Author's note: I made this chapter a bit too long... hehehe...
for Pokemon fans and/or fanatics, we have a pokemon battle thread where you can challenge us to duels.
I myself am Sniper in our Elite Four and I hope some of you are strong enough to battle our resident Champion *cough* Omegaxis1* cough!* and maybe be champion… for a while.
For those interested in meeting us, battle us or anything else, please go to the PRAETORIAN LEGION forum. You can find it in my profile or the profiles of our members, Daedalus IX, Omegaxis1, Angel Kaijeno, xXKeepyourenemiescloseXx and yours truly.
Unless… you're afraid to take us on… xD
(08/03/10)
Friday…
I stared in horror as Minako snored peacefully beside me.
That could've been really cute… her quietly snoring, smiling slightly, muttering about food and drooling slightly on my bed.
The only difference is that she was naked.
The first thing that hit my mind was, Yukari's gonna castrate me… with a rusty knife and she'll force me to eat it and then kill me then use recarm and do it slower…
Although my head hurt so much, I willed myself to stand as I gently moved her hand away as I tried to stand up.
I noticed that Minako and I were dusty with glitter.
"Hooo boy…" I said as I used my room sink to wash my face as I looked at it.
My first thought was how much of a shitty boyfriend I was.
Then, due to my hangover or me being disgusted at myself, I puked on the sink.
Then, something stirred behind me.
"Yawwwn!" Minako yawned, "Good morning!" she said as she sat up from the bed.
Minako looked beautiful with her wild red hair and equally red eyes, combined with her pale skin, made her look like a feral Celtic princess.
I slapped myself in my mind.
What was I thinking?! I have a girlfriend for Messiah's sake!
I turned away, "Yeah, good morning too…"
She pursed her lips.
"What's wrong?" she said.
"N-Nothing…" I said, "Uh… you're not wearing a bra…" I said, still not daring to look.
"Oh." She said absentmindedly as she took my shirt and wore it.
"Minako…" I said.
"Yes?" she said as she washed her face.
"Two things…"
"Yeah?" she said.
"One…" I said, "You drool in your sleep."
"I do?" she said.
"And…"
"And what? Spit it out, man!" she cried.
"Did we…" I began.
"Did we…?" she said.
"You know… do the do?"
"What…?" Minako said.
"Did we have s-"
Before I could finish it, she said:
"I'm hungry, let's eat."
Whenever she said that, you couldn't do anything unless she had eaten.
I shrugged and went downstairs with her.
The house was generally O.K. and almost damage free, but it was still a mess.
Pinky and Yuko were snoring peacefully in the couches while Rio and Kenji were busy making espresso in the messy kitchen counter.
Leah was snoring in the bottle strewn minibar holding a bottle of Bacardi Dark, her dogtags gleaming in the morning sun with her black tank-top, army fatigues pants and combat boots made her look like a Barbie doll that was off-duty.
Quan was snoozing on the dirt-stained cushions set on the floor while hugging Kaz (We all do that sometimes!) it made them look like a Yaoi couple, with Quan being the uke.
Akihiko was fast asleep in the swimming pool, wearing nothing but blue floral pattered broad shorts, floating in an air bed.
Hidetoshi and Saori were sleeping on the couch and Keisuke and Bebe were sleeping by poolside.
Fuuka and Chidori were quietly making breakfast with everyone as Junpei sat beside the table by the counter as he held an icepack at his head.
"Good morning." I said to them.
"Mornin'" said Minako.
"Oh! Hello!" Fuuka said.
"Good morning as well." Chidori said.
"Dudes sup!" he said, "I mean, Sup dudes!"
"Hey, what are you guys cooking?" I said.
"Just plain old bacon and eggs… some burgers, steaks and flans… leftovers." Fuuka said.
"Yes!" Minako said, "Big spread!"
"Well, they mostly drank more than they ate, so we have more stuff to eat." Chidori said.
"Pey!" Junpei said, "I mean, Yep… Damn, what's wrong with me today?!"
"What happened to you?" Minako asked absentmindedly as she got a plateful of eggs and ate it bare handed.
"I don't know… dammit, I can't even remember last night… Chidori told me that I got totally hammered and fell off the stairs… damn! That must've been one crazy night!" he looked at me as if to get my approval.
