"Its not a puppy or a new bike, Mom. You don't just SURPRISE someone with an EXCHANGE STUDENT!"

Came Keiji's loud and rather snappish response, jerking Makoto from his 'close to sleeping' location on the floor. He'd been trying to listen in on the conversation for a long time now. Not because he was particularly interested, more because he was bored and the voices seemed too loud for him not to know what they were yelling about. He would have assumed normal people might have run out of things to shout about by now, given the situation. It wasn't as if they could simply send him back now, sorry for the inconvenience.

"I thought it would be nice for you to have a little friend here with you, seeing as you're going through a rough time with your father."

"First of all, Mom, he's not little."

Well whatdya know, someone noticed for once. Makoto shifted and propped his head up on his hands for more comfortable eavesdropping.

"And second of all," Keiji continued, "Apparently you haven't noticed, but I'm going through a 'rough time' with you too! You were all in cahoots with each other the whole time! Therefore I'm going through a rough spot with ALL OF YOU!" His voice had raised even further to an almost incoherent roar. Out of anger, yes, but mostly comprised of frustration, Makoto assumed.

"Oh Keiji, darling, don't say that. You know I love you."

What, was she drunk or something? How was she able to keep such a calm and loving outlook in the middle of an argument like that? If it were his father there'd be yelling all over the place. Heck, if it were him there'd be yelling all over the place. Makoto's ears suddenly perked as how easy it was getting to hear them. Why was that? Could it be that the voices were coming closer? He sluggishly wondered why they would be, before he was greeted by the sounds of stomping feet coming back up the stairs.

In a moment of panic, (assuming the door would be opened to reveal the redhead sprawled out on the carpet and there'd be some explaining to do in a family that already seemed to be taking a dislike to him) he snapped up. Makoto leapt to his feet and sprinted as quietly as he could onto the bed, where he laid back out and pretended to be immensely fascinated with the wrinkles in the sheets.

Lucky timing. Open came the door, and in came Keiji with his mother closely trailing behind him. He then gestured to the room and to Keiji with hard (and slightly desperate) hand motions.

"Where is he going to sleep, huh? In our imaginary guest bedroom? In the bathtub? In through that trans-dimensional portal in the closet you've kept hidden behind coats I never wear?"

"He'll sleep in your room, of course." She stated plainly.

Makoto couldn't help think that she seemed a few bulbs short of a chandelier. She didn't seem to catch on to Keiji's points as quickly as he would've hoped, which is probably all the better for her. For Keiji he wasn't so sure...There was suddenly no doubt why she took being yelled at lightly. Probably because her son overreacts over everything, so she's used to it.

"Where, Mom?" Keiji said through clenched teeth, "Where?"

"Your Father is bringing home an airbed." She answered, "We'll set it up before bedtime."

Keiji smiled and nodded mock enthusiastically, "Oh, great Mom." He turned to Makoto, "I'm sure you're going to love it, no need to worry about the lack of privacy you'll be receiving all year. Or the fact that this will be like some gay sleepover that never ends. But hey! You'll get to sleep on an airbed! It's like a bed, filled with air! Isn't that gonna be fun?"

Makoto stared blankly, not sure how to respond to that, "Uhm..."

"Makoto-kun, darling, please don't mind him." Keiji's mother said daintily, dropping to a whisper as she added, "He's just a little cranky because we told him he's going to be getting married soon."

Makoto had to fight back breaking into laughter. This family was nuts! Somehow he'd ended up moving into the Japanese version of one of those British Sit-coms he used to watch so often. Where these people for real? Keiji just rolled his eyes at his mother's comment and muttered, "Oh don't worry, I'll take my nap real soon and be all rainbows about everything."

"Well, I'll just let you two boys get to know one another." His mother said, clapping her hands together, "Let me know if either of you need anything, I'll just be right downstairs."

"Sure thing, Mom." Keiji replied bitterly, glaring all the while though it was scarcely noticed.

"Good, good, well, off I go then!"

And she left. There was a moment of quiet. And then Makoto cleared his throat and asked cautiously, "Is she...always like that?"

Keiji messed with his hair absently, "Like what?"

"Like...Mommy Barbie."

Makoto snickered at the sudden mental image of Keiji's mother plastic and done up in a pink dress. Huge smile and big eyes captivating young girls and dishing out nightmares to little boys while she'd recite things like, "You know I love you, darling!" and "I'll be here if you need anything!" in a high pitched voice when you pressed the button on her back. Keiji simply shed a weird look and blinked.

"Who?"

