Author's Note: We have officially reached the conclusion of Book I: School Rumble. I know there were a bit of complaints about the length but it was all for the "introduction" of characters and I haven't forgotten most of the plot holes I left, it was all done on purpose. Keep a look out for Book II! Thanks for keeping up with this fiction.
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Buttercup leisurely rotates her head to the left after she unexpectedly overhears a feminine voice calls to out her. She then recognizes it as her close friend, Midori.
"Well…well…well what do we have here?" The teenager speaks up once the red head and a brunette male draw near the duo.
A slight blush tints her cheeks at the accusation, which causes her to unknowingly stutter during her responds, "Oh, it's nothing."
Butch watches as Midori and Drake approach Buttercup when he decides to add in to the shenanigans, "If I didn't know any better…it looks like you two are on a date."
"No," "Correct" were their respective answers, which earns chuckles from the raven haired duo.
"Well then, what are you two doing here?" Midori questions the duo, whose faces never seem to change when they answer, "A date."
The ginger teen suddenly feels a pat on one of her shoulders and a voice claims, "You were never going to win that argument in the first place."
"So are you two about to hit the track? Bet we can outrace you two?" Drake challenges the pair with a confident smirk on his face.
A devilish glint materializes in their eyes at the dare, faces each other, nods their heads and declares, "Deal!"
"Are you coming, Midori?" The brunette inquires once he realizes that Midori was sort of frozen in place with an unsure expression on her face.
"It's just that…I've never driven one of them." She honestly confesses, which earns an expression of understanding from the young man.
Drake nods his head, ambles over to her, places a hand of encouragement against her lower back, directs her to the track, and asserts, "I'll teach you."
A small smile stretches across her face as the pair venture to the entrance of the track. Butch and Buttercup patiently waited for their arrival.
"We'll be racing as a team." The brunette declares after they approach a twin seated go-kart and plops down in the driver and passenger side.
"Fine," They agreed to the terms before they strapped themselves in two single go-karts.
The traffic light was red as they receive instructions on dos and don'ts for the karts and the tracks.
Buttercup simply peers over to Butch and casually asks while she revs up the engine, "Do you have any objections, Butchy boy?"
He merely shakes his head and responds with an evil smirk on his face as he presses his gas pedal, "None, whatsoever."
The light changes from red to yellow that repeatedly blinks three times all while the track workers instantly shuffle out of the way of the karts.
Drake nods his head prior to his declaration of "Whoever crosses the finish line first wins," right when the light turns from yellow to green.
The sound of tires screeching and scent of burning rubber was immediately catching Midori's attention. Her body roughly slams against the kart.
The wind gently whips against her face, which causes a trail of tears to trickle from the corner of her eyes. She rapidly blinks her eye lids in order to maintain focus.
"Bye losers!" Butch loudly shouts as both him and Buttercup purposely swerve right in front of them with their karts.
The red head watches as the raven haired duo swiftly yet gracefully maneuver through the twists and turns of the course.
"Are you enjoying yourself?" Midori manages to overhear Drake's question.
She peers over to notice that his face remains completely serene even in the midst of craziness.
'How can he remain so calm?' The red head ponders before he breaks her out of her thoughts with "Hold on tight. We're about to win."
Butch briefly glances behind him only to see Buttercup was on his tail. Yet there was no Drake, which leads him to contemplate, 'Wait…did he want us to take the lead in the first place? I gotta think of something fast...'
"Yo Butter, take the front!" He yells over to his counterpart once she catches up to him. "I think Drake wanted us to take the lead."
At that moment, the rev of an engine suddenly catches their attention along with a chuckle from none other than the brunette himself.
Butch unintentionally mutters a "shit" under his breath right before he shouts to Buttercup, "Win!"
She slams on the gas, which causes the rear end of the go-kart to skirt left then right before she speeds off through the downward slope portion.
Midori observes as Drake's sights hone in on the kart in front of him while her eyes settle on Butch, who was in front of them.
