Nobody loves me, everybody hates me. Gonna go eat some worms...
I update in the vain hope that someone out there is reading this and just isn't telling me.
Yeah, I know. Unlikely...
I still own nothing...Not the lyrics that I use for chapter titles nor the universe I placed my characters in.
I'll be in the emo corner if anyone needs me...
24 hours after writing the above, I found out that someone had put my story on alert. Thank you so much!
Chapter Three
It's like a game of pick-up sticks played by ------- lunatics.
"There is seriously no one that can draw her attention?" A tall, dark haired man paced around a room almost entirely taken up with a table.
"No one in Arashi, Ame, Yuki, Mizu, or Taki. Shimo is sending us a couple of kids they want us to take a look at though," replied a subordinate.
"Shimo?" scoffed the man. "The gods only know what that backwater little village is sending out..."
"Suzaku-sama?" A woman appeared in the doorway and bowed. "The team from Shimogakure has arrived. Shall I send them in?"
Suzaku sighed. "You may as well." As the woman left, the man turned back to his subordinate. "I guess we'll see who they sent."
A second later, Eien walked into the room. She strode up to Suzaku, trying hard to made her five-foot-two, blond haired self appear menacing. "Hello." A smirk crossed her face. "I'm Megami Eien, the leader of Shimo's team Tsubasa. We're your back-up."
Suzaku, easily six feet tall, looked down at the petite woman. "Well, if you read the report, you know we need rather unusual back-up."
Eien's smirk grew. Without even glancing behind herself, she called, "Mikazuki. Namida. Chidarake. Get yourselves in here."
At their teacher's call, the three followed her into the room. When Suzaku looked at them, he thought at first he was looking at three girls.
Fuyu lead them in. He was tall for his age and lean in build. His long braid of silvery hair and delicate facial features screamed feminine. The look in his emerald eyes told both strangers that it would be a bad idea to comment on this.
Sakuya followed him. His smile and cheerful good humor seemed strangely at odds with his pitch black hair and deep blue eyes. His long hair had been tamed and pulled into a ponytail. He stood as lean and strong as his teammate.
Rei was the last into the room. She was, as had become her habit, clinging tightly to the shadows of the other two. She was, in her hidden way, just as lovely as her teammates with her masses of burgundy hair, porcelain skin and crystal blue eyes. Suzaku and his partner were looking at the boys though and Rei had long since mastered the art of becoming invisible.
"Well?" said Eien, interrupting Suzaku's staring. "Are we going to be suitable back-up?"
Suzaku snapped out of his daze and cleared his throat. "It would seem so at first glance. Now it's just a matter of catching Abunai's attention"
"No worries." Sakuya slung on arm over Fuyu's shoulder and used his other arm to pull Rei over. When they both turned to give him strange looks parts of their hair somehow combined in a glorious cascade of color. Strands of silver, red, and black mingled and tangled. Suddenly, something that had simply suggested teamwork and camaraderie seemed like so much more. It could have been an accident, a mere slip of a dirty mind, but the darkly amused look in Sakuya's eyes said otherwise. His smile, however, never slipped. "We can handle it."
As soon as Fuyu recovered from his shock, he pulled away and gave Sakuya a 'what were you thinking' look. Rei caught a glimpse of familiar mischievousness in Sakuya's eyes and moved to stand on Fuyu's left, well out of the dark haired boy's reach.
It was Eien's turn to clear her throat slightly. "Well my students certainly seem confident. We'll return to our hotel to await further orders."
Sakuya, Fuyu, and Rei bowed and left the room. Eien glanced over at Suzaku's subordinate, who hadn't budged from the table the whole time the others were in the room.
"You've got a little drool there." Eien chuckled as the man's hand flew to his mouth.
Back at their room in the hotel, Fuyu sharpened his weapons, occasionally pausing to shoot Sakuya a dark look. Sakuya seemed blissfully unaware as he sat behind Rei and played with her hair with one hand. In his other hand he held a justu scroll he was studying. Rei, having decided that the only way to get Sakuya to leave her alone was to ignore him, kept her back to him and read a book that she had brought along for downtime. Eien worked on wearing a hole in the floor with her impatience to receive orders.
Click, click went Fuyu's sharpening stone against a kunai.
Shhh, whispered Rei's hair as it fell through Sakuya's fingers.
Rustle, crinkle, called the pages of Rei's book as she turned them.
Click, click...
Shhh...
Rustle, crinkle...
Click, click...
Shhhh...
Rustle, crinkle...
Click...
"GAH!!" All three students jumped at their teacher's sudden outburst. "I can't take it anymore!!" She stomped to the door. "Come on, let's go train."
"Didn't you say..." began Sakuya.
"I don't care what I said," snapped Eien. "Get a move on!"
"Hai, Megami-sensei," chorused her students reluctantly. They got to their feet and followed the woman out the door.
Eien stood over her students who were all laying in the grass sweating and breathing hard.
"HA!" she crowed victoriously. "That's the last time you'll think you can challenge your own sensei and win!"
