I probably should have waited longer to put this up, but... oh well! It's going up anyway! Yay.

I'll probably regret this chapter in the next three days.... but then again, I could always redo it, right? Right?

Still having computer problems. This evil clone computer I'm forced to use is now at least a little better.... it's got Kenji on the desktop! Cute moles make the world better.

I don't think She-Whom-I-Am-Certainly-Not-Stalking knew that when I get obsessed.... I'm obsessed. Shallow ol' me thinks of nothing else.

About the rating change... I didn't do it because of the few naughty words in this chapter; it's about something coming up.

Then again, you folk don't pay any attention to the ratings, do you ^X^?

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She never thought her sister would turn up missing like this without at least calling mother on her cellular phone. It was half past ten and Uriko still had not arrived. Alice had hoped that she would return to the hotel before her mother, who was coming home late tonight, would find out if she had been lost or late at all.

She was sure to give her one hell of a speech over this.

What if Uriko never came back? What if she got completely lost or was robbed or kidnapped or worse?

Alice began to nervously bite at the skin around her nails and to anticipate the worst possible scenarios.

Footsteps that only belonged to one person could be heard outside and Mitsuko opened the door, announcing her arrival.

What would she do?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She was surrounded by green and a clear starry sky hung above her. Some of the green plants around her were kind of prickly and others had her caught in their tangled mess. She had quite a few scratches and scrapes and bruises from tumbling through those plants and over all those rocks. Then, she noticed she was in somebody's arms.

"Kyaaaaaaaa!'

Uriko started struggling, but the tangled plants held her more or less in place. The boy woke up with a start and latched onto Uriko's sides without thinking.

"Uriko! What's wrong? What's going on?"

"Get off! Let go of me, pervert!"

"Pervert..." he pondered before realizing the form he had at the moment. The struggling girl slammed into the ground when the "pervert" seemed to vanish. There was a muffled squeak from underneath her body. Uriko snatched up her mole and glanced around frantically for her assailant. She could have stood up to run, but she was still rather tangled up.

"Where'd he go?"

She tried to untangle herself with her free hand so she could make a break for it, but her efforts were mostly in vain. Many of the plants in this vacant area were tough and thick vines, so all she could do was try to slip out of them. In her panic, she was mostly getting herself entangled all over again in what could easily be escaped with a little concentration.

Suddenly, Uriko found the arm clutching her pet close to her was wrapped around something significantly larger. She started entangling herself yet again trying to get away from the pervert from before, who had somehow gotten into her grasp. He reached out to find her with his hands and touched her in the wrong places.

"Hold still."

She only let out another shriek and pushed him away before getting up, mostly free from the vines. Her legs were still stuck and she fell right over. The panicked girl could feel his hands feeling around on her feet and legs.

"I really didn't want to do this," he sighed.

"No! No, no! Don't!"

"Please stop struggling. You're making this difficult for me."

Uriko kicked her legs up furiously to get those hands of his off them. She was still desperately trying to find someway to escape.

"I should hope so! I'm not gonna just sit here and let you have your way with me!"

"....... I don't know what that's supposed to mean, but could you just hold still so I can-"

"Make me!" She savagely dared, thrashing all the more.

Before she knew it, he climbed up and completely placed his own body on top of hers to stop her.

Oh, no... He's got me.

"Please, I'm only trying to help you."

Uriko hissed through her teeth, "What the hell are you saying?"

"You're tangled up. Some person just tried to kill us both. We're far from home and I think it's late."

Her mind found a way to calm down somewhat and she thought back to the mall and the preceding events. It seemed like a dream now, but she remembered the man out to kill the boy who had just appeared, who saved her from being killed along with him.

"Y-you're that guy from before. You saved me from that weirdo in the parking lot."

There was a sigh before a sad-sounding answer. "That's right. I'm sorry about falling into here. I'm blind and I get a little strange when I'm focused like that."

"You're blind...?"

