The Most Happy
Act Eleven
The sunlight entered the classroom with a soft glow. Another morning was upon Kiyomaro and luckily for him, the first period was nearing its end. The class had just wrapped up the lesson of the day and Mr. Rin stood in front of his desk, collecting his papers. Silence filled the room and Kiyomaro couldn't understand why. The class should have been in uproar, thanks to the fact that he had just been chosen as the class's Romeo. And yet, not a word was mentioned. He sat in his seat, his chin resting on his open palm.
He stared at the back of Nomad and groaned. Nomad's wacky sense of style was blocking his view of the blackboard; his tall blonde hair stood straight up and prevented his eyes from reading what was written before him. Kiyomaro sighed before peering over his shoulder and looking at Ureshii, who now took her seat at the back of the classroom. It came as a shock to him that she had even shown up for class that day, she had been so insistent on cutting class. The female sat silent in her seat, her eyes glued down on a thick stack of papers below her. It was obvious that she was reading over the script for the class's school play. That was a surprise, since when did she care so much about the play?
"All right class!" Mr. Rin clapped both hands, causing Kiyomaro to swirl around to face his teacher. "The bell will ring any second now…"
The familiar chiming of the school bell rung into the classroom through a large speaker and caused the seated students in the classroom to lift up from their chairs. Kiyomaro followed in motion and began to pack his things. Just as he placed his last book into his bag, a shadow loomed over him. He moved his head up to meet whoever was standing in front of him. He was pleased to see it was his teacher.
"Takamine," Mr. Rin said. "I need to talk to you, do you have a moment?"
"Sure," Kiyomaro locked his bag before throwing it over his shoulders.
Ureshii walked up the aisle and began to pass by Kiyomaro and Mr. Rin when the teacher lifted his hand to stop the female. She blinked several times in confusion and glared at her teacher.
"Shikimori, I need to talk to you as well." Mr. Rin explained himself.
"What is it?" Ureshii curled up her lip as she spoke.
"Well, I know that Takamine was in the midst of deciding whether he was going to be our Romeo in the play," Mr. Rin lifted his index finger to the bridge of his nose and pushed upward on his glasses. "And I wanted you to meet one of your fellow actors. Maybe she can help you make the final decision, Takamine?"
"Uh, I guess." He bit down on his lower lip, feeling unsure of his current predicament.
"Please say hello to Juliet's Nurse, Hanamori Mikoto." Mr. Rin walked toward the classroom and opened the door.
A female stood in the doorway with a smile on her face. Her long dark green-colored hair hung down passed her shoulders. Her bangs danced over her large stunning eyes as she stood in silence. The warm air that entered the room through the window caused Mikoto's school dress to waft from side to side.
"Hello," Mikoto approached the three and bowed in front of them. "I'm looking forward to working with you both."
"Hello," Kiyomaro bowed in front of the female and gave her a warm smile.
"Please get to know each other!" The teacher said as he began to push the three teens out of the door. "Hanamori," He said to the tallest female, "See if you can get Takamine to join our play." He then pushed the teens outside of the room, slamming the door in the process.
"Nice to meet you, Kiyomaro." Mikoto lifted her delicate hand to her face and began to giggle.
Mikoto then turned to Ureshii, to greet the older female only to have her shoot a glare in her direction. Ureshii lifted her arms and crossed them over her chest and narrowed her gaze at Mikoto. The taller girl brow twitched before she began to laugh nervously. She lifted both hands into the air and took a step back.
"Hello Ms. Shikimori," She muttered in a soft tone.
The transfer student lifted her nose to Mikoto and turned away from her. Then without a word, Ureshii turned and walked away from the couple. Mikoto lifted her hand to her head and began to scratch her scalp. She closed her eyes and continued to laugh.
"Well, I guess her reputation was true after all." She let out a loud sigh and dropped her head.
"That's all right," Kiyomaro lifted one hand and smiled at the girl. "She's always like that."
"Well, I understand that you're going to be our Romeo?" Mikoto lifted her head and tilted it to one side.
"Uh!" He coughed and cleared his throat. "Maybe, I mean…I don't know…"
"Oh?" She poked out both lips.
"I'm going to have to think about it…"
"Well," Mikoto reached around and took a hold of her book bag. "If you'd like, you can come over to my house and practice with me! That way, you can really get a feel if you'd like the part." She then pulled out a small notepad and pen from her bag and began to scribble on a single sheet of paper.
"What?" Kiyomaro blinked in surprise. "Really?"
