Yep; I know. ANOTHER story. Sorry; can't help it. I just have to start these and it's summer, and everyone's on vacation which I don't get to go on until next month so I'm SO bored!
Yep…a few things. I think you'll be able to tell by the city names exactly which country they're in. Hopefully…(rolls eyes)
And I'm pretty sure EVERYONE can pretty much guess after the first few paragraphs who's POV it's in. and yes, I think that's it. And no, Nuriko will not be gay or a cross dresser. As many of the people I talk to say: "he only cross dressed 'cause of his sister, who died. And yes, of course, in the series, he said he'd stop cross dressing but then…he died, so you don't know that he's still gay"
They make a good point, now that I think about it. So…there's my reasoning…
It was starting.
I could just feel it; the anticipation, the excitement, the anxiety as I waited. I heard something rattling and then…
"AHHH!"I bit back the scream as the roller coaster went coasting down the steep slope. I loved the amusement park since back in my town, there is rarely anything interesting happening. It's not exactly a small town, but there's just not many people living there. Considering the fact that all the woodsy areas around us are part of the town, I'd say that we're pretty big towns. There's a mountain not too far away too. But it's still…dull. Not that I hate it or anything, of course. My town is nice; everyone knows each other and are friendly…well, mostly. But of course, most people who didn't like each other tended to know how to avoid one another. But, on the other hand, having something like an amusement park around was definitely fun. Sometimes I wished I lived in this town. The most fun I could get around home was just simple sports though it was even worse in the winter.
'Ah well' I thought to myself, 'Konan's not such a bad place once you get over the fact that we're not even on the map. Not many people know that there's a town like this located between Wuhan and Shanghai"
The roller coaster did a loop-de-loop and I let out a laugh as I watched the younger children's faces scrunch up and they let out small and terrified shrieks. I, of course, would never to anything of the sort. Never…
Two loop-de-loops came up and I finally gave in and opened my mouth to scream. When the ride was finally over, I staggered off with my friends in tow and headed to where the rest of them who didn't want to go on, were waiting.
"Hey; have fun?"
"Ooh yeah!" I watched their laughing and giggly reaction. Most of them had had too much cotton candy tonight, but nobody cared. Not tonight. This was the one night of the year that we got to have some real, city, fun.
Someone poked me in the shoulder, "Ryuuen; c'mon, hurry up"
I looked and noticed that the group was running off toward the tilt-a-twirl and hurried to catch up. I grinned as I noticed that, as always, Genrou was a good distance ahead of everyone else. The fiery red head seemed to be able to outrun the wind sometimes. Every one of my friends seemed to have a certain unusual quality; for example, Juan seemed to know certain things about health and medicine ever since he was able to walk and talk and was able to tell what was wrong with someone even before the town doctor could figure it out; Dokun was especially smart – in fact, he was a thirteen year old in his last year of high school, not that he couldn't be able to go beyond that, but to go to a good school would mean money, and Dokun's family has to save up little by little, year by year. Saihitei was remarkable with any bladed weapon, no matter if he had never seen it before. He proved that when, at the age of five, he defeated the best fencer they had in town. And he had never seen a fencing sword before. Kishuku was…different. This guy was just as obsessed with money as the reality of the fact that he didn't have any money. He proved himself more than able to hold his own in martial arts. And the last one of my friends, Houjun, is very…unique. He's the oldest out of all of us; he actually should be going to University, but he decided that a year off, working would do him a lot of good, so that's why he's still in town now.
And me? Well, I'm strong, I suppose. I once lifted Juan, and Genrou at the same time when they tripped and fell on me. Well…actually, Genrou was pushed by Kishuku and he fell on Juan, who fell on me. It wasn't pleasant, believe me.
"Hurry yer ass up, Ryuuen!" Genrou shouted, "You sure take a fucking long time"
Ah, yes. Genrou's famous dirty mouth.
"I'm coming!" I shouted. I ran the quickest I could to the line and squeezed past the people already there to stand with my friends. They shot me dirty looks but I ignored it; so what if I wanted to stand with my friends? It wasn't illegal, was it?
Nope. I grinned as we continued out night, like children who were given permission to wander the candy shop twenty-four/seven. What a wonderful feeling.
Mmm…candy.
I think my new life goalwill beto open my own personal candy shop. With sugar…and candy canes…and chocolate. And sugar.
I have to say…
Fall is probably the most boring time of the year. The only good thing is Halloween and that's not until the end of October, and the adults might not even take us to the next town to trick-or-treat this year.
"This fucking sucks"
I'll give you three guesses who that was and the first two don't count.
"We know…" Dokun said in a dull voice. Of course, being younger than the rest of us, the kid was probably more eager to go trick-or-treating than us. Then again, I was excited about this too. Sugar is good for the soul, haven't you heard?
