Note: This chapter contains questionable content. For safety reasons, this chapter gets an "R" rating.

Sorry if this chapter seems a little rushed. I'll edit it when I can.

chapter five: just me and the boys

As the days passed, Hyouko, Dante, and I quickly became the best of friends. Even though we had almost nothing in common, we were able to put that aside and easily identify with each other. Everyday we would eat lunch together at the same table at Café Kartie and talk about what guys would usually talk about: clothes, shoes, music, and girls, though usually it would end up with Dante talking on and on about Hikari.

Sitting at Cafe Kartie one Friday afternoon, Hyouko and I stared at a trio of girls passing us by.

"Mmm." I started, "Look at that."

"Eh?" Dante looked toward the girls. "Meh. Not my type."

"Lemmie guess," Hyouko said, "They don't have the light blonde hair tied into a ponytail? They aren't wearing wired rimmed glasses? They don't have wings or a halo? They aren't wearing a miniskirt?" Hyouko and I laughed out loud. "Goddammit, you're into almost every single fetish in the book!"

I placed a cigarette into my mouth and took out my lighter. As I lit my cigarette, I faced Dante and eyed him.

"You know..." I drew in a breath of smoke and exhaled through my nostrils, "The Communicator wants to see me today. Maybe I should tell him about your obsession with Hiakri."

"No!" He jumped from his seat, "And it's not an obsession! It's Love." He embraced himself tightly.

"Calm down." I said tapping the ash of my cigarette onto the ground, "I was just joking. And it's only love if she likes you too."

"She does like me!" Dante sat back down. "You'll see."

"Man, you need to be exposed to other chicks." Hyouko said, sipping on a glass of ice water, "We should go out tonight. Maybe then you'll stop badgering Hikari."

"I'm not badgering her..." Dante whispered, "Both of you are stupid..."

"Out?" I asked, ignoring Dante's remarks, "Out to where?"

"Drinking." Hyouko said, picking his teeth with a toothpick, "Bar-hopping, man. You know, relieve some stress. It's Friday, we're young, and we should have some fun."

"You think they'll let me? I mean, don't you think I'm a little underage?"

"You're a Haibane." Dante said, biting into a piece of meat. "They don't have age limits for Haibane for some reason."

"Oh." I said, "Then we should go out!..." I paused for a moment, remembering something important, "After I go talk with the communicator. He wanted to see me today." I said softly.

"Aww, why even bother? Can't you just ditch the old man?" Dante asked. We both stared at him like he was crazy. "What?" He snorted.

"Disobeying the Communicator is like signing your own death wish. You mess with him and he'll rip your wings off..." Hyouko said softly.

"He can't rip our wings off," I said, blowing smoke into his face. "That's impossible."

"Oh yeah?" He retorted, fanning the smoke away with his hands, "Then what about Tama?"

"Who?" I asked.

"Tama. She was this girl who lived with us over at Abandoned Factory, about a year ago. On her first day after she was born, the Communicator called for her. She didn't go though, because she was stubborn. The next day, we saw her running around in the Western Woods, only this time; she didn't have her halo or her wings. The Communicator yelled at us for trying to help her, saying that she had failed her trial. I heard that she died because she had lost a lot of blood."

"Bullshit." I said, smothering the remains of my cigarette on the table, "You're lying."

"Bullshit?" Hyouko, sat up, "Go and ask the Communicator about it. Then you'll see who's bullshitting."

Dante checked his watch, "Well, time to get back to work and-"

"And feel up Hikari's shirt." Hyouko interrupted, smiling to himself.

"Bastard!" Dante yelled back, "I would never do that!"

"I wouldn't be surprised if you did..." I said, getting up from my chair.

"We'll see you back at your place, after Roku gets done flirting with the Communicator," Hyouko said, earning a glare from me. "Tonight, we get wasted!" He swallowed the rest of his water in one gulp.

Cheerfully, he and I went back to Pop's Garage and continued repairing several small machines. As closing time came, Hyouko and I headed to the locker room to change. As I sat down to remove my shoes, Hyouko started a conversation.

"You think he's really gonna do it?" Hyouko asked as he removed his shirt.

"Who's gonna do what?" I asked, removing my work boots.

"Dante." He said, digging through his locker, "I mean, you think he'll be able to get at Hikari? You know, hook up with her?"

"Nah." I said, wrapping my holster around myself, deciding that it was too hot to put on my long-sleeve, "He's smarter than that. He knows it's forbidden."

