At least it hasn't been two months yet /shot

To jr: Dude, I didn't even mean for it to be like that. You're so serious-minded. This is a K+ fic remember? What makes you think I'll jump that far? Even if I did it unintentionally, it's not supposed to be thought in that way. It's you that should stop thinking of those kinds of thoughts, ne.

To everyone else: SORRY FOR THE SUPER LONG WAIT. I feel so guilty for being inactive for quite some time...I've been busy with school (and attempting to make an adoptables site). And also, I'm updating three stories now in a cycle. So first is Tales of Chibi (this chapter) then Sir Aaron's Apprentice, Penpal, then Tales of Chibi again. That explains why it takes me a while to update, okay? I'm also sorry for the kinda long note I wrote here. Just read the chapter already.


Chapter 3 - Slightly Awake

Shun groaned a little as he tried to sit up but couldn't. Weirdly enough, there was something heavy on his body; something or someone had a strong grip on him and didn't want to let go. At the same time, he felt something wet on his chest...

...

...

...

-o-

"So they can stay there? Really? Thanks!" Gale said gratefully. "Okay, bye." the teen put down the phone and smiled. He was glad that his dad's friend agreed to let everyone stay in his house for the mean time. For a second he was afraid that he would say no. But the condition that he gave him worried the boy somewhat.

Before he could ponder on it any further though, a loud scream echoed around the house; loud enough for Gale to say that his ears have bled. What the heck? Dan was already causing trouble at this time of morning? Racing upstairs, he quickly opens the door to his room to find the brunette still sleeping even after the scream, Shun on the floor breathing heavily and Marucho trying to calm him down. "What happened here?"

"Sorry...I just...overreacted..." the raven-haired chibi replied; panting.

"Overreacted? To what?" the little wet stain on the ninja's shirt already gave Gale an idea. Even so, Marucho answered his question anyway. "Dan was hugging and drooling on him in his sleep."

"That was my first guess." the teen muttered. "Frankly I'm surprised that you would overreact over that though Shun. You've had sleepovers with Dan before haven't you?"

"Well yeah but not that close!" he shouted then shuddered at the thought. "And the drooling made it a whole lot worse..." the boy shuddered again. It was pretty obvious that it was never in Shun's nature to be that close to anybody; even his best friend. Poor guy. "Don't worry, Shun. Dan didn't do it on purpose."

"That doesn't help." he said bluntly. Marucho sweat-dropped and suddenly stifled a yawn. "It's a little early for you to be awake; you want to sleep somewhere else?" they both shook their heads. "I really need a change of clothes...the ones I had before are really hard to maneuver in...plus they have drool on them..."

Gale frowned. "Oh yeah, we probably should buy some new clothes to fit your new bodies for the mean time. I think I have some extra clothes in the attic that can fit you, but later we'll have to get more clothes for the others. Mind waiting here for a bit?"

"Yeah, sure. Just don't take too long." the teen nodded and stepped out of the room while closing the door. As he was about to turn to the left though he bumped in to someone he didn't expect. "Ah, I'm sorr-Spectra?" the blond teen's mask was gone which showed his light blue eyes and how tired he was. "Is Dan still sleeping?"

"Uhm, yeah..." he groaned softly. "Even in his sleep that brat somehow causes trouble." an awkward silence surrounded the both of them; Gale though seemed to be the only one who thought it was nerve-wrecking. "Hey, Spectra, where's your mask?" he asked.

"It's none of your business." the elder teen replied almost too quickly. The crimson-haired boy didn't bother pushing it any further, besides, it struck him that he still had somewhere to go. "I'm heading to the attic to get a change of clothes for Shun. You...well, if anything else happens, just try to solve it. I'll be back in a jiff." with that, he ran off to the nearby staircase; the sound of his footsteps faded after a few seconds. The blond didn't move for a few seconds as if deep in thought. Then with a small sigh he continued to walk along the hallway until he went downstairs and found a curled up Hydron on the couch...and he was sucking his thumb. "Why I am not surprised that nobody really woke up from that..?" he muttered while a small part of him was holding him back from laughing aloud. Apparently a small chuckle escaped his lips, and for some reason it made Hydron stir and wake up. "Hnn? Spectra..." the eight-year-old grumbled while pushing himself up to a sitting position. "You'll pay for waking me up." his voice was still soft because he was still sleepy; but anyone would know that he was not happy.

