Chapter thirteen is here! Happy Thanksgiving, by the way.

Thirteen is my favorite number, by the way, so I'm hoping for one for review than usual. Considering I get an average of one point six reviews per chapter, this shouldn't be too difficult (thanks AizheNi).

My hidden message ends this chapter, so I'll leave you with this: have you ever been listening to a song and accidentally started writing down the lyrics instead of what you were supposed to be writing? Well, I have this one song that always seems to be stuck in my head whenever I write...

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, nor do I own any of the franchises to which I have made pop culture references. Or allusions.

"Wait, what?"

Shuhei was extremely confused. That child, Alex, just called Kaneko… no, he must have misheard. There was no way…

He looked sharply at the little boy in Kaneko's arms. He was wearing black shirt with some logo on it, soccer shorts, and Spiderman sneakers. With his golden color scheme, he didn't look much like Kaneko with her pale skin and black hair.

Kaneko glanced at Shuhei, a silly grin on her face. "Sorry, Shuhei. This is my little baby, Alex!" She kissed Alex's golden brown hair and squeezed him.

"Stop it, Mom!" complained the boy. "I'm not a baby anymore!" For the first time, he made eye contact with Shuhei. The child's eyes widened as he took in the image of the soul reaper. Shuhei self-consciously thought about his choice of clothing, what with the leather and the black and the chains, not to mention the tattoos and scars…

"Mama, who's that?"

Kaneko jerked slightly, as if she had become disenchanted. "Honey, this is Shuhei Hisagi. He's my friend, okay? And I'm sure he wants to be your friend, too."

The soul reaper couldn't help but play along. The boy was adorable, and he'd always been gentle with children. What with that incident with Kazeshini and that baby…

Hisagi smiled and walked up to Kaneko. As he leaned down towards her, he noticed that Alex shrank away slightly. That little seed of doubt planted in his head, Shuhei made his move.

"Hi, Alex. You can call me Shuhei, or Mr. Hisagi, or Hisagi-san, I don't care." He felt his smile grow wider as Alex's curiosity overcame his fear and the boy pushed himself away from his mother. There was still a bit of distrust in the child's eyes, but he was only four, after all.

"You have writing on your face. Mama doesn't let me do that, but she has pictures on her back and on her leg," said the boy suddenly. He squinted at Shuhei. "You have scars, too. Mama has lots of those."

A look of alarm appeared on Kaneko's face and she set Alex down. "Don't talk about that kind of stuff, Alex," she reprimanded. "You know how I feel about violence."

The brown-haired boy grinned up at her. "Yeah. You use it all the time!"

Kaneko spluttered something about protecting him and other people, color rising in her pale cheeks. She was so cute when she got flustered.

Alex looked up at Shuhei again. "You like black, too. Just like Mama." The boy frowned slightly. "You're not gonna be my new Daddy, are you?"

It was Shuhei's turn to blush and stammer. "O-of course not! I mean, it's not that I don't like her– wait, no, not that kind of like– we just haven't known each other very long– circumstances that we can't control–"

Shuhei's embarrassing monologue of excuses was interrupted by Rei's laughter. It was a familiar sound now, loud and unrestrained, but had a bit of bitterness to it. It reminded him a lot of her in general.

Kaneko was wiping tears of mirth from her eyes. She grinned at Shuhei and shrugged. "Don't worry, Alex. Shuhei and I are just friends. Barely even friends, actually."

That sobered the two of them up. Shuhei was reminded of the fact that the second day of his mission was half over. He would soon have to bring Rei back to Soul Society. Most likely, she would never return. After serving whatever sentence Central 46 gave her, she would either rejoin the Gotei 13 or be cast out into the Rukongai. What of the kids here, then?

"Um, Rei…" he began, not knowing how to speak his mind. "There's something I should tell you–"

"It can wait."

Shuhei sighed and patted Alex on the head. "Nice to meet you, kiddo," he said tiredly.

The boy stuck out his tongue. "Stay away from Mama," he replied. After a meaningful cough and nudge from Kaneko, the boy gave his version of an apology. "I mean, you can still be her friend, but you have to be my friend too, okay? Me and Mama don't have many friends that don't live here, besides Uncle Derek."

That was news to Shuhei. He cast a concerned look at Kaneko, who had stiffened visibly. "What do you mean, Alex?" he asked softly, still staring at Kaneko.

