Even Out of Battle Mode
chapter 1
by Laly Konstantin
Disclaimer: I don't own any of Yuu Watase's characters, obviously. This story is intended to entertain, not to profit. (I don't really own the others, either - they refuse to behave if I act like I do.)
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The car they were borrowing from Jacob steered, Tetsuya thought, like a tricycle with the Antichrist riding it. Subjected to his standard driving style, it was likely to end up on the sidewalk if he didn't do the unthinkable and... he cringed to think of it... obey the speed limit. As though there weren't enough to think about, what with driving on the wrong side of the street, shifting gears with force than his own cars never required, and keeping an eye out for patrolmen who might not consider a Japanese license sufficient accreditation for cruising in suburban North America.
Then the speed bumps introduced themselves. 'Oh, man,' Keisuke complained. 'Are we even going in the right direction?'
'I have no idea,' Tetsuya muttered. 'This street doesn't even know where it's going,' he added, as it curved yet again. A stop sign appeared, and he braked - a little harder than necessary. Damien's tricycle still wound up halfway through a right turn. 'I really don't want to do this any longer than I have to.'
'Jacob told us to call him if we need help,' Keisuke suggested, taking a cel out of the glove compartment.
Tetsuya pulled over. 'That's mine, idiot.' Keisuke put up his hands, about to explain, but Tetsuya reached over and snatched it back. 'I didn't charge it yesterday.'
'Ehh.' Keisuke reclaimed the useless chunk of plastic. 'Why don't we find a pay phone, then?'
His friend looked skeptical. 'Which way?' he rhetorically asked. Keisuke buried his head in his hands. Tetsuya, taking pity, switched off the car's ignition. 'Why don't we just ask to use the phone?' he suggested, gesturing to the quite, nondescript, apparently very dull house they'd stopped at.
Keisuke found a number of reasons, such as how creepy they might appear to the tenants, or what sort of people might live there. He, or more likely his hangover, added some unrelated conjecture about what objects he intended to use to bash Tetsuya's head in if they ended up in prison for this, though Tetsuya didn't quite follow his logic on how this would be illegal.
Finally, though, Keisuke just warned his friend to be ready to drive away as fast as possible, and pushed himself out of the car. Leaving his door open. Tetsuya, resigned, leaned back against the headrest and took the keys out of the ignition.
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After a round of Mario Kart, the aftermath made it clear what had happened in Seit's basement. Rose laughed and dropped her controller on the floor, shaking her long brown hair over her shoulders. Sean made a victorious fist, Seit switched back to the selection screen with unmistakable spite, and Natalie handed her controller back to Ron. 'Thanks for letting me play,' she said, awkwardly polite. Ron shrugged it off just as politely.
Trying to hide her irritation, Natalie jumped up. 'Seit,' she offhandedly called, 'how long until the pasta is finished?'
Seit waited a moment to set down his controller, and shifted his blue eyes to the short girl who stood on the other side of the room. 'It's probably time to check on it,' he granted, crossing to the staircase. 'Well, Natalie? Come on.' Casting a brief look in his direction to remind him she wasn't to be ordered around, Natalie followed him out of the basement.
'Oh, of course he makes us wait for him,' Sean muttered. Both Rose and Ron smiled at his reaction. 'He has to throw around that -' the shorter boy gestured to convey his meaning, but couldn't find the words.
'His imperial air,' Rose finished. Before Sean could get jealous, she leaned into his lap, looking up at him with seductive brown eyes. 'He's afraid of losing to you again.'
Ron watched the two with masked annoyance. 'Oh, yes, terrified,' he remarked, not taking his eyes from the screen. He shifted from Toad to Peach, and back again, still a bit uncomfortable when he was left alone with the couple. Losing his best friend to a girlfriend had been one of the less welcome developments of his high school life. On the other hand, getting irritated and stomping off wouldn't help anything, so he kept his mouth shut. Most of the time.
'Well, I'm hungry anyway,' Sean admitted. 'If those two ever come back...'
'What's their... thing, anyway?' Ron had to ask. He wondered about those two... he knew Seit and Natalie weren't a couple (not that he cared), but he always wondered who was following whose lead. He didn't see Natalie obeying a guy because she was interested in him... on the other hand, he couldn't imagine Seit taking interest in anyone.
He shouldn't have asked out loud, though, as it gave Rose an opening for another of her theories. And Sean, of course, found fault with some part, and it was bound to fall apart into a mild disagreement any second. What was with *those* two, he thought bitterly. It was like Rose made Sean a different person, sensitive and controlling and agressive.
Like a warning, the three heard the doorbell from upstairs. The couple's quarrel halted.
Stop it, Ron warned himself. You are *not* going to envy the attention Rose gets from him. What's wrong with you, lately? Why should that girl worry you so much?
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Upstairs in the kitchen, Natalie found the pantry and pulled out a bottle of oil. 'How much do I add?' she called, before Seit could leave the kitchen and get the door. She couldn't hear his low answer, though, hurried and muffled as it was. Leaving the oil on the counter, she followed to the foyer.
'Hello,' Seit greeted the man at the door. He certainly didn't recognise him - a young man, maybe twenty years old, with light brown hair and puppy-dog eyes.
On the other side of the threshold, Yuuki Keisuke had to keep himself from running back to their borrowed car and telling Tetsuya to step on it. He opted for his second impulse, which was a whole lot suaver: 'NAKAGO?'
'Pardon me?' the young man responded cordially.
Another person appeared at his elbow, and Keisuke subjected her to a double-take. 'Miaka -' he started to lecture, and realised the illogic of it. Besides, the girl didn't really look like Miaka - her hair was a little too curly, her eyes a little less green. And his sister was cuter when she got confused.
