ATTENTION READERS: This is the Beta version of LH5W, if you want to read the official, updated version of the story, you'll have to go over to DeviantArt. com and head on over to my page. My username is Aloubell. You can also get there by going to my fanfiction. net profile which provides a link over there.
In any case, this Beta version is basically the rough draft of LH5W, my first attempt at it. Much of the plot points from this version will be the same in the official version, but there are significant and consistent characterization changes, a few (but very important) plot differences, expansion of past ideas, and overall better quality in storytelling.

All of this will be done over on DeviantArt. I no longer will write the story in traditional prose nor submit/update it here to fanfiction. net. The Beta version will remain here, just know that it isn't the 100% official story.
The official version will be written in a lazy prose mixed with play-writing elements (you'll get what I mean when you see it).
This is the new format for the story from now on.
So please head on over there if you're interested in updates to the story! Thank you for stopping by =D

-Aloe

PLEASE NOTE: The official version is being written somewhat out of order. The official version will start on chapter 46, the place where the Beta version left off. The official version will go on to complete the last chapters of Season 2. Once those are done, I will redo the story over again from Chapter 1 which will be the official version.

Having said that, if you choose to continue on reading, I hope you enjoy the Beta version and look forward to the official!

After a few seconds of watching the spot where Miaka once stood, I knew that I had to move things along if I had any chance of getting things to progress. For instance, I was finally in the presence of the old woman who could answer the questions that had been irking me ever since I had arrived there. The thing that annoyed me was that Taiitsukun knew that I would be confused about a few things—she probably knew about what those things were going to be—and yet, she still sent me off into this new world. It doesn't surprise me at all that she would do that, but it doesn't take away from the fact that it was a bitch move. She says that I complain a lot? Well, what do you expect when you're leaving your fate to someone who won't tell you about stuff that she already knows, and I would eventually have to know?

Yup, she's definitely in league with the universe.

Ignoring my bitterness, I faced the floating old woman. "I have a question."

Maintaining her intimidating face, she asked, "What is it?"

"Well," I had to make sure to keep my voice down from the others. "I was wondering how and why Miaka was here in the first place. I mean, you told me before that my world was frozen due to me going on this journey..."

She pondered on my words. "Yes well...that is usually the case when it comes to these things. Ordinarily, your world would have stayed frozen in time up until you either found your true love or gave up." I nodded in agreement. "However, with the extreme influence of negative forces on the universe, my grasp and focus on keeping your world frozen started to break down, so recently, I decided to call it off altogether."

"What? How could you do that? Who knows how much school I've missed!" Wait, when did school become my main issue? I groaned. Maybe I caught whatever sickness Miaka had…

"Calm down. Only a few days have gone by in your world from when I had unfroze it. And in that time, Miaka had discovered the portal to this world. Miaka had only been gone for a few hours." The new information shocked me. I just couldn't see how it was possible that only a few days had gone by since I had left. No…actually, it wasn't quite that that was bothering me. She had said that when she had unfrozen things, Miaka and Yui had gone inside the Universe of the Four Gods. The odd thing was that Miaka and I had been in that world for about two weeks already—how was it possible that only several hours had gone by? As if reading my thoughts, she explained further. "Because of the sudden distortion in the energies in the universe, time flows differently in your world than it does here—it goes by in more of an accelerated rate than it does in your world."

Well, I suppose that makes sense. If I pry any further, she may go into some intense scientific detail that I don't have the patience to try and understand."Okay, that pretty much answers one of my questions. But you didn't explain why Miaka is even here."

"I personally expected you to become the Priestess of Suzaku, but the god made me realize that you already have other priorities that shouldn't be restricted to the duties of a priestess."

That rang a bell in my head. "Wait, what does Suzaku have to do with—"

"For reasons that shouldn't concern you, young Miaka was chosen by Suzaku and brought into this world to help prevent this world's downfall."

"Have you not met Miaka? She's a clumsy cry-baby, yet overly-happy more times than none spaz. Don't get me wrong, she's a nice girl and I care about her and all, but what makes you think that she could do all this? Besides, I thought that it was my job to protect this world."

Her eyes narrowed at me as her voice progressively got louder. "No, your job is more connected with the universe as a whole—Miaka only has a small portion being a priestess. You should be grateful that someone else has taken over the job that you were going to perform!" When we both noticed that the three guys' eyes shifted over to us in confusion, she coughed to clear her throat and proceeded on with a quieter tone. "The girl has proven herself as worthy for the job. Sure, she's a bit immature and rough around the edges when it comes to these things, but I believe—or shall I say hope—that she will progressively grow up and learn."

I crossed my arms. "Maybe, but what if she gets hurt?"

She closed her eyes. "She probably will, but we'll hope for the best. After all, she'll have seven warriors looking after her."

"Seven plus me." The moment I had said that, she eyed me warily.

"It was valiant how you've been watching over her, but you know that you're here for a separate reason." Taiitsukun shook her head. "You shouldn't be babysitting her while you have problems of your own. Like I mentioned before, you aren't the Priestess of Suzaku simply because you need to get on with your personal journey. If you continue on with that girl's quest, you'll only be forsaking your own."

In a way, she's right.This was supposed to be my story and somehow, I ended up in the first chapter of Miaka's… However…After a few seconds of thought, I came to my conclusion. "I don't quite believe that." Her eyes widened a bit from my response. "When you think about it, you never actually gave me a legit map of what I'm supposed to be doing. This whole time, you've only been giving me bits of information and help that I was supposed to go off of on my own. In every world I've been in so far, I somehow managed to get settled down somewhere and go on with my story from there—even when I was completely confused. Sure, every time the situation was different, but now I know that everything that came from those experiences wasn't a waste." Smirking confidently, I knew that my words had been making sense considering Taiitsukun hadn't interrupted me yet. "I know that it may be bad to get the others tangled into my own problems—in fact, it may even be real selfish and I hate thinking that they might get hurt because of me—but who's to say that going along with Miaka and the others won't be beneficial to me? I don't see why our stories can't intertwine with one another's. Besides, Miaka needs me to be around—I can't just leave her here. Also," I turned to face the three guys who were off to the side, respecting the private meeting between me and Taiitsukun while talking amongst themselves, "I've already met some interesting characters here. Them, plus the fact that I'm a little curious as to where this whole thing is going, is a good enough reason to want to stick around." Facing the old woman again, I told her, "Sure, it may be a bit of challenge juggling both storylines, but I think that I can handle it. After all, I've been able to take all of the other crap the universe has been dumping on me. This experience will only make me stronger."

Or kill me.

I knew I just sounded all confident and all, but the fact of the matter was that I was quite afraid. So far, something bad has always managed to happen in the worlds—whether it was separating myself from someone I cared about, or nearly being killed by the Shadow Maidens and their lackeys. Things were most definitely going to get more difficult and even with my powers, I wasn't one hundred percent sure that I could take it all. But like before, I wouldn't dare show my fear. I'd put on a brave face and fight through it—especially for Miaka's sake. Staying strong was also necessary for me getting my wish. My true love was out there somewhere and I still believed that suffering for it was worth it.

I sure hoped that that was true.

As I sat there waiting for her reaction, all she did was float there with her eyes closed, looking as if she were processing new information. When she opened them again, she gave me a rather stern look. "If you're going to do this, then fine. It's not really by business as to how you decide to go about attaining your wish—just don't neglect your duties of handling the Shadow Maidens and all other dark forces plaguing this world." I nodded, thankful that we didn't get into some big argument over this. She looked over at the three guys who immediately seemed to stiffen when her eyes lay upon them. It seemed like she had the same intimidating affect she once had on me when we first met—don't get me wrong, she was still a pretty creepy-looking old lady, but I've gotten used to her—more or less. "You three, come here. It's about time that you got going—staring at the ground all day will not bring the priestess back any faster."

