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Tokyo, Japan, September 25th, 2003

Two boys walked down the road to school, singing a song happily as winters snows piled around them.

"How much time we got, Kei?" asked the taller one. He wore a red baseball cap, a blue and green striped shirt, and black jeans. He had brown hair which stood up like brown flame. The smaller boy checked his watch, whistling a merry tune.

"It's 'bout 7:30, Hiro! We'd better get a move on eh?" Kei replied smiling slightly and brushing his shoulder length black hair back. He wore a blue jacket with the Reebok sign on the left side, a black shirt with a serpent entwined with a cross, and black jeans. Hiro nodded and together they dashed down the road to school. "Don't want to be late to our first magic classes, am I right?" Hiro nodded and they ran all out.

* * * * * *

"Hiro Kusanagi?"

"Here."

"Kei Strife?"

"Here."

"Nauru Maehara?"

"Wassup?"

"Nara?"

"Here."

"Trace Legacy?"

"I'm here too Sir."

The teacher nodded and looked at the five student class. He looked to be about 35, but the students knew that he had to be at least 85. He wore blue robes and had a black bowler hat on his head. He had a long silver beard as well as crow's feet at the edges of his eyes from reading too many books in low light.

"Very well, then. Welcome to Ice magic 101. Here you will learn the basics of casting ice element spells, what can absorb them, what is weak to them. You will learn how to craft an Ice barrier from thin air, and to throw ice darts with such accuracy that you can freeze a fly at 300 paces." Trace sat back in his chair, whistling a small tune. Nara, who looked like a cross from a tiger and a human woman, was scratching words onto the desk top with her long claws. Hiro was busy witling, and Kei sat cross legged on the chair apparently meditating. Only Trace was paying any attention at all. The teacher sighed and shook his head. "I am Professor John Roberts Konno. When I call your name you will come up, state your name and race, and then sit back down. Is that clear? All right then. Hiro Kusanagi." Hiro stood up and went to the front of the class.

"The name's Hiro Kusanagi and I'm a human." He sat back down at his desk.

"Kei Strife."

"My name is Kei Strife, and I'm a cross breed of a thunder fox and an elf." He sat back down.

"Nauru Maehara." She stood up and made her way to the front, blushing brightly as she turned to look at the class. She was wearing a short green skirt with a blue shirt. She had black hair, and a black hair band.

"Um, m-my name is, Nauru Maehara…n-nice to meet you all." She started to sit back down.

"Excuse me, Miss Maehara. Your race?"

"W-well…I'm a fire fox/human hybrid, S-Sir…"she stuttered, blushing furiously and sitting down quickly.

"Nara."

The tiger girl jumped in front of the class and smiled widely.

"Hi all! The name is Nara! I'm a Tiger Krei, nice to meet all of you!" She smiled wider when she looked at Kei, revealing her slightly pointy, yet very sharp, teeth. "Very nice indeed," she purred, sitting back down at her chair with feline grace. She wore a green long sleeved shirt and brown pants. She had a tiger tail and human hands with feline claws, as well as the whiskers of a tiger, tiger ears, and her eyes were yellow.

"Trace Legacy." He stood up and smiled nervously.

"I'm Trace Legacy, a human…nice to meet all of you." He looked at Nara uncomfortably as he sat down; apparently not comfortable with sitting next to someone that was related to a wild animal as dangerous as the tiger. Kei's red furred fox ears started to rise out of his hair, but they quickly hid again with a quick slap of his hand.

* * * * * *

"So what do you think of our classmates, Hiro?" Kei asked, lying on a hammock in their dorm room. Hiro smiled and looked up at Kei.

"What do I think? Lets see…" he thought for a moment. "Nauru Maehara is nice, although she tends to stutter a lot. She's pretty cute also. Trace Legacy seems to be ok, although I'm not that sure about it. And Nara…kinda makes me feel uncomfortable. Hey Kei? What is a Krei anyway?"

Kei laughed loudly. "Don't tell me you don't know anything about a Krei!? A Krei is basically a race that has human attributes as well as some of those of an animal. There are three basic types of Krei; Fox Krei, Tiger Krei, and Wolf Krei. They all have fur of the animal that they are named after."

"That's right, Kei," sounded a familiar voice with a distinctly catlike tone to it. Nara walked into the room her pack over her shoulder. "Hey Hiro! So we're all bunking in the same room together eh? This'll be fun." She smiled widely, again showing her sharp teeth and making Hiro and Kei distinctly nervous. Hiro shook his head.

"Actually, I'm supposed to be in room 102. See ya!" he ran out the door with his pack so fast that Kei and Nara didn't have time to blink.

"Didn't know he could move that fast," said Nara, putting her stuff on a bed next to Kei.

"Hiro can move pretty fast when he's scared…so your rooming up in room 203 eh? That's nice." He rested his head on the edge of the bed and sighed sadly. "At least I won't be rooming alone." Nara looked at Kei confused, her tail tapping the bed.

"So you're seriously going to room with me? Even though I'm a Krei?"

"I don't have a problem with Krei, or just about anyone for that matter. Most people tend to have a problem with me being a thunder fox/elf hybrid. How old are you anyway?" Nara smiled and closed her eyes, tilting her head to the side as Kei ran his hands through his hair.

"I'm 16 in human years, 4 in Krei years." She sniffed. "And…you are approximately 5 in Elf years, or 17 in human years. Am I right?" Kei nodded.

"So…what do you think of me?"

Nara smiled, her eyes flashing momentarily as she raised her head. "I think that you're a nice kid. I would love to get to know you better." She winked at Kei, blushing slightly. Kei blinked and sat up.

"Do you drink Nara?" Nara shook her head and Kei sighed in relief. "That's good…neither do I." Nara stretched out on the bed and yawned widely. "So…what'd you think of our first day of classes?" Kei asked. Nara shrugged.

"Can't complain, although I'm happy that you're in all my classes Kei. I like you. You're cool." Kei blushed and looked down.

"I'm glad your in all my classes also Nara. It's comforting to know that I have a girlfriend in my classes…" Nara blinked and sat up. Kei blushed, realizing what he had said. "I mean female friend!" Kei laughed nervously then looked down shamefacedly. Nara smiled and kissed Kei on the cheek.

"I know what you mean, Kei."

* * * * * *

The next day, Kei sat at a table in the lunchroom alone, as was his custom. Hiro was sitting at a table with the popular kids; already well on the way to becoming one of the most popular freshman there. Nara got her meal and looked around. She spotted Kei and immediately started to walk over to him. As she passed the popular table, one of the kids stuck his foot out and tripped Nara. Her plate landed on the table right in front of Kei's, and Nara caught herself in time before she fell, although she was still blushing shamefacedly. Kei made a mental note about the person that tripped Nara.

'Short, blond-haired, and muscular. Quite possibly a senior. I'll have to make him pay for attacking Nara like that.' Nara sat down next to Kei, growling faintly. Kei smiled mischievously.

"Better be careful, you never know when you're going to get shot down."

Nara hissed at Kei before she started eating her food.

"I'll figure out a way to make that guy pay for tripping you Nara. Believe it," he promised grimly before he started eating. Hiro sighed, knowing what Kei was going to do.

"You'd better be careful, Shawn," he said to the person that tripped Nara. "Kei can be pretty dangerous when the innocent are threatened." Shawn laughed loudly and walked in front of Kei.

"So you're mad cause I hurt your little girlfriend, aren't you. Well then…why don't you hit me? What are you scared?"

"That's not a good idea," Hiro said dryly, seeing Kei's hand clenching and unclenching angrily.

"Why not? Do you actually think that this wimp here can hurt me? He-oof!" Shawn flew back a few feet, surprise evident on his face. Kei tapped his chin with his finger, his foot still in mid-air from when he had introduced Shawn's stomach to his foot.

"I what, Shawn? Please continue," Kei said. Nara shifted in her seat looking around nervously at the other people in the cafeteria; they had all stopped what they were doing and watching the confrontation between Kei and Shawn. Shawn stood up, cracking his neck.

"You're a pathetic little coward, who needs to be taught a lesson in respect."

"I'm the coward? You are the one that picks on the people who are too weak to stand up to you, thinking that you're better then them. Well now…I might strike from the shadows occasionally, and I could be called a coward, since I do strike without warning, but one thing that I can't be called, is a wimp. You're a wimp Shawn."

Shawn's mouth opened and closed wordlessly, obviously at a loss for words. The other students started murmuring in the background. Kei settled into a fighting stance, swaying to an internal beat. Hiro sighed and rubbed his head. "Go Kei!" yelled one of the students in the background, while another student yelled, "Go Shawn!" Shawn roared and charged at Kei, his fist leading. Kei dodged to the side just as Shawn swung, and punched back in the stomach. He then kicked Shawn hard in the back, then in the back of the head. Shawn fell to the floor, stunned.
Kei settled back into his fighting stance, not even breathing hard. "Is that the best you can do, Shawn? How pathetic…"

Shawn stood up and punched Kei in the face. Kei somersaulted back and wiped a bit of blood from his lip, smiling slightly. Kei charged at Shawn, apparently going for a punch. Just as Shawn raised his arm to block, Kei switched to a running jump kick that landed squarely on Shawn's chin, sending him stumbling back disoriented. At this moment, a teacher stepped into the room apparently about to stop the fight, but was stopped by the principal. "Not yet…" he said softly, turning back to the fight. "I want to see what this kid can do." Kei feinted a right hook, and when Shawn raised his arm to block it, Kei slammed him hard in the stomach with a roundhouse kick that sent him slamming into the wall, leaving a pretty large dent. Kei saluted his fallen opponent then sat down at his seat, and resumed eating. After a few moments, so did the other students. Shawn lay where he had landed after sliding off the wall, unconscious, as the principal walked over to Kei, clapping, followed by the teacher. "A marvelous performance, Master Strife! I do believe we've found our next tournament contender, Master Roberts!"

"Indeed, Sir," Roberts replied in a monotone. Hiro walked over to Kei and clapped him on the shoulder.

"You did pretty good, dude, considering the fact that that was your first fight ever." Kei smiled and looked at Nara, who had returned to eating.

"I finally found a reason…" he said, confusing anyone that heard him. He picked up his empty tray and walked out, followed by Nara. The principal looked at Hiro, amazed.

"That was Master Strife's first fight? But he's so experienced…" the principal stared after Kei. Hiro smiled and walked back to his food.

* * * * * *

Kei looked at Nara later that night while they were doing their homework.

"What did the principal mean when he said that they had found a new tournament contender?" Nara looked at him in disbelief.

"He means that you're going to be fighting in the inter house tournament next week. Don't you know anything about the John Franklin magic school? Please tell me you at least knew the school's name!" Kei shook his head to both questions.

Nara sighed and shook her head. "Every year this school and its rival school hold a tournament to see who has the finest students. We've lost the tournament every year, sadly."

Kei nodded and turned back to his homework. "So what's our rival school's name?"

"Jason Continental Magic High," Nara replied casually. Kei coughed and blinked.

"Did you just say Jason Continental Magic High?"

"Yeah," Nara replied, looking sad. "I really want to win the tournament, but I'm not that good…" she turned over on her side and fell asleep. Kei sat up a little longer, thinking, before he also fell asleep.

* * * * * *

The next day, Kei, Hiro and Nara looked at the bulletin board in front of the school.

"It says here that the interschool tournament is going to be held here next week. Feeling the pressure Kei man?" Hiro asked, poking Kei's ribs jokingly. Kei sighed and ran his hands through his hair.

"I'm just going to wind up making a fool of myself…in front of two schools no less! Maybe I should've let Shawn beat me," he said with a profound sigh. Nara whacked him on the back of the head.

"If you had done that, you would've humiliated yourself worse. Besides, don't feel so down about being the youngest student to ever go into the tournament," she said with a small laugh. "Just remember, no matter what; I'll always be here for you, k Kei?" she started to walk away but turned around. "Oh, and, believe in yourself Kei." She waved and ran to class, trailed by a worried Kei and a laughing Hiro. They sat at their desks in class and waited for Professor Roberts, who walked in moments later.

"Class I have news," he said in a monotone. "It would appear that after Master Strife's performance in the lunchroom yesterday," Kei gulped and hid his head while the rest of the class looked at him in confusion, "he will be fighting in the interschool tournament that will be hosted here next week. However, due to the fact that this year there will be more then one student in a team, there are going to be requests for two extra people from the freshman class to fight in the tournament to assist Master Strife here. That is all for the announcements." He went to his desk and sat down. "Do we have any volunteers?" Nara nodded.

