Wow!

I havent been here for a very very very long time! Sorry guys for being inconsistent...but my school has this goal to torture its students with evaluations, tests and exams! And they give only a week's holiday after the exams... - . -

But still...thank you so very much guys! You kept reviewing and that made me type out this chapter as soon as my exams got over. Thank you so very much! You guys are the best! ^^

So to make it up for all the days I've been dead, I've made this chapter extra extra long :)

I wont take much your time,...here's the chapter :

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?" an irritating voice screeched.

Shun's eyes popped open and he sat up with a start. There was very little response from the others; slight shuffling from Dan and Runo's side and Alice just turned the other way. It was apparent that his girly shriek contained less power.

"What's wrong with you?" Shun muttered in an annoyed voice. He clearly didn't like being woken up abruptly like that.

"ME? I should be asking you that! What were you doing with Alice!" Klaus' voice became softer however the same could not be said about his temper.

"What are you talking about? I didn't do anything." The rival replied.

Both were whispering at the top of their lungs.

"Don't play dumb. You were cuddling her! I saw it with my very own eyes!" Klaus accused. He wasn't going to let his love go away without a fight.

"Well, your eyes must be mistaken 'cause I'm pretty sure I didn't as much as even touch her," Shun said in defending himself.

"Well! If I hadn't intervened, God knows what you would've done to her…" Klaus dragged on in his droning voice, displaying no signs of stopping.

Shun closed his eyes in exasperation. Frustration was building up inside of him but he didn't want to vent out. Sure, he and Klaus weren't the best of friends, well they didn't even acknowledge each other as friends; but he was still a good friend of the brawlers, and Shun, not wanting to cross the limit, chose to quietly regard his fabricated accusations.

"Are you through now?" Shun questioned laconically.

"What?" Klaus replied in an equally low, yet confused manner, "Did you even hear a single thing I said right now?"

"Look. This isn't going to accomplish anything. Just because you have this huge crush on Alice doesn't mean you can throw whatever you like at me. Besides, you have no proof that I did anything, thereby all your allegations are meaningless," Shun said indifferently. He then added, "Now. I'm going back to sleep. If you think you have any dignity left in you, you would leave right now." Saying this Shun pulled the covers over to his head.

Klaus, however, was left utterly speechless. He was unable to gather a strong comeback and so, unbelievingly, taking heed of Shun's words, he left the tent – muttering something inaudible all the while.

That cantankerous Kazami. You are going to PAY. I will make sure of it. Insulting me like that. How dare you! Watch your back carefully, one wrong move and I'll mortify you in the worst way possible. You just wait and watch…

Thinking these thoughts, Klaus, like a person with an unsound mind, let out a quiet, maniacal laughter.

After the morning routine like brushing teeth, bathing, etc…[lets suppose Marucho had made provisions for those facilities]

"Ah. Day 2 in the camp and it feels great!" declared Dan, as he took in the wisp of forest air.

"Yeah" Runo chimed in, "I'm lovin' it here"

"Ooh! That reminds me McDonalds! All the food, the fries, the hamburgers and the…" Dan continued, naming his never-ending choice of foods and reveling in his wonderland.

Runo fought back the urge to slap him. "Doesn't he ever think of anything else?" she muttered through gritted teeth.

Meanwhile, Shun, with closed eyes, was leaning back against the bark of a tree and wordlessly listening to Dan and Runo's routinely quarrels. He was also, not surprisingly, fully aware of Klaus' non-subsiding glare on him.

The rest of the gang, that is, Chan, Marucho and Alice were discussing the items they needed for the day for, not-thankfully, Dan had gobbled up the entire trip's supplies.

"Okay, so we've made of a list of the things we will be needing for today," the one with the glasses began. He pointed his small chubby finger at each one of them and handed out their tasks.
"Hey, where's Julie and Billy?" he asked when he unable to spot them.

Chan giggled, "I heard Julie wanted to show Billy something out in the forest, so….I guess they're going to be a while."

"Oh," Marucho exclaimed, "Then I guess you and I will have to take up Billy and Julie's errands," he said whilst pointing to Chan. "That leaves you Alice," he stated. "Can you hold the fort here?"

"Sure. No problem," she said gently.

