The three paused in front of Tamisha’s house, a weathered but still
decent-looking house from the fifties.  Tamisha said, “Well, this is 
where I get off, kiddoes.  Nice talking with you, Shiko.  See you both
tomorrow.”
	“See you tomorrow,” Alison answered, and Shiko added, “Okay!!  Bai,
Tamisha!”  The black girl walked into her house while the other two 
continued down the street.
	“So, Alison, do you like school so far?” Shiko asked, her black-
irised eyes wide in curiosity.
	Alison shrugged, pushing back her bangs.  “It’s okay so far.  
Nothing to get excited about, but it’s not too bad.”
	Shiko grinned.  “I like this school, too.  My last school didn’t 
have Latin, but I got to take Russian instead, and that was neat!  But I 
love Latin, so I’m glad I can take it here!”
	“Latin’s better than some other languages,” Alison offered.  
“Russian seems like it would be kinda cool to learn…”
	“Oh, it is!”  Shiko flashed a little victory sign.  “I don’t 
remember a lot of it, though, just some of the useful basic stuff.”
	“Like ‘Where’s the bathroom?’”
	“Yep!”  Shiko smiled again - that grin never seemed to leave her 
face.
	“Always a useful thing to know, in any language,” Alison said, 
privately thinking that anyone who could and would correct a teacher’s
pronunciation didn’t need to take Latin.
	“Yes…”  Shiko’s ears seemed to prick up suddenly, and her face 
became thoughtful; she looked like a cat that had just gotten a whiff of
catnip and wanted to find it.
	Alison gave her a questioning look.  “Shiko…?”
	She started.  “Nothing…”  Her face relaxed.  “So, how long have you
taken Latin?”
	“This is my third year,” Alison replied.  “I started when I was a
freshman.”
	Shiko’s eyes widened.  “Wow!  So you’re pretty good, right?”
	Alison shrugged again.  “At least as good as the other students in 
our class…”
	Shiko just smiled and pointed at a rather shabby-looking divided 
house.  “Is that yours, Alison?”
	“Yeah…”  She felt ashamed of it now, blushing with embarrassment 
that Shiko could see how poor she was.
	Shiko’s smile widened, but there was nothing mocking in it.  “Well, 
I’ll see you tomorrow!”
	“See you,” Alison said, a bit more shortly than she wanted, and 
walked up the steps to the door as Shiko kept going down the street.  
After her usual fumbling with the key, she managed to open it and went
inside, dumping her books on the kitchen table.  She looked in the
refrigerator to see if there was anything she could use for a snack.
	Just then her mother walked in from their tiny living room, rubbing 
her temples.  “Hello, dear,” she said, sounding a bit distracted.  “Have 
a good day at school?”
	“There was a new girl in my American History and Latin classes,” 
Alison said, still looking through the fridge.  “She’s very nice and 
cute.”  Weird, too, she thought but didn’t add.
	“That’s nice, dear.  Do you have much homework?”
	“Nope - just some math.  The Latin teacher is just a sub, and she 
didn’t want to give us any…  I think we’re supposed to get a permanent
teacher tomorrow.”
	“Lovely.  I know how much you like Latin…”  Her mother sounded like 
a zombie, Alison thought with an internal shudder, and she quickly 
suppressed the thought.  “We’re going to have spaghetti tonight.  Do you 
want to make sauce, or just open a can?”
	Alison made a face at the thought of canned spaghetti sauce.  “I’ll 
make it.”
	“Fine.  There’s some tomatoes in the fridge, I think…”
	Alison checked, an easy task.  “Yup.”  She took them out, found a
cutting board, and pulled out a knife to begin chopping them up.
	Alison’s mother seemed to relax a little.  “Good… well, I have to go 
out - I’ll be back in an hour or so.  Don’t burn anything down, okay?”  
She gave Alison a half-hearted smile, pushing a strand of honey-blond 
hair away from her pale face.
	Alison smiled back.  “I won’t.”
	“Bye, then.”  She left, and Alison could hear the sounds of their 
old, overused Toyota starting up as she sliced the tomatoes.

	The next day, Shiko caught Alison just as they were both entering 
Latin.  “Hi again!!”  She was as cheerful and hyper as ever, Alison 
noted.
	“Hey, how are things?” she asked.
	“Just great!  I heard we got a new teacher - do you think she’ll 
know more?”  Shiko frowned, but managed to look more cute than angry. 
