It's been a couple months since the Zealous Thunder God attacked the Special Zone and Mimiko's in need of a vacation. Here follows the events of her vacation with the Mochizuki brothers.
Chapter One: The Arrival
Mimiko Katsuragi stretched, her arms reaching towards the sky, both whole and strong again, mostly. Her right arm was still a little shaky after having been in a cast for weeks on end, but only when she tried to lift anything weight more than ten pounds. And her right leg was also a little unsteady, but she felt more like herself than she had in quite some time. The bruises and scrapes from her encounter with the vampire, Kanaye Raidon, were all healed and only the memories really remained.
"I can't believe we're really here," she practically squealed as she looked out the door of the small airplane. After having switched from a transatlantic flight in California to a smaller plane, it was good to be on land, even though the last leg of their journey wasn't anywhere near as long as the flight over the ocean had been. She'd secretly hoped for some fun, but all of her companions had behaved themselves fairly well, all things considered.
Behind her, Jiro Mochizuki sighed inwardly, but he couldn't help smiling at her enthusiasm. She certainly deserved the vacation the Order Coffin Company was finally giving her. Not only had she recently gone up again the Zealous Thunder God, but survived a battle between humanity and the infamous Kowloon Children. She needed this and he was going to do everything he could to make it enjoyable for her. Being able to doze on the plane had helped.
"Awesome!" Kotaro Mochizuki poked his head out from behind Jiro's long, red coat. The sky shown in brilliant reds and oranges. He had to shade his eyes from the glare, not noticing his brother trying to step back under the protective shading of the airplane's cabin despite his pushing through the narrow door.
Ahead of them lay a field of tarmac where several smaller aircraft were parked. Behind them sat a small airport terminal. At least it was smaller than the others they'd gone through. Scrub brush could be seen at the airport's far edges. Beyond that was a mass of reddish orange rock and dirt for as far as the eye could see, until it met the sky.
Jiro adjusted his goggles, wishing he had his umbrella, even though the sun was now setting. He absently felt for his long, silver katana that had been left behind in Rinsuke Akai's keeping. "Uh, Mimiko," his tone made the compromiser turn around, "where exactly are we?"
Mimiko smiled widely, and winked. "It's a secret, Jiro," she teased. "But we're definitely not in Japan anymore." The Black Blood's expression only made her smile more. "And I really do hope you packed some swimming trunks or we might have to go shopping for some."
He schooled his expression. "Mimiko, water and I don't exactly get along," he reminded her gently, just in case she'd forgotten, not likely but possible considering all she'd been through. He put one hand up to his hat, pulling the brim lower over his face as a ray of sunshine filtered through the clouds above them.
She gave him a truly mischievous grin. "Oh, I know that," she replied. "But who said I was going to make you go swimming?" She turned back towards the tarmac and walked down the steep stairs to the ground, holding onto the railing for support. Kotaro was quick on her heels, gawking at the strange landscape around him.
Jiro didn't immediately follow, more from surprise than anything else. He wondered just what the brunette had in mind that would require a bathing suit. Well, he had two choices, he decided. He could either go along with her whims or absolutely refuse. He had a feeling he'd probably give in, so long as it wasn't anything too outrageous. He decided he'd just have to wait and see what she had in mind as he followed her down to the tarmac.
Mimiko reached the end of the stairway, stumbling slightly as she took the last step down. It was lightly longer than the previous, but she corrected herself as Kotaro zoomed around her to look around the area.
Jiro watched her, instinctively moving to help but stopped when he saw she was all right. Even though she was back up and about, he figured he'd still need to keep an eye on her and keep her from overdoing things, which she had a tendency to do. "So, Mimiko," he commented, "didn't you say there would be someone here to meet us?" He looked around but couldn't see anyone else but the crew unloading their luggage, not that they had a lot to worry about.
