Angel in Disguise by Comet~Princess
Disclaimer: I can give you a pack of gum and maybe five bucks if you´re selling either Gundam Wing or Sailormoon. Can I have first dibs on Heero? ^_^
AN: LOL! Minna, I totally love your reviews for the last chapter. I don´t think I´ve laughed so hard before! And as an assurance, no, I´m not pairing Heero with Relena, but Usagi, as an angel who is forbidden to love a mortal, would not consider herself as a match for him, at least for now. That´s probably the main reason why she came up with that little idea and why she wouldn´t realize her own feelings until later. I didn´t mind your reactions to her matchmaking idea though! ^_^ *angry readers chucking rotten vegetables* Eeep! Okay, just read this chapter and you´ll be reassured that Relena is insane. Warning to Relena fans, this chapter has even more Relena-bashing than the last one, even though the last chapter was really pretty tame. Another note about this chapter, I think it´s going to be more serious than the last one, so don´t expect to fall off your chair with laughter.
Anime Princess: Oh, she´s soooo trying. Trying is the key word here. *grin*
brenda-chan: Gomen nasai, I didn´t mean to get you in trouble. ^_^ I´m glad you thought it was funny though.
Uranus2000: LOL! I loved your review! First, yep, Heero wasn´t really reading the fried chicken ad since he was kind of out of it, thinking about Usagi-chan and all. Second, who said Jupiter and Pluto were talking about Usagi? I certainly didn´t. Hmm. . .what happens to Usagi and Heero? I can´t give that away now, can I?
Wolf_Eye: That´s an interesting suggestion. I´m not quite sure I understand though. Do you mean I should make Usagi-chan somewhat evil? Or do you mean that she should suffer a little? Tell me and I´ll see what I can do about incorporating it into the plot. It won´t be too dark though. Arigato!
Timeframe: Please, not again. . .
Now, let´s see how Usagi will attempt to complete this feat, ne?
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Chapter 4 –Matchmaker
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Usagi walked into her room and dumped her books onto her desk. Quickly, she ran over the possible ways of doing what she had in mind. It was going to be difficult. She was no Goddess of Love, and Heero wasn´t exactly an easy target either. She sighed before slumping into her chair and flipping open her chemistry textbook. The symbols made her dizzy and as quickly as she opened it, she snapped it shut. She wasn´t going to be around long enough to have to take the exam for this course. Why does she even care whether or not she gets half the stuff on the page? Just then, there was a frantic knocking at her door.
"It´s open," she called out.
The door opened and Duo walked in, a big grin on his face. "Hey gorgeous! I can´t believe you´re rooming with Heero of all people!" he ranted. "And you guys couldn´t have been nice enough to tell me that little piece of information. You know, I almost got killed in first and last period trying to get your attention!"
Usagi laughed. "I´m sorry. I didn´t know you were friends with Heero," she replied good-naturally. "What´s so special about rooming with Heero?"
Duo´s grin widened. "What did you do? Stay in your room all weekend?" he joked.
Usagi smiled with mirth. "Actually, I didn´t stay in here all weekend. I went out with Heero yesterday," she said.
Duo´s eyes bulged. Heero went out with Usagi yesterday? As in date? Faster than the speed of light, Duo was across the hall from Usagi´s room, banging on Heero´s locked door like a madman. A very irritated Heero threw open the door and Duo almost whacked him a few times in the face.
"You better have a good excuse for this, or omae o korosu," Heero stated, whipping out his gun at the braided boy.
Duo´s grin didn´t falter at the sight of the gun. "Buddy, I never knew you had it in you! Man, you move faster than me!" he exclaimed.
Heero kept a passive face, undisturbed by Duo´s outburst. It happened all the time. A couple of days ago, it was something about ice-cream missing from his refrigerator. That had turned out to be in Quatre´s pantry. How? Heero really didn´t know, nor does he care.
"What are you talking about?" he questioned, his voice hardly changing pace and pitch, the gun never even budging.
Duo jabbed a thumb towards Usagi´s door, where the silver-haired girl stood with utter confusion on her face. What was Duo talking about? "I mean yesterday when you asked her out. She just came on Saturday and now you´re dating? Heero, I never I´d be competing with you of all people for a girl´s attention!" Duo explained.
