A/N: Before reading this chapter, please know that none of the original characters are intended to resemble any real people. We're about to learn some new names, it's not my intent to attach traits any of them have to someone existing in the real world.
So this was it, a new high school, a new life, a new beginning.
Or, something similar.
Shortly after he transferred from Middleton to Eastside, football practice had started. The coach wasn't as big and intimidating as Barkin, but he was every bit as overbearing. He also didn't like the idea of wasting time with students who waited until their senior year to join the team. Maybe Barkin had been thorough, maybe he had been vindictive, but when Ron's records were transferred to Eastside, he had made sure that all of them had been transferred. The new coach was also not happy that a former mascot thought he could play football and he wasn't shy about letting Ron know that the only reason he was even getting a tryout was that he was obligated to let him try.
That scorn didn't last through the first practice.
The Summer football camp had taught Ron a lot of the basics, but it hadn't taught him everything. Even at the high school level, there were intricacies that he still hadn't mastered and this left him thinking when he should have been reacting. While Coach Roughman didn't hesitate to give Ron a dose of his mind when the teen missed a block or failed to pick up a back coming out of the backfield, he was clearly intrigued by what he had. Ron was easily faster and more elusive than anyone else on the field, plus stronger than most. Maybe Roughman didn't like a newcomer, but he wasn't about to give up on someone who could deliver.
By the end of the first week, Roughman told Ron that he had been accepted on the team. By the end of the second, Roughman told him that he was on the varsity. He wasn't a starter, which was fine by Ron. He would get onto the field and take it from there. Now, it was time to become a student again.
His teammates had become teammates, rather than antagonists, so he wasn't completely alone and had a vague idea of the cliques in the school. Still, it was a new start. Well, he had walked into plenty of lairs for the first time and there weren't people in here with shock staffs or ray guns waiting for him...well, probably not. This wasn't Drakken's or Dementor's lairs, it wasn't some creepy temple dedicated to monkeys...it was high school; slightly less hazardous. Taking a deep breath, he took the plunge and stalked through the doors.
Much to his own surprise, he had looked at the school maps in the student handbook, so he knew roughly where he was supposed to go. He didn't make a fool out of himself getting to and opening his locker. He didn't make a fool out of himself getting to homeroom. He was a little early, so he took a seat towards the back, where he could observe his new classmates and figure out where he could fit in. As other students filed in, he noted a couple of his teammates, with whom he shared nods or other greetings. Then, a boy he didn't recognize came in and sat down next to him.
"Hey," the guy greeted him. "You're Ron Stoppable, aren't you?"
"It depends if I owe you money or not," Ron answered, trying to start out with humor.
It seemed to work, the boy snorted out a laugh, which gave Ron a chance to study him without looking overly creepy. The boy was short but very fit.
"I'm Rick," he said, offering a hand. "And no, you don't owe me any money. You probably don't recognize me, but you would if I had feathers and a beak."
"You're the eagle?" Ron took the hand. "Good to meet you."
"I am now," Rick told him. "I heard that you were coming to Eastside. What happened at Middleton, did your folks move or something? I'm sure that even if you moved into Eastside's district, you could have stayed in Middleton High."
"I...had some issues back at Middleton," Ron admitted.
"Okay," Rick gave a quick nod. "So, why did you put up the mad dog head and take up the football pads?"
"Kind of the same reason," Ron told him. "Should I be a little creeped out that you know so much about me?"
"Not really," Rick chuckled. "But being creeped out is kind of a personal issue; feel free if you want to. However, my dad works in the administration of the Eastside School District. Since mascots are kind of rare, he called it to my attention that the former Mad Dog was going to be a senior here at Eastside, then let me know that you were taking up football. Now, is that a little less creepy?"
"Surprisingly yes," Ron told him. "You said that you were the Eagle now, I take it you just took over?"
"Yep," Rick answered. "The old Eastside Eagle flew the coop...that's Eastside slang for graduating...and I've been on the cheer squad since freshman year, so I beat out the other two competitors." He paused a moment. "I saw you in action as the Mad Dog and if you don't mind me saying, I was glad when I found out you weren't going out for the cheer squad. You would have beat me out."
