Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction ❯ Stitches ❯ Plushies and the Pop-Up That Wouldn't Die ( Chapter 1 )

Stitches

By: KawaKaze

Rating: R for violence, language, and dark themes. (Possibility of future lime content.)

Summary: Suki Kaida and Itonami Atae are both seemingly ordinary college students, living their lives in the same apartment, leaning on one another for support. The vague semblance of normality is eventually shattered when extremely odd circumstances involving plushies and a strange voodoo website end up leaving both young women with historical figures Seta Soujiro and Sagara Sanosuke as guests. What seems like a simple mix up of time and reality becomes the least of any of their worries when reincarnated familiars begin to appear. Will either Seta or Sano get home again or will the deep scars of heart and body leave them with the troubled individuals who brought them to the modern world in the first place?

Author's Notes: We've gone and done it again, Folks. Sami and I have begun yer another crazy-ish KawaKaze fanfic. We know that we should be working on As Heaven is Wide before the characters kill us...

(Tatsu, Miyuki, Kurama, and Hiei: *GLARE*)

...but we both really wanted to start this fic. We've written romantic, slightly pointless humor with vague plot and conflict in to stories, but for once we wanted to do something decently dark, that focuses on the darkness of our characters pasts rather then just the arising conflict that every good story tends to have. Hopefully, as dark and angsty as this story is, it'll be likeable.

Disclaimers: We do not own Rurouni Kenshin nor any of its characters, so any attempt at suing us would be a bit of a waste of time. We also do not own KissMyVoodoo.com, if it really exists. X.X;

Italics stand for things such as character thoughts and/or written text.

Stitches: Chapter 1- Plushies and the Pop-Up That Wouldn't Die

"Ow! Crap."

She hissed through her teeth, grimacing ever so slightly due to the tiny sting pinpointed upon her index finger. A sigh of displeasure left her mouth as she trained her eyes on the pin prick gracing her pointer finger, thankful that the wound was tiny. Pain had never been a very favored aspect of life. She pushed the afflicted digit in to her mouth, laving away the accumulating blood with a few swipes of her tounge. Once the light bleeding had ceased the wet sheen of saliva coating her fingertip was wiped away on her pant leg, the once notable prick no longer important now that the sting had dulled.

Carefully, as to prevent any further injury, she scooped up the previously dropped needle, eyeing it warily, as if expecting it to attack her. Finding such a notion ridiculous, she wiped the needle clean and set it back within the tiny plastic container sitting off to her side. Once the sharp object was tucked away with the rest of its proverbial brethren, the container was set back in its sewing box home, no longer needed now that the girl's work was finished. Paying the black box no more mind, the quiet young woman trained her eyes on two small objects sitting opposite of her on the polish wooden floor, her gaze switched back and forth from said objects the open pages of a thick history book at her side. After analyzing the photocopied images on the page before her and then analyzing the items before her, a smile graced her lips, displaying her pride and pleasure over her good work. The book was shut with a loud thump of binding being slapped together, the sound grating on the woman's nerves for a few seconds before it became as uncared for as the healing puncture on her fingertip.

The sound of a door opening and closing from another room startled the silent girl for a moment, her expression of edgy surprise quickly becoming replaced by an expectant smile. She lumbered to her feet, winching at the light numbness bothering her legs, scooping up the tiny bundles she had been working on for the past few hours, her sock-clad feet making little noise against the floorboards as she rushed out of her bedroom, the tiny mess on her floor completely uncared for.

She was not particularly a perky sort of girl, at least not to any extreme degree. Her demeanor tended to lean towards calm yet friendly, occasionally experiencing hyper-active moments. Currently she felt a sense of giddiness that could not be ignored or suppressed, an uncontrollable grin gracing her lips as she made her way to the front door of her apartment home. As anticipated, a woman close to her own age stood on the threshold, totting a plastic bag and a weary expression as she removed her black boots, exchanging them with a pair of plaid house slippers. Upon seeing her flat-mate the new arrival allowed her tired expression to dissolve, replaced by a small smile of greeting as she stepped away from the door way, relieved by the comfortable feel of her slippers.

"I'm sorry, Kaida-san. I know I said I'd by soba noodles and make us modern-yaki tonight, but...I sort of....Well, I got us some Chinese. Is that all right?"

