Okay! Here is the 2nd chapter! Finally! I hope you guys think it was worth the wait. Give me feedback on it and tell me what you thought! I'm actually a lot happier with it now. I had about half of it done when I shifted fandoms and now it went in a totally different direction than before. I hope you guys like it!
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Battle B-Daman belongs to Inuki Eiji/Takara/Hasbro. This is a fan-made piece of work and is not for profit in any way at all.
*~8~8~8~8~8~*
"Wow!" chorused the small group. The carnival was huge, decorated with tons of colored lights. It was based in a clearing surrounded by a forest. There were a bunch of rides and games. "Food!" Yamato yelled, running off into the mass of people. "Oh! Yamato!" Mie ran after him.
"Let's go to the Tunnel of Love!" Karat squealed. She pulled Bull's arm in the direction of the ride. "Eheheheheheh…okay…" Bull said, blushing heavily and giving his usual dopey grin. "I've never been to one of these things. What are you supposed to do?" Biarce asked. Lienna laughed. "You're supposed to have fun, silly!" Biarce yelped when she grabbed his arm and pulled him into the crowd. Cain and Joshua shrugged and decided to follow Lienna to make sure she didn't overdo it.
"Li, come on! Let's check it out!" Terry said excitedly. He took Li's hand in his own and headed off into the crowd, dragging Li along in a thankfully much less forceful way than Lienna had done to Biarce. "Have fun!" Wen called. "Hey, did you guys come here to stand all day or are we going to do something?" Wen asked, turning to face Enjyu and Gray. Enjyu and Gray stopped glaring at each other and the two rivals looked up and quickly jogged after the older Yong Fa. "What do you want to do first?"
Enjyu grinned as he spotted a huge rollercoaster. Gray hated rollercoasters. "Let's go on that." Gray looked to where the redhead was pointing and visibly paled. "Uh…shouldn't we start off with something less nauseating?" he asked. Enjyu smirked evilly. "What's the matter Gray? Chicken?" Enjyu proceeded to make loud clucking noises and Wen started to laugh. Gray puffed out his cheeks. "I am not a chicken!" Gray grabbed Wen and Enjyu and dragged them towards the rollercoaster.
*~8~8~8~8~8~*
"I think I'm going to be sick…" Gray staggered off the rollercoaster, Wen following close behind with a worried expression. Enjyu fumed. That plan had certainly backfired. They were trying to impress him, but Wen was more worried about Gray's unimpressive display than Enjyu's ability to keep his lunch down. He needed a change of plan.
"Since Gray's obviously not up for another ride-" He ignored the glare Gray shot in his direction. "-let's play a game." Enjyu offered. Wen smiled and nodded and looked to Gray who immediately stopped glaring and agreed. Enjyu headed over to a shooting gallery. "This looks like fun."
"Since when do you know fun?" Gray asked and Wen laughed, causing Enjyu's face to flush red. "What's wrong, Gray? Think you can't beat me?" Enjyu sneered. Gray's eyes narrowed and he stalked up to the game. After several rounds, the two B-DaPlayers were tied. Enjyu put his gun down and growled. "Hey, Wen, you want to play?" Enjyu asked, turning towards the brunette, who up till now had been sitting quietly at the side.
"But if I played, I'd beat you both." Wen said innocently tucking his hands behind his back. Enjyu smirked and crossed his arms over his chest. "Is that a challenge?"
"No, it's a fact." Wen took Enjyu's gun and in no time, took down every target. Enjyu and Gray gaped. "What's so surprising? Accuracy is my specialty." Wen winked, bouncing happily as he clutched the yellow bunny plushy he'd won. Enjyu huffed and Gray smiled. "What should we do next?" Wen asked. Gray looked around and a wide smile spread across his face.
