The next day dawned bright, clear, and loudly. "KENTO, SHUT UP!!!" Sai's
voice echoed through the huge house. Téa sat up in bed, eyes wide. What
the hell's going on?!?!? she thought to herself, still half asleep. She
glanced at the clock, Nine o' clock, that's it! It's Saturday and I'm
being woke up before noon. Someone's getting hurt. She climbed out of bed
and stretched. After pulling a brush through her hair, she headed
downstairs where Sai and Kento were arguing loudly. "What the hell's going
on down here?!?!?!" she yelled, "And who started it?"
Both guys looked up innocently, pointing at each other. Nina grinned wickedly from the overstuffed chair she was curled up in, "Kento did. I saw the whole thing Téa, Sai mentioned you two going out tonight and Kento started teasing him."
Téa glared at Kento, laughter in her eyes at his look of disbelief, "Kento, come here." He stood up guiltily and came over to where Téa was standing, hands on her hips. "Can you tell me what time it is?"
Kento glanced at his watch, "Nine o' clock."
"Can you tell me what day it is?"
"Saturday."
"Would you like to know what happens to people who wake me up before noon on Saturdays?," Téa said, fighting the urge to smile, "Well, let me tell you. Téa gets very mean and hurts the person who wakes her up. Does Kento understand?"
Kento gulped, "Yes ma'am, it won't happen again but…"
Téa raised a hand, "No 'buts', just don't let it happen again."
Cali, who had been watching the entire exchange with a huge grin on her face, spoke up next. "Oooh, Kento got in trouble!!" she said in a child- like voice. Everyone broke out into laughter as Kento sat down, embarrassed.
Téa smiled sweetly at Kento, "Don't be mad sweetie, I still love you." Kento smiled reluctantly and began teasing Sai again. Sai looked pleadingly at Téa, who shrugged, "Sorry hon', can't help you anymore." She looked around the room, "Okay, where's Rowen?"
Ryo grinned, "He's upstairs still sleeping."
"Oh no, if I don't get to sleep in, he don't get to sleep in. Anyone care to help me wake him up?" Téa said.
Elisa jumped up, "I'll get the ice." She sprinted into the kitchen and returned a few seconds later with a glass full of ice.
Sage raised an eyebrow. Téa grinned at him, "Just come and enjoy the show." She took the glass from Elisa and headed upstairs, the others following closely behind. Sneaking up to Rowen's door and pushing it open slowly, she saw the victim sprawled across the bed on his stomach, sleeping soundly. She moved silently into the room and dumped all of the ice cubes onto Rowen's back and stood back to watch them melt. A few seconds later, Rowen jumped out of bed, yelling loudly. The entire group stood in the doorway laughing hysterically as Rowen cursed the general ancestry of every single one of them. Téa smiled sweetly when he leveled a glare directly at her, "Good morning Rowen, how are you?"
"You," he said through clenched teeth, "are an evil person and you deserve to have bad things happened to you. Just wait Téa, I'll get revenge for this and you'll regret it." With that he pushed everyone out of the doorway and closed the door loudly.
"I think he's awake," Elisa said innocently. The entire group broke out into laughter again.
Nahla spoke up, "Who's hungry?" Everyone raised a hand but Kento, who was jumping up and down with excitement.
Téa turned to Nina, "Welcome to the family. I hope you're ready for us."
The strawberry blonde laughed, "I'm sure I can handle it. Let's go get breakfast." Rowen emerged from his room dressed in a pair of jeans and a blue T-shirt and the group headed downstairs to prepare breakfast.
~ * ~ * ~
Nahla whacked Kento's hand with a spoon when she caught him trying to sneak off with some of the pancakes for about the billionth time. She turned and glared at him, "No touch!!!"
"But I'm hungry!" the boy complained pitifully.
"So is everyone else in the room but you don't hear us complaining do you, Kento?" Sage asked from his seat at the table.
"Kento, you try to sneak away some food again, I'm going to toss you out of the room and make you wait until everyone else is done eating," Nahla said sweetly from her perch next to the growing stack of pancakes. She waited until the stack was about ready to tip over before bringing it to the table. "Eat," she said.
Kento piled about ten pancakes on his plate and began inhaling them. Cali, who was sitting next to him with just as many pancakes but eating them at a slower rate, poked him in the side, "Kento, if you start to choke, I'm not going to save you. In fact, I'm going to laugh in your face, okay?"
Kento nodded but didn't slow his pace. Sai leaned over and sat another plate of pancakes between the two. "Don't worry Cali, he's been eating like that since before I can remember and he's never choked on anything that I can recall." He winked at her and went back to helping Nahla finish up breakfast.
