The Twelve Signs
written by Len-chan
The 12 Signs are based on the Asian Yearly Zodiac (year of
the dog, tiger, rooster, etc.) and the 10 Stems are 
based on the Asian elements (wood, fire, water, etc.). The
characters of this story are property of me.  

Rabbit Crosses the Road
~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I still don't understand why I can't hold Taro." 
Mitsu told the rest of her group.  "I'm perfectly
fine now." 

"Mitsu," Chi answered, "You are riding with Akemi
and you can't possibly hold a baby while he's behind
you holding the reins." 

"Excuses! Why can't I ride my own horse?" Mitsu
asked.  

"Last time you did, you fell off..." Toshio
reminded her.  

"Point being?" the purple haired girl asked.  Chi
sighed and nodded her head no.  

"You are so stubborn," Chi mumbled.  She rode
along side Toshio.  Behind Toshio was Mitsu's
horse.  "Maybe tomorrow you can carry him on
the horse, but not know.  It's been two
days since that little electrocution incident."

"And you passed out." Kira added.  She rode
next to Shiho, in front of Akemi and Mitsu. 
Next to Akemi and Mitsu, on a single horse,
was Clare and Radien.  

"Not to mention burnt Akemi-kun to a crisp." 
Radien smiled.  

"Oh yes," Akemi told them, dully, "Who could
forget my wonderful experience being FRIED?"

"That was probably one of the most happy days
of my life," Mitsu sighed.  She leaned against
him and smiled.  "Thank you for letting me
fry you." She added sarcastically.

"We're even now," Akemi told her. "I saw you 
naked and you sent thousands of watts of
electricity coursing through my body."

"Whoa!" Shiho and Chi yelled.  They stopped
their horses abruptly.  "Who saw WHO nude?!"

Mitsu turned around and glared at Akemi. She 
slapped his arm and gave him a cold shoulder.
"You HAD to just spit that out really loud,
didn't you?" Mitsu asked. 

"Uh...sorry." Akemi blushed.  

"Wait!" Chi insisted.  "Please clarify who
saw who naked."

"Chi, you ecchi!" Mitsu gasped.  

"Really, Chi, I didn't think you wanted to know
THAT much," Kira replied.  Chi turned red. "If
Akemi saw Mitsu nude, that's their business
and none of ours." Chi, Mitsu, and Akemi 
all turned red.  

"Uh...Kira..." Clare whispered.  "I think that was
a little TOO much..." 

"Eheheheh...I guess so..." Kira smiled idiotically
and turned her head away from the two riders 
behind her.  

"Uh...hey, there's another town coming up soon,
why don't we stop there for the night," Toshio
told them, in an attempt to change the
subject.  "It is getting dark."