Makoto shook his head, "Um, all perky. Chipper. Perfect. Blue skies."

"Oh, yeah, she does. She's kind of blissfully unaware about everything." Keiji replied, "I'd like to say you get used to it...but it actually only gets creepier. I tried to take her to show and tell one time when I was in first grade and first learned it wasn't normal for your mother to never stop smiling, but it was kind of frowned upon by the teachers..."

Makoto wandered over to a bulletin board on Keiji's wall and whistled as he caught sight of the pictures tacked on, "Geez, you've been out with all of these girls before?"

"You think that's impressive? It's only this year, starting from the beginning of summer. You should have seen it two years ago." He began rummaging through his desk drawer for something, "Most guys take off the picture of their girlfriend when they break up, but I like it there as proof. And besides, it means that any girl that comes in sees how 'in demand' I am." He chuckled, "Girls do some crazy things when they think they're running out of time..."

"Oh, sure."

"So why are you so curious? How many girls have you been out with this year?"

Makoto glanced around the room as he tried to come up with a reasonable answer, "Well..."

"Ok, fine, I'll let you cheat. How many in the last three years?"

Makoto felt his face getting a little hot and looked down, mumbling, "One..."

Keiji choked, "WHAT? Only one! What the hell's wrong with you?"

Makoto scowled, indignant; "Hey, maybe girls in America are just a little tougher to bag then over here."

Keiji made a sound suspiciously like a 'psh...' and then murmured, "Loser..."

"Give me a break!" Makoto said exasperatedly, "I don't have much to work with here!"

Keiji looked him over, then started laughing hysterically. Makoto's face fell irritably at the reaction. He was expecting it, to some degree, but still...this guy sure didn't have a problem with being blunt. Makoto waited for him to stop, but it took far longer then he assumed it would.

"I'm sorry!" Keiji said between wheezes, "It's just that...the look on your face...the gesture...and you--"

He broke up laughing again, Makoto huffed and crossed his arms unappreciatively, flopping back onto the bed to wait once more. Keiji then finished, waving a hand in front of his face for air and complaining that his cheeks hurt from smiling "too hard" before he took his last gasp for air and calmed down.

"It's just that I've never heard a straight guy say that about themselves before." He admitted gleefully, "It was just...funny."

"Well it''s true." Makoto muttered, "I'd like to see you get millions of girlfriends looking like I do."

"What, you mean all 'cutesy wootsy'?"

Makoto's glare hardened, "You know what I mean."

Keiji fluffed his hair vainly and shed a toothy grin, "What can I say, I'm blessed. If you really feel that badly about yourself maybe you should start a charity case. I'm sure I know a few guy's who'd donate."

Keiji winked, hinting at something that made Makoto shudder, groan, and cover his eyes like he was trying to find a quiet place away from the loony who seemed to bounce back and forth between personalities like a pendulum.

"Maybe you should join some sport or something, that might help. Some girls just love a fit, jock kind of guy."

"I'm already in a sport, it isn't helping me at all." Makoto replied.

Keiji stopped, and stared at him seriously, "You are? What kind of sport are we talking about here?"

Makoto seemed to puff up at that question and held his head up high announcing proudly, "I'm a ping-ponger."

And, much to Makoto's distress, Keiji was forced to take another seven minutes to laugh his full head off. Makoto uttered a long line of curses in English before lying down on the bed in defeat.

"I'm national level!" He cried defensively, trying to salvage some honor.

"Yeah, sure, of course you are. I'm sure you're very important to the ping-ponging team of ping-pongers." He mocked, laughing.

"You know what? I don't need this. I'm going." Makoto said sharply, getting up and marching over to the door, making it almost halfway there before Keiji waved his hands and pried himself up off the floor.

"Nononono!" He said quickly, "Wait a minute!"

He turned, expecting an apology of some sort, but instead being greeted by two shirts being shoved in his face. One was a bright, gaudy, almost vulgar and seizure worthy Hawaiian print shirt; the other was an ugly combination of colors all blended together in a pattern that reminded him of the 70s. He wrinkled his nose at both of them, and looked up with eyes that clearly read, 'why do you have these in your closet to begin with?'

"Which one?" Keiji asked.

Makoto blinked, "Which one what?"

"Which one do you like better."

Makoto grimaced, afraid of that question. He looked back and forth between the two, trying to find some hidden potential that Keiji had to have seen in order to own the shirts. He strained to find good in them. But, unfortunately, still saw them as the most hideous things he'd ever seen in shirt form. Mentally playing the 'eeny-meeny-miney-mo' game, he finally pointed to the 70s shirt.

