"Come on Stripes I know a place up town that does some pretty good BBQ" Gado motioned for him to get in the car. The word BBQ almost made Shenlong drool since he hadn't eaten since that morning and never realized how much heavy crap he owned.

Nearby at the library, Uriko was being watched like a hawk by her kenpo master.

"Master Long can we go now? This place is so boring!" Uriko wined for the 12th time in five minutes.

"Uriko, why don't you occupie yourself with some books. That is what people normally come to libraries for. My shift will be over soon enough and I can take you home. Or you can call your sister to come get you… Uriko, what are you doing?" He looked over to see Uriko grab five books off the shelf and weigh them in her hands.

"Occupying myself with books like you said Master Long." Uriko then proceeded to juggle the books in the middle of the room. Long sighed and shook his head.

"Maybe you should call your sister…" He started, but was quickly cut off byhis pupil.

"And have her drag me home to smother me and lecture me until my mom shows up to finish me off? I don't think so. I'm avoiding those two as much as physically possible!" Urkio snapped at him without dropping a single book. Long could only sigh again. He knew the girl's words were true, but he couldn't have her disrupting the library like this. That's when the answer to his problem conveniently walked through the door.

"Hey Long." It was Shina, still a little sweaty from her last class of the day. "You got any books on yoga? A lot of my students are too tense, so I'm thinking about adding some yoga to get them to loosen up ya know." That's when she spotted Uriko juggling books. "Oh, hey there Uriko what are you doing here?"

"Hi Shina! How was your date with Shenlong?" Uriko beemed. Now she could distract herself with someone more interesting than her teacher.

"D-did she say date?" Long stuttered. Both of the girls looked at him curiously. Normally Long's speech was flawless with no slang, filler words and definitely no stuttering.

"Actually Uriko, I don't think I would call it a date…" She started with a nervous smile. Long was reassured for a moment, worried that he was going to lose Shina to his clone as well. "We justwent to a show, then spent the night out on his boat with went swimming." She said with a guilty laugh and a nervouse grin as the young girls face lit up.

"Oh my gosh that is most DEFINITELY A DATE!" Uriko squealed, but was quickly shushed by people in the library. Long however was not as excited about Shina's staying the night with Shenlong. He had to act fast and that was something he normally avoided.

"Shina would you like to go out with me to a late lunch?" Long said quickly and sternly. He snappe his body to attention and looked her in the eyes. Shina was taken back a little at the sudden request.

"U-um s-sure… but what about my books…" She was cut off as Long quickly wrapped her arm in his and swiftly left the building with Uriko in hot pursuit.

"Master Long I'm coming too! I want her to tell me all the juicy details!" Uriko bounded out the door as everyone in the building let out a relaxed sigh. Relieved that the obnoxious girl was finally gone. Within minutes the trio were walking into the city. Long and Shina still had their arms intertwined, but both wore uncomfortable expressions, unsure of what to do or say next. Luckily for them an enthusiastice Uriko was full of interesting questions.

"So Shina. What did you and my brother do after we left?" She asked excitedly. Maybe it wasn't so lucky that she had questions afterall. Long remained silent, also curious at what the two could have done all night out on the water. Usually the two could be around one another for more than an hour without fighting, so it was anyones guess as to what could have transpired over the course of an entire night.

"Oh nothing really, we took in a show, and he wanted to take me out on the boat to see the stars and stuff." She said nonchalantly trying to make it sound completely innocent. But it's hard to make a show and a night under the stars sound like anything other than a date. She could feel Long's muscles tense as she explained her night, and Uriko's grin was growing bigger and bigger by the second.

"That's so romantic! A movie and a night under the stars…" She clapped her hands together and began to envision how nice it must have been. "What did you guys go see? Something romantic I bet!" She grabbed Shina's freehandd and shook it eagerly for a response.

"It was more of a… an action flick to be honest." She forced a small smile on her face, and a bead of sweat dropped as she prayed that it was convincing enough. Uriko looked at her with a raised eyebrow. An action movie didn't fit into the romantic scenario she had been envisioning."I don't really like the mushy stuff anyway…" Shina added to douse the girl's susspisions.

