Prologue

Five Years Ago...


The sirens blared as she ran through the halls. Her midnight hair whipped across her face, blinding her for seconds she couldn't waste. Her chest ached, her thighs burned, sweat was falling down her temples, staining her clothes.
Yet still she did not stop. She couldn't. To stop would be to lose. To surrender herself to them. She would be captured, she would be tied down, she would be punished and the process of breaking free and running would repeat itself again and again.
Capture was not an option.
She took a sharp left as voices reached her keen ears from down the hall. As soon as she did she caught sight of more uniforms. She dodged right quickly, hoping nobody had spotted her. The institute had more halls and doors than she had ever seen. Everything looked the same. There were no labels or signs, making it even more confusing to get to the exit. But that was what they wanted. They wanted everyone to stay inside, to never see daylight again and to be experiments for the rest of their lives.
"There she is!"
Crap, was the only word that went through her mind. She tried to pick up her speed but her legs were too weak. Her muscles had become numb from being used too much. Praying her pace was fast enough, she shifted her attention to the closest exit she could find. A door off to the left side. Zeroing in on the handle, she burst through the door, slamming it shut behind her.
Darkness casted itself over the room, throwing everything underneath a thick blanket of black. It didn't bother her. Her eyes adjusted quick enough and soon she saw things as clear as a brightly lit day. If there was one good thing she got out of being a pawn for the twisted scientists, it was her powers.
It was then she saw it.
Sitting in the corner of the room, holding their legs tightly against themself, a small child hid in the shadows. They wore nothing but a rag, and there was obvious grim on their clothing and skin, but none of that struck the girl as odd. It was the bruised flesh, the pain in those big green eyes, and the fear on that tiny little face that made her mind do a once over.
She opened her mouth. She wanted to ask the obvious, "What are you?", "Why are you in here?", but she knew all of those answers. They were the same. They were children taken in and used as test subjects. Kids who had nowhere else to go, who was forced to see the world as a dangerous place, and who had weapons installed in them to become machines.
She stepped towards the small child, only to pause as the little one shrunk away, scared. Footsteps rose from the other side of the door. Banging on the thick metal, screams, orders. "Get out of there!", "Stop this foolishness!".
Anger brewed inside her. If there was one thing nobody had been able to contain fully it was her temper. A trait she created herself out of all the hatred and pent up frustration from the many years of treatments and lies. No more. No more pain. No more harm. No more of the selfish experiments would be done upon them. Not on her.
She turned towards the wall. There was no window but somehow she knew the daylight was behind it. The wall was the only thing between her and freedom. One single foot of cement. She could take it. She could break it. She knew she had the strength. She had to.
Clenching her fist, she pulled her arm back and shot it forwards. The contact of her knuckles on the cold concrete made her spine shiver and her bones bounce in their places. But she didn't hold anything back.
The wall blew apart and the chunks of debris fell one by one at her feet, crumbling underneath her power. The scientists had created her this way. They had made her a weapon of power. Now, they would pay.
She took another look at the child in the corner. With the light coming from the hole she could see the small figure was a girl. One who looked up at the outside as if she had never seen such beauty.
She held her hand out to the girl. "Come on," She said. Her voice was low and powerful, yet comforting all the same.
The girl stared at her, then to her outstretched hand. With only a second of hesitation she reached out a tiny palm and their fingers touched gently.
"I'm Nade," Nade said as she helped the girl climb up on her back. It was better to know the name of your saviour than live a life wondering. She knew that from experience.
The girl spoke in a quiet whisper, but there was a hint of joy in the high voice despite all that was going on, "Yoko."
Nade nodded. "Don't worry, Yoko. We'll be safe."
And the girl smiled ever so slightly, wrapping her thin arms around Nade's neck as they began rushing towards the thick forest outside the broken wall. Freedom was in their grasp. They had done what all the other children had only dreamed of. "I know..."

