Kinnikinnick: Hello! Welcome, welcome! Just a heads up, this is probably the most bi-polar chapter EVER. Miranda explains a few of the darker aspects of our world, and then electrocutes some drunks.

Technicolor: Yeah, we found out how to make a tazer out of a disposable camera. We spent an entire weekend electrocuting each other once.

Kinnikinnick: That's because we're crazy. Also, I know I said that last chapter would be the last update today, but then I saw that TC left me a review. This one is for you TC!

Technicolor: I'm right here. And I've already read it. I'm your beta, remember?

Kinnikinnick: Still, it's the thought that counts.

Technicolor: You're weird.

Kinnikinnick: Yup. Anyway, remember that we don't own anything. And I have the strangest feeling that I'm forgetting something…

Chapter 26

The group of six lay sprawled in the park, Sanzo and Gojyo on a pair of benches, the rest curled up in the snow-covered grass. As they lay there, exchanging jokes and stories, dawn began to wash over them. Miranda yawned as she watched the sky turn indigo. Getting up, she went over and stood in the now-empty fountain. Goku followed her over.

"So, you never really explained what this place was," he pointed out, sitting on the edge of the fountain. Miranda sprawled on the snowy cement, gazing up at the statue that seemed to sprout from the center.

"This is where I go to college. I come here to learn. I'm hoping to be a lawyer some day," Miranda explained.

"So… why can't we go in the building?" Goku asked.

"Mmm. Because, between the hours of eleven p.m. and seven a.m. all people who don't live in the dorms have to be checked in, and people who do live here are only allowed to check in one person a night," Miranda explained. A light snow began to fall.

"Why?"

"Well… they try to keep things safe for the students. See, in our world, demons don't really exist. All we have to worry about is ourselves. We just sort of… kill each other," she concluded sadly.

"Yeah. Humans are really good at that," Renate said, leaning over the edge of the fountain.

"Aren't we really?" Miranda said, giving a derisive laugh.

"What do you mean?" Goku asked, puzzled. Hakkai also began to drift over.

"A lot of colleges have had shootings. Where a college student who has just… snapped gets a hold of a gun and goes crazy, killing people left and right," Miranda said softly.

"And the worst part is… most of those shootings are preventable. If people were just a little nicer to each other, none of it would happen," Renate added.

"You make it sound like college is a horrible place to live," Hakkai commented lightly.

"In a way… it is."

"What about you, Renate?" Goku asked.

"I go to college, but I don't live on campus. I have my own apartment. Er…,well, I did," she amended.

"What happened?" Hakkai asked. Miranda started laughing.

"Shut up!" Renate said.

"Oh, oh, sorry, so sorry, go ahead and tell them," Miranda said.

"You tell them if you think it's so funny!"

"Fine," Miranda said, sitting up and brushing snow out of her hair, "Renate doesn't have an apartment anymore because she set it on fire when she was trying to cook."

Hakkai and Goku stared at Renate.

"Shut up! Just because I'm slightly dyslexic when it comes to reading recipes…"

"You were making Thai food. There IS no set recipe," Miranda said, still laughing. She stopped when Renate whipped a snowball in her face.

"Who blew up their teakettle when they were boiling water, huh!?"

"Sounds like something Gojyo would do," Hakkai sighed.

"What did you say about me!?" Gojyo demanded from his bench.

"Nothing!" Hakkai called back.

Suddenly, from the other side of the park, the group heard the sound of drunken giggling, and two voices talking.

"I should have expected this. Renate, do you still have that disposable camera I gave you?" Miranda asked.

"Yeah," Renate said, fishing it out of her purse.

"Do you have anything on here you don't want to lose?" Miranda asked.

"No, do what you want."

"Cool."

As Hakkai and Goku watched a pair of drunken college kids stumble across the park, Renate watched as Miranda disassembled the camera. In a matter of minutes, however, she was snapping it back together. It looked almost the same, except she had removed the flashbulb. In its place were two wires poking out.

"Record time," Miranda muttered, pressing the button that would normally charge the flash.

"What are you doing?" Goku asked, tearing his eyes away from the couple who had just drawn level with Gojyo and Sanzo.

"You'll see," Miranda said, moving forward in the shadows, as the girl's voice rang out.

"Ohmigawd, look at this girl, she's so cute!" she exclaimed, pointing at Sanzo.

"What did you say?" Sanzo growled, sitting up.

"She said you're so cute. And I agree," slurred the girl's boyfriend. Sanzo reached for his gun, but before he could do anything, Miranda was standing next to the couple.

"Hi Joe!" Miranda said, before slamming the camera into the boy's neck.

"Gah!" the boy said as a slight electrical shock ran through him. He jumped back, his hand clapped to his throat.

"Whaddya do that for?" the girl asked, teetering tipsily on her toes. Miranda pushed the button to charge the flash again.

"I don't like it when people pester my friends," Miranda said over the whir of the charging camera. She swung her arm up and released a charge into the girl's arm, which, despite the cold, was bare.

"Gah!"

The couple fled the park, both clutching their electrocuted body parts.

"Wicked! I forgot you knew how to do that!" Renate said.

"Yeah, it's in my mental encyclopedia of useless things," Miranda said, handing the camera back to Renate. Renate turned it over.

"I'm gonna keep this, just in case," Renate said, stowing the camera back in her purse.

"What the hell was that?" Sanzo demanded.

"Drunken college kids. Fairly standard, incredibly stupid. Basically, they're usually the people who already have the lowest I.Q. on campus, who go out, get shit-faced, and have their I.Q.s lowered even more," Miranda said. As an afterthought, she added, "Not that smart people don't get shit-faced. They just don't do it as often, and usually aren't as stupid when they do."

"Anyway, it's nearly seven. Let's start heading back to your dorm," Renate pointed out.

"Good idea. I'm wiped out," Goku said sleepily.

Kinnikinnick: So…what did you guys think? And ignore TC's review, she's the real weirdo here.

Technicolor: What was that?

Kinnikinnick: Um, nothing… Uh, is that… is that Renate's ice scraper?

Technicolor: Yup.

Kinnikinnick: Eep! Read and review and AH! I've gotta run!