AFTER THE FLOOD

Night had fallen over Seiyun high school.

While at day, the all-girl's school managed to maintain a traditional and mothering image, it turned into something much more sinister and dangerous when the shadows began to lengthen. The almost Victorian design of the school, with its marble walls and wide courtyards, took on a decidedly gothic hue without the sun to brighten its environs. Not even the Sakura trees helped to alleviate the atmosphere, their beauty hidden by shadows cast by the towering walls.

It was at this time that the less reputable students started to make their moves. Having slept quite soundly throughout most of their classes in the day, they were fully charged and ready to go by the time curfew set in. Most kept to the shadows, or gathered in the more isolated dorms, but the bolder ones stalked the main courtyard in full view of whoever cared to watch.

As it happened, the main reason for the teachers' apathy was standing by the main gates of the school at that very moment. Aoi Himezaki, or just plain Zaki to those who knew better, was perhaps the only girl in existence who could make a school uniform look intimidating. When students from Gedo had besieged Seiyun under the command of Kurow Kirishima, it was a simple matter for the headstrong Zaki to rouse the students to the school's defence and when the attackers found the masked girl's troops to be even dirtier fighters than themselves, the fight dispersed quickly.

Zaki let out a loud sigh as she checked her watch for the third time in as many minutes. The night was uncomfortably cold as it was without Akira being quarter of an hour late, and the tall girl's patience was being stretched past its limit. Akira had decided to meet up with a couple of old friends from Gedo High over the weekend and Zaki had opted to see her off, temporarily forgetting about Akira's problems with being on time for anything.

Most annoying of all, Akira would probably just put on that annoying innocent grin of hers and make Zaki feel really bad for getting the slightest bit upset at her. Life could be a real bitch sometimes.

"Zaki?" hissed a quiet voice behind her.

Zaki gave a low snarl and unconsciously flicked her chain into her fingers in one quick motion. Twisting around on her left foot, she raised her arm, poised to strike, and found herself met by a rather bemused looking Yurika.

Zaki shook her head angrily and sheathed her chain, trying to regain some of her lost dignity.

"Don't go doing that again! You want to get hurt or something!" snapped Zaki, narrowing her eyes menacingly at the ghostly figure before her.

Yurika flinched noticeably at this and took half a step back, directing her gaze at the floor. A pained expression appeared on her delicate features.

Zaki cursed inwardly. She had always struggled when it came to Yurika. She knew the young musician possessed hidden reserves of willpower behind her submissive demeanour, but if it wasn't for her siding against her brother the previous spring, Zaki would never have guessed she would so much as speak out of turn. Without Akira around to put Yurika at ease, she just didn't know how to treat the girl.

Zaki softened her gaze and leant casually on the gatepost, trying to give off a less hostile aura. "Look, it's not that I'm angry at you, or anything…. It's just….you know… I sometimes can't control how my body reacts when I'm threatened," she said clumsily, "and, hell, Akira would probably have all of Gedo breathing down my neck if anything happened to you."

Yurika relaxed considerably at this and smiled gently. Good, thought Zaki, I'm doing something right here.

"Are you here to say goodbye to Akira?" The musician asked quietly.

Zaki nodded curtly. "She was supposed to be here twenty minutes ago. You'd think she would have at least some of her brother's discipline, wouldn't you?"

Yurika's look darkened considerably, and Zaki could feel the hairs standing up on the nape of her neck. The sharpened tip of the musician's violin bow seemed to sparkle in the moonlight.

"Akira is not Daigo…" Yurika hissed, her eyes narrowing, "the same way I am not Kurow."

Zaki fought to keep her pulse under control as the pale girl's gaze bore into her. Despite Yurika's insistence, the masked girl knew there was definitely some of Kurow's deadliness sealed deep within her frail body and it scared her. Any mention of the assassin's name to Yurika sent the girl into either a deep depression or a cold rage. She seemed as eager to distance herself as far from her nefarious brother as she was to take all of his sins unto herself, and it was something, Zaki thought, that wasn't going to be resolved any time soon.

The cloud passed quickly though, and Yurika reverted back to her normal self.

"I can only hope she is safe. I was never comfortable with the idea of Akira spending any length of time in Gedo, even if she does have friends there." She said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"She'll be fine. I'm sure she's going to worry much more about you than herself," Zaki quietly replied, looking up into the night sky.

Yurika nodded. "I know," she sighed, "that's why she insisted on my not going with her: she thought it would be too dangerous for me."

"She's always thinking of other people… I suppose that's why she has friends in so many different places."

"Yes… I suppose it is…" Yurika trailed off, losing herself in memories of the young biker girl. In her mind's eye, she saw Akira battling fearlessly against the crazed Kurow to free her friends from his mind control and then leading the fight against the demonic Hyo, despite the terrifying power that was leaking from every vein in his body.