Between the two of them, Kento and Cali finished off all of "their" plate and about a quarter of the other. Both of them sat back and grinned at Sai and Nahla. "Good breakfast," they said at the same time. Sai and Nahla rolled their eyes and set to cleaning up the table. Téa offered to take Nahla's place so the girl could go study for her art test.
"Thank you sis'," Nahla said as she headed out of the kitchen and up to her room.
Sai looked questioningly at Téa, "Sis'?" he asked.
"Yeah," Téa replied, "We're practically sisters. Didn't you notice?"
"Actually, considering the way you all act towards each other, I'm surprised I didn't," he said loading dishes into the dishwasher.
"Oh well, now ya know. So, what're we going to do tonight?" Téa asked, handing him some more dishes.
"I think we should go do some karaoke," Kento said, strolling into the kitchen.
"Karaoke sounds fun, so does dancing. But Kento," Téa said in reply, "what's this 'we' stuff? You got a mouse in your pocket?"
Sai burst out laughing and Kento glared at both of them. "No. Everyone was just talking out in the living room and it's been decided that we should all go do something fun tonight. I like the idea of dancing, too. I'm in the mood to go impress some chicks with my moves."
Téa coughed loudly, trying to keep from laughing. She turned to Sai, a smile in her eyes, "I have got to see this. What do think, should we all just go out together?" When he hesitated, she grinned, "Don't worry dear, I'll protect you."
"Sounds like fun," Kento said, "I won't make fun of you." Then he added under his breath, "In Téa's presence."
Téa giggled softly but Sai didn't catch the last part. "I guess that's okay," Sai said.
Kento went dancing back into the living room singing off-key, "We're going dancing! We're going dancing!"
"Kento stop singing!" came Cali's voice from the other room. Laughter could be heard as Kento abruptly shut up.
"If he gets too bad, we can always go disappear," Téa whispered conspiratorially to Sai as the pair walked into the living room. He blushed but didn't say anything. She looked up, "What time are we going to head out there then?"
"Oh, how about eight. That's when things usually heat up at the club," Ryo said.
"Sounds good to me," Cali said. Everyone else nodded in agreement.
"So is this going to be an official date for all of us or what?" Elisa asked, "I mean, if it is, then we'll have to pair up."
The guys looked at each other uncomfortably. "Uh, sure. Why not?" Sage said, "I mean, Téa and Sai already are."
Téa grinned, "I think that's a good idea. So who gets to pick their partner for the evening? The guys or the girls?" She raised a brow, "Even better, me and Sai can assign you guys to each other."
Each of the remaining guys immediately asked one of the girls to be their date. Sai and Téa laughed hysterically at their rush. After the commotion had died down, Sage was paired with Elisa, Kento with Nina, and Ryo with Cali. "I guess that leaves Rowen and Nahla. You might like to tell her, Rowen," Elisa said at last.
Sage smiled sweetly, "So we'll, uh, pick you up at eight?" Everyone laughed again.
Téa stood and scooped up her kitten, "Well, Miko and I are off on a walk. Anyone care to join me?"
"I'll go," Ryo said, standing up.
Téa looked around the room, "Anyone else?"
"I would," Sai said, "but I have some work to take care of before tonight."
"I'm going to go see if I can help Nahla out with her drawing skills," Rowen said, heading towards the stairs.
"Kento and I are going to go spar for a while," Cali said after whispering with Kento for a bit.
Nina looked at Elisa, "What'cha think?"
"I think I'll stay here and make some…stuff," Elisa said. ::Cookies,:: she sent to everyone but Kento.
They all nodded with understanding. "I'll go spar with Cali and Kento then," Nina said.
Téa smiled at Ryo, "So I guess it's just you and me, huh?"
"And Miko and White Blaze," he added as the two headed out the door.
"True, true," she said, placing the kitten on her shoulder. White Blaze padded along behind them. She looked at Ryo as they neared the woods, "Where to? You've been here longer than me…know any interesting spots?"
Ryo nodded, heading towards a trail that Téa hadn't noticed earlier, "Several actually. The forests around Jewell Lake are a great place to go hiking. So Miss Téa, what type of hike are we looking for today?"
"I'm up for a challenge if you are," she replied, grinning. "Let's go up there," she suggested, pointing to the peak that could just barely be seen among the trees.
"Are you sure?" Ryo asked, "It'll take us a good four hours."
"Sounds good, I'm in the mood for a workout," she replied, "That is, if you think you can handle it."
Ryo took the bait, "Damn right I can handle it. Better than you'll be able to."
"So we're on," she challenged. The two of them took off at a determined pace towards the mountain.
