Talking Straw Dolls, a Naruto + Hell Girl Crossover fanfic

A/N: Enjoy and please review.

This story is based on 'Jigoko Shoujo' season II: Naruto style.

…

Talking Straw Dolls.
-By Dark Angel Heart.

…

Because: Hell isn't as bad as everyone makes it to be.

…

A red haired girl sat in front of her computer. The computer was emitting a bright white light making the dark room not looked as dark as it was suppose to be.

Her hair was not combed and her glasses were slipping onto her nose, but she either didn't seem to notice or she didn't care.

She was dressed in her night dress, which was wrinkled because she had just gotten up from bed because she could not sleep.

A soft but a cold breeze blew in through the open balcony, making the pink curtains flutter lightly. The moon's light entered through the windows.

The only sound emitting from the room was from the girl's fingers tapping against the keyboard keys and the sound of the clock ticking.

A soft tick was heard and the girl looked the he alarm clock next to her. The small numbers showed that it was already mid night.

The girl stopped looking at the clock when she heard a soft bell sound coming from the speakers of her computer. The computer screen was black now.

A small dialoged box appeared on the blackened screen, it had a box in which you could type in something and a small go button.

She carefully looked and read the Japanese characters which did not seem to be many. She typed a name into the dialoged box and smiled when she watched it disappeared into flames.

The girl smiled again and seemed to be happy that she had finally found the site she was looking for.

…

Hell is blood, red colored wine and screams.

…

The bells of the school rung and she ran faster to reach the gate. Once reaching, the gate she sighed as she entered through the metallic gate.

She raised her head and watched as student walked on either sides of her, not seeming to notice that she was there.

Sighing, she looked ahead and saw the person she was longing to meet. His black hair was spiked up as usual and he was wearing the school uniform as everyone else.

Smiling, she ran up to him, calling out his name. He stopped and turned around looking for the person who called him.

"Hey, Sasuke-kun! How are you today?"

"Karin."

He tuned around full and his friends stopped and watched them too exchange words.

"Fine, how are you? Karin."

"I'm fine too, Sasuke-kun."

She beamed up at him and he smiled back at her, making her heart flutter insanely. Her cheeks got the red dust back and she sighed, thanking God that he was paying her attention.

"Sasuke, we need to go."

Sasuke turned and looked at them and nodded and then turned back to the girl who had her heart on her sleeve. He, then, told her that he had to go and said that he'll see her again, soon.

Karin nodded and watched as the object of her affection walked away without turning back and smiled again. She loved him so much and would do anything for him.

"Her there Karin, don't you think it is time for you to give up on Sasuke-kun. He doesn't love you and it is kinda weird how you keep chasing behind him."

The two girls had seen her talk to Sasuke and Karin considered them both to be jealous. They had to be jealous, that, they didn't know Sasuke like she did. They never got to talk to him and didn't know how nice he could be.

"Yeah, weird, you are such a weirdo."

Karin watched as they ran away laughing. Their harsh words did not affect her since she didn't care what other thought about her. She loved Sasuke and that meant everything to her.

(You don't care in the least bit, because you know sasuke like no one knows him. You know his feeling. And you are happy that you're one of the people he lets inside. And you happy demeanor is shattered when you realize that She is one of those people too.)

"You need to hurry up if you don't want to be late."

Karin turned around and looked at the girl standing beside the tree. The girl looked to be no older than twelve years and she was wearing a black school uniform with a red tie. Her eyes were red like the color of blood.

"...Who are you?"

Suddenly, her surrounding turned into the color red. The sky was colored in red and a bit of darker red. Karin surroundings were submerged in what seemed to be, a permanent sunset. She was now standing near a black tree and the girl was now standing in front of her.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Ai Enma; you can call me the Hell Girl. You called me and I came."

Karin's eyes widened, she did not believe what was happening to her. There was no way that all of this was true, maybe she was dreaming.

"You……. Really do exist, or is it someone playing a bad prank on me."

Ai Enma did not seem to be affected by Karin voice it looked like as if she didn't even hear what Karin had said a few seconds ago. They both stood watching each other.

After some time, it looked like Ai had found what she had been looking for in Karin's eyes. With a small murmur from Ai, a old man appeared next to her and turned into a black straw doll which had a small red string on its neck. Ai walked forward and pushed it into Karin's hands.