"I'll fight alongside Kei," she said, with a slight blush. Kei looked at her as Professor Roberts nodded.

"Very good. Any other volunteers?" Trace raised his hand before Hiro could.

"I will!" he practically shouted, glaring at Kei. Roberts blinked and scratched his head.

"Right." After he had taken down Trace's name the class started as per usual.

* * * * * *

Kei Nara and Trace stood along with the other fighters in the tournament, barely able to stand from exhaustion. "I think we went a little overboard with the training, guys" Trace muttered, rubbing his eyes sleepily. Kei and Nara nodded their assent as the people filed into the coliseum. The opening ceremony was held and the people that weren't fighting yet sat down at the stands half asleep. Kei's group was no exception.

"I thought you said that only two schools compete in this tournament," muttered Kei to Nara as he looked around. "There's got to be 25 schools here!" Nara shrugged.

"So I was wrong…" she whispered back, staring at the floor uncomfortably.

The announcer said, "Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the inter high school tournament, with representatives from every high school in the area! Participating schools include; Jason Nixon Continental Magic High, John Franklin…" the announcer said several minutes' worth of high schools before continuing. "There are several categories where students will be facing off in either a one-on-one match or team match! The categories are; Hand-to-hand, melee, ranged, magic, and intellectual. Today, we will be having the Hand-to-Hand unarmed melee part of this tournament!" Kei Nara and Trace started playing cards with each other while the fights of the day played themselves out, glad for the rest. Later, as the day drew to a close, they stood in the dressing room before the arena, on edge from nervousness, one of the tournament's helpers in the room told them how the fight would be played.

"Ok you're going to be fighting in the ice arena in a few minutes. For this fight, it will be a one-on-one unarmed match. When one person on either team is unable to continue, then another person from that same team will come up to fight in their stead against the same opponent. Do you understand?" They nodded, and waited. Soon, they heard the announcer say; "Ladies and gentlemen! The last match of the day will be occurring momentarily in the ice arena. Please proceed to that arena post-haste."

"Ladies and Gentlemen! The final match of the day will be between John Franklin's Team Strife…"signs above the arena showed Nara's Trace's and Kei's faces facing right, "against the same school's Team Fire Marshall!" The signs showed the faces of three guys facing off against Kei and friends. "Let's see how Strife does against one of the best fighting teams in the tournament! First for Team Strife, the leader, Kei Strife!" Kei walked out to a mix of boos jeers and cheers. "And first for team Fire Marshall; Dragon D Takanaka!" he walked out to a chorus of cheers and settles into a fighting stance.

"Ready for a thrashing, wimp?" he asked Kei, sneering. Kei just settled into a defensive stance and waited. The announcer raised his hands as a light appeared over the arena. It flashed red three times, then yellow before shining green as the announcer shouted. "Fight!" Kei charged at Dragon, ducking a punch and evading a kick to the stomach before returning with a running jump kick that had Dragon staggering back several feet. Dragon smiled and jumped high, aiming to kick Kei in the face. Kei eluded it only slightly and responded with an axe kick to the back that sent Dragon falling, disoriented and breathless, to the arena floor with a loud bang. Dragon jumped up, seemingly uninjured, and punched Kei in the face, knocking him back against a wall and tackling him against the wall before he started punching him hard in the stomach repeatedly. Kei barely managed to catch the fifth punch, but he coughed up blood due to the force of the previous blows. He threw Dragon back and shook his head to clear the dizziness as Dragon charged at him again, kicking him in the stomach, then punching him in the chest head stomach and back, sending Kei skidding to the floor on his face. Dragon knelt besides Kei's face and smiled mockingly.

"Had enough, wimp?" he asked, laughing mockingly, each laugh sending Kei deeper and deeper into his rage. Kei stood up and punched Dragon incredibly hard on the chin, knocking him a foot into the wall before settling back into an offensive fighting stance.

"Ready to take this to the next level, punk?" Kei asked, glaring at Dragon with his suddenly red eyes. Dragon stumbled back, feeling the purest form of fear before Kei tore into him.

* * * * * *

"He's…pretty strong isn't he?" Trace asked, watching the fight from the dressing room, his eyes wide. Nara and Trace watched as Kei broke Dragon's elbow with a punch that sent him flying into the wall, leaving a pretty deep impression on it. Guards restrained Kei while paramedics came and carried an unconscious Dragon away on a stretcher.

"The winner of the first fight is Kei Strife! The next fighter for Team Fire Marshall is Magician Huron." A man dressed in blue clothes with a red baseball hat walked out and settled into his battle stance. The light appeared again as the announcer and audience counted down. "5…4…3…2…1…FIGHT!" Huron swept Kei's feet out from under him and slammed him hard in the stomach with his elbow, causing Kei to cough up some blood. Kei punched Huron off him and tried several punch and kick combos, but none of the blows connected. Huron jumped high as Kei tried a low kick and landed a solid kick on Kei's face, knocking him down. Huron landed lightly on his feet and settled back into his fighting stance as the announcer counted. "1…2…" Kei moaned and tried to get up, but his strength failed him and he fell, pressing his face against the cold ice floor as the announcer finished counting. "…9…10. The winner of the second fight is Magician Huron!" A tournament official carried an unconscious Kei into his team's dressing room and signaled for the next fighter to go up. Trace nodded and stood, but it was Nara, her eyes glowing red with the same fury that had twisted Kei's features earlier, that walked out onto the arena. "The next fighter for Team Strife will be Nara!" Nara hissed as the announcers counted down. She charged at Huron as they finished and swiftly kicked him in the stomach before chopping him on the back of the neck and kneeing him in the face, sending him into the air somewhat and causing a small bit of blood to fall from his mouth. As Huron started to come down, Nara punched him hard in the stomach, pressing him against a wall as a larger amount of blood came from his mouth with a groan. He fell to the side to the floor, unconscious. Nara cracked her knuckles with a small smile on her face.

"That's what happens when you beat up on my friends!" she said, smiling wickedly as an official dragged Huron into his team's dressing room. A few minutes went by, then a few more, before the announcer said; "I'm sorry people, but it would seem that the final combatant for Team Fire Marshall has ran off saying that he had an important appointment to get to." A chorus of jeers groans and muttered curses came from the audience. "But who can blame him for wimping out? Look at the condition that his teammates are in after a few minutes of fighting Team Strife!" He raised a hand smiling. "The winners' of this bout are Nara and Team Strife! Give them a hand ladies and gentlemen!" The audience clapped and a few of the love stricken guys threw bouquets of flowers at Nara's feet, shouting for her to call them.

"Looks, brains, strength, speed…Nara's got it all doesn't she?" a man remarked to a young man next to him as they left. "I wonder if she has a boyfriend…"

* * * * * *

Nara and Kei sat in their room later that night sparring.

"You did pretty well," Kei remarked as he blocked a punch and responded with a roundhouse kick. "I'm glad you're my friend." Nara ducked the kick and kneed Kei in the stomach, driving the breath out of his body. Kei fell to his knees and gasped for breath as Nara fell to her knees and apologized repeatedly for kneeing him so hard. Kei shook his head and smiled as he got his breath back. "Don't worry! I'm ok!" he looked at the time and smiled before kissing Nara on the cheek blushing. Nara blushed also and looked at Kei in surprise before pushing him lightly away.

"Come on! We need to get some rest!" she lay on her bed and Kei lay on his. She sat up a while through the night staring at the ceiling as Kei fell asleep. "Kei…I love you…" she whispered as she fell asleep.

* * * * * *

Kei sat up and stretched, looking at Nara asleep in her bed. She's really pretty… He thought, blushing bright red as he jumped down and changed into his school outfit. "Wake up Nara," he said, shaking her by her shoulder. Nara moaned and turned around muttering something sleepily. Kei shook her again and she suddenly threw her arms around Kei's neck, licking him on the cheek.

"Oh Kei-kun! I love you so much! Please…marry me…" she muttered sleepily while kissing him on the cheek. Kei blushed bright red and stumbled back, his arms around her.

O…k…She's still asleep? She loves me? I'm so confused! What am I to do? Nara yawned and opened her eyes.

"Kei-kun? Why are you holding me?" she asked kissing him on the forehead. Kei blushed an even brighter shade of red and let go of Nara, looking away blushing.

"Sorry!" he shouted as he grabbed his bag and walked out of the room so that Nara could change. Nara contemplated Kei's odd behavior as she changed into her school uniform.

"What is he so excited about?" she wondered as she grabbed her bag and left for her first class before remembering that she Kei and Trace had to go to the tournament grounds. "Isn't today the armed combat contest?" she wondered, grabbing her staff and Kei's knife belt, complete with two knives in the sheathes. She walked out to meet Kei and Trace at the cafeteria. Trace was wearing a brown leather jacket over his school uniform and Kei was wearing a blue jacket over his uniform. Nara had borrowed a black leather jacket from Kei, and it fit her perfectly for the most part, the only part that felt kinda tight was the chest area, but she didn't really mind. She handed Kei his knife belt but he shook his head and signaled to the sword belt that he had on his back. He took out the two handed sword and slid it partway out of its purple sheath. The blade had a white steel blade, complete with a second, smaller blue blade at the first blade's tip. It had a white hilt with a red hand guard. Nara whistled and sat down, showing them her staff. It was made of steel, and it had a small red ruby in the center. Trace showed them his plain katana with its black sheath, and after they ate breakfast, they walked out to the tournament grounds.

"Why's the sheath for you're blade purple Kei-kun?" Nara asked carrying her staff on her shoulders. Kei shrugged and smiled.

"Just," he said smiling as they walked into the arena and looking at the match-ups.

"Looks like we're fighting first," Trace said with a small sigh. "Looks like we'll be fighting in the dark arena."

"Fighting blind?" Nara asked, shaking her head.

"More like fighting in a black room," Kei said, with a soft, "I hope…" They followed the directions to the dark arena and sat down waiting for a tournament official to tell them how the fight was going to be played out. They didn't have to wait long though, for moments after Nara sat down a tournament official walked in.

"Listen up! You're going to be fighting in the dark arena in a few minutes. The dark arena is always in the shadows of night, and that's not all! This duel is also a survival test! The dark arena is a graveyard, and at random intervals a skeleton, zombie, or ghost will rise up and attack the nearest living being, so it might attack you, or one of you're friends. Also, this is a team match! That means that all of both teams will be fighting at the same time. Don't worry, no matter how damaged you get, you won't die. You'll just be knocked unconscious. Once you're knocked unconscious, a "referee skeleton" will carry you to the waiting room. You win when all members of the opposing team have been knocked unconscious. Got it?" Team Strife nodded and the official smiled. "I'll see you on the field!" the official walked out as Trace looked at Kei.

"Why is it that all of the officials here are girls?" Trace wondered while Nara sat down.

"Who cares?" Kei snapped, momentarily losing his cool. Nara jumped and looked at Kei surprised as the announcer started the long opening battle speech. Time dragged on until finally the announcer shouted into a microphone; "Ladies and gentlemen, it's my great honor to present this year's greatest rookie team, Team Strife! This team actually managed to beat a veteran team like Fire Marshall one to two, and defeated their opponents so badly that the final member ran away in fear!" Kei, Nara and Trace walked out onto the field, waving to the cheering and whistling audience, except for Trace. Trace just walked out onto the field, focusing on the impending battle. The trio stood in a line side by side, waiting for their opponents. "Ladies and gentlemen! Please welcome our next rookie team, Team Satome of Northland High Magic!" A trio of people, two wearing armor and the other wearing wizard robes, walked out and stood in a triangle in front of Team Strife. The one in robes held a shepherd's staff in his hand, while the leader had a two handed sword as long as him still in its sheath. The other armor clad man held two swords in his hands, yawning slightly. "Team Strife; Leader: Kei Strife, Fighter: Trace Legacy, Magician: Nara. Team Satome; Leader, Gregory Satome, Magician, Erykiel Satome, Fighter: Grepher Dai Satome. Let the fight begin!" The bell rang, and Gregory and Grepher charged at Kei and Trace respectively while Erykiel engaged Nara, casting many offensive spells at her. Nara evaded most easily, but the last one almost caught her on the tail. She cast Wall on her teammates and herself, and the spell bounced off it and caught Erykiel in the stomach, blasting him back. Gregory was slashing at Kei with his huge sword, and Kei was having a hard time evading the attacks. He finally drew his sword and stabbed Gregory in the stomach, but no blood came from the wound, which healed quickly.