"Yeah, but he's too damn persistent." He put on his red sweater.

"Man, Dante knows what's right and wrong."

"But, for as long as I've worked here, he's always been talking about Hikari. You think if Hikari puts him down, that he'll, you know... freak?"

"What?" I stopped buttoning my shirt and looked over at him.

"You know..." Hyouko put his hat over his halo. "... go berserk?"

"Dante's smarter than that." I repeated. I wanted change the subject, "So where am I gonna meet you after I'm done with the Communicator?"

"I'll meet you at the edge of the Western Woods, near the Hill of Winds." Hyouko said, retrieving his skateboard from his locker. Outside the shop, I took my scooter over to one of the gas pumps. Once refueled, Hyouko and I went our separate ways.

at the temple entrance.

As I neared the temple, A Renmei member ordered me to halt by holding his hand up. I complied and walked over to him. He then placed oddly colored bells on my wings and my wrist. I looked at the bells on my wings, noticing that instead of the brown leather and cloth pieces that were given to me last time, these bells were held together with what looked like silver chain mail. He then opened the temple doors and led me inside. As I followed him in, I saw another Renmei caretaker picking fruit off a tree. The instant he saw me, he fell to his knees and bowed several times.

"What's this all about?" I wanted to ask, but caught the words trying to escape my mouth. Instead, I headed further into the temple. I walked over to the gazebo where I last saw the Communicator. Lo and behold, he was sitting there, looking at me as I sat next to him.

"Tell me about the past few days." He said.

"Okay," I started, "But first tell me why I'm wearing these shiny bells. How come they aren't leather like last time?"

"You will learn soon enough." He stated, "Now tell me about the past few days."

I looked at him; his body language..."spoke" to me... saying to me that he was hiding something very important from me, though I couldn't figure out what it was.

"Okay," I finally agreed. I then told him about how I was getting used to my new life in Glie. I told him about Dante, Hyouko, Naota, Pops, and Maggie, and how they were all nice to me. I told him how I was a good Haibane and tried to return a lighter that I had thought was new, but found out that it was the tobacco store's test model, so it was actually used. After my little speech, I hesitated a little bit; I didn't want to tell him about my little "mind reading" ability.

"Anything else?" He asked. "Tell me everything and anything strange that has happened."

"Well..." I said, scratching my head, "Actually... When I was talking to Naota and Nemu, I felt that I could read their minds like a book. It was like I knew every problem they had, but no matter how much I wanted to solve it for them, I couldn't. So I just gave them a bit of advice to help them out."

"Hmm. Interesting" He said, getting up from his seat. "Were you able to control this... 'mind reading'?"

"No, actually it just happened. I even tried to read the clerk's mind at the tobacco store. I just came off as a weirdo though..."

"I see." He walked to the end of the gazebo, "How does your left shoulder feel?"

"Huh? Well, the wound is almost completely healed." I said rubbing my shoulder, "There's only a little scab left. I didn't think it would heal this fast though. I thought it would have taken a lot longer than this."

I was suprised at my casual answer. Normaly, when asked about my arm by a peer, I would just shrug it off and change the subject.

"It should have." I heard the Communicator whisper. "This... is like..." He trailed off.

"This is like what?" I asked him. Just then I saw Rakka walking by. "Rakka?"

She looked in my direction and smiled, knowing that she couldn't talk in the presence of the Communicator. She waved "hi" and then continued walking toward what seemed to be a door at the end of the forest. I wondered where she was headed.

"She is going to retrieve gold flakes used for making halos." The Communicator said.

"How did you-?" The Communicator interrupted me before I could finish asking my question.

"That is all for today. I will call you for our next meeting." He started to walk away.

"Wait!" I called, remembering what Hyouko said about the girl named Tama. "Is it true that you rip the wings off of Haibane that disobey you?"

He stopped in his tracks. I could feel the tension thicken with every passing second.

After a short pause, he turned to me and said, "Those who have failed their trials are not allowed to go over the walls. Their halos will be the first to fall. Then, eventually, their wings become useless, and is absorbed back into their bodies."

"Trials? What trials?"

"You will see in time." He quickly escaped into the thick forest, leaving me alone in the gazebo, more confused than before.

Angry that he just left all of a sudden, I stormed out of the temple. Outside, the Renmei member that placed the silver bells on my wings retrieved them and placed them into his cloak. He then kneeled to the floor, and bowed several times to me. This left me completely lost as to what was going on. I walked over to my scooter and opened the throttle all the way, making several donuts on the ground before riding off to the main road. I was pissed, and I wanted the Communicator to know it.

at the bridge to town.