Coming back to himself, Keisuke bowed and apologised. 'You look like..someone. Both of you. Uh... can I use phone?' Stumbling over his tongue anyway, he hoped his English was at least comprehensible.
The two exchanged glances. 'All right...' the boy finally allowed, sounding far too much like Nakago for Keisuke's peace of mind.
'New thought,' he improvised, 'my friend has the phone number. Getting him!' Keisuke sang as he dashed back down the steps.
'Wow, nice car,' Natalie remarked, and followed him outside. 'Oh, but it's a rental, isn't it?'
'Yeah,' Keisuke replied, wondering how the pseudo-sister had caught up to him.
'Tetsuya!'
The man in sunglasses stepped out of the car, eyebrows well above his eyewear's upper frame. 'Keisuke! eh - Miaka?'
'Miaka mitai, ne?' He launched into a bit of Japanese, and the girl proved herself in Tetsuya's eyes as not-Miaka by making it clear she didn't understand, and thought their conduct rather rude. After a few minutes of conversation, she cleared her throat.
'WHAT?' the two men responded.
Natalie tried to compose herself. 'If you'd like to use the phone, Seit's probably waiting for you inside.' It was fairly obvious she was more interested in her pride than in whether or not her friend waited.
'Eh... okay.' Tetsuya ran a hand through his hair. 'Seit is... the blond one? The one like Nakago?'
The girl froze. 'Nakago?' she muttered. 'Why does that sound familiar?'
Immediately interested, Keisuke pulled her back around. 'Tetsuya, go make the call,' he ordered, in English so the girl wouldn't feel threatened. 'Can I talk to you out here for a minute?' At her nod, he tightened his grip on her arm and continued. 'Has..um... Seit ever told a past life to you? Do you believe in past life?'
'Um...' what a rapidly weirdening conversation, Natalie thought. 'No, I don't think he would believe in it. Maybe I do. What is your name anyway? Your boyfriend called you-'
'Keisuke. Have you ever heard of a book - um...' he quickly translated the title in his head, 'Four gods earth heaven... never mind.' At her expression, he abandoned the effort.
'Who's Nakago?' she repeated. 'It sounds familiar.'
'He's in the book, a general, a really bad guy,' Keisuke summarised. 'And he looked like your friend, but older and everything.' Her earlier words came back to him. 'My - boyfriend?'
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Seit, having directed Tetsuya to the telephone, excused himself to check downstairs. 'Sean is probably eating the others by now.' Tetsuya nodded cordially, and started a conversation as Seit headed downstairs.
'Who' here?' Rose asked, swinging a foot over the arm of the couch as Sean played with her hair.
Seit threw out his hands. 'They seem to be a pair of confused tourists. Looking for a phone to use. They kept calling me Nakago.'
'Nakago?' Sean's ears nearly perked. 'Are they Japanese?'
Seit contemplated. 'Quite possibly.'
Rose knew what was coming, and sat up before Sean could accidentally decapitate her by standing up too fast. 'I want to meet them!' Seit almost thought the boy would wait for his approval, but Sean dashed past him and up the stairs.
'Oh, no,' Rose and Ron said in unison. Rose stood up to follow her boyfriend, but Ron lingered a moment, waving away Seit's questioning look.
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The man in the kitchen was carrying on what seemed to be a slightly awkward conversation. He was sweating so badly that Rose wondered, for a moment, if he'd fallen into the spaghetti pot. He seemed to get cut off a lot, and waved his hands around, turning blue to the top of his sunglasses.
Sean couldn't help himself. 'I wear my sunglasses at night,' he sang into Rose's ear. Her giggle drew the man's attention for a split second. The conversation soon called his attention back, but now he seemed to be making excuses.
'Yui, you won't believe this. I swear Suboshi just showed up in this house we stopped at -'
'Suboshi! And you said Nakago's already there! Where are you?' Yui demanded hesitantly, if that was possible, that they come get her right now.
'I told you, we tried to find out. Jacob is coming over so we can caravan back.'
'Do you think he'd get me if I called him now?'
'I don't know. See if he has his phone. I love you!' he added quickly, before she could hang up.
'I know that word!' Sean half-shouted. He quickly regretted it, as the man dropped the phone to stare at the trio of teenagers now staring at him. Raising a hesitant hand to wave, he also absently backed up a few steps.
'Sorry,' all four occupants of the kitchen chorused, then laughed awkwardly.
Tetsuya addressed Seit. 'Well, our friend is on his way to pick us up. Sorry to bother you this long.'
'Why are you apologising?' Sean responded. 'Glad to have you.'
'Sean,' Ron reminded him, surprising them all from the top of the staircase, 'this isn't your house.'
'Well,' Seit finally answered, having shot Sean an appropriate look, ' would you like to sit down until he gets here?' He gestured toward the front room, and moved forward to join Tetsuya. 'Is your friend still outside?'
'Yeah, with your girlfriend.' At the awkward looks the others returned, Tetsuya continued in a rush. 'Don't worry, Keisuke's no lecher. And she looks like his sister, so he wouldn't be after her anyway.' Wrapped in his explanations, Tetsuya didn't notice the sound of the front door opening. 'Actually, that girl looks kind of like Miaka, too. But anyway, he's not going to be stealing her or something.'
A voice rose from behind him, almost venomous. 'I'm not his girlfriend,' Natalie fired from between clenched teeth.
Tetsuya laughed awkwardly, backing up in the opposite direction now. He was about to speak, but Keisuke came to his defense - admittedly, not in the manner he expected. 'Well, you thought he was *my* boyfriend. Calm down.'
Natalie looked at Seit. 'You know, you could have corrected him.' Seit only raised an eyebrow, and asked if they could get through.
