))o((

Lore

IV. Ad Augusta per Angusta

))o((

As the last period teacher walked out the room, many of the students also began filing out. Kari and Erin, however, remained seated. Negi had, after his own class, asked the two to remain after school so he could have a word with them.

"Oi," Kari muttered, "what's the little midget want?" It was ironic that she was referring to Negi as a little midget when he was, in fact, slightly taller than she was.

Evangeline snorted as she stood to leave. "Have fun," she said, patting the girl who shared a table with her on the shoulder.

Erin snorted back.

The blonde girl simply turned to leave, giving a meaningful glance at Kari as she did so.

Kari felt her blood boil. Evangeline pushed all the wrong buttons with her; she was arrogant and snobbish. Perhaps more annoying was the fact that the girl had the skills to back up her arrogance... An extremely one-sided game of go had proven that to Kari.

As the short blonde left the classroom, the last to leave, the familiar face of 2 A's homeroom teacher entered. "Ah," the young British boy said as he saw Erin and Kari, "I'm glad to see you're both here."

Erin snorted. "Cut to the chase, teach. Why'd you make us stay after class?"

Kari mentally applauded Erin's up-front approach, though she'd never tell the other girl that she approved. After all, they hated each other.

Negi scratched the back of his head as he laid his ever-present staff against the wall. "Ah, well..." He thought a moment. "Well, I was hoping to talk to you about today's test."

"What about it?" Erin asked.

"Well," the boy began, "as you know, I graded them at the end of class and, well, to be frank, I need to discuss your grades."

Kari sighed. She knew what was coming.

Erin didn't. "So what? Do I get a sticker for getting a full score or something?" Belittling the teacher and inflating her own ego in one statement; that was a skill only Erin possessed.

That caused Negi to pause. How did he want to break the news to these young girls? ...Well, no use pushing it off. Best to get things out into the open.

Kari and Erin reached out to accept the offered papers.

"Twenty?" Erin cried in shock. "How did I only get a twenty?"

Kari looked hers over. "I beat you," she commented, holding the paper towards Erin. It was completely blank, aside a large red zero on the top. "Zero points, for the win!"

Negi sighed. "I've learned that some of my students have a history..." How to put it? "...less than stellar in academics. I was hoping that you two could do a bit better." He looked over the two girls.

Kari sighed. She had handed in her paper blank so she could get more sleep. "Well, sorry to disappoint you, teach." She slouched down in her desk and looked glum. "I guess this is where you yell at us some more, right?" Her voice was listless, gloomy, and downhearted. "Maybe punish us for our grades?"

"I-I didn't mean anything like that!" Negi cried, waving his arms around. "I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings! I'm not punishing you or anything!"

Kari was immediately all smiles, beaming up at the teacher. "So does that mean we're free to go?"

The British boy felt like he had just been played. "Y-Yes... I suppose... Just try to do better next time, okay?"

"Will do, chief," the blue-haired girl replied with a mock salute. She stood and, noticing that Erin was still in a state of shock over her test score, grabbed her roommate to drag her out.

A rain of confetti and cheers greeted the two as they left the classroom.

Kari blinked, confused. "What the hell?"

Seven girls had been awaiting the duo outside of the classroom. Kari recognized Yue, Nodoka, and Haruna. The girl with long orange hair, tied with bells into two ponytails, looked familiar as well. There was also a blond girl with tan skin and a pink-haired girl, both of whom Kari recognized for being loud during class and interrupting her nice naps. The last was a tall, well endowed girl with long brown hair.

"Kaede," Erin said, noticing the last girl.

Kaede responded with a wink as she tossed another handful of confetti into the air.

"Okay, so what's going on?" Kari asked, confused.

"We were eavesdropping," the pink-haired girl explained. "We figured the kiddo was going to chew you out because of your test grades, but we had to be sure."

"Be sure?" Kari replied, confused. "So you make it a habit to make fun of low-scoring classmates?"

"Nothing like that," Kaede replied. She nodded. "We had to be sure you were skilled enough, that we did." Another nod. "But you exceeded our expectations." She laid her hand on Erin's shoulder. "A twenty is something to be proud of." Her other hand came to rest on Kari's shoulder. "And a zero is unheard of, even for us."