"Sure, why not." the others agreed.

~~~~

"Hey!" a little pink haired girl was shoved out of 
the way by a group of older boys.  "What's the
big idea!"

Toshio and his group rode down a street in the
town.  It was late in the afternoon and the
crowds around the market place had begun to scatter.
The loudness of the little pink haired girl
attracted their attention.  They stood a distance
away, looking down the alley at the girl.

"You said you'd deliver the goods to us, Hana!" 
the oldest boy yelled.  He grabbed her shoulders
and squeezed them.  "Where are they?"

"I...I couldn't get them! Give me one more-AH!" 
the girl gasped in pain as he grabbed her arm
and twisted it.  With a grunt he let go and
shoved her to the ground.  Mitsu stepped
forward angrily.

"We've given you a week now, Hana!" another boy
scolded her.  The older boy handed the second
a long stick.  "We've been waiting long enough.
You've failed us and are of no more use." 

"We'll take care of you here and now." the first
said.  The boy lifted the stick and brang it down.

The pink haired girls screamed, but never felt
the stinging pain. She opened her eyes and
saw an older girl with long purple hair holding
the other end of the stick.

"And what do you think you little bastards are 
doing with that stick?" she hissed kindly.  Her
eyes were narrowed she pulled the stick away.

"Leave us alone! You have no business interfering
with us!" an older boy yelled at her. 

"Yeah! She's disappointed us.  We fed her and all
she had to do was steal some more food.  She 
couldn't do it because she felt it was 'morally
wrong'." another boy sneered.  

"Well," Mitsu took the stick and snapped it in two
with one hand.  "I'm glad to see that at least she 
has some morals." 

"Listen lady, no one asked you to come bug us. So
stop bitchin' us and get the hell out of here." 
another boy told her.  Soon, older boys surrounded
the original five.  Probably teenagers.

"Don't make us have to get rough with you." one
of the new ones told her. 

"Please...don't stay here...you'll get hurt!" Hana
whispered as she tried to crawl away slowly.  But
one of the boys grabbed her ankle.

"Too late." one of the boys laughed.  He lunged
at Mitsu, only to feel her knee in his stomach.

Chi ran to her side.  "Hey! You mess with MY
best friend you're playing' with me too!" She let 
a long leather cord trail from her hands and
then snapped it.  

"Mitsu!" Kira yelled.  She stayed behind them,
with the rest of the group, watching Taro 
carefully.  She threw Mitsu her staff.  Mitsu
grabbed it and twirled it like a kendo sword.

"C'mon, boys..." Mitsu smiled, "You wanted to
take on some ladies...You go it." 

"AHHH-YAH!" Chi yelled as she hit the legs of
three boys.  She twirled her whip and then
snapped it again, around a wooden stick 
laying against a wall.  She pull and the stick
flew towards the boys.

"Eat THIS!" Mitsu growled as she ran through
the crowd of teenage boys, hitting their legs,
arms, and stomach with her staff.  "C'mon!"

Chi looked at Hana, who was still on the floor.
"Run!" she told her.  She motioned her head
toward her friends.  "To them! Hurry!" Hana
nodded her head and ran.  Toshio pulled her aside.

"Chi-chan! Mitsu! Get out of the way!" he yelled.
The two girls looked at each other and turned.
They ran back to their group.  Once the two girls
were back, and the group of boys regrouping, Toshio
created an energy ball in his hands.  With a smug
smile, he threw it into the crowd, sending
the punks flying.  

"Wow!" Hana gasped.  "You got them!" She looked up
at Toshio with big eyes and smiled.  

"Nice job, Toshio-kun." Radien added.  He had his
arm around Clare's waist as he smiled in approval.
"You, too, girls, great job kicking those little
punks asses." 

"Wow, another cutie!" Hana giggled as she looked 
at Radien.  Clare smiled.

"Yes, but he's MY cutie." Clare told her.  Hana
smiled childishly.  

"What about him?" she asked, pointing to Toshio.

"Ah...he is mine." Chi told her.  She put her
arms possessively around him.  Hana frowned.

"What's your name?" Kira asked.  "You didn't tell
us."

"Well, my real name is Hana, but I like it when
people call me Hanako." the girl told them. Their
questions about why she was attacked were put
aside as an argument cut through.

"You saw me fight! I can take care of Taro!" 
Mitsu yelled.

"Yes, I saw you fight," Akemi told her, his voice
much deeper and sterner.  "But you could get 