I looked at Chidori, then at the dented frying pan she was using as she gave me a stern look, as if to say, Agree or die.
I nodded, "Yeah, that was hilarious… I'm sure THAT'S what really happened…" I said as Chidori gives me a wrathful look.
"Let's see how bad it is…" I said.
"Yeah, take a grander…" he said, "I mean garter… I mean gander…"
He took the icepack from his head and I was immediately surprised… and believe me, after all I've been through, I'm not one to be so easily surprised.
His face was badly messed up, and his nose looked broken but that wasn't all…
A giant bump on his head, the size of a potato, had swelled from his forehead all the way to his left eye, combined with a really big red welt, made him look as if a swarm of very angry bees stung him.
"Is it that bad?" Junpei asked, "Chidori told me that I staggered like a drunk and fell off the basement stairs and a shelf fell on my face…"
"Uh, yeah…" I said, noting Chidori's stern look, "I'm sure that's what caused it… not a frying pan or a bipolar goth…" Chidori looked pissed at my jokes and stepped on my foot.
"Yeow!"
"Hmph!" she quickly looked away and stormed back.
"Haha! A frying pan?" Junpei retored, "What could an itty bitty wittle frying pan do to me?"
"You'd be surprised."
"All I could remember from last night is telling Chidori something… and drinking… and setting that car on fire…"
"You WHAT?!" Chidori cried.
"What a killer imagination you have, Junpei!" Minako said.
"Hey, I did not imagine that!" he said.
"Yeah, right…" she said.
"I remember it! Fuuka and Minako were good shots and there was a Molotov cocktail and…"
"Alright, that enough Mr. Boy-Who-Cried-Flaming-Cars…" Chidori muttered.
"Damn! I'm sure I could remember it…" Junpei mused.
"I really recommend you get yourself a CAT scan or something…" I said, "You could have brain damage or something..."
Minako snorted, "I thought Junpei already HAD brain damage."
Minako, Fuuka, Chidori and I laughed, waking everyone up.
"What's up?" Pinky yawned.
"Nothing… Junpei set a car on fire…" Minako said.
"You WHAT?!" Hidetoshi said, "Irresponsible! Totally against the rules!"
"Hey, don't get your briefs in a knot…" Junpei said as he applied an icepack, "That was just a dream."
"And I got worked up for nothing!" Hidetoshi said ruefully.
"What's with the icepack?" Quan said as he wore a shirt.
"Oh." Junpei said, "I fell over some stairs."
"Oh cool!" Kaz said, wiping sleep from his eyes, "Let's see it."
He removed it and everyone gasped.
"Is it really that bad?" he asked.
Prodded by Chidori's dirty look, we didn't dare speak ill of it.
"You look great!" said Pinky.
"Awesome! You look like George Clooney!" said Yuko.
"Never better!" Quan cried.
"Wow!" said Keisuke.
"Tres bien!" said Bebe.
"You look handsome!" Rio shouted.
"Hey, she fixed your face!" Kenji howled.
"Fuck you!" Junpei shot back.
Everyone laughed at Kenji's remark.
"Let me see it…" Minako said.
As she looked, she dropped her plate (since she sat behind Junpei) in surprise.
"Damn! You have a whole 'nother head there!" she said carelessly.
"What?!" Junpei said.
"Anyways, other than that, Kenji, why don't you wake Leah up?" I said, "And tell her to bust out some soldier medic magic or something… she mentioned that she got a medal for re-attaching a colonel's testicle after it was torn off by shrapnel…"
"Okay." Kenji said and tried shaking Leah awake.
"Leah-nee, wake the hell up!"
Immediately, Leah got up and pulled a knife from her boot sheath as fast as a snake and held it against Kenji's throat.
Everyone was silent as Hidetoshi's eyes became really wide.
"Hey… Leah-nee… calm down…" Minako said as Leah's eyes became wild, "The war's over now… calm down…"
"Hey… come on, Leah-nee…" Kenji pleaded, "It's me… Kenji…"
She let go of him and sheathed her knife, "I was having such a nice dream…" she said.
She then yawned.
