"So.. let me get this straight.." the white haired female was sitting cross-legged on the carpet in front of Arrow, who was on his knees in a position similar to a man at prayer, minus the folded hands, "I'm not crazy.." She'd clasped her fingers together beneath her chin, her eyes narrowed as she soaked in what was the longest explanation someone could fit into three hours and twelve minutes. Arrow had been vague through many bits of it, but at the point that he'd discovered her sketch of the darker Arrow-look-alike male, he'd been a bit more specific.

"Is that all you've gotten from this?" the blonde sounded exasperated, but Juli was cuddled into her neck, his usually spunky attitude brought low enough to be considered despair. She ignored him, minus her petting fingers, so she could give Arrow a firm look, "I understand a bit.. You were really vague for a while, there.." At his guilty look, she sighed, moving to press her hand over the sketchbook that contained the likeness of the man that had seared a fucking tracking seal into her mother-fucking-writing-hand.. "The.. thing.. In my head.. Is a demonic spirit.. That much I knew, but.." "A demonic guide," Arrow corrected her, disgust clear in his voice as he grimaced towards her off-put expression, "Similar to myself, minus the divine intentions.." "So.." she murmured, her eyebrows furrowing in concentration, "I'm being protected on both ends of this little heaven-hell spat..?" "Not quite," he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in exhaustion, "There will come a day, in which you'll have to choose one.." "Pardon?" she repeated, her face nearly as dubious as her tone, "Aren't I already past the whole 'seek divine judgement' stage..? I can't die again.." She hesitated, before a sliver of worry entered what was meant to be an indifferent jest, "C.. Can I..?"

"Not in the sense that you think.." he huffed, reaching into his jacket, and pulling something that looked eerily like a dagger. This one was pure silver, shining and reflective, but with a curves handle and an elegantly jagged edge. "These can release a spirit from the living world.. Either sending them up, down, or tossing them.. There.." He'd explained earlier how 'Limbo' (he'd skirted around the name like a pansy to a spider), even saying the name, was taboo among angels and demons alike. Limbo was the endless waiting void with one entrance, and no exit. No exceptions.

"To what extent must it be used?" She asked calmly, "Any touch? Heart? Brain?"

"Any fatal point, similar to a human's," he shook his head at her, her curiosity for how angels and demons became destined to their own consultants and how hers was an accident, pretty disarming. To think, she was stuck with a demon because they were stalking her and they were bored.. The only other option, he had stated tersely, was that the order came from a superior demon. Motives for which they could only guess. "However, it isn't always that simple.. Often demons will lock their hearts into other places or objects.. Unless their pride overrides their fears of death.. Then they will keep it in their chest.. Or hide it secretly.."

"Paranoia?" She asked. He scoffed, "Arrogance.. Angels are forbidden from hiding their existential hearts.. It's a matter of principal.. If you don't have the divinity to be able to protect it, stay out of situations that would cause you harm.." "Say they hide a heart," she grimaced at him, opening the book to find the sketch, "How do you find it?" "Seeing as it's a removable item," he sighed, "It must be within a mile of their person, or they feel side effects.." "Have hearts been stolen before?" she asked curiously. "Yes," he rolled his eyes, "Get all of your questions about decease and pain out of your system.."

"What are the side effects?"

"Dizziness, nausea, extreme depression, suicidal thoughts.."

"So kind of like dousing them with funky medicine," she nodded, "What's the easiest way to see where a demon's heart is hidden?"

He shook his head, pulling at his hair with one hand as he decided how to answer, "There is none.." She pursed her lips in silence, before giving him a narrow-eyed look, "You're sure..?"

"Yes.." He scoffed, giving her a suspicious glare, "What's with that look..?"

She raised a hand up in silence, tilting her head in thought, "What if.. Hypothetically.. I Created a piece of jewelry that could see the aura of a demon's heart?"

He blinked his eyes slowly, pure silence filling the room for several, long moments, before he lifted a hand to cover his eyes, and he lowered his head in aggravation.

"What?" she sounded affronted and embarrassed, cheeks turning pink as she looked away with a pout, "At least consider it.." "I am.." he muttered darkly, leaning his head back against the closet, before beginning to lightly pound it in annoyance. She watched him in polite silence until he slouched against the doorframe, before he groaned, sitting up with a huff before he moved to his feet. "Wait- where are you going?" she demanded, scrambling up to her feet to catch his sleeve, "I have more questions-! And more ideas-!" He pointed to her ring with an expression of seriousness that made her spine freeze, "I'll answer through the ring.." He was gone in a flash of white, and she lifted her hand to cover her eyes, spitting away a small cream-colored feather before she tossed it in the tiny black trash can near her desk.