tired.  Now is not the time for you to be holding
Taro."

"There will NEVER be a chance for me to hold 
him to you, will there?" Mitsu asked.

"Nope." Akemi answered.  He gave her a superior
smile.  

"Whoa..." Hanako blushed. "What about him?"
In her own little world, Hanako saw Akemi as
a knight in shining armor, despite his uncanny
resemblance to a pirate. "HE is the stuff fantasies
are made of!"

"Akemi?" Kira asked.  "Well...he and Mitsu...
they have a weird relationship..." 

"I can hold him!" Mitsu shouted.

"NO, you CAN'T!" Akemi answered.  The two glared
at each other.  

"See...Akemi and Mitsu argue all the time, but
I think that they just belong together..." Kira
told her.  Then she heard Mitsu call Akemi and
jerk and he, in return, called her a bitch.
"Sort of." 

"Oh, yeah!? Well, why don't you just take that
big fat mouth of yours and shove it up your-"
Mitsu began, until she realized Hanako had
put her arms around Akemi's waist. "Huh?"

"Hey," Akemi gasped.  He stepped back, but
Hanako held on tighter.  "Uh...Hanako, is it?
Do you mind letting go of me?"

"Yes," Hanako giggled.  "Wow, you're handsome!
Did you know that?  Do you know how handsome 
you are?"

"Well," Akemi smiled and gave Mitsu another
look of superiority.  "I GUESS I could be
handsome...thank you."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa,"  Mitsu had her hand on her
forehead and was nodding her head 'no'.  "You
think that Akemi is HANDSOME?" Mitsu asked.  All
of a sudden, she began to laugh hysterically.

"That's very immature of you, Mitsu," Kira told
her.  "Don't tease the child."

"I'm not teasing Hanako!  She's sweet.  I'm 
making fun of Akemi!" Mitsu answered.  Kira nodded.

"Stop acting like a bitch, Mitsu.  Just because
Hanako has better taste in men than you doesn't
mean you can act like that." Akemi snickered.

"EXCUSE ME?" Mitsu yelled.  "Do you want me to 
shove something up your jerk hole?" 

"MITSU!" Chi gasped.  

"No, but what if I shoved it up yours?  What
do you say to that?" Akemi snapped back.

"Why you sick little-" 

"Hey!" Kira yelled.  The group looked over at her
as she had her arms crossed and looked sternly at 
Akemi and Mitsu. "We DO have places to go and 
things to do, you know."

"As far as I'm concerned! You can ALL GO TO HELL!"
a voice yelled.  The oldest of the teenage boys
began to run towards the group.  In his hands,
raised above his head, was a glimmer of a silver
knife. He came running straight toward Hanako.

She hastily let go of Akemi, who was still holding
Taro in his arms.  "TARO!" the group yelled.  Akemi
fell back against Mitsu's horse and she ran to cover
the child with her body.  

"AH!" the yell sounded through the alley way and 
the group turned their heads to the sound.  

Hanako had two bright pink batons in her hands.  
At the other end, she had thrown it against 
the boy's stomach.  He paused as she tore
the batons away.  "Ah..." the boy whispered.

He clutched his stomach and Hanako looked down
at her hands and the batons.  "What...what
are these?" she asked.  She turned around and
Mitsu was looking at her.  

"Hanako, can you tug your shirt's neckline
down just a bit?" Mitsu asked.

"Sure..." Hanako told her.  "It does itch
a bit."  She pulled down her shirt's neck
line and Mitsu's eye brows arched.

"As I suspected," Mitsu told her group.  She
straighten up.  "Taro was just in trouble 
and what happens when Taro is in trouble?"

"Another Sign appears!" The group chorused.

"Does that mean that Hanako is..." Kira
began.

"Toshio, what does this sign read?" Mitsu
asked.  She gently turned Hanako around,
putting her hands on the little girl's
shoulders like an older sister.  

"Hmmm..." Toshio bent down.  "U...hare."

"Oh! How cute! She's rabbit! I should've
known from the hair." Kira told them.

"What?  What's going on?  I don't get it."
Hanako told them.  Mitsu knelt down and
smiled at her.  

"Hanako-san," Mitsu asked.  "How would you
like to come with us for dinner?  We'll
explain everything to you then."

"Really?" the girl asked enthusiastically.
"Do you mean it Mitsu!"

"Of course I do.  Come on, you can ride with
me." Mitsu told her.  She helped the excited
girl on to Harmony, the saddled behind her.
She took the reins.

"Wow! I always wanted to ride a horse!" Hanako
told them.

"Mitsu, are you sure you can ride a horse?" Akemi
asked.  He pulled up next to her with Taro in
his arms, looking curiously at Mitsu.

"I'll be fine," Mitsu told him.  "Let's just go."

