A'n'S here & Ivyvein here. Had a busy, fun & crazy weekend that involved watching 15 children, blue light sabers, and 'fashion shows'.

I don't have much to say here, but for those people, who have added this story to their favorites and/or alert, please review. I don't bite. ;) It can just be 'Nice', 'Update Soon' or 'Good', and nothing else. You don't even have to log in. Just let me know that they're people interested in this story.

It's hard to work for a silent audience.

Ai puffed a piece of wet hair out of her face as she made her way down the stairs. It was pretty quiet, and it made her worry. Her twin was only this quiet when she was upset or guilty, she thought as she came to the first landing, looking for any trace of her sister.

She was about to go left, when she heard voices to the right and changed course, heading towards the noise.

--

Hansuke watched as Akiye proceeded to stab the rolls of rice wrapped Nori in half with more force than necessary.

"You do know you can just eat those whole, right?" He said.

Aki looked like at him like an idiot, rolling her eyes. "They're too big to eat." She responded. Hansuke looked at the half-dollar sized roll-ups before glancing back at Aki. "Really?" Sarcasm was very evident.

"Don't get smart with me." Akiye glared.

"Well considering your big mouth, eating those won't be hard." Aki looked over at her sister, not noticing her presence. She stuck her tongue out at Ai.

Ai returned the antic before coming over and sitting on one of the stools under the Island. Akiye went back to stabbing, but realized that during her childish attitude towards her sister, Hansuke has taken the knife from her.

"Hey!" She said after staring at her empty hand for a good Ten seconds. Hans blinked at her, waving the knife slightly. She 'hmphed' and grudgingly took her plate and went to the table in the dining room, hearing her sister's stool scrap back as she followed.

"Why are you following me, Ai?" Akiye said, glancing back at her sister as they came into the dining hall, taking a seat.

"Because I want to know what it was you had been muttering about, duh." Ai responded, taking her seat next to Akiye and making sure it was the closest to the door in case Akiye tried to bolt; again.

Aki looked at Ai, before taking a bit out of one of the roll-ups. "Muttering?"

"Yes, muttering. Or whatever you call your speech after waking up." She said, grabbing for one of her Twin's rolls.

"I got my spit on that, by the way; just thought you'd like to know before you took a bite." Ai looked at the roll-up in her fingers, shrugged and took a bite anyway.

"Like I care," She said, chewing, "I've had to share straws and sippy cups with you since we were kids; got the same genes, your germs don't hurt me." She finished the roll-up, heading for another one.

"And you say I have the big mouth. I haven't even finished my first one!" She glared half-heartedly.

Ai shrugged.
"So anyways," She said, "Back to the issue at hand; Muttering, you, dreaming. Blue?"

Akiye stared, trying to remember. "Blue." She said. It sounded familiar. Unfortunately she forgot what she dreamt about when her stomach started growling when she got up.

"I don't remember," She started, "I mean, I remember saying 'Blue', but not what it referenced to." She finished her roll-up, gave a threatening look to Ai, before grabbing two roll-ups, making sure her sister didn't take all of them.

Ai had a pondering face on as she leaned back in her chair, all posture and perfection gone with their mother not home to correct her.

"Well, just try to remember I guess. Maybe something will trigger it back." She said, before glancing over her shoulder. "Where's 'kaa-san?"

Aki stopped munching and looked at her sister, "I don't know. She was home earlier, I could tell. But I don't think she is now." Ai turned her gaze to Akiye.

"How do you know?" She asked. They hadn't seen their mother at all this morning, so how would she know she had left?

Aki shrugged, "I don't really know how, but I do." She said, staring at her sister with a creepy understanding look and grabbed another roll-up.

"…okay then." Ai said as she got up and left the dining room intent to see if what Akiye said was true.

--

By the time Ayame got home, it was already in the afternoon. She was still fuming over what the male wolf had said to her. Where does he get off calling me a domesticated, pampered, bitch? She thought to herself as she slid open the front door.

She tried to calm herself, mentally berating herself. She didn't need to girls to get curious and ask what was wrong, but planned an excuse for her anger, just in case she slipped up.

"'kaa-san?" She looked up from taking her flats off to see Ai standing on the landing.

"Oh, hi Ai." She said, standing erect as she walked up to where her eldest was.

"Where have you been?" Ai asked staring at her mother, noticing how she seemed upset in some manner.

Ayame smiled at Ai, but mentally grumbled at having noisy children. "Out helping for the wedding, dear." She said as she put her arm around Ai's shoulder, leading her back into the hallway. "Where's your sister?" She asked.

"In the dining room."

Ayame sniffed the air, covering it up by pretending to yawn, noting her daughter had long since left the dining room and changed her route.

Ai looked at her mother strangely as her mother walked past the doors to the dining room.

"'kaa-san?"

"Sorry dear, but I've got a hunch she's in the kitchen again."

Ai blinked. Again? But 'kaa-san has apparently been out for the day, so how would she know we've been in the kitchen already? She thought as she continued to follow her mother.

