Chapter 8

Cassandra felt a shiver run down her spine and back up it that foretold her of events to come. She heard Chioukichi chuckle beside her as she felt Kei pat her on the back. Cassandra watched as the fan girls kept squealing over Kazuya.

"He doesn't look very comfortable." Cassandra said as she realized the slight panic on Kazuya's face. Chioukichi came up to Cassandra and rested his elbow on her head as he answered her statement.

"He's not. Kazuya is actually not very smooth when it comes to dealing with the fan girls. They surround him like hawks and Kazuya doesn't like it." Cassandra looked up at Chioukichi, without moving her head, and then shifted her gaze over to Kei.

"Why doesn't he just ask them to leave him alone?" Kei smiled slightly with a sad look on his face as a gazed at his brother.

"It's not that simple Cassandra. See each free day the fan girls follow one of us the entire day. The last free day it was Akio, the day before that was Fusao."

"The day before that it was me," Chioukichi said as he lifted his arm off of Cassandra. "Before that it was Souta, then Kuya, Akira, Atsuo, then lastly Kei. Being how we don't have many free days they try not to leave the one their following around until it's time to sleep. Kazuya asked them to leave them him alone for a while last time they followed him, but the hurtful looks on their faces almost killed him."

"Because of the honor thing, right? Not making a women feel hurt or pain unless you can't stop it?" Kei nodded his head in response to Cassandra. He took in a deep breath before he spoke.

"If he wasn't so big on honor he wouldn't have a problem telling them off." Kei sighed- a smile on his face- then shifted his gaze from his brother over to Chioukichi. "Ready to save him?" Chioukichi nodded his head. Determination showed on his face as he rolled his shoulders as if getting ready to fight. The two started to walk toward the still squealing fan girls till Cassandra called their name causing them to stop.

"What are you going to do?"

At the same moment Chioukichi and Kei winked at Cassandra tilting their head in toward each other then said, "Fan service." Cassandra stood stunned as she watched a TV drama unfold in front of her.

Kei and Chioukichi started to jog up to the Fan girls, Chioukichi a few paces behind Kei. Cassandra could tell the two had planned something for this moment. She could just tell by the way the two jogged, the way their faces quickly changed as if actors going on stage, and how relief flooded over Kazuya's face when he saw the two jogging over there. She knew she was in for a show.

"Oi! Girls!" The fan girls finally stopped their squealing and turned around gracefully to see who was calling them. Their faces instantly lit up with enjoyment when they saw who it was. "Hey, girls we wanted to-"

"AH!" Kei stopped then quickly whipped around and stared at Chioukichi. Kei ran over to Chioukichi when he saw him on the ground. He slid onto the floor on his knees and stopped two inches in front of him.

"What happened!" Chioukichi didn't look at Kei. Kei saw that he wasn't going to talk so he took Chioukichi's hands and held them in his. "What happened!" Chioukichi moved his head slightly to the left to where he could see Kei. A pitiful kicked puppy dog look showed on his face as tears started to form in his eyes.

"I tripped over my own two clumsy feet!" Chioukichi jerked his head away from Kei's view and started to let rivers form on his cheeks. "I'm sorry! I took the attention away from these lovely girls!" Kei gripped Chioukichi's hands tighter and got closer to his face. Cassandra saw the girls' inch a few feet closer to the two boys. Cassandra could tell they were on pin and needles. She found slight enjoyment and dread as she watched the show.

"Chi-" All the girls let out a little squeal "-you are more important than these girls." Chioukichi swiftly turned his head and faced Kei, causing his hair to flap slightly.

"Really?" Cassandra could see roses start to from around the two and a slight breeze to start causing their hair to hit their face slightly. A slight sparkle showed in Chioukichi's brown eyes. Softness began to form in Kei's eyes.

The fan girls sucked in a small gasp of air as Cassandra felt as though she was watching a shojo. She almost couldn't believe.

"Really." Kei leaned in closer to Chioukichi. Cassandra could feel slight heat dance on her cheeks as she realized the two were so close that they could kiss.

