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Rivera felt her face suddenly grow hotter. Her pale cheeks quickly tinted pink in the shade of light cherryblossom. Both of her eyes shot into a green so light it was almost white. In that moment, Usagihana was reading her chaotic energy, which rose steeply before dropping down just as far, then rising back and forth. The android knew exactly what that meant... but she didn't tease either of them about the kiss. Now wasn't the time to act like that.

Rivera smiled up at Kira and nodded. She was silent, but her eyes returned everything he said back to him. Even as she walked through the door, she didn't let go of his hand.

((Next post in the hospital?))

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Kai opened the door to Rivera's dorm. Boys weren't allowed to stay in Wingardia. They were supposed to be in Rakiri... Kai was an exception, because he was Rivera's personal body guard and such. As a result, he given permission to have his room within Rivera's dimension-expanded dorm. He was given a room in Rakiri as well for his studies while Rivera was in class or working on one of her private projects which didn't require someone to haul her out of a fire... Hey, he was a student too, wasn't he? Everyone needed somewhere to study. So in reality, his own dorm wasn't much more than his office. He needed it too. Rivera didn't know how to take care of all her own paperwork. And because he had nothing better to do, he usually volunteered to fill in boxes on all her medical updates, et cetera.

Usagihana appeared to be calling Rivera through mental tracework. "Konbanwa, Rivera-san... yes. And Kai just came in. When's the sakura picnic? ... You have a job request from codename 'kleptos' ... they say it's an emergency, though-- ... They threatened to steal the X-15 and the Min HP asa, if you're wondering... should I tell them that your boy friend will beat them to a pulp if they try any-- That works better... get well soon... like tomorrow. Oyasuminasai." There was a small click as the communication broke off. Usagihana was glowing with her function analysis lights in the darkness of the room. "Well, Kai. Aren't you going to turn the lights on? ... Kai-kun?"

Kai was sitting against the closed door with a world-weary look on his face. "Gimme a sec to get back up... I think I need to get some sleep..."

"I know you need to get some sleep. It's been six days since you last had any." Usagihana tapped her foot on the table loudly. The snap lights came on at her electrical impulse.

"Did Rivera get an assignment?" Kai heaved himself up and walked to the sink to get a cup of water. His face was as calm and as serene as before. "What did this Kleptos want her to target?"

"Some wierd gangmaster that's been controlling the black market. It's all kinda dumb... But they think Rivera-san is probably the only person capable of killing him without leaving any traces. Her bullets can never be traced, you know that, right?"

"I knew they exploded into tiny fragments... so I guess no one can ever find them..." He took a sip from his glass, "But that's the X-15, isn't it? I don't know much about her Min HP asa. It's her silencer isn't it?"

Usagihana scratched at a bug on her ear with her large hind foot. "They're hollowpoints, but the gun's so damn small. The bullets look too much like BBs, so they can't quite be traced." She sighed. "Doesn't really matter. Rivera rejected the request. I'll have to post that she's on sick leave on the request page... gimme a sec. I'll leave Kleptos a message..." Kai wasn't really listening, he had walked over to the couch and had been dozing in in since she talked about the rejected request. Atlanteans didn't snore because of a unique nasal cavity structure. It was hard to determine whether or not he was asleep. Usagihana was dialing through her personal contact device again.

"Hello, Kleptos? This is Usagi again... sorry, she rejected the request an she said '******** off with all due respect'-- AH! She said it, not me! It's really not my fault! Eek...! Uh, well... she's on sick leave... it's not a cold... it's not chicken pox either. She has a severe chest wound, it's not like she can go active with that in the way, right? ... She's a part time assassin and a STUDENT... A STUDENT... NOT a miracle worker. Oh, I'm her personal A.I.D. Uh... that's Artifically Intelligent Droid. Oh, I didn't mean to take it literally when you said 'Who do you think you are?'. I was just trying to answer your ques-- okay! I'll leave! Sheesh!" The click marked that she had hastily hung up. "Damn fricken idiot... Bet you could probably rip him into pieces, eh, Kai? ... Kai-kun?"