Yoko sat on a bench absently playing with her necklace. She had just finished work and was waiting for Nade. "Nade you take too long! I'm so freaking boooooored!!!" She thought impatiently.
Nade's dark head finnally made it's way out of the crowd and to Yoko.
"Nade!" Yoko cried jumping up, "What took you so long? I was waiting out here for like fiiiiive minutes!"
Her companion gave her a look((LOL)) "Oh no, five whole minutes? Really? It must have been torture." She said sarcastically.
"Shaddup, your not patient either!" Yoko said sticking her tongue out childishly.
"No, I'm not. So lets go then!" Nade said advancing towards the doors.
"Aye-aye Ka-pi-tan!!" She said saluting and then following with a laugh.
Nade smiled at her.

"Who's driving?" Yoko asked.
"ME." Nade said immediatly.

[[got to goooooo >.<]]

Yoko frowned. "You drove last time though," she whined.
"I'm older," Nade said, pulling out the keys to their Civic from her front pocket. She had a toothpick in between her teeth and was nibbling on it violently. It was her new attempt to try and stop nail-biting. Before it had been fake nails, which didn't work at all. The time before that was wearing bad tasting nail-polish. She chewed right through that too. Never trust a non-human when it came to bad habits.
"So? I should be driving! I need the practice!" Yoko had just gotten her L a couple months ago and was overjoyed to start driving. Unfortunately, Nade hogged the car and hardly ever let anyone else dive it.
"Get another car," Nade told her sharply. She opened the front door of the Civic and slid into the driver's seat. As she stuck the keys in the ignition and twisted her wrist, she looked up and cocked an eyebrow at her friend who remained outside pouting. Her silent question was obvious. Are you coming or not?

Yoko glared at her raven-haired friend through the windshield. She whistled and a small cloud floated down to her. She hopped on and she was taken up among the other, bigger clouds. Nade shrugged and pulled out of the parking lot.
Yoko sat with her legs crossed and took a deep breath of thin, moist air. She sighed.
"I wish something interesting would happen, Nimbus. Me and Nade's lives are so boring...! I mean ALL we do is get up, go to work, argue over who gets to drive, go home and hang out with eachother! I mean, not that it's a bad thing, but something new wouldn't hurt ya know?" She looked down at the cottony fluff that was taking her home.
"Yes, I think you need a change too. You two have been argueing too much lately." He replied in a deep, whispy voice only Yoko could hear.
"Yeah...Got any suggestions?"
The cloud was silent, "Nimbus?"
""I am sorry, I have no current ideas as to what you might do..."
Yoko sighed heavily, "Well that's a big help, thanks anyways though." She said looking down to see where they were. "Oh, I'm home..."
Nimbus lowered himself and his green-eyed companion to the ground. "Thanks for the ride, see you later Nimbus." She said cheerfully hopping to the ground. If the cloud had had a head he would have nodded, but he didn't so he said goodbye and rose into the sky to disapear with the other clouds.

As Yoko was walking towards the door she hear a furious scream and a crash from inside the house. Somewhat paniced((that word looks wroooooong)) she picked up her speed and yanked the door open,
"HOW DARE YOU COME BACK HERE YOU DESPICABLE [email protected]$ ^$ * ^$#@#!!! I'LL MURDER YOU KAGE!!!" Nade screamed chucking a toaster at the dark-haired boy standing before her.
"Ah! Easy! Easy! I jus--OW!!" He yelled as the toaster made contact with his head. "Th-that was a TOASTER!" He exlaimed putting his hand to his head.
"Damn right it was you dirty little scum bag!"
"Wow, guys, just wow. The neighbours are gonna complain again you know." Yoko said.

[Two can play at this colourful game... >: 3]

