Newborn Disaster

Haruo and Mareado Household, Morning
Ode to terror, sing me a song of long suffering.

Bailarin Mareado was sitting at the table with her wife, Tristeza Desgaste, eating a simple bowl of cereal... it had been quite a few years. Adalina had grown somewhat, but her nature all the same. Her drawing had reached a higher peak, and it was clear in her room, with an art desk in it. Music also becoming more common for the daughter... she had a flute and violin in her room hanging on a wall piece.

Adalina and Mitsune Haruo had reached a higher friendship, if possible, and both of them loved eachother dearly, their crushes now evident. Adalina at the moment was in her room drawing...

Mitsune entered, nearly kicking the door down to Adalina's room as she barged through it. Her hair had gotten slightly longer... and she was a little taller, But her smile still held the feral ferocity it always did, even as she she hugged her best friend from behind and stared over her shoulder. "Watcha drawin'?"

"Drawing a picture of you and me, just memories." It was nearly finished, and the drawing was all around decent. Mitsune in the center, with her hands holding Adalina's own. Clouds in the sky, they were both laying on their backs as they looked upward... the view turned diagnolly downward towards them.

"Oh..." Mitsune examined the drawing for a brief moment. She was getting better, at least. But... she had made Mitsune a little... fat. And she was not fat. How come Adalina was skinnier than she was? Did Adalina think she was fat?!

"You like it?" A simple question, but unexpecting anything else then an answer. Adalina's voice sounded hopeful, after all, Mitsune meant the world to her.

"... Yeah... it's, uh... nice." She responded unconvincingly. Maybe it was the dress that was making her look fat in the drawing. But then, why would Adalina draw her with a fat dress? Mitsune's arms remained wrapped around Adalina's neck.

Giving a warm smile, and heated face from a forming blush, she smiled, but then pondered... "What's wrong?" Mitsune had stuttered with the ending of the sentence... she wanted a true opinion, and didn't want Mitsune to hide hers just because they liked eachother.

"Nothing, its just... uhm... I don't think you captured me... just right..." Mitsune let go, and took several steps back. She'd never given Adalina negitive feedback before... But she drew Mitsune ugly! Mitsune was almost tempted to start referring to herself in the third person again.

"What's wrong? The face? The dress? Is the body out of proportion?" A bombardment of questions, she'd fix it if Mitsune just told her! Adalina just wanted Mitsune to be happy, and that made her happy.

"No, it's nothing... forget it." The questions were weirding Mitsune out. Slowly, she began to inch towards the door... Maybe to get away and get some food.

She didn't want Mitsune to just leave like she did under pressure... they needed to resolve this. "I won't forget it, what's wrong? Tell me..." Adalina wanted to know. But somehow, she doubted she would get the information.

But Mitsune was already out the door. The moment she rounded the corner she used kogeru to bring her to the table, and snatched Tristeza's bowl of cereal and spoon right from under her nose. Taking a spoonful to her mouth, she sighed with unsatisfaction.

Adalina rushed down the stairs and too the table, her own powers... still unobtained. "Hey!" Emotions were now rushing. "Why won't you answer? And don't use your powers to get away, talk to me." Adalina hated it when she did that... it made her feel inferior.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

All of a sudden, a loud, shrill, and frightening scream arose from back upstairs. It cut through the calm morning air with its mixture of fear, anger, grief, and sorrow. It would tear straight through the minds of the people within the confines, reaching the outside. There could be no words that could be described by the pain within the tone as it repeated itself. Over..

..and over..

...and over...

Such was the acts of the second daughter... Shiro Haruo.

Within the screaming, there were words of other people spoken in between...

Immediately, Tristeza jumped in her seat, and Bailarin being the ever responsive, vanished with a Sonido to reach the room of the newest addition to the united families. "Shiro, you okay? Everything's fine, I'm here." She always played the mother... she did it well.

Nori materialized in the doorway, but was downtrodden to find that Bailarin had beaten him there. This was his daughter... He should do the comforting! But rather than confront Bailarin about it, and frighten the girl, he stood there quietly, waiting for her to do whatever she was going to do.

There was one other that had beaten them both there.

Tereya.

Currently, she was cradling Shiro in her arms, allowing the girl to sob into her shoulder. The screaming had started to fade away under her influence, being reduced to nothing more than muffled crying. Her expression was rather calm and level-headed, even with the emotion flowing from the small child.

"They're gonna get me...." Shiro was continuing to say in her sobbing and whispering voice, like a broken mantra. "They're gonna kill me... they're gonna rape me... they're right behind me.... they're gonna find me..."

"Sssshh...." Her mother whispered. "They're not gonna get ya.... you're safe now...."

"She's sleeping in our room from now on." Her father insisted. "I don't want to leave her alone like this again. She's sleeping in our room." Concerned, he glaced at Shiro's face, though most of it was obscured by her bangs. Milk was in order. It would cheer her up.

Bailarin soon made it back down the stairs, rubbing her head, and pulling her hair back from the rushed acceleration into a more fitting style. This child was... very special. Bailarin loved her like a niece, but she relieazed her place was elsewhere.

She hated when her own child began to grow up... it made her feel. Sad.

Tristeza looked to Bailarin as she walked into the dining room, and she was still intently seeing how the dispute between Adalina and Mitsune was going.

Meanwhile... Batalla Serenata was on her way to the household... she often came on fridays, and today was friday. Thus; the visit.

"Yeah, yeah..."

To Nori's comment, that was Tereya's response as she stood up. Shiro was practically clinging to her for dear life, unwilling to let go, but the sobbing had managed to cease. "God, if only I had a good fucking psychic-therapist right now..." She thought to herself, slightly frustrated at the lack of ability to help the child. She continued to carry her as she walked forward towards Nori. "And I'd be careful, Hime. I wanna be as close to her as possible to keep her cool, but I don't want to go so far as to risk going deaf."

Shiro remained silent, retracting her head from her mother's shoulder and remaining deathly silent. Her shadowed gaze seemed to be gazing at Nori now, though she made no notion whatsoever as to actually move forward or away from him.

Concern flickered for a moment more on Nori's face before it faded into a more annoyed look. A hand was brought up to pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration, covering one eye in the process, while the other he kept angrily focused on Tereya. "Then you can sleep somewhere else from now on, because she's sleeping in our bed."

"Hey!" Tereya's eyes widened slightly at this. She took one hand off of the child in order to raise it up defensively, still maintaining a good grip on Shiro. "Don't get so mad! You really think I'd be that selfish when it comes to one of our kids? I was one of the first ones here the moment she started screamin'. I'm fine with it, but I was just makin' sure if you'd be ready for that. Now come on...." She made her way past Nori and out the door. "I'm about to get cookin' on breakfast."

"Then hand her to me." Nori extended both arms expectantly. Unless Tereya could cook with one hand, he doubted she'd be able to cater to Shiro and cook at the same time. His figure blocked her passage out the door at the same time; preventing her from leaving until she did as he asked.

This caused a small smile to cross Tereya's face. Nori was simply showing that he had grown more and more attached to the child, possibly even more so than Mitsune. And that was saying something! She held no qualms about handing the girl over to him - she'd be as comfortable in his arms as with her own. With outstretched arms, she gently handed the silent Shiro over to Nori.

"What're you smiling about?" Nori snapped, his eyes narrowing hastily. If Tereya was smiling to herself, it usually meant she'd found something to poke fun at him for later. He was as delicate as possible with Shiro, however, and lifted her with the carefulness you'd expect from a mother. Nori examined her face before letting her settle into him; he was still worried, after all.

Shiro's eyes were practically deadened, the light having been lost. The only sign of life in her countenance was the blinking of those soulless eyes. She held a rather saddened look on her face, even as her arms clung around her father's neck. A rather depressing aura could be felt from her person. And yet, she still continued to remain silent, no crying, no emotion.

Tereya raised her hands up casually in defense. "Nothin, nothin,..." She replied innocently, still keeping the smile onto her face. "Now, you mind stepping outta my way?"

And he did move, but slowly, because he was obviously preoccupied with something else. "Shiro..." He began, taking a deep breath. "What was the nightmare about? If you want to talk about it..." Sometimes, that made people feel better, and it was the first time he'd ever asked. His hand moved to remove the bangs from her eyes. They were pretty. He enjoyed staring at them.

"....they were running after me..."

Shiro, after a moment of silence, began to speak again, her voice barely higher than a whisper. "The bad men ate my friends... they tried to eat me too... where were you, Daddy? Where were you..." Her voice began to crack, and she clung to her father even tighter. "I thought they had gotten you... I thought they had gotten Mommy....!"

Nori looked sullenly at the ground for a moment. He shouldn't have asked. "... Do you... Do you want some milk, Shiro? Daddy'll get you some milk." He replied. It wasn't the dream itself that bothered him, it was that he wasn't in it to protect her. Where had Tereya and Nori been?

"....?" At the very least, that had been enough to lift Shiro's soulless eyes and stare into her father's own, curiosity tinting them. Milk? To make sure she got there, she hugged Nori even tighter, not wanting to fall.

Nori brought them to the kitchen in a second with Kogeru, right in front of the fridge. Balancing her bottom with one arm, he opened the fridge with the other, and fished out a carton of milk. It was half empty. Walking to the other side of the kitchen, he retrieved a glass, and after he applied the milk to it, it was full! Finally, he handed the glass to Shiro, and began moving to the living room with the rest of the carton. They could sit there while he slept.

For a moment, Shiro stared at the glass, or more particularly, the liquid contained inside of it. Seemingly in a wandering manner, her feet carried her right after her father. If she stood there, she would be left alone... "D...daddy...?" She allowed her meek voice to sound out towards him, even as she followed. "Please don't leave me...."

Her father stopped walking immediately. He'd forgotten to pick her back up again... How could he be so stupid?! "I won't, Shori, I won't..." Nori whispered, turning around while waiting for her to catch up. Now he had a hand extended that she could hold while they walked! So she wouldn't feel so alone.

Boom.

A Kogeru immediately brought her to his side, and her small hand grasped what she could of his own. Her expression returned to its saddened position, even as she walked with him. As they walked, she could already smell the breakfast cooking... but she was reluctant to leave her father's side. Only when he decided would she be able to follow... otherwise, the bad men would try to get her again....

Nori smiled warmly down at his daughter, even though he knew her bangs would prevent her from seeing it and that she wouldn't react much to it anyways. Guiding her to the couch, he took his seat first, then picked her up and placed her on his lap. Finally, he laid his head back against the cushion as he closed his eyes. Shiro's screaming had woken him up early.

Adalina stood unchanged, still ever pressing. Bailarin sighed, opening a book, glancing through it, it had been one she had read before... man, she wanted to go to the movies.

That'd be perfect for a date night! Her thoughts clearly off of the silent sorrows going around. Soon, Batalla Serenata had made her way to the house, giving a simple three knocks. Tristeza went to answer, and once she had done so, the figure stood there.

The goth girl, now older, her form was taller, and she now wielded her Zanpakuto, earned a time ago, across her waist in a black sheath. A smile on her lips, the hair still obtained it's red tints, and at the moment she was wearing a stutted choker around her neck for a style.

"Morning Governa'." The sarcasm in her voice clear, Tristeza only let her through, she appeared to be friends of her daughter, and that was the only thing keeping her from kicking her out. Or killing her in more dire consequences...

It was so comforting to be near her father right now...

She never wanted to leave him. She sat there, leaning herself against him to feel the warmth of his body. The only thing that kept her from clinging onto him was the fact that she was also drinking her milk. However, gone was the sadness from before, now that she had company near her... now, if one could see through her bangs, all they could spot was a cold, emotionless, and callous stare that was capable of bearing through the mind like a drill. There was no smile, no content, none whatsoever that showed on her expression.

So lost...

...and yet so frightening.

Mitsune finished eating Tristeza's cereal. Had it gotten to the point where she didn't care no matter what Mitsune did to her? If it had, then she would be satisfied. Still, she would avoid Adalina for the time being, maybe for a few days.

Tristeza looked to the runt; known also as Mitsune. Atleast, to the others. She found it fun to pick on her. But Batalla nearly always soured her mood.

Batalla looked around, glancing to Mitsune and Adalina in particular, she smiled. "Hey you two. Sup?" Adalina let out a huff, her friend had said nothing...

Adalina's thoughts ran rampant, ''Fine! If she wants to be that way, then I don't care, all I wanted was an answer! ''"Whatever..."

