It was going to be a long week for Sousuke.

Had his and Kaname's agreement been kept a secret, things would have gone much better, no doubt.

But, Kaname told everyone. Over the loudspeaker, no less. She wanted to make certain Sousuke couldn't sneak any otaku acts in under the radar. There would be a school full of front line observers. Of course, her announcement also served to wave a red flag in front of the eyes of a whole herd of bulls.

A lot of people had gripes with Sousuke.

No small number held grudges. Kaname couldn't have set him up any worse if she had strapped a giant bulls-eye to his back and given everybody a gun.

Sousuke, naturally, did not enjoy his new found attention. But, he was never fond of attention.

At first, Kaname was beside herself with glee. Sousuke had brought so much stress and disruption into peoples' lives. It was only fair that he got a taste of it in return. After all, it was only for a week.

If Sousuke could survive that much time stranded in the wilderness, he shouldn't have much difficulty coping with a little hazing.

Furthermore, Kaname was now more of a celebrity than ever before. She was everybody's new best friend. She was the Delilah to Sousuke's Samson. There was only one thing Kaname hadn't thought of: a ticket system. Everyone rushed to see who could sink their claws into Sousuke first. It caused no small numbers of squabbles and hard feelings amongst the hopefuls.

Sousuke, of course, had his share of friends and supporters. But, they wisely chose to lay low, rather than risk being tarred with the same brush.

Had they known something that Kaname happened upon, the judge, jury, and executioners might have reigned in their zest and zeal.

Someday, they would receive the bill for their apparent gift.

"Sousuke, what are you writing down?" Kaname was very suspicious of anything Sousuke might do this week.

"Notes, Kaname." Sousuke didn't look up.

"What kind of notes? Something you just remembered, but forgot to write down in History class." Kaname knew that he did that on occasion.

"Negative."

"Well?" She began tapping the halisen against her leg, faster and harder.

"Kaname?"

"WHAT... ARE... YOU... WRITING... DOWN?" Kaname's rising voice caused a number of people to turn and look at her.

"Names, Kaname. Names. Dates. Times. And occurrences."

"Here. Let me see that. Time for a 'Kaname Ordained Search.'" She grabbed the notepad away from him.

Kaname flipped through the pages.

The purpose of the note pad was all too obvious.

"Sousuke, I thought I told you 'NO OTAKU STUFF.'" She brought the notebook crashing down upon his head. "I told you, you could not use threats of revenge, warnings, or anything like that!"

"I have not, Kaname. I have not mentioned to anyone what I am doing."

"Then what..." Kaname was puzzled.

"I am simply taking notes, Kaname. That is not against the rules. I will later check it twice. It merely records who has been naughty and who has been nice." He paused, thinking. "Everyone on my list so far has been naughty."

"But why, Sousuke?" Kaname had a sinking feeling in her stomach.

"The week will end, Kaname."

That simple statement of truth sent shivers up and down Kaname's spine.

What had she done?

Sousuke was usually the one who brought up references of history, myth, or legend. Now it was Kaname's turn to think along those lines:

At one time the only mortals on the earth were men. Prometheus had made them, Athena had breathed life into them. The chief god Zeus did NOT care for them.

Kaname smiled. She could only wonder what Zeus would have thought of Sousuke.

One day Prometheus was trying to solve a quarrel that was raging between the gods and the men. At a festival, the men were going to sacrifice a bull for the first time. They asked him which parts of the bull should be offered to the gods and which should be eaten by men. Prometheus decided to play a trick on Zeus.

He killed the bull, skinned it and butchered it. He split it into two portions: in one he put the best, lean meat. In the second he put bones followed by a thick layer of fat. Prometheus offered both to Zeus to take his choice. Zeus looked at both portions, one looked good but was rather on the small side, the other was much larger and covered in a layer of fat which Zeus thought must cover the best, tastiest portion of meat. He chose that one. When Zeus realized that he had been tricked, he was furious. He took fire away from man so that they could never cook their meat or feel warm again.

Prometheus reacted immediately, flying to the Isle of Lemnos, where he knew the smith Hephaestus had fire. He carried a burning torch back to man. Zeus was enraged. He swore vengeance and started making an evil plan.

Zeus set Hephaestos the task of creating a clay woman with a human voice. Hephaestos did as he was instructed and created a masterpiece. Athena, goddess of wisdom and Zeus' daughter, breathed life into it. She taught the woman how to weave and clothed her. Aphrodite the goddess of love made her beautiful. The god Hermes taught her to charm and deceive.

Zeus was pleased with what he saw, but he had made her as a trap. He named the woman Pandora and sent her as a gift to Epimetheus.

Kaname shook her head.

Epimetheus had been warned by his brother Prometheus that he should never accept gifts from Zeus because there would always be a catch.

Kaname should have been thinking along the same lines.

Any promise from Sousuke could have some consequence she never considered.

Epimetheus ignored his brother's warning, fell in love with Pandora, and married her.

Zeus, pleased that his trap was working gave Pandora a wedding gift of a beautiful box. There was one condition however...that was that she never opened the box.

For a while they were very happy. Pandora often wondered what was in the box but she was never left alone, so she never opened it. Gradually, over time, she began to wonder more and more about what was in the box. She could not understand why someone would send her a box if she could not see what was in it. It became very important to find out what was hidden there.

Finally she could stand it no longer. One daywhen everyone was outshe crept up to the box, took the huge key, fitted it carefully into the lock and turned it.

She swung up the lid to peep inside, but before she realised it, the room was filled with terrible things: disease, despair, malice, greed, old age, death, hatred, violence, cruelty and war. She slammed the lid down and turned the key again...keeping only the spirit of hope inside.

Yes. Hope.

All that Kaname could do was hope.