AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay, standard disclaimer. Sailor Moon and all related characters do _not_ belong to me. They are copyrighted by Naoko Takeuchi, Kodansha, Toei Animation, and who knows who else depending on what language you're watching it in.... However the characters of Kaen Kou and Candace "Candi" Martin of this fanfiction are purely creations of my own insanity..... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- AFTER THE FIRE MY SAILORMOON SAILORSTARS FANFICTION BY: Immicolia The Fifth Part: "The Date That Will Live On In Infamy" "So how was it?" Candi looked over at Kaen and felt a smile touch her lips. "It was just wonderful Kaen," she breathed. "Yaten is sooooo sweet. And so cute too. I can't believe that you think he's a jerk...." "He is a jerk," Kaen replied simply with a shrug. "That's all there is to it. And he's kinda girly looking too...." She pondered that statement for a moment and missed the way that Candi tensed up at her observation. "Actually, they all are. Hmph, you'd never see _me_ going out with one of those androgynous girly boys...." "What about Taiki?" Kaen colored slightly. "What about him?" "Well... you like him don't you?" "Who me? Well... ah... that is... I...." She nervously put one hand behind her head. "Whatever gave you _that_ idea?" "Just the fact that Usagi keeps saying that you like him, and that he likes you and that it's only a matter of time until you go out...." Kaen's nervousness immediately switched to mild irritation. "Hmph, she _would_ say that. She's been trying to get me to go out with him for... well... a few days now...." "Why?" "I don't know. She claims it's cause she knows that I like him and that I should, and I quote, 'Follow my heart.'" She sighed. "I wonder if she knows how far off she is?" "Is she really that far off?" Candi asked innocently, winning a glare from Kaen. "All I'm saying, is that maybe she's right and the only reason you haven't said anything to him is because of fear of rejection." "I'm not afraid of anything!" Kaen snapped. "Least of all being rejected by some stupid guy!" "Then ask him out. You like him don't you?" "No!" "Be honest Kaen," Candi said simply. "With yourself at least. Come on now, really. Do you have any feelings at all for Taiki?" "I already said no." "Then why did you ask him when you wanted to join their band?" "Because I knew him better than the other two!" "And why did you flirt with him so much?" "I was trying to catch him off guard! It's awful I know, but I'm shameless okay!?" "I don't think so." Candi leaned back and eyed her friend carefully. "I think you really like him. But you're so scared that he doesn't like you, especially after he treated you so coldly after you asked him about you drumming, that you're afraid to try." "I am not!!!" "Prove it!" she taunted. "Ask him out. If you don't really care about him you have nothing to lose. In fact, it's a perfect way to get Usagi off your back." "All right! Fine!" Kaen jerked to her feet. "I will! And I'll prove once and for all that a) I'm not a wuss, and b) I feel absolutely _NOTHING_ for Taiki Kou." **** **** **** **** "So how was it?" Yaten smiled over at his companions slyly. "Absolutely marvelous," he said simply, leaning back. "I hate to admit it Seiya, but I think you were right. I think I am in love...." "Who would have thought?" Seiya replied with a small smirk. "Now all we have to do is work on Mr. Science over there." Taiki shot them a cold look. "We do have more important things to think about than romance you know. Like finding Nova and Kakyuu and going back home. Did you consider _that_ when you 'fell in love' Yaten?" He directed an accusing glance in Yaten's direction, who immediately glared right back. "You can't control something like that. And you should know, you got this thing for Kaen after all...." "I do not!" "Yea, you just keep telling yourself that...." Yaten smiled at his glowering friend lopsidedly. "Come on man, it's written all over your face. You get this spaced out look whenever you get within ten feet of her, and you get this pissed off look whenever we bring it up. Classic case of self-denial." "And you should know since you were doing just that last night," Seiya put in calmly. "Shut up! We're not talking about me. Look Taiki, the only way we're gonna believe that you could care less is if you bite the bullet and ask the girl out. That way you can show us just how little she actually effects you." "That is the _lamest_ piece of convoluted