Disclaimer: I still hold no copyright papers in my possession. Dammit.
Author's note: Slightly longer chappie this time, and some hints about those two years in Hong Kong.
Chapter 7
Taiitsukun looked at the folder strewn all over her desk. She tapped a pen and looked at the NyanNyan.
"Are you sure? This information is accurate?"
The little blue-haired girl looked indignant. "Of course! NyanNyan does good work!"
Taiitsukun sighed. Of course the NyanNyan did. Taiitsukun wouldn't have created them otherwise. Still… "That silly girl is still bothering me about this, you know."
The NyanNyan looked uncomfortable. "NyanNyan also. NyanNyan knows that she wants to go back."
"Why, I don't know. Certainly her living conditions are much better now…doubtless its some deep-seated psychological issue from her childhood."
The NyanNyan looked puzzled and cocked her head. "Should NyanNyan schedule a psych appointment?"
Taiitsukun snorted. "No. God no. That would make it worse, knowing her. But what on earth did she do?" She sent the NyanNyan a look when the little girl opened her mouth. "Oh, I know what the file says. But nothing Mai did would warrant the triad still having an open kill order on her head. She wasn't even involved with the real triad, just some two-bit pig with a Lolita/school-girl perversion who somehow managed to convince a lot of other idiots to follow him." Taiitsukun began tapping her pen again. "There's something else going on here."
Mai sat bolt upright in her bed, breathing heavily. The alarm clock blinked a red 12:30 am at her from her desk and she realized it had just been a dream.
"Shit," she muttered and rubbed a hand over her eyes. She took several deep breaths to force herself to calm down; it figured that the night after exams, the first time she could get a decent sleep in days, she would be plagued by nightmares. Mai looked down and noticed that she was holding a knife in her hand; apparently she had drawn in from under her pillow when she woke up. It was bigger than the pocketknife she usually carried…one that she assumed Taiitsukun didn't know about or she probably would have mentioned it by now. Grimacing, Mai reached under her pillow for the sheath and suddenly shivered.
"The hell?" She rubbed her shoulders, trying to warm them. It was strangely cold in this room, far colder than a normal winter's night should be. Did the heater give out…? Well, it was an old house… Getting up, she flipped the light switch—and nothing happened. Frowning, she tried again. Still nothing. All the power was off? A strange prickling sensation ran down her spine, and she carefully padded across the room to the doors leading to her balcony. She listened hard, then edged outside to scan the yard and the rooftop. No one. Coming back inside, she repeated the procedure for the hallway outside her bedroom door, with the same results, but she still wasn't satisfied. She yanked a sweatshirt and a pair of socks over her pajama and went next door.
Meian was still sleeping, as expected; she had gotten even less sleep than Mai that week, since she wanted to do more than just pass her tests. It took a particularly hard shake to wake her.
"Mai, wha—" A cold hand clapped over her mouth. Mai removed it and held a finger up to her own lips. "Mai, what's going on?" Meian whispered. "What are you—" She broke off as she shivered. "Why is it so cold?"
Mai went to Meian's closet and tossed the first sweater she found there onto the bed. "C'mon, put that on an' get up."
Meian frowned, still not understanding. She noted that Mai's voice had changed. It had a stronger, rougher accent—more like when she had first met her in middle school. "Mai, what is it?"
"Power's out," Mai replied, saying nothing of what else she was thinking. "You're gonna freeze if you stay there, so let's go down to the living room." She peered around the doorway carefully.
"Okay…" Meian pulled the sweater on over her nightgown, and shuffled her feet into slippers. Joining Mai, she saw the metallic glint in her friend's hand. "Mai, what is this?" she demanded.
"Okay, I think it's safe-what?" Mai looked down and cursed. She still held the knife in her hand.
Meian recognized that knife. "Mai—"
Loud knocks from downstairs made them both jump. Someone yelled but the words were muffled. They recognized the voices though.
"It sounds like…Chichiri and Tasuki," Meian said.
Mai grabbed her friend's hand and pulled her out into the hall, then edged carefully down the stairs. At the bottom, Mai scanned the first floor again, ignoring a second set of knocks. Only then she went to the doorway (keeping Meian behind her at all times) and silently thanked Taiitsukun for putting them in a place with a peephole. It was Tasuki and Chichiri standing outside, and she didn't see or sense anybody else around them. She opened the door a fraction. "Yeah?"
"Your power out too?" Tasuki asked.
Mai nodded.
"It's like that all up and down the street," Chichiri said, "and we can't get through to the company no da. So we were wondering—"
"All up an' down?" Mai asked. "Not just us?"
"Yes," Chichiri said, frowning at the sudden relief on Mai's face.
"Phew," Mai breathed and pulled the door open wider so they could see a sleepy looking Meian behind her
Giving Mai a funny look, Chichiri continued. "Anyway, we were wondering if you two would like to come over no da. It'll be easier to keep warm that way."
The two women looked at each other. "That'll be wonderful," Meian answered.
