Soon enough, everyone had their food out, and was digging in
Title: Anger over Fear
Summary: Shirako and the rest of the teams go to have a nice relaxing picnic, but at the end of the fun, Mother Nature decides to test them and there friendship. Can Shirako save Porkchop from his own fear, or will the teams lose another one of there friends.
Parings: ShirakoXPorkchop friendship.
Disclaimer: Don't own Acceleracers
Third chapter: The River below
Here we go, finally some action happiness now. Hopefully you like it, and don't forget to tell me what you think about it.
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Chapter Three:
The River below
Soon enough, everyone had their food out, and was digging in. There was salad, fruit, sandwiches, hard boiled eggs, cheese and crackers, and so much more. All the while they talked of the jobs they where working at, family, and about racing. Jokes, stories, and laughter was heard as they talked about everything, and yet nothing in particular.
"…so then the guy said 'well I never knew about that!' Ha-ha, you guys get it, knew about that?" Monkey burst into laughter at his own joke, until he noticed he was the only one. "Aaa, I guess you had to have been there to, um, get it."
"I'm sure that it was hilarious at the time, Monkey. Hey Nolo, I heard you're planning on going to collage next year." Kurt said
Nolo swallowed the grape that he was eating, and put the glass of juice in his hand down. "Well actually I'm going to take the year off, you know, like to just have some fun before I go back into school and studying. I tolled my parents, and while they aren't happy about my choice, they sad that it wasn't a big deal to just take a year off. Anyway, there is this collage I got my eye on, and I think that my marks are high enough to get into it, so I should be fine."
"What are you planning on doing?" Taro asked
Nolo blinked, but other then that he showed no other sigh that he was surprised that Taro was interested. "Well, I want to be a carptner. I took wood building in high school, and I like it. I made my own table, chair and a cabinet. So there is this collage that teaches specifically different kinds of carpentry. I don't know what area I want to specialize in yet, but I figure that I at least have a start."
"That sounds cool; I want to be an Auto teacher. I don't mind dealing with kids, plus I can work on cars all day." Vert said with a smile
'I'm taking over my father's bar when he retires. It's a nice place and I know all the regular customers as well." Tork said
"Your father owns a bar? What's it called?" Nolo asked
"The shallow moon. It's a not a bad place, it's popular on the weekends, and during the week you usually have a study pace of customers. I use to help my father out when I was younger, so I already know how to run it."
"What about you Porkchop?" Tork asked
"Hmm, me? I want to be a truck driver, I love driving trucks all day, and living on the road. I figure that if I find a place where I want to settle dawn, then I can do something like working on cars, or building." Porkchop turned his head and smirked,"So what are you planning on doing when you get older Shirako, or are you planning on living with your parents for the rest of your life and listing to music. Probably enjoy that life."
Shirako rolled his eyes, but at the same time tried to hide the smile tugging at his lips. "Nope, there is this old building that's been abandon for about 10 years now. Nobody wants to tear it down due to the fact that it will cost money. Anyway, it's not in too much of a bad state. I figure that if I can fix it up, I can start my own dance club. We don't have one near where I live, so everyone has to go to the next city. I can have music going all night, and during the day, I can work somewhere else as a side job. I've been saving up for the building for about three years now. Plus I took business and some other course that I think will help me out. I don't know how long it's going to take. But I think that in about another five years, I can have the place up and running."
"You'll have to call me and let me know when you have it running, so I can drop by." Karma said.
"Hey, what about you Karma?" Lani asked.
"Well I want to do something with business. I'm really good at numbers, and plus I find it relaxing. And you?"
"I'm studying to become a nurse. I like working with people." Lani replied
"That sounds awesome; I'm going to fix cars later on." Monkey said,
"Well I don't know what I want to do yet, and I really don't care at the moment. Anyway, would you mind not hogging all the desserts Vert, or am I going to have to fight you for them?" Markie yelled out to Vert
"Ya ya, all you had to do was ask. Besides, these are good. Especially the cupcakes that Shirako brought. Make sure you tell your sister that I like her cooking." Everyone else added in their agreements', and slowly started to finish the food that they had been eating
Shirako tried not to flush with pride, considering the fact that the others did not know it was really him that had made the cupcakes. Karma smiled at him, and graded one of the few remaining cupcakes, "they actually are very well done, make sure you say so to you sister." Shirako blushes a bit at Karma's hidden complement and started to pack up the food as everyone was either done or just about done.
