Chapter 4
Bringing it together…
Rai walked around with her duster, that she had gotten from home. The two girls had gone back to the apartment to get a few supplies for cleaning things up a little. Of course, the first things they grabbed were a broom, duster and a whole bunch of garbage bags! " God, " said Heedura, frustrated with picking up garbage and pieces of debris from everywhere, " You think they could have at least kept it semi clean! But no, they just have to leave everything up to us!" Rai just shrugged her shoulders, as she continued to dust off every surface she could see. " Well, I'm not complaining, I'm happy that we found a place for the bar, at least it's not somewhere in a really bad part of town!" She exclaimed. Heedura sighed, " Yeah, I know, but, I guess it's just a little frustrating, and I'm kinda tired. " Rai stopped her dusting, " Well, if you're tired, then you should go home, and get some rest." Heedura looked at her, " But what about you?" she asked, " I couldn't leave you here all by yourself!" Rai shook her head, and handed her the keys to the car, " Go home and get some sleep, I can handle myself, and plus, it will give me some time to think." She said with a reassuring smile. Heedura smiled, " Thanks sis, " she
said as she gave her a hug, " You are definitely the best in my books." And with that, she said a quick goodbye to her sister, and headed out the door. Rai continued dusting, as she started talking to herself," Man, how could we have gone broke? It just doesn't make any sense! Two weeks ago, we were fine, and we had enough money to last us at least till the next mission! I wonder what happened?" she asked herself. When she was finished dusting off all the surfaces, she proceeded to get the broom. " On to step two." She said, as she started pushing all the dust and crap into one spot. Once she had gotten the whole floor, she went over to the huge pile of…stuff…and proceeded to put it into a dustpan, and into a garbage bag, which she tied, and put outside, along with the other four that had gathered up in a pile outside. She shook her head, " Look at all of that, and I'm not even half done with making it look presentable!" Just then, her phone rang. " That better not be Heedura!" she said to herself as she popped open the phone and said, " Hello?" ' Hey Rai!' It was Michiru." Oh hey! Did you finally find someone to help us?" Rai asked
hopefully. She heard Michiru laugh on the other end, ' Yep, and they should be there
soon! I had do some it my way, but, we finally got someone to help us.' She said cheerfully. Rai got a worried look on her face, which traveled to her voice, " What did you do to the poor peoples?" she asked. ' Relax Rai! I didn't do anything daft, I just,
helped them make up their mind…that's all.' Rai smiled, " For some reason, that doesn't ease my mind, but, at least you found someone, good job!" she said. ' Thanks, see ya!' and then, Michiru hung up. Just after Michiru hung up, Rai did the same. " Good'ol Michiru, if she can't get what she want's by being nice, she gets it by force!" Rai said to herself laughing at the fact, that, she was just like Michiru. Just then, she heard a knock at the door. She looked over, and saw several guys standing there, with a whole bunch of tools. She smiled, " Come in! You must be here to help renovate!" she said cheerfully. The guy in front, who looked like a pig spoke up, " Yeah. We were sent here and told to do whatever you wanted us to, and that it was no charge." He looked behind him, and signaled for his guys to come in and set up. " Wow, I never thought she would go that far…" she said silently to herself. She was interrupted by a tap on her shoulder, " Excuse me miss, but you wouldn't happen to have any blue prints, would ya?" he asked. Rai shook her head," Of course." She said, as she took them out of her purse and handed them to the man. " Thanks. Were gonna be here until around 5:00pm, so if ya want, ya could go out and get yourself something to eat." He said, as he went over to the guys, and showed them the prints. " I think I will." She said as she looked around outside on the street. She spotted a little diner across the way, and said, " I'm just going to be over at the diner, so if you need anything, just come and get me, ok?" she asked. One of the men looked up from their little group, and shook his head. Rai smiled, and walked out the door, and across the street. She opened the door to the diner, and saw that it was practically empty. She just couldn't understand why it was empty though, because it looked quite comfortable and quaint. She walked up to where the sign said to wait, and wait she did, until she was greeted by a happy waitress, " Welcome to Jonny's, table for one?" she asked, as she grabbed one menu. " Yes please. " Rai answered as she was led to a table near the window. She noticed that when the waitress left, she went over to a man who looked sort of depressed, but perked up when he saw Rai. He came directly over. " Welcome, I am so glad that you decided to eat here, and I hope you have an especially delicious meal!" Rai looked up from the menu, smiled and said, " I'm sure I will! You
have such wonderful waitresses, so kind and helpful!" she said, as she continued looking at the menu once more. The guy smiled, and returned back over to where the waitress was. As Rai was looking through the menu, she saw several things that caught her eye, like the eggs benedict. ' That's what I'll get, ' she thought to herself, ' eggs benedict!' As if the waitress could read her mind she came back over, " Are you ready to order miss?" she asked politely. " Why yes I am. I will have the eggs benedict, with a cup of coffee please." She saw the women write it down, and put her hand out to take the menu, which she gave to her gladly. The waitress scurried off into the kitchen, and left Rai alone once more. Since Rai was too busy looking out the window, and way to deep in thought, she didn't notice when someone sat down across from her, until they spoke,. " Hey! You look like you could use some company!" She was pulled back into reality by the voice, and turned to see who it was. She smiled, " Hey, you're the guy from this morning! Duo right? I remember you." She said pointing her finger at him. He laughed, " Well I'm
honored! So, how come you are over here, instead of over there?" he asked, pointing to
the bar in progress across the street. She gave a small snicker, " Well, there are guys over there renovating for me." She said simply. Duo looked at her. " So, you are paying guys to do something, that I would do for free??" he asked, surprised. Rai turned to look at him
with a smile on her face, " Not exactly." She said. Duo had a confused look on his face, which made her laugh, " What I mean is, that they are doing it for free as well, thanks to the effort of one of my friends. " The confusion on Duo's face disappeared. " I get…" he said, " But would you mind going into detail for me?" he asked, with a lopsided grin on his face. Just as Rai was about to answer, and give the whole story, her food came. She looked at it, and then up at him, " How about after I eat?" she asked. Duo couldn't help but laugh, " You're a woman after my own heart! " he said with a wink. Rai smiled, and picked up her fork. When she was about to dig into her food, she saw the look of hunger on Duo's face. Rai giggled, put down her fork, and lifted up the plate. She put over in front of Duo. " What's the deal?" he asked, surprised at her actions. " Well, " she started, " You look hungry, and like you haven't eaten a good meal in a long time, so, you might as well take it." She said. Duo shook his head, and pushed the plate back in front of her. " No way! I couldn't take your food! Then what would you eat?" he asked. Rai pushed the plate back over to him, " I'll be fine! I had a big breakfast, now eat!" she said commandingly. Duo looked at her, then down at the food, then picked up a fork. " Well, whatever you say!" he said as he started digging into the food. After about five minutes, he was done. " That was so incredibly good! I haven't had a meal that good since….well…a long time!" he said licking his lips. " I know what you mean! I get the exact same way when I'm on missi…." She stopped herself before she could say anymore. " What was that?" Duo asked, curiosity in his voice, " Oh, nothing…." She said quickly. As if she knew, the waitress came back, " Did you enjoy your meal miss?" she asked Rai. Rai shook her head, " No, " she said with a smile, and she watched the smile on the waitresses face fade, " But he loved it!" answered Rai, cheering up the waitress immediately. " Thank you miss! That will be…9.50$ please!" she said, as she handed Rai the check. Rai went to grab her purse, but a hand stopped her, " Let me pay for it, since I ate it." Said Duo, reaching into his pocket. Rai shook her head, " No way! This is on me!" she said, handing her money to the nice waitress. Rai looked back over across the street, and saw guy's coming out with garbage bags filled until they looked like they could
