Thanks for all the reviews and for the new reviewers! (Elley ((Darkus Asuka)), Immortal Fallen Radiance & Chausten) Also, thanks for all the usual reviewers. (Nii-san, sparky, Curse, etc.) *said blandly.

Thanks a bunch to Chausten for that really long review, and you know what? That actually gave me some - a lot - of inspiration to write this chapter! (And to stop italicizing "Seven Star Assassins" "Society" etc. x3) After this, I hope to have chapters up much, much, *much* quicker for your sakes. Please be patient with me! I'm having many problems, as well as school work and things with work. You know what school does to you. Makes you feel so tired you can't do a thing for the rest of the day.

After I get this update done and ready with, I'll start writing DISCIPLE in one of my notebooks! Yeah!

This is the long awaited chapter! Woohoo! 11!

It took a few months. (Or one.) I am so sorry…I was sick the last couple days (uh...maybe last two weeks?) and now I have finished it! *dances happily, while coughing and laughing at the same time.*

-(x)- Rina~

DISCIPLE

Chapter Eleven: Perfection

(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)

Juudai looked around, confused. "But..." He closed his eyes and Asuka rubbed his shoulder. "I don't get it..." He frowned, finding the right words. "He's my brother...I would trust him with anything..." As another pout spread against his face, Asuka touched his cheek and whispered something quickly and kissed his cheek. "Thank you." He nodded at Asuka, kissing her temple softly.

Asuka looked distressed - she knew, as everyone else did, that there was something wrong with him. No one said a word, though.

Rei was the one to break the silence. "I know it's hard to believe, but..." The bluenette sighed, looking down at her clenched fists. "It's the truth, Juudai..." Johan rubbed her shoulder with the arm that was around her. "I'm sorry..."

"Yeah..." He couldn't seem to meet her eyes - or anybody's - at that point. He kept his eyes down at his knees. "Understood...Rei..."

Asuka touched his chin and lifted his head up, looking into his eyes. Her eyes were worried and sad, but somehow, at the same time, angry and furious - or perhaps just anxious. "Hey. We've been through a lot together, right?" she asked. He nodded in response, unable to use his mouth. "We'll get through this like the other times, somehow." She tried to put on a smile, but failed miserably. "So don't worry, alright? Now we've got Rei, Johan and the rest of the masters."

Juudai nodded, forcing a smile. "You're right. We won't give up."

"Rivals." She grinned.

"But we're still a couple, right?" He looked a little confused.

"Juudai!" she scolded, cuffing him. "You seriously have to ask that?" It was a rhetorical question.

"Yes." He pouted. "So...are we?"

Asuka leaned up and kissed him softly. "Does that answer your question, Juudai?"

"Um..." He sighed, shaking his head. "No, actually it doesn't..." He seemed to be talking serious. "I'm sorry."

"Wait, you're sorry?" Asuka asked in confusion. "Does that mean...we're through...?"

Juudai raised an eyebrow. "Huuuuh?"

Johan sighed. "Ya guys seem to misunderstand each other..." The blue-haired master started laughing. "Just go hug and kiss each other, alright? It'll make things a lot easier and quicker so the Rei-chan can explain more stuff to you two."

Juudai punched Johan on the shoulder. "You always seem to get these things right, man!"

"Yeah, just like my brother..." Asuka sighed, rolling her eyes as she leaned over and captured Juudai's lips. Juudai grinned under her mouth and pulled his arms around her neck for a moment and then pulled away calmly.

They then turned to Rei, who looked pained. "Eh?" Leaning towards her, the blue-haired master began to examine her. "Are you hurt?" He looked up and down her right arm. His eyes widened as she winced when his fingers ran up and down her arm.

"Ah...," she groaned softly. "Ow..." Johan kissed it quickly and sighed again. "Johan...," she scolded. "I'm okay," she added quickly, seeing Juudai and Asuka's expressions of worry.

Johan shook his head slowly and massaged her tender spots. "Nah, you're not, Rei," said the master, a look of disgust on his face. "It's broken." He glared at Asuka playfully. "Most likely from your fight."