"I had my moments," Ron admitted. "But I wasn't that great."
"Sure you were," Rick insisted. "Would you mind giving me a few pointers, when you have the time?"
"No problemo," Ron assured him. "But maybe you could help me out, as well."
"Sure, but how?"
"Well, I don't really know anyone not on the football team," Ron confessed. "So I don't know who to avoid, who'll make a good friend, who considers themselves above me, who won't have time for me...you know the drill."
"That I do," Rick offered a pained nod. "But didn't you talk to the team already?"
"Most of the conversations with the team was trash talk and planning out plays," Ron told him. "Besides that, hazing the new guy is a pretty entrenched tradition. They may have set me up to flame out."
"Gotcha," Rick chuckled. "Why don't we begin, the dark haired guy walking in right now is Doug. He's a braniac and a little stand-offish, but a good guy once you get to know him. Then there's the three girls coming in now; they consider themselves several cuts above just about anyone else."
"Cheerleaders?" Ron asked.
"One of them is," Rick told him. "Note the blonde in the center?"
"Oh yeah," Ron nodded. "And I see that she has just about every eye in the room on her."
"Michelle," Rick told him. "Yes, she's hot; and she is very much aware of it. Her and her bunch usually wear a white ribbon, which functions as a toxic animal's bright colors. Unless you have sufficient status in the school, keep your distance."
"Understood," Ron answered him.
"Okay, the next two guys are Bill and Kevin, pretty much alright guys, not much to say about them. The guy behind them is Oscar, our class's delinquent. He's on his fifth year of high school. Next comes Cindy, rather quiet and shy, I don't know much about her.
It was about then that Ron started to get a little lost. There was no way that he could remember all the names, faces and cliques in one sitting, but it was good to know that someone would help him through it.
Finally, it was back to a familiar routine, even if there was an unfamiliar twist to it.
Back to school! Back to classes and a set schedule. Time to try to get back on the cheer squad. Better yet, time for Ron to be in close proximity so she could force him to talk to her. Even better than that, time to set him up with Crystal...and visa versa. Time to make him feel special so that the hurt he was feeling over her would fade a bit and they could get back to being friends.
The last couple of weeks of Summer break, she had been spending more time with her friends and sort-of friends, like Tara, Crystal, Monique and Jess. Eric always made himself scarce when that happened, allowing uninterrupted girl talk and girl activities. Of course, the talk eventually turned to Ron and Crystal even made the remark that she thought he was cute. Kim had done her best to not overplay her hand, but she had managed to mention that Ron was still single. Now, walking towards the doors of Middleton High for her first day as a Senior, holding Eric's hand, she noted that Crystal had dressed up just a little bit.
Kim couldn't restrain a smile; not only was her plan working but it actually felt good to be a bit of a manipulator...for a good cause, of course.
Her smile remained on her face as she visited her locker for the first time as a senior, then went to home room. It faded just a touch while waiting for Mr. Barkin to show up, as Ron wasn't present. Maybe he was waiting for the last moment. However, when Mr. Barkin took his place at the front of the class and roared for everyone to sit down and listen up, her smile went away completely.
A scowl took its place when the big teacher called roll and Ron's name wasn't on the list.
Fortunately for her blood pressure, Barkin was able to take care of the day's business very shortly. After roll and going over the school rules; stressing to the seniors that the rules still applied even though they were seniors, he released the class. Kim didn't even wait for the other students to clear the room before marching up to the big man.
"Ah, Possible," he rumbled. "I suspect that I know why you've chosen to speak to me, but let me hear it anyway."
"I noticed that Ron wasn't on your list," Kim pointed out. "Is he in a different home room?"
"Negative, Possible," Barkin scooped up some papers and put them in his briefcase. "This school does not allow deviation from home room assignment based upon alphabetical order. Now, to answer your further question, he is not in this home room because he is no longer a student at Middleton High."
"What?" Kim demanded. "What happened?"
"What happened, Possible," Barkin informed her. "Is that after consuming the efforts of the teachers in this institution for three years, as well as my efforts as a football camp coach this summer, your friend chose to abandon this school and attend Eastside. Now, if you have no further need to delay me, I will say happy school year to you and be about my business."
