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Don't Get Involved, Baka
Chapter 1
The Pavement is Hard...
It was ten years after the last invasion of Kowloon children, and the Special Zone had just returned to its normal, usually peaceful course. The Black bloods and Red bloods got along as well as they could, but like the rest of the world, there were those that were homeless with poor living standards. Many would eventually find a family generous enough to take them in, but there were still the minute percentage of the population left over, mostly children, that were given jobs as Compromisers, Door closers, or were part of the Suppression team once they grew of age.
The blaring of an alarm sounded and a sleepy hand reached out to slap the 'snooze' button, but missed and hit the side of the vibrating clock. It fell off the small table and crashed to the ground below, the batteries breaking out of their case and rolling across the dirty floor. There was a muffled groan as a head of messy, black hair peaked out from beneath the covers of the bed.
"Fix that for me, would you Shippo?" the woman murmured in her sleep and a small red-head child appeared, rubbing his eyes of the sleep residing beneath his lids.
"Did you break the alarm again, Kagome?" he moaned and there was a slow, but loud intake of breath as the woman sat up, her hazel eyes squinted as she looked at the scattered pieces of the clock by the makeshift bed.
"Hai..." she whispered, sitting up straight and stretching. Her dirty, too-large t-shirt loosely clung to her as she stood up, effectively covering her body to her knees. She walked into the bathroom and blinked a few more times before yawning and combing her fingers through her hair for a few moments.
"Hurry up, you'll be late for work, Kagome!!!" another feminine voice shouted and Kagome blanched.
"I know, Sango!" she hollered back, then muttered under her breath "I swear, she acts more like a mother than a friend some times..."
"You've got two minutes to get out of this house or you'll really be late! You know how your boss is!!!"
"My boss is always late!!!" the Kagome argued, racing out of the room and tugging on the dark blue uniform. She buttoned it up and ran past Sango, grabbing a piece of toast from Sango's hand as she ran past and bursting out the door, one sleeve of her jacket billowing behind her. Sango sighed as she leaned against the door frame and watched her leave, shaking her head as she held in her mirth.
"Shippo!" she called and the child stepped out of the bedroom and towards her, the remnants of the annihilated time-teller in his hands. "How lucky it is to be you. I envy you."
"I don't" he grumbled, glaring at the plastic pieces in his tiny hands. "I have to fix her clock every day and it's getting annoying."
"Hai, hai, I can understand that. I just hope she doesn't run in to him. She always does..."
"Who?" Shippo questioned and Sango smirked.
"The pyromaniac, of course, who else? He's going to set her on fire some day."
"Don't make fun of him!" Shippo whined. Sango glanced down at him, baring one of her dull, human canines in amusement. A little habit that had rubbed off on her from Inuyasha, apparently.
"Why? Because you're too scared to approach one of your own type? You need to go to him soon, before you start lighting things on fire on accident. Bakaaaaa."
"I will! I-"
"Just don't know when."
"...yeah..."
Sango's soft laughter filled the young vampire's ears and his eyes lit up. That laughter was always a good one, it meant the arrival of one of her famous mood-swings.
"MIROKU, GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF ME!"
Yep. That laughter never failed to warn.
----Kagome----
I had just finished my toast as I turned a corner to meet the familiar, dark alley that I always ran through to get to work. I reached behind myself and grabbed the side of my suit coat, shoving my arm through it as I jumped over the various 'hurdles' which consisted mostly of garbage cans and garbage bags. The putrid stench of rotting items made me want to gag, but I held in the urge and continued to run.
The end of the alley appeared and I turned to the left, racing out of it and narrowly dodging the opening door.
"Ohayou Kagome, late again?"
"As usual!" I chirped in response, giving a quick wave as I raced past. "I'll come by the shop after work again so make sure to save something for me Ginta-sama!"
"You know I will" he chuckled in response, stopping and watching as I ran. He crossed his arms in amusement, waiting for that 'special' moment to happen. Yes. That moment.
"Good morning Kagome!"
"Good morning Hakkaku!"
"Kagome, watch-" I crashed into that all too familiar chest and bounced off, landing on my butt a few feet away. "-out... why do I even try?" I heard him mumble under his breath. Ginta's loud, full-out laughter reached my ears and I scowled before getting to my feet and brushing the dirt off of my but and the rest of my uniform.