As the small stone bridge leading to town came into my view, I slowed the scooter down to a reasonable speed. I spotted Kana walking across the bridge, carrying several bags full of groceries.

"Hey, Kana." I greeted, pulling up next to her.

"Hey, yourself." She said, dropping the bags onto the ground.

"You need help?" I asked.

"Yeah, lemmie borrow your scooter." She giggled.

"Okay." I said, getting off and rolling it over to her. She had a look of shock on her face. "What?" I asked.

"Uh... really?" She blinked a few times, "You'll let me ride it back home?"

"Sure. Why not?" I said; putting the groceries onto the rack located behind the driver's seat.

"Thank you." She said. "Reki almost never let me ride her scooter before. And don't get me started on Nemu..." I noticed her blush a little.

"Well, I need to walk a little anyways." I said, looking towards the Western Woods.

"Where are you going?" She asked as she sat on the scooter.

"Goodbye." I said, ignoring her question. I walked toward the western woods, lost in my own thoughts.

"Uh..." Kana started, "Roku, wait!" She called out to me.

"Don't worry about me." I said, not turning around to face her, "Later."

I ran towards the woods, remembering that I was supposed to meet Hyouko there. Hopefully he wasn't waiting too long.

later that evening

I had found Hyouko sitting under a tree, near the edge of the Western Woods, exactly where he said he would wait for me. He was wearing a Black sweater, black jeans, white sneakers and a white cap, which hid his halo.

When I asked him why he wanted me to meet him here, he said that he had a little thinking to do. Passing it off as none of my business, I suggested that we head back to town and meet Dante. We agreed and off we went to Pop's Garage.

When we arrived, Dante was there already waiting for us. He was wearing black jeans, a black turtle neck shirt, and white shoes. I noticed that only I was wearing my usual clothes.

"What the hell?" I asked them, "Why didn't you tell me I was supposed to change and match with you guys?"

"We're going out." Hyouko said, "That implies that we dress to impress the girlies. And right now, black and white is in."

"Hmph..." I grumbled, "Let's stop by the thrift store real quick. I don't wanna feel left out."

"Fine." Dante and Hyouko said together. As we headed toward the thrift store, I put a cigarette into my mouth and lit it the fancy way: by first holding it upside down in my fingers and snapping. The lighter wound up in between my thumb and index finger, uncapped and lit.

"You know..." Hyouko started, "I still can't do that."

"Well, sucks to be you." I retorted, pocketing my lighter.

"Heh, Roku's pissed." Dante said.

"Eh? Why you in a pissy mood, Roku?" Hyouko asked.

"Nothin'." I snorted, "Come on, we're gonna be late." I ran to the entrance of the thrift store.

"Late? Late for what?" Dante asked, checking his watch, "It's only eight o'clock. The night's young."

"Hmph." I grunted, entering the thrift store. Inside, I searched for anything that would look nice.

"Welcome." Horton said, removing his headphones, "Can I help you guys?"

"No thanks, I'm just looking." I said to him, sifting through the racks of clothing.

Hyouko went up to Horton and asked, "Do you have any lighters? You know, the Zippo type ones?"

Searching through the racks of clothes, something caught the corner of my eye. I looked toward the back of the store and saw what I needed. It was a black long-sleeve dress shirt. I took it off the rack and handed it to Horton. He immediately cut wing holes and patched the left arm. As he worked, I spotted a white beanie hanging on a coat rack next to the counter. I took it placed it on the counter. After paying him for his service, I took off my brown shirt and wore the "new" black shirt and white beanie, making sure that my halo floated above my head. With my outfit of black jeans, a black short sleeve dress shirt, white beanie, and white sneakers complete, we headed back to Pop's Garage, where I stored my brown shirt in my locker.

As we exited Pop's Garage, Hyouko suggested we go to a bar called "The Thirsty Isle". Dante and I agreed and off we went on our merry way, arguing with each other on who wore better clothes.

"Man." Hyouko said, trying to calm things down. "We'll let the girlies decide." Walking the short distance from Pop's Garage to The Thirsty Isle seemed even shorter during our argument. Dante and Hyouko went inside ahead of me. I decided that I had to do this sooner or later, so I might as well make it sooner.

