I should really find my balance. Some characters I write as too brash and others I write as too soft and still others I almost completely write out of the story to begin with. I need to get better at this.
"I just think it's strange, that's all." Fang-Fang muttered as he and Yukari snuck down to the kitchen together. "I mean, she disappears and then reappears just before a body is found. How do we know she's not just using that insane speed of hers to get to the rest of the group before she's found?"
"We don't." Yukari stated, glancing around at the furnace-like ovens. "But that doesn't mean we single her out."
"Oh come on." Fang-Fang snorted. "Ling-Ling told me all the stories. Albinos are always evil. You can see it in the red eyes."
"Actually, albinos have green or blue eyes." Yukari stated matter-of-factly, her intelligence shining in each word. "Most red eyed albinos are caused by enlarged blood vessels. Ura's a special case because the redness of her eyes wasn't caused by enlarged blood vessels."
"Blood vessels or not, red eyes are evil." Fang-Fang muttered, searching through the storage compartments for some food. Yukari shrugged at that and attempted to jump up and grab a box of cereal. The shelf was too high for her and she sighed in annoyance.
"Fang-Fang, can you get the cereal down for me?" she called. "The shelf is too high for me to reach."
"No problem." Fang-Fang turned and began stretching his body out, reaching for the box. Feeling it come into contact with his fingers, the Chinese boy poked it and made it tip backward before falling forward. Catching it before it fell, Fang-Fang moved back triumphantly
"Yukari?" Fang-Fang turned back to find the young witch gone. "Yukari!"
Moving down the hall, the Chinese boy stared around frantically, wondering how and when his friend had disappeared. Not finding any sign of the girl on the first floor, Fang-Fang climbed the stairs to the second floor, checking the premises. Seeing a puddle of blood seeping from underneath of a doorway, the Chinese swordsman cautiously moved forward, opening the door quickly in case of a surprise attack.
Fang-Fang leaped backward from the closet, shouting for the others. Tsukune leaped from the room, racing for the boy down the hall. He skidded to a stop in front of the closet and peered in, taking a step back in shock.
In the closet was Yukari. She looked fine at first, but when Tsukune peered closer, he noticed why Fang-Fang had yelled. Yukari's head was sitting on top of a washbasin while the basin itself was pounded flat and rested on the young witch's neck where her head should have been connected. Blood dripped from the flattened basin onto the floor while the neck wound spilled blood over Yukari's body. Turning to find the others running up the hall, he motioned for them to stay back.
"Who?" Kahlua panted, her eyes wide and terrified. "Who was it this time?"
"Yukari." Tsukune said. "Fang-Fang… what happened?"
"I turned away from her to put something on a shelf for her." The Chinese boy mumbled, his head bowed. "When I turned back, she was gone without a sound."
"Great!" Kurumu shouted, her cheeks in her hands. "Because of your negligence, Yukari's dead!"
Fang-Fang removed the coins in his pocket, forming his sword from them. "I'm going to find this sadistic bastard." He snarled. "And I'm going to make them pay." Before anyone could say anything, Fang-Fang took off down the hallway.
"What do we do?" Kurumu whimpered, clutching close to Tsukune.
"No one leaves the group from now on." Miyabi shrugged. "We watch each other so that no one disappears."
"But how long can we keep this up?" Aqua inquired, standing protectively in front of Kokoa while keeping the orange-haired girl in her sights. "Sooner or later, one of us is going to slip. Someone's going to turn their back and someone else will be taken because of it. I'm already so tired."
"I just want to sleep." Omote pouted, leaning against Ura.
"You'd probably be the safest one sleeping if Ura actually is the murderer." Haiji told her with a grin and a wink. This made Omote's pout deepen and her body sank against her sister, exhaustion clear in her disposition.
"Should we go back to the sitting room?" Ura inquired, supporting her sister easily.
"No." Tsukune shook his head. "Somehow, Ruby was taken from the sitting room without alerting us so we can't go there."
"Well it shouldn't be a problem if we all sat back-to-back." Gin suggested. "Then we'd also be able to make sure that Ura didn't sneak off somewhere to get her next attack ready."
"Ugh!" The silverette threw her hands in the air. "I'm right here! Geeze, why don't you just put me in a cage?" The entire group turned to Tsukune and the rich boy sighed.
"There's an animal cage is down the hall in the sitting area. It usually houses a perfomring gorilla my family sees every year."
Gin and Miyabi took off for the sitting area while Ura stared after them in shock. "I was joking!" she shrieked, running in the opposite direction as the two boys hurried back. Mizore and Kurumu instantly gave chase, their eyes set in determination. As Kurumu beat her wings to try and match Ura's speed, Mizore froze the floor, the ice following the vampire until it finally caught up to and surpassed her. Ura fell forward, sliding on the ice and slamming into the wall, giving Mizore enough time to melt the ice so that Gin and Miyabi could get through with the cage. Haiji stepped up and held the albino girl as Gin helped him put her in while Miyabi held the door open.
"Seriously?" Kokoa shouted as Omote rushed to the cage door. "You can't just put her in a cage!"
"Why not?" Miyabi inquired. "She's killing us. At least this way we'll know that she's not going to get out."
"That's not the point." Aqua snarled, moving forward and dropping into a combat stance, Haiji stepping up to meet her. "She's just as human as we are."
"Not if she's killing us, she's not." Haiji snorted, moving forward with a quick karate attack.
"How pathetic." Aqua chuckled lowly, dodging the move and easily placing one of her own, landing the hit and sending Haiji slamming into the cage.
"Whoa!" Ura leaped back, pressing herself against the opposite side as the karate-club leader stood and brushed himself off.
"Alright, now that we're safe." Miyabi interjected, stepping between the two combatants and using his tentacles to stop them from landing anymore blows. "Why don't we all head to the sitting room that's just down the hall. Since this is the third floor and not the second, Hokuto's remains won't be dripping on us the entire time."
"Agreed." The group cheered.
Gin and Haiji helped Miyabi carry the cage down the hall, Ura crossing her arms and turning away from them all as she was carried like a caged cat. Coming to the room, she was set on one side of the room as the rest of the group panned out. This sitting area wasn't as large as the one on the first floor, but it was still efficient enough to provide space for them all to stretch and relax.
"So, how does it feel being the one on the receiving end of the bad treatment?" Kurumu giggled, strolling toward the cage.
"Kurumu." Omote called warningly. "Don't poke the sleeping bear."
"Oh hush. You just want to save your sister's dignity… or whatever's left of it after being caged like an animal."
"If I were you," Aqua huffed, standing with Kokoa and Kahlua. "I'd be more concerned with what will happen once she gets out of the cage."
"Oh yeah? By then the police will be here and she'll be taken to an asylum where she belongs." Kurumu stated proudly.
"The police won't be here by the time I get out." Ura told the succubus calmly.
"How do you figure that?" Kurumu demanded, Mizore standing to check out the commotion.
"You all continue to make the same mistakes. You lack observation. There's just that one fact that you all forgot." Ura smirked.
"What's that?" Kurumu sneered, hands on her hips as she stood in front of the cage.
In answer, Ura twisted her body effortlessly. Bending sideways, she slid forward and rotated her hips, sliding between the bars. When she was halfway through, she twisted her upper body, her chest just barely making it through, but with an added pull, she slid between the bars, coming to stand right in front of the stunned succubus.
"I'm too flexible to be held captive."
Like I said, I LOVE writing this girl. I can totally see her doing that to an enemy just so that they could get closer so she could kick their ass. What do you think? Review and tell me.