explode. Rai gave a snicker. " What's so funny?" asked Duo. She looked back at him, " Oh nothing, it's just all the garbage and shit that they have to take out. I can't wait till it's finished though." She said with a contented sigh. " Did they tell you when they would finish?" he asked. Rai shook her head, " No, but I'm guessing that it will be sometime around the end of the week." Duo just nodded his head. The two of them were quite enjoying the silence, you never seemed to get that around here. Just then, Rai got a great idea. " How about you come back to my place?" she asked excitedly. Duo's eyes widened. Rai saw this and started laughing like crazy," What's so funny?" asked Duo. " Did you think. Did you think that I meant come back to my place and….and…" Duo looked at her, and scratched the back of his head innocently, " Well…" he started. This just made Rai laugh even harder. " No, no! I just want you to come back to my place to meet everyone! THAT comes later!" she said with a small wink. Rai got up before Duo even had a chance to object, and put on her coat. She started walking towards the door,
when she heard Duo yelling, " Hey wait for me!!!" She stopped for a second, and let him
catch up, then continued walking. She strolled over to the other side of the street where her bar was being created. She walked in, and saw that the place had taken a drastic turn for the best. She walked over to the guy she had spoken to earlier, and told him that the
guys could quit work now, and come back around 7:30 the next morning. Rai waited for everyone to pack up there stuff, and leave before she did. She walked over to her car, and hopped in. She waited for Duo, but he didn't seem to open up the door and get in along with her. She opened up her car door, and stuck her head out, " Are you going to get in, or just stand there staring at it?" she asked. Duo proceeded to open the door and climb in just as Rai had closed hers. " That's better, now were off!" she said. When they were on the highway, Duo turned to look at her, " You……have a Porsche?" he said, sounding kinda stunned. She took glances at him, trying to keep her eyes on the road at the same time. " Yeah, why do you sound so surprised?" she asked. Duo shook his head, " Well, you told me that you were opening the bar for money, and that you were broke and….my god woman! How can you afford a Porsche!!??" he finally blurted out. Rai started to laugh. " Well, I wasn't always broke! Until like two weeks ago, I was far from broke!" she said. Duo looked confused, " Then, how did you go broke so fast?" Rai sighed, " That's what I can't understand! It just doesn't make sense to me at all! But, oh well, I'm happy that were opening a bar! It will be fun!" she said cheerfully. Duo smirked, " Yeah, I suppose it would be. " He said as they were pulling into a parking lot. He looked around, the confusion coming back. " What the.." he started. He was interrupted by Rai, " Please don't ask. If I told you, I would have to kill you." She said simply, as she walked up to the doors, and unlocked them with her key. She held the door for Duo, and when he was in, made sure that the door was closed tightly. She started heading towards a set of stairs, and Duo groaned. She looked back at him, " What's wrong? Don't want to get in shape?" she asked. Duo looked at her with a hurt look on his face. " Hey." He said wining. " I was just kidding!" she said as she patted his stomach. " See, abs of steel!" He said proudly. Rai just laughed, " Ok then Mr.Tuffguy, since you don't want to take the stairs, we can take the elevator, is that alright?" she asked. Duo shook his head happily, " That, is perfect!" he said. Rai walked over to where the elevator doors were, pushed the button, and waited. After about a minute, the door finally opened, and they stepped in. Rai pushed the button for the top floor, and the doors closed. " Now, see, if we had of
taken the stairs, we would have been there by now, AND, I would have lost at least 400 calories!" Rai said, as the elevator started moving. " Ah, " Duo started, " But see, if we took the elevator, I wouldn't have this chance to be alone with you!" Rai shook her head, " No, but, in the elevator, you can't stare at my ass." She said, as the door opened and she stepped out. Duo thought about this. " Yeah, you're right, but at least I still have energy!" Rai smirked, " Yeah, well, you won't be using it any time soon!" She walked over to a door that had the number, 468, on it, put the key in the whole, and proceeded to enter. Duo just stood there for a second. Rai looked back, " Ah, you can come in you know, it doesn't bite." She said. Duo walked in with a smile on his face, " It's not the house that I'm afraid to be bitten by!" Rai raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. When the two walked in, they took of their coats and shoes, and headed into the living room, well, it was more like Rai headed into the living room, and Duo followed. As Duo looked around, he was amazed at how nice the place looked. He stopped to look at a picture that
was on the wall. He noticed that there was a little girl with blond hair smiling happily
along with four other girls as they played in a field, except one with black hair, who sat down, just pouting, while the other girls were running around and picking flowers. ' That's cute.' He thought to himself. He looked around, and noticed that Rai was gone
somewhere. He walked forward, in the way that he had been going in the first place, but was stopped, when he came face to face, with the end of a gun. He looked up and saw a girl in a towel who had black hair, and looked like she would shoot him then and there. " What are you doing here?" she asked coldly. " Whoa, you're almost as bad as Heero!" said Duo. The frown on her face deepened even more, and she cocked the gun. " I'll ask again, what are you doing here?" Duo looked around hopping that Rai would come around anytime soon. No such luck. " I was invited." He said simply, as he pushed the gun out of his face. To Duo's surprise, she brought out another gun." Don't toy with me." She said, daring her. Duo put his hands up in self-defense, expecting the worst. Just then, his prayers were answered, and Rai came into the room. " Duo…Duo… where are you…." She stopped as she saw the girl with the gun. " Setsuna! Put it down!!!" she ordered. The girl named Setsuna looked back at her. " But…" she started. Rai put up her hand, " I said put it down!!!" The girl sighed, but put the gun down anyways, and walked away pouting. Rai looked back over with a smile on her face, " Sorry about her. She's just a little overprotective when it comes to all of us." Duo let out a small laugh, " I can sorta tell! Is she the one that's just kinda pouting there in the picture over here?" he asked curious. Rai walked over to the picture, and sighed happily, " Yeah. Those were the days when we had choices." She said as a gloomy look came upon her face. This also made Duo curious, so he decided to ask. " What do you mean? Is someone like controlling you or something? Or is it that you have to do things for someone…" he was cut off, as Rai looked at him, with a glare in her eyes, " You don't kneed to know." She said simply. She started heading towards the living room. She sat down on one of the chairs that looked extremely comfy to Duo, but he didn't bother sitting down, because he was a little two worried about Rai. She had an extremely sad looked on her face. He went over and stood beside the chair that she was sitting in, " What's wrong?" he asked, a somewhat serious tone in his voice. Rai looked up with a smile on her face, but even with the smile, Duo noticed that there was no happiness in her eyes. " Nothing! Why do you ask?" she said happily, putting on a charade for him. Duo sighed, " Well, you just seemed so un- happy
when you saw the picture, and I was just wondering why." He said, sounding concerned. Rai shook her head, " Nothing is wrong, I was just remembering when we used to be kids, and everything was easy, that's all!" she said cheerfully as she got up from the chair, grabbed his wrist, and started dragging him somewhere. " Hey! Where are we going!" he asked. Rai just looked back with a smile on her face. " You're going to meet the rest of the gang!" Duo got a worried look on his face, " Uh oh…" he said quietly, " Why does this seem like a bad thing?" he asked himself. The first room they visited had pink flowers on the door, and a sign that said, ' Anna's Room.' Rai knocked on the door, and Duo heard a voice. " Yeah?" it said. " I'm coming in! If you're not descent, you better get descent real fast!!" and with that, she opened the door and walked right in, dragging Duo behind. As Duo looked around the room, he saw that it was mostly pink, with lots of flowers, and clothes that were everywhere. " Hey!" said Anna, getting Duo's attention, " Who's the hunk?" she asked. Duo just scratched the back of his head. Rai laughed, "
