Ten
"I need some lunch." Harashi said, pulling on his luggage and trying to get Izan to stop being so uptight. Izan followed right at his heels, he didn't reply. Harashi fidgeted with the handle. "Izan, you can just walk beside me, you know. We're out of the house now, you're not under me anymore. So let's just be friends, okay? It'll make things more at ease."
Izan nodded politely, then hurried his footsteps up beside Harashi. Stiff, unnatural.
"It's really okay. Don't bring that feeling of being all rich and in charge to me… we left and… well, this way you seem to be following me instead of coming with me." Harashi tried again. This seemed to have brought Izan's attention fully on him. Harashi narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
"Yes, sir!" Izan said, eyes wide. Obviously, he didn't want Harashi to think that. He also noticed the narrow of eyes. Harashi's mind raced. What if his father sent Izan to track him and prevent him from running away- made Izan go with him so that they could always find him. After all, Izan is paid very well and is under his dad's rule instead of his. With an irritated shake of his head, Harashi pushed the thoughts away. He knew Izan would never agree to do such a thing. Sure, he works under his father, but Harashi knew Izan was more loyal to him and would never betray him. Izan was the only one who understood him, the only one he allowed himself to truly tell his feelings to. Harashi reassembled his expressions to a smile, with a light frown.
"And cut it out with the 'sir' already! We've known each other since what, since I was five!" Harashi chuckled. Izan was only five years older than him.
Izan joined to help his family when he was ten. His family was poor, and his parents worked under Harashi's family when his father was just a boy. However, with all the pay they get, Izan is currently in the middle class. Because he worked with one of the richest families in Tokyo, Izan enjoyed the rights of an upper-class man.
"Y-yes…" Izan paused, clearly unsure what to call Harashi now.
"Harashi is fine. I've told you before to call me that." Harashi responded, giving off a hard grin. His stomach growled. "Come on, let's go to that fast food restaurant before I die." Harashi said, full of sarcasm. He had never tried fast food before due to it's apparent 'unhealthiness'. But he was sure a few meals won't hurt.
…..
"Mama...?" Yuriko said, her voice trembling. Her brown eyes began to fill with tears, and panic coursed through her as she turned her head left then right, searching. Yuri started to run, her buns bouncing behind her. Not able to look where she was going through all the water in her eyes, she tripped over the edge of a carpet. Thankfully, the red carpet cushioned her fall, but Yuriko still ended up with a great red bump on her forehead. Not bothering to get up, she began to cry, wailing loudly. Why was there a red carpet outdoors anyway?
"Are you okay?" a boy's voice. Gentle and warm. Yuri lifted her head off of the floor, and saw a boy crouching down in front of her. Kind hazel eyes, ruffled brown hair. There was this aura coming off of him that made Yuriko feel safe.
"Noooo," she sniffled, covering her bright red forehead. "I tripped and fell and hurt myself!"
"I can see that," the boy replied, slight amusement showing in his hazel eyes. "What's your name?"
"I'm Yuri-ko. And I can't find my brother or mama!" Yuri responded, stretching out the vowel 'i'. "Or Kari-nee."
"Well, hello, Yuri-chan," the boy said, smiling. He offered her a hand, and pulled her up to her feet. "Are you okay? Why don't I help you find your family?"
Yuri nodded before asking, "Are you in the contest?" She fixed her light brown hair and smoothed out her pink dress. Always pay attention to what you look like, no matter what. That was a sentence she lived by.
"No. My younger cousin - Ichiyo - he's participating. Where was the last time you saw your parents? Do you know?"
"Nope! But my sister is participating too! And she's really strong!" Yuriko said, waving away the questions.
"Guess she's not on Ichiyo's team, then. He likes to play the brave saviour towards all females," the boy stated, but sighed soon afterwards. "If you don't know where your parents are, how am I supposed to help you get back?"
"I remember! We were in the guest room, and was about to go to some gym! Then my sister said to go away… So I did."
The boy looked at the directory on the wall, and turned back to the toddler, looking confused. "There are 10 gyms. Do you know which number?"
