LV: Okay, so this is a little late in the making…
Kasumi: A little? LV, you're weeks behind!
LV: What? Blame Mighty and Birdy for being too damn cute together! I had to get most of my otaku-glee out of my system before I could concentrate on VN again!
Birdy: …Now it's our fault?
Sonbre: Lunare! A word about that irritating little brat that's been playing body… guard… -gapes at Birdy- Oh God, I think I just entered my own personal Hell.
LV: Oh, good! I'm not the only one who noticed the similarities! -grins-
Birdy: …?
Kasumi: Whoa, a bird-alien version of Kai… only prettier.
Birdy: -glares- Who are you calling pretty?
Aya: He even glares like him; that is so cool! Does that make Mighty an alien version of Tyson, then? X3
Sonbre: …I'm leaving. -flees-
Kai: -smirks as he walks in- I like these new people already.
Oh, and for the record, I'm not translating the Spanish chunk towards the end. You can either translate it yourself or wait for it to be revealed.
Viper's Nest
Written by Lunare Valhart
Batuken Shoot Beyblade is © Aoki Takao
All original characters are © Lunare Valhart, and are not to be used without permission
Chapter 8: A Rain on Parade
An incessant ringing pulled Kai from the comfort of his subconscious, the images from dreams he would never fully remember washing into the dim light of early morning as he managed to open his eyes drowsily. The hotel room was tinged a muted red-gold from the sun peering out from over the ocean horizon, and the seawater's sparkling could easily be seen. The ringing continued as Kai sleepily narrowed his eyes in the vague direction of the perpetrator.
The simplistic white phone kept trilling, unperturbed by the glare. Off on the other side of its stand, Tyson made a pitiful groaning sound and proceeded to bury himself deeper into the plush blankets. Kai pinched the bridge of his nose, hefting himself up into a sitting position and mentally insulting whoever was on the other end of the line in every language he could think of for calling at dawn – the irony of him normally being the early riser was either lost in the jet-lagged daze or conveniently ignored.
"This had better be good," he growled into the phone. There was what sounded like a smothered snicker on the other end.
"You know," a familiar female voice managed to respond without laughing. "Considering how Ty's always griping about you and your training schedules, I figured you'd be up and about by now. By the way, is sharing a room with him really a smart thing to do, considering your situation with the media?"
Kai blinked, surprised by two things: One, how on Earth was Tyson's twin sister so cheery at this hour when it took Herculean effort just to drag Tyson out by nine; and two, as close as the two siblings seemed, how did she not know that the tabloid was actually truthful?
'Did Tyson never tell her?' And more pressingly: "Why the hell are you calling at this hour?" He ground out.
"I was curious if you guys wanted to practice with my team to make up for yesterday's mishap." Kasumi then added, almost tersely, "Because, you know, I didn't skip practice like that asshole was saying."
Kai glowered into the phone. "Your language certainly got more colorful overnight. How am I to know if you're not trying to weasel out of something else?" There was a scoff on the other end.
"I don't cuss as much around family, genius. And I highly doubt any of you brought a map with you, so unless you like sharing the gym with God-knows how many other teams, I'd highly recommend fraternizing with locals."
"We could ask Tyson."
"He was here once – when he was eight. I don't think you want to rely on six years' toll of a week-long visit." Kai cursed to himself, running a hand through his hair. She may've been Tyson's sister, but Kasumi was certainly one snarky little…!
"Fine," he agreed at last. "But if this is just another excuse to sightsee with Tyson, family visits are his to make on his own free time."
Much like the day before, Kasumi's voice went from bitter to cheery. "Great! Ty's right; you are a nice guy when you want to be! I'll see you guys at nine-thirty – just ask for Angel at the front and he'll take you guys straight to my place; that's where we're meeting. Bye!"
As the dial tone began to drone after the click, Kai stared incredulously at the phone receiver in his hand. '…Why do I feel like I just got us into something I'm going to regret?'
…
Rei glanced up from poking at his eggs to give his captain an incredulous look. "Let me get this straight: we're going to visit Kasumi?"