"Says the boy-" that sucks his thumb while he sleeps. That's was what he was about to say, but then he decided against it. Maybe he can use that as blackmail another time. "-who's such a spoiled brat." almost immediately, Hydron's sleepy demeanor disappeared and was replaced with an aura of anger and rage. "What was that?"

Spectra simply smirked. "I suggest you not picking a duel with me now in your state. You might destroy the little pride you have left." this only flared the child even more. He jumped out of the couch and stood as if he was ready to pounce at any moment, and pounce he did. Unfortunately, he didn't have the weight or the power to knock the teen down on the floor; the shove just made him take one step back. "I...I hate you!" he sputtered with tiny tears in his eyes. Spectra was now carrying the boy from his waist...and well, Hydron was sniffling and attempting to hold his tears back. "I guess you're more of a little kid than I thought." he muttered as he placed him down on the floor.

"Sh-shut up." he clenched his fists until his knuckles were white; he bit his lip hoping it would help him stop crying; his gaze was on the ground and not on the person in front of him. Damn, why can't I stop crying? "It's what little kids do. They cry...cry their heart out." the teen answered as if reading his mind. "Mira used to do that when I would tease her or when she didn't get something she wanted. It's all they can do; they don't have the power to fight, and so they cry."

"I said shut up."

"Must be hard to accept defeat now, isn't it?" shut up. "Do you feel powerless? Vulnerable?" shut up..! "You don't have any pride, Hydron-" I said-!

"Shut up!" he screamed.

"Spectra!" Gale was now on the staircase; his face full of concern. "That's enough; leave him alone." his tone was commanding; something Spectra didn't expect from him at all. I guess there's more than meets the eye. He didn't bother going against him, stood up and walked to the crimson-haired boy. Instead of stopping though, he just kept on walking upstairs; not saying one word. The vibes that radiated from him made Gale shiver slightly. As soon as he was out of sight, he went to Hydron to see if he could comfort him, but once he got close to him, the boy simply turned away and faced the other way. "Hydron-"

"Just leave me alone."

"That's not going to solve anything." It's what little kids do. They cry...cry their heart out.

"...you think you can order me what to do just because you're older?" he said; his voice cracking; it was almost like he was having a hard time saying the words he wanted. Gale sighed. "I'm not ordering you to do anything, Hydron. I'm just worried about you, that's all."

The boy didn't want to admit that the feeling of someone concerned about him was something he never knew of, so he just kept quiet. The teen noticed that he glanced back for a second before he turned away again; that made him laugh a little. "Hydron..."

"You're trying to trick me, I know it."

"No, you're just being stubborn."

"...if you tell what happened to anybody, I'm going to kill you." the tone sounded like he gave in to him, at least.

Gale grinned broadly. "Of course." the both of them didn't notice a small mechanical bug perched on the stairway; watching their every move and sound with its single red eye. Upstairs, Spectra had been watching the two the whole time. He had to admit, Gale was nearly as interesting as Dan was. Not headstrong or reckless but the opposite, yet strong willed and has a peaceful attitude. He never knew someone so calm-minded can exist before; Shun didn't apply to this. It's as if Gale never battled anyone in his life, but he knew this was wrong; why would the boy have a Bakugan partner then?

He is more than meets the eye.

-o-

"So everyone, I'm going to the mall nearby to get some clothes for all of you. You're not picky with what I choose, right?" nobody replied meaning that they agreed; or so Gale assumed. "Alright then, Spectra will be in charge of breakfast when I'm gone. If you're hungry, ask him." said teen didn't seem to be surprised; but the crimson-haired male saw a small twitch on the corner of his emotionless frown. "I'll be off now; everyone, I beg you not to break anything. My parents might be pretty rich, but that doesn't mean they like all their stuff getting broken."