"What..?" he muttered as Gregory caught him with a slice to the stomach, which also healed quickly. That's what the official meant! He thought as he ducked a slice to the neck and responded with a hilt smash to Gregory's chin, lifting him several feet in the air and knocking him against a gravestone. Our wounds will heal, but we'll lose energy! Better be really careful this time! Trace ducked or dodged Grepher's attacks easily, almost tauntingly, not even drawing his katana, steadily infuriating Grepher more and more and causing his attacks to become more erratic and easier to dodge and counter, if Trace so desired. Nara and Erykiel, long since having run out of magical energy, were fighting each other with their staves. A zombie came out of the ground behind Trace and swung his arm, catching both him and Grepher solidly on the head, knocking them to the ground dazed. Kei saw this and reacted with a quick chop, cutting off the zombie's head while simultaneously blocking the attack that Gregory had aimed at Trace's head. Kei kicked Gregory in the stomach and chopped his neck with his hand, knocking him to the ground unconscious. He started over to help Nara, but Grepher tripped him, sending their blades flying as he and Kei grappled on the floor, each trying to get the upper hand.

Nara blocked a blow that was aimed at her head and kneed Erykiel in the stomach, blasting the breath from his body. She swung her staff and caught him on the head knocking him unconscious. A black striped skeleton rose up from the ground and carried Erykiel's unconscious body back to the dressing room as Nara turned and focused her training, managing to restore some of her magical energy. She raised her hand toward Gregory and muttered, "Skileyah." Four balls, each colored red, blue, green or yellow, flew from her hands, striking Gregory, Grepher, and, accidentally, Trace. Gregory got struck by the red and blue balls and got struck by the elements of fire and ice, sending him reeling, half frozen, and half burned, to the floor. Trace got struck by the yellow ball and got blasted by lightning, falling to the floor nearly unconscious. Grepher got struck by the green ball and flew away by the elemental force of wind. He landed on his back with a thud and fell unconscious. Another blue striped skeleton rose from the ground and carried him away while Kei continued fighting with Gregory. Trace and Nara started forward to help but stopped at Kei's command. Kei and Gregory faced off, Kei with his sword in both hands in front of him, and Gregory with his sword angled out behind him holding it with both hands.

"So…just you and me now," said Gregory with a small smile. "This shouldn't take long." He rushed at Kei slicing at him at neck level. Kei ducked it and responded with a reverse stab to the stomach.

"No…it won't," Kei muttered, tearing out the blade and backhanding Gregory in the face. Gregory fell on his back, unconscious as the crowd roared.

"And so, the winner of the second round battle is, Team Strife! Oh yeah!" Gregory was carried away by a black striped skeleton as Kei, Nara and Trace bowed to the audience.

"Well, that wasn't so tough," Trace muttered to Kei and Nara as they bowed.

"Got that right," Nara whispered back smiling.

"We might actually win this thing," Kei whispered.

The trio walked into their dressing room and smiled, though it did not last long. "What are we going to do Kei?" Nara asked, scratching her ear. "I've been getting an odd feeling from this tournament for a while now. It feels like…evil things are taking place here…" Trace nodded and scratched his head.

"What do you suggest we do about it?" Kei asked, sitting down and sighing. "No matter how you look at it, our victories were all mostly luck, not skill. I hardly think that any of us is strong enough to defeat the evil." He looked down and sighed. "This is hopeless…" Nara looked at Kei and blinked in surprise.

"What's with the sudden depression?!" she asked, slapping him on the cheek. "You've got nothing to be depressed about! You've got good friends, a good school, and you're handsome and intelligent!"

"Not to mention you've got skills at fist fighting," Trace added, smiling. "It's not going to help if you always put yourself down." Kei looked up at Trace in surprise, but looked down again.

"Stop it…I don't deserve your praise. I'm nothing but a coward that wants nothing more then to run in the face of danger." Nara shook her head and smiled.

"Any sane person would want to run from danger." She sat next to Kei and looked up. "Most people…no, everyone, wants to run from danger and pain. Everyone feels fear but that doesn't make you a coward. Sometimes you do need to run away because the foe is too strong for you to defeat at that time, but that doesn't make you a coward." Kei looked down and sighed.

"How can you be so confident in me? What if I fail? What if one of you gets hurt the next time we fight? I couldn't live with myself if that happened!" he shouted, hitting his head on the wall. Nara hugged him from behind and smiled.

"Don't worry so much Kei! We're going to be fine! Now sit down and eat your lunch!" she said smiling and pointing at the table which had several dishes on it, which included roast duck, beef stew, and mushroom pizza. Trace sat at the table and munched happily on roast duck, while Nara occupied herself with the stew, leaving the pizza to Kei, who just stood by the wall, lost in thought. *Why do they have so much faith in me? I'm a loser!* He looked at Nara and thought some more, but, not being able to find an answer to that question, he just gave up, sat down at the table and ate the pizza. Nara looked up at Kei, who was staring at his plate while eating the pizza, and she smiled brightly, blushing. Trace noticed this and looked from Kei to Nara and back to Kei. He smiled and shook his head.

*I'm going to guess that Nara has fallen in love with Kei. I wonder if he's noticed?* "Hey! Kei how is the food?" Kei shrugged and nodded.

"It's pretty good." He looked at Nara and noticed her looking at him. He blinked blankly. "Is something wrong Nara?" he asked, leaning on his elbows on the table. Nara started and shook her head and wolfed her food down, muttering something about being lost in thought. Trace looked at Kei and tilted his head to the side.

"Hey Kei, what would you do if I told you that someone loved you?" Nara coughed and started shaking her head wildly at Trace.

"I'd probably ask if you were pulling my leg." Kei replied sourly. "There's no way that a girl could like me. I'm way too depressing to be around." He looked at Nara, who stopped shaking her head just in time. "Anyway, it's not like the girl I like would return my feelings." He looked up and sighed before standing up and started to walk out the door.

"Where are you going Kei?" Nara asked turning to him.

"I'm going for a walk," he said, turning to her for a moment. "Would you like to come with me?" Nara blushed and nodded. She stood up and ran to catch up with Kei as they both walked out the door. Trace smiled and shook his head, noting that Nara had only eaten half of her food while Kei had eaten even less. "Guess they don't like to eat that much." With a shrug Trace grabbed their food and ate that as well as his food.

* * * * * *

Kei and Nara walked together side by side, not really noticing that they were holding each other's hand. Nara looked into Kei's eyes and smiled. After a short internal debate, she coughed nervously and took a deep breath. "Um…Kei? I…have something I want to tell you," she started nervously, not sure how Kei would respond. Kei looked at Nara waiting for her to finish what she was going to say.

"What's on your mind Nara?" he asked with a smile. "I'll be glad to help!" Nara sighed and looked down, again trying to get the words to come out of her mouth.

*Just say it! Kei, I like you. It's not that hard to say!* She thought, closing her eyes and groaning, licking her lips. Kei blinked and looked up.

*I'm going to guess that she has a lot on her mind. That's probably true.* He thought. "You don't have to say anything if you don't want to," he said, misinterpreting her silence. Nara jumped and shook her head.

"It's not that! It's just…" she looked down and blushed. "Um…Kei? I have a friend that I know likes one of her friends, but she's too shy to come out and tell him that she likes him. He's pretty cool, but he constantly refers to himself in a condescending manner. What do you think she should do?" she looked at Kei and smiled. Kei blinked and thought. *Since he's smart, he should be able to figure out the hidden message.* Kei blinked and smiled.

"Well, my advice to her would be to tell the guy how she really feels about him and that he should have more faith in his own abilities." He looked at Nara and smiled slightly.

*I knew he'd figure it out!* She thought, smiling happily. *Only an idiot could have missed that!* She started to lean forward to kiss him, but his next sentence caught her off guard.

"Who is the friend you're talking about?" he asked crossing his arms behind his head. Nara stopped walking and watched Kei in surprise. "Who's the guy? Trace?" Nara sighed and scratched her head, looking kind of sad.

"Just, forget I said anything about it." Kei, apparently understanding that she wanted to be left alone, kept quiet after that and spent a while analyzing the question she had asked him from every conceivable angle. After a few minutes, his eyes widened and he slapped himself on the forehead.

*Geeze! I'm such an idiot!* He looked back at Nara and blushed. "I…I like you, Nara." Nara blinked and looked up at Kei blushing. Kei turned around and rubbed his head self-consciously, peeking up at a nearby movie theater and his mouth dropped open in surprise. Nara ran up behind Kei and tapped his shoulder, noticing that he wasn't moving.

"What's the matter Kei?" Kei smiled and pointed up.

"It's good to live in Japan," Kei muttered, smiling. Nara blinked her eyes in confusion and shook her head. Above them, an image of three warriors stood on top of the theater seemingly looking down at the pair. Nara shivered and closed her eyes. Kei looked at Nara in surprise. "You don't like that movie? What would you like to do then?" Nara smiled and shuffled her feet.

"Um…Why don't we watch a different movie?" she asked nervously, looking up at Kei. Kei smiled and nodded.

"Which one?" he asked, looking at the movie listings.

* * * * * *

A couple of hours later, Kei and Nara stepped out of the theater, apparently slightly annoyed. "I…uh…thought that that movie was pretty good," Kei started, tapping his fingers nervously. Nara scoffed and glared at him.

"What are you talking about!? That movie had no plot and no character development! That movie was a complete bomb!" she shouted glaring at Kei, who shrugged and smiled.

"I know but I still liked it."

"How could you possibly like a pointless plot less movie!?"

"Because…" Kei shuffled his feet uncomfortably blushing slightly. "Because I got to spend some time alone with you." He whispered, sincerely hoping she didn't hear him. Nara blushed brightly, having heard what Kei said quite clearly. She looked up at the sky and coughed. "…Let's go," Kei said, turning and walking slowly down the path. Nara smiled as Kei turned and shook her head slightly smiling.

*Kei's pretty cool* she thought with a smile. *I wonder why he doesn't believe in himself though* She ran to catch up with Kei and leaned her head against Kei's shoulder, holding his hand in hers and looking up at him smiling. Kei smiled back at her and looked around.

"How are you feeling Kei?" Nara asked with a small smile on her face.

"I'm feeling ok…a little sleepy too though…" Kei yawned and rubbed his eyes, walking down the road in the direction of their dorm room, Nara following. When they stepped into their dorm room, they thoughtlessly changed into their bed garments and lay down on their respective beds, asleep before their heads hit the pillow.

* * * * * *

The next morning Nara yawned and sat up, stretching. She smiled as she heard Kei snoring and silently crouched on the floor, prepared to spring up on Kei's bed and wake him up. Kei mumbled something, tossing and turning in his sleep and raised his head with a groan. He yawned and rubbed his eyes; Nara tensed as he stretched his legs off the bed with a yawn and then, just as his head was appearing over the edge, she leaped up into him, crashing against him and knocking him down on his back on his bed with Nara on his stomach. Kei rubbed his head with a grimace and looked Nara in the eyes.

"That hurt…" he muttered, having bumped his head rather solidly against the wall when Nara had leaped on him. Nara smiled and licked Kei on the cheek, causing him to blush and back up against the wall, again hitting his head hard on it. "N-Nara!" he stammered bright red. Nara tilted her head to the side and looked at Kei quizzically.

"What's the matter Kei? My good morning too energetic for a tired elf like you?" she asked with a mischievous smile on her face. "Would you rather I greeted you in another way?" The slight purr in her voice caused Kei to blush even brighter and shake his head energetically.

"N-no!" he replied quickly, obviously flustered. Nara smiled and hugged him tightly.

"Hey, Kei!" Hiro called as he opened the door to Kei's and Nara's room. "Are-" he cut himself off, noticing Nara leaning on Kei in a thin tank top and shorts and Kei against the wall wearing only shorts blushing bright red. Nara looked at Hiro and winked. Hiro blushed brightly and turned around. "Sorry! Didn't mean to interrupt!" he yelled as he ran out of their room and into the hallway, slamming the door shut.

"Wait!" Kei called as Hiro left. "Don't leave me alone in here with her!" Nara smiled and hugged Kei to her chest tightly.

