Here we are at chapter fourteen. *sigh* I'm pretty sure that I'm not going to make it to Valentine's Day... Anyway, I need to go to sleep, so I have to make this quick. So we'll do the review replies now.
WindGoddess Rune: Don't worry, you'll find out this chapter. :) Well, he probably will when he finds out - tormenting Shu is probably Blue Dragon's favorite pastime. Other than fighting, of course. ;) I know - there will be more Jiro/Kluke interaction to come. Oh man, that cracks me up every time I read it. XD Oh, no, you didn't really scare me. Shock me, yes. But I thought about it for a while, and I thought that Nene and Himiko together are cute. Sure thing - I've discovered that answering questions about Blue Dragon has become a favorite thing of mine when prompted, so feel free to ask something whenever you want. Thanks so much for that - If I ever find out who started that Primella thing, I'm going to throw marshmallows at them. Unless it was you, of course - why would I unleash a furious marshmallow attack on one of my favorite reviewers? :)
Edward-Elric-in-red: Aw, thanks! :D I wonder how many rounds there will be between them? With those two girls, the number could be uncountable. ;) Well, I don't know about Kluke vs. Jiro... But, maybe so. Depends how you look at it. ;) There should be plenty more Kluke x Jiro to come - I've decided that's going to be the pairing for those two, though that doesn't mean there won't be the odd Kluke x Shu or Bouquet x Jiro moment here and there. Heck, even Marumaro might get some moments with one of the girls. Though Bouquet probably thinks he gets too many moments with her as it is. ;)
ultimashadow: I know - I love heating things up when possible. ;) Me too - I think he probably will. The anime Shu doesn't have the same "I won't give up!" motto as the game Shu, but they're both very stubborn. Besides, like I said, that's the necklace that Bouquet wears in Season 2; she has to get it somehow, right? Thanks. And though I like to find synonyms just for the heck of it, I think in conversation that it's pretty acceptable to use a word repeatedly. And awesome is such a fun word to use, anyway. :D
WindGoddess Rune: Hm... Honestly, I don't know. Very little information is given about them, though I'm hoping some more will be revealed about them in Plus and Ikai no Kyojuu. I do know that they're the ones who have created all of the machines and things that the others use - a good example would be the mechat. I haven't finished the Blue Dragon game yet, so there may be something that I haven't found out about yet. When I do find out, I'll be sure to let you know. And that stinks that you don't have a 360. :( I don't go online with mine or anything - it seems like they've made the Xbox Live into a money-making scam - but it's worth it for the games I like playing on it. Namely, those would be Lost Odyssey, Blue Dragon and Eternal Sonata, though are several others that are worth it depending on the kinds of games you like. Also, if you don't mind my asking, what systems do you have?
Prince of Tennis' Shaman: You're reviewing again; yay! :D Yeah - I'm kind of trying to push to finish the story by Valentine's Day, so that's why there are so many new chapters. *kicks at ground awkwardly* Ugh, I know the feeling. :P I'm glad you're feeling better, though! :) Oh, that's okay - do it in whatever order you like. Besides, Episode 39 might be my second favorite episode of season two, so I don't mind. Ah, I can't wait until tomorrow! :D I know, I love it. ;) And I'm glad it's helping you. Hope you like this chapter. :)
Well, those are the replies. Like I mentioned earlier, I have to hurry, so I can't do a lot of notes right now aside from the replies. Hopefully I won't be so rushed next chapter. After the disclaimer, we'll get to the story.
Disclaimer: I do not own Blue Dragon. Not enough time to think of anything else. So su- On second thought, never mind.
"J-Jiro... What are you doing here?"
"That's a spin on what you usually first ask the customer." he tried smoothly to change the subject, walking over to the counter.
"Oh, of course," she blushed. She decided to wonder why he was here later. "What can I get for you?"
"Well... I was wondering if I could write a message on one of those hearts over there." He pointed to the large piece of solid chocolate displayed in the window.
She nodded. "What kind of icing?"
"Something white," he shrugged. "I guess it would have to be vanilla."
"Okay," Kluke got out some pen and paper. "What would you like for your message?"
"I... I can't tell you." He racked his brain for an excuse. "You know the person that I'm giving it to, so it wouldn't be a surprise if you saw it."
"I see, but... I don't know what to do then. I guess I could ask someone else-"
"It's okay, I'll do it." he said quickly. "I know how to do icing; I've done it with my mom before." The words were out of his mouth before he'd realized what he said. Please tell me I did not just say that.
"I don't- really?" she interrupted her original statement, completely curious. "What did you ice?"
He wasn't going to answer her at first, but... After thinking about it, he came up with, What the heck? If you're going to be bear, be a Lazy Bear. "Cupcakes. For my little sister's birthday."
