Majisuka Gakuen [2] One Shots - #3: "Encounter" (Center... well, centered.)

[Hitobo]

Welcome!

Index:
Is This Fear? (Below.)
Tears
Encounter
This demanded that I write it, so write it I did.  I have an outline for another Majisuka Gakuen one shot, hence the "#" in the topic's title.

Enjoy.

Is This Fear?
A Majisuka Gakuen 2 Fan Fiction

     “Oh?  Aren’t you supposed to be at a one-on-one with Shibuya?"
     
     Gekikara ran; hard and fast, as if her life depended on it.  As she ran, there was a small part of her that couldn’t help but to think that perhaps, her life really did depend on it.
     Her whole life, Gekikara had fought simply to fight; there was no other reason.  Somewhere along the way she had come to enjoy giving and receiving pain.  It brought her a perverse pleasure, with which came the label of “crazy”.  Her laughter echoed off her surroundings before, during, and after every fight.
     Despite this pleasure, however, her fights were still without meaning.
     Then Gekikara met Yuko.  It was Yuko that had taught her that a fight without reason was empty and meaningless, and it was Yuko to whom Gekikara would pledge her loyalty.  Ever since that day, Gekikara had tried her best to fight for someone or something.  (Admittedly, there were still times when she fought for no reason at all.)  She fought for Rappappa; she fought for Yuko.  She was a warrior, always sent to the front lines to defeat the enemy.  Never before had she been held back.
     Never before had someone fought for her.
     There was a strange sensation in the pit of her stomach as she ran, and Gekikara wondered if Yuko had ever experienced this feeling.  Had Yuko felt this way, all those times that she watched Gekikara and the rest of Rappappa fight?  Was this the way Atsuko felt when her ‘friends’ had challenged Black in her place?  Gekikara was worried for her friend’s safety; of this she was certain.
     Is this what they call fear?
     Or is this something entirely different?
     Rounding the corner, Gekikara could see her destination before her and she willed herself to run faster.  Thinking about it later, Gekikara would come to realize that she didn’t remember beating the scouts that Yabakune had placed outside the warehouse.  Her memory returned to her at the sight of Gakuran bruised and battered on the ground.  She threw the girl she’d been dragging to the floor in disgust and hurried to Gakuran’s side.  Gekikara knew then that her life had indeed depended on her running so fast.  This person’s living determined her future.
     She had been mad when she’d first set out, angry at Gakuran for going in her place, but now…
     “Gakuran!” she called, as she pulled the wounded girl into her arms.
     There was a brief pause, and then, “Why are you here?” A faint smile graced Gekikara’s lips when she heard her friend’s voice. “They’re not tough enough for someone crazy like you to bother with,” Gakuran weakly continued.  Her condition brought a foreign sensation to Gekikara’s heart:
     Sadness.
     “Gakuran!”
     “Sorry… Help me up.”  Gakuran asked, her pride having never been defeated.  “If I rest… people will think I lost…”  Gekikara tried to help Gakuran to stand, but the wounded girl was in no condition to do so.
     “It’s over,” Gekikara whispered, her emotions beginning to get the better of her.  “Gakuran... You’re tough,” she said, her voice wavering.
     Slowly, Gakuran withdrew her comb from her pocket.  “My real stuff… is for Atsuko… and MajiJo.”
     A lone tear fell from Gekikara’s eye. In that fleeting moment she had been selfish, telling herself that this time, Gakuran’s ‘real stuff’ had been for her, and not for anybody or anyone else.  As Gakuran’s hand collapsed back to her side, Gekikara could feel a familiar energy creep over her.  As the Yabakune students laughed, she combed Gakuran’s hair with a shaky hand.
     As she looked at Gakuran, all that Gekikara wanted was to hear her friend’s voice again.  “Hey, ask me; ask me, ‘Are you mad?’” she pleaded to the girl in her arms.  “Ask me!”  Instead, it was the Yabakune goons that obliged.  Upon hearing their words, Gekikara gently placed Gakuran on the ground and stood ominously.
     Yuko-san taught me, there has to be a reason to fight.  A fight with no reason is the same whether you win or lose.
     Once again, Gekikara was fighting for someone.  And, for the first time in her life, Gekikara was fighting for something that she wanted.
     Her heart had given her a reason to fight.
     She stood slowly, menacingly, and turned to the group of Yabakune thugs with a laugh.
     “I’m mad for real.  I won’t forgive you…”  Before her words had a chance to register in their minds, Gekikara issued a warning to her foes:

     “I’ll kill you!”

