-gasp- What's this?!?
Is it...an update from me (for this story)?
I do believe it is.
Third one will either be out this week or next. Copper-sama, my ever-amazing beta, is rather busy so she doesn't know when she'll be able to beta it.
But, enjoy for now I guess! :D
"You cad! You dog!"
Keigo's pathetic crying was heard from around the room as he fisted his hands into the taller Ichigo's shirt, tears streaming dramatically down his face, some of which leaked down onto the tangerine-haired man's shirt. "Her walking around in lingerie, wearing short shorts, catching her in the shower! Oh, the devilry!" he continued to sob hysterically.
Now faintly ticked off, Ichigo removed Keigo's fists from his shirt with ease, rolling his eyes.
"You idiot. She's only been at my house for one night and she wore my clothes last night."
As soon as the words left his lips, he realized that they were the wrong thing to say, judging by Keigo's sudden smirk from under his tears, Ishida's narrowed eyes and Mizuiro's suddenly flying fingers on the pad of his cell phone. "Not like that, you idiots, and Mizuiro, if I come to school tomorrow and I find new rumors flying around about Inoue and me, I'm coming after you."
Mizuiro blinked innocently up at Ichigo. "I'm merely setting up a date with my girlfriend," he denied, pretending not to have a clue as to what Ichigo was referring to, though the item was in plain view in his hand.
Ichigo just shot him a knowing look before glancing surreptitiously at his latest house guest. Orihime, who had been sitting in another part of the room with some of her friends, was talking quite animatedly with Ryo about something, complete with wild gesticulations and clapping, and even a few spastic dance moves. Chizuru, who had been sitting next to Orihime with her arms locked high on her waist, poked her in the ribs before jerking her head in his direction in what was a failing effort to be discreet.
Orihime glanced over at him and when she noticed that Ichigo was actually looking at her, she immediately flushed a bright red and turned back around hurriedly. "We should try it after school!" she insisted loudly after a moment.
"I've heard about that game. Isn't the defending team at a huge disadvantage?" Chizuru asked thoughtfully, arms wrapped securely around the Inoue's waist. Orihime nodded, looking a little sheepish.
"Well, they were. But I did some changing of it and now I think it's a bit more fair. The defending team can now have wings! I'll even pack a picnic!" Orihime enthused happily, oblivious to the amused glances that her friend traded.
"How about we just play volleyball and then go get some dango or something?" Ryo offered instead, blanching slightly at the thought of having to eat Orihime's cooking. The others hurried to agree, and Orihime pouted slightly at the thought of not being to cook, but immediately cheered when she realized that she would be playing one of her favorite sports.
"Hey, ladies. What're you all discussing over here?" Keigo sidled up to the small space between Chizuru and Michiru nosily.
"Seeing as we're getting out early today, we decided to play volleyball after school. You in?" Chizuru asked him, inching away from him slightly as she did.
"I'm free. Mizuiro, you in for playing v-ball after school?" Keigo turned to his more-popular best friend.
Chizuru mouthed 'v-ball' to Ryo with a grin and eye roll as all of the girls had to refrain from snickering at the lame nickname for volleyball.
Mizuiro glanced up from his cell phone just long enough to nod before looking back down.
"Ichigo? Ishida? Sado?"
Ichigo shrugged and Keigo apparently took that a yes. Ishida glanced up from his book before inclining his head once more. Chad, however, had to shake his head. "I'm sorry, Keigo. I promised some friends I'd help them move," he answered in his slow, deliberate voice before falling silent.
Keigo pouted. "Well, that's nine."
"Actually, I'm probably going to sit out as I have no hand-eye coordination and play referee instead and the bonus is that it evens out the teams too," Mahana informed Keigo with a shrug.
"Okay, so that's four on each. Captains?"
"Ishida and Ichigo!" Chizuru put in loudly. "They hate each other enough as it is!" she explained before starting to laugh.
Despite Ichigo's vivid protests and threats, he and Ishida wound up being the captains. Orihime claimed that she would probably be able to borrow a ball from the gym storage room and they decided to all meet up in the rear volleyball court as soon as school let out.
Ochi-sensei then sauntered it right as the bell rang and quickly banished all of the students to their assigned seats before beginning class.
"Team choosing! Team choosing!"
Keigo seemed to shine like a fluorescent light bulb as he clapped his hands together after school.