"Let them," Nade seethed. She grabbed at the next nearest object in their kitchen. The coffee machine. "They'll be able to confirm the rat's dying scream in court!"
Kage raised his hands defensively. "W-wait, Shiko!" His cries were ignored as the coffee machine went flying at him. He ducked. It sailed over his head, crashing into the wall with a sickening CRACK! "For god sakes, what did I even do?"
"Don't play stupid, you ass!" Nade reached for another weapon to throw. After a couple seconds of groping around, she turned, angrily, and saw there was nothing else to use. Every other solid object was across the kitchen on the other table.
"If you're talking about when I turned on the tap when you were in the shower, I apologize!" Kage tried using his calm voice but fear made it quake too much. "I was half-asleep! How was I supposed to know you were up so early?"
"I'm always up early! I don't sleep, you retard!"
"Oh, right," Kage paused and suddenly started giggling softly to himself. "I wonder what you look like sleeping..."
Nade shrieked. Turning, she put her hands on either side of the fridge and lifted. The item came out of the ground without hardly any resistance, and the door to it opened, spilling it's contents all over the floor. Whether Nade noticed, or simply didn't care, neither Yoko or Kage knew.
"Nade!" Yoko yelled, warning her friend not to destroy their apartment. The last time it happened they had to get two jobs each to pay for the damage. That was not a good year. "Don't do it!"
But Nade was beyond listening.
The fridge made a spinning motion as she shifted her body weight and tossed it. Kage, thankfully, did a roll and moved out of the way just in time.
The fridge wasn't so fortunate. It broke through the living room window, spraying glass everywhere. From down below, a woman screamed, probably out on her afternoon stroll. Yoko felt bad for the poor woman. Imagine walking down the street, minding your own business, when out of nowhere a fridge comes soaring at you at mock ninety.
Silence lifted into the room for a moment. Yoko stood at the entrance, the front door still open behind her. Kage lay on the ground, breathing out in relief that it was the window broken in pieces and not his face.
Nade simply hovered at the kitchen doorway, staring. She didn't show much emotion on her face. Only her raised eyebrows could count as a reaction. Finally she let out a noise from the back of her throat and said a low, calm, "Oh."

"NADE!! DAMN-IT!! HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO PAY FOR THIS?! THAT LADY ON THE SIDEWALK COULD SUE US FOR GOD SAKES!! AND POOR KAGE!! ...I mean it IS Kage, but STILL!" Yoko scremed at her friend, totally exasperated. Nade looked away, "We'll be fine, we'll just get another job again." She sniffed. Yoko grabbed two ice-packs that had fallen from the freezer, she put one on Kage's head and chucked the other at Nade as hard as she could. Nade's reflexes were too fast though and she caught the ice pace easily. "I DON'T WANT TO HAVE TWO JOBS AGAIN!! THAT SUCKED!! IT WAS THE WORST!! YOU CAN FIX EVERYTHING THIS TIME!!" She screamed at the somewhat surprised Nade and then stomped off to their bedroom and slammed the door as hard as she could.

Nade stayed standing in the kitchen, staring off in the direction her friend left.

Kage sighed. He placed the ice pack on his head where a bump was beginning to form. "Geez, you're a wreck."

She glared heatedly at him and he backed away quickly. "Hey! It's true! I mean, throwing a fridge out the window? Kind of melodramatic don't you think?"

"Your opinion doesn't matter," Nade grumbled. She stared at the hardly melting ice pack in her hand. It figured it wouldn't melt while she held it. She didn't let off any body heat from her arms and legs. Just one of the things that made her less human. Less closer to being normal.

She gripped the ice pack so hard it broke. Scowling, she threw it into the sink and started for the front door.

"Where are you going?" Kage asked.

"Getting the fridge."

"Oh." Kage stood by the window and watched the dread-head wander across the front, ignore the panicked woman on the street completely, and shoulder the fridge easily. He let out a low noise of annoyance. It sucked a girl could be so much stronger than him. Then again, she wasn't all skin and bone. He was.

As Nade came back into the apartment she closed the door behind her and gently eased the fridge back into its original spot. She stared at the broken cords behind it and all the food that had fallen out from when she picked it up and she frowned. Yoko was in no mood to help clean. She would have to do it by herself.

She looked over at Kage. He was bent over, carefully picking glass shard after glass shard from the carpet. "Kage."

"Yeah?"

"Go talk to Yoko."

The swordsman paused. He glanced over his shoulder, blinking. Had he heard right? "What?"

"Tell her you're staying here for a bit, okay?" Nade rubbed her neck, like the idea of Kage staying in her house bugged her. "I'm going away."

Kage stared. When Nade meant going away that usually had something to do with leaving for a few weeks to train. Stress-release, as she liked to call it. "You sure?"

Nade's brown eyes were hard when she looked at him. "Don't make me ask twice."

"Gotcha. When are you leaving?"

"Now."

Yoko sat degectedly on her bed hugging her pillow. She had tried not to cry, but she couldn't stop the unstoppable force that streamed down her face. She sighed and burrowed her face into the squishy pillow. She could hear Nade and Kage in the kitchen. She didn't pay attention to the words, She didn't want to know what they were talking about right now.

