Gomennasai, mina! I said I would upload this in a few days, didn't I? Well, my semester is winding down...so I'll have more time to write now. Forgive me :3

Ray: Moonlight Serenity owns nothing. She doesn't own and is in no way affiliated with Beyblade or the Offspring. She doesn't even have time management skills.

Kai: On with the story!


Hiromi, Are You Doing Okay?


Chapter Three – Because Your Eyes Told a Tale of An Act of Betrayal

Apparently Hiromi was well known for bouncing around the home's of her few friends for months at a time. If she could stay the night, or longer, she would stay for week or two before moving. If she could only stay for an evening, she wouldn't leave until very late. Someone once commented they saw her sleeping on the streets, but we didn't believe it at the time. We didn't know she bounced around homes, either, until long after the disaster occurred.

Once she got acclimated to us she started spending all of her time at the dojo, and eventually stayed for weeks at a time – even a month. Every so often she would stay home from school, and that evening she would always have a reload of clothing and supplies. I now realize she crept into her home in the daylight hours and snagged the small amount of clothing she had, or old stashed money.

I wouldn't rely on us either, because all of the subtle signs were there, and we didn't see them – or just ignored them. There was a whispered comment here and there between team members of strange behavior, but no more than that.

I remember coming in at odd hours from my long walks of contemplation and finding her awake and staring into crevices, ruby eyes so deep that I could have drown in them. I would usually talk to her at these hours, but we rarely broached the dire subject; sometimes she slept less than I did.

Some nights I entered and found her in an unbearably fitful sleep, tears leaking from her eyes, or muttering the beginnings of a scream. I woke her up and she went for water. When she came back and sat down, I looked away, "do you want to talk about it?"

"No," she breathed, "just bad dreams." She would smile at me, and I would stare back. I couldn't hold her gaze long, though, for fear of drowning in the story of those wide, ruby eyes.

I noticed that her sleeps were the most fitful when she arrived and just before she departed. In the body between these two times, she slept relatively well.


Clarity - I just realized that I've been bouncing around POV frequently. It was an accident and I hate doing that :/ Okay, well, for clarity's sake that was Kai's POV. It's going to jump to third person again in the next chapter. So I guess it alternates randomly between Kai and third-person depending on the chapter. I'll be more clear about that from now on or develop a pattern. Oops. Well, please review and I apologize for the wait!

Ja ne!

-AJ