"Taiitsukun, milady, do you have any idea when Miaka will return?" Hearing Hotohori ask that caused Nuriko to twitch a little.

"She will appear when she believes that she is ready. Until then, it would be best for you all to return to your lives."

Trying to prevent the emperor from asking even more about Miaka, Nuriko came in with his own question. "What if we were to find the other Suzaku warriors in the meantime?" I chuckled. Of course he suggests something that would involve him traveling some more with Hotohori.

Taiitsukun shook her head. "It is the priestess' job to go out and look for her companions. You all are obligated to assist her, but not perform her duties. I'm afraid that you will all have to be patient." Thinking that Tamahome might want to ask something, I looked over at him. What I discovered was that he had a solemn look on his face as he repeatedly glanced back at the spot where Miaka had been transported back. Just when I thought that things would be fine between those two since their talk at the lake, the events that unfolded afterwards, including Miaka going home, seemed to keep those two's potential relationship from ever happening. I just hoped that when she came back, they would finally be honest—or should I say that he be honest—after all, she already confessed—about their feelings.

The three guys finally managed to close in the huge gap between themselves and Taiitsukun when she finally continued. "Now, before you all return, another issue just came to my attention." Before I could react properly, she whacked me in the back of the head once again with that blasted plastic hammer. Considering it hadn't been long since she had gotten me before, I silently cursed as my body made its way to the floor again, right back in the crouched-over position with my hands holding my head from the pain. The others looked to her in comical fear that she might do the same thing to them—even Tamahome managed to snap his focus back on the issue at hand.

While cringing in pain, I looked up at her once more. "Oh. My. Gosh. What the hell did I do this time?"

"That was for being an idiot and engaging yourself in hand-to-hand combat."

I failed to see the error in that. "So what?"

"You are a sorceress and added to that, you yourself know that your physical abilities aren't exactly something to brag about. You lack in physical skill, strength, and endurance, so even attempting to put yourself in the front of a battle like that could be dangerous. A spell caster such as yourself should be in the back or off to the side doing what you have spent so long mastering in—magic!" Without allowing me to refer my thoughts on the subject, she continued. "And don't tell me that you haven't noticed your energy depleting whenever you use that Tornado Fist of yours. Although it has some magical elements to it, it is still more physical which in most cases—and in the long run—will cause you more harm than your enemies. It may even eventually get you killed. Don't use that technique unless you absolutely have to. Otherwise, stick to spells. I imagine that you are clever enough to cast quickly or evade any problems for when you need to recite an incantation." With a threatening look, she grasped the incredible toy hammer that just seems to come out of nowhere most of the time. "I will not allow your boldness and recklessness get you killed in such a disgraceful way—especially when you can prevent it from happening." During this whole lecture, it had occurred to me that she wasn't mentioning how I was keeping my powers a secret for fun when I first entered this world. Either she wasn't aware that that was the reason as to why my magic was at a minimum, or she just didn't think it was necessary to spill out since it was sort of implied in the whole "I will not allow your boldness and recklessness get you killed" thing. But the fact that she was telling me how to fight was ticking me off a bit—even if it did make total and complete sense. I'd just never admit that.

Taiitsukun faced the guys. "You three are all skilled in close-combat fighting and therefore are combatable with Akimoto who is a Master Sorceress—meaning that she is a ranged fighter. I am counting on you all to fight alongside her and protect her while she's casting spells—"

"Hold up! I don't need those guys holding my hand. You even said it yourself, I am a Master Sorceress. That wouldn't mean anything if I couldn't use my own skills and abilities to protect myself." I turned to face the concerned look of my friends. "I'm already intruding in this world and in these guys' lives—bringing my own problems and monsters into the mix. I really don't want them to get hurt because they have to support me."

Almost instantly, the old woman flew up right in my face causing me to arch my back a little. "What did I just say about being reckless? You apparently don't remember your track record. Let's take a look back at them shall we?" She took a deep breath. "You went off by yourself to fight that outrageously strong demon, Naraku, when you were just barely starting out with magic. If you hadn't gotten lucky, you'd have been dead and absorbed by now. You lost focus in your first fight against the Shadow Maidens and forced those two young men with a family curse to come and save you. You put yourself up against a bunch of thugs without assessing the situation properly and ended up by almost getting yourself quickly murdered with one of those guns. And again, you put yourself up at risk against some more men who were bigger than you—somehow tempting you to not use your magic and went with hand-to-hand combat—resulting in you almost drowning if it wasn't for yourspecialfriend saving you." She stressed "special" when she meant Hikaru. "You stupidly went up against me even after realizing that you were and are out of your league. Oh, and let's not forget that one time when your powers weren't working and yet you decided to go off against almost a thousand Shadow Maidens. If those men didn't come to rescue you, you would not still be alive—"

"Okay! I get it! I've made some bad choices. Sue me why don't cha?" Holy crap! I honestly didn't think that I did all that! Not only did Taiitsukun's words remind me of how much I had been through, but she also reminded me about all the times my life was almost ended. Huh. Maybe I am reckless.

"You are strong, there is no doubt about that, but there are extenuating and unpredictable circumstances that put you in dangerous situations where you yourself cannot defend yourself properly—whether it be you temporarily have energy fluctuations, or are ambushed, or overrun with Shadow Maidens, you need help. So stop acting like an idiot and accept the help!"

Taken aback, I couldn't quite form the right words to say. It had never really been my thing to ask others for help. All my life, I had to rely on myself to get through all my problems—especially after Kajou died. Since people didn't want to get close, I had to learn to rely on me, myself, and I to get through everything. At first, it was hard—really hard—but then I got used to the fact that I was completely alone. In fact, I started to count on the fact that others wouldn't stick around me. I didn't want anyone to get hurt because of me—and I didn't want to get hurt if someone got close and decided that they couldn't take it.

Now, I was being asked to ask for help which was a completely foreign thing to me. The danger was even higher—now more than ever. I still didn't know if I wanted other's involved with all this. Sure, I decided to stay and help out Miaka, but I was planning on keeping my stuff off to the side—handling on my own—and not letting her or the others battling my own demons. I couldn't ask them to do that. I wasn't willing to abuse their friendship and ask them to risk their lives for me. For almost a year, I had been training just so that I would make sure that I wouldn't die from whatever had it out for me. So, I knew that I wasn't weak. But was I fooling myself in thinking that I could handle everything on my own?

Unexpectedly, I felt two hands rested on both if my shoulders. Looking to my sides, I discovered that it was both Tamahome and Hotohori.

"You need not fret Akimoto. We would be more than happy to help you." The emperor smiled. "You seem to be sensitive whenever someone says that they want to protect you. So, how about we say that we'll fight alongside you as equals? There's no harm in that, right?"

"Honestly, Aki," I switched over to Tama, "That pride of yours seems to have gotten you into a lot of trouble." It wasn't really pride—well, it was to some extent, but it was mostly the other thing. "Just accept that we're going to be around. So why not let us be there for you?" My heart couldn't help but flutter a bit as my face started to heat up.

Bringing my head down, I asked quietly, "Why would you do all this? Why would you go so far as to help someone that you just met? I'm not even your priestess. I know that Nuriko didn't mean it when he had said it, but he was right when he said that I didn't belong here. At least not with the Suzaku people…"

"And I told you that you do belong here." Nuriko spoke up with a playful arrogant tone. "Jeez! Why do you have to make such a big deal out of this? You're in this group whether you like it or not." He winked. "Okay?"

As I stood there staring at the three—each with a look of understanding on their faces—I tried to refrain myself from tearing up like a baby. Replying, I spoke quietly. "You guys…" Thank you.

