Yay! I decided to add another chapter while I the ideas are popping up into my head before I update my other story. ^_^ I drew picture of Bai Hu that'll I'll be uploading onto photobucket. I'll put the uncolored pic up first then the colored version once I get around to coloring it. Anyway, Enjoy! (Note: The name suffixes that MAY BE unfamiliar to most anime fans i.e. "Bozu", which generally means kid or squirt. But it's usually directed at young boys. Then there's "Donno", which is a suffix higher ranking than "Sama" It means Master, Lord/Lady or someone with that ranking.
**Touchdown: Welcome to the Special Zone!**
6:45 pm on the bridge just outside of the special zone:
Yue stood no more than twelve inches from the barrier around the infamous Special Zone. She squinted and looked up slowly. Then down again.
"I don't see no damn barrier!" She grouched.
Reaching up to poke the "nonexistent" barrier, her wrist was abruptly caught by Ariya with an icy glare.
"Stop you idiot! YOU can't see it, but I CAN!...And it's there alright." She snapped as she glared up at the barrier with narrowed eyes.
Her eyes were much keener than the young black blood beside her. Beside her, Lady Bai Hu looked at the barrier impassively. The barrier's light reflected little rainbows in her golden gaze.
"I see he hasn't lost any of his strength in the least. The barrier is still as strong as ever. The only way Cassa could've gotten in was by invitation of a human." She stated calmly.
Ariya snorted. "Walkerman…" She spat.
Yue frowned at the name. 'So it's true then, if both Zaza AND Casa were in the special zone then it's only fair to say that HE was probably there with them…' She thought.
Absentmindedly biting at her bottom lip with her left fang, she quickly shoved the impending feelings of panic and fear into the back of her mind with a shake of her head.
"SO!...How do we get into the Special Zone Ariya-nesama?" She quipped.
Bai Hu looked over at her eldest guard.
"Can you do it Ariya?"
Ariya cocked her head to side as she assessed the sparkling barrier, invisible to the human or untrained eye.
"It shouldn't be a challenge…at least not for me. I'm not a Black Blood but I'm not completely human either so…" she trailed off into thought.
Yue's eyes grew wide. "YOU?! Ari-nesama are you sure that you can go through there?! I thought if a vampire tried to force them self through the barrier then!-…"
Ariya smiled down at her. "I thought you didn't believe in there was a barrier?" She laughed.
She placed a hand on the girl's wide forehead. It was something she did often seeing as the girl thought it was too big. Ariya briefly remembered when the girl used where bangs to try and hide it. Upon learning this, she told the girl that she thought she was beautiful and even if other people laughed, she thought she was a normal, beautiful girl, no matter what she was…
Yue pouted, face burning.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine Yue-chan." She laughed at the face the young girl was making.
Ariya stepped forward letting her hand linger assuringly on the girl's head before coming mere inches from the barrier. She sucked in a brief breathe before exhaling quickly and lifting a hand to push her hand through the force field, that had successfully repelled not only regular vampires but Kowloon children as well, for years. As her skin made contact with the barrier it tingled oddly and enveloped her hand. The sensation was odd. It was strangely calming. She stood there a moment, assessing the feeling in amusement.
Behind her, the tension her silence caused Yue was threatening to crush the girl with its weight.
"Well?! C-can you do it or what?!" She finally asked.
"Yeah, I can do it." Ariya stated simply, making Yue painfully curious.
"W…what's it feel like? Does it hurt?" She asked uncertainly.
Ariya shook her head. "No, it doesn't hurt. Its…well it actually kinda' tickles a bit." She answered, turning back to laugh before walking completely through the barrier.
Bai Hu seemed amused herself. "The barrier allowed you through…I wonder if Ryu-dono realizes that the barrier will yield to those with half the blood of a human." She mused.
Ariya smirked and turned to look back at them.
"Ready?"
"I am." Bai Hu said.
"…Yeah…I guess." Yue said unsurely.
Ariya laughed. "Don't get cold feet on me, Yu. I promise it won't hurt."
"I'm not afraid!" She growled indignantly. "I just don't wanna' get fried is all! And you'd better promise that it won't hurt! If it caused Bai Hu-dono pain, you'll have ta' answer ta' me!"
Ariya smiled, with a shake of her head. 'Heh, to serve and protect...' She thought and ignoring her comment, said: "Now shall we find out if this works? It's been some years since I've been in the Special Zone but I still have a residence here and consider this to be my current home. So…Welcome to the special zone, Bai Hu-sama and Shuang Yue-san."
This time, Yue's eyes widened as she saw the barrier appear before her and part to allow both vampires through. Bai Hu walked up to stand side by side with the apprehensive girl with a thoughtful look on her face.
"Do not worry Yue-chan, Come," She grabbed the girl's hand. "We shall go together."
Yue swallowed but nodded and they gave a tentative step forward. Bai Hu led the rest of the way through seeing as Yue opted to close her eyes. 'We better not fry! We better not fry!' She thought over and over. Through her fear, she hadn't even noticed that they had stopped. It was only until Bai Hu placed a cool hand upon her cheek that she noticed they had stopped walking. She opened her eyes and blinked as Bai Hu gave her, a small, rare smile.