"No...actually..." Rei giggled softly. "You broke my arm, Johan."

"EH?" He raised in eyebrow in confusion and worry. "Did I?" he nearly shouted. "Oh, I'm sorry!" he added in an exclaim. "I'll get the medicine from Edo!" he cried, jumping up and running off. "I promise you'll be okay, Rei-chaaan! I'll get some bandages too and stuff like that!"

Rei began to laugh, causing Juudai and Asuka to worry. "Is your arm okay, Rei-chan?" Asuka asked softly, touching her shoulder. She nodded in response, smiling at her rival. "Okay…but why…?"

"So Johan won't have to hear our little plan," she explained, a devilish smile appearing on her soft lips.

"What?" Juudai wondered, confused.

"We're gonna infiltrate them," she replied, that crazy smile that matching with her eyes. "I know the Seven Star Assassins field in and out," she added, laughing. "I could show you where to go."

"…I don't think that's a good idea," Asuka said with a frown. "It's very dangerous, especially since you've X'd Johan out of the plan…"

Rei snorted. "I'll prove to Johan that I can do a lot more than just cry!" she exclaimed, a little too loudly. "And don't worry, my arm's not broken."

"But why can't Johan be in this?" Juudai asked, clearing his throat. Asuka was getting the feeling that Juudai knew just as well as she did that this could as well be a trap.

"It's too risky to bring all of us," she explained. "Besides, I have the perfect idea."

"…Which is…?" Juudai looked confused as Asuka said words out loud.

"…I'll tell you when we get there," Rei decided after a minute. "Or, at least, in the car."

(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)

It was dark, cold and stormy…ironically enough, Asuka thought in her head as she examined once again the black American Ferrari Rei had willingly snagged from the Seven Star Assassins. It had black sleek leather on the inside and was comfortable – not to mention it was a speedy car.

"Here's the plan." Rei began to climb into the driver seat, but Asuka hurriedly stopped her.

"Wait, wait, wait, Rei!" she exclaimed, pulling her arm to get her away. "You can't drive. Let me or Juudai drive."

Rei chuckled lightly, pushing the blonde girl away. "I was afraid you'd say that, Asuka-chan. The thing is, I'm a Star Assassin remember? I think I know how to drive a car fast enough to get away from the cops."

Asuka stood blankly at Rei for a moment until Juudai patted her shoulder. "Let's listen to her, Asu-chan. I can believe her for right now."

The blonde girl nodded in response. "Just never, ever, ever say that again to my face, okay, Rei?"

"Okay." She clambered into the driver seat, Juudai hopping into the rear with Asuka. "I can drive this car fast enough to get away from the cops," Rei quickly said, starting the car.

"Rei! What did I tell you?"

"You said not to say that to your face," she reminded. She turned around and poked Asuka's cheek. "And that, my friend, is your face."

Juudai started laughing. "Oh, I get it! Ha, ha, your face."

Asuka sighed and shook her head in annoyance. "Just drive the damn car, will you?" The thunder outside boomed and the blonde beauty hopped up in shock. Juudai chuckled at her performance and leaned over to hug her.

"It's gonna get bumpy," he mumbled softly, unbuckling his seatbelt to sit in the middle seat next to her. "Hang on to me, okay?"

Rei grumbled a few things they couldn't hear but Asuka ignored it. "Okay, Juudai. I hope that the car doesn't bump into a cop car so we wouldn't have to run from the cops," Asuka said with a sarcastic tone.

"It's only going to get bumpy if I go this fast," Rei explained, pressing her foot on the gas to 60 miles per hour.

"Rei!" Asuka scolded. "Come on!"

Rei sighed and lifted her foot slightly. The speedometer went down to 50, but they were just on a side street.

Asuka hit her head onto Juudai's shoulder in annoyance, causing him to groan in pain. "Ah! Sorry!" she quickly said, jerking up in response, but hitting his chin. "Juudai!" He touched his chin, rubbing it softly. Asuka took his hand and massaged it for him. "Oh man..."