Kai didn't answer. He had fallen asleep on the couch with a Hello-Kitty pillow over his head. Usagihana sighed and ran to his room. She emerged dragging a navy blue blanket with her. Jumping lightly from the ground onto the back of the sofa, she pulled the blanket onto him in her jaws. "Sweet dreams, Kai-kun. You've been working too hard..." She began to see a similarity between Kai and Rivera. Neither of them had good perception of limits. Rivera was worse than Kai, it seemed... either that or only Rivera didn't know her limits. Kai probably just ignored them. With a little chirp, Usagihana jumped onto Rivera's desk and plugged herself into the AC adapter-recharger. It was about time she took a nap as well.

Kai was awakened when he heard the door open and a sudden distortion wave knocked him back down into the sofa. Something horrendous had happened. His sensitivity to distortion waves was an inverted form of Rivera's sensitivity. He remembered when they both felt their first distortion waves. The captain of the guard had been with them and he had to haul both of them back to their feet. Rivera had described it as a sinking feeling, like a stone had been dropped into her torso and she was falling, like she was going to be sick and probably faint. She had said that it hurt like a strong humming in her bones. Kai had felt it differently, like a pressure in him about to burst through his head, as if something was hurtling him into the sky at a dramatic speed. It didn't hurt him so much as make him feel like he was going to be slammed against a wall. He got up slowly, getting used the distortion wave. It took him several minutes to recognize that it was coming from Rivera. He could barely recognize her aural emission. the chaotic level in her was ripping her soul energy apart. He immediately came to alert and walked out of the living room briskly.

He knelt by Rivera's side and touched a hand to her forehead. Rivera opened her eyes after several moments. "K...Kai..." Her chaotic level dropped quickly along with her body temperature. "I'm sorry... Kleptos--" Kai stopped her before she could go any further. He unbuckled the straps to her jacket and began to inspect her wounds.

"Kamichama, you are reckless. I'll let Kira explain everything. At least he won't exaggerate or twist anything. You have no excuses at this point, sis." He lifted her right arm and inspected the lightning dragon tattoo. He remembered that she got it on her twelfth birthday. He was there the entire time when they performed the ceremony to initiate her into the ranks of the warriors. He touched a finger to it, then quickly drew away, his eyes wide in shock. The marking was so cold it felt like it was burning. "Usagi-san, how low is her chaotic level?"

Usagihana was displaying her life support on her LCD panel for Kira already, everything seemed to be sped up. "It's at 25%... that's dangerous. Do you want me to raise it?"

"No, keep it as low as possible..." Kai was collecting energy to himself from the outside. Like Rivera, he controlled a continuum as well... the Order Continuum, the inverse of her Chaos Continuum. It was from there he drew his powers. "Hold on a little longer, Kamichama. Don't die on me..." He let his hands hover right above her body and delivered his healing spell. Chaos users have more powerful spells verbally, but Order users are more powerful in silence. Wavelengths add to chaos while silence contributes to order, a simple connection. Rivera's wounds began to clot, healing rapidly.

"No, Kai! Stop!" Rivera snapped to her senses and forcefully raised her own chaotic level to form a barrier between his power and herself. "You'll kill yourself if you try so hard!" She sat up, her eyes stone cold and hard against her wounds. "They're not very bad cuts... Tomorrow night is half moon. I can restore myself then... there is no need for you to heal me..." Slowly, she stood up on stiff and rigid limbs. There was blood on her pants and her t-shirt. One misfortune followed by another. She thought she had gotten away from the criminal underground for sure. She should've known it couldn't be so easy to escape her fate. It had been long preordained that a b*****d of the imperial house will live a long, cursed life. She was certainly on both. Perhaps it was by the love of her unrelated father, the Emperor, that she had found happiness in Kai, Kira and fighting. Rivera placed a hand against the wall and limped to the walk-in closet, selecting a few articles of clothing before walking towards the bathroom. "I'm going to wash off the blood and change..." Her voice was weary and troubled. This was her life, after all. A cursed princess of a dead civilization.

