Chapter 5 – Fair Enough (i do not own Princess Mononoke)

Focusing on homework was hard, but trying to listen to the teacher during class was even harder. She had no interest what-so-ever in paying attention to some foreigner who came overseas years ago when she had more modern, and more important, matters to think about. She kept glancing over at him, wondering what he was thinking, why he was thinking it. Was he thinking about that girl? Was he paying attention? Or was he…

'Listening to his iPod?' She followed the long black earphone cords to his right pocket. How the hell did he fit all those accessories in such few pockets? Sly devil, making everyone, especially her, look dumb while he's sitting in his seat, blasting the music away and breezing through the tests while the rest struggle to stay awake in class. She found herself smirk in amusement, but quickly shook it off. He looked so distant from the rest of the students; he looked studious and alert compared to the guys sleeping in the seat in front of him. Not an outcast, but not included within the major 'cliques' either. He was just there as some eye candy for the fan girls and walking news for the media to pounce on. She would've felt bad if he wasn't such a jerk.

The second hand on the clock seemed to move slower as the last minute passed. Only five more minutes. Just five.

'C'mon, c'mon!' San urged and pushed the time to go faster. The second hand passed the 30 second mark. 40…..45…. 'Let's move it!' she started sliding off the edge of her seat, trying to glare harder at the clock, as if she had magical eye powers that made the time go faster.

Ashitaka glanced over for a second, just for a peek at the girl who cried behind a door last night. She looked alright enough. Maybe he could tell her soon…

San crushed a pencil in half because of her impatience.

…Or maybe he could wait a few more days.

"Remember, in less than 2 weeks, you'll be taking your test for the quarter." The teacher reported strictly. Moans and groans drifted through the air as the bell rang on time. San threw the pencil halves in the garbage, and walked out of the classroom to get her lunch. As she opened up her locker, she found a pink envelope on top of her lunch box. Curiously, she picked it up and studied it carefully. She froze when she read the name:

To: Ashitaka Eboshi. With heart stickers slapped everywhere. It even had a larger heart on the point to keep it closed. She so wanted to just pop it into his locker, but there were so many people around! It was just a girl who mistook her locker for Ashitaka's (he chose his locker right next to hers).

'I hate this!' San fumed as she wanted to just tear the damn thing up. But she noticed that a girl was watching her from the corner. She was standing near the windows, crouching like a rabbit in a den. She was obviously the confessor. 'Christ…' San restrained herself. Once she thought about it, what would tearing up a piece of paper that wasn't even for her do any good? No sense. 'FINE! I'll just give it to him myself.' She looked over her shoulder to the confessor, and held the envelope up, and nodded as she smiled in approval that she would give it to him. The girl looked ecstatic and enthused. She then skipped off into the distance, knowing her letter was going to be specially delivered. San held the letter and stomped off to her classroom- with the pink and conspicuous letter in hand. No one really noticed her entrance, but they did notice the letter. She wanted to yell , 'IT'S NOT MINE! I'M JUST A DELIVERY GIRL!' But she didn't have the will. She slumped to her seat, opened her lunchbox, and slid the letter under her lunch box.

Ashitaka pulled his earphones out, and produced his own lunchbox, which Kaya had made for him as well as San's. She caught some of the girls whispering about their lunches. Probably just a confirmation that they were living together. San coughed to get his attention, but he didn't get it. He just started eating.

'Ahem' She faked the cough again as she slid the letter out with her elbow. He peeked over for a second, and then finally got it.

"What is that?" He was hesitant to take it, as if it contained a bomb or something.

"It's a love letter." San tried to be as concise as possible. Ashitaka waited. And waited. "What are you waiting for?" She was starting to lose it.

"Is it from you?" He finally reached for it.

"No." She wanted to say 'Hell no' but that was too long. He brought it out for the world to see, and opened it.

"What are you doing?" She set her chopsticks down nervously.

"You said it wasn't from you, so what's your problem?" Ashitaka revealed the white and purple paper covered in confessions of love. His eyes scrolled down the page, and then just stared at it.

"Who's it from?" San asked out of curiosity. He finally set the letter away from his eyes, and put it back in the envelope. He looked up at her with those contemplative eyes again. San let out a soft 'urk' in attempts to hide her expression.