“Yesterday our teacher didn’t seem to know as much as she should have…”
	“Yeah… I’m sure they have someone better now,” Alison answered, 
walking into the classroom.  Shiko bounced in, going to her seat by 
Alison’s and flopping down there.  Without looking at the person slumped 
at the teacher’s desk, she pulled out a piece of paper and began 
scribbling; Alison looked over her shoulder as she was taking out her 
books, and it looked a little like Greek.  The bell rang without either 
of them looking at their new teacher, who started at the sound and
straightened up.
	“Ahem,” he began, and Alison looked up, interested.  “As you’ve 
probably already guessed, I am your new Latin teacher.”  He was fairly 
tall and well-built, with shoulder-length blond hair in a ponytail and
completely black eyes - to sum up, Alison thought dizzily, he was HOT!  
	At the sound of his voice, Shiko nearly jumped out of her seat.  
She finally looked at the teacher, and her eyes widened almost to the 
size of saucers.  Alison looked at her.  “What’s wrong?”  Shiko was 
still staring, and didn’t seem to hear her.
	The teacher continued.  “My name is Angelico Watcher.  You can call 
me Mr. Watcher, or just plain Watcher.”
	Shiko had begun muttering to herself.  “But I thought he was still - 
oh, Jesu, we’re doomed…”
	Alison waved a hand in front of Shiko’s face.  “Hello…?”
	“Just as long as - but -”  Shiko blinked.  “Oro?”
	“What’s wrong?” Alison asked.  “Do you know this guy?”
	“Well…”  Shiko looked down at her Greek scribbles, seeming 
embarrassed.  “Um - he taught at my last school, too.”  Then she made a
disgusted face.
	Mr. Watcher picked up the attendance sheet.  “Now, if I say your 
name wrong, don’t yell at me - just correct me and I’ll try to remember.”
	Shiko started muttering again.  “I just know they’ll do it, too…”  
She sighed.  “No help for it.  I’ll have to call Tim.”
	Alison was thoroughly confused now.  “Huh?  Did he commit an offense 
or something at your last school?”
	Shiko’s eyes widened.  “No, no!” she replied hastily.  “Just - 
don’t worry, right?  No problems!”  She grinned, but for the first time 
there was a hint of insincerity in it.  What’s the matter with her? 
Alison wondered.
	“Okay - whatever you say…” she said.
	“Shiko Amaranth?” Mr. Watcher called, looking straight at Shiko and
raising an eyebrow at her.  She gave him a flat stare, her face
expressionless and completely unlike her normal beaming countenance.  
“Well…  It’s been a little while, hasn’t it, Shiko?” he said, unfazed.
	She kept glaring at him.  “Not nearly long enough, Angelico.”  Then 
her face softened a little, grudgingly.  “Nice to see you again.”
	He smiled at her, and Alison felt a little pang of jealousy.  “You,
too.”  Shiko grinned.  Mr. Watcher kept going down the list, calling 
names, until he reached Alison.  “Alison Devar?”
	She raised her hand.  “Here.”
	He looked her up and down appraisingly, raising his eyebrow again 
and then glancing at Shiko; she glared at him.  “No.”  He gave her a 
mournful look, and she shook her head.  “High school student, Angelico,” 
she reminded him.  “Emphasis on ‘student’.”  Alison, unaware of 
Angelico’s scrutiny and the conversation, began drawing in her notes.  
The other students paid no attention, too busy talking with each other to 
be aware of any oddity.  Angelico sighed regretfully and continued down 
the list of students, glancing at the other girls in the class, but 
without as much interest as he had shown in Alison.  Shiko looked at her
scribbles, then crossed them all out and began writing in what appeared 
to be a bunch of triangles.
	After he had finished calling roll, Mr. Watcher put the sheet down 
and clapped his hands for silence.  “Excuse me.”
	Alison looked up; Shiko merely cocked her head, keeping one ear 
open while she kept writing.
	“I don’t know what you’re accustomed to, but in my class, you don’t 
talk unless I call on you or ask you a question,” he announced, looking
pointedly at the chattering students, who quieted somewhat.  Going on, 
he said, “Apparently, none of you have had much of a teacher so far, and
haven’t been practicing your Latin.  Therefore, I put together a 
refresher quiz to pull your minds out of the bog that summer may have 
put them in.”