"What do you mean by 'you're leaving'?"

It had been about a week since the events that had unfolded at Mt. Taikyoku. Taiitsukun had told everyone to go back to their everyday lives until Miaka returned, and that was exactly what had happened. Hotohori went back to performing his royal duties as emperor, Nuriko went back to lounging around the palace—with the occasional drooling over Hotohori, Tamahome hadn't really been motivated to do stuff since he seemed pretty down about Miaka leaving, and I…have been doing absolutely nothing—and that annoyed me so much. Coming to a new world was supposed to mean me actually doing something—you know, either looking for Shadow Maidens and defeating them, or finding my true love. Lying around doing nothing while waiting for Miaka certainly wasn't going to move anything along. It also didn't help to know that time moved differently between these two worlds. If this world was really moving at an accelerated time rate than the other, then it could take weeks or even months until she returned. There was no way in hell that I was going to sit on my ass all day looking at the sky and wondering what could have been.

One day, I had decided to go and explore this still foreign world on my own. For all I knew, I had to go find the things I was sent there for, not waiting around hoping that they came to me. This is what led me into the throne room talking with Nuriko and Hotohori about my plans. They both seemed pretty surprised by my sudden decision.

"Well, until Miaka comes back, I don't really see a good reason for me staying here." Hoping that I wouldn't hurt their feelings, I added, "It's not that I don't want to stick around and hang with you guys, but like you guys, I have my own agenda. Truth is I feel like I came here for something, and I really want to take the opportunity of Miaka leaving for me to go out and get some of that something done." Still feeling as if I was saying something wrong, my talking gained speed. "Really, I'm not trying to get away from you guys—especially after you said that you wanted me around and that you'll help. I—"

Hotohori put up a hand to silence me. "Akimoto, I understand. I can imagine that this enormous palace wouldn't suit your fancy for so long without anything to do. We cannot go out looking for the other warriors without our priestess, so I can see why you'd feel cooped up here." He gave a warm smile. "I don't see why you should be forced to stay as we all wait idly by for Miaka."

I sighed with relief. "Thank you for saying that. Are you sure that you aren't offended or anything?"

"I don't see why I should be—"

"I'm offended!" Nuriko complained. Even after that whole adventure we just had, he still wore the royal women's clothing and still looked very much like a woman. I guess some thing's just take some time to get used to. "How can you just leave me here? You're supposed to be helping me with—" While blushing he glanced at Hotohori who was looking at us curiously. "Some things."

Giving him a playful smile, I told him, "And I can get mixed up in whatever whacky schemes you have when I get back. I'm sure you can wait a little longer." It wasn't that I didn't want to help him out—it was just that I didn't want to delay my mission any further.

"Do you require anything for your journey? Would you wish for Tamahome, Nuriko, and I to assist you?" Hotohori asked.

I shook my head. "No, it's not necessary. Thanks for the offer, but once again, I'm not your priestess. So you shouldn't change around your schedules for me." Before he had the chance to oppose, I added, "Besides, we'll all have our chance at bonding when I tag along on your Suzaku journey as soon as Miaka returns."

When I stopped talking, I could feel as his eyes observed me while he pondered. "Well, I will miss you as well as all the commotion that's been around the palace since you two ladies have arrived, but I will not stop you from doing what you feel needs to be done. Are you certain that you do not wish to stay at least one more night? Or maybe perhaps I could have my servants prepare something for your journey—"

"Hotohori! I'll be fine!" It was really sweet how he was so concerned about me, but I really didn't want to be fussed over—mostly because I wasn't used to being fussed over. I couldn't help but blush from embarrassment. "You worry too much. Everything will be fine! And I'll make sure to try my best to avoid any and all hand-to-hand combat. Taiitsukun pretty much whacked it into my head that that is forbidden to me." Of course, I hoped that I wouldn't end up fighting at all, but we all knew how lucky I had been in the "hope" department.

Trying to avoid His Highnesses' concerned gaze, I switched my focus onto Nuriko. "Hey, do you know where Tamahome is? I wanted to say good-bye before I left."

He sighed as his eyes trailed towards the open doors behind him. "I think I saw him somewhere outside. Trust me, he won't be hard to find—just look for the guy slugging around in self-misery." Like I had mentioned earlier, Tama was really stuck in the blues since Miaka left. He totally wasn't acting like himself—walking into walls, staring off into space, absentmindedly chewing on plates, sitting around while birds perched on him…yeah the guy wasn't doing too well. This was only another obvious example of how much he cared about that girl—he had it real bad.

"Well, I guess I'll try and get him to focus on something else for at least a minute. Then when I'm done, he can go back to sulking." I purposely bit my tongue with that last word—sulking. Gosh, I did not like that word—especially after that day in the mall.

Just as I was about to turn and walk out, Hotohori spoke up. "Wait Akimoto." Facing him again, I he reached into his long sleeve and took out something that was wrapped in some cloth. Peaking my curiosity, I completely turned my whole body in his direction. When he unwrapped the mysterious object, it was revealed to be a knife of some sort. Well, to be more accurate, it looked more like one of those kunai that ninja's had in anime or movies—consisting of the diamond-ish shaped blade, and a short hilt that was decorated with the countries—or Suzaku's—colors of crimson and gold. At the very bottom of the hilt was a metallic gold crest of the outlining of Suzaku. The kunai—which I decided to call it since that was exactly what it looked like—was actually really impressive and seemed to be like new.

Extending his arm, kunai in hand, he presented it to me. "I was waiting for the right time to give you this, but since you're about to leave, I figured that now was more appropriate."

Eyes widening, I gave him a puzzled look. "What's this for?" I wasn't really a weapon person, so the fact that he was giving this to me threw me off a bit.

"Well, I realized that the chances of you always being around us either in battle or an a journey weren't completely absolute. So, I took the liberty of having this weapon made for you during those times when you were forced to fight without your magic, close combat, or hand-to-hand combat." Walking up to me, he took my hand and put the kunai in it. "If you take this with you, then I'll be more assured of your safety."

"Hoto…hori…" I honestly couldn't believe that he cared so much to go out of his way to have this weapon made for me—just so that I could be safe. Getting the heating sensation in my face, I asked him, "What about Miaka? She doesn't even have any powers." Shaking my head, I gave a believable performance of being mead. "You shouldn't do things like this especially when you have a priestess that requires your full attention. You know that I have powers and that I can defend myself just fine. You should be giving this to the person that you're devoted too!"

Staring at my response in astonishment, he suddenly got serious. "For Miaka, I would use my own body as a shield and wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice my life. If I had things my way, I wouldn't even allow her to see the dangers of battle. For her to even have a weapon…I wouldn't allow it. I shall be her weapon and her shield—the other Suzaku warriors as well." He looked me in the eye. "But you…I'm not sure if you're aware of it, but I worry about you as well. I know fully well how strong you are—you may even be able to defeat me—but you still have your weaknesses. Lady Taiitsukun made that very clear." I almost retorted with "well, you shouldn't always believe what you hear", but I knew that both Taiitsukun and Hotohori were right—and I hated that so much. As I was about to speak, he went on. "The symbol of our god Suzaku at the bottom is the royal crest. With it, you can go anywhere and buy anything you need, or go anywhere you want. Show it to people, and they'll know that you're a friend of the emperor." Part of me wanted to decline such a thing, but since I wasn't really worth anything in this world, something like that was pretty darn handy!

Letting out a deep exhale, I grasp the kunai and made it my own. "I guess since you went through all that planning and trouble over me, then I suppose that I have no choice but to take it." Smiling, I told him, "Thanks a lot!" Sure, it was true that I had absolutely no idea how to even use this, but people on TV didn't seem to have a problem with it—so how hard could it possibly be? And it was for emergencies, so I probably wouldn't even end up using it much.