~ * ~ * ~
"Ow!" Kento exclaimed when he missed blocking a low kick from Cali. "I'm beginning to think this spar is a little unfair," he added. The two girls had decided to team up against him because he had felt the need to open his big mouth and say that he could take them both with his eyes closed. His eyes weren't closed but he was definitely being proven wrong about being able to take them both.
"You asked for it Kento," Nina said, grinning wickedly, "You're lucky we don't blindfold you too. Then you'd really be saying ow."
Cali laughed. "She's right Kento. You should learn when to keep quiet and when to brag. Never brag about your skills when we're around to hear you," she added, "You'll always end up paying for it."
"Don't worry, I'm sorry I even mentioned being able to take you two. It won't happen again," he replied, blocking a kick to the head from Nina. "You two are evil."
"All five of us are," Cali replied, blocking a punch to the gut and retaliating immediately with one of her own. It connected, barely.
"I believe it," he replied, "Where'd you guys learn to fight?"
"Australia. Apparently, I was destined to bear the armor of Dark Soul, I was trained to fight as soon as I could walk," Nina replied.
Cali simply grinned, "The street."
Kento laughed, "It shows Cali. It shows."
~ * ~ * ~
"Nahla tells me you guys moved from Seattle because you got expelled from your school in Seattle," Ryo said as they hiked up the trail leading towards the summit of the mountain.
Téa blushed slightly, "Nahla talks too much. Yes, it's true; I got expelled. As you've probably noticed, Cali and I love to fight. I'm always the one that gets caught when I get into fights. Before yesterday, Cali has never gotten caught." She grinned at him, "You should have seen the shock on her face when Principal Ho dragged both of us down to his office. If it wasn't for the fact that I had gotten into trouble again, I would have laughed at her."
"Speaking of Cali…"
Téa studied him closely, "You like her, eh?"
Now it was Ryo's turn to blush. "Is it obvious?"
Téa shook her head, "Not really, it won't be to her at any rate." When Ryo gave her a confused look, she explained, "Cali's pretty oblivious to guys' attention. It takes her so long to figure out that a guy likes her. I don't think the other girls have noticed either, it's just that I spend a lot of time observing people, I catch little things about a person's attitude that most other people don't."
"I see. You must be pretty good in a fight, then."
Téa grinned, "Yep. Hell, half the time, I know what my opponent is going to do before he or she does. Let me tell you, a lot of people have been completely baffled by that. They swear I know how to read minds."
Ryo laughed, "We'll have to spar some time, then. I bet you won't be able to predict my moves."
Téa narrowed her eyes, though they sparkled with amusement. "You're on Wildfire."
Both guys looked up innocently, pointing at each other. Nina grinned wickedly from the overstuffed chair she was curled up in, "Kento did. I saw the whole thing Téa, Sai mentioned you two going out tonight and Kento started teasing him."
Téa glared at Kento, laughter in her eyes at his look of disbelief, "Kento, come here." He stood up guiltily and came over to where Téa was standing, hands on her hips. "Can you tell me what time it is?"
Kento glanced at his watch, "Nine o' clock."
"Can you tell me what day it is?"
"Saturday."
"Would you like to know what happens to people who wake me up before noon on Saturdays?," Téa said, fighting the urge to smile, "Well, let me tell you. Téa gets very mean and hurts the person who wakes her up. Does Kento understand?"
Kento gulped, "Yes ma'am, it won't happen again but…"
Téa raised a hand, "No 'buts', just don't let it happen again."
Cali, who had been watching the entire exchange with a huge grin on her face, spoke up next. "Oooh, Kento got in trouble!!" she said in a child- like voice. Everyone broke out into laughter as Kento sat down, embarrassed.
Téa smiled sweetly at Kento, "Don't be mad sweetie, I still love you." Kento smiled reluctantly and began teasing Sai again. Sai looked pleadingly at Téa, who shrugged, "Sorry hon', can't help you anymore." She looked around the room, "Okay, where's Rowen?"
Ryo grinned, "He's upstairs still sleeping."
"Oh no, if I don't get to sleep in, he don't get to sleep in. Anyone care to help me wake him up?" Téa said.
Elisa jumped up, "I'll get the ice." She sprinted into the kitchen and returned a few seconds later with a glass full of ice.
Sage raised an eyebrow. Téa grinned at him, "Just come and enjoy the show." She took the glass from Elisa and headed upstairs, the others following closely behind. Sneaking up to Rowen's door and pushing it open slowly, she saw the victim sprawled across the bed on his stomach, sleeping soundly. She moved silently into the room and dumped all of the ice cubes onto Rowen's back and stood back to watch them melt. A few seconds later, Rowen jumped out of bed, yelling loudly. The entire group stood in the doorway laughing hysterically as Rowen cursed the general ancestry of every single one of them. Téa smiled sweetly when he leveled a glare directly at her, "Good morning Rowen, how are you?"