Ishida pushed his glasses up his nose serenely and promptly ignored the enthusiastic Asano. "Michiru."
"Ryo," Ichigo distinctly recalled the Kunieda's skill at sports.
"Orihime," Ishida claimed next, knowing about Orihime's particular knack at volleyball despite her normal clumsiness.
Orihime bounced over cheerfully and smiled broadly up at Ishida. The girls had all chosen to change into their gym clothes before meeting at the court so they wouldn't have to worry about accidentally flashing the guys when they were jumping around and Orihime had thrown her hair back into a ponytail due to the sweltering heat that had come up during the afternoon.
"Mizuiro," Ichigo picked next and Mizuiro shuffled over, talking to someone on the phone.
"Chizuru."
"Keigo," Ichigo sighed, calling over the depressed Keigo. Ichigo didn't have to ask to know that the Asano was just bummed that he had gotten picked last. "Flip a coin to see who goes first."
"Fine," Ishida produced a coin. "Tails," he claimed quietly before flipping it high in the air.
The coin flipped and landed on the grassy ground. Ishida glanced at it. "Our ball."
Ryo tossed him the ball and he immediately gave it to Orihime who went to the corner of their half of the court. Her other teammates spread out and Orihime tossed the ball lightly into the air before spiking it neatly over the net.
Ryo dove to keep it from hitting the ground and Ichigo caught it before hitting it to Keigo to spike it back over the net. Ishida rushed to hit it and Chizuru practically leapt over him to hit it back over the net, where Mizuiro barely caught it, having put up his cell phone for the time-being.
Ichigo caught the weak hit and immediately spiked it hard into the ground on Ishida's side.
"Point!" Mahana called loudly, gesturing towards Ichigo's team as she marked a tally in the sand next to her under Ichigo's name.
Orihime handed the ball to Ichigo under the net, as she wasn't tall enough to get it over without jumping. She smiled at him before bouncing back into position cheerfully.
Ichigo hit it hard over the net, and Orihime happened to be the accidental target as she reacted easily and returned the hit smoothly. Keigo dove to the ground to block it and Ichigo caught it from him before spiking it to Mizuiro, who hit it over the net with a bit more force this time.
Orihime caught it again and bopped it to Chizuru who leapt up to drive it into the ground on the other side. "Point!" Mahana called again, this time marking it under Ishida's team with a stick.
It was Ishida's turn to serve this time and he did so in his normal collected manner. The ball almost hit Ichigo's face, and the shinigami had to dive to the ground to avoid getting smacked in the face. "Point!" Mahana called again, marking it again.
Ichigo leapt to his feet, looking highly irritated. "That was a foul!"
"No hit, no foul."
"Besides, it was an accident, Ichigo," Ishida smirked.
Ichigo scowled at him through the net and launched the ball hard at Ishida's smirking face with a flick of the wrist. This time it connected with a dull, hollow thunkand Ishida went down like ton of bricks. "Oops, it was an accident," Ichigo mocked with a smirk.
"Kurosaki-kun! That wasn't nice!" Orihime chastised her crush, looking rather worried. Ichigo really had hit the ball hard.
She hurried over to Ishida. "Ishida-kun, are you alright?" she asked, as Ishida started to get up, with a bright red, spherical mark on his face. His glasses were fine, other than a little askew.
"I'm fine, Inoue," Ishida assured her, fixing his glasses with a slight frown.
"Are you sure?" she asked, touching the red mark on his face lightly with her fingers. Her thin eyebrows knitted together in worry.
"Yes."
"That was a foul, Kurosaki! Now it's their serve!" Mahana was busy berating Ichigo who was currently ignoring her, brown eyes focused on the back of Orihime intently.
"Do you want to sit out?"
"No, thank you. I'm fine. Come on, let's finish this," Ishida got to his feet and dusted off his pants before shoving his hair back. "Chizuru-san, could you come here?" The flamboyant lesbian looked up at her name and walked over, standing next to Orihime as she slid her arms around the Inoue's slender waist greedily. "Could you do me a favor though?" he asked her lowly as he accepted the ball from Michiru, who had retrieved it from Ryo.
Chizuru nodded. "Whatever you need."
"Hit Kurosaki with the ball," he told her quietly, handing the ball to her. Her dark eyes widened in excitement.
