Hello readers, It's been quite a while, I know, but between school work (It's senior year for me) and watching Magi, I completely lost track of time! So, sorry about that, but I'm back on the roll, in my bag and all of that stuff. So, without further wait, please enjoy the new chapter!

Chapter 14: Truth To A Friend

"Look, it's been proven more then once that Batman can beat Superman!"

I sat back and shook my head at my little brother; it had been about a ten minutes or so since we started this argument, and even with most of the facts I put out there, Ant' still had a hard time believing the the Man Of Steel could beat Gotham's Caped Crusader.

And, the one person completely ignoring our loud debate, Rena was sitting on the couch, her eyes still glued to the TV as a colorful pink cartoon pony ...Pinkie, I think her name was, sang some song about cupcakes. She been skipping through episodes out of order after the first two episodes of season one, and the one she happened to pick was the one where one of the young ponies went around trying to earn her 'cutie mark'.

All you have to do is take a cup of flour!

Add it to the mix, now just take a little something sweet, not sour!

A bit of salt, just a pinch!

Baking these treats is such a cinch!

Add a teaspoon of vanilla!

Add a little more, and you count to four,

And you never get your fill of...Cupcakes!

So sweet and tasty!

Cupcakes! Don't be too hasty!

Cupcakes! Cupcakes, cupcakes, Cupcakes!

"Hau~ so cute! No, more then cute, they're adorable~!" Rena uttered, hugging one of the couch pillows to her chest. I gave a small smile, the way Rena acted normally was cute all on it's own; it was one thing to see it in the manga and anime, but I wasn't gonna lie, the cute mode made the orange haired girl look down right ...well, cute.

"-evin! Hey, bro, are you listening to me!" Ant' shouted in my ear.

I turned to him and blinked, my mind had gone completely off track for a few moments there. "Huh? What is it?"

"Really, you weren't listening! I just gave you, like, ten good reasons how Batman can kick Superman's ass and you flat out ignored me," the per-teen said, a small frown forming on his face. "What's up with you, anyway? You don't usually block me out when we have debates like this."

"Well, sorry. I got distracted," I sighed. "Can you blame me, though, you know Kim's gonna flip-out when she finds out what you did."

Ant' shrugged. "That will happen when it happens." He said unconcerned, before looking over at Rena, and saying in a whisper. "Though, I can see how you'd be distracted ...there is a cute girl in the room, she's around your age and everything." I rolled my eyes at him, I knew exactly what Ant' was getting at, but I chose to ignore it. Much better to do that, then add wood to the fire.

"Whatever. Go ahead and continue your useless debate on how Batman can beat Superman."

"Ah ha ha~ okay, but, you know what I'm getting at, though." And he was right, I did. Ant' leaned up off the armrest and started going through his facts; that at this point I was pretty sure I could counter. "Well, first off, Batman is one of the best tacticians you'd find anywhere, and the worlds best detective, that being said, he could out smart Superman with proper prep time."

"Uh huh ...your sure about that?" I asked, giving him a 'are you serious' expression. "You honestly believe that?"

"Yep, oh, and as a plus, Batman always has kryptonite in his utility belt," Ant' added, smugly, waving his index finger in the air. "So he always has an edge over Superman."

I huffed out a breath, running my hands through my hair. It was time to blow Ant's blue truth into dust with some cold, hard red. "You say all of that, but do you even know how strong Superman really is, or even his limits?" I asked him.

Ant' gave a thoughtful expression, then shook his head. "Uh ...n-no, not as much as you."

"Good, so let me give you five solid reasons way the Man Of Steel will always beat Batman," I cleared my throat and went right into my facts. "First off, you say that Superman can be weaken by kryptonite, and that is true, but the green rock is rarely used as a power off switch. And, it's been proven many time that Superman can power through the effects of kryptonite for a short time, and that's all the time he needs to knock Batman out-."

"He can't do tha-."

"Let me finish, it's only fair, I listen to you," I interrupted him. Ant' opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it and pouted. I smirked. "Now, you said that Batman was the best detective in the world, right? Wrong! Superman is smarter then Bruce by a lot, a whole lot, his brain is faster then the best super computer, he laterally can flip through books and read the entire thing in a matter of seconds; Batman is a good detective, I've give you that. But, you mean to tell me that if Superman read all the books and all the information, that he can't become just as good, if not better, then Batman in detective skills."

Ant' thought on it for a moment, then spoke. "I-I …never thought of it that way before, but Batman has natural talent. Something Superman can't get from just reading a few books."