"That one, I guess."

"Thank you," Keiji grinned, and threw the 70's shirt off onto his bed, "The Hawaiian shirt it is."

Makoto considered reminding him that wasn't the shirt he'd chosen, but decided, in the end, neither of them were worth wearing to begin with. Keiji then dug through his closet and revealed an old balloon, almost out of air but still round enough to keep the 'Happy Birthday!' letters distinguishable.

"Here." He said, handing the red balloon over, "Now, I want you to rub this all over my head."

"...what exactly are you trying to do?" Makoto asked finally.

"I'm going on a date in a little while."

"Oh wow." Makoto mumbled sarcastically, "Ugly shirts, messy hair, no wonder the women fawn over you."

"I know, exactly, now rub." He ordered, making Makoto sigh, but do as he was told until every bit of Keiji's hair was attached in clumps or standing on end. He looked in the mirror, satisfied, and moved on to his desk drawer.

"And the final touch." He said to no one unparticular, holding up a tiny vile of some kind of mildewed looking yellow liquid. He assumed it was cologne...but as soon as Keiji applied it, Makoto found himself sourly mistaken.

"Geez!" He exclaimed, clamping a hand to his nose, "What is that stuff? It smells terrible!"

Keiji posed, looking more and more pleased by the second, "You like it? It's' Ode to Expensive French Crap on Sale that Sits in My Drawer for 9 Years Without Being Touched'."

"...and you're going on a date?"

"Uh huh." Keiji said absently, removing his shirt and changing into the button down Hawaiian one.

"And you actually LIKE this girl?"

Keiji looked up, puzzled, "Who said I liked her?"

"You mean you're dating a girl even though you don't like her?" Makoto said, shocked.

"Oh come now, Makoto-chan." Keiji lectured, "This is the 21st century. People date people for all kinds of other reasons besides actually liking one another."

Makoto rubbed his temples, "I should have known."

"You don't know my situation with this girl. In fact, I severely detest her for ruining my life's plan with one fail swoop without even knowing. I'm going on this date purely to make this girl feel as strongly about me as I do about her, and send her packing out of my life forever. And in order to do that, I need your help in your opinion in: dog collar, or really tacky belt?"

Giving in, Makoto mumbled reluctantly, "The tacky belt." And went along with it. He'd accepted the fact that life was never going to be the same, by now. Heck, he'd accepted the fact that life was never going to be perfectly understandable, or even logical anymore. But he could live with that. After all, he was the one who complained of being bored.

But you know what they say. Be careful what you wish for.


"I'll even help you."

Toki Nakagawa laid on her back, staring at the ceiling. Even though there was a couch in the room, and a bed in the other, she had for some reason, decided to lie on the carpet. It was still warm, from when she had vacuumed it, or maybe that was just her imagination. Her arms were outstretched and her eyes closed as the tried to concentrate.

"It's ok if you like someone, Tutomu. I don't mind. We're just friends, after all."

Toki grunted in frustration opened her eyes again. Of course they were friends. They'd always been friends. Why was she so eager to change that all of a sudden? She chuckled dryly.

No, it wasn't all of a sudden. Who was she kidding.

It had all started when she was in fourth grade, quite a while back now that she realized it. It had even started with those same exact words. "I'll even help you!" Tutomu had exclaimed cheerily, three days after school photos. It was strange for her, talking to her friend about a guy she liked at school. Maybe it was because he was a boy himself, but she had made up her mind to tell him as soon as she was sure of it. He was her only friend, after all, and she needed to tell someone about it, or she'd burst.

"You will?" She'd replied, grateful that he'd shown so much enthusiasm about her girly problems.

"'Course! If you really like this guy that is."

"I do! I promise!"

Tutomu had smiled widely, "Ok then. I think the first step should be for you to tell him that you like him."

She hesitated, "Tell him?"

"Yup, tomorrow, after school. You should march right up to him and tell him how you feel. That's what I'd want a girl to do if she liked me."

Toki looked incredibly nervous, so Tutomu ruffled her hair like he still does now, and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"I won't be able to come with you, but come over to my house right away after you're done telling him, ok?"

She put on her best smile for him, "'Kay."

But the next day, Tutomu was not greeted at his doorstep with happy news. It was pouring outside, like the weather man had said it would, and Toki was standing sopping wet in front of him. Her eyes were huge and her hair was plastered to the side of her face. She looked like she was trying hard to smile, but as soon as she said the words, "He hates me." Her voice cracked into a tiny sob as she sunk onto the ground. Tutomu immediately knelt down with her, without worrying that he was getting wet himself, and watched. Unsure of what else to do in this situation. He'd never dealt with stuff like this before!

