Authors Note: Hola! I'm baaack! Okay first and foremost I would like to thank all of the faithful for returning to read my trivial drip once again, and I would like to give a special thank you to Tessen, ShinCouger, Hybrid thing, and AL, I love you guys, you'll never know just how much your comments help. This chapter is all for you. To my new readers, thanks for giving this story a chance and make sure to give me feedback. Not only is reviewing courteous and helpful to me when I'm trying to improve the work I do for your enjoyment, but it will also save you from the giant chickens set to roam the earth upon my death. Ciao! ;-)
PS: Don't kill me for the chapter's ending, ducklings, I'm just doing what I have to conserve space.
Yugo stared half-heartedly into the bathroom mirror as he prepared to leave for the WOC headquarters. Everything around him was just going to hell, or so it seemed. One of his best friends was mad at him, he couldn't seem to get the people from Bell's to compromise in any way, his little brother was close to a mental breakdown, and he was helpless over all of it. Shaking, it took all of the wolf zoanthrope's self control to keep from ramming his fist straight into the looking glass. He wanted control over something around him, anything, and beating something until his fists were raw seemed to be good cure. He let a half growl and finished pulling his blue and black T-shirt over his head.
"Hey, babe!" Alice's cheerful voice greeted him as he left their room fully dressed and entered the living room/kitchen area. Yugo smiled at his girlfriend who was busy just finishing up a plate of fruit, her breakfast. The grin on the face of the male zoanthrope deepened when he saw a plate of bacon and eggs waiting for him on the table across from her. At least there was one thing in his life that he could say was going well for him.
He leaned down to catch Alice in a kiss, holding her there for a moment as he savored the taste of strawberries still clinging to her lips. "Thank you," he said before setting down.
"Wow," Alice giggled, her cheeks glowing. "I guess I should cook meat more often, heh?"
"A plus but I'd eat whatever you cooked anyway," he told her sweetly. "Well…except oatmeal, I won't eat oatmeal no matter who cooks it."
"I'll keep that in mind," Alice chuckled. They sat in contented silence for a few moments eating their breakfast before Alice hesitantly cut through it.
"You know, I've been thinking," she said after swallowing a mouthful of orange.
"Ooh, that's a scary thing to say," Yugo teased and was promptly smacked on his shoulder.
"Yugo, I'm trying to be serious, so please, pretend your IQ is over twelve!" his girlfriend growled.
"Okay, okay, sorry, continue please," he apologized before shoving a forkful of eggs into his mouth.
"Well…" she began her anger fading to make her little more hesitant than before. She knew, after all that this was not one of those subjects her boyfriend wasn't going to be keen on in the first place.
"Alice, I said I was sorry," Yugo sighed, looking up at her tiredly.
"No, no, it's not that," she assured him with a dismissive wave of her hand. "I—I just—Yugo I think that we should take Kenji to see Dr. Andrews." She bit her lower lip hard after she blurted the last few lines out.
Yugo's brow furrowed as he looked at his girlfriend. "Dr. Andrews? But isn't she the chief psychiatrist at your old hospital…" His features smoothed out quickly when the realization hit him like a cold hard fist to his temple.
"Now—now just hear me out, Yugo, please," Alice started to pacify him, holding up both of her hands.
"No," he said coolly, the look on his face almost scaring the rabbit zoanthrope.
"Yugo, he needs help that we obviously can't give him—"
"Alice no!" he hissed angrily. "I'm not going to send him off to have his head examined! My little brother isn't crazy; he's just going through a phase. It's going to pass—"
"Yugo, you've been saying that for the last year!" Alice exclaimed throwing her hands up in frustration. "And in the last year his nightmares have only gotten worse!"
"Look he's okay, he's just having some bad dreams, we can handle that, it's no big deal," Yugo snapped. "Or are you saying that you don't like dealing with the kid?"
Hurt, pure and unyielding flashed across Alice's pretty face as she looked at her boyfriend. "Yugo! That's not fair!" Two tears leaked from her eyes. "I love Kenji, he's as much family to me as he is to you, but unlike you, I can actually face the problems around him!"
