Chapter 13: Kindling emotions : FIRE?

(late Wednesday evening)

"What a day!", Ryuko thought as she soaked in the tub. She hadn't even been here a week, and already she'd experienced more weirdness than one would expect in a lifetime! The counsel Motoko had given her a few days prior was proving to be very true. For the moment though, all her cares in the world melted away. Although she was physically healed from her ordeal with the mecha-tamas earlier when she reverted to her correct age, she was still exhausted.

Her quiet moment of contemplation was interrupted as a muffled, child-like voice emanated from her backpack on the floor by the sink. "ryuko?"

"Yes, Ryu-chan?"

"you have an email message from your father. he says he wants you to call him."

The bathing girl sighed. "Not him again. Did he give a reason?"

"no."

"Then please delete the message."

"okay!"

Ryuko unconsciously thrummed her fingers against the lip of the tub. She still hadn't forgiven her father, and for now she couldn't imagine when that time might come, if ever.

It was already past her bedtime, so Ryuko reluctantly pulled herself out of the tub, drained it, and dried herself off. Realizing that she didn't have any clothes with her that would fit, clean or otherwise, she began digging through the linen closet to find a beach towel to cover herself. No such luck. "Drat!"

Then a thought occurred to her, and she cracked the bathroom door. Sure enough, Shinobu had thoughtfully left a robe for her on the doorknob, so she could return to her room with some semblance of decency. "Thank you," she silently mouthed to herself.

later Wednesday evening

Ryuko returned to her room, carrying the torn clothing and her backpack with her. Then she set her load down and retrieved Ryu-chan from the backpack, before flopping herself down on the futon.

She hugged her stuffed dragon tightly, thankful that he'd saved her earlier from those horrible mecha-tamas. "Remind me to talk to Kaolla sometime," she whispered.

"okay!"

The events of the past 24 hours seemed too surreal to be anything but a dream, but she had evidence to the contrary. Her torn clothing, the splinter in her hand, Ryu-chan in stuffed doll form, the mechatama, and now...

"The key!" Ryuko sprang up and turned on the lamp beside her. She ran her index finger along the spines of the books in her bookcase until she came across her grandmother's diary, and retrieved it.

If there really was a key inside, she wondered why she hadn't noticed it before.

She sat Indian style on her futon and flipped through the pages, slowly and carefully at first, then more quickly towards the end. Finally she held the covers out like gull wings and shook the book up and down. A musty smell came from the diary as the pages flapped about. But nothing fell out.

Ryuko sighed again. "I must've wanted to see her so badly, that my imagination played a trick on me. It...it was all just a dream. Ryu-chan, when we were in the annex, did you hear any voices besides mine?"

"no, ryuko."

Ryuko sighed, and turned back to the inside front cover of the diary, where her grandmother's signature was. As she read it in her mind, a teardrop fell onto the first page, "Ack!" She tried to use the tie of her robe to dry the page. As she did so, she noticed something for the first time.

There was a distinct impression in the leather cover, with a broken piece of tape on either side of it, as if a key had resided there at one time.

Ryuko's eyes opened as wide as saucers. "There really is a key!...or, at least, there really used to be one!" She felt the indentation. "But where could it have dissappeared to?"

----

(early thursday morning)

Maho woke up to the light pitter-patter of raindrops hitting the roof.

She idly wondered, as she lay alone in the early morning, if Japanese rain was any different from rain in England. Had it changed while she was away? Ten years was a long time to spend away from the country of your birth, after all. All sorts of things might have changed, big things she could see, and the subtle undercurrents that she might never know.

It really had been far too long. But now she was home, wasn't she? It was crazy now, but she was sure that things would settle eventually, and the humdrum of daily life would resume. But why did it still feel so awkward?

When her alarm clock finally buzzed, Maho turned it off and went back to sleep.

Ryuko's Morning
"ohayo, ryuko!"

Ryuko rolled around and rubbed her eyes. Her futon looked as though a tornado had passed over it. "Thank you, Ryu-chan."

Ryuko decided to skip exercise this morning. Instead, she got dressed and went down to the kitchen to help Shinobu.

She found the younger girl diligently at work, gathering ingredients together. Shinobu was staring up at the griddle. She usually hung it as high as she could reach. Of course, she was a lot taller when she put it way last, thanks to Kaolla's device, and now she couldn't reach it. Ryuko reached over Shinobu and got it down for her.

"Arigato gozaimasu, Ryuko-chan! How're you this morning?"

Ryuko smiled down at Shinobu. "Feeling refreshed. Can I help you with breakfast?"

"Of course!," came the reply. "You can start by setting the table."

Ryuko nodded, then set her grandmother's diary down on the counter and grabbed a stack of dishes to lay out. As she started heading to the dining area, Tama-chan floated down and landed on top of her head. "Myuh!"

Ryuko was startled, and just barely avoided dropping the dishes. She took a moment to catch her breath. "Hello there, Tama-chan!"

Tama-chan seemed content to stay where she was, so Ryuko went about setting the table. When she was done, she returned to the kitchen and picked up the diary, then leaned against the counter for a moment while Shinobu was mixing some batter.

"I thought I'd try pancakes today, since I know you like them," Shinobu announced. "It's been a long time since I tried making them last. I hope I'll manage to do the recipe some justice."

"Arigato, Shinobu-chan," Ryuko smiled up.

Shinobu noticed the diary. "What's that?"

"Just my grandmother's diary. When I was in the annex..." She stopped for a moment, wondering whether she should really be talking about this. "When I was in the annex yesterday, I saw a vision of my grandmother. In it, she said to look for a key in her diary."

"Ano...did you find one?"

Ryuko got a bit teary-eyed. She opened the front cover of the book and held it up so Shinobu could see. "Almost. I didn't find the key, but I found evidence that there used to be a key in it." She paused. "Proof enough to me, that I really did see her." Tears were quite obviously running down her cheeks now.

Shinobu noticed this and turned down the heat on her griddle, then walked over to Ryuko's side and wrapped an arm around her back. "I can't imagine what that would be like. If something like that happened to me, I think I'd remember it for the rest of my life! You're very fortunate!"

Ryuko nodded, staring down at the broken piece of tape where the key used to be.

"Myuh! Myuh!" Tama-chan seemed excited about something, then speedily fluttered out the kitchen.

"I wonder what's on her mind?" Shinobu mused aloud, before going back to work.

Al's Morning ------------

Al sighed and sunk up to his nose in hot water. These hot springs were a blessing, they truly were. Even though it was raining, he still felt warm and refreshed -- this was the life, hot baths before breakfast, nothing to worry about...

He closed his eyes and let his mind empty. There were only two things in his life he desired, peace and happiness for him and all he cared about -- as corny as it sounded.

He watched the light rain sprinkle down onto the hot water and steam rose like great clouds.

He grinned under the water. His life had taken a turn for the better though -- he had his own room without a little brother to pester him, he had a job, and even his grades were improving, though in all reality that wasn't saying much since his grades put the meaning in "lower grade curve."

And then there was Motoko... he had met a few warriors in his day, but none like her, someone who balanced grace with swordplay like that. However he reasoned he was perhaps being too obsessive, since after all there were three other eligible ladies in his general age group right under the same roof: Su, Shinobu, and Maho.

He thought back to his home, wondering if the Japanese exchange student that had moved in with his family was having a difficult time adjusting to Utah. It was hard enough to adjust to it if you lived in the US.

The trip was a one year thing, though, and then he would return to his home and miss Japan so much, so very much.

And Motoko, he'd miss her too... he could almost see her in the steam...

"Rush?"

Uh oh... maybe 'almost' wasn't the proper word.

He closed his eyes and half hoped that she'd be gone (and half hoped that she'd stay).

He opened his eyes; she now held a sword, though he couldn't for the life of him figure out where she had hidden it before.

"BAKA HENTAI!"

"BUT IT'S THE BOYS DAY!" he cried before she struck, sending him flying out of the water without his towel into a rock face first.

As Al cried and nursed his nose Motoko sneaked off. In fact she had forgotten it was Thursday, but now was not the time for apologizing -- now was the time for getting dressed and repressing the memory of Al without his towel.

Shinobu's Morning
Shinobu smiled. Even though she was cooking for more people, she still found no greater joy then whizzing around the kitchen making meals.

Well, maybe there were some greater joys... her thoughts drifted back to Keitaro, and their kiss on the rooftop. How could it not be fate for them to be together? It felt so right, like paradise found.

She sighed and looked down at her almost non-existent chest; it had been a great day, one of the best in her life, and over so soon. If only she could have remained older.

She sniffed... something was burning! She located the source quickly -- someone had set the toaster to dark again! The toast was black, and smoke was rising.