"Most people woulda thunk you hated each other rather than loved each other," Rei said, laughing hysterically. She holds her stomach, not even touching the car wheel for a few seconds. When she saw a pair of headlights, she quickly grabbed the wheel and swiveled to the side. "Sorry!"

"Goddammit," Asuka said, a vein probably popping. "Rei, let me drive."

"Asuka," Juudai whispered in her ear sweetly, "it's okay. Let Rei. She know what she's doing."

Rei shook her head, smiling smugly. "Not exactly...but I do know where to do. We've got about two miles of gravel ahead of us."

Asuka looked out the window for a moment and her eyes bulged. "What...the..." Where Asuka was looking, about five miles away from the left of the car, was a huge mansion, engulfed in darkness. "Is that the headquarters?"

"You betcha," Rei replied, grinning like a fool. "Now I gotta hit this pedal thing to the metal!"

"NO, REI, YOU BETTER NOT -"

The car made a loud bump and soon the speedometer was rising from 50MPH to nearly 95MPH. "To the metal!" Rei shouted again, bouncing up and down on her seat as the car drove over gravel. "Yeah!" She looked back for a second, adding, "I should tell you the plan, shouldn't I?"

Juudai held Asuka tightly, whispering her words of comfort. "I swear, that girl is doing some reckless things right now," he said, kissing her temple. "Hey, if you're scared of the Assassins or something, I'll protect you," he added, noticing her green face. When Juudai realized Rei had spoken to him, he looked up and nodded a yes signal to her question.

"No, it's not that I'm nervous," she whispered softly, shaking in nausea. "I'm sick to my stomach...for a completely different reason."

"Why don't you open the window and throw up?" Juudai suggested, cocking his head to the side as he pulled away from Asuka to see her face.

"No thanks. It's probably bad for the environment," she retorted, gritting her teeth in both annoyance and nausea. "For the first time today, I want you to drive as fast as you can, Rei..."

(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)

"Eri-san!" Johan shouted as loud as he could...which was pretty loud. He rushed into the kitchen, shouting incomprehensible words. "Eri-san, Eri-san, Eri-san!" he exclaimed.

"WHAT?" Eri screamed back, hooking him in the face. "Whoops. I thought you were a pervert - oh wait, yeah you are."

Johan held Eri's shoulder for a moment, groaning. "Please...did you see...Rei...and them...? I can't...find...them..." He gasped, breathing in and out unsteadily. "And...I think...she broke...her arm..."

"Wait, isn't Rei that Assassins girl?" Eri asks in surprise, looking up from her cooking again. "Why the hell are you worried about her?"

"Because! She's a good girl!" Johan exclaimed back with much enthusiasm. "I know she is. She isn't going to end up like those other Assassins. She'll make it out alive."

Eri raised in eyebrow in confusion. "What do you mean, Johan? 'Alive'? What the freak are you talking about? It's not like she's gonna die or anything...soon, at least." She looked back down at her food and continued stirring her pot roast. "There's no way I'd kill her unless needed." She glanced at Johan, glaring for a moment.

"Eri...please, have you seen any of them?" Johan sounded exasperated and needy.

"No, I haven't," she replied smoothly, but abnormally quickly.

He placed an evil glare on her, turning on his seductive side. "Eri." His voice was dark and husky, tinted with a hint of lust. "Tell me. Did you see them? Rei or Asuka or Juudai. I need to talk to them. I know you're lying, Eri. You have to trust me. I only want to help...No, I need to help."

Eri froze, her eyes never leaving his. "What...Johan...I..." She swallowed hesitantly, not able to reply.

"Tell me." His words were swift and to the point. Just one little push and she'd be breaking down. "Tell me now, Eri. I told you. I just want to help."

"G-Go away. You're interrupting my cooking!" she exclaimed, her voice shaking. "Please, Johan, stop it! You're scaring me..." Johan's eyes darkened again, this time turning a different color than their usual sheen of cerulean light.

"Eri. Please."

