Wow, it's been a while. I apologize for that. Updates should be weekly, or there about, now that I'm back into the groove of things.

This chapter contains languages in random amounts, just so you know. I really tried to edit some of it out, but I feel it fits better since it's more modern day and kids these days curse like sailors.

Partnered Up

...

Po shuffled into the classroom, gripping his ear with one hand and using the other to imitate a mouth talking. A few seconds later, his best friend followed behind, talking non-stop.

"Then I was like 'Mantis, you're so stupid' and he had the audacity to punch me," Viper mimicked a punching motion as they found their seats, "and he tells me to shut up, so of course I rub it in his face that's already failing a class and Progress Reports haven't even come out yet, and then he went totally nuts and flipped me on the granite counter and just leaves me there to writhe in frigging agony." She pauses, takes a deep breath, and finishes, "and that's why my back hurts so much."

Po nodded in mock fascination. "Cool story bro," he grinned at her, "Tell it again?"

He laughed as her face became a dark red, and managed to dodge her fist. "Jerk," she muttered, sliding into the seat next to him.

Po tucked his backpack underneath his desk and turned to her, just has she was getting ready to talk again. "Hey, this weekend the martial arts team is having its first practice. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't mind if you tagged along." She raised her eyebrows at him. "That, and Mantis said he wants you to witness his, and I quote, 'monumental ass-kicking'."

"Are we thinking about the same team? Because nearly 70% of the team I'm thinking would gladly throw me off a cliff, and record my screams. Plus, I've seen Mantis fight, and you kind of sort of beat him every time." He paused. "Holy crap, please don't tell him I said that."

Viper stifled a laugh. "Tai Lung's captain, sure, but he's I heard he and his girlfriend are taking a road trip or something." She waved her hand, "I really didn't want details."

No, he should probably say, but her eyes did that big pleading thing and it's really hard to say no to that. "I'll think about it," he shrugged.

"Po Insert-middle-name-here Ping, I swear to every god that exists, if you turn down one more of my offers, I'm going to kick your ass all the way to Jupiter." Viper jabbed a finger into his shoulder, ignoring the terrified look he was giving her. "Come. With. Me."

"Sure, Vi," he squeaked. She smiled in triumph, settling back into her seat just as the bell rang. "Gods, how is Mantis still alive?" Po added under is breath as the teacher stalked into the room.

Viper, facing the front, half smiled. "He's pretty tough for a guy that's almost a legal midget."

That was how, only thirty seconds into third period, Po got a tennis ball chucked at him for laughing too hard.

Mr. Shifu, was an…unconventional teacher. He didn't believe in detentions, and frankly didn't want to spend even more time then he had to with his students, so instead, as punishment, he nailed their heads with tennis balls. Yeah he was old, but he was also the coach for the martial arts team. His aim was scary good.

"Y'ouch," Po muttered, rubbing the bruised spot on his forehead while other kids snickered behind hands—Viper included.

"Do not make me peg you again, Mr. Ping. I'd rather not send you to the nurse; she said she's sick of seeing you so often," Mr. Shifu snapped. He turned to the whiteboard and picked up an Expo. "Alright, students, today we will begin the biggest project you'll ever do in my class."

A chorus of gulps, gasps, and even one agonized scream rippled through the students. Po glanced at Viper (crazy girl looked like she was about to explode from excitement) who was excitedly shaking the shoulder of the girl in front of her. Sandy-haired, with bright green eyes (like his) and a shy smile; she turned at grinned back at Viper. Yuck. Bonding over an assignment of all things. Po couldn't quite remember the girl's name. Meng? Mu? Er…Mei?

Viper suddenly snapped in his face, pulling him from his thoughts and pointing at the board.

Mr. Shifu had written down all the requirements for the project: It had to be the history of a foreign cuture; it could focus on just one particular aspect, and they had to present it in a creative fashion in front of the whole class.

Oh, and he would be choosing partners.

"What?" Po cried, along with about half the class. He shrank back immediately, blushing, but still glared at his short, aging teacher.

"Hush!" Shifu demanded. "I will be choosing partners randomly, and no you may not bribe me or try to switch without my consent. The partners I choose are the partners you're stuck with, understood?"

Mumbled agreement met his question, but even Viper and Mei (he was sure that was her name) looked slightly annoyed by his decision.