"Okay guys, let's get going. We have to get back here before noon so synchronize your watches," Marucho said while glancing at his own digital watch.

Everyone set out in different directions to collect their respective items. Even Shun and Klaus took different paths though both were handed the responsibility of bringing firewood.

Alice stayed behind to look after the camp and cook something up with the spare things she had.

Being able to sense when something was wrong, Alice had been able to detect that something was not right between Shun and Klaus that day. They had been behaving strange and Alice could not quite put her finger on what was the cause of it. She decided to ask them about it when they arrived.

It had been utmost ten minutes when Alice thought she heard footsteps in the distance.

"Hn? Who could it be? There is no one here in the forest except us and everyone just left about sometime ago," Alice said quietly to herself. She put down her duffel bag and set out to investigate.

She went to the nearest bush and pushed aside some leaves. "Hello?" she said, "Is anyone there?"

"Hello Alice" she heard from behind.

Alice turned around to his voice. "Oh, hello Klaus. It's only you. I got a bit worried back there. How come you've returned so quickly? Done with your job so soon?" Alice asked all at once.

"Patience, my dear. You'll know soon enough," Klaus said in a manner solely he thought charming.

"Sure okay" Alice responded and got back to ruffling her bag. Klaus started encircling her like a predator analyzing its prey from all corners.

"Alice," he began. "What do you think of Shun?"

That was unexpected, why is he inquiring about Shun?, thought she.
"Um, why do you want to know Klaus?" Alice cluelessly asked.

"Don't be reticent, my dear Alice. You can reveal your thoughts to me. However, if you do not wish to…I won't press you..." He left his sentence hanging. He was still taking rounds around her.

Alice was feeling queasy. She knew Klaus wouldn't do her any harm. After all, he was a friend. But she couldn't understand why he was behaving like the way he was. Did she do something to him? Did Shun do something to him? What triggered him to act like this?

"Well, the question you asked was just so…random and spontaneous. And why…does it only concern Shun?" Alice asked. She felt her head spinning by watching Klaus walk around her.

Klaus let out a deep sigh. "Alice…there are so many things you don't know about Shun," he spoke in a condemning manner.

"Huh?" What do you mean? He didn't do anything," She said. She was confused by the way Klaus was speaking, and also by the fact that he was only targeting Shun.

Klaus smirked. "That's what you think, Alice. Do you know what happened last night?" Klaus questioned in a smug manner. He knew what effect his following words would have on Alice.

Alice remained still. She thought it best to let the whole situation unfold itself. Klaus wouldn't let on why he was being so mysterious.

He slowed down his pace. "Well, do you?" Klaus repeated his question.

He suddenly stopped dead in his tracks and took hold of her arm.
He began his rant, "Alice, you shouldn't be near a person like Shun. I know you have a feeble 'likeness' towards him, but don't fall into it. He will ultimately leave you and break your heart. He just acts nice to you for a particular reason. I cannot even bring myself to tell you what he did last night..." He deliberately paused. He waited to see the impact of his words on her.

Alice took in whatever Klaus said very slowly. What did he mean by Shun was just faking being nice to her? He was going to leave her? What was Klaus getting at? And what exactly was the big deal about the previous night that Klaus kept talking about? Alice couldn't make head or tail of anything. All of Klaus' words were just floating in her head. She didn't want to believe anything he said, but then, she thought, why would Klaus go ahead and lie to her about Shun? He hadn't done anything to him.

She finally found her nerve to speak. "And…what…exactly…happened last ni-night?" she said mechanically, not once looking into his eyes.

Klaus brought his head closer to her ears; his one hand reached up to caress her cheek. Alice flinched at the touch of his skin.

He proceeded to whisper in a husky voice, "He took advantage of you. What else would you expect from him….late at night?"

Alice was left astounded; however unlike any other girl who would have been devastated after hearing such news, she somehow found the courage to wrest Klaus' hand away and slap him. HARD.

A few tears escaped her eyes. How could Klaus even say that?
"How dare you!" she asked in between tears, "How…dare…you"

Klaus just clutched on to his cheek where Alice had slapped him. He hadn't expected such a response from her. No. He had expected her to break; to fall apart; to hate Shun and seek comfort from him. He expected her to believe his spiced up tale of last night and voice her bitterness for Shun; and show her that he was the only one who truly cared for her.