~~~~~~

"You better have a good reason for bringing me
here all the way from Lotus," the voice roared
angrily. "Is the trouble THAT bad?"

"King Saburo..." Tsuchinoe explained.  "One of
the guardians, a red haired man, owns the 
Sword of Light...We cannot defeat him if he
holds the Sword of Light."

"Akemi!" Saburo growled.  He jumped up from his
throne in the tent where he, the Stems, and
some of his troops had gathered near the place
where they had last attacked the Twelve Signs.
"So...the Pirate Prince does own that sword and
my spies were right.  Too bad I killed them..."

"Sire!" a soldier ran into the tent and bowed.

"I told you I did not want to be disturbed!" 
Saburo growled. 

"But Sire! It is news about The Signs!" The soldier
told him.  Saburo narrowed his eyes and sat back
down.  He nodded for the soldier to proceed.  
"News has it that he has found ANOTHER sign.  In
a town about a day's travel from here.  He has
found the Hare!" 

"So..." Saburo whispered to himself. "Toshio has
found another...that makes eight.  He has found
eight of the Twelve Signs.  That lucky bastard."

"Shall we send troops after them, sir?" the
soldier asked. 

"No," Saburo told him sternly.  "Prepare my horse.
Stems! We are going there ourselves."

~~~~

"Really!?" Hanako giggled.  "Do you mean it, 
Mitsu-chan! I can join you!" 

"Well, you ARE a guardian.  If you can't 
come...well...we'll be very disappointed."
Mitsu sighed with fake sadness.  She made
is obvious and Hanako laughed.

"Thanks! This is the first time I actually
traveled in a LONG time!" Hanako told her.

"When was the last time you traveled out
of the town?" Mitsu asked.  The two of them
sat at another table, farther away from the
group.

"What are they talking about?" Shiho asked.
"It better not be a way to take Akemi from
me."

"Since when was Akemi yours anyway?" Chi
asked innocently.  Shiho shot her a deadly
glare from across the table.  The blond
grabbed on to Akemi's arm tightly.

"Since ALWAYS!" Shiho told her.  Next to her,
Kira rolled her eyes.  

They sat around a circular table starting with
Taro on a high chair, to his right was Akemi,
then Shiho, Kira, Clare, Radien, Toshio, and
Chi.  

"Right." 

"Really?" Mitsu asked.  "You mean you don't 
remember?  What about that brother those
punks said you had?"

"Well," Hanako took a deep breath.  "Mitsu,
you're so nice.  So I'll tell you.  He wasn't
really my brother.  I remember he told me that
he was coming back to the lair...that's the
place where all those boys live, and he saw 
me wandering the streets.  I was about a year
or so old."

"WHAT!?  Who would leave a one year old 
alone in a town!?" Mitsu growled.  Hanako
looked extremely sad.

"I don't know..." she mumbled.  "My brother
took me in and told everyone that I was his
long lost sister.  The secret was between
the two of us.  Then...about a few months
ago...he...he was beaten to death."

Mitsu gasped and looked down sadly.  "Why?"
she whispered.

"It wasn't his fault, Mitsu!" Hanako told her.
"He was walking down the alley way.  Me
and some other guys were with him.  He was the
oldest of all of us.  While we were walking,
a group of men were in the alley and there was
a screaming woman.  They were going to rape her.
And my brother got in their way..." Hanako's 
eyes brimmed with tears.  Mitsu reached over
the table and held her hand.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want
to," Mitsu told her.  In a big sister fashion,
she smiled kindly.  "Why don't we just eat
dessert first and you can tell me later?"

Hanako nodded.  "Thank you." she smiled.  

"WAITER!" Mitsu called.  A waiter came over
with a pad of paper.  "Hi! Can I have a
chocolate ice scream sundae?  What about
you, Hanako?" 

"I want strawberry!" Hanako told her 
happily.  

"Okay! Make it two sundaes, one chocolate
and one strawberry." Mitsu ordered.  The
waiter nodded and left.

"Wow! I've never had so much to eat at
one time.  This is great!" Hanako told her.
Mitsu smiled. 

"Well, we have to eat up.  We'll head out
again after this.  We'll go to the hotel.  
Let's see...six girls...three guys...a
baby...I guess that all evens out.  Usually,
Chi is my room mate, but I think this time
we can make an exception and let you be my
room mate this time." Mitsu decided.  Hanako
looked very happy.  

"Mitsu," Hanako asked.  "Do you have any
brothers or sisters?" 

"Yes, actually I do.  Back home, I have
a younger brother, plus several nephews,
and lots of cousins." Mitsu told her.  She
tipped the waiter as he placed the ice cream
on the table.

"So you are a good big sister?" Hanako 
asked again.  "I've never had a big sister."

"Well," Mitsu told her.  She took her spoon
and grabbed scoop of ice cream.  As she licked
her lips and smiled, she put the spoon in her
mouth.  "You...do..." she ate the ice cream. 
"Now." 

~~~~~~

"AHH!!!" Screams came out of girls' rooms.
A very angry Mitsu, Chi, Kira, and Clare
walked out of their rooms and pounded on 
the door of Radien and Toshio's room.  

"You answer it." Toshio told him.  Radien
nodded no.

"No way! I make it a point never to open the
door when there are angry women behind it."
he told her.

"Sissy," Toshio stood up and opened the door.
The four girls burst through and cornered
the two.  "Hi...Hi, ladies!  Ummm...did we
do something wrong?"

"WHAT IS THIS!?" Chi yelled.  She wave a
satiny night gown in front of his face.  However,
the gown was the size for an eight year old
girl.  "Why are our night gowns and pajamas
shrunk?" 

"Well...you see...the soap we used..." Toshio
tried to explain, but the glares of the
girls was too much.  "It was Radien!"

"WHAT!?" the blue haired man gasped.  "No!
I wasn't the one doing the laundry!  I swear!"

"Then who, DARLING?" Clare asked threateningly.

The two young men looked at each other and 
then at the girls.  "AKEMI!"

"Hey, have you guys seen my clothes?" a voice
asked from the door way.  "Uh-oh..." The
girls turned around.  

"Are you trying to seduce my lady!?" Toshio
and Radien gasped.  They went up behind
Chi and Clare and covered their eyes with their
hands.  

"No!  I just went for a shower and..." Akemi
looked straight at the snickering Mitsu. He
held the towel around his waist tighter.  
"What are you laughing at?"

"I'm...not...::hehehe:::...laughing..." Mitsu
told him.  She couldn't hold it in any longer
and began to laugh out loud.  Akemi stood
the in front of them.  His hair was deep red
and was tied up at the top of his head.  He
only wore a light pink towel around his waist.

"Well, at least my clothing isn't doll size.
You'll never be able to fit your fat little
self into your pajamas now." Akemi received
Mitsu's killer glare.  

"FAT am I?" Mitsu hissed.  Akemi took a small
step back as Mitsu walked over to him.  She
stood just a few inches from him and tilted
her head up just to look at his face.  She
took her leg and slammed her foot down on his
his.  