"Chinese is just fine. Don't worry about the okonomiyaki. We can have it some other night," the girl addressed as Kaida said in a kinda, agreeable voice, her grin progressively growing wider.

Taking note of the odd smirk, the taller girl allowed an eyebrow to arch in inquisition, crossing her arms slightly as she assessed her companion's decently odd composure. Kaida was never so chipper unless there was a reason. Normally, seeing her friend happy to the point of childish mirth would have made her equally happy, but the grin lying before her eyes was decently questionable. It did not help that she obviously seemed to be hiding something behind her back, either.

"All right. I'm curious. What are you hiding?"

"Do you reeeeaaallly wanna know?" Kaida asked, her voice taking on the tone of a teasing six year old.

"Yes, I wanna know. Show me for I die of curiosity," was the reply, hindered slightly by a few amused giggles.

"All right, Atae-chan. TA DA!"

Atae blinked as the hidden items were revealed to her, staring at the tiny bundles of cloth and cotton with slightly effulged eyes. She took in every detail of each small figure, down to the neat stitching and humorous Super Deformed eyes. After a few seconds she felt glee bubbling up inside of her, clenching her lips tightly together to keep from squealing in delight. Finally, unable to hold her jollity within herself, an adoring smile weaseled its way upon her face, pale green eyes expressing her elation as she took one of the tiny bodies in to her grasp, hugging it to her chest.

"They adorable! They're so cute, Kaida-san!" Atae exclaimed as she nuzzled her cheek against the grumpy-looking plushie in her hands. "How long did it take you to make them?"

"Ahhh, only a few hours. I bought some really nice fabric at this crummy looking store a few weeks back and figured 'why not?'. I do think I did a pretty good job. They look pretty similar to the caricatures in that old Meji Era history book we borrowed from Nami."

"I thought they both looked familiar. What about this little guy?" Atae asked, holding the spiky-haired plushie she'd obtained previously before her eyes, as if analyzing him. "Is this Zanza?"

"Yup, that'd be him. I had intended to just make one of Seta Soujiro for my own extra credit assignment, but I figured, since you're doing yours about Zanza, I'd make you one as well."

"Thank you, Kaida-san. That was sweet of you to do. But I have to say that you lucked out with that history book. There isn't much written about Seta Soujiro, so you were lucky to find a caricature of him. He isn't an easy report subject."

"Well, neither is Sagara Sanosuke, but you're writing about him anyway," Kaida replied, her left cheek puffing up indignantly. "Besides, if we do a good job the professor might give us double extra credit, seeing as we worked so hard to obtain enough information to do full reports."

"I suppose you have a point. Everyone else actually not slacking off and doing the assignment will more then likely write about the Hitokiri Battousai. I don't know if Professor Arikawa would take much interest in the plushies, though. It does seem a little childish for college students."

"Ha! If he wants an example of childish he should look at that bum, Takada. All he does during class is sleep and scratch himself." Both girls cringed visibly at the mental image.

"Once again, point taken. Well, if the Prof. doesn't want to give us extra points for these little guys," Atae paused to hug her Zanza plush toy, "then we can always just keep them since they're so cute. You're never too old for plushies, after all."

"Damn straight. Isn't that right, my psychotic little ex-murdering wanderer!"

While Kaida baby talked to her Soujiro plushie Atae visibly blanched, finding the odd coddling to be just a tad bit on the spooky side. She sighed, shaking her head for a moment, glancing down at the Sanosuke doll as if anticipating a comment or answer. Realizing that she was being just as odd as her friend, Atae held up the momentarily forgotten bad of Chinese food, thusly grasping Kaida's attention with its sent and surrounding warmth. The young woman with caret colored hair paused in her moment of Soujiro plushie worship, inhaling the scent of tempting egg rolls.

"Let me take this off your hands and you can go check your e-mail or something."

"Works for me."

Atae gratefully handed her friend the bag, holding back a chuckle as said girl nabbed the bag and skittered off in to the kitchen, plushie in toe. As Kaida's red head disappeared from the living room the nineteen year old woman tucked her own respective plush doll under her arm, humming softly as she strode over to the computer desk sitting near the window. The wheels of the computer chair squeaked as they moved across the floor mat, causing Atae to winch slightly before she plopped down in the cushiony seat, flicking the computer on. She dismissed the sound of the comp loading to focus her sense of hearing on the tapping of rain against the window, her eyes glancing past the parted curtains to stare at the darkened figures of tall buildings and a hazy grey sky, sighing as the rain fell upon everything in great, diligent volumes. She was glad to be home and off of the streets. Truth be told, she wouldn't have minded the rain hitting her form. She actually tended to enjoy the feel of raindrops falling upon her head. What bothered her was...