Usagi´s eyes widened. She ran out of the doorway of her room, yelling, "No, no, no! I thought he needed some air, so I dragged him outside!"
Duo blinked. Usagi´s words sunk in and he was suddenly very aware of Heero´s gun pointed in his direction. He gulped and turned to his fellow pilot. "Oops, sorry. I thought she meant a date when she said she went out with you," Duo said, adding a nervous laugh at the end. Heero reluctantly put away his gun. Duo at least provided entertainment in World History class, and he still owed him ten bucks.
Usagi sighed. "No, I meant it exactly the way I said it."
Duo looked between Heero and Usagi. He noticed that Heero was staring at the girl, and as she became aware of it, she started to blush. Duo smiled inwardly. He definitely wouldn´t mind having Usagi as his girlfriend, but if Heero and Usagi were interested in each other, he was rooting for his friend all the way. How often does Perfect Soldier Boy take interest in something other than his laptop and missions? Duo grinned evilly as a plan started to form in his mind. "Hey, if you´re not dating Heero, you want to go out with me on Friday?" he asked the silver-haired girl.
Usagi tore her attention away from Heero and looked at Duo. Was he serious? Wait a second. . .this may be a perfect excuse, she thought. "Sure, but it´d be more fun if we had more people. You know, like double date or something with other people?" she suggested.
Duo almost laughed out loud. She had totally hit his idea on the head. "No problem! So who do you want to go with?" he asked eagerly. He was hoping that she´ll know a nice girl, and he would personally drag Heero along. Then, he could do a little matchmaking. Unfortunately, it seems like Usagi had an entirely different pairing in mind. She turned to Heero and smiled. "You want to come?" she asked enthusiastically.
Heero regarded the two people in the hall. Did he really want to spend the entire night with Duo? Usagi, he didn´t really mind. Inwardly, he slapped himself again. I mind, I mind, I mind, he chanted in his head. "I´ll think about it," he responded out loud before slamming shut the door to his room. Why do I suddenly want to kill Duo for asking her out? he thought in exasperation as he walked back to his desk.
Duo´s jaw dropped. Did Heero just say he´ll think about double-dating with him and Usagi? With some blind date since he was supposed to be Usagi´s escort that night? Man, he must be more gone over Usagi than I thought!
Usagi, on the other hand, was grinning and her mind whirled, trying to find a way of bringing Relena along with them. She turned to Duo and smiled brilliantly. "Hey Duo! Do you mind if I pick the girl? I´ve got someone in mind," she stated.
Duo snapped out of his reverie and turned to Usagi. "Huh? Oh, not at all. Who are you going to ask?" he inquired.
"That´s a surprise," Usagi said mysteriously.
Duo smiled. Well, at least he didn´t mind surprises. Hopefully, Heero wouldn´t kill him after he figured out what Duo tried to do.
~*~*~*~*~
Wufei looked at the teams in frustration. It was a nice afternoon after school and a group of 5 boys was splitting up to play a game of basketball. Unfortunately, the numbers were uneven. His team was missing a player. With his fellow pilots, he wouldn´t care, but with these weak players, the numbers need to be even in order to serve justice. Wufei was about to order one of the other team´s players off when he spotted Usagi and Heero walking towards the basketball court with their books.
"Yuy!" he yelled, "Get over here and play so the teams are even!"
Heero and Usagi looked in his direction. Then, Heero shrugged and walked to them. They´d been on their way back to the dorm, but maybe something active would get his mind off of the girl that always seems to be haunting his thoughts. An indignant cry was heard from one of the boys on the other team as Heero stepped onto the court.
"That´s not fair! He´s the best player in the school! We have to play him?!" the boy shouted.
"Well, he is the only one available to play right now," the boy on Wufei´s team spoke up.
"Of course you wouldn´t care. He´s on your team," another boy retorted.
The arguing continued until Usagi, Heero, and Wufei were all starting to get pissed off. Usagi stuck two fingers in her mouth and let out an piercing whistle. Immediately, the six boys´ attention turned to her.
"Why don´t I play if you really don´t want Heero to?" she suggested. Mars had taught her to play basketball once, and she wasn´t half bad.
One of the boys laughed. "You? You´re a girl! And a tiny one! We´ll run you over!" he taunted.