"It's not going to happen." He claimed as he elegantly bypassed Butch, who seemed unsurprised about the driver's action.
A "whoa" slips from the ginger's mouth while she stares at Butch only to hear, "You ain't seen nothing yet."
The raven haired male merely shrugs his shoulders and gasses his cart forward so he would not be left behind.
"I think Drake wanted us to have the lead." Buttercup replays in her mind right before the traffic light and the sound of a kart's engine abruptly catches her focus.
She felt a nudge from the rear right side of her bumper, which prompts her to veer right in front of the cart.
'I'm not going to make this easy.' Buttercup considers as she desperately attempts to maintain her lead in front of the duo.
A "damn" slips from her lips once she realizes that they gain a little leeway, which was bad news especially since a turn was about to come up.
All of a sudden, a flash from the camera on their right slightly blinds them as they motor underneath the shed.
"So who won?" The three simultaneously question to one of the tracker workers once they cease their engine.
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Serena grabs a black hat with a circular brim, settles it on her head, grabs her purse and keys, ambles outside of her apartment and locks the door behind her.
She carefully steps down the stairs and casually slides in the passenger side seat once the door was open for her to enter.
"Good evening," The auburn haired woman cordially greets the purple haired male with a warm smile on her face.
He returns the same greeting before he presses the accelerator and motors out of the parking lot with a similar smile.
"So what's the plan for today?" Serena curiously wonders what was on the schedule for their date after she secures herself in the seatbelt.
A confident smirk appears on his face at the question before he retorts, "I know you don't like surprises…"
"I trust you." She honestly admits with her sights on the scenery rather than the driver.
Alma peers over to his date, studies her facial expression and admits "I'll try not to mess that up."
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Brick closely follows Blossom as her rage constantly seeps from her pores. Her intense aura completely frightens the nurses and the doctors in the hospital.
"So Pinkie, are you going to tell me what's wrong?" He carefully asked once they made it outside of the building.
She instantly halts and swiftly rotates toward him only to feel his chest against her face. A slightly heavy weight lands on her shoulders.
"Talk to me, pinkie." Brick soothingly encourages her to speak while his hands weave through her hair, which is surprisingly soft at the touch.
Blossom hands' instinctively found their way to his back, tightly gripped his shirt in her hands, and revealed, "Bell was the one who put Flash in the hospital."
"Do you know why?" He needles once he feels her shift again in order to answer, "I plan to go kick her butt to find out."
"Don't be that person, Blossom." Brick adamantly declares as he tightens his hold on her before he continues, "Don't let this taint your soul. Continue being the pure and innocent Pinkie that I know you are."
"I, of all people, know that road and continue to live in regret every day that I am allowed to wake up to a new day. I don't want you to carry that burden." He firmly asserts while he tightens his hold on her.
Her hold on him eases and now her hands were against his chest when she voices, "Just take me home."
The orange haired male nods his head, eases his grip, secures her hand in his grasps and advances in the direction of her home.
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Bubbles slowly wakes from her unconscious slumber with an expression of confusion and unawareness.
'How did I get back in my room?' She wonders once she studies her surroundings and registers it as her room.
An "ugh" emits from her mouth when she feels her temple starts to throb. She slowly shifts to the edge of her bed until a noise captures her attention.
"Good morning, sleepyhead." A familiar masculine voice greets her in a cheery tone, which earns a pair of light blue eyes on him.
"Boomie," The blonde utters his name once she recognizes her blonde counterpart with a small smile on his face.
"How long was I out for?" She poses while she cradles her forehead as she speaks to him.
Boomer's eyes separate from the young woman, lands on the face of the clock, and directs his gaze back toward her.
"For about four hours…" He supplies an answer before he questions, "…but do you remember anything?"
Bubbles raise an eyebrow at the question when she retorts, "What do you mean?"
"Do you remember when we went to the movies?" He starts from point one in order to see what all she can recall.
"Yeah and after that…nothing," She honestly admits once her hand returns back to her side.
