Kakurenbo

by Michi G

AU. Lina's problems begin when she owes Xellos, aka the Mysterious Millionaire, money. Now he owns her? What will Lina do to escape him if she can? Chap. 10 end up! Sorry for the HUGE delay!

10. Business and Pleasure, Part Two

*Author's Notes: Hi! Yes, I finished the rest of this chapter in a timeley fashion. Aren't you happy? Yeah, we'll see how happy you are when the next update comes. Anyway, this part had a lot of scenes I liked. My favorite was the bakery one. Oh, and the guest star finally makes an entrance! Yay! Actually, I hate this character in the anime. He/She gets on my nerves. That's probably why I portray them kinda unfavorably. If you like him/her, I'm sorry. I'd really like it if I could have killed him or her, but it wouldn't have made much sense... Not really. Oh, there's a particular important scene between Xellos and Lina that I could have made better at the end of the business meeting. Yeah, I could have made that part a bit more descriptive, but I got lazy. Anyway, it happened, so you should just be happy that it did. Well, again sorry for the lack of great details on that certain part toward the end. I hope you'll enjoy everything anyway. If not, I apologize. I can't please you all, ne? Happy reading! ^_^

Business and Pleasure, Part Two

"Oh, my, what happened to you?" the innkeeper asked.

Xellos leaned on his cane for support. "Iya (Well)…" he said with a swollen face and black eye, "we had a little accident on the way here."

"Sou desu ka (Is that right)?" the innkeeper said, scratching at his bald head. "How unfortunate."

Xellos shifted his cane to his left side so that he could hold his ribs with his right arm. "E…Ee (Ye…Yes)," he said.

"I'm assuming that the two of you want a room since I saw someone bring in your bags," the man said. He flipped through a book and then smiled up at them. "You two are perhaps a couple on your honeymoon?"

Lina, standing beside Xellos as if he were some disease she didn't want to catch, was stunned for a few seconds that someone could make such an assumption. "Us a couple--" she said.

"Yada (Oh, no), is it that obvious?" Xellos said. For the first time since he had limped into the inn he left his ribs unattended by one of his arms. He rubbed the back of his head and made a impressively goofy grin. Lina found it impressive he could make such an expression when his face looked like a bee-sting victim's.

"You two make a lovely couple," the man said, smiling along with Xellos (though not as stupidly).

"Who's a lovely couple??" Lina roared. She elbowed Xellos down on his head, sending him to the floor. She stepped up the desk and leaned into the innkeeper's face. "We are not together…got that??"

"Of…Of course," the man said. He adjusted his collar. "Forgive me for jumping to conclusions…"

Lina backed off at the same time Xellos got back on his feet. "Actually the two of us are on a business trip," he said. He gave Lina a smile as if to apologize, but her face was impenetrable to his false sentiments.

"You're still on thin ice for that thing in the carriage," Lina muttered.

"Gomen, gomen (Sorry, sorry)," Xellos said. He replaced his arm over his ribs again.

The man cleared his throat. "Well, it may be a bit troublesome that the two of you aren't a couple," he said. He flipped through the book in front of him.

"Why do you say that?" Xellos asked.

"We do have one room available, but I'm afraid it is meant for a couple," the innkeeper said. "There's only one bed."

"You're kidding, right??" Lina said. She grabbed the edge of the marble counter. "Isn't there anything you can do about that??"

"Not really, but I--"

"It's fine," Xellos interrupted. "We'll take the room."

"We'll take the room??" Lina echoed. She had Xellos by his collar in an instant. "What the hell are you saying?? If you think you can finish what you started in the carriage--"

"That's not my intention at all," Xellos said. He waved his hands frantically. "I promise to be 'good.' Anyway, I don't have much time to play around. As I said before, I have to take care of several things while I'm in this area, so I really need the sleep. At this hour I don't think it's very wise to look for another inn that could accommodate us better."

Lina walked up to Xellos so that she could better glare in his face. "Hontou ni (Really)?" she asked.

"…Hontou ni…" Xellos said, sweat-dropping. Even he couldn't ignore Lina's third-degree manner. "I promise not to touch a hair on your head."

"You better not." Lina thought it best to glare at him for a few more seconds to emphasize her point. "Because I'll promise you that you will regret it if you do. I won't be like I was in that carriage."

"Ha…Hai…"

The innkeeper wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead and clasped his hands together. "So…what will it be, you two?" he asked. "It really is a lovely room. This is one of the best inns you'll find in the next couple of towns."

"Yes, I know," Xellos said. "We'll take it."

"Wonderful," the innkeeper said. He fetched the keys from the wall behind him and then handed them to Xellos. "I hope you'll enjoy your stay."

Xellos finished writing his name in the book and nodded. "Thank you very much," he said.

"Thanks," Lina muttered, following Xellos to the room. She was too busy imagining having to share a bed with Xellos to notice that the inn was pretty nice. A man had picked up their bags and was escorting them to their room, but the last thing Lina was concerned about was her bag. It didn't seem enough retribution to have only roughed up Xellos a little; whatever he had been planning to do to her in the carriage, he was pretty serious about it. Lina didn't doubt that Xellos enjoyed watching her act like some kind of maniac, but she had thought that was the only thing he had enjoyed. Apparently, Xellos was interested in an extra thing when Lina was concerned. When she had thought he was merely joking with all of his come-on's, it was much easier to deal with them; now Lina had to deal with the fact that there was some truth to his disturbing comments.

"Just what I need…" Lina said. For a second she stopped looking at Xellos's back and acknowledged the fact that she had just walked up two flights of stairs. Xellos and the bellhop had started moving through the halls again, so she returned her attention to Xellos's retreating back. "Now I can't even relax for one second!"

Lina snapped her fingers and recalled that she had made some preparations for problems with Xellos. She put a hand to her chin and smiled to herself. There was a small chance that the bed-sharing thing could work out after all.

********

Xellos slipped into the side of the bed closest to the door and pulled the covers down just below his chest. He fixed one of the many white pillows behind his back and leaned back against the wooden head of the bed. It was about two hours to midnight, according the clock near the door, but Xellos had already figured as much judging by the time they had been in the carriage. He yawned, not from actual fatigue, but with the mindset of the next day's tasks.

"It truly will be boring…" Xellos said to himself. His eyes turned to the bathroom door when he heard the sound of the faucet running. "Or perhaps not since Lina-san will be accompanying me."

A smile came to Xellos face as he thought of the possibilities. In truth, he wished he had the leisure to take advantage of the possibilities of the room they were sharing. As the innkeeper had said, it was certainly intended for a couple desiring a romantic getaway. There were an abundance of various candles about the room, especially around the bed and bouquets of roses and tulips excessively decorated the room. The two-chair table near the large window had already been set up with glasses, two bottles of champagne, and basket of fresh fruit. By that time the fruit was already gone, eaten by Lina within the first minute they had entered the room. It was then that Xellos took notice that she was hungry, even though Lina was hardly quiet about it even after finishing off the fruit. Xellos made sure that Lina was able to eat something in the inn's kitchen downstairs, lest he incur the wrath of a cranky and hungry Lina Inverse. After that (and Lina throwing out most of the flowers in the room out the window), Lina seemed pleased enough to get ready to go to sleep.

"Lina-san, are you almost done?" Xellos asked. "You've been in there for quite a while."

There was a silence for a few seconds as if Lina might not have heard him, but she spoke right at the moment Xellos was about to repeat himself. "It's obvious you've never shared a bathroom with a woman," she said.

"What do you mean by that?" Xellos said, tilting his head to the side.

"I mean that you never rush a woman when she's using the bathroom!"

"Naru hodo (I see)." Xellos put his hands behind his head and decided to leave their conversation at that. When Lina finally did come out he greeted her with a smile which she obstinately ignored. "You know, Lina-san, you really have nice legs. You should wear pants less often."

Lina was tempted to go back into the bathroom and change from her shorts back to her pants. "I thought you said you were going to behave," she said, eyebrow twitching with annoyance.

"I will, I will," Xellos said. He slid down so that his head was resting on the pillow now. "Forgive me for that last comment. So, are you ready to come to bed now?"

"Just about," Lina said, grinning. She walked over to her bag resting next to a dresser on her side of the bed and began digging in it. "One second."

Xellos sat up again, trying to see over Lina's back, but he was unable to see what she was doing. "What exactly are you getting?" he asked.

"Oh, just a little insurance." She pulled out something, closed her bag and stood with her back still to Xellos. Lina was laughing as if she was very pleased with herself.

"Insurance? For what?"

Lina turned toward him with a grin that would suit any kind of lunatic murderer. The sharp butcher knife in her right hand certainly added to her killer image. Even Xellos couldn't help but take Lina seriously; a sweat-drop soon appeared on the side of his head.

"Just some insurance if you get any ideas," Lina said. "I'm going to sleep with this in my hand."

Xellos tried to laugh away some of the tension between them, but Lina's smile in response was anything but joking. "I'll…make sure to keep on my side of the bed," he said.

"See that you do," Lina said in a tone that sounded sweet but had a deadly undertone. She and her knife slipped under the covers. "Good night, Xellos."

"Ee (Yes)…Good night," Xellos said. He leaned over to the nightstand on his side so that he could blow out the candle, but he felt the need to hesitate before doing so. Xellos knew that he wasn't the most trustworthy person in the world, but he couldn't help but think that sleeping with a knife was a little over the top. Xellos eventually blew out the light and settled back in the bed. Only one of them had a completely restful sleep that night.

********

Lina had thought the best way to rid herself of Xellos was to find out some of the unsavory activities he was involved in. She had spent weeks sneaking around and eavesdropping on him with not so much as a clue to any of his misdeeds; one day with Xellos around one of the towns he "owned" told her more than she could have ever expected to know. In fact, Lina now regretted knowing so much about Xellos. There was not one establishment that he owned that didn't have some kind of evil involved. One that stood out in Lina's mind was their first stop after breakfast. Xellos informed them they would be traveling to the local library so that he could do his yearly check on its status. From the beginning Lina found it strange that Xellos would have bought a knowledge-encouraging library, which was something she could consider a good thing. She had been impressed by the number of books in the facility and the quality of its architecture. Anyone was allowed to borrow a book from the library, regardless of status, and all the staff seemed friendly and helpful. Lina was so close to changing her opinion of Xellos, that when the two of them went down to the practically hidden basement, she was in disbelief for several minutes before she remembered again that she was dealing with someone who was renown for his immorality. Underneath the pleasant library scene was a smoky basement devoid of much light and full of drinking and gambling. Lina had to remind herself several times that those people rolling dice on a table and falling drunk on a filthy floor were in a place that was supposed to be a library. Xellos claimed that it was a gambling hall that he turned into library that didn't quite work out. Somehow Lina found that his explanation worsened the situation, especially when he claimed that he tried to dissolve the gambling hall in the basement, but the gamblers kept coming back so he had to put them somewhere. Of course, he didn't mind at all that he was profiting from all the sinning below. Lina wasn't opposed to gambling, but using a library as a cover-up for a place to gamble didn't seem appropriate at all.

