SFFAL: Love Hina Soap Opera

by Cheshire Cat5

SI The ongoing cooperative LoveHina soap opera written by the members of the SFFAL. Chapter 20 as we draw to a close. Some threads tied up, and some departures.

17. Relationships and ties: FAMILY

CHAPTER 17: Relationships and ties: FAMILY

In which we learn more about people's relationships, a new person arrives, and Al wears a skirt. Again.

---

Sunday Afternoon

Ryuko had her head pressed against the window as she idly watched the fog-obscured landscape zip by. Ryu-chan, confined to her PDA in her lap, had tried to cheer her up, but his efforts met with little success.

The train finally came to a halt. As Ryuko stood up, she felt an awful kink in her neck, undoubtedly from her awkward seating posture. 'Just what I need,' she thought.

As she expected, the Kobe terminal was very crowded. She managed to make her way through it without getting bumped, but she had to clench her right hand into a fist to keep it from twitching. Why did it seem to act up more often when she was around lots of people?

She pulled her PDA out of her pocket and held it up. "Ryu-chan, please show me a map to the hotel."

The avatar complied, using the onboard GPS receiver to show their exact position, then spoke up. 'i just checked the status of your reservation online using the local wireless access point. lauren has already checked in. the room is 1601.'

'Arigato, Ryu-chan.' She had mixed feelings about meeting her half-sister for the first time. She was both excited and nervous. What does one say to a newly-discovered sibling?

Ryuko adjusted her backpack and pressed on, opting to take the stairs up instead of the elevator. Tired as she was, she wanted to buy herself a few extra minutes to think, and the exercise couldn't hurt.

Finally, she reached the door to their room. Unable to think of any reason to procrastinate further, she started to remove her backpack, and knocked on the door. She bit her lower lip, as she often did when nervous.

The answer came in English. 'Just a minute.' Ryuko looked forward to having conversations in English again.

A moment later she heard two locks unlatch, and the door opened. A girl with amber eyes, just like her own, appeared before her. She had ankle-length, crimson hair, was dressed only in a bath towel, and was about four inches taller than Ryuko, despite being barefoot.

Ryuko's eyes widened to full anime proportions. Could this be her 'little' half-sister?

'Ryuko?'

'Lauren?'

Ryuko hesitated as her backpack finished sliding down her arm and landed hard on the floor. She hugged her sister tightly. The two embraced for a span of several minutes without words, though neither would have minded holding on for longer.

Finally, Lauren spoke up. 'Um, come inside before someone sees me like this.' She backed away from the door to let Ryuko in.

Ryuko dragged her backpack in and shut the door behind her. There were two beds in the room, one of them apparently 'claimed' already. She sat her pack down beside the other one.

Lauren re-appeared through the bathroom door, this time dressed in pajamas. 'The funeral is scheduled for ten in the morning. I set the clock to wake us up at eight.'

Ryuko sat down in a comfy chair by the window and kicked off her shoes, wanting to change the subject. 'All right. So, how was the trip over here?'

Lauren made a face. 'Lousy. I didn't have room for my legs, and the seat back was way too short. I felt like a sardine for the whole plane ride. I'm not looking forward to the return trip. You wouldn't believe the pain in my neck and back right now.'

Ryuko nodded, all too familiar with neck pain. 'You're what, six feet? And only fourteen years old? How'd you get so tall!'

Lauren chuckled. 'Six foot two. And thirteen, actually. I seem to have inherited tall genes from both sides of the family...'

'Eeep...You're going to have to duck your head to get through doors in a few years!'

Lauren nodded solemnly and sighed.

'Sorry...I'll avoid the subject.'

Lauren shook her head. 'No, I'm used to it. Everyone comments about it.'

Ryuko looked at the bed thoughtfully. 'If you want, I can try to work out the knots in your neck and back. I'm pretty good at giving massages, though I'm out of practice.'

Lauren smiled. 'Thanks, that would be nice.'

Ryuko gestured to the bed, and Lauren laid down on it. Ryuko came to her side and began her ministrations. 'You have an awful lot of knots in your back. This could take a while, but I'll see what I can do.'

Lauren could be seen to visible relax as Ryuko worked.

'Did you travel all by yourself? Is your mother here?'

'My mom's here, but in another room. We're not really on speaking terms.'

Ryuko nodded. 'I see. I was close to my mom, but could never relate to Dad. He tried to contact me a few days ago, actually...though it seems so long ago, with recent events in my life. I was so frustrated with him, that I had Ryu-chan delete his email without reading it.'

'Ryu-chan...?'

'Sorry, he's a digital assistant I wrote for my PDA...I'll show him to you later.'

'I have his email password, so I can probably find that message in his sent-mail folder when I get back to the States, and forward it to you.'

'Really?' Ryuko's eyes seemed to light up just a bit. 'I would appreciate that.'

'He also had a box with your name on it.'

Ryuko glanced down at the key hanging from her neck. Hopefully, she asked, 'Does this box have a lock on it, by any chance?'

'No, it's just a cardboard box, why?'

'...It's a really long and hard-to-believe story, so I'll save it for later. Suffice it to say, I came across a key that seems to be important, but I don't know what it goes to yet. So what's in this box, anyway?'

'I don't know, I haven't looked. We'll have it shipped to you.'

'Thanks.'

'It's so nice to finally meet you. I wish Dad would've let me contact you years ago.'

Ryuko blinked. 'He told you about me? I didn't even know you existed until this week. I'd always wanted a little sister, too, more than anything else in the world. I wonder...if he never told me because I never forgave him for his affair with your mom. All those years I felt so alone, and we could've spent a lot of that time together, and I never knew...' Her voice sounded a bit unsteady.

Lauren rolled over and looked up. 'Ryuko? Are you all right?'

Ryuko wasn't. Tears were streaking down her cheeks. Tears for memories not made, tears for experiences missed, tears for secrets not shared.

Lauren sat up and hugged Ryuko tightly. They laid down and talked quietly into the night as they made up for lost time. Around two in the morning they fell asleep together, with Ryuko still in her street clothes.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-
Monday Morning

If one were to be traveling through the halls of the Hinata house around 6:00 A.M, they would see light shining out from under the door belonging to the beloved blond one known as Al.

Inside Al slumped; he had woken up an hour before, and began scanning through the contracts left behind by the sleazy executives the night before.

The light glowing from the screen of his laptop obscured his eyes as it reflected off the lenses of a pair of square glasses that he had donned to feel more professional as he read the contracts.

He had separated the contacts into two piles, good, and Wouldn't-touch-your-deal-with-someone-else's-arms.

After that he had separated the good pile into most money, and most benefits, and finally he had one contract. It was long, and the legalese was enough to make the Lawyer and Debate student within him cry, but he had translated it and was fully ready to commit to the contract.

Looking at the clock he yawned and got dressed - might as well start the day off right. Sadly it was not yet the men's day in the bath, however he had been polite and Keitaro had agreed to let Al use the private bath barrel that had been built for the landlord when he first came.

Gathering his things and glancing at his best friend, sound asleep on a pillow for lack of his castle, Al set off to the bath...

O-O-

Motoko slid open the door to her room, her bath bucket in her hand. Even though she had bathed the night before she had had nightmares all night long of the trashcans trying to eat her alive, and the only thing she had to protect herself was Al's jade comb - if she gave the comb to them they'd leave her alone.

But she had held on to the comb and continued to run, until she had tripped and a large dumpster bit down on the comb, trying to pull it from her hands.

Before she knew it, the dumpster had eaten the comb and was chasing after Maho and Al, both running and calling for Motoko's help.

Before she could help them, 'it' came, the same 'it' that had been in every nightmare she had ever had that didn't involve a man trying to kiss her.

Motoko had woken up in a cold sweat... what could that dream mean? Did it mean anything? Was she just losing her mind?

Before she had left she noticed an envelope sticking out from under the door.

Opening it she found a bundle of Yen and a note.

"Thank you for the loan, I have paid you back in full, as well as extra for the time it took me to pay you back. Al."

She blinked, no mention of the comb, not even a mention of the date! Was he mad? Did he know and was he just hiding his disappointment? She placed the envelope on the table and left to try and work out these problems in the bath.

O-O-O-O-

With a sigh the large teen slipped into the bath. God, how he loved a good hot bath.

As he soaked his mind began to wander, and he contemplated the current events. He had won a hefty cash sum with LADS, and had already found a way to spend every cent, but for once he had been smart and logical and non-selfish.

He had paid back Motoko, left his own rent by Keitaro's door in an envelope under the door, and had ordered a present for Dizzy to apologize for the broken home that Al had left him with.

He slipped under the water and wondered what he was going to do next. It seemed Motoko was done with him - why else would she have thrown away the gift? Most girls kept gifts from guys even if they didn't like them, but perhaps in Japan this was just another way that the girls were different.

"What's wrong with me? One minute I'm a devil-may-care goofball, the next I'm just another pathetic angst ridden teenager, no wonder she doesn't like me."

O-O-

"What's wrong with me? First it was Urashima whom made me feel confused and depressed and now it's some blond chibi-drawing weirdo from America, am I just insane?" Motoko questioned herself in the mirror as she washed her hair.

Motoko looked upon her reflection critically. She had never thought of herself as attractive, but upon her discovering her feelings for Urashima she began wanting to be... and yet she also wished to retain her skills, but could both be possible?

Her sister had expressed feelings that Motoko couldn't balance herself - her desires to be loved, to be a great student, and to be a skilled swordswomen - but Motoko knew her sister was wrong...

Wasn't she?

O-O-

"UGH!" Al groaned and let himself sink below the water, and as if it had been whispered in his ear he had suddenly began to think about school. His grades had been positively abysmal back in the states, and sleeping and doodling in his classes had not helped his grades in the least.

"What kind of a loser goes to another country, only to pick up where he left off at home and do worse then before?" He wondered as he felt his body float under the water.

Another thought crept into his waterlogged brain however, now that he was in the country he had dreamed of, what were his dreams now? As usual his finding true love dream was at the top of the list right next to "Find happiness", but how could this be done?

Naru said that she had found happiness at Tokyo U, and he had to admit there was something smooth and cool about his landlord whenever he began talking about his classes there.

"Maybe Mo-chan would like me then."

O-O-

Motoko slid into the hot springs gingerly, the first rays of the sun playing off her pale skin beautifully.

If the troubles with Al-san, her grades, and her training weren't enough, but now she had Maho's feelings to think about as well, who would have thought that all the time, when everyone had thought that she was after Al-san...?

Motoko felt her cheek where the kiss had been placed the night before, her life had always been complicated, so why did it seem that with experience of years things just got more and more confusing?

As the sun rose, two people with problems so alike went to begin their day, feeling as if they were the only ones in the world suffering with the problem at hand.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-
early morning in the hotel room

The alarm clock buzzed.

Ryuko rolled over as she usually did in the morning upon being roused by Ryu-chan. Only, she wasn't in her futon at Hinata...

whump!

"Ow!"

Lauren jumped and peered over the edge of the western-style hotel bed and winced at her half-sister lying on the floor. "Are you okay?"

Ryuko pulled herself up, rubbing her forehead. "More or less."

Lauren tossed the covers and climbed out of the bed and stretched.

"We'll meet my mom in the lobby for breakfast before the service. You have enough time to take a shower first if you want."

Ryuko nodded. "That sounds good." She dug around in her backpack and retrieved the conservative dress she'd planned to wear, and dissappeared into the bathroom.

While Lauren waited, she got dressed herself, then read the comics section of a complimentary English-language newspaper the hotel staff had thoughtfully slid under the door.

Ryuko finally emerged from the bathroom. "How do I look?"

"You look good."

"You, too."

"Hrm..."

Ryuko sat down on the corner of the bed and rolled up her dirty clothes. She stuffed them into a plastic bag to put in her backpack, then turned to face Lauren. "What are you thinking?"

"Oh, nothing."

"Please tell me."

Lauren shrugged. "I was just thinking it might be fun to do up each others' hair, for once."

Ryuko thought about it for a moment. "That's a really good idea!"

"You think so?" Lauren smiled, and scooted over behind Ryuko and began working with her long hair, giving her a conservative updo.

Then they traded places, and Ryuko worked Lauren's hair into a French braid. Then they walked up to a mirror to inspect each other's work.

"Not bad!" they both said in unison.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-
minutes later in the hotel lobby

Lauren led Ryuko to a table in an annex of the lobby where a woman was eating her complimentary breakfast. "Mom? This is Ryuko."

Lauren's mother wiped her face and stood up. "Hello, Ryuko."

"Hello, Miss Taylor." She was quite a bit younger than Ryuko expected, probably in her early thirties. She was also quite a bit taller than she would've guessed, maybe 6'1", just shorter than Lauren. Their father had been 6'6".

Miss Taylor felt quite awkward. How do you greet the only surviving member of a family that you're responsible for tearing apart?

Ryuko looked blankly into the woman's eyes, not sure of what to say herself. She never anticipated this encounter until yesterday. Trying to make the atmosphere less solemn, she commented, "I see where Lauren gets her height from..."

"I'm sorry, Ryuko."

Ryuko arched an eyebrow.

"I know what I did caused you and your mother a lot of pain, and I wish I could undo the damage, but I can't."

Ryuko sighed. "Miss Taylor, I don't know how your relationship with my father started, but he told me once that that you didn't know about my mother or me at the time, so I placed all of the blame on him."

Miss Taylor wiped something from her eye. Was that a tear?

"It...it wasn't like that, Ryuko. I did know beforehand. I...I was persistent with him every time we met. Your father took responsibility and tried to protect me. It's me you should've blamed, not him."

Ryuko gasped. She looked down and began to tremble.

"Ryuko?"

Ryuko could only manage to whisper, "Oh my God..."

Lauren came up behind Ryuko and hugged her.

"I'm sorry, Ryuko. I was only 18, and infatuated, and didn't think my actions would have the consequences that they did. A day doesn't go by that I don't brood over the whole situation."

Ryuko was quite obviously crying by this point. Lauren hugged harder. "Are you okay, Ryuko?"

"No."

Miss Taylor looked at her watch, then back at what remained of her food on the table. "I'm afraid we've run out of time for breakfast. The taxi is probably already waiting for us at the curb. We have to go now."

Ryuko nodded, and the group walked out to the street. Lauren's mother got in the front passenger seat and the two girls climbed into the back seat. Lauren held Ryuko's hand as the taxi sped off to the chapel.

It's not every day that your life gets turned upside-down, but this was the third time in as many days that it had happened for poor Ryuko.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-
Hinatasou

Motoko looked up from her meal as Al entered the dining room, there were a few seats open including one next to her and she wondered nervously if he would pick it.

She watched as he went all the way around the table past her to sit next to kitsune, whom was grumbling, her face broadcasting that she had been drinking all night.

If Kitsune's expression wasn't enough of a rain cloud over that end of the table Al's expression certainly did, it was clear neither person wanted to be bothered.

Sighing Motoko finished her meal and cast one more sullen look at the boy who's heart she had broken before thanking Shinobu for the meal, standing and leaving with her plate in hand.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-
Maho's morning

Maho was running at a full sprint. Her skirt was flapping shamelessly in the wind, and she could feel more than the occasional stare from commuters, but she didn't care. She knew that if she slowed down for even a minute, she would be late for the Nth time in a very short while, and that worried her more than the fact that her panties were showing.

"Why do we HAVE to wear white ones?" She had asked the vice principal when she finally received a uniform a few days ago.

"Because," he said with impeccable authority, "We've been getting complaints from parents that your skirts are too short. We wouldn't want to be indecent."

And that was that. Maho self-consciously pulled the fabric of the skirt down over her thighs. "Stupid national Lolita complex..." she cursed between her teeth as she ran. At least she was still allowed to wear her coat.

A girl, a redhead with the same school uniform, pushed the shorter girl roughly to the side as she dashed ahead. "Out of the way!"

Another student, this time pigtailed with glasses, pushed Maho the other way. "Move! I'm late, I'm late!"

Back in England, Maho had had the occasional late day, especially after spending too long burning the midnight oil. But this was beyond a simple case of jet lag. Frankly, it was starting to feel ridiculous. Did this country have some kind of policy encouraging young girls to sleep in and run frantically to school? It certainly happened often enough.

"It's like I'm in some kind of bloody anime." Maho panted. "Next thing you know, I'll turn the corner and bump into the love of my life."

She slowed down. Oh, if only that could be. But Motoko had left earlier, and was probably already in class.

"Maybe I went too far last night," she mused. Maho slowed down to an idle walk, her lateness immediately forgotten. "It was just the cheek, though. Not a big deal. But she's probably freaked out. Oh, damn, why did I have to play Miss Mysterious last night? I should've stayed! I could've waited for her to say something, at least!"

She shook her head. Would've, could've, and should've... But didn't. She sighed miserably as she trudged around the corner.

What immediately greeted Maho's eyes was a coffin.

To be exact, it was some kind of human-sized container, made entirely of wooden boards and various scraps. But it didn't take much imagination to picture somebody's body inside, or something more ghastly. The fact that it was just sitting in the middle of the sidewalk, with no one else around, wasn't entirely comforting either.

Maho gasped. "What the—?" She looked around frantically. The streets were suddenly empty, and the sky was unusually cloudy in this area. Where were those random perverted businessmen when you needed them? Carefully, she tiptoed around the pile, examining it for any signs of life.