As they started to walk back to the bridge, Shirako walked a bit behind Karma and Taro, and just listen to them talk. It was nice to hear Karma open up to someone, even if it was just small talk. It was usually very hard to get her to open up to people that she doesn't know very well, yet with Taro, he seemed to be just the right person to get her to talk more.
"Actually, I'm taking over my father's business." Taro replied to Karma's question of what he was doing later on in life. "So is this a popular area for people, or did you just happen to find it?" Taro asked.
"It used to be a very popular area a few years's ago, but over the year's the river has started to rise, and a lot of parents did not want their children to play by the river. There was this incident a few years ago where a grown man fell into the river, and was taken down a few kilometers to the rapids and was crushed by the forces of him hitting the rocks. Well, you know how children like to go near rivers and see if they can catch frogs and all that. Parents were afraid that their children might be accidently swept away, and drowned. So you don't see kid's plays around here anymore, and all you get is a few people now and then.
"That's too bad, it's a very nice place to just relax and have some fun." Taro replied with a smile. Even from the front of the line, you could still hear the other's talking among themselves with cheerful voices.
"You know, we should have a race tonight, considering that the roads are finally dry now. Plus it would be a nice way for the day to end." Monkey suggested as they got closer to the bridge.
"You know what Monkey, that doesn't sound like a bad ideal. What about you Nolo, your team feels like racing tonight?" Tork asked
"Hey, the Teku is always ready to race." Nolo yelled out
"Monkey and a good idea, I guess miracles really do happen." Vert sniggered from behind, which had Kurt snort from Vert's left.
When they both shut up, Shirako figured that either Porkchop or Markie had glared at them. Of, course both of them could have done it too. As they were walking on the bridge, Tork and Nolo were both deciding the time for the race. The river rushed under them with its roar still splitting the air, when for a moment the ground under their feet gave just the smallest twitch. Shirako and Porkchop both froze at the same time. Both of them had been paying more attention to their surroundings then anyone else at the moment. The other's stopped talking for a moment when they saw how still Shirako and Porkchop had both became.
"Yo man, what's up?" Nolo asked when Shirako did not give an explanation to his sudden stop on the bridge.
When nothing happened, Shirako unhook his headphones from his ears and let out a breath he had not realize that he had been holding.
"Nothing man, it's just my imagination. Sorry" Shirako said a bit uneasily. He could have sworn that he felt something. As he started to walk again, that's when it hit.
A loud groan echoed in the air, and with it the bridge they had all been standing on gave a sudden jolt. The air was filled with yelps of surprise and pain as almost everyone was knocked off their feet, and fell to the hard wood. Shirako and everyone else flung their heads to the right, the way they had just walked across a few mere moments ago. Had it been any other time, Shirako would have laughed at how everyone did a whip lash of moving their heads to the right at the same time, almost like a group of rabbits. Yet as they all stared, there was two seconds of absolute silence, even the rushing water below seem to pause for just a second, one beat, two beats, and then with another, almost final groan the ground where the bridge, at one end had been standing on turned to mud and broke apart right before their eyes. And with it, one angle of the bridge slid right off the edge of the bank and fell into the water with a loud splash. Shirako had no time to think, only to grad on to the closest thing by him, as the bridge was no longer straight, but going down, and at an angle as well. His hand graded onto the railing that was at the top of the now new slide, and his arm burst into pain as his body gave a yank as it finally stopped sliding down the bridge. Shirako gave a quick glance around to see how the others were holding out. Kurt was holding on to the railing like Shirako was, Markie had dug his metal arm into the wood, and was slowly making his way over to the other side. Monkey had both his arms around the edge of the bridge, and Lani was helping Nolo climb up the bridge to were she was. But that was all the time Shirako had to look, for almost as soon as Shirako thought that everything was done, there came one more high pitch sound. He looked down, and saw with a new found sense of horror; that the railing on the other side of the bridge, that Porkchop, Karma and Vert were holding on to as to not fall into the water, was coming apart. The nails that had been holding the railing to the bridge were coming out. Shirako didn't even have time to call out as he watched the railing finally give out and fall to the river below. Porkchop fell with the railing, as he had been holding on to it with a death grip, even when it had fallen off. Karma and Vert both fell into the river right after Porkchop, as they had nothing to hold onto. Shirako watched as they both disappeared in the white moving mass for a second, and then watched as they both came gasping back up. Then they were already moving down the river, away with the current.
