At long last, a new chapter! WAHOO!.

"Are you sure you are alright?" Kenji inquired as he watched Arinna stumble in the hall.

"Tired." She mumbled softly. It had been quite a dinner, that was for sure. Not only had her sister managed to drag poor Kazuma to lunch, but she also dragged him right to Dinner. Both times Kazuma had not been a very happy Bunny.

…Heh, Bunny.

With a chuckle, Arinna titled her head. "Well, it definitely has been a long day." Motioning down the hall, both Kenji and Natsuki led Arinna to her room.

"That is for sure." Natsuki agreed.

With a large smile Arinna moved towards her room to retire for the night. She was glad Kenji and Natsuki had agreed to show her to her room, or she might have gotten lost.

Today had been a very long day. She wasn't sure how Kenji and her were ever supposed to finish all those documents before the deadline. They only had two more days left. Ugh… troublesome.

She could only imagine how exhausted Rei and Vincent had been after this.

Deciding to put those thoughts aside, Arinna opened her bedroom door and peeked in. The mattresses had already been placed on the ground and Rei and Vincent were curled up within the blankets.

Arinna smiled at the sight of Vincent curled up around Rei's side, clinging to her shirt. Rei was also fast asleep with her arm around Vincent, holding him close.

"Cute." Arinna cooed at the sight. Glancing over her shoulder, she nodded to Kenji and Natsuki. "Thanks for showing me the way." She whispered.

"Any time." Kenji grinned.

"We'll see you in the morning." Natsuki waved.

"Yup, early in the morning." She sighed, giving Kenji a little look. He nodded, look exhausted at just the thought of it.

"Yay." He faked a cheer. Chuckling, the three waved to each other. "Goodnight.

Nodding, Arinna snuck into her room and closed the door. When she was inside, she carefully tiptoed through the room towards her laptop.

Perhaps her sister was on to something when she called her a "Work-oholic?

She had to check the Trash Zone really quick before she could head to bed though! She hadn't checked it all day.

Quickly opening the laptop and logging in, she did a quick check around her area and check in her message box for any new messages.

Smiling at the screen, Arinna watched as her Ninja Turtle Avatar circled her area, checking for any signs of something going wrong.

Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, Arinna looked to her right at a new pile of Data Files that he been delivered for her to go through. Seeing that the pile was small she quickly began to go through them.

Behind her, Rei grumbled something and Arinna froze. Not wanting to wake up her little sister, Arinna slowly glanced over her shoulder. Rei shifted slightly, moving the blankets up closer to over her shoulder.

Waiting a few seconds to see if Rei would do anything else Arinna sighed in relief.

Looking back at her screen, Arinna moved her avatar to finish up her final pile of old data files.

When they were done Arinna let out a content sigh. "There." Honestly, her job wasn't very difficult. It was just tedious.

Pulling up the exit code to the Trash Zone, Arinna began to type it in, but paused when she saw movement to her right.

…Huh? What was that?

Blinking, she looked down to her screen. From what it said on the screen, she was currently the only avatar within this section of the Trash Zone. Had she just been imagining things?

"Hello?" she called through her character, looking around the area. Seeing nothing, and getting no response, she tilted her head. "That was odd…"

Taking another quick look around, but seeing nothing, Arinna typed in the exit code. Entering it, she quickly got out of the Trash Zone and logged off of her account.

That was really odd.

Shrugging she closed her laptop and crawled towards her bed. She had no doubt her mind was just playing a trick on her since she was so tired. Yeah, that had to be it. After all, there was no other workers within the Trash Zone, and no one can get in or out of there without the code…

Climbing into her bed, she pulled the covers close and smiled one last time at her siblings before closing her eyes.

-000The next day000-

Arinna woke up with a bad feeling.

Why was it she always woke up with bad feelings? Seriously, it was a pain. And what is worse, she never knew what the bad feeling was for. For all she could know, it is just nothing and she is just being paranoid; it has happened before.

Yet because she woke up with the feeling, she had to think of every little possible thing that might be wrong. Or perhaps her bad feeling was something serious? Did she remember to turn off the stove before she left?

…Yes. Yes she did. She definitely did.

Forgot to grab the mail before she left? Or maybe she forgot Vincent's little Panda slippers? Vincent hated waking up in the morning without his Panda slippers.

…Was it something with Kenji? Had she messed up one of the documents? No, that couldn't be; she checked those things a billion times yesterday. So what was it?

Ugh, she couldn't think of anything. Then this feeling was probably nothing. Just stress from lack of sleep, that is all.

"Ugh." Sitting up, Arinna stretched. I really have to stop stressing myself out like this.

Looking to her right, she smiled to see Vincent curled up at her side. Rei on the other hand was gone, most likely having woken up a little bit before her. She was always an early bird. Hopefully she stayed in the house though and didn't go off into town. Sometimes Rei would do that.

