Author Note:

Sorry this is a little late, I wasn't feeling well and things haven't been the best. Hope you enjoy, I don't think this is the best chapter but it should be alright!

A Promise is a Promise

There was a sudden rattling coming from the door, accompanied by the turning of the knob. After a few moments the sound stopped and the knob returned to its normal position. Everyone had, by this time, migrated from the kitchen to the living room with their lunches and was relaxing while Kei continued to flip through the channels. When the rattling sound had been loudest, everyone looking toward the door but as soon as it stopped worried glances exchanged between the whole group. Moments later the room filled with flinching bodies as a loud song broke the silence that came after Kei shut the T.V. off.

~Oh, if there's one thing I hang onto,

It gets me through the night.

I ain't gonna do what I don't want to do,

I'm gonna live my life.

Shining like a diamond, rolling with the dice,

Standing on the ledge, show the wind how to fl.

When the world gets in my face,

I say, have a nice day.

Have a nice day

Have a nice day~

All eyes turned toward Kiri as she got off the cough, where she sat between Kanako and Kei, and walked back into the kitchen. After checking the caller I.D. she flipped the phone open and put it to her ear, leaving just a small space in case he was loud again.

"Hey."

"Kiri!" The voice had an echo as if it were coming from two sides; the phone and beyond the front door. "I'm heeeeere!"

"…So?"

"Let me in?"

"…What happened to your key?" Narumi and Ochiai exchanged glances and both made slightly sneering faces before looking back over at Kiri along with the others.

"I gave it to Emi and Seiji before I move out. Anyway, I got your snacks!" Just as Kiri started for the door, Kei jumped up and ran toward it and unlocked all the latches and such. As the door opened a young man appeared. He had shimmering blonde hair and a blackberry to his ear as his eyes closed in slight pain. In his arms were two large bags filled to the bursting with snacks and things. A strap going across his chest showed he also had a backpack that, by the way he was standing, seemed pretty heavy. Kei grabbed one back and brought it to the kitchen as Kiri reached for the other. After lifting her arm to a certain amount she buckled over in pain and had to lean against the wall as she grabbed her injured shoulder tightly. The young man, who had opened his eyes and put his phone away by then, put the second bag down and was at Kiri's side before the others could run over. "Kiri! Are you alright?" He cradled her in his arms and turned her over so her face, which was contorted in pain, was viewable. By now everyone was gathered around the two, watching with worried gazes. "What the hell happened…!"

"Nnn…!" The sleeve of Kiri's vest had slid down her arm as she gripped her shoulder, making it easy to see the red consuming the white bandages. Her head tilted toward the young man holding her and her eyes were shut tightly as if any sight gave her excruciating pain.

"Bring her to the couch!" Narumi shouted as he got everyone out of the way and picked up any dishes or garbage that lay on the longest section of the wrap around couch. As he brought such things into the kitchen, and Kei went to pick up the other back and close the door, Kiri was brought over to the couch and laid down. By the time the two came back everyone else was already crowding around her. Kei noticed a few hateful exchanges going between the blonde boy and Narumi but he just moved to sit on the arm of the couch by Kiri's feet.

"Someone explain what happened to my Kiri!"

"Yours? She's not—"

"What, is she yours then Narumi?" the boy sneered as the dangerous atmosphere got thicker. The only thing that broke the hateful exchange was Kiri making another painful noise.

"Seki san, could you treat her wounds? Your family does run a clinic…." Ochiai said as he stood up straight and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. Seki looked up, surprised, and then bowed sharply before moving to kneel beside Kiri. He pressed the pressure points above her collarbone and on her bicep, numbing the area of her shoulder that was wounded.

"Ah, excuse me!" he mumbled as his hands moved to her neck and lifted her head slightly. Eventually, Kiri calmed into a light yet relaxed sleep, her arm slipping across her chest, her hand releasing her shoulder as it fell off the couch completely. Her hand grazed the carpet with her palm facing up, showing the glistening moister of her lingering blood. Seki kept working on relaxing her muscles as Kanako ran into the kitchen and came back with a wet cloth. She cleaned Kiri's hand off and held the cloth tightly, drops of pink water running down her thumb like a tear, as she watched.