"We're going to be training with her team, as well," Kai corrected curtly. Max made a face.
"Aw man, we gotta put up with that weirdo flirting with Tyson again?" He groaned, rolling his eyes at the recollection of the events the day before.
Kenny sighed as he closed his laptop with a soft click. "He makes me nervous, too. I spent a few hours last night searching for any information on him, but I could only get a small amount of tournament-related information and an even smaller amount of personal information."
"So, he's a low-profile kind of guy," Hiromi frowned. "It seems strange, considering how much he stands ou – hold it, how did you figure all this out?" Kenny paled and coughed discreetly, diverting his eyes. He'd forgotten that Hiromi didn't know just how good at computers he was…
"What'd you find out, Chief?" Tyson cut in before Hiromi could begin one of her long-winded tirades on moral values and respect of privacy.
Kenny nodded and began. "He's been participating in several low-key tournaments around Latin America, though most were in the different states of Mexico; I say low-key because none of these tournaments required any background information like larger tournaments hosted by companies and foundations. The largest tournament he's ever participated in was last year's South American-Caribbean, where he was captain to a team called the Venomblades."
"Yeesh, he obsessed with snakes, or something?" Max gawked. "He looks sorta like a snake, his old team name refers to snakes…"
"That's not even the creepiest part," Kenny winced. "Remember how Sra. Romero said yesterday that the two finalists were partnered up in the new diplomatic team? And how Kasumi mentioned her… injury happened during the finals?"
Tyson already didn't like where this seemed to be headed. "You mean to say he's the one responsible?"
"Not exactly; the official reports say that the dish actually malfunctioned and shot her blade right back at her before she could get out of the way. But yes, he was her opponent in the finals last year and general consensus is that he is the one that manipulated the dish into doing so."
"Well, that certainly explains why they need a diplomat team this year to begin with," Rei sighed. "Not to mention Kasumi's attitude about her new captain. I'd be pretty pissed, too, if the BBA suddenly decided to shove me on a team with Bryan and expected the two of us to get along."
There was a low, "I heard that, catty," from a few tables down, where the Russian boys of Neoborg were still struggling to cope with the unfamiliar humidity. Rei snickered at the sight they made, and continued to ignore them.
"So," Max began, clicking his tongue. "Where we going first?"
"To her place, or so she said," Kai answered. Tyson grinned a bit forcefully.
"Joy. We get to see Lina…" The others blinked.
Hiromi took the bait, however reluctantly. "Who's Lina?"
"She's Aunt Cheres' mother-in-law… or something like that, anyway," Tyson explained with a well-veiled grimace. "See, Aunt Cheres used to be married to a guy from here – which is why she lives here, by the way – and he died not even a month after they got married. Lina moved in with Aunt Cheres and that's how it's been since."
"…Tyson?"
"Yeah?"
"By any chance, does this have anything to do with your aunt's bitchiness?" Max asked flatly. Everyone gaped at him for the remark. "What? It explains why she's such a control freak!"
Kenny gave his dark-haired friend a strange look. "While Max does have a good theory about your aunt… what's the problem with Lina? You don't seem that enthusiastic about seeing her…"
Tyson coughed, a faint red staining his cheeks. "Uh… Lina's kinda… sorta… y'know… off."
Kai narrowed his eyes at him, a vaguely curious lilt to his voice as he asked, "Just how "off" is she?"
…
"TITO!"
Tyson had barely enough time to comprehend what was happening before a blur of silver and bright orange tackled him from its seat out on the covered porch. The others blinked in surprise, mildly disturbed at the scene before them.
The person was an elderly woman, mocha skin wrinkled and hanging loose over a bony frame and white-silver hair pulled back into a tight bun. Her bright orange sundress looked as it had only been changed from one hanger to another. Nevertheless, the old woman continued to fondle and play with the World Champion's hair and face and clothes as if she were no stranger to him.
"Er, uh," he groaned, knowing he would have a lot to explain to his friends later. "Hi to you, too, Lina."
