Foreword (again 2)

Hey all, it's your favorite author, Iko xD J/k, but hey, welcome to the second installment of the Kusanagi chronicles! As you can tell, this is the edited version of the second chapter. I'm almost done editing the first three chapters (and I also noticed I never posted the third... guess it slipped my mind xD), and will have them all done shortly.

-Iko

Chapter Two- Broken Blade, Broken Pride

"Man… I hate popularity…"

A large group of sword-bearing students was gathered in the school hall, walking towards the room where the next exam was being held. At the front of them were two students, comprising of a silver-haired kid with a snapped sword, and a red-haired girl with her wooden blade intact. The two were attempting to gain some distance from the the mob behind them, as they weren't very accustomed to being so well-liked.

"Well, it's you fault for going postal on that Ganseki guy," said Hinote, "I'm surprised a lazy bum like you had incredible sword skills. Besides, that's the only thing feeding that fire behind us."

"Same for you, you beat your opponent in three strokes. Anyways, my skills aren't that incredible," said a sighing Asura. He had one hand resting on the inside of his uniform, and the other hand gripping his splintered sword. "My parents sent me to a teacher as a kid to learn swordsmanship. Old cook didn't take it easy on me," He lifted his vacant hand to rub an old injury from his training. "That was several weeks I'd love to forget."

"That girl was three hundred pounds of fat and no brain at all," she said, replying to Asura's earlier statement. "But, incredible or not," said Hinote, "You were still amazing." She looked out the window to her right. "I don't think I could ever catch up to that…"

"Oy, don't get all spacey on me," said Asura, returning his hand to the inside of his uniform. "A day-dreamy face doesn't suit you at all, Hinote-chan." The fiery crimson-haired girl assumed a look that emanated a malevolent aura.

"You know how much I hate that name, Asura. I thought the last time I nailed you in the face made you forget that." She glared at him with a twitching eyebrow and flaming eyes.

"Aww, who could forget cute little Hinote-chan?" He gave his usual grin as he watched the blood boil in Hinote. "I don't think I can ever forget our times as kids back in Rukongai... Heh, and you were so much more girly than now! I mean jeez, you turned from frilly to tomboy in no time fl..." Asura stumbled back a bit after being punched straight in the gut. "at... And may I mention you turned into a hard ass too? Oooff..."

"And this same hard ass kept you straight, didn't it?" Hinote sighed as to let off some steam. "If it wasn't for me, you would've been a flunky for 7 straight terms."

"Don't even talk about my school years, you were here for a good 3 years before we decided to actually put some effort into graduating!" Asura jolted up as he gave his rebuttal.

"You mean, you wanted to put some effort." Hinote stuck her tongue out at the lazy Asura. "I've actually been trying to get out of here."

Asura actually got mad for once, as he said, "That's not helping your side! It makes you sound worse!"

However, a loud and infuriated voice parted the large crowd behind the bickering twosome.

"YOU LITTLE SONUVA… I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" An enraged Ganseki sprinted through the newly formed aisle with a fist raised to pummel the relaxed silver-haired student. When the tank with the green hair was within striking distance, Asura merely leaned forward, leaving the furious Ganseki to trip and fall over himself, landing him square on top of his head. He quickly rose to attempt to punch him again, but this time he received a fistful of splinters.

As the now-humbled Ganseki rolled around on the floor in pain from the inflicted injury, Asura dropped the now destroyed sword next to him, only stating "Man, I was planning to keep that as a souvenir…" Ganseki rose to his feet yet again, this time only to retort with some loud and blunt remarks.

"You cocky sonuvabitch! You only got lucky in that stupid exam!" He rubbed the spot on his hand where the sword on the ground collided with his knuckles.

"Cool off, Tomato-san," Asura replied, only to get a loud shout from the red-faced Ganseki. "It's not my fault your head is so hard. If you weren't so thick-skulled, then my sword might not have snapped." He put on a grin as the crowd and Hinote joined in a mass laugh.

"That's it! You've written your death sentence, you little shaggy-haired punk!" The large mass of muscles threw another punch towards the carefree swordsman. Asura easily moved his head to the side, avoiding the sure-fatal fist.