Yuriko paused, and scrunched up her face, trying to remember. Finally, after a long while, she let out a heavy sigh and sat on the ground. "I don't know! I'm hungry! Let's go get food!"
"Do you want to find your family, or go get food?"
"Food!" Yuriko insisted.
The boy sighed, but found the cafeteria on the directory and led Yuriko there. The morning air was filled with the noise of busy pedestrians, and the food scent that wafted into the boy's nose.
After he had bought the whiny toddler what she wanted, they settled down at one of the many empty tables.
"What's your name?" Yuri asked the boy, while slurping down a light pink slushy happily while holding a granola bar.
"Hm? Oh, I'm Harashi." The boy's voice was as gentle as ever.
Yuriko didn't say anything about the name, and instead held an empty slushy cup up to him. "More."
"No, we have to go find your family now. Let's go." Harashi said. He seemed to be looking around for someone.
The little girl looked up at him with big, dark brown eyes, like a lost puppy dog. Harashi opened his mouth to say something, but closed it after her eyes began to fill with tears. Sighing yet again, he bought her another slushy.
Only this time, it was hot pink. As Yuriko held out her hands to take the slushy, Harashi heard a voice. "Y-Yuriko?"
"M-mama!?" Yuri ran towards Haru, who scooped her daughter into her arms.
"Yuri-chan! Where have you been?! Haven't I told you not to run off before?" Haru scolded her youngest child, looking stern. Yuriko pouted, and puffed up her cheeks.
"B-b-but I wanted food! Plus, nee-san won't let me stay!"
Haru hugged Yuriko tightly, not being able to resist herself at Yuri's cute expression. "Alright, alright! You're forgiven this time, but you really had me worried!"
"Mama… I… can't breathe… you're making my hair… messy…!" Yuriko squealed, squirming out of her mother's arms and patting down her hair.
Haru stood up and turned to Harashi. "Thank you so much! I'm so, terribly sorry if this child caused you any trouble."
"It's fine. All she asked for was 10 slushies."
Haru glowered at Yuri as she took out a purse, planning to pay the boy. "How much was -"
"Ah, no, I mean, um..." Harashi stepped back a bit, hands in front of him. "I was exaggerating, and I really don't need the money, I..."
He was just about to say 'I have plenty' before catching himself. It wasn't exactly safe to tell people that he had a lot of money. What if they tried to mug him or something?
"I - I just really don't need the money. It's fine."
"No, really, I insist," Haru said, grabbing the boy's hand and trying to press a handful of bills into it.
"It's fine! I really don't - ah, Uncle!"
Haru turned to look at a man in a suit. He was tan, and in his hand held two big brown lunch bags. The label of 'McDonald's' was scribbled across both bags. She immediately got defensive. He didn't look like someone they could trust. But then again... She looked back at the boy, who had a wide smile on his face. If the man was this boy's uncle, everything should be fine, right? After all, the boy seemed nice enough, and he had helped Yuriko get back to them.
The man stopped in his tracks, a confused look crossing his features. "I was looking everywhere for you! Where did you run off to, s -"
"Ah! Sorry I ran off by myself, uncle!" Haru blinked. The boy had put emphasis on the last word, as if he were trying to convey something to the man. "Sorry, got to go!" He yelled, running towards the man he called 'uncle'. And before she knew it, the two were gone.
"Yuri-chan, did you get that boy's name? We really should thank him properly." Haru said with a straight face after a moment.
"Yup! He's Harashi, and he's here to visit his cousin! His cousin is trying out for the rings as well, but isn't in a team with sis!"
"Hm... Makes sense, then, if his uncle is here. We'll repay him later - let's go find Kazuto first, and watch Kari's battle!"
…..
"From Team Akane, we have Chiruma Akane, Sawada Karina, Hitobi Yoritomo, Kawasaki Umira, Osaku Hibiki, Ibuki Ryuuji, and Choira Miyoru." The speaker announced.
"The team that knocks down the most targets will win this round." The auto-tuned voice emitting from the speakers finished. Karina let out a huge sigh of relief. If it was just knocking down targets, she didn't have to use any weapons, which were all just unnecessary accessories to her. "Go to your positions, please. We will start in five minutes."
