A/N: my computer got a virus so I'm doing all of this from an iPod which I must say is a major pain in the butt. XP So the chapters are going to take longer to upload. And forgive me for any typos I'll fix those once I have a computer again.
Anway, so as I said this chapter includes Joey at age 7 and Mushi at age 13. So Mushi is going to be another dislikeable character. She'll have her moments but overall... yeah. Joey is going to be lovable throughout the story though. He's going to be another main character but I won't be saying much about his life in the KND though. I put Tommy and Hank in the next chapter since I thought it would fit better.
Chapter 10
"Hey Mom I'm home!" Wally called in, dropping his backpack at the door, not to be touched until tomorrow morning.
"Welcome home Wallaby!" his mother called back. She was in the kitchen making dinner already. Wally smelled ribs and his mouth watered, the smell called him to the kitchen. "Smellin the Ribs already are yuh?" his mom teased, wiping her hands off on her apron. Wally was so encapsulated by the smell of ribs that he didn't notice his mother walking towards him.
"Hey!" Wally cried out indignantly when his mother planted a kiss on his cheek. "C'mon mom!" he whined indignantly as he wiped his cheek. "I'm not a kid anymore! Go kiss Joey er somethin!"
"Aw pshaw. You'll always be my little Wallaby and I'll always be your mama. No matter how big yuh get. Now, c'mere and give yer mama a kiss," she said sweetly, pointing at her cheek.
"No way!" Wally walked past her and started stomping up the stairs, but caught his mother's disappointed expression, so he stopped. "Ey, speaking of Joey... is he...?" Wally pointed upstairs, already knowing the answer.
His mother smiled deviously. "I'll tell yuh for a kiss."
Wally smiled incredulously on the inside, but covered it up by grudgingly stomping back down the stairs while grumbling nothing under his breath. He kissed his mother's cheek and then wiped his lips."There! Happy?!"
His mother shook her head at him with a small smile. "E's waitin for yuh in yur room."
Wally smirked and nodded, then headed upstairs to his room again. Wally's room was a mess to say the least. The walls were covered in posters of wrestlers and rock stars. The floor was covered by cups and plates, take-out boxes, magazines, papers, dirty clothes, and coins. And then there was the closet... but let's stay out of there.
There IS someone in there though... and Wally knew it. He dropped his change on his dresser, then threw his wallet on his nightstand and then sat on his bed to take off his shoes.
"Aaaaaahh!" someone yelled from his closet.
A wild animal suddenly popped out of the closet and tackled Wally down onto the bed and began punching him in the stomach. Wally grabbed the animal by the waist and shoved him off of him and onto the bed, then pinned it down as quickly as he could. The animal started trying to kick him in the stomach, but Wally placed one leg over its legs to keep it still. But the animal kept squirming.
"Knock it off yuh little ankle bitter yer already caught."
"I can... get... out!" Joey argued, his voice full of effort.
"Yuh know I'm gonna holdjuh here til yuh give." Joey squirmed for a few more seconds before he relaxed, glaring at the wall. "Yuh give?"
"Yeah I give!" Joey shouted. Wally smirked and got off of his little brother. "Yuh can't let me win ONCE?!" Joey whined
Wally stretched out on his bed. "I'll let you beat me when you deserve it yuh little tike." Joey frowned, and sat next to his brother obviously upset he had lost their daily scuffle. Wally opened one eye and smiled, "Ehh... you'll beat me one day yuh little monkey." He reached over and ruffled Joey's blind hair.
Joey pouted as he did so, but laughed as he fixed his hair. "Yeah right. You're the best!"
Wally smirked, eyes closed. "Tt. Yuh got that right." Wally crossed his arms and put them behind his head. "So, how was school Joey?"
"Great!" Joey exclaimed, standing up on the bed. "Some of the older kids started telling us about the Kids Next Door!" he chattered excitedly jumping on Wally's bed.
Wally chuckled. "Oh yeah?"
"Yeah! They told us all about the gadgets and, and Sector Z and, and the tree houses and and the moon base! And they told us all about the scary teens and adults!"
"Ey! Who you callin' a scary teen?" Wally teased.
"Not you bro! The mean ones!" Joey corrected.