Although their first stop gave Lina a clear picture of the type of places that Xellos owned, she was still blown away when she discovered how greedy and despicable he was. His furniture shop sold low-quality goods that were guaranteed to break within a week of purchase. Lina had thought it was just as well since there was a nearby repair shop across the street, but unfortunately that was also owned by Xellos and only repaired things so that they would only stay repaired for about a month or two before the person would have to return to have it repaired again. Unless people wanted to make their own tables and such, they had no choice but to go to the shops Xellos owned. Xellos excused himself for ripping people off by letting Lina know that some people traveled to the next town over to buy good furniture. However, that only lowered Lina's opinion of him since the town he spoke of took about five days to travel by horse and about as twice as much if by foot.

It was late afternoon and Lina had given up hoping that Xellos was involved in at least one honest business. They had traveled to all kinds of places and none of them were as good as Xellos wanted them to appear. Even the bakery they were at now had to have some kind of horrible objective behind it. Xellos had told her she could have free samples of some of the goods, so it distracted her from noticing anything terrible while he talked with those who ran the shop.

Lina finished off the bread she had been eating and then continued looking around the shop. It was certainly making her hungry looking at some many cakes, cookies, breads, pastries, and the like. The two of them had been walking around all day and she hadn't gotten to eat much of anything. Although Xellos hadn't given her the okay to eat a particularly tasty-looking cake that had caught her eye, Lina couldn't help herself but taste its frosting. She ran her finger over the white topping and grinned and she brought it up to her lips.

"Dame desu (Don't do it), Lina-san!" Xellos said, grabbing her hand.

"Xellos, what's the--" Lina began. A scream caught in her throat as Xellos suddenly drew his mouth over her finger and took off the frosting covering it.

"That was close," he said, releasing her hand. He was immediately smacked with the same hand. "Ow!"

"What the hell do you think you're doing??" Lina roared, red-faced. Her hand scrunched into a fist. "I thought I warned you before!!"

"It's not what you think, Lina-san," Xellos said. He took a step back from Lina just to be safe. "I was trying to save your life."

"Save my life??" Her other hand went into a fist in response to her confusion. "You call that saving my life??"

Xellos pointed to cake on the shelf beside her. "If you had eaten that cake, you would have been killed within one to two days," he said.

"Na (What)…" Lina looked at the cake as if it would give her a clue as to what Xellos was talking about. It was her reasoning that eventually led her to figure out what he meant, and she turned back to him. "You mean that cake is poisoned??"

"Bingo!" Xellos said all too happily. He placed a hand on her shoulder and led her to a table where a basket of rolls were resting. "Other things are poisoned too, like these rolls here."

Lina held her throat as if she had already been poisoned. "Then what I just ate--"

"Don't worry, we keep most of the poisoned stuff in the back. Everything you ate was safe, except for that cake. I didn't think I'd have to worry about the dangerous stuff since I thought you wouldn't stray away to this side of the bakery."

"Xellos, what kind of person are you??" Lina said. She grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. "Normal people do not sell things like this!"

"That might be true," Xellos agreed, "but there are quite a few people that want to kill people discreetly."

Lina's face began to lose its color when she saw the proud expression forming on Xellos's face. It was like he was talking about clothing downtrodden people the way he was acting. Lina didn't know whether to be more scared or disgusted to be in Xellos's presence.

"I'm happy to say that since I started this venture I've had about a hundred different poisons developed that have little or no taste and kill within various time periods. Why we even have one that--"

"Stop!" Lina said. She walked away from him and gripped her arms. "I didn't think I could regret having involved myself with you any more than I did before…"

"You're always so cold to me," Xellos said. It would have helped him if he weren't smiling like he was having too much fun. "I even stopped you from ingesting some deadly frosting and you don't give me so much as a thank you."

"As if I'm going to thank you for putting your disgusting mouth on my--" Lina blinked and turned back to Xellos who had the same smile on his face. "Xellos, you…you…"

"Hmm?"

Lina pointed at him. "Xellos, you just ate some of that poison!" she said. "It's going to kill you!"

"Sou desu ka (Is that right)?" Xellos laughed. "I guess that means you'll finally be free of me in about a day, right?"

"Na (Wha)…" Lina said as Xellos continued to laugh. When he was finished doing that he complimented the shopkeeper on the good job before he left. "Wa…Wait!"

"Let's be on our way, Lina-san," Xellos said. "I have other places to visit before I die."

"Xellos, you can't be serious!" Lina said, walking beside him frantically. "Don't you have any antidotes for those poisons you make??"

Xellos put a finger to his chin. "Well…for most of them we do…" he said. "That white cake you were eating, however, had one of our new poisons. We haven't made an antidote for it yet."

Lina ran in front of him and stopped him from going on. "No antidote??" she said. "Then what are you going to do?? You can't just let yourself die!"

"I thought this is what you wanted," Xellos said. He rested both of his hands on his staff. "If I die, you won't have to deal with me anymore."

"Xellos, even though you're probably the worst person I've met, I have no intention of killing you myself," Lina said. She drew in a breath and collected herself before going on. "Besides, I only kill for defense, not for spite."

"Oya (Oh, my), you have such nice principles," Xellos said.

Lina stared at him for a few seconds incredulously. "What the hell is wrong with you??" she asked. "You're going to die!"

"Maybe this is my punishment for all of my sins." Xellos dropped his staff and pressed his hands together in pray. "Perhaps I should be begging for forgiveness, ne?"

"Why are you joking at a time like this??" Lina picked up his staff and smacked him a few times in the head. "We have to do something before you croak!!"

"Ow! Lina-san, you really are worried about all this, aren't you?" Xellos said. He held his head carefully.

"Of course!" Lina said. She shoved his staff into his ribs, forcing him to take it back. "If I hadn't tried to taste that cake you wouldn't have ended up with poison in your system."

"I suppose that's true…" Xellos said, rubbing the back of his head. "But it's the poison that will kill me, not you."

"I'm certain that you'll haunt me anyway," Lina muttered. "You're bad enough alive--I don't need your ghost making my life miserable."

Xellos didn't mean to upset Lina by laughing loudly in her face, but he found her comment hilarious. "My ghost!" he chuckled. He was down on his knees laughing. "I'll admit, that does sound like fun!"

"Didn't I tell you to stop joking around??" Lina said. She kept kicking him, despite people passing by giving her stares.

"Okay, okay! I'll be serious!" Xellos stood up when Lina stopped kicking him. "If I could…send the poison back out the same way it came in…I'd try it, but unfortunately too much time has passed and I'm sure it's already gotten into my bloodstream. There's really nothing we can do."

"You're kidding, right?" Lina said. She grabbed a handful of his shirt. "Can't you try to make an antidote before tomorrow??"

"I could…" Xellos said, "but the person I hired to develop such things is out of town. I'd be dead before I could tell him to come back."

"Sonna (No way)…" Lina said, letting him go. She dropped to her knees and held her head. "I know I wished for your death on several occasions, but I had hoped I'd have nothing to do with it."

"You're such a kind person, Lina-san," Xellos said, smiling. "Well, since it is a little bit of your fault, how about you grant me a final wish?"

"A final wish?" Lina said, looking up at him. A thought came to her and she grinned. "Hey, if you want to do something like write me into your will, I wouldn't mind."

Xellos laughed. "No, it's nothing like that," he said.

"What is it?"

"How about we finish what we started in that carriage?"

Lina was positive she had already knocked Xellos to the ground before she thought of a way to answer. "Not even if your life depended on it," she said.

"I thought not…" Xellos mumbled, a little bit of dirt getting into his mouth as he talked. He got back on his feet, wiped his mouth and then helped Lina back to her feet. "It was worth a shot, but I suppose I ought to end this farce."

"Farce?" Lina's eyebrow started twitching. "What do you mean by that?"

"The truth is, I'm not going to die, at least not by that poison I ate," Xellos said. "I suppose I could still be stabbed on the street or something or run over by--"

"What do you mean you're not going to die??" Lina said. "You said there was no antidote for that poison and it would kill you in one or two days!"

Xellos nodded. "I didn't lie about that," he said. "For such a little amount, it would have surely taken about a day or two to kill you. However, over the years I've found it indispensable to be immune to most types of poisons. This may surprise you, but several people would benefit from my death. Of course, whenever my people make a new poison, I make myself immune to that as well to limit the number of toxins that could kill me. I think there's about three poisons that could still kill me, but certainly not any that are in my own bakery. It'd be a little silly to do that, wouldn't it? Someone might send me a cake from my own bakery and try to kill me."

Lina fell onto her back as if losing all feeling in her body. "What a guy…" she muttered to herself. "He made himself immune to the poison… I should have guessed…"

"Lina-san, you shouldn't lie on the ground," Xellos said, looking down at her with wonder. "It's terribly dirty down there."

"Xellos."

"Hai?"

Lina smiled and folded her arms over her chest. "I take back what I said before."

"About what?"

"Killing." She sat up, arms still folded. "I'm going to make my first kill in spite."

"Ha, ha, well, we really should be getting on our way," Xellos said, walking quickly away. He soon had to turn his walk into a full fledged run after Lina got up. The two of them didn't reach their next destination for quite a long time.

********

Zelgadis secured the fourth rolled up rug on his back and then tried seeing how well he could move. Lina had been treating him like a pack mule for several years, so he was used to carrying much heavier things on his back. He nodded to himself and then nodded to the elderly woman in front of him.

"Sorry about all of this," Zelgadis said. "I hate to take advantage of you--"

"What are you saying?" the woman said. She handed him a bag of food. "Our family will always be glad to help you. I'm just glad we were able to get the rugs you needed so quickly."

"You guys are really something else," Zelgadis said, bowing his head in gratitude. He secured the bag of food at his waist. "I sent a message yesterday and I'm sure you couldn't have gotten it before the evening."

"We were happy to work all night and most of today to have them ready for you when you arrived," the woman said. "It's shame that you have to leave as soon as you've gotten here."

"Aa (Yeah), sorry about that," Zelgadis said. "This is the first time I've made it to Sharmin in one day. Usually it takes me about two or three days. Despite that I have to leave immediately."

"Well, when you have more time to properly visit us, please do so," the old rug maker said. "My husband and children will be thrilled to see you again."

"Thank you, I will," Zelgadis said. He turned to leave. "I'll have someone send the payment whenever I get it!"

