Reviews answered by Umi-chan!

animeprincess1452: You think it was Jack, huh? Well… my lips are sealed (grins evilly)

GirlWaterShaman: Well, we'll see about her getting her emotions back. I might have something much more evil in mind…

Spirit of the Dead: Glad you enjoyed it; as for the killer… they will be revealed in the distant future. I wonder if anyone could figure it out before then?

Konie Hime: It's nice to have a new reviewer enjoying the story!

Kyagiko-neko: Thanks!

Bballstar42: Here's the next chappie!

Chapter Twenty: A Trip to the Lake

(Pohli's POV)

Tohru was actually a pretty good cook.

When I'm in Japan, I have to eat Arisa's cooking which really sucks but this was by far very delicious… not that I would ever tell Tohru that.

Shigure perked up during the odd silence that had been going on for a while. "Hey I've been meaning to get out of the house and I thought-"

A loud banging against the front door made us all jump, including Midori. "I'll get it." Yuki yawned sleepily and left the room. A moment later the front door slid open and we all listened curiously.

"Out of my way, Yuki! Where is he?!"

I stiffened at the familiar sound of Akito's yelling and then heard his feet pound against the floor in the hallway before flinging the dining room door open and looking around frantically.

Shigure set down his tea and brought his gaze up to Akito. "Jack's no longer here, Akito. He left before breakfast."

"The bastard!" Akito spat furiously.

"W-would you like something to eat, Akito?" Tohru offered politely.

That creepy smile that Akito is known for stretched his thin lips and he looked at each of us in turn, finally resting his gaze on me. Sitting down between Shigure and I, Akito nodded to Tohru. "I'd be… delighted to have breakfast."

Tohru served breakfast to Akito with a smile on her face and Kyou glared irritably in Akito's direction. A few moments of silence passed before Yuki returned, looking pale and he took his seat between Midori and I.

I leaned over to Yuki so I could whisper to him, "Yuki, why would Akito be searching for Jack? I mean I understand that most people want him dead and all, but why?" I asked.

"Jack is Akito's twin half-sibling." Yuki muttered quietly.

"What?!" I demanded, making everyone turn to me. Embarrassed by my outburst, I whispered back to Yuki again. "How can that be possible?"

Yuki looked very uncomfortable with this question and before he could possibly answer, someone laid their hand on top of mine.

"What are you talking about, Pohli?" Akito asked quietly with a hint of annoyance in his tone.

"Uh… uh… pocky?" I randomly grabbed a chocolate covered pocky stick and ate it.

"So Shigure, what were you asking about before Akito came in?" Tohru innocently asked while pouring me a cup of tea. Shigure's face went blank and he forced a fake grin; one of those looks that you give someone when you're trying to tell them to shut up without exactly saying it.

"Oh, it's not important. I shouldn't have even brought it up." He chuckled and thought that he had done a good job of keeping her quiet but Tohru has never been that… quick.

"Oh Shigure I want to know. We should all be able to express our feelings!"

Oh dear god Tohru, shut up!

Shigure cleared his throat. "Uh, well you see, I wanted to take a trip up to the lake house. It's beautiful this time of year and I thought it might do the high school girls--er, I mean, Pohli and Midori some good." He laughed nervously as Akito smiled a wicked smile.

Kyou sat in the corner scowling and mumbling, "The bastard only wants to see them play strip poker."

Shigure feigned a hurt look. "Oh Kyou, how you injure me!"

I blushed at Kyou's comment and continued to eat some pocky that I found in my pocket.

"Yes…"

We all looked up to Akito who began to smile genuinely. "We should all go."

Shigure's face lost its color entirely. He opened his mouth to say something but no words came out.

Ayame walked into the room after letting himself in and had heard the entire discussion about the trip to the lake house. "I'll drive!! I can borrow Hatori's car!"

"Ayame… you'll drive us off a cliff…" Kyou growled.

"Well then it's a good thing that there are no cliffs nearby!" Shigure laughed, regaining his composure.

"With your luck, you could find a way without any cliffs." Kyou replied.

