Time for another chapter! Wow, I think I got a little carried away with Saki… Oh well, I'll just flow with it! So, let's begin, shall we?

---Kouji Tamino

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Love Hina Next: Second Phase

Chapter 45: Megumi's Humility…

An alarm that didn't exist before suddenly went off in Junko's room. She groaned, glaring at the loud, annoying clock. She picked it up and chucked it towards the wall, smashing it into several pieces. "What the hell? Where'd that clock come from?"

"I bought all of you one and put them in your rooms…" Saki muttered, staring blankly at her. "By the way, you owe me for smashing the clock…"

Junko glared. "Hey, how did you get in here? This is my room!"

Saki smirked, holding up a key. "What, you didn't think I would have the keys to the rooms? Silly girl…"

Junko growled. "I don't care! Just get out!"

Saki gave a sarcastic whimper. "Aww, I'm so hurt… Not…" She chuckled. "Look… While Shinichi's away, I'm the boss… So listen to me or you'll find yourself out on the street…" Junko bit her lip, looking away. Saki smiled in satisfaction. "That's a good girl… Now come down stairs for breakfast…"

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"…The hell is this?!" Sakura asked, staring at her plate. There was nothing but a single grain of rice. "Are you freaking serious?! We can't live on this!" The girls were all in the dining room, eating breakfast.

"You're absolutely right!" Saki shouted. She placed a single lettuce leaf on their plates. "I forgot the salads!"

Naoko groaned and rubbed her stomach as it growled. "I'm finished… I think…"

Ami glared at Saki. "Hey, that's just cruel… Torture us older girls all you want, but leave poor little Naoko out of this!"

Saki tilted her head to the side. "What do you mean? I'm simply trying to put you all on a new diet… You're all so flabby…"

"Flabby?!" They all screamed.

Ken-kun growled, jumping at Saki and pinching her nose. "Kyaah!! Get it off, get it off!" She shook her head a few times to try to swing it off of her nose.

Naoko gasped. "Saki-san, please stop! You'll--" Too late. A dizzy Ken-kun lost his grip, taking a hard fall to the table. Naoko screamed, picking up the small crab. "Ken-kun, are you all right?"

Saki gave the hermit crab a hateful look. "Serves the nasty little thing right…"

Megumi stood up. "That's enough, Saki… Don't you see that you could have hurt a living thing, or worse?"

Saki giggled. "Oh, that's funny… All of a sudden you think for once… That's a change…"

Megumi furrowed her eye brows in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, you don't think I didn't know about you burning down your house, did you?" Saki began. "Evidently, you burnt it down because you thought 'flammable' meant that it didn't burst in flames… It's a wonder you're still alive!"

Megumi licked her lips in nervousness. "That was a mistake… It was late, and I was really tired and--"

"Just face it, Megumi…" Saki interrupted. "You're an idiot. A half-breed, a menace to those around you… You cause nothing but trouble… You're a disgrace…"

Megumi stared long and hard at Saki. Her lip began to quiver. She sniffled as tears began to run down her face. She turned around and burst out crying, running out of the room.

Everyone gave a look of anger at Saki. She shrugged. "What? She had it coming…"

Ami stood up. "Yes, but you overdid it… Megumi-san is nothing of those things…" She sweat dropped. "Okay, she's a little ditzy, but that doesn't matter!"

"Don't like it?" Saki began. "You can get out…"

"I don't think so, witch…" Ami said, a bit of hate in her voice. "That's exactly what you want us to do…"

Saki smiled. "You catch on quick… I'll do whatever I can to get you all to leave… You're stinking up the class of this house…"

Ami laughed. "Oh, that's rich… I thought Megumi-san was bad… But she's an angel compared to you…"

"What can I say?" Saki said, putting her hands behind her back. "I'm a bitch, plain and simple… I was taught to take out my enemies in the cruelest way possible… But don't worry, physical torture isn't on the menu…" She gave a grin. "I prefer screwing with their mind… Psychological and mental torture is so much more satisfying to me…"

Ami lost it then and there. Her aura flared, turning black. She clenched her fist in anger. "You stupid bitch!!" She prepared a small ball of energy. "I'm going to fry you!!"

