Heart of Life: Alea Iacta Est
PandaShadow and ArmadillloHunter
The Crack in the Sidewalk
A/N:
Panda: HI LOOK I UPDATED THIS ON TIME GUYS I AM A RESPONSIBLE AUTHOR THAT HAS LESS GOING ON NOW (not really, but this is important too). This chapter. I don't remember what happens in it.
Armadilllo: Kaiya is confused about aforementioned explanation. And they have to convince her. OH, I REMEMBER! THIS IS WHERE THE LEGIT STUFF HAPPENS!
Panda: Caps lock is fun. I overuse it lately. But anyway. I REMEMBER NOW. IT IS SO FUNNY. HIEI. I LOVE THAT GUY. Really, though. Why is he so cool? You know what else, readers? I WOULD MAKE A GREAT SHOW COORDINATOR. Thank you.
Armadilllo: I would vote for you (there would be a heart shape here, but the document manager won't let me)
Panda: D'aw, I lurve you. Thanks :D :D :D. And. Yeah. To put this in context, I have elections today. For a thing. With people. And stuff. And I've been freaking out all day. ALL DAY. I STARTED CRYING WHEN I HAD TO MOVE MY PRINTER. NOT KIDDING.
Armadilllo: She really isn't kidding. But yeah, we only own our own characters, and plot.
Panda: My computer just freaked out. But it is all good now. I really like cats. I GET TO SEE MY CATS IN TWO WEEKS. BUT ALSO IN TWO WEEKS I GET SEPARATED FROM (LEGIT) ALL OF MY FRIENDS. I AM GOING TO CRY WHEN I LEEEAAAVE. And yeah. We own those. But not Hiei. Though I do own a Hiei plushie.
Armadilllo: Haha, it'll be okay though. We can visit sometime in the summer, or something :D
Panda: Yeah. Though it isn't very long that I will be accessible. Unless I don't find money, in which case I don't even know what is going on. But like. Friends. You. First floor friends. JCA friends. EVERYONE LIVES IN NoVA. And I am lonely. And it is also why I don't want to say anything to the English language, because if it WAS at all reciprocated, it would be weird to start something NOW. Especially since I am going to Japan. I am done ranting now. So Armadilllo can comment on this, and open up the chapter for youuuu.
Armadillo: Lol, yeah I can see the issue. But anyway, here it is, in all its wondrous glory. :D
"Is this some kind of joke or something?" Kaiya asked. "Because, if not, you are clearly all completely insane."
She had to admit to herself that it was partially her own fault; she had been the one to let yet another insane person into their home. And then her crazy sister invited in Shuichi, the co-worker Marika had previously tried to convince her was gay. And what were they doing? Talking about demons. Demons. The idea was completely preposterous. Creatures like that couldn't exist; it would throw everything out of balance. What about survival of the fittest? How was the human race even still around if demons really existed?
Except, if she was being completely honest with herself, she couldn't reject the idea entirely. She had never forgotten the strange circumstances behind her losing her sight. Had that creature outside the window been more than a chemically-induced hallucination? Had it been a demon, coming to use her to get to her sister? Or, even worse, had Marika been its target? Or had she actually been its target?
'Absolutely not,' she thought. 'You are being irrational. Demons do not exist. This co-worker is clearly confused about more than just his sexuality, the guy that jumped out of the tree is probably insane as it is, and I already know that nee-chan is crazy.'
"No one here is crazy, Kaiya," the gay co-worker attempted to assure her. He was not successful. It was known that crazy people didn't realize there was anything wrong with their delusions.
"Well, Shuichi's mental stability is debatable," Marika commented. "I am definitely not crazy."
"No, really. Just pause for a moment. Think about exactly what you have been saying. Just think about it, and then tell me that you think you sound sane," Kaiya asserted. Did she need to record them? Would that make them notice how irrational everything they were saying was? It was beyond ridiculous.
"I never think I sound sane," her sister responded.
'How reassuring,' Kaiya thought.
"But however much you deny the truth, the truth goes on existing," she continued. Kaiya recognized that. It was a quote. Really? She was quoting some European guy?
"Did you actually just quote George Orwell?" she asked, voicing her exact thoughts for once.
"The source of something does not make it any less valid," the brunette assured her. Kaiya thought she sounded like she had jumped out of a fortune cookie.
"There are situations where I could definitely argue with that," she pointed out. "But it isn't even relevant. What proof can you show me that this is actually a thing?"