With a rush of her feet, the Mareado girl ran to her room. Incapable of any powers... Batalla let out a simple question. "Ughmm... what was that about?"

It was here that the smell of pancakes wafted into the room, followed shortly by the lone figure of Tereya...

...and if one had a sensitive nose, one could've smelled the smoke that was coming from the cigarette in her mouth.

She managed to whistle a bit of a tune as she approached the breakfast table, eyeing everyone there. Despite the slight tension in the air (courtesy of Adalina and Mitsune), she was actually carrying on like her bored and indifferent self as she set the plates down in front of the two children first. Then, she hurried to get more, Shunpo proving to be much quicker than running naturally. It didn't take long before she set the final plate down, the only two chairs with plates in front of them empty.

"How's everyone doin'?" She asked casually.

Tristeza smirked, "I am doing good." Bailarin nodded, "Ditto." The phrase seemed fitting for the occassion, short, simple, and direct. "And you?" The woman of course mentioned the kind response.

Batalla nodded, "Well... Mitsune, what are you up to?" Adalina would get the chance to chat later, Mitsune was here, now.

Mitsune glanced over. "Nothing, really. You?" She replied dully. She nibbled at her food slowly, not looking at Adalina while she did so.

The smell of food!

Mother had prepared breakfast. Everyone would be there! Shiro had to go quickly! However, she took a quick glance over at her father. The man had fallen asleep.... unsure of what to do, she really wanted him to wake up so that they could go together.... but if he did, he could be cranky.... clasping her hands together, she leaned in towards him, gave him a kiss on the cheek, and then leapt off of his lap to run into the dining table. Once she was at the doorway, she stopped abruptly, blank eyes searching everything in there.

Tereya herself was giving her seemingly moody daughter a quizzical glance. It seemed as if a bit of drama was already beginning to unfold... she resisted the urge to sigh. Hadn't it been the reverse way around before? She had no idea how to approach these kinds of situations! But, she didn't want to neglect it by ignoring it. At the moment, though it was pretty much the only thing she could do.... until she could get to her daughter. Right now, she'd be embarrassing the situation. Looking in the direction of Shiro, she smiled. "You finally awake, Whitey?" She asked in a dry, but teasing manner.

Shiro simply nodded, before she began to walk towards her own seat, bare feet pressing against the cold floor as she walked.

Tristeza stayed seated at the table, something besides cereal sounded good... Bailarin sat there, she hadn't eaten anything, so if food was being made, she would join in.

Batalla smiled, "Just vistin' my favorite family in the whole world." "Well, the only one I like anyway." Offering a particular smile to Mitsune. Bailarin looked up to Batalla, something was off today...

And as Batalla smiled, Junto, the voice of her inner hollow made it's serene whisper... a grating in the back of the goth's head. '"She's cute in the mornings..." 'the words stated about Mitsune, and Batalla easily took them for her mind's own thoughts.

"Father is still asleep on the couch...." Shiro said softly, looking up at no one as she continued to eat. Tereya gritted her teeth and this time, let out an aggravated sigh as she allowed herself to stand.

"And I just got done telling him I was going to be making breakfast.... lazy bastard." Moving her cigarette in her mouth in agitation, she abruptly got out of her seat and walked out. "'Scuse me, girls...." With that, she disappeared around the corner in order to go wake Hime.

Nori was sleeping soundly on the couch, his own quiet murmurings the only thing signaling to his wife that he was actually alive. At an unseen joke, he smirked, before his expression tilted back towards sleep.

Mitsune smiled politely at Batalla. She was being unusually friendly, for someone who seemed to hate everyone.

Batalla made her way over to Mitsune, taking a seat next to her. "Got any plans today?" A simple question, one of any that could be pulled out.

Adalina sat in her room, sitting next to her drawing desk, her sketch pad on her lap, she began drawing on to it, to release frustration, but the art didn't detiorate, it just was something to put emotion into.

All Tereya had to do was step forward, stand in front of Nori, raise a foot to press onto the edge of the couch, push a few muscles into it, and...

FLIP!

Well, let's just say that Nori now has a cover.

In the living room, however, as Shiro ate, she noticed the disappearance of Adalina quite quickly, her eyes having been scanning for quite some time. Where did the girl go? Her breakfast would get cold... and Mother would get quite annoyed as she did with Father... she resolved to hurry up the consumption of her food in order to go meet up with the girl. It was one of their few interactions with each other, of course...

CRASH!

The same man she had flipped over kicked the couch back at her. He was grumpy. Was it so hard to shake him to wake him up? "You... you need to stop being so aggresive, Tereya." He mumbled. "What's wrong? Is dinner ready, or something?"

Mitsune stared awkwardly at the girl. "No, I don't have any plans..."

Batalla smiled, "You want to go to the movies tonight?"

Something blipped on the warning radar for Bailarin. "What kind of movie, and how late?" She wasn't Mitsune's mom, but Batalla wasn't the most... trust worthy.

Batalla rebuttled, "Some type of sci-fi horror, and it starts at 8:15 P.M, and ends around 9:50 P.M or so." Bailarin looked to her, and then to Mitsune, sending her the silent, You don't have to go if you don't want to, look. Tristeza sat there, bored out of her mind.

Adalina sat in the room, sniffling somewhat, she watched as her drawing seemed to take life, as they always had, the drawing of a dark forest back ground, a girl in the midst of it, her, staring at the moon. She was wearing a tan dress, torn, and dirty most likely from the venture.

Shiro managed to finish up her food. "All done, Mother..." She said quietly, before she allowed herself to slide off of the chair. Gently, pushing it in, she turned on her heel and left the room as quickly as she had gone. No one had even noticed the girl, almost as if she was a ghost. Her presence seemed to be barely felt, even when she was right in front of their faces. It was quite an odd trait that she carried...

"Wha--"

Apparently, this was one of the few times that she hadn't expected retaliation.

WHUMPF!

A brief look of what could be only described as "Oh shit" was written on her face, before she was felled by the couch and forced down onto her back. O....ow.... Was her reflexes getting bad? Eugh.... pulling herself out just enough so that her upper torso was still facing Nori, she was resting on her elbows. "Breakfast, hime. Dinner's ain't until this evening. What, you were expecting to sleep the whole day away?"

"Oh... Breakfast. Right. I knew that." Reluctantly, Nori helped pull the couch off of her, and put it back into it's regular position. "C'mere, miss, I'll escort you to your table this evening." He offered, pulling her up and pushing her in the direction of the table.

"Sure, why not." Mitsune replied. She was being asked out on a date, by Batalla. What would Adalina do about it..?

"Oh, gee, thank you, my dear...." Tereya rolled her eyes, positioning her feet in front of her and allowing them to be dragged forward as she was pushed into the dining room table. "You're such a gentleman...."

Shiro, with a simple Kogeru, had reached the room where Adalina was currently in. It wasn't very hard to spot, considering the fact that she could use a matter of "elimination of choice" in order to find who was in each room. Grabbing the knob, she gently pried open the door just enough for a crack, then she peeked through, blank eyes staring at the figure within.

Adalina rubbed her face momentarily, she had never had an arguement with Mitsune before. It felt horrible, but... why wouldn't she just tell her?

Tossing aside her drawing pad into the middle of the room, she grabbed her word pad, going through it, trying to calm her self by reading the personal logs of her life; a journal. But when in pressure...her dxylexia kicked in, hard. The simple words, ''"I was out today and saw a preety rose." turned into a complex blur, "I saw tuo yadot dna was a ytreep esor." ''And due to it... she couldn't even distinguish what it meant. Sighing, she let it fall to her lap, and her head lay on the back of the wall, and her gaze caught the door openeing. "O-oh..." a sniffle in the statement, "Hey Shiro."

Batalla smiled, "Great, I'll stay for a bit, then go get dressed." Batalla wouldn't care what Mitsune told Adalina. Adalina had just lost her, and she was free for the taking.

"Adalina...."

The ghost girl took it as a sign to come in, slowly pushing the door open. Considering her height, it was rather difficult to get her hands on the knob properly again, but once she did, she managed to shut the door behind her. She could sense the negative emotion coming from the girl.... the same thing that was coming from Mitsune, only in a lesser degree. The blank stare was unmovable, even as she approached Adalina slowly. "Breakfast is ready... why aren't you with us...?" Even her voice was emotionally dry, expressing nothing.

To Move On
"I'm sorry..." she sniffled again, she had gotten used to the emotionlessness of the girl. "I'm not in there because Batalla doesn't want to be with me at the moment, I don't want to start a fuss..." her voice sullen, she glanced at the younger girl, even with her troubles and stoic nature, Adalina found warmth in her, hard to do, but Adalina always could. "Do you want me to come eat with you?"

However, Shiro didn't choose to answer. At least, not directly.

Instead, her eyes fell onto the drawing that had been scattered aside for the moment. She stooped down to a kneeling position, reaching out and grabbing the picture with both hands. It was.... her sister.... and Adalina herself? It was odd.... this wasn't like the ones in the storybooks that Mommy and Daddy had read to her.... there was no words, no story.... just the picture itself. It fascinated her, to think that only a picture could be drawn without any words. What was the purpose?

"This is... a strange picture." She commented aloud, staring at it with a dull curiosity.

"The one of me and Mitsune?" she looked over, raising her body higher, but remaining seated. She could eat, or pass on it and stay here with Shiro for the moment, it didn't really matter. "Why do you say that?" Adalina's voice showed care, the girl was tender, and someone that was easy to confide with.

"There's no words...." Shiro explained, continuing to look over the picture. "This is nothing like a story... what are you trying to say with this picture?" She looked over her shoulder, hoping that Adalina would tell her...

"It's a drawing, art." Adalina made her way over to the girl, taking a seat next to her. "It's a story in itself... a way to put emotions, without the use of words, or where words can't." Adalina sighed as she looked at it, not out of irritation, just remembering the argument before. "This picture... represents the way I feel for Mitsune. I like her... alot. The roaming hills can represent any place, our hands together represent unity or togetherness... and as we look to the sky, it represents that no worries or dredges can hold us down."

That seems so different now...

"Then.... why are you so sad?"

Shiro continued to pressure her further, satisfied with the definition, but now confused at her words. "If you like Sister... then you should be spending time with her...." She allowed her body to turn to face Adalina, her head tilted to the side curiously.

"I want to... but she's ignoring me... and she's not happy with me at the moment..." Adalina sighed, mumbling the words lightly, "I really want to..." ''spend time with her. ''Looking back to Shiro, she offered a small smile.

"...." If Mitsune was ignoring her.... what was the purpose? She just couldn't understand why this was happening.... therefore, at least for a moment, Shiro could only remain silent for a moment more as she thought. If Mitsune was avoid her, even when she was sad.... how cruel was that? Blank eyes flickered with sympathy and slight grief. If that was the case...

Gently, she moved closer, wrapping her arms around Adalina in a friendly, but emotional hug. "Father always told me that a hug was one of the best ways to cheer someone up...." She said softly. "And you don't look cheered up at the moment...." It was a shot... but it was probably the best she could do at the moment. This was obviously nothing of her concern... and still, she wanted to lend a helping hand.

Somewhat shocked by the hug, she didn't neglect it though. Letting it soak in... the girl was trying to comfort her. Hugging her back, she let out a content sigh. "Thanks Shiro." staying there for a moment, Adalina was glad that this new member of the family was a kindred spirit. It made her feel not so alone. "I really needed that."

This wouldn't stop Mitsune from ignoring her, but she would try harder in the evening to apologize and make things right. Even if they weren't or were wrong, she wanted to be with her.

Shiro gave a slow nod, comforted in the arms of Adalina. She was always comforted around such; embraces such as this meant peace, even if it only had little effect on her. "Do you want to stay up here for a bit longer, or should we come down?" She asked, wondering if this would have any effect on Adalina's wishes to see Mitsune and/or Batalla.

"I'll go down if you do." Adalina commented, she wanted company, and talking to Batalla or Mitsune alone wouldnt' be the best. She didn't want to make a show infront of their parents. Standing up in her light jean shorts, and her plain cream t-shirt, she smiled at the girl.

"I would prefer to stay with you...." Shiro answered gently, releasing Adalina from her grasp and standing up as well.

"Alright, we'll stay up here then." Adalina smiled to her. Even though they weren't blood direct family members, she still loved her like a sister or close friend none the same. "If you want to draw you can, I have some paper, and drawing kits under the desk."

"Thank you...."