"I would be more than happy to," she replied giddily. She still hadn't gotten the orange-haired idiot back for daring to put his lips on her Hime. This would be perfect.
"It's your serve," he told her, passing the red-haired girl the ball.
Orihime wasn't given a chance to respond, despite the fact that she had heard everything, as Keigo immediately hit the returning ball in her direction. Reacting quickly, she fisted her hands together and hit it over the net, directly into Ichigo's waiting arms.
He hit it back over and Michiru dove to hit it to Mizuiro whose weak hit had Ishida smacking it back easily. Ichigo was the one to hit it once more and it bounced against the ground with Orihime diving for it a second too late.
"Our serve," Ichigo taunted lightly, catching the ball Ishida tossed over.
It was Keigo's turn to serve and he hit it over where Orihime was waiting to spike it back. Ryo dove to catch it where Chizuru caught it and hit it to Orihime, who was a stronger hitter.
Orihime jumped up ... only to spike it directly into Ichigo's face.
This time it was Ichigo who went down like a ton of bricks. "Foul!" Mahana called needlessly as all of the other players herded around the prone Kurosaki worriedly, more slowly than the near-frantic Orihime, who was already at his side and trying her best to examine his bright red face without causing him pain. After a few minutes, she gave up, and merely sat there, biting down on her lip viciously in worry.
"You certainly did hit it hard, didn't you?" Ishida commented lowly to Orihime, nudging the unconscious Ichigo with a foot lightly. Orihime flushed brightly, grey eyes shining with worry and regret.
"I didn't mean to! I thought he would be able to catch that." she cried out softly, looking increasingly worried about her crush the longer he went being prone.
Nobody paid Chizuru any mind, who was throwing a temper tantrum at the back about not getting to be the one to knock Ichigo unconscious.
When Ichigo came to, he saw the faces of all of his friends crowded around him in a tight circle with Orihime right in front of him, looking more worried than all of the other ones combined. He became more aware of a sharp pain in his face that was growing more painful the more time that passed. "Ow," he realized.
"Kurosaki-kun, are you alright? I wasn't trying to hit you I swear! Your reflexes had been so good, I thought you would be able to catch it! But you didn't and now you look like an embarrassed pumpkin and I feel even worse because I really want to draw a pumpkin face on you and call you Jackie, except I know that's not your name and-" she immediately cut herself off when Ichigo lifted a hand as he sat up slowly. His head pounded right between his temples. "...I'm sorry," she added on after a moment, so quiet Ichigo wasn't sure he heard her.
"Don't worry about it, Inoue. It was an accident," he told her hastily, rubbing at his sore, possibly dislocated nose and wincing.
"You'll probably want to sit out, Kurosaki, at least for a while. Inoue-san hit the ball rather hard," Ishida commented with a smug smirk at the substitute Shinigami.
Ichigo glowered at the Quincy darkly. "I'm fine. Are we going to finish or what?" he asked bluntly.
"We are. But as Ishida just said, you're gonna sit out," Chizuru told him, crossing her arms.
"I said I'm fine-"
"Ref!"
"You're sitting out, Kurosaki. Suck it up and deal with it."
"I'll sit out too, to even out the teams," Orihime told them softly, taking a seat next to Ichigo and wrapping her arms around her knees.
"Hime, you don't have to do that!" Chizuru protested almost immediately.
"Yes, I do. If I didn't, then Kurosaki-kun's team would be at a disadvantage and that's just not nice," Orihime told her, smiling.
"You don't have to sit out with me, Inoue," Ichigo told her softly as everyone went back to the court. She merely pinkened again and smiled slightly. "But thanks."
The two fell into a comfortable silence, watching as the two teams with an even three on each side hit the ball back and forth.
"Do you like mango?" Orihime asked him out of the blue.
Ichigo turned to her in mild confusion. "What?"
"Do you like mango?"
"Um, I guess. Why?"
"I really want to make something with mango. I'm thinking maybe some carrots and mango in a miso soup with sour cream and maybe honey as a dipping sauce. What do you think?" she explained, missing the way that Ichigo's face greened in record time.
He was nauseous just thinking about the disgusting food combination though when Inoue turned back to look at him questioningly, he forced a would-be smile at her. "It, uh, it sounds interesting," he managed to say, and she beamed happily at it.
