Clouds rolled in as the two glared at each other, their eyes locked on one another as they tightened their fist, waiting for the other to make a move. A gentle breeze could be felt as a small roar of thunder radiated throughout the sky.
Raindrops began to pour, as a slight drizzle fell upon the two combatants. Luna slightly moved her foot forward, but Rakaia was the first one to let off his war cry as he charged towards the former pro fighter.
He ducked his head low as he came up for a hard haymaker with his right hand, but Luna saw it coming from a mile away and quickly ducked the incoming attack, delivering a few light punches to Rakaia's midsection, sending him stepping back for a second before trying to connect with his jaw.
Rakaia quickly sidestepped Luna's attack, gripping her arm and flipping her over his back, but Luna gracefully landed on her feet and retaliated with a spin kick to the chest, knocking Rakaia down in the now muddy grass.
She stood there and eyed him for a second as Rakaia slowly began to pick himself up. "I hope that's not how you're going to fight Saitou if that's the case; you should give up now." Her eyes narrowed at him, showing him that she was indeed serious about what she said.
Rakaia gritted his teeth as her words flew toward him. "I'm not finished yet!" Rakaia quickly got up to his fist and unleashed a barrage of punches and kicks in Luna's direction.
The two danced in combat as they both engaged in a series of attacks and blocks, with Luna keeping the upper hand as she connected with every other blow, but not hard enough to knock Rakaia off balance.
The onslaught continued as Luna effortlessly connected with a series of jabs and punches, causing Rakaia to go on the defensive and try his best to block and avoid her punches. "If this is all you got, you should save yourself the trouble and call it quits!" She yelled at him as she threw another hard right punch, but Rakaia sidestepped, shocking Luna a bit.
"And you should learn to shut the hell up!" Rakaia fired a right of his own, catching Luna in the side of the jaw, knocking her to the ground.
Mud splattered everywhere as Luna was caught off guard by Rakaia's sudden attack. She gritted her teeth angrily as Rakaia was trying to catch his breath with the moment that he had.
He gave her a half smile, simply proud of himself. "Didn't think…I would…actually be able to touch you." He said in-between breaths as Luna slowly stood up, her eyes shielded by her hair, mud on her school uniform.
"Oh, so you got one lucky shot and you're proud of yourself." She slowly turned around to face him. "Let's see if you'll be able to do that again." She told him as she quickly charged towards Rakaia, catching him completely off his game as she got within range and buried her fist in his stomach, causing Rakaia's eyes to nearly pop out of his head as he was nowhere near ready to protect himself against Luna's attack.
"How's that?" Luna asked him as she heard him trying to catch his breath. "Still proud of yourself?" She asked him as she got a few more cough responses out of him. "Well here, let me show you something else!" She pushed him off her fist and delivered a flurry of punches and kicks, connecting each one, knocking Rakaia around senselessly.
Rakaia tried to cover up, but every time he did, Luna would hit him in a different spot. When Rakaia thought she was going for the face, she would hit him in the stomach, when he tried to counter, she would retaliate and catch him on the side of the face, then repeat the process and have Rakaia chase her blow for blow, but fail miserably as the last blow to the side of the head, knocked Rakaia down face first in the mud as Luna stood over him, crossed arms and all.
"As I said, if that's all you got; then give up." She told him. "There's no way you're winning your match and there sure is no way in hell you're beating me, give up and go home." She told him with no ounce of pity for him as Rakaia made it to his hands and knees, still trying to catch his breath.
Rain began to pour a bit harder as Rakaia finally caught his second wind. "I…I can't…" Rakaia didn't even look at Luna as he spoke, his eyes covered by his wet matted hair. "I can't lose; I won't lose, especially NOT TO YOU!" Rakaia quickly turned towards Luna, lunging towards her, swinging downward, trying to connect with her jaw, but Luna saw the attack coming and jumped out of Rakaia's reach.