"I love you Kei!" she said, kissing him on the cheek and letting him go after one last affectionate squeeze. She jumped off his bed and walked over to her dresser, opening a drawer and pulling out an outfit consisting of a blue short skirt with matching short sleeve shirt. Kei walked into his closet and shut the door so that they could both have some privacy while they changed. Nara changed into her outfit and sat down on her bed waiting for Kei. Kei walked out a few minutes later wearing a blue shirt and pants. He saw Nara staring at him in surprise and blinked. He looked down at their outfits and smiled.

"Sweet," he said with a smile. "We're wearing the same outfit." Nara laughed and hugged Kei tightly kissing him on the lips. Before Kei could do anything though Nara stepped back and winked.

"Let's go Kei-kun." She grabbed his hand and dragged him towards the tournament tent. Along the way Trace joined them and together the trio walked in and looked around. "Uh-oh…" she muttered looking at the listings. "Today's the ranged tournament," she said softly starting to get really nervous. "I'm not good at ranged!" she grabbed her head and shook it repeatedly. "Nonononono! We're gonna lose all because I'm no good at ranged!"

"Actually, in the ranged tournament only one person from each team competes," an official said as she passed smiling. Nara blushed and shook her head. Trace smiled and laughed.

"That's fair. I'll compete in the ranged tournament," he said with a smile. "I'm great at ranged.

* * * * * *

"I thought you said you were good at ranged," Nara asked Trace, hitting him on the head. Trace pouted and looked away.

"I only said that to make you feel better," Trace replied his ears tingeing red. Kei laughed and shook his head.

"You're not that bad, really Trace although I have seen better marksmanship," he said casually picking up a bow and arrows and taking aim at a target. Trace laughed and shook his head.

"If I can't hit it then-"he stared wide-eyed as Kei quickly sent four arrows dead on into the bulls-eye on the target. Nara laughed happily and threw her arms around Kei's neck in a tight hug, unintentionally choking him. Trace jumped forward to help Kei get Nara off him so he could breath.

"Rather…energetic…hug…Nara…," Kei wheezed trying to get his breath back. He shook his head and smiled. "Since it's only half way through the day, I think I can substitute for you in the competition Trace." A tournament official passed by and heard the last sentence that Trace said.

"I'm afraid that you'll only get to sub for Trace if he suffers a rather serious wound, such as a broken arm…" Nara smiled and glared at Trace, who stepped back scared, "…or a broken leg, or broken hand, or broken fingers, or broken ribs…" the official counted off another half dozen wounds that Trace could suffer so that Kei could sub for him, and Nara stepped closer to Trace with each word, and Trace stepped away from Nara with each word looking more and more scared by the moment.

"Can someone shut her up!?" Trace yelled pointing at the still rambling official who wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention to the escalating scene behind her. Kei sweat dropped and held Nara, growling and swiping at Trace with her claws, back from Trace.

"Don't you think seriously injuring Trace so that I can substitute for him is a little extreme?" Kei asked Nara, having a hard time holding her back. Trace nodded quickly flattening against the wall as Nara inevitably began inching closer even though Kei was holding her.

"I don't think it's that extreme!" Nara growled lunging toward Trace but Kei lunged back at the same time, over balancing, and stretched out one arm so that he could catch himself as he fell, the other arm locked tight around Nara's chest. He hit the floor with a groan as Nara fell on his stomach, blasting the breath from his body and leaving his hold on her weak and feeble. Nara easily brushed Kei's arm aside and leaped towards Trace with an evil smile on her face, but just as she reached Trace, she suddenly bounced back and landed hard on her butt.

"Ow!" she muttered, rubbing her tail and standing up. "What was that?" she wondered looking around, completely forgetting about her secret agenda with Trace. Nara blinked and looked down as Kei groaned and then saw what happened, and she rubbed her tail with a grimace. Kei had grabbed her tail as she was about to introduce Trace to her claws and then had pulled hard back, causing a rubber reaction with Nara and her forward push, causing her to rebound just as she was about to clobber Trace and landed hard on her tail on Kei's back. She shook her head and helped Kei stand up, supporting him since his legs were trembling so weakly. Trace jumped forward and helped Nara. Kei gasped and tried to grab his left side, but when he touched it he flinched and quickly moved his hand away. Trace rested his hand against Kei's side, causing Kei to moan in pain.

"Look's like he's gotten hurt," Trace muttered, moving his hand away from Kei's side then staring at it in surprise. Nara growled and shook her head.

"Of course he's gotten hurt! How could he not be hurt?" she asked indignantly shifting her position to a more comfortable one for Kei. She stumbled slightly under his weight and glared back at Trace who was still staring at his hand in shock. Trace looked up and turned his hand around so that Nara could see his palm; it was bright red from blood…

* * * * * *

Kei groaned and shifted positions, aware that there seemed to be an almost choking presence on him. He shifted again, not quite comfortable, aware that all he could see was white. He opened his eyes and sat up with a shock…or at least tried to. He raised his hand to his side and noticed that it was healed. He looked down and noticed that he was lying on a bed in his room shirtless and that Nara was lying next to him. He looked down at her and smiled slightly. Nara looks so calm and serene, he thought staring at her sleeping face. He swallowed nervously. She looks so beautiful like that…He reached out a hand and softly, gently stroked Nara's hair. After a moment, he sighed and got out, careful not to disturb Nara, and cast his gaze around for his shirt. After he doffed it, he glanced once more at Nara and stepped out.

"Hey dude," Trace called waving. "What's up?" Kei waved back and stretched.

"What happened?"

"Well, after you yanked on Nara's tail, she landed hard on your back which drove you farther into the floor, I think. Anyway there was a sharp shard of stone which drove through your side. You got knocked out by the impact for a couple of hours." Kei yawned and rubbed his eyes. "Nara insisted on staying by your side till you recovered…Although I don't get how you could have recovered from such a severe wound in such a short span of time." Kei shrugged and sweat dropped.

"Good constitution?" he supplied kind of lamely. Trace shrugged and sat back down.

"Well, I finished the competition but, expectedly, I finished in fifth place." Kei shrugged and sat down at a table.

"How many competitions are left?" Kei asked after a short span of silence.

"Only two; the Magic competition and the intellectual competition. I'm told that they will be taking place simultaneously tomorrow. Apparently one member of each time has to compete except for the ranged competitor."

With two days left in the competition and the last two events taking place tomorrow, then what is gonna happen on the last day? Kei wondered, but after a moment shrugged and shook his head. "I'll be competing in the intellectual competition then," Kei said softly. "Nara's the only one that can use magic…I just hope that she's careful."

* * * * * *

The next day passed by in a blur both for Kei and Nara, both of whom had to compete. Trace just lounged in his room the whole day watching the competition on the television.

The next day, Kei Nara and Trace stood in front of the podium in the center of the competition tent as the announcer walked out to a cheering crowd.

"Ladies and gentlemen! This is the moment you've all been waiting for! This year's biggest surprise rookie team has managed to fight their way to the top of the pyramid! But one more challenge remains ladies and gentlemen…" he said, getting more dramatic with every word. "True these young champions have proved their skill, but…do they have skills enough and bravery enough to face off against the champion of this competition? Do they have to power to defeat the might that is Stallion?" he roared raising his hands to tumultuous applause.

"Sta-lli-on! Sta-lli-on! Sta-lli-on!" chanted the crowd as a really muscular man walked out, flexing his muscles intimidatingly. Stallion clapped his hands and pointed his thumb down.

"You think you can take me?" he roared in a deep voice, to tumultuous applause. Nara laughed and jumped into a ring holding her staff.

"Bring it on tough guy!" she challenged, her staff clutched tight between her elbow and her abdomen. Stallion roared a challenge of his own as he charged at Nara fist raised. Nara ducked the punch, causing Stallion to punch the wall behind her. Unexpectedly, his punch not only cracked the glazed marble, but actually knocked a chip out of it as well. Nara flinched at the sight of what Stallion's fists were capable of and stood defensively. Kei and Trace rushed forward to assist, but were stopped by two guards.

"The leader, Kei Strife, must face off against the tournament champion Stallion in order to win the tournament. Will Kei be able to do it, or will he fail and forever be ridiculed by friends and foes alike as a weakling? Let's find out ladies and gentlemen!" Kei swallowed nervously and stepped into the ring. He and Stallion faced off for several seconds, each combatant fingering their weapon. The audience quieted their cheering and stared at the two combatants excitement evident on their faces. Kei drew his large two handed dual bladed sword and held it out to his side with both hands. Stallion reflexively opened and closed his fists staring Kei in the eyes, as Kei stared back grimly. In the background, they heard a song playing from someone's CD player. Unconsciously the two fighters tensed, waiting…

♪Oh yes we ride, through stormy skies! The endless nights, in the moonlight weeds will gather. We curse uncertainty and false desire. We live to mask and stand together one and all and when the flames go dim, look within UNLEASH THE FIRE!♪

As the final phrase was shouted out, Kei and Stallion simultaneously charged at the other and immediately became involved in a long intense fight we're both appeared to be evenly matched. Many in the audience figured that with his iron knuckles, Stallion would quickly defeat Kei, who had the heavier slower weapon. However, moments into the fight, those same people realized that Kei was not only matching Stallion for speed and strength, but also that Stallion was overmatched when it came to agility. Being smaller and more agile, Kei easily ducked or dodged those punches that he couldn't block with his blade, more often then not countering with a kick or hilt smash to the stomach or chest. But still both combatants fought on grimly, and the speed of the fight escalated to a level that was so fast that the clang and clash of their weapons seemed to sound indefinitely. Eventually though, after several minutes of this fast paced combat, the speed inevitably slowed. Finally, as Stallion was punching out, his fist connected on Kei's chin knocking him back several feet. Kei swayed, evidently stunned by the blow, but his opponent gave him no time to recover as Stallion quickly kicked him in the stomach, backhanded him in the neck and kneed him in the face, sending Kei sprawling to the floor, his sword embedded in the ground inches next to his head. Stallion breathed heavily and raised his fists victoriously and turned to face the cheering crowd as the announcer started counting. "1! 2! 3!" Trace bit his nails while Nara stared at Kei worriedly.

"Stay down Kei, don't overexert yourself," she muttered tears in her eyes. Just as the announcer started to say "10!" Kei stood up and leaned to the side slightly. Kei laughed slightly and, even though he was obviously tired, he settled into a karate stance and shouted; "Come on Stallion! Give me your best shot!" Stallion turned around, evidently surprised that Kei could stand. He also settled into a stance and they both slowly circled around each other. Stallion tested Kei's defense with a kick to the head, and he replied by ducking his head while simultaneously spin kicking Stallion in the stomach. Stallion swayed, his breath lost and crumpled to the floor. The announcer and audience started counting. "1! 2! 3! 4! 5…!" Kei groaned and shook his head to clear the grogginess as the count continued. "… 7! 8! 9! 10! Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner! Team Strife's leader, Kei Strife has pulled a surprise victory out of defeat and has earned the right for him and his team to be named the champions of this year's 20th annual Tournament of Champions!" Another girl walked in carrying the Trophy of Champion's and, blushing, handed it to Kei, who, grinning, held it up with his teammates as the audience roared its applause. "Team Strife wins the tournament of champion's people!"

* * * * * *

The next day Nara, Kei, and Trace stood outside of the school watching the tournament workmen put everything in storage to be used in next year's tournament.

"I guess we were just overly afraid," Kei said, staring at the sky in amusement. Nara and Trace looked at him confused.

"What do you mean?" Trace wondered, causing Kei to laugh slightly.

"Remember how we felt that there was something evil about the contest? It was just our nerves failing us." Nara smiled and nodded.

"We were a great team weren't we?" Nara asked hugging both Trace and Kei tightly. Trace smiled cryptically.

"Except for when one of our own attempted to murder one of her teammates," he said sarcastically prompting a laugh from Kei and a blush from Nara.

"I said I was sorry!" she muttered looking away from Trace. Trace laughed and shook his head.

"Good job, Master Strife!" Master Roberts exclaimed as he strode out of the school. Kei Nara and Trace bowed respectfully to him then looked at the sky.

"That was a lot of fun right guys?" Nara asked, her tail grabbing Kei around the waist. Kei blushed and rubbed his head.

"It was…mildly enjoyable…" he muttered softly blushing. Nara wrapped her arms around Kei and kissed him on the cheek, rubbing his face with hers.

"I love you Kei-kun!" she said, smiling happily.

