CONTEST

The Renji/Tatsuki C2 community "Moonbeams of fire" is holding a challenge-contest !

To those who want to join, here's what we require:

- theme "We're all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars" (Oscar Wilde)

The sentence does not have to appear in the story – however, the story must have a connection to the sentence's meaning.

- The fiction must be between 500 and 2000 words.

- All entries must be e-mailed to the C2 community moderator ( Lilya) or a member of the staff (Uchiha Yumi) – our e-mail addresses are shown in our profiles. This doesn't stop you from publish them, but stories on published and not e-mailed won't be considered.

I know this sounds harsh, but, although Bleach is still a pretty small fandom, we don't want to risk missing anything.

- All entries will be read by the C2 community staff and moderator, who will judge them according to the following criteria:

sticking to the theme

style

pairing development

originality

Each of the above point will be individually graded from 1 to 10 by the three of us – the story that gets the highest score wins

- what do you win?

Basically, we will write a story of your choice.

How very original, isn't it? Oh, well….

I think the Author note is actually longer than the chapter – well I hope you'll like nonetheless… and that you'll join the contest.

Feel free to e-mail us for any doubt/question/etc.

V: KARATE CLUB

Four months ago

Tatsuki walked down the hall quickly, grumbling to herself.

"Where is that loud-mouthed idiot?" she huffed, looking around. "I don't want to spend my whole lunch break looking for him, damn it!"

She opened the door and glanced inside a classroom: nothing.

Slamming it shut, she moved to the next. Only a couple making out.

Tatsuki slammed the door even more forcefully, making them jump out of their skin.

She heard voices coming from the opposite classroom and went to check on it. When she opened the door, the voices stopped abruptly and six pair of eyes turned toward her.

"Hi, Ichigo. Hi, Rukia. Hello everybody." she said as she looked around.

'This is the group he usually hangs around with, but…'

"Where's Mr. Tattoo?"

"Gone to the toilet." Ichigo replied.

"Thanks." the door slammed shut and Tatsuki's swift footsteps echoed in the corridor.

"Uff, I was about to ask her to wait for him with us!" Ikkaku complained. "She's cool."

"Then it's better this way." Matsumoto said as she unwrapped her sandwich. "Renji would have used you for target practice if you had."

"Why should he?" the bald-headed Shinigami replied, frowning.

Matsumoto laughed softly – somewhat evilly – and took a bite of her sandwich.

In the hall, Tatsuki sneezed. 'Somebody's talking about me…' she knitted her brow. 'Was it my imagination or Matsumoto-san was looking at me funnily?' she shook her head: the Boys Bathroom was in sight. 'Oh, well, on with the problem at hand…'

The door was slightly open and she saw that nobody was in.

'He must be in a stall.' Tatsuki thought as she walked in and leaned against a wall. 'Here we are…' Her scowl deepened.

Somebody flushed the toilet, then the door of the second stall from the door opened and a black-haired fourth-year student walked out.

He stopped dead in his tracks when he spied her and blushed several shades of red. Then he opened his mouth to say something, but Tatsuki's glare made him reconsider his idea and run out of the bathroom as fast as he could.

Tatsuki lowered her head and waited.

After a few seconds, another toiled was flushed and Renji stepped out of a stall. He looked at her and blinked. Then blinked again.

His lips curled into a smirk. "They kicked you out of the Girl Bathroom, honey?"

Tatsuki glared at him. "Ever considered becoming a clown, Abapin?"

"Professionally? Never."

"Thank God." she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "If it was for me, we wouldn't be having this conversation…"

He opened the tap and washed his hands. "Then I'm glad it isn't so…"

Tatsuki snorted, annoyed. "Remember our fight during the festival, two days ago?"

He mechanically placed a hand on his stomach. "Of course I do. What about it?"

Tatsuki looked at a spot on the wall about two inches away from Renji's head. "It looks like you managed to… impress my club mates."

"So?" he said as he shrugged his shoulders and tried to meet her eyes.

She kept her gaze on the wall. "I don't know how to say this…"

"Try with words, honey."

Tatsuki glared at him and Renji's breath was caught in his throat. The flame was still there in her eyes, still hot and bright as he remembered.

"They want you on the club."

Renji blinked. "What?"

Tatsuki gritted her teeth – 'I'm sure he's doing it on purpose.' – then took a deep breath. "They want you to join our karate club." she raised an eyebrow. "Do you want me to spell it out? Or draw a picture?"

Renji frowned. "Why?"

Tatsuki looked stunned. "Why? You have to ask why?" she glared at him. "That's because you're freaking good! Happy now?"

He shrugged. "I'm not good."

"You are not good? YOU ARE NOT GOOD!" she shouted. The flame had become a roaring fire. "You had me in a tight corner – and almost no one in the club can do that. Not for such a long time." she added.

Renji smirked. "What? Are you feeling challenged?"

"None of your business!"

"Maybe you're just jealous, honey…" he said.

Tatsuki would have liked to punch him, but forced herself to keep her self control. "We aren't talking about me." she huffed. "Will you join the club?"

"No."

The black-haired girl's eyes widened. "What does that mean?"

Renji shrugged. "I'm not interested."

"You can't refuse. You're damn good, you can't waste your skills like that!"

He laughed humorlessly. "Believe me, honey, I'm not wasting anything."

Something flashed in her eyes, but it was gone before he could understand what it was. "Bullshit. I told you, you're good! Why won't you join?"

"I told you I'm not interested."

Tatsuki bowed her head, hiding her face. "Is it because of me?" she asked softly.

Renji was stunned. He couldn't say a word.

Finally, as that silence started becoming uncomfortable, he reached out and laid a hand on her shoulder. "It's not because of you that I'm refusing." he shrugged. "I've got better things to do."

"Better than karate? I don't think so." she quipped back, looking straight at him. "You like fighting. Just like me. It was written all over your face."

He sighed. "You're stubborn…"

"Otherwise I wouldn't be a good fighter." she shot back.

"Listen, I can't join. I just can't."

"But why?" she insisted. "Is it because of your grades? You can ask your friends for help!"

"I don't care about grades."

"Then why?" she crossed her arms on her chest "Give me a good reason to give up on you and I will."

"Why do you care so much? It's not like you actually want me there."

"It's not about me, it's about the club! she said. "Will you join or not?"

He sighed, then looked around, checking that nobody was listening. "Don't tell anybody I said this, but…" he took a deep breath. "My stay here is only temporary."

Tatsuki frowned for a second, then her face became expressionless. "I see." she murmured. "Well, it's settled, then. I won't be bothering you anymore."

She turned to walk away , but he called her back. "Hold on a second, Arisawa."

Tatsuki turned back, surprised by the use of her last name. He caught up with her in a couple of strides, then looked at her straight in the eyes. His lips slowly curled into a smile. "This doesn't mean that I won't be looking forward to our next match."

Then, he brushed past her and walked away.

Tatsuki blinked, then shrugged her shoulders and walked out of the Boys Bathroom.

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