Capu4 ch21
Apollo was working to build the foundation for the church. The ground had been cleared and the dimensions laid out. With other volunteers, he dug to help remove high spots on the bare ground. He enjoyed the work, although dirt got up under his sandals. He was happy to be wearing his loose fitting Roman style toga, the loose garment helped keep him cool during his exhertions. For work or relaxing, there wasn't a clothing style in centuries that beat the toga. One crest of rock sticking up, he left for Lucy. She seemed to enjoy breaking things.
"Excuse me," said a meek voice behind him.
Apollo drove his pick into the ground and turned. He recognized the human brunette. "Kikumura Yuka, right?" he asked.
Yuka nodded. Nervously playing with her hands, she asked, "I was wondering if you could talk to Lucy for me. She's being ... unreasonable."
Apollo knew Lucy didn't hold humans in a very high regard. "Unreasonable how?" he asked, eyeing her. When she paused, he asked, "Did she threaten you?"
"She did, but only because she is concerned about Kouta," Yuka said quickly. "I have no idea why, but she is acting afraid. She keeps saying something bad is going to happen to him."
"What did she do?"
"She gave me a cell phone."
Apollo frowned at her. "That's it? She didn't try to run you off or anything like that?" he asked, waiting to become angry at Lucy for 'bullying' a human.
"You don't understand," Yuka said balling her fists. "Lucy has always been protective of us, especially Kouta. It's just that now, she's gone over the edge! She wants me to report on ... phantom threats. She swore she'd kill me if I didn't call her if anything even looked like it might be a threat to Kouta!" Gazing at Apollo pleadingly, she said, "I know yokai can sense things. Lucy being able to sense threats is one of the reasons we were able to escape, so I can't ignore her worries. It's just that no one else I've talked to can sense anything at all. If there is a real threat to any of us, I want to know, but I don't want to be afraid of nothing!"
Apollo put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I'll talk to her. If anything happens, you come and find me," he said reassuringly.
"I don't want to cause trouble, but I don't know what else to do," Yuka explained.
"It's all right. I'll see if I can find out what's bothering her," Apollo told her.
"Thank you," Yuka said meekly, and left him to his task.
Apollo went back to work. Before he'd talked to Tsukune, he also had a feeling something very bad was going to happen. It had been strong enough that he'd kept watch here and didn't go back to apologize to Akasha for slapping her. More amusing was Sendo Yukari's puzzling dreams she'd asked everyone about. Apparently, she was looking for an answer to her dream of Tsukune wanting to marry her. He wondered if Lucy's phantom threat was also due to Tsukune changing history.
School got out and volunteers arrived. Chris Tappan took up a shovel to get rid of the loose dirt. Kokoa (who did not want to get dirty) took her place behind the wheel barrow to dump it after it was full. Upon Lucy arriving Apollo waved her down.
"Queen Lucy, may we speak? It's important," Apollo said.
Lucy rolled her eyes and let out a huff. "Fine, but make it quick. I have to put my time in and get home," she said unhappily.
Apollo took her to the side and asked, "I understand you feel something bad is going to happen. Is there any reason you you believe this?"
Lucy eyed him. "Do you feel something?" she asked not quite as pleasant.
"A while ago, I did. I found out the reason, and my concern is unfounded. Please, I need to know why you think Kouta is in danger."
Lucy folded her arms across her chest and looked off at Ruby's house. "I can't put it into words, but I'm afraid he's going to die." Shifting to glare at him, she added, "And it's not because I'm going nuts like Yuka claims!"
"I never said you were," Apollo said quickly. "I just need to know why you feel like that. A sense of doom? Perhaps a dream you had, or keep having?" he asked, watching her.
A breeze blew a few strands of pink hair into Lucy's face. She brushed them away with an irritated swipe. She glanced at him, then in a low voice said, "Yes, a dream. But it felt very real. He was killed by humans. I ... killed them all, but that didn't bring him back. Happy now?"
"Did these dreams start, say about ten days ago?" he asked.
"What of it? What do you know?" she asked, finally looking at him.
Apollo nodded. Like him, and Yukari, Lucy's subconscious somehow remembered history like it was before Tsukune had changed it. It wasn't possible, but apparently for those yokai who had very strong experiences, those experiences somehow were not completely erased. They were being remembered in the form of dreams.
