S-Cry-ed Askew - Part 2: Delayed Reunion Cut Short

By Robster80

Opening notes: In all honesty, I wasn't sure if I could continue with this idea of a story. I had chapter ideas in my brain, but didn't get to put them to the comp due to me hanging out on youtube lately thanks to two friends who shall remain anonymous. Also, nobody seemed to even care enough to at least leave a review, period.

That is, until I recently checked my email and saw two comments/reviews… Um, make that five now. Well, you guys who reviewed deserve special thanks for getting me to work on this. Also, this gives me some time until I get enough comments/votes for my Sexual Escapades of Takeru Takaishi lemon series to construct the final chapters.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own S-Cry-ed, period! Not the characters, the name, or anything. It belongs to TV-Tokyo, Bandai, Tokyopop (Manga), etc.


KA-BOOOM!

Sighing heavily, Cherise Adjani raced out onto the balcony of the main hall at HOLY Base. As she leaned over the railing, she saw Straight Cougar and a long-haired woman just a few feet from the front doors. Judging that the source of the big explosion was right outside, she gave Cougar a half-annoyed, half-accusing glance. "You went and wrecked another one, didn't you, Cougar?" She was referring to what had once been a normal car.

This made the pink sunglasses-wearing man look up at her and smile. "Ah, if it isn't Cherise? I've brought Miss Minori Kiryu-."

"Mimori," the girl behind him corrected.

Giggling, Cherise quickly replied, "Oh don't mind him, Miss Kiryu. He's lousy with most names." He only gets mine right because Kazuma kept decking him when he was in earshot. Funny, though; why didn't Kazuma use that method to get Cougar to say his name right?

"Oh, yes! Where are my manners? Miss Kiryu, that little lady up there with the short blue hair is Cherise Adjani, one of the youngest recruits HOLY has ever taken in."

"Hiya," Cherise said while finger-waving down at Mimori. "So, Cougar-?"

"Sorry," Cougar said, shaking his head, "no new mail today."

Just then, Cherise heard footsteps approaching her. Turning, she inwardly frowned at a man with green hair walking up the balcony. Oh great, as if no new letter from Kazuma was bad enough. "Ryuhou."

"Cherise," was Ryuhou's stiff reply before he turned to look down at Mimori. "Welcome to the Lost Ground, Miss Kiryu."

Seeing him, though he was out of her reach, Mimori smiled warmly. "Ryuhou! It's been-."

"The Commander, Martin Zigmar, asked me to inform you to immediately go to his office so he may give you your ID Card as well as a passkey card to your quarters. You will be reporting to the head of the Medical Unit afterwards while your belongings will be taken to your quarters by some of our regular soldiers. Rest assured they will handle your things with care."

Ryuhou's coldness in his words took Mimori by surprise. A lot had changed since she last saw of him seven years prior to today. "Ryuhou…"

"A word of caution, however: Even though you're in the city, the Lost Ground as a whole is a dangerous place. Do not go anywhere without an escort, and stay clear of the wall bordering the city from the wastes. Excuse me." Ryuhou turned to Cherise. "If you haven't eaten yet, I was wondering if you would join me for lunch?"

Hoping her stomach wouldn't betray her lie, Cherise quickly said, "Sorry, I just ate. Maybe next time. I gotta run."

As Cherise rushed off, Ryuhou heard Cougar suddenly say, "Hey, Ryuhou! You're cold, asking another girl to lunch like that in front of your old friend here. Why not invite her to lunch? Unless…" Cougar quickly put an arm around Mimori, surprising her. "You'd rather I take her to lunch, hmm?"

"M-Mr. Cougar-!"

But Ryuhou made no reply. He just turned around and walked back the way he came. Seeing this, Cougar slowly removed his arm from Mimori. He bowed towards her. "Sorry about that; it was just stupid quick thinking on my part. So, let me do it correctly: would you like to join me for lunch? I would be honored if you did, Miss Minori-, er, I mean, Mimori."

Mimori didn't say anything. She simply stared at the spot where Ryuhou had stood, wondering what had happened to him to make him like this. Ryuhou…

Sighing with great relief after making it back to her room, Cherise walked over and fell back-first onto her bed. That had been close, she realized; Ryuhou was getting more and more bothersome with his asking her out. It was harder to turn him down every time, though it was pure luck she was able to get away this time. Just then, her stomach growled, and she laughed. "Thanks for waiting until now to do that."

Reaching back with one hand, she pulled out two things from under one of her pillows: a picture of Kazuma that he had sent her, and the letter that had come with said picture. It had been over two weeks since she had gotten it the last time Cougar had found Kazuma out in the wastes. She had a collection of the few letters Kazuma had written to her stuffed in her dresser drawer underneath all her underwear, but she would keep the latest one under her pillows until the next one came. Reading his letters always seemed to get Cherise to forget everything that bothered her.