She rolled over onto her back so she could see his face more clearly and he loosened his grasp to allow her. Indeed, his eyes looked like none she had ever seen before. They were the faintest shade of yellow and dead, clouded, and not focused onto her face. She stared up at him, her chest heaving. The tension from before had died down somewhat, but there was still some kind of tension in the air.

"Who are you?" she breathed

"Please call me Kenji. That is the name I have chosen."

Kenji? That name was so familiar! It was on the back of her mind somehow, even though she had not known anyone who went by that name. This was like some sort of dream, the way she felt she knew him somehow.

"I trust you won't run off if I let you go?"

She nodded and Kenji got off her and into a sitting position. He then felt around for the vines around her legs and started ripping them apart like paper.

Finally, she asked him why he had no clothes. Kenji merely told her he would rather not explain that right now, but there was a small package in her knapsack she could get for him. It was a compressed change of clothes. This brought her into an offensive stance again.

"And what are your clothes doing in my bag? And where have you been this whole time without them?"

"Please hand me my clothes."

"You're not getting squat until you give me some answers!"

Those sightless eyes carried such a sad gaze. "Do you really want to know?" he asked in defeat. He then let off a little light and energy and seemed to disappear once more.

"Eh? Can you turn invisible?"

"... Squeak...."

It was Mister Mole. Uriko started putting the pieces together in her head, but they formed a picture that seemed strange enough to only be a fantasy. She merely stared at the furry rodent for a while. It was a bit much to comprehend. Her mind remained in a state of disbelief and something was switched off in her brain to cope with it.

A human had just turned into a mole and back in front of her eyes. The mole was her mole, the one for whom she had cared all this time.

"This would really change things, I suppose. I really don't think you'd want me to still be your pet if you know this."

The wide-eyed and spaced out Uriko stiffly patted his head. "That's okay, Mister Mole," she mumbled blankly in a drained voice, "here.... Why don't you put on your clothes...? It's cold out..."

Kenji retrieved a small red package from her bag. When he pressed the little button on it, it practically exploded and out came his outfit: A sleeveless ragged yellow top with pants of the same color and leg guards and black sandals complete with a long, red scarf and finger less gloves, among other things. He only put on what he had to put on to cover himself, leaving his protective gear, scarf and gloves in his keeper's bag.

"What's with the outfit? What, are you a ninja or something?"

She was right on target.

"Well.... I'd much rather not talk about that right now. This is my only change of clothes."

When he was finished dressing himself, the two made their way to the edge of the lot of weeds and to a road that was more like a highway. It seemed empty, but like many highways, the cars approach right as one is crossing.

Quite a few delinquents had been drinking that night and were driving well above the speed limit. When one of the cars' drivers finally realized there was a person he had to dodge, he swerved wildly. Uriko was caught like a deer in the headlights.

Just then, like earlier in the parking lot, she found herself suddenly being grabbed and carried off with the ninja's leap well above the car. He landed onto the moving vehicle and flipped off the roof and landed onto the road, where leapt once more to the side to avoid another drunk driver's car. He ran onto the sidewalk to safely.

Then he ran right into a streetlight.

"Oh!"

"I... I'm okay, I'm okay! It's just a bump. It figures - I can't hear it 'cause it doesn't move."

He put her down.

"You're going to have to be my eyes, Uriko."

She looked around nervously. She told him she had never been in this area before. They were in an area rather close to a more condensed and urban section of the city, where people lived close together in apartment buildings, some older and smaller than others.

"What about public transportation?"

"Ah! That's right! I think I have enough money on my card..."

Uriko triumphantly looked though her bag, only to find that somebody must have stolen her wallet. This was bad. Perhaps they could try to find a police station?

"I guess we'll have to walk home... and I don't know what direction that is..."

"Don't worry. I'm sure my nose will find something familiar."

Immediately her pet put said nose into action and sniffed the air like a dog. He sniffed here and there and walked up a few blocks as he followed a specific scent. Uriko followed him, eager to know what had caught his interest.

