"Hachi! Get your ass out here!" Ana yelled.
"Go away!"
"NO! Emo time is over!" Ana screamed back.
There was the sound of a door slamming from downstairs. Ana looked over the railing and saw Ariha walking up the stairs in her stocking feet.
"What are you doing here?" Ana asked, taking in Ariha's dripping hair.
Her hair was falling loose of its bun.
"I'm helping," Ariha replied.
She spun, kicking in the Hachi's door. Ana stared in shock while Ariha stormed in.
"Get out of my room!" Hachi cried.
Ariha sighed.
"My father is dead," she announced.
Hachi stared at her.
"My father is dead," Ariha repeated. "And it is killing me. But I will not allow it to hinder my responsibilities. Your brother is alive. He's not dead! So suck it up! It's time we all got our act together. And the first thing we need to do is find our leader."
Ana peeked in the room. Hachi stood slowly.
"Let's do this!" she declared.
Taykoe ducked behind a dumpster, peeking at the parked car in front of the towering building. Nobu stood beside one, holding an umbrella. Beside him was a girl. They were speaking to a woman who was preparing to get into the car. Taykoe's ears perked up. Now she could hear them. The woman was in the car and it was pulling away.
"Ready?" the girl asked.
Nobu reached into his back pocket, removing a small remote like object.
"One explosion, coming up," he said.
Taykoe's eyes widened as the car exploded. The sound sent a shock wave through her ears and she let out a loud yelp, clamping her hands over them. Her voice alerted the pair outside the building. They both spun, looking straight at her.
"A mew!" the girl yelled, pointing.
Taykoe gulped and then bolted, the rain beating down on her. She could hear footsteps on the rain slicked streets behind her and sped up. A glint of light caught her eye. Instinctively, she leapt back, narrowly dodging the sword that seemed to cut through the rain itself. Taykoe landed in a puddle, hardly noticing as she stared the blonde man before her. He pointed his sword at Taykoe, the blade just barely missing her nose.
"Remember me as you die. I am Keito," he said, raising his blade.
Taykoe reached for her whip as his sword fell. Too slow she realized that she wasn't going to make it.
"HOLD IT!"
Keito froze, looking over his shoulder.
"Kei?" he asked.
Taykoe peeked around Keito as Kei approached. Kei stopped a few feet away.
"Ai, what are you doing?" he asked, smiling warmly at her.
Taykoe stared at him bewildered. Kei winked before turning to face Keito.
"This is Ai. A friend of Haru's," he said.
Kei sighed.
"She heard me talking to Haru about running night drills to look for the mews and, well, you see the result," he said.
Taykoe looked up at Kei and Keito looked at her. A small smile had warmed his features.
"Forgive me Miss Ai."
He offered his hand which Taykoe took, allowing him to pull her up. Kei's hand wrapped around her shoulder.
"Sorry again, Keito-san," Kei said, drawing Taykoe away.
"Thanks for the save," Taykoe whispered when they were far enough away.
"It wasn't my idea," Kei replied with a cold tone.
"Then whose was it?" Taykoe asked.
Kei led her around the corner where Ariha stood waiting with Keiichi.
"Hey gorgeous," Keiichi greeted.
"Was it him?" Taykoe asked.
"I doubt the mental capacity on his brain could handle any plan, even one of such low levels of ingenious as this one," Kei remarked.
Keiichi smirked.
"You know, this is why I hate not being able to read your mind. I can't prepare myself for such hurtful insults," he joked.
Taykoe smiled at him before turning to Ariha.
"You came back," she said.
Ariha crossed her arms.
"Kind of hard not to when Keiichi insists on it. Of course, he only wanted me to come back because he likes you," she said.
Keiichi's head swiveled around fast enough for him to get whiplash. Ariha smiled, looking at him with a challenging look.
"You read minds, I read people," she declared.
Keiichi turned away stubbornly.
"You're just cocky because now your mind is blocked from me."
Keiichi pointed at Kei.
"On the other hand, yours is opening up."
Kei smirked.
"And now it's closing."
"Speaking of closing, I think our window of oppurtunity is closing. We need to go," Ariha said.
She looked at Taykoe.
"And you need to untransform."
Taykoe nodded in agreement and focused on untransforming.
"Where are the others?" she heard Kei ask as she came out of her transformation.
"In the car. Ana didn't want to get wet so she didn't let Hachi out and I made the twins stay in order to ensure that Hachi doesn't die."
"Smart thinking," Taykoe praised.
Ariha smirked.
"What did you expect? The mental capacity of Keiichi's brain couldn't hold all this."
