AN: A little late I know, but a late Merry Christmas! My comp is back up and running again, so here's the new chapter :) I hope you guys will enjoy it. (And a quick thank you to my bro, whom I volunteered to beta for me)
(Just finished revising the chapter, fixed some spelling errors and added missing words here and there. Also had to add some little parts here and there, thing something went wrong when I uploaded the chapter the first time :S)
Disclaimer: Check the prologue, it's there, I'm sure...!
"Sit down over there. Come on now, you know the procedure by now. And don't even think for a second that you can get away again like last time, young Lady." said the stern voice.
The girl walked over to the chair and slumped down on it, waiting for the man, who was supposed to make up a report.
"Yo Charlie!" the girl said upon seeing the man she had been waiting for.
"Saku, back again? Couldn't live without me could yah?" he replied sarcastically rolling his eyes.
This time it was Saku's turn to roll her eyes. "Keep on dreaming. But at least tell me one thing, you didn't let anyone else have it did yah?"
"How could I? Before I can even think of giving it to someone else, you're already back to claim it. Now that's nothing to look proud of you know." Charlie said slightly scolding her, even though he knew she wouldn't listen anyways.
"So tell me Saku, what did you do this time." Charlie asked her as his brow almost disappeared into his hair when he gave her a scrutinizing look. Not that he really had to ask her… but it was procedure.
Saku looked at the man in front of her, waiting with a pencil in his hand to start taking notes. "Nothing much." she shrugged as he sighed exasperatedly.
"What am I supposed to do with you?" he asked, not expecting an answer from her.
"You won't be doing anything with me." she stated crossing her hands over her chest defiantly. Oh god, he could be such a perv…
Charlie who by now was used to her comments decided to signal for one of his colleagues to take her away.
"Hey aren't you forgetting something?" asked Saku as she was being led away to her cell.
"No I don't think so." he replied indifferently.
"What 'bout the report you're supposed to be writing?" she asked raising an eyebrow at him.
"Oh don't worry about that, I'll manage. You've been here so many times by now, that I already know what you're going to say, and what you did to end up here. In fact I think I could just start writing them out for the rest of the year, without messing up even once." he said confidently, and with a wave of his hand she was brought to her cell.
"I doubt you will be able to this time." she thought silently.
That night Saku was waiting. Waiting for the moon to reach it's highest point at the sky in, by now, her personal cell.
A guard came down to the cells on his last round before going to sleep himself.
Saku prepared herself, and the moment he walked passed her cell, checking if she was asleep he stopped dead in his tracks.
The door to her sell was open and Saku was no where to be found. "Alarm!" shouted the guard as he ran away to inform his superiors of the incident.
Saku smirked from her position against the ceiling. "Moron." she said softly, jumped down and casually walked out of her cell.
She put the hairpin she'd used to open the cell door back in her hair, and strolled down the hallway, in the opposite direction of the guard.
"Ah freedom." she took a deep breath, as she stuck her head through the window of the room in which the guards usually retired for the night.
"They should really fix that broken window." she smirked to herself as she climbed through the window and used the darkness of the night to lose herself in.
After breaking out of jail, she passed an old imposing castle. Usually, at day time, she would climb up the old tree and sit there, staring at the castle for hours. Sometimes, if she sat there long enough, she could even imagine the royal people of the castle having one of those balls you'd hear about from everyone on the streets. They were supposed to be amazing and everyone who meant something would be there.
To her on the other hand it meant nothing. Who cared about big fancy balls anyways? It were just a bunch of people pretending to be something they were not, and acting kindly to people they disliked or even hated, just because etiquette demanded it.
Saku shook her head and continued to follow the road through the forest, in order to get back home.
Usually she would avoid the forest at nights like these, but tonight she had to make an exception. Because the cops would be looking for her, her best bet would be the forest. She'd stand out too much in an almost abandoned town at night.
All the sounds in the forest made her more nervous than she already had been. Surely there weren't as many scary sounds during the day?
Saku, with every time she heard the wind rustle the leaves, or an animal move around in the bushes, would start to move faster and faster in order to get home. "I should really stop getting caught like that." she thought making a mental note of that.