They arrived next door a few minutes later. Everyone else had already camped out around the table in the living room, and shifted to make more room. With the addition of Mai and Meian's blankets, there was enough for them to share between every two. Tasuki had brought his tessen down as well, and Chichiri spelled the heat charm on it to glow dully instead of breaking out into flame. Putting it under the table and draping a blanket out it, they could stick their feet under and keep relatively warm. For some strange reason, Mai also brought an ornate-looking mirror about the size of a tea saucer and was banging on the side of it like a bad TV aeriel.
"What is that?" Nuriko asked.
"One of Taiitsukun's mirrors," Mai replied absently. She shook it. "C'mon, you damn thing—hey!"
"Mai-Mai?"
Everyone jumped as another voice came from the mirror. "Was that…a NyanNyan no da?" Chichiri asked.
"Hey," Mai said, ignoring the people crowding around her. "Is Taiitsukun there?"
The image of the NyanNyan shook its head. "No, Taiitsukun's off on business."
"Business?" Mai echoed. "The hell? Why—never mind. I don't care. But what's the deal here, eh? The damn power's out and it's fucking freezing! Call the company and ask 'em how long it's gonna take."
"Okay!" The Nyan Nyan's image vanished
"So that's one of Taiitsukun's famous mirrors," Hotohori commented. "Did your…grandmother give it to you?"
Mai was about to retort that she wasn't her grandmother when the NyanNyan reappeared. "NyanNyan back!"
"I can see that. What'd they say?"
"NyanNyan go see power company guy and he said, 'AAAHHH! You nearly give me heart attack!'. Then NyanNyan say—"
"Okay, okay, just tell me how long we have to wait before the power's back on."
The little girl looked miffed at having her story interrupted, but complied. "They tell NyanNyan the transformers are covered in ice. It will take a few hours to fix."
Everyone groaned.
"NyanNyan can go help them fix," the NyanNyan offered. "NyanNyan good at fixing things!"
"No!" Mai said quickly, in tandem with Chichiri who also had experience with NyanNyans and mechanical repairs. "No, that's okay, let them handle it. Thanks, NyanNyan."
The NyanNyan saluted and the mirror went blank.
"Well, looks like we're stuck here for awhile," Nuriko said. He suddenly reached behind him and pulled out several glass bottles. "Nuriko Specials all around!"
"Hey, those are mine!" Tasuki protested.
Tamahome and Hotohori turned a little pale; they had been on the receiving end of one of Nuriko's infamous Specials before. "Nuriko…I'm not sure that's a good idea…"
"Oh, don't be a party pooper, Hotohori-kun. Meian-san would like to try one, wouldn't she?"
Meian sweat-dropped, not liking being put on the spot. "Er…"
"So…what're you doing for Christmas?"
Mai turned her head to look over at Tasuki. It was almost dawn and the two of them were the only ones left awake; Mai was leaning back against the couch cushions with her black braid coiled like a snake behind her. She gave him a sardonic look. "That's gotta be the most pathetic question ever. Why don't you ask me what the weather's like while you're at it?"
He glared at her. "I'm making conversation. Maybe you've heard of it?"
She snorted and shifted to sit up straight.
"So what are you doing for Christmas?"
"Nothing."
"What d'you mean, nothing?"
"I mean, nothing. I'm just staying here."
"What?" Tasuki looked surprised. "Seriously? Aren't you going to go over to Taiitsukun's or something?"
Mai snorted. "No way. Not if I can help it." She looked over at him. "Would you want to spend two weeks with the old hag?
"Why not? She's got that fucking enormous house, doesn't she? You wouldn't have to hardly see her."
"Yeah, right. With mirrors in every room? She'd be spying on me the whole damn time, I know it. Then, there'd be all those NyanNyans everywhere doing the same. No thank you."
"What about the rest of your family? Can't you stay with them?"
"What is this, Twenty Questions? Besides, I'm adopted, remember? I don't have any other family." Before he could ask about that too, she fired off a question of her own. "So, what about you? What're you doing for the holidays?"
Tasuki made a face. "Wish I could stay here. No, I'm going home. All those damn women."
"What do you mean by that?"
"In my house, I'm the only guy. There's just Ma, and my five older sisters."
"Five—" Mai stared at him, and then burst out laughing.
"Hey, what the hell's so damn funny?" Tasuki demanded, nettled.
"You have five—" Mai couldn't finish and doubled over in laughter. It always astonished him when she actually laughed, and not just smirked. Amazing what the emotion did to her face; all those sharp angles softened and lit up. Of course, since her mirth was often at his expense, he didn't fully appreciate it
Mai finally stopped and wiped her eyes. "Oh God, that explains a lot. So what happened to your dad?"
Tasuki shrugged. "I don't know."
"What? How can you not know?"
"Well, he split before I was born. I never met him."
"Oh." She paused. "Sorry." And she actually did look sorry—or maybe that was just residual Nuriko Special in his system.
"Whatever." Tasuki drained the last of the beer and stuck the empty can on the table. "It doesn't really matter much to me anymore."