"Ahem" I began, clearing my throat to begin the apologetic speech that occurred every single day. "I'm sorry for running in to you again, onii-san. Forgive me." And then the same response.
"Watch where you're going or get to work earlier."
And then my reply.
"Hai."
Finally, I take my leave and slowly walk passed him, giving him a quick glance before racing off. Every single day I ran into him. Every single day we had that same conversation, and every single day he would let me leave without giving me a single glance, that same old annoyed look on his face. Every day was the same, like a poorly acted play that was practiced over and over again until it reached perfection, which it never would. But that lethal look in his eyes was enough to send a shiver of fear down my spine, acted or not.
He was going to shove me in to a wood-chipper some day. I just knew it.
But there was one thing that always shoved all thoughts of the strange man to the back of my mind. My boss, Mimiko. Quite a lively lady, always screaming or running or hopping, or doing some other strange action unusual for her age of 30 some years. Well, I guess it's not that unusual for a 30-year-old, but she's the only one I'm closely connected to.
I reached my destination, the Order Coffin Company headquarters. The tall building loomed over me like a giant, and I once again found myself wondering what would happen if I decided to just randomly jump off of the top some day, like bungee jumping. Would someone come to save me or would they just watch as I fell and splattered against the ground?
I screamed in surprise when a hand touched my shoulder only to hear an all too familiar sigh.
"Late again, Kagome?"
"You're early for once, Mimiko-sama" I teased and she let go, walking with me into the building. "You usually don't get here for another half hour."
"Shhh! They'll hear you!" she hissed, glancing at the people in the room around us. "You'll get me fired some day."
"Aww, thank you!" I laughed and she smirked. I knew that smirk. It wasn't a good one, that was for sure. "What are you looking at?" I asked wearily and her smirk widened.
"You're making the vampires go crazy on us, Kagome" she commented and my face scrunched in confusion.
"What are you talking about?" She pointed at my hands and I looked down at them to see a tin amount of blood dripping down them. Why didn't' I notice that before? "Oh, well would you look at that... This never happened when I ran in to him before..."
"You ran in to someone earlier?" I nodded and she scowled. "Did he have reddish hair and red eyes? He was a black blood?"
"Why do you ask...?"
"I walked passed him earlier today, he seemed annoyed."
"Do you know him? Who is he?" I demanded, wanting to know. Mimiko looked at me strangely.
"How do you not know?" she questioned, which just confused me even further. How would I not know? Maybe because the only people I knew were the ones that didn't look like they were about to kill me. And that's what I replied with. She groaned and dragged me in to her office, shutting the door firmly behind her. She turned on her computer as I sat there, waiting in an uncomfortable silence.
"Look at this" she commanded, motioning me over, and I obeyed. I walked over to her side and glanced at the computer. "Is this the guy?"
"Yeah."
"You're lucky you're still alive" she grumbled, scrolling down and showing me his personal information. I groaned and squatted, holding my head with my still bleeding hands and whimpering.
"You mean I've been running in to the Zelman Clock this entire time?" I moaned and she nodded.
I was wrong.
He wasn't going to throw me in to a wood chipper.
He was going to set me on fire and watch as I turned to ashes while complaining about 'too much work' or some other crap. Mimiko noticed my distress and stifled a laugh. She took my wrist and helped me to my feet.
"Why don't you go get your hands bandaged up. I'll wash your hair afterwards" she suggested.
"Why would I need to wash my hair?" I grumbled, pouting.
"You've got blood in it."
"Fine..."
----Zelman----
Same location. Same girl. Same time. Same reaction. Same distance. God, had she planned all of this from the start? She never stopped amazing me, how she could jump over garbage bags while putting on a suit coat without any difficulties, but couldn't talk and run at the same time. What was wrong with her? I always told her to watch where she was going or go to work earlier, so why didn't she pay any attention to my advice?
Humans.
I scoffed at the thought.
She was the only one that wasn't shaking in fear in my presence, though, so that was interesting. I decided I would hang around that same area for a few more days and see how long it would take before she finally realizes who I am. Damn company... after the last invasion they made me patrol the streets, and that damn girl that keeps running in to me is my only source of entertainment. Patrolling is too much work. Why can't they just make the suppression team to do it?