"Oh, Superman has natural talent. Think about it, X-ray vision, microscopic vision, the ability to see the entire electromagnetic spectrum ...need I go on. If that doesn't count as being a super detective, I don't what does."

"Uh~ oh my God, Superman is so damn overpowered it's not even funny!" Ant' exclaimed, slamming his head back on the couch cushion.

"Oh, I know that. And, just to add a few things to prove my point, Superman can become immune to kryptonite by absorbing enough solar radiation, like he did in All-Star Superman there's also the fact that even if Batman did have a 'kryptonite ring'." I explained snickering at Ant's annoyed expression, making air quotes. "He would break all the bones in his hand, even if Superman was weakened enough for him to get a few hits off. I mean, you've seen Superman: Doomsday, the part were Lex beat on Superman's clone; he had to wear a steel glove just to do any damage to himself, any retorts ...no, I rest my case, then."

"God, this is so unfair, Bat's should have a fair chance," Ant' muttered, loudly.

I chuckled. "Hey, when your facing an alien who constantly holds back when fighting earth's super villains, you can't expect for someone like Batman to win. There's also the fact that Superman and Batman fight enemies on totally different levels," I said. "Superman's to fought villains like Brainiac and Lex, who is considered the worlds smartest man, and won; Bat gets his ass handed to him by an insane clown and his girlfriend on a regular basis, a bad ass clown, but still a clown."

"Alright, I get what your trying to say, jeez~." Ant' pouted, letting out a sigh. "Batman and Superman are on totally different levels when it comes to the bad guys they face ...but, it's possible for him to beat Superman, right?"

"Yeah. He can, with help." I nodded. There was always a possibility, and anything is possible, even in the DC universe. After our little debate, we sat there for the rest of the episode Rena was watching, and though Ant' was kinda hesitate at first; he was watching the show like it was a normal cartoon, which it was. Now that I think about it, maybe the whole reason why I like MLP is because it was one of my mom's favorite childhood shows when she was growing up.

Sure, it was remade and what not, but I could see why a child or adult, even, would enjoy it.

A few minutes later, we heard a vehicle pull up to the curb. Antoine hopped off the couch and walked over, looking out of the window. "Kim's here," he announced. From the sound of his voice he really wasn't ready for whatever punishment she was going to throw at him. The car engine switched off, followed by the sound of the car doors opening and shutting, then foot steps could be heard coming up the stairs.

I stood up from my spot, and walked over to the door. I opened it just as Kim was about to ring the doorbell, my eyes falling onto the Dunkin' Donuts bag in her hands. Rika and Hanyu were standing behind her on the steps, each of them carrying a few light bags of there own. Hanyu had on a pair of jean shorts and a girly shirt that had a picture of a cartoon rabbit with thick eyelashes; and the words 'Girl's Rule' under it. While, Rika, had on the same green sundress she'd been wearing the first time I met her, and matching colored sandals that seemed to bring out the shade of green on it.

"Well, would you look who decided to finally join the land of the living," Kim said, jokily.

Rika smiled cutely. "Mii~ good morning, sir!"

"G-good morning, Kevin."

"Morning, girls." I greeted them both, before turning my attention back to my sister. "...Uh, Kim, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure, just let us lay these bags down in the house first."She walked past me into the house, and the girls both followed; I sighed, closing the door, and began walking down the short hall near the front door. Here it comes ...three, two, one.

"Kevin, who is this?" She asked loudly the second I walked into the living room. Kim was starring at Rena, who was starring right back at her as the cartoon that she was watching still played on the television. I sighed again, here go's nothing.

"That's sorta what I wanted to talk to you about. Late night, while we were sleep, Ant'-."

Unfortunately, though, I was cut off when Rena looked past my sister and spotted the girls. As I suspected, she didn't know who Hanyu was, but her face lit up when she saw Rika standing there, looking just as surprised.

"R-Rika-chan, is that really you?" Rena spoke softly as she stood up.

"Rena ...but, how in the world did you-?"

"Rika-chan~!" The blue haired miko was interrupted as her friend ran over and pulled her into a tight hug, tears falling streaming down her cheeks. Seeing this just showed me how much everyone in Rika's world missed her. "Rika, I so glad you're alive! We all thought you were dead! Thank goodness, you're safe!"

"Mii~ it's nice to see again too, Rena," Rika breathed out, starring up at her friend. Even though she using her cute persona, the expression on her face was oddly adult looking. " ...And what do you mean, you thought I was dead?"

"I think can answer that, actually," I said, standing next to Kim and Hanyu, who looked happy to see another familiar face, even though Rena couldn't see her at all back in Hinamizawa. "Rika, when you came to this world, you disappeared from the other one. So everyone, even the police, started looking for you. They couldn't find you for a while, and afterwards you got classified as dead."