Anna, this is Duo, Duo this is Anna, or Annashiana, whatever you want to call her. She's
the fashion expert of the house." Anna stood up and put out her hand, which Duo accepted. " You're damn right I'm the fashion expert!!! If you guys had your way, you wouldn't wear anything but baggy pants and big T-shirt's!!!" She said, putting a hand on
her hip. Rai threw up her arms, " What's so wrong about that! It's not like we go anywhere!!!" said Rai in her defense. Anna shook her head in disappointment, " Have I taught you nothing!!?? You always need to look good, just incase some hot guy comes to our door. Now, what would happen if you were wearing baggy ugly clothes huh? He would take one look at you, and think you were….gross!! Then there goes your chance with him!!! That's why you always have to look good!" said Anna finishing her lecture. " Are you done now?" Rai asked, tapping her foot. Anna just stuck out her tongue, " Yes!" she said snottily. " Fine then! Were going to meet everyone else!!!" and before Anna could say anything else, they were gone out the door, and onto the next room. Outside in the hall, Duo started laughing. Rai looked at him, " What's so funny?" she asked, with a small smile on her face. " Do you guy always fight like that?" he asked, still laughing. Rai shook her head vigorously, " Of course!" she said, as she started heading towards the next room. This one had an all black door, and dying red flowers on it. " Wow, you guys sure have way different personality's don't ya!?" Duo said, kinda shocked. " You would believe." She knocked on the door, and heard a muffled, " Come in." and opened the door. Rai laughed as she saw a very tired looking Heedura lying face down on the bed practically drooling on the pillow. " Now that's no way to act around company now is it?" Rai asked, snickering at the same time. Heedura's head automatically shot up and looked towards the door. When she saw that it was Duo and Rai, she put her head back down, not really caring. " Well I love you to sis!!" Rai said, as she mimicked a hurt expression. " Shut up and let me sleep." was the response that she gave them. Rai just smiled, turned to Duo and motioned for him to open the door and get out into the hall. Duo obliged and Rai followed behind. They walked down the hall, and the next door they came upon was a vivid recreation of a sunset over the ocean. " Wow. Whose room is this?" asked Duo. " This is Michiru's room. If you can't tell, she's the artist." She said as knocked on the door. " Yes?" came a voice. " It's just me, and I have someone I would like you to meet." Answered Rai. " Alright then, come in." As Rai opened the door, Duo was bombarded by
beautiful colors from all around the room. He looked over towards the bed, and saw a girl sitting there with a paintbrush in her hand. " Hey Michiru, I would like you to meet Duo, he's one of the ones that I told you about." Rai said as she scratched the back of her head. Michiru looked up from the canvas, and smiled at Rai. " Is it this one? " she asked Rai. Rai just shook her head. " Ah, I see." She got up and walked over to Duo. " I'm very pleased to meet you. Welcome to our humble hideout….I mean home." Michiru recovered quickly. She put out her hand, and Duo took it graciously. " Thank you. I see that you are indeed the artist of the group, theses are wonderful!" Duo said amazed as he looked around the room once more. " Thank you, " Michiru said, " But theses are just sketches and for fun, my real paintings are over here." She said, as she started walking towards a closet. She opened it up and looked inside. Curious, Duo followed not far behind, and was amazed at what he saw when she opened the closet. It was jam packed with pictures on every wall, or wherever she could fit them. There were painting of peoples, marvelous places, and several cats. Duo just had to ask, " What's with all the
cats?" Michiru looked back at him with a smile on her face. " You obviously haven't met
precious yet!" she said with a mischievous smile on her face. Duo looked back at Rai, " Ah, yeah… he hasn't met precious yet. Although, I beg to differ about her name…" Duo looked at her confused, " Why?" he asked. " Ah, you'll find out soon enough. Well, were
off to Setsuna's room!" Michiru couldn't help but laugh, " Have fun. The last I saw she was in a bad mood." Rai gave her a thumbs up for thanks, and headed out into the hall. " Wow, like you said, she is the artist. And what's the deal with this precious thing?" Duo asked curiously. Rai looked at him, and then held up her hand. " See this?" she asked. Duo looked at her hand and wrist wide eyed. " Yeah, what did you do? Try to kill yourself?" he asked. Rai snickered and giggled, " No! Of course not silly! This, " she said, rotating her arm, " is from precious." Duo's jaw just dropped, " You're kidding right?" Rai just shook her head. " Well, shall we head onto the next room, Setsuna's?" she asked. Duo looked at her, then down the hall towards the next room. " Are you sure? She did kinda, you know, put a gun to my head!!" he said a little nervously. Rai just started walking towards the next room. Duo just followed, hoping that, for his sake, Rai would protect him. Rai knocked on the door. " What?" came a seemingly aggravated voice from the other side. " Are you sure it's ok?" Duo asked quietly, kind of hiding behind Rai. Rai just snickered, " It's me Setsuna. I'm coming in whether you like it or not." And with that, she opened the door, and marched in with Duo following closely behind, but not as confident. Setsuna just looked up from the book she was reading, and glared at Rai. " Oh give it up! It doesn't bother me!" said Rai walking over to Setsuna and sitting on the bed. Setsuna just kept glaring at her, but allowed it anyways. When Setsuna was about to say something, the two heard a little noise coming from across the room, close to the door. The two looked up, and saw Duo standing there, cowering in the corner. " Oh yeah, Setsuna meet Duo." Setsuna just looked at him with a glare imprinted on her face. " What's he doing here?" she asked coldly. Rai just looked at her, and smacked her up side the head. " Ow! What was that for!!??" she screamed. Rai just smiled, " That, was for pointing a gun at our guest, " she said smiling happily at herself, " And this, " she said, smacking her again, " Is for being rude to him. Now, Duo, this is Setsuna, Setsuna this is Duo." She said introducing them properly. Setsuna said nothing, only nodded her head. Duo, on the other hand, decided to be friendly. " Hey… What's up?" he said waving slowly, and inching his way towards the two girls on the bed. Just as he was about to sit
down, Setsuna looked up at him with a strange smile on her face. Rai looked at her, and knew exactly what she was planning. " Setsuna…" she was cut off when Setsuna spoke up, " Duo, would you mind going over to the closet, and fetching my book please?" she asked sweetly, a little to sweetly for Duo's liking, but he did it anyways. He walked over towards the closet, and opened it slowly. Meanwhile, on the bed, Rai turned to Setsuna, " It's in there isn't it? You deliberately sent him there so he can get mauled!!! What were you…" Rai's lecture was interrupted by * Creak* " MEOW!!!!" and then, " AHHHHH!!!!" and then, all you could see was Duo running out away from the closet, and towards Rai and Setsuna. Setsuna just collapsed from laughter, as Rai was trying to force precious back into the closet. She looked around, and grabbed the first thing that she thought would get the cats attention. She smiled, and picked up the book that Setsuna was reading, and threw it into the closet, " Hey!!!!" she screamed outraged. Just as Rai had planed, the demon cat ran after the book, and back into the closet. Duo just sat on the
bed, looking traumatized. " What the hell was that???!!!" he asked, breathing heavily. Rai
went back over to the bed, where she sat down and gave a heavy sigh of relief, " That was precious. And Setsuna….don't ever do that again, or you WILL lose another book, or maybe even more if I choose so, do you got me?" she said, lying down. Setsuna just
