It was lunch-time at Okinomiyaki High, and as usual, a no-holds-barred brawl had erupted amongst the students in the cafeteria. And right in the middle of it was Sho Kibagami. A small, slim young man with eyes as blue as a jay and hair raven-dark. He moved through the crowd with the keen agility of a kestrel as his fists, rapid as a woodpecker's beak, cleared the way to the lunch counter for him.

Sho ordered his usual amount of food, and, carefully balancing his tray so as not to spill a drop, used his kicks to make his way to a table through the melee, stepping over the conflicts casualties with the casual arrogance as befitted the tenth best fighter in the school. This was not a hollow boast as all of the student body were black belts in all manner of the martial arts, so that meant Sho belonged to an elite crowd. True, there were nine others who could trounce him any day of the week, but it meant that aside from them he was without equal in terms of ability. But as he reached the outskirts of the fight he was humbled by the sight he saw.

Crossing the cafeteria was the most beautiful girl Sho had ever seen. She wasn't possessed of a stunning beauty, as she was very small and without the ravishing good looks possessed by the school cheerleaders, but there was something in the way she moved that made Sho oblivious to all else in the lunchroom. She turned in the direction of the rumble as if to consider the risk of eating the cafeteria food, and Sho felt as if he'd seen the face of an angel. The girl smiled, turned, and walked out of the lunchroom. Sho remained awestruck for a few more minutes until he was brought down from Cloud Nine by being hit in the back of the head with a chair swung by another student.

In one fluid motion, Sho whirled around and grabbed his would-be assailant and asked the one question on his mind.

"The girl who was just here, what's her name?"

"She's Kei Fujiyama, and all I know 'bout her is that she was just transferred here from across town." The student blurted out just before Sho dropped him.

For the remainder of the day Sho found that no matter how much he tried, he couldn't get thoughts of Kei out of his head. This was really starting to get to him, because for once, he was confronted by a problem he couldn't solve with his fists. To him, this mental torture was more excrutiating than five hours of root canal and thumbscrews combined. In truth, it was likely Sho would have lost his mind, if not for his admitting to himself, that for the first time in his life, he'd fallen in love.

Now, Sho realized he didn't know this girl too well, so he started to ask around about her. And over the next few days he was able to piece together a somewhat detailed profile of Kei. Definatly female, and hailing from a rather wealthy part of town, Kei was certainatly the cultured type as her best courses were apparently art and music. It seemed she was very polite and kind to everyone she met, and even liked small, cute animals. In short, Kei was a girl with class. And in Sho's mind, her going out with him was less likely than a snowstorm in July.

If Sho was distraught before, then now he was really up a creek without a boat. After all, what could a nice girl like her find to like in a musclehead like him. But Sho couldn't help but feel attracted to her. It was clear this emotional conflict was tearing him up inside.

It was then he decided to see Hikaru Kojiro, The smartest nerd in the whole school and self-proclaimed "Love Doctor". After hearing the problem, Amin gave his advice to Sho.

"Look, it's obvious you're obsessed with her. Why don't you just ask her out, at least she'll know how you feel about her."

Encouraged by those words, Sho hurtled through the halls like a guided missile in search of Kei. And when he found her, he was dealt a blow more painful than any martial arts technique he had ever encountered.

There was Kei, in the arms of Ryo Shibata, The second toughest guy in school, agreeing to accompany him to the big Halloween dance tomorrow. But the worst was yet to come, as she then stood on tiptoe to give Ryo a peck on the cheek.

Sho was devastated. People who were there could see the exact second his heart split in two. His spirit was a broken dream as he just didn't have the heart to join in any of the fights that broke out after school or even lunch the following day. In fact, he was going to the dance himself, but only to drown his sorrows in the sure-to-be-spiked-punch.

That night, the Halloween dance was a roaring success. Everywhere one turned all one could see was a swirling maelstrom of colour and costumes. No one wore the same costume and there were almost no wallflowers. Even Sho was starting to enjoy himself, that is, until Kei and Ryo walked in. Ryo was dressed as a European nobleman, but Kei still got Sho's attention. Kei was literally all dolled up as she had come as Raggedy-Ann. Her ensemble was perfect, from the red wig on her head on down to her knee-length dress and striped stockings. There was only one thing missing and only Sho seemed to notice that thing was her smile.

Then the dance sprung into high gear as a veritable forest of fast-dancers sprung up around the couple, obscuring them from Sho's view. The young fighter began to move quickly through the reveling mass to try and find Kei and try and see what was the matter. When he reached them he saw something that made his blood boil.

Kei was obviously distraught, her make-up running because of the tears streaming down her face. She was desperatly trying to get away from Ryo, But he was holding onto her arm with an iron grip. Ryo pulled her towards him, drew his free hand back, and struck her across the face. Kei collapsed. Ryo smiled. Sho snapped.

"Ryo Shibata", Sho hollered, "I challenge you to battle!"

"Who is this fool who so eargerly calls Death?" came the reply.

"My name is Sho Kibagami, and I'm you're worst nightmare: a lovesick fool with nothing to lose."

"Well," Ryo sneered callously, " I accept your challenge. Prepare to enter thy house of pain, fool!" And with that Ryo lept into a flying jump-kick, which sent Sho sprawling.

The dancing throng quickly drew into a cheering circle, eagerly calling for the challenger's blood as Sho got back up, carried Kei over to the relative safety of the crowd, and returned to his fight. The battle raged on as Sho was dealt ten blows for every jab he landed. Again and again Sho was struck down and again he got back up, and each time he did so more and more of the crowd started to cheer for the young underdog. Even with the crowd's support It was painfully obvious that Sho couldn't win, but still the youth fought on with everything he had. The fight continued until with a mighty kick, Ryo slammed Sho into the floor. The victor paused, then lifted his opponent off of the ground by his neck, pulled him closed, and asked one question.

"Why? Why did you fight? What did you think you'd gain?"

Sho, groggily staring at his enemy through bruised and swollen eyelids, gave his hoarse reply: "Not for me, for her."

The next thing any one knew, Sho's forehead collided with Ryo's face with a resounding clash many claimed to be thunder

* * * * * * * *

Sho lay awake in his hospital bed, his casts itching and mind contemplating the events of tbe day. Sho was now considered the toughest guy in school, Ryo had been expelled and was now penniless because of the much-needed plastic surgery to fix his face, and a week's worth of homework was piled up for Sho to do (if he could move his arms that is. He was in traction after all). But all these matters were inconsequential to him, of no importance whatsoever aslong as one question remained unanswered. Was Kei alright?

Sho became aware of someone else in the room. He turned his head as much as his neck brace would allow, and found himself staring into a familiar set of doe-like eyes. It was Kei, standing over him as beautiful as ever, if not for the palm-sized welt on the left side of her face. Sho, flabberghasted at her being there, said the only thing he could think of.

"Kei, would you, uh, go out with me sometime?"

THE END