Back at the Academy

 

Anji was ready. He had his supplies. He had his backpack. He had an already planned speech about what he was going to tell the two "roommates." He even had diagrams.

All he needed now was to get out without anyone seeing him.

"Anji!" Mai cried, leaning against the frame of his door, "Where are you going?"

"I decided to go to the camp trip after all..." Anji replied smoothly. He tried to get around Mai and out of his room, but she blocked him.

"You can't!" She cried. "The tennis tournaments! You can't leave!"

Anji mouth dropped open, he had completely forgotten!

There was defiantly a conflict of interest Tennis game, his little sister's innocence. Tennis game, his little sister's innocence.

God, he wished he was better at decision making!

"Wait a second," he said, buying time, "Why aren't you camping with the Pheonix School?"

"I had a last minute story to finish up."

"One about the music hall?" He asked, almost too casually.

Mai shrugged, "No, something on the track team."

"So, you're heading up there soon?"

"Of course!" I wouldn't miss a chance to get both Kei-kun, Rina and me together if I could!

Mai added silently to herself. She'll see him and me together, and... --Harkly

 

 

 

"All of you will be asigned to groups for the hike(seperation is the best way to cause accidents!)." Obari said, once everyone was ready.

'Oh great.' Keiko thought. 'One more way to get lost..'

"The lists are right here." Obari pointed to one of the picnic tables. Keiko walked towards the table and bee lined her way through mobs of boys. "Let's see." She looked at the list. "Hmm Group B," She sighed. "..With Jiro and Kakeru?! Great.."

"Hey Sempai! I'm on Group A. Where are you?" Otaru stood beside her.

"Team B." She said.

"Oh," Otaru said. He'd hoped they would've had a chance to talk a bit on the hike. "Well, good luck! Make sure you don't get eaten by a bear!"

"Don't you remember? We already did that!" She smiled.

"Oh! I hear we'll be passing the Pheonix Camp on the hike!" Otaru winked. "Maybe your friends will be there."

'I hope not..' She thought. "Maybe." --Ikuno

 

 

Keiko wasn't in the best of moods. She was tired. She was cold. She was hungry. She was being eaten alive by bugs. But worst of all she was not only stuck with Kakeru (who had a positivly DEMONIC smile on his face [think Xellos] which meant he was planning something) but Jiro as well (who was staring at Kakeru nonstop which meant he knew he was planning something.) The only thing that seemed to make the trip more bearable was the fact that both of them were so preoccupied with each other that they pretty much left Keiko alone. --Twylise

 

 

 

Without anything else to distract her, Keiko's thoughts went back to last night. 'Otaru *was* cute when he was blushing like that...he doesn't seem to even consider the fact I could be a girl...-'

"Fujishige! Watch out!" Jiro called as Keiko promptly whacked into a tree. (I'm guessing they're still near the bottom...I'm doing some reserch on climbing Mt. Fuji right now)

"owwww" Keiko rubbed her nose as she got up and brushed herself off. Jiro started cracking up, Kakeru glared, as if he knew she was thinking about Otaru, still not convinced the night before was an accident.

--LaNnY

 

 

 

Otaru walked along the trails, and though there was such beautiful scenery(that darned beautiful scenery again!), his thoughts were somewhere else. 'I wish Sempai were here..' he thought. 'I still can't shake this wierd feeling from last night.' He saw her next to him again, and blushed(MORE BLUSHING LANNY!!). 'I wonder if she's still got my jacket?' He thought. 'Why do I even care? Boy, I've got it bad.. Did I just think that?! Oh boy..'

"Are you alright, Chinen-Kun?" Obari asked. He noticed everyone had stopped, including him, and they were all staring at him, his face red from blushing.

"U-um, yeah." He was finally fully aware of his surroundings. He smiled cheerfully. "Yes sir."

"Okay, let's go!" Obari said, as they walked on.

'What's wrong with you?' Otaru thought. 'Just get over it, okay?' He followed, this time his mind fully clear.. Almost..