'It's the same way with her as it was with Buttercup. She couldn't remember that she killed Bell at her own pool party.' Boomer recalls right before he remarks, "It was a good movie but it's time I head on home."
"Okay," She says as he draws near her, places a chaste kiss on her forehead, and whispers a "good night" before his departure.
'I wonder what Boomie was talking about?'
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The four teenagers tightly huddled around the television screens at the Go-Kart stand to see who crossed the finish line first. It was at that moment did, one of them mention, "It was a photo finished, huh?"
"Yeah, we're just waiting for them to pull it up so we can see who won." Buttercup comments as anxiety starts to get the better of them.
Butch casts his sights over to the brunette and jabs, "I didn't know you had it in you Drake."
"I mean...I might have illegally raced a couple cars when I was younger but you know it's like learning to ride a bike all over again." Drake comments with a smirk on his face and a shrug of his shoulders.
"Even I must admit, you do have some skills." Buttercup honestly confessed along with a nod of her head as her arms were tucked underneath her chest.
Drake's eyes widen at the compliment before he proclaims, "Why that means a lot from THE Buttercup but I think Midori might consider that as…flirting."
A blush materializes on Midori's face as she directs her sights to the floor after she listens to the brunette male.
Buttercup chuckles at the accusation when she promptly discloses, "I think Butchie boy wouldn't like that either."
Butch notices that the small television screen finally displays their turn on the track, which causes him to broadcast to the group, "Here's the final picture!"
"Is it a tie?" Midori inquistively poses as she closely observes the picture on the screen until Drake eventually points out, "Actually...Midori's tongue is sticking out so we win by default."
"No way in hell!" The raven haired duo firmly shriek with stares from the declaration of victory for the other team.
Drake scoops her up in his arms, spins her around, exclaims "We won", places her back on the ground and directs his sights on the pair.
"Well we do hope you two enjoy the rest of your night." He offers some parting words with a grin on his face.
"I hope you two don't think that this is over." Butch grits as he speaks while he tightly clenches his fists, which earns the question from Midori, "Uh oh, what have we started?"
The two couples actively competed in various arcade games from shootout, trivia, reflexes, strength and even the crane. The urgent sense of competition eventually fizzled away and was replaced with complete utter fun.
Eventually, the fun had to come to an end once the clock struck 11 and the arcade had to close for the night.
"I don't know about you guys but it has been a pretty fun night!" Drake happily exclaims as he punches the air to display his joy.
Butch instantly sucks his teeth at his friend's jovial display and irritably jaws, "Fun, eh?"
"Aw Butchy don't be like that," Buttercup calmly soothes his temper before she retorts, "I'm actually kinda of glad that we ran in to the lovely couple."
"Couple…" The red head only repeats that word, which prompts the playful accusation, "You two did look pretty cozy in the go-kart together."
Midori's face rivals the color of her hair prior to the raven haired girl's comment, "Oh look, we made her blush…"
She simply walks away while Drake chuckles along with them before he offers some kind words before his departure.
The couple face each other, amble in the direction of Butch's bike, and execute a high five with each other.
"Good work, partner." Buttercup suddenly mentions with a smirk on her face, which earns her a "Same to you too."
"Now let's head home."
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"Tomorrow is the start of the tourney, eh?" A random voice suddenly reminds the person across from them after they sip on their Herbal Tea.
"More like the daylong meeting for the tournament." Another voice promptly corrects the person in front of them with a thin smile on their face.
The first voice sips from the tea before they allege, "You make it sound like it's going to be boring."
The second voice leisurely leans back in their chair, stares at the people around them, and claims, "Not really, especially since I heard about a little incident."
"And what might that be?" The first voice curiously wonders with a happy gleam in their eyes as they spoke.
A smile eventually cracks on their face prior to their claim, "It seems as if Pokey Oaks had a little hiccup recently."
"Oh…do spill the tea." The person happily encourages with a smile and along with a round of applause in delight.
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Author's Note:
04.05.17 Major editing revisions