I do not own any of the characters of K. They belong to Gora/Gohands.
I apologize for any OOC-ness of the characters. It's just my take on how they might behave in the event of situations such as these arriving.I also apologize for any grammatical errors that I did not pick up on.
Summary: How the Red Clan copes with a growing Anna.
GROWING PAINS
by chickypeg
Chapter 36: Dates and Spies
Seri had her duties to do and she carried them out as such without complaint, even after the events earlier that week. There was some rearranging of the timetable so that the following week's club activities would be cancelled in the afternoon so that the students could be given more consistent time to get the hang of dancing.
Maybe Seri should be looking forward to it, but she was not. Particularly due to the interaction she would be forced to have with a certain bartender.
Currently, she had reports to submit to her King and she had just done them up. They were very brief for nothing much had happened concerning Iwao.
The reports normally had to be submitted in person and to be honest, she could not look Reisi Munakata in the eye. She was upset with him, and herself and thus far, she had completely avoided him. The fact that nothing had happened with Iwao helped her to keep away from him.
It hadn't really been his business telling her about hers and Izumo's relationship, but because they were at Seneca on official business, her King did have a right to formally advise her about her actions with the man from the Red Clan.
Despite this, Reisi himself had not acted in accordance with proper work ethic. His voice had been laced with anger and he had forcefully held her, and when he had spoken, it was as though he had been threatening her.
His words had been cold and cruel and she had felt as though he had stabbed her with his sword. The worst part about it, was that right before, she had been enjoying his calloused hands on her skin and the way they touched and moved on her.
Almost as much as Izumo's.
Before coming to Seneca, her feelings for Izumo would die as long as she stayed away from him, but because her life could feel so cold and lonely, she would come to his bar from time to time and upon sight of him, all those warm feelings for him would rush back.
The reason why she would feel cold and lonely was because of her respected King. She did have feelings for him that went beyond that deep respect, but because he was so cold...so distant from her, she would feel nothing but coldness inside of her when she left for the workday and she would feel so alone for she would wish so badly that he could open up to her, even a little.
And then after a few weeks of this, she would loose it and run to Izumo.
Truthfully, Seri did not know what she wanted. She couldn't even make a choice between the two men because she did not know what either one truly wanted from her. Did Izumo just want to screw around in bed with her? Or did he really like her?
She assumed the former because she felt that if Izumo really had feelings for her, especially when he clearly knew of hers for him considering the little exchange she had with Anna in the alleyway over a year ago, then he would have done something.
He never made any attempts to reach out and have a relationship with her. In other words, he did not believe in a future for either of them.
That made her suspicious and wonder if it was that the reason why he had come onto her in the dance room was because he felt that due to their closer proximity, he could have a chance to roll around with her in bed.
Those thoughts hurt her and she could not see any other reason as to why Izumo behaved so with her.
She was only a woman and she had feelings and as a woman with feelings, she had that right to defend her heart and become a frozen blade of ice that would not thaw, even for Izumo.
Or Reisi.
Right now, she did not know where she stood with this man, her King.
"Awashima-kun sent the report with you?" Reisi said when Fushimi handed the written report to him in the tea room. Reisi was busy making some tea using classic Japanese tea wares.
"Yeah. Something about how it was too short and therefore unnecessary for her to see you," Fushimi replied.
Reisi accepted the report without a change in his expression but Fushimi knew he was in deep thought.
"Have a seat, Fushimi. There's no bean paste for you to choke on today," Reisi said.
Fushimi hid his embarrassment at his commander's awareness of how much he despised red bean paste. He sat down and allowed Reisi to give him some tea.
The Blue King drank some himself and sighed, wondering if he had been too much the last time he had spoken in person to Seri.
"Perhaps," Fushimi said, indicating that Reisi had spoken aloud without realizing it.
Reisi glanced at him. "How so?"
"With all due respect, sir, you behaved uncharacteristically,"
Reisi sipped his tea. "Maybe I did," he conceded. He decided to change the topic. "You're going somewhere today, aren't you Fushimi?"
"Yes," Fushimi answered. He didn't really know how Reisi Munakata figured it out, but Fushimi really did have plans today.
Reisi smirked. "I assume that you're trailing on a hunch after someone?"
Fushimi hesitated, then replied, "Yes, I am."
"Good. I suggest you leave now so that you don't loose sight of your hunch,"
Fushimi nodded. He stood up, bowed politely and went on his way.
Seri stiffened when she felt a familiar presence behind her. "What do you want?" she asked coldly.
Behind her, Izumo laughed softly. "You were so warm with me a few days ago, Seri-chan, almost hot. What made you so ice cold today?"
Seri shot him a glare over her shoulder. "Leave me alone, Izumo,"
Izumo suddenly became more serious. "Did that King of yours say something to you?"
Seri ignored him and moved to go, but Izumo's large hand caught hold of her arm and turned her around to face him.
She didn't struggle with him when he used his index finger to tilt her pretty face upward. "Did he, Seri-chan?"
Seri pulled her face and arm away from Izumo before she got caught up in his warmth, scent and perfect charm. "This has nothing to do with you," she stated and moved away from him. She walked off, at a quickened space and Izumo stared after her with a frown.
Two boys paused in the corridor when she brushed passed them. Their backs were to Izumo so they did not notice when he came up behind them.
"Hm...Ms. Tits and Ass looks a bit unhappy," one commented.
