Okay, here's chapter sixteen! I got it up in the same day as fifteen, too. ;) Anyway, before I continue, I would like to once again thank Pepper for her idea, as the scene that she gave me will officially end in this chapter. Actually, it kind of ended last chapter, but... You get the idea. :) Thanks so much. With that, I guess I'll do the replies now.
ultimashadow: Well... not really. We all know how the girl likes to exaggerate. ;) And I'll pretend you didn't say that about Jiro. Besides, he never said he did it willingly, or that he enjoyed it. I will, and stop worrying about the awesome thing - it's no big deal.
Edward-Elric-in-red: Thanks. I know - isn't it great? :D Aw... That's too bad. Try to get out if it soon, 'kay? *sigh* Now I'm probably going to spend all this time worrying about that... Really, thought, that stinks. I'll try to keep the updates fast. :)
WindGoddess Rune: Well, she didn't... Oh, never mind - it's better if you read it. ;) Yeah, it's kind of sweet. I know very little about her other than the fact that she's in love with him, so that's another reason to look forward to Blue Dragon Plus. :) No, I haven't, but I will as soon as it's translated - not dubbed, though. I did see the screenshots, though, and it shocked the heck out of me. Yes... It's so sad. :( I wonder what will happen now?
WindGoddess Rune: I'm pretty sure that he is. I remember Primula calling him "Ojiichan", and I found out that he's her grandfather from the Japanese Wikipedia. *sigh* ...Why is it that the Japanese Wikipedia article is brimming with Blue Dragon info, yet the English one is filled with very little and/or inaccuracies? I partially blame the dub, since they've been mistranslating everything. I'm curious to where she came from, too - I thought we would've seen some kind of sign of her, since Dr. Tarkovsky worked with Nene. Then again, we didn't see Tarkovsky either, so... Oh, I don't know. But I'm hoping that some of these questions will be answered as Tenkai progresses. I haven't seen Coraline, but I think I'd like to. Seems a little eerie, but eerie can always be fun. ;) Besides, the effects look great. Cool, I've got those, too. :) Some may think I'm a little odd, but I often prefer the old games to the new ones. ;)
WindGoddess Rune: Neat! Does that mean you'll get Blue Dragon Plus when it comes out? Or at least plan to? Delphinium... I guess overall, I'd say I like her. It really depends on what she's doing. Unless she has done it after Episode 32, or she does it again in Tenkai, she's attacked Bouquet twice, so that's a bad mark against her, since Bouquet is probably my favorite character. And she killed Homeron, so that's another strike. But she's also helped out the Shu-tachi, especially in the final episodes of season one. I guess she's probably one of the nicer bad characters. About her Shadow... it's okay. Personally, I named it Hydra, since I couldn't find an official name for it. It is kind of cool how she can use two Shadows in Season 2, so that's something in the Shadow's favor, at least.
Prince of Tennis's Shaman: Thanks! :) Oh... Thank you. It's a little easier to do it with Blue Dragon Beyond, since Troubles on White Day is supposed to be almost strictly romance. Of course, with the way I write, I couldn't help but add some other stuff in. ;) Yeah - go for it, Shu! ;D You've got me - half the time, even I don't know what she'll do next. *shrugs* Hope you like this chapter.
Okay, there are the replies. I've suddenly become rushed again, so I'll make this quick. After the disclaimer, read and enjoy. ;)
Disclaimer: I do not own Blue Dragon. I'm just writing this story because I like the characters. :P
By the time Jiro had left Sweet Delights, the sun was already setting. He and Kluke had actually finished eating the chocolate a while ago, but they had talked for a long time.
They'd decided to take it one step at a time. They weren't even sure if they were... together - they hadn't even been able to speak that word yet, which seemed to indicate that this would take a little while. Besides, there was still Bouquet and Shu to account for, and sometimes Marumaro; Zola seemed too old for Jiro to be entered into the equation (that hadn't stopped the occasional crush, but of course he hadn't told Kluke that).
He hadn't been this happy in a while. Sure, that had happened before when Bouquet had cooked him that meal, but he was even happier than that time.
Yep, one crazy trip.
