Chapter 64: Being Together

On Saturday...

In Emma's room, she's fast asleep when her alarm rang from her phone. She woke up and turned it off. "It's 7am...oh yes! We're going to the park for a morning jog!" She got up and went to change. Opening her wardrobe, she took out a pink tank top and black jogging pants followed by a pair of white socks. She suited up, took her phone, wore her shoes and left to meet her boyfriend.

At the park...

Kappei is outside the entrance waiting as he did a bit of stretching. Soon enough, "Kappei!"

"Morning Emma!" He greeted her as they entered the park. "Before we run, we do some warm-ups with some stretching." said Kappei.

"Agreed." Emma replied and they did them for a minute. After that, they walked to the jogging path and began.

They jogged one round around the park with the song, "Can't Stop the Feeling" from Justin Timberlake playing from Emma's phone during their run and after that, they rested on the park bench for 2 minutes. "Need some water?" Kappei asked as he created an orb of water.

Emma opened her mouth and Kappei manipulated the orb to lightly shoot a stream into her mouth quenching her thirst. "Ah...it's so refreshing." She described.

"Indeed. I never thought the water I created is drinkable." said Kappei as he drank some. After the rest, they jogged another round with the song, "Hey, Soul Sister" by Train followed by another 2 minute break. This went on for another 3 rounds with the songs, "Circles" by Post Malone, "Sugar" by Maroon 5 and "Better Man" by Westlife.

Now 5 rounds of jogging in the park is invigorating as Kappei and Emma rested. "Whew! I'm sweating right now!" Kappei exclaimed as he created a small orb of water and popped it in his mouth drinking it.

"Me too..." Emma then looked up and noticed something. "See that tree Kappei?"

"Yeah..." They went to check it and, "I carved a heart and our first letters from our names!" Kappei remembered.

"We even had our first date here on this spot. Not to mention playing with a family of cute, bunnies!" said Emma and speaking of which, "There they are!" Kappei exclaimed as the family of 12 bunnies popped out to meet them. "Awww.. if I knew we'll be meeting them, we could have given them a banana." Emma exclaimed as she pet a baby bunny on it's head.

"Wait here." Kappei spun around generating a whirlwind around him and sped off. A minute later, he returned with a banana as he threw it to Emma. She caught it, peeled it and placed it on the grass as the bunnies nibbled it all up together.

The couple smiled at this as they looked at them for a second and went back to their burrow. "Well, it was short but a good one." said Kappei.

"Indeed. Let's head back. I could really use a nice, relaxing bubble bath." said Emma as they left the park.

Back at the dorms...

"Ah...this feels great! I'm pleased they upgraded our bathrooms when we're on vacation though I still often go to the onsen to bathe and soak myself." Emma spoke to herself and she's in the bath soaking herself with the bubbles as she washed her body and scrubbed her arms. She then raised her left leg up and scrubbed it followed by her right leg. Those are some curvy legs as she sat back and, "Oh Kappei...ah...yes...yes!...Take me..." Okay that was unexpected but what is she doing?!

Well after her long and lovely bath, she suited up in her signature attire and went down for breakfast and today, they serve pancakes with 3 flavours. Blueberry, strawberry and chocolate. Emma took one each, added some maple syrup and sat down to enjoy it. She also got a glass of apple juice as Vega and Maeve soon sat with her and they also got their breakfast.

"What's up!" Vega greeted.

"Morning." Maeve greeted also as the 3 girls ate and chat together. "Hey Emma, you got any plans on what we can do on Kappei's birthday?" Vega asked.

"For starters, we're going to throw a party for him in our class. Davis will keep him busy while the rest of us do the set up." Emma explained.

"And do you have any roles for the whole class to play for the party setup?" Maeve asked.

"I do. And I need you two to find our other classmates and tell them their roles for the party."

"Consider it done!" said Vega as the girls had a toast with their drinks. "By the way, you got plans today?"

"Kappei and I will be having lunch outside. He's booked a reservation yesterday at some expensive restaurant." Emma answered.

"Aw...he's such a caring person for you Emma. He really is for his love for you grows." said Maeve and she can smile brightly over this.

After breakfast, Emma spent the morning at the park again practicing her dance moves and recorded herself a new dancing video. Once she got back to the dorms and uploaded it on Nintube. It was time for lunch. "Better get moving then."

It then cuts to a place called, Swiss Delights and the couple arrived for their lunch date as a waitress noticed their presence and went to attend to them. "I'm here for a reservation." Kappei told her and his name as she checked it via the tablet and, "Follow me."

Inside, they are seated and given menus by 2 waiters and they began browsing through. "Wow...they got some melted cheese in a pot and we can dip pieces of bread in it!" Emma noticed in the menu.

"We can order it and share it together." said Kappei.

"Sure thing!" Emma agreed and after browsing through, Kappei raised his hand and a waiter attended to him as he submitted their order. Once done, "By the way, it's no surprise you can bring me out to an expensive place like this." Emma spoke up.