"Problems!" Yugo exclaimed jumping up from the table. "What problems! He's having some nightmares! Christ, Alice, it isn't like he's some freaking delinquent!"
"You know I didn't mean it like that!"
"Maybe he should act more like Riko hmm? You know, grate on everyone's nerves and get suspended two or three times a year from school for pulling fire alarms because he wants to see his peers 'scramble like cockroaches'!" His face was absolutely cruel with sarcasm.
Rage coupled with the pain on Alice's face, creating a look that Yugo thought just might burn him alive. "You leave my sister out of it, Yugo Ohgami!" Alice snarled, her cheeks an ominous scarlet. "She has nothing to do with any of this! This is about us doing what's right for your brother!"
"Really? Well Alice, I don't think that sending him off to a shrink like he's some maniac is the 'right' thing to do!" he growled.
"Dammit Yugo don't make it sound like that!" Alice was nearly shrieking as more tears streamed down her face.
Yugo opened his mouth to make a lashing retort but stopped himself as he heard movement coming from the door behind Alice. The rabbit and the wolf hurried to school their features, Alice frantically wiping her eyes on her shirt sleeve, before the door opened and Kenji walked out.
"Good morning," he said politely, as he did every morning, heading over to grab an apple and a bottle of Sunny-D from the refrigerator. Alice and Yugo alike nearly heaved sighs of relief; he was oblivious to their little squabble.
"Morning, bro," Yugo managed to say, hiding his face as he sank back down into his seat.
"Feeling better, honey?" Alice asked, blinking to make sure her eyes were clear.
"Much," he said, making a good attempt at a smile to reassure her. He took a big bite out of his apple. "Sorry if I woke you earlier, Al."
"Don't even mention it, I barely noticed," she told him with a warm smile. Yugo, starting to realize the full affect that his harsh words might have had on his lover, bit the inside of his cheek until it bled.
"So what are you planning to do today?" Alice asked, continuing to divert herself by talking to the younger Ohgami. "Skate Park again?"
"Maybe later," he told her with a shrug. "First I promised Riko I'd go and pick her up at Master Long's house and so we could walk together for a little while."
"Oh, that's good, I'm heading over there before I go in for my shift at the hospital," Alice said, her face radiant with its usual perkiness, though Yugo could easily see that it was more than a little forced. "Do you want a lift?"
"That'd be cool, Al, thanks," Kenji said, his tan features spreading into a quick and rarely sincere smile. "When do you want to head out?"
"As soon as you're ready," she told him. "I've got an hour or so to kill before my shift starts."
"Well all I really have to do is grab my board before we go," he said.
Alice grinned. "Well then what are you waiting for? Go grab it and I'll meet you in the car, right?"
"Cool," the teenager said before gulping down that last of his orange drink and sprinting back into his room to grab his skateboard. In the few seconds he was gone an eternity was said between Yugo and Alice.
"Ally—" he attempted to start an apology, the look his girlfriend threw his way, however, quashed the effort. She stood and grabbed her keys that hung on a little hook near the kitchen cabinets before walking towards their front door. The last Yugo saw of Alice was her face, streaked with tears for a second time, as she pushed back the screen. A knot formed in the pit of Yugo's stomach as he watched her go. How he was going to make up for this he didn't know.
"Bye, Yugo, see you later," Kenji called as he dashed through the room and for the front door.
"Later, little brother," Yugo called, putting on a cheerful face as she waved goodbye to him. He sat in his seat for a few moments listening to the sound of Alice's Honda as it pulled off before getting up and calmly walking into their bedroom. Once inside, door closed, he proceeded to ram his fists over and over again into their mattress, hitting and punching until he could barely move his arms and a spring had busted through the surface.
He sank to the floor after his little fit, breathing heavily. He always managed to screw things up; no matter how cheerful it was Yugo could destroy the air. And right then, he realized, he just might have destroyed his future. A strangled cry escaped Yugo's throat as he slammed his sore fist against the bed frame, cracking the wood. Another growl cracked the air, if Alice wasn't leaving him she was most definitely going to bitch at him about the bed. He was debating on whether or not just to break the whole damn thing when the doorbell rang. The wolf looked between the bed and the door out into the living room a few times before letting out one final heavy breath and getting up.
