3 days later, Ashley woke up to find Ciel still sleeping beside her. She didn't tell him that Starmine was pregnant. In fact, she didn't tell anybody yet. Ashley got up carefully so that she doesn't wake up Ciel. Ashley looked at the calendar. "March 10th. Crane's birthday." said Ashley in her head. She went back to the bed to wake Ciel up. She stroked his cheek. Ciel opened his eyes.
"Morning. We better get downstairs to eat breakfast." said Ashley. Ciel nodded and got out of bed. Ashley went over to join him. When they both got downstairs, they saw Crane not there.
"Where's Crane?" asked Ciel.
"He's still asleep." said a voice. Ashley saw Heat Haze, Crane's girlfriend.
"Why didn't you wake him up?" asked Ashley.
"Crane does all the cooking and cleaning the dishes here, right?" They both nodded.
"Well, don't you think that he needs a break every once in a while?" asked Heat Haze.
"Yeah, he does. Thanks, Heat Haze, for coming." said Ashley. Heat Haze nodded and went back to cooking.
After breakfast, Ashley went over to Starmine's room to check on him. She is the only one that knows of Starmine's pregnancy. When Ashley let herself in, she saw that her boyfriend was asleep. Ashley looked at Starmine and saw that he was getting big pretty fast. Ashley went over to Starmine and kissed him on the cheek, which woke him up. "Ashley, what are you doing here?" he asked.
"Just to check on you. You're getting pretty fat there." said Ashley as she rubbed his stomach.
"Yeah. Lab came over the other day, and she said that I'm on my 20th week already." said Starmine. Suddenly, Ashley felt a kick.
"Starmine, the baby just kicked." said Ashley. Starmine put a hand on his stomach. And he felt the baby kick as well.
"Well, at least the baby's healthy." said Starmine.
"Yeah. I wonder if the baby will be a boy or girl. I'll be fine with either. Well, I better get going and give Crane his present. I'll come back later tonight." said Ashley. She kissed Starmine's stomach and then his lips. Ashley then left the room.
Ashley knocked on Crane's door. "Come in." said Crane's voice. Ashley let herself in. Crane was just laying down on his bed looking at the ceiling.
"Hey, Crane. Have you been here all day?" asked Ashley.
"Yeah. It was nice to have Heat Haze come in and do all the cooking in here on my day off." said Crane.
"Crane, remember when we first met?"
"How could I forget? You guys were desperate in looking for a cook. And I fitted the bill." said Crane.
The date was March 10, 2011. "Man, none of us could cook. All we can cook is pizza." said Append.
"Well, we are in luck. Miku told me that we're going another new module today. And she also told me that he's an excellent cook." said Ashley. Suddenly, they heard the door knock. Ashley got up to answer it. There stood a Len module with blonde hair tied in a purple ribbon and green eyes.
"You must be the new module that Miku told me about." said Ashley as she shook hands with the boy.
"Yes. The name's Crane. Nice to meet you. I heard that you people desperately need a cook in the house. Well, I'm an excellent cook. I can make almost everything."
"That's great!" said Polar.
"All of the Len modules know how to make pizza. And only pizza." said Ashley.
"Lucky I came around to save the day." said Crane.
"Did Heat Haze give you anything for your birthday?"
"Actually, she gave me an awesome cookbook."
"Well, I got another present for you. Happy birthday, Crane." said Ashley as she held up the tiny box with the other aquamarine necklace in it.
"For me? Oh, you shouldn't have."
"Yes, it's for you. Why don't you open it?" Ashley suggested. Crane ripped the wrapping paper and opened the box. Inside was the aquamarine necklace.
"How did you know what my birthstone was?" asked Crane.
"Aitetsu was the one that made me remember." said Ashley.
"Well, this is a cool present."
"Even better than the cookbook?"
"Yes, even better than the cookbook." Crane put the necklace around his neck. The aquamarine stone started to glow.
"Does that happen often?"
"It's one of Trickster's necklaces. He told me that they're supposed to do that." said Ashley. After a few seconds, the necklace stopped glowing.