logic I've ever heard in my life," Taiki replied flatly. "I refuse to do it!" "But if you go out with her," Yaten continued slowly. "Then you can watch her closely and maybe figure out once and for all if she's Nova. After all, I doubt she'd say no. She's such a little spotlight grabber, I'm sure she'd jump at the chance...." "She would not!" Yaten smirked. "If you don't care about her, how come you're so quick to defend her?" Taiki tensed at that statement and glared at his so-called friends. "All right, fine! I'll ask her out. Just to see if I can find out if she's Nova or not. And to prove to you idiots once and for all that I feel absolutely _NOTHING_ for Kaen Kou!" **** **** **** **** The next day in school Kaen strolled down the hall, trying to pump herself up for what she was about to do. She had to admit, to herself only, that she did find him kinda cute. But they were _way_ too dissimilar to _ever_ be good as a couple. She was probably going to be bored out of her mind on this date. _If_ he even agreed to it at all.... She sighed as she spotted him coming down the hall from the other direction. It was now or never.... "Hi Taiki," she said slowly as he was within hearing distance. "Oh, hi Kaen," he replied, as if just noticing her. "I was looking for you." "Oh... oh really?" "Ah... yea. I... well, you see... I was wondering if...." "If," Kaen prompted, holding her breath and wondering if Candi's going out with Yaten had softened the little runt any. Maybe they were going to let her play. "If... if you'd like to go out with me sometime?" he finished in a rush. Kaen slowly released the air she had been holding in. She couldn't believe it. He had asked her the exact same thing that she had wanted to ask him. What other answer could she give except for.... "Yes," she replied simply. "I'd love to. In fact I know this great place...." **** **** **** **** "You know, you don't have to do this. I know you're not really a social animal...." Taiki looked down at her. "It doesn't matter. I _want_ to do this." Kaen returned his glance, looking into his violet eyes to see how he _really_ felt. "No you don't," she replied. "But the thought's there and I appreciate it." They stopped outside the dance club. "This is it," she said, regarding the front of it carefully. "Are you _sure_ you want to do this. We could go do something else." "Kaen I don't mind at all. Now let's go." Kaen sighed. "All right, but if there's a next time we're doing something that you want to do." The pair entered the building and immediately the sound of loud dance music assaulted their ears. "Oh wild. I think they're playing some North American stuff. This is gonna be so much fun! Come on! Let's go in!" Kaen grabbed his hand and started dragging him farther in to the club, excited at the thought of struttin' her stuff. Her grin widened as the bass hit her, thrumming up through the floor and into her body. "This place is great!" she shouted over the din. Taiki looked ill but forced a grin. "Yea... Great..." "I'm gonna go request something, kay? Go find us a table." Taiki looked at the throngs of people and looked at her like she was insane. "Don't worry," Kaen continued. "I'll be able to find you, just go find somewhere to sit. Preferably somewhere quiet so I don't have to keep screaming." He gave a resigned shrug, picked a direction and started off in it, figuring that it was a good a direction as any. He was lucky in his choice and soon found a mildly secluded table to sit at. A few minutes later Kaen joined him. "See, I told you I'd find ya," she said with a wink as she sat down. "They got a great choice of tunes here. As soon as my requests come up we're hittin' the floor, kay?" He nodded and they sat there staring at one another in an uncomfortable silence. "Boy how long's it gonna take for them to play that!?" Kaen suddenly asked irately. "Well... I'm sure they have other things they have to play as well," Taiki replied, glad to break the silence between them. "Yea, I guess....." There was silence between them once again and once again Kaen broke it. "Say, you wanna get something to drink?" "Sure!" he replied, almost too anxiously. The pair shoved through the crowds and reached the counter at the same time saying in almost perfect unison, "Cola, whatever brand you got. No ice." Realizing what they had just done they shared an uneasy glance and both blushed. "Similar tastes..." Taiki said uncomfortably, avoiding eye contact while waiting for their drinks to come. "Yea," Kaen replied. "Maybe