"You know you can't hide in there forever," Eve said, banging in my door.

"I sure as hell am going to try," I snapped back. Sweet El, I looked terrible. My hair was a rat's nest and my eyes were swollen. No, I was not crying.

"If I knew Aisha's acting was going to be that awful, I would've never suggested it."

"Yeah, well, it happened," I said, my voice rising even more.

"Rena - "

"Leave me alone,"

I heard her sigh, then footsteps. For the past two weeks, I have been living off of food in my fridge. I haven't left my room once. This was the second time someone came to my door today. Raven came, but I hid under my covers and ignored him.

I walked over to my fridge and yanked the door open. Eve was right, I couldn't stay forever. The only things left were two stalks of celery and an apple. Gnawing on a celery stalk, I went over my options:

A. Face eternal humiliation.

B. Starve.

Just as I was drifting off into glorious slumber, I felt someone shake me awake. I squinted and blinked a few times.

Raven.

"Shit!" I swore, bolting upright.

"Your friends are worried about you," he continued, completely ignoring me.

"Let them," I snapped.

"I'm not sure what happened - "

"And thank the Sacred El for that," I muttered.

"...but you really should talk to them. They are genuinely concerned for you," he finished.

"Whatever," I rolled my eyes, "they probably just want to use me as their form of entertainment."

"They're your friends," he raised an eyebrow.

I let out a short bark of laughter. "Sure."

"Have you ever considered that their shenanigans are their weird ways of displaying friendship?"

"Crazy ways," I corrected, crossing my arms, "why are you do good at reading human emotions?"

"I have a degree in psychology," he replied.

"Shut up."

He flashed me a smile. I flushed and stood up.

"Fine. You win, I'm going to the cafeteria to get more food though. I need to stock up just in case I decide to shut myself in again."

"Of course."

Aisha was the first one to see me. She probably looked worse than me. She had bags under her eyes, her clothes were wrinkled, and her hair looked like a purple animal died on her head.

She charged at me from across the room and tackled me in a hug. I wasn't prepared for it so we both fell to the ground. Raven peered down at me, a smile playing at his lips.

Everyone was staring now.

Aisha's arms were tight around my neck and showed no sign of letting go. Her head was nestled in my shoulder and I could feel wetness. Was she...crying?

I patted her back awkwardly. I was not used to affection and apparently neither was she because she was not letting go.

"Uh, Aisha," I muttered, "I think we're good."

She said nothing.

"Aisha," I said again.

Elsword, with one arm, peeled her off of me. She seemed to have snapped back to her senses because she wiped at her tears and crossed her arms.

"Glad to see you back," she said, her voice teetering between two different octaves.

"Thanks," I said, getting up.

"Uh-hum, I would like to formally apologize for," she glanced at Raven, "that."

Raven raised an eyebrow.

"And that, um, Operation: FRAB will be on stand-by until further notice."

"Until further notice!?" I demanded, "How about permanently discontinued?"

"Impossible," she and Eve both said at the same time.

"But I - "

"Now come!" Eve grabbed my arm. "You need food, you've grown much thinner!"

"I'm going to shower. Elsword, come with me," Aisha said. Elsword turned red.

"N-not like that!"

"I hope you know that Aisha and Eve are genuinely sorry," Chung told me as we were eating. Eve had gone to check on Aisha.

"Yeah," I stabbed my fork into a piece of lettuce. "Raven gave me the speech too."

"Raven was pretty worried about you too during your, uh, shut-in," he added, "he would always ask about you during our sessions."

"Oh," I tried to sound nonchalant, but my voice was a squeak.

I could literally feel smugness radiating from him.

"So, how are things with you and Eve?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"They're good," his face was tinged pink.

"Did you you comfort her when she was feeling guilty over my shut-in thus advancing in your relationship?" I said dreamily.

"You really do read too many romance novels," he laughed.

"I have returned, mortals," Aisha declared.

She looked much better. Her hair was down and damp, the bags under her eyes were less faint, and she had new clothes on.

"Rena," she directed her gaze at me. "Eve told me something interesting."

"Did she?" I asked, dread coming over me.

"She told me that Raven was the one who managed to coax you out of your solitude."

"No," I said, "I was running out of food and I needed more."

They all looked unconvinced.

"Okay, maybe he had a little influence on my decision," I muttered.

"Little," Chung did air quotes.

I shot him a glare. He stifled a laugh.

"It's obvious you two are attracted to each other, so can we just get to the part where you two get married?" Aisha rolled her eyes.

"Married?! Don't be dumb, and how do you even know he's single? He could actually be married, you know!" I protested.

"There is no way he is in a committed relationship with the way he looks at you," Eve said firmly.

I thought of the picture of the woman and him in his office.

"Trust me," I said, "it's not going to happen."

I hadn't been to a therapy session in El knows how long. Raven's office was, once again, freezing cold.

"Glad to see you've returned," he said.

"Thanks," I counted the goosebumps on my arm, anything to distract me from staring at the picture hanging on the wall.

"I have a question."

"Ask away."

"What does 'FRAB' mean?"

I stopped counting. "Um."

"I feel like it has something to do with me," he continued.

"Confidential," I plastered on a smile.

"How unfortunate," he grumbled.

"Is poor wittle Waven pouting?" I cooed.

"I don't appreciate your jokes, Rena," he tried to sound stern, but his cheeks were tinged pink.

I crossed my arms and smirked.

"Moving on, let's - "

"Raven!" Amelia burst in, "we have a problem."

She looked at me.

"What?" he stood up, taking in Amelia's disheveled state.

"Um," she continued looking at me, "Rena Midori has a visitor."

Author's Note: I'm on a roll here! Two updates in a row! Woooooo! Merry Christmas, you guys!

Replies to my rad reviewers!

OMEGA ZX 420- OAO

Starfire- Thank you! Tell your brothers I said hi!

Epsilon The Ancient Nasod- That's not a bad idea, actually. owo

SIEGris- It WENT WONDERFULLY.

WielderoftheSilverSword- Thank you! Rena, needless to say, is not happy about it.

Sugarlatte- DAISY AND HER CREW SUCKS, but nope. Not yet. ;D
Basically, it was supposed to be an 'accident.' But Aisha literally just walked up to Rena with a cup of water and tossed it on her. Plus, her robotic acting.

Palutena- WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, HER ACTING SKILLS DESERVE AN OSCAR

Icebella- You are even more brilliantly fantastic! :D Cavities are the devil. Six-year-old me hated them. Thank you!

Sphyl- Here's some more! Thanks! My inner perv is now locked up nicely because I almost got a little too carried away last time. :3

Rosamanelle- Thank you! Exactly! Raven is secretly a pervert. Aisha's acting skills are AMAZING, an Oscar-worthy performance.

SoulStorm103- Of course you can call me Yami! Call me anything you like! :D Wow, thank you! He is just a friend! Kiyo just likes to tease me. DX
You're welcome! You are so sweet. o3o

HelloKitty55443- THANK YOUUU!

AvidMind- Thank you! Poor Elsword. Yes, there might be a little LKxEM involved. :D

jistlit13- Thank you!

Heuheueheueheu- owo

Kehn- Sir, yes sir!
Thank you! A lap dance might be involved later. In someone's dreams. Maybe. Thank you!