"I'm going shopping," Leanne said to Hank the next day, after they spent a second night together in Rio's bed. "You need a new wardrobe."

Hank couldn't disagree. In many ways—especially financially—his new roommates were above him.

"I'm sorry I lost your shirt. It kind of got left at Aika's."

Leanne grumbled at Hank's pile of luggage. "From what I've heard about her, I'm amazed she doesn't have your pants."

"Ah…" he said, embarrassed. "Yeah. She got those too."

"Uh huh. So she has both your shirt and your pants. How did you come home? Naked?"

Hank smiled, finding Leanne's bluntness refreshing. "Sehrish gave me something to wear."

"Who?"

"Aika's other roommate. She collects men's clothes."

Leanne stared at Hank in silence for a moment, sipping a cup of coffee before waving him off to organize her work station on the dining table. "I don't want to know any more. There's other stuff I need to do." She went into business mode, throwing on a power suit jacket and winter scarf. "I also have to go to the office, so I'll be lucky if I ever come home."

She grabbed an apple from a bowl in the kitchen and took a last shot of coffee. Before she got away, Hank grabbed her by the butt and pressed her chest to his, hugging her until she squeaked.

"You should be here when Rio gets back," he said, close to her face. "She's been sad and gloomy."

"You need to train her better. Make her do as you say." Leanne then spoke dark and sultry. "Will you cook for me while I'm gone? You know how to make food, right? Yummy man food? Please?"

"Yeah. Sure. Of course."

Leanne heated up like a furnace, with Hank still in possession of her butt. She wriggled in his embrace, brushing her breasts on his chest.

"So you'll cook like a man for me?" she teased. "I want to eat your man food."

"Ahm… okay."

"Then I will come home to eat. For you."

She shoved him away and bolted out the door before either of them could change their mind. After taking Bumbles for a walk, Hank searched the kitchen and found what he needed to make chili con carne. As he cooked, Rio came through the front door. Bumbles sniffed her feet as she threw her purse on the dining table and her blue blazer on the living room chair, its loose button repaired by Odeya. In silence, she searched the apartment, then stared at Hank with her hands on her hips.

"Hello," he said to her scowl. "Okaerinasai."

She gave him the slightest head bow. "Goshujin-sama," she said with honor. "What are you doing?"

"I'm cooking for Leanne. She asked me to make dinner."

Rio approached to inhale the scent of his chili. "Has crabby Rio returned?" he asked as she visibly relaxed.

She threw herself onto the sofa and stared with blank eyes at the ceiling. "Wakarimasen," she muttered. "I don't know."

"Did you walk home from Odeya's?"

"Hai. I am rather tired."

Hank sat beside Rio's feet on the sofa, letting her rest them on his lap. "I told you I'd come and get you," he scolded. He then spoke in a softer voice. "I went to Milton's while you were gone."

"Huh," Rio said with distraction. "I have to make better walls."

"I beg your pardon?'

She brought her eyes down from the ceiling to stare into his. "You're not the only person in this room who affects Reality. You are a great RMer, Hank-sama, but you've only been at it for a week. I've been Preventing RMers for years."

She turned around to place her head in his lap instead of her feet. He went from massaging her toes to stroking her hair.

She continued. "I have covered our tracks. Attempts have been made on our lives, and it takes only one to kill us."

With Rio's head in his lap, and having been in both it and her heart, Hank spoke with certainty. "Why did you burn down his house?"

She grit her teeth before confessinng. "I told you I've covered our tracks. Milton's gone. He's not there. But bad guys know where it is. So now it is gone."

It was Hank's turn to confess. "When I went there, I saw a bad guy. An Other who tried to kill me."

Rio sat up and put her feet on the floor. Concern lit the lasers in her eyes.

"What happened?" she demanded.

"She blew herself up with hand grenades."

"How did you not die?"

"Well… I think I Prevented it."

"So you can make Realities and Prevent them? Can you Dreamwatch too?"

Hank thought about his answer for a while. "Yeah. I think I can. Aika showed me how to do it."

Rio relaxed and nestled back into Hank. "You are a rare breed. No wonder why Milton liked you."