"It's alright. We're through." She said with a gesture back to the now closed barrier.
Yue looked back and sure enough, they weren't out the barrier. They were now officially in the Special Zone. A big grin spread out on her face.
"Alright! We made it into the special zone! And we didn't even fry!" She cheered.
"HA! YOU shouldn't even be gloating seeing as you about to pee your pants before you even came through! So much for "The barrier doesn't exist!" Ariya laughed.
"Sh-shut up! I wasn't scared! I was only worried about Bai Hu- sama!"
"Whatever you say, Yue-bozu."
"STOP CALLING ME THAT!"
"What? You're a baka gaki. (Stupid brat)"
"I AM NOT!"
"Then you're a SCARED gaki!"
"SHUT UP!!"
Bai Hu sighed as she ignored their squabbling. They did it so often she barely noticed anymore. Instead, she turned her cool, golden gaze to the city before her. The Special Zone.
'This place has changed a lot since I was last here nine years ago.' Her eyes scanned the ocean that surrounded the outskirts of the city. 'The people here have grown…as well as the other "occupants" of this city. They maintain a certain balance between powers. But I can see that balance is starting fluctuate and churn unevenly. No doubt it is because of the return of "Gintou" and "The Sage." What house could rightfully accept them without tipping the already unstable balance of power and throwing the Special Zone into total chaos?'
Her eyes narrowed at the thought. 'Something like that could cause a war between the Black Bloods that reside in this city, pulling the humans in along with it. I wonder what they plan to do about him. No…more, what they will plan to do about the news our arrival will bring to them. The infiltration of this new "Breed" might start an imbalance before they can do anything about the Silver Blade.' She closed her eyes wearily. 'Forgive me for letting this happen…Sei.'
Without turning to the two females behind her she began the trek the rest of the way across the bridge into the Special Zone.
"Ariya, Yue, we're leaving. Let's go."
They're answer was immediate and in union.
"Yes, My Lady."
******
Yue smiled as she plopped down on the bed of the large motel room. She'd kicked off her boots and was currently wriggling the kinks out of her toes, causing the joints to pop.
"You sure owned a pretty convenient piece o' land, Ari-nesama! This old motel came in handy." She commented to the occupied young woman as she sat at a desk with a laptop.
"Yeah…" She simply said as she was currently too into what she was doing on the computer.
Now curious as what had the older girl's attention, Yue got up and walked over, leaning over and resting her chin on Ariya's shoulder to peer at the screen.
"What'cha doin'?" She asked with childish curiosity.
Ariya smirked. "Ohhh, a little…"information gathering" if you will. You see, Lady Bai Hu said that we would cause too much of a stir, too soon if we went looking for those "abominations". So we're going to wait for a bit before we take action." She explained. "If we can snuff out the threat before they get in too deep then we won't even have to alert the "higher ups". We can be in and out before they even notice…or at least that's how The Lady would like to see it go." She sighed.
Yue hummed thoughtfully as she looked at the site that Ariya was currently on. It seemed that she was on the official Special Zone job site. Checking out a …"Marine Bank"?
"Um, Ari, what exactly are you doing on a bank's website?" She asked.
The resulting fangy smirk that that question had produced made a bolt of excitement shoot down Yue's spine. When Ariya got smirks likes that it usually meant she was planning something "fun". Yue liked the idea of getting on the action seeing as she was stuck guarding Lady Bai Hu while Ariya went after the enemy.
"I'm "job-surfing." She said with a hint of that smooth, low undertone that she only got when she was planning something.
'Oh yeah,' Yue thought. 'She's up to something.'
"Lady Bai Hu suggested "blending in" with the population so that we could get as close as possible to "them" so that when they strike, we can take care of it swiftly." She murmured.
Yue raised an eyebrow. "So you're trying to get a job at the BANK? What's the catch?"
Ariya scrolled down on the screen and brought her hand up to point at a picture of…-
"Is that?!-"
"Cain Warlock?" Ariya finished with a smirk. "Yes it is."
"But I thought Bai Hu-sama wanted to do this quietly?!" Yue exclaimed.
"She does, and that's why I'll make sure he never even notices it's me. It won't take much but a simple trick to change my scent, hair. This job will get us just the information that we need to get this down properly."
"But-but-Do you even QUALIFY for the job?! You haven't lived here in a long while and-"
"That won't be a problem Yue-chan." Ariya interrupted. "Unlike most of the Black and Old Bloods, we have quite the extensive knowledge of modern technology and tradition. For us, it'll be easy."
Yue's eyes widened in realization. "You're gonna' hack their system!"
Ariya's smirk grew into a predatorial smile. "No, WE'RE going to hack their system."
Yue's grin was almost identical to Ariya's. "OH, HELL YEAH! LET'S DO THIS!"
Ariya gave a rather disturbing laugh at Yue's enthusiasm. The girl's past "occupation" made her a quite the computer expert. Just what they needed in times like these.