this won't be so bad after all...." "You thought that this was going to be bad?" Kaen turned even redder. "Well... no offense but... yea. See, I don't know about you but I don't see how we could make a good couple. We're too different... I thought that this was going to be the worst date I'd ever go on...." "Then... why'd you agree to come?" She shrugged. "Well it's not every day you get asked out by a rock 'n roll idol..." "Truthfully..." he said flatly. "Would you believe I wanted to get Usagi off my back?" "That's only half of it." Kaen put up her hands in surrender. "All right, all right... I'll tell you. You're cute and I'm not much for dating. I jumped at the chance okay? Are you happy? Will that satisfy your male ego? Are you going to get a big head now and gloat to your friends about what a stud you are cause I wanted to go out with you? Am I going to have to leave before you become intolerable?" He smiled and picked up the glass that was set in front of him. "No, I was just wondering if you did this to try and get me to listen to you play. You know, offering yourself up in exchange for favors..." Kaen began glaring, her infamous temper beginning to surface. "Oh really. You thought that did you? Well don't you think that if I was doing that I'd go after one of you that was a) a little more important, and b) a little better looking than _you_." The ice in her tone caused him to flinch. "But... you just said I was cute..." he protested weakly. "Cute yes, absolute buffness no. Let's face it, you're good looking in a sort of sweet, intellectual equal kinda way. But if I wanted to go for the real looks of the group...." "I don't want to hear it," he cut her off. She shrugged. "Fine, but remember... you brought it up." They stood there, idly sipping their drinks until a fast dance tune came on and Kaen's head jerked up. "That's it!" she exclaimed. "That's my song. Let's go!" She grabbed him by the wrist and started dragging him onto the floor, almost causing him to spill his drink. He set the glass down on the counter and quickly followed her, before she jerked his arm out of the socket. "Ah... Kaen..." he began carefully, wondering how to explain his discomfort with this. "Can this wait?" Kaen cut him off, not feeling like talking while one of her favorite songs was playing. "Not really... Kaen... I... I can't dance." he finally blurted. Kaen stopped short and regarded him in shock. "You're kidding me, right? A superfamous idol like you, unable to dance. You're just jerking my chain." "No. Like you said earlier, I'm not really a social animal, I just don't bother with dancing much. I'm not very comfortable with it..." "Oh it's easy," Kaen sighed, not wanting to give up her chance for fun just 'cause he was feeling insecure. "You obviously have rhythm, you wouldn't be in a band if you didn't, just follow my lead and you'll do fine." "I don't know Kaen..." "Ah... quit being such a wuss and come on. Show me how much of a man you are." She stuck out her chin and inclined her head slightly to look him in the eyes, daring him. With his fragile male ego at stake he had no choice. He nodded slightly and Kaen smiled, glad to see that she had that much power. she told herself as the two of them started dancing. She watched him, struggling to keep her face impassive. He _was_ a good dancer... a little insecure maybe, but pretty good.... She giggled a little as the song ended and the two of them stood there, breathing hard, for a moment. "Well," Taiki said with a shrug. "That's it." And he started off the dance floor. "No wait!" Kaen grabbed him by the wrist. "I requested two songs and I really want to dance to both of them... with you...." "Yea but I'm exhausted...." "It's okay. It's a slow one.... Actually this is it right here.... Ya wanna?..." He looked into her blue eyes and saw the silently pleading look there. "Okay," he said with a shrug. Kaen smiled and the two began swaying back and forth in classic teenage slow dance fashion as the lyrics, which were in English, started. "I can't fight this feeling any longer..." Kaen began, singing along but translating it. "And yet I'm still afraid to let it flow... What started out as friendship has grown stronger... I only wish I had the strength to let it show...." Taiki felt himself turn red and immediately tried to avoid her eyes. He could feel her looking at him, it was starting to make him uncomfortable. He glanced at her, then quickly glanced away, starting a game of tag with their eyes that neither of them wanted