o n 2 0

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/ no 3 \

/¤ Episode ¥ 5: ¥ Slice of Life ¤/

It wasn't a good way to start the first day of classes, waking up at 3
AM to the sound of your roommate jumping through the window with a 
battle cry, but Edward hadn't had a whole lot of choice in the matter.
Alec's only response had been that he liked to seize every day early on
to exercise to the fullest.  Not in the mood for another fight, the 
morning had only continued to go wrong for Edward Delacroix, and he
found himself staggering into the dining hall a few feet behind a
still-jogging Alec.  "Alec," he sighed, "when do you actually have 
classes?"

"In two hours," replied Alec, stopping his in-place jogging and 
starting to do push-ups.  "But hey, why wait that long?"  Edward
sighed, swiped his ID card to be let into the dining hall, and stumbled
to the table where Nina and Chisato sat happily eating their breakfast.
He glanced at both of them, then sat down, then paused, then collapsed
forward and started snoring.

"EDWARD!"  Chisato, brimming with energy as usual, grabbed Edward's 
hair and yanked his head up, evicting a small notation of pain from
him which she chose not to acknowledge.  "Good to see you awake!  But 
you look so tired.  It must be a side-effect of dating Sandra - I told
you she was -"

Nina sighed very noticably, bringing a stop to Chisato's tirade, albeit
with an associated glare in the process.  "Hey, Edward," she said, 
tapping him on the shoulder.  He turned sleepily towards her, blinking
the exhaustion from his eyes.  "See that Japanese chick over there?"
She gestured, and Edward followed to see a distinctly oriental woman 
with long black hair and two sheathed blades in large, baggy white
pajamas.  "That's the girl that tried to kill us last night.  She 
seems to have some beef with us..."

"That girl?"  Edward rubbed his eyes, then focused a little more 
closely.  "That's right... I remember seeing her running away from you
and Chisato last night, after my date with Sandra.  I didn't think it
was anything out of the ordinary."  He paused for a moment, trying to 
remember at what point in his life had Japanese women carrying blades
and wearing body armor had ceased to be out of the ordinary.  "So 
that's why you were so out of it last night."

Chisato nodded, her attention now diverted from Sandra for the moment.
"Yep.  She tried to take us on, but Nina and I took her to school.  She
took out Nina, but -"  Nina scowled, and Chisato frowned.  "Okay, I
sort of took out Nina by accident.  But then, I had her on the ropes
when -"  Another scowl.  "Okay, she took me to school and then Nina
saved my butt.  But I saved Nina's butt later."  Chisato smiled.  "But
guess what?  She wasn't even after us - she was looking for you!"

As Edward loudly moaned and dropped forward in exasperation, Nina took
another bite of bacon and swallowed it whole, then glanced over at the
girl's table again.  "She said her name was Mizuki - heard of her?"  A
shake of the head, accompanied by mumbled curses.  "I don't think she's
a part of the Perfect Dojo, or she wouldn't be using so many weapons.
But I also don't have the vaguest idea why else she would want us 
dead."

The girl looked over at their table, having heard Nina's voice, and her
eyes widened.  In one fluid motion, she flipped upwards onto her table,
stepping into her cereal and kicking her glass of orange juice across
the room into the wall.  "You!  Members of the Drama Club, before this
breakfast is over, I will kill you!"  With that, she reached into her
pajamas, drew forth a swath of throwing stars, jumped up, and flung 
them hard in Edward's direction.  Edward, for obvious reasons, ducked.

Only Mizuki's aim obviously wasn't very good in the morning, because 
she hit a spot about a yard behind Edward.  Chisato, Nina, Edward, and
Mizuki all watched as the person sitting in the next table over got hit
by the stars and fell out of his chair.  The three Drama Club members
then blinked and turned back to Mizuki.  "Ma'am?  I don't even know 
what we did to you," said Edward.  "Why did Timmy deserve to die?"

Mizuki blinked, then jumped up and tucked herself into a ball, landing
on the table she had hit with her stars.  She stared down at the person 
she has hit, then sighed, turned, and jumped down.  "Oops.  I didn't 
get a whole lot of sleep last night."  She shrugged, walked over to the
Drama Club table, and sat down.  "So, anyways.  You're the one who has
proven himself capable of defeating the arrogant pig Kuroki Shuji?"