"The other moms don't like Mama very much. They call her bad names 'cause she looks so young. But Mama's old!" he said casually. Alex then glanced up at his mother, mistaking her discomfort for disapproval. "Sorry, Mama. I meant 'ageless'. Anyway, I can still play with the other kids, but Mama goes to work instead of talking with the rest of the moms."

It almost made sense to Shuhei. With Kaneko's appearance, most would assume that she had been in her teens when Alex was born. How she endured the gossip, Shuhei had no idea.

At that moment, Kaneko scooped up Alex and lifted him over her shoulder. "Oof," she said, staggering under the weight. "You grew a lot when you were at summer camp, buddy."

Thinking only of assisting the struggling girl, Shuhei plucked Alex out of Kaneko's precarious hold and set the boy on his shoulders. He felt Alex's tiny hands grip his spiky black hair, and the shinigami held the kid's feet so he wouldn't slip. "Like the view up there?" he asked. The boy bounced a little and squirmed around. "Yeah!" he said.

Shuhei took a quick look at Kaneko, who was smiling warmly now. She started walking down another of the numerous hallways and motioned for Shuhei to follow.

Once they reached the end of the corridor, Kaneko opened one of the doors. Shuhei followed, making sure that Alex didn't hit his head on the doorframe. The room had a few doors connecting it to other rooms and hallways, plus another staircase. He surveyed the contents and deduced that it was a playroom.

The carpet was an electric blue and the walls were covered in whiteboards, cups of dry-erase markers attached every five feet. They were obviously put to good use, as there were drawings everywhere. Down near the ground were scribbles of color, probably Alex's work. Above those were simple drawings that Shuhei figured had been made by Tristan and Carly. On the upper half of the walls there were lovely sketches, most likely drawn by Gerard, and little anime-like characters. Two people came to mind as the source of those pieces. There was a TV mounted on one wall and shelves that housed various picture books and games, plus puzzles and building blocks.

Alex let out a little noise and began squirming again. Kaneko looked sharply above Shuhei's head. "Use your words, buddy," she said.

"Put me down, now, Shuhei," said Alex. Kaneko gave him a hard look. "Please," he added.

Shuhei chuckled and set the boy down on the floor. Deciding this would be a good time to talk to Kaneko privately, he said, "Do you think I could speak with alone for a minute or two?"

Kaneko nodded and crouched down next to Alex. "Leah will be here in a few minutes to play with you. She can get anyone else you want to play with, but I might not see you until dinner. Okay?"

Alex hugged her and whispered something that made Kaneko smile again. "You'll have to ask him yourself," she replied. "I love you, honey."

"I love you, too," came Alex's muffled reply. Kaneko stood up and grabbed Shuhei by the arm, opening up another door and leading him down the hall. "This leads to the kitchen," she said briskly.

Sure enough, the two were soon standing outside an average-looking kitchen. Kaneko let go of his wrist and sat on the counter. "So, what's up?" she asked casually.

"Who's his father? And why does he have that unnatural reiatsu?"

Kaneko, shocked, stood up. "I thought I told you. He's adopted too, just like Carly and Tristan and Amelia. His father and his mother were here on vacation before their baby was born." Sadness filled her eyes. "She went into labor early, and her husband took her to the same hospital that I was in at the time, taking Phoebe there because of a lacrosse injury. When their son was born…"

Rei's voice broke, and Shuhei involuntarily reached out to comfort her. "What happened?" he asked softly.

"Alex was born with that reiatsu. I don't know why or how, but you told me that sometimes that happens with humans. Maybe he was a soul reaper in his last life, I don't know. Either way, it made him a beacon for hollows."

Rei was on the verge of tears now, however mightily she was trying to hide it. Shuhei tenderly took her by the arms and leaned forward. "Just tell me," he said gently. "You'll feel better afterwards."

Rei nodded and sniffled. "One of them came straight to the hospital. Both Phoebe and I felt it, but she had sprained her ankle and was getting a pair of crutches. I ran off, tracking it down to the maternity ward–"

Rei slumped against Shuhei and started sobbing. He quickly wrapped his arms around her and murmured soothingly, doing his best to comfort the crying girl. Her armor had shattered for the moment, letting him catch a glimpse of her true self. From the extreme amount of sorrow exuding from her and her scar, Shuhei figured that this incident was probably one of many traumatizing experiences she had undergone.