Saku released a heavy sigh when she finally reached the end of the forest. "Goodbye creepy ghost, and hello home!" she thought excitedly, but at that very moment a dark shadow came rushing towards her at a frightening speed.
"Aaaaah!" she screeched and was about to turn around and run for her life when the beast had caught up to her.
Saku did the only thing she could, at the moment the beast caught up with her, and pounced on her with all his strength. She fell to the forest floor, stiff as a board, hoping and praying that it would be over quickly.
It's hot smelly breath tickled her face. "This is it…" she thought desperately. "Off all places, it had to be in a scary forest, right after I got out of jail." her thoughts had taken on a slightly bitter turn.
"My, my, what do we have here?" she heard a voice say.
Saku, not yet ready to open her eyes and see what was straddling her body, was utterly confused now. Had she just been jumped by a man? That creepy shadow… the hot smelly breath… had been the owner of the voice? She shook her head trying to rid herself of the crazy image. No that was to weird to even think about. The image of the furry man running on all fours, drooling and panting, was quickly forced out of her thoughts just as it started to take on a creepy smile showing off all it's marvellous white fangs...
She slid one eye open just a little bit and screamed again. The gleaming white teeth that she saw when she opened her eyes, were sharp and a little too close for comfort.
"Stop with the screaming already!" the voice said slightly annoyed.
Once again she looked up and this time saw a young man, not standing very far from her but close enough to determine that he wasn't much older than herself.
The black monster however, still had her straddled and was holding her down on the ground. It's face came closer once again and when she was about to scream, felt a wet long tongue go over her face.
"Wait a minute…" somehow this whole thing seemed very familiar to her … "Oh that's right. The day of my first mission!" she thought remembering the first time she had been in a situation like this.
"Doggy!" she exclaimed surprised. Even though the dog that day had followed her around the house the entire time, she never found out what his name was…
"Doggy? Last time I checked he was still called Tripper…" the young man told her now getting slightly suspicious.
Saku on the other hand thought that Tripper was a very fitting name for the dog, and hadn't noticed the guy tense up a little as she smiled lovingly at the dog, petting it behind it's ear.
"How is it that you know my dog?" he asked calling the dog off the girl and offering her his hand to help her get up.
"Oh, hehe, well you see there's a perfectly good explanation for that." She started to say bravely but wasn't at all sure how to explain it. She sat up slowly gauging his posture, and slowly took the hand he'd offered her to get up.
"Let's hear it then." he said and stepped back, giving her a cold look and absentmindedly he'd started petting the dog (who by the way loved all the attention he was getting all of a sudden).
While thinking hard about how she could best explain this, Saku had started to walk again slowly. The young man, wanting an explanation, didn't hesitate and hastened his pace until he was beside her; the dog all the while trotting happily after them, sniffing here and there for possible rabbits to chase.
"Well?" the young man prompted her to continue the explanation.
"When I was still a little girl-" she started to say but was interrupted by a snort.
"Looks like that wasn't too long ago then." he mocked.
"You want the explanation or not!" she asked him hotly.
When she received no further reply, she decided to try again.
"So like I said, several years ago when I was still a little girl," she glared at the young man to make sure he wasn't going to interrupt again, but he gave her an exasperated look, before she continued. "I, err well I was playing outside one day, running around and stuff, and suddenly out of nowhere, I ended up on the floor, pretty much the same way I was just a minute ago. He followed me around for a while wanting to play, and until I finally gave in, he didn't leave me alone. So that's how I know your dog." She said taking a deep breath. Where was some water when you needed it?
Okay so she hadn't exactly told him the truth, but at least it was partially true. She couldn't just come out and say something like 'oh I know your dog from the time I broke into your house and stole your belongings and even got away with it." yah that would really set him at ease. She rolled her eyes at her own crazy thoughts.
Saku stopped walking to look at the young man next to her. He seemed to be deep in thought, and she took that time to study his features.
Dark eyes, messy dark hair, handsome face, smooth looking skin, and his expensive clothes obviously meant that his family was still as wealthy as they had been back when she had last seen them.