"Alright everyone, let's show them what we can do!" Yoritomo said, face grim and serious. Karina looked at him as well as everyone else in their team and they all shivered at the look. Except Hibiki, of course. "Huh? What's wrong?" Yoritomo asked, blinking. "Did I say something…?"
"No, no you didn't!" Karina said, moving forwards and giving him a gentle push. "That's the exact words!"
"Alright! Let's all try our best, 'kay?" Umira said innocently, but her eyes were hidden and her mouth was stretched into an obviously malignant grin. Miyoru merely nodded, and Ryuuji cracked a grin. The team formed into a circle. "On three!" Akane said, determined. "1… 2…"
"VONGOLA!" The sound vibrated through the air and bounced off the walls.
The corner of the hitman's mouth lifted.
...
"Now I'll explain the rule of this round and how this works!" The voice through the speaker spoke again. Akane narrowed her eyes, her heart racing hard in her chest. Who was the speaker anyway? "Each team has ten minutes to knock down as many targets as possible. However, the targets aren't your daily wooden scarecrows stuck in the ground! No, my friend! These targets are more or less robots - and they have their own defenses and offenses!" Akane gave a start, looking at the glass cubes that they were supposed to enter in. Each team enters a glass cube, in which the 'targets' will appear. Akane clenched her hands. After coming this far… "Now, there aren't lots of regulations, but you may not exit the cubes until ten minutes is up- and if you were to get injured and wants to give up, the whole team needs to surrender loudly so that the glass will dissipate." The auto-tuned voice continued. "Now, let the first round begin!"
Akane took a deep breath, then she nodded. Running towards the door, a figure suddenly cut in front of her and burst through the glass door. Akane barely stopped, sighing. Karina was, of course, the first to enter. Nonetheless, Akane rushed through the door. They wouldn't have a single moment to spare. Concentrating hard, Akane spotted a target as it zoomed across the floor. Thinking about Karina's lessons, Akane shot out a hand, grabbing the human-like robot by the elbow. Her rings made a high pitched noise as it came in contact with the fast-moving target. Akane let go and kicked at the target. However, the rather pale and emotionless target dodged it. It made a beeping noise as Akane let go of it, pushing her hands together to put her rings in place. A tiny flame lit up first, then her whole hand was covered in a large claw. The claws curled neatly around Akane's fingers - evidence that she had improved greatly since at the weapon shop. Akane glanced around, and saw that Umira was the closest to her.
"Umira, let's get this one together!" Akane called out. Hearing Umira's agreement, Akane charged forwards silently. Bright orange flames cut through the sky as Akane slashed down on the target's head. The target barely moved out of the way, and one of its metallic arms fell to the floor in a jumble of wires and such. Akane grimaced. Even though they were robots, they still looked like super-pale humans.
Umira's way of fighting was loud. Akane could hear her charging in with her loud war cry. Moving sideways as Umira came on with another attack, she watched with awe as the two chopsticks Umira was clutching charged with electricity. The tips had turned rather sharp. For the big show of the war cry and all, Umira only struck one of the sharp chopsticks into the robot, and fell back. It barely did anything. Akane stood there. Only moments ago she had expected something great out of the pair of chopsticks, but Umira showed no indications that the attack wasn't finished. "T-that's it?" Akane said, almost speechless. "W-wow, so amazing." Akane tried, but her disappointment reeked.
"I know right!" Umira beamed, clearly missing Akane's disappointment. Then her face darkened. "It's only about to get better." Akane returned normal, watching Umira closely as she whipped out her other chopstick, pointing its pointy end at the robot. "If they're robots…!" Umira yelled. A slow pressure seemed to start to build around them. Umira's hair started to lift slowly as she inhaled. Akane unconsciously held her breath when Umira did. Then all of a sudden she let go of three fingers on the hand that was clutching the chopstick as well as her breath. Her breath came out loud - in the form of a shout. Some invisible force made the dust in a circle around Umira fly and sounds of electricity filled the air. Akane turned her head sharply to follow the cracking noise and saw the robot, laying in a crumpled heap on the ground, bits of green electricity flashing over the robot's incapacitated body.