As Eien continued shouting triumphantly in the background, Rei turned her head to look at Fuyu. "The funny thing is, I don't remember challenging her."
"Me, either," replied Fuyu. As one, the two turned to look at the final member of their team.
"It wasn't me!" Sakuya insisted.
"Well, that was refreshing." Eien finally finished her victory lap. "When you three think you can move, come on back to the hotel." She poofed away.
The three stared up at the sky.
"Soo," Sakuya finally said. "Can either of you move?"
"Feeling is starting to return to my toes and fingers," replied Fuyu. On the other side of him, Rei stretched her arms out above her head.
"Hey!"
"How did you do that?"
Rei looked over at her outraged teammates and laughed out loud at the shocked looks on their faces. "Maybe she went easy on me?" she offered through her giggles.
The girl pushed herself to her feet and then turned to offer her hands to her teammates. "Come on. I'm hungry, aren't you?"
The boys grabbed her hands and pulled themselves up.
Sakuya kept a grip on the girl's hand and swung it back and forth as they walked. "So where shall we eat?"
Fuyu pulled a map out of his pocket. "Looks like there's plenty of restaurants around here. What are you hungry for?"
Rei chuckled. "After all that abandonment training, it's nice to know that we've at least learned to read maps."
Unknown to team Tsubasa, they were being observed. A figure knelt in the trees nearby. As soon as Tsubasa was out of sight, he headed to a large mansion in the center of town. When he entered the building, he was sent directly to the throne room.
"I understand that you have news for me, Tora?" came the cool voice of his maser.
Tora bowed. "I think I have found you some...toys for the month."
Megami Abunai smiled at her faithful servant. "Have you now?"
That night, Tsubasa slept comfortably in their room, the ice fence over the window. The trouble didn't start until the next morning.
"Absolutely not!" Fuyu glared at the woman in front of him. "I don't care what our mission is, I draw the line at, at... PRIMPING!!"
"Please," begged the woman. "That glorious hair of yours is wasted tied back like that."
"I don't care if it's wasted!" exclaimed Fuyu. "Maybe I'll just cut it off!"
"No!" Fuyu felt a sudden weight hit him in the back. "Don't do that!"
Fuyu sent an incredulous look over his shoulder into Rei's wide eyes. "What in the world is wrong with you?"
Rei turned bright red. "I have no idea." She seemed to realize that she still had a hold on Fuyu. She immediately released him. "It was an impulse." She wrapped his braid around her hand. "You're not really going to cut it are you?"
Fuyu jerked his hair away. "Not today, I suppose. Now go away and leave me alone."
"Sorry," murmured Rei as she walked away.
"I'm not primping either," Fuyu snapped at the woman still standing before him.
Rei didn't make it far before she was pounced upon.
"Rei-chan!" cried Sakuya. "How do I look?"
Rei pulled away from Sakuya so that she could get a better look at him. He did indeed look marvelous, somehow a combination of more masculine and more feminine than before. It made her slightly nervous because he didn't look like the Sakuya she knew. His smile faded and his eyes shone with worry.
"Rei? What's wrong?"
Rei shook off her strange feeling of disquiet. "Nothing. I'm fine." She forced a smile. "You look great."
Sakuya flashed a brilliant smile. "Thanks."
Later, while everyone was fighting with Fuyu, a knock came at the door. Everyone froze. Tsubasa exchanged a look and Rei walked over to the door. She opened it carefully. A man with spiky orange-red hair stood on the other side.
"I bring an invitation from the Lady Abunai," he intoned formally. "She wished to invite the two young gentlemen staying in this room to a gala at her home this evening. I trust this is acceptable?"
Rei bowed. "Of course. My brothers will be glad to attend, I am sure."
"Good." The man turned and walked away.
Fuyu and Sakuya joined Rei at the door as she closed it.
"Well that was easy," commented Sakuya.
"Suzaku will have a fit when he finds out his big complicated plan was totally unnecessary ," chuckled Fuyu.
Rei was chewing on her bottom lip. "I don't like this."
Sakuya hugged the girl around the neck. "No worries, Rei. Being Shimogakure nin means that almost no one realizes that we are even nin."
"Let's hear it for being obscure," cheered Fuyu sarcastically.
"Well, thank you, Fuyu, for that depressing thought," said Sakuya with a glare. "Let's go tell Suzaku that his plan is pointless. That will make us feel better."
"You two will have to go in alone," Suzaku lectured. "While one of you presents a distraction, the other will have to go find the scroll. She keeps it hidden in her library, which is clearly marked on the blueprints before you."
Rei fidgeted in her seat as the man droned on and on. She didn't like this plan. The boys were going to have to go into the mansion without backup. Not even she or Megami-sensei would be able to wait outside.
Under the table, Rei wrung her hands, her fingers twisting tightly around each other. Suddenly, her hands were pulled apart, each of her teammates pulling one toward himself. They didn't let go even after Rei's fingers relaxed in their grip.
If he let go, Fuyu reasoned, she'd simply go back to what she was doing before.
