A/N: whoa whoa i had no idea about that. the good thing is that i made the changes so thanx for the info! just so u know though i got their ages on en.wikipedia but thanx for the note! o yea, plz R&R! and happy reading :)
Chapter 2: There's Nothing Between Us
The next morning Liz awoke to an angry 'boss'. She heard someone tapping their foot, and quickly stumbled up. A woman of age 24 with long gray hair in a ponytail gave her a hazel colored stare.
"Sorry ma'am, I overslept." Liz said with a frown. The woman, Miss Michiro Satomi gave a sigh.
"It's all right Liz. Actually, you only morning workout." Miss Satomi replied with a smile.
"I promise it won't happen again! Usually Luca wakes me up but since he's not here and all..." Liz replied as her voice trailed off.
"Just get to the others, you're going to be late for the practice and strategy." Miss Satomi replied with a laugh and Liz dashed out to find the others.
"There you are Liz, we were waiting for you." Andrei said with a frown.
"Sorry Andrei I overslept." she said and took a seat next to Takeshi. He leaned over to her and whispered, "Darn it all, and I was hoping to kick your ass this morning with my martial arts skills."
"Not in a million years, dream on." Liz whispered back threateningly. Takeshi only laughed.
"All right you two let's get down to business. Or are you not finished flirting?" Andrei teased.
"There's nothing between us!" they cried in unison. 'Though...I sometimes wish that wasn't true...' an inner voice thought. Andrei only laughed and clicked his button. A screenshot of three blue mechs appeared, all going in slow motion.
"The next team we're going up against, well, you guys will be going against, will be Team Sledge Mamma. River will be participating as you know, so he will be a challenge. That is, if he's been working out which I bet he has. Ah, besides that, be on guard with him. Also you will want to be completely aware of Yamma. I hear that he might be fired if he doesn't win the next race against us. With that said he's not going to go easy on you, he'll try to tear you down in the battle round as fast as he can. Are you two ready for the simulations? I want you to go head to head." Andrei said.
"Head to head? That's different." Liz said.
"What are you, chicken? Afraid that I'll kick your butt out on the track?" Takeshi challenged.
"Put a sock in it Takeshi! You'll never win against me!" Liz cried back.
"Then show me, in the simulation. If you lose I'll never let you rest before saying, 'I kicked your butt out there on the track'." he said with a smirk.
"Fine! Andrei hurry up and let's do it already! Takeshi's gotten me pissed!" Liz shouted and Andrei laughed. As they went out to the simulation machines, Liz was in her own world.
'Looks like someone's ready to fight. You sure you're going to win?' her inner self asked, arms folded across her chest.
"Oh you bet I will." Liz replied as she rolled her right arm in circles, her left hand holding on to her shoulder.
'Haha! What about your mixed feelings about him? Are you sure THEY won't get in the way?' her inner self challenged.
"Oh shut it! I will win and I'll show both of you that I can't lose. Even if my emotions get in my way, I'll knock 'em all down beacuse no one gets me pissed and lives to tell the tale." Liz said proudly with a grin.
'Ohoho. Touché my friend. Well, good luck. I think we'll be needing it.' her inner self said with a gleeful smile and Liz's mind went on to the track.
"You ready guys?" a man with glasses, a gray ponytail and smile asked.
"You bet." Takeshi replied.
"Let's just get on to the track so I can kick Takeshi's sorry ass!" Liz cried, infuriated.
"Haha. Hold your horses we have to get it up first. Takeshi, I'd be careful if I were you. Getting Liz pissed isn't what you want." the man, Mark Ramsey, said with a laugh as he turned the simulation on.
"You got it. Hey the stronger the better." Takeshi replied with a grin. 'Wow. Liz sure got fired up. Maybe I shouldn'tve said that stuff back there. I mean, she is pretty good and all.' Takeshi thought. As the race began, Takeshi and Liz were neck and neck. As they rounded the corner, the second round began.
"You ready to get beaten Takeshi?" Liz asked.