"I don't know." He put the letter inside his bag.

"What? Isn't the name written on there?" San reached for it from his bag.

"Well, yeah. But I don't know who it is exactly." He continued eating his lunch. San admitted to herself that she would say the exact same thing if she was in his shoes. That's exactly what she would've done; just ignore it. But then again, would she have at least told the confessor how she felt about him. As San wondered 'what if' she felt the weight of a thousand glares upon her. She was going to give way to the unseen force, but she managed to turn her head towards the unwanted attention spotlight. The weight suddenly lifted as the others pretended to go back to their lunches.

'I really hate this school.' She turned back to her own business. A phone rang – it was a tune to one of Ashitaka's hit songs. He revealed his cell from his pocket, and flipped it open to speak.

"Yes?" He asked into the phone without a greeting. "Tomorrow, already?" He slumped onto the desk. "Why so sudden?" He used his free hand to brush his bangs out of his eyes. "What time?" He asked, giving in. "I know. I have one last question." He used the palm of his hand to pin his bangs back, and then straightened up a little from his slumped position. "Why is the flight so early?" He waited a couple seconds, tried confirming if the other person was still on the line, and then flipped the phone back into his pocket.

"What's wrong?" San asked, trying hard to not sound too interested.

"Not much. I have to rehearse for another concert. My manager is pressuring me to pick up the pace, but it's really hard." Ashitaka just reminded San that he was a pop idol of Japan.

"Oh? How so?"

"I have to get up earlier than I normally do, and I have to work until the early hours of the morning. I only get about 2 hours of sleep, and on top of that, it feels really cramped." He had to vent the many horrid details. Oh the pain.

"Cramped? As in the stadiums too small?" San thought literally. Ashitaka took the break to space out at the window, where he studied the vast area surrounding the school. And then spotted the gates.

"Nah. I mean- really suffocating. They like breathing down my neck like reporters do. I get no free time, I have to eat take-out, and sleep on a rock of a mattress. On top of that…" He rambled on a few more words. He rested his head on his arms and turned to face San. His eyes seemed to grip her attention again. It was irritating how he had a way of doing that. She couldn't even blink when he stared like that. "I don't get to go home, or go to school." He sunk deeper and closer to the desk top. His eyes let go of her.

"You like school?" San hurriedly proceeded to eat the rest of her lunch to escape the glare. He moved his head and rested his chin on his forearms.

"Could say that. I was home-schooled for most of middle school. If I wasn't in business, I'd be as stupid as any D- student in this school." He poked at his rice with one of his chopsticks.

'business.' She repeated to herself. That's right, he was an idol. A superstar model. A god in the media. "Well that explains why you look so air-headed all the time in class. This is probably 'review' for you." San half jokingly wrapped the mystery of 'why Ashitaka never seems to pay attention, yet still earn A's'.

"Not really. I'm learning a lot in high school this year. It's my first being in a public school with other kids in a long time." He revealed his secret. How does this guy do it? One mystery San might never know.

It was going to get really barren in their apartment – Since Kaya was also going away to Edo for a winter photo shoot and 2-month long custody with her father. That left only Taka, Kai, and herself left while Ashitaka would drive to the Tokyo stadium and stay at a local hotel for who-knows how long. Not lonely, just barren.

San found both Kaya and Ashitaka packing their bags as they mentally self-checked themselves to see what they needed, and what could stay at the apartment. Taka and Kai were out, probably being pain-in-the-asses for the law enforcement, and San was about to leave to pick up dinner. Before she left, the phone rang, but she just yelled at Ashitaka to get it for her. She grabbed her keys, money, and jacket before closing the door. She took the elevator down, sharing it with a young man older than her, holding a bouquet of flowers and staring at his wrist every 5 to 8 seconds. The only conclusion:

'Going on a dinner date.' San thought as she glanced over from the corner of her eye until they reached the ground floor. She was right- standing outside the door was girl waiting in a sophisticated skirt and a cropped jacket. 'Hold on a sec…' San walked faster to confirm her eyes. It was that same girl! That girl who told Ashitaka about her feelings! The one that cried in the park. She was looking a little happier, and was cleaned up for her date. As San walked by, she stole one last glance at the girl before moving on. Thankfully, the girl didn't recognize her, so she just minded her own agenda. 'She seems to have moved on.' San had to admit, she was a little happy for the girl. If Ashitaka wasn't 'the one' maybe this guy was.