Description
Tokyo, Japan, September 25th, 2003

Two boys walked down the road to school, singing a song happily as winters snows piled around them.

"How much time we got, Kei?" asked the taller one. He wore a red baseball cap, a blue and green striped shirt, and black jeans. He had brown hair which stood up like brown flame. The smaller boy checked his watch, whistling a merry tune.

"It's 'bout 7:30, Hiro! We'd better get a move on eh?" Kei replied smiling slightly and brushing his shoulder length black hair back. He wore a blue jacket with the Reebok sign on the left side, a black shirt with a serpent entwined with a cross, and black jeans. Hiro nodded and together they dashed down the road to school. "Don't want to be late to our first magic classes, am I right?" Hiro nodded and they ran all out.

* * * * * *

"Hiro Kusanagi?"

"Here."

"Kei Strife?"

"Here."

"Nauru Maehara?"

"Wassup?"

"Nara?"

"Here."

"Trace Legacy?"

"I'm here too Sir."

The teacher nodded and looked at the five student class. He looked to be about 35, but the students knew that he had to be at least 85. He wore blue robes and had a black bowler hat on his head. He had a long silver beard as well as crow's feet at the edges of his eyes from reading too many books in low light.

"Very well, then. Welcome to Ice magic 101. Here you will learn the basics of casting ice element spells, what can absorb them, what is weak to them. You will learn how to craft an Ice barrier from thin air, and to throw ice darts with such accuracy that you can freeze a fly at 300 paces." Trace sat back in his chair, whistling a small tune. Nara, who looked like a cross from a tiger and a human woman, was scratching words onto the desk top with her long claws. Hiro was busy witling, and Kei sat cross legged on the chair apparently meditating. Only Trace was paying any attention at all. The teacher sighed and shook his head. "I am Professor John Roberts Konno. When I call your name you will come up, state your name and race, and then sit back down. Is that clear? All right then. Hiro Kusanagi." Hiro stood up and went to the front of the class.

"The name's Hiro Kusanagi and I'm a human." He sat back down at his desk.

"Kei Strife."

"My name is Kei Strife, and I'm a cross breed of a thunder fox and an elf." He sat back down.

"Nauru Maehara." She stood up and made her way to the front, blushing brightly as she turned to look at the class. She was wearing a short green skirt with a blue shirt. She had black hair, and a black hair band.

"Um, m-my name is, Nauru Maehara…n-nice to meet you all." She started to sit back down.

"Excuse me, Miss Maehara. Your race?"

"W-well…I'm a fire fox/human hybrid, S-Sir…"she stuttered, blushing furiously and sitting down quickly.

"Nara."

The tiger girl jumped in front of the class and smiled widely.

"Hi all! The name is Nara! I'm a Tiger Krei, nice to meet all of you!" She smiled wider when she looked at Kei, revealing her slightly pointy, yet very sharp, teeth. "Very nice indeed," she purred, sitting back down at her chair with feline grace. She wore a green long sleeved shirt and brown pants. She had a tiger tail and human hands with feline claws, as well as the whiskers of a tiger, tiger ears, and her eyes were yellow.

"Trace Legacy." He stood up and smiled nervously.

"I'm Trace Legacy, a human…nice to meet all of you." He looked at Nara uncomfortably as he sat down; apparently not comfortable with sitting next to someone that was related to a wild animal as dangerous as the tiger. Kei's red furred fox ears started to rise out of his hair, but they quickly hid again with a quick slap of his hand.

* * * * * *

"So what do you think of our classmates, Hiro?" Kei asked, lying on a hammock in their dorm room. Hiro smiled and looked up at Kei.

"What do I think? Lets see…" he thought for a moment. "Nauru Maehara is nice, although she tends to stutter a lot. She's pretty cute also. Trace Legacy seems to be ok, although I'm not that sure about it. And Nara…kinda makes me feel uncomfortable. Hey Kei? What is a Krei anyway?"

Kei laughed loudly. "Don't tell me you don't know anything about a Krei!? A Krei is basically a race that has human attributes as well as some of those of an animal. There are three basic types of Krei; Fox Krei, Tiger Krei, and Wolf Krei. They all have fur of the animal that they are named after."

"That's right, Kei," sounded a familiar voice with a distinctly catlike tone to it. Nara walked into the room her pack over her shoulder. "Hey Hiro! So we're all bunking in the same room together eh? This'll be fun." She smiled widely, again showing her sharp teeth and making Hiro and Kei distinctly nervous. Hiro shook his head.

"Actually, I'm supposed to be in room 102. See ya!" he ran out the door with his pack so fast that Kei and Nara didn't have time to blink.

"Didn't know he could move that fast," said Nara, putting her stuff on a bed next to Kei.

"Hiro can move pretty fast when he's scared…so your rooming up in room 203 eh? That's nice." He rested his head on the edge of the bed and sighed sadly. "At least I won't be rooming alone." Nara looked at Kei confused, her tail tapping the bed.

"So you're seriously going to room with me? Even though I'm a Krei?"

"I don't have a problem with Krei, or just about anyone for that matter. Most people tend to have a problem with me being a thunder fox/elf hybrid. How old are you anyway?" Nara smiled and closed her eyes, tilting her head to the side as Kei ran his hands through his hair.

"I'm 16 in human years, 4 in Krei years." She sniffed. "And…you are approximately 5 in Elf years, or 17 in human years. Am I right?" Kei nodded.

"So…what do you think of me?"

Nara smiled, her eyes flashing momentarily as she raised her head. "I think that you're a nice kid. I would love to get to know you better." She winked at Kei, blushing slightly. Kei blinked and sat up.

"Do you drink Nara?" Nara shook her head and Kei sighed in relief. "That's good…neither do I." Nara stretched out on the bed and yawned widely. "So…what'd you think of our first day of classes?" Kei asked. Nara shrugged.

"Can't complain, although I'm happy that you're in all my classes Kei. I like you. You're cool." Kei blushed and looked down.

"I'm glad your in all my classes also Nara. It's comforting to know that I have a girlfriend in my classes…" Nara blinked and sat up. Kei blushed, realizing what he had said. "I mean female friend!" Kei laughed nervously then looked down shamefacedly. Nara smiled and kissed Kei on the cheek.

"I know what you mean, Kei."

* * * * * *

The next day, Kei sat at a table in the lunchroom alone, as was his custom. Hiro was sitting at a table with the popular kids; already well on the way to becoming one of the most popular freshman there. Nara got her meal and looked around. She spotted Kei and immediately started to walk over to him. As she passed the popular table, one of the kids stuck his foot out and tripped Nara. Her plate landed on the table right in front of Kei's, and Nara caught herself in time before she fell, although she was still blushing shamefacedly. Kei made a mental note about the person that tripped Nara.

'Short, blond-haired, and muscular. Quite possibly a senior. I'll have to make him pay for attacking Nara like that.' Nara sat down next to Kei, growling faintly. Kei smiled mischievously.

"Better be careful, you never know when you're going to get shot down."

Nara hissed at Kei before she started eating her food.

"I'll figure out a way to make that guy pay for tripping you Nara. Believe it," he promised grimly before he started eating. Hiro sighed, knowing what Kei was going to do.

"You'd better be careful, Shawn," he said to the person that tripped Nara. "Kei can be pretty dangerous when the innocent are threatened." Shawn laughed loudly and walked in front of Kei.

"So you're mad cause I hurt your little girlfriend, aren't you. Well then…why don't you hit me? What are you scared?"

"That's not a good idea," Hiro said dryly, seeing Kei's hand clenching and unclenching angrily.

"Why not? Do you actually think that this wimp here can hurt me? He-oof!" Shawn flew back a few feet, surprise evident on his face. Kei tapped his chin with his finger, his foot still in mid-air from when he had introduced Shawn's stomach to his foot.

"I what, Shawn? Please continue," Kei said. Nara shifted in her seat looking around nervously at the other people in the cafeteria; they had all stopped what they were doing and watching the confrontation between Kei and Shawn. Shawn stood up, cracking his neck.

"You're a pathetic little coward, who needs to be taught a lesson in respect."

"I'm the coward? You are the one that picks on the people who are too weak to stand up to you, thinking that you're better then them. Well now…I might strike from the shadows occasionally, and I could be called a coward, since I do strike without warning, but one thing that I can't be called, is a wimp. You're a wimp Shawn."

Shawn's mouth opened and closed wordlessly, obviously at a loss for words. The other students started murmuring in the background. Kei settled into a fighting stance, swaying to an internal beat. Hiro sighed and rubbed his head. "Go Kei!" yelled one of the students in the background, while another student yelled, "Go Shawn!" Shawn roared and charged at Kei, his fist leading. Kei dodged to the side just as Shawn swung, and punched back in the stomach. He then kicked Shawn hard in the back, then in the back of the head. Shawn fell to the floor, stunned.
Kei settled back into his fighting stance, not even breathing hard. "Is that the best you can do, Shawn? How pathetic…"

Shawn stood up and punched Kei in the face. Kei somersaulted back and wiped a bit of blood from his lip, smiling slightly. Kei charged at Shawn, apparently going for a punch. Just as Shawn raised his arm to block, Kei switched to a running jump kick that landed squarely on Shawn's chin, sending him stumbling back disoriented. At this moment, a teacher stepped into the room apparently about to stop the fight, but was stopped by the principal. "Not yet…" he said softly, turning back to the fight. "I want to see what this kid can do." Kei feinted a right hook, and when Shawn raised his arm to block it, Kei slammed him hard in the stomach with a roundhouse kick that sent him slamming into the wall, leaving a pretty large dent. Kei saluted his fallen opponent then sat down at his seat, and resumed eating. After a few moments, so did the other students. Shawn lay where he had landed after sliding off the wall, unconscious, as the principal walked over to Kei, clapping, followed by the teacher. "A marvelous performance, Master Strife! I do believe we've found our next tournament contender, Master Roberts!"

"Indeed, Sir," Roberts replied in a monotone. Hiro walked over to Kei and clapped him on the shoulder.

"You did pretty good, dude, considering the fact that that was your first fight ever." Kei smiled and looked at Nara, who had returned to eating.

"I finally found a reason…" he said, confusing anyone that heard him. He picked up his empty tray and walked out, followed by Nara. The principal looked at Hiro, amazed.

"That was Master Strife's first fight? But he's so experienced…" the principal stared after Kei. Hiro smiled and walked back to his food.

* * * * * *

Kei looked at Nara later that night while they were doing their homework.

"What did the principal mean when he said that they had found a new tournament contender?" Nara looked at him in disbelief.

"He means that you're going to be fighting in the inter house tournament next week. Don't you know anything about the John Franklin magic school? Please tell me you at least knew the school's name!" Kei shook his head to both questions.

Nara sighed and shook her head. "Every year this school and its rival school hold a tournament to see who has the finest students. We've lost the tournament every year, sadly."

Kei nodded and turned back to his homework. "So what's our rival school's name?"

"Jason Continental Magic High," Nara replied casually. Kei coughed and blinked.

"Did you just say Jason Continental Magic High?"

"Yeah," Nara replied, looking sad. "I really want to win the tournament, but I'm not that good…" she turned over on her side and fell asleep. Kei sat up a little longer, thinking, before he also fell asleep.

* * * * * *

The next day, Kei, Hiro and Nara looked at the bulletin board in front of the school.

"It says here that the interschool tournament is going to be held here next week. Feeling the pressure Kei man?" Hiro asked, poking Kei's ribs jokingly. Kei sighed and ran his hands through his hair.

"I'm just going to wind up making a fool of myself…in front of two schools no less! Maybe I should've let Shawn beat me," he said with a profound sigh. Nara whacked him on the back of the head.

"If you had done that, you would've humiliated yourself worse. Besides, don't feel so down about being the youngest student to ever go into the tournament," she said with a small laugh. "Just remember, no matter what; I'll always be here for you, k Kei?" she started to walk away but turned around. "Oh, and, believe in yourself Kei." She waved and ran to class, trailed by a worried Kei and a laughing Hiro. They sat at their desks in class and waited for Professor Roberts, who walked in moments later.

"Class I have news," he said in a monotone. "It would appear that after Master Strife's performance in the lunchroom yesterday," Kei gulped and hid his head while the rest of the class looked at him in confusion, "he will be fighting in the interschool tournament that will be hosted here next week. However, due to the fact that this year there will be more then one student in a team, there are going to be requests for two extra people from the freshman class to fight in the tournament to assist Master Strife here. That is all for the announcements." He went to his desk and sat down. "Do we have any volunteers?" Nara nodded.

