OEDO KIDS - HIDE AND SEEK "Gimme!" Lena yelled, grabbing Sengoku's ball. "No!! It's mine! Get your own!" From the pavement, Benten, Feral and Gogul watched them fighting. "Are they always like this?" Feral asked. "Yep," Gogul replied. "They can't stand each other." Benten picked up a stone and threw it at the warring parties. It hit Lena on the forehead and she let go of the ball abruptly. Sengoku, who had been pulling on the ball too, went flying backwards and it smacked him in the face. "BENTEN!!! You're lucky I'm not feeling aggressive right now!" Lena snapped, rubbing her forehead. She turned and looked at Sengoku, who was sitting on the ground wiping his eyes with his wrists. "Crybaby," she muttered. "You two are always fighting, we're fed up with it," Benten complained. "Yeah, really," Feral added. "We can't do anything because you two just end up fighting over stupid little things. You're such a pair of little kids." "We ARE kids!" Lena and Sengoku yelled in reply. "Why don't we play a game or something?" Everyone stared at Gogul after he said this. "How will that help?" "It'll change the subject, won't it?" Sengoku brightened up. "Yeah! A team game! Boys against girls!" "That'll be uneven," Benten pointed out. "We'll get Juzo then." "It'll still be uneven!" "No it won't, Benten. You'll be on the girls team!" Benten shot Sengoku a look so dirty it was outlawed in 3 continents. He would have done more than just glare at Sengoku had Feral not interrupted. "Hide and Seek!" she cried. "That's not a team game," Sengoku said, sounding disappointed. "No, but it's fun!" "OK!" Lena yelled. "I wanna be the seeker first!" "No, I wanna be the seeker!" Sengoku yelled. Feral, Benten and Gogul looked at each other in despair, before making an attempt to pull the two apart. * * * "What did Juzo say?" "The usual," Gogul replied. "He said, 'Juzo is a kids name, I'm Hasegawa.' And then he said he had to do his homework." "What a loser!" Lena responded. "Like he'll ever be in a position of power!" "Either way, it'll be five of us," Feral said. "That's plenty for Hide and Seek." "OK, all of you go hide and I'll count to 20," Lena ordered. "NO!!! I'M SEEKING!!!!" Sengoku screamed. "SHUT UP!!!" Gogul yelled. "Neither of you are going to be the seeker! Feral is." "Why her?!" "Because it was her idea. When you get one, you can be the seeker." Lena was going to protest, but she heard Feral counting very loudly by a tree. Then she saw the others running off to hide, and she ran off too. * * * Sengoku ran around frantically. It was lucky that Feral was such a slow counter, it would give him more of a chance to find a good hiding place. He looked around the street. He noticed a huge lorry parked at the side of the road. With a BIG gap underneath. He ran over and bent down, but didn't see Lena in time and got pushed over for it. "This is MY hiding place! Find your own!" Sengoku spotted a large tree just across the road. It had low branches at the bottom. He ran over and scaled it as quickly as he could. Not bad, he thought as he made himself comfortable in a fork in one of the branches. He could see the whole street from up there. In fact, he could even see where the other two were hiding. Benten was ducking behind a garden wall, and Gogul had gone for the spot behind a letter box, even though he didn't quite fit. He could also see Feral patrolling the street, looking for them. She was very close to Lena's hiding place, actually. Then he saw something else. The lorry driver coming out of the house it was parked in front of. He was obviously going to drive off now, and..... oh, this would be good! Lena didn't realise until it was too late that the lorry driver was anywhere near the lorry. She heard the engine starting up and could do nothing but lie there as it reversed away, leaving her lying on the ground for all to see. "Lena! I found you!!" Feral cried in delight. "That wasn't fair! The driver went off and ruined my hiding place!!" Lena yelled, right before she burst into tears. Sengoku laughed to himself in the tree, not quite loud enough to let Feral - or Lena, for that matter - hear him. Feral found Gogul next - his hiding place was just too small and he tumbled out, so she caught him. It didn't take much searching to find Benten either, as the owner of the garden wall he was hiding behind had come out with a Rottweiler, sending Benten leaping over the wall and right in front of Feral. "Hey! No fair, you guys! You're making it easy for me!" Feral protested. "I hope Sengoku's hidden a bit better than you three were!" * * * "Sengoku! You can come out now! I give up!" Three sulking children sat on the pavement, and a very bored one wandered up and down the street. Sengoku wouldn't move. And let Feral win? No way! "Just forfeit, Feral! He's not gonna come out at this rate and we're bored!" Lena yelled. Feral sighed. "OK, Sengoku, I forfeit! You win!" Sengoku grinned. He crawled down the tree quickly and jumped down. "You were hiding up there?!" Lena yelled. "I don't think that's allowed!" "Yes it is!" Feral replied. "It's a brilliant hiding place!" "I REALLY don't think that's allowed!" "Quit complaining, Lena! Just because your hiding place was lousy!" "Hide and Seek champion!" Feral yelled enthusiastically, jumping up and down and pointing at Sengoku. Benten and Gogul agreed with her, which sent Lena into a very deep sulk. But Sengoku didn't worry about it, because something had finally turned out right for him. THE END