AN: omfg, I am SO sorry. School destroyed my brain… I have had no time. Merry Christmas anyway! I know this is a short chapter, but I have the next one well on its way to completion. It should be up before Christmas.

Read this!

I need some help guys in deciding a pairing for Liika, you're choices are:

1) Enrique

2) Neji

3) Brooklyn

4) None

I will try to keep your guys' opinions in mind, but you also should keep in mind that I do have an agenda!

xxxxxxx

What ta hell doesshe fink she's doing?" Kai demanded angrily, his eyes blurring from his 9th tequila shot.

Tala rolled his glassy eyes, grabbing Kai by the arm and dragged him along behind Gaara who was heading towards the distinctive pink head up on the balcony. "It looks like she's dancing," he slurred, stumbling a bit as they reached the stairs.

"Why the fuck woul' she do that!"

They had reached Sakura by that time, and Tala shoved Kai at a high-seated spindle chair and took on of his own. He flashed a bright grin at Sakura, as well as a knowing look. "Maybe she likes dancing."

Sakura hid a smile, allowing her eyes to sparkle at the flirty red head. Gaara sat down between her and Tala, ignoring the looks the red head was giving his hot girlfriend. They were drunk, and Red wasn't stupid. Gaara sipped at his scotch, reveling in the feel of the burning liquid running down his throat.

Kai growled as Tala shoved him, fumbling blearily to catch himself on the chair, and to get himself up on the thing. It was amazing how quickly alcohol got to your head. As soon as he was sitting, his eyes swiveled back to where he had last seen his little sister. Of course his inebriated mind momentarily forgot that she was indeed his little sister, and raging jealousy and anger coursed through his veins. How dare she cheat on him!

When he voiced this particular thought the other three sobered a bit, Tala looking both sad and exasperated, Gaara looked a bit disturbed and Sakura just looked sympathetic. She sighed and reached out, patting Kai's hand. "Kai," she said, her yelling to make herself heard over the music, but at the same time getting the empathetic quality through, "She's not cheating on you…you're not dating anymore… remember?"

Kai's face screwed up and his eyes crossed. "What tha fuck are y' talking about?" He ground his teeth. "We been dating since May."

Sakura opened her mouth but Tala cut her off. "Don't bother," he said with a sigh. "He's too smashed to remember or be reasonable. He just downed nine tequila shots on top of the three beer he had before we left. He's rather belligerent when he's drunk anyway."

"Lovely." Sakura replied, her lips flattening into a line. She turned her emerald eyes towards her boyfriend who was now also watching the dancing blue haired girl. "You better not get stupid," she warned, narrowing her eyes.

Sage eyes flickered towards her and lips tilted upwards. He didn't answer, instead his hand shot out and circled the back of her neck, pushing her face towards him and catching her lips with his own. Sakura gave way immediately, her hands cupping his cheeks.

Kai, who was not paying attention to the couple, made a sound of disgust, his anger growing. "Little bitch… and him… I'm going to kick his pretty ass."

"Guy, don't we know him from somewhere?" Tala commented, scratching his head and looking confused, as his he were searching his mind for the answer.

Gaara and Sakura pulled apart, Sakura with a small knowing smile and Gaara with a smug smirk. Gaara then turned his head to look at what the other two males were looking at, the jade orbs narrowing to focus on their friend's dancing partner. His eyebrows rose a bit. "That's Hyuga."

Kai's attention snapped to the Sanderson boy. "Hyuga? As in asshole, I'm-sho-much-better-than-you Hyuga? The heir to the Royal Park hotel empire!" He cursed.

"The very same."

"Gaara!" Sakura scolded with a scowl. She then turned to Kai and said very matter of factly, "He came over and talked to us for a bit. He knows the situation… it's just a dance."

Kai seethed. "Jush a dance my fucking ass! Fine! Little bitch wants to play it that way, two can play at that game." With that he pushed back from the table, almost knocking his chair over and stomped off the balcony and down into the crowded dance floor.

Sakura looked worried. "He isn't going to go like, try and beat Neji up is he? No offense to Kai… but Neji would waste him… he is a black belt and he's sober."

"Nah," Tala said, looking cheerful. "He's gone to get himself a piece of ass. Good for him, maybe then he'll remember what's going on."

Gaara snorted. "It's a good thing that she's not drunk as well… there might be a relapse and that would be disgusting."

At this Tala howled and Sakura shook her head, sighing. Only drunken fools.

xxxxxxx

"He was a complete ass! He's lucky that I didn't beat his drunken ass into the ground! Ugh, I had forgotten what a complete prick he was when he's drunk."

Mariah laughed, the tinkling sound echoing through the blue cell phone speaker into Liika's ear. "Didn't you learn this before? Anyway, what was he so mad about?"