"What happened?" Ochiai asked as he sat down besides Kiri's head, letting her rest against him slightly as her head was placed back down. Narumi leaned against the wall, shooting Ochiai a dark look while also looking Kiri over with worry. Kei sucked on his lollypop and watched the blood pooling on her bandages with dazed eyes, as if he was trying to ignore the thoughts running through his head.

"S-sorry…uh…Kiri Chan's stitches popped…her wound is reopening."

"What?" Narumi and the blond boy shouted in unison.

"S-sorry!"

"What can you do?" Ochiai asked, trying to keep calm.

"Ah…well…I need some bandages, and scissors…and needle. I could try to stitch it back up, if it's not too bad."

"Where the hell do we get all of that before she gets worse?"

"Emi has some, I'll go grab it!" The blond boy got up and started for the hallway, disappearing after the arch. Narumi glared at the area even after he was gone.

"This is his entire fault!"

"Don't blame Iketani. Sleeping on the couch like she had been probably put a lot of strain on the stitches."

"So you're going to blame Puffy Head over Billy?"

"Calm down, I'm not blaming anyone; I'm just saying it was bound to happen eventually." Before Narumi could continue arguing with Ochiai, the blond boy, Billy Iketani returned with his arms wrapped around bundles of bandages and an empty ice pack, a pair of scissors and a needle were in his hand. After putting everything down on the table, including the scissors that were basically for art, not hair or thread, he left to fill the ice pack.

Seki wasted no time in pulling Kiri's vest off her injured arm before picking up the scissors. He turned toward Kanako, who looked up gravely. "Sorry…please clean the blood as I work," He said as he turned back to Kiri. Kanako just nodded and leaned across Kiri, putting a hand on her upper shoulder away from the wound. Seki put a hand on her waist and together they turned Kiri onto her side. Kanako held the cloth against her arm, out of Seki's way, and waited. As Billy came back in with the ice pack, putting it on the table as well, Seki was just beginning to cut the bandages. Blood dripped down her paling flesh as Kanako did her best to catch and clean it up. Gasps ran through the room as all eyes fell on the wound.

Kiri's arm looked stained by blood alone and the black steal thread used for her stitches had splintered and ripped through chunks of her flesh. Blood splurged out now and then but Kanako, even though she looked faint by now, did her best to keep it clean. Seki was quiet and quick as he thread the remaining stitch material through the needle and tried to re-stitch the wound. Kiri, who was still conscious, started wiggling and flinching.

"Sorry, hold her…." Ochiai, who sat closest, put a hand on her shoulder by her neck and one on her lower arm by her waist, holding her down as well as he could. Narumi crossed his arms and looked away, though he gave the whole thing a sideways glance. Billy stayed close, pacing out of the way, and couldn't take his eyes off the needle going in and out of Kiri's skin. As much as he hated Ochiai for being the one to help her, he was more worried about her wellbeing than anything else.

After what seemed like an hour of just those simple stitches—which was actually only approximately twenty minutes—Seki had Ochiai hold Kiri's arm up as he began to redo her bandages. When he was done he took the ice pack and laid it over her shoulder after budging her vest up to keep the sheer cold from getting to her. By now she had passed out from the pain and her head was lying on Ochiai's thigh, her face a painting of pain. From time to time he would stroke her cheek, pushing strands of hair back, and watched her simply breathe. After he was done with everything Seki got up and went into the kitchen to wash the blood off his hands. Kanako went with him, cleaning off the scissors and the needle before putting them on a paper towel to dry. She took all the old bandages, without looking at them, and threw them out as quickly as possible. When the two walked back into the living room they saw Billy putting a blanket over Kiri's body.

"We should put her in her bed to rest," he whispered as he looked down at her, his head tilted to the side making his bangs move slightly. Everyone looked at him and then exchanged glances before looking over at Seki.

"Ah, sorry…yes, that would probably be best." He gave them all a bright smile, making the whole group calm and relax with gentle nods of their heads. Before any of the others could get close, and before Ochiai could move, Billy knelt down and picked Kiri up. The ice pack fell onto the couch but the blanket stayed as he started toward the bedroom. Narumi, not bothering with his temper, went ahead of him and pulled back the blankets and put the Rabbit Beer on the desk. Billy walked in and laid Kiri on the bed, taking the blanket away before her own sheets and blankets were put over her. Ochiai slipped in behind him and put the ice pack back on Kiri's shoulder, over the sheet.

