Chapter XVIII

Pandora's Box III

From that faithful afternoon within the Utagawa residence and back into the temple, Botan watched the monks' memories flow like a clear untouchable stream and as though she was beholding a breathtaking play, she hang on every moment of it. Barely an hour had passed and she had witnessed how the monks had spent their days in the temple in a somewhat shortened version; she saw how they had worked hard to maintain the sacred building and its strange surrounding terrain and she also saw, with warm, moving gratitude, their sincere endeavor in overseeing the blue haired child's care and amusement.

At the end of one particular vision, Botan was able to see Tatsuaki-hoshi's face. He had one of those open, friendly appearances that naturally inspired trust. Compared to everyone else, he was jaunty, easy going, and based on how everyone was telling him how things must be done around the temple, Botan thought that he may be the youngest of the five monks and she wistfully supposed that it was him she had gotten her carefree nature from.

In the current memory that was being portrayed, Botan found herself sitting around a table inside a modest tea room with four of the monks, but as it was the combined memory of the four, she was not given the opportunity to see their faces. However, she could clearly hear what they were talking about.

"Why do you think she called for her? After all this time?" One of the monks asked worriedly.

"Is it too much to hope that the lady had… changed?" The other one asked and without a second's hesitation, the monk beside him shook his head.

"Impossible…" He murmured.

"It's a relief she had allowed Master Bunmei to accompany Oujo-sama in the castle. At least she will be kept safe." The last one spoke and Botan realized that it was Tatsuaki-hoshi.

"This is really most suspicious." The third monk spoke again.

"Yes it is." The first one agreed. "But think of Oujo-sama… we've never seen her smile like that before. We all know she had long wanted this... The number of times she had gone to that place alone, I can only imagine how happy she must be, now that her mother is the very person who had asked for her."

No one responded to the monk's statement but Botan could feel the uncertainty in the room and knew that the men were growing weary for the girl's well-being.

So Tamamo asked to see me? I wonder what for? Botan crossed her arms across her chest and pouted thoughtfully as she began wondering the same thing. She was also getting a bit irritated by one other thing.

Why did I even agree to meet her… after what happened last time?

Suddenly, as they all sat there looking grave, the door slid open with a faceless Master Bunmei standing on the other side.

Everyone rose to their feet but even before the master stepped into the room, questions were already thrown at him.

"Where is Oujo-sama?"

"Did Tamamo-sama detain her in the castle?"

"Did Oujo-sama ask to stay with her?"

"Why did she ask for her, Master Bunmei?"

Despite their marked concern for the girl, Botan could not help but smile lopsidedly. She wished she could touch them, speak to them and tell them that everything would be fine.

The newly arrived monk raised his hands. "Please, everyone… calm yourselves. Oujo-sama is outside. Tamamo-sama did not take her." He said with a steady composure then he took his seat with them. Botan had to move because she was sitting on his spot.

The monks allowed their superior some moment to settle in the room but there was eagerness and impatience in their aura which told Botan that they were keen on knowing what had occurred during the visit to their mistress' house. She too was dying to know what she and Tamamo has talked about.

Master Bunmei gazed at the tea that his fellow monks served him and after a moment's consideration, he lifted the cup from the table and he hovered it over his lips for some time. When he finally drank it, he did so unhurriedly.

The needless suspense was killing them.

One of the monks could no longer help himself and he raised his concern as Master Bunmei drank his tea.

"Master Bunmei, why did Tamamo-sama ask to see her? Is she finally ready to accept her as her own?"

Faceless as Master Bunmei may be, Botan saw him direct his entire countenance at the inquiring monk with an unseen severity.

"Do not be ridiculous." Master Bunmei said gravely. "That woman will never be capable of loving another creature beside herself."

"Then why did she ask to see her? What does she want?"

Master Bunmei looked down. "I had been asking myself the same question and I'm afraid that all the answers I had managed to presume do not incline with any pleasant prospects."

Silence filled the room once more, then the master continued.

"We were accepted inside the residence's great hall but Tamamo-sama specifically requested to see Oujo-sama and no one else. I was asked to wait in the hall while Tamamo-sama's ladies in waiting escorted Oujo-sama to another room. Whatever they have spoken of was kept between the two of them…"

"Did Oujo-sama say anything?" Tatsuaki-hoshi asked.

"No. It appears that she was asked to keep the subject of their conversation a secret. She told me that Tamamo-sama had inquired about her living conditions and her studies—that child is such a terrible liar." Master Bunmei explained, shaking his head.