"Kei." Chioukichi whined his name in a wanting loving tone.

"Chi." Kei said his name in a soothing tone. At that moment the fan girls went wild. Several took out cell phones –some cameras- and started to take pictures of the two. Cassandra watched them stunned. She glanced at Kazuya and saw him escaping trough a back door she didn't realize the room had. Just before he left, though, he saw Cassandra watching him. He mouthed the word sorry then made his escape. Cassandra couldn't help but give a little laugh.

"KYAAAAA!" Cassandra flinched at the sudden group squeal. She froze and almost fell over in complete shock by what she saw what Kei and Chioukichi was doing now.

Kei was now standing up and holding Chioukichi in his arms, princess style. The fan girls had now formed a half circle behind the two boys. Stars of happiness shot from the fan girls' eyes.

"I'll take you to Akio immediately!" Kei took off running toward Cassandra, and the door. Cassandra quickly took a few steps back and pulled open the door. She thought to herself, she might as well help Kazuya by helping the two idiots she was assigned to keep save in an unspoken conversation.

"This way quickly! If you don't hurry Chioukichi could be damaged for life and need assistances for the rest of his life!" Kei stopped at the door then gazed longing into Chioukichi's eyes.

"Don't worry Chi, I'll always be there for you."

The three of them left the room hearing high pitched squeals.

The three didn't stop till they turned a corner. There Kei let Chioukichi down and the two started to high-five each other. Cassandra couldn't help but smile at them, even if they did deceive the girls.

"That was awesome Kei!"

"You were pretty good yourself Chioukichi. Falling like that then acting like you were really hurt!"

"Dude! You added a nice touch with the nick name that we used last time!" The two high-fived each other while jumping in the air. Cassandra could tell the two were extremely proud of each other. She heaved a staggered sigh as she tried to catch her breath. I've been running all day today. Please let today get easier.

"Man, but Cassandra added the finishing touch!" The two looked at Cassandra then gave her a high five at the same time.

"Yea!" Chioukichi punched the air high over his head. "She put the icing on the cake with making the injury seem worse than it really was!"

"Nice touch Cassandra." Kei held up his fist for Cassandra to punch it. When she did Kei shook his head with the widest grin on his face. "Real nice."

"Sure was, now mind explaining to me what happened in there." Cassandra leaned up against the wall then slowly slid down it. Feeling the weight of exhaustion coming down on her as she slid.

"See being how I and Chioukichi are almost always together on free days the fan girls usually followed both of us and squealed over us equally."

"One free day Kei and I were bored as we sat behind some bushes under a tree trying to hide from the higher ups." Chioukichi walked over to Cassandra and leaned up against the wall next to her. "We knew the fan girls were going to follow us that day so we decided to have some fun with them. One of the guys that share a class with one of the fan girls told us that she was for the guy on guy thing, so we decided to mess with her and see if the others were like her."

"Chioukichi suggested that I make up a nick name for him, and that me make it seem like we were doing something behind the bushes." Chioukichi let out a little chuckle at Kei's statement.

"It was going to be so much fun to mess with them. Plus it might have even scared some of them away because lately they had gotten annoying."

"Though, many people already thought something was going on between us and if the fan girls found out that something was going on they might even try to kill the rumors to they could have our little secret all to themselves." Kei couldn't hide his smile. "Little did we know our plan would work so well."

Cassandra looked up at Chioukichi and said, "What happened then?" Chioukichi looked away from her, an uneasy smile on his face.

"Welllll... When we heard footsteps Kei had peeked through the bushes and saw the Fan girls looking for us. I leaned up against the tree and Kei hovered over me..." Chioukichi's voice trailed off. Kei quickly picked back up the hanging sentence.

"And we set to our acting skills. We didn't do anything but The fan girls sure did think we were. Haha. We heard so many gasp that we had to fight hard to keep from laughing. After that the rumors about us stopped, and the fan girls enjoyed us more. Any time they were getting to close to someone in our classroom, and anytime Chioukichi and me walked into the room, they'd stop what they were doing and watch us, allowing our classmates to escape."

