Fwee! Chapter Twenty is up! Which means that the next chapter is the last prewritten chapter... Updates are going to start slowing down really soon, really fast.

And things in FSC are about the get hella awkward hella quickly.

Enjoy!

-Kai

Hehehe, dere's gunna be a lot of plottin' :D

~Ryuu

"…"

The silence was deafening in the confined space that was the kitchen of Ryoma's home. Currently seated at the table was Ryoma himself, Sayuki, Kuroki, and Tezuka. They were all facing different directions, not looking at each other, and not speaking. Kuroki had her arms folded across her chest and was staring intently at the wall. Well, glaring was a better word. Sayuki was staring at the ceiling, with her chin in her hand, elbow propped up on the table. Tezuka was as proper as ever, back straight and staring straight ahead, unblinking. Ryoma was being unusually fidgety and finally settled down into a slouching position in his chair, studying the table.

"…"

"So..." Ryoma began. Nobody shifted their position. "I had nothing to do with this, so I'm just gonna leave now..." He began to stand up quickly.

"Stay," Sayuki commanded, her eyes not moving from the ceiling. Ryoma blinked.

"Eh?"

"You lost the bet. You have to do whatever I say. And I'm telling you to stay."

"... You're forcing me to be in this tense environment which I had nothing to do with the making of it?"

"Yup."

"..." Ryoma sat back down and returned to his previous position.

"Sayuki, I am still going to kill you no matter what you do." Kuroki spoke with her lips barely even moving. Randomly, Ryoma thought that she would make a good ventriloquist.

"I know." Sayuki looked rather unconcerned for a person who had just received a death threat.

"Ryoma, you're going to die too."

"What the hell did I do this time!" he protested.

"You didn't stop her."

"How was I supposed to know? She just up and did it!"

"You're still going to die. Just because I'm angry."

"Oh, well that's a perfectly good reason to commit murder," Ryoma scoffed. "While you're at it, why don't you kill Captain Tezuka too?"

"Nah, I need him for something else. He'll just go through excruciating torture." She paused thoughtfully. "Actually, you two aren't dying either. You'll just have to go along with my little plan."

"I don't wanna know," Sayuki muttered. "Kakura was there too, and she definitely knew what I was doing. Why don't you punish her?"

"Aww, but I love adorable wittle Kaku-chan too much," Kuroki whined. "I'm not gonna hurt her~."

"... Damn, I lost to a weasel."

"So... this is your idea of 'excruciating torture?'" Sayuki sweat dropped, staring at the dangerously high stack of books in front of her. Tezuka and Ryoma were beside her with similar stacks. Each one looked like it would topple with the slightest movement, resulting in a crashing thud and at least one person buried beneath the book-slide.

"Yup!" Kuroki chirped cheerfully.

"... So you want us to read this or what?" Ryoma asked, looking up and down at the books. There had to be at least one hundred.

"Hell no!" Kuroki said, looking aghast. "My task for you guys is to return all of these books into their proper spots. Y'know, how they do it by author and alphabetical and genre and all that. And they're from all over the library, so y'all better get started if you wanna go home before the weekend ends."

"…"

"Have fun dearies!" Kuroki said cheerfully as she skipped away and out of the library.

"... How did you two become friends again?" Ryoma asked Sayuki.

"I have no idea..."

In unison, the three all turned back to stare at their piles of books.

"I swear to God Sayuki, if you order me to put all of this back..." Ryoma said threateningly.

"I won't, I won't!" Sayuki laughed as she went to go find ladders to get the books at the top of the stack. "I'm not that evil."

"Sometimes I wonder."

"Tezuka-senpai, you haven't said much," Sayuki commented.

"Does he ever?" Ryoma answered dryly.

"Well, less than normal," Sayuki shot back. "You know what I mean. Was that really so shocking for you guys?"

"How would you feel?" Ryoma asked, out of curiosity.

"Meh, I seriously wouldn't care," Sayuki answered as she dragged the ladders back to the table with the help of the two guys that were with her. "I mean, it's just like CPR. Lip to lip contact. Is there anything really that special about kissing?"

"... How were you raised?" Ryoma muttered. "Around here, a girl's first kiss means everything to them. I don't even get it."