Taro gave a yell from somewhere on Shirako's left, and dove into the water after Karma. Tork gave a curse and jumped in right after Taro. Shirako already had let go off the railing and was already running/sliding down to the river. Shirako saw right away what Tork and the others had missed, if he didn't do something, one of his friends were going to drown.
Shirako hit the water, and went under. And for a moment, all sound was distorted, and all he could hear was the water, he felt as if he was being twisted about. For a second, Shirako feared that he was going to die. The water graded his clothes and pulled him down. He couldn't get back to the top, oh God, I can't breath. He had to bite his lip to keep from gasping. As his head finally broke the surface, he had to take another deep breath as another wave came rushing by. The water was cold, to the point were he could already feel his fingers go numb. But that was all he had time to think, before he had to fight the current to stay above the water. The water was all around; trying to twist him and send him under all the time. He tried to see, but his vision kept getting moved to someplace else almost to fast for Shirako's mind to keep up. The roar of it was defining and ever going on. He was flying down the river, and he had to keep blinking to see clearly from all of the spray. His legs and arms were already starting to burn, just trying to keep his body above the water, while his cloths weighted him down. He squinted, and tried to see Tork, even with the waves going over his head. Shirako gave another gasp of air as he felt himself go under for another few seconds. As he came back up, gasping, he spotted Tork trying to make his way to Porkchop. Shirako began to swim with all of his might; he had to get to Tork. Shirako took in another breath of air, as he went under again, he pushed himself back up, he had to keep his eyes on Tork and Porkchop, or he would lose them in the current. Luckily, Shirako was a bit lighter then Tork, which meant that he could let the river carry him to Tork. Finally, Shirako made it to wear Tork was swimming.
"TOR-!" Another wave pushed Shirako under the water again. Shirako kicked with his legs, and got his head above the water once again. It was an ongoing battle to just keep his head above the water.
"TORK! TORK!!" Shirako screamed out.
Tork turned his head, and tried to swim towards Shirako. But he was fighting the current to do this, and wasn't getting anywhere.
"You have to go after Vert!! I will get Porkchop!!" Shirako called out, while pointing to Vert to his right. From here he spied Taro reaching out to Karma. Shirako didn't have time to dwell on how they were doing, only the time to trust that Taro would be able to save Karma. It was Vert that needed help right now. Vert was light, and because of this he did not have the strength to swim against the current. If Tork went after Porkchop, Vert would drown, yet if he left Porkchop, Porkchop would drown as well. That's why Shirako had jumped in. If he could get to Porkchop, he might be able to help Porkchop swim to the bank. He couldn't help Vert, since he had the same problem of being too light. But he could help Porkchop, and Tork could help Vert
Tork looked at him; even from here Shirako could see the hesitation on the other man's face. But they didn't have time to think about it, the current was sending each of them further apart from the others. Tork looked at him, and with a grim faced nodded, and started to swim to Vert., who at the moment was fighting to just stay above the water.
Without any further prompting, Shirako started to swim towards Porkchop. As another wave came crashing down on top of him, Shirako felt himself grow cold as he heard Karma's voice echoing in his mind so load and clearly that he forgot for a second where he was; There was this incident a few years ago where a grown man fell into the river, and was taken down a few kilometers to the rapids and was crushed by the forces of him hitting the rocks. At the speed the water was taking them down the river, they had about maybe ten minutes to get out of the river before they were crushed by the rocks at the end. With that thought in his mind, Shirako put all of his might into trying to get to Porkchop as fast as he could.