(Outdated) The King of Elements (part 2)

Chapter 69

"Hey, Katherine?"

"Hm?" She didn't move a muscle. Her face didn't even seem to change as Dre addressed her.

"Do you hate me?"

That opened her eyes. She turned to Dre, looking perplexed. "Why would I hate you?"

"Well, lots of reasons." He began counting off with his fingers. "1: I still hadn't accepted Kamatsu's apology yet. 2: I'm holding you back with Mrs. Tiffany's class. 3: I'm making you have to train me in how to use a sword. 4:-"

"Dude," she interrupted. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, you've never shown me much kindness, so I thought that you pretty much hated me."

Katherine inclined her eyebrow. "That's just how I am, man. I'm only teasing. Unless..." She suddenly started laughing. "Did you get your feeling hurt? Want your stuffed teddy little baby? Just wait until I tell Megumi about this."

Dre scrunched his face. "If you're done mocking me."

"Sorry. Sorry," she said through her laugh. "Did you forget that I'm a Spirit Amian? If I hated you, I couldn't use my elemental power around you because the hatred would throw off my balance. Besides, you're part of the reason that me and Megumi even met. So, I guess I kinda owe you one for that." Grinning, she said, "Now, if you don't mind, I've got to meditate. You can do it too, if you want," she said before closing her eyes and inhaling through her nose.

Meditate, huh? Would he even get anything from that? He could understand why Katherine would need to, since her element requires her to be centered consciously, but fire elementals are different. They strive on their wild ambitions and rage to fuel their powers. Would meditation even work for him? Heck, would it even make him weaker? Crossing his arms and legs, he frowned at the thought of it. The wind blew at his hair, making it sway gently at the nape of his neck. Sure, he'd have spiritual oneness, but what could that do when his nature is to flourish on anger?

After a moment, Dre asked, "Hey, Katherine?"

"Hm?"

"You've hung out with Megumi a lot, right? Has she tried meditating with you?"

She nodded. "It was rough at first, but once she was finally able to do it, her elemental might just exploded. She had better control of her element altogether. Fire, fira, electrokinesis, and even magnokinesis."

"R-really?" Dre asked, baffled.

"Yep."

But how? It really didn't make sense. Fire elementals have an innate thirst for rage. Why did meditating strengthen Megumi? She has to be effing with me.

Just as he was getting ready to ask her about it, he saw something coming towards him from the lake. He hopped on his feet as the object hovered across the lake. The water split apart as it sped towards the beach. Gasping, Dre prepared to ignite his hands until he saw Kamatsu's silver hair as he skidded to a halt on the beach, sending sand just a few feet away from them. He straightened up, looking perplexed as he saw Dre. "Basura? I thought you'd died in your sleep or something."

Dre sighed. "You know, you could've woken me up at any time."

"We tried. Hell, I even elbow dropped you. You'd probably sleep through a mugging with as deep a sleep as you had." His face sobered up, making Dre hesitant. "Since you're here, I want to try to apologize. Again. Everything just sort of happened so fast, and with Katherine being hurt and all, I didn't have enough time nor a better situation to decide effectively. I wanted to stay and fight with you guys, but you saw how Daven was. Our team would've split up before we even became a team."

Dre stuffed his hands in his jean pockets. "I guess I was kind of a dork towards you. You were acting on Daven's command, and everyone else's taking a liking to you, so... I'm sorry too."

For a moment, neither of them moved. Kamatsu stared at Dre confused. Katherine still meditated beside Dre, while he stared back, waiting for some sort of sign from him. Finally, Kamatsu held out his fist, grinning. "So, we good now?"

"Yeah." Dre grinned back as they tapped fists.

"So, Bas- er... Dre. Since you're here, do you wanna get some training in? You'll need all that you can get if you want to stand a chance against me."

Smirking, Dre readied himself. "Pretty confident for someone who's going to get beat."

"Oh? You're not going to hit me." He put up a finger before Dre could retort. "Katherine," Kamatsu said, "do you mind going back to the campsite? Let them know that we'll be a little late for breakfast."

Katherine stood and looked at the both of them, smiling. "Try not to get too beat up, you two," she said before stood and began walking towards the campsite.

"So, I've been thinking," Kamatsu began. "Since we're on good terms now, let's make this fight interesting. If I win, you have to confess your love to Kim."

"Wh-what do you mean?"

"Don't play coy with me, mi amigo. I saw the way you and her act towards each other. You'd have to be blind not to notice."

Dre frowned. "So, what if I win?"

"If you win, I'll admit that you're better than me."

Dre snickered. "You're on."

"Then let's begin!"

Both swung at each other, their fists pounding in the windy air. It was odd. Dre used to detest fighting. He used to try everything he could to avoid it. Now, he heart was pounding like an overcharge locomotive in his chest. He smiled. He was excited, both in fighting Kamatsu, and at the start of a new friendship.