She then saw Akira running to meet her when she finally came back to Seiyun High School, her smile one of unconditional friendship and devotion. Yurika had felt truly happy for the first time in her life when Akira pulled her into a welcoming embrace that made her long years under Kurow's command seem a distant memory. As long as the young brunette was there for her, Yurika felt as though there was nothing beyond her reach.

Zaki watched Yurika with some interest, the musician having retreated into a world of her own with a dreamy smile playing on her pained features and the faintest of blushes beginning to show on her cheeks. Zaki shook her head; she couldn't help but feel just slightly nervous about where Yurika and Akira's relationship was headed. They did seem pretty much besotted with each other since Yurika's return.

The sound of heavy footsteps on the gravel of the courtyard jarred both girls out of their respective reveries. They looked up to see Akira, fully clad in her biker's gear, with her helmet tucked loosely under one arm. The brunette's face broke into a broad smile when she saw her two friends waiting for her, and jogged the last few steps to the gates.

"So you're finally here," murmured Zaki, sharply, checking her watch again for effect. Much to her annoyance, Akira either didn't hear her or pretended not to, and instead ran straight up to the now glowing Yurika.

Akira set down her helmet, placed her gloved hands gently on Yurika's arms and looked up into the taller girl's eyes, her smile softening until it took on an almost pained quality. "Yurika," she chided gently, "I thought I told you not to wait for me, I don't want you to lose sleep on my account."

Yurika opened her mouth to answer, but found herself temporarily stunned into silence by both Akira's touch and warm gaze. The biker girl had the same, dark, smouldering magnetism her brother Daigo had, but where Daigo's features were hard and cruel, Akira's were much more soft and forgiving. Her eyes held the same depth, but were large and inviting.

Strangely enough, Akira didn't seem to mind the extended silence between them and waited patiently for Yurika to answer, her gaze not shifting once from the musician's face, whose rapidly growing blush contrasted sharply with the paleness of her skin.

Eventually Yurika spoke. "I… couldn't rest without seeing you one more time," she stammered uncertainly, "to know you would leave without my seeing you off first… it was too much for me to bear… I had to see you."

As Yurika spoke, Akira's eyes closed halfway and she could feel the prickling heat of tears threatening to burst through at any moment, her smile growing broader with each word the white-haired musician spoke. When Yurika finally stopped talking, Akira crushed the taller girl into a powerful embrace, leaning forward on the tips of her toes so she could rest her cheek against her friend's.

"Yurika…" Akira whispered, marvelling at how delicate the musician's slender body felt, "…thank you."

Yurika stood, completely thrown by Akira's sudden display of affection. It seemed no matter how many times the biker embraced her like this, she would always be completely overwhelmed by the rush of warmth and excitement it created in her. She hesitantly raised her arms and returned Akira's embrace, but just as she felt herself starting to relax, the brunette disentangled herself from her and turned back towards Zaki. The masked girl had been trying to keep her eyes respectfully on the ground during the exchange, but couldn't help but throw the odd curious glance in the couple's direction.

Akira gave a short, apologetic bow to Zaki, her expression suddenly serious. "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, I decided to nap for a couple of hours and ended up over-sleeping," she said flatly.

Zaki rolled her eyes, deciding she really couldn't be bothered to persevere with her anger. "Let's just get going, come on," she growled, striding purposefully off down the wall.

Zaki continued until she reached a small red cross that had been etched into the stone. She rapped on the wall three times with the back of her hand and gave a low whistle: after a small pause, a ragged looking rope ladder was thrown over into Zaki's eager grasp. She gave two sharp tugs on the ladder to check it was secure and then dragged it across the wall to Akira, who had since donned her helmet.

As she took hold of the ladder, Akira turned to Yurika, only her eyes left visible underneath the dark material of her visor. "You know…" she murmured wistfully, "You still haven't ridden on my bike yet, I'll have to take you one of these days."

Yurika smiled shyly. "I would like that a lot. Thank you, Akira."

Akira hesitated before finally tearing her gaze regretfully away from Yurika's beautiful features. Mounting the first rung of the ladder, she turned back to Zaki.

"Thank you, Zaki," she said, her sincerity obvious from the tone of her voice, "this isn't the first time you've gone out of your way to help me, I'll have to pay you back one of these days."

Zaki's gaze softened. "You can pay me back by coming back in one piece, Akira," she said, chuckling slightly.

Akira nodded and shot one last smile in Yurika's direction before climbing gracefully over the wall, leaving her friends behind in the courtyard. They both stood and watched the wall for a short while before Zaki let out a loud sigh and placed a gloved hand on Yurika's shoulder.

"Come on, Yurika," she said quietly, "let's get inside. Standing out here in the cold won't make Akira come back any quicker."

Yurika nodded sadly and followed the masked girl silently back into the main building.