"AH!" Akemi screamed.  His hands flew in the
air and he let go of his towel.  "YOU BITCH! 
You annoying, pain the ass, little bit-"

"Now, now..." Mitsu smiled as she stepped 
aside as he grabbed for what was left of
his dignity.  "You shouldn't swear." 

When he finally fixed his towel, the girls
behind him were red and cover their eyes.
Mitsu was in her room and he could hear
her laughing.  *You little bitch...I'll
get back at you.*

~~

"That is the town you are sure they are
staying at?" Saburo asked. 

"Yes, sire, I am sure." one of his
guards told him.  Saburo nodded.

"Proceed..." Saburo ordered.  *Well, Toshio,
we'll meet again.  And this time you have
recruited The Pirate Prince, Akemi.  Stupid
fool, you still don't have an advantage.*

~~~

The room was brightly lit with soft white
candles lining the wall.  Mitsu sat in front
of the mirror taking her brush and running
down her long, damp, purple hair.  She
thought with her eyes closed as the brush 
smoothly went through her hair. 

Behind her, Hanako removed her pig tails
and was combing her pink hair.  She looked
at the quiet girl sitting in front
of the vanity table.  "Mitsu-chan..." 
Hanako mumbled.  "Do you mind if I can tell
you the rest of my story?"

"I don't mind," Mitsu told her.  "I was 
just wondering about it a second ago." She
put the brush down and turned around.  Her
hair fluffed up behind her.  

"Well, I was at the part about my brother
getting killed..." Hanako took a deep
breath to calm herself down.  "All I remember
was him yelling at those men.  Then...then
they all got on top of him.  They had
a lot of sticks with them and began to hit him.
They...tore off all his clothes...he kept 
yelling for them to stop, but they wouldn't...
Mitsu...they hit him everywhere..." Hanako
began to cry and Mitsu sat down next to her. 

"Take a deep breath." she instructed the girl.
Hanako did and still looked sad.

"He yelled for me to run.  And I did.  He
always knew what was best for me..." Hanako 
told her.  "So I ran...I ran all the way
back to the lair."

"And your brother?" Mitsu asked.  Hanako
closed her eyes tightly.

"I came back the next day..." she whispered.
"There was a dark stain of blood on the
ground...his body...it...it...was...torn
apart..." Hanako began to cry and Mitsu
put a sisterly arm around her.  

"Shh..." Mitsu whispered.  "It's okay...
Why don't I tell you a story?"  Hanako
nodded.  "Well, it's about a young woman
who was nearly killed saving this village-"

"Wait, Mitsu-chan.  Is this the legend about
how someone she thought hated her saved her 
life by kissing a demon in order to give her
back life?" Hanako asked.  "And by kissing
the demon, he kissed her and gave her back
her humanity?"

"Umm...yeah...okay...I see you've heard it.
That was kinda of my only story..." Mitsu
smiled.  Hanako smiled, then as she looked
at Mitsu, she began to let tears fall.

"Mitsu..." Hanako cried.  "You've been so
nice to me.  I wish you weren't..."

"Why not?" Mitsu asked.  Hanako looked down.

"Because HE was good to me too...and...and
he died..." Hanako told her.  

"Hey," Mitsu told her.  "I won't EVER leave
my friends..."  Hanako smiled slightly and
leaned against her pillow.  "Go to sleep.
We have to get going early in the morning."

"Okay...Good night, Mitsu," Hanako told her.
The wiped her eyes and pointed to Mitsu's
clothes. "Don't you think you'll be cold in
that?"

"Think?" Mitsu asked.  She looked down at
the extremely short night gown Kira had
let her borrow since she couldn't fit in
any of her pajamas.  "I KNOW I'll be cold."
Hanako smiled and closed her eyes.  

"Hmmm...zzzz..." 

*I guess I better get to bed.* Mitsu thought.
She stood up and tugged her gown down.  *Stupid
Toshio.  What kind of an idiot shrinks peoples'
clothes THIS short...?* The gown barely covered
up to her mid thighs and the garter was around
her neck was uncomfortable.  At least Chi had 
an extra gown and so did Clare.  But Kira 
had gone and bought some pajamas for herself.  
*Man...I'm going to freeze...*

~~~~~~~

"Sire," a hiss sounded.  The King of Lotus looked
up.  "We have found them.  We just need to lure
them out of that hotel and get them to the battle
area we set up.  There we can ambush them."

"I'll be waiting in the battle area," Saburo told
them.  "Don't fail me."

"Yes sir!" the guard took a group of five plus
the twins of fire and lead them to the hotel.  
"Aim for those four windows!" 

The guards took rocks from the ground and threw
them into the windows.  

~

Toshio and Radien had barely faded into sleep
when the crashing glass woke them up.