to win. Neither of them dared to make direct eye contact. Finally, almost by accident, their eyes _did_ lock. And neither of them could look away. "Kaen," Taiki began slowly. "Yes," she breathed. "Kaen," he began again, not knowing how to say how he felt. "Kaen... I...." "What is this crap!? Looks like it's time to heat up the music a little." The irritating voice from near the door broke the spell between the two and caused them to turn. They gaped, as most people were doing by now, at the creature of pure fire that was standing there. "What's the matter? You never see a Fire Elemental before?" it taunted, tossing its head. "You people should take a picture, I'm sure it would last longer. Not that I'm very photogenic. Oh well, let's change the music. Who's up for a little disco?" It struck the classic disco pose and flames leaped from its extended hand, setting fire to the curtains near the door. People began panicking at the sight and Kaen felt her fist clench in hopeless frustration. she thought. She looked up at him and saw that he was lost in thought. Almost like he was struggling with a choice too.... She shook that thought aside and touched his arm, causing him to jump. "Taiki," she said quickly. "We should get out of here." "Right." He considered ways of getting rid of her. He wanted to be sure that she was safe before he went to fight that thing. "This way," he said, grabbing her wrist and dragging her towards the back, away from where the Fire Elemental was blocking the door. Choking on the smoke Kaen struggled to keep up with him in the surging mass of people. Suddenly Taiki lost his grip and Kaen was pushed away from him. "Kaen!" he shouted, glancing behind him as he noticed that she was gone. "Kaen!!!" "Taiki!" Kaen shouted back, barely able to hear him. "I'm over... oof...." She hit a wall and gasped as the wind was knocked out of her. she wondered cynically as she stood pressed against the wall. She glanced around, looking for a place to transform in peace and spotted the door to the washroom. she thought, darting through the few remaining stragglers and ducking inside. She gasped at the slightly cleaner air and wondered if she was going to die of smoke inhalation before she was able to get rid of that thing. Quickly she removed her broach, which was posing as a hair clip at the moment, and held it out in front of her. "NOVA STAR POWER, MAKE UP!" She sighed as the transformation ended. She was still somewhat uncertain about her human form but her power was as familiar as ever. She'd had it all her life after all, and small side trips posing as a normal human teenage girl didn't change that any. Purposefully she strode out of the washroom and, using the thickening smoke for cover, tried to find the most advantageous direction to sneak up on this thing. Finally she decided on the direct approach and popped out right in front of it. "And what might you be?" it asked, irritated at its distruction being interrupted. "Well," she began slowly. "I'm the type who believes actions speak louder than words. But since in my line of work speech making is expected I'll just say this. I'm Sailor Supernova, and you're in for it." "Oh really.... And what makes you think that?" "Because I'm a Good Guy and good always triumphs over evil. That's the way things go. Now who... or should I say what, do I have the pleasure of battling?" "Blaze the Fire Elemental at your service," it replied with a mock bow. "Good, now that we've been introduced time to die!" "You shouldn't have such a negative attitude darling," it said sweetly. "I might not kill you. I have been known to show mercy every few thousand years." "What do you want?" she asked, shocked by its certainty. "More questions? I thought we were through with those. Oh well.... What I want is quite simple dear. Shear distruction." "Dis... distruction.... Why?..." It laughed unpleasantly. "Well, we immortals find your mortal lives quite... silly and pointless. So we're just going around snuffing things. This is just our first stop since we've got out. Only fitting since the one who helped us escape is here." "I doubt anyone _here_ helped you escape." "Oh no? Someone did. I believe her name was Sailor Moon. You see... she freed the Chaos, and by doing so also weakened the seal on us, us being the Elementals of course. Just consider this our 'thank you.' Now let's see... where was I?... Oh yes...." It pointed and a blast of fire struck the ground by Nova's feet, causing her to dance back. "Stay out of my way and you