The vice principal stalked out of the classroom, bellowing at some unseen group to quit loitering in the halls. Kim couldn't move. "How could he hate me this much?"
"Kim, are you alright?" Eric's question, then a gentle hand on her arm jolted her out of her haze.
"I've got to get to the bottom of this," Kim growled. She pulled out her Kimmunicator, intent on calling Wade for a location on Ron, and have this one out with him.
"Maybe you should think about this a bit," Eric suggested.
"What?" She demanded of him.
"You're angry right now," he pointed out. "And you're in school, just like he is. Confronting him right now...might not be the best idea. Why don't you wait until after school, then talk to him when it's just the two of you? Getting into a shouting match in the middle of a school isn't going to help either one of you."
"I have cheerleading try-outs after school," she pointed out.
"And didn't Barkin say that he attended football camp?" He reminded her. "He'll have practice, as well. Please, catch him when it's just the two of you."
She choked off a cutting remark when she realized that he had a good point. "You're right," she admitted. "Maybe a little bit of time will give me a chance to calm down and actually accomplish something. But I am going to talk to him about this."
"I wouldn't expect anything else," he told her. "Now, if memory serves, it's trigonometry time."
She managed to concentrate on classes for the rest of the morning, but she still thought of Ron quite a bit. At lunch time, she was so distracted that she could barely eat. Sure, she was at the senior table but she had hoped that somehow, she could have both Ron and Eric with her. Monique was there, and it was also a shock to the fashion and gossip maven that Ron had transferred. Kim took a little comfort in knowing that she wasn't the only one who was going to have some choice words with the blonde boy about his decision to bail on Middleton.
After the afternoon classes came a real challenge; cheerleading tryouts. She hadn't had to try out for the squad since middle school but now, she was off the squad and would have to prove that she was the best candidate to get back on it. There were plenty of other girls trying for the vacant spot on the squad; but Kim knew the routines..but also had Bonnie out to keep her off of the squad. Maybe it all balanced out. Bonnie at least made the illusion of being fair; she had the girls each draw a number, then demonstrated the routine she wanted them to do. After that, each executed the routine as best she could. Kim was in the middle of the small group, so she had ample time to watch other girls try, as well as note the lack of the mad dog at the practice.
When her turn came to perform the routine, she realized that she was a little out of shape...for her. All false modesty aside, she easily crushed the routine with a smile on her face the entire time. She did her best to quell the pride she felt when she saw the other applicants look on with dismay when they saw what an experienced cheerleader could do. Bonnie didn't say anything; she simply ran through all of the contestants before calling a break. At that time, she asked to have a word, in private.
"Let's zero our egos for just a moment," Bonnie told her. "We don't like each other."
Kim could only agree.
"But on the other hand, we both know that we're damn good cheerleaders," the brunette continued. "Now, I have a choice to make. We both know that you crushed that routine, so you're the best candidate to fill in the open spot. On the other hand, I have enough of a voting block to probably keep you off of the squad."
"So you pulled me in here to tell me 'tough luck'?" Kim grumbled.
"No, I want us to come to an understanding," Bonnie corrected her. "I don't like you, but I have to admit that you keep your word. If you promise me that you won't try for the captain spot, when I go back in there, I'll back you to be on the squad. On the other hand, if you can't promise me that you'll do the routines and not cause me any problems, I'm going to point out that you quit on us once. That will keep you off the squad."
Kim had to grind her teeth a little at that. She had no doubt that Bonnie was telling the truth and was more than capable, and willing, of keeping her off the squad. The only question was...
"Why," she asked her rival. "Why go through all of this if you want to keep me off the squad anyway?"
"I don't want to keep you off the squad," Bonnie admitted. "You're a useful tool. You're a damn good cheerleader and you're some nice eye-candy. Add into this, you're famous so with you, I can win competitions that I couldn't without you. The only problem is that you could cause me some problems."
Again, Kim ground her teeth.
"I know what you're thinking," Bonnie smirked. "You think I'm going to treat you like crap. I could tell you that I won't, but I don't think you'd believe me. Instead, put yourself in my shoes. If I have a chance to get a prime performer on my squad, I'm not going to hide her and keep her in back. I'm going to show you off as much as I can. Maybe you don't like thinking of it this way, but it's the truth. I can make use of you and become famous and you'll get what you want, as well."
