Chapter Three- Bishonen Number One, And Well Done!

~*~

Anya wandered through the huge trees of the woods she'd been in for the past two days. She now wore a T-shirt and some khaki shorts, and some new sneakers. On her back was a new black backpack with four parts on it. It was filled with capsules.

Apparently, along with the pact with Bishonen came the bonus of Capsule Corps. for humans. They were little capsules that could expand into, say, a closet, or refrigerator, and shrink again when you put something in it, and never harm the contents of the capsule in question. A very useful little gadget. The local store had realized she was only a Novice, with no Bishonen, and had given her the stuff for free. First days were always nice days, according to the man.

And it was a good thing! The man had given her a few capsules- two refrigerators, one of just dry food like trail mixes and such, one for future clothes, one for about ten sleeping bags in case her Bishonen wanted out of the Bish-Balls at night, and toiletries in another. However, her backpack also had a couple water bottles out, a map rolled up, her Dex, and a book called Bishonen Basics.

She paused to lean against a tree and sigh. So far, no sign of Bishonen. She would have thought they'd be all over, somehow knowing she was a novice, and taunting her or something. Not that she wanted THAT, exactly, but it would be nice to finally find someone to talk to besides a tree. Trees were very quiet and thoughtful, but they very rarely answered you.

She slid down and stared up at the huge trees. They were beautiful to look at, but hardly good for climbing into if danger came along. The lowest branch was eight feet high, and she being only five feet couldn't reach it.

Not that there'd been any danger. It was perfectly nice out here. A little humid, but hey, it was summer. That was to be expected.

Anya closed her eyes for a moment, picturing two days ago when she came out of the odd orientation building...

~*~ Flash back ~*~

Anya found Kara easily, the redhead bobbing to a tune on a radio nearby. She was with a couple other girls and a few Bishonen. Anya felt a little uneasy about marching up and talking, but Kara noticed her before she had to do anything.

"Hey, newbie! Over here!"

She obeyed with a small smile. A couple of the Bishonen eyed her curiously, but they were all from anime she didn't recognize. She gave them smiles and nods, they nodded back, one even grinned, and they returned to talking to their trainers.

"So how'd it go? Got the belt and stuff?"

Anya nodded.

"Well, did he tell you about getting stuff for your journey?"

She paused, then nodded.

"Huh. He actually remembered to tell you everything? That's a once in a lifetime thing. Cool. Well, just walk in and show them your Dex, and they'll know you're really a new one. They'll give you all the necessities."

"Where do I get money for later on, though? I have a feeling that you don't always get free stuff..."

"Of course not, nothing comes for free! You get money by betting it in battles. There's a town where you can bet on machines and such, or whatever, but basically when you challenge someone to a fight you bet money. If you win, you get it. If you lose, well, you lose it." Kara shrugged. "The local store's got everything you should need right away. Just head down the street and it'll say on it 'General Needs' so you can't miss it."

"Thanks. Thanks a lot, Kara."

She grinned. "Hey, we can be pals, right? Why don't we keep in touch while we're apart? Maybe we'll meet up later on, hey? What's your Dex?"

Oddly, she took Anya's number but refused to give her own. Anya guessed it was fine, though. Kara was the one who'd wanted to keep in touch, so if she didn't want to give her Dex number right away, well, that was fine.

"Well, that's that, then," Kara said.

"Guess so," Anya said. "I guess I'll see you later..."

"Bye!" Kara waved, and returned to dancing.

Anya watched the group of trainers and Bishonen for a moment, then turned and headed towards the store.

~*~ End Flash back ~*~

Just like that, and her first acquaintance/friend was out of the picture. Oh, well. Anya stretched a little, then froze.

Someone else was out here.

She slowly started to get into a crouching position so she could stand in a hurry if she needed to. Who was it? Another trainer? Or was it, possibly, a Bishonen? She prayed it was the latter. A trainer was all well and good, but if she wanted to stay here for a while, she needed to find a Bishonen in two weeks.

Anya heard the sound again, footsteps. She tiptoed around the tree and peered behind it. The sound was behind her. Quietly, she walked towards it.

Another huge tree blocked the sound. She could hear someone muttering. A guy. A Bishonen?! In her hope she jumped out from the tree-

-and stared into the face of a surprised Bishonen.

"AAAAAAH!"

"AAAAAAAAAAH!"

They screamed at each other. The Bishonen jumped up into the tree and she hid behind it simultaneously, Anya shaking with surprise.

/Wh- oh, great. Nice move. Yeah. Get you a lot of Bishonen that way,/ she thought at herself, annoyed. /Let's see if we can make amends... no, wait up, he's coming down.../

"What the hell was that?" she heard above her spot. She froze and pressed against the tree trunk, sliding down a little to hide herself more. "Looked like a trainer. But I think I scared 'er off. Good thing." There was a long, satisfied grunt, and she pictured him stretching. "Aaaah. Better get back. Never know when trainers are around."

