Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Into The Void ❯ Nostalgia ( Chapter 15 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

By: MellyN

XXXXXX

Into the Void

By: Melissa Norvell

Chapter 15: Nostalgia

XXXXXX

Everyone stood at the hill that overlooked the small village. What they had come back to was not the sight that they had been anticipating. There were several guards, all dressed in the familiar pastille blue uniforms that Zidane and company wore. They were placed evenly spaced along what looked like a large, metal wall that surrounded the village.

"What do you mean we can't get in!?!" Sari fumed to one of the guards, angry beyond all belief. It was her village. She lived there and now she couldn't even get in?! What kind of crap was this?!

"You cannot pass. This land is property of the Dark Renegade Terrorists," the guard stated in an emotionless voice. His face held stern features that seemed to be unmoved by anything the girl said.

"But we're with the squad," Zidane stepped in front of the crowd and trying to cover for them. Since he, Udo and Loreli were still in uniform, he figured that they may be able to trick the guards.

"You have no written consent to be here. Leave." They could hear from a short distance away as a small, skinny female was being thrown out. The short-haired girl landed on her but with a protest.

"You can't do this! Ow!" She landed, bending her knees up and rubbing her aching backside.

Valentino recognized this girl. His stare remained transfixed on her as nostalgia came flooding back to his senses.

'Hi, I'm Bosnia. You must be Valentino,' the girl greeted him at the harbor. He could recall her image clearly. Her oddly colored, pastille sea foam green hair, those large blue eyes that caught all of the sun's rays and shimmered like the sparkling ocean, and her physique, one that was small and slender.

"Bosnia," Valentino said in a small and distant voice, nearly whispering her name into the air.

"He spoke!" Vincent was the first one to state the obvious.

"Who?" Sari turned her head to the head hunter.

"Bosneyeah," the brown-haired man attempted to say the young girl's name, but had a little difficulty with something so foreign to him.

"Okay…"

Bosnia sat on the ground, not moving from the very place she was thrown out of. Her form was slumped over and her knees bent up. Her long, slender arms were wrapped tightly around her knees and her head was buried within their canopy.

"What's she so dejected about?" Sari looked to the other members of their team for any type of logical guesses.

"Who is Bosneyeah?" Vincent glanced to the assassin.

"It's Bosnia," he corrected, "she's a pirate who often came to this city, along with Captain Aeris."

"Captain Aeris," Rubio uttered, in a distant and nostalgic voice. He recalled the woman turning around in the harbor. 'The one I thought was Valentino…'

"Who the hell are they?" Udo didn't hear about these people before. "What importance do they have to the mission?"

"I met them in town," the assassin stated.

"I did too," the ex-terrorist followed suit in speech as they could hear a few tiny sniffles and the faint crying of a small girl. She slowly walked towards the group, not knowing or caring that they were there. Her fists were up to her face, and her sea of tears made her vision blurry. Valentino stepped in front of her. The girl nearly ran over him.

"Huh?" She took her fists away from her face, looking up to see the red-eyed man. "Valentino…"

"Why did you get thrown out?" The man asked.

"You have to help me. I'll even pay you," Bosnia pleaded emotionally.

"Do what?"

"They captured Captain Aeris! You have to help me!" The girl continued, the tears were still flowing from her eyes as the rest of the group made their way over to the saddened girl.

"We don't have time for special requests, kid," Zidane puffed casually on his cigarette.

"We've got more important things to worry about," Udo agreed.

"I'll help you," Loreli smiled.

"Mo too," Yaritza agreed. They didn't see what harm it would do. They'd eventually cross paths again because they were both getting to the same place.

"So will I," Sari agreed with the other two women. "I have to find out if my parents are alive."

"Hey, I know Rubio too…" The short-haired girl looked to Rubio, who stood a few feet behind Valentino, "I see you found Valentino."

"Uh…Yeah…" Rubio brushed off the subject looking a bit upset, not really wanting to talk about it.

"You look sad…Something wrong?" Big, innocent eyes looked up in question to the black-clad figure.

"Don't want to talk about it," was his wimple reply.

"Okay."

Agata sighed. "Come on, you guys are like roaches…I just keep picking up more and more of you."

"He's an albino roach!" Sari proclaimed, pointing to Udo, who could feel the sweat drops rolling down the back of his head.

"At least I'm not a moldy one,” the white haired man referred to the girl's dark green hair and she sweat dropped in turn.