The thought residing in young Atae's mind was cut off by the familiar flashing colors of the maze screen saver that Kaida had set. How long exactly had she been zoning out? She heaved a heavy sigh and moved the mouse, the sight of her dark blue desktop greeting her eyes. That was not all she saw, however. Both Kaida and Atae detested pop-up windows with an immeasurable passion. They were by far one of the most annoying things known to man and finding one on their screen was never a happy moment. Luckily for the two of them there existed a handy program known as an ad-blocker. Normally seeing a pop-up on her screen would have been unexpected, especially since the ad-blocker was obviously enabled. What drew Atae's attention the most, however, was a pop-up itself.

"Do that voodoo that we do. Click and enter KissMyVoodoo.com."

Atae jumped slightly, startled by the sudden sound of Kaida's voice beside her. She looked sideways, a little surprised to find her friend standing at her side, leaning over to read the screen as she absent-mindedly munched on the last bit of an egg roll. The sight might have been humorous if the odd pop-up wasn't still on her mind.

"I thought the ad blocker was enabled," Kaida said, eyes still trained on the screen, her expression blank and, to a degree, bored.

"It is. I don't know why this thing showed up. I suppose it isn't too bad, though. At least it isn't another one of those 'Go Larger.com' thingies." They both cringed in unison, not unlike they had done a few minutes before.

"Well, penis enlargement related or not, a pop-up is a pop-up. Sorry KissMyVoodoo.com, but its time to go bye-bye. Click."

Atae blinked. Sanosuke Plush fell out of her lap. Soujiro Plush dangled under Kaida's arm some more. Kaida twitched visibly. As soon as the pop-up had been extinguished another had appeared in its place bearing an odd and less then comforting sort of message.

You aren't getting away that easily, Lady. Enter KissMyVoodoo.com.

"Click," said Kaida as she closed the agitating advertisement.

Another pop-up down, another in its place. Kaida gritted her teeth, hand still resting upon the mouse.

Jeez, you're dense! Just enter KissMyVoodoo.com already!

"Click."

I'm not leaving until you enter KissMyVoodoo.com.

"Click."

I'm still here. Hahaha! Enter KissMyVoodoo.com.

"Click."

Click, click, the pop-up goes. When I'll leave, nobody knows. Enter KissMyVoodoo.com and maybe I'll go away. ^^

"Click! Click! Click! Click!"

Click all you want. Go ahead, keep clicking. I'll just be right back telling you to enter KissMyVoodoo.com.

"Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click!"

This is really getting dull, you know. Just enter KissMyVoodoo.com so we can all be happy.

"CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!"

Sweet angry Jebus! JUST ENTER THE DAMN SITE, WOMAN!!!

"FIIINNNNNEEE!!!"

Kaida let out a half-scream of frustration as she glared at the advertisement, as if hoping her stern, angry gaze would magically make the infernal thing go away. Atae picked her plushie up off of the floor, setting it back in her lap as she stared wide-eyed at her friend, hesitantly reaching up to comfortingly pat her shoulder. Considering the girl's currently pissed demeanor physical contact could result in death, so Atae grimaced nervously and retracted her hand before she could risk losing it. Soujiro Plush still dangled, the grip around his innocent plushie neck just a little bit tighter then it had been a few moments ago.

The red head slowly calmed her labored breathing, her left eye still twitching in a decently psychotic manor as she placed her hand upon the mouse again, finally relenting as she clicked the annoying pop-up, hoping that entering the stupid site would free the both of them from their agitation. The pop-up window disappeared, replaced by another window which took up the entire screen. The contents the pair saw before them were odd indeed. Rather then seeing random flashy gif images or links to supposedly free tarot readings, they saw a plain white page with what appeared to be instructions that one might find in a cook book.

Bring inanimate objects to life in four simple steps. It's as easy as one, two, three.

Step # 1: Using some form or red substance, marker or lipstick will do, draw a circle on the floor, making it big enough to fit whatever object(s ) you wish to bring to life in to it's center.

Step # 2: Hold said objects in front of your computer screen.