"No way!" Takeshi roared and the two linked in a hardcore fight. 'Okay Liz, you can do this! Punch to the right, kick to the left! Jab to the middle! C'mon focus!' Liz thought as every hit was either blocked by Takeshi, or missed.
"What's the matter Liz?" Takeshi asked and was able to have Liz fall onto the track. As she slid backwards, she quickly pulled herself back up and raced back to Takeshi.
"I'm just getting started Takeshi so just keep your weak moves comin!" Liz shot back and Takeshi only smiled. 'That's the Liz I know!' he thought with a bright smile and brought on every move he could make when Liz caught up to him. Liz fought valiantly, and gave no effort for Takeshi to find a weak spot, nor did he.
"Things are getting interesting Takeshi. Show me what you're made of!" Liz cried and charged.
"You do the same and I won't regret taking you down!" Takeshi replied and the two clashed. They were hand in hand, pushing eachother to their limits.
"Tell me something Andrei, is this to test their skills, or to make them a couple?" Mark teased.
"There's nothing goin on between us! Get it through your thick heads!" the two roared in unison.
"Oooo. Ouch." Andrei said and shut one of his eyes with a smile.
"TAKESHI!" Liz roared and went for the kill. She used a direct punch.
"Oh no you don't!" Takeshi cried and made an attack to cancel out hers. At the last second, Takeshi realized he had been tricked!
"Ha! Tricked ya!" Liz said, ducked Takeshi's attack, flipped him over, and transformed into her vehicle mode to the finish line.
"Gah! Liz! You dirty little cheater!" Takeshi grunted and followed right after. When the simulation had ended, Takeshi sulked while Liz cheered.
"Ha! Who won huh Takeshi? Who did? Come on let's hear you say it." Liz said proudly.
"You did..." he said with a huff.
"You bet I did!" Liz replied with a thumbs up.
"C'mon, say it. Who won?" she asked her inner self.
'You did...' her inner self said and rolled her eyes.
"See? I told ya I'd win! Ha!" she cheered inside her head.
"All right you two, are you done now?" Andrei asked.
"Huccum you keep treatin us like a couple Andrei?" Takeshi asked with a gruff.
"Maybe because you two keep acting like one." Mark replied and Liz blushed bright pink, filled with a little bit of anger, and happiness to that comment.
"Why I oughtta! Wh-whoever said that we wanted to be one? Or that we were ever one or that we acted like one!" she managed to say and looked pretty crossed. Takeshi was suprised Liz could say all of that, and finally nodded by saying, "Y-yeah!" in response.
"Whatever you say. It's what we see that makes us suspect, that's all." Andrei replied with a shrug. As the two looked at eachother, they faced back to back right after in disagreement. As Liz went to get a soda from the vending machine, she placed her 50 cents in and pressed the button. Nothing came out. She began to lose her patience, and pressed the button continuously.
"Why you-gimme my soda you piece of junk!" she cried and lifted her leg in the air. When her foot almost connected with the vending machine, she heard Takeshi cry, "You better not do that!" He ran over and she blinked a couple of times.
"Why not? I just want my soda." Liz replied.
"Trust me, I tried that once. It didn't really do anything good, just got me bankrupt. How else do you think we got a new vending machine?" Takeshi replied and pressed the button continuously, and then lightly tapped the machine. In seconds the soda dropped with a 'kur-plunk'.
"Thanks." she said. As she stepped away and sat down, she watched Takeshi get his own and sit beside her.
"Nice competition." he said to her.
"You weren't that bad yourself." Liz teased.
"If we had a rematch I bet I would win." he said.
"Oh really? What rematch are we talking bout? Kickin Takeshi's butt at martial arts, or Kickin Takeshi's butt on the track?" she asked with a laugh.
"You promise that what I request you will truly agree with? No turning back." he said and Liz nodded.
"Sure. Whatever I'll still kick your butt anyways." she said with a shrug.
"I'll probably beat you at my favorite game." he said and gave her a little gameboy.
"You little-" Liz said, her eye twitching as she stared down at the gameboy.
'Next time, THINK before you ACT! We don't even know how to play this stupid...thing whatever it is!' her inner self roared.