"Of course!" Uriko slammed a fist into her palm. "You're totally awesome! Of course you wouldn't be into girly movies and stuff. Shenlong really knows how to charm the ladies." She finished with a snide smirk.

"Ummm… yea, I guess he does." Shina said nervously. Suddenly, Long stepped ahead of them and clapped his hands together.

"Shina perhaps I could come assist you in your classes. I'm sure your students would benefit from seeing your training put into practice against someone else with fighting experience." He finished with a kind smile trying to hide his boiling emotions, but his twitching eyebrow threatened to betray him. Shina and Uriko stared at him for a moment and simply blinked a few times trying to catch up with the suddenly changed topic.

"Y-yea, that would be great. You sure it would be all right? After all you do work at the library." Shina pointed out with a shy smile. But Long didn't fold.

"I'm actually planning to take the summer off to focus on my training out in the country side away from the noise of the city. A few days early shouldn't matter much." Now Long wore a genuine smile, proud they he didn't have to make something up to spend time with her.

"Well if it wont get in the way… sure I'll check the scheduleand let you know when my advanced classes come in." She laughed lightly while brushing her hair back. Long's smile deepened and he finally put his hands back at his side. Uriko stood tapping her foot waiting for them to continue on.

"Master Long where are you taking us anyway?" She inturuted their thoughts with the suddent outburst.

"The coffee-shop just a few more blocks up. Don't worry Uriko, we're almost there." Long said kindly. The rest of the walk there was filled with girl talk between Shina and Uriko, attempted small talk from Long and Uriko venting her frustrations about her home life. However they reached the place before she could tell them Yugo and Kenji would be gone for a few weeks on the boxing tournament. They all ordered their drinks, and Uriko got herself a muffin. Long and Shina were discussing ways he could help her out while Uriko stared out of the window watching people pass by. That's when she spotted Gado and Shenlong in the BBQ place across the street. She looked to see if Long or Shina had noticed them, but to her delight they were both caught up in their own conversation. The wheels were starting to spin in her head. She could escape Long, avoid her family and spend some time with Shenlong, all with some clever wording and a little white lie.

"Master Long, I just saw Alice and Yugo go into the resturaunt across the street. Can I leave and go with them?" She pointed to the BBQ resturaunt careful not to draw attention to her real targets. Long practiacally threw her out of the booth when he heard her question.

"Yes! Uriko, that would be excellent. You and your sister have much to discus if this summer is going to go by smoothly for you, and with Yugo there I'm sure things wont get out of hand. Well you have a good afternoon and I hope to see you before I leave for my training. If you wish to come train with me, we can speak with your mother on the subject. If not, I will return in two months." Long said in a hurried tone as he escorted Uriko out of the building.

"Bye Shina, I'm sure I'll see you later and you can finish telling me about your date!" the young girl waved back with a wink, before bounding across the street. Long watched to make sure she made it across safely, before happily returning to Shina.

"You sure it's ok to let her out of your sight? Mitsuko was still pretty angry this morning when Shenlong brought his boat back to the docks." Shina said nervously, remembering the beating Shenlong received that very morning.

"I'm sure Mitsuko would have it no other way. If Alice is with Yugo, then there are two people she trusts watching over Uriko rather than just me. Not to mention if Yugo is there, Kenji isn't far away." He paused to push his glasses up on his nose with a finger. "Yes, I'm convinced that right now, Uriko is in the safest place in the city." He finished with a confident smile. Shina simply smiled back at him and continued her drink. Long's smile shifted to a more concerned frown.

"Shina, may I ask you something?" He spoke evenly, doing his best not give away his shaking nerves. Shina looked up to him and set aside her drink.

"Sure thing Long, whats on your mind?" He sighed in attempt to compose his words, but in the end he chose to take a simple approach to his question.

"What all DID you do with Shenlong after the others left yesterday?" He asked calmly and smoothly trying not to sound defensive or incriminating. She almost scowled at the question, but when she saw the genuine concern in his eyes, she returned to thinking about how to answer the question without upsetting him.

"Why do you ask?" She attempted to buy herself some time to think.