"Well, roaches are already bald," Zidane covered any insults they could make about him in that aspect.

"You've been stepped on, but lived," Sari found one, pointing at his scar. He produced an irritated look on his face.

"Yaritza is a weird roach," the spunky girl then teased the red-haired ninja.

"At least I'm not crusty."

"Moldy!"

"Same diff'!"

"Thank you for letting me join!" Bosnia beamed happily as she walked beside of the group.

"Don't mention it. We'll put your activity on out long list of things to do," Agata noted.

"I'm forever grateful."

"Don't mention it."

"Wow, so many people…" Bosnia looked around at the guards surrounding the wall.

"Just don't get in the way, kid. We're on a serious mission," Yaritza informed.

"Oh yeah!" Vincent exclaimed.

"Well, what do we do now?" Agata gave the other members of her team a questioning look.

"We'll have to go back," Udo knew that the wall was heavily fortified and they wouldn't have a chance with the guards, plus whatever was on the other side of the wall. More than likely there were several guards, and maybe even Shigeki or Ibuki himself. Both were a high threat and Udo knew that they could not come into contact with him at their current strength.

"Let's infiltrate!" Sari called out, holding up her fist.

"Sure thing!" Yaritza agreed, all fired up for action.

"I like suicides," Udo commented with his trademark grin, knowing perfectly well that that's what they were volunteering for. "Lots of blood…"

"Ugh," Sari shuddered in disgust. That guy really sent chills up her spine.

"That's a no," Yaritza agreed with Sari.

"You are so crazy."

Loreli shook her head. "If we even try to infiltrate, we'll be blasted away by a cannon or shot to nothing by an armed battalion." As a fellow terrorist, she knew all too well what Udo was talking about.

"This land now belongs to Ibuki-sama. So do your parents and Captain Aeris…Get used to it," the spiky-haired man said coldly. It was time to give some tough love, and that's how he was going to do it.

"How can you be so cold?" Sari asked. If there was a will, there was a way by her standards and she didn't come this far too just give up because Ibuki now had possession of the land. She was going to fight for what she believed in, no matter if they were dead or not. It might be too late for her parents, but it wasn't for people like Captain Aeris. There was no way in hell that she was going to leave herself in mystery either.

"Easily."

"You're messed up in the head," Sari shot back.

"Maybe if you keep telling yourself that, it will finally sink in."

"That's it!" The spunky girl had enough of his cold ways and bolted forward, jumping on his back and grabbing him by the shoulders, biting down on his well, muscled shoulder. This produced a mischievous smile on his face.

"That feels good," he commented.

This only made the girl bite harder. It would feel good if he bled.

"Mmm…I feel the blood rising to the surface."

"You can't lick that off! Ha!" The girl finally let go of his shoulder when a small red ring appeared. Udo simply reached up, wiping the excess off the licking his fingers to spite her.

"Freak!"

'Why is she even antagonizing him?' Rubio watched the two's antics. 'She knows he'll just counter it with that. Why is she being such an attention whore?'

"I feel sorry for your love interest," Sari spat.

"Poor Loreli," the spiky-haired man tisked in a mocking tone.

"Loreli? Oh, so you two finally got together, eh?" Zidane spoke up, not knowing about their earlier confessions at the mountains.

"Yes," Udo answered.

"He's been telling me he's liked you since he was twelve. He obsessed over you."

"You obsessed over me?" Loreli glanced to Udo.

"What!?!" Sari nearly shrieked as the spiky-haired sadist pulled a picture from his chest pocket.

"I kept this for you," Udo extended his hand containing the picture.

"My picture," Loreli noticed that it was the modeling picture she'd done earlier. But why? Why did Udo keep it this whole time?

"You do take photos well…like a model…So beautiful."

"That's so sweet," Bosnia blushed at Udo's kind and soft-spoken words.

"But he's a freak," Sari replied. How could anyone love someone like Udo? He drank blood and liked pain. It was just plain scary to her. How did Loreli not get freaked out by him?

"Every day I heard' Loreli, Loreli, Loreli'," Zidane poked fun at his fellow.

"You make me sound like an obsessed school girl," Udo dead panned.

"Then Loreli would go in there and I'd here.'Udo said' 'Udo did' 'Udo thought' 'Udo this and Udo that'. By the time I was done hearing what Udo said and that thing Loreli did that made her hair look sexy…I could think about using the bathroom."