"How about that?" he asked, pointing toward a large spooky looking mansion with the sign 'HAUNTED HOUSE' hung in front that made Enjyu freeze in his tracks. He was petrified of ghosts and Gray knew it. 'That rollercoaster…damn karma.' Enjyu thought as he begrudgingly followed the object of his affection and his rival into the dark house.
*~8~8~8~8~8~*
"Enjyu! I can't feel my arm!" Wen said, trying to pry the red head off his arm. Enjyu had clamped on and refused to release him even after the horror ride. Currently, he was completely frozen and clinging to Wen's right arm with a steel grip. Gray was fuming with jealousy. After he finally managed to remove the redhead from his arm, Wen looked around. "It's getting dark. Maybe we should find everyone." Enjyu and Gray nodded and started to walk behind Wen. Someone yelled out behind them. "Gray!"
Said blond turned around as Biarce shot behind him. "Your sister is a completely insane, do you know that?" on cue, Lienna's voice pierced the air, calling Biarce's name. He darted behind the girl's brother as she came jogging up. "Hi guys! Did you see Biarce anywhere? We just got off a rollercoaster and he took off." Gray opened his mouth, trying not to flinch when Biarce dug his nails into his back as a reminder.
"Um, nope, sorry Lienna. Um, weren't Joshua and Cain with you guys?"
"They were." Lienna said. "But I took them on a few of the rollercoasters and Joshua got all spazzy and twitchy, so Cain took him somewhere and I haven't seen them since. Any who, if you see Biarce, tell him to come find me." Gray nodded as he watched his sister jog away. Once she was out of sight, Biarce relaxed. "I told you. Completely insane." Gray laughed and Biarce glared at him. "You can stay with us if you want." Gray offered.
"I don't know. She is your twin after all."
Enjyu narrowed his eyes in suspicion. 'What's Gray doing? How are we supposed to impress Wen if he's inviting Biarce along. I mean, yeah, Lienna can be a bit nutzy so I guess I wouldn't want to be left alone with her either.' Enjyu stuffed his hands in his pockets. He was a little suspicious of the blonde. "Why don't we go play another game?" Wen asked. Everyone nodded. Gray pointed to a ring toss game. "How about that?"
"That looks good." Wen agreed. "Let's go." He grabbed Enjyu's hand and pulled him along after Gray and Biarce. Enjyu, still trying to figure out Gray's 'plan', jumped out of his thoughts as their hands touched and reddened when the brunette smiled at him. "Come on, already." Enjyu eagerly followed the brunette.
"What are you supposed to do?" Biarce asked examining one of the rings as Gray picked up a blue one. "Well, you throw the rings and try to get them around one of the items on that table. Pretty simple." Gray flicked the ring at a small rubber ball, but missed. "Unfortunately, it's a lot harder than it looks." He said, rubbing the back of his head and sweat dropping. Wen walked up next to him and picked up another ring. "Let me try." He threw the ring and almost hit a rubber snake, but the ring didn't go fully around it. "Damn. Not exactly the same as shooting." Enjyu grabbed one and took a shot, the ring landing perfectly around a small blue dragon plushy. "Score!"
"Nice throw!" Wen said. Biarce smirked. "I can't believe you're actually good at something."
"Can it, Biarce!" The redhead tried to hit the younger boy, but Biarce ducked behind Gray, out of reach. Enjyu growled but stopped when Wen grabbed his arm. "No fighting, guys." Enjyu nodded and Biarce rolled his eyes. Enjyu placed the stuffed animal in Wen's hands after the stand owner handed it to him. Wen blinked a bit at first. "Thanks!" He chirped. The brunette beamed brightly, making Enjyu turn as red as his hair. The other three laughed.
*~8~8~8~8~8~*
"Ah!" Enjyu yelped when a water balloon hit him in the back of the head. "Biarce! You're supposed to throw them at the target! Not me!" Biarce faked an innocent look. "But this is funnier." Gray laughed behind his hand. "I have to say I agree. Plus with that hair it's an easy mistake."