"If I make it, would you try it?" She asked him.
Oh dear God, no! was what he really wanted to say, but he instead choked the urge back and merely gave a weird nod, shake gesture. She apparently took that as a yes. "Great! When I make it, I'll put some away for you."
"I, um, thanks." he replied hesitantly. I think.
The game ended in a steady tie when everyone was absolutely starving and after waiting for the girls to change back out of their gym uniforms, they headed off to a nearby (and cheap) restaurant. Orihime hadn't wanted to put on her civilian clothes again and so had placed them in a bag to be carried.
The restaurant was mostly empty when they arrived and the group was seated quickly. Their waiter came by and dropped off their tea and menus shortly after before doing a double-take at Orihime, who remained ever oblivious to his attentions. Unconsciously, Ichigo stiffened slightly, brown eyes narrowing slightly at the taller, gangly waiter.
"Can I get you anything?" The waiter asked, the question obviously aimed at the oblivious Inoue who was busy tracing an imaginary path in the faux grains of their wooden table. Everyone gave their orders in turn and the boy waited almost eagerly for Inoue to order; she looked up at him and smiled absently.
"Nothing for me, thank you," she promptly looked back down at the table.
"Hime, you have to eat!" Chizuru butted in loudly.
"I forgot my wallet at Kurosaki-kun's home." Orihime explained sheepishly.
"Then I'll cover you! Get whatever you want."
"But-"
"No buts," Chizuru wagged her finger under her friend's nose. "Get whatever you want."
"Um, then I guess I'll have a small plate of dango." she turned back to the waiter and smiled again. The waiter scribbled down her order before walking away to fill it.
After he had vanished from their sight, Orihime turned to look at Ichigo, whose face was now bright red in a flamboyant circle in the center of his face. "How's your head, Kurosaki-kun?"
The ache had been reduced to a dull throbbing by now. "Better, thanks."
"Better put some ice on that later, Kurosaki. Wouldn't want your face to become even more disfigured," Uryuu spoke up smugly.
Ichigo glowered at the raven-haired man, a vein beginning to pulse in his temples.
"Ishida-kun, be nice," Orihime piped in quietly. "You too, Kurosaki-kun." she added on quickly, seeing Ichigo open his mouth, no doubt to say something snide. Both of the men muttered apologies and fell quiet.
"She has you two well-trained," Chizuru dissolved into a fit of laughter at the ludicrous sight of the sullen Kurosaki and almost snotty Ishida falling silent under Orihime's plaintive request.
The others quickly joined in, though a quick glance at Ichigo's Death Glare had a few of them laughing to awkward chuckles. "Bow wow," The table erupted into laughter once more at Chizuru's shrill bark, which she followed up with a high-pitched growl.
Everyone was spared from being killed by Ichigo's murderous wrath by the reappearance of their waiter with their food.
With a surreptitious wink, the waiter placed a larger plate with several large sticks of dango in front of her, a folded piece of paper tucked neatly into the edge.
Ryo plucked it out once the waiter and gone, and unfolded it, before chuckling. "I think it's his phone number."
Orihime blinked. "Why would he give me his phone number? Does he want me to give him feedback?" she asked naively, oblivious to the sudden scowl of Chizuru.
She really is naïve, Ichigo thought to himself with a soft sigh and a slight twinge of…something at the waiter.
"He wants to ask you out, Orihime. Like on a date," Michiru explained from beside Ishida before taking a bite of her gyouza.
A look of dawning appeared on the Inoue's face as she flushed vividly. She accepted the refolded piece of paper from Ryo and placed it next to her. "You're going to keep it?"
Orihime bit her lip. "I think so."
"If anything else, it's a good number to give to creeps who want it." Ryo commented airily with a shrug.
"Though if you decide to call him, make sure you don't tell Tatsuki. Remember how bad she flipped when Ichigo kissed Orihime and then told Tatsuki that she was cute and kissed her on the cheek? The entire classroom was destroyed!" Michiru started giggling as a dull flush settled briefly over Ichigo's cheeks as he was reminded yet again of what havoc Kon had performed while in his body. "Knowing her, she'd probably actually kill him this time around!"
"Don't call him, whatever you do! I have enough compe-" Ryo neatly clapped her hand over Chizuru's mouth, successfully cutting off her rant.