"Why—" Mai began, and then stopped. Perhaps remembering her own aversion to personal questions.
Tasuki yawned, and looked at his watch. "Shit, it's late," he muttered. "I think I'll knock off. Pass me one of those pillows, would ya?"
Mai tossed one at him, and soon after succumbed herself.
"Aww, isn't that cute?"
"I thought they didn't like each other."
"Well, to be fair, she has been acting nicer lately—oh, she's waking up."
Mai opened her eyes to see grinning faces looking down at her and almost groaned. Though she was more of a morning person than her friend Meian, she shared the universal dislike of bright, cheerful faces when she herself didn't share the same emotion. She opened her mouth next, presumably to tell said faces to fuck off when she realized what she had been using as a pillow. She shot up quickly and ended up knocking herself back into Tasuki's lap when her skull collided with the coffee table.
"Goddamnit…oww…" she said and felt murderous. They just wouldn't stop grinning…
Tasuki woke up at this, and blinked blearily around. "Wha-?"
"Hey, Sleeping Beauty."
"Shuddup, Bakahome," Tasuki muttered, rubbing his eyes. "When th'lights come back on?"
"Around 6 'o'clock no da," Chichiri told him.
Tasuki tried to stand up and was hampered by the weight in his lap. "The hell? Hey! Get off!"
"What do you think I'm trying to do?" Mai shot back. She sat up again, more carefully this time. Tasuki stood up and immediately wished he hadn't. He clapped a hand over his mouth.
"Bathroom's that way," Hotohori pointed, looking amused. Tasuki ran off and they winced at the next sounds they heard.
"Hangover," Tamahome said, with a smirk.
Nuriko looked at him. "I seem to remember somebody else wasn't feeling too hot either until he begged Mits to Heal him…"
After everyone ate breakfast (almost everyone; Tasuki still looked a little green), Mai and Meian gathered their blankets and returned next door. Soon after that, people began their exodus out of the two houses; it was the first day of the holiday vacation, after all, and they need to get going. All except for Mai, that is, who just waved her friend off at the door. Meian, despite Mai's heated assertions that being alone was no great hardship, felt a twinge of guilt as she said goodbye—but when she phoned on Christmas Eve, her friend seemed fine. Therefore, when Mai opened the front door the day Meian returned, she was in for a shock.
"Mai! What happened? Y-you…you look…" Meian stuttered. Dead was the word she was looking for, but that wasn't the sort of thing you say to a friend after leaving them home alone for two weeks. But Mai did indeed resemble a corpse in every way save the most important: her face was deathly pale but for a feverish flush in her cheeks; her normally snapping blue eyes were dull and watery; she was shivering a little, even while swathed in an enormous blanket; and her black hair hung in limp strands around her face. Mai opened her mouth to say something and immediately fell into a fit of coughing. Instinctively, Meian reached out with a hand already glowing green with Healing energy.
"No!" A pink bubble dropped between Mai and Meian, releasing a NyanNyan when it popped. Meian stared at her in surprise.
"NyanNyan? What on earth are you—"
"Meian must not Heal MaiMai!" the NyanNyan said, standing squarely in between them with an uncharacteristically forbidding expression on her face.
"Okay…" Meian said, puzzled. "But why…?"
Mai laughed, a hoarse dry sound that Meian mistook for more coughs at first. Her voice was even worse, worn to a rasping thread. "'Cause th'hag wants me t'suffer, tha's why." Then she really did start coughing. Alarmed, Meian and the NyanNyan helped Mai back to the couch to lie down. Another NyanNyan came in from the kitchen carrying a bottle of cough syrup and a glass of water. Mai looked at the medicine in distaste but downed it nevertheless. Meian jumped as there was a large bang from outside.
"Oh no, my luggage!" She had forgotten about it. Hurriedly standing up, she stared in surprise at the three other NyanNyans who were trying to pull the suitcases up the stairs. "How many of you are there?"
"Kyaa!" One of the NyanNyans lost her grip in the luggage handle and went tumbling down the stairs.
"Oh dear…" Meian hurried over and helped the little girl up. "Here, I can take care of the rest of that…" The second of the trio hopped down to "fix fix!" her fallen comrade while Meian helped the remaining one carry the rest of her stuff up. By the time they had finished doing that, Mai had fallen asleep.
Mai stayed asleep for the next few hours, hours Meian spent finding out just what had happened to her friend. It wasn't easy; if Meian had to choose between a NyanNyan or a goldfish for the shortest attention span, it would be a tough choice. Especially when they knew sugar was in the house, though blessedly locked up by Taiitsukun before she had left.
Yes, Taiitsukun had come earlier, to check on her former ward, but couldn't stay—pressing business matters, of course. Meian would have been indignant on Mai's behalf if it were not for the fact that she knew better. Taiitsukun wouldn't have sent a quintet of her personal aides for anyone else.
