Whistles were too fucking much at the moment. And the overly committed gym teacher that was blowing one like no tomorrow was too. What was the point
of gym period again? Jude was sure that in the grand scheme of things, this couldn't matter. Not even a little bit. Doing pushups and climbing ropes?
Come on. If he cared about what the future would bring for his adult self, he was sure that he'd KNOW that none of this would ever be useful. Which
was why he wasn't doing it. Any of it. He would lean on the wall next to the door and watch the other kids in his class conform. And his Uncle Li' was
right. THIS was why he would be taking gym all the way into his Senior year. Yeah, he was getting pretty close. When it started to matter how many
balls he could chuck at someone's head and how quickly he could steal a flag from an opponent, he would then give two shits.
At the present moment, leaning on the wall next to his only method of escape was showing useful. The only thing he needed was for the PE teacher to
get off his JOCK and stop staring at him. Yeah, so maybe it was only the first month of school and he'd found a way to successfully duck out of five
consecutive phys ed classes. He regretted nothing. But he wasn't a damn flight risk. Leaning on the wall was just as good...for the moment. Besides,
watching people make asses out of themselves was even better. His class was learning the essentials of basketball (whogivesafuck) and it looked as if
the other 11th grade gym class on the other side of the divided gym was playing some sort of battle ball. Yes, Jude wanted someone to pelt
him with balls. Like he needed the extra torture. Again he sighed silently, his eyes still on the group of kids bombing each other with balls, his
hand reaching behind his head to knot the hair that fell well past his shoulders. He couldn't wait for the end of...
Kaili. Before he could stop it, a small smile met his lips and quickly vanished as soon as he felt it there. He hadn't seen his Shore friend
since...well since the moment his Uncle RUINED his last day on the Shore, as he was banned to never return (his Uncle's doing). He missed it. And what
was more...he kinda missed...her. She was a really good tour guide...and all. Yeah, that was it. Of course. He hadn't even seen her in the hallways
and he'd gotten to the point where he wondered if she even really transferred to AJW. Shrugging his body from the wall he walked the length of the
gym, his eyes on her as he advanced towards her class.
Man has a choice and it's a choice that makes him a man...
Complete bullshit. This whole place was complete bullshit and she was more than ready to go back home. To where she was respected, loved, and
most of all known. She hated having no one to talk to during the day. She missed her friends, and the tribe and...Jude. He was supposed to be here but
in the three weeks she’d roamed the halls, Kaili hadn’t run into him not once. Since the last time they’d been together she hadn’t really
heard from him either. She texted him every now and then, but conversation never lasted and she kind of got the feeling she was bothering him. The
last thing she wanted was to seem clingy and she figured she’d see him when she got to AJW anyway. She figured wrong.
Running a hand through her hair, she heaved a sigh of aggravation. She had to fucking get out of here. All of these haloes were driving her fucking
insane and the cheerleaders were the worst. There were two locals on the squad, neither from Shore and neither with parents old enough to remember
anything about coming from there. They were just as bad as outsiders and what made it worse was that they were her main tormentors...and they shared a
gym class.
Gym. She fucking hated this place and their fucking evil gym teachers. She had skipped it the entire first week of classes, but when her father found
out, he forbid her from not showing up for Phys. Ed....As if that shit was important! By the Gods, she was a fucking gymnast! She was in better shape
than half of the whores in this damn class, but her father wanted her here. So here she was. She was sitting out today though, having given a very
graphic description of her imaginary “female issues” to her male gym teacher. Good to know that she could still rely on something to get her out
of this fucking pointless class.
I'll let you put your hands on me in my skin-tight jeans;
be your teenage dream tonight.
Dodging a ball that (probably purposefully flew at his face), Jude turned to the direction that it came from, a scowl twisting his normally
unconcerned features. Douches. Guess someone thought, in their immense boredom with their own life, that it was effin' hilarious to tag the
"loner" kid with a ball. He disagreed. Of course, he was probably a target, walking out into the middle of a battle zone. As usual, all of the kids
that deemed themselves "cool" and scared the entire population of the school into believe so were armed with balls and the other part of the student
body, the unnamed and unmentionable, were prey. High school was like the animal kingdom. Survival of the fittest. Only the strong survived...well that
wasn't entirely true. Only the strong and the impeccably smart enough to dodge the strong survived. That was where Jude existed. He dodged until the
"strong" got too full of themselves and got their lily asses handed to them. And then Jude existed in detention.
"Watch where you're walkin', Kāne!" A faceless voice shouted out to Jude as he made his way to the bleachers where Kaili was sitting. Even if
he'd seen the face, he still wouldn't have known the name. He was content calling them by type and number. This guy could be Douche #23 for
all Jude gave a crap. He didn't matter. And with a middle finger in the air, he was forgotten as Jude stuffed his hands into the pockets of his gym
pants, his school issued gym shirt hanging sloppily over the pants, untucked and a size too big. Mauli had bought the two AJW gym shirts that Jude
owned that way, hoping that they'd last Jude's entire high school career. They wouldn't, as his broad chest would probably just fit them by the end of
the year. That he was even dressed out in them was amazing considering he hated any form of school pride. He hated his school...that meant pride was
kind of ironic.