Usagi started to fume. Why is it that all humans assume I´m weak because I´m a girl and I´m small? she thought furiously. At once, she issued a challenge. "Oh yea? Well, if you´re so good, why don´t the four of you play against me, Wufei, and Heero. If I´m as weak as you say, then it´s really four against two," she reasoned. "Or are you afraid?"
All of the boys turned to her in surprise, except for Heero, who´s face remained impassive. One of the boys spoke up, "Sure, why not? It would be four against two, but they´re good enough to cover for her."
Wufei blinked. He knew Usagi was fast, but with her size, the other boys probably could knock her over. He turned to the girl. "What the heck are you doing?" he asked angrily.
Usagi looked over at him and smirked. "Oh, come on, Wufei! Why can´t you just have a little confidence in me for once?" she taunted.
Wufei growled but didn´t say anything else. One of the boys suggested they play until one team reached 50 points and the rest of them agreed. Both teams got into their starting positions and the game started. All the boys were surprised at the small girl´s skill, not to mention her speed. It was probably true that they could easily knock her over, but she knew her own weakness. She was agile and avoided bodily contact as much as possible. Soon, Wufei, Heero, and Usagi were leading by almost 20 points. One of players on the other team was about to complain when a piercing screech was heard.
"HHEEEERROO!!!"
Heero visibly winced. A moment later, Relena appeared on the edge of the court. She ran to the middle of the game and tried to glomp onto Heero, who easily sidestepped all her attempts. Usagi suddenly had a flash of inspiration. "Miss Relena, would you like to play with us?" she asked.
All the boys looked at her as though she was insane, and she got a very angry death glare from Heero.
"Me? Play this sweaty game of nonsense?" Relena asked, sticking her nose in the air. "I think not."
Wufei shrugged. All the better that she stayed out of the way. The game continued, but with Relena´s constant glomping and Heero´s efforts to avoid them, it seemed like the two got in the way more often than not. The other team started to catch up until the score was 48 to 48. At this point, Wufei got pissed off. "Yuy! Take the damn onna and get out of the way!" he yelled.
Heero gladly accepted. He bolted for the dorm where he was hoping he could lose his insane stalker in the halls.
Wufei glared at Usagi. He didn´t want to lose, but with only two players, he really didn´t think they´d have a chance. He finally managed to get the ball from the opposing team, but realized that he was going to have to pass it to Usagi since he was too far from the net. After an instant of consideration, he decided to trust the onna. Usagi didn´t betray that trust. She ran forward to catch the ball and made a perfect shot. The score was 50 to 48, Wufei´s team.
As the boys stared in awe at the silver-haired girl, Wufei walked over to her. "You´re not weak, onna," he commented.
Usagi grinned. "I´ll say that´s the closest to a compliment I´m going to get from you, Wufei, so thanks," she replied.
Wufei nodded to her as he walked away towards his dorm room, something akin to respect flickering in his eyes.
~*~*~*~*~
"What? I don´t get it," Duo said, scratching his head as Trowa tried to explain once again about the Trojan War. They had an English test the next day and Duo just didn´t get why the Trojan War started. Trowa rubbed his temple. He´s already explained it three times and he was getting sick of it. Heck, he wasn´t even taking English this semester! The only reason he was sitting in Heero´s room, helping him and Duo was because he actually knew this stuff! (AN: Where I live, high school works in a semester system. You get four courses for the first half of the year and a different four for the second half.)
Just as he was about to call it quits, a head popped into the kitchen. "Hey! Why didn´t you guys wait for me before you started?" Usagi said as she walked in with a huge pile of mythology books. She put them on the kitchen table, making a loud thump, before plopping into one of the chairs.
Trowa eyed the girl. He knew there was something strange about her. He just couldn´t put his finger on it. Duo grinned. Here´s a chance for him. "Hey Usagi! Why don´t you help Heero and Trowa will help me?" he suggested.
Heero looked up from his book and replied, "I don´t need help."
"Whatever, buddy. I know you hate English as much as I do," Duo said breezily as he got up from his seat next to Heero and practically picked up Usagi and shoved her into it. He pushed her a little too hard and she fell into Heero, who caught her before she landed in his lap. This caused Usagi to blush and it earned Duo a glare from her.
