Battle of the Jacks.

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Recap: Kairi and Kukai's parents get married, making them stepbrothers. How will the combined families do?

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Mrs. Sanjou, who decided to keep her last name after the re-marriage, ented Kairi's room. She found her son writing and focused, but calm. This was pretty normal for him.

"What you writing?" Mrs. Sanjou asked, setting down some luggage she was carrying.

"Nothing much..." the boy mumbled. "Just... just an 10,000 word essay on why Kukai's not sharing a room with me!" Kairi continued writing.

"Oh, look." The green-head's mom walked closer to her son and smiled calmly. "You don't know him that well yet, so give him a chance and..."

"He's ... he's sloppy and..." Kairi couldn't think of anything else to accuse the boy of, but something about him was annoying. "Okay. I'll get to know him but he's not--"

"Hey, lil' bro!" Kukai bursted into the room with a big bag. "I bought you some shrimp chips." (A/N: Kukai is about 3 years older, I think.)

"He's here." Mrs. Sanjou rolled her eyes from hearing Kairi complain about it.

"Look man," said Kukai. "They're not as bad as you think. I thought you wouldn't like the ham and cheese flavoring with the extra fat and all but --" Boom. Kairi slammed the door in Kukai's face.

"I knew I should've got the flavored ones," whimpered Kukai on the other side.

"Well, I guess I'll have to get some work done around here," Mrs. Sanjou said. "I'll leave you too alone." She walked out the door, and Kukai stepped into Kairi's room with awe. "This... place... is... awesome!" He looked towards a neat futon on a raised bamboo platform. "No way! This looks so traditional, man!" Kukai took some steps back and got into sprinting position.

"No, don't--!" Before the green-head knew it, the other boy jumped onto it, shaking the platform and messing up the carefully folded futon. "The green touch to the covers match my jammies! And your hair too! Thanks for lending me this bed, Kairi!"

"No, I sleep there. You sleep on the couch." Kairi pointed to a small couch in the corner near a vent.

"Dude, I'm recovering from a sports injury." Kukai said with a frown. "You can't do this to your older-bro!"

"Okay, like I care. Mom asked me to get the groceries so bye." Kairi put on a simple coat and walked towards the door.

"You coming back when?" Kukai asked.

"The place is close by. In an hour or two."

"Cool!" Kukai said with a thumbs-up smile. "I... I mean, hope everything's cool with... the... shopping... for groceries... stuff." By the time he finished his sentence, Kairi was already gone.

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Meanwhile, Mr. Souma and Mrs. Sanjou were ... in the living, flirting as newlyweds would. The feet of the two poked at each other from under a small table.

"I wonder... did your pinky toe just poke mine?" Mrs. Sanjou said playfully.

"I wonder... did my foot just..." Mr. Souma's foot caressed his lover's foot. "I guess it did."

"I wonder..." Kairi said from behind, "why am I not throwing up yet?"

The two newlyweds jumped from surprise. "You were spying on us!" Mr. Souma said, surprised. "And don't you have an errand from your lovely mom?" He gazed longingly into the other woman's eyes, and the two held hands.

"Yea. I'll be off now," said the green-head, who went out the door.

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After examining the random katanas on display in a case, Kukai was bored, until he saw a box. Curiosity getting the better of him, he opened it and found a familiar-looking blue cape. So... the jock thought. He was the new jack that Hinamori didn't get along with... He was about to open it, when Musashi came out of nowhere.

"DO NOT OPEN!!" The chara yelled, taking out a wooden sword, Kukai freaked out from the sudden appearance and voice. Daichi, however, was curious to meet the mini-samurai. "Let's see who's stronger," he said.

Musashi nodded, and made a dash towards the sports star.

"Life's good," Kukai said sleepily as he watched the two charas duel with a bag of shrimp chips in his hand. He looked towards the journal. Since it was left unguarded...

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I'd appreciate reviews and ideas! No flaming, though!