Hi, everyone! Well, it's taken me a while to get into the swing of things, but here we go! I'm back to my usual writing schedule, so chapters should be coming out every Saturday again! In fact, this WOULD have been up yesterday if certain sites hadn't been having problems, but hey, it gave me some time to polish this up, right?

A huge thanks, right off the bat today, to all of my readers. You've all been super-patient with me the past couple of months, and I love you all to death for it. Now that I've got the wind back in my sails we should see weekly updates again! Also, please do not blame me for that horrible, horrible pun. It was not my idea. Thank you. I will do everything I can to earn the (gasp) two hundred and fifty reviews this story has already received! I've been staring at that number for a while now, just in shock. A HUGE thanks to you all!

So, the chapter itself! We've got a bit of an education for you this time around. First of all, Golden Week is a major holiday week in Japan, so we have a small crash course as to what the different days are. And then we have a small study in Japanese cuisine, mostly because the banter it led to amused me. Either way, hopefully you'll come out of this having learned something new, and if you didn't, read as already knew all this stuff, could you please help me with my research?

Also, something I know you've all been looking forward to. We finally get a sneak peek at the most prominent of Mana's new weapons! Unfortunately, it still has some minor issues with exploding. Suzuka, make a nice, normal staff weapon? Heavens forbid! We'll even see a brief introduction to Chu and Rinku in this chapter, with just the slightest hint of further mischief in the future. Mana's finally getting the training she needs, and Jin has some interesting methods of encouragement. Major, MAJOR kudos to anyone who can find the video game reference in this chapter. I won't tell you the series it's from, so you're going to have to think on this one! You're one clue? It's from the sixth game in an installment that's only a small part of a much larger series! It was one of those things that I saw and just couldn't resist. Look hard! So let's go!


Mana never knew exactly what to do with herself on April twenty-ninth. It wasn't like she was that far into the new school year, there were no big projects or exams she could study for, there was nowhere she felt like going, there was just... nothing to do. The girl sighed. For a fleeting second she considered visiting Keiko; she had actually found she missed the older girl once the new school year started and she didn't see her in the halls any more. School had actually felt safer with Keiko around. It even felt strange going up onto the roof and not having to sit at one end. It felt... awkward, like she was waiting for the other shoe to drop, or at least for the door to open. Kind of like April twenty-ninth, actually...

She rolled onto her back where she was sprawled on her bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. She'd gotten up, showered, gotten dressed, even spent some time fiddling with hair clips, and she didn't even have anywhere to go. It had just been a way to pass part of the morning. And she would do it the next day, and the next, all through Golden Week, if she didn't think of something to do...

A soft tapping on the glass door made her sit up. Jumping up to unlock it, she greeted the redhead with the first thing she could think of. "You know, I'm actually really glad to see you."

"Good to know!" Jin ruffled her hair, making her cringe. So much for her hairclips... "Hey, ya think ya could wear some outdoorsy clothes and come with me? Suzuka's got something for ya I'm thinkin' ya might like."

The healer stared blankly at him for a moment before nodding. "How outdoorsy did you have in mind?"

"We're goin' out to the woods today!" Mana nodded slightly, waiting until he left the room to change into a denim skirt and the plain white t-shirt she usually wore under her gi for karate. She could bleach that, if she needed to. Jin was actually sitting on the balcony railing when she stepped out of her room with her hair up in a ponytail. He beamed. "Suzuka's been workin' on this for a while now. We're thinkin' it might do ya more than a bit of good. I got followed through again, hopin' ya don't mind." She must have made a face, because he continued very quickly. "They're not stayin' or nothin', just wanted to look around. That's ahright, isn't it?" The girl nodded hesitantly again. "Good! Come on, then, let's get goin'!"

There was a wide grin on the apparition's face as he headed for the stairs. Mana pushed past, jumping across first. She wasn't going to take any chances. Honestly, she felt just a little bit excited as she headed down the steps. Finally, there was something to actually do. Jin seemed to be his normal, easily excited self as they walked through town. It was almost kind of comforting to know that she wouldn't be spending the next week on her own. She never did know what to do with herself during Golden Week...

Suzuka was waiting in the woods... and he wasn't alone. Mana stared at the hulking behemoth of a man that turned to wave as they walked up. "'ey, Jin! Is that the little sheila you keep talking about?"

