School Daze: Chapter Six

By: Juiicy

Yoh's sprint slowed down to a walk as he made his way to the exit just moments after risking himself in a sweet hug.

He absent-mindedly told himself he'd prefer spending the next two hours outside, basking in the mid-March sunshine than roaming meaninglessly in halls.

There will be more time in the near-future for him to do that.

"That was close," Yoh grinned to himself.

The aroma of oranges that drifted from Anna's hair still played with Yoh. He wondered if she did that to have him more attached to herself. It was working and working it was. Sometimes he just couldn't help himself. He is, after all, a fourteen year old boy. It's what most boys his age do. It took all he could from keeping his hands off her. Especially when they sneak into each others rooms at night. But that was a secret between the two of them.

She's such a tease, Yoh thought happily as he marched down the near-empty halls. The first bell rang and the youthful principal's voice rang throughout the entire building.

Yoh decided against watching the basketball game and the social meeting in the two gyms. He opened up the heavy glass door and stepped out of the building and into the fresh air.

Anxious for a good two hours to himself, Yoh set foot onto rich green grass. He walked past a large stone fountain, with two dragons coiled together. Each creature spewed a quiet amount of water through their mouths. On the ledges sat several teenagers, either in deep discussion or by themselves, playing with their cell phones.

Yoh sat against the Sakura Tree. His hands rummaged through his bag and pulled out the miracle that is an orange. Yoh adjusted his headphones, switched it on, and ate the juicy fruit.

A playful wind swept by Yoh's bare chest, his head bobbed up and down to his cranked high music. He couldn't remember the last time he had a day like this. Yoh unconsciously decided that he must enjoy this as long as he can go undisturbed.

Naturally, Yoh's heavy lids shut completely and he laid there, his body unaware of the outside world.

Until something nudged Yoh at his side, his body laid there motionlessly. He wasn't sure of how long he had slept or whether he was awake or not. He looked down at the ball at his side with half-lidded eyes. He studied the large orange sphere that stood in the fuzzy sunlight.

An orange...? Yoh's mind immediately thought. Is this a dream? Is that really an orange the size of my head? Wait. No, it's not...

"Hey! You!"

Mmn. It's so noisy. I wonder where Anna is... Yoh closed his eyes and everything seemed to be muted. He scratched his nose.

"HEEEEEY!"

Yoh's body jerked up immediately at the strong call. He saw though half-lidded, sleepy eyes, three boys his age shouting at him. He looked back down at the orange ball.

A basketball? Yoh blinked the sleepiness away.

After finally realizing that it was a basketball and not an orange the size of his head, Yoh grabbed it and stood up, to see a boy running towards him.

"Ah, sumimasen! I'm sorry about waking you up," he said. "My friend was being careless and the ball rolled over to you." The boy pointed behind him.

Yoh looked up and saw two other boys in front of a basketball court. "Oh. No, no. It's alright, buddy,"

Why hadn't he noticed it earlier? The court was fenced and had two other fenced basketball courts behind it. The boys stood under the chained door frame of the closest one.

"Come 'ere," the boy said, nodding his head towards his friends.

"Sleeping beauty!" welcomed one of the new boys as Yoh was led towards him. He wore a white cap with tufts of his jet black hair sticking out from under it. He held the ball with his hip and his left hand. "My fault the ball woke your sleeping ass up."

Yoh grinned apologetically. "Yeah, sorry about that."

"Wakubi. I'm Wakubi Roy," he introduced himself. "You know Ewan McGreggor, the one who brought you over here. He doesn't like causing trouble and he dresses really well."

"What a nice name, McGreggor," Yoh said as he faced the boy he first met. "Are you foreign?"

Ewan McGreggor kicked Roy in the shin. He turned to Yoh and laughed. "Don't listen to Roy. My name's Taneku Daisuke. "

"Oh," Yoh said, confused. "Wait, what?"

"And that sea of manliness," Roy pointed to the tallest of them. "is Goldilocks. Don't mess with him if you know what's good for you."

Yoh looked up at Goldilocks. "Nice to meet you…"

Goldilocks grunted. Yoh looked back at Daisuke.

"Yeah, that's a nickname, too," Daisuke answered Yoh's questioning face. "just because Uryuu grew his hair out a little longer than usual. Roy teases him because his hair's a little curly. Uryuu's a good guy, really."