"That Orlando Bloom came here wearing his Legolas attire and asked me to marry him!" she continued while swooning, "Of course, I married him and we became an unstoppable knife-cum-bow wielding couple!"
"Leah-nee, you do realize Orlando Bloom has a girlfriend now, right?" Minako said.
"Aw, she's still mortal right?" Leah said with a glint in her eyes.
"Leah-nee!"
"Great. Now, what do you say about Junpei?" I said, showing her Junpei.
"Yikes!" she said.
"Oh, thanks, I feel so much better…" Junpei muttered.
"Let's turn on the T.V. while I sort Junpei out…" Leah said.
Quan clicks the remote.
"In other news, a burning car was reported to be burning on Route 416 last night at around 11 PM…" They show pictures of a burned out car, with bottle fragments and a lot of shell casings, "Although no one was hurt, the Police are still investigating about the fate of the owner of the vehicle… more on this story as it develops."
"I know the fate of the driver…" I chortled.
"You do?" Hidetoshi said.
"Well…" I told him about it, I whispered the streaking part to him.
"Irresponsible!" he cried, "Against the rules!"
Then, Hidetoshi turned pale.
"Against the LAW! You might need to turn yourselves in!"
"Hey now..." Kenji said.
"You broke several laws! Illegal discharge of a gun, speeding, driving under influence, grand theft auto, arson, burglary, destruction of public property, vandalism, public indecency, illegal possession of firearms…"
"Hey, I have licenses for all my guns, you know…" Leah said matter of factly.
"Touché, but the fact remains… if I don't, I'll be accessory to crime… I'll have to turn myself in! Oh, they'll rape me in jail!"
"Let them… you'd actually turn us in?" I said.
"Regretfully, yes."
"The owner of the car is Cato."
"Oh, then it's okay then." Hidetoshi said, "Good work."
Everyone laughed.
Then, without warning, Leah looked at Akihiko and smiled.
She ran and did a monster cannonball right into his stomach as she created a big splash.
As they re-surfaced, Akihiko looked like an angry cat thrown into the water.
"Asshole…" he muttered.
"Tehehehe!" Leah snickered.
Then, I remembered something.
"Crap, I need to go to the airport…" I said.
"Why?" Minako asked me.
"I need to meet Yukari in Hong Kong…"
"I see… need a ride?" Minako asked.
"Too bad my Outrider is in an impound…" Akihiko said as he stepped out of the pool, "Thanks to our lovely Leah Otsuji."
" T'was nothing really…" she said.
"I mean the Mutsuhito."
"Okay…" I said, going up to get dressed.
Everyone said goodbye, since they couldn't possibly fit the Mutsuhito.
As we arrived the airport, I bought a ticket and she waved me goodbye.
"Safe trip." She said.
"Thanks… keep in touch, okay?" I said.
"Sure…"
I went in, only realizing I had forgotten to ask Minako.
Too late to go back as well, since she went in a restaurant across the street, despite my warning to her from buying food in the airport, which was ridiculously overpriced to fool unsuspecting foreigners and equally unsuspecting or, in Minako's case, desperate locals.
As I went in, I decided to Skype Yukari with my Laptop, telling her I was on my way.
I didn't know the wifi password, so I asked a Chinese-looking guy sitting next to me.
"Excuse me, do you know the wifi password?" I asked.
"Huh?" he said.
"Oh, sorry… forgot… uh, Shin chai go guan guang chen pu la ni hao?"
He seemed offended.
"Dude… I'm from Iwatodai. You speak too fast."
I took the wifi password from a coffee shop and told Yukari, then boarded my plane.
I fell asleep and when I woke up, I was already there.
I got down and saw Yukari amongst the crowd with my name in kanji.
It was hard, seeing as there were Chinese and Koreans among the group.
As I approached her…
She hugged me very tightly.
"Haha! Glad to see you too!" I said.
"Did you win?" she said, smiling like an angel, "You better have won! Otherwise, you'd ditched me for nothing!"
"I didn't ditch you…" I said, "And, uh, yeah, I did win actually…" I said, leaving out the crazy party part.
"So, where do we go?" she said as she held my hand, to which I felt really guilty since I might have cheated on her –big time-.
"I-uh- wherever you want." I said.
"Great!" she said, "To the hotel!"