One of the monks suddenly slammed his hand on the table. "She asked her about the sanctuary. That surely must be the reason why she asked to speak with Oujo-sama!"

"We must not be too hasty on assuming the content of their conversation, Otohiko-hoshi. Tamamo-sama has not made any inquiries about the sanctuary since two years ago. I believe she and the demon Nue had made some justifiable alterations to their pact."

A murmur of feeble agreement rose in the room which implied that the monks found it difficult to believe such an optimistic scenario.

"Your positive outlook in life never fails to inspire us, Naoyuki-hoshi." Tatsuaki-hoshi said jestingly.

"You can't deny that it has been peaceful for so long now though."

"It's always peaceful in the eye of a storm." Master Bunmei whispered meaningfully.

Botan sensed the grimness in Master Bunmei's voice and as she looked around the room, she found that although the other four monks appear to not take the idea of Tamamo's invitation to a private talk with her daughter as seriously as their superior, there was unease in the energy surrounding them. They believed she was being used to have something done, but what could it be?

Botan suddenly feared that her younger self had fallen victim to Tamamo's false regard and while sitting in the room she realized that she had her hands clasped together, and that she was praying, hoping that she will not witness herself abandoning the five monks and exchanging them for favors from Tamamo.

What did we talk about? What did she ask me to do? And why didn't I tell it to these people? Botan thought anxiously.

Little by little, the current scene in the tea room began to change and Botan held her breath knowing all too well that the answers to her questions will be revealed by the succeeding scenes.

Darkness was the usual sign for Botan which told her there was going to be a transition to a different memory, but when it darkened this time, light failed to show up and Botan was left to adjust her eyes to her surroundings. She stretched her arms out and she began walking blindly when she heard a noise somewhere not far from her. She looked around and caught a glimpse of a soft yellow light, glowing through a dark bookshelf. She edged closer to the source of light and when she went around the other side of the bookshelf, she found herself, the blue haired girl slumped on the floor, surrounded by books and scrolls and a small lamp with a tiny flame dancing at the tip of a candle wick.

What am I doing? Botan wondered as she watched herself raise a scroll to the light, trying to read what was written there. The girl did not seem to find what she was looking for in that roll of paper so she carefully rolled the manuscript and placed it to one side. She then took another scroll from the box on her left; she spread it out on the floor and bent over it, studying the characters very carefully.

This was when Botan noticed that the girl seemed older. She no longer wore her hair in a bun and instead had it in braids. The kimono she was wearing was no longer the blue one too, she was wearing a long sleeping robe now, she must be around thirteen or fourteen years old.

Botan looked around. Where am I? Whose memory is this? She asked but the light from the lamp could not reveal too much detail.

Botan decided to sit down with the girl and join her in the gloomy glow of her lamp. She observed herself, at how absorbed she was with what she's doing.

It felt weird, to be looking at herself in a certain form. When she first saw herself as a small girl at the Utagawa estate, she did not have the time to study the girl, but now, as she sat there with the image of her past life, it was like looking in a mirror which was crystal clear and murky at the same time.

To Botan's surprise, the girl suddenly straightened up and her anxious eyes began scanning the darkness before her. It appeared that she had not seen anything that was a cause for worry but she began to quickly haul all of the scrolls on the floor back in box as though she was in danger of being caught. Botan looked around again and finally, somewhere in the shadows of that place, she spotted a figure hiding on one corner.

Botan turned back to the girl. She was dragging the box on the floor now with one hand as she held the lamp on the other. She saw the girl lift the light above her head and Botan's eyes widened at the sight of what the light had managed to expose.

They were in an archive, an archive which was much more spacious and grand than that of the spirit world. Aside from the bookshelves that filled the room, the wall of the archive itself was like a honeycomb of storage space; level after level of small compartments lined the walls and as Botan squinted her eyes, she saw that the compartments had reached the room's high ceiling and each small square compartment had scrolls stored in them; their golden knobs which protruded from the wall glimmered in the dark like starlight.

Botan was caught in awe by the sight and she continued gazing at the high wall.

There was a thud that made her look back at the girl and she saw that she was covering the box of scrolls with a sheet, she then ran out of the room through the maze of bookshelves and Botan was left standing in the dark.

"What was that? What was I looking for?" Botan wondered loudly.

There was a somber sigh at the direction of the hiding figure Botan saw earlier and she heard the person rise from his hiding place.