"Hold, your horses, I'm coming," he snapped loudly as his visitor pressed the buzzer twice more with heavy impatience. Angrily he jerked open the door, hoping with all his might that it was a Jehovah's witness he could tear into. The person on the other side however was no Jehovah's Witness, however, in fact, there was more than one person on the other side, and the things they carried in their hands certainly weren't Bibles. Yugo noticed that much before he had to dive behind a counter to avoid a flurry of bullets.
Interlude
Still reeling from the confrontations with her father and guilty from not being able to reach Yugo, Shina showered, dressed, and gathered her things glumly, getting ready to head out the door. Her life was going down hill fast, and the only way that she felt she might get pulled out of a full-blown depression was to talk with someone who wouldn't judge her. And as much as she'd tried to hide her sadness from them she knew that the only real option she had was to go call Long and get him to go down to the WOC with her so that the two of them plus wolf-boy could have a nice long chat.
She really wasn't looking forward to any of it, especially since she had yet to apologize to Yugo, and now she'd have to do it in front of Long to make matters worse. In a way she was feeling her world fall apart around her, more than it already had been. Far too soon the threads in the safety net she'd made for herself three month's ago was unraveling itself, she could feel it, and she knew she was not at all ready for what she knew was inevitable.
"Damn you, Alan Gado," she whispered beneath her breath, pulling at the chain hooked onto her baggy camouflage pants. "Damn you, and damn her too." She bit down hard on her lip; she really wasn't ready for her silence to end. Her eyes prickled just a little, the first time she had felt the particular sensation in years.
She was just about to pick up her car keys when for a second time that morning the doorbell rang. Shina's fingers froze mid curl about the keys to her jeep. The prickle throbbed before passing once again, and she prayed as she went to answer the bell, that it was not Jenny or Alan. She didn't think that she could handle either of them at that moment, not if anyone was going to come out of the confrontation alive.
When Shina opened the door though, she knew the very last thing she'd be doing to the particular person waiting on the other side was maiming.
"Nagi!" she said in disbelief as she recognized the pale and pretty features attached to the straight chestnut mange.
"In the flesh," the spurious zoanthrope chuckled, beaming up at the taller woman. She held up her black jacket clad arms. "What's up, big sister?"
"Nag!" Shina almost, almost, squealed, as her friend threw her arms about her frame in a quick hug. "Christ, I can't believe you're here!"
"Believe it, babe, I'm live and here 'till Thursday, try the veal," Nagi giggled letting go and stepping back a foot or so.
"Well it's great to see you," Shina told her, ushering her over the threshold. "Come in, come in, have a seat, do you want a Coke or a beer?"
"A Coke would be absolutely phenomenal," Nagi almost sighed in relief as she followed Shina into the kitchen, plopping herself onto a counter stool. "I swear the service on International Air is absolutely abhorrent. Now I remember why I hate traveling so much."
Shina chuckled as she opened her fridge and tossed the brunette a red and white can. "I know what you mean. That's why I only do first class or private."
"And helicopters," Nagi reminded her with a grin as she snapped the tab on her soda.
"And helicopters," Shina agreed, grinning despite herself. She held up her can as she took a seat across from the Spurious and said, "Cheers," before taking a gulp.
"Here-here," Nagi agreed copying her, though unlike Shina Nagi took several extra seconds to finish of the entire can. Shina raised an eyebrow at the bobbing of her throat but said nothing.
"Sweet manna from heaven," Nagi sighed contentedly when she sat the can back down. She grinned into Shina's crystal blue eyes. "God bless you, my child."
"Your very welcome," the leopardess chuckled before taking another sip. "And speaking of 'Mana'," Shina grinned at her pun while Nagi rolled her eyes, "how is the little priestess and Dragon-breath? Last I heard you were staying with them at the Nine-Tails temple. How did the journey to inner peace go? Hit Nirvana yet?"
Nagi, still very unsure of how to explain her reasons for visiting to Shina, decided not to directly broach the subject just yet. Instead she just put on a cynical half smile and rolled her eyes. "Do I look like Buddha yet?"