Akira's bike hummed gracefully along the long stretch of road to Gedo, doing a brisk, but steady twenty-five miles an hour over the speed limit. There was little traffic to get in the way and it felt good to have an open road ahead of her, as it allowed her mind to wander a little without any danger to herself or other drivers. About a year back, Akira had been a no-nonsense daredevil, mercilessly weaving in and out of rush hour traffic and jumping bridges without a second thought: but now she was perfectly to happy to just sit back and enjoy the ride for what it was, preferring to admire the scenery than break her neck.

The brunette couldn't help but wonder what it was that had caused this new change in her. She had initially thought that she had no one left to impress anymore, including herself, but thinking back, she had never really cared about how technically good she was on the bike: the rush was all that mattered.

But as she thought back to the sending off that Yurika and Zaki had given her, she slowly realised that the reason was probably that she now had something to live for. Before, she had just been Daigo Kazama's little sister, who, despite hanging around with the tougher students of Gedo, had always felt slightly below everyone else and somewhat useless, only there for the ride, or to make up the numbers.

At Seiyun though, she felt as though she was worth something. As a close friend of Zaki, the students treated her with more than a little respect, and their reverence was only helped by the fact she had played the deciding role in turning Gedo's onslaught. What really mattered though was not the admiration of strangers, but the happiness of her friends. Her relationship with Yurika had finally brought the musician out of Kurow's thrall and given her the will to live her own life on her own terms, and to her, that was her greatest achievement.

Akira smiled as she thought of Yurika. The white haired violinist was, without doubt the best thing that ever happened to her. When school work, or life in general started to get on top of her, Yurika was always there: her calm nature and unfailing friendship soothing her troubled soul and making everything else seem insignificant. It was so unfair Yurika thought, that she had to suffer like she did. No one on this world could have deserved it less.

The loud blast of a horn shook Akira violently out of her thoughts and she had to swerve sharply to avoid a head-on crash with a particularly large and unfriendly looking truck. The bike nipped away so quickly that Akira was able to miss to the barrage of incentive thrown at her by the driver and she continued on towards Gedo, trying now to keep her mind on the road.

Gedo was a dangerous place to those who didn't know it well. Hostility infested the school like a cancer, and the general rule was the tried and tested formula of strike first, talk later: conflict was inevitable so it always helped to draw first blood.

Akira had lived a relatively straightforward life at Gedo due to the fact that most students made it a priority to keep at least half a mile between them and Daigo Kazama; but she had never been one to sit back and be protected and had frequently gone out of her way to spark trouble, which had irked her brother as much as it had made him proud of his sister's spirit. Although initially sneered upon for being female, Akira eventually managed to earn a grudging respect among the boys there due to her honour and courage.

Eventually, Akira came to a stop at Aoharu Station: one of her old hangouts when she was still at Gedo. The place had not changed physically over the months, except for one or two of the streetlights that had now been fixed, but, for lack of a better word, the 'soul' of the place had long gone. The rebelliousness that it was a home to now seemed impotent and unnecessary in the new era of peace that had descended upon the city. Akira sighed to herself, a sudden feeling of sadness rising within her; it seemed that not everything had turned out for the best. Daigo had disappeared yet again and the normally irrepressible Batsu had become solemn and withdrawn following Kyosuke's departure, but she had been so content with her own life at Seiyun that she found it all too easy to forget about what had happened to the others involved in Kurow's machinations. Akira felt deeply upset at her own selfishness as she parked her bike and slowly dismounted, beginning to wish that she had never came.

"Hey, boss!"

Akira's face lit up immediately when she recognised the voice. Looking in the direction it came from, she noticed a scruffy looking figure with mile-high blonde hair trotting towards her. Akira grinned and shook her head: wondering if Edge would ever be rid of the ridiculous broom hairstyle he insisted on wearing.

Akira eagerly ran up to Edge and clasped his hand in greeting. "I can't believe it's been this long!" She said, laughing brightly.

The hood gave his trademark smirk and playfully punched Akira on the arm. "Yep boss, we've all been lost without down here," he replied.

Akira laughed again. Since Daigo had left the leadership of Gedo in the hands of Edge and the colossal Gan, neither of them had been willing to officially take on the title of 'boss', seeing as the title had become almost with synonymous with Daigo Kazama. The result of this was that Edge started to jokingly refer to the young Biker by the title and after a short while, it stuck and now several Gedo students had picked up on the nickname.

Edge had changed greatly in a very short period of time. Although the responsibility of leadership had been split evenly between him and Gan, Edge's greater initiative meant that he generally took on a great deal more. The responsibilities of keeping Gedo under control had done a lot to dull Edge's more violent and unpredictable tendencies, and had made him a much more controlled and thoughtful individual.

Edge whistled loudly and two scruffily clad Gedo students stepped out of the shadows.

"If anything happens to the boss' bike," he snapped, unsheathing a knife from his pocket and twirling it menacingly, "you'll both find yourselves on the wrong side of my friend here, make sure nothing happens!"

