a long chapter for you guys

so this chapter to dedicated to:

strikedeathkd53019

diamond heart 82

louizi eya

Guest ( you know who you are )

violet2971

Conflicting emotions

Dan felt his blood boil as he watched Runo laugh at something the man said to her. The stranger leaned forward in his seat, taking one of her hands in both of his. Discomfort flickered across Runo's face quickly before it was masked by a smile, causing Dan to push off from the counter. 'Screw this,'he thought as he walked toward the table.

Runo looked up as a shadow was cast over the table. Her eyes widened as she looked up at the person standing there. 'Dan.'

"Hey Runo, imagine meeting you here," he said coolly. "Hey man, I'm Dan," he told the stranger as he extended his hand.

"I'm Koga; how do you know Runo?" he asked.

"I'm her ex-boyfriend," he said, smirking as pain passed quickly across the man's face at Dan's tight grip. "I actually brought Runo here the first night I took her out for dinner. Must be a small world."

"Dan, let go of Koga's hand," Runo said sharply, placing her hand on his wrist.

"Anything for you Runo," Dan said, watching as Koga rubbed his hand when it was released. 'What a wuss,' he thought. "Never woulda pictured this kinda guy as your type."

"Hye, your order is read," Tamahome called from the counter.

"Guess I'll see you around Runo. Good luck with the prettyboy," he said harshly, picking up his order and walking out of the restaurant.

'That arrogant jerk!'Runo thought, pouring some ice from her empty cup into her hand and rushing out the door after Dan.

"I'll put twenty on the girl kicking his ass," Miaka said, peeking out the front door of the restaurant.

"You're on," Tamahome said, smiling at his girlfriend.

Runo rushed after Dan, throwing the handful of ice at the back of his head once he was within range. "Dan you jerk! How dare you interrupt us and say those things. What gives you the right to do that?" she shouted angrily.

Dan gritted his teeth as he felt something cold hit the back of his head and slide down his shirt. He placed his bag of food on the hood of a parked car and walked back to Runo. "You know what I said in there was true," Dan said as he stood mere inches away from her. He was nearly overwhelmed by the urge to pull her into his arms. "He's not your type."

"Oh really? How exactly would you know that?" Runo retorted, her face red with anger.

"I saw the uncomfortable look that passed on your face when he held your hand; you didn't want him touching you but you didn't wanna hurt his feelings by pulling away," Dan said triumphantly.

"That's because he surprised me, not because I didn't want him to hold my hand," Runo lied.

"Come on Runo, you dated me remember? The long hair and soft hands aren't your type. I think you prefer to be the female in the relationship. Koga isn't for you," he said, sneering his name.

"Why you-" Runo's hand swung out to slap Dan, but he caught her hand before she made contact.

Dan used his gentle hold on her wrist to tug her forward, almost causing her to trip into him. "You know the entire time you were in there with him you were remembering when we were there, remembering the times you and I shared. Face it, you and him can't compare to what you and I had Runo." Runo opened her mouth but no words came out; Dan had spoken the truth. "Nothing will ever compare to us," he said, his lips crashing down onto hers.

Runo's hands gripped Dan's shirt tightly, kissing him back for a moment…

before slapping him across the face. "You don't get to kiss me anymore. You're the one who ruined our relationship. You don't get to kiss me or give me opinions on anyone I decide to go out with," Runo said, holding back tears her voice wavering slightly.

"Whatever you say. You know I still care about you and I know you care about me too. Even if you don't wanna admit it," Dan replied, rubbing his cheek. 'Goddamn she's got one hell of a slap.'"That kiss was definitely worth getting hit over," he said, turning and walking away from her. "Stay safe Runo."

Runo turned away from Dan as he began to walk away, wanting to sink down to the concrete and cry angry, frustrated tears. But she couldn't do that; Koga was still waiting inside for her. 'He didn't even bother to come out and check on me,' she thought.

"So who won?" Miaka whispered to Tamahome as Runo walked back into the restaurant, a fake smile plastered on her face.

"I don't know, it kinda looks like they both lost," Tamahome replied

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Xxxxxx~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So it appears that someone is specifically focusing on our group," Shun said to Ace and Billy. "Someone's already targeted Billy and Dan; it's safe to presume that Ace and I will be next."

"Wait, couldn't targeting Mira be a way of attacking me?" Ace asked.

"They probably don't know you're even important to her. God only knows I wish you weren't important to her," Billy said.

"Hey shrimp you better watch your mouth," Ace said heatedly.

"Now now settle down children," Shun said, trying to calm them both. On a regular basis Billy and Ace didn't get along. Now with Ace was dating Mira their relationship was strained at best and an unpinned grenade at worst. "We need to focus on the important matters at hand right now; you two can bicker later. I've thought about your point Ace but I think since Mira was asked to specifically to deliever something to Billy that's who they were trying to target. Have you spoken to your sister recently?"

"Yeah, I told Serena to keep an eye out for any suspicious men or packages," Ace replied. "What about your mom?"

"She's staying with my aunt in Yokohama while she recovers from her last round of chemo," Shun replied. The main reason Shun had joined the red Dragons was to help his adoptive mom pay her medical bills. Finding a group of friends who became family to him was just a bonus. "I'll try to do some research on who might be targeting us; it's probably the Red Demons but that doesn't narrow it down much. For now just keep an eye on Mira."

