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Chapter 006-New Girl

Rai, Mina, and Artemis woke up at about the same time, a little while after Rai's mom had come in.
"Uhh... Good Morning, Rai..." Artemis said quietly.
"Mornin'." Rai said blearily, rubbing his eyes with his left hand. His right was being held by an extremely cute-looking half-asleep Artemis.
"Is the tuna ready yet?" Mina asked, looking up from her spot covering the kids' feet. "I'm hungry."
"You're always hungry." Rai said, sitting up so he could pet Mina. The boy yawned as he did so, while Artemis went into the bathroom to change into clean clothes for the day. "Day in, day out, all you wanna eat is Tuna."
"I know." Mina said smugly, rubbing her head against Rai's hand. "But I like Tuna, and it's not bad for me."
"Don't you think you should have a little variety in your diet?" Rai asked.
"No. Unless you wanna give me Salmon or Trout or another type of fish." Mina replied.
"I should have seen that one coming." Rai muttered, grinning good-naturedly. Mina laughed and bounded into the closet to change. Rai changed in the room itself, smiling the whole time.

About an hour later, school began, and it started off ordinarily enough. A few people seemed to be stalking Mina, but quit after an extremely dark glare from Rai was sent in their general direction. Quite possibly the most boring class of the day was Science.
"And so the atomic number of an atom is equal to the number of Protons in that atom, and when arranged in the common way known as the 'Periodic Table', you find that elements in vertical rows have similar properties, and make the same sorts of bonds--" the teacher was saying.
"I already know all this stuff. I may be amnesic, but that doesn't mean I'm stupid." Mina said, her tail flicking around.
"Same for me, minus the part 'bout Amnesia." Rai muttered. Artemis nodded as well. The two full-humans had learned this stuff ages ago.
"Hey, teacher!" somebody yelled.
"What?" the teacher asked, turning around irritably.
"Do atoms get married? You said they make bonds. And if they do, how do they make baby atoms? It seems kind of hard with their general shape!" the person said. More then a few kids laughed, the main characters of this story not being among them.
"Actually, Mr. Rodriguez, the Law of the Conservation of Matter teaches us that in a reaction, there will always be the same amount of atoms as there started out with. There are never any new atoms, nor any that disappear." the teacher replied, turning back to the board.
"Idiots..." Rai muttered. "Always going off topic so they don't really have to learn... Why I oughta..." The boy quickly pulled out a book, and Artemis looked at the cover, then stared at it.
"'One Thousand And One Practical Jokes'." Artemis read aloud. "Why do you have something like that on you? And where'd you get it?"
"It's useful. The library." Rai replied, flipping to a specific section. "I ought to memorize the ones in this section."
"What section?" Mina asked, poking her head over Rai's shoulder. "Oh. 'Jokes To Play On Annoying Class/Workmates'. Sounds useful."
"It probably will be." Rai muttered, flipping through the pages.
"Mr. Aquarius!! What is the name of a diagram that only shows the electrons in the outer layer of an atom!?" the teacher asked suddenly.
"The Electron Dot Diagram." Rai replied, turning the page in his book. The teacher glared at him for a moment.
"Ms. Mina, what element reacts best with Neon?" the teacher asked. Mina didn't have a last name, after all.
"Um... None. Neon doesn't react with anything, it's a Noble Gas." Mina replied.
"I guess you kids are paying attention after all..." the teacher muttered, sighing. "Ms. Helio, would you rather have Hydrogen or Helium in a blimp, and why?"
"Helium, because it doesn't explode like Hydrogen does." Artemis replied. The teacher nodded and questioned several more students, and they all failed.
"Just my luck... Three geniuses and twenty-seven illiterates." the teacher muttered.

