..::: Kachi wo Sagashite ( Searching for a Victory ) :::.. Chapter 23

[Roy Karrde]

Chapter Twenty-One
The All-Seeing Eye

Jin awoke in the middle of the night, his lungs squeezed down to an impossibly small size, his breath coming out staggered as he clinched his chest. “Breathe…” He whispered to himself, commanding his lungs to expand and take in air as his hands clinched the sweat drenched nightshirt. “It isn’t real, it isn’t real.” He shook his head, his messy black hair spraying sweat everywhere; the dream was just that, a dream, nothing more. There were no swords, or white eyes looking down upon him.

“Rina?” His mind quickly turned to his five-year-old daughter, finding her sleeping soundly next to him, undisturbed by his outburst.

He gave out a soft sigh in relief and rose from the small bed, walking through the two-room apartment, which doubled as a personal studio. Supporting a young child had proved challenging enough, now it seemed almost impossible with his only source of income being a part time photographer for some less than reputable people.

“And I am out of food.” He sighed, placing his head on the fridge, his stomach already rumbling for an early morning snack. Worse yet Rina would be waking soon and wanting breakfast.

His eyes glanced to his sleeping daughter in the next room, and then to the manila folder that had been slipped under his doorway. “What is this?” He mumbled, picking up the folder. “Another politician job, or a celebrity?”

He reached into the folder, pulling out a check and a photo for a pretty young girl, no older than twenty, wearing a professional baseball uniform. “Celebrity.” He noted that the folder came from one of his more usual customers, a small tabloid magazine that loved embarrassing photos. “Naiya Koyama.” He read the name off the picture, studying it for a moment before placing it down on the table.

“Daddy?” Rina stepped into the room, clinging to her teddy bear.

“Did I wake you?” He stepped over to her, scooping her up into his arms before returning to the picture and flipping it over to see a note listing where she would be appearing and when she would be appearing. “Daddy is going to go take pictures of this girl.”

Rina shifted around a bit in his arms, sleepy and uncomfortable as she tried to see the photo. “Can I come too?” She gazed back up at her father.

Jin gazed around the empty apartment, it was already the weekend meaning he couldn’t just drop her off at day care, and the apartment itself was no place for a child of her age. If anything she could be more of a “help” toward his mission than a hinder by providing a distraction for Naiya while he snapped a few shots.

“Okay you can come.” He smiled, patting her head as Rina squealed in glee.

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Naiya moved the pen with effortless skill, following the motions that Touko had taught her to sign her name like an adult would. After countless hours of sitting at a small table, and signing countless pictures. She was able to get the motions down with near perfection. “Thank you for coming.” She nodded, flexing her cramping hand as a man walked away from the autograph table and the next one came up.

On days like these in which the team was off playing an “away” game, Naiya was forced to attend appearances and autograph signings to keep up the team’s image. As embarrassing as appearances were, she was able to hand them with ease. Autograph signings on the other hand became a test of patience as she forced her hands to sign countless pictures and keep a permanent smile on her face.

“I think I am going to go insane from all the smiling.” She mumbled through clinch teeth between people, glancing over at Li who remained at her side, shoulders slumped in boredom. “And you are not helping.” She added, her voice at a near whisper.

“I’m bored.” Li whined, waving a paw around the small coffee shop that the appearance was being held at. “The food here is horrible, they don’t even have chocolate to help keep my energy up.”

She gave him a quick roll of her eyes, checking her watch before acknowledging the next person to step up. “Only one more hour.” She whispered to Li, quickly signing the picture and handing it back.

“It’s already been seven hours!” Li waved his paws around frantically, practically shouting in frustration. “I can’t keep up the transformation forever, especially when I am starving!”

The last line gave her something to pause and worry about. He had to keep up the transformation, if Li didn’t it would put her in a very embarrassing situation of having to run out of a packed coffee house while her body changed back to the thirteen year old she actually was.

“And what is your name?” She quickly banished the thoughts from her mind, and focused on the young child and her father that was standing in front of her.

“Rina.”
“And how old are you Rina?”
“Five…”
“And do you like the Tokyo Tigers?”
“I kind of like watching Kyoto more.”

Naiya took in a deep gulp, trying to hold back her embarrassment and a small laugh as she signed the picture. “Well I enjoyed beating them.” She winked playfully handing the picture back to the young child.

Rina looked down at the picture and then back at Naiya, trying to understand what Naiya said and what she should say in return. Naiya in turn just smiled and waved, watching the two walk off.

“Ahem.” The next one in line cleared her throat, drawing Naiya’s attention back to the line as the woman stepped up to the booth.

“Thank you for…” Naiya’s mouth went completely dry, unable to form words as she gazed upon her mother walking up to the booth with a picture in hand. “Mom.” She found herself saying out loud.

Sakura gazed at the woman in front of her with mild annoyance, her arms crossed as she waited for the picture to be signed. She had used her lunch break to stand over an hour in line for the signature of the player her daughter endured. “Excuse me?”

Naiya remained slack jawed for a moment, struggling for the words to say. “I, you, I…” were the only things that were coming out.

“Naiya.” Li hissed, bringing her back to reality just long enough to write her autograph on the photo.

“You just remind me of my mom.” Naiya handed back the picture, her hand shaking as Sakura grasped it. For a moment their hands touched, their eyes met, in that moment Sakura felt a feeling only a mother could feel, the recognition of their child. “Thank you for coming.” Naiya added her eyes quickly darting away.

“Uh huh.” Sakura stepped away, still dazed from the entire experience as she found her way out of the shop.

Naiya returned to trying to sign her autographs, although her attention continued to waver. Had her mother recognized her, she still could not get over the look in her mother’s eyes as she handed back the autograph. “Li I need to go.” She rose from the table, scooping up the pale lion cub. “I just… I need to go.” She turned, walking through the side door to her left and out into an alley way beyond the store.

“Naiya…” Li whimpered in her hands.

Naiya pressed her body against the cold brick wall of the alleyway, trying to gather her thoughts the best she could. “Li the way she looked at me, that look in her eyes, I have to get back to the hospital.”

“Naiya I can’t hold the spell.” He cried out in pain, the familiar lights and sensations rushed through Naiya as she transformed back into the child she was.

“That was so cool!” A young voice piped up, filling the alleyway with excitement that only a young child could do. “Do it again!”

Naiya turned, finding herself looking at the young child who she had just met moments before. Along with her father who held a very nice, very expensive looking camera in his hands, snapping pictures every few seconds.