"That's no way to greet your abuela!" Lina tutted, fussing as she checked him over for anything that may seem the slightest bit dangerous. When her search ended up with nothing to bear, she squealed and hugged him tight once more. "Oh, it's been so long since I last saw you! You're so big!"
"…I feel like we've entered the Twilight Zone," Max managed to squeak out.
Lina looked up at the others and, much to their consternation, squealed.
"Are these your friends, Tito? They're all so cute!" She crooned, rushing up and near-tackling Kenny to the ground as the others backed away nervously. "Especially this one¡Qué lindo!"
"Help!" Kenny choked out, reaching out for the others. Max held his hands up defensively and took another cautious step back.
"Sorry, buddy," the blond called out. "You're on your own!"
"And suddenly, Kasumi's mood swings make sense," Rei commented dryly. Hiromi smacked him on the arm.
Lina immediately released her iron grip on Kenny and shot towards her, causing the girl to yelp in surprise. "And such a pretty little girl! Tito, tell me one of these lucky boys is courting her!"
"She doesn't have a boyfriend as far as I know, Lina," Tyson sighed. Hiromi colored, wondering what was with people and assuming she was someone's girlfriend.
Rei was Lina's next target. The neko-jin twitched as she made a grab for his long hair, holding the tail like some sacred object. "And this is such lovely hair! How long does it take you? Or does someone help you?" Before he could answer, she hobbled over to Max and gave him a tight squeeze.
"If you aren't the cutest little gringo I've ever seen!" She laughed. Max tossed the others a desperate look, but Kenny shrugged and turned away, whistling to himself.
"Hey, Lina!" Kasumi's voice finally came from inside, and the girl's familiar scarred face came into view with a brush in hand. "Your security guard's slacking if… oh. Hey, guys!" She looked at the elderly woman sternly. "Lina, they're nice people. If you want someone to harass, wait for the boys of my team to come." Lina tittered.
"Sorry, chica," the woman answered lightly. "It's so hard to tell when Tito and you look alike and the only description you give me of that rude boy is his height and his obvious infatuation with Tito." Tyson and Kai both froze, though not enough to rouse suspicion, while Kenny and Hiromi groaned loudly and Max and Rei started snickering to themselves.
Kasumi sighed and, taking pity on the ruffled Japanese team, said to the elderly woman, "Speaking of my team… why don't you go wake up the girl in the casita?" Lina's brown eyes lit up.
"Ooh, that would be fun!" She practically bounced down the hall, humming to herself cheerfully. Everyone stared after her vanishing back with more than a little relief.
Kasumi leveled a flat glare towards Kai. "Yeah, you were asking before about how I can be perky at dawn? Try living with that for a few years and see how long you can sleep in."
"What took you so long, anyway?" Hiromi asked. Kasumi pointed up.
"Cheres told me – in no uncertain terms – that if I really was going to use the house as a meeting point, I had to fold the laundry first. This normally isn't much of a problem, but it gets really annoying having to chase lizards away from the drier." The brunette girl made a face.
"Ew…" She shuddered. "I think I saw one of those on my windowsill this morning."
Rei kept glancing in the direction Lina had vanished curiously. "Uh, Kasumi? Who's your other guest?"
"Dulcea. She's the fourth member of the team," the dark-haired girl answered without looking up as she finished brushing out the tangles and parted her hair to begin braiding it. Max blinked.
"Why does that sound familiar?"
Before he could continue, a high screech came from the direction the old woman had cheerily walked off.
"Ah, that'd be her," Kasumi noted offhandedly, never pausing in braiding her hair, slipping the elastic tie over the end with a faint snap. The others gave each other odd looks as a dark-skinned girl in shorts and an over-sized T-shirt bolted in with wide teal eyes and black curls framing her face, giving her some semblance to a dark-maned lion.
