Chapter 2

A/N: HIYO!!!!!!!! IT'S CHAPPIE TWO, PEOPLES!!!! Masquerade gets to tutor Runo!!!!! Will either of them survive? …Well, yeah, they do. If they didn't, I wouldn't be able to continue the story. Which would sadden me. Yeah.

AND PEOPLES REVIEWED!!!! Thankies!!!! And no one yelled at me for the pairing! One person even said they liked it!!! THANKIES, PERSON!!!!!!! Who`s name I kinda forgot...I ended up forgetting my sister`s name once...I just sat there for five minutes, trying to remember their name...

Disclaimer: I don't own Bakugan. It belongs to whoever it is that owns it. I don't actually know. I'm too lazy to check.

Runo walked slowly home, scowling. Today hadn't been the greatest; the teacher had outfitted his desk with a mirror and had spent the majority of class admiring his reflection. And when he had started paying attention, he had seen Runo attempting to copy off the class genius' work. Yay. And then there was Tigrerra, trying to talk her out of the tutor-thing with Masquerade; obviously, she didn't deem Runo's interrogation skills to be good enough to worm something out of the elusive boy.

"Runo, he knows what you are planning," Tigrerra said, trying to nudge her ear from her perch on her shoulder and make Runo pay attention. "And Masquerade is very crafty, you'll never be able to make him tell you what you want to know…"

"We've got nothing to lose, Tig," Runo answered stubbornly, quickening her pace as she neared her family's restaurant. "He already has his own source, so I may as well try."

"Milady…"

"Hey, Runo!"

Runo turned around, her hand poised on the doorknob. "Oh, hey Dan. What're you doing here?"

The messy-haired boy grinned. "Starved. And I get a discount here, so I may as well hang out here."

"Great," Runo said with fake cheeriness. What if he found out about Masquerade? She didn't know what would happen if the other Brawlers discovered who her new tutor was, but knowing Masquerade it could be something terrible.

Dan frowned. "Hey, you alright?"

"Alright? Why wouldn't I be?" Runo's face was completely innocent.

"You don't usually act so…nice."

"Has something happened, Runo?" Drago peered at Runo's face, as well was a Bakugan could. "You look nervous…"

"The math homework is making me go crazy." It was the best she could think of at the moment. It seemed to satisfy Dan.

"Oh yeah, that. You're failing, right?"

That ignited Runo's temper. "And how great is your math mark?"

Dan flushed. "Hey, it isn't that bad!" Drago snorted.

Rolling her eyes, Runo threw open the door. "Hey Mom, Dad, I'm home!"

"Runo!" Mrs. Masaki seemed relieved. "Do you think you could help us out? It's hard manning the restaurant with only three people…"

"Sorry Mom. Got a lot of homework."

The portly woman sighed. "You know, maybe I should talk to that teacher of yours…" She brightened up when she saw Runo's guest.

"Oh, Daniel! So glad to see you! Would you mind helping out? We could pay you…"

Dan blanched. The mere idea of manual labour, even for money, was taboo to him. "Uh, sorry. I was just walking Runo back. I have to hurry home myself, or my mom'll have a fit. Sorry, Mrs. M."

He turned to Runo. "Hey, me and the guys are gonna come by later, 'bout half past five, 'kay?"

"Whatever."

Grinning, Dan ran out, waving over his shoulder. "See you later! Sorry, Mrs. M!"

Runo's mom sighed as Runo hurried past her, relieved. She dashed up the stairs a bit too eagerly, cupping a hand over Tigrerra to make sure she didn't fall.

She stopped in front of her bedroom door, suddenly nervous. Was this really a good idea? She didn't really relish the idea of being in close contact with Masquerade. Maybe Tig was right…

She shook the thoughts out of her head. She had decided to do this, and she wasn't going to chicken out.

"Milady…"

Ignoring the Haos Bakugan's plea, Runo pushed open the door.

"About time you decided to enter."