"You horrible little beast!" Bouquet readjusted the top of her dress after surviving another one of Marumaro's... episodes.
"Maro..." he held his head where she'd punched him.
"What's all the commotion about?" Zola asked as she walked into the room.
"Marumaro's a pervert." Bouquet said sourly.
"Yes, I know. What else happened?"
"Well, of course it isn't a big deal for you. Marumaro never tries to grope you."
"That's because Zola would probably cut me in half, maro."
"Exactly," Zola nodded in agreement. "Still, if it bothers you that much, Bouquet, the two of us can go do a little training."
Bouquet perked up immediately. "Really?"
"Wait a minute, maro!" he hopped up, suddenly recovered. "Shu and Jiro are the ones who like to train, maro! I don't need any training anyway, maro!"
Zola smiled. "We all need some training once in a while. It's important to stay in practice." she winked at Bouquet on the aside.
"B-but... but... maro..." he sputtered, trying to think of any excuse, but Zola was already dragging him outside.
Bouquet sighed in relief once they were gone. "Now... Only thing left to do is set everything up and get into position..."
"I'm back." Jiro said as he shut the door behind him, his eyes closed. When he opened them, he saw Bouquet, sprawled out on a bed with her legs crossed. His bed, to be exact.
"Hello, Jiro dear. I'm glad you're home." Bouquet sounded extremely confident, but in her mind she was hoping that her position and voice were somewhere near attracting - she honestly had no idea if they were.
Unfortunately, with Jiro, you could never really tell. "I'll give you five seconds to get off my bed."
"Or what?" she giggled. "Come on over here and sit down. I've got something for you."
"And I'd want to know what this is why?" He threw his pack down with the others before starting to circle the room. "What did you do with my book?"
She winked at him. "Maybe I'll give it back after we spend a little quality time together."
Jiro's eyes narrowed. "Give it back. Now."
"I told you I'm thinking about it. What, now you don't want to spend time with me anymore?" she pouted.
He relented a little. "I never said that."
She sighed wistfully. "Now that you've gone and spent the whole day with her, you're never going to want to spend time with me again. And we were becoming such good friends, too."
"I never said you were my friend. But if you're talking about Kluke, I never said that I was friends with her, either."
"Of course you didn't. People who kiss are usually more than friends."
Marumaro, your skin and my dagger have an appointment together. "I've never kissed anyone before."
"I could change that."
"Bouquet, whatever happens between us now or in the future, you won't be my first kiss."
She moved around a little, trying to appear bored, though she was irritated on the inside. "I just want to have a little chat, Jiro. You know, catch up on a few things. You like strawberry, don't you?"
The narrowed eyes turned into a harsh glare. "How did you know that?"
"I have my ways."
"You were spying on me and Kluke yesterday," he folded his arms. "During breakfast. That's why you were gone - you had turned invisible."
She shrugged, though she couldn't do it right since she was lying down. "Maybe. Maybe not. Anyway, these chocolates over here are filled with strawberry cream. For White Day and all, you know."
Jiro swallowed, barely noticeable.
But Bouquet noticed - she'd been observing people too long to miss something like that. "So, you're coming, then?"
"Ah!" the boy feel to the floor.
"I got it!" Shu held up the necklace in triumph. A few of the people even clapped.
"But... but..."
"Look, we're in store that's full of jewelry," Shu leaned over him. "If you really want to get a gift, just look for another one. And work on your manners while you're at it."
"Drop dead."
Shu shook his head. "Funny. That's what I keep telling my rival, but he never listens," he looked over at the cashier, holding up the necklace. "Hey, can I buy this now, please?"
"I never thought someone like you would like strawberry." Bouquet said as she popped another chocolate into her mouth.
"Shut up." There wasn't much venom behind it, but it was clear that Jiro was annoyed.
"But isn't there something behind it? I mean, there has to be, right?"
Jiro sighed, the sigh of one with an unpleasant task. "There used to be loads of strawberry bushes near my village. My sister was crazy about them, so she used to whine until I'd bring her there so she could pick berries. Sometimes she'd convince me to eat some. I guess I ended up getting a taste for them." Why is it that everyone has learned more about me in the past few days than this whole time we've been traveling together?
