Chapter Two - The 'Forest Friends'

"No."

"Nao, I think you missed the point."

"What point, Midori?"

"I'm not giving you a choice. You need a break. You need to learn some friendship skills."

"I don't have friends."

Nao shut her door in their faces so abruptly that for a moment none of them moved.

"Well that was rude," Natsuki finally said.

I banged on the door with my fist angrily, my temper rising. "Nao, open up. We went through the carnival together, for god's sake! How can you say something like that?"

Mikoto looked close to tears and leaned against the wall. "I thought Nao was our friend…"

Midori sighed. "Don't worry kid, we'll beat some sense into her during this trip."

I sighed as I pressed my head tiredly to the door, no energy remaining in me. "Damn it, Nao, open this door! Just let us discuss it with you."

At first there was nothing at all, then to everyone's surprise the door was opened a crack and Nao's angry eyes glared out at them. "All right… Talk."

Midori stared at her nails in the light as she spoke. "I don't really want to hurt you Nao, so it would be a lot better if you just came along with us. One little trip isn't going to kill you, is it?"

"Hanging around with you lot might," she quipped. "But go on. What do I get out of it?"

A growl escaped from Natsuki as she approached the door forcefully. "Listen Nao, I don't particularly want you along causing trouble, but Shizuru is tried of having to deal with you brawls out in the yard. Ever since the carnival you have acted like a psychopath! You threaten everyone whom so much as looks at you! You flick your food across the table like it's pigs guts or something else disgusting with no respect at all! You refuse to do your work and cause such a protest that you have to be dragged out!"

We all took a step back accept for the fearless Natsuki. We waited with baited breath for Nao's fist to reach through the door and take the black haired girl out, but instead she sniffed, lowered her gaze, and disappeared inside the room, leaving the door ajar.

"N-Nao?" Natsuki gasped as she took a few steps into the room. "Are you… crying?"

The short haired girl sat on her couch with her back to us as her body trembled. She muttered something quietly that we all missed accept for Mikoto whom had excellent hearing.

The spiky haired wild child approached Nao quietly. "What do you mean you don't know what to do, Nao?" she asked, sucking on one of her fingers like a child, making her look like an innocent angel approaching a demon.

Nao looked away angrily, then slammed a hand down on the table in front of her. "Damn it, I'll go with you!" she cried out.

"I knew you were afraid of my amazing powers!" Midori teased as she threw a punch in thin air.

"Whatever," Nao muttered, getting to her feet and facing us with a look that could melt ice. "Just don't expect me to have any fun."

******

We had reached the last two names on the list: Tate and Shiho. We knew their location, we knew their times to return to class, and we knew that they were needed to give the camp that extra lift.

"No way am I putting up with that Shiho brat," Nao spat as she rested casually on the arm chair in the school lounge room. It was off limits to students, but after I had suffered another lack of energy fit once we had Nao in our group, Midori rushed us inside where I could lay down on the remaining lounge. Now the rest of the group was piled up on the second, and it looked so amusing with them all squished together that I failed to tell them that I felt fine again.

Midori sighed and rolled her eyes at the ever-hateful girl. "We need some sort of humour out there, and besides, she won't stay here without Tate. If he comes, she'll follow."

"Like a fly on a web," Nao described with her old Hime style. "However, Tate is not much of a spider… More a kitten."

I glared at her and rolled onto my side away from them, pretending I was dozing. I hated it when people said Tate was weak. Sure, he didn't throw himself around as a man trying to impress the other girls, and he hated to fight unless it was his sport, but that didn't make him weak. He just didn't like showing it, and anyway, proving that the given names 'sissy' and 'pansy' didn't bother him made him strong… right?

"Alright, shall we search for the pair?" Midori asked out loud. I knew she was trying to spare me the comments about Tate, and I noted it down to thank her later for it.

******

We hustled behind the bushes in one of the courtyards and watched through the leaves as Tate and Shiho sat on one of the benches and ate their lunch peacefully.

"Okay, targets are… eating sandwiches," Midori said as she peered out at them.

Natsuki stared at her. "Are we capturing them for some government conspiracy, or are we asking them to come along to a camp?"

"Shhh! They'll hear you!" Midori army-rolled across the grass to the next bush and in an instant threw herself behind a nearby tree that grew only metres away from the pair.

"You have to hand it to her," Nao began as she watched in awe. "The girl's good."

Voices trailed over the bushes we all sat behind, and we recognised them as Tate and Shiho's. They were chatting about their classes, what they planned after school, and, oddly, how their food tasted.

"They have really got to find something else interesting to talk about," Natsuki grumbled. "I think I'm going to fall asleep."

"So I told him where to stick it!" Shiho shouted suddenly after a series of mutters that followed the sandwich speak. "I went 'pow' and he was on the floor in a second!"

"That's pretty amazing," Tate said in mock awe. "Maybe next time you could be the bigger man, uh, woman, and just forget the fact that a boy eight years younger than you brushed against your chair when he walked by."

We could have seen Shiho go red from a mile away. "What? But how would he learn not to walk to close to people? That's ridiculous!"

"Speaking of ridiculous, is that Midori hiding behind that tree eavesdropping on us?"