"That's gross," Sari exclaimed as Yaritza laughed, finding the crude comment funny.

"That's…Too much information…" Bosnia said in a shaken and slightly disturbed voice. She really didn't want to think about Zidane using the bathroom.

"I know you don't care," the sadist had a casual remark.

"Oh, I cared, don't get me wrong. I just didn't care about the way one of you sighed or that sexy thing the other did or those clothes that they wore that made their ass look sexy," the scar-faced man glanced at Loreli, who looked modest and blushed.

Udo blushed.

Bosnia blushed.

Sari jumped off of Udo's back. "Well," she said, looking back at the wall. "Guess we should go back." The girl said in defeat. 'And I'll never figure out if my parents are alive.' She thought, but she knew that Udo and Loreli were right. There was no way any of them could get inside before they were shot up and killed.

"We can't!" Bosnia cried out. "You promised you'd rescue Captain Aeris!"

"We can't do that now. Quit whining and suck it up, kid. Captain Aeris is a pirate; she'll still be alive by the time we get there," the bald man complained.

"True," Valentino agreed. "He does spare you for some time when he figures out how strong you are."

"If Captain Aeris were smart, she'd play it safe and join his army like I did. She won't be happy, but she won't be destroyed. Plus, it will buy her time to get saved," Udo informed.

"Good plan," Zidane complimented.

"Your intelligence scares me," Sari commented.

"I'm glad you're on our side," Yaritza agreed.

"No joke. We would've had one hell of a time beating you," Vincent commented.

"Maybe Captain Aeris will comply," Loreli spoke up.

"If she's smart and knows who she's dealing with," the assassin replied.

"I hope she'll be alright," Bosnia put her hands together and brought them up to her chest in a praying manner.

"Don't worry about it," Ionna tried to comfort the child, but knew her words didn't hold much comfort.

"She'll be safe for the mean time,” Ryouzonia chided. "We'll have to travel quite a way back to find out our next movement."

"I've replaced this same path three times," Udo stated.

"I think I've got everything memorized. What about you?" Zidane looked to Udo, who nodded in response.

"I hope we don't have to go on this path again," Loreli complained in a sigh.

"It is redundant," Valentino agreed. It was true. They all had been on this path so many times that they felt as if they'd had it memorized. The group had traveled from this village on that very same path and to it again on that path. He had seen this path too many times as well, but this could not be helped.

"This is my first time seeing all this. I haven't been down this way," Yaritza noted. All of this was new to her and she'd not seen the road before the wall went up.

"These used to be villages, but they were destroyed by Ibuki's troops," Agata informed the ninja.

"I guess we should go back and figure out what to do," Bosnia knew that there would be no way to rescue Aeris at their state. She hoped that her captain could just hang in there a little longer.

"Ibuki-sama isn't here anyway. The prisoners would be with him," Udo informed.

"Right." Zidane agreed.

"He keeps a close eye on his prisoners,” Loreli warned them of Ibuki's perceptive eagle-like eyes. .

XxXxXx

At a point a couple of feet from the door, a young man with bright red hair was standing erect and still. Every once in a while, he'd glance around, blue eyes scanning his horizon for any signs of intruders. He saw none. Then his features twisted into those of dismay as he sighed to himself.

'God, I HATE guard duty!' He thought as another guard approached him.

"I'm going back to the inside of the wall, do this job right. Don't make me shoot you in the head." The guard warned in a playful manner as he walked off, headed for the inside of the wall.

"Yes, sir!" Hisamichi saluted, and then looked over a few feet to see Udo, Zidane, Loreli and Sari. "Hey, it's them. But what are they doing with that girl? Maybe she's their prisoner? Hey guys!" He shouted, waving over to the small group.

"Hisamichi…" Udo felt the sweat roll down his forehead at all of the attention that could have gained from the other guards.

"Hey punk, how's it going?" Zidane questioned as the group walked up to the red-haired boy.

"Guard duty!" Hisamichi smiled brightly as said in his most happy of tones.

"You're happy about that because…" Udo found nothing happy about guard duty.

"Still doing the rookie's job, I presume?" Loreli questioned.

"Well, you have a few positions to fill," the scar-faced man commented.

"What do you mean?" Hisamichi was confused. What could Zidane possibly mean by that? Did someone get killed or leave?

"We just quit," the spiky-haired sadist commented in a serious tone.

"Is that why you're with them?"

"They took me captive. I had no choice," Zidane explained.

