A/N: Okay so, since I'm on a bit of a roll I decided to do another chapter a bit early. Plus I want to get this done so I can start on my other ideas. They're eating me from the inside I swear! Anyways~ Enjoy this chapter as well! ~Maya
Fire Starters
Chapter Twenty-One
Hara was upstairs cleaning the kids' room with the help of Anna when Yata ran into the room panting.
"Fujishima brought in a guy from outside and he seems pretty beat up and he has a fever." Hara threw down the laundry she was folding and rushed down stairs to find an unconscious blonde on one of the bar couches. He was taller, around seventeen years and was wearing some sweat pants and a sweater. She felt his head and found his temperature to be a bit high. She called for some warm water and a rag and used her aura to dry his clothes.
"Kousuke, where did you find him?" Fujishima looked at her then and thought.
"In an alley on my way here. He was lying on top of some trash bags." Hara nodded and checked over him. He was covered in bruises and cuts, most of them fresh though a good number of them was quite old. Possibly from an abusive home or was beat up by people often. Sighing, she tended to him for almost an hour when his fever finally broke.
The boy began to stir when he realized there was a lot of noise around him. He shot up from his laying position and looked around. Yata saw him first.
"Oh, you're awake. The guy who's half dead on the road finally wakes up." He called across the room.
"That's true." Tatara said and looked at him. The boy looked terrified as they began to bombard him with questions. "Suddenly being asked so many questions, you must feel awkward. Anyways, this is the guy who found you." Tatara put his hand on Fujishima's shoulder as he walked up. The boy glared at Fujishima and clicked his tongue.
"What the hell? You don't even know how to say thank you?" Yata said. "Or are you a foreigner who doesn't understand Japanese?" The boy turned to Yata with a sneer.
"Shut your mouth Shorty." Yata snapped.
"This guy was looking down on me right?! Don't think I don't understand English! You bastard!" Tatara held Yata back from fighting the boy and attempted to calm him down.
"I know Yata wasn't polite enough, but your attitude is not acceptable either." Hara seemed to appear out of nowhere and the boy's eyes grew to the size of saucers. Her English was flawless without a hint of her Japanese accent. "What's your name?" The boy looked down and spoke softly.
"Eric Soult."
"You can speak Japanese just fine!" Yata yelled and Hara quieted him immediately.
"You're really skinny." Fujishima said. Hara's ears perked up as she heard heavy footsteps approaching though no one else seemed to notice them, too engrossed in the strange boy. "Anyways, go and eat something first."
"No, I'm fine." Hara watched Mikoto stand silently behind Eric and look at him until he was noticed. Eric was startled and threw himself back with a yell as Mikoto calmly walked further into the bar. Eric looked at the taller man with wide eyes when he stopped in the middle of the room. "HOMRA's... King..."
"Oh? You've met the king before?" Tatara asked. Eric's eyes never strayed from the man as he stuttered a response.
"N-no." Hara watched the boy silently and placed a chaste kiss to Mikoto's cheek.
The next day Yata came into the bar to see Eric sitting on the same couch.
"You, why are you still here?" He was rudely ignored by Eric who only looked away from him. Eric went to the bar and was served some curry by Izumo. Yata threw his arm around Fujishima's shoulders. "What the hell, this guy..."
"It's just that he has no where to go," Fujishima said in Eric's defense. Yata went and slumped into a chair at the bar beside Tatara then with a look of pure anger.
"Don't you think he resembles it?" Tatara said to him.
"Resembles what?" Yata replied with a biting tone.
"Fujishima picked up a retriever once, didn't he?" Yata grumbled to himself.
"So what? Even the dogs are cuter than him." Tatara laughed.
"Yata, don't you remember? That dog used to hate you with all his heart too." Yata looked like he was just punched in the face. "Ah, I'm really sorry. Did I reopen old wounds?" Tatara pat him on the head. "Here for you." Yata looked at the bowl being given to him.
"What is this?"
"Preserved pickles!"
"Why?!" Yata stuck one in his mouth and was chewing slowly.
"But, Fujishima is a really nice guy." Tatara continued. "That time when he picked up the dog, he took good care of it until we found the owners."
"This wouldn't be the same situation, would it?" Yata question when Eric threw his tableware down and stood up.
"Where's your thank you," Fujishima question to which the boy mumbled out a 'thank for the food'. "And what about the dirty dishes?" Eric grumbled and went ahead to wash the dishes.
"Oh~! The stray dog is being obedient now?" Eric turned to Yata with a smirk as Hara came in with Bandou.
"Stop yelling, little chihuahua."
"Hey, that guy just said chihuahua, right?! Isn't that one of the dog types?!" Yata yelled/asked Bandou. Bandou laughed at him as Hara tried to hide a smile.
"Yeah, and it's really small."
"That is not something I ever want to hear from you." Yata was on Bandou ready to fight him in an instant.
"Stop it, are you two kids?" Izumo said in exasperation. Hara went up to the bar and looked at Eric as his eyes landed on her and never wavered. "You really have no where to go?" Izumo asked Eric. The boy looked back at his dishes to clean them, failing to answer. "Well, forget it." Izumo went to Fujishima and gave him the mop to clean around the floor around the bar.