As he returned the smile and said, "I am happy that I was able to assist you", I could practically feel the raging heat of jealousy emitting from Nuriko as he witnessed the whole scene between Hotohori and I. Choosing to ignore his intense glare, I closed my eyes and silently chuckled nervously to myself. Well it's not like I asked him to do that Nuriko. Don't be so pissed off of little things.

To my surprise, he immediately changed his face to a pleasant, happy one, and actually spoke up. "Your Highness, is there anything that you would like me to have?"

Hotohori gave him a sincere look of bewilderment. "Like what?" He pondered. "No, I don't believe there was anything…Is there something in particular that you would like?"

Getting a sense that his anger was quickly returning, Nuriko spun around and stomped towards the exit, mumbling something to himself.

Just as I watched him make his way to the open double-doors, my head began to pulsate—a flash of red light overwhelming my vision. Finding myself looking into some area, I found that my eyesight was a bit blurry—which was odd considering my visions tend to be crystal clear. The one thing that I could make out was a girl around Miaka's age with short, dull-blonde hair—that seemed to be in a similar style to Momiji Sohma's hair—and seemingly confused midnight-blue eyes. She even had on the same brown middle-school uniform as Miaka. It didn't take long for me to realize that that girl was Yui Hongo, Miaka's best friend—the one we had spent the beginning of our time in this world trying to find. She was walking somewhere and looked scared. No matter how much I squinted, I just couldn't identify her whereabouts. Was she in our world? Or by some chance did she return to the Universe of the Four Gods? When I tried to focus harder, I felt as if my brain was being squeezed. And before the vision could even progress, my sight was soon starting to be filled with a black cloud, blocking me from even being able to go on with observing my vision. Eventually, I could feel my energy being drained from attempting to persist with seeing what someone was trying to tell me about Yui. Blinking hard, I fell to the ground with my head spinning in many different directions.

As I opened them back up, I could see that I was back in the throne room being surrounded by Hotohori and Nuriko. Holding my head, I asked, "What the hell was that?" It was more of a question to myself since I knew those two wouldn't have been able to answer.

Nuriko shook his head. "You tell us. The moment I turn my back, you end up on the floor for no reason."

"Tell us Akimoto, what happened?"

"I—I don't know. It was…weird…" Weird was the easy way of explaining it. Never before had I been blocked out of a vision. Why was it that when I saw Yui, everything just totally went wrong? Sighing, I thought to myself, I hope everything's all right. She'll probably be fine once she finds Miaka. Perhaps she looked confused because she couldn't find her…

"Aki?"

Trying to disperse their concern, I told them, "Don't worry about it. I'll try and figure this stuff out. It was probably nothing!" Boy did I hope it was nothing. Quickly getting myself up, I remembered that I had a weapon in my hand. Using my power, I made it disappear into a personal space—just as I had done in the past with my wand and spell book. Seeing their eyes widen, I explain. "It's for safe keeping. That way I know that I won't lose it." Allowing them to process everything that's happened, I nonchalantly walked outside to find Tamahome. Luckily he wasn't all that hard to find 'cause…well… You know that feeling you get sometimes when you know someone is there without even looking? Well, that was what happened to me when I walked outside. Following my gut, I looked onto the roof of the throne room and saw him sitting there, cross-legged, with a far off look on his face.

"Tamahome." He didn't budge. "Tamahome." My voice got progressively more irritant and loud. "Tamahome!" Still nothing. Taking a deep breath, I shouted. "YO! TAMAHOME!" At the same time as my outburst, a gust of wind shot out and knocked him back, snapping him out of the trance. `

"Hey! What was that for?" He yelled back.

Smiling victoriously, I told him, "For being a spaced-out spaz who wouldn't acknowledge me." While he gave me a nasty look, I said. "Come on, I only need you for two seconds. Then you can go back to moping your life away."

"I am not 'moping'."

I scoffed. "Yet another thing you're in denial about."

"What do you mean?"

"It doesn't matter." My face softened. "Miaka will come back, you just have to wait patiently. She knows now that she has an obligation here. She wouldn't leave you guys hanging. I know she seems all peppy, and spazzy and stuff, but she's actually a very loyal person—and I have a feeling that you know that already. Plus we all know that she's a persistent one, so don't sweat!" Seeing how he was taking my words to heart, I added, "Besides all of those things, she has a legit reason for coming back. But I'll leave what that is up to you to decide." Hoping that I made him feel slightly better—since I suck at pep talks—I stood there waiting for some sort of response.

Finally, he showed me a rather charming and thankful smile that made my heart leap. "Thanks Aki."

Feeling embarrassed, I tried to hide my flushed face by turning my back to him. "D-don't be stupid! I'm sure that I wasn't the first one to tell you those things." Turning my head to face him slightly, I changed the subject back to the main subject. "I'm leaving."

Almost immediately, and with a shocked face, asked, "What?"

"Don't trip. I'm only gonna be gone until Miaka gets back—so it's not forever. I came here to tell you good-bye for now." Hearing me say that resulted in him jumping off of the roof and right next to me, right as Nuriko walked out—causing him to accidentally fall on him.

"Tama!" Just as Nuriko was about to yell at him from annoyance, his face turned into a sly one. "I didn't think you felt that strongly about me. But you do know that my heart belongs to His Highness, right?" Tamahome quickly got off and looked away in irritation. "What's wrong, Tama-kins? Cat go your tongue?"

"Cut it out Nuriko." He told him as the cross-dresser stood up as well to wipe off his women's gown.

"Next time though, can you 'ambush' me near furniture? My clothes don't like to be handled the wrong way—"

"Ahem!" I cleared my throat real loud so that they could focus. "I'm so sorry to interrupt your game, but I'm about to leave."

Tamahome looked up as his memory returned to him. "Oh yeah…Why are you going anyway?"

Nuriko answered for me. "She says it's 'cause she has things to do and this is her best opportunity to do it since Miaka's away."

Looking at me, Tamahome gave a look combining both confusion and concern. "Things like what?"

Answering quickly, I told them, "Aki stuff."

"What kind of 'Aki stuff'?"

Getting annoyed with the banter, I ended it by saying, "'Aki stuff' that only I need to worry about. You dig?"

They both looked at each other with baffled faces and asked me, "Do we dig what?" I sighed. Uneducated, Ancient Chinese Bastards.

Not allowing myself to get mixed into teaching slang from my world, I turned my back to them with another sigh. "Never mind." Making sure that they wouldn't ask, I gave Nuriko an order. "Watch over Tamahome while I'm away."

"What? I don't need a babysitter." Tama pointed to himself.

Nuriko chuckled and rested his hands behind his head as he smiled sneakily. "Well, isn't that adorable? But," He faced me, "why do I have to do it? I'd much rather be looking over His Highness. Oh, the games we would play together…" His words trailed off as the daydreams began.

"Nuriko, focus!" I gave him a look. "I'm not telling you to hold his hand and feed him, I just want to make sure that he'll be fine for a while."

Tamahome gave me an uncomfortable look. "I'm fully capable of watching over myself. Don't treat me like I'm a kid or something—you and I are probably the same age. And I'll be fine—" All of a sudden, Nuriko grabbed him into a big hug from behind, using his monstrous strength to make sure that he doesn't escape. "Nuriko! What the hell?" Struggling, the Celestial warrior didn't even budge or break the embrace.

Ignoring him, the purple-haired guy showed a beaming smile. "Okay, since you asked so nicely. Big Sister Nuriko would be happy to watch over little Tama-kins—and His Highness! Just tell me when to put them to bed, and I am so there!"