The compromiser turned to stand with her hands on her hips in her classic "down to business" pose. It didn't look quite as imposing as it might if she were wearing her Company uniform, but it was cute as she stood in a pair of jeans and a cotton shirt. "They were supposed to be here by now," she said as she glanced behind her. "Maybe they're running a little behind schedule. We won't know until we get inside the terminal."
She shrugged and headed towards the building. "Come on Jiro," she called behind her. "It's more comfortable inside than out here!" And with her usual energy, she marched through the doors and into the building, the Mochizuki brothers following behind her.
It was nicer inside though, even though the building only housed one main area that served for both passengers arriving and leaving, aside from a secured area for those boarding their respective flights. Between the two sections ran a long desk where luggage was checked in, tickets purchased, and other flight arrangements were made.
Mimiko moved over towards a section just left of the doors they'd entered to stand near where a slide opened from the outside. Luggage was being pushed over the edge to land in a small section below where it could be claimed by its owners. Several other passengers were already there, picking out their bags.
Kotaro edged through the small press of people to stand at the edge of the landing zone, his eyes wide open for their bags. "Hey brother," he called excitedly. "I think that one's ours!" He reached for a rather worn looking bag of a decidedly older style, struggling a bit to pull it over the metal lip that kept the luggage from spilling to the ground. With a bit more effort, and a lot of grunting, he managed to get it free, falling on his hind end with the bag on top. "Whoa!"
Jiro face palmed, shaking his head. "Oh brother," he said under his breath. There were too many people crowding around to safely move in, not that Kotaro needed rescuing.
Mimiko laughed. "It's usually best to just wait until there's less people around," she advised the young Black Blood. "That way you don't have to worry about other people getting in the way."
After a few more minutes, the crowd had decidedly dispersed around the luggage claim area and Mimiko smiled as if to say, "see, told you." Kotaro had found an out of the way corner to sit with his bag, a bit sulky because he'd been embarrassed. "Well, it looks like mine's the last one," she declared, eyeing the larger bag, sighing. A girl had to bring the essentials, after all.
She reached for the handle with both hands, bracing her feet against the side of the metal catcher and hauled. "This is a lot heavier than I remember it being," she commented as she strained. She let go with her right hand to shake it out.
Jiro stepped over. "Allow me," he said courteously and moved to take the case.
She moved to stop him. "It's fine, Jiro," she said stubbornly and grabbed on again, using her weight as ballast. The case came free from the lip and she stumbled backwards.
Jiro quickly moved to catch her from behind. He raised an eyebrow at her when she looked up. "You were saying?"
She brushed him off. "It would have been fine if it hadn't got caught," she defended, pulling the bag to an upright position so that she could use the wheels on the bottom.
"Hmmm," Jiro mused, smiling wryly. "Have your friends arrived yet?" He looked around the waiting room, not seeing anyone coming to greet them.
Mimiko brushed herself off, more from habit than because she needed to. "No, not yet," she replied as she looked towards the front of the building. "Maybe they got caught in traffic." She pulled the suitcase towards one of the rows of chairs and sat down with a sigh. "Ugh," she uttered, glad to be sitting again despite having done nothing but sit for hours on end.
Outside, the sky was growing even darker as the sun set behind the low hills to the west. Kotaro came and joined her on the seat, dragging his and Jiro's luggage behind him. The Silver Blade chose to stand and keep watch.
"Okay guys," Mimiko said, a bit tired but totally down to business. "Remember, we're all going to speak English while here. And most people don't know anything about Black Bloods so don't go telling just anyone about what you are. Most people believe vampires are extinct and we want to keep it that way."
Jiro tipped his hat down just a bit. "Does that include your friends?" Several people in the waiting area were staring in his direction, including employees. He hoped her friends would show up soon before someone thought he was something he was not.
She rolled her eyes. "I've already told them about you two so you don't have to pretend around them. It's everyone else I'm worried about. The culture outside of Japan is a whole lot different so we have to be careful about some things, though I'm told that most of them are rather… more open-minded or simply don't care. But we still don't need to be talking about the Special Zone or anything like that. If anyone asks, you're simply from Japan."