Yoko heard the faint sound of the front door clickling open and closed. There were some soft footsteps and the door opened. Yoko didn't look up, whoever it was it didn't matter to her.

"Hey, Yoko." Kage said closing the door quietly. The raven-haired girl's head shot up from the pillow.
"Kage?!" She said looking at him surprised.

[[RAWR! I POST SHORT POST! ._.]]

Kage grinned sheepishly. "Surprised?" He asked jokingly.
"Well..." Yoko blinked and sniffed. She wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. Truthfully, yes, she was shocked. Nade was always the one to speak with her. When an argument happened, it was Nade who came to apologize. It was Nade who approached to mend the wounds.
Seeing Kage standing there with his bright grin and wavering gaze did not make her feel better at all.
"Where's Nade?" Yoko asked quietly.
Kage hesitated to reply. It was only half a second long, but she caught it. "I... I'm not sure."
"Another trip, huh?"
"Yeah..."

-----

Through the thicket of trees she saw the steps and she moved towards them. If there was one place Nade would always go when she needed some alone time it was Selene's. The old woman was her trainer, the one who took her under care when Nade and Yoko had nowhere else to go. Although they fought, Nade found herself wandering back to the old house each and every time.
On the front porch stood a young boy with dirty blonde hair. He wore casual jeans and a t-shirt while holding a broom in his hands. He was leaning on it, staring off into space.
"Fabian."
The boy yelped and jumped, startled. He spun towards Nade and stared with big brown eyes. "M-Miss. Shiko!"
"Nade," Nade corrected him gruffly. Shiko was her nickname from Kage. No matter how many times she tried correcting Fabian though he never listened. Kage was too much an influence for that. "The hag home?"
Fabian nodded and bowed his head as Nade stepped up onto the porch. He began sweeping the wooden floor quickly, like he didn't think she would notice he had been slacking off. "Y-yes, in the living room... but..." He looked down the path, eyes searching for another figure. "Where is Miss. Ishioka?"
Nade just grunted and went through the front door, letting the screen slam shut behind her.

"Oh..." Yoko said flatly. She stood up and walked past Kage to the kitchen.
"You okay?" Kage asked following her out.
"NO I'M NOT OKAY! I WANT NADE!" she thought. Yoko would have liked to scream and yell and throw a good tantrum. But she knew she couldn't,
"it wouldn't do anything anyways" She thought depressed, keeping her emotions bottled up, not intending to tell Kage anything.
"I'm fine." She said bending over to pick up the now empty carton of milk. Carefully avoiding the white puddles she made her way to the garbage and threw the carton in. it made a thunking noise as it hit the bottom. ((this is you and me right now XD : :feesh: ))
"Uh, yeah...So...Umm..." Kage stuttered, trying to fill in the awkward silence.
"I'm going to check the mail." Yoko said trudging out of the kitchen, still avoiding the milk, and out the door. Kage was left alone.

[THAR! IT SUCKS BUT I POSTED >.<]

Selene was sitting in the living room like Fabian said. She was an older woman of sixty with wrinkles around her eyes and forehead. Her lips were thin and pale. She looked like she hardly smiled. Her hair was faded brown with streaks of grey, and her clothes were as old as her, embroidered with beads and silk patterns.
Nade stepped into the room and Selene hardly moved before she said, "You're back."
"Nothing gets past you," Nade muttered sardonically.
Selene touched her coffee cup to her lips and sipped gently. "What did you do this time?"
Nade narrowed her eyes and snorted. "Why do you always assume I did something wrong? Maybe I just wanted to visit, is that so hard to imagine?"
"Kage's been gone an hour. You're here now without your little sidekick. I think I can put two and two together, Nadeshiko."
Now, if Selene wasn't old, and could totally kick her ass, Nade would have got berserk at hearing her full name. Nobody called her that. Nobody. But Selene was different. She was tough and she was nasty when tempered with. Nade knew when to pick a fight with the woman and when not to. During American Idol was one of those not to moments.
"Give me some training," Nade said instead, ignoring with a glare that her full name had been uttered. "Something hard."
"Nothing's hard for you anymore," Selene grumbled. She sipped her coffee again and let out a dry laugh as Simon Cowell lashed out a witty reply to some poor dark haired boy's singing.
After a few minutes, the woman put down her drink. "I suppose I do have one job for you though."
Anything to keep me occupied, Nade thought bitterly.
"It's just a small take out mission. The brat--" She drew a square in the air with her finger to indicate she was referring to Fabian and not Marie, the other young teen working at the house. "--informed me of some activity to the west of town near the river bank."
"What kind of activity?"
"That's what you're for. Go figure it out."
"And if it's bad activity?"
Selene's smile was short and cold. She stared at Nade with those steely grey eyes of hers. "I'll let you take care of it."

