Hello, all! Sorry if it sems I've been ignoring this fic and not updating it, I really haven't! I'm just trying to figure out how I want everything to fit together, and I don't want to give away too much or too little, and for those of you who don't know this, it's a veyr fine line between too little and too much. Well, it is for me anyway. With that said, enjoy!
CeTe: Aw, Rio can't help it if she's naive. It's everyone else's fault for babying her...yeah, right. Lol, I suppose we make the perfect pair, then, if you live for drama, and I've got truckloads of it. Thanks for reviewing!
alpha2nd: Lol, well I was being sarcastic...Oh, don't worry, Connor's death will come sooner or later. Oh, did I just say that? Right, like you didn't know already. Can anyone get away with stabbing Kanone? I really doubt it... And the fluff was nice. Heh, I'm just like that, the suspense comes naturally to me. You're welcome for the update, thanks for reviewing!
polaris18: Yep, Nik's a Hunter. Heh, you definitely shouldn't trust him, and you should keep Rio away from him. Too bad she doesn't see it coming... someone should really warn her about him. Thanks for reviewing!
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
"He has his ways?" Rio thought, looking at the boy suspiciously, "What is that supposed to mean?" Still, she couldn't help but feel a little excited that he came all the way down here just to see her. She smiled up at him a little, "So, what are you doing here?"
"I just came to see you." he replied, smiling right back.
This, however, brought back that nagging voice that told her he was up to something, "How exactly did you know I was here?"
"Well, I was going to call you, but I was near the hotel you said you were staying at, and I thought I'd suprise you. When I asked the manager for your room, though, he said that you and some friends went to the hospital." he explained. Most of his tale was true. He had decided to get in Rio's good graces, and visit her at her hotel, but Turner had informed him of what Connor had done, and that Rio was at the hospital.
"Oh." her suspicions vanished when she heard all the 'hard work' Nik went through to find her, "Aw, you're so sweet!" she cried, throwing her arms around his neck.
He grinned, and hugged her back, "So, who are your friends?" he asked, motioning to the others.
Rio turned to the four, "This is Kousuke, Ryoko, Ayumu, and Kalelle." she said, each person nodding their head in turn.
"It's nice to meet you all. Hey, I remember you from the club." he said, looking to Kousuke, "I'd remember that hair anywhere."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Kousuke growled, and was hit in his bright red head by Ryoko, "Ow, what was that for?" he whined.
"For being stupid." she informed him, "He didn't mean anything by it, but what do you expect with hair like that?"
Kousuke said nothing else, but grumbled something about Ryoko's haircut. Rio sighed, and turned back to Nik, "Sorry about Kousuke, he's a bit of an idiot."
Nik just laughed, "It's okay, I have a friend kind of like that." Then, he changed the subject, "So, who are you all here to see?" he wondered.
"Our friend was injured, and we're here to see him." Rio informed him, sadly.
Nik frowned, "Well, why are you out here in the hallway if he's in there?" he asked, motioning to the door that he guessed Kanone was in.
"He's with...someone right now." Rio told him, not sure how he would react to learn that her friends were gay. Though, she wasn't sure she could ever be in a relationship with someone who was uncomfortable with that aspect of the majority of her friends. Still, it would be nice to not scare him off right away.
"He's in there making out with his boyfriend." Kousuke corrected her. Well, so much for that plan.
Kalelle knocked on the door, "Are you two done in there, yet? I'd like to sit down."
Rio looked to Nik, a little afraid of what his reaction to all of this would be. To her suprise, he was smirking, "You think this is funny?" she asked, a little shocked. Not many people were so this accepting, though she didn't know why.
Nik looked to her, "Of course. Your friends are hilarious." he said, chuckling. Suddenly, his cell phone started ringing. He cursed it, and smiled a little at Rio, "Hold on a second." he flipped his phone open, "Yes?" he asked, irritated; he was actually having a good time, and didn't want to be interrupted.
"Nik, have you done enough for today?" the person on the other line asked.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"I mean, we have a bit of an emergency, and we need you here." the other man snapped.
Nik sighed, "Fine, I'll be there in a minute." Flipping his phone shut, he smiled apologetically at Rio, "Something's come up, I have to go."
Rio's face fell, but she nodded, "Alright, I'll call you later." she told him, and waved as he departed.
"He seems really nice." Kalelle commented, but then remembered his previous mission, and began knocking on Eyes' door again.
All of a sudden, said door swung open, and revealed a very tired and upset looking Eyes, "Yes?" he asked in a tell-me-what-you-want-now-or-die tone of voice.
"Hey, how's my little brother?" Kalelle asked, grinning.
"Sleeping." Eyes said, irritated, "As I was attempting to do as well."
