Len: Well, we've been too lazy to update.
Rea: Please forgive us! I think we're a day or maybe 2 late. But in our defence, the Internet was down Wednesday. Thanks for continuing!
Chapter Nine: D's way
"So, how was it last night?" Jill asked Leon without a pause the next morning. "How close are you?"
"It's still three and a half subjects away if I get one." Leon told her dismally.
Jill gigled. "Wait, didn't it go well?"
"Of course. I'm just impatient. By the way, the dog was a half breed."
"WHAT?" Jill said, clearly upset that it turned out that way.
"Don't worry. He liked her still. It was a...uh...chiwinie."
Jill stared. "Oh, right. Of course. I should have known that. What did you tell the Count about animal?"
"You and him both know they don't particularly excite me, Jill." Leon said. "But I like dogs. Big ones, anyways. He wasn't upset." Leon's eyes gleamed maliciously. "In fact...." He pulled down his shirt color to reveal a small hickey.
Jill squealed in delight. "What were you so upset about?" She demanded to know.
"Oh, that. Well, come on! He turned me on and then left me like that!" Jill laughed at him. "He did. Besides...I want the real kiss."
"How romantic of you Leon!" Jill exclaimed.
"You didn't believe me when I said I fell in love with him?" Leon asked.
"Alright! Everyone, we have a major robbery! All available units out of here right now!" The captain's voice yelled from the next room over. Leon shot out of his chair and grabbed his coat. Jill adjusted her gun.
"Leon." She said seriously.
"Yah?"
"Don't get hurt. You have people to go home to."
Leon got a little kick out of coming into the pet shop late that night and yelling "D, I'm home!" Some of the animals laughed with him.
"It's so cute when you're domestic!" D said, hugging Leon unexpectedly and popping his leg. "Have you had dinner, My Dear?"
"Huh? Yah, but tea's good." Leon hugged D back for a while, just enjoying the Count's form against his own. He looked at D's cloths when the Count was fixing him tea and wondered what all those crazy drawings in green were supposed to be. D's outfit today was undefinable except for the colors green and blue and the crossover front it had. Leon sat down on the couch, feeling very much now like a spoiled husband who'd been working hard for his family all day. Domestic indeed.
The animals began to clear out like usual, but D called them back. "Today I get to talk about all of you to My Darling Detective." he said sweetly, serving Leon his tea. Leon gave him a weird look.
"Uh...D...your shop is huge. You're going to make me tour the whole place?"
"Of course not. I only wish to share the main rooms with you. All my pets are precious, but many of them you have seen relatives of. For instance, rabbits or cats. Lizards. Dogs. I want to show you some of the rarest I have."
"Oh, just the ones prohibited by the Washington coven. Like...T-Chan."
D gave Leon a hard look. "True, T-Chan is a very rare and dangerous creature. But even a dog will bite when threatened."
"I hate to tell you this, D, but when a dog bites, we shoot him." Some of the animals gasped and D looked angry now. "Don't take it the wrong way, D! It's the way humans are!"
"Yes, you don't deal with threats easily, do you, Detective?"
"No, we don't, D." Leon confirmed. "I'm just saying that by doing this you're putting my job on the line. I'm not going to tell anyone you have lions, tigers and bears, as if anyone would believe me. But if you get caught, I get caught."
"Common, Leon. You know how hard it really is to catch him." T-Chan joked.
"Yah...well, just be careful."
D now gave Leon a mysterious smile. "My Dear Detective...what I'm about to show is by no means prohibited by the Washington coven. In fact, by human definitions, these creatures do not exist."
Leon stared. "Figures. Can I see the dragon?"
"Uh...I'm afraid..." D said "You don't know what you're asking for, Detective."
"What?! It's actually here? I was just kidding!"
"Well, Honlon isn't being sold, but they are here." D replied.
"Honlon? Wow. If I'm one of the parents, why didn't you ask me before you named them? And what do you mean by them? Twins?"
"Actually, triplets." D said happily. "None of them particularly..."
How do you know about them? Chris asked Leon.
"Huh? I BIRTHED them!" Leon said. "Helluvah night, let me tell you...."
Well, they don't really like you much...Chris thought.
"What? They don't even know me!" Leon said angrily.
But they do! Sorta... Chris replied.
"Please, Detective! You're acting like a father unable to see his childr-oh." D paused and thought the situation through. "I see." he said.
"Exactly." Leon stood up. "Why don't you show me the dragon, D?" he asked.