"You," he said through clenched teeth, "are an evil person and you deserve to have bad things happened to you. Just wait Téa, I'll get revenge for this and you'll regret it." With that he pushed everyone out of the doorway and closed the door loudly.
"I think he's awake," Elisa said innocently. The entire group broke out into laughter again.
Nahla spoke up, "Who's hungry?" Everyone raised a hand but Kento, who was jumping up and down with excitement.
Téa turned to Nina, "Welcome to the family. I hope you're ready for us."
The strawberry blonde laughed, "I'm sure I can handle it. Let's go get breakfast." Rowen emerged from his room dressed in a pair of jeans and a blue T-shirt and the group headed downstairs to prepare breakfast.
~ * ~ * ~
Nahla whacked Kento's hand with a spoon when she caught him trying to sneak off with some of the pancakes for about the billionth time. She turned and glared at him, "No touch!!!"
"But I'm hungry!" the boy complained pitifully.
"So is everyone else in the room but you don't hear us complaining do you, Kento?" Sage asked from his seat at the table.
"Kento, you try to sneak away some food again, I'm going to toss you out of the room and make you wait until everyone else is done eating," Nahla said sweetly from her perch next to the growing stack of pancakes. She waited until the stack was about ready to tip over before bringing it to the table. "Eat," she said.
Kento piled about ten pancakes on his plate and began inhaling them. Cali, who was sitting next to him with just as many pancakes but eating them at a slower rate, poked him in the side, "Kento, if you start to choke, I'm not going to save you. In fact, I'm going to laugh in your face, okay?"
Kento nodded but didn't slow his pace. Sai leaned over and sat another plate of pancakes between the two. "Don't worry Cali, he's been eating like that since before I can remember and he's never choked on anything that I can recall." He winked at her and went back to helping Nahla finish up breakfast.
Between the two of them, Kento and Cali finished off all of "their" plate and about a quarter of the other. Both of them sat back and grinned at Sai and Nahla. "Good breakfast," they said at the same time. Sai and Nahla rolled their eyes and set to cleaning up the table. Téa offered to take Nahla's place so the girl could go study for her art test.
"Thank you sis'," Nahla said as she headed out of the kitchen and up to her room.
Sai looked questioningly at Téa, "Sis'?" he asked.
"Yeah," Téa replied, "We're practically sisters. Didn't you notice?"
"Actually, considering the way you all act towards each other, I'm surprised I didn't," he said loading dishes into the dishwasher.
"Oh well, now ya know. So, what're we going to do tonight?" Téa asked, handing him some more dishes.
"I think we should go do some karaoke," Kento said, strolling into the kitchen.
"Karaoke sounds fun, so does dancing. But Kento," Téa said in reply, "what's this 'we' stuff? You got a mouse in your pocket?"
Sai burst out laughing and Kento glared at both of them. "No. Everyone was just talking out in the living room and it's been decided that we should all go do something fun tonight. I like the idea of dancing, too. I'm in the mood to go impress some chicks with my moves."
Téa coughed loudly, trying to keep from laughing. She turned to Sai, a smile in her eyes, "I have got to see this. What do think, should we all just go out together?" When he hesitated, she grinned, "Don't worry dear, I'll protect you."
"Sounds like fun," Kento said, "I won't make fun of you." Then he added under his breath, "In Téa's presence."
Téa giggled softly but Sai didn't catch the last part. "I guess that's okay," Sai said.
Kento went dancing back into the living room singing off-key, "We're going dancing! We're going dancing!"
"Kento stop singing!" came Cali's voice from the other room. Laughter could be heard as Kento abruptly shut up.
"If he gets too bad, we can always go disappear," Téa whispered conspiratorially to Sai as the pair walked into the living room. He blushed but didn't say anything. She looked up, "What time are we going to head out there then?"
"Oh, how about eight. That's when things usually heat up at the club," Ryo said.
"Sounds good to me," Cali said. Everyone else nodded in agreement.
"So is this going to be an official date for all of us or what?" Elisa asked, "I mean, if it is, then we'll have to pair up."
The guys looked at each other uncomfortably. "Uh, sure. Why not?" Sage said, "I mean, Téa and Sai already are."
Téa grinned, "I think that's a good idea. So who gets to pick their partner for the evening? The guys or the girls?" She raised a brow, "Even better, me and Sai can assign you guys to each other."