The rather confused group settled around the front room. Keisuke and Tetsuya took a couch facing the front door, and Sean eagerly sat beside them; rather possesively, Rose sat in his lap. Ron took a chair in the far corner, and Natalie shared its partner with the family's cleverly-named Cat. Seit, smoothly playing host, offered drinks, but as everyone declined, he settled on the arm of Natalie's chair.
The tableau rather bothered Keisuke, but he shook it off. 'Ne, Tetsuya,' he began, and realised he'd better speak English to prevent alienating the others. 'Did you talk to Jacob?' His 'boyfriend' nodded. 'And Yui, of course.'
Ron actually appeared interested, something the others rarely saw. 'Yui?' He thought, I swear there's a memory with that name on it.
Seeing Tetsuya a little too concerned by the boy's interest, Keisuke spoke up. 'Someone who came with us.'
The Suboshi-type boy spoke up. 'His girlfriend? I heard him say "I love you" on the phone.'
Keisuke nodded. 'I told you we're not dating,' he added, to Natalie.
'You also told me I look like your sister, and Seit looks like someone in a book, and before I could ask you why a guy your age is reading picture books, you insisted on coming back inside.'
Ron, who'd been closing his eyes, opened them again when he heard a stop in Natalie's demands. 'Do you have a picture of Yui?' An artist, he was good at forming mental pictures, but he couldn't figure out where the image that name had brought came from. Tetsuya delayed for a moment, but produced his wallet and pulled out a small photo-booth sticker of Yui and Miaka.
Sean pulled it out of his hand. 'Cool!' he exclaimed. 'Which one? The blonde, right, because the other one looks like Natalie. That's your sister?' Keisuke nodded. Sean handed Natalie the picture, and the girl glanced silently at her 'twin' for a moment before passing it on to Seit.
'Wow, she does look like you,' Seit exclaimed.
'How can you tell?' Natalie challenged. 'It's a tiny picture.'
Finally, Seit passed the picture into Ron's hand. The normally stoic boy took the image carefully, and froze. Trancelike, he murmured, 'Yui... Yui-sama.'
Keisuke and Tetsuya sat bolt upright, and Sean himself jumped at the expression on his friend's face.
'Ron, what the hell...?' Natalie asked, stunned to see the boy display emotion.
'I must be absolutely crazy,' Ron muttered, and looked as though he would pass the sticker back before he froze again, gazing at the girl's image. 'She grew her hair, but... this is Yui-sama. And I was her warrior.' The words came out quite calmly, almost conversationally, but the others all watched him in amazement.
'I didn't think *he* was...' Keisuke whispered to his friend. Agitated, Tetsuya rose, crossed the room menacingly, and stood over Ron's chair.
'Who were you?' His tone of voice conveyed something of a threat... as it stood, he couldn't think of one Seiryuu star whose head he *wouldn't* gladly tear off for what they'd done to Yui. Keisuke began to look nervous.
Ron hardly noticed anything, as he tried to deal with having another person's memories invade his head. 'I was... I was Suboshi.' Tetsuya's fist tightened, but Ron ignored it, turning to Seit. 'It's true, you look just like Nakago. I don't know, though...' His focus shifted again, to Sean. 'You were my brother, though. It makes so much sense. But how can you like a girl who looks so much like *her*?'
Sean blinked, trying to comprehend the change in his friend's personality. 'Ron...'
'You were Amiboshi, don't you remember? The one who switched sides. The one who said we'd always be together.'
Sean blinked, and looked into Ron's eyes... and it came back to him, too. 'But you were the one who chose Yui over me.'
'Oh, my God...' Natalie muttered. 'What are you people talking about?' Rose turned her concerned eyes to the other girl, and blinked sorrowfully. Natalie, seeing something different about her friend's gaze, stood up and confronted the visitors. 'Keisuke... and you... what are you doing to these guys? Is this that past-life thing you were grilling me about?'
Tetsuya shook his head. 'I guess we were right about one twin, but... the other guy. I never would have guessed.'
'He's a lot taller than Suboshi was,' Keisuke corroborated. 'But they do look like brothers, now that you mention it.'
'They're cousins,' Natalie interrupted. 'Who are these people?' Rose reached up to grab her best friend by the hand, and Natalie calmed down. 'Did the glasses guy tell you guys what this is all about? Keisuke was holding out on me, and...' she quieted when Rose squeezed her hand.
'You don't remember, then?' Rose asked softly.
Natalie froze. 'What do you mean? It's not like I could actually be his little sister. She's not dead, right? I mean, she's old enough in the picture and I can't have been *her* in a past life...' Looking into Rose's sympathetic eyes, she finally calmed down. 'I'm sorry, I'm really confused here. I'd like to know who these people think we are.'
Rose shook her head, and stood up, freeing Sean to stand as well and cross the room. As he whispered to Ron, the others focused their attention on Rose, wondering what she could possibly mean. 'It's funny that we both tried looking like the other priestess this time,' she said lightly, her high voice sounding, Keisuke realised, quite a bit like Miaka's. 'I'm surprised I didn't try to look like Yui-sama.'
Keisuke gasped. 'Soi! You were Soi, weren't you?' He pointed, half-panicking and expecting to be struck down by a lightning bolt then and there. He hadn't noticed the maroon tone to the girl's hair, or the confidence of her stance - exactly the kind of girl he'd imagined Soi to be. She was short and petite this time, but it didn't diminish the strength of her personality.
Tetsuya, meanwhile, was quite busy trying not to explode. He was well aware how rude it would be to break up the twins in order to make sure Suboshi understood exactly what he thought of him, so he'd shifted his attention to the young Nakago deadringer.
'I don't suppose you have anything to say to your human shield?' he challenged.
Seit blinked. 'Are you offering yourself as a target?' he replied coldly, suddenly finding his guest less interesting. 'If it helps, Natalie, he didn't explain anything to me, either.'
'It's okay, Seit,' Rose murmured, drawing Natalie closer. 'You're not who he thinks you are.'