"Sure."
"I don't think I have anything else going on…" The bookholder lifted his hand to his chin. "But," He said straightening out his back, "Do you mind if I brought someone along with me?"
"Like a little brother?" Mikoto smiled.
"Yeah."
"Sure! I don't see why not." The tall female then tore off the sheet of paper from her notebook and handed the paper to him. "This is my address and phone number, come over after school."
"Sounds fine." Kiyomaro's eyes scanned over the paper before he answered. "I'll see you then."
XoXoX
"So where are we going to visit Ne, Kiyomaro?" Gash's asked in an excited tone as he skipped along side his partner.
"No," Kiyomaro said. "I told you, we're going to pick up Ureshii and Ne then we're going to Mikoto's house."
"Oh, that's right." Gash nodded to himself. "You're going to practice for the play."
"That is, if Ureshii agrees to come." He grunted. "She's so stubborn."
The two boys came across a familiar sight, Ureshii's apartment complex. Kiyomaro groaned aloud, it was going to he hell, trying to get Ureshii to come with him. It was strange, Ureshii was usually had a 'tough girl' exterior but she never up and refused to speak to a person before. Not until Mikoto came along, that is. He had never seen anything like it before, how rude! The genius had to expect this kind of behavior from Ureshii by now, she was so odd and yet something was different about this situation. He had to admit to himself, Mikoto was attractive but yet, he had never seen her around school before. Had Mikoto really attended the same Mochinoki middle school he had? Surely, Kiyomaro wouldn't forget a face like hers.
"Are you going to knock?"
Kiyomaro jerked his head from side to side and opened his eyes wide. He was standing before Ureshii's front door. He had been so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed that he had all ready made it to Ureshii's apartment. Kiyomaro nodded his head to answer Gash and lifted his hand to the door. Two knocks vibrated through the door, no doubly catching the attention of Ureshii. The door creaked open to reveal the ice queen.
The female's eyes darted up and down and scanned her visitors. Upon seeing who was at her door, Ureshii's facial expression dropped. Kiyomaro lifted his hand to greet the grumpy female, only to have her act before he could make his first move. She began to slam the door shut, only to have Kiyomaro to walk in the way. The heavy door slammed on his right foot causing him to yelp out in pain.
"Watch it." Ureshii said in a simple voice as she reopened the door and looked down at his foot.
"Watch it?" Kiyomaro shouted, moving his foot out of the doorway. "You just slammed the door on my foot!" He snapped once again.
"You saw the door closing, so why did you do that?" She lifted both brows at him.
"I came here to ask you if you wanted to come to Mikoto's house with Gash and I." He managed to snort out, folding his arms over his chest.
"Hm," Ureshii curled her nose up at the concept and hissed, "And what makes you think I'd actually come with you?" She opened the door wide and walked deeper inside her apartment and allowed the two boys to follow after her.
"Look, you both need to practice your lines, right?" Kiyomaro asked as he stepped into her small apartment. "Just go with me, what's it going to hurt?"
Ureshii walked into her tiny kitchen. "So that means you're going to be Romeo?" She asked with a sarcastic smile on her face. "Because as I recall, you were going to back out." She then chuckled before popping a small purple grape into her mouth.
"Kiyomaro…?" Gash let out a small whimper.
Kiyomaro inhaled deeply before thinking about his situation. If he was going to back out, he would ruin the risk of Ureshii following him to Mikoto's house; this in turn would ruin her chance at becoming social. He clenched both fists, why was this so hard? Why could Ureshii make her own friends and leave him alone? If only he could get Mikoto and Ureshii to become friends then he could finally return to his normal life.
But this was risking his very first kiss…was it worth it? It wasn't as if he needed the extra credit. If only she could become friends with Mikoto…If he could do for Ureshii what Gash did for him then he wouldn't feel so guilt-ridden.
That would mean giving up his first kiss, that would mean participating in a stupid school play but in the end it was the right thing to do. It was something he was willing to risk.
"I'm going to play Romeo!" He finally shouted.
Shocked by the sudden reaction, Ureshii lunged forward and spit out a mouthful of grapes. She lifted her arm to her lips and wiped away any spit before shooting a glare at him.
"What the hell are you talking about?" She snapped at the younger male. "You said you were going to back out!"
"Well, I've changed my mind!" He returned the shout, biting down on his lip. "Now will you come with me?"
