Crimso's Notes:

I'm in English class. Again. However! This time, I am not supposed to be doing work. Oh no. I finished that work. I finished the reading! I am now doing THIS work. ….Well, I guess I should be doing homework, but the only thing assigned to me right now is reviewing for the Spanish test that is going to happen in two weeks. I don't need to do that now.

Please forgive the low amount of chapters that were posted this weekend. I planned to write at least four over the break. And then… I happened to get very sick, which completely messed those plans up. Why does this always happen to me? Why do I always get sick during breaks and not a school day?

Note One: Not much time has gone by since they came to Kaede. It's been about an hour or so.

Note Two: Pacing is going to pick up from here.

Note Three: I realized that at this rate, this may be longer than GED. I reached 200,000 words last chapter, so we'll see.

~~~~X~~~~

Chapter Twenty-Six: Wounds

"And there's the tale. There's no more to it," Kaede concluded.

Keiichi and Rena both blinked in surprise, finding the tale quite surprising. It was indeed much different than how Koichi had thought it was. Surely during the announcement Makoto made about bringing humans and demons together Koichi was thinking that she was really just lying. How would he have ever known that she was truly serious when she said that she wanted world where humans and demons could live together? It seemed like a ridiculous idea to him.

But Keiichi, personally knowing two demons and having heard the tale from Makoto's side, knew that this ideal was not ridiculous. He would love to have a world where humans and demons could live together. That way, all the suffering demons who spent their lives dying in cages could get outside and live and eat, and Keiichi could allow the twins to be accepted into society. Even though he had allowed them to escape, he still knew that they were restricted from seeing a large amount of people. Mion and Shion knew Keiichi and Rena, but that was about it.

…Well, maybe Shion met someone else during her capture, though. He didn't know about her, but Mion only knew two humans that she genuinely liked.

"Wait a moment, but what did Makoto say to Koichi at the end?" Rena asked the orange-haired demon.

Kaede shook her head. "As I said, those words were only heard between Koichi and Makoto. What I heard from legends was that Makoto spoke of the twins, and then Koichi brought up the topic of the hero destroying them. I did not hear them myself, though." She sighed as she looked off into the distance, memories filling her head. "My head was a mess at that time. My king was about to die, and there was nothing that I could do."

"Oh, okay then," Rena said. "We have an idea of what she said, I guess."

Keiichi nodded to his friend. "As long as we have that."

"I don't know if I believe in the Legend of the Hero, to be honest with you. That's what the village has dubbed it, by the way, Keiichi-kun. It just seems strange. Why twins? Why a hero?" Rena shook her head. "It doesn't make much sense that Koichi just added that on and that's what became the legend."

"The village believes Koichi over Makoto, but it is the opposite for me," Kaede spoke. "This village will fall at the hands of someone. That I am sure of."

Keiichi blinked in surprise at her. Did she really think that Onigafuchi was going to fall? Well, judging by what Makoto said and forgetting what Koichi added on, it really did seem like the village was going to fall down at the hands of the twins spoken of in the legend. But… the only twins I know about in the village are Mion and Shion. There's no way that those two would kill anyone. They won't bring down the fall of the village! It can't be if that's the case…! There has to be another pair of twins!

"Rena, do you know any pairs of twins?" Keiichi asked the girl.

Rena glanced at him and opened her mouth, about to comment, but she shut it. After giving a little thought to it, she shook her head. "As far as I know, there aren't any twins in the village."

Well, that was the answer for the human population of Onigafuchi. What if there were two other twin demons that would bring down the curse? What if it wasn't Mion and Shion? Mion and Shion would never bring fall to the village, and they wouldn't cause any violence like that. He knew those two well enough to know that if the legend was speaking of them, it had to be a lie.

"There aren't any twin demons here as far as I know," called Rika's voice from far away. During the time, she had decided to go ahead and get to work on a few cells that needed some cleaning that she hadn't gotten to before. "Well, not in the Furude Storage. I would ask about the Kimiyoshi Storage, but you know what happened. We don't know where the current location of any of the remaining Kimiyoshi demons. They could be anywhere."

"I don't own any demons, so I can't say anything more than what Rika just told us," Rena said to the both of them. "But it does seem strange. Do you know when this downfall will be?"

Kaede shook her head. "But I can see it coming within the next twenty years. Who knows? A pair of twins can be born within that time. I just know it's going to happen. Call it an old demon's instinct." Her lime eyes drifted off into deep memories of the past. "I have had it for a long time now. Rika's friend feels similarly."

"You mean that imaginary friend she was telling me about before?" asked Keiichi, recalling the time that Rika had mentioned her invisible friend to him.