That was a good word for her, traumatized. The lieutenant could now see that she had psychological scars as well as physical ones. For someone who seemed so strong, it was frightening how fragile she was inside. No, not necessarily fragile…

Rei had calmed down a bit, but her hands still clutched at Shuhei's chest and she didn't look up. "I was too late," she said in a quiet voice. "The hollow had killed them and was eating their souls when I got to their room. Alex was on the floor, screaming. He hadn't even been swaddled in a blanket before he became an orphan. I ran over to him– using flash step, I guess– and picked him up, sticking him inside my jacket and zipping it up."

She finally met Shuhei's eyes with her own silver ones, ringed with red from crying. "I killed the hollow with my bare hands. I didn't even use kidō on it. I just beat the shit out of that damn monster."

Her eyes had hardened at those last words. "Once I cracked its mask, the hollow died. I took him home and raised him as my own, and everything that entails. My housemates at the time and I voted, and we named him Alexander, in hopes that he would help protect others like we do now."

Hisagi was speechless. Deciding there was absolutely nothing appropriate he could add to the conversation, he looked up and pulled Rei close to him. She buried her head in his shoulder and began crying again, softly and without shuddering this time.

They didn't move until an hour later, when they heard Michael and Alison's voices. Jumping away from each other, Shuhei busied himself by looking in the fridge while Kaneko leaped back onto the counter and turned away from the door, hiding her face so the newcomers wouldn't see her ruined makeup.

"All I'm saying is that you should get help from Shuhei and Rin for dinner instead of me, Michael," said Alison crossly, walking through the door first. She stopped suddenly at the sight of the two she had just mentioned, causing Michael to walk into her. "And look! They're here already."

Michael squinted suspiciously at Shuhei. "I hope we're not interrupting anything," the redhead said pointedly.

Shuhei, cool and composed as usual, answered with a shrug. "Since it's Kaneko's Heritage week, we came down here to inventory ingredients for sushi," he lied.

Alison nodded and turned around. "We~ll, since you don't need me…" she began, walking slowly out of the kitchen.

"It's still your night for kitchen duty," replied Michael, blocking Alison's exit.

"Aww, come on!" Alison complained. "Can't I just go on the grocery run for tonight? We have an extra set of hands now," she added, gesturing at Shuhei.

"Fine then," Michael conceded. "Okay, then. What do you have in mind, Shuhei?"

"Anything but sea urchins," the lieutenant retorted. "I can't stand them." He glanced over at Kaneko, who had grabbed a spare piece of paper and was scribbling down on it.

"Here's a list," she said, holding it up without turning around. Shuhei closed the refrigerator and plucked the sheet out of her hand. He handed it to Alison, who thanked them and ran off, presumably to the front door of the house.

"By the way," he said suddenly, "how do you guys get around the city?"

"We usually hail a cab or take Dante's van," said Michael. "Sometimes we walk." The tall boy smirked at Kaneko's back. "Or in one case, run. And jump. And vault. And climb."

Though he couldn't see her face, Shuhei practically felt Kaneko blush. "Don't use those kinds of words to talk about it," she snapped. "It has its own philosophy and it keeps me in shape. Besides, it's the only way that I get to talk to Neko-sama."

That was interesting. "What are you two talking about?" asked the shinigami. "I feel so out of the loop."

"Have you ever heard of a sport called parkour?" asked Michael. At Shuhei's blank stare, the human tried again. "Free running? You know, running around and clearing obstacles in the quickest way possible? It's rather dangerous in a city." He sent an amused look towards Kaneko. "Rin once jumped over a moving car. That was spectacular."

Huh. He'd never heard of such a thing. "So who's this Neko-sama?"

"He's a cat," replied Kaneko. "Technically the soul of a cat– you know, a soul. He taught me about free running and races me every other week." Her back straightened. "In fact, he should be here again in a few days."

"Fascinating," murmured Shuhei. He'd have to include that in his report. Which he should probably be giving right now. "Well, you'll have to excuse me," he said, walking towards the other door in the kitchen. "I should call up someone in Soul Society and give today's report. Walk with me, Kaneko," he added, trying to sound more lieutenant-like.

As they walked out the door and into the dining room, Kaneko caught up to him and punched him on the arm. "Thanks for getting me out of there, Shuhei," she said.

"No problem. I'm sure you don't want anyone to know you had a little breakdown."

