What a long day it had been. . . . Off to work early in the morning, putting up with being hit on by some of her co-workers because she was apparently ‘attractive’ and their ‘type,’ ugh, she was just fed up with it! Heading home in the afternoon after stopping on by the store to pick up food and maybe a manga, if they had one in stock she didn’t already own. . . . This was Evande’s normal routine, four days out of the week she was stuck going to a job she hated, dressing in a manner she hated and putting up with guys she wished would just disappear. One of the men actually had the gull to grab her ass today! Thank God I’m off for the next few days. she sighed as her heels clicked against the sidewalk. If her parents knew what she was putting up with at work, Evande didn’t doubt that they would implore her to quit and come back home.

She didn’t want that though, she was nineteen now; an adult. She had a job, even if it was miserable, it was an occupation, and if anything, Evande did NOT want to have to move back in with her mom and dad after three years on her own.

People passed by her, brushing against her by accident, going about their normal lives like her, hopefully enjoying it a little bit more. The plastic bags Evande carried rattled and the contents knocked against each other with each step the pinkheaded woman took, though she didn’t notice as she was off in her own little world. In her head, she was already lost in her own worlds of manga, fanfiction, videogames, and online roleplaying. What she was going to do as soon as she got home, First I have to get the grime of those disgusting pigs at work off me, then feed Kiseki, and then just chill out for the next three days with my lovely manga. . . .

Ah yes, her sweet, sweet manga. . . . One of the few things that kept her sane, and the only thing that had kept her going after her friend’s desertion of her back in middle school. That was when she began to isolate herself from everything and everyone; it seemed easier just to . . . just to be alone after all that happened. Evande’s eyes dulled and she continued on walking as she shut her mind down, and numbed herself to the old pain of that event. It just wasn’t worth thinking about something if it made her upset; all she wanted to do now was to get home and read her manga.

After some time, and some lengthy walk, Evande was finally at the entrance to her apartment building, sighing she pulled her keys out and undid the lock, opening the door. The click of her heels echoed against the tile of the entranceway as she checked her mailbox; which was utterly devoid of anything. Sighing quietly, Evande turned and headed up a flight of stairs to the sublevel her apartment was located upon.

Her keys jingled as she fiddled with them to find the right one for her apartment door; finally getting the correct one, she popped it into the lock on the door and turned it . . . there was just one problem though, when Evande turned it there was no click to signify that the door had unlocked. It was just silent. Evande just stood there, staring at the lock rather blankly. Was this really happening now? She turned her key back and forth repeatedly, trying as she might to get it unlocked, but it was to no avail. The lock was screwed up, and it didn’t seem to be working. “Why can’t things just go normally for me?” she sighed.

Evande set down her groceries, and set both hands on her key and yanked at it, hoping that maybe she could at least pull it out. She pulled and pulled, letting out a groan as she tried one last time, putting her all into it. Nope though, that key just didn’t want to budge. Evande let go of the key and huffed, staring the key down she growled rather loudly and kicked her door with a, “Damn it!”

The delivered kick and her rather loud exclamation echoed in the hallway; and Evande found herself thankful that only one of the apartments on this floor were taken. First the idiots at her work just HAD to hit on her as if she were the only female on Earth, then one went ahead and grabbed her rear hard enough to probably bruise, and now she couldn’t even get her door unlocked?! Come on! Just let my luck run a little better today would you God? Evande sighed, and let her head knock against the door, the resounding THUNK from it didn’t faze her, At least let me get my door unlocked would you? Is that too much to ask? Letting one more sigh out of her lungs, Evande went to turn on her heels to at least pick her groceries up, however it would seem that lacking luck was not the only thing plaguing Evade today as her ankle bent sideways, and she went to the ground with a rather loud THUD and a groan, “Owwwww. . . .”



She tossed and she turned, resorted to punching at her pillows as she did her very best to get comfortable. The brunette flipped over into one position, remained like that for a few seconds before she seethed and huffed as she sprung up into a sitting position, a rather sour look upon her face. Kiku looked around her silent and dim room, her hair slightly messy from her attempts at sleeping. “Ugh! Stupid bed, why must it be so difficult?!” she complained to no one. With a huff, she blew upward and blew her bangs up and out of her face for a moment. Of course she couldn’t get to sleep could she?! Did her bed have a vendetta out against her today or something?!

Kiku stood to her feet, her skirt draping around her legs as she stretched. There was just no point to trying to sleep right now it seemed. . . .

~*~ Nikolas & Ryu ~*~

The front door flinged open as Nikolas tackled Ryu to the ground. For practically the whole time since they'd arrived, Nikolas had been sitting down, watching the TV blankly and ignoring Ryu's little comments in the background, or the munching sound that the idiot made when eating pocky, even from far away. For the whole bloody say he'd been able to ignore the purple haired moron, but that last comment... well, Nikolas lost it at that.

"So you're going as far as to sit on top of me?" Ryu laughed, reaching out to pat the blond boy, but Nikolas punched him out of nowhere. But, the thing he expected least of all was Ryu throwing Nikolas off him and into the wall, before actually realizing what he did. Nikolas rubbed the back of his head, wincing at the pain. Ryu walked over, looking slightly apologetic, even with that little grin on his face.

"Sorry." Ryu tried to help him up but Nikolas slapped his hand away.
"Don't touch me, bastard..." he muttered, making Ryu have to stifle a laugh. The way Nikolas said that word, with utter disgust, mostly over the fact that they had to live together for the rest of that lifetime made Ryu feel a bit happier. He grinned guiltily while Nikolas growled, and then, as if they were reading eachother's thoughts, they both looked over to the pink haired girl on the floor. Nikolas had to look away since his face was bright red, and once he felt the heat leave his cheeks, he stood up, his eyes darting from girl to Ryu to bags to door to swollen ankle. He looked worried at first, before managing to hide his emotions and that's when a painful throb passed through his head from the injured spot and he tumbled, being caught by the taller guy.

"Let go of me. I'm serious, Ryu. Honestly, I'm not joking. Ryu, get off! Oy, oy, put me down! PUT ME DOWN!"
Nikolas was thrown onto the bed while Ryu went back outside to help the girl. Nikolas knew who that girl was. Technically, he was a part of her and she was a part of him, no matter how cliched that sounds. Nikolas stood, wobbling a bit but regaining his step in a couple of seconds. He got a small satchel out of his bag and took it outside, opening it when he came near to the girl. Nikolas grinned a tiny bit before spraying her ankle, wrapping it up in bandages and cracking one of those chemical ice pack and placed it on her ankle, holding it there for a while. He sighed a bit, thinking that she'd always been clumsy.

"Need help with your bags?" he asked, not standing up yet because he felt like he'd fall over. Ryu was looking worriedly from behind, but he wasn't too sure what to do. After they helped the girl, he'd force Nikolas to go to sleep somehow; the boy was already a lot of shades paler than usual. He just hoped he hadn't done significant damage. Nikolas looked at the girl in front of him before sighing. He knew her name. He knew he did. Evande.

Evande moaned as she began to recover her composure, she tried moving little bit, her entire side hurt her from falling over, and her ankle was fairing no better. She had definitely twisted that thing nice and well, it was already starting to swell against the strap of her sandal. When one of the doors in another one of the apartments flung open that Evande’s head jerked over in shock; and out came two guys she did not recognize. Who . . . who were they?

She might have left pretty early this morning for work; but Evande was sure that particular apartment was empty before. . . . Her only neighbour was a Kiku Kurosawa, and she was a bit of a witch so Evande never spoke to her. She watched the two guys have themselves a little fight while remaining fairly quiet, Uhhh. . . . Should I say something? she thought a few times, but she elected not to. It was when the blonde-haired guy was thrown into a wall that Evande let out a gasp, she heard his head make contact with the brick wall from where she was!

That had to have really hurt. she thought, wincing. Evande may not have been the most socially graced person in the world, but even she could feel sympathy for a stranger when they got hurt like that. It was when the both of them looked to her that Evande’s face went red, those two were seriously just now realizing they had an audience to their little fighting match. . . ? Her eyes went to the face of the one who had his head slammed back against the wall, and a pang of familiarity rung through Evande’s heart.

For some reason, it felt like she knew who he was, but she quickly dismissed that as she never actually socialized with people enough to feel what she had just felt. I swear, there was just a twinge of worry on his face though. Evande let out a cry though when he almost tumbled to the ground, only to be caught by the guy he had been fighting with. "Let go of me. I'm serious, Ryu. Honestly, I'm not joking. Ryu, get off! Oy, oy, put me down! PUT ME DOWN!" he had demanded.

Evande caught the name of the guy with the violet hair out of that at least; Ryu. When the two were in the apartment, Evande got herself up into a sitting position and poked her ankle, winced and removing her sandal so the strap wouldn’t get stuck on her as the swelling got worse.

Ryu had come back out to assist her it seemed, and Evande looked up at him rather blankly, but the other guy, the one with the potential concussion came wandering back out into the hall carrying some sort of satchel with him. He sprayed her ankle with something that made her seethe because it stung, and then stuck an ice pack on the swollen appendage. "Need help with your bags?" she heard him ask her. Nice offer, but Evande could tell there was no way that he was going to be able to even get to his feet right now. He was pallor and he looked rather faint.

Why was this guy being so nice to her. . . ? Evande’s eyes darted between him and Ryu uncertainly, she really did not want to put up with this right now. “Uhm, thank you for the offer, but I’m going to have to decline.” She said. “You should be more concerned about yourself, you look like you might have a concussion from hitting that wall.” Evande pulled her ankle out from his ice pack and scooted her legs underneath herself, wincing not from her ankle, but from the forming bruise on her backside from when she’d been grabbed at work.

--------

Kiku was flipping open her laptop, and getting ready for an online shopping session to the extreme when a commotion rattled her out of her zone. Her eye twitch and she pulled a growl out from deep within her lungs and eyed her door, she knew that the source of the noise and disturbance was coming from the hallway; what was going on? Did she have new, annoyingly loud neighbours who didn’t know how in the Hell to keep themselves nice and quiet?! Scooting her laptop off onto the surface of her bed, Kiku got to her feet and stomped toward the door, grumbling to herself about how the whole of humanity, all but her that is, were idiots!

Stupid, annoying people, why the Gods would EVER allow such scum to be born onto the face the Earth, I’ll never understand why! she screamed in her head, her face red with anger. Kiku kicked her door open rather harshly and her tiny form trudged on out, a very evident frown on her face.

“What the Hell is going on out here?” she hissed, eyeing the only three souls there. Two men she didn’t know, and there was of course her neighbour, the otaku-freak of the complex, Evande. Ugh, it would figure that the pink-haired freak would be a part of this annoyance!! Kiku sighed, “I don’t know who you two annoying guys are, but it would figure that the otaku-freak would be a part of all of this.” She muttered, bitterly as she crossed her arms, looking off to the side into thin air. “Feh!” she exclaimed, her ahoge moving with her head.

“Evande can’t ever keep her glasses-wearing nose out of anything it would seem, no matter how much she claims she wants to be left alone, that pink head of her just attracts the attention!”

“Kiku, perhaps you should be more polite in front of the new neighbours?” Evande hissed at the short girl. The insults she spewed did not faze Evande, after all Kiku was an unpleasant little girl and had been in her entirety of living next to her.

“Oh shut it you pink-haired otaku freak! When will you finally dye your hair a normal color and get a fashion sense?!” Kiku seethed, looking at both of her neighbours. “Though it seems Evande isn’t alone in regards to not having any grip on fashion or normal hair color.”

Nikolas looked at Evande. Dear god, he probably seemed nice. Well, he did hit his head quite hard. “Uhm, thank you for the offer, but I’m going to have to decline.” She said. “You should be more concerned about yourself, you look like you might have a concussion from hitting that wall.” Nikolas laughed a bit. He doubted the gods would let him die so soon, not when their game was just beginning. Just as he was about reply, the door behind him was whacked open and he stood up instantly from the shock. It was just a natural instinct. Ryu grabbed the top of the boy's hoodie as he fell over slightly, helping him regain his balance. Nikolas growled a bit, before looking at the new person in the corridor. She seemed to be insulting Evande and Ryu. Ryu laughed a bit about the subject of his hair colour.

"Maybe because we're not conceited little brats who think that they should be the centre of attention all the time! To be honest, there's nothing interesting about you at all! I mean, the moron has his purple hair, and Evande has her long, pink hair, but what do you have? Oh yeah, same colour hair and eyes and-" Nikolas blurted, being held back by Ryu as he tried to attack with his hands. Usually, he didn't try and hit a girl, but this girl was Ryu's alter ego. That's just... ugh.
"Excuse him. He has anger problems."
"Anger problems? Anger problems?! Have you seen the bump on the back of my head?! Have you?!" Nikolas yelled, or at least tried to, but his voice came out all raspy and shaky. He sighed, before realising that Ryu had basically just proven his point. He muttered "Bastard..." under his breath before turning around to face the Evande girl.
"Otaku freak? I'm guessing this girl hasn't even read one manga in her who life..." he muttered, while Ryu looked at the girl strangely.

