The door burst open suddenly, grabbing my attention as I shot up in bed and looked to see what it was that caused the racket. What I saw left me dumbstruck with my mouth hanging open. Maron, clad in only her underwear, strode across the room over to me and shoved me back down on the bed as she straddled my waist. Without wasting any time, my shirt was ripped up and her hands pressed against me as she leaded toward my face with a seductive look. "Wake up, Chiaki." The words made me pause and after giving her a confused look, they repeated, a little louder. "Chiaki, wake up already."

Snowcap Mountain III

By: Satashi

"Come on man, wake up!" Yamato shook his roommate once more and finally got a groggy response as he set up in bed. "About time. You were grinning in your sleep like and idiot. Hurry and get dressed, it's almost ten and the girls already have breakfast going."

Chiaki watched his friend leave the bedside and walk over to the door, already dressed in his skiing attire, minus the jacket and hood. The dream he was having faded from his mind against his will and after realizing that he probably couldn't get away with going to sleep, kicked the covers off and stretched. "Man, what a nice dream."

"What about?" Access asked him as he flew into the room, staying high to the ceiling incase Maron walked in on them. "Not like you to wake up on such a good note."

"Like you're any different?" Chiaki pulled on the blue ski pants and a light long sleeved shirt. "You're harder than I am to wake up, ya know." He grinned at his partner as he made his way out. The angel sighed and landed on the desk in the room to look out the window. At least today he could fly around all he wanted without having to worry about Maron again.

"Good morning Chiaki!" Miyako greeted him happily as the boy walked from his bedroom. "Breakfast is almost ready, how many eggs you want?"

"Two or three," he pulled a chair back from the table and fell down into it, wasting no time in leaning it back on the back two legs. "Smells good, what all you have going on in there?"

"Eggs, bacon, ham, biscuits, gravy, some sausages and pancakes."

He let out a sharp whistle at all of it. "We feeding an army?"

"We need a good breakfast since we're going to be doing a lot of stuff today," she replied as she cracked some eggs into the skillet to cook. "I can't wait."

"Here you go Chiaki," Maron put a mug of coffee in front of him, followed by two sugar cubes and a small splash of milk. "How do you like yours, Linchou?"

"Eh? Um, black please"

"Gross man." Chiaki took a sip of he drink and looked into it appreciatively. "How can you drink this stuff plain?"

Miyako looked over at Maron as the two boys argued over their personal taste. "You sure do know how he likes things for not caring too much." Her best friend made a face and started cooking, choosing to ignore the remark. "First you tell me how to cook his eggs and bacon and now you know exactly how he likes his coffee?"

"Oh stow it, he invites himself over for breakfast almost every morning."

"You're doors always locked."

Maron sighed. "He jumps on my balcony."

To her surprise, Miyako actually started to laugh at hearing that. "That doesn't surprise me." She pulled the skillet off the burner. "Plate." When Maron held it over, she scooped the eggs off of it and started cooking some more. "You like yours over easy, right Linchou?"

"Yes, please." Yamato replied before going back to his conversation.

"Seems to me that you know a lot about a certain other boy in the room." Maron teased as she walked by. She heard Miyako hiss at her back, but ignored it while happily setting a plate down in front of Chiaki. "Here you go, eat up." She paused when he held up a hounded yen bill and slowly took it. "What's this for?"

"Always tip the sexy waitresses."

Maron clocked him upside the head, but still kept the bill. Walking angrily to the kitchen, she began preparing Yamato's plate. "Stupid jerk. Can't he at least go ten minutes without saying something like that?"

"These things really safe?" Chiaki asked as he walked a little awkwardly to his friend and class rep. A swing came behind them and bumped into the pair, making them sit down. Yamato reached up and pulled the safety rail down and grinned as the ski lift started to take them up the mountain. "They're making a lot of noise. And it doesn't look like much is holding this thing onto that wire up there."

"Oh please, you wuss." Yamato couldn't wipe the grin from his mouth if he wanted to. "Trust me, they're safe. Never been an accident on these things and there never will. But that aside, you said you've never snow skied before, right?"

"Yeah, any tips?"

"Actually yeah." Yamato put his two skiing poles in front of him and motioned for Chiaki to do the same. "These will keep you in control. They're flexible so don't think they'll stop you from falling, but they'll help you in the first place. Keep them like this while you…"

Miyako looked at the two boys in the ski lift in front/above them and giggled to herself. She didn't know what they were doing but it looked a little funny. "Ne, Maron, which slope you want to go down first? Maron? Maron!"

"I don't want to die!" Maron screamed at her, holding her arm tighter. "I'm too young!"