     What happened next was merely a blur in her memory.  Kicks were traded, punches were thrown.  In just a few moments the Yabakune goons were defeated, sprawled defenselessly on the floor.  Bruised and bloodied, Gekikara cackled as she shoved the old piano towards her victim. 
     “Gekikara…”
     It was a mere gasp that broke her from insanity.  Yabakune watched alertly as she walked to Gakuran slowly, hesitantly; unsure if maybe she had been hallucinating in her desire to hear Gakuran’s voice once again.
     “You’ve promised Yuko, right?”
     At the mention of Yuko’s name, Gekikara felt her will begin to dissolve.  Gakuran paused briefly, gathering the strength to speak again.  “… your graduation…”
     Gekikara was speechless.  Gakuran was in a bloody heap on the floor, and yet still she was protecting her.  It was, in Gekikara’s eyes, a true exhibition of strength.  She knelt at Gakuran’s side then and slowly helped her to stand.  Together, they stumbled towards the exit, only to be blocked by Yabakune.
     “Please,” Gekikara pleaded.  “Let us pass.  Try even touching Gakuran.  I’ll kill you!”  Her threat worked, and their opponents parted.
     “You’re not Gekikara anymore,” Gakuran emphasized.  “You’re Amakuchi.”
     As they stumbled from the warehouse, Yabakune watching them go in astonishment, Gekikara was sure of one thing: that fight had not been meaningless; she had lived for real.
_   _   _

     She waited anxiously as the doctors treated Gakuran.  The tranquility of the waiting room provided her an opportunity to ponder the strange emotions she’d felt that day, as an image of a wounded Gakuran lying in her arms continuously replayed in her mind.
_   _   _

     Later on, in Gakuran’s hospital room, Gekikara had been washed over with a strange, unsettling feeling when she saw Shaku and Gakuran in a compromising position.  The other two had brushed it off as nothing, but after Shaku excused herself from the room and the two were left alone Gekikara found she was at first unable to meet Gakuran’s eyes.
     “What’s up?” Gakuran asked.
     “I wonder what Yuko-san was thinking when she was hospitalized.”
     “I’m sure she was thinking about MajiJo.  She was only ever thinking about MajiJo and Rappappa.”
     “I think Yuko-san was lucky,” Gekikara whispered, finally meeting Gakuran’s gaze, “to have died after living for real.”  The admission earned her name in reaction from the wounded girl.
     “Gekikara.”
     “Shibuya… I’ll beat her up.”  She hadn’t given Gakuran the chance to say anymore.  Her mind was made up, and whatever was developing between them would have to wait.  Now was the time for vengeance.  Revenge for Rappappa, revenge for MajiJo, but most of all, revenge for her friend, the person before her now that had once been her enemy.  “Sorry; I’m such a klutz,” she admitted, passing Gakuran an origami crane as she stood.
     Gakuran accepted it with a smile.  “It’s a fine crane.”
     Gekikara nodded, turning to leave.  She paused when she heard Gakuran’s voice yet again.   “Gekikara.  I’m counting on you… to celebrate my discharge.”
     Neither said anything more.  Both knew that what was left unsaid was better that way.
 _