"Don't we know anyone who could drive us?" Saihitei asked aloud to the ones who would actually be going on this little Halloween excursion of ours. Houjun was going to Hangzhou to visit his fiancée and a friend that lives over there. Juan has somebody to see over there too, so the two of them are going together. That leaves me, Saihitei, Genrou, Dokun and Kishuku. Funny…we're all under twenty…
"Maybe Kouji can" Genrou said, "If we can fucking persuade him to come back to town just to fucking drive us to the next town and then fucking drive us back when we're done 'acting like the damn children that we are'" he said, frowning. I laughed; it was true, we did act like children and I doubted that Kouji would do that. He goes to school in Shanghai, a few hours away from here; not likely that he would do that. Despite the fact that he and Genrou and practically like brothers, he would definitely not do this.
"Um…how 'bout…your dad, Kishuku?"
"First…to be able to drive, he'd need a car" Kishuku said, eyes flashing at the fact, "And second, if he drives, my siblings will have to come and we are not taking care of four sugar filled children. Not on Halloween"
"I know" I spoke up, "Rokou"
"Good idea" Saihitei nodded.
"Let's go bully…I mean…persuade him!" I shouted, running off to corner my brother.
Halloween night was always fun. This night was much more fun than the others have been; one, because Dokun was finally able to somewhat keep up with us and we didn't have to go slower than usual, and the fact that we had real costumes this time. Well…actually, we found all these clothes in Saihitei's attic; enough set of clothes for seven people and they actually fit us too. Saihitei's mother mentioned that they had a lot of old clothes from probably centuries back that nobody wanted anymore. Oh well; their loss. These clothes looked like they came off the set of some movie set in ancient China. But…just older…and…authentic…
We had gotten a ride from Rokou, who agreed after all five of us declared that we wouldn't leave him alone for the rest of the year – especially on April 1st – unless he agreed. So he finally did. It's actually kinda sad how easy we can get him to agree, considering how much older he is than most of us. I rolled my eyes. He had gone off to Shanghai for a while and said he would be back around midnight. Fine with us; that left us about five hours to get candy.
Precious candy…
"I'm exhausted!" Dokun announced. I blinked; while we had been walking, I hadn't noticed how far and how much we had walked. No wonder the little guy was tired. I nodded and sat down near him on the curb, in front of the store that had a bunch of TVs on for people passing by to watch. Well, only one was on right now, and it was on the news. Boring.
"How much did'ya get?" Genrou asked, looking at his duffel bag full of candy.
"The bag's almost full" I announced, "How 'bout you guys?"
"Same" Saihitei and Kishuku chorused. Dokun shook his head, indicating that it wasn't the case with him.
"So how much did ya get?" I asked, making a note that next time, we would not rush ahead.
"My bag is close to being full too, but the owner of the previous house gave me the remaining candy she had left in another bag because she didn't wish to open anymore doors to teenagers like us"
Genrou groaned, "Trust you to get all the luck, kid"
Dokun shrugged, "You just don't have the same qualities as I"
"What qualities would that be?"
Oh. I knew this one!
"'Cause Dokun is cute looking while, Genrou…you're the type that old ladies run in fear from"
"HEY!" Genrou growled. This started an argument. Surprisingly, it wasn't between me and the redhead, but between Kishuku and Genrou. I blinked. Strange…
I turned to Saihitei after a while of watching them argue, "Do you know what time it is?" His family is more well off than the rest of us; his dad's owns a really huge and successful company so I could pretty much count on Saihitei having a watch on him.
"2:14" he had a strange look on his face and I knew why. My brother – my time obsessive, always-has-to-be-on-time, being-late-is-a-sin-in-his-book, somehow-always-gets-everywhere-exactly-on-time-even-without-a-watch brother – was over two hours late.
"Not like Rokou at all" I commented aloud. I turned to Dokun, "You think Rokou got a personality transplant or something?" I asked him. His attention, however, was fixated on the only TV that was turned on.
"Currently, the powerful opposing organization has finally showed what it's true objectives are. The few spies that the countries have sent out have reported back that they want the rare people in the world that have abilities different than those of an average human. They call them the 'cursed'. All cities in the area where attacks have been held have been blocked off…keep your doors and windows locked. If a city is free of the Cursed, then it will not be attacked"
"Cities have been blocked off" Dokun repeated, "Rokou must not be able to get out of Shanghai"
"So what do we do? We can't just sit here all night…"
"Why don't we try walking back?" Kishuku suggested. Apparently, he and Genrou had stopped fighting.
"Didn't it just say cities were blocked off?" Genrou snapped.
"I guess we'll just have to find a place to stay for tonight" I said, "Any idea where?"
"What are you kids doing out here?" a voice growled. I turned and saw a police officer, "You're Cursed, aren't you?"