"We're not going to die, now let go. I swear you've never been afraid of heights before!"

"I'm not! But we're in this swing thingy and if it falls we won't have time to do anything but scream and crash and roll down the hill with all our bones broken and and and…" Miyako sighed and allowed the girl to continue holding onto her as they went up the hill.

"Bar up." Yamato did as he said and prepared to dismount from the lift. His friend copied his movement and both slid away from the swing and turned to come to a stop. "Not so bad, was it?"

"Not at all," Chiaki replied as both girls fell and slid out of the way of the next people coming up behind them. "I find myself looking very knowledgeable thanks to you." He smirked at his friend while the two girls unsteadily made their way over to them. If not for their gymnastics training and balance, both would probably be on the ground several times over. "What say we go down the expert slope?"

"You got to be kidding me," Maron muttered, doing all she could to just make it to him. "How come you're able to do this already?"

"Because I'm good. Come on, let's go." He put his poles on the ground and slid easily over the snow, followed by and soon also passed by Yamato. The girls watched the two for a moment, then copied their movements and soon found themselves gliding effortlessly across the almost flat ground at the top of the mountain.

"Beginners course is here." Yamato turned sideways and slid to an abrupt stop at the start of the course. "You can go really fast or as slow as you want down here, it's not slanted that much. Want me to show you how to do it?"

"I'm more than capable of learning by myself," Miyako sniffed at him and without anymore warning, hopped a little and started to slide down the hill. After a few moments her speed started to pick up and she fell over while trying to slow down, making her fall over and slide a few feet before coming to a stop. "I got it," He spoke before Maron could head after her friend. Yamato easily glided to her and slid to a stop before offering his hand. "Come on, no one will know."

Miyako glared up at him a moment before sighing. "Don't think that I owe you anything for this"

"Miyako," he grinned down at her. "Take my hand." The girl blushed lightly and allowed him to help her to his feet. "All right, now put your ski poles in the ground and you can turn to face anyway you want."

Maron smiled to herself and voiced her thoughts aloud. "You know, they would make a good couple."

"I think we make a better one," Chiaki replied with a grin.

"Since when were we a couple?" Maron humphed at him and started to slide down the mountain really slowly. "I don't recall ever being asked."

"I asked plenty of times," He slid next to her and used the tips Yamato told him while on the lift to keep his balance and speed surprisingly well for being his first time. "You just never answer."

"I answer plenty." She copied his movements and soon found herself going a little fast and in more control.

"So, we're dating."

"Are not." She sped up some more but couldn't seem to lose him. "you're embarrassing me, stop it!"

"Not until you admit we're dating!" He kept his eyes on her as they went down the mountain.

"Chiaki!"

"What?" He grinned a moment before smacking into a tree and falling over.

"There's a tree there," Maron finished what she was saying as she fell down to stop herself from continuing her path. After seeing that he was okay she allowed herself to giggle a little and then break into a full laughter when he had to remove a pine needle from the tree from his blue tinted goggles.

"I find myself looking very uncool…"

"Come on, let's learn how to ski." Maron pushed herself up and grinned at him. "But I don't really want to bother Linchou…"

Someone slid next to them and stopped, sparing them a glance. "First timers, eh?"

"You could say that." Chiaki managed to get himself up and slide down to the new person and his self proclaimed girlfriend. "Hey, wait a minute… Ken?"

Ken paused a moment before grinning. "Chiaki, right? What're the odds?" He offered his hand, which the boy shook. "And who is this lovely lady with you?"

"This is Maron, my girlfriend."

Maron's face shot red a moment before she took shook the man's hand as best she could through the thick ski gloves. "Nice to meet you." She looked over at Chiaki for some type of explanation.

"We met last night in the lounge," He didn't disappoint her. "This is Ken Masters, martial arts champion of America. He's here on vacation."

"Oh wow! That's so cool!"

"On another note, you two need a few lessons on how to ski?" Ken gave them a smile and adjusted his tinted snow goggles.

Chiaki grinned as he zipped down the slope, cutting to the side and back again to avoid one of his fallen friends. His poles slammed into then snow and his legs twisted, making his skies turn and slide sharply. His stop was successful, but he found out quickly that he had overdone it slightly and ended up falling over and sliding the last few feet and at the legs of Maron who was waiting on him. "Hi there," She spoke down at him with a smile. "Have a nice trip?"

"Lovely," he pushed himself up with her help and clicked off the skis from his boots. "Wait long?"

"Not too bad, Ken and I just got here a few minutes ago. Linchou and Miyako are already inside the lounge." Maron walked with him over to the door and after entering, waited patently for Chiaki to hang his skis and poles by the door. "I already ordered for you."