"If you truly wish to eliminate the person you despise, then you must pull the red string. If you pull the red string they you enter into an official contract with me. The person you wish to eliminate with immediately be taken to hell."

Karin stared at the black straw doll in her hand and contemplated whether or not to take it and pull the red string and finally get rid of the person she hated.

"Okay, all I have to do it full the red string, right?"

"If you pull the red string, as I have already told you, you enter into a contract with me. The person you want to eradicate, will be taken to hell. But if you do pull the string, then in return you must make a payment to me."

"When one person is cursed two graves are dug. That means if you do sign the contract, then after you're body dies then you're soul will be taken to hell, as well."

Seeing Karin's scared facial, Ai continued.

"But that is only after you die though."

Karin looked at the hell girl before returning her gaze to the black straw doll in her grasp. Her mind was running faster than it ever did and her heart beat seemed to have stopped.

"It is only after I die, right? So if should be okay, Right?"

"You don't have to decide so soon, you can take you're time."

And with that, Ai Enma had disappeared and Karin was standing back at the place she had met the hell girl. The soft Sakura petals were now dancing around her, but she hardly noticed.

…

Hell is the opposite of happiness but is not the same as sadness.

…

Her feet made soft noises on the corridor, as she ran towards her PE class. Her glasses were sliding from her eyes to her nose again and she pushed it back up, hurryingly.

Once, reaching the door that led to the ground, she stopped and panted. Her breath came out in soft huffs and she smiled.

Standing up straight, she congratulated herself on reaching the class on time.

Her red eyes gazed around her surroundings and she took it in. She walked forwards into the sunlight and let it fall on her bare face and neck.

Her gaze fell on two figures that were talking near the wall of the school; their bodies were safely hidden from the blazing sunlight.

One was a girl and the other was a boy, and Karin recognized them both instantly. The girl was holding a pair of balls and the boy was holding another pair.

They seemed to be talking and Karin watched eagerly from the sidelines. She wanted to know what they were talking about.

She moved further and hid behind the wall, making sure they both didn't see her. But unfortunately, the boy did and stopped talking to the girl in front of him.

The girl turned towards her and smiled her beautiful smile that had made half of the schools boy population, fall in love with her. Maybe not love but they all like her anyway.

"Karin-san, are you running late again?"

Her melodious voice entered the red haired girl's ears and she cursed inside her head. Why did she have to be so perfect? No wonder Sasuke-kun….

She watched as the boys gaze was removed from her and it was returned to the other girls face. The other girl didn't seem to notice the boy's gaze and she continued to smile at the red haired girl.

"Yeah, I am actually. How are you, Sakura-san?"

"Oh! I am doing well, actually."

The pink haired girls beautiful smile came back on her face and it seemed to be brighter than it already was, before.

Karin stare went from the pink haired-beauty, to the boy next to her. His back hair was sticking up as usually and his annoyed look was back on his face.

……… Sasuke-kun………

"Haruno-san, would you please hurry up, with those balls?"

All three of their stares reached their coach, their PE teacher. He was standing near the ground with his usually smile on his face.

(Or maybe it is because, Sakura is here and you are so sure that he would have scolded you if you were the one running late. Because Haruno Sakura is perfect, perfect and you hate thinking that you can never be like her.)

"Hai! Sorry, Tgushima-sensei."

Sakura turned to Sasuke and smiled again, even if it seemed to be a bit forced and said-

"Ne, Sasuke-kun, I'll take it over from here."

And she took the balls from Sasuke's hands, even if he did protest, and then turned to Karin and beamed and Karin tried to smile back.

"Ja, Karin-san. We will see other soon, right?"

"Yeah, Ja."

Her voice was bitter, and Sakura seemed to notice but stopped herself from asking. It wasn't her business anyway. Karin and Sasuke watched as she ran towards the field trying to keep the balls from falling. Karin cursed.

(You hate her. Hell, you loath her. She took everything you ever wanted away from you. But you hate her even more for being so perfect. Her pink hair seemed ridiculous to you, but to everyone else, it was perfect. Her bright green made people believe she was innocent. And her grades were skyrocketing and she wasn't that bad in PE too-)

"Hey, Sasuke-kun, did I interrupt anything?"