Jiro put out his hands, reassuringly touching her shoulder. "Yes, we know, Mimiko. We went over this before we left. Don't worry. Everything will be fine." He smiled to show he appreciated her efforts, but that they were unnecessary. "This is your vacation. You should try to relax a bit more."
She slumped in her seat. "I know, you're right," she admitted. "But I just can't help but think what might happen if things get out of hand."
Kotaro stared up at her with big eyes. "We won't let that happen, will we brother?"
Jiro smiled fondly at his little brother. "No, we won't." He let his gaze sweep the room for the hundredth time since they'd arrived. Maybe it was a bad habit to worry about potential risks now, but he'd known from experience that things could happen when someone wasn't watching, even if the employees seemed to now be pointedly ignoring him.
Someone pushed the door to the parking lot open and two girls entered, both in their early twenties with lighter hair. One was wearing glasses. They stopped just inside the now closed door and looked around, talking quietly to each other. The one wearing glasses, also the taller of the two, pointed towards the waiting area. The other looked where she was pointing, gave a slight squeal and was suddenly running towards the group from Japan.
"Mimiko! Mimiko!" The squealing girl was followed by her friend, who came more slowly behind.
Mimiko stood as she heard her name and was almost instantly enveloped in a bear hug by the shorter blonde, practically lifted of her feet in the process.
"I can't believe it's really you!" She let the compromiser go so that her taller friend could get in for a hug of her own. She spotted Kotaro sitting next to her Japanese friend and smiled, her eyes beaming. "You must be Kotaro. It's nice to meet you! I'm Lucienne!"
Kotaro smiled brilliantly, glancing briefly at his brother who seemed to be in shock. "Yeah, I'm Kotaro Mochizuki," he said in perfect English. After all, Jiro had made sure he understood the major languages. "And that's my brother over there." He pointed to the tall vampire who inclined his head in a slight bow.
Mimiko had recovered from the sudden glompage enough to turn to her two friends. "Lucienne, Karri, this is Jiro and Kotaro Mochizuki. Jiro, Kotaro, these are some of the friends we're staying with, Lucienne Lawrence and Karri Millbrook."
Jiro took off his hat to sweep a more formal bow. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance," he said perfectly. It amused him how easily their group had switched over to English. Mimiko must have been practicing. He hadn't worried about himself or Kotaro, but then again, Mimiko was a compromiser so maybe it came with the territory.
Lucienne goggled at Jiro. "Gosh, Mimi, you didn't tell us he was so tall!"
Karri stood next to him to compare heights. He was a good couple inches taller than her. "Meh," she said good-naturedly, "I've seen taller." But she smiled so everyone knew she was joking.
"Well," Lucienne looked around, noting that the sun was definitely no longer in the sky, "shall we get going? I'm really sorry we were late. One thing turned into another and traffic can be a real pain sometimes. You know how it goes. And we had to make sure the guys didn't do anything stupid while we were gone. You know how guys are." She rolled her eyes.
Kotaro grabbed his bag. Jiro took Mimiko's before she could get to it. Even though she was mostly recovered from her ordeal over two months ago, he knew that she probably wasn't completely up to par. Her slight stumble while retrieving her bag, not to mention getting off the plane, had been proof enough for him.
Mimiko didn't protest, though she did glance wryly at him. "Tell me about it," she rolled her eyes to Lucienne's comment. "But there is something to be said about older men."
Kotaro's stomach suddenly growled and he cringed towards the floor, embarrassed. "Heheheh," he laughed hesitantly.
Karri blinked, quickly recovering from the unexpected noise. "Sounds like we need to get these guys home to some food," she commented, looking curiously at the younger Black Blood. "Good thing we asked Sarah to get started."