"What'cha get me?" Chiaki unzipped his jacket as they walked and tossed it on the back of his chair when they got to a table. He greeted Yamato with a grin and Miyako with a wave. Ken smiled at him in the middle of his conversation with the other girl at the table while Maron answered his question.

"Something I know you'd like." She winked at him. "Bacon-cheese burger with all the trimmings and chili cheese fries."

"Calorie overload isn't it?" Yamato smirked at his friend, knowing just how much they both could pack away at times. Although Chiaki most definitely could eat more than he ever could.

"Stow it man. Ken, thanks again for all the advice. It's smooth sailing after learning the basics."

"Hey, anytime. It's nice to hang with new people. In fact, I-" he had to pause a moment to address a young girl who apparently wanted his autograph.

"Must be a little annoying doing that everywhere you go," Miyako half asked, half stated as she drank her hot coco. She saw Chiaki take a drink from Maron's cup and chose to ignore her embarrassed and slightly upset reactions to it. "It happen often?"

"Not so much here at all, actually." He looked up at the large painting on the wall and grinned at it. "I think it's just because of that. It was done by some famous painter not too long ago. My good friend is friends with the person who runs this place so I gave it to him as a gift. Truth be told, I'm not really the kind who enjoys having pictures of himself, hahaha. But, I do get a lot of challenges for a battle. Those are the best parts, you find some really amazing people out there you know."

"Ohhh?" Yamato looked over at his friend. "Chiaki, you do martial arts don't you? That'd be a fight to see."

"You said you were pretty good?" Ken raised an eyebrow at him, making Chiaki grin.

"Decent. Why, want to go at it once?"

"We have some time to kill before out food gets here…?"

"Boys." Maron sighed as the two got out of their chairs and made their way out the door. "If your food gets cold, don't complain to me!" She fumed as Chiaki waved over his shoulder at her.

"So, how's this going to work? First point, give up, mutual stopping?"

"Mutual, when a finishing blow could have been dealt or has." Chiaki dropped into a fighting stance and grinned. They were behind the lounge on packed in snow. Despite the footing being slick and iffy at best, they also had to factor in their clothing. Thick pants and long sleeved shirts didn't make for the best things to have combat in. "Don't beat me up too bad now."

Ken grinned and dropped into a stance. The two looked at each other a moment before the American made the first move. Chiaki stepped back to avoid the sidekick and countered it with by lashing out his fist. Ken neatly avoided it and pressed his own, which Chiaki ducked. 'He's slower than I thought,' Chiaki's mind followed the movements and started to easily counter them, sometimes with so little effort it almost made him smile. 'Am I really that strong as Sinbad?'

Ken smiled at him and pressed forward once more, catching him off guard. The punch soared by his face and made him back up a few steps to regain his thoughts. The attacks started to come a little faster and he retaliated by pushing his foot out, almost clipping his opponent's side.

Taking the advantage, Chiaki ran forward and started attacking instead of dodging. The moves were close to home and more than once, Ken looked like he was surprised at them. Deciding to get serious, Chiaki attacked faster. The moves made him take a few steps back, but suddenly he found them not getting as close as they were a few moments ago. Punch after punch, his attacks were deflected or simply dodged.

The thief's eyebrows narrowed as he started to go all out, twirling and kicking and jumping and moving to the best of his ability. The very same attacks that he had used against demons were now used against his sparring partner. And yet, they weren't landing as he had hoped. In fact, Ken seemed to be blocking him just as simply as Chiaki had been before.

The two both jumped back and Ken drew his thumb across his nose. "Great warm-up! Ready to go at it?" His voice was playful, but not in an insulting way. From his appearance and tone, Chiaki was shocked to realize that he was used to battles like this, where his best was just a warm-up to his opponents.

'Okay…all or nothing.' Chiaki nodded at him and prepared himself. Brining his concentration down to nothing but the man in front of him, he got ready to unleash his quickest, hardest attacks to try and win the sparring match. When their eyes met he shot forward so fast the he was already about to punch before the snow from his leap even hit the ground again.

Chiaki felt his world lurch and suddenly was very cold. Dazed, he tried to comprehend what happened and soon found Ken's face in front of him. "I didn't hurt you did I?" He offered his hand and Chiaki finally realized that he was no longer on his feet, but rather sprawled on the ground. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean too, are you okay?"

"No... No, I'm fine. Really." Chiaki took the offered hand and was helped to stand. To his amazement, he saw a long slide path in the snow where he had slid. "You… threw me?"

