So, it's been a while, I know. I'm back now and better then ever, I'm do with exams and all that stuff. In other news, I'm finally graduating! Schools done, think God, until collage at least. So with time to spare I can finally get back to writing and doing what I love. Enjoy!

Chapter 16: Games Goddess Play

The days seemed to be getting hotter and hotter as it got closer to August; Rena had been here for a few weeks now, taking the sudden change in her life much easier then I had thought she would. She was in a different world, in a different country. If it had been me I would have been scared to death. But she was doing just fine adjusting, and part of that was thanks to Rika and Hanyu for helping her out in understanding things.

Today it was July, twenty-sixth. It was hot outside, but thanks to the breeze that was blowing it felt a lot cooler. I was sitting on the living room couch next to the others, watching Ant' play some game he downloaded onto his PS3. It was some indie side-stroller where you had to jump at just the right time or you died, Ant' wasn't exactly what you'd call a pro gamer, but he was doing way better then I had. I gave up after I lost a good ten times in a row.

"Come on, come on. Don't die!" Antoine muttered at the screen as the game's speed suddenly picked up. Too bad his wish wasn't granted because he took one wrong leap and jumped right into a gap that was in the platform.

The words 'Game Over' appeared on the screen, that having been Ant's last life.

He let out a growl, slamming the controller on the couch cushion next to him. "Damn it!"

"I thought you said that you were better then me at this game," I said, as a small smile made it's way onto my face. "From the looks of things I'm still, like, fifteen points ahead. Even Rena got a higher score."

"Oh ...shut up, it's a stupid game, anyway," Antoine muttered. He got off the couch and went over to the television set, looking through his other game. "I'm playing Super Street Fighter 4, this game was a total waste of time."

"Hau~ I think that you did really well, Antoine, so don't feel bad, okay," Rena said, smiling at him.

Ant' sucked his teeth at her and got up off the couch to change the game. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever."

I shook my head at him, with a grin. If I had been the one that lost, I knew for a fact that Ant' would've been rubbing his victory in my face. He was always like this when playing any type of game, rather it be board games, or video games. He's a really sore loser. I just hope he grows out of it, sometime soon if he could help it.

"M-maybe, we should play on two players," Hanyu said, shyly. "I mean if Antoine wants to, that is."

Ant shrugged. "Sure, I don't mind playing any of you, just don't be mad when you get your butt kicked," he said playfully.

I grinned. "You know that's the same thing you said about the last game we played, and you know how that ended," I pointed out.

Ant' took the second controller from off top on the television, then walked back over and sat down in his spot on the couch. "It will be different this time. I'm not losing to either of you," he said, before turning to Rena, holding the controller out to her. "Especially not you, I'll have revenge for my defeat!" He finished, sticking his tongue out at her.

Rena giggled, and rather then taking the controller, she pulled Ant' into a hug out of no where, the side of his head resting on her chest. "Hau~ you are just so cute when your worked up! I wish I had a cute younger brother, too!"

"H-hey, I'm not cute. Do I look like a girl to you?" Ant' muttered. Rena just continued giggling. From the sound of his voice I could tell he was embarrassed from being caught off guard by Rena's hug, he reacted the same way when Erika had hugged him a few times as well.

While the two of them joked around, I turned my attention to Rika. She was sitting in the loveseat with her feet kicked up on a footrest, she'd been quiet for a while, just reading some book I was pretty sure she got from my bookshelf. And surprisingly enough the book that she was reading was one of my favorites, Carrie by Stephen King, a very nice choice.

"Rika, we're about to play Street Fighter, you wanna join us?" I asked her.

The blue haired miko glanced up from her page, and shook her head. "Mii~ no thanks, I'm just fine, sir." Rika answered before she went back to her reading. "This book is really interesting. The author deserves a pat on the head for writing such good stories."

"Trust me, Rika, the author's gotten way more then just a pat on the head," I said, smiling at her. "I pretty sure Stephen King has awards lined up on his shelf. His books aren't just good, they're one of a kind. Before he did it, I can say for a fact that I've never heard of an author who wrote a book on a killer clown monster thing."

