Another day later, the whole family sat at the table to eat a nice, hearty breakfast. Although, another reason is because the parents wanted to prod Miro about the events of the past day. Nami had beaten Jack in the rock- paper-scissors match earlier that morning, so she got to have the first shot.

"Miro?" Nami begins, looking over to him in a manner far too sweet for her nature. Miro knew that he was in for it now.

"Mm-hmm?" Miro replies, some food in his mouth at the time.

"What were you doing out all day?" She asks. "That's not like you at all."

"Nothing really." Miro replies, keeping his eyes to his food.

"Then why did you come back home with your clothes messed up and lipstick on your face?" Jack cuts in. "That's a bit above 'nothing, really' on the scale."

"Oh!" Miro says, looking relieved. "Well, that's a funny story, really. You see..." He proceeds to tell all of the events of the past day to his parents, attempting to mention Kate as little as possible. When he was finally done, Nami was the first to speak.

"You were attacked?" She says.

"Yeah." Miro replies. "It was something... hey, come to think of it, it was a lot like Daachan..."

"I KNEW IT!" Jack exclaims triumphantly. "I knew that that thing was evil! And you said I was nuts!" He points to Nami.

"Jack, Miro," Nami says calmly. "Think about what you're saying. Daachan is a teddy bear; a big, fuzzy, cotton-stuffed, bead-eyed, button-nosed, round- eared, hand-sewn, inanimate, brain-free, non-evil teddy bear. It's not alive."

"But-" Both Miro and Jack start to say.

"End of discussion." Nami says, cutting them off. "Now, we're having a town get-together this afternoon, I want you two washed and smelling nice for the occasion."

"Awwww..." Jack and Miro whine.

"Oh, stop it." Nami says. "Can't I have you two coming to a special occasion not smelling like the animals?"

"But that's how people know that we're such successful farmers!" Jack points out. Miro nods.

Nami growls deeply and gives them one of her soul-piercing glares. They go stone-still and sit rigid at their chairs for a moment.

"...Going!" They both say after they recover, rushing towards the bathrooms.

They stop for a moment at the doorway, both swallowing and glancing at each other.

"Well, you're the father..." Miro says. "Off you go. You know that room better than I do"

"No I don't, I've NEVER been in there!" Jack says, suddenly panicking. "Nami installed that room when I was asleep from the bachelor party hangover, I've never actually gone in..."

"Well, be brave, Dad." Miro says, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Better you than me, anyway."

Jack cringes and nods. "Right. Listen, if I don't make it out... tell Nami... it's all her fault." He then opens the door slowly and slips in.

Miro waited outside the door for a while. He had no idea how long. The minutes ticked by, and Miro couldn't hear anything from the bathroom. The doors were airtight and soundproof. Apparently, Nami was shy of people hearing bathroom noises. Miro kept himself busy by twiddling his thumbs, staring up at the ceiling in thought.

Finally, Jack emerged from the room, running out, falling to the ground, and staying there, twitching once in a while. Miro looked at him.

"You okay, Dad? ...Dad?" He says, prodding him.

"Ugh... It was... horrible..." Jack says weakly. "Everything was shining... the walls, the sink, the toilet, the shower, EVERYTHING! Even the... friggin'... light switches..."

"Stay with us, Dad!" Miro says. "Stay together! Don't go into the light!"

"Miro..." Jack says. "You have to go in there... Do it for the family... Besides, at least you have a chance in there, Nami won't let you live if you return unwashed..."

Miro nods slowly. "I see. Don't worry, I'll get out of there... ugh, clean." He gets up and turns to the door.

"Miro..." Jack beckons. Miro turns around.

"Yes?"

"Don't... slip on... the soap..." Jack says finally, going completely limp afterward. Miro lowers his head in silence, and slowly turns back to the door. He looks up to it and turns the handle, swinging it open and shutting it, disappearing inside.

The room was different from anything that Miro had ever seen. He stood in amazement at the doorway, looking around to make sure he wasn't in some twisted dream. There was more Porcelain in this room than he had ever wanted to see in his life. The sink, the toilet, the tub, the shower, even the walls and floor looked like they were made out of it. The room was steamy, too. A fine layer of mist veiled everything less than a meter from his face. Slightly scared and disturbed at this squeaky-clean room, Miro continued onward, wondering what he should do first. He decided that removing his clothes would have to be done first, since he didn't want them to get wet or torn or damaged from the horrors concealed in this far-too- shiny room.

After quite literally peeling off the layers of clothes that he had worn for so long that they had nearly developed into a second layer of skin, Miro steps into the 'shower', as he had heard it was called in legends. He noticed a partially open window placed slightly above his head, and mumbled that that was simply asking for trouble. After closing the 'shower curtain', he stares at the device directly in front of him, wondering what would make it work. He timidly reaches for a handle, and turns it. Nothing. He attempts to push it in. It would not move. Finally, as he pulled his hand away from it, he accidentally pulled at it, and a surge of water came from the showerhead and caught him totally off-guard. Miro yelled in surprise and quite nearly slipped, but he managed to recover himself by backing into a wall.

It wasn't quite as bad as he thought it would be. Miro felt the grime seep away from his skin with the water. It made him feel clean, pure, it made him want to sing. And so he did. He sang many things, things that he had learned when he was young, he didn't care much for what the songs were, the feeling was amazing.

"HI MIR-EEK!"

"AHH!" Miro yells at the shadow in the window, quickly throwing the shower curtain around himself.

"Sorry!" Says the shadow, now covering her eyes.

"KAAATE!" Miro yells angrily. "WHAT THE F-"

"I said sorry!" Kate cuts him off. "I just heard your voice and-"

"You didn't hear the water?! GO AWAY!"

"WellIdidbutIthoughtyouwerejustwashingyourfaceorsomethingsoIclimbedupapileof boxesoverhereandlookedthroughbecauseIhaveto-" Kate begins explaining very quickly. Miro cuts her off, though, with another "GO AWAY!"

"But I have to ask you something!" Kate says. "About the town having the meet-up, there'll be a big dance and-"

"THIS IS NOT THE TIME!" Miro cuts in, his face now almost the same color as his hair. "I DON'T DANCE, I DON'T WANT TO DANCE, I'M NOT DANCING FOR AS LONG AS I-"

"Okay, fine. I'll just get Hugh to come with me. I'm sure he'll be-"

"NO WAY, I'M GOING AND THAT'S THE END OF IT!" Miro says, pausing, and suddenly hitting himself for saying that.

Kate smiles triumphantly, still not uncovering her eyes.

"I thought you would. See you there, sweetums." She laughs evilly and leaves the window, her voice still echoing in the hills. Miro was really getting sick of that laugh.

"How'd I just do that?" He wonders to himself. "Why did I even say that? Why am I acting like such a... teenager!?" He stomps one foot down, and slips on a stray bar of soap on the ground, falling with a yell and a thunk.

Later on, Miro emerges from the bathroom, still putting his shirt back on. Once he does, he sees that Jack had moved. Now reassured that his father was still alive, he walks back into the kitchen. There was Nami and Jack. Jack still looked extremely weak, but he was still breathing, and had managed to drag himself onto a chair.

"Well, you two seem to be clean enough." Nami says. "Miro, you look a bit more stunned than usual, are you feeling okay?"

"Uhh, nn, yu, yeah..." Miro says, nodding and somewhat shaking his head at the same time.

"Well, you don't seem much worse than Jack" Nami concludes, shrugging. "Well, get your shoes on, we're going."

(More to come in the next chapter! Sorry this isn't as much of a slapper as the first two, but it's just setting the stage for what's to come. See you then, and don't forget those reviews, I want opinions!)