Tetsuya turned back to the girls. 'Who the hell is he, then?'
'Calm down, Tetsuya!' Keisuke muttered.
Seit laughed. 'So I'm not Nakago?'
Rose answered teasingly. 'Why don't you remember?' Rose wrapped her arms around an uncomprehending Natalie, and her tone softened. 'Then, maybe it's better that you don't.'
Seeing her friend upset worried Natalie, and she immediately attacked the source. 'What are you trying to do here?' she demanded, confronting Keisuke as she gently pulled away from Rose.
The 'twins' turned their heads - simultaneously, Tetsuya noticed - at the sound of a car door slamming outside. He rose and started for the door, but Seit beat him there. 'Seeing as I live here,' he explained with a nod. He appeared a bit disturbed, though, shaken out of his contemplation. Tetsuya stepped back, thinking, I'm not convinced that this guy isn't Nakago, and I don't want him to see Yui before I do. Nonetheless, he had to follow him to the door.
'It *is* Yui,' Sean murmured to Ron, noticing his cousin's strange expression. Both turned their attention to the quiet conversation in the foyer, where Seit greeted a man they didn't recognise. Tetsuya hugged their priestess and whispered something to her. She turned a cautious glance into the room, and almost winced. Ron, in return, looked away with a sorrowful expression. Not a particularly dramatic expression, but remarkably open for Ron. Sean, as himself, couldn't believe it, but he was starting to recognise Ron as the boy from Amiboshi's memories.
'This is going to be so messy to sort out,' he worried. 'Ron?'
'It's good to meet you,' Jacob said cordially. 'Seit? And who are your friends?'
Seit paused. 'I may not be the best one to ask that question. The tall one is Ron, his cousin is Sean' - he smiled sardonically at the rhyme for a moment - 'and the girls are Rose and Natalie.'
'Which is the one ripping Keisuke's nose off?' Jacob asked, a bit confused. 'And Yui told me they're people they know?'
Seit shook his head, and turned for a moment. 'Ah, that's our graceful Natalie for you. As I said, I'm not clear on how Tetsuya and his friend know them, but one of them could likely explain it to you.' He turned to speak to Tetsuya and introduce himself to Yui.
Jacob, thus freed, made his way to the couch Keisuke was crammed into. 'Natalie?' he asked. 'How do you know my friends?' Natalie, interrupted, spun to face him. 'You don't seem especially happy to see them,' he felt compelled to add.
Surprisingly, she refrained from speaking as the other girl answered. 'She doesn't know them, actually. I don't really know them, either, but I apparently knew Yui... a long time ago.' Rose leaned over to Keisuke, becoming a bit more visible to Jacob and causing Keisuke to turn a bit red. 'I'd like to know how you know our story, actually. I'm guessing you heard it from Yui-sama?'
A realisation struck Keisuke. 'Tetsuya! They didn't know, did they?'
'Huh?' Tetsuya, arm still wrapped around Yui, finally ventured more than five feet from the door.
'You never told them they were in a book, did you, Yui?' Keisuke tried to ignore the looks the others gave him for speaking in a language they didn't understand, but he figured it was better to be cautious about this.
Yui closed her eyes, realising. 'I didn't. Of course I couldn't tell them I was pulled into a book.' Again, she allowed herself to glance around at her former seishi, and immediately regretted it. Another Amiboshi, a boy who resembled Suboshi when she looked for it, a young copy of Nakago... and then, two girls who looked more like Miaka than the people they'd been in the Universe of the Four Gods.
'Is there any way we could deal with this later?' Keisuke finally asked the others, distress quite obvious as he tried to escape the circle Jacob, Natalie and Rose formed around him.
Natalie glanced down at him, aborting his efforts to stand. She glanced at Rose, and at the boys in the corner. 'I think that's a good idea. I still have no idea what you're talking about.'
'It's an amazing feat to make Natalie admit that,' Seit commented. Her gaze turned quite meaningfully neutral, and she allowed Keisuke to stand only so that she could take his place on the couch. She wondered why he had to make their rivalry material now, when they usually kept it tacit. In front of these people, who seemed to think they knew so much... She caught herself gazing at the blonde girl. Yui, she wondered, what did you tell these guys that made them decide they know my friends better than I do? The girl hadn't even said a word in English since she came in.
Noticing the other girl's attention on her, Yui gazed back. I should know who she is, she thought. Her friend is Soi. She knows that, and it shows just by looking at her, knowing that's what I'm looking for. But she doesn't even know who she is.
Is she really one of them? Yui shook her head. She couldn't think who it would be. The other girl shrugged in response, then turned to her friend.
'You know,' Jacob said, 'maybe it's selfish of me, but I'd like to get back in time for dinner. Maybe you guys should all have time to think about this? Right?'
Keisuke was quick to agree. 'Why don't we all exchange numbers, and get going?'
'How long will you all be here?' Sean inquired, looking at Yui and back to Ron. He didn't know what this would do to his friends, but he couldn't just let go of the chance to understand it. He owed it, he thought, to his former self, and more than that he owed it to Ron. My little brother, he thought ironically.
The three visitors exchanged looks. 'Until the sixteenth, right?' Yui said, her English even less accented than the men's.
'So there's plenty of time,' Jacob said. 'Let me leave a number.' He pulled out a pen, and Seit provided a piece of junk mail to write on.
He then gave Jacob half of the envelope, on which he'd written his phone number. 'Do you want the others?' he offered.
'We.. can get them later,' Tetsuya justified, rather eager to escape the situation. Yui nodded, and thanked their hosts for their hospitality. 'It was good to meet you...' she hesitated, 'again.'