"Cherise,

"Sorry I haven't written in a while. Please don't think I don't like you or anything bad like that. It's just, well, I have to be careful writing these letters and hiding the ones you sent me. I think Kimishima is getting nosy since he caught me writing you a while back. Also, I don't want Kanami to find the pictures you also sent me; she might get jealous and do something crazy."

Cherise couldn't help but giggle at that last part. Though Kanami was only eight years old, she had latched onto Kazuma since he found her a few months after he had saved Cherise from her old gang. He hadn't said it out loud, but Cherise could get the hint in his words that the little girl had a crush on him. But still, Cherise wouldn't blame Kanami if it was true: Kazuma was very handsome in her eyes.

"Another reason this got delayed was because I had a hard time getting a camera that takes instant pictures, and with film, too. And I had to get Kanami to take several pictures before I could decide which one to send you. Of course, I had to lie to her that I wanted to see if I could look good in pictures. Luckily, she bought it, as long as she kept a few for herself. Anyways, I hope you liked the picture included in this letter.

"Lately, I've been working more and more at the farm Kanami goes to everyday due to Kimishima's lack of finding jobs worth my time, and price. I'm saving up for a chance to finally come pay you a visit at the city. Though I wish it wasn't talking me so long to do so; fake IDs that actually work are hard to come by, and don't get me started on the chisellers.

"I'll write again as soon as I find more paper and pencils or pens; we're running low, hence the short letter this time. Take care of yourself, Cherise, and I hope to finally see you again soon.

"Thinking of you, Kazuma."

Putting the letter aside, Cherise stared longingly at the picture of Kazuma. He was simply smiling at the camera while trying to look tough by crossing his arms in front. Somehow it brought out exactly what Cherise saw in him: tough and strong, yet kind and gentle. Her hand brought the picture close enough to her lips so she could kiss it several times before she placed it over her heart.

Whether it was because he saved her long ago, or that he kept in touch with her since then, Cherise knew she had fallen for Kazuma, and hard. It wasn't a crush; Cougar had made sure of it himself by asking her all kinds of questions. Cherise was truly in love with Kazuma, heart and soul.

Kazuma was still on her mind as she later joined Ryuhou in the office of Martin Zigmar, HOLY's commander. However, she had enough sense to pay attention as Zigmar gave them orders to find and capture a Native Alter with what had been dubbed by said Alter as "The Hammer." Secretly, Cherise was thankful that this wasn't Kazuma, since she knew from one of his letters that his alter was called "Shell Bullet."

Time seemed to pass by quickly for Cherise as she and Ryuhou boarded their transport and made their way out into the wastelands. In no time, they found their target beside the ruins of the old subway station, apparently bullying a group of kids living there. Ryuhou was quick to exit the transport and summon his alter, Zetsuei.

Needless to say, Cherise wasn't impressed at all with Zetsuei. No matter how many times Ryuhou had used it to whip the pants off of any unruly Alter User, she bet that Kazuma could beat the humanoid alter hands down. There had been rumors, though, that Ryuhou held back Zetsuei's true power, but she had yet to see it for herself if the rumors were true or not.

It took Ryuhou less than five minutes before Zetsuei had cut down the giant alter called Hammer. Its user, a rotund man with green hair that matched Ryuhou's perfectly, was left babbling as Hammer dissolved piece by piece after being cut up by Zetsuei's ribbons. The man dropped to his knees, while his gang, or now former gnag, was running away shouting in fear.

"You've broken the law," Ryuhou said coldly as Zetsuei joined him by his side. "And now you shall be punished for your crimes."

Suddenly, Cougar's alter/car showed up out of nowhere, skidding to a stop in front of Ryuhou and the transport. Cougar leapt out his side of the car, posing as he cried out "A new record: 1 minute and 54 seconds! Isn't that amazing, Miss Minori?"

Struggling out of the passenger side of the car, Mimori, slowly got her feet onto the ground while her one hand covered her mouth. One look at her face and one could see that she was resisting the urge to vomit after taking a ride with Cougar. "It… it's Mimori!"

Cougar would have apologized, if Ryuhou hadn't walked over to him and punched him in the face. Sent sprawling to the ground, Cougar's left cheek began to swell form the hit. "Hey, what was that for?"

Ryuhou pointed an accusing finger at the fallen Cougar as Cherise rushed over to offer support to the weary Mimori. "Why did you bring her out here, Officer Cougar?"

"Because," Cougar replied simply as he stood up, "I wanted to show her you in action. Though it looks like we got here a bit late for that-." He got cut off as Ryuhou had hit him again.

"Take her back. Now!"

Feeling some of her strength back, Mimori rushed over to the fallen Cougar to try and help him up. "Ryuhou, that was uncalled for! I asked him to bring me here."