“Please don’t.” Naiya stepped forward, trying to reach for the man who stood at the other end of the alley.

Jin tucked the camera away under his jacket, grabbing Rina’s hand and exiting the alleyway before Naiya could get even half way down it. He had possibly the biggest story of the century, beyond the century, probably the biggest story in the universe. “Come along Rina.”

“Wait.” Naiya screamed rushing out of the alleyway, only to find that the man and his daughter had already merged into the normal pedestrian traffic and disappeared from sight.

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The room was dimly lit, not in a dark or spooky sort of way, but more in the way a person keeps his office while working into the evening hours. The entire ambiance of the room was enough for Jin to keep the camera close to him. “I was told I needed to see you.” He said, stepping toward the nicely carved desk.

“About what?” The Yukaza representative adjusted his glasses, his ice blue eyes shown ever so slightly when he moved them.

Jin stepped forward to the desk, his hands shaking ever so slightly as he flipped through the pictures on the digital camera. “I was told the Yukaza have ownership over her.” He held up the camera, showing the first picture of Naiya standing in the alleyway.

The man rose from his desk, taking his glasses off and looking directly into Jin’s eyes. “She did this thing, this transformation.” Jin continued, flipping through the various pictures to show a continuous transformation sequence.

If there was any sign of shock on the man’s face, he didn’t show it. Instead he just took the camera, examining the photos over and over again before looking up at Jin. “Are these the only copies?” He asked, placing the camera down upon the desk. “Of course they are…”

“I am going to expect some sort of payment, unless you want these photos to go to the press.” Jin snatched the camera off the table; suddenly wishing in his haste he had made several copies.

The man shook his head in disgust, holding out his hand toward Jin’s chest. “Naiya, her transformation, her role as a baseball player, those are all things you cannot possibly understand.” The air around his hand wavered, twisting and folding upon itself until a medieval sword appeared.

“They are beyond your comprehension.” He continued, thrusting the sword into Jin’s chest in one smooth quick motion. Just as what had happened with the sword, the air around the man wavered for a moment, twisting and turning, as the room seemed to distort for only a brief second. When it ended the smooth talking Yukaza man wasn’t standing there anymore. Instead was a tall, proud, Shinigami with wolf ears, the eyes though, the eyes remained the same ones he saw in his dream.

“And you never will.” Kuroe pulled the sword out of the man, the electricity of Jin’s soul flowing through the sword as he picked up the camera and deleted each and every picture that was on the disk drive.

[Perfect Chaos]

Chapter 21: Holy shit! Kuroe is the Yakuza guy?! Major plot twist, indeed, didn't see that coming. I wonder why he feels the need to pose as a Yakuza and all around Naiya. I also wonder if he knew of Naiya's transformation from the get-go (before the pictures)

Oh well, short chapter but knowing you, you'll come out with the next one in a short while

-Sean

[Roy Karrde]

I had to take a one week vacation due to a upper resperatory infection basically keeping me in bed.

Chapter Twenty-Two
One Last Chance

Cheers mixed in with roars of delight and victory filled the team hallways; as the bus taking the team back to the stadium from Tokyo Airport opened allowing the boisterous and jubilant team to spill out into the stadium. It had been a long flight back from Russia where the team had spent a five game stretch across Europe, but upon returning the feeling of energy and delight had reached epic proportions for them.

“Three more games!” The team chanted as they walked toward the locker room, holding up bats and other gear in the air like knights returning home from battle. “Three more games.” The chant continued.

Touko couldn’t help but smile, his usual rigid appearance seemed to relax in the energetic atmosphere. They were the current eighth seed in the standings, if they could hold on to that position for three more games they would be in the playoffs.

“Yeah, well we have to win them first.” He quickly dashed the smile, trying to not let the team see him too relaxed.

“Of course we can.” The backup catcher laughed, slinging an arm over Touko’s shoulder as if they had been lifelong friends. “Now that we are back home and have…” They opened the double doors to the locker room.

“Naiya.” Touko gulped in shock, seeing her sitting on the bench in front of a locker that obviously wasn’t hers.

For a moment she looked like a child who’s hand got caught in the cookie jar, only to quickly cover it with a fake smile. “I wanted to congratulate everyone when they got back!” She jumped up with a large smile, quickly being swarmed by at least half the team celebrating their victory and telling stories about their time in Europe.

Touko kept the same fake smile on his face, inching along the side of the crowd and catching sight of Naiya only a few times as he made his way to the locker where she was sitting. “Why are you here?” He wondered out loud, his voice only a whisper as he slid down the locker.

His hand fell beneath the bench, feeling around for a second for something that he already knew was there. He had already heard uncomfortable whispers before he left for Europe about Naiya arriving way too early lately, and now he had caught her in the locker room, all alone. “Hey Touko?” Someone shouted out just as his fingertips found the package taped beneath the bench.

“Yeah?” He jerked his hand away from the package, glancing around to find that Naiya and most of the others had already left.

“You’re blocking my locker.” The teammate tapped his foot in annoyance.

“Oh…sorry…” Touko rose, quickly scrambling to leave the locker room, knowing now that he had to confront her and what she was doing before anyone else found out.

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Naiya grabbed the brim of her hat, trying to keep it from sweeping away in the wind as they walked through the shopping districts of Tokyo. The breeze was the early sign that autumn was soon around the corner, that soon she would have to buy some long sleeves and prepare for the cold winds that autumn brought. “It smells so good.” She drew in a deep long breath, allowing the scent of autumn to fill her lungs.

Li coughed, pawing at his wet nose with his left paw. “Uh huh.” He sneezed several times, his eyes watering. “I just want my allergies to end.”

Naiya gave him a quick glance before striding over to one of the outdoor booths. “Can’t you just hibernate?” She offered as Li slowly followed.

“Do I look like a be…be…” Li let out a loud sneeze, sending him flying back a good foot or two. “Like a bear?”

She turned, giving him a quick glance as a smile crossed her face. “Sometimes in the morning when your fur is sticking up…” She let the sentence trail off with Li glaring back at her.

“Let me GO!” The girl next to them screamed, kicking her feet while being held by the arm, her feet just inches above the ground as a giant brute of a man held her in the air. “Whatever he said I did, I didn’t do it!”

Naiya and Li both turned to look at her, watching as the girl twisted and turned, her long black hair waving in the wind as she tried to get out of the man’s grip. “What’s happening?” Naiya asked, walking away from the booth and toward the girl.

The young girl twisted around, matching eyes with Naiya. “Sis! Sis! Tell him that I was with you, and that I didn’t steal anything,” The girl hissed out the last few words, placing as much anger in as possible.

