Hi. :) Here's chapter three. It is a little slow, but things will finally pick up in this chapter. At least, a little. Before we get to the story, though, we'll get to the review replies:
WindGoddess Rune: Oh, yeah. Things are definitely going to get good. ;)
Prince of Tennis' Shaman: Hi, nice to see you! Thanks for reviewing again. :D Don't worry about taking a while. You wouldn't believe how busy I get. And it's weird, since I don't seem to do a whole lot... Anyway, I forgot to mention it, but I did watch some of the episodes with Chinese subs. I don't know Chinese, but Chinese and Japanese share characters, so sometimes I can make sense of it. Usually, though, it confuses me, so I end up looking for raw episodes so I can try to translate the straight Japanese. And the website you mentioned, it wouldn't happen to be Youku, would it? That's where I've been watching most of the episodes, though I'll watch them again on Veoh to get a clearer version. And to take screencaps. ;) Oh, and I liked Episode 39, too. One of my favorites. Go Jiro! :D And thanks about my story. When I write fan fictions, I try to write as close to the anime or game that I can, so I'm really flattered that you'd compare my story to an episode. *insert blush here* I'll reply to your review of chapter 3 as soon as chapter 4 is up.
WindGoddess Rune: Yeah, I watch season two. Depending on the episode, sometimes I even like it more than season one. ;) But I'd definitely go with the Investiture Beings, since I think it's possible that they may end up on the good side later on. Or at least, that's what I'm hoping. :) But I usually refer to them as the Superior Life Forms, since that's what I translated their name as (I don't know who's been writing this stuff on Wikipedia... Sorry, I'm really particular about this kind of stuff *insert sweatdrop here*).
Okay, now we can get to the story. :D
Note: Anego means "big sister" (I've seen it translated as "sis"). That's what Hippo-chan usually calls Bouquet in the Japanese version.
Disclaimer: If I owned Blue Dragon, I'd be more shocked than you. But I don't, so we're all saved from that little extra stress.
"Come on, Shu." Kluke poked the protruding lump on the bed. "You want to go outside, don't you?"
"I don't want take any medicine if it tastes like that!" he cried indignantly, voice muffled by the blankets.
Kluke sighed, standing straight, pinching between her eyebrows. They'd been in the village for three days already, and neither the status of the mechat nor the weather had improved. Also, Bouquet had been acting strangely; she didn't really talk to anyone, not even Shu, and would go off somewhere and not come back until much later.
On top of that, the effects of the SCI medicine were wearing off. Kluke and Shu hadn't really been awake when they were given the medicine the first time. Now, though, they had found out how horrible it tasted. One drop of it had made Shu proclaim the liquid "icky", and he'd fled under his bed's blankets. Which had left Kluke in her current situation.
"Shu..." she tried again.
"No!"
"What, he still won't come out?" Kluke nearly jumped when she heard Jiro's voice.
"I don't know what to do." Kluke talked quietly, so Shu wouldn't hear.
"Here, let me try," Jiro leaned on his knees next to the bed. "It's been over an hour, you know. Are you that much of a baby?"
"... Drop dead, Jiro!"
"Well, so much for that." Jiro stood. "If he freezes to death, he deserves it for acting like a spoiled brat."
"Shu, Jiro's right-"
"You promised me you wouldn't call me a baby anymore!"
"I was talking about you freezing!" Besides, I made that promise years ago, she added in her mind.
"I won't freeze if I stay under the covers." was his stubborn reply.
"Were you dropped on your head as a child, or were you just born this way?" Jiro shook his head.
Shu threw the sheets off. "What did you say?!"
Jiro smirked. "You heard me." On the aside, he winked at Kluke.
"No, I don't think I did." Shu hopped off the bed.
Kluke, taking Jiro's hint, poured a dose of the medicine into a spoon.
"You want me to repeat it?"
"Well, that really depends on whether you want to get away without getting hurt."
"Is that supposed to be some sorry excuse for a threat?"
"You want a threat?! I'll-" Shu was abruptly cut off as a spoon was stuffed in his mouth. In his mind, he was reminded of an event that had taken place several years ago, one involving Kluke and her bad cooking.
"Mission success!" Kluke pulled out the spoon triumphantly, then lifted her hand towards Jiro, waiting for a high five.
"I... ICKY!!" Shu scrambled under the covers again.