She smiled at the sudden memories that resurfaced. One memory in particular.
The guys had all gotten up to check out what she had managed to swipe from the Li's, the moment Kai had told them about the extra work.
Kai had emptied the bag on the table, and held up a sword. "What's this supposed to be?" he had asked her raising his brow.
"A sword?" she had answered timidly. She really hadn't had a clue of what the problem was. All the things she swiped had looked to be very valuable to the members of the Li family.
The sword had been something she never saw the young Li boy without, the Fan was the same story for his mother. She had also swiped things from his sisters, all of them. A teddy bear from one (at which Shino had started teasing her again saying she was such a little girl, and how annoying it was to always have to look after her. That had also been the same day she had said she didn't wan to be a girl and could look after herself, she wanted to become one of the guys so they could be proud of her).
The other things were a journal, a mirror, and a nightgown, which had gotten many whistles from the guys for some strange reason.
They had kept the nightgown and had wanted to get rid of the other things, but Saku had managed to keep the sword and the teddy for herself.
Her thoughts were interrupted as she suddenly noticed a hand waving in front of her face, together with a very curious looking face of the guy whom also was the owner of the hand.
"Someone home?" he asked with a frown.
"Err what? Did you say something?" Saku asked sort of lost. What was she doing here again with this strange guy?
"You spaced out on me before I could even reply." he said watching her very closely. "What were you thinking about?" he questioned.
"Oh … hehe never mind that …" she mumbled suddenly finding the leaves on the floor more interesting than his intense gaze.
"Did you lose something?" he questioned her again, while she was staring intensely at something at the forest floor.
"… No, just leaves." she said quietly. What was this guy's problem anyway? Why couldn't he just back off and leave her alone? All she wanted to do right now was go home…
"Right… What exactly is it that you were doing at this hour in the forest, all by yourself nonetheless?" he asked her. Never before on his late night time strolls with the dog, had he encountered a girl, especially not in the forest. It was somehow intriguing.
"Well I just came from … Hey wait a second why do you ask? What's it to you?" She almost told him that she had just successfully escaped prison. "Nice job Saku!" she scolded herself. "Why don't you just tell him you were one of the people who robbed his house and get it over with!"
"Just curious, I don't usually run into a damsel at night, so the question is only common sense." he stated as a matter of fact.
Now that Saku thought about it, he did have a point., but there was no way she'd admit that to him. Her only concern at the moment was that there were still cops on the look out for her, and the longer she stayed put, the higher the chances of being found and recaptured were.
"I really should be going … " she said trying to avoid answering his question. True he couldn't force her, but damn could he be persistent.
"But you have yet to answer my question." he said, and followed her as she had started to walk away once more.
Aaargh! How much more frustrating could this guy get? She really needed to get home, where she would be safe from the cops… and this guy.
"Okay, okay! I just broke out of jail and ran through the forest cause I would stand out too much in an nearly abandoned village!" she answered him frustrated.
The guy was silent for a few moments looking at her strangely, before snorting. "Of course my lady." he said mockingly "And yet, even though you're on the run, you took your sweet time in a small chat with me. I must say I'm honoured."
Saku only now realized how stupid that whole thing actually sounded, and couldn't exactly blame him for not believing her. But still… she did tell him the truth, and yet he didn't believe it. So maybe a different approach would work? What should she say? Kai always did tell her she was bad at lying… so how was she supposed to pull this one off?
Saku looked up at the young man. He was still right beside her, waiting for her to 'stop lying' and to tell him the truth. The whole idea to get home as soon as possible seemed to get more difficult by the minute.
"I err, well I sort of fell asleep under a tree and didn't wake up until a little bit ago? When I woke up I realized just where I was and so I got up and was running home, when I got intercepted by you and your dog …" Maybe he'd believe that? It sounded lame even to her own ears, but hey, maybe she'd get a break?
For a moment he looked sceptical but, thankfully for her, that didn't last long. "That's it? You've been avoiding my question just because of this?"
