Draco: ZBYAXHWAVMUUTRSDRAQMPNOEND MCKEJRIEHBGUFSESDYCNBDARBOCMDE EGFEGTHTIHJEKCLAMTNAOSPTQRRO SOTUUTVOXFYMZYY FXEWSTTUIVVSARL QOPFOSNIMNL!

{blows at hair} Sorry about that. Archive binge went sour. The title doesn't mean anything about Zest and company. It just refers to multiple chapters with the same name (think the two "Rock 'n' Roll" chapters from Rosario+Vampire Season II Volume 12.

I think there's something wrong with me. I've been feeling sympathetic for the sadists lately. Larxene, Victoria, Aqua Shuzen...

Oh, sorry about the technical difficulties with the previous chapter. I think you guys might have got the update notice more than you should have. First I woke up groggy and submitted the chapter before it was finished. Then, after it had been submitted, I needed to edit a couple things to make this chapter work, and I accidentally replaced that file with this file. I had to delete the chapter and post it again in order for the right chapter to come up. Sorry.

Characters, weapons, origins © Square Enix and Disney. Monsters, setting, and encyclopedia © Akihisa Ikeda.


Chapter 53: Final Fantasy #1

"Would you just listen to me for like ten seconds?!"

Shin Bōkyaku was a large man in charge of a large business in the large city of Anvāsu, with long red hair and a very short temper. Arguments with him generally ended badly for whoever was on the opposing side; a category that had included, but was not limited to, his employees, his housekeepers, his neighbors, his high school classmates, and the superintendent of more than one restaurant he had had lunch at.

His daughter was now very close to being added to that list.

It was only a week until the school year began. Shin had told his daughter to make sure her supplies were packed after dinner, so that he could obtain anything that was missing from her list; she had caught him off-guard by requesting to attend a different school. The conversation had escalated quickly after that, and Shin's previous attempt to close the discussion had been shut down by his daughter chasing him out of the kitchen, demanding that he hear her out.

"Tachibana Academy is the highest-ranked school on the continent," Shin said firmly, turning to face said daughter again. "What reason could you possibly have to go to another one?"

"You don't get it!" his daughter protested. "Every student at that school is a stuck-up jerk who keeps trashing me just because I'm not dating a football player! I want to go somewhere where I don't get harassed for being me!"

"And you have somewhere else in mind?" Shin demanded, crossing his arms.

Now his daughter reached into her pocket, drawing out a small pamphlet. "Right here," she insisted. "Yokai Academy. Leading academic rank. I can get in just by bringing an application review."

Shin reached forward, looking over the pamphlet. "Where did you find this?" he demanded.

"Some guy in a black hoodie and sweats just dropped it outside the gas station," was the response he got. "He had his hood up, so I couldn't see his face. I tried to give it back to him, but he wouldn't-"

That was all she had time to say before Shin crushed the pamphlet in hand and threw it to the floor. "You expect me to pay for you to enter some school for... for drug dealers?" he roared. "I've invested for you to attend Tachibana until you graduate. I will not fund your childish flights of fancy!" Here he turned on his heel, intending to head to his office.

"That's all you care about!" his daughter snapped at his back. "Your money! Your business! I'm being assaulted by the biggest jackasses on the continent-"

"I suffered through fifteen years of people insulting me," Shin reprimanded, not turning.

"I'm not you!" was her retaliation, her voice screeching. "You don't give half a damn about what's happening to me! All you care about is making a profit!"

Now Shin whirled to face her, his gaze blazing with enough force to silence his daughter and freeze her in her tracks.

"Kairi Chikai Bōkyaku," Shin threatened, "you will attend Tachibana Academy if I have to drag you to that school and bind you to your desk. Now, go to your room, and get your things ready."

He started to turn away again when Kairi's shout caught his ear.

"I'm not going to-!"

Now he raised his hand as he turned, landing a fierce strike across Kairi's face. With a shriek, Kairi tumbled to the side, her legs giving way beneath her as the unexpected blow knocked her to the floor.