don't get hurt." Nova glared at it and stepped forward again. "I'm not just going to stand back and let you destroy everything!" "Oh, you mean you're going to fight back? How endearing...." "Let's see how endearing you find this! STAR MYSTERIUM FLARE!" She grinned evilly as the familiar tongue of flame licked out and struck the Elemental, but the grin quickly faded as she saw that it didn't seem to be bothered by her attack. "What the?... Hey! That's supposed to hurt you!" The Elemental gave her a slow smile. "You poor deluded little thing.... Maybe you should go back to your little world where one form of fire can hurt another and leave me to my business." It flicked another flame out at her and Nova dodged frantically backwards again. "Unless of course you _want_ to die, which can be easily arranged...." "I'm not giving up!" Nova snapped at it, although not as certain as last time. "Very well," it sighed, lifting its hand. "I do hope you've made your peace...." "STAR GENTLE UTERUS!" The Elemental dodged back at the shout, but not fast enough. It winced as the attack brushed by it and whipped around to face it's new foe. "Oh how cute," it drawled. "Another one.... And who might you be?" "The angel of freedom who runs freely, Sailor Starmaker. Stage on!" came the shouted reply. The Elemental rolled it's eyes at the introduction. "What _is_ it with you senshi and your speeches?" it asked rhetorically. "Not that it matters, since I'm going to get rid of you anyways...." It turned to face the other Starlight and pointed at her ready to blast her. "Dream on!" Nova shouted at it. "STAR MYSTERIUM FLARE!" The Elemental tuned back to the lesser threat. "Weren't you listening? I _told_ you that doesn't work. I even told you _why_ that doesn't work. Now why don't you be a good little senshi and...." "STAR GENTLE UTERUS!" It didn't have a chance to dodge away this time and screamed in pain as the other attack struck it, dropping it to one knee. "You..." it hissed. "You little bitch! I oughta...." It froze at the telepathic message, confusing the Starlights with its sudden pause. the message continued. Blaze thought back. It fumed slightly at the way its fellow Elementals were treating it but quickly recovered. Breeze had a point, for a change, it couldn't do anything to their scapegoats.... Not yet anyways. "You got off lucky girls," it snapped at them. "I've got to go. But this isn't the last you've seen of me. Not by a longshot! Tootles ladies, have fun trying to get out of here...." Swiftly it teleported away, shocking the two Star Senshi. "What the _hell_ was that all about!" Nova snapped irritably glaring at the spot where the Elemental had been. "Who cares Nova, let's just get out of here!" Nova glared at who had saved her. It looked like Starmaker, it sounded like Starmaker, it wasn't really acting like Starmaker usually did but then the stress of the moment might have something to do with that. Yet for some reason.... "Find your own way out!" she snapped at her, backing away. Maker's eyes immediately grew cold. "So it's back to this again huh?" she asked rhetorically. "Why don't you make up your mind. Do you want to join us again or not?" "I do," Nova replied with an equal amount of ice in her voice. "But how can I be sure if you really are my team?" "How can we be sure if you're really Nova?" Maker shot back. "So we're stuck back at this square now, huh?" Nova looked at her through narrowed eyes. "Fine, I can handle that. You don't trust me, I don't trust you. If you really are my team, I'm sure we'll all have a big laugh about it later. If you're not... it won't matter since you won't live much longer after I find that out...." "Rather sure of yourself aren't you?" "In my line of work you have to be. Tootles Maker... if that _is_ who you are...." She sprung off in one direction, heading towards the back and Maker watched her go. Maker wondered, staring after her for a moment. Her circular train of thought was cut off as a timber fell from the roof, almost on top of her. she thought frantically, starting in the direction that Nova had headed off in. Quickly she changed back to her normal human form and stumbled out the back doors, gasping at the fresh air. "Christ! There's another one!" "I thought they were all out!" "Quick! Somebody tell that ambulance to hold on! There's one more back here!" Taiki stared at the concerned group of people heading towards him dumbly, barely able to stay on his feet. "Hey, are you okay?" the first one who came up to him asked. "There