"I'll fight alongside Kei," she said, with a slight blush. Kei looked at her as Professor Roberts nodded.

"Very good. Any other volunteers?" Trace raised his hand before Hiro could.

"I will!" he practically shouted, glaring at Kei. Roberts blinked and scratched his head.

"Right." After he had taken down Trace's name the class started as per usual.

* * * * * *

Kei Nara and Trace stood along with the other fighters in the tournament, barely able to stand from exhaustion. "I think we went a little overboard with the training, guys" Trace muttered, rubbing his eyes sleepily. Kei and Nara nodded their assent as the people filed into the coliseum. The opening ceremony was held and the people that weren't fighting yet sat down at the stands half asleep. Kei's group was no exception.

"I thought you said that only two schools compete in this tournament," muttered Kei to Nara as he looked around. "There's got to be 25 schools here!" Nara shrugged.

"So I was wrong…" she whispered back, staring at the floor uncomfortably.

The announcer said, "Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the inter high school tournament, with representatives from every high school in the area! Participating schools include; Jason Nixon Continental Magic High, John Franklin…" the announcer said several minutes' worth of high schools before continuing. "There are several categories where students will be facing off in either a one-on-one match or team match! The categories are; Hand-to-hand, melee, ranged, magic, and intellectual. Today, we will be having the Hand-to-Hand unarmed melee part of this tournament!" Kei Nara and Trace started playing cards with each other while the fights of the day played themselves out, glad for the rest. Later, as the day drew to a close, they stood in the dressing room before the arena, on edge from nervousness, one of the tournament's helpers in the room told them how the fight would be played.

"Ok you're going to be fighting in the ice arena in a few minutes. For this fight, it will be a one-on-one unarmed match. When one person on either team is unable to continue, then another person from that same team will come up to fight in their stead against the same opponent. Do you understand?" They nodded, and waited. Soon, they heard the announcer say; "Ladies and gentlemen! The last match of the day will be occurring momentarily in the ice arena. Please proceed to that arena post-haste."

"Ladies and Gentlemen! The final match of the day will be between John Franklin's Team Strife…"signs above the arena showed Nara's Trace's and Kei's faces facing right, "against the same school's Team Fire Marshall!" The signs showed the faces of three guys facing off against Kei and friends. "Let's see how Strife does against one of the best fighting teams in the tournament! First for Team Strife, the leader, Kei Strife!" Kei walked out to a mix of boos jeers and cheers. "And first for team Fire Marshall; Dragon D Takanaka!" he walked out to a chorus of cheers and settles into a fighting stance.

"Ready for a thrashing, wimp?" he asked Kei, sneering. Kei just settled into a defensive stance and waited. The announcer raised his hands as a light appeared over the arena. It flashed red three times, then yellow before shining green as the announcer shouted. "Fight!" Kei charged at Dragon, ducking a punch and evading a kick to the stomach before returning with a running jump kick that had Dragon staggering back several feet. Dragon smiled and jumped high, aiming to kick Kei in the face. Kei eluded it only slightly and responded with an axe kick to the back that sent Dragon falling, disoriented and breathless, to the arena floor with a loud bang. Dragon jumped up, seemingly uninjured, and punched Kei in the face, knocking him back against a wall and tackling him against the wall before he started punching him hard in the stomach repeatedly. Kei barely managed to catch the fifth punch, but he coughed up blood due to the force of the previous blows. He threw Dragon back and shook his head to clear the dizziness as Dragon charged at him again, kicking him in the stomach, then punching him in the chest head stomach and back, sending Kei skidding to the floor on his face. Dragon knelt besides Kei's face and smiled mockingly.

"Had enough, wimp?" he asked, laughing mockingly, each laugh sending Kei deeper and deeper into his rage. Kei stood up and punched Dragon incredibly hard on the chin, knocking him a foot into the wall before settling back into an offensive fighting stance.

"Ready to take this to the next level, punk?" Kei asked, glaring at Dragon with his suddenly red eyes. Dragon stumbled back, feeling the purest form of fear before Kei tore into him.

* * * * * *

"He's…pretty strong isn't he?" Trace asked, watching the fight from the dressing room, his eyes wide. Nara and Trace watched as Kei broke Dragon's elbow with a punch that sent him flying into the wall, leaving a pretty deep impression on it. Guards restrained Kei while paramedics came and carried an unconscious Dragon away on a stretcher.

"The winner of the first fight is Kei Strife! The next fighter for Team Fire Marshall is Magician Huron." A man dressed in blue clothes with a red baseball hat walked out and settled into his battle stance. The light appeared again as the announcer and audience counted down. "5…4…3…2…1…FIGHT!" Huron swept Kei's feet out from under him and slammed him hard in the stomach with his elbow, causing Kei to cough up some blood. Kei punched Huron off him and tried several punch and kick combos, but none of the blows connected. Huron jumped high as Kei tried a low kick and landed a solid kick on Kei's face, knocking him down. Huron landed lightly on his feet and settled back into his fighting stance as the announcer counted. "1…2…" Kei moaned and tried to get up, but his strength failed him and he fell, pressing his face against the cold ice floor as the announcer finished counting. "…9…10. The winner of the second fight is Magician Huron!" A tournament official carried an unconscious Kei into his team's dressing room and signaled for the next fighter to go up. Trace nodded and stood, but it was Nara, her eyes glowing red with the same fury that had twisted Kei's features earlier, that walked out onto the arena. "The next fighter for Team Strife will be Nara!" Nara hissed as the announcers counted down. She charged at Huron as they finished and swiftly kicked him in the stomach before chopping him on the back of the neck and kneeing him in the face, sending him into the air somewhat and causing a small bit of blood to fall from his mouth. As Huron started to come down, Nara punched him hard in the stomach, pressing him against a wall as a larger amount of blood came from his mouth with a groan. He fell to the side to the floor, unconscious. Nara cracked her knuckles with a small smile on her face.

"That's what happens when you beat up on my friends!" she said, smiling wickedly as an official dragged Huron into his team's dressing room. A few minutes went by, then a few more, before the announcer said; "I'm sorry people, but it would seem that the final combatant for Team Fire Marshall has ran off saying that he had an important appointment to get to." A chorus of jeers groans and muttered curses came from the audience. "But who can blame him for wimping out? Look at the condition that his teammates are in after a few minutes of fighting Team Strife!" He raised a hand smiling. "The winners' of this bout are Nara and Team Strife! Give them a hand ladies and gentlemen!" The audience clapped and a few of the love stricken guys threw bouquets of flowers at Nara's feet, shouting for her to call them.

"Looks, brains, strength, speed…Nara's got it all doesn't she?" a man remarked to a young man next to him as they left. "I wonder if she has a boyfriend…"

* * * * * *

Nara and Kei sat in their room later that night sparring.

"You did pretty well," Kei remarked as he blocked a punch and responded with a roundhouse kick. "I'm glad you're my friend." Nara ducked the kick and kneed Kei in the stomach, driving the breath out of his body. Kei fell to his knees and gasped for breath as Nara fell to her knees and apologized repeatedly for kneeing him so hard. Kei shook his head and smiled as he got his breath back. "Don't worry! I'm ok!" he looked at the time and smiled before kissing Nara on the cheek blushing. Nara blushed also and looked at Kei in surprise before pushing him lightly away.

"Come on! We need to get some rest!" she lay on her bed and Kei lay on his. She sat up a while through the night staring at the ceiling as Kei fell asleep. "Kei…I love you…" she whispered as she fell asleep.

* * * * * *

Kei sat up and stretched, looking at Nara asleep in her bed. She's really pretty… He thought, blushing bright red as he jumped down and changed into his school outfit. "Wake up Nara," he said, shaking her by her shoulder. Nara moaned and turned around muttering something sleepily. Kei shook her again and she suddenly threw her arms around Kei's neck, licking him on the cheek.

"Oh Kei-kun! I love you so much! Please…marry me…" she muttered sleepily while kissing him on the cheek. Kei blushed bright red and stumbled back, his arms around her.

O…k…She's still asleep? She loves me? I'm so confused! What am I to do? Nara yawned and opened her eyes.

"Kei-kun? Why are you holding me?" she asked kissing him on the forehead. Kei blushed an even brighter shade of red and let go of Nara, looking away blushing.

"Sorry!" he shouted as he grabbed his bag and walked out of the room so that Nara could change. Nara contemplated Kei's odd behavior as she changed into her school uniform.

"What is he so excited about?" she wondered as she grabbed her bag and left for her first class before remembering that she Kei and Trace had to go to the tournament grounds. "Isn't today the armed combat contest?" she wondered, grabbing her staff and Kei's knife belt, complete with two knives in the sheathes. She walked out to meet Kei and Trace at the cafeteria. Trace was wearing a brown leather jacket over his school uniform and Kei was wearing a blue jacket over his uniform. Nara had borrowed a black leather jacket from Kei, and it fit her perfectly for the most part, the only part that felt kinda tight was the chest area, but she didn't really mind. She handed Kei his knife belt but he shook his head and signaled to the sword belt that he had on his back. He took out the two handed sword and slid it partway out of its purple sheath. The blade had a white steel blade, complete with a second, smaller blue blade at the first blade's tip. It had a white hilt with a red hand guard. Nara whistled and sat down, showing them her staff. It was made of steel, and it had a small red ruby in the center. Trace showed them his plain katana with its black sheath, and after they ate breakfast, they walked out to the tournament grounds.

"Why's the sheath for you're blade purple Kei-kun?" Nara asked carrying her staff on her shoulders. Kei shrugged and smiled.

"Just," he said smiling as they walked into the arena and looking at the match-ups.

"Looks like we're fighting first," Trace said with a small sigh. "Looks like we'll be fighting in the dark arena."

"Fighting blind?" Nara asked, shaking her head.

"More like fighting in a black room," Kei said, with a soft, "I hope…" They followed the directions to the dark arena and sat down waiting for a tournament official to tell them how the fight was going to be played out. They didn't have to wait long though, for moments after Nara sat down a tournament official walked in.

"Listen up! You're going to be fighting in the dark arena in a few minutes. The dark arena is always in the shadows of night, and that's not all! This duel is also a survival test! The dark arena is a graveyard, and at random intervals a skeleton, zombie, or ghost will rise up and attack the nearest living being, so it might attack you, or one of you're friends. Also, this is a team match! That means that all of both teams will be fighting at the same time. Don't worry, no matter how damaged you get, you won't die. You'll just be knocked unconscious. Once you're knocked unconscious, a "referee skeleton" will carry you to the waiting room. You win when all members of the opposing team have been knocked unconscious. Got it?" Team Strife nodded and the official smiled. "I'll see you on the field!" the official walked out as Trace looked at Kei.

"Why is it that all of the officials here are girls?" Trace wondered while Nara sat down.

"Who cares?" Kei snapped, momentarily losing his cool. Nara jumped and looked at Kei surprised as the announcer started the long opening battle speech. Time dragged on until finally the announcer shouted into a microphone; "Ladies and gentlemen, it's my great honor to present this year's greatest rookie team, Team Strife! This team actually managed to beat a veteran team like Fire Marshall one to two, and defeated their opponents so badly that the final member ran away in fear!" Kei, Nara and Trace walked out onto the field, waving to the cheering and whistling audience, except for Trace. Trace just walked out onto the field, focusing on the impending battle. The trio stood in a line side by side, waiting for their opponents. "Ladies and gentlemen! Please welcome our next rookie team, Team Satome of Northland High Magic!" A trio of people, two wearing armor and the other wearing wizard robes, walked out and stood in a triangle in front of Team Strife. The one in robes held a shepherd's staff in his hand, while the leader had a two handed sword as long as him still in its sheath. The other armor clad man held two swords in his hands, yawning slightly. "Team Strife; Leader: Kei Strife, Fighter: Trace Legacy, Magician: Nara. Team Satome; Leader, Gregory Satome, Magician, Erykiel Satome, Fighter: Grepher Dai Satome. Let the fight begin!" The bell rang, and Gregory and Grepher charged at Kei and Trace respectively while Erykiel engaged Nara, casting many offensive spells at her. Nara evaded most easily, but the last one almost caught her on the tail. She cast Wall on her teammates and herself, and the spell bounced off it and caught Erykiel in the stomach, blasting him back. Gregory was slashing at Kei with his huge sword, and Kei was having a hard time evading the attacks. He finally drew his sword and stabbed Gregory in the stomach, but no blood came from the wound, which healed quickly.