"H-hotel?!" I stammered, "Hehe… moving a bit too fast, I see…"
"Oh!" she slapped my arm, "You dirty minded perv! To drop off you bags, dummy! I wouldn't do that unless it's the right time…" she hugs me, "Then, we'd experience the most beautiful thing… together."
Strike two. She's making me guilty almost on purpose.
"Aw…" I said.
We went to the Hilton hotel, where it was snazzy, rich and totally chic.
The service was immaculate and the attention to detail was just marvelous.
After I had dropped my stuff off, I went with her on a romantic stroll.
We came back and I had a fun time watching Spongebob in Chinese, thinking 'What's he saying?!'
Although we had separate beds, Yukari asked to sleep with me, and I couldn't say no, seeing as I already slept with Minako (both the euphemism and literally.) adding guilt points to three points.
We spent the night cuddling.
(08/04/10)
Saturday…
After buying some snacks, drinks and a lot of Gatorade, we rode a train and walked about three miles across the Great Wall of China.
We looked around and saw a desert.
"What's that desert called?" she asked.
"I dunno." I said, "That could be that desert with a cool nickname…" I thought hard about it.
"Awesome! Let's go explore it! What was it called?" she asked excitedly.
"The Chinese name? Taklamakan Desert... Also known as the Silk road."
"In English?" she asked.
"The real translation? Not quite sure, but it roughly translates as 'You go in and you will never come out'."
"Never mind then…" she said quickly.
(08/05/10)
Sunday…
We went to a Chinese-Filipino specialty restaurant, aptly named "Yellow and Brown Rice".
A waiter came by.
He said something in Chinese.
"I don't understand…" I said.
"You don't know Chinese?"
"Nope." I said.
"What will you have?" he asked in broken English.
"I'll have what every rich people here eat." I said, "A Sprite for me and a Royal for the little lady."
"Very good, sir."
"I want this…" Yukari said, "A 'Soup number 5'… what is it?" she asked.
"Our Filipino chef, Tito, makes it… his homeland's specialty."
"Alright, we'll also have several local dishes and this Isaw and Dinuguan thing… and this Balot…" I said, always curious how the infamous Balut tasted.
"And this Birds Nest soup." Yukari added.
We chatted about school stuff and what to name our kids and the man came back holding two covered bowls.
"That'll be fifty HK dollars."
I paid the man and he left.
I uncovered it.
It was a brown colored soup with a gelatinous thing .
"Well, here goes nothing…" I said and tasted the soup.
"It tastes like ordinary onion soup!" I cried.
"Try that jelly thing…" I said.
I tried it.
It was flavorless, but the texture felt wrong… chewy, chunky and sticky.
"Waiter!" I called.
"Yes sir?"
"What the heck is this?"
"Shark Fin soup, sir… fresh from the coasts of Macau!" he said proudly.
"It tastes awful!" I shouted loudly, "My advice? Stop, because this soup? Damn."
Then, I tried the birds nest soup he brought.
It tasted better than the Shark Fin soup, but it was a bit too salty.
"I like this… I kinda thought Birds nest's soup would be made with twigs or something… never knew that it'd be salty fine noodles!" I said, referencing its likeness to mihon noodles.
"Oh, that isn't noodles…" the man said.
"What is it?" I asked.
"The birds nest." He said as if it were painfully obvious.
"Doesn't look like a bird's nest…"
"That nest is a Swallow nest… I won't say which one, but it makes its nest with spit and anything sticky."
I tried bravely to keep myself from puking all over the place.
Yukari tried the soup number 5.
"This tastes good… what is it?" she asked.
Then, a short, tanned and kindly looking man came by.
"You like it, ma'am?" he said in a surprisingly good English accent.
"Yes! It tastes wonderful!" she said.
"Great!" the man, probably Tito, cried.
"And this piece of meat tastes extraordinary!" she said.
The man blushed, "Thank you ma'am… I had to slaughter my prized steer for it…"
"Which part is this? Hind leg? Stomach?" she asked.
"That's my bull's genitals!" Tito cried.
"And this piece of meat tastes extraordinary!" she said.
The man blushed, "Thank you ma'am… I had to slaughter my prized steer for it…"
"Which part is this? Leg?" she asked.
