This one doesn't have the lyrics in it, but it totally suits this chapter. As always though, don't play til I say.

There was an old cliche, about every short girl having a tall best friend, one that in your case was unfortunately very true. And worse still, while your best friend was tall, so where all of your other friends. Maybe by someone else's standards, they were only of average height, but there was one person who you called a friend and he wasn't just tall. Oh no. Tall would have been an understatement of epic proportions.

At eleven years old he had stopped growing, managing to tower over not only you, but the rest of your group of friends, looking like he was twenty one years of age as opposed to the preteen that he had been at the time. Thankfully however, five years had passed until all of you were sixteen, and Xander Shakadera had yet to grow a single inch since then.

Still though, compared to him, Yugo, Ukyo and Quon when he was around, you were by far the most lacking in height. Three of the four aforementioned teenagers had no issues with how short you were, but one of them never failed to call you out on it.

Every. Single. Day.

On somedays you doubled as a human armrest, and on others he would at times like to stand on his tippy toes and add an extra inch or two to his already formidable height.

And not to mention the insults, puns and jokes that never seemed to stop.

He was brutal and unforgiving, yet admittedly rather amusing, but giggles aside, this was a personal matter that you refused to drop, at least, before he did.

Then one night, it happened.

Shit hit the proverbial fan and you were tipped well over the edge.

"Two aces, three nines and a four." Ukyo declared when it was his turn, throwing down a set of six unknown cards on the coffee table the five of you were all seated around, as per was your usual tradition when Quon came back to the dojo.

The lot of you fell quiet, weighing up the pros and cons of calling him out. You studied the face of your childhood best friend intently, looking for any small give to determine if he was bluffing.

And there it was. An almost imperceptible twitch of his right brow, one that everyone else missed. You doubted Ukyo even realised he had done it, and you bit your lip, wondering if it was a tell or some sort, or if the action was completely involuntary. Normally so controlled, Ukyo had a great poker face, and you feared that maybe he was trying to bait you into calling his cheat.

He tightened his hold on the remaining cards in his hand, and you decided to throw caution to the wind.

"Okay, why not?" You sighed, knowing that you only had a fifty percent chance of actually succeeding in your gamble. "Bullshit."

The moment that that wicked smirk of his curled his lips, you knew that you had been wrong.

Ukyo flipped over his cards, revealing two ace cards, three nines and a singular four that caused you to let out a loud groan and slam your head into the cool surface of the wooden table.

"Looks like you came up short Y/N," Ukyo taunted, gathering up the cards into a small pile and sliding them across to you.

"Not like it's the first time," Xander muttered under his breath from where he sat beside you, only just so loud enough that you were able to hear him.

"What the hell did you just say to me?" You hissed, turning your body to face him and narrowing your eyes dangerously, your temper not failing to flare up immediately.

"You clearly heard me," he protested, holding up his hands defensively as if to fend you off.

"You clearly don't want to risk saying it again."

"Why ask if you already know?"

"I will not hesitate to strangle you, Xander Shakadera." You warned him. "You are one insult away from starting a war."

"Okay, but seriously though, can you even reach that high?" He asked seriously, and that was enough to break you.

"OH THAT IS IT!" You screeched, leaping to your feet. "THIS IS WAR!"

Like the wise man that he was, Ukyo rose to his feet and stood beside you like some sort of blue haired security guard.

"How could you beat me?" Xander quirked a brow. "I have Quon and Yugo on my side, so it's three on two."

"But I have Ukyo," you countered darkly. "You seriously think you can beat two shadow walkers like us?"

Xander gulped nervously, perhaps only just beginning to realise his mistake, but not wanting to back down from the challenge. Quon and Yugo on the other hand had no such qualms.

"Let's not be hasty," Yugo cautioned.

"Yeah, we didn't make fun of you." Quon added, knowing the havoc that Ukyo and yourself could wreak if you put your collective minds to it.

"You wanted to side with him, then you're on his side." You informed them with a stoney glare upon your face.

"But we didn't-"

"I don't want to hear it." You cut them off grimly.

"Traitors." Xander muttered.

"It is on like Donkey Kong."

And so it begun.

War.

"Y/N!" Xander roared, but his only response was the echoing of the evil laughter you left behind as you melted into the shadows.