"Wh-wha-?" Akane stuttered, unable to believe her eyes. There was silence for a while as Umira just stared at her. When Akane wasn't able to say anything else, Umira gave in and ditched her composure.
"That's it?" Umira said, eyes narrowing. She looked disappointed. "I expected more of a reaction from you."
"N-no, I'm just… just really, um, surprised, you see." Akane replied, recovering.
Umira paused for a second, then her eyes widened. "Ahahaha!" Umira said more than laughed. "Well, my dear, you didn't expect that did you?" As she spoke, the flames around Akane's hand became smaller to conserve energy but they did not completely die out. "Well, basically. These chopsticks are attracted to each other- they work much like you're weapon, Akane!" Umira twirled around once before going on. "I'm basically sending out my flames through this chopstick to the other, and the other one that was stuck into the robot would receive my flame and inject it into the victim!"
"Well… I didn't really se-" Akane began.
"Ah!" Umira interrupted. "Not bad at all, as expected from our boss!" Akane tensed at that. "You see, the flames transported to my other chopstick should be able to be seen. However, when I concentrate on letting my flame just go all in one direction straight to my other chopstick from the one I'm holding, then it won't be seen. It's because of some concentration zero thing…" Umira trailed off, looking up. If she said 'go all in one direction', does that mean her flames can go different directions? Before Akane could ask who taught her that and what she meant by all that, Umira yelled out her name. There was barely any time for her to react when something crashed hard into her from behind. She felt herself fly back and land harshly against the sturdy glass. She was rather surprised that it didn't shatter.
"Akane!" Kari's voice. Akane felt like her elbow got crushed, but knew it was less intense than that. "I'm so sorry!" Karina rushed over to Akane and pulled her out from under a target. Akane winced, feeling a wound on her forearm. "Can you stand?"
"Yeah." Akane responded, catching her breath. That sure caught her by surprise. "What happened?"
"Oh. Well, I accidentally went overboard with that kick." Karina said, and that's when Akane noticed the dents in the metal and how the target was fuming and motionless. Akane looked at her friend. All of them were so powerful. Akane sighed inwardly. However, the robot suddenly twitched and loomed over them. An orange light shone brightly from Akane's back.
Akane saw Karina act fast, making a backflip and landing back on the ground. Then she felt an immense power and it felt as if all the heat in the room was gathering right behind her. Akane yelped and rolled sideways, barely able to avoid the blast of flames the target shot out.
Akane lay there panting as the target went towards Karina, whose hair tips had been singed off a bit. The sudden change in motion Kari's leg made tore her tight skirt's fabric apart, causing Karina's first sentence after she landed again to be filled with expletives. "Well, this is bad," she said, scowling, as the fire in front of the target disappeared. "Should've bought some fire-resistant armor or something."
"At least you have more freedom with your legs. Weren't you complaining about that?" Akane heard Yori sigh while waving around his sword. He was standing in one place, unsure of what to do. "Plus, why'd you do that weird kick thing? Look at what you did to Akane." Yoritomo scowled. "Now we'll have less force since Akane probably needs to rest now." He muttered under his breath.
"It's called a roundhouse, and it's definitely not weird! It's the basic of basics!" Karina said loudly, rolling her eyes. Kari tied her jacket around her waist, hiding the tear. "And, well, we also get points off in the real thing for damaging the uniforms, idiot."
Akane turned away, directing her attention back to the mock competition. Whatever shape they were confined in, the space was quite big and allowed enough movement. Akane nodded twice, scanning her surroundings. Umira was fighting off another target. It seemed to Akane that Yoritomo and Karina were working together. She rushed forward to help Umira again, her flames curling around her fingers. She aimed at the target and leaped into the air once again, her outstretched arms ready for a blow.
A loud ring echoed throughout the stadium. Akane got distracted and missed the target as it moved slightly to the side.
"What was that?" Akane whined, clearly unhappy about the distraction. She watched as Karina swerve her head around to see that the annoying guy - Ichiyo - had broken a target in their glass cube, which was to the right of Team Akane's.
"Kari -" Yoritomo started, looking at his watch.