"What..?" he muttered as Gregory caught him with a slice to the stomach, which also healed quickly. That's what the official meant! He thought as he ducked a slice to the neck and responded with a hilt smash to Gregory's chin, lifting him several feet in the air and knocking him against a gravestone. Our wounds will heal, but we'll lose energy! Better be really careful this time! Trace ducked or dodged Grepher's attacks easily, almost tauntingly, not even drawing his katana, steadily infuriating Grepher more and more and causing his attacks to become more erratic and easier to dodge and counter, if Trace so desired. Nara and Erykiel, long since having run out of magical energy, were fighting each other with their staves. A zombie came out of the ground behind Trace and swung his arm, catching both him and Grepher solidly on the head, knocking them to the ground dazed. Kei saw this and reacted with a quick chop, cutting off the zombie's head while simultaneously blocking the attack that Gregory had aimed at Trace's head. Kei kicked Gregory in the stomach and chopped his neck with his hand, knocking him to the ground unconscious. He started over to help Nara, but Grepher tripped him, sending their blades flying as he and Kei grappled on the floor, each trying to get the upper hand.

Nara blocked a blow that was aimed at her head and kneed Erykiel in the stomach, blasting the breath from his body. She swung her staff and caught him on the head knocking him unconscious. A black striped skeleton rose up from the ground and carried Erykiel's unconscious body back to the dressing room as Nara turned and focused her training, managing to restore some of her magical energy. She raised her hand toward Gregory and muttered, "Skileyah." Four balls, each colored red, blue, green or yellow, flew from her hands, striking Gregory, Grepher, and, accidentally, Trace. Gregory got struck by the red and blue balls and got struck by the elements of fire and ice, sending him reeling, half frozen, and half burned, to the floor. Trace got struck by the yellow ball and got blasted by lightning, falling to the floor nearly unconscious. Grepher got struck by the green ball and flew away by the elemental force of wind. He landed on his back with a thud and fell unconscious. Another blue striped skeleton rose from the ground and carried him away while Kei continued fighting with Gregory. Trace and Nara started forward to help but stopped at Kei's command. Kei and Gregory faced off, Kei with his sword in both hands in front of him, and Gregory with his sword angled out behind him holding it with both hands.

"So…just you and me now," said Gregory with a small smile. "This shouldn't take long." He rushed at Kei slicing at him at neck level. Kei ducked it and responded with a reverse stab to the stomach.

"No…it won't," Kei muttered, tearing out the blade and backhanding Gregory in the face. Gregory fell on his back, unconscious as the crowd roared.

"And so, the winner of the second round battle is, Team Strife! Oh yeah!" Gregory was carried away by a black striped skeleton as Kei, Nara and Trace bowed to the audience.

"Well, that wasn't so tough," Trace muttered to Kei and Nara as they bowed.

"Got that right," Nara whispered back smiling.

"We might actually win this thing," Kei whispered.

The trio walked into their dressing room and smiled, though it did not last long. "What are we going to do Kei?" Nara asked, scratching her ear. "I've been getting an odd feeling from this tournament for a while now. It feels like…evil things are taking place here…" Trace nodded and scratched his head.

"What do you suggest we do about it?" Kei asked, sitting down and sighing. "No matter how you look at it, our victories were all mostly luck, not skill. I hardly think that any of us is strong enough to defeat the evil." He looked down and sighed. "This is hopeless…" Nara looked at Kei and blinked in surprise.

"What's with the sudden depression?!" she asked, slapping him on the cheek. "You've got nothing to be depressed about! You've got good friends, a good school, and you're handsome and intelligent!"

"Not to mention you've got skills at fist fighting," Trace added, smiling. "It's not going to help if you always put yourself down." Kei looked up at Trace in surprise, but looked down again.

"Stop it…I don't deserve your praise. I'm nothing but a coward that wants nothing more then to run in the face of danger." Nara shook her head and smiled.

"Any sane person would want to run from danger." She sat next to Kei and looked up. "Most people…no, everyone, wants to run from danger and pain. Everyone feels fear but that doesn't make you a coward. Sometimes you do need to run away because the foe is too strong for you to defeat at that time, but that doesn't make you a coward." Kei looked down and sighed.

"How can you be so confident in me? What if I fail? What if one of you gets hurt the next time we fight? I couldn't live with myself if that happened!" he shouted, hitting his head on the wall. Nara hugged him from behind and smiled.

"Don't worry so much Kei! We're going to be fine! Now sit down and eat your lunch!" she said smiling and pointing at the table which had several dishes on it, which included roast duck, beef stew, and mushroom pizza. Trace sat at the table and munched happily on roast duck, while Nara occupied herself with the stew, leaving the pizza to Kei, who just stood by the wall, lost in thought. *Why do they have so much faith in me? I'm a loser!* He looked at Nara and thought some more, but, not being able to find an answer to that question, he just gave up, sat down at the table and ate the pizza. Nara looked up at Kei, who was staring at his plate while eating the pizza, and she smiled brightly, blushing. Trace noticed this and looked from Kei to Nara and back to Kei. He smiled and shook his head.

*I'm going to guess that Nara has fallen in love with Kei. I wonder if he's noticed?* "Hey! Kei how is the food?" Kei shrugged and nodded.

"It's pretty good." He looked at Nara and noticed her looking at him. He blinked blankly. "Is something wrong Nara?" he asked, leaning on his elbows on the table. Nara started and shook her head and wolfed her food down, muttering something about being lost in thought. Trace looked at Kei and tilted his head to the side.

"Hey Kei, what would you do if I told you that someone loved you?" Nara coughed and started shaking her head wildly at Trace.

"I'd probably ask if you were pulling my leg." Kei replied sourly. "There's no way that a girl could like me. I'm way too depressing to be around." He looked at Nara, who stopped shaking her head just in time. "Anyway, it's not like the girl I like would return my feelings." He looked up and sighed before standing up and started to walk out the door.

"Where are you going Kei?" Nara asked turning to him.

"I'm going for a walk," he said, turning to her for a moment. "Would you like to come with me?" Nara blushed and nodded. She stood up and ran to catch up with Kei as they both walked out the door. Trace smiled and shook his head, noting that Nara had only eaten half of her food while Kei had eaten even less. "Guess they don't like to eat that much." With a shrug Trace grabbed their food and ate that as well as his food.

* * * * * *

Kei and Nara walked together side by side, not really noticing that they were holding each other's hand. Nara looked into Kei's eyes and smiled. After a short internal debate, she coughed nervously and took a deep breath. "Um…Kei? I…have something I want to tell you," she started nervously, not sure how Kei would respond. Kei looked at Nara waiting for her to finish what she was going to say.

"What's on your mind Nara?" he asked with a smile. "I'll be glad to help!" Nara sighed and looked down, again trying to get the words to come out of her mouth.

*Just say it! Kei, I like you. It's not that hard to say!* She thought, closing her eyes and groaning, licking her lips. Kei blinked and looked up.

*I'm going to guess that she has a lot on her mind. That's probably true.* He thought. "You don't have to say anything if you don't want to," he said, misinterpreting her silence. Nara jumped and shook her head.

"It's not that! It's just…" she looked down and blushed. "Um…Kei? I have a friend that I know likes one of her friends, but she's too shy to come out and tell him that she likes him. He's pretty cool, but he constantly refers to himself in a condescending manner. What do you think she should do?" she looked at Kei and smiled. Kei blinked and thought. *Since he's smart, he should be able to figure out the hidden message.* Kei blinked and smiled.

"Well, my advice to her would be to tell the guy how she really feels about him and that he should have more faith in his own abilities." He looked at Nara and smiled slightly.

*I knew he'd figure it out!* She thought, smiling happily. *Only an idiot could have missed that!* She started to lean forward to kiss him, but his next sentence caught her off guard.

"Who is the friend you're talking about?" he asked crossing his arms behind his head. Nara stopped walking and watched Kei in surprise. "Who's the guy? Trace?" Nara sighed and scratched her head, looking kind of sad.

"Just, forget I said anything about it." Kei, apparently understanding that she wanted to be left alone, kept quiet after that and spent a while analyzing the question she had asked him from every conceivable angle. After a few minutes, his eyes widened and he slapped himself on the forehead.

*Geeze! I'm such an idiot!* He looked back at Nara and blushed. "I…I like you, Nara." Nara blinked and looked up at Kei blushing. Kei turned around and rubbed his head self-consciously, peeking up at a nearby movie theater and his mouth dropped open in surprise. Nara ran up behind Kei and tapped his shoulder, noticing that he wasn't moving.

"What's the matter Kei?" Kei smiled and pointed up.

"It's good to live in Japan," Kei muttered, smiling. Nara blinked her eyes in confusion and shook her head. Above them, an image of three warriors stood on top of the theater seemingly looking down at the pair. Nara shivered and closed her eyes. Kei looked at Nara in surprise. "You don't like that movie? What would you like to do then?" Nara smiled and shuffled her feet.

"Um…Why don't we watch a different movie?" she asked nervously, looking up at Kei. Kei smiled and nodded.

"Which one?" he asked, looking at the movie listings.

* * * * * *

A couple of hours later, Kei and Nara stepped out of the theater, apparently slightly annoyed. "I…uh…thought that that movie was pretty good," Kei started, tapping his fingers nervously. Nara scoffed and glared at him.

"What are you talking about!? That movie had no plot and no character development! That movie was a complete bomb!" she shouted glaring at Kei, who shrugged and smiled.

"I know but I still liked it."

"How could you possibly like a pointless plot less movie!?"

"Because…" Kei shuffled his feet uncomfortably blushing slightly. "Because I got to spend some time alone with you." He whispered, sincerely hoping she didn't hear him. Nara blushed brightly, having heard what Kei said quite clearly. She looked up at the sky and coughed. "…Let's go," Kei said, turning and walking slowly down the path. Nara smiled as Kei turned and shook her head slightly smiling.

*Kei's pretty cool* she thought with a smile. *I wonder why he doesn't believe in himself though* She ran to catch up with Kei and leaned her head against Kei's shoulder, holding his hand in hers and looking up at him smiling. Kei smiled back at her and looked around.

"How are you feeling Kei?" Nara asked with a small smile on her face.

"I'm feeling ok…a little sleepy too though…" Kei yawned and rubbed his eyes, walking down the road in the direction of their dorm room, Nara following. When they stepped into their dorm room, they thoughtlessly changed into their bed garments and lay down on their respective beds, asleep before their heads hit the pillow.

* * * * * *

The next morning Nara yawned and sat up, stretching. She smiled as she heard Kei snoring and silently crouched on the floor, prepared to spring up on Kei's bed and wake him up. Kei mumbled something, tossing and turning in his sleep and raised his head with a groan. He yawned and rubbed his eyes; Nara tensed as he stretched his legs off the bed with a yawn and then, just as his head was appearing over the edge, she leaped up into him, crashing against him and knocking him down on his back on his bed with Nara on his stomach. Kei rubbed his head with a grimace and looked Nara in the eyes.

"That hurt…" he muttered, having bumped his head rather solidly against the wall when Nara had leaped on him. Nara smiled and licked Kei on the cheek, causing him to blush and back up against the wall, again hitting his head hard on it. "N-Nara!" he stammered bright red. Nara tilted her head to the side and looked at Kei quizzically.

"What's the matter Kei? My good morning too energetic for a tired elf like you?" she asked with a mischievous smile on her face. "Would you rather I greeted you in another way?" The slight purr in her voice caused Kei to blush even brighter and shake his head energetically.

"N-no!" he replied quickly, obviously flustered. Nara smiled and hugged him tightly.

"Hey, Kei!" Hiro called as he opened the door to Kei's and Nara's room. "Are-" he cut himself off, noticing Nara leaning on Kei in a thin tank top and shorts and Kei against the wall wearing only shorts blushing bright red. Nara looked at Hiro and winked. Hiro blushed brightly and turned around. "Sorry! Didn't mean to interrupt!" he yelled as he ran out of their room and into the hallway, slamming the door shut.

"Wait!" Kei called as Hiro left. "Don't leave me alone in here with her!" Nara smiled and hugged Kei to her chest tightly.

