Chapter 6

"Food's ready!" Kana said, bringing in the stir-fry and the rice. Hanabusa followed with soda and chips. The table had already been set and Ari was watching Kin wrestle with Nuke. Mute padded out of a corner tonuzzle against Kana. Shadow was in the same corner, lying down, her tail flicking the air as she watched her daughter mess around. She picked up her head in a greeting to her charge, and then laid it back down.

"Your house is pretty cold, especially in the winter." Ari said, taking a nearby gray blanket and wrapping it around her shoulders. "I thought you didn't like the cold."

"I've never really noticed, mainly because I'm always near Mute, Nuke, or Shadow when I'm inside, so, I've never really needed a heater. That, plus I could never afford to buy one." Kana replied.

"I'll donate one for the cause." Ari grumbled, wrapping her warm blanket even tighter around her.

"Why do you care? You always sleep under twentyblankets anyway," Kin teased.

"For your information, I only sleep under nine blankets, and that is not the point here!" Ariretaliated.

"Really? I honestly thought it was only like eight!" Kin said, sounding serious.

"I hate you; you know that?" Ari growled.

"Hey! Before the food gets cold." Kana said loudly, hoping that would distract them.

"Food!" Kin shouted, jumping for the table.

"Can we use our mission voices? Please?" Ari grumbled.

"Didn't you skip the 'dull roar' stage?" Hana asked.

"That was a 'dull roar'. She's always two decibels louder than she should be." Ari responded.

By this time, Kin was at the table, jabbing her chopsticks at the food. Kana was using her own to deflect Kin's attempts.

"If you can't get through my guard, then you must not be very hungry," Kana said smirking.

"You're mean!" Kin whined back.

"Not my fault if your weak." Kana replied lazily.

"Smells good, Kana!" Ari said, joining the rest at the table. She grabbed Kin's hand and pulled the chopsticks out of them. She then placed them on the table in front of the plate, like everyone else's. Kana, noting that the danger to her food was gone, followed suit and laid down her own.

"Kin, why don't you do it this time?" Ari said.

"Why me?" Kin complained, sounding outraged.

"The sooner you get it over with, the sooner you can eat." Hana said grumpily.

Kin sighed and turned herself to face Kana directly. "Thank you for making the food." She said, bowing.

"You're welcome. Dig in everyone. I'll be insulted if you don't eat it all!" Kana said sounding semi-enthusiastic.

Kana had started eating before anyone could even pick up their own chopsticks.

After dinner, everyone helped cleaned up the house. Most of the cleaning involved cleaning up some of the messes Mute and Nuke had left behind. This normally didn't take very long and they had the job finished by the time Kana had finished the dishes. The kitchen really was a one person only work space.

After this was done, a small period of silence and boredom followed, which ended when Mute decided that Kin's slipper would make a very nice new chew toy. Chaos ensued, as Kin chased Mute around demanding her slipper back. Then Nuke joined in, and the game turned to keep away.

This proved very entertaining, especially when Kin fell onto her back, laughing so hard she was actually crying, which ruined her cries of "Give me back my slipper!" Kana's face had gone red, and she had reached the point where she fell beside Kin, laughing just as hard, tears streaming from her eyes, and the only sounds coming from her mouth were the gasps she took in-between her hard laughter. She looked over and saw Kin lying beside her, looking back at her.

"Hey," she said, her face still red and her eyes still leaking. "How was your trip?"

"Jerk! Give me back my slipper!" Kin yelled, taking off her other slipper and whacking Kana with it. Kana just continued to laugh. Suddenly Mute grabbed this slipper, but Kin held on. The two glared at each other, trying to stare the other one down. Kin moved her hand to get a better grip, but in that moment, the slipper left, Mute having taken it and run.

Kin sat there for a minute, stunned. Then she stood up and and ran after Mute.

"No fair! Now she has both my slippers!" Kin yelled, as she followed the panther out of the room.

By this point, Ari, the normally composed one, had joined Kana on the floor, both having silent fits of laughter. Hanabusa was still standing, but just barely: she was holding on to a cabinet for support and she was still having problems.

After a while, Kana regained herself and stood back up.

"I better go help her or she'll never get her slippers back." Kana said, her face still red from laughing so hard. She pushed herself up and ran after them, out into the snow.

"It's cold!" came Kin's voice. Kana blinked, trying to get her eyes used to the sudden dark. The snow had stopped falling, but it was still ankle deep. Kana snuck up behind Mute, who was holding a slipper, and tackled her. They rolled around in the snow, until Kana finally retrieved the slipper and bopped Mute on the muzzle with it.

Kin had gotten a hold of the other slipper, and was now involved in a tug-of-war game with Nuke. Nuke was growling playfully. Kana snuck around behind Nuke and grabbed her sides. Nuke yowled with surprise and dropped the slipper. Kana threw the slipper to Kin, just in time to get tackled by Mute. Nuke quickly joined in the pileup. Kin managed to pick her way out of the snow and onto the porch.

"Stupid panther! Don't make me...Ow! No biting!" Kana's battle cries could be heard as the girl rolled around in the snow with the two black, oversized kittens. Mute broke away and ran back to the porch and sat down next to Kin. This proved not to be the smartest move as Kin reached over and whapped Mute over the head.

"Thanks to you, my slippers are all wet now," She said, laughing at the panther's wounded pride.

"She does tend to drool a bit." Kana said as she joined them on the porch. She had obviously beaten Nuke with out Mute there to complicate things. Snow was clinging to her hair and she was shivering slightly from the cold. She sat down and Mute laid her head on Kana's lap. Nuke padded over to join them and laid behind her, circling her body to conserve heat, and snuggling to help keep the petite girl warm. Kin laid down next to Mute, a truce already made, and enjoyed the heat as well. Ari, Hanabusa, and Shadow joined them, bringing blankets to help keep everyone warm. The silver light of the full moon glistened off the snow, causing everything to have a surreal glow. Kana started to relax when she noticed a slight movement in the enhanced shadows caused by the moon and snow.

"Anybody else see that?" Kana asked, staring directly at the spot, trying to determine whether the movement was real or not.

"It was probably just a rabbit." Hana said, drawing a blanket around her.

"Couldn't have been a rabbit. Way too large," Kana said, now scanning the surrounding aria, her senses all on high alert. The tree line spread around the whole house, hiding it from view of the main road. If any one wanted to invade the village, this was the ideal spot to do it from. Suddenly, a girl burst from the shadows, clutching her right arm. She had long brown hair, it went down to around her waist. Her crystal blue eyes held a clear determination in them, causing them to shine in the ethereal lighting. Scarlet stained white as they could all see that the arm she was holding was bleeding severely. Only Kana's sharp eyes could make out the deep gash being held shut under the left hand in the dim lighting. Her face was unnaturally pale and she was staggering slightly.

"Hana! Go get your med kit!" Kana said jumping up as the interloper rushed forward to meet the ground. She caught the girl before she could hit the dirt as Hana ran off to fetch the needed box. Kana rolled the older girl over onto her back. The girl was taller than Kana, but still on the short size. It was obvious that she was older. The two sets of blue eyes met, and, before the girl blacked out completely, her lips parted and a single word escaped her, almost like a breath.

"Kana."