"Kas!" She squeaked, breathing heavily from her dash from the backyard, "Get your crazy grandma and her psycho mutt away from me!" She happened to notice the boys behind her teammate and screeched again, "Ah, perverts!" Kasumi snickered at everyone's expressions as Max blinked, immediately recognizing the girl's crankiness from the day before.
"Aren't you the girl from the plane?" He asked warily. Dulcea blinked and peered closely at him before laughing nervously.
"Oh, yeah… You're the cute blond from yesterday. I remember now!" Everyone gave Max a strange look, causing the Japanese-American to flush lightly. "A joke, people; he's cute, but he's really not my type." She glanced at Kasumi expectantly and the Japanese girl shrugged and pointed to a small closet. Dulcea turned to the Bladebreakers with a cheery grin. "Now please excuse me; I've gotta go back and reclaim the guest room from a nutty hag and her mutt so I can get dressed." With that, she pulled a broom out of the closet and stomped back down the hall.
Tyson gave his sister an odd look. "When did Lina get a dog?"
Kasumi shrugged. "One of the employees at the resort's dog had puppies while I was in the hospital and gave one to us as a get-well present." She made an annoyed face. "We got the brattiest one of the litter – go figure."
"Oh, it can't be that bad…" Hiromi frowned.
"You've never met Bolero."
No sooner than she finished her sentence that a high-pitched barking rang through the house as a tiny, furry fireball darted between the girl's legs and started to growl in a manner meant to be intimidating at the newcomers. The tiny dog's small but sharp canines were bared as the animal snarled at them, dark button eyes glinting wildly. Everyone blinked.
Kasumi rolled her eyes and gently prodded the dog away with her foot, earning her a growl. "Speak of the devil – or Pomchi, whatever. That's Bolero; if you like your nose or fingers, I strongly suggest that you don't reach down to pet him."
"…Nose?"
"He jumps."
Kenny took a nervous step back. "Er… That's nice to know."
…
"For the record, where's your captain?" Kai asked suspiciously, noting the youth's absence and wondering if he should be glad or worried. Kasumi scoffed into her coffee, eye twitching.
Dulcea (now fully dressed) also snorted, crossing her arms over her chest and sulking into her chair. "Tch, ya mean Sonbre? Two-faced jerk. Told me yesterday before snagging Bobby and runnin' off that he scheduled practice over at the plaza in front of the cathedral, and I ended up waiting hours there, and no one showed up! I found out later that he was too busy stalking you lot yesterday afternoon. I asked him when he finally showed his face, and he had the nerve to ask what I was on because he "didn't feel like putting up with Granger's whining" first day of being a team. God, I heard Señora Romero say they weren't the best of friends, but that was ridiculous!"
The six teenagers blinked in surprise. Rei stammered out, "Wait a second, you didn't have practice yesterday?" Kasumi twitched again, this time a little more violently.
"What, you deaf or something?" Dulcea grumbled, taking another bite of her orange. "We did not have any practice yesterday!" The boys cringed, glancing at Kasumi apologetically.
"Gee, Kasumi," Max grimaced, feeling his face burn in shame. "We're really sorry! We really should've believed you yesterday…"
"It's nothing," Kasumi ground out, forcing a grin but failing to hide the vaguely murderous gleam in her eyes. "I'm sure from your angle, it all looked very incriminating."
Dulcea, completely lost, looked back and forth between her rancorous teammate and the chagrined members of the Japanese team. "Eh? Something happen?"
"He used the practice charade on us, too," Kenny explained, bowing his head in embarrassment. "We ended up believing him that Kasumi skipped practice to spend time with Tyson."
Tyson sighed and propped his elbows up onto the table, rolling around the ball of sweet bread in his hand. "I don't get it, though – like the Chief said yesterday, Kas and I look nearly exactly alike. Why would Sonbre be nice to me, but rude to her?" Kasumi paled slightly and quickly seemed to find the remnants of coffee at the bottom of her mug interesting.
Before anyone could question her sudden change of behavior, Bolero suddenly lifted his head from his paws and let out a low growl. Startled by the small dog's abrupt snarling, they were shocked to find he had dashed out of the house while barking as viciously as a dog his size could.
