I do not own anyone in this series. I only own Gin-chan, Kouri, Okesa, Kenjiro, and Samui. And stuff. And this is dedicated to Chelsie. Just so long as you keep You-Know-Who uncorrupted. And heeeeere we go!
Oh, yeah. This chapter takes place between episode 8 and 9 in the anime…assuming that a few days pass. So basically, Himeno doesn't know about Takako yet.
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"Himeno-neechan!"
"Himeno-oneechan!"
"Himeno-chan!"
Awayuki Himeno blinked, swiveling around to see the three youngest Leafe Knights screech to a halt. All three were panting hard, hands planted on their knees as they peered up at her. It was an unusually chill and cloudy day, but they seemed to have warmed themselves up quite nicely.
"Mannen, Hajime-chan, Shin-chan, what are you doing here?" The pink-haired Pretear inquired, taking in their faces, reddened from exertion.
"We're…supposed to…guard you…remember?" Mannen wheezed. "So…Saihi doesn't get you."
"I'm just going to baby-sit at the Awaremi house!" Himeno protested, although her rose-hued eyes darkened with a trace of sadness at the mention of the one who sought her life.
"We'll go, too!" Hajime cheered. "Then nothing will happen to you!"
The girl struggled for words to dissuade them, but upon seeing the set, stubborn faces of Mannen and Hajime and Shin's quivering lower lip, she found herself unable to refuse.
"All right," she conceded with a sigh. "But I'm in charge, got it?"
Mannen looked reluctant at this, but didn't utter a word of complaint and fell into step behind her, along with the other two Knights. There was silence for awhile, but soon the boys began whispering excitedly amongst themselves, pleased to be presented with the chance to protect their Pretear all by themselves.
At the end of the block, Himeno headed towards a small, light blue house with a wooden porch swing. A massive white dog lay stretched out along its length, slumbering peacefully.
"Is this the house, Himeno-oneechan?" Hajime asked, but she didn't answer him, instead gazing at the porch with furrowed eyebrows. The three followed her line of sight--and saw a small figure huddled on the top step.
As they approached, the figure lifted its head to stroke the dog's thick fur, revealing itself to be a little girl about Mannen's age, wearing a pale blue sundress over a black long-sleeved shirt. Her feet bore no shoes and her arms were wrapped around her knees in a defensive posture. Her purple hair brushed her shoulders lightly, with twin white ribbons threaded in the two strands by her ears.
"Kouri!" Himeno called, recognizing her instantly.
At the sound of her name, the girl looked up. Her eyes, an uneven mixture of blue and gray, lit up and she practically flew off the steps into Himeno's waiting arms. "Himeno-neechan!!"
The Pretear whirled her around before setting her down, as Mannen, Hajime, and Shin stared. "What are you doing out here, Kouri? Did your mother lock you out again?"
Kouri lowered her head, her amethyst bangs falling over her eyes. "Not on purpose," she muttered, almost defensively.
"Why'd your mom lock you out?" Mannen asked.
Kouri glanced at him suspiciously. "Himeno-neechan, who're they?"
The Ice Knight bristled. "Oi, I'm right here! Ask me!"
"I asked HER, Cotton Ball!"
"What did you call me?!"
In response, the girl reached out and patted his hair before he could pull away. "Your hair's fluffy and white, just like a cotton ball."
Mannen flushed, swatting her hand away. "Don't call me that!"
Himeno intervened, smiling at both of them. "This is Mannen, Hajime-chan, and Shin-chan. Guys, this is Kouri. Play together, all right?"
"Nice to meet you," Hajime said politely, and Shin smiled shyly, reaching for Kouri's hand. She grinned down at him, while Mannen scowled darkly, not at all pleased with his new nickname.
"Okesa's at a friend's house and Kenji and Samui are sleeping with Gin-chan," Kouri informed her babysitter, indicating the two small, previously-unnoticed boys who were curled up with the dog. "And since Okesa has the spare key…we can't get in. I just picked Sam-chan and Kenji up from daycare, so we haven't been out here long."