'Yes,' Kaiya thought, 'if they can give me solid proof that this Demon World exists, I will take back every mean thing I ever said about nee-chan being crazy.'
"You're the evidence man, Shuichi," Marika commented. Kaiya rolled her eyes. Her sister could have at least tried before shoving the responsibility onto someone else.
"It's not something that is very easy to prove to a blind person," Shuichi said. Kaiya could see how that would be a problem. She imagined ways for them to attempt to persuade her. 'Look at me use my magic powers!' the flamboyant one would say. 'Kaiya, look, they're flying!' Marika might say. Or maybe her sister would even suggest-
"What if you showed her Hiei's third eye?"
That. Maybe she would suggest that. With all of Marika's insistences on babying Kaiya and being obsessed with her well being, the amount of times it seemed she simply forgot that her little sister couldn't see was much larger than one would anticipate.
"That involves seeing," Shuichi pointed out. Kaiya furrowed her brow in confusion. The co-worker was certainly logical. Perhaps she could get along with him if he wasn't so insane.
"I would think living around a blind person would make you aware of such things," tree-man, or she supposed she could call him by his name since she knew it, interjected. Also a logical assumption. Kaiya almost wanted them to successfully prove to her that this demon thing was real; Shuichi and Hiei seemed like very interesting people. If they weren't actually crazy, she might be able to make friends again.
"Whatever, maggot lover," Marika responded. Kaiya took that opportunity to jump back into the conversation.
"What is that even supposed to mean?" she asked. Why was she defending him? He was obviously crazy. But, again, it didn't mean her sister had to rip the idea of manners into little pieces and throw it into a giant trash can. "Insanity aside, what about him screams 'I love maggots!'?"
"Well, let's examine the evidence," the brunette began. "He chopped a demon duck into bite-sized chunks. He has also been known to lick the blood off of his sword - which also brings me to the fact that he has a sword - not to mention his willingness to kill us. He is obviously obsessed with death. Therefore, he hangs out with people who are dead or dying a lot of the time. And where there are dead people, there are maggots. Hence: He loves maggots."
'What? Was that even supposed to make sense?' Kaiya thought.
"That logic was almost as impressive as it was completely wrong," Shuichi said. Kaiya tilted her head to the side. Every time he spoke, she was reminded less and less of a gay guy and more and more of someone extremely wise who thought out every decision to the fullest before acting on it.
"No one asked you Shuichi!" Marika exclaimed.
"I changed my mind," Kaiya said, referring to Shuichi. "I value his opinion. I agree; your deductive reasoning skills are astounding, and not because you're the next Sherlock Holmes."
"Can I at least be Watson?" her sister pleaded.
"And here you are, trying to defend your sanity," Kaiya responded dryly. She supposed she should give up hope on being friends with Shuichi and Hiei. At this rate, they would hardly have a chance to prove her sister was sane without including the demon thing.
"Oh, wait!" Marika spoke up, apparently disregarding Kaiya's jibe at her sanity. "I have an idea how we can convince you that we are sane! Pick me!"
The black-haired girl signed, slumping down in her seat. She didn't even know anymore if she actually wanted it to work or not. "Yes, nee-chan?" she asked sarcastically.
"If I am insane," she began, "then how do you explain the fact that they are having the same delusion as me?"
"Didn't I mention that I think all three of you are insane?" she reminded Marika. She needed a stronger argument. One that she could explain easily. One that was completely grounded in the normal, natural world they lived in. "Or there's the possibility that you, your co-worker, and some friend of his thought it would be funny to mess with me. I mean, why else would someone jump out of a tree?"
"Maybe he just likes trees; is that crazy?" Marika asked. What had happened? It appeared now Marika was defending tree-man. Or, well, Hiei. He did, in fact, have a name. "Because if it is, then you have been insane your whole life."
"There isn't a problem with liking trees," she asserted, crossing her arms. "I was referring to the fact that, in the time period when you know I sit outside under that specific tree, this person just happened to be there. It could totally have been orchestrated by you." She was certainly proud of herself. Thinking up logical explanations on the spot was something she hadn't needed to do before. Then again, neither was convincing her sister that the men in their house weren't demons.
"Even monkeys fall out of trees," Marika responded flippantly. If there weren't any other people in the room, Kaiya would have banged her forehead on the nearest hard surface. Not only was she using yet another quote, but it wasn't even relevant. Unless, of course, she was underestimating her sister's mental capacity and Marika actually meant that Kaiya was correct and the mistake equivalent to the monkey falling out of the tree was Kaiya noticing her plan. Benefit of the doubt?