No that she cared that she interrupted them, she didn't care at all about how that pink haired girl felt, but she did care about Sasuke's feeling and they meant a lot to her.

"No, it's okay Karin. She didn't seem to want to talk-"

"That's not true, Sasuke-kun. Sakura liked you very much and I am sure she wanted to-"

"No, Karin. Forget it; it didn't matter to her anyway, even if she had agreed."

"But-"

They both were disturbed form their small conversation, by the coach calling their names rather loudly. He seemed to be annoyed.

"We better go, the coach don't seem to be very happy."

Karin agreed, and watched as he ran towards their teacher and apologized. The coach just shook his head and marched off towards their other class mated, but not before glaring at her and shouting at her for coming late.

(-And all the teachers adore her because she is so dame perfect. Everyone loves her and you hate her for it. You hate her because she makes Sasuke-kun sad. And you can't help thinking that coach wouldn't have shouted at her is she ccame to class late.)

Karin sighed and ran towards the field. PE was her most hated class. She was never good at sports anyway, but then again what was she good at?

…

Hell is a place which is tainted in red and filled with echoes of anger.

…

Karin slowly slid the window door open and wondered if she should call him. She made up her mind and knocked on the window door in front of her.

She could here the soft footstep of the person to who the room belonged to and the door slid opened after a few seconds.

"Hey, Sasuke-kun, how is it going? Did you talk to Sakura yet?"

"Does it matter? She will say 'No' anyway."

His face held sadness and uncertainty, which made her insides curl with one another and made her want to run away and forget all about this would and it's-

"Hey, come on now. You know that I will get better soon. Besides you already told her you love her right? I mean how can she tell 'no' after that? Huh? Who can resist the charm of the great Uchiha Sasuke? Oh I know 'No one'."

She giggled at her own attempt to make Sasuke feel better and watched as her sighed and allowed a small smirk to reside itself on his handsome face. His bands were falling on his face again and all Karin wanted to do was brush it away.

"Right, now I have to go, Okay? I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah."

Karin stepped back and slid the window door close. She gently slid to the floor and listened to sound produced as Sasuke closed his door, too.

Her hand clutched the straw doll she was holding and she looked up at the ceiling and wondered what she was going to do with it. Was she really going to send the person she hated, to hell?

---

Somewhere on the roof top three figures stood close to each other, looking at every action done by the red haired girl.

The beautiful lady who was standing on the right side of the girl, turned to the person next to her and said,

"Do you think she will do it, mistress?"

"I don't know, let us see."

---

…

Hell is a place, a time, a consciousness, in which there is no love.

…

She was running again, but this time she knew where she was going. She was going to the park where her had just made herself a new friends.

When she saw the park come into her view, she increased her running pace. She saw he small outline of a lady who was sitting on a swing.

"Hey there, how have you been?"

The lady looked up and stared at her, before smiling and raised herself from her seat. The lady's long black hair was tied into a pony tail.

"Hey to you too, so are you doing well?"

The lady had again seated herself back on the slide and was slowly swinging herself to and fro. Karin smiled, and took a seat on the swing next to her.

"Oh, I have been fine. Thanks for asking."

The lady smiled at her and turned her gaze towards the stares which were twinkling on the night sky. Sometimes, Karin wondered why she couldn't twinkle like them.

"So, how is it going on with your 'Sasuke'?"

The beautiful lady, who was sitting next to her, seemed genuinely curious of her life. Karin knew that she shouldn't trust strangers but she couldn't help take to the friendly lady, whose name she still didn't know.

"Oh, we are doing fine."

"Has he stopped following the Haruno girl yet?"

"No he hasn't, I think he really loves her."

The lady's stare was fixed on her face, but Karin refused to turn and look at her. She already knew the question the lady wanted to ask her, so she waited.

"You love this 'Sasuke', right? So why are you encouraging him to talk to that girl. Shouldn't you do anything you can to get him to stop thinking about her?"

"Maybe I should, but I love Sasuke-kun with all my heart and I can never want to see him sad, ever. He loves Sakura with all he's got. I do love Sasuke-kun but it is a different kind of love, a love that I made on my own. I want to make him happy. And I am sure he'll be happy with Sakura, but….."

"But, I can't help but hate Sakura for making Sasuke-kun sad and I can't stop hoping that Sasuke-kun would have falling in love with me instead. I can't stop thinking about what if's and because's and maybe's. But all I want is to make him happy."

