Survival Of The Fittest

Senior year seemed so full of life for just about anybody in Bayview Secondary, and it certainly kept Rekka on his toes. Aside from being your occasional volunteer to help out teachers and social events, but lately his family business had become extremely popular with the locals. This would force him to rush home and help out with the cooking, with many weekends devoted to studying up for those precious college exams and foraging restuarant ingredients. All this hype, and Rekka felt a small shiver down his spine.

He knew Dawne would be pissed to some degree...

His girlfriend, Dawne Jiang, was perhaps the most important person in his life for many reasons. Unfortunately, he had been hounded the past two weeks with events that the longest time they ever spent together was during class or the occasional AIM chat. Even then, Rekka was still adjusting to even having a computer. He could blame his girlfriend for that, who insisted it was a necessity in today's modern world.

Fooling around with his fedora hat to block out the sunlight, Rekka's narrow eyes panned the area and found no signs of his Dawne. Letting a small sigh out, he plopped down into the waiting embrace of the grass and decided to take a small nap. School finished for the day anyways, and the shop was closed...so it was a good time to simply unwind. Shifting the hat to cover his face, Rekka lulled off to a light slumber.

Dawne would find him.... eventually.

It had seemed like ages since she had been able to see Rekka in person, what with his studying and working and the like. Not that Dawne hadn't been busy herself. Exams were coming, projects were piling up, and there was new anime to watch... well, not that anime was important, she could totally stop watching any time, or so she told herself. Today was a different story though. They both had some time to themselves, so they could finally spend some time together. If only she could find the damn boy...

Dawne walked around the outside of the school, the light jacket she had worn that morning tied around her waist, revealing the black tank top she had worn that day. She had a matching pleated skirt on, and of course, her trademark red Converse All-Stars. Finally, she found Rekka sleeping on the grass, his fedora over his face. a sly smile crossed Dawne's face. Tip-toeing quietly over to Rekka's prone body, she nimbly snatched his fedora off his face, donning the cap herself.

"Wake up, sleepy-head!" She said with a laugh.

"Ara? For someone who doesn't care to socialize, you sure are peppy when around me huh?" Rekka said sarcasticaly, keeping his cat-like eyes closed to the suddenly bright sun. Making a big yawn and taking his sweet time just to annoy the love of his life, the young man swung to a standing position with a satisfying click.

Now a few months ago, he'd have to suppress a blush due to the clothing choices Dawne was interested in. Coming from a background where self-expression may not have been the most valued matter, something so simple as a pleated skirt made him avert his eyes. And oh-the-glory that was to be had during that agonizing time period! It has been the running joke that Dawne would continue to tease him either with her body, or with modern day "essentials" to surviving a teenage otaku life. Today was no different, though he at least appreciates the fact she's keeping the color scheme down to two. There would be some times where coordination had no meaning.

Strutting over in a manner that was an exagerration of Dawne's walk, he flicked his arm out and made a motion for her to come close. Obviously he wanted his hat back, but odds are...that wasn't happening any time soon.


"Okay okay, so you little sneaky behemoth...where'd you wanna head to today?"

"What? Do you want me to be like I normally am with others? 'Cause I could totally do it.... maybe..." Dawne said in a steadily quieter voice as Rekka took his sweet time standing, a practice he seemed to rather enjoy to bother her. It didn't bother her too much, but she still put on an act of looking exasperated with his shenanigans.

Finally Rekka achieved a vertical base, and walked over to where she was standing. Her piercing blue eyes gave his muscular form a once over, as always smartly dressed. Of course, he was missing one major component of his outfit, which was currently resting on top of her head, slightly lower than intended due to the size difference of their heads.

As soon as Rekka was in a decent enough distance, Dawne practically launched herself into his embrace, trying hard to not put too much force into it. It wouldn't be the first time they'd lost their balance.

"Behemoth? Are you calling me fat?" Dawne said with a mock angry face. "Well since I'm such a fatty, I think you should buy me something to eat."