Hank smiled. "Yeah. And so does his little wan chan," he teased, petting Rio like a puppy.

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"Woof woof," she said, teasing back. "If you see an Other again, let me know. I will kill her."

Hank paused in his petting. "Why are you so mean and scary?"

She got up and walked toward her room, stripping to put on different clothes. "It's a mean scary world," she replied.

"No it's not."

"Yes it is. You slept with Leanne in my bed," she remarked upon entering.

Rather than discussing the subject, Hank returned to his cooking. When Rio reappeared, she was wearing an oversized white cotton t-shirt, loose enough to look big on Leanne. A black and white cartoon image of Tugboat Willie from behind covered the back of the shirt. His black stick figure arms reached around to the front, where big white gloved hands gave the appearance of him cupping Rio's breasts. Beneath this she wore a sharp pleated black schoolgirl skirt, short enough to peek under, and beneath that were white fleece leggings covered with huge comic strip panels of Detective Tracy, the caption balloons written in hiragana.

While standing in the doorway to the kitchen watching Hank prepare dinner, Rio placed a dozen hair wraps on either side of her head. Each was attached to a thin blue feather, giving the impression of her pigtails being tinted. With so many wraps in her hair, her pigtails stuck nearly straight out on both sides.

"What?" Rio asked as Hank gawked. "You said I should dress more fun, and I'm going to find my Leanne."

"She dressed for work. You may look out of place."

Rio stuck out her jaw. "My Leanne bought these leggings for me. And the skirt."

"Oh. What about the shirt?"

Rio gave a goofy grin. "I bought it. Do you like?"

"You look adorable."

"Dōmo."

"You are welcome. Perhaps a jacket?" he offered as a suggestion.

Rio went to her room and came back wearing a black fitted suit jacket sporting funky grommets and laces as accents. "Well?" she asked, seeking approval.

"Hmm. Your shirt bags up under that."

She stuck out her butt and twisted around, looking over her shoulder to examine her hem line. "Maybe if I tuck it in?" she surmised.

She tried doing so herself, but the tight fit of the jacket made it hard to do. Hank came to offer assistance. He rolled up the back of the oversized shirt and twisted it together, tightening the way it laid across her chest.

"Hold up your jacket and I'll tuck this in."

Rio submitted herself to her man. He stuck his hands in deep by her butt, adjusting the shirt, skirt and leggings while there. Suddenly, she whirled to face him. She pressed her chest to his and stared up at his face.

"Um…" was all he got out before she attacked.

"O shibari retai," she said as she clamped his arms to his sides, with his hands trapped in her skirt. She marched him backwards to the love seat, giving him a shove to make him lie down.

She mounted him until she was scrunched up on his chest. "Yarimasu sumata," she said, nose to nose. "Nameru gi. O nameru waza shaburu."

Hank tried asking Rio what she had said, but she rammed her tongue down his throat when he opened his mouth. Every time he made a sound, she rammed him again.

"No panties," she said between kisses. "Betabeta. Beta suku."

He was certain she was talking dirty. She definitely was acting that way. The next thing she said made it clear.

"Stick your big mitts in my pants. Grab my butt. Squeeze my ass."

He obliged by groping her while she held his face in her hands, pressing it to her bosom. She then pried it off and spoke to it.

"Dendō dangan motteru. I will use it for you."

"Ah… okay."

Hank understood very little of what Rio was saying, but enjoyed how she was talking. His grip spanned the girth of her buttocks, his fingers closing in on her pucker hole. After grinding a bit on his chest, she dismounted him as quickly as she had attacked. She staggered for a moment while swooning before pulling up her panties and leggings, leaving him sprawled out on the love seat.

Rio grunted as Hank rose and approached. He again stuck his hands down the back of her skirt, this time as much for the fun of it as to help adjust the lay of her clothes.

"I gotta admit," he said with a grin. "Your shirt is super cute."

"Do you want some?" she asked, grabbing her boobs where the cartoon hands cupped them.

"Yeah. But not now." He returned to his chili con carne. "Do you want some of this?" he asked of his cooking.

Rio sighed and softened. "No. Odeya stuffed me with food." She plopped back on the sofa. "I want my Leanne."