“I…” Naiya shot a glance toward Li and then looked back into the girl’s eyes. It was then she remembered that she had seen the girl before; she had accidentally bumped into her at the bookstore just weeks before. “She was with me.”

The man looked directly at her, peering into Naiya’s eyes until she had to look away, unable to look into the eyes of someone she was lying to. “If I catch you around here again…” He dropped the girl who instinctively rubbed the red marks on her arm.

The girl stuck out her tongue in response the minute the man’s back was turned, keeping her tongue out till long after the man had gone inside. “Thanks, I thought he would never let me go.”

“What was all of that about? Did you really steal from that store?” Naiya asked, strolling past the various shops with her.

“Possibly.” The girl shrugged, pulling out a long emerald pendent from her pocket. “Maybe if they lowered their prices, they wouldn’t have so many thefts.”

Li let out a long and very loud growl as he flew in front of the girl. “She is a thief! Go and tell that man the truth.”

“How about you shut up you flying fur ball!” The girl exclaimed, stabbing a finger into Li’s muzzle. “I never said I stole it!”

“Will you two stop it?” Naiya screamed out, ending the arguing immediately as both turned to look at her in shock and surprise. “Wait… you can see him?” She eventually spoke as it dawned on her that Li and this girl were actually fighting.

The girl rolled her eyes, pocketing the pendent. “Of course I can see the ugly fuzzball.”

Li nearly did a complete flip in shock. “Something must be wrong, something must be wrong.” He muttered, flying around as he tried to digest what had just happened. “It must be the Dominion, this must be some kind of cruel joke.”

“Is he always like that?” The girl asked as the two of them took a seat on the ledge of a round fountain created to be the middle of the square.

“Most of the time.” Naiya laughed as the two girls giggled, watching Li fly around above them, muttering various things that neither of them could understand. “So, I’m Naiya.” She extended her hand, noticing for the first time that she was the same height as the girl, if not an inch or two higher.

The girl glanced down at the hand for a moment before finally answering. “I’m Kisa… I don’t usually shake hands.”

Naiya quickly withdrew it, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment. “It’s something that I picked up from watching television all day.”

“All day?”
“Well, I do kind of have a hobby that I do from time from time…”
“What about school?”
“I kind of haven’t been for… a couple of years.”

Now it was Kisa’s turn to recoil again in shock. “You haven’t been for years? That is so cool!”

Naiya shook her head in embarrassment, reaching up for the cap on her head and slowly removing it to show her bald, smooth head. “It’s… not really that cool.” Naiya’s voice dropped to a whisper as she blushed in embarrassment.

“Yeah well, you try to take a math test with out studying, I would do anything not to go to school.” Kisa leaned back far enough to nearly tumble into the fountain; the only thing stopping her from falling was Naiya quickly pulling her forward.

“Thanks…” Kisa laughed in embarrassment as Naiya settled back down. “That would have been really embarrassing.” She giggled as a smile crossed Naiya’s face.

“Maybe I can wipe her memory or something.” Li fluttered back down in Naiya’s lap; drawing glares from both of them. “Did I miss something?”

“Can he do that?” Kisa leaned forward, giving Li’s muzzle a curious poke with her finger, only to have him try to bite her finger in jealousy.

Naiya shook her head, giving Li’s tail a soft pinch to try and get him to calm down. “Don’t worry, Li can be weird sometimes, but he can’t wipe your memory…. At least I don’t think so.” Naiya’s voice trailed off as Li gave Kisa a devilish smile.

Naiya glanced around, trying to find something to discuss and stop the fighting. “Do you like baseball?” She finally asked, reaching into her back pocket as she remembered the spare tickets that she had been given for the final regular season game.

Kisa made a face of disgust, wrinkling her nose and scrunching up her eyes. “I hate it, I mean it’s so boring, having to wait and wait for things to happen.” She rolled her eyes, bringing down Naiya’s spirits. “Yet my dad loves it, he just can’t get enough of it.”

Naiya pulled the tickets from her pocket, holding them out. “Then maybe he would like these.”

Kisa glanced down at the tickets, eyeing them with a bit of suspicion. “Are those stolen?” She asked, slowly taking the tickets from Naiya’s hand as something in her pocket began to beep and move about.

“No, they are not stolen, she isn’t a thief like you.” Li hissed in anger as Kisa took out her cell phone, speaking into it for a moment before closing it.

Naiya quickly pulled Li back as Kisa pocketed the cell phone and the tickets. “That was my dad, I have to meet him for dinner, maybe we could meet again tomorrow?” She offered, taking her cell out again and opening it.

“That… would be fun.” Naiya’s voice trailed off as she tried to glance over Kisa’s shoulder to see what was on the cell phone display. “You have your own cell?” She added as Kisa flipped through the various screens, stopping at her name and number.

“Yep!” Kisa replied cheerfully, writing out her cell number on a loose scrap of paper, handing it over to Naiya before rising. “Call me tonight.” She waved to Naiya before rushing off to meet her father.

“Don’t steal anything!” Li called after her, grinning with satisfaction that he got in one last quip before turning back to Naiya. “What’s wrong?” His tail instantly drooped as he saw Naiya looking down at the piece of paper in her shaking hands.

“Her name.” Naiya’s voice came out nearly a horse whisper, leading her to gulp in another breath of air. “Her name is Kisa Koyama, I saw it on her cell phone.” Her eyes never left the piece of paper that Kisa had given her.

“I think she might be my sister.”

[Perfect Chaos]

Chapter 22: Hmm, so Kisa might be related to Naiya? It seems her Dad's been busy ever since he left them so many years back. I wonder what this will mean for the rest of the characters and overall plot. I'll be honest, the whole first scene with Touko and Naiya in the locker-room confused me. What exactly did she do/happened?

[Roy Karrde]

Chapter Twenty-Three
Untold Secrets

The dull steps of a lone woman walking down an empty hallway rang out as Sakura made her midnight trek around the hospital, her left hand out feeling the imperfections and roughness of the teal colored walls. Using the touch of the walls to guide her as she walked aimlessly through the maze that was the hospital, her mind already far off in another place.

When Naiya was going through some of her worse spells in the first year, Sakura would walk the empty hallways to help drive away her insomnia. Yet as the years had gone past, she had done it fewer and fewer times. Now after nearly a year of not having to perform the trek to cure her insomnia, she had done it not once, but twice in the past week.