"What is it that you think I want?" Kim asked her.
"You want to be a cheerleader again," Bonnie told her. "That artificial boyfriend of yours wants you to have a life other than just him. For you, that means your freak-fighting and cheerleading. You also like being famous. That's fine, we can both get what we want. We don't have to like each other, you'll get your time in the spotlight and set yourself up nice for after high school. I don't really care what you think that means; maybe it means college, maybe it means a hot, rich guy noticing you. It doesn't matter, you've helped me win championships and get the attention I want, as well."
"Fine," Kim grumbled, after a moment's thought. "I'll do it. I'll be a damn good cheerleader and I won't cause problems. But the moment you start treating me like trash..."
"You'll be off to another activity," Bonnie finished for her. "And taking your fame, energy and talent with you. I understand, neither of us trusts the other, but we can trust the other to do what helps her."
Kim nodded, feeling somehow dirty about this agreement.
"Now, what about Ron?" Bonnie asked.
"What about him?" Kim retorted.
"I didn't see him at school," Bonnie rolled her eyes.
"Why do you care?" Kim was honestly curious.
"Because he's a good mascot," Bonnie shrugged. "I know he was taking a football camp, but I was planning on letting him try to get back on the squad for the winter sports and competitions."
"You know, you wouldn't have had to get him back on the squad if you hadn't eliminated the mascot position in the first place," Kim pointed out.
"True," Bonnie admitted. "But the major competitions don't start until after football season's over, so I have time."
"So the idea was to put him in his place, then let him come groveling back?" Kim was feeling more upset about how Bonnie planned on manipulating Ron than how she was taking advantage of her own, temporary, hiatus from the squad.
"Pretty much," Bonnie nodded.
"Well, it's not going to do you any good," now, it was Kim's turn to smirk. "He transferred to Eastside. If he does take up cheerleading in the Winter, he's going to be the eagle."
"What?" Bonnie gasped. "He would actually...leave? Now I have to find a new mascot! Now I have to train a new mascot!"
"Welcome to the cheer captain's position," Kim grinned.
Seeing Bonnie actually sweat a little was pleasant, but the next task wasn't. It wasn't often that she was nervous about talking to Ron, but she found herself fidgeting as she waited two blocks from his house. She had asked Wade to track his Kimmunicator...which the boy genius pointedly said he preferred to call a communication unit...so she knew his route...so that wasn't exactly stalking him, was it? She was just trying to speak to him without any interruptions. She didn't have to wait long before she saw him striding along the sidewalk, a gym bag thrown over his shoulders and a bundle of some sort in his arms.
He saw her waiting for him and although he paused, he squared his shoulders and continued. In a way, she felt better about this; he knew that there was going to be an unpleasant conversation and seemed to be determined to deal with it, just like she was.
"Kim..." he nodded to her, as he approached.
"Just why did you transfer to Eastside?" She demanded, not moving from her position in the center of the sidewalk.
"What difference does it make?" He snapped back, taking a quick step around her. No longer in a blocking position, she fell into step next to him.
"We've been friends since pre-k," she growled. "Don't you think I deserve to know that my best friend had decided to avoid me?"
"Best friend," chuckled, bitterly.
"Well, we are!" Kim snarled. "Me having a boyfriend doesn't change that!"
"Oh, not at all," the sarcasm was obvious, even without the eye-roll. "We walked to school together for years, you having a boyfriend didn't change that. We spent Friday nights hanging out with each other for years, you having a boyfriend didn't change that."
"Hey, you ditched me to hang with Felix!" She countered.
"And I made it obvious that you were welcome to join us," he shot back.
"Okay, date time is for me and Eric," she grumbled. "But why can't we still be friends?"
"I don't understand you," he growled. "Or maybe I do."
"What's that supposed to mean?" She growled back.
"It means that you want it all," he grumbled. "The best friend that you can complain about Bonnie to, the best friend that goes on missions with you, the best friend that you can sign up to work at Bueno Nacho with...without him knowing. But if that best friend doesn't exactly get your heart rate up, you get a hot boyfriend to date and do the couple stuff with."
