Woruba: World's Basket!
by Murasaki Argenteria
Kiku didn't react, as Francis seemed to 'magically appear' beside him.
The Frenchman walked past the Japonais, leaning against the frame of the closed door, arms crossed as the two waited for Juliana to finish changing into the spare, unused clothes that Kiku was lending her.
Both were silent for the most part, but, "...Kiku... You do realize I was just kidding about l'jeune fleur... oui?"
"..." the young Japanese said nothing for a moment, before opening his mouth to speak, a slight, condescending look on his face.
"You were practically 'jumping for joy' just now, though, were you not, Francis-san?" He asked dryly.
"Heh~ Oui oui," the blonde agreed, nodding and ignoring the slight before continuing on, unnaturally serious for once. "But... Kiku, are you sure it's alright for her to stay with us...? She is une jeune fille, you know..." he reminded the other, frowning slightly.
"...I don't think you have to worry, Francis-san... I'm sure it'll all be fine so long as she doesn't hug any of us," he assured the other man, as Juliana came out, and they led the girl into the room they would be giving her.
"..." Neither talked much after that.
"Ah, Bennett-san," Kiku called after a while, smiling slightly at the girl, as they entered the room, "I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to open a window. It really is rather stuffy in here..." he explained.
"Oh! Uhm, of course, go ahead!" she exclaimed. It was their house, after all, and she was only a guest.
She currently wore a plain, white short-sleeved, button-up shirt that was only a little too big for her, and some extra pants that Kiku apparently never wore ("European clothes are a bit troublesome, so I don't really like to wear them that often," he had told her. "Eh? Really?" "Yes," he had answered with a smile, "Yet they still insist on sending them to me..." he muttered afterward. "...?" Luckily for Kiku, Jay hadn't seemed to have caught any of the last segment of his little 'speech').
Although, thankfully, it didn't look too weird on her. It really wasn't what she'd normally wear, but at least no one would question it. (Thank goodness they don't have any dresses...)
It would have been a lot weirder if she had started wearing really girly skirts and/or dresses... (Not to say that she never wore them... on occasion... {As proven in Chapter One})
Somehow, this... all feels like a dream...
It's almost too good to be true-! she thought, looking around the room a bit now that she was clean, and dressed, absently wondering where Kiku's parents were, and why he was living with Francis. After all, not only did they seem to be of different nationalities altogether (not including American, of course, 'cuz, y'know, America is known as the world's largest Melting Pot...), but they really weren't anything alike.
Well, as far as she could tell anyways...
I... really hope my stay here doesn't cause them too much troub- she started to think, when, all of a sudden, the roof crashed in behind her.
"Eek-!" She screamed.
"Bennett-san-!" Kiku called, whirling around as soon as he heard the explosion.
"Mon dieu-!" Francis seemed to pale, barely able to take a step forward at the sudden 'cave-in', "Jeune Jay, are you alright?(!)" he exclaimed.
"Y-Yes-! But...!" she started, staring up at the hole that was in the ceiling -had it been a quake or something? No, it couldn't be. Nothing had shaken...
Had it? Well, not as far as she could tell, anyways... Maybe she was still sick enough to not have noticed...? But, wait-! The others didn't seem to have noticed a quake, and THE HOLE WAS STILL THERE!
"Hah! I've finally found you-!" A somewhat insane sounding chuckle made her look towards the still settling dust around the debris, while the other two seemed to stop and freeze.
It... couldn't be... could it?
"Now then... Are you ready for me to break your damn neck, you bloody Frog?"
Jay's eyes widened when she saw the dust settle, and the blonde, green-eyed figure that stood there, grinning darkly, and rotating a shoulder as if stretching it.
Wait a second...
"C-" she started, causing the others to stop and look at her, "EEK~~! CATERPILLARS~~!" she screamed, causing the newcomer to stop and do a face-fault. "THERE'RE GIANT FUZZY CATERPILLARS ON HIS FACE-!(!)!(!)"
"THEY'RE NOT GOD-DAMNED CATERPILLARS!" he exclaimed, as Francis burst out laughing, and Kiku sighed, sweating slightly as he shook his head.
"KYAA! GET 'EM AWAY, GET 'EM AWAY~~!" she screamed, panicking now, as she ran around in circles, spazzing.
"GODDAMNIT WOMAN-!" the males sweat slightly as she flailed around like a headless chicken, screaming her head off. The blonde cursed, preparing to stalk towards her when she tripped on some of the debris.
"Eek-!" she squeaked, her screams were cut off rather effectively.
"Oh crap..." All three males paused, when she started falling backwards, and started forward a step or so to catch her. But, the newcomer, being the closest was the one to catch her, as Kiku froze, and Francis looked on with wide eyes, mouth agape as they watched what looked to be a scene in slow-motion. {Due to the adrenaline, of course~}
"-!" Jay shut her eyes, waiting for impact that never seemed to come, "Eh...?" she opened one eye, only to close it again, when a poof of smoke surrounded her.
"..." Kiku just sighed, shaking his head slightly.
Oh, great... Kiku thought, feeling a headache coming on already, as Francis groaned, rubbing his face.
Damned 'chivalrous gentleman'... he thought, shoulders slumping a bit, as he did.
How the hell was he going to explain this to the girl? the Frenchman thought, sighing in a -sort of- defeated tone...
"..." When Jay finally opened her eyes again, she blinked, staring up at the hole in the ceiling.
Eh...? She thought, feeling confused, though that it was a bit short-lived when she heard a rumble under her and felt...
Fur...? She froze, turning slowly, when she heard what sounded like a growl, coming face to face with...
A Lion Cub...
"Eh...?" she stared in shock, before the thought really registered, and she stared back at the (adorably) glaring Lion cub. "EH~~~?(!)" she exclaimed.
"K-Kiku!" she exclaimed, somehow managing to hold the Lion cub up to show the others, "Oh my gosh-! Kiku! Francis! Th-There's a wild Lion Cub in the room-!" she exclaimed.
"Er, Bennett-san... Please calm down..." Kiku sweat, as she started to panic.
"B-But what if it's wild and it's Mom or Dad is nearby and it comes in and-" she spazzed, dropping the (for some unknown reason) sulking cub, as she flailed her arms around, not really able to think correctly, orrealize that it was the other male who had dropped through the roof (for whatever currently unknown -to her, anyways- reason) had disappeared -or that he had turned into the Feline- as said cub slunk towards a corner, obviously sulking.
"..." Francis started to choke back laughter, eyes tearing, when he realized that she hadn't realized a rather obvious aspect to all this...
But a sudden gasp made them all stop, as she seemed to realize something, and all three males froze.
"OH MY GOSH! WHAT IF IT ATE THAT PERSON WHO WAS HERE JUST A SECOND AGO?(!)" she exclaimed, panicking now, as Francis really had to work hard to hold back the laughter (and failing a bit) now, as Jay ran over to the young Lion (it looked to be around adolescence -not quite full Lion, but not really a cub, either), and grabbed the poor, surprised male by the shoulders, shaking it.
"PLEASE DON'T EAT PEOPLE, MR. LION-!" she exclaimed, eyes teary and panicked looking, "IT'S NOT GOOD TO EAT HUMANS-! D-DON'T WORRY, SIR! WE'LL SAVE YOU!" she cried into the lion's pried open (and, for whatever reason, minty-fresh) mouth, to the man whom she believed to be within the Lion's stomach...