Rakaia quickly landed on his feet and charged forward. "I can't let what happened to Noah happen to anybody else!" Rakaia screamed out as he tried his best to hammer Luna, but Luna proved that she was just as good defensively as she was on offense as she blocked and endured most of Rakaia's blows. "I stood there and couldn't do anything!" Rakaia threw another hard punch and connected with Luna's arms, which blocked her face. "Nothing! But stand there and watch as my best friend get beat on" He quickly switched and kicked Luna in her side, catching her off guard, making her slide against the muddy surface of the grass as Rakaia quickly pursued her again.
Another punch was released from him, but his fists met with Luna's as they both quickly laced their fingers and performed a grapple struggle as Rakaia continued to bare his eyes angrily at Luna." He went after Cana and I couldn't do anything either, you had to step in to save her…" He gritted his teeth as Luna just continued to lock eyes with him.
"That's why I have to win; I have to beat him on my own so I know I can stop that from ever happening again!" He pushed her off with his strength and charged at her again.
Luna saw him coming towards her as he tried to spin and kick her head off, but Luna quickly performed a handspring backflip, stopping halfway, avoiding Rakaia's kick, but retaliating with a kick of her own, catching him in the jaw, sending him through the air and into the ground again.
Rakaia breathing heavily, rose to his feet again and made his way towards her again, but was met by a solid fist to the face, sending him back to the ground again. "I understand how you feel, but you aren't going to win like that," Luna told him as Rakaia struggled to get back on his feet again. "Running off emotions in a fight won't get you anywhere, it just makes you short-sighted and unable to focus on your opponent." She tried to explain to him, but Rakaia growled at her as he got back up to his feet.
"What do you know?" Rakaia shot towards her, but Luna used her reflexes to deliver a few more punches to Rakaia's face, causing him to stagger a bit and as she was about to knock him back down to the ground again, Rakaia quickly recovered, ducking Luna's kick and tackling her into the ground.
The two rolled in the mud as they began to roll downhill, with either of them gaining the upper hand as their bodies came to a stop with Luna on top of Rakaia. She glared down at him angrily as she pulled her fist back and got ready to deliver a blow that would end the fight. She drove her fist down, harder than she probably wanted to.
"You were right." Rakaia suddenly spoke, causing Luna's eyes to shoot up out of curiosity, her fist stopping mere inches in front of Rakaia's face.
The rain continued to fall as Rakaia just looked up at Luna, who continued to sit on top of him, confused by his sudden words. "You were right about everything." Rakaia's eyes sadly lowered. "I can't beat Saitou, there's no way possible I would stand a chance against someone like him." He never took his eyes off her as he spoke, his words sincere as each sentence came out.
"You even offered to help me, and I shoved it back in your face because I didn't like the fact that I couldn't save my friends...."He finally looked away from her. "You even saved me a few times and I didn't even want to admit it." He continued. "Saitou would have beaten me senseless in front of Cana if you hadn't shown up." Luna couldn't believe her ears; there she was sitting on top of a boy, who just a few short seconds ago was about to be knocked out by her fist, admitting to everything in front of her.
"You were right, I am weak…." Luna was having trouble responding to the boy's words as he spilled his guts to her, admitting to where he was wrong. "You won; I knew I couldn't beat you." He told her.
Luna still appeared to be puzzled at Rakaia's change in demeanor. "Then why?" Luna asked him. "Why did you challenge me if you knew you couldn't win?" She threw another question at him.
The rain continued to beat on the two students as Luna remained on top of him. "I just had to give it a shot, I had to see for myself; the gap between us," Rakaia answered her sadly as his eyes lowered again. "And I got to say, it's pretty wide." He released a sad laugh as Luna caught the small joke and gave him a small smile in return.
"We agreed right?" Rakaia asked her. "If I lose, I'll go and take my beating like a man." He brought back up their agreement as Luna continued to look down at him, lightly shaking her head.
"That was the deal, but…I think you've been beaten enough." Luna stated, forgetting the fact that she was still sitting on his chest. "I'll train you." She crossed her arms smiling down at him.
"Huh?' Rakaia was taken aback as Luna continued to share her small smile with him. "Wait… Did you just say?" Luna nodded her head for a bit, indicating that she meant every word of it.
"Seriously!" Rakaia shouted. "Alright! This is awesome!" He threw his arms up in the air bit, but then realized something. "Umm…"
Luna tilted her head a bit. "What? What's wrong?" She asked him, not knowing what caused the sudden interruption.