Her mind would continue to go back to that day just a few weeks ago in which she had gone to get the autograph of a pitcher that her daughter admired. She had spent most of her lunch hour braving the long suffocating line before finally reaching the woman. At first she had noticed the woman was unable to even look into her eyes. Yet that wasn’t what caused her mind to drag her back to that moment.

It was when she had taken back the picture, their fingers had touched for only a second, but when they touched it felt as if a small shock had gone through her. And for a moment the near adult woman was no longer sitting in front of her, but her own daughter sitting there and looking up at her.

Just seeing her daughter there was more than a shock, it was all she could think about, was Naiya really there, was she really that adult ball player. Or was she just going crazy from all the work and stress.

“I told you he was really cute… yes he is that cute in real life.” Naiya whispered, hiding under the sheets as she talked to Kisa over the phone while Sakura walked past the room. “See, I told you!” Naiya laughed at Kisa as Sakura entered the room slowly and coughed to make her presence known.

“It’s already past midnight, tell your friend goodbye,” Sakura’s tone full of authority that Naiya couldn’t negotiate her way out of.

“Fine…” Naiya crawled out of the covers, rolling her eyes at her mother in a very teenage like fashion. “I have to go, see ya at the game tomorrow Kisa.” She whispered quickly, hanging up the phone and crossing her arms defiantly.

Sakura softly made her way to the bed, sitting upon it near Naiya’s knees. “You sure are talking to Kisa a lot, will I get to meet her soon?” She tried to swallow a yawn, as she rubbed her tired eyes. For the previous few nights Naiya would stay up until early in the morning calling her new and mysterious friend Kisa.

“I don’t know.” Naiya shrugged, turning her head away from her mother, leaving a long silence between the two until Sakura rose and kissed her softly on the head.

“Mom?” Naiya finally spoke up when Sakura reached the door, her voice barely a whisper and even that was trembling.

Sakura paused at the door, taking one step back inside of the room. “Mom, do I have a sister?” She asked, the question bringing Sakura fully back into the room and shutting the door.

Sakura shook her head slightly in disbelief. “I think I would know if you had a sister.” She laughed, her hand rubbing her stomach instinctively.

“What about Dad, I mean when you guys were married you two were always fighting, did Dad ever…” Naiya’s throat suddenly went dry as she struggled to finish the sentence. “Did Dad ever have a girlfriend?”

Sakura returned to the spot on the bed at Naiya’s knees and patted her leg gently. “Why are you asking this all of the sudden?” She frowned, her eyes darting at the clock to check the time and then back at Naiya’s eyes.

“Mom!” Naiya protested, her eyes brimming with tears.

Sakura leaned forward, cupping Naiya’s cheek in her hand. “It’s late and you shouldn’t worry about things that happened a long time ago.” She gave her daughter a comforting smile before finally rising off the bed. She took a few steps, feeling Naiya’s eyes upon her, hearing Naiya’s fingers tremble and jerk the covers. “You were only a year old when it happened.”

Naiya’s head rose suddenly, tears in her eyes as she looked at her mom in shock of the confession. “Your father and I were always fighting, and money was very scarce at the time.” Sakura slowly turned, returning to the spot on Naiya’s bed.

“That doesn’t make it right.”
“No it doesn’t, he didn’t tell me till years later, but I guess I always knew.”
“You should have beaten the crap out of him.”

Naiya shook her fist, making several fighting motions as both of them chuckled, the stress slowly easing out of the room, “I did something like that.” Sakura laughed, patting Naiya’s shoulder. “Now you really need to go to sleep.”

“Mom, did you ever meet her? I mean the other daughter and mom?” Naiya gazed up at her mother.

Sakura shook her head, gazing off in the distance as if she were remembering the first time she was told of the affair. “I don’t think I would want to, I have spent so long trying to forget about him, forget about what he did to us.”

Naiya glanced down, nodding for a second in agreement as Sakura got up to leave. “Mom?” Naiya’s head rose, their eyes meeting and for a moment Naiya wanted to just tell her mother everything, tell her about Kisa, tell her about her alternate life, tell her about Li, just to confess all of her troubles. “I love you.” Naiya said instead, knowing she couldn’t tell her mom, not yet. “I know I don’t say it a lot…”

Sakura smiled, wiping a tear away. “I love you too.”

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The television in the back of the locker room produced a low hum, it’s noise completely drowned out by Naiya’s own self thought. A thin trickle of sweat rolled down her hair, ending in a droplet which eventually fell off as she kept her head angled at the ground, trying to drive away the fear and anxiety the next few hours would quickly bring.

“Why is it so quiet in here?” Li phased in, glancing around the empty locker room before spotting and traveling over to Naiya.

“Where have you been, you disappeared right before practice!” Naiya jerked her head up in shock, bringing herself out of all the thoughts of losing the biggest ball game of her life.

Li let out a soft sigh and fluttered into Naiya’s lap. “I went to see the Dominion about Kisa, and why she can see Shinigami.” He responded in a tone that made him sound like he didn’t even care.

“And?” Naiya asked impatiently when Li failed to follow up with an answer.

Li quickly fluttered over to the television, watching whatever program was on. “And they don’t know what is happening either, nothing like this has ever happened before, she isn’t slated to die, and there is absolutely nothing special about her.”

A long silence quickly filled the room after he spoke, Naiya returned to thinking and Li started changing the channels. “Hey, it’s the thief!” Li laughed, Naiya quickly rose, running to the TV, and sure enough the news camera was panning down the crowd outside of the stadium, and in the crowd stood Kisa, waiting patiently to get in.

“She’s here!” Naiya bounded out of the locker room, nearly knocking over several of her teammates as they came in from warm up.

“Hey you can’t go out there!” Li screamed, rushing after Naiya as she burst out the doors and into the bright afternoon sunlight.

Cheers and screams of excitement erupted at the sight of the Star Pitcher, camera flashes as well as the news crew quickly turned their attention toward Naiya as she glanced over the crowd, looking for Kisa. “C’mon go back inside.” Li tugged on her collar.

“Kisa!” Naiya waved, maneuvering her way through the crowd that had swarmed her with well wishes and demands for autographs. “Kisa!” She jumped in the air several times, trying to spot the girl over the heads in the crowd.

“Naiya?” Kisa exclaimed in shock, gazing up at Naiya, who now towered over her as an adult. “Is that really you?” She gave Naiya’s arm a curious poke.

She gave Kisa a childish shrug in response along with a lopsided grin. “It’s really cool isn’t it,” She giggled childishly as Li tugged even harder on the collar.