"Yep!" Jin grinned. "Mana, meet Chu and Rinku. They're friends of mine! Just watch out for Chu, he's nine times of ten pretty close to blotto."

He meant the big guy... right? But where... the voice cut in from around the area of Chu's upper thighs; she hadn't even seen the boy standing right behind the man. "She doesn't look like much to me. She's just a kid!"

Mana felt her cheeks start to burn, right up until Jin rested a hand on her shoulder. "And yer no better, so don't ya forget it! Don't pay Rinku any mind when he starts talkin' like that, Mana. He acts rough, but he's a good kid."

She nodded, half numb, and was just starting to wonder what she'd gotten herself into when Suzuka cleared his throat. "Miss Mana. You were looking for a weapon you could use with your energy, right?" The healer nodded, feeling slightly perturbed. The apparition didn't seem to notice as he tossed a small silver cylinder at her. Mana caught it curiously. It wasn't too much longer than her own hand.

"What is it?"

"Right now, it's absolutely nothing. Once you put a bit of energy into it, then it becomes useful." The motion he made with his hand struck Mana as lightly absurd. "Hold it away from your body, and whatever you do, don't point either end at you, alright?"

"Right..." Mana examined the cylinder doubtfully before holding it out in front of her. Manipulating energy was easy, with a bit of practice; she just had to pool it the same way she did to fire her spirit gun, and pass it into the item in her hand instead. There was a soft hissing noise before either end of the cylinder shot outwards, and Mana found herself holding a long silver pole. She stared at it. "Wow... how did you do this?"

"That's just one of my many secrets. Just try not to drop it until you've got a bit of practice with it. It should revert once your energy is pulled from it."

Mana nodded, giving the staff an experimental twirl. As it passed between her hands, she heard another soft hiss, and then a yelp from Jin. "Eh! Watch where yer swingin' that!" She stopped, and stared. Suzuka frowned.

"Maybe I should put some sort of marks on the proper points..."

The twin blades curved brightly in the light. Mana frowned, reaching to tap at one, when the whole thing snapped back down into a cylinder in her hand. "Hey! What was that?"

The demon was grinning. "That would be a little something extra. It took a lot of trial and error, but it seemed like it could be useful." Frowning lightly, Mana tried to extend the staff again. It slid out with a soft whoosh. Now, what had she done to make those blades pop out? The next thing she knew, there was a hand over hers. "I wouldn't quite do that. It can be rather volatile if you're not used to it."

Mana did not like that word. Volatile was not a word for something with blades on it. "What else does it do that you haven't told me about?"

Suzuka plucked the staff out of her hands; she almost felt the urge to giggle when it collapsed and fell onto the ground. Clearing his throat, he picked it back up and extended it. "Observe." His thumb shifted, and the twin blades flicked out the ends again. "Now, you might want to stand back for this. It can still get a little unruly."

"Says the guy who set his room on fire twice working on it." Mana stepped back, far back, as Rinku started to mouth off again. "You'd better watch yourself, lady. He'll blow things up on you if you're not careful."

"Just ignore him." Mana nodded, backing away further as Suzuka rolled the scythe between his hands again. "It always helps to have one or two tricks up your sleeves. Observe."

And that was about when one end of the staff exploded. Mana jumped back with a yelp as Rinku crowed. "See? I told you he'd blow it up!"

Suzuka seemed perturbed, but hardly daunted. "I'm afraid it still does that from time to time. It's not fully stable yet, you see. It took me some time to figure out how to make the incendiaries work, and they're still a little touchy. But once it's stable, would you be interested in making a trade?"

The healer frowned. A trade? "I guess that depends on what you're talking about, right? What is it that you want?"

"That's a very good question." His smile was starting to annoy her. "From what I understand, you know a rather interesting technique. I'm something of a collector; I know a thousand different moves to date, and I'm always searching for more. I could make you weapons if you teach me that feeding technique of yours. How does that sound?"

Jin was nodding at her. Mana sighed. "Fine. But I want to be sure that works before I teach you anything, so you'd better be sure there's no more exploding."

"Deal!" The blonde fighter swept into a low bow. "On my work, we'll-"

"Oh, would ya cut the theatrics already? Yer not impressin' anyone with all the hoity-toity!" Jin reached over, knuckling the other apparition on the head. "Ya been workin' on that thing for how long now?"

"Watch the hair, please!" Suzuka shoved away from the redhead. "If you'll excuse me, I think I can have this fixed in just a few days. Will that be convenient?"