Anyway, between Meian's and the NyanNyan's efforts they moved Mai off the couch and into her bedroom. It took some doing, but less than it might have normally. For one, Mai was as dead to the world as she could be without actually being dead, a state Meian had rarely seen her in; Mai was one of those people who slept with the proverbial one eye open. For two, Mai had lost weight since Meian had seen her last. At five ten, Mai wasn't exactly a lightweight and definitely not dainty (she'd give you one in the eye if you ever called her that), but she tended toward leanness and the weight loss pushed her toward the skinny.
It was one of the NyanNyans that came to get Meian when Mai finally began to stir; one of them stayed at Mai's side all the time, freeing the others and Meian to do the other things that needed doing. Meian thanked the little girl and made up a tray of hot soup and a cup of tea, carrying it very slowly up the stairs so her general klutziness wouldn't kick in. She nudged the bedroom door open with her foot to see Mai sitting up on her futon with the NyanNyan behind her, industriously fluffing pillows. Meian carefully set up the tray table over her friend's lap.
"Thanks," Mai told her, and began to eat. The sleep appeared to have done her some good; she didn't look quite as pale and the bags under her eyes had faded somewhat.
Meian watched her eat in silence for a while and then blurted out, "I'm sorry."
Mai blinked and looked over at her in surprise. The soupspoon was halfway to her mouth. "What?"
"Mai, I'm so sorry," Meian repeated, looking miserable. "I should have stayed with you. I don't know how I could have forgot, I mean, we're friends aren't we, I should have remembered but I didn't and then you—"
"Oh." Mai held up a hand to stop her friend's babbling. The spoon returned to the bowl with a chink. "The NyanNyans told you, didn't they? I told them not to," she said, sending a narrow-eyed look at the one in the room.
"Yes. Mai, I'm so—"
"Look, it wasn't your fault that I was so stupid," Mai snapped, looking annoyed. "Besides, I'm the last person who would tell you not to go home. So there's nothing to be sorry for."
"But—"
It had been the first NyanNyan that had told Meian, the one she assumed was the leader of this bunch. Mai had indeed been fine on Christmas Eve, when Meian had called, and even on Christmas Day when Taiitsukun had made a mirror call. In the days between Christmas and New Year's, however, Mai had a serious downturn in mood. It was extremely fortunate that on New Year's Day, Taiitsukun decided to make a personal visit; she found her former ward passed out in the backyard, without so much as a hat, coat or gloves on—or even shoes for that matter. By the looks of things, Mai had been like that for most of the previous night, since her clothes were soaked through and she was even covered with a fine layer of snow. A number of empty liquor bottles lay scattered around her and they saw even more covering every available bit of counter-space inside. Mai reeked of drink, which was extremely out of character—Mai rarely drank any alcohol and virulently hated drunks. However, it appeared that she had been doing just that for the past three days.
In addition to her considerable Spell Gift, Taiitsukun had a Healing capacity as well, though she needed the NyanNyans to give her a boost. With their help, she managed to cast enough spells to keep Mai from dying of exposure and save all her appendages from frostbite—but not from pneumonia. That was the reason that the NyanNyan had stopped Meian before: Mai was already stuffed so full of Healing spells (many of which the NyanNyans had to renew each day) that another, especially from a different caster, could react adversely to previous ones.
That was two days ago, and the NyanNyan had said that Mai was looking much better from when they had first discovered her. Meian had shuddered; this was better?
"It's not your fault," Mai repeated. "I always get so fucking depressed around this time of year, whether you're there or not. It was just worse this year."
"Yes, I know." Meian looked over at Mai's desk, where a small picture and a black mortuary tablet stood. The NyanNyan had said that they had found the tablet clutched in Mai's hand. "But maybe, if I had been there, I could have…stopped you…"
Mai sighed. "Maybe. Maybe not. I don't know." She changed the subject. "Hey, so how'd holidays with the 'rents go?"
"What? Oh, as usual. My mother started a new charity project…" Meian detailed her mother's newest charity escapade to Mai—her parents, though they had retired from their activist globetrotting days, still were very much "cause" addicts. Sometime Mai wondered how Meian could have come from them; while she shared the same drive to help others, her parents were enthusiastically loud and effusive to excess. Still, they were always good for a laugh.
It took some time for Mai to recover fully—perhaps because she got sick so rarely that it made the times she did that much worse. Her behavior as a patient also deteriorated as time wore on, mostly because Mai so very much hated having to depend on anyone for anything and being treated as an invalid. As soon as she got the strength to do so, she began insisting that she was fine and moving restlessly around the house—Meian had a heck of a job getting her to rest. Taiitsukun even threatened to have some of the NyanNyans sit on top of her more than once.
"HaCHOO!"
"That's fucking disgusting," Tasuki grimaced. Mai gave him the finger before accepting a tissue from Chiriko.
"Dank you," she told the little genius thickly and wiped her nose.
"You really don't look so good," Nuriko commented. "You sure you shouldn't still be in bed?"
