Florida! The land of salty seas, ocean breezes, and bad family reunions?

Florida! Akari was so excited. She'd always wanted to go to Florida. She stepped out of the airport, grinning brightly as she tilted down her oversized sunglasses. She was in shorts that showed off just a bit too much of her long, skinny legs, and a shirt that came down just a bit too far in the front. It was flowy, open in the back almost all the way down to her shorts. She had on a straw hat to protect a bit of her pale skin, and was toting a bag filled with her clothes and shoes, some of which she'd talked Leo into buying for her. She still didn't know how she managed to wear these clothes around him, because she figured he'd have murdered her by now. Still, the heat was unbearable, and she wanted to cool down. It wasn't that she liked all the attention they gave her... not at all~.

Okay, maybe a little. But that wasn't the point.

She smiled as she turned around to wait for him, smiling brightly and tilting her head to the side. "C'mon, slowpoke! What's taking so long?"

Leo walked next to her, patting her on the head.

Leo: I'm here, don't worry.

He wore his usual clothing, though his long pants were now shorts, going down just a bit under his knees. Felt pretty dang good to be back in Florida, though it would be better if the circumstances were better. Now was not the time to think about it, though, now was to go on with the investigation. He took out a pentathlete, handing it Akari.

Leo: Alright, the hotel is within walking distance and already paid for, so you just give them our names and you'll get the card keys. Room 201. I'm going to go to the next town over where my mom is and say hi. I don't want to bring you along, cause she was not happy about me being a meister, and seeing the weapon of her precious little boy could irritate her a bit. Okay?

Akari sighed slightly and took the thing from him, making a face. "I don't like this. I haven't ever been here before, and you're going to leave?" she asked nervously, her amber eyes round as she started off down the street very slowly, dragging her feet like she thought he was going to change his mind. "Besides, I'm a girl. Walking the streets. Couldn't I get into trouble?" she asked, her eyes betraying the fact that she was actually nervous and not really joking. She shifted a bit, turning to look at him again. She couldn't help but be a bit scared to be on her own in a place that was so unfamiliar to her. Anyone would be scared.

Leo: Alright, I'll walk you down to the hotel, Kari. Come on.

He started for the street, feeling a rush of nostalgia overcome him. Over there was his favorite library, now a housing for arcade games. Over there, his favorite pizza place where him and his dad ate constantly, as well as the Chinese place where he would usually hang on his free time of training with his dad. Oh, and that street. His dad would always make him run up and down it for a while when he first started training. After a while, he would always stop at the ice cream store, getting a ice cream cone of various types, but they would always have red and yellow sprinkles....

Leo: And there is the Hotel. I'm off to catch a bus now, Akari, see you later today.

He hurried off, trying to escape his past memories that surrounded him in this town, at least by Akari. He stopped at the bus stop, leaning against the sign. In 5 minutes, he got in the bus, and was off to the investigation site.

Akari sighed when he ran off and walked inside to get their room. Once she got there, she unpacked and got changed into her bathing suit to go down to the beach, wanting to go swimming. She brought her towel, sunscreen and sunglasses, along with her hat and favorite flip flops. She spread the towel out on the ground and lay down on it, rubbing sunscreen all over her arms and legs, but had trouble reaching her back. As in typical beach movies, a guy walked by and offered to help, sitting behind her and rubbing the white cream on her back for her. Akari thought little of it and let him, watching the seagulls fly nearby.

No time for nostalgia road back in this old town, it was time for an investigation. He quickly hurried down the street, blocking out the countless memories he had running there with his step dad and mom, and got to the house. He pulled out a key and entered, closing the door behind him with a pretty big slam, starting his search for clues.

After 17 minutes, Leo found what he had been looking for in his mom's dresser under a brown bra. Kind of weird, she liked brighter colors, why brown? Never mind, not the point. The point was that the Diary held some interesting things in it. He read it for about 8 minutes, going over a certain part, 3 times. He dropped the book upon reading this, completely in awe. He hadn't found what he was looking for, but this new news struck up more questions......

A few hours later, Akari was in the hotel room with about four different guys, though of course she didn't think anything of it. She was lounging on the couch, a tiny bit of sunburn on her cheeks as she got one of the guys to hand her the glass of sweet tea she'd been drinking. She wondered where Leo was, and was getting quite concerned, though not concerned enough to go looking. He was the type who vanished for hours on end anyway, so getting worried would do her no good at all, now would it?

Leo got raced back to the hotel, needing to run for a bit, hence why is was a couple of hours. By the time he was outside the hotel, he was hot, tired, and pretty pissed off. He raced up to their hotel room and noticed it was not closed all the way, which was good for him. He walked in and started digging through his, bag look......Wait, what?

Leo:......I have no words for this. Never thought I'd even be in this situation with you Akari, I'm not going to lie......

Akari with 4 boys in the room with her. How did this even happen? He was jealous, yeah, but he was just outright confused. This was really weird, just......What?

Akari looked over at him and tilted her head to the side. "What's wrong? I just invited them over because they were so nice to me at the beach. They helped me find seashells and everything," she said as the guys looked up at Leo.

