Battai was all they did for the next three days. Try as he might Saras could not get away from them, and found that with each passing day he had less inclination to do so.

It was a fun game, an adictive game and a game he was slowly improving at. He won when Han and Li I focused too much on each other, but generally was the first one out. Han Guan had not been exaggerating. He was extremely good at it. He had been down to one card, the Dingo of Spades, before pulling a victory after Saras eliminated Li's cards with his Elephant of Diamonds.

"How are you so good?" Li I asked, exasperated after Han had just beaten him and Saras silly.

"I play a lot." Han Guan shrugged, re-shuffling the cards.

The matches kept coming and coming.

Once, when Saras had lost spectacularly, he found the perfect oportunity to steal the gem, after he spotted Badr heading away from the Palace. And now he also had an alibi. Han Guan and Li I were so involved in the game neither so much as looked up after he lied about needing the toilet.

But he didn't go to the toilet, he made a beeline for Badr's office. He scampered up the stairs on all fours, clambering to his feet and then finally skidding to a halt in front of the office door. He looked around the corridor several times, before opening the door.

And bumped right into Safi Tamod.

"Oh-oh sorry!" He exclaimed, taking a few steps backwards.

Her eyebrows were raised. "Why were you trying to get into my daddy's office?"

"Er- I was um looking for your father to tell him a-a-about-"

"You're a guy!"

He almost face-palmed. How had he let the Yin incident slip out of his mind? Well... It wasn't like he was actually trying to remember it… He had several options here. He could bluff his way out of this and act like he had never been to a bathhouse ever. He could grovel for forgiveness. Or he could come clean, take her out and steal the gem. "Well-"

She tried to slap him, but she was a spoilt princess and he was a professional thief. He dodged the blow with ease, before deciding to go for option two.

"Sorry, er it was an accide-"

"There are no accidents!" She shrieked at the top of her lungs, trying to slap him again. He sidestepped the swing and held his paws out in front of him.

"So I walked into the wrong bathhouse... That could happen to anyone." Could it though?

"Pervert!" He avoided the next blow with ease, her claws clashed against the marble walls as he put some necessary distance between himself and her. Then she analyzed her claws thoroughly, before shouting louder than ever. "YOU BROKE MY NAIL!" She grabbed a nearby vase and threw it at him.

He caught it, and the one that followed right after. Evidently he had timed his move wrongly. He placed the vases down.

Finally Safi decided that she was unable to hit him, and resorted to ranting in place. "You pervert! You were staring at me the whole time! You could have been-been drooling over me! You are such a-such a-Just wait till my daddy hears! You and your fluffy tail are flattened! You hear me!?"

"How about we talk about this?" He asked, a note of desperation in his voice, if she kept on screaming someone would hear her and come running, and the last thing he needed was Badr Tamod thinking he was a perverted fiend-it didn't exactly help his odds of success.

"Talk? Talk? TALK!? YOU STARED AT MY NAKED BODY YOU PERVERTED-"

Saras cringed away from the memory. To be fair he had looked away as much as he could. He was beginning to think about taking option three…

Then he heard something which made his heart stop. "Safi?" Came the voice of Badr Tamod. "Is something wrong?"

His eyes widened and silently he folded his paws in front of him, wringing them helplessly. He needed to get the gem!

She smirked cruelly at him. "Nothing daddy!"

Relief dived through him faster than a falcon. With a deep breath and a sigh of relief he noted he was sweating.

"Listen fox-face! One of these days I'm going to need you for something. You will show up-or my daddy will know all about your 'accident'!" She smiled widely and skipped off.

Saras scowled. Then smirked. He would be long gone before she could call him back on his word, and he'd have Yei with him too. He was considering taking the gem then and now, but before he could, Badr approached, smiling like his daughter. "The vases go there." He added, pointing at the empty holders, clearly under the impression he was being helpful. Then the office door closed behind him.

