Chapter 4

Hello again! Just working at some random things. Well, you spiral fans, you'll enjoy this chapter, because Rio, Ryoko and Kouske make a cameo appearance. Unfortunately, this will be one of the only times they appear for a looooooong time. Sorry if I spelled Kouske's name wrong, once again, I'm much too lazy to check up on it. But anywho, disclaimer time!!!

"I've got a lymric for you. It's a disclaimer and rhyme too.

The story I work with is not mine so you see, don't blame any stealing on me."

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Roxas hung up the phone. "What was this Kiyotaka guy planning?" he thought. He had not only talked to Roxas, but Namine too. As far as he could tell, Kiyotaka was trying to figure out just what they could do.

"Are you alright, Roxas? You look troubled. Kiyotaka-sama didn't ask you anything too bad, did he?" Namine appeared from the room, waiting for Roxas to get done.

"No, I'm fine. I just wish I knew what was in store for us. He talked to you about what we've got to do, didn't he?" Roxas clarified.

"Yeah. I tried to get him to understand the condition on my powers, but I-" Namine was interrupted.

"shhh." Roxas mouthed. He heard someone waking up, so he whispered to the girl. "We aren't allowed to tell Ayumu-kun of this. I think it'd be better if we talked later."

She nodded, and they headed into the kitchen to prepare for the day.

"Good morning, both of you." Hizumi sleepily smiled. "What are the plans for today?"

"They're going to see some friends of mine." Ayumu walked in.

He didn't want to tell Hizumi exactly what he had planned for Roxas and Namine that day because he still didn't trust the copper eyed boy. Knowing that he could turn devil at any moment kept Ayumu on his toes.

The four sat at the table for a quaint breakfast, and then headed off to school. When they reached the high school, Ayumu gave the two nobodies a map that lead to the hospital where the blade children were residing.

Roxas had borrowed a pair of jeans from Ayumu and a plain black shirt. Since Madoka was too big for Namine, she had to wear one of the smaller black jackets in Madoka's closet. Namine also had to borrow a pair of pants; they fit a little bit better than the jacket did.

When they got to the hospital, a kind nurse led them up to Kouske's room, where the redhead would be for sure.

When they got up there, two girls were talking with Kouske. One was small and had grey hair, tied up in ponytails. The other was a brunette, holding on to the sleeping redhead's hand. As soon as Roxas and Namine entered, she quickly let go.

They were bandaged pretty well. The redhead boy was lying on the bed, no doubt due to much more severe injuries than the other two. The small girl had bandages in a few places, but not very many. Still, there were some questions left unanswered.

"Hello, are you guys Rio, Ryoko and Kouske?" Roxas asked.

"Yes. Who are you?" the small one asked.

"I'm Roxas and this is Namine. A man by the name of Kiyotaka Narumi sent us here. I assume you know him." Roxas stated.

"Kiyotaka-sama sent you here?" the brunette stood up.

"I don't believe them." Kouske mentioned from his bed.

Before anyone else could say anything, the phone rang. The grey haired girl quickly answered it. She nodded a few times with a face of disbelief. She then hung up the phone to inform her friends of the news she had just received.

"Apparently they do have something to do with Kiyotaka-sama." She whispered.

She hung her head and then sighed.

"My name is Rio. This is Ryoko and Kouske, and we are called the blade children." Rio introduced them one by one.

"Rio. Tell us what Kiyotaka told you." Ryoko reacted.

"Yeah little sis. Fill us in." Kouske agreed.

"Don't worry, I'll tell you later. But first, I would like to tell you of the blade children, and how we got these injuries." Rio sighed.

"We're cursed. There are people who want to hurt us and others who wish to save us. There is also a group who only wants to observe. We are all geniuses in our respective ways." Ryoko jumped in.

"You see, a fellow member of the blade children named Kanone Hilbert was sent to be killed by Ayumu-kun. He found a way to defeat him, but not without any injuries. That's why we're here." Kouske simplified it. "We were caught in the cross fire, but we won the match."