"What do you mean?" He asked her softly.

"He...he just looked at me like I was crazy...and disgusted by the very idea..." She gasped for air, "And then he said that I was stupid and weird...and...and ugly...and he'd never go out with someone like me...and then he left with his friends...and…he laughed at me."

"Oh Toki..." Tutomu murmured in disbelief.

She looked up at him with glassy red eyes, "Why doesn't anyone like me, Tutomu? I've never done anything wrong but they all hate me."

He couldn't come up with an answer, so he did the only thing he could think of to comfort her. He pulled his broken friend into his arms and held her there while she cried. They had sat like that for a long time, and both had colds the next day for being so wet in the cold air, but that was the first time Toki decided that she'd never love anyone like she loved him.

Toki shook her head fiercely, "Stupid."

She rolled her head over to stare at the envelope Amarante had given her before. It, too, was lying on the floor, just centimeters out of her reach. She'd put it that far away for a reason. She'd started to open it before, but something inside her seemed to be yelling for her to stop. Her intuition, she supposed, screaming at her to not open the letter. Toki had convinced herself that the envelope contained something that could change her life.

Konpaku offered her no counsel when she'd mentioned it to him through the mind link she'd only just discovered how to operate on demand. He had only mumbled something, and shook his head for her to forget it when she'd questioned him about it.

He was of no help. It was up to her now.

Gingerly, Toki pushed herself over far enough to claim the envelope. She let it rest in her fingers for a long while before sitting up to look at it more closely. There wasn't a bulge in it, so it was probably just a letter, nothing special to jump out at her. Amarante had said nothing about the contents, just to open it in private, before she smiled and walked away as mysteriously as she'd decided to appear. Without even saying her name, though Toki already knew it from asking Tutomu on the first day.

Toki's hand started to tremble, and she shook it roughly in an effort to get a grip. She was overreacting. It's just a letter, nothing more. Probably something silly like a chain letter for "Getting ur tru luv to confess 2 u by 12:00" She dug her fingers into the crease and ripped it open.

It felt strangely relieving.

Until she read the small scrap of notebook paper that had been tucked inside. It read quite plainly:

"I know about the Puzzle. If you want information, come to the coffee shop near the school at 7:00 tonight."

Toki felt her heart speed up. Information? Information on what? What did Amarante know about the puzzle that she didn't? Toki dropped the scrap of paper and sprinted over to the clock in the kitchen.

6:12

Good, she still had a little more time. As senseless as it seemed, Toki knew she had to go see Amarante tonight. She didn't care if it was some sort of prank or weird way to get dirt off people, she couldn't risk the fact that Amarante might have something very important to tell her.

"Toki?" Konpaku's voice said, sounding more real then usual.

Toki barely glanced at him, standing ghost-like in the corner of her room. She'd almost gotten used to it by now, even though that fact creeped her out a little. She started digging through the closet hang-ups, searching for her jacket.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" His voice came again, if not sounding a little peeved she didn't respond to him, "It could be very dangerous."

"I know, I know." Toki shot back, not finding what she was looking for and moving on to the coat closet in the hall, "But I feel like I don't have many options here. She obviously knows enough to figure out the puzzle isn't just for decorative purposes."

"What happened to the plan of telling only one boy?" Konpaku inquired, standing next to her now.

Toki stopped for a minute and shut her eyes tightly, a sudden pang of guilt welling up in her throat as she remembered she'd neglected to tell Tutomu twice now. But she couldn't think of that now. She had to keep moving or she wouldn't make it to the coffee shop early enough to make sure Amarante wasn't with anyone else before she came in.

"That was a little more difficult then I'd expected." Toki admitted, "And I will tell him soon. But maybe Amarante has useful information for me."

"You've mentioned that already." Konpaku said crossly, "I just don't think this is a good idea. Anything could happen. And revealing yourself openly to this girl could cause tremendous problems. I sense an imbalance in her that worries me, greatly."

"Well it's not like you're giving me any information!" Toki snapped suddenly.

Konpaku stared. Toki covered her mouth in shock and mumbled a quick, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell." The spirit seemed to be very displeased with the entire ordeal, but offered a nod in acceptance and allowed Toki to travel to the laundry room, where she was now sure her jacket was.

"I'm sorry I cannot tell you everything, Toki." Konpaku said firmly, "But some things are better learned on your own."