"Pft-! Ahahahaha~~!" Francis really started laughing this time, tears pouring out, as he pounded the walls, one arm clutching his stomach as he doubled over, he was laughing so much.
"IT'S NOT FUNNY, SIR FRANCIS!" she exclaimed, slipping back into the 'semi-polite' speech that her father used to speak, until Kiku placed a calm hand on her shoulder, sighing mentally.
"Er... Bennett-san..." he started, but she didn't seem to hear him, too concentrated on Francis, "Bennett-san!" he exclaimed, sweating.
"Eh-?" she blinked, turning to Kiku, surprised enough to forget about the lion for a moment.
"Bennett-san... Please, think for a minute..." he sweat, as she seemed to calm down -at least a little- before continuing, "Does the Lion look like it would be able to fit a whole adolescent male in his body...?" he asked calmly.
"N-No..." she admitted sheepishly, blushing when she realized how crazy she must have looked (and sounded)...
No wonder Francis was (still) laughing so hard...
Wait a second... she paused, when her brain seemed to start functioning correctly again (at last).
"B-but... if that person wasn't eaten by the Lion, th-then..."
The dots finally connected.
"EH~~~!" she exclaimed, surprising the others (and Francis enough that he stopped laughing to stare), "H-HE TURNED INTO A LION!" she exclaimed.
Ah... all the males in the room sweat at her (really) slow up-take.
So slow... they thought.
Wait... they all stopped, remembering -this meant...!
"OH MY GOSH-!" she started spazzing...
Again.
The boys sighed. Looked like the panic was going to start all over again...
"HE TURNED INTO A LION! OH NO!" she exclaimed, flailing and running again, as she realized what had happened.
"AH-! IS THIS BECAUSE I CRASHED INTO HIM? IT'S BECAUSE I CRASHED INTO HIM, ISN'T IT?(!)" she exclaimed, spazzing (again). "DID I LAND ON THE WRONG PLACE AND HE TURNED INTO A LION-?(!)"
"Ah... pas... Well, oui... perhaps...?" Francis sweat, chuckling nervously as he -slowly- backed away from the girl that had suddenly seemed to go insane, not really quite sure what to say.
"..." Kiku just sighed, rubbing his temples, as he tried to figure what he should do in this kind of situation...
"W-We have to get him to the hospital! He needs medical attention-!(!)" she exclaimed -finally ending her useless flailing- as she ran over to the Lion and started drag it towards the door.
Needless to say, the Lion was not very happy, and was trying to thwart her (without harming her of course, it was still a gentleman... er... lion) 'plot' to take him to the 'bloody hospital'.
Unfortunately, none of them noticed a loose piece of hardwood that was teetering precariously on the edge of the opening in the roof, until it finally fell and hit the unfortunate female in the head...
"Jeune Jay-!" "Bennett-san!" both (human) males exclaimed at once, taking a step forward as she fell towards them.
"Ah..." the two aforementioned males sweat, as she landed in their arms, and they remembered 'that'.
Poof. Another 'cloud' appeared...
"..." She stared blankly at the two animals before her for a while, shock written all over her features, as she just sat there, gaping.
To say that she was surprised when the two in front of her turned into animals as well, was...
Well...
...Outside the Bonnefoy house...
The mailman carefully stopped his LLV {As it's apparently called... (ask/blame Wiki)} in front of the lawn.
At first glance, there really wasn't a driveway for the house, but, hidden near the side of the house, was a small, uncommonly used path that had been paved just for the Mail vehicles, after the first few complained of having to walk up the entire mountain just to deliver the daily letters.
Not to mention how much time was consumed...
Thankfully, the man living there was kind enough as to have agreed to build a small path just for postal services, seeing as the house waspretty much surrounded by vegetation and whatnot, with no paths other than trails that one really couldn't drive on...
Now, back to the mailman:
He hummed rather cheerfully as he went around back to retrieve a few parcels and letters for the resident, and walked up to the front, pressing the doorbell (since he did have a package)...
He rather liked his route, since the people living in the house here were rather nice, and always tipped him at least once a week -or whenever he had any packages.
"...? Mr. Bonnefoy...?" the man called after the second ring produced no answer. "Hello?" he called, a bit confused when no one seemed to appear on the third ring.
Odd, he was usually here around this time of day...
"...Hmn?" He blinked, when the sound of feet pounding down a hall met his ears. What the...? So there was someone there! he thought, as he patiently waited for the door to open.
Maybe he had woken up late? he thought, starting to feel a little bad now...
But, to say he was startled when the one who opened the door started yelling in his face (something about animals), and wasn't even a guy...
Well, one could probably picture how surprised the poor man looked.
"Ah, hel...lo...?" he blinked, staring at the wide-eyed girl that appeared before him.
"THEY'RE ALL ANIMALS-!(!)!" she exclaimed, somehow holding what looked like a very large cat (...Lion...?), and two odd birds (Was that a Rooster and a Crane...? the man thought, startled, though he didn't really think much of it -the people at the house did have a lot of money, after all)...
"Er... Y-Yes...?" he blinked, a bit taken back, "Those... are animals..." he said slowly, backing away a step, "Does Mr. Bonnefoy have pets now...?" he asked, sweating slightly -he really could see the eccentric (and rather theatrical) man keeping such an odd choice of animals, though the Lion did kind of unnerve him...
"Eh? N-No... that's not..." Jay started, before trailing off, sweating when she realized how insane she must've sounded.
"In any case... I have mail for Mr. Bonne...foy...?" he blinked, when he felt something claw his pant-leg, and looked down to see...
It was the rooster...
Holding a five-dollar bill (in its beak).
"Aha... What a smart bird!" he laughed, bending down to accept the tip, "Thank you!" he grinned, as the (odd) onyx-haired girl accepted the packages, and he left. He was a bit curious about the girl though...
Does Mr. Bonnefoy have a niece...? he wondered, before shrugging it off, as he drove off, Eh, maybe they finally got someone to clean around the house...? he thought, having been in the sad excuse for a house (sad in the fact that half the rooms he had seen in the first floor were completely buried in rubbish) before, since he had been given permission to enter the house on occasion.
"Eh..." Jay just slumped down slightly, her mind in turmoil as she felt her legs give out, still holding the mail and packages, as she wondered if, perhaps, she was finally starting to go insane...
"Great! How the bloody hell are we going to explain this?" a somewhat-familiar voice made her turn around, and stare at the animals in shock.
"Don't you dare try to pin this on me, idiote! You are the one who got us all into this mess afreux-!" the Rooster glared at the Lion, who's hackles seemed to be up, hissing at said Rooster, as the Crane seemedsigh on the sidelines.
Th-They... can talk-! she thought, starting to really think she was going mental. First all that good luck, then that person falling through the roof, and then all of them turning into animals-!(!)
When the rooster saw her look, he crowed, though, judging by her look, she didn't seem to buy it, having just seen -and heard- them talking...
Besides, they didn't really want her to think she was insane (although, she just might be with the way her thought-process worked, a certain male thought)...
Well, at least, not when it was probably their fault anyways. They werequite 'different' from normal people after all...
"..." The crane sighed, sounding remarkably like Kiku, for all that it was white, with a black lower-body, and black that went from its neck all the way up to its beak, and a red 'crow', almost like a cap.
"...I really don't think this is working..." it said (Yup, definitely Kiku...she thought absently), as it stepped between the two, forcing them to stop arguing, "She's already seen -and heard- us," he pointed out.