Then, Ryu said something out of nowhere. "Hey, would my hair look nice blue?" he wondered out loud, while Nikolas face-palmed, shaking his head. Nikolas looked down at his own outfit. No fair! He was wearing a grey top (which was to big so one of the shoulders didn't even stay on) and black jeans. He wasn't saying he had fashion sense, but Ryu was wearing his pocky scarf so he did look better than the taller guy. Nikolas smelled something. Cat food.
"You have a cat?" he asked, his eyes sparkling with delight at the possibility. Then again, he did know that. They had been watching their alters from... above, or below, Nikolas couldn't tell. But, the possibility that someone in the apartment block had a cat was pretty cool. I mean, he is obsessed with them. Ryu shook his head.

"Look, Niko. If-"
"Don't call me that."
"If you want a cat we can just get one."

Nikolas turned around and jumped up, his headache now a forgotten whisper, and he looked at Ryu. "Really?"
"Sure! I mean, we could give it a really cool name or something. Like, something japanese or korean or something. Like Dango."
"What the hell is wrong with you? But we can get a cat? When? When?"
"Sometime when the two ladies are satisfied and no one is kicking or knocking or blasting down their door, okay?"

Nikolas went to pick up Evande's bags. "So... tonight?"
"I don't think so..."
"Can you open the door? I can open it for you if you want and Ryu can help you in or something..." Nikolas practically muttered, a bit embarrassed about acting so excited in front of her. Ryu smiled. The subject of cats always put that guy in a better mood...

Kiku let out a laugh at the reaction the guy in the oversized clothing had when he discovered that Evande had cat food in her grocery bags, so they all had bad tastes in clothing and no sense of normal hair coloring, and a weird thing for cats. They’re probably otaku too who happen to have a catgirl fetish. . . . she thought, rolling her eyes with a loud sigh. “It would figure that my new neighbours would probably be just like the anti-social one.”

Evande sent a glare at Kiku who just ignored her and the new neighbours, and with a sigh, Evande looked at Ryu and ‘Niko’ as she was asked if she could open her door. Though, the offer to have it opened for her and to be assisted into her own dwelling was put on the table, it was nice of them, but Evande really didn’t want their help, or for anyone but her to be in her apartment. For more than a few reasons. If anything else, Evande didn’t want these two thinking she was friendly and amicable, or that she would be the neighbour who would get them presents on holidays. . . . She didn’t want anything to do with making friends. Kiku already berated her and teased her anytime she saw her, so why would she want to put up with another set of people?

She really didn’t want anything to do with these two beyond this, Evande didn’t have any friends, and she certainly didn’t want to go ahead and have guys thinking she thought them her friends! Setting her hand on the wall, and using it for support, Evande used her good leg and uninjured ankle and got herself up. The offer is nice, she thought, letting out a breath as she set a little bit of weight on her twisted ankle. But, I don’t want to start making friends, I don’t want them, and I don’t need them. Friends only lead to problems in the future, I would be brought pain again.

While Evande was utterly silent, Kiku turned her gaze back to the otaku, visibly frowning. The two new neighbours had just appeared today and already the anti-social nut-bar had them practically fawning over her? Kiku laughed at the situation!

This is why I hate that woman; she acts all helpless and like she wants nothing to do with anyone, but I know her type all too well. Rolling her deep red eyes, Kiku opened her mouth to speak, “Just take their damn help Evande. Your little damsel in distress act has already gotten their attention, so you don’t need to keep it up Miss Otaku, so go ahead and let them fawn over you already.”

At hearing Kiku’s accusation and words, Evande’s cheeks turned starkly red. How, how dare she!! Evande let out someone akin to a huff, both angered and embarrassed by Kiku’s words! T-That girl!! What did I ever do to her to make her ever say such a thing in front of people I scarcely know?! Even if Evande was an anti-social sort who preferred keeping problems out of her life and keep things as peaceful as possible, this was just enough, she was sick of little Kiku and her attitude toward her.

It hurt like Hell, but Evande used the wall as a crutch and hobbled over toward Kiku, “What is your problem with me Kurosawa?! I haven’t done a thing to you, EVER and yet you go ahead and speak as if I’m some sort of horrible person!” Evande shouted at her.

“There are plenty of reasons for me to not like you Otaku.” Kiku began, “You act as if you’re this poor, poor tormented soul who wants nothing to do with the whole of humanity because of a torturous past.” She turned and faced Evande with a mocking look of fake sadness on her face, “Oh waaah, I got made fun of in school. Boo hoo! People have been soooo mean to me so I want nothing to do with the rest of the population because I’m sure it will happen again!”

At Kiku’s mocking, Evande clenched her eyes shut and bit down on her lip, doing her very best to control her anger. “Shut the Hell up!”

“Hah, why don’t you make me?”

With a rather loud growl, Evande’s patience finally snapped with Kiku, and she pushed herself off the wall, supporting her whole weight on both her ankles. The pain didn’t faze her; Evande had enough of this for one day. She forgot about Ryu and Niko, and lost it, and used her height advantage over Kiku and stood right in front of the tiny girl, looming over her. Her brown eyes were frightfully cold, vacant, filled with nothing but malice. Seeing this, Kiku Kurosawa’s arrogance ceased and she swallowed hard, taking a slight step back.

“I-If you set so much as a hand on me Sterling, I’ll have you arrested for assault!” she threatened.

“I wouldn’t want to touch you, you little prick, I’m afraid that bitch might be a contagious disease.” Evande seethed, bending over so she was looking the tiny woman right in the eyes. “Just know something about me, I put up with a lot of crap at my job, and when I get home, I don’t feel like having some stupid little girl insulting me when she doesn’t know squat about me. I already had my ass manhandled by some sexist pervert while I was trying to do my job today, so you would do best to shut your mouth.”

With that Evande backed away from Kiku, once more using the wall as her crutch she limping back to her apartment door, going passed Niko and Ryu she put her hand on the jammed key and forced the latch to unlock in her anger. She opened the door and looked back at the two men, “If you want to help me bring in my bags, then go ahead and do so.” And proceeded inside to soak her ankle in the tub.

Kiku though remained where she was when Evande had spoken to her, frozen and wide-eyed, shockingly quiet. . . .

Nikolas frowned at the Kiku girl. He didn't like her. At All. He liked her less than Ryu, and that was saying something. Then again, it's not that he didn't like Ryu. It's just that he hates him, while liking him. Ryu, however, was grinning at both gils, and when Evande went inside and Nikolas took her bags in, he gave a little laugh.
"Come on, cheer up! Being so shocked over being shouted at?" Ryu laughed a bit, trying to make the small girl get angry or something, rather than scared, or shocked or... whatever. Ryu looked at her and did the impossible; he took a pack of pocky out and gave it to her, watching it the whole time.

Meanwhile, Nikolas had no idea where he should put the bags. Kitchen area? Couch? He opened the door to the room Evande had walked into, thinking she must some sort of extra room. "Hey, where should I put the- Holy crap!" He ran out, a bright red, taking the bags with him. "Sorry, sorry! That wasn't on purpose! Ryu is going to annoy me so much for this. I'm honestly not like those weirdos you talked about at work! Our bathroom is in a different place at ours... I mean, you are very pretty, I'm not insulting you, but I don't walk into girls in the baths! Why is this coming out all wrong?! I'll... I'll, erm, go..."

Nikolas placed the bags down on the couch, power walking out of there. He slammed the door shut and looked Ryu in the eye.
"I think I might have been mistaken for a creepy pervert person thing..." he muttered, breathless.
"Why?"
"Can we go out for a walk?"
"Sure, Nikolas. We'll a cat on the way."
"I'll get my coat!"

A few seconds later, Nikolas was out of the apartment and grinning. They left quickly, Nikolas sounding all happy. They went back to the subject.
"And you walked in on her bath?" Ryu laughed.
"Stop laughing!"
"But it's so cliche!"
They passed a petshop, and Nikolas abandoned the conversation and ran inside. Ryu looked about for him, only to see him practically squealing like a fangirl in the cat section.
"This one, this one! Look at little Panda!" Nikolas grinned, showing a cat with black ears and black patches around his eyes.
"Panda it is, I guess. Such an unimaginative name. What about Hikari?"
"His full name is Panda Hero."
"That's a song."

They payed for little Panda Hero and started making their way back.

Kiku proceeded back into her apartment after the weirdo in the pocky scarf had, predictably, handed her a package of pocky. After she shut the door behind her she huffed, looked at it before nearly crushing it in her small hand with an angry grip. With a cry she threw the package down her hallway with all of the force her small body could muster up with such a short notice. Damn you Sterling! she swore in her head, meandering down her own hallway and into her room, she dropped onto her bed, curling up into a ball she hugged her knees to her chest. “How dare you make me look like such a fool in front of others! You had no right to. . . .” she murmured to herself, shutting her eyes as she felt a rather unwanted sensation forming at the backs of her eyes. Tears were pricking at her eyelids, wanting to come out.

Evande had managed what most considered impossible; she had gotten under Kiku Kurosawa’s skin and managed to render her into tears. Even if Kiku deserved to have been berated and told off as she had been, in her ahoge carrying head, Evande had more than crossed the line.

Now Evande had wandered into her bathroom, of course to soak her ankle. But considering what she had told Nikolas and Ryu, she wasn’t silly enough to strip down to her birthday suit or anything like that, she had herself wrapped up in a towel, at least still clad in her unmentionables under the rough cloth. She had sat herself on the side of the tub, her feet placed in lukewarm water as she thought over what had just happened in the hallway.

No matter how much that little prick deserved to be told off, I still should have kept calm. she thought to herself with a sigh, I am suppose to be an adult after all, I’m nineteen and I have always prided myself in my maturity but that tangent was anything but adult.

To top all of that off, she had told Ryu and Nikolas they could help her! She hadn’t gone ahead and just cut ties with them then and there like she had planned on. Evande didn’t want to have friends, and she didn’t want to have connections with her neighbors; but she now did.

When she heard the bathroom door slide open, she looked up and over; it was Nikolas. “Hey, where should I put the- Holy crap!" When he ran out of the doorway with the grocery bags, Evande couldn’t resist a laugh that surfaced from her diaphragm. His face had gone a near perfect shade of red in only a few seconds. Even if Evande had been bitter about how the men at her work treated her, she wasn’t angry with Nikolas for walking into her bathroom like that, from his reaction it was obvious he had not intended on doing that. Besides, she had herself covered up fine, so it wasn’t like he’d seen anything he shouldn’t have.

"Sorry, sorry! That wasn't on purpose! Ryu is going to annoy me so much for this. I'm honestly not like those weirdos you talked about at work! Our bathroom is in a different place at ours... I mean, you are very pretty, I'm not insulting you, but I don't walk into girls in the baths! Why is this coming out all wrong?! I'll... I'll, erm, go..." Evande kept her head turned toward the door as Nikolas continued babbling on. An amused expression over took the pinkheaded woman’s face.

Sighing and shaking her head, Evande turned her gaze back down to her ankles. At least it seems he won’t be so much of an annoyance to have as a neighbour. she thought as she heard the rustling of plastic bags being set on something, and footsteps hurrying for the front door; along with it being shut rather loudly. Yep, Nikolas was panicked.

After he had left, Evande went ahead and did herself a favour, taking a full bath and putting her comfortable at-home clothing on, a tank top, and shorts with her glasses. Letting her bath water drain, Evande walked out of her bathroom, her towel around her shoulders as she rubbed at her still damp hair. Kiseki had been awful quiet since she had gotten home; the silly cat was probably snoozing away on her bed and had slept through the whole ordeal of Nikolas coming into the apartment.

He was a strangely heavy sleeper for a feline in her opinion. As she walked into the living area of her apartment; Kiseki was indeed conked out in the middle of her futon. Evande shook her head with a small smile; he had his spotted self on his belly, sprawled out as far as his body would stretch. Quickly she put her things away before popping open a can of Kiseki’s food and plopping it into his dish. As soon as that happened, Evande heard a loud ‘Meow!’ and Kiseki was at his dish without any hesitation.

She put her hands on her hips, “You and your food Kiseki. . . .” with that, she dropped the empty can into her garbage, realizing it was rather full while pushing her glasses up her nose. Nothing can just be simple and done. she thought, “Best take that out before it gets knocked over or spilt. . . .” Evande slipped on a pair of flip-flops, wincing and grimacing as her twisted ankle throbbed a bit. Soaking it though had taken the edge off, so she could live with it. She yanked the bag up and out of the can, tied it off, grabbed her keys and exited her apartment while limping.

Meanwhile, Kiku had finally managed to get herself to stop crying and was online, shopping as she had originally been intending on doing before Evande had gone off on her. The little brunette was doing her very best to shove the whole ordeal out of her mind and memory; sure, she wanted to get back at her for daring to say a single foul word to her but. . . .