It had been six days since your war had officially begun, and the trolling level of your pranks had officially advanced to brand new heights previously unknown to anyone in the dojo.

Case point being the air horn you had taped to the back of Xander's door earlier that day, so that when he opened it, he experienced a near heart attack. Or better yet, when you had rigged a mentos to fall into his bottle of diet coke... The fizz alone was epic.

Trainees at the dojo had never seen anything on this scale before, and wisely they stayed out of your way and refused to interfere.

But everything changed when Ukyo attacked.

Literally.

He had gone to lunge at Xander from out of a tree, only to have Xander dart out of the way at the last second. In fact, Xander's oh so narrow escape meant that Ukyo had no time to recover, and went crashing into the unforgiving ground. There was a sickening crack, and the colour slowly drained from his face as he held his arm at an unnatural angle.

Quon had come running. At first you thought his panic was all for show, but when he mentioned Ukyo had been injured, you were out of your seat in a flash. In hindsight, it could have been a prank, and you probably should have been a little more careful, but when it came to your close friends, caution went out the back window and jumped the garden fence.

"What the hell were you thinking?!" You demanded, freaking out as you sat down heavily on the ground beside him. "That could have been your neck."

"Y/N?" He coughed weakly, speaking so faintly that you had to lean in to hear him properly, fearing that something more was wrong. "Avenge me."

You reeled back in shock, looking at him incredulously. He had broken his arm and this was what he was worried about? You respected the need for revenge, but his bone had just snapped for crying out loud.

He gave you a sly wink, before his attention was stolen by the paramedics that had been called. While yes, normally an ambulance wasn't called in the event of a broken arm, none of you were old enough to drive legally without an adult, and limbs were not supposed to bend like that. In truth, you were a little frightened by the whole ordeal, and you felt sickened from seeing your best friend in such a state.

You stood back up, a new sort of determination shining down around you. Yes, it wasn't exactly Xander's fault or anything, he hadn't meant for Ukyo to get hurt, but this was more than just a grudge match now. It was more. Ukyo had asked you to exact revenge for him, and you planned to deliver.

Aaaaaand... Play it!

"Sign it." Xander ordered gruffly, slamming down an official looking document on the table in front of you.

"I don't even know that this is meant to be," you protested, distracted from your lunch.

"It's a contract," Xander informed you shortly, sliding it closer to you. "It says, 'I, Y/N L/N, hereby promise to cease this prank war as long as ye shall live.'"

"The fuck is this 'ye?'" You frowned, scanning the piece of paper intently and realizing that it indeed stated just that.

"'Ye' is you, it sounds official!" Xander said. "Sign it."

"And if I don't?" You quirked a brow challengingly, folding your arms across your chest and leaning back in your seat.

"Well then I might sneak into your room tonight and push a pillow over your face till you stop kicking." Xander threatened, a facial tick triggering.

"That's some pretty dark stuff right there, that is." You pouted childishly.

Xander rubbed his eyes, suddenly seeming very tired. "This has gone on long enough Y/N, Ukyo got hurt because of this."

You mulled it over before sighing loudly and coming to a decision. "I'll only sign it if you do too."

"That's fine," Xander agreed quickly, sounding incredibly relieved.

"Hang on a sec," you ordered, taking a pen out of your pocket and making a few minor as adjustments and handing it back to Xander so he could check it over to make sure it was to his standards. You knew he wouldn't find anything wrong with it, all you had done was alter the terms and conditions so that they would suit several people instead of only one. As he was reading, you fiddled with your pen, clicking it in a lazy rhythm. When he was satisfied, Xander glanced up and nodded at you.

"I can sign this." He said, holding out his hand for the pen you still held in your grasp.

Fighting the urge to grin widely, you watched in barely concealed suspense, wondering silently as to how the tall male could possibly be so naïve. Xander clicked the pen, only to let out a shout of surprise as ink sprayed out of it, going everywhere, mostly on him.

"You seriously think I'd give up so easily?" You said, asking the question that had been at the forefront of your mind for the last few minutes, not even bothering to keep your smug smirk hidden from him.

"Your best friend broke his arm," Xander stressed, giving you an expression that was nothing short of  filled with disbelief.