walked over to the closet, where she opened it, and stuck her hand inside to get her book, what she took out was another story. It was a book, but it was now nothing but shreds and slobber. Setsuna just held it up, and got a sad look on her face. " It was a new book to…" she said as she walked over towards the garbage can, and dropped it in. " That should teach you not to let it out when company's here." Said Rai sitting up to look at the two of them. Duo still looked like he could piss him self at any moment, and Setsuna…well…let's just say that they were getting out of there, and quick. " Alright! Let's go Duo." She said grabbing his hand, and headed for the door. Once they were safely away from Setsuna and precious, Duo let out a happy sigh. " So…that's what did that to your arm?" he asked, taking her arm again. Rai kinda blushed, and I emphasize the word kinda! " Ah, yeah." She said, pulling her arm back. Duo put a finger to his chin, and looked like he was thinking. Rai noticed this, and decided to speak up, " Don't hurt yourself." she said, smiling evilly. Duo just stuck out his tongue, " Very funny! No, I was just thinking about how I can get rid of that cat withought hurting myself." Rai just started laughing, and eventually ended up on the floor. " What's so funny?" he asked. Rai couldn't answer, she was too busy trying to keep her stomach in its rightful place. " Yeah, yeah! Laugh all you want!" he said, as he stared down at Rai. She stopped laughing long enough to look up at him, and smile. " No, I think it's a cute idea…. It will never work, but it' cute." She said standing up, and walking towards the living room. Duo followed after, confusion written all over his face. " What do you mean it will never work?" he asked, sounding a little hurt. Rai walked over to the chair, and sat down, " What I mean, is that even if you do succeed in getting the cat out and away, what are you going to do about Michiru, and most of all, about Setsuna?! He would kill you withought a second thought!" She said turning her neck to the side, and cracking it. Duo walked over to the couch that was just beside the chair. " I suppose you're right." He said, as he got that look of thinking back on his face. Rai looked towards him with a smile, " What are you thinking about now?" she asked, leaning just a little closer towards him. Duo, getting the hint, moved closer as well, " Well, I was just wondering why you look so tense." He said,
putting on a serious face that made Rai laugh. " Maybe it's because of the stress. I really could do with a massage." She said slyly. Duo looked at her with a raised eyebrow, " Really now?" he asked, moving to stand just behind her, and started to massage her shoulder's. Rai sighed in happiness, and relaxed all her muscles. She closed her eyes, " That feels really good you know?" she said, sounding very content. Duo smirked, " Yeah, well, let's just say I'm good with my hands." Rai opened her eyes, and raised an eyebrow up at him. " Hey! Don't be thinking like that now!" he said, pointing his finger at her and putting on a really stupid looking serious face. Rai put on a sad face, and started to pout, " Why not?" she asked, in a cute little voice. " Because, you might attract the wrong type of guy." Rai put a fake surprised face on, and covered her O shaped mouth with her hand, " Oh no!! We wouldn't want that now would we?" she asked, leaning closer to him. Duo put on a confident smile, " Definitely not!" he said, as he moved as well. When they were about two centimeters away, and Duo closed his eyes, and was waiting for the very
welcomed kiss….which never seemed to come. He peeked open an eye, and noticed that
Rai was no longer there. He opened both eyes to look around, but didn't see her. " Rai… where are you?" he said as he started searching. He looked everywhere, but saw no one. Just when he was outside of Setsuna's door, trying to creep past as to not get hurt, he
heard Rai's voice from the other side, along with the other four girls. ' Hmm…..wonder what there doing?' he thought to himself. He decided that, now would be a good time to use some of his skills as a pilot, and listen in! What he heard, was another story.
In the room…
The five girls were gathered around a laptop, looking at the screen with interest and focus on their faces. " Hmm…." Said Rai, as she examined what was on the screen more carefully. " We've never had one like this before." The other fours girls shook their heads in agreement. " This is kinda…weird…" said Michiru, also staring at the screen weirdly. Setsuna just looked at it, " You would figure that they would give us a harder mission." All of the girls nodded at this. " I mean really, they want us too do something that were already kinda doing." Said Anna, who was just as confused as the rest of them. " But, the question is, how are we going to work it out so that only one of us sets the bait?" asked Heedura. Rai did this weird snorting thing, and spoke up, " That's easy, I'll do it!" she said confidently. The other four girls looked at her, " Are you sure…" said Anna. Rai just shook her head vigorously. " Of course I'm sure!" Heedura just shook her head, " You are way too cocky." She said with a little laugh. Rai just shrugged her shoulders, " What can I say? I have every reason to be!" * everyone sweatdrop * " Ok, here's what were gonna do." Started Heedura, " Our cocky friend Rai, is going to seduce him, and bring him to the bar. Then, Anna, being the daring one, Is going to put on a good show for him in one of the rooms, then, Michiru will come in with a drink for the two of them, and his will be loaded with our special drogue, which, as we all know, will knock him out cold for a good two hours. Were going to take him to the old warehouse, where, this is your favorite part Setsuna, we will get every inch of information out of him by any means possible. That of course is Setsuna's job. Now, as for me, I will be watching out for anyone who might wanna stop us, and, if it comes up that I can't handle them, I will call you guys, and tell one of you to get your ass's down here!" she said, finishing with a happy tone. Throughout her explanation, everyone was paying very close attention, and jotting it all done in their heads. " Is everyone clear?" said Rai, standing up, and heading for the door.
She looked back as soon as she had her hand on the door knob, and saw that everyone was shaking there heads yes. " Good!" she said turning the handle.
Outside the door…
' OH SHIT!!!!' Duo thought to himself, as he scurried away from the door, watching the handle turn. He looked around frantically, and finally saw a bathroom just a couples feet down the hall, and rushed for it. He closed the door just in time to hear the five girls come out of the room. He heard on of them speak, " Now that we have business to attend to, you can get rid of that moron." Duo rolled his eyes. " Oh relax Setsuna, he's fine. There's no reason to think that he will get in the way." Duo smiled happily as he heard Rai stick up for him, until of course it struck him, " What am I thinking?" he asked himself, " She's an assassin! I can't date her!" Duo told himself, very quietly. Obviously it wasn't quiet enough. " Did you hear that?" said Michiru. He could hear footsteps, " Yeah, I did." Said Anna. Duo was getting a little worried. He was trapped in a bathroom, with
no escape, and five assassins coming towards him. ' Uh oh. Better think of something.' He
thought to himself. Just then, it struck him. ' Of course! I am in the bathroom! What do peoples do in bathrooms?' he thought to himself, proud of the idea he came up with all by himself. He un-zippered his pants, and turned around, waiting for the door to be opened.
Outside the bathroom door…
" Who do you think is in there?" asked Anna. " Maybe a spy…" continued Heedura. " Or maybe it's…" Rai didn't get to finish her sentence, because Setsuna had already proceeded to kick down the door, where they saw… " AH!!!" screamed Michiru, running away from the door, to stand behind Anna and Rai. Rai on the other hand, was admiring the view. " Sorry, Duo…Setsuna thought that there was an intruder, and well…we kinda barged in…" said Rai scratching the back of her head. " Good thing you were almost fully clothed." Said Anna, snickering to herself. Duo just scratched the back of his head, " Ah, yeah…well, I should really be going, I have to work tonight…." He said, walking over the door, and towards the entrance. He opened the door, and walked out into the hall, where Rai joined him after a couples of seconds. " Yeah, I'm really sorry about them…there really not all that bad once you get used to them…" She was interrupted as Duo put up his hand, " No need to apologize, my friends are just as weird! Well, I should go, I do have work. See ya!" he said, waving over his shoulder as he walked down the hall. As Rai starred after him, she knew that something wasn't quite right.
