Author Notes

I did NOT expect Something New to be so long when I finished, so I split it up into two parts for the convenience of the readers. No wonder it took me so long to finish it.

Disclaimer: Zatch Bell is copyrighted to Makoto Raiku (characters, series, and concepts). The only things I own that are currently revealed in the story are E, Nylon, Shine, Angelica Tsukoro, Curtis Herrakoro, Gretchen, Harumi Kisamaru. Izo Uramori, Myriam Schwazden, Mystrael, Metallix, Professor Linda, Orion, Jade, Shine, and Zale Schwazden.

Chapter 12: Something New I

"NOOOOO!"

The fallen Mamodo cried out in defeat as its spellbook was consumed in flames. His human partner ran away in fear of being the next poor soul to become prey of Zale Schwazden and Shine.

"So that's three so far that we've knocked out of the tournament already." Zale pointed out, stuffing the blizzard blue spellbook back into its usual place on his jacket. Shine crossed his arms as he stated, "It's a start. We just arrived in Japan only this morning."

Like most of the surviving people involved in battle against the Millennium Mamodo, Apollo made arrangements for Zale and Shine to be sent back home; however, they requested him to send them to Japan—where they believed most of the action in the Mamodo Fight was going to be after Zofis's impending defeat. They had only arrived at the Tokyo Airport this morning and were already making their presence in the battle known by sending three aforesaid teams packing by sundown.

"Shine," Zale spoke as he started walking, "we additionally need to focus on our resources as we travel. We no longer have Deboro Ruins as a shelter or the necessities it provided." Shine followed his partner, arms still crossed, as he agreed, "You're right. We need food, shelter, and water, and I'm sure a human like you has some extraneous needs as well."

Ignoring that last part of Shine's statement, Zale announced, "We'll stop in Mochinoki City. That place has everything we need for the night and the days to come." Shine sneered in disgust, "The city? In case you hadn't noticed, Zale, I'm a porcupine that walks, acts, and talks in a way that freaks you humans out. You're asking for trouble bringing me into civilization."

"Not only should it not be any of their business," Zale responded, "I already thought of something to get around that. But, you may need to hide out for a bit." Shine exhaled sharply before replying, "Whatever…"


"I swear…humans dawdle for way too long…" Shine groused, leaning against the wall in an alleyway adjacent to the clothing store Zale had went in about twenty-five minutes ago. He looked up to the sky with his emerald green eyes and saw that dark clouds were amassing, making it darker more quickly. "And it looks like rain is heading our way."

"Alright, I'm back." Zale announced, stepping into the alleyway with medium-sized travel bag. Shine looked at his bookkeeper and arched a brow. Zale was wearing an unzipped, black vest-jacket outlined by red on the hem, arm openings, and collar. Under this, he has a black shirt in which is slightly bell-sleeved, with slightly pointed shoulders, and close-fitter around the upper arm and shoulder areas. He wore a black belt that fastened black pants.

"Here." Zale tossed over a black, hooded cloak to Shine who caught it, "That'll mask your animalistic features completely. People will just think you're my pasty-faced younger sibling." Shine rolled his eyes as he donned the hooded cloak. True to Zale's words, only Shine's face could be seen and he looked like a normal, short person—minus the white face, the ferocious shine in his emerald eyes, and the serrated teeth.

"Alright, let's go. We need to find lodging before—" Shine was interrupted when a small drop of water fell on his face. Pretty soon, more water-drops followed until a little drizzle came over the area. "Too late." Shine said as Zale put on a rain-jacket to protect himself from the downpour.

Zale and Shine sauntered on the wet sidewalk, passing through many people, as they continued to converse. "Did you happen to look up places that have lodging in there?" Shine asked irritably. "Yes, you're in luck. What we're doing now is that I need to go to an ATM and get the amount of money we need." Zale responded. "Well, hurry up about it." Shine demanded impatiently. "Shut up." Zale retorted.

Eventually, Zale and Shine did indeed arrive at an ATM on the outside of another store. Shine waited with crossed arms and closed eyes as Zale did his business on the machine. When Shine heard Zale swear under his breath, he opened his right eye halfway and said, "There's a problem, isn't it?"

