"Higher, Nico! Higher!" Nina shrieked, giggling and waving one arm, the other one clutching Nic's shirt. He smirked as he obeyed her order, flying through the air with the greatest of ease. Nina squealed even more, a dreamy expression on her face as Nic began to slowly hop lower and lower, until he hit the ground with a dust-billowing thump. Placing her gently onto the ground, he turned to meet with Alex, who he was walking back to the complex with. She was holding a package in her arms, watching Doug, who sat dozing in Chad-san's squad car, leaning lazily out the window, waiting for the grouchy policeman to return from his chat with Dr. Theo. As Nic turned to leave (with Nina pouting and rubbing her bruised cheeks), a blur suddenly burst out of an alley.

"Hold on!" Surprised, Nic stopped, Alex running into him from behind.

"Ouch!" She held her injured nose. "What was - Kei-san?" She looked at Kei in confusion. The woman looked sheepish, with an apologetic expression and rubbing the back of her head.

"Ehe, sorry," She said. She'd changed from her tee-and-shorts to a simple black T-shirt; camouflage shorts with a red bandana running through the belt loops; and sturdy monochrome sneakers. She handed Nic a paper bag with a smile.

"Your jacket." He stared, before opening the bag and looking inside. Indeed, just as Kei said, a neatly pressed, washed and folded article of black cloth was lay inside,waiting to be worn. He gave her a questioning look, signing his thanks and a question.

'Where'd you find this?"'

"Well, Worick told me about your dilemma; he left it behind when you were backing up Danny Monroe, right?" Kei put her hand - the one with the bandage and bangle - on her hip. "I asked around, got some leads, and found it by where he put it on the stone railing. It was soaked, and kind of dirty, so I washed it." She waved off his silent protest. "It's fine, I was running errands anyway. Easy job." Nic sighed.

'Great. Now I owe you one.' Kei laughed.

"You can pay me back by buying Nina's carbonated water next time we run out. Oh, and taking the recommended dosage for your celebre." She shot him a disapproving look as he raised his arms in surrender. "Honest to god, Nicolas. Do you want to die that badly?" Nina gasped.

"Kei!"

"I'm not trying to be harsh. Nina, he's a grown man. I'm pretty sure he can take it." Kei rolled her eyes. "Just don't overdose, okay?" She gave him a playful shove and started to walk back into the building, Nina following on her heels. Alex smiled at the little girl, who waved at them cheerfully. "We still need you to stick around, Benriya-san." Nic smirked and closed the bag, handing it to a puzzled Alex. Moving faster than a cobra, he darted towards Kei and caught her waving wrist, before pinning her against the doorframe, his hands firmly grasping her hips. Nina didn't notice Kei wasn't going inside anymore until she got to the staircase.

"Kei?" The trapped girl was frozen, eyes wide.

"Uh, Nicolas? What are you - "

"Shu-u' up," He growled, before planting a rough kiss on her cheek. Kei barely had time to register what had just happened - Cheek, not mouth, why not mouth - wait, what? - before he had disappeared down the street, tongue sticking out with an extremely shocked Alex. Nina's mouth was open, and Doug had awakened entirely now, face red as the sirens on Chad-san's law enforcement vehicle.

"Hey, keep the PDA to a limit in front of kids, will ya?" He yelped, experiencing some serious secondhand-embarrassment. Kei didn't hear him, didn't see Nina rush back upstairs - "I'm s-so sorry! I didn't see anything!" - , didn't feel anything but the pounding of her heart and the rush of blood to her face. She clapped both hands over her cheeks and stared at nothing, head swimming with thoughts that she didn't think a girl like her would ever have.

Wait - does he like me?

(Here we experience a moment of face-palming for our heroine's bluntness and ignorance. We are amazed she hasn't died from this flaw yet.)

Confused, irritated, and slightly happy, Kei somehow managed to get herself back into the house and lock the door, before sliding to her her knees.

"This life just gets more and more complicated," She muttered.

"Typical."