"N-no" Dokun stammered for some reason. I had a feeling he was thinking the same thing as me…
"Then what are you doing out here?"
"We're just waiting for our ride to come and stuff…" I answered.
He was glaring at me suspiciously, and that was when I realized exactly how murderous he looked at the moment.
"Well, you'll have to come down to the station with me"
"Why?"
"Because I don't believe you. You'll be handed to the TK tomorrow, on order of the government. Anyone found who's Cursed are handed to the organization"
Wait. Not even a trial or anything. What the hell was wrong with the justice system these days, I wondered. No way am I gonna get handed to them. I know what they do to get information out of you; I've read the news. Even if you don't have information, they torture you and stuff. No way am I going there!
"No" I said boldly.
"What'd you say, kid?"
"I said no; and you can't make me. You have no proof of anything so just leave us alone. We're gonna stay here, waiting for our ride."
"Watch what you say, kid!" he said, looking more and more threatening, "I won't have my city attacked, ya hear me? Now just follow me down to the station and –" He was cut off when I just, out of the blue, body slammed him. I heard a lot of bone cracks but I didn't care. He lay on the pavement, stunned for the moment and then he shouted what may as well have been our death sentence.
"I FOUND SOME CURSED!"
The others and I exchanged a look and we bolted. Genrou was ahead, but I saw, thankfully, that he had grabbed Dokun so we could get away faster. Meanwhile, as I was berating myself for not knocking him out instead of breaking his ribs.
Damnit, Ryuuen; you idiot. Think next time. This whole damn town is gonna be looking for us by now.
Kishuku and Saihitei were on lookout. We had found an old abandoned and rundown apartment and were staying here for now. There were a lot of ways out of this place so it was the perfect place to be. Besides, with all the broken down furniture in here, we could hide if those guys came.
"Damn, Ryuuen" Genrou said, "So you're a Cursed, huh? Shoulda known with your damn strength"
"He's not the only one" a voice said from the shadows.
"Who's there?" I shouted. As footsteps came from the shadows, we tensed, apprehensive and defensive looks on our faces.
"Oh. Don't look so terrified, you three" I relaxed. It was an old woman – a very ugly old woman – with her hair done up, and to be honest, she seemed to be walking on air, instead of the rickety old ground because as she came nearer, we heard no more footsteps or creaks. While I relaxed, Genrou gave a scream of fright at the woman's face. I tried not to laugh as Saihitei and Kishuku came in. Both had similar reactions. Kishuku screamed and hid behind Chiriko while Saihitei turned away, refusing to look at her.
The woman sighed, "You never change"
"What'd you mean?"
"Oh. Nothing" she answered, smiling a bit, "Well, what a mess you've gotten yourselves into, huh?"
I looked down at my feet, "yeah...my fault"
"Oh, don't worry yourself about that; you're all Cursed ones anyways"
"WHAT?" Genrou shouted.
"An experienced Cursed one can always tell. Of course, back in my time, it was considered a gift, but no more" she sighed. Then she looked at us again, "Did you know, there's a school just for the Cursed? It's hidden and it'll be very hard to find you. You can come, y'know; I can get you registered. You'll be accepted immediately"
I looked at the others, "But…our parents…and family"
"They're gone" she said crisply, "I doubt any of them survived the attack"
"What attack?"
"The TK attacked all the places they thought were overrun with Cursed ones. Konan was one of them."
Dokun gave a gasp. I could tell he was thinking about his mother. So…they were dead…and so was my sister…and…
"Wait; what if they survived?"
"Even if they're alive, you'll do no good to them. You know very well that they're after you"
Saihitei seemed to be deep in thought, "I suppose…then…I shall come with you"
"Saihitei?" I whirled around, "You believe her?"
"What's not to believe?" Saihitei asked, "She makes sense. Being Cursed…all our abilities; mine with the sword, Dokun's intelligence, Genrou's speed…it makes sense, does it not?"
I grudgingly admitted that but…was I supposed to just give up hope on my family being alive and just…go with this woman. I didn't even know her name.
"And my name is Taiitsu-kun" she said, as if she were reading my mind.
I glanced around. Everyone seemed ready to go, looking…I dunno; I can't place that look, but they looked like they were just ready to go. Well, except for Genrou, but he was kept quiet by Kishuku placing a hand over his mouth. I didn't want to go back to being chased, so…
I nodded.
The young man ran out as soon as he reached his hometown. He had heard on the news…
It was gone. Everything. Nobody was there. All he could see was…rubble. Wait, there was a person, across town. He rushed there and stared. There was a girl, just sitting on the ruins. His friend from childhood…he hadn't seen her in so long and now, here he was, seeing her in the worst situation he could ever have imagined.
"…what happened?" he asked.
She was silent.
A man stepped out from behind her and answered, "It was a massacre. A massacre meant for us but suffered by our loved ones…"
Heh heh?