She looked so forlorn that Hajime hastened to cheer her up. "Let's go to the park, ne? We can play there!" He looked up at the older girl earnestly, while Kouri brightened. "Himeno-oneechan, can we?"
"Of course!" Himeno exclaimed, ascending the steps to wake the sleeping children. "And we can get some food from Goh, too!"
"Hooray!" The three Knights exulted, while Kouri looked mystified.
"Goh…?"
---At the Café---
"Are you all Himeno-neechan's boyfriends?" A wide-eyed Kouri inquired of Goh, Kei, and Hayate, who had joined the group at the restaurant and were now openly gaping at her.
"NO!" Hayate cried out (louder than he'd intended to be), his voice cracking from embarrassment. One-year-old Samui, who sat on his lap with his sky-blue pacifier in his mouth, blinked up at him bemusedly. The Wind Knight began mumbling something, turning bright-red--the exact shade that Himeno and Goh were, oddly enough. Kei simply seemed amused by the child's candidness.
"T-they're just friends!" Himeno stammered, and Kouri shrugged at this answer, turning her attention back to her parfait and digging into it quite enthusiastically. God bless the short attention spans of children.
"Can't be her boyfriend, 'Ri." Kenjiro, who was four and very inquisitive, tugged on Kei's white coat emphatically. "It's a girl!"
THIS made the normally-austere golden-haired knight choke on his tea. It also made the children start giggling. Gin-chan stuck his head out from under the table, taking advantage of their distraction to wolf down Mannen's sandwich.
"Give that back!" The boy yelled, trying to tug it from the dog's unyielding jaws. "Stupid dog!"
While Kei coughed and sputtered and Himeno tried to explain to Kenjiro that Kei (while very feminine in appearance) was male, Kouri leapt to her feet and knocked aside her chair, stormy eyes blazing with righteous fury (or so she thought).
"Don't call him stupid, Cotton Ball!"
"Don't call me Cotton Ball, Stupid!"
"Whatcha gonna do about it?"
Kei, normally, would have come in with some quip about how loud kids were, but was still trying to recover from the blow to his masculinity--because Kenjiro was now asking how the "pretty girl" could be a man with such a high voice.
Poor Knight.
Before things could escalate into a full-blown brawl between the two quarreling ten-year-olds, Goh stepped in to mediate, hauling Mannen up by his hood and grabbing Kouri's arm, which forced the two to separate. "Now, now, you two, there's no need for you to--" He broke off as the girl winced. "…What's the matter? Did I grab you too hard?"
"N-no," she replied, but the waiter noticed that she was speaking through gritted teeth. Looking perplexed, Goh rolled up her shirt sleeve and exposed several large and nasty-looking blue, purple, and black bruises littered on her skin. But I didn't do that!! He thought, almost alarmed at the thought that he might have by accident.
A stunned hush had fallen over the group, as Kenjiro looked away from his sister and Kouri jerked free, pulling the sleeve back over her arm.
"What HAPPENED to you?" Hajime wanted to know.
The purple-haired girl reddened. "It's nothing," she mumbled, closing her eyes and turning her head away.
"Nothing?!" Goh, who harbored a deep fondness for children (despite his tough talk), was thoroughly livid. "Those bruises aren't NOTHING! Who did this to you??"
Himeno looked over at the tight-lipped ten-year-old and her two brothers, whose blank stares provided no answers. But she had some idea as to what had caused those marks on her charge's arm.
"Kouri, have you been fighting with your mom's boyfriend again?"
The Leafe Knights all glanced expectantly at Kouri, who was visibly shaking, her small hands balled into fists. Acting unconsciously, Mannen stepped forward and tentatively laid a hand on her shoulder. Instead of shrugging him off like he half-expected her to, she allowed his hand to stay there and drew in a deep breath.
