Sorry it's short. Next one is longer. Probably.
Theme Song: Resonance (Soul Eater)
The Host Club, when they'd heard through a Hitachiin contact that Mori would appear on T.V., settled in the Ootori residence to watch, and they were excited when an anime opening unfolded across the screen, as if it had been painted by a graceful hand.
First, a pretty, dark haired girl with Mediterranean features rode onboard a griffin, the name "Captain ANDROMEDA KARIS" shaped from the clouds in the wake of her mighty griffin, followed by a pair of phoenixes circling each other in the air, each with a person standing atop the fiery birds. A grey haired boy and silver haired female locked eyes before flinging themselves off their airborne steeds, cackling until another male, this one a touch older than the grey haired one rode the air currents, carrying the pair to the earth, their names wreathing their bodies
"Superviser MISCHA KUZNETSOVNA."
"Superviser KAI HIWATARI."
"Sentinel KAZUMA UGAMI."
They landed at a neat picnic area, where a tall, black haired male had his head in the lap of a laughing Asian girl, their names and titles appearing as subtitles
"SIC Sentinel TAKASHI MORINOZUKA."
"Lieutenant AYAMI YAMAMOTO."
Just when they thought the introduction was done, another Asian girl galloped up on a beautiful golden horse, laughing when he snorted and her name spilled from his nose like steam
"Dagger-class enforcer MAI (TITANIA) TANIYAMA."
The Kannagi family, too, were watching, and were gaping when the anime fell away to reveal a neat common room done up in the Western style, where Kazuma was snoring lightly, Kai looked a little relaxed. Mischa sat on the arm of the chair Kai was seated in, giggling with Ayami.
Mai glided in with a tea tray, snickering when Kai grumbled
"Tea? Where's the Vodka?" Mischa cuffed him and chided
"Kai-kun, we're airing an episode of the show!" He growled
"Only you get to call me 'Kai-kun', Mischa, and that was supposed to be private so no one got any ideas."
Ayami perked up when she heard the hiss of the hydraulic door.
"That's Takashi! I'd better go make sure we have some of his favourites." She bounded away, and Kai faced Takashi when the taller man walked in, the grey haired teenager sighing before looking away. Takashi spoke a whole hell of a lot more freely than he did with the Host Club.
"You know why I can't keep her." Kazuma jerked upright, panting when he asked
"Ren?" Mai patted his shoulder and soothed
"No, Kazu-kun, your brother escaped our fate." Ayami returned, bearing a plate and cup, setting them on the table in front of Takashi, squeaking when he dragged her into his lap.
Kai's fists clenched, before Mischa set her hand on his thigh, smiling weakly when he relaxed, in time to nod when Takashi muttered
"Small comfort, that, when so many did not."
Mai rolled her eyes and pointed out with a touch of acid in her tone
"No going back now, Takashi." Takashi glared at her and snapped
"No, but it would save Aya-" Ayami twitched, squirming to get off his lap, causing him to growl when he finished
"The heartbreak of believing she wasn't good enough." Ayami snarled as she fought harder
"We both know I'm fucking not, Takashi! I…" She faltered when Takashi clamped a hand over her mouth and spoke precisely
"You, Yamamoto Ayami, are the daughter of a law enforcer and beloved of a martial artist. You yourself are proficient both in combat and maintaining your house. If you are inadequate, then I and every other person I've ever known are worthless."
Kazuma shifted, grinning when Kai stuck his tongue out at him, before speaking up
"Hey, Takashi, why can't you keep her again?" Takashi frowned and answered in a somber tone
"Ayami's concerns, though I find them invalid, do have merit. My immediate family would probably be quite taken with her, but my friends… only one would understand why I don't care if she has money."
That stung, for the Host Club. How could Takashi not trust them? They didn't have time to ponder this, though. Because Mai spoke next
"Hah. At least it's superficial with your choice. My friends didn't understand why I chose who I did." Kazuma snickered and dove to the heart of the matter
"You never told them you've known overbearing assholes your whole life and you wouldn't know how to function without us?"
The SPR were flabbergasted.
Mai quipped back
"Needless to say, the weak ones never appeal to you long term, mm, Kazu-chan?" Kazuma let out a roar, lunging for the brunette but stopped when Kai barked
"Enough. We're here to explain a little more about the Abbey, not to horse around."
With a roll of his eyes, Takashi began
"Like Derek Venturi, I was pulled into the Biovolt athletics program at a young age. Also like him, I was able to keep my cousins, Mitsukuni and Yasuchika out of it entirely but nearly failed to keep my brother Satoshi safe." Ayami, having quieted, piped up from his lap
"As the only child of a rather well liked and respected inspector, I was pulled into the academics system peripherally until I was aware of what was going on. I disappeared without a trace a few years ago because our leaders needed my help." Takashi inserted
"I was her handler, which is the reason we became so close."
Mai grinned and explained
"I worked as part of a group of paranormal investigators, which helped immensely, because more often than not, Abattoir business could be conducted during my breaks when we travelled."
Kazuma shrugged and added
"Up until I was told that Boris wanted to get his hands on my brother, I stayed out of the country, respecting that I was disowned. When my little bro decided he was still my brother, I stayed to protect him."
Kai grimaced and took Mischa's hand before speaking
"I allowed my grandfather, Voltaire, to wipe my mind to protect Mischa and my sisters, who were raised with me in Russia. I came to Japan with my grandfather to partake of his plot to take over the world, until the mental bonds to snapped and I regained equilibrium." Mischa ran a hand through his hair, smiling as she spoke
"Kalina, Kai's sister, made most of us run for our lives after she burned down the buildings Kai destroyed, which meant, if we hadn't had a plan in place, we wouldn't have met up as we were supposed to. Those who stayed were those with no hope for something better."
This was too much, too fast. How could they even begin to compartmentalize this?
Kai smirked and finished
"That's all for this week, we'll check back with you all next week when Bryan and Tamsyn film their segment in Russia. Ja ne."
After a chorus of Ja ne's, a website scrolled down the screen, blinking before guttering out like a candle.
Um. Well, the viewers were certainly raring for the next episode. Er, maybe not raring.