"So that's what ya'll did for Kazuya," Cassandra asked as her brain processed what she was being told.

"Sort of," Kei said as he sat down next to Cassandra. "Kazuya doesn't approve of us tricking them but he also doesn't like the fan girls over stepping their boundaries. We promised Kazuya to save him anytime they were after him during a free day. For the others we only save them if they look like they need help."

"Akio and Atsuo, though, told us not to ever help them, even if they looked like they needed it." Cassandra could picture Atsuo and Akio making the fan girls swoon with their manly charms. Chioukichi glanced at Cassandra. "Everyone else was happy that we offered our help." A silence fell over them for a moment then Cassandra stood. She yawned loudly as she stretched.

"Well, we still need to finish touring the school. I still don't know what club Fusao and Kuya are in." A thought occurred to Cassandra. She turned around and face the two boys. "Why was Kazuya beating up that guy?" Kei could only smile at Cassandra's question, so Chioukichi had to answer.

"Kazuya was in the music club, but then he ran into trouble with some guys who thought they were high and mighty. They had no honor and Kazuya had to teach them. Now any free day we have Kazuya uses it to teach the guys here to have honor. That guy was one that had said inappropriate things in the presence of a girl the day before you arrived."

"Oh." That was the only word Cassandra could get out. Kei stood up and started to dust himself off.

"Well let's get going!" Kei walked down the hallway and stopped at a door that was not even two yards from where they stood. He pointed his thumb at the door. "This is where Fusao teaches."

"Teaches?" Chioukichi pushed himself of the wall and walked up behind Cassandra.

"Yep. Fusao teaches kendo." Cassandra turned her head around and faced Chioukichi.

"Kendo?" Kei and Chioukichi froze.

"Please tell me you know what kendo is, Cassandra?" Chioukichi's voice shook slightly. Cassandra rolled her eyes at his stupidity.

"It's extremely popular where I live. My mother even learned it." Cassandra huffed at them as she walked over to where Kei was standing. "I was simply asking as to why he was teaching Kendo." Kei pushed open the door and Chioukichi joined them.

"Why not ask him yourself? I mean were going to go talk to him anyways." Chioukichi slapped Kei upside the head.

"You know she won't have a moment to even get in the word hi. When he starts teaching you can't snap him out of it."

"I forgot!" Kei whined as he rubbed the back of his head.

"That's right!" Chioukichi held his pointer finger in the air as if he discovered something. "You need to remember this stuff. Remember what happened last time." Kei was quiet for a moment as he tried to remember what Chioukichi was talking about.

"Are you talking about the time that you all seem to remember but me."

"Yes I am." Chioukichi hitched his thumb toward Kei as his gazed went over to Cassandra. "This idiot tried to scare Fusao while he was teaching to try to get his attention. Well, Fusao went into instant defensive mode and kind of beat the living day light out of him. Kei ended up not being able to remember it. Fusao felt bad about it, but then everyone one learned not to mess with him." Kei started to scratch his head.

"I've been trying to remember after everyone told me but I just can't." Cassandra could only shake her head as she slide the door open. First thing she heard was Fusao's voice.

"Get in your stance!" Cassandra walked down a short little hallway to the source of Fusao's voice. When she reached the end of the small hallway here was another door in her way. She placed her hand on the handle, ready to slide it out of her way, but hesitated. She felt a shiver fun down her back as if to foreshadow something. She chose to ignore it, though she knew she would regret it later, and slid the door out of her way.

First thing Cassandra saw was Fusao's profile as he held a bamboo sword in his hands. Sweat covered his forehead. He was breathing heavily. It stuck Cassandra as odd that Fusao wasn't wearing a mask to protect is face, or protective gear that was required in Kendo. Anger was placed on Fusao's face which also struck Cassandra as strange.

"AGAIN!" Fusao yelled in a commanding way that made Cassandra jump.

