Okay guys, I'm really excited about this one. Time to get into the lore! Can't wait to hear what you guys think.

Yuki stood in front of her ancestor, the first Drowned Maiden, Asou Ouse. Although separated by a carved stone coffin, Yuki had an almost supernatural clarity while looking at her. Perhaps it was the mysterious fluid filling the coffin. The colors within seemed saturated; Ouse's hair was unnaturally black, so dark and inky it almost seemed to absorb the light from Reika's torch. Her skin was almost luminous. It was paperwhite, as smooth and young looking as a teenage girl's. Her long black eyelashes, like the wings of a butterfly, gently rested on her freckle-free cheeks. What stuck out to Yuki the most was Ouse's lips. They were as red as blood on snow, the lines so sharp they looked freshly painted. It made Yuki wonder what they had her in that it could keep her makeup sharp for hundreds of years.

Ouse appeared to be resting peacefully, at least. The other two Maidens didn't share her dreamless oblivion. The first Tsukiyama, Ruri, was bound from neck to ankles in ropes, her face wrapped in saturated bandages. If you looked closely, you could make out the impressions of her features beneath the wraps: an oval face, a button nose, and a mouth open in a soundless scream. That at least was better than the first Tsukimori, Haruka. They'd buried her in tar. Yuki felt heat radiating off the coffin and it made the whole room reek with fumes. When Yuki had gone to touch the stone, Reika had yanked her hand away. "We aren't supposed to touch them." Reika explained. "Something about chakra vampirism or power transference or sentience projection…" She shook her head. "I've never been able to make much sense of it. I just read the warnings and follow what they said."

Yuki looked at Reika. "Seems silly to follow rules you don't understand."

"Seems silly to risk hastening the apocalypse because ancient lingo didn't translate well," Reika scoffed. "Have you seen enough? This place gives me the creeps." Reika glanced around nervously and gasped.

"What?" Yuki turned her head to follow Reika's gaze. "Spot a rat?"

"No!" Reika ran over to an alcove set in the wall and held up a small beat-up lacquer box. "This is one of the items that went missing!"

"What's in it?" Yuki asked.

Reika winced. "It's one of the effects of the Maidens."

"That isn't creepy or serial killer-y at all. We kept trophies from them?" Yuki cocked her head.

Reika bit her lip. "I think the first priests and priestesses were nervous. They had angered and betrayed the Maidens. Maybe they thought by honoring them and making them offerings they would appease their restless spirits."

Yuki shook her head and looked back at the coffin. Was she imagining it, or was Ouse smiling? Yuki leaned in closer and watched for any movement. Twitching in the face, muscle spasms in the arms, anything. Somewhere behind her Reika was still prattling on but Yuki had blocked her out. Her concentration on the body also heightened Yuki's awareness of her surroundings. The air had changed in the room since they had come inside. It had fallen still, stifling and coffinlike, the way a small room with no circulation did. The staleness and stillness built up to an almost ominous presence; a weight hanging in the air like a raincloud. Yuki felt the sensation of a person hovering right behind her and figured it was Reika leaning in to show her something. Right in her ear, she heard her name and it wasn't Reika's voice. Hair rose on Yuki's neck and traveled all the way down her arms. She spun around, ready to fight, but her suspicions were confirmed: they were completely alone. "Well, I think you're right. These Three are the source of all the trouble." Yuki turned, faced her ancestor, and smiled. "Was that you, Ouse? Do you have something to tell me?"

Reika walked up beside her. "Why are you talking to her?"

Yuki kept her eyes glued on Ouse. "I can feel her watching me."

Reika peered at the coffin, a frown tugging at the corners of her fine lips. "Her eyes are closed."

Yuki gestured up above and around them. "All Three of them. I don't quite know how to describe it." She shook her hands out nervously. "I've felt this before. When I've been in the dark or dense woods with enemies. You can't see their eyes but you can feel them on you."

"Yuki, that can't be," Reika watched the coffins cautiously. "That's is crazy talk."