The Senshi of Bellona was well and truly confused. "Are you making fun of me?"

"Not at all!" the blonde said, grinning like a cat. "In fact, we're inducting you."

"Huh?" was Erin's articulate response.

Yue motioned with her arm to encompass the group. "We're the Baka Rangers, the top five at scoring the worst."

"In other words," the blonde interjected, "we're the bottom five in class."

Yue glanced over at her before continuing. "Anyway, to continue... I'm Baka Black." She motioned toward the blonde. "This is Baka Yellow, Fei Ku."

Fei Ku saluted with an over exaggerated hand wave. "At your service!"

Yue jerked her thumb behind her to Kaede, who was still throwing confetti, now alone in the act. "Kaede, Baka Blue." She continued as Kaede waved, scattering the confetti in her hands over the heads of the gathered students.

"Baka Pink, Makie."

As to be expected, Baka Pink was the pink-haired girl. "Hiyo!" Makie greeted cheerfully.

Yue motioned toward the orange-haired girl. "Asuna, also Baka Red," she said, to which Asuna responded with a snort, obviously not a part of the group effort. Yue glanced at her, but then moved onto Erin and Kari. "And you're now inducted into our ranks as Baka Green," a point at Kari, "and Baka White," pointing at Erin.

Erin crossed her arms in front of her. "Nuh-uh, no way. I am not being a part of some sentai group. No way, no how."

Asuna looked sympathetic. "Don't even bother," she said. "It won't change a thing." She obviously spoke from experience.

Kari blinked a moment. "Why are they here, then?" she asked, pointing at Haruna and Nodoka.

"We're with her," Haruna replied, pointing at Yue.

The conversation continued for a few more moments before Negi left the classroom, breaking up the group of students, who then departed amiably (or less than amiably, in Asuna's case.)

Kari felt like the entire ordeal passed over her head. "That was really weird."

Erin nodded. "I think a lot of things here are really weird."

Kari held back the "Like you?" that she really wanted to say. "Well, I think I'm going to get going. I have stuff to do, monsters to find, that sort of thing."

The silver-haired girl looked over at the young girl. "Have fun?" she suggested, making it sound like a question.

"I'll try."

))o((

"Hmmm... and that one, and that one, and..." A pause to consider it. "...That one too, please."

The cashier stared at the girl dumbfounded. "Miss, might I suggest a few less?" He'd normally try not to hurt his own business, but fifteen was a bit beyond the norm. Just what could be done with fifteen of them? And some of them were fairly large, too.

Hotaru seemed to think about it for a moment and then smiled sweetly at the older man. "Yes, I guess it is kind of a lot, but me and my roommates are going to need them."

The man sighed. "If you would like, I could deliver them to your place of residence for a small fee... it should only take an hour if you live in Mahora."

Hotaru shook her head, smile still firmly in place. "No, I think I'll be able to manage. But thank you anyway."

The man frown as the younger girl left the store. He really hadn't wanted to let her carry that much baggage; she was just a little girl and really didn't look as if she was in the best of health. Shaking his head, he tried to push the incident from his mind. At least now he'd be able to catch the Mikasaki Honda match.

Hotaru grunted, barely managing to tug one of the two largest boxes back into place with her teeth. The entire tower of boxes, while heavy, was just barely within her own strength to carry. She hoped no one made the mistake of getting in front of her very obstructed line of sight.

Hotaru wobbled slowly down the sidewalk, watching the boxes cautiously. She'd managed to get her other supplies earlier, but she'd known she'd be needing a lot of lamps for her project, so she had left them for last.

Hotaru heroically managed to make it a little over a dozen feet past the shop before a slight crack in the sidewalk brought about the collapse of the box pile and a scream.

Fortunately, or unfortunately as the case may be, the scream had not been Hotaru's.

Hotaru squirmed out from under the few boxes that had tumbled over her when she landed. She gaped at the pile of boxes and the single arm visible from under them. After a few minutes and a lot of box shifting, Hotaru had managed to uncover the accidental victim of her inadvertent box-avalanche.

Hotaru's victim stood up, brushing off her Mahora uniform and looking down at Hotaru strangely. Hotaru, on the other hand, was staring down at the ground shamefacedly.