"Are you claiming that I was the only one benefiting from our friendship?" Kim has both insulted, hurt and shocked. "I care about you! I'm concerned about you! For instance, why are you carrying a bag of flour home from school."
Ron seemed taken aback by the question, then he looked down and recalled what he was carrying. "Oh," he was a little sheepish, despite being angry with her. "At Middleton, you do the flour bag baby assignment as a senior. At Eastside, it's a sophomore assignment, so I get to do this during football season to make up for what I missed earlier"
By this time, they had reached his house. Even though he didn't invite her in, she followed him into the building.
"Like I was saying," she continued. "I know we're in a rough time but I'm not going to throw away a lifetime of friendship. Is that what you want to do?"
"Why does it always have to be on your terms?" He demanded. "Why is it that when you want some boyfriend time, I don't exist but when you want some friend time, I have to be where you want me to be, doing what you want me to be doing?"
"I never..." she stammered to a halt upon reaching his room. "You're really getting into this flour baby assignment. When did you convert your room into a nursery?"
"I didn't," Ron told her. "Wait, why is my room a nursery?"
"Because, Ronald," his father's voice announced from his door. "We've just adopted an adorable baby girl."
The teens spun to see Ron's parents, his mother holding an infant. "Meet your new sister," she announced. "Hana Stoppable."
Kim might have been upset with Ron, but she wasn't so upset that she wouldn't help him set up his new room in what used to be the attic. Reflecting on the sitch, Kim decided that this worked out to their advantage. Okay, his parents telling him that he was getting a little sister by kicking him out of his room wasn't exactly right, but setting up his room calmed them down a bit. By the time they were finishing up, she was ready to try again.
"Ron, I know you're upset with me," she told him, as he was making his bed. "And you have every reason to be but please, don't just run off like this without letting me know."
"I was trying to avoid just this," he told her. "Kim...it's hard dealing with you and Eric. Then, when Bonnie got rid of the mascot position, then gave me the whole 'stay-in-your-place' speech, I knew that she was going to be letting me have it next year...which is this year. I knew you'd be mad at me, so I hoped that..."
"I'd just let it slide?" She finished for him.
He just nodded.
"I'm not about to do that," she told him. "You're too important to me." She took a deep breath. "I don't suppose you'd think about coming back to Middleton?"
"No," he shook his head. "For better or for worse, I've made my choice. I think it's better this way; we're never going to be able to go back to being friends like we used to."
"Probably not," she sighed. "I know that I can go a little overboard when a hottie shows up, and I'm sorry for the way I've pushed you aside when that happens."
"I guess it's better that it happened now," he sighed in turn. "Rather than after graduation. The longer it went on, the more it was going to hurt."
"I'm sorry that we couldn't be everything for each other," she told him. "It would have been perfect, but I guess perfect isn't in the cards." She rallied for a little bit of a smile. "Someday, a girl is going to show up and not only be willing to be to you what I can't, she's going to insist on it."
"Maybe," Ron shrugged.
"Crystal thinks you're cute," she told him. "She was dressed up a little today, hoping to meet you."
"How long has that been going on?" He asked her.
"A few weeks now," Kim told him.
"I guess that makes a trend," he pointed out. "First Tara, then Yori, now Crystal. Three girls who liked me, and you knew about it, but didn't tell me about it until it was too late."
"It wasn't intentional," she protested. "I wanted to back off and let you and Crystal work this out on your own."
"And you couldn't just tell her, 'hey, if you like him, call him up and tell him'?"
"Let's not get into another shouting match," she asked him. "Can we just agree that I didn't handle it right?" She paused a moment. "You still live in the same place that you always did, you could call her up and ask her out. I'm sure she'll say yes."
"I..." he started to answer, but Kim wouldn't learn what he was about to say; the Kimmun...the communication unit... on his wrist chimed.
"I have a hit on the site," Wade announced. "Yori, from the Yamanouchi School, is asking for your help."
It had only been a short mission.