But No. All didn't go as planned. She hated him now instead!

Still, that wouldn't stop Klaus.

He tried again; one last chance to get his girl, "Alice," he persuaded, "Please…believe me..I wouldn't lie..not to you..What I said hurt you, I know, but that is the truth…" Klaus was so resilient.

Alice wiped her tears with the back of her hand. She knew Klaus was lying. She knew it. But somewhere, deep down, it hurt her. Badly. And she wasn't able to shake the feeling off.
Why would Klaus even go to such an extent? She couldn't comprehend it.

Still, being the 'good-natured' and 'pleasant' Alice, she could not even bring herself to hate him.

She didn't exactly know what to feel at the moment. Was she to believe Klaus' words or discard it? She didn't know.

At last, she spoke, "Just leave me alone Klaus. I don't feel like talking…not to you, not to anyone…just leave.."

"As you wish….Alice…" Saying that Klaus left her alone with her thoughts.

The entire day, Alice didn't behave like her usual jolly self. She seemed lost, and puzzled. Everyone noticed her strange behavior and questioned her about it but she cleverly evaded each and every one of their worries. Shun chose to give her her space so he sparsely talked to her; but he knew something was troubling her mind, he could feel it. He thought he would ask her about it at night – in the tent.

Shun's hopes were dashed though. That night Klaus had specifically asked Marucho to sleep in between Alice and Shun so as to prevent a repetition of the previous night. Marucho had his suspicions at first but chose not to pry too much into Klaus' doing. He didn't exactly have a great bonding with Klaus since that day he had supposedly sent Preyas to the doom dimension, although he returned him in the end.
He agreed to do it; though he felt quite uneasy when he actually did it. It felt, in Marucho's words, 'as if he was the barrier that prevented the north and south poles of two separate magnets from coming together.'

It was the middle of the night. Alice could not help not falling asleep. Klaus' words kept repeating in her mind. They haunted her. She sat up with a start and glanced around. Everyone else was sleeping.

She took it as an opportunity and sneak out of the tent. She needed to be alone to think over the day's events and Dan's snoring certainly didn't help.

She quietly tip-toed out of the tent and ran through the tress like there was no tomorrow.
After a few minutes of fast running, she found a good, clear spot under a tree and sat there. She was alone now, with no one to influence her or disturb her. She decided to go back to the camp early next day to prevent the arousal of concern from her friends.

But for now, Alice savored the solitude. Her knees were drawn to her chest and her hands were folded upon them as she gazed into the emptiness of the night sky.

Somewhere far in the forest, the white-haired boy was talking on his cell-phone…

"Hello?"

"…."

"Hey yea, it's me. Were you able to get in here without any trouble?"

"…."

"Hehe, yea, I'm sure. Listen your target is now not restricted to only the boy, but it's open to the girl as well."

"…."

"Don't ask questions. Just do what you're paid for."

"…."

"Stop pestering me with it. I already regret telling you about that secret...ugh...you and your God damn blackmailing…She just ..had the audacity to..to…,You know what? Forget it…Just dispose off them both. I'll keep you posted on their every move, Okay?"

"…."

"Thanks. Talk to you tomorrow. I have to go back before anyone suspects something."

Thanks for reading!

And I'm going to update regularly...this story can go ahead with a couple of good chapters more and I intend on doing it soon.

Shun (sarcastic): Dont listen to her. She's deceiving all of you. She's gonna sit at home and watch cricket all day!

Me: Hey thats not true! ...I will be doing both.

Shun: Yeah right! You cant multi-task :P

Me: -.-...you know being the authress, i can do anything...

* Magically shifts the scene to a house and pushes Shun into it *

Me: There! He cant use his wise-cracks on me now

Shun (from within the house): Oh hi Alice!

Me: Yup..peace at last

Shun (to me): You know I can still insult you

Me: Yeah? Well, if you do I'll strip both you and Alice of your clothes

Shun: What! Wait a sec..you can actually-

Me (interrupts) : You know, we'll discuss your 'desires' later..I have to get back to my readers now

You guys: O.O this is so awkward...

Me: Well anyways, thanks for reading till here! Leave a review telling me whether you liked it, hated it, or thought this chapter was average

Tc

Sayonara!