No sooner had she slumped into the desk chair, did a knock sound at her door. She paused in curiosity, lifting her head from her folded arms to raise an eyebrow. "Who is it?"

"Louis."

She had scrambled to her feet a second later, Juli on her shoulder as she moved to open the door. He was being a lot more quiet, now, and she was worried. "You okay, Juli?" she asked softly, opening the door with a smile, "Hey Louis-nii."

"I'm fine, Chii-! You need to be more concerned with yourself," Juli murmured, clinging to her neck for comfort, before nearly springing to his feet in renewed vigor, "This only means I'll have to work harder to protect you from the wolves-!" "Chii-chan.." Louis offered quietly, holding out a hand gently, "Are you up to.. Eating with us..?"

As far as they knew, she was locking herself in her room to avoid embarrassing situations, but if she were to decline eating downstairs, one of the brothers would bring her food without a word and leave before she got to the door to find out. Couldn't have been Wataru, she had mused, considering he would try to see if she was alright and be certain that she actually eats.

"You know what?" she murmured, realizing that it was the fourth and last day, so she smiled, nodding, "Alright.. Just give me a minute to change.." He tilted his head, confused, as he trailed his eyes down, and she resisted the urge to blush.. As futile as that was, anyway..

Her off the shoulder grey shirt sported the black strap of her bra, and her black yoga pants clung to her legs like a second skin, fuzzy black socks making her tiny feet look ridiculous. "You look.. Fine.." he murmured. Deciding not to argue, she sighed, nodding as she pressed a hand to her chest, feeling both her phone in there, as well as an emergency pen. She always had a pen on hand.

She followed Louis out of the room quietly, listening to Juli practically hiss at every object that wasn't Louis as he hopped down to trail behind her, the way Louis was in front of her, pulling her along by her hand, and Juli trailing behind, making it look like some royal expedition. Her hoodie was currently over the back of her desk chair, and she was feeling suddenly vulnerable as Louis lead her into the elevator, not releasing her hand, even for the minute of waiting, before the doors opened again, and he gently lead her toward the living room. They passed Futo on the way, who was reading over what looked like a blue-covered script, and she ignored him, moving to clasp Louis hand tighter as he helped her into a chair, thanking him softly as he pressed her chair in, and she glanced up around the quietly murmuring turned silent table.

It was thick with tension, before Masaomi cleared his throat. Looking around the brothers there, Futo was in the living room, ignoring mankind's existence. Louis was seated beside Natasha, Tsubaki across from her and Azuza beside him. Kaname as at work, Ukyo in the kitchen, Iori was in the garden, now- just walking into wash his hands. Said slate-haired male took a double-take at the female at the table, but didn't question it, moving to wash his hands. Wataru had scampered off to wash his own, and had passed him on the way in, looking almost depressed. When his eyes found Natasha, however, his feet had paused, his eyes lit up, and he was running.

Natasha felt a weight crash into her side, and she clutched the table to avoid falling as she looked down incredulously to see Wataru squeezing the life out of her abdomen, his face buried deeply in her chest as he spoke, "Onee-chan-Onee-chan-! You're all better-!" She smiled awkwardly when she heard Tsubaki's displeased sounding grunt, glancing over to see him pouting at where Wataru was nuzzling. With a slight smile, she pat his head, before ushering him into the seat beside her, "Yes I am, now you should get up there to eat." "Yes, Onee-chan-!" he chirped, hurrying up to plop in his seat, his hands reaching up to pull her right one into both of his, while Louis held firm on her other one. She vaguely wondered how she was going to eat, but a throat being cleared sent her thoughts off track. She glanced up to see Masaomi, who was giving her a slight smile, "Are you feeling better..?" "Mhmm," she nodded slightly, turning her head to send Tsubaki a raised eyebrow look, smirking slightly, "Am I upsetting you, Tsubaki-san?"

He blinked back to reality at that, sitting up straighter as he gave her a sheepish look, "What- I'm sorry, lost in thought.."

"Don't worry about it, Natasha-chan," Azuza smiled at her consolingly, "He's just jealous of Wataru." "Of course I am~!" the silver haired male chimed, holding his chest as if shot, the other hand pressed theatrically to his brow, "Wataru-chan and Louis-nii get to hold onto our little imouto-chan's hands~!" "Louis lead me here and Wataru is cute," she offered calmly, ignoring his whine of injustice, "No fair~!"

Ukyo finished setting out the meal, and as he sat, he and Natasha shared a polite smile.

"Itadakimasu-!"

Her hands were released to eat, and she sighed in relief, savoring the aroma of her food gently as Masaomi glanced back at the living room in disapproval, "Futo-kun," he called, and Natasha paused with her chopsticks halfway up from her plate so she could pay attention, the others already digging into the meal to avoid conversation. "Are you sure you don't want anything..?"