Sakuya rubbed soothing circles on the back of Rei's hand with his thumb. He was oddly touched that Rei was so concerned on their behalf. He had no doubt that he and Fuyu could handle the assignment with ease, but it was nice of her to worry. He lay his head on her shoulder and felt the girl tense. He knew if he looked up, she would have that adorable blush on her face. He closed his eyes and smiled, relaxing into Rei.
Fuyu caught Suzaku's subordinate staring at his teammates. He sent a protective glare the man's way. He jumped and quickly looked away.
"If there are no other questions?" Suzaku barely allowed a moment's silence. "Good. Dismissed. Tsubasa, I'll expect you in the morning with good news. And that scroll."
"I don't like his plan," Rei said, nervously fiddling with the ends of her hair.
"Unless you have a better one, we'll have to follow it," replied Eien.
Rei was silent for a moment. "I think I do."
Fuyu looked over from where he was trying to nap. "Do what?"
"Have a better plan."Rei smiled.
Eien knelt outside a window and listened to the party going on inside. "Sounds like it's packed," she whispered into the tiny microphone she was wearing. "Are you ready?"
"As I'll ever be," came Rei's reply. She carefully slid in through the library window.
After a few moments, Eien went through the other window. She looked carefully around the party. "Wait a second." Something wasn't right. "Kai." Suddenly, every person there disappeared like the illusion they were. "What the..." Eien was cut off when she was grabbed. In seconds she was surrounded.
"Hey there, big sis, it's been a while." Abunai stepped out from behind Tora. "Glad to see me?"
"It was you." Eien's eyes widened. "They said you were dead."
Abunai laughed. "It's not like I was trying to hide. I didn't even change my name. You were all so happy to hear that report that you forgot to double check. Mizu had it's own reasons for reporting me dead." She chuckled again. "You'll have to figure those out on your own. If you get out of here alive, that is."
Abunai made a gesture and the wall behind her fell. "Let's make a deal, sister dear. If your students win this little bout," another wave indicated Sakuya and Fuyu restrained nearby, "you all get to leave alive. I'll keep the scroll, of course, but surely alive and scroll-less is better than dead and scroll-less."
"That's if my students win," replied Eien. "What if yours do? We die?"
"No." Abunai shook her head. "If they win, we put you through so much punishment you wish you were dead." A wicked smile crossed her face. "Agreed?"
Rei knelt in the dark, one hand clamped over her own mouth as she tried desperately to keep from making a sound. She could hear everything happening to Megami-sensei through the microphones. Her mind raced, trying to come up with a plan, any kind of plan, to get them all out. Her grip tightened on the scroll in her hand.
Have faith, whispered a voice in the back of her mind. Or maybe it came from her heart. Either way, Rei stopped thinking and just moved.
Rei had memorized the blueprints of Abunai's mansion, like any good kunoich would have. It didn't take her long to reach the balcony under the one Abunai and Megami-sensei were standing on. What she saw below her had her hands flying back to her mouth.
"What the hell are those things?" For a second Rei thought she had spoken aloud. After another moment, she realized it was Megami-sensei's voice through the mike.
"My students, of course," laughed Abunai. "I chose them because they were so susceptible to our bloodline."
"You've switched their souls?" Megami-sensei sounded disgusted. "Who told you to play god in such a way?"
The sound of flesh striking flesh echoed through the mike. "God gave me permission when he gave me this power. I have it and I use it."
Rei looked below again. Sakuya and Fuyu were trying to hold out against five...monsters. There was really no other way to describe them. They looked like men and woman but moved like wild animals. It was impossible to have mercy on them because as long as they could move, they did. Even as Rei watched, Sakuya and Fuyu teamed up on one of them and killed it. Blood splattered them both. A tiny corner of Rei's mind noted that they were much better at working together.
Something dripped onto Rei's face. She reached up and touched it. What the..? She looked at it. Blood...
Rei clenched her fist.
Abunai's eyes narrowed when her students suddenly slowed down. "What?" She spun on her sister. "What are you doing?"
"Nothing," replied Eien.
"THEN WHY ARE THEY CHANGING BACK?"
They were indeed changing back. They were getting slower as the pain of their injuries caught up with them. Even as the two woman watched, the boys threw the last two away. This time they didn't get up.
"Looks like we won, little sis." Eien pulled out of the grips of her captors, which had weakened with shock. In a poof, she appeared near the boys. "REI! Where are you?"
"Here!" Rei ran out of a nearby door.
As Rei ran over, Eien looked up at Abunai. "I'll come visit soon...sis." She poofed the whole team out.
They poofed back into the hotel room.
Fuyu spoke first. "Did we get the scroll?"
Rei held it up.
"Good." Sakuya moved as if he were going to hug the girl then paused.
Rei gave him a questioning look.
He smiled and gestured to his bloodstained clothes.
Rei returned the smile and then pounced on him, hugging him uncaring of the blood. She then did the same to Fuyu.
"Well, isn't that..." Megami-sensei trailed off.
"Sensei?" Rei asked.
Megami Eien collapsed on the floor.
I am so bad at fights. And plans...
Bye.