Chapter 13

Fight, Force and Frenzy

Gumi's Point Of View

The day of the ceremony arrived and I felt like I might actually have a chance of doing this. The only problem I have now is the fight with Aizo. I'm sure I can at least land one blow on him and that's enough hope I need. I just hope I can impress Aizo a little if I don't pass the final challenge. It's still debatable. From what everyone has told me, Aizo could actually kill me. I doubt he'd have any regrets about doing it too.

Gakupo insisted on watching the ceremony event though I begged him to stay in bed and get some rest. I didn't really push to hard though. I sort of wanted him there. At least if I die, Gakupo won't have to be told that I'm dead. I'm not sure what is worse, letting him watch me die or being told later after it's over? Both ideas aren't too pleasant but I can't decide which is worse…so I just let him go.

I didn't really know what to wear so I let Rai dress me. What he picked wasn't too bad. Just jean shorts and a black tang top with the werewolves symbol. Apparently, every species has a symbol for the council and all of that. The werewolves is an orange-yellow paw print surrounded by a circle. Fits them. I wonder what the Half-Breed symbol is. Can you blame me for being curious?

Anyways, when Rai led me down to the field, the wooden bleachers that had been uninhabited the other day were filled with everyone from the village. Rai informed me that Ron wouldn't be around for the first part of the ceremony because he had guard duty outside the walls of the village but he'd be back for the final battle with Aizo. Rai told me that Ron said he'd die before he missed me fighting his father. I'm not sure if he's making a joke or he's serious. It could go either way.

When I reached the field I noticed Aizo waiting impatiently for me. I quickly ran over to him. He didn't show any emotion on his face when he looked at me. "I expected you to be gone by now. Why are you here?"

I glared at him. "Because you told me if I want your acceptance, then I have to do this coming of age ceremony. So I'll do it and when I complete all three tasks, I'll marry Gakupo right her in this village." I looked away from him. "Beside's, I can't marry Gakupo without your approval. That would be wrong on so many levels."

"How so, Half-Breed?" Aizo glared down at me.

I smiled up at him. "Because you Gakupo's father and I'd never forgive myself if I married Gakupo without your approval. It's disgraceful to marry without all parents' approval. Well in my eyes anyways. That's part of the reason why were not married yet. If I had it Gakupo's way, we'd be married by now."

Aizo looked out at the crowd. "I see." His face harden. "My people!" He shouted. The crowd quieted down. "Today, this young woman will perform our coming of age ceremony to gain acceptance into our town! Does anyone object to this?" No one said a word. "Then let the first task begin!" The crowd cheered. Aizo nudged me towards the obstacle course. I nodded and headed for the start of the course. Youe and Kai were waiting for me when I got there.

"You can do this!" Youe shouted nervously as he grabbed my shoulders. "Just remain calm!"

"Youe, I am calm. Please let go of my shoulders." I said impassively.

"Don't die." Kai said pushing me towards the platform. I nodded and took my stance to start. Aizo raised one of those starter gun things. I took in a deep breath.

"You have 12 minutes to complete this task!" Aizo yelled then the gun fired.

The first part of the course was a zip line but they call it something weird here that I can't pronounce. So I ran for the bar and zip lined down to the ground a few yards away. The second part was a rope net and which wasn't too difficult. I luckily didn't get my foot caught like the many times I had before. At the top of that platform were monkey bars. If you fell, you fell hard into two feet deep of mud and it hurts. Trust me. I, luckily, didn't fall and landed on the next plat form quickly. The next part was a one of those balance beam things which was to easy but that was just in preparation for the next part. The next part was a rope latter only it was upside down so I had to climb with my back to the ground which is a lot scarier then it sounds. This part was the hardest I had to learn but this time, the guys weren't there to catch me when I fell. Just the ground and boy would it hurt if I fell on that. Some how I made it across and onto the next platform was something called a Burma bridge. That was pretty easy but you have to take your time which really hurts my time. Sadly the next part was pretty time consuming. It's this big climbing building. You have to grab onto beams and pull your self up to the top which really hurts my hands since its wood. When I got to the top I had to climb my way down with another rope latter. That took a lot longer since the first latter is shorter then this one. Then I ran to the next part which is tires. That's pretty easy. The next part was probably the most difficult of all. Rai calls it hell. I can agree. This one was a mixture of different things. You have to climb up a rope then move along this wall with boards that just barely stick out of the wall and then you have to climb over the last wall and then you have to climb across a beam with legit blades. When we trained, Rai took the blades off and the last few times I did the course I did do it with blades but I was so nervous I was worried they might actually cut me in half but I managed to dodge each one. One almost cut off my foot when I finished that part. Then I used a rope to climb down the wall and began to run to the vault which takes a lot more strength then you'd think since there so high for a short girl like me. After that I use metal rings to climb across and then I had to climb under barbed wire. Luckily I didn't get stuck…again. When I got out it was a short jog to the finish line. By then I was tired out but I finished none the less.