This time, he felt a definite smack on his bicep. Shuhei looked down at Kaneko, who was glaring openly. "Never speak of it," she warned.

And that shut him up.

Once they made it back to the den, Rin pounced on one of the sofas and sprawled there while Shuhei took out something that looked like a cell phone.

"What's that?" she asked, curious about everything related to the world of shinigami.

"I've heard people use lots of different names. I just call it a soul phone," replied Shuhei, dialing on the number pad.

"Ha. Nice pun." Rin watched the black-haired man from the couch. She heard a faint voice on the other end and tried not to eavesdrop.

They were speaking in Japanese. "Hello, Lieutenant Kira. This is Lieutenant Hisagi."

The guy on the other end, presumably Kira, answered right away. "Is this your status report? Has anything new happened, Hisagi?"

"Umm…"

Rin looked up in alarm. What would Shuhei tell Soul Society? She put a finger over her lips and made a "shh" sound. Shuhei nodded grimly.

"Barely anything. The rogue is very clever about keeping herself hidden. My encounter yesterday was merely a coincidence."

"That's too bad," crackled Kira's voice through the soul phone. "Good luck. Hopefully you'll be done with this soon and can get back to work. Squad Nine's struggling without a captain or lieutenant to guide them."

"I'll keep them in mind," replied Shuhei. He hit a button on the soul phone and flipped it closed, sticking it in the pocket of his black jeans.

"Who's this Kira person?" she found herself asking.

"His name is Izuru Kira, and he's the lieutenant of Squad Three. His captain was Gin Ichimaru, until Captain Ichimaru joined Aizen, that is. Kira's one of my closest friends."

"I see. So you're not a total loner after all," she replied.

"Hey!"

Once Alison returned with the groceries, Rin and Shuhei helped Michael prepare dinner. Everyone put in their own order for sushi, except the three younger children. Michael cooked them shrimp and scallops with some diluted wasabi sauce or something, as far as Rin could tell. Carly, Tristan, and Alex seemed to like it fine, but secretly she worried that Alex was too young to be eating something like that. However, living in this house was equivalent to having a strong stomach.

The dining room consisted of four round tables and mismatching chairs enough for all sixteen residents plus Derek and Shuhei. No doubt extra ones had been dragged in from nearby rooms.

The dinner conversations were light and casual, but Rin noticed that her friends kept away from the topic of shinigami, most likely for the children's sake.

Speaking of children, Alex had left his table and was poking her in the side. "I'm done, Mama," he said in his cute voice, his big black eyes blinking slowly. He smiled a little, and Rin noticed that he had lost one of his baby teeth on the bottom.

"Okay then, buddy," she said, returning his smile. "We have some Japanese candy for dessert and then it's off to bed. You've had a long day, driving back here from camp."

Alex giggled. "I didn't drive, Mama! Dante did!"

Rin chuckled a little. "Of course, honey." She ruffled his hair a little and got up from her chair.

After dessert, Rin helped Tristan and Alex get ready for bed and read to Tristan and Carly from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. She had finished reading the first one to them two nights before they left for camp.

"Good night, Nee-san," said Carly, smiling angelically. "See you at breakfast if you wake up in time."

Rin kissed her forehead and walked Tristan to his room, tucking him in. "Sweet dreams, dude," she said. He grinned and scooted under the covers of his bed.

Alex's room connected to Tristan's, so she went through the adjoining door between them, closing it all the way behind her.

Alex was sitting in his bed, staring out the window. Rin walked up to him and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Get to sleep, buddy," she said fondly.

Alex smiled sleepily and reached over, hugging her softly. "Night night, Mama," he yawned. She tucked him in and turned off the light, heading downstairs to the den to make everyone drinks so she could take a quick nap before heading to work with Derek.

It was eating him up inside.

Shuhei didn't know if he should talk to Kaneko about what would happen in Soul Society or not. As soon as the children entered the game, the rules changed. Shuhei was so conflicted that he hadn't said anything to Kaneko since his phone call.

Now, he was sitting on a stool in the den like all the other adults, waiting for Kaneko to show up and serve up some drinks.

When she walked in, Shuhei realized that she had only cleaned off her eye makeup and hadn't redone it. She still had the black lipstick, though.

She vaulted over the bar counter and began taking drink orders, mixing them up quickly and fluidly. She really was skilled at it.