Zale sighed, "Sadly…it seems I don't have enough money for lodging." Shine snarled dangerously, "How careless of you, Zale. Now we're going to have camp out in alleyway like plebeians!" Zale shot his mamodo partner a glare, "I tried, Shine. I would think you would be more understanding." Shine glared back, "Hmph! I should've known humans like you would be this irresponsible." Zale snapped, "Oh, bite me, Shine! If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have gotten this far!" Shine snapped back, "Whatever, Zale! But the truth of the matter is, we have no lodging and we're stuck in the blasted rain, and it's—"

"Excuse me."

Shine and Zale abruptly stopped their disagreement and looked to the person who stepped into their business. The person before them faltered slightly because of their sharp looks, but managed to say, "Um, my parents and I couldn't help but notice that…you two were having trouble finding lodging?"

Shine and Zale arched a curious eyebrow as they examined who the kind person was. The person was a female with blackish-blue hair and she was wearing a sort of school uniform—mainly colored burgundy, dark green, and with a white, collared undershirt. Her mother and father were behind her.

"Yes, what of it?" Zale responded, hoping he did not sound rude or sarcastic. The girl's mother spoke, "Because it's so hard to see this little guy suffer in the rain, and you seem to be trying your best to take care of him."

That's right. Zale and Shine were supposed to keep up the façade of them being brothers in public. Deciding to milk this opportunity for all it was worth, Shine spoke, trying to sound as pathetic as possible, "Yes…Zale here has been doing his best to find lodging and keep us surviving for such a long time…it's so sad that sometimes fate just doesn't want that." Zale pretended to nod forlornly, "But, alas, there is nothing we can do except go somewhere else in this downpour for the night."

"Nonsense!" The girl said sternly, "You guys are staying with us."

"And that's final." The mother and father of the girl added in. Without another word, the girl and her parents led the way in the rain. Zale and Shine followed, grinning at each other triumphantly.


"And this is our home!"

Zale removed his soaked jacket and hung on it on the coat rack near the door—the parents had done the same thing upon entry. Shine continued to keep on his cloak so as to make sure the girl nor the parents could see he really was underneath it.

"By the way, my name is Lori, and these are my parents." The blackish-blue haired girl introduced herself, placing her damp umbrella near the coat rack. "I'll go ahead and get dinner ready." Lori's mother announced as she entered the kitchen, "So get comfortable, Zale and Shine!"

"Shine, why don't you get out of that cloak of yours?" Lori's father suggested, "You'll catch a cold keeping it on." The anthropomorphic porcupine made no expression at all, but his mind told a different story—his true identity would be revealed if he took off the cloak in front of Lori and his father.

Luckily, Zale was prepared. He took out a spare cloak from his travel bag, "He's right, Shine. Go to the bathroom and change." Shine mentally sighed in relief. Only someone like Zale could be so prepared. "Where's the bathroom?" He asked, taking the extra cloak.

"Over there." Lori answered, pointing in the direction. Shine bowed in respect before heading into the bathroom to change cloaks.

"So, Zale, why don't we get acquainted since you'll be spending the night here?" Lori's father suggested and then asked, "What's yours and Shine's story?"

Zale thought about what to say to satisfy Lori and her father while not revealing any information about Shine being a Mamodo and stuff like that. But he also didn't want to lie to these kind people. After all, they were giving him a roof over his and Shine's head. "Well, Shine and I recently left the place we were staying at in South America because it got overrun. So, we've fended for ourselves since, but my older sister helped us getting over to Japan."

"South America? You guys must have come a long way." Lori said, staring at the black-haired Schwazden. "Well, we were originally from Sweden until we had to move. We're all over the place." Zale said, adding in a fake chuckle of nervousness. "For what reason?" Lori's father asked curiously. "I'd rather not talk about it." Zale sighed, this time being totally truthful.

"I'm back." Shine announced with a mumble, wearing the new cloak, still appearing as Zale's pasty-faced younger brother, and tossed the wet one to Zale. "Welcome back—…" The wet cloak that Shine took off smacked into Zale's face with a wet SPLAT. When it fell off his face, Zale's annoyed glare directed at Shine was revealed.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Was I supposed to hang that?" Shine responded, grinning his feral grin. Lori giggled at Zale's face while Lori's father simply sweat-dropped. "Little brat." Zale muttered as he picked up the damped cloak, stood from his face, and went to hang it up. "I heard that." Shine retorted as he took a seat at the table and crossed his arms.