Mai was about to answer when Kazuki came in and class started. To tell the truth, she really shouldn't have come to school that day, owing to an overwhelming sensation of feeling like crap, but there was no way she was about to spend another day in bed. The NyanNyans were driving her nuts, and she was suffocating under Meian's worried smothering. She needed to get out, even if that meant suffering under Kazuki again, but her condition got steadily worse. The near incessant sneezing, coughing and seesawing body temperatures taxed her already abbreviated academic attention span beyond repair. She spend all her energy either forcing herself not to pass out or glaring at classmates who seemed annoyingly fascinated by the germ factory in their midst.
Lunchtime came and Mai stumbled outside, the cold hitting her fevered brow like a slap in the face. She shivered and fumbled for the zipper on her coat; the books in her hands slipped. Cursing, she knelt to retrieve them only to have another explosive sneezing fit.
Another pair of hands swam into view; Mai rubbed her watering eyes and focused on Tasuki, who was picking up the fallen books while Tamahome offered her a hand up. They had been heading to the cafeteria when they had spotted their neighbor and her predicament.
"You look like shit," Tasuki told her as he brushed the snow off and handing her back her books.
The reluctant gratitude she had been feeling evaporated on the spot. "Shut up," she snarled, grabbing her things and shoving the damp objects in her backpack before they could fall again. She took a tissue from another pocket and blew her nose.
Tasuki stared at her hands. "Where are your gloves?"
"Shut up," she snapped again. No way in hell was she going to tell him that sometime during her morose drinking binge, she had decided that wool mittens were an acceptable substitute for incense.
"You really don't look so good," Tamahome said, though in a rather nicer tone. "Want us to walk you home? Free of charge."
Tasuki gave his friend an incredulous look.
Going back was actually seeming like a better and better idea all the time, despite her feelings that morning, but damned if she was going to be walked there like a child. "No thanks," she told Tamahome. "I'll—whoa." The world suddenly seemed to spin. "Uh." She threw an arm out and grabbed the nearest object the steady herself—which turned out to be Tasuki's face when she opened her eyes again. She released him as if he burned and longed to wipe that supercilious look off his face, as well as dump a bucket of gray paint over both the young men's heads. Shit, but did they have to dress that brightly? And what was with that hair anyway?
"I can make it home by myself," she ground out finally, and spun on her heel to stalk off. And would have, save the sudden movement amplified the pounding in her head, made her vision go spotty, and her feet slipping on a inconveniently placed patch of ice.
"You're fucking hopeless," a voice growled in her ear. Tasuki had caught her from behind. "Tama, you go ahead. I'm taking Miss Idiotically Pig-headed home." And with that, he grabbed her arm and began pulling her forward.
"Hey—what—wait! I can walk by myself, you fucker! Lemme go—"
Tamahome watched in mixed bemusement and amusement as Mai's strident tones faded into the distance. The latter eventually won out and he grinned. "Wait 'til the others hear about this."
After about a block, Mai managed to wrench free of the redhead's grasp. "I can walk on my own," she snapped, her voice sounding strangely strangled. Annoyed, she coughed and was repulsed by the faint movement of mucus in her throat.
Tasuki scowled and shoved his hands into his pockets. "Fine." A cold wind blew through and he watched her shiver. God, but how he hated his sense of chivalry. Giving a disgusted snort, he stripped off his scarf and wrapped it around her before she could protest and then grabbed her hands. "Are you a fucking moron? Where're your gloves?" He pulled off his own and pushed them over her cold fingers.
"You know, even when you're being nice, you're an ass," Mai told him sourly. "And what about you now? Aren't you gonna freeze?"
"As if. I grew up in the mountains, remember? I'm used to this. Besides, I don't have a cold. How'd you get so sick anyway?"
Mai felt her cheeks heat with something else besides fever. She buried her chin in the borrowed scarf, feeling the redhead's residual body heat. She mumbled something into it.
"What was that?"
Her head popped out like an irate tortoise. "I was drunk, okay?"
"Drunk?" he echoed. "I thought you didn't drink." He remembered being surprised by that (and by her effective refusal) during Nuriko's attempts to get everyone shitfaced on his deadly Nuriko Specials during that blackout.
Her cheeks were definitely red now. "I don't. Well, I mean, I don't but I did."
"And?"
"And…I passed out in the backyard and didn't wake up until the next morning." After having convinced myself that I could recall spirits from the fucking dead if I lined up the beer, wine, and whisky bottles just right while waving a pair of flaming mittens in lieu of incense. Most of her three-day bender was lost in an alcoholic haze, but she did remember that part. Unfortunately.
They reached her house. Mai fumbled with the house key and unlocked the front door, but froze two steps beyond the threshold. Maybe the germs were affecting her usual paranoia, but something didn't feel right…
Behind her, Tasuki tried to crane his neck around to see why she had stopped. "Hey, what's the holdup?" he demanded. His stomach had decided that enough was enough and was now reminding him that he was missing his lunch break because of misplaced chivalrous instincts.