"Gods," sighed Edward, sinking his head into his hands.  "Don't tell me
you're another one of Kuroki's little lackeys that seems to take it as 
a personal affront that somebody could beat the jerk?  Hell, you use 
weapons, they'd kick you out in a moment."  Another sigh.  "I am really
not in the mood for this."

Mizuki looked disgusted.  "Upset because you can beat Kuroki Shuji?
Not in the slightest!  I would never deign to working with that pig!"
The expression on Edward's face brightened, but Mizuki didn't seem to
notice.  "I seek your destruction to earn to love of my beloved Dalton,
leader of the Medieval Enthusiasts, a far greater man than Kuroki 
Shuji!  Once I show him I can beat you, he's bound to fall in love with
me!"

Edward blinked.  "And this is different from Kuroki how?"  The young
woman seemed confused, then drew forth the twin blades strapped to her
pajamas.  "Look, Mitsubishi or whatever - can't you try to kill me 
later on in the day or something?  I've got Roots of Writing in twenty
minutes, and -"

A look came over the Asian woman's face, a looke that spoke of
confusion enough to make her stop mid-blade-draw and look hard at
Edward.  "Section 7, August Hall?"  Edward raised an eyebrow and nodded
slowly, and Mizuki let out a shriek.  "That's Dalton's first class!  I
must be swift about this!  EDWARD DELACROIX, YOU MUST DIE NOW!"  Mizuki
lept on the table, and Edward let out a moan of exhaustion.

Before Mizuki could attack Edward, a blast of flame sent her falling
off the table.  Nina, Edward, Chisato, and the falling Mizuki looked
towards the source to see Alec standing there, burning visibly.  
"Edward beat me on club terms a while ago, which means to kill him,
you have to go through me."  Mizuki hit the floor hard, then sprang
up, snarling at Alec.  He blinked.  "Something tells me that's not a
big deal to you."

Wasting no time, Mizuki threw a swath of stars at Alec, who sprang
high into the air and sent a volley of flame towards Mizuki.  She
dodged, and lept towards him with blades flashing.  The Drama Club
table just watched.  "If he wins, I have one less person trying to
kill me," noted Edward as Mizuki was sent flying, then hit the wall
on her feet and sprang back towards Alec.  "If she wins, I get my
room back.  I don't know who to root for."

Nina popped another piece of bacon in her mouth, then stood up.  "My
suggestion would be let them deal with it and head to class.  After
all, it's not like either outcome is a loss to you."  The catwoman
ducked an errant fireball, then stalked out the door, followed by
Edward and Chisato.  It wasn't until he heard the sound of a burning
table that he realized he had never eaten.

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Chris paused for only a moment, then lashed out with his leg, impacting
hard with his target.  There was an audible crack as his victim flew
backwards and he finished his follow-through, and the chair he had 
kicked shattered against the wall.  "I hate the fact that the school
decided that we didn't deserve higher-quality chairs," he noted to
Edward, "but I must admit that these ones do break wonderfully."

Edward sighed.  He liked Chris - really, Chris was a genuinely likable
person - but the whole breaking things routine still sort of freaked
him out.  Besides, this morning was not a terribly tolerant morning.
"Just one question, Chris - did you have to break MY chair?"  He looked
up, only to see Chris vigorously kicking the wreckage of the last 
chair.  "Never mind."

Chris glanced over at Edward and tossed the chair fragment he was
holding aside.  "You still hung up over the fact that you've got 
another club gunning against you?"  Edward shot Chris a withering stare
in response.  "Right, that was a kind of stupid question.  But don't
worry about it so much, Edward.  After all, if you can beat Kuroki
Shuji -"

At the mention of his rival's name, Edward moaned loudly and slumped
down in his pilfered chair, almost heralding the arrival of the 
professor.  He and Chris had arrived early, largely due to Mizuki at
breakfast, but the professor still had a lot of setting up to do with 
only five minutes until class started.  Chris got one last stomp in on
the chair wreckage, then slid into a seat next to Edward.  "Sorry about
that."

