A/N- Thanks, Hell's Harbinger and Catorrina! :)

Disclaimer- No OwN.

Susano was the God of the Sea, yeah? Oh, freaking gosh yeah.

His boat, Mushafune, was huge. Bigger than big. It was probably a kilometer long and half of one high. Larka stated that it looked bigger than the Ark of Yamato, whatever that was. Yuuki didn't seem impressed, but who cares about what she thinks? Dravis swore a couple times after seeing that thing.

"Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha!" Susano laughed, running up the stairs into his ship. "The greatest warrior and God of the Sea is home! Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

"I still don't get how we were best friends," I muttered, walking up the stairs.

"Su's a weirdy," Larka agreed.

Weirdy? Ha. What an understatement that was. He was a freak.

Maybe he was better before I left the past. Maybe he was more fun. Maybe his laugh wasn't quite so creepy. Maybe he didn't have that pot belly or weird beard. Maybe, back then, he was cooler. Then again, I never was cool, so why should my friends be cool?

I glanced at Yuuki, who was walking behind Larka and I. She was softly talking with Dravis, who seemed like he was actually listening to what she was saying.

There was still that thing we had to work out. Yuuki needed to tell me what my past relationship with her was, and how she felt about me now. Because it was now out that she liked the Other-me, even though he was so much older than her, we needed to work out her feelings... not mine, because I already knew mine.

"I wish I could think as simply as you did," Larka said dryly.

"Huh?" I asked blankly.

Larka laughed and sped up a bit. "Trust me. Yuuki's going to make your relationship with her a bit more difficult than it has been. She's a dork that way."

I frowned. You know what? I just don't understand girls. I didn't understand Larka, and I certainly didn't understand Yuuki. I kind of wished that they were like Dravis and I: we both just said whatever we felt, whether it was good or bad.

No. Forget it. I don't want Larka or Yuuki to be like Dravis. He's worse than them both.

"What day is it?" I asked, speeding up to get to Larka.

"... Tuesday, I think," she said.

"Tuesday is my favorite day! Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha!" I think you can guess who said that.

"Why?" Larka asked, ignoring Susano's loud and freakish laugh. Am I the only one who is freaked out by that laugh? And how much he can do it?!

"I actually meant what day exactly," I stated. "Like, is it the first, second, third? And is it September yet? Seriously, my lack of ability to tell what time of year and what day it is will drive me nuts. I usually don't care, but... urgh..."

Larka stopped walking and stared at me for a moment. Finally, after eight seconds (yes, I kept track...), she burst out laughing.

"What?!" I demanded.

"I'm gonna go Star Wars on ya for a minute, if you don't mind," she said. "Search your senses... feel... use the forks..."

"??" was all I could say.

"Just do it, idiot," she said.

I frowned, yet again. What day was it? A simple question had made her be weird on me. I hated it when she did that. Then again, it was worse when she was being freaky drill Sergeant Larka. I hated it when she was like that.

Suddenly, the date came to me. Without meaning to, I said, "It's September ninth, and the current time is almost ten in the evening."

Larka seemed impressed. "Daaanng. That worked."

"And, yeah, it's Tuesday," I said, walking a little bit faster as I felt my ears turn a touch redder.

For the millionth time, I wished that I didn't like Larka. Why? Because tons of people had told me that it was a bad idea. However, me being a huge rebel and all, I just had to go and think that she was the most amazing girl that I'd ever met. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Plus, it didn't help that Larka was very pretty. Her golden-blond hair fell mid-way to her chest and blue streaks went through her hair. Those streaks helped accent her big blue eyes... her enchanting blue eyes that were like stained-windows into her soul. She was amazing...

I hoped that she hadn't heard what I was thinking.

"I did, dork," Larka said, whose face was more than a little red. "And trust me, you're gonna be achin' in the morning when I'm through with you!"

"Oh, shi-" I began, running up the stairs as fast as my legs would carry me.

Larka was in front of me before I knew what was happening. I quickly skidded to a stop, my eyes wide. Larka was freaking gonna kill me for thinking those lovey-dovey thoughts. I could see it in her eyes; she was giving me the death look.