She wasn't the only one who smelled smoke. Suddenly, the door burst open and Sam began hosing the kitchen down with a fire extinguisher.

After a few moments he paused and saw that he had hit almost everything, except the toaster... but the large foam covered blob next to the toaster looked almost human, and it was picking up a frying pan.

WHAPANG!

Sam exited the kitchen wondering if it was possible to remove the frying pan from his face, and Shinbou began cleaning up, wondering if the other girls' quick tempers were rubbing off on her.

(Breakfast)

After everyone arrived for breakfast, Shinobu went around the table and gave everyone their share of pancakes. Keitaro was the last to be served, and he got the remainder of the stack, which was only half as many as the other adults. Shinobu didn't seem to notice, and avoided making eye contact with him.

Keitaro looked at his short stack. "Um, Shinobu...are there any more?"

"Sorry, I ran out of batter."

"Serves him right," Naru thought, but she kept the comment to herself.

Keitaro was used to being served first, not last. Was Shinobu angry with him? He felt uneasy for the remainder of the meal.

The pancakes went over very well with the American tenants. "These are really good, Shinobu-chan!", Ryuko commented, with similar acclamations by the boys. Shinobu blushed. "Ano...they're just pancakes..."

Tama-chan suddenly came floating back into the dining room, landing on Ryuko's head. "Myuh!"

Ryuko rolled her eyes up, just barely able to see Tama's head.

"She seems to like you this morning," Shinobu commented.

Ryuko finished chewing what was in her mouth, and swallowed. "What is it, Tama-chan?"

Tama was carrying something small and silvery in her mouth. She dropped it, and it landed in an empty spot on Ryuko's plate.

Ryuko's eyes grew very, very wide. She pulled out the diary (it was sitting on the table beside her) and placed the key over the indentation in the inside cover. It was an exact match.

"The key!!! You found the key!!!" She picked Tama off her head and hugged the flying turtle profusely.

Everyone else besides Shinobu looked around in confusion. Shinobu just smiled inwardly.

As breakfast continued, everyone chatted softly as the rain pattered down outside. Su seemed to be rather sluggish due to said rain which might have contributed to the peaceful meal.

Al had sat down next to kitsune and she leaned over whispering in his ear "Where'd ya get those bruises? You go peeping again?"

"SHE WAS PEEPING ON ME!!!" Al roared as the combination of the pain in his face and the embarassment overwhelmed him.

Everyone stared and he sat down smartly -- lucky for him he had stopped himself from pointing at Motoko accusingly.

"Well anyway hun, I figured out what you can do for me, Friday night you can drive me to Tokyo and we can spend a night on the town... your treat, of corse."

"What? Kitsune, you know I don't have that kind of money!"

"Well, you'll just have to find some! See ya then." Kitsune stood up and left for her room to take her post breakfast pre-lunch nap.

Al sighed and looked into his Alphabits, as if they would harbor an answer to his problem, and unless the answer was "Oooooooo." Then he was in trouble.

He paused and looked up... he was eating Cheerios.

Meanwhile, Motoko was in confusion. Al was going on a date with Kitsune? What about her? Of course, they /had/ said it was 'just friends', but still... Maybe Al was angry about her unintentional peek this morning, and her reaction to it? Or.... maybe Al was just a bit of a playboy, and was building up a harem? Scratching tally marks on the end of his bed? Taking advantage of her innocence??!

Motoko stood up abruptly, cast a dark glance at Al, and stalked out. Al sweatdropped. What had he done now?

The phone rang, distracting everyone, and Shinobu picked it up. After a moment she turned to face the crowd. "Kyosuke-san, phone for you."

Kyosuke stood up and took the phone listening carefully. "We have another suitcase of yours sir, same place as usual."

"Thanks." Kyosuke hung up and answered the questioning stares with "Wrong number."

(after breakfast)

Keitaro wandered into the kitchen, looking for Shinobu, but she was gone. "Anyone know where Shinobu-chan went?", he asked nobody in particular.

"She said something about going to the store to get mushrooms," Motoko volunteered while washing a plate.

Keitaro's face contorted. God, he hated mushrooms! He must've really gotten on Shinobu's bad side somehow! Had she somehow heard about his perverted dream about her being older and more desireable? No, that was impossible... so what in the world had he done?

(late morning)

"Oi, Maho-san!"

She stopped running. At the end of the street was a polished red convertible with its top up, and Kentaro was sitting in the driver's seat. "Where're you going?"

"I'm late for school," Maho replied hurriedly.

He looked at his watch and smiled disapprovingly. "Tsk, tsk, Maho-san. You should know that education is an important endeavor for..."

"Yeah, yeah. Look, I don't have time for this." She set off on a jog.

"Hey, wait!" He pulled up a little more. "Do you want a ride?" Maho gave him a doubtful stare, but Kentaro still had an ineffably pleasant air about him. "It's my day off, and I'm running some errands. I can give you a ride before I go." She hesitated some more, and he frowned. "Come on, it's still drizzling. You want to catch a cold?"

With a shrug, she hopped in. "I can kick your ass if I have to."

"Oh, I don't doubt that." He revved the engine.

As they drove in silence, Maho noticed that Kentaro was getting increasingly nervous about something. The way he kept opening his mouth and then seeming to think better of it, it was obvious that there was something on his mind. She waited patiently for him to gather the courage.

"Ne, Maho-san." He finally said. He hesitated, and then continued, almost as if he were afraid to bring it up. "Is... Is Ai-chan doing okay?"

She almost laughed on the spot. But his serious expression told her that that wouldn't be a good idea. Instead, she coughed. "Um, well, I haven't spoken to her lately. Gomen, ne?"

"Oh, I see." He sighed. "Alaska must be nice this time of year."

Maho nodded. "Sou, sou."

The rest of the drive, they didn't say much. But as Maho hopped out of the car and was about to thank him, Kentaro took something out from his pocket, a white envelope, and handed it gently to her.

"What's this?"

"It's a letter." Kentaro didn't look at her. "For Ai-chan." Then he smiled, in his familiarly smug way. "Could you see that she gets it? I would be forever in your debt." One last smile, and Kentaro drove away, leaving Maho to wonder privately what was going on.

(Lance's Day at School)

"Lance-kun?"

"Hello? Are you awake?"

"LANCE-KUN!"

He woke with a start. He was on the ground and leaning his back against the tree, his shoulder bag propped up where his head lay. He remembered now, it was their twenty-minute "recess" before their next class. He must've caught some shut-eye while he was sitting down.

Maki looked down on him, her arms crossed and an annoyed look on her face. It was almost frightening, he could just see the hellfire rage behind her.

"Are you just going to sleep all day?"

"Sorry, Maki-chan. I just had a... busy night."

Busy seemed like an understatement. After throwing his guts up all last night from Al's gumbo, Sarah found it appeasing how she suddenly appeared in a room where Lance was all alone, and his guard completely down. She had taken advantage of that of course, and proceeded to chase him around the inn to the late hours. Naru showed up as they ran up the staircase, and socked him to Mars and back. Then when he regained consciousness, he walked for two miles back home and took him an hour to get to his room, in fear of a watchful 8-year old. By then it was 6AM, the time he would normally (if such a thing had existed) have woken up. So he spent the rest of his morning tweaking his guitar and apologising to Naru... which only led to another uppercut.

"Oh, I'm sorry... what happened?" Maki asked worredly.

In his mind, Lance was thinking of the many responces. He chose the best he could find.

"Meh, nothing really."

They were both distracted when Sam ran across the grass being chased by an older professor who was on fire, cursing at Sam. Then they passed, and shrugged it off like it was nothing.

"Oh, that reminds me," said Maki, "Did you hear about the festival?"

"You mean the one this Sunday?"

"Yep! My aunt is running one of the booths there, so I might get a new kimono and go with her!"

Lance smiled, "That's cool, maybe I'll swing by."

"You're going too, Lance-kun?"

"Not only that," he said proudly, "I'm performing in the Battle of the Bands contest, too."

Maki looked at Lance blankly, before falling into a fit of laughter.

He blinked, not finding the joke. "Huh? What is it?"

"Maki was practically in tears, and her face red. "Oh, hahaha... it's just, haha... you're so funny! HAHAHAHAHAA!!"

His face twisted in a puzzled look. "What's so funny?"

Before she could answer (or even breathe), the break bell rang. Maki still laughed on the ground, unaware of the bell. Finally, Lance shrugged and walked to his classroom.

(Lunchtime)

Al smiled a big fake smile, and the cheering caused him to question if it was true that any applause was good applause.

He had "Borrowed" a bike from the school bike rack and raced home to meet a group of school kids on a field trip. He had previously called the teacher in regards to the advertisement that Dizzy had pointed out the day before, and she had been thrilled to hear how willing he was to take the job.