"Yeah, and if you try to get him back, I'll kill him," Yaritza said with great enthusiasm.

"Keep dreaming," Zidane made the girl fall down.

"Come with us," Loreli offered in a kind voice. She knew how he was treated around the establishment and she felt very bad for him. She knew he'd like it on their side and he wouldn't have to worry about dying if someone infiltrated the wall. After all, he was only a new member and didn't have the skill that the others did and at a young age of seventeen, she feared that he wouldn't last long.

"You want me to just walk away?" Hisamichi was baffled by her words. Surely he'd be killed if he did such a thing.

"Why not?" Udo questioned. "We did."

"But you'll get killed!"

"You have a choice: fight and dominate, or be dominated," Zidane informed him.

Hisamichi sighed, "I'm not strong like you guys…I can't…Not now…" He told them sadly. He really did want to join them. It sounded almost too good to be true, but his fears drowned him and he felt as if he had no choice but to succumb to them. The risk of failing and being killed consumed him.

"Understandable, but at least consider it," Udo told him.

"I will. When I do, I'll be waiting for you," Hisamichi said happily and Udo smiled at the boy in turn. It was actually a peaceful and kind smile, one that someone like Udo had never worn on his face in the presence of others.

"You're…smiling!?" Hisamichi was dumbfounded, but then took it for what it was and beamed joyously. "That's great!" He exclaimed. All of his time being with Ibuki, he'd never seen Udo smile.

"Good bye, Hisamichi…It was great working with you. Don't let them push you around, okay?" The spiky-haired man told him endearingly.

"I won't…" Tears began to well up in the red head's eyes.

"I'll miss you."

"You were like a brother to me. You're the nicest general," the boy continued to say, fighting the stubborn tears that clang to his eyes.

'Nicest? Who's the meanest?' Sari thought, making a what the fuck face at the comment. She didn't find Udo kind in any manner.

"It'll be tough without you," Hisamichi said.

"I hope you can become free one day."

"I'll try…For you…" The red head smiled, and then nodded in response.

"Good boy."

"I wish you luck. Hey, maybe you can be a ninja like you wanted to."

This comment caused Udo to go dead silent and frown in response. Hisamichi turned his back towards the white-haired man and sobbed lightly to himself. He would miss them all, and now he felt alone and cold knowing that they are standing before him, yet they were out of his league and grasp now. He could no longer see them or hear their voices.

"Guess I'll see you later. Take care of yourself, kid," Zidane said his final good bye.

"I won't have anyone after you guys leave…You were my only friends," the boy squeaked.

"You can cry if you want," Loreli told him, knowing that he was just trying to be strong.

"Zidane said only babies cry," he whimpered voice still squeaky. "And I'm not a baby."

"But he didn't mean-"

"I'm a real man…"

Loreli sighed, "of course you are."

As soon as that comment was said, the boy busted out in a fit of tears and wails. This caused the group to sweat drop in response. Hisamichi then ran over and tackled Zidane, hugging him tightly around the waist and crying. The bald man threw his hands up in surprise.

"Hey kid," he put a hand on his head and an arm gently around his shoulders. "If you're not sure…You can join us and we'll protect you for a while, but don't expect us to always save your ass." For some reason, the bald man just didn't feel right letting the miserable kid just suffer without them. Who knew what Ibuki would do to him when they left.

"Really?" Hisamichi pulled his head away from the man's chest, blinking back tears as hope shone through his misty eyes.

Udo smiled warmly at the two. "Sure kid, come on."

"We have to move fast. If we don't we'll be caught by a guard," Loreli informed.

"They're fixing to switch. Let's go!" Hisamichi told everyone.

"This is too easy…We're just going to take him and run?" Sari asked. This had bad idea written all over it.

"If the opportunities there, take it," Udo told her.

"And if you want to get shot in the head, run into a gun. Sounds risky."

"Sounds too obvious," Yaritza stated.

"Some things are just that easy," the spiky haired man told the girls.

"Though karma's a killer," Zidane replied.

"We don't have time to talk, let's go," Loreli said quickly. With a 'fine' Sari took off, grabbing the red head's hand and pulling him along with her, causing a blush to rise on his cheeks. Hisamichi had never held hands with a woman and he began to notice that her hands were soft and small…and warm. It was like nothing he'd ever felt. He nearly dropped the gun at his reaction.

"Don't drop that gun," Udo instructed. "You might need it."

"This is so simple," Sari smiled a devious smile.

