Well sorry about the wait and all but I had a little trouble with my computer and other things. The Good news is that now I'm back (or maybe you think that's a bad thing) to continue this fanfic and try to think of some comedy for Havoc in the House! I'm feeling quite pleased with this so far. Why? Well because by the time I got to Chapter 8 in Darkness Falling I only had nine chapters. And right now I have 20! ^_^ Anyway, I learnt a few things. 1. Longer Chapters which are interesting. 2. An original storyline is a must and 3. Being descriptive is not always a good thing!

Anyway, I think I've prattled on enough. You want to read this chapter, right?

But first, a few more things!

Authoress' Notes to Reviewers! ^________________^

Chasm- Well glad to see you're back online! I haven't read your new chapter yet but I will do and I'll be sure to review! Thanks for your support and thanks for giving me reviews! ^_________^

Vampy Sparda- Well, I know I haven't been to talk to you much on MSN or anything but do not fear, to make it up to you here's a new chapter for your reading pleasure and blah blah blah. You can lick my boots clean afterwards…as soon as I find them…I prefer sneakers you see…

Dante- Ah yes, the wonderful DMC character who is somehow able to review fanfics! ^_^ Glad to see you've left a few reviews here and there. Now somehow, I'm thinking that maybe you'd like to see yourself more in this fanfic or something. Well don't worry, there's another one coming up and no, I won't put you through much torture like how I'm doing right now. Don't get me wrong, I'm not sadistic, I love my OC character, but after eating too much chocolate and being deprived of my favourite drink in the whole wide world, it can lead to depression…and SOMEONE has to pay for it! (laughs maniacally)

Anyway, Dante and Xyphos and Trish and Mundus (who doesn't even appear in this fic) and Minako do not belong to me. However Rayne and Arson do. I'm sure they are thrilled to be in the possession of a crazy girl like me.

Chapter 8

            Ash curled up underneath the bed covers, crying. How could he have even dared to kiss her like that? Why had she have to go through that? She had only meant to protect herself and Minako by saying what she had said, and yet now she was paying for it. She must have been insane for even thinking that she could say something like that and get away with it. How could he have even remembered what had happened though? If he couldn't control his own powers, then how could he have remembered that? Unless she had meant that much to him…but if that was true, then he wouldn't have even tried to attack her. Thoughts raced through her head. She tried to calm her tears, but now they seemed to fall faster than ever. She was a fool. Nothing but a terrible fool.

            Rayne had walked into the infirmary to check on Ash, but he had paused at the door when he had heard her muffled crying. He was now unsure whether to continue. Ash might yell at him for even coming near her in her present state, especially if she was as depressed as she sounded. But yet, if she sank even lower into depression, then she might end up doing something drastic. Rayne knew he couldn't allow that to happen. Tentatively, he walked over to the bed and gently sat down on the side of it.

            'Ash?'

            'Leave me alone…I don't want to talk to anyone…' came the sobbing reply. Rayne wasn't particularly surprised by this.

            'What happened?' The sobbing stopped abruptly. 'What happened, Arson?' The covers moved and Ash's red eyes peered out from underneath the covers. At the use of her old name, she started to sob again. Rayne lowered his eyes and sighed.

            'Maybe I had better leave you alone for the time being,' he murmured.

            'No wait.' Rayne turned around slowly, unhurried and calm. There was something about the way he was acting that made Ash feel more in control of herself. He probably wasn't having an easy time either. Knowing that someone who had been a best friend of his had now suddenly been replaced by someone else wasn't the best surprise in the world. But yet, she was going through so much more. The red rimmed eyes blinked lazily at her as he settled himself down at her side again.

            'D'you want to talk about it.'

            'He kissed me,' said Ash flatly. Rayne raised his eyebrows. Ash knew from experience that this was the way Rayne expressed his surprise. 'Yeah, that's right. He kissed me. But I guess I had it coming.'

            'What do you mean by that?'

            'Well I told the geezer that I loved him, didn't I?' Ash raised her voice slightly, and found to her shame that it was trembling still. She lowered her voice again, took a deep breath and continued, trying to inject calm in her voice. 'I only said it because he was trying to attack me and Minako. I didn't mean it. I thought that it would calm him slightly, and I was wrong. He would have killed me if you hasn't walked in at that moment. And I know that if someone can't control his power, then he will have no recollection of becoming a demon. So how could he have known what I had said?' Rayne blinked and then groaned.

            'Minako…'

            'She told him?' Rayne nodded once.