D sighed. "It's my day, Detective..."
"Yah, and if you'da told me yesterday, we would have gone then!"
"Leon, you don't understand! Honlon has the power to level this entire city! If they don't care for you, they could destroy everything!"
I'll calm them down. Most of them like me. Chris offered.
After several minutes of this, D sighed and finally gave in. He led Chris and Leon to the back. The other animals, save the jealous Pon-Chan and the brave Tetsu, stayed behind. "This goat follows you everywhere." Leon said to Chris. T-Chan bit him. "STOP THAT LOOKS SO WEIRD YOU HAVE NO IDEA!"
D opened the door and held it for the others. At first Leon couldn't see anyone beyond the drapery everywhere. "Detective, this is Honlon. You might be confused at first, but with time you will understand."
"What?"
"Why is he here, Count D?" came a cool voice. A little girl emerged from the drapes. Her face was blank and calm.
"She acts like you." Leon commented immediately. Chris nodded.
"You must know that he can now see the animals as others sometimes do and as I do." D explained. "He wanted to see you."
Suddenly a terrible angry look came over the girl's face. "WELL TELL HIM TO GO AWAY! WHY SHOULD WE WANT TO SEE HIM!?"
"Please, Kanan, he is your father!" D pleaded.
"Don't lump me in with that stupid human!" She cried out, pointing at Leon's dumbstruck face.
"Please don't fight!" Came another voice, and the girl's eyes became weepy.
Leon looked slowly around to D. "They all live..in the same...body?" He asked, eyes wide.
"Ah...yes, My Dear Detective. This is Junrei. The first you met was Shuko, and the one in between was Kanan." D introduced them.
Kanan was born when you held the egg. Chris explained helpfully. Shuko was born when Count D held the egg, and Junrei was born when a boy held the egg.
"That guy's grandson." T-Chan clarrified.
"HOW DARE YOU COME SEE US LIKE THIS ALL THE SUDDEN?!" Kanan suddenly yelled.
"SHUT THE HELL UP, KANAN!" Leon yelled back. To everyone's surprise, she did. In fact, she stared at him as if shock. It had never occurred to D or Chris that no one had ever treated her that way. She seemed to retreat at the new experience.
Honlon's eyes went completely blank. "Please avoid cursing around Junrei, Detective." Shuko said politely. Leon cracked a smile.
"Hey." He said "You are your father's daughter, huh?"
Shuko looked at him strangely, and Leon imagined he could see Count D's face in hers like a layer to her personality.
The eyes went blank and Junrei returned. "Hi, Christopher...." She said shyly. Pon-Chan crossed her arms.
Leon leaned over to D. "They do realize that Chris is a different species, right?"
D smiled at him. "Regardless, they enjoy his company. His open-mindedness, I suppose."
Leon shivered. "Do you really think he's 'open-minded' enough for THAT?" he whispered to D.
"Detective!" D scolded quietly. "First of all, Chris doesn't realize that what he sees is different from what others see. He sees the pets as human with no effort on my part and no extra incense. Most people see but one or two of them in human form. Second, I assure you none of these animals have that on their mind!"
"Why can Chris see them?"
"I believe it is due to the loss of his voice."
"Wait, doesn't that mean that-"
"Yes, Detective. Chris will someday loose the ability to see them as we do." D said, slightly saddened by the idea.
"Will...Will I?" Leon asked.
"What are you all whispering about!?" At long last Kanan had returned.
"SHUT UP you freak! I can't believe you're related to me!" Leon retaliated.
"Don't even compare me to you, you stupid little-"
"YOU WANT A SPANKING, KID?!" D put his head in his hands, T-Chan and Pon-Chan laughed and Chris looked shocked. Kanan, however, promptly disappeared. "That's how you had to deal with me at that age." Leon explained to D.
"Shall we move on?" D asked.
"I believe that would be desirable." Shuko put in.
Jenrei sighed. "Can Chris stay here?"
In the end, D and Leon moved on alone. "What a pain in the ass!" Leon exclaimed as they went to the next place. "And you never answered my question, D! Don't think I'll let you get away with it!"
"I have no answer for what you asked, but if you seek my opinion, I do not think you will loose your sight of the animals. Partly because of your age."
"I wouldn't forget, right? Even if I could see?"
"I doubt it. Chris is still young enough. Someday he will forget. Or perhaps he will pretend it never happened."
"Depressing." Leon said. "Poor kid."
