Hi guys! Sorry this took so long. I was caught up with my other stories. But don't worry, I haven't forgotten about this one!

Responses:

E: lol. I was just trying to make this funny. I know you eat ramen like a normal….person…..yeah. Hehehehe. Anyways, thanks for reviewing!

Inuyumi: ok, I corrected your name. Happy? Lol. Anyways, glad you like this so far. And I am so addicted to "Brand New World". And guess what? IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT! Lol. J/K. Thanks for reviewing!

Disclaimer: …too tired…must sleep…../dreams about owning Pretear/

Chapter 8

"Hajime, is that the last of them?" Akane asked the Water Knight.

"Yep. Here you go," Hajime heaved the last pot from dinner into the sink where Akane was currently doing the dishes.

"Thanks. Take Mannen and Shin upstairs so you guys can get clean," Akane ordered and the little redhead followed with a grin.

"Need any help?" Sakana asked.

"Nope, almost done," Akane finished cleaning the last pot and set it to dry. With the kitchen in silence, Akane noticed an unusual silence coming from the living room. "Did they drown or something?"

"I think they drowned in food. ST is upstairs, not downstairs," Sakana laughed.

"Wow, I thought they would all be arguing about who one that little fight," Akane laughed.

"Well, let's go see if they are dead yet," Sakana led the way out of the kitchen. What they saw made their jaws drop and they burst into laughter.

"What's so funny?" Kei cocked a golden eyebrow.

"You!" the girls were now rolling on the floor laughing and clutching their sides. Indeed the Leafe Knights were a sight to behold. Each of them was sprawled across the room in some awkward position, exhausted from the food fight. Goh was lying upside down on the couch; Kei looked like he was taking a nap; the three young boys (including Hajime, who had fallen asleep with them after helping Akane and Sakana with clean-up) were collapsed on the floor; Hayate and Sasame had a couch to themselves, each plopped on the couch, about ready to fall asleep; Yumi, having no where else to go, was sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall.

"You know, we never got our revenge on those guys before," Akane whispered to her sister.

"Hey, you're right. Mom called us before we could finish," Sakana looked at the boys sleeping on the comfy carpet. "Hey, are they asleep?" Sakana asked those who were awake and pointed to the three boys on the floor.

"Why don't you see for yourself," Akane nudged her sister closer. Sakana quietly crept up and kneeled next to Mannen. She poked him all over-his head, his side, and his ticklish spots-and got no response.

Sakana grinned. "Nope, they're out cold."

Akane grinned evilly at the unsuspecting boys as she crept next to her sister. When she saw Hajime and Shin sleeping so peacefully, her face faltered. "Let's leave Hajime and Shin out of this."

"Hajime and Shin? Why?" Sakana asked, astounded.

"Hajime because he helped us with the dishes; Shin because…Shin because he's too cute to get revenge on," Akane explained.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. It was probably Mannen who forced them to play along anyways," Sakana agreed.

"What are you doing?" Hayate's voice rang out, though quietly, making the girls jump.

"God, Hayate, don't scare us like that!" Akane scolded while trying to will her heart to slow.

"Yeah, you almost gave me a heart attack!" Sakana added.

"Whatever. You still haven't answered my question," Hayate pressed.

"Well, if you really want to know, Mr. Nosy, we are finishing our revenge on Mannen for scaring us earlier," Akane replied.

"Good luck with that," Hayate had no faith that the girls could finish their sinister plots for revenge. Akane suppressed a growl and turned back to the person in question.

"We'd better move the other two out of the way," Akane warned.

"Or we could just wake them up so they can watch," Sakana suggested.

"Good idea!" Akane gently shook the sleeping Shin and Hajime. They groggily opened their eyes. Akane awed at the color of they eyes. Shin's were a dazzling emerald green color while Hajime's were a sea green hue.

"Wow, they really go all out with matching to their powers, huh?" Akane awed.

"What's going on?" Shin asked, rubbing his tired eyes.

"We are going to play a trick on Mannen. Wanna help?" Sakana asked. The boys looked at the unsuspecting victim and grinned.

"Ok, first…"Akane explained her diabolical plan to her helpers.

"Wow, you're evil," Hajime grinned.

"Thank you!" Akane bowed slightly. "Now, you guys know what to do, right?" They all nodded their heads. "Ok, then let's begin Operation Melting Snowkid!" All of them rushed off to gather materials. Hayate, Sasame, and Kei exchanged confused glances; Goh still slept upside down on the couch, oblivious to the whole thing.

