen gave the last of his high-fives to everyone. He spotted Rhonda again. She was about thirty feet away standing close to the coach...and she was looking right at Rowen. Her eyes were wide with what seemed like surprise and befuddlement. Rowen straightened up, raised his eyebrow, and gave her a 'beat that' type of look. He then started to walk towards the showers, content with what he had done.
She caught the look and was immediately angered. It took all her strenght to hold herself from running over there and beating the ever-loving snot out of his stick-thin body. She sighed and decided to go through with what she originally came for.
"Coach Kindai," Rhonda spoke up, "These are for you," she handed him the papers.
"Ah, these are from Coach Riraku. Thanks," he took the papers from her, "Stay a minute, I have something I need her to have."
Rhonda mentally rolled her eyes. She hated doing the faculty's errands.
"So, did you see my team? They're great, aren't they?" he boasted.
"Yes, sir. They are very athletic...I have a question though."
"Ask away. I love to hear about my players."
"Well, is that Hashiba a good player?"
"Are you kidding? Didn't you see him? He's one of the starters on the team. Yep, he's been quite the athlete the last few years."
Rhonda gritted her treeth and went a little pink in anger. She did not need to hear that.
"Oh, I'm sorry," he smiled in realization, "I forgot about you and him being mortal enemies."
"Huh? How do you know about that?"
"Girly, everyone knows about you two. I'm surprised the school board didn't do anything after the whole 'grocery shopping' incident."
Rhonda looked down to hide her very red face. Great. Now the Dweeb ruined her reputation too.
"Well, here's the file for your coach."
She took the papers from him and left without a word.
"Hey, Rowen. Did you see Rhonda come in the gym during practice?" Cye asked as everyone changed clothes in the locker room.
"Yeah, I saw her once, but that was it. Why?"
"Just wondering. She might've...looked at you," he chuckled, "You were parading around in only your little uniform."
"Don't make me gag, Cye," he tossed his gym clothes into his bag, "And why have you been giving me such a hard time about her lately?"
Cye laughed, "Oh, please. You always tease me about Maria. I figured it was time I could have some fun once in a bloody while."
"That reminds me," Rowen said in a low, menacing voice, "When are you two going to hook up?"
Cye went red. He hated it when Rowen pushed his buttons, yet he did it all the time! He could be quite the teaser and Cye was the perfect target for him. Damn his introverted ways...
"Would you be quiet about that?" Cye shot back at him, his face red as ever.
"Cye, just grow a backbone already and ask her out! I know you like her," he continued to tease.
"N-no I don't! And...even if I did, she wouldn't feel the same way."
"I don't know, man," Kento joined in out of nowhere, "She does seem quite partial to you," he grinned, "Ro's right. Ask her out!"
"Hey...you're supposed to be on my side," Cye whimpered.
"Fine," Kento huffed, "If you won't ask her out, I will."
"Kento!" Cye went even redder, followed by hearty laughs from both of his friends.
"So, Rowen," Kento switched subjects after laughing, "Did you ever find the real disk?"
"No, it wasn't anywhere," he sighed, "But I'm not going to let it get to me. I've almost forgotten about it now."
Actually, that was only halfway true. What happened the other day really disturbed Rowen. Was someone out to get him, or was it just the usual case of bad luck? Nonetheless, he kept it inside. No need to worry his friends. It was probably his own dang fault anyways for losing it.
'Oh, great,' he thought, 'Now I'm starting to think like Ryo.'
"Danny? Where are the cookies?" Rhonda called to her little brother.
"I don't know," he drawled out back to her before returning to his homework.
"BANG!"
Danny jumped three feet in the air as his sister kicked open his door.
"Danny...don't lie to me. What did you do with those cookies?"
He released his hold on his chest and sarcastically remarked, "Why? Are you menstral?"
His hind quarters were met with Rhonda's foot as she glared with firey eyes.
"Don't joke about that kind of thing!"
"Alright. Alright," he chuckled as he rubbed his sore butt, "But seriously, I have no clue where the sweets-of-deadly-desire are."
Rhonda gave a sigh. The only guy who could ever cheer her up was him. She gave a small, almost sad chuckle as she walked out of Danny's room.