"I can't help but be curious, that's all. In the past, you and he couldn't be within 50 ft. of oneanother for long without fighting." He said with a light chuckle as he returned to his seat.

"Oh come on it wasn't that bad."She said resting aher chin on a hand.

"Before yesterday, an hour was the record for both of you to tolerate eachother." He said with a smirk. Shina blushed slightly embarrassed that they had really acted out so noticeably.

"Well if you must know." She said with a sarcastic roll of the eyes. "After we left the diner, we went to a fight club." She said nervously worried about how Long would react.

"A fight club…?" He said with a raised eyebrow and gave a confident smirk.

"Well yea… Some of the cities zoanthrope get together to throw down with one another. It was actually pretty fun." She finished with a smile looking at nothing imparticular.

"Not exactly my idea of fun… But I suppose Someone like Shenlong would love that sort of thing." He said smugly making Shina frown. "What were the fighters like?"

"Well believe it or not, there were soe VERY skilled fighters there. I happened to fight a pair foxes at once that had a bad habit of ripping off my cloths." She said seductively almost causing Long to choke on his tea. "Then me and Shenlong tag-teamed against a Cheetah and her Jaguar boyfriend. Now those two had some real skill." Shina found herself smiling at how hard Scarlette pushed her in their fight.

"You sound like you really did have a good time in there. And this cheetah must have been formidable to get you excited about the fight." He said almost shocked at the grin she flashed as she spoke about something as barbaric as animal fighting.

"Yea, well its good to let lose from time to time ya know." She gave a light laugh.

"After that, there was a boat ride under the stars?" Long was taken back at this little tid bit of information.

"Yea, that was really nice too. The water was calm and we spent some time somehanging out, enjoying the moon light. Afterwards…" She had to stop to laugh to herself. "You won't believe this, but we actually danced to some radio jazz music." She finished with a laugh.

"Really? Shenlong danced?" Had anyone other than Shina told him this, he wouldn't have believe it.

"Yea, turns out he's a great fighter and a pretty good dancer." She said in slight diebeliefe herself, but nodded faceing back to Long.

"This morning I had the pleasure if waking up to a giant blue tiger diving off the boat to catch some big fish for breakfast." She said with a playful sigh and rolling her eyes.

"Sushi for breakfast?" That doesn't sound like him at all." Long said skepticaly. Even he didn't have sushi for breakfast and despite being his clone, Shenlong was much less tradisional than Long.

"You're right." She giggled. "He actually grilled it, and made an amazing breakfast for both of us." She said licking her lips. Long struggled not to furrow his brow and show his jealousy at the wounderful time Shina had with the clone last night. What made it worst was that he ended their little date by starting her day off with a great breakfast. Since when can Shenlong cook at all? Much less make wonderful meals for others.

"Well you sertainly did have a pleasant date." Long said, taking a sip of his tea to hide his expression.

"Yea, well it ended with him getting his face knocked in by Mitsuko." Shina had to hold back a laugh. "That lady should have been in the fight club with the beating she gave him for getting close to Uriko and hurting Alice." Shina held her sides remembering the thrashing that went down. This time Long laughed as well and the pair simply chuckled together at Shenlong's misfortune. Across the street Uriko was extatic to be back around Shenlong. He was happy she was there too, but Gado was skeptical of them being around eachother so soon. Especially since they both had suffered Mitsuko's wrath not even a full day ago.

"Hey kiddo what are you doing here?" Shenlong asked as Uriko climbed down off his shoulders. She had nearly tackled him by jumping over the back of the booth seat and landing on his head.

"I told Master Long I saw my sister come in here so he let me go." She beamed sitting down next to him as he slid what remained of their appetizer over to her. She happily chowed down on the boneless hot wings as Shenlong and Gado shared uneasy glances.

"What if Alice really does come looking for you?" Gado asked, seemingly throwing a wrench in her plan. But Uriko thought of that too.

"I called my mom before I came in." She said after swallowing some food. I told her Kenji invited me to go with him and Yugo to a national boxing tournament with them in Chicago for a while. WHICH I might add is 100% true. I just didn't tell her I didn't go with them." She gave a devilish smile. Gado palmed his head, but Shenlong patted her head proudly, impressed that she was clever enough to cover her bases.

