"I'mcoming, Jun!" she yelled back, her blades making rattling noises as she set them down on the concrete. Her hair - a pretty shade of blue, chin-length and curled under - flew out behind her. The sole auburn section of hair that framed her face smacked her in the nose when she stopped beside her friend. "Eeee, Jun! He's not going to leave without us! Ryo wouldn't do that."
"C'mon, light, change ..." Jun urged the pedestrian light. Maki just giggled at him and shifted her backpack on her shoulders. She and Jun were spending the night at Nasuti's. They were going to meet with Shu and Shin and Seiji and Touma and Nasuti for dinner and then they were all going back to Nasuti's. They were going to play games and watch movies and sleep late - then wake up and do it all over! She was very excited.
"Yes!" Jun exclaimed; the light had changed. He pushed off strongly and hopped on his board, maneuvering expertly through the crowd. Maki sighed heavily and pushed off as well, wheels clacking on the concrete.
"JUN! Wait up!"
"Go faster!" She growled in her throat and ducked lower, driving herself forward speed-skater-style. In seconds, she had caught up; she flashed a grin at him and pulled ahead. Jun pushed harder and strove to catch up. The two were nearly matched by the time they were coming up on the store Ryo worked at. Maki twisted her upper body, turning herself sharply, and stopped almost immediately; Jun had a bit more trouble slowing so easily. Maki put one hand on her hip and gave him a smug look.
"Wasthat fast enough for you, little boy?"
"I'mbigger than you, you know."
Maki snorted "So? I'm older and I skate better," she retorted as she pushed open the door, holding it while Jun trotted inside with his board under his arm. He looked around quickly, searching for a blacktopped head over the racks of skateboards, snowboards, kayaks and clothes. A couple of teenagers, dressed in ripped T-shirts over striped longsleeves and loose jeans, stood behind the counter. The youth with cropped, silver-tipped blond hair and ball studs in his tongue and eyebrow looked over and grinned.
"Oi, Jun, Maki-chan! Looking for Ryo?"
"Yeah! Did he leave already?"
"No way! He's skating the park, waiting on you two." The youth jerked his head toward the back of the store, where the entrance to the indoor park was. Jun grinned and headed straight for it, leaving his bag on the floor absently. Maki glared after him, then picked it up and skated to the counter.
"Could you watch these for us? Until we leave?"
"Sure, Maki, no prob."
"Thanks!" she chirped and skated to the back, where she suspected she, Ryo and Jun were going to be for a while.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Nasuti tapped her foot lightly and looked at her watch. For the third time. In two minutes.
"Nasuti, don't worry," Shu chuckled, sipping his tea and taking a tidbit from the tray and popping it in his mouth. He chewed slowly and swallowed. "Ah, good! - Look, there they are!" He was watching the door, next to which were standing Ryo, Jun and Maki. Nasuti waved slightly and caught their eyes; immediately they walked over, smiling broadly. Maki and Jun each hugged all of them at the table then sat down on either side of Ryo - Maki next to Touma, Jun next to Shu. Seiji sat between Touma and Shin; Nasuti was between Shu and Shin. Shu grinned and rested his arm around Jun's shoulders, motioning toward Nasuti. "She was getting worried about you."
"I was only wondering ..." Nasuti murmured, looking at her glass, a slight blush rising in her cheeks. The whole table laughed.
"Now look, Shu, you made her blush!" That made it worse.
Maki looked around at the smiling faces, at Jun, and gave him a victory sign. Tonight would be a lot of fun.
- - - - - - - - - - -
It was past being late when Maki woke from her sleep with a dry mouth and cotton for tonsils. She pushed herself up from the futon and stumbled quietly into the kitchen. She filled a glass with cold water and drank half of it, shivered slightly. It was nice in the house, but Maki wanted to be outside.
She stood on the back porch in her undershirt and shorts, her half-full glass in hand and her stomach knotting uneasily. She trembled, looking around for the cause of her fear, but found nothing to contend with.
-calm-
A cold nose brushed her hand and she almost shrieked. Instead, she whirled and found, not an attacker with a knife, but Ryo's calm-eyed, striped companion. She relaxed.