"You're talking about It, right?" Ant asked, finally pulling himself out of Rena's hug. The girl was strong I'd give her that, and it looked like she never lifted a weight in her life, even 'off screen' during the times we couldn't see during the anime. Arm wrestling was on of those things she was a natural at, I know because I've tried, sure she'd almost lose in the beginning, but let something cute happen like a stuffed toy commercial pop up on the TV and my hand would be down before I even realized what happened.

Cute mode was no joke. I was just happy we'd never have to see 'Killer Mode'.

Now that I thought about it, though. Rika had been in the mood to read for the past week or so, and she was very good at it, the last book she read wasn't small by any means, and took her about three days to finish. What was it that she read, again …?

I think it was Pet Cemetery.

That also brought up another question. Could Rika always read English, or did the paw have something to do with it.

"Hey, Rika, do you mind if I ask you something?" I asked suddenly, turning my attention away from the television screen.

Rika looked up at me and shook her head. "What is it, Kevin?"

"Could you always read English this good, or was it when you were brought here?"

The blue haired girl gave a thoughtful expression. I guess that question never occurred to her. "Well ...now that I think about it, I did know a little English before. Ms. Chie taught us to speak it in school, but I was never as good at it as I am now. I don't even have a accent anymore, either."

Yep, just as I thought, the paw did have something to do with it. But damn, talk about convenient. The monkey paw has more power then I thought. Where the hell did grandma get this stuff …?

"I see," that was all I said before turning back to the game; Rika went back to reading and I wanted patently for my turn to challenge whoever won this fight.

Speaking of the game, they were still in the middle of picking characters. Ant' did just as I thought and picked Ryu, most likely so he could spam the hell out of his moves. It took Rena a few seconds to decide, but she ended up choosing Cammy, a wise choice.

Then the game began.

~ ~(XXX)~ ~

"Shoryuken! Shoryuken! Shoryuken!"

I couldn't help but shake my head as I watched the game between Ant' and Rena play out. Like I said before, my little brother was gonna spam Ryu's moves, and that is exactly what he was doing right now. Just now, Ant' made Ryu hit Cammy with a three combo Shoryuken, that was something that you only saw in tournaments and somehow he was doing it, I had the feeling that Kim taught him to do that, because she was the only one in the house that could pull it off.

Cammy health was now in the red; Rena mashed away at the buttons almost hitting Ant' with Cammy ultra combo, but he blocked it before it could do any damage.

"Hau~ this isn't fair! You're not letting me do anything, do anything!" Rena exclaimed in frustration, puffing out her cheeks.

"Ah ha ha! Sorry, but I'm not suppose to go easy on you," Ant' said, as he made Ryu jump over Cammy, who was trying to hit him with sweep kick. "I'm ending this!"

Ryu moved forward and hit Cammy heavy hit, knocking her into a daze, then Ant' pressed the combo buttons for what had to be the fourth time. "Metsu," Ryu hit Cammy in the stomach, then when she hunched over gave her a solid uppercut to the chin, but with added force, sending her flying into the air. "Shoryuken!"

"Noo ...noo ...no!" And then came the echoing voice of defeat.

"K.O!"

Ant' hopped off the couch, pumping his controller hand into the air and doing a happy dance. "Yes! Victory! Ha ha ha! I won, I won," he sang as he turned to a very upset looking Rena. "You lost, I won! Fuckin'-A!"

"Auau~ A-Antoine, you're being mean," Hanyu said, shyly. "Rena tried her best, you shouldn't tease her like that."

I nodded. "Yeah, Ant', like Hanyu said, stop being an asshole," I added.

"N-now I didn't say that."

"But you were thinking it," I pointed out. Hanyu opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it. She had a small bit of red on her cheeks, which lead me to believe that she actually was thinking something along those lines, who would've thought. This world must be getting to her, I'm not sure if that's a bad thing or not.