Saki laughed. "So, you're a psychic… Well go ahead… Blow me to hell… Then what? You'll definitely get kicked out for harming Shinichi-chan's fiancé… And the others, for being associated with you, will also get kicked out…"

"I have a place that I can go to… with people that care a lot about me…" Ami said simply, her aura turning blue and dissipating. "I realize that now…" She looked to the others. "And I'm sure that they'll happily accept my new friends as well…" She looked back to Saki. "But I won't fry you… That will just make me look weak willed…"

Sakura nodded. "That's right… We'll stay here and wait for Shinichi to return… All 6 of us…"

Saki raised an eyebrow. "6?…"

Kairi appeared in front of Shinichi's fiancé, scaring her. "Yes, I reside here as well… Actually, I have for the past couple of decades or so…"

"…A… a…. a ghost?" Saki began. "Oh my… I can't believe it…"

Kairi grinned evilly. "Well, believe it… Now leave these nice girls alone or I will be forced to haunt you for all eternity…"

Saki regained her footing. "Whatever… I know you can't really do anything…" She stood up and left the dining room. She quickly stuck her head back into the kitchen. "By the way, we've got makeovers at noon…" She then slipped away.

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Ami made her way upstairs, trying to find Megumi. "I hope she's okay… Saki really reamed her out back there…" She knocked on Megumi's door softly, as to not disturb her too much. "Megumi-san? Are you all right? Please don't let what Saki said get to you…" After not getting a reply. She sighed, opening the door. Megumi seemed to be asleep. "Aww, poor thing cried herself to sleep…" She walked over and sat next to the bed. "Megumi… Saki is full of crap. You're really a great person… Sometimes… You really get on my nerves with your taunting of my bust size, but… You seem to really care a lot for Shinichi… He doesn't really have a lot of friends, and you're still his best friend after all this time… I think that's really sweet…"

"…Ami?" Megumi began, slowly opening her eyes.

"I'm so sorry… I finally realize how you must have felt… Except of course, I feel several times worse…"

Ami nodded. "Yeah… You never belittled me and blew my flaws way out of proportion…" She frowned. "What she said was totally uncalled for!"

Megumi nodded. "Seriously, someone has to teach that girl a lesson… I sure got one today…"

Ami sighed sadly. "She's made living here a real downer… What the heck is her problem, anyway?"

"Dear, she's always been like that…" Megumi explained. "It's like she said… She was programmed that way…"

Ami titled her head. "Programmed? She's a robot?"

Megumi face faulted. "No, it was just a figure of speech… I mean, she was deliberately raised that way… I don't know why, but…"

"So… No more boob jokes at my expense?" Ami asked.

Megumi raised a hand. "Scouts honor…"

Ami nodded. "Good… So, feeling better?"

"A bit…" Megumi muttered. "Still feel a bit low, though… Her comments really hit me hard… No ones ever said anything like that before… I wish Shinichi was here… He could always cheer me up…"

"Really?" Ami asked, interested. "Like when?"

Megumi smiled sadly. "Well… One time, we were riding our bikes… I was riding a bit too fast and fell, scrapped my knee… I started crying, but Shinichi came with the First Aid kit, cleaned my knee up, and put a bandage on it. Then he smiled at me and said 'Don't cry… When you cry, it makes me sad…' Shinichi may screw up a lot, but he sure knows how to say the right thing when it really counts…" She growled. "Of course, Saki had to tease me about it, ruining the whole moment…"

Ami rolled her eyes. "Figures… Y'know, she's a real kill joy… Driving me crazy…"

Megumi scoffed. "At least you didn't spend a good portion of your childhood with her…"

Ami winced. "Ew… Yeah, you got a point…"

"Ami?…"

"Yes, Megumi-san?"