"I would hope not," Sayuki answered. "Cause you're not a girl. Hold onto this ladder, 'kay? If you let me fall, I will kill you. And Tezuka-senpai, could you catch the books I drop? Alright, thanks." Sayuki climbed to the top of the ladder and began taking the books from the top of the stacks and dropping them one by one to Tezuka, who caught them and placed them on the floor. When they had about twenty books on the floor and the giant stacks of books on the tables looked considerably less intimidating, Sayuki climbed back down and helped the two men sort out the books. They returned the books that were nearby or in the areas far away from their current location and the entrance, but the ones that belonged closer to the exit they kept with them so that they could return them later as they left. When they finished with their little pile of books, Sayuki climbed back onto the ladder and the process was repeated.

In this way, the books that numbered around about two hundred or so dwindled to about fifty within the time period of several hours. The sun was already halfway pas the horizon when the three gathered up the books that they kept and made their way back to the exit, returning books along the way. By the time they exited the library, the sun was almost completely set.

Sayuki and Ryoma said goodbye to Tezuka, who still looked a bit out of it, and they all returned to their respective homes, all feeling extremely tired and sore from all the work.

"Ugh, and she even kept us alive because she said she wanted to do something else with us," Sayuki groaned. "What the hell could that be?"

"It better not be as bad as that," Ryoma muttered. "That was absolute torture."

"Yup," Sayuki agreed. "I'm gonna go get a soda... Want anything?" Sayuki stood up and made her way over to the fridge, where, blessedly, lay many cold beverages.

"Please," Ryoma said. Sayuki tossed him a Ponta, knowing that he loved those things, and pulled out a Sprite for herself, the soda being the closest thing to her. She took a seat again and sighed with pleasure as she placed the ice cold thing on her cheek.

"I still gotta think of what to make you do," Sayuki mused. "Well, I have a week... So many things to do..."

Ryoma sweat dropped and sipped at his soda, dreading what was to come.

"Alright!" Sayuki yelled cheerfully, bursting into Ryoma's room and leaping onto his bed. "It's Sunday morning, Ryoma! Rise and shine!"

No response. There wasn't even anyone in the bed, which was made. Confused, Sayuki glanced at the alarm clock beside the bed. 6:00 AM... Ryoma couldn't be up already... Could he? She jumped off the bed and nearly crashed into Ryoma entering the room as she exited.

"Whoa, up already?" Sayuki asked, blinking as she took a few steps back to let him in. He nodded sleepily, still in his pajamas, like Sayuki, and collapsed on his bed.

"I figured you would do something like this so I was up since a while ago," he slurred, burying his face into his pillow. He looked up at his clock and muttered into his pillow, "Which would actually be an hour ago... So tired..." He rolled over onto his back and sat up, scratching his head sleepily and yawning. "So what did you want me for this time?"

"Well, I was figuring that since you have to do anything I tell you to for another six days..." Sayuki trailed off and grinned mischievously. "Remember the sleepover? Truth and dare?"

"Oh God, you've gotta be kidding me," Ryoma groaned, falling back onto the bed. "I am not wearing a dress ever again!"

"Not a dress, but more like our school uniform, which is a skirt," Sayuki countered, her devious smirk still plastered all over her face. Ryoma attempted a glare, but the effects were lessened by his sleepiness. The drowsiness would also explain why he barely put up a fight when Sayuki shoved the uniform into his arms, along with the wig that they had used during the sleepover, and pushed him into the bathroom.

"How the hell did you get my size?" he yelled, holding the garments as far away from himself as possible, as though it contained some deadly disease. Even while doing that, he could tell that it would most probably fit him.

"I didn't!" Sayuki called through the door. "That's my uniform, so if you get it dirty, I'm going to make you commit suicide!" Ryoma groaned and slammed his head on the door, effectively waking him up. He had forgotten that Sayuki was around his height and size. Of course she would do something like that.

Now that he was thinking clearly, Ryoma carefully tucked the uniform under his arm so that he wouldn't damage it and have to commit suicide like Sayuki had threatened, and attempted to open the door. The knob turned normally, but when he tried to push the door open, it didn't budge.

