XXIII

I pressed my blade closer to his throat, noticing a slight trickled of blood leaking from the cut it had created. Neither of us acknowledged this, however, the pink haired boy staring solely back at me. “Who am I?” He asked. “Who are you?” Although he was obviously mocking me, there was no indication in his voice to make it seem so.

I growled, turning the kunai to the side, stepping forehead to get in his face. “Listen here—“

“Ah!” Surge grabbed my wrist, pulling it away from the guy’s throat. “That’s not necessary, Champion, do you think?” I raised my eyebrow.

“We’re in enemy territory, we were just attacked, we have a goddamn escort and you want to tell me it’s not necessary?” The boy grinned, rubbing the back of his head.

“I know him.” I looked back to the stoic boy, glaring at him. “He’s Leaf Shinobi, anyways. There’s really no threat.” I huffed, putting the weapon away and crossing my arms. You would think he would have said something?

“What’s your name, kid?” I asked, taking in his boyish features. He was a rather odd boy, with pink hair and a lean figure—standing so carelessly when moments before I had been so ready to slit his throat. And, other than the birthmark that was placed just beneath his charcoal colored eye (with an odd tint of pink), not to mention his odd sense of fashion, there really was nothing that stood out with this boy. He was like a blank sheet of paper—blank.

“What’s it to you?” He mimicked my stance, folding his own arms and drawing a leg over the other. “It’s common courtesy to give your name first, isn’t it?”

Surge sighed beside me. “Champion, this is Leif Ito. He’s a jounin, much like yourself, and is nineteen. Leif, this is Champion Kohana, she’s, as I said before, a jounin, she’s sixteen.” I huffed.

“What’re you doing here, anyways?” I asked, still not over my suspicion for the boy. He was weird. Aside from his lack of mannerism and heavy dose of Surge sass, he gave off a bad vibe. One that I couldn’t shake off—whether he was Surge’s friend or not.

The boy shrugged, leaning back. “That’s a bit classified, don’t you think?” I couldn’t help the frown that befell my face, another heady glare issued to the boy. His neck still had a steady trickle of blood running from the wound I had created, staining the cloth around it. He turned his attention to Surge. “I was in the trees,” he said, pointing towards the direction he had come from. “I thought I’d say hey.”

Surge raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

Leif’s own eyebrows knitted in confusion. “That’s what friends do, don’t they?”

*
Despite the many interruptions on the course of our small, yet somehow unprecedented journey, we managed to make it back to Mai’s home before dark fell. She lived in a rather wealthy area, her father being a lesser lord, one that probably spent more money in a day than I could make in a month. We were later than expected, but the man was relieved, nonetheless.

“Did your journey run smoothly?” he had asked, turning to gauge his daughter’s reaction. Mai sat still.

“We were ambushed,” I had told him. “Luckily, it wasn’t anything we couldn’t take. It was due to a rather cowardice shinobi.” The man looked doubtful. “No one on my team, I assure you.” He nodded.

“Well, at least she’s safe.” Mai smiled. She had convinced her father to let us stay with them for the night, although being extremely unnecessary. Calix, however, thought it’d be a good idea, being as Surge and I had been wounded, albeit the fact that both our wounds being only minor. He suggested we rest for the night.

Souta had split as soon as we reached the village gates, claiming he had business to attend to. He left with one final “I’m so sorry,” not even sparing us a backwards glance.

I still regret not letting Surge finish his fight.

“That kid was weird, huh?” I asked, laying myself next to Surge on the floor. We were given beds, of course, but there had only been two of them and three of us. I had offered to sleep with Calix, as Surge and I weren’t really into sleeping together anymore, but he refused.

At any rate, even if we did go through a weird break up and things between us were still a little awkward, Surge was undoubtedly still my best friend. It’s the same as before, except with a lot less kissing. And, I had to say, laying with him like this, it didn’t feel as though a lot had changed. We were still the same people.

And, if I were being completely honest, though the thought of our ended relationship still left a little sting, I think I liked our newfound friendship a lot better. It felt like a clean slate—a breath of fresh air.

“Who? Souta?”

I shook my head. “That friend of yours—Leaf, was it?”

“Leif,” he corrected. “And, yeah, I guess he is.” He turned to stare at me. “He’s got kind of a complicated past, you could say. His sister’s really nice, though.”

“Is she weird like him?” I smiled. Surge shook his head.

“I don’t want to really get into it, but he’s had a hard time. Dew’s normal. Leif just has…a twisted outlook on things. If it comes down to it, try not to be so hard on him, okay?”

I pinched him. “Don’t make it seem like I’m some god awful person.”

Surge chuckled. “Well, you’re not exactly the best person.” I couldn’t resist the urge to punch him.

!~*~*!

Oh god im so sorry. Im not that used to writing in first person anymore wow so sorry.
Anyways. Leif is bae. Love thy pink haired boy. Picture on side is him ok. God I really should be sleeping whya the heckie.