"Anyway," Lori spoke, wanting to learn more about the two, "Shine, Zale was just telling us about you two." Shine closed his emerald eyes, "Really now?" Lori nodded, "Yes! I mean, you two are lucky enough to travel around so much…even though it's just you two and are struggling…"

"Meh." Shine slumped in his seat uninterestedly, "You get used to it."

"Come now," Lori's father stepped in sternly, "Seeing new places is always a thrill and having someone as caring as Zale to spend it with should be an honor." Shine snickered, "When you spend enough time with Zale, it's not that much of an honor." His grin widened mockingly when he heard Lori giggle again, signaling Zale had sent him another annoyed glare. At least they were really acting like siblings.

"Alright, dinner's ready!" Lori's mother announced.

Zale leaned over to Shine and whispered, "Try not to let your Mamodo appetite get in the way." Shine whispered back in response, "I'll try not; after all, I like eating my food raw instead of it cooked."

Zale would learn quickly that Shine no longer gave a damn if the food was raw or cooked; if it was delicious, he was going to eat. Lori and her mother and father could only stare unblinkingly with agape mouths as Shine ravenously devoured his meal, as if he was being starved for days. Zale, meanwhile, ate his food civilly.

"Um, I see…the food's good." Lori's mother said, now absentmindedly eating her plate of food as she looked at Shine. "Anyone eating that fish?" Shine asked bluntly, not caring about what the human beings around him were thinking or how they were looking at him. Lori's father motioned the plate with the fish on it to Shine, who abruptly snatched it off the plate and swallowed it whole.

Feeling obligated to say something, the Swedish male said, "You'll have to excuse him. He has no table manners." Shine gulped down his mouthful of food as he retorted, "You should feed me better then, big brother." Zale felt one of his veins pop in his forehead. Shine was so lucky they were among nice people. Then again, if they weren't, Shine would have no need to say that.

"Now, now, I'm sure Zale does his best for you." Lori spoke, sweat-dropping nervously. Deciding to cut the red-eye teen a break, Shine replied earnestly, "Well, I will admit this: I've seen my fair share of reality, and I can say with certainty that I don't want to be with anyone else other than Zale. Guy's got flair, grit, and intelligence."

Lori smiled as she said, "I'm glad he does."

"You're such a nice guy, Zale." Lori's mother complimented. "Thanks for not making us regret helping you guys." Lori's father said. Zale smiled as he replied, "Certainly. It would be criminal to misuse you kind people's trust."

"Hey, are you guys going to finish eating that?" Shine asked, ruining the mood of the situation. Sweat-dropping, the four humans motioned their unfinished plates to the cloaked Mamodo. "All right!" Said Mamodo proceeded to finish off the dinner.

After dinner ended and everyone was excused from the table, Lori volunteered to show Zale and Shine where they would be sleeping for the day. "This is the guest room, Zale and Shine." Lori announced as she went to the sliding closet and opened it, "And here are your futons."

"Thank you, Lori." Zale said appreciatively as he took his vest off and threw it to the floor, "And sorry for being an intrusion. We'll leave as soon as the rain goes away."

"Oh no, you guys are no trouble at all!" Lori reassured him kindly, "Stay as long as you need it. Nice people in need are always welcomed."

"I need to take a leak." Shine announced rudely as he walked out of the guest room. Zale snarled in disgust as Lori only blinked. Zale suddenly remembered that Shine possibly did not know how to operate a toilet, especially if it was intricate. "Um, be right back, Lori." Zale said hurriedly as exited the room.

"Um, okay…" Lori said in confusion. To be nice, Lori decided to set up the futons for Zale and Shine. As she set up Zale's futon, she noticed something inside his discarded vest. She tried to squash her curiosity as it would be invading his privacy, but there was something off that she had to investigate.