Ants' smiled faded a bit, but not completely, as he held up the second controller. "So who else is up for a digital ass kicking," the dreadlocks styling boy asked, waving the controller around. "Anyone? No takers?"

I rolled my eyes at him, about to take the controller from his hand. But a pale hand reached out and beat me to it. It was Hanyu, one of the last people I expected to take up Antoine's challenge.

"Auau~ I'll go up against you, Antoine," the horned goddess said with surprising determination, taking up the controller. "P-please don't go easy on me ...I-I want you to give it your all!"

"You sure about that, I mean I won't want to be 'mean' or anything," Ant' said, doing air quotes. Even though his voice was slightly sarcastic, I had the feeling he really did meant what he said.

Hanyu shook her head. "No, I want you to fight me the same way you fought Rena-san."

"Okay, then."

"I wouldn't underestimate Hanyu if I were you." Rika announced to Ant', bending the corner of the page and closing her book. "She's been practicing with almost every video game you have ...at least, the ones that don't give her nightmares."

"Oh really," Antoine said in amusement, looking over at the purple haired girl. "I guess we will have to see how far you've come as a gamer, young grasshopper."

And with that being said, the game went right to the character select screen at the press of a button. Ant' was best at playing with characters that used Ryu's style of fighting, rather it was Sakura or Ken, it made little difference, but for some reason he ended up choosing Akuma of all fighters. As for Hanyu, she choose the one character she always picked whenever we played a two player match in Street Fighter, Rose.

Now, I liked Rose's character, I thought she was fine. But she wasn't my first choice, to be honest she wasn't even my second choice. I had to give my props to Hanyu, though. If there was anyone in this house that could fight good with the violet haired fortune teller, it was her.

Ant' then choose the fighting area.

"Rundown back alley! Fists will fly at this location!" The game announcer said as the picture of the two characters popped up on both sides of the screen.

"I hope your ready to lose, Hanyu-dear," Ant' said, smirking at the horned girl. "I will be sure to be as gentle as possible okay."

Hanyu blushed a little bit, but that did nothing to her determination. "Auau~ I have no intention of losing, Ant'."

"Oh ho~ looks like we're bring out nick names now~!" Antoine teased. "You're more serious then I thought, honey-bunch," he turned his attention back to the television screen just as the fight was about to start, grinning. "Don't disappoint me!"

"Auu~ I-I don't plan to," Hanyu stuttered out.

"Who will emerge as champion! Fight!"

~ ~ (XXXX)~ ~

"Come on, Hanyu! You can win this thing," I said, leaning up on the edge of my seat. "Just give it a bit more. Ants' not unbeatable."

The match between my little brother and Hanyu was pretty close, there were three rounds, Ant' won two matches and surprisingly enough, so did Hanyu. Now they were at the last round that would decide who would win the victory out of the two. It was anyone's game.

Hanyu was what you'd call a cautious player, she attacked when she had the chance and guarded against most attacks to save HP. Antoine on the other hand was an offensive player; he didn't guard much and that was usually what lead to his downfall whenever we played any fighting games like Tekken or Dead Or Alive.

Both of them were polar opposites when it came to styles of playing, but just by looking at the expressions on their faces I could tell that while this was to win, they were both having a fun time with it.

"Wow, you're better then I thought, Hanyu. Rika was right not to underestimate you, I'm glad I didn't," Ant' uttered, not taking his eyes off the TV. "A little bit of practice and you could entire a tournament."

Hanyu glanced over at him and gave a shy smile, blushes slightly at his words. "Auau~ you really think so?"

"Yep, in the words of Drake, no lie."

"T-thank you, Antoine, that's nice of you to say."

"Also, don't take your eyes off the television, that's an easy way to lose," he reminded her.

Hanyu's eyes quickly flickered back to the TV screen. "R-right!"

"Fight!"

The first thing Ant' did was make Akuma jump back and fire a Hadouken at Rose, but Hanyu guarded against it and returned a energy attack of her own.

"Soul Spark!"

"Hadouken!"

