Pained

Chapter 7: Par-Tay


AN: Sorry for this chapter not getting out as quickly as it should. A major bout of writers’ block and the ever present fear of *Insert Creepy Music* FINALS! That and I have been sick with the flu for the past few weeks. Oh and the Nightmare Before Christmas belongs to genius Tim Burton. I love his work! Oh and NO CITRUS YET, but very, very shortly.


Rage didn’t know what to do but except Touya’s offer and went and got cleaned up and put the dress on. Risho who was in the icebox nearly fell over at the sight of Rage in the sexy skintight green dress. “If looks could knock someone out I’d be in a coma.” He said as Rage blushed. “Well it is almost time, you mind walking me down to the Cabana lounge? I know Pegasus is licking his wounds right now but I don’t want to chance it.” She asked as Risho nodded putting his beer away. He escorted her down to the lobby where Shishi caught sight of them from one of the cocktail bars. “Evening Miss Blackthorne, my you look lovely tonight.” He said sipping a cocktail then kissing her hand. “Mr. Wakamaru I would have thought you’d learned your lesson after drinking those two bottles of Jack Daniels and waking up duct taped to a hand cart.” Rage asked trying to keep a straight face at the memory.

“Don’t remind me, my team is still not letting me live it down. So what is on the agenda tonight?” He asked seeing Risho eyeball him suspiciously then snorting. “I am meeting Touya in one of the lounges this evening.” Rage stated not telling the youkai samurai which lounge she would be in. “Well if you excuse me I have to be off, oh and Risho we get another two weeks extra training in before the tournament. There was some botch up, the office had the dates mixed up and the entire thing has been postponed until Koto and Juri the two announcers have been trained to handle being referee. That and they couldn’t find a big enough boat for the 16th team to face the first rounds in a battle royal.” Shishi said as he got up to head to the elevators. Risho nodded and walked Rage towards the Cabana lounge.

Touya and Jin were sitting at a table when they got there drinking a few mixed drinks discussing attack techniques as a piano in the background provided a sophisticated atmosphere. “Good evening Touya, Jin. I must say this is a pleasant surprise.” Rage said sitting down. “I figured you could use a change of pace after last nights’ incident. I am glad you accepted my invitation.” Touya said bowing as Jin moved to get up. “I gotta be hittin the sack soon Touya. Catch you in the mornin.” Jin said as Risho followed him out of the semi-lit lounge. “So, what do you have planned for tonight?” Rage asked noticing how Touya wasn’t wearing his usual toga shirt, chain mail, and baggy fighting pants, opting to go for a more relaxed button up white shirt that had the top button undone, black slacks, and dress shoes. (AN: MAJOR Drool) “Well, I have reservations in the formal dining room, seats in a box to see a musical of “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” and a night of dancing in the ballroom. All of this is from Mr. Sakyo for me to take you out to help you forget about Pegasus.” Touya said as Rage’s eyes lit up.

Rage began to say something when a waitress came up to her and asked if she would want a drink. “I’ll have a Tarantula please.” She said then turning to Touya. “As I was saying, I kicked Risho’s ass this afternoon during my training after you left.” This bit of information caused Touya’s eyes to widen. “How so?” He asked seeing Rage take a sip of her drink that was just brought to her. “First he went on the offensive by calling his Armor of Clay and told me to defend against it. I did by calling my telekinesis powers to from a barrier around my body. Risho smashed into it full force breaking it and his Armor of Clay leaving him vulnerable. I roundhouse kicked him to the gut and sent him flying.”

Touya nodded, he was indeed impressed that she had come a long way in such a short period of time. She would make a fine Shinobi if it came down to the wire. “He then asked me to go on the offensive, I called my pyrokanisis and fired it at him breaking his armor yet again and sending him flying. I don’t think he would live it down. So don’t feel bad, you and Jin weren’t the only ones who had their asses fried.” Rage said as she finished her drink. Touya moved to get up and another button of his shirt came undone showing off his well muscled chest to her gaze. She didn’t know what was happening to herself. Maybe it was too much Tequila in the Tarantula or that the atmosphere in the lounge was affecting her, but at that moment Touya was the most sexist thing in the room in her mind. This caused her mind to go into the gutter and the feeling to spread throughout her body causing a dopy grin to form on her face.

Touya smelt her arousal, being a higher class youkai than the ones currently in the room gave him the ability to smell her emotions a bit if it affected her body chemistry. ‘Good my plan is working, hopefully I will have her agree to be my mate by this evening. Then that Pegasus will never be able to touch her again with out me being able to kill him.’ Touya thought moving to the other end of the table. “The dining room should be open by now Miss Blackthorne, shall we go?” He asked offering his arm to her. Rage giggled like a school girl an took his arm and they walked from the lounge toward a very fancy formal dining room. “Touya, mind my asking, how many formal dining rooms does this place have? I wrecked one private dining room with my pyrokanisis when I was with Mr. Sakyo, then there was the one I wrecked with you on my first night here.” She asked seeing Touya smile at the memory. “I think this place has 5, the one you destroyed was the outdoors one and the private dining area has been repaired. There was only minor damage done.”

Rage sighed with relief as they made their way into the Bordeaux La Café in the heart of the hotel lobby. (An: Think of a really fancy cruise ship like Princess, Royal Caribbean, and Carnival. That is what I am basing the inside of this hotel to be like.) The head waiter led them to the back of the dining room and showed them a table. “Here are your menus, and your waiter should be hare shortly.” He said then leaving. Rage looked through the fancy menu and decided to go with the Fettuccine Alfredo, she oped to go with a white wine with her meal as well. Touya decided to go with a prime rib, baked potato, and a glass of red dinner wine. During their dinner a tap on Rage ‘s shoulder got her attention. “Evening Miss Blackthorne, I hope to see you tomorrow in the ring for our training.” Karasu said as he walked to a table nearby that was set up for one person. “I will be Karasu. I just hope you a Bui go easy on me.” Rage said with a smile.