     “What? You’re going already?”  Shaku stood before Gekikara, returning with Gakuran’s flowers.
     “Yes.  I feel better after seeing her well.”
     “Gakuran has it way too good, right?  Everyone’s worrying over her.”
     “She does.”  There was an awkward silence between them, and then,
     “Well, see you.”
     Gekikara nodded and walked away, catching a falling patient on her way out.  She paused then, turning slowly and laughing as she stumbled back towards a confused Shaku.
     “Gekikara?”  Shaku gasped, catching the wounded Gekikara in her arms.  “What’s this?  I don’t get it!”
     Does this manner of death mean that I lived for real? Gekikara wondered.  She gave a small laugh as Shaku gathered her in her arms.
     “I couldn’t keep my promise… that I’d graduate.”
     “Don’t be stupid!  What are you saying?”
     Would Yuko-san be proud that I’ll die such a death?
     “I wonder if… Yuko-san’s mad.”
     “She can’t be mad!”  Shaku cried.  “You’re friends, right?  You can’t complain about what friends do!”
     Friends… Images of Rappappa’s members, past and present, filtered before her.
     “Really?”
     Shaku nodded, tears threatening her eyes.  “I’m the former student president.  I don’t lie!”
     Gekikara hugged Shaku tightly.  In that moment, more than Yuko, more than death… Gekikara focused on Shaku, seeing the other girl as a reflection of herself, and she wondered if Shaku felt as she had with a wounded Gakuran in her arms; if Shaku was overcome with the same strange emotions that she had been.  Most of all, though, Gekikara found she was fascinated by Shaku’s brimming tears.
     There was fear in Shaku’s tears.
     It was that fear, as Gekikara would soon learn, that made a person strong.
     As Gekikara collapsed, Shaku’s cry rang throughout the hospital.

     “Gekikara!”

End.

Meh.  Does this really count as fan fiction?
A lil' GekiGaku, some GekiShaku; heck, even some GekiYuko.

Originally posted to tumblr on May 7th, 2012.

[Sydney W]

Majisuka 2, please continue on next update. ^_^

[Hitobo]

This idea has been lingering in my mind for months.  I figured I should post it before MG3 in July.

A small “What if…” story.  Angst, I suppose.  Warning: Character Death.

Enjoy…?

