A Change of Sorts
Waaah…holidays are over! Oh well, just another 12 weeks of school then holidays again…how did people find the last chapter? Hope people liked it, because this chapter will be like a second part of it. I think…maybe not. Like I once said, I don't make rough drafts; therefore I don't know what's going to happen. Maybe that's why it's so fun to write them. Enough rambling, read on!
Chapter 8: A Day at School! (And what happens when Emiko gets…over excited…)
"Niwa-kun!" Tohru cried out joyfully, relieved that the redhead had attended that day. She noted that he seemed in a much better state today then yesterday. In fact, the bandages around his leg had disappeared, and the only thing that showed any connection to the day before was the bandage on his cheek.
Yeah, Daisuke decided not to risk it and slapped the bandaid on at the last minute. Tactful, wasn't it?
Unfortunately, Daisuke had forgotten to teach With to respond to 'Niwa-kun' as well as 'Daisuke'. Bummer.
"Niwa-kun?" Tohru's face appeared above With's (I'm gonna refer to him as With (which makes sense) as long as he really is With.) thoughtful one that was propped on one arm on the desk. Daisuke had also told the bunny NOT to go around smiling like it was the day that strawberries got to take over the earth, but to instead keep a quiet looking face around company.
Imagine slaving away, and all those pained hours Daisuke spent attempting to 'Teach an Old Dog New Tricks', as they say. He nearly failed.
"Daisuke?" Yuki asked, also appearing next to With. He looked up, finally, hearing the name of his Master's Tamer, who was also his Master in a way, but then again, Dark really was the one he truly belonged to, although he did rely on Daisuke's family all his life, but still, Dark was really his Master. Daisuke was sort of like an apprentice, but also his Master. Now With was confused.
If only he could put so much thinking power into his people and talking skills…
"Glad to see you're feeling better, Niwa-kun!" Tohru exclaimed, not noticing the redhead's state of mind. With finally got it into his head that she was referring to him as Niwa-kun, so he nodded, not really understanding.
"What's with him?" Kyo snorted, eyeing With with something similar to contempt. "He's acting all serious and not even talking."
"Shut up, you stupid cat." Yuki muttered, glaring at the other teen.
"Why you-" Kyo was cut off by Tohru, who was still looking at With in a concerned way, having taken Kyo's comment seriously.
"Ano…Niwa-kun, do you have a sore throat?"
'Sore…throat? They sound familiar…where did I hear them from? Hm…'
"OK, now repeat after me…I. Have. A. Sore. Throat. And. Can't. Talk. Too. Much."
'Oh yeah…so that means…I'm supposed to say no!' With perked up, proud of himself for deciphering that complicated message and working out an answer.
'Wait a minute. I DO have a sore throat. So…does that mean I have to say…'
"Niwa-kun?" Tohru peered at him curiously. He seemed to be having a lot of trouble with that question…
"Yes!" With suddenly burst out, hoping he said the right thing. He noticed Tohru's surprised face, and immediately began to panic.
"So…you have a sore throat?"
"…" Nods head. Relieved smile.
"Oh! And I thought there was something wrong with you, Niwa-kun! Silly me, huh?" Tohru laughed, mock-punching her head. With laughed too, although not exactly knowing why.
Just then, the bell rang, leaving all the students in a mad dash back to their seats, breaking the many conversations that were revolving around Dark.
"Ok class!" the teacher walked in, smiling at the students. "We're going to have a test today! I hope you all studied last night!"
Simultaneous groans racked through the class, the only one not groan was With, who didn't know what to do anyway.
'Oh no…test?' With recalled the many times Daisuke had rushed back from a theft, calling out, 'I HAVE TO DO A TEST TOMORROW, SO LEAVE ME ALONE!', and ending up in a very tired and frustrated Daisuke who was panicking about the dreaded test that lay ahead for him.
'Kyuu…'
"Now, Daisuke-san." The teacher called to him, and he looked up. "I understand that you did not know of the test, and under normal circumstances, I would assume you knew your facts and would be able to handle the test anyway." With tensed, and he could hear Tohru gasp next to him. He didn't even know how to write, for God's sake, let alone take a test. Heck, before yesterday he couldn't even say Daisuke's name properly. Speaking of which, he wasn't sure he could now anyway.