She crawled over to the vest and pulled out the item. Her dark blue eyes widened in shock at the spellbook she now had in her hands. It was just like her former parent's, only it was blizzard blue and not pink. "Z-Zale is the bookkeeper of a Mamodo?" She thought wonderingly, "Who could be his partner…? No way…is it Shine—"

Lori gasped quietly when she footsteps that signaled the return of Shine and Zale. Quickly, she stuffed the blizzard blue spellbook back into its original spot and pretended to continue fixing up the futons. Shine and Zale reentered the room.

"Oh, you're back!" Lori announced, standing on her feet, "Well, I fixed up your futons, so if you need anything else, just call! Have a good night, you two!" With that, the blackish-blue haired teen exited the room.

Zale and Shine only stared unblinkingly; that was way too abrupt for their tastes. "O…kay…?"


The next morning, Zale entered the main room of the house with a yawn, "Good morning." When he entered, his expression turned blank when he saw Shine devouring breakfast as ravenously as he did last night's dinner. "Uh, good morning, Zale." Lori, who was also at the table with Shine, greeted sheepishly.

"How's the weather outside?" Zale asked, looking the dark blue-eyed girl. "It's nice and sunny! The rain's completely gone." Lori announced as she stood from her seat. "Perfect." Zale said thankfully. That meant he and Shine could be on their way now if they felt like it; he also had to see if his sister could provide any spare money in his account so that they wouldn't have to ask strangers for lodging constantly.

"Zale, do you want any breakfast?" Lori asked, making her way for the kitchen but stopping in front of the entrance so that she could hear his answer. "Yes, please. But I don't want much." Zale answered, taking a seat by his Mamodo partner who had just finished his meal. "You got it!" Lori chirped in response as she disappeared into the kitchen.

"As soon as you're done eating, we're leaving, Zale." Shine declared. "Yeah, I planned on it." The Swedish male responded and then inquired, "Where are Lori's parents?" The anthropomorphic porcupine replied as he crossed his arms, "They're working at jobs; however, Lori said she was used to taking care of the house while they were gone."

"Hm." Zale succinctly replied.

Just then, Lori came back from the kitchen and announced sheepishly, "Zale, it seems that…Shine ate the rest of our leftover breakfast food."

"Whoops." Shine said with very light embarrassment, rubbing the back of his hooded head. Zale sighed lightly, "I see." A thought then came into Lori's head: since Zale was the bookkeeper of a Mamodo, who was assumingly Shine, maybe she could try and see what Zale fights for, to see if he too was a benevolent person like Zatch and Kiyo. "Um, Zale?" She began, "If it's not too much, do you mind coming with me to the grocery store to resupply?"

Shine was about to speak in order to voice his declination of the offer; however, Zale spoke before him, "Sure. I guess I'm responsible for Shine siphoning you and your family of your food." Shine looked at his black-haired bookkeeper sternly but soundlessly, and Zale caught it. Shine was communicating his disagreement to the idea because it was time to move on and hunt for Mamodo. However, the crimson-eyed male was undaunted by Shine's thoughts. He had to do this out of obligation.

"Then, Shine, you don't mind guarding the house while we're gone?" Lori requested, looking at the emerald-eyed Mamodo. Closing his eyes, Shine sighed as he replied, "Sure, I guess."

"Great. Then let's go, Zale!" Lori said as she led the way out of the house. Zale soundlessly followed the blackish-blue haired girl and closed the door behind them. When the two left, Shine slumped in his seat, "Humans, I swear…" Suddenly, his eyes shot up as his instincts faintly alerted him to something, "Hold up…are those Mamodo I'm sensing…?"


Zale and Lori were now in the grocery store in downtown Mochinoki City. The Swedish male was pushing the shopping cart, with seemingly mild interest, while the Japanese female was mumbling items from the list and then placing them in the cart.

"How much more is left?" Zale interrogated, straightening up in his stance. "A couple more." Lori announced, taking an item off a nearby shelf and placing it in the cart. Zale guessed her should not complain. They were only in the store for like a couple minutes and were getting only so many groceries.

"Take your time then…" Zale said droningly and with a hint of boredom. Lori noticed that and decided it was finally time to bring about an important subject. With her back still turned to the guy, she spoke, "Zale…how would you react if I told you I used to be the bookkeeper of a Mamodo?"