"That's my bull's genitals!" Tito cried.
Yukari smiled awkwardly and when Tito turned around, she gave her food to a street kid and I did the same.
Then, we tried the Dinuguan, which resembled a chocolaty brown soup.
I tasted it and I really had a great taste.
"What is this?" I asked.
"Dinuguan." Tito asked.
"What's dinuguan?" Yukari asked.
"Well, Dugo in Filipino means blood, so…" I said.
She made a face.
"Who cares? It tastes good." Yukari said.
Tito looked beside himself with joy.
"See that, Mr. Lao?" Tito said.
"Mr. Lao?" I asked, "Say, do you know a Quan Lao?"
"Yes! That's my nephew!" he said and gave us give seconds on our food for free.
We tasted the Isaw (Pronounced EEH-SAU). It was just delicious, even if it was made with chicken intestines.
Then, we tried the infamous Balut.
If you hear about 17-day-old duck fetus, you'd immediately think it stinks, but in actuality, it smells like a regular old boiled egg.
Contrary to popular belief, it doesn't smell rotten at all.
When I broke open the shell, a hot fluid spurted out, but Tito urged me on to try it.
"Here goes nothing…" I tried it and it tastes really good!
I mauled it with salt and I ate it heartily, to Tito's great joy.
Yukari tried one and she liked it as well.
"Thanks…" we said and went out.
Tito and Mr. Lao said goodbye.
We went back to the hotel, where I laughed at Phineas and Ferb in Chinese with awful subtitles.
(08/06/10)
Monday…
We went to the shopping district.
Yukari and I were looking at some stuff.
"This looks nice…" I said.
Then, a really angry looking elderly clerk went to us.
"You want to buy something?" she said in rough English.
"Uh… nothing, really… just looking around!" I said.
"Go away! Go away! You drive away my customers! Go away! You bring bad luck!" she then goes on in Chinese.
"Alright already! Geez!" I walk off.
Then, I take a picture with Yukari solo.
As I take several snapshots, someone starts a conversation and does not care to move.
I cleared my throat and stamp my feet, but they still didn't move.
"Goddamned it, move already!" I shouted in Japanese and they looked at me and resumed talking.
I glared them and walked up to them.
"Will you please move?" I said in Chinese.
They promptly moved.
After I took a few photos…
"I thought you don't know Chinese?" she asked.
"Mandarin? Yeah, but Cantonese? I know some words." I said, "Stephen Chow and Bruce Lee are my idols!"
"How did you know they were Cantonese?"
"The old lady at the shop… only Cantonese people do that…"
We went shopping and I bought my friends a few souvenirs.
(08/07/10)
Tuesday…
Our anniversary.
Yukari woke me up early and greeted me a happy anniversary.
"Happy anniversary!" she said, showering me with kisses.
It seemed as if she brushed her teeth and applied makeup, since she lacked morning breath and her hair was immaculately clean.
I immediately felt self conscious, but strangely, I was ok and my breath smelled minty fresh.
"Why do you always look so great?" I said.
She shrugged and kissed me.
We went to the morning buffet and had a hearty breakfast.
"Where are we going?" I asked as I had cereal.
"Ocean park!" she holds up a brochure.
"Awesome!" I said, "Let's go!" I said, finishing my meal.
We took a cab and we immediately reached there.
I paid the entrance and we were given a map.
"Here you go…" the attendant hands me a lucky charm.
"We get two!" Yukari said.
"Obviously. But can I have another one?" I asked.
"Sure." She said.
"Who's that for?" Yukari asked.
"Oh…" I turned red, "For Minako…"
"Ah…"
"Uh…Damn! This place is huge!" I cried.
She smiled.
We took countless pictures.
And we had such fun.
We went to the aquarium, watched the dancing jellyfish show, saw several exotic and rare fish and did so much fun stuff, such as feeding Koi fish milk and winning a stuffed toy for Yukari.
I felt a bit forlorn, since Minako wasn't there, but I tried to act natural.
We went to a restaurant, where they served seafood.
I ended up regretting eating.
We rode the roller coaster and I tried not to scream, because I do, my vomit might go out and at our speed, I might end up swallowing it again.
I was a bit woozy and pale, so I took a seat and took a breather as Yukari screamed for another go.