You stood up, pushing your chair back out behind you, your lunch now long forgotten. "And the only thing he said to me before those paramedics came along was not to let this go, and if you really think I'm not going to do that, then the air must me pretty damn this up their because clearly you're not getting enough oxygen."

All Xander could do was blink as you turned and stalked out of the room.

'He's wrong to underestimate me.' You thought furiously. 'It's about time I showed Xander the living hell I can make his life into.'

There was no going back now.

This was a new brand of hell.

They'd thought you were bad enough before, but this... Your humanity was being severely questioned. Just the other day, Quon had sat down to enjoy an innocent milkshake. What he didn't count of however, was that you had cut the end of his straw. So when Quon put the straw into his drink, he definitely wasn't expecting to pop the small balloon you had placed in the bottom of the cup, nor was he expecting for the thing to quite literally blow up in his face.

'That's it, I'm done!' Quon bellowed, pushing away from the countertop and storming out of the kitchen. 'You are an evil woman Y/N L/N!'

Wordlessly, you handed him a towel from where you slouched against the wall just outside of the room in question. He snatched it from you and dried his face roughly, but his hair had the faint stains of his drink clinging to it stubbornly.

'You win, okay? I'm on your side now, nothing Xander could do can come close to what goes on inside that head of yours.'

'Welcome to the dark side,' you grinned demonically, handing him a fresh cup which he, wisely, warily regarded. 'We have non-sabotaged milk shakes.'

That was one of your first successful recruits, Yugo following shortly after an incident involving a toilet exploding Percy Jackson style, forever earning him the title 'Lord of the Bathroom.'

With their combined help, you managed to fill Xander's school locker with a wall of bricks, and steal his bed's mattress away from him, leaving him to wonder how the hell you had been able to pull that off without him noticing. Both of those things, you highly doubted you could have accomplished without help.

And while stealing his food had been your most delicious prank, there was one that you had by far enjoyed above all the others.

It was no secret that, no matter how much he tried to deny it, Xander loved his hair. It was like his baby, and the one thing that turned him into a bigger diva than most of the  girls your age. Once, you and Ukyo had snuck into his bedroom and counted all of his hair care products. Let's just say that you lost count after the thirteenth tub of hair gel, and you were shaking your head at his fine tooth combs that you definitely remembered seeing in the female haircare section of your local pharmacy at some earlier time.

There was thing however, that you could recall from Xander's bedroom break in, and that was his gigantic vanity mirror. It was no wonder that he kept his bathroom under careful lock and key, that mirror was just plain in embarrassing, and more than even a movie star would have needed in their wildest dreams. Admittedly, it had been the sourse of your and Ukyo's amusement on multiple occasions.

What was particularly special about this mirror although, was the fact that it wasn't even made of a reflective glass. Rather it used a camera to display a live feed that it displayed on the screen. Why was this better than a mirror? Well, you didn't know Xander's exact reasoning, but what you did know, was that cameras had a very good use to you.

Ukyo was smart, not to mention he was pretty good with technology. And even though he had a broken arm, he wanted to help you out. His injury made him think that he wouldn't be able to lend a hand, but this proved him wrong. It took an hour or two, but eventually Ukyo was able to hack Xander's mirror cam and upload a video you had pre recorded and given to him on a USB stick. All you had to do now was wait.

Xander sat down in front of his bathroom mirror with a deep sort of sigh. This never failed to calm him down, this little ritual of his, so it was a  perfect way to destress himself and forget about everything for a little while.

He picked out one of his many countless combs from the draw built into his basin and began the familiar process of running the fine teeth of it through his hair, starting at his crown and working his way up. Xander leant in closer to the mirror to better see what he was doing, and seeing this, you sent a waiting Ukyo a text message.

7:46PM

To: Shadow Bro

You: Hook. Line. Sink him!

Moments later, there was a loud shout, as Xander fell back from his chair in shock, and you bit your lip to refrain from giggling.

Where only seconds before there had been an image of Xander, was now the face of a screeching llama. Eyes wide, Xander got back up and leant back in to inspect the llama, which was fading away to reveal a picture of you doing a crazy looking victory dance from your bedroom at home.