"But she's still as hot as ever...with those tits and that ass," the other remarked.
Suddenly their heads were put into an unfamiliar, crushing grip and the voice of their english teacher asked softly, "What a nice nickname you have for such a respectable teacher, boys. Shall we discuss it further?"
The two boys whimpered as his grip tightened.
"Don't use your marbles," Mikoto ordered.
Anna glanced at him with the little red ball still clutched between her fingers. She had been about to peek through them to view Iwao-sensei in the booth he was sitting in.
"Mikoto?" she said his name, confused.
Anna was not an oblivious child; she knew things about people and picked up on things from them and that was something that gave Mikoto a cause for concern for he was certain that if she were to happen upon the wrong people, she would see things her innocent mind should not.
Izumo and Mikoto had protected her as much as they could from the perverted, nasty people out there.
Anna had no idea of this, and she was perhaps quite oblivious to how attractive she really was.
They were normal people. A plain looking man with a wife who could easily blend into a crowd. They were perhaps in their late twenties. Both obviously worked.
Three times a week they came in.
At each point in time, Anna would be seated on the couch, silent, quiet and unmoving so that everyone who came in, assumed that she was nothing but a mannequin.
But this couple noted that she was quite alive.
"That's quite a pretty child you have there, Bartender-san," the man had commented to Izumo who had just opened a beer for him.
Izumo smiled. He was used to people giving compliments about the young girl.
"She is, isn't she?" he agreed.
"Like a living doll. We have no children of our own ourselves," the wife said to him.
"Oh, how come?" Izumo questioned, mildly curious.
Mikoto had come down and had glanced at the couple. They did not see him for their backs were turned to him.
He seemed to overhear some of the conversation and suddenly he motioned for Anna to come to him. She obeyed by hopping off the couch and taking a hold of the sleeve of his jacket. From there, the King led his princess out of the room.
Before they disappeared, Mikoto looked at Izumo. A silent message was conveyed between the two and Izumo nodded conspicuously before fully giving his full attention to the couple.
Mikoto's removal of Anna from out of the bar meant that he did not like these people. Since Mikoto seemed to have a sixth sense about humans, it meant that something was really wrong with these guys.
Meanwhile, Anna herself did not really understand why she was suddenly taken away from the bar by Mikoto. It had been a very long time since Izumo had had her sent off and usually it was because some who were so strange that even the members of Homra did not want them around had come into the bar.
Anna had sensed something weird from the couple and before she could properly assess them, Mikoto had taken her away.
Perhaps she had not been walking fast enough for once they entered the living room, Mikoto reached down and caught her around the waist, holding her under his arm like a sack of wheat.
Anna gasped in reaction, but the next thing she knew, she was in the kitchen and was unceremoniously set down on chair at the kitchen's counter.
Kamamoto was there, making some onigiri.
"Feed her and make sure she stays here," Mikoto ordered him.
Kamamoto did not question him; he merely accepted his orders and returned to making the food.
"Mikoto?" Anna said his name uncertainly.
In reply, he lowered his head and roughly kissed her cheek before he left through the door. It was enough for Anna to grasp that there was truly something odd about the seemingly harmless couple who had come in, and Mikoto wanted her nowhere near them.
While Anna waited on her onigiri, Izumo listened to the story of the couple's fertility failure.
"I can't have children. A very sad story. I had ovarian cancer which resulted in surgery that took away my ability to have children,"
"I'm sorry to hear that," Izumo stated.
The woman smiled almost sincerely. "There are other options, including adoption,"
"I see. Have you any child in mind?"
The husband spoke then. "That little doll. She doesn't have parents does she? My wife and I would be more than glad to have her as our own,"
Izumo smiled. It wasn't the first offer he had had for someone to adopt Anna but he still refused.
"Anna belongs here with us," Izumo told him.
The husband became serious again. So serious that there was a frightening look in his eyes. "Look buddy, I'm willing to pay top dollar for that beauty,"
Izumo felt anger grown in him. The way the man had spoken sounded just like several pedophiles and human traffickers who had come in before, willing to buy out Anna from Izumo.
Before he could retort, a powerful presence was sensed by the pair and a gruff voice stated, "She belongs here,"
The pair paled and nervously looked over their shoulders to behold the speaker.
It was Mikoto and although there was a bored expression on his face, his eyes had a slight red glow and anger seemed to almost be emanating from him.
The couple hurried to finish off their drinks. They paid and left.
A few days later, it was reported on the news that the couple's house had been burned by a mysterious fire and every possession of theirs was burnt to a crisp, save for their computer and a small metal box which the firemen discovered contained child pornography.
The couple themselves admitted to their wrong actions. From what was reported on the news, it seemed that the two had been spooked and believed that some fiery demon had been sent to punish them for their actions.
The frequency of the visits from such persons declined substantially due to Mikoto's reputation in the city. Upon sight of her clinging to him, at once signaled to these perverts that Anna was off-limits for she belonged to the guy who was considered a monster, even in the underworld.
This was among the reasons why Mikoto chose to teach her how to fight, aside from the situation with the Rise. It was also the reason why he didn't stop her from all her martial arts clubs despite her health situation; Anna needed to know how to protect herself because it was a fact that she would not always have a member from Homra around to protect her.