"Excellent," Shifu went on. "I'll be drawing names out of a hat; and that person will be your partner." He strode to his desk and picked up a straw hat— homage to his Chinese ethnicity—and cleared his throat.

"Tai Lung and Dai Li," he said, almost grudgingly. Dai Li squealed and threw her arms around Tai Lung's shoulders, and he gave a cocky smirk; 'Yeah, me and my bodacious girl just got paired together—you jelly?'

Po's fist clenched as the jock met his eye.

"Do calm down Miss Li," Shifu said as he glanced at his bucket of tennis balls. "Next is Crane and Viper."

Crane and Viper glanced across the room at each other; the former simply shrugging and the latter looking positively furious. Or, at least, Po thought she was furious, since her cheeks were flaming red and she looked like she was about to pop.

"Next are Mei and Zeng.

Ai and Min.

Ty Lin and Xi Lun.

Tigress and Po."

The whole class fell silent. Po's eyes widened and his heartbeat raced; he didn't dare look at his new partner. Shit. Shiiiiiit. She's gonna kill me. Violently. Gods, why couldn't I be partnered with Viper…

Tigress simply stared at her notebooks, a faint look of surprise etched on her features. The red streaks in her hair seemed to come to life in a Medusa-esque way, as if demanding that they switch partners or get trialed for murdering a fellow student. Po couldn't help but feel sorry for her, since Shifu was her dad and all, but wouldn't make an exception just for her.

Shifu listed the rest of the partners, then waved a hand and giving them permission to brain storm. "You should have an idea of what to do by Monday," he said, sliding into his seat and proceeding to ignore the class on his computer.

Viper and Po glanced at each other and sighed in sync. "That was unlucky," Viper hissed as she picked up her stuff.

"No, that was the universe deciding that I should die young," Po replied, trailing behind her as they made there way to where their partners were sitting.

Crane waved at amiably Viper over and was civil enough to smile at her. Tigress on the other hand…

She didn't look up from her notebook as Po sat in the desk next to her. "Listen, Ping," she spat viciously, "I'll do all the work and stick your name on it—all you have to do is pretend we spent the whole month working on it. Got it?" Somehow, Po didn't think it was question.

"Er, I'm not really okay with that. Isn't it like…cheating?"

"That's the only way you'd ever make an A anyway," Tigress replied frostily. "Stop talking to me."

"But Mr. Shifu said we need to brainstorm together—"

"I don't give a shit what my father says." Her voice lowered as she added, "And that's talking." She picked up a pen and started writing. Po's eyes grew wide.

Notes like the one he'd gotten on the first day of school had shown up all over the place since—and it matched her handwriting to a T.

However, pointing that out would lead to a craptastic death, so instead Po found himself saying, "You want to do it on ancient China?" he gestured to the list of ideas she was writing.

She paused and looked up. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"No!" Wetting his lips, he elaborated, "It's just that I was gonna say we should do that."

Tigress' raised a single, perfectly shaped eyebrow, golden eyes boring into him. "Really?" Was that…surprise in her voice?

"Yeah! Totally! I'm a huge fan of all the ancient stuff. Like, er, k-kung fu…"

"So am I." Tigress leaned forward. "We should do our project on the ancient styles."

Po quickly agreed. "Definitely! You took the words right out of my mouth!" A shy smile formed on his lips.

"We could film it," she suggested, "As a movie trailer. Special effects, storyline—the whole nine meters."

Without waiting for his agreement, she wrote down everything being said eagerly.

"It could be called…um…" Po bit his lip in disbelief that he's actually getting along with Tigress of all people. "….uh Battle Cry?"

"Yes," she nodded. "It would be about…about….a girl." She ran a hand through her short hair, thinking. "A girl who…who wants to be the best warrior to ever exist. But she can't—women are frowned upon. Her father wants her to be a traditional lady, but her mother encourages her and helps her. Helps her find the best teachers in the whole country to teach her the styles. And at the end, she masters them all."

Po's jaw dropped and he slowly pointed at her notebook. "Th-that's awesome. You should write it down."

Tigress smiled to herself, happily copying down everything she had said. "We should meet at the library tomorrow. We can research all the styles there."

"S-sure. I'm free at three."