His voice cracked once, and his eyes turned cloudy.

"Please."

The huskiness returned to his voice and he held Eri's head, squeezing lightly.

"J-Johan!" she exclaimed. "Please, stop...it hurts." He held her tighter, his eyes darkening with every squeeze.

"I know you know something. Now tell me."

"Johan! Stop it! Now!" Eri screamed, kicking him in between the legs. He fell to the ground for a moment, but looked up, a smile on his face. "Johan...that isn't you..." She froze in place again, staring into his scary golden eyes.

"It isn't? It isn't, Eri? I love the way you're denying me." Johan stood up. "Like I denied you. Like when you confessed to me. Like when I rejected you."

Her fingers clenched his hair and she tightened her grip on his blue hair. "Shut up, you stupid master. You damn pervert. Tell me you're Johan."

"I am Johan." She fell to her knees, holding the blue-haired master's shoulders. His fingers laced around her thick hair and his eyes lifted up to meet hers. "I'm Johan Andersen."

"Tell me you're a pervert," she half-begged. "Tell me, Johan, that you're a pervert...the big perverted master of the Akiyama Dojo." She held him tightly, not ever wanting to let go.

"I'm a pervert. I'm a master." He stared into Eri's eyes, cocking his head to the side like a little kid, not fully understanding something. " I'm Johan Andersen...and I am no longer part of the Star Assassins."

"That's right, Johan. And you won't ever be with them again. I promise." She smiled, holding her head against his shoulder comfortably. "I won't let them take you over like that again."

"Like last time?"

"Like last time. I won't let them possess you." She pulled away to stare into his eyes again. Eri smiled softly, her rare, genuine smile. "I was weak then, Johan, but..." She turned red and looked away, her voice trailing off in embarrassment.

Johan smiled in response. "He, he. I may not love you the same way you to me, but I can't just stand - or sit - here and let a sexy girl pout like this. I'll protect you like I'll protect everyone else. And I'm the one who should be stronger. That incident changed us, Eri. Not just the two of us, but everyone. Especially Juudai, Kyo and those two abroad kids." He smiled sweetly. "Even if we can't exactly be together, you're like family to me, Eri! And without you, some weird piece of me disappears."

Eri smiled, even though his words pierced her heart. "I'm curious to know what that 'weird piece' of you is."

"The one that makes me go wild for hot girls!" he replied loudly, a wide smile spread across his face. "Now get up and finish your cooking!" he added, hopping up. He put his hand out for her and grinned. "Let's go, woman. Things done in the kitchen is woman's work."

Eri's eyes widened, and she obviously was offended. "I'll show you woman's work, Johan... You bet I will..." A shadow appeared on her face and her eyes turned red with anger.

"...Oh God." He held out his hands and waited to be thrown.

(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)

"Go throw up - not on me!" Juudai exclaimed, hopping back from Asuka's 'vomit-space.'

She did so, but Juudai held her the whole time - well, from the back, at least. "I feel so much better," she groaned, wiping her mouth with Juudai's special arm guards.

"Asuka! I got those made especially by Apachai!" Juudai exclaimed, his eyebrows furrowing. "Now there's vomit all other them! Yuck!" Rei looked disgusted - in fact, she was disgusted. "Uuugh...And thought I finally got some good arm guards this time around." He grabbed his arm guard hesitantly and examined them. "Not...not too bad. I guess they're still usable..."

Asuka coughed a few times and Juudai smacked her back, a bit too hard for her now-fragile body. "O-Ow." She groaned before speaking. "Remind me never to wipe my mouth with those arm guards again." She shivered, a cold sensation running up her spine. "Cold metal doesn't help with mouth wiping."

"Why would you use Juudai's fricking arm guards to wipe off your damn vomit?" Rei grumbled.

"Someone's cranky!" Juudai teased, flicking Rei's nose. The huge mansion was now in front of them, the black gates crashed open because of Rei's reckless driving.

A sweatdrop appeared on Rei's head. "Real funny, Juudai," she replied in annoyance. "Real funny."