"Don't worry about it!" the woman called behind him. She waved to him as he left her property, although Zelgadis couldn't see her.

"All right, got the rugs," Zelgadis said, walking down the grassy path toward the less secluded area of the city. "I'll have someone deliver these to Rezo while I go back to Hadin. He probably figured it would take me at least five days to get the rugs, so he shouldn't be expecting me to leave. I never said I'd stay in Sharmin anyway."

When the grassy path Zelgadis was on finally ended and he went onto an actual road, he kept his eyes alert for the town's clock tower. He saw it in the distance in about five minutes after walking and was pleased it was about an hour until nightfall. If he continued at the pace he was going, he could make it to the nearby town within two hours, meet up with his friend to take the rugs, and then use a favor from another friend to get him back in Hadin by the next day. That was Zelgadis's simple plan, but he realized that when he got back to Hadin, Rezo would be sure to find out and try to make him leave again. Perhaps it was all the influence Lina had on him, but he didn't exactly have a plan for that part. Zelgadis had decided to do whatever he needed to do to keep Rezo off his back.

Zelgadis turned onto another road, one of Sharmin's main roads that continued out of the city. What he was doing was risky in the first place, but he doubted that Rezo would go through with his threat even after he left Sharmin so quickly. Zelgadis was sure that since he had pretended to go along with Rezo's wishes, Rezo hadn't made preparations for any deviations to his plan. Zelgadis smirked and wished he could see the look on his uncle's face.

His pleased expression would have stayed with him for a long time if he hadn't felt the need to suddenly stop. Zelgadis's eyes narrowed and he surveyed the area around him. It wasn't unusual that he was walking past abandoned houses and several narrow alleys; this particular Sharmin road had several of those along the way before it continued to the outskirts of the town. A stray cat scampered in front of him, turning his head back to the front. His eyes trailed it until it disappeared and then he smiled. Slowly he took down the four rugs from his back and laid them by his feet. He rotated his arms and then rested his hand calmly on the hilt of his sword.

"There's not a point in hiding any more," Zelgadis said.

It only took two minutes for Zelgadis to be surrounded on both sides by a group of about fifteen men. A few were holding some kind of weapon, but Zelgadis was sure that several others were hiding weapons themselves. He let out a breath thinking of the effort, but then he laughed.

"Naru hodo (I see)," he said, shaking his head. "Rezo knew from the start I wasn't going to stay in Sharmin more than a day if even that. It has never been easy to fool my uncle."

"Rezo-sama requests that you stay here for a while," one of the thugs in front said. "If you don't want any trouble, we suggest you turn around right now."

"Hmph." Zelgadis shook his head. "He sent out his group of thugs to take care of me… How much is Xellos paying him anyhow?"

"Oi (Hey), didn't you hear what he just said??" someone behind him asked. Zelgadis could hear a sword being unsheathed. "You're going to be killed if you don't turn around in three seconds!"

Zelgadis whipped out his sword just as the first three people attacked him. "Anything for money, right, ojisan (uncle)?" he said. It only took him three movements of the sword to disable each one of them, but others soon replaced those that had went down. "Nothing less from Rezo…"

********

Xellos sighed. "Well, that's it," he said. "It took a day and a half, but I've almost done all of my duties."

"Xellos, who do you exactly work for--the Devil?" Lina asked. She had to get that out before she expressed any kind of relief over his statement. The last place they had left was among those of her least favorite. Some of Xellos's businesses were unnecessarily crooked, while others were downright wrong. Wrong in every sense of the word.

"What do you mean?" If Lina wasn't still so outraged she might have noticed that Xellos was acting as if Lina's question annoyed him.

"Isn't it obvious??" Even when Lina had made him stop and she faced him closely, she still didn't notice the absence of Xellos's smile. "That orphanage of yours--it's nothing more than a child labor facility! What's worse, you con those children at one point to sign a contract stating that if they want to continue living at that orphanage, they have to agree to complete four years of servitude for you when they're of legal age to leave the place."

"Oh, that," Xellos said. He smiled more lightly than he would have.

"Yes, that," Lina said. Her frustration became a little greater when Xellos went on without saying anything else or indicating that she should follow him. The only thing that prevented Lina from being even more vexed than she was the fact he wasn't even going very fast or with an obvious destination. "Is that all you're going to say?"

"What would you like me to say?" Xellos asked. His light smile became wide, sensing that Lina was losing her patience.

"Is money truly the only thing you care about?" Lina asked. "I mean, I think money is really important, but you're making a lot of children miserable."

"Their lives could be worse," Xellos said, shrugging. "I thought I was doing this town a favor, getting rid of the overflow of homeless children begging in the streets. Now, not only is there a place for those orphaned children to live, but they're also making toys for other children with parents to buy them for them. It seems like everyone wins to me."

Lina put a hand on her forehead. "Sometimes I don't think there's any way I could get through to you," she said. "Would you like that situation if you were in it? Working as young as two years old to make toys you can never play with, but can only watch more privileged children own? You never get to have any kind of fun and the living conditions are just above those of a prison."

"Hmm…I never thought of that," Xellos said, stopping again. He faced Lina with a thoughtful look. "I wish you had mentioned this when we were just there. I was only concentrating on how well production was going…"

Lina raised a brow. "Did what I say really have an impact on you?" she asked. "Has something finally reached you?"

"Mochiron (Of course)," Xellos said. He pounded a fist on his hand. "I'd save much more money if I decreased the orphanage's living conditions to a prison-like state. If they were given cheaper food and only two meals a day, that would make so much of a difference. Plus, why should they need beds? Mats cost much less."

"Na…(Wha)…" Lina stood agape until she could think of something to say. "Xellos! That wasn't what I meant at all!"

Even though Lina kept throwing insults at him about how insane he was, Xellos simply took all her comments with laughter. It didn't help Lina settle down, and he eventually had to stop laughing to avoid being knocked to the ground. Xellos calmed her down by stating they were going someplace where they could eat really good food, and Lina practically forget that orphanages existed. Her speech, of course, then began to be full of questions of what they would be eating and how soon they would get there.

"…I'm positive," Xellos said, answering the last of Lina's questions.

Lina put a little more distance between the two of them walking side-by-side. "Why are you smiling at me like that?" she said. "If you're thinking of other things instead of getting me something to eat then--"

"No, I'm just glad that you've put me in a better mood," Xellos said. "The next place we're going to may not be that pleasant. It might be painless since you're here and that person isn't but…regardless it's a bit annoying to be here in the first place."

"So why didn't you send someone else to check up on things?" Lina asked. She was curious about the person he had mentioned, but she could wait on that question.

"I couldn't," Xellos said. He smiled regretfully. "I was told to attend this meeting as well as check up on things since I was in town. I wouldn't dare send someone else."

"Just as I thought," Lina said. "You're working for some other affluent person, aren't you?"

"Saa (Who knows)?" Xellos said, grinning.

He's not going to say anymore about that, Lina thought. I already know he's working for some woman. I'll just have to wait later to find out her true identity.

"So, this next place we're going to is?" Lina asked.

"A colleague of mine's mansion," Xellos said. "Several of the most wealthiest and powerful people in the world will be gathered here to discuss future ventures we might engage in. However, some find themselves too important to come in person and they send a messenger in place of them."

"Which you would have liked to have done."

"Iie." Xellos made an expression that made it hard to tell if he were smiling to make little of the situation or smiling to cover his irritation. "That's what I'm doing."

"Uh, Xellos?"

Xellos smiled more like himself. "Hai?"

"Never mind." Lina shook her head. "I have a feeling it's going to become much weirder from here on."

"You're probably right, Lina-san."

********

Lina didn't know why she was currently more hungry than she had been on their first full day in whatever town they were (Lina still didn't know, regardless that it was their second day there), but it seemed after having spent almost two days with Xellos's nonsense and exhausting herself trying to make him see the error of his ways made her more hungry than usual. That was Lina's reasoning anyhow for practically stuffing anything that looked like food into her mouth. She had a full plate of things already, but she kept hovering around the long table of refreshments and eating whatever she couldn't fit onto her plate. Eventually others who tried to get food at the same time were discouraged by the aggressive manner Lina was eating in two ways: either by becoming disgusted by her lack of manners or by physically being pushed out of Lina's way when she went up to a particular dish. Not that Lina really noticed any of this; her main concern was the excellent taste of the food and her gradual decrease in hunger (just at her own unusually slow pace).

"Who in the world is that??" a man asked. He had been waiting with his empty plate for about fifteen minutes now. "She's like some kind of incredible eating machine!"

Xellos drank calmly from his glass and nodded. "I know, she's amazing, isn't she?" he said.

"Amazing, you saying??" the man said, searching Xellos's face for a glimpse of sarcasm. Although the purple-haired man was smiling, it seemed to be from watching Lina eating as she was, not an indication that he was joking. "Metallium-san, I don't see anything amusing about the savage way that woman is eating!"

"I probably should have given her more opportunities to eat," Xellos murmured to himself. "She does get cranky when she's really hungry."

"What was that you said?"

"Iie, betsu ni (No, nothing)," Xellos said. He walked past the man in the direction of Lina. "I better retrieve her now, I suppose."

Lina swallowed whatever was left in her mouth and turned to proceed down the table. She nearly dropped her plate as she bumped into Xellos. Had she not been more concerned with the food that had almost been ruined, she might have taken the time to wonder how Xellos suddenly appeared there.

"That was close," Lina said. She let out a breath of relief. "Why are you popping out of nowhere like that?"

Xellos motioned to one of the many tables set up along the huge yard. "I'm sorry to interrupt your feasting, but it's best if we sat down," he said.

Lina quickly put whatever was within her reach into her mouth before following him. "Aren't you going to eat anything?" she said. It didn't matter to her that it was nearly impossible to speak clearly with so little room in her mouth.

"Iie, I'm fine," Xellos said. He gestured to several people as a greeting before sitting down with Lina. "Besides, what if this food is poisoned?"

Lina continued chewing, but narrowed her eyes at him. "As if poison is really dangerous to you," she said. She swallowed and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "So what's the deal with all of this? Doesn't look much like a meeting to me. Looks more like a bunch of people eating together outside."

"Well, it'd be rude to gather so many people to one's house and not have some food and drink, deshou (right)?"

"Right…" Lina watched Xellos pour himself another glass from the bottle on the table. "Basically, if it looks like some kind of party, no one can say it's just a meeting of rich people scheming up new ways to get even richer."

Xellos smirked and set his glass down. "As always, you're extremely sharp, Lina-san," he said. "I have to talk some business with three people and then we can head back to Hadin. However, I haven't seen two of them yet. Looks like we'll have to hang around for a little while."