"Call Hatori and get him to drive us." Akito ordered.

"Kyou, go call Hatori." Shigure ordered.

"Why do I have to?!" Kyou shouted and Akito narrowed his eyes at him, quieting the bad-tempered cat. Grumbling, Kyou left the table to go call Hatori and there was a tense silence from Akito's presence.

Akito started laughing maniacally and melodramatically and then put his arm around my shoulders.

Damn, Akito is so uber creepy!

Around the table I'm sure several perverted thoughts were going through everybody's minds. I could only imagine what Arisa was thinking…

"Hatori and Haru are on their way with the van--what the hell?!" Kyou had just walked into the room when he saw Akito clinging to me. Slowly, he backed away from the two of us. Damn it Kyou! Stop looking at me like that!

"Aren't they disgusting?" Akito whispered into my ear and I shivered from his nose brushing against my ear.

"W-well… I…" I personally didn't find any of them disgusting. Well… maybe Shigure was disgusting but not anyone else.

"Stop feeling her up you sick bastard!" Kyou yelled and I wondered why this bothered him so much.

"Quit dreaming, you freak cat." Akito retorted.

Tohru was looking very nervous at the bickering duo, fearing things might turn for the worst. Arisa on the other hand, was giving me a look that pissed me off royally and it was a look that basically said 'you disgusting slut'.

The sound of the front door opening and closing caught all of our attention and Hatori walked into the now crowded dining room followed by Hatsuharu. "Let's go." Hatori spoke in a flat tone with no expression.

After quite a few disputes about who should sit where: Hatori was of course driving so he was in the front, Shigure called shotgun and Ayame tried to sit between them. Yuki, Haru, and Midori sat in the first row of seats. The next row of seats was Tohru, Arisa, and Saki. And in the last row (damn this is a big van!) was my uber creepy Akito, Kyou, and me. During the whole drive Akito would glare at Kyou and Kyou would glare back.

Hatori announced to everyone who had never been to the lake house that it would be a two hour drive and I wondered if some of us would go insane before then. But since I didn't sleep very well last night because I was out in the middle of the woods sleeping on the freezing cold ground I nodded off to sleep pretty soon. And it wasn't long before I started to dream…

For some strange reason my vision was blurred, like when you wear glasses and then you take them off. But I could make out different figures… all wearing black. Standing beside me was Yuki, looking very grave. There was a coffin at the end of the room and I moved closer to see who it was…

"Pohli?" Akito nudged me awake. "We've arrived."

"Who died?" I asked groggily and Akito raised an eyebrow at me questioningly. "Oh never mind, just a weird dream is all."

We all piled out of the van and I shivered uncontrollably. God! I need to start wearing warm clothes in this icebox of a country!

"Hey orange top! I challenge you to a game of 'Rich Man, Poor Man'!" Arisa laughed loudly, trying to piss off Kyou.

"Just don't start crying after I whoop your sorry ass, Yankee!" Kyou retorted. "We'll play upstairs!"

"Why? So you don't humiliate yourself when you lose?" snickered Arisa.

"Like I would!" Kyou growled.

"That would be great if we all played together." Tohru smiled gently.

The three of them, plus Saki, went upstairs to play whatever that stupid game was.

"Who's hungry?" Ayame asked loudly.

"I am, Aya!" Shigure replied smiling and then added, "But not for food…"

"That's just sickening." Yuki glared at the two of them and I seriously had to agree with him. Sometimes Shigure and Ayame would give way too much information for my poor virgin mind…

"Yuki, as your older brother, I demand you to go and get us food." Ayame pointed down on his younger brother.

"We don't have any food." Hatsuharu pointed out dryly. "And it's ten miles to the nearest food store."

"Then go get it!" Akito ordered.

Not going against my uber creepy Akito, Yuki and Haru left to get food for us all to eat.

"What do you say we play a game?" Shigure suggested with a mischievous look on his face.

"What game?" I asked, hoping it wasn't anything like strip poker or something.

"Strip poker! And it's girls first!"

TO BE CONTINUED