"He kicked Kenji and he kept slapping Mom," she said tiredly, by way of explanation. "He almost hurt Samui too, and he broke one of Gin-chan's ribs. I don't CARE if he was drinking, he's not allowed to hurt them!"
"And you tried to defend them, didn't you?" Himeno asked gently.
"Why?" Hayate demanded, when the little girl nodded. "You're a kid! Couldn't your mother have--"
Kouri shook her head, a weary smile hovering on her lips. "Someone's gotta look out for the weaker ones, you know?"
Mannen's violet eyes widened, but Goh decided that the tense atmosphere needed to be dissolved. With no warning whatsoever, he swooped down on Kouri and settled her on his broad shoulders in one fluid movement.
"Yooosh! Come on, everyone, we're going to the park!"
"But I didn't finish my cake!" Hajime protested, while Shin stared wistfully into his tea. Goh, however, was in no mood for arguments and simply took the youngest Knight's hand in his while holding Kouri steady with the other, giving Hajime and (anyone else who might have had excuses) the "Look".
The "Look" proved effective enough as everyone (including a reluctant Kei and Hayate) followed him as the Fire Knight headed for the park.
---At the Park---
By the time they had arrived at the small park, lined with majestic trees, Kouri was back to her cheerful, inquisitive, and argumentative self. Which was a blessing for some, and a major pain for others.
"I can't believe you can't do a cartwheel!"
"Shut up! I can too!"
"Then prove it."
"I don't have to prove anything to a GIRL. They're weaker than us, anyway!"
"Himeno-chan's a girl," Shin pointed out logically.
"I know that!" Mannen growled. "But she's also the Pre--"
"Mannen!" Hayate spoke sharply, the name itself becoming a stern reprimand and the Ice Knight blanched.
Kouri blinked. "Pre--what?"
"Uhhhh…" Mannen drew the word out, desperately stalling. "She's…uh…pre…PRETTIER than you!"
His companion was baffled now. "That doesn't make any sense, Cotton Ball."
"I told you not to call me that!" Mannen dove at her, his fingers ghosting across her ribs. Kouri gave a loud shriek and went down, trying to elude the devilish fingers, but the boy pursued, tickling her mercilessly. Kenjiro, Shin, and Hajime gleefully joined in and Samui, held securely in Himeno's arms as she shared a bench with Hayate and Goh, watched the laughing clump of children with an air of puzzlement.
Kei rolled his eyes as he worked feverishly at his laptop on a nearby bench, although he was smiling faintly. "Children are so loud and annoying…it's making it hard for me to concentrate."
"Really?" Himeno seemed genuinely surprised at this. "I think they're great!"
Goh blinked at her, looking for all the world like a spiky-haired owl. "You really like kids, don't you, Himeno?"
"Mm-hm!" The girl nodded happily. "The fact that they can laugh and smile shows that they haven't let the world get them down! I want to be able to protect those smiles, even when they grow older. They bring a lot of joy to everyone around them and they learn so much so fast…" For a few seconds, her pink eyes took on a hint of dreaminess and the older Knights knew she was reminiscing about her mother. "That's why I want to have children of my own someday…a lot of them!"
"I'm sure their father will be a very lucky man," Goh assured her. For some reason, he and Kei were looking directly at Hayate--and smirking. The blue-haired Wind user colored and shot them a warning glare.
The smirks went unnoticed by Himeno. The glare and blush, unfortunately, did not.
"Hayate? Are you all right?"
If possible, Hayate's crimson blush grew even darker, but he was spared from answering by Kouri's panicked shout.
"Himeno-neechan, move!!"
Himeno and the older Knights looked at her in surprise. The little girl was on her feet, her blue-gray eyes stark in her face as she pointed to a space just behind her babysitter.
"What's wrong with you?" Mannen looked at her concernedly, realizing that now was not the time to jest. Even little Shin and Kenjiro sobered rather quickly, glancing around to see what had upset her so.