Tears
A Majisuka Gakuen 2 Fan Fiction

     “Aaargh!”
     There was a loud clatter as a chair bounced off the wall and fell to ground, accompanied by more sounds of frustration.  If one listened closely enough, as were the five brave souls peeking through the doorway, one would hear the faint sound of a person crying.  Both the frustration and the sadness were emotions felt by one person, who, in her anger, picked up another chair and tossed it towards the classroom’s windows, sending it off with choice words easily audible above the sound of shattering glass.  Pulling back in fear, those peeking through the door way leaned against the wall, sighing in relief at the knowledge of their relatively safe positions.
     “She’s doing it again.”
     “She’s being a bit too destructive, even for a yankee.”
     “Somebody should stop her before she hurts herself.”
     “Oh yeah?  Who?  I’m sure as hell not going in there.”
     “None of us is strong enough to stop her.”
     All five hung their heads and sighed again, this time in resignation.  The leader grasped her head in her hands as she spoke again.
     “Why do things have to be like this?”  No one else spoke as a melancholy air settled about them.
     There was another cacophony within the classroom followed by more swearing as the tears grew louder.  Their owner cried out in pain, her voice hoarse.  Worried that she might have seriously injured herself, Docchi jumped to her feet and ran through the doorway, instantly regretting it.
     “Ow!  My nose, damn it!” she cried, reaching a hand to her face and withdrawing it to find blood.  The textbook that had been thrown at her was sprawled at her feet.
     “I told you to stay the hell out!” Nezumi yelled, arming herself with another textbook.  It smacked into the wall where Docchi had stood just seconds before.
     Rejoining the others, Docchi cradled her nose gingerly, desperately wishing that she hadn’t run into the room.  As Lemon ran for an ice pack she froze in her tracks, having nearly run smack into another person.
     “H-Hey, Gekikara-san,” she stuttered, stepping aside.  Gekikara merely nodded and continued on her way, stopping in front of the rest of Team Fondue with a curious stare.  They simply stared up at her skeptically, unsure of why she was there.  Without another word, she turned to enter the classroom.
     “I wouldn’t go in there, Gekikara-san,” Tsuri warned.  “She’s still rather emotional.”
     Gekikara nodded as a small thank you for the warning before whispering, “I’ll be fine,” as she stepped inside.
     “You!” Nezumi screamed upon the sight of the newcomer.  “What the hell are you doing here?”  Her voice cracked halfway through the question, her constant yelling and crying beginning to take its toll.
     As Gekikara opened her mouth to speak, she was quickly silenced by a book flying past her head.  Nezumi stood looking at her defiantly, tears falling from her eyes, daring her to make a move.
     “Well?  Are you mad?”  Nezumi asked, choosing that phrase in an attempt to provoke the Rappappa queen.  As Gekikara remained silent, Nezumi grew more frustrated.  “Answer me, damn it, because I’m sure as hell mad!”
     Still unsure of what to say, Gekikara bent down to retrieve the book and then placed it on the desk beside her, the only piece of furniture in the room still upright.  She returned her gaze to Nezumi, her eyes narrowing towards the girl before her.  She watched as Nezumi turned her back and stormed towards the window.
     “I hate you!” Nezumi cried, bending down and scooping up a handful of glass shards.  “You’re all she ever talked about!  Every day she hoped to have a one-on-one with you! “Gekikara this!  Gekikara that!” I hate you!”  She threw the shards at Gekikara, but the seasoned fighter did not turn away.  Instead she stepped towards Nezumi, who in turn threw more shards at the approaching girl.  “Go away, damn it!  I never want to see you again!  You’re too much like her, both of you getting a sick pleasure from fighting!”
     Stopping just inches from Nezumi, Gekikara looked into the other girl’s eyes to find a familiar pain.  She spoke calmly, her voice emotionless.  “Recently, I learned that fear is the key to true strength.”  She leaned even closer to Nezumi, her breath tingling the other girl’s cheek and her gaze a bit condescending as she spoke.  “You felt no fear, and now look how weak you’ve become.”  A moment later she stepped away, turning her back to Nezumi as she walked toward the door.  She needn’t look behind her to dodge the chair that was thrown at her.  It fell to the floor with a deafening crash.
     Gekikara’s wise words resounded in Nezumi’s mind.  She hadn’t felt anything when she sent Center into that trap.  Had she known then what she knew now, she’d have been too afraid for Center’s life to do such a thing; she’d have known the true meaning of fear.  And yet here she was, her will and sanity quickly crumbling.  Indeed, she was weak; as hot tears ran down her cheeks, she couldn’t help but to succumb to this fact.
     “I hate you, damn it!” Nezumi cried, sliding down the wall to her knees.  She bent over now, punching the ground on every word.  “I hate you!  I hate you!  I hate you!”  Her hands bled from the glass shards surrounding her, but she didn’t care. 
     Gekikara paused in the doorway, looking over her shoulder sympathetically.  Taking a deep breath, she whispered Nezumi’s name, receiving only an insult in reply.  Nevertheless she continued in a quiet voice, “Before me, before MajiJo; it was you that was always on her mind.”