From out of nowhere- a dashing shadow came and shoved its hand down her back pocket of her jeans, and had a hold of her wallet, but she quickly grabbed the wrist attached, spun around, and pinned him to the ground.

"I give! Get off me!" The young voice cried out in rough mercy. San didn't quite trust the little pick-pocket, so she slowly slid off his back and clung onto his whole arm. He squirmed and wriggled, but San was much stronger, and had a firm grip.

"C'mere you little thief! I'm gonna turn you in for that." San threatened in an upper-authority voice.

"C-Code blue!" The boy screamed into the ally-ways. All at once, several boys surrounded and blocked her path. Most of them were armed with either slabs of wood, or metal poles.

"Who's the punk that wants to mess with us?" A voice rang through the ally. San twitched, and snatched her wallet from the boy's hand.

"You wanna die tonight?" Another echoed the first. San was prickling with anger and annoyance. She let go of the boy and smacked him hard over the head. A way of saying "Get lost!" in San-lingo. He must've spoken it fluently. San clenched her fist tightly, and clamped her teeth down hard. She then anticipated, and listened to movement. They were dropping from above as an ambush. She charged forward, and landed one in the stomach of voice number 1. Nailed it. She opened her hand and slapped the face of voice number 2. Bulls eye. The two figures from above crashed to the ground in crippling pain.

"You idiots!" San picked the two up by the collars. "How many times do I have to tell you…" She started to lecture the two mercilessly.

"…not to attack in the dead of night." The two responded obediently. Taka developed one rose-sized black and purple-blue mark just above his navel, while the whole left side of Kai's face was as red as blood.

"That's right! And…" She sniffed the air inquisitively. Taka and Kai took one look at each other, and covered their mouths with their jacket collars. They faced opposite directions and tried breathing away from San. "You smell like cigarettes and alcohol! You stupid little juveniles!" She stuck out an accusing finger at the two of them. The rest of the gang stood in utter silence- stunned and confused.

"What's going on here?" An older boy called out as Kai and Taka stood to attention. San casually looked over her shoulder, just to see who disrupted her scolding. A boy of about 17 stepped forward, wearing a loose white shirt, a loose zip-up jacket, and camouflage- cargos. He had messy black hair- on the longer side with bangs covering most of his forehead and pocking at his eyes. He had biker gloves, and black tennis shoes.

"Taka and Kai got schooled." A boy holding a metal pipe reported.

"It's not like that!" Kai interrupted before his pride would get scarred for life.

"She's our sister!" Taka explained.

"Your sister?" The boy questioned with doubt in his voice. He scanned San, and walked forward. "I don't see any resemblance."

"I was adopted, fool." San spat. She didn't like the vibes she was getting from this guy. He obviously wasn't listening, he was too busy studying her.

"That's interesting, cause I thought she was a guy…" Before he could finish his train of out-loud thought, a flying fist rammed him in the cheek, and sent him eating pavement.

"You're not too suave, are you?" San relaxed her fist and let her hand flop in the air to the side. "You two – I'm picking dinner up. You'd better be back before 11 or your sorry butts won't get anything." San instructed as she walked over the boy.

"Shinji! Are you alright!" The boys came at his side to help him up. Shinji's eyes were open, but he was still on the ground. It stung a little, but what kept him down was the amazement that hit him like…like a flying fist of doom. It literally came out of nowhere. No girl had ever landed one like that before. A couple managed to try and slap him for hitting on them, but never before- had one sent him to the ground. It was beautiful and feisty. The perfect woman. Shinji shot up and smirked. He tasted his metallic-flavored blood in his mouth, and spit it out.

"Awesome." He muttered to himself.

A/N: the scary thing - Shinji is based on a real-life character in my life. A tough-guy macho-ist. He has a bigger-than-average ego, but he has brains- and that bugs me.