Everyone seemed to be on the edge of there seats as they waited for Aizo to tell me how long it took. Aizo looked down coldly at me. "6 minutes 54 seconds." The crowd cheered and I let out a sigh of relief.

Gakupo ran over to me and wrapped me in a hug. "I'm so proud of you. That's one of the fastest times we've got on this course."

"Let me guess, you have the fastest time." I mumbled.

"Of course. 4 minutes 47 seconds." Gakupo gave me his smart ass smile.

"Impossible even for you." I kissed his cheek then slid out of his arms. "Task number two. Bring it on."

Aizo held up a knife then tossed it at my feet. "You have three days starting now." He fired the gun again.

I groaned. "Geez, a little warning before you fire that. Geez." I ran towards the woods and began the second task.

It only took twenty minutes to understand why this was so difficult. There were things in these woods that were to scary to catch. Rai told me there are reasons why it's so difficult and now I know why. These beasts had surrounded me. Aizo must have sent them to stop me. Well I'm not gonna die today. I was unsure what they were. Maybe half wolf half…lion? I was so confused but I had to fight them all the same and that wasn't easy. They all seem to keep attacking no matter how many times I cut them and slammed them into trees. It was like they couldn't die!

It wasn't until the sun began to set, that I finally killed the last one. My shirt had a claw mark down it but the claws had barely grazed my skin. My leg was the problem the wolf lion thing bit it. So I tore the bottom of my shirt off and wrapped up my leg. When I get out of this I'm gonna kill who ever invented those.

I sighed and started walking towards the spot Rai told me about where all the deer drink. I should be able to grab one…I hope…but I don't think I'll grab one today. It's too late. I guess I'll set a trap and then hope I catch something. It might be smart to sleep in a tree. I don't think those things can climb if there are more of them out there. So I climbed a tree over the place with all the deer and tied myself to the tree with a vine. We'll see how I do tomorrow.

I was awoken by the sound of a loud roar in the distance. My heart stopped for a second. It sounded like those lion wolves things but also a little different. I better hurry up and grab a deer before those things find me. Nothing was in my trap but there were plenty of deer drinking from the small stream. So I carefully slid down the tree and grabbed the net from my trap. I hope I can throw a net over it and then kill it. I know I can't catch a deer if it starts to run.

One deer didn't seem to be paying attention so I quietly snuck up behind it…but just when I was about to throw the net, I heard something in the bushes. I really didn't have time to wait so I threw the net over the deer which caught it luckily but I had no time to be happy about that.

The thing jumped out of the bush. It was a werewolf this time and I turned defensive. Who is it? I can't tell. It pounced on me before I could stab it. Then it changed into…Gakupo.

"Gumi! The village is searching for us! We need to go now!" Gakupo shouted. I stared into his eyes…and for some reason I new it wasn't Gakupo. His eyes…Gakupo's eyes are always full of love when he looks at me. Even when he's angry or scared. He always looks at me love…but these eyes were cold. Empty. So…I stabbed him. His eyes widened as I looked down at the knife. "Why?"

