I dragged Cye up the stairs to my room and shut the door behind us. He looked around nervously, perhaps expecting to see instruments of torture hanging from my wall. I watched him with interest. "What are you scared of?" I asked him as I crossed my arms and leaned against the wall.

"Who says I'm scared?" he demanded defensively.

"Oh please, you're whiter than a ghost, your eyes are darting everywhere, and you're as tense as...as Sage. What's your issue?"

Cye scratched the back of his head and said, "What are you going to do to me?" He sounded like a puppy afraid of punishment. It almost came out as a whimper.

I bit back a grin that would have unsettled him even further. Of all the ronin, Cye and kento were the least annoying to me, hence I felt no need to annoy them back. "Who says I'm going to do anything to you?" I responded in like.

He tilted his head, a small gleam of hope in his eyes. "You're not going to..." he trailed off, as if unwilling to voice the dreaded event.

"Do what?" I asked, half smiling in amusement. "What could I do to you? I'm curious to know what it is you are so scared of me doing to you. This is me, not Kitty, we're talking about. I've no interest at all in seeing you nude."

He fidgetted. "Er, nothing in particular..." I raised an eyebrow at his expression and then shrugged it off with a laugh to accompany it. "So, what are we going to do then?" he asked.

"I don't know, think of something," I ordered with a wave of my hand.

"What's your favorite food?" he asked, fumbling for neutral ground.

Again, I felt incredulous at his topic choice. Well, this is going to be a boring five minutes. "Japanese."

Cye appeared surprised. "Really? Sorry, that just didn't seem like something you'd pick. Cool. Tell me about yourself."

I resisted the impulse to roll my eyes and sat down cross legged on the floor. I put my arms behind my head and shut my eyes. "I'm 17, a writer, artist, and I used to play the guitar. I like anime, cats, horses, darkness, weaponry, anything to do with pre-20th century history, languages, and goth."

"Anime, eh?" he asked. "Which is your favorite?" He was smirking, evidently thinking that it would be them.

"Hmm," I said. "Its a tie between Madlax and Hellsing."

"Aw, what about us?" he pouted.

"Eh..." I shrugged, "Sorry, not the rabid fangirl type. You want to hear about yourself from an obsessed fan, go down and pose these same questions to Kitty."

"I'll pass," he said, not liking the sound of that. "So what do you write?"

"I already explained that to Rowen," I said, bored with this conversation.

"Okay then, what do you draw?"

"I draw what I write, I write what I draw," I answered cryptically. I was more than ready for this five minutes to be over.

It was pretty obvious at this point that Cye was keeping the focus of the duscussion on me to spare himself from unnecessary bloodshed. "Why did you stop playing the guitar?" he asked, scrounging for things to say.

"Serious injury to my wrist left me unable to play or continue taking lessons for almost two years. At that point, it was far too weak and prone to reinjury that I didn't return at all. I did play from time to time however, until my dad managed to wreck it when he insisted on changing the strings instead of me. That was it, then. I miss it, but there's nothing to be done about it."

"What did he do with it?" he asked. I shrugged, not feeling like elaborating on the subject. "How long are you visiting for?"

I opened one eye and sighed, shutting it again before I responded. "I live here." I smiled and added, "But to answer your question, until I can finish college and get a decent job to afford a place of my own." I reflected on my words and said, "Not to sound like I'm rushing or anything." I glanced at my watch and was relieved to see that the five minutes were over. Standing up, I offered Cye a hand, which he accepted, surprisingly. Hmm, I must have succeeded in calming him down, I thought. I grinned as I gripped the door knob. "Your personal torture session is over. You may leave." I opened the door for him only to end up getting my butt slapped as he walked out.

"CYE! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" I bellowed, causing him to belt down the stairs at top speed. I chased him downstairs, where I found him attempting to hide behind Ryo. "Lame idiot," I said coldly. "Get out here or I'm going to slit your throat in your sleep."

"What'd I miss?" asked Sage, looking between us as if trying to locate where the missing puzzle piece was.

Cye snickered from behind Ryo, who looked cought between amusement and worry. "Oh yeah, real brave," I said. I crossed the room in three strides, grabbing him by the ear and dragging him out from behind Ryo. "How you guys ever defeated Talpa is beyond me," I muttered. Cye yanked himself free but was stopped when I roundhouse kicked him, knocking him to the floor. A couple of moments later, I had him wrestled down, his arm stuck in a very painful position, his elbow sticking up and my other hand in a fist above it. "Start struggling and I'll knock it out of its socket," I threatened.

At the opportune moment, Kitty walked in. "Ah! Rebekah, what are you doing?"

I looked down at Cye. "Causing him pain, what else?"

"Get off him, before you-"

"Break his arm?" I asked, "I know, I'm well aware of what I was about to do if he tried to get away. It's only because he's a pervert and he's now my least favorite Ronin."