Did it really matter?

Ryu laughed at Nikolas fawning over little Panda, and Ryu was just wondering whether cats could eat chocolate, because then he was a possible person to share his pocky with. Probably not though. He was sure it would make Panda ill, so he'd just have to google it later. If they have a computer. Ryu didn't even check whether he did. If he hadn't, he'd just send Nikolas over to ask Evande. I mean, she had a cat, right? Nikolas would probably forget what he was talking about and sit in the middle of the room, playing with them or something. Nikolas was looking at him.

"Hey, that's one of the first times I've seen you deep in thought." Nikolas commented.
"It was about you..."
"... Get away from me."

Nikolas stormed into the apartment building, walking up the stairs, and Ryu stopped and smelled something. He gasped. "She crushed the pocky! She crushed it!" he shouted, about to enter her room with Nikolas trying to pull him back but failing. Nikolas gave one last tug and Ryu fell over backwards, falling onto the smaller boy.
"Get off me, get off, get off!" Nikolas yelled at the top of his voice. "Get off me you weirdo pervert! Argh! Get off!"
Ryu grinned and turned over so him and Nikolas were face to face, and Nikolas screamed. "H-HELP!"

Nikolas managed to get out from underneath him, opening the door, getting in and locking it in swift movements, taking Panda with him. "Stay out there and think about your actions, moron!"
Ryu sat outside, laughing his head off and whacking his fist on the ground. It was so easy to wind that guy up. Then again, he had been kind of loud, so he hoped the two girls weren't going to come outside again. He took his mobile out and went on the internet, checking if cats could have chocolate. Apparently, it was lethal. Poor Panda. Nikolas was peering through the letter box with angry eyes. It was then that they both noticed they'd passed Evande. She was on her way out, probably, and Nikolas sighed.

With a little sigh, Evande shut her apartment door, locking it as she prepared to take her trash out to the dumpster. Inside she could hear Kiseki meowing away as his owner left again so soon, her baby was so spoiled. . . . Her towel was still hanging around her shoulders, over her still sodden hair. The pinkhaired woman couldn’t resist the little smile that surfaced over her face when she heard Kiseki mewling behind her door. She turned away from the door, hobbling toward the stairs as Ryu and Niko returned, not wanting to get the way of the two men, Evande scooted herself off to the side, standing in front of the stairs that would lead someone up to the next sub-level of the apartment building. This way, the two of them could get by without a problem; Evande would just slip on the down the stairs after they’d passed. . . .

Well; she was going to, but when Niko stormed into the building, carrying a cat, Ryu following close behind, the woman couldn’t help but watch the scene. . . . Anti-social or not, she was a human woman, and she had her own bouts of curiosity. Part of her couldn’t help but watch insanity play out in front of her, especially if it was like something she read in her manga. Evande may have wanted her own life to be normal and as problem-free as possible, but still.

Evande moved to go down the stairs when it seemed like nothing was going to happen, but she froze at the top of the steps when she heard Ryu let out a more than dramatic gasp. "She crushed the pocky! She crushed it!" Evande stared at him blankly, and blinked.

Doesn’t Kiku detest sweets in all their forms? she thought to herself, leaning against the banister for the staircase next to her. It looked like Ryu was going to go ahead and barge right into Kiku’s apartment before Niko had grabbed onto him, pulling him back but failing a few times until he fell over backward, landing on the smaller man. Evande winced when she saw that; that had to hurt at least a little bit.

The woman found herself slightly embarrassed, so she coughed while clearing her throat, looking away while she felt her face going a bit pink, probably matching her hair rather well now. "Get off me, get off, get off!" Nikolas yelled at the top of his voice. "Get off me you weirdo pervert! Argh! Get off!"

Oh geez, she thought, pushing her glasses up her nose, I-I’ve skimmed way too many shounen-ai manga haven’t I? Her face was red, but like what happened every time she swore off any sort of purely fluff, and romance based manga . . . especially shounen-ai and its darker incarnations, Evande couldn’t help but look back at the two boys.

When she saw that Ryu had flipped over so he and Niko were face to face, she slammed her hand to her mouth to keep from squeaking in embarrassment. What am I still doing here?! Damn it Evande, you’re a nineteen year old woman! Start acting like it and not gawking at two guys, like some hormonal thirteen year old otaku who can separate reality from manga! You know the line there very well girl! she told herself, though it was to no avail. Even if she claimed asexuality, that didn’t stop the woman’s mind from going right into the gutters there, her face going stark red.

After Niko had shoved Ryu off him, and locked him out of their apartment, Evande found herself being looked at by Ryu . . . he had just realized she was there. She was still where she was, embarrassed out of her poor little mind. Niko was a tsundere, and Ryu liked to tease—the two seemed like the set of main characters in a shounen-ai manga!

Oh God, oh God. . . . she thought with a whine, trying to conjure something up to say to Ryu, anything to keep him from thinking her too strange. I don’t care if people think I’m anti-social, but-!

“U-Umm. . . .” she tried to start, taking her hand off her mouth as she swallowed harshly. “I-I was, my tr-trash. . . ?” she trailed off, holding the plastic waste bag up next to her. I really can’t come up with something better to say?! Seriously? Evande you’re a newspaper editor!

She took a breath, and noticed that her mouth had started to go rather dry as she grew more nervous, “Ah, I-I wasn’t staring! Honest!” she squeaked, “I was just going to take my trash to the dumpster, th-that’s all!” she insisted, taking a step backward, forgetting the steps were behind her. Evande felt everything around her freeze for a moment, as the realization that she was going to fall came upon her. She let out a yelp, and took a tumble down the stairs. Evande’s body hit the landing at the body with a rather loud thud, her form still and she silent.

At hearing something off, Kiku poked her ahoge carrying head out of her apartment door, “Augh, are you all causing a ruckus again?” she seethed.

Nikolas, still peering out the letter box had sighed at Evande stuttering and trying to assure Ryu that she wasn't staring at their less than normal moment. She seemed to be getting more and more nervous, and Nikolas wanted to slap Ryu for grinning a tiny bit, but there was no time for that. Nikolas threw the door open when he saw Evande falling down the stairs, and Ryu had stood up anyways, so it didn't really matter anyways. Kiku had come out of her door again, seeming ready to throw insults. At least she was back to normal. Nikolas sprinted down the stairs, missing one at each step, and kneeled next to her.

“Augh, are you all causing a ruckus again?” Kiku sounded angry. Definitely not happy. Great. One of them would have to deal with the brat while the other would have to deal with the injured woman. And Nikolas knew which he'd prefer to deal with.

"Shut up, you useless brat!" Nikolas practically bellowed. " Ryu, d'you know anything about medicine stuff?"
"Not from this lifetime!" Ryu was standing at the top of the stairs.
"What do you remember?"
"Well, a few stuff from France about two lifetimes ago, but surgery is a bit useless right now. I remember a bit from the Meiji Era..."
"Great... Get my laptop."
"You have a la-?"
"Get my laptop!"

Ryu ran back into the apartment, and after a bit of searching came out with Nikolas' laptop. He jumped down the stairs, landing next to Nikolas and passed him his computer. Nikolas struggled a bit to get used to the keyboard, so Ryu took it from him. Nikolas told Ryu to Google the recovery position or something, and they carefully put Evande in the strange position. Nikolas seemed to think that the recovery position would be useless, but Ryu though otherwise. Then, Ryu checked for breathing (Nikolas didn't want to be accused as a pervert) and a pulse. Ryu went back up the stairs.

"Not ruckus. It seems your neighbour just had a Humpty Dumpty moment, but without the cracking and stuff. Hopefully there's not broken bones and stuff!" Ryu stated simply, turning fully to his second self around the end of his sentence and staring intently at her. He must have forgotten about the pocky.

Kiku growled when she had been called a useless brat, she was so not useless! And she especially wasn’t a brat! Her cheeks went red with irritation as she slammed her door shut, coming out into the hall to observe whatever the Hell the two men were up to.

She leaned up against her door and watched the two scamper about, the blonde plunging down the stairs in a frenzy, and the other one, Ryu, running back into their apartment to grab a laptop. Kiku’s eyebrow raised though when she heard them saying something about ‘this lifetime’ and ‘two lifetimes ago.’ Then something about the Meiji Era . . . what on Earth were they talking about? Wasn’t the Meiji Era like, one-hundred and fifty years to one-hundred years ago. . . ? she asked herself. Though she wasn’t exactly the most history savvy woman in the world, Kiku was pretty sure that she at least knew this much.

Now; why would these two be prattling on about an era of history that ended in 1912? her interest was piqued. The irritation she felt at being called a useless brat had more or less faded as she found herself questioning the two new neighbours. Hmph, so I was right in assuming that two more freaks joined the show earlier. Why, oh why can’t the Gods just bless me with some normal people to live near? she thought, shaking her head with a sigh. “I suppose that I can’t be that fortunate.”

When Ryu popped back up in front of the tiny woman, she looked up at him with a rather blank expression, what did he want? "Not ruckus. It seems your neighbour just had a Humpty Dumpty moment, but without the cracking and stuff. Hopefully there's not broken bones and stuff!" he was staring at her. Why? Why was he looking at her like that?

She hated it when people stared at her like she was an alien; even if she did have an ahoge, that didn’t give anyone the right to stare at her. But, Ryu’s words registered in Kiku’s head before anything else. So Evande took a topple down those steps? That’s what those two were so very worked up over? Stupid woman; always the damsel in distress. Evande always attracted attention to herself, no matter what she did, she was a damn magnet. Must have been that pink hair of hers. . . .

Kiku let out a rather callous breath, “Stupid Otaku,” she muttered, pushing herself up and off her door. She was doing this why? She’s stupid, and I hate her hair more than anything else, but I can’t just sit around while someone is hurt. she sighed and headed for the steps at her own pave, her bare feet padding along the hard, cold floor. If I sat around while Sterling was hurt, I know he would be upset with me when he comes back. He’d never be happy if I just sat around. . . . The brunette’s cheeks went a little red as her burgundy eyes lost their normal severity and became somewhat placid as she descended the steps.

Her hair followed her movements like a mime; she looked upon Evande’s form with no expression, no emotion. Kiku truly hated the woman with every fiber in her little being. The two weirdos had managed to roll the giant onto her side, placing her in the recovery position to keep her airway clear so she wouldn't choke on her own fluids. “So, Sterling is really hurt, huh.” She stated rather blatantly. Kiku shook her head with a huff as she knelt down next to her, and looked her body over. The only injury, besides her pathetically swollen ankle, Kiku could find on the otaku’s body was a rather good sized lump on her cranium.

So she smacked her head when she took her little trip. While she wasn’t a medical expert, Kiku figured that she probably had a concussion. “Giant Miss Otaku needs to really learn to watch her step.” Kiku said quietly, standing back up, she placed one of her hands on her non-existent hips, and pointed at Nikolas with the other. “You, guy who doesn’t seem to know his own shirt size, pick Evande up.” She ordered.

With that, she began to look around, knowing that Evande probably had locked her door before she’d left. Her keys would have separated from her after going down the stairs like that. I’m only doing this so he’ll be happy with me when he comes back . . . that’s it. After this, the Otaku and I are right back to enemies. She’s still going to pay for screaming at me earlier. As her eyes travelled along the floor, she spotted Evande’s lost keys, and grabbed them, heading back up the steps and walking passed Ryu she shoved the keys into his hands with little thought. Kiku turned back and looked down at Nikolas, regarding him with rather apathetic eyes, hands on her hips.

“The Otaku got herself a damn good concussion,” she informed them, “Take the weirdo back inside her apartment and lay her down. Ice her head, and make sure one of you two watches her until she comes around, cause I sure as Hell won’t do it.” Kiku huffed, “If she doesn’t wake up by noon tomorrow I’d take her to a hospital because she probably managed to put herself into a coma.”

Kiku turned around and headed for her own apartment, waving her hand at Nikolas in a rather lax manner, “Good luck with her.” And with that she shut her door and left Nikolas and Ryu to deal with Evande.

"Giant Miss Otaku needs to really learn to watch her step.”

Nikolas hissed at her a bit, and even more when he was called the guy who didn't seem to know his own shirt size. "Gimme a break! I'm not used to this era. Shirt sizes and all that stuff never existed last century. Or the two before that. No one was wearing T-shirts, I'll let you know. And I have a name." He glared, before stopping himself. Did he just tell her something about eras before? He was in deep trouble now. Nikolas could even feel the glare coming from Ryu who was coming down the stairs.

"You can watch over her. I mean, you are her Alter." Ryu started to grin a little bit, before opening the door as Nikolas carried her in. Nikolas looked about, placing her on the couch with a pillow under her head. 'Ice...' he thought. He made his way over to the fridge and felt her head for the bump. He found it easily enough and placed it on the back of her head, holding it there. He smiled a bit.