Stopping at the foot of the bleachers, he looked up, hoping to catch Kaili's eye, but she was staring off into space and looked about as interested in
being in gym class as he did. Should he call her name? Eh, probably not. It didn't take long to rule that idea out as he jogged up the stairs, his
dingy, drawn on chuck taylors that he only donned in the absence of his boots, thudded against the hard metal of the bleachers. Only a few steps away,
Kaili's head turned, her eyes resting on him as he arrived at her side, plopping down beside her.
"Hey..." He said simply, tucking a hair that had fallen back into his knot. After weeks of simple replies and not seeing a girl he'd almost spent the
entire summer with...his greeting was "hey". Just hey. Classic Jude, man.
Man has a choice and it's a choice that makes him a man...
She was just ready to go back to the Shore...Not there there was much for her there now a days either. That wasn’t entirely true. She just felt so
out of the loop, what with her friends still seeing one another everyday and her being stuck here in haloe hell. She was missing absolutely everything
and while Ailani was trying her hardest to keep her in the know about what was going on at Kahealani, it wasn’t the same as being there...And it was
certainly nothing like being here. Damn it all, she didn’t know how long she could stomach this place. Especially not if she had to keep
making it alone.
And somehow, as if the Gods heard her request, a familiar face caught her eye. She felt a full on smile overtake the sullen expression on her face as
she watched Jude close the small space left between them. It faded though as he spoke. Hey? Hey? That was the best he could come up with?
They hadn’t seen one another in weeks and he had been ignoring most of her texts and all he could say was hey? Ha.
“Hey-,” she smiled a bit, “Jude right? You know I haven’t heard from you in so long...” Half of her was being serious. She was pissed that
he had ignored her for so long, but the other half of her was kidding...sort of. She wondered what he’d done with the rest of his
summer...Who he’d done it with...Ugh! That was none of her business!
But if it cam up in conversations she probably wouldn’t change the subject.
I'll let you put your hands on me in my skin-tight jeans;
be your teenage dream tonight.
If looks could kill, Kaili's had already made their way to Jude's brain cells because everything in his head told him to proceed with caution as he
walked closer to her, catching the narrowing of those deep green eyes and the subtle nose flair. He was in trouble. But he knew that, right?
It had been three weeks. Three weeks without much of a conversation as he would barely text her back when she wrote him. And he hadn't called...not
after that day at the Falls. If there was any word that could have described his embarrassment, he would've used it in a phone conversation with her.
But there were no words. At all. Unc Li' had taking something that was probably going to be the coolest experience of his life and...fucked it up. AND
humiliated Jude in the process! What was he? An effin' five year old? Apparently Unc thought so as Jude was now BANNED from anything Shore
related...probably for the rest of his life. How was he supposed to explain that to Kaili? He couldn't...so he didn't. Instead, he morphed into a huge
dick and ignored her. Suave. Really.
Instead of turning around on his heels, he walked right up to her, sat down and said "Hey". Fail. Just...fail. "Hey" was for people that talked on a
daily basis and actually acknowledged the fact that the other was alive. She didn't deserve a "Hey". She deserved an apology for Jude's ass of an
uncle and a fruit basket for putting up with him. But all Jude had to offer was his shit "Hey". And apparently, Kaili thought it was shit, too, her
comeback making Jude's lips lift in a quick, guilty smile.
"Yeah...about that." Shifting lower, his back leaned against the bleacher behind him, his long legs crossing at the ankle. "I'm a dick..." Simple
enough. Hopefully she'd think so too and that would suffice. He wouldn't have to embarrass himself further and talk about that day...and his Uncle.
That was impossible though. Both would come up and he'd have some explaining to do. Lowering his head, he bit his lip and grimaced at the rebuttal
that would come.
"I'm sorry." Looking up at her from the side, he smiled again. "Really. I am."
Man has a choice and it's a choice that makes him a man...
Yeah. How about that? An explaination wasn’t too far out of the question was it? They spend a few great hours together at the Falls before his Uncle
drags him off into oblivion, never to be heard from again? Well, scarcely to be heard from...On the rare occasion he replied to one of her texts,
she’d get her hopes all high on inviting him over and when she finally did the texts stopped. She spent weeks trying to figure out why, until she
just came to the conclusion that it was her he didn’t want to see. Keahi had told her to stop texting him, but even then she still did and
she just looked stupider, and stupider, and...God, had he always been this cute? She couldn’t help but smile as he admitted that he had been a dick
for not calling.
“Yeah, well...The first step on the road to recovery is admitting you have a problem-,” she joked, her hand tossing her hair back a little as she made herself comfortable. She didn’t want to be mad at Jude; in fact, he was just what she needed. A friend. She hated
AJW and surviving with someone who probably hated it more was something she was not going to pass up. Especially not with such a cute apology!
Jude’s eyes shifted sideways ,his eyes meeting hers as he smiled. Forgiven. Instantly forgiven. She smiled in response and the desire to hug him
became even stronger. She thought about telling him she missed him, but how fucking lame would that sound. So she said nothing about his apology, sure
that that stupid look on her face made things pretty obvious. She was happy to see him now and that was enough.
“So how’d you enjoy the last of your freedom?”
I'll let you put your hands on me in my skin-tight jeans;
be your teenage dream tonight.