"Well?" Lucy asked a bit harsher.
"I'm sorry, just thinking," Apollo told her. "Look, there was an ... event, but Lord Aono made it so that event never happened. I think you're experiencing the temporal remnants of Tsukune erasing that event."
"WHAT did you just say?" Lucy asked, twisting her face up.
"Suffice it to say that there is nothing to worry about. What you're dreaming will not happen," Apollo said simply.
Staring at him, Lucy asked, "How can you be so sure?"
"Because it already happened, but Lord Aono made it ... unhappen."
Lucy stared at him briefly, then said, "You must be suffering from old age. You are making no sense whatsoever. How can things un-happen? What is done, is done."
"It was magic," Apollo said, fearing to try and explain it to her.
"So you can assure me Kouta isn't going to die?" Lucy asked, eyeing him.
"Everyone dies eventually. Well, almost everyone," Apollo conceded. "But the thing you are nervous about isn't going to happen. You can stop being nervous, and stop threatening Yuka."
"If she would have just taken the damn phone, I wouldn't have to threaten her, would I?" Lucy asked harshly.
The way she talked brushed him the wrong way. "Shouldn't it be her choice? You claim to hate bullies, but then you force someone weaker to do what you want. What would you call that?" Apollo asked heavily.
"I call it watching out for the ones I love," Lucy growled back.
"I call it bullying," Apollo growled back.
Glaring at each other, their fists balled up.
"Ahh, Lord Apollo, Lady Lucy!" Angela announced as she walked up to them. Stepping in between them, she said, "How wonderful you both are here to help. I cannot thank you enough." Turning to Lucy she added, "Would you be a dear and please do something about that ridge of rock? Until we remove that, the foundation will not be able to be poured."
Lucy shifted her gaze to Angela. "Sure," she said, and stormed away.
Turning to Apollo, Angela cast a smirk and said, "Lady Lucy can be trying, can she not?"
"She is intolerable!" Apollo stated.
"Yes, and she holds deep anger in her soul," Angela said softly. "So sad such a pretty young girl has suffered so badly. I have spoken with her, and I feel I may be making progress. However, if others would help me by not throwing her words back in her face, perhaps we can make progress a bit faster?"
"She claims to hate bullies, yet she was doing exactly that," Apollo said sternly.
"Her intentions were good, just not the method used," Angela said in a kind tone. "Maybe if we work on focusing on teaching her how to talk to people to get their cooperation, that would be better?" Angela asked, offering Apollo a smile.
Angela's radiant smile drained away his anger. Apollo nodded, realizing his temper had been flaring as well. Lucy seemed to take pleasure in rubbing him the wrong way. "You are correct, Mother Superior. I will ... try harder. It is not easy."
"Consider her a challenge," Angela said. "Harboring hate and sorrow damages the soul. Don't you agree?"
Apollo stared past her. He had millenniums of those same feeling he still carried with him. "Yeah, I do," he said quietly.
"Then you agree that we must do our best to help others purge those feelings through forgiveness and acceptance. No one deserves to suffer." Angela said gently.
For some reason, Apollo felt like crying. It was as if she was talking about him instead of Lucy. He was about to ask how one would do that, then a presence caught his attention. Coming up the road toward the Aono Manor was a long black limo. By the car and the feeling he got from within, there were vampires paying young Lord Aono a visit.
"Clear out," Lucy called, then began pounding on the offending rock with her vectors, sending chunks flying everywhere.
.
Tsukune and Moka came into the foyer to greet Issa and Kahlua. Upon seeing them, Kahlua grew a bright smile and rushed to dive into them, hugging each with an arm. "Moka! Tsukune! I am so happy to see you!" Kahlua cried.
"Good to see you too, Kahlua," Tsukune said and pried her free. Her gown today was light blue with a silver tiara filed with diamonds on her head. He noticed Issa waving his fingers to summon him over.
"Moka, is Chris home? Can you play with us today?" Kahlua asked as she focused on her sister.
Tsukune left Moka to deal with Kahlua and went over to Issa. "Lord Shuzen, good to see you sir." he said with a bow.
Issa returned a quick bow. "I need a favor," he said getting to the point. Opening his hands, he showed Kahlua's limiting earrings. "Do you know what these are?"