So now, the children in front of the Hinata house were being entertained by the antics of Flops the clown and his sidekick Squeak the weasel.

"Now kids," Al/Flops said as he held up a large sign with a picture of a fire on it "What do we do if we get caught on fire?"

"Stop drop and roll!" the children responded in unison.

"I can't hear you." He taunted.

"STOP DROP AND ROLL!" They shouted.

Sadly Al wasn't the only one who heard them this time. Sam came flying out the main doors flinging a bucket of water at the first bright object he saw -- a brightly dressed clown with a firemen's helmet on.

Al stood, soaking wet, his makeup getting in his eyes, and his sidekick weasel was none the better. He scowled angrily at Sam -- time for a little revenge!

"Now children it's time to introduce our new friend, Mr. Match, and what do we do to him?" Al asked forcing Sam into a giant match shaped costume.

Before Sam could stop them, the children forced him to the ground and began stomping on him as they would do with a smoking match.

Trying to save people sucked!

---------

Haitani gulped nervously. What on earth had posessed him to devise this plan? However, Shirai was already on his way to do the other - and more risky - part, so he couldn't back out now. He steeled his nerves, and approached the girl on the bench.

"Ah... excuse me, Aoyama-san..." he started, as respectfully as he could.

Motoko looked up and saw one of those perverted friends of Keitaro's, sweating nervously. She pinned him with a glare.

"Yes? For what reason are you interrupting my work?"

Beads of sweat appeared on Haitani's face as he bravely continued.

"Er... Aoyama-san, I would ... respectfully.. like to ask you to assist my partner and I in a charitable venture to help at the festival this weekend?" Haitani wondered if he was laying it on a bit thick.

When there was no immediate violent response, he managed to continue, "We are forming a support musical group to open the 'Battle of the Bands' contest, and.... we'dlikeyoutojointhebackinggroup!"

Motoko was surprised, to tell the truth. She had been prepared to hear a perverted suggestion, or a request for a date, and to then launch the hentai skywards. However, this was not really her sort of thing, despite that brief 'Sword and Flower' episode

"Sorry, but I don't think..." she started, before Haitani quickly added,

"Of course, Naru-san, Kitsune-san, Shinobu-chan and Moe-chan have already agreed to take part as well, so we really need you!" Haitani hoped she wouldn't see that his fingers were crossed behind his back as he said this.

"Well, if Naru-sempai has already agreed, this I guess it might be acceptable," she mused in surprise, "but..."

"Oh, thankyou!" shouted Haitani, "I'll give you the details later!" and quickly ran away before his legs gave out in terror.

"Err.. wait a minute!" Motoko replied, but too late. "Oh well," she thought, "I'll just have to trust Naru's judgement on this."

Haitani was sat some distance away, trying to stop shaking. Motoko had agreed... now they only had to convince Naru, Shinobu, and Kitsune.

---------

"So Naru agreed as well?"

"Yes... although I thought she was about to beat me senseless when I suggested it," replied Shirai. "Luckily I told her a little fib and said that Motoko and the rest had already agreed, and so she reluctantly said she'd do it."

"Nice move!" congratulated Haitani.

"How about Shinobu and Kitsune?"

"Shinobu will be a pushover, especially with Naru and Motoko already in, and Kitsune will do anything for enough money. Moe's already agreed, so I think we've got our backing dancers!"

"Hey, with that crowd of hot babes behind us, we'll be famous...." mused Shirai. "I can see ourselves as Pop Idols, with queues of sexy cuties waiting to date us!"

"Oh, yes!" enthused Haitani, "What a vision!"

"Still, it's a shame we weren't eligible to enter the competition ourselves."

---------

Su and Sarah sat, eyes glued to the T.V screen, their controllers gripped firmly, they and they alone stood between hordes of zombies and the rest of humanity.

"DIEEEEEE!" Su cried as she began pushing the X button as fast as her speedy digits would allow.

"FIRE, FIRE, FIRE!" Cheered Sarah as she lit some zombies on fire.

As if acting on cue, Sam burst in, fire extinguisher at full blast, covering the T.V with foam.

"MY T.V!" Su screamed as it sparked and died.

The two turned towards Sam, their eyes glowing with hatred.

He fell to his knees looking upwards to the ceiling.

"WHY ME LORD, WHYYYYYY!?!" he cried, knowing once again it had been a false alarm, and that in a few moments he would be in a state of pain he never knew existed.

------

Al yawned, after a short binge on soda; like all classic Noir detectives, Al liked to keep well lubricated at all times. He had slept leaning back in his chair, hoping to rest before his stakeout.

A sudden noise caught his attention and he placed a glass to the wooden door. It seemed that two people were just outside, and from the sounds of it, they were having an interesting spat.

"But you said that all I needed was class credits!" A young lady's voice protested. She had a barely noticeable but unusual accent.

"Yes," the deep baritone of the vice principal sighed. "But being in a club is part of getting that credit. Without a club, you don't get anything."

"So it's required?"

"I have been telling you this."

"But I don't know any clubs I want to join."

"Why should that concern me?" His voice rose slightly, taking on an accusatory tone. "Do you expect me to do everything for you? You are the one who made the decision to learn magic tricks in a foreign country. You are technically of graduating age, and the fact that you don't even understand this is disappointing."

Al could practically taste the tension in the air. It was definitely Maho; the subtle feeling of dread was too familiar for it not to be. "It's not that I don't understand, but—"

"But what? It's clear that you lack responsibility."

"What're you talking about?" She was quickly losing her patience. "I came back, didn't I?"

"Don't speak to me so informally, Urashima-kun." He seemed to fill up with his own authority, expanding and becoming more intimidating as Maho was backed into a corner both literally and figuratively. She mumbled a reply.

"What was that?"

"I said, please excuse my rudeness."

"That's better." The vice principal looked down on the much shorter girl. "I have been merciful with you so far, because you were not raised like a normal Japanese person. But understand, Urashima-kun, that saying you are Japanese and actually acting Japanese are two very different things." He said that part almost as if he were trying to sound sympathetic, but Maho had been told to go to hell with more warmth and compassion.

"What the hell does being Japanese have to do with this??"

The vice principal's tone became grim. "This isn't your simple western school where you can mouth off to anyone you please, young lady. What would your mother say if she saw you now, screaming like a spoiled gaijin?"

There was silence. Maho's next breath shook ominously as she exhaled. "My mother would say that you're nothing but a..."

That's my cue, Al thought. He busted open the door, spilling out of the janitor's closet with a couple of mops and a jug of bleach. His fedora slipped off of his head like a wet rag, and the trench coat was draped over his head stupidly.

Both individuals were clearly surprised by this turn of events, but Maho recognized him first. "Eh? Lupin-kun?"

"What were you doing there, Rush?" The vice principal looked at him warily.

"I, uh... Doing work for my club, of course!" Al stood up quickly and displayed his badge. "The detective club."

He seemed puzzled. "I don't recall a detective club."

"It's new," Al replied quickly. "So far the only members are me and Maho-chan."

"You were spying?" He paused for a beat. "What do you mean, you and Urashima-kun?"

He sweatdropped. "I mean, uh... She's in detective club. That's what I mean. Because she is."

Maho raised an eyebrow. "I am?"

"Yeah, I asked you this morning. Remember?" He considered winking, but he realized that that was both conspicuous and insufferably lame. Instead, Al made a big smile. "Well, we're busy people in detective club, don't want to be slacking!" He took the girl by the arm and dragged her away before either she or the vice principal could interject.

As soon as they were safely around a corner, Al breathed a sigh of relief. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Maho eyed Al's detective outfit with some amusement. "Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?"

The innuendo was lost on him, as he cheerfully pulled out his water pistol. "You never know when you could need protection, Maho-chan." He gave it a couple of test squirts for good measure.

She coughed, hiding her blush. "Sou ka." Maho whistled, and her doves flew down to her from a nearby tree branch, settling on her shoulders. She smirked. "So do you really have a detective club, or were you just pulling a fast one to save me?"

"Actually, it's good that you came along. I could use some help on this case." Al filled her in on the details.

"You've got to be kidding." Maho rubbed her forehead. "So how will we do this? Do you have a plan or anything?

He raised his index finger. "Elementary, my dear Maho!" Al smiled apologetically when she sweat dropped. "I think we might have to do an all-night stakeout." He added for levity, "Don't worry, I won't try any funny business."

"You're damn right you won't," Maho replied with sudden coldness. She walked faster, leaving the bemused Al to try and keep up with her.

----

Motoko flushed... she had come to her club's meeting assuming that she would simply be practicing with the club members but a problem had come up: a problem by the name of Izumo. He was the leader of the all male kendo club, and he had entered the classroom with his mind set on finishing off the female kendo club once and for all.