"…What the heck was that all about?" Hiromi asked blankly after a moment of stunned silence. Kasumi grinned darkly and made a light-hearted shrug.
A very loud, very high-pitched shriek from further down the street, followed by a lower-pitched snarl of, "Granger! I just know you're the one behind this!" was the only answer they needed.
Innocently, Kasumi smiled at her guests. "Did I forget to mention that Bolero doubles as a surprisingly good watchdog?"
As she stepped out to retrieve the tiny dog, the others stared at her vanishing back in horror.
"…Tyson?"
"Yeah?"
"Remind us to never get on your sister's bad side," Max squeaked. The others, excluding Kai, nodded vigorously.
As soon as Kasumi waltzed onto the veranda, she was met with a barrage of both vehement curses and bawling shrieks from the two youths just outside her yard. Unperturbed, she continued to smile inappropriately cheerfully. "Good morning, Sonbre, Bobby! I hope you two slept well at Thais' place. You must've; you're late." She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Gee, what kind of team captain is late for their own practices?"
Snarling, Sonbre tried to shrug off Bobby – who, in his panic, had scrambled onto the nearest object to get out of the growling dog's reach (namely, him) – and hissed, "You know damn well why we're late, puta! Not only does Thais live five blocks away from here, you sicced this Goddamn mutt on us!"
Kasumi blinked and finally noticed the red-gold bundle of fur hanging off the tall male's pant leg, teeth clenched tight onto the material and growling and wriggling. "Bolero! How many times have I told you that trash is not food?" The dog only growled louder in response.
Bobby let out a pathetic whine, "He's gonna eat me, he's gonna eat me, he's gonna frickin' eat me – !"
"Goddammit, shut your mouth!"
Undaunted, Kasumi shook her head patronizingly at the older teenager. "You know, children do live in this neighborhood. If their parents hear them repeat half of what you're saying, the store's going to run out of soap! Not to mention give poor old ladies heart attacks."
"I could care less about brats and hags!" Sonbre snapped, finally tossing Bobby off his back and virtually ripping off a startled Bolero by the dog's scruff. "I may have to put up with your bullshit for the duration of this Godforsaken tournament, Granger, but no force in this damn universe is going to make me – !"
A head of blue-black hair peered out of the doorway, brow furrowed worriedly and dusky blue eyes flickering in concern. "Kas? What's going on out here?"
Abruptly, Sonbre's darkened features paled before flushing a bright scarlet and he scrambled to change his unsympathetic grip on Bolero into a more suitable position for the dog, a panicked and weak smile forced onto his features. " – I mean, honestly, Granger! Letting this poor creature run out into the street like that? Darling animal could have been run over!" Unconvinced, Bolero snarled and attempted to snap at the male's hands. Kasumi continued to smile, though the maniacally gleeful glint in her brown eyes gave her smugness away. Tyson blinked in confusion, sure he had missed something.
With the dog now safely out of reach, Bobby shot up from the pavement and dashed inside the house, lunging for the couch and shivering fiercely as he curled up into a wide-eyed ball. "Keep that thing away from me! It's evil!"
Max fought back a snicker as Rei leaned over. "Never thought we'd meet someone worse off than the Chief, huh?" Bobby nearly jumped off the couch as he whipped around to look at them, gaping with a stutter as he scooted as far away from Rei as he could manage.
"W-when did you people get here?!" He forced out with a squeak.
Dulcea grinned at the boy, taking some perverse pleasure in seeing him and their team captain caught completely off-guard by their guests. "Aw, poor Bobby. Ya need a hug?" This earned her a glower from the mousy youth, causing her to snicker in response.
Kasumi dropped into a chair on the covered porch, a satisfied smile still painted onto her features as she looked down (up, really, but that wasn't the point…) at her still-flustered team captain from over her nose. "So, capitán, where are we training today? I'd love to hear your ideas."