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AN: I don't like to say it, but... R/R. No threats if you don't, except that I'll keep writing until someone tells me to stop. Quelle horreur!
chapter 1
by Laly Konstantin
Disclaimer: I don't own any of Yuu Watase's characters, obviously. This story is intended to entertain, not to profit. (I don't really own the others, either - they refuse to behave if I act like I do.)
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The car they were borrowing from Jacob steered, Tetsuya thought, like a tricycle with the Antichrist riding it. Subjected to his standard driving style, it was likely to end up on the sidewalk if he didn't do the unthinkable and... he cringed to think of it... obey the speed limit. As though there weren't enough to think about, what with driving on the wrong side of the street, shifting gears with force than his own cars never required, and keeping an eye out for patrolmen who might not consider a Japanese license sufficient accreditation for cruising in suburban North America.
Then the speed bumps introduced themselves. 'Oh, man,' Keisuke complained. 'Are we even going in the right direction?'
'I have no idea,' Tetsuya muttered. 'This street doesn't even know where it's going,' he added, as it curved yet again. A stop sign appeared, and he braked - a little harder than necessary. Damien's tricycle still wound up halfway through a right turn. 'I really don't want to do this any longer than I have to.'
'Jacob told us to call him if we need help,' Keisuke suggested, taking a cel out of the glove compartment.
Tetsuya pulled over. 'That's mine, idiot.' Keisuke put up his hands, about to explain, but Tetsuya reached over and snatched it back. 'I didn't charge it yesterday.'
'Ehh.' Keisuke reclaimed the useless chunk of plastic. 'Why don't we find a pay phone, then?'
His friend looked skeptical. 'Which way?' he rhetorically asked. Keisuke buried his head in his hands. Tetsuya, taking pity, switched off the car's ignition. 'Why don't we just ask to use the phone?' he suggested, gesturing to the quite, nondescript, apparently very dull house they'd stopped at.
Keisuke found a number of reasons, such as how creepy they might appear to the tenants, or what sort of people might live there. He, or more likely his hangover, added some unrelated conjecture about what objects he intended to use to bash Tetsuya's head in if they ended up in prison for this, though Tetsuya didn't quite follow his logic on how this would be illegal.
Finally, though, Keisuke just warned his friend to be ready to drive away as fast as possible, and pushed himself out of the car. Leaving his door open. Tetsuya, resigned, leaned back against the headrest and took the keys out of the ignition.
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After a round of Mario Kart, the aftermath made it clear what had happened in Seit's basement. Rose laughed and dropped her controller on the floor, shaking her long brown hair over her shoulders. Sean made a victorious fist, Seit switched back to the selection screen with unmistakable spite, and Natalie handed her controller back to Ron. 'Thanks for letting me play,' she said, awkwardly polite. Ron shrugged it off just as politely.
Trying to hide her irritation, Natalie jumped up. 'Seit,' she offhandedly called, 'how long until the pasta is finished?'
Seit waited a moment to set down his controller, and shifted his blue eyes to the short girl who stood on the other side of the room. 'It's probably time to check on it,' he granted, crossing to the staircase. 'Well, Natalie? Come on.' Casting a brief look in his direction to remind him she wasn't to be ordered around, Natalie followed him out of the basement.
'Oh, of course he makes us wait for him,' Sean muttered. Both Rose and Ron smiled at his reaction. 'He has to throw around that -' the shorter boy gestured to convey his meaning, but couldn't find the words.
'His imperial air,' Rose finished. Before Sean could get jealous, she leaned into his lap, looking up at him with seductive brown eyes. 'He's afraid of losing to you again.'
Ron watched the two with masked annoyance. 'Oh, yes, terrified,' he remarked, not taking his eyes from the screen. He shifted from Toad to Peach, and back again, still a bit uncomfortable when he was left alone with the couple. Losing his best friend to a girlfriend had been one of the less welcome developments of his high school life. On the other hand, getting irritated and stomping off wouldn't help anything, so he kept his mouth shut. Most of the time.
'Well, I'm hungry anyway,' Sean admitted. 'If those two ever come back...'
'What's their... thing, anyway?' Ron had to ask. He wondered about those two... he knew Seit and Natalie weren't a couple (not that he cared), but he always wondered who was following whose lead. He didn't see Natalie obeying a guy because she was interested in him... on the other hand, he couldn't imagine Seit taking interest in anyone.
He shouldn't have asked out loud, though, as it gave Rose an opening for another of her theories. And Sean, of course, found fault with some part, and it was bound to fall apart into a mild disagreement any second. What was with *those* two, he thought bitterly. It was like Rose made Sean a different person, sensitive and controlling and agressive.
Like a warning, the three heard the doorbell from upstairs. The couple's quarrel halted.
Stop it, Ron warned himself. You are *not* going to envy the attention Rose gets from him. What's wrong with you, lately? Why should that girl worry you so much?
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Upstairs in the kitchen, Natalie found the pantry and pulled out a bottle of oil. 'How much do I add?' she called, before Seit could leave the kitchen and get the door. She couldn't hear his low answer, though, hurried and muffled as it was. Leaving the oil on the counter, she followed to the foyer.
'Hello,' Seit greeted the man at the door. He certainly didn't recognise him - a young man, maybe twenty years old, with light brown hair and puppy-dog eyes.
On the other side of the threshold, Yuuki Keisuke had to keep himself from running back to their borrowed car and telling Tetsuya to step on it. He opted for his second impulse, which was a whole lot suaver: 'NAKAGO?'
'Pardon me?' the young man responded cordially.
Another person appeared at his elbow, and Keisuke subjected her to a double-take. 'Miaka -' he started to lecture, and realised the illogic of it. Besides, the girl didn't really look like Miaka - her hair was a little too curly, her eyes a little less green. And his sister was cuter when she got confused.