"Shut up, Vincent." Enjyu growled as he wrung his hair out. They had been at the Drop Tank for ten minutes and all Biarce had done was throw the water balloons at him the whole time. Wen thanked an assistant when she handed him a towel and he held it out to Enjyu. Enjyu frowned but the look softened when the brunette wiped a few water droplets off Enjyu's face. Both snapped out of their daze when a loud SPLASH was heard. Gray had hit the target of the drop tank.
Biarce clapped. "Not bad. Can we get Enjyu up there?" Enjyu started to advance toward Biarce but was stopped once again by Wen. Gray nudged the blunette. "Play nice, Biarce." Enjyu eyed Gray and Biarce as he finished drying off. "Hey, blondie, get your butt over here." Gray looked at Biarce and shrugged before walking over to Enjyu. Enjyu looked over to Wen who was talking to the assistant then he looked back to Gray. "What's up? I thought this was about impressing Wen?" Gray blinked.
"Yeah. And you're point is?" Enjyu huffed. "Um hello? Biarce! What's the big idea having him tag along? Are you trying to sabotage me or something?" he said in a hushed yell. Gray crossed his arms over his chest. "Excuse me? Who's trying to sabotage who? Do I need to remind you about the rollercoaster?" Enjyu mimicked the pose and glared. "You already got me back for that with haunted house. And if I recall, the rollercoaster worked in your favor."
Gray sighed. "Look maybe we should just drop this. Can we just have some fun? Clearly it's not working the way we thought it would." Enjyu's eyes narrowed. "So, what? You're giving up or something? Cause if you do, I get Wen."
"Excuse me?" Enjyu spun around and froze when a pair of angry brownish-red eyes locked with his own. "What were you saying about 'getting Wen'?" Wen asked, tapping his foot on the ground, arms crossed over his chest. Enjyu looked over his shoulder to Gray for some help, but the blond look just as lost as him. Wen narrowed his eyes dangerously and Gray and Enjyu swallowed. That was usually the look Wen had back in the Shadow Alliance before he kicked someone's ass. "I'm waiting." Enjyu desperately wracked his brain for something to say. Unfortunately, he didn't come up with much.
When neither of the answered, Wen let his arms drop to his sides, hands clenched in fists. "I don't believe you guys! This is the kind of thing I'd expect from you, Enjyu, but Gray?! I thought at least you were more mature than that! I'm NOT some kind of prize! You guys are such jerks!" Wen screamed. He threw the dragon plushy as hard as he could at Enjyu's head and ran off into the park just as Mie, Yamato, Terry, and Li approached.
"What was that all about, laddie?" Terry asked as he hurried over to the scene. Enjyu opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. He felt like his heart had stopped. "What did you two do to brother?" Li asked his eyes dark with anger. Gray didn't hear him. He was watching Enjyu who had let his head drop with his fists clenched at his sides. He'd never seen the redhead look so…dejected before. "Enjyu…" he tried to put a hand on his shoulder but the redhead shifted out of reach.
"Save it. He hates me anyways. This whole thing was pointless from the start." He turned sharply and stormed off in the opposite direction Wen had gone. Gray watched him go and sighed. He looked up again with a determined look. "Laddie?" Terry tried again. Gray ignored him however. He picked the plushy up off the ground and took off after Wen.
*~8~8~8~8~8~*
It really wasn't that hard to find the accuracy shooter. "Stupid! Idiotic! Jerk! Pig-head!" With each yell, Bakuso destroyed another of the rocks that lined the shore of the lake. Gray weighed his options of confronting an angry, armed Wen and sighed. 'Please B-DaMage don't kill me now.' The blonde stepped out from behind the tree he had chosen to hide behind. "Wen?" he called and froze the instant the brunette whirled around and Bakuso locked onto him. Wen glared at him for a few seconds, as if trying to decide whether he should shoot or not. Finally he lowered the B-Daman.