"I told you I'd probably win." he said with a smirk, a little sparkly appeared in his eye.
"T-Takeshi! This is totally taking advantage of me!" Liz squeaked.
"I'll show you how you do it then. Then we'll fight." he said and showed her all of the controls, everything.
"Got it?" he finally asked about a few minutes later.
"Mm-hm..." she said, not so sure everything Takeshi told her would help. 'Okay, just remember that to jump it's A and to attack is B and to...why the hell am I reciting this!' she thought to herself.
"Ready?" Takeshi asked.
"Y-yeah." Liz replied and the fight began.
"Haha! All right! Who's the master? Come on you know you wanna say it." Takeshi said with a devil's grin.
"Oh shut it! One more go!" Liz cried. Already it was ten to...zero. 'When all else fails with tactics, just hit any button!' she thought.
"All right all right. Just one more though. I promise though that if you win we'll call it a tie." he said. 'Like that's going to happen.' they mysteriously thought the same thing.
"Okay. Ready? Set..."
"GO!" Liz cried and went crazy. She pressed buttons, A+B which actually did a critical attack. Takeshi couldn't believe that and continued to go on his winning way. When Takeshi had 30 LP left, and Liz had 10 LP left, she amazingly won by pressing L+R+A to equal a special attack that did 40 damage! Takeshi's player went down, and Liz's won!
"Oh my god...I won...I WON! YESS!" Liz cried in an uproar and whoo hoo-ed around the whole hallway. When she finally reached back to Takeshi, he laughed and applauded.
"Congratulations. I still can't believe you pulled that off. Too bad it's a tie." Takeshi said with a smirk. Liz stopped her parade, and gave Takeshi a stare.
"Hmph. Fine. A tie is better than a loss." she said with a smile. Suddenly, her stomach growled.
"Umm...I guess only beverages can't make my stomach from being hungry." she said sheepishly and Takeshi laughed which made Liz blush. Then they heard another rumble.
"Uh...I guess that goes for me too." he said and scratched his head nervously.
"Wanna go for some lunch?" Liz asked and Takeshi nodded. Before even setting foot out of the Satomi HQ, Takeshi pulled Liz back in and told her to wait for a second. When he came back he wore his sunglasses. He gave her a pair.
"You'll want these. Trust me." Takeshi said with a smile and she took them and put them on.
"Thanks." she said with a bright smile.
'Aw, that was sweet of him.' her inner self chirped happily.
"You know, I never knew that competition could make you sooooo hungry." Liz said as she ate her hamburger.
"Same here. Man I'm craving for two chili dogs, no three!" Takeshi said. As they found a spot to sit, they did so and continued to eat until they were full.
"Say Takeshi, you think that Amy will be ready for the next race? She's kinda been pushing herself lately to come back." Liz said.
"Hm, I don't know really. I think Amy will be fine. Let's have faith in her." Takeshi replied and he finished his second chili dog.
"You wait here, I'm gonna get another one. Do you want anything else?" Takeshi asked as he stood up and brushed off the bread crust.
"You're a pig. But um, some fries would be nice." Liz replied with a smile.
"Okay. Be right back." he said and rushed off to the stand. Liz smiled with a sigh and disappeared into her own world.
'Looks like you and Takeshi are on a little date. Lunch is okay, but you should go out for dinner next.' her inner self chimed.
"This is not a date! Both Takeshi and I were hungry that's all! There's nothing between us and you know it." Liz hissed.
'You know, the more you say that, the more you want it to not be true. Are you sure that Takeshi isn't thinking that?' her inner self asked.
"Thinking what? That we're not just friends now but-No way! Takeshi wouldn't think that. Not in a million years would we be girlriend boyfriend..." Liz said, a hint of sadness could be seen on her face.
'Okay, so you think he isn't. But um, there's something making me a little crazy inside. You keep saying there's nothing going on, and he says that as well. Did it ever occur to you that maybe if he's saying there's nothing going on, he might want something to go on?' her inner self explained, and asked at the same time.