"But," she continued, flicking loftily through her sheets. "Seeing as you are new, and that I have no previous record of your working status, you will be excused from this test, but from this test alone. Understand?" she looked at him steadily, and With slowly nodded his head. So…he didn't have to do it?
"Now, please read chapter 3 of your history book and answer the questions once you have done. This will make up for some of the work you missed out yesterday."
With slowly pulled out the book he assumed was the history book; luckily, he assumed right. He opened to chapter 3 as the teacher pried a begging student off herself and continued handing out the tests. He stared at the first word while the rest of the class started working on the tests.
By the time the rest of the class were halfway through, With…well let's just say he wasn't doing that well.
In fact, he was doing BRILLIANT. Suddenly, all those years of sneaking off to Daisuke's school with him, watching the despairing teen frantically work off a load of homework, and all the while, craving for some strawberries, With actually picked up quite a lot.
He suddenly remembered the meaning of the word history, as well as those of the others that surrounded it in a mumbo jumble. Now, he could see that they were not messy heaps, but more of organized chaos.
With smiled to himself, proud. He picked up a pencil to answer the questions, and was just about finished them, while the class was beginning to slowly panic their tiny little minds (except for those obvious smarties of course, they'll never do that bad on a test) off.
A thought suddenly hit him. Wait a minute. I can't write! So, how did I…?
He glanced down at his sheet. I can write! I'm actually writing! Oh, oh, oh, oh…
He smiled cheerfully and placed the tip of the pencil to the sheet to continue. It froze there, while a delicate eyebrow twitched.
Now HOW do I write again?
With placed his head in his hands and mentally screamed. How could he have forgotten something that he didn't even know how to do? He was such a fool to have done tha- wait a minute. That didn't sound right. Forgetting something he didn't even know how to do?
Meanwhile, the teacher watches With with some kind of dry amusement.
What a strange boy. I was sure that no other students yesterday did this during the questions, they're relatively easy. He's very amusing indeed. She chuckled to herself as With seemed to wrestle with his brain in his hands.
It's as if he had forgotten how to write.
-----------------------------
"OK class! I want you to each write a short story, any kind, as long as it's a story. It can be fiction, non-fiction, and fantasy, whatever!" The teacher smiled as she watched the class rejoice. It was the last period of the day, and With was slowly losing his sanity from the fact that every single wretched lesson had something to do with writing in it. And he could only write when he wasn't even thinking about how to write, which made things very confusing once his brain decided to start concentrating.
"But, I want you to do it all in English." Teacher smiled in an evil sort of way. No, not evil, just gloatingly evil. Oh yes, there was that smirk, hiding all sorts of possible ways to torture her poor, poor students…
"Meeep." With shrank down in his seat; he didn't think he could handle ENGLISH. Oh no oh no oh no oh no…
With stared at the blank sheet, willing some knowledge, ANY knowledge, of Daisuke and English to come back to him.
"I. Have. A . Straw. Toad. And. Can't. Walk. Two. Bumps."
That would have to do.
He started furiously scribbling across the page, his pencil developing some sort of whacked out nonsense about a young boy teaching a magical rabbit with a craving for strawberries to talk. It showed the struggles of the poor boy as he attempted to teach the stubborn creature how to even say its name properly, because the rabbit was going to take the place of the boy for one day, by transforming into his exact copy and going to school.
He ended the story with a last note; Rabbits are not meant to talk. Humans should leave them in peace, no matter what kind of rabbit they are.
There. With thought triumphantly, reading over the page again. Halfway down…
I can write English? I can read English? Wow oh wow oh wow oh wow…
He found a mistake and bent down to correct it when…
Not again.
The teacher watched With with a raised eyebrow. He seemed to be pulling some sort of panic fit, silently clutching his head and gripping the poor pencil till it nearly broke.
Hmm…what Sensei Kodama, the history teacher, had told her about With's strange behaviour was indeed true. Quite strange really…
---------------------
"Niwa-kun, your story was very realistic. Did you have some personal experience?" Tohru asked happily, and somewhat jokingly (let's all hope so! XD) after school, while everyone else was beginning to file out. Except for her small ring of friends, of course, which included Yuki, Kyo, Uo, Hana…and those people who liked staying behind to play Rich Man Poor Man…and yeah.