Mai was about to tell him to shut up so she could try and feel out the presence through her mucus clogged senses when something dropped rather heavily on top of her head and she went down. Cursing inwardly, wishing she still had her gun (any of her guns, she wasn't real picky right now), she struggled up, spat out a mouthful of carpet, and whipped out her pocketknife—only to have it promptly taken from her. Oh God… Was there a more embarrassing way to die? In the entryway of her own residence, sitting on the horrifically cheerful Welcome mat that Meian had insisted they get, dribbling green snot out of her nose and coughing up more…
Hey. Shouldn't she be dead by now?
There was a deep rumbling sigh, and then an even deeper rumbling bass voice said, "Shiao hai, ni bun dun."
Eh? Wait…she knew that voice.
"Shan?"
Tasuki was confused. Extremely, extremely confused.
What the hell was going on? On minute he was wondering what was taking Mai so damn long to unblock the doorway so he could possibly salvage the rest of the lunch hour eating the remnants of Meian's last baking extravaganza (he could smell the cookies from here), and the next a couch cushion had dropped on Mai's head, knocking her on her ass. Even in her condition, he fully expected at least an attempt at full, blown out bitch attack, claws extended, on her assailant and he wasn't disappointed. Out came the knife she always carried with her (usually it was carefully hidden amid the folds of her clothing, but Tasuki spotted it easily due to his past gang days), and then the lunge—and the ecstatic OOC squeals of happiness, jabbering in rapidfire Chinese and hugging. Mai, hugging. What universe had he dropped into?
And the guy she was hugging (another OOC thing; Mai, hugging a guy?)… It wasn't as if he hadn't seen people that tall before—he couldn't be taller than Mitsukake—but he was also nearly as broad. A freaking wall of muscle, with the requisite bulging biceps, tree trunk legs and massive feet in black combat boots. Tasuki wondered briefly how such a giant had even gotten through the front door.
"Someone mind tellin' me what the hell's going on?" he demanded finally, when it became clear that he had been completely forgotten.
Mai broke off whatever she had been saying, and look back at him in surprise. "Eh? Tasuki? Oh. Uh…" She looked back at the giant, who lifted an eyebrow. She scowled. "No, he ain't. He's my neighbor." She sighed. "Shan, this's Tasuki. Tasuki, this's Shan. He's a friend of mine, from China."
Shan bent forward a little and extended a hand to the redhead. "A pleasure to meet you," he rumbled politely. His Japanese was perfectly passable, if accented.
Tasuki took the hand and shook it, then glanced curiously over at Mai. With a name like hers, he figured that she was Chinese, but she never talked about it. Actually, she never mentioned having any friends at all, save Meian. In fact, as he watched her chatter away again in Chinese at this Shan guy, he realized he had never seen her look so animated. Tasuki was feeling curiously left out here. "Err…" he said uncomfortably, and edged toward the door. "I'm gonna, uh, go now…"
Mai jumped as the door slammed and saw Shan give her a significant look. "What?"
He continued to give her the look. "He seemed very nice," he told her in Chinese. "And he did bring you home. You should be nicer to him."
"What, Tasuki?" Mai replied in the same language. "He's used to me being a bitch, he's—stop looking at me like that!" She threw up her hands. "This is why I hate arguing with you, you always make me feel so damn—fine, fine, I'll apologize later. Happy?" She glared him, but the effect was somewhat spoiled by the gigantic sneeze that came a second later.
Shan sighed and handed her a tissue box. She grabbed it and went into the kitchen to dispose of the used Kleenex. Shan followed her and leaned against the counter.
"So c'mon," Mai said after blowing her nose. "Spill. Whatcha doin' here?"
Shan raised an eyebrow again, a surprisingly intellectually subtle movement given his size. "Why not? Do you object?"
Mai frowned. "You know damn well why not. I thought no one was supposed to know I was here."
Shan smiled. "You needn't worry. No one else does, and I had some trouble myself. Your grandmother's confusion wards are very good."
"She's not my grandmother. She's-"
Shan grimaced as a barrage of sneezes commenced, the aftermath of which consuming five more tissues. "Little one, how on earth did you get so sick?"
"It was on New Year's," Mai said thickly.
"New—oh." He got up and put one arm carefully around her. Even at her height, Mai fit under his chin. "I very much doubt that your father would have wanted you to end up like this for his sake."
For a second, Mai leaned into his bulk. "I know," she said softly. "I found him, and when I remember him like that—I couldn't even give him a damn burial—" She spun away abruptly and grabbed at the metal teapot on the counter. "You want some tea? You should have some tea." Clattering around, she filled the teapot from the sink, stuck it on the stove and began opening the cabinets for mugs. "The tea's in the cabinet behind you," she said without turning around.
Shan sighed and opened said cabinet obligingly. And stared. "You have…quite a selection here."
"Eh? Oh, that's Meian's. She's my housemate. I'd prefer coffee but she's a tea fiend. Choose whatever." The kettle whistled and Mai took it off the stove and poured a generous amount of hot water into both of the mugs. She handed one to Shan, who took it and dipped his chosen tea bag in.