"Is that some trick question to get me to compliment you on your figure?" the blonde asked, looking at her friend with that single cocked eyebrow.
The spurious zoanthrope made a face. "Oh, haha, you're a witty one," she drawled.
"I know."
"No, no I think, actually that I'm farther from self-enlightenment than when I first decided to retreat," Nagi told her with a little sigh, her face sarcastically glum. She was lucky that Shina saw nothing belaying that comment and simply chuckled at her. "Please tell me what I was thinking? All she does is spout off stupid trivial sermons, and all he does is say 'Yes Mistress Mana', 'of course Mistress Mana'. Jeez I can't stand either of them!"
"Hehe, now you know why we all gave you the 'are you bonkers?' look when you announced your plans," Shina teased. Nagi made another face and flipped her off. "Hey I'm just pointing out the obvious."
"It was a nice change though," Nagi admitted to her, propping her elbows up on counter. "It was pretty and out of the way. Plus Mana was always in meditation and Ryoho kept to himself ninety-nine point nine percent of the time. Weeks would go bye and I wouldn't see either of them." The elder woman smiled. "It was a nice being away from the rest of the world, you know?"
"No, I don't, but I can imagine," Shina joked making her friend laugh. "Though, I admit, the thought of being by myself for many weeks at a time is a bit scary. If I'm left to my own devices too long…"
"Let's not think of that," Nagi suggested.
"Agreed."
"So how are Yugo and Long?" she asked, playing idly with the tab of her empty pop-can. "I was really surprised to here that WOC headquarters had moved to America. Not as surprised as I was to hear that Long had finally found a permanent place of residence within the city but I was still pretty surprised. Why the change?"
Shina shrugged. "He says it's because there would be more people we could get to in the U.S., you know, more influential and open minded people. Personally, I think that he finally got pinned for all of those unpaid traffic tickets in his glove compartment."
"Well he did have a lot…" Nagi chuckled. "And Tiger-boy? How's he enjoying city life?"
"Oh he loves it—when he leaves the house for one of his bi-weekly outings," Shina said. "But he's getting better at it. Uriko gets him out, Yugo and I get him out. The other night we even went clubbing…not that he joined in at all, but still, it was a step."
"Glad to hear it," Nagi said. The brunette smiled slowly, resting her chin in her hands as she lifted her eyebrows in Shina's direction. "Now the big question."
"Ooh, do I get a prize if I answer right?"
"No."
"Dammit!"
"What made you follow them?"
The soft chatty air that had once filled the room faded, replaced by a cool and awkward pitfall of sound that Nagi could have kicked herself for. Shina felt the spurious looking her over very carefully, only to find her face cool and impassive, even for her. There was no way, though, to hide that this was something very, very big.
"It's—ugh—not something I really wanna talk about," Shina finally said, hoping Nagi didn't note how her knuckles went white as she gripped the tabletop so tightly.
"That's cool, I'm sorry I asked, really I—" Nagi started to apologize but closed her mouth when Shina held up her hand.
"No, no it's cool, no harm, no foul," the leopardess told her. "Let's just not bring it up anymore, 'kay?"
"'Kay," Nagi agreed quietly, biting down worriedly on the inside of her lip. Shina was just too internal at times for her friends, and she knew it.
"So what made you decide to leave the Japanese countryside?" the leopardess finally broke the silence after several long moments. "Did you just get bored with all that free time or did you actually have a purpose to leaving. Don't tell me it was just because you missed our happy little troupe?" She laughed the last few words, trying to lighten up the air once more. The plan though did not work as Nagi's face had become closed and taught. Shina frowned finally sensing the underlying tones to words that had yet to be said.
"Nag?" Shina questioned again, more seriously. "Nag, what's going on with you?"
"I—um—I did sort of come just to see you and the guys," she admitted slowly. "But—ugh—"
"But what, Nagi?" Shina prodded, her voice a little sharp, the preternatural senses everyone has when they know something bad is going to be revealed making the fine hairs on the nape of her neck stand on end.
"But I'm not—I'm not sure you'll—" Her vocal chords stopped this time not because of her nervousness, but because her own hair was starting to stand on end.
