Hola minna! Jay'a here. Again, thanks to everyone who reviewed. Keep the good stuff comin'! (And so will we.) So, here goes, the third installment of The Tales of Mia. Enjoy!
The Tales of Mia or: "I... Just... Live here."
THE HAIR DYE
Rowen was bored. He'd just finished one of his standard three-inch books and wasn't interested in starting another one. He eyed Sage's half of the room. Maybe there was something over there he could play with...
He pulled open Sage's closet and made a face, disgusted at how orderly it was. He remembered the old saying, "A clean closet (or desk or room) is a sign of a sick mind." Rowen dug around until he found the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen in his life. There were lots of them, all different colors, and so light. He reached for the first one, but stopped and for once actually considered the consequences of his actions. He blinked. Ah, screw maturity. Rowen grabbed up the whole lot and devoured every one. Mmm. Colored flavored sugar. His favorite.
Rowen bounded down the stairs, happy as can be. The others weren't around so he was safe for the moment. He spotted a hall mirror and looked at himself curiously. He started with his unruly lock of blue hair and worked his way down. On a whim, he silently called his blue subarmor and inspected that as well. Rowen felt himself smile. It was a demonic, evil smile. He had an idea. A wonderfully, horribly, hideously, viciously evil idea. But it would be so... much... FUN. He ditched the subarmor and, chemistry student that he was, headed back upstairs to peruse Sage's vast array of hair care products
* * * * * * * * * *
Ryo came into the house followed by White Blaze. Ryo knelt and scratched the tiger under the chin and behind the ears. "It's nice to be able to play without Yuli hangin' around, isn't boy?" Ryo said.
White Blaze purred contentedly. Why won't you let me eat him? I'm sure he's lean and healthy.
Ryo patted the tiger once more, sending him into the living room. Ryo walked through the hall to the kitchen. He stopped short and tensed. He shifted his eyes to the left. The shadow moved again.
"Hiya Ryo."
Ryo nearly jumped out of his skin. "Rowen! Jeez, ya tryin' ta give me a heart attack? What the hell are you doing?"
"Ohh... nuthing'."
Ryo backed away. "Uh, right. I'm just gonna go back to the living room, 'kay?" He turned away, but Rowen tapped him on the shoulder. "Wha - mmppfff!!"
It was over in seconds. Ryo didn't even know what hit him until he was being dragged into the kitchen by Rowen who was giggling all the way. Ryo's mouth, arms, hands, legs, and feet were completely covered in duct tape.
Rowen plunked Ryo down in a chair and patted his head. "Now just relax. This won't hurt a bit!" He fingered Ryo's thick black hair and mumbled something about extra time.
Ryo eyed all the strange bottles on the kitchen counter and became very afraid as something cold and wet hit his scalp.
* * * * * * * * * *
"There! Done!" Rowen exclaimed after half an hour of squirming, muffled screaming, and nonsense chattering. Rowen stood back to admire his work. "It looks so cool! Wanna see?"
Ryo shook his head violently but Rowen left anyway, and returned with a mirror. He held it up for Ryo. "Mmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!" Ryo wriggled in fury. His hair was RED. Not a normal red-head red, but bright red. Red like his armor red. "Mmmmmmmmmmmm!!!"
"Isn't it great?" Rowen cried gleefully. "Now you have red hair and red armor just like I have blue hair and blue armor! Isn't it great!"
"Mmmmmmmmmmm!!!"
* * * * * * * * * *
White Blaze, who'd been listening to the events in the kitchen, looked up as Rowen skipped into the living room. The tiger growled at the sugar-hyped freak. He backflipped and changed into Black Blaze, sans the armor.
Rowen's face fell. Darn. The cat could already change color. Oh well. There were still three more victims waiting for him. He grinned and skipped away.
The tiger changed back to himself and settled down again, mentally thanking Saberstryke for all he was worth.
* * * * * * * * * *
Rowen peered out from the bushes while he munched on a Crunch bar. Kento and Cye were playing a little one-on-one basketball. That was okay. He could wait. He took another bite of the savory chocolate.
* * * * * * * * * *
Ryo finally gave up struggling. Rowen had wrapped the duct tape pretty tight. he heard the front door slam and Kento's voice wafted through the house.
"Hello? Hey, where is - oh hey Ro. What are you-.."
Ryo closed his eyes. He heard a thump, a crash, and several muffled screams. Ryo opened his eyes a minute later to see Rowen dragging in Kento, similarly duct taped.
Kento took one horrified look at Ryo. "Mmmmmmmmmm!!!"