Freedom? What freedom? From the moment that Jude left the clearing of the Forest on the Shore, mounted his bike in the back of his Unc's truck and
slid inside of the cab to pout, he had done just that. Pout. The rest of his summer had been composed of pouting and brooding, silently walking
through the apartment (when he wasn't shut up in his room) with a permanent scowl etched on his face and not much else. No words, no
answers...nothing. Especially when it came to Mauli. He had nothing TO say to his uncle. Nothing would make the utter embarrassment of having your
uncle intrude on your life and then insult the only friend you really cared to have in the same breath. Nothing. Not like Mauli was trying to make
things better. No, he just made like nothing happened and continued to ignore Jude's angst, as usual. He didn't even talk about it. Not like having
the answer to WHY Mauli had been so livid when he discovered Jude on the Shore without permission and why it even mattered in the first place would
have lessened Jude's attitude, but it would've been nice to know...something. Something about the laws and rules that reigned over his life,
put in place by overlord Mauli. Like why it was so bad to be anywhere NEAR the Shore...or...maybe...what the hell happened to his parents. But of
course, there was nothing. As usual, Jude was in the dark.
"How about not at all? I literally stared at the four walls of my room the rest of the summer." Smiling sourly, Jude rolled his eyes at his own
misfortune and what was worse, his own compliance with Mauli's dumb ass demands. The Shore is not an option. Seriously, keep your ass off of
it. There was something so familiar about Mauli's words...mostly because they sounded just like the pricks that had told him to go back to his
own side after two seconds on the Kai Pulehu. And, just like Keahi. How could he forget Kaili's charming brother? Impossible.
"School is a break, really. I'd rather be here..." No, he'd rather be on the Shore. That was the truth. But he wouldn't say that to Kaili. There was
no way he COULD say it without fearing that he sounded like a complete poser. Someone who wanted to be included so badly that he couldn't help but
pretend he belonged anywhere. That wasn't it. Not at all. Most of the time, it felt good not to belong to the "other side". His attachment to the
Shore was something he couldn't ignore...nor something he could control. It just...pulled at him and he didn't know why.
"Bet the rest of your summer was ten times more eventful..." Jude only half meant that statement. With a brother like hers, Mauli didn't look so bad.
He was sure she'd done just as much as Jude had with the rest of his summer. But hell, at least she did it on the Shore. The place where he wanted to
be...
Man has a choice and it's a choice that makes him a man...
Well...yeah. She could have guessed that he might have been in a little trouble after his uncle’s reaction to them being in the Falls. Hell, Keahi
had given her hell about it too before her dad told him to lay off...which was weird in itself...A lot of things had been weird at her house lately.
Her mother was barely speaking to her dad and when she was, Kaili could tell it was...forced. She had become distant and whenever Kaili asked her
about it she would say things were fine. They weren’t, but Kaili couldn’t piece together what was wrong. And then there was her father, who seemed
to be ignoring her mother’s temper tantrum and focusing on Kaili and her friends. He would ask, generally at first, things like ‘Who are
you going to be out with today?’. After getting ‘just friends’ back more than he wanted to hear he had begun to ask specifically. Have you
heard from the Kane boy?
Well today he would be happy to know that she had, in fact, heard from the Kane boy. Here they were filling one another in on the details of their
last days of summer...or lack there of. It seemed like Jude did a whole lot of nothing every time she asked what he’d been up to. His life
couldn’t be that uneventful! Hell, even Kaili had done a few parties, a kickback or two, and that very unfortunate trip to Seaside with her friends,
which wouldn’t have been so unfortunate if Nui hadn’t been his usual handsy self. Jude could’ve come, but she wasn’t sure what
Nui’d do if she invited him. She didn’t risk it.
But apparently she should have! Jude had been bored the rest of his summer, staring at the four walls of his bedroom with nothing to do. Why hadn’t
he just come back to the Shore? It was obvious his uncle didn’t want him there, but it was also pretty clear Jude barely cared what he wanted. Yeah,
she’d had a little fun before school started, but she would’ve had a lot more if Jude had been there.
“It was okay. About the same I guess-,” that wasn’t true, but what was the point of rubbing his boredom in his face? “I don’t know about
this place being a break though. I don’t know how you stand it here. It’s so-,” her words were stopped mid-sentence as a red rubber ball smacked
into the bleacher space mere inches from her head before bouncing off and back down the bleachers. It was obviously aimed at her and obviously
intentional...and she was going to make someone eat that fucking ball.
An amused ‘sorry’ from the foot of the bleachers met her ears before the fit of giggles that followed. Oh good. Cheerleader bitch 1 and 2. Why she
had bothered trying out was beyond her now. Kaili just wanted something that might get her a few people to hang with and a place to eat lunch. Nothing
major. She had been the best tumbler in the group of cute freshmen and wanna be upperclassmen, but she didn’t have the connections. They spent most
of the audition pretending they didn’t remember her name and when she got tired of it she walked out. Fuck it. And them. She regretted the tryout.
But now she wouldn’t be the only one regretting something.
“You’re not sorry yet ke aloha, but I’m coming-,” a dangerous smile took her lips as she stood up, not giving her conversation with
Jude a second thought as she began to make her way down the bleachers.
I'll let you put your hands on me in my skin-tight jeans;
be your teenage dream tonight.
Okay, so, Jude's life could be described as a bit...redundant. And it wasn't just during the summer, it was...typical. Not a big deal,
though. He kinda liked the type of redundant that he woke up to everyday...when Mauli didn't have something to say about it. He woke up, did the
school thing, disappeared for a few hours and came home at nightfall. What he was doing during those hours was his business and yes, he did it alone.