Seething, Saras placed the vases back and slowly walked away, snarling his frustrations under his breath as he dragged his tail across the floor behind him.

He took the stairs slowly, frustration filling him to the brim. He had been so close-if not for the damned feline he could already have been on his way out! And how had she gone from yelling to deal-making so fast?

Badr closed the door behind him and stopped smiling the second he saw a scroll placed on his desk. He didn't even need to open it to know it was from Duyao. Emitting a low growl of frustration the black cat snatched it up. This was the third letter in a row, demanding he meet her in the town. He had no doubt one of her students was dropping them off on her behalf, and was sorely tempted to disqualify both or either just to be rid of the damned scrolls. Well he was not going anywhere! She could see him in his office or during the tasks or not at all! He dumped the letter back on his desk with another growl of frustration and sat down in a bad mood.

"Hahahaha! Catfish of Clubs beats Armadillo of Hearts, I win!" Han yelled triumphantly.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Li I hollered up at the heavens in what sounded like genuine pain. Then, suddenly grinning, he pointed directly at the wolverine. "I'll just have to beat you another time! Re-shuffle!"

"Okay Li-sama!" And Han Guan got to work, scattering the cards and mixing them back together again.

"What is dis game?"

Both looked up to see Wong, the fat crocodile, squinting down at them and the cards.

"It's an epic game of good luck, skill and strategy!" Li I replied launching into an explenation. "And you have all these cards and you have to get all the other cards in the game-" He was cut off by the croc's next question, this one posed directly to Han Guan.

"Do ah know you?"

Han squinted up at him. "I don't think so croc-san."

"Yer Japanese right?" The crocodile persisted. Then it dawned on the large reptile. "Yer the one that ran!"

Han's eyes suddenly widened and quivered. Scenes flashed through his mind. Two people fighting on a roof, his cousin falling, a loud snap and a low groan of pain. And Han Guan running away. Leaving his clan and everything he had ever known behind.

"Har-har! How's yer friend?" Wong had changed a lot since then. Bulging muscles had turned to sagging fat, but the dumb, cruel smile was ever-present.

Then cold fury came over him, and with a roar of rage Han stood up. "Better than you're going to be! Let's go Wong-kun!" He entered a stance.

Li I blinked. "Oooookay. What just happened?" He looked from the wolverine to the crocodile, waiting for an answer.

He got none. Han Guan extended his claws and swung at the crocodile's head, Wong was just as quick, spinning around and aiming his tail at the wolverine.

Li I caught the tail before it could ruin his stack of Battai. "Not my cards!"

The crocodile just ducked in time to avoid the long claws. He grabbed the paw they belonged to and flung Han to the floor over his shoulder. He then lifted a foot to bring down on the wolverine's nose, but his target got to his feet faster than could be expected, and sliced low. Wong sucked in his belly, but it was not enough to prevent him receiving the blow, five long, thin gashes appeared on his stomach. Before Han Guan could press his advantage strong arms grabbed the back of his kimono and pulled him away.

"What are you doing?" Reidak snapped. "We're not meant to be fighting."

"Don't blame him for it! He started it!" Li I pointed at Wong.

Reidak let go of the calmed Han Guan. "Don't get yourself disqualified." He advised, then turned to Wong. "I reccomend leaving him alone." He said coldly.

"I would take his reccomendation." Li I advised, letting go of the crocodile's tail now that his set of cards were no longer in harm's way.

Wong humphed and walked away.

Reidak nodded to Li I and patted Han on the back. He passed Saras as he left.

"Er-I'm back." The fox announced, hopefully his absence had not been noted.

"Good! Now we can get another match going! Han, you shuffle!" They both turned to Han Guan, who had a very far away look on his face. "Er… If it's not personal or anything…What was that all about?"

"It's nothing." And he took the cards, but the far off look was plastered to his face.

The game was less fun than it should have been. All Saras could think about was when to get his feet moving and break into Badr's office and Han was similarly distant.