As the professor moved as swiftly as possible, assembling his notecards 
and a few visual aids, there came a clinking noise from the back door 
of the room, and both Edward and Chris turned to see what was going on.
In the doorway stood a man about Chris's height, with outrageously 
spiky brown hair and red eyes.  What made him stand out was his dress -
a t-shirt and jeans covered up by layers of mismatched armors, with
nearly every conceivable weapon hung on his frame.  A spear poked up
from behind him, a sword and axe hung from his waist, knives rested in
grooves on his shoulder, and so on.  Edward was pretty certain that he
was Dalton DeCourcy.

Dalton said nothing, only sat down behind Edward and ignored the stare
from the professor.  He stayed still for a moment, with Chris and
Edward still staring directly at him with wide eyes.  Dalton seemed to
be lost in thought as he sat, eyes closed and hands folded.  Then, eyes
still closed, he leaned close to Edward's face.  "You are Edward 
Delacroix, are you not?"

For a moment, Edward considered lying, but he knew full well that it
wasn't worth the effort.  "I suppose the wings give it away," he
replied, wishing that Dalton would open his eyes or at least give some
indications of emotion.  "You're Dalton DeCourcy, aren't you?"

"I am indeed."  His eyes snapped open, and he smiled sinisterly at the
freshman, much like a cat playing with a mouse.  "I, like Kuroki Shuji,
am a sophomore, and as the president of the Medieval Enthusiasts, I
have been his opponent for the last year.  Never have I been able to
successfully take him out.  Yet you, a freshman, come here and 
immediately do precisely that.  Tell me, what am I to think?"

"Um... that this is the beginning of a wonderful friendship between the
two of us?" asked Edward, smiling sheepishly and wondering if he had
started to sweat.  "If you want, Dalton, you can have the position of
'guy who beats Kuroki Shuji' yourself, I really don't want it, and I
don't want to die..."

"Count your days, Edward Delacroix.  They are numbered.  If it is
opposition that you desire, I will be more than happy to provide it
for you."  With almost no noticable motion, Dalton drew forth a trio of
daggers from his shoulder and flung them at Edward, each one striking 
the back of his chair inches from Edward's fingers.  "The next time,
those will not hit your chair."

The professor began to speak, and both Chris and Edward turned to
face the front of the room, with Edward's face looking like that of one 
who had seen a ghost.  Nothing was ever easy, or even fair.

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"The second meeting of the Drama Club will now come to order!" delcared
Mark, Edward sinking his head into his hands.  He couldn't believe that
it was time for another one of these already, and hoped it didn't turn
out as badly as the first one had.  "Our first order of business -
we've attracted another enemy!  Considering that it's been at least
three years since any of the other clubs even noticed that we
existed, that's a step forward!"

"Wasn't it really Edward that attracted the enemy?" asked Nina with a
sigh.  Mark blinked, then stared at Nina for a moment, whose gaze had
been caught by a ball of yarn on Mark's table.  She stayed perfectly
still for a moment, then pounced towards the table and began batting
the yarn around, now completely ignoring Mark again.

"Why don't more people pay attention to me instead of Edward?" asked
Sally, who had moved on to her "self-centered" phase.  Her comment was
punctuated by the sound of shattering china, as Chris slammed a hammer
down on a pile of dishes for a piece he had called "Sorry, Chris, We
Won't Pay For Your Magazine Subscriptions Anymore".

Chisato eyed the situation carefully, taking into account Chris's
aggression, Sally waxing poetic about how people should pay attention
to her, Nina playing with the ball of yarn and mewing, and Rick staring
at Chisato herself with an odd level of intensity.  "It's going well,
don't you think, Edward?"  Her reply was a moan, which Chisato chose
to ignore completely, and she lept to her feet.  "I propose the second
order of business!"

Mark blinked.  "Um... Chisato, that's not your job.  Your job is to sit
and listen to me bring up orders of business.  My job is to bring them
up, and to -"

"Shut up, Mark," snapped Chisato, at which point Mark sighed, shrugged,
tossed his notecards with the orders of business written on them over
his shoulder, and started staring at Nina.  "The second order of 
business: we have no specific proof that Sandra is not a demon succubus
sent to destroy us all!"

