Wish on a Wing {Air Gear} Trick 03: Time to Try

The cellphone rang endlessly throughout the room, Itsuki turned his gaze away from your airtrecks and placed his attention to your cell, so did Akito. You couldn't just skip the call or else Kaito would get angry at you, but the pressured situation landed you on a firm, thinking state. You hesitantly extended your hand out to grab the cellphone and pulled it up to your ears - then... flipped it closed, completely turning it off as you set it back down on the bed. That was close, I was actually going to answer... You lifted your eyes up at Ikki and Akito ,"It's... uhm... a...-" you trailed off, your eyes looking around for answers; anything you would say could lead you into a trap. If you said 'dad' or 'friend', then that would have been plain rude of you to ignore the call, would it not?

"Oh! It's probably a voice-message, huh?" Itsuki suddenly blurted, obviously not knowing what was going on.

You blinked, letting his words sink in.

"R.. Right! Let's go eat some dinner! The food's probably getting cold!" you piped up, going with the flow as you stacked some papers in organization before jumping off your bed; you gestured them to come out of the room, your eyes trying hard to avoid Akito's as you grabbed Itsuki's hand and tugged him out. Being around Akito suddenly felt peculiar because of the event just a moment ago when he hugged you and said something about 'Akira'.

"Akira" was a strong topic for you, it hit a chord in your heart just to hear his name.

You stopped near the entrance of your room and glanced back at the hurt-filled eye of Akito. You felt bad, and sweetly laughed and extended your hand out to him kindly ,"Come on," you considerately gestured for him to join, which he immediately grabbed your hand tightly with a hearty smile.

You couldn't just leave Akito there to hurt - that wasn't you. Your thoughts faltered on that - who were you?
Deep within your eyes showed concern, you couldn't believe that you didn't pick up the call. Kaito-sensei is going to kill me for leaving him hanging. Kaito had shot you once or twice with a rubber bullet when you couldn't do something right, but ignoring him was one thing - and you had yet to see what Kaito would do to you for that.

"Sensei", is what you always added to Kaito's name. Some wondered why since Kaito could easily be considered as a 'brother' since he looked after you several times whenever your father was away.

You would never, in your life, consider Kaito as a 'brother', especially how he had treated Agito like a savage beast that needed to be tamed everyday.
Yet, you had some respect for that man. He taught you everything you needed to know about stormriders and airtrecks, especially how to defend yourself against every-day criminals. Yes, that's why... he was your "sensei".

Akito - it was hard to think of him other than a friend - a childhood friend, at most; and you two rarely ever, ever fought. Yup, that was how tight you guys were, especially when you knew Akito longer than Agito. When you first met Agito, it shocked you. You thought it was Akito at first, but soon realized it was another person when a curse-word came out of that boy's mouth. You two had a rough start trying to get along because you were friends with Akito, but then you two started to get along pretty well when...-

Snapping your head up, you soon realized that you were already standing in the dining room, only to see Ringo staring at your hands that were tied with Ikki's - she seemed to bite all her frustrations down on her chopsticks. Quickly, you released your laced fingers with Itsuki and Akito, kneeling down onto the mat as your eyes curiously wandered onto Itsuki who had a little card-board box as a table by himself in the corner; he didn't have as much to eat compared to the table where everybody else was at. It was common to see him like this (in the past weeks you were here) - if it was a good day, then he would be able to eat with everyone else (but "good days" were rare).

"Y' know what? We'll have our emblem ready by tomorrow! We already have our uniforms!" Ikki brought up, chewing on his food with his mouth open as he savored every taste he was able to scavenge in his taste-buds.

You glanced at him and back at your food, somewhat unsettled while grabbing your chopsticks. "Team," he had said. It just echoed into your thoughts, filling each empty space with doubts and bitterless. It just brought back those kind of thoughts that you disliked. You stole a glance at Itsuki once more, something catching your attention as you giggled and crawled over to him, rubbing a grain of rice off of his chin.

Itsuki faintly blushed as you took out the particle of rice off of him so suddenly and without warning.
Ringo turned red in agitation, forcing herself to look away.

Akito pouted:
"Niji! Niji! I have some rice on my face, too!" squirmed the eye-patch wearing boy, purposely sticking a rice onto his cheek.