"Try at least one date, if you want. At the very least, you'll get a free dinner out of it." Ryo told her calmly.
"Well, maybe not. I once went on a date with a guy who didn't pay for dinner, complained about the cost of the dollar movie we saw and actually thought he was going to get lucky. It was ridiculous," Mahana butted in with a laugh. At the look of fear on Orihime's face, the busty girl hurried to soothe her. "But I doubt that'll happen to you. I attract nothing but trashy men, unlike you."
The beauty looked relieved before turning to her two silent, male friends. "Ishida-kun? Kurosaki-kun? What do you think?"
Ichigo just shrugged, having decided that Orihime's personal life was none of his concern.
Ishida merely looked at the earnest Orihime who met his gaze questioningly. "Whatever makes you happy, Inoue-san. Just make sure that you carry pepper spray."
The girls collapsed into a fit of giggles, though Ryo just lifted an eyebrow in vague amusement. He doubted the pepper spray would be necessary with Orihime's black-belt skills, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
Orihime smiled at him softly. "I'll think about it," she decided before beginning to devour her dango ravenously.
"Did he give you more than me?" Chizuru asked, frowning at her own plate of dango.
"'Of course he did. He loves her!" Mahana adopted a sing-song voice on the last part, chuckling thickly around her food.
"Shut up, Mahana."
"Only if you do, Chizuru," she shot back, sticking her tongue out.
Chizuru scrunched up her nose at the sight of her food-covered tongue. "Ick. Chew with your math closed." Chizuru told her in disgust.
The other girl just shrugged and continued to devour her food.
Once they were all done eating, they each started on their way home, saying goodbye to each other at the crossroads. Ichigo and Orihime started on the way to his home. "That was fun," Orihime broke the awkward silence that had fallen over them with a sigh.
"Mm hmm," Ichigo respond vaguely.
"It was fun not having to worry about Hollows or being killed for once," she continued on cheerily. "Though now I have so much homework to do in order to make up for them being burned up yesterday." She pouted.
"It could've been worse. They could've made you do extra work to help accommodate your missing work, on top of the work you already have to do," Ichigo told her.
"You have a point. Time to get started!" she pumped a fist into the air fiercely.
"You can wait until we get home, Inoue," Ichigo told her with just a tinge of exasperation present in his voice. She merely grinned up at him bashfully before dancing up ahead of him. "If you want, you're free to do your homework with me. I don't understand half of what I'm doing, anyways."
She looked at him as she twirled before stumbling and barely keeping herself from tumbling into the ground. "Alright, thank you, Kurosaki-kun," she thanked him politely.
This time he didn't bother acknowledging her thanks; he had been thanked enough by her in the last two days. It was getting a little tiresome, though he knew that it was just Inoue's personality, which was precisely why he didn't mention anything about it to her. (And the fact that her face when upset was not something he ever wanted to experience again.)
They arrived home shortly after with Orihime prattling on quite happily about something to the oddly attentive, but silent, Ichigo as they slipped off their shoes.
Once the door slid shut, Orihime backed away from Ichigo just as a loud scream of "Ichi-goooo!" rang through the air just before Isshin hurled himself at his only son.
Ichigo stopped his father with a swift roundhouse to the face.
Now used to the ways of the Kurosaki household, Orihime left the loud living room and wandered down the hallway in search of her puppy, which she found with Yuzu and Karin in the girl's room, with the door open.
Upon seeing her, the puppy went running to her, yapping excitedly.
Picking up the puppy, the human beauty tickled the dog's belly playfully. "Konbanwa, Karin-chan, Yuzu-chan," she greeted the two younger Kurosakis politely.
"Hello, Orihime-san," Yuzu greeted back, getting to her feet.
"I'm sorry we're so late. I hope she wasn't too much trouble for Kurosaki-san," The puppy nipped her nose affectionately as she spoke and she kissed its nose gently.
"Apparently not. He took her to work with him today to help relax the patients, and it worked like a charm. People loved her," Karin told her casually from her position against the wall.
"Have you decided on a name for her yet?" Yuzu asked her pleasantly.
Orihime gnawed her lower lip. "No, not yet. Do you have any ideas?"
"Bostov!" Yuzu jumped in excitedly.
"We're not naming the dog after a stuffed animal you once had. And the puppy's a girl anyways," Karin told her sister bluntly. "What about Vega?" she suggested, turning back to Orihime.