"I said go. To. Your. Room," Shin seethed.

He turned away again; yet Kairi managed to force herself upright, yelling at his back. "So... so that's it, then!?" she shouted. "You just- you just hit whoever disagrees with you a-and walk away?" She managed to use the wall to support herself as she got back to her feet. "Shin Bōkyaku, CEO of Oblivion Enterprises, walking out in the middle of a discussion!"

"This discussion is over!" Shin roared over his shoulder. "You will attend Tachibana Academy. That is final!"

He stormed into his office and slammed the door behind him.

Kairi grit her teeth for a moment. "Screw you!" she screamed at the door.

Then she stormed away, striking the first thing that wasn't the wall without glancing at it first.

It was a family portrait: Shin, Kairi, and her late mother Hikaru.

+x+x+x+

"Food... drink..."

Kairi was packing her bags, to be sure - but not with school supplies. It was late at night; she was in the kitchen, and packing everything that she might need.

Because she was getting out of this hellhole.

Food and drink came first - leftover pasta and six bottles of water (she decided against the half of a watermelon that was in there). She closed the fridge door and opened the fourth cupboard from the fridge, grabbing some snacks in the form of her father's stash of sweets - which currently consisted of only chocolate. She closed that cupboard and pulled open the drawers until she found the plastic utensils - her dad never got the cutlery dirty for company - and grabbed an assorted bag, along with a small package of napkins.

Now she was done in the kitchen; she picked her now-full insulated bag and took off. Her father was still in his office, working, and Kairi glanced at the door for a few moments, listening to the clatter of a computer keyboard, before turning away angrily, flipping the bird over her shoulder. She made it to her room and set the bag down, picking up another bag to pack her clothes into.

Considering she wasn't going to waste time with a dozen different outfits, that didn't take long.

Kairi reached for her bedside table and grabbed her cell phone in case she needed to make an emergency call, and picked up her phone's charger for when the battery ran out; then she brought herself to a stop for a moment, leaving her bags where she had set them and setting her phone and cord atop them before stepping out of her room.

She came back in with the crumpled Yokai Academy pamphlet in one hand.

In the other was one of her father's many credit cards.

+x+x+x+

She didn't get a call from her father the next day, demanding that she come home, or see his car driving after her. No, the first thing Kairi noticed the next day was that her cell phone was now for emergency calls only. Typical of Shin - he wouldn't pay ten cents for a stamp so she could send an application review to attend a new school, but he'd pay out her cell contract so she wouldn't be able to use her phone anymore.

Kairi spent the next few days making her way out of the rather large city she lived in. What meals she had packed ran out fast, and she quickly found an ATM machine to pull some three thousand dollars from Shin's account before he noticed she had his credit card. When she slept, it was during the day, when the convenience stores were open and didn't have to kick her off their chairs. She grabbed food and water whenever she found something that would sustain her - never stopping at any restaurants, because she knew that it wasn't going to be worth her father's dollar.

She began to use her middle name as her surname, not daring to use her father's.

A city park provided a place for her to rest one day as the sun was setting - she set her things down on a bench and watched as children and families started to head home. Once the park was empty, she made her way towards the trees, deciding it would be better to have some cover in case the weather turned sour. She hoped to get some sleep during the night for once - sleep during the day came weak and scattered. She found one tree that was covered with carvings - initials trapped in hearts.

M.S.+T.A.

A.D.+E.L.

K.K.+T.A.

Z.T.+D.

Y.S.+M.A.+T.A.

As the carvings brought her gaze lower, she saw what looked like a walking staff on the ground - a simple wooden stick with a snail-shell curl at the end. Recalling words about street gangs who had mugged people, and not having anything that was durable enough to fend someone off (she had never been much of a gamer), Kairi picked the staff up, testing it by grabbing either end and forcing it against the tree.

It didn't so much as bend.