After a few moments, Hotaru asked cautiously, "S-so are you alright?"

The girl, a taller girl with shockingly red hair, looked down at herself, one eyebrow quirked. "Well, it looks like the only thing damaged was my pride."

As she looked back up, she saw Hotaru begin to apologize profusely. She backed up a bit. "Whoa, just whoa. No need for you to be sorry. It was no big deal." She looked down at the boxes. "Though why you'd be carrying that much is beyond me." Not to mention how the smaller girl had even managed to do so.

Hotaru bit her lip. "Well... I was hoping to surprise my roommates and decorate our dorm room while they were all out today."

The girl nodded, smiling like the cat that just caught the mouse. "I thought I recognized you! You're in my class aren't you? One of the new transfer students... Hotaru something... Tomeito... Tomato... Tomoe! That was it, right?"

Hotaru nodded, head still faced down. "Yes..."

The redhead smirked. "Hey, since you're in my class, why don't I help you with these boxes? I mean, it's on my way after all, and maybe we can even have a nice chat on the way."

Hotaru frowned, looking at the ground. She was still embarrassed about letting the boxes get out of control, let alone letting them fall on some innocent bystander that also happened to be a classmate... ugh, the whole ordeal had made her brain hurt. She sighed as she looked up. "Sure, I guess. I mean, if you really want to..."

The girl smiled, picking up some of the boxes and making two separate stacks out of them. "Yes, I do want to. And my name's Kazumi Asakura, but you can just call me Asakura."

As soon as two somewhat equal piles had been made, the two were off, their large loads carried rather awkwardly as they ambled down the street.

Asakura felt the need to make idle conversation as they walked, or perhaps stumbled, down the street. "So, from what I hear, the other three you came here with all moved here from Sendai, while you moved here from Juuban. How'd you all end up meeting?"

Hotaru would have shrugged, but that was quite impossible with what she was carrying. "Jo's related to one of my parents, and Kari's the daughter of a family friend. Erin was their friend, so she tagged along. My parents had to go on a trip, and theirs were preparing to move, so they sent us here. Erin basically followed them on a whim."

Asakura gave Hotaru a quick, weird glance. "That's kind of weird."

Hotaru giggled. "I've learned, when it involves Erin, it usually is kind of weird."

Asakura snickered. After a few moments and a close call involving a curb and a poodle, she began to make conversation again. "What is in these boxes, by the way? They seem pretty light, considering how many boxes there are."

Hotaru looked off to the side as they came to where they needed to cross to get to the Mahora Academy area. "Lamps."

Asakura blinked. "Lamps? All of them? "

Hotaru nodded.

"There's like a dozen boxes here... isn't that a little much?"

Hotaru once again tried to shrug as she and Asakura crossed the street. "I like lamps. I collect them... and besides, I think they make good decorations. Don't you?"

"I suppose..."

"Oh, and actually, there are fifteen total."

Asakura just stared at the girl for a while as they continued on their way. She stopped staring when she tripped and fell.

After quickly picking up the dropped boxes, the two continued. It wasn't much longer until they reached the steps that led up towards the dorm area of the Mahora campus.

Asakura asked, "So, you're from Juuban right? Ever see the sailor scouts?"

Hotaru nearly stumbled, but managed to just avoid it. "Nope. Never. Not one of those lucky few."

Asakura did a double take. "Few? Few? According to the net, there's like several hundred people that have managed to see the scouts at least once. In more than half the cases, it was multiple times."

Hotaru stood on the steps, stunned for a moment, before finally replying, "Oh... Well, it still doesn't change the fact I've never ever seen them."

Asakura nodded, it was quite obvious she wasn't happy with the answer. But there wasn't anything for her to do but accept it.

A few more silence-filled minutes passed, before the next question emerged from junior journalist's parted lips. "So, you and your friends join any clubs yet?" They were entering the lobby area now, but she patiently ignored the stares of the underclassmen. Hadn't they ever seen two girls with an enormous armful of boxes before?

Hotaru did her best to nod before answering, "Yeah. I joined the walking club, and I'm also helping out at the nurse's office. I think Kari joined the chess club or something like that. Jo is in the fencing club. Erin's in... a lot of clubs."

Asakura's eyebrow raised in interest, "Oh really? How many?"