The students swallowed nervously, but didn't complain. Edge then turned his attention back towards Akira and grinned mischievously.

"Come on boss, there are people waiting." He said, trotting off down the street with Akira following close behind.

Later that night, Akira entered Edge's house feeling utterly drained. She had found herself having to make small talk with just about every Gedo student who knew who she was and although she was comfortable enough with those she called her friends, she was very uneasy in most social situations. Gan had also been absent, having gone to visit relatives in Osaka for a week, which made things even worse. She had also found herself having to deflect several painful questions about Daigo.

Edge came in after Akira and locked the door behind him. He looked noticeably tired as he slouched over towards his couch and, with a loud grunt, gambolled clumsily over one of the arms onto his back, ruining his hair in the process. Akira shook her head sadly as she watched the young hood stare blankly at the wall opposite him. Gan had quit Gedo to start working full time, and as Edge no longer lived with his family, he had suddenly found himself alone with everybody.

"You know, Akira…" he murmured quietly, "standing in for the boss just isn't what it's cracked up to be. I can see why Daigo vanishes so frequently."

"Daigo hates having to leave Gedo, he considers it to be running away from his duty."

"Yeah… Daigo always had that… his duty," Edge replied, sounding slightly riled. "He had his sense duty to all the Gedo students here, but unfortunately, that's something I don't have."

Akira frowned. "If you're unhappy here, then why don't you leave? Just go your own path? Daigo may have left you in charge, but he'd let you go in an instant if he knew you did it unwillingly."

Edge gave a short laugh, but there was no humour in it.

"Where would I go? I sure as hell ain't going back to my family…no I have nothing to live for right now except what the boss has left me, and I know there's nothing left for me here anymore… just as there's nothing left for you, Akira."

Akira nodded gravely: she had never really wanted to leave Seiyun and come to Gedo, but she felt as though she owed it to her friends to visit them. She was genuinely pleased to see Edge once again, but apart from that, there was nothing here except a overwhelming feeling of futility and she found herself wanting to urgently get back to Seiyun where she could begin living again. Throughout the night, she had been worryingly constantly about Yurika, and how the girl was coping on her own. Although she frequently told herself that the musician was perfectly capable of standing on her own two feet without her having to hold her up, she knew Yurika needed her there… and it felt good to be needed: especially by someone as beautiful as Yurika.

Akira snapped out of her reverie and turned back to Edge, who had raised the knife he was holding high above his head; with a careless flick of the wrist, the blade spun seamlessly through the air and straight into the centre of a target that Edge had drawn carefully onto the wall. Akira noticed that there were no marks more than a centimetre away from the bullseye.

"You should have come to visit me at Seiyun, instead. It would do you good to have a change of scenery," she remarked, suddenly feeling brighter.

Edge snorted.

"No thanks. That masked girl scares me even more than the boss in a bad mood, and don't even get me started on that Kirishima girl… I don't even see how you can bear to be with her so often, especially after the whole Kurow thing."

Akira felt a powerful rage growing within her. Her eyes narrowed and her voice lowered to a menacing whisper. Before the biker even said anything, Edge felt the air grow much heavier and he stiffened, hand instinctively moving over his knife belt.

"Yurika… yes, she does have a name… has been through more than you can possibly imagine, and in the end she did come through for us, or have you forgotten that already?!" Akira ground her fingernails into the palms her hands, not shifting her gaze from the back of Edge's head. "She has been there for me when no-one else has… and anything you say to her, you say to me as well!"

Edge swallowed nervously. He had seen Akira get angry many times before, but this was the first time he actually felt true rage coming from her, and it scared him. He was not one to cower, however, and got up to face the smouldering Akira.

"Dammit Akira! I'm showing some fucking concern for you here!" he snapped, struggling to meet her glare, "I express my doubts over one of your friends, who has screwed you over once already, may I add, and you turn on me like I murdered your entire family!"

A voice inside Akira told her that Edge was being perfectly reasonable in what he was saying, considering what he had seen, but the brunette was too angry to notice it: "Yurika is my family now… and you, and the rest of Gedo, are not, and never will be again!"

Before Edge could protest, Akira ran over to the door, and, finding it locked, she simply raised her leg and slammed her foot into it with enough force to break the lock completely. She disappeared out the door, yelling obscenities as she went.

Edge stared dumbly at the broken door for a few seconds. Defeated, he curled up into himself and closed his eyes, feeling the chill coming in from the night outside. She's right, he thought, I have lost everything. Gan…the boss…and now her…what the fuck am I supposed to do now?

Akira rode recklessly fast down the road back to Seiyun, tears stinging painfully in her eyes. She was already regretting her harsh treatment of Edge, but couldn't bring herself to go back to face him right at this moment: his comments about Yurika and her own embarrassment still ringing in her ears.