"She is not an imaginary friend!" yelled Rika's voice from somewhere within the storage.

Kaede glanced at Keiichi and Rena. "She's not. She's real."

"Okay, but she says she feels something is coming, too?" Keiichi asked her.

"That's correct."

Suddenly, footsteps could be heard, and they were coming towards their direction. Rika walked in front of both Rena and Keiichi and stood directly in front of Kaede, giving her a rather serious and grim look. Glancing towards the two teenagers briefly, she allowed her expression to soften. "Keiichi, Rena, you just brought up an interesting matter that I just realized I need to talk to Kaede about right now. Alone. I hate to be rude, but if you could…"

"Leave?" finished Rena.

Rika nodded. "It's very important that Kaede and only Kaede hears what I am about to tell her."

Rena and Keiichi looked to each other. There was more that they wished to ask Kaede, but it seemed as if they had no choice but to leave now. They didn't want to be rude and ask Rika if they could spend a few more minutes talking when it was necessary that she talked to her head demon about something important, whatever that was. Besides, they could always come back another time. Now, there was a new mystery in their head, and that was the one about The Legend of the Hero, which he was sure would now be spinning around his mind for the next few days. He had solved a few mysteries, like the one about Makoto's truth, so perhaps it would be possible to find out the truth about this legend.

"Thank you, Kaede," Rena said graciously with a respectful bow. "Keiichi-kun and I really appreciate what you were able to teach us."

Kaede smiled at them. "And thank you for listening to my tale. I am glad that humans can be so understanding of Makoto. What a surprise that was to me…"

"We're very understanding people. Thank you, and goodbye," Rena told her before nudging Keiichi in the stomach and nodding to him.

Keiichi nodded right back at her, and with a final smile at the demon and a quick thank you, he and Rena went back down the aisles of the demon storage. The demons appeared to be calm now, some of them staring at them curiously but not bothering to yell or scream. The demon that had been making a racket before had calmed down and was now fast asleep on the wooden floor. No noise was made aside from the creaking of the wooden door when the two friends exited the storage.

"Well, I think that it's time for us to go back to our own homes. We really did learn some interesting things, though," Keiichi commented as he descended down the steps from the demon storage. "I knew that Koichi couldn't be right when he called Makoto all those things…"

Rena sighed. "We really did find out the truth, huh? But there's still the question of this whole hero thing. The twin thing aside, who is the Hero? I wonder, I wonder…" she asked herself, scratching the top of her head as she searched through her brain for an answer. "It could really be anyone, couldn't it? There wasn't a hint as to who it could be. The twins had the hint of being…well, twins, but the Hero is just the Hero. I think he's supposed to be male, but who knows?"

"I don't know, Rena. I don't know…" sighed Keiichi.

"Well, in any case, I think we need to be heading back. Keiichi-kun, I want you to think hard about this. I will do the same," she told him gently.

"…Wait, Rena. Do you have time? Can you come to my house? I'm going to call the police as soon as I get home. I think it's safe for me to do that now. I'll keep them from going upstairs, and I think everything will be fine." He looked over to her. "I think Mion needs some extra support. She has been alone for the last hour, and her sister is gone. Besides, we may come up with an idea for who the Hero could be, and we can also get to the bottom of this twin thing. I doubt Mion and Shion are going to destroy the village." There was confidence in his voice when he spoke those last words. He knew he was right on that one.

However, Rena just shook her head. "I have to go to Takeru-kun's house. I promised him I would show up today. So for now, please just think about the matter. And besides, I think that Mi-chan needs your comfort over mine." She smiled at him. "I get this feeling that she feels something for you, Keiichi. What that is, I don't know, but the emotions are strong. She has strong emotions, after all. She just doesn't know it."

The image of Mion cuddling up to him last night flashed through his mind, and he suddenly remembered how she felt for him. He loved her, but she loved him back. She just didn't know that that different warm feeling she was feeling was a romantic kind of love, a different kind of love than what she felt for her sister. He just nodded to her, however, and said nothing more on the matter. His mind was still fixed on the image of Mion and him sharing the same futon.

"Well, anyways. I'll see you later," Rena told him with a friendly grin. "I'll certainly be thinking about this when I'm with Takeru-kun."

"All right, see ya."

With that, the two friends went their separate ways. Keiichi faintly remembered how to get back to his house, so he simply followed his instinct as he wandered through the forest, his mind tracing the steps that he had taken to get there. Along the way, he thought about the tale that Makoto had told. What would it be like if she actually succeeded in creating a world where everyone could live together? It would be much, much better. Mion and Shion would be happy in a world like that. They would be able to go outside, eat as much as they want, and they would be treated fairly by the humans, even though they weren't human themselves.