"Well, here I go." Toki replied, snatching the jacket from off the dryer and putting it on, "Off to learn on my own."

He could make no comment to that, and Toki smiled sadly, "I really don't mean to disappoint you like this, and I know you want what's best, but I have an opportunity to find out what's going on with my life now, and I can't possibly pass it up."

There was silence for a while, and then Konpaku sighed deeply and muttered, "Alright, I understand. But know I'm going to be keeping a close watch. If something seems off I want you to leave immediately."

Toki beamed, and nodded, "Naturally. Thanks for your concern, but I have to get going now."

And with those words of parting, Toki left through the front door, not bothering to watch Konpaku's spirit body ripple into thin air until there was nothing left of him. She shivered a little in the cool air, cursing that winter was coming far sooner then she would've liked, and then started on her way to the famous coffee shop everyone at that school knew of.

"Here's hoping for the best." Toki thought optimistically, touching her puzzle absent mindedly as she walked.

Had she known what would really end up going on in the coffee shop, she would have been nowhere near as cheery.


"YOU WHAT?"

"Just for tonight! I promise!"

"No. NONONONONO. This was NOT what I signed up for."

"Oh come now, you'll get to see my gallant performance at the best seat in the house."

Makoto gave him the best glare he could and shook his head stiffly, "I will NOT go on this date with you, Keiji. I am in no way supporting your 'brilliant' plan to make this girl miserable."

"Ooooh..." Keiji whined, "But I need someone to come and tell me how I did. And the fact that my ex-lover, Claude had to come with me on this date because he was jealous only makes it even more exciting!"

Makoto visibly flinched and groaned, rubbing his temples, "Not only does that not make any sense in reality, but its downright DISTURBING."

"But you--"

"I AM NOT GAY!" Makoto shrieked, for the third time tonight, earning a tickled smirk from Keiji.

"I never said you were." He said innocently.

"Yes you did!" Makoto hissed, "You blatantly hinted!"

Keiji smiled sweetly, "Now THERE'S an oxymoron for you."

"You kept saying," Makoto snapped, "That it was amazing and you'd never met someone straight who'd only gone with one girl before."

Keiji furrowed his brows, "Did I?"

"YES! And before you 'mentioned' someone secure with their sexuality wouldn't mind being your ex-lover Claude for one night!"

"Well its true..."

"AND!" Makoto continued, fuming, "You said, trying to 'defend me', that girls probably just didn't know I was interested because I EMITTED THAT AURA! WHAT AURA? OH...YOU KNOW. WINK WINK NUDGE NUDGE!"

Keiji only laughed through his nose, keeping his lips straight as he got his shoes on and allowed Makoto to yell. Oh yes, he was going to like having Makoto here. He was more fun to mess with then Tutomu.

"So..." Keiji said simply, once Makoto had caught his breath and his face was no longer beat red, "You're saying you'd rather stay here alone with my Mother?"

Makoto opened his mouth automatically, body shifting forward in complete preparation to yell before it fully clicked what Keiji was saying. Then he froze, slack jaw, suddenly re-thinking his argument. Then he glared deeply, lowered his arms, closed his mouth and spat:

"FINE."

And stormed off.

And though it sounded like he was saying 'fine' to staying home with Keiji's mom, the rummaging around his suite case indicated clearly that 'jealous, American ex-lover Claude' was getting ready for the part. Keiji smiled deviously in getting his way, and glanced at the clock. He was going to meet up with his oh-so-unsuspecting fiancée in a half hour, that was about eleven minutes late for the date. His smile spread almost Grinch-like as he pictured her sitting there waiting for him, getting more and more upset.

The best case scenario was that she'd simply get so angered by his tardiness and leave before he got there. But he wasn't going to hold his breath. Besides, if she left early, he wouldn't get to show off all of the skits he'd prepared for repulsing her.

Makoto came back into the room soon, looking completely livid but absolutely in character. He had a white button down shirt, which was buttoned down quite far for not having a shit underneath. He wore a purple scrunchie around his wrist, his hair gelled back, and his eyes were lined with something dark. Keiji gawked at the fact he looked positively gay, and Makoto sneered in spite.

"See?" He said confidently, "Who said I wasn't confident in my sexuality?"

And he swept his non-moving hair back with one hand, raised his eyebrows, and went downstairs to wait for leaving time. Keiji only bit his lip to keep from laughing again, grabbed his cologne (in case he needed a reapplication) and made his own way downstairs.

This was going to be quite a night, indeed.