Of course, I knew the answer to that.
The suppression team couldn't fight older vampires without getting completely destroyed, unlike "Ryuu-dono," "the Blue Wolf," "Silver Blade" or the "Ancient Dark Hunter," who could destroy an entire army of them without much trouble.
I scoffed again.
Humans were pathetic and weak. The only thing they were good for was their blood, but that one woman, Mimiko, she was an interesting lady. One of the few that I could actually tolerate. Pathetic, I know, considering I'm one of the rulers of the special zone, but what can I say? I'm a laid-back, "evil," stubborn vampire.
A drop of rain hit my nose and I scowled, looking up at the sky. The single drop turned into two, then three. Slowly, it began to drizzle.
How I despised working.
---- Normal----
"I'll see you tomorrow, Mimiko!" Kagome hollered, waving goodbye, and Mimiko returned the gesture with the same amount of enthusiasm. Kagome stepped outside to bet met with the small, beadlike drops of water that fell from the sky, and she sighed. Glancing at her bandaged hands, she whimpered and let her shoulders go limp before shrugging them out and walking down the steps and in to the rain-soaked street. Kagome then leaned down after hopping off the last step and took her heels off, relishing in the feeling of having the shoes invented in hell off of her feet. After enjoying the feeling for long enough, she slung the heels over her shoulder and took her time going to Ginta's restaurant to pick up the food that he always had left over for the children.
Ginta and Hakkaku, although they didn't own the same shop, acted as if they did and visited each other often. Ginta visited Hakkaku in the morning, and the opposite at night. Hakkaku owned a butcher shop while Ginta owned a bar-like restaurant a few blocks away. They were the two youngest brothers of three. The oldest, Kouga, was the advisor of the two shop owners and made sure that they didn't go bankrupt.
A loud growl from my stomach made her pout and Kagome decided to run to the bar, not wanting to wait to eat any longer that she had to. She was running late because of work, after all. Every time Mimiko caught her entering headquarters late, she always made Kagome work for an hour or two longer than usual. Kagome entered the building when she reached it, the bell informing Ginta that she had arrived. He appeared from the back room, a few boxes of food in a bag dangling from his hand, and gave them to her.
"How was work today, Kagome?" he questioned and the girl shrugged as he handed her a towel and brush, too. She began to dry herself off a little and warm up before going back home.
"Same as usual, nothing new" she replied, drying my hair.
"You really need to watch where you're running, though. Clock-sama is going to become aggravated if you continue to crash in to him every single morning."
"I think I know that" she grumbled, setting down the towel and running the brush through my hair. "How is Kouga?"
"Kouga? Never shutting up about wanting to marry you, still."
"I believe the words were "will you be my mate," Ginta" Kagome corrected and Ginta bared a fang in a smirk.
"Just putting it in red-blood terms."
"You don't have to..." Kagome growled, then muttered under her breath "Damn black-bloods..."
"Do you have something against us?" a smooth voice questioned, the bell to the door jingling, and Kagome froze, knowing the voice all too well. Ginta entered the kitchen and came back out a moment later with a glass of blood, setting it on the counter. "Well?" the vampire demanded calmly, acting as if he had all the time in the world to wait. He kind of did, though, but that was beside the point.
"I think I should get going..." Kagome muttered quickly, grabbing the bag of food and spinning around only to collide into that dumb chest again. Ginta stifled a laugh as Kagome swore under her breath and rubbed her nose. "Sorry."
"Watch it, human."
Kagome glared at the ground as she walked around the vampire and towards the door. She pushed it open, but couldn't hold it in anymore and turned around, frustrated, and shouted "Go to hell you stupid, pyrokinetic black blood!" before racing out the door. Ginta couldn't contain his mirth and snorted before laughing at the wide-eyed ruler, who slowly began to return his eyes to their normal size. After Ginta regained his composure, he began to continue cleaning the glasses and mugs, occasionally glancing at the man beside him. What he saw the first time made him almost drop one of the glasses.
There was amusement in those lethal eyes of Zelman Clock, and a ghost of a smile on his lips as the wine glass was raised to them. Never had Ginta heard of such a reaction being drawn forth from the old vampire by a woman before. A human woman nonetheless.
To Be Continued...