Lina started tearing some kind of meat from a bone. "Why do I get the feeling you really don't want to be here?" she asked. The bone was clean a few seconds after she finished her first sentence. "Now that I think about it, you seemed annoyed when we first let your orphanage."

"Hmm," Xellos said. He ran his finger along the edge of his glass. Lina appeared to ignore him while she ate, seemingly without even bothering to breathe, but he didn't bother to encourage her to speak again. He knew that she would pause at some point and add more.

"Don't tell me someone as inhuman as you can actually inexperience irritation," Lina said. She laid her utensil down so for the first time since she had sat down.

"Lina-san, you might want to drink something since you're eating so much." He motioned to the bottle of wine in the middle of the table. "I have to say, it's very good."

"Don't try to change the subject, Xellos." She folded her arms across her chest. "Anyway, I'm determined to never drink around you again. I seem to lose consciousness within a few minutes."

Xellos shrugged. "Perhaps, you're not a very good drinker."

"Cut the crap! I win drinking contests all the time. Now stop trying to change the subject!"

"What was the subject?" Lina slammed her fists on the table and he gave a relenting gesture. "All right, I don't want you to make a scene while we're here. Not until I finish my business, anyway."

"Is it that much of a pain to be here?" Lina asked. "I didn't think anything could get to you."

Xellos linked his hands together and rested his head upon it. "I'm not some kind of emotionless monster," he said. "For example, I was very upset that Zelgadis kept aiding in your escape… I shouldn't say 'was,' actually--I should say that I still am."

"Yes, it shows…" Lina said, recalling all of the evidence to support that. "It doesn't show up in your face or speech, but your actions speak very loudly."

"Oh, do they?" Xellos waved to someone that Lina couldn't see before he looked back at her.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you really don't like Zel at all."

Xellos was quiet for a minute as if he couldn't think of a way to respond. "…Is that bad?"

"Oh? Are you planning to be honest from here on?" Lina said. When he smiled, she smirked. "Well, since you're on this honest streak, let's hear why you don't want to be here."

"Oh…no real reason," Xellos said. He drank a little from his glass. "You might think I'm being boastful, but I just think my status is too high to have to deal with trivial matters like this. Most people here are low-status messengers, like I mentioned before. I hardly know who some of them are."

"So you're saying you're a high-status messenger?" Lina asked. "Whose messenger are you? Before I started spending so much time with you, I had always thought you were the one calling most the shots."

"I won't reveal my employer, but I will say that being the messenger is often one of my less pleasant jobs. However, I like what I do very much, even if I don't have complete freedom about the things I do, but I am one of the richest people around, which is more than most people who have a boss can say."

Lina let out a sigh. "Money again?" She started eating again as if becoming bored.

"Is wanting money bad?" Xellos asked. He tilted his head on his fingers. "I'm positive if you could have the chance to have the wealth I do, you'd take it."

"Of course!" Lina said, spitting a little food as she spoke. "But I wouldn't use the sneaky ways that you do!"

Xellos picked up a cloth from the table and wiped his face. "That's how you make the big money, Lina-san," he said. "Unless you happen to be a first-rate treasure hunter."

Lina nodded as she swallowed. "Yes, that describes me perfectly," she said. She glared at Xellos when he laughed. "What's so funny?"

"I don't mean to be rude, but if you were really that good, you could have easily paid me back within a year," Xellos said. "I do believe you are suited for such an occupation, but I don't believe that you are the best at it. You're an amazing person, but you're not very…very…"

Lina smiled and picked up her fork. "Xellos, I'm not sure how you're going to end that sentence, but I suggest you don't," she warned. She looked as though she were going to crush the utensil. "Otherwise…"

"Wakarimashita (I understand)," Xellos said, acting as though he were nervous. "Anyway, Lina-san, my point is that you should consider changing your principles. If you do that, you might get into the big money."

"I'm fine," Lina said, waving her hand. "I don't need any financial tips from a crooked person like you. You sell poison cakes and treat orphaned children like slaves."

Xellos covered his mouth to muffle his chuckles, but Lina berated him anyhow. "I'm sorry, it just sounds so funny when you say it," he said. He dropped his hand from his mouth and let out a breath. "You know, I suppose I don't really mind having to stay here for a while. After all, that person isn't here and you are. I'm having a lot of fun."

"That person?" Lina said. She blinked and raised a finger. "Oh, yeah, Xellos, who--"

"Metallium-san?"

Xellos and Lina both turned to see a man standing beside their table. He seemed to be one of those messengers Xellos had been describing since he seemed a little intimidated by the millionaire's presence. Lina also assumed that since his dress was like that of a servant.

"Hai?" Xellos said. "You're representing Kane-san, if I remember correctly?"

"Ee (Yes)," the servant said. He bowed respectfully. "I don't mean to interrupt you since my boss has no business to conduct with you, but there was a woman inquiring about whether you would be attending this gathering."

"A woman?" Xellos lifted his head from his hands and scratched his head. "That's a bit vague…"

"The master of this mansion was showing off his collection of vases," the servant went on, "and she was trying to convince him to sell some of them to her. I left before she had stopped doing so, but she asked if I had seen you. I hadn't at the time, but I told her that if I happened to see you that I would inform you that she was looking for you."

"Vases?"

Lina raised a brow. What's with Xellos's face? she thought. He almost looks like he ate spoiled food or something.

"This woman's name was?" Xellos said. His smile seemed as though it were going to break any second.

"Eto (Um)…" the man said, "she didn't give her name, but she was blonde and--"

"Shitsurei (Excuse me)," Xellos said. He stood up and took Lina by the hand. "We have to attend to some pressing matters."

"Ha…Hai…" The man said, whipping his head around as the two of them quickly left.

"Hey, Xellos!" Lina said, being dragged behind one of the many tall bushes in the area. She really lost her temper when Xellos forced her head down and shushed her. "What the hell are we doing??"

"Shh!" Xellos said. He peeped his head through a tiny hole in the bush. "This is exactly what I wanted to avoid…"

"What are you talking about??" Lina said in a voice that was just above a whisper. "And why the hell are we sitting here on the ground?? I haven't even finished my food yet!"

Xellos sighed and appeared to be frowning (or at least on the verge of doing so). "If only I didn't have to set up some deals…" he muttered.

Lina grabbed a handful of his shirt. "Xellos! Make sense!"

"What should I do?" Xellos said. He put a hand to his chin as if he didn't notice Lina was there.

"That's it!" Lina said. She released Xellos and started to stand up. "I'm going back to our table!"

"Lina-san, please wait!" Xellos said, grabbing her hand. Lina pulled him into a standing position as she continued to walk away. "Lina-san!"

"Just as I thought," Lina said, struggling to walk, which was dragging Xellos away from the bush, "things are…getting…much…much…weirder!"

Xellos nearly fell on his face as Lina jerked him forward. "Lina-san, if you'll just please…"

Lina was about to refuse to listen to him again, but he quickly pulled them behind the bush again. "Xellos what the--" His hand covered her mouth.

"Please, don't say anything, Lina-san," Xellos whispered. "She just walked past here."

"Who??" Lina said. She realized it was futile to talk with Xellos's hand over her mouth and she elbowed him in his stomach. "Who??"

Xellos held his stomach with one arm and kept Lina behind the bush with the other. "Would you believe there was someone determined to marry me?" he said.

"Ee (Huh)?" Lina said. She stopped struggling with him and sat back down with him on the ground. "What was in that glass you were drinking from?"

"Please be serious, Lina-san," Xellos said. He smiled weakly when she gave him a look like he was crazy. "I'm not kidding. For about three years, that woman's been hounding me to marry her."

"Xellos, no woman would be that desperate," Lina said. However, she was ambivalent about believing him. On one hand, Lina couldn't believe someone would want to be Xellos's wife; on the other hand, Lina didn't think Xellos would seem so stressed out if he was lying. Then again, Lina wasn't sure why Xellos found the proposition of the woman marrying him so terrible. When she pictured some woman suggesting the idea to Xellos, she couldn't see him rejecting the offer nor expressing disgust. That wasn't like Xellos and his current behavior certainly wasn't like Xellos either.

"Well, this woman is," Xellos said. "I told her from the beginning that I had no interest, but she's ridiculously persistent. It irritates me."

"I don't understand," Lina said. "Why does that bother you so much? You're the type that is flattered by insults. Shouldn't the fact that a woman wants to marry you be a good thing?"

"Iie." Xellos's voice grew softer as if he was worried someone would hear him. "Not her. She's the type that makes me regret each second I have to spend with her."

Lina smirked. "She sounds interesting," she said. "Let's meet her."

"If at all possible, I'd rather not," Xellos said. His smile was so fake, Lina couldn't help but laugh at it. "I shouldn't be surprised that you're laughing at me."

"Xellos, you can't avoid this woman if you want to complete those deals you were talking about," Lina said, snickering. "Naru hodo (I see)…this is why you've been so reluctant to come here. You were afraid you might see her again."

"Afraid, no," Xellos said. "Simply displeased if I did."

Lina rubbed her hands together and acted as though she were filled with glee. "Payback!" she said. "Finally, it's your turn to be frustrated! I've been waiting for this day!"

"Your sympathy towards my situation is astounding, Lina-san," Xellos said. He was smiling more like usual, but the discomfort was still there. "However, you are right that I can't avoid her without failing to do my duties. I always do the work I've been assigned, regardless of what it is. I'm not about to start slacking off now."

Lina punched him lightly in the arm. "Let's go!" she said, cheerfully. "Maybe this time she can convince you to marry her."

"Please don't tease me, Lina-san," Xellos said. He put his hand to his chin. "If only I could see her and discourage her from bothering me with this marriage business."

"Dame da (It's no use), Xellos," Lina teased. "If she wants to marry you with full knowledge of the type of person you are, then there's nothing you could say to discourage her. As long as you are available, you can't avoid it."

"Ee (Yes), as long as I'm available…" Xellos said. He was silent for a minute while Lina kept provoking him to hurry up and meet her. Her ridiculing stopped when he snapped his fingers. "I've got it!"

"Got what?" Lina said. She sweat-dropped when he turned to her with the typical "I'm-up-to-something" smile. "Whatever you're planning--"

"Lina-san, please pretend to be my fiancée," Xellos said.

Lina regarded him incredulously. "What??" she said.

"If she thinks you're my fiancée, she'll definitely leave me in peace while I take care of my business," Xellos said. He scooted closer to Lina when she started inching away as if repulsed. "Come on, Lina-san, it's a wonderful plan."

"Absolutely not!" Lina said. She stood and dusted off her pants. "You think I'd do something like that??"

"Why not?" Xellos said, standing with her. "Even if she doesn't believe me, as long as I stick to my lie, I can avoid wasting time with her."