"Can't you think up anything on your own? George Orwell to proverbs. You have no sense of creativity," Kaiya retorted.
"Well, have you ever considered bringing the words of the dead into a living argument? Remembering all these quotes in itself is a talent. Not everyone can paint weird trees," her sister commented. She wasn't sure which of the tree paintings Marika was referring to, but the only one in the room was her favorite painting; the tree trunks were white with crystallized, purple leaves. She was almost jealous that the other inhabitants of the room could see the actual painting when she had to just imagine it in her mind.
"I like my weird trees!" she replied, defensive. "And this still doesn't solve the issue of whether or not I need to call a mental hospital for all three of you."
"That isn't necessary," Hiei interjected. Kaiya turned her head in the direction of his voice and raised an eyebrow. "I would rather not have to deal with killing any pointless humans at the moment."
'Yes, I am certain,' she thought. 'He has to be insane. Probably a psychopath. Why did nee-chan actually have to be right for once?'
"Hiei, why don't you just solve this whole issue by reading her mind?" Shuichi suggested. Kaiya turned back to face the others and paused for a moment. That was certainly an interesting solution. She doubted they could fake it, and it would be nice to know whether or not they were all crazy. If it wasn't true, then there was no harm in letting him try. If it was true, it wouldn't much matter since he would have been in her head before anyway.
"Hey! I don't want that pervert in my sister's mind!" the brunette exclaimed.
'He isn't a pervert,' Kaiya thought. 'Insane and pervert are very different spectrums of someone's mental state.'
"I don't want to go back inside her mind either," Hiei snapped. Kaiya crinkled her nose. Were her thoughts really that bad?
"It's either that or she calls the police on us," Shuichi pointed out.
'No, silly co-worker, I would call the loony bin,' she thought.
"It would cause both of us too much to work to cover that up and you know it," he continued. Kaiya was sick of just waiting. She was tired and she just wanted to be done talking to these people - crazy or not.
"Fine. Whatever. What am I thinking?" Kaiya asked. She decided that the tickling feeling in her mind was due to her exhaustion.
'When I get to walk home by myself, I know where to turn because of the crack in the sidewalk right in front of our house,' she thought. That wasn't something anyone could just guess. In fact, the only person who would know about it was Marika, and Marika didn't usually think ahead far enough to be able to plan something like that. Even then, it would be crazy to guess 'the crack in the sidewalk.'
"You're thinking about the crack you use in the sidewalk to get home," Hiei correctly answered. Her head snapped back in his direction, even though she knew it was pointless.
"There is no crack in the sidewalk," Marika asserted. "Hiei, why are you messing it up? She won't believe us now!"
"Well then," Kaiya commented. "I suppose I can't rule it out to you being perceptive and telling him little facts about my life beforehand."
"Are you saying there is a crack in the sidewalk?" her sister asked incredulously. Kaiya again had the urge to ram her head into some hard, painful object.
"Yes, nee-chan. Yes there is," she answered monotonously.
"Why have I never noticed it then?" Marika asked. Shuichi interjected again before Kaiya had the chance to respond.
"It doesn't matter if you knew about it or not. Do you believe us now, Kaiya?" the male asked. She didn't know what to think. She had felt something tickle her mind briefly before she thought about the crack. Was that Hiei using telepathy on her? If so, did that actually mean both he and Shuichi were actually demons? She didn't think she could just accept that.
'Just agree so I can leave,' Hiei's voice interrupted her thoughts within her own mind.
It took all of her self control not to jump out of the chair she was in simply from the shock. Suspecting that he could hear what she was thinking was one thing. Actually hearing his voice as though it was part of her own thoughts was on a whole different level. "Okay, fine, whatever. You can all do whatever you want."
"Cool. So can I go train with Genkai?" Marika asked. Kaiya slumped as far down into her chair as she possibly could, though she knew that there was nowhere she could go to escape from her embarrassment. If he could really hear all of her thoughts, just how many had he heard? All of them? Was it something he could turn on and off, or was it just a constant flow of people's thoughts within his mind?
"No, absolutely not," Shuichi answered. Kaiya still wasn't paying attention. She was acutely aware of a strange sensation. She felt as though she was being watched, but at the same time she knew it wasn't like someone was looking at her. She felt like her thoughts were on display, shining against a blank part of the wall from an old overhead projector. Was he still reading her mind? He hadn't moved from the window behind her.