With that, Shiro allowed herself to move away from the other girl, maneuvering her hands underneath the desk in order to search for the required items. In truth, she didn't know how to draw.... but she did know how to write. She preferred to do so over speaking; it allowed for her a broader range of talking. What could be considered wierd when speaking could be considered beautiful when writing... it was her own preferred art, in contrast to Adalina's own style.

The question was...

....what would she write about?

Tristeza ate eating her meal, quiet, but with calm look on her face. And Bailarin was constantly watching Batalla, this girl was immediately going for Mitsune at the drop of the hat, nothing she liked. "So, Batalla, how's your mom?"

Batalla looked to the white haired woman, "She's doing well, going out with 'Calmante', ugh... it's their anniversary or something, so their on an island for the whole week. But I'm home free till they get back."

Adalina looked to Shiro, smiling, "Whether it be art or words, sometimes, I draw to express my emotion into paper, or what I would want." "As a means to get it off my chest, or just define myself, you can do the same."

Mitsune frowned. "That's a bit irresponsible of them." She commented. Leaving the delinquent home all week with no supervision whatsoever? Weren't they worried about their house?

Emotion....

Maybe she did have something to draw after all.

After thinking for a moment, Shiro grabbed several colors from under the desk; grey, red, yellow, blue.... mostly everyone of the colors of the rainbow were in the form of a coloring utensil at least once in her possession. Placing the paper on the floor, she picked up a color and started to work. It was at this moment flashes of her dream started occuring to her... but only flashes. She wasn't scared.... there was someone with her, a relative. She would help her escape from the demons.... wouldn't she? She continued to work, putting forth her effort into it.

She was going to make it a good one.

Adalina watched with care, sitting beside her, watching each individual stroke, taking in the details. Silent just to keep focused.

Batalla looked to Mitsune, "Yeah, but, there gain, seems to be my gain at the moment. What happens, happens." A smile on her black colored lips, her dull red eyes gleaming.

The girl smiled awkwardly back at her. The look in her eyes forced Mitsune to look away in nervousness and collect her thoughts. "... That's... that's nice..." She responded hesitantly, reluctant to engage in any further conversation with the girl. Why was she going out with this one again?

"Maybe we can go eat out before the movie, that is if you want." Another smile on Batalla's lips, "I'd pay of course, and it wouldn't be anything fancy." Her gaze entering Mitsune's.

So beautiful...

To Shiro's surprise.... she wasn't allowing herself to write.

Instead, from the moment that she allowed the brush to connect with paper, flashes appeared into her head. In her mind... what she was going to appear in words was appearing so visually in her head. At first, she was dumbfounded - she wasn't thinking of this... she wasn't attempting to think about it... and yet, it was as if someone was displaying something to her. She felt compelled to move the brush in a different manner, moving from writing to playing out the scene in front of her. Her blank eyes were concentrated as she worked, fingers twitching madly with excitement.

A gray sky...

A man in what appeared to be military attire, a pistol in hand aimed at....

''A woman who was standing still, dressed in the feudal attire of a Shinigami. A hand was placed on the hilt of her sword...''

Trees that surrounded the two of them, naked, bare, and their branches curving away from the two fighters....

Blood that formed a lake around their feet.

"S-Sure... Whatever you want to do, Batalla..." Mitsune replied. Why was the girl being so nice to her...? When they'd first met, she hated Batalla. Over the lengthy time she'd known the girl, Mitsune had found her barely tolerable. But now she was being so nice, and so foward, so insistant... It was intimidating.

Adalina glanced, watching as the girl did so. The girl was drawing... it was a insane sketch, making sure to watch each brush and stroke, mental notes going in her own head as to what it would be in the end.

Batalla kept her gaze at Mitsune and smiled. "Awesome, I'll see you at 6:30 PM then."

Tristeza scrunched her nose. Goth runt... "Don't you have someone else to pester?" Batalla looked towards the woman, "I could pester you directly if you wanted." "And the last person I pestered was a poor old man, but now he watches where he walks because of me." Snickering at the thought... pathetic humans.

Bailarin rolled her eyes, looking around for Tereya and Nori, "Are we the only ones eating?"

This was when Nori finally pushed Tereya into the dining room. Frowning, he let out a sigh of relief that they were finally there. "I pushed you all this way, woman. Now make me my breakfast." He ordered briskly, slapping her bottom as he gave the command. Sexism was awesome.

Mitsune nodded. "See you then, I guess." Wasn't Batalla staying over anyway? Or was she going to go back home and pick her up...? Either way, this was getting a bit too creepy for Mitsune to handle.

A look of brief shock crossed over Tereya's face as jerked forward a bit, instinctively holding the spot where Nori had suddenly slapped her with one of her hands. What the hell? Did all that time she had spent taking care of him make him a bit more cocky? Just fucking super... "Sure...." She muttered sarcastically, narrowing her eyes and looking over her shoulder with a skeptical frown. "'Cause pushing's the work of a real gentleman...." Rolling them, she walked away from him and into the kitchen, stuffing her hands into her pockets.

In the room, it felt like it was taking forever....

....however, she was about half-way done with the painting already, when she finally stopped. She had gotten the outlines done first... the two fighters standing toe-to-toe with each other, as well as the trees that bended away. What would be the blood ground was nothing more than.... ground. She set the brush down, fingers aching at the merciless work. "....it seems like I can't work on this right now...." She commented softly. "Do you see....?"

"Yes." Adalina looked at it... what was it describing? Was it a dream? Emotions in play. "What does it mean to you? Or is it a nightmare, something you saw, or don't want to happen?" Adalina butted herself in at the last, "You don't have to tell me though.

Batalla looked to the rest, and opened the front door, then shutting it with the crook of her boot.

Tristeza let out a sigh. "I swear, if she ticks me off, even one more time..." sighing, she rubbed her temples. "Blasted brat..." Bailarin looked over to the kitchen area, where were those two?

"This is my mother...."

Shiro explained softly, her tone betraying nothing as she explained. "She was fighting people with guns.... they were trying to kill her...." That was all she could say about the drawing at the moment, even as she looked it over.

"Hmm..." she pondered. "You did good, if it's your first time, not many people who are young can draw so well." Adalina stated what she wanted Shiro to think... what she really thought was pondering why the girl had dreamed such... violent and nightmarish horrors. It had to be something, maybe she could find out. "Try not to worry about it, our family won't let others hurt your parents, or vice-versa."

"Oh, c'mon, don't bitch about it..."

The condenscending tone came from Nori, who was following his wife into the kitchen. He wasn't actually sure if she was going to make his food or not (though the former would probably be preferable), but he didn't want her walking around with a puss on her face for the entire day.

Her husband quickened his pace so he could walk alongside her. "You should be happy that I find an old hag such as yourself attractive. Especially considering you're hundreds of years older than myself~..." He chirped, then caught himself. "N-Not that you look like an old hag...! That was the point of the compliment..."

A wry smile came across Tereya's face at the remark. "Well, sorry for not being a little kid again...." She replied mockingly, stopping at the kitchen door and placing her hand onto it. "And maybe when I'm nearing 2,000, that's when you can start calling me an old hag.... if you ain't dead by then."

"With the way you reconstructed my personality, Nami, the only way I'd be dead by then is if you picked at the flaws you purposely created..." Nori mumbled. As she stopped, he didn't, opening the door to the kitchen and holding it open for her. Surely, she must've thought of some way she could keep an advantage over him, in case something bad happened once again. Then she could just pull at the seems, let his psyche fall apart, then put it back together again, like a jigsaw puzzle.

This made Tereya quirk an eyebrow, even as she stepped through. "Oh... so you're sayin' you could live forever?"

Shiro, back in the room, didn't allow herself to turn to Adalina. However, the next words she spoke were chilling: "What does it matter....? They're all going to die eventually...." Morbidity began to set in, and her eyes were overshadowed. But one, if peering closely enough, could see sadness in her eyes. It was rather depressing for the girl to think about such things....

"Die?" "Sweetheart... from what my parents tell me... we can live forever, Arrancar... Shinigami..." "Your parents are tough, they won't just give up and die." It was faith. Maybe blind... 100% wrong... "And we all live, to make it to our farthest point, and we may all go away in the future, but we move on."

"That's the point of living." Adalina looked to Shiro, offering her a hug. "We live experience it... and we stay that way to cherish all we start, our children, our dreams, our hopes." If Shinigami, Hollows, Visoreds, Demons, and Arrancars... are all the results of death. Then death wasn't the end. Maybe it lead to the next life afterwards... just maybe life is a stair-way. Leading up and up... with no sign of an end.

"And if we are ever alone or someone does die... I'll do my best to keep us all together."

Tristeza was downstairs, looking to Tereya, hearing the arguement in action, Tereya was going to win, she always did. "Blondie's gonna get it in a minute if he keeps it up..." Bailarin thought about Tereya for a moment as well, not the same topic, but thinking of how well they had all bonded over the years... maybe they should spend more time with eachother.

This made Shiro look over her shoulder again, blank eyes staring at Adalina and processing what she had said. Slowly, she allowed herself to turn once again, this time to face her. "....you speak a lot of hope... Adalina." She muttered. However, she did allow herself to move forward, Adalina's arms embracing her once more.

"I'm not saying that I can live forever. I'm saying that when you're an ugly old hag, I'll still be a handsome, dashing young man." Nori retorted. The stare he was giving meant to imply he was saying this merely to piss her off, whether or not it may be true.

Handsome.

Dashing.

....were ''those the words that Nori was using to describe.... himself?''

For his pick of the statement, Tereya covered her hand behind her mouth, turned her head away, and started snickering, careful not to let it burst out into outright laughter. She would've accepted "in his prime", or something else - hell, anything was better than that!

Handsome? Oh yes, definitely.

Dashing....? Oh, hell no. He was definitely not live-spirited, nor was his attire the stuff of the fancy rich bastards of the world.

Young....? Oh, how he could dream....

Adalina watched as she did so, closing her eyes momentarily. "That's how you have to speak, and live. Otherwise you only feel sadness... even in the face of despair and darkness, why suffer? Keep on that smile." ''Even to the point to where you delude yourself... it's the only way to keep sane.''

Tristeza nearly chocked on her food, the word handsome, and ''Nori? ''Wow... she didn't expect those together. Atleast not to be said by him. Bailarin looked at Tristeza, snapped out of her own daze.

"You should stop snickering, considering the tits belonging to all three of you are going to drop down to the floor. You'll all probably get fat, too..." Nori frowned. It was meant to be an insult; not to make them laugh at him. Apparently the tone he had used wasn't able to penetrate any of their thick skulls. At least Bailarin wasn't laughing... But, she was the only non-tsundere.

"Oooooh, then you must be glad to have gotten me while I was hot--"

Stopping in the middle of her sentence, Tereya allowed herself to go into a 180-degree pivot, raising a hand behind her, and giving herself a light slap on her buttocks, before she performed another elegant pivot to face Nori, stopping in a rather alluring pose.

"And ready...."

Her tone was a mixture of allure and teasing, even at the "old age" insults. Sure, she would get old.... but it'd be a long time before that ever happened. Even then, would she be bitching about her beauty? Hardly, considering she spent most of her life getting cut up and beaten the shit out of... beauty was such a materialistic thing. He could keep it if he wanted to.... she'd accept it as long as it lasted.

This rendered Nori speechless. Not only could he not think of a response to her comment, his gaze was noticably redirected towards her cleavage and curves. The majority of her husband's face turned a light red while his right arm propped the rest of his body up from the counter. True, it wasn't the first time she'd done this to him... But, he was happy she could still make him so flustered.

Tristeza let out a laugh. He had such a mouth, but he was just bark, no bite. Tristeza knew she was still hot. And both the other women were as well. Thinking of it momentarily, she pondered a perverted thought in her head. That'd be fun...

"Rest assured, there's still gonna be plenty of fun going on before I get old." Tereya closed one eye in a wink, before she moved out of her pose and entered the kitchen completely. "Now, you gonna eat or not? I was tempted to let you fix your own stuff on that little "old hag" comment...."

Against Adalina's hug, Shiro simply closed her eyes. Did.... did she feel something warm in her eyes? Why was her vision blurring up? When she blinked, she felt liquid drip down from her eyelids and down her face. "If.... if only you knew...." She thought grievingly. "You would not be saying such things of hope...." She removed herself from Adalina immediately, her eyes overshadowed once more. "We....we should go back downstairs."

