Ossu, minna-san!!!!!! Long time, no see, huh? Well, I'll give you the short version of my predicament: First my parents upgraded to Windows XP, which saves documents in a format the Fanfiction.net doesn't accept, and then the ended up "accidentally" wiping the hard drive several times and having to re-install EVERYTHING!!!! I was so mad, especially since they deleted about 20 hours of music, and several hundred of my photos. I now have to re- download everything, and start my photo collection over, again. ~*~sigh~*~ Oh, well, Life goes on. I had my rant. Anyway, this chapter may be a bit shorter than usual, but I'll be updating more often from now on, especially if my parents stop messing with my baby (computer). Well, let's hope this program I'm writing in works, and that ya'll review!

Disclaimer: Same old, same old.

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Usagi woke to the sound of someone laughing there head off, feet running, enraged yelling, and occasional screams of "Not the braid!!! Anything but my baby!!! Well, maybe not *anything*, but not my braid!!!!!" She groaned slightly, and shifted. Turning her head to the left, she grabbed hold of the small clock on the bedside stand and blearily read the displayed numbers. 5:48. The small girl blinked, rubbed her eyes, and pushed herself up off of her bed and was thankful that the floor was covered with a thick, plush carpet, keeping her feet from the shock of cold tiles. She padded across the room to her knapsack and grabbed a change of clothes and shoes.

After her shower, she brushed her hair, considered cutting it again, then decided against it and divided it into two braids on either side of her head. She pulled on a pair of faded blue jeans, and an oversized racing T- shirt that Haruka had given her. She ignored her shoes, and set to finding the dining room. Given her keen sense of hearing, she was able to follow the boy's voices with relative ease and soon found herself leaning on a doorway, holding back her laughter at Duo's antics. Hiiro was engrossed in his laptop, Quatre and Trowa were quietly laughing, or smirking, in Trowa's case, at Duo and Wufei, and Wufei was angrily yelling at Duo. Quatre was the first to notice the mysterious girl that he couldn't help but be intrigued by.

"Miss Usagi, please join us." At his words, the entire room went quiet, and Hiiro actually looked up from his computer, fixing her with a piercing stare. Usagi flushed and shifted uncomfortably.

"Just Usagi is fine, Quatre-san." She settled herself between Wufei and Hiiro.

"Injustice! I will not sit next to an onna!!!" Wufei immediately yelled.

"Shut up, Wufei." Hiiro growled. Everybody seemed slightly surprised that he had spoken, but they let it go for the moment. "I'm bored," Duo said, all of a sudden. "Let's go somewhere, like the park or something."

"We could go up to the lake." Quatre suggested.

"Or we could just stay here." Wufei crossly added.

"We're going to the meeting Ririna demanded." Hiiro stated matter-of-factly amidst a sea of groans.

"Do we have to go, Hiiro-chan?" Usagi pouted.

"Hai." This answer only served to cause Usagi to scrunch up her nose and sulk.

The group decided to split into two parties to make the ride easier, and agreed to separate Duo and Wufei. So, Hiiro, Usagi, and Duo took Usagi's oversized truck, and Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei took a smaller car. Five minutes into the trip, Duo was snoring loudly in the backseat, so Hiiro took the chance to ask something that he'd been meaning to ask for a long while.

"Why?" Usagi turned to him, confused.

"Why what?" she inquired in return.

"Don't play dumb with me, Usa. I know you're smarter than that and you know exactly what I'm talking about." Usagi flinched. She'd expected this matter to come up, but she should have steeled herself to it better. "Why'd you kiss me before you left?"

Usagi bit her lip before answering. "Well, Hiiro, I-"

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~*~evil laughter~*~ Well, will she, or won't she?? You'll have to tune in next time to find out!!!!!!!!!!