He nodded in agreement. "I know, right?"

"Could you please tell him what sarcasm is, Asuka?" Rei grumbled uneasily.

"What's smartassim?" Juudai wondered.

Asuka sighed. "What's the plan, Rei?"

She smiled in an almost fake way. "Just hold on for a minute. I'm hacking their base right now." She was playing with a laptop and trying hard to focus. "I need to get the complete coordinates for where Master is."

"Master?" Juudai repeated, cocking his head to the side. Asuka sighed, tapping her foot impatiently. "Who's...Master?"

"O-oh, that's just what I used to call him," Rei replied, turning red at the ears. "He's was a really powerful man, but he relied on the fear of his inferiors to control them. If someone showed no fear, they'd probably be able to get the better of him."

Juudai frowned. "Were you with the Stars when Johan - " He cut himself off abruptly, realizing that Asuka didn't learn about Johan's past.

"Wait...what happened?" Asuka stared at Juudai, coughing for a moment. The brunette turned away from Asuka, not being able to meet her strong gaze. "Juudai?" She held his shoulder firmly, but when he didn't respond, she looked to Rei. "Rei-chan?"

Rei glanced at Juudai, asking inaudibly what to do. He shook his head in reply. "It's an irrelevant thing, Asuka," Rei answered, carefully choosing her words. "We can't look to the past right now. We need to get to work." She looked down at her laptop for a moment. "I've almost got the coordinates to where Master is."

"Why do we have to know exactly where they are for this?" Juudai wondered, more to himself than Rei.

Rei sighed. "If we take out Master before going in and raging against the whole Star Assassins, we can break the more innocent ones from Master's hold," Rei replied.

"A hold?" Asuka repeated confusingly. "In that weird...psychic hold?"

"Yes," Rei confirmed. "Master uses this unusual hypnosis type thing that controls your mind." She frowned. "There's not much else I can say about that thing. I don't have any memories once I get hypnotized."

"What do you mean? Tell me everything you know," Asuka nearly pleaded.

She shook her head slowly. "There's not much to say. All I can is that he uses this weird charm that controls people and then they do whatever he asks them to. And, I guess, we can't remember anything from the time we were hypnotized."

Juudai looked horribly confused. "But how do you get out of this...hypno-time thing?"

"It's hypnosis and I'm not too sure. After that fight with you and me -" - she gestured to Asuka - "when Johan...err, found me, I seemed to be somewhat relieved of my anger."

"You were angry?" Juudai asked innocently.

"Hell yes!" Rei replied, setting a pissed glare on the older boy. "But now I love Johan, so there's no matter between Asuka and me."

"Wait, this rivalry between you and Asuka was about love?"

"Oh my God, could you get any stupider?" Rei asked, an obviously rhetorical question.

"...Maybe." He grinned sheepishly, laughing at Asuka's funny expression.

Asuka looked a bit edgy on the plan. "Why do we have to go so far as to hack the database for coordinates? For all we know, he could be roaming around the whole place."

"Heh, I had one of the non-possessed Stars to plant a tracker on him," the younger girl said with a sly smile.

"Aren't there only seven stars? Who could possibly help you?" Asuka grumbled, almost under her breath.

"No," Juudai and Rei disagreed, simultaneously.

"The name 'Seven Star Assassins' doesn't mean there's only seven of them," Juudai said, feeling smart. "The real group has many members, although the only reliable - as in strong, useful fighters - are the top seven."

"Though they're still recruiting," Rei added. "They've only got five members at this point."

"Who are the five members?" Asuka wondered, frowning.

"To be honest, I've never met all of them," the bluenette said sheepishly, putting a hand behind her head in embarrassment. "The only ones I know are myself, of course, and Kyo." Juudai's eyes darkened at the mention of his younger brother. Rei didn't notice this, since she was still in a thinking state. "Actually, there's one more...I forget his name. He had this weird jet black hair that seemed to stand up on its own."

"...Oh damn," Asuka grumbled, a very scary image in her head.

"Is it who I think it is?" Juudai wondered, laughing for a moment.