"You've always been a klutz..." he laughed a bit while saying this quietly. He spotted Ryu by the door. "Die twice!" he shouted and Ryu burst out laughing, chucking the keys at him. He caught them just above his head, placing them on the table thing. Was it a table? Tables used to be different; warm. Self warming, even. Ah, he missed those kotatsu. Then again, you could get them nowadays, but the heaters were electric.

Nikolas looked around. Well, there was a lot of things, compared to his and Ryu's apartment, at least.

Kiku stopped, fully able to hear what it was Nikolas had shouted through the metal door. “Just what is that guy going on about?” she muttered, turning around and eyeing the door. “I’m no snoop and normally I couldn’t care less about whatever my weirdo neighbours are up to. . . .” Kiku said to herself, crossing her arms. But something strange is definitely up here, something weird. She didn’t like it. If there was something else that happened to get on Kiku Kurosawa’s nerves; it was when there were strange happenings going on around her like this.

Those two guys, what was with them? Why was it that she couldn’t shake off the feeling that their so sudden appearance was about as far from a coincidence as you could possibly get? They acted so bizarrely, and in a way, they acted as if they were too familiar with herself, and with the Otaku freak. “Talking about eras, different lifetimes . . . what the Hell?” she seethed. But she let out a rather impatient groan and spun on the balls of her feet and walked down her hallway, into her room. “Acting like they know us. . . .” It really got her nerves, Kiku didn’t really understand why it irritated her little self so very much, she just knew that it did.

With a sigh, she threw herself onto her bed, staring up at her ceiling with her burgundy eyes. I will get to the bottom of all of this. she thought, I won’t stand for their treatment. Kiku took in deep breath, determined to get to the bottom of the peculiarity that surrounded Ryu and Nikolas. “. . . .but first I want a nap.”

---

Her head hurt, and it felt cold. Why? Why was that. . . ? What had, what had happened to her? She didn’t remember much of anything. . . . Evande felt like someone had slammed her with a bag of bricks, she just felt utterly horrible and her head? Yeah, her skull was not fairing much better than the rest of her, in fact she was certain it was doing worse. There was a meow, and the weight of something turning in circles on her belly. Ki-Kiseki. . . . she thought.

There was another loud meow from her stomach, and with that, Evande opened up her eyes, despite the throbbing in the back of her skull. Her vision blurred in and out, as her eyes adjusted to the light. Where was she, and what had happened? Think back Evande, think. . . . Kiseki mewled, nuzzling into his owner’s stomach. Without hesitation, the pinkhaired woman moved her hand down and scratched his head. He purred in response.

Evande turned her head and observed where she was, and was surprised to be met with the familiar surroundings of her apartment. Moving Kiseki off her stomach with a bit of a grunt, Evande set a hand to the back of her own head and sat up with a quiet groan. Wincing a bit, she stared forward and was shocked to see Nikolas standing in the middle of her apartment. “Gah?!” she sputtered out. And with seeing him, what had happened to her came rushing back; she’d been taking out her kitchen garbage, watched a weird scene play out between him and Ryu, then in her embarrassment she failed to remember the steps that had been behind her and fell down them. The whole scene made her equate the two new neighbours to the guys in a shounen-ai manga for heaven’s sake.

I-I am so not going to be able to get over this, am I? Evande’s face went stark red as her mind went right back to the state it had been in before she plummeted down the steps and knocked herself out. This was why she wanted to live alone with no contact with others! It saved her from having to deal with awkward situations like this, and it prevented her from having to suffer embarrassment. Didn’t she already suffer enough having to deal with those perverts at work?!

Now she had to worry about her nineteen-year-old mind being sucked into the gutter whenever she saw her neighbours . . . just great. Evande hugged Kiseki to her chest, her face still red while her head went ahead and throbbed away. Ohhh Kiseki, looks like your mommy’s life just got very complicated. she thought with a sigh.

Swallowing, and doing her very best to hold her embarrassment, and her mind, at bay, Evande decided to speak up. “U-Um. . . .” she shook her head, “Wh-What are you doing in my apartment . . . N-Niko?” She didn’t know his full name, she had only heard Ryu call him that, so she wasn’t sure what else to call him. Though, that pang of familiarity shot through her again, the same one she had felt when she had first met him. Why? Why was that. . . ? “H-Have you and I met somewhere before? You seem familiar to me . . . even though I’m not social enough to actually talk with someone to get to know them well enough for them to be recognizable. . . .”

And her mind started going somewhere she didn’t want it to, so Evande shook her head a bit, it still hurting. Kiseki mewed in her arms, causing Evande’s brown eyes to go down to the cat. She smiled a touch and rubbed his head. “S-So, what happened with me?”

Nikolas turned around at the "Gah?!" that came from behind him. He was a bit shocked and it showed in his face. He looked at the cat he'd tried so hard not to glomp earlier, and he smiled sadly at her.

“U-Um. . . .” he saw Evande shake her head, “Wh-What are you doing in my apartment . . . N-Niko?” Nikolas flinched at the annoying nickname. Who in hell had come up with it? Oh yeah. Ryu.

"It's Nikolas. Only that... thing calls me that..." Nikolas was evidently still angry at Ryu for what happened earlier.

“H-Have you and I met somewhere before? You seem familiar to me . . . even though I’m not social enough to actually talk with someone to get to know them well enough for them to be recognizable. . . .”

Nikolas tried to keep it cool but he went a bright red. Why did she know? Well, she obviously didn't, but she recognised him. That was not meant to happen. Ever. Nikolas put his hands in his hair and looked at her with a strange emotion in his eyes, maybe fear mixed with understanding. He sat down on the table next to her, sighing. He'd have to answer her questions.

"In a way, yes, we have met." he paused, looking around in aggravation, shock, annoyance. Why couldn't he just tell her? The Gods were just being unfair now.

"You fell, remember? Whacked your head and then I carried you in here after the brat told me to and said you might have a concussion or something, which to be honest, I have no idea what in this lifetime that is. Anyways, that's why I'm here." Nikolas put his head in his hands, his blond hair covering his face for a while before he stood up.

He looked at the cat on Evande's stomach. "Hey, guess what? Me and Ryu got a cat. She's called Panda! She's really cute and has black ears and black patches around her eyes. Wanna see?" Nikolas genuinely grinned then, completely happy at little Panda Hero.

”I guess getting a nap isn’t something that’s in my fortunes today. . . .” Kiku grumbled, climbing off of her bed and stretching with a rather irritable expression on her face. Though, how was that anything new. . . ? It wasn’t, right? The tiny woman was always ready to snap if something, or someone, rubbed her the wrong way. She sighed, and sat back down crossing her bony arms. I guess I should devote some time to figuring out what’s up with those two new weirdos. . . . she thought.

“Ugh. . . . I soooo don’t want to do this,” Kiku groaned, “But I know that it won’t stop bugging me until I do.” Nikolas and Ryu show up out of nowhere, and they both seem familiar with herself and Sterling; not normal. One seemed to have no idea about clothing sizes, okay not so strange, but he spoke of other lifetimes . . . so NOT normal! Then there was the mention of the Meiji Era when they’d tended to Evande’s head wound, in a rather poor manner. “Gah, what could this all freaking add up to?” she hissed, jerking herself backward she lay on her bed splayed out, staring up at her dimly lit ceiling, the sun was already almost completely down and she had yet to turn on her lights.

Pondering over the rather vague clues, and the insistences of weirdness that were beyond the norm, well, beyond the bar Evande had set anyway, Kiku let out a whine. “I’m not smart enough to figure this sort of junk out! I’m a Kurosawa, we’re rich and not meant to solve silly problems like this. . . .”

Ohh, when will my prince come back for me? When will he come save me from all of this annoying, modest living so we can be married and begin our fairy tale together? Kiku smiled thinking back to the promise that was made to her all those years ago, by the only boy she would ever love. Her heart swelled at the thought of him; though she could barely remember his face, she remembered he was charming, kind, sweet and funny. . . . He had promised her that he would come back for her someday when he had to leave. That had been so many years ago, and no one ever mentioned him after he’d left again, no one ever spoke of him. . . . Even when Kiku talked about him, and gushed over her love people just smiled at her, and patronized her . . . acting like he didn’t exist.

Kiku didn’t understand why that was, and she didn’t care, she remembered him, and she knew he was very real. Well, whatever, he wasn’t here for her now so she had to go about her mundane lifestyle of putting up with otaku neighbours who didn’t have any taste, or concept of what a normal hair color was. . . . And that meant, solving the mystery behind the two newest freaks! Taking a breath, Kiku sprang up to her feet, and headed for her door.

If I’m going to start this off the right way; by picking at the source. Kiku didn’t bother to put on her shoes as she opened her door and across the hallway, to where she’d seen Nikolas bolt out of the apartment when Evande had managed to knock herself out by falling down the stairs. Her arms crossed she stopped herself right in front of the door, and blinked.

She took her fist and pounded it against the cold metal; the usual look of boredom pasted over her thin face. “Hey, open up, I got some questions for you.”

♦♦♦♦♦

He was rather . . . erratic? Evande regarded how Nikolas was acting with rather wide eyes, he seemed . . . confused, maybe scared? His face was a touch on the red side as he sat down on the table near her, sighing. Her own face was fairing no better she knew, and without a word as she awaited what he had to say, Evande pushed her glasses up her nose before clutching onto Kiseki again. He seems very familiar, so much . . . it almost feels like he would be family to me? No, no, that’s not right. She was certain she knew him somehow! It was like when you spotted someone out in a crowd that you’d know for a long time, but hadn’t seen in years. Through the throbbing that was going on in her skull, Evande could distinctly sense that same sort of nostalgia-laced feeling one has upon reuniting with an old friend.

"In a way, yes, we have met." Evande looked at Nikolas when he started, carefully observing him. He was looking around, acting rather skittish, like he was paranoid about something. As if he were afraid they were being watched, spied upon. . . . Evande’s eyelids lowered as Kiseki squirmed about in her arms, mewing.

"You fell, remember? Whacked your head and then I carried you in here after the brat told me to and said you might have a concussion or something, which to be honest, I have no idea what in this lifetime that is. Anyways, that's why I'm here." she simply stared at him as he put his hands on his head, and let his skull drop down in what seemed to be uncertainty.

He was lying to her. Evande wasn’t an expert on reading people, but she wasn’t an idiot either. Even if she avoided socialization like the Bubonic plague . . . she could tell Nikolas was flat out lying. In his words, what had stuck out to her the most was the fact that he had said, ‘this lifetime.’ The news of her having a possible concussion didn’t faze her in the slightest. [/i]’This lifetime?’ What is that suppose to mean, and what the Hell is he hiding?[/i] she thought, shutting her eyes.

She heard him go on about how he and Ryu had gotten a cat themselves, asking if she wanted to see. . . .

Kiseki meowed and pawed at his owner’s arm to be let down, Evande looked down at her kitty and obliged, he jumped off her lap and headed for the kitchen. She presumed he was going to eat again. With the cat no longer in her arms, Evande let her hands fall to her lap, one over top the other. Her face was a little bit pink still, from her mind going to the gutter, concerning Nikolas and Ryu, and her head and ankle hurt as well.

Seemed like her wish for a normal say was just not going to come true was it? For the last five years, she had avoided people like crazy; delving into her manga and roleplaying like nothing else. All of her hard work to maintain her isolation and a life of normalcy seemed to have been completely uprooted and shattered in a mere few hours. Two guys with some bizarre relationship show up in her apartment complex; living across the hall from her no less, and one of them had an unknown connection to her. . . .

Evande looked down at her bare feet; her twisted ankle was still a bit swollen. If . . . if she pushed the subject, the whole matter of strangeness, there went her normality. It would be gone, and everything she wanted to leave in her manga . . . it would come to her. No; just . . . just no, I’m not ready for that. she looked up at Nikolas, the light reflecting off her glasses. I’ll, I will just play along now, pretend that everything is completely normal I guess. . . . Even if Nikolas felt like someone really important to her, even if she swore up, down, left and right that she knew him . . . somehow, she was just not really to admit that something potentially amazing was occurring in her life.

She just didn’t want that.

Not . . . not now, all of that belonged in her manga, and in her anime. All she wanted was normality, a stable life where things unfolded in predictable manner. “Um . . . sure, I’d like to see your cat.” She said softly.

Evande ran a hand through her hair; it was so hard to go along with this, despite her natural instincts to seek out the path which was safest for her. Something in her was going against it, and telling her to press the issue of his lying. She couldn’t yet do that, she had just met him today after all . . . and she was stuck living next to him, she was already stuck knowing him, no matter what she was stuck being nice to him and Ryu after today. They had helped her, and she owed them. Even if she were anti-social.