"Um, I'm happy that you're training me and all, but; do you mind getting off of me?" Rakaia asked her as they both shared a quick awkward moment of silence with Luna looking at Rakaia's eyes and then down to his chest area, quickly realizing that her panties may have been showing.
"EEKK!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. "YOU PERVERT!" A loud slap mixed with the rain as Luna was seen standing up, crossing her arms as Rakaia continued to lie on the ground with a large red handprint on his face.
-Moments Later-
Rakaia and Luna sat under a large deck, shielding them from the rain as it continued to poor, refusing to let us so the two could make go home. The newfound silence between them was awkward, but the tension that they once had was slowly withering away.
Rakaia glanced over at Luna, who leaned against a nearby wall; but would quickly turn his head back when she would glance at him. "Is something wrong?" She asked him after she caught him staring at her after a couple of glances.
"Oh, it's nothing; really?" Rakaia responded. "It's just…" Rakaia stumbled over his words.
"You've been stealing glances at me ever since we stopped fighting, I agreed to train you; not become an item you can stare at." Luna made sure to correct his habits.
"Sorry," Rakaia quickly apologize. "It's not like that, it's just… Now that we're sitting here; I can't believe it's really you." Rakaia told her, causing one of Luna's eyebrows to rise a bit.
"Really me; what do you mean?" Luna replied as Rakaia slightly turned his head to face her.
"I mean, it's you; Luna Kazahaya," Rakaia gave her a weak smile as he leaned back against the wall that she was leaning on. "The fighter that I used to watch on TV is literally standing right next to me." Rakaia finished as Luna looked down at him, giving him a soft smile in return.
"Cana said that you used to watch my matches all the time," Luna responded. "In her words, she said that "You were my biggest fan." Although, I do think some people may have you beat." She spoke as she turned her head back towards the falling rain.
"You and Cana really hit it off huh?" Rakaia mimicked Luna's actions and faced the rain himself. "She was super excited to see you. She was so excited I thought she would forget that she had to breathe, but…She managed to pull it off." Rakaia lightly joked as Luna turned her towards him again.
"If you really are a big fan of mine, then why did you give me such a hard time when I came?" She asked him, pulling her knees up to her chest, hugging herself. "Most people would have acted like Cana, but you were completely the total opposite." Luna's curiosity peaked as she continued to look at Rakaia, wondering what the answer to her question would be.
Rakaia let out a small sigh before he answered her. "The truth is…I was excited, but…I was also upset that you had to see me like that." Rakaia responded; his eyes lowered from the rain to the ground that they splashed upon. "I mean, who wants to meet their favorite celebrity when they have to come in and save you from getting your ass kicked?' Rakaia stated, giving a small laugh that Luna joined in.
"That and for that point on we were kind of at each other's throats." Rakaia continued. "Your kind of harsh with your words, you know that" Rakaia added as he rubbed his jaw a bit. "They hit just as hard as your fists." He complimented her as Luna slowly turned her head back towards the rain.
"Yea, sorry about that." Luna apologized. "I really didn't realize how hard I was being on you until the second time I saw you getting attacked." She turned her head back towards him.
"Don't be…" Rakaia told her, Luna's caught by surprise by his response as Rakaia gave her a goofy smile. "Everything you said was true, it was my fault anyway for making you act like that," Rakaia admitted, rubbing the back of his head nervously. "So I think I should be the one apologizing." Rakaia ended as Luna returned the smile, shaking her head as well.
"Don't, we both had a pretty lousy first impression on each other," Luna stated as she stood up, looking down at Rakaia, extending her hand towards him. "So how about we start over Hi; my name is Luna; Luna Kazahaya, a former XMA fighter." She smiled down at him as she kept her hand extended.
Rakaia just looked at her for a moment, but a smirk appeared on his face as he stood up. Accepting her handshake, he took the time to reintroduce himself as well. "The names Rakaia, Rakaia Meiyo."
