"How the fuck did you know that was coming?" Hiten snarled, roughly shoving Bankotsu off him before easing himself up and brushing the dust off his clothing. Bankotsu merely glared back, forgetting why he bothered to save the bastard. Yura went to help one of them up but not before Kagura held her arm up to stop her.

"What's going on? You know something." She arched a thin brow to Bankotsu, who shifted his gaze to her.

"You leave him alone, hussy." Jakotsu remarked, crossing his arms for nothing more than intimidation.

"No, I don't!" He snapped and Hiten muttered under his breath, pacing ahead of them all, his eyes anxiously darting. What if another shot came; got him right between the eyes? He wasn't sure he cared all that much at the time. His muscles ached and he hadn't eaten in a while. They were almost out of water and sweat drenched his clothes. What if there wasn't even a way out of this? He hoped he woke up soon.

"It's empty!" He shouted over his shoulder, stopping the bickering between different members of their little group. They all looked up to him quizzically; they hadn't even noticed he went up ahead, did they? He rolled his eyes and took his first step onto the worn pavement that made a road, or so he assumed. Squinting his eyes, he realized he could see the other side of this abandoned nothingness of a town. He glanced over his shoulder one last time, seeing them just starting to approach, before going ahead. He couldn't stand traveling with them any longer. He turned a sharp corner, looking for something, anything, that could help him figure out where he was.

"Seems pretty sketchy to me…" Ryura eyed the man in front of him who was already edgy from the accusations.

"You look pretty sketchy to me…maybe we should get to know each other better." Jakotsu winked.

"He's a good liar." Kagura acknowledged and he stopped in his tracks, causing the four behind him to blink before walking to catch up. He grabbed Kagura's arm and pulled her back to him before she went ahead with the others, pulling her into a narrow alleyway and hoping the others wouldn't notice. Luckily, they seemed too caught up in their surroundings, and Jakotsu in Ryura.

"What did I do to you?" He whispered in an agitated tone, watching her jaw clench, her scarlet eyes piercing through the shadows. "Well? Go on, tell me. You seem to know all about me, tell me what I did, so we can clear the air." He waited a few moments; it was like she had frozen. She placed her hand over his that was wrapped around her petite arm, grasping it and hearing him hiss from the pressure of her nails.

"Get your hands off of me…if you don't know what you did to me then go fuck yourself. I know it was you, and I hope you rot in hell once this place kills you." She spat venomously and he continued to stare, ignoring the pain she caused in his hand. He tried studying every feature he could in her face. Her high cheek bones, almost like a model's, and button nose. Her lips were thin, he noticed now she had red smudged lipstick. Her eyebrows were dainty, but masked by her bangs, that led him to her eyes.

"…you look familiar…" He mumbled, frowning when she began to tear up. She yanked her arm from his grasp and he blinked down to the indents left on the back of his hand.

"Familiar? Fuck off, don't try to talk to me anymore, like I said, if you can't remember then you really just don't care you soulless bastard."

"Look, I'm trying to work this out so there isn't so much fucking tension! None of us really know each other, we don't know where we are, and you making snide comments just won't end well for either of us!" He stopped when she harshly slapped him across the face.

"Fuck you and your trying to make everything convenient for yourself." He growled in his throat and gripped her wrist, pulling her body to his and nearing his face dangerously close to hers. Maybe she was startled by this, she was quiet again, but he couldn't really tell. She put up a big front, one that was hard to tell if she was pretending or not.

"Listen you bitch, don't you ever fucking lay your hand on my face again." He was panting from the overexertion of yelling before; it was easy to see how tired he was. His eyes were slightly sunken in, a frown plastered on his lips, and had it not been for the son, she guaranteed he'd be pale. She kept her jaw clenched for the first time while he waited for whatever remark she had. "Good…you said this place will kill me…how do you know?" She groaned loudly and pulled away to no avail when he grabbed her other wrist.

"Are you kidding me? You think I really know what this place is?" She quipped, her tone sharp again. The tears that had nearly fallen just a few moments ago were nowhere in sight.

"You're sure hinting at it."

"Just focus on trying to be the peace-making wonder boy you're trying so hard to be. Don't try interrogating because if you actually are telling the truth in saying you know nothing, then I know about as much as you." She furrowed her brows and he seemed to be thinking over what she said because he squeezed her wrists tighter before letting go. "Good, don't follow me." She walked out. He scoffed, sure. He peered over the corner before following her path.

"You don't know where we're headed?" Yura asked; Ryura shrugged in response, looking around at the run down buildings that surrounded them with a bored expression. Jakotsu had wandered off a short way back to find Bankotsu.

She didn't seem to take much interest, the girl, so long as she had someone to follow. Then again, out of the three guys, Ryura considered himself the least skeptical. He told them his name and didn't have Final Destination premonition bullshit. But he remembered he always put himself above strangers, especially the kind he didn't care for. "They're not with us anymore…" She whispered, breaking his thoughts, but he didn't mind all that much.