Lucienne led the way to her five-passenger car, a little white Honda Civic. "All aboard the Vampire Express!" she called out cheerily. "Destination, the Dorms!"
Mimiko looked around quickly, hoping no one had heard her friend's comment as she ushered Kotaro into the back seat before she slid in. Jiro got in on the other side, and Karri got in on the front passenger side, putting her seat belt on.
Mimiko looked at her friends a bit questioningly when they strapped themselves in, but followed their example, eyeing Jiro and Kotaro until they also got the hint. She hoped it didn't mean Lucienne was a bit of a crazy driver, not that she could really complain because her own driving wasn't always the sanest either.
"Do we have far to go," Jiro asked as the car started off. He watched out the front window as Lucienne maneuvered the vehicle down the parking lot.
Karri looked back, possibly trying to evaluate the vampire behind her. "Not really, she responded. "It's only a couple of miles and the traffic shouldn't be bad. It's the lights you have to worry about."
Jiro wasn't sure what to think of that comment so he wisely remained silent as the car turned around a sharp bend and started down a steep drive. The whole of the city spread out below them, lights twinkling in all colors, though none of the buildings seemed very tall, no more than ten stories at the most.
"This part's the fun part," Lucienne called back behind her as she focused on the road, making another narrow turn to head in the direction they'd just come from, still going down in switchback form. "If you just let the car coast, you get some serious momentum, kind of like being on a roller coaster. I'd love to go ice blocking down this road!"
Jiro glanced questioningly at Mimiko who shrugged. Kotaro was content to sit in the middle, dangling his legs as he enjoyed the ride. Soon they were on level ground again, speeding down the boulevard, past various businesses and houses. "I didn't expect that there would be so many single-family dwellings," he commented, noting that there didn't seem to be a lot of apartment buildings.
Karri glanced back at the Silver Blade. "Most of the apartments aren't on the main roads," she explained. "In fact, we sort of live in an apartment, even though they're called the dorms. They're like those luxury hotel suites with the kitchen, main room and bedrooms. But you'll see soon enough."
Lucienne drove down a few more streets, threading through what could be considered fairly light traffic. "Considering it's a Sunday night, we're pretty lucky there aren't too many people out. There's a lot of people who come through on their way back from Sin City over the weekend. It makes traffic more exciting, but with Spring Break going on, they probably decided to spend longer down there."
Jiro glanced at Mimiko, wondering if she understood half of what their driver had said. Mimiko shrugged. "And what, exactly, is Sin City?" Jiro wasn't sure if he wanted to know, even though curiosity had already opened his mouth.
Lucienne giggled. "I forgot! You're not from around these parts. Sin City is Las Vegas, Nevada. It's a couple hours drive south of us. A lot of people like to go down on the weekends to gamble at the casinos."
Jiro indicated his understanding with a nod. "So that's what Americans do in their spare time these days," he commented dryly.
Karri and Lucienne exchanged knowing looks. Karri laughed under her breath but didn't comment on his error. Before too long, they were pulling into the parking lot near one of the taller buildings, a five story complex on the college campus. "We're here," the taller girl announced as she unbuckled her seatbelt.
Mimiko was the first out of the car, staring up into the night sky. She noticed a few stars peaking out. "I didn't know you could see the stars here."
Kotaro was beside her in an instant, craning his neck to see the night sky. "Amazing!" He turned around on the spot, arms spread from his sides. "This is going to be so much fun!"
Jiro held his hat as he, too, glanced upwards. "Most intriguing," he commented, then looked around to see that Lucienne and Karri were both headed towards the building. "But perhaps star gazing can wait until after we've seen our accommodations," he reminded. "Our hosts seem to be leaving us behind."
Mimiko looked around with a start, then quickly went after the two American girls. Each one was carrying a piece of luggage. "Wait! Karri! I can get my own bag," she protested as the girl opened the door and pulled the suitcase in behind her. Jiro and Kotaro weren't too far behind.
xXxXxXxXxXxXxXx
They followed the girls down the first hallway they came to, stopping at an elevator, which swished them up to the top floor and another hallway. Lucienne paused outside a door to take out her keys; fitting one into the simple lock, then opened the door. Both girls grinned as they stood back for their guests to enter the room.
