Disclaimers: All characters belong to rightful owners.
Story concieved by Lee.


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"Makes sense." Mune nodded slowly and, crossing his arms, he tipped his head on side. Well, at least Sui was being honest about it all, for what it was worth, and there was nothing like an honest pimp. Still, at Alexei's comment on wanting to kill Shittsui, he couldn't help a faint smirk, but, trying to push this down, he continued in an even tone.

"Still, what if I offer to do those things with you in the old man's place and you just let him go about his way, none the worse for the experience." He grinned, then, and tipped his head the other way. "Or maybe you could let that boy over there have his way with you; from what I've heard, you're both just about equal in your tastes..."

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Taking Mousy into her hands from her shoulder, Sasurai gave a thankful smile to Lemy, yet seeing her companion shrink back and look to the ground dampened that smile a bit. It was odd that all of a sudden more people would be added to the two, and she seemed to be having has much of a problem getting over her nervousness as he. Moving closer next to him, as if to offer comfort, She patted and stroked one of Lemy's curls, offering again another smile, this time with an soft giggle just to lighten the mood for him.

"Yes... well... today... has been... strange," She nodded, looking back at the newcomer addressing her, "And... don't wo-wo-worry... I-I-I'm fine..." The least she could do was try to be more social... at least for now.

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"No no no, I'm definately a Sam groupie..." Lucia giggled, her thumb brushing against the palm of his hand. "...and I'd be a great one. I'd scream and jump and throw my underwear up on stage. It'd be awesome!"

She snuggled up as close to his arm as her pink bubble jacket allowed. She was an average teenager, snuggling up to a good friend of hers--who just happened to be a notorious hottie. What else would an average teenager do?

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"Hmm. I could most definitely live with that..." Sam chuckled and, grinning at the brush of her thumb, he moved a finger so as to tickle a bit against Lucia's wrist. Keeping this grin, he tipped his head back and, after a moment of thought, he turned his head a bit toward his companion. "Still, you know, you don't have to wait for a concert to scream and jump and shed your underwear..."

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Of course she was sure; she would never have made such an accusation in the first place if she wasn't. But now that he had been pursuaded, Sophia somehow found it hard to give the final signal.

It was really because the Mr. Alraune was incredibly trusting. She respected him so highly for it, and knew full well he was one of the few honestly good figures in her life. To confirm the true nature of someone he had taken in good faith as a friend would, she felt, destroy some of that trust in him. It would mean another small victory for the darkness claiming the minds of so many already.

But of course, it would be far worse to allow Shittsui to take advantage of that trust and destroy it completely. "Yes, Mr. Alraune, I'm sure. Please, would you avoid him from now on? It's not safe for you to stay around him."

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"What?" Kein asked incredulously, honestly startled into laughter, "that comes as some sort of surprise to you?" He snorted. Dear god, Kisoku let himself get so worked up over the stupidest little things... and christ, the sap had always been such a dumb romantic. What, was he supposed to have some sort of torrid love affair with every one of them? Kein tsked in disgust at the very thought and snapped out without quite thinking it through, "But it's especially ludicrous coming from the one getting _quite_ a name for his innumerable groupies, fuckbuddies and lovers, Juliet."

Oh crap. That had been pretty low, even for him. No matter how much they sniped at one another, they usually never used _that_ as a weapon... but hell, Kisoku's damn fault for picking a fight in the first place.

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Kisoku felt his heart drop into his stomach, only to get burned my the churning digestive fluids there. Two low blows in one day...and on the same topic, even. It was too much for the young blonde to take. He caught stranged sort of wail in the back of his throat. He wasn't going to give Kein the full satisfaction of seeing him break down.

"Y'know... I really wish that I could just stay out of your way. It'd save me a whole lot of aggravation!" He growled, pushing past Kein. He didn't know where his feet were leading him. As soon as he was a good distance away from his brother, he burst into tears. He stumbled past people, pulling on his sunglasses as an extra precaution. The last thing he needed was the media hawks coming down on him. He wrapped his arms around himself and wandered around aimlessly, as his mascara and tears ran down his face without cease. And it was in this aimless wandering that he smacked right into a familiar redhead. He looked up from the sidewalk, meaning to apologize, but as soon as he saw the other's face, this dwindled away to a low muttering. "Oh, this is a fucking great day..."

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As he continued to walk aimlessly through the crowded streets, at least some of Lukas' anger began to fade. This wasn't much improvement, however, as what remained was mostly a deep depression and dissatisfaction. He regretted saying what he did to Kiso - but, dammit all, the man had just kept pushing him. And Lukas had never been one to just roll over on his back and take it. No. He pushed back. Hard. Maybe too hard, sometimes.