"You know, Duo, all you had to do was tell me where to sit," Usagi reprimanded as she untangled herself from Heero´s arms and sat back up. Usagi sighed mentally before opening her book. But it was nice to be in his arms. It felt so right. . .no it didn´t. No, it didn´t, she denied. She was supposed to be setting him up with Relena, not with herself.
Duo smiled innocently. "Sorry, Usagi. I guess I´m stronger than I thought," he said. Duo grabbed Trowa´s arm and dragged him to the living room. "We´ll leave you two alone to study now," he said nonchalantly. However, Trowa was not as oblivious to Duo´s actions as the other two. As soon as the two of them were out of earshot, he turned to Duo. "What exactly are you trying to do?" he asked.
Duo´s smile widened. "Come on Tro-man! You must have noticed that they like each other. They´re both just denying it. I´m just helping them," he replied innocently.
Trowa shook his head. He´d suspected something like it considering the way Usagi seemed to blush around Heero all the time, and even he had to admit that Heero seemed to talk more in her presence. Granted, it wasn´t that much more, but still. . . He gazed at Duo. Maybe he´s not as dense as he looks, he thought.
~*~*~*~*~
Usagi flipped through the pages of her English textbook, briefly scanning the story of the Trojan War. She had been intrigued by the story the first time she had read it and had committed it to memory so she could tell her friends when she went home, so she really didn´t need to study for this test. She glanced at Heero, who was reading through his notes. "So what do you need help with?" she asked, unable to put up with the silence between them any longer.
"Hn," Heero grunted in reply. He refused to ask for help unless absolutely necessary.
"Fine. Do you want anything to drink?" Usagi asked, getting up to grab a cup of orange juice. Heero didn´t reply, but Usagi poured him one anyway. He continued to glare at the pages and pages of text. It wasn´t that he couldn´t remember the stuff. In fact, his memory was probably the best among the guys. He just didn´t care about some war that may or may not be real, and he hated the way the gods interfered with the humans´ lives all through the story. (AN: How ironic. . .)
Heero, and surprisingly, Usagi as well, remained silent while they studied. He was so lost in his own books that he didn´t even notice Duo and Trowa leaving the dorm. It wasn´t until he heard a beeping sound from his computer that he realized he had been studying for almost three hours. He looked over at Usagi and suppressed a smile. She had fallen asleep on her chemistry textbook, her head nestled in her arms. He reached over to his laptop and opened his e-mail, efficiently cutting off the noise it was giving off. The message was from the Preventers´ headquarters, notifying him that rebel groups seem to rising and that they need to be prepared should another battle be necessary. Heero deleted the e-mail, along with the other 57 that he got from Relena, before changing his e-mail address and notifying Lady Une and the other pilots. He´d known about the rebels for awhile, since he kept up with the news everyday, but he was hoping that he wouldn´t have to fight again.
He looked over Usagi, who was still sleeping peacefully, unaware of anything around her. Careful as not to wake her, he lifted her head and arms from the textbook on the table, causing her head to fall lightly onto his chest. Gently, he put his arms around her waist and underneath her knees, and carried her off to her room. Whatever happens, I´ll protect you, he thought. Suddenly, he paused in the hall. Why? Why do I feel a need to keep her safe? He looked at the angel in his arms (AN: Pun intended.) and whispered out loud before he even realized it, "Doesn´t matter. I´ll protect you."
~*~*~*~*~
"Let´s go, Heero! We´re going to be late!" Usagi shouted into the dorm. It was Friday night and they were supposed to meet Duo downstairs in a few minutes. She had somehow convinced Heero to go, even though he had been very reluctant and was currently hitting himself in the head for saying he´ll think about it in the first place. Another couple of minutes passed and there was still no sign of Heero. Usagi sighed and walked to his door, rapping on it in exasperation.
"I´m not going," came the monotonous reply.
"You are so going," Usagi yelled as she opened the door and marched into his room. "I set you up with a date for tonight and that girl is going to be very disappointed if you don´t show up!"
Heero was sitting at his desk. His textbooks were opened and he was clicking away on his laptop. Without even looking up from the screen, he said, "I have no idea who she is and I don´t care."
"But you promised to go!" Usagi replied, stomping her foot on the floor.