"You're not Gakupo." I stabbed him again and he went limp on me. I pushed his body off me and went to clam my prey. It was struggling in the net and looked helpless. I sat down next to the deer. "Sorry but I don't have much of a choice. I apologize. Let your soul have a safe journey to heaven." I stabbed the deer through the heart and it died instantly. I shook my head to keep from crying. I don't like killing things. I never even liked killing bugs…so this was a heart breaking moment for me.

I forced myself up and grabbed the ends of the net. I figured instead of having to carry the body, I'd just drag it in the net. I'd say I was a good hour away from the village. Maybe two if the deer really affected my speed, plus my leg that hurts from being bitten by the lion wolf.

It was painful walking back but I managed to walk for a full hour before I needed to rest. I had to re-bandage my leg since it was still bleeding. The bite looked worse then yesterday. Probably from walking on it and no medicine. I'll have to have someone look at it when I get back. The faster I get home, the faster I can get medicine. So I muscled up enough strength and started moving again with the deer dragging behind me.

I collapsed as soon as I was seven steps out of the woods. The crowd was cheering until I collapsed. My leg just hurt so badly. Gakupo was the first one to reach me and the rest of the guys soon followed.

"Gumi? Are you alright?" Gakupo looked scared and concerned. Now this is definitely Gakupo.

"My leg." I whined clutching his hand.

"Get a doctor!" Gakupo yelled.

Aizo walked over to me. "Your prey?"

I weakly pointed at the dead deer in the net. "Task number two…completed."

Rai placed a hand to my forehead. "She has a bad fever." Rai grabbed my other hand. "Did you get bitten by a Lecret?"

"I don't…know what that is." I said weakly. "I was bitten by some…some kind of monster."

"She needs a doctor now. The poisons probably spreading as we speak."

Gakupo face filled with fear. "Don't die on me Gumi!"

"Oh please…I'm not gonna die to soon. The Council hasn't even found us yet." I struggle to smile. "Don't worry…ok?"

Gakupo pulled my into his arms. "How can you say not to worry?"

"I don't know. It sounds right."

Gakupo chuckled sadly. "Be quiet alright? You'll only spread the poison."

The doctor ran over to me. She looked like a Spider goddess. "I have the medicine. With twenty minutes of resting, she should be able to continue with the ceremony."

"She has a half an hour or she will be expelled from the town." Aizo said coldly.

"Father! Give her more time!" Gakupo demanded.

"A half an hour. Not a second more." Aizo snapped glaring down at his son. Gakupo snarled at him but didn't object. The doctor unwrapped my leg and rubbed some kind of yellow liquid on the bite mark which stung really bad. I did my best not to show the pain on my face but I the end I couldn't it help it. I could tell this was killing Gakupo but there wasn't anything I could do.

The Doctor wrapped up my leg. "I'm shocked you made it this far. You must have been in excruciating pain. Bites from Lecret have brought grown men to their knees. You must have a lot of will power."

Gakupo half smiled. "Gumi's strong then she seems." He ran a hand down my cheek. "I'm so proud of you. You've made it so far."

I gave him an impassive look. "What am I? Your daughter?"

"Gumi would you please shut up. The more you talk the less you heal. You need all the time you can get if your still going to continue you with the competition." Ron said.

Gakupo glared at Ron. "You think I'm gonna let her continue in this competition? She'll die." Gakupo held me close. "No way in hell."

"Gakupo, she's suffering all of this for you. Your going to make her stop after she's suffered so much. That'll make all that hard work for nothing." Kai pointed out.

"No way." Gakupo snapped.

"I have to." I whispered.

"Gumi, we told you to be quiet." Rai snapped.

"I will complete task three whether you want me to or not" I whispered then shut my eyes and slowly drifted into sleep.

Rai shook me awake. "It's time."

I slowly rose to my feet. My leg felt so much better but it was still a little difficult to walk on. I could tell that the guys had spent a long time persuading Gakupo but he had agreed as far as I could tell.

Aizo stood in the middle of a dirt patch. It had a white circle around it which I assumed was the ring. He looked pretty angry. "Who will you be fighting? Chose wisely. Your very injured."

"I chose Aizo Kamui." I announced.

