-1A/N: Hmmm…. (Grins) This fic is doing well, despite my worries. Please, everyone, refrain from attempting to rip my head off!

Thanks:

Kagome-princess: You're gonna hate me.

Azure-chan: Crazy is not descriptive enough for you.

Born of Avalon: Make that another poor author captured by the web of my fics.

Warnings: Um. Dead bodies. More sexual harassment.

Oh, the Wonderful World of Modeling

Rune walked into his room and dropped his packages. How did Rath expect him to carry all that? He still had three more packages to get! Rune sighed slowly and started to push his packages to his closet. He then left and grabbed his other bags. Slowly, he made his trip back up to his room.

"Humph. Wonder how long Lykouleon expects you to live, with those idiots making you carry all that crap." Nadil's voice carried to Rune. Nadil came up beside him and grabbed some of the bags. "Damn, what's in here?"

"J-Just clothes…" Rune answered shyly.

"Hey! Rune, you ok-Nadil! What the hell do you think you're doing?" Rath ran up to the two and grabbed Rune's bags from him. "Get away from him, you bastard!"

Nadil raised his arms in mock defeat. He leaned close to Rune and licked at the ear he found beneath the hair. Nadil grinned, seeing the peculiar shape of them.

"I hope you like the present I've left for you…" Nadil whispered before deftly dodging a punch from Rath and walking away.

"Damn bastard…" Rath muttered, glaring at Nadil's departing back. "What'd he do to you, Rune?"

"Nothing, really…" Rune answered.

"Hmm… Well, let's get the rest of these up to your room, yeah?" Rath picked the bags back up and started off to Rune's room.

"Rath, I could get them…" Rune said, following.

"Don't worry about it. Were you Thatz, I'd just make you carry them, though." Rath grinned over his shoulder at Rune. "Here we are." Rath turned into Rune's room and dropped the bags on top of Rune's other bags.

"Thank you, Rath." Rune said gratefully.

"No problem. Well, I should let you get unpacked now, shouldn't I?" Rath headed to the door. "I'm just down the hall, should you need anything." Rath left after that.

Rune chuckled and walked to the closet. He slid the door open and reached in to grab some hangers. What his fingers brushed against wasn't hangers, though. It was soft and slightly warm. Rune pushed the closet door open further so more light could get in and he could see what was in there.

It was Kai-Stern.

He was hanging from the rod with the rest of Rune's clothing. There were knife wounds all over his body, and his blood covered Rune's clothes and the floor. Rune placed a hand over his mouth, backing away and tripping over the bags behind him. He shook as he saw the note pinned to Kai-Stern's body.

Are you regretting your decision yet, Rune?

Rune screamed and passed out.

"Gods… Who could've done this?"

"Lykouleon, who the hell do you think did this?"

"Rath, calm down."

"Shut up, Thatz!"

"Take Rune out of here."

"I swear I'll kill who ever did this."

Rune felt himself being picked up and carried away. It wasn't long before he was placed onto a soft mattress. He could hear everyone talking but couldn't force himself to become fully conscious.

"Rath… How's he doing?"

"How the hell should I know? I just got him in here." Rath's voice was bitter as he answered Thatz.

"You don't have to snap."

Rune could feel someone's fingers running through his hair before a hiss and a shout. The fingers in his hair immediately withdrew.

"Dammit! It bit me!" Rath shouted.

"Well, this would be the reason that Lykouleon put him in our group. Wonder which one it is." Thatz sounded unperturbed.

"Um, Thatz? I'm BLEEDING!"

"Oh, calm down, Rath. You can't say that Fire has never bitten you." Thatz stated boredly.

/Oh no… Did Water bite him/ Rune asked himself worriedly. Rune had kept the dragon a secret, as he didn't know how they all would react. Sure enough, Rune heard Water growling at Thatz and Rath. Rune forced himself to wake and take care of this mess.

"Water… What did you do?" he asked the tiny dragon, turning to glare slightly at the one accused. Water didn't look ashamed.

"Hey. You're awake. Why didn't you tell us you had a dragon?" Thatz asked, peering at Rune.

"I didn't know… how you would react…" Rune answered.

"I guess that's a good reason. Anyway, now we know why you are a Dragon Knight." Thatz said, grinning somewhat cheerfully.

"W-what?" Rune glanced at him.

"Oh, jeez. I forgot that we kept ours a secret too. I am the earth dragon's counterpart. Rath over there is Fire's." Thatz said.

