A/N: Thank you to everyone who's reviewed so far! Special thanks goes to The Rish and Ayase Reincarnated for being such loyal reviewers in the long run!
Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach, nor do I make any profit from this.
"Mashiro, wake up." Lisa nudged Mashiro with her forearm gently, being careful not to actually hurt her. Some days she might want to, but she was taking careful strides to be nice for these three days. What's an evil plan without a good cover?
"I don't wanna." Mashiro pulled a pillow over her head. "I don't wanna wake up if Kensei isn't here to wake up to." Lisa frowned at that, had she miscalculated?
"Well, I was going to let you and Hiyori each have a call home to check on everyone..." Lisa played up the kind side, hoping to make Mashiro think that she was only helping. "You could talk to Kensei."
Mashiro bolted for the hotel phone, but Lisa put it down, dialing home on her cell and handing it to Mashiro. Thank God she had taken Mashiro and Hiyori's cell phones away before the trip or her plans could've been faulty.
"HELP! Lisa kidnapped me!" Mashiro yelped. "You have to come get me! Please!" She leaned away from Lisa, who had made a grab for the cell phone.
Luckily, Love just laughed on the other end of the line. "I'll get you Kensei."
"Don't pull that crap with me." Lisa whispered. "You should know better, Mashiro."
Mashiro stuck her tongue out in response, then, "Kensei! Help! I've been kidnapped!"
Lisa quickly took her cell phone back. "Sorry, Kensei. All we wanted to do was say hi; make sure you're ok. Calm Mashiro's fears that you were lonely."
"We're fine here." Kensei grumbled, and it wasn't convincing. "You want Shinji now?"
"I'll call back for Shinji." Lisa sighed. "Hiyori's in the tub, so I'll call back for him when she gets out and gets dressed."
"Right." A pause, here, like Kensei was going to say something else, and finally, he did. "Mashiro's alright?"
"She's fine. Just a little mad at me." Lisa leaned away from Mashiro, fighting to keep the phone. "I'll call back for Shinji, just tell him to pick up the phone in the next ten minutes or so. Bye." Lisa hung up quickly and shoved the phone down her bra. "Mashiro, for future reference, don't do that."
Mashiro was eyeing Lisa's neckline of her shirt, as if deciding if she wanted to go in after the cell. Finally, she turned away, her back to Lisa and her arms crossed.
Lisa rolled her eyes. She couldn't quite decide what was worse, Mashiro sulking out here or Hiyori sulking in the tub. Shaking her head, she stood and knocked on the bathroom door. "Are you coming out soon, Hiyori?"
"No." Hiyori muttered.
"If you get dressed and come out here I'll let you talk to Shinji." Lisa hated using coercion, but some days it seemed the best way to get things done.
And it turned out it was. It took Hiyori three minutes flat to get dressed and come out of the bathroom. Her shirt was on backwards, but hey, at least it worked.
Lisa extracted her cellular from her cleavage, dialing home, and though Hiyori made a face, she took it. "Shinji?" Hiyori asked hopefully when the click came of someone picking up.
"Hey, Hiyori." Shinji's voice seemed to perk up. "Are you alright there?"
"I'm fine." Hiyori muttered, but her face was turning red. "You're such a dumbass." Her tone was getting softer instead of it's usual - louder - and it was all Lisa could do not to grin like a crazy woman. Calm shell be damned, at least one half of her plan was working.
"Yeah, I know." Shinji sighed. "When are you guys coming home again?"
Hiyori looked at Lisa. "Sunday night." Lisa leaned in towards the mouthpiece. "We're coming home Sunday night."
"It'll be good to have you home again." Shinji said softly.
Hiyori's face turned even redder, and she slammed the phone shut, tossing it onto the bed and darting back into the bathroom to try and hide her embarrassement. "Shut up!" She yelled back as she slammed the bathroom door behind her.
Mashiro and Lisa shared a silent moment for once in their lives. "You need to talk to Rose." Mashiro said after a long piece of quiet, pointing at the phone. "You need to call back and talk to Rose."
Lisa couldn't believe she was even considering it- things had been awkward ever since she broke up with Rose nearly four months ago. Still, she found herself dialing home one more time.
"Hello?" Shinji seemed perplexed. "Is she alright?"
"Fine." Lisa struggled for a moment. "Can I talk to Rose?"
Shinji went silent on the other end for a couple of seconds. "Alright." He muffled whatever he was saying to Rose, and then, the most bittersweet voice Lisa had ever heard came onto the line.
"Lisa?" Rose asked.
"Everything is alright there?" Lisa felt odd. Her plan wasn't to get Rose back, not at all. She didn't need a man; she didn't need love. That was the whole reason she had broken up with Rose. She didn't want him back, she was pretty sure. And Rose hadn't acted like he wanted her back for nearly four months. "I don't trust Kensei or Shinji to give me the truth."
"Kensei's pissy and Shinji's depressed, but we're managing." Rose sighed. "How are things there?"
"Don't get me started." Lisa smiled a bit. "But I have to go check on Hiyori. I'm pretty sure she locked herself in the bathroom again."
"Good luck with that then." Rose inhaled deeply. "See you Sunday night then."
"Yeah." Lisa was trying hard to maintain her cool. She could be independent, or she could let herself fall again. To her, it was a game all too dangerous.
After they hung up, Lisa went through the tasks of getting Hiyori out of the bathroom, hiding her cell phone when neither Hiyori nor Mashiro was looking, and overall, doing her best to maintain her composure and her plan.
Why was one just so much harder to maintain?
A/N: This chapter seems like it took forever! Anyway, tell me what you think will ya? And thank you for reading so far!