"So if I fight you, and you lose, we can stay but if I lose then we have to disband?"

"Correct." He flashed a gleaming white smile that made many of the girls in the kendo clubs weak in the knees.

"Alright -- you!" Motoko pointed at a boy in the other club "You will be judge."

"Excellent choice, this boy is the most honest member of my club."

"Then let's begin!" Motoko charged forward, determined not to let her girls down.

-----

"This is dumb."

"Shhh! They'll hear you."

"They'll never fall for it."

"Who's the detective here?"

"Good question."

"Oh, be quiet and play with your birds or something."

The door to the equipment room opened. A shadowy figure crept inside, not bothering to turn on the lights. Slowly, it walked across the room and crouched next to a ball on the floor. Reaching out one hand, it tried to pick the ball up, but it wouldn't budge. Confused, the thief pulled harder.

A voice startled him from his concentration. "You know, my mother always told me if I didn't have it screwed onto my neck, I'd lose my head."

The thief stumbled backwards and crashed into a stack of gymnastic mats, sending them tumbling down on top of him.

Maho flipped on the lights and Al climbed out of the ball bin he had spent an hour in. Pulling off the soccer ball mask, he pulled the culprit from the mats and lifted him slightly off the ground. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry don't hurt me!" The boy whimpered.

Al set the boy down and looked him over. He was slightly smaller than four feet tall, and was wearing shorts and a soccer jersey with the words "towel boy" stitched across the front.

"So our thief is the team's towel boy." Maho declared, hoping it was done and she could go home. There were better ways to spend an hour than crouching next to a light switch while wearing an umpire's mask.

"I didn't steal the balls!" The boy replied, looking scared of the tall American looking down at him with a grin.

"A likely story! You, sir, are hereby…" Al produced his badge with a flourish, "Under arrest!"

Maho rolled her eyes.

"I didn't steal them! They're still on the school grounds!"

---

Al, Maho and the boy stood on the roof of the school, looking at all the soccer balls that lay scattered around.

"You see, I've been practicing to join the real team, but every time I do a bicycle kick the wind blows the ball on the roof." He wringed his hands nervously. "I've never been able to get up here because the door's always locked."

"Really now?" Maho shot a curious look at Al who had opened the door with no problem. But he was mainly able to open it because someone had broken the lock— someone who left weasel teeth marks on the wood.

"Funny, I eat my lunches up here but I've never gone to this part of the roof." Al chuckled and kicked a ball off the roof. "Wish I had. Then I'd have known where they were all going without having to stake out!"

Al turned to the door, proud of his capture. He'd probably let the boy go. After all, it wasn't his fault the balls had gone up here, and he'd have gotten them back if he could.

Suddenly, he noticed a glimmer of reflected light. A long tube was sticking out of the open crack in the doorway; it was a blowgun, aiming for...

"LOOK OUT!" The blond boy cried, diving for and tackling the towel boy. The two of them crashed to the floor.

The boy moaned in pain, and Al rolled off of him. A feathered dart had caught the boy in the leg.

"Come back here!" Al called, drawing his gun and disappearing into the school.

"Lupin-kun! Hey! Al!" Maho shouted after him, but he was already long gone. What was he going to do with a squirt gun? It was insane.

"My leg," the boy cried, bringing Maho back to the moment. "I can't move my leg!"

She knelt down, taking a piece of stage silk out from her sleeve and gently touching the boy's shoulder with her other hand. "Don't move, okay?" she said with a voice that she hoped was reassuring. She was just as freaked out as he was, but Maho reminded herself that magicians never let the audience see them sweat. "Is the feeling getting worse?"

The boy shook his head, but his eyes were screwed shut.

With one hand, Maho pulled out the dart and wrapped it in the silk. The tip of the object was smothered in some kind of murky gel. "A poisoned dart?" She placed the bundle in the care of her doves, giving them a direct order with a clap of her hands. "Take this and wait for me at the science lab!" The birds flew away obediently.

Maho took off her long coat, draping it over the boy as she lifted him onto her back and began carrying him to the nurse's office. She sighed. This had turned out to be quite a day, thanks to Al's detective work. Her thoughts drifted to him again, and what he was doing right now with the attacker.

"He'd better not get himself hurt," she concluded. "Baka."

---

Al chased the sound of the retreating footsteps down the stairs; he saw the door at the bottom slam shut!

He grabbed the handle and jiggled it, but it wouldn't open.

Throwing his weight agenst the door, al forced it open with a loud SNAP, and after noting the broken mop on the floor, gave chase.

He turned into a dark hallway, spying a shadow running off into the darkness, the chase however was to be cut short as a door swung open in front of Al.

The teacher was a short man who looked like a rat with his buck teeth, curved posture and overall sneaky eyes, he looked up and down the hallway, cursed the faulty wiring in the building, and then left, ignoring Al who lay on his back stunned as his nose bled from the impact, listening to the odd "CLOP CLOP CLOP" of the attacker disappearing into the school.

---

Maho stretched, feeling like she had just run a gauntlet with very persistent foam bats. She had left the young boy in the care of the school nurse, a former female wrestling star known only as the Nurse of Pain. After a short examination, the N.O.P explained that the boy seemed unhurt, aside from a few bruises thanks to Al's tackle. In fact, everything was fine, save for losing the ability to move his right leg.

As she walked out of the office, Maho heard a grumbling voice. She turned, spotted Al, and promptly did her best not to burst out laughing. He was walking slowly, grumbling to himself as two pieces of blood-flecked tissue paper hung out of his nose. "Gee, did the attacker lead you into the ladies' locker room?" She snickered, not showing much concern for the wounded detective.

"I wish." Al sighed. "So what's the deal? Will the kid be ok?"

"Well, he can't move his leg, but the dart's at the lab right now so we can look for an antidote."

"Excellent work Watson!" Al praised as he removed the tissue paper from his nose. "Let's get going."

The two of them set off in silence. As he walked, Al realized he still hadn't been forgiven for exposing himself to Maho last week. It was a silly thought, and now probably wasn't the time to beg forgiveness.

He looked her up and down out of the corner of his eye. She wasn't wearing her usual coat, and he had to admit she looked pretty good. Her short-sleeved violet blouse seemed to fit her perfectly, and it looked comfy. Al made a mental note to pick up one for his future costumes. He also couldn't help noticing her short skirt, as he had noticed many short skirts ever since he got to Japan. Maho had great legs.

He shook his head to remove such perverted thoughts. No, Maho was a lady after all, and deserved his respect. Not only because she was a lady, but because she could kick his ass, and had literally done so before.

Another idle thought presented itself, and Al wondered if perhaps he had been too focused on Motoko. But wait, he liked Motoko... Once again, he pushed these trivial thoughts away. The most important thing was trying to figure out who this attacker was and bringing him to justice. As Detective Conan would say, "With a keen eye for detail, one truth will prevail!"

"What are you doing?" Maho asked, looking at Al puzzled.

Al blinked and then flushed red. He had struck the pose that went with that line without noticing, "Uh, err... nothing. Let's go."

They pair started off again on the road to the truth.

---

Juri Okabe, model student of the Hinata High School Science Department, was confused. She had just had two students bring her a dart filled with a paralyzing compound, and they claimed that it had been used to harm a student.

"Well, this compound is quite familiar." She stuck a pen cap in her mouth. "In fact, I made it this morning."

"So you invented it, did you?" Alex asked, as he held a sign that said "Suspect One" in front of Juri and took a picture with a digital camera. Maho elbowed him in the side.

"Yes. It was stolen from the room during lunch."

"Stolen, was it?" Alex didn't seem to buy it.

"Why would you make a chemical to paralyze people?" Maho asked.

"Well, it's because I needed something to prove I was the right person for this scholarship to Tokyo U." Her eyes lit up slightly. "It's for the most innovative biological experiment, you see. I was working on an anti-serum before it was stolen, but I couldn't finish without the original. If I could have that dart, I can work on helping that boy."

Al looked at Maho knowingly before handing the dart to the girl. "Alright, but we still have a sample of the solution of the dart. So if you try anything funny..."

"Are you accusing me??" Juri did a complete 180 in mood. How rude this person was!

Maho jumped between them, pushing Al in the direction of the exit. "He's sorry, please don't mind him, he's just a little rattled, he was almost hit with this solution dart too and that's just so dreadful, wouldn't you agree?" She glared at Al.

After a moment, Juri nodded. "Alright. I'll send someone if I need you two."

"Fine, be sure to hurry though, the poor kid will be defenseless in about an hour and a half, the N.O.P goes off duty by then." Al let Maho drag him out of the room before he could make the girl mad again.