	Shiko rolled her eyes, and Mr. Watcher began passing out the 
quizzes, ignoring the groans of the other students.  When he handed one 
to Shiko, she gave him a pitiful look and said something in Latin that 
Alison couldn’t quite understand - something about writing a report and
knowing something.  He replied in Latin as well, to the effect that she
should have no problems if she knew the something so well.  Shiko pulled 
a long face and said something completely incomprehensible, then took 
the quiz and set to work, finishing in just a couple of minutes and 
going back to her scribbles.  Alison gave her an envious look before
returning to her own quiz to worry over her conjugations.
	Mr. Watcher picked up Shiko’s quiz and scrutinized it, checking for 
the slightest flaw; she glared at him, daring him to find fault.  He 
handed it back to her, and Alison could see the large “90%” he’d marked. 
Shiko’s hair nearly stood on end.  She snapped off something that had to 
do with the grade - at least, Alison was pretty sure she’d heard a ninety 
in there - and Angelico smiled at her maliciously, talking about her 
spelling and how she should do something about those mistakes.  Shiko’s 
glare grew even more furious, and she muttered about Spanish.  Angelico
shrugged and said one phrase Alison understood perfectly - “Your 
mistake.”  Shiko seemed to give up at that point, and laughed, saying that 
it was good to see him again.  He answered, something about not missing 
him, and her grin seemed to cover her entire face.  Alison looked back 
and forth between them, confused by their banter and their strange Latin, 
and Shiko finally seemed to realize it.  She blushed and went back to
English.  “Sorry, Alison…”
	“Eh… that’s… okay, I guess…” Alison replied, still confused, and 
Shiko smiled again.  What’s with those two? Alison thought, going back to 
her own quiz without really concentrating on it.  They talk like old 
friends or something… but she said he was just a teacher at her old 
school…  And that Latin?  That was NOT textbook, I know THAT much.  What 
the heck’s going on here?

	At the beginning of her fourth period class the next day, Alison 
yawned.  She might be decent at math, but that didn’t make it any more
interesting…  Then the teacher began talking, and her ears pricked up.
	“Now, class, we’ve got a new student today who just transferred 
from Tokyo…”  The teacher smiled brightly.  “Let’s all welcome him.  His 
name is Damien Argent.”
	The new kid - Damien - stood in front of the class, looking 
embarrassed.  He had short black hair, with one bang covering his right 
eye, and he looked much too young to be in an eleventh-grade math class. 
Cute, but a kid, Alison thought dismissively; the other students in the 
class didn’t seem to pay him even that much attention.
	The teacher seemed disappointed, but went on bravely.  “Well, then… 
Damien, why don’t you go sit by Miss Devar?”
	Damien nodded and sat down.
	“Hi,” Alison said as an opener, figuring she could be at least
marginally polite.  And he was kinda cute, in a little-kid way, and 
pretty enough to be worth a second look…
	“Hi.”  
	You have to make allowances, she reminded herself.  He did just 
transfer from Japan…  “I’m Alison.”
	He smiled a little, looking even younger.  “I’m Damien.  It’s nice 
to meet you.”
	She nodded, marveling at his complete lack of an accent.  “Same 
here.”
	“Would - would you mind helping me get caught up?” he asked, 
hesitant.  “I don’t really know where we’re supposed to be…”
	Since he asked nicely…  “Well, right now we’re on chapter ten,
continuing from last year.”
	“Okay…”  He sounded confused, but pulled the book out from under 
his desk and looked at it.
	Alison rolled her eyes and opened her own book to the correct page. 
“Chapter ten, section three,” she said, pointing at it.
	He opened his book to the same page and sighed with relief.
	“I’m sure you wouldn’t be in this class if you weren’t near this 
level, at least,” she reassured him, resisting the urge to pat him on 
the head.  He’s much too pretty to be straight, she thought regretfully, 
but I suppose I’ll live.
	“Yes - I think this will be all right,” he said after giving the 
page a quick glance.  He looked up and gave her a semi-smile, which 
lightened up his rather somber face but never touched his black eyes.  
She half-smiled back, deciding that math class just might end up being a
little more interesting than she had thought.

	At lunch, Alison, Shiko, Tamisha, Val, and Judy were sitting at the 
same table, eating; Shiko and Judy were splitting some Chinese vegetable 
dish with obvious enjoyment, while the others picked at one of the
cafeteria’s unnameable food substances.  Alison, in an attempt to 
distract herself from the stuff, said, “There was a new student in my 
math class today.”