"Why not?" Marika inquired. The black-haired girl shifted, pulling one of her legs to her chest. Body language. It was relevant. She had learned once that closing off your body with other body parts is like a signal of feeling uncomfortable. But then she put her leg back down. What if he wasn't even reading her mind? What if he was, but it wasn't his fault? She didn't want him to think she had a problem with him. After all, he had certainly proved he wasn't human, so her fear of his insanity didn't stand. Regardless of the fact he had mentioned killing people twice, she did still feel as though she could trust him.
"I already told you why. Don't make me repeat myself," Shuichi asserted to the brunette. Kaiya was momentarily distracted from her own thoughts. She had asked her sister once before why she thought this man was gay, but that was before she met him. It was silly. He wasn't gay.
'Maybe it's his looks,' she thought. 'Maybe he is wearing makeup or something.'
"You can't tell me what to do!" her sister exclaimed.
"Then why did you ask me whether you could or not?" the not-so-gay co-worker asked. Kaiya was again distracted from the situation at hand when she felt Hiei move behind her. Was he going to join them sitting down? Was he going to attack one of them? No, he would have attacked them a long time ago if he really wanted to. Was he going to wipe her memory again? That could be a possibility.
"Because, well, because I don't know where she lives," Marika explained. Hiei was gone. The black-haired girl couldn't feel him there anymore and, even though she did irrationally trust him, she felt as though she could think freely again.
"It will be better for you if you just let me handle it," Shuichi continued to attempt to convince the brunette.
"I'm not helpless!" Marika exasperatedly replied. Kaiya was struck by a moment of familiarity. In that instance, her older sister was behaving just as she did when Marika wouldn't let her do something.
"I never said you were," Shuichi defended himself. "I just mean that I have more experience with these things."
"You fascist telemarketer! I never will if you don't let me do anything!" Marika continued.
'Fascist telemarketer?' Kaiya thought. 'These insults today don't make any sense. And she is being such a hypocrite. Maybe if I call her a fascist telemarketer next time she won't let me do something, she will change her mind.'
"The fascist thing I understand, but telemarketer?" Shuichi asked.
"You sell shoes, it's the same thing!" the brunette exclaimed.
"If you say so," he replied with a sigh.
'Yep,' Kaiya thought. 'We could definitely be friends. It's a good sign.'
"So, if I say that I am going to train with this psychic, then you won't stop me," Marika tried again, twisting his words to fit her own needs.
"That's not what I meant," Shuichi said.
"But it's what you said," she replied confidently.
"Only if you twist my words with your illogic," he retorted. Did this kind of thing happen all the time? They sounded like an old married couple. And, if Kaiya was being one hundred percent honest with herself, she thought it was adorable.
"That American band?" Marika asked. For the third time, Kaiya wanted to bash her own head in with a blunt object.
"Marika, this is not a joke," Shuichi responded seriously. The black-haired girl was surprised by the amount of worry in his tone. It seemed that he genuinely cared about what happened to her sister.
"I was asking seriously," Marika asserted. Kaiya couldn't decide if she thought her older sister was being serious or not.
"By illogic I meant your misuse of logic," the male explained.
'He is much more patient with her than I am,' Kaiya mused. 'I would have given up about five minutes ago.'
"I can't 'misuse' logic if I don't use it in the first place," Marika attempted to explain. As true as it was, it wasn't going to do anything to help her side of the argument.
"Well, when you put it that way -" Shuichi began but was interrupted.
"Shuichi, really, you don't own me," Marika pointed out. "I am not some pet of yours that you have to make sure is taken care of. I want to learn how to defend myself."
"I know that," he replied. "But you should also understand that I am not going to let that happen." It was adorable. This not-gay co-worker was being protective of her crazy sister. For the past few years, she had wanted Marika to be happy again. Was this man the person who could give that happiness back to her?
"How did you get my book, anyway?" Marika asked, abruptly changing the subject. Had she noticed he was acting not-gay too? No, it was more likely that she just wanted to distract him from his fervent effort to convince her not to go to see this "Genkai." Kaiya understood; it would be a bad idea. They should just pretend like it never happened and move on with their lives normally. That was what Kaiya planned to do.
"What?" Shuichi asked, probably also surprised by the spontaneous subject change.
"You heard me!" Marika exclaimed.
"That has nothing to do with it," he responded.
'Yes, Shuichi,' Kaiya thought. 'Assert yourself. You can handle the crazy. I believe in you.'