Looking out the screen door, she could see the sun was already rising. It was time to get up. Early bird gets the worm! And, y'know, finished computer documents before the deadline.

Moving the sheets off of her she got to her feet and moved to her luggage. Getting some new cloths, she changed and moved back to Vincent.

Shacking him gentle, she smiled. "Wake up Vincent." She said softly.

"…No." he whimpered.

"Vincent." She poked his belly.

He giggled a bit, swatting her hand away. "…No~" he opened one eye to give her a sour look.

Lifting him up, she chuckled to find he was still half asleep, and struggling to stay awake. Moving him to the small tub of water outside, she placed the wash cloth inside and brought it to his face.

"Wakey wakey." She mused, rubbing small circles of the cold water on his cheeks.

He whined in protest. "Cowd."

"It is cold." Arinna nodded in agreement.

Cleaning off his face and her own, hoping Rei had done the same before she went off, Arinna changed their clothes. When they were ready for the day, Arinna patted Vincent's head. "Okay, you can go play for a little bit while we wait for breakfast." She said, placing on his Panda slippers, which she luckily hadn't forgotten.

"Okay." He wiggled his toes and grabbed his DS.

Watching him run off, Arinna moved down the hall towards the kitchen. She could at least help make breakfast since these people were kind enough to let her stay.

Yet, she couldn't seem to find the kitchen. This house was so huge that she found herself lost… again. Honestly, this place needed it's own google maps to figure out where everything was.

Moving around the corner Arinna was amazed to find an open area within the house, leading back into the vegetable garden. They even had a garden!? How big was this place?

Oh… wait, there was someone within the Garden.

Kazuma was there, standing alone and working on his martial arts skills.

He didn't seem to notice her yet, which she was grateful for. She didn't want to interrupt his training. He was amazing though.

"He is amazing, isn't he?" Kenji smiled next to her.

"Gah!" Arinna jumped, not knowing Kenji was there was well. "Kenji~!" she hissed quietly at him. He flinched, holding up his hands.

"Ah, sorry, I thought you knew I was here." He apologized quickly.

"No. No I didn.t" she huffed at him. "Good gosh." She pressed a hand to her chest. "I almost had a heart attack."
"Sorry. Really sorry." He bowed his head to her.

"No it is fine." She waved it off. "But uh… yeah, Kazuma is pretty amazing." She agreed, glancing back to the young teen. He kicked and punched at an invisible enemies in front of him. To some it might have looked ridiculous, but Kazuma never stopped for even a moment. He was absorbed in his task that to in his mind, he probably was in an actually fight, taking down a few, or perhaps even a dozen different enemies."…It is like watching King Kazma." She made a remark.

"Oh?" Kenji glanced at her. "You know of his Avatar?"
"Who doesn't?" Arinna chuckled. "After what happened two years ago…" she trailed off. After what happened two years ago…. She didn't want to think about it. It was too painful.

"That's true." Kenji nodded in agreement. "Hey, you know Taijutsu too, right?"

Arinna nodded. "Yeah."

"Do you ever compete in the Martial Arts tournaments in Oz?"

Arinna rubbed her chin. "Well, I've thought about it. I don't really ever have the time though." She shrugged.

Kenji looked at his feet. "I see."

"Plus…" Arinna frowned. "I struggle to make my characters do the same moves in my head. Like, the buttons and all that. I don't know how to press the button to actually make my character do all that stuff. I know how to make my character move forward and back, and that is about it."
Kenji let out a laugh. "Yeah, I can see how that would be hard to figure out. I don't even know how to do any of the stuff Kazuma does. I can barely walk in Oz, let alone fight."
"For sure." Arinna glanced at him with a smile. "Hey, have you seen Rei? I woke up and she was already gone."
"Nope." Kenji shook his head. "I haven't seen her since last night."

"Hmm." Arinna looked back at Kazuma. "Hope she doesn't get herself into trouble."

"Does she often get into trouble?"
"Not intentionally."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that she finds trouble where ever she goes.' Arinna sighed, shacking her head.

"Natsuki." Yumi called gently. "Pass me the flour."
"Here you go Aunt Yumi." Natsuki smiled, tossing her the large bag.

"Thank you."

Smiling Natsuki grabbed the nearest knife chopping up a few carrots and apples for the upcoming breakfast. "…" A sudden shift in the air behind her made Natsuki shiver. Recognizing the presence as the same one from yesterday, Natsuki sighed. "Rei." She glanced over her shoulder. And indeed, behind her stood Rei, just like the day before.

"…Hello." Rei nodded.

"Are you here to help make food again?" Natsuki inquired with a smile. Rei shuffled back and forth on her heels, shrugging.