"You're a really good friend…"

"Thank you, Megumi-san… You are too… in your way…"

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Naoko slowly slipped into the kitchen, Tet-chan and Ken-chan on her head. Ken-chan was thankfully okay, unharmed by that earlier incident. The girl 'creeped' over to the cupboards, getting closer and closer to a real meal. She reached over to open it… when a cage fell over her. "Wha?!--"

"Ah ah ah, Naoko…" Saki said teasingly, walking towards her. "No cheating on your diet!"

"This is not a diet!" the girl proclaimed. "This is cruelty!"

"What, it's not like I'm eating any better than you are… I'm putting myself on this diet as well!"

"Then you're even crazier than I thought!" Sakura shouted, walking into the dining room. "How can you put us all on such a poor excuse for a diet?! We'll die!"

"No you won't… As soon as we all lose a minimum of 10 pounds, I'll take us off the diet…"

Sakura's eyes widened. "10 pounds?! I can't wait that long!!"

Saki shrugged. "That's just fine… But what will Shinichi-chan think when the rest of are nice and skinny, while you're all tubby and--"

"Argh!!" Sakura screamed. "Fine! I'll go with your psycho diet!! Damn…"

Saki looked to her watch. "Oh, it's almost time for makeovers… Better round everyone up…" She turned to Sakura and Naoko. "You two stay here…" She giggled at Naoko. "Well, you sort of don't have a choice…"

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Ami and Megumi, now friends after that bit of bonding, walked down stairs. "I wonder what she has in store for us next?" Megumi asked.

"I don't know…" Ami replied. "But whatever it is, I'm sure it's trouble…" Just then, the stairs flattened as if they were a slide. "Crap…" The girls screamed as they slid down. A hole in the floor opened up and they fell down it. They ended up in a room with lots of bright colors, landing hard on the ground. Ami landed straight on her ass, while Megumi went face first into the ground. Ami groaned as she rubbed her sore butt. "Ow… I think my freaking tailbone's broken…"

Megumi, still face first into the ground, her skirt flipped over to reveal her black panties, got up and looked around. "Wow, this place is…"

"…blinding…" Megumi finished. Bright pinks, blues, and yellows made up the colors of the room. She spotted Naoko in a cage and Sakura in a corner. "She got you, too?" They nodded.

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Junko walked through the house. It was suspiciously quiet. What had happened to the others? Her eyes widened in fear. Maybe Saki had-- No, she wouldn't go that far… At least, she hoped that she wouldn't. Suddenly, she could hear footsteps behind her. She turned around, but could see nothing. "What the?--" She shrugged, walking back down the hallway. After a few more steps, she could definitely tell that she was being followed. Problem was, she couldn't see it, so it would be foolish to fight. She began to run. The invisible thing chased her all through the hallway. After a while, the invisible thing became annoyed. It picked up a small desk and tossed it at Junko's head. The girl fell to the ground, a net falling over her. "What the hell?! Who are you?! Let me go or I'll tear my way out!!"

"I'm very aware of your strength…" the invisible thing said. It was a woman. "So I used the 'Extra Strength Net', created by Prof. Kaolla Su…" The invisible woman turned visible, revealing Saki. She was dressed in a tight white body suit. "…and I chased you using her 'Steath Suit' as well…" She grabbed the net and dragged her away.

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Saki, with some difficulty, managed to drag Junko all the way into the brightly colored room that everyone else was in. "Well, now that everyone living is here, we can get started with the makeovers!"

"And what if we don't want makeovers?" Junko asked. "What you did to me yesterday was hideous…"

Saki laughed heartily. "Oh ho ho ho! Silly girl, you have no choice!" At that moment, a spray came from the top of the next, knocking Junko out.

"Junko-nesan!!" Naoko screamed.

"What did you do to her?!" Sakura screamed.

"Oh calm down…" Saki muttered. "She's fine… When she wakes up, she'll simply be weaker so I can deal with her easier…" She rubbed her hands together in anticipation. "Now… until she wakes up, who goes first?"

End of Chapter 45

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Geez! Finally finished this one!

---Kouji Tamino