"Yeah."

Chiaki's mind reeled at hearing that. He had seriously tried to win, gave all he had to try and land a single blow onto Ken… and he was thrown, tossed aside, so fast that he couldn't even understand what had happened. Chiaki, Sinbad the demon slayer… just got owned by a mere human martial artist.

Walking back into the building, he smiled fakely at his friends as they made fun of him, automatically assuming that he lost. Maron, to his surprise just fumed at him for doing something like that and started to brush the snow off of him and complain about how he would catch a cold for going out without his jacket. When her hand went to brush his shoulders off he reached up and caught it within his own. "Wha, what is it?" She tried to pull her hand back but his tightened slightly around hers, making her stop. "Chiaki?"

He wanted to say something to her, but found that he couldn't. "No, it's nothing. Is that mine?" he released her hand and jumped into the chair. "Oh man it looks good, I'm starving!" Picking up the hamburger he took a huge bite of it and chewed. "Mm man this hits the spot."

"Don't talk with your mouth full!" Maron hissed at him. "Honestly." Sitting down, she turned to Ken. "How did the match go?"

"It was close," Ken lied. "Almost had me more than once."

"Hmmmmm…" Yamato looked over at his friend, who was stuffing his face. To the average person he looked like he was just really hungry, but to him he could tell that he was upset about something. Chiaki was the first person to eat lunch with him on a daily basis, and along with him brought Maron and Miyako. It wasn't much, but to him it was enough to make him want to start changing his life and making friends.

When they left the lounge, Yamato chose rather to walk next to his friend. "What's wrong man? You seem down."

"Eh? Oh it's nothing." Chiaki looked forward as he walked. "Have you ever…"

"Hm?"

He chose rather not to ask his question. Of course he had felt helpless before, like he wanted power. So much that a demon would possess him twice. "Hey guys," The group stopped walking and turned to look at him. "I'm feeling kind of funny for some reason; I'm going to head back to the cabin for a bit, get warmed up and all that before I hit the slopes again. Maybe take some cold medicine just incase."

"Good idea," Miyako nodded at him. "Don't want to get sick on vacation."

"Wasn't what you ate was it?" The brown haired girl looked a little upset.

"No, no. that was great, thanks." He turned and waved over his shoulder. "See you in about an hour or two."

"Access! Access!" Chiaki took off his scarf and looked around for his angel in the cabin. "Come out here Access Time!" he threw his jacket on the coat rack and kicked off his boots and pants. A dark purple sphere flew in from the rafters from a skylight and Access appeared in front of him.

"What? What is it?" He looked around. "A demon?" The angel continued to look around a moment before calming down and looking at his partner. "What is it, Sinbad?"

"How strong am I?" his voice was a little desperate, shocking the flying being in front of him.

"What do you mean?" Access looked a bit shocked at the sudden outburst.

"How strong am I?" He repeated, a little calmer. "Like, compare me to something."

"You're several times stronger than Jeanne."

"Really?"

"Welllllll…" he trailed off a moment and looked sheepish while continuing. "You were before. Now that she has a new holy power to fight with, I'd say the tables were turned complete one eighty on us. She's more powerful than you magically, but you're still over skilled and strong, as well as better equipped." He paused as he spoke and suddenly lashed out at him. "Why are you asking me this anyway? You're power is almost a direct reflection of mine! Of course you're strong!"

Chiaki sighed and fell down onto the couch. "A little earlier, I sparred against Ken."

"The martial arts dude that you like?"

"Yeah, him. He's on vacation here. Anyway, I was sparring. I was tosses aside like I was nothing. I didn't even see it happen."

Access landed on the table in front of Chiaki and sat down himself. "I see. Wow." The small angel put his cheek against his palm and propped it up on his knee. "Well then, we'll just have to get stronger won't we?"

"Access? What exactly are you?" He leaned forward and looked down at him. "When we met you told me I had to seal these demons before Maron, be Fin, and that something bad would happen if I didn't…Maron is Jeanne reincarnated right? She has God's protection, so what is the power you gave me? Why is hers stronger?"

"Now's not the time for that," Access shook his head. "I'm under orders not to tell anything. I'm already in bad enough trouble getting you mixed up into this. If you knew everything I could possibly get demoted."

Chiaki let out a sigh and hung his head. "Okay. Is there any way to get stronger?"

"I could ask Arch Angel Michael?"

"How long would that take?"

"Two days I suppose. I'm on a mission so I wouldn't be able to see my friends."

"Yeah. Access, could you? I have to protect her…I can't do it alone."