Hotaru did her best to think while navigating the halls. "Seven, maybe eight."

Asakura almost tripped. "I see what you mean about the Erin equals weird thing..."

Hotaru smiled pleasantly. "It's something you have to get used to. She's a nice person, really, just kind of strange." Of course, the same could be said of Kari. Jo was really the only normal one...

Asakura nodded as they both began to walk again. "So, Erin's good but strange, duly noted. What about Kari, I hear she can be a kind of violent?"

Hotaru nodded. "True, I guess she can be, but in a good way."

"How exactly can you be violent in a good way?"

Hotaru's face took on a very thoughtful expression before she replied in a chipper as ever tone, "You know, I don't honestly know."

Asakura would have face faulted, but she really didn't want to become one with the box avalanche again.

As they finally reached the elevator, Asakura shifted the boxes in her arms slightly, concentrating more on keeping her balance then asking questions. She nimbly hit the "up" button with the corner of her stack of boxes. She shifted the boxes again as the doors opened, waiting for Hotaru to go through. She was able to hit the "5" button inside, and the doors shut with a "ping."

Once inside though, she began the interrogation, or, as she liked to call it, "friendly conversation," once more.

"So, what's Jo like? Every time I see her, she's either running around campus or sleeping."

"Well, Jo's um nice, polite... umm..."

"Normal?"

Hotaru nodded, relieved. "Yup, that's it. She's very normal."

"So, have you four made any friends since you got here?"

"Oh, yes, a few." Images of Kari being dragged butt naked through the halls of the dormitory sprang unbidden to Hotaru's mind.

The doors opened and the two ventured into the hallways of the fifth floor. "So, tell me more about your parents?"

"Oh, um..." Quick, time to think of something! "Hey, look, here we are, at my dorm room, thanks for the help bye!" Grabbing the boxes out of the other girl's hands, Hotaru rushed inside, slamming the door behind her.

After a few moments, Asakura walked away, rubbing her now pain ridden nose.

))o((

Jo grunted as she blocked a strike. It was more powerful than it looked, more from the surprise than anything else, and she quickly returned the favor. After a few minutes, though, the match was wrapped up, clearly in Jo's favor.

It wasn't surprising. These people weren't on the same level as Tatewaki Kuno or any of several other "sparring partners" (read that as 'people out to kill you') that Jo had encountered. However, they were skilled enough that it wasn't a complete waste of time, either. It was actually good to be able to practice some of the basics again, and the general pointers she'd given the others seemed to really be making the kendo team a bit stronger.

"Good job," Jo said, trying not to sound either arrogant or insincere. "You got in several blows that were surprisingly powerful, but the problem, right now, is that you lack the precision to get them past my defenses."

Kozue nodded at the two. "Next will be Jo and..." his eye wandered around the members until it landed on the only club member that Jo hadn't fought yet; Setsuna. He took a deep breath and yelled, with entirely too much enthusiasm, "Setsuna!"

Setsuna, on the other hand, quietly stepped on to the mat. "I realize this will be your sixth consecutive match today. I would not hold it against you if you are too tired to go on."

Jo smiled. True, she was feeling a bit worn, but it was a good worn and not too bad. "Nah, I have enough for another match."

Squaring off, the two raised their bokuto into ready position. Setsuna sprang into action the instant Kozue signaled the start of the match, apparently hoping to put Jo on the defensive from the start.

Jo parried and sidestepped, swinging the wooden sword toward Setsuna's undefended side. The moment before contact though, Setsuna spun a quarter-turn so that her sword was in perfect blocking position.

"Good job," Jo said, pressing the attack at a rather slow but steady pace. High strike, low strike, high strike. "I didn't expect you to block that."

Setsuna popped a light smile at that, whether sincere or flippant Jo didn't know. "You'll have to do better, then," Setsuna said, then suddenly ducked and thrust, catching Jo by surprise.

"Point, Setsuna!" Kozue announced.

After Jo and Setsuna resumed their starting places, they started the match again. This time Jo went on the offensive with an opening horizontal slash that Setsuna almost couldn't block. Jo followed up with a thrust that almost scored a point.

"I'm at the advantage," Setsuna said plainly as she put forward a modest offensive.