'That reminds me,' she thought as she continued to look in their tiny kitchen, 'Liz hasn't gotten back yet. I hope she didn't get held up at work again.'
She sat down at the table and rested her head in her arms and let her mind wander off to random things. And random they were...she suddenly thought of Rowen.
"Ugg..." she gave an audible groan.
What was with that guy? When she walked into the gym earlier that day, she wasn't quite expecting what she saw. When she saw him, he was...happy...laughing even. And that look he gave her in the gym drove her nuts. Something in her little plan had failed. The Dweeb was supposed to be crushed, and now, just a few days later, he was perfectly fine!
"Then why do I feel so bad...?" she quietly whispered to herself, staring at the table.
It just didn't make sense...did it? Was God trying to get back at her or something? Deep down, she knew what she did was wrong, but in her mind it was a 'necessary evil.' Why was that?
It all came rushing to her. Back home, she was always the top student in her school. She was always well mannered, extremely smart, very kind, and just an all-around model student. Her clothes were always neatly kept, as was her desk. She was always very proper and polite to everyone. But then...about five years ago, something happened, causing her to change. She was no longer the nicest girl in school. It was because of that, she promised herself that, except for Danny, she would eternally hate men.
Rhonda suddenly teared up.
'Guess I'm still trying to get over that,' she thought as she silently sobbed, 'Oh, God. Danny was right...I must be menstral.'
She gave a chuckle through her sobs. She began to think of when she first came to Toyama. It was two weeks after they moved when she first went to Han'a High. Rhonda felt so alone. And to top it all off, she had woken up late her first day of school. Then she ran into him. That was not a memory that she liked. But on the positive side, she did get ot call him a jackass. She smiled lightly. Shortly after she met Maria, her one friend in the whole school.
'Maria!' she thought, 'She always knows how to cheer me up.'
Rhonda picked up the phone and dialed a familiar number.
"Hello?" a voice came from the other end.
"M-maria? It's me."
"Oh, hi, Rhon! What's up?"
"Not much, I guess," she sighed.
"Are you okay? You sound like you've been crying."
She gave a hollow chuckle, "Yeah, a little bit."
"What happened? Do I need to come over?"
"No, no. It's okay I just...well...I've just been a little emotional lately, y'know?"
Maria was quiet for a minute, "...Are you menstral?"
Rhonda made a blank face. What was with people these days?
"I don't know," she grunted, "I've just been kinda down."
"Hmm," Maria hummed, "Tell ya what, if it's okay with your sis, wouldja like to come over to my place for the weekend?"
Rhonda's face lit up, "Hells yes! I'll ask her right when she comes home!"
They both giggled.
"Well, it's getting late now," Maria chuckled, "You need to go to bed."
"Oh," Rhonda raised an eyebrow, "And what about you?"
"NEVA!" Maria yelled, "I shall neva sleep! Not until I have the secret formula!"
Rhonda went wide-eyed, then burst into laughter.
"You are so crazy, M! I'm gonna go now. Don't kill anybody while you're still up, okay?"
"Yes, Senator," she replied in mock seriousness, "I shall do my best!"
"And Maria," Rhonda added, "Thanks."
Maria chuckled, "No problem."
As she promised, Rhonda asked Liz about staying with Maria as soon as she got home. She thought about it for a while, then gave her full permission. Rhonda was instanly pleased. She gave her sister a bear hug and promised to work twice as hard around the house while she was there. Liz only chuckled at her kid sister's excitedness.
She never explained to Rhonda why she was a little late; Rhonda was too hyper to care. Truth be told, Rowen stopped by that night. And once again, they talked for quite a while. Liz had learned of the poor boy losing his disk for a big history assignment. He seemed relatively okay, though. Liz had kept her little secret from her sister for a while now, almost a week. Oh well. What she didn't know wouldn't hurt her.
Rhonda impatiently tapped her desk with her pen. She wanted to get out of this wretched school now. She couldn't wait until later this afternoon, because Maria and she were going to spend the whole weekend together and goof off for two and a half days. The bell rang and everyone in chemistry started to get up.