The black winged angel sighed. "Sinbad… You can't keep doing this. We need those chess pieces, I-"

"Access." Chiaki shook his head. "I told you a while ago. I'll still try when I can, but my main priority is protecting Maron. Until I know why you need them I can't put it on my main mission and allow her to get hurt while I checkmate."

He nodded and flew up in the air a little more. "I know, Sinbad, and I'll try and see what I can get done when I'm in heaven. And for the love of God, don't do anything stupid while I'm gone okay?"

"If I do, I'll name it after you."

"That's right!" Access gave him one last look before turning around. "Right then, I'm off. Two days tops." The purple aura around him came up as he went into traveling mode.

"And Access?"

"Yeah?" He paused by the slightly cracked window.

"Thanks man." He received a nod instead of an answer and watched his angel fly away from him. "…Two days, huh?" His rosary was taken from his pocket and he looked down into it. "Two days…" Looking back at the window, he felt a strange feeling in his chest. The cabin suddenly seemed a little to quiet for his liking so he decided to turn on the TV and crash onto the couch for a small nap before heading back out.

He wasn't sure how long he was out, but when he came to he found a blanket draped over him and Maron's head leaning against him from her spot in the floor next to him. "Maron?"

"Hm?" She looked back over at him, a half-stick of pocky in her mouth. "Hey," she smiled at him lightly. "I was a little worried about you so I came to check up. How are you feeling?" turning, she reached over and put her hand onto his forehead. "You don't feel feverish."

Grabbing her hand, he pulled her onto him and grinned. "Got'cha!"

"Geeze you're not sick at all are you?" She demanded as she pulled back. "Lemme go!"

"No way!" with another tug he managed to pull her on top of him completely. After a few more moments of struggling she finally let out an angry sigh and allowed him to cuddle her. "…Thanks."

"Huh?" she moved to get more comfortable and was surprised when his hold on her loosened to allow her to do so. "Thanks for what, the blanket?" She moved said blanket so it was over her as well. "What is it with getting in this situations? Do you sit up at night and plan or something?"

Chiaki grinned lightly and pulled her closer to him before starting to rub her back. "You know you like it."

"I-I never said I didn't…" she laid her head on his chest and blushed. "You know, you'd probably get this more often if you were less perverted all the time."

"But where's the fun in that?" He grinned at her.

"Is something wrong?" She suddenly asked, looking at him.

Chiaki didn't respond at first. "Maron, I… I really need to tell you something."

"What is it?" Her body moved so her chest was laying on his and propped her hands up to rest her chin on them. "You going to ask me out again?"

Taking the unconsciously offered escape route, he nodded. "But you're already my girlfriend." When she rolled her eyes he grinned. He would tell her one day, eventually, who he really was. Until then he would continue to hold her as he was now. "Maron?" When her attention was turned back to him he leaned forward and kissed her.

She returned his kiss simply and pulled back to smile at him. "Don't get any ideas just because we're 'dating'." She winked at him and patted his chest. "Since you're feeling okay, let's go back out. We have all night to be here."

"Does that mean you'll lay with me later too?"

"Don't get your hopes up." She swatted his head and rolled off of him in favor of standing and stretching. "Mmmm, let's go."

Ken waved goodbye to his friends and stepped inside the lounge for some hot chocolate before he too decided to turn in for the night. As he walked over to the café section of the building he paused a moment to look up at the large picture of himself. A small laugh came from his lips while he admired it. "Such corny things," He mused, shaking his head and continuing along his way.

"You seek a challenge?"

Ken stopped and looked over his shoulder. "Eh? Who's there?" His eyes swept over the empty room.

"You want to become more powerful, to be the best there is?" Ken walked to the painting and looked up at it, amazed as it started to look a little different to him. "You seek to improve yourself… I can help you." He took a step back and squinted his eyes a moment before bringing his hand up to rub them. "Just accept me. Together we will be unstoppable!" There martial artist shook his head a little then fell to his knees and shook it again, harder."

"Wha…What's going on…Get out of my head!" His fist gripped his hair as he panted. "I don't like this! Get out!" He pressed his eyes together tightly and opened his mouth in a silent scream.

The owner of the lounge stepped into the room and looked over at the man kneeling down. "Ken is that you?"

Standing, Ken looked over at him with a grin on his face. "Yeah. Yeah, it's me."

"I thought you'd be here. Come; join me for something hot to drink would you?"

"Sure thing." He began to walk over to him, eyes lost behind an invisible black fog that clouded them, thoughts lost as he was a prisoner in his own mind. "I'd like that."

A/N: This just keeps getting longer and longer. Stay tuned for more in a few days, leave a review if you have the time please.