Kluke's heart started to beat a little faster. Jiro never shared this kind of information with anyone, not even Zola. And now, just like that time in Grand Kingdom, he'd given to her this part of himself that he had hidden from everyone and everything. It was nice to know that he liked her enough to keep sharing these little facts.
"So... Can I do it?"
"Y-yeah. Come here." She walked over to a small table, which had originally been for a spot for the customers to have coffee. "This is probably the place with the most room. Take a seat and I'll bring the stuff over."
Quickly, she brought over one of the hearts and a pastry bag and, without another word, she left. She didn't go back behind the counter - she went into another room.
Jiro sighed, letting his eyes drift over the items - what Kluke had brought and some typical things you found on a restaurant table. He pressed the back of his hand against his forehead, letting his eyes close.
This was so... embarrassing. When he'd had his little slip about his past, he'd never bothered to mention that he'd only been five years old. And... he was grown now. Whether it was because she had something to do, or she'd known he'd needed space, or if she was just taking his request not to look, he was grateful that Kluke had left the room; it would be way to hard to do it with her standing near him.
The act of doing it wasn't difficult at all; even if it was icing, how hard was it to write "Thank you, Kluke"? Besides, he did remember how to do it, despite the pang that it brought to his chest - thinking about his family too long tended to do that to him.
Come on, get it over with. You shouldn't be acting like this - it isn't hard, his mind urged him on. He picked it up and went to work.
"And he's here right now?"
"He... yeah." Kluke's voice was small, more squeaky than normal.
"And you just left him in the store by himself? Unattended?"
"... Yeah."
"Why would you do that?"
"Well, of course it's going to sound worse when you say it like that!" Kluke shut her eyes, her apron getting balled up in her fists.
"Never mind that," Helen shook her head. "You should get in there before something happens."
"But..."
"We can deal with whatever happens later. Just go."
"Okay." Kluke nodded, then took off for the main room.
Once she'd left, Helen smiled to herself; crushes were always such a delicate topic.
He leaned back, just having finished it. Briefly, he wondered if he should've added a "-san" or - dare he consider it? - a "-chan".
The door swung open. "Jiro, I'm sorry but-"
Almost as a reflex, he moved to cover the iced chocolate. But his hand bumped into several things in the process.
Later, Kluke thought that if everything that had happened in that second was anything to go by, she was most certainly cursed.
The pastry bag was the first thing that fell, followed by the napkin holder, which just happened to land on the bag. Of course, this resulted in icing squirting all over the place.
Jiro stood so quickly that he almost knocked over the chair, cursing harshly under his breath, unintentionally loud enough for her to hear. "Kluke, I'm so sorry-"
"It's okay," she was already looking for something to clean it up with. "I'll take care of it."
"Let me help." Jiro grabbed some napkins that had fallen out when the container went over the edge of the table. Kluke had already started by then, so he just started at the place closest to his feet.
They had been doing pretty good cleaning it up - the floor was almost entirely clean in little over a minute.
Jiro had been lost in thought as he worked, scolding himself about how stupid he'd been to knock the stuff over in the first place. So he didn't notice that his hand was next to Kluke's until he bumped into hers.
You clumsy ox, a voice in his head said. It's no wonder you ended up with a cow for a Shadow. He had thought about telling the voice that his Shadow was a minotaur, until he remembered that the voice wasn't a person. So stupid...
"S-sorry..." Kluke's face heated immediately.
She started to move her hand away, but Jiro put his other hand on top of both of their's.
"Jiro-" she found that after looking into his eyes, she couldn't find anything to say. His cheeks were blazing, and there was something in his eyes she'd never seen before. Thinking back, she thought she might have seen a ghost of this look directed at her, but it was never this intense.
Jiro really didn't know what he was thinking, and by the time he thought about the things he was doing, it was too late to go back. Lazy Bear... Lazy Bear... He kept repeating the old favorite of his sister's in his head like a mantra.
She swallowed. Kluke didn't know what she'd do if someone came in. But she was starting to find that she didn't really care, and that thought alone scared her more than anything else.
Lazy Bear. No. He wouldn't let Kluke become another Kimiko. He moved towards her face, no longer nervous or hesitant.
The bell above the door rang. "I knew it was you I saw - Jiro, you are so dead, maro!"
Kluke's following thought: I don't care if it gets me fired - I'm going to tear off that stupid bell.
Okay, sorry for the shortness in the chapter and the notes; I think I managed to keep the replies normal, at least. Next chapter, we'll find out what Marumaro's going to do with this little bit of information. Maybe a bit of blackmail, hm? ;) Or not - I've actually got something different planned. We'll also make sure that Bouquet is okay. And see if Shu fended off that brat. ;) Get 'em, kiddo! :D Review if you get the chance, and I'm going to try and get the next chapter out ASAP - possibly before the 10 hits, because if I don't finish the story by Valentine's Day, I at least want to get the story to a certain point on that day. I might have to make a longer chapter... Anyway, gotta go; see you!