As Ganseki raised his hand to attempt another punch, Asura assumed a very serious and stoic demeanor."The reason you lost was your anger. You literally swung your fury at me like a wet noodle." He dodged another intense punch. "You let so much blood get to your head that all you could see was a mass of your hatred." He evaded an even more raged attack. "And that same hatred…" He grabbed the open arm as he paused. "Kicked your ass."

The next thing the green-haired berserker felt was the sensation of flying… and then the sharp pain of landing square on his face. As the hallway erupted with a mass of laughter, Asura bent down to stare Ganseki square in the eyes. Losing all seriousness with a goofy grin, he said, "Try to not get pissed so easily, Tomato-san. You'll live longer." He removed his face from Ganseki's view, and walked off, leaving the brute fuming at his words of wisdom.

"He's only messing around," said Hinote, finished with laughing. She walked over to the student sprawled across the floor to reassure him. "It's not often he gets the chance to humble someone." She gave him a quick smile. "Anyways, try to cool off, that blood in your head isn't going to get you past the intelligence test coming up." She started running towards Asura. "Good luck, Tomato-san!" Judging by his reaction to his name, the other students could tell she didn't help much. He quickly got to his feet, and then stared back at his now self-declared nemesis. He paused for second, noticing that he was still being observed by his fellow academy students, and then threw himself around with a yell that immediately cleared the hall of all students.

"Wait up you jerk!" Hinote caught up to the carefree swordsman, nearly out of breath. "Do you have any idea where you're going?"

"Honestly, not really." He began scratching the back of his head. "Where were we going?"

"Gahh… You really are hopeless, Asura." Hinote shook her head. "Unless you really do want to flunk, I'd recommend you follow me to the intelligence test."

"Oh yeah, I guess I gotta do that…" said a zoned out Asura. "I wonder if that Ganseki guy is gonna pass. It'd be a shame to see such a fierce fighter like him not graduate."

"Fierce? You beat that guy in twelve seconds flat."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean he wasn't fierce. I was just too good."

"… You must really be on some drugs or something. Did someone slip anything in your drink today?" Hinote shook her head again out of frustration.

"Aww, worrying about my well being, Hinote-chan? That's sweet." The red-haired fury resumed in her thoughts of ripping Asura's head off. "But don't mess up your face like that… It doesn't suit you either."

"Then what face does suit me, oh wise-and-lazy-one?" Hinote assumed her trademark sarcastic tone.

"Hmm… I dunno. Personally, I'd love it if you went back to being that cute little girl I used to know…" Memories seemingly flooded into Asura's head back from when they were both little kids back in the Rukongai, before they enrolled in the academy. "Don't you remember? Your hair was all short and in ponytails... and you tied them up in the cutest little black ribbons..." The reminiscing suddenly stopped as Hinote slapped her sword across the silver-haired teenager's smiling face.

"Ow… That really hurt… What's gotten into you?" Asura rubbed his face with the hand that he wasn't resting in his uniform.

"Oh, nothing. Hand must've slipped." Asura could tell she was lying, being as her sarcasm hadn't faltered in the lightest.

"Oh, alright. Well, shall we head to the exam?" He walked off towards the corner in the hall. It was only after he had rounded the turn when Hinote ran off after him only to drag him back in the right direction, with the silver-haired teen suffering from a massive bruise on his head.

Afterword (unedited xD)

Hey, hoped you enjoyed the second chapter! As you can tell, Asura and Hinote go back a little bit, so you can start speculating if you want. But then again, Hinote took the time to try and slightly comfort our flipped friend Ganseki... but I'll leave the romance to the fans. Yep, that's right, I'll base the love story on what my reviewers decide! Asura-Hinote, Ganseki-Hinote, Some Random Person-Hinote, or even (dun dun dun) Asura-Ganseki!

Anyways, that's it for this chapter, and you people can look forward to another great installment soon. And if a certain person on a certain forum can submit her idea soon, we may have another OC join the fray! Sayonara, and don't swing your hate like a wet noodle:P

-Iko