 

Keiko drudged about. This hike was supposed to be fun. But her legs felt like they were glued down, but when she stopped they hurt more. 'To top it off, Otaru isn't there to swoon at!' She thought. She realized what she thought. 'Um, er, Obari-Sama..'

Kakeru looked over at Keiko. 'I wonder what she's thinking about?' He saw her blush, then 'hmph'ed. 'Probably Shuu-san..'

Keiko saw Kakeru looking at her. 'What?!' She thought.

Kakeru blushed then turned away. 'Was she thinking about me?!'

'Was he thinking about me?' Keiko blushed again. 'Probably thinking about who should get eaten by his bear next.'

 

Naoki was about to die! How could these boys stand this?! She followed closely behind the group, then turned on her walkie-talkie. "PheonixBase, this is PheonixSpy, or is it PheonixScout? Or am I PheonixBase? Staci-Chan, this is getting ridiculous." She said.  --Ikuno

 

 

 

"PheonixScout! Never reveal real names! if someone overhears..."

"We're not at war PheonixBase."

"That's what you think...::cough::...so, what's the update PheonixSpy?"

Aika's voice came over. "Nothing yet, Siren hit a tree, that's all"

Staci frowned and shut off her walkytalky. "Just what are they up to?"

 

Kakeru was still planning a sceme against Otaru, horribly jealous still. The Bear thing didn't work in the slightest, but what if....

 

Keiko was still busy with her own thoughts...it was along the lines of

'kakeru...otaru...kakeru...otaru' --LaNnY

 

 

 

"I can't stand this anymore, Staci-chan!" Naoki collapsed. "I'm just going to let someone find me and be done with it."

"Someone should come this way in the next fifty years, right?" Aika giggled.

"Not funny! I'm just going to let you guys come get me." Naoki sobbed.

"PHEONIXSCOUT!! NEVER reveal our names! This is war, soldier, you can't make an omlet without breaking eggs, you have to sacrifice for the good of the many, and--"

"Give me a break, Staci-chan." Naoki pouted. "I'm tired, hungry, and my legs are killing me!"

"You know, St- Umm, PheonixBase, Siren's team is about to get to the PheonixBase." Aika said casually.

"WHAT?!" Staci exclaimed. "The REAL PheonixBase? The camp?"

"No, the decoy we have." Aika said sarcastically.

"We need to inform the troops!!" Staci said.

 

Kakeru was thinking about Otaru, and his jealousy was at the breaking point.

Jiro watched Kakeru closely. Obviously a little too closely, as his foot fell into a hole.

"AGH!!" He exclaimed. Kakeru laughed. "You did this! Didn't you?!"

"Yeah, Kanzaki-Kun. I ran ahead of everyone, and dug a hole, just so you could get your foot stuck in it." Kakeru was tiring of this, and he had other things on his mind.

"ARE YOU MOCKING ME?!" Jiro snapped.

"What do you think?" Kakeru said.

"Kakeru!" Keiko whispered. "Don't be stupid! You're making everything worse!" Jiro overheard this. "How can you defend him after what he pulled on you?!" --Ikuno

 

 

 

Keiko drew back. Jiro, who was now sneering viciously, had a point. How could she defend him? Without thinking, she spoke.

"It was a joke," she said, recieving a horrified look from Kakeru. Did she know what she was getting herself into? Obviously not, for she plunged recklessly on.  "You know, friends can't stay mad at eachother forever!" Keiko said with false enthusiasm, having spotted the disbelieving look on Jiro's face. Keiko quickly gave Kakeru's shoulder a friendly squeeze. Kakeru stood there, stunned.

/what are you doing...?/ Kakeru looked on at Keiko in amazement. She had obviously left Jiro speachless, and he lumbered off toward the front of the moving line of students.

Relieved, Keiko turned and smiled at Kakeru. She drew back as he glared daggers at her.

"W-what?" she stuttered. Kakeru ground his teeth together, and moved closer to her.

"You really think I'm so weak that I need to be defended by a GIRL?" he whispered furiously into her ear. Keiko could feel the hot, angry breaths on her neck, and felt her face go warm. She stepped back and looked at him.