That got Edward's attention, although not in the way that Chisato had
desired.  In fact, it got everyone's attention.  "Chisato!" snapped
Edward, jumping to his feet in rage.  "That's completely ludicrous!
Name one item of support for that!"

Chisato seemed almost surprised at Edward's reaction, but quickly
recovered and leaned closer to his face.  It wasn't easy for her,
considering that he was a good head taller than her, but she tried
anyways.  "You want proof?  Where the heck has she been in the
beginning of this meeting?  She was off planning with evil people!"

Everybody blinked, but it was Jim who spoke first.  "Bathroom the in
was she," he said, which notably startled Chisato.  "Tirade your of
beginning the since you behind standing been she's."

After the moment that it took for Chisato to figure out what Jim
had just said, a dark look passed over her face, and she slowly turned 
around to see Sandra standing there, a look on her face that seemed to
be halfway between shocked and hurt.  "Um.  Sandra.  We were, uh, just
talking about you, about what a great gal you are, and stuff."  Hoping
it would add credibility to her statement, Chisato beamed widely, and
Edward sighed and sank his head into his hands.

For a few moments, there was absolute silence, letting the awkward 
moment hang in the air.  Then, without any sort of warning, Nina let
out a loud meow and pounced on the ball of string, tearing into it
tooth and claw and yowling as if in pain.  The collective gaze of the
Drama Club moved to her, and Chisato took that moment to slide past
Edward, run out the door, and slam it behind her as she took off.

Edward glanced at the door, then at Sandra, then at Mark.  Sandra
looked like... well, Edward didn't know.  She didn't look like she
was about to cry, but more like she just didn't understand what was
going on.  Mark looked like he was a split-second away from telling
Edward to go pick a fight with Dalton.  The door just looked closed.
"I'm really not sure what to do right now, so I'm open to suggestions,
everyone," he said, realizing that he had since become the object of
attention.

Again, an awkward pause hung in the air.  Then, Sandra stepped forward
and put her hand on his shoulder.  "I'm all right, Edward.  Just a
little confused.  You can go after Chisato."  He looked at her face, 
and she gave a sort of half-smile.  Edward returned it, then turned
and ran out the door, hoping to catch up with Chisato.  Sandra sighed.

Nina tossed the shreds of the yarn ball away and stood, glancing first
at the door and then at Sandra herself.  "What was that all about,
Sandra?  You told him he could go, he did.  Did you expect 
differently?"

Sandra sighed again in response, slouched onto the couch in the seat
Edward had occupied only a few moments before, and folded her arms over
her chest, clutching her shoulders.  "I don't know... I guess I wanted
him to tell me that he wasn't going to, that he was more worried about
me than her."  She sank her head a little.

The cat-woman nodded, thought for a moment, then shrugged.  "Well, that
was pretty stupid."  Sandra's head snapped up, an expression of shock 
on her face.  "Oh, come on, Sandra.  You told him he could go.  Have
you ever seen Edward not do something he was told to?  I've only known
him a little bit longer than you, but I've already learned that that's
not part of who he is."  She knelt beside Sandra, who now did look
closer to tears.  "If that's what you honestly expected him to do,
then maybe you're only seeing in Edward what you want to see."

"Maybe you're right," said Sandra, and for the first time since any of
the Drama Club had met her, for a split second, Nina looked surprised.
That wasn't what she had expected to hear from Sandra, wasn't what she
had wanted to make her think.  Nina bit her lower lip, suddenly not
sure if she had made the right choice.

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"Dammit, Chisato, where are you?" shouted Edward, not even sure where
to start looking.  His wings allowed him to cover a larger area of 
campus faster, and Crecheb University didn't have a very large campus
to begin with, but looking for one specific black-haired girl in a 
campus full of them was still the proverbial search for a needle in a
haystack.  He swooped low again, hoping that she would spot him and at
least stop moving.  "Chisato!"

He had already checked back at Southeast, but she was nowhere to be 
found.  It wasn't that stuff like this didn't happen with some degree
of regularity - Chisato was chronically putting her foot in her mouth -
but this was something that struck close to home, and he was worried
about what she might do on a spur-of-the-moment decision.  "CHISATO!"