'I ought to tear that puta a new one for this!' Sonbre growled mentally at her, the edges of the pleasant smile he had hurriedly forced out twitching slightly. 'Must keep calm, can't let the nice guy act slip, I must keep calm…' "The Caverns just west of here, actually. I'm sure you've been there, Kasumi?" He winced at the obvious amount of force he used to say the girl's name, mentally smacking himself for not simply calling her Granger like he had so many times before; Tyson was Japanese, why would it matter that he called his sister her first name or not?
Kasumi blinked before narrowing her eyes. "Why the Hell do you want to go there? Don't you know the place's haunted?" Kenny paled. "Sheesh, I should've known better than to let you choose the training spots…"
"There are no such things as ghosts, Granger," Sonbre said simply, giving her a smug look. "Why does it bother you so much, afraid?"
'Who wouldn't be, with all the disappearances at the caverns?' She thought bitterly, though her pride stung at the slight. "Who would? I'm just saying that 'cause the wimp over there's going to get a heart attack if we go." She gestured towards Bobby, who surprisingly didn't even flinch at the attention.
Aforementioned wimp shrugged, seeming very nonchalant about the whole affair suddenly. "Oh, come on, there's no proof ghosts exist. The most frightening thing there's gonna be the bats… and the boas… and the birds… and the mosquitoes possibly carrying deadly viruses…" He paled, as well. "Heck no! I'm not going!"
Max rose a brow, staring at him strangely. "You aren't scared of the fact it's possibly haunted, but the obvious things make you a nervous wreck?"
"And mosquitoes are going to get you regardless of whether or not you're in a cave," Dulcea pointed out flatly. Bobby whimpered.
A loud beep outside caught everyone's attention, and they peered out to see a taxi-van parked in front of the house. Kasumi made a weak grin as everyone gave her a look when they recognized the resort uniform the driver was wearing.
"What? It's not like I do this all the time!"
…
The caverns, it turned out, were deeper into the western mountains than they first thought, and they were forced to trek through the forests about a mile off the main road. Everyone followed Sonbre (some more reluctantly than others) down the trail, watching with some trepidation as the surrounding foliage started encroaching more and more onto the path. Sunlight started to dim the further they went, and a quick glance skyward showed clouds were blotching the sun from coming through.
Rei looked up towards the increasingly darkening skies with a frown. "Are you sure we should be out? It looks like it's going to rain."
Dulcea shrugged off the concern with a nonchalant wave of her hand, "Eh, it rains all the time here."
"What's wrong, scared of a little water?" Bobby sneered as he looked over his shoulder superiorly at the Chinese neko-jin. Rei bristled and narrowed his eyes irritably at him. 'I take back my earlier comment to Max; that kid's nothing like Kenny!'
Kasumi sighed and pulled out some folded pieces of soft plastic, tossing one to each of the Bladebreakers. "I'd suggest putting those ponchos on – just in case water isn't your thing."
A single drop hit the pavement.
"And make it fast," she added, pulling up her own hood.
The next thing they knew, they were completely drenched in a torrential downpour. Kenny yelped and darted under the umbrella with Bobby and Hiromi, glad that he wasn't any taller. The others, not quite as lucky, were soaked thoroughly.
Max brushed aside his dripping bangs and glowered at the umbrella-holding Bobby. "You call this "a little water"!?"
He shrugged, the rain making heavy thuds against the woven fabric above his head. "Hey, it isn't my fault you didn't look over any travel guides about this place before you arrived."
"I agree with Max, quite frankly," Hiromi muttered, peering out and surprised that she could barely make out anything in the downpour. "This isn't what one normally calls a little water…"
Kenny clutched the waterproof bag in his hands to him in relief. "Thank goodness I had the foresight to put my laptop in here! The circuits would have fried in all this rain!"
Sonbre kept his eyes trained onto the path, brow furrowed in concentration but face flickering with conflicting emotions. He could hear the wet cloth glide over delicate skin, he could smell the rain melding with the faint human musk and soap, he could imagine the soft dips and lines as the soaked cloth clung to the petite figure, if he would just look over his shoulder…
'Granger. What's-Her-Face tagging along. Bitchy hotel manager that, unsurprisingly, is Granger's aunt.'