"We might as well tell her before she starts to think she's gone mad," he pointed out.
"..." Both feuding animals exchanged a look and sighed, forcing themselves to calm down.
"Very well..." the Lion said grudgingly, as the Rooster ruffled its feathers, settling down.
"...Alright, jeune Kiku," it -he- sighed.
"..." The animals turned to Jay, who jumped slightly, surprised.
"Ah..." she blinked, sweating slightly as they continued to stare at each other.
"Bennett-san... I know that this may be hard to believe, but...
"We are the reincarnated personifications of the World's Nations," he told her, "We are basically cursed to become our National animals when our bodies become weak for whatever reason -or we come in contact with the opposite genders. And, since there are so many nations in this world, you can probably guess that there are many of us who are cursed with this...ability..." he went on.
"As you can probably see, I am possessed by the National Animal of Japan -the Red-Crowned Crane; while Francis-san is possessed by the Gallic Rooster, the National Animal of France," he continued, "And Arthur-san is possessed by the Lion -the National Animal of Britain..."
"Oh..." Her eyes widened, as Kiku went on, neither Lion nor Rooster were really willing to look her in the face as he spoke, though. Francis stared steadily down at the ground, while Arthur -apparently England- glared at a wall to the side.
"For thousands of years, those of our... 'family' and 'lineage' have been cursed with these... 'differences'.
"We don't really have any 'special powers' or anything, but...-?" Kiku was startled when he was suddenly picked up and hugged, having averted his eyes after a while as well.
"...I'm... so sorry..." she cried, surprising them all, as she gathered them all in a warm hug, tears in her eyes, "I... didn't know...!" she sniffled.
"...Bennett-san..." "-Jeune Jay..." "..." all three males stared at her teary-eyed face, eyes softening at the girl who seemed to care so much about them...
"... Ahem-!" one of the three coughed after a while, making her let go, blushing a bit.
"S-Sorry-!" she exclaimed, as she blushed, a little embarrassed, "I'm so sorry-! I don't know... Well, I do know, but... I-Uhm, er...!" she sweat, starting to turn quite red.
Haha... Cute, Francis chuckled, though it sounded more like a cluck since he really wasn't talking out loud.
"..." Both Lion and Crane gave him a 'look' that basically made one think that they were both calling him some form of 'pervert' in their minds.
Francis didn't seem to notice. "In any case, jeune Jay," Francis picked up a bit where Kiku had left off, catching her attention again, "We dochange back into humans after a while, but..."
"Eh...?" she blinked, as a poof a smoke appeared again, and gasped, blushing brighter than a tomato when she saw their current state. "-!"
"We're usually completely naked, ma cherie~" he said rather cheerfully -in fact, perhaps a bit too cheerfully, as he help up another {Where the hell do those things keep coming from-?(!)} rose -from out of seemingly nowhere- to his lips.
"EEK-!" she screamed, covering her eyes and turning away as soon as she saw a hint of their... well, their nudity, and blushing even brighter than she had before (if that were even possible)...
"Ah, desole, desolee," Francis laughed, apologizing more sincerely now that they were all dressed. "We did not mean to d'exposer anything you were not ready to see, jeune Jay," he smiled, "Er... Feeling a little better now, ma cherie?"
"I...I'm getting there..." she answered, still feeling a little frazzled and incredulous that this sort of thing would actually happen in real life...
"..." Kiku, meanwhile, said nothing, studying all the people now gathered in the room where he and Francis had first seen her the day before.
Arthur was still sulking on the patio, leaning against the screen-door, while Juliana seemed to be gathering herself to make sense of all that had happened, and Francis was trying to help...
Key word: Trying.
"Are you sure you're feeling better, jeune Jay? You still seem a bit... ah...incarnat," he admitted, as he compared her color to the rose in his hand, "Oui, incarnat," he decided.
"..." This only made Jay flush more.
Kiku sighed, "Stop teasing her, Francis-san. I'm sure she's been 'upset' enough..." he continued, not quite able to find a good word to use.
Shocked? Disgusted? Surprised...? Just what word could be correctly used in this case...? He wondered.
"Oh, fort ainsi," Francis seemed to pout, "I'll stop... spoilsport..." he muttered under his breath.
"Eh...?" she finally seemed to realize that she was being teased. "Th-That's not nice, Mr. Bonnefoy!" she huffed slightly, upset.
"Non, non, mes chere! You must call me Francis, oui?" he chided.
"Oh... M-my apologies... Francis..."
Said Frenchman beamed, "Now that that's settled~~ How would you like to know a little secret~?" he asked, grinning cheerfully.
"Eh? A S-Secret...?" she asked, eyes wide.
"Oui, ma chere~ A secret. You know jeune Arthur over there...?" he asked, pointing at the sulking blonde with his rose.
"Y-Yes...?" she gulped, not quite sure whether she should really be listening to this.
"He is Angleterre -England," Francis revealed.
"E-Eh?" Jay's eyes widened, "R-Really?" she exclaimed, "Wow! W-what's... he like...?" she asked, getting shy again.
Francis chuckled, "Well..." he started, raising his voice loud enough so that the others could hear as well (thus causing Kiku to sigh and shake his head and the Frenchman's stupidity, since he had a feeling he knew where this would be going).
"He is..." he continued.
"H-He is...?" Jay blinked, feeling the anticipation build up until...
"Ill-tempered, easily drunk, delusional," he started, going on, as he aimed another mental 'arrow' loose at the Green-eyed man.
"...-!" Every arrow seemed to hit it's mark as he seemed to tremble with the 'weight', as Francis was still going on...
"Eh...?" Jay was already quite over-whelmed by the already rather long list -yet Francis still showed no sign of stopping.
In fact, he didn't even seem half-way through...
"-he's got those giant sorry excuses for eye-brows, and he-" he continued.
"ARGH-! THAT'S ENOUGH YOU BLOODY FROG! I AM GOING TO BREAK YOUR NECK RIGHT HERE AND NOW, YOU WANKER!" Arthur exclaimed, shooting out of his seat, as Francis smirked.
"Fufu~ It is only because it's all true, Angleterre~ Is it not~?" he retorted, arms crossed.
"Eh... EH?(!)" Jay panicked a bit, not sure what to do now, as she looked from one to the other, than to Kiku.
"Wh-What should we do?" she exclaimed, thinking that it was her fault in some way, as Kiku sighed.
"It's alright Bennett-san..." he assured Jay.
"B-but-!" she started.
"It's alright," he repeated firmly, "because, they do this every time they meet," he explained, though this didn't seem to reassure the girl in any way.
"Besides..." he went on, before Jay could say anything, "It'll probably be..."
"...?" Jay tilted her head slightly, as she watched Kiku, his eyes trained on the two, from his place against the wall.
Francis was smirking, as he jumped back, away from Arthur's roundhouse kick, while the latter scowled.
"It'll be...?" she asked, following his line of sight to the spectacular display before her.
"Arthur-san's win," he said, closing his eyes, as the two exchanged decisive blows.
"It seems... you... have gotten a bit better, oui? Angle...terre..." Francis winced as he was thrown into the wall, while the only sign of injury that Arthur showed was a slight scratch on his cheek.
"Hmph, and you are still weak, Frog," he spat, scowling still, as he started to relax his muscles.
Again. Jay didn't need to hear it, but the silent message -the confidence in his own answer that only helped to prove just how strong he believed the latter to be.
"W-Wow..." she breathed, eyes wide...
England... really was strong...
