A/N- I realized that reviews are just something. I love writing, and I love getting it out into the world. So I don't care anymore. Reviewers are appreciated, but not necessary.

Still, thank you McKayla. I couldn't see how obsessed I was being until now.

Disclaimer: Several things to disclaim, now. Okami, of course, Send the Pain Below by Chevelle, One Step Closer by Linkin Park, I Caught Myself by Paramore, Supermassive Black Hole by Muse, and, lastly, Passion by Utada Hikaru-sama.

"Rggghhh! You are such an idiot, Larka!!" Yuuki shouted in the other girl's face.

"Idiot?! Idiot?! Look who's talking!" Larka shouted, kicking Yuuki in the shin.

"Ow! Oh, it is so on now, you son of a-" Yuuki began, but I covered my ears before she could finish.

Mental note: those two need their sleep or they'll be even more evil than usual in the morning. I tried to calm them down earlier that day, but it backfired. Now I had a new bruise, and a renewed annoyance at these two girls who were finally getting along yesterday.

"Big brother..." Mikan said softly, hugging my arm. "Why do they keep fighting like that? Why can't they be happy...?"

She had no idea how many times I asked myself that.

Even though Mikan was fifteen now, she still seemed like a child at heart. She still hugged me a lot and called me "big brother" which wasn't quite as sweet and innocent as before. Another interesting thing: her hair went all the way down to her knees now. She had turned into a beautiful young woman, but I harbored no real feelings for her.

"Would you guys shut the freaking crappy heck up!?" Dravis demanded, standing up suddenly. "I'm hungry and Yuuki's the only one who knows how to cook around here!"

I felt slightly offended, being that I knew how to cook.

"Besides Mr. Gay," Dravis continued, noticing my hurt look. "But he sucks at it, so it doesn't count."

Ouch. I felt loved.

Yuuki pouted in annoyance at him. "Is that really the only reason why you want us to stop fighting, because that's a really stupid reason."

"Don't call my boyfriend stupid!" Larka snapped.

"I didn't call him stupid, I called his reasoning stupid!" Yuuki growled. "And besides, you and Jin are the only really stupid ones here!"

"Oh," Larka said, a smirk suddenly on her face. "Is that really how you feel about Jin?"

Yuuki blushed and growled, looking like she was about to punch the living daylights out of her. That was the point that Oki stepped in, grabbing Yuuki's arm and Larka's arm. His red eyes glowed beneath his mask in anger. I scooted back about five centimeters, even though the glare wasn't directed at me.

"Enough," he growled. "You two have work to do with the God of Time. You must find his sacred and lost temple, or everyone will be destroyed. Do you two bickering chickens understand that? Cluck once if you do, and just go pecking at each other again if you're too stupid to understand what I'm talking about. Well? Tell me!"

"... Fine," Larka muttered.

Yuuki just nodded, looking terrified.

"Thank you, Oki," I said carefully. Mikan squeezed my arm.

Oki let the two girls go and nodded once at me. Larka walked over to Dravis and began softly whispering something to him. Yuuki started making breakfast. No one would look at me. To be honest, it kind of bugged me that they were ignoring me.

"Why the crap are you people ignoring me?!" I demanded, standing up. "What is going on? It's felt tense since I first made Mikan into a fifteen-year-old!"

Mikan grabbed my hand silently, standing up. Everyone turned to stare at Larka, then me, then Larka, then me... Larka glared at me with ferocity, her blue eyes flashing. I'm not really sure how, but I managed to hold up my own glare. Finally, she sighed.

"Oki needs to head over to the D. A. K. L. S. while we need to get to your temple. Jin, we need to split up into two groups. We talked about it while you had fainted," Larka said, looking downwards. "And, well, to be honest, I think that we're all a little frightened by your sudden and rapid growth."

"So you're scared that I'm growing?" I asked dubiously.

"Yes," Larka answered. "And it's no laughing matter, Jin. This is very serious. If your growth goes out of control, you could die."

I gulped.

"Exactly," she answered, folding her arms. "Jin, you need to balance your powers. We stayed here because we were worried that you could evolve even more, resulting in your permanent leaving. Now that we know you're not going to learn any more... well, we need to get a move on. Oki needs to find a way to protect more innocent people, and we need to find a way to get you to healthily evolve."

I sighed and nodded. "I see. I guess... it was just odd. Nobody would talk to me but Mikan."

"Get used to it," Dravis muttered. "There will come a time when that's an actual good thing, believe it or not."

I nodded again. "I hope so."

"I'm going to be taking Mikan because she needs to learn to fight," Oki said shortly.

Once again, I nodded. "Take good care of her, whenever you leave exactly. I feel kind of protective over her for some reason."

"We're leaving really soon, big brother," Mikan said, sounding like a little girl again. "Tonight. That way we can get to Mount Fuji really fast. I'll miss you, but we'll see each other again."

I patted her head.

"Yes, yes, this is such a touching and heart-warming experience," Yuuki said sarcastically. "I think that I might start bawling, in fact."