"Mister Delacroix!"  Edward recognized the voice, and froze 
immediately, then turned slowly to see Dalton DeCourcy waving him down.
Figuring that things couldn't possibly get much worse, he flew to the
ground swiftly, eyeing Dalton suspiciously.  The man was still covered
in weapons, but didn't look quite so threatening to Edward this time.
"You seem upset.  Are you looking for someone?"

Edward had hoped to ask Alec for help looking for Chisato, but Alec
hadn't been there when he had stopped off at the room.  He knew it was
a long shot, but he hadn't done anything to make Dalton hate him just
yet, and he thought it was worth the effort to explain.  "Yeah -
actually, it'd be really great if you could help out.  She's about 
five-eight, black hair, antennae on her forehead, but she'll swear that
they're a birthmark, and -"

"Oh!  Her!"  Something about Dalton's surprise seemed fake.  "No need
to keep looking, then - I already found her.  She seemed quite 
distressed when I ran into her, but we talked, and she seems all right
now.  Walk with me - I will take you there, and we can talk a little 
bit in the middle."

If Edward had been a little suspicious before, he was unbelievably so
now - but there was little he could do at this point.  "All right," he
said, folding his wings next to his body and stepping closer to Dalton.
Up close, they were actually about the same height - Dalton just looked
taller with all of the weaponry.  "Where is she?"

"This way.  Follow me."  Dalton turned and began walking, and Edward
reluctantly followed behind him.  They were going into the outskirts of
campus - a more heavily wooded area, which made Edward all the more
suspicious and worried.  Chisato wouldn't have come out here of her own
free will, he knew that - it was far from Southeast.  And if Dalton did
try something, Edward would be at a severe disadvantage, with virtually
no way to take off and limited flight ability even if he did manage to
get airborne.  "Why does Kuroki Shuji hate you, Edward?"

Preoccupied with the surroundings, Edward didn't even acknowledge the
question for a moment, and even then took a second to think about it.
"It was because of when I first came here, actually.  Orientation.  He
was doing his typical 'challenge-all-comers' routine, and I made a
crack to Chisato about what Freud would think of it."  Edward smiled.  
"Heh.  I guess you sort of had to be there.  Anyways, he said I had
besmirched his honor, to which I responded with another wisecrack...
Things went downhill after there."

Dalton nodded.  "Sounds precisely like Kuroki Shuji, indeed.  I am
assuming that you didn't think until afterwards that baiting him was
not the smartest possible course of action?"  Edward nodded, still
wondering what the hell Dalton was up to.  "So, then, another question.
Why do you continue to fight Shuji?"

Edward blinked.  Of all the questions Dalton could have asked, that
one seemed the most obvious.  "Because if I don't, he'll just beat on
me and probably kill me."

"So you believe him when he threatens to kill you, Edward?"  Dalton
stopped walking for a moment, and turned to face Edward.  "After all,
I sincerely doubt that Kuroki Shuji wants to be a murderer, and I know
that you are far more mobile than he.  Any time he challenges you to a
fight, you could just as easily fly away.  Indeed, you of all people
would have the most opportunity to avoid a fight if you really didn't
want to."

"What's that supposed to mean?" snapped Edward, to which he got no
immediate response and turned back to walking into the forest.  Edward
snarled and jumped in front of Dalton, preventing him from walking
further.  "I don't have a choice in the matter, DeCourcy!"

"But you do indeed, Edward.  That is part of what fascinates me.  You
alone determine whether or not you fight Kuroki Shuji, yet despite how
much you say you want not to, you do."  Dalton smirked, an expression
that Edward instantly hated, in no small part because he could not say
his guide was wrong.  "The truth, Edward.  You know Kuroki Shuji would
not kill you.  Why do you fight him?"

"I -!"  Edward started to say something, but he found that the response
he was about to give just felt wrong, false.  He stopped, fell silent
for a moment, lost in thought.  "I know I'm better than him.  I know
that I'm a better person than he is, and I know that not fighting makes
others think that he's the better person.  So I have to fight him."