She jumped when she heard a low groan.

Maybe it was some kind of construction accident. A truck carrying a load of wood scraps accidentally dropped its load on an unfortunate passerby, burying them in a perfectly constructed tomb of refuse. Or maybe it was a Yakuza hit. The local gangs finally got fed up with somebody not paying their dues, and decided to make an example of them. Or, horror of horrors, someone decided they couldn't take care of their child, and made sure to "take care" of them once and for all. All of the gruesome scenarios entered Maho's mind, and then some.

Inching closer to the dreaded pile, Maho slowly lifted up the top board.

"Who's there?" Without any warning, a young man popped out of the box.

Their heads met with a spectacular impact, and Maho stumbled to the floor with a high-pitched "Eeek!"

"I'm sorry!" The young man stumbled out of his makeshift bed.

"Itae..." Maho rubbed her head furiously. But when she felt a cool breeze against her thighs, suddenly the pain wasn't as significant. "Ack!"

"Are you okay?" He asked, scratching his head. His bright "gao-gao" shirt was a bizarre contrast to his generally rumpled and haggard demeanor.

She backed away, one hand on her forehead and the other over her skirt. "You stay away, hentai!"

"Hentai? Me?" He pointed at himself dumbly.

"Yes, you!" Maho growled. A bundle of trick throwing knives was already fanned out in her hand.

The young man put his hands up. "Uh, I surrender."

"You'd better!" She ran one hand through her hair in annoyance. The motion stopped abruptly once she got to the top of her forehead. "Ow!"

In the blink of an eye, the boy was right next to her, examining Maho's head. "Oh, gosh. That looks like it's going to be a nasty bruise."

"What are you doing?" She backed away.

"Hold on! I think I've got a band aid here somewhere." He dug into his pockets, smiling sheepishly. "I'm sorry if I scared you. It's hard to find a place to sleep when you have no money. I figured I was safer out in the open, that's all."

Maho let her guard down just a little. "Are you homeless?"

"No, not really. Just a traveler." He pulled out a bandage and a package of antibacterial cream. "Ah, here we go. It'll just be a moment now." Before she could protest, the young man neatly dabbed Maho's forehead with the cream and placed a band-aid over top.

She touched the area gingerly. "Thank you," she said. "I'm sorry I got so angry before."

He smiled. "No problem. That was mostly my fault anyway. You think you'll be okay?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "Um..."

"Kojiro." He bowed. "Kojiro Chavez."

"Arigato, Chavez-san." Maho raised an eyebrow. Was he half? And when did he find the time to change into a doctor's coat and scrubs? Probably better not to ask.

In the distance, a bell tolled.

Maho sweatdropped. "I'm late."

"Hm?"

"I'm LATE!" She dashed off, waving behind her. "Sayonara! Thanks again, Chavez-san!" Soon Maho was nothing but a speck in the horizon.

"You can call me Kojiro if you want..." he said to no one in particular. Kojiro sighed, snapping his fingers. "Ah, rats. I should've gotten her name. Would've been the perfect way to end the scene."

He picked up his things and started walking. Oh well. Perhaps they would meet again.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-
School

First lesson was not a happy place this morning.

Motoko would look over to Al when she thought he wasn't looking. He seemed so depressed - clearly looseing the comb had had a stronger effect on him then she had expected. Who knew that Al would take something seriously, or anything for that matter.

As the teacher babbled on about the upcoming finals tests and how important they were to the childrens futures she couldn't help but pay more attention to the tiny doodles of depressed and angry neko boys on Al's paper.

Motoko turned her sullen gaze upon Maho, who was watching the teacher with all the enthusiasm that one would use to watch paint dry. After all that had happened last night the kendo girl still wondered where she stood with Maho, were they still friends? Was Maho planning to pursue her, or was she simply teasing?

With her head filled with questions and no answers Motoko attempted to force herself to pay attention to the teacher who was beginning the day's lessons.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-
Ryuko at the chapel

As the three made their way into the chapel, they were greeted by some of Ryuko's father's friends and coworkers, people she'd never met before. But apparently they recognized her.

They walked up to the front row, and Ryuko stepped up to the closed casket that had been flown in just a day ago. She placed her hands on it and bowed over it, a few tears dripping onto the polished surface.

An English-speaking priest stood behind her and whispered something to Miss Taylor before nodding to Ryuko and climbing the steps to the pulpit.

Ryuko sat down and Lauren wrapped an arm around her. The service began.

"Today we gather here, as friends and family of William Theodore Biggsley, to honor his life and pay our last respects. He is preceded in death by his parents and his wife, Tamiko..."

The priest then proceeded to give a timeline of major turning points in William's life, noting how hard he took Tamiko's death despite the fact that they were separated.

"...and it is written in his will, that because his fondest memories were formed shortly after marrying Tamiko while still serving in Kobe, that he wished to be buried here."

"I now invite any who wish to speak, to stand and share their memories of him."

The room was silent for a minute. Ryuko turned to look behind her at everyone who was gathered, then decided to stand up and say something.

She hesitated before finally summoning the courage to speak. "I regret...that during his life, I never forgave my father for something that I now know wasn't entirely his fault. Because of that, I missed out on a lot of experiences that can't be replaced." She didn't specify what that event was, but figured that a few people in attendance could probably guess.

Ryuko looked down at the podium and wiped her eyes. "He had taken full responsibility for his actions. That was the kind of man he was-O-one not afraid to admit he was wrong, and take the blame to protect others. In retrospect, I should have forgiven him regardless."

She turned to face the casket. "I'm sorry, Dad. Please forgive me."

Ryuko returned to her seat.

Nobody else chose to speak after her, so the priest concluded the service.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-

After the actual burial, Miss Taylor stayed behind to talk with some of William's friends, but Ryuko and Lauren returned to the hotel to change and then get some lunch.

They stepped into a small fast-food restaurant and Ryuko ordered a chicken teriyaki rice bowl. Lauren, unfamiliar with Japanese food, simply ordered the same thing, and they sat down in a booth by the window.

Ryuko snapped her chopsticks apart and dug into her food. Lauren, though, had difficulty picking things up with her chopsticks.

"Hold them like this." Ryuko demonstrated.

"Argh...Why don't they make them like scissors, with a pivot point?"

"We can probably find you a fork if you'd be more comfortable with it."

"No, I want to learn."

Ryuko smiled a bit.

Lauren eventually managed to pick up a piece of chicken. "Mmmm...this is pretty good!"

Ryuko nodded. "You might say it's one of my 'comfort foods'. I've had better, though."

"We'll be flying back to the States tonight. My mom has an important meeting to attend, otherwise we'd stay longer."

"That sucks. We only just met, and now we're being torn apart."

Lauren nodded. "Yeah. But maybe I could come back and visit you sometime?"

Ryuko smiled. "That would be great. You could stay with me anytime, if your mother lets you come."

"You mean that?"

"Yeah. The manager of the apartment is pretty nice. Accident-prone, but nice. I'm sure he won't mind."

Ryuko looked at Lauren thoughtfully. "Will you promise me something?"

"What did you have in mind?"

"That we'll stay in contact no matter what."

Lauren smiled. "Deal!"

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-
Kojiro and Kitsune

Kojiro sighed as he walked through the streets of Hinata, his clothes ruffling as the wind blew. Kojiro looked up, as the wind blew by him, and stared into the sky. The endless blue overtook him, as he realized; there were no clouds. Summer was coming along quite nicely. He breathed in deeply and breathed out, as he attempted to clear his mind. A few minutes later, he sat down lotus style and tried it again. Another few minutes later, and he was on the sidewalk, sitting down lotus style, and muttering curse words about stupid drivers in white vans.

He sat still, the sun bearing down on him, as he stared forward. He concentrated on himself, the world around him, the energy of all living and nonliving things... and proceeded to sigh. "I can't feel a thing." He said, throwing off his doctor's coat and his scrubs, and stuffing them into a bag. "I can't believe I went all this way and all these miles to end up being some homeless bum in the middle of some useless, second world town where everybody drives on the wrong side of the road and has some sort of seedy aura, and yet when people see ME, they immediately shout out random, judgmental baloney without even ATTEMPTING to get to know me!"

After a few moments of silence, Kojiro looked around, and noticed several people were staring at him. Muttering darkly, he looked forward again. "And THAT is why I should never speak in Spanish in this country." Kojiro breathed in and out deeply again. "But gee, that girl was kind of cute." He rested his chin on a hand, and leaned his elbow on his knee. "I mean, a lot of girls here are really cute, and some also have that whole Megane-Ko thing going for them..." Kojiro's eyes took a strange glint to them, but suddenly he shook his head.

"No! Bad Kojiro!" Kojiro shook his head. "No impure dirty thoughts. Besides, I'm not thinking about those Megane-Ko girls, I'm thinking about that one I met..." Kojiro shook his head again. "Arrgh! Maybe I should just leave the girl thoughts alone. Then again, maybe I should stop talking to myself." Kojiro went back to looking at the street for a bit.

Kojiro looked at his wristwatch for a long moment then sighed. "Oh, I don't have one." He finally said, then looked around. A few minutes later, he saw a sandy haired Japanese woman walked in his direction. She couldn't have been more then a few years older then him. Kojiro raised his hand. "Excuse me, Miss, I don't suppose you-" He was interrupted by the woman groaning.

"Please, please don't talk loudly." She groaned, holding her head. Kojiro raised an eyebrow as the stench of alcohol hit his nose at full force. "I'm beggin yah..." She apparently had a hangover, from what he could see, and she might still have been drunk. Kojiro wrinkled his nose, as he briefly thought of giving her a bit of medicine; the right one would make her lose all the alcohol in her system in full force, in any way it could escape. Such a thing was messy, though, and would grant him no favors. Besides, it was just plain wrong to do such a thing. Kojiro raised a hand. "Wait up a bit, I have a tea mixture that can cure hangovers with no problem." he said, reaching into his kit. "It's easy to make, really." When Kojiro looked back up, he was met with the woman's suspicious glare.

"How do I know you're not going to drug me and kidnap me, and then force me to satisfy your perverted pleasures!" the woman said sharply, giving him a full blown glare. "Answer me THAT!" Kojiro stared in silence. After a few moments, she sighed. "Oh, what the hell, give it to me." Kojiro, keeping a weary eye on her, handed over the tea leaves. "Just soak it for a minute or so." The woman nodded, and walked off.

This left Kojiro to his thoughts. They drifted from place to place; to the girl he had met earlier today, his sister, the company she owned, and finally, why he had ended up here, of all places.

Why HAD he come here? Was it because he was lost? Because he had no other choice? No, that wasn't it. He came with any other town available to him and most likely easier to live in. He could have built a damn shack near a rice paddy if he wanted to.

But why here? He smelled the air. It wasn't like there was some riveting form of magic that dominated this place, allowing lovers to go through insanity, people to survive long falls and insane punches, flying turtles, and all that stuff. Well, none that let out huge amounts of magic ordinary fellows could feel, because even those so dense as to not be able to sense the flow of pure magic could not resist the feeling that magic of that magnitude unleashed. Much like Kojiro.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps, and he looked idly to his left. Seeing nothing, he turned to his right. There was that sandy-haired woman again. He was quite surprised when she jumped on top of him.

"Thank you SO much for that tea mixture!" She shouted at him, happy as an ant on an Oreo. "I feel sooo much better, now that I can drink and not feel any effects!" She started to lean uncomfortably close to him. "Let me repay you..." She said seductively, and Kojiro gasped.

What to do, what to do... Looking for an escape, he made one up on the fly.

"Look, a bar that serves beer early in the day!" He shouted. Nice one, moron. She won't fall for that. He instantly thought. The sandy-haired woman turned.

"What, where!" She shouted, and turned. Kojiro took advantage of this, by getting up and running like the wind. A few minutes later, she turned. "Where is it, I can't see... oh, damn. There goes another one. Darn Naru, getting all the good guys with good money..."

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-
Lunch Time

Motoko poked her lunch sullenly with a chopstick as her mind was clouded with thoughts of Al. He had seemed so different all day long, like the personality and spirit had been sucked out of him, and she felt entirely to blame.

She saw him sitting a few tables away - the weasel was sitting on the table next to him, but no one else sat at the same table as the blond boy.

Getting up from her minions table, Motoko walked over, time to make amends.

"Grr." The little weasel had noticed that Al's being depressed had dragged Motoko down as well, so he was now explaining to Al that, no matter how unhappy he was, he had no right to make Motoko feel that way.

Al, while not entirely wanting to agree that he was only openly depressed for pity, nodded and Motoko sat down across from him.

"Good afternoon Rush." She said unsure of the welcome she was getting.

"Motoko-san." He nodded attempting to be polite, but no longer using her pet name, a sign that he had lost hope that she would be his friend.

"Rush I...I have to..." Motoko found herself attempting to apologize, but the words wouldn't come."

"Motoko I'm sorry."

"What?" The kendo girls eyes went wide, what was he apologizing for?

"I'm sorry about all the trouble I've been causing you, it should have been clear I've been nothing but a bother to you since we met, but I was hoping I was being helpful, funny, charming."

"Rush you..."

"No, I've been though this before, rejection is fairly common for me, I'm just sorry about the times I've made you angry, and now me getting all depressing on ya just cause I've been shot down again... really it's alright, you should move on and forget about me, I'll be fine."

"Rush just wait a moment!" Motoko found she confused and angry.

"I gotta go, sorry again." Al stood and dug in his pocket, depositing the comb from last night on her tray, he walked away leaving the kendo girl and the weasel at the table.

Both Motoko and Dizzy had the same things on their minds, "That baka!"

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-
Kojiro and Mutsumi

Kojiro yawned as he walked out of the public bath house. It seemed that every city, town, hamlet, fishing village, and mud-hut gathering had one of these. Not that he was complaining; it was just that there were so MANY. Back at Waikiki, there weren't as many beach showers as there were public baths in Tokyo.

These people were damn obsessed with cleanliness.

Kojiro's attire was a smidgen different than the average Gao-Gao Stegosaurus shirt that he normally wore. It was much different. It was something that he'd actually be caught alive wearing at home. The silken, blue, tropical printed Aloha shirt he wore was untucked, and his black pants had no belt on them. He was dressed formally, and even his black hair, which was normally untouched by anything short of shampoo and scissors, was combed back and slick.

Now why, one would ask, the incredible preparation for simple town-trotting. It was simple. He wasn't town-trotting.

Kojiro was a traveler, and he lived as such; he moved from town to town quickly, working for money and board. One of the towns he had visited on his nationwide trek was a small, winter town by the name of Yukitinku. There, he had met a girl a little older than him, who then proceeded to bring him home. There, he spent 2 weeks freeloading before convincing her and her mother that he really needed to go.

That's when Ms. Minase refered him to the Hinata House.

Kojiro looked at the envelope that Ms. Minase had given him; it was a letter of introduction and recommendation to one... Hina? He frowned as he squinted to read the miniscule and yet incredibly complex Kanji. Three seconds later, he sighed. "Oh, well." he sighed, and put the letter away. With great diligence, he walked forward and into...

Something large. Something hard. Two somethings large. Two somethings hard. Kojiro looked forward. Two large, green things. They appeared to be striped. Oh, and big. Very big. Yes. Don't forget round.

Kojiro then proceeded to look AROUND the large, melony things. A smiling woman's face, serene and smiling, was holding onto those large melons. Well, they weren't attached to her, at least.

She sighed, as if in a dilemma. "Oh, how can I get my watermelons to grow any bigger?" She was muttering, nearly bowling over Kojiro as she totally ignored him. Kojiro, being shocked at the prospect of being run over by watermelons, made a pathetic 'meep' as he was run over. The woman then proceeded to trip over him, and with a thump, landed headfirst onto the ground.

Kojiro looked up to see her lying still. He quickly got up and ran over. "Oh, man. Senorita, I'm sorry. You alright?" he started asking, and started shaking her. She stayed unconscious. He quickly checked her pulse. After a few moments, his eyes bugged out.

"Oh, hell, she's dead!" he shouted loudly, in English (Thankfully, had he shouted that in Japanese he'd be in handcuffs in seconds). "Uh, uh, uh... AH!" quickly, he grabbed something out of his First Aid kit.

Kojiro owned several objects that were made for the sole purpose of reviving a fallen one. One was smelling salts; they would cause someone unconscious to wake up. Another was a small mixture that would cause the user's bodily functions to wake up all at once, albeit roughly, so those of weak constitution wouldn't be able to handle it. From the ease this woman had fallen, that wouldn't work, and since she was dead, the smelling salts were worthless.

He had a "Fake Death Pill," a Potassium Cyanide pill that would put one at a near-death phase for a short time; it would appear as if the subject were dead. A successful usage of the mixture of chemicals mentioned earlier would bring the person back... but it didn't apply in this case.

However, Kojiro had personally invented a lightweight, one-use defibulator for revival purposes in cases like these. Of course, it ate up 4 E batteries per use, but it brought people back to life, so it was worth it. Kojiro quickly raised it over her heart and started activating it. 1, 2, 3, 4...

As he was about to finish charging and zap her back to life, she suddenly woke up. "Oh, hello!" The woman said, causing Kojiro to fall backwards.