---

Al smiled smugly at the next suspect. Though the credit should've rightfully gone to Maho, he knew she wouldn't mind if he told himself that asking around to see if the victim had any enemies was his own brilliant idea. She still didn't seem to care much either way. They had asked the soccer team and they were led to one person who would be considered an enemy to the towel boy: Kunio, the star player on the team.

Sitting before them, the athlete looked ready to kill. The two had pulled him from his practice and were now interrogating him in an empty classroom.

"Would you say you disliked the towel boy on your team?" Al asked, sitting backwards on an old chair and folding his hands in a professional manner.

"Yeah, you bet I dislike that little twerp!" He seethed menacingly, more for his own comfort than anything else. "The little runt made me lose my first perfect game!"

"How so, Kunio-san?" asked Maho, taking notes in a Hello Kitty notepad as Al had asked. It was tedious, but she knew her handwriting would be easier to read later.

"The bitchass claimed to run out of towels just when I needed one." He started gesticulating dramatically, bringing the moment alive for the tiny audience. "I was running on the field during the second half, a few more seconds and it was over, win or lose. The sweat from my forehead got into my eyes and I missed the last shot," He gripped the table until his knuckles went white. "Making my perfect game just another win for our team. I'll never forgive him for that... Never."

There was a long, tense silence after he finished.

"Uh, that's it?" Al asked incredulously.

"That's plenty!" Kunio growled.

"You sure you've just been picking on him for that and only that?"

"Yes, can I go now?" Kunio was starting to bare his teeth.

"Yes, thank you for your time." Maho smiled pleasantly, trying not to kick Al for upsetting yet another suspect.

"Yeah." Al narrowed his eyes. "Word of advice, though: Don't go near the nurse's office. That poor towel boy will be all defenseless in half an hour and you are the last person he should see." Al gave Kunio a look that said, "I'm watching you, punk."

Kunio left, slamming the sliding door. Al stood up. "Well, he has a connection, and his team mates claim that he left to go to the bathroom just before the time of the attack."

"He seems more like the type to beat someone to death, but he does look like the prime suspect." Maho nodded to herself. "Any other leads?"

"Well not really, except..."

She leaned closer. "Except?"

"When I was chasing him, I remember hearing an odd clunking noise. Familiar too. Now I think I remember where I heard it before."

"Where?"

He looked up. "Motoko."

Maho gasped, though it wasn't that shocking. The moment just seemed to demand one.

Al continued, "Her wooden sandals make the same noise when she runs."

She flushed, presumably in anger, and jumped up to hit Al on the shoulder. "It can't have been Motoko-san!"

"No, no, that's not what I meant. I mean who else wears shoes like that?"

"The kendo club!" Maho nodded, finally understanding Al's vague connection.

"So what say we pay ol' Mo-chan's club a visit eh?" Al went to the door purposefully, gaining a second wind at the prospect of a new lead.

He didn't notice Maho wilt upon hearing the pet name. "Sure. Lead the way, Al-san."

---

Motoko panted, fighting to keep her composure and her stance. This person was truly a worthy opponent. He had blocked her blow for blow, but what enraged her is he didn't even seem to be breaking a sweat. His bokken remained perfectly still, held by unshaking hands and supported by the most graceful footwork Motoko had ever seen.

The devil smiled at her lightly. "Are you done yet, woman?"

She snarled. That pig! That handsome pig! Motoko shook her head to clear herself of such thoughts. He was attractive and an excellent swordsman, but he was also a chauvinist wretch and needed to be punished.

"Hey Mo-chan!" She winced when she heard a deep voice from behind—a deep annoying voice.

Turning she spied Rush and Maho walking side by side towards her. Rush was wearing some absurd outfit, which was no surprise, but the duo was walking together. They never seemed to get along after Al had exposed his bare essentials.

"Shall we continue?" His perfect teeth shined in the light. "I'm afraid I don't have all day."

"With pleasure!" With a loud cry, she shot towards him with her sword raised. There was no way he could counter such a fast maneuver.

But once again, their wooden swords met with an ear-splitting crack. She forced her strength against the blade, but he was quickly overpowering her. One more second and there would be a clear victory.

Al popped up between the two duelists. "Hi. One question: why are you two still fighting? The rest of the club has left except this guy."

The two club leaders paused and looked around. Other than the male they had appointed as the judge, all the students had left.

"This person challenged me to a fight. If I lose, then my club must disband." The kendo girl panted as the two of them lowered their swords.

"Why?" Maho asked.

"Because it is not right for females to practice the art of kendo, that's why." Izumo responded.

"Oh, well mind if we watch?" Alex asked, not sounding too surprised by the sexist remark.

"Fine, but stay out of the way and don't interfere." Motoko looked at him coldly. She was in no mood for his games.

"You got it." Al climbed up onto the branch of a tree to get a good view of the fight, leaving Maho leaning against its trunk. She wasn't sure where they were going with this. If the rest of the class left, then that meant that the attacker could have gotten away by now.

Motoko and Izumo returned to their fight, bokken impacting against bokken with a frightening speed. Motoko saw her opening in a split second when her opponent blocked toward his left, leaving his right wrist and abdomen open for a double strike. With a triumphant cry, she lunged.

Motoko felt the force of a car hit her in the gut, sending her flying straight for the tree and toward Maho. The short girl yelped and instinctively released a cloud of playing cards from her outstretched palms, her entire body tensing itself for the inevitable.

At the last second, she felt a pair of strong hands grab her by the arms and lift her up as she felt a rush of wind from under her. After a moment, Maho opened her eyes. She was hanging from the tree, held up firmly by Al. The tall boy was hanging by his feet and held her out of the path of Motoko, who hadn't even noticed the commotion and was already back to fighting.

"You gotta be careful there, Ma-chan! Being a detective is dangerous work." He smiled as he set her back down on the ground softly.

Maho's cards were fluttering to the ground like autumn leaves, and the two fighters were in the eye of the storm. Aces and jacks were struck down in mid-flight as the swords swung with single-minded intensity. Diamonds and hearts danced in the air like a swirling vortex, riding the intense waves of chi that emanated from both Motoko and Izumo.

Al whistled. "Wow."

"Yeah," Maho replied dully, as she leaned back against the tree. The battle was in front of her eyes, but her vision was elsewhere.

---

As the two fought on, Al hopped off the tree and moved closer. "Do you mind if I ask you a question?" He ducked as another strike sent Motoko spinning overhead.

"Sure." The bishounen of kendo gave a carefree smirk.

"Where did you get that mark on your head? It's not shaped like a bokken's tip."

"Well strangely enough…" he paused to duck as Motoko came flying in again. "A soccer ball fell from the sky and hit me about a half hour ago."

"Oh, is that so? Thanks." Al ran and grabbed Maho, breaking her out of her daze. "Come on, the N.O.P goes off duty in five minutes, and we have to be there to catch the crook."

Maho looked at Al's hand in hers, then at him. "W-What makes you so sure they'll come back?"

"They will! Come on!"

The pair ran down the hall at full speed. They had to get to the nurses office. Al looked the most determined to get there, but he was the one who knew what the true stakes were; if he was too slow, his plan would be a failure.

Turning to make sure Maho was still behind him, Al didn't see the arm that stuck out and clotheslined him from behind a corner. He fell on his back, stunned.

"Stay after him." Al said in a dazed slur, pointing down the hall.

Maho only registered surprise for a moment. Then with a silent nod, she started sprinting.

Days of running to school made it a little easier, but still she couldn't catch up to the figure who seemed to constantly disappear just out of Maho's sight. They were just too fast, too quick around the corners. The figure bounded up the stairway effortlessly as Maho cursed her heavy boots and dearly wished she had her coat so she could throw a few firecrackers.

Completely winded, she hunched over to catch her breath, leaning with one hand on the door to the nurse's office. When it suddenly opened with no warning, Maho could do little more than fall comically at the N.O.P's feet.

"Wait!" Maho wheezed as the large woman stepped over her. "We... have... just wait, okay??"

Al paced slowly in front of the group assembled in the nurse's office, building a classic Shakespearean tension. The climax of the case was quickly approaching, and he felt a surge of energy driving him toward the inevitable conclusion. With one decisive breath, he began to speak.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I have called you here because you are all somehow linked to this young man." Al motioned to the injured towel boy on the table, who was looking nervously across the room at the gruff Kunio.

Maho's eyes searched the faces of the party. None of them looked guilty, but the true culprits were always hard to catch at first glance.

"Now my original plan was to let it slip to each of you that the boy would be defenseless right now, and then whoever came to this room would be the one who needed to be arrested." He paused for effect. "However, something else happened."

The three suspects stood opposite Al, Maho and the towel boy, each one looking at the others with guarded suspicion.