Once again, Dalton stopped walking as well, almost turning to face
Edward as he rubbed his chin.  "Why do I get the feeling that you are
telling me what you want to be the truth, not what is the truth?" he
said, first shocking and then angering Edward.  "But that is a puzzle
for another day, and there will most certainly be another day.  I have
other interests today."  He turned and kept walking.  "Come.  She is
not much farther."

More than ever, Edward was certain that something was not right about 
this, but he had no choice but to press the course.  Before him, he
saw Dalton step into a small clearing, and he stepped in after to see
Chisato tied to a tree, unconcious, with a small gash on her forehead.
"Chisato!" he shouted, lunging over to her.  Before he could reach her,
though, Dalton stepped in front of him, and in a lightning motion had
drawn a sword.  Edward screeched to a halt, scowling at Dalton.  "You
bastard."

"Be that as it may, Edward Delacroix, I said that I would defeat you,
and you were naive to assume that I would not do so by any means
necessary.  This was not my original plan, but once I recognized this
girl from Mizuki's description, I knew that she could be exploited for
my purposes."  Holding the sword in one hand, he drew another dagger,
and casually tossed it backwards towards Chisato, nipping her ear and
drawing more blood.  "I am not Kuroki Shuji.  Murder is of no 
consequence to me.  You will fight me, or I will kill her.  Is that
clear?"

"You... you..."  Edward lost words, unable to contain his rage, his
frustration.  Chisato was his best friend, but now she was in deathly
peril because of Edward.  A cry of anger and desperation escaped 
Edward's lips, and without thinking he flung forward a cascade of
green energy towards Dalton.  Dalton said nothing, simply moved his
sword in a liquid motion and sent the blasts flying beside him.  The
armored man smiled, and Edward ensheated himself in energy, then
rammed DeCourcy.

The action took Dalton totally by surprise, and Edward pulled up as 
Dalton crashed back, hovering high in the air.  Focusing for only a 
moment, he began pumping out as many energy blasts as he possibly
could, slamming into the ground all around Dalton.  Dalton himself,
however, kept Edward's attacks at bay, parrying each one that came to 
close perfectly with his sword.  Shifting the sword to one hand, he
drew forth a swath of daggers and sent them flying towards Edward's
chest, and by the time Edward could see them, it was too late for him
to dodge.  Grimacing, he pushed forth as much energy as he could, 
forming a defensive field in front of himself.  It lasted not more
than a second, but that was enough to send the daggers bouncing away
without harm.

"Impressive defense, Delacroix!" shouted Dalton, drawing forth a long
chain with a hooked blade at the end.  "But you left yourself open!"
The chain flew forth, and Edward could only watch as it wrapped itself
around him, then pulled tight and locked with the hooked blade.  The
tip of the blade dug a small cut into his arm, but far more important
was the fact that his wings were no longer able to sustain his flight.
Dalton gave a tug on the chain, and Edward came falling towards his
opponent as Dalton drew forth a spear, then dug it in and waited for
Edward to fall on the waiting point.

Summoning all his strength, Edward moved his hands just enough to send 
blasts at the haft of the spear, sending it to pieces and sending
Edward himself crashing in to Dalton.  It wasn't a much preferable
situation, but it was better than being impaled.  Dalton still had his
sword in hand, and Edward rolled onto the sword-wielding arm 
immediately, hoping to cut down on Dalton's arsenal.  His hopes were 
crushed as Dalton drew a hand axe from his hip and smiked at Edward,
who had finally managed to twist his hands enough to blast the chain.
The chain shattered, the axe came down, and Edward thrust upward, 
feeling a tear in his leg but nothing else.

Edward landed a few feet away from Dalton, who now charged with both 
axe and sword towards his quarry.  A quick glance at Dalton's face told
Edward everything he needed to know - the man was still smiling.  That
meant that he was either still in control of the situation or it didn't
matter if he wasn't.  It was bad news for Edward either way.  Jumping, 
he flew over Dalton, hoping he could hit his back and end the fight
quickly, but with amazing speed Dalton turned and parried the blasts
sent his way.  "You can't defeat me like that, Edward Delacroix!" he
shouted.  "Stop running and start fighting!"