She looked to Shina, briefly meeting her eyes. The leopardess nodded in agreement, telling her without words that she sensed it as well. The two women slid off their seats crouching low to the floor as they moved around to crouch behind the counter. Shina motioned for Nagi to keep her eyes open while she stealthily opened one of the doors beneath island counter.
Behind the thin oaken panels Shina's secret armament stash was revealed, and Nagi didn't look the least bit surprised when the blonde slipped a fully loaded glock and extra ammo into her hand and jacket pockets. Shina herself picked up a glock while stuffing a smaller pistol into one of the many pockets on her cargo pants. She spared a second to grab a handful of smoke bombs, butane lighter, and some throwing knives. Shina would have offered Nagi some of the same but as she'd already seen a few shuriken poking out from beneath the spurious' leather jacket, she didn't bother. Besides at that exact same moment several of Shina's many large windows shattered against the hale of gunfire that had just erupted.
A snarl rumbled in Shina's throat as she and Nagi rose together in one fluid motion, back-to-back, and retaliated. Whoever had just broken into her home did not know what they'd gotten themselves into.
Interlude
"Master, are you done yet?" Uriko whined as Long wrapped up, or at least he attempted to wrap up, his meditation session in the garden.
Long peered at her from beneath lowered lashes, letting out a sigh. As much as he loved the girl, Uriko was all too often intolerable.
"Uriko, if you're hungry you can fix your own breakfast," her teacher reminded her.
"But that's just it, Master Long, I already cooked breakfast," she told him, bouncing around on her haunches. "I'm just waiting on you…I was hoping that Ally's lessons were paying off." The teenager gave him a pleading smile and Long let out yet another sighs he'd been giving off the last two days.
"Fine, fine Uriko, I'll join you," the tiger conceded, rising gracefully to his feet. The girl gave a giddy little laugh as she skipped ahead to push back the doors for her teacher. Long noted at once the overpowering yet enticing smell of wheat batter and cinnamon, even before he had stepped inside. Sure enough when he glanced over at the table he spied a stack of pancakes and pitcher of honey sitting in the middle of the table. A very large stack along with four plates.
"Uriko, why—" Long started to question his pupil when the doorbell rang.
"Oh good, they're here!" the girl said excitedly. She grinned at Long. "Go ahead and sit down, Master, I'll get the door!"
"Uriko who did—" Again the question on the tiger's lips faded as Uriko had already run to the front door. Yet another sigh escaped him. They really needed to work on Uriko's patience and listening skills. It really didn't matter, though, as all of Long's questions were answered when Uriko flung open the door and yelled, "Ally, Kenji, you're here, finally!"
"Sorry, twerp, didn't know we were keeping you from something," Alice chuckled, ruffling her little sister's hair as they hugged.
"You're only keeping all of us from the taste test!" Uriko reminded her, breaking away to throw an arm around Kenji who rolled his eyes at her.
"I think I'm afraid," the boy said to Alice before his best friend promptly hit him in the arm. The rabbit zoanthrope shook her head at the two before looking up at Long, a smile brightening her ivory features.
"Good morning, Long, how've you been holding up?" she asked, referring to, of course, her younger sibling who was yammering at her best friend.
"Well I haven't beaten her…yet," he chuckled. "I take it you're the reason that there are four plates at the table this morning, heh?"
"Yeah, didn't Riko tell you? Riko!" Alice threw her sister a reproving glare.
"What!" the girl exclaimed. "What'd I do now?"
"It's not what you did do it's what you forgot to do!" Alice growled, hands on her hips. "It was very inconsiderate of you not to tell Long you'd invited Kenji and me over for breakfast! You're a guest here, ya know!"
"Aw, Ally, Master doesn't mind," the girl told her. "Do you, Master Long?"
"No, I don't mind having either Alice or Kenji at my home, they know they're always welcome here," he began agreeably. "But—" he added as the girl started to look complacently at her sister. "But I would have preferred you asked me first."
Uriko looked down, cheeks a little red. "Yes, Master," she apologized immediately. "I'm sorry."
Long smiled. "Thank you, now, do you think we should get this over with? I'm sure your sister has to get to work and Kenji and yourself need to start walking for the park soon."