"Byakuen, you scared me ..." she murmured, kneeling in front of him. He butted his head against her shoulder gently and she scratched behind his ears.
-safe-
-calm-
Purr-rumble.
Maki smiled and continued. She was starting to unknot. He licked her arm and she giggled softly as he kept on. "Byakuen, stop, that tickles." He obeyed, nudged her jaw and stretched, then was gone. She smiled. Byakuen was so cool ...
Slight sound.
Maki froze. Before she could turn, there was hand over her mouth and a dirk at her throat.
"Don't make any noise, little one, and I promise that it will be quick." The voice was so hideous; Maki felt like retching. She was shaking violently, the glass clutched so tightly in her hand she was afraid it was going to break. Two figures appeared, clad completely in black and carrying long daggers. They nodded and vanished by the sliding door. Maki's attacker pulled her closer to the door and peeked into the living room. Maki reacted and swung the glass over her shoulder, into his face. He recoiled; Maki ran. Down the steps, into the grass, toward the lake. She felt his anger - bloody, furied, deadly - behind her, tangible as the grass beneath her feet, and knew that she was going to die.
Then there was a roar from farther behind, then a whump followed by a wet tearing crunch.
-anger-
-safe-
Maki turned and saw Byakuen standing just a few feet behind her. She ignored the flecks of blood on his front paws, muzzle and chest in her relief. It flooded her and her knees buckled, Byakuen there to catch her.
-Jun-
-safe-
-go-
-NOW-
She clambered onto his back and had barely time enough to hold on before they were in the bamboo forest.
-silence-
-fury-
Maki crouched low, buried her face in his fur to hide her tears and quiet her sobs. She could hear more of them, quiet but not silent like Byakuen. Suddenly her thoughts sparked to Jun; something earlier had spoken of him in such a forlorn tone ... Was he dead? That tone ... So sad ...
... they had killed him? ...
"Byakuen ... hurt them ..."
-kill-
He stood in a clearing, tail twitching, for long moments. The slightest knock of a bamboo shaft on one side, again on the other side - then there were six of them all around. For a few seconds, time slowed and Maki knew she would not die tonight.
It was merely seconds before all six were dead in small, personal, dark pools of liquid life. Byakuen was still for a moment, then took off toward the mansion. Lights were on in the windows and everything was mostly silent, barring the sound of furied swordplay in the backyard. Seiji was fighting another black-clad attacker in the grass, the former with a glowing-green dachi and the latter with two long dirks. Seiji feinted and struck, ripping down the front of the enemy, the impact throwing her back. She screamed when he struck, darkness flowing down her clothing as she stood up. Suddenly there was an explosion of smoke; Seiji rushed in and sliced at it with glowing blade. It dissipated quickly, revealing nothing; Seiji cursed softly, his hand white-knuckled on the hilt of his dachi.
Byakuen stopped on the back porch next to Ryo, Shin, Nasuti and the freestanding, tight-fisted Jun. Maki slid off Byakuen's back and barely stood, looking at each of the Troopers, Nasuti, and finally, Jun.
"A-Are you okay, Maki?" he whispered, his arms trembling. She could only nod dumbly. Byakuen nudged her toward him and went to Ryo, who knelt and embraced the tiger around the neck, to check the youth for wounds. Maki stumbled and fell into Jun's suddenly open arms and her tears began anew. Jun seemed surprised by the sudden outburst and was stiff for a few minutes, until finally he hugged her tight. Seiji came back onto the deck and nodded toward Ryo.
"Back inside, everyone. Now." He waited for Shin to go inside, then Nasuti and Seiji. Byakuen nudged Jun and Maki inside - with Maki still sobbing silently on the boy's shoulder - and Ryo closed the doors behind them.
Shu and Touma were on the couch, with Shu being tended to. A few slices from a sharp dirk; Seiji knelt and took care of those easily. Shin settled Nasuti in a chair and went to the kitchen, presumably to make cha - tea. Ryo stood guard tensely by the glass door with Byakuen at his side. Nasuti trembled but her eyes were dry; Maki had been relegated from Jun's shoulder to a seat next to Nasuti, where the young woman had an arm around the girl's shoulders.
"Nasuti," Maki whispered, looking up at the woman with large eyes, "why did Seiji's dachi glow?"
