Well guys I'm really glad you like this story, sorry I haven't; been updating as frequently as usual, but with school and all (and the fact that I can only update on weekends) I haven't had much time to do so lately. But anyways I'm here now and updating so here we go!

Chapter 6- Just To Live…

Ryuhou swam up for air, then went back down quickly, even before Cougar had the time to ask what was going on. Mimori, meanwhile, was still underwater, holding onto what little air she had left in her mouth. Her heart was beating at a rapid rate, her chest felt like she couldn't hold it in anymore. Ryuhou took note of this and summoned Zetsuei quickly. Cutting the extension off that had a hold of Mimori, Zetsuei swam Mimori to Ryuhou, who noticed her face was purple. She was going to pass out soon if he didn't do something. He was left with one choice, if he didn't decide to do this then Mimori wouldn't make it to the surface before running out of air and possibly drowning.

While holing her in one hand and waving his hand to swim up in the other, he looked at her face, and locked his lips with hers.

Mimori stopped breathing.

Was this really happening? Was she really underwater, with Ryuhou's lips pressed against hers?

Then she finally realized what he was doing. He was taking the air from his own mouth and transferring it to hers. She had never witnessed something so kind. As much as it pained her, she pulled away, he needed air too!

They reached the surface, it was a good thing that Ryuhou had given her that air. Though her face was purple, it still wouldn't hide the blush that stood out on her cheeks. She and Ryuhou climbed into the boat quickly, and he, Cougar, and Scheris stood in front of her. She was the weakest of them all at the moment, and they watched as the monster arose from the water. Mimori's eyes widened at the size of it. She had never seen such an Alter before, it had a tail, like a fish, and yet it had cat ears, and… wings? This was by far the strangest looking creature she had ever seen, and Ryuhou put his arm in front of her protectively.

The creature threw the boat into the air with it's tail, and Cougar simply laughed at they were in midair. Everyone looked at him crazily.

"HOLD ONTO SOMETHING!" He laughed as he geabbed the wheel and glowed. The engine dissipated and, in place of it, formed a much better, and much faster engine. The speedometer broke, Cougar seemed to have a tendancy to do that with vehicles. He pushed on the handle that controlled the gas and was diving the boat headfirst into the monster.

"COUGAR YOU IDIOT!" Scheris screamed. The boat scraped the side of it and fell into the water. Seconds later they were out of the water and yet again heading towards the Alter. Of course it wasn't going to stand for this again, it took its tail and swiped the boat, tearing it in half. Cougar went delirious, crying over how the Alter killed his baby while running on the water to keep from falling in. The other three were holding onto Zetsuei. Cougar began to run in circles around the Alter, and soon created a whirlpool. The Alter was sucked in, and everyone let out a breath of relief. But the Alter wasn't done yet, it re-emerged moments later, and this time seized Ryuhou. It squeezed him with its tail, which of course got Mimori and Scheris mad.

Mimori let the tears flow, not really caring that it wouldn't do her any good. They fell to her hands and formed ball like figures inside of her hands. She hurled it at the Alters ears, and it screeched., loosing concentration and letting go of Ryuhou.. Since Zetsuei was still holding onto the girls, Cougar decided to pull Ryuhou out and put him on his back. Again Mimori hurled her newly found ability towards the Alter, but this time it reflected it with its tail, and shoved Mimori under yet again.

Ryuhou and Cougar were M-A-D. Ryuhou again jumped after her, and Cougar tried to make another whirlpool. Once up, he called Zetsuei and had Scheris get on Cougar's back so he and Mimori could get on.

"There has to be an Alter User controlling it!" Ryuhou explained once they were in the air. "You might not be able to do much to the Alter, but to the User I'm sure you can inflict a lot of damage! See if you can find anyone near us who could be controlling it!" They looked and looked, but to no avail. They were stranded, and there wasn't a soul around for as far as the eye could see.

'Where is this User?' she thought to herself. Then she saw it- a glint of something shining in the water- someone was scuba diving! "THERE! It's in the water Ryuhou!" Zetsuei dove headfirst into the water and Mimori tried to use her Alter when she remembered…

SHE WAS IN WATER, ONE OF THE FEW PLACES WHERE HER BURNING TEARS WON'T WORK. The scuba diver wrung his hands around Mimori's neck, and Ryuhou's body, along with Zetsuei's, began to shine. Zetsuei transformed into its more powerful form, and attacked the User. He used his Alter to defend himself, or at least he tried to defend himself, but the powerful Zetsuei was no match for him. The Alter disappeared, and HOLY agents arrived moments later in a helicopter to take the User into custody.

The four of them entered the plane as well, all of them covered in towels. They arrived back to headquarters and headed straight to their rooms. No one really felt like talking, the battle had worn them out. Ryuhou and Mimori, however, talked nonstop once they entered the apartment.

"So when did you get the ability to form it into fireballs?" Ryuhou asked.

"When I saw that you were in trouble and needed my help," was her reply. "What about you? I haven't seen Zetsuei get so powerful before, not even when you've faced off against Kazuma."

"Well you've never been in any danger like that when I've faced Kazuma," was the answer he gave her.