Knowing fully well that he wouldn't try anything sinful—at least not for this situation, I gave a smile full of relief. "Great. Now I can go without any regrets." Soon, we all just stood there without anything to say (don't you just hate awkward silences?). When I felt as if all was said and done, I waved to them. "Well, I guess I'll be—"

"Hold on, Akimoto!" Hotohori came rushing out of the throne room. Wow, if only I had a quarter for all the times he either said my name or stopped me from moving forward today—I'd probably be able to buy myself a candy bar and a bag of chips. "Would you like a carriage for your travels? You may use my finest horses—"

Putting my hand up in his face in the similar "stop in the name of love" way I did the day we met, I told him. "Dude, you are smothering me. I appreciate all that you're doing and want to do, but—and listen carefully: I. Will. Be. Fine. I'll be back in no time, you won't even notice that I'm not there." That was when something occurred to me: maybe he wasn't used to having such close friends with him. I wasn't sure about how his childhood went, but judging by his reaction to all this, maybe he was really lonely like I was. But unlike me, when he makes a friend, he wants to hold onto them to make sure that they never leave—especially after knowing how wonderful it was to have known them. When I make a friend, I know that there's always a chance of them leaving me because of the dark ring's influence on them. Deep in my heart, I knew that I would eventually have to let go—I knew that even more when this journey began and when I was forced to leave my friends. So even after all I had been through, there was still a part of me that didn't have what it took to hold onto someone for dear life when I didn't want to see them gone. Even when I left Hikaru, could I have fought more to stay? Or did I unconsciously give up because there was no point?

I suppose I still lack that kind of strength…

"I know…just…be safe, okay?"

Nodding, I gave them all reassuring looks. "I don't know why you are all so shocked for. Plus you guys all act as if I'm some damsel in distress who always needs to be rescued. Well, I'd rather rescue myself—and you all know I can. Not only that," I gave Hotohori a comical sly look, "I can fly, remember?"

"Oh yes, that is true."

"So if anything bad were to happen where I couldn't handle something, I'll just get airborne. Really, it's no big." Trying to be funny, I did a fake gasp, "Or maybe you all just want me here to protect you guys! Don't fret! You are all big strong men—even you Nuriko." He gave me a look. "I'm sure you can hold down the fort until I come back, right?" I really didn't like them all focusing on me like they were. Had I known that all of this was going to happen, I would have just left a note on their doors in the middle of the night telling them that I would be away for a while. Really, I felt as if I could have avoided all of this.

Using my energy to lift myself into the air, I waved them off. "I'll be back soon, okay?"

This time, Tamahome spoke. "How will you even know when Miaka gets back?"

I shrugged. "Well, I suppose I'll just have to rely on the universe to tell me."

"The…universe?"

Giggling nervously, I told them, "Yeah…it's complicated and a bit difficult—not to mention weird—to explain. Just trust me, okay?" Levitating even higher, I shouted back down to them. "See you guys later!"

Faintly, I could hear Nuriko crying, "Good luck!"

Then I was off.

"Oh my gosh, I am so bored!"

It had been at least five hours since I left the palace. All I had been doing was flying around hoping that my senses would catch onto some negative activity somewhere on the ground below. But there was nothing—leaving me floating around like an idiot just waiting for something to happen.

Sure, I was getting the opportunity to explore more of the world—which was very clean, green, and so-not full of pollution and in danger of global warming like my "futuristic" world. It sort of reminded me of the Feudal Era Japan. Like there, this world was simplistic for the most part considering this world seemed to be slightly more advanced than in the times of the Feudal Era. Most people weren't concerned with how big and fancy things were or if they were keeping up with the latest trends. Now, I wouldn't doubt that there were people like that, 'cause like Hotohori said, something's don't change no matter what world you're in. Unfortunately, this world may have been similar to the Feudal Era in that there were demon's hiding in places just waiting to attack some unsuspecting person. From experience, I knew that all demons weren't bad, but I did know that there were enough bad ones out there to be concerned with one's safety. Other than the Shadow Kissed, I hadn't really seen anything demonic or evil in that sense. But you never know…

What to do…what to do…I sighed. Well, I haven't done a letter to the universe in a while. That will definitely pass the time.

Dear Universe,

It's been a while, hasn't it? When was the last time we had a heart to heart like this? Ah, yes, now I remember, it was when I first met the Hitachiin twins. I did an awful lot of complaining—who could blame me? The two were blackmailing me and wanted me to wear that god-awful creamy-yellow dress which was some sorry excuse for a school uniform

But this isn't about that.

I guess I had been too depressed or whatever since leaving that world to really care about giving you updates about things you already know. Since you know what's been going on since then so there really isn't much of a point in doing a long, detailed recap. Just know that I finally gave a name to the shadow creatures—now called Shadow Maidens—as well as the people they apparently have the power to possess…or something along those lines—which I have called them to be Shadow Kissed.

I am also a Master Sorceress—yup, no more wand. Apparently I was so beast with magic that I skipped Mage and went right to Master. So, good for me—bad for all the losers that cross my path.

But back to more pressing issues.

My experiences in this world have definitely been interesting ones. For starters, that hyper, food happy, cry-baby, happy-go-lucky, clinger Miaka Yuki showed up here as well. Was I surprised? You bet your ass on it. It wasn't like I wasn't happy to see her, it was just that I didn't think she should have been here. But the "Ultimate Ruler of the Universe" Taiitsukun thought that she did and that I shouldn't stick my nose into Suzaku business.

Wrinkly old bitch.

As if that wasn't weird enough, just wait until you hear about the characters I've met—as well as the drama that comes with them (it's like a new Barbie doll. You get the box and a bunch of accessories come a long with it whether you really wanted them or not). Okay, first there is Tamahome—a money-obsessed cute guy who is great at martial arts and at being in denial, Hotohori—the Emperor of Konan who is overly protective but nothing less than super sexy, hot, yummy…any synonyms would work—who may have a bit of an ego but is really sweet but kind of a tease since he's so nice to me yet loves Miaka, and finally, the most interesting of them all by far: Nuriko—the "classy", seemingly spoiled, crazy strong, sneaky, conniving (I don't mind him as much as I used to. We're better friends now…) Celestial Warrior who we all thought was a woman until recently. Sounds fun, right? Well here comes the real fun part: the love rectangle. No, not triangle, rectangle—or at least some kind of shape—because after a while it becomes ridiculous. Okay…Miaka likes Tamahome, who also likes her but won't admit it, Hotohori likes Miaka, and Nuriko likes him but pretended to like Tama. If any more people get included in this, my head will—no doubt—blow up. And where does Aki fit into all of this? She's the tiny dot standing outside of the involved rectangle. I could complain a lot about how I was supposed to be finding my love, but I feel like I've done that already.

On another note, Miaka has become some big-shot around here called the Priestess of Suzaku, who—according to the legend—is supposed to bring peace to the land. Do I think she can do it? Well…I have my doubts. I mean, I've known the girl for a while, and she doesn't come off to me like the "save the world" type. I'm not quite saying that I am…but at least I have my powers—I can protect myself. But since Miaka is serious about doing this, I have no choice but to support her and protect her as best as I can. I'm not going to allow this world to get her hurt or lose her innocence. She is really a sweet girl who shouldn't have been given such a huge role in things like this—with all of the responsibility. Not only that, it seems like she's been dealing with a bunch of relationship stuff without even being in a relationship—yet. Things like this can either hurt or help her emotionally—really hoping it's the latter.