"Well, thank you very much for the necklace. I really appreciate it." said Crane.
"You're welcome." said Ashley.
Meanwhile, it was now nighttime, and everyone was asleep, except for Ashley. She decided to go downstairs and have a midnight snack. So, she got out of bed carefully because Ciel was asleep, and went downstairs. She suddenly smelled some pumpkin. Ashley looked in the kitchen and saw Trickster reading a book and drinking some tea with a candle in the middle of the table. Ashley smiled and went over to him. She sat down beside him.
"Hey." Ashley simply said to the baku.
"What are you doing up?" asked Trickster without even looking up at her.
"I got hungry and wanted a midnight snack."
"If you were hungry, you could've have more of a dinner."
"Sorry. Could you make me some tea?" That made Trickster look up.
"I thought you hate tea?"
"Yeah, but it's never too late to try some."
"Alright. I'll be right back." said Trickster as he got up and went to the stove. Ashley decided to wait. She looked at the book that Trickster was reading.
"The Murder House? Why are you interested in horror books?" asked Ashley to Trickster.
"Not just horror books. I pretty much read any book I can get my hands on." said Trickster. That made Ashley think. Trickster already has a necklace. Should she get a book for Trickster's birthday? Ashley looked at the pumpkin-scented candle. Or a candle? Trickster came in with a cup of tea for Ashley.
"I hope it's to your liking." said Trickster as he gave her the teacup. Ashley accepted it and took a sip. "Wow." Ashley thought to herself. "This is the best tea I ever tasted."
"This is delicious." said Ashley.
"Thank you." said Trickster as he sat down again and picked up his book to read once again.
"Are you going to do that all night? Are you going to even talk to me?" asked Ashley.
"There's nothing to really talk about." said Trickster.
"Actually, I have to tell you something. Remember when I came over here last time and I had doubts of Starmine pregnant?" Trickster put his book down and nodded.
"Well, you were right. Starmine's 20 weeks pregnant."
"Wait, 20 weeks? That means he's about halfway through his pregnancy."
"Yep. And for the first time, Starmine and I felt the baby kick. He told me that Lab came over and told him the news."
"Let me ask you this. Do you want the child? Does Starmine want it?"
"Of course I want the child. I'm not so sure about Starmine. He's been pregnant before, but I wanted him to abort it because it was going to be Prince's child. But now that it's going to be mine, I don't think he's ready to be a mother."
"Do either of you know what the due date is? Or the gender of the baby?" asked Trickster. Ashley shook her head.
"Well, Spacy told me that she was going to come over tomorrow and tell us the gender of the baby. I'm not so sure about the due date." said Ashley.
"Well, let's do the math here. Starmine and you had sex in late October. He started to get sick in January. He's already 20 weeks. 9 months from October is August." said Trickster.
"You think the due date will be sometime in August?"
"I'm just doing the math." Ashley took another sip of the tea in front of her.
"Hey, I should've believed you. About Starmine being pregnant. I'm sorry."
"There's no need to apologize to me."
"Okay."
"Look, you should get some sleep. You already spent 20 minutes talking to me. Remember whose birthday is on April 2nd?"
"Yeah, Yukata's. Well, thank you for the tea. I really liked it." said Ashley.
"You're welcome. Now, go to bed, young lady." said Trickster. Ashley got up and went back upstairs to her room. Ashley saw Ciel tossing and turning, like he's having a nightmare. Ashley went over to Ciel and shook him.
"Wake up, Ciel." said Ashley. Ciel woke up with a gasp. He saw Ashley and hugged her. Ashley hugged him back.
"Was it a nightmare?" asked Ashley. Ciel nodded.
"Want to talk about it?" Ciel shook his head.
"Look, try to go back to sleep. I'll be right here." said Ashley. Ciel nodded and laid back down. Ashley laid down beside him and stroked his hair. It was sweaty from all the tossing and turning that he had done. Ashley pulled him closer to her in a hug. She laid Ciel's head on her chest. Ashley put one hand on his head and the other on his back, rubbing it. After a few minutes of whimpering, Ciel finally closed his eyes. Ashley closed her eyes and went to sleep.
