Alright, I'm trying to make each chapter at a minimum of 6 pages in Word, size 9 font, Verdana, (1st chapter was 6 pages, and 2nd chapter was 7 pages)

Summary: Mariam is considered 'rebellious' but Mariam herself considers it thinking for herself, which everyone says otherwise. What'll happen when someone finally takes her side?

Disclaimer: See previous (at least until I'm not lazy)

Mariam stopped struggling and looked up at him. "What do you want from me?"

Kai noticed that although her face was stern, with a look projecting only sullen hate, her eyes were quivering, with fear or hurt.

"Look, you may not understand what's going on, but I do. Ozuma hurt you, so what? I…" Kai began, I can't believe I'm saying this but… "I'll help you."

Mariam gave him another hard look. "Why should I trust you?"

Kai stared at her, and figured that she didn't know what she was doing anymore. "Because I know you better than you know yourself right now. And at the moment, I don't think you don't even trust yourself."

Mariam stared down at the ground, then narrowed her eyes in glowering disgust. 'Don't even trust myself'? What does he think I am, some sad little girl waiting to be rescued? Well, I don't need his pity.

She remained still for a few more seconds, giving Kai the impression that she was calm, that she was fine, that she wouldn't lash out at him. Once Kai thought that was so, he loosened his grip.

Mariam quickly freed herself from his grip, and got her arm ready to either hit him or slap him; Kai couldn't tell.

To Kai's surprise, it was a quick downward slap, but once her hand had come in contact with his cheek, he grabbed her wrist again.

"I said I was going to help you, and this is what I get?" Kai asked in a low tone.

"Yes, it's exactly what you get!" Mariam retorted, "You think you can come up to me and think you know everything about my life, and offer your help. You think I'm some sad little girl who's just waiting to be rescued by some cheesy prince in horrid tights." She shuddered at the thought.

Even Joseph grimaced when she said that. "Eww! Kai in tights! That's nasty, Mare!" he shuddered, "Oh, I'm gonna have nightmares for weeks! Nasty, nasty, nasty!" the boy swatted the air.

Kai glared at the boy, then transferred his stare back at Mariam. "I never said that I thought you were a sad little girl."

"Well, that's the impression you gave." Mariam put her free hand on her hip.

"Well, that's just jumping to conclusions, isn't it, Mariam?" Kai smirked.

Mariam growled in annoyance. Insufferable boy! Ew, did she just call him 'boy'? Wow, she needed to spend more time away from him. Stupid Kai…

"So it is…" Mariam retorted.

"And another time you jumped to conclusions," Kai said, "You thought I kidnapped Joseph."

Mariam scoffed. "Well, you did. I should charge you."

Kai scoffed in returned. "For what? Helping your brother?"

She growled. "Ugh! I can just never win, can I?"

"Nope," he shook his head, "so don't even try."

Mariam tried struggling again. "Let me go!

Kai merely chuckled at her, then tilted his head to the side. "I already told you that can't win, so why are you still trying?"

"I'm not about to take orders from you, Kai." She spat his name like venom.

"Heh…struggle all you want, Mariam."

Mariam rolled her eyes. "Great, you're harassing me."

"Hmph." Kai scoffed. "It's not harassment when I'm trying to help you."

"Well, then," Mariam glared up at him, "you can help me by letting me go," she firmly and swiftly took her wrist back, "and leaving me alone."

Kai looked shocked for a moment, but then lowered it to a smirk. "Well, if you could've gotten out, why didn't you do so earlier?"

"Uh, uh…" Mariam flushed lightly. "Shut up!"

"Nasty!" Kai and Mariam looked down at Joseph, still swatting the air.

Mariam rolled her eyes. "Joseph, are you still thinking about Kai in tights, ya nasty?"

Joseph looked up at his sister. "Oh…well…maybe?"

"Now you're just nasty, kid." Mariam shook her head, ruffling her brother's hair.

"I take offense to that!" Kai shouted.

"Shut up." Mariam glared hard. "C'mon, Joe, let's go." She put an arm around her brother's neck, walking him back to the village.

"It was a mistake, and you know it was." Dunga grinned, trying to comfort his friend.

Ozuma looked over to him. "It wasn't her fault…"

The dirty-blond haired boy but his hands behind his head. "Ya told me that already."

"Y'know, you could try helping." Ozuma smirked, although the look on his face displayed some kind of lost hurt. Uneasiness, and smiling for the sake of hiding.

"I would if I had experience in that department."

Ozuma looked at him dully. "Spell 'experience'."

Dunga looked at his wristband. "Oh wow, look at that. It's my turn to clean the temple." He walked off, leaving Ozuma alone in the small room.

The red and black haired leader shook his head, smirking. "Dunga. Dunga. Dunga."