Saku couldn't believe he actually bought that lie. But maybe it did sound a bit more believable than the actual truth… So she decided to count her blessings and played along.
She meekly nodded her compliance, but kept staring at her feet.
The good thing about that was, that the young man took it as shyness, or even embarrassment, and left the matter alone… for the time being.
They fell into a awkward silence, and Saku started to get nervous once more. Now that the guy wasn't distracting her with his annoying questions, she was even more aware of all the sounds in the forest. The fact that she was with a strange man, didn't make her situation any better, for who knew what he really wanted from her?
The young man noticed her sudden nervousness and decided to break the silence.
"Which way?" he asked her.
"Which way? Which way what?" she thought getting confused once more.
"Which way what?" she asked aloud this time.
"Which way do you live?" he asked more clearly this time, eyeing her fidgety behaviour all the while.
Saku was slightly startled by his question, wondering what the hell he wanted this time. "Darn." she thought "For a short blissful moment I thought I'd be free to go. Now what?"
She looked around herself trying to think of a way out, but nothing came to her. Finally, admitting defeat to herself she meekly pointed in the general direction of her home, hoping to get it over with. "Why do you want to know?" she asked, not being able to stop fidgeting, and glancing around her nervously.
"I will accompany you home." he stated not even bothering to wait for her compliance.
"And why the hell do you think I need that?" Saku asked getting defensive. He wanted to bring her home! That would be very bad, Kai would have her head! It was their hide out, and that put aside, what would he say if he found out she lived in an old, supposedly, abandoned warehouse?
"Nice job Saku, really. Just get a bit more tense will yah? Then he'll know for sure that something's wrong!" She scolded herself. This really wasn't her day…
"Seems to me," he said slowly "that someone is afraid of the dark."
Even though she couldn't see his face clearly, the smirk was easily distinguished from the rest of his features.
"Great." she thought sarcastically "Here I am alone in a dark forest with a guy who takes pleasure in other people's discomfort!"
Saku really had the mad urge to strangle him, but the hooting of an owl made her jump involuntarily and within a second she was hiding behind no one but Tripper.
For some reason the young man seemed to think it was funny. "I told you girls like you, shouldn't be running around in a dark forest all by themselves." he said smugly.
Saku was silent for a moment until she looked up thoughtfully. "I never heard you say something like that…." she said slowly.
"You're right, I didn't." was all he said and shrugged.
His answer had her flabbergasted. He was such a strange guy. She didn't know whether to just get it over with and let him walk her 'home' or tell him to get the hell away from her. Both sounded very tempting at the moment, but there was one problem… She wouldn't admit it too him, but he had been right. She was afraid of the dark … So it was either stay alone and afraid, or let him play the gentleman and let him walk her home, in order to get killed by Kai for bringing a stranger to their hideout… decisions, decisions.
Finally her fear overruled her common sense, and she slowly got up from her hiding place behind Tripper, and sighed in defeat.
"Fine, you can walk me home… Are you happy now?" she asked sarcastically.
"Oh come on, it's not like you aren't benefiting from this at all." he said rolling his eyes, even though she couldn't see it.
They had been walking for a while when he sprung another question on her.
"What's your name?" he asked her casually. "We've been talking for a while already, and we still haven't been properly introduced."
"What do you care?" she asked once again defensively. "Besides you don't ask for someone's name without giving your own first." This time it was her turn to be smug, and she liked it. She stopped, hands on her hips waiting for him to try back off.
"Li, Li Syaoran." he stated simply and turned to face her.
"Okay so he didn't back off, there goes that plan." she thought grouchily.
"Saku…" was all she said and at that he looked at her strangely. She knew it sounded a bit weird, and maybe even impolite, but in all honesty she didn't know anything more than that. It was all she remembered.
"No family name?" he inquired.
"No…" she said just above a whisper.
Clearly this girl was very ashamed of her family, or else she would have told him. That he was sure off, but if she wouldn't tell him, that was fine. He would find it out on his own, sooner or later. His family wasn't the most powerful and influential family of the land for nothing.