+x+x+x+

The morning after her night in the park, Kairi hit the edge of the city. She didn't have much of a heading - just the address on the Yokai pamphlet - so she decided to just walk along the edge of the highway until she found something worth finding. She had picked up a small chicken-strips-and-potato-wedges meal from the convenience store for lunch, and as she started out of the city, she finished off the last of the chocolate she had taken on her way out, putting the wrapper back into her bag.

The day was cloudy, so the sun didn't wear down her stamina like she had expected it too. Regardless, she was exhausted when noon hit, so she stepped away from the highway just enough that her meal wouldn't be hit by the dust kicked up by passing cars. Her stomach growled at her, so she reached into her bag and pulled out the chicken and wedges, popping the lid open and savouring the still-warm aroma. A buzz from her pocket stopped her from eating, and confused, she drew out her cell phone. All she got was a blank screen - her battery had finally run out. With an irritated huff, Kairi turned and hurled it across the street, letting it land on the other side of the highway.

Now Kairi began to eat. She had only just started when a drop connected with her nose, and with a frown, she raised her gaze skyward. Another drop landed on her forehead, and Kairi growled when she realized it was raining. Quickly, she plowed through her meal before it could be ruined by the water; then she closed the plastic container and drove it into her bag. With an irritable growl, she realized she hadn't packed an umbrella - or a raincoat.

A self-disgusted scoff passed through her lips as she got to her feet. "Where did I think I was gonna go?" she reprimanded of herself, grabbing her things. "So stupid..."

She pushed the Yokai pamphlet deep into her bag and stepped back towards the highway. Here she came to a crossroads, trying to remember which way she had been going - she needed to head back to the city and get herself some more weather-appropriate equipment before she got pneumonia. Now of all times, the highway was quiet - there was always more traffic coming from Anvāsu than going to, which she had hoped to use as a directional aid. Angrily, Kairi drove her staff into the ground, twisting it several times to make sure it was firmly planted in there.

A vehicle's engine from her left caused her to turn towards it. It was a bus - possibly one for a school - and as Kairi watched, it slowed to a stop with the door directly in front of her. The door opened, revealing the driver - a silver-haired figure in what appeared to be a uniform black cloak.

"Are you lost?"

His voice was slow, almost emotionless. Kairi shook her head. "Rain just threw me off my direction," she replied. "Which way to Anvāsu?"

The driver beckoned towards the back of the bus, signalling that he had come from the city.

"Thanks." Kairi turned, taking off down the length of the bus.

The bus started driving backwards, causing her to stop - and the bus stopped in synch with her movements, not even a hint of momentum.

"Are you not coming from the city? Surely you have another destination in mind."

Kairi shook her head. "Not in this weather," she mused. "I need some proper equipment." The rain was really starting to pick up, and she asked of the driver, "Mind if I step in if you're gonna keep talking to me?"

"Step in."

Not that Kairi was eager to get whisked away to hell, but she figured her odds of survival were better in a bus than out in the cold. Quickly, she stepped just inside, setting one foot against the door so it wouldn't be closed.

"Did you have a destination in mind?"

Kairi shook her head. "Not really," she admitted. "Just got pushed to the brink and had enough of getting bitched at. All I've got is, what, twenty-five hundred bucks. Some dirty laundry. Old wrappers."

Then she reached into her bag and drew out the freshly-crumpled pamphlet. "And the address for a school. In a city I don't know."

The driver looked at the pamphlet curiously.

"Yokai Academy."

Kairi glanced at him. "How could you tell?"

"I have been handing them out."

He beckoned to a small box on the dashboard, which Kairi noticed was filled with identical pamphlets. "You work for the school?" she asked.

"This bus is under the ownership of Yokai Academy. The address on the pamphlet is only a mailing address. If you desire, I can take you there."

Kairi raised an eyebrow. "You're gonna take a girl you picked up on the roadside to a top-rank school?"

"And you are going to take a ride on a bus driven by a man with silver hair."

A snicker passed through Kairi's lips. "What the hell," she mused.