'Finally,' she thought.
"Mr. Hashiba, Miss Maxwell, stay here for a moment," Mr. Kantu called out to the two students.
'Shit,' she thought.
Rowen had similar thoughts. Now what did he do wrong?
When everyone had cleared out, they stood in front of his desk, quite a distance from each other.
"Apparently," he bagan, "You two don't seem to be doing well in the school project."
Both students blushed slightly.
"It seems that you two have not been filling the required five hours a day together," he continued as they were silent, "As you both know, I'm sure, this project will end next week. But, as a discipline, yours will be extended for two more weeks with other requirements."
"WHAT?" they both gaped.
"Yes, yes, I know. But that's what you get for slacking off."
"But, Mr. Kantu!" Rhonda interjected, "It's just that this guy's a sleazy, ugly pig who doesn't know when too shut up!"
"Yeah," Rowen cut in, "And this girl's an uppity, whiny know-it-all who has a rod shoved up her butt!"
'I've been here too long,' Kantu thought, 'That almost sounded reasonable.'
"Well, it's not my fault that you're booksmart with no common sense," Rhonda insulted.
"And it's not my fault that you can't get wet or you'll melt!" Rowen shot back.
Kantu slammed his fist on the desk which shut them both up quickly.
"The point is," Kantu began threateningly, "That you'll both have to grit your teeth and bear it if you plan on graduating this year."
They both stared dumbfoundedly for a while, then muttered their 'Yes, sir's before walking out. Kantu could hear their quiet bickering as they parted ways.
"You are so dead."
"Bite me!"
"I would, but you'd probably taste nasty!"
Kantu smiled ever so slightly to himself. It rarely happened and was a sight to see.
'This is fun,' he thought to himself, 'I'll make sure to pair those two up in everything.'
"I'm so excited!" Rhonda threw her arms up and stretched once they were outside the school, "Two whole days away from my little brother and stupid chores!"
Maria laughed at her best friend's behavior, even though she was bubbling with excitement as well. Rhonda had told Maria all about the extended project in their last class. She didn't know whether to comfort her, get mad at the school, or just plain out laugh because it was so funny when those two bickered.
"Yo, Maria? You there?" Rhonda called which snapped her out of her thoughts.
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Heh. You know me...always spacing out."
They both chuckled. The walk to Maria's apartment was filled with jokes and laughter. After a while they had stopped speaking Japanese and continued in their native tongue of English.
"It feels so good to just rattle off in American once in a while," Maria giggled when they were inside the shelter of her apartment.
"You mean English?" Rhonda teased.
"No, I mean American. There's a difference, y'know! Believe me, I learned that from being around Cye. It's like a totally different language over there in England! When I met his uncle, he started spewing all sorts of weird Cockney(sp?) or whatever they call it."
"You sure do like him, don't you?" Rhonda chuckled.
"Who? Cye's uncle?"
"No! Cye."
"Oh!" Maria went a little pink, "Well, we are good friends...and yes, if it makes you happy, I do have a bit of a crush on him. Okay? Now leave me alone!"
They both laughed again.
"So, just how long have you known him?" Rhonda asked when they had stopped laughing.
Maria thought for a minute, "Oh, seven or eight months now. I don't know. It was sometime last summer."
"So, for a while then?"
"Ya, I guess so," Maria sighed as she looked out the window. She had quite a few great memories with Cye and the other boys.
"So, I guess you're part of their group now, huh?" Rhonda giggled.
"Nah, not really," Maria sighed, but continued when she saw Rhonda's confused face, "I don't know how to explain it. I mean, they welcome me to sit and talk with them and what not, but they just seem really close to one another. They were all good friends before I met them, so I really don't know that much about what went on between them. I've never come near to being as close to them as they are with each other. It's almost that kind of brotherly love that keeps them together."
"Awww," Rhonda interjected in sarcasm, "How sweet. 'Brotherly love.'"
"Anyways," Maria stopped her friend fro going any further, "It's not that easy to get close to a group of five guys when you're a girl. It's not that comfortable either."
"Explain please?"