"What about Runo?" Ace asked."That's Dan's worry, not ours," Billy replied.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~xxxxxxxxxxxx~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stupid Dan,'Runo thought dejectedly as she walked home from the restaurant. After her argument with Dan she had forced a smile onto her face and gone back inside to Koga. The evening had ended soon after that and she had politely turned down his offer to drive her home. 'Maybe that wasn't a good idea,' she thought as she looked over her shoulder for the third time since she began walking home. She wanted time alone to sort out her mind but she felt as if someone was watching her. But whenever she turned around she didn't see anyone; she didn't even glimpse anyone or hear any footsteps. 'I'm just being paranoid,' she thought, sighing in relief as she arrived at her apartment complex. She kicked off her heels as she walked inside, her feet aching.

Overall the evening hadn't been too bad before Dan had shown up. Koga was nice enough, but he was just a little boring. She didn't want to admit it but Dan was right; Koga wasn't for her. He wasn't her type, he wasn't what she wanted. But what she wanted she couldn't have anymore. Her kiss with Dan proved that she wasn't over him, she still missed him, she still cared about him, she still loved him. And that was the problem. 'If you still care about him, you should give him a second chance,'Miyoko's words echoed through her mind. "But how do i give him a second chance?" she wondered aloud, plopping onto her couch. 'How are we supposed to get past everything? We've been apart for so long.' Runo rubbed her forehead as she felt a headache developing. 'Why does everything have to be so hard?' she thought, walking to her bathroom for a long, relaxing soak in the tub.

Dan felt like banging his head against the steering wheel as he sat in his car. 'What were you thinking kissing her like that Kuso? She's on a date with another guy; she doesn't wanna be with you,'he thought. 'Idiot probably has a legit job at an actual building and shit.' Dan sighed, his mind a whirlwind of emotions. His cheek still ached slightly from the slap she had given him. 'Totally worth it for the kiss.'That kiss had been everything he missed about Runo; it was Runo embodied. It was soft and it was strong, it was sweet and it was hot. But it was much too short for his liking. 'You got slapped because she doesn't like you anymore Kuso, get your head outta your ass and face facts.''But she did kiss you back,' a small, hopeful voice answered back. He knew it was true; for a moment, as short as it was, Runo clung to him and kissed him back. 'Maybe there is hope,'he thought, starting his car.

A few days later...

"Hey baby bro," Serena said as he answered the phone.

"Hey Serena, what's going on?" Ace replied, his words garbled by the food in his mouth.

"I really hope Mira isn't there watching you talk with your mouthful; that's guaranteed to run her off," Serena said, grinding out the end of her cigarette. She kept telling herself that she would quit smoking, but it was one of the few constants in her life. She decided she'd quit when she'd have nieces and nephews running around her. 'Don't need the little ones picking up bad habits,'she thought.

"Nah Mira is working at the hospital right now; I gotta pick her up later," he replied, swallowing his food.

"Remember that package you told me to look out for?"

"Yeah, did someone come to you?" Ace asked, grabbing his jacket and walking to the door.

"Yeah, this guy handed it to me this morning. I think you need to come over and tell me what's going on little brother," Serena said.

"I'm leaving now," Ace said, hanging up on her to text the guys. "Serena's got a package too"

"So what did the guy look like?" Ace asked his sister. After explaining the situation to Serena, and getting a punch from her for not telling her sooner, he had opened the envelope to find a stack of pictures of her. 'Great,'Ace had thought. 'There's no doubt someone is after us.'

"He was tall, he had black hair that reached down passed his shoulders. He had blue eyes and a scar down the right side of his face. He asked me for a light. He was kinda cute," Serena laughed.

"Sis, this is serious," Ace said, wondering how his sister could laugh at this.

"I know Ace; I asked him who was sending the envelope and he said that's not for me to say. Why is someone going after you and the guys?" she asked.

"I don't know, Shun is trying to figure out who it is, but I don't think he has any leads yet. Sis, I think you should go away for a while," Ace said seriously.

"Why?" Serena said, exhaling her cigarette smoke.

"It's getting dangerous! We don't know who's sending these pictures or what they want," he exclaimed.

"And I can take care of myself little brother. Or shall I remind you?" she said, cracking her knuckles.

Ace shook his head quickly, leaning away from his sister. Serena may not look it, but she had a killer punch. "Just be careful okay?" he said, getting off the couch. "Make sure you lock your doors at night and call me if anything suspicious happens."

"Yes mom," she said sarcastically. "Tell Mira I said hi and that we gotta go out for lunch one day," she said, opening the door for her brother. Even though dating Ace made Serena question Mira's sanity, she really did like her. Just the right amount of sweetness to balance out her little brother's insanity.

"Will do sis," he said as he left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~XXXXXXXXXXXXXX~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Billy sighed as he walked through the park , his hands shoved inside his was all getting too complicated.

He knew he could protect his sister ,but what if he couldn't …..

He smirked 'even if he wasn't there which he would be mira will still be protected by her idiot fiancé or by kuso or shun . he trust them though he would never say it out loud , then there was serena she could protect herself much better than her idiot brother , then there was dan's girl or ex…they wouldn't go after her now since they've broken up but that moron still likes her…whatever like he said that's dan's business any-

"what the hell ? watch were you're going" he snapped at the girl who just knocked in to him while standing up

"I'm sorry I was in a hurry" the silver haired girl infront on him said

"whatever clumsy" he said in his usual cold voice.

"hey no need to be so rude I said I was sorry" she snapped at him.

This girl ran in to him and now she dare to talk back to him she must have a death wish .he could just kill her with one blow .

He glared at her.

She glared right back at him.

"oh shit I have to go I'm late" she suddenly exclaimed and ran off to some random direction.

"airhead" he muttered and walked away.

Hey guys soooo how was it

Please review because I don't know if guys still like the story or not or want me to continue or not