Now, Kojiro had set his Defibulator to go off in someone's face should it be used and not have a target. Thus, when Kojiro backed away, it went off... on him.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" he screamed, as electricity enough to power a laptop for 12 hours ripped through him in one thousandth of a second, and then into two watermelons. The woman giggled as Kojiro fell backwards, by the pure force of utter electrical pain. Suddenly, she looked at her watermelons. They were a brigher shade of green than before. She suddenly broke into a wide smile.

"Thank you, sir! Now my watermelons are fighting fit!" she said, giving Kojiro a hug before grabbing the marshmallows. "Have a good day!" And with that, she ran off. All Kojiro could do was stare.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-
Maho

"And so," the teacher scratched the chalk dully. "If you take this sentence and change the verb into the future tense, you see that..."

Maho sat obediently, with her head toward the front of the classroom. At casual glance, she appeared to be a studious and focused young lady. But if anyone cared, closer inspection would reveal a different picture: a blank notebook, the absence of movement, a fresh pencil that wasn't even sharpened, though it was poised with perfect grace under Maho's delicate fingertips. Her other hand was running its fingers absentmindedly through strands of her hair, moving in a precise pattern of pull, release, and pull again.

Her eyes weren't looking at the chalkboard with its complicated grammatical diagrams, or at the unenthusiastic, aging instructor. No, Maho's deep brown gaze was directed entirely elsewhere, toward the middle of the class where one desk stood out from the rest, and one head distinguished itself from the mass of forgettables.

Motoko alternated between jotting down a few things on a sheet of paper, and lightly drumming the end of her pen against her arm. Her long black hair was tied into a ponytail for the moment, but a few stray bits still fell against her shoulders, like wayward trickles in a silky black river. The back of her neck was visible, and it was as perfectly white as the rest of her, arched in a way that gave her an element of subtle confidence. It was hard to believe that this girl was a master swordswoman and peerless warrior, when she appeared to simply be a normal girl when tucked safely within the school uniform.

She turned around. Her eyes, beautiful orbs filled with a light all their own, met with Maho's.

But only for a second. Then Motoko suddenly became very interested in writing down everything the teacher had to say.

Maho, for her part, decided to stare out the window for the rest of the hour.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-
Lance

"Lance, lance!" Su came bouncing down the hallway at the hapless boy, glomping him and shattering his hopes of managing to go until lunch without being choked.

"To the Lunchroom, Lizzy-san!"

"Don't call me that." growled Lance as he made his way through the shifting crowds to the lunchroom.

"Well, Lannie-koon, before I left today I spoke with Al, and he signed a good contract for us and, guess what? The manager he signed us up with just transfered into our school!"

Lance stopped short, and the students continued to file around them as if they were simply a trashcan or similar obstruction in the middle of the hall.

"First off, I can't believe we left our contracts in that guy's hands, and second, how did she find us?"

"I used my computer to enroll Lizzy at our school, so she used her computer friends to find us, and now she wants to meet Lizzy!"

"She... what...?" Lance went pale.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-

Lance was trying very hard not to panic. He was once more dressed in his Lizzy costume, and standing in front of an attractive young girl, with maroon pigtails and a costume-fitted school uniform.

"Err...it is a pleasure to meet you miss..." Lance was at a loss, who was this girl? Weren't most managers older guys in suits? He didn't recall seeing her when they had collected the contracts after the concert.

"My name is Aimi Sumeragawa, and from this moment on I am the manager of LADS. You answer to me!" The girl was fairly condesending in tone, and she was smiling like a child with a new toy.

"Err... see, the thing is... we... we need to discuss the terms of our contract first, our legal advisor wasn't too clear on what it entitled."

"Well, you shouldn't have signed the contract then." Aimi held out a photocopy of the contract, with clearly forged signatures.

"That isn't my handwriting, look how sloppy that is!"

"Well, it's condemned you to my ownership. Now, I've set you up a gig tomorrow night in downtown Tokyo, here's the address." The rich girl handed a piece of paper to the baffled leader.

"Now where can I find Alexandria and Didi?"

"They live with us in the Hin...!" Lance grabbed Su and clapped his hand over her mouth, "What Su meant, is that they live in Hinata, but they wander around town performing for money."

"How sad, they are even more peasanty then you two."

"Well I wouldn't call us peasants." Lance's eyes narrowed at the pompous remark.

"Alright... well, you find them, and let them know when and where the concert is."

After Aimi had left Lance let Su go.

"Su, you have to be more secretive! If we get in caught we're gonna be in so much trouble, they'll take away the prize money, and I'll get kicked out of the Hinata House."

"Awww, and then your girlfriend would be disappointed."

"Girlfriend? Oh no... you mean Sarah, don't you?"

"Yep."

"SHE IS NOT MY... oh never mind." Dejectedly, Lance left to go change back into his regular clothes and contemplate if he could kill Al without getting arrested.

O-O-O-O-O-O-

Lance ran down the corridor after hurridly changing, and almost bumped into Professor Yamasegawa.

"Ah, Waymire-san," the professor remarked, "don't forget that we need to be working Wednesday evening. Err..." he paused, with a confused expression. "... are you wearing lipstick!"

Lance flushed crimson and quickly scrubbed the makeup off his face.

"No, no! It must just be the strawberry milkshake I just drank!" he lied desperately.

Why was it that whenever he got involved in one of Al's schemes, it always ended with him getting humiliated? He was just lucky that it had been spotted before he was in class...

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-
Kitsune

"Hmm...Now I wonder if he left anything behind." Kitsune mumbled to herself as she scanned the now empty room 308.

She ran her fingers along the walls and looked under the tatami mats, checking for hidden compartments that could be hiding some secret stash of money. But to no avail, she sat against the wall and sighed.

"There's nothing here." she stated to herself in defeat, "I guess I'm not surprised seeing as how that boy was always so secretive and su-" she paused, glancing at his closet. "Hey wait a minute, I never checked in there."

She opened the closet and went to her knees, checking under the small mats inside. Lo-and-behold, she found a floorboard that looked like it had been wedged out and put back.

"A-ha!" she exclaimed to herself in triumph.

She hurriedly pulled the board away with little effort and to her great surprise and disappointment, found nothing but four, strange medicine bottles. She retrieved them from their hiding place and, noticing that they were half-full with pills and tablets, inspected the labels carefully. After finishing, she let out a small gasp and tucked the bottles away into her pockets before putting everything back into it's place and leaving silently. The others wouldn't believe this!

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-
Al's Afternoon

Al stepped out of the boy's bathroom, throwing his trench coat on over the dress shirt and tie, Al the detective was once again on the prowl for work.

It wasn't that he really needed the work, but after a brutally long day of looking at Motoko and then trying to find reasons to not like her, he wanted a break, he wanted some time where he wouldn't have to think about her, and what a better excuse to push all romantic ideas from his mind then a good case.

He didn't get very far down the hall before a girl stopped him, an attractive young girl with her cut short, "E...excuse me Rush-San, My name is Naomi Hasigawa." She bowed nervously.

"Hasigawa-san, can I help you?" Al asked, bowing and smiling warmly to try and calm her nervous looks.

"I...err...I heard you're a member of the detective club?" She asked not looking at him, but rather focusing on the hem of her skirt which she was fondling.

"Yes I am, in fact I'm the only member, and how may we be of service to you?"

"I...I was sent to fetch you by my older brother," The girls voice wavered, she was on the verge of tears, "he needs your help..."

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-

Al turned the chair backwards and sat down, facing Takai Hasigawa, he was looking sullen but upon Al's entrance he smile politely.

"You are Rush-san of the Detectives club?"

"Yes I am, your sister was quick to locate me."

"Well we of the battle technology club have had you under observation, we're just glad we could find a good use for you."

Alex's face was expressionless, he had donned a pair of dark black sunglasses, so he could appear to be looking right at who he was talking to, but in fact he had his eyes closed, he absorbed information better that way, "Could you explain why you had me under observation?" He asked sounding a tad nervous and betraying the gruff character he was putting forth.

"We we're unsure if you would be a threat or an ally, with your sheer size alone you'd be useful in any of the peace clubs."

"Peace clubs?"

"Yes, we are the clubs that assist in keeping the peace here at school, should a law be broken or there be disturbances that threaten our ability to learn and grow, the clubs leap into action depending on what part of the school the trouble occurs in. We originally assumed you'd be drafted by a fighting club, but it appears you've begun your own peace club."

"Well I suppose that's what you'd call it, though I'm more or less doing it for payment."

"Of course, of course, but as of now I need your help, I have been accused of a crime and if I don't do something I'll be expelled and sent to prison."

"Wait, we're you the one they we're talking about at lunch? The one who blew up the bathrooms on the second story of building B?"

Takai nodded "I am the one that was arrested, the Judo club conducted the investigation and due to my... past indiscretions, I was not given a completely fair hearing."

"Past indiscretions?" Al vaguely wondered if it would have been better to find Maho along so she could have taken notes.

"I was a bomber two years ago, nearly broke the schools budget when they had to replace the bathrooms enough times, but I've been reformed, I have a new goal in my life then mindless destruction, I've found love and if I am wrongly convicted then not only will I suffer, but my friends, my club, and my beloved will all be harmed in the process."

"Alright, alright, I'll help you, but I'll need some information..."

O-O-O-O-O-O-

After an interview with Takai, Al set down to a map of Hinata and the school address book.

"If Takai and his sister really did stop for coffee, the only place they could have gone and still made it to school on time would be..." Al chewed on a pen as he ran his finger along the map, eventually stopping at a small point. "The café below the Hinata house." Realization dawned. "The one owned by Landlord-san's aunt and Maho-chan's sister!"

Al gathered up his things. If Takai had gone there, it would have been much out of his way. So either he was desperate for some excellent coffee, or something rotten was afoot!

O-O-O-O-

Alex walked down a dark, empty hallway at a steady pace; his hand fingering the trigger of his water pistol like a monk might finger prayer beads. Something didn't feel right at all; why was everything so dark in this hallway? Where were the teachers and students in their after-school clubs?

Turning a corner, Al felt something suddenly jab him in both sides, sending a ticklish shock up his spine. He screamed and tried to pull away, tripping on his trench coat and falling to the floor with a painful thud.

His fedora was pulled off, and he looked up at the laughing face of Maho.

"Are you okay?" she asked, though she seemed to assume he was.

He grumbled and sat up, "Hello there, Maho-chan."

"What's going on, Al?" She leaned down to look at him curiously. "Do you have a case for the detective club?" she asked as she held out a hand to help him to his feet.

Al took her hand and stood, dusting himself off he smiled at the short cute girl, "Yeah, don't worry Ma-chan, it's nothing big. After the last fiasco, I mean, I'm sure you don't wanna spend an afternoon hanging around a mug like me."

Maho blinked. "And why would you think that?"

Al flushed, glad the hallway was dark, "Oh, well, uh, I was sure that you'd wanna hang out with Mo-chan, or perhaps another guy. I mean, come on, a cute girl like you doesn't have boys begging to take you out for drinks?"

She smiled dryly. "If you count old men with Lolita complexes, sure."

Al shuddered.

Maho frowned and lept up to bop Al on the head, "Anyway, you should know I wouldn't mind helping you, Baka-kun! I'm in this club too, aren't I?"

Al smiled, surprised, and rubbed his head. "All right then. I do need someone to run to Haruka's café."

"Why?"

"Well a suspect told me he was at her café this morning when the bombs went off, and it seems kind of out of the way from where he lives. So if you could check for me..."

She gave a playful salute. "Ryokai! I'm on it!" As Maho turned to leave, Al caught her arm and handed her a walky talky.

"Su whipped these up for me, just call me when you find out, okay Maho-chan?"

She nodded cheerfully.

Al sniffed. It was all so touching. He wasn't sure before, but now it was official: he had another friend!

"Thank you Maho-chan!" Al cried, tears of joy screaming down his face as he wrapped her in a suffocating bear hug.

"Um, Lupin-kun..." Maho squeaked. "Can't breathe. Let go."

"Oh, sorry!" Al let Maho go. When she caught her breath, she handed Al a small box with a bow on it.

"For me?" Al asked in shock.

"Just don't open it till I'm around this corner." Maho waved and turned the corner swiftly.

Al opened the box and looked inside, all he saw was shiny colored paper.

BOOM!

O-O-O-O-O-O-

The self-proclaimed great detective leaned forward in his chair. Some confetti was still hanging loosely on his clothes, but he wasn't paying attention to that. His eyes were focused with laser-like precision on the only person he could think to interview. Sitting in front of him, all casual style and charm, was the girlfriend of the accused.

Incidentally, she was also the student body president.

"Thank you for taking time out of your day to meet with me, Madam President." Al smiled warmly, which he hoped suggested that he actually cared about this girl's title. He didn't. "I'll only need a few questions."

"Anything to help Takai-kun." The president's eyes went watery. "I fear that he has turned to his old ways once more."

"Um, yes. Well, could you think of anyone who would want to hurt him, perhaps get him in trouble?"

"He has many friendly acquaintances now." Her expression darkened. "Truthfully, I have a suspicion that this is someone's form of revenge."

Al said nothing, but prompted her with a motion of his hands.

"You see, when I began to date him, many people questioned my motives, even my sanity. After all, he considered of lower station, and I myself am a true beauty." She threw back her hair for unconscious emphasis.

And modest too, Al thought, as he shamelessly admired her figure. This girl was really something else. "So you think that getting him arrested is an attempt to discredit you further?"

The president nodded, holding back a sniff. "Could I... Could I speak with him, please?" She asked, turning her hypnotic baby blues upon our hapless hero.

O-O-O-O-

Al stood at silent vigil, leaning against the only door to the room that held Hasegawa.

The president and the accused embraced each other tightly. He couldn't see Hasegawa's face, but the girl's expression said everything for both of them. It was almost enough to make Al want to leave them alone, but he had to observe how the two of them acted around each other.

So far, they were the perfect loving couple. So far.

As the two held a whispered conference, their fingers interlocked in an expression of trust, Al's mind couldn't help but wander to his own love life, or lack thereof.

Motoko was pretty, that was for sure. But she was aggressive, violent, very serious, and seemed to have a strong dislike for him. Why else would she toss the comb away so carelessly? Well, love at first sight was a fairly silly thing to believe in, but perhaps there was somebody else Al had hope with.

Maho, maybe?

She was an interesting person: small cute, energetic, the kinds of personality quirks that he liked in people. And even though she was older than him, Al couldn't help but think of Maho as someone younger, perhaps simply because she was so short. But she certainly carried herself like someone taller. That was nice too.

As if answering his thoughts, the walky-talky beeped in Al's pocket.

"Rush." Al said professionally.

There was moment of static, then Maho's voice came through the receiver loud and clear. "Lupin-kun, he never stopped by! The suspect was lying to you!"

Al nodded, even though no one was there to see it. "Right. Thanks, Maho-chan."

But before he could even take a step, Takai shoved him out of the way and through the door.

Al scrambled to his feet and darted out after him, leaving the president standing surprised and afraid for her boyfriend. She knew he didn't do it; he just wouldn't. But why did he run?

The walky-talky lay on the floor uselessly, as a faint voice crackled: "Lupin-kun? What's going on? Oi! Al!"

O-O-O-O-

Al was in hot pursuit of the suspect. Unfortunately, the black dress shoes that Al had on – to complement his detective outfit, naturally — would slide around corners as if they were covered in oil, giving Takai just enough of a head start to evade capture. At the moment, the poor would-be gumshoe would've sold his firstborn child for a good pair of soccer cleats. Luckily, they were at a long stretch of hallway, and the cumbersome crusader for justice was getting his second wind.

"Come back here!" Al shouted. Unsurprisingly, Takai didn't listen.

"I didn't do it!" Takai called over his shoulder as he pumped his legs like a marathon runner. Unfortunately for him, this crucial moment of distraction kept him from seeing the illustrated sign that read: PLEASE DO NOT RUN. WET FLOOR. The perp's feet flew out from underneath him, and he fell to the floor chin first.

Al slid to a stop, trying to keep his balance on the slippery floor as he hauled Takai up by the collar. "If you didn't do it, why did you run?" Alex asked, trying to appear threatening. Considering their considerable difference in height, this wasn't terribly difficult.

"I...I didn't want my girlfriend to find out what I was really doing this morning..."

Al shook his head. "And that was?"

After a bit of coercion, Takai led Al to the girls' locker room. Eventually the boy confessed he had been there all morning, installing cameras to monitor "trouble." They already had them in the boys locker rooms, and though it sounded rather like something Haitani and Shirai would do, Takai insisted that a female member of his club was planning on monitoring the camera's feeds at all times, and that censored bars would be put in place on the feed just in case.

Of course, to verify this claim, Al would have to go into the girls' locker room. History was a harsh teacher, and it had taught Al to keep his nose, along with other body parts, out of 'ladies only' areas.

But, as the little voice in Al's head reminded him, the truth was only a doorway away.

Gritting his teeth and saying his prayers, Al took Takai by the back of the shirt and led him into the locker room, listening very carefully for any sounds that might signal their impending doom.

The locker room was cleaned, and the area that had been damaged from the morning's bombing was fenced off by large yellow tape, not a single female student was to be seen, much to the relief of our hero.

"Alright buddy, where's the camera?"

Takai pointed at a small black ball in the top corner of the wall.

Al peered at it carefully, and it was indeed what it was supposed to be. "So you were in here before the bombing. Anyone able to testify to that?"