Not that there was much mystery to it. It was one of two things. Drawing or sketching. Or sometimes, drawing and sketching, simultaneously. OR he just
sat...and thought. Wow. He was the King of Multitalented, it seemed. And what was the best about his time alone, no company. Not that there was anyone
from AJW that was a threat to that fact. No one wasted their time on the Kāne kid.
But he had to admit, the Shore kinda shook that redundancy up a bit. He liked the change. He liked the way that there was a different something to see
everyday with Kaili. How the sights never grew old because there was some new story that he'd, of course, never heard to go along with it. The Shore
was the only time that the "plain and typical" had to move over for something new. The plain, the typical and...the loner-thing. Yeah, the loner thing
was taking a nose dive too as it seemed that Jude had a...friend. Yeah, pretty damn synonymous, he knew that to be true. But he did. Sitting
next to her and even having then need to feel like apologizing for disappearing like he always did said enough on its own. And missing her company
during the weeks that closed out his summer. Of course that was kind of easy as the only face he saw when he chose to emerge from his room to eat and
pee as his uncle's. And that face...was as set and angry as ever. It was almost like his expression said "you're not going any-damn-where that my eyes
can't watch you". His summer blew...and it blew even more without...the Shore.
Her summer was just okay? Oh. Jude kind of expected more, he guessed. Even with the brooding, overbearing brother. Not like Jude had thought about
what a Shore summer would've been like. Bonfires on Kai Pulehu. Eating sugar cane from the old sugar cane field on one of his friend's porches.
Closing out the night with a rager at the Nui Mu caves. Okay, yeah...maybe he had thought about summers on the Shore. Could anyone blame him? As long
as he could remember, he'd never wanted anything before that involved anything "social". No party had ever interested him. No clique had ever called
his name. But when he saw the tanned skin, long black hair and slanted eyes like his own on the Shore, he knew that something inside of him had
changed.
Listening to her talk about summer slipped in to AJW...and how much she hated it. Yeah, that was obvious and completely expected. With a face that
looked like his, he got a lot of shit too. If not from the student body, from the teachers. Yeah, there were obviously kids who went to the school who
shared ancestors from the South Shore, but they were way more..."assimilated", not even trying to understand their roots like Jude did. It was almost
like there wasn't even a hunger there to even understand who they were. They were too busy buying Hollister and popping their collars and...
"What the fuck..." Ducking a bit as a red dodge ball thudded loudly on the bleachers behind Kaili's head, he looked around quickly, seeing the two
cheerleaders who'd probably launched the ball in her direction in the first place. And it was obviously meant for her. Shit. Her first month or two
here and she already had enemies? Yeah, not completely unbelievable, especially how these dumb girls carried on. Rumors, lies,
fights...catfights, actually. It was pretty sad and fucking ridiculous. They were THAT bored with their lives, apparently. And that stupid
too, as one of them thought they'd catch a funny starting shit with Kaili. Standing up, he looked down the bleachers, his face setting into an
expression that looked way too much like something his Unc' Li would wear.
"The fuck crawled up their asses?" He muttered as he stared down at them, turning to look at Kaili, who'd stood up too. Instead, he only
saw...bleacher as Kaili was walking downward...towards the ball launchers. This would not be good. Especially if Kaili made it down the bleachers, her
fist making contact with one of those girls.
"Kaili? Kaili. Hold on a minute..."
Man has a choice and it's a choice that makes him a man...
Hold on a minute? No. Because waiting even a second would mean that their disrespect was okay and that they could continue to behave that way.
Absolutely not! She was Akame, her blood was sacred, and whether they knew it or not they were to respect her on her own damn island! No. There would
be no waiting. Discipline had to come swift and without mercy. Her father had taught her that and it didn’t go away just because she was on the
other side of the island. These assholes would be reprimanded for what they had done and they wouldn’t do it again. That Kaili could guarantee.
Her face stayed straight as she approached the bottom of the bleachers and as her foot met the hardwood of the gym floor the bitch she assumed had
thrown the ball stepped forward. It was then Kaili decided she was either brave or stupid, “Problem-,” the question met Kaili’s ears as the girl
smirked. Stupid it was. She didn’t know who she was talking to and she was gravely mistaken in where she thought this was leading. Kaili drew up to
full height, her chin raising as she gave this girl a lazy once over. It was insane how much they had in common. Their hair was the same shade of
black, their eyes had the same almond shape, and even though her skin was perhaps a little lighter than Kaili’s, they were obviously both from the
island...and yet, here they were, about to fight over their single difference.
“Your ignorance is not an excuse-,” Kaili began simply. “I’m not going to give you the history lesson you are so desperately in need of, but
know...-,” Kaili took a step forward, standing nose to nose with the girl as a kind of semi circle formed around them, with the girls friends at her
back, should Kaili make a move. “You try that shit again and I’ll have you buried-,” The girl opened her mouth to speak and Kaili
raised a hand to stop her. She spoke anyway.
“And who the hell are you supposed to be?” Kaili did not answer with words. Before anyone could blink, the back of her hand had connected
with the outspoken girl’s face and she was on the floor. Only one of her friends moved to her aid, the others seemingly shocked that Kaili had
actually hit her. Hm. Maybe this girl was someone important to...Nah. Kaili slowly crouched down so that she could be level with the girl on the
floor, now holding her face as her friend asked if she was okay.