Runo gawked, surprised. She didn't really think he would be here before her…

He lounged on her bed, with a similar air to yesterday's; as though he himself practically lived here. He was flipping through a book; a book from her shelf. Bored, he set it down besides Tigrerra's 'bed'.

"How sweet, you made your Bakugan a little home," he sneered, in a strange way that was somewhat…friendly?

A retort rose to her lips, then disappeared as she noticed something that she hadn't noticed before. "Hey, where's your Bakugan?"

Masquerade looked at her, surprised. "Hydranoid? Why would I bring him? We aren't having a brawl, are we now? Unless," he continued, with a sly glance at Tigrerra, "You wanted to make this a double date…"

It just so happened that the bookshelf was right beside Runo, and that she had grabbed the biggest, heaviest hard-cover novel she had. He ducked just in time; the book flew over his head and collided with the wall with a loud, resounding thud.

"Runo? What are you doing up there?"

"Nothing, Dad!" Runo yelled back, all while glaring at Masquerade with a murderous gleam in her eyes. "Just dropped something!"

Masquerade glanced at the book, then back at her, incredulous. "What was that for? It was just a joke…"

Runo jabbed a finger at his direction in a way that seemed to suggest she would have liked to jab it in his eye. "This is not a date," she snarled. "I don't want to hear you say that word ever again. This is a tutoring session, and you are only helping me with my homework."

If Tigrerra could've, she would have grinned.

"Oh yes, I help you with your homework while you try to get information out of me, right?"

Runo's arm fell uselessly. Masquerade grinned. "Gotcha."

"How'd you know…"

"I heard you last night, remember? You were planning to break our deal and blab to your friends?" Masquerade shifted on the bed, making himself comfortable. "Besides, I'm not an idiot."

Runo didn't dare look at Tigrerra. She didn't need a 'I told you so' right now.

"Out of my bed," she grumbled.

Masquerade sighed. "Fine then." He disappeared.

Runo jumped; his hand was on her shoulder. "Shall we get started?"

He pushed her onto his original spot on the bed. A fleeting insant of panic and paranoia flashed through her; what was he doing? Her heart rate sped up as he walked to the side of the bed, and slowed again as he nudged Tigrerra's dollhouse out of the way and sat on her bedside table. He looked at her.

"What's your problem?"

Runo realized she wasn't breathing. What was wrong with her? "Don't do that!"

He looked puzzled. "Do what?"

"Touch me!"

Masquerade looked surprised, then grinned. "You have a problem with it?"

"Yes I do!" she snapped. "Ok, Rule Number One; no touching! Got it?"

"I'm the teacher, aren't I? Shouldn't I be the one making the rules?"

Runo glared at him threateningly. He raised his hands in surrender. "Got it, no touching. Now, Runo, get out your work so we can get started."

He sighed as Runo glowered at him again. "And what did I do this time?" Three times already…

"Don't say my name!"

Masquerade was dumbfounded with this one. "Are you always so unreasonable? You throw a book at me for joking around, spaz at me for touching your shoulder, and now I can't say your name?"

"We're are still enemies, remember!" Runo said heatedly. "I don't intend on getting close to you in the slightest."

"And me saying your name suggests closeness?"

"Yes!"

Suddenly, the relaxed, joking Masquerade disappeared, to be replaced by a stoney, quieter version. "Names don't signify anything," he said softly. "They're just words and sounds assigned to a person so that they don't have to go around being called and calling others 'You'."

"…" Runo couldn't think of how to respond to that and to this… detached Masquerade. He sat there, staring at her, but she didn't think he was actually paying attention. What was his problem?

Suddenly, he glanced at the backpack still on her back. "Shouldn't you be getting your homework out?"

Runo got out her homework, strangely quiet, a fact Masquerade noticed right away.

"What's the matter?"

She glanced at him. "Let's just get started, okay?"

"About time," he grumbled. "Ok, what are we working on?"

A/N: …That's all I feel like writing for this chapter. YAY!!!!!!! Hope peoples liked it…Don't ask what was the matter with Masquerade, I was having an angst moment and felt that he needed one too. So there you go. Ha.