"Alright then, Saku it is." he said finishing the introductions, and both lapsed into another round of silence, as they went on their way once more.
"I can go on my own from here, after all we're back in the village now." she said hoping he'd let her go. That way she wouldn't get in trouble with Kai, and he wouldn't be the wiser about where she lived.
"Alright then miss Saku." he said politely. "I'll be on my way then, come on Tripper." he called for his dog, who came rushing towards his master, almost knocking him over.
Saku was glad that he had finally decided to let her go. She looked back at Li and Tripper once more and walked away. At least that's what she thought she was doing.
When she noticed that Li was following her she turned around looking annoyed. "Where do you think you're going? I knew it! You're following me aren't you!" she said testily.
"Now why would I want to follow you?" he replied back evenly, not even the least bit faced by her accusations.
"How should I know! I just know that you are!" she yelled back. Sheesh not only was he irritating and what not, now he turned out to be a stalker.
"This," he said pointing in the same direction she had been walking only moments ago, "is my way home." he said with a smirk.
This was just her luck! Here she thought she had gotten rid of him once and for all, and he just had to live in the same general direction she lived in. "So that's why he walked me home… it was on his way home." she thought crossly. Not like he knew that before he offered it to her, but she quickly pushed that thought aside.
"If that's your way, then I'm going this way, and don't you dare follow me!" she snapped back at him and turned around abruptly.
"Be careful!" he called after her still smirking "You can never be to sure what's really hidden out here at nights!"
Saku gulped but without slowing down she took a detour to her own home. "I wonder what the guys will say if I tell them what happened tonight…" she thought.
"I'm home!" she yelled as she reached the old warehouse.
"Saku! Where've you been girl?" Shino asked looking up from his place on the couch.
"The usual…" she grumbled slightly.
"You know squirt, even though you're a brilliant rogue, you should stop getting arrested… It's bad for our image!" he half mocked, half scolded her.
"Don't start with me." Saku said flopping down on the couch next to him. "I've had a long day…" she grumbled and made herself comfortable.
"Shino! Get your ass over here!" the only one who used that language against Shino was Kai.
"What!" Shino yelled back not even bothering with getting up and actually moving from his comfortable spot.
"Have you found her yet? Where the hell is she! She should've been back by now. If they have her I swear they'll be cursing the very day they were born!" Kai raged on, and was currently right in Shino's face.
"Ahum!" Saku cleared her throat, trying to get Kai's attention. "What's up bro?" she asked as innocent as possible.
"You!" he yelled. "You're not dead!" he exclaimed relieved and surprised at the same time, but quickly recovered. "Where the hell have you been? Was it them!" he asked outraged.
"Them who?" Saku asked him clearly not following a word he was saying. "And why would I be dead?"
Kai on the other hand turned to Shino abruptly. "Do you mean to tell me you haven't told her yet?" his tone of voice clearly in the danger zone.
"Eh.. hehe, well how could I? She hasn't been home much lately…" Shino tried to talk his way out of it. Sadly enough for him, it wasn't working.
"You could have told her this morning!" Kai was still pissed off, and his face was turning red from all the shouting and yelling he was doing.
"Why did I have to tell her, why couldn't you tell her!" he suddenly asked, proud at himself for coming up with an answer like that.
Kai thwacked him on the head. "And what have I been doing again these last days?" he asked his voice dangerously low.
Shino thought about this for a moment before it hit him, and so did Kai once more. "Ouch! Okay, okay I get it! I'm sorry okay? It won't happen again sheesh, now can you stop hitting me!"
Kai decided to ignore him and turned back to a dumbstruck Saku and hugged her tightly. "Well young lady." he said and, as abruptly he'd hugged her, he'd also let go of her again and continued. "You have a lot of explaining to do."
Saku was still trying to figure out what was going on. Usually Kai was a composed, and arrogant sort of person. He barely ever showed emotion, aside from anger and annoyance, so this was very weird to her.
"Who are they? What were you two talking 'bout?" she asked looking at the both of them.
"That can wait until later, it's good that you're back, now start from the beginning."
And with that said Saku told the both of them the entire story of getting arrested, breaking out of jail, and meeting up with her stalker Li.