Currently, they were sitting in a booth in a lovely maid cafe and Anna was having the special of the house: 'Red Sundae' which was basically a sundae made up of strawberry and cherry ice-cream, topped with nuts, cherries, whipped cream, red colored candies and raspberry syrup.
It was icky, gooey, yummy and sweet.
Anna savored every delicious bite.
Meanwhile, Mikoto who was eating a chocolate sundae was just glad that she was eating more than the bite sized portions she usually had.
However, he had also learned earlier that week that if Anna started eating more, he should probably not comment on it.
"What's wrong?" Anna asked from behind the large portion of steamed tofu, rice and fish. Mikoto had been watching her with a frown.
"You're eating a lot," he commented as he returned to his own food which was not quite as large as Anna's.
Tension gripped the air as it seemed that even Natsume, Ryosuke and Haru froze at Mikoto's words.
Anna stiffened. She set down her rice bowl quietly.
Sensing that something was amiss, Mikoto glanced at her again. He was reminded of the day before when Anna had walked off on him after they had argued in the dance room.
"Anna?"
"So I'm eating too much?" she questioned. Her eyes were dead serious and Mikoto felt as though she was somehow glaring at him.
That disturbed him.
"Well..."
"You complain when I eat too little, now you have a problem when I eat more?" she continued.
Mikoto did not like how she made him sound so unreasonable.
"I wasn't picking a fight," Mikoto told her cuttingly.
Ryosuke, beside him whispered loudly, "Mikoto-san, you must never, ever comment on the amount a girl eats! She'll want your head on a platter for that!"
Mikoto glanced at him from the corner of his eye. "I'm pleased she's eating more. Nothing's wrong with that,"
That seemed to settle Anna. In Mikoto's mind, he attributed Anna's behavior to 'PMSing' which was stuff he didn't understand and figured he wouldn't even try to.
Meanwhile, Ryosuke figured that his King was probably so blunt that he could either be considered very stupid or very smart because he didn't understand that he had offended Anna in the first place and his blatant words which still lacked understanding to Anna's emotions had made her understand that he wasn't criticizing her.
Anna had continued on eating, seemingly quite contented that her actions were making her King glad.
Now, it was Saturday and they were having their 'date'.
"What do you mean?" Anna asked Natsume when she informed the young pair that they should go on a date.
"And what does that have to do with Iwao?" Mikoto added on with a hint of irritation in his voice.
Natsume grinned. "I'd like for you to take Anna out this Saturday, Mikoto. In fact, I want you to go to a particular maid cafe in Seneca Town,"
"What's the reason?" Mikoto asked.
"Because a certain sensei frequents that cafe and I need you to keep an eye on his activities,"
They had come into the cafe first, before Iwao, ensuring that they got a more private booth. Since the pair was very attractive, it was also best for them to keep a bit out of sight as well. They sat opposite each other and as soon as they were given the menus, Anna had already figured out what she wanted.
Mikoto knew it too for it wasn't hard to realize that she would choose the thing with the most red from the menu which was her Red Sundae.
Mikoto didn't have a problem with going on a 'date' with Anna, as Natsume had said for him to do. It was more like he didn't care for the place they came to. He wasn't really one impressed by pretty girls dressed up in maid costumes coming up to him and calling him 'Master' and serving him attractive items.
He was a king.
Therefore, he surpassed the level of 'Master'.
As for pretty girls in pretty costumes, he had Anna who he considered to be far prettier than any of the employees in the cafe. That made Mikoto pause momentarily in his thoughts.
'Pretty' was the word that had been niggling at the back of his head since earlier that week when he had watched Anna apologize to him when they were in the woods. Her blushing, apologetic face had brought up a word he had probably never used to describe a girl in his life and he had trouble remembering it.
Mikoto was generally slow in this area and therefore it was only now he could acknowledge that Anna looked pretty. Especially in the way she was currently dolled up.
Mikoto took another bite of his sundae as he thought back on his first sight of Anna earlier that day.
"Anna will be down now, Mikoto," Natsume said as she approached him. He was waiting impatiently at the foot of the staircase for he just wanted the chore to be over and done with so that he could come back home and take a nice long nap.
Mikoto grunted in response.
He lifted his head at the clack of a pair of shoes as they walked down the stairs.
Mikoto was not one who really paid attention to certain details about clothes and women. He never had. To him, they all looked the same. Some just had more jiggly breasts than others but he wasn't really a man impressed by large breasts anyway so he didn't particularly care.
Despite this, Mikoto was quite sure that even his twenty six year old self would have paused at the sight of Anna today.
She was standing before him dressed in a red and white lolita dress. He recognized it as the one she always wore as if recently, or so his memories told him.
Yet, for some reason, the dress looked a bit different on Anna today. The dress had short, puffed white sleeves which had a red ribbon running through them and tiny little bows about the edges. The only other part that was white was the bodice part that covered her breasts decently. It was made of a ruffled material and like the sleeves, also had a red ribbon running through it, but there was only one bow and that was at the very centre.
Mikoto was not sure why, but for some reason, the dress looked tight about her chest area. In fact, the rest of the torso, which was a dark red material, hugged her stomach a little too lovingly before it flared out into a short red shirt that fell a little more than above her knees. She wore on her usual white stockings and a pair of red buckle shoes with a small heel.
Her hair, however, had grown extraordinarily long.