His quiet muttering of 'what the hell...?' Served as your own cue, and silently, you danced from the shadowy corner you had been lurking in and dug your fingers into Xander's ribs, tickling him harshly and resulting in an unexpectedly high pitched, extremely girly shriek.

You jumped back, less his fight instincts kicked in as opposed to flight, but instead he whirled around, clutching his heaving chest, panting heavily while you laughed and performed a victory dance identical to the one on screen.

That alone had been a huge victory, and the aftermath of it had been beautiful. There were two sides to pulling off a good prank. The physical side and the psychological side. The physical stuff was easy enough if you were creative, and more or less it was just the actual act in itself. The psychological side was a bit more tricky, but when done right it was beautiful.

The fear and paranoia. The constant anticipation of the prank to come, wondering when and where it would strike. It was a cunning display to say the least, and you relished in the pleasure that was given to you, as you quietly observed Xander's well placed fear. Seeing him avoid the shadows that you might be waiting in, the brief hesitation before entering a room, his flinch when you smiled at him sweetly. Oh yes, the mind games were definitely your favorite part of toying with Xander.

It needed to stop. He couldn't take it anymore. The sleepless nights where he lay awake in barely concealed terror were finally getting to him. Paranoid? Maybe. But Xander called it cautious. When the moon was high and the shadows danced, that was when you were in your element. At this point, he was just waiting for you to prank him so that it could be over. But it would never come. And he'd be waiting, anticipating, but nothing would happen and so he'd begin to relax, and slowly he would let his guard down. And that was when you would strike.

Xander was desperate, which is how the two of you ended up in your little situation.

Him on his knees, hands clasped together, quite literally begging for you to forgive him.

"I give up, you win. I'll never call you short again." He swore, and you held your fists akimbo, silently enjoying the experience of looking down upon him for the first time in... Forever actually. "Just please, please, please, make it stop."

"I don't know what you're talking about." You shrugged innocently, and a strangled sort of half whine half wimper clawed its way up out of Xander's throat.

"The torture." He clarified, snatching up your hands in his two much larger ones, and you noticed the crazed gleam dancing in his eyes. "Please Y/N give me mercy, I can't even sleep because I'm so damn terrified of you."

"You really want me to forgive you?"

"Yes, I'll do anything." Xander said, latching onto to the faint swirls of an opportunity that he saw forming."

"Anything?" You arched a brow.

"Anything."

Now, if Xander had been refreshed and alert, he would have noticed the evil look on your face, and retracted his promise either such a speed that would give any normal person whip lash. In fact, he seemed so out of it, that he didn't even notice your eyes, and the thick dark eyeliner around them.

Very rarely did you wear makeup, but eyeliner alone only made an appearance maybe once in a full blue moon. As a child, you had had something of a small addiction to superheroes and comics, which was an addiction you would freely admit that you still retained to this day. There was always something you noticed about the villains though, and that was the fact that all of them seemed to wear eyeliner.

You were mischievous, that much was apparent when you really got into it, but very rarely did you go on a spree such as the one that you were currently on. When you did however, you would always take a little extra time in the morning to apply your sharply winged 'plotting eyeliner,' which was your trademark when causing chaos and mayhem. So if Xander must have really been as deprived of sleep like he said he was, because he was clearly unable to recognize the schemeing that you were currently doing.

"Kiss me." You smirked, knowing that even in this state he wouldn't do such a thing. The little crush you were nursing on the laughing giant had blossomed roughly a year ago, or at least that was the very first time you had admitted it to yourself. Much to your sadness however, Xander had never shown an inkling of interest toward you.

Tell him, Ukyo had urged you on many occasions. But no, you just couldn't. No matter what, putting aside all the frustration and height related teasing, Xander Shakadera was always going to be your friend first and foremost. That is what meant the most to you, his friendship, and you weren't prepared to risk it by outright admitting your feelings to him.

But this though, this was different. Xander wouldn't go that far to get himself in your good books, so there was no way he'd actually do it. He wasn't that tired, he was too clueless, he was... HE WAS PULLING YOUR HEAD DOWN TO KISS HIM!

'Now just hold on a fucking second,' your brain ordered, not able to keep up with the sudden and unexpected turn of events. 'Loading. Processing. Nope. Brain does not compute.'