The two shook hands, smiling at each other; finally getting passed their senseless disagreements, but now had to tackle a new obstacle. Luna looked at him weirdly after the appropriate time for shaking hands had long expired. "Um, you can let go of my hand now." She pointed out to him as Rakaia quickly, but nervously abided by her request.
"Oh, sorry about that." He told her, laughing it off as they both quickly noticed that the rain had stopped, and it was finally their chance to leave the school. "Well, at least the rain stopped."
"Yea, now I can go home and get out of these wet clothes." She spoke back as she quickly sent a quick glare his way, wrapping her arms around her breast. "You better keep your eyes on my face, or I swear…"
Rakaia quickly waved his hands in defense. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, come on; I didn't see anything." He told her as he tried to step out of her arms reach. "See look, looking the other way," he told her as he whistled in an instant, hoping that she wouldn't slap him again.
Luna sighed as she looked at him, giving him a deadpanned "I don't believe you" Look, but chose to leave the matter alone. "Well, let's go; I don't want to be stuck at school for another minute." She stated.
"Same here," Rakaia chimed in as they both began to walk away from the training field. "Hey," Rakaia glanced over towards her. "You mind if I walk you home?" Rakaia asked her as Luna glanced back at him.
"We just stopped fighting and you're already asking to walk me home," Her curiosity peaked once again. "You're not the "Fall in love at first sight" type, right?" Luna smirked at him as Rakaia quickly turned beet red.
"Lo…Lo…Love!" Rakaia shouted. "I was just asking as a friendly gesture! Love has nothing to do with this!" Rakaia made sure that his point got across as Luna continued to mess with him.
"Oh really," She placed her hand under her chin to indicate that she was thinking a bit. "I heard that boys normally ask if they can walk a girl home so they can try to have sexual moments with them, is that true?" She asked him as Rakaia's body color continued to turn dark red. "Is that what you're trying to do?" She added another question to her statement. "If that's true, then are you a lovesick pervert that's trying to walk me home to get me in bed?" She hinted again. "Because if you are…" She walked towards him, getting in his face. "I just want you to know…" She got closer. "That I'm not that kind of woman!" She yelled at him as Rakaia fell on his butt at the sudden outburst.
"I don't know what kind of thoughts are running through your mind right now, but whatever it is; it's not going to happen!" She pointed at him as Rakaia quickly got up and jumped back in her face.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Rakaia matched her outburst. "No one said anything about sex!" Rakaia shot back at her.
"Oh, I can't believe I said I would train a pervert like you." Luna sighed as she complained.
"I'm not a pervert!" Rakaia corrected her. "Besides you're the one that asked the questions about guys, has a guy never walked you home before!" Rakaia asked her as Luna quickly went silent before she turned her head away from him, Rakaia looked at her for a moment. "Wait…You mean…"
"Shut up…" Luna quickly responded. "I don't need you to walk me home." She told him as she took a couple of steps ahead of him with her arms crossed before coming to a stop, glancing behind him, narrowing her eyes at him. "Tomorrow in the training room, after class…We've got a lot of work to do if you're going to stand a chance of winning your match." She gave him a smirk.
Rakaia stunned for a bit, quickly gave her a nod. "Don't worry; I'll be there before you will." He stated as Luna nodded to him and began to walk off again. "Hey, Luna!" Rakaia shouted from behind her, causing her to turn around. "Thanks…I really mean it." He stated as Luna's smile didn't fade as she turned her back towards him once again and walked off in the direction towards her place, leaving Rakaia standing by himself as he watched her disappear out of his sights.
-A bit of time passes, and Rakaia's house-
Rakaia appeared in front of his home, the calm night sky fully displayed as he stood in front of the door, leading into his house. He felt a bit lighter after his encounter with Luna. He placed his hand on the knob, and turned it, opening the door. "Mom, I'm home…Sorry, I'm…Wha…What!" Rakaia's eyes shot up in surprise as he saw a short strawberry-headed girl sitting at the kitchen table with food in her mouth.
"Ca…Ca…Cana!" Rakaia called her name as she turned her attention towards him with food in her mouth. "What the hell are you doing in my house?" Rakaia pointed at her. "And why the hell are you eating my food!" He questioned her again.