"Pull up a chair and let's get started. And hey, if this works out, maybe I'll find something "fun" for you to do." Ariya goaded.
Yue cracked her knuckles in excitement. 'Always count on Ne-sama to find the fun!'
******
Cain Warlock sighed as he sat at his desk. Even though the Lord Dragon had asked him not to worry, he couldn't help it. It was downright irritating! How was he supposed to think with the feeling of foreboding doom constantly creeping up his spine? He looked down at the papers on his desk. Papers he hadn't finished… He needed a new god damned secretary! It had been this way since the Kowloon attack four years ago when his last secretary died. But lately, these past months had seen tons of paperwork piled and unfinished on his desk.
He growled. The balance in the Special Zone was shifting from one house to the other and that was not good.
Glaring down at the recent papers on his desk his eyes stopped on a certain one stuck halfway out the pile. A résumé. A plucked it from the pile and scanned over it.
'Kazumi, Arisu. Age, 23… She was a secretary before at "Kiku inc." just outside of the special zone a few years back…'
Cain smirked. He knew that company very well actually. He and the CEO had negotiated quite a few loans in the past. 'Hmmm…' The girl's résumé was the most impressive he'd seen in a while…
"Well, well looks like I've solved one problem for now."
He stood and walked out of his office, paper in hand. He walked over to a receptionist and placed down in front of her.
"Tell this young woman that she has the job, I'll expect you to give her the details. I'm turning in for the night." He said to the flustered woman.
She pushed her rounded glasses up and watched as the tall Black Blood walked away.
"W-wait, Mr. Warlock! Doesn't she need an interview?!" She called, standing up, preparing to go after him.
Cain waved the question off. "There's no need. I don't have the time." He said then paused as he thought about it. "Have her report to me when she arrives."
"Y-You mean tomorrow?!" She exclaimed.
"Is that a problem?" He asked, almost daring her to say that it was by the glare he was giving her for asking so many questions.
"N-no sir."
"Good then." He said and with that, he left.
The woman sighed wearily, slumping down in her chair. He had been treating her like a receptionist recently and it caused her some really unneeded stress. She looked down at the résumé on her desk. He always got like this when he was in a bad mood, which was most the time, ironically. She sighed. She kind of felt bad for the girl. She'd have to put up with him directly. But on the other hand, she wouldn't have to be his scapegoat anymore and could actually do the work that she was HIRED to do. Running her fingers through her hair, she picked up the phone.
"Ah well, better get this over with. I hope she's not sleeping or something, it's nine fifty-three at night at night…"
******
Yue sat in the darkened room at the computer. She hacked into about every system in the Special Zone and was surfing around. She had to admit, some of their security was pretty weak. Although, she'd actually had a challenge trying to get into the Marine Bank's system.
'I guess Warlock doesn't take chances…still, it wasn't THAT hard ta' crack. It was actually fun.' She thought with a hushed giggle.
Behind her, Bai Hu was meditating on the bed. The dark skinned young girl raised an eyebrow when she giggled. It was the tenth time she'd done so and it made her curious.
"Yue, you seem excited."
Yue easily got the hidden meaning behind the question. In other words, she wanted to know what they were up to. Ariya had left to go find "dinner" but Bai could still tell that the woman was happy about something.
"Ariya got a job here in the Special Zone." She giggled, her eyes reflecting the computer's light like a mirror.
"A job?"
"Yeah, ya' know, ta' fit in and all." Yue explained happily.
"And what, pray tell, does this job include?"
"A secretary job at the Marine Bank….Under Cain Warlock."
Bai sighed. She should've known that Ariya just wouldn't be able to resist seeing him again. She just hoped that she wouldn't do anything foolish to provoke the Warlock and evoke his ever short temper. Lest it turn out as it did the last time.
Yue frowned when she heard the sigh. "Does that bother you Bai Hu-donno? Cause if it does-"
"No. It's fine. Just make sure she doesn't do anything that might attract attention before the time is right."
Yue brightened at the idea of getting to watch Ariya's back instead of vice versa.
"Sure thing!" She chirped.
Just then, the phone on the nightstand rung. The two girls paused. It rang a second time. Bai was closest to it but she simply blinked at it in amusement. Yue snickered at the look at within the blink of an eye, she was next to the phone and had picked it up mid-ring.
"Hello!" She said cheerily.
She and Bai maintained eye-contact throughout the conversation. Bai could hear the entire conversation and wore a look of amusement. It was a woman's voice.
"Arisu? Oh yeah, she not in right now, she went out to "grab a bite to eat." Yue said smirking at her innuendo. "Oh I'm her younger sister, Yume." She paused for a moment and then brightened. "Oh wow! She'll be so happy to hear that! I'll be sure to give her the message as soon as she gets in!...Huh? Tomorrow? Sure! She can come, I'll make sure of it! Okay, Bye!"
Yue hung up the phone a grinned at Bai from ear to ear.
"She got the job!"
******
Yay for chapter two! I think this is the longest chapter that I've ever typed before…hmm, I'll try to get more up like this one for both my stories. ^_^ Review Please! Oh and go to my page for the link for my other pic.