She made her way up the rest of the steps and handed the pamphlet to the bus driver before sitting down on the first seat. The bus driver closed the bus doors and started going again. It was only later that Kairi realized her staff had still been driven into the ground directly outside the door.

"So, you will be going to Yokai Academy, correct?"

Kairi turned to face him as the bus entered an unnaturally dark tunnel, delaying as she tried to understand what he meant. The question seemed more confirmation that she would be attending, rather than inquiring as to her destination, and Kairi only nodded her head. "Yeah," she confirmed. "Figured a new crowd might do me some good."

"I should hope your old crowd won't miss you."

The statement seemed almost threatening. "Sorry?" Kairi asked, confused.

"Once the darkness of this tunnel has left us, what you will see is Yokai Academy."

He turned to face her - and now Kairi noticed that his eyes were an unnatural golden colour.

"And consider yourself lucky... if it is not the last thing you see."

+x+x+x+

And now, Kairi was back - in the exact same place on the exact same highway that she had been picked up, the sun setting far in the distance. How she had not noticed the driver turning around on a busy highway, she would never know. As the bus took off behind her, she glanced around and saw that her staff was just a couple paces away.

With a smirk, she stepped forward and grabbed it with one hand, pulling it out of the ground with absurd ease. It was far more worn than she had planted it there - being exposed to the elements for at least half a school year will do that - but it was definitely the same staff, and Kairi ran her hand over the shaft, thinking.

"Right where I left you," she mused.

Kairi adjusted her bags and started back towards the town when a gleam caused her to look down. It was her cell phone - which she was certain she had thrown across the highway before the bus had picked her up.

"Not where I left you..." she reprimanded, kneeling down and picking it up. It was her phone, with all her contacts and little jot notes saved; but the battery was fully charged, and her contract seemed to have been reset.

And she had voicemail.

She didn't have a voicemail contract.

Confused, Kairi decided to play the message and raised the phone to her ear.

"Kairi... It's your father. I'm-"

That was all that came through before Kairi hit End. "I'm not interested in anything you have to say," she snapped at her phone.

She tossed the phone into the busy street - and winced when she heard it impale itself in the back of someone's car.

+x+x+x+

"What do you mean, her name doesn't exist?"

Sora shook his head. Seventh Heaven had closed, and he was speaking with Tifa about his search attempt. "I searched 'Chikai' and it came up blank," the vampire explained. "Not her, not her parents, no one. She's hiding something."

Tifa drummed her fingers on the table. "I really don't know what to say," she admitted. "Your best bet is to try another search. If that one comes up blank... I've got nothing."

A sigh passed through Sora's lips as he made his way back to Cloud's office with tomato juice in hand, opening the phonebook again.

Kairi.

Searching active numbers...

Error.

"Error?" Sora demanded as the phonebook program closed itself. "What do you mean, error?" He tried to turn open it up again, only to receive another error notification. "Since when does this thing glitch up...?"

Then the error message vanished as the phonebook sprung open again.

Sora blinked twice, not understanding. "What the...?"

His cell phone went off in his pocket. Confused, Sora drew it out and flipped it open, grabbing his drink as he reclined in Cloud's office chair. "Kingdom Key," he answered, raising the drink to his lips.

"Why are you trying to find Kairi Chikai?"

Sora stopped himself from spit-taking all over Cloud's laptop. This resulted in a horrendous coughing fit that got tomato juice all over his pants as he turned around to aim the splatter elsewhere. The chair's swivel jammed, causing his momentum to drag him to the ground, which in turn caused the rest of what was in his can to spill across the floor.

"What the hell?" he snapped into his phone. "Who is this?"

"Darkness in Zero."

"Oh, Headmaster," Sora mused, "it's you." He got to his feet, starting out the door to get some paper towel. "You realize what you're doing is all sorts of creepy, right? Stopping me from finding Kairi and calling me in the middle of my technical difficulties."

"Why are you trying to find her?" the headmaster asked.

Sora glanced at his crown. The cross imprinted on it gleamed reassuringly, and he snickered, raising the phone again. "Because she's my friend," he replied.