"Huh?" he squeaked from underneath me.

"That's right," I said. "Hey, you even made RYO move up, and that takes TALENT!" Chapter Three

Ryo got a moment of courage as he watched his teammate get overpowered by me, because he said, "Get off him."

"Uh oh, chica," Kitty pointed to the look on Ryo's face. "It looks like they're starting to grow a back bone. This might not be good for us."

"Ah, I was wondering when that would happen," I laughed. "Well, all good things must come to an end, I suppose." I stood up, thus releasing Cye from my grip

Kento laughs as Cye now stands, rubbing his offended arm. "Man, she's a girl," he hooks a thumb over in Rebekah's direction with a grin. "And she took you down; that's not good for the manly image.

Cye gave Kento a glare, showing how much he appreciated his friend's comment. "Shut it.."

I walked over and put an arm around Kento's shoulders. "That's because girls rock, right Kento?"

"Hell yeah girl," he agreed while offering his knuckles for the girl to bump with my own.

I grinned and did so. "Kudos to you, Ryo. I never thought you'd be able to string three words together, let alone be forceful."

Ryo grumbled in my general direction and said to Cye, "Are you alright?"

"Well enough," Cye said.

"Eh, he'll live," Kitty gave a cast off wave to the whole thing. Then with a huge smile, clasped her hands before her and said, "So... who's next Rebekah?"

I smirked and said, "Ryo gets to be my next victim for the 'five minutes' dare."

Kento gave Ryo the thumbs up; "Good luck bud."

Kitty patted his arm in sympathy; "You'll be fine." Then, as if another thought had hit her, reached up on her tip toes to whisper to him, "Just don't show fear and you'll be good."

I grinned. "Just think of it as walking up to a strange dog. They smell fear and they use it against you." I then grabbed Ryo's arm and dragged him upstairs, not giving him time to get ready for what he had to do. I pushed him into the room ahead of me and shut the door. "Stuck now!" I announced happily.

Kento shook his head sadly before turning to head into what he hoped was the kitchen. "He's so dead." He left Rowen sitting with his head in one of Mary's textbooks, completely oblivious to everything.

Ryo shook his head and walked up the bookshelves, looking at my selection of novels, reference books, how-to manuels, and odds and ends. "What are you doing?" I asked, walking over, just to see him pull down the book on swords. "Careful, you'll hurt yourself on that," I said with a smirk.

"Shut up for five minutes, grant me that," he muttered.

"Hey! That isn't nice! And besides, if I did, you'd be able to prowl around my room all you wanted until you could leave."

"Exactly. No smart comments that would inevitably piss me off."

I snorted. "You sound exactly like my brother used to."

"What do you mean used to?" he didn't turn around to look, he had moved on to the jewelry chest, opening the drawers and doors, looking at my stuff.

"Would you get out of that?" I demanded, grabbing him by the back of his neck, pressing my fingers into the pressure points that assured cooperation.

"Ow!" he whined. "Let go!"

"Nevermind," I said with a roll of my eyes. "You remind me more of my little brother."

"What the heck are you looking for, anyway?" I demanded, incensed with his continued rummaging.

"Evidence you're a girl for one," he muttered.

"Funny, your friend Cye noticed I was," I said crossly.

Ryo allowed my toolbox to shut, looking at me curiously. "What did he do anyway?"

"I won't tell you unless you promise to stay out of my stuff."

"Eh, I'll just ask him when this dumb thing is over," he said, turning back to the before mentioned box, which contained plenty of pricey art supplies that I didn't want his bear paws destroying.

"You think he'll talk?" I grinned. "Considering how scared of me he is?"

Ryo considered this. "You're probably right. All right, I'll stay out of your stuff, you tell me what he did."

"He slapped my ass," I said primly.

"And for that you chased him downstairs and almost broke his arm?" asked Ryo, eyebrows raised.

I sneered, "I've gotten enough disrespect to last a lifetime and I stick up for myself now, thank you very much."

"All right, all right, sheesh. You really do remind me of Sage, albeit a talkative one."

"HEY!" I yelled. "Who taught you your manners? A poo flinging primate?" I looked at my watch. "Oh thank God. Get out of my room!"

Ryo smirked and nodded, leaving calmly. Just because I was still pissed, I kicked him in the ass as he walked out. "Bloody hell, woman," he said, regaining his balance.

"Be careful or I'll send you there," I promised evilly.

Kento beats cheeks back into the other room now as he hears noises from upstairs. Hiding the food he says, "So how was it Ryo? You're... still in one piece."

Ryo smirks, "I've got a few bruises, that's all."

"He's an asshole!" I declared, coming down the stairs three at a time. "He reminds me more and more of a nosey little brother that got taller than you and learned too much about life."

"Hey now," Kitty said with a frown. "He's NOTHING like Justin. Ew, not even close."