It was almost as if Kaili couldn't hear Jude calling her name, calling TO her, as she walked down the bleachers with so much authority that it made
his voice falter for a moment. Her head held high, fist clenched, eyes focused. It was the same stance she'd taken on the Kai Pulehu when her
brother's friend, Nui, had challenged her. And he'd backed down as soon as the dominance in her voice overtook him. Jude had even halted at the sound
of her voice, something inside of him frozen from the strength. He knew that he dare not move, dare not breathe, dare not twitch a fucking muscle when
he heard that voice. But because he felt that way, it did not mean that others who were like him, as foreign to the Shore as he was, felt the
same way. Most of them had already found a place to belong on the other side. From what Jude was beginning to learn from Kaili, their ancestors
abandoned the Shore, fled from the growing threat of invaders and started a new life. With that new life, they lost all respect for things Moku and
embraced European ways. They didn't understand anything about the Shore anymore. They were as ignorant as he was...well, use to be.
And the ignorance didn't stop as Kaili made her way down the bleachers, her feet hitting the hardwood floor and the expressions on the faces of the
"in crowd" surrounding her completely amused with her boldness. Pretty accurate though as Kaili stood by herself and the ball thrower pretty much had
her entire crew. But they didn't know Kaili. Jude didn't completely know Kaili. His uncle had seen to that when he banned him from the Shore, making
it impossible to even get two words in with her until the year started. Somehow, when the thoughts about the summer stopped and the scene playing
before Jude kicked back into his mind, he wondered...when? When had he stopped being so concerned about what Kaili could teach him about the Shore and
all things Moku and...started to be about...Kaili?
Shifting uncomfortably, he tried to weigh his options. One, he could let this thing play out and...shit, no time to reason. Kaili's face was inches
away from the girl who'd thrown the ball and neither of the girls looked like they were backing down anytime soon. Stepping down a few bleachers, Jude
listened to the dialogue going on between the two and cringed at Kaili's. "Oh shit. Kaili..." His whisper went unheard as he made his way down the
rest of the bleachers faster than he had taken the previous three. But all of the rushing didn't do a damn thing as he watched, in horror, as Kaili's
hand made contact with the girl's face, the strength of the slap knocking her to the ground.
"Ah hell..." A shrill whistle sounded at the back of the gym as the group of students around Kaili and the other girl reacted to her slap. Without
thinking, Jude pushed towards the center of the crowd where Kaili was hovering over the girl. With a sweep of his harm, he caught her by the middle,
pulling her backwards as he continued to walk, the fluent Hawaiian still streaming as he pushed her through the doors and out into the hall.
Man has a choice and it's a choice that makes him a man...
She heard the same whistle Jude had heard, but apparently it meant more to him than it did her. She wasn’t finished telling the ignorant bitch who
she “was supposed to be” yet and only when she was finished did she plan on leaving the girl be. Kaili couldn’t get over the fact that someone
so like her, could be the ringleader in her ridicule. For all this girl knew, she was Akame as well and she was bring a shame to her ancestors great
enough to make them roll over in their graves...Kaili highly doubted the girl cared though.
And neither did Kaili as she leaned in to finish the tirade she’d started; only she never got the chance. Just as the first few words of Hawaiian
left her lips belittling the girl in front of her, she felt an arm as her waist lifting her from her feet and quickly carrying her off. She struggled
against the force holding her back, continuing to yell, sure there was no one in the gym that understood what she was saying, but feeling her
frustration alleviate with every word. She was sure one of the gym teachers was separating the two of them, so the surprise on her face when she saw
that it was Jude was obvious. As he placed her solidly on her feet in the hallway, she found words that he would understand.
“I wasn’t finished with her, Kane!”
I'll let you put your hands on me in my skin-tight jeans;
be your teenage dream tonight.
What the hell!? With Kaili's voice still screaming in his ear, her small body pushing against him with a strength that he would've never GUESSED
existed. His sneakers squeaked against the no-wax, pre-glossed gym floor as he felt himself move backwards by an inch. Huffing against her, he pulled
harder, just praying that he didn't hurt her. Although as pumped up as she was, he wasn't even sure that she knew it was him pulling her away from the
gym and through the doors. Kaili was "out", at the moment, her mouth still going at top speed, the language that Jude was still so unfortunately
familiar with, streaming from her. And all of that, aimed at someone who didn't understand a word she was saying either. And probably didn't give a
shit. And that was why there was nothing to do but get Kaili out of there and pray that the gym teacher that was making his way towards the semicircle
that had surrounded Kaili and the girl she'd hit hadn't seen them make a break for it.
Ignoring Kaili's complaint for the moment, Jude stood in the middle of the hallway, his arm still wrapped around her waist as he looked for...there.
Up the hallway. An empty class room that he knew would stay that way for a period or two. Without answering Kaili, he let her go, only to grab her
wrist and pull her into the classroom, slamming the door behind him. The room was perfect for hiding for a second or two. They'd wait until they could
slip out and make a break for it. Sure, she'd have to deal with crap eventually as she'd just slapped the taste buds out of a cheerleaders mouth. And
now, it looked like she was running away. With an accomplice. Damn, he sounded like his uncle. And he didn't care. She needed to calm down. There was
no way that he was letting her sit in the principal's office wound up like this. As he switched off the light, he pulled her near him, his finger
going to his lips.