Mimori thought about this for a while, then blushed and ran two of her fingers across her lips. "Ryuhou, about what happened before-"

"I only did it to save your life," He said sternly. "Had I not then there was a risk of you drowning. I did it so you could live, that's all."

"Was that the only reason?" she asked. "Do you remember the time when that wasn't the only reason you did it?" He and she both thought back for a moment to remember what had happened that day…

Both of their families were at the beach and had packed a lunch. Ryuhou and Mimori had been swimming in the water while boats were riding and creating waves. Their parents were too pre-occupied to notice how far Ryuhou and Mimori had swam out. The current was getting stronger, and Ryuhou began to head back. Mimori, however, wasn't strong enough to swim back, and got tired of trying. Her body gave out, and she sank to the floor. Ryuhou noticed this, and went underwater to find her. She was at the very bottom, her mouth was open, and Ryuhou, for one of the first times in his life, was scared of losing her.

He pulled her up and had swam her to the shore, but not near her parents. Both of them would have been in trouble if they had seen that Mimori had fainted. He laid her down on the rocks and sand as the waves gently brushed against their feet.

"Open your eyes Miri, please open your eyes! Miri? Miri!" His eyes filled with salty tears, then he got determined. He opened her mouth, took a deep breath, and breathed air into her mouth. He had done this over and over again, and had applied pressure to her chest She opened her eyes to find his mouth still on hers He noticed this but kept his lips pressed against hers. She blushed for a while before finally coughing up water. Ryuhou laughed because some of the water had gotten into his mouth.

They sat there for a while, then ran to rejoin their parents, and didn't mention it again until that night.

"Ryu?" Mimori asked.

"Yes Miri?"

"After you saved me, why did you have your lips on me still?"

Ryuhou blushed a crimson red at this. "Because….I really like you Miri…"

"Mimori smiled at this. "I really like you too Ryu!" She hugged him, and this made him uncomfortable. She laughed, and he hugged back, laughing as well. That had been the best part of the day for both of them…

Ryuhou hesitated. "What's for dinner?" He asked, trying to change the subject quickly.

Mimori sighed. "I don't know, whatever's in the fridge…"

"Then maybe…" Ryuhou started.

Mimori gave him a suspicious look. What was he planning? Was Ryuhou actually asking her to go somewhere with him? "Yes?" She asked uncertainly.

"Maybe we could go out to eat?" Mimori nodded and smiled. She ran into her bedroom and dressed up. She actually put on make up for such and occasion! Making sure her hair was okay, she turned the doorknob and opened the door to see Ryuhou dressed up as well. He had just stopped checking his hair when he heard her fdoor begin to open. He turned around to look at her, and Mimori was a little saddened that his facial expression didn't change.

But something inside Ryuhou was poking at his side. What was it? It seemed that the longer he looked at her, the harder the poking was getting. He looked away, and Mimori's eyes began to fill with tears. Did he not want to look at her? Was something wrong with the way she looked? She decided to try and fight off the tears; she didn't want to burn down her apartment too.

He opened the door for her as they walked out, ignoring her sad eyes. It was hard enough as it was, but with her eyes looking so sad like that, the poking would have killed him. He hailed a cab and let her in fist. He looked out of the window until she finally spoke.

"Is there something wrong with me Ryuhou?" she asked quietly. Finally, for the first time since before they left, he turned to look at her. "Are you mad at me for getting you hurt in that battle?"

"Mad? No Mimori, I'm not mad…" 'I just can't stand this poking feeling in my side, so it's better for me not to look at you…' he thought to himself bitterly. "So, where do you want to-" He was cut off by a cloud of smoke that was rising outside of their cab. Through the smoke he saw the one person besides Cougar that he didn't want to see tonight- Kazuma.

Ryuhou jumped out of the car without a word to anybody, and Mimori paid the driver and ran out after Ryuhou. He, however, had already called out Kazuma and summoned Zetsuei. Kazuma's eyes went from Ryuhou to Mimori, then back to Ryuhou before smirking. "What about that blue-haired girl? I thought you were dating her?" Kazuma grinned. "Looks like you proved me wrong."

Ryuhou grinded his teeth and Zetsuei transformed. Mimori made everyone leave the area by screaming that they were Alter Users. "Couldn't you have made them leave in a nicer way?" Ryuhou asked her, not taking his eyes off of Kazuma. Mimori shrugged, and he sighed. 'Oh well, at least the civilians are out of our way. This time I will DESTROY KAZUMA!'

"Why are you so dressed up anyway?" Kazuma gave him a disgusted look. "Or are you and her on a date?"

"Nothing of the sort!" Ryuhou snapped back quickly, making Mimori's heart sink a little.

"Well then I won't let a pretty thing like her go to waste! I'll take her on a date myself!" Kazuma laughed. He was too busy laughing to notice Zetsuei come at him. He DID, however, notice Zetsuei hit him full force. He crashed into the ground, making more smoke arise into the air. Kazuma got up, grinning that trademark grin of his. He got into his fighting stance and called out his Shell Bullet. "Let's do this! SHOCKING FIRST BULLET!"

Well I hope you liked it! Thanks again for reviewing, I really appreciate the reviews!