Mimiko walked in first, quite surprised when she saw a small kitchen/dining area directly off the main room that was comfortably furnished with a low couch and chairs. It was decorated with various anime and movie posters all over the walls.
Lucienne came in behind Kotaro, leaving the Mochizuki's bag by the door. "Well, what do you think? Since there's only three living in this unit, you get a room to yourself just down that hallway," she pointed. "The guys will be putting up the vampires."
Mimiko whirled around at the word vampires but her friends were smiling, obviously teasing her. "So, they're not staying here," she asked, trying to recover herself.
"Nope," Karri replied. "The dorms have a rule that guys can't stay in the same apartment as girls so they get to be across the hall from us. The other guys are over there now, fixing dinner. I'm actually surprised you can't hear them from here. I wonder what they're doing. I'd probably better go check on them." She headed out the door without a backwards glance.
Jiro pursed his lips as he looked around the apartment. "Hmmm," he mused. "Most interesting accommodations. Are all of the apartments arranged in a similar manner," he inquired.
Lucienne nodded. "Yep, more or less. I mean, some of them are opposite of this one but it's all basically the same. Speaking of which, would you like a tour?" She jumped up to show them around, grabbing Mimiko's suitcase by the handle. "I'll show you Mimi's room first."
She headed towards a short hallway. "The room on the left's the bathroom. And just past that is Sarah's room, and this one on the right will be yours." She entered through the appropriate door to reveal a simple bed and dresser, with a small closet. She left the suitcase by the bed then headed back down the hallway to the main area.
"This room's Sarah's." She indicated a smaller room off the main living area. "And the room over here is mine and Karri's." She opened the other door to show a slightly larger room with two beds and dressers. The walls were decorated with more anime posters.
Kotaro ran into the room, staring at the walls. "Oh wow," he said as he looked at the various characters portrayed on the walls. "Do you know all these people?"
Lucienne laughed. "They're all from animes," she said. Kotaro gave him a blank look. "You know, Japanese cartoons?"
Kotaro's eyes lit up. "Oh! Those! I didn't know you had that over here!" He started examining the posters more closely. He pointed at one in particular. "Hey! I know this one!"
Mimiko smothered a laugh as she watched him check out the various images plastered all over the room. She was surprised, though, by how much her friends were into anime. She didn't generally have time to watch much herself. Her American friends were definitely more carefree, she decided.
"Hey, anyone home?"
Everyone turned towards the main room where the masculine voice had come from.
A dark haired young man stood in the open doorway of the apartment, a grin on his face as he leaned forward. "In case anyone is interested, dinner is now being served across the hall." His message delivered, he disappeared from view.
"Coming," Lucienne called after him as she ushered her guests back to the main area and towards the doorway. "It's best if we don't take a long time getting over there," she explained. "Some of those guys can be real pigs, if you know what I mean."
They crossed the hall and entered an apartment almost identical to the one they'd left, except the decor was decidedly different, and most definitely male in taste. Karri was there, along with one other girl and a handful of guys who were lounging around the small table, the various countertop space, and a coffee table in the middle of the main area.
"Hey everyone," Lucienne called out. "I've brought our special guests!" She quickly ran the round of introductions. "This is Sarah, Matt, Damian, Scott, and James." She pointed to each in turn.
James waved from his perch on the couch; his dark, curly hair set him apart from the others. Matt waved from behind the counter. He was the dark haired guy who had called them over. Scott gave a half nod of his blonde head, and Damian grinned from under his shock of ginger hair. "Yo!"
Mimiko smiled somewhat timidly, but everyone seemed friendly. Kotaro had no problem and went immediately to see what was going on in the kitchen where a most appetizing smell was coming from. Jiro leaned against one of the walls, arms folded, but he had a slight smile on his face.