"Uh...you got me confused. Anyways, if Takeshi says there's nothing between us, and I say there isn't anything between us, let's just leave it at that!" Liz shouted.
'But-'
"Um, Liz? Liz...Liz!" Takeshi cried.
"Wha..what!" Liz asked, startled.
"Um, here are your fries. I wasn't sure if you wanted anything on it, so I brought some salt and ketchup with me." he said and handed it to her. As he plopped down to eat his chili dog, Liz said nothing and just ate her fries like a person who hadn't eaten for months.
"Are you feeling all right Liz? You really shouldn't eat that much in one bite, you might throw up." Takeshi asked, concerned.
"What? Oh, no I'm feeling fine why would you think I wasn't okay?" Liz replied as she wiped a little bit of ketchup off of her mouth.
"You-ah...nevermind." Takeshi replied and took another bite out of his chili dog. He chewed and looked up and stared into the distance. Liz looked at Takeshi and took another fry. As she fixed her glance on the fry, it was one bite away from being in her stomach, when she heard Takeshi gasp. Thinking something was wrong, she looked at him with a concerned look. His eyes went wide, and he got up abruptly. Liz looked to see what the source was, and her eyes went wide as well. Her mouth dropped and she too stood up quickly. There, looking straight at them, was Fauntine.
'Oh man...talk about bad timing. And just when you guys were on your-'
"Can it!" Liz interrupted and hit her inner self on the head. Liz didn't know what to do. Her stare went from Fauntine, to Takeshi, then back to Fauntine. As she was still as a stone, Fauntine was the first one to make a move. She smiled and waved to them. For some reason, Liz didn't think that smile was a happy one. 'I wonder if she still has feelings for Takeshi. If she did then why did she dump him?...Unless...' Liz thought and remembered Fauntine's words. Fauntine took a step foward to them, and Takeshi instinctively took one too. 'Guess I should follow or somepin.' Liz thought and waited for Fauntine to come closer. As the two walked up to her, she smiled at them.
"Hello Takeshi, Liz." she said with a nod.
"Hi Fauntine." Takeshi said with a small smile.
"Hey." Liz said casually with a grin.
"Enjoying the weather?" she asked, trying to make conversation.
"Actually we just got some grub. But um, the weather is enjoyable." Takeshi replied with a laugh. After that, the three were silent. 'What do I do what do I do?' Liz thought.
"Um, do you wanna go get some ice cream with us Fauntine? We could all use some desert I bet." Liz said with a smile.
"Yeah. Ice cream would be nice on this sunny day. Whaddaya say?" Takeshi asked sweetly.
"Surely. I'd love that." Fauntine said and the three went for some ice cream. Fauntine had vanilla, Liz had chocolate, and Takeshi had mint. As the three looked out at a spot where they could see the ocean, they nearly forgot they had food that could melt within minutes.
"So, have you two been training for the next race against Sledge Mamma?" Fauntine asked.
"Yeah. Pretty much everyday now. Well, sometimes we have free time so we either visit Amy or...I guess do this kinda stuff haha." Takeshi replied with a smile.
"That's right! How is Amy? Will she be ready for the next race?" Fauntine asked.
"She's fine. The doctor says she'll be able to come out of the hospital before the race. Although, I don't think he knows she'll want to do it. I've heard that he's told her to not to do things too strainful." Liz replied.
"That's good to hear. Well, I hope you win and keep the title of IGPX champions." she said as she threw out her half eaten cone.
"Thanks. It's nice to know that other teams will be rooting for us." Takeshi replied with a grin. 'He seems so much happier now that Fauntine's here. He still loves her...' Liz thought, a bit of disappointment could be seen.
"Hm? What's wrong Liz?" Fauntine asked when she saw Liz zone out with a sad look on her face.
"Huh? What? Oh nothing's wrong at all sorry I just...spaced out that's all." she replied with a nervous grin.
"You've been doing that a lot now. Something on your mind?" Takeshi asked.
"As a matter o' fact she-"
"Don't you dare!" Liz roared inside her head.