You glanced at Akito and then to Ikki ,"I'll skip dinner, I don't really feel like eating anything," you mumbled, mainly to Itsuki, already having your appetite lost at the reminiscence of the word 'team' that rang in your mind. You snapped your head up at Itsuki and forced a grin and a small laugh, knowing that you might be acting a bit weird ,"You've gotten me too excited about your team, Ikki! You could've just surprised me, y' know!" you lied, hiding it well, but your eyes said otherwise.

"Seriously?! You don't want to eat?!" Itsuki suddenly exclaimed, drooling as he slammed his hands onto his card-board table and acicdentally caused it to collapse within his hungry wrath ,"I call for Najika's plate!" he hungrily shouted, beginning to leap to the table and clashed against the piles of food on the table. Everyone was surprised, no doubt, at the situation before them.

The boy next to you, Akito, stared at you and averted his eye elsewhere; an expression of wariness.

They didn't know.
They didn't know anything.

... but the well-hidden secrets will eventually be brought out to the light by the powerful wind.
I'm scared. What if...

It was then when the words of what Akito had said before appeared in your head, repeating and repeating:
"... when Udou-kun (Akira) left, you don't talk to me as much. Did I do something wrong?"

No way, you thought ,... did I... really change?

Team Kogarasumaru.
That was what Itsuki had named the team - it stood for a famous katana and carried the meaning of "collective fates".

How awesome was that? Everyone met by 'fate', right? So, it definitely made some sense, unlike...-
Your thoughts were suddenly disrupted when Ringo released a small giggle - she was acting 'jumpy' all of a sudden in a random moment ever since you guys prepared meals for the guys. That is, they did, but not you. You couldn't cook for beans. How sad. I'm pathetic, you blandly mumbled and un-zipped you team jacket, only catching the attention of the one of the girls by the sound of the 'zip'.

"Aren't you suppose to be with the boys? You're in the team, aren't you?" Emily brought up, holding onto her bike-handle carefully while taking a gape at you and your neutered uniform.

You didn't actually wear your team uniform properly - you kept the white shirt, the fingerless gloves, and the team jacket (which carried the team symbol), but you wore a plaid skirt in place of those black pants. The pants were cool and all, but you found that wearing a skirt thrilling with its fluttery-ness. You remembered Emily saying that it was hard to fight in a skirt; that wasn't the case, your skirt wasn't the tight kind, it was the flowy-type that hung above your knees (plus, you always wear shorts underneath). Your socks went high above your knees, and were striped in white and black.

Oh, right, you still didn't answer her.
"I know, but we'll still make it, right? Besides, I wanted to hang around with you guys for once," you brightly admitted, digging your hands into your skirt-pocket as you skated smoothly through the street. You had learned a little about the girls while you stayed with them for the small hours you were able to talk to them. You learned that Emily adored Kazu (and she made many remarks over and over again till you got it permanently stuck into your head), she practically didn't want anyone touching him. The chains around your skirt jingled against the wind, almost telling you something. Looks like this night will be something new. you mused and diverted your gray eyes over to Emily's bike-basket ,"That's a big bag you have in there. Are you bringing food for everyone, too, like Rin-chan?"

Emily flushed and giggled maniacally as she covered her reddened cheeks ,"No! It's only for Kazu-sama! My Kazu-sama!" she clearly emphasized with a proud smile on her face.

Seriously, Emily was a cool girl, but sometimes her obsession with Kazu just went over-board - that, in fact, was plain creepy.

Durn. That reminded you about something.
There was this creep back in the G-force who tagged along with you in every stinkin' mission you were given (well, he chose to come and 'protect' you; and you know what? You always ended up protecting him), he gave you roses, made you lunch, and was pretty much head-over-heels for you. You didn't do anything to attract that guy, so you kind of wondered how that all happened. Akira had caught the peeping-tom staring at you while you were changing in the girl's locker room in the headquarters (now why would Akira be around there?). During that time, Agito needed a punching dummy for practice and the stalker was perfect for the job. As you can guess, that was roughly about two years ago.

What happened to that creepy dude? Well, you didn't care, he didn't bother you anymore.

You strained a grin, brushing a lock of your hair over your shoulders before halting at the sound of people moaning in pain ,"Huh? It's coming from..." you slid your attention in interest at the direction of the school. A flash of yellow and black caught your curiosity - it was Team Kogarasumaru and another team! It slowly hit you in realization: "No way! They started without me!" you pouted, upset, rushing up to the scene, but your hopes of seeing something good was evidently shot down. Something was terribly wrong. This wasn't how you expected it to be.