“We will, I just hope you don’t cook us to a crisp.” Karasu said with a chuckle going to his table. Rage and Touya ate their food and discussed various embarrassing situations that they had encountered during their lifetime. “Then the bucket of skunk musk fell on my head. I couldn’t get rid of the smell for weeks, I guess I got what was coming to me.” Rage laughed as Touya tried to keep a straight face at the tale she had told him from her high school. “I guess that situation really stunk.” Touya said as Rage made a face at him. “I don’t know what stunk more, your bad pun or the skunk musk.” She said as Touya made a face at her. After dinner Rage and Touya sat down in the same theater that had shown Grease the night before. “Ladies and Gentlemen and Youkai alike, we are proud to show you the musical number of Tim Burtons’ The Nightmare Before Christmas. Enjoy.” The announcer said as the theater got dark.

After the show Rage started to giggle which got Touya’s attention. “What is so funny?” He asked as Rages’ flushed face turned to meet his gaze. “Just thinking that if Lock, Shock, and Barrel were in the tournament no one would be safe.” She said remembering their bit of “Kidnap Mr. Sandy Claws.” Touya looked at her and grimaced. Those three were bad news and even him being a Shinobi they made him afraid. “So what id next on the agenda?” Rage asked as they sat down and ordered a few drinks from the Cabana Lounge. “Dancing if you like, but it is getting late and Karasu and Bui wish to train you in the morning. So I say we call it a night and catch up on the festivities tomorrow.” Rage nodded her head in agreement and they went to the elevators. They bid each other goodnight and went to sleep a few minutes after they got into the room.

Morning came to quick in Rage’s opinion as Risho woke her at the crack of dawn. “*Yawn* What time is it?” She asked looking around trying to get her bearings. “5:35am, I woke you early so you could get ready and eat before your training at 7:00am.” Risho said as Rage got up and stretched from her spot on the sofa. “Thanks. Got any caffeine?” She asked going over to the fridge. “I don’t know what this caffeine is.” Risho said as Rage looked through the icebox. “This is caffeine in its purest form right here.” She said holding up a can of Mountain Dew. She popped the can and chugged it before Risho could say anything. Now more alert Rage went over to her suit cases and pulled out another sports bra, spandex pants, tennis shoes, and a tank top. “Mr. Risho could you tell me what can I expect from Mr. Karasu and Mr. Bui?” Rage asked after going into the bathroom and getting dressed.

“I have no idea Miss Blackthorne, I have been told that Karasu uses bombs and Bui uses an axe but that is all I can tell you.” Risho said as Rage took in this information. “I’ll let you know after the training.” She said eating an apple then going to the door. “I think I can make it to the arena without an escort.” She said seeing Risho shake his head no. “I am not so sure yet Rage. If you manage to bet Karasu and Bui like you did to me yesterday I am sure Sakyo will let you go without an escort. I know I would but most of us would still worry.” Risho said as Rage nodded at his statement. They left a few minutes later seeing the sun just peak over the horizon. The walk to the arena was a quiet one as Rage thought about what attacks she could use as Risho pondered the training plan for his team that day.

Karasu was waiting for them when they got to the arena. “Good morning Miss Blackthorne I hoped you slept well.” Karasu said as Bui nodded coming out of the shadows. “I did Mr. Karasu. I hope you and Mr. Bui did the same.” She said hopping onto the fighting circle. “We did.” He said noticing Risho leaving. “Mr. Risho, tell Touya I will meet him after my training to go to the dance hall.” She said to Risho and he nodded going into the tunnel.

By noon Rage was sweating so much she looked like a walking waterfall, Karasu was frowning at his coat that was nothing but a pile of ash on the ground after their sparring session. Karasu had used his agility to tray and see if she could pinpoint him with the pyrokinesis. He really didn’t expect her to be able to and lost his coat in the process. Bui was also frowning as well, she had bent his smaller axe into two with the telekinesis as he was attempting to hit her or nick her. “Very good Rage but can you defend against this?” Karasu said going so fast that he was almost invisible. Rage went into a fighting stance and concentrated her pyrokinesis again. She was going to add another charred ass to her list.

Karasu was about to attack when he smelt smoke, when he looked down the seat of his rear was on fire. Bui was glad he had a mask on to cover up the tears of laughter that was coming out seeing Karasu running around in the ring with his ass on fire like some cheap cartoon character. Rage heard his laughter and looked at him and almost instantly Bui was engulfed in flames and they quickly vanished leaving him charred with his eye blinking. “Guys I say we call it a day. Any longer and you two will be charred broiled fighters.” Rage said as she looked at the two members of Team Toguro. “Agreed. I must say you are a good fighter.” Karasu said after he managed to get the flames put out. Rage nodded and they made their way back to the hotel. She went into the room and crashed on the sofa the day finally taking its toll on her and it was only noon. She didn’t know if she could go with Touya that night because her body hurt too much from the training that day. She stared at the ceiling and sighed, “Is it still too late to switch careers?”

AN2: I figured I leave it here, I want all my readers to know I am still alive and my finals didn’t kill me! Like I said the citrus will be soon. Most but not positive, in the next chappie. I want to say I love you all and I hope you had a very Merry Christmas. Don’t drink too much this coming New Years and be safe! And please don’t kill me for burning Karasu’s sexy ass.