"First, you!" Al pointed to Motoko's earlier opponent, Izumo, who had simply called the duel a draw. Whether it was because he admired the girl's skill or because he knew exactly how to press her buttons was a mystery.

"You are the leader of the Men's Kendo Club. The person who attacked was a male, easily identified as such by his build. The attacker also wore wooden sandals, a style preferred by the members of your club." He waited for those facts to sink in before continuing. "However, according to you and Mo-ch... Motoko-san, the only people from your clubs at the time of the attacks were you two and the ref. And with your alibi of being hit in the head with a soccer ball that I myself kicked off the roof, there's no way you could have attacked the boy."

Izumo nodded, his expression inscrutable.

"Next up, Kunio-san." Al's pacing became faster as he spoke. "You not only disliked the victim, but you also have had a history of bullying people in the past using physical violence."

"Hey, idiot... When I gave you the chance to arrest a ball thief I didn't mean me!"

"I know. You and your little goons forced me into taking up my detective club again, so it's a passable excuse. Why would you hire a detective if you had done it?"

"Because I didn't, asshole!" Kunio growled, his tan skin becoming a deep crimson as he snarled almost to the point of foaming at the mouth.

"But let's not forget our final suspect, Juri-san."

"But you already said that the attacker was a male!" She interrupted indignantly.

"True, but you also needed a human test subject for your compound. So, it would only make sense for a smart girl like you to hire someone else to attack someone using your experimental drugs."

"Baka! Why would I order an attack on my own boyfriend??"

"Huh?" Al stopped mid-pace. He had lost his thunder.

"This boy here," She gestured towards the towel boy, who waved meekly from behind Maho with his pinky finger. "He's my boyfriend."

"Aw, man. Now I'm gonna have to tell Taro-kun that you're taken."

Al rounded on Kunio. "What was that?"

"Taro-kun," Izumo explained. "He's a member of my club, and a friend of Kunio-san."

"Wait a sec, he's one of your friends? As in one of the ones who keep coming to harass me at lunch?"

"Yup." Kunio nodded.

Al turned slowly to Juri. "And you say he's got a crush on Juri?"

"Yup." Kunio nodded again, his disdain for the gaijin as clear as day.

A lightbulb went on over his head. "Okay, I've got it now! The attacker is…"

Before Al could finish, Izumo gave the door to the office a hardy strike with his weapon, sending it flying open. A panicked cry issued from the other side. The group quickly assembled outside to find Taro: kendo student, judge for the fight between Motoko and Izumo, and a boy who had harbored a crush on Juri for quite some time.

"Now what were you doing?" Alex asked, smiling in a way that usually made one worry about imminent death.

"I, er... I confess!" Taro collapsed into a sobbing mess at his club leader's feet. "I was worried about what you did, sempai! I was coming to take the blame in your place."

"But I didn't do anything— OW!" Izumo yelped and looked down; a dart was sticking out of his leg. He looked at Taro in disbelief. "You... bastard!" The pretty boy lost any shred of composure he had left as he swung viciously, missing the fiend by a less than an inch. Taro ran off, hounded by Al as Izumo finally collapsed from the chemical's effects.

Maho made a motion to follow, but then she thought better of it and stopped. After a beat, she asked no one in particular, "Taro-san would come back to school tomorrow anyway, wouldn't he?"

Everyone shrugged. She shook her head. "Baka Lupin-kun."

Al panted as he chased the culprit. If he were smart, he would have shed the heavy trench coat. But then he wouldn't look half as cool while running. On the other hand, Taro was quickly putting distance between himself and the out of shape detective, so Al would either have to think fast, or be exceedingly lucky in the next few seconds.

As fate would have it, a janitor just happened to be mopping nearby. Al jumped and landed feet first in the yellow bucket of water, the wheels allowing him to shoot off after the culprit.

Using a mop to propel himself, Al quickly gained on Taro.

"Give it up, foreigner! You can't hope to catch me!" Taro took his shinai and swung hard at Al's quickly approaching face.

Perhaps it was all the training at ducking and dodging he was getting from living with Motoko, or perhaps it was just pure dumb luck, but Al leaned back far enough that the sword merely grazed his fedora. The bucket collapsed at the momentum, sending Al crashing to the floor at Taro's feet.

Taro held the sword's tip to Al's neck, smiling dangerously as he pulled out another dart. "Well, it's been fun Rush, but now I'm going to rid this school of your perverted self before I leave for good."

Before Taro could blink, Al had his gun pointed at his face, "What's faster, kid: your sword, or my trigger finger? I've gotten the highest score on House of the Dead in almost every arcade I've gone to! Do you really want to test my skill?"

"That's a water gun." Taro said. Were all Americans this stupid?

With that, Al squeezed the trigger, sending a stream of liquid into Taro's eyes.

"AHHHHRGH, IT BURNS!" The boy cried, stumbling backward while rubbing furiously at his face.

"Lemon juice usually does." Al stood up and dusted himself off. Then he noticed where he was going. "Hey dude, hold it! You're moving towards the..."

Al winced as Taro toppled painfully down the staircase. "Um. Maybe this is the part where I call the police."

-----

Lance left Yamasugawa's classroom after school, leaving an hour early than originally by his request. Yamasugawa was still sick, and decided to break off the day early to prevent risking his students to catch it. He waved goodbye to Kyoji and Amy, who also began to leave and walked toward the school exit. To his surprise, Shinobu leaned agianst the metal fence leading into the sidewalk, still in her uniform and her bookbag over her shoulder, which meant she never went home yet. With a playful salute, Lance walked over and greeted her.

"Hey, what're you doing here still?" asked Lance.

"I was actually waiting for Kaolla, but I guess she got home already." said Shinobu, a small smile on her face. Her smile made Lance feel suddenly rushed and excited, but he mentally shook the feeling off.

"So you're on your way home now? I'll walk with you."

"Sure!"

Moments later they were walking down the Hinata downtown market. No cars drove through, but citizens and students still in their uniforms milled around the rows of shops. Lance even stopped to finally buy the guitar strings and tuning screws he needed.

"So, Shinobu," said Lance after awhile, walking back down the market. "Do you have any plans for the festival this Sunday?"

"None yet," she replied, "But I'd really like to go! Last year's festival was so wonderful..."

"So, um..." Lance's face grew suddenly red. "You're not... going with anyone?"

"No, why?"

"Well, er..." Lance began to stutter, "I was, um... wondering if you could accompany me to the festival? Er, you know, just as friends?"

Shinobu looked at Lance, almost as if pondering the choices in her head. Then she smiled big and said, "Yes, that would be great!"

Lance felt his heart race again from her smile. He grinned back.

"Alright, so it's a date!"

"Ano..." began Shinobu, before tailing off in embarassment. A date?!

--------------

Motoko, Al and Maho were walking home as the sun set over the town. The cicadas were starting their summer screeching early, but other than that it was nothing but peace and quiet, with the occasional car or passersby breaking the mutual silence. From the way the trio scraped their feet on the sidewalk, it was clear that they were exhausted.

"Today was a good day for justice," Al sighed contentedly, folding his hands behind his head.

Maho smirked. "You're saying that it's all thanks to you?"

"Well, I couldn't do anything without my wonderful assistant Ma-chan, but..."

"You damaged school property, ran amuck through the campus while falling into one conspiracy after another, and sent one kid to the hospital with a broken rib." She shook her head. "I'm not taking credit for any of that, thanks."

"Hey, that broken rib wasn't my fault!" Al protested.

"I know." Maho smiled, patting Al on the arm. "Actually, I thought you were pretty cool today."

"Really?" He beamed.

"Yeah." She coughed. "Once or twice. You know. Not the whole time."

Al chuckled. "Aw. I always knew you loved me."

Maho blushed and socked him. "I didn't say anything about that! Get a life!"

"I'm kidding." Al looked down at her while rubbing his elbow. "So does that mean you forgive me?"

"Hm?" She raised an eyebrow quizzically. "For what?"

"You know." Al scratched his head. "That day. That day when I did that thing. Mooning you." He smiled apologetically. "I'm really sorry. I mean it."

"Oh." She laughed. "Are you still thinking about that, Lupin-kun?" She pushed him playfully. "Baka."

"Heh, I guess you're right. It's silly."

Until then, Motoko had been quiet, pensively walking behind Al and Maho. But she suddenly slammed her fist into the wall and shouted. "Izumo-san, you fiend! I will defeat you, I swear on my life!" She blinked, realizing where she was. "Oh, Rush. Urashima. Konnichiwa."

They sweatdropped.

"Motoko-san... Perhaps you should relax a little." Maho smiled nervously.

"She's right, Mo-chan. You don't want to get obsessed."

Motoko was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't even blink at the nickname. Finally, she said, "I'm tired. Let's go home, everybody."