Five minutes later, The sisters, Hajime, and Shin came back with a basket full of different items.

"Make-up?" Akane called off from a paper.

"Check."

"Hair thingies?"

"Check."

"Hair dye?"

"Check."

"Pink blanket?"

"Check."

"Anything else?"

"Check."

"What?" Akane stared at Hajime.

Hajime held up a pink, flowery, frilly dress. "A dress," he explained.

"That's brilliant, Hajime! Good thinking," Sakana hugged the little boy. "Ah! It burns!" Sakana suddenly jumped back from Hajime, sinking to the floor as if she were melting.

"What? What'd I do?" Hajime asked, concerned for his friend.

"Nothing at all, Hajime. It's the dress that did something," Akane explained. Sakana was still squirming on the floor. "Shut up, you idiot, or you'll wake Mannen up!" Sakana instantly quieted and settled herself next to Mannen on the floor.

"Ok, so now what do we do?" Hajime asked.

"First let's dress him up," Sakana grinned evilly.

"Isn't this bad?" Shin asked innocently.

"Not at all, Shin, because, in this case, we are just giving back what we got in the first place." Sakana explained.

"Mannen played with us, so now we are going to play with him," Akane added. "You don't have to help us if you don't want to. You can just sit back and watch the show!" Akane picked up Shin and placed him on the sofa next to Hayate, who was watching her and the others with interest.

"Just don't coming running to me when you get frozen in place," Hayate warned.

Akane raised an eyebrow at him. "I didn't think about that…," she thought for a minute before an idea came to her. "Hey, Goh!"

Goh yelped and fell off the couch he was laying on, landing on his head with a loud thud. Akane and Sakana burst out laughing, waking everyone else.

"Where's the fire!" Yumi snapped her head back and forth, looking for the "Fire". "Where's the fire?" she asked with a dumb look on her face, causing Akane and Sakana to fall on the floor in an even more hysterical fit of laughter. "What?"

"N-nothing," Sakana managed to get out through giggles.

"What'd you guys wake me up for?" Goh asked, looking very much annoyed.

"Hey, Goh, we are gonna play a little prank on Mannen. Since he's the Knight of Freezing and all, could you do us a favor and make sure he doesn't freeze us?" Akane asked.

Sakana noticed Goh was about to object and added, "Pweese, can you make sure he doesn't freeze me and I end up frozen for the rest of time and won't defrost until the year 4099?" She gave him her best puppy dog face. Everyone sweat dropped.

Goh fidgeted for a moment. "Ok, fine…," he sighed and Sakana hugged him.

"Thank you!"

"Uh…sure," Goh smiled.

"Hey, why didn't you wake me up and tell me you were gonna play a prank?" Yumi asked.

"Uh…because you were asleep?" Akane gave the first excuse that came to her mind. Yumi didn't seem to buy it, but shrugged it off anyway.

"Now, let's begin Operation P.A.B!" Sakana announced.

"P.A.B?" Akane glanced at her questioningly.

"Payback is A Bitch," Sakana said simply.

Akane blinked. "Ok… Anyways, let's start." Hajime, Akane, and Sakana began working tirelessly on Mannen's new look. Hajime dressed him up in the pink, frilly dress, Akane worked on his make-up, and Sakana had the job of dying his hair.

Half an hour later, the three sat back to admire their work. They were fortunate that Mannen had not woken up at all.

"Whew, we're finally finished," Akane gave a sigh of relief.

"Man, this kid could sleep through anything…" Sakana let out a dry whistle. "Hey, I can whistle!" She tried whistling again, only succeeding in filling the room with more carbon dioxide. "Damnit!"

"Hey, at least you know you can do it," Akane laughed and Sakana glared.

"You girls are strange," Hayate commented.

"Thank you!" Akane stood up and gave a quick bow.

"So, how do we wake him up?" Hajime asked.

"I don't know. Why don't we wait until he wakes up?" Akane suggested and walked to the kitchen. "Anyone want some ramen and ice cream?"

Mannen's eyes shot open and he shot up. "Ramen and ice cream? Where!" He scanned the room. "What?"

Everyone was struggling down fits of laughter as they looked at the boy. His hair looked like a bright orange starburst. They left his hairstyle alone since they loved it so much. His face was covered in blush, lipstick, eye shadow, and mascara, all matching the color of his new hairdo. The dress added more flare, giving him a more feminine look. He looked like a little ballerina.

"He looks like a little ballerina!" Akane and Sakana squealed.

