Scherise roughly threw the clothes she had been lent into Kanami's backpack. She felt guilty for taking the young girls bag without asking, as well as the clothes, but she squelched the feeling. It had been almost a month since she had come here and she still could not remember anything. On the outside she had been all smiles and good cheer, but inside she was seething. The only one she could actually talk to was Cougar, and he was about as informative as the rest of them, save for that one night.

It was night, and they had all fallen asleep. She had waited until she was sure she wouldn't be heard and began packing. She now moved into the kitchen to prepare a bag of food, and some water bottles for her journey. She wasn't sure where she was going, but she knew where ever it was would give her the answers she was desperately seekng.

What exactly was HOLY? Who were all the people that claimed to know her? What was an alter? Most importantly, who exactly was she?

Scherise knew that by staying here she wouldn't get a single answer. She couldn't trust a single on of them, and regardless of whether they knew it or not, they couldn't trust her. After all, who sneaks away like a thief in the night to get away from thier friends.

After she had everything she went outside to start the Jeep. It was a rickety old thing, but she didn't care. She would come back some day to return it. Maybe...

The windows were tinted and rolled up, and the top was up as well. That was good. It would save her the trouble of having to manually force the stubborn thing up and being forced to freeze. She breathed a soft sigh of relief. Opening the back she layed her bags down and pulled out a jacket. It was one of Cougars, as were half the shirts. She had taken to wearing his clothing since she was staying in his room. He had taken up residence on the couch, only coming in to get clothes or hide frim Mimori and her determination to get him to do chores. Other than that they never saw each other.

She also pulled out a pair of pink shades and put them on. Giving a grin she walked back around to the front of the Jeep. She had left a letter to him informing him of the whereabouts of his precious shades, and his missing clothing. She honestly hoped he didn't mind too much, she just wanted a souvenir to remember him by if she forgot to came back or wasn't able to. She had also taken some of Mimori's pants, two of Kazuma's shirts, and Ryuhou's...Wait. She hadn't taken anything of Ryuhou's. She shrugged in an nonchalant manner and opened the door to the Jeep.

" Hello Scherise, nice night to run away..."

She shrieked when she saw who sat there. Cougar was leaning back against the seat and his bare feet were propped up on the dashboard. His eyes were closed and he had a grin on his face. A crumpled note lay in his lap and she glared at it, recognizing her handwriting.

" It was nice of you to leave me a note that you were stealing my shades, clothes, and only mode of transportation, but didn't you forget a tiny detail?" He said. "I take walks at night. I came in when you came out of my room with Kanami's pack. Honestly, you should pay more attention to your surroundings."

" Well...I have my reasons..." She began slowly.

" Yes, you wrote that. I believe you said " I'm just not comfortable in a surrounding where everyone is lying to me" or someting like that. Tell me, have I ever lied to you?"

His eyes opened and he sat up and stepped out of the Jeep, closing the door behind him. She took a few steps back from him as he advanced. Before she knew it she was against the front door. He stopped about a foot in front of her and shoved his hands in his pockets.

" No. You've never lied." She finally answered.

" And neither has anyone else."

" No, but none of you are exactly helpful when I ask about my past."

" Mimori said..."

" I know what Mimori said, but I'm not her! I don't have all my memories, I don't know who I am, I'm don't know anything! She's not in the same boat I am."

" I never said she was."

He turned and stalked toward the car. Popping the trunk he took out her things and slung them over his shoulders. Then he fished a knife out of his pocket and slashed a tire. As it deflated, so did her hopes of escape. Then he came back and lifted her over his shoulder. She shrieked in protest, successfully waking the household. They blinked in stunned, weary silence as Cougar carried through the living room, then to his bedroom. He exited a few moments later and placed a chair underneath the handle. Grinning sheepishly at them all, he said a few simple words that cleared the matter of the screaming girl like smoke in the wind.

" They do that in movies all the time. I just wanted to try it."

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The next day Scherise was sullen and quiet, glaring at Cougar like he had grown horns on his head. He ignored her and joked with the others, flirting with Mimori every once in a while, as Kazuma and Ryuhou scarfed thier meal down as if they were starving. Nobody really payed attention to her joyless mood, but it was noticed by Kanami, who immediately voiced an opinion.

" I think you should just let it go. Kazu-kun gets like that everyonce in a while, and he's gone for a long time when he does, but he never comes back any smarter."

There was a loud protest from where Kazuma was sitting but nobody really payed attention to it. Instead Cougar nearly choked on the bite of oatmeal he was getting ready to eat, and Scherise stared at the little girl in shock, wondering how she knew she was planning to leave. She was getting ready to ask when Cougar stood, excused himself for a moment and rushed out of the room with Kanami. They were back five minutes later, with Cougar shaking his head and Kanami smiling in a suspiciously false manner.

" Cougar says not to read your mind anymore, although I wasn't really reading your mind, just your emotions. I apologize." She said, then resumed eating.

" I said to say it later Kani-chan." He told her, then looked at Scherise in apology. " I'll explain later."

She gave him another glare.

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That afternoon Scherise was working at the "hospital" and thinking about what happened over breakfast. She had finally found out what an alter was, thanks to Cougar explaining as he drove her to work. She had nearly had a heart attack when he showed her his, and had been grateful when the ride was over. He had gotten all..weird...It was if speeding like a maniac was what he loved most. Even creepier was that the poor Jeep had turned a different color and shape.

The idea of an alter alltogether was a spiffy one though. She wasn't sure if she had one or not, but she figured that since she had worked with people who had alter ability she must have. All it took now was trying to figure out what hers was. She honestly hoped it was one that enabled her to fly, or save lives. Something that she could use to her benefit to get away from here or uproot that quack who called hinself a doctor.

One of the patients called to her and she abandoned her current task to go ask him what he needed.

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Cougar was confused out of his mind. He had dropped off the Jeep at the house a while ago and was currently walking to the farm to help around. Kanami had told him it would help if he was bringing in something to the house so he had posted for a job where she and Kazuma worked just to help.

But that wasn't that important. What was confusing him was Scherise. He was wanting to be around her all the time and that disturbed him greatly. She had always been a bubbly little girl in his eyes and he was no longer seeing her as such. His eyes were always following the movement of her hips against his will and he always wanted to touch her. To hold her, and even kiss her. The thought had passed through his mind many times in the last month but he always forced it away, convincing himself that she was in love with Ryuhou still. But...she never acted like she even loved Ryuhou at all. On the contrary, she treated him like a friend. But with him...well, Cougar had unconsciously flirted with her a number of times, and she had flirted right back.

And therein lied the problem. He knew he was attracted to her, but he wasn't sure how she felt. It was impossible to tell except for those times that they were alone. Even then, she always backed away and returned to her smling facade. As far as he knew the flirting could be a facade as well. A facade that she only showed when around him.

Maybe he was being suspicious, but most women he had encountered in life that he liked had turned him down. He was used to rejection, he just wasn't sure he could take it from her. Something was different about her. Losing her memory wasn't it. It was deeper.

He sighed and gave a wave as he saw Kanami. There was no point in dwelling on such serious thought right now. He needed to get to work.

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