     Her words sparked a reaction in the crying girl, and she stepped through the doorway when as expected there was a yell, and a bloodstained textbook landed with a thud where she had just stood.  Shaking her head, she turned to the five curious pairs of eyes before her.
     “You were just trying to help her; she could have seriously injured you!  Aren’t you mad?” Docchi asked, the others nodding their interest in the answer.
     With a small smile at the irony of Docchi’s choice in words, Gekikara shook her head ‘no’.  “Yuko-san would not approve of me being angry in this situation.”
     Before anyone could retort, the unmistakable sound of dress shoe heels clicking on the floor echoed through the hallways, a sure sign of her approach.
     “She’s here,” Kanburi whispered, ducking behind the others.
     Toshima nodded.  “She’s the only one that can reach Nezumi.”
     As the footsteps drew closer, Team Fondue waited anxiously for their owner to come into sight.  Gekikara leaned against the wall nonchalantly, propping her foot up behind her.  As the owner’s footsteps rounded the corner, the members of Team Fondue all gave slight bows.  The recipient returned the bows, stepping into the classroom a moment later without any hesitation.
     All but Gekikara jumped when a chair flew against the wall.  However, there was no reaction from the girl that had just entered the room.
     “Get out of here!” Nezumi yelled, not knowing at first who had entered.  She had simply thrown a chair when she heard footsteps entering.  Now, as her eyes locked with the other girl’s, they widened in surprise.  “What the hell are you doing here, Maeda?” she cried, giving a wry laugh.  Her voice betrayed a particular hatred when she spoke the girl’s name.  “Oh, I know!  You’ve come to welcome me into the murderers’ club!”
     Atsuko, who had yet to say anything, still remained silent as she stepped towards Nezumi.  She paused in front of the other girl and, without warning, slapped her, hard enough to send Nezumi sprawling to the floor.  Still she said nothing, even when Nezumi looked up at her with seething eyes.
     “You can’t deny the truth, Maeda!” Nezumi cried, crawling backwards until her back hit the wall.  She was over in the glass shards again, the shards tearing at her skin, but she laughed again anyway.  “We’re murderers, you and I!”
     “You’re wrong,” Atsuko growled, her eyes narrowing menacingly.  “It took me years to realize, but now I know that Minami didn’t die because of me; she died for me.”  Atsuko’s eyes softened as she took a step closer to Nezumi.  “I didn’t know her well, but I’m sure Center felt the same.”
     “Don’t you dare say her name!” Nezumi shouted, her raw voice breaking again.  She tossed a handful of shards at Atsuko, much as she had at Gekikara, but like Gekikara, Atsuko did not flinch.  Instead she stepped closer and knelt before the weeping girl.
     “Believe me, Nezumi.  I know how much it hurts to lose the one you love.”
     At the sound of that despised word Nezumi’s strength finally abandoned her and she could not free herself when Atsuko grasped her hands.  Atsuko examined them and then dropped them a moment later as she reached up to her collar and removed her scarf.
     “It wasn’t your fault, Nezumi,” she said, ripping her scarf into strips.  Gently she began to bandage Nezumi’s hands.
     “Yes it is.  I intentionally lead her into that trap.”
     “She probably knew it was a trap and she still went.  Why do you think that was?”
     “Because she was an idiot that liked fighting.”  Nezumi refused to look at Atsuko as she yanked her now bandaged hands from Atsuko’s grasp.  Despite this, Atsuko could see the faint blush on her tear-stained face.  She smiled softly as she stood to leave.
     “Please stop destroying the classroom.  That chair you threw out the window almost landed on an innocent first year.  And the others in the hallway, your friends; they’re worried for your health.”
     “How do you do it?”
     The voice was small, weak, and a far cry from the girl of just moments ago, and as Atsuko neared the doorway she thought for just a second that perhaps she had imagined it, until she heard it again. 
     “How do we do it?”
     “Do what?”
     Nezumi hugged her knees tightly to her chest.  “How do you live without Minami?  Without Yuko? How do I live without…” she gulped before finally bringing herself to say a certain name, “…Center.  How do we do it?”  Her tears had since returned, and her voice was ruined from all the yelling she’d done.  Her speaking level was now barely a whisper.
     Atsuko didn’t answer for a moment, the image of a smiling Minami flashing in her mind.  Yuko was there with her, the two of them, in Atsuko’s belief, having since become fast friends in the afterlife.  Leaning against the doorway, she kept her eyes closed, enjoying the vision before her.
     “We don’t,” she stated simply, her answer earning an angry growl from Nezumi.  Opening her eyes, Atsuko gave a brief, fleeting smile as she pushed off the wall and glanced down at Nezumi, who finally dared to look at her.  “We live for them.”End Tears
End Notes:
1: “Why are Atsuko and Gekikara there?” Well… one was in the hospital, likely for quite some time, and the other went to prison, so it’s highly plausible that one or both of them would have to repeat their senior year, yes?
2: Anybody catch the X-Japan reference(s)?
3: Also posted to tumblr.