"Boys! Oo's jumpin' on the bed?!" their mother shouted from the kitchen.
Joey immediately sat down on his knees while Wally gave him a sly look. "Sorry mom!" Wally called down.
Joey smiled but kept bouncing on the bed. "Everyone kept talking about the, the moonbase and, and the tree houses but my favorite was Sector V! The greatest team in KND history!"
Something about Joey's excitement made Wally smile. "Oh really?"
"Yeah! Like they had Number One who was the best leader EVER! And then there's number five who was SUPER COOL! But my favorite was Number Four! He-he was the fighting specialist of the team and the toughest kid EVER! I wanna be just like 'im!" Joey sent a few amateur air punches.
In the mean time, a warm shiver radiated from Wally's chest. He couldn't place it, but he felt proud of himself… or was it his little brother? Eh. It was probably because his little brother wanted to be a fighter, just like his big brother. Wally laughed. "I bet e's not tougher than me."
"Bet he is!" Joey taunted, his eyes sparkling.
Wally stood up and went into an intimidating fighting stance. "Oh yeah? Bring 'im here!" Wally started to throw faster, harder punches over Joey's head. "I'll kick 'is butt!"
Joey laughed at his big brother's antics, his smile beaming. "Yeah… I can't though."
Wally looked down at his brother's disappointed expression. "Why not?"
"He's not part of the Kid's Next Door no more…"
"Oh…" Wally looked down at his dispirited little brother and frowned, but then smiled confidently. "Well, I guess that makes me the toughest by default then huh?"
"Not yet!" Joey ran at his big brother and jumped off the bed to tackle him.
Wally smiled, caught his little brother under the arms and threw him back on the bed and laughed at his stunned expression. "Gotta be faster than that tough guy."
Joey glowering at him from his laying down position on the bed, but Wally just smirked. Joey humphed and sat himself up in a tense Indian style. "The Kids Next Door'll never choose me…"
Wally rolled his eyes and kneeled down at the edge of the bed in front of his little brother. "N why's that?"
"Cause I can't even tackle a teenager! I'm no good…"
Wally smiled reassuringly and pushed his little brother's head. "C'mon you're not that bad." His brother still glared at the bed with tears in his eyes. "Alright then, stand up. C'mon," Wally commanded, pulling a confused Joey to his feet. "I'm gonna show yuh how to punch properly. Here, make sure your stance is solid. Yeah, like that. Now, when you punch, put all your weight into the punch. No, no like this. Yeah… close, close! Try movin more like this. No not- yeah! Yeah that's it! Do that again."
"Like this?"
"Yeah! Yeah you've got it. Now do it fast… there see. Those little ankle biters won't be able to turn down a fighting tike like you," Wally reassured, ruffling Joey's hair. Joey smiled proudly under his brother's hand and ruffled hair. "You'll be as good as that Numbuh Four kid in no time." Wally gave him a small approving smile, and Joey beamed. Wally's smile widened a little from how happy his little brother was, but then Wally looked to the side and noticed the clock said 4:43. "Now get outta here. You got homework to do and dad's gonna be home soon," Wally commanded lightly, pushing Joey towards the door.
Joey pouted while his brother pushed him out the door, but then stopped right before he went through the door. "Hey Bro?" Wally stopped pushing him. "If I joined the Kids Next Door... would I have to fight you?"
Wally thought about this for a moment... but then decided not to. "Probably. And I'd beat you too," he said sarcastically and shoved Joey out the door.
Wally kept his hand on the door for a little while, then went back to his bed. He sighed, a little tense. He knew that despite Joey's concerns the KND would snatch him up easy. He was a talented kid.
He sighed again and reached for his phone... suddenly furious that it wasn't in his pocket.
Kuki looked at Wally's phone, uneasy. She knew he'd be furious once he noticed it was gone. He had just left so suddenly she completely forgot to give it back to him. She had thought of chasing him down but then the thought of Lucas's eyes on her sent a nervous shiver down her back.
But then her restlessness was interrupted by the sound of teens cheering. She sighed, knowing exactly what it was.
Mushi's tv.
Kuki looked at the clock. 5:02
"Hey Mushi?" she called in softly.