"Yeah, all my other matches, I know," Jo replied as she blocked Setsuna's attacks and reciprocated with her own.

"No, that's not it." Setsuna blocked as she continued. "I've been able to watch you."

"Oh, and what's your evaluation?" Jo asked, dodging a swipe and giving a playful one in return.

"You seem to have a good grasp on the basics, but you don't have any advanced techniques," Setsuna said as she deflected an attack, then she smiled and launched into a full-out attack. "LIKE THIS!"

Jo sprang back, to the side, and forward again, counterattacking Setsuna. "Just because I haven't used them doesn't mean that I don't have them!"

Setsuna was surprised; the speed Jo had just shown was on par with her own attack moments ago, but that had missed because Jo had dodged it, which meant... Jo was holding back, a lot.

"Point, Jo!" Kozue called. The two went to their spots and started again on Kozue's signal.

"You don't have to go easy on me!" Setsuna almost yelled, angry but keeping that anger in control. True, she wasn't going at full-tilt, but she wanted to see just what the new-girl was capable of.

"I'm not 'going easy' on you..." Jo said, parrying a thrust and counterattacking for a point. "I'm practicing my basics. It's been a while since I could."

Kozue had barely started the round again when Setsuna launched into a full-force attack. "So, I'm just an excuse for you to practice your basics!" she yelled as she lunged.

Jo hadn't meant to taunt her, but as well as she was doing she might as well. "Yeah, looks that way," Jo replied with a mischievous smile, holding Setsuna's onslaught back.

"You!" Setsuna lunged, and with a downward strike landed a hit squarely on the upper edge of Jo's faceplate.

Jo's eyes widened in surprise, more from the mildly throbbing pain than the speed of the strike. That was very impressive for a middle-school girl.

Making her way to the other side of the ring, Jo stumbled a bit when a wave of momentary dizziness swept over her. She was vaguely aware of Kozue looking concerned but motioned him away, intent on finishing the match. Besides, with the Bakusai Tenketsu training, concussion from a sword-fight was unlikely.

Jo took her spot, shook her head to clear it, and took a deep breath. Feeling better, she nodded to Kozue and it was on again. Both Setsuna and Jo had two points, so the next point would win the match.

The two started circling each other, intent on finding the opening in the other fighter. Setsuna had the upper hand with that last hit, it seemed, but Jo wasn't making it easy for Setsuna to exploit any opening as she played defensively until Setsuna made a mistake.

Then it came. Setsuna struck and Jo dove to the right, striking out with an upward horizontal-slash... that didn't connect. Setsuna had maneuvered just out of the sword's arc. Jo turned her dive into a roll and started to came up with a fast vertical stroke when there was a tap on her side; Setsuna's point.

Jo blinked; that was... unexpected. If Setsuna could have dodged that and struck like that, then she was much better than she'd shown in that match. It brought a smile to Jo's lips; things here were interesting if a middle school kid was this good.

Jo strode over to Setsuna and held out her hand. "Good match," she said as they shook hands, "but what was all that about, holding back?"

Setsuna looked at Jo like she was off her rocker.

"You avoided my last strike and got one in before I could stop you," Jo explained.

"You're right." Setsuna nodded and slowly broke into a smile as she bowed politely. "It was a good match; thank you."

Setsuna turned and started to leave, but stopped short when she made eye contact with a cute girl with long brown hair. "You were great Set-chan!" the girl said with a friendly smile.

"Excuse me." Setsuna politely bowed and turned to leave out the back way.

Jo went over to the girl Setsuna had brushed off, "I'm sorry about that, she seems much nicer than that... usually. I guess the match with me really drained her..." Jo apologized, though upon later examination she couldn't put her finger on why she did, or why she'd covered for Setsuna.

"Oh," the girl replied with a somewhat saddened look, "I see."

"Hey, wanna go get some ice cream? My treat," Jo offered; the poor girl looked like she really needed a friend right about now, a feeling that Jo was quite familiar with. It was unavoidable in Jo's normal situation.

The other girl started to protest but, when Jo insisted, she agreed. So Jo went to change out of her kendo equipment and into her normal uniform. As she was doing so, she reviewed the fight and what happened afterwards. Upon further examination, she found that she had to admit that she hadn't thought so negatively about herself in a long while.