"I love you Kei!" she said, kissing him on the cheek and letting him go after one last affectionate squeeze. She jumped off his bed and walked over to her dresser, opening a drawer and pulling out an outfit consisting of a blue short skirt with matching short sleeve shirt. Kei walked into his closet and shut the door so that they could both have some privacy while they changed. Nara changed into her outfit and sat down on her bed waiting for Kei. Kei walked out a few minutes later wearing a blue shirt and pants. He saw Nara staring at him in surprise and blinked. He looked down at their outfits and smiled.

"Sweet," he said with a smile. "We're wearing the same outfit." Nara laughed and hugged Kei tightly kissing him on the lips. Before Kei could do anything though Nara stepped back and winked.

"Let's go Kei-kun." She grabbed his hand and dragged him towards the tournament tent. Along the way Trace joined them and together the trio walked in and looked around. "Uh-oh…" she muttered looking at the listings. "Today's the ranged tournament," she said softly starting to get really nervous. "I'm not good at ranged!" she grabbed her head and shook it repeatedly. "Nonononono! We're gonna lose all because I'm no good at ranged!"

"Actually, in the ranged tournament only one person from each team competes," an official said as she passed smiling. Nara blushed and shook her head. Trace smiled and laughed.

"That's fair. I'll compete in the ranged tournament," he said with a smile. "I'm great at ranged.

* * * * * *

"I thought you said you were good at ranged," Nara asked Trace, hitting him on the head. Trace pouted and looked away.

"I only said that to make you feel better," Trace replied his ears tingeing red. Kei laughed and shook his head.

"You're not that bad, really Trace although I have seen better marksmanship," he said casually picking up a bow and arrows and taking aim at a target. Trace laughed and shook his head.

"If I can't hit it then-"he stared wide-eyed as Kei quickly sent four arrows dead on into the bulls-eye on the target. Nara laughed happily and threw her arms around Kei's neck in a tight hug, unintentionally choking him. Trace jumped forward to help Kei get Nara off him so he could breath.

"Rather…energetic…hug…Nara…," Kei wheezed trying to get his breath back. He shook his head and smiled. "Since it's only half way through the day, I think I can substitute for you in the competition Trace." A tournament official passed by and heard the last sentence that Trace said.

"I'm afraid that you'll only get to sub for Trace if he suffers a rather serious wound, such as a broken arm…" Nara smiled and glared at Trace, who stepped back scared, "…or a broken leg, or broken hand, or broken fingers, or broken ribs…" the official counted off another half dozen wounds that Trace could suffer so that Kei could sub for him, and Nara stepped closer to Trace with each word, and Trace stepped away from Nara with each word looking more and more scared by the moment.

"Can someone shut her up!?" Trace yelled pointing at the still rambling official who wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention to the escalating scene behind her. Kei sweat dropped and held Nara, growling and swiping at Trace with her claws, back from Trace.

"Don't you think seriously injuring Trace so that I can substitute for him is a little extreme?" Kei asked Nara, having a hard time holding her back. Trace nodded quickly flattening against the wall as Nara inevitably began inching closer even though Kei was holding her.

"I don't think it's that extreme!" Nara growled lunging toward Trace but Kei lunged back at the same time, over balancing, and stretched out one arm so that he could catch himself as he fell, the other arm locked tight around Nara's chest. He hit the floor with a groan as Nara fell on his stomach, blasting the breath from his body and leaving his hold on her weak and feeble. Nara easily brushed Kei's arm aside and leaped towards Trace with an evil smile on her face, but just as she reached Trace, she suddenly bounced back and landed hard on her butt.

"Ow!" she muttered, rubbing her tail and standing up. "What was that?" she wondered looking around, completely forgetting about her secret agenda with Trace. Nara blinked and looked down as Kei groaned and then saw what happened, and she rubbed her tail with a grimace. Kei had grabbed her tail as she was about to introduce Trace to her claws and then had pulled hard back, causing a rubber reaction with Nara and her forward push, causing her to rebound just as she was about to clobber Trace and landed hard on her tail on Kei's back. She shook her head and helped Kei stand up, supporting him since his legs were trembling so weakly. Trace jumped forward and helped Nara. Kei gasped and tried to grab his left side, but when he touched it he flinched and quickly moved his hand away. Trace rested his hand against Kei's side, causing Kei to moan in pain.

"Look's like he's gotten hurt," Trace muttered, moving his hand away from Kei's side then staring at it in surprise. Nara growled and shook her head.

"Of course he's gotten hurt! How could he not be hurt?" she asked indignantly shifting her position to a more comfortable one for Kei. She stumbled slightly under his weight and glared back at Trace who was still staring at his hand in shock. Trace looked up and turned his hand around so that Nara could see his palm; it was bright red from blood…

* * * * * *

Kei groaned and shifted positions, aware that there seemed to be an almost choking presence on him. He shifted again, not quite comfortable, aware that all he could see was white. He opened his eyes and sat up with a shock…or at least tried to. He raised his hand to his side and noticed that it was healed. He looked down and noticed that he was lying on a bed in his room shirtless and that Nara was lying next to him. He looked down at her and smiled slightly. Nara looks so calm and serene, he thought staring at her sleeping face. He swallowed nervously. She looks so beautiful like that…He reached out a hand and softly, gently stroked Nara's hair. After a moment, he sighed and got out, careful not to disturb Nara, and cast his gaze around for his shirt. After he doffed it, he glanced once more at Nara and stepped out.

"Hey dude," Trace called waving. "What's up?" Kei waved back and stretched.

"What happened?"

"Well, after you yanked on Nara's tail, she landed hard on your back which drove you farther into the floor, I think. Anyway there was a sharp shard of stone which drove through your side. You got knocked out by the impact for a couple of hours." Kei yawned and rubbed his eyes. "Nara insisted on staying by your side till you recovered…Although I don't get how you could have recovered from such a severe wound in such a short span of time." Kei shrugged and sweat dropped.

"Good constitution?" he supplied kind of lamely. Trace shrugged and sat back down.

"Well, I finished the competition but, expectedly, I finished in fifth place." Kei shrugged and sat down at a table.

"How many competitions are left?" Kei asked after a short span of silence.

"Only two; the Magic competition and the intellectual competition. I'm told that they will be taking place simultaneously tomorrow. Apparently one member of each time has to compete except for the ranged competitor."

With two days left in the competition and the last two events taking place tomorrow, then what is gonna happen on the last day? Kei wondered, but after a moment shrugged and shook his head. "I'll be competing in the intellectual competition then," Kei said softly. "Nara's the only one that can use magic…I just hope that she's careful."

* * * * * *

The next day passed by in a blur both for Kei and Nara, both of whom had to compete. Trace just lounged in his room the whole day watching the competition on the television.

The next day, Kei Nara and Trace stood in front of the podium in the center of the competition tent as the announcer walked out to a cheering crowd.

"Ladies and gentlemen! This is the moment you've all been waiting for! This year's biggest surprise rookie team has managed to fight their way to the top of the pyramid! But one more challenge remains ladies and gentlemen…" he said, getting more dramatic with every word. "True these young champions have proved their skill, but…do they have skills enough and bravery enough to face off against the champion of this competition? Do they have to power to defeat the might that is Stallion?" he roared raising his hands to tumultuous applause.

"Sta-lli-on! Sta-lli-on! Sta-lli-on!" chanted the crowd as a really muscular man walked out, flexing his muscles intimidatingly. Stallion clapped his hands and pointed his thumb down.

"You think you can take me?" he roared in a deep voice, to tumultuous applause. Nara laughed and jumped into a ring holding her staff.

"Bring it on tough guy!" she challenged, her staff clutched tight between her elbow and her abdomen. Stallion roared a challenge of his own as he charged at Nara fist raised. Nara ducked the punch, causing Stallion to punch the wall behind her. Unexpectedly, his punch not only cracked the glazed marble, but actually knocked a chip out of it as well. Nara flinched at the sight of what Stallion's fists were capable of and stood defensively. Kei and Trace rushed forward to assist, but were stopped by two guards.

"The leader, Kei Strife, must face off against the tournament champion Stallion in order to win the tournament. Will Kei be able to do it, or will he fail and forever be ridiculed by friends and foes alike as a weakling? Let's find out ladies and gentlemen!" Kei swallowed nervously and stepped into the ring. He and Stallion faced off for several seconds, each combatant fingering their weapon. The audience quieted their cheering and stared at the two combatants excitement evident on their faces. Kei drew his large two handed dual bladed sword and held it out to his side with both hands. Stallion reflexively opened and closed his fists staring Kei in the eyes, as Kei stared back grimly. In the background, they heard a song playing from someone's CD player. Unconsciously the two fighters tensed, waiting…

♪Oh yes we ride, through stormy skies! The endless nights, in the moonlight weeds will gather. We curse uncertainty and false desire. We live to mask and stand together one and all and when the flames go dim, look within UNLEASH THE FIRE!♪

As the final phrase was shouted out, Kei and Stallion simultaneously charged at the other and immediately became involved in a long intense fight we're both appeared to be evenly matched. Many in the audience figured that with his iron knuckles, Stallion would quickly defeat Kei, who had the heavier slower weapon. However, moments into the fight, those same people realized that Kei was not only matching Stallion for speed and strength, but also that Stallion was overmatched when it came to agility. Being smaller and more agile, Kei easily ducked or dodged those punches that he couldn't block with his blade, more often then not countering with a kick or hilt smash to the stomach or chest. But still both combatants fought on grimly, and the speed of the fight escalated to a level that was so fast that the clang and clash of their weapons seemed to sound indefinitely. Eventually though, after several minutes of this fast paced combat, the speed inevitably slowed. Finally, as Stallion was punching out, his fist connected on Kei's chin knocking him back several feet. Kei swayed, evidently stunned by the blow, but his opponent gave him no time to recover as Stallion quickly kicked him in the stomach, backhanded him in the neck and kneed him in the face, sending Kei sprawling to the floor, his sword embedded in the ground inches next to his head. Stallion breathed heavily and raised his fists victoriously and turned to face the cheering crowd as the announcer started counting. "1! 2! 3!" Trace bit his nails while Nara stared at Kei worriedly.

"Stay down Kei, don't overexert yourself," she muttered tears in her eyes. Just as the announcer started to say "10!" Kei stood up and leaned to the side slightly. Kei laughed slightly and, even though he was obviously tired, he settled into a karate stance and shouted; "Come on Stallion! Give me your best shot!" Stallion turned around, evidently surprised that Kei could stand. He also settled into a stance and they both slowly circled around each other. Stallion tested Kei's defense with a kick to the head, and he replied by ducking his head while simultaneously spin kicking Stallion in the stomach. Stallion swayed, his breath lost and crumpled to the floor. The announcer and audience started counting. "1! 2! 3! 4! 5…!" Kei groaned and shook his head to clear the grogginess as the count continued. "… 7! 8! 9! 10! Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner! Team Strife's leader, Kei Strife has pulled a surprise victory out of defeat and has earned the right for him and his team to be named the champions of this year's 20th annual Tournament of Champions!" Another girl walked in carrying the Trophy of Champion's and, blushing, handed it to Kei, who, grinning, held it up with his teammates as the audience roared its applause. "Team Strife wins the tournament of champion's people!"

* * * * * *

The next day Nara, Kei, and Trace stood outside of the school watching the tournament workmen put everything in storage to be used in next year's tournament.

"I guess we were just overly afraid," Kei said, staring at the sky in amusement. Nara and Trace looked at him confused.

"What do you mean?" Trace wondered, causing Kei to laugh slightly.

"Remember how we felt that there was something evil about the contest? It was just our nerves failing us." Nara smiled and nodded.

"We were a great team weren't we?" Nara asked hugging both Trace and Kei tightly. Trace smiled cryptically.

"Except for when one of our own attempted to murder one of her teammates," he said sarcastically prompting a laugh from Kei and a blush from Nara.

"I said I was sorry!" she muttered looking away from Trace. Trace laughed and shook his head.

"Good job, Master Strife!" Master Roberts exclaimed as he strode out of the school. Kei Nara and Trace bowed respectfully to him then looked at the sky.

"That was a lot of fun right guys?" Nara asked, her tail grabbing Kei around the waist. Kei blushed and rubbed his head.

"It was…mildly enjoyable…" he muttered softly blushing. Nara wrapped her arms around Kei and kissed him on the cheek, rubbing his face with hers.

"I love you Kei-kun!" she said, smiling happily.