The lady laughed and Karin smiled and watched as the lady's beautiful face lit up and she looked even more beautiful than she already was.

Karin couldn't help but want to be like this lady next to her, if she would have been more beautiful then… maybe just maybe Sasuke would have fallen in love with her and not in love with Sakura.

"You're really weird, you know that. You are one person I don't think I'll ever meet again."

"Is that a compliment?"

"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't."

They both look intently at each other and then burst out laughing; it was weird but happy at the same time, like both of them were letting go. After sometime Karin asked,

"Have you heard about the hotline to hell?"

The lady looked confused, and soon realization reached her face.

"Yeah, I have, as a matter of fact."

"Do you think it is a good idea to use it?"

"I….I don't know."

Their conversation ended there. Neither talked for the rest of the time they spent together. After sometimes Karin got up and whispered a small good bye and made her way back to her house.

After she left the lady stood up and muttered.

"I don't think she has the guts to send that poor girl to hell."

The black haired lady turned behind her and looked at the black haired girl behind her. The girl was looking at the road the red haired girl had taken to go home.

"How are you so sure?"

"She doesn't seem to be the type to send someone to hell, are you sure you want to do this, mistress? Besides it is not Sakura's fault, is it?"

"Are you taking sides?"

"No ofcorse not, I just don't want to send a innocent person to hell."

"We cannot do anything about it. We will see what happens next."

…

Hell is inside every one and everything but everyone refuses to admit it.

…

Karin smiled as she saw Sasuke's back and turned her pace from waking to running.

Sasuke's back seemed to have gotten stiff and hard. He seemed to have frozen on the spot he was standing on. Form the angle she could see him, she could see that him eyes had widened.

"Hey, Sasuke-kun, what are you doing here?"

Sasuke looked like he hadn't heard her and continued to stare ahead. Karin frowned; Sasuke had never ignored her like that.

She turned her head towards the place Sasuke was staring at and her eyes widened and she quickly turned away not wanting to look at what was happening.

In an instant, Sasuke had taken off running. He didn't turn back and all Karin could do was watch him run away from her.

"Sasuke-kun!"

Hearing her voice, the man who was holding the girl, removed himself from her body and looked at the red haired girl. Not being able to handle it anymore, Karin too took off running in Sasuke's direction.

The last thing Karin heard was Sakura shouting at her, telling her that it was not what it looked like. But Karin couldn't believe her.

Not after what she had seen. But somewhere deep, from her consciences she could hear a little voice telling her that both Sasuke and herself were wrong.

…

Hell is forever and it is never ending torture.

…

All Karin could do was, listen to Sasuke as he spoke and tried to stop himself from crying.

She hadn't found him after he had run away form what they both had seen. He wasn't there when the classes had stared and didn't return the whole day.

After coming home Karin had tried to talk to her and finally he had broken down into a helpless person. He didn't look like himself and Karin had never seen him like that, ever before.

Sasuke looked like he hadn't slept for weeks and his hair was in a mess. His clothes were wrinkled and all Karin wanted to do was to take him into her arms and console him.

Sasuke sighed and stopped and looked at her straight in her eyes. It took all of Karin's self control to stop herself from drowning into his dark pools which were his eyes.

"You are a really good friend, Karin."

And he hugged her, and Karin tried to stop the tears form falling. Because Sasuke still didn't love her like she wanted him to do, he didn't love her like she loved him. She doubted he would ever do.

Karin had made up her mind now, she was going to send that girl to hell.

…

Hell is made up of hatred and pain extracted from the minds of angry humans.

…

Soft footsteps made Karin raised her head and she looked at the lady in front of her and tried to give her a small smile. But now, even a small smile seemed too difficult for her to do now.

"You seem sad, is something wrong?"

The lady sat down on the swing and looked at her with concern. This lady was only one who ever care about her and Karin was very thankful to her.

"I hate her, I hate her so much."

"What did she do now; kiss your precious Sasuke-kun?"

The lady was obviously joking, but the affect it had on Karin was not what she had expected it to be. Karin's eyes flashed up in anger and she looked like she was about to kill something.

"That is none of your business. Who do you think you are? Huh? I don't have to tell you anything. I am getting too close to you and I never want to see you again."

"What do you-?"