The biker had elected not to wear her helmet, but the cold wind blasting in her face did little to cool her rage. She had been terrified by her own actions and was confused and upset as to how she could react so violently to someone who had been so down to begin with. But when she had heard Yurika slighted so much, something within her had just snapped and suddenly Edge had become her most hated enemy.

Akira slowly shook her head. She had to see Yurika, then maybe she'd be able to sort her head out once and for all.

Dawn was starting to break, and Seiyun was gradually starting to return to its normal, safe appearance. Zaki and her cohorts had long since returned to their respective dorms, their business done for the night apart. One or two girls that had no lessons during the day still kept watch though: Zaki made a point of keeping a twenty-four hour look out at all times, much to the annoyance of many of the students.

The morning sun bathed everything in a warm, orange glow, but the air was bitingly cold. A slow, but insistent breeze wound its way through the branches of the blooming Sakura trees, dislodging the odd petal here and there, but never threatening to break into any kind of cascade.

Akira parked her bike by the wall in what she hoped was an inconspicuous place, and, standing on the seat, was just able to reach the top of the wall and hall herself up and over. As she fell down into the courtyard, she misjudged the distance to the floor and landed heavily on the side of her left foot. It throbbed painfully, and would probably continue to do so for the next few days, but Akira had too much on her mind to pay any real attention to it, and limped groggily onwards towards the main building.

Two unfortunates had been burdened with the daybreak shift today, and they both sat motionlessly by the main doors of the dormitory building. One was a girl with short blonde hair who Akira had seen around the school several times, but had never spoken to, while the other was a tall, elegant looking girl who Akira recognised as being from Yurika's music class. Through their mutual acquaintance with the violinist, they had talked a couple of times, but as both were rather reserved and untrusting individuals, they had never really become friends.

The girl raised an eyebrow as she saw Akira limping silently towards her, her cheeks reddened with tears and her eyes fixed unflinchingly to the ground.

"Kazama," she said, flatly, in greeting.

"Ishikawa," murmured Akira in reply, not lifting her eyes from the floor. She was making to walk straight past, when the girl suddenly grabbed her wrist. The grip was not tight or threatening in the least, but it did stop Akira in her tracks.

With great effort, the biker raised her head and looked the musician directly in her face.

"What do you want, Mai?" she asked, with a voice that was more tired than threatening.

"Zaki said you wouldn't be back for at least two days… did something happen at Gedo?" Mai's eyes went down to Akira's injured leg, "was there some type of fight?"

Akira shook her head, "no, not exactly… I must see Yurika, please, let me past." She said, flatly.

"Not exactly? What type of answer is that? Was there or wasn't there?"

"It's personal. Don't worry, there's not going to be a big fight anytime soon… I need to see Yurika, please." Akira paused. "As for the leg, I messed it up coming over that wall, no big deal."

Mai's look darkened. "I hope you're not dragging Yurika into any of your Gedo dealings, the girl's been through enough already without…"

The musician was cut short by the incredulous look on Akira's face.

"I…I would…I could never do that," Akira whispered quietly: genuinely hurt at the idea that someone could accuse her of harming Yurika.

Mai hesitated for a second, and then removed her hand from the biker's wrist.

"Okay," she said, "but I will have to tell Zaki of this, you know?"

Akira nodded, and walked wordlessly into the dormitory building.

Akira had been standing outside Yurika Kirishima's room for a good five minutes, debating with herself whether or not to go in. She was desperate to see the pale girl, but couldn't quite bring herself to wake her up at such an early time.

She was just about to leave when she heard the sound of footsteps coming along the corridor. Knowing there would be trouble if she were caught, her choice was made for her, and she rapped nervously on Yurika's door.

"Come in." whispered a tired voice from behind the door. Akira started. Yurika was still awake?

Akira turned the handle and stepped quickly into Yurika's room. All the lights had been turned off, but a single antique lamp that sat elegantly on Yurika's bedside table, glowing softly in the darkness. In the lamplight, Akira could see the young musician sitting upright in her bed, wearing a gossamer thin nightgown that would have shocked anyone who was used to her normal, uptight appearance. Her hair was loose and fell gracefully down her shoulders in thin white strands, shimmering slightly in the lamplight. Yurika's tired eyes flickered with a mixture of both overwhelming joy and concern at her friend's arrival, her delicate features softened even more by the low lighting.

For a few moments, Akira just stood, stunned by Yurika's beauty. As she thought back to the events of last night, she felt herself becoming more and more angry at Edge for what he had said.

Anyone who could be so cruel to someone so kind and delicate… the thought trailed off as Yurika's lips parted.

"Akira…?" she whispered, the one word sending shivers down the biker's spine and filling her with a gentle warmth that made everything else fade into insignificance. She needed Yurika now, badly.

Akira ran forward and fell into Yurika's waiting arms, sobbing freely into her shoulder. The musician instinctively crushed the smaller girl to her and ran her fingers soothingly through her hair, trying to calm her shattered nerves.

