Sigma/Star

Chapter 41: The Battle for Nami

Porter pressed himself against the lockers along the wall until he got to the corner. Tentatively, he peered around the edge and scanned the hallway for different threats. Things had become a bit messy lately with the revealing of the school dance and the sudden war that had broken out between Chase, Ardwen, and Raul, and Porter was lucky enough to be caught in the crossfire.

The student crept out into the passage on his way to class. If he could get by this final stretch without running into the three boys, he would be early to class for just the third time this year and had decided last night he would try to become a better student with the hopes of controlling his chi and mastering combat on the battlefield.

It had come to Porter's attention in reflection of the event at Abertyl and watching Marian that he was not quite the star he originally suspected himself of being. That Syn character would've easily killed him and yet General Cross hadn't blinked against him. At first it had been depressing, thinking about how there was someone out there that was so much better than Porter. Then he had recognized that he had been placed into this academy and was being given a chance to learn and improve. It was time for Porter to become a serious student, to focus more on his work and schooling and less on dodging Nami and fights with Chase.

And Riya. Porter had puzzled over what to do with Riya for a while. She was still his secret crush and the girl he wanted more than anyone else but could he afford to balance chasing her while fixing himself? Eventually he had settled upon trying to impress Riya by being the ultimate Porter he could be. She had always come to give him support before; maybe he could get to her heart by protecting her and leading the Crisis Rescue Unit to victory. Either way he would work up the courage to ask her to the dance at some point before it.

Porter had made it to the middle of the hallway, halfway to the finish line, when he heard a rattling above him. Before he could move or even look up, one of the ceiling panels above him fell out and smashed down onto his head, teetering there for a moment before sliding off to the side as a bump rose off Porter's crown.

Then someone dropped down onto him, knocking him down onto the ground, flattening him with their surprising weight. Porter reached up to his back and felt a small, feminine form. His face fell into un-amusement. Nami.

The stalked boy managed to get a grip on his attacker and threw her forward off himself, where she did a few flips and tumbled around on the floor before sitting up, giggling and laughing as Porter slowly lifted himself off the floor. "Why Nami I'm going to-" Porter stopped when he saw who it was on the floor. Not quite the normal, cat-like loli that hunted him daily, but the similar-looking engineer Gretta. "Gretta what are you-"

"Great job Gretta!" Porter was cut off by a familiar voice above him and he looked up to see Nami's face peering down through the hole in the ceiling, a giant smile almost matching her oversized eyes.

"Thanks Nami," Gretta giggled. "That was fun! I had no idea stalking Porter was so entertaining."

"I know, isn't he great?" Nami said as she dropped down onto Porter's back and clung tight in a piggyback. She hugged him tightly, her arms wrapping around her crush's neck, strangling him inadvertently.

"Nami, you're...Nami..." Porter coughed and wheezed his way through an attempted sentence as the little stalker nuzzled against him. "Nami I can't..."

"I know you can't believe it either! I didn't know there were air ducts up there but Gretta told me about them and they made a perfect place for watching you."

"No Nami..." Porter coughed again and sucked in his final, dying breath. "I think..."

"You think you want to go to the dance with me?!" Nami squealed. "Oh Porter, of course I will, I knew you would ask me out sooner or later."