"... What the hell. The door doesn't lock from the outside. SAYUKI, WHAT DID YOU DO!" he yelled, frustrated. He put the uniform on the counter and tried pushing harder.

"I pushed your bed in front of the door, so don't even think of trying to get out without putting the uniform on first!" Sayuki called back. "And I'll know, I have my ways!"

"Ugh," Ryoma muttered. He gave the door one last kick, which resulted in a stubbed and aching toe, and he cursed Sayuki. He glared at the uniform and wondered if there was really no choice...

"... AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" As soon as Sayuki let Ryoma out of the bathroom, she took one look at him and started laughing so hard that she was crying. Ryoma glared at her, sweat dropping at her non-stop laughter. In an instant, Sayuki stopped laughing and had a straight face, staring right at Ryoma.

"You look great," she informed him. He sweat dropped.

"You can't be serious," he muttered. "Telling me that after all that laughing." He glared at the skirt, hating it and all it was worth.

"Why didn't you put on the wig though?" Sayuki asked, gesturing to the fake hair in his hand. He snorted.

"I'm not gonna put that on unless you force me to with death as the only other option," he declared.

"Put it on or I'm giving you to Kuroki and telling her that you were the one who came up with the idea of throwing that apple at her."

"... OKAY, OKAY, I'M PUTTING IT ON!" Ryoma yelled as Sayuki pulled out her cell phone and began dialing Kuroki's number. He plopped it on his head and Sayuki properly positioned it on his head. After staring at him for a moment, she whipped out her cellphone again and quickly took a few snapshots as Ryoma blinked in surprise.

"Delete those pictures," Ryoma growled threateningly. Sayuki stuck out her tongue childishly and held the phone behind her.

"I don't think so," Sayuki laughed. "C'mon, go find a mirror and see how you look."

"I'm not gonna let you out of my sight, cause you'll probably text those images to Kuroki as soon as I turn my back," Ryoma muttered, dragging her into the bathroom with him. His eyes widened and he whirled around when he heard the door click closed.

"... Hey Ryoma, wasn't that door open just a second ago?" Sayuki questioned.

"Yeah," he answered slowly.

"... Did you close it?"

"No..." Ryoma and Sayuki turned and stared at each other, then at the door. They were thoroughly creeped out when evil laughter came from the other side.

And then Ryoma realized that the voice was male, and he knew instantly who was the culprit.

"DAD!" he yelled, kicking the door viciously. The laughter came again and faded as Nanjirou presumably left the room. Ryoma attempted to open the door, but it was blocked once again by something. Frustrated, he turned around and promptly froze when he realized just how small the bathroom was.

"Whoa, little room," Sayuki commented, as she, too, realized that there were mere centimeters between them. "Hey, Ryoma, you know what would really suck right now?"

"What?" he asked, trying to keep as far away from Sayuki as possible. He was suddenly feeling very uncomfortable.

And then the lights went out, leaving them in total darkness.

"... That," came Sayuki's reply as she sighed. "How the hell did a blackout even happen in the first place!"

"This is just a guess, but my dad probably forgot to pay the electricity bills or something," Ryoma muttered sarcastically. "Can I get this wig off now?"

"Eh, sure why not. Make sure you don't trip or hit anything or something like that," Sayuki answered, closing her eyes. Karupin... Think Karupin, she muttered to herself.

As Sayuki was preparing her first attempt at using animal eyes, Ryoma was messing with the fake hair on his head, but it was tangled with his actual hair. Cursing and muttering that he was never doing this again no matter what, he attempted to untangle the dreaded thing in the dark, but probably only succeeded in making the knot worse.

And he freaked out when he saw two glowing yellow eyes with slit pupils staring at him from the darkness.

"... Sayuki?" he asked warily in disbelief.

"Nyaan~" came her reply. Ryoma wanted to bang his head on a wall right now. Sure, turning into Karupin would give her the ability to see in the dark, but she would begin acting like a cat as well. That would explain why the eyes were so close to the ground; she was probably crouching like a feline.

"Sayuki, change back," he sighed. "It's not helping." There was a silence, and Ryoma watched with amazement as, before his very own eyes, Sayuki's left eye turned back into her orignal red color. Now there was only one cat-like eye staring at him in the darkness.