"Dead …everyone thinks I'm dead. I can't believe this." Rika uttered in shock, slowly pulling out of Rena's hug.

"Neither can I, this is really bad, Rika," Hanyu said to the blue haired girl. "What are we gonna do?"

Rika gave a shrug, her voice turning into her real voice as she spoke. "I don't know, Hanyu. But, I'm worried, if we don't all get back home soon. Rena is going to be in the same boat as me." She turned to me, her eyebrow raised. "How did Rena get here, anyway? I thought the monkey paw was the only thing with the power to do something like this?"

"I would like to know that as well," Kim spoke seriously, turning to me, pointing a finger at the orange haired girl. "Why is she here? What did you do?"

"Whoa! You're looking at the wrong person," I exclaimed with my hands raised in front of me. "Ant' did this, not me!"

Kim frowned, and turned her attention to Antoine; my brother seemed to sank under her gaze. "Ant', come in the kitchen, please." She said in a calm voice, it was more of an order then a suggestion, and that one of the ways anyone who knew my sister could tell she was very, very, upset.

"But, Kim-."

"Now! I'm not giving you a choice!" Kim shouted; she walked, or rather stumped over to Ant', grabbed him by the arm and started dragging him into the kitchen.

I knew what was coming next, hell I'd been on the receiving end of one of Kim's upset moods. I was just happy it wasn't me this time. I worried Ant' that this was coming; he made a chose so now it was time to face the consequences.

"Auau~ is he going to be okay," Hanyu asked, a worried look on her face. "Your sister seems really upset."

"Um ...yeah, he should be just fine. I'm sure that-."

"What the hell is wrong with you! Do you think at all, do you think we have all the space in the world to keep bringing people into our house! Do I look like I'm made out of money to you?" Kim's enraged shouting came from the kitchen.

I sucked my teeth ...this was going to take a while. "So~ ...um, anyone up for a movie?"

~ ~(Part2)~ ~

It had been about five minutes since we started watching the television, the movie we decided to watch, wasn't really much of a movie, but a really long show that lasted at least forty minutes an episode. It was called Dexter; I'd heard about it from David a few times and always thought it was your everyday CSI: Miami cop show, but boy was I wrong, the main character, Dexter, was someone I had never come across in a TV series.

A cereal killer, that kills other cereal killers and only killers. It was like a freaking lion hunting a lion ...or a witch hunting other witches, though, there was Battler's little sister.

Anyway, not only was it good, but Rika really seemed to be interested in it, more so then the rest of us. Which was sort of a surprise. The child miko, Furude Rika, likes shows like this? Who would've guess.

"-Oh, trust me, I defiantly understand," Dexter responded to the man tied up against the wall. "But children I could never do that, not like you. Never, ever, kids." He then pulled out a needle, and injected it into the guys neck with no hesitation, muttering. "I have standards."

The killing scene came next, with the man being tied up to a table, nude, nothing but tape covering him. I couldn't help but nod at that, a bad guy getting what he deserves from another, supposed, bad guy. What could be more awesome in a show.

"Auau~ d-don't you think this is a l-little ...much?"

"Not really, I mean the guys getting what he deserves," I answered, shrugging. "Besides, he killed kids, I say no mercy."

"Mii~ I agree with Kevin on this one," Rika added, cutely, pumping her little fist in the air. "Such crimes call for punishment! Nipaa~!"

"Hau! You're so cute, Rika-chan!" Rena said, hugging the blue haired miko gently from her spot on the couch. "I've missed you so much. I never letting you out of my sight again ...though, I do have a question," she paused, letting go of Rika, then pointed to Hanyu. "Who's that?"

"Oh, this is Hanyu, she's a relative of mine," Rika answered, putting a hand on the shy goddess's head. "I guess you could say she's my cousin."

"C-cousin? Since when did you have a cousin? Mion never said anything about this."

"It's a long story." Rika turned to the horned goddess, smiling as she spoke to her. "Mii~ don't be shy, Hanyu, say hi."

Hanyu nodded, meekly. "Auau~ it's nice to finally meet you, R-Rena-san. Rika's told me much about you." Sure, what she said was a slight lie, but I wasn't going to pester her about it. The girls would tell Rena the truth about their selves when they were ready.

"Hau~ You both are defiantly related, I can see the resemblance. All the way down to the cuteness."

"T-thank you for the compliment, Rena-san."