Wait, that wasn't it. If Makoto hadn't died, the Legend of the Hero would have never been spoken off, and the whole rule about killing twins at birth would not be in effect. Mion and Shion would be human in such a world. That would make the world even better. They would be able to live with their family in the Sonozaki Manor instead of in a basement, though Keiichi wasn't sure where the demons would live if they made a world where humans and demons could live together.

Well, whatever the case was, it would still be a perfect world.

He eventually reached his house, thankful that he could trust his instincts on. He gulped as he pulled the door open and entered the house, instantly being greeted by not the smiling faces of his parents, but the bloody mess that remained of them from the night before. He gulped and tried not to look as he walked up the stairs to his room. It appeared as if no one had entered the house, which was very reassuring.

He walked into his room and was instantly met by the sight of Mion sitting in a corner, staring at the bracelet that Keiichi had given her. Just that single fact made Keiichi smile. She really was enjoying the present that he had given her, wasn't she? He walked over to girl and sat right next to her, smiling at her as he did so.

Mion's green eyes caught sight of him at once, and a huge smile broke out across her face. "Kei-chan!" she yelled out, delight in her tone.

Keiichi's smile increased its cheerfulness. "Hello, Mion," he greeted her, his smile changing into a toothy grin. "I hope I didn't leave you alone for too long. I know that things have been a little rough on you."

She froze when he mentioned that, and then after breaking free of the frost seconds later, she looked down at the bracelet on her wrist and nodded. "It wasn't much fun. I miss my sister…" she replied truthfully. "But you had to do a few things, so it couldn't be helped. I didn't get hurt or anything like that, so you don't have to worry…" She pointed to herself. "See? No wounds. No cuts. No blood. I'm fine."

Stupid. Keiichi wasn't concerned about her getting physically hurt; he was concerned about her current state of mind. She was probably horribly hurt when she was left all alone without anyone to comfort her for the first time in her life. Even when Shion had gotten lost, he had been by her side. The last hour or so had been the first time that she had ever been there without anyone to comfort her. He could clearly see that she was hurt. It was just that the wounds weren't visible on her body.

"Kei…chan?" Mion spoke as she noticed an uneasy look in his eyes, one that became upset quickly.

"Don't say that you're fine, Mion. I know you're not," he whispered to her. "I'm not fine, either. My parents just died… You know, you can't see the wounds on my body, but there are certainly wounds," he told her gently. "It hurts right here," he explained as he put a hand on his heart. "You can feel it, can't you? In your own heart. Sure, you aren't bleeding, you don't have any cuts, but that doesn't mean that you're not hurt."

Mion copied his movements and placed a hand on her chest curiously. "It does kind of hurt," she whispered. "No, it's not that it just hurts. It stings… But there aren't any cuts…"

Keiichi nodded at her. "That's because there is such thing as pain that isn't physical. It doesn't come in the form of cuts and blood, Mion. It comes in the form of sorrow, and it just hurts. Do you understand what I'm trying to tell you?" he asked her. He wasn't sure if sorrow was an emotion she understood completely, so this lesson was necessary. Besides, she didn't seem to have an understanding of what was going on, judging by what she had said before.

"Well, I guess that's okay. Things that hurt don't hurt anymore if you give them some time, just like how my cuts from yesterday are gone," Mion commented as she let her hand slip from her chest. "I don't think I'm going to feel like this anymore after a while. It'll stop soon. Demons have good healing, after all."

Keiichi bit his lip. No, that wasn't it! Wounds in the heart and wounds on the body couldn't even be compared. They hurt, but that was the extent of their similarities. "No, Mion. That's not it. Wounds like this can't be healed over time; they're different from the wounds on your body. Even if demons have good healing… this one won't heal faster than an emotional wound inflected upon a normal human. Unlike wounds on the body, this one will grow and grow with time. It'll only hurt more."

Mion looked down at her chest, touching her heart gently once again. "…But there has to be a way to heal it, then. I haven't heard of wounds that don't heal over time. They always do…"

Keiichi shook his head. "Not this one."

"But how, then? How do you heal a wound in the mind if it's not done over time?" asked Mion curiously, fear in her green eyes, as well as clear pain. She was suffering. It was all too clear to the boy.

"…You need an opposing emotion to chase the sorrow away. I should have been here to help it heal." He clenched his fists and teeth as he felt frustration grow within him. He hadn't been helping Mion when she needed it the most. He had left her at home. Sure, he had held her last night, but a wound like a missing sister needed more care to heal. He cursed himself for his foolish actions. It was needed to go see Kaede, but Mion was more important.