"Don't be shy," Karri commented as she noticed Mimiko holding back. "Dinner's a free-for-all. Hope you don't mind we decided to go more traditional American on you with the menu. We've got hot dogs and chili with cheese, green salad, and jello for dessert. And if that's not enough, there's plenty of junk food to go around." She indicated the counter space near the stove. "Just help yourself to whatever. The guys usually eat the rest so there's not much leftover so you'd better hurry and get something."
James left his perch on the couch to dish up a plate for himself. The other guys were lining up as well. Kotaro grabbed a plate like they had and enthusiastically began heaping his plate.
Lucienne came over to drag Mimiko into line. She paused a moment to look at Jiro. "Hey, Mr. Mochizuki, you do eat real food, right? I mean, it's not just blood or anything, is it?"
Jiro was caught momentarily off-guard by her comment and his surprise registered on his face.
Mimiko smirked. "No, Jiro eats real food too. He's just a gentleman."
Lucienne gave Mimiko a sly look. "Is that so? Well, if he wants any food tonight, he'll have to drop that and grab something before everyone else finishes it off. Come on!" She grabbed Mimiko by the arm to direct her to the food. Jiro blinked a few times, but followed after them.
It didn't take long for everyone to get a plate and find a place to sit. Mimiko chose to sit near Jiro, who was trying to eat his chilidog with his gloves still on. "Um, Jiro, don't you think you should take the gloves off to eat that?" She gave him a funny look as he contemplated his food.
Across the room, Kotaro was enthusiastically eating his food, chili smeared across his face as he ate his third helping, much to the guys' amusement. "Wow kid," Damien commented, "you can really pack it in!"
Scott hooted. "Watch out, Damien. You just might have competition! Can't have that!" He laughed as his friend headed back for a fourth helping.
Sarah sat across from James, perhaps the quietest person in the bunch as she ate.
Mimiko pulled Karri aside as she passed. "Hey, Karri, what's up with Sarah," she asked. "She's a lot more quiet than anyone else."
Karri was surprised. "She's shy at first," she admitted. "Don't worry though, by the end of the week, she'll have warmed up to everyone and you won't be able to get her to shut up."
The evening passed fairly quickly, with good food and conversation, though the group from Japan did more listening than talking, minus Kotaro, who had to join in the conversations, even if he wasn't always sure what they were talking about.
It wasn't long before it was time to call it a night. With a wave, the three girls escorted Mimiko back across the hall, leaving Jiro and Kotaro with their new American buddies. Someone had thought to bring over their bag from the girls' apartments while they were enjoying the evening.
"Hope you don't mind that there's only one bed available," James said as he spread a sleeping back out on the floor."
Kotaro immediately sprang for the bedding. "Awesome! I want to sleep here, brother."
Jiro glanced wryly at his brother. "It's fine," he assured the youth. He didn't think he needed to mention that he usually didn't sleep on a bed, but in a coffin. But, since Kotaro was more than happy to sleep on the floor, he supposed it wouldn't hurt to take the bed, though it was a little odd to share a room with someone other than his brother, and occasionally Mimiko. But he could cope with that.
James pulled out an extra pillow for the younger Black Blood. "And don't worry about sleeping in. It's spring break so everyone will be sleeping as late as the sun will let them." He crawled into his own bed, on the other side of the room. "Mind shutting off the light when you're ready?" Within a matter of minutes, he was breathing rhythmically in sleep.
"Wow," Kotaro blinked. "He must have been really tired or something." He ruffled up the sleeping bag to his liking and settled in. "Night brother!"
Jiro was left to turn the light off. Once that was taken care of, he lowered himself onto the bed, not bothering with the covers as he placed his hat over his face and let himself drift into sleep. Outside, the occasional sound of a car passing could be heard, but silence reigned as a clock struck three somewhere in the distance.