isn't anyone else in there, is there?" another put in. He thought about Nova for a moment, then quickly shook his head 'no', unable to say anything. "Don't worry," the first guy said. "We'll get you some help. Here come with us...." He put Taiki's arm over his shoulder and was about to help him walk when all the smoke that he'd been inhaling finally caught up with him and he passed out, pulling the man helping him down. "Jeez! Could we get a stretcher over here! This guy's got it bad!" **** **** **** **** "Is he gonna be okay?" "Why are you asking me!? Like I'm supposed to know if he's okay or not!" "Well since you got here before me I can only assume that you know more than I do!" "I didn't get here that much ahead of you!" "Well Sorrrrryyyyy! How was I supposed to know that? Like I said, I just got here!" Taiki slowly came to, to the sound of his friends bickering. Slowly he opened his eyes slightly and took in the scene. Seiya and Yaten were standing there, arguing at the tops of their voices and he was mildly surprised that no one had shown up to tell them to be quiet yet. "Guys," he said, barely above a whisper. He shook his head slightly as they ignored him. "Guys," he repeated, trying to get their attention. "Would you two knock it off!?" They whirled around and looked at him in shock. "You're awake!" Seiya finally said. "Very observant of you. What happened?" "We should be asking that of you," Yaten replied snidely. "We just all of a sudden got this call that you'd been taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation. How the hell did that happen?!" Taiki sighed and immediately regretted it as he realized _just_ how sore his throat was from the smoke. "I was at some club or another with Kaen...." "Oh yea! The big daaaate!" Yaten suddenly cut in tauntingly. Taiki glared at him before continuing. "I was at a club, when suddenly some sort of a fire-being attacked. It torched the place. Kaen and I got separated trying to get out, and I went back and fought it. Nova was there too, in fact I had to save her. She couldn't hurt it...." "What!?" "She couldn't hurt it," Taiki repeated. "It was a creature of fire, her powers are fire based. It basically absorbed her attack...." "So they have fire monsters too?..." Seiya asked. "Maybe, but this wasn't your standard monster.... This was one of the big shots." "How could you tell?" "It was tougher than the other monsters for one thing.... And smarter. It referred to itself as an 'Elemental'.... A Fire Elemental to be precise. And it was explaining its plans to Nova...." "Probably to put us off guard..." Yaten mumbled. "We don't know if this 'Nova' is working for them or not Yaten," Seiya sighed. "You're soft on her!" Yaten snapped accusingly. "We don't even know if she's legitimate or not and you're all ready to had over leadership to her!" "I am not!" Seiya snapped back. "But I am willing to give her the benefit of the doubt! Nova _is_ our leader. She's Kakyuu's twin sister. Don't you think she deserves...." "If it _is_ Nova, I'll apologize for doubting her," Yaten cut him off flatly. "If it isn't...." He trailed off momentarily for effect. "She won't live long enough to have to worry about it...." "That's almost exactly what she told me," Taiki suddenly put in thoughtfully. The other two stared at him so he explained himself. "She said that if we really were her team then we'd have a big laugh about it later, and that if we weren't it wouldn't matter since we wouldn't live much longer after she found out...." He trailed off thoughtfully. "How are we ever going to find out if it's her or not?" Seiya suddenly asked with a shake of his head. "I think we might just have to trust her," Taiki finally answered. He leaned back, deep in thought, and suddenly jerked upright, realizing something. "Kaen!" he exclaimed, shocking the others and hurting his throat. "What?" the other two asked in confused unison. "Kaen," he repeated. "Do you guys know what happened to her? I... I left her behind in there.... I don't know if she got out okay or not...." Seiya and Yaten shared a worried glance and Taiki immediately felt his stomach lurch. "What is it," he said, barely above a whisper. "What happened to Kaen...." "Well..." Seiya began slowly. "Damnit! What the hell happened to her!? What do you know that I don't!?" He struggled to get up, breathing hard. "Easy," Seiya said, pushing him back down gently. "We don't know, okay. I think she's in the hospital somewhere though, nobody got stuck in the fire or