“Hey there cub.” Kisa giggled, getting onto her tip toes and flicking Li off of Naiya’s shoulder before turning back to the line which begun to advance into the stadium.

“Thief…” Li hissed back.

Naiya quickly plucked the Shinigami up by the back of his neck and pushed him into one of her pockets, giving Kisa a embarrassed look as she placed her hand on top of the pocket to keep Li from escaping. “Kisa, what did I tell you about moving ahead?” An extremely familiar voice called out, rushing up to the two of them just as they reached the entrance to the stadium.

“The line was moving.” Kisa explained as the large man approached her. He was easily over six feet tall and very imposing in his stature, with a square jaw and a light dusting of a beard upon his face. “What was I supposed to do?”

“Stay where I told you to.” The man replied, earning a roll of the eyes from Naiya.

Naiya opened her mouth to speak, only to find it incredibly dry and hoarse. “Umm.” Was the only sound that emerged as her lips moved, mimicking the various words she wanted to say all of which started with the word: Daddy.

The sound caught the man’s ear causing him to turn and focus his attention on his other daughter. “Oh, where are my manners, thank you for the tickets.” He quickly did a short bow in front of Naiya before gaining a better look at her. “You know, you have the exact same name as my daughter.”

Naiya gave him a short quick nod, her face flushed in shock and surprise. “I know.” She gulped in quick gasps after realizing she had been holding her breath for far too long.

“Well…” He glanced off at the entrance to the stadium. “Good luck tonight, we will be rooting for you.” He smiled, placing his hand on Naiya’s shoulder and giving it a reassuring pat before walking off with Kisa.

“I-I will do my best!” She waved at them, watching as they merged and disappeared into the crowd.

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Three months, three months of sweat, pain, and turmoil all led to this moment. It seemed only fitting for the last inning to take place as the sun sat in the far distance, shining its final rays upon the stadium. “One more out.” Naiya took in a long deep breath, turning to glance at the scoreboard behind her. The game had been a back and forth tug of war between the two teams. One moment the Tigers were up by two, and then by the next inning they were down by one.

Now in the last inning, with one out left to go, the bases loaded, and the Tigers grasping to a one run lead. It seemed as if the entire city was holding its collective breath, that the eyes of the nation, or even all of Asia was watching her every move.

“No pressure.” She wiped the sweat from her brow, looking at the signal that Touko was giving her. “No pressure at all.”

“What is that signal? Isn’t it the fast ball?” Li asked, perched on her shoulder as a few droplets of sweat fell onto his head. “Why can’t he just make like a ‘F’ signal for the fast ball.”

“Shush.” Naiya quickly hushed him, shaking her head at the signal.

The lights in the stadium suddenly dimmed, a cold wind rushed through the stadium, replacing the slightly warm one that had kept her cool for most of the night. “It’s almost time.” Kuroe’s voice called out, drawing shivers up Naiya’s spine.

“I have come for you.” He rose from the catcher’s position where Touko had originally been, taking off the catcher’s mask and pads, pulling out his sword, dragging it along the ground.

“No, not now.” She stammered, stepping back and tripping over her own feet.

Kuroe reached her, raising his sword over his head. “It’s time to die.” He swung the sword down for the death blow as Naiya screamed out in shock and fear.

“Naiya!” Touko screamed, shaking her back into the real world where he and Li loomed over here, Touko’s hands on her shoulders. “Naiya, Naiya are you okay?”

She shook her head, rolling over to the side and coughing several times. “Kuroe, he’s trying to kill me.” She wheezed as she tried to regain her breath. “He tried to kill me.” She repeated as Touko’s face went a pale color of white.

“I can’t… I don’t see him.” Li whispered, his eyes scanning the stadium, suddenly he felt very powerless, very defenseless to do anything. “What do we do?” He asked, his voice suddenly shaky and full of fear.

Touko kept his arms around her, clutching Naiya as if he could protect her from an attack by a Shinigami. “That’s it, I’m going to get you out of here.” He rose, carrying Naiya in his arms, only to have her push away and get back onto her own two feet.

“No, no I want to finish this, I won’t let him scare me.” She shook her head defiantly, picking up the fallen baseball as Touko slowly gave her a nod and returned to his catcher’s position.

Everyone was expecting her to throw a fastball; it was her trademark pitch. Yet this could be the last pitch of the last game she ever played in. Throwing a typical pitch could possibly lose the game, and lose all the she had worked for. “Here we go!” She called out, swinging her arm around and tossing the ball underhand, giving it a low angle and arc.

Although the ball only hung in the air for a couple of seconds, for Naiya it seemed like a eternity, watching it move in a slow arc toward the batter, the very unique softball throw seemed to shock the pitcher as he adjusted the arc of the bat lower to catch the ball.

The soft crack of the bat against the ball rang out as it made contact, sending the ball flying directly toward Naiya at horrifying speeds. “Naiya!” Li screamed as the ball hit her straight on, sending her tumbling over the pitcher’s mound.

“I… I got it.” Naiya coughed in shock, opening her glove to reveal the ball secured firmly inside.

Disbelief swept over the stadium, disbelief that lasted only for milliseconds before a roar of celebration rushed over the stadium. Fireworks exploded from the scoreboard and the very stadium shook with the cheers from the fans.

“We’re going to the playoffs!” Naiya screamed in excitement, bounding to her feet in one quick solid motion and doing a flying celebratory leap into the air.

“YOU DID IT!” Touko shouted, reaching Naiya just as she was coming down from her leap, a look of uncontrollable joy across his face as he grabbed her by the waist and pulled his catcher’s mask off.

In one swift and shocking motion he leaned in, turned his head slightly to the side and kissed her ever so gently on the lips. Naiya’s eyes went wide in shock, the wind escaping her body as it trembled from the kiss, while it only lasted for a second, for her it seemed as if it were a eternity.

Touko broke the kiss letting it last for only a second before he stumbled back, wide-eyed blushing in disbelief at what he had just done. All around them camera bulbs flashed from the stands, catching the moment on hundreds of cameras. “I… I…” were the only words he was able to form.

“Play offs!” The other teammates had reached her by now, swarming Naiya in congratulatory pats on the back and cheers. Both of them stood there for a few more seconds, their eyes never leaving the others, both in shock at what had just transpired.

“Touko, Touko, how does it feel to go from being one of the worst teams in the world, to now being in the playoffs.” A reporter jerked Touko’s shoulder, pulling him back into reality.

“It… it feels great.” was all Touko was able to respond with.