Karin didn't let her continue all she wanted to do now was run away, and run away is what she did. So what is she was a coward and didn't want to face the consequences of her actions.

She felt regret now for what she had done, but she couldn't take back what she had said to the lady whom she had left without an explanation, in the park.

She quickly ran towards her apartment and ran up the stairs and opened the door to her home. Not caring to close the door, she ran towards her bed room and dug into her closet and removed a straw doll.

Then she turned to her cell phone and dialed a number she had never dialed in her whole life.

"Hello, Haruno residence. How may I help you?"

Not recognizing the voice she decided that it was the girl's mother, "Hello, Can I please talk to Haruno Sakura. Tell her I am a friend by the name Karin."

"Sure, sweetie, I'll go call her just hold on for a second. Okay?"

She didn't need to answer because Sakura's mother had already left to call her daughter. A few seconds later, she heard the phone being pinked up.

"Hello, Karin-san. Can I help you with something?"

Sakura didn't sound like herself, she sounded like she had been crying. Now why did Haruno Sakura, the all too perfect girl, need to cry.

"Hey, um, can you meet me at the shrine on the mountain. In about five minutes?"

"Yeah, okay, but why? Did you need to tell me something?"

"Yeah, but I can't tell you on the phone…"

"Okay, I will see you soon okay. Ja ne."

"Ja ne"

Both of them hung up at the same time.

Karin looked at the doll in her hand, was she really going to do it? Was she really going to send Sakura to hell? There was no turning back now.

Sakura had to think before she hurt her dear Sasuke-kun's fellings. It was time for the girl to pay.

…

Hell is unforgiving and merciless. It doesn't care if you are guilty or not.

…

Karin reached the shrine in two minutes; she had to prepare herself for what she was going to do. Her breath came out in small puffs of tiredness. The straw doll was clenched to her side and her hand was sweating.

She made her way towards the steps of the god house and opened the door to it and entered in. She locked at the statue of Buddha in front of her and let a small tear slid down from her face.

She kneeled in front of the Buddha statue and closed her eyes and joined her hands and prayed.

'Kami-sama. Please forgive me for what I am going to do. I know it is wrong but there is no turning back now. You know that I hate anyone who hurts Sasuke-kun's felling. So I have….. Have to do this, Gomenesai.'

She turned and left the room and tried not to back out of her decision. She left the small temple and slid the door behind her and then turned her attention to the straw doll again.

"You're early, but I guess I am too."

Karin raised her head and looked at the person who had just arrived.

Sakura's face had a small smile that was not usually seen on her face. Usually she had a bright smile that shined like the stars Karin desperately wanted to be like.

She looked like she had run all the way from her home and she was panted a little. Sakura walked towards Karin and opened her mouth to talk.

"What did you want to tell me, Karin-san?"

"It is about Sasuke-kun-", but Sakura interrupted her before she could finish her sentence.

"Karin-san, before you continue. What you saw back there in the school, isn't what you-"

"No, no don't tell me I didn't see what I saw. I know what you did back there and you know what…… you broke my dear Sasuke-kun's heart and you are going to pay for that."

"No wait, Karin-san, what do you mean by-"

But Sakura didn't have the time to complete the sentence because Karin had pulled the red string from the doll's neck.

A harsh strong wind took the straw doll into the air and it disappeared with the words.

'I will deliver your vengeance.'

Before Karin could even blink, Sakura had disappeared with out a single trace that she was there. Karin had finally sent that girl to hell.

So why didn't she fell better, all she could fell was sadness and some regret. She slid down into the ground and cried to herself on her stupidity.

…

Hell is where you go to after you die, only if you do bad thing right? So why were innocent people sent to hell with the help of your hotline.

…

Sakura woke up slowly because of the sound of someone rowing a boat.

She looked at her surroundings and saw a lake or maybe it was a river, she could not distinguish what it was, so she decided not to.

All around her there were small candled giving out light; they were floating on tiny cup like things. The black sky seemed to be endless. She then turned towards the girl in front of her, who was rowing the boat.

"Where……. Where am I?"

The girl looked down at her because Sakura was sitting and the girl was standing while rowing the boat. The girl didn't stop rowing the boat but answered her.

"Your coming with me, we are going to hell."

