Sheena was shocked into silence, her arm frozen mid-punch. She lowered her arm to her side and stared at him, pulling down his mask and squinting. The sun broke over a building nearby and the darkness was banished, and she could see clearly now that it really was Kuchinawa and not a trick. He cocked his head to the side, his grin bloody. "I think you should get off of me now."

She didn't. "Why, Kuchinawa?" Sheena asked instead. "Were you with the group that attacked Mizuho?"

"Yes," Kuchinawa said.

Sheena's fist tightened and she moved to punch him again. "Bastard!"

Kuchinawa managed to get his hand free and caught her fist before it could connect. "If you touch me again," he said in a voice so low that it could have been considered a growl, "Your half-elven friend dies."

Sheena froze. "Were you the ones who kidnapped Genis, too?"

Kuchinawa laughed. "Not that brat! The woman. Look behind you, fool."

Sheena got off of him and hopped quickly away so he couldn't pull anything, and carefully looked to where Raine had been. She was gone, her staff on the ground. Sheena swallowed reflexively and began to run to the spot when another dagger flew by her head and rested, quivering in the wall of the hut she was standing next to. "Don't move, Sheena Fujibayashi."

Sheena stood still, but moved her head to glare at the newcomer.

He must have been well over six feet tall, and scrawny. But he held himself with a fighter's grace and easily held the Professor with one arm, wrapped around her neck as her legs dangled in the air and kicked and she squirmed, beating at him uselessly. His wild, silver hair reached his shoulders in jagged spikes, and his grey eyes glimmered with malice.

"Sheena!" Raine began. "Don't worry about me, just-" she was brutally cut off as the silver-haired giant tightened his arm around her neck.

"Bastard! Let her go!"

"No, no, my parents were married," the giant assured her. "But what about yours, Sheena Fujibayashi? You never knew them, because you were abandoned. Am I right?" he smiled, glittering white teeth contrasting with his tough, sun-bronzed skin. "I think if anyone here is a bastard, it's you." After a tense moment, he slackened the pressure on Raine's neck and she coughed, still trying to speak to Sheena.

"What do you want?" Sheena snapped. "Raine has nothing to do with this. Let her go and we'll fight, one-on-one!"

"No, no," the man shook his head. "I don't think so. In fact, I think you're just going to put down those cards and come along quietly with us. Don't try summoning. Don't try using any of your powers. Because if you do, you'll have this on your concious." He snapped his fingers and five of the masked attackers revealed themselves, slipping out of hiding. One of them carried a little girl, sobbing and crying for her mother.

The giant held up one finger into the air, as if to tell her to wait, and suddenly there was a bright ball of fire hovering over the finger. Still grinning, he ran his finger along the little girl's arm and she screamed. Sheena's eyes burned and she moved to kick the shit out of the silver-haired man, but was restrained by Kuchinawa, who had snuck up behind her when she had been distracted by the girl. He held a knife to her throat and whispered: "Drop the cards."

"Yeah, yeah!" the man agreed. "That's good idea. Drop those cards."

Sheena gritted her teeth and began to fight back when another piercing scream shook her to her very core. The giant had ran another burning finger up the girls back, from the tip of her spin to the base of her neck. Sheena dropped her enchanted cards at once.

"Good girl!" the silver-haired man said, in the tone one would use with a dog. Sheena's face burned with anger and shame and she glared at him. "For listening to your betters, you get to know my name before I kill your friends here."

Sheena's heart skipped a beat, something cold and slimy dropping into the pit of her stomach. "You said you'd let them go if I dropped my cards!"

The silver-haired man looked at her, puzzled. "When did I ever agree to that?"

"You- "

The silver-haired man dropped Raine, who was immediately grabbed by two of his lackeys and held up again. All this time she had been cursing at them, and not once did she give up on her struggling... except, maybe, when she had seen the man start up a fireball without so much as a single word of magic uttered. In a few quick strides he had reached Sheena and bent down so he was eye to eye with the short ninja. He grinned again, a lopsided, handsome grin. "All right," he said, "You've got a point there. Besides, I was kidding!" He gave her a thumbs up. "I'm not gonna kill 'em. Especially Miss Sage, because I don't wanna hurt another half-elf if I can help it." There was a pause. "Kuchinawa, remove your blade. But don't let her go."