"What was that!" Radien asked.  The saw several
arrows fly through the broken window.

Toshio ran to the window and looked down.  The
Fire Twins had flames in their hands and looked
as sinister as ever.  

"SHIT!" Toshio growled.  "The Ten Stems!" 

"I'll get the girls!" They tore their door open
and knocked on their friends' doors.

Chi came to the door.  "Toshio-chan, what's 
wrong!?" 

"The Ten Stems! They're back!" Toshio told her.
She ran inside, put on some shoes and then
she flew out of the door.  Shiho stuck her head
out of the room just in time to see the rest
of the Signs fly by in their night wear and 
shoes.  

"Hanako!" Akemi yelled.  "Where is Mitsu?" 
He held the child in his arms.  

"She wasn't in bed!" Hanako told him nervously.

"Dammit! She must've gone out by herself! C'mon!
Let's go!" They down the hall and out the door.  

~ 

"Here they come!" the guards yelled.  "Lead them
to the field!" 

As the group ran out, they were forced to follow
the group by chasing them out of the town and
towards the battle field, where Saburo and
the rest of his warriors awaited them.

~

Mitsu stepped out of the bathroom and yawned.  She
looked from side to side and noticed the doors 
to her friends' room were opened. 
"Hey...what's going on?" she asked.

Shiho looked outside her door and turned pale.
"The Ten Stems came!" Shiho hissed. "They
thought you went out to fight them alone!"

"WHAT!?" Mitsu gasped.  "Shit!" She ran into
her room and grabbed her staff from behind the 
door. With a serious look on her face, the
girl ran out the door barefoot.

"HURRY!" Shiho yelled from her window.

*Oh, God!  Please HELP ME!* she prayed as
she followed the tracks into the woods.  

It wasn't soon when she caught sight of 
blurts of light and heard screams coming 
from a field inside the forest.  

As she ran into the area, she saw her
friends in the middle, surrounded by
hundreds of guards and the Ten Stems. 

In the center, Hanako stood with Taro crying
in her arms.  As she desperately tried to keep
the child calm, the older Signs were using
their best powers and failing.  

"WATER CAPRICORN!" Chi yelled.  A huge
wave of a goat appeared behind her and
spiraled toward the soldiers, many of
them scattered and only few were harmed.

"Electric SHOCK!" Radien yelled.  He sent
bolts of electric blue lighting at the
guards but only managed to hold them off 
one at a time.  And the guards were in the
hundreds.  

"Golden Stars!" Clare's stars were very 
effective.  They sliced the men to
shreds, letting them fall and bleed to
their doom.  But the Stems had begun
their attack.  

"Fire Arrows!" Kira yelled.  As bursts of
flaming arrows were sent through the
air, the Water Twins sent waves of
water at them before they reached their
intended targets. "NO!"

Toshio and Akemi stood face to face with
the leader, King Saburo.

"Well," Saburo told Toshio.  "It seems
that I have you out numbered.  Why don't 
you hand over the baby?"

"Do you think we're that STUPID?" Toshio
yelled.  "Take your worthless carcass
back to hell, Saburo!"

"That's not very nice," Saburo replied.
"And you teamed up with his royal highness,
the Prince of Pirates."

Akemi grinned his teeth together. "Fuck off."

"TOSHIO-KUN! AKEMI-KUN!" a young voice yelled.
The two turned around and saw Hanako and
the others begin to get pinned against the
soldiers.  

"Toshio," Akemi told him.  "I'll go!"

"No," Toshio answered.  He motioned his head
toward Saburo's sword holder.  "That's the
Sword of Darkness.  I have no power against it."

Akemi narrowed his eyes and nodded. "I see."
Toshio turned back and sent energy balls
flying toward the attackers.  He took his
place beside Chi and held her hand and squeezed
it. 

"Toshio, there's too many!" she told him. "Where
is Mitsu!" 

"Probably lying dead somewhere." Mizunoe hissed.
The group turned toward the Stems. 

"Prepare for the Jikkan," Tsuhinoto told the 
Stems.  They surrounded the Signs and gathered
their energy.  "JIKKAN!" The energy gathered
from the Stems were shot forward, straight
at the group.  

"AHHH!!!"  Akemi turned his head around from
his sword fight with Saburo.  "Oh-no!"

"Are you backing out of this fight, Akemi?"
Saburo asked bitterly as black light shot
into the sky.  

"NEVER!" he growled.  *Mitsu...where are you?!*

"NO!!!" Mitsu screamed.  Her friends glowed as
the dark energy was sent through their very 
souls with searing pain.  Mitsu's body began
to spark and she lost control.  "TATSU!" She
screamed her sacred animals name and she
body glowed with pulsating white energy.  Her
hair floated up and turned pale was her body
sparked with lightning.  "AHHH!!!"  A blood
freezing scream cut through the fighting
as a huge blast of energy exploded from Mitsu's
body.  