"My sister." Takai had his head bowed, ashamed that he had not told the truth.

"Alright..." Al snapped his fingers. "Wait a minute. If this thing was running before the bombing, do you suppose we have a tape of the bomber?"

"What?" He digested the idea for a moment, and then nodded enthusiastically. "Of course! Why didn't I think of that?"

The two made for the door...

...only to be staring down the girls lacrosse team at the threshold, still holding their sticks.

"Oh dear." Al whimpered.

O-O-O-O-

At the headquarters for the Defense Technology Peace Club, Al and Takai viewed the tape.

Soon after Takai left the locker room, someone else entered. Their face was obscured and most of their body didn't stray into camera range. All that was visible from their point of view was a baseball cap, with little wings on the ends and a strange symbol on the front.

"Great. So how many kids in the school wear a hat like that?" Al wondered aloud.

"Two, actually," Takai offered helpfully. "The Anime Club twins."

O-O-O-O-

Al felt a rush of excitement as he exited the Anime Club's headquarters. The otaku den wasn't too pleased to have the latest episode of "Kawaii no Neko-chan" interrupted, but the twins were both there. One of them didn't have his hat, however. As it turned out, he had loaned it to someone else.

Once he heard the person's name, Al could feel the pieces fall into place.

Dashing down the hall, Al hoped to reach Takai before the next bombing. As much as this was coming together, there was still one piece of information he needed to stop the next incident from taking place.

For a fraction of a second, Al saw the fine wood grain of a baseball bat. Then there was nothing but stars. The dizzying lights swirled into nauseating darkness, not unlike watching a flushing toilet, and Al was out cold on the floor.

O-O-O-O-

Al's head was pounding viciously as he opened his eyes. He was aware of a vague discomfort in his arms, but his befuddled mind took a while before it could sift through everything else that was going on. The tile floor was cold, for one. Familiar florescent lights hummed above as he began to see the blurry shapes in the room take form.

He was in a bathroom. It was a nice one, perhaps as big as the bathrooms downstairs, but there was only one toilet in the room — it was a magnificent toilet, to be sure. Seeing he was alone, Al attempted to sit up. Having his hands tied behind his back made maneuvering difficult, but he eventually managed to get into a cross-legged position.

The door opened and someone entered, shutting the door behind them.

"Aha!" Al smirked triumphantly. He would've pointed vindictively if he could've. But he couldn't, so he didn't. He settled on being loud instead. "I KNEW it was you!"

"I'm sorry Rush-san, but I cannot allow you to ruin this. Once my onii-chan's girlfriend is no longer president, she'll have more time to spend with him, and he won't miss her so much." Naomi Hasigawa smiled a true femme fatale smile as she set down a large object next to Alex.

He paled. Al was by no means an expert, but it didn't take a genius to figure out that the ticking sound and previous pattern didn't bode well for him.

"You have till four, Rush-san. Then you, as well as this bathroom, will be nothing but a memory." The sadistic sister laughed as Al nervously scooted as far as he could from the bomb.

"I'll be locking the door on my way out. Make yourself comfortable." Naomi laughed as she opened the door.

As coincidence would have it, she bumped right into Maho.

"Eep!" Maho stumbled, gracefully catching her balance at the last minute with a well-placed tiptoe. She turned around and bowed sheepishly, apparently not seeing into the bathroom. "I'm sorry!" Maho looked at the door. "Hey, aren't you a student? Why're you coming out of there?"

"I'm on bathroom cleaning duty as punishment for being late this morning." Naomi said with a perfectly rehearsed smile and bow.

"Ma-chan, HELP!" Al shouted just before the door closed.

Maho's eyes narrowed. "Open the door," she commanded.

The other girl sneered. "I do that, and you'll join him."

Maho drew the Ace of Hearts from the inside of her coat. "Is that a threat?"

"No." Naomi reached into her pockets. "It's a promise!"

Naomi's hands were fast, but Maho's eyes were faster. Immediately spotting the weapon, she dove behind the principal's desk. There was a loud bang, and the principal's neatly ordered stack of paperwork went into the air.

Barely a moment afterward, Maho leapt up onto the desk and threw her card like a shuriken. The Ace of Hearts obediently fluttered toward its target, where it immediately exploded into a cloud of bright pink streamers and glitter.

Naomi sidestepped the tangle effortlessly, tossing a couple more mini-bombs in Maho's direction. They each hit the ground and delayed for exactly one second before detonating spectacularly.

Maho jumped off the desk just as it turned into scrap, flipping and landing behind a large file cabinet. "So now I'm fighting mad bombers." She muttered, as she drew out her wand. "Bloody wonderful."

But she didn't have much time to reflect on the unfairness of the situation, as three more bombs flew her way. Thinking quickly, Maho threw a fistful of trick knives. They met the projectiles head-on, and Maho hid under her coat to avoid the dust and shrapnel of the explosives.

O-O-O-O-

After an unsuccessful attempt to open the door with his teeth, Al stared at the bomb nervously. He couldn't see his watch, but it had to be close to four. The item was shaped like a cube, and looked like it was made of cardboard. But with no visible openings, how could Al hope to disarm it?

Nervously, Al crawled over and began gnawing on the protective shell of the bomb, praying that he knew what he was doing.

O-O-O-O-

"Nice moves, gaijin!" Naomi taunted from the other end of the office. "But I'm not going to let anyone stop my master plan. Especially not a short, ice-cream-headed girl like you!"

Maho gasped as if mortally wounded. "I... Ice-cream-headed?"

"That's right, your hair looks just like an ugly scoop of ice cream!" She laughed uproariously. "I must say, I pity your hairstylist!"

Silence.

"Now surrender quietly and I might let you live!" Naomi lied with a grin, slowly making her way around the wreckage. Her right hand fiddled with two perfectly spherical bombs, rolling them around in her palm with cold deliberation. "Come on, you can come out..."

The dust cleared, and Naomi could see a familiar black coat and schoolgirl outfit behind the file cabinet.

"Hah!" Without hesitating, the psychopath lunged the bombs into the corner. She chuckled with satisfaction as she saw the entire area go up in smoke and flames, dusting her hands off. "Well, that takes care of that problem."

As Naomi turned around to leave, she had the shock of her life as Maho shoved her back.

The young magician was wearing nothing but a bra and panties, but in her hands was a pair of large metal rings. Her face, cute as it was, had transformed into a mask of indignant feminine rage.

"I'll show you who's short, you little git!" she snarled.

Maho tossed the rings over the other girl's head, and then pulled them sharply, sending Naomi's face flying directly into an outstretched fist. She barely had time to reel from the blow before Maho tackled her onto the floor and grabbed her by the hair to begin anew.

All pretenses at civility were finished. This was a catfight, pure and simple.

O-O-O-O-

Al spat out the last of the cardboard. He had used his teeth to tear into the bomb, and now the wires were plainly visible. But which one was he supposed to cut?

If only I had paid more attention at the movies, he lamented miserably.

As he was deciding, a loud bell sounded outside, informing him that it was now indeed four o'clock.

"Bong!" the bell cried a second time.

Panic gripped him like a vise. Working purely on instinct, he grabbed the bomb with his mouth and threw it in the toilet, flushing it with his nose.

"Bong!"

Al threw his shoulder against the door. Hearing an encouraging crack, he reared back to give it another try. Allowing himself just a moment of focus, the desperate detective let out a battle cry that would've made Motoko proud.

"EEEEEE-YAAAAHHHHH-SHOOOO!"

A loud explosion from the principal's private water closet drowned out the final toll of the bell.

A mini flood washed Al, Maho, and Naomi down the hall, a few stairwells, and finally deposited them outside the front doors. They were sopping wet, shocked beyond recognizable words, and surrounded by the police and the bomb squad, who had arrived just a bit too late.

O-O-O-O-O-O-

Al sighed as he trudged home toward the Hinata house, his feet making squishing noises with each step he took. His favorite dress shirt, not to mention all of his detective gear, was completely soaked.

"On the plus side," he thought with a perverted grin, "Being soaking wet rather suits Maho-chan."

"What are you staring at?" She asked, her voice warning him to answer carefully. Maho wrapped Al's coat around her body self-consciously, though the sopping wet fabric didn't help much.

"Er, nothing Ma-chan." He smiled quickly. "I'm sorry again for getting you dragged into this business." Al chuckled, realizing that this was only the first time he had caused the young Urashima trouble this week.

She frowned. "I told you I wanted to help, didn't I?"

"That's true. Very true."

Maho rolled her eyes. "Anyway, it was all worth it to get at that Naomi girl."

"Hm?"

"Calling me ice cream head." She scowled, pounding her fist into her palm. "Honestly, the nerve of some people."

Al raised an eyebrow, examining Maho's head carefully. "Ice cream head, huh?" It was funny; he never noticed before, but when you looked at her in just the right angle...

"What're you thinking?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing." Al coughed. "Ice cream head."

"What?" Maho glared.

"I didn't say anything!" He coughed again. "Rocky road."

"Lupin-kun..."

"What? What?" He smiled. "If you get a perm we can call you 'soft serve.'"

"Al!" Maho socked him on the arm playfully, looking up at the boy with a smile.

And so, the hero and the faithful sidekick closed another case by walking off into the sunset. As for which one was which... Well, in the end, it didn't really matter anyway.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-
Hinata Teahouse

Maho burst through the entrance of the Hinata Teahouse, one arm stretched out and chin up like a ballerina. "Tadaima!" She shivered theatrically, pulling Al's coat around her body and lifting one heel in a cute, girlish pose. "Brrr! Haru-nee, gimme clothes! I'm freezing!"

Haruka dropped the cup she was drying, a cloud of cigarette smoke pluming from her mouth in reflex. "Maho-chan. You have nothing on," she said plainly, as if the girl herself was completely unaware of this up until now.

It was then that Maho noticed: In a bizarre stroke of fate, the teahouse finally had some actual customers, all of whom had their eyes fixed on the unclothed newcomer. Less important, but still noticeable, was the fact that all of them came from the high school anime club.

The young magician was used to drawing a crowd by trade. But nothing on earth could have prepared her for the experience of thirty-plus geeks bolting to their feet and loudly exclaiming "Whooooaaah!" in perfect unison.

One of them, a short and roundish boy, approached her with his hands arranged into a rectangle, like a photographer inspecting a model. "You must be cosplaying Chieka-chan from Glory Kiss! Awesome!"

"No, you fool!" Another student, a gaunt scarecrow of a boy, slid on his knees right in front of Maho. A disposable camera was at the ready. "She's obviously Junko from Beautiful Dreamer's Moonlight!"

A third, a mousy female wearing an oversized Pikachu t-shirt, handed Maho a piece of paper with both hands, avoiding her gaze the entire time. "Ano... I made this sketch of you... Will you autograph it, please?"

Short Guy clapped his hands. "Make a sexy pose!"

Skinny snapped photo after photo from multiple angles. "Beautiful! Wonderful!"

Mouse trembled. "It would mean a lot to me. Look, I even drew you behind this yaoi scene with Harry Potter and Duo from Gundam Wing..."

Maho took a tentative step back as more and more people crowded around her. Then she took a deep breath, reaching into Al's coat.

"Get away from me, you weirdoes!" she shouted, tossing a smoke bomb into the squirming mass. Everybody in the teashop made a run for it, shouting and coughing as the building quickly filled with black smoke.

Making her way past the panicked crowd, Haruka calmly switched on the ceiling fans. The air was clear in a matter of minutes, but by then there was no one around but Haruka, Maho, and one enormous mess. If one listened closely, they could hear a lonely gust of wind whistle through the room.

The older sister frowned when she saw the number of unpaid tabs scattered all over the ground. "Maho..."

Maho gulped, tiptoeing her way to the exit. "Uh, well, that was fun. I guess I'd better get-Owwowow!" She whimpered when Haruka pulled her back by the ear. "I'm sorry, Haru-nee! Don't kill me!"

"Sorry ain't gonna cut it, Baka-chan." Haruka got a mop and cleaning rag from the maintenance closet, tossing them on the nearest table. Reaching further in, she pulled out a uniform and apron, just like the one she was wearing, and handed it to Maho. "Time to earn your keep, dear sister."

"How was I supposed to know this place gets customers?" She whined.

Without a word, Haruka put her into a Boston Crab.

"Ow! Okay!" Maho tapped the floor between shrieks. "I give up! I give up!"

"That's better."

O-O-O-O-O-O-

"So," Haruka said conversationally, her lips poised over a cup of tea, "How did that thing with Al go? I'm assuming that's why you came in here the way you did."

Maho squeezed the large sponge in her hands, scrubbing the floor vigorously. "It was okay. A bomb went off in the principal's bathroom."

"That's nice." She took a sip.

"Hey," Maho looked around, suddenly realizing something. "Where's Ken-kun?"

"Didn't show up," Haruka replied simply. She struck a match and carefully lit her pipe, taking a few small puffs before settling back into her chair. "No notice, not even a sick call. Just decided not to come today."

The younger girl arched an eyebrow, waiting for an explanation.

"I'll let it go, just this once. Kentaro-kun needs time." She exhaled up toward the ceiling.

Maho furrowed her brow in worry. "Didn't go well?"

Haruka chuckled dryly. "He ran screaming into the night."

"Oh."

"I don't blame him. I just hope he can get over the shock."

"That's it, then?" Maho pulled up a chair next to her sister, smoothing out her new clothes. She managed to transform the plain slacks into a nice pleated skirt, but besides that she matched perfectly with Haruka. "A whirlwind romance that ends in tragedy? Nothing else?"

"I wouldn't call it a tragedy." Haruka finished her tea. "It's just life, Maho-chan. Someday you'll understand."

They were silent for a while. The grasshoppers chirped outdoors, the only other sign of life being the occasional hum of a passing car. A cool breeze drifted through the teahouse, making everything rustle slightly. The hanging pans made a noise like wind chimes, and the florescent lights mixed with the orange and red of the sunset, like watercolor bleeding on a canvas.

"I refuse."

"Hm?" Haruka perked her eyebrows.

"I refuse to believe that." Maho looked at her sister. "That a relationship can just end like this. That's not how love works."

"It wasn't love, Maho-chan," she replied flatly.

"Looking at him? And you?" She shook her head. "What else could it have been? You want to know what I think, Haru-nee?"

"Not really."

"I think you're trying to hide your feelings. You pretend you don't care so that you won't get hurt, when you really do care about Kentaro, and what you had together."

Haruka didn't speak, opting to smoke her pipe instead.

"Well?"

Still, she puffed away.

Maho looked directly at her sister. "Come on, Onee-chan."

She blew a few smoke rings.

"Haru-nee!"

Finally, she said, "I need a drink."

In a single motion, Maho reached into her tiny apron pocket, pulled out two huge bottles of sake, and set them down on the table. With a shake of her hands, two cups also appeared. "You want to drink? Let's drink." She paused for effect. "But you tell me the truth. Tell me your real feelings. I want to know."

"Where'd you get that from?" Haruka asked.

Maho grinned smugly. "I am Maho, the all-powerful and all-knowing." She popped one of the caps and poured two small shots. "Think that would make a good stage introduction? Too arrogant, maybe."

Haruka raised one corner of her lips. It could've been called a smirk, if it weren't so warm. "You and your magic tricks."

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-
Lance

Lance was standing by the front door of Hinata-sou, wearing a sharp suit and tie, and wishing very much that he was somewhere else -O- because this was the time for his enforced 'date' with Sara. Actually, he would be somewhere else, except that Al was holding him rather firmly with an arm twisted behind his back.

"You're looking rather sharp!" commented Kitsune, walking up with Motoko, Naru and Shinobu. "What's the special occasion? Your day in court come up?"

"Date..." mumbled Lance, irritated. He was in no mood to deal with the fox today.

"Oho!" grinned Kitsune. "And who's the unlucky lady? Not our very-own Shinobu-chan, perchance?"

"Ha! He wishes..." cut in Al, grinning. "No -O- Lannie-kun here's off for a romantic day with our precocious Sara-chan... I hope he can keep hold of his virginity..."

"What?" exploded Motoko, in shock. "You mean -O- this hentai child-molestor is planning to date an 8 year old girl! This is unforgivable!"

Al drew back a bit as Motoko drew her sword.

"I cannot permit such perversion!" she shouted and Lance suddenly found himself standing alone as Motoko brought her blade down. He braced himself for the impact of a ki blast.

"BACK OFF, BITCH!"

Motoko froze in shock. Suddenly, standing between her and her intended target, was a girl she assumed was Sara. She'd never seen Sara wearing a backless red gown and stillettos before, though.

"Don't you DARE touch a hair on his head!" Sara continued. "He's MINE, and I have some serious plans for him today, and they do NOT involve him being in anything but top physical condition, you understand?"

Lance was pulling back towards the door, but Sara pinned him where he stood with a gimlet glance over her shoulder.

"Ah.. Sara-chan..." started Naru nervously, "where did you get those clothes? And... I'm sure you weren't a B-cup last time I saw you..."

"It's just a few things I borrowed from the trunks in the attic," she said, "and, since nature is a bit slow in my case, I had to borrow a few of Shinobu's pads, if you know what I mean..."

"Auuuu! No! I don't pad! It's not true..." shouted Shinobu, red with embarassment, before running off to hide.

