He smiled sympathetically.  "Sorry."

"No," she repeated.  "I don't feel well."

"Well then," he said, turning around and out of her sight.  "You won't refuse this then."  He came into view holding up a brown, food bag, marked by a red dragon.

"Of course-Chinese food for the Japanese girl."

"Why not?"  He took out one of the boxes and slid it through the metal bars along with some utensils.

She received them hesitantly.  "How am I supposed to eat this by using a fork and a spoon?"

He paused, getting out his own food.  "Oh, I forgot to ask for chopsticks."  He ignored her disheartened face and got out the last item.  "Here."

She picked up a small box and opened it.  "Zen Calendar."  She looked up at him.  "Thank you for these nice, stereotypical gifts."

"No problem.  Besides, maybe a calendar can help you.  After all, I still don't know what you can do."

Deja sat quietly in the farthest corner of her cell.  She could hear the boy's breath, deep and unrestrained as he slept.  She looked over her empty, food box, tiny remains of sauce staining the bottom.  Then she picked up her calendar and read the first line.  "'Merchants-Who will buy this hat, glazed with snow? –Basho.'  What the hell does that mean?"

And, interrupting her silence, a door unexpectedly banged open.  She jumped, hiding her calendar behind her back as blue feet walked down the stairs before her.  The woman walked by without even glimpsing at her although Deja trailed her coldly.  "Erik and I are leaving.  We'll be back in eight hours."

"Why?"

The woman walked back across the cell and before turning she glanced at Deja and grinned.  Deja stood up abruptly and ran at the bars.  "WHY YOU MUST KEEPING ME HERE?" she shrieked out, forgetting to grammar-check her own words.

Mystique didn't answer and started walking up the stairs.  She called out to Pyro, "Don't get in trouble."

"You bitch," Deja sighed in despair as she slid down the cell.

Pyro stood awkwardly, looking at Deja crumpled at the bottom of her cell. 

John tried to fight off the real world and stay inside his dream.  He was looking at a sky just before daybreak.  The blue was renewing, special.  But, the growing noise brought him back.  His eyes flicked open unhappily.  For a second his brain slowly translated the sound into information.  He walked over to Deja's cell where she was lying on the ground, moaning.  "What's wrong?"  She hissed more Japanese at him.  He stared around uncertainly and back at Deja who was now clutching her stomach.  "Are you hungry?"  She shouted sharp words at him but lapsed into desperate whispers.  "What is it?"

"You wouldn't' know."

"Why not."  She answered in Japanese.  "You're not being very helpful."

"I'm sick."

He turned away skeptically.  "With what?"

She took a moment to think about what those words meant.  "Sick with time."

"What?"

"I don't want to tell you."

"Fine."  He sat down stubbornly, dwelling on her words.  That it dawned on him that she could be cramping.  He looked back at her.  "Are you…"

"Go away."

"Do you want food or something?"

"I want you to burn in hell."  He settled on the cramping theory.  He twiddled his thumbs uncomfortably, wishing she stop groaning.  "What will it take for you to go to sleep?"

"Your head on a silver platter."

"How eloquent."

"Ooo, the boy knows a big word."

"Will you go to sleep?"

"Anki."

"I don't speak Japanese by the way."

"It's a medicine.  Anki."

"Where do you buy it?"

"At Akutsu-san's."

"Where's that?"

"By the school you kidnapped me from."

"That's an hour away."

"Oh, will it take an hour out of your rolling social life."

"'Rocking' social life."

"'Ro-king' social life," she corrected.

Someho, Pyro had been coaxed into buying her a bottle of Anki.  After guilting him and assuring him her note was not a emergency letter, he was off.

"If it's not an escape letter, why don't you write in English?" he had asked.

"The old women doesn't speak or read English."

"How will I get through to her then?"

"The note says 'I need to buy Anki for my girlfriend.'"  She had looked up and seen his expression.  "You can't say sister, she probably doesn't have any Japanese-speaking, white customers.  That would take too much explination.  Unless you need Anki-"

"Give me the note…How do I know it says that, though?"

"What am I going to ask them?  Come save me?  They don't know me.  Who in their right mind would save someone they don't know?"  Pyro had been swayed by this remark.  That's how he thought, and he was glad to know there was another teenage who felt the same.  "Here.  See this?" she had pointed.  "These characters mean 'I need'.  This means 'wa', this means 'ta', this means 'shi'.  'Watashi' means 'I'.  These characters say 'hiretsukan.'  That means 'girlfriend.'

            "But all that for 'I'?"

            "For me just get Anki and I won't bother you again."  After he had closed the door she had muttered, "You dead hiretsukan."  For, 'Hiretsukan' actually means 'jackass.'

a/n-ooo!  Maybe from the last line you can gather that the note doesn't mean what she says it means!  That remark would work better if you could hear my tone of voice, which is like Strong Bad's.  Go to homestarrunner . com slash sbemail57 (h t m l   too, I know that was messed up but FF won't allow links)  If you're a download junkie like I am, download 'Boys Don't Cry' by Plumb cause it's my Déjà vu theme song.  Review and love me! The huge absence is partly due to my 'go to the Philippines and miss a huge month of school' trip.