"I sure won a lot of credits from the sports event." said Kappei. "And did my best to save as much as I can."

"Say, what about Gumchi? Is he doing something right now?" Emma asked.

"He's hanging out with Shane." Kappei answered and the scene cuts to Gumchi riding on Shane in his crocodile form and he's doing his own self-training for he's crawling around the track course training on his speed. "Wheeee! Crocee! Walkee! Crocee! Trainee!" Gumchi cheered as he stood up and played with his shinai as Shane completed one round. "Only 4 more to go!" He exclaimed as he kept crawling.

Back to the couple as they chat some more when their order has arrived. Kappei ordered a large Rosti with 2 garlic pork sausages and a serving of sour cream while Emma ordered a regular portion of Papet Vaudois which is leeks and potatoes mashed and stewed together served with a piece of garlic pork sausage. Both of them had glasses of blood orange and the pot of cheese is served hot with some small pieces of bread. "Let's see how cheesy the cheese sauce is." Kappei dipped a piece of bread in it and sampled it. "Wow...that cheese has got kick in the quality and taste!"

"Let me try!" Emma sampled it and is beaming in excitement after tasting it. "It's so cheesy!"

"I know right?" Both of them enjoyed the rest of their lunch time even dipping a small of sausage in the cheese sauce and eating it. Not to mention they had a toast with their drinks.

After that, they went to the mall as in a clothing store, "Which dress would look nice on me?" Emma is seen examining some designs as Kappei watched her and looked around a bit. "I have enough clothes in my wardrobe already." He thought as he watched Emma check out a shirt.

Several minutes later, movie time as they went to the theatres to see the latest movies. "Wow! Sonic the Hedgehog 3! This looks like a really good movie." said Kappei.

"I'll buy the tickets and you buy the snacks." said Emma.

"Sure thing!" He replied and they split up for their tasks. Emma was able to select the backseats and received the tickets after using her credits for the purchase. She then saw Kappei still at the snack area. "What's taking him..." She wondered as she went to him.

"Oh good timing. I can't help but decide on chocolate or strawberry flavoured popcorn." He stated.

"Hmmm...you think they can be mixed?"

"I'll ask." Kappei approached the lady at the counter and asked about it. Soon, he got a tub of the 2 flavours mixed as he gave the thumbs up. Emma is pleased to see this as she took the soda and they entered the theatre.

Inside while waiting, "I've seen the first and second movie. You?" Kappei asked.

"Same. Watched the first 2 with the kids back in the orphanage even when I'm still with you and the others back at the academy." said Emma as commercials and ads ran for several minutes and finally, movie time.

2 hours later, they can be seen leaving the cinema as they talked in excitement about the amount of action, humour and how the voice actors nailed their roles in it. They resumed their mall fun by checking out some stuff at various shops, went out for dinner at the food court and after that, they headed back to the dorms.

That night...

"Kappei's birthday is soon! Have you decided what to give him for his birthday present?" Naomi asked and yes, the girls have another online chatting session via video call.

"Well...I intend to bake him a birthday cake." Emma began.

"That's it? You must do more than that!" said Lucy.

"Yeah! Didn't Lucy suggest you give him some sex appeal? We all did that already! Even Naomi's going to do the same!" said May.

"Nope. Don't believe May, she's just trying to-"

"Oh admit it Naomi, you were watching him practice his basketball moves during practice and you were acting all lovely-dovely when doing so." May brought up. "You might be even thinking about wanting to-"

"Lalala! I can't hear you!" Naomi took action by covering her ears as the girls laughed at this. On the other hand, "I have already decided on his birthday present. I just have to wait until the day comes..." Emma thought to herself as the girls resume their chatting until bedtime.

So you all know already, next chapter is a birthday one for the ninja with the kendo experience and the only one with the Ancient-Ranked Awakened Power. Some people talked about it, even those outside mentioned it to Emma. Yes, she has something planned for him and it's gonna be special...

Character of the Chapter

Name: Shane

Profile

Born in Texas, Shane's family lives in the countryside owning a farm where they take care of the livestock and farm at the fields. At one point, Shane found a baby crocodile trapped in a cage and went to free it. Unknowingly, his power awakened and he ended up being mistaken as a father to the baby after freeing it using his power.

Shane and the crocodile bonded a lot and his parents saw right through it. Even so, upon learning of his story, his parents revealed to him about his ninja heritage.

With that, Shane was sent to a WNA Academy and trained there for 3 years until he's assigned to the high school in USK, California. Unfortunately, he can't bring his pet with him due to fears of devouring live students.

Awakened Power: Crocodile

Having a pet crocodile is one thing but being able to morph into one is another thing for Shane. In his crocodile form, he can swim fast in lakes and rivers and is able to crawl through small spaces to enter stronghold. He fights with his jaws for biting and tail for swiping.