Shaking his head, he slowed his steps, finally coming to a halt in front of a department store window with the obligatory Christmas display. Frowning at the window's contents without really seeing them, he wondered what was wrong with him lately. He wasn't usually this irritable; and he didn't usually go right for the throat when trading banter with his friends. Was it just his own rapidly deteriorating home life - or something else?

He hadn't managed to come up with any satisfactory answers when he was suddenly staggered by someone running smack into him. Turning, he was surprised to see Kisoku standing there, and was about to apologize for the crack he'd made earlier, when he caught the blonde's low muttering. His scowl deepened for a moment as that urge to go right for the throat resurfaced. Why the fuck was everyone but him allowed to have a shitty day? Why couldn't he make a stupid, casual remark without everyone falling apart? And why the hell did Kiso have to pick *him* to run into?

Forcing another smart-ass smirk onto his face, he snorted a laugh, "Well... excuse the hell outta me, Kiso," he drawled, "Next time, why don't you just tell me where you'll be headin' so's I won't be standin' in your way when you're ready to run into someone." Jamming his fists back into his pockets, he turned, preparing to walk away, "Far be it from me to get in the way of the great Kisoku Capulet, captain of industry, supermodel, popular local musician, yadda, yadda, yadda.."

Even as he said the words, he flinched inwardly, wishing in vain to call them back. What the hell was wrong with him?

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"Err... ok, well," Arvel said awkwardly, "I guess -- "

"Oooh! Puppet show!" Estelle interrupted suddenly, "Look, guys, it says on the program that Kira Griffith is the director! We have to stay and talk to her afterwards!"

"Ms. Griffith?" Jeremy and Arvel repeated.

"Yeah, ok," Jeremy agreed.

"Uh, mind if we sit here?" Arvel asked the two older kids.

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Rather than being angry at Lukas's words, Kisoku took them rather to heart. Maybe... maybe he was the one in everyone's way. God knows he had tried to be a perfect person, to be accepted, but he always seemed to mess it up in one way or another. Over and over, he saw nothing but angry faces or hurt-filled faces. Why didn't anyone look at him like they cared at all? Was he really such a horrible person?

"I'm SORRY!" He shouted at the other, the tears pouring down in buckets now. His apology was a far cry from his normal biting sarcasm. He sincerely meant every word. "I'm sorry that I bumped into you, and I'm sorry that I bumped into him, and I'm sorry that I fucked up your day! I'm sorry that I am such a bitch to everyone that I meet. I'm sorry that I forced myself into your life. I'm sorry that I screwed Sam over royally. I sorry that I can't be a good person. I know I'm not anything close to be good enough for anyone... and I'm sorry that you have to be around me. I'm sorry that I joined your band and bog your music down by not being able to make it to this rehearsal or that rehearsal because I have work. I'm sorry that I made you hate me! I'm sorry that I'm an unbalanced burden to the people that care about me! I'm sorry that I couldn't kill myself when I had the chance, but I tried dammit! I tried to stop fucking up everybody's lives..."

He sunk to his knees, a sobbing wreck. He waited for Lukas's next barbed remark... waited for the other to prove to him that everything that he had said was wholly true. How could you explain all the events of the day if it wasn't?

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"Oh, I... I see..." Nevan nodded slowly as he again turned his glance to the interior of the pizza parlor and, again, he picked out Barano from the crowd. So the man was just attempting to use him, but to what ends? How could a person, any person, have that sort of intention? Likely, he would have wanted to spend time with the man, regardless, so why all the subterfuge, all the manipulation?

Of course, a cynical--or perhaps sane--person would say that it was simply the evil in the man's nature, but Nevan never could quite believe that there was such a deep stain in anyone's nature, even when he was face-to-face with it. There was goodness deep in every heart; it was sometimes very deeply buried, but it was always there. Yet, as some part of his mind seemed eager to remind him, there were a few instances when it was very hard to see that goodness, to see that reason in a person, such as with an untimely, seemingly mindless murder...

Wincing sharply at this thought, he quickly tried to banish the accompanying thoughts and images as he turned his eyes back to Sophia. No, she wouldn't lie to him, not about such a thing; she was just pointing out what likely should have been obvious. Not that he was anything but grateful to the girl for her effort on his behalf.

"Thank you, Sophia..." He murmured quietly as he offered the girl an odd smile composed of equal parts gratitude and sheepishness. "I... appreciate what you've done for me. I promise that I'll avoid Mr. Barano from now on..."

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"It... it has been... an... an odd day..." Lem agreed slowly as his eyes darted amongst the gathered people. So many strangers. Maybe he should have just stayed with Barano for the day or... or just stayed in his apartment. Of course, he quickly banished this thought with a shake of his head. No, that wouldn't have been better because then he wouldn't have had the chance to meet Sasurai and her cute mouse. Besides, the three newcomers seemed nice enough and their dog was cute, if not a bit scruffy. Maybe...