Without even thinking, he wrapped his arms around Mion and pulled her into a tight hug, which startled her at first. He held her as close as he possibly could, as hard as he possibly could. Tears began to drift down his eyes as he thought about not only her pain, but his pain as well. His wounds hadn't been tended to yet completely, either. There was still a hole in his heart he doubted could ever be healed unless someone was there for him. Someone he truly cared for, someone he truly loved.

Mion relaxed in his embrace and cuddled against him, sighing happily as she did so. "Warm… Kei-chan, you're so warm. Just like last night." She cuddled closer, wrapping her own arms around him as she pressed herself against his body. "But like I said before, you're different from sis. It's similar… but different." She closed her eyes. "Is this warmth the key to healing the wounds, Kei-chan? If so, will you hold me like this forever?"

Keiichi nodded to her. He needed some healing too, after all. In this embrace, they were healing each other with their warmth. Keiichi too was getting a warm feeling, but unlike Mion, he knew what it was. It was pure and undeniable love. He loved the girl in front of him, and it was a wonderful feeling. Holding her like this would perhaps heal him.

He blushed at the thought of her. She was a beautiful young girl, even if she was a demon. The problem, though, was that she didn't know that she was in love with him. They would never be able to get together if she didn't know the meaning of the word love. He wanted to ask her if she knew what love was from what he had told her already, but he was embarrassed. Love was a strong subject, especially for people their age. A lot of people had trouble admitting their feelings for each other, and talking about how much he loved her, and the fact that she loved him, would just be downright embarrassing.

But that's when he remembered something. It was something that Takeru had told him a long time ago. Though it was faded in his mind, Keiichi could remember him telling him that there was no point in hiding feelings, which was why he was so open with Rena. Even though he knew that the flirting and the pick-up lines were going to far, he realized that there was no point in trying to hide it unless he wanted it to be painful. He would be a little less flirty than Takeru, but really, he needed to show affection.

"…Do you know what love is, Mion?" he asked her.

"No, I told you I don't get human emotions like love. I mean, I know what you taught me, but I never learned about love," she spoke, though she did not look up at him or move away. She was too comfortable in the position she was in right now.

Well, of course she didn't. That was just a conversation starter.

"Well, there are two different types of love. There's a normal kind of love, and there's a romantic kind of love," he told her gently as he ran his hands through her green locks of hair just to comfort her a little more. "It's a warm feeling you get inside of you. You see, the first one is the one you get when you're with Shion, and the second is the one you get when you're with me. You know how the warm feelings you get are similar, yet different? That's the emotion you are feeling. Love."

"Romantic?" Mion asked, confused. This time, she pulled herself away from his chest to look into his eyes.

Keiichi nodded. "Romantic and non-romantic. They're both a deep affection for someone, but they are somewhat different." He bit his lip as he tried to figure out how to explain the difference to the girl. "Non-romantic is just regular, and romantic is just… is just… well, it's when you… you're in love with someone. And…" He cursed himself for not being able to figure it out.

"I don't get it, Kei-chan. In love? It's different… how?" she asked him, staring into his blue eyes with her green ones filled up with confusion.

Keiichi let out a sigh. It was worthless now. He placed a hand on her cheek, caressing it gently. "I don't know how to explain it Mion, but I want you to know that I am in love with you. …When you figure out what it is, I want to hear from your own mouth if you love me, too." He told her gently, moving down her hand to touch the bracelet that he gave her gently. He felt fine with saying it, as she didn't know what it meant. If she had been human and knew emotions well, perhaps things would be a lot different. It was easy to tell her such a thing. "Please think about what I told you. Every time you look at this bracelet, I want you to remember what I told you and the feeling you had before when I was holding you."

Mion looked down at her bracelet and nodded.

With a sigh, Keiichi got up. There wasn't much more to say on the matter, and he needed to call the police right away.

"Listen, Mion. I'm going to contact someone and tell them that my parents have been killed. They'll be looking around the house, so please stay up here. They will perhaps be able to find out who that man was, and maybe where Shion is." Mion's attention was grabbed the moment her sister's name was brought up. "I promise you I'll help you a little more later, but this is something that needs to be done if we want to find your sister, and if we want to find out who killed my parents."

"All right, Kei-chan," whispered Mion as she continued to stare at her bracelet.

Keiichi turned to the phone and began to dial the number of the police. He held it to his ear, waiting for a response from them. Hopefully they wouldn't see Mion. Then, he himself would get in trouble, since he technically stole them.

"…Hello, this is the Okinomiya Police Department. Please give us your name and your address."

