Chapter 2: Tiger's Pain

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A/N: Hello, all my Buddyfight readers. This chapter is a little bit late since I had a change of plans a few times with it. But, everything should be okay now and I'll explain a few things. First off, you may notice I brought in another character. This is one of the changes I mentioned. I decided that I needed 'opposition'. I was originally planning on Gao and Kiri having a Buddyfight for their date, but then I thought that wouldn't really be a good thing for a date (as we all know what happened the last time Gao and Kiri had a Buddyfight or, rather, the last last time...) and that's when I thought someone else should be Buddyfighting. I could have made it Tasuku (just to spite the TasuGao fans out there), but I decided the more logical choice would be the one who has been shown to actually have a crush on Gao, even though nobody really acknowledges it: Noboru Kodo.
-Now, as you read this, you may think to yourself, 'You're so mean to poor Noboru! Hasn't he gone through enough in the anime already?' and to that I say, 'I know.' It hurt me to be so mean to Noboru, since he is an awesome character (probably my third or fourth favorite character in the show). Anyway, what was I talking about earlier? Oh yeah. Change of plans. I'll get to the other one that I can think of right now at the end of the chapter, since I've rambled on far too long. Anyway, enjoy!
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'A date!?'

Standing in the doorway to the roof was a blond-haired boy wearing a tiger-striped hat. The pattern on his shirt, which he had to keep reminding everybody, was also that of a tiger. This tiger boy was holding a box of chocolates with a card attached to the top. That is, up until a few moments ago, when the black-haired boy sitting on the bench a short distance away asked the blue-haired boy sitting next to him out on a date.

'Why?' the tiger boy asked himself, 'Why would he ask him out on a date and not me? I've known him longer than that kid, so why would Gao choose him over me?'

What the tiger boy didn't realize was that the box he dropped had made a loud enough impact so that the boys on the bench could hear. At first, the two boys sitting down didn't realize what had made the sound, but they looked around and saw the tiger boy standing in the doorway. The boy with the spiky black and red hair tried to call out to the tiger boy, but he was still asking himself the same question. It wasn't until a few moments later that the tiger boy came back to reality and found both boys who were previously sitting on a bench standing before him.

"Noboru?" the boy in the blue jacket asked, "Are you okay?"

"What?" Noboru asked, before quickly covering up his shock, "Of course I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You were just standing there, staring out into space," the blue haired boy chimed in.

"Yeah, well, nobody asked you," Noboru said rudely, "Anyway, some people were worried about you, Gao, so they sent me to look for you."

"Really?" Gao asked, "I didn't know you cared."

The tiger boy's faced turned red before he said, "I-it wasn't my idea, you know. A-anyway, I'll just leave you two alone."

As Noboru was about to walk away, he heard the blue haired boy say, "Did you drop this, Noboru?"

"What is it, Kiri?" Gao said.

Noboru turned around, shocked, "I-it's nothing!" The tiger boy protested.

"There's a card," Noboru heard Kiri say, "And it's addressed to you, Gao."

"Let me read it," Noboru heard Gao say and saw Gao take the card from Kiri's hands.

"I told you already, it's nothing!" Noboru heard himself say as he saw himself reach out for the card.

Noboru saw Gao hold the card out of Noboru's reach, which made him feel small, and he heard Gao read the card out loud, " 'Dear Gao, You shine brighter than the sun in my life. Be mine on this special day. Love Noboru.' "

Noboru saw Kiri take the card from Gao's hand and read it to himself. He saw as Gao and Kiri both laughed. He saw the two boys make fun of each aspect of the card he had spent so much time preparing. He saw them mock the lines he put his whole heart into putting down. He saw the boys mock and tease him.

"You thought," Noboru heard Kiri say through laughter, "that you actually had a chance with Gao?"

"How stupid," Noboru heard Gao comment through laughter, "do you have to be to think that?"

"Shut up!" Noboru exploded, "Both of you just shut up!"

The tiger boy grabbed the box out of Kiri's hand and ran down the stairs, leaving the other two boys confused. Noboru didn't stop at the classroom or anywhere in the school. Instead, he ran out of the school and only stopped when he arrived at a park that was a fair distance away. He threw the box onto the ground and stepped it, crushing the contents, before throwing it in the garbage.

"It just not fair," Noboru exclaimed, "I should be the one going out with Gao. I've had feelings for him long before that blue haired slut ever showed his face! It's just NOT FAIR!"

Noboru kicked a relatively big rock that was loose on the ground into the bushes. To his surprise, the bushes felt pain. That wasn't something bushes normally did. Perhaps the bushes were some sort of illegal monster? He decided to walk over to the bushes and he found, hiding behind them, Magoroku Shido.

"Student Council President Shido?" Noboru asked, "What are you doing here? And behind bushes?"

"I-it's none of your concern!" Shido stuttered out.

"Did you have a valentine for Gao, too?" Noboru quizzed, "And did you also feel rejected when you heard him ask that blue haired bimbo out on a date?"

"What?" Shido asked, confused, "No!"

"Oh."

Noboru felt embarrassed. He'd never spoken to anyone about his feelings for Gao until that moment when it just sorta… came out. Maybe it was his jealousy of Kiri or maybe it was is anger towards Gao for not asking him. Or maybe Noboru was just angry at himself for either not feeling worthy of Gao or not sharing his feelings sooner. Either way, a long and awkward silence fell between him and the president.

"So…" Shido said after a few moments, "You like Gao?"

"Uh-huh." Noboru answered, still embarrassed.

"Gao Mikado?" Shido persisted.

"Yeah." Noboru said, even more embarrassed.

"And you're upset," Shido continued, "because Gao asked somebody else out on a date?"

"Yes, already!" Noboru spoke up, "Stop it!"

"Alright," Shido said in what could only be a scheming manner, "then I won't tell you how to win him over."

"Win him over?" Noboru repeated, "You know how to do that?!"

"Of course I do," Shido said as he started to walk away "but you obviously want to talk about a different subject so I'll just lock it away in the vaults of my mind."

"Wait!" Noboru grabbed Shido's shoulder, "Tell me how to win Gao over, please!"

"Well," Shido said slyly, "alright. But, you're gonna have to do something for me, too."

"Anything," Noboru said desperately, "Just tell me what to do!"

"It's really simple, actually," Shido explained, "You just need to beat him at the one thing he loves the most: Buddyfight."

"That's it?" Noboru asked.

"Yes, that's it," Shido said, "If you beat him in a Buddyfight, then he'll no doubt fall for you."

"Of course!" Noboru exclaimed, "Thanks, president Shido!"

"No problem," Shido said, "Just remember, you still have to do something for me."

"Oh, right," Noboru remembered, "What do you want me to do?"

"Win."

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A/N: Does this qualify as 'a deal with the devil'? I don't know. It is Shido, after all. Gonna have to think more on this later, but right now, let's address the elephant in the room. Now, Mr. Elephant, it's not nice to steal other people's peanuts. So you should be writing that apology letter. Now, with that out of the way, I can tell you about the change of plans that I had. I had originally wanted this to be 2 chapters long. However, with the inclusion of Noboru, I needed him to get the idea for a Buddyfight. I couldn't just have him show up and be like, "Buddyfight! You! Me! Now! Triangles!" (Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Abridged reference). So, with the way it was going, having a Buddyfight to end the story seemed rushed and I don't like it when things get rushed. I never know how to do rushed things (which is why something I had planned to be my first Buddyfight fic was delayed). Anyway, expect chapter 3 sometime in the near future. It should be the conclusion to the story, if all goes according to plan.
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