"No! No! Nothing nothing at all heheh...Um, I have to go. I just remembered that today I promised Amy to bake her a-...a cake and I haven't really started it, let alone gotten the ingredients so... Um... Bye!" Liz cried and before anyone could protest she raced off.
"Well that was strange." Takeshi said. 'Liz...why won't you tell me what's bugging you? Maybe I could help.' Takeshi thought and he sighed. 'Is he really that clueless of how Liz feels?' Fauntine wondered.
"So um...wanna, do something besides stand here and stuff?" Takeshi asked.
"Um...of course. Doing something instead of standing is always a good idea." Fauntine replied with a smile and the two walked off somewhere.
Liz ran and ran, and finally had to sit down and rest. She breathed heavily, and wiped away the sweat.
"Man, you sure did work out. I guess you made up for it since you missed training." her inner self said.
"I don't really need you right now. Why don't you go away?" Liz asked.
"Come on. Something's wrong. Tell me. After all we have the best communication when it comes to feelings so hard to express." her inner self said with a pout.
"If I tell you you'll just make me feel even worse." Liz said.
"You don't know that!" her inner self steamed.
"Feh. Fine. He still loves her...and I sorta, didn't know what to do back there. All I did was run away and let them be alone, again." Liz explained.
"Jealous much?" her inner self asked with a little snicker.
"There you go again!" Liz cried defensively.
"There you go again, thinking that everything I say turns sour! Maybe you should hear me out and think about what I'm telling you! Just, you know what nevermind you're just so hard to work with sometimes!" her inner self huffed and turned her back to Liz.
"Since when do you get so touchy?" Liz asked.
"Since you won't cooperate with me." her inner self replied and stuck her tongue out.
"Well fine! Geez, you're one to talk!" Liz said and stormed off back into reality.
As Liz looked up, she felt something rub against her leg. She looked down to see Sola! Out of suprise Liz backed off and fell off the bench. Sola licked her face to make sure she was okay.
"Thanks...what are you doing here Sola?" Liz asked as she pet Sola on the head. She only barked happily in response.
"If you're here to get Luca all fired up, tough luck. He's with Amy in the hospital. But I'm sure you'll get a crack at him once they're out of the hospital." Liz guessed and Sola whined, but then licked her face again. Liz laughed.
"Thanks. Listen, you had better run back to Bjorn and the others." she said and gave Sola one more pet before the dog ran off back to her team.
"Well that was a little weird." Liz said to herself and got up from the ground. She dusted off the dirt that had happened to find it's way on to her jeans and shirt, and walked off to go visit Amy. 'So much for baking a cake. I'll have to lie to Takeshi.' she thought to herself and raced off to the hospital in a fast jog.
"Hey Amy I came to visit!" Liz said as she entered the room. Amy was reading her book, and Luca was having a little sun bath. At the sound of Liz's voice Luca immediately jumped to be caught by Liz. Amy giggled as she placed her book down.
"Hey there Luca I came to visit you too." Liz said with a chuckle. The cat meowed happily and purred.
"Hi there Liz. Takeshi called and told me that you'd be visiting me, but um, he also said you had a cake?" Amy said with a confused look. 'That jerk! Okay not jerk, but that--argh!' Liz thought and she looked a little nervous.
"Um...well, I'm not the best at cooking and it sorta got ruined on my way here cause um...pigeons ate it!" she lied and laughed nervously.
Amy smiled saying, "You really didn't make a cake, did you? You just said that to Takeshi because you were trying to get your way out of something."
"Uh...yeah." Liz said and hung her head, a lone sweatdrop could be seen. Amy laughed.
"It's okay Liz." Amy said with a smile. Luca meowed, disappointed.
"Too bad Luca doesn't approve." Liz said with a smile as the cat hid under the sheets from Liz.
"He'll get over it." Amy replied. As the two talked for a while, there was silence in the room.
"Hey Liz, is something bothering you? Takeshi also told me, that you were acting strange." Amy asked.
"Hm? No way, nothing's wrong Amy I'm perfectly 100!" Liz said with a smile.
"Liar." her inner self said coldly.