They had received their sheets back just before class ended, with the unfortunate result of a few unlucky students being dragged up front to read their stories out. With being one of them, along with Tohru, Yuki and Kyo.
Tohru's one was about her own experiences during the time of WM: With Mother. They were all heartfelt, enjoyable moments, and reduced most of the class to tears.
Yuki's one revolved around the hardships of a family living under a curse, finding darkness every way they turned, which ended in a question to the audience: Do you know what kind of experiences your classmate really went through? Funny how these stories related with real life…that story reduced half the girls to tears, the other half plotting ways to confront Yuki and interrogate him.
Kyo's story was about…you don't need to know. It was pointless. It reduced no one to tears, yet, strangely enough, the whole class went down laughing…strange huh? Yuki here agrees with me in not explaining the story, it's pointless.
We all know what With's one was about, and let's just say, nobody cried, nor laughed. They were too busy being engulfed in a dumbfounded silence to laugh or cry.
With didn't answer; he wasn't quite sure how to. It was the teacher that read his story out for him, after a few minutes of vigorous arguments…
"Daisuke-san, please come up to read your story." The teacher sang out in a creepy way, almost dancing as she waved his story. It was obvious that she wanted to humiliate him, what with his strange story and all.
With walked up nervously, and held the sheet in his hand. Sure, he knew how to read it, but read it out loud?
With faced the teacher and gestured at his throat, not wanting to risk mixing up his words in talking.
She was confused. "What? Something wrong with your neck?"
"No?...you want to hang yourself for having to do this?"
"Ano…Sensei, Niwa-kun has a sore throat today, I think that's what he means." Tohru spoke up timidly, and With looked gratefully at her.
Sensei narrowed her eyes, not wanting to give in easily. She began a series of violent gestures including:
Bad luck, you're gonna have to talk! Replied cleverly by, I don't know what you're trying to get at.
We haven't got all day so start reading. Rebuttal: I like strawberries?
And so it continued, until finally, sensei was exhausted from moving her hands so much that she finally gave up and started reading.
Tohru laughed nervously. "Oh, sorry, I forgot about your throat." She bowed apologetically. "But really, are you sure that With-san hasn't really transformed and is here now and you're not really Niwa-kun?" she asked jokingly, laughing at her own joke.
…She's onto me.
With gave a weak smile and stood up to gather his things, breathing out an internal sigh of relief. What an exhausting day it had been. Daisuke better had those strawberries he promised ready…
"Niwa-kun, would you like to stay with us and play Rich Man Poor Man?" Tohru asked enquiringly, holding up a deck of cards, everyone else already seated around the table. With shook his head and waved goodbye, gone before anyone could even say goodbye back.
Tohru blinked; was he gone that quickly? She had half a mind to follow him, but people were already egging her on to deal. She turned around quickly and smiled, beginning to deal the cards.
--------------------------
"Kyuu…" With moaned, laying exhausted on Daisuke's lap. He was finally back to the adorable bunny form that everyone loved, stuffed to the max with some ripe strawberries.
Daisuke smiled and stroked him, especially his bulging tummy. "So how did it go?"
With held up the sheet from English, and pointed to his schoolbag.
Translation: Everything is in there. See how much I suffered?
"Hmm…I never knew you could write English With…" Daisuke mumbled, reading the story. A short kyuu told him that With didn't know either.
"Very realistic story, Mr. Strawberry guy." Daisuke tickled the white bunny, reading the comment on the page.
"'What a strange story indeed. However, you have put great detail, and explained almost as if it was happening to you! That is what I like to encourage, and your English is very good. A+.' Good job With!" Daisuke looked proudly at the little creature that was currently a pile of strawberries and cream in his lap. Literally.
"'By the way, did you have a problem in class? You seemed to be panicking in the midst of the writing.' Ehehe, With, what did you do?"
"Kyuu…"
"Oh well…hmm…" Daisuke muttered, foraging through his school bag. "So there's a history test tomorrow…and some homework from maths…not too bad With!" Daisuke beamed at him, proud of his accomplishment.
"I should get you to take my place everyday!"
"KYUUUUUUUUUUUU!" With moaned and darted out the room, hiding under the TV. He tried to, anyway.
-What's he doing?- Daisuke sweatdropped, watching With somewhat pathetically crawl across the floor, his beloved strawberries having slowed him down.
