Carrot woke up and looked at his alarm clock. He groaned. "Only 7:30. Arg."
He grunted, and fell out of bed with a thump. He rustled his disheveled hair and looked
at his sexy woman calendar.

"Mmm...Tori." He mumbled, calling the woman by her first name. The month
was October, and only three weeks remained before the wedding.

Carrot heard the shower running in a distant room. The beating of the water on
the shower sliding doors was relaxing to him. He sat for a moment in a daze, thinking of
random things.

The beating of the water stopped. After a moment, Chocolate appeared in the
doorway in a robe, drying her hair with a towel. "You're up!" she exclaimed. She flung
her hair back and kissed him. Carrot still couldn't believe he was with Chocolate. After
all those years of avoiding her.

The phone rang suddenly. Chocolate went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and
Carrot tended to the abrasive ringing of the telephone.

"Hello?" he asked. There was heavy breathing on the other side. "Hello?" he
asked again, in a more worried tone. "Carrot?" a quivering voice trembled. Carrot's
eyebrows knotted in concern.

"Tira? What's wrong?" he asked. No, not asked...demanded. Something was
wrong with Tira.

Tira's voice was small, so small, like a child's. She had been crying. "Carrot,
please come over." Carrot obeyed, and hung the phone up. As he grabbed his coat,
Chocolate stepped out of the bathroom.

"What's wong, honey?" she asked, toothpaste filling her mouth. "I have to go
help out a friend." He answered without turning around.


Carrot pressed the elevator button. After waiting a few seconds, he pressed it
harder and faster. He looked above his head. The light went from the twelve...to the
eleven...to the ten...

Carrot stamped his foot, and then raced to the stairs. He flew up nine flights of
stairs, thinking only of how Tira was faring in her apartment. Without knocking, he
dashed inside.

"Tira? Tira!" Carrot yelled. He ran to her bedroom. It was a mess. There was a
broken lamp on the floor, and clothes were scattered everywhere. Dents were pitted in
the walls, along with skid marks. "What happened..." he asked to no one specific.

He heard whimpering in the corner. He ran to Tira. She was bleeding from the
nose and her mouth. Her shirt was ripped, her hair unkempt, and she was wearing no
shorts, only underwear. She was desperately trying to cover her half-nakedness.

Carrot looked in awe at her injuries. "What happened? Were you robbed?" he
asked worriedly. She was hiding her tears.

"No, I - well, I was being...Shiranu got angry." Carrot shook his head in
amazement. "Shiranu did this? To you?" he asked. She nodded weakly. "But...Tira
you could take him on. I mean...your whip!" he exclaimed.

Now she shook her head. "I gave that up long ago." She replied. "But still, why
did you let him hurt you like this?" he countered, taking out a handkerchief and wiping
off the dry blood. She paused for a moment, watching Carrot tend to her wounds.

"I know this sounds wrong but...I don't want to lose him." Carrot stopped
dabbing and looked her in the eyes. "Tira, you can do so much better than him." She
looked him in his eyes as well. "Like who?" she asked, almost in hopefulness.

Carrot opened his mouth so as to say something, and then put his handkerchief
back in his pocket. "I don't know." He replied in a flat tone.

After Tira got dressed, Carrot helped her clean up. "Tira, I don't want to leave you alone
with that monster." Tira sighed. "Carrot, I can handle him myself." Carrot refused.

"No, I want to help you." Tira narrowed her eyes. "I told you, I don't need HELP!" she
yelled, hitting him with a large mallet. Carrot groaned under the weight of the giant
hammer. "Oh, so you can smash me but you can't touch Shiranu."