On the other side of the room a boy in a kimono top, with loose pants, on was huffing and puffing. Not from anger but exhaustion. He wasn't wearing the typical body protection that was required in Kendo. He was also holding this bamboo sword odd. So many things weren't making sense to Cassandra. She had taken kendo when she was young and knew all the rules and regulations by heart. She didn't stop until her family died; she had to start supporting herself and couldn't afford kendo any longer.

Cassandra saw the boy take a deep breath. His eyes were closed as if trying to find inner peace. Along the far wall several other students sat, in almost the same outfit, watching their classmate and teacher. Some sat on the edge of a sort of stage while others sat on bleachers that were on the stage. There were both boys and girls in this class of all different shapes and sizes. Cassandra quickly did a head count and counted at least twenty students, give or take a few.

"GANA!" Fusao yelled the name with a fierce voice. "AGAIN!" Cassandra moved her eyes back to the boy facing Fusao.

He slowly opened his eyes and stared at his teacher. Several strands of his black hair stuck to his sweat soaked forehead. He took another deep breath before he ran at Fusao with his Bamboo sword down to the side of him.

When he got close to Fusao he swung his sword upward at an angle. The swing was fairly easy to doge. Fusao took a single step backwards then brought his sword to the side to hit the student in the side.

Cassandra's eyes widened. Fusao wasn't teaching this student, or any of them for that matter, kendo.

He was teaching them sword fighting.

"F-Fusao." His name stumbled out of Cassandra's mouth in a soft whisper.

Gana jumped backward just in time to get out of the way. Fusao then took the word and shot it forward toward the student. At the speed Fusao was going it would cause serious damage to Gana's body, even if it was a bamboo sword. Gana saw this and quickly fell to the floor, rolled out of the way, and jumped back to his feet. Fusao smirk.

Cassandra swore that she saw evil in that smirk.

Fusao jumped at the student with sudden and quick movement that made him invisible for several seconds. Luckily, Gana reacted quickly to Fusao and was able to block an attack that was coming down from above. He quickly lifted his bamboo sword to stop Fusao's sword from coming down on his head. It was only when their swords hit each other did Cassandra see Fusao. Both were gritting their teeth and holding their footing. Gana's arms shook under the pressure. Cassandra could tell his energy was draining from his body quickly. Is this really the same guy that I know? Fusao, why are you so different now?

"You're doing well. I see you have learned the proper footing stance." Fusao said in a slightly strained voice. Upon hearing the strained voice the student smirked.

"I had too. Or else…" Gana's voice trailed off as he put all of his strength into this arms and hands. "I would have to deal with the punishment!" At that moment Gana pushed upward causing Fusao to jump out of the way of the bamboo sword. When Fusao landed back on the ground he landed on his left foot first.

As he did Cassandra saw something reveal its self on his face. Pain.

Fusao winced as he quickly placed his right foot down to take the weight off of his left one. Cassandra realized that he had hurt his foot somehow but was trying to hide it. As the two kept on Cassandra started to see how much he was relying on his right foot. Cassandra felt like she should do something. It wasn't until Fusao's foot hit the wall causing him to lower his defenses a little did Cassandra realize she had to do something and quick or Gana was going to really hurt Fusao.

She reached over and grabbed one of the bamboo swords along the wall and started to run toward Fusao.

"OI! Cassandra!" Cassandra didn't stop when Chioukichi called her name. She ran toward Fusao at a full sprint, the sword in her hands behind her. She stopped right in front of Fusao and held the sword in front if her in a defensive way. Before anyone had realized she was there Gana started to bring the sword down on Fusao. He stopped, though, when his bamboo hit Cassandra's.

As the echo of the swords being clashed faded no one moved. Gana stared at Cassandra in surprise, the power on his sword letting up some. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and started to apply full force again. Cassandra glanced at Fusao.

"Your foot is hurt and your still fighting, modern day sword fighting no less."

"CASSANDRA!" Disbelief covered Fusao's face before anger did. "Get out of the way! Your disrupting training!" Cassandra turned her head to where Fusao could see both of her eyes. He flinched back slightly. Cassandra was giving the mother of all commanding looks. A look that told him to keep his mouth shut.