Larka lept at me and I shouted, "Stop!"

I was, once again, grateful for my ability to stop time.

As I looked at Larka's hateful and angry face, I said sarcastically, "Huh. I think she likes me back."

I sidestepped her and said easily, "All right, time, get going, again!"

And it did. Larka fell down, but did one of those "roll-things" so she wouldn't hurt herself. She sneered at me, her eyes blazing.

"What happened?" Susano asked. "Why is the Moon-girl being cruel to poor Kouin?"

"He's nasty!" she complained. "He doesn't even know how gross it-"

Susano hit Larka in the back of the head. I stared at him. Okay, I didn't see that coming.

"What was that?" Dravis asked in his mild tone that meant he was going to kill whoever he was talking to.

Susano huffed. "She was whining. Just get her inside. I hate whiners."

I stared at the guy. Maybe... maybe we had been best friends at one point. I'm not sure why, but something about him knocking out Larka seemed like that was the kind of crazy thing that I would have done, and in the most unexpected place, too.

"You're not too bad, Susano," I said, grabbing Larka's wrists.

"I'm the greatest warrior ever," he said, folding his arms. "Of course I'm not bad."

Forget it. I take it back.


I slowly opened my eyes. Had I slept? It didn't feel like it.

I sat up, rubbing my sandy eyes. I had a dream last night... one that I'd been having for a while now. I couldn't remember it, but I knew that I'd had it before.

I glanced around, trying not to sigh. We were still in this huge boat. Last night, as soon as we got on board, Susano showed me to the "Imperial Room," which I had apparently used all the time in the past. It was a little hard to believe, though, because everything was so... fine, I guess.

The bed was huge, big enough for Larka, Dravis, Yuuki, and me all to sleep in it without touching each other once throughout the night. Tons of intricately made candles were everywhere, and a touch of dust was everywhere, indicating that Susano hadn't cleaned it since I had left.

I grabbed my shirt and stared at it. I was still wearing my school uniform, after all this time. Black slacks, a white collared shirt, and I had long-since discarded of the blue tie that had gone with it. My shoes weren't abiding to the school code, being that they Onmyodo brand shoes. They were called Ashioto and were red, black, and white.

They were my favorite shoes.

I laid back down on my bed, not even bothering to pull on my shoes or button up my shirt. I was still tired.

I missed my time. I missed when I didn't have to be haunted by nightmares. I missed when I didn't have to worry about whether I was going to die or not. I missed when I didn't have to look at Larka every day. I missed Miuri and Riku. I was suddenly homesick.

I grabbed one of my thirty-seven pillows and hugged it. I missed when I thought that I was just an average guy who would probably end up working in who knows where and would have two-point-five kids with some mystery girl that I would most likely get divorced with after being together for six and a half years, leaving our children scarred.

I've always had the best expectations, no? No, I've never had good expectations for myself. I've always thought that I was an average kid. I always thought I was an average teenager. I always thought that I would be an average adult.

I stared at the ceiling. What had happened to that? All of the sudden, I was a God who was supposed to save the world from the demons that were planning to do something, that no one really knew except for King Lee, the King of the Demons, who also wanted my head. It made my head spin.

Someone knocked on the door. I groaned loudly, indicating that I didn't want the day to begin.

"We're in Western Nippon, Kouin," Susano called through the door. "You don't have to get up yet, but it would be appreciated."

I sat up, my frown large. I really didn't want to get up at the moment. I was busy brooding about the crazy and weird twists and turns that my life had decided to take all of the sudden. That was so much more fun than having to save the world.

"If you don't get out, Jin, I'm gonna kick your butt while you're not expecting it!" Larka shouted. "Up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up up-"

"The real thing to say is shut up!" I shouted, covering my ears. "Shut up, Larka!"

I started doing up my buttons, as quickly as I could. Hopefully, Larka had forgotten enough about yesterday to not kill me or kick my butt or anything along those lines. I shudder to think of the awful things that she would have planned for me. Like a wedgie...

I pushed my hair back, noting that it was starting to get long, down to my shoulders. A little annoying, but I'd have to deal.

