Thanks to HotarutheChainMaster & PengyChan for reviewing!

The little pink mole rat jumped through hoops to get his master to calm down and listen to him. He had to run around in circles just to get his attention and to maintain said focus, he had to talk fast. Alas, he spoke too fast which made Ronald look away and start to brood, which made Rufus have to start over again.
His last resort, which he had to use, was getting a book from his college classes and throwing it at his back. It worked and the red rectangle mark on his tan back proved it. A moment passed before Ron realized what had just hit him and why his skin was tingling somewhat unpleasantly. "What, Rufus?!" He snapped, turning to face the little friend of his.

Clearing his throat, he started to speak quickly in hopes to finish his thought before Ron's attention was divided while at the same time trying to make it understandable. Much to his dismay, he only got the words 'Kim' and 'mistake' out in a neat fashion. Lady Luck must have been smiling on him for that was all the blond young man needed to hear to snap from his thoughts and cool down like fire put out by water.

Heaving a rather weighty sigh, the young lad leaned against the chair and turned on the TV. Some old rerun of a talent show came on, the noise echoing in the otherwise empty room which made it seem lively for a minute. Loneliness started to sink into the home, the room, its occupant. He closed his eyes and found himself thinking of memories of back then.

Whatever happened to the five year olds in pre-k who was a bit more worried about learning the alphabets instead of college? What happened to the twelve year olds who were struggling to get a babysitting job for money instead of fighting villains with hardly any real appreciation? Where did those two go after so long?

How did they turn into this?

How did turn from carefree in love teens turn into heartbroken angry college students? Distant from the world instead of saving it parted from the other which made it feel like the other half was missing? Yin and Yang, that's what Kim and Ron were. Now that Kim was gone, Ron felt…hollow. He felt half there. He felt half alive. He fully hated it though.

It was completely impulsive and nothing but rage and frustrated that sent both of them flying. It was college to blame; this cruel advance copy of school was to blame for his loneliness! If they both hadn't taken up such classes…this would not have happened.

But wait; it was Kim's fault. She always stressed too much at times over small things and this was one of those times. It was rare but it happened and despite it being uncommon, it did a load of damage. She was exhausted from so many classes and assignments that even one light thing that occurred, she snapped.

Was she sitting at home thinking about the same thing he was thinking of? Or was she too lost in thought about her homework? Was she pausing her furious writing hand to think back to when they were kids who were blissfully ignorant? Or was she trying to write down the meaning of Hamlet?

So many questions, so very little answers.

Turning off the T.V. angrily as though its semi-quiet nonsense broke his thought, he stood up. There was only one way to attempt to get some answers. There was one way to do it and as reluctant as he was, he had to or he'd lose so much sleep at night. No longer were the days where he could catch up on sleep in class.

Walking over to the phone was the second hardest thing he ever had to do. The first hardest thing he ever had to do was dial Kim's number, a number he long ago memorized. It rang a few times…his dinner threatened to come up. Finally it answered, hesitated, then spoke. "Hello?"

"Kim?" His voice cracked, making him sound like a boy who just got attacked by puberty instead of the young man just leaving it. Clearing his throat, he tried again, "Hey KP."

The girl on the other side of the phone hesitated as though unsure if she heard what she heard. "Oh…hi Ron." It was clear she was uncomfortable. There was a slight moving noise on her side of the telephone, hinting she was shifting on her bed into a more relaxed position. None came.

"Um…Listen, I um…" Ron rubbed the back of his neck, all words leaving him as soon as her gentle voice came from the phone. After spending so much time thinking and thinking of what to say, he felt and was speechless.

"Look, this…" Kim seemed hesitant and embarrassed which made her unable to continue.

Both inhaled at the same time to blurt out the only thing they could think of, unable to hear the other planning to do the same. In accidental unison, they blurted out, "How about we meet at the mall and talk this out?"

There was a long pause.

Speaking at the same time once more, they agreed. "Sure."

"Master, can you watch Hasani for a few hours?" Dressed in some crisp and freshly ironed pants and a dark red loose shirt, Nukpana walked downstairs while speaking. Her long hair was brushed back, held together by a simple tie that looked like it would bust at the slightest movement.

"Mm-hmm, sure." He turned the page of his newspaper, his mind wrapped around this hurricane that seemed to be hitting the same city close to its third or fourth anniversary from the last one. "Barely recovered and about to be destroyed…that's the universe's way of saying to forget about i-…what?!" Monty had been mumbling about the article when Nukpana's words finally sunk into his mind.

Putting on a pair of earrings, tilting her head as she looked into the mirror, she wore a calm expression. She knew very well he would do that until the information dawned on him. It was comical in a sense but kind of sad in another. Repeating herself a bit slower, she turned to him. "Can you please watch Hasani for a few hours, Monty? I need to go shop for him and maybe for myself."

"But…but…I can't look over him! He's an infant!" He spoke as though that one thing would explain everything. As if to make it seem like he had justified himself for not wanting to be near the kid, he crossed his arms.

Determination flared brightly in her eyes. "He's close to, what, nine or ten months already. All you need to do is watch him closely and play with him." Grabbing a few bills, she kissed his lips briefly and quickly ran out of the house. She didn't want him to have the chance to order her to stay there.

Monty slowly turned towards the stairs as though in a horror film. With a look of despair on his face, he walked up the creaking steps. Hasani was heard crying once more, probably wanting attention…

"Wish I was in the hurricane instead." He mumbled.

Next chapter: We see Ron and Kim's conclusion to their meeting; Nukpana comes back to her home to see it dark and messy…did something bad happen? Review please!