--Dunno. Want some translation?--
-Yeah…-
Dark did a very good imitation of With and his desperate plea. --Here that? That meant, NOOOOOOOOOOOO! All exclamation marks were included and the words remained unchanged, nothing was omitted. Copyright Dark Mousy, All Rights Reserved.--
-Right…-
Daisuke stood up and yawned, stretching his arms up above his head so that they nearly cracked. He was feeling much better, now that he had had a second day of rest.
"I think my leg is better now…"
He bent down and undid the bandage around his leg, pleased to find that it was steady enough to walk properly. In to the bin, went the bandage, leaving behind only a small swelling that would gradually ease away. In case you're wondering, Dark had stepped in to help heal the wounds a little faster.
Magic á la Dark.
"Don't worry, With. I'll be well enough to go to school tomorrow; you can stay at home and veg out on the couch." He told the still crawling rabbit, who let out an audible sigh of relief.
"Niwa-kun!" Tohru tapped on the door, and it quickly opened to reveal a smiling Daisuke.
"Honda-san, hello. Come in!" he greeted her, standing aside for her. He was wearing the school uniform, in order for With to have transformed into his replica earlier, and had not taken it off, lucky him.
"Oh no, I'm sorry but Shigure-san just told me to drop some cream off for you from Hatori-san, and I got you some medicine too, for your sore throat." Tohru beamed, holding out the said articles in a bag. "I'm really sorry, but I have to get back soon. I hope your sore throat will get better, I'm glad that you can talk again!" she bowed, and left, waving a short goodbye.
"Honda-san! But-!" his answer was cut short, seeing as she had already disappeared from view. He looked down at the medicine in his bag, trying to figure out how much it would cost.
As if by magic, he noticed a small note in the bag. He pulled it out and read it.
Remember; don't ever let me see you in that state again. Do not worry about the costs; you can have this treatment and medicine for free, as long as you never get yourself so seriously injured again.
Yours truly,
Hatori Sohma.
Daisuke smiled and emptied the medicine out on the table. He picked up the cream and applied it to the few bruises he had lying around; most of them had been healed by Dark already.
He looked at the cough medicine and regretfully put it in the closet, seeing as he had no use for it anyway. He was sure there would be rainy days sometime soon anyway.
Daisuke then flopped on the couch, relaxed. Finally, his mind could be put to rest; it had been doing flip flops all day in anxiety about With's day at school. A content smile stretched across his face, as he thought about the state his life was in.
It was quickly replaced by a frown as he remembered that tomorrow, Dark had to go steal off some other artwork or the other.
--Hey, that's a good thing.--
"I'm just sooooo tired." Daisuke yawned, right on cue. "I don't want to have another late night."
--Don't worry; it'll be over quickly since creepy boy won't be there.--
Daisuke blinked, thinking about that. "That's right…"
--Ah well, I'm going to sleep. G'night!-- With that, Dark blinked off.
"Hey!" Daisuke called out, sighing as he heard the steady snores emitting from his alter-ego. He was insane. There was no way that any human could go to sleep that quickly. None at ALL.
On the other hand, Dark wasn't really human, was he? He had to think about that one. His mind wandered off to the conversation he had yesterday with Yuki, Kyo, Shigure and Tohru about Dark. He had meant what he said, right?
Right. Daisuke nodded with conviction. So, why exactly did Dark steal? He knew it was no use asking Dark, he had tried many times without success. He wondered if his parents, or perhaps grandpa knew. It was worth a shot to ask.
Daisuke glanced at the time; everyone should be at home right now, so it was the perfect time.
(Sounds of dial tone after number has been dialled…)
"Hello?"
"Okaa-san, its Daisuke. I wa-"
"Dai-chan! How are you, sweetie? Is everything ok? We saw Dark's theft on TV the other night, did you get hurt? Are you ok? You don't have to skip school do you? Did you get the Neckl-oof!"
"Okaa-san?"
"Dai-chan, please tell me you're alright!"
"I'm fine, don't worry. Did they show Dark during the theft back home?" Daisuke was surprised; how did those reporters track Dark over to here and manage to screen it back home?
"You won't believe how eager Takeshi is to report Dark. He searched around the surrounding towns for any news about Dark."
