Warnings: Scaring restaurant customers

Chapter 2.

The hotel was magnificent. Cherry and I were in one room, which had two bedrooms, a living room, and a kitchen. Not that I worried about the kitchen. I never cook. Short of making a pot of coffee. Good thing the hotel had room service.

Nathaniel and Zane took another room, leaving Jason and Asher in a third. As expected, the mutant couple from planet X drew many stares. Zane had offered them a predatory smile while Cherry had simply ignored them, stalking on long legs made longer by her black high heels. Jason and Nathaniel carried the coffin between them, making it look like it was an effort. I knew that was fake. Little Nathaniel himself could bench press a grand piano with little effort. With Cherry and Zane, the presence of a coffin suddenly didn't seem so strange to the hotel staff. They politely escorted us to our rooms with quietly spoken "Dozo"s and so much bowing I would have gotten dizzy and fallen over. Or at least a head rush and whiplash.

The first thing I did was take a nice, hot shower while Cherry examined the TV. I didn't know what she expected to find. A sumo-wrestling contest? I placed my Browning Hi-power under my pillow. Another advantage of taking a private plane. You can take weapons. Even if I was on vacation, I was not going unarmed. Paranoid? Me? You betcha. I tucked the little Firestar into my waistband and strapped my knives to my arms under the sleeves of my blouse. What's wrong with a little security? The Yakuza came from Japan, didn't they?

I wandered back out into the living room in a blue blouse and comfortable black slacks, drying my hair to see the others had piled into my room. Nathaniel and Zane were sprawled on the couch. Cherry was leaning her head on Zane's shoulder, and Nathaniel had his head on Zane's thigh, his legs dangling over the arm of the couch, hair spilling off the couch to the floor, looking like an auburn waterfall. Jason sat on the floor, leaning against the couch near Cherry's legs. They were all staring at the TV as if they were mesmerized. I blinked and looked. I raised an eyebrow to see a little, yellow football creature riding the shoulder of some cartoon kid. The kid yelled and made motions and the football leapt into the air, shrieking something at an incredibly high pitch; making me wince.

It was almost comical. These four had faced death and knives, and guns, and vampires, and werewolves, and...they were staring like wide-eyed children at a cartoon they couldn't even understand. I wished I could have taken a picture. I wondered if what they said about Japanese TV was true. How the shows made you have seizures. Maybe they were all having petit mal seizures. I started to laugh and all eyes turned toward me. They looked so confused I laughed harder.

"What's so funny, Anita?" Jason slid up the couch next to Cherry, almost gliding up it like a snake and peering at me over the edge of the couch.

I managed to calm my chuckling. "Good cartoon?"

Zane grinned at me, turning his head over his shoulder. "These things make me hungry."

"Are we gonna go out to eat, Anita?" Nathaniel asked, grabbing Zane's shoulder to pull himself up to sitting position.

"Why not?" I shrugged. Seeing them relax enough to watch cartoons made something in me relax. Nathaniel jumped up off of the couch excitedly. I noticed he had pinned his hair back at the nape of his neck with a silver hair clasp. I knew silver hurt lycanthropes. I eyed Zane and Cherry as they stood up.

"I don't think we'll be allowed into any restaurants with you two dressed that way." I eyed them. They looked at me, looked each other up and down, then back to me.

"Why not?" they asked.

Because we might scare them so much they kick us out. But I didn't say that aloud.

"I don't know if Tokyo is ready to deal with S&M Barbie and Ken." I looked them both up and down. Zane grinned and flicked his nipple ring.

"Let them deal with it." He snickered his words breathily, almost like a purr with his deep voice. Cherry smiled with him, and I gave it up. They were big kids. It's not like they would get their feelings hurt.

"Come on, Anita." Nathaniel grabbed Zane's arm, looking eager. Jason nodded. I looked down at my rather plain looking clothes. I felt rather out of place, but I wasn't going to put on anything leather, short of my shoes. There was a knock at the door, and all eyes went to it. Zane's nostrils flared, sniffing.