* * * * * * * * * *
Ryo pitied Kento. He really did. The screams had died down to pathetic whimpers, barely audible under Rowen's chattering. The whole process had taken about twenty minutes. Ryo figured he'd looked much the same, squirming about, duct taped to a chair. Ryo sighed mentally as one more muffled scream came when Rowen excitedly showed Kento the fruits of his work: orange hair. Ryo wondered how long it would take for the other two to join them.
Ryo didn't have long to wait. Having been waiting outside for nearly half an hour, Cye came in looking for Kento. "Kento, where are you, you big oaf? You better not be eating my cheesecake!"
Rowen's eyes lit up as he grabbed a roll of duct tape and ran to meet his latest victim.
Ryo closed his eyes again. He'd close his ears too, if he knew how. More thumps and crashes resounded from the living room. Bodies hit the floor and then the yelling started.
"Cye, hold still!"
"Get off me, you blue-haired freak!"
"But-.."
"Shut up!"
"Gotcha!"
"Are you crazy, you *&#@*&%*#~@^&!...!"
Ryo and Kento exchanged a raised eyebrow look. Between the English and the Japanese, Cye was extremely... inventive.
The yelling, tousling, and cursing continued for several more minutes, much to Ryo's dismay. And then all of a sudden - it stopped. And silence reigned. Ryo and Kento waited for several long, agonizing, silent seconds. But finally Rowen emerged dragging a violently squirming Cye behind him. Both had several bruises and Rowen had the beginnings of a black eye.
Rowen brought Cye around to a prepared chair and reached for another roll of duct tape.
"Mmmmmmmmmmmm!!!"
Having spotted Ryo and Kento, Cye managed to squirm out of Rowen's grasp and landed with a loud thump on the floor, causing Kento and Ryo to wince in pain for their friend.
Rowen scratched his head. "How did he do that?" He looked down on the floor and burst out laughing. "Look! It's Cye, the Aquatic Inchworm!"
Even Kento and Ryo would have to admit - much, MUCH later of course - that it was pretty funny. Duct taped as he was, Cye was on his side scooting across the floor in an effort to get away. Neither Ryo nor Kento dared look at the other, for fear that they'd tip their chairs over from laughing so hard. Then Cye'd really be mad.
Still giggling hysterically, Rowen picked Cye up around the middle and slung him over his shoulder. He plunked Cye in the chair and got to work.
* * * * * * * * * *
Forty-five minutes of duct tape muffled screaming later (Cye squirmed a lot), Rowen finally finished. Without bothering to show Cye the mirror (he wouldn't have looked anyway), Rowen left. Cye heaved a huge sigh of relief and finally relaxed and calmed down.
It was at this moment that all three boys realized the same thing: Rowen still had one more victim out there. And it was quite well known just how... protective Sage was of his hair.
The million-dollar question: Will the blonde warrior of light be the savior, or will he fall like the rest?
* * * * * * * * * *
A blue topped streak stole from tree to tree. Rowen had finally found him doing homework in the forest. Duct tape in hand he moved closer... closer...
"Hey, Ro," Sage said casually.
Rowen jumped back. Damn. He should've known it wouldn't be that easy.
"Hey Ro, could you c'mere and help me a sec?" Sage asked.
Rowen grinned. Perfect. "Sure." Closer... closer...
* * * * * * * * * *
Shiane and Mia came up the stairs, still singing the last song that had been on the radio. ("If you like pina coladas, and getting caught in the rain...") They entered the house with two of many grocery bags, intending to ask the guys for help. They walked into the kitchen.
Mia nearly dropped her bag in shock. Off to the side, Ryo, Kento, and Cye were all duct taped to chairs with red, orange, and light blue hair, respectively.
On the other side, Rowen, with his naturally blue hair, hung upside down from the ceiling completely covered in duct tape except for his eyes, nose, and hair. Standing next to him was an extremely pissed off Sage - with green hair. Sage glared at Rowen and fidgeted with his baseball bat.
Shiane had partially recovered herself. Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you. She mentally praised every god that was ever even considered to have existed. Thank you for it being my turn to go grocery shopping.
She walked over to Cye, hoping he'd give her a coherent explanation. She carefully removed the duct tape from his mouth. Unbound, the furious cursing unleashed itself once again onto the hapless ears of all. Shiane quickly replaced the duct tape.
Mia calmly set her bag on the table and turned to leave. "I... just... live here."
Hey, Shiane here! Thank Kami I wasn't there! I would NOT look good with light green hair. (It's kiwi! Sorry, inside joke.) Hope you all have been enjoying Mia's life! We're absolutely greedy for reviews so like Jay'a said, keep them coming! We love you all!