Ch. 17: The Confrontation

Again, the nameplates on the board went spinning, and landed on…

Kumizo Hana vs. Kinsu Himawari.

I ignored their fight, since I knew neither of them, and instead grabbed Deki's elbow and Washi's shirt collar. Yumi followed as I dragged them into a hallway that led off of the viewing floor. After doing a double take with us missing, Kazu ran after us. I released Washi and Deki.

"Sit," Yumi commanded irritatedly. Washi immediately followed her order, but Deki stayed standing, leaning against the wall. Kazu burst into the scene.

"Hey, what are you—"

"Sit." He sat.

I started pacing in front of them like a lawyer presenting his case to a jury. "At some time today, Shimi Hideki encountered Warami Washi lip-locked with Yumi Nanami. What does the prosecutor have to say?"

"Umm, Tomoko—there is no prosecutor," Yumi said.

"Oh, yeah, sorry. I meant Deki, since he probably would want to do the accusing more," I spoke softly, conferring with Yumi. She nodded in agreement. "Deki, what do you have to say? Is there anything you would like to know?"

"I'd like to know just what the hell is going on," he deadpanned.

"As in this, or something that happened earlier?"

"Both. What's going on now, and why the fuck I caught Warami kissing Yumi." Kazu nodded in agreement.

"Oh boy," Washi said with mock enthusiasm.

"You can say that again," I said in response. "But don't."

"Well, you know how Washi has had relatively low chakra levels since he was a child?" Yumi started. Deki and Kazu nodded. "Well, while that is not a good thing, he got with it the ability to feed off of other peoples' chakra."

"By kissing them and channeling it from their mouth to his mouth," I added.

"Okay. But why you?" Deki asked.

"Well, since I was a child, I've often had chakra levels that are too high. Washi gets along just fine with slightly low chakra levels, but I become very unstable when there's too much chakra in my system. So instead of working all of that chakra off and tiring my body—"

"Washi takes the excess for you," Deki finished, interrupting Yumi.

"Well, yeah."

"Hey, Deki, I think that's the first time you've called Washi 'Washi'!" I exclaimed with excitement.

"Don't get used to it," Deki warned.

"Tomoko, you are SOOO random," Yumi commented.

"Thank you!"

"It wasn't a compliment," she said, grinning.

"But then you'd be insulting yourself, right?" I answered in the usual routine, grinning back.

"I don't think the match is over yet. Should we go watch?" Yumi inquired.

"Nah, there's something more important about to happen," I said, winking at Deki. He nodded then drew a deep calming breath.

"Well, I heard that Kumizo Hana has a pretty good taijutsu technique," Yumi said, just as Deki was about to speak. He tried again.

"Y—"

"I also heard she possesses a kekkei-genkai." Deki looked discouraged.

"Try again!" I whispered to him.

"Yu—"

"And, I also heard that the Himawari girl is on the same team as that Botan kid." Deki caught my eye.

"Go on!" I encouraged him quietly. He drew another breath, then blurted out her name and a few words, only to be shushed by Yumi, who was apparently listening in on a conversation. She giggled.

"Apparently that one girl, Haruhi, just hooked up with one of her teammates…" Her babbling drowned out Deki's fifth attempt. By now, even Washi and oblivious Kazu were aware, and feeling bad for Deki. Yumi went silent, allowing for Deki to start for the sixth time, then she started talking. Again. Simultaneously, the three of us, not including Deki, yelled at her.

"STOP TALKING AND (FUCKING) LISTEN!" (The curse was from Washi, of course).

"Yumi." Yumi looked genuinely surprised, as if she was realizing for the first time that Deki was trying to communicate with her. I didn't doubt that it was true, either.

"What, Deki?"

"Well, you were the first female friend I made, and you always looked out for me and we were great friends and all and everything and you'd always talk to me and you always remembered my pills and you'd calm me down when I got angry or annoyed and you were always nice to me," Deki paused for a breath and hesitated, not knowing how to go on, when Washi broke the continuity of the confessional speech.

"Wait, what pills?" As tactful and with as great timing as ever.

The reply was unanimous. "Shut up, Washi!"

Deki launched back into his speech and rambled on, and on. "…And you cried with me when my dog died and were happy with me when I got a new one, and I guess I've liked you ever since we were first friends and I'd like to ask you out on a date and I hope you will say yes." He looked to me for approval. I gave him a double thumbs up and an encouraging smile. He smiled back, an anxious smile, and looked back at Yumi, who was still trying to process the question.

"You… are asking me out," she stated as more of a fact than a question. Deki nodded nervously. She pondered over it for even longer as the tension grew and grew until you could cut it with a kunai.

"Oh, just hurry up and answer!" I groaned, my limited patience getting the better of me.

"All right, all right! … Sure. I guess I can go out with you. Say, tonight?"

I've never seen Deki happier than he was at that moment.

With a grin that threatened to split his face in half, he added, "Oh yeah, we can double date with Kazu and Tomoko since he said they were going out too!"

My eyes instantly narrowed. I turned upon Kazu. "And just when did this happen?" I spoke slowly and deliberately, in a dangerous tone. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Deki mouth the word 'oops.' Yeah, 'oops.'

Kazu grinned nervously, his gaze flickering from my dark glare to the couple standing next to me, his eyes clearly reading 'help!' "Umm…" he said, treading carefully. Yeah, you're walking on some thin ice. "…Right now…?" he asked, unsure of himself.

"Is that a question or a statement, Nisi?" I barked out.

"A statement?"

"Say it like you mean it!"

"Okay, okay! Riku Tomoko, will you go on a date with me?" he asked, still wavering on the last word. I shifted my weight to one leg, then the other, and pretended to consider it, keeping my demeanor ominous.

"Nnnnn…yes!" I exclaimed, immediately skipping around joyfully, smiling cheerfully.

"Phew," Kazu exhaled in relief.

"Too bad for you," Deki commented.

"Tell me about it, I just had to like the most bipolar girl in all of the great ninja villages…"

"What was that?" I snapped at him.

"Umm…nothing…"

"Alright…" I said lightly. "But don't forget it," I warned. He forced a smile and nodded. I let a wide grin grow on my face. "I'm just messing with you!" I smiled toothily and his ears turned red in embarrassment. "Oh, and you need to remember to control your emotions better. I can tell them all by your EARS!" I teased. The blush spread to his cheeks. "Well, I'm off to see who the next opponents will be!" I skipped down the hall, grinning cheekily.

"Hey, Shikamaru says that Naruto's got a major crush on that one pink-haired girl, Sakura, and you know how Yumi gets that one week every month…" Deki's consolation floated down the passage to my ears.

I still heard Kazu muttering to himself as I turned the corner. "What have I gotten myself into…?"