A/N: I considered leaving you off right here, and making this a chapter despite the scolding I'd get for it being so short. (sweat drop) But I decided against it in the end, being far too short for even my liking, so feel privileged. Because now you get to read about the actual date. Oh, and just out of curiosity, can anyone see where this is going? Heheh...if you can't yet, you'll probably get it in the next page or two. Ok, so we left off with Makoto and Keiji downstairs getting ready to leave. So that would make me start back up at:
"I can't believe you have eye-liner..." Keiji commented, climbing into the car before the redhead, knowing that his confidence was dwindling the longer he spent outside the house, now that he'd proved his point.

"Says the man who carries expensive French perfume with him." Makoto shot back sarcastically.

"Cologne. There's a difference." Keiji corrected, "Besides, how'd you know I had it with me?"

Makoto scrunched up his face, "I can smell it. I can't decide it that stuff smells more like sour milk and rotten eggs, or decaying road kill of the side of the street."

"Either is fine." Keiji said, chipper, ushering for the driver to take them to the coffee shop where he was meeting Leiko.

"I'm glad you're amused by it. I just hope you're date can't breathe through her nose for some reason."

"I don't. The faster she bolts, the better." Keiji said bluntly, "And remember, you're supposed to sit at a table not far from us, but glare at her the whole time. Even when we walk in, if you see her."

Makoto felt creases in his forehead as he tried to picture the event in his mind, "What does she look like?"

"Oh, I don't know. Short, greasy, dressed in black, short hair, mousy face, bony everything, pale, terrible complexion."

"I can tell you love her a lot."

"Look, just follow my lead. If you see a reason to step in, please, by all means, do so. The more disasters the better." He gave Makoto the thumbs up, which was warily returned before they reached the coffee shop and screeched to a halt.

"This is it." Keiji breathed, turning to his companion, "How do I look?"

Makoto scanned him, then shrugged and replied, "Awful."

"Good, I'm all set then. Just come in after me and go for whatever you can."

Keiji climbed out of the car hurriedly and sauntered over to the front of the coffee shop where there was a girl waiting for him with her arms crossed and her face mangled in exasperation. But as soon as Keiji walked over, she grinned. Keiji loosely hung his arm around her waist, saying something to her that made her shake her head and grin.

But, was it just him, or did it look like an evil grin?

No. Couldn't be. He'd seen enough evil for one day already. He continued to watch them talk, and couldn't help but notice that the girl, Leiko was her name? She didn't look all that bad. Not drop dead gorgeous, but not a hag like Keiji was describing her as. He waited until they entered the shop before Makoto himself got out and stretched his legs. He waited.

10...9...8...

He could see inside the window, they'd just sat down and Keiji looked like he'd gotten right down to business, leaning back on the chair legs and touching her leg.

3...2...1...

Makoto came in. The coffee shop wasn't all that different then coffee shops back in America. Somehow, being in this one made him feel like home wasn't so far away after all. The familiar smell of chocolate, vanilla, and espresso greeted him like a warm blanket on a cold night. He never really liked the taste of coffee, but he loved the smell of it more then anything. Makoto had almost forgotten about his 'assigned job' before he settled down at an empty table within sight of the happy couple. He could just barely make out what they were saying...

"So do you come here often?" Leiko was asking him.

Keiji's eyebrows raised, almost touching the top of his head as he looked around dumbly, "Mmmmm...naaaah. Too many people...I don't really much like people ever since I was almost arrested."

She blinked and leaned onto her hand, "Arrested? When was this?"

Keiji looked like he didn't have an answer for only a split second, before recomposing himself and answering, somewhat foolishly, "Um, when I was 5."

"Oh?"

Keiji cleared his throat and made a moronic expression, "Yeaah...yeaah...I feel badly about it...turns out firing a gun at your Grandma isn't such a good idea."

She smiled warmly, "Well, as long as you learned something."

Makoto chuckled. Keiji looked shocked at her answer. Someone came by with little cups of coffee on a tray, free samples of a new flavor Makoto gathered, Keiji grabbed about three of them. He drank the first one easily. Then stared at the cup for a while, then picked up the next one and drank it like a shot, gasping for air with finality before chugging the third with trickles of coffee running down his chin.

"That's some good stuff." He said loudly, shouting back to the waitress, "THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MISS!"

The waitress gave him the weirdest of looks, then nodded like she was questioning the man's sanity before moving on. Keiji stretched out and put his hand on Leiko's leg, making her look at first like she could deck him, but then softening...a little.

"You know my third lover looked like you." Keiji said wistfully, "He had the same eyes."

"...He?"