Ozuma sighed, sitting on the bed nearby, then fell face-up on the mattress, and spread his arms.

The sound of the cloth door being ruffled stole Ozuma's attention, seeing Mariam with Joseph in the doorway.

Mariam took one saddened glance at him, then looked down at Joseph, leading him back to his room.

"And she hates me." Ozuma muttered to himself.

"…I'm not a little kid, Mare! I can go to my room when I want!" Joseph's voice was heard.

"Joseph, please don't do this." Mariam sighed. "We just got back."

"I'm not a little kid." The boy insisted.

Mariam looked defeated, in a way, then turned away. "Alright. I'll be around." She uttered and walked away.

Joseph went up to Ozuma, mumbling some things.

"What's up, little man?" the emerald-eyed leader asked.

"Don't downgrade me like that!" Joseph said with a slight hint of teasing in his voice. "I get enough of that from Mariam."

Ozuma sat up and sent his eyes downward. Joseph noticed.

"If you know what's bothering her, why don't you just say sorry already?" he asked, taking a seat beside him.

Ozuma shook his head. "If you really knew what's wrong, saying sorry wouldn't do anything."

"Jeez, you guys are so downbeat. It was fun when she was fighting with Kai." Joseph grinned.

"Kai? She was fighting with Kai?" Joseph nodded. "Like battling or just…arguing?" Ozuma asked, or demanded.

"Arguing…like yelling things at him."

Ozuma seemed interested. "Like what? What did she say?"

"She thought Kai kidnapped me."

"O…kay." The leader replied, frightened in a way, "what else?"

"Harassment."

"Interesting…" Ozuma nodded uneasily. "That it?"

"Basically." Joseph replied.

Ozuma smiled, but it was an unsure one, possibly to hide something from the sibling of his…well, ex, basically. "Alright, run along, little man."

Joseph stood up. "Jeez, everyone looks down on me." He muttered to himself. When the olive-haired boy got to the door, he broke into laughter. "Hah! Kai in tights! Classic…"

Ozuma raised a confused brow then shook his head. Must be another one of his delusional fantasies… Mariam would never say or think that… he smiled to himself, lying back on the bed leisurely. Would she?

Rei looked up from his spot at the dojo steps, seeing Kai walking back to him.

"Kai? Where the hell have you been?" the neko-jin asked, angrily.

"I went to help Joseph find Mariam, remember?" Kai replied smugly.

Rei blinked innocently. "Huh…I thought you said you didn't like Mariam."

"Yes, I did say that." Kai said, pressing past him. He turned his head and gave the Chinese blader an oblique glare. "Why? What does that have to do with anything?"

"Nothing." Rei grinned. "Bye!" he ran off.

Kai's eyes narrowed and he clenched his teeth together angrily. "He knows something…" he muttered to himself. "Rei, you'd better get your ass back here!" Kai yelled, running after him.

Kai ran, but stopped when he found Rei leaning against a pole with a timer.

"Hmm…two minutes and forty-three seconds. You're usually faster than that, Kai." Rei grinned. "Why?"

Kai growled at this. "Kon, you bastard, get back here!"

Rei started running again. "Kuso…reset, damn you, reset!" he said, fidgeting with the timer as he ran.

"KOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNN!" Kai yelled.

"Crap! Why'd he have to be a good runner?" Rei asked, breaking into sweat.

"…and that's what he told me." Rei looked up, seeing a couple walking in front of him.

"Damn! Move! Move!" Rei tried warning, but bumped into the male, 'causing them both to fall over.

"Rei?" the female asked, looking at him.

Rei looked up. "Mariam?"

"Yeah, what?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"Who's this?" the neko-jin looked down at the male he fell on. "Oh hi, Ozuma!"

"Ah! For the love of…get off!" Ozuma grunted.

Rei grimaced. "Okay, okay." He said, getting up.

"What're you running from?" Mariam asked.

"KOOOOOOOONNNNNNNN!"

Rei chuckled, helping Ozuma up. "Um…that."

"Who is tha----?" before Mariam could finish, she got toppled to the ground. "Ow…"

"Mariam?" Kai asked.

Mariam's eyes were shut tight, feeling a sharp pain pressing down on her. "Ow, it's you." She grunted. "God, you're heavy… Get the hell off me!"

Kai got up. "You have temper issues." He held a hand down to her.

Mariam looked at his hand, then closed her eyes and got up on her own. "You're heavy; what do you do all day?"

"Do you really wanna know?" Kai glared at her.

She grimaced and backed off. "Not anymore, no."

"Good."

"SO…" Rei started, clasping his hands together, "what brings you two out here?" he asked Ozuma and Mariam.

"We're talking, is that such a crime?" Ozuma asked.

