A/N: *Starts whistling the tune of the dwarves from Snow White* My pictures are being posted on Tumblr as well as DeviantART, so be sure to follow me on either (although I'm far more accessible via Tumblr). I have a pretty serious art itch lately? So you guys might be more gratified stalking there to get your dosage of SoG content?

Also, a big thank you to all of my reviewers for supporting me, as is always, but especially to everyone that followed me to Tumblr and DeviantART and posted all sorts of amazing/uplifting comments~

Disclaimer: Holy Zombie-Guy. From this point on, No mas with disclaimers. XS = Christie Hui's. Any other characters/OC's are borrowed with permission. Now we may get on with the story, but as always I must cite the fact that Kidd Death is great and now we add Captain Blue and Arashi the Solar Phoenix to the list of awesome guys. :D (The latter two are my super cool and shiny betas.)

What in the- SPLASH! Kimiko coughed and sputtered as she was forced into the waking world, taking in a huge gulp of air as she felt arms surround her and pull her into them. She blinked the sleep haze away and wiped water out of her eyes before she looked right into the most marvelous sea-green eyes she's ever recalled seeing. "Am I awake?" she breathed groggily.

A collective sigh of relief went around as the person holding her hugged her tightly. She looked around, finally half-way conscious enough to remember where and who she was. Kaiki stood at the door, looking at her in concern as he hugged Mari into his chest. Shinki and Omi sat on the bed, looking at her in absolute relief. She looked to the side and he pulled back. "Yeah," Raimundo told her. "You're awake now."

~*Something's Rotten in the Villa of Pedrosa*~

Kimiko looked around again. "Why... Why is everyone in our room?" she asked breathlessly as Raimundo held her steady, trying to ignore the butterflies in her stomach. He smells nice. Mari gave a cry and ran to her, hugging her tightly.

"¡Chiquilla!"

Raimundo grunted and shifted so Mari wasn't in his face anymore. ("I love you and all, Ri-ri, but you need to get the meaning of 'personal space'.") "We couldn't wake you up for nothing, girl," he told Kimiko.

What? She grew pale as brief lapses from her nightmares ran across her memories again. "What do you mean?"

Shinki approached them and explained, "We've been trying to wake you up for the past hour. You woke Mari up when you started screaming and she tried to rouse you. When she couldn't, she came and got me and Pai. I came with Omi, because he'd heard you, and we all tried, but it wouldn't work. 'Ki ran down when he heard you scream again and brought Raimundo down with him. When they couldn't wake you..." He tilted his head to the side. "Rai got the idea to splash you with water."

"Moça, you were harder to wake up than Mari on a Saturday morning!" Kaiki interjected, blinking when Shinki nudged and glared at him. ("Dude. Not even cool," he chided his younger brother quietly.)

"It was most difficult," Omi nodded.

"... Oh." She curled into Mari, blankly looking off. Shinki and Raimundo exchanged a look when she fell silent. Mari hugged her friend tightly, muttering Spanish and Portuguese niceties into her ear to calm her, but she didn't notice. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to find peace from her earlier scare. She opened her eyes again when she heard the door open and saw Gabriel standing at the door with a cup of water. He smiled at her and handed it off to Kaiki.

"I'm glad you've awakened. You gave us quite the scare."

She glanced to the side as Omi stepped towards her. "If..." He stood before her and took one of her hands, holding it tightly in reassurance. "If you do not mind, would you tell me what it was that you were dreaming of?" Kimiko breathed in.

"I... Don't really remember anymore."

"Anything you say may be of great help," he pressed.

She closed her eyes, shifting uncomfortably as she recalled scattered bits and pieces of her dreams. "I... Remember that there was a crow... And a snake. And a really creepy skull" she took in a deep breath and blurted, "and a silver fox and a white wolf and so much fire, but..." She smiled a bit as she recalled the warmness, not noticing as Shinki and his father frowned. "I didn't mind the fire; it felt so wonderful."

Omi rubbed his chin as he contemplated the symbols. Gabriel cut in before the small Asian boy could finish his train of thought, gently pushing everyone aside. "We need to give her some space. She's obviously had a very terrible dream and us hording around her would make it worse." He knelt and smiled at her.

He gaped. "But-"

"Omi," the patriarch said, looking at him sternly. "It's not up for debate. Go upstairs with Kaiki and Shinki and back to sleep in your room. We have this handled." With a last glance and a strong frown, Omi followed as Shinki led his younger siblings up the stairs. Raimundo looked at him confused; he wasn't going to send him up? Gabriel ignored the look and sat down on one of the nightstands. "Levante-se. The bed is still wet." Raimundo and Mari stood up promptly, Raimundo still holding onto Kimiko. Gabriel glanced at his son. "You can put her down now, Raimundo."