"Not hungry," he waved him off dismissively. Natasha scoffed, and he glanced over, his chocolate eyes narrowed in suspicion as she smirked, "Well I suppose that's better than listening to your insults for half an hour.."

He twitched at that, lowering his book ever so slightly as she sent a quick, subtle wink to Masaomi, her face lighting up with a mocking smile as she made a show of enjoying her food, sending Futo's now annoyed look a taunting smirk as she smiled around a bowl of food. "Mmm.. Ukyo's beef stew~!"

He was in his chair within the next few moments, the place already set for him, and Natasha took his few moments of adjusting his seat to grin at Masaomi, who smiled in appreciation.

And dinner actually happened without tension, this time..

It had been another two weeks since that day, and Natasha was mentally preparing for exams. She had also started making hand copies of the study guides, having given them to Yusuke the night after the dinner. He'd thanked her profusely at it, having complained about the curriculum being vague and hard to understand sometimes, but with the notes, and a bit of verbal explanation, she helped him get caught up. She'd also been roped into making notes for a few of their classmates, in exchange for coffee and sweets.. God what she did for coffee, milk and sweets..

She let her pen roll onto the desk with a sigh, signing the cover and putting the person's name in the top right corner so she knew who to give them to. The only reason anyone even found out about her note-making skills was because Yusuke went from thirty-third mark out of forty eight to eighteenth mark. And if that wasn't a miracle, the sensei didn't know what was. She had even almost been roped into tutoring her kouhais and classmates after school and on weekends, but she'd put her foot down, there.. Mainly because she explained the responsibility of caring for a pet squirrel.. Heheh.. Oh, the look of those who believe they are more sane than you..

She stretched her arms above her head in a yawn, feeling an overwhelming urge that something was gonna happen, soon. She frowned as she stood, cold air biting her arms and shoulders as she put on her slippers and moved to the door. She glanced back at Juli to see him nut drunk on her bed, a half-eaten acorn near his face as he snored loudly on her pillow. She left the room with a smile, intent on making some epic hot chocolate.. Mmmm.. Chocolate...

Her hair was tied loosely at her neck, and she was drying her hands, the water on the stove boiling as she started to chop up the chocolate. She hummed softly to herself as she worked, 14 to 1 stuck in her head as she continued to mince.

"Huh?" she paused at the sound of surprise from behind her, lifting the cutting board to swipe the chocolate into the pot on the stove before setting it down and turning to face the entry. Ukyo stood there in surprise, his expression gentle as she offered him a polite smile. "I had no idea you were still awake." She wiped her hands on a towel as she greeted him, "Hey."

"Studying?" he asked, a polite curiosity in his tone. She yawned a little, bet recovered enough to nod, "Yeah.. I'm working on study guides right now.. I was hoping hot chocolate would wake me up.."

"Ah," he smiled, moving to walk further into the kitchen, "Carry on.." "Aye, Cap'n," she saluted to him with two fingers, before turning to stir the mixture as she added sugar and cream.

"It brings back memories.." he sighed, and she smiled a little, stirring one way, and then switching to another, "Waking up in the middle of the night?" "Mm," he nodded, and she heard the rustling a fabric behind her before something warm was on her shoulders, "making a late snack so I could study.. But," he continued as she turned off the heat, lifting her head to glance back at him, "above all else, the most important thing is to watch your health.." She was briefly entranced by his ridiculously blue eyes as she watched him, seeing his mouth move, but internally shaking it off to catch "-oming up soon, so you mustn't catch a cold." "Thank you," she smiled, flushing a little as she reached up to rub her neck, "For the coat and the worry.." she paused, as if in thought, before she grinned, "Hey.. I'm not the only one who still uses that word.."

"Mm?" he tilted his head a little at that, and she closed her eyes with a chuckle, "Mustn't.." she elaborated, lifting her hands as if to punctuate the formality, "I was often accused as a child that I was grown with an eighteenth century vocabulary.." The sound of footsteps filled the kitchen, and she looked to her left, where a new person stood. She had long, auburn red hair, pale, flawless skin, shiny black heels, a maroon dress, a black half jacket with a fuzzy hood, and pearl necklaces. Her makeup was done to perfection, she had the same, honey beige eyes as several of the brothers, and Natasha instantly knew who it was, though she held the act of confusion to perfection. That is, until there were arms around her, hugging her to an air-chilled body.