The long, beautiful, white strands that had a hint of grey fell to her thighs. Normally, hair so long wouldn't be expected to be very thick, but Anna's was. It was thick and had a beautiful, healthy shine. It curtained around her and the only accessory she wore in those long, long waves was a small red bow which took the place of her original titled hat.
Even her skin, despite it's paleness, had an almost glow to it. Her eyes were wide and grey and those dark lashes seemed ever more prominent.
Mikoto, however, had a very slow mind when it came to acknowledging the beauty of women and his mind was trying to process some long ago forgotten word to describe her.
Anna herself had begun to blush under his scrutiny, causing Mikoto to frown further because admittedly, she looked even more cute like that.
"Mikoto?" Anna's voice cut into his thoughts.
Apparently, he had been staring at her for a long time, without much change in his expression. He blinked when she called his name, and abruptly, he reached across and used his thumb to wipe the little dab of ice cream at the corner of her mouth. The bit of red dessert remained on his thumb and he returned his hand to his side of the table.
Slowly, he lifted that thumb to his mouth, and his pink tongue reached out and slowly flicked the ice cream, all the while his golden eyes remained on Anna.
Under normal circumstances, Anna would probably just blink at Mikoto and continue eating her ice cream while Mikoto returned to his, thinking nothing about the situation.
However, their eyes remained on each other for a long, long time and Anna could not help but notice that this fourteen year old boy before her, was quite handsome. His twenty six year old self was quite a looker too, but meeting him at this age was really pleasant for her.
Earlier that day, she had been blushing at the sight of him. Normally, Mikoto wore on plain clothes with his personal touch of grunge due to the jewelry he wore: his chains, bracelets and rings.
However, today he had traded in his trademark white shirt for a black one over which a long sleeved brownish cardigan that was low enough to reveal his necklaces rested.
With his red hair, golden eyes and very lightly tanned skin, Mikoto looked like a pop star and stood out among the crowd (Anna unwittingly also stood out).
Anna had found that he looked quite handsome...and different and in a way, things were not as how it was between her and Mikoto's twenty six year old self-not just physically-wise, but also on a mental level as well for they were much closer to the same age and could meet on a similar ground. It was therefore easier for Mikoto to get past the notion that she was just a child.
"He's leaving," Mikoto said to Anna and her thoughts on him were also broken.
They watched from the corner of their booth as Iwao motioned to a nearby maid that he wanted the bill. He paid for it, and got up to leave.
Mikoto also motioned for the check. The maid who came up to them was a pretty thing with long black hair and black eyes. She was quite cheerful.
"Did you find everything delightful?" she questioned as she handed them the bill that was contained in a leather booklet.
Anna nodded but Mikoto did not say anything. He simply opened the booklet and reached for some cash from his pocket.
"You know miss, we're always looking for new employees. You look as though you'd be perfect for the job!" the waitress exclaimed.
"No," Mikoto said.
Anna and the waitress looked at him.
"Oh, this must be your boyfriend. I guess he wouldn't be keen on the idea of you working in an area that attracts so many guys,"
Anna didn't know what to say, and Mikoto didn't really care to reply.
"They are so not brother and sister," Kei commented from his booth across the room. He was sitting at angle where he could see everything that Anna and Mikoto were doing, but they wouldn't be able to see him quite as easily.
"They're adopted," Akemi reminded him as she sipped on her ice cream soda.
Kei frowned when he glanced her way. "Look at the way they watch each other, Akemi. It's like they're attracted to each other but they don't know it,"
Akemi shrugged as she lifted the straw out of the end of the soda and licked the very bottom of it. "What's the big deal, Kei? I thought you said you weren't going to meddle?"
Kei snorted. He had told Akemi that, hadn't he? This past week had been a weird week, watching those two interact. He and Akemi sometimes came to Seneca town on weekends because they didn't go home while everyone else did so they came to the town to just hang out. They could actually afford to do so now with the pay they got from their club.
Neither had known that Anna would remain in Seneca this weekend and they had been surprised that she mentioned nothing about it.
"Maybe it was a last minute plan that she decided to show her brother around. Seneca Town is really lovely, after all," Akemi had pointed out when they had caught sight of the two entering the maid cafe.
"Or maybe she just wanted to spend time with that beast of a brother she had instead of us," Kei argued. For once, he was quite serious.
"Aww...is Kei-chan jealous?" Akemi teased.
In reply, Kei gave her a beautifully warm smile, the kind she knew meant that she had to run because he would do something sadistic with that twisted personality of his. As she turned to run off, Kei caught by the waist and pulled her hard against him so that her back was pressed against his warm chest.
"Ah, sweet Akemi, is it that you're jealous?" he had crooned against her ear, almost lovingly.
Akemi struggled, but he caught her hair with his free hand and he ran his fingers through the golden masses of curls strongly enough to almost hurt. "Are you, Akemi?" he pressed as he forced her head toward his. Warm brown eyes met hers.
However, Akemi was not one to give in so easily.
In return she stepped hard on his foot, making him cry out in pain.
"You bitch! That hurt!" he snapped and proceeded to sob, "my toe! My precious, beautiful toe! I'm maimed for life!"
"You deserved it you moron!" she retorted.
Kei, strangely enough calmed down.
And agreed with her. "You're right! Let me make it up to you with something from the maid cafe!"
And that was how the two wound up in the cafe, and sat down as inconspicuously as they could, away from Anna and Mikoto.
"We're done here," Kei said and motioned for the bill.