You didn't bother to look over your shoulders when the three girls (Ringo, Emily & Yayoi) caught up with you.

"Hey, your late-" Crow-boy's sentence was unforunately shortened as you decided to slice in, flabber-gasted.
"This... This isn't how it's suppose to work!" you interrupted, running up to Itsuki with a shocked and hurt look upon your face. When I joined this time, I... I thought it would be... special and significant. You stared at Akito who only sat near the fence, only watching the scene with his knees up to his chin in a small distance. Akito... why didn't you say anything? You should have... at least known. "Ikki, this is no different from what the 'wanted' stormriders do. Without a proper battle, it's... it's meaningless!" you blurted out, biting your lower lip and clicked your awry attention to Ringo who fell on her knees.

Rin-chan... you painfully thought, seeing all her prepared home-made food fall out of her bag in a spillage. This must hurt her the most since she knew these guys longer than I have (except for Akito & Agito), and she seemed so happy at first to see them practice, too.

"Itsuki," the fallen girl began, beginning to sob a little ,"... you're a rider, aren't you?!"

It wasn't long before most of Ikki's team-mates started to turn on him, even if they did wrong, too.

Your attention was slapped to the other team that was purposely beaten up in the start, but they were slowly beginning to recover from the street-fight. What you noticed is that they had a "READ", and they took this time to examine some of the team's stats. You glanced down at your pocket and patted a hard object within it. I have to take it everywhere I go... I have to... "I have to..." you inaudibly whispered, unaware that you actually mouthed it outloud, earning another weary stare from Akito.

"Leave all your stuff and go home naked!" you heard the team leader speak once Itsuki had accepted the "Parts' War" by slapping the "Team Kogarasumaru" sticker over the other team's sticker, "Sabel Tigers", with the emblem on the line and the dare to be betted.

You gazed at Kazu who registered the team into the "war" in his laptop. It feels 'official' now. you dryly thought out and smiled at the "Sabel Tigers" (the enemy team) members with a devious look on your face, just to receive a whistle uphand by the male members that eyed you wolfishly. You faltered and quickly looked away, surprised at yourself. Why am I getting excited to do some F-class dash?! I mean... I... - it isn't worth my time! Your eyes went over to the group of your comrades, softening your expression. No, I'm wrong. This... This is a 'real' team, and... I really like these guys. I do. So I should look foward to competing.

Back there, all I get is crap.
You were abruptly pulled into the "Kogarasumaru" group by Itsuki who had playfully winked at you and waited for you to join in the team-cheer. Lost and puzzled, you stumbled upon the smirking and smiling faces of your 'friends', the people you were able to count on. You were clearly startled and dropped your eye-sight to their hands that were over on top of each other. Gulping, you gathered up the strength you had left in order to move and slapped your hand on top of the rest, slightly blushing. ... This is so cool... You tried hard not to bring tears of joy in your eyes. I want to try my best, too!

Everyone kept their eyes still on you, in awe at your flustered state; they clearly knew you were happy... and they really cared.

"Kogarasumaru!" the team cheered, including you, in energy ,"KILL! KILL! KILL!"

Team Kogarasumaru VS. Sabel Tigers!
ROUND ONE!

"Gambatte, ne, Bu-kun!" you cheered, pumping your fist into the air optimistically while everyone else threw some energetic words into it for their team-mates to win the plate. Back there, no one cheered for each other like everyone did here. It was always about the high-expectations that you guys had loaded on each other - it wasn't fun because there was no smiles or laughter; if one member so happened to lose in a round, every one would lose trust on 'em and would react coldly. Even if you guys would still win as a team, there were no pats or the two words of "good job". It didn't happen. Not back there.

You gripped the end of your skirt anxiously when Buccha was beginning to catch up with the opponent, and one punch... CRACK! Your eyes dialated at what was seen. You couldn't believe it. Just when everyone thought they had victory in their hands, the fence broke down! Then again, you should have expected this. The fence couldn't carry Buccha's weight; and the opponent won. However, the opponent that faced Buccha was trembling in fear since he was almost chewed up and spit back out if the fence didn't break in the right time.