"Right!" she said, brightness returning as she gripped Kenji by the wrist. "Come on, you have to tell me if they're as good as Al's!" And she practically dragged the boy into the kitchen. Kenji had time for a furtive glance in the direction of the adults before he disappeared through the rice paper doors.
Long and Alice looked at one another, chuckling.
"So before we stare death in the face, how are you today, Alice?" Long asked as they slowly made their way towards the dining room, his hands behind his back. "Is Yugo doing better since he talked to Shina last night?"
At those words Alice's face and shoulder's went rigid, Long spying it through the corner of his eye. He stopped walking and reached out a hand to put on her shoulder. "Alice," he spoke more quietly, "are you all right?"
Long felt a tremor run through his friend and he saw the tears spilling over her eyelids even before catching glimpse of her face. Putting an arm around Alice's shoulders the tiger lead his friend out, hiding her tear streaked countenance with himself as they passed the teenagers in the dining room.
"Master what—" Uriko began to ask as the older zoanthropes walked right by the table only to be quieted by Kenji's fingertips on her wrist.
"Uriko, Kenji, I need to talk to Alice in private, stay inside," Long told his student, still covering Alice's sobs. He nodded to Kenji thanking him for his part in Uriko's silence, and also asking him wordlessly to maintain it. The boy, with a concerned glance at Alice's shaking back, nodded, and forced his best friend to focus on the food she'd made while the other two slipped out into garden.
Closing the doors firmly behind him on the way, Long lead Alice to the stone circle where he sat her down. No sooner had he taken a place across from her was Alice's voice strangled by pent up sobs. Long frowned, reaching out to hold her shoulders as she covered her face with her hands.
"Yugo is a bastard!" Alice sobbed, the combination of anger and pain in her voice startling the Kempo master.
"Oh—my—What happened?" Long stammered, unsure of whether or not he should be asking her, he didn't want to end up in the middle of his friends' fight, but still…when someone cried…
"Has—has Yugo told you about Kenji's nightmares?" Alice choked, albeit more quietly, even popping her head up to make sure that the two younger zoanthropes weren't eavesdropping.
Long nodded heavily, Yugo had indeed told him of his brother's problems…many times. Long however had not been able to suggest much, knowing that the obvious answer would only trigger the wolf's overprotective temper.
"Well, he had a really bad one this morning, poor baby," Alice confided, drawing her knees up closer to her chest, and wiping her eyes. "He—he was just—just a mess. Poor Kenji was screaming and vomiting, the boy was a complete wreck."
"It sounds like his condition's only getting worse," Long muttered, glancing worriedly back at his kitchen.
"That's what I said after telling him we need to take him to a psychiatrist," she cried.
"Oh, Alice…" he said, eyes widening behind his scholar's lenses. Even Long, as honest as he was, knew that he couldn't go there with Yugo over his brother.
"Well, Christ, Long, he needs it!" Alice hissed, careful to keep her voice down. "That kid isn't over what he used to do, and he never will be without help, especially if Yugo keeps trying to pretend it's not there and yells at me when all I'm trying to do is help that poor baby!" And Alice began to cry once more, softly as always, but with twice the hard emotion in her quivering shoulders than Long had seen.
Taken aback at first the tiger sat there simply staring at his friend, unsure of what to do. Hesitantly, he reached out meaning to pat her shoulder, only as soon as he tried to do that Alice let out a loud sniffle and threw her arms about his neck to bury her wet eyes in his shirt. Awkwardly Long rubbed her back, hoping that this was making one of them, at least, easier.
"I—I seriously might leave him over this, Long," Alice sniffled into his gi.
Long's eyes grew wide as he stared down at the auburn haired zoanthrope. "Alice, you, you don't mean that—" he attempted to dissuade her but Long's words were cut when Alice's violet-red eyes snapped on his face.
"Don't tell me what I do and don't mean, Long," she warned him, the look on her face scaring the martial arts master just a bit. "I don't care how protective his is over Kenji, I love him too and he has no right to treat me like he did!"
"Alice, I'm not saying that he did," Long told her, his ever calm facade not wavering. "Like you said it wasn't justified on any grounds."