Glancing at her clock, Evande found herself a little shocked, “Wow, it’s already after eight. . . ? I guess I put myself out for a while didn’t I?” she said quietly. It was after four when she had gone to take her garbage out. She sighed, “You hungry? I need to make myself something to eat, and well, I owe you for helping me so I figure dinner is the least I could do . . . as long as you don’t mind an omelette.”

Ryu sighed, yawning when someone shouted through the door. He'd fallen asleep on the sofa without even realising, Panda on his shoulders. He sighed as he realised that he'd have to get up to speak to whoever it was. He just wasn't awake enough. "Who is it...?" he shouted dozily, making his way to the door, almost falling over. He opened the door and saw Kiku standing there.

"Morning?" he sort of asked, before checking his watch. "Evening." For once, Ryu's hair wasn't kept back by all the hair clips that were usually there. Instead, his hair fell down, sticking up in various places, but mostly just above his eyes.

"So, you're asking questions? Can you make it quick?" Ryu grinned lazily. He'd decided that he was going to tease her. "You wanna go out with me? Sorry, I need to settle down first." He looked at her with mocking eyes, as if to say she's just a child. He leaned against the door frame. Panda was crawling up onto his head.

"Or were you looking for Niko? I'm afraid he out, isn't he, Panda?" The purple haired boy looked up to see the cat mewl in agreement. "Such a clever kitty!" Ryu took her off his head and stroked her, looking back at Kiku. "None of those reasons? Why're you here then?". Yep, he was trying to annoy her into leaving. He took a pack of pocky out of his pocket and put one in his mouth, almost falling over.

"If were gonna talk, come inside. I'm too sleepy to stay standing..."

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆

Nikolas twisted awkwardly in the silence. He didn't like keeping so many things secret. The gods were just being unfair now, he couldn't be bothered, it was annoying. Why did they suddenly decide that he had to live at the same time as Evande, and worse, in the same apartment as Ryu. Why?

"Um . . . sure, I’d like to see your cat." Evande's voice was soft, and Nikolas frowned a bit. She was obviously trying not to ask questions, he knew her personality half by heart. It'd been the same for centuries on end.

“Wow, it’s already after eight. . . ? I guess I put myself out for a while didn’t I?” Evande was quiet here. She was right, Nikolas had been in there for more that four hours. He heard her sigh, and he was about to say something but he stopped himself. “You hungry? I need to make myself something to eat, and well, I owe you for helping me so I figure dinner is the least I could do . . . as long as you don’t mind an omelette.” Nikolas looked at her with a bit of shock but mostly amusement.

"You can cook?" He asked, before laughing at himself. "But of course. You live alone. Having fast food everyday can't be healthy." Nikolas smiled a bit. "If I offered you an omelette, you'd get a plate of black goo! I mean, I can barely make toast without burning it!" It was true, he really couldn't cook. Ryu never even let him near the cooker.

Kiku simply stared at Ryu as he opened the door in a rather dazed state; a cat on his shoulders while he himself looked like he had gotten into a wrestling match with a sheet and lost, terribly. Seriously, why was it so hard for people to actually keep up appearances. . . ? Was she the only person on the blasted planet who could always keep herself looking good?! It annoyed her.

She let out a huff as she took in his appearance, obviously he’d been sleeping. Why is it that everyone but me seems to be able to sleep in some way, shape or form today? she asked herself as Ryu prattled on a greeting.

"So, you're asking questions? Can you make it quick?" he grinned. Kiku knew where this was going, he was going to try and tease her wasn’t he? "You wanna go out with me? Sorry, I need to settle down first."

Like Hell I’d ever want to go out with him!! Even if I didn’t already give my heart to someone, he’s way below me! she thought, resisting the urge to unleash a verbal assault upon the man. Kiku’s cheeks went red at this, and she dug her fingernails into the palms of her hands as she fought off her natural instincts.

As the violet-headed man continued to go on, Kiku knew what his game was. Annoying her until she left, angry. Well, it wasn’t going to work! No, no, no! Even if her patience were thin, she could endure his senseless babbling and get to the bottom of the mystery around him and Nikolas. She was not going to leave here without getting some information! Even if it means have to put up with this freak.

"If we’re gonna talk, come inside. I'm too sleepy to stay standing..." she heard him say after his attempts to irritate her into leaving failed.

Kiku huffed, tipping her head up a bit, the girl’s ahoge following her movements a bit, as she crossed her arms again. “It’s about time, don’t you know it’s rude to not invite a lady inside as soon as you answer the door?” she reprimanded, pushing passed him. Her bare feet hit the same tile that was put into all of the apartments in the building as she stepped on by. The girl’s eyes slowly surveyed the entrance to Ryu and Nikolas’ apartment; leaving her to scoff at how ugly it was compared to her own place.

Oh, right, I have something to say to this weirdo. Kiku thought at the last second, turning around and regarding Ryu with a rather cold expression. She set her hands at her barely-there waistline and said, “Oh, and by the way. There’s no way in Hell I’d ever ask you out. I already have promised myself to someone. . . .” she said, slipping off into her own happy place for a moment before shaking her head and snapping herself out of it, “He’s someone far better than you could imagine.”

With that, she let herself walk into the main room of the apartment, sitting herself down on the couch without being asked, “Anyway, I do have some questions for you.” She sighed, looking at Ryu and the cat. Kiku was going to just get to the heart of the matter, “I want to know what the Hell is with you and your roommate.” She hissed, “I’m not stupid, so I know that you two are not right!” Kiku said, pointing a finger at him, “You just appear here today, out of NOWHERE, and speak of ‘other lifetimes’ and of the ‘Meiji Era’ as if it were a perfectly normal thing to bring up.” With that, Kiku crossed her arms once more, “Then there is the fact that you were staring at me earlier, like you knew me or something weird.”

A rather uncomfortable expression happened upon her face at this, as she realized a rather unfortunate truth herself. Kiku looked at Ryu, and because she did not find herself cluttered up with anger, and annoying Evande, it dawned on her that Ryu indeed seemed a rather familiar soul to her. That’s . . . definitely not something I expected. she thought, I don’t associate with his types, so why would I. . . ? How could I possibly feel like I knew something like him?

There was a pang in her that told her that she knew Ryu from somewhere. . . . That he was an important figure from somewhere in her past, but she hadn’t the answer as to why that was, or who he was. “Ryu, why the Hell do I suddenly feel like I know you from somewhere?”

♦♦♦♦♦

Evande looked at Nikolas with a rather lax expression; that stupid shounen-ai mindset from earlier was still doing its best to creep up on her again. . . . She was an otaku, so it wasn’t exactly easy for her to beat it out of her brain so quickly. Realizing just what she was thinking about and assuming, Evande covered her reddening face with both of her hands and groaned. I’m NOT a pervert, so brain it’s time to stop making me think like one, damn it! She was not like those guys at her work, she wasn’t gross and perverse! Evande Sterling was not a woman who cracked dirty jokes, and make remarks that had second meanings, and she didn’t go around . . . doing what those guys had done to her today. She didn’t grab at people’s backsides for the Hell of it.

"You can cook?" When she heard Nikolas’ voice, Evande’s head snapped up. The woman had a rather dazed look upon her face, and her hair was doing a fabulous job of clashing with the shade of red her cheeks had turned. She blinked as he went on, "But of course. You live alone. Having fast food everyday can't be healthy." she frowned a bit when he smiled at his comment. She DID live off fast food most days. Evande just kept assorted breakfast food related items in her kitchen for days when she didn’t feel like leaving home. . . .

"If I offered you an omelette, you'd get a plate of black goo! I mean, I can barely make toast without burning it!" he went on, sounding rather amused at himself. Although she was a little bit insulted by what he had said about the fast food and such . . . Evande choose to disregard it, after all, it wasn’t like Nikolas could have known.

Bits of her mind were still pressing at her to get to the bottom of his lies, and the reason it felt like she knew him. I’ll . . . just take that as a yes to the omelette. she thought with a sigh, rubbing her right temple, shutting her eyes as she did her best to rid herself of the blasted ache from her head injury. So . . . at the moment, Evande was stuck with a headache, her mind going into the gutter regarding the whole weirdness between Nikolas and Ryu, as well as parts of her wanting to further press the issue of the familiarity between herself and Nikolas.

Yeah . . . this was so not the night she had been thinking about all day at work. All she wanted to do was to come home and shove her nose into a manga, watch anime or do some roleplaying. Not wind up socializing with a new neighbour, getting a twisted ankle, and a possible concussion. . . . Wow, what a day this turned out to be.

Getting her ass grabbed at work, twisting an ankle, getting a concussion and having her mind going right into the gutter in regards to her neighbours, Evande found herself laughing at that. Here she was, a woman who fought for her normality and yet had it snatched out from underneath her in a few hours.

The pinkhaired woman couldn’t suppress the fit of giggles that surged through her at the irony. It WAS ironic. “Ahh, looks like normality eludes me once more.” She laughed with a rather forlorn sigh escaping from her lungs. Evande looked up at her ceiling, her face reflecting a strange sort of smile; it was almost a sad one, but not quite. . . . The emotion behind it was something of a mystery; perhaps melancholy.

“I’ll just take your comment as a yes to the omelette.” Evande said to him quietly, setting her hands to her sides as she used the couch to support her up and back to her feet, minding her still swollen ankle. With that, the bespectacled woman hobbled to the kitchen area of her apartment and got out the necessary things to cook. . . .

Given that she tended to turn the stovetop on full blast, it wouldn’t take long for it to be done. Evande wasn’t a woman who was great with cooking temperatures, but she was far less prone to burning things than Nikolas it seemed. As she got everything ready, she looked back to Nikolas with a calm expression and said, “While I’m cooking this, feel free to turn on the television or to play with Kiseki.”

Four eggs, milk, cheese, ham and fifteen minutes later, Evande finished cooking and spilt what it was she had made into two portions, one for herself and one for Nikolas. Silently, minding her where her brain was going, Evande went ahead and took the two plated back into her living area, handed one to Nikolas and sat down, eating without a word.

“It’s about time, don’t you know it’s rude to not invite a lady inside as soon as you answer the door?” Kiku sounded a bit angry, and Ryu grinned.

"Didn't anyone teach her to be polite in another person's home?" he muttered to himself, sighing. Kiku had always been the same, no matter what family she came from. He really was too sleepy to talk to this girl. He was already almost falling back asleep. Ryu was telling himself off in his head for falling asleep in the presence of a lady, but she'd come at the worst time. Ryu wasn't used to going to bed that late. Time was different when you weren't alive, and all this walking and talking really had tired him out. He got up, stumbled into his room and pulled a jumper on and flattened his fringe so he looked even slightly more presentable. To be honest, I should have done that before I answered the door... Ryu walked back into the room and plonked himself down next to Kiku, Panda making a cute little yawn.

“Oh, and by the way. There’s no way in Hell I’d ever ask you out. I already have promised myself to someone. . . .” Wow, she's slipped off into a world of her own! Ryu thought. Oh, she's back. “He’s someone far better than you could imagine.”

Ryu turned away to stop himself from laughing but a few giggles still came out. “Anyway, I do have some questions for you.”

"Do you know?" Ryu looked at her, dead serious for once. He'd been thinking about this, but what would the questions be about. And, if he told her the truth, would she believe him or not? Probably not. So he decided he'd tell the truth. That might be for the best, because then she'd just think he's a random freak and they'd stop talking.
“I want to know what the Hell is with you and your roommate.” Kiku hissed, making Ryu glance at Panda. You never hiss, yet she does. “I’m not stupid, so I know that you two are not right!” Kiku pointed her finger at Ryu, making him erupt into uncontrollable silent laughter. “You just appear here today, out of NOWHERE, and speak of ‘other lifetimes’ and of the ‘Meiji Era’ as if it were a perfectly normal thing to bring up.Then there is the fact that you were staring at me earlier, like you knew me or something weird.”

Her facial expression changed; she was no longer angry. Damn, that was getting fun! Ryu thought. But after a small silence, he tilted his head. Was she expecting answers? “Ryu, why the Hell do I suddenly feel like I know you from somewhere?”

Ryu looked a bit surprised, stopping his laughing immediately. Wait, what? Was this supposed to happen. Ryu looked up, towards the 'heavens' and glared. Was this their idea of a joke? Well, obviously it was. The Gods had been most cruel to him and Nikolas out of all the Alters, just because they dared to defy them. He looked back at Kiku.

"I don't know. Maybe I've lived through all these eras and I'm actually your second personality. Or maybe I'm just obsessed with other eras and I've been the guy serving you at the supermarket every time you go. You decide."

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆

Nikolas grinned as he looked around again. It was nicer in there. “I’ll just take your comment as a yes to the omelette.” Was she laughing?

"I guess so." Nikolas picked up Kiseki, who hissed a bit before looking Nikolas in the eye and starting cuddling up to him. Cats had always likes him, just as he'd liked cats, but maybe this cat was just... laid-back? The cat curled around his shoulders and stayed there. Why did cats always do that to him? Nikolas took his plate.