As Yoko approached the cluster of brown mail boxes she notices a red paper sticking out of hers.
"Weird..." She thought as she inserted the silvery key and twisted her wrist. The little door opened easily and the red paper fluttered to the floor. Yoko bent down to pick it up and glanced at the large black letters as she straightened up.

"EVICTION NOTICE" The letters blared as they burned a picture in her mind.

Yoko stood staring in shock for a long while. "How can this be happening?! I know HOW and WHY...but, what am I supposed to do?!" and she trudged back up the stairs to the appartment. She entered looking even more down than she had before. It worried Kage but he didn't say anything.

[[I POOOSTED FOR CHUUUU~ 83 ]]

From inside the house, Fabian looked up as he heard footsteps. Sure enough, his older sister Marie was standing above him with a glare.
"Nade was here," Marie growled. "And you let her go without telling me!"
"Why does it matter?" Fabian asked quietly. He bent down and returned to tying his shoes. Selene was satisfied with the porch, but she suddenly changed her mind on letting him take a break and he was heading out to clean the backyard.
Marie snorted. She put her hands on her hips, long blonde hair spilled over his shoulder. She was dressed similar to Nade. Dark coat, purple blouse, dark pants and a pair of buckled boots. Selene refused to pay for dreads though and so the girl was left with her natural bright blonde hair. "She hasn't visited in forever and the one time she does you don't inform me? How am I supposed to talk to her when I don't get to see her?"
"That's your problem," Fabian said. He stood up and straightened his jeans, not wanting his ankles to be exposed to the air outside. "I have yard work."
His sister sighed. She wouldn't win and she knew it. Defeated, she let her arms fall by her sides. "Okay... Hey, was Yoko here?"
"No." Fabian glanced sideways, hiding his gaze from his sibling. She knew of his crush but he hated when she brought it up.
Marie made a noise in the back of her throat. "That's why Selene wants me to go see her then," she mused.
He looked at her with a frown. "See her? Why?"
"Because she didn't come with Nade today, duh." Marie narrowed her eyes at her brother. "That means they got into a fight."
"So? That's normal. Why does Selene want you to check up on her?"
Marie rolled her eyes. "I don't know! Go ask her yourself! Geez... Aren't you supposed to be doing the yard or something?"
"Yeah." Fabian gave his sister a dirty look as she brushed past him and down the front steps. He stuck out his tongue childishly, not caring if he got caught. Sometimes he hated being the younger sibling. She was always acting so high and mighty around him.
He closed the front door and wandered around to the back where he picked up the rake and started on collecting the leaves under the group of trees.

-----

Marie pulled into the parking lot of the apartment complex and climbed out. As she started for the stairs she locked her Nissan behind her. She could kick anyone's butt if they tried to steal her vehicle, but there was no reason to waste energy on a nice day like this.
She reached Nade and Yoko's door and paused. Looking out to the front of the yard where all the apartments overlooked, she saw a bunch of glass and a woman yelling and screaming, cops surrounding the front.
Marie's eyebrow cocked. That glass... could it be? She leaned over the railing and sighed at what she saw. Yep, it was the missing pieces of Nade and Yoko's apartment.
"Great," she grumbled. "No wonder Selene sent me here." She returned to the apartment door and knocked.

