Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. They are much appreciated, and I hope you all enjoy the next bit.

If I were to say anything about what will happen in this story, it would be to recommend some supplemental reading by Ray Bradbury called "The Next in Line." It's a short story on the horror side, and he is my personal hero. This story is very much an homage to him, so I guess this is also a way of saying "Don't sue me."

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Sunako sullenly walked behind the four boys and their tour guide. It was not easy for her to be in such a sunny and bright place with four of the brightest boys in all of Japan. Especially not when they were all wearing white. She hated how they acted as if they had arrived at Club Med, each wearing some dreadful white button down loose, thin shirt and low slung white Bermuda shorts. No sense of decency.

Then they had gone and hid all her proper hobo clothing and forced her to wear a sleeveless turtleneck and not-so-poorly-fitted jeans. They had told her she would literally melt, and not just in an "I'm around attractive people" way if she wore sleeves in Mexico.

Pah. She ALWAYS literally melted, whether it was a result of heat, sun, or cute boys (or girls. Apparently she was not picky). What did they know? Stupid brilliant monsters.

At least she could hide most of her face behind the loose, tall turtleneck. Yuki had told her she looked mysterious, right before she had dripped blood all over his first white shirt of the day.

All of the boys had gone through a First White Shirt of the Day. That's just how life was with Sunako: needlessly filled with washing machines and bleach.

Now that they were in Calaveras, Mexico, did that make them the brightest Japanese boys in all of Mexico? Sunako sniffed some blood back up into her nostrils, in an attempt to reabsorb it, and decided their location made little difference to their combined beauty. Her life was in mortal peril no matter what country they visited together.

"Keep up Sunako!" Yuki said over his shoulder, tripping over the cobblestones.

Sunako stared at the plaza they were in. If she weren't one hundred percent sure of the country they were in… she would have sworn they were somewhere in France. The plaza center was lined with blue and pink tiles… pink as… pink as… Sunako blushed and snorted more blood back up into her nose. There were brightly painted buildings around the plaza, and neatly trimmed topiaries that looked like hat boxes. Bougainvillea vines climbed over the fronts of several.

All in all, it was a charming scene. Sunako did not much care for it.

But this adorable quasi-Mexican theme was not why she had entered Calaveras. Far from it. Sunako had picked this quaint town over Tijuana or Mexico City, or Cancun, for once simple reason: Las mommias.

She smiled secretively as they walked, her sunglasses glinting wickedly in the glaring sun. Kyohei caught the glint out of the corner of his eye and turned on his heel to stare at her. The others paused and turned to look as well. Her secretive, malicious smile still on her face, she peered up over the rim of her sunglasses, regretting it immediately as she caught the full shine of his brilliance.

"What's that shit-eating grin for?" he demanded as she gurgled and began bleeding.

"Nu-nothing," she stammered, trying to wipe the expression off her face. Easier said than done. "Lovely Mexico." To show off her fondness of the country she walked to one of the hatbox plants and stroked its leaves slowly. "Lovely, lovely, lovely Mexico." She smiled widely at the boys, far too wide, and far too long. "Good, sweet, Mexico." She continued to stroke the topiary almost in a loving way, leaning her face in close while beaming joylessly at them, as if posing for a picture.

Kyohei stared at her faked smile in abject horror.

Yuki began to sob. "Why?" he whimpered. "Everywhere we go? Why???"

Ricardo leaned in to Takenaga. "Seriously, sir. She is retarded, si? It is alright to tell, we do not charge extra for the mentally disabled. It just between us men."

Takenaga shook his head slowly. "Sometimes I wonder," he replied. "It would explain so much."

Ranmaru cleared his throat. "Let's get into the hotel quickly now, alright?" He had noticed the people coming out of the buildings to stare and giggle at Sunako stroking the leaves and murmuring Spanish terms of endearment.

"I just love the Mexico," Sunako informed the people around her in a sugary voice as Kyohei grabbed her arm. He dragged her into the hotel behind the others, muttering obscenities under his breath.

She peered back at the bewildered locals and mouthed, "LAS MOMMIAS."

After dinner, as they sat in Sunako's hotel room playing cards and channel surfing, a knock came on the door. Sunako glared at Kyohei as he got to his feet and answered. She hoped he would trip on his way to the door. And then hit his head on the door handle and bleed to death on the carpet. When he put his hand on the doorknob unharmed, she cast his back another, fiercer glare, and went back to her deck of cards.

There was a long heavy sigh as he peered into the hallway. Stepping back, he rolled his eyes and held the door open.

"Sunako!" Noi squealed, stepping into the room. "What are these boys doing in your room?"

Sunako gave her the most pathetic look she possibly could: weary eyes, mouth in a facsimile of a pout, brows drawn together as if in pain. Perhaps Noi could rid her of the bright creatures. She pinched her arms fiercely in an attempt to draw tears.

"Noi?" Takenaga asked in surprise, sitting up straight and pulling self-consciously at his shirt. He began to smile, trying to hide his delight. "What are you doing here?"

"I have come to protect you from your admirers," she replied gallantly, saluting him, "be they Japanese, Mexican, or unaffiliated with any country at all. Or maybe some weird hybrid, like a Japican. Or a Mexese. Or a Samoan."

"Wow, that wasn't racist at all," Kyohei muttered, swinging the door shut.

"And I'M the retarded one," Sunako grumbled to herself. No one heard her except Kyohei, who hid a snort of laughter. They exchanged an extremely brief glance at the shared knowledge that Noi, while pretty and sweet, was not very bright.

"Come in and sit down," Ranmaru said slyly, removing himself from an easy-chair and offering it to her. "Perhaps you can convince Sunako to share a room with you."

Noi nervously beamed at Takenaga and took the chair. "But none of you answered my question," she reminded them. "What are all four of you boys doing in a lady's hotel room?"

"What lady?" Yuki asked, looking around the room in genuine confusion.

"There's no lady here," Sunako added darkly, drawing the strings on her black hoodie. She scowled inside the sweatshirt, irritated at the soreness of her arms from the pinching.

Takenaga was quick to defend his honor in front of Noi, however. "She would never come to the room Kyohei and I share, or Yuki and Ranmaru's. So this is forced socialization."

"Mostly to make sure she does not crawl out the windows and terrorize the villagers," Ranmaru agreed, sitting on the bed next to Takenaga and Yuki.

Kyohei threw himself back onto the floor and began flipping through the channels again. Takenaga and Noi glanced at each other, grinned lightly, blushed, and looked away.

Ranmaru looked again slyly at Noi, and then at Takenaga. And then at the small refrigerator that sat in the corner.

"Well," he said coolly, "since our dear Landlady is footing the bill, I say we make a good time of it." He got to his feet and yanked open the door of the mini-fridge. "Look at this! Beer, bourbon, and brandy. A veritable alphabet of booze!"

"They all start with the same letter," Sunako muttered, but went unheard as Kyohei howled in delight and began to arm wrestle an unwilling Yuki for the beer.

"I don't even like beeeer," Yuki whimpered.