A few moments passed with everyone simply staring at Kiri, half expecting her wake up and ask for something to eat. It wasn't until Kei walked in and clicked his lollypop in his mother that the others turned away from her. He gave them all a smile, which some glared at, before pointing down the hall.

"Someone's knocking at the door, they sound like Tarotard!"

"Hmm…maybe he has some information." Ochiai motioned for the others to follow as he started to leave the room. Outside, however, he lingered until everyone was already out. Billy stayed behind but when Ochiai cleared his throat even he looked up.

"What?"

"If you want to find out what happened to her, follow us." Billy looked over Kiri one more time before finally sighing and nodding. They both left Kiri with one finally glance before her door was shut and they walked into the living room. There, on the shorter end of the couch, sat Taro and a young woman they all remembered from the day before. The group all began to question him and, eventually, her as well.

"Yes…I can help…but even if I say something the Director will never listen…there has to be some other way." Alisa, who had finally opened up enough to talk after about an hour, looked around the room. Her blue eyes were swimming like whirlpools and every word she said dripped with fear and sincerity.

"How are we going to stop this guy if we can't talk to the Director?"

"By making him think we can." Everyone turned toward Ochiai, who was leaning against the wall, only to see him smirk mischievously and push his glasses up.

"Alright, I give. How are we going to get him to think that, Kazuhiko?" Narumi, who was sitting on a stool in the kitchen, looked over at his friend with an arched brow.

"Simple, he knows he can control the girls but he doesn't know us. We already went against him once, what's stopping us from doing it again?" After a bit of murmured conversation the group all looked back at Ochiai and nodded.

"Alright, but how is that going to help us getting Puffy Head back to Japan?" Ochiai just chuckled in response.

"We'll use his influence to convince her parents that the movie will be going to Japan and they need a hairstylist to work with the children who will be entering the movie at a later date. That's when we'll come in and guarantee that she'll be well taken care of."

"T-that…that's brilliant, Ochiai senpai!" Kanako said with a bright smile and starry eyes. Seki quickly got the same look.

"Cool, Occhi! So are Iroi san and Chisami chan still going to have anything to do with this?"

"Yes, they'll be the ones to help us seal the deal. Taro, we need you to bring Miss Ortiz back to the set and find him. Call us when you have him in a secure area and we'll be waiting nearby."

"I want a chance at this guy," Billy, who had been told everything that had happened, said as he leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees.

"What can you do?"

"I've got enough publicity to scare the crap out of him." Narumi smirked.

"Looks like blonde actually can come in handy for once."

"Watch it Narumi."

"Or what?"

"I don't mind being in papers because I was caught beating the crap out of someone."

"Why you little—"

"Everyone's on edge but we can't take this out on each other so sit down and calm down, both of you." Ochiai pushed off the wall and walked over to Alisa and Taro. "I'm sorry for this. We're all a bit on edge because of Koshiba san's injuries. Will you help us?"

"Of course. I owe that much to Kiri." Alisa smiled and shook hands with Ochiai, giving him and fluttering gaze as if she were flattered by his gentlemen act.

"Thank you. Can you handle this?"

"I can do better than that. I'll get him alone for you and we'll twist his arm till it snaps." She stood up and took Taro's hand, who was blushing brightly once again, before she pulled him to his feet and ran with him toward the door. "We'll call you as soon as we get him! Don't wait too long before coming over!" Without another word the two left, hand in hand.

After the two left the rest of the group lingered in the living room, chatting and planning. Within thirty minutes there was a knock on the door. When answered, by Billy who continued to say he was the only one who was allowed to since he use to live there, they found Iroi and Chisami. After explaining things to them the group got ready to leave. Kanako, Chisami and Iroi were left behind to make sure Kiri wasn't alone, and that someone could watch out for her when she woke up. After saying their goodbyes and making sure everyone had their numbers, the boys left for the movie set.