"Ah... sure. That sounds fine." Mana shifted lightly, blinking as Rinku pulled a yoyo out of his pocket and started to play with it. Up, down, up, down, up, down... right at the edge of her vision. It was very distracting... "But what exactly were you trying to do when it... ah..." Up, down, up, down, and the healer lost her train of thought. "Um..."

"Simply put, I was igniting the ends. You see, there's a special incendiary tube running along the length of the pole. The flame ejects from either end. It gives the fire scythe a special little edge, the element of surprise, so to speak."

"Of course." He was insane, he had to be. At the same time, Mana couldn't help but want the weapon. Something that versatile, that ran off of so little energy, could be exactly the edge she needed. "Okay, then. You get it working, and I'll teach you my technique. But is there any way you could make it work just a little easier?"

The demon heaved a sigh. "Well, I suppose there are always buttons..."

Chu and Rinku, to her relief, didn't hang around for long once Suzuka had left. Mana still wasn't sure what she thought of either of them, with Rinku's attitude and Chu's... odor. Jin patted her on the shoulder once they were alone. "Don't ya worry about old Suzuka's inventions, eh? They're usually pretty reliable, once he gets them past the explodin' stages."

"Right." She looked up at him; he seemed to be in a good mood, as always. "So did you just come here for that, or are you going to stay and visit for a while?"

"I thought I might visit ya!" He ruffled her bangs, chuckling as she pulled away. "I brought ya a present this time, too. But ya gotta work hard if ya want it! That's wot I'm here for now, to help ya get stronger. Ya think ya can do that?"

She nodded slowly, trying to digest what he'd actually said. "So you're going to help me practice?"

The apparition wrinkled his nose. "Mana, practice is for kids playin' games. Wot ya need is to train. It's two different ways of lookin' at things. Ya gotta think bigger than that."

She nodded again, feeling a slight sting in her own eyes. "Thank you..." The redhead just mussed with her hair again. "I mean it, Jin. Thanks..."

He only laughed in reply.


If there was one thing he could say for Mana's fighting abilities after taking an afternoon to watch her work, it was that the girl had good reflexes. Her power was lacking, but her speed was good, and the reflexes were definitely there. Jin frowned lightly. Honestly, those were exactly the skills a fighter developed when they weren't that strong, but to have developed them this far she had to have a lot more potential than she realized. He'd done her exercises with her, and she'd kept up fairly well. "Oi, Mana!"

The girl lowered the wooden staff she'd been using. The girl had her hair pulled up in a loose bun, but there were wisps of it escaping around her face now. "Yes?"

"Ya been learning to do that for a while now, right? The fightin', I mean?"

"Yeah, since I was a little girl." The little healer pushed her bangs back from her face. "My mother signed me up for classes pretty early, and I've been doing it ever since."

"Do ya ever have a hard time against the other students?"

She tilted her head. "It depends on the students. There are a few kids in my class who are a level above me, and I can't really seem to touch them, but against everyone else I'm pretty evenly matched, or a little better. By the time you get to the level we're at, it's usually fairly balanced out."

"Yer talkin' like someone who's bein' modest. How much of yer class can ya beat easy?"

Mana sighed. "More than half, less than three quarters."

"Ahright, then, we're gonna get ya to three quarters. That sounds like a good, solid goal for now." The girl gave him a blank look; he just smiled. "We gotta start out in little steps, ya know. Ya can't get stronger over night."

"I know that." There was a soft sigh, one that made him want to ruffle at her hair again. "But I've been working with this group for a few years now, and there's a pretty set hierarchy. It's not going to be easy to upset it. You're underestimating how much pride some of these students have."

"Nah, I'm just accounting for how stubborn ya are!" That did it, the way she wrinkled her nose was too much. He ruffled her hair, throwing the strays around a bit with his fingers. "I'll tell ya wot, if ya work with me on this, I'll give ya yer present early, okay?"

She stared up at him with a wary expression. "What kind of a present is this, exactly?"

"Somethin' cute. Just trust me, okay?" He pulled his hand back before she did something drastic; she looked ready to go for his elbow. "Work with me until yer next class and we'll see if yer not at least a little more confident."

"Right." The girl turned the wooden staff she was carrying over in her hands. "I guess I can do that."