"Thank you! Itadakimasu!" Nikolas put his hands together and did a little bow before digging in. He really had no idea that people generally said this more in manga than they actually did. It's just what he was used to. He ate it happily. Her omelettes were better that Ryu's, but Ryu's specialty was japanese food. He glanced at Kiseki, who was asleep, and sighed. If only his life was as easy as Kiseki.

"So, his name is Kiseki? That means Miracle, right?" Nikolas glanced at the cat again, spacing out and smiling before coughing awkwardly. "I think that girl is in my apartment..." he groaned, sighing. "That moron. I heard her in the corridor. Hey, by the way, what you saw earlier..." Nikolas went a shade of red. It was the same colour he was earlier when he realised Evande had seen him and Ryu. "T-that was nothing, ok? That purple haired idiot thing just teases me for the fun of it." he mumbled, bringing his knees up. "I can't believe they're making me live with him, of all the alters." Nikolas shook his head.

"Thank you for the food. I don't want to intrude. I better go." Nikolas took Kiseki off his shoulders and put him on Evande's head. "Heh, he suits you." he laughed, before walking out. Unlocking the door, Nikolas let himself in. He saw Ryu sitting next to Kiku. Since the beds hadn't arrived yet, he could only sleep on the couch. He sat on the other side of Ryu.

"Budge up. And you. Hurry with whatever you're doing." Nikolas looked at Kiku, yawned and fell asleep almost instantly, resting his head on Ryu's lap without even noticing.

"I don't know. Maybe I've lived through all these eras and I'm actually your second personality. Or maybe I'm just obsessed with other eras and I've been the guy serving you at the supermarket every time you go. You decide." Ryu answered her with . . . that. Upon hearing the man’s answer, Kiku tilted her head to the side, ahoge following suit, and raised one of her eyebrows as she blinked. . . . .what the Hell kind of answer was that?

She didn’t feel angry at him, annoyed or irritated by the rather strange response. The first part of his reply, Ryu actually seemed rather serious, much to her surprise, yet he was back to his weird self at the last part. Kiku . . . well, Kiku really wasn’t sure how to respond to what he’d said, while under normal circumstances she’d already have gone off like a firecracker for someone saying something so very weird to her. A part of the tiny woman believed what he had said to her, the former part at least, the last bit he’d said seemed like a load of crud that he tacked onto the end as a last thought to save his own hide in regards to some unknown reason.

Kiku looked away from Ryu, a serious expression over taking her face as placed her elbow on one of her legs, resting her head in her hand. Funny, normally I can think of a hundred things to say to someone, but now I’m completely unsure of what one should even say in a situation like this. A normal person would dismiss what Ryu had said without a second thought, believing it to be nothing more than a story made up to irritate them. Yet, despite all of Kiku’s protesting and her battery of Evande for being an otaku, the girl knew that she herself were not of the normal sort. Sure, she was a head above Evande and her odd manga obsession, but the brunette knew enough about herself to admit that she was not an ordinary sort.

So, Kiku ruminated over what had been said to her for a minute. Only breathing and blinking. She nodded to herself before turning her gaze back to the violet-haired man, “I’m not a normal enough woman to completely dismiss what you told me.” She took on a rather blank expression however, “Although I’m not nearly stupid enough to buy into that hokey-tacked on crud you added to the end of that little answer.” Kiku huffed, turning her head away from him, “Supermarket worker, please, I don’t even go to the grocery! I have my things delivered every week.”

With a grunt, Kiku’s bony form ascended to its feet, arms crossed under her chest. She turned on her heel and faced him, “I know well-enough that was the only bit of seriousness you would dare show tonight. If I tried to question you and your weird-colored hair anymore tonight, all I would get would be purposeful responses meant to elicit anger and annoyance from me for your personal pleasure.” As soon as she finished that, Nikolas entered the apartment, glared at her and sat on the couch next to Ryu, opposite side of where she’d been planted earlier. Seemed the blonde had just returned from Evande’s apartment. . . .

To this, Kiku assumed the giant had come around from her concussion and was conscious. Good, even if she’s a freak, Sterling’s caught up in all this weirdness as well, I need to have a word or two with her about all of . . . stuff.

"Budge up. And you. Hurry with whatever you're doing." Nikolas ordered. To this Kiku scoffed and rolled her eyes, how annoying. She was more or less done anyway. . . . Kiku stood by, thinking a bit as Nikolas fell asleep with his head on Ryu’s lap.

Kiku sighed and looked off to the side when this happened, What the Hell is with these two? Are they stuck in some sort of weird love/hate relationship? Sheesh. . . . Shaking her head, she pushed the thought aside as it did not really matter. A rather dull expression overtook her face, and she raised one of her hands up and waved at Ryu, “Well, later.” she said, heading for the door, as soon as she set her hand on the knob she looked back at the two guys and said rather lazily, “. . . .good luck with whatever the Hell is going on between you two.” And without awaiting a response, Kiku was gone, shutting the door behind her.

Kiku shook her head with a groan, man those two were weird!! “Ugh . . . why couldn’t I just get normal neighbours or something? I already had otaku-Sterling, and now I think I’m stuck with two guys living across from me who act like they’re right out of a shounen-ai thing or something!” The tiny woman smacked her forehead for thinking that thought; Evande was really affecting her wasn’t she. . . ? “Whatever, whatever, it doesn’t matter if the otaku-weirdo is screwing up my head now, whether I hate her or not, she’s involved with all of this, even if she isn’t aware of it.” Deciding it was too late for all of this, Kiku sighed and headed for her apartment, going straight for her bed.

♦♦♦♦♦

Evande stared over at Nikolas, her fork in her mouth when he’d bowed his head and shouted, "Thank you! Itadakimasu!" The woman found herself blinking and looking away from him as she couldn’t muster up a single thought toward that whole matter. Nikolas didn’t look like he was a Japanese native, he looked rather Western so it made sense that he might think that shouting what he did was a normal tradition in Japan if he read a lot of manga.

"So, his name is Kiseki? That means Miracle, right?" Nikolas glanced at the cat again, spacing out and smiling before coughing awkwardly. "I think that girl is in my apartment..." he groaned, sighing. "That moron. I heard her in the corridor. Hey, by the way, what you saw earlier..." Nikolas went a shade of red. It was the same colour he was earlier when he realised Evande had seen him and Ryu. "T-that was nothing, ok? That purple haired idiot thing just teases me for the fun of it." he mumbled, bringing his knees up.

The pinkhaired woman simply stared at the man next to her as he prattled on, her own face going a touch pink as she thought about the completely awkward incident. No matter what he says, that’s not going to save my mind from wandering where it feels like going. . . . she thought with a sigh as she finished off her omelette. Evande shut her eyes, and adjusted her glasses as she always did whenever she was nervous. Shove a clam in it you hormonal, immature part of my brain, okay?

"Thank you for the food. I don't want to intrude. I better go." Evande looked back to Nikolas as he stood up, Kiseki on his shoulders. He moved his arms, and picked the cat up off of himself and set him on her head. All without Kiseki stirring once; the feline was one rather sound sleeper, wasn’t he? "Heh, he suits you." Nikolas laughed; to this Evande just remained quiet, glancing up at the cat on her skull as the blonde left.

After hearing her door latch, Evande let out a sigh and rubbed at her eyes under her glasses. God, what was she getting herself into? All of this was just too much to deal with in one date; just excessively much. Well, it didn’t’ matter how overwhelming all of this turned out to be anymore, because no matter what Evande wanted, she was stuck with having ties to Nikolas and Ryu. There was more going on here than just the simple neighbour connections. She could feel it, there was some sort of link between herself and Nikolas, something she was unable to identify or understand. While she might have just shoved it under the mat, parts of her were pushing at her to investigate the matter further. “Tch, nothing can never just be simple can it. . . ?” Evande shook her head, Kiseki still there.

All of this had to be some divine prank. It had to be, there was no other explanation as to why her perfectly simple life had suddenly just shifted into reverse on her. . . . Whatever, I guess it’s time for me to go to bed; maybe tomorrow will be more normal. she thought; taking the dishes into the kitchen and setting them into the sink, she’d wash them up tomorrow. With that, the pinkhaired woman headed for her futon, taking Kiseki off her head and placing him on the pillow next to her own, Evande laid herself down, setting her glasses off to the side and went to sleep, praying for a more ordinary tomorrow.

Nikolas woke with a start. He sat up, gasping glancing around. Where the hell am I? he thought, glancing around. It took him a few seconds to realise where he was. Nikolas ran his hand through his hair, curling up in a small ball and hiding his face for a few minutes before standing up. His hair was seriously messed up, and he wanted to have a shower before he went to the store to buy something ready-made so he wouldn't have to wake Ryu up and face the idiot. He found a towel, a green top that fit and some black jeans. Nikolas stood by the shower, trying to make it so it wouldn't go from warm to cold in a matter of seconds.

When he finally got it working, he stood inside, enjoying the warmth and reviewing what happened yesterday. Why's my head hurting so much? Oh yeah. Ryu threw me into a wall. He was standing there, sighing as the water suddenly turned boiling hot and he yelped, trying to get out but slipping over.

"Holy crap!" Nikolas fell, the shower went back to normal and he sat there a couple of minutes, completely drenched by the water, but he was looking at his wrist. Hey, what the hell? Why's it so red? He stood up, pulled his clothes on and yelled out a few curses as a giant shock ran through his hand. This can't be happening. He opened the bathroom door and went back into the living area, sitting on the couch.

Twisting left and right slightly, Nikolas got another shock, more powerful than the last. He stood up, his head whirling from that dull ache too and made his way to his wallet on the counter and slipped his shoes on, not being able to tie them with one hand. He walked down the stairs, slowly and carefully and arrived at the bottom. Nikolas made his way to the town and walked into the supermarket. Sushi it is... And maybe ice or something.

He started getting back, knowing Ryu would be up by now, and slightly regretting only getting one portion of sushi, but Ryu could actually cook.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆

Ryu yawned, opening the door when it knocked. A shorter, blond boy was standing there. "No door to door, thanks." Ryu muttered, half-closing the door jokingly before it was pushed. Ryu kept pushing the door, but Nikolas suddenly gave in, swearing under his breath and doubling up in pain. Ryu opened the door.

"Are you... in pain from something?" Ryu asked, a bit confused but obviously worried. He bent down a bit. "Niko?"
"Yeah?"
"Didn't you hear me?"
"Look." Nikolas showed Ryu his aching wrist and Ryu let out a few words, some that Nikolas had never heard of. He doubted anyone ever had. Ryu held Nikolas' hand into the light and it shone a bright red, mixed with blue, and Ryu looked worriedly at the other boy's nonchalant face, or rather mask, that he'd put up.

And how the hell did he do that? Oh god, we'll have to ask the girls for some ice...

Ryu knocked Evande's and Kiku's doors before shouting in the middle so they'd both hear. "Have either of you got some ice? I think Niko's broken his wrist!"

She pushed her glasses up her nose again as she held her remote up and once more flipped the channel. There was just never anything good on Saturday mornings anymore, not like when she’d been a kid. . . . Evande lay on her futon, completely stretched out with Kiseki conked out on her stomach again. The woman had been up for a while now, since about six AM, it took about an hour for her to finally give up on sleeping in and actually get out of bed and dress herself. Her head still ached, and her ankle was still on the swollen side, just after effects of the previous days’ events. . . . While she had been waking up, and that ache in her head plagued her, Evande spent a few minutes trying to remember what had happened, and when it all came rushing back to her, the only response she could muster out was a, “. . . .oh, right.” Before she went about her business, hobbling around.

Again, she raised her remote up and flipped to the next channel, Geez, over a hundred channels, and not one of them has something on that I want to watch. . . . she thought with a sigh, turning the thing off since leaving it on was just a waste of electricity at this point. Dropping the remote at the edge of her futon, Evande turned her gaze up to her blank ceiling, her glasses resting uncomfortably on her skull. “I wonder if today is going to be normal, or if I’m going to be once more ridden with weird thoughts about my neighbours . . . and injuries.” Evande thought aloud, her voice causing Kiseki to stir on her belly.

Feeling the feline move, Evande’s brown eyes turned to him as the two-year old stretched out on his owner, and yawned, lazily opening his bright eyes up to look around. He turned his gaze to Evande and mewled, almost as if he were saying, “I’m hungry!”

Evande laughed, “You’re hungry again, aren’t you baby?” The cat meowed in response. Sighing with a smile, Evande grabbed onto him and sat up, depositing the cat to her side as she moved to get herself off the futon without making her head hurt worse, and to not irritate her already aching ankle. “Don’t worry Kiseki, mommy’ll feed you. . . .”

