Tokyo Has Enough Weird Shops As It Is

Tokyo Has Enough Weird Shops As It Is…

By: Mokona-Midoki

Chapter Two

In which Yuko meets with an old acquaintance and discusses the ethics of business

MILD SPOILER WARNING FOR PETSHOP OF HORRORS

(If you have not finished the manga, you might want to finish it first.)

To those of you who guessed, and those of you who didn't, the animals described in the last chapter were as follows: a tiger, a blue and gold macaw, and a white-tailed deer.

"I'm telling you Yuko, this guy was weird! And I don't use that term lightly seeing who I hang out with."

Yuko Ichihara, dimensional-witch, and employer of one Kimihiro Watanuki took a long breath on the ornate silver pipe she held in one hand, and then blew it out all over his face.

He fell back, coffing and waving the smoke away. "What'd you do that for?!"

Her lazy eyes rolled over to him. "Because you're annoying me."

"What?!"

She vaguely waved her hand in the air. "You come in here at an ungodly hour telling me stories about weird people who I don't care about, and all the while you're practically yelling! Leave me alone and let me get some rest."

"Yuko its three o'clock in the afternoon."

She glared. "And that pertains to this matter, how?"

Watanuki looked down at the pink-haired Moro and the blue-haired Maru. "She was drinking all night again, wasn't she?"

They nodded enthusiastically. "All night long!" The chorused together. "She just recovered," Moro started. "From her head ache!" Maru finished.

He looked back at his employer. "I have no sympathy for you."

She rolled away from him. "You're a cruel man, Watanuki-kun."

"Cruel!"

"Ah, shut it!" He yelled.

"A weird man." Black Mokona continued.

"YOU'RE THE WEIRDEST THING HERE, YOU BLACK BLOB!!"

"Kyah! Watanuki yelled at me!" The small black creature hid itself under Yuko's hair.

"You've probably been drinking all night too, Mokona!"

"Yes he was!" Maru and Moro chorused again.

Yuko rolled back. "So, tell me about this 'weird'" She did air quotes around the word. "person. You won't be quiet until I hear you out, so let's get it over with."

He ignored the jibe she sent his way, and started his story."Well, Himawari-chan was telling me about this new shop that had opened up, so I decided to go check it out…" As he began telling the story, Yuko's dull red eyes narrowed, and she sat up straighter and straighter, until at last when he reached, "And then this red-haired guy with goat horns asked if he could eat me, so I ran." She was sitting straight up, staring down at him with new interest.

"You say, it was a petshop?"

"Yeah, but I didn't see any animals in there."

"Well, you wouldn't…" Yuko mused.

"Huh? Yuko, do you know this guy?"

Yuko suddenly stood, startling Watanuki, and almost knocking Mokona off his perch. "Watanuki, you can go home for the day." She turned to her two assistants. "Maru, Moro, I'm going out."

Watanuki got to his feet. "Wait, what? You're leaving? Don't you want me to come?" After all, he was the one who usually did the work around here.

She looked back, her long black hair falling over her shoulder. "No. I'm going alone. I want to make a personal call. Bye Watanuki!" She shut the door in his face.

--

The shop bell rang softly as once again, the door swung open. Yuko Ichihara dressed in an outfit of black and red stood in the doorway, surveying the shop. The rustling of cloth, feathers, fur, and scales caught her ears. She smiled as she saw the table which had already been set with tea and food.

"Pardon my intrusion." She said. "But I've come here to visit the owner of this shop. Might he be available?"

There was a rustle of cloth and Count D, dressed today in a robe of white and blue stepped out into the light. He smiled. "My my, look who it is. The Dimension Witch come to pay a call."

She smirked. "I go by Yuko now."

"And I go by D."

"Very well."

He offered her a chair. "Would you like to join me?"

"That's why I'm here." She told him as she sat.

As he sat down, he eyed the box she held. "And what is that?"

She held it out to him. "It's for you. A gift. My assistant made it yesterday."

As he lifted the lid, his eyes lit up at the sight of the pastries. "These look delicious! You'll have to thank Watanuki for me."

"I never said his name."

D lightly laughed. "Oh come now, Yuko. I've known you long enough to be able to pick out someone with your mark from a mile away. How long has he been working for you?"

"Is it really that obvious? Well anyway, about a year know. He's a hard worker, but always complaining. It's so hard to find good help these days."

"I fully agree."

Yuko's bag suddenly began to rustle. Both shop owners glanced over at it. "Oh right." The witch began to undo the clasp on her bag. "I brought someone for you to meet." She flipped the bag open and Mokona popped out.

"Bwah! I thought I was gonna die!"

Yuko lifted Mokona up. "Here. I thought you'd enjoy him.

Count D's eyes went wide, and he quickly took Mokona out of her hands. "Why he's positively adorable!"

"Hiya! The name's Mokona Midoki! Mokona for short!" The black ball of fur told him.

D was enchanted. He looked up at Yuko, his eye's sparkling with excitement. "Oh Yuko, please say that I can have him!"

"Of course not! He's mine, and I need him."

The count was a bit disappointed, but he quickly cheered up. "Can I borrow him then?"

Yuko laughed. "We'll see." She looked around. "By the way, where is everybody? It seems awfully quiet."

D who was still examining Mokona waved his hand. "Oh they're here. Everyone! Come out! It's tea time!"

The first to come out was Pon. The small raccoon stared up at the witch in wonder. "Are you really a witch?"

Yuko smiled mysteriously down at her. "Yes I am."

"Pon-chan, be a dear and get the lights."

She obliged, and as they came on, countless forms came into view.

"You've expanded your collection, I see. Where's Q-chan?"