"I know, dammit! He has pants, okay?! I have a skirt that I can barely move in!" Akane heard and smiled lightly. So that ring alerted them when another team broke down a target. Akane's spirit went up again. If so, that must mean they were leading since they already had three down! Akane and Umira took down one, Karina took down another by herself, and Hibiki had defeated another alone. Akane caught Karina muttering curses under her breath. Then she caught sight of what Karina was looking at, which turned out to be Ichiyo smirking, full of confidence. "Egotistical little piece of -" She heard Kari start.
"KARI WILL YOU JUST PLEASE START FOCUSING ON THE TASK?!" Was the last thing Akane heard before a foot came into her face.
…..
"What was that about, Harashi-san?" Izan murmured, still occasionally glancing behind their backs suspiciously. Harashi marched on with great strides.
"N-nothing at all." He said, still sucking at lying. Goodness, why couldn't his parents have been less worried about his morals? Because of all the lessons they made him take, he couldn't even lie like a three year old.
"It can't be nothing if you forced someone to believe I'm you uncle!" Izan said, clearly not satisfied. "I can't possibly look that old!" Harashi smiled, at least Izan was finally starting to be himself.
"Are you only arguing because of that?" Harashi teased. "If so, I'm sorry." Izan humphed and was silent for a moment, almost making Harashi believe that really was the case. However, then Izan seemed to have noticed and quickly started again.
"No! That's not my point!" He said, frustrated. "I mean, why did you- ugh. It could've been so much trouble- and it's dangerous! All I did was go to McDonald's to get us some food." Izan exhaled. Harashi put his hands in front of him, trying to make a 'calm down' gesture.
"Well, well. That little girl was only six. She was lost, what could I have done otherwise? just leave her crying on the ground? I don't think so."
Izan sighed. "Fine. But you really shouldn't be-" Izan caught himself, realizing that he was really taking Harashi as a normal friend. That shouldn't be allowed. Or wait, Harashi did say… Izan saw Harashi notice his hesitance. "Just eat your fries already. Weren't you 'craving them since the day you were born'?" Izan said lightly. Harashi's smile grew and he reached into the brown bag and pulled out what he had never touched before in his life: A french fry.
"They actually are Belgian, not French." Izan whispered, sneaking a lesson in for Harashi.
…..
"R-Reborn!?" Akane exclaimed, holding her cheek - again. "You sure have a liking for kicking people in their faces. Nevermind that, are you even allowed to come in here?" Reborn simply said his usual Italian greeting.
"No, but I'm allowed in here to crush people's hopes." Reborn stated matter-of-factly. "I know what you're thinking - targets and all that ringing. However, the ringing is actually the mark of ten targets down from one team." Reborn said in his cute baby voice. The color drained from Akane's cheek. Even the bright red shoe mark disappeared.
"T-t-ten!?" Akane yelled.
"If you don't get going soon, you'll be fried fish." He said and hopped merrily along out the glass door.
'What kind of metaphor is that!?' Akane thought as she collapsed onto the ground, defeated already. She noticed the funny wig and suit Reborn was wearing but was too crushed to say another word.
…..
From where he was sitting, Tsuna had a great view of the battlefield-stadium-arena thing. He was in a box in the audience, on the second floor balcony, looking down at the teams competing. "Kari's team doesn't seem to be working out quite well," he muttered, writing his observations down onto a piece of paper.
"As if you and your guardians had any sort of teamwork when you were young," came a familiar voice. Reborn hopped onto the Tenth's head, dressed in a wig and a suit, which made him look suspiciously like a chibi version of Tsuna.
"I think we communicated with each other fairly well!" Tsuna retorted, setting his pen down. He took his eyes off of the fighting teams, looking up to glare at Reborn. "Plus, why are you dressed like me!?" Tsuna yelled.