With a grunt, the pinkhaired woman managed to get herself up to her feet, though she was walking with a rather obvious limp. Clothing wise, Evande found herself in jean shorts, and a long sleeved black shirt, her legs and feet bare thanks to her ankle. Evande quickly pulled a can of cat food out of her cupboard, peeled the metal lid back and emptied the can into Kiseki’s food dish, and no more than five seconds later the cat was meowing and already eating. To this, Evande could only laugh and put her hands on her hips, “I swear, you turn into ninja kitty when it comes to your food.” She smiled a bit, “Well, I guess I need to eat myself. . . .”

Although, I feel too lazy to bother actually cooking anything like last night, guess I’ll just pop something in the toaster. . . . It was already about ten AM, and Evande had yet to bother eating anything, her stomach had felt upset and rather queasy since she’d woken up thanks to remembering the rather unsettling events of last night. Even if everything that happened to her wasn’t all that traumatic, when Evande realized she had made rather permanent connections to Ryu and Nikolas, and that her life wasn’t going to be so simple and solitary as it had been before, that’s what had made her feel sick. Evande moved toward her freezer, pulled out a box of strudel pastries, and shoved two of them into her toaster, waiting for them to cook silently while Kiseki continued to chow down himself.

As she stood there, supporting all of her weight on her good ankle, Evande’s mind began to drift as she ruminated over everything that had happened last night. The things Nikolas had said, the fact she felt such a connection to him, so familiar. . . . Evande knew that what she had felt was far from normal, after all, you don’t feel some insanely strong bond with some guy you just meet, unless you happen to be a stalker or crazy. Moreover, unless Evande had another personality hiding inside her heed that was one of those two, she was pretty sure that neither of those was the reason behind what she experienced. Even thinking about him makes me feel like he’s someone I know very well. Pressing a finger to the nose of her glasses she sighed, “But my conscious mind tells me that I don’t know him at all. I go through my memories, and Nikolas just isn’t the ones I have. Unless I have amnesia, I’m confident I’ve never met him before. . . .”

As soon as she finished talking to herself, the two pastries Evande had shoved into her toaster popped up, causing her to squeak in surprise. Her eyes went wide and her face went a little red as she realized her reaction. “Well, I’m thankful to be alone. . . .” she murmured, yanking her breakfast out of the two slots and putting one on a plate and biting into the other. Evande turned to head back to the living area of her apartment when someone pounded on her door, the pinkhaired woman stopped where she was and twisted around, staring at the metal blinking. Who would be. . . ? she started thinking before she limped over, unlocked it and opened the door.

"Have either of you got some ice? I think Niko's broken his wrist!" she heard Ryu shout as soon as her head was out the opening. Evande’s eyes went wide and she dropped her plate, the thing broke as soon as it hit her tiled entranceway.

She felt her heart flutter to life in her chest; “H-He broke his wrist?” she barely got out, looking at Ryu. Without even thinking about it, she was already back in her freezer, digging out an ice pack that was lodged in the very back of her freezer and wrapping it up in one of her kitchen towels. Before she took the ice pack back outside though, Evande made a little side trip into her bathroom, grabbing a first aid kit out from under her sink.

. . . .well, she was a klutz so it’s pretty natural she’d have one. Quickly she exited her apartment and went over to Nikolas, kneeling down at his side while putting the kit and ice pack down on the floor, “I’m going to have to look at your wrist.” She told him before very gently taking hold of his arm. Evande grimaced, seeing how his wrist swollen up and bruised. No doubt, he at least has a fracture. she thought, pushing her glasses up her nose again, a rather serious look overtaking her face. Evande moved and popped her first aid kit open, pulled out a roll of compression bandage and a few bandage clamps.

She looked Nikolas in the eye, “I’m sorry, but this is probably going to hurt.” She told him as she straightened his wrist out and began to wrap the cloth around it somewhat tightly, she made quick work of the roll, making sure to wrap it around the base of his hand and over his thumb a few times before securing it with the clamps. It’s not good for permanent use, but it’ll suffice until he can get to a doctor. . . . Evande thought, grabbing onto the ice pack and placing it over Nikolas’ wrist, holding it there. Evande let herself drop to her rear, letting out a sigh.

Evande remained quiet for a moment before her face went rather red, and she realized she was still holding the ice pack on his wrist. Quickly she moved her hands away from his wrist and cleared her throat, “Ha, basic first aid training, second grade, if you were wondering. . . .” She laughed out nervously, “Mom said it’d come in handy at some point in time, I didn’t believe her, but looks like she was right.” Pushing on her glasses again, Evande gave a rather nervous smile to both Nikolas and Ryu. Tucking a bit of her hair behind her ear, she looked down, “U-Um, that wrap will only suffice until you can get to a doctor. You definitely have a fracture, at least, and you need a real cast in order for it to heal right. . . .” she murmured, shutting the first aid kit next to her.

The woman's face remained rather red as she looked off to the side, embarrassed by the fast she'd just treated Nikolas as she did. That . . . weird connection she felt with him had made her do this, hadn't it? Evande was truly stuck to him and Ryu now, wasn't she?

While all of this was going on, just what was Kiku up to you ask? Well, the little brunette was fast asleep she was! Once that girl gets to sleep, she’s out like a rock.

Nikolas looked over at where he'd heard a plate smash. “H-He broke his wrist?” It was Evande's voice, sounding a bit... choked up? No, she couldn't be worried about him. She was probably just worried that someone was hurt, because anyone would be. But why was she so surprised? “I’m going to have to look at your wrist.” Oh god.

Nikolas stared back at Evande, looking a bit confused. “I’m sorry, but this is probably going to hurt.” Nikolas bit down on his bottom lip looking up to the ceiling as the weird shocks in his wrist became a lot more frequent. His hand twitched in pain every time one of those shocks was sent through

“Ha, basic first aid training, second grade, if you were wondering. . . . Mom said it’d come in handy at some point in time, I didn’t believe her, but looks like she was right. U-Um, that wrap will only suffice until you can get to a doctor. You definitely have a fracture, at least, and you need a real cast in order for it to heal right. . . .”

"D-doctor... Okay..." Nikolas shivered slightly. He glanced at Ryu, desperately looking at Ryu to get him out of that horrible situation. Nikolas didn't despise doctors, he feared them. Quite badly too. Ryu shrugged, looking sorry and Nikolas, pale faced, got up and went back into the apartment, struggling a bit to put his coat on. He stuffed his keys in his pocket and left, shaking a bit. As her made his way down the stairs, Ryu stared behind him.

"I wonder if I should follow..." Ryu sighed, only to run and get his coat. "You're welcome to come along if you want." He looked at Evande. "You don't have to. Umm, d'you know where there's a doctor anyways?"

Nikolas wondered where in the world he was going to find a doctor. He'd left, and going back just to ask would make him look ridiculously stupid, especially in front of Evande. He already found it bad enough that Ryu had seen him in such a state, but Evande had to see his fear too? Great. Nikolas hissed a bit to himself as he walked down the street, looking for any sign of a doctor. To be honest, he really wished that Ryu was coming with him. At that moment, Ryu ran behind him, grinning his face off. Nikolas glared a tiny bit before softening up.

"Wouldn't want you going into one of your 'moments', now would we?" Ryu grinned.

"That wasn't gonna happen. The last time it did, I was what, seven? And it feels like hundreds of years ago anyways. I'm not gonna break down." Nikolas stared on ahead, taking in the crisp air and sighing, a cold puff of condensation coming from his mouth. It vanished in a matter of seconds.

"How do you know that? You might. You've done it after and before that." Nikolas stopped walking and gave Ryu a playful punch in the chest.

"Weren't you a doctor once?" Nikolas looked Ryu in the eye, as if searching for answers..

"Ages ago, yeah, but that doesn't count. The pretty lady said you need a cast, therefore you get a cast. I don't really have many of those at home." Ryu looked at a shop opposite. "If you go in and be nice, I'll get you some candy and Panda some treats, kay?" Nikolas nodded, obviously happy with the deal.

Evande continued to fiddle with the bridge of her glasses, looking off to the side and away from Nikolas. Poor woman’s face was still a little bit red, part of her unable to believe she had treated him as she had; Evande had just reacted to his possibly broken wrist like she should if someone who was close to her as family had gotten injured. Even if she did feel some weird connection to the man . . . that didn’t mean she had to go and react as she had, right? Well, maybe she did have to. It weren’t as if she were a social woman in the least, she avoided interacting with people like crazy, but this, this event had been completely different it seemed.

She had just acted, helped without even thinking about it, like most normal people would. Evande had helped Nikolas without any fear, or thinking about what it meant in terms of further deepening the connection between herself, him and Ryu. Maybe, maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing? Thinking back over the last six years of her life, Evande hadn’t ever had any friends, she’d been completely alone, and so solitary that she never even interacted with people without regarding the potential consequences of her actions, of acting like that. Yet, here she had thrown caution to the wind and gone and helped him out without thinking about anything but the worry she felt when she had heard he might have broken his wrist.

Part of her couldn’t help but feel like that was silly, reacting so skittishly when a broken wrist was far from a life threatening injury, even if it were of the painful sort. "D-doctor... Okay..." when Nikolas had managed to get that out with a rather nervous tone to his voice, Evande looked up at him, and blinked a bit in curiosity. He seemed to be shivering; the hallway wasn’t cold, so that wasn’t it. He looked at Ryu, like he was pleading for help to try and get him out of the current situation.

Her eyes went back and forth between the two, and her cheeks reddened as the immature part of her brain that got hyper on sweets and manga decided to dive into the gutter again, it took all Evande had to not smack her skull into submission. She sighed a bit before she shook it off, Looking at this situation, I would venture to say . . . Nikolas has Iatrophobia, a rather nasty case at that. As she thought on that, Nikolas got up, his face inhumanly pallor, and he trudged into his and Ryu’s apartment. Yeah, that’s definitely a case of Iatrophobia. . . . Evande sighed and shook her head a bit, picking up her first aid kit and rising up to her own feet.

It was at that moment she realized she had rushed out into the hallway with her feet bare . . . and then her ankle started to throb again, the little rush of adrenalin she had gotten upon hearing about Nikolas’ wrist had ceased to be and it left her in pain once more. Stupid ankle. she thought, glaring down at the red appendage. While this was going on, Nikolas had come back out from his apartment, trekking down the stairs for the front door with a rather anxious look on his face.

"I wonder if I should follow..." Evande looked to Ryu when he said that, sighing. Before he wandered into his apartment, undoubtedly to get his coat to follow after his roommate, he looked back to her, "You're welcome to come along if you want." She tilted her head to the side at his offer, wasn’t it kind of more than strange to invite your neighbour of one day to come along with you and your roommate to the doctor. . . ? Okay, so maybe Ryu and Nikolas were FAR from being simply strange, but, still.

"You don't have to. Umm, d'you know where there's a doctor anyways?" When Ryu asked that, Evande did a facepalm, and groaned, holding onto her first aid kit still with her other unoccupied arm. She sighed, wondering if Nikolas had left himself without knowing where to find a place where he could actually get medical treatment.

Am I going to have to play the role of Guardian over these boys or something? Evande asked herself, peeling her hand off her forehead, she scowled as Ryu disappeared to get his own coat. “Damn it,” she seethed, “I don’t know what the Hell is up with me and these guys, but I already know the answer to my own question. . . .” With that, she hobbled back into her apartment, dropping the first aid kit off in her restroom, she went ahead and over to her closet, digging out a pair of boots, she slipped them on her feet as she pulled a rather puffy black coat onto her arms and zipped it up to her neck. Yeah, the pink haired woman was going to go ahead and follow Nikolas and Ryu, the two didn’t know what the Hell they were doing around here.

Whatever the reason for that feeling in her, that which connected her to Nikolas, and by extension, Ryu, it wasn’t going to let her stand idle while they might go off and get up to who knew what shenanigans when trying to locate a doctor. There was a meow from her feet, and it caused Evande to look down and see Kiseki sitting there, staring up at her with those bright eyes of his. She smiled at the kitty, knelt down and scratched his head lovingly. “I’m sorry baby, but it looks like mommy has to go help her neighbours not get lost, even if most of her doesn’t want to get involved.”

Kiseki meowed again, and as if he understood her, the cat wandered over to his owner’s futon, hopped onto it and stretched out, ready to nap. Evande smiled, and darted out of her apartment after that . . . forgetting to lock her door, and to grab her keys.

Even with her head hurting, and her ankle throbbing, Evande bolted down the stairs and out the door, and down the street after the two. It was cold outside, and she was in shorts. It made her feel a little bit like a damn fool. Whatever, my attire is not important right now!

She ran, finally managing to catch up to them after about a block of running, she wound up right behind the two, and caught the tail end of whatever it was they had been talking about. Evande didn’t speak as Nikolas did to Ryu, "Weren't you a doctor once?" The woman found herself frozen in place when she heard him ask that to the violet-haired man. And all she could do was bring herself to stare at the back of their heads, still silent. Why was she still quiet? This wasn’t any of her business!

Ryu was a . . . doctor? What? she thought, looking between the two of them, missing the last bit of what they were talking about. Sighing, Evande shook it off, no, no, she would not get involved with whatever weirdness surrounded them and the connection she bore to them. She just wasn’t ready to dive into that yet.