Usagihana followed Rivera and closed the door behind her. Kai sat down on the ground, leaning against the wall when he was sure both of them were out of earshot. "She's actually right. I think I'll die in a few minutes... kidding." He sighed, "What in the world are we going to do with that girl... Kira... I want you to tell me everything that happened. Was it Kleptos? Usagi received a strange phone call last night... so we're both a little suspicious. Did she start emitting divine chaotic energy and de-tile half the campus?"




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Saraneth perched on a tree just outside of the dorms. She was folding a little piece of paper when a small paper crane flapped towards her. The crane perched on her shoulder and whispered to her. Saraneth smiled. Her spies were always good... after all, she made her spies herself, from paper. "So... the Ravenhawk failed against the Gyrfalcon... Kleptos will not be pleased over this news..." A mischievous look played over her face like the shadows of leaves over her skin. "It appears that he can't even prevail over a wounded fledgling who can't even fly yet... too bad for him... let's see how the Kestrel fares against two bigger birds of prey... Mind over muscle, isn't that right?" The origami crane on her shoulder nodded simply. Saraneth slid down the trunk of the tree and looked up towards the sphere that was the dorm. Disguised as a student, she could make it in quite easily. She had even went to the trouble of actually enrolling. "Let's not waste anytime... have you found him?" The crane whispered again and Saraneth smiled even more. The copper haired girl smiled slyly. "Hai... Yukitori-chan no daisetsu no hito ... Kira Tenshi... my next target... We just have to try and get that white-haired hottie out of the way. This should be a piece of cake, neh?" She hadn't planned on the Gyrfalcon having a brother or a... bodyguard, whatever. With a laugh, Saraneth walked towards the roof to plan her moves.

Kai went into his room to rummage in the closet. He was seven feet tall, there wasn't much that would probably fit Kira properly. The smallest thing he could find was a biker vest, which he emerged from the room with and handed it to Kira. "Kleptos is a powerful underground gangmaster. He has hundreds of specialized men at his disposal, whether it be assassins, medics, loan sharks or plain muscle power. He expects the best... so he hired Rivera several times to become the captain of his assassination sector. Lately, her health completely failed her so she refused every request. He didn't want anyone who knew so much about him not work for him... afraid she'll work against him... so he is trying to kill two birds with one stone. He wants to kill her and find an assassin better than she is."

Rivera was still in the bathroom, running her wounds under water and bandaging herself back up with Usagihana's help. Kai listened to the steady sound of running water. "What Rivera did was possibly her second or third most powerful attack mode. Hypermode is only her fourth, maybe fifth best. Who knows what dangerous experimentation she's trained with? It's called the Black Dragon formation, because she draws power from the gods by the black dragon seal on her forearm. It's permitted to only the imperial family... she was the first person in a century and a half to handle the art correctly, perhaps because she has dragon blood in her veins..." Kai sighed, "It gives her immense power but it also takes her into resolve, making her a completely reckless killing machine without perception of limits at all..." He sat down again, his choppy silver bangs hanging over his eyes. "I don't like it that she is using resolve more often to fight until she passes out... but I have to admit, all the research I've done with Usagi-san proves that repeating it so often makes her grow stronger with every session... sadly."

Kai was surprised at Kira's last question. "You? Irresponsible? If you were irresponsible, you wouldn't be staying overnight at the hospital for her, or getting her back here yourself. You're trying your best, of course... actually, you've taken over my job as bodyguard, just about. I can't do much better." He sighed again, "I'm just a researcher now, so I can keep her body running properly... I suppose I'll be her taster in a few hours. Her food is going to come out poisoned at some point in time." He made a face. "Or I'll just cook."