"He's just mad that my hair has volume and feels like silk," Uryuu grunted.

Yoh laughed, a little intimidated by his height. Then he stopped. He found that Uryuu seemed to be observing him strangely. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

Uryuu said nothing, and studied his face. "Are you…?" he started, "Maybe not. Sorry. Never mind. "

"Since you're here, you wanna play some ball?" asked Roy, cutting in.

"Me?"

"Duh. You still asleep? You're the only one here that isn't all over a girl," Roy hugged himself and made kissing noises. "Besides, Daisuke needs a partner. This kid here is a miracle in Japanese basketball."

"Aw, stop it," Daisuke smirked widely, and slapped Roy's shoulder.

"Sure, I may as well do something while I wait," Yoh smiled. He stepped into the enclosed court and wrapped his headphones around his neck. "But, uh, go easy on me, guys."

The boys shrugged and Roy passed the ball to Yoh. He took a shoot and…

"Damn," Daisuke scratched his head after catching Yoh's clean shot.

Yoh's mouth formed an 'o' and he, too, scratched his head in amazement.

"Go easy on you, my ass," Roy said.

"I swear that was a fluke," Yoh shook his head.

Uryuu took the ball out of Daisuke's hand. "Big-stinking-deal. Let's just play the damn game." He took a shot and, just like Yoh's, it went in.

And so, the boys played two on two for a while.

All three pumped up and down the court. Uryuu's height caused a problem for the five foot eight Daisuke, and Yoh's speed irritated Roy.

The warm March sun thundered on their heavily sweaty bodies, and heavy breathing sounded through the court. For the entire game, its been a tie. When one broke the tie, the other would catch up.

But by the end, one team finally broke the on-going battle.

Roy held the ball against his hip in victory. Sweat beads slipped down his flushed cheeks, as did with the other three boys. Yoh leaned against the metal border, Uryuu finished up a water bottle with a winning smile, and Daisuke was stretching his arms. All four of them seemed to have lost their breath. Yoh was pleasantly surprised to know first hand that Roy and his friends never failed to give a good show.

"Hey, buddy," Roy said. "What's wrong with you? Why don't you ever shoot? You just keep passing the ball to Daisuke. And your dribbling is sloppy. That, my friend, is why we totally schooled you."

"What made you think I can play basketball?" Yoh amused. "I'm a person of little motion. I never said I was any good."

Roy furrowed his eyebrows. "I just assumed because you have an athlete's body. You must be good at some sport or at least work out."

"Aren't you even sorry you made his nose bleed?" Daisuke asked.

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry about slugging you in the face," Roy breathed out through his nose. "God, Daisuke! It was an accident. He just came out of nowhere and I panicked."

"Oh, that's right, you're pretty fast," Daisuke agreed. "You'd make an excellent point guard if you polished your dribbling."

"Point… guard?" Yoh repeated. "Uh, no. Basketball's not my thing, really. I already do track."

"So what? You can do more than one sport, you know," Roy explained.

"A track kid…" Uryuu said to himself.

Roy and Daisuke looked up. "What was that, Uryuu?" asked Daisuke.

"Even now you don't look tired," Uryuu looked at Yoh. "No wonder you lasted that game. You run long distance?"

Yoh nodded. "Yeah. At first I had to do it for endurance in the Sha- for a competition," he caught himself. Yoh gave himself a mental pat in the back, "after that was over I joined the Track team."

"Did you go to the Track Meet this year?" Uryuu asked.

"Yeah, I did."

"Do you remember that kid who won all his races?"

"Oh, yeah!"

"Wasn't that you?"

Yoh paused and then gasped. "Oh yeah. That was me! Hehe…"

"I can't believe this guy," Roy whispered to Daisuke. "What a space case."

"Were you there?" Yoh asked Uryuu.

"You beat me in the fifteen metre heat," he towered over him. "Bastard…"

"You were the small kid who beat Uryuu in the fifteen hundred meter race?" Roy exclaimed.

"Uh, I guess…" Small? Anna was right, Yoh thought. "Well, uh, you know, puberty…" he forced a laugh. Oh well, Anna said it's normal to be a late bloomer. Oh God, what am I saying?

Uryuu smiled, obviously impressed. "This guy's some freaky shit."

