I'm juggling between this, my chemistry homework, my history homework and my IB Extended Essay. Thus far… I think I'm doing pretty damn good. Check this chapter out for me while I go continue reading "Causes, Practices and Effects of War".


"We should tell the others that she's missing." Omote told Ura. "Maybe she's still alive."

"Alright, if we must." Ura rolled her eyes, snorting at the prospect.

Standing, the two girls made their way over to the rest of the teens. The group shied away from the silver-haired girl, still not fully trusting that she wasn't the one murdering them. Omote saw the hurt flash for a moment across her sister's face and grasped her hand, giving it a comforting squeeze. Ura returned it with an appreciative smile.

Just then, screaming erupted from a few floors above. "That sounds like Ruby!" Tsukune gasped, leading the way for the party to head up the stairs.

There was a gagging sound as if someone was choking before something that sounded like a reed began blowing. Coming to the room the noise was stemming from, Tsukune found it locked. Backing up, he kicked it, but it didn't budge. Ura rolled her eyes in annoyance and moved forward, delivering a solid kick to the door and knocking it over. Inside, they found Ruby. She was covered in tar and feathers, her skin peeling and blistering at the heat. A reed had been stuffed into her mouth and her eyes were missing.

The older witch collapsed as Yukari rushed forward. "Ruby!" the thirteen-year-old cried. "Ruby, who did this to you?"

Ruby slowly opened her eyeless lids and grasped the younger girl's hand. "Looks like… Ura… not… what… seems…" Yukari began crying harder as Ruby's hand went limp and fell from her own, the tar still burning away at her skin.

"Looks like Ura?" Aqua breathed, her eyes wide.

"Not what she seems?" Kokoa gulped, going pale. The teens all turned to see Omote holding her sister tight and crying, Ura cooing to her gently. Noticing that the others were staring at them, she glared at them in irritation.

"What?"

"Ruby just proved that you're the murderer." Xia-Ling growled, pulling his sword.

Ura scoffed and turned away from them. "I don't care what some witch who doesn't know what she's talking about says of murders I didn't commit. As my friends, I assumed you would trust me, but it seems that's not the case."

"Yeah, well I'm not going to let you get away with killing my cousin!" Xia-Ling leaped for the albino and Ura pulled the blade that Omote had handed her. Blocking the sword's impact, Ura threw Xia-Ling against the wall.

"You've no proof, I did it." The silverette scoffed, twirling the blade.

"Ruby's words are all the proof I need." The Chinese boy raced forward, swinging the sword once more. Ura parried his blows, blocking and dodging when the time called for it. Xia-Ling's offensive stance was obviously something he wasn't used to and this left him open. Ura brought her foot up and slammed it into his chest, sending him flying into the wall. Xia-Ling coughed, picking himself back up and facing her once more.

"Stop!" Omote shouted, moving between the two. "Now isn't the time to be fighting. We have to keep each other safe!"

"The only way to keep each other safe is by getting rid of the demon that's killing us!" Xia-Ling snarled. "And if I have to take you out to do it, then I will!" He raced for the pinkette and Yukari shouted in horror. However, just as Xia-Ling's sword swung, the same blade Ura was using to fight him with blocked it and the red-eyed girl glared into the Chinese boy's eyes.

"H-how did you get there so fast?" Xia-Ling breathed, taking a step back.

"You will not touch my sister." Ura said in a cold voice, her eyes not leaving his as she stepped forward. "Touch her and I will kill you."

"See? I knew you were the murderer. You just said-."

"That I would kill you if you laid a hand on my sister." Ura interrupted. "In that sentence, I neither confirmed nor denied that I was the murderer."

Xia-Ling glared at her and huffed, deciding to give it a rest for now. "Fine. But I'm not letting you out of my sight."

"Stalker much?" Mizore sniffed, to which everyone stared at her with raised eyebrows.