At the last part, they both jumped up shouting "What!" in unison, but when she managed to finish the story of that day's events they both calmed down visibly.
"You should stay away from him, squirt." Shino told her earnestly, as she glared at him for calling her squirt.
"Saku, you do remember that house we plundered years ago, right?" Kai asked her and Saku nodded.
"That stalker of yours, was their son." they both finished in unison once more.
"Would you stop repeating me?" Kai demanded more than asked Shino.
"What do you mean with that? You're the one who was repeating me!" Shino now yelled back.
"Here we go again." Saku thought with a heavy sigh. "Could you guys cut it out for a minute, and fill me in here? What's going on? Who are they?" she wanted an answer, and she wanted one now. "Besides," she said more as an after thought "of course I knew who he was … it's not a difficult thing to figure out especially since he told me rather bluntly, but was obviously proud of it."
Kai and Shino managed to hold a cease fire, and for a moment they both looked grim.
"Well..."
"I can't believe this!" an angry Syaoran yelled. "Why the hell do I have to go? He may be my uncle but I can't stand the guy!" he was about to continue his rant when his mother held her hand up.
"Now you listen to me. Do you remember that burglary that happened 10 years ago? And do you remember what happened right after the little girl ran into the back yard?" she asked him in a serious tone.
It sounded as if she was going to give him more bad news …. "As if going to him isn't bad enough… " he thought annoyed.
"Yes mother, I remember that day as if it had happened yesterday." he grunted. "After all she stole my sword!" he exclaimed. "But I can't remember what else happened…" he said trailing off. "All I remember was a mad man banging on the door, and that's when you sent me to my room."
"That was one of your other uncles… Uncle Ming." she looked at her son who had calmed down enough to listen to her. "He told me, that there was an assassination planned on the heir of the Li family, being you. When he wanted to tell me who was behind it, someone killed him, right at our doorstep, effectively shutting him up, with an arrow through his heart. He was dead instantly."
His mother paused long enough for the words to sink in.
A small "oh…" was all he managed to get out.
"Your father had already been dead back then, you were too young to defend yourself and too young to carry such a heavy load. Your sisters never learned how to fight, and Wei was already getting old. That left me with only one option… Your Uncle Kon. I asked him for his help… in order to protect you."
His mother's words slowly but surely started to get through his thick skull, invading his mind like a bad joke. Did she mean to tell him what he thought she was telling him?
Syaoran was about to interrupt her, but she held up her hand once more, letting him know that she wasn't done yet.
"I have been in his debt ever since. Deeply in his dept… He wants one of your sisters to marry his son." at which she pulled out an envelope and showed him a picture of the son she was talking about.
"With him? You have got to be kidding me! He's as ugly as a toad, but I don't want to compare that to the poor creatures. Now that I'm talking about toads… He has more wraths on his face than a toad over his entire body!" he exclaimed horrified. "You can't let any of my sisters, marry that thing."
His mother looked at her son proudly, but even though he said the things he had, that didn't leave the matter resolved.
"It's either the marriage, or he wants you there. I am not sure what he wants with you however, all I know is that he has something to talk to you about." With that she finished her explanation and watched her son's reaction carefully.
He sighed in defeat. "Fine I'll go. Everything to keep my sisters away from that freak…"
Yelan got up. "You will leave tomorrow at dawn." she informed him and then left her son to his thoughts.
What would that weird uncle of his want from him? He wasn't even his real uncle, more like a far away relative, and yet he had to call him uncle…
How was he going to travel all the way to Japan? On foot? He could only hope that there was something prepared for his journey the next morning.
"Has he arrived in China yet?" Lord Kon asked his Captain.
"Yes milord, he has." the Captain replied bowing.
"And? Has she been found?" Lord Kon asked getting impatient, with the lack of information his Captain was offering.
"No Milord, it... it seems that he is having some difficulties with the locals in the village." the Captain said. Why did Lord Kon have to send for him every single time he wanted information? He hated bringing the Lord bad news… Somehow it always came down to the point where it was somehow his fault.