"Uhm, you guys are HOMRA, right?" Eric asked with some uncertainty. Fujishima and Izumo looked at him.
"Yes."
"Do you all really have unimaginable power?"
"Unimaginable power," Izumo said. "Well, you could say that."
"Who is the strongest here?" Eric asked.
"Well, Mikoto is too strong, he is on a totally different level from us. Then there's Hara-chan who... Well..."
"She's scary." Fujishima finished for Izumo as the older man flinched. Hara laughed in a corner and tried to not choke on her glass of water. Eric looked at her in question. Hara smiled warmly and continued to drink her water with a look of innocence. "After her, would be Kusanagi-san right?" Izumo looked over with a lit cigarette.
"Ah, that's hard to say."
"And after him, Yata-san would have the most outstanding ability." Hara said and watched as Tatara and Shouhei held Yata back from beating Bandou any more.
"Oh, what about him?" Hara looked at the group. "That person beside Chihuahua?" Hara looked at Tatara and smiled.
"Tatara doesn't fight."
"Is that so?"
"He isn't that type of guy." Izumo said around his cigarette. "Although he's not a fighter, how should I say...? Everything would be easier if he were there."
"Even our enemies would put down their guard around him." Hara said and laughed when Yata kicked Bandou. Eric looked at her from the corner of his eye.
"Really?"
A few days later, Eric was still there and still irritating Yata. Rather easily at that.
"If you really have no place to go, you could join and stay here." Eric looked away and stood up. He went outside and slammed the door behind himself. "So he hates me too." Tatara said with a smile.
"He really has an attitude problem." Yata added simply. Fujishima followed Eric outside as Hara came from upstairs.
"Ah! Queen!" Hara smiled and poured herself a glass of juice. "How's King?" Hara shrugged her shoulders.
"Taking a nap with the kids." Tatara nodded as Yata continued to glare at the front door. "Did Eric say something to you again, Yata?" Yata scoffed and shook his head.
"He's being mean to Totsuka-san now." Hara nodded and sighed.
"That boy, is a lot like how I used to be. He doesn't know how to interact with people when they're actually nice to him." Tatara and Yata looked at Hara questioningly. She shook her head and finished her juice.
Later that day, Izumo and the rest were just finishing up cleaning, when Hara spotted Eric climbing the stairs. She ignored him knowing he was looking for Mikoto, out of curiosity she thought, and went back to her discussion with the boys. A sudden explosion from the second floor caught everyone's attention. Tatara and Hara ran up the steps to investigate. Tatara threw Mikoto's bedroom door open and rushed inside.
"What was that sound just now?" Hara pushed past him and rushed to Mikoto only to see him perfectly fine. Looking around, Hara saw Eric standing against the wall looking terrified and a large burnt hole in the wall beside him. Hara rushed over and pulled him into a hug, catching him by surprise. Tatara then saw the hole and gasped. "What happened here?"
"I was in a daze." Mikoto said simply holding his head in his hands. Hara snapped at that and hit him on the head.
"You could have killed the poor boy! What is wrong with you?! Think before you go throwing out a fireball! What if it was one of the kids-" Hara was cut off when Mikoto pulled her down and sat on her with a blank expression. She yelled at him to get off her though he only blinked at Eric, ignoring her.
" I remember... You're that guy who came with Fujishima." Mikoto said once Hara finally calmed down, accepting her pinned status. "If I had not missed you just now, I could have killed you. (Hara: "No shit, Sherlock") What do you want?" Eric was visibly shaking and shook his head.
"No, nothing." He said and then ran out of the room. Tatara looked at the wall again with a sigh.
"Wow, how are we going to explain this to Izumo?" Tatara looked at Mikoto as he finally let Hara up from under him. (Hara: "You need a shower, you smell." Mikoto: "I'll shower if you shower with me?" Hara: "Fat chance!") Did you... Have another nightmare?" Hara and Mikoto stopped their banter and looked at Tatara. Mikoto shook his head. "Of course not."
"Be careful with that guy." Mikoto said in a gruff, sleepy voice. Tatara looked confused as Hara squinted out the window at the setting sun. "I felt... His murderous intent."
Izumo stood looking at the hole with a look of utter disbelief.
"How can this be?" Mikoto was looking down with his eyes closed. Hara sat beside him on the couch with Key on her lap. Tatara was standing a little behind Izumo with Anna beside him.
"I told you, I was in a daze." Izumo turned on him.
"I already heard that, you idiot!" He yelled. "You know that I have been spending a lot of time trying to keep the place clean. And this is no longer a question about cleaning... This needs a total repair!" Hara sighed as Mikoto only looked further downcast.
"I'm sorry."
"Just because you say sorry it doesn't mean the problem is fixed!" Hara only watched as Izumo continued to yell at Mikoto and looked to see Anna watching Tatara intently.
A/N: Uhhhhh~ Yeah? Review/Follow/Favorite! XD