Rivera came out of the bathroom. Her arms were newly bandaged and she was trying to put on widesleeved white shirt with black ribbon trims. "I'll do the cooking. You can't even make a salad." She muttered, if muttering a whisper was possible. "It's not your fault, Kira-kun... you've already done a lot for me. The sheer fact that you exist keeps me alive. If you didn't, I would simply be killed easier... after all, a shield is only stronger when your will to protect is stronger..." She still limped very slightly, but Usagihana's bandaging wasn't bad. "I'll be okay by tomorrow, I can heal myself on halfmoons."

((YES!!! Now Saraneth is going to get you ^^ see you in north courtyard!))

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Rivera stumbled throught the balcony window, holding Kira in her arms. She had crashed into the wall on her first try through the entrance. Her wings folded like paper, exhausted from carrying her burden. She wasn't used to carrying anything heavier than Kairyu... which was probably the heaviest thing she had to carry. Often, she would be practicing hand to hand combat in the gym. When she rested, she would watch the weightlifters and sigh wistfully. Wish I could lift that 25 lb weight...

She placed Kira on her low bed... it was more just like a matress about two inches off the ground in the corner of her room. She wasn't the neatest of people... in fact, her room was usually as much of a wreck as she was after the startest. The fact that you need a clean room for a birthday party had kept her room clean for longer than she thought was possible, especially with the empty rooms... Another reason would probably be the fact that she doesn't often sleep in her dorm. She ended up spending her time sleeping on the rooftop under most occasions.

Her hair was still a strange silver-white shade, pale as moonlight on a clear mirror. Her eyes remained red, however, and her teeth were still knifepoint sharp... she was like a vampiress, almost. Taking a basin from the bathroom, she filled it with roomtemperature water and took a small washcloth with her to the bed side. Gently, she sponged away the blood on his skin and dressed them with gauze bandages... there was a massive stockpile of them in boxes under Kira's bed... Geez, it's hard to tell why with a suicidal combatant like Rivera around.

His wounds didn't look too bad... but to her, a broken arm was 'nothing'. she couldn't tell where his limits were. Whatever they were, she didn't want him hurt anywhere near it. She wanted him to feel better... The light faded from her skin finally, leaving the room dimmer than before, although still lit by the lamp on her desk. Rivera felt her sight grow dimmer and blurrier until she couldn't see even the stars in the sky, nor the moon that gave her power. Not even when she lifted up her white hair could she see the moonlight reflected off of it. She was blind without her magic.

Standing up, she felt her way about by touch and drew a set of pajamas from the closet. Her clothes were completely torn up and useless after that fight... She toss her shirt and jacket aside, then pulled off her shoes and her jeans. The sleeveless nightgown was made of a thin, light material. It was a slightly translucent black, edged with lace on the hems. Rivera drew it over her head and tied the ribbon straps up the front with clumsy fingers.

She walked back to the edge of the bed and sat on the carpeted ground with her arms on the sheets next to Kira and her head resting on her forearms. Rivera couldn't help smiling a little. Because of her, she seldom saw Kira with anything but a very worried expression. He must look at least a little more relaxed now... She lay her head sideways and watched the darkness, whispering an old lullaby. Rivera was happy to know that Kira was fast asleep. She didn't want him to hear her sing... her voice sounded like the breaths of death.

"A lonely cloud drifts along in the wind, slowly across the blue.
A heavy heart, so filled up with rain, every drop reflecting you.
Carrying on, still riding the breeze. Where to? It hasn’t a clue.
A hurting heart, so heavy with pain, doesn’t know where it’ll go to.

Soaring over the rose strewn ground, don’t know where its mind is bound.
Flying over a thousand miles, looking for your face and your smiles.
Whenever the storm comes falling apart, there’s a cloud of rain in the wind.
Whenever I think of you in my heart, there’s a cloud of rain in the wind."