"Exactly!" Alice said throwing her hands up in the air.
"But—" Long continued before she could begin another rant. He ignored the harsh caste to her eyes as he went on with his own speech. "But you have to understand that Yugo didn't mean to attack you like he did. He…just wants to save Kenji from himself, Alice. Yugo knows how Kenji feels about his past as Bakaryu, the boy's tried to kill himself for the things he was forced to do, and you know that. I think, that the way Yugo is looking at it, the more that Kenji is pushed to face his demons, like visiting a psychiatrist, the more likely that he is to lose the boy again." Long took in a breath and sat back on his rock, crossing his legs as he meet Alice's pained eyes with empathy. "And I completely understand how Yugo is willing to do anything to prevent that from happening."
The trembling in Alice's shoulders subsided as a new, less wrathful flow of tears began and Long reached over to cover her wrist with his own. "Yugo is utterly in love with you, Alice," the former assassin assured his friend with a gentle smile. "There is no doubt in my mind that you two will be spending the rest of your lives together. But he also loves his brother and it is his responsibility to care for him the best way he knows, and the best way Yugo knows is to try and repress all the worries that Kenji has."
"But that's only going to hurt Kenji in the end," Alice cried. "It's like a balloon, you can only fill it up so far before it explodes, I don't want that to happen to him! I love that kid! I love him as much as I love Riko!"
"It won't, Alice," Long told her comfortingly, the steadiness and serenity of his voice giving her much needed confidence. "None of us will let that happen, we just have to take some time to help Yugo come around. Trust me, he's probably regretting everything he said right now and rethinking your suggest to be the best solution he has."
"What if—" Alice started to ask but her voice faded quickly as the hairs on the nap of both her and Long's necks began to stand on end. The two glanced about the garden slowly, eyes meeting after a once around. They exchanged looks, Long nodding in the direction of his house and Alice nodding, a few seconds later they were running like mad back into the dojo, slamming the door behind them.
"Uriko, Kenji!" Alice shouted as they skidded inside.
"Ally?" Uriko exclaimed, mouth full of pancakes and syrup as she and her best friend looked up.
"What's wrong!" Kenji asked immediately, his muscles as rigid as those of the two adults.
There wasn't any time for an answer because no sooner had Alice started to make he reply, a large car, probably a Hummer by the size, though it did have more of an armored car design to it, drove through the back wall closest to Uriko. At the same time it's brother plowed through the front of the house, heavily armored soldiers following in both of their wakes.
Interlude
Sy was probably the happiest man in the world at that morning, as he strolled through the darker back alleys of Manhattan. Or at least the happiest man in the city. He had finally gotten what he had been living for the last year and a half; Sy had finally gotten Shina to see him.
He laughed outright as he ran a hand through his dually colored hair, thinking of all the things that awaited him now. This was only the beginning, he promised himself. There would be more between them than sex, Sy knew, especially if he continued to visit her sporadically. Absence, after all, he reasoned, made the heart grow fonder, and Shina would become very, very fond of him.
"Oh, chaton, the plans I have for you," he chuckled, shoving his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans. He licked his lips, remembering the taste of her as he walked along. Sy was absorbed so deeply in his thoughts that he didn't notice the approaching footsteps until trash can was accidentally overturned.
Hair standing on end Sy whipped his head to the right, already fearing who was waiting on him in the merging alley. His fears were confirmed as his new compatriot walked from the shadows. At first Sy didn't quite recognize the man, he was dressed differently than he had seen him before, Sy didn't think he'd ever saw the jet haired zoanthrope in anything that was not privately tailored. Though familiarity was lost in the baggy brown black pants and dull gray trench coat, the sunglasses he wore could never be forgotten. Even less forgettable than the shades were the piercing red eyes that were seen when the shades were lifted.
"You!" Sy growled, eyes growing wide and flashing ice blue.
"Hey, kid, long time no see," Shenlong chuckled, the smile on his face enough to send chills down Xion's spine. Of course the wrath that reverberated in the now glowing eyes of Sy was certainly more than enough to rival anything the clone could come up with. And for a second, Shenlong's resolve in his past vows wavered.