Rider: Konbawa Minna-san. Sorry about the delay, computer troubles and all. But I have the next chapter ready for you.
Star: What's up with the review page, it's all screwy?
Wraiths: And where are all the reviews alerts in your mailbox?
Rider: Don't know, but all you guys who reviewed, if you asked a question, could you ask it again? I know there was one or two, but my mail box was one of the programs that got hit and I don't have the reviews in there anymore. I do remember that most people asked about Su's daughter coming home, and all I can say is…sorry, you're all wrong.
Star: What!?
Rider: Read on and see. Catch you all at the end. Wait a sec…What the hell were you doing in my mailbox? Wraiths?!
Wraiths: Gotta go…
ooooo
Disclaimer: Forgot this before, oops...I don't own Love Hina in any way, shape, or form. Original stuff is mine though, please don't steal. I also don't own the music for Loving Season or Watashi wo Kaiten Daro (Ouka's theme) from the .hack LOT series which are used later. Everyone happy now?Change Of Hearts
Chapter Four: Moonlight Concert
Mai had just donned her cooking apron when she heard the crash at the front door. She walked through the dinning room and into the main foyer just in time to see Kam push away from the very pretty girl who was laying on top of him. She noticed Kam's face was quite flushed, and swallowed hard as she realized that the girls revealing yellow dress with a low cut chest, open stomach, and slits up the length of the legs was the cause. She also noticed the loose decorative belt around the girl's thin waist. "Kamali? Is everything all right?"
The older girl turned as she heard the new voice, and squealed. "Kawai!" She bounded over toward Mai and began to examine her from every angle. "You're so cute! Are you one of Shinichi's little friends?"
Mai, startled by the girl's enthusiastic nature, pulled away protectively.
At this point Kam stepped between the two girls, acting as a shield for Mai. "Hey! I want to know who you are and what you're doing here." He demanded of the new girl.
The new girl completely ignored Kam's attempt at being threatening and grabbed him up in a hug, giggling all the while. "Oh Shinichi, stop pretending you don't know who I am."
Kam struggled to get free as his head was crushed into the much taller girl's breasts. "Can't…breath…"
"What's all the commotion about down here?" Shinichi made his way down the stairs, seemingly recovered from the injuries that had made him limp a moment ago.
Aijou, clad only in a towel and glasses, joined the group from the bath along with Inari. "What's going on?"
Mai looked around nervously. "I'm not sure but I think this girl is looking for onii-chan."
Inari turned, a look of mixed contempt and curiosity on her face. "This some girlfriend of yours Shinichi?"
Shinichi stared at her wide eyed. "How is it that things go from zero to my fault in two seconds?"
The tan girl looked up and, while still crushing the life out of Kam, pointed at Shinichi. "You're Shinichi?"
Shinichi nodded. "Hai."
The girl tossed Kam to the side and into the adjacent wall. She then leapt and tackled Shinichi to the ground. "Shinichi!"
Kam fell to the floor and took deep breaths. "Oh…sweet oxygen…" He stood and rubbed his head from where it had collided with the wall. "Not that I mind being out of that Amazon's death grip, but did I have to be discarded so violently?" He sweat dropped as he saw the girl still on the ground with Shinichi rubbing her cheek against his. "I guess so…"
Aijou was also watching the events on the floor and savagely kicked Shinichi in the head, sending him across the room. "What the hell are you doing?!"
The silver haired beauty cried out as her intended target was ripped from her grasp. "Hey!"
Inari raised an amused eyebrow. "You sure you two aren't a couple Aijou?" She merely laughed as Aijou glared at her.
Aijou was about to respond when she saw the girl rush across the room to Shinichi's side.
"Are you injured Shinichi?" The girl asked concerned. She smiled as Shinichi shook his head. "Good. Wait here while I deal with your attacker."
Aijou scoffed as the girl turned to her. "Oh my, I'm so scared of the ganguro." She fell silent as the scene unfolded.
The girl reached back behind her and pulled on something from her belt loops. When her hands came back to the foreground she held two very large and odd looking pistols. The girl sniffed the air. "Is that the scent of fear?" She gasped as Shinichi placed himself in the scopes.