"Fusao, I've respected you from the moment I've laid eyes on you. Right now you're letting me down-." Cassandra turned her head back to the student. "WILL YOU BACK OFF!" Cassandra was pissed and didn't need this student to keep coming at her. She forced her sward upward with force greater than anyone in that room had ever seen. Gana stumbled backward, lost his footing, and then fell to the floor on his butt. He stared up at Cassandra has she walked over to him. He started to shake visibly as a dark shadow appeared behind her.

"I'm pissed." There was a collective shock that passed through everyone as Cassandra said the unexpected. Fusao, Kei, and Chioukichi stared wide eyed at Cassandra. This was a side they had yet to see of Cassandra, a side that even Cassandra tried to hide, but wasn't afraid to use when necessary.

"Uh- um"

"I'm usually not though." Cassandra took another step. "Now I'm going to ask you a question. Why did you not stop fighting when I blocked your attack? Why did you keep pushing your sword down onto mine?" Cassandra tossed the bamboo sword to the side.

"I-I um uh ah he-uh mea-mmm" Suddenly Cassandra grabbed Gana's kimono's caller and brought his face up to hers.

"Now as far as I know, we have never met before, so why would you want to keep fighting. HUH!" At that moment Cassandra felt someone wrap their arms around Cassandra's waist and lift her up off of the ground. In surprise she let go of Gana and turned her head to he who was moving her from the person who helped piss her off. As her feet touched the ground again she saw who her captive was. Chioukichi.

"Kei, remind me never to piss Cassandra off like they did." Kei nodded his head to Chioukichi's request.

"Oh, leave me be Chioukichi." He let Cassandra go as she dusted herself off. "Now." Cassandra looked at the long line of frozen students. "One of you go down to the medical lab and get someone to come here." All of the students jumped at Cassandra talking to them . When she was done one boy stood up and jogged to the door and swiftly out of the room. "Ok..." Cassandra began to scan the row of students. She pointed at a girl with short curly pinkish purple hair. "Can you help me carry Fusao to one of these rooms that branch off from this one so he can get off of his foot." The girl nodded her head slowly as she jumped off of the stage and walked over to Fusao with Cassandra. Fusao put up a hand when the girls got near.

"I don't need help. I can do it on my own." Cassandra stared at Fusao with an emotionless face.

"Either you get over your pride or I throw you over my shoulder and carry you that way." Fusao blinked several times in surprise then sighed as a signal that they could go ahead. Cassandra go on Fusao's left and the girl on his right. After he was balance perfectly on their arms the girl looked at Cassandra.

"The door closest to us has a bed that he can lay on." The girl nodded her head to the left.

"Yes, but the one farthest has the medical supplies." Fusao looked at his student with a look most instructors had.

"Sorry, sensei, I'm sure she won't let you walk that far." The girl smiled at Cassandra.

"Thanks," Cassandra said to the girl then looked up at Fusao. "I'm sorry but if you put anymore strain on that foot it could damage even more." Fusao just turned his head away from her. Cassandra knew he was joking about being mad at her so she couldn't help but smile at him. They slowly started to make their way to the door. As the girl opened the door Fusao turned his head around and looked at Chioukichi and Kei.

"Chioukichi, you in charge. Teach them something useful. If I find out you didn't I'll hand you over to Akira." Just out of the corner of Cassandra's eye she saw Chioukichi swallow in fear of Fusao's words. Cassandra let out a little giggle as they walked into the room.

The girl closed the door behind them as Cassandra helped Fusao walk over to the bed. The bed was up against eth wall parallel to the door. Next to the bed was a night stand with a lamp on it. A chair was next to the bed also. The wall to their right had a line of chairs, four. There was a small cabinet along the left wall. Cassandra slowly helped Fusao sit on the bed. She then stood up straight and looked around the room. For some reason this room seemed different. Cassandra couldn't put her finger on it but this room wasn't the same as all of the other rooms she had been in before.