There was a thump behind the tree, and she knew he'd landed. Quickly, she pulled out an empty Bish-ball and silently prayed for luck, then jumped to her feet and came out from behind the tree. "HEY!" she shrieked, and threw the Bish-ball.

At her yell he whipped around and went into fighting stance, and she got a good look at him. "Sagara Sanosuke," she whispered. "Awesome!" He blinked at her in shock, then started to turn and run when the ball hit him right on the head. He fell to the ground with the ball, and disappeared muttering a curse.

The ball shook violently for a moment, then stopped.

For a long moment, Anya just watched the ball, expecting Sano to jump out and attack her for trying to capture him. But the ball remained closed. Quietly, she walked up and picked the ball up.

"Wow," she whispered. "I... did it. I captured a Bishonen. My very first Bishonen..." Then she shouted, "YES!" and punched the air happily. "I got Sanosuke! This is SO cool!" Then she paused and looked at the ball in her hands. "But I'd think you would put up more of a fight, there. Oh well. I caught you by surprise, I'll bet."

The ball shook a little again, as though in reply.

"You want out? OK." She held the Bish-ball out away from her. "Come out, Sanosuke!"

An instant later, an annoyed looking Bishonen appeared before her. He wore his usual white outfit, with his shirt having the 'wicked' symbol on it. He wore his headband. He had his arms crossed and was tapping his foot.

"I thought you were still around," was the first thing he said. And he sounded as annoyed as he looked.

"I was," she answered. "I'm Anya." She held out a hand.

He ignored the hand. "The hell you do that for, anyway?"

She lowered the hand, feeling a little annoyed herself. "Why do you think? I'm a trainer."

"Trainer? Hah. Trainers got other Bishonen to fight the free ones. Lemme see that." He grabbed for her backpack.

"Uh, HEY!"

He ignored her again and pulled out her Dex. "Identify," he said to it, pointing at Anya.

"Will not comply."

Sano looked ticked. "I said identify!"

"It's voice activated," Anya said with some satisfaction.

He threw her a look.

"Property of Anya, age fifteen. Status, Novice trainer, one Bishonen. Name of Bishonen, Sagara Sanosuke. Nickname?"

"Hell NO I don't want some dumb nickname!" Sano declared angrily. "Don't you DARE put in a nickname!"

"I wasn't going to, anyway." She looked at the Dex and took it from him. "Name of Bishonen, Sagara Sanosuke, nickname Sano."

"..."

"Hey, that's not a 'dumb nickname' it's your actual name thing. Jeez, what'd you think I'd do, call you Fluffy?"

He glowered at her. "Anyway, just as I thought. You just started."

"Someone give him a prize. Yes, I'm new around here." She put the Dex away. "And I'd appreciate it if you asked before taking my stuff."

"And I should listen to you WHY?"

"Because I'm your trainer, that's why. I decide what you eat."

"I can cook for myself."

"I'm sure you could."

"Watch your mouth, Missie."

"It's hard to do that. You get all cross-eyed and stuff."

"Why worry, I'm sure you'd pass off with that look better than you look now-"

"HOLD IT. Why are we arguing? I didn't do anything but capture you."

"And that's a lot, if you didn't know. I can't go back to my home now."

She shrugged. "Neither can I. Life sucks. Let's move on."

"Liar. You can go home by releasing me right now."

"I don't want to."

Sano threw his hands up in the air. "I give up! WOMEN!"

Anya smiled faintly. "Well, come on."

"Come on where?"

"Through the woods. We're heading to the next town."

"What's this we suddenly?"

"Well, usually when you're talking about yourself and one or more other people you tend to use the term 'we'."

He snorted.

"If you want, I'll buy you sake..."

He considered that a moment, then shook his head.

"Capture a Megumi for you?"

"Nah, ain't interested."

She grinned. "Catch a Kenshin, maybe?"

Sano glowered at her. "I don't WANT you to catch anyone. I ain't interested."

"You sure? Fine. Well, you want food? I assure you I cook much better than Kaoru, no offence if she's out there," she added hurriedly aloud.

He considered that. "I'll think about it after we eat."

~*~

He stretched out, looking fairly satisfied.

Anya wiped her mouth and smiled. "So what did you think?"

"Hn." He waved his hand in dismissal. "I'm still thinking."

"You sure take a long time."

"I'm thinking along the lines of 'no' right about now."

"Really? Then I'm thinking along the lines of 'go find your own food again' right now."

He shrugged. "I'll tag along a while. But right now, if you're so intent on being some stupid trainer, you only keep me long enough to catch another Bishonen, then release me. Got it?"

"You didn't like my cooking?"

"It's not the cooking. I don't want to be a plaything for some fangirl." He stood up. "Well, are you moving along or not?"

Anya watched him a moment, then sighed and shoved the capsules back into her backpack. /This is going to be a little harder than I thought it would be.../