A/N: It's been, what, a century since I last updated? But the reason for that is because I was really sick, and I was totally holed up in bed for a good part of the week. *honks into hankie* 'Scuse me.

I'm starting to run out of ideas because of the whole unspecified setting dilemma, so I will probably be wrapping up this fanfic in the next few chappies. (For example, notice to conspicuous lack of plot line in Old Street.) Unless y'alls want some more fluff? *laughs* But anyways, I've really enjoyed this experience and I thank everyone for reading it!

Disclaimer: If you don't know by now, you're a silly goose.

Chapter Ten —

"Max, I hate you."

"Aww, come on now. It's not that bad."

Fang only glared at me. "How could you?"

"You're exaggerating. It couldn't seriously have been that bad. And anyways, it's just for today."

"Bad enough."

"I think it looks good on you actually. Very Asian."

"Do I look Asian to you?"

I grinned. "Don't tell me you didn't enjoy yourself even a little bit. I mean, it's not like we purposely bought stuff that looks bad. In fact, considering what we could have bought, I think you got off really easy."

"Hello? It's white."

"Cheer up, Mr. Sunshine. Black gets boring if you wear it all the time."

"I look like some freak from an Asian band."

"It's cute! Didn't you see all the Asian girls looking at you last night?" I glanced over at Fang, who was brooding on the seat next to me.

Yesterday night, at the night market, I had promised to buy Angel and Nudge their matching outfits under one condition. If, and only if, they could convince Fang to let us buy an outfit for him to wear today. I don't know how they did it, but Fang came back looking pale (or rather, paler than he usually was) and told us he would do it if we did not get him anything too outlandish. After much fighting and glaring on his part, and much giggling and teasing on ours, we finally managed to come to a mutual agreement.

Now, we were sitting on a sofa in the lobby, waiting for the day's activities to start, while Fang complained to me about my horribleness.

He had on a light gray sweater with a low neckline, as well as white pants that were slim-ish and came with a long thin belt. We had allowed him to keep his black shoes, but then we made him wear a leather strap around his neck that looked sort of like a collar. It was Ella's idea, because she had seen one of the shopkeepers wearing one and she thought it would look good with the outfit we had gotten. It did, but Fang complained that it made him feel like a dog. (A/N: If I ever have time, I will probably draw a picture of Fang's outfit and post it to my deviant! Check it out!)

"No, actually, I didn't." Fang rolled his eyes. "I think I tuned out after that girl with the huge eyes who looked like she had a twitch in her eyelid tried to get me to buy a sundress."

"Yeah, that was pretty creepy."

"What are we doing today, by the way?" Fang plucked at a thread dangling from the sleeve of his sweater. "I hope it's somewhere with air conditioning. I can't believe you made me wear a sweater."

"Are you saying it's too hot for you, Mr. I-Don't-Sweat? Or is this just another excuse to complain about my clothing choices?"

Fang glared at me. "You're one to talk." I grinned; I was getting used to the whole wings bound up thing, and it was actually quite nice to be able to wear a t-shirt out in the open. Last night at the night market, I had bought a t-shirt with the same design as Angel, Nudge, and Ella, and today we were all wearing the same one. Gazzy said it was creepy, while Fang was too worried about his own appearance to care.

Angel skipped up to me and plopped herself down in my lap. "Max, I heard our teacher thinking that we might go to a night market again sometime during this trip. I hope we do. It was really fun!" She glanced over at the sulking Fang and giggled.

"Ange, what are we doing today?" I fiddled with a piece of her hair, almost dry already, even though she had just taken a shower a not more than fifteen minutes ago.

"Isabelle said that we're not going to do much today, because they want us to have a day to relax and overcome the time difference. Yesterday was busy because they wanted to tire us out so that we adjust to the time lag better." Angel gave a small yawn. "I think we can probably go back to bed if we want to, after Principal Hanley gives us the announcements for today."

Frankly, I was disappointed. I had been hoping that we were going somewhere cool because of all the trouble I had gone though to get Fang to wear something other than his usual ninja uniform.

"Oh, here comes Principal Hanley!"

I looked up as the room's noise level dropped significantly at the arrival of our beloved principal. Walking into the lobby, she glanced around and walked over to one of the teachers at the door. They talked for a while, and then she turned back and strode purposefully to the center of the room.

"Good morning students. I trust you all have had a restful night." She looked around, as if daring us to disagree with her. None of us took the dare. "Today is going to be a day of rest," she continued, "we are spending the morning in the hotel, and then in the afternoon, when everyone should be sufficiently rested, we will be going to one of the Old Streets near here. You will be free to wander there, as long as you are in groups consisting of at least five people each."