"No way." Lina turned her back to him. "Anyway, I wouldn't pass up this opportunity to see you act like a real human being. I plan to make you suffer just like I have."

"Sou desu ka (Is that right)?" Xellos said. He moved so that he was standing in front of her, meeting her smirk with his own. "Well, then what if I say that if you don't grant me this favor, I'll have to ask you to finally give me my reward for winning our little card game?"

Lina's smirk wavered. "As if…I'd let you…" she said. "I thought you learned your lesson not to mess with me like that."

"Lina-san, the only reason I haven't collected my prize is because I haven't had the luxury since I've arrived here," Xellos said. He took a few steps toward her and opened his eyes. "It has nothing to do with any kind of thoughts that I couldn't collect it. You know, I can be quite forceful when I set my mind on getting something…"

Damnit! Lina thought, grabbing her knees to stop them from shaking. I want to tell him that he can just try it, but I get this terrible feeling whenever I think of challenging him to do so. I know that Xellos has a reputation of getting whatever he wants. That's evident by the way he's managed to keep me in his grasp.

"Maa (Well), it's a win-win situation for me," Xellos said. "If you agree to help me out, I'll forget that you failed to hold up your end of the bargain and I'll even treat you to a very nice meal before we leave here. I believe there's a place that caters dragon cuisine."

"Dragon cuisine?" Lina's anxiety instantly evaporated. "You're not lying are you?? Dragon cuisine??"

Xellos eyes closed again and he smiled neutrally. "Ee (Yes)," Xellos said, nodding. "I'll let you eat as much as you want."

"Hontou ni (Really)??" Lina said. She grasped his arm. "Xellos, that's so nice of you!"

"Does this mean, you'll do it?"

Lina nodded obediently. "Sure, sure," she said. "I'm sure I can pay you back another time…but dragon cuisine is something I can't possible pass that up!"

"Great," Xellos said. He rubbed the back of his head. "I really appreciate your cooperation."

"Whatever," Lina said. She let him go and frowned. "You should have said that from the beginning instead of threatening me."

"Threatening?" Xellos repeated. "What I said threatened you? Ah, sou ka (I see)--something like that terrifies you."

"Who's terrified??" Lina said, face instantly red. "I'm just disgusted! I don't want to be any closer to man like you than I already am!"

"Well, until we leave this place, I suggest you act like I'm the man of your dreams," Xellos said. Lina didn't think his smile could be any sillier.

"Don't you think that would be laying it on too thick?" Lina muttered. "If I acted like that, who the hell would believe your story? You're not exactly a desirable bachelor."

Xellos patted her cheek. "Please do your best, Lina-chan," he said.

Lina grabbed his hand and held it with a crushing force. "Call me that again and I will kill you," she said.

"Demo (But) don't you think it will be more convincing this way?"

"If you don't want me to blow it for you, you'll avoid calling me that." She twisted his hand in an abnormal angle.

"Ow! I get you, Lina-san! Lina-san!"

"Good." She released his hand and sighed. "Let's get this over with. I want to finish eating."

"Whatever you say." Xellos gave Lina his largest smile, which was like a wall to her suspicious stare. Lina was a little disappointed, when left their hiding spot, that Xellos seemed pretty confident with his plan. It had been fun to see him hopeless and nervous for a change. For a second Lina debated double-crossing Xellos. She really hated the almost carefree stride he was taking and she hoped that in the end, the woman would catch onto to their little plan and Lina would still end up getting the fancy food she wanted. Lina's mouth watered just thinking of eating some of the tastiest food in the world. Regardless if Lina warned Xellos she'd kill him if he didn't make good on his promise, Xellos was the one calling all of the shots. If he chose to simply leave the area without even going near the alleged restaurant, there was nothing Lina could do. She didn't know its location, nor if it even existed. Reasoning like that probably would have caused Lina to put more insurance in the deal, but she was less hesitant to take Xellos's word for it since he had given her the flipside of the deal. Lina shuddered and shook her head. It was comforting to think about her doing it simply to eat some good food.

"Ah, there she is," Xellos said. They stopped at a table where a blonde was sipping tea by herself. "Well, if it isn't Filia ul Copt. It's been a long time."

"Xellos," Filia said, smiling. She set her cup down. "So you've finally decided to stop hiding?"

"Hiding? Whatever do you mean?"

Lina had no intention of including herself in the conversation, nor introducing herself. The sooner she did, the longer she could have to pretend to like Xellos enough to have agreed to marry him. Anyway, even though Lina had thought Xellos was back to his old self, she could detect a slight hint of irritation in his voice.

Filia shook a finger at him. "Come on Xellos," she said. "It's pointless to avoid me like this. Regardless of what reasons I have for wanting to marry you, you might as well just accept that no one else would dare even think of the idea. At least you'll have the reputation of having a charitable and lovely wife when we get married."

Lina blinked at Filia's laughter and then at the telltale sign that her comment had upset Xellos. It sounded like something Lina might have said to him (minus the conceited part at the end), yet Xellos looked as though he might lose his smile any second. Lina had always thought Xellos was impervious to all insults.

"Well, I'm afraid I'm going to have to say that you're completely wrong," Xellos said. His placed his arm over Lina's shoulders. "I happen to be engaged to this lovely woman here now."

"Engaged??" Filia repeated. It seemed as though she had just first noticed that Lina existed. "This woman?"

I hate this already… Lina thought, pretending that Xellos wasn't touching her.

Filia rose from her seat, staring at Lina as if inspecting her. "I thought she was one of your servants or something," she said.

"Servant??" Lina repeated. Her fist began to shake.

Xellos laughed in hopes to calm Lina down. "That's a pretty rude thing to say to my fiancée," he said.

"What kind of trick are you trying to pull?" Filia said. She smiled knowingly. "How much did you pay this woman to play your fiancée?"

"Yare, yare (My, my), a 'kind' person such as yourself is awfully rude," Xellos said. "According to my sources, you weren't going to attend this meeting. I'm certain that you were intending to send someone in your place."

"Well, I changed my mind," Filia said, waving her hand. "Anyway, I wanted to see if I could do anything to help this poor little town. Your evil influence here has been tearing this place apart for years."

"And what exactly could you do?" Xellos said. Lina was positive at that moment he had a sneer in his tone. "I recall that one of the most desolate cities around was put that way by your oh-so-wonderful influence. I'm not so cruel that I would let this town turn into a place most fear to tread."

"That wasn't my fault!" Filia protested. "There were circumstances that I couldn't prevent that led that to happen!"

Xellos shook his head. "How did a useless person like you get into the high position you're in?" he said. "You're not qualified to even be something like a shrine maiden or something like that."

Xellos is being outright rude, Lina thought, huge sweat-drop on the side of her head. Xellos's laughter at that time was incredibly spiteful, instead the usual "all-in-good-fun" manner it usually was. I don't ever think I've heard him speak so honestly…

"…such a thing!" Filia said, finishing her loud rebuttals. She growled softly when Xellos simply continued to laugh. "Anyway, I'm not going to believe this woman is your fiancée! This sounds exactly like one of your tricks!"

"I assure you we're very committed to each other, right, sweetie?" Xellos said, smiling at Lina.

"Of course, darling," Lina said, smiling back at him as if she were going to kill him.

Filia narrowed her eyes at the two of them. "Why don't you two take a seat?" she said.

"Actually--"

"We'd love to," Xellos said, pulling out a chair for Lina. "Douzo (Go ahead)."

"Oi, Xellos!" Lina hissed, drawing in close to him. "What about my food??"

"I'll send someone to bring you some more, don't worry about it," Xellos whispered back.

Lina couldn't help but look angry when she sat down and had Xellos push her up to the table. Xellos sat between her and the empty seat beside Filia. Filia offered Lina some tea but Lina politely declined. Xellos was all too happy to take some, making Lina wondering if he was just trying to be polite. He had appeared to have been enjoying wine before much more.

"I'm sorry, I haven't gotten your name, Miss…?" Filia said.

"Li--"

"Li Li," Xellos interrupted. "It's a pretty name, isn't it?"

Lina leaned near Xellos and talked from the side of her mouth. "Li Li??" she said.

"Many people know that Lina Inverse is staying with me," Xellos said, covering his mouth his hand. "If you tell her who you really are, then she might figure out in advance that it's not real."

"Is there something wrong?" Filia asked, looking between them.

"Iie," Xellos said. "She was just asking me not to tease her about her name. She's not very fond of it, but I truly like it."

"I see…" Filia said. She obviously had noticed the forced smile on Lina's face. "Well, then Li Li-san, could you possibly tell what reason you could have for wanting to marry this…this…mistake of mankind?"

"Mi…stake?"

Lina's sweat-drop returned. He looks like he's going to bust a vessel in his forehead, yet he's still trying to smile…

"It's the money, isn't?" Filia said. She lifted up her cup to her lips and quietly sipped her tea.

"Believe me," Lina said, smiling and nodding, "there isn't enough money in the world to convince me to marry him." Xellos cleared his throat and laughed, indicating she wasn't saying something very convincing. "What I mean is that money had nothing to do with my decision to…marry him…"

"Then what is it?" Filia asked. She snorted. "It can't be anything like Xellos's 'winning' personality. This man doesn't have a scrap of personality."

"Hmm…" Lina said, scratching her head. She tried to ignore Xellos's strange expression. She had never thought someone could appear to be smiling and frowning at the same time. "It's hard to put my finger on it…"

"I'm sure Li Li-chan is much too embarrassed to tell a complete stranger the reasons why she is in love," Xellos said. He placed his hand over Lina's resting on the table. "Right?"

"Yes…" Lina said. She gave her sweetest and phoniest smile and laid her other hand on top of Xellos's, digging her fingers into his skin. "This is all too embarrassing."

"Xellos, are you all right?" Filia said. "You look like you're sitting on a tack or something."

"I'm fine…" Xellos said. He yanked his hand from between Lina's and massaged it. "Well, Filia-san, I'd wish you would stop giving my fiancée the third degree. You can ask us questions all day, but you can't prove that the two of us aren't engaged."

"Oh, really?" Filia said. She crossed her arms over her chest. "Okay, so where is Li Li-san's ring?"

Lina looked down at her hand and held back a smile. Hehe, I hope Filia can trap Xellos in his own lies, she thought. As long as she's the one to expose this farce, I can still get to eat my dragon cuisine and watch Xellos suffer!

"Some of us aren't as materialistic as you are," Xellos said. He leaned back in his seat, unconcerned with the inquisitive stares from both women. "I offered Li Li-chan an exquisite ring, but she refused to take it. She's such a humble soul she thought it would be prideful of her to show off such an expensive item on her finger. I tried very hard to change her mind, but you just can't manipulate my Li Li-chan."