"Good. We'll meet then." The corners of her lip twitched, but quickly thinned out. "I don't like you," she blurted out, suddenly, venomously.

Po gulped, nodded. "Right. I know."

"Good."

"Heh, yep."

"Quite."

"Indeed."

An awkward pause fell between them. Luckily, the bell rang—and both jumped up, nearly knocking heads.

"Watch it," Tigress grunted. Po stammered an apology, waving goodbye at her then fleeing the room with Viper in tow—not giving her the chance to say a proper goodbye to Crane.

"Slow down, Speedy!" The girl chuckled as Po barreled over students. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to get out of there before Tigress decided to kill me." He wheezed, unable to regain his breath.

"Oh." Viper's smiled darkened. "I see. Listen, Po, if she ever causes you trouble…"

To her surprise, the chubby boy looked at her with twinkling eyes. "For some reason, I don't think she will," he said, sounding a bit confused. But he smiled nonetheless and she smiled back.

Well, that's it for this chapter.

Really.

Goodbye now.

Adios.

…

…

If you're still here, then congratz I wasn't able to outsmart you!

If you're not, then the next chapter's gonna be confusing o_0

Why are you still reading this?

SCROLL MINION.

He wasn't sweating.

Not really.

Just glistening— but only barely — since he had to bike through a frigging sprinkler because his dad wouldn't let him take the car.

Or, that's what he was going to tell Tigress anyway.

Speaking of, where was she? Po looked like a complete dork—twiddling his thumbs and checking his cell phone fifty times a minute then looking awkwardly about the library. It was 3:05. She should've been there a whole five minutes ago.

Maybe he was being stood up, except, not really, since this wasn't a date. Well, it was technically a study date but not a date date. Unless he looked at it that way; but that would be creepy since he didn't even like Tigress like that.

He nearly jumped out of his seat when he heard her voice.

"Oh," clutching his racing heart, Po gave a weak smile, "It's just you. H-hey."

Tigress tossed her bag on the table and slid into the chair next to him, eyeing him curiously. "Hey…" she replied, a bit weirded out. "Have you started pulling up books yet?"

"Er, was I supposed to?"

She heaved a sigh and rested her chin on her elbows, accidentally, er, emphasizing how low-cut her tank top was. "That would've been helpful. We'll split them; you can do Hung Ga, Northern Preying Mantis, Dragon and…" she trailed off, racking her brain for another style. "…and Panda style." She pulled out her notebook again, writing stuff down as she says it. "I'll do Tiger," a pause to blush, since that's the style she practiced," Drunken Monkey, Fuijan White Crane, and Snake."

"Sounds good to me," Po replied nervously. She quirked another eyebrow at him before leaving to find the books she needed.

Around ten minutes later, both were crowded with nearly twenty book each on kung fu, and a notebook to write down important information. It wasn't, however, completely silent work—occasionally they would point out a fact ("'Did you know you don't actually have to be drunk to use the Drunken Monkey style?' no shit, Sherlock) and share almost-smiles and close-to laughs over it.

Po looked up, having written a solid two pages on Panda style alone, to see Tigress watching him. "Er, yeah? He asked, a bit awkwardly.

"Oh, nothing," she responded, smiling fondly. It wasn't quite directed at him, but he returned the gesture with a smile of his own.

Out of nowhere, breaking the shared gaze, came an obnoxious call of "Tigress?"

Tigress cursed under her breath. Po buried his face in a book.

"It is you!" The voice's owner strolled up to the girl, showing off her petite figure in a too-tight shirt and a too-short skirt. "What are you doing here?" Dai Li asked, sweeping her blonde hair over her shoulder.

"Studying, Li," Tigress said, cheerily enough. "What are you doing here?"

The blonde jabbed a thumb over her shoulder. "Tai-Tai—" Po nearly laughed out loud at the way Tigress winced at the admittedly horrible nickname- "Wanted to pick up some books for our project. It's about the Trojan War." A breathy sigh passed through the girls' lips. "Aren't Helen and Paris romantic?"

Tigress had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing, tears squeezing out of her eyes as she nodded.

"Anyway," Dai Li continued, oblivious to her utter stupidity, "I'm so sorry about being partnered up with Fatso of all people." A sly smile curled on her lips. "Has he tried to eat you yet?"