"Anyway..." continued Sara, turning sharply around to where Lance was trying to push himself back through the wall, "... where are we going, Lannie-kun?" she cooed seductively, whilst batting her eyelash extensions alarminly.

Lance passed out in terror.

Undeterred, Sara grabbed him by his collar, and dragged him out of the building as the rest of the residents stood there in shock.

Al was the first one to speak.

"Well," he began, "I don't know about you lot, but I'm certainly not risking /my/ life by following them."

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-
Evening Meal

"Hey, I found something earlier today."

Kitsune produced the four bottles and showed them to Keitaro, who took them and read the labels with an unusual look of surprise and confusion.

"Kitsune, what are these?" Keitaro asked, looking at the bottles.

"Vioxx, zyprexa, buspirone, and ambien." Kitsune responded.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Naru followed up, looking as confused as Keitaro.

"They're the names of all four of the medications contained in those bottles." Kitsune answered.

"Medications? What for?" Shinobu questioned with a hint of concern in her voice.

"Well, vioxx is a narcotic analgesic medication. It's used for pain like morphine an' stuff. Buspirone is used by people who have anxiety. You know, those over-stressed, worry-wart types. Ambien is, of course, sleepin' pills. I use 'em every time I get a hangover...What?" everyone was staring at her. "A writer's gotta have a big vocabulary if they wanna write a good book don't they?" they were still staring at her.

"Anyway, zyprexa is the one that really worries me..." she took on a more serious look, "You see, zyprexa is used by people who have mental illnesses. Like those crazy, schiz-schizer-schizo"

"You mean schizophrenic?" Shinobu corrected.

"Yeah, that's it! Schizophrenic! Yeah, schizophrenic and psychotic people use these to help calm 'em down, you know, help 'em keep in touch with...with reality." Kitsune struggled for the right words to say before Motoko interrupted her train of thought with a question while she was examining one of the bottles.

"So where did you find these?" the young swordswoman inquired.

"Huh? Oh yeah, get this. Remember that Sagura kid who left a couple a' days ago?" everyone else nodded in reply.

"Yeah, I found this stuff in his closet, under a loose floorboard. Pretty weird, eh?" she explained.

They all gave her a look of surprise, Shinobu gave a small gasp and Su just scratched her head.

"So...does this mean that they're still edible?" asked the foreign girl.

O-O-O-O-

Meanwhile, a few thousand miles away in an apartment room on the edges of Venice, Italy...

A young man struggled under the blankets of his bed as he slept. He was breathing heavily and uncontrollably while he sweat profusely, obviously having some sort of nightmare. Tears were slowly running from the corners of his closed eyes.

"No..." he said weakly, "Please don't hurt her..." his teeth were clenched and the tears flowed more vehemently, "Leave her alone...NOO!" his eyes shot open and he was awake.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-
Lance and Sara

Sarah forced her date through the streets of downtown Hinata by the hand.

"Oh Lannie-Kun, this is such a dream come true!" Sarah gushed.

"Err... yeah... just remember our promise, you can't tell anyone about LADS, right?"

"After our date my lips are sealed -O- hopefully because they'll be on yours..."

Lance shuddered.

O-O-O-O-O-O-

A mere twenty feet behind the "Happy" couple Su and Dizzy were trailing.

"Grr."

"I know Diz, I'll stay back far enough they can't see us, and we'll keep and eye on them so Lannie-koon doesn't get Sarah in too much trouble.

Dizzy doubted that there would be a lack of trouble, he sighed and held on to Su's hair tightly.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-

"Oooo, Lance-Kun, let's go in there!" Sarah pointed at a expensive looking restarunt.

"I dunno Sarah, I don't really have a lotta money and..." Sarah dragged him through the main entrance, informing him that he never actually had a say in the matter.

Su and Dizzy entered in hot pursuit, but watched as Lance and Sarah were sat at a crowded table with no other seats empty near them.

"I have a idea!" Su smiled and ran twords the kitchen.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-

The restraunt was set up with the tables set up around large grills, so the cooks could prepair the food with style and flair in front of the paying customers.

Lance watched their cook suspiciously, he was about the same height as Lance, but he had very arms and a small head. The only part of his face that wasn't hidden by a hat he wore was his long pointed nose.

The cook melted butter on the grill as their drinks were filled. "My papa used to take me to these places all the time back in America."

"Ya know you've never talked much about your life before the Hinata house, did you travel around with Seta?"

"A... a bit." Sarah was suddenly evasive and looked very focused on the cook who was flipping shrimp into the mouths of the diners around the grill. She opened her mouth and a pink shrimp landed perfectly.

Lance opened his own mouth but the cook flipped the shrimp too high and it hit the patron behind Lance in the back of the head.

"WHAT THE BIG IDEA!" The man turned around and threw his plate at Lance, whom Sarah threw to the floor so he could avoid being hit.

As an all-out war of a food fight broke out, Lance looked up at Sarah nervously -O- she was blushing as she had landed on top of him when she shoved him to the ground. "Skipping to the best part, eh Lover?"

Lance shoved Sarah off and took her by the hand, "Come on, let's jet."

The pair left with their "Protectors" in hot persuit.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-

"Well that was fun, let's go home." Lance said hoping the humiliation was over with for the night.

"Are you kidding? We havn't finished yet, I still have a surprise for you!" In two swift movements she had lept upon Lance and tied a blindfold around his eyes.

"Hey wait, what are you doing!" Lance cried in protest as he tried to pull the cloth off.

"Don't worry Lannie-kun, I won't sully you yet."

"Sully! Wait, what are you...Sarah slow down!" Sarah was now running down the street with Lance in tow.

O-O-O-O-

Lance's eyes being useless, he focused on his other senses, he could smell grease, salt, sweat, and alcohol. but wait, another scent, something heavenly, familar...

The blindfold was removed, and they were in a salsa styled dance club, people in mariachi uniforms playing, dancers spinning and swinging to the music, and the biggest pile of nachos Lance had ever seen.

"BANZI!" He cried leaping upon his cheesy feast.

"You're welcome, lover." Sarah sat on the stool next to Lance and smiled flirtously.

As Lance ate Sarah summoned the barkeep, "Whisky and water, hold the water."

"Err...we cannot serve minors, seniorita." The barkeep looked her up and down dismissiveely.

"I'm 21 you idiot, don't you know gymnasts are all small and young looking?"

"Is she on the level?" the fat man asked Lance whom was distracted.

"What? Yeah, sure, whatever... where's the salsa?" he asked looking around.

The barkeep shrugged and poured the drink for Sarah.

The blonde sipped the drink before Lance realized what had happened and he tried to pull the cup from her hands.

"Gimmie that!"

"No!"

"Sarah!"

"It's mine."

"Let go!"

"Fine!"

Sarah let go and Lance pulled too hard, having the drink splash upon a large musclebound man behind him.

"You little prick!" The man picked Lance up by the collar of his shirt.

"I'm sorry!" he whimpered as Sarah cheered him on, "Fight Lannie-kun, protect your lover!"

"You are not my lover!" Lance roared at Sarah as the man got even more enraged.

"Pay attention to me!" The man overturned Lance's tray of food.

With the speed of a ninja, Lance pulled a cardboard tube out of nowhere and smacked it agenst the thugs head. The tube bent in half, and the man was madder then before.

"Oh crap..."

"Dieeeeee!" Sarah began throwing bottles of boose at the man, at the same time Su and Dizzy (Whom had just caught up with them) lept upon the man and began choking and scratching him from behind.

The man was forced to let go of Lance, who grabbed Sarah by the arm and ran to the dance floor, knocking into other couples whom glared and cursed.

"Oh cool, salsa!" Sarah began spinning and dancing, forcing Lance to dance with her or risk losing her in the crowd.

As he dipped her a chair flew through the space of air where their heads had been a moment before, the man was still mad and now plowing his way through the crowd.

Lance swung Sarah in the air and her shoes smashed the brute in the chin.

He stumbled back as Su and Dizzy ran up to him and knocked his legs out from under him, sending him to the floor with a thud.

Lance (who had failed to notice Su or Dizzy) took Sarah and bolted from the club.

O-O-O-O-

The two of them finally stopped by a fountain, spraying it's water in the air in six beautiful arcs.

Sarah sat next to Lance who was trying to catch his breath and she lay her head on his shoulder.

This peaceful moment was ruined by Dizzy and Su bursting from the bushes and knocking both the kids into the fountain as they fled from the large man hot on their heels.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-
Kojiro's Arrival

Kojiro yawned as he walked up the large number of steps up to Hinata House. He had done all sorts of things today: he had met a beautiful girl, gotten rid of a hangover, enriched some watermelons, patched up a leg, and walked all the way up here. The bath, his first in weeks, was also a plus.

There was hope in the air. Kojiro really just wanted everything to work out, and maybe everything would, for once.

He finally finished the last part of stairs. He stepped forward, feeling the warm wind flow around his body. Kojiro looked at the large Japanese mansion, his resolve strengthening as his now-dry hair ruffled in the breeze. Checking one last time that his Aloha shirt wasn't burnt after that watermelon debacle, he walked straight to the front door and slid it open.

Nothing. Kojiro stepped in, looking about. Fortunately, he saw the person he was looking for immediately: a medium-sized, black-haired, glasses wearing Japanese man of early 20's age. Kojiro turned to him.

"Err, are you one Urashima-san?" he questioned, looking up at him through his bangs. The man nodded.

"Ah, you must be C... Ch... Che..." Kojiro sighed as Keitaro struggled with the Spanish name.

"Kojiro," he said, rubbing his forehead. "Just call me Kojiro."

The man nodded. "Then I suppose you can call me Keitaro. Aunt Haruka called ahead." he said, and motioned to the couch, moving for it himself. "Please, sit down." Kojiro nodded.

"If it's not too much trouble." Kojiro and Keitaro sat down, and then they got to business.

Five minutes later, Keitaro was not impressed.

"So, you're not in college, you have no official job, you live on loan from your sister, and you have a limp in your knee that prohibits you from legally doing hard labor?" Keitaro asked incredulously, looking over the papers that Kojiro had filled out. "The only thing you have going for you is that you're a chronic D&D player, and even that's dubiously good."

Kojiro sighed. He loathed interviews with a deep, burning passion. The worst part was, he knew that if he had showed up two weeks earlier, he would've had more of a chance to get a room; they would have been more desperate for tenants, but it seemed that there were two rooms open, and they were good financially, otherwise the landlord wouldn't have been this picky. But what to do now? What to do...

"Uh, I can juggle!" Kojiro said, grabbing three oranges on the table and juggling them.

Keitaro sighed. To his credit, he did juggle them quite well.

"Well, it's not like I have any objection to you staying here, but most of the tenants here are women, and they might have something against another guy staying here." Keitaro poked at his glasses. Honestly, he figured that the guy wasn't too bad, but the others were all useful in some way, and this guy had nothing. Sam was Mutsumi's pet project for some reason, Lance was a carpenter, Kyosuke was rich, Al was... well, Al.

But then again, Ms. Minase had recommended him. Even though she'd been out of touch for a while, she had been a friend of Grandma Hina's for some time. Actually, they had been really good friends, before Ms. Minase got married (And later divorced)— good enough that she could ask Grandma for anything, and Grandma would help out, and likewise.

But before Keitaro could open his mouth to explain that maybe he could get him to stay by using that letter of recommendation as pull, he saw his aunt come in. "Oh, hello Maho-chan." He waved cheerfully.

This greeting was responded to with a large, blunt object flown through the air and coming into contact with Keitaro's head. Kojiro, utilizing the wisdom that God had pounded into his poor, poor brain, sat absolutely still, much like one would when being stared at by a T-Rex.

"Don't call me Maho-chan, Kei-kun." 'Maho' said sweetly.

Kojiro wrinkled his nose. Was that alcohol he could smell? And that voice; he knew he had heard it before. But he didn't dare turn around to get a closer look.

"Oh, who's this?" she asked, and Kojiro gulped as a face appeared before him.

Oh, he realized. This was the girl I met earlier. The one who bumped into me.

Kojiro smiled weakly. "Ho-hola, Senorita." he said, smiling a bit nervously. She was so uncomfortably close that he could feel the heat radiating from her reddened cheeks. Yup, that was definitely alcohol on her breath.

Maho scrunched her face, and then her eyes widened in recognition. "Oh, you're that guy who gave me a band-aid." she said, and Kojiro nodded. "What're you doing here?"

"I'm, er, I'm trying to get a room." Kojiro said sheepishly. "You know, so I don't have to sleep in makeshift coffins and suck blood."

Maho nodded thoughtfully for a while, swaying slightly back and forth. "Well, why don't you stay here?" The two men facefaulted. "What? We have a free room, right?"

Keitaro nodded in response. "Yeah, that's what we're doing." he said slowly, perplexed at his aunt's odd behavior.

Maho clapped her hands. "Well, then, that's good." And with that, she walked off to... To wherever curious girls with large coats and short skirts went, Kojiro supposed. Keitaro coughed.

"Well, back to bu-" Keitaro was interrupted yet again as a sandy haired woman walked in; Kojiro recognized her immediately: the woman he gave the anti-hangover tea.

"Hey there Keitaro, mind getting me some mo- Oh, you're that guy with the magical tea! I never got to thank you for that, did I?" Keitaro turned.

"Oh, hello, Kitsune. This is Kojiro. He's attempting to get a room here." he explained, pointing to Kojiro. Kojiro waved hello.

"Well, this guy's a keeper! He probably has all sorts of mystic healing tea and stuff in that backpack of his! From all sorts of lands and stuff!" Kitsune said, nodding in appreciation of what those could do. With anti-hangover medicine, it would remove the last limiter to total alcoholic consumption.

Keitaro nodded. "I'll keep that in mind." he said, turning back to Kojiro. "No- Kitsune, what are you doing?"

"Just showing my appreciation for his magical tea." Kitsune replied. Kojiro mouthed 'get her off of me!' as she put a chokehold on him, so he couldn't get away.

Keitaro coughed. "Err, Kitsune, we're kinda doing something here." Kitsune sighed and stood.

"Bah, fine. See you later." With a wink, she was off. Keitaro turned back to Kojiro.

"Now, back to work, I do be-" And yet again, another voice interrupted. Keitaro turned, as did Kojiro. There was no use in staying still anymore; apparently, nobody here was a dinosaur.

"Hello!" The interruption stated, in a peppy female voice. Kojiro and Keitaro were greeted by the sight of Hinata's local turtle/watermelon lady. "Oh, you're the nice guy who made my watermelons all bright and sparkly! They tasted so much better! Thank you very much!" She bowed and walked out.

Keitaro, at this point, was convinced. "You can have the room." He said, and stopped. Keitaro waited for a second for any interruptions, and then continued. "Rent is 50,000 yen a month, and you'll be expected to take up some of the workload..." Kojiro looted through his bag, and pulled out a good $1100.

"Here. This and the next month. Beyond that, I'm kinda short on cash." Kojiro said, subtly crossing his fingers behind his back. He wasn't REALLY broke, but he DID want to make money, not spend it. Keitaro nodded, believing the ruse.

"Very well. I guess everyone is... well..." Keitaro looked around. "I guess Shinobu can fix you something, if she's not busy. We haven't had dinner yet, and I haven't seen anyone." Keitaro stood and started walking for the kitchen. Kojiro stood and followed behind.

As the two walked into the kitchen, Kojiro caught sight of a girl, around fourteen years old, wearing a blouse and a mini-skirt; she also had an apron on. As she heard the two walk in, she turned. "Oh, hello, sempai! Who is this?" She then asked, turning to Kojiro.

"I'm Kojiro. Kojiro Chavez." Shinobu nodded.

"I am Maehara Shinobu. Pleasure to meet you, Kojiro-san." Kojiro paused, as if to correct her mistake; his first name was Kojiro, not Chavez; and then stopped. It didn't matter.

"A pleasure, senorita." Kojiro replied.

Shinobu blinked. "Sen-yo... ri-ta?" She shook her head with a gentle smile, pointing at herself. "No, Maehara Shinobu."

He nodded pleasantly. "Yep, Senorita Maehara."

Her lips contorted back and forth in utter confusion. "Ano..."

Keitaro coughed. "Kojiro-san is a new tenant. I don't suppose you can make him something to eat?" Shinobu considered this, and then nodded.

"OK!" She said, and turned. "Yakisoba OK?" she asked.

He nodded enthusiastically. "OK!"

O-O-O-O-O-

As Kojiro tucked into Shinobu's quality yakisoba with relish, Keitaro thought about the accommodation. Kojiro seemed a liability, however he came with a strong recommendation from Ms Minase, and he couldn't be more trouble than some of the recent arrivals. Also, he'd hit it off OK with a couple of the girls already. They did have one spare room in the 'mens wing' too - Kyosuke's room was technically empty, since Kyosuke had left for an indeterminate time, but he'd paid up for the next 6 months already.

Keitaro sighed - they still needed the money, and hopefully the other girls wouldn't make too much of an issue over things.

He went over to tell Kojiro his new room number.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-
Lance and Sara

It took longer than scheduled to leave the club, and that didn't make Lance any happier. After finally succeeding with dragging Sarah away from the bar, and avoiding the burly man who intended to shove him in a Chef Boyardee can, he had looked ever so forward to returning home. But the young Vixen had other ideas. Ideas that Lance knew would not be good for him.