Lina turned her head away from Filia and Xellos so that they wouldn't see the strange look on her face. Once again, Xellos defends his title as the King of Liars, she thought. What kind of story was that?? Who'd believe that??

"Even if that story was true," Filia said, most likely having the same thoughts as Lina, "why would an upright woman like that want to marry trash like you?"

"…Trash…you say?" Xellos said. He laughed as if it were a joke.

He's kinda scary when he's like that, Lina thought, trying to scoot her chair away from him. That laughter is completely forced…

"Li Li-san, I don't know you well enough to judge your character," Filia said smugly, "but I know Xellos's character well enough to confidently say that such a humble person would never fall for the scum of the earth."

"Let's not forget that you are willing to marry this 'scum' you speak of, Filia-san," Xellos said. He grasped the edge of the table, causing his hands to shake (although Lina thought they were shaking before he even did that). "The point you seem to be getting at is that only another scumbag would marry someone like me. That must mean that you are a person similar to myself, if not worse than myself."

Good point, Xellos, Lina thought. It seemed to be Filia's turn to express resentment. Why the hell is this woman so bent on marrying Xellos?

Lina could practically see Filia getting on her high horse; it was certainly easy to imagine her preaching to people fighting for some kind of good cause. "My reason for wanting to marry you has nothing do with any affection toward you," she said. "You and I both know that I decided a while ago that the only way to end your reign of terror in the world is by marrying you. It was the only way I could think of to gain authority in your crooked businesses and to have the power to change them into humanitarian, respectable places that benefit mankind instead of feeding off their misfortune."

"So what you're saying is that Xellos's negative influence in the world bothers you so much, you'd go that far to put a stop to him?" Lina said. She didn't know whether to be stunned by Filia's self-righteousness or her willingness to bare such a horrible fate by being Xellos's wife.

"Of course," Filia said. She clasped her hands together. "I'm sure even if you killed Xellos, it would do no good. When I think that someone like Xellos might become any more powerful… I shudder to think what chaos he might cause! He's like a walking disease! How could I sleep at night thinking I did nothing to try and cure this man's infection on the world?"

"Man, once she gets going…" Lina muttered.

"You see what I mean?" Xellos said from the corner of his mouth. He looked as though he were about to say something to Filia, but was distracted by something behind her. "Oya (Oh)."

"Doushita no(What's wrong)?" Lina asked.

Xellos rose from his seat and bowed his head in apology. "Sorry, I see someone I must speak to…" he said.

"Oh, what a shame," Lina said, noticing how pleased he seemed to be to have an excuse to leave. "I'm certain that you wanted to say something."

"Li Li-chan, please wait here for me until I get back," Xellos said. "I won't be long. That's fine with you, Filia-san?"

"I insist," Filia said, smiling. "There's still much I'd like to discuss with your alleged fiancée."

Xellos nodded and then brought his mouth next to Lina's ear. "Please, behave Lina-san." Lina smiled at that moment, but he couldn't see it. "Otherwise, I might not behave myself later on…"

Lina sweat-dropped. "Leave everything to me," she said. Well, it might be a little easier without Xellos saying stupid things about me, she thought.

"I knew I could count on you."

Lina stiffened for a split second as Xellos kissed her on the cheek; the next half second, her hand unconsciously swept across his face. Lina didn't even realize she had slapped him until he had murmured something about the pain and Filia gave her a suspicious look. Her face was already red from Xellos kissing her, but noticing that she was blowing her cover made her sweat as well. Her nervous laughter wasn't helping, but it was the only thing she could think of doing to cover her mistake.

"Yada (Oh, no), Xellos!" Lina said in her most convincing voice. "You know it embarrasses me when you kiss me in public!" She tried her best to turn her additional laughter into something that sounded like a modest girl's giggling.

Xellos rubbed his cheek. "You really must learn to express our love more often in public, Li Li-chan," he said. He took Lina's hidden glare as a signal he should get going already. "Well, if you'll excuse me."

When Filia and Lina met eyes after Xellos left, Lina felt slightly unsettled without Xellos with her. After all, he was the one doing all the fabricating and now she was the one left to continue their little story. Lina didn't doubt she could think of some kind of lie to answer whatever questions Filia might ask of her, but she wasn't sure how believable those lies would be. Her reasons for going along with Xellos's plan didn't motivate her lying skills (which were good, but no where as good as Xellos's) very much.

"Now then, Li Li-san," Filia said. She laid her hands in her lap. "Why don't you be honest with me now that Xellos is gone? What is exactly going on? Are you a person Xellos hired on the way here or do you have some kind of insane reason for wanting to marry him?"

As if your reason is really sensible… Lina thought. She sighed and within a few seconds came up with a suitable story. "I shouldn't really have to explain myself, but the truth is I fell for Xellos when he saved my life," she said.

"Saved your life?" Filia had said the words as if they couldn't possibly make sense together.

"Yes…" Lina couldn't help but be reminded of her travels in the Houshu Forest. "An adventurous friend of mine went into a tribal village, but he never came out. I was worried, so I went after him. However, that soon led me to become the target of their sacrifice ceremony. Xellos happened to be in the area and he stopped those savages from burning me to death."

Filia leaned forward a little. "Really? Xellos saved you from that?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Lina said. She quickly smiled to cover up the bitter tone of her comment. "What I mean is that it was unfortunate that I had to be in that dangerous situation. Anyway, I…really saw Xellos for the type of person he was that day and I'll never be able to repay him for his conniving--I mean, his kindly act."

"I see…" Filia said. She seemed to be thinking as she was drinking her tea. "Hmm…"

"I wouldn't blame you if you found it hard to swallow," Lina said. "I often find it hard to believe what kind of person Xellos really is…behind the nice mask he paints for others."

"Exactly!" Filia said. She practically slammed her teacup back on the saucer. "For instance, Xellos wouldn't have possibly saved you unless it benefited him in some way. Furthermore, he wouldn't have even been in the area if he wasn't up to no good. Why was he even there?"

"Well, um, you see…" Lina said. Her eyes turned to the sky as she thought. "Xellos…happened to be doing some kind of business in the nearby town. Before I went into the village to help my friend, I had been asking those townspeople whether or not they had seen him. According to Xellos, he had overheard me talking about going into the forest myself and decided to follow me. I'm very lucky that he did since I wouldn't have the privilege of telling you this story right now if he hadn't."

Lina only felt a little nervous as Filia gave her a hard stare. It was easier to tell a story that was partially true than to make up a complete lie; Lina didn't worry that she might suddenly change her story without realizing it. The only problem she would have would be convincing Filia that she cared for Xellos. She could tell stories about him all day long, but Lina was sure that Filia wouldn't believe Xellos was the man of her dreams without some more concrete proof.

"And that one act of kindness makes you overlook all the other horrible things he's involved in?" Filia asked.

"I'm not going to say I like what Xellos does," Lina said, "but I accept who he is and I have no intention of changing him. Besides…he accepts me for who I am…and he's always treated me well."

"Listen, Li Li-san," Filia said. She didn't notice how her deadly serious tone was making Lina uncomfortable. "Xellos has to be up to something! There is no way that he would save you and treat you so nicely unless he has some kind of twisted plan up his sleeve! I'm not sure what he would gain if he married you, but there must be something! I know there is something!"

And here I thought no one could be more suspicious of Xellos than me… Lina thought. She rubbed her temples. What in the world am I suppose to say in response to that?

"Trust me, if you marry Xellos, something terrible will happen to you. Do you come from any money?"

Lina shook her head. "I'm pretty poor…"

"Own any property?"

"No."

"Have anything that Xellos might want to steal??"

"Not that I know of…" Lina said. She shrugged and offered a smile to settle Filia's rising frustration. "To my knowledge, the only thing Xellos wants…is me…"

Filia put her hand on her forehead and fell limp against her chair. "I give up," she sighed. "It doesn't make any sense, but I can't think of why Xellos wants to marry someone who couldn't give him anything."

As if I'm not enough, Lina thought ruefully. She frowned and started looking around for Xellos. He was nowhere to be found and Lina was sure he was in no hurry to return. Lina let out a sigh herself, returning her gaze to the worn out Filia. She didn't appear as though she were going to say anything soon, so Lina allowed herself to relax for a few seconds. In doing so, Lina noticed that she was still hungry and had yet to get the rest of the food she had left at their table. She turned her head back and noticed that the buffet table near the doors leading back into the mansion were being cleared. For a second she was alarmed, immediately silently cursing Xellos, until she saw that several servants were replacing the trays with various desserts. It reminded Lina all too much of being in Xellos's bakery the day before (without the fear of whether or not they were poisoned).

Filia sat up properly as Lina half-rose. "Where are you going, Li Li-san?" she said.

"Sorry, I have to get some of these desserts they're putting out," Lina said, pointing to the table. "Um…did you want me to get something for you?"

"Iie, I'm fine," Filia said. She had really thought nothing of Lina's leaving to retrieve some desserts until Lina had returned about ten minutes later. She hadn't used one of the smaller dessert plates and in addition looked as though the dinner plate she had used wasn't enough room for the sweets she had acquired. Filia hesitated informing Lina that when she sat down she had crumbs dotted around her mouth.

Lina bit into another pastry that had some kind of fruit filling. "Oh, man, this great!" she said, stuffing what she thought to be a cream puff into mouth. "As I thought, rich people always have the best sweets!"

"You…really like your desserts, don't you?" Filia asked. She cringed at how carelessly and quickly Lina devoured things in front of her.

"Hell, this is like a vacation after spending so much time with Xellos," Lina said, paying more attention to what her fingers were going to grab next.

"Excuse me?" Filia said. She had heard Lina clearly, but put a hand to her ear to make sure that her ears weren't broken.

"Yeah, Xellos has been--" Lina stopped and started choking on the food in her mouth. Shimatta (Crap)! she thought as she kept coughing. What the hell am I saying??

"Drink some tea!" Filia said, handing her a cup.

Lina gulped down the tea and grasped for air. "Th…Thanks…" she said.

"Now that you seem to have stopped choking…" Filia said, studying her, "you can explain what you meant by eating dessert was like a vacation."

"Oh, that…" Lina said. She cleared her throat. "Um…I was simply referring to…to all the people I've had to endure while we've been here. Don't get me wrong, I love spending time with Xellos… I just…I just hate to be put on display and I've felt like that's what he's been doing ever since we came here. You know, showing off his fiancée to all the important people. It's very stressful, you know."

"I see," Filia said.

Geez! Lina thought, continuing to eat her sweets. I can't let my guard down for a moment! When the hell is Xellos going to be done and get me the hell out of here?? I swear if I end up messing up this sham, it's going to be Xellos's fault for taking so damn long!