Aizo laughed. "Stupid girl." He slid his jacket off his shoulders. "Very well." He tossed his jacket out of the ring. "When the bell rings we will fight until one of us gives up or until one of us can't stand. Are you ready?"

I slid the knife from my pocket and walked to the edge of the ring. I stabbed it into the ground. "I don't need metal to win." I turned and took my fighting stance. "I am ready."

Aizo took his own stance. "Very well, sound the bell."

The bell rang but neither of us moved. We were both waiting for the other to make the first move. I honestly had no idea what I could do to beat him. I had beaten Rai so easily but Aizo was way more intimidating. All my training seemed to disappear.

"Come on Gumi. Your not afraid of me are you?" Aizo asked with a chuckle. My eyes narrowed. "How are you going to win if you just stand there?"

I ran at him and threw in seven punches but he easily blocked them and then knocked me down to the ground with a kick to the chest. I growled and jumped to my feet. Aizo went to punch me but I caught his fist and nailed him in the chest with my knee and then my foot. The I swung my foot around and went to nail him in the side but he caught my foot before I could. I punched him in the face knowing I had the upper hand right now.

Even though my feet and hand couldn't move, that meant that Aizo couldn't move without giving me more of an upper hand then I already had. He was a sitting duck and I could see in his eyes that he knew that. I nailed him in the stomach as quickly and as fast as I could manage at this angle. That was a problem. My punches couldn't pack as much of a blow with this confined space.

Aizo pushed away from me. That gave me a second more then he had to prepare to fight so I nailed him in the chest before he had enough time to block it. He glared at me and went to stomp onto my stomach but I caught his foot which was not easy. That was when he grabbed me by my hair and pulled me into the air.

"Cheap move!" I yelled as I continually tried to kick him in the stomach.

"There are no cheap moves." He punched me in the face then lifted me above his head getting ready to throw me. I grabbed his arms and wrapped my legs around his head. I sort of had the upper hand now. "Not to bright are you kid?" Aizo jumped into the air and went to slam me onto the ground. I sprang off him at the last second before we hit the ground. Aizo hit hard but I managed to land on my hands and feet. That must have really hurt.

"No I believe I'm smarter then you at this time." I walked over to him. "Ready to give up." I made sure I wasn't close enough for him to grab me but I was curious to see if he would get up.

"Not in this life time." Aizo sat up weakly. I swung my leg around and nailed him hard in the head sending him into the dirt. Even then Aizo struggled to get up. "I won't be beat by a human."

My eyes narrowed. "What kind I am is not important. An ant can defeat an elephant if the ant gains the power to do so. Ants can carry three times there body weight." I glared down at him. "You underestimated me. Because of that, I won." I nailed him in the chest hard with my foot and I heard a crack. Aizo let out a cry of pain. I must have broken a rib. "Just forfeit. Please."

Aizo slowly rose to his feet gripping where I must have broken his rib or ribs. I was unsure if that cracking sound meant one rib or more then one. "Never."

"Old man, just give it up. She'll kill you at this rate." Ron shouted.

"Come on dad!" Rai yelled.

I shook my head. "Sorry." I nailed him hard in the face then knocked his feet out from under him. Aizo hit the ground and didn't get back up.

"The match is over." The doctor lady said. She walked over to Aizo and felt around his ribs. "Two broken ribs as far as I can tell. A few might be bruised. He'll be fine after I'm done with him." she smiled at me. "Welcome to our village."

I dropped to the ground. My leg hurt so bad. Tears flowed from my eyes. "Aizo you jerk!" I sobbed. "Why'd you make me do that?" I clutched my leg.

"Cause I wasn't gonna to forfeit a fight with a human. That's more of a dishonor then–"He groaned in pain. "Then losing to a human."

Gakupo ran over to me. "Gumi! Are you alright?" Gakupo looked at the doctor. "Give me the medicine. I'll finish treating her."

Ron laughed. "No way little bro. You can't even put a Band-Aid on right. I'll do it." Ron took the medicine from the doctor and began to unwrap my bandages. It looked really bad now. Having Aizo leg on it really screwed my leg up. "You know the only reason you won is because Aizo didn't use his wolf form. In these fights, your suppose to be in your true form. I guess he wanted to make the fight even. Aizo would have killed you if he had been in his wolf form."