"No, he's fortunate enough that he bathes frequently enough that he doesn't smell like a rotting corpse and that he's actually fair of face. If he wasn't, he'd have been gelded way before this."

"Now, that's not a good thing to have done, Ryo," Kitty said to the confused look on his face.

I looked over and spied Rowen, head in one of Mary's college textbook, apparently oblivious to everything going on around him. I sighed and said, "Hey, Rowen!" Rowen holds one finger up, not bothering to take his face out of the book.

"Now see, this is how you gotta do it," Kento walked over and promptly yanked the book away from the man.

Rowen blinked, hands still where they had been while holding the book and then glares at the one who'd perpetrated the crime. "Give that back Kento!"

I raised an eyebrow. "Bloody hell, he's even worse than me. I didn't know that was possible."

Rowen stood and reaches for the book, only to have Kento move it out of his reach. Kento flipped through the pages, oblivious to Rowen's angered glare. "How do you read this thing?" he asked. "There's no pictures."

I snorted and took it away from Kento. "Give it here before you damage it, it's a college textbook, have any idea how pricey these things are?" I stuck it on the shelf and pried another out of Rowen's hands who had just selected a new one. I grabbed his wrist and pulled him away from the bookshelves, dragging him out of reach of them. "Come on you, it's your turn."

"Turn?" he asked with a raised brow. "Turn for what exactly?"

"Bye, bye Rowen!" Kitty says, smiling

"Your turn for five minutes alone with yours truly," I said, now that she'd finally gotten his attention. "If your masculinity can withstand that kind of turmoil, we'd all be greatly appreciative if you'd walk in the general direction of the staircase. If you don't comply, I will use force."

"Alright, alright, I'm moving," he said quickly before making for the stairs. The last thing he needed was a Cye incident.

Kento waved off in his direction, "See ya blue boy."

I grinned at his quick acquiescence. "Good boy!" I praised and followed him up.

I directed him to my room and as with all the others before, I shut the door. He had naturally, immediately gravitated for my book selection. "Hey! None of that!" I said, quick to block his path. At his questioning look, I said, "If you stay up here for several hours instead of five minutes, rumors will start..."

"Right," he turned on his heel and headed away from the books now. To keep himself occupied, Rowen began to look around the rest of the room. "So what do you have planned for me?"

I rolled my eyes and shrugged. "I don't know. I just got dared to be alone with you for five minutes. No one said I had to do anything to you, be it good or bad. ...Though Mary did hint at the bad," I added thoughtfully.

"What did Ryo do that you gave him a few bruises?" he asked out of curiosity. "And why did he get away with just that?"

"He was shoving his nose into everything I owned," I commented coolly. "He got kicked in the ass because he was a smart ass the whole time. I also did find a few pressure points to remind him existed on his body, but aside from that, he escaped major physical harm..."

Rowen nodded his head thoughtfully at that. "So what are the odds of my walking away unharmed?"

"Ah, how violent do you think I am?" I teased. "Those two offended my honor. You're unlikely to do that."

"Good news for me," he said while crossing his arms over his chest with a smirk. "How much longer do I have?"

I looked at my watch, "Four minutes. You're a lot less entertaining though, I admit."

Rowen held his hands up innocently; "Sorry that I don't go snooping around in other people's belongings or give you some reason to attack me."

I grinned "Hey, no offense. You're nice, I can handle you. You might escape the week ungelded... presuming you now know what that means, having been in Mary's textbooks for so long." I smirked at him.

"I have an idea, thank you," he grimaced at the mentioned word. "And I'm positive that I don't want to have that done."

"Aww," I laughed at his horror. "No? Ok, we'll just sacrifice Ryo."

"You know," a pondering expression fell over his face now. "Somehow I don't think he would really mind that."

Raising an eyebrow, I was forced to say, "You're kidding me, right?" Then I shook my head. "Never mind, I don't want to know. If he really is that... unique... I think I want nothing to do with it."

Rowen laughed, "Unique? That's definitely a good way of putting it." He plopped down on my bed now and stretched out, still chuckling some. "What's the time now?"

I looked at my watch again. "Two minutes to freedom." I walked over and pulled out my drawing pad, bored out mind.

"What are you drawing?" he sat up now to peer over at what I was doing.

"At this point, I have no clue," I responded calmly, my charcoal hovering above the clean sheet of paper. "I've got a graphic novel I'm procrastinating on... I ought to work on that instead." I sighed and put the charcoal away, removing instead a much favored lead pencil.

"Graphic novel?" he arched one brow at that. "Funny, you don't strike me as that kind of person."

I looked up with a grin, "Look not at the body, but at the soul, for it lays bare all things," I quoted an old proverb. "Besides, it wasn't originally my idea, Nii-san put it into my head... and wouldn't let it drop. I guess I'm doing it to make him happy."