[Perfect Chaos]

Chapter 23: Hmm, so Naiya knows that Kisa is really her half-sister. Wonder what role she's going to have in the story. Nice touch in the interaction between Sakura and Naiya.

Also, the interaction between Naiya and her father was done really well. It seemed almost normal that she was at a loss for words seeing him after a long time.

Kuroe's such an ass, scaring Naiya like that. And what's this, Touko might have feelings for Naiya now? Oh the drama that's about to unfold...

Anyways, keep up the good work

[Roy Karrde]

Chapter Twenty-Four
The Object of our Desires

The newsroom buzzed with absolute excitement, reporters stood up and then sat down again, shifting nervously in their seats and rechecking their cameras for film. Each and every one of them grinned like hyenas stalking their prey. They had all seen the kiss between Touko and Naiya, and any minute one of them would walk to the podium, and the press would pounce.

Once Touko entered the room a hush fell over the crowd, his hair glistened with sweat drops of it falling onto the pressed suit, which made him look incredibly uncomfortable. “So, anyone have any play off questions?” He adjusted the microphone on the podium, glancing around the room as the various reporters exchanged glances. “Okay…” He sighed.

It was at that moment the room exploded, a million questions being asked at absolutely the same time. “Touko, are you currently dating Naiya?” One reporter asked.

“No.” He dismissed it quickly, pointing to another.

“Is there any truth to the rumors that Naiya stayed over at your house about two months ago?” Another reporter asked, causing the vain in Touko’s head to begin to throb.

He gripped the podium; if he could he would crush it in his hands. “She stayed over one night after her date, set up by your magazine.” He pointed directly at the woman, unsure if it was the actual magazine that did it. The woman sunk back into her chair as other hands shot up.

“Are you dating her?” Another man asked much to Touko’s anger.

“Listen!” Touko shouted his voice filled with anger and impatience. “I am not dating her, the kiss happened because of a moment of stupidity on my part, it meant nothing. We are not dating, we are not going to date, so do not hound her, or myself, about it.”

A hush fell over the crowd, the only sound being the few snaps of a camera in the back of the room. “Any other questions?” He glanced around the room at the shocked faces of the reporters. “Good, see you in Hawaii.” He finished up the news conference and left the room.

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Rain pounded the windshield of Touko’s car as he sat outside of the hospital, every few minutes he would glance up toward Naiya’s room, trying to will himself to get out of the car and to go see her. After an hour he still had not been able to actually get out of the car. His phone sat next to him, he had called her countless times to try and apologize, to tell her he didn’t mean the words he said at the press conference. So far those calls had gone unanswered.

“I am such an idiot.” He mumbled, pounding his head onto the steering wheel. “Why couldn’t I have just said “no comment”?”

He had played the event over and over in his head, trying to figure out how he could have held in his temper, how he could have worked his way out of the situation. “Damn it.” He swore in anger, realizing that he just couldn’t get the will to go inside. He backed the car out of park and pulled out of the parking lot, preparing to turn into traffic when something caught his eye.

“Naiya?” His mouth hung open in shock, watching the little girl climb through a whole in the hospital fence before taking off running down the sidewalk.

The honking of the car behind him shook him back to reality. Worrying about Naiya’s safety in the cold rain had over ridden any fear about confronting Naiya, as he turned into the lane of traffic, keeping his speed slow enough to follow just a bit behind the little girl.

After a few traffic lights, Naiya turned into a small bookstore, already shaking and shivering from the cold downpour that she had just walked through.
”What are you doing in this weather?” He mumbled out loud, wondering what book would be worth going out in such horrible weather.

Quickly pulling into the next possible parking space, Touko left the car and rushed inside of the bookstore. “Naiya, where are you?” He whispered, walking through the maze of isles, catching sight of her every few minutes, only to lose her as he turned down the isle.

The next isle he turned into, he finally caught sight of her walking down the end of the isle, a brown paper bag in her hands. He had seen that bag before he knew its contents. “NAIYA!” He called out to her, already running in stride down the isle.

The girl turned, looking at him like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar. The frozen shock seemed to last for hours, in reality though she turned in the blink of a eye and ran as fast as she could out of the bookstore.

He tore out of the store, the soaking rain sending a chill up his spine as he glanced in different directions, trying to figure out which direction Naiya had ran. “Stop!” He screamed out at her, spotting her running through the various cars in the lot. “Stop” He yelled again, easily catching up to her and grabbing her hand.

“What is this? Do you have any idea what you are doing?” He barked in anger, snatching the soaked paper bag from her hand. “You realize what they would do if they caught you with this?”

“Give it back!” Naiya jumped in the air fruitlessly trying to claw at the paper bag that Touko kept out of her reach.

“Is it worth throwing your dream away? Is it?” He screamed, the rain blinding his eyes for a moment until he could use a hand to wipe the water away. “To throw away everything you worked for?” He added, making his way over to a storm drain and throwing the paper bag down it.

“You idiot, you idiot!” Naiya swung her fists in anger pounding on Touko’s back, and then as he turned around, punching his stomach.

“Stop it!” He grabbed her shoulders, holding her out at arms length until she stopped swinging and was reduced to sobbing as tears joined with rainwater and ran down her cheeks.

“Why do you hate me so much?” She asked.

His eyes drifted away from her face, as all the anger left his body, his body becoming slack. “I don’t hate you Naiya.” He whispered, his voice barely audible over the pouring rain.

“Then why?” Her voice caught in her throat as even more tears threatened to rush down her cheeks. “Then why did you say those things, don’t you remember our promise?”

Touko mind brought him back to that room just a few weeks before, making a promise with Naiya that if they got into the playoffs, that he would take her out on a date. “It was just a kiss Naiya, it didn’t mean anything.” Why was she so worked up over one kiss? He had kissed many girls, kissing her was no different.

“Only a kiss?” She shook in disbelief, her voice full of anger. “Only a kiss? It was my first kiss!” She closed her eyes, nearly reduced to sobbing.

Touko’s heart nearly broke as he started to realize the damage he had done to the little girl. “I didn’t…I…” He couldn’t find the correct words to express his feelings, to tell her how terrible he now felt.

“Naiya…” He leaned forward, finally deciding to just step forward and hug the small little girl. He knelt down, his arms outstretched, and just when he was about to lean forward to envelop her in a hug, she lashed out. Striking him across the face with her hand, leaving a stinging red mark across his cheek.

“Stay away from me.” She screamed in anger, turning and rushing off as fast as her little feet could take her. Leaving Touko kneeling on the ground, soaked head to toe, and utterly shocked.

