New Hope

a Ushio and Tora fanfiction by Shi Tiger

'Asako!' the feminine voice of her best friend summoned the dark 
haired girl  from her thoughts.  'Mayuko-chan,' the tomboy answered in 
return, eyes  focused on the cheery female running towards her.  Light 
brownish red hair  straight hair flowing past her shoulders, loving 
smile adorning her lips.   Asako N sighed under her breath as she 
watched her friend stop in front of  her, white skirt brushing her 
knees.  

'Are you ready to go?' the younger one asked, smiling gently at her 
darker  haired friend.  Asako nodded, casting a half glance back at 
her parent's  restaurant before shrugging her shoulders.  The sun beat 
down on them softly  from the cloudy sky, the spring wind blowing 
around them.  'It's nice of  your parents to let you have a day off,' 
Mayuko mused aloud, one hand  clutching her bagstrap over her 
shoulder.  'Yeah, after dad tried to set me  up with Ushio-baka again.  
I swear, even for him, he doesn't get it at all.   I wouldn't even get 
along with Ushio if he wasn't a friend from way back,'  Asako grumbled 
half to herself, still annoyed at her father's usual  comments.  'He 
just wants you to be happy, that's all.  Besides, I don't  think you 
act all that much like a boy, even if you do tend to dress in  jeans 
all the time and get into fights.  Ushio's a boy and you're always  
beating him up,' the other girl laughed at the image.  

'Ushio may be a boy, but he sure is a pain at times.  I can't believe 
he  kept it a secret from me for so long.  I can't believe YOU didn't 
tell me, '  Asako glared at the girl next to her who just sweatdropped 
in return.  'He  was worried about what you'd do if you found out that 
he was a demon hunter.    Besides, you did beat him up when you found 
out, and in front of Tora-kun  too,' Mayuko sighed.  'He deserved it.  
And besides, Tora needed a good  laugh.  That fuzzy tiger monster 
probably gets smacked around a lot with  Ushio handling the Beast 
Spear.  Not that he doesn't deserve it most of the  time, I'm sure, 
with his antics.  They do make a funny pair, don't they?'  Asako 
laughed.  The other female nodded with a smile.  It was true, the boy  
and beast had a very strange relationship.  

'Mayuko, why didn't you ever tell me about Tora?  Now that I know, it 
seems  like you weren't afraid of him at all.  Bringing him hamburgers 
all the  time.  Do you have a crush on old fuzz face or something?' 
Asako crossed her  hands behind her head and glanced to the side.  The 
lighter skinned girl  blushed gently and mumbled something under her 
breath, eyes focused on the  ground.  'What was that?' Asako asked, 
staring at her longtime friend.  'I  said, Tora isn't the one I have a 
crush on,' she whispered, eyes darting  away.  'Ushio?' the other girl 
commented, wishing... hoping... that it  wasn't him.  'No,' Mayuko's 
shocked answer came as a surprise, light brown  eyes meeting dark 
ones.  'Who?' Asako's breath hitched in her throat, the  world seemed 
frozen around them where they stood alone on the sidewalk.  

'You,' the younger girl's voice whispered softly, their eyes still 
holding  one another captive.  The silence surrounded them, broken 
only by gentle  breathing.  Then, the other girl laughed.  It was a 
pleasant sound, one of  relief and true happiness.  'Asako,' Mayuko 
spoke lightly, staring at her  friend now bent over, arms wrapped 
around her waist, the laughter coming out  between sharp gasps of air.  
'I'm... sorry, Mayuko,' Asako finally managed  to speak, straightning 
with a large smile on her face.  Shoulderlength black  hair tustled 
from the wind, dark eyes speaking of hidden truths.  

'Are you mad?' Mayuko wondered aloud, her face strangely pale in the  
sunlight.  'Why would I be mad?  It's not everyday that a cute girl 
tells me  she has a crush on me,' Asako answered, wrapping an arm 
around the shorter  girl's shoulders and drawing her closer.  Mayuko 
stared up into dark eyes  that smiled down at her.  'Why haven't you 
ever told me before?' Asako  wanted to know.  'Because... I thought 
you and Ushio... well...' the other  girl wasn't sure how to answer.  
'I already told you, we're just friends.   Boys don't interest me at 
all.  They're too violent and annoying and  pigheaded.  Well... Ushio 
is anyways,' Asako chuckled to herself at the  reminder of her 
stubborn male friend.  

'I just assumed that you two would one day get married, that's why I 
didn't  say anything.  You're parents expect you to be with him,' 
Mayuko exclaimed  softly.  'I don't care.  It's my life, not their's.  
I'll be with whomever I  love... and I love you, Mayuko-chan,' the 
tomboy whispered.  Light eyes  danced up at her in amazement, then 
tenderness.  The taller girl curled her  newfound love closer in her 
arms, thanking the gods for this chance.  After  a few moments, they 
parted, staring at each other with new eyes.  A delicate  hand reached 
out, taking the older girl's soft, yet workscrubbed hand and  clasping 
them together softly.  Smiling, they continued on their way,  anxious 
to spend the day together.  

'So... do you think Ushio and Tora are going to fall in love, 'Mayuko 
asked.    Asako laughed gently before answering.  'You never know.  It 
could happen.    They're both stubborn enough for it.  A boy and his 
tiger monster.  That  would certainly prove that love is boundless and 
free.'  Asako stared up at  the sunlit sky for a moment before 
Mayuko's soft voice brought her back to  the present.  'Neither race 
nor gender nor age can break true love,' the  whisper twirled around 
them on the wind as they stepped towards the future  with joined 
hands.  

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Author's Note:  These two make a cute couple.  Asako the tomboy and 
Mayuko,  the more feminine of the pair. 
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