"I really think..." He said, halfway answering Kaili's comment with one of his own. "...that you should be finished. But that's just what I think."
Letting her go, he leaned against the door and slid to the floor and took his hair down, ruffling it as he stared at his shoes.
"She wasn't worth it and trust me...anything else would be a waste of breath."
Man has a choice and it's a choice that makes him a man...
What the hell was he doing?! Jude was pulling her away from a fight she was completely justified in starting and he was taking his sweet time telling
her exactly why he was doing it. In fact, his face said that his mind was on something else completely. As he put her back on her feet, her small
frame still against his there was a pause as he searched the empty hallway for...what? What? It was done now. She would answer for hitting the
ignorant bitch in the gym regardless of what happened next, so why had he taken her? If she was going to get in trouble, she should have at least
gotten to finish what she started. It may not have solved much, but enlightening that bitch sure as well would have made her feel better. It
seemed Jude didn’t care though, his warmth leaving her side only to have his hand catch her wrist and rush her down the hallway. Still without an
explanation.
They went into an empty classroom, the door slamming shut behind them as he quickly flipped the light switch off and pulled her in again...Was it odd
that, even angry, she liked being that close to him? She didn’t know what it was. Maybe it was in the way he smelled or how he gave off this warm
kind of...energy or maybe...maybe it was the way he was handling her right now. Just before she was able to ask why he had brought her here,
he spoke; a finger over his lips demanding quiet and his words of suggestion, more of a soft command. One she found herself complying to. She was
quiet as he let her go, his body sinking to the floor as he undid his hair and his eyes found his shoes. Kaili’s eyes did the same as an awkward
silence settled over the two of them. It was short lived, as Jude was speaking again moments later.
She wasn’t worth it... Of course she wasn’t, but she needed to know that Kali wasn’t going to let her bully her like she’d seen her
do a few of the other girls. Despite what the assholes that went to this place thought, she was better than that. Better than them...and she wasn’t
going to let them disrespect her...But he was right. But she would still plead her case.
“You don’t get it. She can’t talk to me like that.”
I'll let you put your hands on me in my skin-tight jeans;
be your teenage dream tonight.
Feeling her lower herself to his side, Jude concentrated even harder on his shoes. Even when he talked to her, he kept thinking to himself, reminding
himself...who the hell did he think he was? That was why he couldn't look at her. He felt out of place, wrong. Who the hell was he to tell
her that she was wrong for wanting to beat the shit out of someone who by all means, deserved it? Those cheerleaders were cannibals. They ate people
alive. It was sick to see how badly they picked on people who couldn't defend themselves and didn't know enough to stay out of their way. So, why
couldn't he have just let Kaili take a chunk out of there perfect asses and not give a shit about the consequences? Because he knew Kaili. He knew her
father. He knew more about her than he knew about anyone at AJW...which actually said a lot considering that he didn't give a crap about anyone at
AJW. And the most important thing that he knew? That she had no idea about anything outside of her home, the Shore.
"She..." He hesitated, trying to figure out how to answer Kaili's comment without upsetting her even more. His ocher eyes went to hers, giving her the
once over before he finished speaking. "...can say whatever she wants to say to you." Shit, that didn't come out too well. He hadn't expressed himself
in the most eloquent way, but he wasn't lying to Kaili or being a smart ass. He was only telling her the truth, the best way he knew how. He didn't
have any stories to give her, any 'lore to explain the things that he would have to tell her about off of the Shore. There were no tales to explain
what he would say.
"She can talk to you any way she pleases because she doesn't know to care. She doesn't know what Akame means. She doesn't know because she
doesn't want to know." His gaze fell away from her again...in embarrassment. The people off of the Shore, the people like him, were just the same AS
him. They didn't know anything about the heritage that their ancestors knew like the lines etched across their palms. The didn't know and they weren't
like Jude because they never wanted to know. The cheerleader that insulted Kaili was the same.
"Not every lost Moku wants back on the Shore. Not everyone...is like me." His voice trailed off into silence at the truth in his words.
Man has a choice and it's a choice that makes him a man...
He wouldn’t look at her. A heavier silence fell over the two of them after she spoke and Kaili could only hope that he just wanted to get his
thoughts together. She sure as hell needed to. She had honestly thought nothing of going for that girl. She wasn’t anyone important by Kaili’s
standards and she was more than rude for absolutely no reason at all. Kaili couldn’t see why Jude had taken her away. Sure, the gym teacher
would’ve probably had her shipped to the principal's office; they could do that here she guessed, but even if they did, how bad would that be?
Hell, if they had fought, maybe it’d be enough to get her expelled from this hellhole. Maybe a fight was just the ticket she needed to get back to
the Shore. Back to where things like this would never happen and she didn’t have to fight for the respect she deserved.
Jude finally spoke, his words pulling her from her thoughts as he carefully answered Kaili’s last comment. She can say whatever she wants to
you. Her brow furrowed as she felt a second ball of rage build in her throat, threatening to spill from her lips before Jude had a chance to
explain...That he definitely needed to do, because that couldn’t have come out the way he meant it to. “Excuse you-,”
her tone was challenging, dangerous. If he wasn’t careful, Jude was about to be the next person she slapped that day and she had no reservations
about it.