"So did you apply for Tokyo High?" Daisuke asked, with a new found admiration.

The brunette paused before answering. "I'm sorry, I can't tell you that before I tell Anna. That wouldn't be fair to her."

"Anna?" repeated Daisuke. "Who's Anna?"

"Ooh, is-she-your-lov-er?" sang Roy and poked Yoh on the sides.

"I… yeah, you can say that."

"What do you mean? She either is or she isn't," Daisuke said.

"Wait! What the hell, I was just kidding," Roy shouted.

"Would you make it a big deal if I said she was my fiancée?"

"Yes."

"Anna's my girlfriend," Yoh replied hurriedly. "She got a scholarship for Tokyo High and she's taking her exam right now," he tried to steer the conversation away.

"Oh, so that's why you're here," said Daisuke. "I'm here because my twin sister's taking an exam, too. Roy came to check out the girls and Uryuu, being the good guy he is, came because I asked him to," he explained.

"So, wait, what did you say your name was?" Roy jumped onto Daisuke's back in return for that half-insulting remark.

"You never actually asked," Yoh said as he picked up the ball and began to dribble it. "Asakura. Asakura Yoh."

"Asakura… Yoh?" all three repeated. Roy loosened his grip around Daisuke's neck, and Uryuu put his bottled water down.

"As in Asakura Yoh from the clan of full blooded Shamans?" asked Daisuke.

Yoh's eyebrows reached the top of his forehead in surprise. "… w-what? How did you-?"

"Holy shi-"

"You?"

"Wait 'til my sister hears this!"

"Wait, so, you guys know me?" Yoh held the ball. "Are all three of you Shamans, too?"

"Pfft. You can barely call us that anymore. Our bloodlines are more dead than the hair on my head," Roy said. "We aren't strong enough to get possessed."

"Oh, that's too bad," Yoh said.

Daisuke sighed. "Hey, Yoh, c'mere," and they both looked out at the football field below them. "You see there? Beside the goal post to your left. Isn't that a spirit right there?"

"Hm? Where?" Yoh looked to where Daisuke's finger pointed out to. He made a noise when he noticed a boy standing up against the post. "Oh yeah, I see him."

Roy and Uryuu joined them. All three of them squinted.

"Ah, so it's a dude?" Uryuu said. "A pretty small dude…"

"Yeah, that's what I thought, too," Daisuke agreed.

"What? Where? I don't see him," Roy cried. "Oh, no, I sorta see a blurry spot beside the post."

Daisuke turned to Yoh. "You see? We only see blurry figures. We can never make out a face."

"Souka…" Yoh comprehended. "I see…"

All three of them walked back to the middle of the court.

"My grandma's probably the closest thing to a full-blooded shaman," Daisuke began to explain. "She was totally against my dad marrying my mom."

"My dad had the idea of me entering the tournament two years ago. I was like, 'Dad, no….'" said Uryuu. "I can take out ten street muggers, no sweat. But not some ten-year-old full-blooded kid. Hell no."

Yoh wasn't surprised. He looked at Uryuu's muscular arms, glinting with sweat, and his fox-like eyes peering out. Uryuu looked like a guy who liked to have a fight. "Is that so," Yoh replied.

Daisuke sat down and rubbed his face. "It'd be cool if we were able to do actual shamanic things."

"You know, you can. It doesn't matter whether or not your bloodline has any shamanic powers," Yoh said. He sat down next Daisuke, took off his sandals and rubbed his sore feet. "If you all work hard enough you could get at least a fraction of how much furyoku I had when I first started. After that it'll increase the more you get involved with spiritual beings.

"It may not be enough but at least you'd guys would have enough self-esteem to really call yourselves Shamans," Yoh finished. He tossed his headphones to his side and shuffled his hair.

"So, Asakura, how about helping us out?" Uryuu said.

"Yeah, man, help your fellow mankind out," Roy slapped Yoh on the shoulder.

"Hey, yeah. It'd be nice to have more Shamans around. That way, it'd be so much easier to exorcise spirits,"Yoh said excitedly. "But to train you… I'd have to ask Anna about that. Oh, could you guys do me a favour and remind me to tell Anna to exorcise the guy down there on the field?"

"Matte, matte," Roy made an 'x' with his hands. "Wait, wait."

"Asakura, I thought you said Anna was your girlfriend," Uryuu said.