Here's another thing, and it's something that's been bothering me for the longest time. Even I'm surprised as to why I haven't asked this yet: why am I the one who has to go through all this? Yes, I asked to go on this journey—maybe not in those exact words—but when I started, I thought that the only thing I would ever have to deal with was emotional stuff. Well, I definitely have that—and then some. Why did it end up being me who has to defeat these dark forces? I mean, I'm not complaining about the powers—in fact I think that they are the most kickass thing in the world—but I just want to know why it ended up being me who has to go up against the girls of the past? Obviously I'm connected, but for what reason? Is there something that I did to make you chose me for this?

Is it…because of the dark ring around me?

And that's another thing. I know I asked this a lot when I was younger and eventually gave up, but I feel as if it's really significant now: why is this ring around me? I can barely remember a time when I didn't have it. Sure, I eventually got used to it when I was little, but now that people want to be around me and are actually willing to suffer for me, I can stand the fact that I could be hurting them. I felt just awful when I accidentally caused it to hurt Nuriko and Tamahome. I just hate that I have this thing around me and that my life is so screwed up! If I had been a normal girl—well, more normal without my negative energy ring anyway—I would have been able to stay with Hikaru and the rest of the Host Club. This other agenda I'm expected to accomplish is really making this whole journey pretty damn bittersweet. I'm beginning to wonder if I can even fall in love at this rate. I mean, if I keep getting "assigned" to different worlds to fight Shadow Maidens, then I don't really see much of a point. Honestly, it's really feeling like you want me as a soldier more than you want me to have my wish granted.

So have you just been messing with me this whole time?

Maybe I should just keep strong feelings like that to a minimum…Inuyasha, Kyo, Hikaru, and Dark (sorta)…My whole life I had gone without holding those kinds of feeling for anyone—well, there was Yosuke back in my world, but he was more of a "I can't find anyone else so I might as well settle with this guy" sort of thing. I just can't allow myself to keep digging myself that deep—not when I could potentially leave at any time.

Okay…look universe, I'm going to tell you something, so you better be listening. If you are really serious about having me here—if you really want me here for a legit reason and not just to toy with me, then I want to see positive results. I want to find my true love real soon. If you don't deliver, then I might just quit this whole thing. You wouldn't like that much, would you? I don't have to stick around you know, I can call it quits at any time. Yeah, I really hate giving up and throwing in the towel, but when you think about it, I don't see any reason as to why or how this could possibly be my fight. Either you dish out answers and give me what I have wished for, or I walk—'cause I'm not completely sure if it is worth the suffering.

You think I'm kidding? Maybe I am. But if you were to look at my face right now…well, I'll leave it up to your sense of judgment to see whether I'm bluffing or not. I feel sorry for those girls who are now Shadow Maidens, I really do. But if you found me, you can find somebody else.

At least for now, all I'm asking for is a sign—a sign that you're listening and that there is a decent part of you that really wants me to get my wish. I truly want to find my soul mate…

Love Always, with a HUUUUGE amount of sarcasm,

Aki

Sighing, I continued flying around shortly after I finished the letter. Who am I kidding? Since when can you bargain with the universe? Like it cares whether or not I'm happy. For all I know, I'm probably the universe's play-thing. Who honestly gives a damn about their toy? Because in the long run, a toy is still a toy.

Just as I realized how my thoughts were floating all over the place, I stopped in mid-air, looking all around. It had occurred to me that I had been so out of it from the start of the letter till that point that I didn't even know where I was. For all I knew, I could have been flying in zigzags—turning right and left, right, another right, then left again. I did not know where I was and was starting to regret not asking Hotohori for something that would have probably been useful—a map. But no, instead, I was back there shooting my mouth off at him for being too protective and stuff. And now, almost six hours in, I was lost and didn't have a map. What was worse? My sense of natural direction wasn't all that great. Dammit! I was hoping that I would keep track of everything so I could at least know how to get back! How could I have been so stupid?

While being in the middle of mentally beating myself up, working myself up so much was beginning to make me hungry—which was very evident by my stomach growling like a rabid grizzly bear. Face flushing, I was glad that no one was around to hear that sound. Levitating steadily along, I started to scan the ground down below me for any place where I could get something to eat.

The moment I spot a small inn/restaurant, I make sure to land somewhere far enough away so that people don't freak out when they see some chick flying around. Yeah, I appreciate the fact that I can use my powers freely, but I want to make sure to assure everyone that I do not mean to cause mass hysteria.

Right as I landed, I made no hesitation to make my way over. It was a cute little wooden place actually—two stories, thought-out red swirls used for design, windows with Chinese designs bordering them as well as colorful flowers at the sill. I didn't get the impression that it was a fancy, formal place, but just a humble little inn or restaurant made for travelers who got hungry or tired along the way. Bless their souls.

Upon walking in, I was welcomed by a sweet old lady. As I made myself more comfortable, I discovered that there was quite a few people already there resting and getting something to eat at the many tables that occupied the first floor. In the corner you could see an opening to a petite kitchen where you could find a couple of cooks as well as a few young waitresses coming in and out. Overall, it seemed to be a friendly environment—which was much needed and deeply appreciated.

Of course there was that whole "staring at me 'cause I'm wearing 'odd' clothes" thing. But I was already used to that.

When I sat down, a small girl who looked about Miaka's age, maybe a year or two younger, walked up to me with a shy smile and asked what I would like. Noticing that they had a lack of menus, I looked around at what other people were eating. Considering I was a real picky eater, I was almost beginning to think that I wouldn't like anything they had to offer except green tea. Luckily, though, I saw what appeared to be some form of Chow Mien that this one lady was eating. Figuring that that would probably be my only and best bet at food, I ordered it, already anticipating its delectable taste. Besides that, you know what they say: hunger is always the best seasoning.

When she told me how much it was going to be, I panicked a little because I knew that I didn't have any money on me. Fortunately, I remembered the kunai as well as the other thing it was good for other than defending myself. Putting one of my hands under the table as if looking for something, the kunai was forced out of the space that it was stored in and into my hand. Bringing it up, I showed her the royal crest.

She immediately freaked out. "Oh my! I wasn't aware that you were associated with His Highness! Please forgive me!" Her face flushed as she began to bow repeatedly.

Holding up my other hand to get her to calm down, I told her, "It's okay, really! I didn't expect you to know. It's not worth bowing about…" Upon hearing my words, she bowed one more time before saying that my food would be ready soon. Immediately after, she raced back towards the kitchen. This whole situation made me giggle to myself. Her shyness is really cute! I'm sure if Renge were here, she probably would have called that girl "moe" or something. Thinking about the Host Club kind of killed my happiness a bit. Man I miss them…

Right when I was beginning to think that I was going to go back into memory lane again, some trouble started to stir in the little place.

A table full of rough-looking guys began to harass some of the waitresses—including the one that was supposed to be getting me my food.

"Hey there girlies. Why don't you bring your goods over here?" One of the guys taunted.

"I-I'm sorry. B-but we've got work to do…" When she tried to walk away, a couple of guys blocked her way, trapping her and two other girls in with the rest of the jerky bunch.

"I can give you some work to do if you like." Another guy inched closer to them.

"Please—" They grabbed the girl's wrist so that she definitely wouldn't have any means of escaping. Struggling, she tried to use her other hand to break free. I also noticed how the other two girls were embracing each other in an attempt at protection—each shaking from fear.

I growled to myself. Why the hell do they have to do this now? All I wanted was to eat in peace—nothing more! If anything, I just wanted to eat here without any hostility or without any damsels being in distress. Did I get what I wanted? No. The old sorry routine of big tough guys messing with fragile women who, once again, couldn't protect themselves was happening—which not only annoyed me, but really annoyed me since it was preventing me from even getting my food. Not only that…I scanned the room and found that everyone in there was pretending that nothing was happening and just continued going on with their daily business. Why won't anyone else help those girls? Are all these people so weak and cold that they can't even say something?