"O-oh…" Rune responded, looking at Rath who was wrapping a cloth around his finger. "I'm very sorry about that…"

"Don't worry about it. Fire's bitten me a couple times too." Rath responded, not looking at the Water dragon knight.

"I see that Water has made an appearance." Lykouleon's grim voice carried from the doorway. The three looked up to the man.

"Yeah, yeah. Took a chunk of my finger, too." Rath said.

"That's what you get for touching his counterpart." Thatz pointed out.

"Now isn't the time for this, boys. There was a murder." The emphasis Lykouleon put on the word murder shut the two up.

"Have… you found anything?" Rath asked after a moment.

"We haven't. Rune, I know this must be hard for you, but I need you to tell me the last time you saw Kai-Stern." Lykouleon walked over and perched on the side of the bed.

"It…It wasn't a dream…?" Rune asked shakily.

"No, I'm afraid it wasn't." Lykouleon answered.

Rune began to shake again as he remembered finding Kai-Stern's body inside his closet. He wrapped his arms around himself and stared forward, not seeing Lykouleon but his closet again. He saw the note and began to cry. He felt arms wrap around him and heard Water begin to hiss.

"Oh, quiet you." Rath snapped at the dragon. "Lykouleon, couldn't this wait? He's still out of it."

"I'm sorry, but it cannot. This is a matter of security. Kai-Stern wasn't a weak person. We must apprehend the culprit as soon as possible." Lykouleon shook his head sadly.

"It was this afternoon…" Rune began, surprising everyone. "I saw him the last time this afternoon, right before Rath, Thatz, and I went shopping. He was alive and well at that time."

"Did you see anyone around at the time?" Lykouleon asked.

"J-Just Nadil… He was talking to me before Kai-Stern came. He left after a bit…" Rune answered.

"Nadil? What the hell?" Rath growled. "You didn't tell me that he'd been messing with you before tonight."

"What? This has happened more than once?" Lykouleon's head shot up.

"Mm-hmm… When we got back, he took my bags and started to carry them to my room…" Rune said.

"Did he say anything to you?" Lykouleon asked. "Please, Rune, we need to know."

Rune thought for a moment. Should he tell them about the present thing? What if really was Nadil that did it? Then he'd go for them next. No, he couldn't tell them.

"No… He didn't… Other than asking me out earlier in the afternoon…" Rune said. Lykouleon stared hard at him for a moment before nodding and standing.

"I'm calling a meeting. All members are to be there. Meet in the lounge." he said before leaving.

"Well, I'll go and get some of the others…" Thatz said, standing and leaving.

"Rath…?" Rune said tentatively.

"Yeah?"

"You can let me go now… Besides, we have to go…" Rune tried to look around at the other knight.

"Yeah. Fire!" Rath called for his dragon after releasing Rune.

Rune picked Water up and placed him on his shoulder, following Rath after he had picked up Fire. The two made their way down to the large room of the lounge. They saw many sad faces of Lykouleon's modeling agency, the Dragon Tribe. Raseleane was openly crying, leaning on the shoulder of Lykouleon. Cesia was trying valiantly to hide her tears as was Kitchel. The thief-girl was squeezing Thatz's hand so hard that Rune thought it would break.

"Ah. You two are the last to join us." Lykouleon motioned for them to take a seat. The two did so. "We are here to discuss a tragedy. Kai-Stern was found murdered tonight."

At his words, Cesia lost her composure and dissolved into tears. Raseleane wailed and buried her face into Lykouleon's jacket. After a few moments, they had calmed down enough for Lykouleon to continue.

"Now, I realize that you all wish to know who did it, yet we aren't sure. Our newest member, Rune, was the one to find his body. Young Rune is obviously not responsible, but I believe he may be the actual target. Kai-Stern was hung in his closet and a note was attached, addressed to Rune.

"For now, until the culprit is found, no one is to ever be alone. You all wish bunk with someone else and travel around with another person. I especially do not wish Rune to be alone. Rath, would you mind being the one he bunks with?" Lykouleon looked to the Fire dragon knight.

"Fine." Rath responded.
"Thank you. Please make your arrangements directly after I finish speaking. Second, business will not continue in light of this. Third, the mansion is on lockdown. No one leaves unless it is urgent, the same goes for coming in. Is this clear?" there were various nods to Lykouleon's question. "All right. Dismissed."

A/N: Eep. This is starting to get rather creepy… R&R!