Disclaimer: I don't own Scryed or the characters, but Naria is mine!

Transformation

Chapter 8

(A.N.) Sorry, again, for the delay between chapters! I hope you all like this chapter, as more characters from the anime are going to show up.

Mimori's P.O.V…

Ow… My back…and arms…and legs…

My entire body felt like it had been run over by an eighteen wheeler or five. I'd never been worked so hard in my life. Even Ria was nicer during a sparring match. But no, Ryuhou just had to insist that going easy on me would defeat the whole point of training me. It didn't matter that he was sort of right; he could've started me on an eight-step program, or something.

Plus I was going to kill Aunt Ria.

Even though Ryuhou had taken over my training, she still insisted on waking me up in her usual way. As in, she'd toss me out the freaking window and then douse me with ice water. Ryuhou was no help either. Each morning, I'd walk into the kitchen, soaking wet and shivering, and he'd be sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee and trying to look innocent. Damn him. If I didn't love him so much, I would kill him. Slowly.

Then we would head out to the "training area", and get started. It was basically the same sort of thing I'd done with Ria, except harder and more painful. The pain was one drawback to sparring with Ryuhou. The other was the fact that it could leave us in…compromising… positions. The most memorable being the time when he'd pinned me to the ground, straddling my waist. Awkward did not even begin to describe the silence that had followed. We hadn't really talked about that kiss we'd shared a week ago, and it was killing me.

I thought about it constantly, and it usually gets me in trouble. Example: Ryuhou spars without a shirt, so I get caught up in thinking some very nice X-rated thoughts and then BAM! I get kicked or punched in the arm. Then he asks me what I'm thinking about since it was clearly not the match. At which point, I blush a bit and give him my best "I have no idea what you're talking about" smile. It aggravates him constantly, which is actually kind of funny. He's cute when he's annoyed, at least with me.

My Alter has grown a little in power, and dreams have started disturbing my exhausted sleep. An iceberg, the Alter cave, and then confusing images of people crying for help. Then I'd see a woman in shadow standing over the bodies of Zigmar and Ryuhou. Just standing and looking down at the blood on the floor. I don't really know what it means. Maybe it's just my subconscious working out my fears and other random thoughts, but it still freaks me out badly. If it wasn't cut short each morning by my journey out the window, I would probably wake up screaming.

Anyway, I was thinking about the dream this morning while I stretched out. I must've shown something on my face because Ryuhou asked, "Is something wrong?"

Like I was going to tell him I worried about some nightmares. "Not a thing. Although maybe I wouldn't be so out of it if I wasn't still suffering from frostbite."

"Can you even get frostbite?" he replied, smirking.

"…Shut up."

Our comments were cut short as the roar of an engine cut through the air. I didn't even wait for the car to make it all the way up to the cabin, I ran towards the hot pink and orange vehicle waving happily. It had been a while since Cougar had come to visit. I was glad I'd contacted him.

The car skidded to a screeching stop about a foot away from me, and the driver's side door snapped open. Seconds later, Cougar had lifted me in the air talking a mile a minute. I think I heard a greeting in the beginning, but I wasn't completely sure.

"Cougar!" I yelled, trying to interrupt, "Cougar put me down right now!" When he didn't put me down, I kicked at him lightly, desperately trying to get his attention. "Put me down! Straight Cougar, if you don't let me go right now I swear I'll give you a huge black eye!" He kept talking rapidly, ignoring me.

"COUGAR!" Ryuhou yelled sternly, walking over.

Cougar stopped and put me down immediately, but draped an arm around my shoulders and smiled jovially. "Hey Ryuhou! Fancy seeing you here!"

I scowled up at him. "How come you always get his name right, but not mine?"

"Or mine?" another man asked, voice sounding a bit queasy.

Turning around I found that none other than Kazuma, Ryuhou's sworn "enemy", climbing out of the passenger's seat of Cougar's car. The brown haired man glared at Cougar, face green. I understood the feeling completely. Cougar's driving gave a whole new definition to "reckless" and "insane".

"I don't mess up you're name, Kazuya," Cougar responded, messing up the name. He looked down at me and asked, "Do I, Miss Minori?"

Before I could re-pronounce my name for him as I usually did, Ryuhou hissed, "What are you doing here, Kazuma?" He was obviously ready for a fight.

"I was actually going to ask you the same question," the Shell Bullet responded.

Both of them glared at Cougar and inquired, in unison, "What is he doing here?"

"Well," Cougar began, "I thought it was a good idea at the time, but I'm beginning to rethink it now."

I sighed. Every single time. Stepping away from Cougar's side, I glared at all three of them. "There will be no fights! None! Is that understood? I asked Cougar and Kazuma to come. I wanted to talk to them. Besides, I've seen what happens to the area you two fights in. I am not rebuilding my aunt's house! End of debate!"

"You asked them to come?" Ryuhou asked.

"Why did you wanna talk to me, lady?" Kazuma muttered.

"If you two are done with the whole male dominance thing, then you both are welcome to come inside and hear what I've got to say." I turned and began walking to the cabin, Cougar falling in step behind me. We started talking about trivial thing, like the weather. Glancing back revealed that both Ryuhou and Kazuma had begun following us, growling and glaring the whole while.

Once everyone was setting around the kitchen, I pulled out my laptop and nodded to Cougar. He pulled out a blue disc and inserted it into my D: drive.

"Take a look at this," I said.

(A.N.) Dun, dun, DUUN! Cliffhanger! Actually, it was all I could think of at 9:00 at night in between Geometry assignments. T.T Damn circles and their tangents... Sorry. Anyway, REVIEW! I notice that some of you out there are reading but not reviewing! That's mean! Please review!