[yukofan]

WHAAATTT??!!
Center is dead? Nooo..
i can't imagine nezumi without center..

[sakura_drop_]

CENTER!!! 

Gekikara just once again proves why I love her 

I love both OSs, please, continue, onegai!! 

[Sara-chan]

wow your one-shots of majisuka are amazing I could feel the pain of the characters please write more

[inari]

I love both one-shots very much and MG can always use more fanfics. Hopefully you'll write more in the future 

[Megumi]

I'm just super exited for Majisuka Gakuen 3 ....

  Center


Great fic  thank you for your update!
ArígatoU!

[kahem]

Center T_T!!!!!

[turratar]

OMG if Center actually died in the show I would cry like an idiot...
Both stories are really well written.

[Suicchin]

That...that last one... Was so f****ing sad ;A; I'm almost in tears right now... Well, probably it's because I love CenterNezu so much, but... but... I JUST HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS RIGHT NOW TAT

[Hitobo]

Thank you very much for your reviews, comments, and compliments.
This little idea popped into my head and demanded that I write it, and when that happens I can't work on any other stories until I do so, so I did.
This story has also been posted to tumblr.

Please, enjoy.
(-Not related to any previous posts.-)

Encounter
A Majisuka Gakuen 2 Fan Fiction

     Center gasped as her eyes flew open, her mind quickly deciphering her surroundings.  She was lying on a bench, of that she was sure.  As she sat up, her gaze focused on a familiar building and she squinted against the sun’s reflection off its windows.  Glancing around, she realized that everything around her formed a familiar sight, but it lacked the familiar sounds that had always accompanied it.
     “What am I doing here?” she wondered aloud as she coolly brushed her hair back.  As she glanced around yet again her eyes were calculating and suspicious.  “Where is everybody?  Normally there’d be hordes of those annoying weaklings hanging around out here.”
     Standing from the bench, she brushed off her skirt and walked across Majisuka Jogakuen’s center courtyard to its main building.  She noticed a faint, strange warmth in her left hand, and she wondered if perhaps she had punched something or someone and simply didn’t remember.  It wouldn’t surprise her, seeing as how she couldn’t remember why she’d been napping on a bench in the courtyard in the first place.
     Arriving at the entrance she discovered the door was left open haphazardly, which struck her as odd.  Yet Center stepped into the building anyways, without any trace of hesitation.  If she had been in a fight, then there was a good chance that Nezumi was scheming nearby.
     The building was just as abandoned as the courtyard, and as she walked down its narrow hallways the click of her heels echoed off the walls.  The auditorium was empty; the library was empty; the clinic was empty.  There was her classroom, just as empty and silent as all the others; Team Fondue’s pot sat abandoned in the back.  Center stood in the doorway for a minute, trying to understand what was happening.  The sun filtering through the windows settled on a notice posted on the wall beside her, and her eyes widened in surprise as she read the words printed there.
     Just then, the impression that someone was watching her quickly flooded her senses.
     Somebody else is here.
     She spun around suddenly, immediately crouching into a defensive stance.  Yet there was no one there; nothing but an empty hallway.  Turning back to the classroom, the paper she’d been looking at had since disappeared.  As a new determination settled inside her, she again brushed her hair back with a cool and steady hand.  If Nezumi was indeed here, there were only two places where she would possibly be.
     The rooftop, as Center soon discovered, was just as abandoned as the school building.  She lingered there for a few moments to look out over the empty courtyard, the silence of her surroundings beginning to feel eerily normal.  Again she felt someone’s eyes on her back.  This time she did not turn around, and almost as quickly as the sensation had settled in, it disappeared.  With a sigh, she turned away from the fence and exited the rooftop.
     There was no one else in sight.
     That room was the only place left to check, and as Center climbed the stairs a smug grin reached her lips.  She and Nezumi were at the top of this school now; there would be no one to stop her ascension.  She rubbed her left hand unconsciously, the strange warmth still lingering there.  As she stepped through the doorway she was met with the sight of the school’s ensign hanging proudly in the window.
     However, Nezumi was not to be found.
     Center suddenly spun around, catching a well-aimed fist with her bare hand.  She stared back at its owner with questioning eyes.
     “Oo, you’re fast.  I like that,” her attacker said playfully.  “So you finally woke up, huh?”
     “Who are you?” Center spat, not releasing the captured hand.  She clenched her other hand into a fist at her side.  “What are you doing here?”  She studied the intruder, noticing the MajiJo uniform the other girl wore.  “As silly a custom as it may seem, as a student of this school, you must know that only Rappappa members are allowed in here.”  Her words were unimpressive, as in the next instant she was suddenly on her knees, the hand that she had been holding now pinning her arm behind her back.
     “You’re fun!”  The girl smiled down at Center, obviously enjoying their exchange.  “Who I am doesn’t matter.  What’s more important is why you are here.”  As Center struggled to break free she was suddenly released with a shove and she fell forward, catching herself with her hands.  She watched with wondering eyes as the other girl walked to the president’s chair and sat down with an amused laugh.
     The girl’s posture exuded authority.   Sitting tall and proud, she gestured to Center’s side with a nod.  “Your hand… you keep rubbing it.  Was it injured before you awoke here?”