"MITSU!?" the group yelled.  

"I knew she'd never leave us!" Hanako smiled.  
The purple haired girl flew across the 
soldiers and landed by her friends.  

With pupilless eyes, she looked at Chi.  
"Prepare yourself.  This won't hurt." she
stated, her voice only an echo.  Mitsu's
body floated above them, holding her staff
horizontally above her head.  

"What the hell is that!?" voices yelled from
below her.  

Mitsu's body gathered energy and the dark
clouds above them gathered in a circle
around her. Then, her body was surrounded
with white lightning and she pointed her 
staff down at the soldiers.  "Fry." 

From the far distance away, the two sword
fighters turned back as they saw bolts of
pure energy destroy Saburo's army easily.

"What the fuck was that!?" Saburo gasped.
He abandoned Akemi and began to move
back to where his army was.

"Mitsu." Akemi mumbled. He shook himself
mentally  and followed.

"FRY YOU BASTARDS!" Mitsu yelled.  The
Stems were staggering away from the girl
who controlled energy.  Almost all of
Saburo's army that he had brang were 
dead.  Fried by the heat of the energy or
ripped to shreds by burning lightning.

"MY ARMY!" Saburo growled.  Dead bodies
littered the ground, blood flowed down the
mounds of corpses and trickled down to 
to his feet.  

"Sire! Come quickly! You must leave this
evil place!" a guard yelled.  

Saburo remained in his place.  "WHO 
has done this!" He looked at the group
in the center.  They were covered by
white light originating from a glowing
female body above them.  

Mitsu's body began to relax and she floated
down.  Chi grabbed her friend and hugged
her.  "Mitsu! Are you all right!? Mitsu!" 

"I'm...okay..." Mitsu told her.  "Just a little
dizzy, that's all." She leaned against her
staff for support.  Akemi ran over the dead 
bodies of the fallen soldiers and stopped.  
Mitsu's short night gown was torn in many places
and her hair was back to normal.  

"God," he mumbled.  "What happened to you?" 

"Akemi!" Saburo growled.  "I KNEW this was all
your doing.  You mother fucker." 

Akemi stood in front of his friends protectively.
"Do you still want to fight?"

"I'll end you here." Saburo growled.

"Step away from us!" Mitsu growled.  She gently
pushed Chi's worried arm from her shoulders
and stepped in front of Akemi.  "I'm warning you!"

"What?" Saburo mumbled.  He stared at her
figure.  "Who are you?"

"I SAID STEP AWAY!" a cool breeze swept through
the bloody field and everyone's hair was lifted.
Mitsu's hair began to float and her eyes took
the glowing, pupilless look again.  Her body
glowed and her dress was nothing up a
silhouette against her glowing body.  

Saburo smiled.  "Well, Akemi and Toshio.  We shall
settle this some other time.  And Miss Mitsu..."
His eyes raped her body as she shook in a feeling
of filth.  "I shall see you again." 

Black smoke coiled around the warlord's body and
disappeared with the wind.  The dead bodies
piled around them began to vanish like smoke.  
Hanako and Taro looked at Mitsu.  She knelt down
tiredly.  With a slight pleading look she smiled
at Hanako.

"Hanako-chan..." she whispered, her breaths
getting deeper.  "Carry Taro...back..." Her body
fell on the ground with a thud.

"She's energy drained again..." Radien said.  He 
and Clare had their arms around each other,
supporting each other.  Toshio took Chi's hand.  

"How is everyone?" Toshio asked.  

"I'm fine.  Hanako and Taro managed to be shielded
from most of the fire shot at us." Kira reported.

"We should head back before it gets too cold."
Clare told them.  Everyone nodded.  

Akemi stood up, Mitsu's limp body in his arms. 
"I'm perfectly fine," he said bitterly, as if
angry at himself.  "I should've been here to
protect you guys like Toshio.  Instead I went
off to sword play Saburo."

"Akemi, I made you stay.  We both knew I didn't 
stand a chance against Saburo if he held the
Sword of Darkness.  You have the Sword of
Light.  You would have been able to fight, if 
not beat him." Toshio explained.

"I still should've protected Taro.  He is
my first priority." Akemi told them.  He began
to walk toward the hotel again.  *And 
Mitsu is my second.*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"They BEAT us..." Saburo told his sister back
at the palace.  "Raku...have you seen or heard
about this girl who can float and controls
lightning?"

Raku looked up from her throne and cocked an
eye brow.  "I see...you've seen Tatsu."

"The dragon?" Saburo asked.  His older sister
nodded.