No light was lit but Botan could feel that the person was gazing at the spot where the girl had been.

The person spoke and Botan recognized it to be Otohiko-hoshi.

"She's looking for the sanctuary…" He whispered and Botan felt her insides squirm at the sadness of his voice.

"What is the sanctuary? What is it for?" Botan asked openly even though she knew that she wouldn't be getting any direct answers.

The monk's footsteps echoed and faded out of the darkness. Botan anxiously waited for the next sight; she expected another room to appear, a well lit one, or the temple's courtyard, or a scene with the monks but none of those came about. Instead, it was the same gloomy light from the blue haired girl's lamp that made its reappearance.

Botan's shadow danced infront of her and she wheeled around, finding herself again, slumped on the floor and poring over an old manuscript.

Before Botan could try to figure out what was going on, the vision vanished.

A mere two seconds passed and the same vision reappeared again. At length, Botan was left to watch a long string of that repetitive scene materialize and fade away before her. She watched, completely confused at what was happening, until finally, she noticed something about the girl's hair and clothes.

The way the girl's hair was arranged gradually changed as the visions passed her by, the color of her clothes too would change with every reappearance of the scene. Sometimes the girl would look calm, while in the other scenes she would look tired, even frightened. Botan inched closer to the vision even though the alternating light and darkness was making her a bit dizzy, she then directed her eyes back to where Otohiko-hoshi had been hiding. She failed to see anything this time, but still… he had to be there.

A sinking feeling beat Botan down to her knees. She had been going to the archives every night, looking for the sanctuary, whatever that was, and one of the monks have been witnessing her scour through the place continuously— and for some unknown reason, he had not told anyone about it.

The sanctuary had to pose danger for someone or the monks would not worry about it getting into Tamamo's hands, but if that was the case, why had Otohiko-hoshi allowed her to continue with this nightly search? Why hadn't anyone stopped her?

Botan closed her eyes, burying her face on her palms, not wanting to think of the worst.

Maybe I'm not looking for the sanctuary, maybe I just like to read at night, or… or… Her defensive reasoning faltered, losing to more factual thoughts. She was acting on something Tamamo had told her to do.

Kurama pressed his hands on the bathroom's tiled walls as he allowed the water from the showerhead above him to rain down his bowed head.

It had been a long night, but it was a most fruitful one.

The dagger now laid on top of his neatly folded clothes that he left on the sink, just on the other side of the opaque shower glass door. The fairly long trek back to the Aramata house had given him enough time to inspect the antique weapon and he was glad to confirm that the blade was indeed made out a demon tooth—the definite key to Nue's resurrection—and for that matter the dagger must never leave his side.

He turned the water off and he swept away his damp, crimson hair away from his face. He then grabbed a towel and stepped out of the shower, facing the mirror that hung above the sink.

He wiped the steam that clung to the mirror's smooth surface and he met a partial reflection of his face; right then, what had transpired in the temple ran through his head once more-the temple guide's screams of pain, the feeling of his fragile neck on his hand, the sound of his bones breaking when his body collided with thick solid bronze—it all swam in his mind like a faint strip of gray smoke but again he felt nothing.

Perhaps his actions that night brought him a little bit of satisfaction, but nothing more.

Like an insignificant afterthought, Kurama easily shelved away the otherwise insipid recollection and he looked down at his wristwatch which lied beside the dagger. It was 2:25 in the morning, the entire house was still as quiet as he had left it which meant that he was the first to finish his assignment and arrive back at the house.

With water still dripping from the ends of his hair, he picked up the dagger and his clothes then he went to his room to dress, wondering how Yusuke and Kuwabara's mission was coming along.

As he stepped into his room, he momentarily gave a certain spot on the floor a look of abhorrence. He could still smell a trace of the maid's scent in his room and it riled him.

After putting on some clothes, he opened his windows allowing the crisp scent of leaves from outside to fill his room. He leaned on the window sill, picking up the smell of fresh dawn that the soft wind brought from the east; unsurprisingly, it had the opposite effect on him, much unlike the sickly sweet scent the maid had left.

The scent of dawn will only ever remind him of one particular person.

Kurama stepped back from the open window, he then picked up the dagger and wrapped it in a leather sheet. He tucked it securely on his side, underneath his clothes, then he went out his room, through the door this time, and paced the length of the hallway which lead to the living room.