Sweet.

"Now, before I go further into what we will be doing this afternoon, I'd like to once again reiterate…"

I conked out again, not really paying attention to whatever she was talking about. Glancing out of the corner of my eye at Fang, I saw him playing with a string on his jacket and sighing in distaste. I found myself wishing that Fang would wear brighter clothes more often… and then I shook myself, wondering why I had even started thinking about Fang again. We were just friends, weren't we? Granted, he was probably my best friend in the whole world and one of my flock, but that didn't mean that there was anything romantic going on between us. There were plenty of people who were friends and never developed a relationship, wasn't there?

"…and with that, you are dismissed."

Oops. Looks like I missed the announcement again. Rolling my shoulders back tiredly, I turned and headed back to the hotel room to get some rest before lunch.

"Uwahhh." With a sigh of relaxation, I sank back into the water and allowed myself to completely unwind. It had been a long day, what with all the shopping and racket from the flock, and even more awkwardness between me and Fang.

We had been playing some mini-games in an arcade, and I had already tried four times for a plushie (A/N: Is that a real word, or have I been playing Neopets too much recently?) that Angel wanted — apparently, it looked like a miniature Celeste — when Fang decided to try his hand at it. He succeeded on his second try, and the whole flock had cheered. I had tried to high-five him, but after our hands met in the air, he had laced his fingers in mine, and our hands fell, interlaced.

Well, that caused some raised eyebrows from the flock and some major embarrassment on my part, so I had quickly withdrawn my hand and become fascinated with a photo booth on the other side of the room. We decided to squish in the booth and take some pictures, but somehow Fang managed to wriggle beside me in almost every picture. The feeling of his body next to mine was not necessarily uncomfortable as much as alarming, and I quickly decided not to suggest any more activities where we might need physical contact. I had been avoiding him all day, and it was quite tiring.

I wasn't able to fall asleep, and at almost eleven, I got up, even though everyone was supposed to be in their rooms. I was feeling restless, and decided to go out for a flight. Carefully making sure not to wake any of the girls as I crept out of the room, I snuck outside and into the fresh air. The night was still incredibly alive, and it helped settle me a little. Sneaking into a dark alleyway, I took off for a nice flight to think things over.

An hour later, I landed, without much straightened out, but definitely feeling a lot more refreshed. I was also feeling very sweaty, as the night was practically as hot as the day. Creeping back into the lobby, where the lady at the front desk was dozing with her hands on her chin, I looked around. I didn't feel like going back upstairs, so I went off in the hallway in the other direction

As it turned out, this hallway led to the recreation facilities, which branched out into a large arena for parties and such, as well as an open area with a TV and a lot of chairs. To my left, there was a door with a sheet over it, and upon going through it, I found a medium sized room with two ping-pong courts and another two doors to my right. Going though one, I discovered paradise.

Rather, I discovered an empty natural hot springs.

I had heard something about hot springs here, but I had never known that there were hot springs actually in our hotel. Peeking out into the room behind me, I saw that it was completely deserted. Well, being all sweaty after a rejuvenating flight and definitely in need of a nice relaxing soak, this seemed to be like the perfect thing to help me relax.

Glancing around some more, I deemed it safe for me to stay there a while — it was after midnight, after all, and this entire hotel was now occupied by people from our school — and glanced around. Walking back out the door, I noticed that I had walked through the men's side of the springs.

With a small blush at the thought of the possibility of someone occupying the space that I had so carelessly walked though, I quickly back-pedaled and walked though the other door in the ping-pong room. With a sigh of gratitude, I walked up to the opaque white water and swirled my finger in it. It was a comfortably warm temperature, and I smiled happily. I would totally show the flock this tomorrow. As for today…

I decided that I would soak in the hot springs every day from now on. This was so relaxing. Lying my head back on one of the fluffy white towels the hotel had thoughtfully provided, I hummed a song tunelessly. It was a good time to be alive.

I had only been soaking for ten minutes or so when my sharp ears picked up a sound from outside. Sharply, my breath caught in my throat. Quietly as I could, I stood up and clutched my towel over my suddenly shivering body. I knew I should have come into the water with my clothes on!

I had just about made it to shore safely when I stumbled on one of the natural crags in the water. Because the water was white, I was unable to see where I was stepping, and I tripped. With a splash, I fell forward into the water and scrambled to resurface. Holding my breath, I hoped that I had not been discovered.

Too late.

The curtain in front of me rose.