(A/N): Yes, I managed to cough out something whilst in between Physics and Calculus. Hopefully, it'll be to all ya'll's liking. Both my beta, AxJfan, and I have been quite busy with schoolwork, so I'm glad we got to cough out anything at all. Thanks again for coming through, fellow writer! (insert me shameless plug for AxJfan's brilliant stories here)

Disclaimer: It is obvious that I do not own GX or any of the characters within except OC's. Why do I bother writing this down, then? Well, it's to try and amuse people by inserting witty jokes that phail immesurably.

Archer

Chapter 2-Qualified or Not?

Asuka still couldn't believe that today hadn't been a dream. Surely, what she had seen was impossible, a dream.

And yet, when she had passed by the hospital ward to give the obligatory condolences to those who had lost, she had seen Ayanokouji in the corner with the two telltale wounds on his hand and shoulder. It couldn't be denied.

A peasant archer had really appeared in the stadium that day, out of nowhere, and defeated a noble warrior. A weak one, she was sure, but regardless, such a thing had never been heard of before. She headed to her quarters, relieved that she no longer had to deal with the incompetent fools that had lost.

What was even more surprising, she mused, was that the archer…Yuki Judai, he had called himself…didn't seem to be fighting at his full strength. She was sure of it. Sitting at her desk, she made a quick mental checklist of clues that she had spotted.

The first hint was obvious. Archers were useless without a bow, without the additional power that was allowed within the tension of the bowstring, the arrow would never fly fast enough to pierce human skin from a distance, not to even mention the steel armor that warriors wore. Yet, Judai had not even touched his bow once; easily piercing armor from a distance with just his hands alone. How much power would the arrow fly with if he had used the bow? That was something she couldn't fathom…and she wasn't sure if she wanted to.

The second hint was also quite clear: the decoration on his weapons. Peasants often put bird feathers on the edge of the arrows to help them fly straight, but often, few feathers were spared from the hunts for replacements, often opting to use as many feathers as they could for clothing and crafts for trade. Only archers assigned to noble guards would have the luxury of decorating their bows and quivers. And yet, he had had feathers on both his bow and one of his three quivers.

Which brought her to her third clue: why did he have more than one quiver? And why were they so ornately decorated, particularly the black and gold one? That one gave of a regal aura and yet…it felt slightly threatening to her too. She felt unexplainable shivers down her spine as she remembered it. Shaking her head and returning to her checklist, she noted that only the ordinary looking leather quiver had been opened and used; the other two decorated quivers had remained closed throughout the entire battle. Why was that so? Was there something unique with those arrows?

The last item on her checklist was something that wasn't as obvious as the last three, in fact, she felt rather silly and paranoid just considering that fact. Yet, it nagged at her.

His clothing.

There was nothing unusual at first glance; it had been ragged and ordinary peasant's fare. What bugged her was a minor detail: the sleeves. They had been long and covered the entire arm.

She knew that it was summertime in the land, and the weather would be extremely hot during this time of the year, especially more so in recent years due to the intensifying drought. Peasants during this time of year would often be seen with short-sleeved shirts, or even no shirts, in vain attempts to keep themselves cooler while working in the fields. Seeing Judai with long-sleeved shirts bugged her, he would surely be hot in that clothing, even with it being so bright and reflective.

Was he hiding something under those sleeves?

She pinched the bridge of her nose in irritation. All these questions were giving her a headache. She wanted them answered. But how could she do that? She was, after all, both the prize and judge of the competition. To pay special attention to one participant, especially if he was an accidental entry that seemed to have no proper qualifications, would have been seen as unsightly and improper. Tapping her finger on the desk, she racked her brains for any sort of plan that would help. After a solid ten minutes of aimless thinking, she suddenly stood up, a determined glint in her eyes.

She needed to talk with Tou-sama.

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Tenjoin-sama sat with the royal council, head in his hands as he ignored what they had to say. He knew that they were furious with him for allowing Asuka to accept the peasant boy into the competition. He never listened to those old windbags anyways, in his opinion; they had lost his respect the day they had chosen to overthrow the old royal family.

The day that they had chosen to follow his power-crazed brother…

"Really, Tenjouin-sama, you spoil that girl of yours too much. What in that mind of yours said that it was alright for her to have her way?" An old woman had spoken this time, irritating him with her clipped voice and carefully chosen words. She was one of the most irritating people on this council to him, sticking with the old and traditional ways that had gotten them into this mess in the first place. Another one of the voices cut through his thoughts, a middle-aged man's voice this time.

"Tenjouin-sama, I know that it is wrong for me to intrude on how you treat your children, but-"

"And yet you still choose to nag me about how I treat them every single time you get a chance, Daiki-san. Just because you lost out on your chance to raise potential heirs, you wish to manipulate mine. I won't let you do that."