"I... I just thought--" she started, before Kakeru interrupted her.

"Thought?" he remarked, a snide look covering his face. "That's a new one. Perhaps you should try it more often."

Keiko glared resentfully at him. Her mouth longed to shout angry words at him, yet her concience would not allow it. Instead, she stormed off past him angrily, her mind screaming at the dark-haired boy behind her.

Kakeru looked around him, making sure that none of the students had heard that unusual argument. Fortunately, they had not, for they walked past, tired but happy, with their tent partners beside them. Kakeru turned back to his own tent partner, and felt his own heart skip a beat. She was fervently rubbing her eyes from under her glasses, trying her best to hide it before continuing on to the front of the line.

Kakeru's lips parted as he let out a breath of air he had been holding during the time he had been arguing with Keiko. He felt a pang of guilt as he watched Keiko rub her eyes one more time.

/I made her cry...?/ he thought guiltily. He walked forward, and clenched his fists. /Why do I always start that? I don't know why I act that way around Keiko.../

His mind racing, he walked quickly to catch up with the rest of the group. --TD

 

 

 

 

fter some really *tough* desicion making on Anji's part, he found himself in a taxi, going towards the students' campsite. The tennis tornament wasn't until the next day, maybe he could get back in time.

Next to him, Mai was shooting questions faster then he thought possible.

"Do you thing Kei-kun likes me?" She chirped, "Do you think he'll be happy that I'm coming? Do you think he'll want to take me to the dance?"

Anji had a pretty good idea what the answer to all those question was, but he kept himself in line.

"I dunno, maybe." He muttered, trying to find a magazine he had in one of his bags.

Mai was calmed down a bit, hurt at the tennis player's responce. "Hmmm... I hope Staci's happy to see *you*."

Anji's head shot up, "Staci? Why shouldn't she want to see me?" He asked, confused.

Mai giggled, "Well, all those admiring boys, in just the next campsite over. Makes you think, huh?"

"Eh, you're crazy." Anji said, but he was frowning and his brow was wrinkled in thought.

Mai saw him at a weak point and jumped on it, "Set me up with Kei-kun?"

Anji jerked out of his thoughts, "Wha? No!" --Harkly

 

 

 

Neither of its occcupants noticed as the Taxi pulled in near the TUA campsite. They were to busy with other more 'important' matters....

"I can't set you up with Kei!" Anji was starting to panic.

"Why not?" Mai asked innocently (yeah right!)

"Because....because.....he ah already has a girlfriend!"

Mai practically jumped out of her seat. "WHAT? WHO?"

Damn that was stupid of you Anji berated himself. He searched for someone to use as Kei's girl.....

 

Meanwhile back on the hike Kakeru was berating himself as welll. How could you be such a jerk! First the bear thing now this! Now she'll never talk to you again!

But this sort of thing happened between friends all the time didn't it? So there must be some way to make everything better but how... He'd have to apologise. Kakeru sighed. This wasn't going to be easy.. --Twylise

 

ALTERNATE SCENE:

 

 

Mai pouted. "Fine..." she said, crossing her arms in frustration. Anji rolled his eyes and concentrated his eyes on the road through the window.

The rest of the taxi ride was relatively silent. Mai kept her eyes focused on the view through her window, though she would glance at Anji occasionally to pout. Anji, however, managed to ignore her, and keep his mind focused on his little sister. He wondered what she could be doing...

He would not have guessed that she would, at that second, be having lunch near the edge of a cliff on Mt. Fuji.

 

Actually, Keiko found herself unable to draw near the cliff's edge. Since she was little, she'd had a dreadful fear of heights, and avoided them all costs. She refused to eat her lunch, since the butterflies in her stomach prevented her from even getting food into her throat.

 

Kakeru watched her warily from near the cliff's edge. It was amusing to watch her cower against the wall of the mountain, much like a child would cling to his mother's legs. She would recieve curious stares from some of the students, and, eventually, even Jiro had walked up to her to ask what was wrong.

"I... just don't like cliffs, that's all."