"Uh, yeah, she is. She's a shaman, too. An itako, a spirit medium," explained Yoh. "She trained me and my friend, Ryu, for the Shaman Tournament. She did really well on Ryu. If you want somebody to train you, it should be her.

"But in order to do that you've got to persuade her first. I mean, you should be physically and mentally fit. I never did have a good physique back then…" Yoh continued, "but that shouldn't be a problem. Question?"

"Hai, Asakura-sama," Roy answered and bowed mockingly.

"Eto… you can just call me by my first name," Yoh rubbed his head and laughed. "Yoh will be fine."

"Hai, Yoh-sama," Roy bowed again. "So you're saying that you, a great Shaman, was trained by your girlfriend, who's taking a high school examination?"

Yoh nodded and grinned with pride. "Uh, you see, she's not really my girlfriend."

"… You lied?" Roy frowned. "That's really low, man. Shame on you."

"She's my fiancée," Yoh continued, "we're engaged. You know, to keep the bloodline going…"

"Fi…" Roy started. Suddenly, he began to laugh. "Geez, sorry, Asakura, must be the heat. I thought you said-"

"Dumbass," Uryuu muttered, "Asakura said fiancée."

"I know what he said, fool!" Roy shot back.

Daisuke wrapped his arm around Yoh's shoulder. "Let me tell you something about Roy, Asakura-"

"Just call me Yoh."

"Yoh," he said, as he dragged Yoh away. "When it comes to relationships," Daisuke looked back at Roy, "don't ever joke about it around Roy."

"But I'm not-"

"I'm sure. Anyways," Daisuke whispered, pulling Yoh in more, "Roy… let's say, he has a disease that seems to make him unattractive to the opposite sex."

"What? Roy's a pretty good looking guy to me," Yoh said.

"Isn't he? But that's not the point, Yoh-kun. You're a dude."

"So what you're trying to say is-"

"He has girl issues," Daisuke whispered.

"That's horrible."

"Bastard!" screamed Roy. "Dammit, what'd I tell you about telling people about that!"

"Yeah, well, Yoh might as well know," Daisuke patted Roy on the head obediently. "Yoh has a fiancée, he could help."

"Honestly? Do you really want my help?" Yoh asked nervously. "I'd probably make you wanted dead. Anna gets mad at me all the time. But, you know, I know a guy just like you, Wakubi."

Roy sighed. "Please… just call me Roy, Yoh-sama."

Yoh laughed at how much Roy reminded him of his favourite ainu.

"Tell me, Yoh-sama," Roy began, "What would it take for us to get Anna to train us?"

"No way," Uryuu refused. "Why would I let a girl train me?"

Yoh smiled. "Don't take it the wrong way. You'll understand when you meet her," he patted him on the back. "But, uh, try to stay on her good side. Or rather, stay our of her bad side. That way, I can guarantee a longer life."

"Ah, so you're actually gonna get us introduced?" asked Roy.

"You're too excited," Yoh narrowed his eyes. "I think I'd better not."

"What? Why?" asked Daisuke.

"How am I sure you won't try to pull off something dirty on her? I'm not worrying about her, that is. She's kind of violent, " Yoh laughed. He had never really talked openly about Anna before. It was fun. "Or how will I be sure none of you will fall in love with her and try to take her away from me? Then I'm going to have to murder you all and throw your bodies In hell."

"Are you… are you kidding?" Daisuke asked? "You can… do that?"

"Aw, how cute," Yoh snickered and pinched Daisuke's cheeks. "I was only kidding. Sort of. But I trust you guys enough."

Uryuu and Daisuke laughed at Daisuke, as he let out a sigh of relief. Yoh hung his arm around his shoulders and shook him lightly.

"Sorry about that," Yoh laughed.

"Let's play another game. We've got time left until the exam is over," Roy grabbed the basketball. "If me and Uryuu beat you two how about you let your fiancée train us," he proposed.

Yoh hesitated but grinned. It was really a win-win situation, he had nothing to lose. He wouldn't mind new friends. "Deal."

This time around, slow-tempo'd Yoh picked up the pace. Daisuke played aggressively. Roy pulled out more tricks and sturdy Uryuu was equivalent to a running brick wall. Just like their first game, a winner was hard to bet on.