Maria thought a few seconds, "Well...it's like, I can't say anything girlish around them. Like if I see this really hott guy at the mall or something, I can't say it to any of them! It's still in there though, desperate to be heard by someone! But if I say it to one of the guys, I'd either get really awkward stares, or nonstop teasing."
"Plus you'd hurt widdle Cye's feewings!" Rhonda teased.
"RHONDA!" Maria yelled at her now laughing freind.
"I'm just kidding!" she said between giggles, "Go ahead, go ahead."
"Anyways, that's why I'm so glad you came to town."
Rhonda stopped giggling and listened closely to her friend.
"It's so refreshing to have a friend of the same gender to joke with when you've been around guys for so long."
"I thought you liked being around those guys, though."
"I do! They're a ton of fun! We can rough house and tease each other and goof off and have a great time while doing it!...But...sometimes you just gotta have someone beside you who can relate. Y'know?" She gave her friend a sentimental look.
Rhonda gave the same look back, "You have no idea."
Maria sighed audibly, then gave a sudden giggle.
"What's so funny?"
"Oh, I was just thinking. I have such a diverse group of friends. I just wonder how it turned out this way, is all."
"Y'know, I've never really paid that much attention to the other guys you hang around. Just wondering, what are they like?"
Maria's face lit up as if she were waiting for someone to ask that, "I'd be glad to tell you! Now where to begin...
"Well, first, there's Cye. I'm sure you know pretty much who he is. Real sweet and shy guy. He's extremely considerate! And he's got those gorgeous sea-blue eyes-"
Rhonda cleared her through in a suggestive manner.
"Oops! Anyways, then, there's his best bud, Kento. That's the guy with the ashy-black hair and a ton of muscle. He's quite a character. Pretty much the total opposite of Cye. He's pretty hard-headed, but he's very outgoing and extremely funny.
"There's also Ryo,that super-athletic one with the shaggy black hair.He's a pretty sweet guy. He's very passionate about whatever he does and he seems like a great leader-type. He's also a bit of a worry-wart.
"And finally," she concluded, deciding to leave Rowen out of the explination, "There's Sage. Gee, I probably know the least about that guy out of the five," she began to go off in her own little world like she so often did, "He's always seemed like the snobbish type to me. Ya, he always dresses so nice, but he's so cold towards other people. And the fact that the girls follow him around like sheep is almost sickening."
"You said it!" Rhonda giggled.
"I don't think he likes me very much," she giggled right along with her friend.
"Well, you are kind of annoying," Rhonda teased.
"I'm not annoying!" Maria defended, "I'm just a little too much for most people to handle!"
"Right," Rhonda rolled her eyes and smiled, "And I suppose you putting that cherry bomb in the whining cheerleader's locker a couple of weeks ago was just 'a little too much'?"
They both laughed like maniacs. They had only been at Maria's place for a few hours and they had the whole weekend in front of them! This party was just getting started.
Rowen streched his back after he put his milk glass in the sink. He was so ready for bed, he could hardly stand it. Then his stare caught the little, blinking, red light by his phone.
'Great,' he thought, 'Eh, might as well check the answeing machine.'
The first two messages were from his dad's co-workers. Rowen paid little interest to them, but he became quite attentive when he heard a familiar, female voice.
"Rowen? Honey? It's me. I know I told you that I'd be coming soon. I'm sorry, but the event I was supposed to be reporting on has been delayed for quite a while. I will come, I promise! But it will probably be at least another half of a year. Until then, hugs and kisses! Bye bye, sweetheart."
Rowen released the breath he had been holding. Another...half a year? That was a pretty long time. He had mixed emotions at the moment. Should he feel relieved? Sorrowful? Worried? His emotions could be quite confusing...even for agenius like him. So, he decided to solve this problem like he did most.
"Guess I'll sleep on it."
A/N: Well, there you go folks. See? Rhonda's not totally evil. (Rowen fans: my ass!) I know I haven't updated in a while, but school just started for me and it's been sucking up ALL of my free time. TT So, I decided to make this chapter a little longer to (hopefully) hold you guys over. I'll update as much as possible as soon as things start to pick up.
I'll see you guys soon. Please review!