Jo quickly went into the back to stow her kendo equipment and change into her uniform, but when Jo looked in the mirror she saw a big long bruise on her forehead, where Setsuna had struck. "It's like the strike went through the kendo mask... I'll have to learn how to do that."

))o((

Kari wandered the shopping district at Mahora Academy. Well, to be precise, it was the shopping district right outside of Mahora Academy. The buildings had sprung up, from her understanding, many years ago when the school picked up popularity. Like the school, the buildings were reminiscent of older Europe with their design.

The girl was looking around. It wasn't too crowded during a weekday. She paused for a moment to gaze into a store display where they showed off some jeans and tube tops. She could do without the latter, but a good pair of pants would be a welcome addition to her wardrobe, which consisted mostly of skirts and dresses, thanks to a certain time guardian.

She sighed in longing. She really needed some more money. So she could buy that sort of stuff. She had a little, but not enough to spend recklessly. She wasn't that immature; she might need that little bit of money in the future. But... pants would last well into the future...

She quickly shook her head. No, she wasn't there to window shop. She was there to find a monster! A pravus, or whatever they were called. Not that she expected to find one in a popular shopping district. Especially in the middle of the day. With people around. Away from the actual academy grounds. Away from anything which might draw a pravus.

Okay, maybe she was there to window shop.

A series of noises interrupted Kari's... mission. The noises sounded like a bit of scuffling and some voices. "You should know better than wandering around alone, y'know?"

"Yeah!" another voice agreed. "You never know what you'll run into."

Despite the remarkable similarities the speech might have had with typical street thugs, the voices were young and feminine as opposed to adult and masculine. It almost sounded comical rather than threatening. Nonetheless, Kari made her way over to see what was going down.

"Don't you middle school kids have any place better to go? I thought you were still tied to your mother's apron strings at your age!"

Kari found the alley rather easily, brushing past two students with box-laden arms and making her way into a small alleyway. A small girl, about fourteen, was on her knees with her face in her hands as two older girls, in some school uniform Kari didn't recognize, stood over her.

One of them shoved the younger girl, hard, causing her to fall over. "What's the matter?" the girl sneered, revealing her voice as the first one Kari had heard. Also the one who made the joke about the apron strings. Really, where did they get their jeers from?

Kari said as much. "Honestly, where do your get your lines?" As the girls turned to look over toward her, it allowed the girl they had been picking on time to get back off of the ground into a sitting position. "I'd fire whoever you have writing your lines," the blue haired girl continued, "because I've heard better stuff from American comic books. And trust me, that's an insult."

The two girls glared, then paused, noting Kari's uniform. "Oh? Did they start letting the elementary school kids into middle school now?" The first girl, a girl with longer hair of the two, was the one speaking.

"Did they start letting dogs into high school as well?" Kari added. She assumed from what they said that they must be high schoolers. "Because I see a few wearing their uniforms."

The girl with longer hair flushed with anger while the second simply stared in disbelief. The first marched over. Kari could almost see the steam coming out of her ears. When she got close enough, she made to shove Kari, hard.

Good thing for Kari she had already stepped to the side. "Watch it, buddy," she chided. "Somebody might think you're starting a fight. And I don't think you're used to having to pick on people who pick back."

"Just shut up!" Another attempted shove.

With a quick catch and snap of the wrist, twist of the hips, the older girl was on the ground. "See what I mean?" Kari said with a smile. She cracked her knuckles. "But since you've started the fight, I guess it's my job to end it, right?"

It's amazing how fast a normal person can run with the right motivation.

Kari brushed off her shirt, then her plaid skirt, as if the small encounter had dirtied them. "Well, that was fun." She walked over to where the girl they had been bullying was still sitting.

"Th-thanks," the victim said, brushing a stray strand of reddish-brown hair from her eyes and tucking it behind her ear.

"No problem," Kari replied with a smile. She offered a hand to help the girl up. As the other girl took the proffered hand, the blue-haired girl remembered. "Hey, wait, you're in my class, right?"

The girl stood up with Kari's help. She blinked at the question. "Um, yeah..." She had thought Kari must have recognized her, but apparently she hadn't.