"I finished my morning exercises." She said.

"Exercises?" Natsuki inquired. Natsuki's Aunts look at the younger girl for an explanation.

"Do you do Yoga or something?" Nana guessed. Rei shrugged.

"I suppose."
"Hmm." Nana hummed. "Not much of a talker, are ya?"

Rei didn't reply, she only stared.

"Yeah. You are just like Kazuma." Nana sighed. "Right, Kiyomi?"

Kiyomi, Kazuma's mother, chuckled. "Well, they are very similar. By the way, thank you for going to fetch Kazuma yesterday Rei."

Rei nodded her head. "I get Arinna to come to dinner the same way." She said blankly.

"….R-Really?" Kiyomi chuckled. "Why?"

"She works herself too hard... losses track of time." Rei answered in as few words as possible.

"Oh." The Women nodded.

"Well, I guess that means we can always rely on you to fetch little Kazuma then?" Yumi chuckled.
"Yumi." Mariko scolded.
"Come on Aunt Mariko, you gotta admit that it worked yesterday." Natsuki chuckled.

"I don't see how tying up Kazuma will help anyone." Mariko sighed.

"Oh, I apologize." Rei suddenly bowed her head to her. "I wasn't aware that upset you."

Flinching, not expecting that, Mariko began to stammer, "O-Oh, no Rei. I mean… It is alright. No one was hurt and we did technically ask you to drag him to lunch."

"And I did just that. Next time I will proceed to drag him to lunch in another manner." Rei kept her head down.

"…You're very literal, aren't you?" Natsuki blinked a few times.

"I am always serious." Rei nodded.

"…Weird." Natsuki mumbled. "But okay. So, breakfast will be ready in a few minutes…" Natsuki smirked. "Can you go grab Kazuma for us?"
'Natsuki." Mariko huffed.
"Come on, none of us can ever get him to come join us for meals, and Rei here got him there for both Lunch and Dinner!" Natsuki chuckled. "I wanna see him here for Breakfast too."
"Agreed." Naomi and Yumi raised theirs hands.

"…Well… I suppose." Kiyomi smiled. "No tying him up this time Rei."
"Very well Mrs. Kiyomi." Rei said. Turning, she exited the room without another word.

"…You really think this is a good idea?" Mariko asked the others.

"Nope." Yumi chuckled.
"But I bet it will be funny!" Naomi cackled.

Kazuma had never had to lock the door before. If he was playing OZ, everyone knew not to mess with him. It was practically a law of the house!

Meaning he never had to worry about locking the door to keep his family out because everyone knew that if his computer was out and his head phones were on his head, it meant, leave Kazuma alone.

Yet ever since Kenji's new friend Arinna came to the house, that whole rule had been flushed right down the toilet. Especially thanks to… Rei.

Arinna's younger sister and frankly, one of the most annoying people Kazuma had ever encountered.

It wasn't as if she spoke loudly or had an annoying voice, no, she was annoying by just sitting there. She would stare at him. That is all she did; stare.

Then randomly ask a question or two that didn't make any sense.

It pissed him off.

He should be able to have a day of peace now. The door was locked, and there was only one way into this little room. So no need to worry-

"Bunny." A voice said over his shoulder.

Jumping in surprise, having not heard anyone enter the room, Kazumi whirled around to see Rei staring down at him.

"What the- how did you get in here?!' he demanded.

Rei blinked a few times. "….The door." She said.

"How?! It was locked!" Kazuma gawked at her.

"Oh." She lifted up a pin. "I thought you wouldn't want to be locked in here, so I unlocked the door for you." She explained. Basically, she had picklocked the door. How does she even know how to do that?

Growling, feeling the irritation bubbling up in his stomach, he turned away from her. Placing his headphones around his ears, he typed in a few things into his computer. Perhaps if he ignored her she would go away, just like everyone else.

She didn't though, she just sat there. It really pissed him off.

"…What do you want?" he glanced at her.

"Breakfast is almost ready-"
He didn't even give her time to finish before he leapt into a defensive stance, scanning her for any sign of a rope of something to bind his hands.

"…" she titled her head at him. "…Is something wrong?"
"Last time you said that, you tied me up." He hissed.

"Oh, I apologize." She bowed her head. "I appear to have heard the wrong requirements to getting you to lunch yesterday. For that I am very sorry. I have been told to not tie you up to get you to lunch today." She explained.

"…Is that so." Slowly lowering his hands, Kazuma plopped down onto the pillow at his feet and grabbed his laptop. "So what then?"

"Hmm?"
"Your job is to still get me to lunch, right?"

"Breakfast actually."
"Same thing." He scowled.