"That was so cool-!" she exclaimed, eyes shining, as Kiku sighed, and Arthur turned away with a 'hmph', although, not without the telltale rosy tint on his cheeks.
"Th-That was nothing..." he mumbled.
To the side, Francis pouted, feeling left out. Kiku sighed. "Please don't destroy the house..." he sighed, acting as the more mature of the trio, "It may not be mine, but Francis-san... isn't it yours...?" he pointed out.
"...Sacrebleu-!" Francis paled, "It is my house!" he cursed the fact that he had not thought to take the fight outside like he probably should have...
"Merde..." he groaned.
His poor house-!
"Tche," Arthur tsked, "Serves you right..." he grumbled, crossing his arms, clearly in a rather defiant mood.
"...Arthur-san..." Kiku started.
"What...?" he asked a bit suspiciously, twitching slightly -he had a feeling he knew what was coming next...
"Wouldn't a gentleman do his part to 'clean up' a mess he made...?" he asked, smiling slightly.
"Wha-? He started it!" he exclaimed, pointing to Francis.
"...Ah, I see, so you aren't a gentleman. Pity...
"And you broke the roof of the room that Bennett-san was going to stay in... A gentleman wouldn't allow a lady to live under those conditions, now would he...?" he asked, a fake smile plastered on his face, as he tilted his head just enough to look 'innocent'.
"Bloody- FINE! I'LL FIX THE DAMN ROOF!" he exclaimed, grumbling the whole was, as he made his way out of the room.
"...Arigato, Arthur-san," Kiku smiled.
K-Kiku... Jay sweat, The 'Prince'...
You're... actually very cunning, aren't you...? she thought, sweating, as she watched him direct the Englishman to where they kept the tools, when the blonde stopped halfway to ask where the 'bloody hell' they kept them, so he could 'keep his word' and fix the 'bloody roof'...
No wonder he's got top grades at school... she thought, as he seemed to -discreetly- order the two (obviously older) men to do as he 'asked'...
"Wait..." she stopped, causing the others to stop and look over at her. "School...
"AAAH-!" she exclaimed, surprising them all, "I'M GOING TO BE LATE-!(!)" she panicked.
"Eh? School...?" the others blinked, before their eyes all trailed over to the clock on the wall...
"...W-We have to hurry!" exclaimed Kiku, paling when he saw what time it was, as the two raced around the house, gathering their things.
There was no way in all six hells he was going to break his 'perfect record' because of something as idiotic as what had happened just a little while ago...
"Eek-! H-Has anyone seen my bag?" she exclaimed, voice muffled slightly by the walls.
"You left it in your room, Bennett-san!" Kiku called back, as they raced to their rooms to grab their bags.
"I-I'm so sorry about this -but I really have to get to school now!" she exclaimed, bowing in apology before Francis who just laughed, once they had come out of their respective rooms.
"Oui, oui, I understand, jeune Jay," Francis smiled at the flustered looking girl, not even bothering to tease her this time.
"You did make a promise to votre mere, did you not?"
"Y-Yes-!" she exclaimed.
"But... you know... for my part..."
"Eh?" Jay blinked at his serious expression.
"I must tell that person -the head of our little 'family'- what's happened here, you understand," he asked, making Kiku stop, halfway through putting his backpack on.
"The family 'secret' has been revealed, after all."
"..." Jay was quiet for a moment, "The head of the family... He must be a very important person, mustn't he...?" she mused, smiling up at the Frenchman, "Of course! I understand," she nodded, "I truly am sorry for the trouble," she said once again, bowing.
"..." Francis blinked, a little surprised that she could still pull an expression like that out, "Not at all..."
"Well then, I'll be going now!" she smiled, before heading towards the front of the house, where her shoes still lay.
"... You're quite talkative today, aren't you, Francis-san...?" Kiku asked, eyes narrowing as he watched the girl walk away. "You told her quite a bit about us..."
Francis smiled, "Vous croyez? Well, did you not say just as much, cher...?" the Frenchman pointed out.
"...You plan on having her memories erased, don't you...?" Kiku asked a bit frostily, eyes cold.
"Just like that time..."
Francis sighed, "I plan nothing, ma cher~" he said airily, "Besides, thattime was because there were too many people involved, s'il n'y avait...?" he retorted, "We had no choice. You understand, do you not, jeune Kiku...?"
"..." Kiku said nothing for a moment, before he finally slipped the backpack on, "I shall be leaving as well now.
"Please remember to have the house fixed soon," he said at last, before walking out.
"Oui, oui, monsieur Kiku," he smirked slightly, "It seems that you've become the 'young master' here, have you not...?" he asked, though it was to thin air, seeing as Kiku was probably already out of the house by now.
"..." Francis dropped his smile, "But... whether that will happen or not...
"We shall have to see, n'est-ce pas...?"
"..." There was a bit of silence, as he just sat there, laying against the wall he had been thrown into, holding his left arm, since he had sprained it.
He hadn't come away from the 'fight' unscathed after all... He never did.
"...What the bloody hell was that all about...?" Arthur muttered, carrying a tool kit and some lumber from the backyard as he walked past the otherwise empty room.
Francis smiled, "Pft- Nothing at all, Angleterre~ But, besides that, if you have time to worry about moi, shouldn't you be getting to work?" he smirked, making an obnoxious 'shoo, away with you' motion with his hands, deliberately trying to piss the poor brit off.
"What the- WHO THE FUCK WOULD WORRY ABOUT YOU, IDIOT! AND WHO THE BLOODY HELL SAID I WAS WORRIED ANYWAYS-?(!)" he exclaimed, cursing all the way as he stomped up the stairs to fix the roof, "IN ANY CASE, I AM NOT FIXING THE BLOODY WALL! DO IT YOURSELF, STUPID FROG!" he yelled again, halfway up.
"...Of course," Francis chuckled quietly, unmoving from his spot as he sighed.
He honestly hoped that it would not come to 'that', though...
"Wha~~t? You forgot to do the laundry...?(!)" Morrissa stared at her in disbelief, "How the hell did that happen?" she asked.
Juliana almost never forgot things like that.
She sighed, though -still, she could kind of see her forgetting, though...
"So that's why you're not wearing your normal clothes..." she sighed, as Rei kept silent.
"Ahaha... Yeah..." she laughed sheepishly, as they walked.
"Hah, bet she just doesn't even have the power to do that..." a random girl muttered as she passed the trio.
"..." Rei's eyes narrowed as she gave the girl (who was easily identified as one of the Kiku fanclub members) an icy 'glare' (it was more of a stare, for her though), and calmly chased the suddenly terrified girl down the hall.
"...Those damn суки..." Rissa glared after the girl as well, as Rei came back.
"Th-Thanks, Rei," Jay smiled when the other returned, sweating a bit. I can't tell them that it's true, either...
They'd have a fit..! she thought.
Besides, I really should start cleaning Mr. Bonnefoy's house as soon as I can -it's a good excuse, too...
Although... Rissa... Rei... I'm really sorry about having to lie to you...! she thought, mentally praying for forgiveness from her friends seeing as if she did so out loud, it would become obvious that she was hiding something, and she really didn't want to have to go into that at the moment...
"Well, the 'prince' was late today as well, I heard," the silver haired girl pointed out as the girls walked. "It's not much of a wonder that they'd be suspicious," she continued, munching on some pocky, that she passed around to the other two.