"Is this your boyfriend?" one asked, and Akari shook her head quickly.

"No, he's not at all. We're from the DWMA," she responded, and another guy looked surprised when he studied Leo's face further.

"Hey! I know him!" he said, eyes round. "Leo Thooft. You were in the paper here a long time ago. We went to school together, and my mom wouldn't let me go hang out with you after that."

Leo: Charmed.

Leo had no idea what to do now, since he never really felt like that, so it was pretty bad for him. He could kick them out, but that would raise questions anyway, plus, she would ask Leo why. If Leo let them stayed and left, they would tell her. If.....Ugh, this was just bad. Well, terrifyingly horrific came before bad, but it still led him to wanting to strangle himself. And his dad would probably know soon that Leo was in town, but he just couldn't leave.....

Forget it. He grabbed his small brown book from his pocket, then went to the window. Leo opened it wide and climbed out, then onto the roof. Once their, he read his fairy tales, wanting to be anywhere else but here right now.

Akari frowned, noticing that Leo felt extremely stressed out by the situation, and got to her feet to usher the guys out. Once they were gone, she climbed out onto the roof as well and sat down beside him, looking concerned.

"Leo," she said slowly, knitting her eyebrows together to look at him. "Are you okay? I'm sorry. I didn't know that would bother you so much," she said softly, hugging her knees to her chest. "I made them leave. I really am sorry. We didn't do anything," she told him quietly, scooting over to try and close his book to make him pay attention to her. She offered him a small smile. "Trust me. I was just bored and they wanted to come over." Changing the subject, she spoke again. "Did you see your mom?"

Leo: No, it's fine. You made friends and you brought them over, I see nothing wrong with that. It was really unexpected, though, let me tell you. Now, you have to explain this to me, how did you get 4 boys that you have never met into the room?

Leo laughed a bit at the end, finding it funny how she get those 4 in the room like that. Maybe she was actually a witch this whole time and just never told him.

Akari laughed a bit and leaned back, resting her head on the rooftop. "I offered them tea and chips, and they came up with me. It's not a big deal," she told him, crossing her legs. "Do I detect a bit of jealousy?" she asked, arching an eyebrow at him with a small smirk. She would tease him for the rest of his life if he really was jealous.

Leo: I'm not jealous, just curious. Never expect to walk into my house or hotel room and just see 4 random boys, Kari. At any rate, I think I am going to pay my father a visit now.

He slipped back into their room, going over to his bag. He pulled out his dagger, hiding it on the side of his shirt, tucked in his pants. He straighten his scarf a bit, feeling really nervous.

Leo was pretty sure this was a really bad idea in a lot of different ways. Mainly cause his dad was still a really good fighter, probably a lot better then Leo, and Leo wasn't too sure that he would actually talk. Well, about what he wanted to, his dad may say other things. Well, if a fight broke out, he was ready for it.....He guessed....

Akari looked surprised as she followed him. "Wait, let me go with you this time. I don't want to be here on my own! It's so mean of you to leave me on our vacation, and besides, I'm your Weapon! I want to go with you to protect you," she whined, walking over to stand in front of the door. "I'm going whether you like it or not. If you get killed by some Kishin Egg on the street, then what am I supposed to do?! You're the only person I trust and the only person I love, so I don't see why you want to go on your own!"

She paused, remembering her words. "The only person I love." Seriously? Had that just come out. She clasped her hand over her mouth, her amber eyes round as she took a small step back, looking shocked.

Well, this was a very bad situation. But.....No, this was good. This was very good, actually. His dad wouldn't attack him now that Akari would be there with him. Wait till she falls asleep, then the two of them will have a talk.

Leo: Let me call him first to see if he is home, actually.

Leo picked up his phone and walked into the bathroom, calling his dad. After a bit of whispering to his dad to not mention anything, he came back out.

Leo: Alright, let's head out then.

Akari grinned brightly and changed clothes into her sweater that Leo had made, glad that he hadn't responded to - or hadn't even noticed - her confession to him. She smiled slightly and walked out of the hotel, looking accomplished as she marched down the stairs, then waited on Leo, as she had no idea where they were going.

"What's your dad like?" she asked, tilting her head to the side as she waited on him, looking at the sky.

Leo: You'll see. For now, let's continue on our way.

He approached his father's house, instantly ousting the memories. It was around dinner time, and his dad was probably cooking something up for them. Which, given from the smell, they were getting some food prepared for them. Chicken, from the smell.

Well, that didn't matter. He knocked twice on the door, and his dad opened it, giving a warm smile. Underneath, though, his soul flared with anger at Leo, though only the person he was angry at could see or feel it.

Bruce: Why, hello there, Leo, just in time for dinner. Oh, and you have a cute little partner as well, come in, come in!