They remained in the same position for several minutes as Akira slowly stopped crying and relaxed into Yurika's embrace. All that the brunette could feel was the soft warmth of being held by someone who cared for her, all her troubles fading into nothingness.

Akira snuggled closer to the musician's delicate body, breathing in her rose-like scent. "I'm sorry," she murmured quietly, not moving from her position.

Yurika smiled reassuringly. Even if she was frightened by what was troubling Akira; it felt good to have her strength back with her again.

"You never have to apologise to me; I'm always here for you," she whispered quietly, "what happened to you? You're back so soon."

Akira lifted her head from Yurika's chest so she could look her directly in the eyes. Raising her arm, she slowly placed her palm against the pale girl's cheek. Yurika started at the touch, her breath coming quicker as Akira's smouldering eyes burnt deeply into her own. There was a passion burning there that left her transfixed.

Akira held her gaze for a few moments and then closed her eyes, not moving her hand from Yurika's face. She didn't want to tell the sensitive young girl what Edge had said, but Yurika deserved to know. Akira couldn't hide anything from her.

"They…Edge, implied…well, said that I couldn't trust you. They thought you would betray me." Akira felt her eyes stinging with tears as Yurika looked sadly away, hurt written clearly across her face. Desperate to keep her friend's spirits up, Akira continued, "I told him he was wrong, though, that you had always been there for me. I was so angry I left immediately to come back to you, I couldn't stay knowing that he felt about you that way."

What little colour there was returned to Yurika's face as Akira's words slowly sunk in. She didn't care what other people thought about her as long as her beloved Akira was always there for her. Deciding she had been without the brunette's warmth for too long, she hugged her again, nuzzling the smaller girl's hair affectionately.

"Please, Akira…stay with me tonight." She whispered huskily.

Akira froze, images of herself and Yurika tangled breathlessly together under the sheets flashing unbidden through her mind. She drew slowly back from the musician, not quite breaking the embrace and looked deep into Yurika's dark, yet innocent eyes. Akira's head spun as she fought the emotions rushing through her. What are you thinking? This is Yurika you're fantasising about here! Another girl! Another girl that needs you… you can't… you can't think like that about her… you can't…

In her confusion, Akira quickly lowered her eyes from Yurika's face, blushing furiously, but looking down meant her attention was focused on something much worse. The musician's almost sylvan figure, and much more, could be seen perfectly through her nightgown and the brunette's blush grew even more; an uncomfortable fluttering sensation beginning in her stomach, and she became suddenly aware slow throbbing ache starting between her legs.

Swallowing nervously, Akira quickly looked up and found herself again entranced by Yurika's beauty. She is so perfect… thought Akira to herself, as she unconsciously started to lean in towards Yurika, one hand gently caressing the girl's cheek, and the other one playing with a strand of loose white hair.

"Akira?"

The biker snapped painfully back to reality with a jarring thud and found herself with her face mere centimetres from Yurika's. The musician had turned a deep crimson colour, and was panting heavily, her breath dancing teasingly on Akira's lips.

Akira pulled back instantly. I… was going to kiss her… she thought, shivering. Why? What the hell is wrong with me… I…

"Akira?" the voice was more fearful this time.

The brunette turned away, ashamed and hurt by the concern in Yurika's voice. There's can be no other explanation… I… I'm in love with her.

Akira sobbed quietly at the unfairness of the situation. Why did this have to happen? Why couldn't Yurika and her just be friends forever and live out happy, uncomplicated lives? How could she fall in love with her? How could she not fall in love with her…

"I'm sorry…please…forgive me!" Akira stammered, dashing towards the door. With shaking hands, she somehow managed to open the latch and then flew out into the corridor and back to her room.

Meanwhile, Yurika fell back onto her bed, crying quietly to herself. She knew Akira had sensed what she was thinking and was disgusted by it. After the brunette had been there for her so many times before, she had betrayed her trust completely and tried to…take advantage of her grief over her. Edge had been right, she was no friend to her beloved Akira.

The next day came and Akira sullenly went about her daily business, glad for once that she didn't share any lessons with Yurika; she didn't think she could face the musician after last night.

Although the biker was careful not to give any outward signals that there was something wrong with her. One or two of the more perceptive students did notice the despondent aura that seemed to hang around her like a dead weight, though, and one of them was Aoi Himezaki. The masked girl had been informed of Akira's sudden return and insistent desire to see Yurika, and the ever thinking Zaki had put two and two together and come up with a scarily accurate picture of what happened last night. Although Zaki was basing all this upon her previous assumption from Akira's departure, she was confident enough to confront the brunette with it. And anyway, if she were wrong, what harm would it do?

Zaki relaxed on one of the benches in the courtyard, lazily watching the students go about their daily business. She knew Akira would have to walk past sooner or later, and was keeping her impatience on a tight leash, trying to resist the temptation to go looking for her.

"Zaki?"