The moment they stepped into this space, Yuki had felt the Three. What she hadn't shared with Reika about their presence, in part to keep herself calm, was exactly how they were observing the pair. The Three were watching them like predators circling lame prey; so overwhelmingly strong by comparison that there would be no contest. Reika and Yuki would be consumed. Why hadn't they pounced yet, then? What was their goal in luring Yuki and Reika down into their tomb?

In her travels, Yuki had heard about shinobi being able to take over another's mind for a time. What were the chances Ouse was weaseling her way in, setting root in Yuki's mind to take over her body? Or was this going to be a more physical form of substitution? It would make a strange sort of sense that in order for the Three to leave their prisons one of their descendants would have to volunteer to take their place. Was that why the old edicts stated one of each Maiden must be present at the shrine at all times? Before she had a chance to stew on her worries, Reika grabbed ahold of Yuki's wrist and squeezed hard. "Yuki, we need to go now." Yuki had been so focused on Ouse that she hadn't felt it. The ground beneath them was shaking softly, foretelling the arrival of a much worse tremor. "Right."

The two headed up the walkway. Before they were out of sight, Yuki stole a glance backward. Pressed against the stone of her coffin with a ghoulish grin was Ouse. Her eyes were wide open, cadaverous, and milky white, seeing without seeing, looking right at Yuki as she rose out of sight. It took all the discipline in her body not to scoop Reika up and run for the exit. It was dangerous to let monsters know you were afraid.

Once they were out, Reika reset the seal. She panted and collapsed into Yuki's arms. The tremors had settled as the seal reestablished itself. "Do you see what I mean?! Do you see how bad this is getting?!"

Yuki said nothing. Her eyes were locked on the rock face where the door once stood. In her heart, Yuki knew that the pair had been incredibly lucky. They had unknowingly wandered into a spider's nest and somehow escaped with their lives. "They're barely contained."

"I think that's why they've been killing the priestesses," Reika breathed into her hands for a moment before surfacing, stabilizing herself. "They're trying to weaken the seal."

Yuki shook her head. "That would make sense but then again, it could be anything. The ninja world is going to war again. Maybe it has something to do with that. Has there ever been this much activity before?"

"I...I don't know," Reika shook her head. "We should check the archives."

…

"There's your answer," Yuki sighed after reading a passage from an old journal. Reika had access to a secret cabinet Yuki had never known about, containing forbidden writings and the personal records of the head priestesses before her. Yuki had fished out the journal of the last head priestess, during the time of the previous shinobi war. "It says here that during the last war, many additional ceremonies had to be held to maintain the seal on the Three Maidens. The Maiden's acts weren't nearly as pronounced as they are now. I think it was just limited to the occasional voice and the dreams. That was still enough to set the whole shrine to work, though. There's no way we could mobilize like that now, especially since they made a point of killing or scaring off our help."

"So, are they stronger because there's less of us?" Reika asked. "Or is it something else?"

"From what I'm reading, it looks more like these Three are a time bomb waiting to go off," Yuki explained. "And this shrine was just a bandage to try to waylay it for as long as possible."

"What are we supposed to do, Yuki?" Reika groaned. "There are no men left in my clan and you're the last of your family line. I think Daichiro's boy knows the three counter styles, but how is he supposed to stand up to them alone?"

Yuki shook her head. "He can't. So, you should get some guys down here, collapse the cavern, and burn this place to the ground. Once the smoke clears and you're sure it's gone, leave and never look back."

Reika balked. "What?!" She shook her head and furrowed her brow, thinking hard on the issue. "Yuki, what if we tried to take them on? You, me, Beki, and Ren?"

"It's clear that we are dealing with old powers here, Reika," Yuki looked up at her. "First off, you never had any formal shinobi training. Second of all, shinobi today don't have anything on the old ones. It's like," Yuki leaned against the wall and sighed, searching for the words to explain to process to an outsider. "Powers water down along the bloodline. If these Three were the sources of our strength, they're going to make us all look like toddlers on the battlefield. There's no way to salvage this, Reika. We should stop screwing around and shut this down for good; make it so the bitches can never get free."