I walked out of my "Imperial Room" and saw Larka, leaning against the wall. Her eyes were like little daggers, piercing into my soul. She obviously hadn't forgotten my lovey-dovey episode, no matter how much I had prayed that Susano had knocked it right out of her brain.

"Ugh," I said simply, starting to walk down the hall.

Larka followed me, her eyes burning a hole into the back of my head. I began praying that someone like Yuuki would come along and divert Larka's anger from me to whoever it was that came along. Preferably Yuuki, since she knows how to deal with said thing.

"Ah!" Susano said as we came to the stairs. "I'm glad to see that you're out!"

"Uhh huhhh," I said slowly, quickly walking over to Dravis.

"What do you want?" Dravis asked flatly, glaring at me. Early mornings don't change his attitude towards me, apparently.

"How do you stop that?" I asked, pointing to Larka, who was still glaring at me from behind.

Dravis glanced over, seeming to notice her for the first time. Some boyfriend he was. Dravis shrugged and pulled up his hood as a light rain began falling.

"Dunno. She must be seriously pissed, because she only ever does that to Waka," Dravis stated. "What did you do to her yesterday, anyway? Yuuki and I were... talking about something that she was interested in, so I didn't catch what happened."

"... Uh..." I didn't want two people to get mad at me.

I glanced at Yuuki, hoping to change the conversation. She was wearing a new, purple yukata with a green hanten (a hanten is a jacket to go over a kimono), being that it was getting colder and colder. I suddenly wished that I had a jacket to keep me warm.

"New clothes," I said.

"Yup," she answered, looking away.

Quite suddenly, I remembered what Larka had said yesterday about Yuuki making my relationship harder. I guess that Yuuki was also gonna make it more awkward. Again, I'll never understand what goes through a girl's mind.

"Where are we, Su?" Larka asked, still glaring at me.

"Hiyugo," Susano answered. "City of the great Gin, richest woman in the world! Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

Larka's glare left me and she stared at Dravis in horror, who returned the look. I frowned. Gin... it sounded like... my name. Funny. I hoped that Susano wasn't talking about me in private.

"I'll hurry and leave while I still can," Dravis said quickly. "She'll kill me if I stay."

"What do you mean?" Yuuki and I asked at the same time.

Larka turned to me. "There's no time to be angry at you, Jin, because we need to get out of here! Gin is the woman who is like-"

"Larka?" I heard an unfamiliar voice ask. "Is that... is that you?"

At the bottom of the steps stood a woman. She was in a long-sleeved shirt and wore capris. Her hair was short, fluffy, and bounced as she titled her head. What was odd, though, was that she had ears on top of her head and a little tail, just like Larka. The only difference was that she had more lynx-ish ears and tail.

Larka took a step back, shielding Dravis from view. I could only wonder what was going on.

"It is youuu!" The young woman squealed. "Larkaaaa!"

Larka jumped off the stairs onto the shore, running as soon as she had recovered from the five meter drop. The young woman was faster than Larka, though, and quickly caught up. The instant she was running side-by-side with Larka, she talked the younger girl to the ground with a tackle-hug.

"Whoa," I said blankly.

"Thank you, Larka," Dravis said. "I'll be back as soon as you guys are out of town."

With that said, Dravis jumped off the stairs, to the other side. He transformed into his demon-wolf form, running even faster than he had before. I watched him go in confusion. What was up? I didn't get it. What had freaked... them... out... ?

It came to me. That girl seemed sort of like Rosco in the way that she talked, the way that she acted, the way that she smiled. This woman must be the person that they were scared of.

I shivered at the thought and turned to Yuuki, who was looking at Larka in confusion. "I don't get it," she said lamely.

"Hey everyone!" the young woman called. "I caught me a Larka! Hee hee!"

Yes. Rosco-like, indeed.

"That is Gin, the richest woman in the world," Susano said. "And she would have been one of your lovers if she hadn't only cared about money and putting bows on Dravis and tackle hugging, or glomping, as she calls it, and eating good foods and reading books with many drawings inside from the future."

"Huh?" I asked blankly.

"Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" Susano laughed.

I don't think that I'll ever understand this creepy man.

