Escapade
Girls' Fight Out

Kohari: I have a serious case of Senioritis (meaning I'm blowing off filling out college and scholarship applications, the summer reading assignment that HAS to be finished, and the like to write this). Enjoy!

It was too beautiful a day to waste. Yukina and Toy strolled through the garden, feeling the warmth of the sun on their bare arms. Lovely roses in bloom reached for them from towering climbing walls, along with other attractive flowers in season. Birds took flight, stretching their wings. Seeing them like that made Toy want to fly away, too. Just to escape for a few precious minutes...

Remembering what Yukina had told her before, she stopped suddenly. "Wanna go for a walk?"

"Aren't we walking now?" Yukina asked.

"Yeah, but...for some reason, I feel like a change of scenery," Toy explained.

"Where would we go?" Yukina wondered aloud.

Toy pretended to think for a moment. "Didn't you say there was a village near here?"

"Yes," the apparition admitted.

"Let's go check it out!" Toy suggested.

"I don't know..." Yukina hesitated.

"What's wrong with it?" Toy pressed. "Don't you want to get out of these walls, for a little while at least?" Yukina was still reluctant. Toy reassured her, "You've been there before. You said it was lovely and old-fashioned."

"I've never been without my brother," Yukina told her.

"Well, let's go - the two of us. A Girls' Day Out kind of thing."

Yukina glanced anxiously at the mansion, then back at Toy. Seeing how badly her friend wanted this and how confident she seemed that everything would be fine, the nervousness disappeared from her expression and was replaced with a smile. "Okay. Let's go."

The girls walked down the dirt paths of the village. It truly was old-fashioned. No vehicles were allowed in "city" limits. People walked everywhere. And the buildings were made of white stone. But Yukina had been right - it was lovely.

Toy sighed. It reminded her a lot of her old home. Kantori...

"Toy?" Yukina called her name softly, worried. Toy snapped out of her nostalgia and back to reality. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Toy replied. "You wouldn't believe how much this place is like where I come from."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Before Yukina could ask further questions, a scream broke the tranquility of the moment and interrupted their conversation. Curiosity compelled them to run towards the source of the sound.

A girl about Toy's age was trapped in a dead-end alley by a large, muscular man dressed head to toe in black. He threatened her and advanced on her and she backed farther and farther into the wall. When there was no more room to step, she shoved herself as far into as she could. Unable to stand such behavior, Toy found herself shouting at him to stop.

The man turned to her. "You gonna make me, missy?" He eyed her hungrily.

Toy was surprised when she felt a cold cylindrical metal in her grasped hand. She could still summon her staff! "Yeah, I am," she informed him, keeping her voice as intimidating as possible. She twirled her pole around a few times and took a fighting stance. "Ya might wanna get outta here, Yukina. This could get ugly," she advised.

As instructed, the blue-haired girl took shelter in a nearby shop, along with the victim of the attack, who had taken advantage of the commotion to rush past the pervert.

A fight ensued. Toy dogdged his attacks easily and gracefully, using all opportunities to attack any openings. When he realized he couldn't win, the man surrendered, threatened revenge, and ran off like a dog with his tail between his legs.

The staff disappeared, and Toy grinned with pride before looking for Yukina. As they were leaving the shop, the shopkeeper approached them.

"My daughter told me everything. Thank you for saving my only child." The man looked to be in his forties. He bowed before her. "We are in your debt, milady."

"No, no, no. That's okay," Toy assured him. "I'm just happy no one was hurt...What? Milady? No, you've got it all wrong. I'm just a normal girl," she told him.

"Are you not Toy, the girl living in Hiei's castle?"

"Yeah, but - ."

"You have quite a bit of influence on the throne, you know."

"What?"

"Toy, we should go," Yukina interrupted. She had stepped outside, not listening to the shopkeeper.

Toy looked back at the shopkeeper. "Well, take care." Before she went too far, however, she halted. "Are you happy? Being his subjects?"

"You needn't worry, milady," he told her. "We lead peaceful lives and are very content. Forget everything that you were taught in the Tantei and open your eyes. Hiei's a better man than you think."

"Toy!"

"Coming!" she called.

"If you ever have need of anything, my shop opens its arms to you," the shopkeeper said.

"Thanks." Toy smiled and left, not eager to keep her best friend (since her team) waiting.

"Sweet girl," the shopkeeper commented to his daughter before resuming work.

Kohari: Sorry. I had envisioned this chapter out very differently, but I couldn't remember it by the time I actually got to write it out. Hope this didn't suck. And I WILL update soon. That's a promise.