Kasek: I just couldn't wait to start the next fanfic, so I decided to start as soon as possible. I hope you enjoy this one too! Iulia, the disclaimer, please.
Peerin: Why not me?
Iulia: Because it was your turn to shine last time. A-hem… Kasek does not own Zatch Bell, but he does own us. I wish he did own Zatch, though… (sigh)
Chapter 1: One Looong Day
It was another normal day in Mochinoki… or not. Kiyo was sitting on the couch, looking very nervous as he watched Zatch and Tia play with their respective Vulcan 300s. Why was he nervous, you ask? Because he was awaiting something. Something so terrible, so horrifying, Kiyo thought that this was his last day on earth. What was he awaiting, you ask? Well…
DING-DONG! "I-I'll get it, Mom!" Kiyo stammered out, running to the door, with Zatch and Tia behind him. He opened the door a crack. "Who is it?"
There was a collective sigh from the other side of the door. "Kiyo, you know who it is. Open up." Kiyo decided to give in and opened the door. Standing on his doorstep were four figures; two little kids and two kids his age. The little girl burst in.
"Hey Zatch, we're hereeee- GAH!" She exclaimed, seeing Tia hanging out with her Zatch. "O-oh, h-hey Tia, what are you doing here?"
Tia smirked. Now was the time for what she had been waiting for- revenge. "Oh, I come over here all the time to play with Zatch. Why do you ask?"
These were Iulia's thoughts at that moment- "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Now I'll never be able to win Zatch's heart!" However, what she said was quite different- "Oh, really? I didn't realize you two were such good friends."
Kiyo was looking at who he presumed was Iulia's partner. She wasn't quite what he had expected. Knowing that Peerin and Nathan had matched, he thought that this girl would be like Iulia; thankfully, she wasn't anything like Kiyo had imagined her. She had long, waist length purple hair, and blue eyes that were currently only half-open. She was wearing all black clothes; a black short-sleeved t-shirt, black jeans, and black shoes. She wore chains around her jeans and very loose chains on her arms. (A/N: Hey, tight chains would hurt.) She was carrying two books with her left arm- her purple spellbook and a smaller black book that was unidentifiable. She was carrying a black parasol with her right hand.
"H-hello, you must be Iulia's partner. I'm Kiyo Takimine, Zatch's partner. And your name is…?"
The girl looked at him, her lack of interest apparent. "Vivian Axboe."
"Well, uh, nice to meet you, Vivian." Vivian nodded, apparently her equivalent of the gesture. Nathan started to look impatient. Or, rather, his equivalent of it, as he was far too polite to actually look impatient.
"Uh, may we come in, Kiyo?"
Kiyo went red when he realized his mistake. "Come right on in! I'll go tell my Mom that you're here." As Kiyo went off to find his mother, the group came inside (after Vivian closed her parasol) and went to the living room, Nathan and Vivian sitting on opposite couches (A/Q: They do have two couches, right?) while the Mamodo sat on the floor in conversation. As soon as Vivian sat down, she pulled out her little black book and started reading it Kakashi-style. (A/N: If, for some reason, you DON'T know, Kakashi holds his book in front of his face with one hand.) The title was now visible: 101 Ways to Torture the Soul.
Zatch looked at Peerin's bow, which now had a lot of duct tape on it. "Oh, Peerin, I'm sorry about your bow."
Peerin looked at him and smiled. "Apology accepted, Zatch. Besides, I don't have to worry about it ever being broken again."
While this was going on, Iulia and Tia were glaring at each other.
"Tia."
"Iulia."
They then resumed staring at each other.
Kiyo then walked into the room. "Okay then, uh… what do you guys want to do?" Before anybody could reply, a loud grumbling sound came from every being currently in the room. Nathan spoke to the group.
"Uh, I think eating out is in order. All in favor raise your hand and say "I!"
All hands were raised, and there was an (almost) unanimous cry of "I!" Vivian merely raised the hand she was not using to read her book.
"Okay, now we need to decide on where to go. Any suggestions?"
Before anyone one else could even start, Vivian spoke up from behind her book. "Café."
There was a unanimous "Huh?"
She lowered the book slightly, so that only her eyes were visible, and gave Nathan and Kiyo (who was standing behind him) a glare so frightening that Kiyo jumped back in fear (Nathan just assumed the pose, as he was on the couch). "We are going to an outdoor café. Got it?" The two boys nodded, their fear not well hidden. "Good." She returned to her book.