Akemi, gathering up her ice cream soda with her straw still, looked at him, surprised. "What? Already?"
"I'm paying aren't I?"
"You're wasting your money! Neither of us are done so just finish it off!"
Kei frowned. "We'll loose sight of those two,"
Akemi scowled at him. "Are you that jealous, stupid?"
Kei looked thoughtful. "I actually wouldn't call it 'jealousy'. I'd probably say 'curiosity',"
"'Curiosity'?" Akemi repeated, her blue eyes showing that she was bewildered by his words.
Kei grinned. "You can't tell me that that romantic heart of yours doesn't want to see more of their interaction,"
Akemi glowered at him because he was right; she was very much interested in Anna and Mikoto's relationship for it was so intriguing to watch the two of them.
Both Kei and Akemi had been surprised by the way those two got along. They were so different and yet they seemed to have such a deep bond:
A few days ago:
Kei made his way to the clubroom that he and the rest of the Finders' Club was using. The look on his face was obviously miserable for he was deeply concerned about how he would be able to maintain a relationship with his good friend Anna Kushina with that beast of a brother she had wandering around.
From what he had learned, the guy had somehow turned a large portion of the male Middle School body against the Head of the Disciplinary Committee without really trying and somehow, Masa Masaru was out of a position.
Mikoto Suoh had somehow created a gang in school who, for the last two days, followed him around and crowded around him. Whenever Kei had come across the scary red head, he was surrounded by many male students, much of who had somehow developed mean smirks on their faces.
Unfortunately, many of these guys were those belonging to highly physical clubs including the martial arts and sports clubs. The rest of the male students were afraid.
Kei was wary of Mikoto Suoh, mainly because he knew the guy wanted his blood for being around his precious sister, but Kei truly valued Anna as his friend and once he placed that kind of value on someone, he did not let them go.
It had been three days since the incident in the dance studio and Kei had barely seen Anna. Most of the time, she was busy with her club activities. Even when there was the class swap and she had a few classes with him, Suoh and his gang would mob around her in the classroom.
Kei had to admit that Suoh and the new teacher, Reisi Munakata had a funny kind of interaction. It was like they had some sort of deep dislike, but deep respect for each other. Not many people noticed it very well, but Kei, being the observant person that he was, did.
Munakata seemed to like to subtly insult Suoh. Suoh, for a large part, would ignore him. However, one day Kei had heard a loud noise just as he had left the classroom, leaving behind Anna, Suoh and Munakata-sensei.
He turned around to see that Suoh had slammed his foot deliberately into Munakata's desk, leaving a large dent into the iron material.
"I'm not in the mood today, Munakata. Don't bug me," Mikoto said with an annoyed voice.
Munakata-sensei merely snorted. "Is that so? You've damaged school property, Suoh-kun. Detention,"
Kei had hurried away from that scene for if that guy could kick a metal desk in, then he had to be really powerful.
Kei feared him, yes, but he was very curious about him. He had a feeling that if they had met under different circumstances, such as becoming friends with him first before Anna, then he would have gotten along just fine with the crazy redhead.
Kei sighed and opened the door to the clubroom. Anna was sitting behind the desk to the left with the computer before her.
Akemi was on the other side, looking a bit nervous. Kei caught sight of what was making her nervous.
To the back, there was a long couch and there, lying like a lazy lion, was Anna's precious brother.
"W-What's he doing here?" Kei questioned, surprised.
Anna and Akemi looked around to see their friend.
Akemi immediately stood up and walked over to him. "He's our newest member,"
"What? How come I wasn't informed?" Kei demanded. He turned around to look at Anna who was busy typing at her computer.
Without looking at him, she replied, "Mikoto needed to join a club, so he joined this one,"
"Even if you are the President, you should have told us!" Kei snapped.
"So noisy," came a grumble from the couch.
Kei quieted and glanced over at the scary young man sleeping there. Anna spoke, drawing his attention back to her.
"You don't tell me about the bribes you take," Anna stated.
Kei scowled. In a low whisper, he pointed out, "At the least the people I take bribes from don't want to rip you apart!"
Akemi smirked beside him. "Mikoto-san wants to kill you? I want to be there to see that!"
Without immediately looking at her, Kei reached across and wrapped a friendly looking arm around Akemi, such that it was like he had her in a headlock.
He drew her hard against him, making her gasp.
She struggled against him, but he smiled almost lovingly at her. "Hey Akemi?"
She paused in her squirming and looked up at him. "What?"
"Do shut up," he said.
Akemi was about to retort something angrily when Mikoto sat up abruptly.
The two friends were worried that they had interrupted his nap and he was probably going to break their bones for doing so.
However, the guy just yawned sleepily and stood up. He raked a hand through his rich, scarlet hair and grabbed up his backpack. He walked past the pair and to the door, pausing only when Anna called out to him.
"Mikoto,"
He stopped and turned around.
Anna hurried over to him. "Are you leaving already?"
"That asshole Munakata gave me detention," he reminded her.
Anna nodded.
Akemi and Kei watched, completely stunned as Anna lay one hand on Mikoto's shoulder while the other lay on his chest as she levered herself upward to her toes so that she could press her lips against his cheek.
The lazy lion-like guy's expression did not change, even when he shoved his hands in his pockets, yet the pair behind them could sense that the beast was somehow calmed by Anna's actions.
"Be good," Anna murmured to her brother as she lowered her heels to the floor again.