~~~~X~~~~

"…It really is a beautiful day," Takeru commented as he watched the koi in his pond swim about the nice, cool water. To the boy, it almost looked tempting for him to jump right in there. Sure, it was beautiful, but that didn't mean it was hot. It was getting closer and closer to the hotter days of summer, and that meant…

"Takeru, what is your family going to do for the Watanagashi this year?" asked Rena, changing the subject instantly.

He blinked in surprise at the sudden change of topic. "Huh? Oh, we're still working on getting everything prepared. We're usually the ones in charge of the execution, but we're lacking in demons. Besides, we need to find a person for the sacrifice. Our plan is to find the person who stole our demons and then execute them using the two demons they stole," he told Rena.

Rena shuddered at the thought. She knew very well that the thief was Keiichi, and if they ordered Mion and Shion to kill him… then… She didn't want to think about it. Besides, Shion was still missing. What about the man that had been doing the kidnapping and the killing?

"I think a more fitting sacrifice is the kidnapper and the murderer, Takeru," Rena told him.

"That was the original plan. But there's a problem, since we don't have any demons. In order to do the actual Watanagashi ceremony, we're going to need demons. Sure, we borrowed from Kimiyoshi for the last few years, but now the Kimiyoshi demons are gone. Rika doesn't want Yasuo using her demons, but she won't explain why." He sighed and shook his head. "Trust me, Rena, we really want that guy to be the sacrifice, but it's very complicated. I don't have much of a say in it, either. It's going to be tough to take down that guy without many demons. I mean, he got by fifty-one demons and killed eight of them, as well as Kimiyoshi himself."