            'You can't blame her for this though. She didn't know that you were lying. And Arson kept on asking questions, so she had to answer. She's innocent. She didn't know anything about it.' Ash was silent. 'Do you want me to tell-'

            'NO!' Ash glared at him, but then saw that his eyebrows were raised again. 'I mean, no…if anyone else knows about this then it could get dangerous. And don't girls always talk?' Rayne smiled slowly.

            'I wouldn't know. I've never been a girl before.' Ash glared at him. Oh so now he was making jokes about the situation? Well she didn't find it very funny. In fact, she found it humiliating. Could she really trust him? How could she be sure, when he would make jokes like that. Maybe he thought that she was crazy, and on the edge and so was humouring her. Maybe there was still an idea in his head that she was really Ash…

            Tears began to run down her face yet again. She cursed angrily as she hastily brushed them away. She glared her hatred out at Rayne, who suddenly seemed to see how much he had upset her. He pulled her into a hug.

            'I'm sorry Ash…I didn't mean anything by it. I was just kidding with you…I'm sorry, Arson…' His face suddenly flushed up and he pulled away. Ash stared listlessly at the wall.

            'Don't hug me again.'

            'Believe me, I won't! I just hugged a guy!' Ash laughed at this point. Rayne shuddered slightly at the bitter tone.

            Ash was later told that she could go from the infirmary and return back to her room. Minako was the one who had led her to her room, looking at her curiously. Getting her to lead the way was not much of an easy task.

            'You've forgotten where your room is?' she had said incredulously. Ash had blinked at her wearily.

            'Uh…not exactly…'

            'What d'you mean by not exactly?' Minako looked at her suspiciously.

            'Well…ever since the attack, I keep forgetting things. You know, like names.'

            'Names is one thing, but forgetting your room?' Arson's temper had seemed to get shorter and shorter since he had been forced into this body. Now she stood up shakily.

            'Well, if you don't want to help me then fine! I can bloody well find out myself.' However, when she had tried to walk forwards, she had stumbled and fallen onto the floor. Minako had helped her up.

            'I'm not going to let you walk by yourself in that state. Come on.' And so it was that Ash had found the way to her room. But now she had another problem to face. Minako had said that Rayne was off duty at night and that they were all going to go and look around the village. She had begged Ash to come and at length, she had been forced to agree. Minako had seemed to have forgotten that Ash could not walk that well. But at the last minute, she had remembered.

            'At six, Arson will come to get you.'

            Arson. How she dreaded hearing his name. Which was a terrible thing to act considering it was her name as well. It wasn't that she hated himself or anything. It was that he was so different. She wondered then about Xyphos. How was she? Did she think that Arson was dead? She wondered whether she would ever return in her own body. Xyphos had so many times told him that she loved him, and yet, Arson had never said anything back. She regretted it now, and wished that there was some way in which she could just come back in her own body, just to tell her that he felt the same way.

            Ash sighed and slowly opened up the closet in her room. Her eyes widened as she saw the amount of clothes in the closet. Rayne hadn't been kidding when he had once said that Ashley had been vain. The dresser was covered with cosmetics. Ash looked at them distastefully and swept them off the dresser. No way was she going to put that on herself. What was the point? Besides, she didn't even know how. She turned back to the closet and looked at the clothes, confused. It must have been hard for this girl to choose what she was going to wear, she thought sarcastically. And yet, Minako wanted to go to the village again. Somehow, it looked as though this Ash person that she was currently pretending to be had bought all the shops.

            At length, she chose a pair of black trousers with a black top and jacket. Nice and simple and stylish as well. She looked at the clock, five to six. She heard a knock on the door and opened it slowly. She was pleasantly surprised and relieved to see Minako. She looked at Ash in shock.

            'You're not wearing any make up…' she said dazedly.

            'I know,' returned Ash. 'Is there a problem?'

            'No…it's just that…normally you don't go out of the base without make up on.' Ash pulled a face inwardly. What a pitiful existence this girl must have had. 'Besides, don't you want to impress Arson?' added Minako slyly. Ash wondered what to say to this. If she said no after saying that she loved Arson, Minako would get a little suspicious. Questions would lead up to more lies. She had had enough of lying to last her a lifetime. Especially if it meant that she was going to be kissed or something after every lie she told.

            'If Arson likes me then he'll like me for what I look like, said Ash primly. Minako frowned at her but then nodded. The two walked out of the base in silence. Ash felt as though her stomach was being clawed out. What else could go wrong today?

It looks like I'll just have to leave it at that for now. But I'll soon have a new chapter for you to read. Read and review? Well if you've got here then you've probably read it already…but could you review? Please? Please please please please???