"Now to finish the job." She said breaking out her phone again. She quickly dialed her teacher's number and waited for him to answer.

"Hey, Master Long. Kenji invited me to go with him and Yugo to Chicago for a boxing tournament, so I'll be M.I.A. for a while…. Ok, enjoy your training. See you when you get back." She hung up the phone and smiled to herself for having thought of such a great plan.

"Consider all bases covered. Alice will talk to my mom who will confirm that I informed Master Long, and when the stories match up, everyone will be happy and I can actually enjoy my summer." She said reclining in her seat with a satisfied look on her face.

"Well not quite all of them kid." Gado said peaking over his glasses. "Now you have to find a place to stay, and avoid your mom and sister for a while. And don't forget Alice is dating your boyfriend's brother. She's probably going to call him as soon as she gets the chance." Gado's words sent a shiver up Uriko's spine. Kenji doesn't enjoy lying, but would make an effort for Uriko's happiness. But at the same time Yugo was just as devoted to Alice. If she put him on the spot, he would break, and Uriko knew it. In a matter of seconds, Uriko had called Kenji and prayed that Alice had gotten the chance to call him yet.

"Hello… KENJI! QUICK! I need you to tell Yugo that no matter what; if anyone asks I'm spending time with you in Chicago while he fights. Yes, I know that you guys don't like to lie, but if I go home I might kill myself! And if my mom finds out, she'll take care of that for me! Please Kenji, I will pay you both back for this, I swear! But I need you to cover me. PLEASE!" She begged through the phone. Fortunately for her Yugo was right there with him and heard the whole thing. He agreed after he remembered how Alice hurt Uriko's legs the previous evening.

"Really? OHMYGAWD YOU TWO ARE THE BEST!... Uh huh… no problem I can take care of that tonight… Yep still have the key. Okay, thank you both SOOO much. Call me when you guys get there. Good Luck Yugo!" She clacked the phone shut and smiled bigger than before.

"What just happened?" Shenlong asked.

"Yugo and Kenji agreed to cover for me incase anyone called. Yugo said it would be his way of punishing Alice for going overboard yesterday and bruising up my legs." She continued to grin with excitement. "All I have to do is clean their place up a little bit and I will be home free." She grinned and danced a little in her seat. Gado sighed again, knowing this would end badly for sure. Shenlong was quite the opposite however.

"This kid is awesome!" He grinned at Gado. "I know, I know I shouldn't condone lying to people who care about you… But your mom damn near broke my jaw this morning, so it evens out." He gave a grin. "I couldn't have pulled that off better myself little sister." He gave her a high five in praise.

"Never underestimate how far a woman will go to get her space." She folded her arms and said proudly. "So when will you start my training?" She asked excitedly

"This is a bad idea Stripes." Gado said standing up from the table. "Look I gotta go, but just remember that pain in your jaw before you jump into this." He walked out of the side entrance to his truck and drove off into the evening sun. Now it was just Shenlong and his new sister, and he hadn't exactly planned for this.

"Did'nt I tell you I would think about it? … hmm" He said rubbing his chin trying to think of all possible ups and downs to this. Then an idea popped into his head. "The mountain! Of course." He looked at her with a faint smile and nodded thinking his plan was fool proof. "I'll tell you what sis, I've got a few things to take care of this week then I'm going up to a little place in the mountains train for a while. But I guess a week of palling around with my new sister wouldn't be so bad." He finished with a sarcastic smirk. Uriko stuck her tongue at him, and then hugged his neck tightly.

"Thanks Shenlong, this is going to be so much fun!" She giggled as he struggled to breath. "Come on! It's getting late." She tugged him out of the booth.

"Ok, ok, where are we going?" He asked struggling not to let the small girl pull him to the ground.

"If you help me clean up Yugo's place, it wont get in the way later. Plus… I can be a little forgetful sometimes." She rubbed her head slightly embarrassed. Shenlong let out a playful sigh and patted her on the head.

"Alright, I'll help…" He paused to check the time. "But only for a little bit. I've got somewhere to be in a little while." He finished looking off into the city with a serious expression.