"He….. Hell. What do you mean?" Sakura's eyes had widened and she was trying to get up now. But something wasn't letting her. The girl didn't answer her question and suddenly the answer came to her.

"It was Karin wasn't it? But….. But what did I do?"

"You… made the person you she loved, hurt."

"Sasuke-kun. Huh? Is it because of what they both saw that day?"

"Yes, you made him…. Them, to think that you didn't love him."

"But I do, I love him so much-", she stopped and turned her gaze to her lap. Her eyes were starting to tear up and she bit her lip to stop herself from crying.

"I was afraid that he was going to use me, like all the other did. But I didn't know that it would end up like this. What happen there wasn't what they think they saw. He forced himself on me and before I could stop him they both had seen me. You know what happen, don't you? So..... why?"

Ai didn't say anything, but she could help but fell sadness for the pink haired girl in front of her. The girl hadn't done anything wrong.

"Can you do me a favor? Can you tell Sasuke-kun that I am in love with him and tell them both, Karin and Sasuke, that I am sorry for what I did?"

The girl's sincerity surprised the hell girl and she tried not to show it on her face. She wasn't supposed to show any mercy to her victims.

"I will see.", but Sakura wasn't finished and so she continued. Sakura lifted her head and stared at Ai Enma with sadness in her eyes.

"Am I really such a bad person?", and for once Ai couldn't answer the girl, even if she knew the answer to the pink haired girl's question. She didn't even try to answer because that lump in her throat didn't let her to.

They didn't talk anymore, but Ai broke the heavy silence between them both.

"You are coming with me, we are going to hell."

And then, just before they entered through the gate of hell, a soft sound made by the ringing of bells, enetered their ears. It showed that there was a new person for the spider to torment.

…

Hell is a place where there is no right and wrong. Hell is a inevitable truth.

…

There was no trace of Haruno Sakura after that and this was an impact on everyone's life. Especially, it was a huge impact on the lives of her family, friends.

It was a terrible impact on the lives of the person who loved her and the person who was the reason of her disappearance.

Karin didn't smile anymore and the tattoo that was now present on her body was proof of what she had done. It was a heavy reminder of what she had done and of what was going to happen to her after her death.

As for Sasuke, he turned into the cold hearted person who didn't care about anyone anymore. He stopped smiling all together.

He didn't seem to care about what was going on around him and didn't seem to care what happen to anyone. He didn't even talk to his friends and that also included Karin.

Her parents were worried sick about him and didn't know what had gone wrong with him.

But one day, when he was returning from school, he was stopped by a girl who had deep black hair and red eyes, jus like him excluding the red eyes.

"What?"

"I need to tell you something, that girl who disappeared without a trace a week ago. Do you remember her?"

"What do you want?"

He didn't know why, this small girl, wanted to know about Sakura but he didn't want to be reminded of the pink haired girl who still held his heart.

"She wanted me to tell you something."

Sasuke didn't answer her, but turned his back to her and walked away. He didn't turn back because....he didn't want to know.

"She wanted me to tell you that she was in love with you and that she was sorry for what she did."

Sasuke stopped and quickly turned and looked at the girl behind him but she was no where to be seen now. How did the girl know Sakura?

"Hey kid, what do you mean?"

But no one answered his question and all her could do now was stare at the place the girl had stood while talking to him.

He tried to keep the tears from falling and didn't want it to start anytime soon. And walked away and then his pace turned into running.

"I see you told him what that girl wanted you to tell him."

"… It doesn't matter, she won't come back anyway."

"I still don't think what we did was a good idea, there was nothing wrong-"

"We already did what we had to do. There is nothing that is going to bring the girl back to life. It is best it we both, all of us, forget about it and move on."

The black haired lady didn't answer the girl but they both did watch, from their place in the branches of the Sakura tree, as the black haired guy ran home while trying to keep his emotion under control.

And for the first time they both felt regret for what they had done.

…

Hell is not the opposite of heaven but it isn't heaven either.

…

When one person is cursed, two graves are dug.

A/N: Long? Short? Like it or don't like it?

I think it is really long thought. And it is based on an episode of 'Jigoko Shoujo' that I loved. That anime is awesome and I recommend you all to watch it.

So I am going to upload a link on my profile where you can see the hotline to hell. It is in Japanese.

Now don't be heartless and review. It will mean a lot to me and I'll write faster if you do.