AN: I wasn’t going to post this chapter till I was done with “Hikari” and the sequel I planned for it, but never mind. Some spoilers won’t do much harm. What matters is to keep on writing.

I have decided to place a list of characters at the beginning of my chapters, so you’d know who is whom. Maybe it will help you.

Eric Bennett (35) – Canon char

Nicole Bennett (36) – his wife

Rory and Zoe Bennett (6) – their twin son and daughter

Diane Collins (34) – Nicole’s sister

Kyle Sparksider (32) – Diane’s friend whose family owns a restaurant

Rory and Zoe, formerly known as Ian and Grace, belong to Lilith.

“What hurts the most” by GreatMarta

Episode 3: How lovely

Rory loved his new helicopter. The remote control toy was a gift from his maternal grandfather and it pleased the boy. He took his new praised possession wherever he went, which wasn’t always a good thing. Especially not in a lively street.

“Rory, you shouldn’t be flying that thing in the crowd” his mother Nicole warned him “You could hurt somebody”

“No chance!” the boy replied “It’s made of super flexible plastic and it won’t hurt anybody! It won’t even break when I step on it! It’s so cool, isn’t it?” he was full of enthusiasm, as always after receiving a new toy. Nicole assumed such a state would last for a couple of more weeks, until her son decided he was bored with the helicopter.

“Rory, I think you should listen to your mother” Nicole’s husband Eric supported her “Even if your toy can’t hurt anybody, somebody may accidentally push it and it could land on the street. I suppose it’s not that flexible to survive a meeting with a horde of cars, is it?” he teased. The idea of his beloved helicopter being ran over by the horde of cars seemed to scare Rory seriously. The boy made the toy land on his hand and turned the remote control off. The helicopter wasn’t very big and it could be kept in Rory’s pocket.

Nicole acknowledged her husband’s strategy with a satisfied eye sign.

Meanwhile Zoe, Rory’s twin sister, made an interesting observation.

“Mommy” she pulled Nicole’s hand “Aunt Diane is sitting there with a new mister!” she said, pointing at the other side of the street. Her parents looked to where she pointed. There was a small café and Diane, Nicole’s sister, was sitting at one of the tables. They could recognize her, as they could see her face. A happy, pleased face, which she wouldn’t show very often. Her companion, a man, had his back turned on them, but was making lively gestures, as if he was telling Diane an interesting story. They could tell he was being passionate about it.

“Oh. That’s nothing so unusual” Eric concluded “Diane changes boyfriends so easily, as if they were some modern gadgets. She’ll have some fun with him and then she’ll find somebody else to amuse herself with. That’s pretty much the same as what you kids do with your toys” he joked. Rory felt offended.

“I love my toys! I treat them better than aunt Diane treats her boyfriends!”

“We’ll let you prove it by taking care of the mess in your room once we get home” Nicole offered, smiling innocently. Rory made an unhappy face.

“But I love my mess!” he cried. His parents and sister laughed.

Meanwhile Diane and her companion were approached by a waiter. As he placed two coffee cups on the table, the mysterious man turned, so the Bennetts could see his profile. He had chocolate-brown skin, short, curly, black hair, narrow dark eyes, and a flat, wide nose. He could be described as a typical Afro-American, but the family happened to know he was actually a Zambo.

“Hey, isn’t he the old Sparksider’s son?” Eric noticed. He could remember seeing that man a couple of times before, as they attended the same high school, but never really shared a conversation with him. Kyle was a type of a loner, an individual, unlike the rest of his family, whom Eric thought well of.

“Indeed he is” Nicole recognized Kyle as well “He was on the same class as Angelina if I’m not mistaken. I think she even mentioned he had the best grades in their year. But he didn’t really socialize with anybody, so she never got to know him well”

“Seems Diane is catching up for that” Eric said, amused. Diane has somehow managed to pick up an antisocial genius. She herself hadn’t been necessarily a cautious student and based her judgments more on emotions than common sense. Also, despite the lack of good manners, she enjoyed attending parties, discos and such, as long as nobody from her family came along. It seemed funny that she picked up a serious and reserved man. More surprisingly, Kyle seemed to be open and joyful around her. That was quite an achievement.

“Are we going to say hello to our new temporary uncle?” Zoe asked.

“We might as well” Nicole agreed “Come, give me your hands. We’re going to cross the street”

“But mommy!” Rory protested “I can cross the street by myself!”

“No arguing, Rory” Eric told him firmly “Do what your mother tells you to”

Wanting or not, the boy had to give in. Parents can really be troublesome at times.

As they were approaching the café, they managed to hear Kyle saying:

“…so, if we manage to do that, we’ll be able to extend the action to the whole night!”

“Good afternoon, Diane” Nicole greeted her sister. Diane and Kyle almost jumped out of their skin in surprise.

“Nic?! What are you doing here?!” demanded Diane. Meanwhile Kyle quickly removed the papers that were laying on the table and pushed them into his bag. Obviously, he didn’t want anybody to see them, which only added to the Bennetts’ curiosity. Could those be booklets from some luxurious hotel, or maybe from a travel agency? The couple had some serious plans, no doubt!

“Admiring your latest catch” Nicole replied, giving Kyle a welcoming smile “I’m Nicole Bennett, Diane’s sister. This is my husband Eric and our twins: Zoe and Rory”

“Hi!” said the twins in union.

“Hi” replied Kyle rather coolly. He didn’t seem to be happy with meeting the Bennetts.

“Say, you are the old Sparksider’s middle child, aren’t you?” asked Eric.

“Yeah, forth out of seven” sighed Kyle “Which sucks, if you ask me”

“Agreed” confirmed Diane “Middle children are at the worst position”

“Hey, don’t overdo it” Nicole said cheerfully “Rather than complain, you should tell us how the two of you became a couple”

“What?” both of the mentioned couple seemed surprised.