--

Akiye looked out the kitchen window, noticing her mother's presence coming closer. She's home.

Aki moved to be more comfortable in her stool as she heard her mother's footsteps along with a pair she guessed to be Ai's.

"Welcome home, 'kaa-san. Hey, Ai." She said without moving her head towards the opening door.

Ayame tried to smile but found she couldn't. Her youngest's actions with being able to detect anyone in the house without checking was unnerving her. Their home's walls were well inculcated, so for Akiye to be able to know she and Ai were coming down the hall would be impossible. Unless…? Ayame's face went from panic to disbelief, No, it couldn't be, but…she's showing the signs.

"You okay 'kaa-san?" Ai was tugging her shirt's sleeve. Akiye looked over at their mother, and Ayame noticed she was sniffing slightly with a perplexed look on her face before she got up from her stool, stretching.

"So where did you go that you needed to leave so early?" Akiye asked, looking her mother in the eyes. Ai stepped in, repeating what their mother had said earlier.

"Again? How big is this wedding going to be?" Aki blinked as she came within two feet of her family.

Ayame closed her eyes and smiled, "A lot of planning goes into a wedding, dear; a lot of work and patience." Akiye nodded slightly.

"I think most of the work comes after the wedding when the couple needs to pay for marriage counseling when the bride becomes a Zilla." Aki grinned; pouncing their mother, which in turn became an embrace.

Ayame laughed, "Don't tell me you missed me; I was only gone for a few hours." She said as she patted Akiye's back.

"Okay, I didn't. Being stuck with Ai only can get pretty boring." She responded, grinning into her mother's shirt, peeking over and looking at her twin. Ai rolled her eyes.

"Being with you isn't exactly a cake walk either, Sis." She smirked at Akiye.

Aki gave a small noise for a response, still clinging to Ayame's shirt. Their mother looked down, wondering why Akiye was still attached to her front.

"Aki?" She asked, giving a gentle tug to the back of her daughter's pajama top. She mumbled and buried her nose deeper into the fabric. "What's wrong?"

"You smell good. Did you buy a new perfume or something? You've never had this scent before." Ayame's eyes widened, doing a quick analysis of her day, noting that the warehouse was the only place she'd been. The only people she'd come in contact were the citizens on the sidewalks and…the men at the warehouse, she concluded.

"Oh, just something I found while shopping." She lied, pulling on Akiye's shirt a bit harder, finally unlatching her from her front. Akiye blinked up at her, looking confused.

"Huh," She said, "It just smelled sort of…masculine. Kind of cozy, too." She mumbled. She didn't undersdtand what she meant when she said that, but apparently her mother did for she immediately changed the subject.

"Well, I need to go make some phone calls." Ayame said, doing her best to put on a cheery disposition. Akiye noted it seemed forced to her.

Ai perked up, "I was planning on going to the library today, 'kaa-san. Since there's no school, you wouldn't mind, would you?" Ayame looked over at her eldest, nodding.

"Of course; I don't need you being cooped up on your day off doing nothing around the house." She turned her gaze to Akiye.

"And what are you doing today?"

Aki looked down at herself, "Get dressed I guess," She muttered, "Maybe help you with those phone calls afterwards?" She looked over at her mother.

Ayame flinched, seeing she had to make another lie. "Oh, don't worry about helping me, dear." She smiled. "It won't take me long, by the time you finish getting dressed I'll be done." And I'll make sure of that, She added to herself mentally.

Akiye sighed, "Okay." She walked past her sister and mother and made her way upstairs. Ayame watched her go, before turning back to Ai.

Ai gave a sheepish smile while shrugging as she walked up and past her mother, Ayame following.

"You should probably head out soon," Ayame said, "The library closes in just over an hour."

Ai nodded, "Right. See you when I get back then." She said as she headed out to the front part of the house grabbing her shoes.

Ayame followed her movements as Ai got her shoes on and opened the front door.

"Be safe." She said.

Her daughter turned around, "Of course." She waved, and slid the door closed. Ayame stared at it for a few minutes, before making her way to her office in the back portion of the house.

--

It was late when Ai got to the library, rushing up to the doors knowing she only had about an hour left to do what she came here for. She opened the glass door and turned left, smiling at the librarian who nodded back before she found the area where the computers were.

She found one that was farther away from the other ones as she took the seat in front of the computer, setting her bag down.

She opened a browser screen and began to use the search engine, researching before she checked anything out.

'Any clues to what Aki said earlier…she was growling for starters…and what does 'blue' have to do with anything…?' She thought.

She typed in Blue to see what came up, looking for any leads.

'Blue- Wikipedia'

She clicked on it, and scanned the page for any clue to her sister's mind. She kept reading becoming frustrated that none of it made sense. She was about to give up when her cellphone (Which she forgot to turn off) went off loudly, causing the near-by people to glare at her.

She winced and whispered an apology before grabbing her phone, realizing it was a text message and not someone actually calling her.