Filia drank about two more cups of tea while Lina gorged her with sweets. After her last cup she lightly set her cup down and nodded her head. Lina only halfway paid attention, deciding that Filia had been thinking about something. She figured it was only more questions about the relationship between her and Xellos, so since that was what she expected, she didn't see any harm in enjoying some cake and pie while Filia tried to expose her.

"I suppose I have no choice."

Lina stopped midway in licking frosting from her mouth, leaving a white ring above her lips. "Hmm?"

"I can't really decide whether I believe you and Xellos," Filia said, "but I'm willing to bargain with you regardless. I'm prepared to offer you a generous sum to call off your engagement to Xellos. Once he and I are married, I don't mind if you want to see him, since I only want to be his wife in the legal sense, so it's not as if I'm telling you to stay away from him if you truly are in love with him."

"Ee (Huh)?" Lina turned her head to the side. "You're going to bribe me to not marry him??"

"Yes, I know it's a low thing to do, but I promise that my intentions are good," Filia said. "Once I'm his wife, I'll absolutely make a positive difference in his horrible businesses! I mean, you should see that orphanage of his, if you haven't already. If I had even the slightly authority in that affair, I'd make sure those kids never had to build another toy again."

Lina put a finger to her chin. Maybe Filia's not just talking big, she thought. If she's attending this meeting, she has to be an influential figure in the world already. If that's true, she most likely could change several of Xellos's establishments. Even though I'm not really interesting in "saving the world" as she put it, I'm all for bringing Xellos down. It'd probably kill him to see all of his places become legit. I'd love to see that, that's for sure.

"What do you say, Li Li-san?" Filia said. "I'll pay you fifty thousand gold pieces if you agree."

"Fifty thousand??" Lina repeated. She had to close her mouth for a minute to prevent herself from drooling.

"I think that's quite fair, considering it doesn't mean you can't be with Xellos, if that's what you truly desire," Filia said. "You can be his wife in every other sense of the way, and I'll just be the one that has that horrible man's last name. Of course, if money should ever be a problem for your afterwards, I'll be happy to oblige. After all, you should be paid well for aiding the welfare of those whom Xellos is making suffer."

The hell with Xellos's offer for dragon cuisine! Lina thought, rubbing her hands together. I can pay Xellos back and then find that damn restaurant on my own! Then, of course, I'll have to pay Zel back for his troubles…but that will still leave me plenty to go around as I please for at least a couple of months!

Filia extended her hand and smiled. "Is it a deal, Li Li-san?" she asked.

"Well…" Lina said, cutting herself off with laughter. "If you put it that way, I'll have to say--"

"What a preposterous offer."

Lina's body grew cold as she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Kuso (Shit)…" she muttered. She turned back and gave Xellos a crooked smile.

"There's no way my Li Li-chan would accept something like that," Xellos said. His other hand rested on Lina's other shoulder. "Right, honey?"

"Masaka (No way)," Lina said. She swallowed and laughed as Xellos sat down. "How long have you been around?"

"Oh, I came along just in time to hear Filia's shameful proposition," Xellos said. One of his eyes opened and locked on Lina's anxious face. "I suppose that's a good thing, hmm?"

"Someone as humble as me can't possibly be swayed by money," Lina said, turning her gaze to Filia for comfort. "I was just about to refuse your offer, Filia-san."

"Sou desu ka (Is that right)?" Filia said, frowning at Xellos's sudden presence. "I could have sworn my proposal appealed to you."

"To my Li Li-chan?" He smiled, both eyes closed again when Lina glanced at him. "That's not possible."

"Just like I said…" Lina said. She wiped her forehead. Damnit! she thought. I'm getting tired of these missed opportunities!

"By the way, Xellos, I heard that you saved Li Li-san's life," Filia said. "What possible reason could you have for doing that?"

Lina's eyes darted to Xellos again. Maybe we'll be exposed after all… she thought.

"Reason?" Xellos said. If he were caught off-guard by the question, he didn't suggest it in his tone. "A beautiful woman was in danger. Why wouldn't I rescue her?"

"Countless people have died before you!" Filia said. She jumped from her seat, looking like she was a minute away from choking Xellos. "How could you suddenly gain compassion in a single moment??"

"Who am I to explain how love works? It's a very mysterious thing."

"Fuzakeru nai (Don't joke around)!" Filia snapped. Finally other guests were taking notice of Filia's energetic words, but no one bothered to do anything besides observe. "You're up to something--I know it! A person like you can't be in love! You just want something from her, don't you??"

Lina didn't know which to be more fearful of: Xellos's calm laughing or Filia's imminent explosion of rage. It was disconcerting to hear Xellos not playfully mocking someone as he usually appeared to be doing, but ridiculing Filia as he were feeding off her negative energy. If Xellos were the person that brought out Lina's worst qualities, then it was Filia that brought out Xellos's worst qualities. Filia tapped at the temper Xellos always kept hidden and forced the man to express things like normal people did. Although Lina had wanted Xellos to act like a real human being, Lina preferred his dishonest self opposed to the eviler one hidden within.

"Mou (Enough)…" Lina sighed to herself. She bit into a fruit tart covered in whipped cream. Her mouth soon became covered with the stuff, but cleaning it was the least of her concerns.

"I don't know why you're trying so hard to disprove the love I have for my Li Li-chan," Xellos said. "Regardless of what kind of person you believe me to be, underneath this skin and bones lies a heart just like you or anyone else. Sooner or later I was bound to find someone who could capture my affection."

"I don't care what you say!" Filia said. She shook her head furiously as if to prevent such an idea from entering her head. "I bet if someone like you was seriously affectionate with someone, you'd probably die from your heart beating for the first time!"

"Seriously affectionate?" Xellos did his famous confused act. "What would be seriously affectionate?"

"Forget it!" Filia said. She plopped back down into her chair and waved Xellos away. "I won't deal with you today any more. I lose my resolve to sacrifice my hand in marriage to you."

Xellos smiled victoriously and turned to Lina. "Sate (Now then), Li Li-chan, perhaps we should go…" he said. He stopped for a second as he noticed all of the cream on Lina's mouth. "Oya (Oh), there's so much cream around your mouth."

Lina blinked and touched her lips. "Oh, yeah…" she said, reaching for her napkin for the first time.

"I'll take care of it," Xellos said, stopping the movement of her hand. He pulled Lina's head toward his own and covered his lips over hers.

Lina was already bewildered that Xellos had suddenly taken that opportunity to kiss her, but she was even more surprised that she couldn't manage to pull away from him. Her hands were clamped on his wrists, using all of her power to force his hands away from her cheeks, but her strength was nothing in comparison to Xellos's. Lina tried to twist her mouth away, but his mouth moved in sync to whatever position hers moved. Lina's hands eventually dropped as the kiss wore on and she felt her warm sensation throughout her entire body. By the time Xellos released her and sat straight again, Lina was shaking uncontrollably and felt as though she were blushing all the way down to her shoulders.

Xellos licked his lips, smiling contently. "My, whatever you were eating was extremely tasty," he said. He smirked. "Or perhaps that was simply the taste of your lips alone?"

Filia covered her mouth as if she may throw up. "If…If you'll excuse me…" she said. She was grown in mere seconds.

"Lina-san?" Xellos said. He waved his hand in front of her face. She hadn't moved, save her trembling, or blinked for a while. "Lina-san, are you all right?"

Lina wasn't sure how long she had zoned out, but when she became aware of her surroundings again, Xellos was standing beside her chair as he gently shook her. She stared at him for a long time not sure how to respond to him as he said her name over and over again. Lina decided to let him do as he pleased for the moment until she could stop breathing so hard and her heart beat returned to normal.

"Lina-san, please say something," Xellos pleaded. "I didn't mean to shock you so much. I thought it would be convincing enough to make Filia-san leave… Well, actually, I've always wanted to do that and now I want to even more--"

"Xellos, you…"

Xellos dropped his hands. "You finally said something. I'm glad."

Lina got up from her chair and started walking aimlessly. Xellos immediately walked beside her, noticing how zombie-like her steps were. She was walking much too stiffly and her eyes were wide and unresponsive.

"Lina-san…" Xellos said. They were nearly to the entrance of the mansion before he stopped her. "Ano (Um)…Lina-san… Yahari (As I thought), you're angry with me."

Lina came out of her daze and her eyes focused on him. "Angry?" she repeated. She smiled like her usual self. "I'm not angry."

"That's good to hear. I was worried that--" He didn't get to finish before Lina jabbed her elbow into his middle. He sunk to his knees and coughed furiously.

"Nope, I'm not angry at all," Lina said in her sweetest voice. "If I was angry, I'd be kicking you right now until you became unconscious."

Xellos coughed and few more times before he was able to speak. "I…see…" he said. He started coughing again.

"I'm so relaxed at this second, I'm going to ram my elbow into your stomach one more time, the second you get back on your feet." Lina laughed as if she was delighted. "I just want to show you how much I enjoyed doing a favor for you…darling."

Xellos leaned closer to the ground while holding his stomach. "It was still worth it," he whispered. He didn't dare raise his voice and let Lina actually hear him.

********

Zelgadis leaned on sword and eventually dropped to one knee. He grasped for air, feeling as though he hadn't be allowed to breathe for days. His legs were bleeding into the grass and his arm above him was dripping the red substance every now and then. From the shadow he was casting, Zelgadis assumed it was late morning. He hadn't really paid attention to the time, only concerned with whether it were night or day. He had been glad it hadn't rained for the past two days since he hadn't been indoors for a while. The rugs he had procured had to be left in the middle of street, which had undoubtedly already been stolen. That was frustrating since it had been wasted work for the family he had bothered with his request, but at that point there was nothing he could do about it. No one could say he didn't try to fulfill his wicked relative's request, even though Rezo didn't deserve it, but of course, it was the man's own fault.

"Mattaku (Honestly)…" Zelgadis said. He lifted up his head and stared up at the sun peaking from the numerous trees. "Two days of that was too much…"

Zelgadis was tempted to rest, but his goal had been not to waste time. Two days had already passed and he had barely made it a mile out of Sharmin. Rezo hadn't just sent a couple of thugs to take of him, it seemed he had several sets of them waiting for him at every turn. Zelgadis wasn't certain that if he stayed any longer, that some more henchmen wouldn't come along and get in his way. He had managed to keep up the fight for two days without much rest, but he was positive that if someone else came along to fight him, he would lose. Although his legs were stinging with pain as he stood on them, Zelgadis used his sword as a crutch to go on his way. He didn't think he was going to make it to Hadin any time soon, but he wasn't about to stay in Sharmin and make Rezo's plan successful. Helping Lina may have been his goal, but foiling Rezo was his life's mission. If he could stop Rezo from getting what he wanted just once, then Zelgadis could be satisfied.