"I thought you were just going to start a cat fight." Shinichi frowned and reached up to grab the guns, one in each hand, and forced them to point in directions that wouldn't endanger anyone. "Not pull hardware. I don't like people who threaten my friends."
The girl frowned a moment, and then smiled brightly as she pulled the triggers. She laughed like crazy as everyone, save Shinichi, dove for cover from the…
"Pop-gun flags?" Inari asked in disbelief. She ground her teeth, angry at being made a fool of. "Ok, she dies." She stood, not caring as her towel slipped a bit, and moved toward the prankster.
Shinichi held up a hand to stop Inari, then faced the new girl. "Enough games, who are you?"
The girl smiled and hugged Shinichi close. "You silly, it's me, Erika."
Shinichi blinked.
The room was silent as everyone attempted to recall this girl. It was Aijou who finally remembered her. "You're Aunt Su's niece! Erika Lu! You used to play with us all the time when you came to visit Aunt Su!"
Erika smiled and nodded. "Hai!"
"That's nice, but what's with the fascination with Shinichi?" Kam demanded.
"Yes, I would like to know too!" Mai seconded.
Erika smiled. "That's easy." She jumped up on Shinichi's back.
Shinichi was surprise at how light Erika was, and easily supported her. "And that is?"
Erika leaned forward over Shinichi's shoulder and kissed him on the cheek. "I came to take you home to Molmol." She smiled playfully. "And there we will be married and rule together."
People on the street turned their eyes on the Hinata-sou as an unimaginably loud "what?!" was heard.
Aijou crossed the gap between the two parties quickly and grabbed Shinichi by the ear, lifted him off his feet, and placed him roughly behind her before facing off against Erika. "Just who the hell do you think you are?"
"Careful." Inari cautioned with a smirk. "You almost seem jealous."
"Bite me." Aijou replied without turning.
Erika seeming unaffected by the loss of her resting place dropped easily to her feet. "What's wrong? This was decided a long time ago."
Aijou, her eyes on fire, turned to Shinichi. "Is this true?"
Shinichi blinked. "You're kidding right?"
Aijou sighed in relief.
"I can't even remember what I had for breakfast this morning." Shinichi finished, causing everyone to face fault. His face fell as Aijou seemed to grow three stories taller over him. "Was that the wrong answer?" He laughed nervously.
Kam covered Mai's eyes with his hand. "Should have quit while ahead Shin."
On the street, the people looked up again as the evening silence was rent asunder by an inhuman wail of pain.
ooooo
Aijou sat back down in the bath and crossed her arms. "That stupid, pushy, insensitive, baka!"
Inari sank into the warm water diagonally across from Aijou. She let her head lean back and rest on the stone ledge around the edge of the bath. "You ok over there?"
Mai tiptoed into the water at the far edge of the pool. She looked around at the other girls and quickly sat down to hide her body under the water.
"Cannonball!" Erika took a running start from the changing room doors and scrambled to the top of one of the tall decorative stones in the bath. Without pausing, she stripped off her towel and flipped with a half-twist into the air. As she fell she pulled her legs in and wrapped her arms around her body and landed with a large splash into the water. When she surfaced again she was greeted by the unhappy looks of the three other resident's soaked faces. "Oops?"
Aijou sighed and sat back. "Could you not do that every again?"
Erika nodded. "Sure!"
Inari glared at the foreign princess. "I really don't like you."
Erika blinked. "Why not?"
"You're way to peppy." Inari replied.
"Peppery?" Erika asked uncertain.
"No…" Inari groaned. "Never mind. Just stop being so…" She stopped as Erika began splashing around in the water like a little kid. "Like that."
Erika stopped splashing around just long enough to make her way over to Inari and leaned in close to her face. "But why can't I act like this? It's fun." Her purple eyes were big, round, and innocent, honestly seeking an answer from Inari.
Inari stumbled over her words in search of an answer. "Because its annoying!" She finally answered and moved away, grumbling to herself. "I can deal with nasty looks and death glares no problem, but a stupid set of puppy dog eyes and I lose my focus. How very frustrating…"
Mai, during this time, had slowly made her way over to the group of girls. "Erika-san?" She called timidly.
