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Chapter 11 - A Day in the Life

The sound of the door slamming shut had Zuko rolling off her bed in a tangle of limbs, blankets and dog as the hound ended up coming with her and the sheets to the floor. Struggling against the warm covers and trying not to kick Jack by accident, Zuko finally freed herself and climbed to her feet. Jack seemed content to stay on the floor so there wasn't an intruder. Taking her time, the red head made her way downstairs into the kitchen where a note was pinned to the ridiculous ornament on the counter. Taking the paper from the weird statuette of a garden gnome holding a removable spatula, she quickly tucked it away in the cabinets under the marble top. He had bought the thing as a joke since she had broken the gnomes in the garden when they were little after insisting they had stolen all her left shoes. Shutting the cabinet door with a flinch at Kai's horrible sense of decor, she got back to reading the note.

'I got a call this morning and had to run. Don't worry, I didn't forget to eat! I had a doughnut to go. Don't make plans for tomorrow. I need to talk to you later. Love~Kai!'

"You goof." she huffed as she crumple up the paper and tossed it into the trash before digging for her own breakfast. Unable to decide she grabbed a random cereal and made herself a bowl, greeting Jack as her walked in, ears up and tongue lolling out as he yawned. When he sat underneath, she took to rubbing his spine with her foot until she finished eating. The dog followed her until she placed the bowl with the rest of her milk on the floor and refilled his bowl with food, placing a rib bone on the top. He wouldn't take long to gnaw it into nothing.

Now she had nothing more to really do. Her teammates were busy with their own lives and Gou had said she and Rin were going to town to catch up with each other. Speaking of the boys...

"Ugh! Why do guys have to be so confusing! I mean really! Why do I have to get two guys after years of being ignored!" Zuko grumbled after her outburst before sitting on the floor with Jack and watching him eat his breakfast. This whole thing Rin and Haruka was getting to her. If one was on her mind, then the other wasn't to far from it. She just wanted to leave this behind just for today at least.

"Ok. I give up! I'm gonna swim. Come on Jack!"

She had needed to change and remove the jersey Jack liked to wear before she slipped into the pool. When she broke the surface she had to dodge as Jack took a flying leap into the water, splashing the floor a few feet from the edge to the pool. With a laugh, she grabbed on his collar and let him drag her around the pool, only kicking to keep herself afloat without putting all her weight on her pet. For years this dog had been her best friend and even during an emotional outburst, he had stuck with her.

Zuko hadn't even realized the time when Kai walked in and sat down in one of the reclined beach chairs they kept there just for him. Swimming over, Zuko latched onto the pool side as Jack climbed the steps on the other end of the pool to get out.

"I'm opening the new section of the park tomorrow. And of course, you need to be there." Kai seemed tired but he was still managing to stay awake enough to be serious.

"The Dark Forest is opening? Really? Awesome! I wanted to try out the dark ride you had made for it." Kai smiled at his sister's excitement as he tugged the band holding his red hair back out of place. It wasn't really long but just long enough to be pulled back and he liked it that way.

"Yeah. But of course the media will be there. And you need an escort. Even if it's just for show. And since you normally don't have one, Tad will bring one of his models to be your escort." This statement had Zuko ruffled. Tad was a friend of Kai's from college and was a professional photographer who was normally called to take pictures for the media. He was the picture source for the park's website too. But he tended to like to use models over real couples for the 'perfect date' pictures. And since he had a crush on her brother, he liked to use her as his lead female for these pictures.

"Last time he brought a model, the guy was rude and tried groping me whenever we were left alone. I don't want to go if you pair me with one of those guys again!" she snapped as she climbed from the pool and snatched up her towel one her angry march out of the room.

"Zuko! Stop!" Kai took quick strides to catch up with her but failed as she dashed up and slammed her door shut. She contemplated climbing out the window, but deemed it to bothersome since the neighbors might see a half naked teen trying to run away and call the cops. Pulling on a pair of shorts and a tank top over her wet bathing suit, she simply breathed and tried to focus on counting the old fake stars that still littered her ceiling from her childhood until someone knocked on her door.

"Zuko?" Kai asked as he opened the door. The moment it was wide enough, she chucked the closest thing at him and he caught the stuffed sea serpent after it smacked him in the nose. With a sigh he moved in and sat on the bed away from her feet. He learned to avoid that spot years ago after being kicked off the edge and landing in between the wall and the bed in a painful position.

"Leave me alone you traitor." Zuko grumbled as she rolled away from him to face the wall. Kai placed the stuffed animal on her pillow and patter her leg just above her knee.

"I'm not a traitor. You just never had a guy to fill the spot has your escort. Why not call one of your teammates up and ask one of them to go with you. You get your escort and Tad gets new eye candy for his pictures. How about it?" He suggested as Zuko rolled over to fix her blue eyes on him as if contemplating her choices.

"Everyone is busy. Haruka is camping with Makoto's family for the weekend. Rei said he has to study, and Nagisa is visiting his uncle. I don't know where Rin is but I bet he won't want to be a media monkey for a day either." She grumbled even as Kai grabbed her phone, found Gou's number and hit call.

"Hey, Gou right? It's Kai. Yea, Zuko's brother. I have an event tomorrow and my sister needs an escort." He spoke quickly, jumping away from the mattress as Zuko made a wild grab for him.

"Kaaiiii! Give me my phone back! Don't call my friends!" she tried to give chase but Kai was taller and simply hit speaker phone as he held the device over her head.

"Zuko needs an escort? Why?" The deep rumble from the other end of the line had her turning bright red. Hadn't he called Gou?

"I have an event happening at the park and Zuko needs to attend as the park is family owned. And the photographer likes to have a couple of pictures with the park owners and their dates. He supplies the guy if Zuko doesn't have one."

"Oscar is a rude pervert! I refuse to go with him again!" Zuko grumbled as she took another swipe at the phone.

"Pervert?" The single word spoken by Gou was followed by silence until Rin's voice broke it.

"What time should I be over then?" And with a time given, Kai hung up and tossed Zuko her phone, the little bell charm ringing as it landed in her lap from where she took to sitting dejectedly on the floor.

"You're welcome, little sis." Kai laughed as she picked up a pack of UNO cards that had gotten knocked on the ground during the one sided scuffle and chucked them at him. The cardboard case hit the back of the door.

"You've doomed me Kai! Really!" She called after him before glancing at her phone. Now what will she do. She hadn't talked to Rin since the kiss.