"What's with you?" I asked.

She glared at me and walked off a little, but didn't answer. "Okay, I think she's angry at me," I said.

"Duh de le jour," Larka said, rolling her eyes.

"... and that means?" I asked blankly.

"Duh of the day, stupid," Larka said, rolling her eyes even more. "You're so dumb. She's been glaring at you all day and you haven't noticed?"

I stared blankly at Larka. "... she was?"

"I'm going to go find some herbs that I'm running low on," Yuuki announced. "Oki, would you mind coming with me? No? Come on. Something smells foul, don't you agree? I..." As she dragged Oki, her voice faded into the distance. I felt like she was about to say some things about me that I'd rather she didn't.

I stared after her. "You know, I don't get girls."

"Join the club," Dravis muttered.

"I"m going to see if I can talk any sense into that girl," Larka stated. "And Dravis wanted to talk to Jin alone anyway, so come on, Mikan..."

"But-but-but..." she began. "Um..."

"Well," was all I could say as I watched Larka drag off Mikan. Lots of people seemed to be getting dragged off today.

"I wanted to talk to you about Larka," Dravis said, standing up.

I blinked. "Er, what?"

His eyes flashed at me. "I know you like her, Jin, and so does Larka. And she likes you fine and well, but I don't think that it would be wise to continue this relationship with her, if you get my feel. It wouldn't be good for anyone in Nippon."

Chills went up and down my spine. If you had seen the look he gave me and heard the tones of his voice, you would understand.

"I... I wasn't planning on it, Dravis," I said hesitantly. "I... I know that... that she doesn't like me... so... it really wasn't my fault. I'm..."

"Don't speak," he snapped at me. "Now listen here, Jin, I don't want you to look at her like that, think of her like that, or do anything like that. You may not know why she could never like her, but I do. And trust me, it made me disgusted with you. You are the sickest person I've ever known."

Those words made me want to throw up.

However, they also made me rather curious as to why Larka could never like me, besides the fact that she already had a boyfriend.


"Are you seriously jealous of me?" Larka asked Yuuki, who froze up.

"No," she said stiffly.

Larka groaned. "Hurgh... you and Jin are so alike it's not even funny. Both of you guys are so danged stubborn. Sometimes I wish that you would disappear so I wouldn't have to deal with this sort of crap. I don't need some friggin' drama in my life."

"What drama?!" Yuuki cried. "Honestly, Larka, I don't know what you're-"

"Jin'll come around eventually," Larka muttered in annoyance. "I know that he's able to know a lot when it comes to books, but socially... well, animals could be mating and he wouldn't get it."

Yuuki looked down. "I know I shouldn't be bringing up my love affairs at a time like this, but... I can't help it. I feel so jealous of you. You are really pretty, Larka, and... well, I've pretty much got me and my boobs. That's it. But you've got all sorts of junk on you... I feel like nothing compared to you."

"But I can kick butt and don't like boys that try to sweet me up," Larka stated. "We're so different, Yuuki, that it's stupid. But we need to get along. Everyone does. We're all on the same side."

Yuuki sighed and looked upwards. "I know, I know. I shouldn't do this. I should be nice and stuff. But..."

"I know," Larka mumbled. "I make it hard. I'm trying to quit the habit of screaming at everybody, even when they don't do anything."

"Yeah..." Yuuki winced. "You kind of do."

"I think that we both need to get our heads out of the clouds, Yuuki," Larka said. "Just for a little while. Jin needs to feel at home... or at field. Whatever works."

Yuuki giggled. "Actually, he's in the forest right now, so..."

"Either way," Larka said, sobering up. "We need to quit acting like children for a while."

"I get what you're saying," Yuuki said. "I mean, Jin's probably going crazy from everything that he keeps learning every day. He doesn't need me worrying him."

"Exactly," Larka confirmed.

"Yes, thank you, I know, I'm lovely," Yuuki said, giving a little bow after standing up.

"Oh, sit down," Larka said, blushing slightly.

"Are you embarrassed?" Yuuki asked, plopping down next to the other fourteen-year-old. "There's a new one. Shocker, really."

"Shut up!" Larka growled.

"I-" Yuuki began, but Oki interrupted, coming up with Mikan a little way's behind him.

"Hey, I found some shiso..." Oki stated, giving Yuuki a handful.

"Thanks, Oki," Yuuki said, smiling brightly at him. Mikan sat down next to them, panting.

"So many weird plants!" she cried. "I can't tell one from the other... I almost poisoned myself, like, twenty times today!"

Yuuki laughed. "When we meet up again, do you want me to teach you about different plants? I learned when I was, like, two from my dad."

"Your father?" Oki questioned.

"Yeah..." Yuuki said slowly, looking upwards. "My dad taught me. He was the priest of the Shrine of Time before me. The traditions of the people of Time were passed down from him to me after a bad raid on our little village of Harusato. When he... when he left us."

"You lived in Harusato?" Oki asked, eyes widening.