Rivera felt her voice grow steadily softer and weaker until it was barely audible at all. Her eyes closed and she fell into the deep pool of slumber, blanketed by a curtain of her white hair.


((Just a very random side note... that Rivera doesn't usually wear underthings for her chest. Because 1: She is pretty much flat. 2: It's restricting. 3: They itch. It will probably elucidate problems a few weeks later on... *planning ahead for a very long time!*))

Rivera stirred a little when the blanket was placed around her. She mumbled and just turned over in her sleep. Unfortunately, sleeping in a sitting position did not allow for turning over. Several seconds later, she crashed into the ground with a thud. "... ow." Sitting up, Rivera rubbed her head. Lucky it was carpet, but unlucky that there was an enormous book in the way. "Who left this thing lying around? Oh, yeah... that would be me..." Opening her eyes fully, she realized the could barely make out the fuzzy shapes to where all the furniture was. A blob here for the bed, a blob there for the coffee table... a really big splotch of white for the balcony. Persepectives were really off... REALLY off. Just to reiterate.

"Good morning..." She stood up slowly and stretched. Her eyes still had a bit of the same red light as the night before... a duller red, more like half dried blood now. Her hair had returned to normal... since she didn't get any sudden reactions from him. Wahoot. That was one thing that went right. "You're going to need some asprins... but unfortunately, I'm an idiot who never keeps any pain killers." She walked towards the fridge tripping over the book again on the way there. "WHAT IS WITH THIS STUPID BOOK?!" Rivera seemed to explode one moment and go completely tranquilized the next. Her vision was driving her nuts, but she didn't say anything about it. Hopefully, Kira will just think it's morning clumsiness. She lost just about all of her magical abilities in that one night. Bummer. The only one she had left was the dumbest one she had... it wasn't even one that she really wanted, but she got it on purpose, just incase if she encountered something like yesterday's contretemps with Kestrel. So... it wasn't really a contretemps, since that would be an understatement... it was just a really violent fight.

Nearly slamming into the fridge on the way there, Rivera swerved at the last moment and opened the door. There was a pile of bright red splotches in the corner on the top shelf. She extracted two of the clear, plastic packages. "Do you want some blood? I'm all out of type Os and As though." Rivera didn't really think of the fact that Kira didnt know she was vampiric. She had forgotten to tell him, just... slipped her mind, that's all. Then again, she wasn't VERY vampiric... only when she can't help it, and that was about... once a month? Two months? She thought that the stupidity of that one ability would've worn off by morning... and it hadn't. More of her horrible planning. Taking one package, she sank her small fangs into it delicately. Nothing prevented her from eating with a delicacy except for chocolate... and even then, she still held on to most of her etiquette... although eating slowly was an exception. To her dismay, she found that she still really liked the taste of blood... Double bummer now. Rivera thought that maybe she could've gotten rid of that too.

Rivera took what she thought was AB out of the fridge. She couldn't really tell that well... but she's learned that bags have the type punched into an indent on the edge of the package, so she felt that and confirmed her selection. Still sipping her own package of blood, she handed it to Kira, looking at him a little sadly. The red streaks in her hair had vanished already... She just had to wait for her teeth to go back to normal. "I wish we had morphine..." She began to think, and an idea came to her. This was when she was actually happy with her more idiotic powers. Rivera set down her package.

Placing her hands over his chest, she closed her eyes. "Just relax, I'm going to try something stupid." It was a technique she learned that dragon blooded people can use... but it required lots of entropic power. Luckily, vampire blood collected outside energy quite easily. It was a perfect match... lucky her. If performed correctly, she could scatter the sensation of pain from the body for up to five hours... enough time, usually, for someone to get painkillers. It took her several moments to set up the spell, and then another second or two for it to take place. When she finally took her hands away from his chest, she opened her eyes, not knowing if it worked or now. "I'm sorry if nothing happened... I was never meant to be much of a healer..."