"Behind…" Kouri whispered, her voice rising slowly. "There's something--"
Before she could complete her sentence, the ground under their feet burst upwards in an explosion of jagged rubble. Hayate wrapped his arms around Himeno (who maintained her grip on the now-bawling Samui) and shot into the air, simultaneously changing outfits like the rest of the Knights had already done. Kouri stumbled, but grabbed hold of her brother, while Mannen seized Shin and Hajime hovered over the siblings.
It was then that Himeno sensed the sinister presence of an old "friend". "Mayouchuu!" She cried out, as a black haze succeeded the explosion, enveloping the once cheery area in darkness and draining the greenness and vitality right out of the surrounding flora. Kouri and Kenjiro, feeling its effects, slumped down, while Gin-chan rolled over and lay still and Samui did the same in the Pretear's tight embrace. Mannen, who had released Shin, eyed them worriedly. This thing had to be vanquished, fast!
The monster now chose to make its appearance, manifesting as the world's ugliest jellyfish with the head of a moldy rabbit. Mayouchuu would definitely never win a beauty contest. But that was a matter for later consideration--for one of its tentacles was reaching for the unconscious Kenjiro.
"Shin, the barrier!" Goh called to the youngest fighter, who nodded and held his hands over an amber pendant worn around his neck. With the simple utterance of "Beyondios!", long vines began to snake out of the pendant and formed a sort of cage around the larva. However, the thing wasn't going to be taken so easily, and began to thrash about, shrieking loudly and harshly. Another tentacle whipped towards Shin and smashed into the child before any of the Knights could reach him. With a choked wail, he went flying backwards, smacking into Mannen. The spell had been disrupted and the beast now went on a rampage, its many tentacles darting about so rapidly that the Knights were being knocked out of the sky left and right.
And then, as he was firing a stream of icicles at one particular tentacle, Mannen heard a voice. A very pissed-off voice.
"Get away from my brother, you stupid garden hose!!"
It CAN'T be…
But it was. Kouri had somehow, miraculously, managed to revive herself and now stood on defiant (albeit wobbly) legs in front of the fallen Kenjiro, swiping at one advancing snaky limb--with a STICK. …Okay, half a stick now, because the larva had just devoured half of it.
"You…get away from him…right now!" The child panted, between swipes and slashes, actually managing to score a few hits on the tentacle--for all the help THAT did. "I'm not gonna let…some ugly thing…like you…mess with ANY of my family!"
Mannen risked a glance at the other Knights. They were still fending off the mayouchuu, but Goh and Kei had also seen that Kouri was up and fighting against something more than twice her size, with no magical abilities whatsoever. If it hadn't been such a dire situation, he would have burst out laughing at the expressions of stupefied shock on their faces. Himeno had the same look, minus the stupefied and plus the panic.
"Hajime-chan, pret with me!" She called to the seven-year-old, pressing Samui into Hayate's arms and reaching for the Water Knight's hand.
With a brilliant flash of cerulean light, Hajime merged with the Pretear, just as the tentacle snaked around Kouri and tightened, hefting her into the air.
"KOURI!!" Fearing even more for her charge's safety, and definitely not looking forward to her mother's reaction if the girl was injured, Himeno charged forward. She could see bright traces of light drifting along the tentacle that held the child captive, and knew with a feeling of dread that the mayouchuu was draining Kouri of her Leafe. And being so young, she didn't have enough of it. If she kept losing it, she would…
"Mizu no flail!" The water-formed whip manifested in her hand as the pink-haired girl searched for an opening. She saw the core easily enough, buried under the gelatinous flesh, but luck was evidently having a day off--it was located in the spot where Kouri was being held. If she struck, she could destroy the core, and the beast in the process, but she might also hurt her charge. That wasn't an option. Not until Kouri was safe. And, seeing that the purple-haired girl was now limp and unresisting in the tentacle's grasp, Himeno had to make a decision soon.