Nasuti sighed softly, hugging Maki a little closer. "I don't know who they were, or what they were, Maki-chan ... but there's something -" She looked across to Ryo, who shook his head. Nasuti looked down at Maki again. "-wrong with the whole thing. It'll be all right, don't you worry." She gave the girl another squeeze around the shoulders; Maki moved away and sat next to Jun, leaning on his shoulder again. Nasuti ran her fingers through her long hair, watching the strands fall back with gravity's pull. "So ... what was it all about?" Her query was met with silence. "Will they come back?"
"We don't know, Nasuti," Shin said quietly. "You know as much as we do."
"They didn't look like Arago's goonies," Shu put in, leaning back on the couch with his hands behind his head. "Remember those guys? All you needed to get rid of them was a can opener!" He laughed.
"Shu, this isn't funny," Ryo said in a low tone. He sat inside the curve of Byakuen's ribs, one hand on the tiger's head. "Those freaks almost had Maki and Jun; hell, they almost had us!" He slammed his closed fist into the floor. "Us. And we're the Troopers."
"They were shinobi," Seiji replied quietly. He leaned against the side of Touma's chair, dressed in the pair of kendo pants he had hurriedly put on when the attack became known. All of them were in a similar state of disorder and sleep-dress. "They meant to kill us in our sleep"
While the adults spoke, Maki was practically sitting in Jun's lap, shaking slightly and trying not to cry. Jun's arm was awkwardly placed around her shoulders in an attempt to comfort her. It wasn't working as well as Jun had hoped. He was trying to listen to the adults speak, but Maki's shaky whisper caught his ear. "Jun? What's going on? What were those things? Why were they after us?"
"Um … well, it's a little complicated, Maki-chan …" he whispered back.
"What do you mean, 'complicated'? We almost got killed!" He shushed her and motioned her upstairs, taking her by the wrist and tugging gently when she seemed incapable of moving on her own. She stood up and stumbled upstairs after him, her wrist still in his hand. Jun looked back and saw Touma and Shu watching him. Both nodded slightly, and Jun knew that it was better that Maki not listen to them just yet. They stopped on the balcony and sat down, facing each other.
"It's complicated because … well, because they're superheroes, Maki. They saved the world."
"Jun, don't be stupid. There's no such thing as superheroes. They're all in comic books."
"Liar!" Jun shot back, pride in his voice. "They are too superheroes, because they saved the world more than once already! And now they're going to do it again!"
Maki sighed, exasperated and scared. "You're not making any sense, Jun. The world hasn't been in danger, it's been just fine!"
Jun leaned forward with a smirk on his face and poked her firmly in the forehead. "No, you just think like that. Everybody except me and 'Suti and the guys and Byakuen were all brainwashed so all their negative emotions could feed Arago! But nobody remembers it."
She slapped his hand away. "Shut up, Jun, you're lying." She was shaking, and the tears were starting to well up again. Jun felt mollified and ashamed, seeing the tears on the verge of falling, and held up his hands in defense.
"Hey, okay, okay, I won't talk about it anymore tonight. Okay?"
"Okay," she whispered carefully, looking down at her prickling skin, fiddling with her fingers. Jun saw the goosebumps rise and hurried to get her a warm blanket. When he wrapped it around her shoulders, he grinned a little.
"Better?" She nodded. "Good, come on." He took her wrist and crept down the hall toward Nasuti's office. Maki wanted to ask what they were doing, but felt it better to keep quiet. Jun opened the office door and led her in, the impish grin still set on his face. "See?" He left her and went to open a glass box on Mia's desk, lifting out an odd-shaped, pinkish thing on a rope, like the yang part of a yin-yang. Or maybe the yin.
"Jun, maybe you shouldn't -"
"Shh, Maki. Just look at it, okay?" He held it out in both hands. It was the first time she had ever seen reverence in Jun, and she found it was not so odd as she might have imagined. She looked at the thing he held in his hands; it seemed to glow, and the radiance - whether real or imagined - was comforting and left her awash with hope and security. She stroked its smooth, pearlescent surface with one finger, feeling warm and more unafraid with each passing moment. She looked up at Jun for a moment, wonderingly.