His resolve steeled by a quick shot of whiskey, Shuhei made his decision. He would tell her as soon as possible. Waste more time and it would only get harder.

Even so, he spent some time socializing with the human residents, gradually making his way over to the corner where Kaneko was now standing, sipping a glass of wine. He was perfectly sober, being used to the supernatural potency of alcohol made out of spirit particles in Soul Society.

"Kaneko, I feel like there's something I should remind you about."

Her happy face immediately became guarded. "What is it?" she asked warily.

"It's just that… do you have any idea what's going to happen to you once you return to the Soul Society?"

"Not really. I just imagine that I'll tell them what I know and we'll go from there."

Shuhei sighed and shook his head. "Trust me, it's much more complicated than that. One of the most basic laws upheld by Central 46 is that it is illegal for a shinigami to remain in the World of the Living longer than they are permitted. Since you were never ordered to leave Soul Society in the first place, who knows what your sentence will be."

Kaneko looked troubled, but Shuhei continued. "I don't think they'll listen to you, even if I vouch for you. They're rather stubborn." He paused a little as a new idea popped into his mind. "Now that I think about it, it's very possible that they'll sentence you to the Nest of Maggots."

Kaneko made a noise in disgust. "Eww, what's that? Sounds icky."

"It's a prison supervised by the Detention Unit of the Stealth Force. Its prisoners are anyone deemed even potentially dangerous to Soul Society. Since you haven't done anything treasonous, that would be the worst they could do."

Kaneko sounded a bit worried now. "So, once I get out, I can go home right?"

Shuhei didn't answer.

"Right?"

Making eye contact with the tall girl, Shuhei answered her as truthfully as possible.

"There's next to no chance that you'll ever be released. Even if you were, Central 46 would never let you return to the World of the Living."

The next thing Shuhei's brain registered was the sound of Kaneko's wineglass shattering on the floor.

Rei herself had made no sound, but the shock and fear was written all over her face. She turned away and fled, slamming the door behind her.

The room instantly grew silent. "What did you say to her?" asked Felicia. "She looked really upset."

"I…"

"Somebody should follow her," added Derek. "At least make sure she doesn't do something stupid."

"Where do you think she went?" asked Hisagi, trying to remain composed.

"I have a good idea."

Surprisingly, the person who said that was Nick. He handed his drink to Delaney and opened the door Kaneko had slammed. Shuhei followed him.

Once they had gone up two flights of stairs, Nick stopped. He looked back at Shuhei with heavy-lidded hazel eyes. "I'm guessing she's on the roof," he said. "That's where she goes when she needs to clear her mind."

Shuhei stared at the other boy. "How come you're the only one who knows this?" he asked suspiciously.

Nick sighed. "Because I set up the rope for her on the roof, in a place where no one could see it. She's one of my best friends, you know."

That came as a shock to Shuhei. He had figured that Kaneko was only close to Felicia, Derek, and the children, but Nick? Weird.

"And why is that?" he couldn't help asking.

"We have a lot in common. We like some of the same books and television. She's the one who got me hooked on Nirvana, too. Oh, and we're the only two hockey fans in the house. I grew up in Chicago, not Vegas."

"That's interesting. Why does she like it?"

"When Delaney and I first moved in, I got into an argument with Rin. She does that a lot. I wanted to watch a Black Hawks game, and she wanted to watch some crime show. We ended up watching both, so now she's a hockey fan and I'm a wannabe detective. Three years ago, I took her and Delaney home to Chicago during winter for a week. We stayed with my parents. I taught her to play a little, and we sometimes play street hockey here."

This was a bit unexpected. "Well, if you've got so much in common, why aren't you dating her instead of Delaney?"

The brown-haired boy shrugged. "We just don't click that way. And I've been dating Delaney since high school." His eyes became a bit distant, and he pulled out a small silver cross on a chain around his neck. "Plus, I'm a devout Serbian Orthodox. I thought she was some vaguely demonic spirit when we first moved in." He shook his head. "From what you've told me, she's actually more like an angel, but it's too late to fix that. You should go talk to her now. I'm sure you can't make anything worse."

"Thanks," Shuhei grumbled sarcastically. "How do I get up there, anyway?"

"These are the main stairs. If you stay on these, you'll eventually get to the top floor. Off to the right is a wooden door. Go through it and remember to close it behind you. Push up the hatch on the ceiling and climb the ladder. You'll be on the roof. Find her using her reiatsu, I guess."