But, she was also his aunt… and he was so different from her, so soft and gentle…
'Granger's ugly, scarred face! Pink-haired neko-jin that hissed at me yesterday for bumping into her! Geeky redhead with glasses that snapped at me for no good reason!'
…Did his hair look even silkier in the rain, the drops of water beading onto that gorgeous dark cascade like morning dew…?
'Granger! Granger! Granger!'
…Well, she did have many of his features…
This wasn't working.
"Quit arguing with the gringo and keep moving," Sonbre ordered coldly, eyes still strongly focused on the path in front of him. "The caverns are dead ahead, and I'm sure some of you would prefer the fact it's shelter."
Unwilling to argue, everyone's pace quickened, eager to get out from the downpour.
…
Practice itself went without a hitch, the two teams more or less only interacting if someone started going a bit too far into the caverns. Kenny had made a point on staying as close to the lighted entryway as possible, Hiromi hovering around to keep out of the other's way and observe the beybladers at work for the first real time. The rain made the cavern floor damp and gave little traction, forcing everyone to concentrate more on control than any other aspect. However, there had been a mishap involving an unsuspecting Tyson, a particularly slippery patch of moss, and an opportunistic Sonbre that resulted in a heated ear-bashing for the latter to mind his own personal space; as far as the flustered Japanese youth was concerned, it was never to be mentioned again – Kasumi and Kai (who, by all rights, should have made the perpetrator ash and six-feet under the way they were glaring at him) agreed wholeheartedly.
About halfway back to the road where the taxi-van was waiting, a beeping rendition of a song the Japanese in the group swore came from a recent anime opening started up. Kasumi flushed at the looks she was receiving and pulled out a mobile from her pocket, flipping it open and daring anyone to comment on the plush accessory dangling from it with a glower. "Yeah. What do you want, Cheres?"
There was a moment of silence as Kasumi first rolled her eyes, possibly at a lecture, then groaned, "More?! How does she go through it so quickly? We filled up five bottles three weeks ago! …Yeah, yeah. I know; she uses it for just about everything… Ugh, fine. I'll tell the freak and the others. Later." She snapped the phone shut and gave the group a tired look. "We've gotta make a detour before we head back. Lina's out of her "miracle" water."
Hiromi gave her a wary look, recalling the woman's behavior that morning. "What do you mean by "miracle water"?" Max made a face in agreement.
"And do we want to know?" He asked nervously.
Kasumi snickered at everyone's expressions. "I know it sounds bad, but it really is just fresh spring water – nothing illegal or alcoholic."
Kai gave her an even stare. "Is this necessary?" The girl, to his surprise, shuddered.
"Once again, you don't live with her," she answered simply. "You have no idea how bad she gets if she can't have her precious water. She thinks it keeps her clean – she's under some odd delusion that demons are constantly trying to get into her, so only this water will do."
Kenny asked, a hint of curiosity in his voice, "Why? Water is water, right?"
"Not when it comes from a spring near a church, apparently," she sighed, rolling her eyes once more.
As they continued down the path, they completely missed Bobby, in an uncharacteristic manner, step up to Sonbre and give him a worried look. "Hey, Sonbre. You gonna be okay?"
The much-taller youth shook out of the daze he hadn't even realize he'd fallen in, and glanced down to meet the concerned boy's light blue eyes. "Yeah. Don't worry about me; I'll be fine."
…
The sound of a car pulling up the gravel road caught the attention of the group of women with baskets full of offerings from their homes and neighborhoods. They looked at each other curiously, wondering with soft whispers if it was another group of tourists. Those seemed to be fairly common; either that, or other islanders from the cities along the highways beyond the mountains.
A dark gray van with a bright logo imprinted along its side slowed to a stop in the lot, its side door sliding open to reveal a rather motley group of young teenagers inside as they filed out, some with cheerful faces, others with more sour-looking dispositions.