Of course, he was startled from these thoughts by Sasurai's stroking of his curls and, flushing softly, he lifted his eyes to meet those of the other. Knowing that she was only trying to comfort him, he managed a soft smile as he tipped his head on side.

"N-no. I... I... I don't mind at all..." Lem managed to stutter out in response to Arvel's question as he shook his head. "As... as long as... as long as Sasurai doesn't mind..."

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The last words of Lemy-san had worked to make Sasurai cheeks turn a shade of pale pink, "Iie... no... no I would-wouldn't mind at all... they could sit-sit here." For once her opinion mattered, her words had meaning. Though she was still trembling, still nervous, she could tell that the three newcomers were not bad... and... oh, he had pretty eyes. Realizing she was still holding her gaze and that the thought of his eyes were actually on her mind, her eyes slowly returned to their normal downcast position, though it was too late for Mousy not to notice, and he squeaked slightly as if to detract attention back to the cute mouse he was.

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Sophia gazed intently at her teacher as he processed this, trying to gauge how much damage the news might have caused. It was hard to tell; he just seemed confused by it all.

But then, in a change she couldn't follow, his face suddenly shifted to a saddened, haunted look she recognized from perhaps one or two times in the past. As it had been then, it was obvious now that he was trying to quickly force down whatever thought had sparked such an expression, and again as before, Sophia wondered what on earth he could be thinking of. Mr. Alraune's goodness seemed to her like innocence... a lack of contact with life's worst experiences. So what sort of memory could be so terrible, yet not kill his gentle personality?

At any rate, she summoned a tiny smile for him, as much to soothe him as to respond to his words. "Thank you, Mr. Alraune. I'm very glad you understand."

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Bastard. That was what _Kein_ was supposed to be saying. "Whatever," he growled, in full agreement with Kisoku but understandably reluctant to say as much. He let the whiner go and fumed his way to the sandwich shop he'd been trying to reach since when, an hour ago? And _finally_, with sandwich in hand, he hurried back to the office to continue his work. That was the problem in the first place, really. Things went to hell when you procrastinated, and today that had been proven to ridiculous lengths.

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Having expected more of the bitchery and cattiness that Kisoku had practically patented, Lukas was, therefore, taken completely aback by both his apology and by what appeared to be a total and very public emotional breakdown. This wasn't how it was supposed to work. He takes a shot at Kiso, who then scores points off Lukas, who then slings another dart at Kiso, who responds in kind. Ad infinitum, ad nauseum, world without end, amen. Their constant verbal dueling had been as much a part of their relationship as Sam's playful flirting and teasing and his own feigned long-suffering patience had been of *theirs*. Breakdowns were *not* part of the equation.

Ah, but this hadn't been just any normal day, now had it?

Setting his own self-recrimination aside-- oh, but it would return later, no doubt-- he moved over to where Kisoku knelt, dropping to his knees beside the other man, and awkwardly pulled his friend into a tight-- and hopefully comforting-- embrace. "I... I'm sorry, Kiso..." he said simply, "I didn't mean none of the things I said... I... don't know what got into me... how things got so outta hand..."

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"I'm only glad that you managed to clear things up." Nevan redoubled his efforts in his smile as he shook his head slowly. Really, even if it was only a tiny smile, he was rather glad to see a smile of any sorts on the usually so somber child's features; of course, the girl likely had her reasons for her mood, but it always seemed so sad for a child to be so sad, so distant.

"Anyway, do you want to go back inside?" He asked quietly as he laid a gentle hand on Sophia's shoulder. "I'll even treat you and your friends to a pie; it's really the least I can do..."

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No. No. No! It wasn't supposed to be like this... Lukas was supposed to make a snide remark and walk away. Kisoku buried his face against his friend's shoulder, sobbing against the other. It wasn't fair! Why couldn't Lukas just tell him the honest truth, instead of back down?

"Don't apologize... it's all my fault... everything is."

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Lukas tightened his arms around his sobbing friend, just holding Kiso while he wept himself out. Despite the other man's obvious distress-- and his own guilt and sympathy for that distress-- his lips twitched into a faint smile at Kisoku's claim that everything was his fault.

"Everythin', eh?" he said, chuckling softly. "Welladay... I always wondered who was to blame for Daylight Savings Time... thanks for clearin' up the mystery."

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Even though he was sobbing, Kisoku couldn't help but chuckle at the other's joke. He pulled away from Lukas, wiping his eyes as best as he could. "Shit, my make-up ran all over."

He grinned as best as he could at his friend while calming himself. He had done enough crying for the day, it seemed. Now all that remained was to clear the bad air between him and the Cajun. "Lukas... I'm sorry for being such an ass today. I just... it's just that I... thanks for being such a great guy."

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