Another pause, and then he reached out with one hand to touch her collarbone, running a single finger along it until he reached the silver chain to a necklace. Grabbing the chain, he pulled it until he could see the pendant attached to it. Raine blinked, her movements halting, as if she were waking up from a dream. Why hadn't she noticed the necklace before now? It wasn't as though Sheena was very modest when it came to the chest area of her clothing...

"Your grandmother- adoptive grandmother, excuse me- your adoptive grandmother gave this to you, did she not?"

"Get'cher hands off of me, pervert!" Sheena said, knocking her forehead against his so forcefully he was sent back, reeling with a hand to his forhead.

"Bitch!" Kuchinawa said, shoving her to the ground and kicking her. He raised his dagger-wielding hand to strike her, but the silver-haired ran back, staying his hand.

"Now who was the one who was just talking about striking defenseless opponents?" he asked, the manic grin once again present on his face. "I do it all the time, but I don't turn around and admonish others for doing it afterwards, now do I?" He glanced down at Sheena, and kicked her cards aside to where she couldn't reach them. "Besides, she's a woman."

"You are messed up," was all Sheena had to say.

"No. I am Kloitz." He bowed to her, mockingly. "My name is Kloitz."

There was a sharp intake of breath from a few feet away. Kloitz turned to Raine with a grin and a wink, with one finger pressed against his lips for silence. Raine bit her lip and stared at Kloitz. "In any case," he said, turning back to Sheena, "We had been hoping your other friend would be here. Genis Sage, the little mage, he's been trying to steal something from us. But since he's not here, we'll take you instead. Come now." He grabbed her arm and pulled her up, holding her close to him ."We've got uses for people like you, Sheena Fujibayashi," he said, bending down again.

Whoa! What's he... what's he doing!

"Urk!"

"Ow!"

Kloitz turned abuptly, dragging Sheena along since she was still pinioned to his side. He cursed under his breath, reaching for an odd, spiked weapon similar to a mace that was fastened to his back: A kendama. A small, bell-like voice shouted: "Eternal Devastation!" and there were more screams of agony as the lackeys were cut down effortlessly by a... small, pink-haired girl. She sunk the blade into the ground and leaned on it, glaring at Kloitz. "Release her," she said as Raine picked herself up and rushed to her staff before returning to Presea's side. Warm wind once more blew around her and she closed her eyes, readying a spell.

The little Mizuho girl ran off into a nearby house, sobbing loudly in the silence.

Kloitz blinked, staring at Presea. Then he burst out laughing. "Me, listen to a little girl and a weakling half-elf bitch? Not a chance." He grinned and took a step back, right into the broad, muscled chest of a former pit-fighter in the Meltokio Arena. Sheena was yanked out of his grasp and he was sent sprawling after a well-placed boot to the rear.

"Are you all right, Sheena?" Regal asked Sheena, solemn as per usual. Though his hands were unbound, he kept them crossed now that he was prepared to fight. But he needn't have worried.

"Damn it all," Kloitz spat, getting up quickly. "Kuchinawa! A little ninja magic would be nice right about now!"

"Got it," Kuchinawa said, quickly running to Kloitz's side and getting a smoke bomb ready.

"You shall not leave until I am finished with you!" Presea yelled, pulling her axe and swinging it above her head as she rushed towards the pair.

Kloitz managed to send Sheena a savage grin and a wink before he and Kuchinawa both dissappeared in a puff of smoke.

"I hate it when ninjas do that," Regal muttered.

Raine cancelled her spell and sat down on the ground, heavily. "That was..." she murmured to herself, but then was silent, her face pale.. and confused.

A/N: Yay for good reviews! It seems I have converted someone to RaineXSheena-ism. Sorry Kuchinawa didn't get killed this time around, but I'm sure he'll get beat up sooner or later. For those who reviewed: Cookie and Sake, the best combination ever : 3 Splooshie out.