Nori followed behind her like an obediant dog. "I'll... I'll eat..." He mumbled uncertainly. The man really only had an appetite for one thing at the moment, and food wasn't necessarily what he desired. Was he capable of keeping it in his pants? Certainly. Did he want to? Not at all.

Tristeza just watched as they both enterted the dining room, at long last. "Hn." Bailarin looked at them, keeping silent... she was too lost in her own thoughts to keep up with everyone else.

Adalina nodded, "Alright, sounds good." Standing up, she grasped Shiro's hand in hers, and made her way down the stairs to eat with the rest.

"Oh... and one more thing...."

As they walked to the table, Tereya turned to look over her shoulder at the following man, a rather devious smile on her face. "You just might wanna take care of..." She whispered, lifting a finger to shoulder-level to point downwards. "...that." Of course, it was going to happen. She could practically feel his heart beating rapidly, the effects she had on him taking their toll. And what was the most important one? Why, the most embarrassing, of course! He could only hope that Bailarin and/or Tristeza wouldn't see it... or they'd have a field day with the guy....

Oh, how she loved being his wife.

"Oh, fuck you, already."

Instead of sitting there so he could be laughed at, Nori disappeared with a well-timed kogeru, ditching the family so he could take care of the problem Tereya had caused. What a bitch. She wouldn't even take care of it herself, after flaunting all her junk in his face.

Tristeza allowed a giggle. "Well played..." offering a smile to the woman. Bailarin looked back up, only hearing a small portion, but nodded anyways, whether she was in the conversation trully or not, "Ditto."

"You think he'd know by now how far he can get by trying to argue with me...." Tereya gloated, sitting herself in the chair nearest to the two women. She placed her hands behind her head, crossing her legs in what seemed like a lady-like fashion. The only thing she regretted was not putting a cigarette in her mouth. Ugh.... she should've gotten one while she was still standing up, but she was too busy teasing Hime! Bah... she wasn't going anywhere now....

"Heh, well, I can't argue with that." Eating some more of the pancakes, she smiled, the syrup trickled on her chin. "Dang, these are good." Bailarin looked to Tereya, they usually saw eachother all the time, but she might as well ask... "So, how are you today, besides all this?"

Tereya looked up...

...and her eyes comically narrowed at the sight of the syrup dripping down Bailarin's chin. This was supposed to be the mature, composed one out of the bunch! She looked so ridiculous! A bit of a motherly instinct kicked in. What to do was simple; either tell her flat out... or say a bit of it, and then stick out her tongue to lick the spot on her own face (a motion for Bailarin to do the same). After all, Bailarin wasn't stupid; it wasn't as if she didn't know how to wipe foreign crap off of her own face....

However, a third option was kicking in.

Toy with them.

She was getting the urge to play a little bit more... after all, she succeeded in Nori's case.... she was now itching for that same experimentation with these two. Would they be as fun to play with as Nori was? Or would they be boring? If she went with the third option, she most definitely would be stepping down an unknown path.... and that was making her even more curious. Her finger was practically itching, her arm raising up to Bailarin's face.

"You've got a...."

She didn't finish that sentence. Her finger touched the spot beside where the syrup was, before she dragged it aside to wipe it off. The sacrifice was her finger, now stuck with the stuff.

A small awkard moment formed, first a blush from Bailarin. "Umm... sorry about t-that." She was the easy one to toy with... and seeing her get nervous fast made Tristeza grin on the inside. "You could've just told me." Her stutter hiding itself for the one sentence.

There were multiple ways to remove the syrup from her finger. 1. Wipe it off with a napkin or various cloth. 2. Use your own clothes... too uncoothed for herself. 3. Or, lick it off...

The third seemed most embarrassing, but Bailarin was getting a brighter blush for thinking it. Tristeza smiled. This was good...

Unfortunately, Tereya wasn't showing shame or embarrassment.

"Well, I just thought that actions spoke louder than words...."

In a seemingly bored manner, Tereya decided to stick that finger into her mouth, removing herself from the problem immediately. It was as if she was practically tasting a sample of new food out on the market. She closed her eyes, kept her finger in a rather thoughtful position, before she popped it out of her mouth.

"Y-yeah, I guess so." Bailarin bit her lip, and watched as she did the... action. Quickly shifting her head to look downward, she placed another piece of the pancake in her mouth. Her red tint remained... why had she done that, on purpose for? It was kind of... alluring... ''I shouldn't think that! ''

Tristeza watched, thinking the same.

"....oh."

Once again, Tereya would not let up on her. Placing an arm on the table, she looked with a more realistic look of narrowed eyes, the smirk all too clear on her face. "Your face looks a lil' red. All I was doing for you was a favor...." She said coyly, almost tempted to laugh. But it would ruin what she was going for. "But I think you're getting a little something more in your head, aren't you?" Oh, boy, this was starting to get very fun!

Bailarin looked up, "M-my face?" She waited a moment, one of her hands touching her heated cheek in the response. "N-no...I-I... kinda... mayb-... y-yes..." Bailarin was stuttering the whole way, a look directly into Tereya's eyes lead to her not losing the contact. Tristeza watched with ancticipation, this was all to fun to preview.

"I thought so...."

WOOSH!

With a simple Shunpo, Tereya re-appeared right to the side of Bailarin, one palm applying itself to the table in front of the Arrancar. The other grasped the handle, partially trapping her between herself and Tristeza. "That's some pretty bad thoughts you're gettin'...." She said casually, partially leaning. "I think we should do somethin' about that.... right, Trizzy...?" Her sly gaze drifted from Bailarin to Tristeza in less than a heartbeat, and as naturally as ever.

Oh Yes...
Bailarin gulped, this was so close, and now her thoughts were running rampant. Her blush was now to it's highest peak... and Tristeza would make it the best time.

"I think we could..." Tristeza leaned over to Bailarin as well, throwing a few alluring glances to the both of them. Her own voice a whisper. ''"It'd be fun..." ''her voice filled with a husk. This was definately fun.

Perfect.

"Great...." Something told her inside of her head that she was making the wrongest decision.... there was a small part of her that was telling her to pull back while she still could, to laugh it off and say it was all a joke... but, even as she looked into their eyes, Tereya knew that she had stepped too far in. The only move she could make was the move forward... "Your room, or mine?"

"Let's go to ours." Tristeza mentioned, with a pause, she smiled. She had no qualms. Joke or not, everything should atleast be tried once.

Bailarin looked warily, but wantingly towards the two. She hadn't felt this sense of lust in a long while...

"Lead the way, then...I'm right..." Tereya used this opportunity for her own crack, winking at Tristeza. "...behind you."

"Sounds nice." Vanishing, she teleported the three into the room, all infront of the bed. Tristeza smiled, as she pushed Bailarin lightly so she was leaning with her back on the bed... Bailarin was now in their control. That's where she wanted to be.

Tristeza offered the same wink back to Tereya. Tereya and Tristeza were definately the dominant, and as Bailarin scootched back to the back board of the bed, she waited.

"Now where do you think you're going?"

A feral grin crossing Tereya's face, she immediately pounced upon Bailarin like a tiger upon its prey. Immediately, before she could even reach it, Tereya used her own body to pin the Arrancar down, holding the girl's hands above her head and together with both of her own. "You feelin'.... apprehensive?" She whispered, not bothering to hide the predatory, whispery tone. "Because you're about to get a taste of what Nori's been havin'...." Not waiting for a response, she moved in, plunging her lips against Bailarin's own in the same vicious, but passionate kiss that Nori and her had shared. Slowly, her hands began to drag downward, fingers sliding down the arms in a torturous manner. They would be on their way to tearing off the annoying fabric that stood between her and her prey...

...then it would begin.

It was here that Shiro and Adalina could be seen, beginning to walk past the rooms.

If they were paying attention, they'd be able to hear the faint murmur of voices from the kitchen, inbetween some loud snacking...

"--and then all three of them went up to the room...?"

"That's what I said, numbnuts."

"Watch your mouth. I'm your father."

"Oh, shut the fuck up. Who do you think I learned the fucking words from..."

Adalina looked around curiously, "Where is everyone?" Hearing some noise coming from the kitchen, she kept her hand in Shiro's, still glad to give or feel comfort from the warmth.

W....was that Father....?

And....Mitsune.

The name only made Shiro grimace slightly, though her naturally blank expression hid it well. She allowed herself to move with Shiro, keeping an ear into the voices. This could be important... even if she was a bit unhappy with her sister at the moment.

"So how was your day today, Mitsune?"

"It's been fine. Though, I'm going on a date with Batalla later on..."

"... Batalla. What about Adalina?"

"What about Adalina?"

"..... Mmph, nothin', nothing..."

Adalina stayed still waited with her younger friend; even close enough to be a sister, making sure to listen as the two conversed... sneaky as it was. Mitsune had just... said... her heart dropped momentarily, and didn't pick up. Her hand gripped Shiro's somewhat tighter, and her features told the all too sad tale that she was feeling betrayed and hurt.

''She doesn't care... about me? Just like that... j-just like that...''

"...."

Now the darkness in Adalina's heart was evident. Shiro's eyes shadowed over once more, her mouth closed in what seemed like her usual expression. But, under the lips, her teeth was bared. The grip on Adalina's hand might've caused her pain, but it was all too clear what the ghostly girl was feeling at the moment. She couldn't help the murderous intent from seeping out of her, too blind in her quiet fury in order to notice it.

Oh.... how she would've loved to rip out Mitsune's own heart right now, just to make it even.

BEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLCH.

After a very long, intrusive, and annoying belching noise, Mitsune stood from the table. Apparently, she had finished eating whatever it was she had been eating, and had chosen to release the gas built up in her stomach right not his face. This earned a slightly peeved expression from the man, but he was obviously use to such behavior by then, so he didn't react besides the slight change of his mood.

"Damn straight, nothin'. Batalla asked. I said yes. End of story. It doesn't mean we're boyfriend and girlfriend; I'm just going this once to see how it is. That's all."

Adalina couldn't help it, she wanted to run again, to leave. But it didn't matter... confronting her wouldn't either. But for Batalla...? Why? Was she paying her back?

For what...?

That was when Shiro's hand released itself from Adalina's. "It seems that my sister wants to toy around... how annoying." She said dryly, hand pressing itself against the door. "Allow me to teach her, Adalina...." And by teach, she meant beat the living shit out of the older sibling until she wouldn't even think of hurting Adalina ever again. The other hand was already clenched into a fist, readying themselves in the event should she swing them into Mitsune's face.

Despite saying end of story, Mitsune continued on anyway. "And if Adalina doesn't like it, fuck her... She can go find somebody else! I don't care anymore."

The breaking point was met, she fell against the wall of the stairs, out of view... Shiro could do it. Hugging her body to her knees, small tears formed once more... Was she supposed to just accept it? She felt a cold motion in her stomach. Just the first of issues to come.

Shiro didn't need any more notion.

WHAM!

Lifting her leg, she slammed it into the door with enough force to send it colliding with the wall behind it. Her eyes were widened, and nothing but malice and murder was shown in her eyes. She didn't even speak a word, but kicked into a Kogeru to immediately vanish. She didn't care if her father was watching her.... what Mitsune had said was cruel!!! She re-appeared behind the girl, fists clasped together. Like a sledgehammer, she swung them down, those widened eyes never changing.

She was going to crush the girl's skull in!

Smack!

She was intercepted by Nori, who caught her arms with his hand, at the expense of him being thrown from his own chair and slammed onto the floor below. The hand was buried in a small crater now present in the floor, still holding weakly onto Shiro's own...

Mitsune needed to run.

The other daughter burst into a very quick kogeru, leaving the house in a feeble attempt to escape Shiro's rage. Had she been listening to what Mitsune said...? But since when did Shiro care about Adalina?! If Adalina had Shiro, then why did she need Mitsune!?

"Now... Shiro..." Nori mumbled, grimacing at the stinging pain in his right hand. She had probably broken it. He'd heal it later. "Calm down... Daddy... Daddy'll get you some milk... Just calm down, calm down..." Almost trying to hold her in the house, Nori's other arm reached out and clasped the girl tightly in a hug. It wouldn't do anything if she really wanted to get away, but if she was distracted enough, it'd hold her.