Zaki almost jumped out of her seat; she knew only one person in the whole school who could surprise her like that. She looked up to see Yurika standing perfectly still before her, her face giving nothing away to even the trained Zaki. The musician slowly walked over to the bench and sat down beside the masked girl, not looking once in her direction.

After an uncomfortable silence, Zaki decided she had had enough already, and decided to go straight for the jugular.

"This about last night?" She asked, curtly.

Yurika silently nodded. Zaki sighed and roughly ran a gloved hand through her long red hair.

"Look, if… if it's got to this stage, then you can't just run away from each other all the time. You've got to resolve this one way or another."

Yurika looked questioningly at the older girl.

"And don't play dumb with me, Yurika. It's pretty damn obvious what's going on, and you're just as bad, if not worse, than Akira. I can read you like a book. Perhaps you could fill in the blanks about what actually happened."

Yurika briefly considered lying to Zaki, but quickly thought against it.

"She… rejected me," the musician replied, her voice completely devoid of emotion. "She realised what I really felt for her and she ran away. She was disgusted with me…"

"Do you really believe that?" snapped Zaki, the sharp sound causing the pale girl to look up. "You're both so maddeningly in love with each other that neither of you can believe for the slightest moment that the other could feel the same way."

Yurika didn't respond, her face still expressionless as Zaki continued.

"I've watched you two for a while now, long enough to know that Akira feels the same way… if she comes around this way, I'll see what I can do, but until then: don't run away from her."

The musician's eyes closed and she remained deep in thought for a short while. Eventually, she opened her eyes again and looked straight at Zaki, treating her to a grateful smile.

"Thank you," she said, her voice sounding human again once more "I," she hesitated, "I'm surprised to hear that off you, Zaki."

Zaki gave a nonchalant shrug. "Well I've either got to put up with you two being unbearably mopey all the time or unbearably cheerful all the time… I suppose it's in all our best interests to have the latter, don't you think?"

Yurika's smile simply grew even broader.

Akira had left school as quickly as possible and had occupied herself by going to the secluded grove where she kept her bike hidden. Doing routine maintenance on the bike was not greatly challenging for the biker by any means, but it helped to keep her mind off the problems that were assailing it. Right now, she just didn't know what to do with herself. She considered staying in this grove forever, or perhaps running away so she didn't have to face Yurika again. But while she felt extremely guilty about having to face her feelings for the girl a second time, the idea of not seeing her friend…no, her love… ever again stung even more.

She froze as she heard footsteps closing unflinchingly in on her position. Although she had no way of knowing who it was, every nerve in her body was telling her it was Yurika. Glancing around, she quickly looked for a hiding place. There were several places where she could easily hide, but for some reason her feet were glued to the spot. She was unable to move or escape from her approaching fate; her need to see her love again was just too strong. Fixing her eyes upon her bike, the only convenient thing there to stare at, she crouched, and waited.

The footsteps stopped.

"…Akira." It was Yurika, there was no question about it now. Akira tensed even more, tears starting to force their way through her eyes.

Yurika advanced a little further, just into the biker's field of vision. Akira noticed to her dismay that the musician's hair was once again loose, its shimmering length and her pale skin contrasting sharply with the elegant, strapless night coloured dress she was wearing. Even when there was no obvious occasion, Yurika always managed to look breathtakingly elegant; it was something that was part of who she was.

The musician was desperate to find her way back into her friend's heart again, but she also knew that she didn't want to push her too her far. Walking up to Akira's bike, she rested her hand on the handlebar, admiring the shine and luster of the metal; although Yurika knew little about bikes, she could tell straight away it was well looked after. Akira still hadn't moved from her position on the ground, staring unflinchingly at the bike.

Yurika moved her gaze from the bike to look directly at Akira. The biker's tension was only serving to heighten her smouldering magnetism and it was starting to affect the musician, the proverbial butterflies starting to stir in her stomach.

"You promised me you'd let me ride on your bike one day." Yurika whispered quietly.

Akira's gaze finally moved from the bike to look at Yurika. She still remained completely silent, her breath coming in quick ragged gasps.

"I'd like to ride with you, Akira…now…please…"

The desperation in Yurika's voice hit Akira like a brick. She knew if she didn't do something now, then she would only be deepening the wounds she had already inflicted. Raising her head to look at the musician, the sight before her broke her heart. Yurika's hands here clasped firmly together over her chest and she was shivering gently, a solitary, unnoticed tear had slowly wound its way down her cheek and sat precariously on her jaw-line, her white skin had paled even more to the point where Akira could have sworn she could almost see through her.

The biker's resolve hardened: Yurika needed her, and she wasn't going to let her down.

Standing up, she grasped the handlebars of her bike and leapt on to the saddle; turning to Yurika, she smiled broadly, the colour returning to her features. The musician almost fainted with joy when she saw Akira's smile; she was starting to fear that it was something she would never see again.