Step # 3: Click on the button labeled 'Kiss My Voodoo' at the bottom of the page.

Step # 4: Enjoy your newly living objects.

The red head and the sandy blonde were silent for many a minute, both simply staring at the page that was just as odd as the previously annoying string of pop-ups they had encountered. Thunder rumbled in the distance, proving to do very little in the sense of jarring either girl from their dazed staring session. Eventually they both snapped out of it, turning to each other instantly, Atae looking a tad confused while Kaida grinned wildly.

"I say we try it!"

"Are you serious, Kaida-san?" Atae asked, ever the voice of reason and sense. "You don't really think something like this would work, do you?"

"I doubt it really would, but it'd be kinda fun to try and if it does work, then all is spiffy. Come on, Atae-chan, let's try it! Please! Let's live a little."

"Lord, she's doing the puppy dog face again." The fair-haired girl let out a sigh, smiling as she shook her head. "All right. It can't hurt to try. What do you want to attempt to animate, though? I don't think having your chopsticks talk while you put them in your mouth sounds very appealing."

"Simple answer, my friend."

Kaida snagged the narrow-eyed plushie from her best friend's lap, grinning almost akin to a cartoon fox as she waved both previously finished plushies before Atae's nose.

"If we bring these little guys to life then maybe we can get triple extra credit on our assignments. Just imagine how much that could boost us above the other students. I can see it now. The Professor'd probably be so impressed."

"Woah. Don't jump the gun, Kaida-san. We don't even know if this spell experiment will work, so I wouldn't get your hopes up too much, okay? The instructions say that marker or lipstick will work well enough, but I don't want to stain the wood, so we'll use the latter." Atae rummaged through one of the computer desk's drawers, eventually closing her hands around an old, un-used tube of red lipstick. "Let's get to it."

"Woah. Wait on moment. I need to get a few things before we start this little experimentation."

Still wearing her Cheshire Cat grin, Kaida deposited both stuffed dolls in to her friend's arms, rushing quickly out of the room, emanating almost school girl like giggles. What could only be described as a sweatdrop rolled down the back of Atae's head as she watched her friend depart from the room, unable to hold back an uneasy smile.

"One minute she wants the site to burn in hell and the next she's as bouncy as a child over it."

Before any further contemplation on the oddity that was the ever changing moods of Suki Kaida could be done, Atae stood and waited for her friend's anticipated return, holding both plushies and a tube of ruby-red lipstick. She did not have to wait for terribly long for soon she was rejoined by her flat mate, whose grin somehow managed to grow larger as she held two small, metal items before her. Once again amazed, Atae allowed herself to gape at the two objects, taking the larger of the two in to her free hand once her current contents were shifted to one arm.

"Not only did you make plushies of Seta Soujiro and Sagara Sanosuke, but you had replicas of their weapons made too! Kaida-san, I'm truly impressed. You're really dedicated when you make something!"

"Aw, please, Atae-chan. You're going to make me blush if you keep saying things like that. It wasn't that hard to make them actually. You know that Nami's mother is a sculptor, so she uses metal to make things all the time. Last time I went over to their place, I asked if she'd help me make them and she did. The miniature katana was pretty hard considering it's not as big as the Zanbatou, but I think it turned out fine. I made these before I started on the plushies, so they've been lying around in my desk for a while."

"These really are great, Kaida-san. Maybe Professor Arikawa will give double extra credit, since you went all out like this. These are so cool."

"You wouldn't believe how hard it was getting Nami's mom to let me use a blow torch. She seemed kinda scared at the thought. It's amazing how having a preference for gothic clothing can make people look at you like a safety hazard."

"I know what you mean. Anyway, shall we try this little experiment out now?"

"Yes, we shall."

Atae quickly went to work, pushing a large blue floor rug out of harm's way before pulling the now useful tube of lipstick along the polished floor, winching slightly as the circle she made to create became lightly crooked in some areas. Even if the crimson ring was a little out of proportion, it would still work well enough. The directions never made any statement concerning perfection. Besides, any consequences would be unlikely considering such an odd spell would more then likely not work. Magic was not a frequent, or even very plausible, thing in the modern world. After having finished her handiwork, the black and red clad woman closed the cap over the notably smaller tube of make-up, heading over towards the computer desk, where Kaida waited in an obviously impatient manor. The two exchanged nods and their respective plushies, both turning towards the computer screen, plushies at the ready. Kaida, being in closer vicinity to the mouse exhaled loudly, her hand shakily falling upon said device, slowly directing the cursor towards the link button sitting at the bottom of the page. With much visible trepidation, she gave the mouse a click.