However, Shiro, despite her age, was not foolish enough to fall for such a trap. If she accepted the milk, then her heartless sister would get away! And she would never get to punish her! Refusing to react to her father, Shiro violently wrenched herself out of his grip, and used her own Kogeru to escape the household. She left the house, following Mitsune like a loyal bloodhound. Hell.... she was even bent low to the ground, racing across it on all fours in the manner similar to a lion pursuing buffalo. There was only two things that were driving her at that moment.

One: The fact that Mitsune had said those words.

Two: The voice in her head, whispering directly in her ear, "Yes.... do not let that wench get away for spitting in her own lover's face. Show her no mercy! Avenge your fallen friend!!!"

"Avenge...." She whispered, even as she raced after Mitsune, her speed closing the gap rather quickly....

This is getting annoying.

Bending low, Mitsune picked up a small round stone off of the ground, span around incredibly fast, and hurled it at her sister's head. Then, she changed direction quickly, and launched herself at her sister, hoping to tackle her and incapacitate her while she was distracted by the flying rock.

A rock?

Immediately, Shiro stopped in her tracks, forced to swerve off track. The only sign of surprise she showed was blinking, even as they flickered from Mitsune to the stone. However, she was taken off-guard by the girl suddenly changing direction and charging at her. It dumbfounded her.... wasn't she afraid?! For this very reason, Mitsune was free to slam into the girl, knocking her straight to the ground. However.... it didn't knock her out. Instead, now that Shiro was toppled, she raised an arm to strike the other girl right in the jaw to knock her off.

Fear wasn't something that came easily to Mitsune.

However, she was still capable of underestimation and surprise.

And so was the case with Shiro's hook. After the tackle, Mitsune had expected Shiro to be disoriented or knocked out when she had tackled her. That was the underestimation part. The surprise part came when that hook smashed into Mitsune's jaw, knocking the girl off of her sister, and sending her sprawling on the grass next to Shiro. She was barely conscious now... If Shiro had broken Mitsune's jaw, she might have died.

Now, to finish this.

Moving quickly, Shiro lunged on Mitsune, hands grasping the firstborn's neck and squeezing without relent. She could feel the warmth of the neck, the life ready to be squeezed out of her. She would pay dearly for hurting Adalina! "Those who hurt others in such a manner...." She whispered softly, even as she continued to strangle the life out of her sister "Must die..."

"Don't be hypocritical, Shiro."

Nori pulled his daughters apart quite easily, possibly because he wasn't holding back when he seperated them. Unless Shiro wanted her arms to be permanently attached to Mitsune's neck, she would have had to let go. "Unless you want me to kill you, because you're hurting her in such a manner..?" He whispered in a way similar to the tone Shiro had used before. He'd have to take care of Mitsune later... She looked like she was in pain...

And the eldest sibling was, as she took breath after painful breath, trying to regain her sense of self. Her eyes were half-lidded and bloodshot, while her neck had several red marks that would undoubtably become bruises later that night. "I... I-I'm... go... gonna kill you... Shiro..." She managed to choke out, only to be silenced by a look from her father. Now was not the time to be instigating.

D....dad?!

That was when Shiro stopped.

Because of the pulling, the girl had to let go, her murderous expression shrinking back to a more.... confused one. Maybe... there was even fear in that expression.

"F....father would kill her?! B...but....I was only....I thought...."

This caused the malice to fade away completely, shrinking back into what had been the silent and sad girl. She allowed herself to hang limply by the back of her shirt collar, eyes shadowed over once more. However, she spoke the next words: "Why....?" She whispered, a hint of pain in her tone. "She said bad things about Adalina.... and Adalina loves Mitsune.... but Mitsune hurt her...." A tear, at her own words, raced down her face. "Why....?" She asked softly... sadly...

"Shiro..."

Nori dropped Mitsune, and hugged his other daughter very tight. A hand rose to calmly stroke her head. "There's something you're going to have to learn..." He stated morbidly. "She did it because she's an asshole. Everyone is an asshole. I'm an asshole... Your mother is an asshole. And you're an asshole. It's because there's no definate view of right and wrong; your version of it might be different than someone else's." At this, he held her away from him for a moment, so she had to look in his eye when she gave the answer. "Do you think it'd be fair for Mitsune to be in a relationship with Adalina if she didn't like her? You have to consider other points of view, too..."

"...." Shiro said nothing to that. She couldn't find anything to say about that. However, she did hang her head down a little out of shame; she had not even considered her sister's opinion at all. However, in this state, she couldn't bring herself to apologize to the wounded girl - what effect would it have? Would it make her madder then she already was? Apologies were supposed to be kind....

Meanwhile, back at the house, the dog once again made an appearance.

It was now a fully-grown dog. Covered in black fur, much of its Hollow mask from its puppy days had been removed. It was relevant to a wolf, and looked like quite an intimidating figure, prowling around the house as if it was searching for its prey. However, it always did retain its sweet nature around the family (though in a more "mature" manner). As usual, it was stalking the house curiously, sniffing around for anything it could find to eat.... chew.... look at.... whatever....

However, it caught the sound of.... crying?

Wondering what the sound was, the dog made its way over to the area, and eventually found Adalina in its tracks.

Looking towards the sound of scratching feet against the wooden floors, she saw the dog. "Oh... hey..." sniffing still, she still had the salty tears in her eyes, and from what she could tell... things had got worse.

All because of her. ''I caused all that... ''

The dog moved closer to her, as if she had just called its name. As it did so, it seemed to sense her grief; it whined a little as it finally approached her, its snout moving closer to her face. Then, it stuck its tongue out to lick the girl's cheek affectionately for a little while. Idly, it was getting curious about the salt taste on her face.... which was possibly most of the reason why it continued to lick her.

Somewhat relieved... she was glad to have companionship at the moment. But it wouldn't last long... all the sudden stress, her mind was still running rampant. Hugging it's neck, she petted the fur, content to be with it...

But that feeling arose in her stomach as tears still flowed. Luckily the bathroom was right by the stairs...

That was when the dog pulled itself away, apparently having sensed the danger. Backing away a little, it let out a sharp bark at Adalina, but not one meant to intimidate. It was simply something that would signal itself to be startled at the feeling...

Adalina rushed to the bath-room, holding her mouth over hand until she reached the toilet. Letting out the saliva and bile, she didn't hold back. It felt horrible... all of this, she began to cry still.

Too much sudden stress... Mouthing the words,

''Why...? ''

She need to rinse her mouth... and wash her face...

Nori patted his daughter's back. "But that doesn't mean your wrong, Shiro... Mitsune did a mean thing. Which is why she's staying at the Serenata's for a while." A glare was directed at the older sibling, before Nori used kogeru to bring his daughter and himself back to the kitchen. Milk! Milk always made her happy! It was what she needed.

"...." Mitsune held back tears. Her father was playing favorites now. So what? Mitsune didn't need him, or Adalina, or Shiro! All she needed was Batalla! Scowling, she began walking to the Serenata's house... maybe they'd understand and let her stay... Batalla would be keen on it, Mitsune was sure...

For the moment, Shiro remained silent, even as she lay in her father's arms. Her stare was blank as always, yet she could feel the comfort that the embrace provided. It was done: Mitsune, though not losing her life, was punished for her actions against Adalina. Nori had done well to make sure of that. Even as they ran away, she could hear the voice's mocking chuckles in her head, echoing throughout her skull. It was meant to assure that they had done the right thing.

So why...?

Why did it feel like she had made the biggest mistake of her life?

Batalla sat at her house, relaxing on the sofa, reading a book, an empty plate infront of her... having eaten her dinner just earlier. The TV on, something about the news...

Adalina didn't kneel for long, and she went to the sink to rinse her mouth, and wash her face. The bile and saliva already flushed...

Nori handed the glass of milk to his daughter readily. He was sure she would reach a point where this wouldn't work anymore, but he hoped it'd work at least a few more times. As he set her down, he glanced upward. Were they finished, yet? He had to discuss this with them... It was a serious issue.

Wait a minute.

Of course!

Adalina!

Immediately, as she was handed the glass, Shiro turned around and made a break for it to the upstairs, not bothering to use Kogeru again. "Adalina!" She called out, quickly moving up the steps and looking around. "Adalina! Where are you?" She hoped she had not done something bad, too....

House of Cards...
Adalina muttered out, "I'm in here." She waited for the reponse, and most asuredly the footsteps to come. Shiro always did make her feel better. Maybe they could get closer... she wanted to.

Bailarin and Tristeza soon exited the upstairs... Tristeza in new clothes, more casual then before, a pair of short jeans and t-shirt. Bailarin in a skirt and medium sleeved shirt. Both bare-feet...

Sensing something wrong, Bailarin checked around, her face was still heated, as was her mind, but all was taken care of... "Where's the rest?" the words muttered as she looked to Shiro through the Hall.

That was where Shiro stopped.

"....downstairs...." She said simply, even as she glanced through them just to see Tereya in her own fit of casual clothing - a white "wife-beater", along with blue shorts. She too was barefoot, but Shiro paid no mind to it. She was too busy focusing on Adalina's current state, trying to move past them in order to get to her friend. "Adalina's in the bathroom...."

"..." Bailarin nodded to the child, a small gratitude on her face. Going to the bathroom, she glanced at Adalina, she was washing her face... but she looked so pale... going in to the room, she would let Shiro talk first... it looked like she was looking for her first anways.

Tristeza went on ahead to the living room, glancing to Nori... a dismantled door, and lingering pressure. Sniffing the air, she scoffed. "What happened...?"

Tristeza had scoffed. What a rude gesture. "Oh, well, why you were fucking my wife, Adalina found out that Mitsune was going out on a date with Batalla, got jealous, was hurt, so Shiro came into the living room, kicked the door off it's hinges, and proceeded to chase Mitsune half way across the city with me in pursuit, and until she caught Mitsune, began strangling her, and had to have me seperate them both."

....oops.

Even as Tereya was walking down the steps in order to follow Tristeza, she had heard her husband's words. Okay.... so, it wasn't always that easy to get by with everything. Oh, well... she was caught red-handed. However, she kept on her rather bored charade as she walked down the stairs, acting like nothing happened. "Wait a minute, Shiro was strangling Mitsune?" She asked, a slight tone of surprise in her voice.

"Huh? No, she was just bending over Mitsune's head and shitting rainbows all over her face." Nori replied sarcastically, shooting his wife a glare. If she had been here, he could assure her none of this would have happened. "Anyway, Mitsune's sleeping over the Serenata's for a while."

"Oh...." Tereya didn't show too much worry at that. It wasn't as if the Serenata was some sort of pedophilic rapist or anything else. Mitsune'd probably be comfortable over there... at least, that's what she hoped. Hey, the girl commonly got on her nerves, but she was still her daughter!

"Good. Anyway!" Nori approached his wife, each quick step bringing him closer to the woman. Once he reacher her, he stopped short, then leaned in close, with his face only a few centimeters away from her own. He was smiling. "You just experienced every man's fantasy. How was it..?" He couldn't help but be curious!

He was smiling.

That couldn't be good. Either the guy was really pissed off at her... or he was actually in a cheerful mood. It couldn't be the latter - after all, she had just...well... it was pretty obvious what she had done. Yet, there was no sign of bitching or ticking off at the moment. Was the man finally learning how to decieve her? She decided to find out. "...well, I can tell you one thing...." She remarked dryly, leaning only a little to rest her forehead against Nori's. "Words just can't describe...."

"Oh, really...?" Nori cooed. He smiled warmly at her, before pulling his head back from her's...

... And bringing it smashing forward again, in the hardest headbutt he'd ever given. "That's for not telling me first. And if words can't describe it, I guess they performed better than me, huh?" Nori moved his hand to pat her on the shoulder. "Well, that's good, then! Because you'll be getting no more sex. For a long time."

WHAM!

She had been expecting that.

However, the pain that shot through her skull made her stagger back, almost in a violent manner. Now, she was hunched over and holding her head down, hand clutching the spot where Nori had struck her. Her hair overshadowed her eyes, and her teeth were gritted in a feral snarl. God damn, he had a hard head! However, her ears fell upon the "no sex" sentence immediately. "Y....you can't be serious...." She managed to say, rubbing her head gently.

"Oh, but I'm not. And if you try anything, I'll use kogeru before you can touch me~." Her husband chirped, idly scratching his head. Unless she uses Shunpo to grab me before I have a chance... Which, he could admit, she probably would. One hand went down to his hip and stuck itself there, almost a dare for her to try.

