"How about if we go home?" Susanne mumbled.

Roger shot her a Look. "It took long enough to walk here from the Mori, and add to that the time to takes to get from the Mori to London. And it's not particularly safe on the streets either here or in London once it gets late. We'll stay at a place here in town."

"Fine," Susanne said cooly, "You're paying."

"Don't worry," he returned. "I brought enough money to handle even you."

"Oh, really?"

"No need to test it."

Susanne remembered Anaera and Orpheus. They were standing off to the side, engaged in their own conversation, but occasionally glancing over at Susanne and Roger. "What about them?"

"I dunno how much money they've got--"

"No, I mean, maybe we should stay together."

Roger shifted uneasily. "You will have to fight her, you know. It's not wise to stay with her."

Susanne looked at Anaera, just as Anaera turned to look at Susanne. Susanne glanced at Roger, then walked over to Anaera. "I think we should stay together," she said.

Anaera said nothing, and tilted her head to the side, as if in question.

"I mean, I think we could handle things better if we worked together. You watch my back, I'll watch yours. And personally, I'd like someone to talk to besides Roger." She looked over at the man. "Who'd have thought a rock star would be so uptight?"

"I AM your Guardian, you know. It's my job to keep you out of trouble," he cut in.

"I'll keep myself out of trouble. You keep other people from getting in trouble with me." She turned back to Anaera, ignoring Roger. "So how 'bout it?"

Anaera paused, then smiled and nodded. "Alright."

"Good! Now, Roger wants us to get a room somewhere..."



"I think you'd better reconsider how much money it takes to please me, Roger," Susanne said, surveying the room. "I mean, I would at least like a bathroom with this room here. A real bed might be nice, too. But nooo, we're sleeping on mats. And if nature calls, we have to go outside. What is this, the wild west?"

"You'll find a pillow and blanket in your HammerSpace. Now stop complaining and go to sleep."

Susanne bitterly searched around and pulled out her old pillow and blanket and laid down, suddenly realizing how tired she was...



Susanne sat up. Wait... she had gone to sleep in that hotel type place, sleeping on a mat... and here she was, in her bed at home. It had been months since she had seen it... had this all been a bad dream?

"No, not exactly," a voice said.

"What the--" Susanne looked around frantically in the dark. "Who's there?"

Then she saw a faint purple glow by the window. Slowly, a form took shape and was silhouetted by the glow. Then, the glow faded, and Susanne was left looking at...

"You're... you're..."

"Hai, so desu."

"Hunh?"

"I said that's right. Mental note. Insert knowledge of Japanese language. Well, come to think of it, you've managed to understand a fair amount already. Good job, by the way."

"But you're..."

"Yes, I'm you. Goo goo ga joob. Well, you with a few exceptions. I'm Katherine Susanne, hence your title of Susanne."

"I don't get this."

"It's okay, I hardly understand it, either. But everyone else seemed to be bringing in character-author conversations, so I thought I'd throw in my own. And I'm sure you've got a few questions."

"Gee, how'd ya guess?"

"I'm just cool like that. Like right now, you want to know what the hell is going on."

"That information would be nice."

"Right. Anyway, it's... it's, ah, sort of a game. My friends and I. Well, wait. Ignore that..."

"You're not helping."

"I know, have patience! I'm trying! And don't get smart with me, if it weren't for me you'd never have met George, or Roger, or anyone!"

"You didn't have to introduce Roger. He's a pain in the--"

"It's part of the plot. And remember, guys don't have to be animated to be Bishounen. Give me a chance here."

"Okay," Susanne said, sitting back and crossing her arms. "Go ahead."

"Thank you. Anyway... ah... okay. You know that you're supposed to fight for your bishounen, right? So, yours is Hotohori-sama. Whose reincarnation is Andy. I was going to make them two separate people, but SOMEBODY keeps messing up my plans!"

"Huh?"

"Never mind. Let's just say that there are more forces at work here than just me. Anyway, um... okay, give Roger a chance. He's really cool, actually. He's only being uptight because he's worried about you. You're acting like... well, like a loose cannon."

"How so?"

"Just try calming down a bit. Now, you know that there are others you haven't met yet."

"There are?"

"Yes, remember your other dream?"

"That's another thing, what's with all these dreams? I never used to dream!"

"It's sort of symbolic. The subconscious mind, all that. And I'm working on the creativity thing. Took me forever to think of giving you those ki blasts as a power. And even then, I realize that those aren't especially creative. So, dreams are the only way I can think of to introduce the weird things like this."

"Okay... when can I go back to school? I've got classes, and they are rather important."

"Oh, that's right, I made you responsible... that'd never phase me... anyway, ah... I'll see what I can do, but don't worry too much. If worse comes to worst, you've got the brains to pass the classes, regardless. I made you really book-smart for a reason."

"And what about spring break? Will this be done by then?"

"I've no idea. Personally, I kind of hope so. I know what you're thinking. And don't worry, I haven't forgotten that you have plans. I'll do my best. Anyway, my time's almost up. Okay, fight for Hotohori. Incidentally, one of the other characters is after him, too. Watch out for her. She's not far away. And Andy is Hotohori. You'll need to find him. Hopefully, you can find him first. Tetsuya and Keisuke have been trying to convince him if his past life, but he's rather close-minded. Oh, and narcissistic as hell. But it's kinda cute on him. And he IS really sweet. Worth fighting for. That long, brown hair, chocolate voice..." she sighed.

"Ahem?"

"Oh, right. I'll get a cold shower later... anyways, there it is. Do your best, don't let me down. Oh, and steer clear of Celly and Dion whenever possible! They're nice enough most of the time, but sometimes..." she sighed and shook her head. "It probably wouldn't be fair to tell you about Terra. Maybe later. For now, though--" she looked at her watch -- "I haven't eaten today, and if I don't get over to the dining hall in the next five minutes, I'll miss dinner, too. Bad thing. Ja ne!"

All Susanne could do was watch the purple light fade, and she was once again in her darkened room. The VCR clock said it was 2am, but it was notoriously untrustworthy. She was still tired, though, so she laid her head back down and went back to sleep.