"Yuki...I can't do this alone." Reika gave her a pleading look. "Do you think that you could stay and help me?"

"No," Yuki clapped the journal shut. "I've killed enough time here. I need to find Ren and tell her she's going to war."

"So, I show you that this whole place is coming down because the Three are waking again and you're just…'okay, thanks, bye'?" Reika furrowed her brow.

"Reika, my daughter is an ambassador. She's going to be sent out to the front lines probably before anyone else. I need to be with her to keep her safe." Yuki explained. "I promise if there's anything left of this place afterwards, then I'll deal with it."

Reika crossed the room and took ahold of both of Yuki's hands. "I need you here, Yuki. Please, stay with me."

Yuki tried to jerk her hands away but Reika held fast. "All those years ago...I made a horrible mistake. More mistakes than I could have imagined, really." She looked up into Yuki's eyes, her lashes dewy with tears. "My first mistake was ever thinking I was as good as you. We were both trained to be head priestess, but you were just so much better at everything. No matter the subject, things just came easily to you. I worked as hard as I could to keep up but I was constantly drowning in your shadow. It made me jealous, Yuki. Jealous and spiteful."

"I forgave you for all that, Reika." Yuki shook her head. "Leaving this place ended up being the best thing to ever happen to me. God works in mysterious ways."

"I thought I wanted this job, Yuki," Reika squeezed her hands. "I should have let you have it. You would have done so much better of a job. You would have brought people here, made this place the way it was in the old days. I should have been happy to just be by your side, the way I was when we were younger."

"That's all over." Yuki pat Reika's hands. "Let it go and move on. You'll be better off for it. Torch this place and go find work in town. Be around people, be happy."

"I haven't been happy since you left." Reika swallowed to keep the tears at bay. "I still love you, Yuki. I miss having you here, seeing you every day, being with you. I swear I can smell your hair on my pillow sometimes. I miss holding you in my arms-"

Yuki pulled her hands away with a frustrated expression. "Reika, stop this."

"No!" Reika's tears spilled over onto her cheeks. "I've been holding onto this for twenty years, Yuki. I knew I hurt you. For a while, I justified it, that I deserved this and maybe some time in the real world would tone down your attitude some. But then the years went on and I never stopped waiting for you to come back. Any time the door blew open during a storm I expected to see you there with that cocky smile on your face. Instead, you came back here with a baby and that bear of a man on your arm...it was like I never meant anything to you-"

"Do you even hear yourself?" Yuki furrowed her brows. "You throw me out into the world and expect me to come crawling back to you? Who the hell do you think you are? What makes you so damned special?"

"I thought I was special to you." Reika cried into her sleeve, desperately trying to reign herself in.

"You were," Yuki stared her down. "I thought we were going to spend the rest of our lives together. You were more than my best friend, my girlfriend, whatever. You were my family. Then you go and sacrifice me for your own benefit. You cost me my career, my home, the only family I had ever known. Sorry the whole world isn't as shitty as you and I was able to move on."

"Seiichiro is dead and your daughter is an adult," Reika had stilled her sobs, but her cheeks were still stained with tears. "What does that world have for you? Why can't we start over?"

"Endless possibilities." Yuki shook her head and started for the stairs. "I figured that out as soon as I left this place. I'm still only twenty-five, Reika. You on the other hand, are almost forty. Even if I was interested in you, there's a fifteen-year age difference between us. That would have made it hard for me to come back to Seiichiro. Everybody misses 'the good ole days'. They're gone, Reika. Stop holding onto the past and move on already. As far as I'm concerned this place is dead to me. And you, you're literally just a friend to me. If you keep this clingy shit up we won't even be that anymore. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go find Ren."

