HH: Ah, yes. Eh. *runs out of excuses to use for the delay* Ya see.*trails off and looks into my notebook on 'how to weasel your way out of an angry mob'* Happy belated V-day! ^^;; Enjoy the chapter! *quickly takes off* *comes back and realizes something* Almost forgot. MANY thanx for all the reviews. I love ya'll!! Yeah, I screwed up uploading last chapter. The good thing that came out of it is that I got more reviews! XD Maybe I should try this trick more. I wanted to change it, but ffnet was threatening to delete my whole fic along with the reviews if I erased the last chapter. -.-;;; To be honest, I've been having some health problems lately. Not serious enough to directly die yet. But annoying, to say the least. The plot also needed some more poking.

On a side note: Yeah, I know my English Grammar dun rule. And to be honestly, I really can't seem to find anything wrong in it myself. Result: the following cry-out. Is anyone interested in beta-reading my fics? The perk: You get to read this fic and all the other fics WAY before the actual post. The downside: You need to put up with yours truly moaning and whining about everyday life. Just mail me at touga_kiryuukun@yahoo.com or aim me: Tougakiryuukun

P.S.: If I dun find a beta-reader from lack of volunteering, I guess you all just have to put up with my grammar faults and all. ^^v

Mission Interlude: Gestohlene Kraft

Sometimes, the blood ended up in your mouth. No, not my own. Other people's. Blood that belonged to the dark beasts of the night. I have learned something very important tonight: Never stand in the proximity of Aya when he decides to go and behead some guy. The blood from neck arteries has a tendency to spray around, a lot. This explained the reason why I was covered with blood from head to toe and beating everybody else in the run for the shower. It seriously sucked to share a shower. A sink just wasn't big enough to give me a good cleanse. No, we still had hot water by the time I stepped outside. I'm not THAT inconsiderate. At least I think Omi still gets to finish his warm shower. Can't promise anything about the other three though. I sat down on the couch facing the window and brushed the wet hair. Hairdryers were for sissies. That and it always took me way too long to blowdry my hair. Brushing was an agonizing experience as well, but I loved my hair too much to cut it short. The way the hairdressers always jerked at the hair when they brushed it helped as well.

The sky was turning into a wonderful gray-tinted blue, promising the sun and the beginning of another day. The hand that held the brush stopped in mid-stroke. I blinked in surprise. The reflection that greeted me on the glass was my father's. I can't really remember how my family looks like anymore. Small details lingered in my mind. Pieces of a puzzle that never looked whole. I remember how Hanna used to cry because she disliked the color of her hair. The dimple that would become visible every time my mom smiled. The fine details of their faces had faded over the years, because the only family picture I kept had been lost. Rekka was right. I looked like our dad and it even made sense. It wasn't just the hair color like I thought for the past few years. It was everything. From the shape of my eyes to the curve of my mouth. I was an exact copy of him. Those crazy scientists at the Arena must be proud. The brush resumed its slow movements, working its way to smooth the hair. My mom loved my father's hair. The fullness of it, how every single hair seemed to lead a life on its own. Then, there is of course the incredibly rare color. How the red would be tinged purple under the right light. She would always joke about how his hair made more women jealous than she ever could. I wrapped a thin strand around my fingers. Around and around. The last time I saw my father, his hair had been matted with blood.

It's not exactly a common thing for people's hair to change color this dramatically. Not in a natural way that is. Sure, you can always dye it, but the roots will always show or you need to redye it constantly. Me, I just woke up one day and thought: By golly, it's a miracle. I went from a brunette to a redhead over night. Yeah right. It had been an actual process. First there were little fashionable red spots almost invisible under a curtain of blackness. Slowly, all the roots turned red and the red replaced all the black. The scientists who had messed with my DNA by combining little pieces of it with my dad's DNA were not too surprised. They called it a miner side effect, nothing that would interfere with my newly acquired ability. It had been bizarre at first. Just seeing this hair reminded me so much of my dad. It's not normal that a son grows his father's hair. Not when he was born with black hair anyway. But then, nothing has been normal for me since that day my parents died The thing I miss the most is just talking to him. Of course I miss my mom as well, but I think mom always favored Hanna above us. So it was our dad who usually took us to fishing trips, camping trips and stuff like that. Or he'd just take one or both of us into the study room and then tell us stories. He'd also answer questions we had. Silly questions of course. Like, dad, why can't we have the moon in our room? He was the world to us. The world, our childhood, had ended that day with his death. Countless times I have wanted to ask him for advice and guidance. Only silence replied. But when I stood there watching the sunset, I could close my eyes and pretend. I could ignore the busy sounds of the people around me and let my imagination free. The distant sound of the ocean would be him trying to tell me the secrets of the world. I will never stop missing him.

Author's note: I know, it was really really short. But it was more of an explanation than a real chapter. @.@ Hopefully, I've fully explained the whole Sky-looking-like-his-dad thing now.