Jiro, who had ignored Shu's little episode, was looking at Kluke's hand in confusion. "Kluke?"
She faltered for a minute, then had an idea. "Hold up your hand."
"Like this?" he mimicked her.
"Yeah!" Kluke gave him a high five.
"Wh-what... What was that?!" Jiro sputtered, blushing.
Kluke giggled, starting to go into an explanation of what a high five was.
Little did they know that they were being watched.
"Anego, I don't think this is such a good idea..."
"You don't think anything I want to do is a good idea."
"That's because everything you want to do is dangerous!"
"Hippo-chan," Bouquet looked away from the window and at her Shadow. "You'll never get anywhere in life if you don't take chances."
"That's just your point of view..." Hippo-chan grumbled.
"I've always lived like that," she looked at the window again. "I always took a chance on living, always took a chance that someday things would get better..." she looked downcast for a moment, but then perked up. "And they did. Now that I have Darling, things will get better. And that's why I have to go through with my plan."
"If you say so..." the Shadow shrugged.
A door opened in the house next door. "Hippo-chan, we'll talk more later." she quickly unsummoned him before the person saw her Shadow.
When the person had left, Bouquet breathed out in relief. "That was close... But..." she looked inside, where Jiro was blushing furiously as he told Kluke that he "did know what a high five was". "Now that Hippo-chan isn't out to discourage me, I can go through with my plan."
"Shu, you can't stay in there all day." Mostly, Kluke said this because she didn't want to be stuck trying to get him out all day. Now that he wasn't in danger of dying without the medicine, it seemed absurd to her for Shu to stay in bed.
"Icky!" Shu had been replying to everything like this ever since Kluke had forced the medicine into him.
"Forget him, Kluke. Let's just get on with it; what did you want to talk to us about, Zola?" Jiro turned his attention to her.
"Well, you remember I mentioned that training?"
"Training?!" Shu leapt out of the bed, unwittingly knocking Kluke over.
"You stupid idiot..." she grumbled as she pushed herself up.
"What training?" Shu ignored Kluke, walking over to Zola. "Are we going to train soon?"
"Maybe if you stop trying to kill people." Jiro said reproachfully, offering his hand to Kluke.
"Thanks, Jiro." Kluke dusted herself off.
"I was thinking that we could go out to one of the mountain peaks to train this afternoon," Zola pointed out the window. "It's just a little walk away from the village."
"Yes!" Shu pumped the air with his fist. "Finally, we can do something!"
"Maybe you could've done something if you hadn't spent half the morning in bed, maro." Marumaro said flatly.
"No one's talking to you!" Shu yelled at him.
"Maro!" The Devee stood now, ready to attack.
"Well, if nothing else, at least they're in a mood to beat each other's brains out." Kluke placed a hand on her hip, looking off to the side. Why was she surrounded by these crazy people?
The door slammed open suddenly. "Hello, everyone! I'm back!" Bouquet proclaimed happily.
"So, you finally decided to show up?" Kluke said sarcastically.
Bouquet's eye twitched ever so slightly. "I'm going to pretend you didn't say that. But, I did need to talk to you about something."
"Me?" Kluke quirked an eyebrow.
"Yes, you," Bouquet started pacing back and forth. "Making chocolate on White Day is one of the most important and sacred duties for every girl on the planet. You're dismissive behavior of such a task is unforgivable," she turned a harsh look towards the other girl. "As punishment for your unpardonable act, I, Bouquet, challenge you to a chocolate-making competition!" she pointed at Kluke.
Well, there's the end of that... Hope Bouquet doesn't get too crazy, but I have to let her go wild at least a little. Otherwise she wouldn't be Bouquet, right? ;) Oh, and the high five scene with Kluke and Jiro was kind of a parody to something that happened in Tales of Vesperia, between Estelle and Rita. If you've played the game, and you know who those two are, you probably know what I'm talking about. ;) Anyway, I'll wait for 10 hits on this chapter before I upload chapter four. The next chapter isn't finished yet, but I've got the first two lines. Leaving that little cliffhanger made it easy to start the next chapter. Suggestions in reviews are always helpful, so feel free to leave them. And remember that I reply to reviews from previous chapters, so check the next chapter after the one you reviewed. I check that often, so replies will be up pretty fast. :) So... Let's hope that Kluke doesn't end up seriously injured from this! Who know's what Bouquet's planning? I don't even know! See you next chapter!