Bringing it together…
Rai walked around with her duster, that she had gotten from home. The two girls had gone back to the apartment to get a few supplies for cleaning things up a little. Of course, the first things they grabbed were a broom, duster and a whole bunch of garbage bags! " God, " said Heedura, frustrated with picking up garbage and pieces of debris from everywhere, " You think they could have at least kept it semi clean! But no, they just have to leave everything up to us!" Rai just shrugged her shoulders, as she continued to dust off every surface she could see. " Well, I'm not complaining, I'm happy that we found a place for the bar, at least it's not somewhere in a really bad part of town!" She exclaimed. Heedura sighed, " Yeah, I know, but, I guess it's just a little frustrating, and I'm kinda tired. " Rai stopped her dusting, " Well, if you're tired, then you should go home, and get some rest." Heedura looked at her, " But what about you?" she asked, " I couldn't leave you here all by yourself!" Rai shook her head, and handed her the keys to the car, " Go home and get some sleep, I can handle myself, and plus, it will give me some time to think." She said with a reassuring smile. Heedura smiled, " Thanks sis, " she
said as she gave her a hug, " You are definitely the best in my books." And with that, she said a quick goodbye to her sister, and headed out the door. Rai continued dusting, as she started talking to herself," Man, how could we have gone broke? It just doesn't make any sense! Two weeks ago, we were fine, and we had enough money to last us at least till the next mission! I wonder what happened?" she asked herself. When she was finished dusting off all the surfaces, she proceeded to get the broom. " On to step two." She said, as she started pushing all the dust and crap into one spot. Once she had gotten the whole floor, she went over to the huge pile of…stuff…and proceeded to put it into a dustpan, and into a garbage bag, which she tied, and put outside, along with the other four that had gathered up in a pile outside. She shook her head, " Look at all of that, and I'm not even half done with making it look presentable!" Just then, her phone rang. " That better not be Heedura!" she said to herself as she popped open the phone and said, " Hello?" ' Hey Rai!' It was Michiru." Oh hey! Did you finally find someone to help us?" Rai asked
hopefully. She heard Michiru laugh on the other end, ' Yep, and they should be there
soon! I had do some it my way, but, we finally got someone to help us.' She said cheerfully. Rai got a worried look on her face, which traveled to her voice, " What did you do to the poor peoples?" she asked. ' Relax Rai! I didn't do anything daft, I just,
helped them make up their mind…that's all.' Rai smiled, " For some reason, that doesn't ease my mind, but, at least you found someone, good job!" she said. ' Thanks, see ya!' and then, Michiru hung up. Just after Michiru hung up, Rai did the same. " Good'ol Michiru, if she can't get what she want's by being nice, she gets it by force!" Rai said to herself laughing at the fact, that, she was just like Michiru. Just then, she heard a knock at the door. She looked over, and saw several guys standing there, with a whole bunch of tools. She smiled, " Come in! You must be here to help renovate!" she said cheerfully. The guy in front, who looked like a pig spoke up, " Yeah. We were sent here and told to do whatever you wanted us to, and that it was no charge." He looked behind him, and signaled for his guys to come in and set up. " Wow, I never thought she would go that far…" she said silently to herself. She was interrupted by a tap on her shoulder, " Excuse me miss, but you wouldn't happen to have any blue prints, would ya?" he asked. Rai shook her head," Of course." She said, as she took them out of her purse and handed them to the man. " Thanks. Were gonna be here until around 5:00pm, so if ya want, ya could go out and get yourself something to eat." He said, as he went over to the guys, and showed them the prints. " I think I will." She said as she looked around outside on the street. She spotted a little diner across the way, and said, " I'm just going to be over at the diner, so if you need anything, just come and get me, ok?" she asked. One of the men looked up from their little group, and shook his head. Rai smiled, and walked out the door, and across the street. She opened the door to the diner, and saw that it was practically empty. She just couldn't understand why it was empty though, because it looked quite comfortable and quaint. She walked up to where the sign said to wait, and wait she did, until she was greeted by a happy waitress, " Welcome to Jonny's, table for one?" she asked, as she grabbed one menu. " Yes please. " Rai answered as she was led to a table near the window. She noticed that when the waitress left, she went over to a man who looked sort of depressed, but perked up when he saw Rai. He came directly over. " Welcome, I am so glad that you decided to eat here, and I hope you have an especially delicious meal!" Rai looked up from the menu, smiled and said, " I'm sure I will! You
have such wonderful waitresses, so kind and helpful!" she said, as she continued looking at the menu once more. The guy smiled, and returned back over to where the waitress was. As Rai was looking through the menu, she saw several things that caught her eye, like the eggs benedict. ' That's what I'll get, ' she thought to herself, ' eggs benedict!' As if the waitress could read her mind she came back over, " Are you ready to order miss?" she asked politely. " Why yes I am. I will have the eggs benedict, with a cup of coffee please." She saw the women write it down, and put her hand out to take the menu, which she gave to her gladly. The waitress scurried off into the kitchen, and left Rai alone once more. Since Rai was too busy looking out the window, and way to deep in thought, she didn't notice when someone sat down across from her, until they spoke,. " Hey! You look like you could use some company!" She was pulled back into reality by the voice, and turned to see who it was. She smiled, " Hey, you're the guy from this morning! Duo right? I remember you." She said pointing her finger at him. He laughed, " Well I'm
honored! So, how come you are over here, instead of over there?" he asked, pointing to
the bar in progress across the street. She gave a small snicker, " Well, there are guys over there renovating for me." She said simply. Duo looked at her. " So, you are paying guys to do something, that I would do for free??" he asked, surprised. Rai turned to look at him
with a smile on her face, " Not exactly." She said. Duo had a confused look on his face, which made her laugh, " What I mean is, that they are doing it for free as well, thanks to the effort of one of my friends. " The confusion on Duo's face disappeared. " I get…" he said, " But would you mind going into detail for me?" he asked, with a lopsided grin on his face. Just as Rai was about to answer, and give the whole story, her food came. She looked at it, and then up at him, " How about after I eat?" she asked. Duo couldn't help but laugh, " You're a woman after my own heart! " he said with a wink. Rai smiled, and picked up her fork. When she was about to dig into her food, she saw the look of hunger on Duo's face. Rai giggled, put down her fork, and lifted up the plate. She put over in front of Duo. " What's the deal?" he asked, surprised at her actions. " Well, " she started, " You look hungry, and like you haven't eaten a good meal in a long time, so, you might as well take it." She said. Duo shook his head, and pushed the plate back in front of her. " No way! I couldn't take your food! Then what would you eat?" he asked. Rai pushed the plate back over to him, " I'll be fine! I had a big breakfast, now eat!" she said commandingly. Duo looked at her, then down at the food, then picked up a fork. " Well, whatever you say!" he said as he started digging into the food. After about five minutes, he was done. " That was so incredibly good! I haven't had a meal that good since….well…a long time!" he said licking his lips. " I know what you mean! I get the exact same way when I'm on missi…." She stopped herself before she could say anymore. " What was that?" Duo asked, curiosity in his voice, " Oh, nothing…." She said quickly. As if she knew, the waitress came back, " Did you enjoy your meal miss?" she asked Rai. Rai shook her head, " No, " she said with a smile, and she watched the smile on the waitresses face fade, " But he loved it!" answered Rai, cheering up the waitress immediately. " Thank you miss! That will be…9.50$ please!" she said, as she handed Rai the check. Rai went to grab her purse, but a hand stopped her, " Let me pay for it, since I ate it." Said Duo, reaching into his pocket. Rai shook her head, " No way! This is on me!" she said, handing her money to the nice waitress. Rai looked back over across the street, and saw guy's coming out with garbage bags filled until they looked like they could
