The weeks passed by quickly, and Lady and I had become sisters.

Well, pretty much like sisters.

Lady also helped me brush up on my martial arts classes. I'd taken Taekwondo at about thirteen and was a first degree black belt by the time I was kidnapped by that creep.

I still haven't forgotten about him. He'll get what's coming to him soon.

In the meantime, I'd also discovered some other abilities I'd acquired since the experimentation; I can outmatch any human in speed, strength, and endurance. I can run like a cheetah at about sixty miles per hour and keep running at that speed for about an hour and a half before I even break a sweat. I also found I can bench press about two-hundred and twenty pounds, which was more than I ever could back before I was kidnapped.

Although, thinking about it now, whenever I looked in a mirror, I didn't look any different from a normal, average girl; I was still as slender as ever, my body thinning out at the stomach, then curving at my hips. My legs were leaner and more full, which I didn't understand.

Suddenly, Lady called up the stairs.

"Hey, Sai! Did you want to go to a friend of mine's place? I have to collect his debt," she said as she winked at me. I laughed.

"And by 'debt' you mean he owes you sex?"

Her face blushed a beating red. "What? N-no!"

"Riiiiiiiiiiight."

"Sai!"

I couldn't help bursting into a fit of laughter. Lady grabbed a pillow and started hitting me with it, laughing a little herself.

"No, I don't mean sex. I actually meant debt. The bastard owes me money."

"Oh? Money for what?"

"Stuff."

I rolled my eyes. Lady was hardly secretive, but when she was, she does not crack! Trust me, I've tried.

"Sure, I guess."

"Great! Let's go!"

She grabbed my arm and ran out of the house, me stumbling over my own feet to try and catch up to her. Once we were both settled on her bike, she drove off and down the street, making a left. A few minutes later, we were practically in the heart of the city; everything was so lit up and bright that it looked a little like Tokyo!

I love watching the world fly by. It doesn't matter if I'm in a car or on a motorcycle, I'll always get lost in the bliss of the world racing past.

"Sai? Sai! Hellooooooooooo?"

A sudden knock on my head caused me to jump and practically fall off Lady's motorcycle. Looking up at her, I rubbed my head where she was knocking on it.

"Jesus. That hurt!"

She just smiled and pulled me along and up some stone steps to a big building with a sign that read 'Devil May Cry' in bright red LEDs.

Inside, the room was practically bear aside from a jukebox in the corner to the right of the door, a pool table over to the left side, a desk in front, and a door behind him.

Curiously, I looked around and I hardly heard anything of what Lady said.

That is, until a tall and gorgeous man walked over to her, rolling his eyes and grumbling about the money he owed her.

He was tall –probably about six-foot three– with white hair that framed his face nicely, his five o'clock shadow stretching all the way across his jaw line. And his eyes! He had these brilliant ice blue eyes that would make any girl worship the very ground he walked on.

And his eyes slid slowly in my direction. I quickly averted my gaze to appear as if I wasn't staring at him just now. He must think I'm such a freak!

"And this is my friend, Sai," Lady said, gesturing to me as I looked back at her, turning my head to the side.

The man made a small 'hn' sound, and that was about it. I gave a small smile and extended my hand.

"Hi. And you are?'

Instead of taking my hand, he simply stared down at it, then back up at me.

"Dante."

Withdrawing my hand slowly, I gulped nervously as he turned to talk to Lady.

"Look, I don't have any money to give you."

Lady gave a sigh of annoyance.

"Seriously, that excuse is getting old real fast, Dante."

"Well, it's the only one you're getting, so."

Throwing her hands up in exasperation, Lady gave a huff and grabbed my hand, pulling me out of the doors to his…er….office. She shoved the helmet of her motorcycle in my hands.

"God, he is such an ass!"

I looked down at the helmet, thinking about my encounter with Dante.

"Maybe he really doesn't have the money?"

"Yeah, he probably spent it all at Love Planet, like he does all the time," Lady said laughing sarcastically.

"Love Planet?" I asked, kind of not wanting to know, but having a good guess of what it was.

"It's like Dante's hangout. It's a stripper bar."

That's great to know.

Not like he'd ever be attracted to a girl like me, but whatever.

Lady was silent the whole way home, and when we got up to the door of her apartment, there was a flyer taped to it. It was a light pink color with cherry blossoms over the sides. It looked really elegant.

"That's right. I forgot that was this weekend," Lady murmured, tossing the flyer over her shoulder.

I looked at it, balled up on the ground as Lady walked inside. Grabbing it, I hurried after her and went up to my room, where I shut the door and smoothed out the flyer, reading over the pink paper:

14th Annual Cherry Blossom Festival

November 16th-18th at the county park

Wear a kimono and get free admission!

Smiling to myself, I remembered when I was about four and my parents took me to a kimono festival similar to this one. Sighing, I taped the flyer to my wall and lay down in bed, thinking about how different my life was now.

And slowly, I drifted off into a deep slumber.