We went to the seal show, where they taught the seals many great things, like jumping over a ring of fire and hugging the audience.
"Shall we ride the cable car?" she asked.
"Sure."
Then, we went to the cable car, where I felt guilty still.
I stared at the sunset.
Yukari and I were alone in the gondola.
A faint beeping noise was heard.
"What's that beeping noise?" she said.
I remained silent, looking at the sunset.
It was silent for a while.
"Food for thought?" Yukari asked from across the car.
"Huh?" I said absentmindedly, "Oh… heh, nothing… I'm just a bit guilty that we were having so much fun without the others…" I said.
She remained silent.
"Am I… am I not good enough?" she said.
I tried denying it, but my tongue seemed glued to the roof of my mouth.
"So… what do you say?" she said.
I looked on the floor.
The beeping noise was heard faintly.
"Do you… feel lonely without Minako-chan?" she asked.
"Wh-what makes you say that?" I said skittishly.
She bowed her head, "Minato-kun… Do you really-"
The beeping noise persisted and I realized it was my phone.
"Oh… it's just my phone…" I said, not noticing her frown.
"Ah!" I said with gladness, "It's just Minako…" I said, moving to click it.
Yukari's face went livid with panic.
"NO!" she cried.
She then tackled me and I dropped my phone as she wrapped me in a tight embrace.
"Please…" she was on her knees in tears as she hugged me, "Don't pick it up… please…" she said as the heat on her tears made my skin tingle.
As she hugged me for some time, my phone beeped furiously on the ground and I felt conflicting feelings.
All I did was put Yukari in my embrace, patting her on the head as she cried.
"Minato-kun…" she said quietly.
She looked at me.
Her face was ashen with grief.
"Don't cry… I'd prefer if you smile."
Then, she beamed a great happy smile.
I smiled too, "Now, that's a smile."
"Do you mind if we stay this way for a bit longer?" she asked.
I nodded.
We stayed in that state for a few minutes, where Yukari's heartbeat went really fast.
"Minato-kun…" she said and looked at me.
Suddenly, without warning, she kissed me.
Then, as fast as it was, it was over.
She put her head in my shoulder.
The cable car gondola will be down in a few minutes, the PA announced.
"Why don't we go straight home?" I asked.
"Sure." She said.
We walked home holding hands.
My phone continued to beep.
I shook my head, Sorry Minako…
Even as we returned to the Hotel, my phone still rang.
Yukari was in the bathroom at the time, and I saw my moment, and I picked up my phone.
Then… I thought of Yukari and I ignored her call.
I slumped on the bed.
Why the hell didn't you pick up?! I can imagine Minako's angry voice asking me that.
What am I going to say?! I thought crazily.
I thought about telling her about the kiss… but that was out of the question.
I can't possibly say… No! No way!
"Aw man… what am I gonna say?!" I said.
"What?" Yukari asked.
"Uh… I'm watching… Dora." I said, "She's asking me what was my favorite part of the trip…" I said, complimenting myself mentally for my quick wit.
"Oh." She resumed taking a bath, then came back, "What WAS your favorite part of the trip?" she asked.
"Uh… when the trip ended, I guess…"
"Minato, you joker!" She laughed and went back.
Yukari… she's the first girl I ever loved… even if she did try to shoot me… she was always so pretty… when she smiles, it was like lilies in bloom…
She wasn't that nice either, but she did become much more caring…
I never knew… that lips could be that warm…
I was thinking of it, when my phone beeped yet again.
"Yipe!" I cried and fell.
"Minato! What was that?" Yukari asked.
"Nothing! I saw a giant rat… I fell on its blood!" I lied.
I looked my phone as if it were a bomb about to blow up.
The screen read: Best friend- Minako
D-Do I answer it…?
As it rang, I ended it with reluctance.
Meanwhile…
Minako was using her viber to call Minato.
She'd called more than ten times, but he hadn't answered.
"Why the hell isn't that jerk answering?!" Minako muttered furiously.
"Shigure! Lights out now!" Minako's aunty shouted.
"Y-Yes Auntie!" Minako said as she went to bed angrily.
Back at Hong Kong…
Minako… I'm sorry.
Finished! Please leave a review!
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God bless!