"She went to work and also said she would go shopping."

"For you," Rio guessed. "Your fashion sense sucks."

"It does not. It's just limited, that's all."

"Come back here," she said after a long silent moment had passed.

"Why? So you can attack me again?"

"No. So you can grope me more."

Eventually, he sat down beside her. She rested her head against him, beneath the safety of an arm.

"I see too many things, my sweet," she complained, soft and gentle. "I see my Leanne shopping, right? Because she likes to so much. With you, she has a new person, you see, to dress up."

"I like her, Honey Cup. A lot."

"Hai. I do too. I love her."

"She's always happy."

"Hai."

"A far cry from you."

Rio poked Hank in the ribs and snuggled deeper. She then got up and smoothed her clothes. "I'm going to be with her."

"Ah… okay. Do you know where she is?"

"No, but I know where she shops."

"She said first she was going to work."

"And I know where that is too." Rio poured some coffee into a disposable cup. While it warmed in the microwave, she checked her look in the guest bathroom mirror.

"I'll find her," she said from out of Hank's sight.

"Do you want your phone back?"

"Hai. Let me try calling." When Leanne didn't answer, Rio grunted some Japanese as a message, then hung up and gave her phone back to Hank. "Keep it," she said. "I will find her."

"What if she calls?"

"Tell her I'm looking for her."

Hank held out the phone. "I don't need it," he said. "You can take it."

"Iie iie. You see, I don't want to talk. I want to be with her."

"But why?"

Rio glanced towards her disheveled bed. "Because you slept together."

"Uhm…"

"Hank-sama, I do not care. Wa kinishinai. I hurt so bad, I could die."

He gave her a hug, and she melted into him. When he tried letting go, she held on.

"I could Prevent her from knowing your name, you see, if I wanted. But I don't. You make her happy. I want her to like you."

"Thanks."

"I'm sorry for what I've done," Rio said next. "For sometimes what I do."

"Stop apologizing."

"I will try." She managed to pry herself off. "Okay. I will call, you see, when I find her to let you know when we'll have dinner."

Hank turned his head towards the kitchen. "I'm, um… I think I'll just leave it on the counter and take a nap. It's been a long week. I'm exhausted."

Rio sighed. "Hai. And I am too."

"Then stay with me. You know… if you'd rather sleep."

"No. But dōmo, goshujin-sama. Arigatō."

Rio busied herself with preparing to leave. Hank returned to gawking.

"What?" she asked after a while.

"I just… uh, I can't believe how you're dressed. You're so friggin' kawaī."

She laughed. Sadly, but heartfelt. "I'm sick of clothes only for business. So today I wear something sexy."

He bowed to kiss one of her hands. "Well, you certainly are that!"

Rio bowed as well. "Gozaimasu," she said.

"How will you know where to find her? I mean, without your phone?"

Rio grabbed her purse and sat by the door to put on tennis shoes. "I know my Nushi. I'll find her."

A concerned look remained on Hank's face, so Rio walked up and used both her hands to heave down on his neck. "We're Reality Makers, you doofus," she said with love, locking him in an odd embrace. "If I can't find her, I'll make her find me. It's what we do, you see." She beeped his nose with a finger and turned to walk away. "Besides, you need my phone. Odeya will soon call."

"She's almost as scary as you."

Rio laughed again, this time feeling more humor. "She wants to go scuba diving. She says you can spot bad guys that way."

Hank's eyebrows went up. "How does she know I scuba dive?"

Rio turned her head and smiled pretty, her hand on the open front door. "For all we know, up until now, you never did. Remember, Hank-sama. We make Reality."

"It is what we do," she said again as she left.

Hank's nap turned into bedtime. He was still alone when he awoke the next day. While padding around in his boxer briefs, he learned the reason why. Both Leanne and Rio's purses were on the dining table, and most of his chili was gone. Also, Leanne's bedroom door was closed. He smiled as he envisioned them sleeping, with little Rio cuddled up to big Leanne.

He warmed a cup of yesterday's coffee and ate what was left of his chili. After taking Bumbles for a morning walk and then feeding him, he waited for Odeya to arrive.