During this, Tereya managed to raise her head up. An amused smile crossed her face. "Oh, don't kid yourself, hime. We both know who's going to tap out first..." She folded her hands behind her back, walking casually for a moment in a half-circle around her husband. However, that position was immediately cancelled, as she folded her arms across her chest when she stopped moving. "Really... you think you can keep your hands off of...." She immediately put her hands behind her head, shifting her body in a rather alluring pose before she returned to her normal position. ".....this, for however long you're thinkin' of?"

Fortunately, once he heard her trailing off, Nori managed to look away in time to avoid the pose. It was rather obvious when she was going to do it. "Yes, I do." He replied confidently. For whatever reason, he remained rooted to the position. Nori's body wouldn't let him move.

Bailarin looked to Adalina, "You okay hun?" Adalina shook her head, "I don't feel good... and... me and Mitsune had a fight. I puked..."

"I don't want to talk about it..." Adalina ended. Looking to Shiro, smiling to the younger girl. Bailarin frowned... this was odd, she was definately in pain.

Tristeza watched and listened as the two husband and wife talked. This was going to be a short victory for Tereya.

"...."

Stepping forward, Shiro hesitatingly offered Adalina her milk. She hadn't bothered to drink it, having spent too much time worrying about the other girl. So, it was at least a gift to help her cheer up... if she could. She had a slightly pleading expression on her face, silently urging Adalina to take it.

"Awww, that's too bad." Sighing in disappointment, Tereya decided to give up. Turning on her heel, she stuffed her hands in her pockets and walked away. Surprisingly, she didn't seem too disappointed by Nori's confident attitude about the thing. Oh, well... it would be damn sure she wouldn't be desperate enough to go running back to Tristeza and Bailarin for more... but what if they were eager to do it again....? How the hell would she tell Nori--

WOOSH!

Psyche!

With a Shunpo, she was right behind Nori, wrapping her arms around him so that he couldn't escape, yet the grasp was enough to be considered possessively passionate. Lifting one of her fingers, she trailed it up Nori's cheek gently, resting her head on his shoulder. "I was going to show ya what I...learned... with Trizzy and Bail...." She purred, her breath in his ear. "But it seems like due to this, I can't...." She was going to test him to his limits in this... words wouldn't be enough for her. If he truly meant it, he would be able to withstand this newfound onslaught.

And she would most certainly be impressed.

".... A-Ah... B-B-But...."

Tereya was going to be disappointed. While he wasn't jumping at her as he had done at the Kurosaki's, during their visit, Nori was barely keeping himself from doing so. His knees buckled slightly, so he was really depending more on Tereya's hug to stand up, and when she began stroking his cheek, his head instinctively nuzzled her hand. Her breath on his neck made him crane it, exposing the entirety of it's side to her...

If she wanted to, she could take him right there, and not face the slightest bit of resistance.

Tristeza rolled her eyes. "Oh please..." she walked over to the sofa, taking a place as she plopped down on the cushions. "How predictable of you, Nori-chan." Sticking out her tongue as she turned on the TV.

Adalina happily accepted the milk, it would help remove the rest of the taste of that bile... doing so, she smiled. "It's really good... thank you Shiro." Bailarin looked at her worringly, "Shiro, can you watch over Adalina for a bit? I need to go talk with the parents."

"Yes, ma'am."

The voice was barely audible even as Shiro spoke, out of the nervousness that the ghostly girl was feeling right now. She didn't show it in expression, but the way in which she was speaking allowed that nervousness to show. She wanted to know if the girl was truly all right.... if she ever would be. This just made her anger towards Mitsune spike a little bit more....

If she wanted to, she could've moved in right there.

But she didn't.

Instead, a choice was made: she could break him right now, or toy with him a little more. If she chose the latter, she could peck at his defenses little by little, until his resolve finally broke and he was begging for it. It was only a matter of "get it over with" or toying with him a little more, then getting it over with. As he craned his neck, her next action would be decided either way. She pressed her lips to his neck, then allowed her tongue to stick outward. It traced along the flesh sensitively in an effort to weaken the man even more.

Tereya's advances were met by a series of sharp inhales. Instead of the normal bright-red, Nori's face turned a dark crimson, almost as if all the blood in his body was rushing to his head at that moment. In representation of their role reversal, Nori moaned slightly. "St-stop..." He begged, gaining his senses enough to actually formulate a sentence. "Stop... Stop it...!"

Sliding her tongue off, Tereya allowed her head to rest on the side of Nori's for a moment. A growl escaped her lips - a rather predatory and ravenous sound escaping from the woman. "What if..." She whispered, almost maliciously. "I don't want to? I'm in a mood to continue...." A small smile was showing a mixture of emotions... lust... sadism... amusement... "Oh, that's right. You said "no sex for a long time, didn't you?"

Then, she made her choice.

She released her hold on him.

"... Take me."

Nori didn't bother to look at her. Would she take him, even though he had said that..? Would she make fun of him for caving so easily? He could already guess the answer. Still, he wanted her... "Or... Tease me some more... Please..." He mumbled. Glancing to her, Nori's eyes flickered between her's and the couch, to show her what she wanted. They could have fun for a little before going into the bedroom, couldn't they?

"This is just sad..." Tristeza rubbed her face in annoyance. Pumping the volume of the TV to much higher decibels. If they were going to be like rabbits in heat, then they should be like good rabbits and go do it in a hole.

After all; she wanted her eyes intact.

Bailarin walked downstairs, just now seeing the action, she sighed. She was guessing there wasn't a problem... or...

These two were exactly like rabbits in heat. She didn't care at the moment, Bailarin cared why her daughter was so sickly... "Get your head out of the gutters."

Adalina looked to Shiro, that pale look was still on her face. And she was trying to keep out any thoughts of what had occured. "Want to get my sketch book? I want to stay close to the bathroom... atleast until this feeling in my stomach goes away."

Tereya couldn't help but snicker. "Aww, I'm sorry, Bail." Choosing to deny Nori his desire, she turned to face the girl who had said that. "I'll try and keep it to a minimum next time...." The dry wit in her tone made it difficult to tell whether she was being honest. Nori would probably complain again because she left him hanging this time.... but, jeez! She just got done climbing out of bed!

"What do you plan to do....?" Shiro questioned softly.

"I just want to draw..." Adalina admitted. "And about... us? Nothing... she doesn't love me. Not anymore... I want to just rewind it all... but I can't." Adalina sighed, "I'm going to leave her alone, she's happier that way."

Nori sighed. Now that Tereya was done with her antics, his head was finally clearing up. Tristeza was slowly becoming more of a bitch and less attractive. He'd be able to dish out retribution for her calling him Nori-chan. "Shut up, Tristeza... The only reason you're a lesbian is because no man would ever touch you."

"Your so cute when you trying real hard to insult me." "Give it up girlie." Tristeza smirked. She decided to lower the volume. Tristeza kept up the smirk, closing her eyes as she rested her head on the back of the sofa, listening to the News Channel. Something about a robbery...

Bailarin continued to watch. "Can I get the whole picture yet? What's been going on?"

"Oh, shut up, whore... Go make me a sandwich." Bailarin could observe the argument between Tristeza and Nori if she wanted to! It had to be better than whatever was on the TV.

"Yes...."

Immediately, Shiro nodded and ran off, eager to fulfill Adalina's deed. If it would help the girl, she would gladly do it... but, she would probably have to search for it... she hoped Adalina didn't mind waiting.... however, that theory was also broken as she burst through the door - it was right there where she left it! Wasting no time, Shiro grabbed it and used a Kogeru to return to the other girl, handing the book to her.

"Well....because of a little lover's spat between Mitsune and Adalina...." Tereya explained matter-of-factly, shrugging her shoulders and ignoring. "As well as Adalina getting the sick and sad end of it, Shiro went a little bit berserk and tried to kill the little fish. Fortunately, Hime over here..." She slapped a hand on his shoulder in a rather jesting and friendly manner... though it had a hint of warning in it. "Put a stop to it, and.... here we are...."

"I'm sad to hear this is happening... surpsingly from these two, even little Shiro." Bailarin sighed, looking to Nori. "Thanks for difusing the situation Nori." A nod given to him in thanks. "Well... anyways..." She rubbed the back of her neck, unsure of what else to say to the two. Too many odd things had happened this day and morning in particular...

Adalina smiled as Shiro came through the door. Taking hold of the book, she pulled a pencil out of the clip on the side of the sketch book. Opening it, she began to form the basic lines of a single face...

Mitsune knocked on the door of the Serenata residence. It was going to be humiliating to tell them what happened... And the creepy look she was sure would be on Batalla's face when she told her was making her apprehensive.

Batalla got up from her usual seat on the sofa. Making her way to the door, she glanced through the peep-hole. Mistune was here...?

Opening it, she smiled slightly. "Why you here so early?" Batalla offered the simple question... and held off the creepiness for now. But she was still direct...

"My Dad said I have to stay here for a while. Is that okay?" Mitsune asked, shuffling her feet slightly.

"Yeah, that's fine. What's his reason?" Asking further as she opened the door for Mitsune to come in through. She would shut it immediately after Mitsune entered.

"My sister attacked me... I don't want to talk about it..." Mitsune walked in, and took a seat where Batalla had been sitting previously on the couch. It was warm... she liked that. "Thank you..."

"Hungry or thirsty?" She was a guest for the time-being, she would be curteous. Batalla asked kindly, heading to the kitchen just in case. It was five hours from dinner, and seven from the movie.

"Ummm... Thirtsy?" Mitsune guessed. The girl leaned her head back against the couch. At least Batalla was being nice... Not like... Shiro, or her mother... Frowning, she dismissed these thoughts from her head. She was here with Batalla for the moment. That is who she would focus on.

"Okay." Grabbing a glass from the fridge, a simple soda pulled out, she handed the glass bottle to her friend. Atleast she was taking her comments better then in the past. Taking a seat next to her, after she had handed Mitsune the cola, she had her own bottle on the foot-stool, grabbing it, she took a drink of her own.

Tristeza looked to Tereya and Nori. "Well... guess that's that. Great parenting skills there blondie." Giving a sarcastic and still alluring wink, meant to throw him off balance. Bailarin made her way over to her wife, sighing as she laid her head on the peach-haired woman's shoulder. Tristeza accepted happily.

Adalina continued to draw. Her emotions showing she was happy to be with Shiro, and happy to draw again.

Curiously, Shiro leaned a bit closer to Adalina as she drew. Her eyes peered at the sketchbook, trying to figure out what the drawing was before it was completed. Her skills were a bit surprising for her age; though they focused on emotion and energy more than anything else, she still appreciated the quality of it. "How long have you been drawing....?" She asked softly.

"Tch...."

It was once again of normal activity. Tereya closed her eyes and tilted her head to the side, putting her hands onto her hips. So Mitsune was over at the Serenatas'.... that meant she could relax for a moment. Shiro wasn't that much of a hassle to deal with, at least when she was awake.... she raised a hand to her face, mostly around her lips and thought for a moment more. Damn.... she really needed more cigarettes. How many packs had she gone through? She had lost count when the two had gotten married in the first place...

"Hime." She turned her attention to Nori. "I'm gonna go check up on Mitsune...." Inwardly, she grimaced; it would involve having to see that bitch of a mother as a well... "Do try not to cause trouble while I'm gone...." She walked over to the door and pressed her hand on the knob. In her peripheral vision, she noticed the wolf-like dog sniffing about again and walk around for a moment before she opened it completely.

The dog went nuts.

Immediately, it started baring its teeth, raising its head up, and barking viciously at the open door, almost as if it had sensed a presence there....

"... Alright, Nami, if that's what you want."

Using kogeru, Nori warped himself to right outside the front door. They'd had the dog... hollow... thing for long enough to know that she didn't bark for no reason. Maybe there was a squirrel, or a hollow, or something... Or a person. It didn't matter.

Materializing Nasuka at his waist, he readied himself to combat whatever the dog had picked up on.

WOOSH!

When Nori went to the door....

....the dog raced straight out.

Up ahead of the path was a lone figure that was standing, the figure that was dissipating in size as it was walking away. However, it immediately turned around at the barking sounds, but as the dog neared closer, all it did was maintain a shocked position. The man couldn't even run away before the dog was on him, and a WHUMPF sound could be heard as it tackled its target. Vicious growling could be heard, and screams as well.

"NO! GET OFF ME! GET OFF ME, YOU FUCKING MU-- GAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!"

"What in the hell....?"