explode. Rai gave a snicker. " What's so funny?" asked Duo. She looked back at him, " Oh nothing, it's just all the garbage and shit that they have to take out. I can't wait till it's finished though." She said with a contented sigh. " Did they tell you when they would finish?" he asked. Rai shook her head, " No, but I'm guessing that it will be sometime around the end of the week." Duo just nodded his head. The two of them were quite enjoying the silence, you never seemed to get that around here. Just then, Rai got a great idea. " How about you come back to my place?" she asked excitedly. Duo's eyes widened. Rai saw this and started laughing like crazy," What's so funny?" asked Duo. " Did you think. Did you think that I meant come back to my place and….and…" Duo looked at her, and scratched the back of his head innocently, " Well…" he started. This just made Rai laugh even harder. " No, no! I just want you to come back to my place to meet everyone! THAT comes later!" she said with a small wink. Rai got up before Duo even had a chance to object, and put on her coat. She started walking towards the door,
when she heard Duo yelling, " Hey wait for me!!!" She stopped for a second, and let him
catch up, then continued walking. She strolled over to the other side of the street where her bar was being created. She walked in, and saw that the place had taken a drastic turn for the best. She walked over to the guy she had spoken to earlier, and told him that the
guys could quit work now, and come back around 7:30 the next morning. Rai waited for everyone to pack up there stuff, and leave before she did. She walked over to her car, and hopped in. She waited for Duo, but he didn't seem to open up the door and get in along with her. She opened up her car door, and stuck her head out, " Are you going to get in, or just stand there staring at it?" she asked. Duo proceeded to open the door and climb in just as Rai had closed hers. " That's better, now were off!" she said. When they were on the highway, Duo turned to look at her, " You……have a Porsche?" he said, sounding kinda stunned. She took glances at him, trying to keep her eyes on the road at the same time. " Yeah, why do you sound so surprised?" she asked. Duo shook his head, " Well, you told me that you were opening the bar for money, and that you were broke and….my god woman! How can you afford a Porsche!!??" he finally blurted out. Rai started to laugh. " Well, I wasn't always broke! Until like two weeks ago, I was far from broke!" she said. Duo looked confused, " Then, how did you go broke so fast?" Rai sighed, " That's what I can't understand! It just doesn't make sense to me at all! But, oh well, I'm happy that were opening a bar! It will be fun!" she said cheerfully. Duo smirked, " Yeah, I suppose it would be. " He said as they were pulling into a parking lot. He looked around, the confusion coming back. " What the.." he started. He was interrupted by Rai, " Please don't ask. If I told you, I would have to kill you." She said simply, as she walked up to the doors, and unlocked them with her key. She held the door for Duo, and when he was in, made sure that the door was closed tightly. She started heading towards a set of stairs, and Duo groaned. She looked back at him, " What's wrong? Don't want to get in shape?" she asked. Duo looked at her with a hurt look on his face. " Hey." He said wining. " I was just kidding!" she said as she patted his stomach. " See, abs of steel!" He said proudly. Rai just laughed, " Ok then Mr.Tuffguy, since you don't want to take the stairs, we can take the elevator, is that alright?" she asked. Duo shook his head happily, " That, is perfect!" he said. Rai walked over to where the elevator doors were, pushed the button, and waited. After about a minute, the door finally opened, and they stepped in. Rai pushed the button for the top floor, and the doors closed. " Now, see, if we had of
taken the stairs, we would have been there by now, AND, I would have lost at least 400 calories!" Rai said, as the elevator started moving. " Ah, " Duo started, " But see, if we took the elevator, I wouldn't have this chance to be alone with you!" Rai shook her head, " No, but, in the elevator, you can't stare at my ass." She said, as the door opened and she stepped out. Duo thought about this. " Yeah, you're right, but at least I still have energy!" Rai smirked, " Yeah, well, you won't be using it any time soon!" She walked over to a door that had the number, 468, on it, put the key in the whole, and proceeded to enter. Duo just stood there for a second. Rai looked back, " Ah, you can come in you know, it doesn't bite." She said. Duo walked in with a smile on his face, " It's not the house that I'm afraid to be bitten by!" Rai raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. When the two walked in, they took of their coats and shoes, and headed into the living room, well, it was more like Rai headed into the living room, and Duo followed. As Duo looked around, he was amazed at how nice the place looked. He stopped to look at a picture that
was on the wall. He noticed that there was a little girl with blond hair smiling happily
along with four other girls as they played in a field, except one with black hair, who sat down, just pouting, while the other girls were running around and picking flowers. ' That's cute.' He thought to himself. He looked around, and noticed that Rai was gone
somewhere. He walked forward, in the way that he had been going in the first place, but was stopped, when he came face to face, with the end of a gun. He looked up and saw a girl in a towel who had black hair, and looked like she would shoot him then and there. " What are you doing here?" she asked coldly. " Whoa, you're almost as bad as Heero!" said Duo. The frown on her face deepened even more, and she cocked the gun. " I'll ask again, what are you doing here?" Duo looked around hopping that Rai would come around anytime soon. No such luck. " I was invited." He said simply, as he pushed the gun out of his face. To Duo's surprise, she brought out another gun." Don't toy with me." She said, daring her. Duo put his hands up in self-defense, expecting the worst. Just then, his prayers were answered, and Rai came into the room. " Duo…Duo… where are you…." She stopped as she saw the girl with the gun. " Setsuna! Put it down!!!" she ordered. The girl named Setsuna looked back at her. " But…" she started. Rai put up her hand, " I said put it down!!!" The girl sighed, but put the gun down anyways, and walked away pouting. Rai looked back over with a smile on her face, " Sorry about her. She's just a little overprotective when it comes to all of us." Duo let out a small laugh, " I can sorta tell! Is she the one that's just kinda pouting there in the picture over here?" he asked curious. Rai walked over to the picture, and sighed happily, " Yeah. Those were the days when we had choices." She said as a gloomy look came upon her face. This also made Duo curious, so he decided to ask. " What do you mean? Is someone like controlling you or something? Or is it that you have to do things for someone…" he was cut off, as Rai looked at him, with a glare in her eyes, " You don't kneed to know." She said simply. She started heading towards the living room. She sat down on one of the chairs that looked extremely comfy to Duo, but he didn't bother sitting down, because he was a little two worried about Rai. She had an extremely sad looked on her face. He went over and stood beside the chair that she was sitting in, " What's wrong?" he asked, a somewhat serious tone in his voice. Rai looked up with a smile on her face, but even with the smile, Duo noticed that there was no happiness in her eyes. " Nothing! Why do you ask?" she said happily, putting on a charade for him. Duo sighed, " Well, you just seemed so un- happy
when you saw the picture, and I was just wondering why." He said, sounding concerned. Rai shook her head, " Nothing is wrong, I was just remembering when we used to be kids, and everything was easy, that's all!" she said cheerfully as she got up from the chair, grabbed his wrist, and started dragging him somewhere. " Hey! Where are we going!" he asked. Rai just looked back with a smile on her face. " You're going to meet the rest of the gang!" Duo got a worried look on his face, " Uh oh…" he said quietly, " Why does this seem like a bad thing?" he asked himself. The first room they visited had pink flowers on the door, and a sign that said, ' Anna's Room.' Rai knocked on the door, and Duo heard a voice. " Yeah?" it said. " I'm coming in! If you're not descent, you better get descent real fast!!" and with that, she opened the door and walked right in, dragging Duo behind. As Duo looked around the room, he saw that it was mostly pink, with lots of flowers, and clothes that were everywhere. " Hey!" said Anna, getting Duo's attention, " Who's the hunk?" she asked. Duo just scratched the back of his head. Rai laughed, "