"Hmn," Morrissa said nothing, accepting the box from Jay, and taking one, before passing it back to Rei as they reached the 'split' where she and Jay would be going to Phys Ed, while Rei went to Tech.
Jay said nothing as they walked, but nibbled at her strawberry-flavored pocky, as they stopped, "Ah-!" she gasped after a moment of silence.
"...?" the two other stopped, turning back when they noticed that she had stopped a bit earlier.
"Oh my gosh-! I forgot my notebook!" she exclaimed. She had been working on some math while they had been eating during lunch, and she had just realized that she had left it in the CE classroom (where they also spent their lunch period).
"D'you want me t'go with you?" Rissa asked, as Rei waited patiently, nodding in agreement with the other since the question applied to her as well.
"N-No, I don't want either of you to be late," she said, "I'll just get a pass from Mrs. Guerralupi. I doubt she'd be willing to give you one, though..." she sweat, seeing as she really didn't seem to like Rissa -not that she helped in any way, when she taunted the ex-military teacher...
"Tche. It's true," she grumbled, as Rei nodded.
"I'll just wait in the Locker Room then," she promised.
"Eh? But... if you're late..." she frowned.
"We've got track today, so we're just walking anyways," she told the other girl.
"Oh, really?" she asked, blinking. It really never ceased to amaze her how the other two would know things beforehand. Although Rei's was due to her 'psychic ability', while Rissa was just good at 'gathering intel', as one might mildly put it -And no, she was not a 'gossip' in any way...
Well... Okay, maybe a little...
"Yeah," Rissa nodded.
"In that case, I'll be back as soon as I can, ok?" she smiled, waving as she headed back towards the CE room.
"Hurry it up, okay?" Rissa ordered, "It's boring when you're not there!" she called to the girl as she ran off.
"Okay~!" she called back, waving back at her two friends.
"...Something's off..." Rei murmured, once Rissa had left, as she watched Jay go.
"..." She shook it off when the minute-bell rang, though {my school has one of those, and it's pretty useful though confusing sometimes. XD I'm just gonna say they have one here too, since it works out the best for the story. XD}, and headed towards her tech class.
Oh well, she thought. She could always figure it out later...
"Whew! Thank goodness Mrs. Guerralupi likes me..." she sighed, as she walked out into the empty halls from the CE room, notebook in hand, and bag slung over her shoulder.
"...Bennett-san," a familiar voice made her paused, though she jumped a bit at the sudden appearance of the School's 'Prince'.
"Eek-! O-Oh, Kiku, it's-it's only you..." she sighed, one hand held up to her rapidly beating heart, as she turned to see the onyx-haired boy.
"...My apologies, I did not mean to startle you..." Kiku bowed his head a little.
"A-Oh no! I was just surprised, is all," she said, waving her free hand, since the other was clutching her math notebook. "So, uhm, what brings you here?" she asked, "Oh! Uhm, I-I'm not skipping class or anything! I just forgot my notebook, and-!" she started when she realized what things must've looked in her current situation.
Kiku chuckled, "It's quite alright, Bennett-san. I know you wouldn't do such a thing," he said, "As for myself, I have some SGO work to do," he explained.
"O-Oh... right," she laughed sheepishly, "I forgot... Kiku, you're the SGO President, aren't you?" she smiled.
"That is correct" he said, smiling back briefly, "But, while we're both here -and alone," he added, as they started walking towards their destination, "You... didn't tell anyone, did you? About 'that'...?" he asked.
"Eh-? Oh, no! I-I didn't!" she exclaimed, surprising the Japanese male, "I'm so sorry! Am I making you {she means him and the family in general -or, at least, Kiku, Francis, and Arthur} nervous? I-I'm a liability, aren't I...?" she asked, feeling depressed all of a sudden.
"Eh? No, that's not what-" Kiku started, surprised, though she didn't seem to notice.
"I'm sorry! But, I would never tell anyone! My mom -mother- always told me that if someone trusts you with a secret, you should keep it! She always said that gossiping as bad, and that it's usually wrong!" she exclaimed.
"Er, no... Bennett-san..." he was sweating now.
Did she really think all that...? he wondered absently, as she continued on.
"I swear! I'll never breathe a word about it to anyone! I'll sign my name in blood or cut my arm or anything you want!" she promised.
"No... I- That's not..." Kiku tried to interject.
"I'm sure that's what my mother did back 'then', anyways, so-!" she exclaimed.
"B-Bennett-san!" Kiku exclaimed, catching her attention.
"Eh?" she blinked, stopping mid-panic attack. (She seemed to have those a lot, lately.)
"I was trying to say.. that wasn't what I meant," he told her, sweating.Though... just what kind of person was her mother, anyways...? he couldn't help but wonder.
"Huh?" she blinked, startled, when Kiku bowed.
"Bennett-san... You're going to all this trouble just to keep our secret, but..." his eyes softened with worry. "I'm... afraid that it just may not be enough..." he said. "I'm sorry-!" he continued.
"Eh?"
"But... your memories may need to be erased..." he said with a sigh, before straightening again, this time, looking straight into her surprised eyes for just a moment before going on. "I say 'erased', but... It's really more like 'hypnosis', though," he frowned.
"You see... a long time ago, our secret got out... Just as it did today," he explained, his eyes unwavering as he stared into her wide eyes.
"I was in the second grade when it happened. We were all playing in the garden of the main house, when a girl got carried away and hugged me.
"It caused such a commotion that they had to suppress the memories of all those that had been present," he exclaimed, remembering the event like it had been yesterday.
.
"Kami-sama... Am I... truly so strange that we must erase people's memories to hide it...?" a young Kiku asked shyly. The head of the house had always had a sort of 'air' around him that made the small boy quite nervous.
"...Yes, you are strange," the mysterious male said after a moment, steel eyes cold and unmoving as they spoke.
"Isn't it odd for a boy to turn into a bird?" the older male asked. "If normal people knew about your secret, they'd be disgusted, Kiku. They would be sickened by it and stay away from you, and then you'd be forced to live alone -to be singled out and bullied by them.
.
.
"...Kiku...?" Jay blinked, when the other's eyes seemed to cloud over. "Are you... ok?" she asked, bringing the other back to the present.
"...I'm... sorry, Bennett-san..." he started.
"...?" Jay just tilted her head to the side slightly in confusion.
"I... can not defy his wishes... If he decides it's what must be done..." he trailed off, before shaking his head to clear his morbid thoughts.
"In any case, Bennett-san, since you never really asked to get involved with our family's 'problem'... I'd just like to apologize in advance, and say that I'm 'sorry'...
"That's all," he explained, before walking away.
"Oh-! Uhm, Kiku! W-Wait-!" she started, unconsciously starting forward, arm stretched out to stop him.
"Ah-!" Kiku blinked as he was pulled back by the (surprisingly strong) girl, before he disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"...! I-I'm... so sorry-!" she exclaimed, becoming depressed when she realized just what she'd done. "Agh~~! I'm such an idiot -I swear, Kiku, I didn't do it on purpose-!" she apologized.
"Its... alright, Bennett-san..." Kiku sighed, as he somehow managed to pull his head through the neck-hole of the suddenly larger shirt. "It'll be fine as long as no one saw," he assured the girl.
Probably... he added mentally in afterthought.
"Uhm- Erhm... K-Kiku... Thank... you -for worrying about me," she clarified as the now stork-shaped Kiku looked up at her from the mess that had been his clothes. "It really makes me happy," she continued, smiling at the Crane, and ignoring the bump she had caused on her forehead a bit earlier (via her own stupidity). "But, really... It's okay, Kiku-! I'll be fine," she promised.