That didn't seem to cut it, given the headmaster's response. "And you are not patient enough to wait for her to call you? You did give her your number."

"Twice the fangs, half the patience, already impulsive, sue me." Sora replied as he stepped into the bar area. Tifa turned to him, and he set the phone against his chest to block the mic. "Paper towel, please." He set his nearly-empty can down and raised the phone to his ear again as the headmaster spoke.

"I thought you said friends are willing to allow friends to keep secrets," the headmaster mused.

"Jeez," Sora mused, glancing down at his crown. "You guys just won't give me a break." He raised a hand to catch the roll of paper towel that Tifa had tossed at him, starting back up the stairs.

Oh, shut up and talk to the belt-head.

Darkness in Zero was of a like mind. "Allow her a few moments to recuperate in the human world before you try and provoke her blood again," he insisted.

"Yeah, alright," Sora muttered as he stepped back into Cloud's office. He flipped the phone shut and tossed it onto the desk next to Cloud's laptop; then he mopped up his spilled juice, getting what he could out of the chair.

Then he tossed the used towels into the trash and set the roll next to the laptop before sitting down and clicking on the input box.

Kairi

"You said a few moments," he said to the empty air around him.

Searching active numbers...

No active numbers found for "Kairi"

Searching recently deactivated numbers...

No recently deactivated numbers found for "Kairi"

Searching inactive numbers...

No inactive numbers found for "Kairi"

Total numbers found: 0

"Ah, hell," Sora muttered.

The door opening downstairs caused him to spin in his chair, taking off down the stairs and leaving his phone on the desk. He wasn't entirely surprised to find Cloud coming in, with an unfamiliar blade on his back - white steel, double-edged. At the sight of Sora, a grin rose on his face. "I thought I saw my bike out there," he mused.

Sora grinned as Tifa spun away from the dishes she was cleaning. "Cloud!" she called. "How did things go with Rufus?"

"Alright...ish," Cloud admitted. "Barret said he wanted to take Marlene with him, spend a little time with her. Rufus still isn't entirely sure what to do about her 'thunder beast' issue, but he said, as long as she keeps out of danger, she should be fine."

"That's good to hear," Tifa mused. She turned to Sora. "How'd things go?"

"Less than well," Sora admitted. At Cloud's confused look, he explained; "I'm trying to find Kairi's phone number. Your phonebook came up blank for her first name, and now it's empty on her last name, too."

Cloud shrugged. "Might just be out of date," he admitted. "I haven't updated it in a few weeks."

Sora blinked. "Wait, what?" he prompted. "It was sitting on the 'update complete' screen when I got off your screensaver."

"I haven't used that thing in a few weeks," Cloud chuckled. "I'm surprised it was still on the screensaver."

"It wasn't," Sora mused, realizing the mistake he'd made. "It always lingers on the screensaver for a sec when you take it off the blackscreen."

Cloud only laughed.

+x+x+x+

Shlink

Shlink

Shlink

Kairi sat her things down once her coins were in the machine, shuffling through her pockets. Her stomach growled at her, but she only snapped, "Shut up," before realizing how stupid it sounded for her to be talking to her stomach. A chicken-and-wedges meal was sitting on the bench next to her, but she told herself to save it for later as she drew out from her pocket what she was looking for.

Her friends' phone numbers.

The payphone buttons were a bit stiff, implying it hadn't been used in a while. She slipped Sora's business card out of the rest with the same hand, holding it between two fingers and propping the phone up on her shoulder as she started to dial his number; then she stopped, pressing the receiver down to cancel out the number.

It's not Sora I want to talk to right now, she reprimanded herself.

Then she stopped.

...It's Van.

She dialed again; then stuck the cards in her pocket before raising the phone to her ear. An incessant beeping told her that she had put it in wrong; she checked the info box and hit the receiver again. Hit 9 before entering your number, she snapped at herself. I haven't used one of these things in so long...

9, then number; then she raised the phone to her ear to hear it dialing. A moment's passage; then there was a click.