Reika watched the love of her life storm up the stairs into the night. Yuki, like her powers, had always been cold and aloof. When they were younger, however, Reika had been in Yuki's circle. Things between them had always been warm and bright, albeit with a little jealous rivalry. Now that Reika knew that she was cut off from that warmth, that only ice and darkness remained, a pit formed in her stomach. All those years pining, praying for a chance to make amends, and Reika was just too late. She had thrown Yuki out into the abyss in the hopes it would be so traumatizing she would come home humbled. Instead, Yuki had flourished, evolving and growing in her new roles. Reika laughed bitterly to herself. She should have known. That was one of the traits that she loved about Yuki. That had been the exact opposite of what Reika should have done. How many other ideas had Reika held dear for all these years been wrong all along?

The archives seemed to shrink around her, pulling her in and trapping her between the shelves. Reika collapsed into her chair and looked at the ancient volumes and dusty tomes. This place had been a goldmine in her youth, a source for great wisdom and comfort. As girls, Reika and Yuki had parked themselves in the corner on stormy nights and had tried to dig up the worst dirt they could find on the old ones. Maybe Yuki was right. Reika should burn the place to the ground. Looking at piles of ash would be less painful than seeing Yuki's ghost in every corner, hearing her laugh down the corridors, bitterly trapped in the memories of her.

As Reika sat there, stewing in her misery, a darker thought took hold.

Why stop at the shrine?

The idea startled her. It was grim and out of place, a rasping voice inside her head that didn't quite sound like Reika's conscience. But it was there. As frightening as it was, that voice was a part of her. Even though she had never heard it before, Reika could feel its kinship. A darkness inside her she had never quite brought herself to acknowledge. She had judged Yuki so harshly for murdering the marauders, but now that she was brought low by circumstance, Reika couldn't really find the harm in it. As the dangerous web spread in her heart, Reika found it harder and harder to care about anything.

The world is the problem.

Reika rose, taking a look at the wisdom around her. She headed for the stairs, ignoring the warnings of the past printed on old vellum, turning a blind eye to the ideals they embodied. As Reika left the main hall, barefoot and shaking in the evening chill, it felt as though she were the only living soul for miles. Maybe she had been hallucinating Yuki, having lost her mind alone at the shrine for so long.

The world has taken everything from me.

The seal broke much more quickly than before. Reika didn't know the process behind the seal and how it worked. Whether it required time to recharge or it was simply weakening with age, she didn't care. The door appeared and Reika unlocked the padlock, tossing the chain and key into the dirt once they were free. She descended into the pit, the warmth of the enclosed space comforting after her frigid walk. Reika had been taught to keep this place locked tight, to keep the Maidens in check. That had seemed right to Reika. She had no reason to question it. Only now, in the loneliness of her middle age, did Reika stop to consider that maybe she had been lied to. Or perhaps, the reasoning behind those decisions were flawed. She could feel the Maidens now, the way Yuki had claimed to. The Three rested peacefully within their coffins but Reika could feel their eyes probing her in the dark. Her eyes fell on the beautiful Ouse. She shared Yuki's carbon black hair and her smooth, almost paper-white skin. As Reika stood in that space alone, surrounded by their power, it was as if her frequency was realigned with theirs; her spirit attuned to them. Instead of the fear she had felt before, Reika could sense their feelings: the Tsukiyama's anger, the Tsukimori's hunger, and the Asou's longing. Reika ran her hands over the long-faded text carved into the stone. She wondered if the Three really were alive in there. If Reika just popped off the lid, would they be able to step out and breathe? Would they need to eat and sleep like everyone else? Would they need to love? Reika's gaze traveled up to Ouse's fresh painted lips, shimmering like rubies in the dim light. She swallowed hard, memories bubbling to the surface at the sight of them.

It's been so long.

Reika could barely remember what it had felt like to be wanted. Her entire body, her heart and her soul craved love. She wanted it selfishly, jealousy, to own someone entirely. If Reika freed someone from their prison, that seemed a good reason for them to owe her. Her hand stopped at the seam of the coffin, a tiny, choked out voice from somewhere deep inside her threatening caution. Reika stepped away from the stone and began to form the hand signs for the seal's release.

I'm done being cautious.