"Good." He gave her a bright smile. "Then let's see how well ya can land a punch." He received a doubtful look. "Come on, Mana, see if ya can land one hit, eh?"

By the time they left the park for dinner that night, Mana seemed visibly frustrated. Jin frowned to himself. It wasn't that he'd been going particularly hard on her, he just hadn't been going easy... and the girl hadn't been able to land a single punch. She sighed as they walked, pushing her bangs back from her face. "Do you mind if we eat out tonight?"

"Not a problem." It was kind of funny how no one tried to move out of her way with that big stick in her hands. It just didn't seem like that big a deal to any of the people on the street. They were all too busy going their own ways. Humans, he decided for what wasn't the first time, didn't pay enough attention to the world around them. Although, now that he thought about it, he wasn't seeing quite as many business suits as usual. "Hey, wot's everything seem so busy for today?"

"Today? Today is the start of Golden Week." Lavender eyes glanced up at him. "You don't know what that is, do you?"

"Not a clue." He gave her a hopeful look as she pushed open the door to a restaurant. The place was busy, and they were lucky there were any seats open. Within moments Jin found himself tucked in the corner at a small table for two as a waitress who seemed to have been working too hard set down menus without a word. "Explain it to me?"

The girl sighed lightly. "Golden week is a series of holidays here in Japan. Today is Showa no hi, or Showa's day, which honors the birthday of old Emperor Showa. Until a couple of years ago they celebrated midori no hi on this date instead. April thirtieth and May first and second aren't holidays, but May third is kenpo kinenbi, which is the day we celebrate the constitution of nineteen forty-seven on. Midori no hi is on the fourth now. Greenery day used to be on Showa's birthday, because he loved nature so much. Before the dates were switched, May fourth was considered a holiday because May third and fifth are both holidays."

Jin blinked. "That's a funny idea."

"I think it's a way to get a free day of leisure in there. Kodomo no hi is on the fifth, by the way. That's children's day, when they hold the boy's festivals."

The redhead stared. "And all of that is in one week?"

"Yeah. Since three days are not considered holidays, most adults have to work for them, but schools close for the entire week and mostly everyone gets the last three off. This place will start emptying out by tomorrow because everyone will be making plans to take trips and go sightseeing. It's a major travel period, probably the biggest one here aside from New Years and Obon week."

"Ah." Jin thought about that for a minute. "How come there's only a boy's festival?"

Mana rolled her eyes. "There's not. The hina matsuri activities are held on March third. That's girl's day, when the doll festivals are."

"That's a lot to remember." Honestly, the wind master wasn't even sure he remembered all of it, and he'd just heard it. Across the table, the healer sighed lightly.

"Stay here for a week, I guarantee you'll remember it next year."

"Okay!" That was the second time he could recall her actually inviting him to stay. Beaming, he picked up his menu. "Wot do ya think yer gonna have?"

"I have no idea. It's too warm out for a hot pot meal, so I'll probably have a domburi bowl and some korroke..." She looked up, catching the blank stare he was giving her, and rolled her eyes again. "You have no idea what I just said, do you?"

"Mana, when we go out to eat, I very seldom do until whatever yer getting' actually gets to the table. It just happens that today yer talking about more than one thing that I don't know about."

"Which explains why you never order anything new. Domburi is a rice bowl with some sort of topping. I want tempura today, I think. And korroke are croquettes, basically." He kept giving her the blank look and was finally rewarded with another sigh and an explanation. "Breaded and fried patties made of minced meat and potatoes. They're not traditional or anything, they're just good."

"Now see, that's talkin' about food in a way I can understand."

The healer raised an eyebrow and moved the end of her staff farther out of the aisle. "And yet you're still going to order the same thing you always do, aren't you, because I notice you didn't stop to look at the displays this time."

"Em..." Jin frowned at the menu. "How about ya order somethin' for me?"

"Fine. Katsu kare it is." She answered before he could ask, "Curry and rice, you've had that at my house, with fried pork cutlets. I can trade you some korroke for a piece of tonkatsu."

"Ya know, I'm startin' to think ya should go into cookin' as a career. Ya know too much about food. Or maybe ya should just go into hostess work in general, yer good enough at it."

"Mm, of course, it's always been my dream to open an elaborate Japanese hot springs resort and serve fancy home-cooked meals in an impractical kimono." The girl blinked at the look he was giving her. "What? I was assuming you were using the innocent definition of hostess."