"Right, of course." Reborn's voice full of dripping baby sarcasm and avoiding the last question like usual. Then he slapped Tsuna on the head, forcing him to look back at the gym below. "And don't take your eyes off of them!" He said, hopping down. "Well, good luck. I hope Akane's team will fight harder now, since I just went there and shared some news with them." Tsuna groaned, watching as Reborn disappeared through the metal door of the balcony. He then turned to Haru, who was cheering the teams on with all the other parents and family members - and was holding the now-found Yuriko. They both looked as happy as ever, clearly not bothered by the same thoughts as him. Tsuna looked back down, eyes narrowing into slits. Something punched him hard in the stomach. So his time… is it over already…?
…..
Karina stood her ground. They had only around two minutes left of the match, and they were only able to knock down nine targets. The other teams had gone through their first dozen already. Akane seemed to have lost her fighting spirit when she heard the news from Reborn. Karina clenched her teeth. Her weapon… She'd have to use it if they want to win some points. Karina had only wanted to rely on her martial art skills, but these targets are harder and sturdier than she thought they would be. Right now, her legs and arms were already covered in cuts and bruises. Seeing Miyoru and Ryuuji fight back to back over at the far corner, Karina wondered about their powers and weapons, but knew now isn't the right time. Nimbly jumping back when she felt a presence, Karina landed with a hand on the ground, supporting her. The target lingered before her, and Karina grit her teeth.
"Tch." She spat, as she lit her ring. The red flame flickered a few times, then stayed strong. She heard Yoritomo's 'wow, finally', and saw him turn to watch her. Karina almost broke her concentration by yelling at him to focus on his own attacks. Taking a deep breath, Karina's pupils slitted and the bracelets she wore around her wrists lit up with blazing red flames. They engulfed her hand, much like her father's flames would engulf his whole hand. "Here I go!" Karina said seriously and went at the target. It moved from left to right but Karina followed it like a missile. Left, right. Left, right. Shuffle, leap. Her footwork proved amazing as Karina drew in her arm. Then with a loud boom her flamed hand came in contact with the metal. It wasn't hard to destroy after all. Karina landed, breathing heavy and looking at her flaming hand in surprise. It was so easy to apply damage with the flames… No wonder Akane could just slice off limbs with pure flames. Karina looked up at her work done and grinned.
"Alright." She muttered and waited patiently. Then as expected, a loud ring rang, marking their achievement. The cheering was to be heard a mile away.
"Nice, Kari!" Umira cheered, letting Akane take the final blow to the bot they were attacking. The ring marking their 10th target seemed to have brought back some fighting spirit. Karina grinned as Akane delivered a downward strike and sliced open the robot. Karina swerved around, looking at the board. They had thirteen now, which meant Yoritomo, Miyoru, Ryuuji, and Hibiki must have taken care of two more. She also noticed that they only had half a minute left.
"Keep going!" Karina said back to Umira. They have no time to dawdle and chat. Karina went on to the next one, delivering multiple shallow blows, then turning and kicking the target hard in the 'stomach'. She then raced towards it and made sure it was down by jabbing it. She gazed up at the board. It was counting down.
"Ten…" The speaker said. Time seemed to have slowed down. Karina raced towards Umira, who was having trouble. "Nine..." Karina jumped in as the target shot a stream of blue power at them. Her flames wavered at her wrist and died down… except the one on her ring. "Eight."
"Now, Umira!" Karina yelled. Umira nodded and held her chopsticks in her hands. One of them grew bigger and resembled a sword, except charging with lightning flames. Umira even held it like a sword, but it was far too small to be an actual sword.
"Seven… Six!"
Karina held her breath, what was Umira doing? Then lightning flames shot up from the chopstick.
"L-lightsaber!?" Karina exclaimed, watching as Umira charged at the target with that 'Star Wars' sword. "You read and watch too much fantasy!" However, Umira's cry drowned out her voice and she stabbed the flames right into the target. The flame wavered at the tip of the sword and died out, leaving a hole in the target. However, it was still disabled, and a point was added to their score.
"Ah, I still haven't mastered that. Goodness, just how much concentration do I need to keep this flame lit!?" Umira pouted.
"Five, Four, Three, Two, One! Alright, stop moving!" The autotuned voice announced. "Well done all of you! You may now exit." Karina let out a sigh of relief. The heat was getting quite intense in there. She brushed her jacket down, making sure it was still securely tied around her. "Now, look at the board for the results. Remember, don't worry, this is just the mock sessions!"