…

The door flew open, drawing stares from the room's three occupants. The sight of the figure silhouetted against the moonlight drew smiles from two of them and a disgruntled groan from the third.

"So what the hell is this office turning into?" Ishida slammed his fists on the desk. "Some teenage crash pad?!"

"Ren!" Beki cried, leaping off the couch and nearly overturning the coffee table.

"Beks!" Ren jumped up on Ishida's desk and leaped over him, throwing herself at Beki. She looped her arms around her friend's neck and Beki swung her around in a circle.

"I missed you so much," Beki nuzzled into Ren's neck.

"What are you doing here?" Ren kicked her dangling legs excitedly.

"You people realize I'm trying to work here, right?" Ishida gestured at his desk.

Beki sighed, set Ren down, and switched on the radio in the corner.

"What is that supposed to do, mask your noise with more noise?" Ishida frowned.

Beki smiled warmly. "Come on, Ishida. You know you secretly enjoy having company."

He shook his head and buried his face in his hands. "Did Seiichiro have to deal with this nonsense?"

Daiske nodded. "Old man Tsukimori used to let us stay up all night playing board games and eating junk food. We would crash on the floor and he'd take us to breakfast in the morning."

"How did he get any work done?" Ishida shook his head. "Did he have selective deafness?"

Beki shook her head. "No, if we ever got too rowdy he would make us run laps around the neighborhood."

"Then go do some laps," Ishida waved at the door. "I have to get through this proposal."

"That worked for old man Tsukimori," Ren grinned. "But he had like, a hundred and fifty pounds on you."

"Shh," Beki squeezed her. "Leave the poor guy alone. We can be quiet."

Ren sighed, going limp in Beki's arms as she tried to put her down. "Come on, Ren, be a big girl."

"I don't wanna," Ren pouted but Beki set her ragdoll form on the couch anyway. Her preferred playmate now seated safely across from her at the opposite couch, Ren was left with Daiske for physical affection. "Meow?"

Daiske shook his head and sighed in resignation as he lifted his hands up out of his lap. Ren set her head down on his leg facing Beki, curling the rest of her body up on the couch. He started to scratch her head absently as the conversation kicked up. "So, what brings you to Getsu?" Ren asked.

"Well, the short of it is that we're all headed into the Fourth Shinobi World War," Beki fidgeted, rubbing her hands together between her knees.

Ren's eyes bugged out and she sat bolt upright. "What?!"

Daiske shushed her and lowered her head back onto his knee. "Easy, girl."

"The funny thing is, Asou Yukihana headed up to Kami to Akuma looking for you to deliver the news," Ishida chimed in. He would never outright admit it but Haruka was right. It was nice to have company in his office for a change.

"So why were you in town, Ren?" Daiske scratched behind her ear. "I never see you anymore now that you're officially training to be head priestess."

Ren shifted self-consciously. "I needed to get away for a while. Reika...My sister has always been a bit of a quirky duckling, you know? Now that things on the shrine are going to hell in a handbasket she," Ren's voice trailed off as she tried to find the words. "She's losing it, man. I've caught her wandering around in the middle of the night, wearing nothing but the skin God gave her, muttering to herself."

Beki furrowed her brow and looked at her teammates. "What's going on at the shrine?"

Daiske glanced at Ren, as if to say "Do you want to explain or should I?" Ren shrugged in response, so Daiske started to speak. "There were a few strange deaths. Accidents. It's an old set of buildings with abysmal safety measures. Someone slipped and drowned in the lake. An old bell in the main hall fell and brained somebody. An old stove exploded...you get the gist."

"It was all the old women, too," Ren added. "Before it happened we were sort of worrying that their minds weren't quite right anymore. Their memories were going, that sort of thing."

"I mean, that's really sad," Beki leaned back on the couch and after checking to see that Ishida wasn't watching, put her feet up on the coffee table.

"Feet down, Miss Tsukimori," Ishida said.