	Shiko’s ears pricked up instantly.  “Really?  What were they like?”
	Alison thought for a minute.  “He was kinda cute… kinda quiet, too, 
and a little shy.”
	“He sounds nice!  Is he around?” Shiko asked, eyes shining.
	Alison looked around, and spotted Damien wandering at the other end 
of the cafeteria, looking lost and confused.  “There he is!” she pointed 
out, and Shiko looked that way.  Her eyes almost flew out of her head, 
and she began muttering furiously to herself.
	“I KNEW it, I KNEW it, I just KNEW it…” she grumbled under her 
breath, but Alison, happily oblivious, waved to the slender young boy.
	“Hey, Damien!  Come sit with us!”  Shiko’s eyes grew even wider, and 
she ducked behind Judy.
	Damien walked over to their table, prompting envious stares from 
more than a few other girls.  “Hi!  Thank you for inviting me…”
	Confused, Judy tried to look at Shiko.  “Shiko, what are you doing?”
	Damien looked back and forth between Alison and Judy, question 
marks hanging over his head.  Alison shrugged, and asked, “What ARE you
doing, Shiko?”
	Shiko sighed, sounding resigned.  “Oh, well…”  She moved out from 
behind Judy, giving the entire group an embarrassed smile.
	Damien started, nearly ending up on the ground.  “Shiko-san!”
	“Hi, Daemon,” she said, still smiling with embarrassment, and he 
dropped into another language, firing off a string of questions before
trailing off and giving her a sheepish look.  She replied in the same
language, making a helpless gesture.
	Alison looked back and forth between them.  “Huh?”
	Shiko seemed to realize her mistake then, and gave them all another
embarrassed look.  “Sorry, Alison…”
	Damien looked like someone had just hit him.  “I’m sorry!  That was 
very rude of me…”  He bowed to them, seeming very Japanese for just a 
moment.
	“That’s okay…” Alison said.  It’s kind of cute, how polite he’s 
acting, she thought, but the Spanish Inquisition couldn’t get me to 
confess it… no wonder I’m a dateless loser.  Oh, well…
	“May I sit here?” Damien asked, looking at Shiko for permission.  
	She sighed.  “Sure.  Why not?  Have a seat.”
	He looked at Alison.  “May I?”
	“Sure!” she agreed, thinking that if living in Japan was what 
brought out these kind of manners, she knew a LOT of people who could do 
with a vacation in the Far East.  Damien semi-smiled again and sat down
beside Shiko, dropping into yet another different language; it sounded a
little like the Greek that Alison had heard during her English unit on 
the Greek tragedies, but all she could pick out was “Shiko.”  She rolled 
her eyes, deciding that all these languages were going to be the norm 
from now on, and that she should just ignore it.
	Shiko replied in the same language, though with a different accent, 
then said something with an interrogative sound.  Alison managed to 
catch what sounded like “Latin” in Damien’s answer, and Shiko facefaulted
onto the table.
	Valentine looked at both of them suspiciously.  “Why are you guys
talking in all these different languages?” she wanted to know.
	Shiko went back to English as she sat up.  “Bad habit of ours…”  
Alison picked at the food a little more, in case it had somehow 
transformed into something edible.  It hadn’t, but she grimaced and kept
eating anyway.
	Damien bowed to Val as best he could, considering he was sitting 
down.  “I’m sorry, miss…?”
	Val had the grace to blush.  “Valentine.  Really, everyone just 
calls me Val, though.”
	“Hey, don’t hog the pretty face, Val,” Tamisha interrupted.  “I’m
Tamisha.”
	“I’m Judy.  Are you a vegetarian?” Judy asked, direct as usual.  
Damien looked between Alison and Shiko helplessly, unsure of what to 
say.
	“Don’t look at me, they’re only my friends,” Alison said.
	“Oh…” Damien said, more lost than ever.
	Shiko leaned over and stage-whispered into Judy’s ear, “If Damien 
ate, I’m sure he’d be a vegetarian…”  She smiled.
	“Shiko-san!” Damien exclaimed, almost blushing.
	Alison looked at them questioningly.  “What does that mean?”
	Shiko’s smile widened as she said, with a teasing look, “He’s an
anorexic!”
	“Shiko-saaaaaaan…” Damien protested, looking at her pitifully.