After Li I beat them into nothingness he could take the silence no more. "Nothing my fluffy tail! What the hell is wrong with you guys?"

"Nothing." Saras blurted out immediately.

"Everything." Han replied, his voice oddly devoid of emotion.

The rabbit felt his heart melt away. "Don't say that Han. You're really good at Battai and you're still doing good in the tournament."

"Yeah and you...fight good." Saras agreed somewhat lamely, though in his defense he had only noticed Han's mood now.

"Wong's just another Lee. All that comes out his mouth is his stinky breath."

"No. He's right. I ran." Came the unfamiliar monotone.

"Stop being cryptic!" Li snapped. "And hard on yourself!" He added afterwards.

Han Guan sighed.

"I never really knew my father. I don't think I ever met him. And if I did I can't remember. I'm a bastard."

"What did I say about being hard on yourself?"

"No. I mean I am a bastard. A shameful sign of a woman's lack of faith. Or a man's." He shook his head. "Everyone in my clan hated me, and if they didn't, they disliked me. Even my own mother. I was just a sign of her affair. I tried so hard to get their approval. Their attention. Their love… it was all I wanted."

Saras felt guilt stab him like a knife. He had not helped Han's life by getting the wolverine fired. He had probably ruined any chance of redemption… And here he was, playing Battai with him.

"One day me and my cousin were in Tokyo. He was loud, and tough and strong and kind, and he was the closest I had to a friend. Shiza-sama… I looked up to him so much. I was young, this was probably ten years ago now… And then there was a fight and it lead to the roof of a building. And Shiza fell." He sighed sadly. "And I ran. I left everything behind. My clan, my home, my town."

"Wong… Was the guy who ki... Who made your cousin fall?" Li I asked sensitively. Han Guan nodded.

"Then I went through clan after clan, getting kicked out from one door after another. The Silver Fang took me in and-"

Saras knew the rest, and felt another stab of guilt. "It's okay. It wasn't your fault." Not even he knew what he meant by that. The robbery of the Silver Fang or the fate of his cousin. Both, he supposed.

"Yeah man. You can't blame yourself for everything bad that's ever happened to anyone." Li added.

Both Han Guan and Saras breathed deeply, letting their guilt rush out.

"Now, sad life over. Let's get back to something we can all enjoy!" And the cards were dealt out, and while Han Guan didn't cheer up immediately, he did do so after winning again.

Footnote: Don't ask about Battai XD I literally pulled everything out of nowhere with that card game.

Now that I think about it though, this story is a lot about introducing characters. So far we have Li I's and Han Guan's back stories. I also decided it's more fun if I space them out a little rather than squeezing all of it into two chapters like I did last time, it makes them stand out a bit more doesn't it?

Now Wong has changed a lot since his first (and only) appearance. Back then he was basically a carbon-copy of Kuai from Tournament of Legends. While I don't think I copied it when I look back I sometimes think that the whole story was a carbonish-copy of ToL... I dunno it just feels a little like that... To me. So I changed Wong. Just as annoying, more dumb and with an accent, though maintaining the cruel streak.

Since I'm talking so much about character changes in development I feel like I should mention Han Guan. Now originally he was a pretty plainplain but incompetent villain from the original The Five and Heist and was going to remain so for an entire story and that would be the last we saw of him... Buuuut nope. That was also Tournament of Legends fault. So I more or less forgot about him and was planning on writing a tournament fic of my own. I had read ToL's first few chapters (though not the one that mentioned sening OC), but had no internet. So when I fixed my data a couple of months later... Berserker88 had asked permission to use Han Guan, mainly because wolverines are cool, fortunately, or unfortunately it was too late to submit, but I was reminded of Han Guan's existence, and so incorporated him into my own tournament... And gave him a new everything. So plain villain became bumbling sweetheart, because I didn't have data. The way the world works is amazing, no?

Anyways, I've rambled on so much I think you've forgotten the chapter's content by now XD