Cana quickly tried to talk as food invaded her mouth, her words jumbled up as she tried to chew and talk at the same time. "You know, you shouldn't talk with food in your mouth," Rakaia replied with a deadpanned expression. "And besides, you have a home you know," Rakaia added, staring at Cana as she tried to choke down her food.
"Oh, it was my fault." Rakaia's mother stepped out from the stove with a large assortment of food in her hand. She walked toward the table and gently set the food down. "I happened to see her walking home looking a bit depressed, so I asked her if she would like me to make her something to cheer her up." His mother smiled at him.
"How could I say no to that?" Cana interjected, finally swallowing her portion of food as Rakaia crossed his arms and gave her a simple look.
"You don't say no to anything that has to do with food," Rakaia responded. "I'm starting to think that eating is more than just a hobby for you." Rakaia thought for a second as his statement flew into the air.
"Hey!" Cana quickly pushed herself up from the table. "Are you trying to call me fat or something?" She lightly glared at Rakaia as Rakaia turned his attention back towards her, not really affected by the girl's gaze.
"Now there's a word that we could use for you." Rakaia gently smirked at her as Cana's eyes shot up. Rakaia laughed a bit as he walked over to the table. "Lighten up, I'm just kidding," Rakaia stated, setting down his bag.
"You know, calling a woman fat is the leading cause of trouble for a lot of men Rakaia," His mother stepped in. "You can't win a woman's heart by making fun of her weight," She quickly glanced over at Cana. "Even if their stomach is a bottomless pit." She giggled as Cana quickly looked over at Rakaia's mother.
"Hey! Not you to Ms. Meiyo." Cana grumbled from being picked on by both Rakaia and his mother.
"Oh Cana, sometimes I can't resist." She told her as she looked back over at Rakaia. "So, Rakaia, tell me how you're training went." His mother asked him as Cana quickly perked up at the comment.
"Yeah, I thought you had given up on fighting in the match at all, but when your mom invited me over, she told me that you were going to be late because you decided to stay after school and train." Cana had a smile on her face.
Rakaia nodded at Cana's statement. "Yep, Luna trained me," Rakaia responded causing both Cana and his mother's jaws to drop in amazement.
"What are you serious?" Cana leaped over the table and tackled Rakaia to the floor, sitting on top of him. "How in the hell did you get her to say yes! When are you going to her again and…and why are you covered in mud." Cana gave Rakaia a suspicious look as she began to put two and two together. "Say, Kaia," Cana locked eyes with him, giving him a small glare.
Rakaia looked up at Kaia and then realized that the gears were starting to turn in her head. "Humor me for a second." Cana continued to speak.
"Cana, wait…it's not what you…" Rakaia quickly put his hands up, trying to explain himself, but Cana interrupted him.
"Just what kind of training we're you two doing?" Cana asked him as Rakaia quickly began to try and get away from the strawberry-headed girl. "You two weren't rolling around in the mud, doing sinful things, were you?" Cana growled under her breath as Rakaia quickly pushed Cana off and ran upstairs.
"Wow, look at how dirty I am, I should wash up before I come back down and eat! Ha-ha-ha, see you guys in a minute!" Rakaia yelled as he was half upstairs."
"Hey! We're not done here, Kaia!" Cana charged after him, but Rakaia beat her to the bathroom first, slamming in her face, stopping her in her tracks. "Kaia! Kaia! Open this door! You hear me! Kaia!" Cana banged on the door as Rakaia placed himself on the other side of it.
"Hell no! This bathroom is occupied if you have to go, then go use it at home!" Rakaia responded as Cana continued to bang on the door.
"Kaia!" Cana yelled.
"Go away!" Rakaia shouted back
Rakaia's mother couldn't help but laugh at the commotion as the two kids had their fun. "Well, it's been a minute since it's been this lively around here." She said as she turned her head towards a picture that sat on a nearby shelf. The picture appeared slightly torn, but there were four people in the picture, but only one that his mother was looking at. Her expression turned into a slight frown. "You'll be able to experience this too, just hold out a little longer…" She thought to herself as a stern expression replaced her frown and her hands balled into a fist. "I will find you…." She said to herself as she turned back around, walking into the kitchen.