"It's a different color." Cassandra almost jumped out of her skin when the girl who helped her with Fusao spoke up beside her. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." Cassandra smiled slightly at the girl, still trying to catch her breath.

"I-it's ok. I-I just was in my o-own world. It's not your fault,-" Cassandra paused trying to remember the girls name. "I don't think we've introduced ourselves." She stuck out her hand to the girl and smiled. "I'm Cassandra." The girl smiled back at Cassandra and grabbed her hand.

"Fong." Cassandra gave a surprised look at Fong as they shook hands.

"Isn't Fong a guy's name?" Cassandra had only heard the name used for guys. Granit I only know one guy with that name but still.

"It is a guy's name. My family really wanted another boy; they were also told that I was going to be a boy, so they only had a boy's name picked out. When they found out I was a boy they didn't have another name prepared. My father then declared that my name would still remain Fong so I can learn to grow up knowing how to defend myself from people who would pick on me, because I had a boy's name." Fong gave a giggle. "My mother was too shocked to say anything against it." Cassandra only shake her head with a smile at Fong's explanation.

"That's crazy." Fong just smiled at Cassandra.

"Fong." Fong looked over at Fusao. "Go get the medical kit. It'll take Akio a while to get down here." Fong only smiled at Fusao.

"Sure thing." Fong headed for the door but stopped right in front of it. She turned around and stared at Fusao. "Sensei, please don't push yourself to far from now on." Fusao stared at her with a quiet look. A look that spoke of stories. A look the Fong knew fully about and could read clearly while it only brought puzzlement to Cassandra. Fong turned back to the door. Just before she left though Cassandra thought she heard her say something. "Thank you." Cassandra wasn't too sure, though, if she heard right or not. She decided not the dwell on the subject to long. She turned around and faced Fusao.

"So how about we take a look at that ankle?" Fusao only looked at Cassandra and smiled at her.

"I don't see why. If you find out what's wrong I'll only have to listen to Akio preach to me longer." Cassandra thought about what Fusao said then silently agreed with him. She walked over and sat down next to Fusao. She turned her head and smirked at him.

"So even the strong daring Fusao is afraid of a short little pink haired nurse?" Fusao smiled at her and gave a little laugh.

"I see he told his story." He gave another little laugh. "Yea I am afraid. Have you even seen him when someone disobeyed an order or even tried to say hi to him on one of his semi bad days, I don't think so." Fusao gave a chuckle. He looked at Cassandra and saw that she was once again distracted by the room. "As Fong said, it's a different color." Fusao saw Cassandra blink, still staring at the wall, then blink again switching her gaze to Fusao.

"Huh?"

"The room. You keep staring at it, trying to figure out what's different about it." Fusao smiled at her. "It's a different color." Cassandra moved her attention back to the room.

"No its not." Cassandra slowly moved her eyes from wall to wall. "It's still white."

"Nope. It's got a slight blue tent to it." As soon as Fusao mentioned the color change Cassandra saw a slight blue tint to the white walls.

"Why is the color slightly different form anywhere else?"

"No one knows but the higher ups and they refuse to answer why. Haha. In fact they claim that its the same color as everywhere else." Cassandra smiled as a silence fall upon them. After a moment Fusao said something that confused Cassandra.

"Thank you."

"For what?" Fusao stared at the ground not once looking up at Cassandra. She could see a smile on his face.

"For stopping me from putting any more pressure on this ankle." Cassandra only shrugged in response to Fusao. "I'm sure the students saw but didn't know if they should have tried to stop me." At that Cassandra gave an angry huff as she placed her hands on her hips.

"That's mental! Your their Sensei! They should have tried to stop you no matter what!" Cassandra gave another huff. "I mean come on. I was told how you can get if interrupted but even I still went and tried to stop you. Those students of yours have another thing coming!" Suddenly Fusao started to laugh. Cassandra stopped her huffing and puffing and watched him. Fusao seemed to be laughing at what she was saying and something else. Cassandra didn't know why she thought he wasn't fully laughing at her.