He nodded and lowered his head, gently nudging his nose against her temple. Then, he turned and walked off, with Anna staring after him.
The two did not look like siblings at all.
When Anna turned around, she paused at the sight of her friends; they were watching her watch Mikoto.
She blinked at them in a way that they had come to realize meant that she was confused by them. They merely smiled awkwardly at her, and found something absentmindedly to do.
They knew that she wouldn't understand if they told her that the interaction between her and her so-called 'brother' had been more like a girlfriend seeing her boyfriend off.
The waitress had come to clear away their dishes and had left them with the bill.
"Hey, Akemi?" Kei said with an almost guilty smile.
She glanced at him suspiciously. "What?"
"I forgot my wallet. Can you foot the bill?"
Anna walked beside Mikoto down the street, at a safe distance from Iwao. One of Mikoto's hands was in his pocket while the other was free because Anna was holding onto it.
Suddenly, the pocketed hand was out in the open and Anna sensed a spike in Mikoto's power. His hand was in front of him and red flames engulfed it.
Quickly, she moved in front of Mikoto, and caught hold of his hand that was covered in his aura. He looked down at her with an angry look in his eyes but she shook her head at him.
"Mikoto," she voiced his name.
She was willing him to put away his power. "Don't," she implored with her large, wide eyes.
He scowled at her, then sighed as his face relaxed.
He shook her off from him then reached down to pick up a smooth, white stone from the side of the road.
Then, he pelted it in the direction of the building behind them where it slammed into a large dumpster.
It slammed into it with a loud bang and two people cried out and hurried out from behind it.
It was Kei and Akemi.
"They blew our cover," Mikoto stated. His voice had become deeper and a little rougher and Anna took his hand in hers again.
She looked up at him imploringly. "They didn't mean to, Mikoto. They didn't know," she whispered.
Akemi and Kei were looking at the two embarrassedly as they drew closer a bit nervously.
"Ah, how long did you know we were there?" Kei asked.
"Since you entered the cafe," Anna responded.
She could not go and speak to them for Iwao would have seen her.
Unfortunately, the two had been so indulged in spying on Anna and her brother that neither had bothered to realize that they had actually sat across the table from Iwao.
Iwao had been the perfect gentleman in the cafe. He was polite, well mannered, ate at a decent pace and tipped generously.
Even though he had seemed to be minding his own business, there was no way he would not have noticed Akemi and Kei entering the restaurant and therefore that would have made him exercise more caution in his behavior.
Mikoto wasn't happy right now and Anna couldn't blame him, but it was true that her friends did not know what was going on.
"Enjoying the view, President of the Disciplinary Committee?" Fushimi asked.
Chie was startled from her position atop the building. She glanced around to see Fushimi standing there with his arms folded. He had a smirk about his face which she had come to acknowledge was quite good looking.
She scowled. She had had enough of this guy for the week so far. Apparently, he had somehow finagled the position of Vice President of the Disciplinary Committee.
And she had not found out in a nice way either.
Misaki Yata hated this.
He abhorred this.
He had sent Fushimi to detention to be punished, only to find out that he had to be the one overseeing him in the detention room.
There was no punishment in that!
So, here he was, sitting in front of the classroom with his two feet propped on the desk with his arms folded, glowering at the smirking young man sitting in the student's desk before him.
"Not happy about your position now, are you, Misaki?" Fushimi taunted him.
Yata tsked. "Aren't you the one who isn't happy, Saru? You're the guy who likes to have power over others, now here you are sitting as a student in front of me, the very guy you'd like to undermine,"
Fushimi's smile vanished. "When did you get so smart, Misaki?"
Yata removed his feet from the desk and straightened up his posture. He grinned. "I learned a lot over time, Saru,"
Fushimi gave a lopsided frown. "No, you didn't. Izumo must have said something so you just repeated it. You're still as stupid as ever, Misaki,"
"Don't say that so sympathetically!" Yata snapped.
"It's not my fault you're an idiot," Fushimi returned with a shrug.
It was true what Fushimi had said to Yata, however, what ticked off the chestnut haired boy was the fact that his former friend knew him so well, even though their bond of friendship had been broken years ago, shortly after they had both left middle school.
"Alright, that's enough," came a familiar strict voice.
The two males turned to see Chie and Emi in the doorway. Chie looked like a stereotypical, fearless, domineering female while Emi seemed like a friendly, sweet natured but air-headed girl.
"I see your two guards are here, Misaki. So much for the great teacher having so much power in the classroom," Fushimi commented.
"Go fu-"
"Yata-sensei!" Chie cut in before Yata could finish his cursing.
"Yeah, don't forget you're a sensei now," Fushimi stressed. "you can't use bad language."
"Do stop heckling Yata-sensei, Saruhiko-san," Chie chided him.
Fushimi shrugged at her. "I'm just stating the facts to our sensei since it doesn't seem that he read the rulebook,"
"Well it isn't your place to do so," Chie informed him.
Fushimi gave her a slow, easy smile then. "Is that so? I thought that the Vice President of the Disciplinary Committee also had the priviledge of reminding new teachers of their conduct,"
"Well we currently do not have one," Chie put in.
That's when Saruhiko Fushimi decided to give a slow, sadistic smile.
Chie did not understand how this attractive creep even got into the Committee in the first place. She could sense that Fushimi liked power and he did not like the idea of being under anyone's authority unless it was someone he deeply respected.