Both of them flushing as the realization hit, Raimundo immediately let her down. Mari eyed them suspiciously, but said nothing. "Desc- Sorry," he started to his father, remembering mid-way that he meant to apologize to Kimiko, nervously rubbing at the back of his neck as he corrected himself. "I meant to say sorry."

She shook her head, staring down at her feet as she assured him softly, "It's alright." Mari put her hands on Kimiko's shoulders and rubbed them, unused to seeing her friend in such a state.

Gabriel took her hands. "Kimiko, are you feeling alright?" She nodded meekly. As alright as I can be... "How about you dry off and we all get ourselves a late night snack?" he asked, making her eyes swell with tears and her heart grow heavy as she was reminded of her father. She tried her best not to turn into a sobbing mess right then, but she missed him terribly.

"Okay," she forced out. Gabriel's face softened and pulled her into a hug. He smelled very masculine; the scent of a musky cologne was strong on him and the undertone of soaps and shampoos was mixed in with his wife's spice-filled aroma. It was a very comforting odor, but Kimiko buried her face into the man's shoulder, shaking as she wished, more than anything, to see her papa and smell his warm and metallic scent right then. Papa... I miss you... More than anything. I want you to hold me. I want you to tell me it's okay. Why can't you be here? She wasn't sure how long she stayed there, hugging her best friend's father.

Mari cleared her throat gently. "Pai... It's about las sies y media; You have to get ready for work."

He sighed and pulled away, smiling at her. "I didn't realize it was so far into the morning. We'll have to take a rain check on that snack." Kimiko immediately missed the warmth, but said nothing as he straightened out and took his daughter's hand. "Thank you for reminding me, Mariana. Make sure your friend is alright."

"I will," she whispered. He kissed her head and allowed Raimundo to give Kimiko a comforting hug goodbye before he led him out of the room to give them some privacy.

Raimundo sighed, not sure of what'd just happened, and asked his father, "Pai... What just ha- Hey! Where are you going?"

"To bathe, Raimundo," Gabriel informed him. "I'm very sorry, but I have work to go to."

"Yeah... That's right," he muttered, kicking up invisible dirt as his father walked away, avoiding his questions. "Yep. Go ahead and run from me. That's cool. I didn't care about it anyway." The teen grumbled to himself as he walked up the stairs, wishing more than anything to be able to fall right back into his bed again. He blinked in interest when he found Kaiki and Omi waiting at his door. They exchanged looks. "Ah... Anything I'm missing, guys?"

"We're calling Kid-Council," Kaiki declared quietly. When Raimundo rose a brow at the sudden declaration, Omi picked up.

"There have been many outside places things going on down in here."

Raimundo yawned widely, covering his mouth as he half-consciously corrected him. "'Many things out of place going on up in here'."

"What you have said," he nodded.

"What about Shin?" He questioned, curiously noting a lack of their oldest brother, who normally was head of their 'Kid-Council'.

Kaiki frowned with Omi. "We think he's in on the secret our parents are keeping from us. If we included him in the council, he'd work to keep us from figuring it out and you know he's good at that sort of thing."

Omi narrowed his eyes. "That one is a most sly individual."

"... Omi, all someone has to do to distract you is make fun of your head, compliment your skills, bring out something shiny, or mention squirrels."

"... I do not see how that is relevant to out situation."

Kaiki and Raimundo both rolled their eyes before looking at each other. "So..." Kaiki trailed. "Are we set?"

"Sure thing, bro. When?"

"Tonight."

"So soon?"

Omi jumped up before Kaiki could explain. "Kimiko's dream is the key! I must speak to her as soon as possible to retrieve the details."

"Wait, wait, wait." Raimundo shook his head, trying to understand what was going on, despite his tired state. "I don't get it. It was just a nasty nightmare."

"It was prophetic in nature," Omi insisted. "Dreams are the mind's way of trying to tell people things they wish to ignore." Kaiki shrugged, confirming Raimundo's suspicion that the little Chinese boy had told him the same thing and he'd been just as skeptical.

He groaned and rubbed his head, still not quite getting it. "Aye. You and your oriental-ass mojo-jojo crap. I'll go to the council and you can explain it then. Right now, Rai needs sleepy-bai." He pushed his siblings aside and waddled for his door, groaning when Kaiki stopped him.

"... Don't tell Shinki."

"I know, K. Councils are top-secret, remember?" Raimundo stated wryly as he opened his door. The brothers exchanged a small smile as he walked into his room and promptly collapsed onto his bed, thoughts littering his head and keeping him from falling back asleep. Now that they mention it... Shin and Pai were awfully tense downstairs. He reached out to his nightstand, where all his family frames stood proudly. His fingers wrapped around a particular worn blackwood with only one other twin and he rolled onto his back to stare up at the memory stored in the ink.