--------------

The drive home felt as if it took hours, the world had become a dull gray, the cars, the road, and the sky. All of it seemed so lifeless, so empty, he knew his eyesight was fine, that he wasn’t suddenly becoming color blind. It was just how the world seemed to be painted through the rain and night air. He didn’t dare return to his mansion, the press was still camped out there, and he couldn’t return with a red handprint across his face.

“Mom, I’m staying here tonight.” He mumbled, arriving at the place he knew he could always go to, his real home. The place he always felt most secure at. “Mom?” He called out again, and then shook his head in frustration; the woman was either off getting groceries or napping the day away.

Either way he was not in the mood to truly care, his bones ached, his body ached, and truly he wished he could wash the entire day away and try again. Once he had taken off his soaked clothes, he made his way down onto his brother’s comfortable warm bed and took a once over look of the room.

Everything was where Honda had left it during his final days of life. It felt like a moment that was frozen in time, that nothing in that room had proceeded into the future, and was still stuck in that day, that one horrible day.

Thoughts of the last months of Honda’s life filled Touko’s mind as her rose from the bed, rubbing his eyes to try and remove the horrible memories from his brain. He always wished that he could have done something more, spent a little more time with his brother, instead of burying his pain in baseball.

“Maybe she is my second chance, to do something right before I lose her also.” He mused, lost in self-thought as he made his way around the room, finally stopping at the variety of crayon colored drawings that hung on the far wall. The colors on the drawing had already begun to fade from age and sunlight, the paper still clinging to the wall with thumbtacks.

“I wonder if mom would mind if I took one and framed it.” He wondered out loud, a little piece of his brother that he could take with him to remember what he had lost, and the mistakes he had made.

His eyes fell upon one drawing in particular; there was nothing too remarkable to set the drawing above all others. It was just a child’s doodle of a little lion cub with wings. Yet something in his mind told him that drawing above all others was important. He finally took the small paper in his hands, yanking it off the tacks and freeing it from the board. ‘Li the Mighty Lion’ was written on the picture in childish handwriting.

He squinted at the picture, inspecting every single detail of it, his eyes going over and over the picture as he tried to find out why his mind was telling him that this was important. It was as if the answer was on the tip of his tongue, so close, but also just out of reach.

“So what does Li look like?” He had asked Naiya, driving her back home after a late night game.

The girl gazed down at the imaginary figure in her lap, placing a finger to her lips as she was trying to find the right words. “Well he’s cute, has yellow fur, he looks like a kitten, like the ones you find at the zoo.”

“Like a Lion?” He had asked her, giving her a quick glance to see if she was making it up.

“Yeah! with yellow fur, and cute little white wings.”

Those words repeated over and over in his head, yellow fur, cute little white wings. That perfectly described the picture he was holding. A yellow lion cub with cute little white wings, named Li.

“No, there is no way…” He shook his head in disbelief, the picture falling from the ground, having left his trembling hands. “There is no way…”

Chapter Twenty-Five
Across the Sea

Naiya’s hands were still trembling when she got back to the hospital, her enthusiasm bubbled up inside of her, and it felt as if a dam that was about to burst. In her hands lay a brown envelope, which contained the airline ticket and admission pass to the western conference play offs in Hawaii. She had never left Japan, she had only left Tokyo a few times, and now she would be nearly crossing an ocean, traveling to an entirely new nation. The excitement made her skip down the hallways of the hospital, every few skips she would jump in the air in anticipation.

“And why are you skipping?” Li phased his way through one of the windows, yawning and wiping his eyes with a paw. “It’s ten in the morning.”

Naiya held up the envelope jerking it to show that something was inside. “I had to get up early so I could get it when it was delivered.” She explained, jumping onto her hospital bed, grinning from ear to ear. “I’m going to Hawaii!”

“You mean we’re going to Hawaii.” He laughed, settling down on Naiya’s shoulder as she spilled the contents of the envelope onto the bed. “There is just one problem, what are you going to tell your mom?”

Naiya paused, only for a minute, before returning to shifting through the various forms and passes that were contained inside of the envelope. “Naiya you cannot just escape through the hospital fence and disappear for two weeks.” Li insisted, a slight hiss in his voice.

“I’ll just tell her everything.” She smiled, dropping the stadium pass around her neck.

“Tell who everything?” Sakura asked, peeking her head into Naiya’s room before walking in. Naiya quickly scrambled, grabbing up the papers and thrusting them under the covers as her mother walked over to her. “Teenager stuff? Did you get your first teen girl magazine?”

Naiya was sweating bullets, her body shaking a little as she let out a shaky laugh. “Yeah that is what it is, I got one of those magazines from the gift shop.” She laughed as her mom leaned forward and kissed her forehead.

“It’s hard to see my little girl grow up.” She smiled, her eyes slowly drifting down to the stadium pass around Naiya’s neck, her smile fading into a look of confusion. “What is this?” She picked up the pass, lifting it off Naiya’s neck.

Naiya lunged forward, trying to grab it out of her mother’s fingers. “That…” She struggled for the right words, her eyes darting to Li who just shrugged. “That’s mine… Touko gave it to me.”

No matter how hard she tried to force the words out of her mouth, she just could not tell her mom her secret. She couldn’t tell her that a little angel had been transforming her into a baseball player for the last few months, and that other angels above were deciding when they were going to kill her. It sounded ludicrous, even to her, and it was her own life!

“Try to behave yourself.” Sakura gave Naiya’s forehead another kiss before going back to the door. “When I get home from work, we’re going to have another little talk about Touko.” She added as she passed through the doorway.

“Well that went really well” Li grumbled with a roll of his eyes. “Good bye to the play offs, good bye to your dream of your parents ever watching you play.”

Naiya bit her lip to the point a tiny trickle of blood ran down her chin. “I’ll just write a letter explaining everything.” She finally spoke after a long silence, wiping the blood off of her chin before walking over to the desk. “I’ll write down everything, from when I first met you to now, she will have to at least read it, and by the time she does…” Her voice trailed off as she begun to write the letter.

“You will be far enough away that they cannot lock you away in a padded room?” Li offered, gazing over her shoulder at the letter, watching her write the entire thing out, while also writing suggestions.

“Shush!” She shooed him off her shoulder before placing her mother’s name on the one page letter. “Mom will believe it, I know she will.”

----------------

Unlike most of the world, Touko actually liked plane rides, they were a way for him to sit in one spot and focus on one task with out his mind tugging at him to go and do something else. If it weren’t for the utter fear of falling out of the sky, or the cramped conditions, it would be perfect experience.