Later, when Lunch rolled around...
"Tuna!" Mina squealed happily, biting open the can. Both Rai and Artemis laughed, Mina was being her typical single-minded self. "Tuna is all I'll ever need to eat."
"We know." Rai said, munching on a sandwich. "You've only told us four hundred and eighty nine times already."
"...You counted?" Mina and Artemis asked.
"Yup."
"......................................................"
"What!? It's just one of those things I keep track of!" Rai said indignantly. He was silent for several more moments, thinking hard. "I'm forgetting something... I just don't know what."
"That would be me, runt." a deep voice said from behind Rai. "I warned you not to sit in this part of the lunchroom."
"Oh, now I remember." Rai said, snapping his fingers. "I meant to go get a book from the library."
"Are you listening to me!?" the deep-voiced kid yelled.
"No, not really. Go away." Rai replied, digging through his backpack.
"Okay, no more warnings, brat." the kid said. He aimed a punch straight at Rai's head, but the boy merely titled his head and avoided it.
"Doofus. Did you really think that I would never have taken self-defense classes?" Rai asked, turning his head so he could look at the deep-voiced bully from the side of his eyes. "Now go away, you're being nothing but a bother."
"I don't think so, brat." the intruder replied. "I'm in charge here. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, disagrees with me."
"Except for me." Rai countered, smirking. The unwelcome visitor was silent for several moments, stumped. "Like I said, go away. Or do you want four inch claws digging into you?"
"What?" the unnamed kid asked. Mina laughed and raised a paw. "Erm... I just remembered! One of my friends wanted to talk to me!!" With that, he ran off. Rai and Mina burst out laughing, their bluff having worked perfectly.
"That went better then I thought it would've." Rai said, seeing the kid exit the lunchroom. "You know, Mina, you're really useful to have around at times like this."
"I know." Mina said smugly.
"W-what if he report you?" Artemis asked.
"He'll probably be laughed at. The staff of this school know Mina doesn't have claws anymore." Rai said, smiling. "His bad luck he was dumb enough to fall for it."
"Oh..." Artemis said quietly. "I... Guess you're right..."
"You sound like you don't exactly approve of us bluffing instead of getting into a fight." Mina observed.
"N-not at all!!" Artemis said, looking confused. "...W-what makes y-you s-say that?"
"You're stammering more and you have long pauses in between words." Rai replied. "If you don't want us to do it, just ask us not to. Or if it's not that, then what is it?"
"I... I'm sorry..." Artemis said. She moved off a moment later, very quickly.
"What's with her?" Mina asked, blinking.
"...I don't know, but I'm sure gonna find out." Rai said, getting that stubborn look in his eye. He put his mostly uneaten lunch back into its bag and hurried out into the hall. After a moment of searching, Rai found exactly what was wrong.
"Listen, girl. Did you get it or not?" a towering kid said, snarling in Artemis' face. The girl, slowly, shook her head. "Why not!?"
"I-I just couldn't do it!" Artemis cried.
"Fine." the towering kid said, crossing his arms. "Then that little brat is gonna get what's coming to him." he turned away.
"N-no! Please, don't hurt him!" Artemis yelled.
"Quiet!" the towering kid snarled. "And why shouldn't I go hurt him? You didn't bring me what I wanted, so why should I not hurt him!"
"I-i-i-i--" Artemis stammered out.
"I'm waiting." the towering kid said fiercely.
"I love Rai!! Please, just don't hurt him!! I'll do anything!" Artemis managed to get out.
"...Anything?" the towering kid asked, a strange look upon his face. "Hmm..."
"That's enough!" a new voice, a female one, yelled. A black blur came spinning out of almost nowhere and slammed into the towering kid, who had been reaching towards Artemis. "Leave the poor girl alone!!"
"Who the heck are you!?" the towering kid asked, turning to look at the newcomer. This new girl had both black hair and black clothes, and that's not all. She was also...
"Hey, she's just like me!" Mina said, delighted to see the cat ears and the cat tail on this new girl. "Wow, she looks so cool! Even if her skin is so pale it's freaky..."
"The name's Terra, you big oaf!!" the black-haired catgirl yelled, whacking the tall bully on the head as hard as she could. "Now stop bullying her and get your butt outta here or you'll find yourself with a tattoo on your chest made by my claws!" with that, the girl popped out her claws. Four inch weapons shot out from her hands and pressed against the bully's chest. "Get my point?"
"Y-y-you freak!!" the towering kid yelled, backing off. Terra brought up one of her hands and licked a claw. Eyes wide, the towering kid ran, and Terra turned to Artemis.
"Are you okay?" the new catgirl asked.
"Y-yes... T-thank you." Artemis said, bowing to Terra, her face crimson.
"Good. You need to learn to stick up for yourself against guys like him... Besides, I've heard about this Rai guy. Haven't you heard about what he's done?" Terra asked.
"N-no..." Artemis squeaked out.
"Geez, what sort of isolated world do you live in?" Terra asked. "If this is the same Rai Aquarius guy, who as I understand it goes here, he's quite capable of defending himself. He's the reigning world champion in several sword styles and normal martial arts styles."
"You are?" Mina asked Rai, looking at him with wide eyes.
"What? I practiced." Rai said. "And it was fun, too." he added, looking pleased wiith himself.
"...You never told me!"
"You never asked." Rai replied.
"H-he's that good?" Artemis asked. "...He never said a word about it..."
"You mean you actually know him?" Terra asked Artemis, blinking. "Cool! What's he like? Does he live far from here? How big is his house? Have you ever been inside of it?"
"Um... He's usually really nice. He doesn't live that far from here. The house is huge. And of course I've been inside of it, I live there." Artemis replied.
"What!?!? How'd you manage to be able to do that!?" Terra asked. "Oh, no fair!!"
"Um... I'm his fiancee..." Artemis said quietly. But it wasn't quietly enough.
"YOU'RE WHAT!?!?" Terra shrieked. "No fair no fair no fair!!! I wanted to claim him!! He can teach me all sorts of stuff about fighting!!!! ...And you seem really at ease around me, even though I'm a cat-girl..." she added, completely changing the subject.
"Oh, that's because Mina lives with us, too." Artemis said.
"Mina?" Terra asked, her eyes widening a little bit.
"Me." Mina said, padding around the corner. Terra looked at her for a moment, then her expression changed to one of delight.
"MINA!!" Terra squealed, tackle-hugging the catgirl. "It's you! I can't believe I found you! After all this time, here you were staying with the coolest guy in the world! What happened to you? Why didn't you ever call me? Are you still obsessed with Tuna? What about--"
"Hey, why are you asking me all these questions?" Mina asked. "Do I know you?"
"Of course you know me!!" Terra yelled. "Are you amensic or something now?"
"Yes." Mina replied, sitting down on the floor. Terra plopped down next to her a moment later.
"Oh." Terra said, looking annoyed. "Stupid Amnesia... No wonder you don't recognize me..."
"So who are you?" Mina asked.
"I knew you were gonna ask that..." Terra said. "Mina, I'm your sister!!"
"WHAT!?!?" Mina yelped. Artemis scooted away, looking furtively over her shoulder, and ran right into Rai.
"Oh, s-sorry." the girl said, not realizing who it was she had bumped into. That took several moments. When she finally did notice, the girl turned bright red.
"Artemis..." Rai said quietly, looking at Terra and Mina. "...Why didn't you tell me he was bothering you?"
"I-I wanted to take care of it myself.... It doesn't feel right to ask you for help with everything." Artemis said quietly, her eyes getting moist. "I-I'm sorry... I should have told you... I just--" the girl managed to get out, before Rai calmly put a finger on her lips to indicate she should be quiet.
"I don't mind taking care of anybody who's bothering you." Rai said calmly. "You can ask me for help anytime you want to, about anything you need help with. It's not a bother to me to be helping you, okay?" the boy asked. Artemis, slowly, nodded. "Good." the boy replied. Artemis quickly hugged Rai, since she couldn't think of anything better to do. By now, Mina had been let up by Terra, and was rapidly being informed about her past. "I want you to tell me if you ever have any problems, okay? Nobody has the right to try and force you to do what they want, and threats to hurt me are completely empty. I'm quite capable of defending myself, even against opponents with knives and guns while I'm unarmed."
"R-right..." Artemis said. A few tears slid down her face as she hugged Rai harder. The boy smiled fondly and hugged her back with one arm, while several students passing by gave him extremely jealous looks. The boy ignored them.