Anna, this is Duo, Duo this is Anna, or Annashiana, whatever you want to call her. She's
the fashion expert of the house." Anna stood up and put out her hand, which Duo accepted. " You're damn right I'm the fashion expert!!! If you guys had your way, you wouldn't wear anything but baggy pants and big T-shirt's!!!" She said, putting a hand on
her hip. Rai threw up her arms, " What's so wrong about that! It's not like we go anywhere!!!" said Rai in her defense. Anna shook her head in disappointment, " Have I taught you nothing!!?? You always need to look good, just incase some hot guy comes to our door. Now, what would happen if you were wearing baggy ugly clothes huh? He would take one look at you, and think you were….gross!! Then there goes your chance with him!!! That's why you always have to look good!" said Anna finishing her lecture. " Are you done now?" Rai asked, tapping her foot. Anna just stuck out her tongue, " Yes!" she said snottily. " Fine then! Were going to meet everyone else!!!" and before Anna could say anything else, they were gone out the door, and onto the next room. Outside in the hall, Duo started laughing. Rai looked at him, " What's so funny?" she asked, with a small smile on her face. " Do you guy always fight like that?" he asked, still laughing. Rai shook her head vigorously, " Of course!" she said, as she started heading towards the next room. This one had an all black door, and dying red flowers on it. " Wow, you guys sure have way different personality's don't ya!?" Duo said, kinda shocked. " You would believe." She knocked on the door, and heard a muffled, " Come in." and opened the door. Rai laughed as she saw a very tired looking Heedura lying face down on the bed practically drooling on the pillow. " Now that's no way to act around company now is it?" Rai asked, snickering at the same time. Heedura's head automatically shot up and looked towards the door. When she saw that it was Duo and Rai, she put her head back down, not really caring. " Well I love you to sis!!" Rai said, as she mimicked a hurt expression. " Shut up and let me sleep." was the response that she gave them. Rai just smiled, turned to Duo and motioned for him to open the door and get out into the hall. Duo obliged and Rai followed behind. They walked down the hall, and the next door they came upon was a vivid recreation of a sunset over the ocean. " Wow. Whose room is this?" asked Duo. " This is Michiru's room. If you can't tell, she's the artist." She said as knocked on the door. " Yes?" came a voice. " It's just me, and I have someone I would like you to meet." Answered Rai. " Alright then, come in." As Rai opened the door, Duo was bombarded by
beautiful colors from all around the room. He looked over towards the bed, and saw a girl sitting there with a paintbrush in her hand. " Hey Michiru, I would like you to meet Duo, he's one of the ones that I told you about." Rai said as she scratched the back of her head. Michiru looked up from the canvas, and smiled at Rai. " Is it this one? " she asked Rai. Rai just shook her head. " Ah, I see." She got up and walked over to Duo. " I'm very pleased to meet you. Welcome to our humble hideout….I mean home." Michiru recovered quickly. She put out her hand, and Duo took it graciously. " Thank you. I see that you are indeed the artist of the group, theses are wonderful!" Duo said amazed as he looked around the room once more. " Thank you, " Michiru said, " But theses are just sketches and for fun, my real paintings are over here." She said, as she started walking towards a closet. She opened it up and looked inside. Curious, Duo followed not far behind, and was amazed at what he saw when she opened the closet. It was jam packed with pictures on every wall, or wherever she could fit them. There were painting of peoples, marvelous places, and several cats. Duo just had to ask, " What's with all the
cats?" Michiru looked back at him with a smile on her face. " You obviously haven't met
precious yet!" she said with a mischievous smile on her face. Duo looked back at Rai, " Ah, yeah… he hasn't met precious yet. Although, I beg to differ about her name…" Duo looked at her confused, " Why?" he asked. " Ah, you'll find out soon enough. Well, were
off to Setsuna's room!" Michiru couldn't help but laugh, " Have fun. The last I saw she was in a bad mood." Rai gave her a thumbs up for thanks, and headed out into the hall. " Wow, like you said, she is the artist. And what's the deal with this precious thing?" Duo asked curiously. Rai looked at him, and then held up her hand. " See this?" she asked. Duo looked at her hand and wrist wide eyed. " Yeah, what did you do? Try to kill yourself?" he asked. Rai snickered and giggled, " No! Of course not silly! This, " she said, rotating her arm, " is from precious." Duo's jaw just dropped, " You're kidding right?" Rai just shook her head. " Well, shall we head onto the next room, Setsuna's?" she asked. Duo looked at her, then down the hall towards the next room. " Are you sure? She did kinda, you know, put a gun to my head!!" he said a little nervously. Rai just started walking towards the next room. Duo just followed, hoping that, for his sake, Rai would protect him. Rai knocked on the door. " What?" came a seemingly aggravated voice from the other side. " Are you sure it's ok?" Duo asked quietly, kind of hiding behind Rai. Rai just snickered, " It's me Setsuna. I'm coming in whether you like it or not." And with that, she opened the door, and marched in with Duo following closely behind, but not as confident. Setsuna just looked up from the book she was reading, and glared at Rai. " Oh give it up! It doesn't bother me!" said Rai walking over to Setsuna and sitting on the bed. Setsuna just kept glaring at her, but allowed it anyways. When Setsuna was about to say something, the two heard a little noise coming from across the room, close to the door. The two looked up, and saw Duo standing there, cowering in the corner. " Oh yeah, Setsuna meet Duo." Setsuna just looked at him with a glare imprinted on her face. " What's he doing here?" she asked coldly. Rai just looked at her, and smacked her up side the head. " Ow! What was that for!!??" she screamed. Rai just smiled, " That, was for pointing a gun at our guest, " she said smiling happily at herself, " And this, " she said, smacking her again, " Is for being rude to him. Now, Duo, this is Setsuna, Setsuna this is Duo." She said introducing them properly. Setsuna said nothing, only nodded her head. Duo, on the other hand, decided to be friendly. " Hey… What's up?" he said waving slowly, and inching his way towards the two girls on the bed. Just as he was about to sit
down, Setsuna looked up at him with a strange smile on her face. Rai looked at her, and knew exactly what she was planning. " Setsuna…" she was cut off when Setsuna spoke up, " Duo, would you mind going over to the closet, and fetching my book please?" she asked sweetly, a little to sweetly for Duo's liking, but he did it anyways. He walked over towards the closet, and opened it slowly. Meanwhile, on the bed, Rai turned to Setsuna, " It's in there isn't it? You deliberately sent him there so he can get mauled!!! What were you…" Rai's lecture was interrupted by * Creak* " MEOW!!!!" and then, " AHHHHH!!!!" and then, all you could see was Duo running out away from the closet, and towards Rai and Setsuna. Setsuna just collapsed from laughter, as Rai was trying to force precious back into the closet. She looked around, and grabbed the first thing that she thought would get the cats attention. She smiled, and picked up the book that Setsuna was reading, and threw it into the closet, " Hey!!!!" she screamed outraged. Just as Rai had planed, the demon cat ran after the book, and back into the closet. Duo just sat on the
bed, looking traumatized. " What the hell was that???!!!" he asked, breathing heavily. Rai
went back over to the bed, where she sat down and gave a heavy sigh of relief, " That was precious. And Setsuna….don't ever do that again, or you WILL lose another book, or maybe even more if I choose so, do you got me?" she said, lying down. Setsuna just