"It's not that." He grinned in spite of herself. "It's two things. First of all, yer funny when yer bein' sarcastic, but ya do it a little too well for a girl yer age. And second, I think that suits you."

The girl's expression was flat as she stared at him for a good half a minute before speaking. "Jin, you're an idiot."

He laughed. "Say wot ya will, it still works for ya. And if anyone gave ya a lick of trouble, ya could throw 'em out right on their ears!"

"I hate you sometimes." The girl let him laugh as she made their orders, settling back into her seat once the waitress had left. "I really do."

Oh, now he had to tease. "Just think, ya could always work in the kitchen when ya don't feel like dealin' with people."

"And you expect me to cook breakfast for you in the morning?"

He couldn't stop himself. "Well, it would mean havin' a bigger place to stay when I come visit."

The girl stared at him blankly for several moments before calmly reaching over and picking up her chopsticks with one hand. Jin swallowed. "Wot are ya gonna do with those?" She twirled one in her fingers for a moment, eyeing him critically. "Mana, I don't like the way yer lookin' at me." There was still no answer... and then he felt the bolt on his knee. The apparition jumped, almost shaking the whole table. "Ow! Mana!"

The girl was smirking as she drew her hand up from where he thought it had been simply resting in her lap. "You deserved that."

"That's not right! Ya distracted me with yer other hand?" Her smirk widened. "And besides, ya can't go wastin' shots like that, ya might get sick again!"

"If I do, it was worth it."

"Ya can't go doin' that under a table to a guy, though. Ya could do some serious property damage!" The girl's eyes went wide, and then she lowered her head to the table, her shoulders shaking. He gaped. "Ya cannot be thinkin' that's funny."

"I'm sorry..." She sounded like she was hiccupping the way she gasped. "I'm sorry... it's how you worded that... I'm sorry..."

He gave her the most blatantly unimpressed look he could. "I'm startin' to think ya got a serious sadistic streak, ya know that?"

"Ah, maybe I do." She sat up, still silently laughing. "It's just how you worded that..."

"I was tryin' to be polite about it!" He reached across the small table, rapping her lightly on the head. "Brat!"

The girl actually stuck her tongue out at him. Honestly, he was so caught off guard that he couldn't think of a reply until a couple bowls of miso soup were set in front of them. "Ya know, I'd tell ya to act yer age except then ya'd probably do that again."

"Oh, hush." The girl bent over her soup, sipping it straight from the bowl and using her chopsticks to guide the pieces of tofu and seaweed. He saw why as he turned to his own bowl; they hadn't been given spoons. Mana was quiet as she drank her soup; he let her remain that way until their actual meals arrived before kicking her lightly under the table. She stared. "What was that for?"

"Just taggin' ya back for shootin' me." The little blonde rolled her eyes as she munched on one of her little korroke things. "We'll be able to head back to the woods tomorrow, right? Ya still have to land a hit afore ya get yer present."

"Whatever." She tried to sound disinterested, but he saw her stance shift just a little. She had to be curious by now. "You're awfully fast, though."

"That's cause yer too easy to move around. Ya need to work on that a bit, I'm thinkin'." He pointed a chopstick at her. "It's not that yer slow or anything' like that. But as long as I been fightin' I can see where yer comin' from. If yer gonna be fightin' folk like me, folk who have a bit more experience, yer gonna want a method that isn't so clean and easy to read."

The girl's cheeks were lightly pink. "Don't you think I try to do that? We've worked on that in class practically since day one. The teacher is always calling people on it and telling them how to move. That's why I do as well as I do, I'm one of the ones who listens."

"But have ya ever really fought someone outside yer own level before?" The girl shook her head quietly. Jin nodded, more to himself than anything. "I didn't think ya had. Some things, Mana, ya can't learn from a teacher. Ya gotta go by what ya feel here..." He motioned to his own chest... "and here. Yer heart and yer gut. Sometimes ya gotta let go of wot some teacher is tellin' ya and figure out what it is ya do best for yerself."

"That's easy enough for you to say." Mana heaved a little sigh. "I'll give it a shot, though."

"Atta girl." He grinned across the table at her. "I bet yer gonna do just fine."