Erika turned. "Not Erika-san, just Erika, no san."
"Oh, ok." Mai looked down into the water. "Was what you said true before? About taking onii-chan away to marry him?" She face faulted as she saw Erika had pulled a book seemingly from thin air and was looking through it.
"Onee, oni, onii-chan…Oh! It means big brother!" Erika tossed the book away and turned to see the confused looks of the other girls. "Nani? I haven't spoken Japanese in a long time." She turned to the blonde girl. "Wow, you're Shinichi's little sister? I thought you were the dorm maid or something."
Mai looked down into the water again. "No…I'm…"
Erika dove under the water and swam over behind the smaller girl before grabbing her up in a big hug.
Mai screamed at the surprise move and struggled to get free. "Let go!"
Erika squeezed tighter. "I don't want to, you're so cute, and you're related to Shinichi."
"Please let me go!" Mai pulled harder, but wasn't strong enough to free herself.
Erika just giggled and continued to hold her.
"That's enough." Aijou moved over to try to try and help. "Let her go Erika."
Inari cracked her knuckles. "Or keep holding her and I'll be happy to assist you in letting her go."
Mai continued to pull away and finally managed to get free. As she pulled free one corner of her towel got stuck in Erika's grasp, and as a result Mai was stripped of her protective covering. In her mind, time seemed to stand still for the briefest moment before she ran off in tears.
The three young women blinked at the scene.
"What was that?" Inari asked.
Erika looked genuinely upset now. "I was just trying to play with her. I didn't mean to hurt her feelings."
Aijou stood and began to follow after the girl. "Whatever happened, we should go check on her." She stopped as the door to bath was literally blown off it's track.
In the doorway stood Shinichi, seething with anger. "Who's responsible!?" His anger seemed to intensify as he received no answer. "Who made Mai cry!?"
Erika stood. "I think it was me."
Shinichi stormed through the bath, heedless of the fact that the girls were barely covered, and locked his eyes on Erika's.
Erika swallowed hard. The look in Shinichi's eyes frightened her, his eyes were full of hurt and anger. His eyes seemed to be shifting of their own volition, as though there was a dark shadow moving around just under the white's of his eyes. She shrank back a bit as Shinichi raised his hand. She squinted her eyes and prepared for the hit she thought was coming. She opened her eyes when nothing happened. She looked over and saw that Shinichi was staring at a small ribbon that was hanging from his arm.
Shinichi turned after catching Erika's stare from the corner of his eye. He gave one final glare, but it lacked the venom it had had a moment before. He ground his teeth and turned away. Just as he reached where the door used to be, he stopped. "You ever make her cry again…" He punched a hole through the door jam. "It'll take a lot more than this ribbon and a promise to stop me." He left the room. "Dinner's ready, leave some for Mai."
"What about you?" Aijou called after him, but received no response.
Erika sank to her knees in the water and simply stared at the hole in the wall. "Shinichi-kun…"
Inari crossed her arms over her chest. "A ribbon and a promise? That's all it took to hold him back?" She rubbed her wrist where there was a small bruise forming. "Wish I had known that before."
"Before?" Erika looked questioningly.
Aijou nodded. "You must have a very good guardian spirit." She walked over and examined the damage to the dorm. "I'll let it go for now, but he's repairing this tomorrow." She began to sort through the rubble. "Now where the hell are my clothes?"
ooooo
Kam stood in the kitchen washing the dishes left over for dinner. "Why do I always get stuck with this job? It's not my fault I can't cook, that's no reason to stick me with clean up every time." He jumped as someone picked up a dish next to him and began cleaning.
Mai looked down into the sink full of dirty dishes. "Gomen nasai. I didn't mean to leave you will all this mess."
Kam nodded. "It's not a problem."
"But you just said…" Mai began.
Kam blushed a bit. "Yeah, don't mind that, I always gripe when I do dishes."
Mai nodded. "Oh, I can finish now then if you don't want to."