walked over to the closet, where she opened it, and stuck her hand inside to get her book, what she took out was another story. It was a book, but it was now nothing but shreds and slobber. Setsuna just held it up, and got a sad look on her face. " It was a new book to…" she said as she walked over towards the garbage can, and dropped it in. " That should teach you not to let it out when company's here." Said Rai sitting up to look at the two of them. Duo still looked like he could piss him self at any moment, and Setsuna…well…let's just say that they were getting out of there, and quick. " Alright! Let's go Duo." She said grabbing his hand, and headed for the door. Once they were safely away from Setsuna and precious, Duo let out a happy sigh. " So…that's what did that to your arm?" he asked, taking her arm again. Rai kinda blushed, and I emphasize the word kinda! " Ah, yeah." She said, pulling her arm back. Duo put a finger to his chin, and looked like he was thinking. Rai noticed this, and decided to speak up, " Don't hurt yourself." she said, smiling evilly. Duo just stuck out his tongue, " Very funny! No, I was just thinking about how I can get rid of that cat withought hurting myself." Rai just started laughing, and eventually ended up on the floor. " What's so funny?" he asked. Rai couldn't answer, she was too busy trying to keep her stomach in its rightful place. " Yeah, yeah! Laugh all you want!" he said, as he stared down at Rai. She stopped laughing long enough to look up at him, and smile. " No, I think it's a cute idea…. It will never work, but it' cute." She said standing up, and walking towards the living room. Duo followed after, confusion written all over his face. " What do you mean it will never work?" he asked, sounding a little hurt. Rai walked over to the chair, and sat down, " What I mean, is that even if you do succeed in getting the cat out and away, what are you going to do about Michiru, and most of all, about Setsuna?! He would kill you withought a second thought!" She said turning her neck to the side, and cracking it. Duo walked over to the couch that was just beside the chair. " I suppose you're right." He said, as he got that look of thinking back on his face. Rai looked towards him with a smile, " What are you thinking about now?" she asked, leaning just a little closer towards him. Duo, getting the hint, moved closer as well, " Well, I was just wondering why you look so tense." He said,
putting on a serious face that made Rai laugh. " Maybe it's because of the stress. I really could do with a massage." She said slyly. Duo looked at her with a raised eyebrow, " Really now?" he asked, moving to stand just behind her, and started to massage her shoulder's. Rai sighed in happiness, and relaxed all her muscles. She closed her eyes, " That feels really good you know?" she said, sounding very content. Duo smirked, " Yeah, well, let's just say I'm good with my hands." Rai opened her eyes, and raised an eyebrow up at him. " Hey! Don't be thinking like that now!" he said, pointing his finger at her and putting on a really stupid looking serious face. Rai put on a sad face, and started to pout, " Why not?" she asked, in a cute little voice. " Because, you might attract the wrong type of guy." Rai put a fake surprised face on, and covered her O shaped mouth with her hand, " Oh no!! We wouldn't want that now would we?" she asked, leaning closer to him. Duo put on a confident smile, " Definitely not!" he said, as he moved as well. When they were about two centimeters away, and Duo closed his eyes, and was waiting for the very
welcomed kiss….which never seemed to come. He peeked open an eye, and noticed that
Rai was no longer there. He opened both eyes to look around, but didn't see her. " Rai… where are you?" he said as he started searching. He looked everywhere, but saw no one. Just when he was outside of Setsuna's door, trying to creep past as to not get hurt, he
heard Rai's voice from the other side, along with the other four girls. ' Hmm…..wonder what there doing?' he thought to himself. He decided that, now would be a good time to use some of his skills as a pilot, and listen in! What he heard, was another story.
In the room…
The five girls were gathered around a laptop, looking at the screen with interest and focus on their faces. " Hmm…." Said Rai, as she examined what was on the screen more carefully. " We've never had one like this before." The other fours girls shook their heads in agreement. " This is kinda…weird…" said Michiru, also staring at the screen weirdly. Setsuna just looked at it, " You would figure that they would give us a harder mission." All of the girls nodded at this. " I mean really, they want us too do something that were already kinda doing." Said Anna, who was just as confused as the rest of them. " But, the question is, how are we going to work it out so that only one of us sets the bait?" asked Heedura. Rai did this weird snorting thing, and spoke up, " That's easy, I'll do it!" she said confidently. The other four girls looked at her, " Are you sure…" said Anna. Rai just shook her head vigorously. " Of course I'm sure!" Heedura just shook her head, " You are way too cocky." She said with a little laugh. Rai just shrugged her shoulders, " What can I say? I have every reason to be!" * everyone sweatdrop * " Ok, here's what were gonna do." Started Heedura, " Our cocky friend Rai, is going to seduce him, and bring him to the bar. Then, Anna, being the daring one, Is going to put on a good show for him in one of the rooms, then, Michiru will come in with a drink for the two of them, and his will be loaded with our special drogue, which, as we all know, will knock him out cold for a good two hours. Were going to take him to the old warehouse, where, this is your favorite part Setsuna, we will get every inch of information out of him by any means possible. That of course is Setsuna's job. Now, as for me, I will be watching out for anyone who might wanna stop us, and, if it comes up that I can't handle them, I will call you guys, and tell one of you to get your ass's down here!" she said, finishing with a happy tone. Throughout her explanation, everyone was paying very close attention, and jotting it all done in their heads. " Is everyone clear?" said Rai, standing up, and heading for the door.
She looked back as soon as she had her hand on the door knob, and saw that everyone was shaking there heads yes. " Good!" she said turning the handle.
Outside the door…
' OH SHIT!!!!' Duo thought to himself, as he scurried away from the door, watching the handle turn. He looked around frantically, and finally saw a bathroom just a couples feet down the hall, and rushed for it. He closed the door just in time to hear the five girls come out of the room. He heard on of them speak, " Now that we have business to attend to, you can get rid of that moron." Duo rolled his eyes. " Oh relax Setsuna, he's fine. There's no reason to think that he will get in the way." Duo smiled happily as he heard Rai stick up for him, until of course it struck him, " What am I thinking?" he asked himself, " She's an assassin! I can't date her!" Duo told himself, very quietly. Obviously it wasn't quiet enough. " Did you hear that?" said Michiru. He could hear footsteps, " Yeah, I did." Said Anna. Duo was getting a little worried. He was trapped in a bathroom, with
no escape, and five assassins coming towards him. ' Uh oh. Better think of something.' He
thought to himself. Just then, it struck him. ' Of course! I am in the bathroom! What do peoples do in bathrooms?' he thought to himself, proud of the idea he came up with all by himself. He un-zippered his pants, and turned around, waiting for the door to be opened.
Outside the bathroom door…
" Who do you think is in there?" asked Anna. " Maybe a spy…" continued Heedura. " Or maybe it's…" Rai didn't get to finish her sentence, because Setsuna had already proceeded to kick down the door, where they saw… " AH!!!" screamed Michiru, running away from the door, to stand behind Anna and Rai. Rai on the other hand, was admiring the view. " Sorry, Duo…Setsuna thought that there was an intruder, and well…we kinda barged in…" said Rai scratching the back of her head. " Good thing you were almost fully clothed." Said Anna, snickering to herself. Duo just scratched the back of his head, " Ah, yeah…well, I should really be going, I have to work tonight…." He said, walking over the door, and towards the entrance. He opened the door, and walked out into the hall, where Rai joined him after a couples of seconds. " Yeah, I'm really sorry about them…there really not all that bad once you get used to them…" She was interrupted as Duo put up his hand, " No need to apologize, my friends are just as weird! Well, I should go, I do have work. See ya!" he said, waving over his shoulder as he walked down the hall. As Rai starred after him, she knew that something wasn't quite right.