This caused Tereya to walk out, staring in shock at the scene. She didn't draw her own sword immediately (if it was a threat, she was going to draw it whether she waited or not, so why waste the effort?), but simply looked on as the dog continued to assault the fallen target.

"H... Here girl..! C'mon...!"

Nori would be of no help for the figure. Instead of running over and pulling the dog off of him like he could have, he only called for it, in hopes that it'd get tired of playing with what was now probably a corpse, and go back inside the house. Mitsune would be pissed if she found out the dog she'd grown so attatched to had suddenly disappeared.

"C'mon! Over here! I'll... I'll give you some milk!" He screamed hopefully.

The dog did come.

However, it brought its toy with it.

As it jogged along, it was dragging the very being it had attacked to the house. As it drew closer, they could hear breaths of pain and struggles to keep from screaming anymore. It appeared to be nothing more than the common man, wearing a rather black, long-sleeved shirt, matching pants, and a tie. It seemed as if he had been dressed for a funeral, if anything else. However, as Tereya peered closer, she could easily recognize his face, even as his pained eyes were shut. He allowed himself to be dragged limply, seeing no more reason for struggle.

Senkaku.

Adalina rushed downstairs, taking Shiro with her, looking through the windows to see a figure in the yard... tackled down with the dog on top of him. Someone had tried to sneak in the house!

"Whoa..." It looked like a fight was gonna happen... but Terra could kick his butt. So could Nori.

Tereya's husband looked down incrediously at Senkaku. "Huh... You'd think he'd be able to beat the dog..." He murmured in surprise. Was he really that weak..? Or maybe... The dog was incredibly powerful, and planning to kill them all!

Nah.

"What... uh... should we do with him...?"

In desperation, the man turned to his wife. Should they kill him? It wouldn't have been the first time Senkaku had attempted to murder his family. So why not take care of the problem now? It was kinda stalker-ish, too, how he had managed to end up right at their new house...

Tereya cocked an eyebrow at Nori for a minute, the back to Senkaku.

Oh, how he looked worse for wear. A trickle of blood was falling from his forehead and down the jaw, emphasizing the look of the agony he was feeling right now. His right arm, having reached the hilt of his sword and gotten itself caught between the dog's jaws, it was torn open, parts of bone and muscle exposed. Now, the dog continued to cling to the ankle, keeping it in a rather crushing grip. Its teeth.... they didn't seem like teeth at all! They seemed like two steel crushers! And now, he could barely stay conscious, only just registering the voices above him.

And then his eyes widened slightly.... out of fear.

The one who had nearly killed him, as well as the one who had fused himself with him and tried to drain the blood out of his body... were standing right above him.

Fear overtaking him, he tried to scramble away from them, desperate to keep himself away from what seemed like inevitable death. However, the dog wasn't so ready to let up on its new toy. With a tightening of its jaws, it closed around Senkaku's ankle even further, and the Arrancar was forced to stop, bucking for a brief moment out of the sheer pain it was causing him. The sound of bone could be heard slowly cracking...

"Well, I'm a little curious...." Tereya muttered dryly, stepping over towards the body with her hands behind her back. "I wonder what this little kid's doin' all the way out here, of all places....?"

"Yeah, Nami." The next words out of Nori's mouth were going to be dripping with so much sarcasm, they could very well drown them both. "I wonder what the Arrancar who's tried to kill us on multiple occasions is doing at our new home?"

Adalina whispered to Shiro. "What do you think is going on?" This was so odd... they were talking about killing? They were going to kill him?! But Terra and Nori had said that he had tried to kill them... so, maybe it was fair?

"I...." Shiro could only look on, a slight bit of fear in her voice. She didn't want to see death....! Death was too common in her dreams! She prayed that her parents would be merciful and let the man live.... "I don't know.... that.... that guy is bleeding....!" Her voice was quivering slightly out of the tension. What would they do....?"

"F....fuck you...."

That was the only thing that Senkaku hissed as a response, frustrated by his inability to escape. "W....what makes you think I need to tell you anything...?!" He demanded, though the pain was clear in his voice. The memory of Nori attacking his mother and him had popped up in his mind. "Son of a bitch, I'm going to ki--"

WHAM!

However, his words were cut off by a scream as Tereya lifted her leg up and slammed her foot down on his leg, sending an immense wave of pain throughout his body. Once again, his body violently jerked, desperate to rid itself of the agonizing sensation that rocked through him. "I think that's pretty clear...." She said calmly, stuffing her hands into her pockets. "In case you haven't realized it yet, you're under our feet right now because you made the mistake of running to us wounded. Either you answer our questions, or you're going to lose your life. Got it, ya little bitch?"

In attempt to ignore her, Senkaku shifted his gaze to the side and shut his eyes, praying for unconsciousness to overtake him so that he wouldn't have to say anything.... however, a grind down on his leg caused him to reconsider. "O...okay! I'll talk! I'll answer anything, please just don't....!"

Walking over, Nori glanced down at the man nervously, then to his wife. Moving close to her, he muttered something under his breath that he hoped only the three would be able to hear. "Shiro's getting kind of... uhm... nutty, so maybe we should... Let him inside...? We can kill him later, if the need arises..." Slowly, he began patting the dogs head. If it didn't let go soon, he'd get the newspaper.

Adalina was still holding her friend's hand... just as scared as she. She wanted to see what was going on, but she didn't want to Shiro to be afraid. "If you want, we can go into the kitchen." Adalina wanted to make sure.

Bailarin and Tristeza soon exited the house as well, glancing to the man. Tristeza was standing directly under the front door's arch. "Hn." Bailarin kept her mouth shut, staying behind Tristeza.

Who was he?

"It's fine..."

Shiro closed her eyes and shook her head, trying to calm herself as she looked out the window. It was just like in her dream... there was nothing unusual about this. Even as she watched the torture, she could only stare on with a saddened, blank expression. For some reason, she felt compelled to watch.... compelled to understand what was going on....

"I'd rather not having her listening to the louder screams that's going to be going on...." Tereya said dismissively, striking fear once again through Senkaku's body. "Would you?" As the dog released Senkaku's ankle promptly, Tereya looked once again towards the fallen man, a rather amused smile crossing her face. "All right, then....how'd you get all the way here, instead of all the way somewhere else, hm....?"

"I...." The boy would have to think of his answer carefully. A tired and weary expression on his bleeding face, he closed his eyes once more. "This was an accident... I was tuning my use of Garganta in order to expand the its limits, so I could go where I need to in the case that it would be a large distance... When I came across this particular city.... I....I felt your presences, and couldn't help but be a little curious... but... I swear, I...I wasn't aiming to kill anyone this time...!"

Nori patted the dog's head happily this time, before pulling it into a psuedo-hug. After kissing it on the nose, he pointed to Senkaku, then stared it in the eyes. "Say you're sorry!" He ordered. "Say you're sorry, and I'll find you something nice to eat. Okay? Say you're sorry, go on!" Maybe the dog'd hump Senkaku in apology. Nori would laugh.

Bailarin glanced to the man. "Maybe he's telling the truth." Tristeza this time became quiet. But put her word in. "If he's not, then you both are capable of knowing what to do." He would recognize her... she had cut off his little girlie's arm. In the Tournament...

Adalina gripped Shiro's hand for comfort...

"S....sorry?!"

The very word that Nori was ordering him to say.... he had yet to say himself.

This caused anger to build up inside of him. Weakly, he pushed himself up to a sitting position, opening his eyes once again. Once they gained sight, they narrowed quiveringly at the man that had dared to speak to him. "W...why don't you start saying that first...?!" He gasped, not bothering to hide the annoyance and anger in his voice. This time, Tereya remained silent as he did so - the question was directed at Nori, after all.

"... Okay. I'm sorry I made the dog stop chewing on you." Nori retorted dully. His eyes glazed over in annoyance and arrogance. Who was he to start ripping on Nori? This was why he didn't bother with people. Calmly, the man stroked the dog's coat soothingly. "Your turn."

Tristeza just watched. "I suggest you watch your mouth, mate. You might end up... permanently indisposed." She knew what these two would do to him if he didn't comply. At that moment, he was the target of pain and he was to act accordingly; to be submissive.

Bailarin kept watching, she didn't want this man to just die like that. Not in front of the children atleast.

She didn't know what to think.

For a moment, Senkaku's eyes snapped in surprise at the woman who had just spoken to him. Immediately, as predicted, he had recognized her right off of the bat. It was the same look of the woman that had went against him as an opponent. The same woman that had temporarily caused the loss of his second half's arm.... yet, he didn't feel any anger towards her at the moment, just surprise. Maybe because it was all directed towards Nori at the moment? Or was it simply because when they had fought, it was just a tournament--

Then Nori's words hit him.

"Don't play with me, you sadistic fuck!!!" He screamed, fury snapping within him. He yanked himself up to his feet - and gritted his teeth as pain shot through him once again. Hot blood spilled down his gashed leg, but he didn't care. "I remember it clear as day!! You, walking through the forest with someone in need of an attitude adjustment, pissed off for some reason I don't even know today!! You had came across my mother, an elderly woman who was nearing death, and myself... we both were just minding our own business, not even noticing your presence!!"

He drew in a breath, finding it hard to speak with the exhaustion slowly overtaking him. Yet, he still continued on, refusing to give up so easily.

"And what in the blue hell did you do?! Just so you could release some damn anger out, you decided to attack us!!! Not only that, but you decided to play "take the easy way out" and head straight for my mother!!! I couldn't do a fucking thing because you were pushing me away!! Sure.... my own retaliation may have went too far, and even now, I regret attacking a family like yourselves.... but what you did was not any better!!! Who the hell do you think you are, demanding an apology out of me when you have yet to deliver your own, you HYPOCRITICAL MOTHERFUCKER!!!"

And, not too far, and hiding behind a tree, was another presence, silently observing everything....

"... I... I'm sorry, then." Nori replied, rather undramatically. He didn't really know how to react to all of the anger the man was showing here. "I attacked you because I was under orders to clear the area, I think... Ugh, that happened a long time ago... Your mother could have kicked my ass, and you know it. Not to mention that--after Tereya here stepped in--I sat and spoke with her without attempting to kill her, which I could have easily attempted to do."

Sighing, he unsheathed Nasuka, and leaned it on his shoulder. "I wasn't demanding an apology out of you at first; I was asking the dog to say sorry for attacking. What else...? It wasn't a forest; it was plains, if I recall, and... huh... I don't really think I'm sadistic..." He mumbled in conclusion. Without a word, Nasuka released itself. Nori hoped it'd give Senkaku a sense of nostalgia.

"So yeah! Sorry." And, without another word, Nori lunged at Senkaku with his zanpakuto.

Tristeza watched, whetever Nori was going to do. She didn't care. If he died, he died.

Bailarin turned her head at that moment, she was a mother... and despite being a Hollow in her past; bloodshed was not something she craved anymore.

He was going to die.

Yet, now he was too exhausted to fight anymore. As he watched Nori make the lunge, he shut his eyes. Tears spilled out of them, filled with his regret and grief. He was an Arrancar.... he could gladly take death any day of the week. But, at least this way, he would die without any regrets... maybe his death would be the only apology Nori would ever get? Maybe it would make both him and his wife happy, knowing that they spilled their most hated enemy's blood in front of their house. He stood limply, awaiting the sword....

It pierced through him.

Yet, he only felt a slight burst of pain... before his wounds started healing.

"W....what....?!"

Immediately, he opened his eyes, looking down. The gash in his arm was.... sealing up! At an alarming rate too! He could feel the flesh move, tying and squeezing itself together with flesh and bone in order for restoration. The same was done to the arm too, and within seconds, his wounds were healed completely. He raised his once-wounded arm, studying it with astonished eyes. This was incredible! Even his own healing techniques couldn't do such in little time....

Then, he looked at Nori again with tear-stained eyes...

...and lunged forward, embracing him in a tight hug.

"I'm....I'm so sorry...." He managed to whisper, stangely able to retain his composure, even in his tears. The only sign of weakness was his breath, which was shaky, and his quivering tone of voice. "I won't raise my sword to you again out of revenge or hatred... and thank you so much for helping me...."

Tereya rolled her eyes and folded her arms across her chest. Really? The old teary-eyed ending? Bah! What bull-crap.... the least she had been expecting was torturing the guy to death... but, whatever. The drama had been solved.... but now she had to look over at one guy hugging another! Yugh... However, out of respect, she remained silent.

This also shot through Shiro's fear, replacing it with relief. "It seems like everything has been solved now...." She commented softly, although Adalina was obviously watching the entire thing.