Well, that was on loss for Kogarasumaru and one win for Sabel Tigers. There were still four rounds left, right? Plenty of more chances!
... and then, two losses for Kogarasumaru once Onigiri practically lost his balance on his A-T with his head, clashing against the fence inbloody horror - it was, unforunately, a quick loss. Kogarasumaru didn't even put up a good fight.

The next person that was able to insure a victory was...
Everyone turned to Akito expectantly, and you stared, too. There was no way Agito would actually want to participate in a...- "DON'T MESS WITH ME! WHO DO YOU THINK I AM?! F**K!" Agito boomed right after Akito had unleashed the dirty-mouthed power of his other eye ,"HOW COULD THE 'FANG KING' AGITO FIGHT IN THIS LOSER MATCH?!! MY 'ROAD' WOULD BE DIR-- !"

You stopped him from going any further as you tugged onto his arm and frowned, forcing him to look at you straight in the eye ,"Shark-boy! This is really surprising! You, losing to an F-class team? Wouldn't that really be pathetic? The 'Fang King' - Agito - scared to a pulp under the pressure of a simple dash and simply called it 'quits'." you temptingly persuaded, a smirk planting on your lips, knowing that just might do the trick to tick off Agito to participate. Just when it was about to work, Ikki, Kazu, and Emily pushed in - making your plan wither in the dirt.

Okay, Agito wasn't going to do it, so...
Yes, you had to do it. If no one did it, then who would?

You stepped up to the front-line and waved for Itsuki's attention ,"I'll be going!" you chirped, noticing the look of doubt on many faces of the team. At least back there they'll know I will win. The only look that read in trust was Itsuki. Agito, on the other hand, just looked amused at what you could do, especially when you were just a fishy newbie on A-Ts. You lifted your index finger and pulled down your lower eye-lid to Agito, sticking out your tongue rudely ,"NEH! I'll win this, sharkie, you can bet on in it!"

"But... if you...--!" Kazu couldn't say anything else, loss for words, uncertain what the heck you were doing. You had less experience than them all - that's what they thought, anyways.

You brushed your skirt and closed your eyes, taking a deep breath in preparation for the battle. You didn't need any expectations, you didn't need anything. You just had to ignore any discouraging comments ,"You can always pretend that the wind isn't there when it is always pushing your back," you said with a hidden meaning ,"Basically, I am saying that if you don't believe in my abilities, then don't. I..." you hesitated at first, knowing that you would say another bitter bluff ,"I'm new at this, but I really want to give it a shot. I want to give my all for the team."

"You can give me your 'all'!" Onigiri sneered, a perverted thought forming in his mind.

Before anyone can say anything, Itsuki persisted to disrupt ,"Najika-chan, you can do it."

I know I can. You solemnly thought and turned to your enemy with high confidence ,"Thank you, Itsuki..." you whispered under your breath, just when many had misguidance in you, Itsuki actually placed you as the team's "turn-around"; yes, he believed you could turn the match around. Just one thing to make a statement here - you were unaware that the round had already began once the coin had flipped had landed onto the ground, and the coin landed just exactly two seconds ago; and time was everything.

WE'RE DOOMED! were the team's first thoughts.

"Oh, what? We already started?" you blinked, misplaced in thoughts, watching you opponent slow down in laughter - he was ahead of you, but not too far of a distance since he was obviously under-estimating you. Just like the turtle and the rabbit, hm? you smiled, not bothering to take a look at the doomed faces if your companions. It wasn't long before you commenced to advanced against the fence's edges, trying hard to control your speed; by now, you were just in an F-class speed, not much, really - and it seemed like you wouldn't be able to catch up before your opponent would be heading to the goal.

But... unlike that story, I'm a FAST turtle! You unlocked the chain that hugged your waist, extending it and whipped it across the air ,"Watch out!" you warned, leashing the chain to the man that was ahead around the neck. He fell back and gurgled as he gasped for air, the chain-leash practically choking him. Quickly, you released the man from the chain and kicked him out of the playing field, rapidly stopping in the middle of the fence to watch the man make an attempt to get up with his team members yelling him to hurry up.

"Stay down, man!" you hastily spoke up, diving off the gate to kick the man in the side for no apparent reason ,"Gee, I'm being serious! Stay down! Stay down! Stay DOWN!" Certain that your enemy surrendered to your kicks, you bounced back up onto the fence, barely even satisfied.