Now that that was settled, they all set out to go to the outdoor café, Tsubasa no Fuyuba. (A/N: this should mean, Wings of Winter. Please tell me if I'm wrong.) The humans sat at one table while the Mamodo kids sat at another. Their seating arrangements were as follows (but not that far apart):
V I
K-/ -N P-/ -Z
T
Tia was really mad on the inside, though she was somehow managing to keep it on the inside. Iulia was the first to sit down, and Zatch second, meaning Zatch had sat next to her on purpose! Not only that, but she was denied sitting across from him, so now she was forced to look at her. And that's what she did- she glared daggers at her rival.
Iulia scooted her chair so that she was slightly closer to Zatch than Tia was. "Hey Zatch, what are you going to eat?"
"Well, they don't have yellowtail here at all, and the rest of this food looks so… weird. I don't know if I'm going to order anything."
Shoot, Iulia thought, I was going to get the same thing he ordered so he might like me more. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I won't get anything either. Peerin, what about you?"
Peerin looked sick as he saw some of the menu items. "Uh, nothing for me."
Tia smirked. I knew this would happen. I've been here before with Megumi, and this stuff isn't the kind of food Zatch likes. Time to put my plan into action. "It's a good thing I brought my own lunch; this stuff looks disgusting." Tia pulled out a BIG box from out of nowhere. When she opened it, three pairs of hungry eyes watched it. It had a lot more food than Tia could, err… would eat herself. Tia took notice of this. Just as I planned. "Hey, you guys want some? I made it myself." Peerin and Zatch quickly nodded, and Tia placed the box in the middle of the table. Zatch immediately hoarded anything yellowtail-related. Peerin took a little bit of everything.
Tia noticed that Iulia was looking away. "Hey, Iulia, don't you want some?" Iulia was struggling with the temptation.
"N-no thank you, I'm not really that hungry." Zatch looked at her, surprised that she wouldn't eat such great food.
"C'mon, Iulia, Tia's cooking is really good!" Iulia looked at the object of her affections, and then at her rival.
"I guess one bite wouldn't kill me…" Iulia picked up a rice ball and took a bite out of it, a look of pleasantness appearing on her face. "Hey, this is really good!" She started to hoard some of the food for herself. You win this round, Tia!
Meanwhile, at the other table…
Nathan and Kiyo were just sitting there. They felt kind of uncomfortable around Vivian, who was still reading 101 Ways to Torture the Soul. She had her parasol mounted up on her chair (don't ask me how; I'm just the author), and would occasionally take sips of her tea with her free hand. There was a very awkward silence (at the table; Mochinoki is a very busy town) as they just sat there.
"So, um…" Nathan started, but forgot what he was attempting to say.
Kiyo took the initiative, realizing that Nathan wasn't going to say anything more. "Hey, Nathan, do you know what those spells do yet?"
Nathan lit up. Finally, a conversation. "Yeah, they're great; Fibow and Gibow are upgrades of Firow and Girow, while the Sorow spell gives Peerin a cool sword. All in all, we now know eight spells. How about you, Kiyo?"
"E-eight? Well, let's see… we know six spells."
"S-six? You were holding out on us. You only showed four spells in the fight. Care to tell me what the others do?"
"Hey, I still need an advantage over you in case we ever fight again."
Nathan looked disappointed. "Man, you tricked me into telling you my spells just for a possible future battle? You used me!"
"Just kidding, I'll tell you. I have Jikerdor, which turns the target into a powerful magnet, and Rauzaruk, which gives Zatch super-strength and speed."
"Strength and speed? Man, I need separate spells for that."
Kiyo looked beside him. Iulia was standing right next to him, having finished her lunch. "Oh, hey, Iulia. What kind of spells do you have?"
Iulia smiled. "Why don't I just show you instead? Hey, Vivian!" Vivian angled her book down a little bit. "Can you please cast that spell?" Vivian let out a sigh, and opened her spellbook.
"Really, that's not necessary; you don't have to do this, you two."
"Faruk!"
Kasek: I think I should stop now. This is long enough as it is. P.S.: Normally, I capitalize spells, but Vivian is, well… Vivian, so she doesn't do that. Please tell me what you think!