"Come on! All we want is a little fun!" With a sinister face and a deathly grip, he brought her closer. "Isn't it your job to please your customers?"

Of course I had to do something—I was always the one who had to do something. The only thing that was confusing to me was why I was always the one who had to deal with jerks like this? And whenever I have to deal with them, it was usually because they wanted to do unspeakable things to seemingly helpless women resulting in me kicking their asses. I just didn't understand why this routine kept on repeating itself. And since I was always the one around when it was happening, it made me feel like this was a separate and annoying curse all in itself. Sure, at first it wasn't so bad since it didn't happen often around me. But now, it was straight up pissing me off!

"Come on, baby. Aren't you gonna give me what I want?"

"No…Please!" She stared to cry. "Someone…help…please…"

The big thug laughed. "Who's gonna help you—"

"Look you big jerk, the lady said to leave her alone," I said out loud. Pausing what they were doing, all of them looked over at me. "Don't you think it's a bit sad that you have to come to a place where the girls have to stay? Obviously your experience with women leaves a lot to be desired." Closing my eyes, I sighed. "Well, I suppose that's to be expected with an ugly bunch like yourselves."

Feeling that I stroke a nerve with that last comment, I opened up one of my eyes to discover that the band of punks was coming to my table. And so it begins.

"You dare call us ugly, wench?" Yup, and there's that uncreative name they all like to call me. "We can really mess you up for that!" There's the threat they think they can initiate. They all circled my table. There's that whole theory about how they surround me and think that will actually help them. Jeez, it's like these guys are a broken record—or a re-run of a bad sitcom.

Making sure that my face stayed stoic, I told them, "Okay, this is gonna go one of two ways. Either you do the moronic, unoriginal thing and attack me—or make me mad—ultimately ending up in your asses being thrown out the door, or you can be smart and leave."

"What? How dare you speak to us like that!" Cooling his anger a bit, the guy added, "Do you really believe that a girl like you could actually take us? You probably wouldn't even be able to take one us down."

"Yeah, what makes you think that you will get through this without punishment?" One of them reached out to grab a few strands of my hair—which I allowed him to do only to fuel my anger and rationale for beating him to a pulp even more. "But perhaps if you apologized to us in some way, we may turn our heads from this whole ugly scene."

I smirked. "What ugly scene? You mean your face?"

Seeing a stress vein appeared at his temple caused me to feel a sense of triumph as his face reddened from anger. "Why you little wench!" Synonyms people! Sy-no-nyms! "Now we will show no mercy—"

"Hey!" An unfamiliar voice yelled out. At the same time, my body felt an odd, warming sensation that only lasted for a second—but it was real noticeable. It was brief, but it was like a warm, pleasant wave coursed throughout my whole body. When the immediate feeling passed, I looked to the open door to find a figure standing there. When the person walked in, we discovered that it was a man who looked around my age. He had on a long black trench-coat—over a white shirt—with light blue bordering around the collar and shoulders and light grey pants that were tucked into long black books with dark-grey tips. Over his trench-coat was a brass (maybe) sash and a burgundy belt around his waist as well as two lightly-jeweled necklaces that hung around his neck. His hair was a flaming orange-ish red that was in a messy style that also organized (if that makes any sense), consisting of long, thick bangs, somewhat spikey hair that stood up—resembling raging flames—as well as a patch of longer hair went a bit past his neck in the back—all complimented with green jade earrings. He had mischievous, prominent amber eyes and a lightly tanned skin tone.

My eyes widened. Oh my God…he looks like…like…Kajou! Only in a more muscular guy form! Attempting to speak, the only thing that would come out was multiple, short gasps. How is it even possible? He could be her twin! Well fraternal anyway…but still! What the hell is this?

Realizing that everyone had gone silent for him, he went on with his proclamation. "All I was tryin' to do was eat! I haven't eatin' a proper meal in weeks, so I'd appreciate it if the loud bastards would shut the hell up!" As I sat there, frozen in place and shaking, the thugs deserted me and made their way over to the irritated newcomer.

"Hey you punk! You dare call us out?" One of the thugs asked the guy.

The flame-headed man gave him a nasty look. "If yer out to disturb my feast, then yes, I am callin' you out. What're you gonna do about it?"

"What are we gonna do?" Their leader grabbed the young man by his collar and brought him in closer as her laughed—causing his gang members to laugh as well. "Well, we're gonna mess you up is what we're gonna do. A tough kid like you should learn not to stick your sorry ass into something you can't handle."

"Well, I was really hopin' that you all would get wise and leave," The mysterious guy smirked, "But I guess I'll have to beat it into you." In the blink of an eye, the guy swiftly brought his leg up and licked the thug in the jaw, making him let go of the guy's collar and fall back in pain. "Believe me, when I'm done, you'll me itchin' to get outta here. You know, if I allow ya to get out of here." That did it. Almost immediately, the group of brutes charged at the seemingly defenseless guy. But to everyone's surprise, the guy dished out a barrage of kicks, punches, and throws erupted from him, sending his enemies flying to all sides of the room, and even harshly onto the floor below.

All I could do was look at him as a stream of thoughts invaded my head. It isn't possible! Why is the universe teasing me like this? It's been years since I saw Kajou…and seeing someone who has similar features as her…it still hurts… Without warning, tears started to form and blur my vision. Why am I crying? He is obviously not her—for so many reasons—him being a guy is one of them—but still…My heart squeezed in my chest from the optical perception, and I knew I had to calm down since, to anyone else, this was nothing. I shouldn't have been worked up over something—especially something like this.

In the middle of my thoughts, I hadn't even realized that the fight was already over and the thugs had all run off, leaving the place in shambles.

Putting his hand on his shoulder and moving his neck around, the guy said to himself, "Well, at least that's over. Now I can eat peacefully—Wait." He started looking around. "Why do I have the weirdest feeling that someone is starin' at me?" When he turned around, we were finally face to face—red eyes to amber eyes.

Walking up closer to me, he leaned down so that we had a better talking distance. Giving me a bewildering look as he scanned me bottom to top, he asked, "Is there somethin' wrong with you er somethin'? Why're you starin' at me?" He smiled confidently. "I didn't mean to completely blow yer mind there, but people shouldn't get in the way of a hungry man." He has fangs… Seeing as how my face's expression wouldn't change, his smile fell as he continued to observe me. "You know…you're staring is gettin' a bit creepy…"

Realizing that I was still in the inn and surrounded by people—not to mention some random, macho guy—I knew that I had to gather myself together and get the hell out of there. Screw the food! I don't care about that anymore. I just have to leave! Drying my shameful tears, I stood up from my seat without a word and made my way towards the door—completely ignoring the existence of the flaming-haired guy who was talking to me.

As I brushed by, I couldn't stop myself from uttering the words, "Your face bothers me…"

Not to my surprise, the, now offended, guy shouted out, "Hey!" And forcibly grabbed my shoulder to turn me around. The moment his hand made contact with me, something…odd happened. A similar pleasant and warm feeling circulated through every fiber of my being and I couldn't even remember any of my worries. I felt strong, empowered. The peculiar part of the whole thing was that everything in the world seemed to have disappeared in a sea of golden light—the only thing—or person—that was visible was the man holding onto me. Looking at him, it seemed like he was feeling a probably the exact same sensation. It was…amazing!—with a lack of better words.

When everything subsided, all previous feelings of dread returned, and the both of us seemed to have returned to the restaurant—people acting as if nothing had even happened a few seconds ago. Did anything happen? What was that? As we continued to stare at each other in awe, his touch sends a slight jolt through my body, which, evidently, wanted me to stay there, but due to my personality, made me pull away and out of his grasp.

