A Suspicion Deepens

"What? Wait, explain this to me again." Ichigo was confused, leaning on a broom. They had just cleaned up the Café for the night: it was packed with people who came for the concert. The loud base could be felt through their feet even about five miles away.

Mint sighed. "Ichigo, the girl sang. That's it. She sang, and the kirema anima was defeated and separated form the bird." Everyone around them looked confused more then ever. "No weapons not even a hint of transformation. She just… sang." Zakuro nodded, affirming what Mint had just said.

"Now that's interesting." Ryou chimed in from behind the girls. "You said you had gotten something from her dressing room?" He asked, as Zakuro took out the folded piece of paper. She handed it to him, as he opened it up. "This could be a sign, but it also could have been the noise."

"What? You're telling me that noise defeated the kirema anima?" Mint asked sarcastically.

"Well, I don't think we've ever really tried noise before to defeat the aliens before…" Lettuce sighed, as Keiichiro shook his head.

"It seems unlikely." He assessed the dilemma silently. Lettuce sighed, placing her chin into her hand. It was silent again, as Ichigo snapped her fingers, and grinned from ear to ear.

"Maybe kirema anima's are sensitive to loud noises! Like, maybe they just are like animals: they have highly developed hearing!" Mint shrugged at this comment, and sipped out of her cup, the smell of tea floating around the room. Sighing, she looked around, noting there was one girl missing…

"Where's Pudding?" She asked, only noticing that Ichigo and Lettuce were working when they came in. Zakuro and Mint had to go watch around Zeisha, so they were excused from work. On one of the busiest days. Ichigo whined, saying that Mint never worked, but still had to work for three missing people.

"Pudding called me before work today… She had a really bad cough and decided to stay home." Lettuce placed a bunch of brooms and mops into the closet, before shutting the door silently behind her. "She said she should be better in, at most, two days." She smiled, taking off her glasses and cleaning them in her skirt.

"Well… It's about midnight! I'm going back home." Ichigo stretched, yawning. "I'll tell you guys if I run into anything odd on the way home, alright?" The group nodded at her, most of them were starting to stand and head to the door after her. Ryou and Keiichiro waved them off, as the four girls stood outside in the warm summer air. Besides the loud music that was clearly heard in the distance, the night was peaceful, a very slight crescent moon hung high in the velvet blue sky. Ichigo breathed in the air, and exhaled, smiling. "I love the summer!" She yelled loudly, falling down into the grass.

"I thought you were going home, Ichigo." Mint commented, rolling her eyes. Ichigo looked over her shoulder and stuck her tongue out at her friend, giggling. "Well, I would have done the same thing." Mint laughed, sitting down in the grass next to her. The two looked up at the sky, soon being joined by Lettuce on Ichigo's left. Zakuro stood behind them, looking off at the Arena where Zeisha was performing. "Miss Zakuro, are you going to come sit? It's nice just to look at the sky."

"I'm thinking." Zakuro replied to Mint's question simply, before she began walking off to where she was just staring. "I'll talk to you guys later." And that was all she said before she quickly walked off.

"I wonder what she's thinking about." Ichigo watched her walk away, as Mint shrugged her shoulders only slightly.

"It's Zakuro. We'll never know." Lettuce sighed. The rest nodded, before looking back up to the sky.

---

"Ohmygosh that concert was amazing! She really doesn't use synthesizers to make herself sound better!" Out-of-breath crowds of people were walking out of the Arena at a very steady pace. Zakuro was like a fish trying to swim upriver, pushing her way in-between person after person, and it took her a good five minutes just to get to the front door. A security guard was showing people out, but then stopped Zakuro as she tried to walk in.

"I'm sorry Miss, no re-entry." He said, not even looking at her. Zakuro sighed, and just waited a few seconds. The man put his hand down, and she slid right past him on the other side of the line of people walking out. She found the same woman that she spoke with before, and walked up, a slight smile on her face. The lady quickly stopped talking into her headpiece, and smiled at Zakuro. She was defiantly tired and frazzled: her hair was messy and she had dark circles under her eyes.