Heero finally turned from the computer to look at her, and he couldn´t help but stare. Usagi was wearing a short, white dress with spaghetti straps and silver trimming on the neckline and the hem. She was carrying a matching purse and had on a pair of heels. Her hair was done in its usual style and she was pouting in the cutest expression he´d ever seen. She noticed his gaze and started to blush.
"What?" she asked with a little irritation in her voice.
Heero didn´t reply. He just kept staring.
Usagi sighed. "You really don´t want to go?" she asked, disappointed.
Heero looked at her, and he couldn´t help but feel a little bad. She had obviously really looked forward to this, and he had said he´ll go before. Plus, did he really want her to be alone with Duo all evening? I´ll probably kill myself for this after, he thought. He couldn´t believe that she had only been around for a week. Duo understood mythology when she tutored him. Wufei had actually admitted that she was not another weak onna, and he himself was about to agree to go on a date, for Pete´s sake. He sighed inwardly. "Fine," he said.
"Really? You´ll go?" Usagi asked, her expression changing to one of content and excitement. "Thank you so much, Heero!" Without thinking, she ran forward and gave him a hug. He stiffened in her embrace and Usagi suddenly remembered what happened the last time she had hugged him. Quickly, she stepped back. "Uh. . . I didn´t mean to. . ." she murmured.
Heero shrugged. "It´s alright," he replied.
Usagi gave him a radiant smile. At least we´re getting somewhere with the emotions, she thought. "Okay. I´ll wait for you outside," she said, pecking him on the cheek before sauntering out.
Heero stood in the middle of his room, his eyes a little glazed. What the hell just happened?
~*~*~*~*~
Usagi walked into the Moonlight Café with Duo on one arm and Heero on the other. She smiled when she spotted a girl with wheat-coloured hair, and started to drag the two boys in that direction.
Duo looked at their surroundings in awe. "Wow! You have good taste, Usagi," he complimented. The café screamed sophistication with its velvety curtains on large glass windows, potted plants, cushioned chairs, and dim lights.
Usagi smiled at Duo. "Thanks! What do you think, Heero?" she asked, turning to the expressionless boy. He shrugged and replied with silence. He was not easily impressed. Heck, he´s been inside the Sanq Kingdom´s Palace and that had hardly fazed him. Just then, he spotted a familiar figure running to him at top speed. A second later, his air supply was cut off.
"Oh Heero! I thought you weren´t going to show up! I can´t believe you finally asked me out! You should have done it in person instead of leaving a note though! I wouldn´t have minded!" Relena babbled while she squeezed Heero around the chest.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Heero tried to say without gasping for air.
Duo noticed that his best friend was slowly turning blue and decided to step in. "Uh. . . Relena, you may want to release him before he suffocates," Duo supplied. Although Heero had a good question. What is she talking about?
Relena released Heero and glared at Duo. "I´m the princess here. I don´t need your comments," she said. "And what exactly are you doing here of all places?"
Duo raised an eyebrow. "I could ask you the same, your Highness," he added sarcastically.
"I am on a date with Heero," Relena declared.
"Wha?" Duo asked, ever so eloquently. "Uh. . . Heero´s with us for tonight," he finished, pointing to himself and Usagi, when he suddenly realized what was going on. Oh crap! Of all people, the person she had in mind was Relena?! he thought. "Um. . . maybe we should sit down," Duo suggested weakly, trying unsuccessfully to ignore Heero´s death glare on him and Usagi. He had obviously figured out what was going on as well.
"That´s not possible!" Relena announced. She turned to Heero and made an attempt to look sweet, which, Heero subconsciously thought, was not even half as sweet as Usagi, and she wasn´t even trying. Relena made another grab at Heero, who quickly sidestepped her attempt, causing her to glomp onto a waiter.
"Excuse me, miss," the waiter managed to choke out.
Relena looked at her victim, then, realizing that it was not Heero, released him and made a face. "What are YOU doing here?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips.
The waiter blinked. "I´m sorry miss, but I work here," he replied, confusion clearly showing on his face.
Duo choked as he tried not to laugh, then he drew Usagi aside. "We really need to talk. I mean, really," he whispered, glancing nervously at Heero, who was positively radiating a promise of death to all those within a ten meter radius of him.
Usagi grinned. "That´s a great idea, Duo. Give me a second," she said before running off to where Heero was standing. Grabbing his arm in one hand and Relena´s in the other, she walked them to a table and pushed them into the two chairs.
