"Uh, how about a salad?" Ruth asked.

Taylor shook his head. "How about sandwiches?"

Ryan sighed. "That's so generic."

"We should make them a drink, and then have a quick, easy meal." I said. "I think ice tea is a good lunch drink, then…"

"Veggies with fish?" Ryan asked.

I shook my head. "Veggies would be good, but let's avoid fish. One of them looks like one."

Ruth opened the freezer. "They have something that looks like a bird." She announced, pulling it out.

"Quail." Taylor said, examining it. "Perfect. This won't be too bad."

"I can do the bird," I offered. "If someone else prepares the veggies and Ice Tea." They nodded, and Ryan can to help me pluck, clean, and cook the quail. After Taylor cut and washed the veggies, we stir-fried it all together to create something that smelled very good. We all placed equal amounts on 10 plates, making it look fancy. Ruth carried a pitcher of Ice Tea; the cups were already out there.

We all carried the plates on large trays, waitress style. Then we all took a deep breath and entered the dining room. The whole of the Akatsuki was already there. I went to the other side of the room, and started placing plates in front of the people who were occupying the seats near me. I gave Kakuzu his food as quickly as possible, then gave Deidara and Itachi theirs. Finally, I only had one plate left. "Hey there, Babe." Hidan said, smirking at me. I tried to quiet my beating heart, trying to think of anything but the guy in front of me. Jeremy, think about your boyfriend! "Still nervous around me?" He asked.

So I was blushing? "No, Hidan-sama." I said as politely as possible.

"I don't believe I told you my name, Babe." He said mischievously.

Oh. Crap. And I wasn't about to tell him that he was supposed to be a fictional character in a book. "I must have heard it somewhere." I lied as smoothly as possible.

Sasori looked over. "Strange. I just realized that you knew my name this morning as well."

Crap.

"Must have heard yours as well." I said, growing ever more nervous.

"You never told me why you seemed more shocked than confused yesterday when you first saw us, either." Hidan mentioned.

Mega-crap.

I started to back away towards the kitchen. "Really?" Itachi asked. Hidan nodded. "I would like to know as well." He told me. I began stuttering uncontrollably.

"I-I-I, I j-just…"

Pain looked up at me. Now I was terrified. The others looked scared, too. "Tell us." He ordered.

"Y-y-you wo-wouldn't b-be-believe m-me." I stammered.

"Try me."

I took a small breath. "I-i-I, in my world…yoursupposedtobefictionalcharactersinabook." I said rapidly.

"What?" Hidan raised an eyebrow at me.

"Tobi heard her!" Tobi announced. "She said that you and Tobi are all supposed to be fictional characters in a book!"

Oh, God.

I couldn't breathe now and my chest was starting to hurt. They all looked at me and Tobi in surprise. "Interesting…" Pain drew out the word. "Is this true?" But I couldn't breathe any more, and my vision turned black.

*********BLACKNESSSSSSSSSS******************Whatever*******************************

"Melody?" I could hear someone calling my name. I groggily opened my eyes to be staring at Taylor. I was lying on the Kitchen floor. "She's ok." He told the others.

"What happened?" I asked, leaning up.

"When they started questioning you, you fainted." Ruth told me. "Then Itachi, I think, picked you up and put you back in here."

I groaned. "I'm dead. So, so dead."

"What was going on in there was pretty intense, but I don't think they're going to kill you." Ryan said, his eyes looking down at me. "I think the for the most part they just laughed a little to see you squirm."

I groaned again. "Oh, god, I can never look at anyone again."

"Ya know. It kinda seemed like they already knew that in our world they were fiction." Taylor pondered.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. They laughed at you, but they didn't sound like they were going to kill you." I sighed in relief, until Taylor said, "Time to go clear the table." My head snapped up. "You don't have to." He said quickly.

I shook my head. "No, I will. I don't want to look like they can get to me by embarrassing me."

"But they can." Ruth told me.

I glared a little at her. "Yes, but I don't want them to know that." I stood up and dusted myself off, following them all into the main room. I knew that they were all staring at me, and that they were smirking, but I refused to look at them. I quickly walked around the table, picking up plates as swiftly as possible.

I reached to pick up Hidan's plate, only to have him grab my wrist. I reluctantly looked into those amethyst eyes. "I never would have guessed, you know." Hidan said grinning. I could see the others from my school heading into the kitchen, looking at me worriedly. "Sorry I brought it up, but it was nice to see you squirm." I tried to take my wrist back, but he pulled me closer. "You know, I'm almost glad that you were one of the ones brought to us." I blushed furiously.

"Please let me go." I said in a strained voice.

"So just how tough are you underneath those clothes, Babe?" He asked, looking me over. I let out a gasp and tried even harder to pull away.

Deidara let out a laugh. "Let her go, hm! You've made her nervous enough." Hidan let me go, and I quickly walked out of the room into the kitchen. I handed Ruth the plates and fought every instinct to go slap Hidan.

"Melody, maybe you should go." Ryan said. I looked up at him. "We got this." He told me. "Just go do the other stuff on your schedule." I nodded, grateful, making my way out of the kitchen into the hallway.