Slowly Fusao started to stop laughing and catching his breath. The smile on his face showed true happiness. While his eyes showed him looking at a memory. Cassandra often saw the same look in her father's eyes when he was remembering things.

"Sorry about that," Fusao said, stopping a memory from popping into Cassandra's head. "You just remind me of a girl I use to know when I was alive." Cassandra smiled at him, praying she had reminded him of a happy time with the girl.

"Really?"

"Yes." Fusao said the single word softly."She was the girl that took my life." Cassandra felt pure terror come over her. Fusao say the terror and fear on Cassandra's face and smiled at her. "I didn't mean it like that. She kind of gave me my life too." Cassandra lost her terror and fear and replaced it with curiosity.

"What do you mean?" Fusao tilted his head back slightly and stared up at the ceiling.

"Let's see... Where to begin?" Fusao was quiet for a moment as he tried to think of a spot to start explaining to Cassandra. "Oh I know."

"It was a hot sunny morning at the dojo. I taught Kendo when I was alive too. Don't give me that look. I know I'm teaching actual sword fight here but there, it was real Kendo."

"I was the youngest teacher there, fresh out of High school. I went straight to work at that school because I loved Kendo so much, and my teacher worked there so I could get a job easily."

"I was in the middle of teaching a class when I heard a scream. Now, I was the only teacher outside that day teaching a class, and the building was sound proof as you can guess why. I could tell by how loud the scream was that it was coming form the back entrance. I, along with many of my students, ran in the direction of the scream. Now, the grounds were big and we were at the front entrance so I was afraid I wouldn't make it in time. When I rounded the corner I didn't know what I would see. I knew I would see the trees in full bloom for the cherry blossom season, and the freshly cut green grass. I was afraid, though, of what I wasn't expecting to see."

"What I did see was one of my students fighting off this huge buff man. He looked to be twenty years older than her because of his height and weight." Fusao shifted his gaze back down to the floor. "The guy kept dragging her toward the exit. Of course she kept fighting him and trying to get away but even I could see that he had an iron grip on her arm. She was yelling for help while yelling at him too."

Fusao looked over at Cassandra. "That girl he was trying to take off with is the one you remind me of. I was shocked when I saw her. She was one of the strongest and kindest student I had ever had. If you mad her mad you'd have to watch out. Heh. She'd make the devil quake in fear, so when I saw her not able to fight off the guy I knew something was seriously wrong. I instantly took toward her drawing out my sword."

"Your sword?" Cassandra asked.

"Yes. There is this sword I always had with me when I was alive. It was my pride and joy. When I had heard the scream I instantly grabbed it."

"Ah..." Cassandra felt as if she knew the girl Fusao was talking about.

"As I drew out my sword the guy saw me coming, threw the girl aside, and drew a gun. The girl she kept screaming at him not to shoot. She was even crying. I don't think I ever saw her cry so it enraged me even more to see those tears falling down her face. I heard the shot fire, I felt it hit me, but I didn't stop. The guy was surprised that he didn't kill me or even stop me. He dropped the guy and stood there like a cut out."

"Weren't you bleeding?" Cassandra was sure she had heard this story before.

Fusao smiled as he said," Sure was. The bullet went in right next to my heart, but I couldn't stop. I ran right up to him and ran my sword right into his shoulder. I pulled the sword up toward the sky causing him to scream. He started to yell threats at my but I knew he wouldn't do anything. I stood there breathing heavily as he hobbled away swearing empty threats. It wasn't till he disappeared did I finally fall to the ground. My students gathered around me but the girl I saved was the one who was over me crying. She kept saying she was sorry. She explained the whole situation to me too as she moved my head to her knees so my head wouldn't hurt."

"That guy had been going after her since the month before. He bestowed fear on her. She was afraid of him. He came that day to kidnap her but he was too strong for her so she couldn't fight him off. She was crying because he swore he would kill the guy she was going out with and she was afraid he would succeed. He basically did."

"What do you mean?" Fusao was quiet before he answered Cassandra's question. She could tell he was weighing the pros and cons of telling the truth.