"Nonsense, Tenjouin-sama, I only wish for this country to have the most qualified rulers it can possibly have," Daiki spoke back, his voice dripping with false concern. Tenjouin-sama scowled internally, he despised this man, the one that had served alongside his brother during the period of oppressive rule. He had been promised the throne by his brother, but had been denied it by the council, who wished for the bloodline to remain unchanging and pure, not wanting the country to turn over hands twice in the same generation.

"You mean rulers who act as puppets for you, Daiki-san," Tenjouin-sama spoke calmly back, placing a slight venomous tone on Daiki's name. "I don't want my children to be cold, unfeeling, and greedy, like this generation. I want them to have open minds so that they will be able to serve the people best."

"Are you unwell, Tenjouin-sama? Surely I did not hear you say that you wish for your children to serve the people?" Daiki's tone seemed to get more and more mocking by the second. This was no longer a meeting. It was a debate.

"I am feeling quite well, Daiki-san," Tenjouin-sama replied testily.

"I do not think you are, Tenjouin-sama. For it is the people's job to serve the nobles. We do, after all, protect their fields, govern their towns, and bring prosperity to their lands. Our work is important, and in return, they must provide for us. It is the law of the land, after all."

Tenjouin-sama stood up, slamming his fists on the table.

"Prosper?! Have you seen the state that this land is in?! The crops are dying, the heavens refused to yield even a drop of water, the people are leaving, and those who stay are dying of starvation and overwork as we speak! They can barely make enough to feed themselves, let alone the nobles who ride on their backs! And what have our class done to remedy that? Nothing! We continue to siphon more and more of their belongings from them! We're treating them no better than slaves! And what makes it worse is people like you, making it sound like everything is wonderful, even convincing the suffering people out there that what they are doing is for their own benefit, when really, it's all for ours!"

Tenjouin-sama abruptly turned around, storming for the door.

"Tenjouin-sama!" the old woman's voice cried out croakily. "The meeting is not yet finished! We have not reached a conclusion on what to do with the peasant boy!"

"This meeting was over before it even started!" Tenjouin-sama roared back, looking over his shoulder, not slowing down. "I have made my decision! The boy will remain in the competition, whether he be noble or not!"

"Tenjouin-sama, I fear that you may be making a wrong decision in the spur of the moment," Daiki's voice echoed from the other side of the room. "The boy is not qualified. He will sully the tournament's royal purpose."

Tenjouin-sama stopped, still not turning around.

"The 'royal purpose', as you so finely phrased it," he gritted out, in a voice that was deadly serious and froze everyone in the room, "was to find the true heir of this land that will bring it back to its more prosperous times. Not," and with that he turned around, his hair covering his eyes as he spoke, "to find you another puppet to control as you see fit. If that boy doesn't fit that standard, he will soon fall to another, more worthy opponent. But if he does," and with that, he raised his head, revealing eyes of dusty blond, glinting with that same determination that burned within his daughter's bright eyes.

"Then Asuka will marry him, and nothing-not even you self-serving aristocrats-will stop that from happening."

And with that, he left the room.

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Asuka walked the halls, looking for the person who she was seeking. She had not found Tou-sama in his chambers, and so was confused on where to go next.

She had passed the hall leading to the Council's chambers, when she heard a loud slam, startling her out of her reverie. She looked back, only to find the person who she had been looking for storming out of the hall with a furious scowl on his face.

Asuka sighed. She hated it when Tou-sama went into the Council's chambers; he always came out with that same expression. It didn't help that his facial features had been passed down to Fubuki, everything exact except for the eyes, which she had inherited. Seeing his face in fury was like seeing a furious Fubuki…which both weirded her out and frightened her, because she had almost never seen him angry.

Her sigh seemed to have brought Tou-sama back to his senses, however, as he looked at her when he heard it, and smiled warmly. Asuka walked up to him and allowed him to give her a hug, despite that she was much too old for that now. It would have looked to others that he was comforting her, but it was quite the opposite.

Tou-sama gave a long heaving sigh before letting his daughter go; she steadied herself and began to break the ice.

"Talking with those old geezers again?"

"Now, Asuka-chan, you know I taught you better than that."

"You taught me to speak my mind, Tou-sama, not flatter to please."

"Hahahaha. That's my girl."

"Was it about Judai?"

"Yes, it was." Tou-sama gave her a piercing look that seemed to both analyze and tease. "I see that you're on a first name basis with the peasant boy already."

Asuka turned slightly red.