     “No,” Center replied, not daring to look down and take her eyes off the strangely familiar girl.  “It’s warm, but not from pain.  The warmth is somehow soothing in this abandoned school.”
      “Do you love this school?” the girl asked, but Center stubbornly remained silent.  A toothy grin appeared on the girl’s face.  “Fine, don’t answer.  I don’t really need you to; the fact that you’re here is answer enough.”
     “And where is here exactly?” Center asked bluntly, rising to her feet.  “Is this really MajiJo?  Where are all the others?  Where is Nezumi?”
     “Right now, there is only you and me.  And soon… soon, it will be only me, as it should be.”
     Center shifted into a more defensive position.  “What do you mean?”
     The girl did not answer, but instead she rose and turned her back to Center, an action few others could afford.  She stared up at the flag before her with a soft smile on her lips.
     Center studied the girl’s stance.  It was relaxed and yet intimidating.
     “I love MajiJo more than anything else; more than fighting, even.”  The girl turned her face just enough to glance over her shoulder.  “And you… you also love fighting.  Why do you fight?” 
     “It’s fun,” Center stated cockily.
     The girl’s eyes suddenly turned cold as she turned to face Center completely, and for the first time that she could ever remember, Center felt the impulse to take just half a step back.
     The girl’s voice was condescending when next she spoke.
     “Fun or not, whether you win or lose, a fight without reason is meaningless.”
     “I fight for the person and the school that I love.  That’s more than reason enough.”
     “So you have a reason, then.  Yet still, here you are; do you know why?”
     Center was quickly growing tired of the girl’s questions and lecturing.  “How am I supposed to know the answer when I don’t even know where ‘here’ is?”  Despite her arrogance, Center watched cautiously as the girl slowly approached her, her long skirt swaying with every step.
     “Reason alone is not enough to win.  If you fight without knowing your limits you will lose everything.  You will lose your reason to fight.”  She paused and coolly ran a hand through her hair before staring Center straight in the eyes.  “You can only know true strength through fear.”
     “I’m not afraid of anything.”  Center’s eyes narrowed curiously, as the girl’s advice sounded very familiar.  “Who are you?  What are you doing here?” she inquired again.
     “Like you, I’m here because I love MajiJo, but as I said earlier, who I am matters not.  But you…”  The girl came to stop just feet from Center, thrusting a paper in Center’s face.  “It matters who you are.”
     “That’s-” Center started, but ceased.  It was the notice from earlier in the classroom being held before her now, the very paper detailing her current situation.
     “Student 17, Matsui Jurina, a.k.a. “Center,” has been hospitalized since… due to injuries sustained in a fight with…”
     “Do you truly fear nothing?  Is there nothing that you fear losing?” the girl hissed.
     Center remained speechless as she stared at the other girl.  Again she rubbed her left hand unconsciously; the strange warmth still remained there.
     “You lost your fight, believing that you had nothing to lose, that you couldn’t lose, and now my beloved MajiJo is crumbling.”  The girl withdrew her hand, tossing the paper to the ground in disgust. “At this point war is inevitable.  The current president will fall.”
     “No!” Center shouted, launching into a flurry of attacks.
     “Rappappa will fall.”
     There was another barrage of punches.  The girl stopped Center’s attacks easily and then angrily stared her in the eyes.
     “MajiJo will fall!”
     She pushed Center to the ground in disgust.
     Center glared at the girl and then stood up defiantly and attacked again, but she was struck down after exchanging a few more punches in a cycle that was repeated twice more.
     “Without you by her side the current Rappappa president is weak.”
     “Nezumi is not weak!” Center growled, throwing a punch at the girl.  It was easily caught and countered, and as Center fell to the ground yet again she had a fleeting thought that for once, she might be outclassed.
     “She is, just as you are weak without her.  This school is nothing without Rappappa as its pillar of strength.”
     Kneeling, Center looked up at her opponent as she wiped at a cut by her lip with her thumb.  “Then how do I get stronger?” she asked.  The girl grabbed her by her collar then, staring down at her with a fist poised and ready.  Center felt her eyes fill with tears despite herself.  “How can I protect Nezumi?  How can I protect MajiJo?” she pleaded, her voice rising to a shout laced with desperation.
     The girl didn’t answer.  Instead, she swung at Center once more.  This time the punch didn’t land, as Center successfully blocked it, pushing the fist aside to stare up at the girl defiantly.
     Once again, the girl smiled a big, toothy grin.  “Maeda entrusted this school to you; don’t let her down.”  With those words, it was an open hand that came to rest before Center.
     Not one to lose pride, Center shook the hand that was offered her but then stood of her own strength.  The girl smiled proudly then and swung her fist again, stopping it mere centimeters from Center’s chest.  “Don’t let me down.”
     The girl’s words had struck another spark of familiarity in Center’s mind, yet before she could ask any questions the girl spoke again.
     “You’re strong and you have a good head on your shoulders. I enjoyed our fight, too.  But you’ve been here long enough; go back and save this school.  Now get out of here!”
     In that moment the girl spun an exhausted Center to face the door and then slapped her on the back a bit too forcefully, like a zealous coach.  As Center stumbled forward amidst a flurry of cherry blossom petals, the last thing she saw was a framed image on the wall, the portrait of a certain past president staring back at her.
_