Nori looked... very surprised. "Yeah... yeah, right, sure, whatever. Look, Senkaku... I've gotta... uh... check on my other daughter... so... yeah. You... can... stop... now...!" Almost forcefully, Nori pried himself from Sen's hug. After patting him on the head slightly, he turned to Tereya, then back to Senkaku, and then finally just started walking off, incredibly weirded out by the man's actions.

"You can stay here, at my house, or you can come with me to get my daughter. It's up to you."

Tristeza sighed, rubbing the back of her hand. "And to think, just moments ago you were going to check on Mitsu." She commented to Tereya calmly. Walking back in the house, Bailarin herself relieved from the shock. Bailarin pondered, "Hey, sweet heart, I'm going to go take a shower, be back in a bit."

Tristeza gave a nod. She knew her wife took hot steaming showers or baths to calm her nerves. That and massages. "See you in a bit then."

Adalina looked up to the group, atleast he was alive, and not going to be killed! "Good."

At this, Hermosa took her time to stand out from behind the tree she was hiding, smirking a little. She had heard the sharp tone in Nori's voice, and could deduce his obvious reaction from the hug that Senkaku gave him. It was rather funny! Leaning against the tree with her back to it, she folded her arms across her chest. They weren't noticing her now, so it was pretty obvious that they wouldn't....

Senkaku would've done the same, except for the fact that he now had his eyes onto the two women. "Tristeza-san! Bailarin-san!" He immediately called out, not noticing the little innuendo there. As he did so, he approached them easily. "Sorry for the rather...rough...introduction...." He put on a sheepish smile, raising a hand to scratch the back of his head. "It's a pleasure to see you too again...." Then, he turned his head back towards Nori. "And, all right.... I'll join you...."

"Well, hurry up, then." Nori grumbled. He could've been there and back already! "Oh, right... Uhm... C'mon girl, you can come too. You like Mitsune the best, don't you?" He asked her, motioning for her to come to his side. "Both of you. Let's. Leave. Already."

Oh, What Surprise
Bailarin nodded to Senkaku "It's nice to meet you again." Tristeza gazed towards the outdoors... after all, she was bored, the rest of the group was dispersing...

And she was never one to leave a visitor all alone. That visitor being the one in her sights. It'd be fun to say hello... "Yeah, hmm..." She vanished... dissappearing with a quick sound of static from her Sonido. She was going to go talk with their shadowy guest; Hermosa.

Even being hidden didn't cloak pressures. Especcially not ones people recognized.

"Ugh! Damn it, don't rush me!" Senkaku was quick to retort, already comfortable in the man's presence. But he was quick to appear at the man's side. The dog gave a rather loud bark towards him as well, but was more cooperative in the issue and rushed to its master's side, sitting at the ready.

Once both the dog and Senkaku were at his side, he put his hands over each of their heads (which, he hoped, would annoy his new friend), and used kogeru to bring them both directly in front of the Serenata residence. "Oh, geez. That took longer than I expected it to." He remarked sarcastically, before walking up to the door and knocking on it. Mitsune better damn well have been behaved while they were there.

Mitsune glanced nervously at the door from her position on the couch. She was half asleep, and leaning on Batalla's shoulder.

Batalla didn't mind it. She actually liked it. But the knock at the door meant she had to move. "I wonder..." Moving slowly so Mitsune wouldn't just fall, she made her way to the door, opening it. Then looking to the odd group. "Hello Nori-san. Who's the raven?" Her comment to the man with black hair.

"He's my... uh... friend. Anyway, I'm here to check on Mitsune. Where is she?" He asked quickly. Nori really wanted to get back home as fast as possible. Batalla could do what she wanted with Mitsune. Nori knew she wouldn't hurt her.

"Raven?"

Had he not heard the urgency in Nori's voice, Senkaku would've questioned the description the young girl made for him immediately. However, as it was, he respectfully remained silent. If Nori was in a hurry, the Arrancar certainly was not eager to impede his progress. It would've been rude of him, after all.

"She's on the couch." Batalla muttered. "Just resting." She showed no hostility towards Nori. After all, he was like family to her. As far as she wanted to think; he was important to her, as a figure-head. But she wouldn't say that...

Slowly, Ardiente and Calmante were walking down the stretch from the city to their house, only one-fourth of a mile to walk. Both newly tanned and rested from their Hawaiian Anniversary.

Tristeza now appeared beside Hermosa. On the other side of the tree. "Hello there..." Leaning against it.

"!"

Immediately, Hermosa snapped her head in the direction of the voice's sound. "D....Desgaste?" She whispered, though not surprised that the woman had found her out. Slowly, she grasped the tree with one hand, careful not to fall off of it as she circled the tree one-fourth of the way. Slight tension raced through her; after all, this was the same woman who had not hesitated to cut off her arm at the Hell tournament... though Hermosa herself had not shown hostility for it, she thought Tristeza would.... and, she was very reluctant to see that Segunda Etapa again....

Nori nodded briskly. "Good!" With brief consideration, he decided to squat down to her level, so he could adress her properly. "Take care of her for a while, and show her a good time tonight, alright?" With a comforting tone, he patted the girl on the shoulder, then turned to leave.

"Not much to say?" Tristeza grinned. She wasn't going to fight. And the tension racing through the girl was pleasant to see. A sadist delight. "Well, I'll start first then. How have you been? Oh, and your arm looks good." It was newly healed...

Batalla smiled to him. "I promise I will." "Good luck with Raven." Waving goodbye, she perpared to shut the door. It was getting close to start dressing up and head to the restuarant.

"Bye, Batalla." Waving behind himself, he motioned for Senkaku and the dog to come back to his side. They were both trained animals~! "It's time to go back. Let's go."

"Yeah, yeah...."

Huffing a little, Senkaku's mood deflated. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and walked back towards Nori. Today's events made him a bit exhausted. First, he got ninja-attacked by Nori's dog... and then, he allowed himself to get blindly angry and grieved to the point of screaming at another individual. He never did that before.... but the situation had riled him up so much. As the dog jogged beside him, he kept his eyes shadowed as he walked over towards the male Haruo.

Unconsciously, Hermosa gripped the arm that had been severed and squeezed slightly, the tension clear on her face. However, she tried her best to mask it, speaking with a mostly contained and composed voice. "I....it's a surprise meeting you here, Desgaste. You, as well as Batalla-san...." She was tempted to use her spiritual energy in order to make it easier to pinpoint Tristeza's exact location, but knew it was pointless - the woman could mask it! And at anytime, she could attack again....

"Hey..." As they both were warped directly to the spot where they had originally departed (unfortunately, it seemed Nori forgot to take the dog with them), Nori picked up his sentence from where he had trailed off. "Cheer up a little. I mean, I can't see what you've got to be so sad about. We're here, we're alive, and we've--... Well, at least I've got a smokin' hot girl to come home to."

Batalla looked to Mitsune. "I got some spare clothes if you want to change." For this occassion, Batalla would surprise with her choice of looks and clothing. But it was still going to be black...

Tristeza continued to stare at her. Vanishing behind the woman. Sitting lone on a branch. "I bet it is." "What are you here for though? You that Ningensei's girl-friend? Or is it just a complicated thing?" Desgaste didn't stop the questions there. "Oh, and what happened to that team of yours?"

This made Senkaku smile a little. "Well, aren't you lucky?" He retorted, chuckling a little. "But... the truth is, I'm a bit exhausted from today's events. Getting grievously wounded like that wasn't on my To-Do list." He folded his hands behind his back, looking over at his shoulder at both his second half and his former adversary as they conversed. Or, more importantly, Tristeza seemed to be prowling around Hermosa.... what was going on over there?

At the moment, the woman seemed to be playing with her.

This caused the tension to fade to minor annoyance, and she turned herself around accordingly, using the voice as direction. "Firstly, I am not Sen-dono's boyfriend." She said firmly, folding her arms across her chest. "Secondly, the team...." She quirked an eyebrow, having to think for a minute. "Well.... it's not exactly disbanded.... but, after time, some people have joined up with us and now.... it's become more of a family then anything else." She held a hand behind her mouth, chuckling softly to herself at the thought. Who knew a bunch of strangers could feel like brothers and sisters to one another in such time?

"I bet." Tristeza soon vanished again, appearing directly infront of the woman, on yet another branch, this time an inch from Hermosa's face. "So, like family huh? Sounds rather weak... you're discarding your Hollow heritage so easily." She was going to form an arguement.

"Oh, so getting mauled by dog isn't good enough for you. You'd rather get mauled by a cat, or a bear, or a dinosaur?!" Nori screamed comically, before calming himself down enough to speak normally. "You can stay at my house for the night. No, in fact, I insist that you and your little girlfriend stay the night and get busy in one of our rooms!"

"Eee!"

Startled, Hermosa immediately fell back, landing on her rear end rather ungracefully. She frowned, glaring back up at the woman. "S...so, what of it?" She asked, only a little indignation showing through her voice (mostly due to her embarrassing fall). "It's not like you know anything of how I had came to where I am now...." However, she was immediate to mentally wince. That was so rude sounding! She had let her tension get the best of her!

However, another voice cut through momentarily.

"WOAH!"

Immediately, at Nori's sudden declaration, Senkaku immediately jumped away and raised his hands up defensively, staring at the man in shock. "Jeez, let's not go there!" He insisted. "She's only a friend, all right?! Don't go spouting off stuff like that so loudly!" The boldness of this man, however, was something also to laugh at. Was the guy simply trying to embarrass him? Or did he really think that he and Hermosa were an item....?

Tereya was sitting by her lonesome, her back leaning against the wall. Boredly, she reached with her finger and fiddled with the necklace around her neck. Because it had been so many years, she had gone through several copies of the necklace. Yet, she and her husband always kept it the same shape, just so the original wouldn't be completely forgotten. She always kept it on her neck, just to show that she remembered their first date.... and how they meant. She watched the spectacle with amusement, however, wondering also if she should get some popcorn as well.

She wasn't going to show it too outwardly any time soon....

"Then you are weak." "You aren't Shinigami, you never were. You are a Hollow that has simply grown to a new level." Tristeza stood over the woman with another flash of Sonido. "If you forget your roots, then you forget what they did to us, both as Hollows and Arrancars." "Shinigami can not grow and evolve, they are weak, you are not, and you should not act like that, or take of their traits."

Bailarin was relaxing in her hot shower. And Adalina in specific was drawing next to Shiro, smiling as she did so, immersing herself in the world of her art.

"... Oh. I see how it is. Our house isn't good enough for you two to fuck in." Nori retorted, eyes narrowing in a hostile manner. "I'll have you know, the beds are very comfortable, and I usually fall asleep right after my wife and I fuck... Unless she's keeping me up. And the doors lock, too."

"G-Guh-Gi-Uh-Ugh-Erp--Gaaaah!"

The only thing Senkaku could immediately come up with as a response was stammering, his eye twitching every time he uttered a syllable. Finally, letting out a sigh of frustration and cupping his face with his hands. Why were they talking about this in the open?! Did Nori have no shame?! A scowl coming over his face, he put one hand on his hip and let the other one hang at his side. "Getting off-TRACK!!!" Abruptly, he screamed the last word while briefly swinging his head away, as if he was about to sneeze. Immediately, the dog (who had just come back) got startled, repeatedly barking at him for the sudden intrusion.

"Tch!"

Hermosa scoffed, immediately allowing herself to stand up face-to-face with the woman. Now she could tell what Tristeza was trying to do to her - goad her... she certainly was doing a good job, her hands slowly clenching into fists, the knuckles tightening. Now that she thought of it, the woman did have a history of enjoying combat... and she had been a former opponent. So it was natural for her to feel at least a bit of animosity towards the blind Arrancar, even if it was just for kicks. However, she was determined not to fall into such a trap - she didn't want to cause trouble!

Her eyes narrowed into a dangerously cold stare, a scowl being formed out of her mouth. "I don't need you to tell me that..." She countered stubbornly. "If I forgot, then how would I ever hope to embrace the art of combat? How could I ever expect to protect both myself and my comrades? I would even dare to say that I can easily enjoy myself raising a sword to someone else's neck...." A slightly threatening tone came into play. "Rest assured, Desgaste... I may have embraced morality that the Shinigami have gained, but it would be better to re-consider me before you dismiss me as weak."

"It seems that your mother does not like the new guest...." Shiro said calmly, looking over at the two from the window.