"You incompetent moron!" Lord Kon shouted. "Why is he having trouble? Have you not informed him of his task? How hard can it possibly be, to tell someone to snatch one single young girl!" and there the Lord went again raging and shouting, and of course blaming him for his own incompetence… But he'd never say the last part out loud.
A knock on the door interrupted the rant, and Lord Kon snapped at the door. "This better be important!"
"Y… yo.. you said you wanted to be informed the moment we had word from the Li family from China, Milord." The poor messenger had stumbled inside, stuttering all the way. "Please don't let him kill me?" he prayed silently in his mind.
"Well? What did they say!" he snapped infuriated at the messenger.
"T…t … the son, the Li heir is coming here personally." The messenger squeaked. The sooner he had delivered the news, the faster he was out of there.
"Leave." was all Lord Kon said, and before he had even finished saying that, the messenger had already scrambled out.
The Captain looked questioningly at his Lord. "The heir himself is coming to visit?" he thought wondering what that was all about.
"This is good, this is very good news indeed!" he got up from his throne and started pacing. "He is exactly what I need!"
The Captain was glad that his Lord had refocused his energy into something other than himself. If only he would stay that way …
"Well… You see Saku, you know how we've never really gotten along with that street gang right?" Shino started to explain as Saku nodded.
"You see, they are moving in on our turf. We used to have a pact. They wouldn't invade ours, and we wouldn't invade theirs. But now they have a new leader and, well that was pretty much it for the pact. Unless we want to turn into their little slaves and do all their dirty work, we'll have to stand up against them and face them like men."
At the last part Saku raised her brow at him and then looked back down at her body. "That…" she said "is going to be very difficult then."
Shino looked sheepish when she said that, obviously realising his mistake and got thwacked on the head once more, courtesy of Kai.
"Hey why'd you do that for?" Shino asked annoyed. "It's not like she didn't understand what I was saying!"
"I don't think even I know what you are saying all the time." Kai said coolly.
Shino glared at Kai but continued to explain things to Saku nonetheless.
"You need to be extra careful when you go out tomorrow, or any other day until things settle down." he warned her. "We don't know what they're capable off yet, so be careful and don't get yourself into any trouble!"
Saku didn't know what to say to the bad news. She was shocked and suddenly realised why Kai had been so mad to begin with.
"If possible don't go out on your own Saku." Kai said before he left the room.
"Okay." was all she said before slumping back down on the couch next to Shino.
"So squirt, why did they catch you this time?" he asked her trying to lighten up her mood.
At the question Saku turned bright red. "Don't ask me that!" she thought desperately, but when Shino asked her a second time, she ended up giving in anyways.
"Well you know this fountain at the market right?" she asked him still a nice shade of crimson.
"Yah, I know that… what 'bout it?" he asked getting suspicious.
"Well err…" she couldn't handle that stern gaze of his "How was I supposed to know you weren't allowed to take a bath there! Something 'bout disturbing the peace and what not…" she grumbled. "I've been bathing there as long as I can remember!"
As Saku sat there, heavily embarrassed, Shino had his mouth agape. "You what!" he asked astonished. "You actually stripped down and tried to take a bath there! And it never occurred to you, that if it was a public bath, that there would be other people using it as well? You didn't think it was odd at all? To get naked in public!"
"Alright, alright! I can see your point." she grumbled. "and no I never thought 'bout it like that…"
"You actually took a bath, butt naked?" he asked once more just to make sure he wasn't hearing things.
"Yes! Don't make me repeat it! It's embarrassing enough as it!" she yelled, hitting him with a pillow.
"Hahaha, I bet the cops had a tough time staying focussed! What 'bout that perverted priest? I would have loved to see his face!"
To Saku's great dismay, Shino kept on laughing, and hiccupping. He tried to catch his breath to say something else, but that never happened, as he started laughing all over again. She was never going to hear the end of this… That she knew for sure.
AN: I hope you enjoyed the chapter, so thank you for reading, and leave me a review ;) And if anyone is interested, I posted a new story, so if you're curious go ahead and read it :)