They could definitely agree on that.

------------

Sam was exhausted, bruised, and fed up. All day he'd been trying to stop the impending fire from his vision... and what had he got in exchange? A variety of beatings, and a black mark at school for skipping the day, probably.

He sighed. Mutsumi had told him not to tell people of his visions, and in light of his previous experiences, it made sense. He couldn't even discuss it with her, though, since she had been away somewhere for a couple of days. Sitting down, he tried again to be calm remember his vision, as she had taught him. What had she said?

"Have some watermelon!"

No, not that. Something more useful.

"Remember the details"

That was it... Now, in his vision, he had been splashing through puddles. That really made him think it would be today, after the rain this morning. Shinobu had been in her room... but she'd hidden away there every evening since the age-change chaos. And... hadn't it been twilight?

Sam stopped to think. Yes.. it had been twilight. So, evening, then... after dinner, but before darkness. In other words... now.

Sam leapt up and ran out of his room.

--------

Al blinked, confused. How did this akward little situation erupt?

He had been wandering twords the bathroom when he had been confronted by a stern looking Kyosuke.

"C..can I help you?" Al asked trying to use his size advantage to make him feel safer, something about this boy made him nervous.

Kyosuke drew a gun and aimed the barrel at Al's head, holding the arm with his other hand to keep it steady.

"I'm not even going to bother asking you what you did to piss off the Godfather so I'll just put this as bluntly as I can: You did something to offend him and now you're going to be punished accordingly."

He pulled the trigger half-way, hesitating and then slightly shifted the barrel at the last minute, making the bullet to whizz past his fellow tenant's cheek. He holstered the weapon and turned in a huff.

"Now's not the time to get a guilty conscience." he said defensivley before pausing. "But remember this: if you hadn't been a tenant of the same inn, that bullet would've gone into your eye." and with that he calmly and quietly walked away.

Al slid slowly to the ground, his legs feeling like jello, and his face pale. No matter how many times one stared down death, somehow it always seemed surreal.

He crawled away in the opposite direction to his would-be murderer. Perhaps he should take care of that little Mafia problem sooner then he had planned.

He decided to return to his room. Staggering along the corridor, he didn't notice a pile of tools and equipment left by the repair workers -- tripping over, he scattered things everywhere.

"Ouchie!" he groaned, before picking himself up and walking on, lost in thought.

He didn't notice the blowtorch that had fallen over and lit, the flames licking against the wooden inn wall.

------------

Sam ran back and forth along corridors. Maybe he should just get everyone out? But then they'd probably blame him for starting it, just like happened at his old school.

He skidded around a corner, and then saw something at the end of the corridor.

Licking up the wall, the flames were just starting to take hold. Sam looked back and forth around him -- he'd put extinguishers all over the place, why weren't there any next to him? There wasn't time!

Sam ran down the corridor, taking off his jacket. He could beat it out, or something! As he arrived at the flames, he saw that he'd have to be fast. Flailing away, he only managed to set fire to his jacket in addition to the wall... he dropped it quickly, and was mortified to notice that in doing so he set fire to yet another part of the floor.

What could he do now!? In his panic, he decided maybe it would be a good idea to use his, ah, 'personal hose' to put the fire out. Luckily he'd just finished drinking a can of soda! He was just dropping his pants to put his new plan into action, when he heard a shout behind him.

"Fire! Quick!" came Naru's voice. Turning around, he saw she'd managed to grab one of his extinguishers (why hadn't he seen it standing there?) and she was about to use it. He also, belatedly, realised how it would have been a good idea to shout a warning himself... just as both he and the wall were drenched by the spray.

Seconds later, other tenants arrived, also carrying items of fire prevention that Sam had previously left lying about the inn. In short order, he found himself soaked, covered in foam, and finally covered in a bucket of sand. The fire was well and truly extinguished.

"Honestly, how useless are you?" asked Naru, stepping up. "If it weren't for us, the Inn would be burnt down!" she scolded him. Sam looked at his drenched state, and just laughed. He'd done it! He'd changed the future!

Naru glared. How dare he laugh as something so serious? Then she looked down.... Sam followed her gaze, and found that he had never re-dressed himself after dropping his pants earlier. He sighed.... this was going to hurt....

"HENTAI!" screamed Naru, whacking Sam through the wall behind where the fire had been.

"That was considerate of him!" commented Keitaro. "That wall would have to be replaced anyway for the fire damage, so it was kind of him not to create a new hole!"

(Lance's evening)

After picking up his guitar, Lance walked down the hall towards Al's room. Although he had never been there before, he could tell which room it was from the many times that Su kept running back and forth.

He plucked a couple strings on the guitar, tuning it as he came upon Al's door. He knocked twice.

He noticed that the door was bending towards him as if something was pushing against it from the other side. No one opened it though he could see light through the paper.

"Yo Al! Are you in here?"

After a moment the door slid open and Lance felt as if his eardrums would explode. He saw Su's mouth moving but nothing could be heard over the loud music and singing.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Lance yelled, even though he couldn't hear his own voice.

Su held a hand to her ear to indicate she couldn't hear him over the guitar solo, which sounded like an army of cats was ripping apart the fabric of space and time. She giggled and threw a shoe at Al, hitting him in the head and signaling him to turn the noise down. He did so and silence returned to Hinata.

"I SAID WHAT ARE YOU...all....doing?" Lance blushed as he found himself yelling at nothing.

"I was just introducing Su to some classical American music." Al grinned impishly holding up the soundtrack to Resident Evil.

Lance raised an eyebrow. "Right. Classical. So are we ready?"

"Uh...one sec," Al walked over and hammered on a plastic castle in the corner. Dizzy crawled out, cotton stuffed in his ears. After their weasely drummer removed them he climbed onto the stool behind his drums and took out a pair of drumsticks bigger then he himself was.

Al, who was dressed smartly in white dress shirt, red tie and slacks, donned a pair of "Blues Brothers" sunglasses before responding "Ok, we're set, but one question, does this little band have a name?"

"I've been thinking about that," Lance said as he made himself welcome to Al's room. He found the walls covered with soundproofing carpet, explaining the awkward silence before the door opened and proved him very wrong.

"I think we should be the Banana Splits!" Su cheered pumping a fist into the air.

"You're about a couple decades late, Su."

"Grr?" Suggested dizzy wearing a tiny outfit modeled after Ringo Starr.

"No, we are not gonna be Dizzy and the Dizettes." Al sighed.

"Me neither, I can't see myself as a female Ewok." Lance said sarcastically.

"The Su Experience?"

"Al Plus Three?"

"Can we have it so that none of us are singled out? It adds the percent chance of going solo." Lance said matter-of-factly.

"Hmmm, indeed, we don't need another Yoko Ono happening."

Lance shuddered in his spot. "Don't even mention her..."

"Is that good to eat?"

"Su, that's what is also known as the Black Plague of music."

"So it's not yummy?"

"No."

"I say we think of something that all of us could apply to," Lance suggested, laying his guitar down.

"Hmmm, how about we use the letters in our names?" Al suggested, he pointed to himself "A," he then pointed to each member in turn "D,L,S."

"Okay... so you want us to use our letters to form a word?"

"A.D.L.S,... is that a word?" Asked Su, confused but smiling never-the-less.

"Grr."

"You sure?"

"Grr."

"It sounds like an HIV disease gone wrong.." Lance chuckled at his own pathetic joke.

Al winked "Well that's not exactly a tag-line a band needs, 'Now performing, a HIV disease gone wrong!' "

"Gotta admit it's catchy..." Lance shook his head, ashamed at himself.

"ADSL! The Internet Band! One look at Al and they'll know we've a lot of 'band width'!" shouted Su, before being squashed by a giant 'Pikachu' plushy thrown by an irritated Al.

"The only thing I can make of it is 'L.A.D.S.'" commented Lance, eventually.

"Hmmm, other than sounding like the name of a gay cover band I think that might just work!"

"Only that Su isn't exactly a male..." Lance pointed out

"You wouldn't know from looking if she didn't favor skirts." Al muttered as Su, who had become bored with the discussion, began drawing plans for a Tama snare on Al's sketch pad.

"Grr."

"Once again the furball's right, now is not the time to worry about such technicalities. If we're good the public will call us whatever we tell them to." Al agreed with his tiny friend.

"Good point Dizzy," Lance agreed. "So, let's cover some songs that we may already know. How about building up on your gumbo song, Al?"

"Alright, lemme see here..." Al dove into a pile of papers the size of a small cow and climbed out with some sheet music in his teeth.

"Grr."

"No, I do not think our room is messy." Al retorted passing the music to Lance and Su who didn't know the beat as well as he and Dizzy did.

Lance looked over the music. "This is the guitar part? It looks... pretty cool, actually."