"Zan'nen da (Too bad), Rezo," Zelgadis said, smirking despite his pitiful condition. "It's not that easy to stop me."

A bird started circling overhead, but it wasn't until Zelgadis heard the familiar cry that he stopped his tracks. He turned his view to the sky, watching a hawk swoop down to him. Zelgadis jammed his sword into the earth and wrapped one arm around the sword for support, while extending his other arm. The hawk perched on his forearm and remained still.

"A message from Zolf?" Zelgadis said. He stopped leaning against his sword long enough to take a note wrapped around the bird's right leg. He waved his arm a little to indicate the bird could leave and once it was gone, Zelgadis began to read the letter.

Zelgadis's eyebrow rose as he finished reading the message. "Naru hodo (I see)," he said. "Xellos left Hadin a few days ago…and it looks like his destination is…"

Zelgadis yanked his sword out of the ground and started walking with a better conviction. He chuckled at his good luck, his first in a while since he had gotten into Lina's mess. With the information he had just received from his good friend, Zelgadis was sure that he could beat both crooked businessmen at the same time.

"Sending me to Sharmin was a big mistake, ojisan (uncle)," Zelgadis laughed. "From here I can easily get on Xellos's trail."

********

From what Lina could tell, Xellos seemed to be taking her down a street where a good restaurant could be located. They were passing several shops and restaurants, so at the moment Lina didn't bother to call him out as liar. Besides, Lina was too happy that it was their final day and they were heading back to Hadin that evening. Even though going back to Hadin meant spending more time with Xellos in his mansion, Lina preferred that over their little business vacation. She still hadn't gotten over the incident from the other day when she had to play the role of Xellos's fiancée. First Lina had thought Xellos's stunt in the forest was the worst; then Lina had thought the carriage ride ordeal was the worst. Lina was positive that few things were going to bump the kiss she had shared with Xellos the other day from the top of her worst list. However, for whatever reason, Lina wasn't too haunted by it. Yes, she felt some unpleasantness whenever she thought of it, but her anger had already disappeared. In fact, Lina felt more embarrassed than anything else when the scene played back in her mind. She wondered if Xellos would have still done the same thing had she not had her mouth covered in cream. When they returned to the inn, she had washed her mouth vigorously, but that hadn't made her feel too much better about the whole thing.

"Ah, watch out!"

Lina stopped an inch from running into a cart in the middle of the street. She apologized to the elderly woman pushing it and waited for her to pass before she returned to Xellos's side. She glanced at him to give him a silent thank you and he smiled in response. Xellos had been quiet about the whole thing, which was a great relief to Lina, but very suspicious. Although it were no secret that Lina probably would harm him if he dared to tease her about their kiss, she still expected him to at least hint about it in his own way. The way Xellos had been acting since they had left the business meeting the other day was as if he had already forgotten the whole thing had happened. Lina supposed that were possible since Xellos had claimed the whole thing was a stunt to drive Filia away. Then again, Xellos had mentioned previous interest in kissing her and Lina was positive he might have done more than that had their carriage ride been just a bit longer.

"Lina-san?"

Lina was startled by Xellos's words and she instantly went on guard. "Wha…What do you want?"

"Well, I don't feel right about having never properly thanked you," Xellos said. The two of them stopped for a moment as a group of playing children ran by. "I truly appreciate what you did for me yesterday."

"What are you thanking me for?" Lina said. She didn't want to blush, but she couldn't help it now that they were actually talking about the day before. "I only did it for the dragon cuisine. Anyway, the next time Filia sees you, she'll know that you were lying the time before."

Xellos shrugged and they continued walking now that the path was clear. "She probably knew I was lying anyhow," he said. "Demo it was such a relief to have you there. It's times like these where I really feel attached to you."

"You were attached yesterday, all right…" Lina muttered. She frowned when he started to laugh. "Really, Xellos, what do you want from me? I can't see how someone like me could give you anything you want."

"Maa (Well)…it seems there are more things I want from you than when I first brought you to my house."

"I give up," Lina said. Her disinterest was a ploy to hide her discomfort. "I think Filia was right about you. You don't do anything without a reason behind it. I know I'm a part of some kind of master plan you're scheming. You might as well tell me what it is."

"Master plan, is it?" Xellos said. He smiled to himself and kept quiet for a minute. "So what you're saying is that it's impossible that I simply want you around?"

"Of course," Lina said. She put her hands on her hips, making her stride seem more confident. "That's just your cover. I'm guessing that if I knew your true plan, it would mess it up, so you have to keep me in the dark by trying to convince me that you happen to enjoy my company."

"I do, Lina-san, I truly do," Xellos said. He held up his hand. "One thing I admire about you is that you're not easily fooled. I'd like to say that I've had an easy time deceiving you so many times, but the truth is I often have to think of new ways to trick you. I just make it seem easy."

"What are you getting at?" Lina said. She only let herself sound vaguely interested.

"What I'm getting at is that I don't think I could pretend so well to like you," Xellos said. "My guess is that you have noticed my fondness toward you, but you refuse to believe it because it makes you uncomfortable."

"There you go talking nonsense again," Lina said, fighting a blush. She ended up losing the fight.

"And there you go again avoiding the truth to prevent uneasiness," Xellos returned.

Lina stopped and stamped her foot. "Who do you think you are to tell me how I feel??" she said. "Give me one reason I should believe that you're not just playing around with me so that you can better use me in your scheme!"

"Hmm…" Xellos said. He rubbed the top of staff against the side of his head. "One reason…huh? I'd have to say…the fact that you're with me right now."

"Nani?"

"The truth is, Lina-san, my original plan was to have a suitable reason to get you arrested. Once you were there, I was planning to use my influence to keep you there as long as I wanted. Then, perhaps if I felt you could be some use to me, I would go to you and get you to promise me a favor in exchange for your release."

"Ma…Maji (Seri…Seriously)??" Lina said. That sounded exactly like something Xellos might do.

"However, I went against that plan and decided it would be much more fun to have you working a year for me," Xellos said. "I really have no regrets with my decision so far."

Lina rubbed her shoulders and went ahead of Xellos, although she didn't know where the restaurant was. "Maybe the world would be a safer place if Filia just married you…" she muttered.

"Don't be silly, Lina-san," Xellos said behind her. "If I married a woman like her, she'd suck all the fun right out of me and ruin all of my wonderful establishments. Besides, what's the point of having a boring and unattractive wife? Now, if I were truly marrying someone like you, that would be worthwhile."

"Shut up, Xellos," Lina said, covering up her ears. "Don't say any more."

"Why not? Is the thought of us together such a horrible image?"

"Yes!" Lina quickened her pace, her heart racing. "It's an unthinkable, horrible image!"

Xellos easily stayed within her audio range. "If that's true, then why didn't you fight me the entire time we were kissing?" He stopped abruptly as Lina froze in front of him.

"I…I was…" Lina said. She wanted to scowl at him, but only confusion filled her face. Xellos's comment was a point she hadn't taken into consideration. Lina had been trying to pull him away at first, but it wasn't long before she felt like her arms had become numb and had stopped gripping him. It wasn't anything Lina could easily explain, much less to the person involved in the action. When Lina came to this realization of complete perplexity, she simply started walking again without another word.

I don't really know… Lina thought. Great, now I bet Xellos is going to say some kind of smug comment or tease me about it.

"Well, I'm sorry if I was out of line again, Lina-san," Xellos said. He soon took the lead again. "I was a little disappointed we didn't get to finish what we started in the carriage, so I took advantage of the situation. I enjoyed myself very much, but for once I'm not going to embarrass you until you get upset enough to knock the wind out of me again. I think you've hit me more times on this three-day trip than you have all those other weeks we've been together."

Lina blinked, staring at his back. "Huh?" she said. "Wait a minute…"

"Hmm?" Xellos turned back at her. "Is there something wrong?"

"Uh…no." Lina frowned to herself after Xellos faced front again. That was a perfect opportunity to torture me and he didn't take it, she thought. Maybe he's trying to save that pleasure for later…or maybe he actually sincerely--

"Ah, here it is!"

Lina's thoughts of anything but food quickly disappeared. "Hontou (Really)??" she said, her head whipping around in all directions. "Doko, doko (where, where)??"

Xellos pointed his staff at a white sign hanging on a pole. "I believe it's that building there," he said.

Lina turned in the direction of said building and was dancing around happily as she read the sign. Her first reading still left her bouncing around, chanting about eating dragon cuisine. This continued for about ten seconds before her brain informed her of an important detail. She kept still and reread the sign, her happy expression dropping.

"What…What the hell is this??"

Xellos glanced at Lina. "What do you mean?"

Lina grabbed him by the collar. "That doesn't say 'Dragon Cuisine!'" she said. "That says 'Dragoon's Cuisine!'"

"Dragoon?" Xellos repeated. He still didn't seem to understand. "What does that mean?"

"It means," Lina said, her voice become very deep, "that it's the cuisine of someone named Dragoon, not dragon cuisine!!"

"Sou desu ka (Is that right)?" Xellos said. He laughed and shrugged. "Sumimasen (Forgive me), it's my mistake. I could have sworn that sign had said Dragon Cuisine. My, what are the odds of something like that happening?"

Lina dropped to her knees and buried her face in her hands. "I should have known this was too good to be true!" she said. "I went through all of this suffering and I don't get a single reward!"

"Don't be dismayed, Lina-san," Xellos said. He smiled in hopes it would comfort her. "There are plenty of other nice restaurants in the area. Let's go to one of them before we check out of the inn and go home."

"Yeah, there's plenty of other restaurants," Lina growled. She removed her hands from her face to reveal a scowl. "But none of them are dragon cuisine! You promised me dragon cuisine, you near-sighted liar!!"

"I wasn't trying to trick you this time…" Xellos said, backing away from Lina as she stood. "Honestly…"

"I've had it, Xellos!!" Lina roared. She clasped her hand over her fist. "My last favor to you is going to be that I won't kill you!"

Xellos waved his hands to plead with her. "Matte kudasai (Please wait)!" he said.

Lina grinned at him and took a step forward. "You better hope I'm more trustworthy with my promise than you were, Xellos!" she said. Lina did her best to grant Xellos that final favor, but it proved to be a much more difficult task than pretending to be his fiancée.
To be continued...

--Next chapter: Zelgadis tries to reunite with Lina but has some problems doing so. Lina goes back to Hadin and has the time of her life. That's right, the time of her life. What's in store for the next chapter? I'll know as soon as I write it. However, if I reveal any more of my ideas for it, you might not be too surprised. Until next time! ^_^