"You're simple," Vincent told her.

"Do you like sandwiches?" The girl had an annoyed look on her face.

"Sounds good, I'm hungry," the bounty hunter replied.

"Fist sandwiches?"

"Suddenly, I'm not hungry anymore."

"Let's head for those trees!" Yaritza commanded. Not only would the trees provide a sense of cover for them, but if they were being followed, the guards would get lost within the forest shroud.

"Right," Valentino nodded as they all jumped up, shooting through the branches, headed back towards a safer place.

XxXxXxXx

"Oh boy…Back in Birdsville," Sari sighed upon walking through the market square of the Baztok Republic.

"Man, we made no move advances today," Yaritza walked towards Ryouzonia's house.

"We just acquired more roaches and got some exorcize," Udo replied.

"Roaches?" Hisamichi looked around, oblivious to the joke.

"Where?" Bosnia asked her mind in the same state as the red head's.

"It's an inside joke, looks like we have two rookies," Udo explained as they entered the house and all piled in to the living area.

"We're banning membership! No more!" Sari demanded and then sat down in the floor.

Rubio was silent.

"I agree actually," Vincent replied.

"This is good," Valentino said.

"That we're overrun with people?" Sari gave him a strange look.

"No, that we have a larger team."

"He's right," Loreli agreed. "Facing off against Ibuki is going to take all of us."

"If we have each other's backs from here on out, we'll be a good team," Udo replied.

"If…" Sari began as Hisamichi sat beside of her.

"It feels weird without anyone telling me what to do," he mused aloud.

"It's called freedom and it makes you realize what a slave you've been all these years," the spiky-haired man said.

"I feel like I'm going to get in trouble."

"That's just paranoia setting in," Zidane told him.

"I guess…I just hope Ibuki-sama doesn't catch me. I'll be so dead!"

"Why do you care? Do you fear death?" Udo looked to the now scared boy.

"I don't want to die," Hisamichi's voice was full of despair, as a worried expression crossed his face. "I want to go back."

"Too late."

"But he'll destroy my village. I forgot about it!"

"Kid, he already has," Zidane replied simply. Better to tell him now then let him find it out himself.

"What?!" The young man exclaimed in shock and horror at finding out that he'd stayed so faithful to Ibuki only to have been betrayed by the same man that promised to keep his word. Fleeting feelings of pain and anguish coursed through his veins as a surge of emotion washed over him.

Loreli looked down in sorrow. She knew that presenting him with that information would be painful. "He made us do it. He told us not to tell you," she was guilty about the events of the past.

"He used it as a ploy to keep you there. You're people are dead," Zidane's voice was low.

"You mean…" Hisamichi's eyes widened in horror and tears began to well up in them once more. "All that was…for nothing?"

"Sorry we lied to you, but we didn't want any more burns, screws, electrocution, cut or anything else that he could to torture us," Udo tried to explain, but it was too late. The red head was already in a fit of emotional tears.

"I can't believe they're all dead! That can't be!!" He began to flip out, an emotional train wreck over the fact that he had just now learned that his village had been destroyed. Destroyed by his fellow terrorists, whom he thought were his friends. Not only that, but he was so faithful to Ibuki in order to keep that very place from falling into danger. He did all he could to save it, and yet he still had failed.

All of those lives, cut short because of him.

He felt so helpless, vulnerable and guilty.

"Shut up," Rubio retorted, nearly sneering the words.

"Huh?" A wild-eyed and grief stricken Hisamichi looked at the silver-haired man.

"Quit whining…"

"How can you say that!?! My village is dead!" The boy yelled.

"So are people that we've lost, but you don't see us acting stupidly. Get a grip on yourself!" Rubio ordered his words strong.

"You should talk with your escapade a few nights ago," Sari pointed out, and then let out a yell as she was slammed harshly against a nearby wall by Rubio. She could feel her form bounce off of the wall and the breath was nearly forced out of her. She closed one eye in pain.

"Hey! Don't do that to her!" Hisamichi yelled angrily. There was nothing more pathetic then a man who went around hurting women.

Valentino was a silent observer in the incident.

"She actually had that one coming," Zidane pointed out.

"Rubio, cut it out," Vincent tried to wager with him. He was really sick of everyone fighting and hoped that his words had gotten through to Rubio.

"I'm sick of her disrespecting me," the silver-haired man glared at the spunky girl with pure contempt.