"What…?" Mannen looked from each person, only to find them giggling and pointing. He looked down at himself and his eyes dilated. He abruptly stood up and spun around, glaring at his new outfit. "What the hell did you do to me!"

"Oh, nothing. We are just good, honest people who like to give back when they receive gifts, and that's exactly what we did," Akane explained, an innocent look on her face.

"If that's not a lie I don't know what is. Honest people my ass," Hayate muttered.

Akane glared. "You say something?" She was right in his face. Hayate just looked bored.

"You heard what I said. I guess I shouldn't tell you about the blast of ice coming right at you now, then" Akane spun around. Mannen was seething (which was a huge understatement). His face was beet red, whether from anger or embarrassment, no one could tell. He held his hands beside him, a glowing orb of ice forming in between his palms.

Akane gulped. "Help," she squeaked.

"AH, RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!" Sakana shot up the stairs, along with Hajime.

"Hey, don't just leave me here! Sakana!" Akane shouted up the stairs. She heard the door slam and cursed under her breath. "Some help she is."

"I won't freeze you if you become my personal servant for a week," Mannen bribed.

"Never!" Akane shouted.

Mannen smirked. "Fine, then freeze!"

Akane started to panic. This guy was serious! "Goh, help!"

"Nope, I only promised Sakana I would help her," he said and walked up the stairs.

"What! You traitor! You Benedict Arnold!" Akane yelled.

Mannen smirked and Akane eep-ed. "Blizzard Blast!" A flurry of ice and snow shot towards Akane.

"AH!" Akane jumped and ran across the room, Mannen on her tail.

"Shards of Ice!" he shouted and thrust his hand outward, shooting tiny, razor-sharp icicles at the frightened girl. She jumped and hid behind Hayate, who glared down at her.

"I thought you had a plan?" he smirked.

"It backfired! Now help me!" she cried. Mannen stood in front of Hayate and peeked around him to find a cowering Akane.

"Why should I help you?"

"Because…," Mannen was preparing for another attack. "Please just help me and I won't bother you ever again! I promise!"

Hayate considered this for a moment. "You'd better keep your word," Hayate stood protectively in front of Akane so Mannen didn't have a clear shot.

"Come on, Hayate! Move so I can get her!" Mannen protested.

"You do know she did this because you frightened her in the first place?" Hayate cocked an eyebrow.

"But…but…I didn't do anything mean like this!" he pointed to his make-up and hair.

"Relax, that make-up isn't permanent and you can always change you hair color back," Hayate rolled his eyes.

"But…but!" Mannen whined.

"Yeah, your butt's gonna be in a world of hurt if you don't stop annoying me!" Hayate scolded and Mannen quieted instantly. "Good, now go play with Hajime and Shin or something," Mannen stomped upstairs, mumbling under his breath.

"Thank you, Hayate!" Akane cried and threw her arms around him. The knight, surprised, looked down at her, painful memories of a certain Pretear returning to him. (A/N: and we all know who that certain someone is/wink wink/ Kami, this is turning out to be something like the Inu/Kag/Kikyo triangle in Inuyasha!)

Akane felt Hayate tense and blushed furiously. She glanced up at the confused Knight and immediately pulled away. "Sorry," she mumbled.

"Hn, stupid Pretear," Hayate glared at her and stalked away, hiding the blush that was creeping to his face. The only one to notice, of course, was Sasame, who smiled.

Akane glared at his retreating form. "Oooh, that little…I'm gonna get him for that!"

The grandfather clock chimed twelve times. "Wow, is it that late already?" Akane gasped. "Well, see you guys tomorrow! Good night!" Akane scurried up the stairs and to her room, leaving some confused Knights and a sister behind, who shrugged and followed suit.

"You have some strange sisters," Sasame told Yumi as they walked up the stairs.

"Yep, but you get used to it," Yumi laughed. "So…wait, didn't Sakana say that someone was staying in my room?"

"Yes, I am. Would you like it back?" Sasame offered.

Yumi smiled but shook her head. "Nah, you can have it for now. I'll just go sleep with the two knuckleheads," Yumi bid Sasame goodnight and entered Akane's room. Sasame smiled and entered Yumi's room.

A/N: I know "Koorime" means ice apparition (or w/e), and Mannen isn't a demon, but I don't care. He acts like it here, doesn't he? Lol. And i also made up some more attacks. Hopeno one minds.Anyways, sorry again that this took a while, but the updates will be a little story since I'm using my Inuyasha story for the school fair (hopefully). Please review! If you do, I'll update this faster!