Each of the remaining guys immediately asked one of the girls to be their date. Sai and Téa laughed hysterically at their rush. After the commotion had died down, Sage was paired with Elisa, Kento with Nina, and Ryo with Cali. "I guess that leaves Rowen and Nahla. You might like to tell her, Rowen," Elisa said at last.
Sage smiled sweetly, "So we'll, uh, pick you up at eight?" Everyone laughed again.
Téa stood and scooped up her kitten, "Well, Miko and I are off on a walk. Anyone care to join me?"
"I'll go," Ryo said, standing up.
Téa looked around the room, "Anyone else?"
"I would," Sai said, "but I have some work to take care of before tonight."
"I'm going to go see if I can help Nahla out with her drawing skills," Rowen said, heading towards the stairs.
"Kento and I are going to go spar for a while," Cali said after whispering with Kento for a bit.
Nina looked at Elisa, "What'cha think?"
"I think I'll stay here and make some…stuff," Elisa said. ::Cookies,:: she sent to everyone but Kento.
They all nodded with understanding. "I'll go spar with Cali and Kento then," Nina said.
Téa smiled at Ryo, "So I guess it's just you and me, huh?"
"And Miko and White Blaze," he added as the two headed out the door.
"True, true," she said, placing the kitten on her shoulder. White Blaze padded along behind them. She looked at Ryo as they neared the woods, "Where to? You've been here longer than me…know any interesting spots?"
Ryo nodded, heading towards a trail that Téa hadn't noticed earlier, "Several actually. The forests around Jewell Lake are a great place to go hiking. So Miss Téa, what type of hike are we looking for today?"
"I'm up for a challenge if you are," she replied, grinning. "Let's go up there," she suggested, pointing to the peak that could just barely be seen among the trees.
"Are you sure?" Ryo asked, "It'll take us a good four hours."
"Sounds good, I'm in the mood for a workout," she replied, "That is, if you think you can handle it."
Ryo took the bait, "Damn right I can handle it. Better than you'll be able to."
"So we're on," she challenged. The two of them took off at a determined pace towards the mountain.
~ * ~ * ~
"Ow!" Kento exclaimed when he missed blocking a low kick from Cali. "I'm beginning to think this spar is a little unfair," he added. The two girls had decided to team up against him because he had felt the need to open his big mouth and say that he could take them both with his eyes closed. His eyes weren't closed but he was definitely being proven wrong about being able to take them both.
"You asked for it Kento," Nina said, grinning wickedly, "You're lucky we don't blindfold you too. Then you'd really be saying ow."
Cali laughed. "She's right Kento. You should learn when to keep quiet and when to brag. Never brag about your skills when we're around to hear you," she added, "You'll always end up paying for it."
"Don't worry, I'm sorry I even mentioned being able to take you two. It won't happen again," he replied, blocking a kick to the head from Nina. "You two are evil."
"All five of us are," Cali replied, blocking a punch to the gut and retaliating immediately with one of her own. It connected, barely.
"I believe it," he replied, "Where'd you guys learn to fight?"
"Australia. Apparently, I was destined to bear the armor of Dark Soul, I was trained to fight as soon as I could walk," Nina replied.
Cali simply grinned, "The street."
Kento laughed, "It shows Cali. It shows."
~ * ~ * ~
"Nahla tells me you guys moved from Seattle because you got expelled from your school in Seattle," Ryo said as they hiked up the trail leading towards the summit of the mountain.
Téa blushed slightly, "Nahla talks too much. Yes, it's true; I got expelled. As you've probably noticed, Cali and I love to fight. I'm always the one that gets caught when I get into fights. Before yesterday, Cali has never gotten caught." She grinned at him, "You should have seen the shock on her face when Principal Ho dragged both of us down to his office. If it wasn't for the fact that I had gotten into trouble again, I would have laughed at her."
"Speaking of Cali…"
Téa studied him closely, "You like her, eh?"
Now it was Ryo's turn to blush. "Is it obvious?"
Téa shook her head, "Not really, it won't be to her at any rate." When Ryo gave her a confused look, she explained, "Cali's pretty oblivious to guys' attention. It takes her so long to figure out that a guy likes her. I don't think the other girls have noticed either, it's just that I spend a lot of time observing people, I catch little things about a person's attitude that most other people don't."
"I see. You must be pretty good in a fight, then."
Téa grinned, "Yep. Hell, half the time, I know what my opponent is going to do before he or she does. Let me tell you, a lot of people have been completely baffled by that. They swear I know how to read minds."
Ryo laughed, "We'll have to spar some time, then. I bet you won't be able to predict my moves."
Téa narrowed her eyes, though they sparkled with amusement. "You're on Wildfire."