He'd only been a newborn when Shinki came into the family, who'd then been a mere freshly-four years old, but as far back as he could remember, he recalled always having a great connection with his adopted brother, despite their differences. His parents raised and loved them together, as if they were a unit. Pai would always tell them that they were the oldest of the pack; it was their job to protect everyone together. Shinki never treated him like a child four years his younger. Sure, he stuck up for him when times got bad and he needed someone at his side like an older brother would, but he never excluded him because of his age. He never kept things from him. He always told him the truth as it was and they were never the kind to keep secrets from each other. Staring at their faces, smushed together with mud, dirt, artificial blades of grass, and black beads from the old soccer field covering about every inch of their bodies and the bright white grins beneath all the filth...

Raimundo couldn't help but wonder when they'd grown so far apart as he touched the image of his childish face. He didn't want to believe that he was being kept secrets from, but there was just... so many odd things going about the house and Shinki never had time to answer his concerns anymore. He'd seen a silver fox trotting the premise before and he had a sneaking suspicion that he hadn't been hallucinating if its image was invading the dreams of a newcomer into the household. He sighed again and rolled over, tossing the frame onto a pile of clothes in the corner. He didn't want to think about it right now.

It seemed far too soon when Micky was suddenly on his stomach, jumping up and down as she demanded for him to wake up and Layla, the other brat, took to throwing soft punches and pokes at his back. "Ay, I got it. I'll get up," Raimundo groaned. "What's the emergency?"

"Ka-Ki told us to tell you to get your lazy butt to the Shack," Layla informed him.

"I thought we told you to stop calling him poop."

Layla grinned with Micky. "But it's fun!" Raimundo pushed the girls off of him once he glanced over at the time, surprised to see he'd slept for about eighteen straight hours, grumbling as they squealed and held onto each other to keep from falling off of the bed. He yawned widely, picking them up and carrying them under his arms, despite their wiggles and protests.

"You guys are getting heavy," he informed them.

"Or you're getting weaker!" Layla retorted.

"Yeah!" Micky grinned devilishly. "I bet Lala's stronger than you now!"

He snorted as they shifted so he was holding Layla on his back and Micky in one arm. "She probably is!" Layla grinned to herself proudly. "That girl's strength is not even human though, so she doesn't even count."

"Oi!" she protested, poking his ear. "I got all strong fair and square." They exchanged a smirk and laughed as he carried them out to the Shack. Named by himself, Shinki, and Kaiki when they'd helped their father build it, The Shack was actually a moderately large tree house they concluded would be the center of the family's mini-politics. All nine children would clamor into the structure (recently improved by Shinki as Engineering practice) whenever an issue would arise in the house. Shinki and Raimundo were normally the officiators of such meetings, dubbed "The Kid-Council", keeping everyone from letting things get out of hand. As he let the twins down so that they may climb up the rope ladder, he couldn't help but to think about how odd it was to be excluding the oldest Pedrosa. Pulling himself up into the place, he looked around to see the faces of all his siblings and their newest addition sitting amongst the collection of beanbags and throw rugs. Picture frames, plastered doodles, and all sorts of posters littered the walls and Chinese lanterns and Christmas lights hung from the ceiling, illuminating everyone despite the dark and humid summer night.

"Hey, Kim."

She smiled at him and he couldn't help but to smile with her. "Hey, Rai."

Mari's face scrunched up, her hands finding her hips, neck loosening up. "Hold THE phone. Cuando did this whole 'Rai' and 'Kim' thingy happen between you two?!" Raimundo felt his spine straighten as she forced her glare onto him especially, and he couldn't help but think that she was spending far too much time with their mother; they were starting to look more alike than he was comfortable with.

"Mari..." Kimiko muttered. "You're overreacting."

"AND?!" She stood up and wailed, earning a groan from everyone in the Shack. "Mi mejor amiga is being stolen by my brother! I have every right to be upset, Kimiko Tohomiko!"

Raimundo and Kimiko exchanged a look, surprising him when he realized it was an almost synchronized motion. He grinned when she projected that they were thinking the very same thing: This girl is nuts. He stood up and commanded, "Mari, sit that fat butt of yours down. K and Omi called K-C and you're cutting into their time."

She gasped, putting her hands over her buttocks. "You will not speak of mi culito, traitor!"

"More like culoto, but still! Plant it before you're expelled!" he emphasized forcefully, grinning with his other siblings as she pouted and did as she was told, ignoring her look that definitely told him that this was far from over. He cleared his throat and pulled out a notepad from a compartment in the wall. "Nat, stat report on locations of Shinki, Mãe, e Pai."