Jiro raised an eyebrow at her. "I never pictured you as the type, Fujishige."

"Well, I am."

"I see that."

"Good. So don't pester me about eating."

Jiro shrugged and stalked off. Keiko watched him leave to peer over the side of the cliff with a group of his friends. She gulped.

"That is SO dangerous..." she murmured to herself, clinging tighter to the cliff wall.

"It sure is..." Keiko heard a voice beside her say, which she immediately recognized as Kakeru's. She felt the pit of her stomach turn cold. She turned to him.

"Whadda you want?" she demanded icily, and he stepped forward, undaunted by her harshness.

"Just to talk," he said, and felt his face grow warm under Keiko's glare. "And... to apologize." --TD

 

 

 

 

"Who?" Mai's eyes were piercing right through Anji.

"Umm.." He thought a moment. 'Not Staci, NO. Definatly not Rina, not Aika or Naoki.. Wait! It's perfect!' "..My sister." He said. "Yeah! Keiko's out of town, though, so they haven't been out on dates or anything because she's not here.."

"Oh.." Mai sighed. 'I wonder if Amuro Keiko knows that Kei-Kun was cheating on her with Rina-San behind her back?' She thought.

 

Keiko looked at him in shock. She quickly put her hand on his head. "Are you SICK??"

"Very funny." Kakeru narrowed his eyes. She was making this hard on purpose.

"I thought so!" She stuck her tongue out playfully.

"Listen, I'm.." He started.

"Go on, you can say it." She said, smiling. His hand was in a tight fist at his side. Why did she have to be so difficult?

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry, not forgiven." She put her nose in the air.

"WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE SO DIFFICULT?!" He blurted out.

"WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE SO ANNOYING?!" She yelled back.

"Forget it." He stomped off. Keiko felt guilty.

'Why does he have to be so stubborn?' She thought.

'Why does she have to be so stubborn?' He thought at just about the same time. 'Darnit Keiko.' He thought. He decided not to talk to her for a little while. Every time he talked he made it worse. 'Hey, who says this is MY fault?' He thought in his defense. He looked over at Keiko, who's body was pressed up against the cliff wall. He chuckled.

 

Keiko just knew Kakeru was looking at her with menacing eyes. She looked over to him, but was surprised to see him cheerfully laughing. He realized she was looking right at him, and turned away. He couldn't help but blush. 'Oh great. She knows I'm thinking about her.'

'I wonder what the heck he's thinking about?' Keiko shrugged. 'He looks so nice when he's happy. If only he wouldn't be himself so often.' She giggled. 'Did I just say he looks nice??'

 

Otaru smiled happily. This was the path where Group A and Group B met, as they passed the Pheonix camp grounds. He would see Sempai soon, and maybe even Keiko. He smiled at that. He felt anticipation as they passed a corner and he saw Group B. And there, pressed up against a wall, was Sempai.

 

Keiko nervously inched to the wall that was farthest from the edge, and saw something that put a smile on her face. Obari! Was she dreaming?! Was he coming to save her from the incredibly high cliff? No wait, hadn't their group leader said that groups A and B were meeting somewhere? She wasn't really paying attention. Yes! She saw Otaru! and more people! This must be the place where the two groups joined. for a little while, Otaru and she could talk. 'But wait, do I want to talk to him? There's no reason to be uncomfortable around him just because of last night, right?' She held on to the wall, and Otaru walked towards her.

"Good to see you, Sempai!" He noticed her positioning. "Are you okay??"

"Umm, I have acrophobia." She closed her eyes.

"Oh. I would have never guessed." He saw that her hands were white from, holding onto a piece of rock so tightly. "I wanted to talk to you about something.."

"Hmm?" She said, her eyes still closed tight.

"Actually, someone.." He blushed.

"Really?" She opened her eyes and looked at him. He was blushing. He was blushing ALOT.

"Remember when.." Otaru paused. "Remember when you told me about Amuro Keiko?"

Keiko blushed. "Y-Yes.."

"That's what I thought." He sighed. "I knew you liked her."