Liika sighed, her eyes on the straight road ahead of her. "I was dancing with a guy – do you remember that guy that beat Bryan at States last year? Neji Hyuga? Well he was at the bar – apparently rich kids don't need ID – and he came over and asked me to dance. It wasn't a big deal… Sakura practically demanded that I go with him. He was really nice actually, in that arrogant sort of way anyway. He has a very dry sense of humor. In any case, Kai apparently freaked out, from what Sakura said, then proceeded to go and grind with the nearest set of fake tits in the room. Of course, he made sure I was watching, bastard. Tala informed me later that he had temporarily forgotten the situation and actually thought I was cheating on him. As if I would do that! Ugh."

"Well, you can't really fault him for dancing with someone, particularly if you were dancing with someone else too…"

"The fact that he was dancing is not the point! It was more the grinding… the making out that I had a problem with. Ugh. Broken up not even three days and already sucking face with some forty year old MILF!"

Liika had to move the phone from her ear as Mariah squealed in laughter. "MILF! Oh my God, are you serious?"

"Completely," Liika answered, a flat look on her face. "Though I don't even think he realized it."

"Ha! I never knew Kai liked them older… interesting."

Liika snorted. "Yeah. Of course after me and Neji finished dancing, and we headed back to the table, Kai continued on his merry way – I got mad, and Neji was surprisingly understanding. Eventually Kai returned to the table with his 'friend' and rubbed her in my face… and said obnoxious things that he'll regret. I wanted to cry so Neji suggested we find our own table, so we did. Sakura came with us. I didn't see or speak to him for the rest of the night. God knows how they got back to Gaara's house."

"Well," Mariah said after a pause, sighing with a smile, "At least things between you are back to some semblance of normalcy. I mean besides the fact that you both are struggling with unfulfilled sexual desires towards each other."

"Ew." Liika wrinkled her nose at the thought. What was even grosser was that the pink haired girl was right. It made her feel queasy to know that she still desired Kai like that… though the flame was decidedly cooler. Nothing like a nice threat of incest to dampen the flames of ardor. "I'd rather not think about that thanks."

Mariah laughed again, deciding that a change of subject was in order. "Anyway, what are you up to now? You sound like you're in a car."

"I am," Liika answered, turning on her turn signal and exiting onto exit 103 to Bakuten. "I'm just exiting the freeway. Eniki demanded my presence at precisely 2 o'clock."

"You're late then… it's ten after now. What are you doing later?"

"Homework… missed a day of school and I've done nothing all weekend…just lucky for me that I didn't have much to do. Enrique apparently needs help with his math." Liika's eyes scanned the road, and she shoulder checked quickly before changing lanes. Just then the tell tale beep of call waiting sounded in her ear. "Hey Mari, I gotta go, someone else is calling… though I don't know who since I didn't give anyone this number... cept Sakura and I don't think she'd be calling."

"Oki doki, see you at school tomorrow?"

"Yup! See ya!" With that Liika pulled the phone away from her ear and clicked the flash button. "Hello?"

"Hey."

Her expression fell into a flat look of annoyance. "Oh. It's you. How did you get this number?"

A sigh sounded. "Sakura gave it to me."

"What do you want?"

"To apologize, if you would lose the attitude." The words were snapped defensively.

Liika bristled. "Well excuse me for being angry. You treated me like shit last night Kai, what more do you want?"

"Look, I'm sorry ok? Apparently I had too much to drink, I forgot what was going on, and only focused on my pain. I didn't want to remember that I couldn't have you anymore and so when I saw you dancing with Hyuga… well I lost it. Why were you dancing with him anyway?"

"Because he asked and it could be fun?" Liika replied with a sigh. "Why don't we just call it even? You could tell me all about your 40 year old hotty."

He groaned audibly and Liika laughed. "To be honest I don't remember much beyond the anger… But Tala got a picture on his phone…and damn it am I glad I had friends with me to stop me from going home with her."

"How did you get home anyway?"

"Temari and Kabuto drove us at closing."

Liika hummed in response, not really sure what to say to that. Truth was that it was awkward talking to him now, and though the pain was fading, it was still there, and was still fresh. She didn't know where they should go from where they were… It was so hard on so many levels. How did you go from romantic love to sibling love? She had never had any siblings… the closest she had was Tyson, and she didn't know if the love she had for him was the same as the love she should have for a brother.

"What are you thinking about?"

Kai's voice jarred her from her thoughts and she smiled sadly. "Us mostly… I've never had a brother… I don't know how to have one."

Kai was silent for a moment, a slow sigh sounding over the small blue cell phone. "At least you had Granger… he was sort of like a brother. I've never lived with anyone else… I have even less of a clue of how to be a sibling. However," there was an obvious smirk in his voice, "I can't say I'm not going to enjoy beating up losers that dare to show interest in my baby sister. Now I have a real excuse to chase other guys away."