	Alison stared at him.  “Is that true?”  If it was, her good opinion 
of him was about to fall into a deep, dark pit; the very idea of dieting 
to the point of starvation just to look good disgusted her.  She got a 
mental image of Damien as one of those emaciated people she’d seen in a
health video and shuddered.
	“No!” Damien half-yelled, glaring at Shiko, who added, “No, I was 
just kidding.”
	“Oh, good.”  Alison breathed an inward sigh of relief; she would 
have hated to be alienated from Damien after just meeting him, especially
when he was so - well - cute, that was the only word for it.  Pretty, 
too, though not in a girly way, but mostly cute.
	“So, are you a vegetarian?” Judy asked again, frazzled.
	“Well…”  Damien thought for a minute.  “Yes, I suppose so.”
	Judy grinned at him.  “Good.  Glad to meet you.”
	“Good to meet you, too…” he answered, spiral-eyed.
	“Congrats,” Alison said, smiling herself.  “You’ve got a friend for
life, now.”
	Shiko beamed.  “Un!”  Damien semi-smiled again, and Alison could 
feel her spirits lifting.  How could she ever get depressed with friends 
like these around?

	Alison spotted Shiko walking into Latin, looking very nervous and 
unlike herself; she shrugged, unable to understand Shiko’s apprehension, 
and started copying down the exercises from the board.  Shiko sat down 
next to her and began writing in little triangles again; the teacher was
half-asleep at his desk.
	Damien walked in, an open and curious expression on his face, and 
Mr. Watcher shifted, waking up.  Shiko visibly braced herself, becoming
deadly serious and not at all cheerful.
	Damien’s eyes went wide as saucers, as did Angelico’s.  They stared 
at each other for almost a full minute, their expressions unreadable.  
Shiko had one hand touching the base of her neck, a large silver ankh 
pendant in the other, and was muttering to herself in something 
completely unrecognizable.  Alison looked up, wondering what was going 
on.  Don’t tell me that Damien knows Mr. Watcher too, she pleaded 
silently… this is turning into a soap opera, I swear to God…
	At last Damien managed to find his voice - unfortunately in yet 
another language, which sounded like Japanese to Alison.  Whatever he was
speaking in, he certainly didn’t sound very sure of himself…  Mr. Watcher
looked at the classroom, then replied in the same language.  Damien 
slumped a little in relief, and managed to sit behind Shiko, just 
diagonal from Alison.  Shiko breathed a minute sigh of relief, but kept 
her hand at her throat.  Damien simply looked at her.
	She shrugged, saying something with a faint Middle Eastern sound;
Damien’s reply was short, but had a mournful tone.  Alison kept working 
on the exercises, reminding herself that she’d already decided this was 
going to be normal and she should get used to it.
	Then she noticed Shiko peering over her shoulder.  “Um, Alison…”
	“Hm?”
	Shiko pointed at one of the exercises.  “You’ve got the wrong case 
on that one…”
	Alison looked at it, realizing her mistake.  “Oh, you’re right. 
Thanks.”
	“No problem!”  Shiko smiled at her, losing her ultra-serious look.  
“I didn’t mean to be ignoring you earlier…” she added apologetically,
throwing a quick glance at Damien.
	Mr. Watcher stood up, looking around the classroom at the many 
talking students.  “I think that perhaps I didn’t make myself clear
yesterday,” he announced.  Shiko closed her mouth suddenly, and Damien 
looked suspiciously innocent.  In a semi-loud voice, Angelico continued,
“From now on, those who talk after the bell rings will instantly get 
five minutes of lunch detention.  Each time you talk you will get five 
more minutes.”  Shiko looked startled.  With exaggerated gestures, she
pretended to zip her lips shut, lock them, and throw away the key; Alison
ignored her in favor of finishing the board exercises.
	“Now, I graded your quizzes from yesterday, and I was disappointed
 with the results,” Mr. Watcher said, ignoring Shiko’s flat glare.  “So, 
I’m assigning twice the homework that I was planning to, and the 
exercises on the board are to be turned in by the end of the period or 
you get an F on this assignment.  Your homework is written at the top of 
the board.  You can start on that when you finish the in-class 
assignment.”
	Shiko gave a loud sigh, but copied down the homework and the 
exercises; Damien had already begun.  They were both finished in about
fifteen minutes.  Alison double-checked her work, then took the exercises 
up to Mr. Watcher.  She had intended to ask him about the scene with 
Damien, but once she was actually handing in the paper she could feel 
her tongue tying itself into knots, and decided against saying anything.
