When they first arrived, Miharu wasn't all that surprised. Thabori sensei was passed out even before they got on the plane. Even though he was practically forced to pass out rather than simply collapsing.(Miharu distracted him with his devil act as Kouichi struck him with his luggage.) Yukimi and Kazuho where itching to get a picture of anything that moved and Kouichi and Reimei where exploring in awe, talking about the "Wonders of London" and lastly, Yoite.
Yoite was quiet and hid under the shade of his hat, as usual.
England was a clean place that looked as if it where stuck in the times of the 1800's.
It was the type of place where you would never see a woman wearing jeans, or it'd be unheard of if a man came outside his house without a shirt. Of course, Miharu wasn't one to talk. Like there was a flipping "No shirt day" back in Japan. The thing that caught Miharu's eye was the amount of security around them, it made him on edge. He turned around to tell Yoite of his concern, but saw that Yoite already knew, and had confirmed it with a wordless nod.
Kouichi looked back at Thabori sensei and approached the sleeping body, he stopped about two meters away from Thabori, looked around, and picked up a nearby pebble. He then chucked the rock at Thabori's cheek. The unconscious body flung, nearly falling off of the pile of luggage that was being used as a bed.
No response.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Reimei yelled, her face red with frustration. She took it upon herself to punch Kouichi on top of the head, causing feathers to fall to his shoulders from the unsuspecting blow.
"Don't you think we should wake Thabori Sensei up, Yukimi?" Kouichi asked with a worried look on his face, Ignoring Reimei's aggressive response.
"Probably later when we get to the new place. Even if he wanted to wake up, that rock sure as hell put him back to sleep." Yukimi chuckled at the sight of Thabori with a light pink bruise under his eye.
"Are You sure this family member of yours Is alright with keeping so many people in his house? I mean, seven people seems like a lot to deal with. Does he even have the space for all of us?" Questioned Reimei.
"Sure, ole' Charlie had a strike of luck and owns a hotel nearby. We can get a couple rooms real cheap with his help. Though I doubt we'll be able at see him much; He has become a lot more busy lately. I'm kinda surprised he said yes to us crashing his hotel. And for a low price too..." he ventured.
"Don't you dare put me on that flying death wish!" Everyone's eyes averted to Thabori sensei. As his senses continued to come back he winced at the pain and hesitently lifted his hand to his face where there was, now, a slightly swelled spot the size of a golf ball a little under his cheak bone. He looked around and stumbled to his feet. "Were are we?" he said. His hand still on his face.
Miharu tugged at the sleeve of his shirt with an innocent face on.
Here we go again…
"Silly, we got on the plane and you wanted to take a nap." The tone of Miharu's voice made Thabori's skin crawl, and worse, he felt as if he did something wrong and flinched at the upcoming cloud of guilt coming over his shoulders.
"We'd better go. Our bus will be here soon." Yoite muttered.
"Right!" the group replied.
Thirty minutes later
The hotel was shorter than what everyone had expected. No bigger than three stories. The sign that wavered over the hotel clearly stated: "Coco's Bunch".
What a weird name Miharu thought. He had a feeling that he wasn't the only one who thought so.
"Welcome, welcome to the infamous 'Coco's Bunch'." The man who greeted them looked as if he was in his late twenties, had almost bleach white hair, and a tan so dark a stupid enough person could mistake him for a tree. Yukimi and Kazuho both practically ran to the man with open arms welcoming a heartwarming embrace from him.
"Charlie! How ya been?" Yukimi welcomed.
"Oh I've been just fine. it's good to see ya." The man had a sly smile on that reached up to his ears that Yoite most definitely didn't like. "Come in I have something I want to show you"
The moment that everyone walked in the man turned around. "I'm real sorry to have to do this cousin" The open doors behind them suddenly closed and locked, and they were surrounded by thugs who carried swords and one held a whip. The leader no doubt.
The kairoshuu… They found us. Miharu thought.
"I'm sorry cousin, they said they where gonna take my little girl." Charlie pleaded, his hands over his face in a dramatic fashion. Though, his voice seemed just as relaxed and welcoming as when he asked them to come in. Why was his voice so calm?
The suddle sound of a gun being held up interrupted Miharu's thoughts.
"Oh come on! Just a few weeks ago You where complaining to me about how you couldn't get a girlfriend, and now I'm suppose to believe you have a kid! If you're gonna lie to me make it more believable." Yukimi retorted. It was quite amazing how Yukimi was always able to go from love to hate in a matter of seconds. Charlie then stood up straight removing his tanned fingers from his face, exposing his bright smirk that looked like he was imitating the striped cat from Alice In Wonderland. It made Reimei sick to her stomach when she noticed how playful he was being.
"Dear cousin, I can't lie to you." The man paused. Then why did you lie in the first place?
Charlie continued his explanation. "I've been with the organization for a good three months, But don't get me wrong. I was hesitant at first, but they had given me a little…'motivation' " The man lifted his hand so that his palm was parallel to his face, showing the group the seemingly expensive Safire ring that was hugging his pinky.
"You bastard! How could you sell out your own family for money?" Charlie's sly smile disappeared when he heard what Kazuho said, and for a moment Miharu and Yoite could have sworn they saw sadness? Yukimi didn't notice his cousin, but instead was struck by his sister's language. That was the first he had ever seen her so angry, but he didn't blame her.
"Miharu, Yoite! Get out of here!" Thabori panicked. Miharu almost immediately started a hijusu while Yoite stepped in front of him stopping the workers from approaching them any further.
Yoite felt confused. What just happened? The tall teenager noticed that his face was facing the ground ,but he felt no pain nor did he ever remember falling. Did I loose to the kairoshuu?
"Yoite." Miharu's voice was heard with a slight whisper. Yoite looked up and saw the younger teen crunching down towards him with his hand out, offering to help him up. He then noticed that they where outside. Knowing this, Yoite swiftly got himself back to his feet, embarrassed of his ignorance.
"We'd better get out of here." Yoite stated in hopes to change the subject. His face a now light pink shade. Ignoring Yoite's blushing face, Miharu looked passed him to the hotel, which was now about four blocks away from them. "Don't worry about them, they can take care of themselves." Yoite wasn't the type to comfort people, but his effort made Miharu feel a little better, considering the situation they where in the older teen was right. Yoite looked around and winded his eyes at the view of a colony of trees no more than a mile away. "There, there's a forest nearby, if they know we went there it would take along time to find us."
After what seemed to be days of non-stop wandering the trees of the forest, they began to get hungry. They where lucky if they saw a squirrel every once in a while. Not that they where going to eat it. Yoite was already sick, no way would Miharu shove a diseased squirrel down his through. Even if they wanted to eat a squirrel, they weren't that easy to catch. Even though they where ninja's, nothing could catch those bushy tails. While Yoite was looking for some berries, (and failing at finding any) Miharu caught his attention by waving his hand, signaling to come over. They both looked over a shrub and saw a mansion "should we go in?" Yoite questioned
"If anyone lives there it could be our only chance of food and shelter"
"Then It's settled."
"Let's go"