This one was totally fun to write, I won't lie. I'm not sure why I enjoy writing scenes like this, but I guess I'm just a weird writer. I'm not sure.

Anyway, here's chapter three. I'm going to start chapter four tomorrow and I should have that up by the end of the week, hopefully. I work almost every day, now, though, so it gets a little hard.

The disclaimer, of course: I still don't own KND. If I did, I'd have my own private jet. And it would be navy blue.

Thanks for reading! And thanks for the reviews I've gotten so far. I'm really enjoying meeting such nice people, and it's definitely an experience that I won't forget.

Anyway, to the story! Love, Sadie.

-

Pyew pyew pyew, pyew pyew! The lasers blasted out of the cannons through empty space, colliding with a large white ship and disintegrating it on the spot. On the couch, Wally let out a whoop of triumph and grinned smugly at the boy sitting beside him. "That's another 10,000 points for me!"

In response, Hoagie stuck his tongue between his teeth and began mashing buttons faster, his attention entirely on the game. His own ship, a large starship with a docking bay, swerved across the screen and fired away, sending blue bolts into space. He preferred it greatly to Wally's battleship, a tiny thing that emitted green lasers.

"You're gonna lose, mate," Wally taunted, flipping the hair out of his eyes. He was certain that he was going to win, racking up the points and weaving through space until he only needed 1,000 more points to-

Suddenly, the screen went black.

"Aww, what?!" Wally cried out in disbelief, so shocked by the loss of power that he didn't notice Hoagie's fleeting expression of relief. Indignantly, he jumped off the couch to check the plug. And found Kuki standing there with the plug in her hand. "Numbuh Three! What'd you do that for?!" If she was male, he would have punched her, right then and there.

"Study time!" She gave him her face-consuming beam, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "C'mon, Numbuh Four, get your books, hurry!"

A guttural growl escaped his throat. "I'm busy, we can study later."

Propping her hands on her hips, Kuki lifted one eyebrow at him in her best what-did-you-just-say-to-me fashion. He knew it was hopeless to argue with her when she gave him that face. It meant serious business. "You have to go home anyway, Numbuh Four, before your parents get mad. We can study at your house."

Just to show her how he felt, he kicked the door open on his way out. The loud bang it made was so satisfying.

If she ever had the inclination to do so, Wally was certain that she would make a good poker player. Her facial expressions were almost undecipherable. All the way home, while he grumbled and kicked rocks and thought about chucking his backpack across the street, her smile remained the same, as though she wanted nothing more than to drag a reluctant boy to his house to study English. She even had the nerve to have a bounce in her step.

He thought the trip would never end, but finally found himself on his own doorstep. As Kuki had predicted, his mother was waiting for him, her arms folded. She lifted an eyebrow as he entered the house. "Didn't I tell you to come straight here after school?" Wally winced slightly. That tone was not a good sign.

"Well-"

"Oh, Kuki, hello!" his mother interrupted, smiling over his shoulder. He was instantly both grateful to Kuki for diverting her attention, and nauseated at his mother for the thick affection in her voice.

"Hello, Mrs. Beetles!" Kuki beamed, waving a hand happily. The two female smiled at each other in obvious companionship. What they could possibly have to relate to one another, Wally would never know. "I'm here to help Wally with his English."

"Fantastic!" She ushered them in and shut the door behind them, before clapping her hands together, looking pleased. "Heaven knows Wally needs all the help he can get."

Wally fidgeted slightly, embarrassed. "Mum," he hissed through clenched teeth.

"You two can go on up to Wally's room," she said, either purposefully or unknowingly ignoring her son. Wally couldn't tell. "I'll bring up something for you two to eat."

"Thanks!" Kuki wrapped a sleeved hand over Wally's wrist and pulled him upstairs while he mentally cursed her and his mother. She was far too excited about this. Doing stupid school crud could never be fun.

"I don't wanna do this," he grumbled, tossing his bag to the floor. Kuki ignored him and pulled out his English book, which was still in good condition from barely being used, as well as her own. Tsking under her breath, she tossed it to him and then sat on his bed.

"Do you know what chapter we're in?" she asked brightly, crossing her legs. The book lay unopened in her lap, waiting for him to make the first move. Dumbfounded, he sat staring at his own book, looking for some secret meaning in the cover. Had they been using this book all year?

"Of course I do," he answered with a slight edge to his voice, as though offended. "We're in. . . the English chapter, obviously."

Kuki sighed, a similar sound to the one Mrs. Riggs often emitted in his presence. He could see a flash of disappointment in her eyes, and it made him flinch. She opened up her book and flipped a few pages before returning her gaze to him. "They're all English chapters. Open to chapter eight."

Biting back an argument, he did as he was old, pushing away his chagrin. He would have known the answer if his teacher was more interesting, obviously.

Kuki continued speaking, her voice full of authority. "We're studying poetry this quarter, and how to analyze what the author is trying to say. Read this one." She pointed to an erratically-styled poem entitled, "The Red Wheelbarrow."

"But-"

His words died on his lips when their eyes met. For some reason, behind the surface of her violet lenses, he could see the honest desire to help him burning fiercely. Even though she hugged her knees and rocked back and forth like a little girl, her motives were clear. Swallowing his retort, Wally began to read it.

And got absolutely nothing.

"Well?" Kuki questioned when he looked back up.

"I don't know!" Wally muttered in frustration. "He's just talking about stupid farm tools. Maybe he's a farmer."