Attacking together as they usually did, Goh and Kei simultaneously fired out bursts of their respective elements--fire and light. This made the larva recoil, and the tentacle was severed from its main body. Kouri dropped like a stone, but the Fire Knight was there to catch her. "Finish it, Himeno!" He yelled, clutching the child protectively to his chest.
Himeno needed no further urging. With a single flick and concise aim, she nailed the core with the whip. The small orb cracked and shattered and the mayouchuu slowly disintegrated into the air, restoring the park to its normal green surroundings.
---After the Battle---
"Is she going to be okay?" She recognized the small, frightened voice as Shin's, but couldn't figure out WHY he sounded that way.
"She should be." The cool, collected reply belonged to Kei. "Goh got her away from the mayouchuu before it could do some harmful damage. She is, after all, a child, and children don't have much Leafe. She just needs to rest and recover."
At the faint mumbling objection she was able to force out of her throat, the Knights and Himeno perked up.
"Kouri-chan…?" Hajime said tremulously, peering at the girl slumped in a seated position on Goh's lap.
"Resting's…boring…" Kouri cracked open her eyelids, staring up at the circle of concerned faces that surrounded her. The concern swiftly altered to relief.
"'Ri!" Kenjiro squirmed in front of Hayate to check his sister for injuries. "Are you okay? Himeno-neechan said that we were attacked by a dog! Did it bite you?"
Kouri blinked slowly, getting off the Fire Knight's lap. "A dog?" She echoed dubiously. "But that's not…"
Hayate made a strangled noise in his throat, and she glanced at him questioningly. He shook his head and she sighed.
"That's right, Kenji, it was a dog. Why don't you go talk to the pretty lady some more?"
The boy brightened and grabbed Kei's hand, enthusiastically towing the Knight towards the sandbox. Kei decided not to object--just this once.
Once Kenjiro was sufficiently out of earshot, Kouri looked at the others with raised eyebrows.
"Dogs don't have tentacles. What REALLY happened?"
Mannen, Hajime, Hayate, and Goh all looked similarly discomfited. The latter suddenly picked up Shin and excused himself to "go play with the others". Gin-chan trailed after them, instinctively sensing that this was not going to be fun. This left Himeno as the only one not tongue-tied.
"Well…" She began awkwardly, knowing all too well that trying to lie to Kouri was as successful as Tanaka trying to win her stepmother's love. "Don't tell your mom, but I'm a Pretear…"
Kouri didn't look any less confused. "What's a Pretear?"
The girl's face was colored in a florid blush, but she did her best to explain the duties of a Pretear and how she defeated the bad guys without upsetting her delicate and easily impressionable charge.
She failed miserably.
"YOU DO WHAT WITH THEM?!"
"She gets stronger by preting with us!" Mannen snapped. "There's nothing wrong with that!"
"My mom calls that molesting!"
"Your mom's wrong!"
"YOU'RE wrong, you molesting Cotton Ball!"
"IT'S NOT MOLESTING, STUPID!"
Hayate coughed into his hand, while Himeno tried once again to explain how preting worked.
It was a long, long day for everyone.
---OOC---
Well, that was fun. I really do adore Kouri, and I'd love to hear your comments/criticisms/whatever. This story will only have four chapters. So there. Please review! Excerpt from next chapter: Kouri Meets the Doom Tree.
"…'Ri, I think the tree is evil…"
"Don't be silly, Kenji, trees can't be evil!"
The tree lifted a root and would have squished the children if their mother hadn't come running over and dragged them out of the way.
"…That is an EVIL tree!!"
Thank you. Two things: Okesa is Kouri's older sister. She'll show up later. Kouri's parents are divorced, so she lives with her mom, but visits her dad on Sundays. And Sasame doesn't show up in this chapter because he's Takako-angstingand ALSO at his job.