The young woman, Gin, was pulling Larka by her tail over to us. Gin seemed perfectly happy, not noticing that Larka was trying desperatly to escape from her grasp. In fact, while Gin was skipping merrily, Larka was trying to grab the sand in an attempt to get away from Gin.

"She's strong," Yuuki said.

"Nn," I agreed.

Gin waved happily up at us, then noticed me. She frowned slightly.

"Kouin? Is that you?"

Why did I change my name? If I had kept it "Kouin" then I wouldn't be nearly as confused when people called me that. Having an alias was just annoying by a certain point. Actually, I was thinking about calling myself Kouin for an entire day so I could get used to that stupid name all over again.

"Yes," I answered finally.

"Jerk!" she shouted, letting go of Larka. "It's been years, you idiot! Dang, I'm pissed now because I saw your stupid face! You haven't given me money for years and not a single piece of manga for even longer! Did you finally lose interest in me, or something?! Because there's nothing out there better than me!"

I was purely amazed at how humble Gin was.

"Now you're dead meat, buster!" Gin growled. "I'm gonna kick your butt so hard, you'll die a tragic and terrible death but you won't be able to be buried because the pieces of you will be too tiny to find! Now get me some stuff with L on it or you'll be mincemeat, freak!"

"... Huh?" I asked. "First of all, I'm sorry, but I can't remember you. Second of all, I have no money. Thirdly, who is L?!"

"Oh," Gin said simply. "Right. You lost your memory. Why don't we go to my house and talk about this? I was already expecting some visitors, so..."


Gin's "house" was actually a palace. And, in that palace, there was money everywhere. You couldn't step anywhere without disturbing a pile of money. At first, I was tempted to take some, but then Gin started talking about how much money she had exactly.

Apparently, she has three billion two hundred twenty-eight million six hundred fifty-six thousand three hundred and forty-two yen. Now, if that's not filthy stinkin' rich, I have no clue what is.

Also, if you weren't stepping on money, you were stepping on manga. Some of which I recognized, while others I didn't. Pictures were hung up on the walls of two anime guys: one had crazy black hair and no eyebrows and the other was an alien or something.

"I'd make you some tea," Gin said, plopping down on a sofa. "But I'm not sure where my tea set went. I think my money ate it."

She said it a bit too seriously for my liking, and I edged away from the money I was almost sitting on. Larka continued to stand up. Yuuki was staring at the money, obviously in amazement about how much money Gin had.

"Who's the company, Gin?" Larka asked flatly.

"Oh, Lar-Lar, you're so serious!" Gin giggled. "It's Mr. Snuffy-Bunny, of course!"

Larka paled. "Mr. Snuffy-Bunny?"

"Yup," she answered.

Who the heck was Mr. Snuffy-Bunny?! I demanded of myself.

"We're gonna be here for a while," Larka said firmly. "Gin, do you mind if we..." she shuddered. "Stay... here..."

Gin stood up and "glomped" Larka. "Oh, yes yes yes yes yes, little Lar-Lar! I'm so so so so so happy! You've never asked me that before! You always run away from me, screaming something like I'm crazy or whatever. And now you can see Mr. Snuffy-Bunny, too!"

"I'm here!" a voice that I recognized shouted. "Where are you, Ginny-poo?"

I shuddered, feeling my eyes widen. That voice... please... it sounded too much like him. I didn't want it to be him, but it couldn't be anyone but-

"We're in here, Mr. Snuffy-Bunny! Lar-Lar is here and so is Koi and Yuwa!" Gin shouted.

Rosco poked his head in and his smile expanded. I stood up, wincing. It was the man that I'd wished to never meet ever again... and now he was here.

"Oh you, Ginny-poo!" Rosco laughed. "You already have guests! You could have told me, little cutie!"

"Oh you, Mr. Snuffy-Bunny!" Gin laughed right back. "I didn't know Lar-Lar and Koi and Yuwa were coming over today! It was a surprise visit from them! Isn't that just oodles and oodles of fun little noodles?! Now we can have tons of fun with everyone!"

"Yay!" Rosco shouted happily.

And so, right then, my personal hell on earth began.

A/N- And so the wonderful Gin in introduced. Ain't she a treat? Please review if you have to time to!