"You ... you really aren't lying, are you?" He just grinned and shook his head, then took it back to its glass casing, replacing it carefully on its small wooden pedestal inside. When he left the office, she followed him. She felt a little dazed, with the warmth from the jewel that was slowly spreading and relaxing her muscles.
"Come on, Maki. You probably need to go back to sleep. It's late, anyway."
"But ... what if they come back?"
"The guys will protect us. And Byakuen, too," Jun reassured her. "It's no big deal." He led her back downstairs, and the adults fell quiet on their approach. Jun smiled and hopped up next to Shu, mocking the elder's posture. Shu laughed and mussed his hair. Maki stood for a moment, uncertain, then sat down next to Ryo, against Byakuen's shoulder. Ryo smiled, putting one hand on her shoulder gently.
"Byakuen won't let anything happen to you, Maki-chan." Byakuen twisted and rumbled softly, rubbing his head against her cheek. She wrapped her arms around the big tiger's neck.
-calm-
-safe-
"Good ..." she mumbled, already falling into the pattern of sleep. She barely felt Nasuti's slim hand brush over her hair, before slumber overtook her once more.
- - - - - - - - - - -
Man, it feels so weird to be back in here making breakfast, Shin thought He stirred a pan of scrambled eggs carefully so they wouldn't burn, and checked on the rice that was steaming in a pot nearby. I haven't done this since I was 15, and Arago was still ruling our lives. He glanced at the coffee, which was almost finished percolating, and tucked his green shirttail over the panhandle again so as not to burn himself. He stirred the eggs one more time, then went to sliding it all onto a waiting platter. Nasuti came in as he was finishing, and smiled as she went to get some coffee.
"Feeling a bit odd, too, neh?" she asked softly.
Shin ducked his head slightly to his embarrassed smile. "Yeah ... a little." He looked up at her. "Anyone else up?"
She shook her head. "Not that I know of. Unless it's Shu or Jun. You know how they are when they smell food ..."
"Yeah, I know. I remember," Shin said as he tried to smother a laugh. He checked on the rice again, then on the tea. "Stubborn Seiji. Won't take anything but rice and cha for breakfast before he goes to practice." He laughed inwardly. "I hope you wanted eggs."
"That's fine, Shin." She sipped her coffee in silence. She shifted and her robe shifted with her, but neither seemed to notice or care - she was wearing a tanktop and shorts underneath. He went about his business in his blue board shorts and seagreen shirt, his hair all a-muss and his eyes sparkling with memories of the way it used to be. Toast popped up; he took out the four pieces and set them on a plate on the stovetop to stay warm before taking another four pieces of bread and putting them in the toaster. He left the frying meat alone and poured himself a cup of coffee.
"Things don't feel like they've changed, do they?"
"No. They don't." She laughed a little. "Except we're older."
He smiled a little over the rim of his cup. "Except that." Shin took a sip and savored the taste. "'Suti, have you ever read anything about shinobi in all that your grandfather kept?"
"Not ... like those last night," she replied quietly. "I've never come across anything about shinobi that bleed black."
"They weren't human," he murmured. His eyes had gone blank; his mind was wandering elsewhere. "I could feel it. I'm sure all the rest could too." The toaster clanked and made them both jump a little. They laughed at each other, while Shin removed the toast and went to make four more. Already the plate was heaping with slices, but he was sure his friends' appetites hadn't gotten any smaller. Nasuti busied herself with setting cups, plates and silverware on the large dining room table. She knew as soon as the smell of food came around the living room the boys - and girl - would be up and wanting to eat. It wouldn't be long at all. She thought about going upstairs to escape the rush, and then thought about what might happen if she were caught in it and decided to stay downstairs. It wasn't like they had never seen Nasuti in just shorts and a tanktop. Instead of going upstairs, she left the dining room and went outside onto the back porch, where so much had happened last night. So much that she thought had gone away. Had been defeated. And now, come to find that the old saying was right: "Evil is forever."
But if evil is forever, then so is good, she thought to herself, sipping her coffee slowly. Without good to compare to, what is evil? Nothing.