Meanwhile, White Edge woke up at midnight and got out of bed. He was curious about the hideout as Ciel was. "I need to get answers." he said to himself. He put his shoes on and went downstairs. He didn't see Trickster downstairs in the kitchen.
"Must be in his room or something." White Edge said to himself. He walked out the door and headed out to the forest. Once he got there, he gasped. There was actually a hideout.
"Wow. Ciel wasn't kidding." said White Edge. He stepped forward, only to step on the alarm. He covered his ears as the alarm went off.
"Me and my clumsy self." said White Edge. Suddenly, a man appeared with a gun in hand.
"Alright. Who triggered that alarm?" the man asked as he turned the alarm off.
"I gotta get out of here." said White Edge. Suddenly, he heard a bullet go his way. He dodged just in time.
"You're not getting out of here alive, just to let you know." said the man as he walked up to the Len module. He grabbed his arm.
"Let go of me!" said White Edge as he struggled to free his arm. But the man was much stronger.
"You're a Len module, aren't you? My day just gets better and better." said the man. He pointed his gun up to White Edge's head.
"How would you like to meet my friend, Mr. Gun?" asked the man. Suddenly, the man got blasted with water, letting him release his grip on White Edge. White Edge saw a Len module with blonde hair put up in a ponytail, blue eyes, and wearing only a dark blue school swimsuit.
"Bullseye!" said the Len module.
"WS?"
"Go! Run!" said WS. White Edge started to run. The man growled and pointed his gun at White Edge. He fired, and White Edge cried out in pain. WS fired more water from a water gun. The man got blasted.
"This isn't over!" said the man as he went back inside the hideout. WS went over to White Edge.
"Come on. Let's get you home." said WS as he wrapped an arm around White Edge's shoulders, helping him up. The 2 of them walked together back to the Len modules' house. Once they got back, WS told White Edge to lay down on his stomach on the couch.
"I'll see if I can get help." said WS as he went upstairs. He saw Ashley's room and went inside. He saw Ashley and Ciel sleeping. WS went over to Ashley.
"Ashley, wake up." said WS as he shook Ashley's shoulder gently. Ashley woke up and saw WS. She gasped.
"It can't be. Ciel, wake up. WS is back." said Ashley as she gently shook Ciel's shoulder. Ciel woke up and saw WS as well. And he also gasped.
"Come downstairs with me. White Edge is badly hurt." said WS. Ashley and Ciel looked at each other, then got out of bed and followed WS downstairs. They saw White Edge on the couch in the living room.
"White Edge tried to find me, I guess. But he got hurt." said WS.
"We need some of Snow White's herbs." said Ciel.
"But Trickster is the only one with them. And we can't go in his room." said Ashley.
"Well, you guys gotta do something. White Edge might be dying." said WS.
"Fine, we'll go." said Ashley. She and Ciel went up to Trickster's room. They saw the baku reading.
"What are you 2 doing up at a time like this?"
"We need your help. Come downstairs with us." said Ashley. The 3 of them went downstairs. Trickster saw WS and White Edge badly hurt.
"How did this happen?" asked Trickster.
"He was trying to find me. And he got hurt by the hideout owner's gun." said WS.
"Hold on. My necklace can heal him." said Trickster. His ruby necklace started to glow. And White Edge's wound on his back began to heal. White Edge sighed in relief.
"Thanks, Trickster." said White Edge as he rolled to get in a better position. He was now lying down on his back.
"Next time, don't go in the hideout by yourself. Now, if you'll excuse me." said Trickster as he went back upstairs to his room.
"We better get back to bed, too." said Ashley.
"Aw. But the couch is comfy." said White Edge.
"Come on, Mr. Clumsy. WS, you can come to my room and sleep there if you want." said Ashley. The 4 of them went back to bed.
