A Missing Ninja

Chapter Two

At the crack of dawn, Garu shot up out of bed. "Today's the day." he thought to himself. He couldn't help but smile. He set a bowl of milk for Mio and went to his bathroom to go freshen up. He wanted everything to go right. He prepared everything, the food (with help from the uncles), the setting, and the mood. He still had some work to be done at Goh Rong so he would change into his tuxedo after he was done. He knew that it would be a 90% chance if he ran into Pucca and she isn't supposed to know about it until that night, so he decided to take a different route and try to the restaurant. As he walked through the forest path, he heard a rustle in the trees. A few seconds later, several ninjas jumped out and surprised him. Soon, out came the leader, Tobe. Tobe was a ninja just like Garu but he had a navy blue suit with a mask, which only revealed his eyes and an x-shaped scar between them. For an unknown reason, he seemed vengeance against Garu, but he never succeeded.

"Well if it isn't the Great Garu?" he said mockingly. Garu let out a sigh. "Do we have to do this right now?" he signed to Tobe, but he already knew what the answer would be. "Aww, did I ruin a plan you had today Garu? Good! Now I'm here to destroy you." he sneered and lunged at him. Garu dodged quickly and removed his sword from its sheath and sparred with Tobe and his ninjas. He could easily outpower Tobe's ninjas because they weren't too strong, or smart. Tobe stared angrily at his ninjas. "YOU FOOLS!!" he exclaimed and turned his attention to Garu. "Fine! You win this time, but next time...I will have my revenge." he stated. He threw a smoke bomb to the ground, and when the smoke was cleared, Tobe and his ninjas were gone. Garu rolled his eyes and continued to Goh Rong.

Meanwhile, Pucca was searching for Garu. She ran to Garu's house and knocked on the door. She didn't hear an answer. Slightly annoyed, Pucca picked up the edge of the house and lifted the whole house up. When she did, she banged it against the ground. She heard a few things bump and crash against the wall, but she stopped when she heard Mio's panic meows in the house. She winced and carefully put the house back down. Mio walked dizzily out of the house and fell to the ground. Pucca frowned and gently pet him. She sighed. "I guess he's not home." she thought and began walking back to the town square. She ran into Ching. "Good morning Pucca." she greeted her. Pucca gave a smile, but her best friend could sense her disappointment. "Couldn't find Garu?" Ching asked. Pucca sighed and nodded. Then, she looked up and began to smile big. Ching turned around and saw Garu too. "There he is Pucca! Go to him!" she cheered.

Without hesitation, Pucca ran towards Garu. Garu turned around and starred at her, which was contrary to his usual running away routine. Pucca blushed and handed him the box of chocolates. "This is for you." she signed while giggling. Garu looked at her, took the box, and threw it to the ground. Then he proceeded to stomp on it. Pucca watched the whole thing in shock. Then Garu gave her a smile and ran away. Leaving Pucca shocked. She starred at the box, got on her knees, and began to silently weep. Ching, who saw the whole thing, went to comfort Pucca. She felt like her heart was stabbed with a thousand tiny swords. "Why would Garu do this?" Ching thought. She led Pucca to her home and then to her room.

"How could he do this to me?" Pucca signed with tears strolling down her face. Ching sadly shrugged. "I don't know Pucca, this isn't like him." she told her. Ching continued to wipe Pucca's face with a tissue. "Let me go fix you some tea." Ching said and left her friend in her room. When Pucca was alone, she began to sob uncontrollably. She hasn't felt this bad since...ever, this was the worst pain she had ever experienced in her life. How could Garu do this? Why did he do this? What did Pucca do to deserve to be treated like this? She slowly started to believe what Casano said the day before. Maybe, Garu and her were not a good match, maybe just maybe, he didn't deserve her.

She quickly dried her face and left straight for Goh Rong. Ching followed her. "Pucca, what are you doing?" she asked. "I'm going home, I never want to see him again." Pucca angrily signed. Ching gasped. She's only seen this side of Pucca towards Tobe and Ring Ring, but never towards Garu. When they went inside the Goh Rong, they were shocked to see the uncles standing in front of them smiling and wearing matching tuxedos. "Good evening, we have a table reserved for Pucca plus one." Dumpling said. "Plus one?" Ching asked.

The uncles moved out the way of view and Garu was standing by the table wearing a tuxedo of his own. When he saw Pucca, he gave a little smile and bowed politely to her, while holding out a bouquet of flowers. Ching and Pucca were both shocked. However, Pucca's anger replaced her shock. She angrily approached Garu but Ching grabbed her hand. "Pucca please, don't do something you might regret.". Ching warned. Pucca shook off her grip and stared at Garu. "What are you doing here?" she signed angrily. Garu was a little confused but he smiled. "Aren't you surprised?" he signed. "Is this some kind of joke?" she signed becoming even more mad. Gary shook his head. "No, I planned everything myself, with the assistance from your uncles." he signed back.

Pucca looked around and saw the decorations, the music playing in the background, the food. She never believed this day would come, however after what happened, she didn't want it to. "Get out of here Garu!" she signed with visible anger on her face. Garu was shocked. "What? What's wrong? Is it the dinner and the decorations?" Garu asked by signing. Pucca shook her head. "No, it's you. I don't want you here." Pucca signed. The uncles gasped, they never thought in a million years Pucca would say something like that. Garu looked worried and slowly approached Pucca. "You don't want me here? But why? Is it because I kept running away from you?" Garu signed with a sad look on his face. "No, you know what you did." Pucca signed. Garu raised a brow. "What? What did I do? Tell me!" Garu signed. Pucca shook her head and began to walk upstairs. Garu grabbed her hand and looked at her with pleading eyes. "Tell me what I did, please." he signed. Pucca's anger got the better her, she grabbed Garu by the collar and threw him against the wall. "Leave me alone!" Pucca signed angrily. Garu got up slowly and shook his head. "Not until you tell me what I did." he signed. Just then, Pucca snapped. She lunged at Garu and began brutally punching himself. Ching screamed and tried to pull Pucca off of him. When she finally managed, Pucca broke her silence. "I HATE YOU!! I HATE YOU GARU!!!" she screamed with angry tears. She finally ran upstairs crying. Ching followed her.

The uncles were shocked. "Did Pucca just say what I think I heard?" Ho asked in shock. Linguini and Dumpling nodded. Then they all turned to Garu, who looked absolutely heart broken. His face was all bloody and tears formed in his eyes. "What did I do? What did I do?" he kept thinking to himself as he sat. The uncles looked at him with pity. "Come on Garu, let us take you home." Dumpling said and his brothers nodded. Garu shook his head. "Thank you, but I'll manage." he signed. He slowly got up and grudged home. The uncles looked at the table. They sighed. "What happened?" Linguini asked. Dumpling shrugged. "We'll ask her first thing in the morning. In the mean time, let's put this food in the fridge, it's too good to waste." he said. Ho sighed. "And Garu worked so hard. The poor boy."