"According to the information I found, Tatsu
is the scared animal of the uniformed purple
girl.  When her emotions are too strong,
such as anger or fear, the spirit of the dragon
will absorb her and give her power to help
her." Raku told him.

"All the other Signs can do that too, can't
they?" Saburo asked.  He leaned forward with
his hand on his chin.

"Yes, Hitsuji, the goat is also that powerful
when emotion gets in the way.  So is Ne, the 
rat, and Taro the Tiger.  Fire and Water 
signs were often the most powerful.  But Tatsu
was VERY sacred to the ancients, so she is
very powerful." Raku explained.

"And beautiful..." Saburo mumbled.  He smiled.
"Do you think it is possible for one of the
Signs to turn over?"

"To our side?" Raku asked, surprised.  "Well,
I think so but-"

"Thank you, Raku, that is enough." Saburo
told her.  He held his hand up to silence
her and then stood up.

Raku narrowed her eyes at her younger brother
and shook her head. "I wonder what he's up
to."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chi and Hanako sat on either side of Mitsu's 
bedside.  Unknown to the unconscious, it had
been several days after the battle with
Saburo and they had moved to about one to 
two hundred miles away from the town.  

"Is she awake yet?" Kira asked.  She slid
into the tent and gave Chi a warm damp towel.
They pressed it against the girl's cold
forehead.  

"No...she hasn't even moved..." Hanako 
whispered sadly.  "She said she wouldn't leave
us..."

Chi looked at Hanako.  "Never under estimate
Mitsu.  She's like a cat.  She has a lot of 
lives and just keeps coming back."

"Whether she is a cat or not," Kira told her,
"I'm still worried.  She been in a coma
for a while now.  We know she's alive, but
it's when will she awaken that's the 
question." 

"Hey," a quiet voice said.  Toshio put his
head into the tent.  "Chi, Hanako, Kira, it's
time for dinner.  Come on...she'll be fine."

With a little urging, he coaxed the girls
to come out.  Quietly, the group sat around
the camp fire, eating their food.  Akemi
feed Taro his baby food.  

Later that night, Toshio managed to get
Chi with him to go for a walk along the 
river bank to get her mind off things for
a little while.  

Clare and Radien also went for a walk. 
Kira and Shiho had gone to sleep early and
Hanako was baby-sitting Taro by the river
side.  

Akemi sat by the camp, tending the camp 
fire half heartedly.  His eyes wandered
from the flickering flames to the tent 
where Mitsu had laid.  

Making sure no one was looking, he left
his fire tending and went towards the 
tent.  Akemi went inside and sat by her
cold figure.  "Why are you so cold?"
he asked her quietly.  "Why don't you
wake up?  Taro has been crying for you
and Hanako's been worried.  Chi's even
worse.  Why do you do this to them?"

No answer. He turned his head away and
took her cold hands.  "Why do you want
us to worry about you?" He looked at her.
"I hate you so much.  I want to mean it,
but I can't.  You can be such a bitch
at times.  We're always arguing, but I
wouldn't give you up for the world."

No answer again.  He stared at her.  He
closed his eyes and squeezed her hands.
"I guess I should tell you that Taro
and Chi and the rest of them aren't the
only ones that love you.  But," Akemi
told her.  "I don't like you THAT much."
As he looked at her, it seemed like
her lips smiled for a second.  

Warmth flooded Mitsu's face as soft lips
gave her back some energy.  With the 
little strength she had, her right arm
went around her kisser and pulled his 
head down more.  

Eternity passed and they parted.  Mitsu
opened her eyes and groaned.  "Oh no. It's
YOU."

Akemi smiled and wrapped his arms around
her.  He pulled her shaky body against 
him and held her tightly.  "I'm so glad
you're awake," He told her.  "I won't tell
any one if you won't."

"Deal..." Mitsu mumbled.  She smiled and
closed her eyes.  *JERK.*

Akemi kissed her head and rocked her gently.
*BITCH.*


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author's Note: 
You're thinking: "NO! Len-chan has gone
romantic on us! NO!!!" Well, it's not REALLY
romantic, it's just a weird and twisted
relationship.  And don't think that, oh yeah,
they'll end up together, but Mitsu ends up
---Wait! I'm not going to tell you what happens.

Now here's what happens during the next
chapter.  (yeah...that was stupid...)
Ushi & I ~> Ox and Boar are found, Kira
has found her man, has he found his
lady.  
Kira: HE BETTER HAD!
Eric: Umm...uh...well....
Len-chan: Psst! Just say yes and you'll get
	out of it...
Eric: YES!
Kira: Oh yeah? Why I ougghta! It better be
	with me you jerk-off! :::kicks and 
	punches:::
Len-chan: Hehehe...I mean...Hey you two...
	stop it...:::sweatdrop:::
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~