"This brother of yours... you look up to him, do you?"

I nodded, still staring at the blank page. I glanced at my watch again and stood up. I walked over to the door, "Time's up," I said with a grin and opened it. "You're free to go."

Rowen rubbed his hands together while walking out of the room. "Yes, I made it through that without being given any bruises."

I grinned as I followed him down. "The others could learn something from you. Well, they won't, but they could... provided they were interested in self-preservation."

"I wouldn't count on it," he held his hand to his mouth and whispered to me, "I personally think that at least one out of the five of us should be on suicide watch." With that said, he very inconspicuously raised his arms, pointing to Ryo with his elbow

"Ah, ok," I said, frowning slightly. "Been there, done that," I muttered.

"Blue boy!" Kento called loudly now while snagging the man around the neck. "You lived I see."

"Too bad I did just have you kill me," he squeaked out around the arm that was cutting off his air supply

I smirked and tapped on Kento's shoulder. The man let Rowen go now and turned a grinning face on the me. "My turn?" he pointed to himself. Rowen rubbed at his neck while sauntering off, probably back to the textbooks.

I nodded and said, "Yes and I'm warning you now, no food in my room."

Kento's face went oddly innocent. "What makes you think I have food?"

"The fact that you've got one hand behind your back and I'm not deaf, meaning I can hear the bag crinkling," I said boredly.

He stood there, contemplating his options for a few seconds, before sighing and producing the bag of chips. "Darn it," he grumbles and then folds the bag closed before throwing it football style at Ryo's head, grinning at the glare and growl it earned him.

I smile and allow him past, "Come on, your turn for torture, baka shonen." (silly boy)

Kento tried to act intimidated by me while heading into my room. "This is it? The big bad room itself?" he clicks his tongue while looking around. "I was... expecting something else."

I raised my brow. "Like what? Black curtains and walls, torture implements, and splats of dried blood for the added effect? Tell me about, Cye was convinced I wanted his spleen." I looked around my room that was white walled, tidy except for occasional tidbits like pencils that hadn't been put away. My bed comforter that had whales on it seemed oddly cheerful.

He snorted at that, "Well, I wasn't thinking it was going to be all girlie and pink with flowers and junk."

My eyes went wide and I said, "Excuse me? Pink and flowery? I hate pink! I'm more likely to have photos of old motorcycles and dilapidated buildings than I am anything floral," I added, shuddering with distaste. I walked over and again plopped down in front of my drawing pad. This cannot be ignored forever, I thought in annoyance. I never seemed able to concentrate on it when I sat down to do it.

"Yeah, alright then," he mumbled before flopping down on my bed, propping his chin his upturned palms. He watched me sitting there with pencil and pad in hand before asking, "So what are you supposed to be doing with those things?"

I gave him an annoyed glance and began sketching out scenes, feeling chagrined at his comment. I muttered only, "Graphic novel."

Kento nodded his head, pretending he understood what she meant by that. Then, curious, he leans over to see what she was drawing. "What's that?" he asks while pointing at the pad.

It took a moment for me to even realize he spoke. "What? Oh, that? She's a neko, half woman half cat. I have to draw her kicking the shit out of this guy."

"So who's the guy? And how come she's kicking the shit outta him?" he further prodded information out of me.

I sighed and said, "His name is Paladin, he's the warlord of the country she's trespassed into. He's been having her followed and she got tired of it, so she's going to mop the floor with him." I didn't look up from my art, just kept adding lines and defining the picture, before moving on to the next scene box.

Kento was quiet for a moment before saying, "So is this like a comic?"

This managed to get my attention and I looked up at him. "Yes, a graphic novel is a comic, except it is in book form."

"Right, got cha," he nodded his head.

I grinned and shook my head, returning my gaze to the sketchpad. "You're really something."

He cocked a brow at this, not completely sure if he was being made fun of or not. "Really something..." Kento prompted.

"Meaning you're a goofball, probably the reason you're my favorite Ronin." I froze. I said that out loud, didn't I? Oh God, I thought, covering my face in embarrassment. Let all Hell break loose now.

A huge grin slid across Kento's face now. "Oh, so I'm your favorite huh?" He chuckled before patting me on the back. "S'okay, better me than... Sage, I guess."

"Uungh," I groaned into my hands. "I don't get why everybody thinks he's so great. He's a prick!"

Kento rolled over onto his back, laughing loudly at that. "Finally!" he wipes a tear from his face. "I was beginning to think I was the only one who thought that."

I let my hair down and made my face emotionless, glaring at him through my one visible eye. "Shut up and quit acting stupid, Kento," I said in a monotone.

This only proceeded to throw him into another laughing fit. "Stop," he said while shaking a hand at me. "You got him dead on girl."