Nathalia cleared her throat and tucked some hair behind her ear as she pulled out a notebook and shared notes. "All are out and about. Last I checked, we have about three hours before Mãe e Pai come back home with Andre. Shinki is confirmed to be locked in his room for the night."

"Cool. Twins!" he called out. "Is ammo ready to chase away peeping adults?"

"Heck yeah!" they grinned, holding onto an assortment of water guns and balloons. Micky and Layla looked at each other and fist-pounded slyly as Kimiko gaped on in amazement at this whole process.

"Mari! Snacks?"

"Cooked up y listo," she confirmed and hopped up, distributing some little white boxes. Raimundo looked over at Omi and Kaiki.

"The floor's all yours, guys."

Kaiki stood up first, self consciously trying not to hit his head on some of the lower-hanging beams in the structure. He took in a deep breath and sat down on the only actual chair in the space. "Honestly... I really don't know how to say this," he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, ruffling up the mass of frizz and waves on his head. "I mean... I don't want to think that they are... I really, really don't want to think that they are... But..."

"Just spit it out already, Ka!" the twins called out harmoniously.

He jumped, startled into bluntness. "Shinki and the others are keeping something from us!"

Mari looked amused. "I think everyone's keeping something from someone."

"No," he huffed, shaking his head. "Not something like this. I don't know what it is, but it's huge, Mari."

Layla called out from her place, laying upside-down on one of the beanbags, "What even makes you think that? They could be planning someone's birthday party or something."

"Andre is turning six soon," Micky reaffirmed for her sister.

"Guys," Kaiki sighed. "I know it isn't just that. This morning, they were acting really shifty and I've noticed some really weird things happening lately."

Kimiko asked quietly, the room falling silent when she spoke. "What kind of weird things?"

Kaiki buried his face in his hands. "When I saw it, I thought I was hallucinating, but I saw... a wolf walking around the other day. It had some kind of lizard in its mouth."

"Was this wolf white?" Omi inquired.

"Yeah! How did you-" He gaped. "You saw it too?!"

A mummer ran through the room. Nathalia spoke up. "Did... Did anyone else see a fox running around? Not just any fox-"

"A gray-colored one," Raimundo interrupted, closing his eyes solemnly in thought. Looks were exchanged as an eerie sense of unease descended into everyone. Kimiko's heart hammered in her chest. So she hadn't been crazy when she'd seen the animals last night.

She clenched her fist to her stomach and started slowly, "Last night... I went to go see Shinki." Everyone's eyes lay on her as she reaccounted her memory. She closed her eyes as she recalled the details. "It wasn't until I came down into the hallway, but... There was a crow in the window. It... was... so..." She struggled for the right word to describe it.

"Blood-curling?" Nathalia tried.

"Yeah... That..." Kimiko folded her hands together as everyone patiently awaited for her to finish her story. She regathered her thoughts and picked back up. "The fox you guys mentioned... It killed the crow and took its body back down to meet up with the wolf... And" she scrunched up her nose, unsure of how to word the next part. "I think a Doe and a Buck."

"... That's some freaky crap, girl," Raimundo commented, stating what everyone was thinking.

"I thought I'd been hallucinating when I saw them, but then I saw them in my dreams."

Omi walked over to her and took her hands. "Speaking of this dream... Kimiko, I have a request. I am not sure if you will like it, however."

Looking at him with curiosity in her eyes, she frowned a bit. "What is it, Omi?"

"I'd like to make you remember your dream."

"What the hell?" Mari demanded. "Why in the world would you do that, Omi?! Did you not remember how freaked out she wa-" Kimiko silenced her and urged him to explain.

Omi nodded his head in gratitude and resumed. "Dreams are sometimes significant. Something is kicking the front of my ear-"

"Ticking at the back of my head!" Raimundo called out.

"- That. I feel that your subconscious is relaying a very important message. I wish to interpret it for you. It may lead to clarity in our present situation, considering you mentioned the odd animals we have all seen."

"We haven't!" Micky called out.

"Shut up!" Kaiki called to the back of the room. They scowled at him, but he ignored them and returned to looking at Kimiko and waiting for her response.

"I..." she took in a nervous breath. "I guess so."

"Wonderous!" Omi clapped, making her even more nervous with his zeal. "Now, if you may... Lay your head on my lap and we may begin the exercise."

A/N: So sorry for the long time it took to update! D: I finished a draft a while ago, but I hated it and I couldn't figure out why for the life of me. Eventually, I just rewrote and rewrote until I was happy. :) So... Here you are and I hope to update sooner next time. :D