Zale instantly stopped pushing the cart as he replied blankly, "….What? You were?"

"Sounds like you know what I'm talking about." Lori said, giggling in her mind at how she caught him. "…Hm. Yeah, I do." Zale admitted. Now that he thought about it, he was not in any sort of danger. Lori was too nice to just challenge him and Shine out of the blue. The spellbook wasn't in any danger either because he had it in his vest right now.

"So does that mean Shine is your Mamodo?" Lori asked. "That better be a rhetorical question." Zale responded. After all, if Lori herself was a former bookkeeper of a Mamodo, the answer should be obvious. Realizing that, Lori chuckled nervously, "Oh, of course. Silly me." Zale chuckled a little that too, but quickly frowned. That was certainly odd; he had never chuckled at something as petty as that before.

"I know what you're about to ask next, so I'll answer anyway," Lori said, finally turning around to face Zale, "When I was setting up your futons, I saw it in the vest you so haphazardly took off." Based on the disgruntled look on his face, Lori speculated that Zale was scolding himself for allowing that to happen.

"Well, so you know. What about it?" Zale asked uncaringly, proceeding to try and push the cart around the blackish blue-haired girl. However, she stopped him by placing her hands onto the side and said, "Zale…my Mamodo was named Kolulu. I treated her like my little sister, but she turned into something gruesome every time I read a spell. I vowed to not read the spellbook just so that wouldn't happen. Then, there was this one day where I had to do it in order to save Kolulu's life. Luckily, there were these two gracious people who saved Kolulu and burned her book."

Zale suppressed the will to say 'wasn't that nice of them' and instead said, "And who were they?"

"The bookkeeper was Kiyo Takamine, and the Mamodo Kolulu entrusted to being a "kind king" was Zatch Bell."

Zale's eyes dilated in shock at the mention of that particular duo. They, along with Angelica and E, fought him and Shine only two days ago. It was they who introduced that idea of companionship. Just how many people did those accursed two meet?

"I see. Where are you getting with this?" Zale asked; he didn't realize he had spoken more softly and respectfully than what was deemed characteristic of him. "Zale, I want to know…for what reason are you and Shine fighting in this battle?" Lori asked, eyeing at him hopefully. "Simple—to make Shine king." Zale answered.

"Why? Is there particular reason why he wants to be king?" Lori continued to ask. Zale opened his mouth to reply, but found himself unable to make words. Now that he thought about it, Shine did not give a straight reason why he wanted to be King. He just said he wanted to be king. "You know…Shine has never really told me, but he seems really adamant on becoming King…so there must be a good reason." was the answer Zale decided on.

"Maybe you should ask him." Lori said, "It would really put me at ease to know that there are even more teams out there in the tournament that have good intentions."

"Well, I suppose I can," Zale said, "It's the least I can do for you and your parents' hospitality." Lori smiled appreciatively and replied, "Thanks, Zale. Now, let's hurry home. Shine's probably getting impatient." Although Zale did roll his eyes, he knew without a doubt that Shine was already impatient. He also hoped that Shine's reason to become king did indeed have at least a sliver of good intention because he how brusque Shine could be.

After purchasing the groceries and making their way back, Lori and Zale returned the household. "Took you two long enough." Shine gruffly stated, leaning back in a chair at the dinner table with his arms crossed, eyes closed, and feet propped on the table. "Yeah, yeah…" came Zale's sarcastic reply as he set the groceries on the table.

"Well, Zale and Shine, I guess you two should get going you said you would." Lori proclaimed. Shine jumped from his seat and said, "Appreciate the lodging for the night. We'll keep in touch." Zale added in as he opened the front door, "Yes, we certainly will. We'll remember you, Lori."

"It's no big deal. Come back again, if you need to." Lori said, smiling. Zale smiled back as he and Shine finally exited the house in order to continue their journey. Now with them gone, the blackish blue-haired girl turned to sorting out and storing away the groceries, "Alright, now to—"

Suddenly, soft knocks sounded on the door. "Hm? They must have forgotten something." Lori said aloud as she went to the door, "May I—"

Lori released a bloodcurdling scream as the last thing she remembered was being entangled by vines.