She jerked in surprise, nearly jumping through the air as she held still, biting her lip after the sound that resembled a kicked puppy, face burning in mortification. "I've been dying to meet you," the 'woman' whispered into her hair, hugging her tighter. Natasha kept her wide, startled eyes trained on Ukyo, said blonde running a hand over his face as he sighed. He pulled back after another moment, and Natasha caught her breath slightly, folding her arms around her torso as she adjusted her weight, meeting the gorgeous 'woman's eyes when she smiled.

"Nice to meet you," the newcomer smiled, "I'm Hikaru.. I'm the fourth son of the Asahina family." She kept her face blank for that, eyes blinking dubiously as she resisted, and, with a prod from her now-identified demon counterpart, failed. "No offense," she finally felt the filter switch off as she kept his eyes, Hikaru's face looking curious as she lifted a hand to her neck, "You have more female sex appeal than about half this country.. I'm a little.." She closed her eyes to find the word, before snapping, "-timorous-! That's it." Hikaru laughed at that, a perfectly manicured hand on his stomach, while Ukyo sighed, "In spite of the way he is dressed, Hikaru is a man through and through.." Hikaru finally calmed a little, still chuckling as he held out a polite hand to her. "I look forward to getting to know you, Imouto-chan~"

Natasha took his hand, relaxed now as she shook it politely, "And I, you, Hikaru-kun.."

Ukyo had politely waited for her to finish talking before he voiced his irritation, eyeing Hikaru with obvious disapproval, "I swear.. What is the meaning of this.. Showing up so late at night.." He scoffed, "When did you even return to Japan?" "Oh~" Hikaru teased good naturedly, "Did you miss me that badly?" He smiled at Ukyo's miffed expression, before he turned to Natasha gently, "The truth is, I was asked to do a favor." He pulled a box out of the shopping bag he was holding, pressing it into her arms before she could speak, "To deliver this to you." "Wait, what..?" she tried to ask, but the undeniable curiosity ate at her brain to at least peak. "A package sent with love.." he winked. Natasha wanted to open it badly, but she pressed the urge away, giving Hikaru a smile, "Thank you, Hikaru-san.." "Oh," Hikaru cooed, reaching forward to hug her again, "Call me Aniki.."

She blushed a little at that, before she giggled, "Alright, Aniki.." For some reason, when he was toying around like this, it seemed like comic relief compared to the usual stress of calling everyone that..

"Well," Natasha set the box on the counter, before retrieving three mugs from the cupboard, then clapping her hands once, "Who wants homemade hot chocolate?"

"Ooh~!" Hikaru giggled, raising his hand brightly, "With the cold air, that seems perfect!" "Thank you," Ukyo smiled, offering to help her pour, but she politely declined, filling the three mugs carefully before adding whip cream and chocolate shavings. She handed them the mugs, before grinning to sip her own, sighing happily as they thanked her for the brew, and took calming sips of their own. Natasha took some time to ask Hikaru some questions, finding out that he still had business out in Italy, and would be heading back tomorrow morning, but she would see him again for the wedding. He liked shopping, and mani-pedis, but admit that he did his own eyebrows. Natasha found out his favorite color was green, and he was a writer that focused on romantic thrillers. If only he knew.. HA-!

Ukyo insisted that he would do the dishes, but she had stayed behind to put them away, and she bid them each a goodnight before she excused herself to finish the study guides. When she had returned to her room, the mystery box in hand, she set it on the floor as she got to her knees, waking Juli as he hopped own to sit beside her. "What's that, Chii?" he asked curiously, watching as she lifted the lid and moved away the protective paper, revealing purple fabric and a black fabric collar with a white lace pattern.

"A dress," she smiled, giddy that it was her favorite color. She reached for the note on top of it, reading it out loud so Juli could hear, as well. "I picked this out with Rintarou.. Thank you for giving me the joy of picking out a dress for a daughter.." She murmured the last part softly, her hands lowering to feel the dress gently. She picked it up to press it to her chest, holding it tight as her eyes closed. Juli watched quietly as she breathed in the scent of the fabric, before carefully placing it in the closet, pressing the clothes on either side of it away so it had no possible way to be wrinkled. She'd gotten into bed a few hours later, setting the finished products of her attention into her bag before she collapsed onto her bed, barely hitting the pillow before she was out cold.

Enter: Hikaru-nii-chan

Natasha: *nods slowly* Well he does have class...

Damn straight.

Natasha: He pulls off dresses better than we do...

Mhmm.

Natasha: I mean, I can't even wear a skirt without fabric on my legs, but this is just past the point of envy..

How does he do this?!

I'm jealous of his hair though.. Too perfect..

Anyone else...?

On the plus side...

ANYONE WANT TO GUESS WHICH BROTHER IS GETTING A FEATURE EPISODE NEXT CHAPTER?!