"Yes," Yuuki said. "Before the Shrine of Time moved somewhere else before anyone could hurt it."

"You are of the Oina tribe?" Oki sounded more confused than ever.

"Yeah..." Yuuki said slowly. "I am. I can't turn into a wolf, but... you know. I've got my mighty priestess powers and stuff. I'll be good, so don't you worry..." Yuuki grinned and stood up, giving him a big wink.

"Oh, sit down, Yuu, we've got more important things to do. We've gotta get back to Jin and Dravis," Larka said.

"Oh, Oki. Why were you wondering where I was from?" Yuuki asked. "Is something up with it?"

Oki obviously wasn't sure how to reply to this because they might be related.


Ethan frowned. Not at his Trigonometry worksheet like he should have been frowning at, but at the drawing he was doing. Something about the wolf was missing. Sure, it was beautiful and had many interesting things about it, but...

"Ethan!" the sixteen-year-old blinked and looked up, bringing his drawing up to his chest in fright. Ms. Joline, the meanest math teacher in the WORLD, was glaring down at him.

"Er... yes?" he asked. "Ma'am?"

"What were you drawing?" she asked in that sugar-sweet tone of her's that meant you were dangerously close to being suspended.

"A... a wolf," Ethan hesitantly answered.

"Do you want me to put it up on the board so everyone can see it jolly-well?" she asked, leaning over close to Ethan's face.

"N-no, Ms. Joline, that's fine," he answered quickly. "Because, you see... this-"

"I don't care about your stupid excuses!" she snapped at me. "Let me guess! I can tell you! You had a dream that you were special in a very special way, didn't you? From that Japanese anime French guy again, huh? Right? No? Yes? I don't care! Suspended! Get out of my class!"

Ethan quickly picked up my coat and backpack while she yelled at him, "If I hear that you didn't go to the office again, I will make sure you don't have a future in any classes or colleges!"

He winced. That wasn't good. If he didn't get a good education, then...

Ethan dragged his feet to the office. His mom would be so POed if she found out that he had gotten kicked out of school again... This was the third time this year. And the worst part, it was only the fifth of September. If he kept this up, there was no way he'd live to tell a day by the end of the semester.

Ethan took out his iPod, sighing. He put it on random and Supermassive Black Hole by Muse started playing at seventy-five percent in his ears. Finally, just before Ethan managed to reach to office, he glanced at his artwork of the wolf.

He tilted his head, giving a little smile. "Jin," he decided. "That's you're name, wolfy. Jin. I'll put you up on deviantART tonight."

Twelve-thousand six-hundred twenty-eight hits was Ethan's last check on his homepage on deviantART. People enjoyed his art, and he enjoyed their comments. That's all there was to it.

Lately, odd things had been happening to Ethan. He had been not sleeping at all, or, if he had happened to sleep, he dreamt about a strange man in clothes that looked like they belonged in a circus. And yet... Ethan somehow knew that he was a prophets of sorts.

The dreams were all the same. While Ethan stood a ways away, the strange man would play a soft and sad melody, then reach out his hand to Ethan. Ethan would reach for it, then fall into a black hole that appeared out of nowhere, and disappear into the nothingness. He always woke up in the middle of the night with sweat all over his body and feeling less rested than if he hadn't slept.

Ethan took out one of his buds as he stepped inside the office. He glanced around and frowned. Nobody was in. Weird.

The song switched to Handlebars by Flobots and Ethan blinked. He hadn't touched it and it was in his hands, while it had been in his back jeans pocket a minute ago. The screen remained dark.

"Piece of crap," Ethan mumbled, but he still didn't understand why it was in his hand. He knew he hadn't taken it out of his pocket.

Send the Pain Below by Chevelle. One Step Closer by Linkin Park. I Caught Myself by Paramore. It kept switching and switching around until it got to the point where it ran out of songs. Then it went on to the iTunes store and started stealing all of those songs.

"What is this?!" Ethan demanded, pulling his other bud out of his ear and trying to turn his iPod off. "Load of crap!"

The songs kept going in his heads. Any song that you could find in his mind, you could find it on iTunes. Any song in the world was suddenly playing within Ethan's mind.

Finally, after the songs started going at light-speed, it stopped on one. Ethan was half-Japanese, so he knew some Japanese, but... but...

It all flowed when it was in song form.

When I remember back far, far

The future was forever shining

Below the pretty blue sky

We were only frightened a little

This window is stained with sorely missed colors

If I keep on looking forward

Will I meet you again?

Because the future really continues on forever

Underneath a large sign

I want to watch time change

Towards the people, the places

I will never see again

I open this window

When I remember back far, far

The future was forever shining

Below the pretty blue sky

We slept endlessly

In Ethan Satoya's mind, he heard one thing for certain:

You have awakened

A/N- Who is this Ethan kid?! What does he wants?! What is he doing here?! What does he have to do with Red Dreams, anyway?!

Bah, HUMBUG!! LIKE I'LL TELL YOU!!

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Pwease review.