Akiye? She wondered as her twin's name appeared on the screen as she flipped it open.

'Eyes.'

Eyes; Maybe it was eyes? It would make sense. I doubt she saw something like a blue jay in her dream that would make her growl…or unless she was hungry. She smirked at the amusing mental image of her sister growling and trying to catch a blue jay before she closed her cellphone screen thankful her twin was actually trying to put thought into Ai's question, and grabbed a notepad out of her bag writing down what she thought might be what her sister saw in her dream.

Out of curiosity, she typed went back to her internet screen and typed in 'Growl'. Wikipedia again, she saw.

'Growling or growl is a low, guttural vocalization produced by predatory animals as a warning to others, as a sign of aggression, or to express anger. Low or dull rumbling noises may also be emitted by human beings when discontent with something.'

Well since she's obviously not an animal she gets the human analysis, She thought as she looked down at the 'See Also' section.

'Dog attack

Bark (dog)

Dog'

Maybe it had to do something with an animal.

I know she doesn't like dogs much. Maybe she saw a dog... With blue eyes? She bit her lip as she went back to the search engine. But it doesn't seem to add up!

She used a different search engine with 'Blue Eye Animals', and began scanning the abundance of dog pictures with blue eyes.

Well, She thought, dogs with blue eyes are as close to anything I'm finding. She frowned and closed the screens with an air of aggravation.

She grabbed her things and headed her way out the door, her head bowed down some trying to think about everything which in turn meant a whole lot of nothing, (which was obviously Akiye's involvement).

--

Aki tugged her shirt the rest of the way over her head and damp hair before she heard the ringing of her cellphone receiving a text message and grabbed it.

'Not much help. Looked around, didn't find much. I'm coming home. Than we're sitting down to pick your brain, got it?'

Aki sent a message back, 'Why can't we stand while doing that?'

She waited for five minutes until Ai responded, 'Because this is going to take awhile, knowing your thick head. :P'

Akiye snorted and set the phone down, grabbing her jeans and proceeded to do a shimmying hop to get into them. Buttoning the denim up, she went along with tidying up her room that had been messed up in her process of getting dressed until her twin got back.

When she had thrown her last article of clothing back into her dresser drawer, she looked at the clock. 'Three already? Ai's right, I do take forever in getting dressed…'

She stood there for awhile, before wondering if her mother was still making phone calls. She wanted to know who she was calling, so she decided she'd find out.

--

Ai figured Aki got the last message and had no witty comeback since she never got a response. She rolled her eyes, knowing how her sister would never let anyone know they were right, but just gave an immature reaction that usually involved pouting, sulking, or a vibe of distaste enough to make one want to gag.

She had finally reached the house and rushed in, taking off and setting her shoes neatly by the door before she headed for the stairs looking for Akiye.

--

Aki was crouched down the hall which was close to her mother's office door, not wanting to be seen in case her mother used that freaky way of locating her children and found Akiye doing something she shouldn't be (Like right now).

She could make out most of the conversation, but it didn't really make sense. Who was it she was talking to? She guessed it was the same person who had called during dinner, but she wasn't sure. And why did she use the word 'We' so much?

"You!"

Aki jumped about a foot, and slapped a hand over her mouth from screaming and blowing her cover. She turned wide eyes to where the outburst came from and saw Ai.

She closed her eyes and let out her held in breath, and looked back at her twin.

"Hey sis, have a good time at the library…?"

Ai made a face, "I would have had you given me more information," She started, "And then I come home to find you eavesdropping. Again." She ground out the last word.

Aki sucked her bottom lip in and stared at the floor.

"Don't try that; I'm immune to any look of pity you give me."

Aki looked up, "So does that make me the lying, eavesdropping brat and you the coldhearted and unsympathetic popularity queen?"

"Stop making a joke out of this!"

"…I was joking?"

Ai glared.

Aki shrugged and went back to her bad habit, she had a feeling something important may come out of this and didn't want to miss out.

Ai huffed and kneeled next to Akiye, "You're going to get in trouble," She said. "And why do you need to eavesdrop on 'kaa-san so much now?"

Aki glanced at her twin, "She's hiding something. I just know it. Things just aren't adding up."

Ai rolled her eyes, "She's been busy. So she's probably stressing out over helping her friend and everything."

Aki crossed her arms, eyes still focused on the door and the phone conversation; fully aware in case she needed to make a quick break for it.

Ai prodded, "Come on, she's not hiding anything-" She was about to finish her sentence before their mother's last words on the phone made them both stop.

'…I love you too. I'll try to see you as soon as I can, Gramps.'

Ai blinked, also hearing. "But our great-grandfather's dead."

Aki gave her sister a flat-look, "So she's not hiding anything, huh?"

If you don't understand the last statement, then re-read chapter one. There's a line in there stating their great-grandfather died and their money comes from his Will.

Please review. I don't bite. :] And if there's anything misspelled, let me know. I'll fix it immediately. You can't dilly-dally when Grammar Nazis watch your words. ;)