Kam nearly left and then stopped. He wiped his hands on his shirt to remove the soap suds, and then raised Mai's face. He was shocked to see that her eyes were quite red and her cheeks were puffy from crying. "What happened?"
Mai turned away. "It's nothing, really."
"Bull." Kam stated, surprising both himself and the young girl. "What's wrong?" His voice was softer as he asked again.
Mai shook her head. "It's nothing, I just over reacted before." She went back to washing the dishes, trying to avoid the topic.
Kam picked up another dish and began to scrub. "If you say so." He didn't believe her entirely, but she wasn't going to talk to him now. He'd wait, and be there when she was ready to talk. He placed the dish in the drying rack and reached for another. He stopped as his hand brushed against Mai's hand under the soapy water.
Mai blushed and pulled away. "Gomen nasai…" Her eyes darted toward Kam for a moment and was surprised to see Kam's face was flushed as well. She looked back down into the sink and took another plate. "We should finish."
Kam nodded and the two finished the chore quickly. He placed the last dish back into the cabinet and turned go, but stopped. Mai stood as the sink staring into the soapy water, seeming to study her reflection. "Mai-chan?"
Mai startled and reached beneath the water to pull the drain plug. She smiled weakly at Kam as she walked away from the kitchen. "I'm kind of tired. I think I'll go to bed early tonight."
Kam wanted to stop her, to try and get her to tell him what was wrong. Instead, he nodded. "I'll walk you to your room."
She blushed, but nodded. "Arigatou…" Mai walked to her room slowly, her eyes constantly shifting from the path ahead of her and her companion beside her. Despite her slow pace, she reached the door of her second floor room not long after her walk began. "Goodnight."
Kam nodded. "Mai-chan?"
"Hai?"
Kam swallowed and turned away slightly. "I know it's not much, but if you need someone to talk to, I'm right across the hall."
Mai blinked at his offer, then smiled. "Thank you Kamali."
Kam nodded as Mai opened her door and slipped inside. "Sure." He entered his own room and closed the door. He picked up his CD player, swapped out the disc within, and lay down on his futon with the headphones on. With the press of the play button, the music began and Kam's consciousness began to wane. "I just wish she would call me Kam like everyone else…" He yawned just before falling asleep.
ooooo
A sound echoed about the Hinata-sou. It was slow and haunting, yet hopeful in tone as well. Erika followed that sound to the roof, where she stopped to listen to the beautiful melody of Shinichi's music.
Shinichi sat on the far side of the roof with his legs hanging over the edge. His face was turned toward the sight of the three-quarter moon that hung high overhead, but his eyes were closed as his fingers ran over the keys of the saxophone he held.
Erika slowly crept over to where Shinichi sat and took up a spot beside him. She didn't know whether or not Shinichi knew she was there, but her presence didn't seem to affect his playing. She closed her eyes and listened, letting the music carry her spirit. At her side she rested her own instrument. Her eyes opened a few minutes later as Shinichi ended his song on a sad, lilting, note. "That was…"
"What do you want Erika?" Shinichi lay his instrument across his lap, but didn't turn as he cut her off.
Erika's face fell a little bit at the harsh tone of his voice. "You're still mad?" When she got now response she continued. "I'm sorry I made her cry."
"I'm not the one you need to apologize to." Shinichi stated coolly.
Erika nodded. "Oh…I think Mai went to bed already. I guess I'll talk with her tomorrow morning."
Shinichi nodded. "I think that would be a good start."
Erika brightened as she heard Shinichi's voice regained some of it's former warmth. "What were you playing be before?"
Shinichi shrugged. "Just a melody that came to me, I call it Loving Season."
Erika smiled. "Loving Season? Is it for me?"
Shinichi looked out over the city. "It's really amazing, how much the view has changed from up here."
Erika frowned. "You're changing the subject."
Shinichi nodded. "Yep."
With a sigh, Erika picked up the instrument at her side. She held up the flute so that Shinichi could see it. "Maybe I could join you next time?"
Shinichi looked between the tan girls face and the tarnished silver flute. "You think you can keep up with me with that old thing?"