Coming back to himself, Keisuke bowed and apologised. 'You look like..someone. Both of you. Uh... can I use phone?' Stumbling over his tongue anyway, he hoped his English was at least comprehensible.
The two exchanged glances. 'All right...' the boy finally allowed, sounding far too much like Nakago for Keisuke's peace of mind.
'New thought,' he improvised, 'my friend has the phone number. Getting him!' Keisuke sang as he dashed back down the steps.
'Wow, nice car,' Natalie remarked, and followed him outside. 'Oh, but it's a rental, isn't it?'
'Yeah,' Keisuke replied, wondering how the pseudo-sister had caught up to him.
'Tetsuya!'
The man in sunglasses stepped out of the car, eyebrows well above his eyewear's upper frame. 'Keisuke! eh - Miaka?'
'Miaka mitai, ne?' He launched into a bit of Japanese, and the girl proved herself in Tetsuya's eyes as not-Miaka by making it clear she didn't understand, and thought their conduct rather rude. After a few minutes of conversation, she cleared her throat.
'WHAT?' the two men responded.
Natalie tried to compose herself. 'If you'd like to use the phone, Seit's probably waiting for you inside.' It was fairly obvious she was more interested in her pride than in whether or not her friend waited.
'Eh... okay.' Tetsuya ran a hand through his hair. 'Seit is... the blond one? The one like Nakago?'
The girl froze. 'Nakago?' she muttered. 'Why does that sound familiar?'
Immediately interested, Keisuke pulled her back around. 'Tetsuya, go make the call,' he ordered, in English so the girl wouldn't feel threatened. 'Can I talk to you out here for a minute?' At her nod, he tightened his grip on her arm and continued. 'Has..um... Seit ever told a past life to you? Do you believe in past life?'
'Um...' what a rapidly weirdening conversation, Natalie thought. 'No, I don't think he would believe in it. Maybe I do. What is your name anyway? Your boyfriend called you-'
'Keisuke. Have you ever heard of a book - um...' he quickly translated the title in his head, 'Four gods earth heaven... never mind.' At her expression, he abandoned the effort.
'Who's Nakago?' she repeated. 'It sounds familiar.'
'He's in the book, a general, a really bad guy,' Keisuke summarised. 'And he looked like your friend, but older and everything.' Her earlier words came back to him. 'My - boyfriend?'
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Seit, having directed Tetsuya to the telephone, excused himself to check downstairs. 'Sean is probably eating the others by now.' Tetsuya nodded cordially, and started a conversation as Seit headed downstairs.
'Who' here?' Rose asked, swinging a foot over the arm of the couch as Sean played with her hair.
Seit threw out his hands. 'They seem to be a pair of confused tourists. Looking for a phone to use. They kept calling me Nakago.'
'Nakago?' Sean's ears nearly perked. 'Are they Japanese?'
Seit contemplated. 'Quite possibly.'
Rose knew what was coming, and sat up before Sean could accidentally decapitate her by standing up too fast. 'I want to meet them!' Seit almost thought the boy would wait for his approval, but Sean dashed past him and up the stairs.
'Oh, no,' Rose and Ron said in unison. Rose stood up to follow her boyfriend, but Ron lingered a moment, waving away Seit's questioning look.
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The man in the kitchen was carrying on what seemed to be a slightly awkward conversation. He was sweating so badly that Rose wondered, for a moment, if he'd fallen into the spaghetti pot. He seemed to get cut off a lot, and waved his hands around, turning blue to the top of his sunglasses.
Sean couldn't help himself. 'I wear my sunglasses at night,' he sang into Rose's ear. Her giggle drew the man's attention for a split second. The conversation soon called his attention back, but now he seemed to be making excuses.
'Yui, you won't believe this. I swear Suboshi just showed up in this house we stopped at -'
'Suboshi! And you said Nakago's already there! Where are you?' Yui demanded hesitantly, if that was possible, that they come get her right now.
'I told you, we tried to find out. Jacob is coming over so we can caravan back.'
'Do you think he'd get me if I called him now?'
'I don't know. See if he has his phone. I love you!' he added quickly, before she could hang up.
'I know that word!' Sean half-shouted. He quickly regretted it, as the man dropped the phone to stare at the trio of teenagers now staring at him. Raising a hesitant hand to wave, he also absently backed up a few steps.
'Sorry,' all four occupants of the kitchen chorused, then laughed awkwardly.
Tetsuya addressed Seit. 'Well, our friend is on his way to pick us up. Sorry to bother you this long.'
'Why are you apologising?' Sean responded. 'Glad to have you.'
'Sean,' Ron reminded him, surprising them all from the top of the staircase, 'this isn't your house.'
'Well,' Seit finally answered, having shot Sean an appropriate look, ' would you like to sit down until he gets here?' He gestured toward the front room, and moved forward to join Tetsuya. 'Is your friend still outside?'
'Yeah, with your girlfriend.' At the awkward looks the others returned, Tetsuya continued in a rush. 'Don't worry, Keisuke's no lecher. And she looks like his sister, so he wouldn't be after her anyway.' Wrapped in his explanations, Tetsuya didn't notice the sound of the front door opening. 'Actually, that girl looks kind of like Miaka, too. But anyway, he's not going to be stealing her or something.'
A voice rose from behind him, almost venomous. 'I'm not his girlfriend,' Natalie fired from between clenched teeth.
Tetsuya laughed awkwardly, backing up in the opposite direction now. He was about to speak, but Keisuke came to his defense - admittedly, not in the manner he expected. 'Well, you thought he was *my* boyfriend. Calm down.'
Natalie looked at Seit. 'You know, you could have corrected him.' Seit only raised an eyebrow, and asked if they could get through.