"Hmm... Barbecue sauce... it's the secret formula.."

She nearly slammed into the brick wall next to her.

"Well, that's a big help!"

"But I know this smell... I think I encountered it a lot for some reason. I can't quite remember, though.... oh!"

"What is it? What is it?"

"It's near home.... I'm going home!"

"What?"

Kenji was now incredibly excited for some reason. He was only barely sure why, but he knew he was on the verge of remembering something so crucial and important. The beginnings of a smile were playing on his lips. He snatched up Uriko's hand and began to break out into a run, following only his nose.

"We're going home, come on!"

"Hey, where are you taking me?"

"Home, we're going home! I haven't been home since... since.... well, I don't know and I don't really remember what it's like, but I want to be there."

He continued to speed up as if home would run away if it knew he was coming. Uriko tailed behind him.

"Hey, wait up! Kenjiiiii...."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Saturday Night - the perfect night to be up late with people, or so society dictated. Then again, it was a stupid rule that only applied to the people with the money and time to spend on socializing and partying. What did it matter, really? When spending time with someone doing the typical, one finds he can understand the tradition that follows it.

It was a beautiful night and he was out on a date with whom some considered a temptress. They had just eaten out on the sidewalk tables, and he was now was walking down the street, arm in arm, with his date. He did not often have the chance to do this. He was content. What a great night.

Plus, the moon was going to be full pretty soon. Such beauty that celestial body always had, especially at the time of the month when it was a full, glowing jewel. He would always be out on that night, gazing at it in its radiant beauty. Its white light touched something within him, something resting deep within him.

"Staring at the moon again?" a shapely blond woman linked to him by the arm teased, "You should be staring at something else, if you ask me."

"Ah, Jen... Can't you understand? It's in my blood. My father and my grandparents and their parents- they all worshipped the moon. Jenny, you also love the night, so don't you like the moon?"

"It's pretty, but I'm not nearly as crazed about it as you."

"The moon... on a clear night, it's all I ever think about. It's so clear and beautiful... I just want to call out to it, you know what I mean?"

His date glanced up at him with a knowing smile.

"Not at all. I just love the dark and the starry night sky."

He sighed. "Moon... stars.... Ah, hell! I guess they're close enough, eh?"

Jenny suddenly stopped walking and made her date turn around to face her her. "Perhaps you should come back to earth for a moment. We must spend your short time with me wisely."

"Oh, and just what do you suggest we do?" he responded with a wide joking grin.

Jenny grasped his shoulders with her slender fingers and brought herself closer him. She moved in to answer with actions instead of words. Her lips were aimed right for his neck.

Unfortunately arms seemed to pop out of nowhere and wrap themselves around her target without warning.

"Big brother!"

"What the fuck?" The man tore off the sudden intruder and put him on front of him.

"What the hell is your problem?"

It was some teenager in very strange clothes. His face had a confused expression and he gave him a sniff.

"You're... not my big brother? But you smell just like him..."

One hand reached up for his face and under the large sunglasses he wore. The teenager's fingertips found the large X-shaped scar on his nose bridge right between his eyes.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?"

"... it is you. Big brother..."

Then, he heard panting and rapid footsteps and the voice of a girl the same who had to be about age.

"Kenjiii.... Kenjiii...."

She ran up and bent over to catch her breath.

"Kenji, you almost got me killed trying to follow you!"

"Kenji...?"

The man carefully studied his face and recognized some of his defining features. He examined his outfit and noted his sense of smell.

"It is you..."

Now he was the one pull off a surprise embrace. He had a much larger frame and body and his arms wrapped pretty much completely around the smaller Kenji. He gave him a fierce hug and waved him back and forth and mussed up his hair while he was at it.

"It is you! Shit, Kenji! Where have you been all this time?"

"Who is is this?" both females present asked simultaneously.

"This is my little brother, Kenji!" the larger stated proudly.

"He's big brother Yugo..." the smaller whispered happily, smiling for first time in a very, very long time.