My eyes widened. "He didn't take me seriously?" I glared at Aizo who was being put on a really old fashion stretcher. "Why'd you do that? That wasn't fair! You should have faced me full on! I want a rematch!"

"Life isn't fair. The sooner you learn that, the sooner you'll grow up." Aizo said with an almost smile on his face.

I looked up at Gakupo. "How awful do I look?"

"Like shit." Gakupo answered as he ran his hand down my cheek.

"Your supposed to lie and say I look beautiful." I mumbled.

Gakupo rolled his eyes. "If I did that then you would have hit me."

I laughed weakly. "Yeah I probably would have." I clutched his hand. "I can marry you now." I smiled. "I am a member of this village and your father accepted me. All problems are out of the way."

"Beside's the millions of mythical creatures trying to kill me and steal you away." Gakupo chuckled. He ran his hand down my cheek. "I'm so proud of you. Your officially a werewolf."

I laughed. "I bet the Half Breeds would love to hear that."

Ron began to smooth the medicine on my leg. I groaned in pain. It stung and then started to burn. "Sorry Gumi." Ron said. He began to re-bandage my leg.

Gakupo clutched my hand. "I have a quick question."

"What is it?" I asked.

"Did you run into someone that looked like me?"

I blinked. "One of those doppelgangers?"

"Yeah…did you know it wasn't me?" He looked curious.

I smiled. "Of course I did." I touched his cheek. "You can make someone that looks like you but there's only one real Gakupo. That fake can't match the looks you give me."

"What do you mean by that? I don't look at you strangely."

"Yes you do. You give me this loving look that you just can't copy."

Gakupo titled his head to the side. "I do?"

"Yes." The guys agreed. I hadn't really noticed but they were all crowded around me.

"Aren't you going to look after Aizo?" I asked.

Rai chuckled. "Aizo's a hard ass. He can handle a few broken ribs. He'll be fine. Plus we heal a lot faster then you Half Breeds do."

"Yeah well…you know what I can't think of one thing that's good about being a Half Breed." I tapped my chin. "Not a single one."

"No wonder we hate you guys." Kai mumbled.

I punched him in the chest. "Shut up ass hole."

Kai gripped his stomach. "Why do you keep doing that?"

I sighed. "Alright boys, who's carrying me?"

Gakupo smiled deviously. "I am and I suggest you leave us alone for a while."

My eyes widened. "Oh no. I feel like shit and your sick as a dog. Pun intended."

Gakupo shrugged. "Then I'll just have to occupy myself until you quit being such a pansy."

"I'm not getting sick!" I yelled. "That'll agitate my injury!"

"Try to keep it down. I want to sleep tonight." Rai said then punched Gakupo's shoulder the guys began to walk away.

"Wait! Rai!" I shouted. Rai turned. "Can I talk to you for a second?" Rai walked over to me. "Alone if you don't mind?" I looked up at Gakupo. Gakupo grumbled something about me being a horrible wife but left me in the hands of Rai.

"What's up?" Rai asked.

I weakly sat up. "I want you to take me someone."

Rai looked confused. "Where?"

"I want to meet Shou."

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Hey guys. So I'm so addicted to writing this story right now. Sorry all fans of Kyousei but I'm having such bad writers block. I'm working slowly on it though.

Anyways I'd like to know what you guys want Shou to be like. Any personality ideas are much appreciated. Thanks so much for reading guys.

P.S. I have been watching a show called Boys Before Flowers (the Korean version) and I'm really addicted to it. All fans of Boys Before Flowers, I want to know who you like more, Gu Jun Pyo, Yoon Ji Hoo, Sung Woo Bin or So Yi Jeong. I'm a fan of Gu Jun Pyo and I hate Yoon Ji Hoo because he kissed Jan Di and I was luck fuck that. I almost stopped watching the serious because of it. Fuck you Yoon Ji Hoo! Gu Jun Pyo Forever!

Thanks for reading!