The rather confused group settled around the front room. Keisuke and Tetsuya took a couch facing the front door, and Sean eagerly sat beside them; rather possesively, Rose sat in his lap. Ron took a chair in the far corner, and Natalie shared its partner with the family's cleverly-named Cat. Seit, smoothly playing host, offered drinks, but as everyone declined, he settled on the arm of Natalie's chair.
The tableau rather bothered Keisuke, but he shook it off. 'Ne, Tetsuya,' he began, and realised he'd better speak English to prevent alienating the others. 'Did you talk to Jacob?' His 'boyfriend' nodded. 'And Yui, of course.'
Ron actually appeared interested, something the others rarely saw. 'Yui?' He thought, I swear there's a memory with that name on it.
Seeing Tetsuya a little too concerned by the boy's interest, Keisuke spoke up. 'Someone who came with us.'
The Suboshi-type boy spoke up. 'His girlfriend? I heard him say "I love you" on the phone.'
Keisuke nodded. 'I told you we're not dating,' he added, to Natalie.
'You also told me I look like your sister, and Seit looks like someone in a book, and before I could ask you why a guy your age is reading picture books, you insisted on coming back inside.'
Ron, who'd been closing his eyes, opened them again when he heard a stop in Natalie's demands. 'Do you have a picture of Yui?' An artist, he was good at forming mental pictures, but he couldn't figure out where the image that name had brought came from. Tetsuya delayed for a moment, but produced his wallet and pulled out a small photo-booth sticker of Yui and Miaka.
Sean pulled it out of his hand. 'Cool!' he exclaimed. 'Which one? The blonde, right, because the other one looks like Natalie. That's your sister?' Keisuke nodded. Sean handed Natalie the picture, and the girl glanced silently at her 'twin' for a moment before passing it on to Seit.
'Wow, she does look like you,' Seit exclaimed.
'How can you tell?' Natalie challenged. 'It's a tiny picture.'
Finally, Seit passed the picture into Ron's hand. The normally stoic boy took the image carefully, and froze. Trancelike, he murmured, 'Yui... Yui-sama.'
Keisuke and Tetsuya sat bolt upright, and Sean himself jumped at the expression on his friend's face.
'Ron, what the hell...?' Natalie asked, stunned to see the boy display emotion.
'I must be absolutely crazy,' Ron muttered, and looked as though he would pass the sticker back before he froze again, gazing at the girl's image. 'She grew her hair, but... this is Yui-sama. And I was her warrior.' The words came out quite calmly, almost conversationally, but the others all watched him in amazement.
'I didn't think *he* was...' Keisuke whispered to his friend. Agitated, Tetsuya rose, crossed the room menacingly, and stood over Ron's chair.
'Who were you?' His tone of voice conveyed something of a threat... as it stood, he couldn't think of one Seiryuu star whose head he *wouldn't* gladly tear off for what they'd done to Yui. Keisuke began to look nervous.
Ron hardly noticed anything, as he tried to deal with having another person's memories invade his head. 'I was... I was Suboshi.' Tetsuya's fist tightened, but Ron ignored it, turning to Seit. 'It's true, you look just like Nakago. I don't know, though...' His focus shifted again, to Sean. 'You were my brother, though. It makes so much sense. But how can you like a girl who looks so much like *her*?'
Sean blinked, trying to comprehend the change in his friend's personality. 'Ron...'
'You were Amiboshi, don't you remember? The one who switched sides. The one who said we'd always be together.'
Sean blinked, and looked into Ron's eyes... and it came back to him, too. 'But you were the one who chose Yui over me.'
'Oh, my God...' Natalie muttered. 'What are you people talking about?' Rose turned her concerned eyes to the other girl, and blinked sorrowfully. Natalie, seeing something different about her friend's gaze, stood up and confronted the visitors. 'Keisuke... and you... what are you doing to these guys? Is this that past-life thing you were grilling me about?'
Tetsuya shook his head. 'I guess we were right about one twin, but... the other guy. I never would have guessed.'
'He's a lot taller than Suboshi was,' Keisuke corroborated. 'But they do look like brothers, now that you mention it.'
'They're cousins,' Natalie interrupted. 'Who are these people?' Rose reached up to grab her best friend by the hand, and Natalie calmed down. 'Did the glasses guy tell you guys what this is all about? Keisuke was holding out on me, and...' she quieted when Rose squeezed her hand.
'You don't remember, then?' Rose asked softly.
Natalie froze. 'What do you mean? It's not like I could actually be his little sister. She's not dead, right? I mean, she's old enough in the picture and I can't have been *her* in a past life...' Looking into Rose's sympathetic eyes, she finally calmed down. 'I'm sorry, I'm really confused here. I'd like to know who these people think we are.'
Rose shook her head, and stood up, freeing Sean to stand as well and cross the room. As he whispered to Ron, the others focused their attention on Rose, wondering what she could possibly mean. 'It's funny that we both tried looking like the other priestess this time,' she said lightly, her high voice sounding, Keisuke realised, quite a bit like Miaka's. 'I'm surprised I didn't try to look like Yui-sama.'
Keisuke gasped. 'Soi! You were Soi, weren't you?' He pointed, half-panicking and expecting to be struck down by a lightning bolt then and there. He hadn't noticed the maroon tone to the girl's hair, or the confidence of her stance - exactly the kind of girl he'd imagined Soi to be. She was short and petite this time, but it didn't diminish the strength of her personality.
Tetsuya, meanwhile, was quite busy trying not to explode. He was well aware how rude it would be to break up the twins in order to make sure Suboshi understood exactly what he thought of him, so he'd shifted his attention to the young Nakago deadringer.
'I don't suppose you have anything to say to your human shield?' he challenged.
Seit blinked. 'Are you offering yourself as a target?' he replied coldly, suddenly finding his guest less interesting. 'If it helps, Natalie, he didn't explain anything to me, either.'
'It's okay, Seit,' Rose murmured, drawing Natalie closer. 'You're not who he thinks you are.'