"Dare desu ka?" Cherry asked, and I blinked at her. She spoke Japanese? I heard a child's voice on the other side and Nathaniel hurried over to answer the door. A boy about Jason's height stood there with a vase of flowers. Two dozen white roses. With one blood red rose in the center. I didn't even have to ask who they were from.

"Jason!" I spun on him. He dived behind the couch like he was avoiding a grenade.

"You called Jean Claude, didn't you?" I demanded. "What are you, a double agent?"

Jason cringed between the couch and the coffee table, looking like a scolded puppy.

"I HAD to," he whimpered. "He said if you didn't call as soon as you got in your room, I should."

I was torn between screaming at Jason or calling Jean Claude and screaming at him. But what good would that do? Jean Claude would be simply be amused. I was slightly glad Richard hadn't given him the same orders. Or had he? The boy was still standing in the doorway, blinking at us. He certainly looked young, chubby baby cheeks and large, blue eyes sparkled under unruly, copper hair covered by a backwards baseball cap that framed his face and hung in his eyes. He wore a simple white and magenta T-shirt over blue jean shorts. Like a normal kid. He reminded me of Larry. Except the eyes. The eyes spoke so much more. They spoke of seeing things one his age should not have seen. They spoke of suffering and anguish, and sparkled with vitality all at the same time. Unusual.

The boy looked back at me, almost as if he could see what I read in his eyes. Then it occurred to me. Copper hair and blue eyes? Maybe he was American. I stepped forward to accept the vase. The kid just delivered them. It wasn't his fault Jean Claude was an arrogant bastard.

"Blake-san?" he asked in a sweet voice. I nodded. He smiled brightly at me as he surrendered the vase into my hands.

"Are you American?" I asked as I heard the water slosh a little, deep inside the vase. He blinked a moment then smiled.

"No," he answered in English with a forgiving smile. Ah, he must be asked that question a lot. I took it that meant he was born here and considered himself Japanese.

"Domo arigato gozimasu," Cherry said to him and he grinned brightly at her.

"Hai! Ja matta ne!" he cried and hurried down the hall. Good kid. I wondered what haunted him. Nathaniel closed the door and I turned to Cherry to see that predatory gleam in Zane's eyes.

"Down, furball," I warned. "You're only eating it if it comes from a restaurant, room service, or a supermarket."

"Not even one juicy little kid?" He grinned, bearing those fangs again.

"Try, and I'll shoot you," I warned, putting the vase on the glass coffee table. "We're here on vacation. Not a safari."

Zane tried to look disappointed. Cherry and Nathaniel chuckled as Jason grinned, getting back to his feet.

"So, Cherry, when did you learn Japanese?" I changed the subject.

"Back when I heard we were coming here." Cherry brushed back her hair with her fingers. "I took it upon myself to learn a few phrases."

Ah, Cherry, the ever responsible. Why hadn't I thought of that? Maybe that's why she was a nurse and I was a zombie raiser.

"Eat! Eat!" Nathaniel cheered. "I want to try sushi! It's raw."

Eating raw meat of any kind had no real appeal for me, but then I didn't turn fuzzy on the full moon either.

We hustled out of the hotel onto the streets. Very crowded streets. I started to feel claustrophobic. I discovered the advantage of clinging close to Zane, who towered over the majority of the crowd, and most of the busily bustling, black-haired folk gave him and Cherry a wide birth.

"Do we take a taxi or walk?" Jason asked, blinking and looking around.

"Walk it," I suggested. "We want to get to know the surrounding area anyway."

My troupe followed me down the sidewalk, Zane and Cherry clearing the way just by walking that direction. I had no clue what the stores were except by the merchandise. A clothing store, a toy store, a bookstore, a video store. Then I spotted what looked like a restaurant. I stepped in and saw the battlefield of shoes at the door. A small Japanese woman tucked her hands to her thighs and bowed, smiling.

She said something in Japanese and I gave her the deer caught in the head in the headlights look. Cherry interviewed to save the stupid American by speaking a few short sentences of Japanese. Our little host bowed and nodded, looking at our shoes. I guess we were supposed to take them off.