I smirked and hauled my hair back into its ponytail that it resisted being part of. "I couldn't resist. I love to imitate people, especially if it gets a reaction like that."

"That's almost scary how close you come to him though," he said, now while sitting up and throwing his legs over the side of my bed.

I stood up and stretched before glancing at my watch. "Eh, time's up. Now I have to put up with Stick-In-The-Mud himself."

"Eh," he climbed to his feet and snagged me around the shoulders. "I think you'll be fine. Just do that impression and he'll love it."

"You mean, he'll love it when he can leave?" I asked, grinning myself. There was a reason I liked Kento best, and it wasn't his looks... Though I admit he certainly isn't ugly.

"Ah," he scratched at the back of his head. "Yeah, that too."

I laughed and walked out ahead of him, trotting down the stairs at a fast pace. "Hurry up or I'll kick your ass," I yelled up at Kento, smirking as he hurried on down.

"Hey now," Kento crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Ryo. "Where're my chips at?"

Ryo smirked at him and pointed at his gut. "They went in the tank. Consider it payback for getting us lost."

"Yeah, well who gave me the map?" he threw back at him.

"Who said he could handle it when Rowen wanted it?" sparred Ryo.

"Who's the genius who let me actually handle it?"

Ryo scowled. Sage inserted here, "You're both morons."

Kento points at Ryo; "He's a bigger moron."

"Enough, children," I intervened, standing between the two of them with my arms spread like a referee. "If you're going to fight, take it outside. Now, can you get along long enough for me to drag Sage to his doom?"

Ryo sneered, "We got along before you came into the picture."

I raised my eyebrow. "Wow, PMSing much?"

Kento burst into laughter, leaning over to grasp his knees, at not only the comment, but the blank look on Ryo's face. Kitty shook her head at the two; "Would you guys leave him alone already?"

"Tell him not to take his issues out on me," I said. "I've been dealing with girl problems my whole life. Just because he's been recently introduced doesn't mean I want to hear about it."

This only prompted Kento to laugh more. "Fine then," Kitty said, desperately trying to hide the smile on her face. "Come on Ryo, you can help me get the secret stash of sweets down from the kitchen."

I sniggered and then turned on Sage. "Come on, Oh Original Emo, it's time for your personalized 'Five Minutes in Hell.'" I ushered the glaring Sage up the staircase. Then that was it, I was alone with him. For some reason, that made me slightly nervous. Just goes to show, I thought. The silent ones are the ones you've really got to watch out for. I spoke if only to break the silence, "Yes, its my room. No, I do not kill people in here. No, I don't care what you think of it and quite frankly, if you touch anything, I'll break your fingers."

Sage looked back at me, raising the only visible eyebrow. God only knows if he raised both, who can see them? I snickered at the thought, but quickly wiped the smile off my face.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

I smiled. "I was just imagining you with two eyebrows instead of one."

He wrinkled his nose, the most expression I've seen on him to date. "I have two eyebrows."

"So you tell me," I said. "However, your hair leads me to wonder what you're hiding. So... maybe you accidentally shaved it off as a kid and it didn't grow back?"

Sage looked to be contemplating my sanity. "Why the hell would such a thing enter your head?" he asked.

I put my hands behind my back and said, "What? Surprised I'm not spending more time in awe of your presence?" He scowled and stuck his hands into his pockets, turning his gaze to the window. "I'll take that as a 'yes.'" I commented, pleased with his reaction.

"No," he said flatly. "Can't you stop being annoying for... for thirty seconds?"

"Funny, Ryo made a similar comment..." I mumbled. "But the real question is, what would you do if I went quiet, acted pissed, and retreated beneath my headphones?"

"Count my blessings," he mumbled.

"Boy you really are a dud," I said. "tsk, tsk, tsk, if you can't recognize the most basic signs of depression, how do you expect to keep a certain someone from ending in a grisly suicide?"

He looked up. "What do you know about that?"

I sat down on the bed, crossing my legs indian style. "Here's how it goes: I've been under the hold of manic depression and post traumatic stress disorder for seven years. I

escaped by the skin of my teeth, literally dragged back from death by my brother and my friend, Mary. I'm not being dramatic, look." I pushed up my sleeve, showing wide and long shiny scar marks on my arms. "Now when I talk to some of my friends and tell them I'm having fun, they ask and make sure it isn't with 'pointy objects.'" I frowned up at him. "Dude, I can tell when something isn't right."

He looked at me, for the first time seeming to be taking me seriously. "So what do you want me to do?"

I said calmly, "Everyone's different. You know him better than I do."

"So you're telling me I'm on my own?"

"Not necessarily. You've got three others besides him, talk to Rowen for pity's sake."

Sage's eye narrowed. "Oh, that's it. You were talking to him, he put this idea into your head."

I snorted. "Barely. That was the most boring five minutes of my life. At any rate, you've got more than yourself and a mess. You're a big boy, deal with it." I shooed off further questions on the subject.