Taking a deep breath, I entered the bar. At the back of the building, a small band was playing soft reggae style music. To my left, was the actual bar, stocked with hundreds upon hundreds of alcoholic as well as a few non-alcoholic beverages. To my right were tables, filled with crowds of young adults, mostly female. I noticed that they all wore black and white clothing. I breathed a sigh of relief, thanking whatever god was availabe in this place that we stopped by the thrift store. The crowds were all chatting amongst themselves. Some even took it upon themselves to move some tables aside and set up a makeshift dance floor.

I followed Dante and Hyouko in to the bar and sat between them on a stool. They each ordered their drink; Hyouko ordered a bottle of beer, while Dante ordered a dry martini. I wanted to keep the pattern of the rising level of alcohol, so I ordered a glass of Kamikaze.

"Kamikaze?" The bartender asked. "Uh... we don't have that..."

Hyouko and Dante laughed at me. Still wanting to "one up" them, I told the bartender to mix several different types of drinks together which included Rum, Vodka, Seltzer water, Whiskey, Brandy, and a shot of Tequila. Hyouko and Dante looked at me as if I were crazy. I glared at them, and gulped the entire glass of the brown, bubbly drink, in one fell swoop. Dante yelled out a cheer as I ordered another glass of the same drinks. As I cradled the second drink in my hand, I saw the same trio of girls that Hyouko and I leered at earlier today. They sat in a booth at the corner of the room, each smiling at me. I raised the drink in the air, toasting to them. They giggled and waved back.

"Check it out, man." I said elbowing Hyouko. "It's the girls we saw earlier."

"Eh?" Hyouko turned around and spotted them in the corner of the room, still giggling amongst themselves. "Hey girls! Come over here!"

"What're you doing?" Dante asked. "Don't make 'em come here!"

"Aww come on, Dante." Hyouko said, finishing his beer and ordering a copy of my drink. "Have a little fun."

"But what if Hikari finds out what I've been doing?" Dante ate the olive in his drink, "She'll be crushed."

I ordered him another copy of my drink and set it in front of him. As the girls neared, I took out my lighter and lit it using my signature technique. I then set Hyouko, Dante, and my drink on fire.

"Dante." I started, raising my drink into the air. "You do this with Hyouko and me, and we swear that Hikari will never find out about this night."

Hyouko raised his drink in the air. "This'll never leave the bar."

Dante looked at his drink. He took a deep breath and raised it into the air. "This'll never leave the bar." We all toasted each other and on the count of three, swallowed the flaming drink in one gulp. We all laughed as the girls stood behind us. We spun around and greeted them.

"I've never seen you before." The girl in front of me said. She wore her red hair up, letting two bangs fall to each side of her face. She wore black high-heels with white knee-high stockings. She had a black miniskirt, followed by a black bra that was visible through a white tank top. She tied her hair back with black and white scrunchees. Sadly, I didn't even notice the other girls, nor did Hyouko or Dante notice the one in front of me.

"I'm sorta new here." I said, smiling and ordering her a copy of my drink, which the bartender took upon himself to name after me.

"I can tell." She rubbed my left shoulder. "Wow, that's cool."

"Uh..." I became a little nervous. I was hoping that she wouldn't be freaked about my missing arm.

"You're cute... for a Haibane." She smiled, sipping on her drink. "Let's dance."

"Dance? I don't really know how." I admitted.

"Come on!" She laughed. "Fine, then I'll just sit here." She jumped up and sat on my lap.

"Cool." I said, gulping my "Roku" and ordering another.

The rest of the night was a blur of action. Drinking, laughing, and eventually when I was drunk enough, dancing. Every time we finished our "Rokus" we ordered another. Soon, the crowd of people began ordering "Rokus" and eventually, everyone had a glass of my creation in their hands.

As the night moved on, the girls, Hyouko, Dante and I moved on to another bar located on the opposite end of town. Once there, we informed the bartender about how to make a "Roku" and eventually, everyone in the bar had a "Roku" in their hands. The six of us repeated this cycle until I blacked out, falling to the floor and losing consciousness.

I woke to the sound of a knock on a door. Slowly, my vision returned to me. I saw a large brown door quickly swing wide open in front of me. A sad looking man appeared and examined me from head to toe.

"You got it?" He asked.

I wanted to respond, "What the hell are you talking about?" but I found that I couldn't move my mouth open. Strangely, I couldn't even move my body.

"Yeah, lemmie in." I heard myself say.