	Shiko picked up Damien’s paper as well as her own and took it up to
Angelico, saying something flippant in that strange corrupted Latin she 
used.  He replied, and she pulled a crying face as she went back to her 
seat.  She looked at her homework and began doodling on it.  Damien was
gazing off into various sections of space, but his eyes stayed firmly 
away from the front of the room where Angelico was correcting the 
exercises.
	The student just behind Alison poked her.  “Hey.  How come the 
teacher didn’t introduce the new student?”  Damien hid his face.
	Alison shrugged, feeling as clueless as everyone else.  “I don’t 
know…”  The student hmphed, then poked another student and asked the same
question.
	Shiko was still drawing; curious, Alison looked over her shoulder.  
It seemed to be a little cartoon of a deformed Angelico and Damien 
chasing each other around, trying to beat each other up.  She tapped on
Shiko’s shoulder and pointed at the drawings, mouthing a question.
	Shiko smiled back, whispering, “I like drawing…  I’m not too good, 
but it’s fun, anyway!”  Alison wanted to ask her more, but remembered the 
new class rules and thought the better of it.  Damien, attracted by their
almost-conversation, leaned over and looked at the cartoon, too.  His 
eyes shot wide open again, and he began protesting in Japanese.
	Another student raised his hand.  Mr. Watcher looked up.  “Yes, what 
do you need help with?”  Shiko tried frantically to hush Damien, who 
looked insulted.
	“Shiko and the new kid are talking!” the student said in a whining
voice, and the two gave him the evil eye.
	Angelico sweatdropped.  “They must not have heard the rule.  They 
both get off this time.”  The student muttered to himself, but decided not 
to argue; Shiko looked at Angelico gratefully, and Damien hid his face 
again.  Neither spoke again for the rest of the period, but even more
questions drifted across Alison’s mind. 

	Alison and Tamisha stood in front of the school with Shiko, relaxing 
for a few minutes before heading home.  The relaxing part was somewhat 
ruined by Shiko’s nervous look, though; she was trying to keep up her 
usual smile, but then she would peer around as if looking for a snake in 
the grass and shatter the whole illusion.  Finally, Tamisha was driven to
ask, “Yo, Shiko, what’s the matter?”
	“Yeah, you look kinda nervous…” Alison added, wondering if it had
anything to do with Damien or Mr. Watcher.
	Shiko started, then gave them a false bright smile.  “Oro?  Heh - 
um - it’s nothing, really!  Why don’t we go?”
	Damien walked up.  “Hello, Miss Alison, Miss Tamisha, Miss Shiko.” 
Shiko’s face fell.
	“Hi,” Alison said, determined not to share Shiko’s rudeness.
	“May I walk with you?” he asked, looking a bit nervous himself.  
“I believe we live in the same neighborhood…”
	“Sure,” Alison answered, seeing no harm in the prospect.  Shiko 
shrugged and said something in another language, but she didn’t seem to 
be vetoing the idea and Alison reminded herself to ignore it.
	“Thank you,” Damien said, semi-smiling, and they all left the school
together.
	“So, Damien, where’d you transfer from?” Tamisha inquired.
	“I was living in the Akihabara district of Tokyo…” he said, looking
distant.
	“That’s pretty cool,” Alison commented, even though she had no idea 
what Akihabara was.  Shiko said something interrogatory in Japanese, and
Damien nodded.
	“Un…  Yes, it was very interesting,” he said.  Suddenly he smiled, 
a real smile that lit up his entire face and made him almost angelically
beautiful.  “What I loved most was the religion…  Japan is almost 
entirely Buddhist and Shintoist.”
	“Are you Buddhist?” Alison asked, wide-eyed, and Shiko almost fell 
over from laughing.
	“No, no,” he protested, still smiling, and even Tamisha had to smile
back.  “But I like Buddhism, and Shintoism, too.  They’re almost the only
religions I know that don’t try to force themselves on others, and that’s
very important to me…”
	“Huh,” Tamisha said; any discussion of religion sent her into 
taciturn mode, if it didn’t turn her downright cynical.  Changing 
subjects, she asked, “So, do you have any cool electronics stuff?”
	Damien shook his head.  “I don’t really collect possessions…  I move 
too much.”