She hesitated for a moment. By the look on her face, a series of questions had to be running through that stubborn noggin of hers. She then slammed her open palm into her face and groaned. She then walked over to her small closet and opened it. She pulled out a light coat and swung it over her back. Ureshii reached down into her jacket pocket and pulled out a small pink bandana.
"Ne!" She shouted. "We're going out!"
A small voice called back to reply to Ureshii's call, "Okay, mama."
"Ureshii?" Kiyomaro spoke to the female bookholder as the she stood and waited for her partner to return from the back room.
"What is it now?"
"You seem to dislike Mikoto more than other people," Kiyomaro explained himself to Ureshii with a questionable tone. "Why is that?"
A sleepy Ne stepped out of the back room, both hands rubbing her tired eyes. Ureshii approached the tiny girl and wrapped the small bandana around her head. After her ears were hidden from sight, Ureshii stood up to face him. She shot him a fierce glare and snorted.
"Girls like her disgust me," Ureshii threw her arms on her hips. "So feminine and dainty. It's pitiful really."
"Oh?" A sly grin shot across Kiyomaro's face. "Were you that kind of girl before coming here?"
Laughter overcame him in that moment and he closed his eyes. A moment or two passed before he reopened his eyes to see Ureshii standing in front of him with a type of fire in her eyes that caused him to become nervous. He took a few steps backward and cringed.
"Never mind!"
XoXoX
"So you've finally arrived!"
Kiyomaro had to admit; having the door open to a smiling face was much more appealing than having the door slammed shut on his foot. Mikoto stood in front of the group with a happy smile on her face. The host stepped to one side, allowing the group into her home. Mikoto's eyes darted from Kiyomaro to Gash and finally to Ureshii. It had to be surprising for the green-haired girl; Ureshii Shikimori had come along with him? There was little doubt that Mikoto's knees were growing weak upon seeing the older female. Her trademark glare was quite intimidating.
"Why hello, Ms. Shikimori." Mikoto said in a low voice, bowing her head as said woman passed by her.
Ureshii's nose darted for the sky before she walked passed Mikoto. Ne and Gash entered the home side-by-side, smiles equipped on both faces. Mikoto studied the two small children for a moment. Her eyes narrowed down on Gash before her eyes moved back to Kiyomaro.
"Make yourselves at home," She managed to crack a smile before shutting the front door behind her. "My parents aren't home."
"Thank you, Mikoto." Kiyomaro headed toward a large red couch that sat in the center of the room.
"Um, Kiyomaro?" Mikoto followed behind him and took a seat beside him. "Is this your younger brother?" She asked, raising one of her eyebrows.
"You could say that." Kiyomaro threw his arm behind his head and let out a small chuckle. "This is Gash."
"Nice to meet you!" Gash jumped in front of Mikoto and bowed respectfully.
"And this is?" She turned her attention to a quiet Ne.
"My name is Ne." She answered in a low squeak.
"Is something the matter?" Mikoto bent forward toward the smaller girl.
"Um, no…" Ne lifted her small nose into the air and began to sniff about.
"What is it?" Ureshii stepped toward her partner and held her hand out to Ne.
"I smell something…"
Mikoto rose up from her seat and looked about the room. Nothing seemed out of place. She then turned back to Ne and smiled at her, in her best effort to assure her safety. "Would you like something to drink?" She asked in a gentle tone.
"Oh! I would!" Gash's hand darted into the air.
"All right." The tallest female straightened out her back and lifted her hand to her mouth. "Aurora!"
"Aurora?" Ne's eyes snapped open. "Wait, you know Aurora?" The demon sprinted toward Mikoto and took a hold of her school dress and began to tug at it.
"Ne!" Ureshii bolted from her seat and pulled her partner back from the stranger. "What are you doing?"
As if on cue, a figure emerged from the top of the stairs. The group of five turned up their heads to see a tall man standing at the top of the stairs. The man was large in size and stepped down each stair with silence. Once he came into the light his image became clear. Long strands of purple hair draped down over the man's face and a pair of strange dog-like ears stuck out of his head.
"Aurora!" Ne cried out, "It's you!"
"Ne?" The man spoke after lowering himself from the final step. "Ne!"
"Aurora, we've been searching everywhere for you!"
Tears flew from Ne's eyes as she ran toward Aurora. She opened her arms out wide and wrapped them around Aurora's leg. She squeezed his leg as tears streamed down her face. The moisture from her eyes leaked onto Aurora's pant leg as the moments passed.