"Kingdom Key... wait, stop. Damn it, Sora. I don't care if that is how you answer the phone yourself, you shouldn't set up your answering machine like that. Jeez. Wait, Mulch, is this thing still recording? You gotta be kidding me." Blip. "No, not that one." Blip. "No... I'll be there in a second, Tifa! Come on..."

Kairi had to sit down on the bench inside the booth, trying not to laugh as the tone sounded for her message. She hung the phone back up with an amused smile; then she let go and burst out laughing, laughing at the fact that Sora was too incompetent to operate his answering machine. Her change landed in the coin return as she tried to compose herself enough to eat.

A moment passed after she had calmed down; then her smile faded. "Damn it, Kairi," she told herself, picking up her meal and popping the lid. She grabbed a couple wedges and popped them into her mouth before drawing out the numbers again. Let's try Riku, she muttered, grabbing her change and sliding them in before grabbing the phone and dialing, making sure to put it in right this time. The dial rolled for a moment.

"The customer you have dialed is away from the phone, or is currently unavailable. Please try again later." Tone. Kairi slammed the phone again before checking the next one - Naminé.

"The customer you have dialed-" Slam. She tried the Gainsborough residence.

This time she actually heard it get picked up; but the voice that came through the phone most certainly was not Aerith, Zack, Roxas, or Xion.

"Hello?"

Kairi was caught off-guard by the voice coming through the phone. "Hello? Who is this?"

"This is Maria. Who is this?"

"Maria... Maria Longinus? Leon's brother?" Kairi asked. "It's Kairi Chikai."

"Chikai?" Maria asked. "Hey, long time! I take it you're trying to get Roxas and Xion?"

Kairi bit her lip a moment. "Little bit, yeah," she admitted.

"Sorry," Maria mused. "Master Fair took Roxas to some sporting event that was going on in Gatrea, and Mistress Gainsborough took Xion shopping in Altair. If you'd like, I can get them to call you when they-"

"No, no," Kairi interrupted. "They can't."

Maria was quiet for a moment. "Payphone?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"...Trouble at home?"

"Whole hometown," Kairi murmured. Maria talked like she had been through the issue before.

"You want to talk about it?"

Kairi shook her head. "No, no, it's alright. I might call back later. See you."

"See you."

She hung up again as her change slid into the coin return, sitting down at her meal again.

+x+x+x+

"You missed a call."

Sora turned as Cloud tossed him his phone, which had been sitting next to the biker's laptop. Sora caught it and flipped it open, looking over it. "No message," he mused. "Came through a payphone? Who's calling me from a payphone?"

Cloud shook his head, unknowing, as he started the update for his phonebook. "This thing isn't going to be done for a few hours," he mused, turning to Sora. "You got something to do?"

"Not really," the vampire admitted. "You need a hand with some deliveries?"

"Little bit," Cloud admitted. "Let's get some work done, call it a day, and you can research your friend tomorrow."

+x+x+x+

"Hey, Kurai!"

Riku lived in a cozy apartment complex at the edge of Oshirase City. No sooner had he stepped into the apartment than his roommate, a (somewhat overweight) tech nerd/genius by the name of Kēji Kiseichū, called to him from across the room. "You give out our number?" he prompted.

"Friend at school," Riku called. "Why?"

Kēji beckoned over his shoulder, where Riku noticed the phone was hooked up to his computer. "Call came in a couple minutes ago," he replied. "Town of Anvāsu."

Riku facepalmed. "It's not gonna kill you to answer the phone," he snapped.

"I know," Kēji replied. "I was testing my new tracer."

"If you're gonna trace a call," Riku prompted, "you should pick it up so they don't hang up before it finishes."

Kēji rolled his eyes. "I know that," he snapped.

Riku raised an eyebrow.

"...now," the tech grumbled. "I didn't get a chance to pinpoint it before it hung up. All I know is that it's somewhere in Anvāsu."

A sigh. "So, are you gonna drive me to this Anvāsu town, or am I gonna have to walk there?"