"Who does you thinks it is?" Rei asked, cocking her head to the side and not noticing her obvious grammatical errors.

Asuka and Juudai exchanged glances. "Jun," they said at the same time, sighing in unison as well.

Rei frowned after a minute of playing with her laptop. "That's strange..." She paced around uneasily, looking up and down from her laptop to the mansion.

"What?" Asuka whispered. "What's wrong?"

"It's not working..."

"What's not working?" Juudai asked, striding behind her.

"The transmitter - something happened to it!" Rei exclaimed, pacing around even crazier.

"Damn," Juudai groaned.

Asuka looked at Rei. "What were his first coordinates?"

"There's a map in the glove compartment of the car. Check!" she shouted.

Juudai did so, startling Asuka. "Here," the brunette said after a minute of searching. "We've got to hurry, though."

Rei nodded. "Yeah, if we're too late, there's no way we can infiltrate and take out Master."

"Is he super strong?" Juudai asked.

"Maybe about the level as..."She paused. "...three times Johan?" Rei continued.

Juudai frowned. "That's Grandfather's level..."

"Can't we ask him to help us?" Asuka said, her eyebrows furrowing in worry.

"No, we can't." Juudai stayed as calm as Asuka normally was, but this time they were opposite. "Grandfather would never ever let himself 'interfere' with our disciple things."

"Why?"

"Its's a pride thing," he said with a smile that didn't meet his eyes at all.

"Hey," Rei cut in, "let's just go in with the map. I remembered the coordinates."

"Are you sure? I'm pretty sure we could hold off for a few minutes," Asuka said shakily.

"No, I doubt that's a good idea. Since the transmitter stopped working, the security camera I hacked should be up and running soon," Rei explained.

Juudai frowned. "Did your laptop crash or something?"

She nodded in despair. "Yeah, exactly. This is pissing me off."

"Maybe we should have asked our Jujitsu master to help out," Asuka grumbled, forgetting the yellow guy's name.

"Nah, he has the same idea as Grandfather," Juudai replied. "He wouldn't want to disrupt us unless something was really going wrong."

"...Does wrong include you guys being set up?"

Asuka's ears perked up. "Did you guys...?"

"Hear that?" Juudai finished.

"Hell yes," Rei said grinning. "Like I said earlier, everything goes according to plan one way or the other."

Juudai turned around to be kneed in the face. "Crap." He fell to the ground, half-unconscious.

"J-Juudai?" Asuka raised her stance, but was pulled back by a large figure.

"Come with us and we won't hurt you or Aniki," a familiar voice said softly.

"Is that..." She got his on the shoulder, attacked by the person who was behind her.

"Shut up!" he shouted, his cute voice shaking in fear.

"Please...let go..." She struggled for a moment, but the guy behind her held tight. "Rei! Help!"

"Depends on who you want me to help," she said with a sweet smile. "If it's you...I'm afraid I can't do a thing about it.

Asuka's eyes widened in realization.

Her laptop was for contacting these two stars.

She was stalling until they were ready.

"No...Juudai...Rei...Johan...Eri..." She mumbled all the names of her friends from the Akiyama Dojo before passing out.

Rei Saotome had a much strong hold than Johan had originally expected.

(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)

I'm sorry.

It doesn't matter! You ruined my life!

I'm sorry.

How can you be sorry when you did something like this?

I'm sorry.

You have to make up for this. It's a must! Now! You have to feel the pain of what I felt!

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

Why doesn't he just forgive her?

Why does he have to be so mean?

Can't he just accept the fact that she made a mistake?

Why do people have to fight like this?

Why can't the world be perfect?

(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)(X)

I don't know the answer. I hope you liked it.

Please tell me all mistakes. ^^

-Rina

Thanks for reading! Hope to get an update soon.

PS: To Curse of the Black Rose: Of course I won't kill you! Thanks for the mistakes. :3 Dude, I'm not a mean person. You actually thought I'd -shoves off a cliff.- THAT'S FOR BEING A NITPICKER.