Erika clutched the flute close to her chest. "Hey! This flute was my mommy's! Don't make fun of it!"
"Your mom's huh?" Shinichi looked away. "Sorry."
"It's ok."
"How come you have it?" Shinichi pointed to the flute.
Erika looked down over the roof sadly. "Mommy doesn't play it anymore. She's always officiating this, or overseeing that. Telling me how important her duties are as the queen, and that…" She looked up and smiled. "Anyway, she gave it to me and I taught myself how to play."
Shinichi raised an eyebrow. "Taught yourself? You any good?"
Erika brought the flute to her lips and began to play the first few notes softly.
"Tomare, tomare." Shinichi waved his hands.
Erika looked up at Shinichi as though she was going to cry. "Why should I stop? What's wrong?"
"There's no push behind it." Shinichi pointed out. "No heart, no spirit. You're just playing notes, not music."
"So, what should I do?" Erika asked.
Shinichi shrugged. "Think of something to inspire you, play that feeling, that's music. Like this." He stood, licked his lips, and wet the reed of his sax. He then started to play.
Erika sat completely mesmerized. The tune before had captivated her as well, but in a different way. It had been slow and heartfelt, but this, this was upbeat, fast, driving. It made you want to get up and go do something, anything at all. She finally responded as Shinichi, while still playing, motioned for her to try again. Erika stood and placed the flute to her lips. "Something that inspires me?" She thought silently. "What could that be?" She watched as Shinichi poured his entire being into his music. She smiled and began to play.
Shinichi stopped as Erika's music began to take over his own. It wasn't quite as fast as his own playing, but that gave their impromptu song a nice offset beat. He nodded and joined in again.
Erika smiled, throwing her off the beat a moment, as Shinichi began to counter harmonize her music. She had to turn away to keep from laughing outright as he began to dance to the music.
Together, they jammed the night away, completely unaware of the eyes and ears that took in the performance.
ooooo
Inari awoke to the sound of barely notable footsteps in the hall outside her door. Anyone else would have missed them, but she had been forced to train herself to be better then most people. On the street, hearing first meant hurting less later. She crept to the door and slid it open a crack.
"Did you two have to do that all night?" Kam complained as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.
Shinichi gave the older boy a gentle shove. "Oh deal with it. Just cause the rest of you guys can't function after dark doesn't mean I'm not going to have some fun if the opportunity presents itself."
"I thought you were ready to kill Erika yesterday though." Kam rounded the corner and headed down the stairs.
Shinichi shrugged as he followed. "We worked it out."
Inari slid the door open wider and followed the two boys. "Just where are those two going this early?" She made her way to the front door and found no one in sight. Quickly slipping on her shoes, she ran outside and looked around. She smiled as she noticed that there was still dew on the morning ground, but was confused to see that there was only one set of tracks. She shrugged it off and ran after the trail. She stopped a she heard the voices again.
"Keep your left hand higher, and angle it more." Shinichi instructed. "It will help to deflect a punch without you having to absorb the full force of the blow. Here, watch."
Inari climbed over a few fallen tree branches to gain a view of the waterfall. Kam and Shinichi were atop the cliff where the waterfall began. They were barefoot in the water, and moving around as though they were sparring in slow motion.
"I see." Kam nodded. "I would use this technique to guard against my opponent, and then…" He spun and reached out to strike at Shinichi's exposed flank, only to be stopped by Shinichi's expert hand.
Inari blinked at the fluid motions of both the boys. "They are moving more slowly for the sake of practice, but still…they may be even better then my old man." She moved to head back for the dorm, and tripped over one of the trees exposed roots.
Shinichi turned as he heard the grunt of pain. A moment later he fell over the waterfall as Kam kicked him in the head and crashed into the pond below.
Kam leaned over the edge. "Sorry."
Shinichi sat up in the water, spitting a large amount of the ponds contents through his teeth like a fountain. "I wasn't planning on a bath until later…" He glanced over to where Inari was still on the ground. "Hey."
Inari stood up quickly. "How disappointing, I thought I could get some good blackmail photos of you."