"Is it Takeshi?" Amy asked and Liz began to fluster.
"No way! Why would Takeshi be bothering me?" Liz asked as she waved her hands in front of her.
"Well, because he still likes Fauntine, and you like him." Amy suggested and Liz went all white, like a statue.
"No! No! No! It's nothing like that!" she said and began to fret.
"So you do like him." Amy said, a sly smile on her face. Liz put on a frown.
"You! Argh! If you weren't in this hospital I'd be chasing you silly!" Liz pouted.
"Sorry Liz, I just wanted to know what was wrong. Maybe I can help." Amy replied sweetly, and innocently. Liz sighed, and scratched her head.
"Maybe this would be a good chance to tell her how you really feel." her inner self suggested.
"For once, you're giving me good advice." Liz teased. She took a breath in.
"Okay. I'll tell you but you have to promise me it's just between us!" Liz said and Amy nodded. When Luca heard this he came out of his hiding place.
"Luca wants to listen too." Amy said.
"Fine, fine. Just no telling okay?" Liz said to Luca and the cat only yawned in agreement. Liz took another deep breath, and explained her situation.
"Okay, I do like Takeshi...actually, more than a friend. You know what I mean...but he still likes Fauntine I know he does. That and, I don't really think that he cares about me as much as I care about him. And everytime he asks me what's wrong, I try to tell him but then don't get the courage to say anything. Another thing, Fauntine dumped him but she still wants him back, and the only reason why she dumped him..I think...is because she thinks that Takeshi does actually care for me more but I just don't see that he likes me more than a friend."
"That's because you fight with me when I try to give you the strength to tell him." her inner self chimed in. Liz ignored the little voice in her head and continued.
"Hm, that is a dilemna. I think the next time he asks you what's wrong, you tell him what you just told me. I'm sure it isn't that hard to tell Takeshi that you really like him Liz, it's just not in your nature to be like that." Amy said with a smile.
"Hm...I'll, try. But don't think he's gonna like me back the same way as I feel about him." Liz said waving a finger.
"I'm not thinking anything Liz. Just go with your heart and your instincts to tell Takeshi. I'm sure you'll tell him when the right time comes." Amy replied.
"Yeah..." she said quietly.
"Because now, there's nothing between you guys." her inner self said.
"I already know that so stop bringing it up." Liz hissed.
"Sorry, but until you do something about it, Takeshi might go back to Fauntine. You know she still wants him as much as he wants her." her inner self replied.
"Do you really think I don't know that? After that little run-in with her?" Liz asked.
"Just saying. I'd tell him now before you lose the chance to ever say that you love him. Besides, that iswhy Fauntine dumped him, rmember?" her inner self said with a shrug and walked off, fading into darkness, the darkness in the back of her mind.
"That was a great movie. Thanks for taking me, Takeshi." Fauntine said with a smile as they left the theater.
"Oh it's no problem." Takeshi replied with a smile. He felt something in his pocket, and took it out.
"Oh yeah, I forgot I had this with me." he said. It was the two-piece.
"What is it?" Fauntine asked.
"I got this from my annoying little sister. I'm supposed to try and get the two apart, but it seems almost impossible." he replied.
"Wow. It looks interesting enough." she said as she looked at the gold and silver pieces stuck together.
"Yeah...but it's a nuisance." Takeshi replied with a chuckle as he put it back in his pocket.
"Takeshi, I was wondering, were you and Liz out on a lunch date?" Fauntine asked quietly.
"What? Me and Liz? No way! I-I mean we were just both hungry so we went out to get some food!" Takeshi replied, a little bit of pink could be seen. Fauntine giggled.
"Whatever you say Takeshi." she said with a smile.
"I don't believe you mean that." he teased and she only laughed. As they decided to go somewhere else, Takeshi thought in the back of his mind, 'After all, there's nothing between us...right?'
A/N: Hey ev'ryone! i hope you all like it so far! again, plz, R&R! begs with puppy eyes lol if u don't i will haunt u forever! grrrrr...no i'd never do that o anyways, happy reading!
