Chapter 3 - The Heart Tells No Lies

Zac bashed the door with his fist as hard as he could. Grey Wolf abruptly got up and ran to the door. "Yes- Zac??"

"You won't believe this... Shishio is to set Kyoto aflame! We have to stop him!"

"Wha-what, now?!"

"Yes, now!" At Zac's words, Grey Wolf ran into her room.

"Saito, wake up!" Grey Wolf kept tapping Saito, but he wouldn't wake. "Saito! Saito!" Zac walked in.

"What's wrong with him??" Zac asked, running into the room.

"I don't know! He won't wake! Go get my mom, hurry!" Zac ran out of the room, as Grey Wolf tried to wake Vejiita up. Nothing.

"Tokio won't wake!"

"What?! No! Damn, I don't know what to do!" Grey Wolf yelled. Zac ran in again.

"Grey Wolf, we've got to do something!"

"But... I can't..." Zac lifted her chin up.

"Yes. You can. I believe in you."

"You...-"

"Now figure something out!" Zac yelled. Grey Wolf nodded, and started to check for any signs of poison, or any airborne contagins.

"I will..." Grey Wolf's emotions of pride swelled inside her. Finally, her greatest rival had given her recognition.

"Hahahahaha..." A strange laughter with an insane touch made Grey Wolf spin around. She could recognize the laughter instantaneously, but she didn't believe it. Shishio was standing behind Zac, who, due to having been watching her, hadn't noticed Shishio slip in and draw his sword.

"Zac!!!" Grey Wolf screamed before Shishio impaled Zac with his sword, through the heart. He then pulled the sword out by ripping Zac's shoulder open. With a thud, Zac fell to the floor.

Grey Wolf sat straight up.

Everything, from the point where Zac had been knocking on the door, had been a dream. Cold sweat poured down her backside. Vejiita and Saito were safe, asleep where she had seen them, the drool, Grey Wolf feared, making a permanent stain on her carpet. Grey Wolf sighed in relief, and went to the kitchen to make breakfast. From the moment Grey Wolf stepped in the kitchen, Saito was wide awake. He burst into the kitchen before Grey Wolf had the chance to burn the house down, with her complete incompetence at cooking. There was a knock at the door, and Grey Wolf nearly slammed into it, in her rush to open it. It was Zac.

"Hey, Grey Wolf! Can I come in?" Grey Wolf stepped aside to let him in. Saito walked to the doorway of the kitchen, holding the frying pan.

"So, if it isn't little midget boy, the only person I know shorter than Grey Wolf and Vejiita." Zac's eye twitched at the comment, but being the good-natured person he was, laughed it off.

"Well, are you training today, or can you play outside, Grey Wolf?"

"I have to-"

"You have to go outside and have some fun, Grey Wolf. You can't train everyday, can you?" Saito cut Grey Wolf off.

"ORO???" Grey Wolf looked at Saito with the most extreme confusion. Saito actually was letting her cut training? "Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Ehh... Are you ill?? Feeling ok, dad?"

" --;; " (Saito)

"I'll be going outside then..." She slowly walked out the door, but slowly, taking every second to stop and look at her dad to make sure he wasn't sick. Saito smirked.

"That kid..."

"...knows you like the back of her hand. And I for one, was confused too. So unlike you, Saito..." Vejiita muttered.

"Ohhhh..." Ghost walked in. He'd slept in.

"You slept in? YOU slept in????" Vejiita asked, amazed. "Sheesh, when you think you know a guy..."

"Slash, Flamethrower!" Grey Wolf yelled. Zac's Feraligatr put its hands up to defend as the flamethrower soared at it, hitting dead on. When the smoke cleared, the Feraligatr had burns on its arms but was still standing. "Now, ExtremeSpeed!!!" The arcanine ran, full speed, to the Feraligatr and smashed into it before it had a chance to dodge or defend. Zac's Feraligatr flew through the air, before landing out cold on the ground.

"That's game..." Zac said. He had one more poke'mon, but he didn't use it against Grey Wolf since it would give him an unfair advantage having it 6 to 5. He hadn't used his Blastoise against her since... Speedy's death, as far as he could remember. She'd been so saddened by Speedy's death... If there were a time where he didn't like Grey Wolf around, it would've been then. If she had been open with her feelings of pain... it would've been better than trying to act like everything was ok. He hated to see her like that. She tried to be strong... but he could see right through the mask, the act. He could see right through her...

"Zac, wake up!" Grey Wolf's voice brought him sharply back to his senses. "What's up? Why so silent?"

"Oh... nothing... just tired." Zac forced a smile, but Grey Wolf didn't buy it. Like he could see through her, she could do the same by a single look in his eyes.

"Really... what is it?"

"I..." He faultered.

"What?" Grey Wolf asked softly.

"Why... why didn't you go to someone? When Speedy died... You shut people out for a while, until you were ready to come out...But even then... you stayed away from people when you could... hid your emotions from people... and it worked... you fooled everyone... Megumi... Ghost... Kenshin... everyone, even Saito thought you were ok... but not me. I know you too well for that..." His voice slowly grew quieter with the last sentence, until he was whispering, just loud enough for Grey Wolf to hear. Though he was barely audible, she hung on to his every word, as she always did... "Why... why was it that you were afraid?"

It floored her. How could she explain it to him that it wasn't fear that drove her? The pain she had felt, he had never felt before... it could drive anyone insane. She herself had barely hung on to life, a life which she'd been prepared to give, had Vejiita not stopped her. She looked down, not having an answer. However, Zac didn't stop there with his questions.

"Murderer..."

"And... why... why did you do such a thing to Vejiita?"

Grey Wolf looked up. Her greatest rival had just acknowledged the thing she knew in her heart... she had been wrong to turn Vejiita away. Very wrong.