Keiji nodded, "I was gay for a few years, but then I decided, Hey! Why can't I date them both? But...sadly, our relationship ended when he learned I'd been cheating on him with a woman."

Makoto was reminded to act more in character, and sulked in the corner, inwardly praising Keiji's surprisingly impressive acting skills.

"That's so nice of you to do, though." Leiko responded kindly, "You're so open minded, giving both sexes equal opportunities without caring if their a girl of a boy. Real, true love."

God, this girl was good. What was she, a saint? Makoto sighed at the difficulty Keiji was having, knowing that he was only going home as soon as she was ready to leave him. Keiji was going to have to stick it up another notch if he was going to achieve it. Suddenly, Keiji did the unthinkable. He stuck his leg out in front of a worker who was collecting half full cups, making the poor guy shriek and trip sending coffee all over Leiko. (and four or five other customers, but who cared about them anyway?)

Leiko kept her eyes shut for the longest time, then she unstuck her lips and smiled, "How unfortunate. You should be more careful about where you put your feet."

Makoto honestly thought Keiji was going to blow a gasket. Apparently, breaking up with the girl was far harder in reality then it was in theory. Maybe it was time for his ex-lover to step in? Makoto smirked.

Nah, let him suffer a little while longer.

"Have you ever been to a Star Trek convention? I've been to every one since I was six."

"I've been to a few, they're simply delightful."

"I've decided to drop out of High School soon and go backpacking through Europe, then come home to start my dream career of being a porn star."

"If that's what you want, it's nice you have so much determination."

"I have thirteen cats."

"I love cats."

"You're an ugly bitch."

"That god you're more honest then most guys."

As the night wore on, things became more and more amusing for Makoto. The excuses and "facts" were becoming more and more outrageous and desperate, and Leiko wasn't backing down for an instant. Keiji looked completely, and utterly flabbergasted. He then excused himself and strode into the men's bathroom. Makoto followed, if only to hear what Keiji had in mind now that his plan had gone down the tubes. He found him there, banging his head against the mirror, cursing.

"Well," Makoto said, trying to hide his smugness, "You know what they say about the 'best laid plans'."

"I think I'm going insane." Keiji said, voice muffled, "She won't get the hint. No matter what I do, she's completely and 100 behind me. It's creepy! It's inhuman! IT'S COMPLETELY RUINING EVERYTHING!"

"Maybe she just--"

"What am I doing wrong?" Keiji asked frantically, pressing Makoto up against a wall for answers.

Makoto shook his head rapidly, "Uh, well, I don't know, why are you--"

"She likes EVERYTHING I'm trying to screw up! What the hell is wrong with her?" Keiji ranted, "She's a FREAK! And I even stooped so low as to insult her openly and STILL SHE SMILES! I COULD KILL HER! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH HER?" He rounded on Makoto now, "AND YOU! DO SOMETHING! DO ANYTHING! YOU'RE JUST SITTING THERE LOOKING LIKE A COMPLETE FOOL WHEN YOU COULD HELP ME!"

"Maybe you should just tell the truth."

Keiji backed away in horror, "Are you MAD, MAN? FIRSTLY: Only losers resort back to the truth when their plan starts to fail. SECONDLY: She'd probably only be pleased that I'm being so honest with her. THIRDLY: ...ITS JUST STUPID! NO! NEVER! I'LL DIE TRYING BEFORE I DO THAT!"

Makoto shrugged, "If you insist then."

"WAIT! NO! DON'T LEAVE YET! YOU HAVE TO HELP ME!"

"What! Help you with what!" Makoto said curtly, starting to get weirded out by Keiji's behavior.

"I DON'T KNOW! THINK OF SOMETHING!"

"WHY ME?"

"BECAUSE I'M ALL OUT OF IDEAS!"

Makoto scowled, but thought carefully about the situation. Finally, he shook his head and mumbled, "Break the date."

"...what?"

"Just, tell her you have to get home, but you had a lovely time. Then leave, and never call her again." Makoto said simply, acting like this was the most obvious thing in the world.

Which, to him at least, it really was.

Keiji stared, saying nothing to this plan. Sure, it sucked. Sure, it seemed like the cheater's way out. But what other choice did he have? He couldn't STAND this girl winning against him. Cursing, Keiji nodded reluctantly and moped out of the bathroom. Makoto sat back down at his table and Keiji went into his act.

Suddenly, Makoto saw something out of the corner of his eye he hadn't noticed before. It was that girl...the raven haired girl he'd been introduced to before. The creepy one that hung around that Sakura girl. What was her name again? Oh right, Amarante. He focused his eye to look closer. What was she doing here? Amarante moved in her chair a little to reveal there was someone sitting in front of her.

