A/N: Okay, first of all, GOMEN NASAI ;A; I'm sorry this took nearly a month to update! It wasn't supposed to be that long, but thinking up something for the word 'Contradiction' is just that hard, okay? I promise, from here, the updates will come by faster (unless I hit another dead end again *sigh*)

And I also apologize for this being a little shorter than the rest (by 'rest' I mean by the previous story too.) Yeah, I should really stop rambling; go ahead and read. Review too, please. It gives me more motivation to write.

2. Contradiction

"Contradiction (n) - a declaration of the opposite or contrary; the act of going against; opposition; denial" -thefreedictionary

For Shun, lessons are starting to finally roll in; he could've sworn that everyone in his class groaned when the teacher introduced it to them. Their few moments of freedom are gone, and now class was just another ordinary, painful day to most of the students. Shun didn't bother anymore, he just hoped that the day would pass by and all that. For now, high school was the same as grade school.

On second thought, he didn't want the day to pass too quickly; lately there's something strange going on with his grandfather. By strange, he meant his actions around him. The old man always had this dominant and feared aura around him, but now, they were quiet; almost observant. The ninja didn't want to figure out why he was this way, but whatever the reason, he knew that he was involved. And that it can't be good.

As the lecture drew to a close, Shun sighed deeply, closed the textbook he had in front of him, and placed it in his bag before lying down. The worrying thoughts tired him; he assumed that he was over analyzing things...but still...there was something about his grandfather's glare that just got him on edge. His instincts screamed at him to be careful; wary.

He groaned. "I wish Skyress were here..." he muttered softly as he closed his eyes to rest.

-o-

"Shun, there you are!" Dan didn't bother stopping and lightly crashed in to him; snapping the teen out of his trail of thought. The brunette smiled that he was successful in doing so, as he hated seeing his friend troubled. "Seriously, Dan, you need to control your energy." he told him in a scolding tone. All the younger boy could do was grin back as if the message didn't come across, but it did, and he knew full well what he was doing.

"You want me to stop being me, even if you're the one that said I should be who I am no matter what? Isn't that some kind of contradiction?" the new word that he spouted out almost made Shun froze entirely. "Contradiction? Really, Dan? When did you start using that?"

"Uuuh...since I heard it on TV."

"And you have no idea what it means, don't you?"

He smiled sheepishly. "Not really." the older male did a light face-palm. "You can't just say random words you're not even sure of, that's stupid."

"But, still, it is a contradiction, right?"

Shun turned away; avoiding the gaze Dan was giving him. "You're so annoying."

The brunette pouted. "And you seem out of tune today, anything wrong?"

"For one thing, I have a best friend that keeps on speaking random phrases and words I never thought he would say."

"You know that's not what I'm talking about. Seriously, Shun, what's wrong?" before he could even say a word, the bell rang, signaling them to go back to class. Said teen didn't know whether to be relieved or something else; in all honesty he didn't even know what he was worrying about in the first place; it would be weird to tell Dan something that could be false. Yet, isn't that what friends are for? To hear him out when he needed someone to talk to? No, he'll go at this alone; the least he wanted was to get Dan involved in his own problems again, just like last time...

-o-

"I'm home." Shun called as he closed the door behind him. He wondered why he habitually said that even if often no one was home; his grandfather was occasionally out training, or maybe in the backyard. But today was different, someone actually responded. "Shun, come here. Now." it was the old man, and already the black-haired male tensed; his fists clenched. Without hesitation, he placed his backpack down nearby the doorstep and silently headed towards the living room where the voice came from. "Yes, grandfather?"

"We need to talk." and from there, everything just went downhill.