Po grunted indignantly, trying to figure out if Dai Li really couldn't see him or if she was just being dense.

Tigress laughed half-heartedly. "No, haha, he hasn't yet, ha. Ha." Her voice iced over quickly.

"Chill, Tigress," Dai Li said coolly. "Why're you so protective of his fat ass?"

"I'm not."

"You so are."

"I'm not."

"Definitely are."

Ready to end the pointless argument, Tigress dropped her pencil. "Fine. I am. What are you going to do about it?"

Po stiffened as he heard a deeper voice butt in, "What's up, Tigress?"

Oh shit oh shit oh shit…

"Hey, Tai Lung," Tigress greeted him, sounding impossibly bored. "I'm just studying."

"Oh." His eyebrows shot up. "Ohh, with Fatso right? I'm guessing he's the blimp trying to hide behind a Hung Ga for Dummies book?"

Dai Li yelped, as if she hadn't known he was there, and Tai Lung laughed as he swatted the book out of Po's hands. He acknowledged the other boy's existence with a tight nod and his eyes focused on the table.

"Hey there, Fatso. Where's the girlfriend?" When Po didn't answer, Tai Lung smacked him on the back of the head. "I'm talking to you, Ping."

"Don't have one," Po mumbled, facing blooming red.

"Oh right. That one girl—blue eyes, crazy nerd—you're just her little project." He waved the air near his head, chuckling. "Slipped my mind completely."

"Tai, could you leave? We're kind of busy," Tigress cut in suddenly. She was unreadable as stone, yet the tone of voice she had was threatening enough to make Tai Lung hesitate.

"I'll leave in a sec. Chill," he told her, grinning madly at Po. "I just want to talk to my favorite Fatso, that's all."

For one, awesome moment, Po thought Tigress would come to his defense again. But she crushed his hopes by shrugging and relaxing in her seat.

"Tigress?" he choked out, a single plea. Please help me.

She studied him closely. "What, Ping?"

She was going to make him say it. "Help," he begged, voice a quite echo in the library.

Tigress really had to pause, to think, before shaking her head slightly. "No." The almost overwhelming urge to tell him to fight back consumed her, but she swallowed it and remained emotionless. "You deserve it," she hissed, voice low. Then, because she hadn't hurt him enough, added, "Fatso."

Wincing at the harshness in her voice, Po's face hardened. That frigging—

Po's thought was cut off by the sudden blow to his head, which sent him reeling forward. His nose slammed against the table, and for a second he could taste the pain, and then Tai Lung was jerking him to his feet by a handful of hair. "It's been a while since I beat the shit out of you, yeah?" The muscular boy asked, smirking. He shoved Po, making him trip over his chair and collapse on the ground.

"Stop," he said feebly, head throbbing.

Tai Lung smiled, "Nah."

Then the real beating began.

Dai Li, the idiot, cheered on her boyfriend as he beat Po into a pulp. It's strange, how Tigress had watched him do it since middle school and never felt quite as sick as she did then. A sudden wave of compassion washed over her, and she had to fight it back.

He deserves it, she thought, though had trouble believing the theory. I shouldn't help him. He deserves it. But, as she looked at the blood leaking from Po's nose, her heart plummeted to her stomach and sat there, heavy and mocking. He deserves it… Her gaze met his, and she could see tears welling up in his eyes, and damn it all, this was her fault. With one last groan of pain, Po shut his eyes tightly, and her thoughts went nuts.

He deserves this...right?

And then all hell broke loose inside her, because for once, she just isn't sure.

In case you weren't aware, I have asked KristentheKittyKat to co-author this with me. She came up with Tigress' last thoughts there (do you love it? Because I really love it) and some stuff for next chapter. She also helped me decided on a few more things, which I'm eternally grateful for.

Have you read her story Unwanted yet? WHY NOT IT'S FUGGING AMAZING.

Like, no joke. I love it xD

tl;dr KristentheKittyKat is amazing and deserve cyber hugs from all of you.

Again, my most sincere apologies for the wait, and giant hugs to everyone who's reviewed so far. Also almond cookies. And no, I didn't take them from Monkey. YOU HAVE NO PROOF.

See you soon, with the next chapter that hopefully will make you tear up just a tinyyy bit.