"Okay, the spring's about a quarter-mile down the path," the dark-haired girl with them explained somewhat curtly. "So just follow it and you'll see it; you can't miss it." She turned to give the others a testy look, and the countrywomen chewed at their lower lips and turned their heads piteously from the gruesome-looking scar marring the right half of her face. They had seen her numerous times with a frigid woman and sometimes a pleasant elderly woman, though this had to be the first they had seen her accompanied by peers. Perhaps this is what the people in the cities called "group therapy"?
As far as they could tell, it looked like the others needed the spring water about as much as the poor scarred girl, if not more. Never before had they seen so many strange children together like this. The littlest boy looked like he was afraid even of his own shadow, bright eyes flitting around in borderline irrational fear. The darker-brunette boy with glasses kept clutching a dark bag to him, as if it held something of great importance. The brunette girl seemed rather short-tempered, much like the poor scarred girl and yet without the helpless burden of seeing too much in a short lifetime. The black-but-not-quite girl seemed utterly confused, looking almost lost in the crowd. Another boy had the same hair color as the poor scarred girl, and though his eyes were a dark blue and his features unmarred and light, there was definitely something too "cheerful" about him that made them frown in disapproval; and the blond American seemed no different, launching himself so boldly at the others with a grin on his face more suitable for a dog greeting its owner.
But it was the tall ones that looked particularly menacing; the one with crow-black hair's eyes were too slanted and such an unnatural feline-esque yellow, the one with hair of coal and steel had burning eyes of frozen fire, and the last…
The youngest bit back a gasp as he glanced over, and all the women soon found themselves looking away with ashen features and quickened breaths. The plain gold crosses they wore around their necks were gripped tight as they repeated prayers to the Lord to protect their souls from… whatever they had just seen. The stoniness of those features spoke of danger and deceit, the sharp lines of his brooding figure screeched of pain and power, but those eyes… those paralyzing peridot eyes that whispered of temptation and forbidden treasure and sin and…
"Esos ojos no son de gente," spat one of them scathingly, though the shaking of her cross-clutching hand gave away her anxiety. The others nodded accordingly.
"Es un diablo¡debe ser él!"
"¿No debemos dejarlos ir al manantial?"
"Están intentando quizá curarlo…"
"Debemos decir al sacerdote, por si a caso."
There was a group murmur of agreement, and the women hurriedly skittered into the church in a flurry of cotton skirts and their woven baskets. They closed the heavy wooden doors behind them without a second glance, eager to put something – anything – between them and the youth with such piercing green eyes.
Sonbre frowned vacantly at the church's imposing double doors, having heard every word.
…
"Jeez, Flavien, what took you?" Kasumi sneered as the youth caught up from behind, hands shoved into his pockets and features oddly guarded. "The church-goers there try to exorcize you or something?"
He scowled at her. "If anyone here needs exorcizing, it would be you, Granger. You're the one with a face to scare Satan." Kasumi jolted back, eyes wide with shock before her expression steeled into a twisted snarl.
"Like you can talk, Snake Eyes," she spat at him darkly. "Little kids get nightmares just looking at you!"
Sonbre snorted derisively, "I think you're confusing me for you, caricorta. There's obviously a reason you grew out your bangs…"
"Are you saying I'm ashamed of my face, bastard?"
"I'm afraid you're the one who said it," he shrugged callously as she ground her teeth at him angrily. "You should wear a mask; less likely to fly off, I've been told."
"And you should lock yourself in a church basement!" She finally snapped, her knuckles white as she clenched her fists in a feeble attempt to control her temper. "Maybe listening to sermons several times a day'll get your screwed-up head on straight!"
Sonbre stopped in his tracks, staring at her with a detached look that disappeared too quickly for her to name. "Congratulations, Granger. You've officially proven yourself to be lower than I thought possible."
Before Kasumi could argue, he walked ahead to fall into step with a slightly more nervous than usual Bobby, vivid green eyes almost too sharp for comfort.