"Oh…" That figures. "Don't worry okaa-san, I'm alright. Dark got hurt a bit, by Krad, but we're ok now. Yes, we managed to steal the Necklet, I only had to skip one day of school; With took over for me today, and don't worry, he managed fine." Daisuke paused and took a deep breath, trying to think if there was any other question he had neglected to answer.
"I'm so glad you're ok Dai-chan! You and Dark did a good job stealing that Necklet!" Daisuke could almost see Emiko squealing with joy at the other end…
"Uh…okaa-san?"
"I'm so glad, I'm so glad…"
"…" There were muffled sounds and a very quiet reasoning tone heard that he could identify that it belonged to Kosuke.
"Is anything the matter, Daisuke?"
"Otou-san, no nothing's the matter. I just wanted to ask something." Daisuke fidgeted about nervously, not sure how to ask his question.
"Go on."
"Well…" Daisuke checked that Dark was really asleep. "It's about Dark." He half-whispered, as if trying to stop Dark from somehow being able to hear his words.
"Yes…?"
"Well…you see, I…I was just wondering…what I mean is…why exactly does he steal?" Daisuke stumbled on his words, trying to put his thoughts into comprehensible words.
"…that is hard to explain."
"Don't worry then, I was just curious…" Daisuke mumbled, feeling disappointed inside.
"No, I got it now. OK, well, Dark's past goes back to centuries ago, about 300 years, to be precise."
"Yes…"
"That's when he first appeared in our family, but no-one really knows why. I heard that it may be because that the Niwa and Hikari clan were particularly powerful at that time, and it had something to do with the rivalry of the clans."
"…"
"Dark started stealing from the Hikari's, first because of the rivalry between the clans, as I said before, and then it became a bid to seal the dangerous artworks. Now, Dark…well I guess he has his own reasons for these types of things." Kosuke paused, and Daisuke could just about imagine his father rubbing the back of his head in thought.
"You can ask Dark, I guess. But then again, he might be a little touchy about that subject, so it's up to you."
Daisuke nodded mutely, thinking about that. It took him a full 5 minutes to realise that Kosuke couldn't see him.
"Daisuke, how are you going over there? Dark said you had made some friends?"
Daisuke nodded. "Yeah, I made friends with my neighbours and some of their family members."
"The Sohma's, am I correct?" After a confirmation from Daisuke, he continued. "They're a big family. You can easily find their name in Japan's history. However, not much is really known about them, because they rarely socialise much with 'outside' people."
"Really? The Sohma's I know go to the same school. They don't really seem that 'non-social', but they are kinda quiet a lot." Daisuke replied, thinking about the silent Yuki, and comparing him with the rowdy Momiji.
(A/N: (not really important but yeah) I just realised this. How is it possible for Daisuke to be able to have this kind of relaxed, easy going conversation with his parents and grandpa? I feel awkward talking to my parents about stuff going on in my life, and let's not mention my grandma…)
"I'm not sure, but what I do know is that it's easy to compare them with the Hikari's!" Kosuke half-laughed, although he knew that it was not a subject to be taken lightly.
"Otou-san…that's what Dark said when I was talking to him yesterday about something like that. He said that the Sohma's 'appeared to have great pain and sadness in their hearts, even the little ones'. Why do you think it's like that?"
"Hm…I'm not sure. Like I said, the Sohma's are a very mysterious family."
"I guess…I think I might talk to Dark about that later. He might know something."
--Talk to me about what?--
-Ulp.-
--Daisuke, are you talking to Kosuke?--
Right on cue, Kosuke's voice floated over the phone. "I'm sorry Daisuke, but your okaa-san will kill me if I keep talking and not letting her talk, so I'll leave you for now. Good bye and take care!"
"Er, bye otou-san…"
'Click'.
--What was that all about?-- Dark asked with a loud yawn, having just woken up.
"Er…nothing…" Daisuke went red in the face, quickly pretending to tidy the room that needed no tidying.
Dark rolled his eyes. --Come on Dai-chan. We both know that you are the world's worst liar, excluding the person who holds the record in the Guinness World Records…but besides that you are the worst.--
"Maybe we should get some training routines in." Daisuke announced loudly, trying to divert Dark's attention. He must have been extremely desperate to draw away from the topic to suggest that, for training and traps were on his list of 'Things to Avoid at Own Risk' things.
--Hm…good idea.-- Dark agreed, letting the issue go-for the moment.