Both moves canceled each other out, disappearing the second the energy attacks made contact. Antoine didn't waste any time jumping forward and going into an all out attack. Hanyu kept her guard up, trying her best not to get grappled by the demon warrior. She jumped back just as Akuma jumped forward and hit her with a Shoryuken while she was still in midair. Hanyu went right back to guarding once her character got up off the floor and the raging demon's attack commenced all over again.

"Hanyu, your gonna have to attack sooner or later or you're going to lose," I informed her.

"Auu~ a-are you sure." She stuttered out, still holding down the block button.

I nodded. "Yeah, just trust me on this, next time you get a opening. Take it."

Ant' continued to make Akuma hit Rose with an endless amount of combos, keeping her trapped in the corner. Then out of nowhere he jumped into the air, leg extend, and spun around rapidly. "Tatsumaki Zankukyaku!"

"Now, Hanyu, hit him with something!"

Once Akuma landed, Hanyu made Rose grapple him and throw him back. It was just enough for an attack, Akuma got up only to be hit by a ball of pure energy. "Soul Spark!" The attack didn't knock Akuma down but it brought Hanyu time to jump Rose forward and start giving the demon a beating. As I've said before, Ants' defensive skills sucked, and it was only worse now that he choose to fight with Akuma.

The thing with his character is that while he can deal out strong attacks and end a fight fast. There was a downside to that, Akuma couldn't take a punch and lost more life then, let's say, Ryu. And with Hanyu always on guard until just the right moment to strike, Akuma couldn't get couldn't get many clean hits on her character.

"Hanyu's doing better then I expected." Rika voiced in her mature persona over the sound effects of the game, I looked over, noticing that she had her full attention on the TV. "Before, she would just click random buttons and hope for the best."

"I think almost everyone started off doing that at first, I know I did," I said.

"Hau~ is that why I lost, because I was pressing random buttons?" Rena asked.

I gave a nod. "Yep, don't worry, though. You'll get better, you have to keep at it, is all."

"B-but it's so hard to play this game, this game."

"Hey, I never said it would be easy."

We turned back to the television the moment Hanyu had Antoine nearly backed into a corner. He went to make Akuma hit here with yet another Hadouken, but Rose leaped over the attack, ending up right behind him. Ant' character only had a little bit of life left, and so did Hanyu's; the thing was that while they were both at the point where one ultra combo would mean a instant knock out. Such a bad time for Ant' to leave himself wide open.

The ultra combo sound effect came as Rose struck a pose with her magic scarf thrown back. "Try this on for size," she whipped the scarf forward, wrapping it around Akuma's wrist. "Ultra Illusion Spark!" Then came the high voltage of magic electricity, ending the match for good.

"K.O!"

"Ugghh!" Akuma fell in slow motion, before hitting the ground with a heavy thud.

"Rose wins!" The announcer exclaimed as red words saying the same thing appeared on the screen.

Hanyu hopped up off the couch, a wide on her face as she cheered loudly, throwing her hands up in the air. "Yes! I won! I won!" She exclaimed, before turning to the blue haired miko standing up in front of the loveseat. "Auau~ Rika, you saw, right? You saw me win? All that practice payed off!"

"Mii~ nicely done, Hanyu." Rika congratulated her, walking over to her and patting her on the head. It was cute, but at the same time, it was kinda funny because Hanyu was taller then her by almost two inches. "I knew you could do it! Niipaa~!"

"Yeah, nice playing, girl! You won like a true gamer," I said, holding my hand up. She smiled and high-fived me.

"Hau~ it was a great game, I really enjoyed watching you both," Rena added.

I smiled. Then looked over at Antoine, who had a small pout on his face, muttering something under his breathe. "Yo, lil' bro, don't you have something you want to say to the winner of the match. Come on now, be a good sport."

"Okay, jeez." Ant' tossed the controller onto the couch cushion, and turned to the purple haired girl. "Well, I don't want to seem like an asshole who won't give a person their props when it's do ...so, nice job, Hanyu," he said, holding his fist out for a bump, smiling. "You really gave me a run for my money, pound it."