After school, Rai went into his bedroom and immediately logged on to his computer. Mina was trying to convince his mom to let Terra stay with them. Rai didn't mind, as long as she didn't come and sleep in his room, too. One cat-girl being around was hard enough to deal with, two would be a nightmare.
"Um... Rai?" Artemis asked, poking her head into the room.
"Hm?" the boy asked, turning to look at her. The girl quietly slid in and sat down on the bed, a little flushed.
"Um... T-thank you." she said. "For caring so much..."
"Oh, that." Rai said, a smile tugging at the edges of his lips. "It's okay. You deserve it, after all."
"No I don't..." Artemis said quietly. "I can't even stand up for myself. I rely on you for a lot more then I should, but you don't seem to mind at all."
"That's because I DON'T mind at all." Rai replied, moving his chair over to the bed so he was next to Artemis. "Don't ever be afraid to ask for help if you need it. And don't let others bully you around to get what they want, either. Just be yourself." he said. "The only advice I can ever really give is to do what you think is right, and to never regret your actions. Reflect on them, yes. Regret them, no. And never lie to yourself, that's bad."
"Okay... Sounds like good advice."
"Well, of course it does, it IS good advice." Rai said, smiling. Artemis laughed, feeling a lot better now.
"Thanks." The girl said, pecking Rai on the cheek before walking out of the room. Rai's face turned red, and he was glad Artemis hadn't seen.

Several minutes later, the boy had two more guests in his room... Or, technically, one.
"Yahoo!! She can stay!!" Mina yelled, bounding into the room. She immediately jumped onto the bed and curled up, looking very pleased with herself.
"Good. Where's she sleeping?" Rai asked.
"Right next door." Mina replied happily. Terra padded in a moment later and jumped up on the bed, right next to Mina.
"...You don't have any punching bags around, do you?" Terra asked. "I feel violent."
"Gym. Down the stairs, right hallway, third door on the left." Rai replied absentmindedly. "Hmm... Pretty soon, this house is gonna be turned into a world-famous catgirl shelter."
"Really!?" Mina and Terra asked eagerly.
"...I was being sarcastic."
"Dangit..." Mina muttered, looking put-out. "Stinker."
"Oh, come on, Mina. You'll feel better after you beat the crap out of a punching bag!" Terra said, heading out the door. Mina followed, and Rai could have sworn he heard her say 'Punching bags can crap? I didn't know that.'
"Catgirls..." Rai muttered, hiding a grin. "Funny people, they are.
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I beat cha!!myew!!Go terra!!!!=^^=

if it was in a boo kform, i whould have read al lthe chapters you amde in abotu a hour or less, i lvoe books heart

Blork: I see... I read Harry Potter 5 in less then 12 hours..

Kit: Nyow? *Pokes*

i didnt read the fith one yet, but i read the order of the phonix in about... 5 hours mabe yless mabey a little bit more