Chapter Twenty: Puzzle Pieces:

Once I got dressed, I walked into the living room. To my surprise, I found Isaac, Cassius, Yusuke, and Sunao sitting around, eyeing me. I looked at them rather confused.

�Yes?� I asked. The smirking doesn�t look good. �What?� I asked, looking back and forth at them. They all leaned in close to my face.

�Guys?� I asked, backing away. �What is this?� They began snickering at me.

�She got you, didn�t she?� Isaac asked. I looked at him in a panic.

�What are you talking about?!� I asked. �Who got me?!� My eyes moved back and forth at the guys staring me down. Suddenly, they broke into hard laughter.

�What?� I asked, still not getting what was happening. Isaac patted me on the shoulder.

�My man,� he said. �Welcome to this house!� I blinked at him with big eyes.

�Huh?� I asked. Before I could grasp it, we all sat in the living room, talking. Isaac gave me a huge grin.

�You�re not the only one she asked to post naked for her art projects,� he said. A puzzled look came onto my face.

�I�m not?� I asked.

�No,� all the guys answered.

�She�s done it to us all,� Sunao added. My jaw dropped.

�Seriously?� I asked.

�Miki asked me to model for her, twice,� Isaac added.

�Damn,� I muttered to myself. Another thought crossed my mind while I envisioned all these guys posing nude for Miki as she worked on her art. �How did you all end up here?� I asked. I happened to look up and notice traces of nostalgia coming over their faces.

�It�s a funny story really,� Isaac began. �I had just dropped out of college in Kobe and was really bored. I had my art, but not much else going on for me. One day, one of my former professors gave me a pass to an art exhibit in Hiroshima. He told me that I could make easy money if I entered into the contest.� I made an odd face at him.

�That�s sounds rather shady,� I told him. Isaac put up his hands in a shrug.

�Hey, what could I say?� he asked. �I really needed the money at the time. Anyway, my artwork didn�t even place in the contest, but I noticed the woman who placed third. I had seen her name before in the campus newspaper, but I didn�t pay too much attention to it during my college days. However, that day I found myself rather curious.�

�This is where it gets good,� Sunao whispered in my ear.

�I heard there was going to be a party afterwards,� Isaac picked up with his story. So I snuck right into the hotel where it was held.� He shook his head. �Too fancy for my taste, I mean didn�t even dress up for it. I spent the night at the bar, drinking. I was about to leave when this sweet little miss sat next to me.

��I�m getting bored with that party,� she complained. She happened to turn and face me. �Let me guess,� she said. �You got bored too?� I told her yeah. This sweet little miss took her glass she had in her hand and drank up. �Want to get out of here?� she asked. I asked her if she was serious and she said yeah.� He stared dead-on at me. �And do you know who that artist was who won third place and talked to me at the bar that night?� he asked. I shook my head at him.

�No,� I answered. Isaac sat back in his chair, smiling.

�None other than Miki herself,� he answered. My jaw dropped as my eyes grew big.

�No way!� I said.

�Yes, way,� he said back.

�Then� how did you get this house?� I asked.

�Miki�s grandmother owned this house,� Isaac added. �When she died, Miki inherited it. I had nowhere else to go at the time, so I asked her if I could stay for a while. She said yes.� A sweat drop formed on my head. Why does that not surprise me?

�So how about the rest of you guys?� I asked.

�We all just came here one by one,� Cassius asked. �I came here after my boyfriend dumped me. I met Miki and Isaac at a coffee shop downtown.�

�We loved his photos,� Isaac said. �So, we invited him to stay with us.�

�I came here when I needed a place to stay while I went to school here,� Sunao told us.

�I was struggling with my music career,� Yusuke added.

�And they let you stay here?� I asked.

�That�s right,� he replied. I thought about all of their stories as I looked at them one by one.

�So that�s it?� I asked.

�Yeah,� the guys answered. I thought about all of their stories as I put them together in my head.

�Uh-huh�� I said. �What about the girls?�

�What about us?� someone asked behind us. We looked up to see Akemi, Sakura-hime, Miki, Yumi, and Romi staring back at us. Isaac put up his hands in a shrug.

�We were just giving Kichiro here a little back story here,� he said. �Care to join us? He was just asking about you.� Romi put up her hands in a shrug.

�Why not?� she asked. �We don�t have much to do right now anyway.� The girls joined us in the living room. Isaac looked at each one as they took their seats.

�So, who�s going first?� he asked.

�I will,� Miki answered. Isaac bowed his head with grace.

�Go ahead, malady,� he told her.