Hanyu smiled, shyly. "T-thank you. You played a good game as well. It could have gone either way." She replied, giving him a fist-bump.

"Yeah, but it didn't and that's why you won." Ant' said, before looking at Rena giving her a sheepish grin. "And, sorry about all that stuff from earlier, I mean, I beat you. But I was sorta being a dick about it."

"It's okay, there's no problem being a little, um ...overly competitive."

"So now that we have a winner in this game," I spoke as I stood up from my spot on the couch, turning to the other four. "How about we go out for ice cream. Ants' treat."

"Wait a minute, what the hell do you mean my treat?" Ant' said, sending me one of his half glares.

I grinned and ruffled his dreadlocks, which didn't do much since they still looked the same as always. "you didn't forget, did ya? Kim used my allowance money last month for Rika and Hanyu, and you do still have your birthday money from uncle, right?"

"Well ...yeah, I do."

"Then you should have enough to treat us to some ice cream~!" I said, a big grin plastered on my face. "Besides, Hanyu did beat you. In Street Fighter of all things, I think she deserves it."

"God, this is so stupid. Fine! I'll buy the fuckin' ice cream, ya happy?" Ant' uttered under his breath. He started walking towards the stairs, then turned around to us before he walked up the first step. "But you own me big for this, Kev', I mean it."

I waved my hand dismissively at him. "Sure thing, Ant'. I'll try to remember that," I said. Even though I knew for a fact that he would bring this up some time in the future when he wanted something from me.

Ant' huffed with a frown, then walked up the steps to get his sneakers from his room. We had all been dressed since earlier today, but all ours shoes were down stairs by the door, well everyone except Ants', anyway.

While I sat on the couch putting on my black and red Nike sneakers. I couldn't help but think that about how great things were going, there was nothing that could ruin this summer for me, simply because everything was going way better then I expected it to.

"Um, Kevin?"

At the sound of Rena's voice, I looked up at her. "Yeah, what's up?"

"Well ... I-I just wanted to ask you something, but it's really k-kind of embarrassing to ask since your a boy, so I, um ...I needed to know if you could call your sister for m-me," the orange haired girl stuttered out. The blush on her face had me wondering exactly what it was that was so embarrassing.

"Um, sure. What is it that you need to ask her, because unless it's important I can't really disturb her while she's at work during this hour unless it's an emergency."

"Oh," she started shifting her weight from foot to foot in a nervous fashion, as she looked down at the floor. "Y-you see I-I sorta ...kinda need to buy s-some ...um, girl things."

I raised an eyebrow. "Girl thing?" I was clueless for a moment, then it hit me exactly what she was trying to say. "Ohhh you mean like pads and stuff."

"Hauuu~!" Rena's blush deepened. Maybe I shouldn't have voice that.

"Right, right. So we can get those while we're out," I said. "Kim keeps a card around for emergencies and this is an emergency, so it should be okay, just get what you need and let me handle the rest."

Rena looked up at me and gave me a small smile. "T-thank you, Kevin."

"No need to thank me, Rena." I stood up and pat her on the head, "it's what I'm here for, until you get home it's my job to make sure you guys are comfortable. I'd be a bad host if I didn't at least do that much."

Ant' came rushing down the stairs at that moment. "So, we heading out or not? And nothing too expensive, okay. I ain't gonna run out of half my bread in one day."

"What bread?" Hanyu asked, with a confused look on her face. "You don't have any bread."

I chuckled. "No, not that type of bread. He means money, it's a slang term we use around, rather they use it anywhere else is anyone's guess."

"Oh, I see."

Before we left I went into the kitchen and took the emergency debt card off the top of the refrigerator. with that being done, we made our way out of the house and into the sunlight. It was a great day outside, it was too bad it was suppose to rain tonight and tomorrow.

And that's it for this chapter, I can't tell you how go it is to get finished a chapter. Over four-thousand words and I didn't even notice, almost. I'll be back with the next chapter soon!

Peace!