Shinichi blinked. "Kay…"
"Shinichi! Get out of the way!" Kam called.
Shinichi's eyes went wide. "Don't you dare!" He looked up just in time to see Kam's feet land on his face.
Inari blinked, showing no emotion, at the scene before her.
Kam stood in the water. "Shinichi? Where are you?" He turned and saw Inari for the first time. "Morning! What are you doing out here?"
"I was…"
"Kam!" Shinichi rose out of the water and grabbed the smaller boy around the waist. "No baka!" Shinichi lifted Kam off the ground a moment just before slamming him back under the water.
Inari watched as the two boys fought and yelled insults at each other. "All the grace they fought with before, it's gone now…" She waited a few minutes more until Kam and Shinichi collapsed on the banks of the pond exhausted. She shook her head and started to head home.
"Inari?" Kam pulled himself from the water. "You didn't answer my question. Did you want to spar with us or something?"
Inari laughed. "Spar with you? You guys aren't even in the same class as I am."
"Looked different the other day." Shinichi muttered.
"What was that ass?" Inari demanded.
Shinichi rose to the challenge. "You heard me. And if you aren't out here to train with us? What are you here for? You spying on us?"
Inari forced her jaw to unclench before her overgrown tooth made her lip bleed. "Like I said, I was just looking for an opportunity for blackmail photos."
"Photos?" Kam scratched his head. "Of what?"
Inari shrugged. "I though you and the ass over there were coming out here to play doctor. Thought it might be an opportunity for some quick yen."
Kam scratched his head again. "Playing doctor?" He turned to Shinichi. "Is that some kind of training program?"
Shinichi fell over in shock for a moment before he jumped up again. "How is it that you're older than me and be so…so…clueless!"
Kam blinked. "Nani?"
Shinichi sighed. "Come here." He leaned over and whispered into Kam's ear what Inari had been referring to.
Kam's eyes when wide as he heard the explanation. "Hey!"
Inari laughed. "You really are clueless."
Kam called to the girl as she started to walk away. "Inari! You're always welcome to join us anytime you want!"
"Says who!?" Shinichi demanded. "I'm the one teaching the lesson here! You can't just invite someone else like that!"
Kam turned an angry glare on the younger boy. "If she wants to join us, you will let her or I will stop tutoring you!"
Shinichi grumbled and walked away. "Whatever, she's to stuck up to join us anyway. It'll never happen."
Inari ground her teeth. "I don't have time to baby-sit you while you play fight." She turned and stalked off without looking back, hiding the fact that she was losing the stoic face she had shown earlier as a small smile turned her lips. "Still, it was nice of Kam to invite me." She whispered.
ooooo
Aijou fell into her seat at the dinning room table and let her head fall forward with a dull thud. "Good thing I have that suspension, I'm so tired."
Mai walked in from the kitchen and placed a cup of coffee next to the groggy Goth's head. "Trouble sleeping?"
Aijou lifted her head and nodded as she sipped her drink. "What? You slept through all that?"
Mai nodded. "Papa used to play music for me when I was little and I couldn't sleep. So would onii-chan, when Papa was away." The little girl smiled and looked down. "It was very nice, and I always had good dreams when they would help me get back to sleep."
Aijou sipped some more of her coffee. "Guess you slept well then last night." She turned as the door slid open and slammed shut again. She blinked as Inari strode in, looking half-amused, half-annoyed. "Something wrong?"
"That…stupid…little…ass!" Inari growled through her teeth. "I swear one of these days I'm going to…" She reached out into the air and made a strangling grip, along with an exasperated yell.
Mai groaned and held her face in her hands. "What did onii-chan do now?"
"Wait a minute." Aijou's head popped up of the table. "Where's Shinichi?"
Inari made a face and pointed toward the general direction of the waterfall. "He's training with Kam."
Aijou stood quickly, knocking her chair over onto the floor. "Then who the hell was snoring in his room when I passed it?!" She ran off toward the boy's room, leaving Inari and Mai behind.
"I don't care what she says," Inari commented as she stood and followed at a much calmer pace. "She has a thing for him."