"Then you're a bigger fool than he is. Go back to the Main Land, Miss Kiryu."

As the two stood there, arguing, Cougar snuck away from them and ushered Cherise into his car. "What say we let them catch up on old times while you and I go pay you-know-who a visit?" he said after he got into the driver's seat, grinning deviously.

Slowly, Cherise grinned back. "Never thought I'd say this, but… floor it!"

Looking out through his binoculars, Kimishima frowned heavily while sweating a little. "Don't take it out on me, Kazuma," he said, handing his binoculars to his friend sitting beside him, "but HOLY beat us to the punch."

"Knew we shoulda skipped dessert," was all Kazuma could mutter as he looked through the binoculars. He and Kimishima were sitting in his buggy atop a nearby cliff overlooking the area. "Well, there's always tomorrow at the farm… though I'd rather bust somebody's head open."

"…You're awfully calm about this setback." He had said the truth, though it did unnerve him a little. Kimishima was wary that Kazuma would still hit him or break the binoculars, or even do damage to his buggy.

"The pay was only thirty, remember? If it was the two thousand I needed, you'd be swallowing your car by now. Might as well head back home for the night."

"No problem. And next time-. YEOW!"

"SON OF A-!"

Just as Kimishima had turned the ignition key, a streak of pink barely collided with the buggy, passing it by mere inches. Both men turned, especially Kazuma, as the streak suddenly started to skid to a halt, revealing itself as a car. Jumping out of the buggy, Kazuam raced towards it. In his heart, he knew that there was someone else in the car other than his surrogate brother. His hopes were realized as the passenger side door opened and out jumped a blue-haired young woman who started running at him. It's her! "Cherise!"

"KAZUMA!" With a speed that almost rivaled Cougar's Cherise rushed and tackled Kazuma, bringing him to the ground with her atop him. Her lips pressed heavily against his, taking him by surprise. She didn't see the look of shock on his face from her kiss as she had shut her eyes tightly. Finally! Finally, we're together again, Kazuma; my dear Kazuma.

"…Hot damn," was all Kimishima could say, his jaw hanging open.

Sitting on the hood of his car, Cougar just smirked. "That's my Kazuya."

Another minute went by before Cherise broke off her kiss and nuzzled her head against Kazuma's chest. Her lips formed a broad grin, relishing in the contact between her and her love. "Oh Kazuma, you have no idea how I've longed to see you again. Please hold me." When he didn't do as she aske,d or even reply, Cherise used her arms to prop herself up over Kazuma. She saw he was staring straight up as if something in the sky had caught his attention. "Kazuma?"

The shock must have been too much for him, Cougar thought as he and Kimishima joined Cherise, who moved away from Kazuma

Cougar waved his hand over Kazuma's blank eyes, snapped his fingers several times, and even rapped his knuckles on Kazuma's forehead. But none of these seemed to get Kazuma to snap out of his kiss-induced daze, which Cherise had caused when she tackled him to the ground and kissed him full on the lips not but a minute or two ago. "Come on, Kazuya, snap out of it! Wake up & go to sleep! Hey, breakfast! …Dammit, those always worked before."

Cherise and Kimishima respectively stood over both the kneeling Cougar and the laid-back Kazuma. After the kiss, Cherise had hugged Kazuma tightly, not realizing the effect she had on him until Cougar had gently pulled her away and to her feet. Seeing her love laying face-up surprised her. "Is… is he okay?"

Shaking his head, Cougar looked up at her. "I hate to say it, Cherise, but you killed him with your kiss, if that's even possible."

Lucky stiff, Kimishima thought while looming over his friend and business partner. Just then, a smirk crossed his face. "Welllll, if he'd dead… then I get his secret stash from under his bed-." He was promptly cut off by Kazuma's right fist, which crammed itself into his face, hard. "Knew that would work," he said in a muffled voice due to his lips pressing against the back of Kazuma's hand.

No longer dazed, Kazuma glared hard at his partner. "For future reference," he said, "if I do die, Kanami gets any money I've saved away, and Cherise gets her pictures back." Then, before he knew it, Kazuma was yanked up onto his feet before he felt Cherise hugging him tightly. He smiled before returning the hug. "This brings back some memories. I missed you, Cherise."

"I missed you even more, Kazuma." Cherise's eyes were shut tight, but a few tears managed to squeeze themselves out to travel down her face. How she had longed to hold Kazuma like this, and to be held by him. How her heart raced at the image of him in her memories and at his photograph. And now, he was right there with her to encircle his strong and gentle arms around her.

"So, Kazuya, how'd you enjoy your first kiss?"

Blinking, Kazuma looked over at Cougar, who grinned like the cat who ate the canary. "My first what? …Oh you mean where Cherise-?"

"Yes, that. It's called a kiss, and I know you well enough to know you've never experienced a kiss until now."