"So, uh, heheheh…how to start?" Daisuke asked, mentally cursing himself for suggesting such a despicable idea, even if he really was desperate.
--Hmmm….-- Dark half-closed his eyes in thought, staring at the empty, endless black ceiling at the top of his place in Daisuke's mind. --Well…it'll be hard, seeing as you're the only person here…--
"Well?"
--How about something like…breaking into your own house, alarms and all, from the back window of course. People will think you're a weirdo if you try to break in from the front window of your own house.-- Dark scoffed, imagining Daisuke wrenching the front window open and crawling in.
"Er…won't that be a little too simple? Not that I'm complaining, but still."
--Don't worry!-- Dark told him cheerily. --You wouldn't believe the security on Japanese houses these days. And Emiko told me, that time you were asleep, that she had somehow installed some extra 'things' for training here. Except,-- Dark looked around the room cautiously. --I'm not exactly sure what or where. Apparently, to activate them, you have to slide the front door open the opposite way. So have fun!-- Dark waved, grinning broadly, and blinked off to a place where he could watch (and mock) Daisuke, but could not be reached.
"Dark!" Daisuke wailed, grumbling when all he received was a little snigger. He sighed and went to turn on all the security and locks in the house. Eventually he stopped by the front door.
Hesitantly, Daisuke went outside, and slid the door the opposite way. An eerie silence filled the house, and he sighed and closed the door.
Daisuke looked up at the back window from the backyard. He looked at the one that was his bedroom and gulped. He didn't really want to know what okaa-san had placed in his room.
--------------------------
"Dark…" Daisuke gritted his teeth, glancing around the room carefully. Around him lay heaps of dropped axes, cleverly placed tripwires, for some reason, a few piles of animated gnome statues that were currently hammering their way towards his vulnerable feet, and a ticking clock.
--Yes Dai-chan?-- Dark smirked, having come out from his 'space' to come watch the fun.
"WHY did my bedroom window lead to the bathroom?" He half-shouted, lifting his drenched body from the filled bathtub and the steadily approaching gnomes. The clock's second hand suddenly reached the 12 and let out a shrill shriek, causing all the tiles on the floor to seemingly jump out of their holes.
Leaving Daisuke in a full bathtub with about 4 metres of empty ground separating him from the door. He could always go through the window, although he didn't really like the look of that robot bird.
Dark laughed, watching Daisuke's predicament. --This is Emiko we're talking about, Dai-chan. And, like they say, doors lead you to new worlds!--
"Yes, but this is not what I call a new world!" he yelled, preparing to jump across the room, using the towel rack as support. "This better automatically fix itself later!"
He took a step back, started running (not that he had that much space and all…) and was about to jump when he happened to look at the floor and see it tile-full and spotless.
"Eh?" He looked around the room, and noticed that it was all back to its normal state. Even the bathtub was starting to drain itself, the gnomes somehow melting and running down the drain. Daisuke wrinkled his nose at the sight of the deformed gnomes steadily disappearing from sight.
--That's not going to be good for the river…-- Dark muttered, shaking his head.
"What happened? Why's everything back to normal?" Daisuke asked, stepping carefully onto the tiles to test their steadiness.
--Dunno. But I'll be glad if I were you, which I am, technically.-- Dark shrugged. --Be back later, tell me when you're in another hot spot!-- he called, and winked off, once again.
"Grr…"
Daisuke left the bathroom, carefully checking the hallways, before making his way to the laundry to get some towels.
He reached their safely, and reached out to pick up a towel when-
"POOF!"
"WHAT HAPPENED?" he shouted, trying to clear away the smoke. His hands landed on a piece of paper, and he held it close to his face, reading it.
"Huh?"
Dai-chan,
This is for your training routine, I think you already know. But I have hidden something very important in the house, and you have to get through the traps to be able to find it. Have fun, and I'm expecting good results!
Love,
Emiko.
P.S. We have cameras in this house too!
"WHAT!"
P.P.S. The important item is one of Dark's thieving accessories!
"…"
--Hey! What the hell? Where is that thing? Daisuke, I order you to get out there and find it now!--
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Heheheh, I left the story at a…strange point, to say the least. I guess I felt I was dragging out what was originally With's day at school too long. I know some of the things seemed over exaggerated, but then again, that's me, so please R&R to let me know your opinions!