Sage looked at me oddly. "You act like a retard and yet you've got a past on you. You're an odd one."

I looked down and said, "No. Just doing what I have to. Dwelling on what evil was done to me does not heal it."

"So what is your past?" he asked, curiosity overcoming his ritual of being sparse with words.

I looked at my watch. "Whoops, too bad, your five minutes are up." I opened the door and walked out, quick to escape further probing.

"Hold still Kento!" Kitty was laughingly saying now while trying to aim an m&m into his mouth.

Kento stood still, slightly crouched, with mouth open wide and pointed to his target.

I walked in to see this and my eyes widened. "Kitty," I said lowly. "You're feeding them... sugar?"

"Yeah! It's great, watch this," she said, dug down into the m&m bag and then came back with a few in her hand. She pelted a few at the unsuspecting Rowen before laughing and Kento waved his hands to get her attention. "Over here!"

"Oh dear God," I muttered, putting a hand to my forehead. I could feel the impending migraine pounding its tattoo against my skull.

I edged my way through the crowd, to the medicine cabinet where I grabbed the painkiller I needed. I loosened my ponytail to ease the stress on the back of my head and went to locate something to swallow the ruddy pill with - not an easy task amidst flying candy. I was relieved when Mary came in. "Good, someone besides me can get them back into line," I muttered. I took my water bottle and tossed the pill down, before picking up a few stray M&M's and pelting them at Kitty, hitting her in the cheek, and a few getting stuck in her hair. "Whoops," I muttered. "Sowwy!"

"Oh now you're gonna get it," she says with an evil little smirk before digging down into the bag and coming back with a handful, throwing them all at me at once.

I ducked and splashed water onto the floor, only getting hit by a few. Getting my hand wet, I flicked her with cold water, grinning evilly.

"Ooh, chick fight," Kento exclaimed, now completely forgetting about the candy.

"Forget it idiot," she says and throws a few more at him. "Not gonna happen."

"Yeah, really," I grinned and dumped some of my water on his head. "Cool it, or I'll do an impression of you!"

Mary cleared her throat, drawing everyone's attention to her. "Who is responsible for the mess?" she asked in a sickeningly sweet voice, though her hands were clenching.

Kitty pointed at Kento and Ryo who pointed back at her. "Point being, you two get to clean it up!" she snapped.

"Woah, scary chick," commented Cye, looking at her with wide eyes.

I walked over and put an elbow on Mary's shoulder and smirked at him. "We're practically sisters, that's why."

Fifteen minutes later and Mary and I were in the main room of our house, notebooks in hand and our heads together. It was a common thing for us, perhaps an oddity for anyone who didn't know us. We had decided it safer to stay downstairs and write, if only to keep everyone else from setting the house on fire. I was perched on my bean bag, twirling my pen in my hand, contemplating the next scene to write, unconsciously chewing on my lip. Mary and I were strategically positioned directly beside the heater, toes and fingers nearest to keep ourselves from becoming victims of frostbite. It didn't matter how warmly I dressed, I remained cold anyway.

I heard Rowen come zipping through the room, emitting some kind of high pitched laugh and a squawking Kento close behind him. I closed my eyes and shook my head. Oh, the joys of Ronin Warriors, high on SUGAR! Kitty had received strict orders that there was to be no more of that. Suddenly I found myself being lifted up and it happened so fast that I dropped my pen and notebook, thus freeing myself to slam my elbows into the gut of the offender. I was dropped with a grunt and I whirled around, wide eyed to stare at Ryo who'd decided to play a prank on me and ended up on the wrong side of my... elbows. I turned to stare at Mary who seemed to be struggling to contain her laughter. Jumping to my feet, I walked towards Ryo with my hands out, saying menacingly, "You're going to get it!" Then Cye darted up and caught me around the middle, lifting me off the ground. I crossed my arms and sulked at my predicament. When I get let down... I thought. I'm going to skin me some Ronin hides. "Put me down, nuthead. Or else."

"Or else what?" he teased, still gripping me tightly.

"You're paying my hospital bill when you break a rib with that grip of yours," I stated matter-of-factly. I shouldn't have opened my mouth because what he did next was worse, as I got tossed into the air and caught bridal-style. My mouth was open, my eyes like saucers, and I was mentally reeling from what he'd done - as he smirked at me.

"Better?" he asked, grinning devilishly.

"I'm gonna kill you," I promised, lifting up my hands and putting them around his throat. I was promptly dropped, to which I rolled over and leapt to my feet again. I found myself beside Ryo so I reached up and smacked the back of his head. "Dufus," I said. "You earned what you got." I thought for a minute as I noticed all the present Ronin were looking at me and asked, "How come Mary isn't getting tormented? Heck, why isn't Kitty getting tormented?"