At that exact moment the storm outside seemed to become more severe, a great flash of lighting illuminating the sky as thunder ruptured the slight silence with a magnificent boom. This proved to startle both women to a great degree, the pair of them screaming and jumping where they stood, everything around them growing black due to a power failure, their small plush dolls flying out of their hands. As oddly as fate would have it, both fabric and cotton-made figures landed within the lipstick-drawn circle, side-by-side with their plushie eyes trained on the two girls staring down at them. Lightning and thunder filled the sky again, just as voluminously as it had before, but no longer seemed to affect either of the apartment's occupants. Amber and green eyes trained uneasily upon the tiny figures sitting opposite of them, the entire situation now facing them leading to be unbelievably eerie. Various humming sounds filled the air amongst rain and thunder, lights coming back to life along with other appliances.

"Uhm...I think we should just leave them there for tonight...you know...just in case."

"Yeah. Good idea," Atae whispered in reply, nodding slowly. "I'll go put away dinner...then I'm going to bed."

"I'll help."

The two speedily vacated the room, making quick work of putting their Chinese dinner safely within the fridge. The computer was clicked off, neither woman truly caring to properly shut it down. They both hurried in to their night cloths, not bothering to reset the clocks being as tomorrow would be Sunday, crawling uneasily in to their beds. The doll-like replicas of Sagara Sanosuke and Seta Soujiro were left within the previously drawn circle, the forged look-alikes of their respective weapons lying by their feet.

* * * * *

Watage was a very old cat. She was, in short, a lazy, old, obese kitty with a loud, grating meow and long tail that was progressively losing all of its hair. She rarely liked to play, spending most of her time sleeping or staring lazily out the window, eyeing birds as they flew by. She was a lovable kitty, though; always rubbing against her owners' legs or curling up in their laps. She didn't take fondly to strangers, often shying away from them if she did not know them or even going as far as to scratch at them if she did not enjoy their company. It often seemed as if her owners were the only humans she actually took to.

Kaida and Atae had grown accustomed to waking up with a fuzzy lump of purring lard on their stomachs. Watage took to waking them up in intervals, pawing at their stomachs with her claws until one or both of them managed to crawl out of bed and feed her. Having the chubby Siamese as a pet tended to be better then an alarm clock, save for the less then pleasing detail that Watage's proverbial buzzer could not be switched off during the weekends. Why couldn't cats have snooze buttons?

A very weary and slightly confused Suki Kaida sat upright in her bed, blinking again and again, as if to sooth her still droopy eyelids. A great yawn escaped her mouth, her eyes watering ever so slightly, one hand lazily pushing layers of fluffy blankets off of her pajama-clad body. She set her feet on the floor, flinching slightly at the feel of cold wood against her unprotected toes. With steps that often stumbled the still sleepy girl exited her bed room, ignoring the comforting lure of her bed as she made her way in to the hall. She didn't bother to knock once she came upon her flat-mate's bedroom door, pushing it open and inspecting what she saw. The room was typically clean and the regular décor was still present, along with Atae curling up in to a ball on one side of her great bed as was anticipated. Lazy old Watage was still no where to be seen.

Kaida moaned in agitation, stumbling over to Atae's inviting bed, flopping upon the unoccupied side. The smooth blankets and fluffy pillows tempted the girl, but she resisted their spell, not allowing herself to fall back to sleep. The girl with a messy mane of wine-red hair curled up close to her companion's back, grinning crookedly as she began to continuously poke the still dreaming girl's unsuspecting cheek. Atae stirred by the fifteenth poke, moaning in protest as she rolled on to her back and sat up, blinking at Kaida, who smiled innocently from where she lay snuggled against the pillows. Atae glanced at her bed-side alarm clock, sighed heavily, and turned back to her friend, running her fingers through her tangled hair.

"Where's Watage-chan?" She asked in a quiet, weary voice.

"I have no idea. She didn't wake me up this morning, so I came in here to find her. Didn't wake you up either?"

"Nope. It's rather sad. We finally get a day where she doesn't try to act as an alarm clock and we end up waking up anyway."