"Oh." Rei said.

Kai scoffed. "Talking about how you've hurt her?"

Ozuma growled a bit and clenched his fist.

Mariam glanced down at Ozuma's fist, then put her hands over it. "Ozuma, I doubt he's even worth it."

Ozuma relaxed his hand again. "Fine." She let go. "C'mon, Mariam." He and Mariam turned around, with Ozuma putting an arm around her shoulder.

The red and black haired boy turned his head and gave Kai a hard glare before the pair walked off.

Kai snarled and turned around quickly. "He's such a bastard; I hate that guy." He began walking away, and Rei ran over beside him.

"Wow, what bit your butt today?"

Kai just looked at him.

"Figure of speech." Rei replied.

"Hn." Kai crossed his arms.

"It's just Ozuma; he's always been like that and you haven't started hating him until recently. What made ya change your mind, Kai-ey boy?"

The Russian glared at him. "Don't call me that." He warned, "Rei-ey boy."

Rei shrugged, smiling. "But why'd ya change your mind? Is it because of a certain person of whom I will not name?" he implied.

"No." Kai retorted. "I just don't like him."

"But why now?"

Kai sneered. "Because he's…shut up."

Rei grinned. "Ooh! You like her, don't you?"

Kai decided on how to respond to that. "Hn."

Rei's grin dropped. "Wait…Kai? Is that a yes or a no?"

The Russian walked off while Rei stopped for a bit to think about it.

"Kai?" the neko-jin asked, then ran to catch the Russian, "Kai? Is it a yes? Is it a no? Kai?"

"Mariam, are you willing to work with the others again?" the elder asked.

"Not particularly," Mariam scoffed, rolling her eyes and folding her arms over her chest, "no."

"Mariam, how long will you go through this 'rebellious' stage of yours?"

"It's not a stage, it's a way of life; I can think for myself. I don't need someone telling me what to do and breathing down my back all the time."

The elder sighed. "No, that would be Ozuma's job, wouldn't it?"

Mariam's eyes widened. Only Dunga and Joseph knew about her little… whatever it was with Ozuma.

"KISAMA!" she screamed as loud as she could, then stormed out of the temple.

"You swore at the elders?" Joseph asked his sister, amazed, "Just because he brought up that thing with Ozuma?"

"No one was supposed to know about that!" Mariam screeched, "You and Dunga were the only ones who knew! You told him, didn't you, you little bastard?"

Joseph looked frightened again. "I didn't do anything, Mare, I swear I didn't!"

Mariam gave him a deadly glare. "Joseph…" she started.

"I didn't!" tears were forming the boy's eyes, "Why would I?"

"Joseph, don't lie to me!"

Joseph shook his head, the tears falling. "Please don't hit me again."

Mariam calmed down; why was Joseph so good at doing that?

"Joseph…" Mariam said gently.

Joseph turned away, afraid of her touch.

"He wouldn't do anything anymore; you have him too scared that you'll hit him again." Dunga said from the doorway.

"What do you know?" Mariam retorted.

"I know enough."

Which isn't very much, Mariam thought to herself.

"You're the only one in his life he has left. How do you think it is for him? The only person left in his life hits him?"

"I…" Mariam started, "didn't know."

"Know ya do, eh?" Dunga grinned.

"You stopped sounding profound when you said that," Mariam rolled her eyes.

"Meh." The sandy-haired man walked away.

She turned back to Joseph. "Joe…you okay?"

"Why do you want to hit me?" Joseph asked.

"I don't want to hit you…but…remember that thing that happened with Ozuma?" Joseph nodded. "Well, that…upset me. And I have to take out my anger on something. And it just happened to be you…because I didn't know you'd care."

Joseph stared at her, then wiped his eye. "Does this look like I don't care?"

"Hm." Mariam sighed, sitting on her knees.

"Mariam?"

"Hm?" Mariam looked at him.

Joseph sat down in front of her, crossing his legs. "What did happen with Ozuma?"

"Why'dya wanna know?"

"I wanna know the reason why you're so mean all the time."

Mariam stared at him.

There, 8 pages! Don't expect the next to be 9 automatically…

Well…I think…Kai might hurt Rei in the next chap… Again, they might be OOC, but we'll just leave them like that… Hmm, I just noticed that that there's a whole Mariam/Ozuma thing in the story… I'll explain that thing next chap. (It might have a bit Max/Mariam in there… since in the beginning of the second chap, Max is standing up for Mariam.)

But…must make it…Kai/Mariam. (Joseph will make sure of that)

I'll see if I want Tyson and the others in the next chapter. And I do realize that Joseph has mood swings but…that's uh, puberty for ya? (How'm I supposed to know? I'm not a guy…)

You can still review! (still don't know what I'm doing!)