A mixed group of Canadian and American teens were visiting Japan and Yamanouchi intelligence had information that a smuggler in North America would try to sneak drugs into Japan with them. Yori was the best candidate to pass as a North American teenager, of Asian descent, so she was assigned to prevent this from happening. The mission proved to be almost ridiculously easy.
Yamanouchi had a contact in the airport the group would be departing from, so Yori assumed the identity of a baggage handler. This allowed her to hide and observe the baggage before it was loaded. Sure enough, a man arrived and started slipping various bags in with the luggage that would accompany the teens on their trip.
It wasn't easy for her to act like she wasn't as skilled as she really was. As a ninja, she was trained to be able to incapacitate an unwary target before her mark knew he was being attacked, but that wasn't what her mission required. Instead, she attacked the man nunchaku, making it look like she was trying to cripple him but in reality, only inflicting pain. He tried to fight her but she was easily the more skilled, even if she had to conceal just how much more skilled she was. He pulled a large wrench, one that would make an effective club in trained hands, but she struck his hand, injuring his fingers and making him drop his weapon. At that point, he fled. Moving quickly, she dumped the bags he had placed with the group's and filled them with harmless, plastic toys. Once done, she stashed the packets of 'product' she had liberated into a pre-determined room and rejoined the group.
On the long flight from Seattle to Hawaii and on to Tokyo, she stayed awake, sometimes feigning sleep, and listened to the conversations. As her superiors had suspected, it seemed that none of the teens knew anything about narcotics being smuggled; they were just looking forward to visiting what to them was an exotic, foreign country. Once in Tokyo, she detached herself from the group, donned the identity of a worker in this airport, and again observed the baggage. This time, she took photos of the man who grabbed the bags the man in the US had added to the group's. Her job done, she went to an efficiency hotel and checked in with the manager.
"Ah, young one," the middle-aged woman greeted her, upon hearing her code name. "Your uncle called and said that you must come home with all haste."
Surprised, but not alarmed, Yori took first a train then a bus, making sure that she wasn't being followed. From a familiar stop on the side of a road, she once again climbed Mount Yamanouchi. Upon arrival, she was ushered to a debriefing room. To her mild surprise, Zhiui arrived to debrief her.
"There isn't much time to discuss your mission," the old man told her, waving her to once again be seated when she rose and bowed. "We can do this at a later date. However, let me say that you did well. The American gang that tried to smuggle the drugs to Japan are suspicious of the Yakuza they did business with, since an Asian attacked one of their number and the narcotics vanished. As for the Yakuza, they suspect a double-cross since they paid the money but did not receive narcotics, just plastic toys. I can't say that there will be a war between the two criminal organizations, but there is a great deal of distrust."
Yori bowed again, accepting the compliment with humble grace.
"However, two things concern you at this time," Master Zhiui told her. "The first is that your time as a caretaker of the Han has come to an end."
Yori couldn't keep the dismay from her face.
"Master Sensei said that you had a great deal of affection for the child," Zhiui smiled at her. "He instructed me to tell you that while you were gone, he took the child away. The Stoppables are adopting Hana, she will be raised to believe that the chosen one is her elder brother."
For a moment, Yori wanted to protest this but thought deeper. Junso had asked her to keep Yamanouchi from manipulating the child into blind obedience; and being raised an ocean away would accomplish this better than her best efforts. She would miss the child; she wished that she could have said her farewells to the little girl, but perhaps this was for the best. Besides, if she were to be sent to America again, and have a few days of leeway, she might be able to see both Ron and Hana.
"You have accepted this," Master Zhiui noted. "That is good, as I must give you your next assignment; one that only you can perform. Lord Fiske has again managed to infiltrate our school. This time, he was spotted as he fled, so we know that this is not another trick of Dr. Hall's."
"What harm did he inflict, master?" Yori asked.
"He stole a map," the old man told her. "This will lead him to a series of keys, each of which will unlock more of the map. I will not say what knowledge he may gain by following this map to its final destination, but it is knowledge that we cannot risk him gaining. As it involves Lord Fiske, it is wise to make use of the chosen one to counter him. Contact young Stoppable, the first destination that Lord Fiske will attempt to reach is a temple in Thailand."
A/N: As always, big thanks to Joe Stoppinghem for beta reading.