Kitty walked into the room having finished cleaning up the kitchen and doffed her shoes. All eyes turned to her and she asked innocently, "What?"

I smirked. "Hey Kitty?" I said.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"You want five guys all to yourself?"

"Uhh..." she blinked.

"Okay! They're yours! Have fun and don't let them bug me or they'll be GELDED WITHOUT ANESTHETIC!" I added ferociously for their benefit.

They blinked and backed away slowly, like I was going to follow through on my promise right then and there. Pretty soon Kitty was surrounded, still looking baffled at the ongoing events. "What exactly did they do this time?"

"They let their sugar high cloud their judgement," I said. "Ryo was dumb enough to wake me from my writing." I looked over at Mary and said, "How come you don't get lifted bodily from what you were doing?"

Mary set down the notebook and then the pen on top of that, folded her hands before her and gave the Ronins a flat look. "Just try it," she said.

"Uh, no thanks," said Kento.

I rapped my fingers on my arms as I stood defiantly facing this lot of idiots. "I see five reasons for birth control, right in front of me."

"Oooh," winced Kitty. "That was mean."

"Yeah, I thought you said you liked me best?" teased Kento.

I scowled as they smirked. "That's easily remedied. A couple of morons plus a very short temper equals five dead ronins and their hides in my tanning barrel."

"Do I have to get the knife?" asked Mary.

"I've already got it," I said, not taking my gaze away from the infidels.

"One girl against five strong men," said Kitty. "I think you might run into difficulties."

"Correction," I said. "Three strong girls against five wimpy Ronins, I think we won't have any issue."

"HEY!" they chorused as one.

"That was uncalled for," said Rowen.

"I don't think so, but that's just me," commented Mary. "I'll shut up and go back to writing."

I said very slowly, as if I was speaking to retards, "I'm going to go back to writing now. If anyone of you interrupts me again, you won't escape with your... masculinity. Do I make myself clear?" I received nods as a response. "Good." I sat down again, pulling my notebook over and collecting my pen from where it had fallen.

Someone sat down beside me but I didn't look up, I blocked their presence from my mind as I sent my mind into the other world I had created. My hand hurried across the page, my cursive as loopy and awkward as ever. I was biting my lip, my fingers clenching the pen, far tighter than was actually necessary. My teeth had clenched and as I noticed none of this, the only thing I saw was the paper in front of me.

They turned and crept on down the board walk towards the city, completely silent. They were just about to go around the corner of a building when someone reached out of the shadows and grabbed Serenai. Ordinarily, the offender would have found himself abruptly deprived of arms but for some reason, Serenai couldn't move. The reason soon revealed itself as she came to understand who had grabbed her.

"I thought cats didn't like getting wet," Sudame commented blandly.

Serenai growled and snapped, "What are you doing here?"

He peered down at her and said, "You know, I ought to ask you that question. This place nearly destroyed you. You're back for more?"

Serenai sneered, "What I do is my own business. Why do you keep intruding into it anyway?"

"Well, it becomes my business when I have to step in and save you before they cut you to ribbons."

"You? Save me? Let go, you stupid wad of cat barf!" Serenai's voice was rising as she got angrier and it would have risen more in the impending beratement, if Sudame hadn't planted a hand firmly over her mouth.

"There's something wrong with your eyes if you think I look like cat barf," smirked the face above her. "This handsome body does not look like cat barf."

He leered just a little too closely and Serenai wrenched free one hand, claws extended, preparing to make him look like afore mentioned sick. However, both were interrupted when Toukon's naginata knocked them apart and the grumpy girl situated herself between them. "You two kids want to fight, do it when I've had enough sleep that I don't have to get pissed. Come on, before we get caught!"

Serenai and Sudame blinked in surprise at Toukon's entirely confident positions between the God of death and the God of darkness. She had marks under her eyes from not sleeping well and generally looked ready to mop the floor with someone. The normally even-tempered girl had shown a surprising display of wrath. Serenai shook herself and grabbed Toukon's arm, dragging her down the alley as fast as they could go. They had a lot of work to do and she wanted distance between herself and that fat head Sudame.

I handed it over to Mary to read and she set down her own notebook to glance over what I'd scribbled out. Laughing, she handed it back. She grinned and said, "I like it."

Smirking I nodded and took it back from her hands. I settled down to continue writing but I made the mistake of glancing to my side to see who was there. Rowen, for some reason, was watching me write. Weirdo. This is about interesting as watching paint dry.Shaking my head, I returned to my notebook, my focus zeroing in on the unfortunate future victims in my story.

An hour later, I could feel my concentration slipping away as my inspiration reached the last dregs. Standing up I stretched and told Mary, "I'm going up. See you later." With that, I climbed the stairs, leaving behind the now half-asleep Ronin, their sugar rush having faded away. So ended day one with the Ronin, right? Not so fast.