Not knowing what the proper response to all that would be, I just stood there, wondering if he would say anything.

And boy did he.

"What the hell was all of that? What did'ja do ta me?" He jumped away pointed in useless fury. "Are you some type o' witch er somethin'?"

Hearing the familiar hated nickname in combination with whatever just happened between us allowed me to snap out of my previous thoughts about him looking similarly to my big sister. Without thinking rationally, I gathered my energy for a spell. Raising my arms, I shouted, "Explosion Array!" Immediately after, the ground below formed a circular ring of white light around the two if us, soon followed by it bursting in some sort of blast causing the guy to be sent flying upwards and away from the circle—along with any of the rubble that got caught as well.

Figuring that I probably knocked out the guy, I scanned around the room to see a bunch of people cooped up in the corner, eyes widened with expressions of shock and fear. Thinking that my staying any longer would ultimately put the place into ruin, I decided to make a quick getaway. Things were already weird enough with that guy showing up and causing my mind and emotions to go haywire—and he hadn't even been there ten minutes!

Walking quickly and embarrassed by my outburst, I made my way out of the place and back into the sunlight. Just as I was about to launch myself into the air, a firm hand grabbed at my wrist, sending yet another odd spark racing through my veins.

Hesitating to glance back, I saw that it was the flame-haired guy—grasping on with a ticked-off face and all. He had scratches and dirt over him from the attack, making me completely surprised that he was still standing straight—and that he was even conscious.

With a growl in his voice, he asked, "Why the hell did'ja do that?"

Completely understanding why he was angry, I took my arm away and gave a slight bow. "I'm sorry. I initially didn't mean for that to happen." I'm not even completely sure why I did that. It must have been the way he snapped me out of my shock. Calling me a witch was not a good idea. But there was no way he could possibly know that—so I should probably give this guy some slack. Bringing my upper body back up, I continued to avert my eyes due to his appearance still bothering me.

The guy didn't seem to take my sincerity too well, though. "Sorry? Sorry? You send me flyin' an' all you can say is 'sorry'? Ya did that on purpose you psycho witch!" Feeling that that name was extremely uncalled for, I shot him a threatening look that didn't seem to faze him. "This is one of the reasons why I hate women! You all have these freaky and unbearably irritatin' mood swings fer no good reason!" What? Figuring that this guy was a huge jerk, I tried to refrain myself from lashing out at him. Even I knew that I had to keep my emotions at bay—for the most part—to make sure that nothing…extreme happens. Yeah, it was sure enough that I had a significantly better handle on my emotional magic casting than in the past, but this didn't mean that my mental walls wouldn't slip up every now and then. So fortunately for this chump, I calmed myself down. As I refused to let him get to me—or let me show that he had gotten to me—I just stood there, glaring at him, without a word. "And that's another thing: why the hell would'ja say that my face bothered you? I don't even know you!" Upon discovering that I wouldn't answer, he started to get even more annoyed. Forcibly putting his hand on my head, he pushed down, making it so that I couldn't look away. You're really pushing your luck dude…What I didn't understand was why I wasn't trying to get out of this. I could have easily ditched this guy… "Look woman, you better answer me. I just saved yer life so you owe me—"

"Okay, that's it!" I exploded, causing him to fall back a bit when his hand was pushed away. "First of all, you didn't 'save my life'. You have absolutely no idea what I am capable of—you just happened to show up at a certain time. Had you arrived a few seconds later, those punks would have already been dealt with by yours truly. And besides the fact that you're being a complete dink, I have no obligations to tell you anything. So just step off!"

Taking a moment to be surprised, he completely recovered. "Oh, now you decided to speak up? Before you were crying like some helpless girl—no surprise there. And now you're being a complete bitch." He narrowed his eyes at me. "Just like a woman."

Feeling a nerve of mine snap, the wind started to pick up as I gritted my teeth. "You…How dare you call me 'helpless'! That's certainly not the reason why I was crying—and the reason is of no importance to you. So if I were you, I would watch myself before taking another step." Hearing him scoff at my threat boiled my anger even more. "Look, if you think that I'm so freakin' defenseless, then why don't you fight me?"

His eyebrow cocked up. "There's no point. Besides, I don't fight women—real men don't engage in things like that. It's either combat against an equal or stronger man, or nothin'." Chauvinistic jerk! Not caring about what I had to say, he turned his back at me before attempting to walk away.

Taking in a deep breath, I shouted, "You think you're a real man? Ha! Real men wouldn't back down from a fight! Unless…you're scared to face off with a woman!" He stopped. "You can't just expect me to let you walk away from this after talking to me like that, do you?"

Turning his head, he looked at me out of the corner of his eye. "With that spunkiness and mouth of yours, perhaps I would teach you a lesson. But I'm in the middle of doin' somethin' and don't need any other kind of distraction." Going back to face the direction in which he was walking, he added, "You've already made me waste too much time."

Seeing how little of me he took seriously, I was determined to not allow him to get out of this so easily. Stomping on the ground, I used my power over Earth to create a hole under one of his feet, causing it to get trapped the moment I closed it. Struggling to get out, he yelled back at me. "What the hell did you do?"

"Listen to me you jerk. If I'm as weak as you say I am, then this shouldn't take too long, right?" It was so weird—the way I was feeling. Never had I felt such strong emotions like this. Sure, I had felt anger, sadness, jealousy, as well as others. But for some reason, this felt different—almost as if my emotions were given a temporary caffeine boost. In fact, I was certain that if I were happy instead of ticked off at this moment, my happiness levels would be shooting through the roof! Why is my being around this guy doing this to me? Was it because of what happened between us?

Growling, he bared his fangs. "Fine. I'll only fight you because you're an annoying obstacle that needs to be put in her place." He sighed. "I really can't have this last long…" That's when something peculiar happened. Some sort of message was sent to me...They weren't thoughts. They were...feelings? Yeah, there were feelings of anxiety and excitement...but these specific ones didn't belong to me. They were...coming from the guy? It was so weird. He was saying how this would be a waste of time and yet he's anticipating me. I could tell because his feelings were as clear as day! Why was I able to know what he was feeling? Could he do the same to me?

Tuning back to the task at hand, I put my confusion in the back of my mind for further investigation at a later time. Releasing his foot, I told him, "A piece of advice: when going up against me, I suggest that you get rid of that smug attitude—that's my thing!" When he turned to face me with an obviously irritated demeanor, I didn't waste any time in focusing my energy on my first attack.

ATTENTION READERS: This is the Beta version of LH5W, if you want to read the official, updated version of the story, you'll have to go over to DeviantArt. com and head on over to my page. My username is Aloubell. You can also get there by going to my fanfiction. net profile which provides a link over there.
In any case, this Beta version is basically the rough draft of LH5W, my first attempt at it. Much of the plot points from this version will be the same in the official version, but there are significant and consistent characterization changes, a few (but very important) plot differences, expansion of past ideas, and overall better quality in storytelling.

All of this will be done over on DeviantArt. I no longer will write the story in traditional prose nor submit/update it here to fanfiction. net. The Beta version will remain here, just know that it isn't the 100% official story.
The official version will be written in a lazy prose mixed with play-writing elements (you'll get what I mean when you see it).
This is the new format for the story from now on.
So please head on over there if you're interested in updates to the story! Thank you for stopping by =D

-Aloe

PLEASE NOTE: The official version is being written somewhat out of order. The official version will start on chapter 46, the place where the Beta version left off. The official version will go on to complete the last chapters of Season 2. Once those are done, I will redo the story over again from Chapter 1 which will be the official version.

Having said that, if you choose to continue on reading, I hope you enjoy the Beta version and look forward to the official!