"Who comes to a hospital to sleep?" Kousuke wondered, then gave Eyes a funny look, "You're weirder than I thought."
Eyes, completely ignoring Kousuke, continued to stare at Kalelle, "Was there something you wanted?" he asked.
"I just wanted to sit down." he whined, "Are you really sleeping?"
"I'm trying to." the Blade Child replied, "Go back to the hotel." he suggested.
"Wha- Hey! I want to see my brother." the older twin objected. Eyes turned to tell him off once more, but faltered when he saw the look in the older one's eyes. He could tell that Kalelle seriously wanted to check up on Kanone, and that he was worried about him, not just wanting to bug the couple.
Not being able to turn the other one down, he sighed, "Fine, but don't keep him up forever, he's exhausted."
"I won't." Kalelle promised, then pushed past Eyes, knocking the latter out into the hallway, and slamming the door shut. Eyes glared at the lack of manners, but knew that Kalelle probably just wanted to spend a few minutes alone with Kanone.
Inside the room, Kalelle walked over to his sleeping brother, and shook him gently to wake him up, "Not now, Eyes." the younger one muttered in his sleep.
"Kanone." Kalelle said, letting his brother know who it was, smirking slightly.
"Alright, fine, but don't take forever this time, I'm tired." the other one said, still asleep. Kalelle couldn't help but at least snort at this, talk about your blackmail. This sound, of course, woke Kanone up, who looked startled to see his brother there instead of his boyfriend, "Kalelle?" he asked, confused, "Where's Eyes?"
"He's out in the hall, waiting." Kalelle explained, "I've got some information you might want to hear, though."
Now interested, Kanone sat up, wincing a little at the pain. Kalelle noticed this, and vowed to hunt Connor down and make him pay for this. He never voiced these threats, though, knowing that Kanone would object to such a rash action. Kanone looked to Kalelle, "What kind of information?" he asked.
"I met Rio's new boyfriend while you and Eyes were in here doing god knows what." Kalelle told him.
Kanone ignored the comment, and focused on the former part of the statement, "What boyfriend?"
"I guess it's not official yet, but they were pretty close." Kalelle said seriously, which worried Kanone. Usually, his brother would be smirking when he said something like that, but he was far from smiling at this point, "We need to make sure that they don't get too close, though."
Kanone was still confused, "Why?"
"He was acting too nice." Kalelle said, "I don't trust him."
"What do you mean? Are you thinking..."
"I don't know." Kalelle cut him off, "If I'm wrong, then I don't want to worry you about it."
"You're never wrong about these things." Kanone reminded him. That was one of the things that had made both him and his brother such great Hunters, they could tell immediately if someone was trustworthy or not, and if they were ever lying. There had been one boy that had even fooled Kanzaka, who was supposed to be the most observant of them all. Kanone soon learned, though, that fooling Kanzaka wasn't all that hard in and of itself.
Kalelle nodded, remembering the boy as well, "I know, which is why I want to be wrong this time. Rio seems to really like him, and I don't want to see her hurt. That's why you can't breathe a word about this, even to Eyes." Kanone started to object, but Kalelle refused to let him do so, "The only reason I told you was because I know that you'll be able to confirm whether or not I'm right, and also because I want you to keep an eye on them. Now, promise me you won't tell Eyes about this."
Kanone sighed, "Alright, I promise I won't tell him." He hated keeping secrets from Eyes almost as much as he hated having secrets kept from him, but he knew that the more people that knew, the greater chance Rio would find out. Even though, if Kalelle was right, Rio would have to find out eventually, if he happened to be wrong, she didn't need to know that they had all these suspicions.
Kalelle smiled, "Thanks." then he got a serious look on his face, "So, how are you?"
Kanone tried to put on a convincing smile, but he wasn't fooling anyone, "I've been better. I just hate to sit here when I know we have more important things to focus on."
Kalelle sat on the edge of his bed, and hugged him, "Nothing's more important than your health." he told him, then softly kissed the top of his head, "Don't push yourself, okay? We'll wait for you as long as we have to."
Kanone nodded, "Thank you." he whispered.
Kalelle's attitude changed once again back to his happy self, "Well, I'll send your boyfriend back in. Call me if anything happens, and I'll do the same." Kanone nodded, and then closed his eyes, hoping to finally get some rest.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
I know this is a horrible place to stop, and there's still a lot that I didn't explain, and nothing's for certain right now, but I wanted to at least put something up for all my loyal fans. Next chapter we'll pick back up with the Hunters and find out what their little emergency is, and also a bit more with Rio's secret. Also, I have a question for you all; how much do you all like Ryoko? In this fic, I mean, not in general. Review!