"Yup, a nice island beat thanks to Jimmy Buffet, ever heard of him?"

"Of course, dummkopf," said Lance, laying the German smackdown on Al.

"Dumm what?" Al was barely fluent in English let alone Japanese, any hope of learning other languages was far too much to ask of the simple ditz.

"...Nothing. Let's just get going, okay? One, and a two, and a three..."

After an hour or so the group had learned the song well enough that they had moved on to another song in Al's pile of junk, and were just wrapping it up for a third time.

"You guys are better than I thought!" Lance exclaimed after the run-through.

"Wooo, what a blast!" Al cheered, he was sweating lightly and his face was flushed. The whole band was playing hard.

Dizzy jumped onto the bookshelf behind him and turned on a fan that began to cool the group off.

"Dizzy, dude, you got some mad beat." Lance patted the weasel on the head

"So bossman, any idea what we're gonna play for the show? I have some tuneage you could listen to." Al indicated a pile of CDs in the corner.

"Show me what you got."

Al flipped through. "Mostly burned CD's, a Dr. Demento here and there, some Monty Python..." Al read the labels.

"Ooh, here's a good one!" Al put in a purple CD and cranked up the volume knob.

"What is it?" Lance asked before the song picked up.

"A little rock..." And before Al could finish a lovely guitar opened up a can of whup-ass on their ear drums.

Lance jumped and clutched his ears, screaming but not being heard. He felt a tug on his pants leg and looked down. Dizzy was holding a pair of ear plugs, smaller than the cotton balls he had stuffed in his ears.

Suddenly the door slid open, and Keitaro popped his head in the room. "What's going on-"

Then suddenly the song picked up in volume dramatically, and Keitaro was blasted out of the room and smashed into the wall down the hall.

Lance made a dive to the door and, with difficulty, shut it tight.

Al turned off the music, sweatdropping "Did you say something Lance?"

Lance couldn't even find his own voice. He just stared at Al dumbly, all expression on his face gone.

"What?"

(Late night)

"Mind if I join you?"

Maho looked to the side of the roof, where a ladder was propped and someone was climbing up its rungs. Keitaro's head popped up into the moonlight. "Hi."

She waved silently, and resumed looking up at the stars.

Keitaro sat down next to Maho and lay back on the tiles. "Nice night, isn't it? It's starting to get warm again."

Maho nodded. "Mmhmm."

"It's been a while since I just sat here and looked at the sky." He smiled. "Full moon tonight, too."

Again, she nodded. "Mm." They sat together like this, saying nothing for a long time.

Keitaro cleared his throat. "Ne, Maho-chan."

"Yes?" Maho decided to ignore the fact that he called her Maho-chan again. She didn't care today.

"Is there something on your mind?"

She was thinking about Al, and Motoko, and all the things that had happened earlier that day. After all the insanity had come and gone, and the three of them walked home together, Maho was faced with the strange notion that these two had somehow become her friends. Even Al, the idiot who could do almost nothing right, saved her twice in one day. They seemed to like her, and she liked having them around. But that just made her deeper feelings so complicated. There was no such thing as love at first sight, right? But this was the second, the third sight, and on and on, and still she loved seeing that special person. She was completely lost, and being around Al and Motoko when they obviously liked each other just added a bitter twist.

The short girl tapped her chin with her index finger. "Hmm. No, not really." She looked at him from the corner of her eye. "How about you, Kei-kun?"

He was thinking about Shinobu. Every time he saw her, his heart would race and his hands would shake so nervously he was afraid he was going to collapse. And every time he didn't see her, he would be in the middle of studying or working and his thoughts would drift to her, and how nice she looked last summer, or how cute she was when she was cooking eggs. Maybe it was because of the half-remembered dream where he went out on a date with her. But Naru was in that dream too, wasn't she? Why wasn't he thinking about her at all, he wondered? This change of heart was sudden and unexpected. Whether it was unwanted, however, he didn't know.

Keitaro shrugged. "Oh, you know. Same old boring thoughts."

Maho reached out and ruffled her nephew's hair. "You're not boring, Kei-kun."

"Thanks Auntie," he chuckled, standing up. "Well, I have to study tonight, but I'll leave the ladder up for you. Oyasumi-nasai."

She smiled, giving his hand a tender squeeze. "Oyasumi."

Keitaro disappeared into wherever college students go at night, leaving Maho alone with her thoughts as before. But even that didn't last very long, as soon she was disturbed by a strange noise coming from below.

----

Maho hung upside-down from the edge of the roof, looking into the window. Ryuko was sitting on the floor, and she was talking to some kind of stuffed animal. Twirling in the fingers of her left hand was a pen, which she used to occasionally scribble notes on a piece of paper before speaking to the plushie again. Maho raised an eyebrow. /What was up with her?/

"Ano... Moshi-moshi?"

Ryuko looked up, startled from her concentration. The other girl waved cheerfully, still hanging upside down. "Konbanwa."

"Kon... banwa." Ryuko adjusted her glasses. "If you don't mind my asking, what're you doing there?"

"Oh, well." Maho scratched her short hair, which was all over the place thanks to gravity. "I was on the roof, and I couldn't help but overhear you talking to yourself." She smiled awkwardly, almost apologetically. "Do you do that often, Yoshikawa-san?"

"Eh?" Ryuko seemed puzzled for a moment. Then she smiled. "Oh, I wasn't talking to myself. I'm studying kanji with Ryu-chan." Ryuko gestured to the stuffed dragon.

Ryu-chan couldn't turn to face Maho, but at least he could be polite. In his child-like voice he called out, "hello, maho-chan!"

Maho arched an eyebrow. "Ventriloquism? That's pretty good!"

Ryuko blinked, then realized something. "I'm sorry, I thought you knew. Ryu-chan is an AI, just temporarily in the form of a stuffed doll, thanks to Kaolla-chan..."

"Ah, sou ka." Maho nodded. A few disconnected memories of the past few days started to make more sense to her now. "I must be disturbing you then. Gomen ne, Yoshikawa-san." She raised herself back to the roof.

"Wait..."

"Hmm?" she said from above.

"Call me Ryuko-chan," Ryuko said, setting her pen down. "Yoshikawa-san makes me feel like an old woman."

Maho smiled. "All right." She paused again, and when she spoke next, it was in English. "You're half, aren't you?"

"Yes I am," she replied in the same language. Ryuko reflected on how strange it felt to converse like this, even after just a little time in Japan. Maybe it was her heritage finally rubbing off on her, she thought. "My dad was in the military, and he met my mom while he was stationed here. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason. I just think you're lucky, is all."

"Lucky?" Ryuko frowned. "Why?"

"Because there's no disappointment." Maho took a deep breath. "You don't have to see that look in people's eyes when they realize that the person in front of them is just fake Japanese. Wait, your father was American, but you have a Japanese surname?"

Ryuko's expression turned to a more solemn one, then explained. "I started using my mother's maiden name when I came here. I've found that it makes things easier. Keeps the illusion, you might say."

Maho could certainly appreciate that. "Illusion is often as good as the real thing."

Ryuko smiled a bit at that comment.

There was silence for a while.

Finally, Ryuko stood up and walked to the windowsill. "Would you like to come inside, Maho-chan?" she asked in Japanese.

Another moment of silence. Then, "Sure." The short girl climbed in through the window, brushing off her coat before stepping inside the room. "You have a nice room, Ryuko-chan."

"Arigato." Ryuko looked around as if it were her first time. "I'm just glad I still /have/ a room. It could use some decoration, though."

"You could always pick some up at the shopping center downtown." Maho's eyes suddenly lit up as if her head were struck by lightning. "Ah, shimata!" she cursed.

"Nani?"

"Saturday!"

"Saturday?" Ryuko raised an eyebrow. "What about Saturday?"

"Want to go shopping with me tomorrow, Ryuko-chan?"

She hesitated. "Uh, well sure, I'd love to. But why?"

Maho made a victory sign and grinned. "Naru Hime's birthday!"

-----

Shinobu sat in her bedroom, writing her diary and trying to get her thoughts in order. Keitaro had ignored her all day, and had not even mentioned their date -- could it really have meant so little to him after all? If so, then she was well within her rights to accept Lance-kun's invitation to the festival this coming weekend.

So why did she feel that, somehow, she was cheating on Keitaro?

She had not really thought of Lance's invitation as a 'date' until he had said so, and then it was too late to correct him. He had said it was 'just as friends', but it seemed like there was something more there for him - and she had to admit that she /did/ find him rather cute, after all.

"Baka Keitaro..." she murmured to herself as she wrote. Maybe one day he'd realise what he was throwing away? Maybe she'd find someone more appreciative?

Still, a few tears marred the words on the page when she closed the book.