"Off with the shoes, folks." I turned to look at them, knocking my flats off my feet, using my feet alternately and putting them to the side. They obeyed, pulling off boots and piling them next to mine. Zane wore black socks. Interesting. Why was it interesting? Heck if I know.

We sat on mats around a table, trying to figure out the menu. I glared at mine as if I stared at it long enough it might turn into English. Cherry was speaking broken clips and phrases to the host, who was patiently trying to understand. We were getting a lot of stares from the other customers. But they were a lot more comfortable than the stares I've gotten from vampires and werewolves. These stares were amused, confused, or interested. Werewolves and vampires stared at you like they were wondering what you would taste like. Chicken or pork? Chicken or pork? Beef maybe. But I figured I'd taste like chicken. Didn't everything?

I ordered something that Cherry indicated was chow mein and vegetables. Sounded safe enough to me. Nathaniel ordered sushi. Of course.

"Hey, let's go shopping after this," he suggested. "I saw something in a store that had a lot of straps."

I definitely did not want to enter a store that sold clothing with lots of straps. But Nathaniel looked so excited, I agreed. After that he amused himself by looking around at the other customers, smiling at those that stared back too long. By the sudden flushes on their faces, I could tell it was more than your average friendly smile Nathaniel was offering. It made me want to thump my head on the table. Why was I stuck with the S&M crew?

Gabriel had been pimping the wereleopards out before I killed him. Nathaniel had enjoyed it. Until one of the customers had gutted him. That was how I had first met him. In the hospital, facing down Zane over him. Jean Claude used him as a stripper from time to time in his vampire strip club 'Guilty Pleasures'.

"I have an idea," Jason piped up, tracing the designs made by the woods in the table with his finger. "Why not check out the community here?"

"Jason." I grit my teeth. "Being a vampire or a werewolf is not legal here. And I'm not going to risk us on our vacation."

"It was a thought." Jason wilted again under my glare.

"Anita, relax." Cherry grinned, folding her legs out beside her in a feminine manner. "Repeat to yourself. I'm on vacation. I'm not killing vampires. I'm not fighting werewolves. I'm on vacation."

"I know I'm on vacation," I looked at her. "I'm happy as a clam. See?"

I put on a smile I think came out as a grimace.

"You've got a gun, don't you?" she twittered. Caught with my hand in the cookie jar. But that was no surprise. The only time I wasn't armed was when I was naked in the shower. And if I hung one off the showerhead it would rust. Zane reached over and stroked his fingers across my hand, making me wonder what was up.

A tall redhead walked by with a dark haired man, smiling down at us as they passed. He wore a black jacket, buttoned down the center in a long, box shape, distinctly Mickey Mouse fashion. His hair leaned more toward the orange species, like Larry's hair. But no freckles. A pair of sunglasses perched on his head over a yellow bandanna. I recognized that look. The look of a predator. He wasn't Japanese. That much was obvious. And he was looking at Zane and Nathaniel. Zane gave him glances and Nathaniel stared openly. The redhead passed us and sat down with his companion at another table. His companion wasn't Japanese either. He looked like home grown American. His hair was short and dark, a few strands escaping his gel job, sticking out like antennae. He wore a white business suit and glasses.

Were they staring because we weren't Japanese either? Or something else? Jason nudged closer to me, bumping against my arm. I put a hand on his shoulder, giving him the contact he was asking for. They seemed frightened, or nervous. What could it have been? I hadn't felt anything from the strangers, but the terminally furry were obviously agitated.

"What?" I asked quietly as Zane lifted his hand away.

"That man, seemed to recognize me," Zane answered lowly, his voice dropping to a rumble. "But I've never seen him before. He smelt like...."

"Death." Cherry looked to me.

"What does death smell like?" I asked lowly, glancing at the two.

Two sets of blue eyes, one set of brown eyes, and one set of lavender all looked at me.

"You," Nathaniel answered quietly. I didn't like that answer.