Unexpected loud, blaring music began throbbing through the dark room as I charged my two laser guns. I had swiped another when the twins weren't looking-it would give me an unexpected edge if they cornered me. Which, being two against one-would probably be their first strategy. Come in from different directions-distract the opponent with shots from one direction, and while they're scrambling to dodge, the other comes in on the other side. Simple, but usually effective in this game.

However, they had never played the game with me. A small smile crept over my face as I looked around-weighing my options. Knowing the Hitachiins-they'd probably try to go on the offensive immediately-which meant they were probably crawling around the moment the game started. Which meant I had to get out of the rest area as soon as possible-before I was trapped.

Luckily for me, the 'room' was absolutely huge. More like a gymnasium with two open castle-like structures opposing each other-completely pitch black except for the neon lights. I smiled confidently, knowing I had another edge. Obviously the Hitachiins had been here before-but even as we came in I had surveyed the area descreetly, memorizing the landlines. And while my laser guns were charging, I had done a complete survey of my territory-picking out the good spots to hide, the good spots to go on the offensive, good, unexpected ways to creep into should I need to go defensive.

So what I did next made absolutely no sense, whatsoever. I took my guns and bolted up the stairs to the top level of my 'castle'-making sure I stayed outside the barriers meant to hide players. I bent over the railing, testing. Immediately my vest blared with points lost from being shot-and a laser beam shone in the dark. Gotcha.

I ducked behind a barrier and booked it-using the barrier running alone the top floor as a shield. As the side rail came into vision, I launched over it, breaking my fall once by landing on a barrier, and then landing on the floor level, catching myself partially with my hand, and partly with my legs. My back twinged uncomfortably, but I ignored it.

I wasted no time, setting off at a bolting pace away from the spot I had been before-the name of the game was to do the unexpected, and to do that, I would have to be blindingly fast.

I slid with my back against a barrier in the Hitachiins' territory. Koaru was a little ways away from where I had seen him last-he was moving in on where he thought I was. I smirked-just as I had thought. Securely from my position I fired a round of shots, watching as the lights on Kaoru's jacket dimmed and went out in the time it took for him to figure out where I was. His eyes widened in surprise.

"Hikaru!" he called as I gave him a two finger salute and a smile before running off obviously in one direction, then hiding behind a barrier and switching directions-going straight back to my castle.

On my way over, I noticed Hikaru running straight for where Kaoru was. With a grin and a few shots, the lights on his vest too dimmed and went out.

"Shit!" he swore, looking around frantically before his eyes settled on me. His expression turned to a glare.

"Fun game, huh?" I irked, grinned smugly. He opened his mouth to respond.

"Hikaru! Regroup!" Kaoru called. I gave him a mocking salute like I had his brother, and then we both headed off in opposite directions. And so ended round one of three.

This was far too easy, I thought, jogging the rest of the way back to my castle to recharge my ammo.

-X-

Where were they? I leaned out of my hiding spot, arms at the ready. I had given them the next move-but it had been nearly twenty minutes, and nothing. I crept out of the crevice. Immediately, my vest vibrated, and the lights dimmed. I cursed and lept to the nearest blockade, craning my neck around once I thought I was safe. Evil laughter rang to my left. I rose my eyes-and saw that they were both crouched on the overhang that I had been hiding under. When had they-

Both Hitachiins started towards me, the neon green on their vests glowing in the dark. I backed around the corner, choosing instead to let loose fire from around the corner. But no hits.

I turned realizing I had to find somewhere to regroup and rethink out my strategy-and ran straight into them. They bent over to my level, smirking.

"You had us that one time-" Hikaru started.

"But we won't be fooled again," Kaoru continued, They both pointed their ray guns at me confidently. After a quick decision, I knocked both of their guns outta their hands and opened fire on them with both of mine.

"Hey! That's cheating!" they protested, each jumping behind the nearest blockade, their vests reasonably dimmed. I grinned.

"Whining about it isn't going to help you win against me," I replied. A gleam appeared in their eyes. I readied myself-checking my ammo. Half full.

"If that's how you want to play-" they both started ominously. Not bothering to finish their sentence, Hikaru and Kaoru bolted from their spots. I snapped up in response, firing away quickly-Hikaru shot around me. With a final shot Kaoru's vest went dark. I wheeled, shooting at Hikaru just as he started shooting at me with the laser gun he had just reclaimed.

Both of our vests went dark at the same time. Hikaru scowled. Kaoru, behind me, started chuckling. He clapped me on the shoulder, laughing.

"You know-you're not too bad." he said.

"You two aren't horrible either," I reluctantly admitted.

"All the same-we're not going to lose to you," Hikaru said,confidence irritatingly lacing his tone.

"Hey-let's take a break before the final round-I'm hungry," Kaoru said, surprisingly not joining in on his brothers' challenge. Instead, he was looking at me in interest. He exchanged a confirmed glance with Hikaru.

"Game pause!" Hikaru shouted. At once, the lights went on, blinding me, and the music stopped. I blinked as everything came into focus.

"Well that's...fancy.."

I turned to Kaoru. "You're hungry at...1:30 in the morning?"

"That's when we normally had our late night snack," Hikaru explained, beckoning to me as he and Kaoru started to head for the exit. Resigned, I followed them.

-X-

A/N: Yes, I'm aware-another shortie. It's 11...and I'm pretty brain-dead. Put an exercise goal for myself-five mile walk a day-that has me dead tired the rest of the day. Good news-tomorrows chapter will be much, much longer-I actually started working on that one before this one. And I'll be releasing it earlier in the day too-look for it between 3 and 6 pm. This chapter was two pages long-the next one will be between 6 and 8 pages long. Also, the next chapter will be the grand finale of the laser tag...and clues about Saya shall make themselves known to the twins. Thank you guys so much for your support-I really do appreciate it, and your patience!