Yurika placed her hands gently on Akira's shoulders for support, lifting one of her legs over the bike so she could mount the saddle. Nestling her body up close to Akira, she wrapped her legs tightly around the smaller girl's hips and rested her head upon her shoulder, taking in the heavenly scent of the brunette's hair. Her right hand found its way up to Akira's cheek, her finger tracing its slow way across her skin and down to her jaw, drawing forth a sensuous sigh from deep within the biker's throat. Meanwhile her left hand snaked its way down her ribcage, tracing the line between her small, but well-defined breasts; the biker feeling every nuance of the musician's touch through her thin tank top.

Eventually, Yurika's hands stopped their exploring and her arms wound tightly around Akira's waist. "Let's go," she whispered excitedly.

Akira smiled and turned on the ignition.

The bike purred seamlessly along the road at a leisurely pace. The sun was now low in the sky, and the familiar orange glow had returned to Seiyun, but this time it was accompanied by a warm breeze that played teasingly with the hair of the two girls, who were too wrapped up with each other to notice the passing of time.

Yurika lay contentedly on Akira's shoulder, the biker's warmth and steady rhythm of the bike slowly lulling the musician to sleep. Akira noticed her friend's tiredness and started to head back towards Seiyun, but Yurika placed a hand on her arm, motioning for her to stop.

"I don't want to go back somewhere just yet… could we stop somewhere, please… just for one second?"

Akira nodded and pulled off the main road, driving down a little known path that led directly down to the lake's edge. There were one or two unpleasant bumps along the way, but the biker's skill prevented any serious accidents from occurring and the couple made it down to the lakeside quite safely. The setting sun illuminated the water with a gorgeous fiery crimson, and the air was completely silent, except for the occasional chirping of the crickets. Sieyun, being situated in the middle of a lake, was mercifully isolated from the bustle and danger of nightlife.

Yurika slowly dismounted, reluctantly releasing her grip on Akira, and walked on ahead, watching the water ripple hypnotically in the oncoming twilight. Akira paid no attention to the lake whatsoever though; captivated as she was with the way Yurika's hair shimmered red with the colour of the setting sun. The musician sensed Akira's gaze and turned around to meet it, eyes dancing in the sunlight.

Akira slowly dismounted her bike and strode purposely towards the pale girl, her dark eyes burning with unhidden desire. Yurika sank slowly to her knees, and watched quietly as Akira drew gradually nearer to her. The brunette leant down, and gently brushed the musician's hair back behind her ears before cupping her chin with her other hand and drawing her up into a breathtakingly soft, simple kiss that nonetheless left no doubts as to the feeling behind it.

Akira drew back and calmly watched Yurika's face, all of the tension and fear of the past day had long since vanished and now she could study the musician's beautiful features without any feelings of guilt and confusion, watching with unashamed admiration.

Yurika's eyes remained closed for a short while longer; a look of complete bliss replacing her normally pained expression. Opening her eyes, she met Akira's gaze with a pure and contented smile.

Akira closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath, finding the strength within her to give words to the feelings inside her.

"I love you." She said quietly.

A single tear escaped from Yurika's eye as she raised her hand to clasp Akira's.

"I am forever yours, Akira…" the two kissed again, this time for slightly longer, enjoying the feeling of utter completeness they felt when their lips met, "I love you too."

Akira slipped her arm protectively around Yurika's waist as she led her in silence back to the bike.

Yurika woke up in her bed the next morning to find herself with Akira's arms wrapped tightly around her. Looking up at her lover's still sleeping face, she smiled; it was a good feeling to wake up in someone's arms; she felt more comfortable than she had ever felt before in her life, and she found herself actually looking forward to the day ahead. With Akira at her side, she felt she could achieve anything.

Leaning over, she kissed the brunette softly on the forehead; Akira's eyes slowly flickered open and a broad smile spread over her features.

"Morning?"

Yurika smiled.

"Yes, it's about 8:50, but it's a Saturday today and we don't have to get up for a while now."

Akira shook her head, still smiling.

"I wish I could stay longer, but I've got work to go to, and people to apologise to," she kissed Yurika once before disentangling herself from her and climbing out from under the sheets. Yurika watched Akira's athletic form intently as she stretched in the morning sun; it was a sight she wasn't going to get tired of any time soon.

Akira noticed Yurika's rather droopy gaze, and laughed lightly. "You should go back to sleep. You look absolutely shattered!" she chided.

Yurika pouted. "How am I supposed to sleep without you here?"

"I'm sure you'll find a way. I'll be back at about 4:00, and from then on, I'm all yours!" Akira smiled as she finished pulling on her tank top. She bent over Yurika and gave her one quick parting kiss before heading to the door. "See you later!" she said, as she left the room.

The musician smiled, it felt good to have Akira back to normal again, and it felt even better to know she had somehow earned the love of the strong-willed young girl. Closing her eyes, she drifted slowly back to sleep, to dream of her love until she returned.