They were climbing up the long steps to Hinata Sou when Sarah started to pull on Lance, telling him to stop.

"Hold on! We need to stop at the teahouse real quick!"

"You already went before we left!"

Sarah bapped Lance on the head. "Silly, I have to go to the bathroom. I must finish my conversion of wine to urine!"

Lance cringed, halting dead in his tracks. "Please don't EVER say that again..." He sighed, "Alright, go ahead. I'll be upstairs.. ACK!"

Sarah tugged on the back of his collar, dragging him down the path to the entrance of the teahouse. "Nuh-uh, you're still with me, sweet-stuff!"

Lance was on the verge of tears. "someone wake me up from this nightmare..."

O-O-O-O-

Lance took off his jacket, trying to catch a cool breeze as he sat waiting for Sarah. Haruka sat nearby, a newspaper open in her hands and a lit cigarette hanging from her mouth. She looked up at Lance, who was staring aimlessly outside, his jacket slung over his shoulder.

"Lance-san, right?"

Lance turned, distracted from his "zone-out" session. He saw Haruka sitting there reading the paper, looking at the front page article covering the band contest, mainly LADS.

"Yeah... that's right."

"You seem to be a real big deal with little Sarah," she said, tapping a bit of ash from her cigarette with her finger, then placing it back in her mouth. "There isn't a day where she doesn't tell one of us how great you are."

Lance found this sudden conversation to be very awkward. He stammered, not knowing exactly how to respond to that.

Haruka broke him off, "But you know, I'm really glad she has a reason to be happy now."

"What do you mean?" Lance asked, finally finding the words.

"Sarah moved in here with Seta-san awhile ago, I'd say around two months before you arrived. Then Seta left for an excavation dig somewhere near South Africa, and left Sarah here. She was pretty sad for a long time, not wreaking havoc with Su like normal. Then Seta came back just after you moved in for a short visit. With both her favorite men, you especially made her day."

Lane remembered Seta, having met him a few times before, most memorably when he drove them away from the mob that was after him and Al.

"Is Seta-san her father or something?" Lance asked.

Haruka exhaled a puff of smoke. "Even though she calls her 'Papa', he isn't related to her. I find that to be a very lucky thing."

"Then who are her real parents?"

Before haruka could even look at him, Sarah came out from the bathroom. They both knew by the clogging sounds of her high heels (How does she wear them, anyway?) on the hard wooden floor. She flashed a smile at Lance.

"Shall we retire to your bedroom, Lance-kun?"

Lance felt like he was going to be sick. Again.

Outside, Dizzy and Su crept atop the roof of the teahouse with a waterballoon tucked in each hand. They reached the balcony undetected and looked down below them. They could hear voices, but saw no people.

"Grr." 'Why are we doing this again?' Dizzy asked.

"Because Sarah-chan likes it wet," she giggled with a big grin. Dizzy couldn't help but grimace at the thought.

Suddenly they heard footsteps approaching, and two shadows appeared exiting the building. Su stretched out her hand that held a red water balloon, her excitement reaching an unmatched peak. Dizzy swung back his tiny little arm as well. They just saw their heads when suddenly...

"Doesn't look like you're stargazing to me." came a voice from behind them.

Dizzy panicked, and both of his water balloons fell from his paws. He looked on as both of them missed Lance, and landed right on top of Sarah.

"Eeeeek!"

Sarah was drenched from head to toe, her makeup now running down her face and her hair and dress dripping wet. Lance looked up at where the water balloons came from, but Dizzy and Su were pulled out of sight by Haruka, who had caught them red-handed (or in this case, red-ballooned) and had startled Dizzy.

"Maaan, this was a new dress!"

Lance looked at Sarah, and gasped.

She was looking up at the roof, when he saw scar marks all across her back. There were deep cuts, slashes, and signs of stitching. There must've been makeup covering her back , and the water washed it all out. Lance stared in horror and disbelief.

She... she was...

Sarah looked back and Lance, raising an eyebrow at his shocked look. Then she knew, her eyes growing wide. She used her hand to feel her back, and cried out in shock.

"Sarah..." Lance said. But he never finished. Sarah grabbed his jacket away and clutched it around her, kicking off her shoes and running as fast as she could up the stairs, tears streaming from her eyes.

"Sarah, wait!" Lance yelled. He soon took chase after her, following the sound of her crying.

O-O-O-O-

There was no sign of Sarah when Lance ran inside the Inn, panting for breath. his hands fell to his knees, as he leaned against the doorway and tried to calm himself. His eyes were glued to the floor, but his mind was racing with what he just saw. There was no mistake about it. Those scars were from abuse. He didn't know how, when or why, but he was certain. At that one moment, he felt that he finally connected with her. A connection that he never thought he'd share. He had to find her.

Catching his breath, he ran up the stairs. It was on those steps that he saw a trail of fallen tears leading all the way up to the roof. Lance ran, following the trail to the deck.

There was no one on the deck, but he did see a large puddle of water on one side near the railing. With a running start he jumped clear over the railing like a professional track star, and landed on the roof.

"Waaah!"

THUD!

And on another puddle of water.

Lance sat up, grumbling and rubbing his bottom. Then he looked up, and saw a small figure wrapped in a big jacket sitting on the edge of the peak of the roof. He stood up.

"Sarah!"

She turned with a quiet gasp. When she saw who it was that called her, she began to get away.

"Leave me alone!" she cried.

Before she could make any distance, Lance sprinted forward and grabbed her shoulder, attempting to stop her. Instead he lost his balance and fell over, taking Sarah down with him. With a loud THUD they crashed to the ground.

Sarah was now staring up at Lance, streams of tears still escaping down her cheeks and a mild scowl. Lance looked at her with eyes full of concern and worry.

"Sarah..."

"No! Get away!" she screamed, struggling to get out. "You know my secret, so now I can't be with you anymore! Just get off!"

"Sarah, I share the same secret!"

That's when the struggling stopped. Lance pushed himself off of Sarah and sat on the edge of the roof, looking out onto the city of Hinata below them. The lights in the buildings flickered like the stars above them. Sarah sat up and looked at Lance, confused.

"I was abused too, Sarah." he said, still lokoing out onto the city. "For two years, I was beaten until I could almost not feel the pain. I guess it explains how I always live after those Naru punches!"

Sarah was still shocked by what she heard that his last remark didn't phase her. "You mean..."

"Look, why don't you sit here," he said, turning to her and patting a spot next to him, "And I'll tell you all about me."

Sarah hesitated, but was drawn in by his sudden calmness and kindness. She wiped her face and sat down next to him. Behind ascatter of clouds, the mood began to rise, and a glistening silver light lied across the hill they sat on. With a long gaze, Lance told his tale.

"I was born and raised in a city called San Diego in the U.S. My dad was David Waymire, manager of a t-shirt factory. He would always bring me a new shirt with funny things on them... mostly nerdy stuff like nintendo or Star Wars. I had so many I had to kep the ones I wanted most and give the rest away to chairty. He was very supportive of me, and kept reminding me that I can amount to anything I want to.

"My mother was Lily Waymire. She didn't have a 'real' job, but she did volunteer work at the elementary school there as a yard duty worker. Basically, she had a whistle and kept things under control. She helped me with everything. She even offered to manage my old band. That wa sjust how much she cared for my happiness.

"But about two years ago, my Mom went to my Dad's work to drop off his lunch. One of the machines somehow caught fire, and it eventually burned down the whole building. My parents were the only ones who helped everyone else to safety. And they were the only ones who... didn't make it."

Sarah felt her chest grow heavier, and her breath still. He was an orphan like her...

"I was pulled out of school that day and heard the news... I couldn't believe it. With no warning, they were just gone, like that. But my Dad's workers told me about them saving others with no regard for their own safety. Then I knew it was true. Call it stupid or foolish, but I couldn't have imagined a better way to die than the save the lives of others.

"For about two weeks, I lived in an orphanage until one of my family members could adopt me. But we were a small family, so I imagined it would take a long time for them to find anyone. by then, I was looking through things my parents left behind to me, hoping to find a picture of who I thought would be my older brother. But I found nothing."

"Older brother?" Sarah finally asked.

"A long time ago," said Lance, "I found a picture in an old family album just after I was born. There was an older boy standing next to my parents, probably around 12. I asked who he was, and I never got an answer. IU never found that album since.

"But then, I heard that my uncle Mark wanted to take me in. So I moved to his house in Tokyo, where he was working as an Army National Guard forceman for the American Embassy. He sounded like a polite and welcomming person at first, even though I never met him before. But things changed for the worse once I arrived in Japan.

"My uncle was a heavy drinker, so he had me do all the work in the house. Cooking, cleaning, even paying the bills. But mostly I worked on fixing up the house, since it was all old and abused. He taught me Japanese, well, I should say he made me learn it. Between chores and... the beating... I had to teach myself Japanese from the books he had in his room. I'd read and study while doing my chores, he'd come home and find one small reason to be angry, and he'd hit me around the legs and chest. He'd yell at me that I'll never amount to anything in my life, as long as I live in 'this Godforsaken country'. But the love for my parents kept me going, and the advice they gave me. I studied Japanese harder, and I suddenly spoke and understood the language better than most college students and occasional hardcore otaku.

"Then about two months ago, my uncle drank more alcohol than usual, for some reason I never knew. He walked out of the house and didn't come back the next day. I saw this as an opportunity to run away, and I did. I took some clothes, a couple of his books, and my writings, and stuffed them in a big duffel bag. I wondered around a couple cities or about a month, trying to rediscover my once happy life. During that time, I learned that the police weren't looking for me, which meant my uncle either never came home, or never cared for me in the first place. Eventually I met an English teacher named Mei-sensei, and she directed me to Hinata, and here I am, searching for a life that would make me overcome those hardships. And I must say, things are working somewhat better than I expected."

Sarah nodded, then let her head hang. She had a feeling that 'somewhat' was meant for her. She felt a deep sense of regret.

After a pause, Lance ventured, "Er... want to share your story?"

Sara whispered her reply so softly that Lance could barely hear her words. All he could make out was 'father'.

"Seta?" he said in surprise, "But, you always seemed..."

"Baka!" she shouted suddenly. "Not Papa - it was that useless drunk of a father. When he killed himself in that stupid drunk-driving accident it was the only worthwhile thing he ever did... but why did he have to take my mother with him? She never did anything wrong..."

Sara dissolved into fresh tears again, and Lance awkwardly put his arm around her to try and comfort her.

"Look, I'm sorry about... chasing you and everything." she said after a long moment of silence. "I guess... I just needed more of a real father-like figure to help me forget."

"Oh, that's alright," Lance said, "I don't exactly blame you. But so you know, I'm always listening," he turned to her, a smile on his face, "should you need someone to talk to."

Sarah felt tears coming from her eyes again, not of humiliation, but of understanding and care. She scooted closer and gave him a hug, which he graciously took for the first time on his own will. Her tears soaked Lance's shirt, but he didn't care. he was just happy that he finally found some balance with Sarah.

After a few endless minutes, she let go of him. "You wouldn't mind if I call you Onee-chan, would you?"

Lance shrugged, "If it makes you feel better, go ahead."

A few yards behind them, unseen, Lance's guardian angel Tony was perched on the deck railing, looking up at them and smiling.

"One step closer..."

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-
The Cosplay Cafe

Shirai wondered if it was at all possible to remain your dignity and work at the cosplay cafe. He supposed it wasn't entirely possible for anyone.

"Look, the boss made it very clear that we had to do this, this is the only way we can fairly do this." Haitani looked at the other boys very seriously.

"I'm in complete agreement." Alex nodded, the air of someone cradling a atom bomb floated in the air.

"On three." Shirai held his hand twords the middle of the circle the three of them were standing in.

"One..." Al began.

"Two..." Haitani and Shirai continued.

"THREE!" All three yelled as they threw their hands.

Haitani: Rock

Shirai : Rock

Al: Paper

"HA, I win!" AL cheered pumping his fist into the air.

"Yup, so you get to wear the Hello Kitty costume." Haitani patted the young boy on the back as shirai handed Al the suit.

"Alright... wait a minute; I thought the loser had to wear it!" Al blinked, confused.

"Nope, odd man out has to wear it." Haitani stated firmly with Shirai nodding silently.

The owner of the cafe burst into the employee's dressing room, "What's taking so long you lazy bums? Get into costume, there's a very rich girl having a birthday party who wants Hello kitty and she wants it now!"

"Right away sir!" the three of them responded in unison.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-

Haitani panted and cursed as he forced himself to his feet, several small spoiled children were pulling him down to the ground and jumping on the oversized Pikachu costume he was sporting.

He scanned the room and saw that the only reason enough children had left so he could stand was because they were swarming Al in the oversized hello kitty costume, as he had cake balanced expertly on his head as he danced his way across the room.

Shirai was off in a quiet corner dressed as an oversized Kuro neko Sama from Trigun, and he was pour tea for the one man in the café who didn't appear to be with the birthday party.

That man stood up and knocked the cat head off, holding a gun to Shirai's real head, defiantly not with the party...

"Everyone get on the ground now!" Screamed the man with the gun, Shirai's face was frozen with fear, Haitani could hardly believe it, and his best friend was being threatened with a gun!

The children predictably screamed and cried as they and their parents got on the ground, the parents managing the quell the army of kids so none would run off in fear.

Though it was difficult Haitani and Alex, the only two waiters on duty lay on the ground in their oversized costumes.

"Ladies and gentlemen and children of all ages, I am sorry to be the one to tell you that unless the person I have come here for is before me in a few seconds, I am going to kill this boy, and then another, perhaps a child."

"Help me!" Cried Shirai, the bravery he had always watched anime Heros show off not stirring within him.

Haitani looked at the man from his spot on the ground, he was in a rumpled white suit, sunglasses, and slicked back hair. A single gold pin finally explained what was going on to the pikachu clad boy, he was with the mob, and he was here for Alex!

"Bring me Alexander Rush, now!" The man said confirming Haitani's suspicions.

Slowly, Al stood, Haitani stood at the same time to try and stop Al, but this merely confused the crook.

"Which one of you is Rush?" The man asked, a vain in his head throbbing.

"I am." They both spoke.

Shirai could hardly believe what was happening, he was being held by his neck with a gun pressed against his cheek by a man hired by his best friend to kill a boy whom he worked with and was currently dressed as Hello Kitty, and it was all so surreal.

"Shut up dude - I'm Alex" The Hello Kitty spoke.

"Stop trying to protect me Haitani! I'm Alex." The pikachu threw back.

Shirai watched as the hello kitty and the pikachu each attempted to pull off their heads, but neither could do it, they were stuck on tight.

"If the real Alex isn't here right now I'll kill all of you!" The mobster roared.

Shirai could only watch helplessly as he watched both of his friends risking their lives.

The two overstuffed costumed comic book geeks began hitting and pulling on each other to try and get one another to confess to not being the one sentenced to death.

"Will you just shut up and let me take that bullet; he'll let the kids go!" Hello Kitty growled as she tried to force Pikachu off of her.

Pikachu continued pinning down the cartoon cat, "It's my bullet and most likely he'll kill everyone here even after he shoots me," He then added in a whisper "So we need to keep stalling till we think of a better plan."

"Gotcha." Hello Kitty rolled, sending Pikachu to the floor, before the surprisingly nimble cat leapt on top of the Pikachu in a professional wrestling body slam.

"YOWOWOWOW!" Cried Pikachu as it held its wounded gut.

As the two fought on, Shirai (clever boy that he was) developed an idea.

"Say, you a fan of anime?" Shirai asked smiling uncharacteristically calm.

"Yeah, why?" Asked the mobster, confused and angry, but calming down as he always enjoyed watching people fighting.

"I noticed the keychain in your pocket there." Shirai pointed to a Cabbit keychain hanging out of the murderer's pants pocket.

"So what, doesn't mean I'm less of a dangerous man." The mobster seemed embarrassed as he jammed the gun agenst Shirai's cheek to emphasize how dangerous he was.

"Dude, I know, if anything it makes you more dangerous, you're like an anime villain, cold and calculating - cool, in a dark way. "

The mobster tried to hide his grin as he absorbed the compliments like a sponge.

"But..."

"What? What is it?"

"Well all major anime villains always give their enemies a chance to fight back, and you've stacked the deck to high, we don't have a chance."

"What are you saying?"

"No villain who stacks the deck this well has fans."

The mobster considered this, wondering where this conversation had turned from the boy's life being threatened, to the mobster's insecurity about praise and worship stemming from not being hugged enough by his mother when he was a boy.

"Well I did set up a bomb in case things went south, enough to blow this place sky high."

"Brilliant, why don't you give those two a clue about where it is, and then have them try to find it."

"Wait, that's a stupid idea, what if they find it then? What then, huh?"

"By then you've taken your leave, to strike another day, and years from now when these kids are older they'll tell tales of the day the most infamous Cabbit bomber held them hostage at a birthday party."

The man was confused, he was going to be killed by his fellow mob members anyway, why he should worry about the future, but perhaps...if word spread of his amazing capers, he could start his own crime family, be his own don!

"Alright listen up you two!" He yelled at the wrestling mascots whom the children had been cheering on for the last few moments.

"You have ten minutes to locate a very powerful, very dangerous explosive I have planted, if you don't find it your gonna be flaming piles of roasted otaku."

The two would be heroes stared expressionlessly at their captor and hopefully not their executioner. This was insane!