"Miss Fujiwara! Are you here to see Zeisha? How did you like the show? Here, come this way, I'll take you to her." She turned without a reply, and Zakuro had no choice but to quickly follow. She turned down a hallway, and was escorted into a room, and the door was shut quietly behind them. Zeisha looked up from her shoes, blinking her eyes quickly. Her forehead was beaded with sweat, and she had put up her black-streaked raven hair in a messy bun. She had redressed in paint-splattered jeans, getting rid of the baggy, chained pants she was wearing before. She had pulled a black and red stripped knit zip-up sweater over her corset. She had just finished putting back on her boots when Zakuro walked in. She smiled, but then looked back down at her shoes to finish lacing them up.

"Hello Zakuro. You enjoy the show?" Zeisha talked to her foot, before she pulled the leg of her jeans down over the black leather. Zakuro nodded, smiling to the singer. Zeisha giggled, standing up and ruffling her hair. "I know what you go through now… Man I didn't know performing could be so tough."

"Getting ready is defiantly a challenge in its own. The performance itself is an entirely different story." Zakuro agreed, looking at Zeisha's pale hands. Something caught her eye, and this wasn't blush this time. Before Zeisha could put on black fingerless gloves, Zakuro reached for her hands. "I'm sorry if this seems rude… But may I see your hands?"

"Oh, this?" Zeisha held out her left hand, and grinned. In-between her index finger and thumb was a red crescent moon with a star next to it. All over her fingers a knuckles was an intricate pattern of curving lines and swirls, some curves lining up her pinky and index finger. Waves were branches from the pattern up her middle finger to her knuckle, and her ring finger had lines that curved around it like a snake. All of this was colored a bright red. "Pretty, isn't it?"

"Where'd you get it? Pretty amazing pattern." Zakuro turned over Zeisha's hand. The pattern was only on the back of her hand, and only on her left one. Zakuro made a huge mental note about this.

"I honestly don't know. I remember seeing the pattern in my mind, and I bet that I got it tattooed on the next day. Wouldn't be the first time I saw something on me and got it right after." Zeisha pointed to her lip piercing, and smiled. "Impulse thing. So far, most people have liked it. So I'm not regretting it." Zeisha pulled her hand back and pulled on the gloves, some of the designs that were on her fingers were still visible. She turned to Zakuro, and sighed, her shoulder heaving up and down while she did so. "Well, I'm sorry to shove you off like this, but I'd really like to get home. I'm exhausted. It was very nice meeting you…" She extended her hand to shake, and Zakuro accepted.

"Very nice meeting you too, Zeisha. May we meet again." Zakuro opened the door for her, and she walked out, turning out of backstage and walking into the back seat of a dark black car. Zakuro followed her out, and walked down the empty street. All she heard was her heels clicking on the cement, the soft wind blowing through her long hair. She stopped on a small bridge, and looked over a park. Suddenly, the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end, and she whirled around. She glared up, baring her teeth like a wolf.

"Hey now, calm down little doggie." Kish had his hands resting on the back of his head, while floating in the air in front of Zakuro. He grinned, before moving slightly closer to her. "Why are we wandering out here so late at night?"

"None of your business." Zakuro spat back, readying herself to fight. He laughed at her, and floated back up into the air, further away from her.

"Now come on, do we always have to fight when we encounter? That's a little much now. I just wanted to say what an excellent find you and your little team have cooked up now! I can't wait to see how she's like…" Kish never finished his sentence, and grinned deviously at Zakuro, before he disappeared.

She looked around, before running down the street. She ran, before pushing open the doors of the Café. She walked into the back, into the Lab. Keiichiro jumped and almost spilled his drink when Zakuro slammed open the door. "Miss Zakuro! Why are you slamming things around now?" He said, a slight smile on his face. "Ryou is in bed now but-"

"Keiichiro. This isn't the time for smiling. I just had a run in with one of the Aliens." Zakuro walked over, before standing next to him. He gasped, and quickly followed up by asking, "What? Did you fight?"

"No Keiichiro, they did not fight me. But they have noticed Zeisha. And they've taken a liking to her." Zakuro locked eye contact before turning to walk out. "I'd suggest telling Ryou before anything else can happen to her." And without another word, she soundlessly exited the Lab and the Café, and walked off into the night.