"Cool, where're we going?" She smiled. Shenlong looked back at her with a raised eyebrow.

"We?" He clarified. "Sorry kiddo, I'll train you, but the pit aint exactly the kind of place a little girl should be hanging around." He shrugged his shoulders. Uriko pouted and folded her arms.

"Hey I'm not just some little girl ya know." She transformed the ends of her fingers and flexed her claws. "Besides I'm starting highschool in the fall. So I'm sure I can handle anything you can." She stuck her tongue at him again. But while she did that Shenlong quickly snapped behind her and hoisted her over his shoulder and started walking down the sidewalk.

"You sure about that Uriko? I don't think you even saw me move." He said with a laugh.

"No fair! See, this is why you have to train me? I need to be ready for anything. Especially with you around!" She mocked.

"Yea right, don't worry kid. As long as I'm around you've got nothing to worry about." He thumbed his chest. Uriko playfully rolled her eyes.

"I feel so safe!" She giggled.

"So have you figured out where you're going to stay while you're hiding from your family?" He asked looking up at her out of the corner of his eye. Uriko blushed a little and made her cute face again.

"Well, I've been meaning to talk to you about that…" She said rubbing her head. Shenlong's smile dropped and he looked more concerned. "How would you like to win some major brother points?"

"Geeze is this kid ever away from those two?" Hung gripped from a rooftop nearby. He and Xie had been following Shina all day. When they spotted Uriko, they decided to keep an eye on her instead.

"Patients brother. We will have out revenge soon enough. All that's left to do is wait for the right moment to strike. If we get that girl, we will have everything we came for."Xie practically hissed with anticipation.

Back on the outskirts of the city Mitsuko was tuning in Alice on why her sister wasn't home yet and the city was still standing.

"Calm down. She's with Yugo and his brother for a while. At least she will have some time to calm down and more importantly, stay away from that horrible man!" Mitshko practically snorted thinking about Shenlong.

"Yea I know, but I just wish she had waited for me to come too. We could have had some real sibling bonding time together." Alice said disappointed she had been left out.

"Well dear she said the tournemant was in Chicago so they couldn't wait very long, you know that. Especially with how busy the hospital gets this time of year. Every summer when school lets out, the dilinquents run rampant and end up in hospitols begging for someone to kiss their boo boos." Mitsuko mocked playfully. Alice sighed, becase she knew her mom was completely right. It would only be a matter of time before she would be getting late night pages to come to work and be asked to stay as long as possible.

"But still…" Alice started again, but was shushed byher mother.

"Now enough of that. The house will have some piece without your sister here to complain. I don't want you taking her place in that field. Besides, I'm sure it wont be more than a few days before she's begging to come back home to her family where she belongs." She grinned. "She will remember how lucky she is in no time to have us at her side. You just wait and see." Mitsuko returned to drying the dishes and putting them away.

Across the city, Shenlong and Uriko finished cleaning the house. Now Shenlong just needed a way to ditch Uriko for the rest of the night, but she had no plans to make that easy for him.

"I told you I'm not tired! Come on Shenlong, why can't I just go with you to the pit? I want to see you fight." She said in a sad tone, trying to guilt him into bringing her along.

"Nope." He said flatly. Her plan didn't work. The young girl pouted at her failed attempt at cuteness.

"Awww you jerk! Seriously, how much danger could I be in if I'm there with you?" She retorted. Shenlong sighed and scratched his head trying to think of a way to make her understand.

"While you're with me, you will be safe. But when I fight, I wont be able to protect you. Don't you get it? There is always someone looking to gain an upper hand in there. If someone gets the bright idea to use you against me…"

"I'll kick their ass!" Uriko interrupted with a confident shout.

"I doubt that." He rolled his eyes. Then a light went off in his head. "Fine. Since I can't seem to convince you to stay behind, I'll take you. But first I gotta get some stuff from my place, so lets go." He said slyly and turned to walk home. Uriko beamed in victory, and jumped on Shenlong's shoulders. 20 minutes later, they were walking down the street his building was on. However, they were on the wrong side of the street. Uriko was so proud, that she didn't even notice that Shenlong had to knock on what should have been his own door. A booming voice brought her back to reality.