Despite herself, Liika laughed. Of course, if (or rather when) he tried it she would have to kick his ass, but at the moment it was a funny thought and it broke some of the tension that still strained between them.

Liika turned onto her street then, and even from her position at the far end of the block, she could see the blond smudge of her best friend waiting not so patiently on her front lawn. She smiled fondly and shook her head. "I have to go Hiwatari, Eniki is stalking my lawn waiting for me so that he can ogle my car. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"You going to drive to morning practice?"

"Yeah, I'm looking forward to it for once." She laughed, picturing her friends' reactions.

"Pick me up ok? My car blew a transmission last night."

Liika merely raised an eyebrow and braked as she approached her grandfather's dojo. "Sucker… I'll be there at 5:30 be ready. Bye." She hung up the phone before he could answer.

She came to a stop directly in front of where the blond was sprawled out. Amused, she watched as he sprang up, a bright grin on his face as his tongue practically wagged. She laughed again, pushing her sunglasses to the top of her head, turning in her seat to look up at the drooling blond. "They there good-looking."

"You're late!" Was his first response, even though he said it with obvious distraction, his eyes glazed. "Oh my God, she's beautiful! You have to let me take her for a spin! Pleaaaase Iki!"

A blue eyebrow arched and a haughty expression crossed her face. She sniffed a bit and mocked looking at her fingernails as if he wasn't worth her time. "I don't know… Why should I let you drive my Porche?"

Her playful tone failed to registered in his testosterone flooded brain, and so when his blue eyes swung towards her they were hot and flashing. "And what the hell is that supposed to mean?" He snapped, his fingers turning white on the passenger side door. He was scowling, and his sudden anger took Liika by surprise.

"What? Christ Enrique," she replied, looking incredulous. "I was kidding. You know teasing you? What's your problem?"

He froze, the color draining from his face, his eyes averting. "I'm sorry," he said immediately, his expression contrite. Enrique sighed and sagged against the yellow car, his chin resting on his hands, his eyes finally coming back up to meet hers. "It's just that… well… it's stupid."

"Enrique," Liika said, unbuckling her seatbelt and reaching over to ruffle his already messy baby blond locks, "I have known you for seventeen and a half years, our whole life. We tell each other everything, and something is obviously bothering you. Now get in and tell me what it is."

It was with a sullen shuffle that he complied, opening the car door and sliding into the seat, his blue eyes on his feet. "It's just that…I was thinking yesterday after you called." He looked so tormented that she wanted to give him a big hug, but she refrained, saving it for when he was done. "I was thinking about how he was buying you all those things, and about how you are technically now apart of elite society… and I'm… I'm just a small town kid, with no social status to speak of. I was-am afraid that we are drifting apart and that with your new life, new father and new brother you'll forget all about me."

Sweet. That was the only word she could really think of to describe him. She should have known that he would have thoughts like that. Enrique had always been insecure about his friends… she attributed it to the traumatizing experience of elementary school where she had been the only friend that hadn't betrayed him. It was a common enough experience for elementary school, but Enrique was particularly sensitive, even now. He was rather clingy with friends that he considered close. Her and Oliver particularly.

Without a word, Liika reached out and slid out of her seat into his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck, laying her head on his chest as she hugged him tightly. It was usual for them, particularly when one of them was upset. It had been, at one time, that their positions were reversed, with him sitting in her lap, but he had soon out grown that. Now that he had at least a foot on her, it was her that cuddled in his lap, no matter of the situation.

Enrique responded immediately, his own arms circling around her shoulders and pressing her into him, his cheek resting on the top of her head. Liika smiled, enjoying the comfort the provided. "You have nothing to worry about Eniki. I'd never forget about you, and we're not drifting apart." She lifted her head to look him in the eye. "Didn't we go through this with Robert?"

He didn't laugh like she thought he was going to. Instead, his lips inched upward in a soft smile, his eyes reflecting something she couldn't recognize. "I love you, you know that right?"

Liika blinked before rolling her eyes with a smile. "Of course I know that." She flicked him in the nose, chuckling lightly as his face screwed up in response. "I love you too, I always will."

Enrique didn't respond, merely closing his eyes. Liika raised an eyebrow quizzically, tilting her head. Weird. He was acting very strange. She shrugged it off however, and attributed it to them not spending much time together in the past weeks.

"Now let go of me so I can get out and let you drive my new car."

This woke him up. His arms were removed in a flash and the door was opened even faster. He all but pushed her out. She laughed.

"Well come on now, once around the block and then we'll work on your math homework."

"You're the best Iki!"