"Battle, huh…" Yoritomo said, appearing beside Karina. "You've got to be kidding me. That wasn't even close to a 'battle'!" He said, somehow angry. Karina followed his gaze to the board. They were in third place with sixteen targets disabled. Third place. Not bad.
"WHAT!?" Karina shouted, her brain finally coming around the corner. "WE'RE LAST!?" On the board, team Lei was ranked first with twenty three targets down. That was seven more than they did. Karina gritted her teeth. How powerful were the other two teams? She caught snickering and Karina quickly whipped around to see the other two teams cheering and some laughing at them. A surge of anger rushed through her, but to her surprise, Yoritomo rushed forward.
"There's going to be one more this afternoon! Don't get so full of yourselves!" He yelled, his voice proud and clear. Karina directed her angry gaze to the ground, clenching her hands hard. Her whole body shook.
"Kari-chan, don't worry about it. These are just the mock ones. You did great!" Akane was standing in front of Karina. "Now now, let's get out." Karina let her friend drag her out the glass doors.
"Go see if anyone's hurt." Karina said simply, not liking their loss. Akane stopped, but went her way to do so after a while. Karina gritted her teeth. Oh well, just a mock, right?
"Ah, so here's our all great and powerful Karina!" A voice said, accompanied by claps. Karina turned, spotting Ichiyo, from team Lei. She narrowed her eyes. "I heard you were the one who assembled the team. Great choices, don't you think?" Ichiyo said mockingly, glancing at the scoreboard. Karina didn't trust herself to say a word. Ichiyo paused, his smile turning into a line. "Well, I shouldn't have expected more. Our teams the greatest, and it seems to me that you have trash like judgement. Those members of your team- or rather, Akane's team- can't even fight." Ichiyo let out a laugh, clearly trying to provoke her. Karina wasn't about to fall for it. "And don't you think that two new members are suspicious?"
"Why, you!" Karina started, planning to punch him right in the nose. Ichiyo held out a hand.
"You wouldn't want to be disqualified. And I'm only trying to help. If I were you, I'd get better teammates before the real battles start. But since you're the one putting one together, I can't imagine how you can find a team much better." Ichiyo laughed. "With that score, did you choose garbage to fight for you?" He chuckled at his own words, and Karina found herself resisting the urge to kill him right then. "I thought you were better than that!"
"Don't you dare-" Karina started, what was going to lead into a roar.
"Kari~" Akane bounded over. "I'm done checking. Nobody is hurt badly, just some minor wounds. Ready to go?" Her voice was cheerful, like ice on burning skin. Karina's anger fled. Can't drag Akane in this. Can't let her know what Ichiyo referred to her as. Karina glanced at Ichiyo, whose back was already turned and walking away. "Were you two talking? Is something wrong?" Akane asked, eyes wide and oblivious. Karina shook her head.
"Yeah. Let's go."
Karina let herself be dragged by her friend all the way past the audience and back to their dorm. Karina sat on the edge of her bed, planting her head in her hands. She really didn't mind losing, but being snickered at like that… and Ichiyo... Karina felt the tears coming on and she hurled a pillow at the ground. The tears were on verge of coming out. Then she spotted Miyoru staring at her. Neither of them said anything for a while. Then the fury overtook her.
"You! What were you and that stupid Ryuuji doing!?" Karina yelled, taking out her anger on a fellow teammate. Her face was furious. Miyoru's eyes widened and she lifted her chin out of her hands. "Don't act dumb, you're some person sent from another team, aren't you!?" Karina accused, full of venom. Miyoru blinked twice.
"K-Karina-san?" She managed, surprised.
"I know! That other team sent you guys here to fill out for our team - and to drag us down! I've hit the center, haven't I?" Karina went on. Akane lifted her eyes up to watch, wanting to stop Karina.
"No, we'd nev-" Miyoru started. Karina threw an imaginary punch in the air towards Miyoru.
"Excuses! You're a spy, you're not trustworthy, you're sad, you're just a-"
"Kari!" Akane shot up from her bed, under Karina's top bunk. "Karina, that's-"
Karina groaned. "Don't go around lecturing me, Akane." Akane frowned.