"Kiyotaka-sama is the puppet master for all of us. He creates situations that Ayumu-kun has to defeat in order to finish the plan. Kiyotaka-sama said you already know it, so I won't waste time telling you. However, I think it's important for you to know us incase we're needed." Rio finished, her grey eyes filled with grief.

Namine and Roxas were stunned. They didn't think in all the worlds they traveled to that a situation quite like this could ever play out.

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"I don't get why we have to pretend we're that director's underlings or something. I could kill him with the slightest of ease. Besides, I could have just worn pants, couldn't I?" Larxene fumed.

"Larxy, Larxy. Look. We're just going to do some recon. Besides, if you kill anyone, I'm sure there'd be some kind of trouble." Axel sighed.

"But the skirt?" Larxene whined.

Axel didn't reply. He'd picked the outfit after lunch while she was still unconscious. Najika and her model friend had pulled their clothes together to get something appropriate for Larxene to wear. Najika had put in a pleated green skirt that reached just above Larxene's knees. Akane found a white silk blouse in her closet and added it to the outfit. The sleeves were short and puffy and it had a nice collar. They finished the outfit with a pair of black heels with a 3 inch heel and a couple of bracelets. Larxene wasn't too happy, but Axel didn't mind the view one bit.

Axel himself was wearing an outfit he didn't particularly enjoy. He had to borrow some khaki slacks and white shirt, complete with a green tie. It not only matched Larxene's outfit, but also brought out the few flecks of green in his eyes. He feared Larxene would say no without a thought, so he took advantage of her unconsciousness after her outfit was put on and worked with Najika and Akane to get her hair into a more mundane style.

"What the heck did you do to me?" Larxene screamed when she woke up.

"Well, we had to do something. I don't think the director would appreciate the black coat." Akane shrugged.

Axel could sense Larxene's anger brimming over. She was about to explode. He had to do something quick, or else there really would be trouble.

"Larxy, come here for a minute. I need to talk to you for a minute." Axel slipped into another room quickly and called back to the blonde.When she entered, he shut the door and got right down to business.

"Look, I don't like this situation anymore than you do, but if you get into trouble, I may just have to tell the whole organization about your dirty little secret. I believe Mr. Oven mitt and Mrs. Spatula might know something about how you like to spend your free time?" Axel hummed.

"You wouldn't. You couldn't." Larxene gasped. "How do you even know about that?"

"I have my ways. Promise me you won't hurt anyone." Axel stepped closer.

"Look. I can make this easy, or I can make this hard. I'm willing to whatever it takes to get something done, Axel. I'm not afraid to dirty a few hands to get stuff done." Larxene retorted.

She turned on her heels and left the room. Axel gulped. She would follow through on her threats, if pushed.

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Ayumu was looking out the window. He just didn't feel in the mood to pay attention. Besides, school had just started again after the whole Kanone incident, and he had been getting more and more attention and questions he didn't want to answer. He was in the middle of planning dinner for that night, when he realized Hiyono hadn't walked with them to school this morning. She always walked with them, so of course he realized when she wasn't there.

Ayumu didn't really like Hiyono hanging around. She was good to have when information needed to be gathered, or a wild card needed to be played. It's not like he hated her, he just wasn't one for her bright outbursts or little songs and puppets. From the bottom of his heart, at this moment, he could not like her.

But of course she liked him. He already figured on it. Their personalities were so different, but they some how got drawn together. However, Ayumu could not, would not accept her as anything but 'that girl.' He almost couldn't afford it. If Aniki used that leverage- well he wouldn't think of it.

"She did seem pretty shaken about something with trust. But what can I do about it. It's her choice." Ayumu thought. "Well, she's not at school today, so I'll just forget about it."

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Alright, that about wraps up another chapter. Next time, we'll get to meet some new characters! Whee! Make sure to review!!