And while your racing mind might not have been able to fully comprehend this amazing occurrence, the rest of you sure as hell was.

Your eyes fluttered shut as Xander placed a gentle hand to rest on your hip, while you threaded both of your's through his surprisingly soft red hair. Gently raking your nails against his scalp, you giggled into the kiss as Xander let out a noise laden with euphoria. But too soon was the moment over, ruined by your very own minions.

"Does this mean it's over?" Quon asked, suddenly startled as Yugo clamped a hand over his mouth and silenced him.

"We'll just leave the two of you to it." He apologized, dragging the skateboarder from the room. But despite taking their leave, the friends had left things too awkward between yourself and Xander to pick things up where they had left off mere moments ago.

"I've--"

"Don't worry about it," you assured him, internally cursing yourself for your temporary lapse in sanity. "Prank war's over, you win."

"Let me finish," Xander shook his head. "I was trying to say: I've been wanting to do that for a while now."

"Don't joke about this Xander," you glared, stepping back from him, heart thumping wildly. "It isn't funny. I said the war was over."

Xander smiled goofily at you. "You like me too, don't you? Ukyo wasn't lying."

"He told you?" You squeaked, suddenly extremely embarrassed, your face aflame. "I swear I'll break his other arm the next time I see him for this."

"Don't," Xander protested, slowly standing back up. "I like you too."

"Don't fuck with me, Shakadera." You warned him, wondering in the back of your head if this is what a trapped mouse felt like.

"I'm not," he swore, looking at you with earnest. "You're too scary for that."

"So why are you doing this then?"

"Because I like you Y/N." Xander repeated himself without a single hesitation. "More than just, 'your my best girl friend.' As in I want you to be my girlfriend, the kind of girlfriend that doesn't have the friend zone in between the two words."

"Why're you telling me now then? And why would Ukyo have told you anything?"

"He knew I liked you, he also knew that neither of us would make the first move because we suck at communicating." Xander informed you, sounding a little sheepish with the admission that you thought was beginning to sound more and more believable. "I guess this just seemed like the right moment. That and I really need some sleep."

"Go get some then."

"Not until I get an answer," Xander refused stubbornly. "Will you?"

"Will I what?" You asked, growing to become slightly exasperated with him.

"Be my girlfriend?"

Blushing heavily, you refused to look at him. "How do I know this isn't a joke or something?"

"Hey," there was now a frown in Xander's voice. He gently cupped your chin and forced you to meet his concerned gaze. "I wouldn't do that to you, ever. I want you to be my girlfriend Y/N, because you're funny and creative, not to mention how smart and cunning you are."

"I'm not that smart," you insisted, thinking back to the results of your last math test, even though the test in question was in literally everyone's opinion, bloody ridiculous.

"There are different kinds of smart," Xander told you. "Book smart is only one of them, but you have to be pretty damn smart to come up with all of these pranks you've been playing on me lately."

"You really think so?"

"Of course," Xander said, giving you an honest smile. "Besides, Ukyo would kill me if I hurt you. Quon would help, and Yugo would bury my body."

You had to agree with him there, and you told him as much.

"So?" Xander pressed. "Will you be my girlfriend?"

You took a deep breath and pushed away any fears and concerns that may have lingered.

"Yeah okay," you nodded, happiness beginning to fill you. "Yes, yes I'll be your girlfriend."

Xander laughed loudly, and the next thing you knew, he was scooping you up and throwing you over his shoulder.

"What the hell are you doing?!" You loudly screeched, fisting the material of his jackets to help steady yourself.

"You wanted me to sleep? So as my girlfriend, you have to come with me."

"Nonononono, I take it back, I take it back!"

Xander's only response was to tighten his grip on you and shift you so you were in a slightly more comfortable position resting on his shoulder.

"You can't do that," he declined, and you swore that you could practically feel the self satisfaction that your soon to be ex boyfriend was emanating. "You're stuck with me now Y/N."

"I hate you Xander!"

"I know you mean love," he said in a sing song voice, once again leaving you red.

"Baka!"

Ehhh, not my original ending, but it'll do. Anyone who can tell me where the song and pranking ideas come from will earn my eternal respect.

--xx Avanni Cinders