"Vega?" Orihime and Yuzu echoed.
"Sure. The Tanabata legend, your name is Orihime, Vega. It all ties in," she explained briefly with a shrug.
"But isn't Vega another name for Orihime? So in essence, she would share a name with her dog. What about just Tanabata?" Yuzu pointed out thoughtfully. "Or maybe Livia?"
"What?" Orihime and Karin echoed together.
"I think it's from a Shakespeare play. I saw it once in one of Onii-chan's books," Yuzu explained hesitantly, obviously unsure.
Now Orihime looked confused. "Does Kurosaki-kun like Shakespeare?"
"Yeah. I think it's the only book he'll actually pick up on a regular basis," Karin answered with a snort.
Then a book thumped the black-haired teen on her head lightly.
"I pick up other books as well, you little brat," Ichigo told Karin indignantly, but with no real venom in his voice.
Karin brushed past him to go into the hallway. "Whatever you say, Ichi-nii. I bet you're happy in your world of denial, aren't you?"
Ichigo decided not to answer as his brown eyes looked down at the sitting Inoue. "You ready?"
She blinked. "Eh?"
"Homework, remember?"
"Oh, right!" she laughed nervously. "Sorry, Kurosaki-kun, I'll go get my bag right now and we can start, okay?"
"No need. I got it for you," He lifted up the hand that was holding her backpack as he spoke.
"Oh, thank you, Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime cried, taking her bag from him and beaming happily. "C'mon, Livia! Homework time!" she whistled lightly at her puppy before skipping merrily down the hall.
The newly-named puppy went skidding after her owner, running into the wall at some point in her enthusiasm.
Like owner, like dog.
Ichigo lifted an eyebrow at the name but didn't say anything as he turned and followed her down the hall to his room.
She had gotten to his room before he had, but she hadn't entered. She was merely standing out in front of it, one hand extended as if she was about to reach for the knob. An odd look was on her face. "Inoue? You can go in, you know," Ichigo came up behind her and reached around her to twist the door knob and pushed it open.
Orihime snapped out of it just in time to realize how close he was to her (she could feel his breath on the nape of her neck, and his warmth radiating from his too-close skin) and her face heated up several shades of red immediately before entering with Livia prancing at her feet.
"Sorry, Kurosaki-kun! I was suddenly afraid that maybe the little blue men were in here and they were going to trip me and tie you up or something!" she told him cheerfully, though her voice was lacking something. Though what it was, he wasn't sure.
In truth, she had been plagued by memories of her confession to the unconscious Ichigo before she had been taken to Hueco Mundo and had been frozen by it.
Ichigo closed the door behind her, and as soon as the door clicked shut, a brown torpedo came hurtling at Orihime from Ichigo's dresser, crying "Orihime-chan!"
Ichigo caught Kon by the ear, successfully stopping him from burrowing himself into the Valley of the Gods and flung him onto his bed. "Damn you, Ichigo!" The plushie wept dramatically. "Don't you care about my happiness?!"
"No," The tangerine-haired man responded immediately, setting his backpack down on the floor next to his low table in the center of his room. "Now go away. We have to study."
"Yeah, I bet you'll be doing oral exams." Kon sniggered before being bumped by something behind him. The perverted plushie immediately whirled around, puffing up with indignation, only to be faced with big grey eyes and a wet black nose and wet hot breath being panted on his face. "What the-"
And then Livia pounced.
Orihime sat down opposite him and smiled "He's entertaining."
Ichigo was bluntly ignoring Kon's cries of pain. "Irritating is more like it but whatever."
Mwuhaha, chapter two done. It's also longer than chapter one, which is always nice.
Oh, and for Livia: the name actually does come from a Shakespeare play (Twelth night, I believe). I saw it spelled both Olivia, and Livia and decided that I liked the later way more.
And for all of the reviewers: thank you so much! I'm glad everybody liked it so much! -hands out plushies and cookies alike-
And for the people who commented that it seemed that the reason for Orihime's house being burned down was a little suspicious: thank you even more! You guys helped me come up with the best ending ever (if I ever make it to there, that is.)
Thanks again!
Review, and make me happy! (Which may mean more updates!)
(Oh hell yes, bribery gets you everywhere.)
-Vampyre Heartbreak