"But he'll have to be caught eventually," Rena reminded him.

Takeru looked at her. "I know, Rena, I know. I need to speak to my grandmother about the orders for killing that man. She's furious about everything these days. The person who stole those demons, the killer…" he sighed. "Those two demons were her favorites, too. She really dislikes the fact that the man who killed Kimiyoshi has about forty-three demons under his control, and if it's the same person, possibly forty-five and maybe others that he bought." He shook his head quickly. "Man, I hate all this stuff. I don't want to have to deal with the Watanagashi! Thank god that Grandmother has decided to take complete control of the matter."

Rena wasn't really sure what to think. The Watanagashi was never a pleasant ceremony, and everyone was forced to watch it. Sometimes the member of the There Great Families wouldn't come as they were leaders, but a lot of them were forced, too. Most Sonozakis could get out of it since their family was the one that led it, but that was the only exception. Everyone had to watch a man or a woman get his or her stomach torn right out, and their intestines removed.

She wanted to through up as she remembered the ceremony last year. The Sonozakis had caught some man who had snuck into the Sonozaki Manor, wishing to murder Oryou, and they were not very kind to him during the ceremony.

They usually had some Sonozaki member come up and make a huge speech about the history of Onigafuchi, and then after that was over, they would present the sacrifice and what they did. They would be on the restraining board the whole speech, but their name and crime would not be stated. It was essentially a more organized and more fancy execution. During the speech about the crime, the Sonozaki member that had been selected to speak was not at all kind. He was one of Takeru's uncles, and he had the job of guarding Oryou. Naturally, he was selected for the speech.

"Who is going this year? For the speech," Rena asked him.

"I think Yasuo, but we'll see, " Takeru responded.

Rena nodded and went back to her thoughts. Yasuo or whoever it was would definitely not be kind to the kidnapper, the murderer, or Keiichi if they found out that he had stolen Mion and Shion. She could imagine what kind of horrible speech that they would give about all three of them. But what disturbed her the most was how the little kids were going to react. Satoshi and Rika would protect Satoko, but all of the other little kids had to watch as some person was brutally sacrificed right in front of their own eyes.

The adults never really got used to it, either. It was always a gruesome experience for them, too. No one liked to see someone get murdered in such a way, even if they had done a bad thing. Sometimes, it was just a person who had committed a minor offense right before the festival, as a lot of thieves tended to avoid big crimes around the time of the festival. That made it even more painful to watch. The person who was being killed was never the only one that was screaming in agony.

"I don't like the Watanagashi, Takeru-kun," Rena told him. "I want it to be a happy festival, and not one filled with horror and blood."

"No one likes it, Rena. I want the same thing. Besides," he turned to her, a smile on his face. "I would love to have a romantic festival where we could spend the whole time in each other's arms. I would hold your hand and you would hold mine as we walked through the festival grounds, murmuring romantic words to each other and telling each other how much the other meant…" He grinned at the thought. "Wouldn't that be fun, Rena? You would enjoy what I had to say about you. Of course, there's not much else to say. I think I've told you many times how beautiful and wonderful you are."

"Hau… You're embarrassing Rena, Takeru-kun…" Rena responded, embarrassed. Even if she didn't feel the same way, his compliments still flattered her. She didn't agree to the idea of being all romantic, but the compliment he had given her was nice, even if he had told her it about a billion times before. It was nice to hear such words from him. Everyone liked to be told that they were beautiful or handsome, and that they were wonderful.

He grinned. "Well, you would like it, wouldn't you? I think I would enjoy it much more than watching someone die, that's for sure!" he said half-jokingly.

