Chasing Ghosts[Kenichi, Natsumi]

Kenichi's world tournament tour was moving along relatively well. He fought and defeated his fair share of opponents so far, enjoying each bout with a nostalgic joy he hadn't experienced in months. Emboldened by that joy, he continued his travels until he arrived in Europe. Of course, there was one small issue, though. They had to construct an arena, and that would take a few days.

For Kenichi, that was a few days too much! Still, he supposed patience was a virtue, and decided to enjoy the scenery, traveling into a forest with a camping bag at his back. He had packed enough food, a sleeping bag, and any other necessities he'd need for his survival. If he ran out of food, he'd simply hunt. After arriving In a place he found most comfortable, he began setting up his little sanctuary.

The reactions Natsumi got from the crowds that collected around her after the green ninja vanished were not something she could handle. She saw their fear, their worry, and some even wanted to call her an ambulance, but that was just too many people. With what little energy she had left, Natsumi lifted herself from the ground and flew herself out of the city. She barely kept herself thirty feet off the ground.

When she found the edge of the forest, her energy gave out and Natsumi fell into the canopy. She hit a few branches, yelling in pain on the way down, until her petite body hit the ground in a light thud. Whether it be luck or fate, Natsumi had not realized that she just landed a couple feet from an old friend of hers.

"Wait a minute... What is that familiar... Natsumi, is that you!?"

Kenichi looked at Natsumi's wounded form with a dumbfounded expression. He was shocked by what he saw and dropped working on his tent to rush toward her at a breakneck pace. She was bloodied and bruised, but she didn't appear to be on the verge of death. She hadn't suffered any dire wound, either. Good, good. Without missing a beat, he grabbed a few dry blankets and opened his bag up. Whatever happened, he wanted to get to the bottom of it! Who hurt his dear friend!?

"W-What happened to you?"

Natsumi rolled over onto her stomach and tried to push herself up, but she was utterly exhausted, not to mention hurt. Hearing his voice, Natsumi pushed herself up to her knees and let her head hang backwards to get a look at Kenichi. Breathing heavily, Natsumi got to her feet and put her hips with some attitude.

“You…” Natsumi said after he asked what happened. It sounded like she accused “him” of “happening” to her, but that’s not what she was getting at. The young woman took a deep, deep breath and then exhaled heavily. “You VANISHED. No CALL, no TEXT. Just GONE. Where the HELL have you been, you JERK!?”

"A-ah, well, I mean, you know, that...."

Kenichi was promptly taken for a loop the moment she rose from the ground, as though her wounds were inconsequential. Truth be told... she was right. He had gone completely off the radar for a while. He smiled sheepishly as he nervously rubbed the back of his head. This wasn't quite the reunion he imagined... but, he could work with this! Sighing softly, he raised his hands in surrender. He would gladly explain everything to her, but first, she needed to calm down, sit, and recover. After that, she could chew him out as much as she wanted.

"I know I've been gone for a while, and I'm genuinely sorry about that, Natsu. I know it's bold of me to ask, but can ya calm down, sit, and at least let me bandage you up? Feed you something? During that, I'll tell you... everything you want to know. That sound good?"

Natsumi’s outburst was her last ounce of stamina. She stood wobbly, staring at Kenichi as he explained nothing. Fine… Her head was getting dizzy anyways…

“Fine… I’m hungry,” Natsumi said and let her arms hang. She stumbled forward a little, almost falling but she caught herself. "I'm fine..." she said, breathing heavy. The pain in her head was getting bad. After she took another step, she stumbled again and fell to the floor. "Damn it... I'll kill that fuckin' bitch..."

"Sorry, I promise I'll explain everything soon."

Kenichi quickly set out a long sleeping bag for Natsumi to rest in as he continued to observe her, paying close attention to her words. What type of enemy had she made? Who were they? Were they still in close vicinity? There were a whirlwind of questions cycling through his mind with each passing second, but none of them mattered more than making sure she was okay.

He quickly darted toward his bag, grabbing a first aid kit and one of the many bento lunchboxes he had brought along to sate his appetite. Rushing back over to her, gently placing the food at her lap, he pulled her arms upward to start nursing her wounds.

"Okay... don't react crazy, but... if you want to know, one of the things that happened to me is that... I got drunk, and uh... I got... um...."

He hesitated a moment before finishing his sentence.

"...Married.'

As Kenichi went through his bag, Natsumi picked herself up from the floor, but only made it to all fours. Instead of walking over to his little campsite, she crawled over and sat down somewhere near his tent. As the food was placed into her lap, Natsumi immediately began digging in, chomping down her food like an animal.

After the first few bites, she calmed down and listened to Kenichi's... explanation. Natsumi stopped mid chew, staring at him. She didn't believe that...

"Y'er jokin', right?" Natsumi asked. "Y'er married? You ditched me for months to go get married? You ain't even said you had'a girlfrien' and y'er married?"

"N-no. I mean, well, I was married, but I'm not married anymore. Now that I think about it... we only got engaged, and even then, that wasn't something I did in my right mind..."

God, why did the atmosphere suddenly feel so intense? He expected to reunite with her in many ways, but this was less than ideal, and she seemed visibly upset with him. Think, Kenichi, think! What sort of words could he use to appease the agitated telekinetic? Of course, first, he needed to establish that he wasn't joking. Sheepishly rubbing the back of his head, he continued his explanation.

"Ahem... I went on a vacation, consumed too much alcohol, got drunk, and ended up... engaged with a bubbly redhead lady. We never... made it that far. I just struggled to tell her I wanted to take it slow, and... didn't really do anything. Moreover..."

He sighed as he gazed down at the ground.

"I just disappeared from the world I knew because... I felt terrible. My boss got kidnapped and nearly died... and I... felt like I failed her. You're right. I should've kept in touch, even through phone calls, and I feel terrible about that..."

Still chewing, Natusmi just stared at him like he was a dumb ass. Though, secretly, her glare was hiding a bit of hurt. The fact was, she may have had an unspoken crush on Kenichi and finding out he went around with another girl after just… vanishing… It hurt. It didn’t matter anyway though. She was gonna have to get over it. If he didn’t like her, oh well. His loss. She woulda been a great girlfriend! Or… well, she would have tried to have been a great girlfriend… Like she knew how.

“Whatever, Kenichi...” Natsumi said, rolling her eyes at him and then rapidly consuming the rest of her food. She even hit his hand away as he tried to use his first aid kit on her. “Don’t touch me, a’ight? God, my head hurtin’… Bitch hit me in the face way too many times…” She had at least stopped bleeding from her nose, and Natasha taught her not to go to sleep when her head was injured…

"So, Jerk." Natsumi said, having given Kenichi a new nickname and deciding to change the subject. "The hellin' you doin' all the way up in the forest like this?"