She watched him carefully as he tried to explain what’d he’d said, his words even more careful as Kaili hung on every last one of them, waiting to
hear something she knew she wouldn’t like...Akame meant nothing here...Wow. She knew it was fact, but hearing it out loud like that was different
from just thinking it. Hearing it out loud made it real. Akame meant nothing to these people because they had no idea what the history was. No
idea who she was. And according to Jude, they didn’t care to know. How could that be? The haloes she could understand; they never cared before
conquering, they simply took what they pleased and shaped it where they needed to to make it what they wanted. But the locals? The Pacific Islanders
born and raised in Kapuhai Reef, with bloodlines dating back to before King Kamehameha? They didn’t care?...And did it really matter?
“So...we’re just supposed to take their shit? Run from every fight with our tails between our legs?...I can’t do that. I’m Akame, Jude. You
may not understand, but that’s not the way of our tribe...” It never had been. In the history, the Akame tribe had been the warriors; the
strongest of the Pueo came from her tribe and they prided themselves on that...It was more ‘lore for her to tell him later. At a time when
their situation wasn’t so...this.
I'll let you put your hands on me in my skin-tight jeans;
be your teenage dream tonight.
Hell. The first line of an explanation and Jude was already fucking everything he wanted to say up. And the expression on Kaili's face said
the same thing that he knew: his words were numbered. He hadn't meant to make it sound the way it did, but everything that he had said, in
those few words, was truth. It wasn't watered down and it wasn't sugared up for Kaili. Jude wouldn't do the same for her, he wouldn't treat shit like
pleasantries. There were still some things about the Shore that he did not know simply because she hadn't told him yet. And he was thinking...that
maybe those things she couldn't tell him. By law of her tribe and by instruction of her brother...and maybe even her father. But there was nothing
that Jude had to hold back from her. So he took a breath, hoping inside of himself that he was saying the right words and started again, falling
silent when there was nothing left to let in but the quiet. He swallowed hard, his eyes still not meeting Kaili's, even after his words were over. He
couldn't hep but wonder what was going on in her head, but he was sure that very soon...he'd know.
"No, I'm not saying that..." Finally, he looked up at Kaili, the rest of her question continuing over his words. He watched her speak. Watched her
body straighten as she repeated her family name. And it happened again, the same way it'd happened when she'd told the cheerleader her name. Her chest
swelled, her chin rose. And Jude was sure that even though he had not seen her eyes, they looked the way that they did now. They ignited in front of
him. She was Akame. Her name meant so much to her and with the power she spoke it with, she expected it to mean so much to anyone who she
spoke it to. Maybe on the Shore it did. And maybe when it was uttered to Jude, it did. But outside of the Shore, it didn't matter. No matter how much
respect she expected when the name left her lips.
"I...no one should ever have to take their shit. Fuck them..." Swallowing, he bit his lip softly as her eyes burned into him, waiting for him to
answer her. To understand her dilemma that being away from her people and those who feared and respected her presented. "These AJW kids are assholes.
They don't give two shits about bloodlines or...or ancestors...haoles or not."
"It's about thinking smart and realizing that Akame doesn't reach to every side of the island...and I don't think that makes you any less Akame...does
it?"
Man has a choice and it's a choice that makes him a man...
Damn right he would know! She had no problem telling Jude exactly what she thought about all of this bullshit. That bitch could not
speak to her the way she had, regardless of what she did and did not know... She at least deserved the respect of a human being. Fuck that girl and
everything she stood for and if Jude was going along with this madness...then he wasn’t the guy she thought he was. No...He wasn’t the
man she thought he was. This entire side of the island was the Inception of bullshit. It was bullshit within some bullshit and how anyone
lived this way was absolutely and completely beyond her understanding, but Jude was trying to explain.
He wasn’t saying that she was just supposed to take their shit. So what the hell was he saying? Kaili wasn’t wrong in what she’d done and anyone
who tried to tell her she was would learn exactly why she felt as justified as she did! She had done nothing wrong! If they’d have been in South
Shore the bitch would have been killed. On the spot. But...that was the point Jude was trying to make. They weren’t on South Shore. Ugh. He was
right...By the Gods, he was right and she had been too upset to care before. Akame meant nothing on this side of the island...at least...it didn’t
to those who didn’t know real history.
Kaili sighed, knees bending as she sank to the floor across from him. She couldn’t do this...“I’m going to die here-,” her words were slow,
whispered. “I’m serious Jude, I feel like I’m being smothered under all of these rules and these people that make absolutely no sense to
any--,” she stopped herself. She was doing too much, rambling on and on about something she was sure Jude had already dealt with and moved on from.
He didn’t care. “Sorry...”
She would keep it to herself...at least until she got home. Ailani would care. Or at least pretend she did...Ugh! When did the day end? The soon this
was over the sooner she could get back to where she belonged.
I'll let you put your hands on me in my skin-tight jeans;
be your teenage dream tonight.
Breathing. Was Jude even still breathing? Yeah, he was. Even in the silence, the aftermath of what he'd just said to Kaili still rang in his ears,
like the slap from Kaili that he was sure was about to come his way. But it didn't. Even as she hovered near him, her body still, letting all of the
things that he'd just said sink in, there was no slap. No words. No movement for a few seconds. It was almost as if she was taking his words in, just
the same way that he took the 'lore of her people and let it sink into himself. Those stories filled him to the brim. Made him feel like he was apart
of the history she spoke of. But this, this would build her up. It wouldn't swell inside of her like a warm wave. What Jude had to say to her was sour
and stale. And it stuck like all hell. And he was...pissed that it had to be him that told her the truth of off the Shore.
