Episode 7: The City of Light
Author's Notes: To my dear readers, if you're reading this now, then I thank you for your continuing patronage. I apologize for the very long wait. It took a perfect combination of procrastination, writer's block, and weather conditions to make this 5.3-week-delay, and I can only hope that I can be a bit more consistent with my updates in the future. Once again, thank you for your time. Please enjoy reading and don't forget to express yourselves via review (All comments, except mindless hate, are accepted). Thanks again! ^_^
"Um, Black Star…Are you sure you know where you're going?" Tsubaki had to ask. They'd been scouring the streets for what seemed like hours for any sign of Mosquito or his henchmen, but each time they always ended up at the Champ de Mars Gardens.
"I don't get it! WHERE ARE THEY!?" he cried out loud.
"This is already the fifth time we've been here, Black Star. Maybe we should call Shibusen for help?" suggested Tsubaki, growing weary of the repeating pattern.
Just then, a shiver ran up his spine. "O-Okay, you do that. I'm just gonna go look around again," he began sweating, but dashed away before her partner could notice. Knowing how the Shinigami could use Soul Perception, he feared being found out as a murderer, someone who had a kishin egg for a soul. He was convinced that his soul had already been tainted, though in reality, this was not so for he had yet to consume the soul of an innocent. Anyway, he left his partner drawing the numbers, "42-42-564" on the water of a nearby fountain and headed elsewhere.
"Death-Death-Murder…" she happily bowed as the Grim Reaper appeared on screen, or so to speak. "Shinigami-sama, I would like to report that-"
"HI THERE!!! I'M SORRY I'M NOT HERE," the Shinigami was talking, yet the image remained perfectly still.
"Shinigami-sama, what are you doing?" Spirit's voice was heard in the background.
"I'm setting up my new answering machine just in case someone calls and I'm not around."
"But that's impossible; we're in the center of your soul! You're always here!"
"Hey, I have a life too, you know. Besides, what if I was taking a bath?"
"Oh… Wait a minute! Y-You do that?"
"What, five-thousand years and I'm still wearing the same outfit? Of course I take baths!"
"Really? 'Coz that's kind of hard to imagine."
"SHINIGAMI CHOP!"
"W-why…?" Spirit was whimpering.
"Imagining me taking a bath? That's low, even for you!"
"Could you two stop fooling around and just finish this? Azusa's voice was accompanied by the sound of her flashing her glasses.
There was a brief moment of silence before the Shinigami spoke in a serious and formal manner, "Please leave a message after the beep…OK!" With that, the Shinigami's image changed to that of him giving off a big peace sign with his fingers.
"Huh?" a big sweat drop appeared on Tsubaki's head. Anyway, she gave a brief report on their predicament and requested some additional assistance in capturing Mosquito. Afterwards, she looked around for her partner.
"Black Star…" she found him on a bench close-by with the forlorn expression again. She couldn't understand it. After taking care of him for a long time, she thought she knew him like the back of her hand. But to see him in such a state, it pained her greatly.
Just then, a thought popped into her mind. Seeing him now, it reminded her of one of those sappy romance movies. She likened her situation to a scene where the main character, usually a guy, would find his love interest in tears after a sudden tragic twist. After failing to comfort her, the main character's last resort to cheer her up would be to take her on a date, to show how special she is.
"Black Star, why don't we take a break for a while?" she asked.
"Huh?" her words seemed to have snapped him out of his private world, "Oh, yeah…where we going, again?"
"Somewhere fun," she smiled as she took his hand and helped him up.
So, for the next few hours, they visited some of the city's tourist spots such as: the Arch de Triomphe, the Paris Opera House, and even the Louvre where Black Star, being who he is, loudly complained of why his picture was nowhere to be found. The museum was mentioned to have some of the greatest collections of art, and therefore, he concluded that the greatest artworks should be about the greatest man alive, which was him. Of course, this didn't sit well with the curator, especially when Black Star took down a wee painting entitled, "Mona Lisa" and proceeded to draw an image of himself. This created a huge scene. Oddly enough, the people there weren't surprised seeing as how the two were already well-known in Europe for their infamous flight to Austria, something that Black Star was verbally upset about because he didn't even see a single kangaroo, as opposed to what was written in the brochure. In the end, they didn't get into any trouble; it was just that Tsubaki had to promise that they'd never, ever set foot into the museum again.
"It was worth it," she smiled. Regardless of how she lost her dignity for the second time, she was happy to see him back to his normal self.
It was about four in the afternoon when they got back to the Champ de Mars Gardens. As they were about to call it a day, Tsubaki spotted something of great interest.
"C'mon, we've got to check this out," she pointed over to a row of well-made sketches and oil paintings, basking in the sunlight.
As they approached, a man came out of nowhere and greeted them.
"Bonjour mes ami! How may I help you today?" he said in a Corsican accent. The man was wearing a colonel's uniform of the 19th Century Imperial Guard Grenadiers. In addition, he also wore a Légion d'honneur and Order of the Iron Crown decorations, along with gold epaulettes, white French-style culottes and white stockings.
"Good afternoon… um, did you make all of these?" asked Tsubaki.
"Yes, off course. Would you two like to be immortalized in a work of art?" Before they could answer, he immediately offered them a seat, "Please, sit, sit. 'Tis free," he said, patting the chair. They reluctantly accepted.
Minutes into this, Black Star managed to work up the courage to say, while blushing, "I had a great time. Thanks, Tsubaki."
"Y-You're welcome," she had difficulty saying. Her heart was speeding up making her feel overly happy, but a little nervous. 'Maybe this is love?' she flushed at the idea.
"Aw, you two are in love," the painter suddenly broke the tension and made them go red from ear to ear. They wanted to deny it, but for some reason, they didn't. They could only look at each other and smile.
"Such young love…" sighed the painter. "…Now, would you cut it out! I'M WORKING HERE!"
"Yes, sir!" they saluted, unknowingly.
It was a crazy day for them. But all in all, it was a great day. After a few more minutes of waiting, the painter, whom they referred to as 'Napy', presented his work…
"IT'S JUST LIKE ANIME!" they reacted.
Now, with Black Star having a picture that he could call a masterpiece, the day became perfect. Tsubaki could not have wished for something more.
"Um, excusez-moi," Napy tapped her shoulder. "That'll be fifty Euros please!"
"What? But I thought it was free?"
"Sitting's free. Painting's 50 Euros. Rebuilding an empire's not cheap, you know."
"Okay, okay," she pulled out her purse.
"Merci mademoiselle! But before you two go, would you like to see the true beauty of my country?" he looked up with a proud smile at the magnificent engineering marvel that is the Eiffel Tower.
"BEHOLD WORLD! YOU'RE MASTERPIECE IS FINISHED! I AM BLACK STAR!" he declared, standing right on top of the tower and waving the canvas like a flag. How he got up there, no one knows. Meanwhile, on the third observation deck…
"Is he always like this?" asked Napy.
"You have no idea, Bonaparte-sama…" she sighed with a large sweat drop on her head.