"Were you in my room?" the brunette asked accusingly. Kaiya was confused. How would Shuichi have gotten a book from her sister's room? It wasn't as though he was some trained assassin or something.
"I told you, you left it in the store," he explained. That made sense. Marika was known, after all, to forget things. She also wasn't very observant. Hence the lack of knowledge about the giant crack in the sidewalk in front of their house.
"Lies! I did no such thing," she asserted. Kaiya found it easier to believe the co-worker in that situation... or in most situations, really.
"Actually, you probably did leave it in the store. Maybe you have early onset Dementia," the black-haired girl commented. Rationally speaking, it was pretty normal to leave a book somewhere. At the same time, though, it did seem convenient that he had a book to return at the exact same time that Hiei was in their living room.
"I think it is much more likely that Shuichi is some kind of cat-burglar-demon thing!" Marika exclaimed.
"Actually, I am a fox demon," he argued.
"All the better to sneak into my room, you sly fox! Never go into my room again!" the brunette demanded.
"What if he has your permission?" Kaiya asked slyly. The question was, however, whether or not Marika would catch the innuendo.
"Why would he have my permission?" she asked. Apparently not. How on earth was she still so certain he was gay?
"Nevermind," Kaiya muttered, leaning her head onto the back of the chair. She was getting sick of the argument taking place. Shuichi and Marika were both too stubborn for their own good - not saying Kaiya wasn't stubborn as well; that just wasn't a problem at that specific moment.
"I told you already, I never went into your room. If you want, I can take the book back to the shoe store and leave it there for you to find," he suggested.
"No! Don't touch it!" the brunette exclaimed. "You've done enough. Just leave me!"
"Melodramatic, much?" Kaiya asked, no emotion in her tone.
"Fine. I'm going. See you both tomorrow, I guess," Shuichi finished. Kaiya heard him stand and start to move around to the door.
"Goodbye, Shuichi," Marika said. His footsteps echoed on the wooden floors until the door opened and closed.
"Right," Kaiya started. "I'm going to my room now." She stood up and began walking to the stairs.
"You're not going to have dinner?" Marika asked, significantly calmer since Shuichi was gone. Kaiya furrowed her brow and stopped walking briefly. The relationship between the two of them didn't make much sense, but that was something to think about another time. Kaiya didn't plan on talking about what they had learned anymore. If Marika tried to convince her to go see Genkai, she wouldn't let it happen. They both just needed to move on.
"No," Kaiya responded, continuing her journey to the stairs.
"As long as you have breakfast, I guess," Marika muttered.
"Whatever you say," Kaiya responded, tossing a hand over her shoulder. Maybe when she woke up in the morning, all of that "demon" stuff would have been nothing more than a dream.
Armadilllo:THAT WAS GREAT!
Panda: WASN'T IT? I AM SO PROUD. PLUS. KAIYA AND HIEI. IF YOU SQUINT, GUYS. IF YOU SQUINT. I totally ship Kaiya and Hiei.
Armadilllo: I do too, even though I ship Kurama and Marika more. Tragic love is the best kind.
Panda: Oh, tragic love. Haha, we're so angsty. So, so very angsty. Except not really right now. BUT IT GETS THERE. WITH ANGST.
Armadilllo: Sorry, I got distracted and keyboard mashed accidentally. But yes, I agree. They are my favorite. Here is a glimpse of the upcoming action that you can find in next week's update:
Chapter 11: Determination and guilt - attempt to convince Kaiya; boring days; Kurama blindness; train ride
Panda: Wow, so cool! I like the "boring days" part. It sounds particularly interesting. And, like, unfortunately, we are catching up to the chapter I am still working on. Heh. Luckily, that update is AFTER finals are all done.
Armadilllo: Yeah, it should be okay. And at least you will have two weeks to write the next chapter, even when we catch up to you.
Panda: True, true. Oh. Uh, I should warn you all that I am going to Japan this summer, so there will be NO UPDATES between July 13th and August... something. It'll be essentially a five-week hiatus. But when I come back, I will have MUCH KNOWLEDGE. But yeah, even though there is internet there, I'm just not going to have time. I SAWE READERS, BUT THAT IS ALSO A LONG TIME AWAY, AND REMEMBER THAT I LOVE YOU FOR READING THIS STORYYYY.
Armadilllo: Haha, and until that far off day, we shall see you next Saturday, and the Saturday after that, and the next one too. :D
Love,
C. E. Taylor & G.E. Hemmy