She whipped out a pair of black binoculars and focused them on a figure at the bottom of the building. She ignored Fushimi.
"How did a guy like you end up in that position so quickly?" Chie demanded. "It's only your first week of school and you're already in detention!"
"I'm not surprised," Yata mumbled, but more to himself because the other two seemed so caught up in their conversation. It was like sparks were flying from Chie and Fushimi was having fun catching them and showing her that he was not harmed by them at all.
Yata had never seen Fushimi behave that way toward anyone...and he was fighting hard to not admit that he was a bit envious of Chie right now because Yata, though also unwilling to admit this, had been looking forward to having a good spat with Fushimi to get his blood boiling with some random fight.
Then Chie just had to walk in and take his former friend's attention from him.
"Perhaps we should leave them alone, Yata-sensei?" Emi suggested beside him.
Yata scratched the back of his head. "Yeah," he agreed.
Chie was currently close to tearing Fushimi's eyeballs out.
"My my, are you so upset that I've moved up the ranks so far, Chie-san?"
"I want to see proof!" Chie demanded.
Fushimi tsked in annoyance. "Are you that doubtful of me?"
"You've given me no reason to trust your opinion!"
Fushimi smirked as he reached into his backpack and pulled out a photocopied page. "Are you that upset about your power being taken from you?"
Chie gave him a serious look then before she snatched away the paper from Fushimi. "Power is not my main interest, Saruhiko-san; the acquisition of certain things is, whether tangible or intangible,"
"And what sorts of intangible things you have in mind?" Saruhiko pressed, taking advantage of the fact that she was somewhat distracted in her perusing of the document in her hand.
She flicked him a glance. "Justice," she replied and returned her attention to the page. She made an irritated noise.
"It's been signed by all the three principals at Seneca," Chie stated as she returned Fushimi's document to him. "You must have friends in high places,"
Fushimi shrugged. "I have a good track record from my old school. I guess we'll be seeing more of each other, Chie-san,"
Chie didn't reply and turned her attention to her friend who was standing nearby, listening to Yata-sensei speak.
"...it was like soaring through the air like a bird! Even if it was just for a moment!" Yata was telling Emi excitedly. He was telling her a story of a particularly high ramp he had skateboarded on. Just as excited as he was by telling of his experience was perhaps just as exciting for the girl listening to him for she looked at him with genuine admiration in his eyes.
Normally, Yata was one who was incredibly nervous around girls, but because he was so caught up in his story-telling, he seemed to have forgotten that nervousness due to how fascinated his listener was.
"Two idiots," Fushimi muttered about the pair. He was almost jealous of how innocently and childishly Emi expressed her interest in Yata's experiences. Fushimi was never a man like that for he was always more private, and much too cold.
She had somehow gotten Yata to talk in a way Fushimi hadn't heard him speak in years. Fushimi was envious of her.
It had ended up that the detention was spent with Yata telling Emi all about his experiences while Fushimi and Chie played chess. Their games had all ended in draws, unfortunately.
"You're either a crazy stalkerish fan of Iwao-sensei, or you really hate the guy and you're a sniper in disguise," Fushimi said to Chie.
Chie was becoming irritated by her classmate. For the entire week, he hadn't come to a single meeting of the Disciplinary Committee, much less showed his face. She hated people like that and she was convinced that Fushimi didn't get through with his position due to 'doing well at his previous school'. He had to have links in Seneca for him to actually have the signature of all three principals.
Normally, just the signature of the principal of the school under which the Committee was functioning needed to put his name alone, but Fushimi had gotten three.
Chie didn't say anything.
However, Saruhiko continued, "Chie Izumi, age 18; will be 19 soon. You're a High School Senior at one of the most elite schools in the world and yet you entered here on a scholarship only just last year. You're one of the very few who have earned a first class scholarship to come here with all your bills paid,"
"I'm smart," Chie retorted.
"Maybe you are, since you're stalking your sensei from a good vantage point,"
"It's easier this way,"
"So why do you hate him so much?"
"Because-" Chie managed to cut herself off before she said anything else.
She slowly turned her head to watch Fushimi over her shoulder.
He shrugged and gave her a serious look. "What's your grudge against the new teacher, Chie-san?"
A/N: Sorry I've been MIA for so long. I only just recovered and had to catch up on some stuff. I'm not a 100% healthy quite yet, but should be soon :)
Hope you enjoyed this chapter.
So does Chie have a grudge on Iwao? And if so, what is it?
And Anna and Mikoto are *noticing* things about each other.
Sorry for not making more trouble between Fushimi and Yata. I need to go re-watch some episodes of K to get a better 'feel' of their characters so I can keep them in character for their next interaction.
By the way, Mikoto's outfit is similar to one he had on in the lost king game.
I was working on this chapter since last week when I was still miserably sick. I started and restarted it and ended up piecing it together to form this unfluffy, full of non-fluffy flashbacks chapter that I'm surprisingly okay with. Normally I'd be angry at myself for not putting in more fluff. Maybe next chapter :)
I think Kei and Akemi represent many of us who, if the opportunity presented itself, would go spy on Anna and Mikoto too (I would stalk them from a distance, then feel totally ashamed of myself).
****Thank you, Aqua Scans for translating the latest chapter of K Memory of Red for us.
Thank you, all of you reviewed, followed and favorited this story. I truly appreciate it and you all encourage me and motivate me to keep writing this story.