A hand fell to rest on her shoulder; she jumped, clutching her coffee cup, but relaxed with the soft chuckle. "We're all a little jumpy." She twisted to look up at Ryo behind her, smiling down at her slightly. He hadn't done much in the way of grooming yet this morning - his black hair was sticking up and out and every which way, and he hadn't bothered to change out of the loose and faded black sweatshorts he slept in, or put anything else on besides.
"How long have you been up?"
"Oh, a while," he replied vaguely, taking another sip of his coffee. He turned back toward the house again slightly, then offered Nasuti a hand. "Sounds like we're not the only ones awake. Better get inside, before all the food gets inhaled by a certain pair of blue-haired boys." Nasuti giggled and took his hand up, preceding him into the house. Ryo scanned the backyard once with narrowed eyes before going inside and closing the sliding door.
Breakfast was a forced affair. The kids were quiet, and the adults' laughter was forced. Byakuen sat at the backdoor like a giant housecat, watching for anything suspicious, the sunlight setting his white coat aglow. After eating, Jun and Maki were in better spirits, and the others' spirits were lifted to see them bantering as they ran up the stairs. Things were relatively quiet afterward, no one speaking as the dirty dishes were gathered and taken into the kitchen. Extra cups of coffee and cha were poured. All six of them sat in the living room, none of them speaking a word but staring into their cups as if they would divine answers from the liquid.
"Well, now what?" asked Shu quietly. He looked around at his silent companions. "Was it isolated? Just something … something random? Or not?"
"It could have been random," said Nasuti slowly. "If it doesn't happen again -"
"What if it does?" asked a higher girl's voice. They all looked up, startled, to see Jun and Maki leaning on the second floor balcony railing. They were obviously calmer than the adults; but then, children are always apt to accept the unacceptable better than adults. "What are we going to do if it happens again?"
"Then we will fight." That was Seiji, who was looking at Ryo. Eventually, Rekka looked up at Korin, then around the room at the others who had survived the near end of the world by Arago. He nodded slowly.
"Yes. We will fight. Today, we need to get back in shape, get used to our yoroi again. Nasuti, please try to find something out about these shinobi."
"Of course," the woman replied. She rose with a small smile and made them all a bow. "I'll go begin that now. Perhaps I will come practice after lunch." She went upstairs quietly, smiling at the two children as she passed them on her way to her bedroom. Ryo looked around at his friends again. Touma gave him a wry grin and clapped his hands on his knees. He rose and stretched.
"Well, guess I'll see you five on the training grounds."
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Aku Kinu is a very pretty young girl. She is also very popular in university; she has many friends, and many who would like to be her friends. However, she is also somewhat of a cliquish brat and has a tendency to blow off those whom she doesn't care for - which happens to be quite a few people. She is also an amateur witch, but as with many things in Kinu's mind, she is perfectly able to do anything magic, no matter how difficult - or how dark. Just last week, she performed a very advanced ritual that would call a daemon to serve her, but she botched it because she was too inexperienced. She thought she closed the circle of power and shielded herself well, but the ritual alerted other evils to her whereabouts. Most of these things are too weak to break the moderately powerful wards that Kinu set. Some, however, are far more powerful and are simply watching.
Four such creatures are tired of watching.
Kinu slept peacefully in the confines of her superbly decorated bedroom, under designer sheets in her designer garments. Four different but equally powerful spirits watched the girl, deciding to whom her body would go to. They spoke among themselves in their disembodied and unintelligible language, so faint that no normal human would ever hear them. Finally three spirits slowly vanished from the room, leaving one silvery mist cloud hanging above the girl's body. In one breath, Kinu inhaled the mist, and the daemon took the body for its own. Kinu's essence was destroyed, but her memories and attitude, along with other attributes, were kept intact.
Kinu's eyes opened slowly. There was a hardness that had not been there before; a hardness that added to the distaste and irritation for all those below her. She smiled slightly and raised her hands up before her face: they were small, pale and nimble. They moved as she commanded. She smothered a hysterical laugh with some difficulty.
"I am Aku Kinu," she whispered into the night. "I am Aku Kinu, and within me I hold the future for Arasoi, the goddess of Strife and Disruption." She pulled the covers up higher, turned on her side and went to sleep again, this time with a small smirk of satisfaction on her lips.