Akari looked up at Bruce, feeling a tiny bit of tension, and walked inside awkwardly. She smiled when she smelled the chicken, but then felt like she didn't want to eat it. She just felt.... sick about it. She didn't understand why, but she was getting tiny bad vibes from Leo. She guessed it was because she'd resonated with him so often, but she knew he felt uneasy, which in turn made her uneasy. Still, she didn't know that Bruce was angry with him, so she didn't understand why. "Hello, sir. I'm Leo's Weapon, Akari Nanase," she said with a small smile, extending a hand for him to shake.

Bruce: Bruce Thooft, great to meet you.

He gave a small chuckle, then held up his stump of a right arm to her hand. He happily shook her hand, then ushered the two over to the table. Leo followed and sat down in a spot, relaxing a bit. Bruce, though, came in and set down chicken and mashed potatoes.

Bruce: Dig in.

Leo nodded, getting himself some food, as Bruce waits for Akari to get some.

Bruce: So, dear, tell me a bit about yourself?

Akari looked at the food and got a small amount on her plate before taking a bite of the mashed potatoes. She offered Bruce a smile. "Well, I don't think there's too much to tell. I'm fifteen, I can transform into a gauntlet, and currently I have no souls. We need to work before we go on missions," she said, taking Leo's foot under the table to play around with it, still sensing his unease and wanting to make it go away for him.

Bruce smiled and nodded, though he was chewing on some chicken at the moment, so he didn't say anything back. Leo let her play with his foot, wanting her to feel a bit more comfy.

Leo: We'll be ready for an easier mission soon, nothing too hard or complicated. Just a fairly new kishin egg or something.

Bruce:*Swallows* Ah, that's great to hear. I'm sure the two of you will do fantastic on your first mission. Leo is very experienced when it comes to these things.

Akari continued to mess with Leo's foot, humming a bit as she rested her head on her hand after finishing her chicken and mashed potatoes. "We can beat anything," she assured Leo with a grin, leaning back in the chair. "Dinner was wonderful, Mr. Thooft," she said, ignoring what she assumed was a light jab at his son's madness. She sat still, waiting to be told she could get up.

Bruce smiled a bit, loving the fact that he was called Mr. Thooft. Leo, however, was glaring at his dad, obviously not amused at all.

Bruce: I'm sure you two can. Now, Akari, can you clean up the dishes, I want to have a talk with Leo privately.

Leo got up and adjusted his scarf, leaving them alone anyway. He wandered into Bruce's study, then waited.

Akari nodded and got to her feet to go do the dishes, worried to leave Leo on his own. She could sense just how worried he was, and it bothered her so much. She sighed, scrubbing some of the dishes and putting them away, then couldn't resist herself and started to scrub down the rest of the kitchen as well.

Bruce walked in his study and closed the door, then leaned on it. The two were glaring at each other, with a hint of rage on their faces. Well, more then a hint, really.

Leo: Talk. Now.

Bruce: I don't know, you seem to have raised questions for me.

Leo: No, cut the crap. I've read mom's diary.

Bruce:....What do you want me to say?

Leo: I can think of a lot of things. Some of which I know myself, but there is one I can't figure out. Why'd you train me?

Bruce: I thought you could control it. I hoped you wouldn't be effected by it. I trained you tirelessly while your mom gave you love, trying to oust it. Obviously, it worked, as you seem to have it under control right now. By this time, everyone else was under surveillance from the school, you however, are doing fine.

Leo:.....Could have told me these things.

Bruce: You know I couldn't right away when they happened. After that, though, yeah, probably. It's not much, but I'm sorry.

Leo: It's alright, dad.

Leo walked over to his dad, giving him a hug. Well, this actually turned out a lot better then he thought. Who needs daggers and fighting anyway.

Akari finished her work before she walked after them, looking a bit surprised when she saw them hugging. She smiled just a bit, figuring she just imagined the animosity beforehand. "I'm done cleaning the kitchen," she said quietly. "It seems I just missed a very sweet moment that I wish I'd gotten on camera. Instant greeting cards." She smiled and walked over to sit in Bruce's spinny office chair. "Are we staying here tonight, and can I stay in the same room as you?" she asked Leo.

Leo gave a sheepish smile while Bruce laughed. He spun Akari a couple of times, then shook his head.

Bruce: No, not tonight. I'm a bit busy with some stuff and would rather take care of it in private. Nothing too special, but I prefer to right my notes in peace.

Leo: besides, it's not like I'm going to sleep much for it to really count. Come on, on the way to the hotel we can get rent a movie or something. I'll even let you choose. Well, maybe.

Akari frowned a bit, then laughed when Bruce spun her around. "All right, all right," she said, then reached over to take Leo's hand in her own. "I wonder what we can do to make you fall asleep," she said thoughtfully, looking concerned before turning to his father. "Thank you for dinner, Mr. Thooft. It was very delicious," she said with a smile, turning to head out of the room and to the street again. "I like your father," she said with a grin.

Leo walked by her, nodding with a small smile.

Leo: He's a very nice guy, it's just that sometimes he doesn't know how to do things. Or he's so focused on being right he won't listen to others. It was that cockiness that made him lose an arm. Not sure on the exact story before hand, but he went him with no one else, not even his weapon. You saw the results of that.

Leo rested his arms behind his head, starting to drift off in different thoughts.