"Your only hint will be this; someone here wasn't doing their job when I hid the bomb."

"What kind of a hint was that?" Shirai asked confused as his logical mind began buzzing through the list of people in the café whom might have been slacking off around possible bomb hiding places.

"A clever one, now shuddap you." The man threw Shirai to his knees and walked over, placing a table in front of the main door to the cafe.

"I'll let this little four eyes help you, the time starts now."

The three boys looked at each other and then darted into the kitchen to begin their search.

The adults cowering in the main room could only hope that their saviors were smarter then they looked.

O-O-O-O-

"What is it with me and mad bombers today?" Asked Al as he dug through the cabinets looking for any objects that resembled an explosive device.

"What are you talking about?" Asked Haitani, who had finally taken his costume off, leaving Al the only one who couldn't get out of character.

"This is the second time I've been threatened to be blown to itty bitty bits, it's getting kinda annoying."

The taller boy boggled, "You've gotta be kidding me."

Al looked confused, shrugged and went back to searching.

Shirai came out of the freezer with icicles hanging off his ponytail, "Not in there, listen I've been thinking."

"A dangerous habit"

"I know, but that crazy dude, that mad bomber, his sanity's only so-so."

Al chimed in, "As long as he has hostages, we don't have a chance."

Shirai nodded, something odd was happening in this planning group, "which is why I say one of us goes for help while the other two continue this dance."

Haitani growled, "If you two break out into song I will shoot you myself."

Shirai pulled on the back door but it refused to budge, "great, I told the boss that he shouldn't let people park their cars in the alley."

Haitani peeked out the door out into the main room where the killer and hostages were, "Alright, I've got a plan now."

O-O-O-O-

The mobster sighed as he looked at his watch, sure there was a great level of flare and style in this, but it sure was taking a long time.

The door opened and out of the kitchen came a attractive young female dressed as Faye Valentine, a character the mobster could really relate to in a way that is much to icky for an innocent mind to think of, and after all there were children in the room.

Faye walked towards him seductively, swaying her hips as she stared into his eyes. He couldn't help but feel a bit nervous confronted with such beauty.

The buxom purple haired goddess of the bebop sat next to him and he felt like crying for joy.

Al, who was dressed as Faye, (Not very convincingly we might add) felt like crying a little two, but he was the only one who had the restraint to force himself to flirt with a male while the other two went looking for the bomb.

Shirai and Hello Kitty came out of the kitchen dragging a limp pikachu between them.

"He got hit in the head with a pan when it fell out of a cabinet, any other clues?" Hello kitty who was really Haitani asked.

"I dunno, this all seems kinda weird ya know." The mobster looked as if he might actually realize he was being played.

In a moment of panic Faye/Al sat down in the man's lap hard.

"YOWOWOWOWOW!" He screamed as 290 lbs of Faye landed on his goods.

"Oops." Al looked away, surprised he had forgotten he might be able to look lighter then he was, but he couldn't hide it from any scale.

The mobster panted and grinned, "I like her, she's frisky, alright, one more hint, it's near a tree."

The boys dashed into the employee locker room, sure they knew where it was.

"Now come here my purple haired baby." The mobster wrapped his arms around the nervous and very embarrassed (For once) Al.

O-O-O-O-O-O--O-

Miles away at the Hinata house Motoko looked up from her meditation, Shinobu had been takeing down laundry and noticed, "What's the matter Motoko."

"Nothing...it's alright." Motoko returned to her meditation, a moment ago she could sware she heard Al crying out for help, but she assured herself it was nothing, she was just confused because of his actions today.

O-O-O-O-O-O--O-

Haitani and shirai moaned, the only tree in the café they knew of was a poster of a Christmas tree in the staff room but searching had found nothing.

"I'm gonna take a leek." Haitani sighed removing the hello kitty head and entering the employee bathroom.

Shirai began opening lockers, they were running out of time...

"AHA!" Came a cry from the bathroom.

"I don't wanna know." Shirai said to no one as he closed a continued searching.

Haitani came out holding the paper towel dispenser, "I got it Shirai - it's in here I can see it!"

"What?"

"Near a tree," A pine scented urinal cake, "someone wasn't doing their job," The paper towel dispenser is empty!" Haitani looked so happy, they had saved the day.

Shirai peeked inside and then whimpered, "Dude there's a timer on that, we have a minute left, and I dunno how to disarm a bomb.

"Oh sugar...ok...don't panic...if we smother it...what's the thickest thing in the building?"

"The fridge, it's got reinforced steel paneling."

Alright, you get Al and everyone out, I'll chuck this in the fridge!"

O-O-O-O-

"Oh stop." Al said playfully as the mobster who so badly wanted him dead was trying to kiss the boy in disguise.

"Come here, you slut." The man grabbed Al's chest and accidentally pulled it clean off.

The two stared at it in shock for a moment, as a look of realization crossed the face of the would be killer, Al jumped in the air and landed on the mans goods once more.

The man passed out, leaving Al to wonder how badly these children would need therapy after tonight's events.

"Everyone get out! The bombs gonna blow!" Shirai cried running through the room and trying to usher people out. Reluctantly, Al started dragging the unconscious mobster to the door as patrons fled in panic.

O-O-O-O-

Motoko was walking downstairs, after that odd moment she could not concentrate so she was going to turn in early, but as she passed the front room Su flagged her down, "Look Motoko, it's that place Al-san works at."

Motoko looked, the screen had a picture of a café of ill repute that she had heard contained lewd cosplaying perverts. The caption read 'Bomb threat' and people were fleeing in panic.

"Think he's alright?" Su asked, not showing much fear for their large roommate.

Motoko was nervous. All those people, in danger. Rush was there, would he be alright?

As the the last of the people got behind a protective barrier set up by the police (The last one she noted was some purple haired slut in yellow clothes) there was a rumble and the building shook before crumbling in flames.

Motoko was suddenly right up against the screen as it scanned the crowd, "Where is he where is he?" She said nervous and sounding surprisingly angry.

"I don't see him." Su watched over the kendo girl's shoulder.

Motoko grabbed her sword and was out the door in a flash.

Meanwhile, Sam had wandered in and seen the scene unfolding on the television. The news team had managed to get a camera to zoom in on the scene inside through a side window, and Sam's face paled as he saw what appeared to be Hello Kitty running with a device identified by the announcer as a bomb.

O-O-O-O-

It was 30 minutes later when Al (Still in costume) Haitani, and Shirai were found eating Ramen out of a little cart on the path back to the Hinata house.

"I can't get this bottle open." Shirai complained as he struggled with the cap of a beer bottle.

Haitani had noticed a swiftly approaching woman with a sword and he took the bottle from shirai, holding it out in front of her with a pair of chop sticks.

As motoko passed she sliced the top off the bottle without thinking twice and continued on some twenty feet before she heard a familiar voice call "Thanks Mo-Chan!"

She turned on a dime and glared at the person owning the voice - it was the purple haired slut... only the purple wig was sitting on the bench and she could see that it was, in fact, Al.

"Y...you...YOU PERVERT!" She rushed him and sent him and the boys flying off the bench they were sitting on with a swipe of her sword.

O-O-O-O-

Al and Motoko walked along the street quietly. Motoko had just explained that she hadn't in fact thrown the comb, but it had fallen out during a battle.

She had neglected to tell who that battle had been with and over what, but Al was happy enough that he didn't think to ask.

"So, all day long I was going around thinking you hated me, and I've been such a pouty brat... I'm sorry, mo-Chan." He said bowing in apology as they walked.

"It...it's alright Rush, I'm sorry as well. I didn't thank you - I had a wonderful time at the festival while with you."

"Glad I made it fun for you, I know it was a blast for me."

Motoko flushed, why was she feeling like this? How could someone so dishonorable, undisciplined, and weak do this to her, make her feel this way?

"Ya know Mo-Chan, I'm glad you don't hate me, I really like you, I don't care what you say, I'm sure that you like me to." Alex said looking at her with a peaceful smile.

"I...I..." The words would not come, did she like him back? Americans seemed to so casually throw such words into their conversation. Certainly he was a useful ally, perhaps even a friend, but was that all he meant or...?

"I...I?" He asked imitating her.

Kami, she thought, relationships were annoying and confusing. "I...I don't hate you." She said finally, feeling a weight lift.

"Excellent, 'cause I was wondering, if I could well... can I ask a favor, mo-Chan?"

"That depends, what?"

"Could we... study together? I mean, finals are coming and all, and I know you're better then I am at a lot of subjects, and maybe I could help with your English?" he fell to his knees in front of her dramatically, "We could invite Ma-Chan to study with us to if you'd prefer, please?"

Motoko was a bit taken aback. She had actually expected some kind of perverted request dealing with cosplay... and had been undecided as to how to react to it.

"I...I think that would be fine Alex."

"Thanks!" He jumped up and hugged her, the two of them walking on in silence, peaceful, happy, once again friends.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-

"Hello, lovebirds!" commented Kitsune drunkenly as Lance and Sara walked into the room together. They had both changed back to their normal clothes, and Sara was regaining her normal demeanor. Both of them ignored Kitsune, who was startingto feel a bit curious as to what could have happened between the two. This was putting her fun at risk!

"Hey, you met our new tenant yet?" Kitsune asked them, trying a new tack. "Another male, that'll make Motoko happy! He's going to be in that spare room up near the other guys."

This pronouncement affected both Lance and Sara, although in a radically different way. Lance was surprised, and curious to meet this new potential friend. Sara, however, had suddenly realised what was currently occupying the new tenants room - her Shrine to Lannie-kun. This could jeapordise her new friendship if Lance was humiliated by a public exposure of the room!

"Kitsune - has he moved in yet?" Sara asked urgently.

"No, he's only just arrived. He'll probably move in in an hour or so..."

"Onii-chan..." she said urgently, much to Kitsune's surprise, "Onii-chan, I have to talk with you now! Come with me..." and she dragged Lance out of the room.

A few seconds later, Lance's voice came from outside. "YOU WHAT!"

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-

Thirty minutes later, Sara and Lance had cleared the room of anything that might embarass Lance. Suu had helped with her mechatamas - she knew she had really upset Sara (although why Sara should be so upset by just a water baloon she didn't know) and she wanted to make amends.

Lance had also left something small behind in the room, at Sara's suggestion. So many times had he been the fall guy to Al's jokes - so maybe now it was payback time...

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-
Kojiro's Evening

Kojiro stood on top of the Hinata Dorm, looking out towards the very red sky, as the sun set, letting out all sorts of beautiful and vibrant colors. He looked at the plate and chopsticks he held. Shinobu had given him this, since the others had already eaten an early dinner. It still looked and smelled delicious. He looked at it for a long moment, and then sat down on the rooftop. He calmly picked up a bunch of noodles with his chopsticks deftly, quickly shoving them in his mouth to avoid it getting cold from being isolated from the other warm noodles.

It was delicious. Resisting the urge to let out a whoop after having eaten his first bite of homemade food in three weeks, he gobbled the rest of the food up quickly. He set the plate down, and picked up the bottle of water he had snatched from the pantry. After four or so years with braces, and then retainers, on, drinking after a meal became a habit.

After downing half the bottle, he let out a satisfied sigh. Instead of hearing the satisfied sigh, however, he heard a loud KERSMACK! Confused, he tilted his head, and sighed again. KERSMACK, he heard again.

"... The hell?" Kojiro said, now confused. He looked around, searching for the source of the noise. KERSMACK! There it was again! He walked towards the other side of the roof, making sure to move his feet carefully to avoid making noise. KERSMACK! Kojiro winced. Yes, this was the right direction. KERSMACK! Kojiro reached the other side of the roof. KERSMACK! It was coming from below. Kojiro looked down. A woman was down there. Her brown hair was dazzling. KERSMACK!

O-O-O-O-

Of course, the Bokken was too. She appeared to be taking swings at a training dummy like a lumberjack would if he were trying to cut down a redwood with a battleaxe. Kojiro looked at her. She was very attractive. Despite the bokken and the loud KERSMACKS that were emitting from the collision between it and the training dummy, Kojiro strained his eyes. He bended forward, over the roof's edge, to get a better look. After a few seconds, he muttered something, before something rather unexpected, but probable, happened.

"Hey, I can see down her shirt from he- AHHH!" The former part was muttered as he looked down from the roof, the latter as his balance shifted towards his upper body. When your upper body is over the side of something, this is not a good place for the center of balance to be, unless you're a ninja or you have a jet pack.

The latter part was shouted as he fell off. Not expected, but likely to happen, one had to admit.

As Kojiro fell, the woman on the deck looked up in surprise before Kojiro collided with her, the gravity-enhanced power of the fall pushing both parties down and onto the floor of the deck, causing a sprawl of limbs and body parts that ended up with both this woman and Kojiro face to face, their noses centimeters from each other.

At first, both examples of human beings looked at each other with confused looks on their faces. Kojiro blinked as he attempted to mentally figure out what was going on. When he did, he blushed. The woman blushed and looked away. Kojiro sweatdropped as he looked about. Come on, come on, say sorry! Kojiro thought to himself, and spoke up.

"Soft landing..." He said, then his eyes grew wide and he gasped. Uh-oh. As he though this, the woman's brow suddenly furrowed as her eyes narrowed. Kojiro felt her reaching for her bokken.

Fly, you fool! He thought to himself, only thousandths of seconds before the Bokken slammed directly into his forehead, causing his world to spin. "EYAAAH! HENTAI!" She screamed, and started kicking Kojiro. "Help!" She shouted, swinging again. Kojiro moved his head to the side to dodge the blow, grabbed the floorboards nearby, and dragged himself away from the mass of limbs.

The woman, by now, had managed to get up. "You PERVERT!" She shouted, and attempted to paste Kojiro's head with the bokken again. He quickly rolled to the side and got up.

"You crazy woman! What the-" Kojiro ducked under another bokken swing. "hell are you doing!" Kojiro backed away from another bokken swing, and turned around; to come face-to-face with Motoko. "Oh, thank GOD, someone with sense around here. Don't let the crazy lady-" Kojiro meeped as Motoko drew her sword. "Ms. Ayoma... what are you doing?"

"You pervert! How DARE you attack Ryuko-san!" Motoko shouted, and swung with a ki blast. Kojiro was blown to the back of the room, where he made a nice crater in the wooden wall. He shook his head as the sawdust cleared, and he looked forward. Both "Ryuko-san" and Motoko looked like they were ready to pulverize him.

Kojiro made as if to explain himself, then sighed. "Our Father, who art in heaven..."

He got to "By Kingdom Come" before Motoko charged. Suddenly, a voice rang out that was his savior.

"Hey, Ryuko-San, we have a new te-" Keitaro looked upon the results of today's "Pervert Smashing" with silence. Motoko paused with her sword mere millimeters from Kojiro's throat. Ryuko was absolutely still.

Kojiro was still muttering his prayer. "And lead us not into temptation..."

"I... see you've met him." Keitaro said. He turned, sweatdropping. "Well, I guess I'll see you all later, then." Keitaro then walked out the door. Kojiro finished his prayer, and stared at Keitaro's leaving form. He then looked up into the sky.

"FROM EVIL, not TO EVIL!" He shouted out loud, then faced forward and realized what had happened. "Keitaro, you heartless bas-AAHHHH!"

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-

As Kojiro walked down the corridor, heading for his new room, he came across a familiar shape.

Kojiro raised an eyebrow to Al. "Hey, I didn't know you lived here, man." Kojiro said, tapping Al on the shoulder. Al turned, and his eyes widened in recognition.

"Oh, you're the guy who I helped out with the puppets. Kojiro, was it?" Kojiro nodded, and the two shook hands. "What are you doing here?" Kojiro chuckled.

"Well, you see, I'm a traveller, and I'm also kind of homeless. So, this one lady referred me to here a few towns back, and I figured I'd try to get a room." Kojiro explained, and Al nodded.

"Well, that's great to hear, it'd be great being a roommate with yo-" Al then remembered what was up with the only free male room: the Shrine to Lannie-Kun was still there. Maybe he could buy some time, and get Sara to quickly clear it up? Kojiro tilted his head.

"Man, what be wrong?" Kojiro asked. Al shook his head quickly.

"Nothing, nothing at all! Hey, why don't you go introduce yourself to the other tenants?" Kojiro thought about it for a moment, and then shook his head.

"No, it's a bit late, and it's been so long since I've had a good roof over my head, I'd like to sleep under it." Kojiro smiled and started walking towards his room. "Night."

Al's next thought, was literally 'Nuts.' As quickly as the otaku could, he dashed through the hall and leapt over Kojiro with a spinning leap that would have made an Olympic medallist proud, and probably would have kept Anakin Skywalker from getting his legs and arm sliced off, and set himself as a barricade in front of the door.

Kojiro ran up, and there was silence.

Kojiro tried at first to slip PAST Al. After a few minutes of THAT not working, he tried pushing Al out of the way. Kojiro looked at Al.

"Let me in." Kojiro ordered. Al shook his head. Kojiro then waved his hand. "You WILL let me in." Al shook his head. Kojiro thought for a moment and then said, "Move." Nothing happened. "Nuts."

Kojiro considered his options; he could always kick Al in the nuts. Yes, that would work. However, that was a bad idea, since he didn't want to piss any more people off than he already had; to say, that swordswoman and that crazy lady with the bokken.