"What do you want?" Without waiting for an answer, the brunette swept past him and started to walk away. Gray's hand shot out and grabbed his arm. "Look, I know you're pissed and I'm sorry, but don't blame Enjyu for this!" Wen gave him a curious look and Gray released his arm to let him cross them over his chest. Gray reached up and tugged his hat down over his eyes. "If you're going to be angry at someone, be angry at me. The whole thing was my idea, not Enjyu's."
Wen didn't respond and Gray wasn't sure what else to say. He didn't want to look up just yet. "You're lying." Gray flinched sharply. "No, I'm not." He said quickly. "Then look at me." Gray didn't move. If Wen saw his eyes, he'd know he was lying. He'd always had a talent for stuff like that. Not that it really seemed to make a difference since the brunette had obviously noticed his ploy to avoid looking at him directly. He sighed. "I just don't want you to hate him." He whispered.
"I don't hate him." Gray finally lifted his hat to lock eyes with the brunette. "He thinks you do."
Wen sighed and pulled his hat off to run a hand back through his hair. "I could never hate him, Gray. He's just…frustrating…a lot." Wen sat down on the ground facing the lake and released a breath. "We've had some bad experiences but…no, I don't hate him." Gray reached down to place a hand on his shoulder causing the boy to turn his eyes to him. He held out the dragon plush to him. "I think he's the one that needs to hear that."
Wen watched him a bit before finally nodding and standing up. He hesitantly accepted the stuffed toy from the other B-DaPlayer and held it to his chest. He started to walk off then turned back to Gray. "You coming?" The blonde shook his head. "I'm going to stay here for a bit. Give you guys some time." Wen smiled slightly and nodded and ran off back toward the carnival. Gray watched him go. He sighed and leaned back against a tree. 'It's okay. This is okay. It's just what has to happen.'
"You're sure you're okay with this?" The voice startled the blonde out of his thoughts and he looked up at the blunette sitting in the tree above him and smirked a bit. "Yeah, I'll be fine." Realizing he wasn't going to get much more, Biarce jumped down from the tree branch he had perched himself on and made a motion with his head. "Let's head back then. Everyone is looking for you."
*~8~8~8~8~8~*
Enjyu punched the wall as hard as he could. He turned and slid down the wall and let his head hang. He'd hidden behind one of the buildings in the clearing. 'Cause I'm always hiding.' He thought bitterly. That had been half the reason he had disappeared into the city, even if it meant resorting to dives to survive. He'd been hiding. At the time he hadn't been sure from what but it had become clear to him when he had returned for the Winners Tournament. He had been hiding from Wen.
He'd fought with himself for a long time before he finally decided that he liked the brunette. He'd initially tried to handle it by pushing the other boy away as much as he could but in the end, when he'd finally come to terms with his emotions, this strategy (if it could even be called that) had backfired horribly. Wen hated him and wanted nothing to do with him. So when the brunette had gone home after the final battle, Enjyu had gone as far in the opposite direction as he could. He hadn't expected to see him again, especially not as soon as he did. But it had looked to Enjyu that things had somehow smoothed themselves over because Wen didn't appear to hold any animosity towards him at all. Or at least he thought he didn't.
"This is the kind of thing I'd expect from you, Enjyu…"
Enjyu leaned his head back against the wall and shut his eyes. 'He still hates me. I can't say I blame him though…'
"Hey."
Enjyu's eyes snapped open and instantly locked with the red-brown ones looking down at him. "Brooding? That's just like you." Wen smirked slightly and straightened up. Enjyu simply gaped. Why wasn't he angry with him? The brunette sat down on the grass in front of him. "I talked with Gray." Well that couldn't be good. "And I think there's something we need to clear up." Enjyu raised an eyebrow and Wen released a breath.
