Reunion Picnic

It was a clear day with it being lunch time at school. Ina, Mia, and Akane were eating together like a picnic, with a plain blue blanket to sit on.

"How are you liking this school so far Mia?" Akane asked curiously.

"Just fine," Mia said with a forced smile. "It has been a very pleasant experience so far."

"I agree," Ina said cheerfully. "Everyone is really nice here. I just wish that there was an archery club here."

"You into archery?" Mia asked.

"More than that," Ina said proudly. "I'm a archery martial artist." Akane and Mia both looked confused.

"There is a style like that?" Mia asked in confusion.

"Of course there is," Ina replied. "I can't believe that neither of you heard of it."

"Well I practice martial arts but I don't know a lot about the rest of any styles," Akane stated.

"I know enough to defend myself," Mia said with a pondered look.

"Really?" Akane sounded surprised. "No offense but you don't seem the type."

"Thanks for the judgment," Mia said with a sigh.

"Sorry," Akane apologized and bowed her head.

"But moving on," Ina continued. "Matches are simple. Each person has a target behind them. The closer to the bulls eye that you are, the more points you get. Each archer has only three shots to use to score. Of course, you fight each other to try to distract the other archer from scoring. It can get really intense and mess up your aim."

"I'll bet," Mia agreed.

"But you could always try to start an archery club," Akane suggested. "You just need to talk to the school board to see if you could get funding. And you will need people to get it up and running."

"Yeah," Ina said with a sigh. "And I have horrible people skills."

"Yet here you are with us," Mia pointed out.

"Yes but I bumped into you the first time we met," Ina said sadly.

"Actually I bumped into you," Mia said with a smile. Ina blinked twice and then did a face palm.

"You're right." Akane laughed.

"I am so sorry," she apologized. "I just got this funny picture in my head of you two ramming into each by accident."

She is thinking weird things again, Mia thought. But then again, some of the others were more weird thinkers than her. Shampoo was one of them. Actually, that brings up a good question, what happened to Shampoo and the others? I haven't seen them here at all.

"Mia!" Ina shouted. Mia snapped back into reality and looked over at her.

"Sorry. I spaced pretty badly didn't I?"

"Yeah," Ina replied. "I was trying to ask you if you would join the archery club if I got it up?"

"At this point I don't know," Mia answered honestly. Ina sighed.

"It's cool."

"What cool?" a familiar voice came from behind Ina. They all looked up to see Shampoo standing there.

Shampoo? Mia thought in shock.

"When did you get back?" Akane asked happily.

"Little while ago," Shampoo replied. "We'll talk later. Want to meet new friends."

"She talks funny," Ina said plainly.

"Well Shampoo here is from China," Akane explained. "Shampoo this is Ina. And over there is Mia."

"Nice to meet you," Ina said with a smile.

"A friend of Akane's is a friend of mine," Mia said with a nervous smile.

"You seem nervous?" Shampoo said with a thoughtful tone.

"I always get nervous around new people," Mia lied. "Just give me some time and I won't be nervous."

"Okay," Shampoo replied with a smile.

"And you are still nervous around us too," Ina said with a pout.

"Just give me time please," Mia replied with a nervous smile. Ina sighed and nodded her head.

"Now to reason why I here," Shampoo said while looking at Akane.

"We can go somewhere private," Akane replied. She stood up and guided Shampoo to a secluded location. Ina and Mia were left on their picnic spot.

"What do you think that was all about?" Ina asked curiously.

"I have no idea," Mia replied. She then went back to eating her food.

WwwwwwW

Akane and Shampoo went behind the gymnasium for privacy. However, they soon saw Ryoga and Mousse back there.

"Mousse?" Akane said in shock. "Ryoga?"

"Good to see that you are doing well Akane," Ryoga said with a smile.

"Indeed," Mousse agreed. Akane walked over to them anxiously.

"Did you find him?" she asked. Sadly, they both shook their heads. Akane's head lumped down with depression.

"We got on his trail a few times but he escaped every time," Mousse explained.

"We had five people on his trail the entire time," Ryoga added, "and he still managed to escape every single time."

"Five?" Akane said while raising her head a little.

"Genma, Ryoga, Mousse, creepy old guy, and I," Shampoo explained.

"Creepy old. . . .Happosai," Akane said with a sigh.

"He told us to head back here since we have been away for an entire year," Ryoga explained.