"Another dream..." I thought to myself. "Well, I might as well se what's gonna happen."

As "I" followed the man into the room, I felt myself reach into my left pocket and retrieve a revolver. I aimed it at the back of the sad man's head, and without hesitation, pulled the trigger. Immediately, I went on a rampant search throughout the man's dirty apartment. I found a CD in a drawer in the man's bathroom and pocketed it. As I quickly walked to the exit, I spotted a girl in the doorway, wearing a white tank top and white pajamas, holding a plush puppy in her arms.

"The same girl from last time?" I thought to myself.

"What're you doing here?" I heard myself ask.

"I followed you..." She spoke softly, almost frightened to do so.

"Why?" I shouted back.

She stood there, looking at the ground for a moment. I paced back and forth in the room, kicking the sad man's body aside as I did so.

"Why are you doing this?" She asked.

"I try and try to provide for you, and this is how you repay me?" I heard myself say. "Didn't I tell you to stay home?"

"I was scared." She said, still looking at the floor. "The neighbors were making noises again-"

"They were just fucking!" I yelled. I walked over to her, reached back and hit her with the butt of my gun. The girl fell to her knees, holding her face. I then pocketed the gun into my jacket and stood above her. "Goddammit, next time I tell you to stay home, you do it!"

"But..." The girl said, sobbing uncontrollably. "I saw you bring you're gun... I wanted to stop you from hurting dad..."

"So the man I just killed was...?" I thought to myself.

"You know what'll happen if Rob finds out there's witnesses..." I kneeled next to her, holding her in my arms.

"Please... no..." She cried on my shoulder. "You'll protect me from him, right?"

"I took an oath." I said, grabbing her throat with my left hand. "You know I can't break it. If I do, then both of us die. If I keep my word, then I live."

"No... please!" she managed to choke out. I felt her pulse quicken, her neck throbbed with every beat of her heart.

"It's either you or me!" I said, tightening my grip. "This is what you get for butting in!" As she fell to the floor, I landed on top of her. I continued to yell. "I WISH YOU WERE NEVER BORN WITH ME! I WISH YOU'D FUCKIN' DISAPPEAR! I WISH THAT YOU AND I WERE NEVER ABLE TO READ EACH OTHER'S MINDS! BURN IN HELL YOU FUCKIN' BITCH!" I tightened my grip, forcing one of the girl's eyes to pop out of its socket; blood filled her other eye. She tried to struggle out of my grip, but was too weak. After a few moments of fighting, the girl became limp. I felt her heartbeat fade away. I felt her pulse go from inhumanly fast, to a complete stop. Her face became soft, her jaws unclenched, her remaining eye closed itself.

My own heart rate sped up as I stood on her body. I looked at a clock that hung on the wall. It's face read "Six O'clock". I then took out a cigarette and placed it in my mouth. Dropping the pack onto the floor, I retrieved my lighter and lit it the way I always did. I then lit my cigarette, throwing the still flaming lighter onto the floor, not caring that the thick carpet caught on fire. I took in a breath full of cigarette smoke and exhaled through my nostrils. Suddenly, a tear rolled down my cheek. I began sobbing.

"Look what you fuckin' did." I chuckled, looking at the girl on the floor. I took in another breath full of smoke and reached into my left jacket pocket, retrieving my revolver. I pulled the hammer back with my thumb. Slowly, I raised it and touched the end of the barrel with my forehead. As I exhaled, I squeezed the trigger. Instantly, I escaped my body and flew into the sky.

the next morning

(PC)...

When the Kana returned home, she quickly told the others that Roku headed into the Western Woods. She was worried that he had gone to the other side of the wall. The girls all stayed up, keeping an eye toward the Western Woods, looking for a beam of light. After midnight, the girls formed a search party, deciding that since there was no light, Roku was instead lost, and not going to his Day of Flight. Equipped with flashlights and whistles (in case they get lost in the woods), the girls began frantically searching for Roku. They searched the Hill of Winds, the vast majority of the Western Woods, and eventually split up to search the main streets of town.

When the sun broke past the horizon, they gathered in the center of town at the fountain to report what information they each had gathered from the villagers. To their surprise, nobody saw a one armed Haibane roaming around. Exhausted, they headed home, disappointed that they couldn't find any leads to the whereabouts of Roku.

Slowly walking back to Old Home, they saw a bright beam of light emerge from the Western Woods.