Scowling, Edward landed, and then collapsed onto his knees when he felt
a shooting pain through his leg.  Clutching at it, he realized from the
blood that it was the leg Dalton had already injured, and then looked 
up to see Dalton standing above him, axe sheathed and sword held high.
With only a moment to react, he did the only thing he could, raising
his arms and pushing out as much force as he could, with a cry of
"FORCE JUDGEMENT CANNON!"

The torrent slammed into Dalton, and he was flung high into the air,
dropping his sword in the process.  Edward groaned, feeling nausea
overtake him but knowing that he had to stay concious for a little
while longer.  He hobbled over to where Chisato was tied, blasted off
her bonds as Dalton hit the ground hard.  She was still unconcious -
the cuts hadn't taken much blood from her, and she was going to be
okay.

"Not bad, Edward.  You do have power.  Next time, I won't hold back
when I fight you."  Edward could hear Dalton's voice, but he wasn't
looking at him so much as fighting the urge to vomit.  He didn't
care what happened to Dalton at the moment, only whether or not
Chisato was all right.  Scooping her into his arms, he flew off
towards the infirmary, still feeling a bit off-color but well
enough to see to his friend's welfare.

\¤2*¥5¥*2¤/

"So the Japanese chick with a serious attitude problem is the nicer of
the two of them?" asked Nina, leaning in the doorway.  "Nasty."  She
glanced down at Edward's leg, surveying the bandage.  "What did the
doctors say about that?  It wasn't too deep, was it?"

"Nope," replied Edward, gently massaging his leg, as if afraid it would
now decide to fall off.  "It was really just a scratch - the main
reason it seemed worse when I was fighting him was just shock, I guess.
I've never been injured like that before - the only torn flesh I've
ever had has been my wings, and those don't hurt much at all, and
heal fast."  He thought for a second.  "Although the doctors still said
that I should probably go on morphene.  They seem to say that a lot."

Nina nodded, looking at Chisato, who was still lying in bed.  Edward
had already filled her in about Chisato's condition - she'd sustained
some blunt trauma to the head, nothing terribly serious.  Mostly it
was just shock and fatigue, but she was being checked up on 
periodically.  She'd be released later on, probably at night.  "You
think he was bluffing when he said he would kill you?"

"No," replied Edward.  "I honestly don't know what is going on with
Dalton - he doesn't seem to have any respect for life.  When he was
coming at me, he never gave me the impression that he would stop
short of landing the killing blow.  He was obviously using real blades,
and I don't think he would if he was going to be squeamish about it."

"You going to be okay?" asked Nina.  She was still worried, especially
because of the thought that she might have in some small part been
responsible for the course events had taken.

Edward nodded and smiled.  "I'm fine, Chisato's fine, and I beat him.
Things are going to be okay, I'm sure of it.  All I need to do is
spend a little time with Sandra, and I know I'll feel better right
away."  He jumped off the bed, tested his leg, and began to walk out
the door.

A lump rose in Nina's throat.  "Edward, about Sandra -"  He looked at
her, and Nina saw a look on his face that she'd only seen a few times
before.  For maybe the first time in her life, Nina wasn't sure what
to say, whether the truth was really the best course of action right
now.  It had certainly worked wonders with Sandra.  "Never mind.  It
was nothing.  Have fun."

The winged freshman lingered for a moment, then shrugged and left,
closing the door behind him.  Nina sighed, then padded over to
Chisato's bed.  "Oh, Chisato, what the hell have I done?" she asked the
still-sleeping girl.  "I just can't seem to get through my head that
I'm not among flemans any more, and things don't work quite the same
here.  When you're with my race... being forward, being blunt, even
being rude is considered a good quality.  That's why I was chosen to
come here.  But here... I might have just cost one of my first friends
something really important."

Chisato responded by grunting and shifting slightly in her sleep.
Nina sighed.  "And you people say that you wish you were cats.  I don't
understand that for a second.  Me, right now, I'd give almost anything 
to be a human."  Nina turned and headed for the door.  She hadn't
been entirely honset with Chisato, though - more than being human,
Nina would have given anything to have just been sure that she was 
doing the right thing.

  /
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