"I mean, I found out such a big secret that you have to talk to the head of your family about. So it really wasn't your fault -and you couldn't help it, right?" she asked.
"So... please, do whatever you need to to make your family less nervous, okay?" she grinned.
I... will be sad to have to forget such an important memory... But, they didtake me into their house -and unconditionally {Er... N-No... housework... Juliana! Remember?(!)}- when they found out that I had been living in a tent, so...
I... was truly very happy-! But..
I'll bear with it. If it's for them... I can still go on.
"There's... just one thing," she added, smiling warmly down at a wide-eyed Kiku, as she carefully kneeled down so that they were both on eye-level (or as much as possible with how things currently were).
"Please... if... If my memories are erased. Kiku, will... you still be my friend...?" she asked, her head tilting just slightly to the side as she smiled warmly at the Crane.
"...Bennett-san..." Kiku started, his eyes un-widening themselves as he smiled back (or, rather, as much as a Crane can), before a poof of smoke filled their vision again.
"AHK-!" she blushed, immediately turning her head away and covering her ears and eyes, as she did so (for whatever reason).
"Ah..." Kiku sighed, "it... seems that it didn't take quite so long to change back, this time..." he sweat slightly, as Jay tried to compose herself in the background.
"I-I'm sorry..." Jay mumbled, But... I honestly didn't see anything this time, so... she thought, as she waited for the other to finish dressing.
"It's quite alright, Bennett-san, you can turn around now," he smiled, now that his clothes were all back on, having not heard the girl's mumbling.
"O-Okay..." she agreed, turning back before noticing something. "Ah... Kiku... your shirt-!" she started.
"Eh?" Kiku blinked, looking down at the shirt he was wearing.
It was a plain, brown short-sleeved shirt with a few buttons near the neck at the collar, which, at the moment, were either crooked, or just in the wrong hole. He also wore black trousers underneath, a thin jacket with a hood went over all of that.
"Your buttons..." she told him.
"Ah... My apologies, I'm afraid I'm still not quite used to wearing these western style clothes..." he admitted, sweating slightly.
"Heehee~ Really?" she asked, "That surprises me-!" she grinned. One would've thought that he would be rather proficient at anything he did...
"But, in that case, it's my turn to help you~!" she smiled, fixing the buttons on Kiku's collar for him.
"..."
"If normal people knew about your secret, they'd be disgusted, Kiku." The words ran through his head once again, as he allowed the other to fix his shirt. "They would be sickened by it and stay away from you..."
"Bennett-san..." Kiku started, once Juliana had finished fixing his shirt.
"Yes...?" she asked, tilting her head to the side with a smile.
"You... You're not... sickened... by me...?" he asked, trailing off as his voice became softer and softer.
"Eh? No, of course not! I'm A-Ok!" she grinned, having only heard the 'you're not sick' part, since Kiku had gotten to soft for her to hear the rest.
"Eh...?" Kiku blinked, What...? he thought, deadpanning for half a second before he sighed, smiling softly.
"Bennett-san... If... you don't mind, would you... like to walk home together...?" he asked.
Jay grinned, "Sure! I'll meet you after classes... are... AH-!" she exclaimed, suddenly remembering why she had come down in the first place. "Oh my gosh-! Kiku, I'm so sorry! I forgot! I still have PE right now!" she panicked.
Kiku blinked, having moved back a little in surprise when she had suddenly exclaimed. "Eh? Oh, no, it's quite alright. I apologize for keeping you so long," he said sheepishly, a bit little disappointed to have to leave her at the moment.
"No, no! It's my own fault!" she exclaimed, before smiling, "So, uhm... Shall we meet after school...?" she asked, smiling, "By the lockers, right...?"
Kiku blinked, before returning the smile with one of his own, "Yes... of course-!"
The two exchanged grins before parting ways...
The words "Will... you still be my friend...?" echoed in his mind as he walked back towards the SGO room.
Of course I will... he finally thought in reply. And thank you...
Needless to say, she had ended being rather late to class after all. By the time she had gotten there, half the class had finished their laps, and, to save time, the teacher allowed her to just walk in her regular clothes.
Which, actually, was a good thing, considering the clothes that she 'hadn't had time to wash' had included her PE Uniform.
After PE, she and Rissa had met up with Rei, before she and Rei had parted for Science, and Rissa went off for her own class. After that, the two girls had gone to Health, and after which, the trio had met up again, near the buses, since Rei and Rissa took the buses home, even if they were different buses, since not only did the girls live apart, but Rissa also held part-time jobs, and the school had a bus especially for those that worked a bit farther away from the school than possible walking distance without being late.
Some days, Rissa would even take one of the early buses that arrived after their fifth period (PE), so the girls wouldn't see her at all after that.
But, since that was only Wednesdays and Thursdays, so it was only two days a week. Today was Tuesday, though, so they had met up.
After the girls had gotten onto their buses, Jay had walked back into the school, to grab a few things that she'd need from her locker, where she saw Kiku.
"Oh-!" She blinked, "You... surprised me," she said rather sheepishly, once her heart had slowed back to its regular tempo.
"My apologies," Kiku said, smiling a bit, as he waited for her to grab her Math and History texts, and put them into her own back, his own slung over a single shoulder. "I didn't mean to startle you..."
Jay just smiled in response as she shut her locker, "It's alright, Kiku! Really, I'm just easily surprised..." she blushed, "So it's my fault, really. Although, I didn't think you'd be right behind me," she laughed.
Kiku chuckled, as they started walking, "Well then, let's go home, shall we?" he smiled.
"Okay!" Jay grinned, following after, as they left school grounds...
"Huh... it seems that Francis-san has yet to return," Kiku noted, when they entered the silent house.
"Really?" she asked, "Well then, I'm going to put my things in my room!" she called back as she headed for the stairs.
"Alright," Kiku replied, as he locked the door behind them.
Jay walked up the stairs, only to stop when she heard something rip from her room.
"...Oh!" she blinked, startled when she saw Arthur in her room, standing on a ladder extended towards the roof, with tape in one hand, and one of the ends in his mouth, as the other steadied him on the ladder.
"Is it just you?" Arthur asked when he noticed her, turning to face her, and revealing a light, purple bruise around his cheek-bone.
"Er, yes... It's just Kiku and me..." she blinked.
Arthur sighed, ripping the large piece of tape out, to stick on the last segment of plastic around the roof opening. "I see -well, it's just a temporary fix," he warned her, as he set the tape down and came down. "It should hold out the rain, at the very least," he continued, as he stepped off, cleaning up the last bit of debris left, and slinging a large black trash-bag over his shoulder, with the ladder under one arm.
"I'll try to do a better job over the weekend, but that'll have to do for now -you can call a professional if you don't like it," Arthur finished, stopping in front of the door, as she stepped back to let him through.
"O-Okay..." she said. I finally got to meet him... but... he doesn't really like me, does he...? she thought, as she accepted his gruff attitude.
"...You..." Arthur started, as she gasped, jumping a bit, as she turned back around to face him.
"Y-Yes?(!)" she asked.
"I... tend not to be very good at talking to people, so... If I seem kind of... rude... at times...
"Or, if I get angry -I tend not to see what's around me when I'm really mad- so..." he started.