SHE'S BRUTAL! the team mused secondly.

"I guess I'll just finish this~!" you told yourself and sprinted ahead, landing to the finish line while calmly putting your chain around your skirt as you did so. I'm worried I might've shown something I shouldn't have... you thought, closing your eyes once again. I'm suppose to be a rookie who just had a one-day's expereience, but... then again, I am part of the 'WIND' G-squad! And I'm suppose to be tough!... right? You flipped out of concentration when the team surrounded you, giving you noogies (from Itsuki) and a simple, brotherly pat from Buccha.

You met eyes with Kazu, who was highly surprised, you seemed to have brought a little bit of esteem to him - perhaps encouraging him to "run" in the next match. However, you were a "beginner", and it was may be "beginner's luck".

You stared at the people surrounding you, your heart pounding rapidly. It's... It's disappointing that I can't tell them the truth because... they're my family. you thought, glimpsing at Agito who stayed in the shadows in focus, his eyes fixed on you. In the midst of it all, you felt a slap on your rear - and it came from none other than... you guess it right -- Onigiri! You stared down at him, but shook it off, much to the team's surprise. I'm in a good mood! So... I won't let it get to me!

Slap! Rub! Rub! Slap!
It was Onigiri, as you can notice, touching your butt. You couldn't take it and slugged him, letting him fly across the area in contentment.

Yet, your attention diverted when Kazu pointed out to the sound of a 'ring' coming down from your skirt-pocket.
"I think someone is trying to call you." Kazu firmly retorted, stating the obvious. A faint ring from your pocket was heard when everyone had quieted down.

You almost panicked and nearly choked on air when Kazu told you ,"W-What?!" you coughed, pounding your chest to stop coughing and shot your hand to your pocket as if by instinct - ignoring Kaito's call once was more than just torture for you, especially when you ignored him only a day ago! "Wah, I'm sorry! I have to take this call." you deeply apologized and bowed to show your sincere apology, leaving everyone in question. You dug into your skirt for the cell that you had always carried and skated away from the area as far away from everyone as possible.

"Hello?" you nervously answered, holding the cellphone close to your ear once you had flipped it open. You leaned against a brick wall, your eyes planted firmly on the ground.

You could hear a loud voice through the other line - it was most likely to be Kaito yelling at another G-men. Many of the rookie G-men didn't like Kaito and his dictator-like orders, but they were too scared out of their pants to say anything. It was a wonder why they even joined the force in the first place if it was a one-way ticket to h*ll.

Throwing a small cough to catch Kaito's attention within the phone, you finally received a small and rough 'yeah' from him ,"What do you want now? You told the reapers to corner in those stormriders (the people who tried to kidnap you in the previous chapter) in the creepy place (cemetery), and they did fine. If you want them to do another one of your biddings, tell them, not me. I'm kind of... busy." You were careful in not to spill anything that you were in a team; Kaito would explode on you if he ever found out. Why? That was something for you to find out soon enough.

"I want you to go to a club and 'hunt'."

You made a face as Kaito gave you the much needed information, he was definitely ignoring what you said ,"Right, right, but... I.. - Twice in one week? Aren't you pushing it a little? You, out of all people, should know that we aren't some kind of ordinary stormrider team that should be in the newspapers." you disdainfully murmured, glancing over your shoulders at the open area of where the "Parts' War" was still taking place ,"Look, I can't-" you were soon cut off as the connection with the "WIND" leader was cut. Dang, Kaito always hanged up on you whenever you were about to protest. You stared down at your A-Ts and grunted.

Yet, you knew what Kaito meant by "hunt", and he would not take a "no" for an answer.

You closed your cellphone and held it tightly. It was either your job or... them - Kogarasumaru. Your job was suppose to be your first priority and it always had to be first when it came to business. Which was more important to you? If you were to choose, you were bound to let down one or the other.

I really want to watch Kogarasumaru win this battle; if I leave, then... would it really be worth it? You shoved your cellphone into your pocket, stroking your hair in thought. I want to see Kogarasumaru soar higher than any other team, and this is their starting line. It's special. It's... the beginning of growing wings. "Kaito-sensei, I know you're counting on me, but... you're probably just drinking too much," you softly muttered out, solid on your decision.

Suddenly... it seemed as if the world grew a bit darker.
You couldn't help but ponder if your decision would be a wise one.