"Oh, the irony. Let's try and find her balding little butt. She probably wants to be fed."

The two escaped the regretfully comfortable bed, muttering to themselves as they wandered in to the living room, searching for the lovable pain-in-the-ass that was their pet kitty. The found their cat in the living room as anticipated, unfortunately greeted by the unwelcome sight of said animal attacking a poor, defenseless Soujiro plushie. Kaida reacted instantly, rushing over to the cat, shouting many a reprimanding comment as she tried to dislodge the plushie from Watage's jaws. Atae watched the two of them play tug-of-war for a few moments before she began to recall Sanosuke plush. She scanned the room worriedly, wondering if the spiky-haired plushie had also fallen prey to Watage's wrath, biting her bottom lip when she could not find him. Leaving Kaida to her struggle, Atae ventured in to the kitchen, praying that she would not see bits of cotton in the cat's food bowl. The tiny bowl was void of anything save for a few bites of cat food. The counter was where the Zanza replica sat, oddly hugging on to a small bottle of sake. Several questions bombarded the girl's mind as she blinked down at the small plushie. How did it get on to the counter? Why was the sake out? When did they even buy sake? Why was the refrigerator door open? Atae felt a headache coming on, rubbing her temples with her fingertips to sooth the dull ache as she retrieved the bottle of sake and placed it within the fridge, sighing heavily as she closed the door. She scooped the slightly dejected Sanosuke plushie in to her arms, cradling it to her chest, finding herself silly for having been afraid of it yesterday. It was only a plushie after all. Voodoo spell or not, what harm could it possibly do?

"Do you mind letting me go, Lady? I can't breathe when you've got my head stuffed between these things."

The small, yet oddly masculine voice snapped the woman out of her dazed, thoughtful revere, her gaze slowly, almost hesitantly, falling upon the plushie she had been cradling between her breasts.

"I'm glad that I've got your attention. Now, enough with the smothering," the plushie said to her, his once dead eyes darting around and staring up in to her own with as much life in them as her own.

Atae reacted how any person might in such an odd situation. She twitched, her hair curled at the ends, her cheeks turned an almost ghostly shade of blue, and she screamed. She pulled the now-living doll away from her chest, holding it in front of her at arms length as she exited the kitchen, calling Kaida's name frantically. The aforementioned red-head was still wrestling with Watage.

"Damnit, Watage, let go of Soujiro!"

"Hurry before her teeth puncture me! I do not relish the thought of being torn to pieces!" exclaimed Soujiro plushie in a harried voice, his rounded plushie hands gripped within Kaida's while his lower body sat within Watage's jaws.

"I'm trying, Soujiro! She's got a tough grip!" Kaida remarked, gritting her teeth as she struggled to free the blue-clad plush doll.

Atae stared at this display with wide eyes that seemed akin to saucers while the plushie of Sanosuke in her grasp seemed to be chuckling at the image before him, his tiny body shaking between her hands. Soujiro, amongst the grunts of struggle and groans of pain, seemed to notice the two of them, his tiny face taking on a look of hope.

"Miss, can you give us a hand?"

Coming out of her stupor upon receiving a request for assistance, Atae headed back in to the kitchen. Watage's pointed ears twitched and her lightly bald tail perked up as she heard the all too familiar sound of kitty food being poured in to a bowl. The helpless plushie of the tekken fell from her jaws, forgotten completely as the fat ball of hair rushed in to the kitchen to devour her breakfast. Atae appeared again, her own respective plushie tucked beneath her arm as she ventured to the place on the floor in which both Kaida and Soujiro plush now sat. She plopped down amongst them, setting Sanosuke plush upon the polished floor. The four of them fell silent, staring at each other. Kaida finally broke the quiet veil after a few long moments.

"That does it. We're getting a new ad-blocker."

End of Chapter 1

Utena: "So minna-san, what do you think so far? Is it entertaining enough for us to continue?"

Sami: "I think it is. If they only knew what we have planned for future chapters."

Utena: "Shhhh. Don't tell them. We don't want to spoil any surprises."

Sanosuke: "Oh no, do tell us. I'd like to know what you intend to put me through."

Sami and Utena: ".........." *Both begin to snicker madly*

Soujiro: "Somehow, this does not reassure me."

Sanosuke: "We're screwed...."

Please read and review, but most importantly, enjoy.