"Ryoma, this is a pain and I have to concentrate, so please just shut up for the next few minutes," Sayuki said slowly and carefully, gradually straightening back up to her normal height. He flinched as he saw the eye lean closer to him, but he realized, as his eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness, that Sayuki was leaning over to untangle the mess that was his hair and the wig.

That knowledge didn't stop him from becoming extremely self-conscious about his heartbeat and breathing patterns, though.

"You OK?" Sayuki asked, still slowly as she was still fighting the urge to act like a cat. "Your breathing sounds a little messed up." Ryoma cursed in his head, forgetting that with her heightened senses, it was quite obvious that she would be able to detect the change in his breathing. He tried to breathe normally, but his heart was less easy to tame, and the irregular beats meant that his breathing would either be random or wouldn't be there at all.

"And I don't mean stop breathing either," Sayuki hissed when she noticed this. She let out a sigh of relief and Ryoma saw the glowing eye revert to its usual color, and he realized that she had managed to remove the wig from his head.

It appeared that that may have been a bad thing, since once the wig was removed, Ryoma felt as if all his self control had gone. Before he knew what he was doing, he had grasped Sayuki's shoulders and crushed his lips to hers. Sayuki's eyes widened, but she was far too drained from the eye-color switch to do anything about it. Her energy left her and her legs went weak, but Ryoma wrapped his arms around her and kept her on her feet.

"Ryo... ma!" Sayuki barely managed to growl, his lips still mashed against hers. Ryoma's eyes flew open, taking in what he was doing, and as his brain processed this information, his body immediately rejected the act that it had done. He automatically shoved her back and pressed his back against the door.

"What the- OW!" Sayuki crashed to the floor with a thud, barely avoiding hitting herself on the counter's corner. Ryoma was breathing hard, still trying to figure out what he had just done. Grumbling about serious mood swings, Sayuki picked herself off the floor.

"So... The hell was that for?" she asked, dusting herself off. Ryoma shook his head, trying to sort out his jumbled thoughts.

"If anyone asks, nothing happened," he finally managed to growl. Suddenly, the lights flickered back on and they squinted and covered their eyes as their eyes struggled to adjust to the sudden change. Ryoma and Sayuki also heard the sliding of several objects outside, and Ryoma immediately shoved the door open. "You. Out," he said, pushing Sayuki out of the bathroom. "I need to change out of... this," he explained, gesturing to the uniform he was still wearing. Sayuki's mouth formed an 'O', understanding, and she left, closing the door.

With a yawn and a sigh, Sayuki stretched herself, having been cramped in the bathroom the entire time. Deciding to forget about what had happened in there, she skipped cheerfully down for breakfast, knowing that she would find Nanjirou there, pretending that he had taken no part in the door being unable to open and the sudden blackout.

Breakfast was awkward, to say the least.

After Ryoma and Sayuki had unleashed their anger upon Nanjirou, who was now lying on his side and pretending to read the newspaper while secretly searching through porn mags, as usual, the two had begun eating in total silence. Both refused to look at each other, not wanting to acknowledge the presence or existence of the other.

Nanjirou, on the other hand, continued to sneak glances at the two youngsters he was housing, wondering what his plan had accomplished. It seemed that the two were as distant as they could ever get, but he knew better than to assume. It was likely that something had happened that had made them want to avoid each other, but unlikely that they hated each other. Yet. His guess was proved right when Sayuki hurriedly finished her milk and excused herself from the table, telling no one in particular that she would be out with Kuroki that day. If she was currently hating Ryoma, then she wouldn't have even bothered saying anything, as Nanjirou usually cared less where she went.

Nanjirou smirked to himself as Ryoma cleaned up and headed up to his room. His devious little plan to get his son and Sayuki together might work after all... He'd just need some assistance. And this Kuroki seemed to be very willing to help, and she might even manage to get more people in on the project...

Ah yes. :3 Nanjirou and Kuroki and all the other evil plotting people are about to unite. BEWARE SAYU. BEWARE RYO. YOU HAVE A BUNCH OF EBIL PLOTTING GENIUSES ON YOUR TAIL.

Yup. Things are reeeaaally awkward right now. :D Don't you just love tension?

-Air Beast

(KAI)