"You can count on us, Gale!" Dan piped up with a big smile. Now he was more worried than ever that something bad will happen; yet...there's nothing he could do now. He just had to put his trust on the brunette and hope everything goes at least a little smoothly. He opened the door and went out; inhaling the fresh morning air. It was around 8am now; pretty early but he knew the mall opens at that time because they believe it attracts more customers. Taking his bike that was in the shack in his front garden, he went out of the fence and hopped on. Before he left, he looked at the house again and was surprised that the broken ship behind it couldn't be seen from where he was. "Well, at least no one will question why a ship is parked at the back of our house." he mumbled to himself before pushing the pedals on his bike and setting off.

After around ten minutes or so, he finally reached the medium sized mall with not so many people around as he had expected. After he parked his bike and secured it so that no one will steal it, the teen went pass through the automatic translucent doors and went in. "Now...how am I supposed to pick out twelve outfits for twelve kids..?"

Gale then spotted a clothing store nearby and approached it; relieved that there was a lady in a uniform there that could help him out. "Excuse me."

"Yes? Do you need anything, sir?" she replied in a professional voice.

"Uhm, you think you can help me choose out clothes for little kids? Like, four, six, eight, and ten?"

"Of course. Out of curiosity, did your mom send you here to pick the clothes?"

"Oh, no. My parents aren't here at the moment. They went in another expedition abroad." he frowned subconsciously; it's been a while since he's seen his mom and dad; they won't come back for another two weeks. He guessed that it was a good thing for now. His mom would've freaked over everyone getting shrunk in to chibis.

"Ah, I see. How many siblings do you have?"

"Siblings? Ah, no, they're kind of my friends. I need twelve outfits actually..." the teen smiled sheepishly; he was worried that the demand was so much that she won't help him out. Thankfully, the lady grinned back at him; as if understanding his predicament. "Twelve, huh? That's a lot of responsibility for a young man."

"I have some help from another friend of mine." Well more like a frienemy, but Spectra is helping me out. Somewhat. "Alright. Shall we get started?"

"Sure-" before they could even start looking at the selection of clothes, Gale heard a girl's voice shouting a little deeper in the store. "Calm down, Runo! Destroying things around you isn't going to do anything; you're just making it worse!"

Runo? The crimson-haired boy followed the sound of the voice until he found stacks of clothes scattered all over the floor and an enraged pigtailed bluenette. Beside said girl were two other girls; one of them had silver hair that was tied up to a side ponytail and the other had long, slightly wavy orange hair. The two girls were trying to stop Runo from destroying the rest of the store before they spotted the teen standing there with a dumbfounded look. "Gale?" the silver-haired girl said; shocked. At the sound of the name, Runo blinked a few times before facing him. "Hey, Gale! What're you doing here?"

"I should be asking the same question to you three." he replied; surprised to find his old friends here in the same mall he was in.

"Oh we're just...chilling out." Runo muttered in a calm tone as if pushing racks of clothes around the place was normal. "Dan and the others haven't come back yet...it's been a few days and Runo was getting nervous." Julie added with a grin. "So we're just here to try and calm her down, y'know, something to keep her mind off of it."

"We can't really do anything right now, sadly." Alice said. "The least we could do is not to put too much pressure on them because we're worried."

The entire time they were explaining, the teen's mind kind of went blank. "Wait...so you're saying that you don't know where Dan is right now?" they all shook their heads; the bluenette looked downcast. Out of the blue, Gale covered his mouth to restrain himself from laughing. "What's so funny?" Runo yelled. "They could be in real trouble-!"

"They aren't, I assure you. In fact, they're in my house right now." the trio looked at him; stunned. "You're lying, right?"

"Nope. But, well, they are in a pretty sticky situation." he glanced at the lady that was supposed to help him out. "I'll come back soon, alright? I just have to settle some things with them." with a smile, he guided the three girls out of the store and in to the somewhat empty mall; even if their voices weren't loud, it still made small echoes because of the slightly quiet atmosphere. "So you're sure you're not lying, Gale? If you're just telling us this to cheer us up it's not helping."

"I'm not, seriously. They're fine, but not unscathed-"

"What? Dan's hurt?"

"No no, I mean...mentally unscathed. We might as well find a place to sit down before I tell you what happened to me last night because believe me it's a pretty ridiculous yet true story."


Review please? They make me happy! (Unless your review is pretty weird, has terrible grammar/spelling and does not make any sense. *glances at jr*)