He meant to go outside the garden and wait there until morning comes or until sleep catches up with him, but he paused, just outside the room beside the lounge, looking at its door as though the flowing image of the phoenix there had called his name.

On the other side of that intricate door would be the sleeping death deity and the thought of that simple fact sent Kurama's blood rushing, the same kind of rush one would feel when jumping from a terrifying height—at least he supposed that's how it must feel—he had never known the fear of heights, but it sure felt like he was falling.

His eyebrows met, harmless the sensations he feels towards anything that had something to do with Botan may seem, he was deeply troubled by it still. He considered the door, and everything that was behind it, he was then reminded of the white suitcase underneath the deity's bed.

Botan and her intriguing secret. His private little puzzle.

Kurama remembered telling himself that he had all the time he needed to discover what Botan had been obviously hiding from them for the past two days, but although now that he had quite a night tainted with the spiteful encounter with the temple guide, there was still that inexorable restlessness inside him that either needed control or encouragement—and he had decided to give in to his impulses before coming to Houjin.

Now his impulses were telling him to confirm his suspicion of Botan having an alternate purpose of being in town by taking a look at that white suitcase under her bed.

Get it all over with and end his confusion.

Without realizing it, he took a step towards the phoenix door, everything was still as silent as the dead; he could hear nothing but the sound of his heart, beating steadily in his ear. A feral shade of gold had tinged his emerald eyes.

All else forgotten, Kurama's senses zoned in on Botan's room alone, isolating it like a priceless target.

He reached out to touch the door but he stopped when a sound of someone's choked coughing shattered the silence of the night and his trance. Kurama turned to the direction of the sound and found the shadowy form of Shizuru coming in the hallway from the living room.

I didn't even notice her presence there. Kurama thought gravely, realizing his inexcusable lack of vigilance because he was too focused on something else.

He threw an acute glance at the phoenix door as Shizuru identified him in the dimly lit hallway and greeted him. This is turning out to be a tricky game…

"…looks like you've outdone Yusuke and my idiot brother." Shizuru said smilingly. "So… did you get it?"

Kurama weakly smiled back at Kuwabara's sister. "Shizuru-san…" He said warningly with his usual calm and gentle voice, quite opposite to how unsettled he was just seconds ago.

Shizuru got the message that Kurama did not want to talk about him successfully stealing a dagger from the Utagawa temple and she nodded understandingly.

"Are you alright Shizuru-san?" Kurama asked, steering the conversation to Shizuru's coughing lest she saw what he seemed to be doing there in the hallway, right outside Botan's door.

"Yeah I'm fine, I thought I'd get some fresh air since I suddenly woke up in the middle of the night but it seems 'fresh' does not agree with me."

"I see… Anything in particular woke you up? Did you sense anything?" Kurama asked, curious if Shizuru's notable spirit awareness picked up anything.

"No." She answered. "Anyways, good to see you're back. See you in the morning."

"Yes. Goodnight, I guess?" Kurama smiled.

"Yeah, goodnight." Shizuru said and she headed to her room, passing Kurama by who had not moved from his spot outside Botan's door.

Shizuru soon disappeared from the long hallway and the house was quiet again.

Kurama sighed, slipping his hands inside his pockets and leaning on the wall behind him. He suddenly felt exhausted, he felt somewhat drained, but not physically. He doesn't even feel sleepy.

A tricky and arduous game this had become… Kurama thought.

But this is undeniably more interesting than taking the dagger from that pathetic human. Yoko suddenly interjected.

Kurama did not answer but he knew, deep in the recesses of his mind that he fully agrees with his demon side.

The thrill of the moment lost, he decided to head back to his room as well, all the while thinking how long Botan was going to stay in Houjin and how long before he'd allow his curious little game to end.

"Otohiko-hoshi, why aren't you telling anyone about me? About what I'm doing?" Botan asked helplessly as she waited for the darkness around her to be gone. At the back of her mind, she tried to suppress that part of her life's story which Nakatsu-san told her, the part which related to the death of the monks in their effort to protect her against the demon Nue, it was futile though and she was left to link that said story to what was transpiring before her; in the end, it led her to the conclusion that it was her who had brought the monks to their deaths; that she had to have betrayed them, that she had sided with Tamamo, and since Tamamo was not really the sort to be trusted, she still had Nue sent to kill her, and the monks died trying to protect a traitor.

Botan shut her eyes to the frightful thoughts that were gnawing her mind. It has to be me, it has to be my fault! It was—

"Me!"