Their heart beats rung in their ears and their breathing stopped them from hearing the bell that signalled the end of the exam.

Eventually, they began to lose count of the score. They played hard until their bodies were so exhausted from the heat they collapsed onto the ground suddenly, breathing hard, and their hearts pounding painfully against their ribs.

Yoh could hear and almost distant murmur of excited whispers.

"Looks like we attracted a crowd," Uryuu said as he got up and looked at the teenagers around the fenced court.

"Hm?" Yoh got up and faced the crowd of wide-eyed girls, who cheered as Roy and Daisuke got up from the ground. He looked to the other courts next to them and saw that the games had stopped, and the players watched them.

Roy glanced at his wrist watch, then he smiled at the girls. "It's three-thirty, guys. We must've lost track of time while we were playing. Hey, ladies. You liked that didn't you?"

"Hey, Yoh. Are you going already?" asked Daisuke as he noticed Yoh heading towards the entrance. His headphones were back on his ears. "Hey, Yoh!"

Yoh pulled his headphones away. "Yeah?"

"You're going already?" Roy turned his attention away from the opposite sex.

The brunette smiled and nodded. "I think I did enough for today. I have to get Anna."

"I don't think so." Roy smirked. "We still haven't decided the winner."

"I'm sorry, Roy," Yoh apologized.

"But don't you need this?" Roy held up Yoh's orange. "If you can take this out of our hands then you and Daisuke won. If you can't, then me and Uryuu won."

"Aw, come on. You and Uryuu are a head taller than I am," protested Yoh through sleepy eyes. Then he pointed to the orange, "And that's Anna's orange."

Roy frowned and tossed it to Uryuu. "If you win you can give the orange to Anna. But if we end up with it then you're going to have to get her to train us."

"Oh yeah?" said Yoh. He watched the orange being tossed in the air but stood still.

"Come on, you guys. Give it back to him," Daisuke said as he tried to get the orange from his six foot friends to save Yoh the trouble.

Suddenly something in Yoh's gut forced him to turn around. "Anna?" He looked into the crowd of girls and smiled at a familiar face.

There was Anna, standing cross-armed at the back. She watched him patiently.

"Hey, Daisuke can't keep up with us forever," Roy called as he tossed the orange to Uryuu.

Uryuu targeted the orange and pulled his arm in front of him. For a split second he flinched as he saw something bigger run towards him.

"Where the hell did it go?" he said.

"What?" Roy looked into his empty palms. "Uryuu, what the-?

"Sorry, guys," Yoh said.

The three boys whirled around to see Yoh already outside the gate, next to a blonde girl. The orange was held gingerly by Yoh as he held it out for her. She took it and nodded her head.

Yoh looked up at the boys and grinned. He shrugged. "I can't let anyone take her orange. It's just the way it works."

The boys stood still while the remaining girls watched as the couple walk away.

It took a while for the guys to really understand what had happened.

"How did he do that?" said Uryuu. He turned to his friends. "What the hell happened?"

"Did he-? Did you see-?" started Daisuke. "What happened, Uryuu?"

"I blinked and then suddenly I see him hurdling for the orange in mid-air… But how did he get out so fas-?" Uryuu recalled. "Damn…"

Roy's seemed to be a little spaced out.

"Wakubi, what's wrong with you?" Daisuke asked.

"What? Uh, sorry." He shook his head. "Damn. Did you see? She was blonde…"

Uryuu and Daisuke looked at him incredulously. Roy didn't seem to understand that Yoh had managed to retrieve the orange at a speed that the naked eye couldn't see, or how he hadn't gotten out of the court in less than a fraction of a second.

"Roy, you're missing the point," Daisuke scolded. He waved his hands in front of Roy.

"No, my friend. This means we won't be trained," Roy insisted. "And we won't get to meet Anna."

"Okay, man, that's enough," Uryuu said as he picked up his water bottles and the basketball. "That's Asakura's fiancée."

Roy said nothing.

Daisuke sighed as he saw Roy deep in thought. "Look, Roy. Yoh never said anything about us never to ask for his fiancée's help," he said.

"Huh?" Roy snapped out of it. "Oh, right. Yeah."

Daisuke followed Uryuu out of the court. "I'm sure Yoh's the kind of guys who'd let us try if we asked. We'll be seeing them again, remember? He said she had a scholarship. We can got ask her then."