Kari looked up at the girl, as she did with most people her age or above. She considered her for a moment. "I think I remember your name from roll call... yeah..." She snapped her fingers. "It begins with an 'N,' right?"

"Yeah, that's right. It's-"

"No!" the shorter girl interrupted. "I remember it now! It's..." She gave a dramatic pause. "NEGI!"

The girl almost fell onto her face. "THAT'S OUR TEACHER!"

"Oh, yeah..."

"My name's Natsumi! Natsumi Murakami!"

Kari waved a hand in a placating gesture. "Calm down, calm down." She sighed. "No need to be emotional." She looked up at the girl again. "Honestly, you seemed like such nice, quiet kind of girl, too."

"I think any girl would be insulted if you confuse her with her ten-year-old boy teacher..."

The shorter girl scoffed. "Anybody could make that mistake!"

Natsumi calmed down. "Well, thank you anyway." Despite mistaking her for a grade school boy, Kari HAD saved her from a messy situation.

"Didn't you already thank me? No need to do it twice." The shorter girl turned around. "Now c'mon, let's get out of here. Better places to be than dingy alleyways, right?"

))o((

"I AM THE MAN OF CONSTANT SORROW! I'VE SEEN TROUBLE ALL MY DAYS!"

A number of jeers met that. "Boo!" "You suck!" "Get off the stage, ya bum!" In addition, all of those jeers came from only one person.

"Kari!" Hotaru chastised.

Said blue--haired and, currently, zealously heckling kunoichi turned her head. "What?"

"Be nice."

Kari blinked, perplexed. "But... I was..."

"I BID FAREWELL TO OLD KENTUCKY! THE PLACE WHERE I WAS BORN and..." Erin's gaze suddenly shifted towards the door. "I'll get it!" She put down the mic, stopped the music, and began to head over to the door.

Kari turned towards Hotaru once more, pushing a small carton of eggs behind her back as she asked, "Did you hear anything?"

"No," was the other girl's simple reply. Not like she could hear anything over that music anyway...

Kari appeared to be deep in thought for a moment, before stating, "Ah well. I guess, unlike us, she's immune to her own terrible... gee, Hotaru, what would you call that 'genocide to music'?"

"I'd call it singing..."

"You could, but that doesn't properly convey the sheer horror I felt..." Kari felt a shiver go down her spine. "Never again..."

"Kari?"

Kari's head turned back towards Hotaru. "Huh?"

"Could you... umm... go sing?" Hotaru looked fearfully toward Erin's returning form.

Kari smirked. "Sure."

Smiling widely, Kari walked over to the small and, admittedly, rather cheap looking karaoke machine. Popping out the CD inside, she quickly replaced it with another from a small folder. After a little fiddling, she turned towards the small TV Screen and began.

"Tears gather as if they're returning to the night sky, it's only unshaken love that'll scatter like stardust."

"Everyone, this is Sayo, Sayo, everyone.."

Kari's singing only got louder, apparently drowning out Erin's introduction. "In the night when we didn't know whether we were alive or not... We were engulfed by the starless night sky. 'Don't disappear light' a lost heart seems to cry, I just want to see you!"

Erin frowned. Kari's singing was drowning out her voice, so she repeated, this time louder. "Everyone, this is Sayo. Sayo, these are..."

Strangely, Kari's singing seemed to get even louder. "Thinking seriously amongst illusions delusions and dreams, the miracle within us awakens. Don't forget you're not alone; always we are just a dreamer. Take love, get all love, get back love in our hands, its only unshaken love that'll scatter like stardust!"

Sighing in frustration, Erin turned back towards Sayo. "Sorry, it seems princess... err, I mean Kari, is being a royal pain."

Sayo just bit her lip and nodded.

"So you like the new look?" Erin waved her hand to encompass the room. Almost everything had been redone in purple; the walls, the curtains, the sheets on the beds... oh, and the lamps. There were lamps everywhere, even where there shouldn't be lamps. "Hotaru redecorated while we were out earlier."

"It's, um, very nice..."

Jo looked at Erin oddly as Kari did her best to drown out Erin's voice with her singing. Just who was that girl talking to?

"Oh, hey, you hungry?" Erin unconsciously licked her lips.

Sayo just shook her head.