"You need to chill out," Sari's voice was subdued; she knew in this state that the man was fragile and his emotions were subject to change at the drop of a hat. Being her normal, stubborn and opinionated self would not do here.

"And you need to stop antagonizing me!" The black-clad figure then lashed out at Sari.

"What's your malfunction, Rubio?" Udo grew irritated at the fact that Rubio had been taking out his unnecessary anger on everyone around him. "You're falling apart here. Get some composure."

Sari continued to look defiant.

"What about-?"

"She did antagonize you but quit being so irritable."

"He's had some problems," the bald man stated.

"Please you guys…" Loreli tried to wager, even if she knew it was useless. After all, everyone would do what they wanted to do regardless of her plea.

"You both need to stop. Ryouzonia was kind enough to take us into her home. She said no violence inside, so abide by it," Ionna stood up, speaking strongly and almost as if it was an order. Red eyes glared over the group, upset that they were being so dishonorable to the kind old bird who took them in.

Rubio dropped Sari and turned his head away from the assassin. "Fine…"

"Are you okay?" Hisamichi knelt down beside of the girl on the ground, who'd been sitting on her butt.

"I'm fine, just a scratch," She told him, and then the loud slamming of a door could be heard sharply. "What was his problem?" The girl glared in the direction of the noise.

"I told you he was stressed. He's been uptight ever since I joined," Zidane said.

"Damn, what's wrong with him?" Udo asked.

"He hasn't talked much today. Usually, Rubio has a lot to say," Loreli looked over to notice that Valentino was staring at the door in which the emotional man slammed earlier.

"I didn't ask. Figured he'd eventually tell me. Wrong idea," Ionna sighed.

""He lost a lot. That and he has problems with Valentino," the bald man stated.

"Valentino?" Udo asked.

"Long story…"

"Explain it anyway."

"Well, it goes something like this," Zidane began explaining the events of the past and what exactly happened between the two. Everything down to the slightest disagreement between the two men was explained to Udo in vivid words. Having this sink in, the spiky haired man noticed a few things of his own within the short time everyone had been together.

"No wonder he's up tight."

"Do we follow him?" Ionna looked at the two blue-clad figures in question.

"I'd leave him alone. I like to be alone when I'm pissed off. It helps to cool me down," Zidane told her and then heard the sound of a door shutting lightly as he made a connection, "and naturally, where Rubio goes, Valentino follows."

"He's been with us for three months and I still don't know him from Adam," Sari was a little irritated at the fact. She thought that she'd know him for sure in three months. How could someone possibly remain that mysterious?

"He's an interesting psychology study," Zidane created a diagnosis for Valentino. "He shows the most complex aspects and feelings projected by the human brain. His case study is interesting."

"That's what you think about me too," Udo told him.

"You are exhibit A: Sadism, Blood lust and Masochism. Prone to post trauma syndrome, depression, paranoid delusions and prone to hallucination and haunting dreams played with the shadow. The embodiment of the collection of fears you've brought up over the years. A negative opinion of yourself, suicidal tendencies/actions or thoughts, violent outbursts and mechanical behavior. That's only one perspective, you have many…"

"It scares the hell out of me that you know more about me then I do. The human brain is an intense study because of its complexity. I'm glad I trust you so much, or I'd have to kill you…violently," Udo noted with a playful smirk. "I usually don't like someone knowing that much about me…makes me uneasy. But strangely…I don't mind that you do."

"I don't even want to know my psychosis," Loreli looked a little nervous, sweat dropping.

"I hope Rubio will be alright," Ryouzonia cast a glance look to the door.

"I hope he doesn't take it out on Valentino," his sister replied.

"Don't remind me. Maybe they'll talk it out this time…whatever happens it has to be better than their last escapade," Zidane sighed in exasperation.

"Let's just hope that no one kills anyone tonight," Sari replied, "I like sleep."

"You don't want to see me with no sleep," Udo told them.

"You don't," Hisamichi agreed. "He looks like he's been doing drugs."

"Don't make me beat the hell out of you," the spiky haired man threatened the rookie.

"See, I should be glad that he had sleep, because if he didn't, I'd be dead right now."

As the two argued playfully, Ryouzonia moved to the window sill and rested her feathery arms upon it, gazing out of it. The rays played with the colors of her feathers, making them sheen in a monochromatic blue. Her pink eyes shone like rare gems in the sunlight.

"Whatever they're doing, I hope they're working things out…"

To Be Continued…