So Kojiro worked with Plan B. With a voice that sounded oddly like Cheech Marin's, he said, "You really don't want to keep me from getting in my room, man." he uttered, looking Al straight in the eye.

"Yes, I do." Al said, looking straight back at him.

"No, you don't." Kojiro replied.

"Yes, I do."

"Do not."

"Do to!"

"Do not."

"Do to!"

"Do to."

"Do not!"

"Do to."

"DO NOT!" Al shouted. Kojiro shrugged.

"Fine, you don't have to keep me from my room if you don't want to. Geez, don't have to be so pissy." With that, Kojiro gently pushed a confused Al out of the way and walked into the room. It took Al a second to realize what had happened, and then he gasped and dashed into the room behind Kojiro.

The room, which had previously held all sorts of Lance photography, memorabilia, and even the occasional (Sarah-Made) Doujin of Lance (Also known as Lanjinshi.), was now utterly empty. Al looked about in shock as Kojiro started putting the stuff he carried up down in certain places; namely, his sleeping bag, his clothes, and his first-aid kit.

"See, no problem." Kojiro said, his voice akin to that of a teacher or a guidance consular. "Was that really worth all that hass- Oh, what's this?" Al turned as Kojiro picked up a small photo off the floor. When Kojiro saw it's contents, he suddenly turned stiff. Al walked over.

"Hey, whatcha looking a-" Al's eyes were greeted with a picture he never hoped to see again. It was a picture of Al's 'moon' in all it's (Freaky) glory. Both men stared in silence.

A few minutes later, there were knocks on the door. Nobody turned as Naru walked in. "Koban-Wa. Are you the new tenant?" she asked, and nobody answered, still in shock. "Hello?" Naru asked, walking closer. "Are you there?" as Naru began to wave her hand in front of Kojiro's face, Al suddenly got a feeling of dread.

"I, uh, I hear my mother calling." Al slowly said, and started backing away. Naru then saw the picture in Kojiro's hand. As Naru saw the contents, Al's reaction was fairly predicatble. "Uh-Oh."

There was silence. Naru snatched the picture out of Kojiro's hands, who proceeded to run into the corner and cry. "T-train wreck..." was heard as Kojiro, hands shaking, pulled out a canteen of 98-Proof Russian vodka, and downed it all in one shot to erase the memory.

Naru, meanwhile, looked at the picture, and then looked at Kojiro. No, it wasn't him. She then turned and looked at the picture, and then at Al. Perfect match. Besides, Motoko had told her about this.

"You sick PERVERT!" Naru shouted, and sent Al out the door and bouncing down the hall.

O-O-O-O-O-O-

Meanwhile, Lance, looking through Suu's special portable camera receiver, was laughing his butt off. "YES, IT IS THE REVENGE OF THE LANCE! MUAHAHAHAH!"

O-O-O-O-

Kojiro, meanwhile, had lost his imagery of Al's pasty rear, mainly due to the incredible powers of deadly drink, and due to the fear of what could possibly happen to him. Naru looked at him for a moment, and shook her head.

"Come on. I'm not going to hurt you." she coaxed gently, like one would a scared puppy. Warily, Kojiro stood up, and walked over. "I'm Narusegawa Naru. What is your name?" Kojiro took a second to speak up.

"C-chavez. Chavez Kojiro." Kojiro replied, bowing deeply. Naru, confused, bowed as well, but not quite as deep. There was silence for a moment, and then Naru spoke again.

"A-ano... Did Keitaro tell you about the rules of living here?" Naru asked, and Kojiro shook his head.

"No, he didn't." Kojiro replied, eying Naru. "He neglected to mention the rules." Naru sighed.

"OK, I'll tell you the rules ONCE, then." Naru cleared her throat, and began. "You can use the hot springs on Tuesdays and Thursdays; the rest is the women's time. No acts of perversion, and rent's due exactly a month from your first day. Any questions?" Kojiro shook his head. "Good. Follow the rules and we'll get along just fine."

Kojiro nodded. "O-Okay." Naru nodded. There was a moment of awkward silence between the two, and then Naru spoke again.

"I'm going to go, then." Kojiro nodded. "Have a good evening, C... Cha... Che..." Kojiro shook his head.

"Call me Kojiro." he said, and Naru smiled.

"OK then, Kojiro. You may call me Naru." Naru turned and walked out the door. "Good night, Kojiro."

"Good night, Naru." Kojiro replied, and looked out the door for a few minutes, until Al walked into the room. Al looked at him, and then out the door, and back at Kojiro.

"Well, looks like you're getting along well with Naru. Better than any other person who was new here, actually." Al said, and suddenly smirked. "You're attracted to her, aren't you?" Al laughed as Kojiro choked on his own air.

"No, I'm not attracted to Naru. I can't be attracted to the Landlord's mistress!" silence reigned for a moment before Al started laughing again. "What, it's logical! She lives over his room, there's a hole in his ceiling... where do you think THAT leads?" Al blinked.

"Hey, how did you know that Naru lived above Keitaro?" Kojiro shrugged.

"I didn't. Thanks for confirming for me." Kojiro shrugged. "Besides, she isn't my type. I like Megane-Ko myself." Al plopped down on the floor, as did Kojiro.

"Sorry about the whole picture thing and all, seriously, I have no idea how that go-" Kojiro sighed.

"Don't worry about it, man, whatever floats your boat." Kojiro said, waving off the apology. "Now get out, and take your damn picture with you. I want to go to sleep." Al facefaulted.

"Alright, man. See ya in the morning." Al stood and walked out of the room. Kojiro looked up at the ceiling, and after a bit, got up, turned off the light, and got into his sleeping bag to go to sleep.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-

"You mean, you actually saw that whole bomb threat thing?" asked Mutsumi, in surprise.

"Yeah... but, I thought it was just too crazy to be a real vision! I mean, Hello Kitty carrying a bomb, of all things..."

Sam was trying to explain his confusion to Mutsumi at their irregular training session, while she munched her way through a watermelon. She had offered a few slices to him, but he was reluctant to eat any due to the fact that it appeared to be slightly glowing, and occasionally crackles of electricity crawled across the skin. Mutsumi seemed unconcerned, though - or else she was completely oblivious to the whole thing.

"Hmm... maybe we should do something about recognising true visions in our next training..." mused Mutsumi. "Anyway, are you ready for the trip tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I've packed..." started Sam before looking up in surprise. "Hang on, a trip? Where am I going? And how come I've packed already when I didn't even know about it!"

Mutsumi put on an inscrutable expression. "You are learning, grasshopper..." she declaimed, in a fake Chinese accent, before returning to her slice of melon.

Sam sweatdropped.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-
Late night

Silence. Motoko stared at the ceiling of her room, which even in the vast blackness of night, still woke her with its cream white color. She looked to the left, staring at her door. She looked to the right, staring at her balcony. Motoko finally raised herself and looked at her clock.

11:15. Ugh. She laid back in her futon and tried to get back to sleep. About three minutes later Motoko got up, her brow creased. Blast the heavens, she just couldn't get to sleep. She rose herself up again, and sat cross-legged on her futon, drapes still covering her lower body and her sleeping kimono.

There was just so MUCH that had happened lately. She couldn't get back to sleep. There was the issue of Rush. She just couldn't understand him. One minute he was acting deeply hurt over the lost comb, then dismissing it when he found out why she had lost it. and then did he have other motives for studing together? was he thinking impure thoughts? she flushed and wondered if she should tell him she changed her mind.

There was also the issue of Maho. What happened last night, with the whole duel and kiss...

"Fighting for my heart?" she asked herself quietly, as she stood up. She knew that there was no way she was getting any sleep tonight.

Quickly changing into her practice gi and grabbing her sword, she quietly snuck towards the balcony. Only once did she make a noise; one particular board creaked under her weight, and she instantly paused. A few moments later, satisfied, she walked out the balcony, and with a single bound, leapt off it and into the forest.

A few minutes later, she was walking down Hinata Inn's front steps, going for a bit of fresh air.

O-O-O-O-

Kojiro opened his eyes and growled. It had been hours since the insanity that had occurred earlier with the picture of Al's moon smack dab in the middle of his room. Darn it, he was eighteen, and he was too old to put up with this bull. At least, he felt that way.

Wasting away one's life in the bedroom with nothing but letters and your leg in a sling for months on end did that to you.

He looked at his wrist again, narrowing his eyes to see the watch on his hand.

Or, actually, the lack of watch on his wrist. Goodness, how many times had he done this? He didn't wear a watch. And yet, every time, he looked it over again and again. Was it some kind of deep, psychological thing that went through him at the unlucky moments, like his annoying habit of stating what was on his mind at the worst times.

Like that woman with the bokken. Had he said ANYTHING more polite, he might have gotten off uninjured, or at least with a lesser beating. But NO, he HAD to speak chauvinistically, in a rude and uncouth manner that would have shamed his father. He winced as a slight spasm of pain went through his knee. Even with the painkillers, it still hurt; that woman would make a fine warrior, beautiful AND strong.

She was probably smart too; as far as he could tell, everyone he had met thus far was quite intelligent. Who else had he met? Kitsune? Fox. That described her well. She appeared to be as cunning and as sly as a fox; she was also a "Foxy lady" as his father would have said. She also appeared to have a soft spot for alcohol. Kojiro noted this; one never knew when one wanted tequila, or maybe she could be bribed to help him out somehow with some of his small stash; Kojiro didn't have much on him, but it was fine quality hard liquor.

Whom else? Mutsumi. Yes, the watermelon lady. She was also quite attractive. Her accent pegged her as Okinawan. They tended to be stereotyped by other Japanese as foolish and silly, much like the British pegged Americans as being arrogant and egotistical. Except not quite as violent. She also seemed smart; it was hidden, and well beneath her acting self, but she had some sort of intelligent and wise... aura... that radiated around her, made her stick out somehow.

That Maho character... throughout the whole day, Kojiro had met her twice. The first time, she had threatened to kill him, and then proceeded to introduce herself. The second time, he could smell the alcohol off of her breath. At least she had somewhat warmed up to him, unlike that swordswoman, who had proceeded to rip into him with full strength. Or at least, he HOPED that was full strength.

He didn't want to feel full strength if it wasn't. She looked like she knew how to handle her sword. Thank GOD Keitaro came back and stopped her from any lethal blows. He also explained about Ms. Minase's recommendation in an effort to save his life, which was probably the only reason that he wasn't dead in his sleeping bag.

There was Al. He was obviously skilled at what he did, but what he did... well, Kojiro really didn't want to know. He shuddered at the picture he had found. Well, dad was right about everyone having skeletons in their closet.

But what did the others have? That Lance kid didn't seem that dark, but... you never knew.

Kojiro sighed. Gosh darn it, no rest for the weary. He got up. He still had his aloha shirt and dockers on. He didn't manage to get a chance to take them off. Before he left his room, Kojiro grabbed his Difibulator and replaced the batteries. And with that, he left his room.

Kojiro snuck out to the front door, slipped on his shoes, and walked down the steps.

O-O-O-O-
11:22.

Motoko yawned. She shivered as she hugged herself in the night air, walking through the abandoned streets of Hinata. If this kept up, she'd get a cold. She could see her own breath in the freezing night air.

Suddenly, she turned around as she heard heavy pounding. Footfalls. Motoko turned to see two cloaked figures, both about one and a half times her height and about twice her build. They both had large poles in their hands, and were staring at Motoko with blank expressions. She could have sworn she saw red in their faces...

They started walking towards her, and their poles started crackling with electricity, as they span it around like quarterstaffs. Motoko drew her sword wordlessly, watching as the two started to separate from each other; they were going to circle her. Motoko watched as one went behind her; she didn't try to turn, as that would open herself to attack from the front. She watched her opponents carefully, sensing rather than watching the one behind her.

And then all hell broke loose.

Motoko ducked as the quarterstaff from the front went over her head, hearing the buzz of electricity as she turned and parried the quarterstaff from behind. She quickly moved left as the quarterstaff from the front swept where her head was a second ago. Rolling to the side, she dashed into an alley and turned around. There, she would have the advantage of the "One at a time" rule. One of them leapt after her, and she quickly swung at it. With a CHINK, she left as nasty blow in it's left leg and knocked it to the side; and then proceeded to gasp as she was knocked back by a quarterstaff thrust to the chest. She looked up and raised her sword, thinking to herself as she realized what exactly she was fighting.

Beneath the cloak, which had been opened upwards from the fighting's ferocity, was a metallic plate. The limbs were metal, the head was metal, as she could see from its red camera-eyes.

She was fighting a robot.

The fight quickly picked back up, and Motoko found herself unable to just blow them away with ki; they were working together, making her parry every blow and putting her limits to the test.

One of them overextended, and with a single slash, Motoko made the robot pay for it; she shoved her sword up through it's chest and out the back of it's head. It paused for a second, before Motoko kicked it off of her sword. She quickly turned and blocked the other staff. She and her enemy locked weapons, and they pushed at each other, staring into the other's eyes. Motoko's angry and strong, and the robot's lifeless and cold.

And then, with a single blow, Motoko was reeling, her head ringing from a cheap punch to the left of the head. She raised her sword quickly to block a flurry of blows, stepping backwards as she moved quickly. And all of a sudden they were in a lock again, and, instead of letting the enemy cream her again, Motoko infused her fist with Ki quickly and punched the robot in the face, knocking it back.

Suddenly, an electro-staff flew towards her, and she slashed it out of the air. She looked at the thrower. That other damn robot wasn't really dead! At least it was still down...

As Motoko realized this, she almost didn't manage to dodge the second thrown electro-staff. Turning to dodge it, just barely, she faced her opponent, and then proceeded to be crushed by its superior weight as it pushed her into the alley's wall. It quickly grabbed her by the neck and started to squeeze.

Motoko gasped as she took in several breaths of air before she ceased to breath. As her enemy squeezed harder, she realized something. The monstrous machine wasn't trying to strangle her.

It was trying to snap her neck. She swung at it with her sword, but she just couldn't concentrate to use ki on it, and its reach was too long. She tried to gasp in instinct as the air cut off and she heard something start to crack. She looked aside her enemy's head, and saw a blue light dancing...

O-O-O-O-O-O-

Kojiro yawned as he walked through the town, la-la-la-ing through the city as she walked through the streets, breathing in the cool night air. He was used to hot temperatures, but he never did like too much cold, despite his love for snow.

As Kojiro walked on, he heard the sound of metal on metal and electricity. Curious, Kojiro moved towards the noise, past several buildings and into an alley.

Well, Kojiro didn't expect to see a samurai-woman being strangled by a large cape-wearing robot. As he looked closer, he saw the woman's face.

It was that swordswoman from the dorm! The one that nearly killed him! Before Kojiro knew what he was doing, he was running towards the large beast of a monster, defibulator out and charging.

Well, at least his subconscious wasn't stupid.

Kojiro, shouting like a madman, leapt onto the thing's back and shoved the defibulator into the crook of it's neck, and letting it loose. Electricity ripped through its body as well as Kojiro and the woman's, knocking all three around randomly. Kojiro looked at the woman; she was grabbing at her throat, but he had seen worse reactions to asphyxiation. Kojiro groaned as he tried to move, his muscles protesting. He suddenly felt a large metal foot slamming into his head and knocking him into a wall, like one would a soccer ball.

Only gravity saved him from having his head flattened, as a metal fist missed his head. Kojiro smacked his own head repeatedly, trying to free himself from the thralls of dizziness, as he suddenly heard the crackling of electricity. Kojiro looked up to see the large hulking machine walking towards him, with a staff radiating lightning from it. Kojiro gulped.

"Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee..." Kojiro muttered as he saw it raise it's weapon. "Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy-" The weapon came down...

And suddenly it fell from the machine's body, as did the forearms holding it. The Katana acted quickly after that, slashing deep into its chest. The robot fell to its knees, it's programming damaged, and with a single swipe, it was decapitated.

"Are you OK?" the woman asked, breathing heavily. Kojiro nodded, spitting blood out of his mouth.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine." Kojiro replied. The woman nodded.

"You're twitching." she said, walking over and proceeding to coup de grace the other robot until she was sure of it's death. Kojiro nodded, looking at his hands.

"Y-yeah. Happens to me sometimes. The adrenaline hits me really hard." Kojiro looked up. "I never caught your name."

"Ayoma Motoko." Motoko said. "You may call me Ayoma-San." Kojiro nodded.

"You know my name. You can call me Kojiro or Chavez-San or whatever." Kojiro looked at Motoko. "You out here for the fresh night air?" Motoko nodded.

"That I am." Motoko stood, sheathing her sword. "I'm going home. Come along if you wish, Hentai-San." Kojiro choked on his own air.

"I really wish you wouldn't call me Hentai-San." he requested.

"Kojiro-San, then." Motoko shrugged. She picked up an electro-staff and started to walk back. Before she left the alley, she paused. "I thank you." Kojiro nodded.

"You're welcome." And with that, Motoko left. Kojiro watched after her for a long moment, and shrugged. He calmly leaned back on a wall of the alley, and sighed. After waiting a few minutes, he walked back to Hinata Dorm.

Back to his new home.

---

Editors Notes

Why is being so awkward about stripping out double '-' signs, and scene separators? It is getting harder and harder to find a scene separator that won't be stripped by the system. Practically all punctuation bar the basics is now stripped.