	“Oh.”  Tamisha looked disappointed.  “Well, here’s my house.  See 
you guys tomorrow.  Nice talkin’ to ya, Damien.”
	“See you tomorrow,” Alison said.
	Damien bowed, adding his own farewell, and Shiko waved.  “Bai!”  
The three kept walking.
	Turning a little more serious, Shiko asked, “Daemon, you’ve got a 
place, right?”
	“Of course!”  He looked rather insulted.
	“Just checking…”  Alison wondered if there was some reason he 
wouldn’t, but decided against asking; it seemed a little too personal.
	“Anyway…” Shiko began.  “Alison, do you want any help with the
homework?”
	“No, I think I can manage,” she said.  “Thanks for offering, 
though.”
	Shiko beamed.  “My pleasure!  I love languages!”  She gestured at
Damien.  “Daemon here’s pretty good with them, too, in case you hadn’t
guessed…”
	Damien blushed.  “I’m not as good…”
	“Nonsense!” Shiko insisted.  “Don’t pay attention to him, he’s been 
in Japan too long!”  She grinned again.
	“Shiko-saaaaaaan…” he protested, blushing more, and Alison giggled. 
They were both so adorable…  Shiko flashed a little victory sign, and 
they continued walking in a comfortable silence.
	All too soon, they had reached Alison’s house.  “Well, here’s my 
place,” she said, knowing she had to sound inane but not sure what else 
she could say.
	Damien bowed to her - it was getting hard to think of him as 
anything BUT Japanese - and said, “It was very nice to talk with you, 
Miss Alison.”
	“Same here,” she said, unable to resist smiling at him again.  “See 
you two tomorrow.”
	“Bye…” he said softly, and Shiko chorused in.  “Bai!”
	Alison went into her house, and Shiko turned to Damien, speaking in 
an ancient Hebrew dialect.  “‘Daemon, it really is good to see you again.  
I just don’t want more trouble…’”
	He looked humble.  “‘I’m sorry, Shiko…’”  In the house, Alison 
grabbed some crackers for a snack and went to the window seat at the front 
of the house to work on her homework.  Glancing out, she saw the two 
standing on the sidewalk, and watched them, curious.
	Shiko sighed.  “‘And “Argent”?’”  She touched his eyelids gently, 
almost caressing them.  Her voice changed subtly, becoming more resonant 
and almost echoing.  “‘<Oh, Shalohim… you can’t let go, can you?>’”
	He was almost in tears now.  “‘But - I didn’t do anything, and they…
they…’”
	Her voice went back to normal, but the compassion in it remained 
strong.  “‘Oh, I know, Daemon…  I know…’”  Alison continued watching 
them, fascinated and more than a little jealous.
	Abruptly, Shiko went back to English, her tone brisker.  “Well!  You 
DO have a place, right?”
	“Yes…”
	She rolled her eyes.  “Let me guess - it’s another one of those
abandoned rat-traps you love to haunt.  Good grief - I know they give you
money for expenses, can’t you find SOMEPLACE nicer to stay than a slum?”
	He looked at her, face set in stubborn lines.
	She sighed again.  “Oh, well…  I’ve got to go, my ‘aunt’ will be
wondering where I am.  I’ll see you tomorrow.”
	“Bai…”  He looked so wistful and lost that impulsively Shiko reached 
out and ruffled his hair, pushing his bangs out of his face and revealing 
two perfectly black eyes almost identical to her own.  Then she walked 
away, heading for her own house.
	Damien ran one hand through his hair, straightening it and pushing 
the bangs so that they fell across his right eye again, before leaving in 
a different direction.
	Alison tried to work on her homework, but the only thing that kept
popping into her mind was that image of Shiko touching Damien’s eyelids.  
It had been so intimate, somehow…  How did they know each other, anyway? 
What the heck was going on?

	Shiko paced around her house, talking on the phone.  “Look, Tim, 
can’t you do anything?  I mean, this is INSANE!  Do you remember what
happened the last time those two were together?!  They’re STILL picking 
up the pieces!”  She paused, listening for a minute to the voice on the 
other end of the line.  “Yes, true, I wasn’t there.  But still, I can’t
babysit them all the time…”  Another pause.  “Mysterious ways, yeah, I 
know.  It drives me nuts.”  She stopped pacing.  “Thanks, Tim, I really
appreciate you trying.”  She paused again.  “Yeah.  Yeah, love you, too.  
See ya!”  She hung up.