"We'll leave tomorrow," Kēji muttered.

+x+x+x+

Nights in Anvāsu were thick with street trouble. Kairi kept her staff in hand at all times, ignoring the leers and glares from the shadows. She found a coffee shop before too long, grabbing a hot chocolate and sitting down at an empty table, laying her staff across her lap.

Her beverage hadn't even cooled enough to drink before someone grabbed the seat across from her, and she raised her gaze to find an unfamiliar brute standing there. "This seat taken?" he grumbled.

Kairi glared at him analytically - a dark town, black leather, the edge of a tattoo sticking out of his sleeve. He didn't look all too pleasant, but his expression was one more of exhaustion than desire. "No," she muttered, leaving it to him to decide how to interpret it. The brute sat down in the seat with two cups of coffee in his hands, looking Kairi up and down. Not taking any chances, Kairi popped the lid off her cup - which had the dual advantage of preparing it for weapon use and cooling her hot chocolate faster.

"What's a girl like you doing out this late at night?" he mused.

Avoiding punks like you, Kairi wanted to say. Instead, she raised her cup to her face, still finding it too hot to drink. "Not your concern," she replied, lowering the cup again.

A smirk rose on the brute's face. "Really?" he mused, one hand slowly creeping towards hers. "I think you might change your mind if you just give me... a little... time..."

His fingers brushed against Kairi's knuckles.

Which then proceeded to slam into his arm.

The brute yelped, pulling his hand away, and Kairi raised her drink threateningly, reaching for her staff with the other hand.

"Back off," she warned.

This only earned her a derisive snicker as the bruiser angled his jacket slightly - and Kairi saw a handgun poking out of an inside pocket.

"I'm sure you won't mind if I ask you to come with me," he mused threateningly, raising his eyebrows meaningfully.

Kairi glanced around. She didn't want to risk a gunfight in here - but it didn't look like any of the other customers had noticed. "Only if I get to keep my drink," she replied.

The brute nodded. "Of course," he replied, closing his jacket again. "It's a cold night."

The observation caused Kairi to glance at her arm, remembering how the ghoul had stopped her from noticing the chill in the Chasm in the Rotting Land even as it had seeped into her skin. She made a mental note to grab a coat and umbrella the next time she found a store that had them and got to her feet, leaning on the staff as though to imply a wound.

She let the bruiser lead her out of the coffee shop and to a back alley, where she found more brutes waiting - more leather and tans. Kairi swore under her breath when she realized she had been led to a yakuza gathering.

"Look at this, boys," called the one who had led her. "Found her on her own."

The other members gathered around her, looking her over. "Hello, nurse," one of them prompted. "You look fine."

"You get bruised up?" another asked, kicking her in the leg that she acted was wounded as hard as he could. Kairi winced for effect - and later, she would be confused when she realized it hadn't hurt nearly as much as it should have.

"Nice stick," yet another member mused, grabbing it out of her hands.

A fourth leaned in way too close for comfort, and Kairi could smell cigarettes on his breath. "So what's your name, girlie?" he prompted.

Kairi didn't respond.

Then a fifth member grabbed her chin. "He asked you-"

With a flash movement, Kairi reached her leg up, kneeing him between the greaves; the yakuza yelped, stumbling back as Kairi kicked him in the stomach. Another member rushed at her, but Kairi only splashed her still-steaming hot chocolate in his face, causing him to yelp in pain before she lashed at his legs, causing him to hit the pavement hard. Another one drew a small blade, but Kairi only sidestepped the blow before landing a roundhouse kick on his weapon arm, knocking it to the ground and causing him to fall back. The one with her staff tried to swing it at her, but Kairi managed to grab it a few inches from her head, glaring at him over her shoulder before kicking him in the knee without turning around, then kicking him in the other knee when he still managed to hold on to her staff. The first guy who had leered at her reached for a gun in his jacket, but Kairi only knocked it out of his hands with her knee before extending her leg to kick him in the head.