Kiyomaro, Gash and Ureshii stood in shock, what was this? Could they have actually found one of Ne's missing family members? In Mikoto's home of all places? It struck him as strange; three book holders in the same school? It all seemed too odd to be true. But he couldn't help but feel at ease in this moment, Ne had found one of her family members, which meant that they were one step closer to finishing their mission.
"Aurora! It's you, it's really you!" The feline imp sobbed, "Where is everyone else?"
Aurora bent down to Ne and lifted her up from the ground. He bobbed her up and down in the air, giggling all the while. He appeared taken back by the sight of Ne; perhaps she had grown since he'd last saw her? The tallest demon bent over with little effort and lowered the kitten to the floor before standing back upright.
"We're not sure," Mikoto stepped in for Aurora and spoke in a soft voice. "We've been looking everywhere, but we haven't had any luck." She looked over to Ureshii and continued, "How have you two faired?"
"Not well," Ureshii answered the female with a stern voice. "Although…" She paused for a moment before looking down to her partner.
"We do know where Hobbes is." Ne lifted her hand to her eyes and wiped away remaining tears. "There isn't anything we can do to help him now…"
"I see." Aurora nodded his head. "Oh," He then spotted Gash standing beside Kiyomaro. "And who are you?"
"I'm Gash Bell!" He announced with pride before turning to his partner. "And this is Kiyomaro!"
"Hello, Kiyomaro." Aurora approached the seated genius and held out his hand to his fellow male. "I assume you are Ne's friends."
"Yes," He stood up from his seat and took hold of Aurora's hand. "We wanted to help Ne find her missing friends."
"And who is this?" Aurora's attention turned to a quiet Ureshii.
"Uh," He released Aurora's hand and gave a nervous laugh. "That's Ureshii Shikimori, Ne's partner."
"Nice to meet you, Ureshii."
"Call me Shikimori." Ureshii snapped in a low voice, causing the taller male to cock an eyebrow.
"May I ask you something?" Kiyomaro looked at canine-like male.
"Of course." The older man replied.
"How is it that you can live in this house with Mikoto without her parents knowing about you?" He asked, again taking his seat on the couch.
"Ah," Aurora backed away from the group and took a seat in a near by chair. "Interesting that you ask, Kiyomaro." He then moved his hands under his chin. "As you all ready know, I am a demon."
"Aurora's powers allow him to manipulate others thoughts and memories for a short period of time." Mikoto explained before sitting on the arm of Aurora's chair. "This way, he can manipulate my parents into thinking he's my older brother."
"Wow!" Gash's mouth dropped open. "That's pretty neat!"
"Now if you don't mind me asking…" Kiyomaro bit down on his lower lip before continuing. "How many spells do you know?"
"Um," Mikoto lifted her finger to her chin and turned to Aurora with a worried expression.
"We don't like to engage in battles with others." He stated before placing his hand over Mikoto's arm.
"Why is that?" Ureshii huffed as she lifted her fingers to her forehead and pushed away the stray hairs in front of her face.
Aurora let out a low growl. Ugh why did she have to pull this kind of stuff in front of strangers? Didn't she have any respect for someone else's home? Gah! She had no idea what he and his partner, Mikoto had been through or what they knew. Typical Shikimori, what else could Kiyo expect from her? Aurora removed his hand from the girl and clenched his fists.
"But," Kiyomaro intervened, moving his arm in front of Ureshii to block her view from Aurora. "If you don't fight, they'll eventually come for you."
"And if you don't fight, you won't learn any good spells." Ne ran over to the male demon and placed both hands on his knees.
"We came to that conclusion too," Mikoto reached forward and placed one of her delicate hands on Ne's head. "But then we thought of something,"
"If we passed through the portal without any notice then perhaps," Aurora narrowed his eyes at Kiyomaro as he spoke. "Our escape went unnoticed and that would mean that no one knows there are actually one hundred and six of us here. In this way, no one will come looking for us six."
"That makes sense." Gash glanced over at his partner.
"The six of us should be spared." A wide grin spread across Aurora's face.
"That is," Ureshii flopped back down into her seat. "If you six don't have your books burned first." She then dug her hands into her jacket pockets. "If you don't fight, you have no way of defending yourself if something does happen."
Kiyomaro hesitated for a moment, "That's true."
"And what are the chances of something happening?" Aurora snapped at eldest girl.
"More likely then you might think." Ureshii lifted a single brow before releasing a small chuckle.
"But like I asked before," Kiyomaro lifted his hand into the air, "How many spells do you know?"