"Watch it!" Relena exclaimed.
"Sorry, but Duo and I can´t keep you company. We need to talk. See you later tonight," she said with a jaunty wave before skipping away to where Duo was hiding his face in his hands. "What´s wrong, Duo?" she asked when she saw him.
"Usagi, do you have a death wish?" he asked, looking up at her through his indigo eyes.
"No, why?" she replied.
"Because you just gave Heero the perfect excuse to kill us," Duo said, looking over at Heero, who was trying desperately to pry Relena off his torso, even though it looked like he was going to need a few crowbars. "Let´s leave before he gets Relena off," Duo added, dragging Usagi out of the café. I don´t mind dying, but I do mind dying painfully, Duo thought dryly.
After another ten minutes, Heero finally managed to loosen Relena´s grip. Quickly, he brought out his gun. "Omae o korosu," he growled.
Relena´s face brightened. "Really? You´ll kill me now? Oh, I´ve waited for so long," she said, acting as though Heero had just asked to marry her. (AN: May God bless the poor soul who does marry her.)
Psycho, Heero thought before turning to leave, mentally promising to bring a rocket launcher the next time he went on a date. Right now, there was a more important matter to deal with. He had a score to settle with his so-called friend and his roommate.
~*~*~*~*~
"And that´s why you need to hide us," Duo pleaded to Quatre, who was listening to his explanation, along with Trowa and Wufei.
"What I don´t understand is, why did you invite Heero and Relena of all people to double date with you?" Quatre asked, confused.
"That was my doing," Usagi confessed. "What´s wrong with Heero and Relena?"
Wufei snorted. "Onna, I thought you´d be smarter than that."
Seeing Usagi´s baffled expression, Quatre proceeded to explain. "Miss Relena is the princess of the Sanq Kingdom, the symbol of peace on Earth. Heero has been ordered a few times to protect her." At this, he paused, looking at his fellow pilots, afraid that he had given too much away.
Duo continued where Quatre left off. "Yea, except Relena is a crazy stalker. She followed him everywhere and she keeps thinking that because Heero hasn´t killed her, even though he´s threatened to, he´s in love with her or something."
"And Yuy hates the psychopathic weak onna," Wufei finished for the rest of the pilots.
"Psychopathic?" Usagi questioned. "She didn´t seem cra- "
Her sentence was cut off by a earsplitting scream down the halls of the building. "HHHEEEEEERRROOO! You can come kill me now!" rang out.
"You were saying?" Trowa asked as Usagi turned to look at the four boys.
"You´re right," Usagi admitted. She turned to Duo. "Sorry about that. I´ll go apologize to Heero and tell him you had nothing to do with it," she said. Before the boys could say another word, she had left Quatre´s dorm.
"Maybe we should go with her. Heero´s bound to be unreasonable right now," Quatre suggested, concern on his face.
"She´ll be able to handle it," Wufei said, sitting back in his chair and crossing his arms. The other three guys looked at Wufei in surprise. Duo put a hand on Wufei´s forehead and Trowa checked his pulse.
"No fever," Duo reported.
"Regular heartbeat," Trowa confirmed.
"Get your hands off me!!" Wufei snapped as he jumped up from his position, glaring at both of them.
"You know, Usagi doesn´t see it, but she´ll be a much better match for Heero than Relena," Quatre spoke up.
Duo grinned. "So, you noticed they seem to have a thing for each other too?" he asked. "Want to join me in my matchmaking efforts?"
Quatre shook his head and smiled at Duo. "Some things are better left alone, Duo. I´m sure they´ll be able to work it out themselves," he added confidently.
~*~*~*~*~
Usagi gingerly opened the door to her and Heero´s dorm. "Heero? Are you here?"
Suddenly, the door was slammed shut behind her and she found herself pinned to the wall, staring into a pair of Prussian blue eyes which burned with a furious fire, Heero´s breath on her face and his lips inches from her own.
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End of Chapter 4.
AN: Finally! It took me days to write the scene in the stupid café. Alright, so now, is Heero going to kiss Usagi-chan or is he going to kill her? Hmm. . .if you really want to know, then REVIEW!! Then, I´ll see what I can do about getting the next chapter out. Ja!