"She and I knew each other in high school and dated. I became a teacher there the same day she became a student. We didn't know because we wanted to surprise each other. It was quiet a surprise."

"Wait... You mean you two were going out?" Fusao smiled a mischievous smile.

"Something of that sort." He gave a soft slightly evil laugh. Cassandra stared at him then shook her head franticly to clear of any thoughts. He gave a laugh at her response. "She would have done the same thing."

"Anyways, she kept crying and apologizing to me. All I could do was smile at her and reach up and touch her face to get her to stop. I smiled up at her then asked her to do something. I asked her to kill me right then and there."

"You asked her to kill you?" I know I've heard this before! Fusao nodded his head slowly a soft sad smile on his face.

"I always told her that I never wanted to be killed with a gun. I always saw guns as a cowards way out. With a sword you would confront who you were fighting to the face or at least be near them. While with a gun you can hide in the shadows and kill whoever you want without them knowing you. It's shameful.

"So.." Cassandra was slowly piecing together the prices with what Fusao said and what appeared to be in her memory. "Being shot by a bullet was a nightmare come true?"

"Not just that but about to die from one was basically hell. She knew this about me too. We both knew I wouldn't live long enough for the paramedic to get to me. She kept saying that they would arrive in time so there was no point in her to kill me. I could only slime at her knowing that she knew the truth. I finally had to tell her that she had a choice. Either I die happy or angry."

"She then finally admitted the end for me and grabbed my sword that had been by my side since I learned the word sword. The tears kept falling out of her eyes and hitting my face. She held the sword firmly in both of her hands, though her hands were shaking. Just before she put that heart through my heart I told her something." Fusao was quiet. Cassandra thought he was just making it more dramatic than needed till she saw the sadness in his eyes. She put a hand on his back.

"It's ok if you don't want to say anymore." Fusao shook his head. Cassandra knew he didn't want to say, because of the pain, but he was going to try too anyways.

"I told her thank you and that I loved her... And... That she'd live her life without me."

"That's the last thing you said dot her."

"That's the last thing I said ever. I died as soon as that was said." Fusao frowned at the ground as a sad look appeared on his face. Cassandra could tell he was fighting hard not to cry.

"What was her name?" Fusao smiled at the question as if thinking of the name brought him happiness.

"Mayu... Mayu Hikari."

Cassandra stopped breathing as her mind went a hundred miles an hour.

"I loved him so much that I was sure we were going to marry but sadly that dream was destroyed. I never thought I'd love anyone else till I met your father. Your father knows he is the second man I ever truly loved and is ok with it. I sometimes wonder how our life would have turned out if he had never died." The memory faded as the pieces fell together. She knew that name. She knew it as well as her own.

It was her mother's name, and the story that was just told to her was told from her mother's point of view many many times when Cassandra was younger.

Cassandra just stared at Fusao as he stared at the floor sadly.

This is the man that my mother first loved with a passion. The man that my mother would have married if he hadn't of died. Cassandra couldn't think of a single word to say to him. Suddenly Fusao glanced at Cassandra then sat up straight and looked at her.

"You ok?" Cassandra could only stare at Fusao unsure of what to say. Do I say the truth or say nothing?

Dun dun duuuuuuunnnnn! Now on chapter 8! Like the plot twist! 8D MWHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA CASSANDRA IS SCREWED! haha not really

The next chapter will really set the story into action. Sorry about the long wait for the update. I've kind of lost insteration for this stroy. I'm sorry fellow readers but I honestly feel as though you guys have lost intrest in this story so it makes me feel as if all of this typing and brain killing is pointless. I know there are most likly readers who don't have accounts but you can still leave a review. Just find a way to tell me your reading this and want me to continue.

I just.. can't... )=

Anyways. thank you for reading please bare with me on updates. Thank you once again for taking time to read this. Oh! and i have a poll going on yourt favorite character of the Facility. Please do it so I know if I need to give a character more show time or not. *bows* Bye! and please leave a review. I'm not joking on not wanting to continue...