anything.... Why don't you rest, and we'll try and find out what happened to her...." Taiki finally relaxed. "All right," he said flatly. "But the second you find out where she is and how she's doing you tell me." "We will," Seiya replied calmly. "Come on, we'll split up," he said to Yaten as they started out of the room. "She must be around here somewhere." "They won't tell us where she is," Yaten said simply. "And even if we can find her on our own, they won't tell us how she's doing. It's not like we're related to her or anything." "They don't know that," Seiya replied mysteriously. "Are you suggesting we _lie,_" Yaten asked with a smirk. "I didn't know you had it in you." "It's not that much of a lie. We just tell them that we're her... cousins.... There's a bit of a resemblance between us... right?" "Not really... and I think that's a pretty big lie...." "Would you knock it off! This is for Taiki anyways...." "Yea...." Yaten shook his head. "I can't believe it. If I didn't know him better I'd swear he's fallen for her... but that's impossible... no matter how much we bug him about it. This is Taiki we're talking about after all...." Seiya sniggered slightly. "Yea, I know.... You wouldn't expect him to fall for a firebrand like Kaen. Although... opposites do attract...." "Spare me," Yaten said with a roll of his eyes. "Opposites have nothing to do with it. Taiki isn't the type to fall for any girl, he's too... focused. Unlike some people I know...." "Can it!" Seiya snapped with a glare at him. "Say there's a nurse. Why don't you go ask her where Kaen is?" "Why do _I_ have to ask her?" Yaten whined. "It was your idea." "Yea, but you're so much better at... ahem... bending the truth than I am. So go do it!" Yaten grumbled but strolled up to the nurse. After a brief conversation he walked back. "Room 467," he said bluntly. "Right down this hall. We can't miss it." They walked down the hall, and after a missing it the first time, finally came across room 467. "Can't miss it my ass," Yaten muttered. "Who designs these places anyways? The same people who make those mazes for rats?" "Would you shut up!" Seiya snapped as he peeked into Kaen's room. "Honestly...." "Well I'm sorry! I just feel like I deserve a piece of cheese after going through all that...." He carefully followed Seiya into Kaen's room. "Kaen?" he began slowly. "You awake?" "I don't think she is," Seiya stated, stopping at her bedside. "No? Really?" Yaten said sarcastically. "I couldn't tell from the complete silence in here." "Well you _are_ the one that asked." "It's the polite thing to do!" "You!? Polite!? Since when?" "I can be polite!" "Would you guys knock it off!?" They both looked down at the hoarse voice and spotted Kaen glaring at them. "You know. That's exactly what Taiki said," Yaten replied flatly. "I don't blame him if you were acting like that in his room too. How is he?" "He doesn't seem too bad," Seiya answered before Yaten could say anything obnoxious. "He's awake and everything. He was asking about you...." "Which is probably why you're here since I can't see you checking on me for any other reason. How'd you find where I was anyways?" "Well...." Seiya gave a nervous laugh. "You now have a pair of concerned cousins...." "His idea," Yaten put in flatly. "Oh really...." Kaen smiled up at them. "Not bad.... Although I don't know _how_ you got away with it.... I mean let's face it, there's really not much of a 'family resemblance'...." "Yea well...." Seiya glared at Yaten as he felt an 'I told you so' jab in the ribs. "It was just a way to get in here, that's all...." Kaen smiled at him. "I know that. So is Taiki gonna be okay?" "We already told you..." Yaten began irately, looking mildly irritated before Seiya elbowed him in the ribs, harder than nescisary for payback. "He's gonna be fine. They're gonna let him out tomorrow, they want him to stay here a night for observation. It'll probably be the same for you too...." "Yea..." Kaen replied thoughtfully. "Well you can tell him that I'm fine too, okay?" "Don't worry, he'd probably kill us if we didn't tell him...." Kaen looked at them. "That doesn't sound like Taiki." "Yea, well...." Yaten gave her a hard look. "You bring out a side of him I don't think anyone's seen...." END THE FIFTH PART..... ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- -Immicolia... immicolia@hotmail.com Immicolia's Fanfiction Nebula http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Temple/8671 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------