"What? Me and Keiko? No!" She blushed even more.

"Oh, come on. Whenever we talk about her you are full of complements, and you always blush, too. It's pretty obvious." He smiled.

"Why does it matter?" She dreaded even asking the question.

"Well, I.." He couldn't finish his sentence. She was now as red as possible.

"Are you alright, Sempai? You look feverish. We should get you away from this cliff." Otaru said.

 

Kakeru sighed. He figured once Chinen showed up Keiko would be talking to him. He tried to think about something besides Keiko. 'I've got to get her off my mind. We're going to hit the Pheonix camp next, and I have got some great tricks up my sleeve. They are undoubtedly going to be worrying about the dance.' He thought. 'The dance. Hmm.. Should I ask Keiko to go with me?' He grunted. He was thinking of her again.

 

"What is it, Otaru?" Keiko asked.

"Well, I wanted to ask her, Keiko that is.." He blushed furiously. "..To go to the dance with--" He just couldn't finish it. She blushed more.

"Okay, let's move out!" Obari said. As everyone in group B grabbed their bags and such, Kakeru walked over to Keiko, and whispered in her ear softly, "I'm sorry." She blushed. He walked ahead of her, and then said, "Here's where the path gets narrow."

He smiled evilly. Keiko gulped.

'Oh, I hate him!' She thought. 'But if I hate him, why am I blushing?'

Kakeru felt some, if any, satisfaction. He finally apoligized. --Ikuno

 

 

 

Anji finally arrived at the part of the campsite where the two camps met, jumped out of the taxi, and looked around. The whole place seemed to be deserted.

"Anji-chan!! Hey!"

He turned arouned to see Naoki bounding toward him. He cringed slightly, then decided to be glad she was there, because she could give him valuable information about Keiko...

He cut right to the chase. "You tell me what Keiko has been up to and tell me NOW. I just know she's been up to something... I can feel it in my bones..."

"Um, nothing, really!" Naoki laughed nervously. She wasn't that great a lier. And the fact that the great Amuro Anji was standing there, looking at her, talking to HER, was enough to make her lose half her brain power. She smiled giddily, hardly aware that Anji was staring at her with daggers in his eyes.

"Don't LIE to me! My worst suspisions have been confirmed! WHAT HAPPENED."

"Well..." And the whole story spilled out of her in a rush. She was going way to fast for Anji to hear the whole thing, but he did manage to hear certain words about Kakeru, honey, the lake, Otaru, Keiko, and "they weren't doing anything! Just washing off!" She suddenly remembered the promise Keiko had exacted on her not to breath a WORD of the whole mess to Anji. Uh-oh...

"WHAT!! Where is she now?"

"Um, um, they are hiking up the mountain!"

That was all Anji needed to hear. He immediately took off, running toward Mt. Fuji, breathing vengeance the entire way. --Joanna

 

 

 

NOTE FROM JOANNA>>   EEK! I just realized that there are a MILLION things wrong with what I just wrote, like, what was Naoki doing down there, and where the heck was Mai? ::hits self with blunt object:: Sorry, evvybody!

 

 

 

 

**hum... well, perhaps naoki can magically turn into staci? yes, that might work... we'll just kinda use our twisted minds to bend that part the way we'd like! *pats Joanna on the back* no sweat! **

"Hey, wait up!" Anji heard a voice behind him call. He turned to face a surly-looking Mai who, apparantly, had been paying the taxi driver the money Anji had forgotten was necessary.

"Eh... sorry..." he said nonchalantly as he dashed off to sprint further up the mountain, closely following the trail.

"Gr..." he muttered, "If anything that MYSTERIOUS PHEONIX SCHOOL STUDENT ((*pats self on back* good cover, good cover!)) said was true, i'll--"

"Anji---ii!" Mai whined from behind him, and he stopped in his tracks.

"WHAT?!" he said impatiently as he turned to her, and Mai pouted.

"You're going too fast!"

Anji sighed. This was going to be one of the most grueling hikes of his life...  --TD

 

 

 

Keiko smiled as she breathed in the fresh mountain air. It seemd that the hike had taken an entire 360 after Kakeru's apology.