She fell asleep before he did that night, sitting on the couch and listening to him laugh at a bad movie. It amused him that Mana still had such a childlike quality as being able to drop off to sleep at a moment's notice that way; her body seemed to decide on it's own when she'd pushed her limits, and responded accordingly. It was something that, in his experience, children seemed to do more than adults. Well, the apparition reflected, he had pushed her kind of hard that day. Although recalling how they'd met, it wasn't as hard as she usually pushed herself. He sighed lightly, carrying her to her room. The girl was trying as hard as she could try on her own. He had to find a way to help her make it work.

The problem was, it still wasn't working the next afternoon. Back in the woods, Mana actually plunked down onto the ground, looking up at him with heavy eyes. "I need a breather."

He nodded, sitting down next to her. "Ya feelin' okay there? Yer face is red."

"I'm fine." Listening to her breathe, he thought half-exhausted was more like it. "You're a lot faster than I am."

He reached over and ruffled her hair. "Ya shouldn't worry about that. Just keep looking for an opening, I bet ya can do it."

She gave him her standard flat stare. "Does it count if I lean over and smack you right now?"

"Nope!" he laughed, pulling his hand back so he could fold his arms behind his head and flop backwards into the tall grass properly. Mana remained sitting up beside him. "Hey, Mana?"

"Hmm?" The girl's face was turned upwards, watching the clouds. There were a couple of them scattered in the big blue sky. Her eyes looked far away. "What is it?"

"Do ya enjoy gettin' visits like this?" He had found at times that he had to wonder. He knew that on some level she appreciated the company, but there were also times when he wondered if she wasn't just a little too overwhelmed to realize it.

The girl was chewing on her lip thoughtfully. After a moment, she actually fell down onto her back herself. "Yeah... I guess I do..."

"Good." There, as long as she could admit it he was happy. "Hey, Mana, wot's yer goal in life after yer done with detective work? Ya can't do that forever, right?"

"Mm, not really." The girl ran her hand through the grass in an idle way. "Well, I plan on going to high school and then studying business in university, like my father. With his credentials, I would actually have a pretty good chance at getting a starting position in the company he works for. From there I can pretty much go anywhere I want, Europe or North America or other places like that. I'll have the degree and the experience to see the whole world."

Jin frowned. "The travelin' part sounds fun, but ya know that's gonna make ya a pain in the backside to find, right?"

"Well... maybe..." There was a moment of silence before she continued. "Honestly, I didn't think that would matter much."

Now that annoyed him. Jin rolled onto his side, giving the healer a sharp jab to the side. "Now that's just not fair! Of course it's goin' to matter. Wot about the twins, are they gonna have to look for ya, too?"

"It's not like I won't leave a forwarding address..." The blonde bit her lip again. 'I just never thought it would be a big deal."

"Yer not alone in the world, ya know." She sat up then. Jin sighed, pushing himself up to sit next to her. "Ya ready to start again?"

"I guess." She didn't sound even half-convinced. Jin tilted his head as she stood, pushing her bangs back from her face. "You're a lot faster than I am, though." The wind master brushed his pants off as he stood, eyeing her. Maybe it was time for a new method of motivation. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out one of the small objects he'd been carrying with him for a couple days now and pushed it into her hair. Mana blinked. "What did you just do?"

"Why don't ya have a look at it and see?" He beamed as she pulled the clip out of her hair. He'd thought of that picnic in the cherry blossoms the moment he'd seen it; the large butterfly, its open wings a gentle shade pink with gold edging, had looked too much like the ones on her yukata to pass up. Mana turned it over in her hands; it was about the size of her palms.

Finally, she looked up at him. "It's really pretty, but it's too big to wear just one. I need another for the other side..."

"That's why ya have to earn the other one!" He gave her a bright smile. "That way ya know what yer workin' for, okay? I bet ya can get it if ya try."

The healer put the clip back in her hair, tilting her head slightly. "It even feels lopsided all alone there. I probably look funny."

"Then I'd guess ya'd better work hard for the other!"

To his surprise, she actually started to smile slightly. "Alright. I think I can do that."

"Good." He gave her hair a ruffle, careful not to disturb the clip. "Then let's see wot ya got this time!"

She didn't land a hit that day, but she did seem to have been moving faster than she was before. Even more importantly, Jin decided, was the fact that he caught her looking at her reflection in a window on the way home, a tiny smile on her face. If that was the result he got, he was going to have to bring her butterflies more often. He just had to hope she didn't ask how he got the money for them. Even he didn't want to know where Rinku had lifted that wallet from...