2014 begins! I have a ton of hopes for this year; sadly, some of them are related to fanfiction and video games. Not asking for much, just to finish at least half of my stories and beat my friend in a competitive Pokémon battle. Dreaming high!

Chapter 7: Actions Speak

"Hey, Neku!"

"What's up, Shiki? You still look exhausted from our New Year's party."

"Well, I didn't get any sleep the entire night…isn't that exactly the same reason Beat and Rhyme are grounded now?"

"Seems a little unfair to be honest…"

"Yeah…even more embarrassing is that we went along with it."

"Well, Beat couldn't think of a good toast to make…"

"Rhyme tried to help him by saying, 'Actions speak louder than words.'"

"And she was right. The fireworks Beat set off were way louder than anything he could have said."

"It was really unfortunate that their house got hit by a few…"

"Look at it this way, Shiki. We were able to put out the fire before things got bad."

"That's true. Thank God for that…I mean, they were still grounded even though there were only a few burn marks."

"Actually, I caught a glimpse of Rhyme earlier today at school. She was walking bow-legged."

"You think she –"

"Got spanked? Yup. I bet her ass is redder than Eri's hair right about now."

"Poor Rhyme…"