"Come on." Tsukune sighed, shaking his head. "We should head back to our rooms. Is everyone paired?" There were nods all around and Tsukune gave one in approval. "Then make sure your doors are locked and don't answer them without hearing the person's voice first."

The groups dispersed, Miyabi moving along with the Shuzen girls.

The twins arrived in their room and locked the door as instructed. Ura surveyed her sister for a few moments, watching as Omote stared out the window at the full moon above. She looked almost serene with the light of the moon glowing down on her and making her hair seem lighter than it was, almost as silver as Ura's own hair. Sighing, the red-eyed girl turned and unlocked the door making Omote turn to her questioningly.

"You stay here, I'm just going to head out for a bit. I'll be back." Omote nodded and laid on her bed, staring up at the ceiling in trepidation.

Ura exited the bedroom and sat out in the hallway, staring at the opposite wall deep in thought. From one of the rooms, stepped Kahlua and Ura stood, moving back towards her own room so as not to endure more ridicule.

"Ura, wait." The silverette stopped and turned cautiously toward the dark-skinned blonde. "Why are you out here all alone?"

"I left Omote in the room and I came out here to think. I figured that since everyone assumed that I was the murderer, I pretty much had free reign to go anywhere within the manor that I wanted."

Kahlua moved closer and stood a pace or two away from the younger girl. "Not everyone assumes you're the murderer." She said softly, her large brown eyes gazing into the red ones with sympathy. "My sisters and I think you're innocent, even if there are strange things you do."

"Why do you three think I'm innocent?" Ura inquired curiously, her defensive stance relaxing as she and Kahlua began walking down the hall.

"Because even though you seem to disappear for periods of time and show up only moments before someone is found dead, you still manage to have an alibi and you're adamant about protecting my sisters. I'm certain a murderer killing her own friends wouldn't give a care about the two girls crushing on her."

Ura felt a blush paint her cheeks as they both turned into a mini-sitting room. Kahlua sighed and looked up at the ceiling, screaming as she did so. Ura glanced around the room, wondering what had caught the eldest Shuzen's eye. Looking up, she let out a rushed huff of breath. Hokuto's body was glued to the ceiling. Or at least, his head and torso were glued. His arms and legs had been chopped to pieces with something long and jagged before being artfully taped around him in the strangest form, almost like the legendary chimera. Blood dripped from the untaped ends of the pieces and a spot splattered over Ura's eye.

The others came running seconds later and Kahlua clutched at Miyabi, shaking in fright at the sight above her. Kokoa gagged and raced for the nearest trashcan, hurling whatever was left from dinner that hadn't been digested.

"How does this keep happening?" Tsukune growled, slamming his fist into the wall. "Who was Hokuto's partner?"

"I don't think he had one." Yukari murmured, clutching tight to Aqua.

"Kiria was his partner." The Chinese girl told him softly.

"Then from now on, we need to be certain that everyone has a partner that's living." Tsukune stated.

"I'm with Xia-Ling." Fang-Fang said, standing beside his friend.

"We're with San." Gin and Haiji told him, moving protectively in front of the Siren.

"I don't want to be separated from my sisters." Kahlua whimpered, holding Aqua and Kokoa close.

"And I'm protecting the Shuzens." Miyabi added calmly, staying close to Kahlua.

"I'm sticking with Omote." Ura growled, her eyes shifting around the premises and surveying the area.

"I don't see why you're looking around, assassin." Xia-Ling growled.

Ura rounded on him and her eyes glowed brighter, but Kahlua and Miyabi quickly stepped between the two.

"Now isn't the time to be placing blame." Kahlua cried, glaring at Xia-Ling. "Until it's proven that she did it, Ura's innocent!"

"But Ruby said-."

"Ruby's speech was broken." Miyabi interrupted, his eyes trained on Ura. "In verbatim she only said the words 'looks like', 'Ura', 'not', 'what' and 'seems'. Besides, I'm still betting that it's a guy doing this. My cousin's not easily defeated, after all."

