It seemed that no one was immune to the lazy days of summer, not even those whose goal was global conquest by using hopping vampires and really cheesy monsters. As the warm sun beat down on the campus below Mele lounged under a sakura tree, legs stretched out before her and crossed at the ankles, hands clasped and pillowed behind her head. Her eyes were closed, face tilted up toward the warmth as the light hit her pale, elegant features, and her eyelashes fluttered over high cheekbones.

She was dreaming, a rather good one if the smile on her face was any indication. There was only her and her beloved Rio-sama, everyone else was nonexistent as he pulled her close and bent to nuzzle her neck. Long fingers curled, grabbing handfuls of his dark cloak as she tilted her head to give him better access and had to lean against him as his roaming mouth and wandering hands turned her knees into jell-o.

Grumpy Gou has a sore head

He's in love with someone dead

She's very pretty but kind of mean

They'll make babies, dead and green

Below the tree her nose scrunched, brow furrowed, and smile twisting into a frown. Even in her sleep she knew that voice. Could picture its irritating owner, see that scraggly beard and way to bright grin. The rhyme was annoying, reminiscent of something a child would say while skipping rope and she couldn't get it out of her head. It rattled around taunting her and as it did so Rio-sama slowly faded away and was replaced with the image of GekiChopper who raised one hand and wiggled his fingers in a wave complete with a goofy grin.

Under the circumstances Mele did the most logical thing that came to her mind. Rearing back and making sure to brace herself she let her fist fly and hit Ken directly in the chin. Sure it bruised a knuckle or two but the satisfying thunk and seeing him fall on his rear made it all totally worth it. Only his grin, that frustrating grin, the one that made her grind her teeth as he and his comrades destroyed every single one of her Rinshi.

Well was this her dream or wasn't it? Bending down she grabbed hold of his shirt collar and yanked Ken into a standing position, granted if they weren't in dreamland she would have gotten some dorky comment in response to throwing the first punch but this Ken was a figment of her mind and apparently it had enough sense to keep its mouth shut. This presented Mele with the perfect opportunity for stress relief. It was like practice in a video game, you could beat on the other character over and over again and they'd keep getting right back up again. Which was a good thing if you were trying to master a body slam but couldn't push the buttons in the right order.

Eventually, once dream Ken was on the ground and lovely shades of black and purple Mele stopped; reality had intruded on her slumber and her grasp on the dream was fading. Stirring under the tree she grumbled as she felt something poking her in the side. Using the back of one hand she squinted and found herself face to face with the very person she'd just been so happily pounding who also happened to be holding a stick that he'd been using to poke her in the side. Damn so called heroes and it had been such a nice dream.

"Baka," she ground out swatting away the stick "What are you doing?"

Ken grinned, shrugged, and bounced a little in place "You didn't move when I called so I thought I'd poke you, see if you were still alive."

"Oh yes of course, poke me to see if I'm dead." There was a pause as Mele stood hand fisted around the stick and she used it to hit Ken on his rear repeatedly "Baka! Baka! Baka!"

Having enough sense to run Ken took off laughing sending a taunt over his shoulder which only angered Mele further and allowed her to get in a few more good smacks. She might not have gotten anywhere with Rio-sama, even in her dreams, but at lest now she had someone to take it out on.