"Good, that guy gets annoying after a while." He stopped and grinned; Yura looked over and cocked her head at the sight of a bar. A bar without people, but full of liquor. He pushed the wooden door in and she followed close behind him, shielding her eyes with her hand. The sun beamed brightly in the room, making the mass amount of dust mites visible. Dust and cobwebs seemed to take up the floor and ceiling. The window's had a thick layer, making it almost impossible to see outside. Yura walked around the wooden bar along with the liquor rack and tried to wipe the dust from the window, finding herself unable. It had been there for some time.

"I doubt any of it's still good…"

"Please, shit like wine never expires." Ryura rolled his eyes, opening the bottle and making sure she didn't catch him glimpse at the expiration date. "We're safe out here for a while." He wiped the dusty wine glasses with the outside of his shirt and scrunched his nose, not the cleanest thing but it would do.

"I don't think drinking should be what we're doing right now…" She looked back, sighing as Ryura leaned back on the barstool and put his boots up on the bar. He rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath while he sipped his drink, his expression showing slight distaste. He'd finish this and maybe find some good hard alcohol, wine wasn't his think.

"And let me guess, someone like you never drinks, you're just an innocent little…thing, aren't you?"

"Someone like me?" She glared; he noted it was the first sign of any emotion he got from her other than worry and fear. He felt just a little proud of himself, he always seemed to bring things out of people he never intended to. He nodded, gesturing to her short skirt. She attempted to pull it down and stepped behind the bar, hiding herself and looking away. "Whatever."

"It's nothing bad…what better way to set the mind at ease than drink? I know you're a party girl…let's be realistic, things can't get much worse or more confusing." He poured her glass and she hesitantly took it before sitting on the end of the bar and sipping it.

Hiten let out an exasperated sigh as he leaned his deadweight against a brick building. It wasn't a bug one, maybe two or three floors. He must have been searching for hours, or so it felt like that to him. In reality, he had only been separated from the others for a half hour or so. He needed water, a bed that sheltered him from the strong sunlight. A part of him wished they were around, what if they found something? Then he remembered they probably didn't and stopped missing them. His sore muscles tensed at the sound he heard, it was like a clicking sound. It was like the sound of a gun; a gun being reloaded. He regained his posture and looked around.

"Who's here?" He asked, looking through the doorframe across the narrow road. A door was never bolted on, but he could make the figure out. To his surprise, he wasn't killed then and there, it approached him. The figure of a woman became more visible, one with her thick long hair down, matted to her forehead and some more detailed features. She had a well-toned body like the others, a larger bust, but an angry glare. Only this one was armed with a rifle. These women just seemed to get crazier and crazier to him. "Where the hell did you get that?"

"Who are you?" She demanded; he scoffed; she wasn't even aiming at him anymore. How many more were going to pop out of this place? He hoped this was the last. "Answer me!"

"Calm the fuck down." He glared, in the matter of a moment tackling to pin her down. She grunted at the pressure but froze under his weight. "Don't you dare aim that at me."

"Get off." She warned. He would get up and determine what he needed to know about the gun himself, but that give her enough time to wield whatever weapon she had on her.

"How many bullets in that?" He asked, feeling the fatigue in his body. Holding her down seemed to take a lot out of him, and she wasn't even fighting him off…yet.

"That's not your business." She retorted and he growled, holding her wrists together with one hand above her head and feeling her squirm to the gesture. "Don't you dare!"

"Oh stop…like you're worth the trouble." Part of him thought she was, she was attractive, but so were the others. They all shared insanity; he was all set with complicating things anymore than they were. He felt around her waist at the top of her skirt and slid his hand up both of her thighs, feeling her body tense and jerk in response. She almost kicked him in the face the second time. "…nothing…" He eyed her shirt but she didn't seem to notice until he reached to put his hand down it, hissing when she bit down on his hand.

"I said don't!" She was scared now, he could tell. That or she was a good actress. He rolled his eyes.

"I'm searching you; stupid broads always think it's about sex. But fine, I'm sure you'd lose any weapon you stuffed down there anyway." He got to his feet and yanked her up. She yelped in response and gave an unnoticed glare. When she went to reach for her gun he pulled her away so it was just out of reach. "Name?"

"Not until you tell me what's going on, what'd you do with her?" She growled and he stared, sick of dealing with the same questions.

"With who? How should I know, I just got here, too. Stop being so stupid, now tell me your name." He remembered how the first thing he thought about when he woke up was Souten. Maybe this woman had some family to worry about, or maybe it was part of whatever collaboration this was and she was the eyes inside.

"You know." Her glare hardened and he snarled, roughly shoving her away. She stumbled backwards before regaining her footing, leaning her back against the doorframe and staring blankly into the open space in front of her.

"Whatever…"

"Abi…" She whispered and he looked over; she still wasn't looking at him. "That's my name."

Just for you today, Marie.~

fanafiction(dot)net/~bewilderedloca