Hearing the truth in Cougar's words, Cherise was beyond happy. Kazuma's first kiss was with her, and vice-versa. She couldn't ask for anything more; well, except for a date with Kazuma.

Words failed Kazuma as he thought how to best describe the feelings the kiss gave him. His face flushed as he recalled the sensation of Cherise's lips pressing against his; while he didn't like having his face turning red like that, he liked how his heart was doing summersaults from the warmth of the girl's being upon him.

Kimishima gave a disgusted snort and turned away. He never imagined that Kazuma would have a girlfriend, let alone get a kiss before he did. After all, Kazuma mainly let his fists to the talking instead of his mouth. When exactly did those two first meet? And why a member of HOLY, for crying out loud!

Suddenly, there was a loud beep from Cougar's one pocket. Pulling out a small communicator, Cougar turned away form everyone to speak into it. "This is Straight Cougar."

"Where's Cherise?" came a voice both Cougar and Cherise recognized as Ryuhou's. His cold voice told them, Kazuma, and Kimishima that he was none too pleased that Cherise was missing.

"I-I'm taking her back to base right now."

Cherise shook her head violently at Cougar, though he didn't see this. She didn't want to leave now; she had just been reunited with Kazuma. Her grip on him tightened so that she almost squeezed him. Judging from the way she tightened her hold on him, Kazuma knew this guy talking to Cougar was the one she had mentioned before in her letters, the one who was trying to ask her out. "Of all the rotten timing-! Damn you, Ryuhou."

"You'd better be. We're heading back now… and by the way, thanks to your sudden appearance, the Native Alter I had beaten escaped! The Commander will hear of this, I promise you."

"Don't forget to take Miss Minori back with you," Was all Cougar said before shutting off his communicator. "Sorry, kids, but I gotta get Cherise back before Ryuhou reaches the base first."

Very slowly, Cherise pulled away from Kazuma. From the look in their eyes, both knew the other didn't want their reunion to be over so quickly. Kazuma spoke first. "All I need now is over $1000… and then I can get an ID card to come see you, Cherise. Even if I have to work a hundred jobs, I'll get the money as soon as I can."

"I'll wait for you, Kazuma." I'll wait even if it means eternity.

Hating to see the mood spoiled, Kimishima quickly stood next to Kazuma and gave Cherise a reassuring, or so he hoped, gesture. "Don't worry; with me as his contractor, I'll get him some easy money in a snap."

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Cougar jumped to the other side of Kazuma in a flash. Pulling out a card from his one pocket, he held it out to his friend. "Been meaning to give you this for some time, Kazuya. It's your very own ID card to get in and out of the city. I'm sorry, but I kept forgetting to get it to you."

Gasping, Kazuma swiped the card form Cougar's hand, nearly taking Cougar's fingers off with it. "What the-! Cougar, how long ago did you get this for me?"

"Whoo," Kimishima commented in amazement, glancing at the card. "Definitely an authentic card. You lucked out, partner."

Cougar tried to remember. "Ah, yes," he replied finally, snapping his fingers. "About six months ago. Eh, Kazuya-?"

Kazuma's look was of pure rage. All this time, he had been saving up money for a fake ID card, and Cougar had one for months but had only given it to him just then. He didn't notice that Kimishima had taken the card from him so that his clenching fist wouldn't break it accidentally. "Cougar… YOU JERK!"

Knowing his friend all-too well, Cougar used his speed to grab Cherise and dash back to his car before Kauzma could jump him. "Er, sorry, gotta run! Hey, buddy," he called out to Kimishima, "when he calms down, tell him Cherise's next day off from HOLY is the day after tomorrow so he can come see her then! Bye!" Saying no more, Cougar shut and locked himself and Cherise into his car and took off for the city, Kazuma trying to chase them on his own two feet.

"You get back here, Straight Cougar! …Dammit, at least let me say goodbye to Cherise properly!"

Seeing that Kazuma hadn't run far, Kimishima sighed heavily as he walked over. "Relax, Kazuma. You can see her soon. At least now you can use your saved-up money for something other than the ID. And may I advise you to take a bath before you go see her? Girls don't like their guys to smell."

Seeing Kimishima was holding out his ID card to him, Kazuma carefully took it and placed it into his pocket. At least now he would be able to see Cherise in the city sooner than he expected. "Let's head back before Kanami starts to worry."


To be continued…

Closing notes: Why stop here, might you ask? Because I didn't want to go any farther than this point with combining the original chapters 2 and 3 for this series. Will I add more to the next chapter to make up what I cut out? Well, we'll see.

Ryuhou fans, I forgot to mention that you should stay out of this series. I'm going to bash him in here. Sorry, but after bashing Davis/Daisuke from Digimon 02 for so long, it's time for some new blood. No flames, please.

Read & review, please. –R80