Gommene! I was late with the update, again. I got really sick and wasn't able to upload when I was planning on, but I have good news! Next week is semester finals at my school, and after that I'll be able to update almost everyday for a few weeks, so just hang on until then!

Sorry I haven't been replying to reviews lately either, I'll try and start doing that again. And, one more apology, this is a pretty short chapter. Again.

Thanks to reviewers for last chapter:

`Crazed King

`XxKingArthurlllxX

`zhane 17

`awesome dt

`AriaScarlet

`InsertStupidNameHere

`thestrangedoor9

`Holla me Amigos

`lolly 1o1

`Guest

~Tiruneko ;3

X~31~X

"Yowane, are you even listening?" Kaito growls angrily, slapping down a large stack of papers and causing the brooding woman to jump a foot in the air. Because it is such an abnormality to see Haku worried, let alone to be so easily frightened by a simple noise, Kaito gives her one thorough look over before returning back to his conversation, speaking plainly and almost demandingly.

"Yes, sir." Haku responds almost dryly, shifting a little in her seat against the window of one of the hotel's many conference rooms.

"Right… so, Gakupo have you sent the report of progress yet?" Kaito continues, giving Haku one more peculiar sideways glance.

"No, sir, I haven't received the write up from our last job yet. Plan on getting that to me anytime soon, Haku?"

"Yes, sir." Slowly she stands from her seat, long silver hair shining in the florescent bulbs, soft dark blue eyes strained with the slightest hint of worry. She makes her way out of the doors and slowly down the hall back to her room to retrieve her late work.

Suddenly she stops abruptly in the middle of her step, and pausing, un-breathing. In a sudden burst of unexpected speed, Haku whips around surveying the hallway she just came down. One either side of the wall is a decorative square pillar, and beyond that the hallway extends for almost fifteen yards with two conference doors on the right, and the one she came from on the left. After a painfully slow moment she continues to walk down the hallway and mutters under her breath.

"Could have sworn I heard someone breathing…"

After a very long and silent moment, Lapis finally relaxes, exhaling and slumping down. Once Haku had come walking out the blue haired girl made a mad dash for the pillar, her only chance of not being spotted as she attempted to listen in on their meeting.

Lapis squirms uneasily and turns around the corner, heading back up to her bedroom. She fingers a bent paperclip she found in the pocket of her old blue, pullover sweatshirt. The fabric of the thing is soft and flexible, it isn't too warm or too pointless in its job of keeping her warm either. Her grey many-pocketed cargo pants make a swooshing noise as she walks up the stairs.

"So 'Lee'… did you go West, or South?" Lapis mutters out loud to herself as she locks the door to her hotel room. Often times the loneliness of her life would claw at the girl and the overwhelming desire to not slip away into a bored, robotic slur would drive her so much that she would frequently have discussions with herself. Talking through everything from math homework to dreams she had was all too common and for the most part a little concerning to the people who were around her enough to notice. But then again, everyone has their little bizarre ticks. "According to 'father dear' him and his team have been advised to travel in slightly smaller groups to avoid any more… issues with the public eye… does that mean only a few of them will be going, or they will be doing less things to attract attention? They do speak in bizarre codes at times… this wouldn't surprise me… then that leaves the question of where do I find you, Lee? You did turn left out of the gas station… does that mean you're going to the beach or what? It would make sense, the beach town. It's very lively, crowded, people everywhere. It's the ideal place to go if you're trying to blend in, that's for sure. But why turn left? The shortcut to Waterfront is accessed through the freeway to the right of the gas station, so why left? Left… left… le-… of course! Lapis you're an idiot! He's heading literally to the beach, not just to Waterfront! He must be closer to the water, one of the smaller towns but still close enough to the main part of the city, gah! How did I not see that?"

"Lapis?" Kaito's voice calls through the door. Lapis jumps and lets out a small yelp of surprise, but quickly silences herself.

"Oh god, did he hear me? Did he hear? Did he… no, no… he didn't. He didn't hear, he didn't hear, he didn't hear, he didn't hear, he didn't…"

"Lapis, I'm going to be leaving for a while, I need to make it all the way back to Kinpaku before sundown tonight. I'll be up there for a while, I need to make a run back to my office for some… important things… would you like to say goodbye?"

"Kinpaku? Why would he be going all the way back home just for some 'things'?"

Kinpaku is where Lapis' home is currently located. It's also where fathers' main office is… the main office being the building she now knows was used to hold Miku and IA. Kinpaku is a very small and very quiet town, it only has one high school and the nearest university or mall is almost an hour away. Lapis has a opinion only a little more than dislike to the place, it makes her boring life even more so.

"Yes… of course." She opens the door to see her father holding his brief case; she gulps at its sight.

"I would take you home with me on my way, but unfortunately I'm in no place to delay. I'm in a very… tedious situation with my superiors right now, and couldn't risk even the slightest chance of running late for this… meeting."

"It's okay Dad, I understand. Um, do you mind if I use my train pass to go meet up a friend I met yesterday? I'll be careful, I promise." Lapis presses.