Botan opened her eyes to the sound of an unfamiliar female voice and she almost fell back when she found herself standing face to face with a young woman whose piercing blue eyes were staring intently through her. Botan stepped back and saw that the woman was wearing a set of simple work clothes.

"I'll take you inside the castle, I know a way where no one can find us." The woman said.

Battered with rather pessimistic suppositions of her connection to her guardians' death, Botan mustered what little hope and positivity she had left so she can try and understand what the new scene before her will recount. She looked around and saw that they were at the corner of the courtyard and the woman was speaking with Master Bunmei and Otohiko-hoshi. Master Bunmei was faceless; the strange interaction was his memory.

"Seiga-san, we only ask for information, we are not asking you to be directly involved in this. It will not only cost your post inside the castle, if we get caught, it will cost our lives."

The woman sighed. "Please, Master. I believe my sister's death was caused by that woman and whatever you are planning against her, I want to be a part of it." She said entreatingly. "Who is this girl you have mentioned? If she has no power to defeat the mistress and her demon then why was she to face them alone?"

The two men did not answer.

"She is a spy and you are to secretly protect her, correct? You said you must keep watch during her next meeting with the mistress…" She asked confusedly. Her eyes had gone from one monk to another and she paled as some other notion came to her mind.

"She's not an ally, is she? She is a supporter of that woman then?!" Seiga's voice rose angrily. "She really is quite remarkable, isn't she? To have everyone know of her crimes against this town and still have countless men and women lining outside her door, willing to believe everything she says and willing to do anything that she wishes."

Master Bunmei raised a hand to ease the woman's somewhat volatile temper. "Seiga-san, just because a person is not for one alliance, it inevitably means that she is against it and she is a supporter of the other side. There are always those who are caught in the middle."

"What do you mean?"

Master Bunmei disregarded her question. "Will you help us, Seiga-san? Can you give us information on how to get inside the castle without being seen?"

"But who is this girl you were referring to? Do you know her? Will you stop her if she really is a supporter of the mistress? As far as I know, monks are forbidden to take lives."

"We have no intentions of hurting anyone!" Otohiko-hoshi interjected crossly.

"Seiga-san, please listen-" Master Bunmei said calmly. "—the girl is not an enemy, however, she does not share your admirable principles against the wicked. This girl is more likely a victim… like your sister might have been."

With those words the young woman pressed her lips together and her expression softened. After being silent and looking momentarily uncertain, she spoke again. "My apologies, Master Bunmei… please don't blame me if I have reacted too single-mindedly towards your request." She said, in a low voice this time. "Whoever this girl is, though you may be not too willing to expose her identity, you sound like you know her very well. She is quite lucky to have you on her side." She smiled wistfully, but without another word, she bowed down and headed to the stairway leading down the temple.

Otohiko-hoshi shook his head gruffly, not too happy at being unable to have the woman oblige to their plea.

"Thank you for your time, Seiga-san." Master Bunmei bid the woman a polite farewell still. His tone of voice sounded unperturbed but his stance did reveal his disappointment.

Unexpectedly, the woman stopped on her tracks and she faced the two monks.

"I will be waiting in the market, we'll go to the estate from there." She said and she hurriedly went on her way.

Master Bunmei's face brightened in relief. "Thank you." He said almost breathlessly and Otohiko-hoshi was left to gape at Seiga; when he collected himself though, the expression on his face was unlike that of his Master, he was as stern and as unsmiling as he was when Seiga was being uncooperative.

I'm meeting with Tamamo again… Botan thought. She could feel an acidic pain stab her gut and the images unraveling before her seem to shift unsteadily. No… I've had enough, I don't want to see anymore of this… I want to go home…

She looked around, hoping that a door with a glowing 'Exit' sign would reveal itself within the vision but there was no way out—the memory was too strong, too persistent to break through. The monks have controlled everything; she was not inside any normal ghostly memory that she can easily walk out of, the monks have managed to create a psychic loop, a continuous, inescapable realm.

"Fine! I'll bear through it all then!" Botan screamed, but not out of frustration or fear; yes, she was afraid, but she yelled in the hopes of provoking herself to be stronger, more clear minded; afterall, her betrayal of the monks was not certain yet.

She turned back from the two monks and started patting her cheeks. "Come on, Botan. There's no turning back now. You have to be brave and…."

Another transition, and this time it was fast. Botan stumbled as she got down on her knees when thick wood beams started forming above her head, creating a dusty ceiling. She fell in a heap of moth eaten linens and rusty statuettes.