The honey incident was WAY behind her, Otaru was nearby and best of all they were completely surrounded by trees so she couldn't see that nasty and ver very sheer cliff anymore!

Yes everything was going perfectly. Now if she could only push the dance away to the furthest corner of her mind....How had it all gotten so confusing? Maybe she should just come as Kei and be done with it? Then she wouldn't have to worry about Otaru or......Mai!

She would be their wouldn't she? Keiko shuddered. She'd much rather go to the dance with Otaru as Amura Keiko than be hounded by Mai as Fujishige Kei.

But even if it risked her discovery? And how could she go wirth Otaru he was her best friend! She shouldn't feel that way about him! What should she do?!

She was so confused.......

 

"Look!" Kakeru gently clamped his hand onto her shoulder and smirked down at her.

"Weeee're heerrrrreeeeee!" He pointed through the trees at a clearing a few yards ahead filled with dark blue tents.  They had arrived at the Pheonix School Campsite. --Twylise

 

 

 

 

Keiko collapsed on the floor. Obari was off discussing something with Nakaijima, and so they were going to rest a while. She could barely stand up, when she felt a slap on her back.

"Fujishige-Kun!" Jiro laughed. "Tired already? We've got alot ahead of us."

She groaned.

"Kei-Kun!!" Rina said, as she approached(sp?) the two.

"Hello, Rina-San!" Jiro smiled.

"Oh, hello, Jiro-Kun.." She blushed slightly.

"Hi Rina-San." Keiko said, still on the floor. She suddenly realized Rina wasn't there to talk to her.

"So, how are you today, Rina-San?" Jiro asked.

"Fine." Rina replied. More small talk followed. Keiko supressed a giggle at the two, who were OBVIOUSLY flirting with one another. Aika was the next to walked by.

"Oh, Keik- Kei-Kun! Are you alright?!" She tried to help Keiko up.

"Too much walking!" Keiko replied. Aika helped her up and brought her to her tent.

"It's okay, we can talk privately here. This is Staci-Chan and I's tent." She said.

"I'm in pain.." Keiko whined. "We had to walk miles with my big pack, and no one would help me, and the cliff, and Kakeru, and the Tree hit my nose, and.."

"Slow down." Aika said.

"I WANNA GO HOME!!" Keiko exclaimed.

"I can't believe all that! Over here it's-" Aika started

"Over here it's a GIRLS CAMP." Keiko said. "I want to stay here!"

"You can't." Aika said. "But you CAN rest here for a bit.."

Aika looked at Keiko, who was fast asleep on one of the sleeping bags. She smiled, and went out of the tent.

 

Otaru looked around, but couldn't find Kei anywhere. He saw Aika coming his way. and sweatdropped. 'Oh great..'

"Hi Otaru-Kun!" Aika said. "How are you?"

"Fine.." He smiled nervously. "Do you know where Sempai is?"

"Oh, he had to rest. He was worn out! He's asleep in my- I mean, in one of the tents.." Aika said.

"I think those heights really got to him," Otaru replied. "Anyway, do you know where.." Otaru started to blush. "U-umm, where A-Amuro Keiko is?"

"Oh! Keiko-Chan! Yes! She.. Umm.." Aika sweatdropped 'I HAVE TO THINK FAST!'

Otaru looked at her. She finally said, "She's in the bath."

Otaru blushed again. "Well, I'll be going now."

"Wait a sec-" Aika started, then she saw a familiar face. "Anji!!

"Where is she. Where's Keiko?!" He was incredibly angry and didn't see Otaru standing there.

"What's wrong, Anji?" Aika sweadropped.

"Where is she?! I know that somethings up. I heard what happened. HOW COULD SHE?!"

"Umm.." Otaru sweatdropped, and Anji looked in shock. He then grabbed Otaru's shirt.

"What the heck do you think you were doing with my sister?!" He spat at Otaru.

"What are you talking about?" Aika decided to play dumb.

"Why don't you ask him?!" Anji said. --Ikuno