"I don't know why I call him that. It just seems natural. I think it's because he had the audacity to call me just Asuka, and not add any honorifics at all to it. It's like he already sees us as equals, or perhaps he just doesn't care about that sort of thing. It only feels right to respond in a similar manner."

"I see. I have no problem with that, so long as he continues to prove himself. Now, what is it that you want?"

"You can tell that I wanted something, Tou-sama?"

"Asuka-chan, I've known you for all eighteen years of your life. I can tell if you want something. You always steel your face up and your eyes focus in on whoever you're requesting something from. So serious…." He broke off at that point to chuckle, during which Asuka mock pouted in mild embarrassment. "…Anyways, what was it that you wanted?"

"Tou-sama, I want to test out the competitors a little bit more."

"Oh, and what did you have in mind?"

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All the highest ranked warriors in the castle had found themselves summoned away from their posts and in front of the princess's chambers. Why, they knew not, until they had all filed in and found her seated at her desk with a regal expression on her face that commanded attention. A small stack of paper slips was positioned in front of her. To her right was her brother, a goofy expression on his face as usual. To her left was her father, who seemed to be stepping back and allowing his daughter to take command.

"Each of you, take a piece of paper off the stack. You will be testing the person that will be on the stack, to see if they have the qualities necessary to continue on in the tournament. You will be judging their capabilities in terms of tactics, ability, and manner. Out of all the warriors in the castle, I have chosen you because I believe that you have enough experience and morality to judge accurately and fairly. I trust that you will not let me down."

All the warriors bowed in unison and quietly took a slip of paper off the stack, exiting the room immediately afterwards. The final warrior remaining was one of the highest ranked warriors in the castle, due to him not only specializing in just warrior skills, but also had some mage abilities as well. He had come from a foreign country as a diplomat, but he had chosen to become loyal to the Tenjoin family after seeing their prowess and Tenjoin-sama's ideals. He still wore the same style of dress that had been worn in his native country which came across as odd and somewhat feminine to others-even to the point of his being called an ugly woman at some points. He had a somewhat aristocratic attitude, only wanting to train those who he felt had potential, often mistreating others that he did not favor. However, despite those flaws, Asuka respected him as an excellent and patient teacher, one that deserved respect.

"Chronos-sensei, thanks for accepting the request to do this for me."

Chronos de Medici stepped forward, his blonde wig-like ponytail flapping somewhat behind him as the pink frills that he had so flamboyantly added to his blue trench coat bounced along with it. He took the last paper from the desk.

"It is no problem, Signora Asuka. I would gladly do anything to serve the Tenjoin family, na na no ne!" His purple-colored lips silently mouthed off the name on the paper as he read it to himself, before they opened wide in shock.

"Yuki Judai, na na no ne?! Are you sure that it is a fair fight, pairing me up with this peasant, na na no ne?"

"Yes, Chronos-sensei, I feel that the fight is more than fair. I feel that he actually may be hiding some skills from us."

"…If Signora Asuka says so, I trust your word. I still can not say that I have no misgivings on this matter, na na no ne."

"As long as you judge him fairly, I can accept that."

"I can tell you this, though, Signora Asuka. If this boy wins my approval, I shall do my best to teach him as I taught you, na na no ne!"

Asuka smiled. She knew that Chronos-sensei had a scrap of decency within him, or she wouldn't have chosen him for the task.

"Thank you, Chronos-sensei."

Chronos bowed and left the room, after which her father turned to her.

"You rigged it so that Yuki would face off with Chronos, didn't you?"

Asuka looked up at him.

"Yes. I feel that Chronos-sensei can make the best judgment of whether he can make it through or not. And even if he does let his aristocratic attitude get the better of him, I still have the final say."

Asuka then stood up and turned around to look out the window.

Judai, I shouldn't be thinking this considering the situation, but for some reason, I hope you pass. I can't help but feel that there's something about you that needs to be seen.

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(A/N): Well, that's it. A small announcement before we go...

Daiki-san was a sort of last minute addition. I planned for him to be simply a faceless council member, but somehow he gained an identity and a bit of flesh during the chapter. This might turn out for the better, as I only have ideas for the beginning and end of the fic, with only a few stepping stones in between that are far apart from each other. If anyone has ideas on what to do with this unexpected character to give some more substance to the story, you can send 'em in, 'cause I'm clueless as well. NOTE: IF YOU DO SEND THEM, PLEASE SEND THEM BY MESSAGING ME, NOT PUTTING THEM IN A REVIEW WHERE EVERYONE CAN SEE THEM.

Other than that, I have nothing else to say, 'cept that typing all of Chronos' "na na no ne"'s amused me to no end, although I'm sure I'll tire of them soon enough. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it!