Bouquet swallowed hard. "That sounds like something my sister would've done."
Jiro arched his eyebrows. "You have a sister?"
"Yeah."
"And you left her alone?"
"She's with my family." She paused, wondering if she should say anymore. "I'm hoping I'll get to see them again. But if I do, it probably won't be for a very long time."
It was about then that everything clicked into place for Jiro, and he finally realized what she meant. "I understand. The same goes for me."
Both of them felt like a burden had been lifted; in the fewest words possible, they had both shared with each other the secret that they shared, the secret that made them different from the others.
Shu ran down the streets, a small, gift-wrapped box in his hands. His head was pounding, and he felt nauseous again, but he was more happy than he'd been in the last few days.
He was going to make up with Bouquet. His instinct had told him that this was the right gift, so it was sure to win back her affection. It just had to.
Ever since they'd gotten here, he'd been lonely. He'd been spending hardly any time with Kluke after the first few days, and now that had been reduced to practically nothing. He and Jiro were only sometimes friends, if ever, and they were always trying to tear out each others' throats the rest of the time. Zola always seemed to be off on some kind of errand, though Shu was suspecting that she was doing this because she had some grand plot to get the five kids to spend time with each other. He did spend time with Marumaro, usually getting dragged into some kind of mischief making he wanted to do, but he usually ended up alone because Marumaro would go after any girls that happened to cross his line of vision. And Bouquet... he was hoping she didn't hate him, but it was certainly starting to seem that way.
But this gift would change at least some of that. The stuff with Bouquet, anyway.
"... so after I turned invisible, I flipped his plate in his face. It was great - he got covered in spaghetti all the way down to his stomach."
Jiro chuckled. "That sounds like something you'd do."
Bouquet smirked. "Jerks like that deserve everything they get."
He rolled onto his side towards her. "You know, you're not that bad. Better than my first impression of you, anyway."
Bouquet stuffed another chocolate in her mouth, trying to hide her blush. "Thanks."
The two of them were startled - nearly falling out of the bed - when the front door slammed open. Shu stumbled out of the cold, almost falling over himself, but managing to catch himself on his own bed.
"Phew... that was close... Hey, where's-" he froze when he looked up and saw Jiro with Bouquet. The pain in his head felt like a knife, starting to spread through his whole body.
Bouquet shot up. "Shu!" This wasn't supposed to happen; at one point, she'd considered using Jiro to make Shu jealous. But she'd started to like Jiro as a friend - her plan had just been to become good enough friends with him so that he wouldn't hate her chocolate without even tasting it.
"You... Bouquet..." Shu fisted his pillow in his hands. All of those hours... all of those hours for nothing... "I hate you! I wish I'd never met you!!" he threw the pillow in their direction before bolting outside.
"Shu..." she took a few steps forward, her clutching her apron tightly, tears threatening to fall.
Jiro pushed the pillow off himself. "Shu, you stupid idiot!" He started running towards the door.
"Jiro!"
He stopped when he heard her. "What?!" he snapped, all of it frustration with Shu, turning to look at her. He cooled off when he looked at her - she was sitting on Shu's bed, looked more frightened than he'd ever seen her. "Bouquet, what is it?"
"Come here." Her voice was weak, and she was getting pale, too.
As he approached her, he noticed that she held something white in her shaking hands. A little closer and he was able to see that there was a huge pile of the stuff in the spot where Shu's pillow had been. It was kind of odd, really - if you looked it at really carefully, even though it looked like it had gotten wet and hardened, it almost looked like SCI pills.
Well, there it is. Half of the scene I've been planning since about chapter three. It's a little bit different than I had originally wanted, since I forgot to write down some of the things that were supposed to happen between Jiro and Bouquet. I think I like it this way, too, though. I'm a little tempted to "belittle" myself, but I won't because Prince of Tennis' Shaman said not to. :) Anyway, review if you get the chance. I'm going to have to go to sleep, so I can't work on the next part yet. But I'll probably start working on it when I get up, or shortly thereafter, since I have other things in my life I have to attend to. ;) But another chapter should be up sometime tomorrow. See you then! :)