Finally, she moved, sinking to the floor, her body crouching in front of him. Jude was afraid to meet her eyes. Afraid to see the realization of the
truth in what he was saying there. He was afraid...to know that he put the flicker of flame that was there so bright...out. But he looked anyway. And
he heard her words. I'm going to die here... Shaking his head, he moved closer to her, listening to her words and grimacing at the pain he
heard there. AJW was torture. Not just for her, but for him too. He hated everything that it represented. Conformity. The loss of a history that he
didn't even know as the only history that they taught was straight out of the history books. Not the history that Kaili told him. Not the words that
she told him. He hated everything about school, about home, about how...trapped he felt. He hated...being away from the Shore. He could stand it. And
neither could she...
"Don't apologize." He whispered, still shaking his head at her words. "Don't apologize for...they way you feel. I don't want you to." Staring into her
eyes, he wished that his eyes could speak the way that his mouth refused to. He wanted her to know she wasn't alone...and that he felt just as stifled
and breathless. But his mouth didn't do emotion too well. His lips didn't do "feelings". Instead he watched her, hoping she would keep talking. Hoping
that she could hear through his silence.
Man has a choice and it's a choice that makes him a man...
The truth was...numbing. She wasn’t hurt by it and she certainly wasn’t happy about it. She just...was. This was the first time in her
sixteen years of life that she felt nothing and she knew it was the beginning. The beginning of the rest of her life off of the shore...If she could
call it that. It was more like her existence. There was no way she’d be able to live this way. Walking around issues she didn’t know to
tread over lightly and tiptoeing around the things she’d been raised to put her foot down on. What was she supposed to do? How was she supposed to
come here day after day, week after week for the next two years? She couldn’t. she had to talk to her dad, she had to fix this!
Her dad would understand and tell her she could come home...and Jude wouldn’t have to listen to her whining anymore. Even though he didn’t seem to
mind. Her eyes fell to his as he told her not to apologize and she smiled a bit, the memory of the last time he told her there was no need to
apologize. I feel like I keep having to apologize for assholes. That day it had been Nui and then Keahi. Today it was her. She shouldn’t
have been unloading all of this on him; he didn’t deserve it...but as his eyes stayed on hers, she knew he at least understood.
Without thought, she leaned into him her arms falling around his neck as she hugged him; probably tighter than she should have. “Thanks-,” she
said softly, speaking pretty much into his neck, “For listening...” she pulled away then, pretty sure she had made this situation sufficiently
uncomfortable for him. She had to put a bit of normalcy back into this...
“So...I’m pretty much done with this place for today...-,” She wanted nothing more than to ask him for a ride back to the Shore. They could
totally spend the day doing whatever he wanted to do as long as they weren’t doing it on this haloe infested side of the island.
I'll let you put your hands on me in my skin-tight jeans;
be your teenage dream tonight.
Always apologizing. It was something that Kaili couldn't find the will to stop doing. She apologized for the guys on the Shore, for her brother, for
Nui. For herself. And to Jude, it almost felt like she was apologizing for everything...that he didn't understand. Apologizing because he just didn't
get it. But he did. Even if it wasn't in the way that she did. Sure, he was learning the ways of a people that were so lost to him. Everything seemed
so foreign sometimes. The tongue. The folklore that she knew as her first bedtime stories. The hills, sand, water...everything that made up the land
of the Shore. But one thing he did know was being lost. Being alone and feeling like you just didn't belong. He got that. Nothing that she was
experiencing was something she needed to apologize about. Not to Jude. And he didn't care. He could take the weight of feeling like the outsider
looking in...because he'd already survived it for so long.
Opening his mouth to say more as the silence that settled between them, even in a few short seconds, was stifling, Jude stopped. He couldn't
speak...couldn't say anything as Kaili leaned forward, her arms wrapping around his neck, pulling him into her. First reaction? Frozen. He couldn't
move. She was hugging him and...he could honestly say that it'd been awhile...since someone had hugged him like that. Like they really meant it.
Awhile...meaning never. Mauli didn't hug him. The only thing he'd ever gotten from his Unc' was a reassuring pat. And that had been so long ago, he'd
forgotten how it had even felt. And this...this hug was nothing like that. It was...warm. Kind of...uncomfortable. But it was...good. Nice. It only
took a second for his hands to find the small of her back, pulling her even more into him. He felt like she needed it. And somewhere, in between her
"thank you" and her pulling away...he knew he needed it too.
"You're welcome." He muttered, watching her as she pulled away from him, the feeling of her against him still lingering against his skin. And annoying
tingle sitting there on his flesh, making his hair rise. He...wished she hadn't pulled away so quickly.
Standing up before she even finished her sentence, he held out his hand and helped her to her feet. She didn't have to say much more. He was tired of
that place, too. He knew where to go. And even though it was off limits to him, he felt it calling to him so much more...strongly at that moment.
Maybe because Kaili wanted out. Maybe because he needed to get out of that room before the memory of that head made his head even more...made him even
more...he just needed to leave.
"Let's go..."
Man has a choice and it's a choice that makes him a man...
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