Now naiive Rekka knew he was to modern day habits, stupid he was not. Catching the small signs of Dawne's lying habits was one of those things that was a top priority in trying to learn. Not due to a lack of trust, but more of trying to keep up in a world he was still wet-behind-the-ears in. One of the greatest lessons his mother taught him was a general idea how women act around men. Particularly, they really do like to step down and play the part of the fool...perhaps out of love (or in Dawne's case at times, out of spite.) Men do that too, but it was all these little rules that got Rekka really confused. To him, relationships should always keep true to one's emotions. Plain and simple.

Instead of getting a latch on to his arm, he received a typical "Dawne Jiang I MISS YOU" replies. Which meant her latching on full body and taking advantage of Rekka's atheletically inclined form. Little did she know he did a bit of research during these past three weeks, hopefully turning out to be a pleasant surprise for his girlfriend.

As soon as she latched on, he let go of the muscular strength in his knee caps and let both of them fall backwards. Of course he'd be the one to cushion the fall entirely, or so he hope he was doing correctly. His strong arms quickly formed a barrier of some sort to protect his dear from any sort of damage. The final piece was upon impact with the soft earth, he let his face move forward with the momentum and gave a quick (but solid) kiss to his girlfriend's petal-like lips.

After that all happened, there lied a smirking Rekka, "If I wanted you to act like the peanut gallery, I'd go visit the woodworks that's our gym. You can be so pushy at times, just like this scene from one of your shoujo mangas."

Still grinning, he freed one of his hands from the barrier formation and poked Dawne's forehead.

"Just name the place and we can go m'lady! Today, I'm all yours."

He made sure to add a little curl to the last few words, just to imitate a scene from a romantic series Dawne didn't seem to think he caught her watching.

Dawne couldn't quite tell if she had actually been too forceful, or if Rekka was just trying to play around, although she had her suspicions as to which was the truth. Either way, the two of them were on the ground, Rekka holding onto Dawne with a firm, but loving grip. The fact he had managed to sneak a kiss strongly pointed to the fact he had done it on purpose.

"Psh, don't lie to me, you did that on purpose. Don't forget, I can read your every mo-" Dawne was cut off by Rekka when he poked her in the forehead.

Dawne frowned for a moment, but then as Rekka retracted his finger, Dawne nimbly caught the offending digit in her teeth, being careful to not bite too hard. As always, it had that very slight hint of fish he could never completely get off, and never failed to put her in the mood for sushi. Relinquishing her hold on Rekka's finger, she plastered a huge grin on her face.

"I think you should make me some sushi. It's been too long."

"Everytime you get a nibble off of me, you feel like eating that. I swear, sometimes I wonder if you were a shark in your past life Dawne. Though..." Rekka said while wiggling his captured limb like a fish in a net.

His last free hand relinquished its hold on Dawne to fumble around the back of his overcoat, trying to draw out something that he made sure to protect dearly. Probably because it cost him a fair bit of money, as well as Dawne would slap him for desecrating manga masterpieces. As the little guppy let go of his poor finger, he rose up so that she was now sitting in his lap and the arm not searching the coat hugged her from behind.

Whipping out from the coat was an artbook from Clamp, best known as an omnibus for all their released series; amongst them was a hefty section dedicated to Chobits with special drawings and scenes not ever shown in the series. Wrapped in a protective plastic case that even blocks the commerative cover from dirt, he placed the gift in Dawne's lap. From his adventures of asking some "otakus" to getting help on the side to find a book that had only 50 published was no easy task. Honestly, the process of acquiring said book was as grueling as searching for a special mushroom in the tundras of Alaska. Would Rekka have thought it it to be that way prior to dating Dawne...?

...probably not.

The last part of the present was marked inside the actual artbook, which was a hand crafted pendant in the fashion of what the main characters of Chobits wore at the ending. He got a lot of help from his mother and father, who didn't tell him they knew a thing or two about jewelry crafting. Either way, it worked to his advantage and the result was uncanny. It seemed Dawne didn't realize his half was hanging from his belt. Though, having it hidden in the rear within his coat is perhaps why.