Yoko heard the tapping on the door. She ignored it; She was still feeling depressed.
Kage looked at Yoko "Are you gonna get that, or...?" he asked the raven-haired girl who's back was now to him. She didn't answer him and closed her bedroom door behind her softly. Kage knew she wasn't going to open the door. He sighed and opened the door to an impatient blonde girl.
"Marie? Did Sel--" He starts surprised.
"Out of my way!" She said cutting him off with a icy glare and stepping into the appartment.
"Don't shoot, Marie!" Kage said with a smirk throwing his arms up.
The blonde shot him another ice-cold glare, "Where's Yoko?"
"Ummm, in her room...I think..."
Marie rolls her eyes at him, "Ugh! You're so useless." She brushes past him and down the narrow hallway to the bedroom door. She hestitates, her hand poised above the door knob.
"This is no time to hesitate! Nade wouldn't and I won't!" She thought determined and twisted the round knob.
The door opened to reveal Yoko sitting on her bed staring into space.

"Hi, Yoko!" Marie pipped cheerfully. Her smile was bright enough even a blind man could see it. "I came to see how you were doing... and... you're not that good..."
Yoko was sitting on her bed staring down at the sheets. In her hand was the bright eviction notice that had made her day worse. She liked Marie and all, but at the moment she could hardly move let alone have a normal conversation.
Marie saw the notice. "Oh," was all she said.
Behind her, Kage loomed. He was taller than both of them, the same height as Nade, and his hair was dark like hers too. Except for the fact that Nade was native and had dreads, their features were quite similar. Marie mistook Kage for Nade because of that, she she turned gleefully to greet her heroine. As soon as she saw the grin on Kage's face she scowled, wanting nothing more than to wipe off the smirk.
"Get out of here!" Marie hissed.
Kage just smiled wider. "It's my goal in life to make your future miserable, remember that."
"OUT!" Marie slammed the bedroom door shut right in his face. There was a yelp from the other side and Marie puffed out her chest in pride. Annoying runt.

-----

Kage glared at the door. What was wrong with that girl? Geez, she was a lunatic. Grumbling, he rubbed his nose gently and started for the front door. Marie would be better to take care of Yoko. Selene had probably sensed something wrong and knew that if there was anyone Yoko needed it was another girl. Not him.
He closed the apartment door behind him and looked across at the yard. The police would be coming soon. Should he warn the other two girls? Nah, Marie deserved a little kick in the pants. Grinning joyfully, he bolted down the other stairs and climbed into his car.
About ten minute later he pulled into Selene's driveway. Her house was huge. Bigger than any he had ever seen. It was nice and clean too, although Kage was not one to admit that out loud. He hardly liked Selene. He'd never compliment her openly.
Inside the house, Selene was sitting in the front room watching some show. CSI maybe? She liked those kind of programs. Kage hardly stepped into the room when she spoke to him.
"Did Marie get there?"
"Yeah." But the cops might chase them out.
"Good." Selene took a drag of her cigarette and blew the smoke into the air. It twisted and turned, creating a pretty display of white swirls. Toxic, but pretty. "You have to find Nade."
Kage rolled his eyes. Saw that one coming. "Where did she go?"
"I sent her on a job into the forest. Some HMAN workers have been building a new ranch. She's going to take it down."
"On her own?" I think not, he thought with a grunt.
Selene shook her head. "No, with you."
"Oh." That made sense. "When should I leave?"
The older woman looked back over her shoulder with a sneer. "How about now if you don't want your ass kicked?"
Kage raised his hands. He started shuffling out of the room quickly but not scared. "Okay, okay. I just thought I'd make sure." It was time to save his buddy like all the many times before. He smiled to himself as he left the house. Nade was useless without him, that was certain.

[Too lazy to put the colours, I'll do it later... ;D]

Yoko tilted her head slightly to look at Marie. The blonde smiled comfortingly at her and walked over to the side of the bed. Marie gently pulled the bright paper out of Yoko's hand. Her eye's flashed and she tore the paper to bits vehemently. The fragments of red fluttered down to the carpeted floor. Mare placed her hands on her hips and looked at the shocked Yoko.

"Okay! That's solved! You can come live with us again. Everything'll be all right." She said firmly, smiling happily. Yoko couldn't help but grin at the girl's abrupt solve to her problem. Marie's voice was somewhat comforting too.
"Well...Er...Okay" She replied getting up and grabbing her backpack. She stuffed in her few belongings; some clothes, a hair brush, toothbrush and toothpaste and the two little glass cat figurines Nade had got her as a birthday presant. Marie had folded both Yoko and Nade's quilts and had them and their pillows under her arms.
"I'll take this to the car." The blonde called over her shoulder as she strode out the bedroom door. The blonde threw the items into the back of her car and atarted back to the appartment.