"Onii-chan?" Mai wondered aloud. "And Aijou? You really think so?"
Inari nodded. "Hasn't your mom ever told you about this place?"
Mai shook her head.
"Urashima women tend to end up with the first man that see's them naked." Inari shrugged. "At least that's how mother told it." She stopped as she reached the landing.
Aijou stood in Shinichi's doorway, looking rather ashen as she took in the sight before her. She walked into the room and pulled the cover off of the body on the futon. Her anger quickly began to overtake her initial shock. For there, on Shinichi's futon, Erika slept soundly.
The princess lay on he back and was spread rather haphazardly across the mattress. Her long silver hair was mussed and tossed about on the pillow. Her face wore a contented smile, at least when she wasn't snoring. It was her clothes however that caught the most attention, her yellow dress was gone and replaced with one of Shinichi's oversized sleeveless shirts that hung off her thin frame and a pair of Shinichi's boxer shorts. She rolled over in her sleep. "Shinichi-kun…"
Mai looked back and forth between the girl on the futon, and the girl looming over the futon. "Ano…"
Inari motioned for Mai to remain silent. "This should be fun."
Aijou grabbed Erika's shirt and lifted the girl off the futon. "What are you doing in here and in Shinichi's clothes?"
Erika continued to snore. "Shinichi-kun…that tickles…"
Inari pushed Mai back a step.
"Tickles?!" Aijou's eyes went red with flame. "If this tickles you'll die laughing from this!" She spun and threw Erika through the open window. Aijou looked down as she felt a tug on her own shirt. "Crap…" The two girls went tumbling out the window and crashed onto the front walkway.
Erika sat up with a yawn and looked around. "How did I get down here?" She stretched her arms, realizing for the first time that she was holding Aijou's shirt in her hand. "Huh? Aijou?"
"Oh, make the world stop spinning." Aijou groaned.
Mai and Inari joined them at the front door, except they took the stairs. They tried to contain their laughter, but were failing miserably.
At the front stairs that lead to the street, someone cleared his throat. "Excuse me."
Aijou got to her feet quickly and did her best to look in control of the situation. She looked over the young man.
He was tall and pale skinned, though not unhealthy in the slightest. His brown eyes were stern and showed clearly his deep rooted discipline and power. He wore a blue suit and had short black hair that ended just above his shoulders. A single belt across his chest supported a katana at his back. "I apologize for disturbing you in the middle of…whatever this is. However, I require a few moments of your time."
Aijou raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest. "You're awfully presumptuous for someone who hasn't even formally introduced himself yet."
The young man nodded. "You are right, I apologize for my rudeness." He reached into his suit coat and pulled what looked like a small wallet. He opened it up and displayed the contents to the girls.
Inari clenched her fists. "Aijou, I think we should have him leave."
Mai twiddled her fingers nervously. "But, he's…"
"What does an officer of the Kyoto Police Department want with us?" Erika asked.
Aijou frowned. "I'm wondering the same thing. Officer…?"
"Detective, actually." The man corrected. "And please relax, no one is in any trouble. I merely need to ask you all some questions." He bowed to the them. "I thank you for your assistance. I am…"
End Chapter Four
Rider: So? What do you all think? Good? Bad? Other? Drop me a line and let me know.
Star: What the hell are the cops doing at the Hinata-sou? (looks around) Where's Wraiths?
Rider: He's learning a very important lesson about touching other people's things without permission.
ooooo
Pawnshop owner: (counting his money) Anything else I can get you sir?
Wraiths: (Crying as he hands over more money) Yes, my stereo, my TV, my ipod, my…
ooooo
Star: Wow…remind me never to cross you.
Rider: Sure. Till the next, live well people.
Star: Bye!
ooooo
Bio
Name: Lu Erika, daughter of Lu Lamba and Su Amalla, Su Kaolla's niece
Age: 17, an only child
Quick facts: Like her aunt, she has periods in which she is rather over exuberant, but is often more calm like her parents. She moves through life with a child-like naiveté, yet her whole reason to come to Hinata was to pick up her intended groom, Shinichi. As a result, she and Aijou are often at odds with one another.