Tetsuya turned back to the girls. 'Who the hell is he, then?'
'Calm down, Tetsuya!' Keisuke muttered.
Seit laughed. 'So I'm not Nakago?'
Rose answered teasingly. 'Why don't you remember?' Rose wrapped her arms around an uncomprehending Natalie, and her tone softened. 'Then, maybe it's better that you don't.'
Seeing her friend upset worried Natalie, and she immediately attacked the source. 'What are you trying to do here?' she demanded, confronting Keisuke as she gently pulled away from Rose.
The 'twins' turned their heads - simultaneously, Tetsuya noticed - at the sound of a car door slamming outside. He rose and started for the door, but Seit beat him there. 'Seeing as I live here,' he explained with a nod. He appeared a bit disturbed, though, shaken out of his contemplation. Tetsuya stepped back, thinking, I'm not convinced that this guy isn't Nakago, and I don't want him to see Yui before I do. Nonetheless, he had to follow him to the door.
'It *is* Yui,' Sean murmured to Ron, noticing his cousin's strange expression. Both turned their attention to the quiet conversation in the foyer, where Seit greeted a man they didn't recognise. Tetsuya hugged their priestess and whispered something to her. She turned a cautious glance into the room, and almost winced. Ron, in return, looked away with a sorrowful expression. Not a particularly dramatic expression, but remarkably open for Ron. Sean, as himself, couldn't believe it, but he was starting to recognise Ron as the boy from Amiboshi's memories.
'This is going to be so messy to sort out,' he worried. 'Ron?'
'It's good to meet you,' Jacob said cordially. 'Seit? And who are your friends?'
Seit paused. 'I may not be the best one to ask that question. The tall one is Ron, his cousin is Sean' - he smiled sardonically at the rhyme for a moment - 'and the girls are Rose and Natalie.'
'Which is the one ripping Keisuke's nose off?' Jacob asked, a bit confused. 'And Yui told me they're people they know?'
Seit shook his head, and turned for a moment. 'Ah, that's our graceful Natalie for you. As I said, I'm not clear on how Tetsuya and his friend know them, but one of them could likely explain it to you.' He turned to speak to Tetsuya and introduce himself to Yui.
Jacob, thus freed, made his way to the couch Keisuke was crammed into. 'Natalie?' he asked. 'How do you know my friends?' Natalie, interrupted, spun to face him. 'You don't seem especially happy to see them,' he felt compelled to add.
Surprisingly, she refrained from speaking as the other girl answered. 'She doesn't know them, actually. I don't really know them, either, but I apparently knew Yui... a long time ago.' Rose leaned over to Keisuke, becoming a bit more visible to Jacob and causing Keisuke to turn a bit red. 'I'd like to know how you know our story, actually. I'm guessing you heard it from Yui-sama?'
A realisation struck Keisuke. 'Tetsuya! They didn't know, did they?'
'Huh?' Tetsuya, arm still wrapped around Yui, finally ventured more than five feet from the door.
'You never told them they were in a book, did you, Yui?' Keisuke tried to ignore the looks the others gave him for speaking in a language they didn't understand, but he figured it was better to be cautious about this.
Yui closed her eyes, realising. 'I didn't. Of course I couldn't tell them I was pulled into a book.' Again, she allowed herself to glance around at her former seishi, and immediately regretted it. Another Amiboshi, a boy who resembled Suboshi when she looked for it, a young copy of Nakago... and then, two girls who looked more like Miaka than the people they'd been in the Universe of the Four Gods.
'Is there any way we could deal with this later?' Keisuke finally asked the others, distress quite obvious as he tried to escape the circle Jacob, Natalie and Rose formed around him.
Natalie glanced down at him, aborting his efforts to stand. She glanced at Rose, and at the boys in the corner. 'I think that's a good idea. I still have no idea what you're talking about.'
'It's an amazing feat to make Natalie admit that,' Seit commented. Her gaze turned quite meaningfully neutral, and she allowed Keisuke to stand only so that she could take his place on the couch. She wondered why he had to make their rivalry material now, when they usually kept it tacit. In front of these people, who seemed to think they knew so much... She caught herself gazing at the blonde girl. Yui, she wondered, what did you tell these guys that made them decide they know my friends better than I do? The girl hadn't even said a word in English since she came in.
Noticing the other girl's attention on her, Yui gazed back. I should know who she is, she thought. Her friend is Soi. She knows that, and it shows just by looking at her, knowing that's what I'm looking for. But she doesn't even know who she is.
Is she really one of them? Yui shook her head. She couldn't think who it would be. The other girl shrugged in response, then turned to her friend.
'You know,' Jacob said, 'maybe it's selfish of me, but I'd like to get back in time for dinner. Maybe you guys should all have time to think about this? Right?'
Keisuke was quick to agree. 'Why don't we all exchange numbers, and get going?'
'How long will you all be here?' Sean inquired, looking at Yui and back to Ron. He didn't know what this would do to his friends, but he couldn't just let go of the chance to understand it. He owed it, he thought, to his former self, and more than that he owed it to Ron. My little brother, he thought ironically.
The three visitors exchanged looks. 'Until the sixteenth, right?' Yui said, her English even less accented than the men's.
'So there's plenty of time,' Jacob said. 'Let me leave a number.' He pulled out a pen, and Seit provided a piece of junk mail to write on.
He then gave Jacob half of the envelope, on which he'd written his phone number. 'Do you want the others?' he offered.
'We.. can get them later,' Tetsuya justified, rather eager to escape the situation. Yui nodded, and thanked their hosts for their hospitality. 'It was good to meet you...' she hesitated, 'again.'
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AN: I don't like to say it, but... R/R. No threats if you don't, except that I'll keep writing until someone tells me to stop. Quelle horreur!