She pouted and put her feet back on the floor. "As sad as a bunch of old priestesses having fatal accidents is, that doesn't sound like 'hell in a handbasket',"

"They had been having really freaky nightmares they wouldn't tell us about," Ren propped herself up on an elbow. Daiske stopped scratching her head and she glowered at him, grabbing his hand and putting it back on her head. "Reika said they were having premonitions of their deaths. Then the younger priestesses started to have them. Instead of sticking around to test whether they would come true or not, they all bailed."

"It sounded to us like they were just looking for a chance to duck out of their priestess-y duties," Daiske explained. "Ren said two of them had boyfriends on the side and wanted to get married. Then there was the one that always wanted to be a photographer-"

"And the two girls whose parents made them join the shrine after a few scandalous incidents," Ren nodded. "None of them were especially called to the craft."

Beki shrugged. "I don't know, guys. Maybe something is going on. My mom's been having a lot of dreams like that, too. Prophetic stuff. Some of them might have been lying. There might be some truth to it, though."

"That's the thing, your mom lived and breathed this stuff. Reika didn't talk about Yuki that much but she did say that her abilities were legit. The marauders invading came to her in a dream. That's how she knew to meet them at the pass." Ren explained. "These guys...not so much."

"What about you?" Beki asked. "Is it weird to you?"

Ren bit her lip and looked at Beki, then at Daiske. "I've had some weird stuff happen. I just chalked it up to my imagination, though. You know how spooky those woods are. Sometimes you think you see something or hear something. It always turns out to be a trick of the light or a rabbit."

"Except that one time." Beki gave her a knowing look. "Was it like that one time?"

Daiske blinked, his brows knit in confusion. "Are you guys just going to keep playing the vague game or are you going to let me in on the secret?"

"We might have wandered into somewhere we weren't supposed to once," Ren laughed and waved dismissively. "Shrines are full of places that are kind of grotesque and give tiny little minds nightmares." She looked up at Beki and gave her a grim nod and a mouthed "yes".

A chill ran down Beki's spine but she kept her face unreadable. She hadn't visited the shrine in years but even without firsthand experience her gut was telling her something was awry. "I hope mom is okay."

"Your mom is fine, I'm sure," Ren adjusted. "I think it's in everybody's heads, personally. The Maidens have been dead three hundred years and there is no such thing as ghosts." An almost palpable silence came over the group. The only sounds were their breathing, the almost inaudible music on the radio, the tick of the clock, and the scratch of Ishida's pen. Ever the diplomat, Ishida was the one to pleasantly break the quiet.

"Have you told Ren the good news yet, Haruka?"

Beki's eyes widened. "That's right! Thanks, Ishida!" She looked at her confused friend and grinned. "Good news: I'm getting married."

"WHAT?!" Ren nearly flung herself across the coffee table. Daiske caught the waistband of her pants and held her back from mauling Beki. "WHY DIDN'T YOU START WITH THAT, YOU SLUT?!"

"Okay, okay, calm down," Beki laughed as Ren swung at her. Daiske gave Ren's pants a good yank and she sailed back, bottom first onto the couch. She folded her arms and pouted, giving her the look of an infuriated four-year-old. "We haven't even set a date yet."

"So what made you finally decide to say yes to the eyebrowless wonder?" Ren glowered. "What made proposal number fifty-seven so special?"

"That's the thing," Daiske booped her nose. "She isn't marrying the Kazekage."

Ren's jaw dropped. "You really are a slut! Who is it then!? Who dares to take my Beki away without so much as a Ren seal of approval?!"

Beki felt the heat rise in her cheeks and she grinned sheepishly. "Neji."

Ren squealed and started to jump up and down on the couch. "OHMYGODYESSSSSSSSSS FINALLYYYYYY!" Daiske and Ishida protested in equal measure, although for Ishida it was to save the furniture but Daiske was incredibly concerned about the possibility of Ren accidentally stepping on his junk. When Daiske tried to steady her, Ren leapt like a squirrel over the furniture at Beki. Beki screamed and threw her hands up to protect herself but Ren was already there, shaking her. "YOU'RE GOING TO MAKE SUCH ATTRACTIVE, FREAKISHLY TALL BABIES!"