With a shrug, Erin turned back towards the kitchen and said, "Alrighty, you go take the seat next to Hotaru then while I make me something to munch on... you sure you don't want anything?"

"I'm fine," Sayo replied.

Erin nodded, then left towards the kitchen, quickly busying herself about the task of making a sandwich. A few minutes time found Erin and her meal exiting the kitchen and Kari and Hotaru having switched places.

Using her height to her advantage, Erin placed her plate atop the upper bunk, before going around the side of the bed to climb the few steps up.

Kari's head poked out from the bottom bunk. "What the heck are you doing?"

With a frown, Erin responded coldly, "The bottom bunk's full. So I'm going up here to sit."

Kari just rolled her eyes and returned to her seat with a muttered, "Whatever," as her only retort.

Jo cringed as Kari turned her gaze from the silver haired screwball, and aimed it straight at her. She knew exactly what the short ninja wanted, but there was no way she would do it, no way she would become the ninja's patsy ... at least this time.

Kari coughed slightly in Jo's direction.

Jo gritted her teeth. Even if it looked like she was going to have to sit through another half hour of Eryn's screeching, she wouldn't sing; what people said about leading a horse to water applied equally to pulling someone up to a karaoke mic.

"Say, Jo..." Kari began.

"No," Jo replied firmly, denying the request before the ninja could even ask her.

"Hey! You didn't even let me finish!"

"And I don't need to," Jo countered. "I'm not your puppet, put here for your amusement, sick and sadistically twisted as it is!"

"Okay," Kari gave Jo the oddest look, "I won't ask you to make me a sandwich... Erin! Make me a sandwich!"

Erin grumbled under her breath as she jumped down from the top bunk, carrying her now barren plate and glass and trudging towards the kitchen.

As Erin grumbled and muddled about in the kitchen, Hotaru left the improvised stage with a small shy bow. Looking at Kari and Jo with what can only be deemed the world's brightest smile, she asked, "So, who's next?"

Kari pointed at Jo.

Jo pointed at Kari.

Kari growled.

Jo got up.

Walking over to the karaoke machine, Jo grudgingly searched through the CDs. Picking one, she placed it into the contraption. She picked up the mic, glared at Kari, then began. "All my life I've been waiting for you to bring a fairy tale my way. Been living in a fantasy without meaning. It's not okay, I don't feel safe, I need you babe..."

Less then a minute later, Erin walked back into the room, half stunned. All but dropping the sandwich in Kari's lap, she took a seat on the floor in front of the bunk bed. Looking at Jo in wonder, she muttered, "Wow... Just... Wow.."

Hotaru nodded from where she sat. "Awesome."

Sayo whispered, "Beautiful."

Kari nodded sagely. "Better then sex."

Three blank stares and one blank glare met Kari's comment head on.

"Or... so I've heard," Kari added with a slight blush.

Eryn frowned at the diminutive ninja. "You do know we're SUPPOSED to be middle schoolers, right?"

Kari's reply was a firm and well-tossed sandal to the head.

Fuming, Erin glared at Kari, who seemed, for all intents and purposes, firmly wrapped in Jo's singing.

Turning towards Sayo, Erin continued to frown. Sayo, of course, replied to the frown with puppy dog eyes, but Erin just sighed and shook her head.

Standing up, she walked towards the door.

Turning towards Sayo, she was about to speak, when it seemed the volume of Jo's singing suddenly increased to near-deafening proportions.

Spinning around, Eryn grimaced as he saw Kari, a rather innocent look covering her face, looking back at him. He could almost swear he saw a halo floating over her head. But she instantly dismissed the idea when she saw the ninja palm the remote control to the karaoke machine.

Turning back to Sayo, with her teeth grating against each other, Erin managed to growl out, "Thank ..you .. for .. stopping .. by .. I'll .. see .. you .. later .. I .. have .. a .. roommate .. in .. need .. of .. a .. good .. thrashing."

Sayo nodded dumbly as Erin opened the door for her, closing it almost as soon as she was through.

Rather thunderous sounds of a fracas followed rather soon after. Sayo frowned as they died away, mumbling, "Poor little girl..."

Inside, Jo looked down at Erin as she stepped over her. "Poor little moron..."

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IV. Finis

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