"Oh my goodness!" She exclaimed, thankful that she was not capable of feeling pain in her spirit form and that the memories are merely that; recollections of that past, real but simply illusions.

As she rose from where she fell, she realized that they were in some sort of storage room, she and two of the monks; a faceless Master Bunmei and Otohiko-hoshi.

"Your suspicions are too much for one person, Otohiko-hoshi." Master Bunmei whispered.

"I believe I'm merely being cautious."

"You see Seiga-san has kept her word, we are in the estate."

Otohiko-hoshi only grunted as a short reply, then he crouched down and started feeling for something on the dust ridden floor.

"But why all this trouble? Why not confront Oujo-sama?" He asked, confusedly, angrily without looking at Master Bunmei.

"Why didn't you? You were the first to discover that she was going into the library almost every night… for the past five seasons." Master Bunmei asked without a hint of blame or judgment.

"I didn't know what to do or say. I can own my assumptions but I can never accuse her, It's not right." He explained irritably.

Master Bunmei gazed at his valued subordinate. "What are you mad about, Otohiko-hoshi? What have you so worried?"

Otohiko-hoshi spoke with a contained bitterness. Botan could sense that the younger monk was trying not to lose his temper. "We have stood watch when the male Utagawa willingly and gladly fed his monster with living, screaming innocent townspeople. We have stood watch as his daughter took his place and do the same thing, in a more proficient and artful way. I will not allow myself to have, my own student, our ward, to fall into the hands of that conniving woman."

"Nor I." Master Bunmei said gently as he sat down on the floor with Otohiko-hoshi. "You are not worried solely about the Sanctuary then?"

Otohiko-hoshi sighed deeply. "I know you think I'm only looking out for the Sanctuary, but would you believe it has not crossed my mind for days?"

"Yes, I do."

Botan saw the younger monk clench His jaw. "But what would happen? If Oujo-sama hands the scroll to her?" Otohiko-hoshi asked grim

"You know the answer to that. You have said it earlier… we've seen it all... We are likely to witness it again. Houjin will once again bathe in the blood of the innocent, helpless screams will break in the dead of night…" The master prophesied in an apathetic tone as though he was used to seeing the sort of thing day after day.

Otohiko-hoshi looked down, obviously not wanting to hear more of his fellow monk's truthful words, he busied himself with finding a gap on the floorboards underneath him.

"…but you ask the wrong question, Otohiko-hoshi, it is not the question of 'what if Oujo-sama gives her the scroll', rather the question you should be asking is, 'what if she doesn't'?".

A/N:

(='_'=) hee-hee... I'm back., and good lord I don't know how to lamely excuse myself for this late update... I'm so sorry!*insert waterfall of tears here*

(*sigh* Imagine me digging a hole to bury myself in the ground right now-too embarrassed-it's inexcusable, the pull of procrastination and uncertainty was strong.)

Danielle Winters, thank you so much for your message, you're too kind., when i read it I felt truly encouraged, (^_^) -then I felt like hitting my self with a harisen coz I was slacking off (- . -)

AimAnnieBuddy, I'm in good health., (I think) Thank you for checking up on this story and having the patience to follow it still. Thank you! I can't say that enough.

Thank you Kinishra22, for following this story and for your continued reviews (^_^)

Thanks middlekertz! This may not sound right but I'm glad the story made you laugh :D (Kuwabara does rock in his own Kuwabara ways)
Kurama's part in this chapter was a speck but based on what has been floating around in my head for months now, Kurama would definitely be on most of the scenes on the next chapters. (maybe not much on Ch.19 but it'll surely start there).

xxBroken21xx, thank you for noting the character interaction aspect stuff, glad to know I'm not unintentionally leaving anyone behind :)

Thanks majo18, I hope you aced that exam last month!

EB and obsessed dreamer: When I read your reviews, I'm like; "aww..." (^^,=)- thank you for that, I take that as one of the coolest compliment this story has earned so far.

Thanks for your review heartluv!

Animoon, sorry for the late update but I hope you enjoyed chapter 17 and this one. :)

Thank you for the reviews sweetcanines and Taeniaea! (^_^)

-and before I forget-, again, just want to give a quick hello to the very first person who reviewed this story (is that even allowed here? Ireallydon'tknow hehe...) Hi Venessia/Donna Rossa! I hope you're doing great! (^_^)