Toki Nakagawa. He remembered her perfectly.

They appeared to be talking about something. Something important, due to the stiffness of their features, but for some reason, Makoto felt compelled to approach them. He wanted to go over and speak to the Nakagawa girl and find out what business she had with Amarante. Without even noticing, he found himself getting up out of the chair, and walking on auto pilot over to where they sat. It wasn't until he stood there, dumbly, watching as they stared up at him questionably, that he even realized.

God, that was a stupid thing to do.

He didn't even know what to say. Usually he'd have a conversation in mind before he went to anyone. But now he was completely speechless. He felt out of place. He squirmed on the spot.

"Yes?" Amarante said, calmly.

"I...uh..." He stuttered, "I...don't really know why I came here. I just--"

"No, it's fine." Amarante spoke, "Please, sit down. Join us."

Toki looked very confused and alarmed at this point, but kept her mouth shut as Makoto sat down in the seat next to her. She gripped at the puzzle protectively and seemed to shrink back quite a bit in her chair. Before Amarante had a chance to speak again, Keiji came walking over with Leiko's hand in his.

Or more, it looked like Leiko was keeping him from walking away, and he was dragging her in this direction.

"Claude!" Makoto hissed, "My American Ex-Lover! It's such a surprise to see you here. Don't you have anything to say about me being out with Leiko-san?"

My my, that was implied. The redhead was beginning to decide whether or not to go along with the plan when Amarante cut him off again, and nodded to the couple.

"Ah, Keiji Yanaka and Leiko Narita." She said airily, "It's about time you got here."

Keiji's eyes narrowed, "What are you talking about? I don't even know you."

She smiled. Makoto twisted a little. She had that kind of creepy you couldn't define. That sort of creepy you saw in the movies, when the cute little girl would jump out of the closet with a knife. Well, never mind. That creepy was pretty easy to define. He just couldn't put his finger on why Amarante made him uneasy. Leiko scowled at the girl openly.

"I'm Amarante Ogata. And these are my friends, Makoto O'Brien and Toki Nakagawa."

'Friends'? Since when was he 'her friend'? Toki looked as lost as he was, so that made him feel a little better. In fact, she looked a little more freaked then he was, and he thought she was seriously going to get up and leave before Amarante reached into her backpack and pulled out something long and golden. She offered it up on the table with a hollow 'thump', and went back to her usual smile, glancing at the timid girl, quite obviously the youngest.

"It's quite alright, Toki," She said gently, looking at the three of them closely before finishing:

"They're one of us."


Bum bum buuuuum. I think that's a suitable enough cliff hanger for today. I think my I've gotten over my mild case of writers block, moving on to a solution that appears to be more of a problem. (anime sweat drop) See once I get going in my writing, it just sort of takes off. But if I stop and, say, go to sleep, then the next day I can't write for beans. Then I have to start over without stopping or it ruins the flow. So you readers should feel special. I stayed up to 3:00 in the morning to finish this chapter.

I liked how the beginning turned out, and the slight angst with Toki (but don't worry, that's as angsty as it gets. I'm not going over the top here just because she's the main character.) but for some reason the date thing came out funny. And I don't mean that as humorous, it just felt forced to me. I hope it didn't come out that way to you...but I wouldn't be surprised if it did. Maybe I'll edit it some day.

No, Amarante isn't insane. And no, she wasn't modeled after Isis (or, Ishizu as you might know her) She just seems that way right now because we're looking at her through the eyes of Makoto and Toki. Both of whom, are easily spooked, uncertain about many things, and slightly untrusting. (There's another reason, too, but why spoil it now?) You might remember Amarante came off completely different when we were looking at her through Sakura's eyes.

Different people different impressions. It's human nature.

I can't remember what I promised you (last chapter) to be in this chapter, so I'm hoping I got most of it in here. If I forgot something, it'll be coming soon. I just needed sleep, and the chapter was long enough to begin with.

NEXT CHAPTER YOU CAN PROBABLY EXPECT (sweat drop): The revelation of the item holders...or most of them anyway. Tutomu takes advantage of Toki's offer to help him with Amarante as the Homecoming Dance approaches, and speaking of which, could it be that Makoto is taking a shine to our own little Toki? Plus, Leiko has a "brilliant" idea on how to find the last two items on the list.

Please review as harshly as you see fit, and tell your fanfictioning friends! See you next chapter!