Tsukune nodded. He then looked back at Kahlua. With those earrings off, she should be tearing the place up and radiating her yokai energy, which she wasn't. He looked back at Issa. "Shouldn't she be..."
"Projecting her power and looking for her target, yes." Issa stated. "The impossible happened. They fell off for no reason, yet her power is still contained. As she is now, Kahlua is vulnerable. If the wrong people knew of this, she would be easy prey for retribution. You have Witches here. Please keep my daughter safe for the next few days and try to find out why this happened." He handed the earrings to Tsukune. "And if there is someone behind this, I want to know who they are."
"Yes, of course," Tsukune agreed. "We'll keep Kahlua safe and do everything we can," Tsukune assured him.
"I must be going. Please put your best people on it," Issa said. He bowed to Tsukune and left.
"Kahlua?" Chris asked as she came in from the back.
"CHRIS!" Kahlua yelled, and ran over to pick Chris off the floor and fling her around in a happy hug. Chris's book bag went flying as she gasped for breath.
Catching sight of Apollo coming in behind Chris, Kahlua dropped Chris (which sent her flying) and rushed over to dive into Apollo. Moka sped over and caught Chris before she hit the wall.
Tsukune looked at the silver crosses he was holding. A terrible thought hit him. What if this happened to Moka?
.
On the computer in the office, Hiroka was busy as Kurumu and the other band members crowded around him.
"Aww, wow, so that's how they do that," Kuruu said as she watched him 'cut and paste' video scenes together, then add the music files.
"You sure are good at this, Hiroka-san," Shiro noted.
"What do we do with it when you're finished?" Kurumu asked.
Hiroka got the last bit in, then hit return as he explained, "Once the song comes out, I'll put this up on Youtube, and all the music sites I can find. I'm sure lots of people are going to see it." With a grin, he added, "The manager's gonna be pissed."
As if hearing her name, Iwasaka Kata rapped on the door frame as she came in holding the flash drive with their latest song on it. "Miss Aono," she said wiggling the small drive. "I listened to this song. You cannot put out something like this. It will completely ruin the image we want to create!"
"No, it will restore my image," Kurumu said, correcting her. "And it's MRS. Aono."
Noda Saiyuri, their drummer, said, "I thought we made the music. Your job is to sell it."
Kata tossed the drive down on the desk, cast him a scowl and said, "Look here, I know more than you do about the music world so just play ... whatever is you play. I decide what music will come out of this band."
"Whatever is I play?" Saiyuri asked with a raised eyebrow.
Kurumu stood up and scowled back at her. "This song will go out, whether you like it or not," she stated.
"Then get yourself another manager. I won't let you commit image-suicide!" Kata snapped. "Today's idols NEED to be confident, independent women who stand on their own two feet! Not some ... housewife!"
Kurumu stared at her then walked around the table. As she rounded the table, her nails lengthened into foot long claws. "Maybe I should show you what a 'housewife' can do when someone PISSES HER OFF!"
"Whoa!" three of the band members cried all at once. Jun and Shiro grabbed Kurumu's arms. Saiyuri jumped in between them. "Hold on!" he cried, with a frightened look. Hiroka was busy at the computer.
"Stay away from me!" Kata cried as she backed up.
Glaring at her with the whites of her eyes turned black, Kurumu dragged all three men with her as she growled, "You screwed with the wrong person! YOU stay away from US! YOU ARE FIRED! Get out and don't come back, or I will slice you into ribbons."
Kata back out the door. "I have a contract, you can't fire me," she stated, fear showing openly on her face.
"Not with me, you don't," Kurumu growled, dragging her band members towards Kata as they skidded on their feet, trying to stop her.
From the computer, Hiroka announced, "Everyone, STOP! The video is up, the song is out. We're already getting hits. Iwasaka! You can either support us, or even by the contract that none of us actually signed, any money we make off this song, you get nothing from!"
"Screw that, GO!" Kurumu snapped. The arm she raised to point at the door pulled Saiyuri off his feet to hang by her wrist as he desperately tried to hold her back.
Iwasaka Kata fled. Saiyuri lost his hold with a yelp and fell flat on the floor.
In front of Kurumu, Jun backed away from trying to hold Kurumu. Wide-eyed, he glanced back to see their manager was gone the asked with a squeak in his voice, "She's gone, can you put the hardware away? Please?"
Kurumu retracted her claws. Taking deep breaths to calm herself, her eyes returned to normal.