"So…" she said after watching him sip at the hot liquid for a while. "How's things back there?"
"What things?" Shan asked after the briefest of pauses.
Mai wasn't fooled. "Don't fuck with me. You know damn well what I want to know—have things calmed down yet or not?"
"Well—"
"Surely that fat bastard has forgotten me by now? I mean, I never gave him credit for a particularly long attention span…"
Shan raised an eyebrow. "Eiken was the least of your problems."
Mai fidgeted. "Look, I'm going fucking crazy out here—do you have any idea how fucking bored I am? I have to go to all these damn classes and listen to these damn teachers drone on and fucking on about things I really don't give a shit about. I can't stay here. This isn't my life and I want to go back. You know that. You've got to."
Shan looked her calmly into her eyes and said, "You can't go back."
"Don't you fucking lie to me—"
"Have I ever lied to you?"
Mai glared at him and then dropped her gaze. "No…" She slumped against the counter. "Damn it! Why the fuck is they still after me? I paid them back, didn't I? Okay, maybe not me…"
"I don't think they're after you just because of the money," Shan said dryly. "You did—"
"Well, what else was I supposed to do?" she snapped. "I mean, you would have done the same in my situation, wouldn't you?"
"Perhaps, but not to as…extreme… a degree…"
Mai snorted, but didn't push it. With six months of hindsight, she had to admit that maybe she had overreacted a little. But the bastards deserved it! She scowled darkly—and then sneezed again. "Dammit," she swore again and lunged for the tissue box. Shan sighed and handed it to her, watching as she blew her nose again.
"I think that you should get some rest."
"I'm fine," she said nasally.
"Yes," Shan said. "And all healthy people take at least five tissues to clear the snot from their nose. At the very least go sit on the couch and let me make you some soup."
"Don't—achoo!—change the subject—achoo!—GODDAMMIT."
Without a word, Shan picked her up and carried her to the couch. Given that Mai was only a couple inches shy of six feet, this was no mean feat, but he did it almost as easily as if she were ten again. He deposited her on the cushions and spread a nearby blanket on top of her. "Sit," he ordered. "Yes, the triad is still after you. They have not bothered the rest of us since your disappearance, but I have no doubt that they are still watching and things will become…difficult should you return just now. So no, you may not return yet. Should you try," Shan added mildly, "I will stop you. I may not have Taiitsukun's resources, but…"
Mai scowled, but didn't need him to finish. Shan, despite giving the impression of being a gentle giant, could be decided ungentle and immovable as the mountain of his name. She did feel faintly annoyed at how easily they were falling into the pseudo father-daughter relationship again—she was almost twenty years old, damn it!—but decided not to argue. She really wasn't feeling her best, after all.
"Chichiri!"
The blue-haired young man stopped and looked around. Who was calling his name?
"Chichiri!"
This time he pinpointed it. Running down the library's front steps was Meian. She was wearing her camel-colored wool coat over a fuzzy white sweater and a knee-length jean skirt, waving one hand wildly as her hair streamed behind her. It made a very pretty picture until the inevitable happened and her boot slipped on a patch of snow on one of the steps and she began to fall backward. Chichiri dropped his folders and lunged forward to catch her but…someone else got there first.
"Oh! S-sorry…" Meian smiled her thanks at her rescuer. "T-thank you, Brian."
"Brian" carefully removed his hands from her shoulders once he was sure she wasn't about to fall again. He put them into the pockets of his tailored khaki pants. "No problem." He had caught her from behind.
"Are you okay no da?" Chichiri asked. He felt…a little strange.
"I-I'm fine, just slipped…" Meian smiled at him. "What are you doing on campus?"
"Oh, I was—" Chichiri realized that his stuff was still on the ground…and rapidly becoming soaked. Belatedly, he picked up his now damp papers. "I was giving a presentation, no da."
"A presentation…?" Meian echoed questioningly, and then noticed her neighbor looking at the man behind her curiously. "Oh! Chichiri, this is Brian. Brian, this is Chichiri."
Brian held out a hand. "Nice to meet you."
He looked at little like Hotohori, Chichiri thought as he shook the hand. Well, a Hotohori with short, brown hair, blue eyes, and stylish wire-rims. But they both shared that same effect of looking as if they just stepped from the pages of men's fashion magazine.
"Are you going home?" Meian asked, oblivious. "May I walk with you?"
"O-of course, no da," Chichiri said, blinking. Giving himself a mental shake, he said, "Of course. You needn't ask no da."
"Oh." Meian blushed—though that may have been the cold wind. She waved goodbye to Brian.
The first few minutes passed in comfortable silence, when Meian said, "So what was your presentation for?"
"Da? Oh—" Chichiri explained about his guest lecturing.
"You look very nice," she told him. "I don't think I've ever seen you in a suit before." Which was true. Even on their dates, everything had been very casual. Not, of course, that Meian was objecting to that…like her friend, she'd rather be comfortable and having fun, than squeezed into some hideously expensive dress and have to worry about spilling tomatoes on it or something. The suit looked a little…strange, but he did look good. Very good…Meian gave herself a little shake.