For all who reviewed:
Hodgeheg: Glad you liked the flashbacks, there were lots in this one but they were more involved with the current time line than the far past. Hope you liked their date :)
Owlgirl98: Hope you're still excited :)
LindyLinn: Cool :)
Indochine: It was my Vday's gift to you ;) I'm much better now, compared to before. I'm glad you really enjoyed Yata's viewpoint from the last chapter :)
xNightDreamerx: Thanks for pointing that out. Will fix it soon :) Lol, what did your mother do when you squealed out? Anyway, it makes me really glad to know you like those aspects of the chapter :)
Shiary: Me too, especially Yata's :p
Titania: I don't know what it was, only that I was really, really ill. I'm much better now, and I'm so glad to know you like the OCs!
nannerlovessnickers: Lol well now you see Kei and Akemi's reaction to their date ^_^...with Chie spying from a distance...but at Iwao though. Lol :)
annshina: I'm much better now, thank you for the well wishes :)
princessforeveralone aka little weirdo: Thank you for the little 'get well soon' PM. I appreciate that. You're 12 then? Well, just read this story at your own discretion-not that anything should happen beyond the 'T' rating of this story :) I've been getting bronchitis for many years now: when it gets too cold or I'm around too much dust. It's really horrible. Thank you so much for your lovely words about the story. I really appreciate that. Thank you 3
Nobody Special: My special reviewer! *hug* awww...thanks for those lovely words and I'm MUCH better now! Sorry for the late update and I hope you really enjoyed this chapter :)
ladeste: I'm thanking God I'm much better now! Lol :) I really did take my time with this chapter, I just hope I didn't go too overboard with taking about two weeks to update :/
Ambivalencia: My ambiant, valiant reviewer! Seriously-don't ever change your username. It's too awesome :) I got fed up of Sociology and all those damned theories and theorists and then I went on to to do a couple of Psychology courses in college which was full of more theories and theorists *smh* Lol. I always liked Geography, and I liked learning about clouds...and plate tectonics with all the volcanoes :) You have anymore exams coming up? I thought that chapter had a moderate length. I guess all the flashbacks made it seem so short :) I'm MUCH better now. I didn't bother to go by my doctor because he charges too much and then overloads us with even more expensive medicine. I'm starting to get really funny about these doctors and their methods of 'helping people get better'. I think a good doctor should prescribe little pharmaceuticals and stop trying to drain us of our money.
xXxWolvesInTheNightxXx: Glad you're loving it!
steph4200: There does seem to be some kind of 'intimate' actions going between those two. I'm looking forward to writing more on it:) Thanks so much for your lovely words, they are really motivating to me :)
WitchyCloudpine: Glad you finally caught up and I'm happy to know you love it :)
Bre Renee: My reviews just didn't seem complete without you. Seriously! You always review with every chapter so I was like...wait, where's Bree Renee? I'm glad to hear from you again! I love Tatara too...he was always so sweet. If I ever write another K fanfiction, I want to make him alive in it :) Omg, I did watch warm bodies. I ended up going to the movies just recently and when I was watching it at first I was thinking, 'What kind of twisted madness is this? '...then later on, I said, 'This is so corny but so different that it's awesome!' Lol. Great movie suggestion. Thanks!
D: Anna really has some weird eating habits :)
kuronekousako: Sorry for the long wait for an update! I appreciate that you always check and I'm sorry for disappointing you with my lack of updating for so long. Thank you so much. I hope you really enjoyed this chapter too :)
tamachon: I know, right? Why did the colorless king have to exist? Wait...you're okay with pedo? Eh...as interesting and intriguing I do find the 'badass and loli' combination, I wouldn't ship them together sexually. That would just ruin Mikoto's character for me...I understand where you're coming from with picturing a more developed Anna, but remember this is a story about growing up so she's gonna get more curves :) I'm also not offended at all by your dislike of pairing the main characters with OCs. It's understandable :) All I ask is that you give Chie and Emi a chance, not as 'potential pairings' for Fushimi and Yata, but just as characters. I think you will be pleased. Thanks so much for your lovely words, Tama, and so sorry for the delayed update! Hope you really enjoy this chapter!
Mienchan-ish: *Hug back* :)
pok3s16: Hope you continue enjoying the story :)
my fan: well, to be honest that is a bit of a selfish request because while you may not want to see them as a potential love interest for Yata and Fushimi, several other readers do. I also don't really see how this could change things between Yata and Fushimi because in this story, they are simply former friends who had once been very close and now heckle each other upon meeting because they have something against each other due to their broken bond. I also know what it's like to have a friendship that runs deep like that...Either way, I do appreciate that you wanted to express your opinion and I'm glad that you like the other OCs. I just ask that you give Chie and Emi a chance. They have an important role to play in this part of the story and I think you might be satisfied by the way things with them and Yata and Fushimi go :)
Some Reviewer: Hm...Iwao could be guilty? Or he could be innocent as dove. Maybe Chie's story might give some indication ;) And yes, Anna allowed to hang out with Kei! Lol. Thanks for your review. You're not just 'Some Reviewer', you're my AWESome Reviewer ;)
Thanks again for all the lovely reviews. I do appreciate them.
Let me know your thoughts on this chapter, and if you're curious about Iwao and what's really going on with him.
Hopefully I will update more frequently.
God bless :)