Putting her hands on her hips, she walked up right behind the two of them and grabbed onto the hoods of their coats, yanking back on them. “Hey, why didn’t you wait for me? Ryu you said I could come along, then you go and bolt off without me, plus you asked me where you guys could find a doctor, didn’t you?” she chided, crossing her arms at her diaphragm, a rather annoyed look happened upon her face, “That’s not nice you know. Plus . . . it’s kind of stupid for the BOTH of you to wander off without any idea to actually go, Nikolas needs to see a doctor, and Ryu, you go to escort him or whatever not even knowing where to go. How does that help?”

She adjusted her glasses again and sighed, “I’ll take you to my doctor, he’s a really nice guy and has treated me since I moved here three years ago, never had a problem with him being mean, hurting me or being too rough in his examinations.” Evande moved in-between the two of them, grabbed onto the sleeves of their coats, and pulled on them, “C’mon you two, let’s go.”

As she pulled the two onward behind her a thought occurred to her regarding Nikolas, his Iatrophobia; it seemed like something he was rather ashamed of in Evande’s eyes. Might as well make him feel a bit better, she thought to herself, rolling her eyes a bit. “Hey Nikolas, you have Iatrophobia, don’t you? She asked, looking back at him. Evande smiled and laughed, “It’s nothing to be ashamed of, at least it’s a phobia of something that’s actually, well concrete and real . . . you’re looking at a woman who has Neilasparophobia; a fear of aliens. The kind from space.” She regarded, letting go of his coat sleeve, pointing up to the sky. “Silly, huh?”

♦♦♦♦♦

There was a rather incessant beeping that annoyed the Hell out of her. With a moan she moved underneath her covers, and a hand shot out, hitting the SNOOZE button on her alarm clock. Kiku let out a whine, and sat up with a yawn, after which she proceeded to rub her eyes. Oooh, how she detested mornings.

She looked around her, and ran a hand through her hair. Unfortunately it seemed it was time for her to get her day started, and back to her new found grindstone of trying to understand what was up with her weird new neighbours. . . . Oh what a joy life was, huh?

Nikolas and Ryu were pulled back. "Ack! What the he-?"
“Hey, why didn’t you wait for me? Ryu you said I could come along, then you go and bolt off without me, plus you asked me where you guys could find a doctor, didn’t you?” Evande looked a bit annoyed, and Nikolas shot a look up at Ryu. You said she could come?, “That’s not nice you know. Plus . . . it’s kind of stupid for the BOTH of you to wander off without any idea to actually go, Nikolas needs to see a doctor, and Ryu, you go to escort him or whatever not even knowing where to go. How does that help?”

"Escort?" Nikolas repeated, glaring a bit at Ryu. What was he, some sort of princess? Definitely not! Sure, he was scared of doctors to the core, but he didn't need to be escorted. Nikolas sighed, deciding to let it go. Ryu laughed a bit but kept it quiet, knowing what the younger boy was fussing about.

"I guess it doesn't help. You're right, we should have gotten a map or something." Ryu laughed, nodding a bit.

"Except our orientations skills are... as bad as my cooking. You know that, idiot." Nikolas looked up and Ryu and suddenly decided he really needed to grow. Ryu was much taller than both him and Evande. That wasn't really fair to either of them, but Nikolas was happy he was at least taller than Evande. If he was shorter, well, that would have been just awkward. Then, the thought of doctors returned to his mind and he turned even paler than earlier. Ryu looked at him, slightly concerned that the only colour in his face was the blue in his eyes.

“I’ll take you to my doctor, he’s a really nice guy and has treated me since I moved here three years ago, never had a problem with him being mean, hurting me or being too rough in his examinations.” Evande got in-between Ryu and Nikolas and dragged them by their sleeves. They looked at each other, before looking at the pink haired girl. Ryu pinched Nikolas with his free hand, trying to make the colour go back to his face, but it barely worked. “C’mon you two, let’s go.”

Ryu was laughing a bit, and Nikolas was smiling slightly. She was obviously quite annoyed at them in a strange way. “Hey Nikolas, you have Iatrophobia, don’t you?" Nikolas looked at her, confused, before realising that meant fear of doctors., “It’s nothing to be ashamed of, at least it’s a phobia of something that’s actually, well concrete and real . . . you’re looking at a woman who has Neilasparophobia; a fear of aliens. The kind from space.”

"I know." The blond boy stated, carrying on. What other kind of aliens are there? Nikolas thought sarcastically, before smiling at her. "Well, at least you don't have to deal with them, since they probably won't hit Earth of all planets if they do exist." Ryu glanced at Nikolas. They'd both shiver whenever they watched a horror film, but Ryu just realised that Nikolas always fell asleep during the alien ones. Or, at least, the really old black and white ones that they'd watch ages ago. Ryu sighed at the thought of black and white movies. Evande let go of Nikolas' sleeve and pointed at the sky. Nikolas looked up obediently. “Silly, huh?”

"Not really." Nikolas grinned at her. He stopped smiling when the shock passed through his hand and he stopped walking. He looked at his wrist, sighing, before carrying on walking. Nikolas wanted to cry out in pain, but he didn't want to so something like that near Evande or Ryu.

"He has a fear of white cats, y'know. But they have to be plain white, not like Panda." Nikolas grinned at the now frowning Ryu.

"I have my reasons!"

"They're not very logical." Nikolas sighed. "I guess everyone has some sort of fear."

She couldn’t help but laugh a bit when Nikolas told her that her fear really wasn’t that silly. Oh, if only he knew how wrong he was about that. Even Evande knew she acted like a loon when her phobia got the better of her, going on a babbling rant, unable to shut her mouth and be quiet until someone actually planted their hand over her lips and manually shut her up. Phobias, everyone had them and dealt with them in one way, shape, or form at some point in their lives, even people who were far from normal, like herself and the two people she was dragging along behind her. Evande let go of Ryu’s coat sleeve, the two men were following her now anyway so there wasn’t any reason for her to continue clinging onto them.

”He has a fear of white cats, y’know. But they have to be plain white, not like Panda.” Evande looked back behind her at Nikolas and Ryu, a look of slight confusion on her face.

"I have my reasons!" Ryu shouted, causing Evande to crack a bit of a smile and have to hold back a peal of laughter. It was strange, having gone so long on her own without actually talking to people, letting them get under her skin, forming bonds, connecting with people her age. . . . This whole scenario, while it might not have been the ideal situation, everything that was going on right now, Evande felt . . . well, she felt happy about it. Even with all the weirdness surrounding Nikolas and Ryu, the things she couldn’t explain, and the things she refused to get into just yet, she actually felt rather elated at that moment.

That smile of Evande’s wouldn’t leave the woman’s face as she looked down to the sidewalk underneath her feet, and pushed up on the bridge of her glasses with one of her index fingers. It really is bizarre, being this okay with being around people, possibly making friends so quickly, and not feeling . . . feeling much of anything bad about it. Maybe it’s been long enough. she thought to herself.

"They're not very logical." Evande turned her gaze back to Nikolas, still grinning a little bit like an idiot. Her head and ankle were still not feeling so pleasant, but the pain wasn’t really unbearable, leading her two clueless neighbours like this was actually worth the discomfort. ”I guess everyone has some sort of fear.”

Yeah, fear was something everyone put up with it. With a small sigh, Evande moved her hands back behind her, and locked her fingers together as she continued on walking, and thinking to herself about everything that was going on right now. In the last twenty-four hours, her life had managed to make a one-hundred and eighty degree turn on her. When she had left for work yesterday morning, she had thought she’d be spending the next three days doing her norm; manga, games, and roleplaying. Suffice to say, I really can’t say I was expecting to wind up actually being okay socializing with new people. Much less, actually wanting to go ahead and keep it up. She had spent the last six years isolating herself from the world, to spare her heart from the pain of being abandoned again, Evande never wanted to go through that again. Yet, she was a human woman, no matter how much people fight it; humans are social creatures that tend to connect with people no matter how much they swear it is against their nature.

Evande exhaled deeply, her breath turning into mist. Without so much as a sound, she looked up at the murky skies . . . and was met with a snowflake landing on her nose. The woman squeaked at the sudden cold, and instantly rubbed at her nose with one of her hands as she resisted the urge to sneeze, failing miserably when she did indeed sneeze once, and looked back up to the sky to see it had started to snow. First snowfall of the year. “Ohhh, snow. . . .” she said quietly, stopping where she stood and staring up at the sky and looking around as it fell rather softly. Her face lit up with a bright smile again, and she let out a small, happy laugh—she loved the snow!

Reality returned however, and knocked on her skull, reminding Evande what she was doing outside in the first place. Oh, right! Nikolas and Ryu, and getting the former a cast on his wrist. she sort of twirled around, a nervous smile on her flushing face, she laughed, “I’m sorry, I love snow and this was the first time I’ve seen it this year.” Evande scratched the back of her head, “Well, we’re awful close to my doctor’s now anyway.” With this, she turned and pointed to a rather small looking clinic building just several yards ahead of them. “Doctor Takahashi really is the best medical professional I’ve seen, and I see him a lot thanks to, well, my issues with gravity you could say.” Evande laughed that out nervously.

After this she cleared her throat, “A-Anyway, the whole procedure ought to be pretty routine, he’ll look at your wrist, order an X-ray and then when he figures out how bad a break it is, he’ll set your wrist and get you a cast.” She looked back at Nikolas, “I have been through this more than once . . . it’s also possible he’ll prescribe you with pain killers if he thinks the break warrants the use of them.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad, does it? The whole thing will probably only take an hour or so, I’ll be sticking around, if you need something.” She told him with a smile, “I know Iatrophobia isn’t pleasant, I had it before I moved here.”

♦♦♦♦♦

Kiku yawned as she finished eating her breakfast . . . cereal. The tired little brunette dumped her bowl into the sink, stretching again. She was already dressed and ready to take on the gruelling tasks of the day, which included cracking the mystery of her neighbours, their connections to herself and to Sterling. Even if Sterling is an annoying, freakishly tall witch, she’s as much a part of this crud as I am. she thought, huffing and crossing her arms. As she stood there quietly, lost in her thoughts, something occurred to her. It was really, really quiet.

Her burgundy eyes looked back to her door, curious. “Well now, after the shenanigans that went on last night, I must say I am shocked by how silent those three freaks are being.” Kiku, started for the door; if she were going to continue getting to the bottom of all of this, then she had some questions to present to, though she dreaded it, to Sterling. She’d gotten something weird out of Ryu the previous night, something about him being HER second personality. . . . What the Hell was that suppose to mean? Really now, either he was a loon, or there was some strange reality in his words.

Whatever it meant, if it were true, Kiku hadn’t the slightest inkling, she only knew there was something horribly weird happening, and she didn’t like it. Kiku opened her door rather harshly, letting it slam behind her as she turned and headed right for Evande’s door, and promptly knocked on the thing, hard. She waited, and waited for a minute. Yet, she heard nothing, no scrambling to get to the door, or the otaku shouting, “One moment please!”

. . . .was she not home? “Tch, the day Sterling is gone and I don’t know about it is the day pigs fly.” Kiku huffed, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, she looked around, “I wonder where the two new weirdos are.” With that, Kiku shrugged and knocked on the door again, and once more when there was no answer she hissed.

“Yo! Sterling, you in there or not! I got something I want to talk to you about, ASAP.” She shouted, waiting for some response, and when Kiku didn’t get what she wanted, she grabbed hold of the doorknob and opened the door to Evande’s apartment; the lights were on and the door unlocked, yet it didn’t seem like the otaku freak was present. “Ugh, that idiot. She left, and forgot to lock her door at least?” Without thinking about it, or even considering the fact she was technically trespassing, Kiku went ahead and let herself into Evande’s apartment, stepping over the broken plate Evande had dropped in her panicked state earlier.

In the year Kiku had lived next to Evande, she’d not once set foot in the otaku’s apartment. Well, she wasn’t home and it wasn’t like she had to know. . . . What could the ahoge sporting girl say? She had a bone of curiosity in her to see how an otaku actually lived. As soon as Kiku stepped into the living area of Evande’s apartment, her eyes widened. She was actually pleasantly shocked by how normal it looked, the place was actually decorated quite nicely. The freak had managed to even make her giant collection of games, DVDs and manga look decent. “Hmph, well, who would have thought that Evande Sterling had an eye for color and decoration?” Kiku asked with a slight laugh, crossing her arms over her tiny diaphragm.

Hmph, I have to hand it to her, this place looks way better than I imagined, here I was thinking it was some weird, dark den of electronics with piles and piles of manga and anime paraphernalia all over the place. she took a step further in when there was a hiss. . . .

“Hmm? Does Sterling have a cat or something. . . ?” Kiku muttered quietly, looking around, before something jumped onto her face and she fell over with a scream.