"Sheesh, you always put on that weird smile with the pouty eyes whenever I do something awkward. I hope you enjoy this book then, as an apology for not being with you over these past few weeks. You were right...the internet is a whole new ocean." Rekka spoke, snatching his hat back in the process.

He laughed a little, then spoke while straightening the fedora, "So then, shall we head out to the shop? I'm sure haha-ue and chichi-ue would be happy to see you again!"

Dawne sat on Rekka's lap, arm around his neck to stop her from falling off, watching with a bemused and curious look as he searched for something in his jacket. Finally managing to get it out of his pocket, Dawne found herself staring at a rare and rather sought after artbook from one of her favorite artists'. Staring at the cover with a rather dumbfounded expression on her face, it was quite possibly the first time Rekka would have see her at a loss for words. During this time Rekka took advantage and stole his hat back, which normally Dawne would have fought for, but at that point she didn't care.

Removing the protective cover, she opened the book up to the spot that had been marked, revealing an expertly made pendant of Chi, the one of main characters of Chobits. running her thumb over the smooth surface of the metal, she looked at Rekka with those baby blue eyes. She kind of felt bad that she didn't have anything to give in return, although there wasn't much she could give Rekka. He was a simple man, and enjoyed simple things. It was part of what made Dawne love him so much.

Plastering a huge smile on her face, she said "apology accepted." before kissing him.

Dawne stood up quickly, being careful to stand up in such a fashion as to not expose herself too much, although if Rekka was paying attention he may have been able to sneak a peek. Quickly placing the book in her messenger bag, she waited for Rekka to pick himself up again. Once he did, she latched onto his good arm.

"Let's go! I haven't seen them in forever it seems."

He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow to what just had occurred. Taking a quick look at the sky to see if it shifted colors, and patted the ground to feel if it still existed, Rekka concluded this was no dream. The last time he ever saw Dawne at a loss for words was after she confessed to him, at it was far more brief this time. Rekka decided that since it wasn't a bad thing, why ponder? He accomplished what he meaned to, and was happy to see the gift would be well taken care of. Time was better spent doing other matters anyhow.

Like enjoying that second kiss he got. Never could go wrong with that.

Dawne promptly got off and seemed far more cheery this time around. Rekka caught wind of a small dandelion fluff that tickled his nose, letting out a small sneeze. By the time he recovered, he saw Dawne placing his gift inside her schoolbag. It was kinda cute seeing how she treated such an item, almost as if the artbook were her baby. Not wanting to keep her waiting, Rekka stood and dusted off quickly. Keeping the tempo flowing, he appreciated Dawne's courtesy of clinging onto his good arm. There were messy consequences during the days she was unaware of the condition of his right.

"Then off we go~!" Rekka said with his cat-like smile.

Just before they started to walk towards the school gate, Rekka ruffled his belt slightly and flicked his coat to the right side. Knowing Dawne would pay attention to the activity, she'd see the second half of the pendant that belonged to the male protagonist of Chobits. Rekka just smiled and walked along towards the familiar pathway.

Dawne laced her fingers through his, allowing for slightly better freedom of movement for both parties. Rekka managed to catch her eye by moving his coat, revealing a second pendant he had made, this one of Hideki, the other main character of Chobits. Dawne smiled, running her fingers over the pendant on her left hand. She would have to steal some of Rekka's twine to make a necklace for it. She was sure he wouldn't mind.

The two made their way along the path that would take them to Dawne's favorite place in the city, Saionji's Gift. The small restaurant that Rekka's parents ran, and where she spent much of her time over the last year or so. She would even wait tables on occasion when they were really busy. Rekka's parents absolutely adored her, partially cause she had helped Rekka adapt, more or less, fairly well to "city living". It would be nice to see them again after so long.

((Dawne Jiang continued in Timely Extension of the Gift))