Chapter Five

"Oh I don't get it! It's so confusing dammit!" screeched Shiromy frustratedly, stabbing her desk repeatedly with a pencil.

"Careful! You might stab yourself with it, and we know it wouldn't heal in a hurry," warned Sanjo, leaning his head on his hand. He gazed at her silently and looked away when she frowned.

"What?" she asked, trying to end her tantrum. "Look. Not everyone in this world can be as smart as you. I mean, come on, Physics isn't my best subject, but I'm trying…you think I'm hopeless don't you?" she concluded glumly, slouching down on her chair.

"No that's not what I was thinking! I was thinking about something else. Er…don't worry about it."

"Ah a secret! Come on, out with it! I'll be the first to know!"

Sanjo shook his head adamantly and refused to meet her eye.

"Okay. Are you going to tell me, or do I have to wrestle it out of you? I always win that way, don't I?" she grinned.

"Go ahead. We know you stopped winning some years back, due to…unidentified reasons," said her friend smugly, tapping the desk with his pen. "…so you're not getting anything out it like that, sweetie."

Shiromy growled and jumped out of her chair, pouncing on him and grabbing a handful of his jet-black hair. Sanjo gasped but put up little resistance as he was pushed out of his chair. They both fell onto her bed, onto which she pinned his arms and legs.

The sun crept out from behind the curtained window, making strands of her black hair appear golden- brown from its touch.

"I am Romy Warrior Princess," she huffed, oblivious to the fact that her friend was biting his lip. "I have won, because someone didn't even bother to put up a good fight. But, I won anywayz, so," she said, head butting him, "You have to tell me!"

Sanjo laughed shakily, unmoving under her.

"Um. Uh, will you let go of me now? I…I didn't think you'd do that again, not since…"

Shiromy frowned and stared at her friend in shock.

"What the…!" she shrugged off his arm and released her captive slowly, standing up. "You're blushing! Omigosh!"

Her eyes widened and she observed him as though he had grown another head.

Before anything could be explained, her fellow friends in orphanage barged into the room. Jade was attempting the Moonwalk and Philomena was in DJ mode with the radio on her shoulder. Shiromy groaned at the sound of 'Right Thur' blaring from it.

"Turn it off! Turn the bloody thing off! I absolutely hate that song, if you could call it a song!" She raged across the room like a mad buffalo, hands clawing at the intrusive object. Philomena hurriedly rescued her CD before Shiromy could toss it out the window.

"Hey Joe 'bro! Howz it goin'? What have you been doing with this madwoman of ours?" she asked, while the other two were busy squabbling over the radio. She wondered why he was looking a little flushed.

Shiromy glanced up at them, forgetting about the fight.

"Actually, I think that song is pretty funky," said Sanjo hurriedly, looking everywhere and nowhere.

"Well you'll never guess what…" Shiromy paused as he looked at her pleadingly. "…what just happened. I dared him to one of our prestigious wrestling events and…I won!" she declared, throwing her hands up in triumph.

"Wow! You haven't won in ages have you? But…don't you think it's a little too late to start that again, Rom?" inquired Jade, raising her eyebrows.

Sanjo coughed lightly and muttered a 'see ya later', heading for the door.

"Oh he just can't face the fact that he'd lost that's all! Poor baby!" teased Shiromy, hoping her friends would not notice anything.

"Stop being so silly for goodness sake! Joe, your Mum wants to see me about the fundraising, so I'll join you," said Jade, following him.

Philomena watched them leave the orphanage. She was trying to guess what might have occurred between her friends, but an amber light seemed to weave itself around Jade and Sanjo. After spending the holidays with her new- found relatives, Philomena secretly desired to gain her full powers, but sometimes things like these made her feel like she was plain crazy. She blinked till the light evaporated slowly, and turned to Shiromy, who had suddenly commenced studying.

"Go away. I have work to do," she said without raising her eyes from her books.

"Of course, so do I, but not until we settle something. I saw the look on his face as he walked out that door."

She approached her apparently busy friend and laid her hands on her shoulders.

"I think he kinda…likes you, Romy. He has, for a long time."

Shiromy snorted and rolled her eyes, proceeding to sing the theme from Days of Our Lives.

"Don't be ridiculous, Miss Matchmaker! He was just embarrassed that's all! Though I didn't have the slightest idea that he would be…we've always thought of each other as buddies."

"What if he doesn't feel that way anymore?"

Shiromy regarded her friend wearily.

"I hope not Phil. I really hope not. He's cute, smart and I love him as a friend or brother, but anything else is impossible. You can't fall for your pals! How desperate is that?"

Philomena nodded understandingly and sat on Shiromy's bed smilingly.

"Well, at least it's a nice change to see that you've been staying clear away from…youknowwho for three weeks…"

"You can utter his name aloud, dear. He's not Voldemort!" retorted Shiromy. Philomena slapped a hand on her forehead as her friend slowly acquired 'that look' on her face again. It was almost like bloodlust, and made her look precisely what she reviled.

"I've got some groundbreaking news from Ira Redfern today," she said, promptly changing the subject. "Everyone's looking high and low for I quote 'a Nightworlder with a mutation and enough power to blow up this whole world if they chose to.' Looks like they're urgently trying to find this person; whoever it might be…"

Shiromy hissed and laughed brittly.

"Oh let's see…is it another Millennium Battle coming our way? Yay! What fun! Who's gonna be in the tribes this time?"

Philomena sighed and crossed her legs.

"It's no joke. And I don't think it's like the Battle. They've got spies everywhere. What if…what if one of us turns out to be…"

"Phil, before you run away with that great and wonderful imagination of yours, I'll remind you that we're not Nightworlders. We don't want anything to do with that lot."

"We don't even know who we are Romy. Alright, I found out that I'm a Harman, but I don't know who my father was. Jade was apparently abandoned by her derelict parents, but she doesn't know much about them either. And you," she pointed out, "You know nothing about yours except that the hunters got them, and that your parents named you 'Shiromy'. Hey, I never thought about it before, but how did they figure out your name?"

"It was sewn on my handkerchief," answered the owner of the name. "Someday I'll find out everything about my parents, and so will you."

Philomena sighed and gave her a quick hug.

"I'm sure we will Romy."

"Gee, we have lots of things to do this year don't we?" There's Year Twelve of course, my history and…him to worry about," she pondered. "Meanwhile a mutated Nightworlder is being hunted down, and Sanjo's, heaven forbid, in love with me. It's going to be a rather interesting year…"

'Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, this life…

******