"We tried arguing with him that more people on the search the better," Mousse added.

"In end we couldn't convince," Shampoo said with a sigh. Akane was silent, depression filled her slowly, ready to swallow her whole.

"But we do know that he is alright," Ryoga said with a sad smile. "After all, he was able to make us lose his trail multiple times. So we know that he is well."

"Sadly though that is all we have," Mousse said with a sigh. Akane looked at them happily and hugged them.

"Thank you," she said with some tears rolling down her face. "For putting so much effort into finding him."

"We not done," Shampoo said bravely.

"Yeah," Ryoga agreed. "Happosai said he would come back soon. When he does, we will set out again to find him."

"We promise you this Akane," Mousse said confidently, "we will not give up until we find him." Akane happily cried in the arms of her friends.

WwwwwwW

A few minutes have passed and Akane and Shampoo had not returned from their talk.

"I wonder what is taking so long," Ina said curiously.

"It might be something serious," Mia replied.

"It is," a voice came from behind them. They turned around to see Ukyo holding several containers in one hand, each stacked on top of the other. Mia tightened up and looked at her.

Ukyo? she though in shock.

"And how do you know?" Ina said firmly.

"You must be Ina," Ukyo stated. Ina blinked twice.

"How do you know me?"

"Akane told me about you. You must be the nervous Mia right?"

"Y-Yes," Mia stuttered.

"No need to be like that," Ukyo said with a warmly smile. "Any friend of Akane's is a friend of mine."

"She is just nervous around new people is all," Ina stated. "Give her time and she'll be less nervous. Although, she is still not use to Akane or me yet."

"I'm sorry," Mia apologized.

"It's okay," Ina said with a smile. "No need to apologize."

"Akane wasn't kidding when she said you are nervous," Ukyo stated. It was then Akane, Ryoga, Shampoo, and Mousse walked over to them.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Akane apologized. Mia stared at them in shock.

Ryoga and Mousse too, she thought in shock. Got to keep my composure. Mia took a deep breath to calm down.

"What's wrong with her?" Ryoga asked curiously.

"She's just nervous is all," Akane said with a smile. "Mia it's okay. These are my friends."

"I s-see," Mia said nervously.

"Wow she is really nervous," Mousse stated.

"And you just met lots of people today," Ina said with a smile. "This is great."

"Excuse me," Mia said quietly. "I need to use the rest room." She got up and quickly walked away.

"What was that all about?" Ryoga asked curiously.

"I don't know," Akane said with a confused tone.

"She must have reason," Shampoo speculated.

"Yeah," Ukyo agreed. "It's best not to push her and let her tell us when she is ready."

"But it does make you wonder," Ina pointed out. "What happened to her?" The others were lost in thought about that question. What did happen to Mia to make her like that.

WwwwwwW

Mia walked into the closest bathroom she could find. Once she knew that no one was in there, she punched a wall hard.

"Dammit," she cursed. She removed her hand from the wall and there was a fist sized dent in the wall.

They are all here, she thought sadly. Why? I know that they couldn't have followed me here. Yet, here they are. Did I leave something behind that shouldn't have been left behind. How and why are they here? I just don't understand. Tears were slowly falling from her eyes. She quickly wiped them away and stood up. She took some deep breaths to calm down.

"It doesn't matter," she said quietly. "It doesn't matter. I will still see to my mission." She took another deep breath and collected herself. She then turned around and saw a young man walk in. They both stared at each other.

"What are you doing?" he asked in shock.

"That should be my question," Mia said firmly. "Walking into a women's bathroom like that."

"No this is the men's bathroom," he said firmly. Mia's blinked twice.

"What?" she asked. The young man held the door opened to show the sign that this was the men's bathroom.

"You see," he stated. Mia quickly rushed out of there with a flustered face. Some did see her leave there too.

How embarrassing, she thought.

End of Chapter

The ones that have chased her have caught up.

Is this by chance or fate?

Will Mia be revealed?

See what happens in the next chapter of. . . .

Tragic Love

Please Review

Author's Note:

Hey guys, sorry for the long update delay for this chapter. A few things contributed to that. One, trying to think of a cover; two, life got really complicated, and three, I'm working on a project right now that takes up time. However, I am getting back to my updating a story once a week ways while balancing out some other things. I hope you liked this update and once again, sorry for the delay.