"Damn, Kurumu-san, you can be really scary," Jun said.
"She pisses me off," Kurumu spat, flinging a hand at the doorway. "Since when can't a married woman be strong and confident?"
"You're obviously both," Jun noted.
Saiyuri asked with a groan as he got up, "What do you do, weight lift using cars?"
"Guys, we're going viral," Hiroka said with a grin. "Six thousand hits in the first couple minutes."
"Is that good?" Kurumu asked.
"Hell yeah. Half of those are outside Japan," Hiroka said as he watched the screen. "We put that song out, and it will fly off the shelves."
"Flying Yokai," Jun said with a grin. "I know some people in the business. I can do the manager part, but that means I'll be missing rehearsals."
'That's fine, we can work around you. One less person we'll have to pay," Saiyuri said.
"Can you do something about that Music Beat interview?" Kurumu asked.
Jun mussed, "Maybe, I'm sure they will want more. Let me talk to them tomorrow, see what I can work out."
.
Tsukune had collected the Yokai who wanted to help keep the peace and took them down to police headquarters. Sitting in the break room, they waited for the Captain to come in and pass out the paperwork for the police Academy.
On the wall mounted television, a news program was running, talking about the local news.
Beside the anchor woman, a photo of Ki-Jo appeared. "And in the local entertainment news, Ki-jo of the popular music show, 'Music Beat', took a beating from the rising band, 'The Flying Yokai' in their new video that is out. The interview Ki-jo did with Aono Kurumu depicted her as being single and quite the party hound. The following segment is Mrs. Aono's rebuttal to that interview."
The video started showing Kurumu strutting down the hallway of the manor in a stiff, breast-bouncing walk. Her hair was made up in long, sweeping waves that danced in the breeze of her motion. She wore a close fitting deep V necked dark blue shirt with silver sparkles that seemed to enhance the bounce of her large breasts, a short mini-skirt, fishnet stockings and spiked high heels.
Tsukune noted that the tune sounded a lot like the one Kurumu had done for her pool song back at Yokai Academy. A few officers stopped to gape at the video.
Audio:
The music people say
I have to be single and free
a sexy slut with no family
It may be good for them,
but that is not me!
Video: Kurumu comes up to a cardboard cutout of Ki-jo with his wild 'Music Beat' T-shirt on. She extends her claws and slashes it to pieces. Shot of the cardboard's head getting ground under a spiked heel. The scene shifts to Kurumu in a loose sweater and short sitting cross legged on the floor with Akemi and Kumiko.
Audio :
I have children, they are my great-est joy
Only one man, he's my every-thing
I pity those poor girls
Who have no family like me
Video: Tsukune in bed, Kurumu snuggled up against him wearing a smile
Audio:
FUN! FUN! FUN!
Lying beside him in the afternoon
so warm and snugly, I don't wanna move
Have your drinks and drugs
my high is right here!
Visual: Back patio, Moka, Tsukuen, Kurumu in chase lounges, lying in the sun. Kurumu is in a tiny black bikini, Moka is wearing a white one.
Audio:
NO! NO! NO!
No one could ever love him more than me
I love him so much that it's embarrassing
And my sister wife,
Yes, I love her too,
Ya-hoo Ya-hoo
Vsual: Kurumu and Moka leaving the courtyard to go shopping.
Audio:
Head - ing out, for a day of shopping fun
Tell me she's not important
well, you better run
We share everything
and yes even his seed
Visual: Kurumu dancing in the rain on the courtyard. She dances near another cutout of Ki-jo, frowns at it, and slashes it apart, then dances on.
Audio:
So... You ... See.
I have got a loveing family
not quite normal but, la, de, de
Opinions, I don't really care
I'm happy as can be!
Tsukune face-palmed. He appreciated her effort, but now everyone, including the officers who'd come in the room, were staring at him.
"THAT's your wife?" one young male officer asked as he gazed wide-eyed at Tsukune.
"One of his wives," Kazue Tsuchinoko said, holding a finger up. "Kurumu-san is somewhat on the bold side."
"Damn," another officer staring at Tsukune muttered.
"He's got two smokin hot wives."
"Double damn," another commented.
"How do you do it?" another officer cried.
Tsukune was very glad the Captain came in, and the television went off. Maybe they could make this fast.