“Yeah, good idea” Eric agreed with his wife “There must’ve been a good story behind this. Correct me if I’m wrong, Diane, but I was sure you preferred blonds with blue eyes”

“Don’t get the wrong idea!” Kyle cut in “We are just friends!”

“Right! Just friends!” Diane supported him willingly. Nicole and Eric exchanged sights. Now that was surprising. Diane usually liked to show her boyfriends of. So maybe they aren’t dating after all? Or maybe this relationship is in fact so serious she wants to protect it? Intriguing, intriguing!

“So you aren’t our new temporary uncle?” Zoe asked, slightly disappointed.

“Temporary uncle?” Kyle was surprised.

“Never mind” Diane told him “One way to deal with my niece and nephew is to ignore them”

“You can’t ignore us!” Zoe felt offended “It’s rude!”

“So is rising your voice at adults, which doesn’t seem to be a problem to you” Kyle remarked “Geez, that reminds me of my four nieces and two… no, wait, three nephews. Yes, one was born this year. Anyway, they’re all so annoying I cannot stand them”

“That makes the two of us” Diane was glad that Kyle shared her opinion.

“You’d change your mind if you had children of your own” Nicole assured.

“Sure thing” Eric supported her view “Besides, it would be a pity to let the name of Sparksider disappear, wouldn’t you agree, Kyle?”

“For you, it’s Mister Sparksider” Kyle growled “Besides, it’s not my fault that my older brother married into his wife’s family and my younger brother decided to become a priest. If the family name will disappear, they should take the credit. Honestly, I don’t know what Kondo sees in the God and I have no vaguest idea what Kenny sees in that Jap. I wouldn’t touch her with a ten-meter-long stick!”

“She isn’t that bad” Eric confronted him. Kyle’s sister-in-law, Hikari Mazaki, happened to be the half-sister of Eric’s adopted brother Bunji and he thought of her as of a family member.

“Yeah, she’s worse” Kyle joked “She hardly has any breasts, hardly any butt, generally not much body to hug and, you know. On top of that, she’s self-centered, mean, bad-tempered, not to mention as cold as ice. Also, bossy and possessive. She has Kenny whipped! Seriously, I doubt he even pisses without her permission! Such an idiot he is, that brother of mine! He’s gotta be a masochist to survive in a marriage like this!”

At this point, the Bennetts were starting to lose their patience. Hikari was the dominative partner in her marriage, alright. She can be harsh at times, that was true as well. But overall, she was a good person and loved her husband deeply. Kyle had no right to insult her, especially since she was his sister-in-law. It wasn’t a good thing to blackmail a family member. On top of that, he must’ve known they were Hikari’s friends, which made it even ruder.

At the same time, they couldn’t help it but notice how similar Kyle’s attitude was to Diane’s. She could be very mean at times and had no problems with criticizing her family out loud. She was sure to express her true opinions, with no consideration of feelings she might awake. The more they thought of it, the more they had to admit those two had a lot in common. They might even turn out to be a good couple after all.

“Well, love is blind” Eric stated simply, hoping to finish this subject.

“And marriage is the best optician. I know” Kyle groaned “But some opticians are worse than others” he added, clearly getting tired of the conversation.

“Now, if you please excuse us” Diane cut in “Our coffees are getting cold”

“Right, sorry to disturb you” Nicole decided retreat is a good idea “Come, kids, we’re leaving”

“Bye bye!” said the twins as they followed their mother and father. When the happy four disappeared from the horizon, the not-so-happy two let out sighs of relief.

“Man, that was annoying” Diane commented. She hated her sister and her happy family. Those people were making her want to puke.

“Like hell” Kyle agreed, reaching out for his bag “Fortunately, it seems they haven’t heard anything important from our conversation”

“Would’ve been a pain if they did” Diane drunk her coffee, which was rather cool at this point “Okay, what were we…?”

“My strategy” Kyle reminded her, placing a blueprint in front of her “Look at this plan. Here’s the main gate. Here, this corridor lead to the bodyguards office. In this room, they keep the computer, which supports the entire security system. Usually, this place is protected by a good deal of detectors, but they won’t work without electricity. This is our goal. If we manage to reach it, I will be able to turn it down, so the system won’t work, even after the power is back after those five minutes. Then, we will have a lot of time to get to the safes and get the gold out. Piece of cake” he concluded, proud of himself. Diane smirked. The more they got into it, the more excited she was.

“You are marvelous, Kyle” she complemented her companion, thanking the fate for placing him on her way “But you mustn’t forget about the bodyguards. They might be a problem”

“Oh, not at all” he assured her “Good old darkness grenades will do the job. All we need is glasses with thermo-vision, so we’ll be able to see them in the smoke. In those circumstances, we could take them down with paralyzers, or something this sort. One real problem is to do this fast enough. We’re going to need a deserted building to practice this scheme. We cannot fail”

“Sure we can’t” Diane could hardly control the pleasant shiver that was consuming her. She was a part of a wonderful plan. She had a real genius for a partner. And she was going to participate in a true mission impossible. But it was possible and it was freaking great “To victory” she rose her cup. Kyle rose his as well, overjoyed.

“To the victory” he repeated and drunk his cold coffee. It was bitter, but it became a symbol of their sweet success. The success that was going to happen soon.

AN: Hikari Mazaki is the trademark character in my B6 fan fiction, so is Kenny “Sparky” Sparksider (now known as Ken Mazaki), so I won’t say much more about them. There is going to be a sequel to “Hikari”, to be called “A village in the mountains” which will explain how the two became a couple. Also, those two will play a role in this story as well, so stay tuned, KariSparky lovers! ^_^