"We aren't that tall!" Beki laughed. "Everyone is just freakishly tall to you!"

Ren stopped, her jaw slightly open and a suspicious look on her face. "That isn't why you guys are getting married, right? You didn't have some drunken one-night stand and now you're getting hitched to cover for the little Hyuga bastard inside you?"

"I sure as hell hope not," Ishida turned, his tone and searing glare a dead ringer for Beki's late father.

"No," Beki chuckled uncomfortably, feeling everyone's eyes on her. "We've just been a couple for a really long time without realizing it. And...we finally realized it."

"So of course, your mother probably blackmailed Hyuga Hiashi into arranging your marriage," Ishida shook his head. "Poor man."

"I don't think it came to that," Beki scratched her head. "I've been living with the family for years, so he knew I would get along with Neji just fine. Plus, as much as everyone likes to forget I have an okay pedigree."

Ren narrowed her eyes. "Do you think your mom paid him to do it?"

Beki shook her head. "Hyuga Hiashi is too good to be bought."

Ren shrugged. "He can't hustle for crap, then," All at once, the intensity of her gaze turned up to smoldering as she roughly took Beki's face in her hands. "That begs the question: who is going to be your maid of honor, me or the pretty little porcelain heiress?" Ren's voice up ticked in pitch at the end, a threat balancing unsaid on her tongue like the edge of a knife. Beki was undaunted. She had predicted exactly this sort of reaction from Ren.

"Ren, you know I've known you longer than anyone else and I love you dearly," Beki began, feeling Ren's grip on her face tightening. "But I'm marrying into Hinata's family, first of all. The Hyuga are close knit. As in 'I'm lucky to be marrying Neji because I'm not his cousin' close knit. It'll score major brownie points if I have the heiress of the clan as my maid of honor. That will get me some serious swaying power if things take a turn I don't like. Second of all, you're halfway around the world. I can't ask you to spend up to a year in Konoha getting all the arrangements together."

Ren released her face, a shadow over her eyes. "I see how it is."

"Come on, Ren," Beki snuggled her. "You know I'm not doing this because I don't love you or something."

"She's going to make this about boobs," Daiske whispered to Ishida, who gave him a confused look in response.

"Just because the Hyuga girl has G cups or something doesn't mean she's better than me!" Ren growled. "Or because she is tall enough that she doesn't have to shop in the children's section for most of her stuff!"

"I know," Beki pet her head. "I'm sorry. I'm not picking Hinata because of her endowments-"

"It's convenience!" Ren slapped Beki's breast and she hugged herself protectively in response. As she spoke, Ren wiggled around, poking Beki's breasts wherever her defenses were weak. "You aren't sticking by me like you said you always would!"

"Ren, you're still going to be a bridesmaid!" Beki whimpered and slapped away Ren's hands. "You're still in the wedding!"

Ren took a deep breath. She leaned in uncomfortably close, her mouth mashed up against Beki's. "Do I get to pick the bridesmaid dresses?"

"Yes," Beki's voice was muffled by the presence of Ren's face against her own. "We can do that here in Getsu before I go home. After the war."

Ren sat back, placated. "Bows on the butts. Built in padding. Ruffles as far as the eye can see."

Beki cringed. "Are you trying to devise the ugliest bridesmaid dress in history?"

Ren nodded. "It has to be awful. So terrible, I will get all sorts of attention out of sympathy for my plight."

Beki fell quiet, her mind wandering with the idea. "You realize people will think I'm a bridezilla, right?"

Ren glared at her. "You owe me this, boo."

Beki sighed. "Then you're going to need puffed sleeves and matching updos."

Ren squealed and hugged her. "You're the best, Beki!"

Ishida looked at Daiske. "I'm assuming it's like this with them all the time."

Daiske sighed and nodded. "Sometimes they forget I'm here for hours at a time."

Ishida glanced at the pair as they prattled on about lace and petticoats. "Should we go and get some air?"

Daiske hopped off the couch. "Sounds good to me."