“And they couldn’t at least get us first class?” He mumbled to the teammate in front of him, opening the overhead compartment and beginning to stuff his suitcase into it.

The right fielder grunted in response, giving his suitcase a nice shove before closing the overhead hatch. “Or maybe a private jet?”

Touko gave his suitcase one last shove, getting it in far enough for the hatch to snap shut. “Yeah…” He let his voice fall off as he surveyed the cabin. Ever since he had arrived at the airport he had been looking for Naiya. She was obviously avoiding him after the incident just a few days before. But he would never have guessed it would be this hard to spot her.

“Looking for someone?” His teammate chimed in, glancing over his seat to follow Touko’s gaze.

“I guess she didn’t make the flight…” Touko kept his voice calm as he worked his eyes over the final set of isles. As he turned to move into his seat he caught a small hint of something out of the corner of his eye. His head whipped around, matching eyes with Naiya who sat only a few rows down, glancing at him for only a split second before turning away to hide her face. “Or she did!”

He nearly jumped over the next two isles separating him from Naiya, shoving a passenger aside as he made his way over to her. “This is your new seat.” He growled, shoving his ticket into the man sitting next to her.

“But…” The man protested.

Touko slammed both of his hands on the man’s armrests. “Do I look like some one you want to piss off?” He growled, doing his best to intimidate the man.

The message seemed to have been received as the man quickly rose from his seat and moved out of the way for Touko to sit down next to Naiya. “So is this your first airplane flight?” He asked his demeanor quickly turning from angry to very calm.

Naiya crossed her arms, giving him a quick glare before turning away with her nose turned up. “I have nothing to say to you.”

Touko gave her a quick shrug, turning to focus on the seat in front of him as the plane taxied down the runway and prepared to take off. “Fine with me, the plane ride could take hours, maybe even days.” He gave her a side way’s grin as the plane lunged forward, beginning to build up speed for take off.

“Days?” Naiya echoed, her voice shaking in fear.

The plane lunged forward, gaining speed and soon gaining altitude as it rose into the air. Touko glanced over, finding Naiya with her eyes clinched shut, tears dripping down her cheeks as she gripped the arm rests. “Hey…” Touko whispered, placing her hand over his and slowly pealing her left hand off the armrest and holding it. “It’s almost over.”

Naiya slowly unclenched her eyes, looking up at him as tears ran down her cheeks. “Touko…” She mumbled in shock as he opened a package of candy, popping a few in his mouth before placing some in her hands.

“These will help with the pressure in your ears.” He explained as she slowly ate them.

“Thank you.” She flashed a brief smile, only to remember that she was still supposed to be angry with him. Jerking her hand away from his she quickly shifted positions to gaze out the window.

A couple of hours into the flight, the lights in the cabin dimmed, and the passengers begun to shift around, some going to sleep, others busy reading a book or typing out work documents as the flight traveled through the night toward the Hawaiian islands. With each passing moment Naiya seemed to grow more and more agitated, shifting around in her seat and gazing longingly out the window, lost in thought.

“You didn’t tell your mom, did you?” Touko finally asked, taking a wild guess that Naiya was having second thoughts on leaving behind her mother to fulfill her own dreams. “You just ran away.”

A small hint of a tear twinkled in her eye, only to be dashed away as she rose, pushing past Touko and rushing to the small bathroom in the forward part of the cabin.

Behind him, Touko could hear a few reporters shuffle around in their seats. Each of them trying to get the best view, as their fingers hovered over the keyboard. The next decision Touko made would appear in entertainment articles all over Japan. “Damn it…” Touko muttered under his breath, rising from his seat and following Naiya into the bathroom.

“Naiya let me in.” He rapped on the door twice with the back of his hand. For a moment he wondered if he had gone to the wrong bathroom when she didn’t answer. “Naiya let me in, please.” He shuddered slightly feeling as if every eye was gazing at him.

The door finally unlocked, sliding aside just far enough for Touko to dive inside and shut the door again. “Thank you.” He breathed a sigh only to realize that Naiya had reverted back to her child form. “What happened?”

Naiya turned her head slightly, dipping it so that all he could see was the top of her head. “Li got tired, so I’m letting him rest.” She explained, her eyes darting to the invisible creature lying on the top of the counter.

Touko nodded slightly, his head turning to glance around the very cramped and small bathroom. By the time he turned back to look at the little girl, her eyes were already glistening with tears. “Everyone is so angry at me.” Her voice caught in her throat, coming out as a weak sob as the tears begun a steady drip down her cheek. “You, mom, Kisa, I’ve screwed everything up.”

He wasn’t sure why, or how, but if anything could send him to his knees, if anything could break his heart, it was Naiya’s tears. It was his kryptonite, his one real weakness. “I’m not mad at you.”

Naiya quickly nodded, not willing to give up an argument as her blood shot eyes gazed up at him. “But I yelled at you, and slapped you, and got so angry at something that was stupid.”

Touko let out a short sigh as he remembered the last few days, rubbing the spot in which she had hit him. A small sniffle brought him back to reality where he lifted the girl up and sat her on the sink. “It wasn’t stupid, I was heartless and uncaring, and I never even thought that something as simple as a kiss would be so important.” He bowed his head slightly. “Before I met you, all I did was think of myself”

He lifted his eyes to look directly into hers’. “Can you forgive me?”

Before Naiya could even nod, the plane hit a pocket of turbulence, which sent the plane jerking backwards. Naiya went tumbling forwards, falling into Touko as he went slamming into the wall behind him. He let out a soft moan of pain as stars danced around his eyes, his body sliding down to the floor, with his arms wrapped protectively around Naiya.

“I…” Naiya opened her mouth in shock, the two of them just coming to their senses and realizing the close position both of them were in.

She was about to ask what happened when Touko seized the opportunity, closing the gap between the two and kissed her directly on the mouth. For a moment Naiya’s eyes widened in shock, only to slowly melt into the kiss, wrapping her arms around Touko as the world faded away.

“Hey what happened?” Li woke up, his mind still in a fog from being awoken from his dream with being tossed around the bathroom. “Who turned the plane into a roller coaster… WHAT!” He wiped his eyes to find the two deep in an embrace.

“Stop it, break it up, Naiya break it up!” He yelled, tugging on her hand. “I’ll tell your mother! Naiya are you listening to me? NAIYA?”

Sorry for taking so long with these two chapters. It was part writers block, part not having a editor for a while.