"Thank you, no da. What were you and…Brian doing?" The question slipped out before he could stop it, and Chichiri silently cursed.
"What were we doing? Oh, you mean at the library. Brian and I are in the same physiology class—we were working on a project together. Er, again." She paused. "I mentioned him before, didn't I? We had classes together last semester too."
Again that annoying sting of…something at the thought of Meian working so closely with another guy. "What is the project about?"
"It's…an experiment actually. You see, we're—"
Meian's explanation of this experiment took the rest of their walk home. They parted ways at the corner, with Chichiri exercising that powerful male skill of Romantic Denial and Meian obliviously walking to her own home. She was surprised to find the front door unlocked and the smell of something very delicious cooking wafting out from inside. She cautiously reached for the doorknob—
And screamed at the sight of the monstrously tall and enormously muscular stranger standing in the doorway. Well, almost screamed. The stranger had opened the door before she could and swiftly muffled her startled cry with a large palm.
"Please, I mean no harm!" he whispered hastily, seeing her go pale and the fear in her eyes. "I am a friend of Chian Mai's, from China. My name is Shan." Deliberately making his movement slow, he gently removed his hand from her mouth. "I apologize for startling you. I did not want you to wake Mai."
Meian leaned back against the door jamb, hand pressed to her heart and breathing heavily. But she did glance in the direction the man indicated and saw Mai shift sleepily on the couch, sprawled in her usual haphazard fashion underneath the green blanket. That, if anything, convinced her that the stranger—Shan?—was telling the truth, for Mai would never sleep in front of someone she didn't trust.
"A…friend of Mai's?" Meian repeated, looking back at Shan. Now that she looked at him, she realized that he was wearing a frilly pink apron of hers with a picture of a chick on it. This went a long way towards defusing the imposing figure he made. The soup ladle he held in his left hand took care of the rest.
"Yes," he said solemnly. His voice reminded her of those deep-voiced foghorns. "I have just made a pot of tea. Please have some to calm your nerves.
"Ah…thank you." She followed him to the kitchen and sipped gingerly at the hot liquid from her seat at the center island. "Did, um, Mai know that you were coming?" She didn't say anything to me…
Shan shook his head, making the black queue down his back dance. "No, she did not." Despite his accent, his Japanese was precisely enunciated. "I have business in the area and decided to drop by. I met Mai went she was escorted home by a redheaded young man for being sick. Do not worry," he added when an alarmed Meian started to get up, "I made sure she took her medicine before going to sleep."
Ah, Tasuki. "Thank you," she breathed, and resettled in her seat. "I knew that it was too early for her to go back to school this morning but she insisted—"
Shan smiled knowingly. "Yes," he said in tones of long familiarity, "she always was stubborn. I hope that you forgive my use of your kitchen, but I thought that some warm soup might be good for her."
"No, no, that's fine. It smells wonderful." Meian frowned, remembering something. "You said you have business here? What kind of business? What do you do?"
Shan was saved from having to answer that when Mai yawned and stretched on the couch in the living room. She wrapped the blanket around herself and padded to the kitchen. " 'ey, Meian," she greeted her housemate sleepily. "Y'just got home?" She stood on tiptoe to peer over Shan's shoulder and sniff at the soup. "That smells good…"
The giant ladled a generous amount into one of the bowls stacked by his elbow and handed it to her. He also doled out a serving for Meian, who blinked and thanked him when he set it on the counter in front of her. Mai was already eating, but she still asked. 'ooo…'ow 'ong are you staying, 'en?"
Shan's eyebrow twitched, and a (clean) metal ladle was brought down very hard on Mai's head. Meian sweat dropped. "How many times have I told you? Do not eat and speak at the same time."
Mai swallowed her mouthful and glared at Shan. "That hurt."
"It was meant to," he told her serenely. "Now what was your question?"
She stuck her tongue out at him. "I said, how long are you staying?"
"I will leave after you finish your soup."
"WHAT?" Mai's hand slammed down on the counter as she stood up, and Meian lunged to steady the bowl before it tipped over. "B-but—you just got here, damn it!"
Shan eyed her. "I did say that I had business in the area."
"But—but—you—I—argh!" Mai sat back down when it became clear that her mouth and her brain simply weren't speaking together at that moment. "Fine," she grumbled. "Do what you want. Damn it, you always make me feel like a little kid."
Shan laughed, and ruffled the top of her head. "I'll visit again once you'll well again."
Mai did get better, though Shan was true to his word that he would leave "after she finished her soup." In that annoying way of his (how the hell did he do that anyway, such a huge man), he had slipped silently out the door in the seconds she had her back turned to put her empty bowl in the sink. Meian had watched Mai stared at the discarded apron (folded neatly on the kitchen counter) and the empty Shan-sized hole in the air before cursing, muttering something about stupid father-figures and going back to bed.