"Hmm, I think it is. She must find you pretty interesting."

Like a bullet Midori shot out from behind the tree and stalked towards the pair. "What? I was just examining the beauty of nature, thank you very much!"

Tate laughed. "For someone who wasn't eavesdropping, you seem to know what we were thinking!"

"I'm a teacher!" Midori cried. "I know everything!"

I rose from behind the bush and hurried over to the fuming woman's aid. "What Midori is trying to say is that she would like to invite you on a trip with us," I said, patting her on the back to calm her down, although I was shocked enough with the mere thought of her taking in interest in Tate.

As usual, his eyes shied away from mine. I had found his bashfulness around me cute when we started dating at first after the carnival, but now it was just annoying. I would stare at him for hours, waiting for him to finally look back, but by the time he did he would be bright red and would laugh nervously, saying something cheap like, 'You look especially pretty today.'

How could he know that if he didn't look at me?

"Ohh, a trip?" Shiho gasped excitedly. "Where to? How long? What should I bring? Are you coming?" Her face fell a little as the others showed themselves. "Is Nao coming?"

The short haired girl crossed her arms. "Trust me, brat, I'm not looking forward to spending time with you either."

"Stop arguing!" Midori ordered. "You're already at each others throats and we haven't even stepped foot into the forest yet!"

"The forest?" Tate suddenly gasped. "You can't be serious! There are wild things in there!"

We all stared around at each other, then burst out laughing. I suppressed a little giggly as he went a pale white.

"Tate's a baby!" Mikoto remarked as she held her stomach from the laughter. "Mai will have to hold his hand the whole three days!"

I cast me eyes away in embarrassment. I wished that would happen. I wished his hand wouldn't suddenly shake as mine inched towards it and fly into his flowing hair as though he had a sudden itch… I wish he would talk to me about this.

He seemed a little on edge now, and refused the trip with a defiant shake of his head.

"Oh, come one, don't be a wuss," Midori said in disgust.

"No, it's not that. I have a lot of work to do." He looked up at me, but his eyes were unsteady as though mine repelled his. "If it was for one day, or two at the most, I would come, but three is too much. Sorry, Mai."

I shrugged it off, but not internally. "It's fine. Study is important I guess."

Shiho, however, looked outraged. "B-but Tate! That's not fair! I want to go!"

"Then go," he said simply.

She shook her head hastily and pretended to be on the verge of tears. "But I need my big brother Tate to protect me…"

He snorted. "You think I can do a better job of taking care of you than these girls?" he asked, motioning us with a lazy wave of his arm.

Midori nodded. "He's right, we'll keep the nasties away from you."

Nao smiled evilly. "Yeah… we'll take real good care of you."

Shiho gripped Tate's arm. "Uhh, no thanks! I think I'll just stay here and work like Tate said!"

I stared down at her hand as it rested on Tate's arm. He seemed to barely even notice, but I knew if it were me he would casually shrug me off and change the subject quickly as though I would forget.

What was wrong with him?

******

"How about… the Wood Rangers?"

"That's crap, Mai." Natsuki sure liked to speak her mind. "We need something scary, threatening, you know, good."

"Scary, huh? I can do scary!"

"No, Nao, we don't need another 'Decapitators' or Righteous Rippers'." Midori sank herself deep into my couch with her eyes shut tight. "Those names are giving me a headache."

Thinking of a group name was no easy task, especially when we were only a group of five, and we each repelled the others' ideas. It was beginning to frustrate us all and we were no longer tyring to come up with a good name. Instead we were trying to annoy each other.

I sat up and leaned forward, thinking hard, then I noticed that one voice had been missing from the arguments. "Mikoto, how about you? You haven't suggested anything yet."

The small girl sat against my legs with her head resting on my knees as she pressed her fingers to her temples and thought. She didn't move or speak.

"Maybe she's praying or something," Natsuki suggested.

Nao stared down at the wild girl. "Poke her and see if she moves."

They seemed to be the key words, for Mikoto suddenly jumped to her feet and punched her fists into the air triumphantly. "I've got it, I've got it!"

"What, what, what?" I asked excitedly. Surely this much thinking could only end in something good.

"We'll be… the Forest Friends!"

Maybe not.

All eyes stared at her as though asking, 'are you serious?'

"I… will… not... be know as a FOREST FRIEND!" Nao boomed, making her thoughts on the idea quiet clear.

Natsuki looked on the verge of both tears and laughter. Instead of doing either, she let out an odd sounding cry like a wounded animal.

"Umm… Mikoto?" I said gently, not wanting to upset her. "Don't you think that's a little…"

"Perfect!"

"Umm, that's not what I was going to say Midori."

"No, I mean, it really is perfect!" the woman continued. She leapt from her place on the sofa as gracefully as a boar and slapped Mikoto on the back as a friendly gesture.

"No way, Midori! I don't care if you're the boss or not, you're making a stupid decision!" Nao exploded. "I won't be know as a damn Forest Friend. I would rather die!"

"Nao, you don't have a choice whether you come along or not. Remember, I will force you if I have to."

"But why this name?" Natsuki complained now.

"Because," Midori began with a smile. "What better way to start bringing us together as a team than having a uniting name?"

I rested my head in my hands. "God help us."