He could tell that she was having a hard time keeping her face as patient as it was. "No, you have to look deeper than that. Look under the layers of the poem to figure out what he's really saying."

"I think he's really saying that farming is lame!" Wally snapped, feeling irritated. He didn't want to read this cruddy poem about the cruddy farmer and his cruddy farm tools with so-called "deeper meanings." He wanted to go play video games and eat candy until he became sick.

"Think about it this way," she replied, with a voice that was a shade brighter. Maybe she was trying to cheer him up. "What does a wheelbarrow do?"

This is so stupid. "It moves stuff."

"So is it important?"

"Yes." He hissed a bit on the word, trying to convey how pointless he thought this was.

Kuki closed her book, fixing him with a glare. "Numbuh Four, I'm trying to help you. Stop being so mean."

"I don't want your help." The words came out before he could stop them, pouring out with all of his irritation. Every inch of anger seeped into his words, making them sharp and capable of hurting her. "Why don't you just go back to the treehouse and play cruddy games with your stupid Rainbow Monkeys!"

Her mouth dropped open, and Wally thought she was going to cry. But she didn't, to his relief. Instead, to his horror, her face became a mask of rage.

"Fine!" With a lower lip that quivered slightly, she yanked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder, her face a furious scarlet. "You can just keep failing! And then we'll go on missions without you!"

He thought he saw tears threatening the corners of her eyes, but she had sprinted out of his room before he could be certain. He kicked angrily at his backpack and tried not to feel guilty at all.

It didn't work.

Good job, Wally, he berated himself.

Aaah, well, another voice inside him piped up. She'll forgive you eventually.

-

"Dude," Hoagie said while adjusting his goggles. Wally slugged his arm and he immediately lowered his voice. "How long has it been since Numbuh Three's spoken to you?"

"Three days." Wally's voice was glum.

"Numbuh Five thinks you messed up big time." The girl was having a hard time hiding her amusement. Unlike Hoagie, she seemed to find the whole thing funny.

"Yeah, I figured that out," Wally grumbled. It pained him to watch Kuki walk by like he didn't exist, clutching her books to her chest while her oversized sweater flopped around her. He didn't like watching her laugh, knowing he wasn't the source of her laughter.

He would never admit it out loud, but he missed her.

"What're you gonna do?" Hoagie broke into his thoughts, tilting his head almost comically. Wally chewed on his tongue for a minute, mulling over the question. But he couldn't come up with anything.

"I dunno. . . buy her flowers? Girls like flowers, don't they?"

Abby shook her head like that was the dumbest idea she had ever encountered. "Boy, you gonna have to do better than that. Flowers don't buy forgiveness."

Frustrated, Wally stalked away, his fist clenched so tightly that his knuckles burned white. He wasn't good at this crud; he could never figure out what a girl wanted and what would tick her off. Maybe it was better this way, when she wouldn't talk to him.

Then he realized what his next class was, and despite everything that was tormenting him, Wally grinned. Gym class.

The coach was a big man with a mustache that didn't look real. His voice didn't need a megaphone to be heard. And best of all, today he said Wally's favorite words. "Two teams. We're going to play dodgeball."

He was so excited that he could hardly stand still, aching to get one of the balls in his hand. Across the gym, he could see Kuki standing on the other side with the other team, but even the sight of her, hesitantly regarding her team, couldn't dampen his spirits. He waited for the whistle like a child eagerly awaits dessert.

There it was. "Begin."

They didn't see him as the master of dodgeball for nothing. It was like physical art, watching Wally play dodgeball. His watercolor moves slid him in and out between the flying spheres, fluid and untouchable. The vibrant sculpted throws hit one kid, then another, then another.

He felt unstoppable. Using the ball he was holding to deflect another, he pelted it at a smaller boy on the opposite team, before a hushed conversation reached his ears.

"Throw it."

"I can't."

"Throw it! You're so worthless!"

He recognized the tiny whisper of the second speaker, and the recognition made his stomach twist. Whirling around to locate the two holders of the conversation, his eyes finally fell upon two boys standing on either side of Kuki, both of them looking aggravated as she clutched at a large red ball but refused to throw it.

She never really had liked dodgeball. Especially when it got as violent and competitive as Wally like it. She was an easy out, and Wally should have taken the opportunity to get her while she was distracted.

But something about the conversation made his blood boil. Like the way that they were glaring at her as though she should crawl in a hole and disappear. Or the way the larger boy's lips curved upward into a sneer as he voiced the word "worthless."

"Oi!"

He wasn't sure what made him do it, but he picked up a ball nearby and hurled it at the larger boy, taking him by surprised as it knocked into his head. The other one reacted quickly, yanking the ball out of Kuki's hand and catapulting it across the floor at Wally.

Too easy. Wally caught the ball neatly in his hands and smirked as the boy was declared out. He would have let out a whoop of triumph, but the game wasn't over and he had plenty more kids to knock off the floor.

But he didn't miss Kuki's small smile of gratitude.

And he definitely didn't miss the way it made his heart lift.

-

"The bird has returned."

"But not fully."

"No. But it's something to watch."

"We got the information."

"Oh, good. And the blueprints?"

Her feminine voice was hard, a total contrast from how soft it normally was. "Of course. We'll be able to move soon."

"I'm coming back." Shifting slightly, he pulled back the wheel, and the black jet disappeared into the thick clouds in the sky.