D looked up. "Well, Q-chan turned out to actually be my grandfather in disguise."

"Really? Well that's a surprise. How is the rest of your family?"

He sighed, his face dropping a bit. "My 'sister' is dead. So is Father. Though his death did give birth to another child. A human one, might I add. Grandfather is raising it right now."

Yuko eyed him with a bit of sympathy. "Your family always was pretty strange."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"Hey Count! What's with all these weird people?" Tetsu asked, stepping out of the shadows. "First it was the kid yesterday, now this woman today!"

D glared. "Ignore him. He's a rude child."

Yuko laughed. "I suppose he's the one who threatened to eat my assistant."

"Yes he is. Tetsu, you should apologize when he comes back here." He told the sulking demon.

"Though I do have to ask where you found a totetsu."

"Working as a chef in a Chinese restaurant in San Fransisco."

Her eyebrows rose. "There's a first time for everything I guess."

A young boy with cat ears and tail crept closer to Yuko in order to inspect her, and she reached down and offered him a sweet. He smiled, and accepted it.

With this, the others seemed to gain more confidence, and all began to move forward in order to see the stranger up close, and get their tea, which Pon had begun to pour. A young boy with red, blue, and yellow wings was bold enough to reach out and touch Yuko's dress. When she looked down at him, he blushed and flew off to perch next to a girl with blue and gold wings.

"I heard about some of what happened in San Fransisco."
The count had set down Mokona in order to pick up his cup. "I do hope you're not blaming me for those unfortunate incidents. None of it was my fault."

"Yes, yes, I know that you give out specific instructions to your customers, but if you haven't noticed, humans can be pretty foolish sometimes."

He looked over the rim of his teacup at her, his mismatched gold and purple eyes locking with her red ones. "Yes, they can be. Perhaps you should remember that as well, Yuko. You're not exactly spotless yourself."

She sighed. "You don't have to remind me of that, D. I'm well aware of the responsibilities that come with what I do."

"As am I. It's as you said though: humans can be pretty foolish. We provide them with a way to better themselves, and it's up to them to take the chance, or ruin their lives."

"I thought you were out to destroy all humans." She asked him.

He turned away slightly so that his hair covered part of his face. "Yes well…perhaps I will."

"And perhaps you won't?"

He turned back, smiling. "Let's leave that question to posterity."

She smiled. He was different from what she remembered. The same, yet different. Something had happened that had changed him. "Agreed. By the way, the pastries really are delicious. Watanuki is an excellent cook."

"Well then, by all means, we must try them."

He began to dish out the crème covered pastries. Yuko accepted one and passed it on to a woman with red hair, and black rings around her eyes.

"So, besides the usual, has anything intresting happened to you lately?" She asked him.

"Well, a few days ago I did meet the Holy King of Dhalashar. He was quite an interesting boy."

"The Holy King?"

"Yes, Lord Sohki brought him. Along with Garuda, Lord Hanuman, and General Genro."

Yuko smiled. "Fascinating. I do believe that I want to meet him."

"He'd probably get along splendidly with your apprentice. They seem to have the same approach to the supernatural."

Yuko laughed. "Yes, Watanuki is rather jumpy isn't he?"

"Indeed." He paused, then looked back at Yuko. "There is one more thing…"

"Oh?"

"Are you sure I can't keep Mokona?"

"Quite sure."

"Oh well. It was worth a try. If I remember correctly, he is supposed to have a twin, right? Where might that one be?"

"Well, it's a very good story if you have time."

"Please, do tell."

The two shop owners of the most shady, and illegal, shops in Tokyo talked for a long time. By the time Yuko finally left, it was already evening.

"Are you sure you don't want somebody to accompany you?" Count D asked her.

"I'll be fine. I am a witch after all."

"Do come back soon, Yuko. I do enjoy your company."

"Of course."

"And bring Watanuki with you. Tetsu will be on his best behavior, so you don't have to worry."

Yuko grinned. "I'll see when he has the time."

"Good night then."

"I'll see you later." She turned and left. Behind her she heard the bell as the door shut. Yes. Today had been a most interesting day indeed.

The End

Please review and tell me if you would like a continuation. I'm considering the idea.

This is the revised chapter. To DuosAngel and Musa Rox who reviewed and asked about the confusio before, I read most of the middle part of the story online. The scans sometimes always don't convey the clearest meaning. Sorry for the confusion, and thanks for reviewing!

Footnotes: Wow! My first EVER fic to get finished! Spare me a moment to shed tears of joy! Anyway, please tell me what you think. I really wanted to capture Yuko and Count D's personalities, and I hope I did so.

Count D's family-Our poor Count has quite the dysfunctional family. His 'sister' appears in the manga only to try and kill him. She is killed instead. His Father also dies, in the last volume of Petshop of Horrors (Number 10). His grandfather, the original Count D, is now MIA with our Count's newest 'sibling'.

The Holy King of Dhalashar-This is a reference to Matsuri Akino's (The creator of Petshop of Horrors) other work, Genju no Seiza. The main character Fuuto discovers he's actually the reincarnated king of a tiny mystical kingdom called Dhalashar. Chaos ensues. (An excellent read by the way. I fully recommend it.)

Sohki, Garuda, Hanuman, and Genro-Another reference to Genju no Seiza. These four are the god-like guardians of Fuuto. Sohki is a kirin, Garuda a bird of legend, Hanuman a monkey-god, and Genro is a wolf-god.

Various animals: The cat-boy was just a regular house cat. The red winged boy is a scarlet macaw, and the blue winged girl is a blue and gold macaw. The red-haired woman is a red panda.