Yoko set her backpack down and pulled Nade's out from underneath her bed. She crammed all of Nade's black and purple belongings into the large bag.
"Somehow...It all fits..." Yoko sighed as she closed the zipper. Marie appeared in the doorway again.
"Got everything?"
"Yup!" Yoko answered with a smile and handed Marie Nade's bag as she swung her own unto her back. Marie grabbed the bag and walked purposefully out the door. Yoko followed taking lots of small steps to keep up with Marie's strides. They threw everything in the car and pulled out of the parking lot.

[[HAS BEEN EDITED! 83 got rid of the Kage bits :D]]

[Nom :3]

Kage found her standing underneath a tree not too far from Selene's house. Her toned arms were crossed over her chest, the typical no-nonsense scowl on her face.
"You took awhile," Nade said as he shuffled through the bushes towards her. "Chatting with the old bat?"
He cracked a grin. "What can I say? I'm attracted to the grumpy ones."
Nade's lips twitched, as if she was holding back a smile. Not a big one, of course. Nade didn't do the cheerful grins. It was just a short tug at the corner of her mouth. Yet every time he saw it he felt his stomach knot.
God, he sounded lame.
"So, what's up with these guys?" He rubbed his hands together, trying to change the track his mind was going on. Through the thicket of trees he saw a couple men in white running back and forth, carrying small pieces of... machine? No, they weren't the same substance. They looked almost... human.
His heart leapt into his throat. He stepped closer, unable to believe his eyes. "No way," he breathed.
Nade nodded, knowing he now understood. "Human limbs."
"What could they be doing with them?" He asked, lowering his voice, suddenly weary of being caught. "Black market?"
"HMAN doesn't deal in illegal trades." Nade turned her head to look at him and he noticed, with a little spark of glee, how close they were standing. He could smell her familiar lavender body lotion, his chest barely an inch away from her back.
"Experimentations," Kage answered her unfinished sentence. He saw anger flicker through her dark gaze. If there was one thing that made Nade lose her cool it was seeing someone go through the same disgusting mutation she did. She hated HMAN with a passion. It had become an obsession to destroy it.
He put a hand on the small of her back. She leered threateningly at him but said nothing else.
"Don't lose it in there," He told her quietly. "Last time was a huge mess. We can't afford that. They already know I'm in on it. If they trace you they'll track you down and..."
Find everyone close to her and undoubtedly kill them. That was what he would have said if he hadn't of caught himself at the last second.
She stared at him with that piercing, cold, stare. Then she side-stepped from him, his hand leaving her back. "Let's go."

The raven-haired girl sat silently in the car for a moment while her blonde companion hopped out of the car and grabbed the bedding again. It wasn't until the blonde was at the front door when Yoko finally decided to move, she grabbed the bags then locked the car. She stood in the gravel driveway and looked at the house,
"It feels weird to be here without Nade..." She thought sadly as she opened the front door and stepped into a hallway.
Yoko was about to turn the corner into the main room when she was sent sprawling onto the floor by someone.
"Ah! M-miss Yoko!" Fabian exclaimed and then noticed he was positioned on top of the confused and shocked raven-haired girl. His face errupted into a bright red as he scooted away from Yoko,
"I-I'm so sorry! I d-didn't mean to, I was--"
"It's okay, Fabian, I'm fine." She said cutting him off and standing up, straightening her backpack. "Where were you going?"
"J-just going out to buy Selene some stuff..." He said stading up, his face beginning to return to a normal shade. He was a bit taller than Yoko so she had to tilt her head slightly to see his face,
She's so cute! He thought, heat rushing to his cheeks again.
"Oh, uh, mind if I come?" She asked shuffling her feet, "I, ah, don't really like being here without Nade..." Yoko explained rubbing the back of her head, slightly embarassed.
"Uh, um, s-sure." Fabian replied.

[[okay, I realize my posts always suck for this story but...I posted for yooooou >w< ]]