"Yes, that's quite alright…" Kaito seems unusually… dethatched and almost on edge, as if anticipating something in a melancholy mood. His eyes have small dark circles under them, a sign of restlessness and lack of sleep, his skin, to be frank, lacks some color, he almost looks unusually pale. His hair is in desperate need of a cut and hangs lazily over his eyes, nearly hiding his eye brows. The faint scent of sweat and herb tea lingers in the air too near to him.

"Goodbye, Dad."

"Goodbye, Lapis." Kaito pulls the door shut behind him and Lapis lets out a sigh of relief.

"The beach it is…" Lapis says with a smirk to herself.

~ ~ ~X~ ~ ~X~ ~ ~

"Are you sure you don't mind?" Miku asks, holding a pile of clothes in her arms.

"Nah, nah, It's fine I promise." Miki assures her as she places another blanket on top of Miku's bundle. "Now, you and Rin can pick through what's there, I also added a few things IA might like to wear, and there are a few blankets, too. For now you can use the guest room down the hall, it's to the immediate left of the bathroom, and… Len, was it?" Miku nods. "Len can take the futon downstairs. You can use the shower whenever you'd like, just try to avoid using it early in the morning, Yuki gets a little… cranky if she doesn't sleep well."

"G-got it. Thank you, Miki. I don't think we can thank you enough." Miku adds as the two walk down the hall. Miki swings open the guest room door for Miku and the two enter. Inside Rin is slumped against the back wall, head dipped down as she sleeps lightly. IA sits on top of a wooden desk chair pushed in the corner of the room, something shiny in her hands.

Miku yells in surprise, jolting Rin awake.

"I-I-IA! Drop that right now!" She screeches angrily as she comes to a stop in reality after dreaming lightly of things past.

IA sits on top of the chair, holding Rin's gun. She fingers over the silver pistol, sliding her small fingers across the handle of the gun. Her eyes widen upon being corrected, and she drops the weapon onto the hard wood floor below her. Rin leaps forward and snatches the gun from the floor.

She sighs with relief. "Safety was on."

"You should probably put that somewhere where she can't get to it." Miki warns a little forcefully, almost with a little hint of irritation.

"Yeah, yeah." Rin shoves the gun into her back pocket and resumes her position sitting against the wall.

"Here's the extra bedding." Oliver says through a strained voice. His face is blocked entirely by large white masses of sheets and blankets and he is turned at an awkward angle while attempting to fit in the doorway.

"Good, now let's see… oh right, here are the extra clothes if you want to look through." Miki says, placing a hand on top of the stack that Miku hastily dropped on the floor. IA bounds forward, staring up at Miki with challenging eyes. "Here, this might fit you." The red head places a dark blue tank top with two white stripes running vertically on either side and a pair of black bike shorts. IA runs off down the hall and into the bathroom to try on the outfit while Miki turns her attention to Miku. "This should work for you…" She pulls out a plain white long sleeve night gown with a small blue bow at the neck. The dress is ruffled at the bottom and the sleeves are far too long, but overall it's extremely comfortable. "Hmm, Rin…" After thinking for a long moment Miki pulls out a long sleeve black and white striped shirt with neon orange yoga shorts.

"Thanks." Rin mutters as she walks out of the room to try on her pajamas.

Miki and Oliver begin to lay out the sheets across the floor while the group is gone.

"Miki, are you sure this is a good idea?" Oliver asks.

"What is?"

"Letting them stay here… indefinitely."

Miki drops her edge of the blanket and glares at Oliver. "What, so you think I should have told them to get the hell out and sent them on their merry way?"

"No, that's not what I said… it's just… are you sure this is the right thing to do?" He rephrases.

"It's the kind thing to do. The world could use more small acts of kindness if you ask me." Miki states simply, with still an irritated look in her eye.

"Rin around?" Len asks from the doorway.

"Mm, she's in the bathroom I think. Gave her some new clothes." Miki responds, pushing past him and walking out of the room. As Oliver follows he glares at Len and Len returns the gesture.

The sound of footsteps coming up the stairs alerts the blonde haired boy, and Len turns to see Rin stalking up them, a stick of Pocky hanging out of her mouth.

"Oh really, Rin? Would it kill you not to walk around with a gun in your back pocket?" Len snaps at her.

"Come on brother, you know me. Of course it would." Rin says back with a smirk as she pats the weapon in her back pocket. Len growls in response. Miku emerges from the bathroom down the hall with IA at her heels.

"Lenn-y!" IA yells loudly, racing forward. "Look at my new shirt!" Len smiles and gently nudges IA into the guest room after Rin, almost as if brushing her away.

"Y-you look mad." The teal haired girl says as she walks forward, stopping just in front of him.

"There's a difference between mad and concerned, Miku." Len says almost angrily.

"Yes, but sometimes they come hand in hand. This is a good thing, Len, try and relax for a while. You haven't been the same since you and Rin… just try and sleep tonight. You look like you need it." She advises with a smile, walking past him and placing her hand on the door. "Goodnight, Len." She closes it softly behind her.

Character Pole:

IA- 2

Kaito- 1

Lapis- 2

Len- 4

Miku- 4

Rin- 7

Oliver- 1

Luka- 1

~Tiruneko ;3