This is chapter three, and it's the turn of the Red-Haired Wonder! See, Brainy? No waiting involved! 'Ask and thou shalt recieve'. It's short, but it's pretty poignant, I think. I'd give a warning, but I don't want to give it away. Hope you enjoy :)

Here's a Secret, Can You Keep It?

Ha-Ya-To could barely stifle his laughter. It seemed as though every member of Exo-Force had heard about- or actually heard, he wouldn't be surprised- the botched training session yesterday, and had arranged themselves so that there was only one table in the mess hall that was free. Hikaru and Takeshi were at opposite ends, shooting glares at each other between mouthfuls. Ryo was between them, seemingly put off his own food by the smouldering glares being sent through his head.

The last teammate sat next to Ryo, trying to keep from snickering. "Hey. How's things?"

Ryo rolled his eyes in exasperation and spoke with a dry tone. "Oh, you know. As good as things can be when you have one pair of holes being drilled into one temple and another pair being burned into the other."

Ha-Ya-To smiled sympathetically. Those two were really trying the poor techie's patience. "Yeah, I know. Their bickering could turn a nun into an axe murderer!"

The glares shifted onto him, but he just smiled wider. Ryo smiled a little too. "Yeah, but she could just go to Confession and be forgiven in the eyes of God. I'd be tried and thrown in the brig."

"Oh, I dunno." Ha-Ya-To leaned over casually. "Could be seen as a crime of passion, or we could keep up this conversation and plead self-defence."

Ryo chuckled. Victory! "Yeah, well, I'm not really in the mood for setting up a crime scene with so many witnesses around. I'll catch you later, okay?"

"Okay, see ya!"

"Bye."

The glaring continued. Ha-Ya-To was starting to understand Ryo's unusually sour mood a little better.

He hated this. He hated the arguing. There were never arguments before the rebellion, before Exo-Force. His parents were happy together, his older sister was usually nice and fun; they were a happy family. Ha-Ya-To was something of an adrenaline junkie, he couldn't deny it, but it was because his parents had always taken him to theme parks and let him ride on rollercoasters when he was little. His mother would be waiting afterwards with candyfloss and a smile.

They were gone now. Burned by flame and laser fire, crushed by their own home, memories and lives being torn apart before him… the only place he felt right now was in the air, feeling that thrill, that rush, so familiar but emptying his mind of those painful memories. He missed them. Oh God, he missed them so much.

He wasn't hungry anymore. Ha-Ya-To suddenly stood, turning for a moment, grin in place. "There, now I won't be obstructing your view of each other. Enjoy your ogling, lovebirds!" He then bolted out of the door pretty damn quick, two trays slamming into the wall and floor either side of him.

He had to get to his room. He kept pretending, humming a jaunty, made-up tune and striding along with a spring in his step, but he kept moving. He had to get to his room, before he broke down. He wouldn't cry. He couldn't cry.

That was his reason, for everything he did. He made people laugh, or made inane comments that wound people up and made himself laugh, just as long as someone was laughing, because if there wasn't any laughing he would cry, and he could not, would not cry.

He opened his door and practically through himself inside. He slammed his head into his pillow, pressing his face against it so hard he was nearly suffocating. It didn't matter. He gripped the sheets. He wouldn't cry. He pushed it out of his head, all of it, welcoming the numb emptiness that followed. He couldn't cry.

If he started crying, then he would start screaming. And he knew, he just inexplicably knew, that if he started screaming, he would never, ever stop.