Kuki sighed and closed her AP bio book. She trudged over to Mushi's room and knocked tentatively, not wanting to make her sister mad.
"What?" Mushi snapped back through the closed door. Kuki took that as permission to open the door.
"You know, Mom is going to be home soon. She won't be happy if you're watching tv instead of doing your homework."
"Why don't you mind your own business?" Mushi snapped, keeping her focus on the tv.
Kuki frowned. Mushi and her mother haven't been getting along due to Mushi's work habits and grades. Kuki hated seeing the two of them fight. She hated seeing her baby sister in trouble.
"But Muushiiiiiiii..." Kuki whined. "You're going to get in trouble. Mom is going to be cranky from work and-"
"SHE won't be happy to see you not doing your homework," Kuki's mom finished from behind her.
Mushi jumped and turned off the tv, as if her mother hadn't already seen her watching it. Her eyes were wide with the initial shock of being caught. But then she met her mother's cross stare with a defiant glare, and then sent a blaming glare to Kuki like it was her fault she was in trouble.
Kuki rubbed her arm, blaming herself for the fight that was going to occur.
Her mother turned to Kuki, her eyes lingering on Mushi. "Kuki, there's a boy at the for you. I think he's an old friend of yours."
Kuki blushed and rushed down the stairs, leaving her mother and sister to their bickering. It had to be Wally coming for his phone. she got to the door and stopped herself before she tore it open. She took a deep breath, forcing herself to relax. She didn't have to be nervous. This was a guy she was tutoring who was probably very mad at her. Not a big deal... there was no reason to get this worked up.
She opened the door and found Wally carelessly leaning on the wall, hands buried in his sweatshirt's pockets, looking out at the street. He turned his head and narrowed his eyes. "Ah believe you've got somethin of mine."
Kuki blushed and rubbed her arm guiltily. "Heheh yeah... sorry about that. Your phone's in my room. Come in." But then she heard her sister yelling at her mother. She winced and turned back to Wally. "Maybe you should-"
Wally pushed past her and stomped up the stairs.
"Hey!" Kuki yelled and chased after him. He glanced around and walked right into Kuki's room. She looked after him, astounded by his nerve and by the fact he had found her room so easily. She marched to her room, ignoring her sister's tellin next door. "It'd be nice for you to ASK don't you think?"
He was anxiously looking around her room, for his phone most likely. "You stole my phone. I'm not in the mood for nicities... he took a moment to actually look around him. "Nice room."
Kuki's cheeks became hot. Her room had updated very little since she was a kid. Her walls were still a light pink, her bed was larger, but it was still white with little designs on the headboard. Her bed had a light green sheet on it, a white pillow, 3 old Rainbow Monkeys around her pillow, and random stuffed animals at the foot of her bed. At the foot of her bed there was a light colored wood chest -God forbid he go through that... - with little pieces of her childhood stashed away. Near by the door was her desk.
"Thanks..." she said lamely.
Wallaby turned towards her and shrugged. "Eh. At least it's clean. And it seems tuh suit yuh... THERE you are you little bugguh!" he cried victoriously once he saw his phone on her desk behind Kuki's bio book. He opened it up to check what he had missed, and closed it. "Well, I guess I got what I came here for. I'm off," he said nonchalantly.
Kuki moved out of his way. "Bye Wally," Kuki said a bit quietly, wondering if he'd just ignore her again.
"See yuh later Kuki," he replied, not turning back to face her. Kuki couldn't deny the slight satisfaction she got from himsaying goodbye.
"Wallaby Beatles," Kuki's mother called from behind Kuki. Her tone made Wally stop and turn. "I thought that was you. I haven't seen you in this house in ages."
"Yeah... I don't even remember the place. Anyway Mrs. Sanban, I just came for my stolen phone," Walky informed, holding up his phone. Kuki frowned at the word STOLEN. It was a simple mistake. "So Ima get goin. Thanks for havin me."
"I must insist that you stay for dinner. We'd feel insulted if you didn't."
Kuki laughed inwardly at Wally's unwilling expression. "My mom's makin dinner at home-"
"Great. I haven't seen Mrs. Beatles in ages. I'll call her and invite them over."
Kuki tried not to laugh as Wally obviously steamed.