Well, it would be better than watching someone die in a brutal way. Ripping out someone's intestines and then drifting them down the river was just too much. She recalled the screams last year, and the clear images of hot bags of intestines being torn out by the chosen demon's bare hands… and then the smirk of satisfaction that was on the speaker's face. Not all of them would be glad to be up there, giving the speech, but some of them were. And to the man last year, it was rewarding to see the man who tried to kill Oryou die in a brutal way.

It sure satisfied Oryou, too. Well, she would assume so, anyways. She wasn't watching her face. She would always sit up in a chair at the "stage" of the ceremony and would listen to the speech they gave, though Rena didn't know if she ever looked at the people that were being killed. If Rena were her, she would take the opportunity to look away. Then again, if she did, she wouldn't even need to bother with the "festival" in the first place.

Satoko was very lucky to have an older brother to shield her. No one ever covered her eyes when she was a little girl.

"I'm glad that you like my compliments, Rena!" cried Takeru as he patted his girlfriend on the back. "You know, I'm glad that it's all worth it. A lot of girls would just brush me off as lying, but you aren't like that, Rena. You know that I mean every word when I say that I love you and that you're a brilliant and beautiful person. Other girls would probably bash me on the head and tell me to stop fooling around."

Well, Takeru's feelings were too strong to seem fake to the girl, so it was no surprise in her mind that she accepted his compliments. She knew he loved her, it was too obvious even before the two started to date. He would flirt with her all the time, but that flirting had been turned into real compliments since they had begun dating.

But I still don't love him.

She had thought she would grow to love him, but it wasn't working.

She looked over to Takeru, a sad smile on her face. No, she definitely would grow to love him. She just needed to give it a little time.

~~~~X~~~~

Crimso's Corner V.2: Super Long Edition (Again, I'm afraid.)

…Look! It's Tuesday, guys! Tuesday! Man, I felt so bad for not uploading as much as I wanted to, so I decided to take my least busy day and write as much as I could. Sure, nothing much happened, and it was short compared to the last few chapters that were written, but still. This chapter I believe with raise a few questions in your mind, so I decided to leave it at this. I realize now that we were much further along in GED at this chapter, but I guess things didn't work out like that in BFB. I planned to be almost done with this fanfiction at this point! …Just like how GED was going to be 15-20 chapters. Well, nothing ever turns out as planned. Hopefully the next chapter will move this story a long a little further.

I hope that this doesn't reach 40+ chapters. That would be awful. Plus, I need to write WAN this year, too.

Let's talk school. Did I mention to you about how I didn't get my math and that I had a test? Yeah, I took it, and I didn't know what I was doing. My teacher noticed this and had me do the whole thing over next to him, but… he essentially gave all the answers away, so I just got an unfair A. He literally looked over at what I was doing and gave me hints, and then pointed out whenever I made a mistake. I figured a lot of things out, though. Those were large hints, though. Well, I guess other subjects have been okay. I had History for the first time in like… eleven days. It got cut from the schedule due to other activities plus Thanksgiving break, so. Things have been kind of sorrowful around school today. The Spanish teacher who was going to teach us this year died this morning at the hospital, and they pulled us out of the beginning of science class to talk about it with the whole High and Middle School. Things were silent all day. I didn't know her, but I feel really bad. My sister had her… I don't know what to say to her. She was a very nice teacher, apparently. My current teacher was supposed to replace her until she got better, but that never happened, so I guess I just have him for the rest of the year.

…So a lot has been happening, as you can see. I'm working on grade, the community has been a little hectic… as you can see.

Now, this is the part you have all been predicting. Yeah, the part where I tell you all to review. You really should. People who review will get another puppy or a kitten. My grandparents just got a new puppy, actually. I didn't know that their other dog died. I don't know why I didn't know, either. Their other dog died before I went on the road trip to see them. Sigh. That aside, if you point out typos or any errors, you can get a free soda. If you don't like soda, have a milkshake. If you don't like that, have any kind of drink. Also, I WILL give you an extra of anything if you add a prediction, since this chapter brought up a lot. At least it did in my mind.

~Crimso

P.S: I changed my avatar. Like it? It's low quality for now.