Shuhei nodded in thanks and followed Nick's directions. Once he was on the roof, he looked around for any sign of Kaneko.

It was dark out, considering it was about ten o'clock at night now. There were some lights that the residents had obviously set up here, but he couldn't see Kaneko anywhere.

He turned around and saw a raised part of the roof that was about twenty feet above where he now stood. The lieutenant hid his own reiatsu and felt around for hers. She was definitely up there.

Using his shinigami abilities, he leaped up silently, hoping that Kaneko wasn't looking.

Luckily, she had her back mostly to him. The strange part was that she was standing up on a tightrope, which was stretched about five feet off the ground between two metal poles. The wire looked about fifteen feet long.

Kaneko wasn't walking on it at the moment. She was merely balancing with her arms out, about three feet away from the closer pole.

Taking a chance, Shuhei snuck closer, hiding in the shadows. This elevated part of the roof was lit by one fluorescent light, keeping the tightrope visible but letting the perimeter fade to darkness. Shuhei caught a glimpse of Kaneko's face.

Rei looked almost calm. Not serene, really, more like she was emotionless. Blank. Apathetic. Underneath it, Shuhei could see she was suppressing her emotions, trying to control herself. What concentration it must take to balance on such a thin wire.

She began walking again, taking slow, precise steps. Shuhei recognized now that her curious gait of putting one foot right in front of the other was just out of habit. Rei had taken off her shoes and curled her feet around the wire, taking any assistance in balance she could get. Her posture was perfectly straight, and she never looked down.

She was beautiful, and Shuhei didn't try to chase the thought away. Here she was, trapped on a thin wire, trying to balance the same way she balanced her life, always in danger of losing her balance and falling.

Finally getting the courage to speak up, Shuhei stepped out of the shadows. "Where'd you learn to do that?" he asked casually.

Rei's head turned sharply towards him, and he saw the look of surprise on her face. At the same time, he saw her begin to lose her balance, and he realized that he'd made a mistake.

As Rei started to fall, Shuhei flash stepped over and caught her in the air, bridal style. "Sorry about that," he said breezily.

Her shock quickly morphed into annoyance, then anger. Her silver eyes looked icy. "Put. Me. Down."

Shuhei scowled right back. "Don't be difficult," he retorted.

"You're the reason I fell in the first place," she argued.

"Well, maybe you should have been paying more attention to your surroundings instead of spacing out. You wanna follow something or someone, you mask your reiatsu like I did. That carelessness could get you killed someday."

"I doubt it," said Rei acidly. "You know, because I'm going to spend the rest of my extended existence rotting away in a Maggot's Nest along with everyone else your Soul Society doesn't like."

He almost dropped her. "You don't know that for sure."

Her expression and her voice were perfectly bitter. "You said it yourself, Lieutenant. You came here to arrest me, so you might as well drop the friendly act and take me away from my family."

He tried to say something, but she cut him off. "Yeah, they're my family. And no matter what anyone says, Alex is my son, and I can't just leave. If that's not good enough, you give me a better cause to lead." Her eyes became almost pleading. "How much longer do I have before your mission deadline?"

Shuhei broke eye contact. "Five days," he replied softly.

Rei looked shaken. "But you can get an extension from Soul Society, right?" she asked, the desperation clear in her voice. "Ideally, I would stay here until Alex was old enough to take care of himself. Can't people get free time before they go to jail like in the World of the Living? I've known people to get up to five years of living normally before they have to go to jail. And since people age slowly in Soul Society, I might be able to get ten years. They would let me do that. I hope."

Shuhei shook his head. "Not if they think you're a threat."

Rei frowned, but she didn't look like she would cry. Instead, she looked rather determined. "If that's the case, I'll have to ask for your assistance. Anything that will get me more time."

"And what do you suggest I do?"

Rei stared into his eyes, an odd look on her face. He felt his grip tighten on her.

"Lie."

A/N: How'd you like the new chappie? To be honest, I've had writer's block all week. I finally got rid of it on an eight hour drive home from my cousins' house, six of which I spent outlining this chapter in my head.

Minutes, that is. Just kidding! I really don't know how much I though about it, but hey, I'm done now!

I hope you enjoyed the latest installment! By the way, the "include your favorite character for a chance to see them appear" event is back up! Feel free to make suggestions and offer constructive criticism! As in, review!

~Paradox