A few moments later, Kim and Antoine came walking out of the kitchen, a small frown on my little brother's face. Kim walked over to the love seat, and sat down on it with a sigh, while Ant' stomped up stairs, most likely to his room for the time being, if the door slamming was any indication.

"Uh ...what am I going to do with that boy?" Kim sighed deeply, closing her eyes, messaging the bridge of her nose with her thumb and index finger. After a few seconds of this, she looked up at Rena. "You're name's ..Rena, right?"

"Um, yes."

"Look, Rena, I'm really sorry about all of this," my older sister apologized. She must have felt guilty for Ant's stupid decision. "My little brother, he doesn't think sometimes. But, I promise, we'll find a way to get you three home as fast as we can."

"I-it's alright," Rena replied back. "There's no need to apologize. I'm just happy to see that Rika is safe and sound, if anything, I should be thanking you for keeping her with you."

"Well, if that's the case, you'd better think Kevin, too; he is the one who convinced my to keep them here. Hell, he watches them most of the time. I'm usually working."

"So about Ant', what's up with him?" I asked.

Kim sighed again. "He's grounded for two weeks. No games, no television and no computer. He can still go outside though, so, yeah." She answered, before adding with a groan. "I swear, that boy is the only one who could have a birthday one day, and get grounded the next. I really wish he'd grow up and be more responsible."

"Your not the only one, believe me," I agreed.

"Anyway, I gonna go have a drink. Got the real urge to down a glass of wine right now," Kim said. She stood up and walked into the kitchen. I was about to say something to the girls, and Rena, when she poked her head back out in the entry way. "Oh, and Ant' left this in the kitchen. Put it up somewhere more secure this time, please." She then tossed out monkey paw, which happened to land right in Rena's lap; the orange haired girl let out a small yelp and I picked the paw up, glaring over at my sister.

"Kim!"

"My bad! Sorry, Rena!" Then she was right back in the kitchen, making noise as she opened the cabinet full of glasses.

I sighed. Standing up, I looked down at the paw, then over at the three girls still on the couch. "This thing is causing a lot of trouble then it's worth. Wish I never got the damn thing."

"Mii~ it's not that bad," Rika said, smiling. "It's fun here, and we can finally get a break from having to fight fate constantly. It gets tiring after a while."

Hanyu nodded, sadly. "She's right, it's nice to get a break after such a long time."

"Um ...Rika, can I ask you something," Rena asked, glancing over at the two members of the Furude family.

"Of course, sir, ask away~!"

"Well, Kevin-san told me that in this world, we're all considered anime characters to people here. He showed me some of the mangas, and, well ...was there something going on in Hinamizawa that our friends don't know about. You always seemed to have this sad look on your face when no one was looking, is there something wrong at all, anything ...?"

Rika didn't say anything at first. Maybe, showing Rena those mangas from a little later in the series was a bad idea, but those were the ones that Ant' picked out ...so-.

"Rena, there's a lot of things about me that you don't know. I've kept it to myself for some long, and whenever I did say something, no one believed me. It never made a difference; so, it's hard to talk about, but ...just promise me we'll still be friends. Then, I'll tell you," Rika said in her true voice, rather then her little kid persona.

Rena looked concerned, but nodded nonetheless. "Rika, we'll always be friends, no matter what you tell me. Why wouldn't we be?"

"Rena ...I'm different from other people; me and Hanyu both, we're …," Rika sighed, glancing over at Hanyu, who nodded back at her. Looking back over at Rena, she spoke again. "We're not as ...young as we seem, for a long time, since my every first life, we've been fighting against fate, but we never seemed to get any closer to victory-."

And so, Rika went on to tell Rena about her life, and the continuous struggle through death and hardships, endless tragedy and tragedy. I couldn't help but feel sort of happy for her, finally, she was opening up to one of her friends about her own life. Rena listened, soaking in every word spoken, and was even more surprised, shocked more so, that Hanyu was the real village deity, Oyashiro.

As Rika talked, and Hanyu, who joined in afterward. I started up the stairs to put up the monkey paw, this thing had been way more trouble then it's worth, but in the event that I do need it sooner or later, I'll hide it somewhere no one, not even Ant', knows about.

I just hope Rena takes everything that Rika is telling her well. If I remember correctly, Rika never told anyone that much by the end of the series, but; I had the feeling that Rena could handle it, she was understanding, someone a friend could count on and trust. All she needed was time.

Done, so what did you think, please review and leave suggestions. Also, bhark3, that's a nice suggestion, never thought of using the Gurren Lagann rap libera me from hell like that, I even have it on my phone! The animes so awesome, Kamina rules! So thanks for that, if there are anymore ideas, please don't hesitant to comment.

Peace~!