"Oh no!" Kana yelled. "Roku!" She shouted out as she saw the light extend past the clouds. Tears began flowing down her cheeks.

"He's gone over to the other side of the wall already?" Rakka asked, running over to Kana and observing the light. She wiped tears from her own eyes.

"Not again..." Kana cried into Rakka's shoulder.

"We must accept it." Nemu said, patting Kana on the back. "It was just his time to go past the wall."

Kana wiped the tears from her eyes. "Yeah, you're right." She stood up.

"We should go and pray for him." Hikari suggested. They all agreed and headed for the ruins located near the edge of the Western Woods. After their prayer for Roku to have good luck in the world beyond the wall, the girls headed back to his room to gather for a meal in remembranceof the first male Haibane to be born in Old Home.

Hikari entered the room first. Kana stopped at the doorway and began sobbing. Nemu and Rakka tried to comfort her, rubbing her shoulders.

"It was just too early." Kana said, wiping tears from her eyes. Suddenly, Hikari's high-pitched screams were heard inside the room. Quickly, the girls ran in to see what was going on. Inside, they spotted Hikari hitting a drowsy looking Hyouko who was lying on Roku's bed.

"WHAT'RE YOU DOING HERE? GET OUTTA ROKU'S BED!" Hikari screamed. She swung the pillow in her hands and hit Hyouko square on the head every time.

"Shaddup..." an unknown voice was heard in the direction of the dining table. Hikari turned toward the voice and screamed even louder.

"Eh?" Rakka, Nemu, and Kana said at the same time.

"DANTE! WHAT'RE YOU DOING HERE?" She ran over to him and started hitting him with the pillow in her hands. As the pillow landed squarely between his legs, he immediately flinched and grabbed his groin.

"God! That hurt!" Dante squealed, rolling left to right on the floor.

"GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT!" Hikari yelled at both of them.

"What's going on?" Rakka asked. At that moment, a loud groan was heard in the washroom. The three girls ran inside to inspect. They stopped in their tracks when they spied Roku lying in the bathtub, which was full of water. His clothes, gun, and holster were thrown everywhere in the room, giving it a messy appearance. His Haibane notebook was nearly empty and lying open in the sink.

"Roku?" the girls asked, blushing a little bit when they realized that Roku was naked. The sound of Hikari shouting at and hitting both Hyouko and Dante was heard outside.

"Mmmmm..." Roku groaned. "My head..." He rubbed his forehead, blinking a couple of times.

"What're you doing here?" Nemu asked, turning away.

"What'chu mean 'what am I doin' here'?" He asked slowly, chuckling to himself. "I'm trying to sleep!" He rubbed his eyes.

Kana balled her hands into a fist. The flashlight that she held in her hand cracked under the immense pressure. She growled loudly, prompting Rakka and Nemu to step aside.

"You IDIOT!" She screamed, throwing the flashlight at Roku's head. He didn't even flinch as it hit him and landed on the floor next to the bathtub.

"What happened?" Roku asked, rubbing the area of his head that was hit by the flashlight. "What's wrong with you all?"

"We thought that you had your day of flight." Rakka said, smiling at Kana.

"Kana here was worried the most about you." Nemu added, smiling to herself.

"You were worried about me?" Roku said, turning to Kana. She blushed as he did so.

"Y-yeah..." She stuttered. "I-I... I was a little worried."

"Kana...?" Roku asked softly.

"Y-yes?" Kana asked, turning red. Rakka and Nemu exited, giving Roku and Kana some privacy, though they didn't close the door.

"Kana..." Roku took a deep breath. "Kana... you..."

"Y-yes?" Kana stepped forward.

"You... you mind if you could pass me the soap? Its right there on the sink." He smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

Kana grit her teeth in anger. She took the soap bar from the sink and threw it at Roku's head. Roku blinked as the soap bar hit the side of his head and landed in the tub.

"YOU MORON!" She yelled, storming out of the washroom and slamming the door behind her. Rakka and Nemu stared at her wide-eyed, surprised that Kana had acted the way she did.

"... thank you..." They heard Roku softly say through the washroom door.

end chapter five

disclaimer: with the exception of Roku, Gordon, Magdalene, Naota and the names "Horton" for the old clothes dealer, and "Dante" for the assistant baker, I do not own any characters that have made an appearance in the story. I did this for fun, not for money. If you own these characters, please don't sue me. Please don't ruin my fun. Also, if you wish to paste this onto your site, please ask permission first and give credit where credit's due.