     “Welcome back.”
     Center opened her eyes to the stark ceiling of a hospital room.  Casting her gaze downward, away from the harsh lights, she was greeted with the image of Nezumi, sleeping in a chair with her head resting on the bed beside Center as she clasped Center’s left hand tightly.  It had not been Nezumi that had greeted her, however, and Center slowly glanced around the bright room to find Gekikara sitting in a chair below the windows.
     “G…Ge…ki,” Center managed to say, her voice hoarse and cracking.
     Gekikara stuffed her hands in her jacket and then stood and walked to the other side of the bed.  “Don’t bother talking; you’ve been out for two weeks.”
     Center nodded.  After her encounter, the news was not surprising.  Wondering why Gekikara was there, though, she looked up at her questioningly.
     Gekikara shrugged.  “You came to visit me while I was in the hospital, so I figured I would return the favor.”
     A faint smirk graced Center’s lips, but it soon disappeared with Gekikara’s next words.
     “You were beaten quite badly.  Not even you can take on a whole school single-handedly.”  She paused, and then, “Have you learned your lesson?”
     Again Center nodded.
     With a fond smile, Gekikara reached out to remove a petal from Center’s hair.  “She’s an amazing person, isn’t she?” she whispered, gently pressing the petal into Center’s free hand.
     This time Center smiled.
     Gekikara turned to leave then. Pausing before she opened the door, she spun around to face Center once again with a teasing smile.  “It was Team Fondue that saved you.  You ought to thank them when next you see them.”
     Center shot Gekikara a look that seemed to say, “As if I would ever thank them,” before turning her gaze to the still sleeping Nezumi beside her.
     “I hear she’s been here every day,” Gekikara stated softly before exiting the room.
     Slowly, Center shifted her free hand across her body and used the petal to tickle Nezumi’s nose.  After a few twitches, Nezumi sleepily opened her eyes, and as realization settled in she sat up with a gasp.
     “Center!” she cried, quickly pulling her hands from Center’s and looking aside.  She hurriedly wiped at her dampening eyes with her forearm.  “D-don’t get the wrong idea.  It’s not like I was waiting here every day or something.”
     Smiling a knowing, loving smile, Center cupped Nezumi’s face for a moment before withdrawing her hand and closing her eyes to drift back to sleep.  However, she wasn’t quite asleep again before she felt Nezumi reclaim her hand, and she clutched the petal still held proudly in her other.End Encounter
It seems that you all like these one shots; I'm glad.  I'll continue to write more when I have ideas and time.  Right now, however, my ongoing Atsumina story Portraits holds priority.

Until next time,
Hitobo

[yukofan]

this fic is awesome. i love the center&yuko-san part.
and CenNezu scene <3

pliz write more

[kahem]

Yuko and Center moment is so cool!!!

[Wmatsui22]

hello.

i hope you can make a atsumina and blackGekikara one-shot..

thank you..

nice work!!!