Aurora paused for a moment. "One."
"But that doesn't matter!" Mikoto jumped into the conversation. "If we stay low and out of sight, then we won't have to battle anyone!" She turned to Aurora and placed one hand on his strong shoulder. "I'll be sure to protect him with everything I have."
"Oh isn't that sweet." Ureshii gave the group a roll of her eyes.
"You see," A bright red flush flooded Mikoto's cheeks. "Aurora and I are in love."
"WHAT?" Kiyomaro, Gash and Ne shouted together.
Aurora reached up and grabbed Mikoto by her shoulder. "Yes, it's true." He then dragged the young female down toward his chest. "I intend on staying with Mikoto forever."
"Can you DO that?" Kiyomaro's mouth dropped open wide.
After collecting herself, Mikoto looked back at him. "Why not?"
"I don't know of any rule against it." Aurora chuckled.
"This is all very touching but," Ureshii pulled her hands from her pockets to reveal a small box of cigarettes. "You should resist investing anymore emotions into this relationship."
"What?" Mikoto's eyes opened widely. "Why?"
"You can shut off your emotions if you try hard enough." She spoke before closing her eyes. "You should put your feelings aside."
"Mama!" Ne darted over toward her partner with wide eyes.
"You have a lot of nerve coming into my home, speaking like that!" Aurora sprung up from his seat to meet Ureshii.
"Yeah?" She shrugged her shoulders in a careless manner. "I'm trying to save you from some hurt."
"And what would you know about hurt?" Aurora hissed.
"Look," Ureshii opened the small box and pulled out a cigarette. "If you don't learn any new spells then you're as good as dead." She then placed the slender stick in her mouth. "And you have to fight to learn anything worthwhile but you two geniuses are avoiding battles at any means." She then lifted a small lighter to her face. "So you might as well kiss each other good-bye."
Aurora lifted his hand in front of his face. "You're just looking to start a fight."
Kiyomaro looked over to Ureshii. A small red and orange flame flickered in front of her face. After a moment of lighting her cigarette, Ureshii pulled the lighter away from her face and placed the small device back into her jacket pocket. She took a long drag on her stick before blowing out a cloud of smoke.
Could she really be that cold? How dare Ureshii tell a man and woman to push aside their emotions for one another? It was more than rude, it was cruel and Kiyomaro wasn't sure what to say about it. In an odd way, Ureshii was right. Without fighting and building up their strength how could Aurora and Mikoto defend themselves against oncoming battles? Without strong spells there was no way that Mikoto could protect Aurora.
"Hey," Ureshii shrugged her shoulders once more. "If you don't want to take my advice that's fine." She placed the cigarette between her lips. "I could care less about what happens to you two."
"No one asked for your advice!" Aurora slammed his foot on the floor and shouted at the female seated in front of him.
"Okay." Ureshii tapped down on her cigarette, causing ashes to fall from the end of the stick. "Well, it's been nice but," She picked herself up and stood in front of the group. "We should get going."
"Mama!" Ne rushed to Ureshii and grabbed her jacket sleeve. "We can't go just yet! This is family and it took us so long to find him!"
"Now, Ne." Ureshii lifted the cigarette to mouth for the finale time. "I won't tell you again."
"But mama!"
"Are we partners or not?" Ureshii ripped the cigarette from her mouth and stared Ne down. "If you want to be my partner then you would do as you were told. No questions. Unless this man means more to you then I do."
Ne lowered her head. Kiyomaro looked on as the young pink-haired demon fought with herself, no doubt her partnership with her 'mama' meant a lot to their relationship and yet, it was obvious her heart ached for Aurora. Ne looked up to see her partner walking toward the front door. The red bookholder could see Ne's legs grow heavy; she then closed her eyes tightly before making a dash to Ureshii. Obviously pleased with Ne's decision, Ureshii stopped mid step and peered over her shoulder.
"I stand by my advice. Take it or leave it."
Ureshii then continued to walk toward the front door. Before she could reach down to open the doorknob, she snuffed her cigarette out on a small coffee table placed beside the door. The older woman opened the door and stepped out of the house. Kiyomaro watched as her long hair flowed in the afternoon air. What a strange girl. He sighed after hearing the door close. He looked back to see a shocked Mikoto and Aurora. How was he going to explain this one? In a way, he felt embarrassed by Ureshii's actions after all; he had brought her with him.
"I hope you enjoyed meeting Ureshii!"
Act End.