Then a gunshot sounded.

Kairi gave a shout of pain as the bullet tore through her shoulder, grabbing the wound. The yakuza who had brought her there lowered his smoking gun, stepping forward and grabbing Kairi by the wound, pulling her to her feet and raising the gun to her throat.

"Looks like we got a feisty one, boys!" he shouted to the recovering men around her. "Who the hell are you, bitch?"

A crack of breaking chain.

Kairi moved her neck out of the way and slammed a fist into the brute's chest with full force. Bones cracked under the blow as the bruiser screamed in pain, and as Kairi had anticipated, the strike caused his finger to tighten on the trigger. The bullet slammed into the head of another yakuza as the brute was sent flying across the first two lanes of the busy street.

And into the path of an oncoming semi truck.

His cries went silent as Kairi finished her punch in the wall - her skin pale, her hair dark, and her eyes bloody red.

Her breath was heavy as she pulled her fist out of the wall, revealing her nails had been sharpened to claws, and she turned to the surviving yakuza, who were standing there with looks of fear. With a wince, she reached for her shoulder, where the punk's shot had landed. Tiny entry wound, gaping exit wound. Bad news, more blood. Good news, no lead to pry out.

When she spoke, it was with a mouth full of fangs.

"You can call me... Oblivion Oath."

She grabbed her staff, now really using it to support herself as she walked away.

+x+x+x+

"Naminé...!"

The artist was out in the night, sketchbook in hands, drawing the night sky above her. At the call, she turned in her seat to find a friend of hers racing towards her. Most of the witches in the Town of Oblivion were unrelated - indeed, Naminé had found out of the town through sheer fortune only a couple of weeks before she went to Yokai. They lived together depending on who they were friends with. Naminé's housemate Selphie Tilmitt, who was currently racing towards her, was one of the chain-speller's friends.

"What is it?" Naminé asked, closing her sketchbook.

"There was a call for you," Selphie replied. "Well, I think it was for you. I didn't answer it. You give your number to someone who doesn't have a phone while you were at Yokai?"

Naminé nodded. "Why do you ask?"

"It came from a payphone," Selphie replied. "Come on, I don't want to have to leave them on the line again if they call."

"Selphie," Naminé whined. "I'm drawing."

"You can draw later!" Selphie insisted. "You don't want to miss your friend's call!"

A sigh. "Fine," Naminé gave in.

She glanced at the sky one last time before following Selphie back home.

+x+x+x+

Shlink

Shlink

Shlink

9, then number; then Kairi slumped down on the bench inside the payphone booth, breathing heavily. She had wrapped her shoulder in cloth torn from an old shirt she hadn't worn in ages, and she inhaled sharply when her shoulder connected with the glass pane of the window.

"Hello?"

She was relieved to hear Maria's voice on the other end of the line. "Maria, it's Kairi," she prompted. "You still alone?"

"Chikai?" Maria sounded fearful.

"Yeah," Kairi forced out.

A pause. "Oh, hell, who shot you?"

A grim chuckle. "It's funny how much you know about what I'm going through," she mused.

"Arrow wound?"

"Bullet wound."

"Shit. Okay, tell me you're not just letting that thing bleed."

"No. Wrapped it in cloth."

"Wet cloth?"

"Damn it." Kairi propped the phone between her ear and her good shoulder as she fished around in her bag for one of the water bottles she had grabbed before she left Yokai.

"Don't just pour it on," Maria insisted. "Get a fresh cloth, soak it, and rewrap the wound."

Once the wound was safely bandaged, Kairi leaned back and grabbed the phone again. The vampire blood would heal her a lot faster than the wound would normally heal, if past experience was anything to go by, but it was still likely a horrible idea to leave it unbound. "Alright," she mused, "it's wrapped."

"Good," Maria noted. "Now... you feel like talking?"

"Yeah..."


Draco: b/c im evil liek dat.

...{scratches back of head} That's how I type it whenever I've got a really limited input space, like on some DS games. It just looks stupid on a real text file, though.