"Hey!" I heard from behind me. I turned around just as a certain blue haired Ronin of Hardrock literally flew at me, yelling, "GLOMP!"

To put it nicely, I was flattened in a monstrosity of a hug. To be honest, though, I'm surprised I'm not dead. My older brother weighs a lot and he's a fricking stick figure, something Kento was NOT! Muscle weighs more than fat and he had plenty of THAT for certain, as he proceeded to pick up my bruised body off the floor.

"I think I'm dead now," I muttered, not opening my eyes, as my entire body racked in pain.

"Kento, you meanie," Kitty said, "You could have really hurt her!"

"And did," I muttered, wincing, putting a hand to my side. I hissed as he adjusted how he was holding me. "Put me down, you oaf," I said. He did so and I wobbled but maintained my balance by putting a hand to the wall. I shook my head and proceeded on up the stairs slowly. "For some reason, I don't think the world is supposed to spin," I muttered to myself, stopping for a moment.

"You idiot Kento," Rowen said, going up the stairs, "You probably gave her an effing concussion."

Kento looked worriedly at me as Rowen put a hand on my shoulder, to have me hiss in pain. "Is she okay?" he asked worriedly.

"I'm going to sleep," I muttered, continuing up the stairs.

"Wait," Rowen said, his vast medical knowledge coming to use as he said, "If you have a concussion, you can't go to sleep, you might go into a coma!"

"Coma?" I asked, looking at him. "Good. I'll get to sleep longer. Good night." I went up the stairs only to find myself plucked up and carried back down. I sulked, too sore and weary feeling to fight. "This is mighty irritating," I said.

"The point is that you can't go into a coma on us."

"Oh pfft," I said. "Overprotective idiot. You remind me of my brother more and more. Put me the hell down!"

"I'd say she's fine," commented Ryo, recieving a kick in the shin from Kitty watched in concern.

I was set down again on my beanbag and given strict orders not to succumb to my sleepiness. I scowled and said, "Alright, you're going to boss me around, go get me a bloody painkiller, before I go Serenai-No-Densetsu on your ass."

"Whuh?" asked Rowen, blinking.

"One of her characters," commented Mary, who knew me well enough to know that I was fine - just bruised. "She's really cool - so long as she isn't attacking you."

Rowen left the room and as soon as he did I made myself as comfortable as I could - which wasn't much - and settled down. I was already asleep when he came back in with Kitty, carrying a glass of water and the Alieve. "Wake up!" he said, shaking my shoulder. "Wake up, damnit!"

I opened one eye and glared at him. "Some day when I get a big mean boyfriend I'm going to send him to turn you into sushi."

He rolled his eyes and shoved the Alieve and water at me. "As if he could do anything to us."

"Big headed guys don't do anything for me, sorry," I commented dryly, swallowing the pill with a gulp of water as Rowen blinked.

Cye sniggered from somewhere and commented, "I'd say you don't have a chance, Rowen."

"And you think you do?" Kitty and Mary chorused, then looking at each other in amusement.

He looked surprised, "What? I'm a great catch!"

"Speaking of big headedness," muttered Rowen, returning to the bookshelves.

"And we're talking about the girl who never got hit by hormones," added Kitty. "I mean, yeah, she developed physically but- what are you sniggering at?" she demanded.

I laid my head back and groaned. "If I get one more 'nice rack' comment, someone will be dead before they can blink twice." They started laughing their heads off and I scowled at them. "What? I got told that before! Three times in a row in fact!"

"You never told me that!" said Kitty, hands on hips.

I shrugged. "There have been plenty of perverts, I generally ignore them."

"You said you'd never even been looked at though!"

"Uh huh, in real life. Internet doesn't count."

"Why not?"

I groaned and said, "Must we get into this now? And in front of them?"

Kitty rolled her eyes. "Prude."

"And proud of it," I mumbled, closing eyes and getting comfortable, preparing to drift back off to sleep.

"Hey, none of that!" Rowen said, apparently having eyes on the back of his head.

"Shut the fuck up," I grumbled, not moving.

I was instantly hoisted to my feet, causing my head to spin. I opened my eyes and glared at whoever had done it - turning out to be Kento. I opened my mouth, but he beat me to the punch. "Don't do it," he threatened. "I'm not going to let you." I pouted. I rarely do it, but this occasion called for it, especially since I've been told that guys fall for that. Must have been a lie, it didn't do a thing. So I just sulked.

I was eventually released, however, much to my relief. I bopped Rowen on the head, just for good measure, gave Kento a once-in-a-lifetime hug just to assure him there were no hard feelings, and went up to bed.

Mary yelled something but I didn't catch it. I was asleep on my feet even as I dragged my way upstairs. I would later find out that it was, "Lock your door!" And oh my God, I wish I'd heard her.