"Look, what I'm trying to say, is try not to take it too badly if I'm rather rude, at times..." he mumbled, "I... France, he... I just get pissed off too easily, I suppose..." he admitted.
"D-Don't tell France I said that, though!" he exclaimed, blushing a bit, "I... my 'training'... It's not enough for me to be able to cool quickly, so... I tend to fall into a foul mood a lot...
"Just... You know what? Just don't mind me," he said, starting to feel frustrated. "Just pretend I don't exist if you have to!" he scowled, kicking at the ground lightly, "So... In advance..."
"...?" Jay tilted her head slightly, as she wondered what he was trying to say.
"I'm sorry," he said, "In case I do anything to hurt you or your feelings," he explained.
"I guess what I'm trying to say is-" he started.
"I'M HOME, MON CHERI JEUNES~~~!" a familiarly obnoxious voice interrupted, pissing the poor brit off without even trying.
"Oh, and I suppose we shouldn't forget l'idiote Angleterre~~" he added drolly -almost as if in afterthought. {Did he forget on purpose...? Hmn, we'll never know~ XD}
Okay, so maybe he was trying to after all...
"GODDAMNIT, YOU FRENCH BASTARD! I SWEAR I'LL BREAK YOUR BLOODY NECK THIS TIME...!" the Briton practically flew down the stairs in order to strangle the Frenchman...
{A/N: Okay, so I was veeery tempted to end there, but then thought, eh, what the heck~ I'll put some more up~ =3 Almost at the 10k mark, but still~~ So, be thankful peoples who read this story, that I'm posting even though NO ONE reviewed... Especially so soon. I very honestly doubt that any chapters will get out this fast from here on since I DO have a life, you know~~ In any case, I'll stop blabbing and let ya'll read on~~ :hearts:}
Almost half and hour (or maybe an hour after all) later, Arthur had calmed down enough to leave the French man be -for the moment- and make his 'announcement'.
...So... I won't be punished...?" Jay blinked, as the four gathered in the (semi-repaired) living room, and Francis informed them all that 'he' had decided to allow her to stay.
"Oui~ he said that so long as you can keep our 'secret', you may stay," he grinned, as her expression brightened and relaxed from the anxious one she had previously been wearing.
"But, you absolutely must keep our secret, compris?" he continued seriously, though he sweat a little, thinking: "Punished"...?
"Y-Yes! Of course!" she exclaimed, eyes determined, yet excited. She wouldn't have to lose her memories!
Francis grinned, though Kiku was quiet, and Arthur was off to the side, purposely trying to stay away and pretending not to pay attention.
"Oh, yes..." Francis remembered suddenly, "One more thing, tous les," he continued, calling all their attention to himself once more.
"He also wished that Arthur stay here as well," he said, though it was in a less than happy, though he managed to keep up a cheery facade.
"WHAT?(!)" the Brit blurted out, staring at the elder male with an incredulous look. "Are you fucking serious?" he exclaimed. "I have to live with you?(!)"
Francis shrugged, "Don't blame me, Angleterre," he said airily, "It wasHis will, and you know that His word is law," he reminded the blond brit, who began to cuss.
Should have known... Kiku thought, ignoring the Briton for now, as he watched Jay try to calm the visibly upset Nation down.
"I knew there had to be some catch," he muttered, crossing his arms, as he leaned against the door-frame beside Francis, "but..."
"Que-?" Francis blinked, looking surprised.
"Involving Bennett-san... You... and 'that' person aren't planninganything, are you...?" he asked, eyes narrowing slightly in thought.
"..." Francis sweat slightly. Jeune Kiku is quite sharp... he thought, recalling the 'conversation' that had led to this one.
"...Very well," the obsidian-haired youth had agreed, "I shall trust this girl," he had continued, lazily fingering the gilded birdcage that was on the table they both sat at, one arm keeping his head up.
"This might even be to our advantage," he had gone on, turning his cold, steely grey eyes to meet his own. "Kiku does have rather good instincts, but...
"Still, proceed carefully, Francis..."
"Non, non~ En Verite, Kiku!" he laughed "You should really learn to be more trusting~~" he said airily, a red rose help up to scent, as he spoke cheerily.
"..." Kiku's eyes narrowed dangerously, but, before he could speak, they were interrupted by Jay, who had come over after a while.
Uhm... E-Excuse me," she started, catching their attention, and making them turn to her in askance.
"Uhm, this... might sound a bit strange for me to say this, but...
"Please... take good care of me!" she exclaimed, bowing somewhat, "And, thank you, again, for not only taking care of me before, but for giving me a room as well!" she said, smiling as she straightened, surprising the two.
"...Bennett-san..." Kiku started, a little surprised to be seeing such a 'familiar' custom here, "Y-Yes... Of course!" he said a bit shyly, though he was smiling, a light blush of happiness on his face. Truly, it had beenforever since he'd heard that familiar 'custom'.
"Oui, oui~" Francis grinned, "But of course~" he said, winking at the girl, as he held out the rose as a 'gift', "We'll make sure to take extra special good care of you, oui~?"
"Er... Th-Thank... you...?" she blinked, feeling a bit of a chill going down her spine for some reason, as she accepted the rose, not noticing the sharp kick in the knee that the Frenchman received, as she moved away to talk to Arthur.
"-!" Francis gasped, wincing in pain as his knee buckled, as he glared up at the Japanese, though he faltered, withering under the hard stare he received from the other, deciding that perhaps it would be a better idea to listen to Kiku for once...
On the porch, Jay tilted her body slightly so that she could look -the still sulking- Arthur in the face, "And, you too, of course, Arthur-!" she smiled warmly, "Please... take good care of me!" she exclaimed.
"Wha- Why do I have to-?" he started, turning to glare at the girl, only to find a fist in his face, as he was thrown out into the yard.
"Eh...?" Jay blinked, surprised.
"WHAT THE FUCKING HELL?(!)" he yelled.
"Non, non, Angleterre! You should not be so rude to a lady, oui~?" he said, tsking as he shook a finger, somehow pulling a rose from seemingly nowhere, as it waved back and forth, almost as if it were an extension of his forefinger. "Or, was I mistaken and you are not thegentleman you claimed to be~~?" he asked airily, smirking even as he stared down condescendingly at the Blonde.
"Why... you... DAMN FROG! I SWEAR! I WILL REALLY BREAK YOUR BLOODY NECK THIS TIME-!" he exclaimed, as 'war' broke out between the two once again.
"E-Eh~?1" Juliana started to panic as she tried to figure out a way to calm the two down, as Kiku sighed, shaking his head.
Looks like he was going to have to 'ask' them to fix whatever damage they made again... he thought, as he went over to the girl, and began to lead her out of the room, suggesting that she begin dinner preparations, and let him handle breaking the two apart.
He didn't want her to get hurt, after all, she was the only girl in a house of three men...
Confused, but amiable, the single female in a household of (primarily) males agreed.
Kiku took another look back at the two still 'rolling around' outside, and sighed once more, shaking his head -they were still arguing as they fought.
Perhaps it would be best to let them be, for now. Besides, he still had Physics and Calculus homework to do, he thought, as he walked away, making a mental note to have the two ruffians fix whatever damages they made...
A/N: WHOOT! FINALLY DONE! *cheers* I would have had it up earlier, if I hadn't decided to be nice and go on. So THANK ME PEOPLES~! XD
By the way, I really was planning to end at the place where that really long A/N was (for those that haven't figured it out, I use {} for A/Ns, so as not to confuse it with the actual story). If I had, the story would've been 9,753 words, which I would have been satisfied with...