"Leon," D replied "It isn't depressing at all. For you, yes, it would be tragic. At this point, you have all but crossed into my world completely. You must understand that Chris can not grow up in a world where animals are humans. He will loose touch with the human world, and in doing so, loose his own humanity." Leon sighed, realizing the truth of D's words. "For you, one who has purposefully began to cross over into this world, it is fine that you will not forget. You have speech. You have human friends and important things to do. You will not loose reality in all this."
"What if I want to?" Leon asked sulkily.
"Like many before you who have stayed in the shop, you are now finding it harder to leave...?" D half asked.
"I'm finding it harder and harder to leave you every night, D." Leon said truthfully.
"I'm flattered, Detective." D said with a smile. "However, you must realize that even were I to move the shop, and no one could find you, you will eventually need the touch and speech of your own kind."
"That's it, D." Leon stopped D and turned him around. D looked shocked until Leon asked his next question. "Just what the hell are you? You're not human, are you?"
D looked concerned momentarily, then changed his expression to being as blank as possible. "I believe we are to discuss secrets?"
"Yah." Leon said grudgingly. "But will you tell me?"
"I have...considered this for a very long time now, Detective. Perhaps when the time has come for that lesson, I will. However, I will not know until I try to speak of it."
It was silent for a minute. "Fair enough." Leon said. He tried for a lighter mood. "What is Ten-Chan? I've never seen anything like him...
"He is a Kitsune- a nine-tailed fox. He is considered a trickster, but he can also do much good." D replied. He went to the left of the hall and opened a door.
"Damn." Leon said as he went inside "I'm afraid to go in..."
"You have seen this creature twice now, Detective." D assured. "And I should warn you...the first time all you saw was a large sea serpent in a pool."
"Oh, great! I remember that case!" Leon stepped back.
"Wait, please, Detective!" D held Leon's arm. He was shockingly stronger than he looked. "The second time you saw this creature was at the island we vacationed on."
"HEY! Didn't I loose my memory then?" Leon protested.
"Yes, but I assure you I will not let any harm come to you here." D led Leon to the tank and pushed him toward the latter. He climbed it, D right behind him, and stood up looking into the water.
The woman inside was beautiful. Of course, the first thought in his head was "Woah! Why's D got a topless girl in here?" He saw movement in the water and D held the latern down so he could see her tail. He froze. Yelling "HOLLY SHIT!" Was all the movement he could manage.
"Detective, please!" The mermaid disappeared into the water. Leon stepped back from the tank. "You scared her." D said.
"Wow...she's beautiful, but why do you have a mermaid, D? This isn't the same one, is it?!"
"No, the police killed her, I'm afraid. This one I've just acquired for a customer."
"What will she do?"
"As long as he feeds her and keeps her in the right tank, nothing." D commented. "Since this man has bought several of such pets from me, I believe he will hold true to the contract."
"That's good." Leon said "What's he got?"
"A very rare bird." Said D. "A Phoenix."
"I thought you were going to say a Griffin for a minute." Leon said in relief.
"I have never sold a Griffin, though I am quiet sure my Grandfather must have.... However, I have sold a Kirin."
"What's that?" Leon asked, but he got no answer.
"You have seen some of the other extremely rare creatures at the shop." D told him.
"Ten-Chan?"
"T-Chan as well." D said.
"What exactly is he anyways?"
"T-Chan is a Totetsu."
"Dragon, Fox, Mermaid, Totestu...do you have another Pheonix?" Leon asked hopefully. They returned to the hallway.
"I'm afraid not."
"What's Q-Chan?"
"A horned rabbit."
Leon stared at him. "Right. That's what I would have said. No technical term, huh?"
"Just a horned rabbit." D replied with a smile. "I do have some rather rare birds, if you would like to see them, My Dear Detective."
"Nah. I was already worn out from work." Leon said. "But I have lots of time to see them later, right? And to meet that Dolphin...Hey, your tour on rare and dangerous animals was way better than what I had to say yesterday."
"That's why I distracted you with my body." D replied.
"Want to do that again?" Leon flirted back.
D smiled sweetly at him. "I'm simply more experienced than you in the matter of pets, My Darling Detective."
"I mean it, D. We got off the subject of animals already. Let's have some fun."
"Tea?" D asked, and that was that.
Len: HAH! He didn't get any this time!
Rea: D's got to keep some mystery! And part of it is obviously that Leon doesn't get to have it whenever he wants.