"I don't hate you. And apparently you think I do. So…" He scratched tha back of his head nervously. "I'm sorry for whatever I did that made you think that." Enjyu's jaw dropped. "Why the hell are you apologizing?!" he exclaimed. Wen looked a bit taken back. "Don't get me wrong." He said. "I'm still mad at you for this whole thing. But that doesn't mean I hate you." Wen made a point of locking eyes with him. "Why did you think that?"
Enjyu managed to tear his eyes away from him then and let his head drop. "You really have to ask that? Every time I come anywhere near you, you get hurt. First the tournament, then Li…" Enjyu was surprised when he heard the accuracy shooter actually chuckle and gave him a confused look. Wen stopped laughing and looked up at him smiling. "You still actually think about that stuff?" Enjyu faltered. "Uh…well…" He stopped when Wen shifted a bit and Enjyu noticed for the first time that he was carrying the toy Enjyu had won for him again. "I stopped being mad about that stuff a long time ago. Li explained the whole thing about the Neo Shadow Alliance to me. Marda B. possessing him wasn't your fault and as for the tournament…well, I did my own share of crappy stuff when I was in the Shadow Alliance so I really can't fault you for that without being a hypocrite." He grinned. "So stop beating yourself up over it, okay?" Enjyu could only manage a slight nod in his shock.
"Good. Now that that's clear, you know you never answered my question, right?" The redhead blinked. "What brought this thing on with you and Gray?" The other boy turned about as red as his hair. Did he really have to answer that? But Wen was staring at him expectantly so he supposed he did. He frowned. "You know the answer to that. Do I have to say it?" Enjyu mumbled. The brunette just smiled again and shook his head. "I'm starting to wish I did something instead of waiting for you guys. Clearly you guys have no idea what you're doing. Honestly, I just didn't think you guys would be so immature about all of this."
"I am not imma– wait! You mean…you knew?!" Enjyu stared at him in shock. Wen laughed a little behind his hand. "Yeah, you guys aren't the most subtle people. I was just waiting for you guys to actually do something about it." He avoided Enjyu's eyes. "And I…didn't want to hurt either of you. I guess I was being a bit of a coward about it." He toyed with the doll in his lap, running a finger up and down the plush spines. "And yes, you are."
The redhead huffed a little at that comment and crossed his arms over his chest. Then something dawned on him. "So…does that mean you like one of us?" Wen rocked back and forth on the grass and winked "Maybe…" he said in a sing-song tone. "I'll give you a hint." Before Enjyu could register what he had said, Wen shifted onto his knees and leaned forward and kissed him. At first he was too shocked to do anything but then he brought a hand to his face and returned the kiss. Wen shifted to straddle him and put his arms around his neck while Enjyu moved to hold his waist. Wen was actually kissing him. Part of Enjyu kept nagging that this was only a dream and any minute he'd wake up and Wen wouldn't care less about him. After all, when did things ever work in his favor? But the brunette really was there and Enjyu didn't have any intentions of letting him go any time soon.
A small 'eep' caused them both to jump and break apart and both instantly turned to face a very startled Li. "I was…Mie said…I'll just be in this…general direction." He quickly pointed back the way he'd come and ran off. Wen flushed at being caught by his younger brother and hid his face in Enjyu's shoulder. "I bet anything this is karma for when I caught them." He mumbled. Enjyu laughed slightly and wrapped his arms a little tighter around his waist. "Hey Wen."
"Hm?"
"What does this mean exactly?" Wen sighed and reached up to knock Enjyu upside the head. "Well, since I don't usually make a habit of making out with random guys, I'd say we're dating. But don't think you're off the hook for this 'competition' thing. You're still going to pay for that." Enjyu thought of questioning whether or not Gray was also going to be in trouble but thought better of it. In a way, he'd already paid for it. After all, it was Gray who'd prompted Wen to come talk to him in the first place and Gray was no idiot. He had probably figured this would happen. He could deal with whatever punishment Wen came up with.
He did think about reconsidering though when he realized just how much pink was involved.