If it had touched the 10k mark... (Yes, I know, I'm getting greedy, even though I'm so lazy)
But, you shall all be happy to know that this chapter (not including the A/N-break) is 10,930 Words! Almost 11k! A new record! (again)
I was also tempted to just erase everything after the A/N mark, though, when the stupid computer moved back a page, and erased THREE-FOURTHS of the ending part I had JUST written! (Its true, I even ranted to Blueyedemoness-chan, who's still being so NICE to be patient as she is for me to finish re-writing/editing Stuck in the KHR! World; my KHR! Story. And she REVIEWS unlike people who don't here (even though I KNOW people've read it -I even enabled anonymous reviews, people! Come on!) but that's probably just me, being all irritable cuz my current PRIDE AND JOY, aka Woruba, which has an average of 10K per chapter is getting no comments/reviews even though it's the LONGEST and -in my opinion- MOST INTERESTING story so far... *glareglareglare*), but, since I promised my friends who at least COMMENT, even if she doesn't have an account and can't review (or at least, she couldn't/didn't know about the function til now), I put it up.
SO BE HAPPY PEOPLES!11
But seriously, if no one comments/reviews I can't do better work! REVIEWS FEED ME!11 Well, okay, not really, but... yeah... *shifty eyes* I like them. Plus, even if they're flames/criticisms they still HELP in come way, and it's at least SOME kind of comment...
Oh! That reminds me, I'm sure you're all curious as to who the 'Akito' character is, and why I haven't put his name in...
And no, it's not a ploy to make you curious (but does it? XD I'd like to know), cuz quite honestly...
I have NO idea what I'm naming him, really. He was just "X" in my book (mental, of course, I never actually WRITE anything unless I have to -which explains why I was so upset about the segment of the story being 'deleted', though it's not the technical word for it *doesn't know the word for it*).
So... I want to have a contest~~ The rules: It has to be English (not another language, okay?) And it can be Latin or whatever.
So, a name -preferably with some meaning. If no one can figure one out, at least (from the description I'll put up under 'X'), then... yeah. I'm sorry if his name won't suit him, but it'll probably be something along the lines of "Claude" or something really lame...
Winner will get a mention, and, if possible, an Omake or something. Maybe they can even appear as a side character in the story! XD Maybe...
Oh, almost forgot:
WARNING: There will be some eventual Shounen Ai (hopefully), since I want to try my hand at it here. (Plus, RoChu's just adorable~ Like- Ah, almost gave another fundamental pairing away~ Bad me! Bad! XD)
And...
DISCLAIMER: I IN NO WAY OWN furuba OR Hetalia!, they belong to their respectful owners. I have no rights on them... On the other hand...
I DO own the OCs, and I DO have the right to 'express myself' through Fanfiction! XD Yay!
Okay, so thats about it for that, also, I wanna know if you guys prefer PREVIEWs or OMAKEs. For that question, I'm going to put up an Omake this time instead of a Preview (Oh, also, notice how the Preview was a little different from the Chapter? Yes, I edited it and made it better -just to warn you, I WILL make the stuff better if I can). Now, before I bore you all to death with my rambling, I'll put up the 'Profile' (incomplete of course), and tack on the OMAKE at the end and leave it at that, so...
PLEASE REVIEW PEOPLE~~! Even flames help, so long as they're not intentionally CRUEL in an effort to KILL THE AUTHORESS!
{ ?: Pft- We'd be better of if you did die... *mutters* Authoress: WHAT? How could you Iggy! England: Oh come ON now! "Iggy"? Really? You too? Authoress: What? It's a PERFECTLY good nickname! England: ... *eyes narrow* It. Is. NOT. My. Name-! *glare* Authoress: Okay! Sheesh! *grumbles* }
"X" (At least until I come up with a name) -Replacement for Akito. Possibly Bi-Polar, with moods that swing wherever the winds blow, he can be cruel and sadistic at times, and rather selfish. Age will not be divulged until a later date/chapter. (I do know how old he'll be, but... Yeah, I don't wanna ruin anything yet~~ :hearts:)
Appearance (as much as known so far): Obsidian Black hair, and steely, cold, grey eyes framed by almost girl-ish lashes. This boy's (definitely a boy, people! NOT A GIRL! *spoiler for those that have read to the end if they know what I'm talking about) 'beauty' is the cold kind of beauty that can freeze one's heart if you're not careful.
Transformation?: No Data available at Present.
(Also, if you guys want me to keep a list of all the OCs at the end of every chapter, please say so! Otherwise it'll just be every once in a while, when something 'important' is added. Also, 'Profiles' will NOT give away any hints of the next chapters if I can help it! So... there we go!)
Now... for the Omake~~
OMAKE! Corner (first appearance, and hopefully not the LAST):
{For now, I plan to use the "OMAKE THEATRE" from the original Manga, but I will definately add 'original' omake's as well! Promise! X3 Also, this is a hint for a soon-to-come chapter, people! XD Be happy! Spoiler/Preview-ish Omake! XP Lol!}
OMAKE THEATRE PART 1: Life in the Bonnefoy House; pre-Jay
{Similar to the original ones in the manga! XD}
Francis opened the door to the Bonnefoy kitchen, empty take-out boxes in hand, as he stared at the pile of trash in a corner of the room.
"Hmn..." The blonde male looked around the kitchen for a place to throw the boxes away, before thinking for a moment.
"..." Eh, it can't hurt~ he thought, shrugging as he absently tossed the boxes into the growing trash-pile, turning away and shutting the door close as he did so.
After all, what difference did 'one more' make anyways...? was the logic he used. And, by the time that Kiku realized what he had been doing, it was too late.
Even he wouldn't be able to clean such a mess... (He may have liked cleanliness, but he wasn't going to risk his life for Francis to start the process all over again!)
He absently wondered what had happened to the person that had been keeping the house clean before, before figuring that they had probably just quit. Francis wasn't a very good/reliable boss, after all.
He wouldn't have blamed the poor girl...
Or guy.
.
.
Elsewhere, an ash-blonde male sneezed loudly, startling the white polar-bear that he had curled up against, watching another blue-eyed blonde move aorund excitedly in the snow-storm outside...
He absently wondered where his brother got so much energy from.
.
.
And thus, the sea of decay expands...!
P.S.:! Almost forgot! You know how when Francis, Kiku, and Arthur were animals were in 'animal form' they spoke in "Bold Print"? Yeah, well, you can be sure that'll happen again. Just thought I'd add that before I forgot~ =P
Edit: Wow, I just found some mistakes. Oh, and if Star Anise-chan *not sure if girl or boy* comes back, I shall answer your review in the next chapter unless you PM me! ^w^ Then I can answer you directly! ^^
Edit2(4/19/11'): Another Edit. More Mistakes... Wow. Also fixed the "1" problem by using parentheses for the "!". Hope that works out better~
Chapter 3 should be out sometime this break! =3 As soon as I finish going through all 10 chapters of Stuck! (There are... only 3 more chapters left before I can FINALLY get started on typing chapter 3 of this~~ :hearts:) Whoot! XD
By the way, the word count for this chapter is now definitely over 10,930... So... yeah, just thought ya'd like t'know~
Also, I realized that I never explained the whole 'I'm gonna f*ckin' kill you, you s.o.b. frenchie!' thing. Let's just say that Nations can't kill each other... 'kay? I'll explain more next chapter~ =3