"We're all here as one, what are you talking about? Miyoru's just as trustworthy as you!" Akane said sternly. She looked at Miyoru, who just shook her head, clearly unhappy but not looking as though the words actually hurt her. Miyoru then turned to look out the window.
"Yeah, right. And you don't think finding two random people near a train station is suspicious at all? They weren't fighting the targets when we were, Akane!" Karina said. This time, Akane felt a spark of irritation.
"I think you need to calm down, Karina." Akane said softly. Karina glared at her. Akane stood her ground, leveling her stare. "What happened during the time I went to check on wounds?"
"Right, but it was ambition and rashness that drove me forwards after receiving the news from Reborn. If I were calm like you were, I would've lost my fighting spirit too! After hearing the news, you just gave up, Akane!" Karina this time turned on her friend, accusing her as well. "You were so defeated, so you don't have the right to say anything! You made our team lose!" Karina yelled. Her cheeks were bright red and sweat lined her forehead. Akane's face darkened.
"Yeah. Maybe you're right. Maybe I'm just not cut out to be part of some mafia family. Maybe we're all trash," Akane said. She was still too nice to say anything else. Akane looked down. "Plus, I never was the one who wanted to do this," She reminded Karina. Then Akane looked to Miyoru. "Let's go, Miyoru-chan." She said. Miyoru stepped down from her bottom bunk and joined Akane. Karina grit her teeth, the tears finally overwhelming and started to trail down her face. Karina watched them.
"Fine. Leave then, and don't come back!" Karina said.
"HI HI!" The door suddenly burst open and both Akane and Miyoru jumped back in surprise. The blueish purple hair of Umira's appeared before them. "Alala? Are we going somewhere?" Umira asked, oblivious of what had just happened. Akane took a deep breath, then grabbed Miyoru's wrist. She then marched past Umira and out the door, face grim. Akane could hear Umira's curiosity as they walked into the hallway.
Once they were rather far away from their room, Akane turned to Miyoru.
"I'm sorry- She sometimes can be like that." Akane said, apologizing for her friend. Honestly, this time Karina's words had cut into her. It was as if Karina had asked her to jump off a cliff, and she did it. However, after jumping off and climbing back up again all bruised but undead, Karina pushed her down, saying she didn't need her anymore. Miyoru said nothing. "Are you okay...?" Akane asked, peering at Miyoru. If Karina's words hurt her, then those to Miyoru… Akane didn't know how Miyoru would handle it.
"Yeah. No worries." Miyoru finally replied. She avoided her gaze. "I'm used to it anyway. Everybody thinks I'm not good enough." She let out a chuckle. "So why would it stop here? I am not good enough." Akane looked down, avoiding her gaze as well as guilt flooded over her. After Karina calmed down, she'd find herself apologizing.
"N-no!" Akane said quickly. "It's not you. The other teams must have been really good. And just as Kari said, I really wasn't trying anymore when Reborn shared news." Miyoru shook her head.
"What was I expecting? That things would change? No, Akane-san. It's not your fault…" Miyoru trailed off. Then something weird started to happen. A wild grin stretched onto Miyoru's features, making her look dangerously insane. "No, it's all my fault, you see!" Miyoru said, looking at Akane in an insane way. "The world would never change, never!"
"M-Miyoru?" Akane started, feeling suddenly rigid. She looked down and found her feet turning to stone. "What's this? O-oy, Miyoru - don't tell me - !"
-End of Chapter-
Ail: HI HI EVERYONE! This delay of chapters is quite… inevitable. Me and Reg-chan both got quite lazy, and Reg is out of her country right now- since it's summer vacation for most of us! I will be staying (sadly) and will be working on these chapters still. However, it won't be as fast when the two of us both worked on it! (Please forgive me- but *glares* DEAL WITH IT) Anyway, I was just watching SAO II season (although I finished first season a while ago- what? I like to wait so I get to watch other anime okay?) and I realized that… KAZUTO is part of Kirito's name as well… No wonder it felt familiar/nice sounding. *stares at the paragraph I wrote* I will stop now.