Rei nodded a few times, but didn't continue the conversation. Instead, she changed topics. "You're a bunny. King Kazma." Rei noted, pointing to his screen.
"What about it?" Kazuma looked back at his screen blankly. Odd, he was sure everyone knew who he was by now. After the whole Love Machine debacle it was hard not to find out who Kazuma really was.

"Why?"

"Why what?" he glanced back at her, not sure what this girl wanted.

She blinked at him, her expression emotionless. "Why did you choose a bunny?"

Surprised, he raised his eye brow. He had never been asked that question before. "Why?" he repeated.

She nodded, moving to sit next to him. "Why?"

Feeling annoyed that she came in without permission Kazuma stared at her. The longer he stared at her though, the more he began to realize that he wasn't sure how to answer her question. Why did he choose to make his avatar this way?

"I don't know. What is with that weird question anyway?" Kazuma grumbled at her.

Rei tilted her head, staring at his computer again. "…He looks strong. Like he has been through a lot of battles."
"He has."

"Why did you pick his appearance in the first place though?"

"That is a weird question."

"It is a question you can't seem to answer and are avoiding." Rei countered. Surprised, his eyes widened. Glancing at him, she smirked ever so slightly.

It seriously pissed him off.

"I don't feel like answering you." He grumbled.

"Fair enough. Shall we go to breakfast now?" she motioned to the door.
"I'm not hungry."

"Even so I believe you should eat. You are so small, your bones require some remnants of fat to survive."

"I'm not small."
"Scrawny is probably the better word choice here." Rei agreed.

"Will you just get out of here?" he scowled, "You are annoying me."

She stared at him. Glancing to the door, she let out a small huff. "Very well." Then she was gone.

Kazuma almost couldn't believe his eyes when she walked out of the room without another word. She seriously gave up? Just like that?

Compared to yesterday, he was sure she would have had some sort of trick up her sleeve. Or would have just kept bugging him until he finally agreed to come to Breakfast.

…Perhaps he over-estimated her?

Keeping his eyes on the door, Kazuma slowly pulled then back to his computer screen. Or should he say, back to the wood of his desk… because his laptop was gone.

He had never felt so horrified in all of his life. And he knew exactly who caused this diabolical act.

"REI!"

"Rei!" Arinna smiled as her sister entered the dinning room. "There you are. You disappeared this morning."

"I was doing my exercises." She explained as she moved around the table. Plopping down between Vincent and her sister, Rei looked to Natsuki. "Kazuma will be joining us soon." She announced.

"Really?" Natsuki glanced to the door. "And you didn't have to tie him up this time?"

"I assure you, he will not enter the room with his hand tied." Rei promised.

"What in the world did you say to him then?" Shota demanded, dumbstruck.

Rei rubbed her chin. "I said, Breakfast is ready and the he should get some fat on his bones."

"If I had known that is all it took I would have told him that years ago!" Mansuke cackled.

"I also used a pinch of blackmail." Rei added. The room fell quiet.

"…Blackmail?" Arinna frowned. "What kind of Blackmail."
Before Rei could even answer, Kazuma slid into the room, steam practically pouring from his nose. "Give it back." He pointed to Rei.

"Kazuma, thank you for joining us. Want some eggs?" Rei lifted a plate.
"No." he growled menacingly. "I want, my, Laptop."

"Oohhhh." Natsuki covered her mouth. "So that is what she took."

Kenji covered his mouth to stifle a giggle, quickly looking away when Kazuma glared at him.

"I'm afraid I don't have your Laptop. I put it somewhere else." Rei announced.
"Where?" he hissed.

"…I can't seem to remember." Rei frowned. "I'm sure after I eat breakfast I will remember. My brain simply requires energy, that is all." She calmly reached to take a sip of her milk. The Jinnouchi family burst into a fit of giggles and snorts.

"Can't help if the brain is low on fuel!" Naomi cackled.

"Yup, it is a known fact. Brain's don't work properly until energy is there to support it." Yumi nodded in agreement. Kazuma was un-amused. In fact, he was ready to flip over that table if his family didn't start taking this seriously.

"Kazuma, come not. Sit down with us an enjoy Breakfast." His mother smiled. "Rei can give you your laptop back after we are done eating."

"Mom." He turned to her.

Smiling, she motioned for him to sit down. "Come on. Your sister has already starting." She pointing to Kazuma's little sister, who waved at him.

"Ello Bruter." She slurred, her mouth full of food.

Kazuma had never felt so betrayed. His own family… turned against him. All thanks to her.

He glared towards Rei, who blinked at him innocently. "Eggs?" she inquired, holding a plate up.

Kazuma mentally promised himself to kill this girl later. Or perhaps just hid in the basement from now on when he wanted to go onto OZ.

Yeah, Basement sounded good.

And we are done. Sadly :(

Yeah, not too much action in this one. We are getting into some plot territory though, don't worry :D