"Miyabi's got a point." Tsukune murmured, turning to the remaining three girls.

"I suppose Mizore and I can be together." Kurumu shrugged.

"Which means that leaves me with you, Tsukune." Yukari told the boy.

"Um… great. Uh, let's all get back to our rooms then. And don't let your partners out of your sight, understood?"

"You got it!" Gin grinned.

The group split up just as before.

Miyabi took Kahlua aside and crossed his arms in front of her. "Why were you walking around with that psychopath?" he demanded calmly. "Had you not found Hokuto's remains, you could have been next to die, you know that?"

"I don't think she's the one doing this." Kahlua said in determination. "And I'm going to prove her innocent." Miyabi sighed and shook his head, following the blonde into the room. Aqua and Kokoa watched Ura and Omote head back to their room and the two Shuzen sisters wondered if their love really could be the one killing them. Yukari watched Omote go in before Ura and felt a pang of fear for her crush, not certain that Ura was above killing her own family.

The two girls entered their room and closed the door, locking it just as before. Omote moved over to the window and shut the shades, not wanting to see Routier's remains again.

"Why do our lives have to be so complicated?" Ura groaned, leaning against the door.

"I don't know, but the police won't be busy for much longer. They're bound to send a unit sooner or later."

"Yeah, a unit that could expose us." Ura huffed, standing beside her sister. Omote tapped her chin thoughtfully, a look of utter concentration upon her face. After a few more moments of hard thinking, the green-eyed girl sighed.

"I'll be right back, Ura." Omote murmured, moving from her sister's side.

"I trust you to be careful, Omote." Ura told her, touching the neckpiece around her sister's throat before letting go and giving the pink-haired girl a nod.

Officer Prickler was a solo agent. He drove his police car alone and did most of the cases he took on without any help from his coworkers. Being a lizard man, he really didn't need much help; simply walking into a room and flicking his tongue, he was able to get a read on anyone who had been there within the last month without even trying.

He had been called out on twelve cases that night and his last one was to check out the Aono residence. Apparently, there had been some murders there that needed investigation. Prickler groaned in frustration as he slid back into his squad car. "Alright, off to check out some murders at the Aono residence. Great." Starting the engine, the officer pulled out of the lot and headed off toward the forest surrounding the Aono land.

"I wonder what's going on up there." The officer scoffed, looking at the large mansion through the trees. "I bet it's just a bunch of teenagers pulling a prank. I hate teenagers sometimes. If I'm coming up here for no reason, I swear-."

Suddenly, something slammed into the squad car, tipping it over onto its side and sending the officer sprawling from his seatbelt. Hitting his head on the ceiling of the car, the lizardman felt blood trickle down his forehead. Climbing from the car, Prickler coughed, falling to the ground and laying there for a few seconds to get his bearings. His leg was twisted and there were several scratches along his body, some of them deep enough to be fatal if not treated quickly.

Footsteps sounded nearby and a soft clicking sound could be heard. The officer groaned as he looked up at what had knocked against his car. A girl stood above him, bathed in shadow. She gave him a small smile as she examined him. "Ah, you must be the officer sent to investigate the murders up in Aono Manor." Her voice was high and almost playful.

"Yeah." Prickler grunted, spitting blood on the ground. "What's it to you?"

Shaking her head, the girl clucked her tongue, showing off a small pair of fangs. "Now, now. I can't have you going and ruining my sister's fun. We'll just have to stop you here."

"What are you talking about?" The officer gruffed, glaring at her angrily as his forked tongue flicked out to try and get a scent read. The scent of his own blood was still heavy on his tongue and the forest was blocking the girl's scent. The girl above him laughed and moved a little closer, raising a very sharp pair of scissors.

"I'm just going to keep you from getting to my dear sister. That way, you can't ruin her fun."

The last thing the officer saw was the silver flash of the scissors and a bright pink flash of hair.


Pink… pink… someone we all know and love, perhaps? Only one way to find out! By the way… review!