*Author's Notes: Good news! My move hasn't occurred yet, so I'll still be sending out another chapter relatively soon (with) luck. I worked hard on this chapter and I really like the first scene (*grin*), so I hope you do too. If not, oh, well. It was fun to write it, as well as imagine it. I never got the opportunity to explain the whole "Labariel-san" thing which I intended to do. I tried, but it didn't work out. Anyway, during the time when Dilandau noticed the Dragons (who they are is explained in this chapter) were in competition with him, Dilandau would address Miguel as "Labariel-san." I also didn't translate any of the Spanish words I threw in there. I guess I just didn't want people to think those were Japanese words and plus, you know, I've never taken Spanish before so I know very, very littel... Well, I hope there's not many confusing parts and I hope you enjoy. Oh, and I hope no one will do what my friend Ann no Aku did--if you check the review page she left an impossibly long review of the entire story up to chapter four (*sweat-drop*). I would prefer reviews were limited to single chapters or parts, as you can see that reviews would be too long if you put them all together! Just kidding. Thanks, watashi no aku nakama, and thanks to all those who reviewed last time--Enjoy! ^_^
Chapter Five: Dilandau the Leader, Part One
Allen had always been concerned about his little brother, especially after he dramatically changed in response to their parents' deaths. Truth be told, Allen had initially kept a laissez-faire attitude to Dilandau's method of coping with the deaths, believing that it was merely a temporary desire to direct his anger at the nearest person. However, over five years had past and nothing had changed. No, things had changed, Allen realized--Dilandau had gotten progressively worse. Allen hadn't wanted to really admit it, not wanting to condemn his brother so quickly, but Dilandau's recent mishap at school proved to Allen that he couldn't be so negligent about Dilandau's behavior. True, Allen had tried speaking to his brother and had voiced his displease about his troublesome actions with his friends, but Allen never made any great effort to really do anything about Dilandau. Whenever the thirty-something man became fed up with Dilandau, he hoped in the back of his mind that Dilandau would see the errors of his ways and clean up his act. Allen finally saw that he couldn't be so hopeful; he had taken Adelphos's words to heart. If he didn't take a firmer hand with Dilandau, his little brother could be on the path to jail or worse.
Still, despite Allen's resolve to help his brother act a lot less like a maniac, he didn't like having to check up on him. Allen ran an illustrious fencing school in downtown Austria which kept him busier than he liked, but allowed him to give his siblings and himself a more than comfortable way of living. He had thought of giving up the school to devote more time to the twins, but Allen had already given up his previous aspires to continue competing in the Olympics and settled on the school instead (since he would have to travel more often for Olympic training). It was a nice compromise, allowing him to do what he enjoyed and still be near his family, but it was nearly as much work. Dilandau had been taking advantage of his busy schedule, and no doubt was taking advantage of it while he was "grounded" at home for five days. Allen was aware that Dilandau was letting one of his friends borrow his car during his punishment (which he hardly approved of), but Dilandau explained (in his so expertly manipulating way) that his friends were accustomed to him driving them to school and it wouldn't be very fair of him to let his punishment punish them as well. Allen knew it was bullshit, but it was already done and it prevented Dilandau from roaming the streets in his car.
The first day of suspension when Allen had came to check up on Dilandau, nothing seemed amiss. He had been talking on the phone when Allen arrived, despite Allen telling him that he wasn't to use the phone, and it had been a relief that he was still actually at home and not destroying the house in anger. Dilandau had, in fact, appeared calm before Allen had entered, but of course when he saw that Allen had came to check up on him, his mood went from serene lake to burning forest. Allen, even though he had every reason at that moment to suspect Dilandau, felt guilty about heading home during his lunch break to see what his little brother was up to. Dilandau had been locked away in his room when Allen had came home the first suspension day and did the same the next day.
"I can barely concentrate on work..." Allen muttered to himself as he locked his car door. It was Dilandau's third day of suspension, as well as his third day of having not left the house. Allen had always thought that if he forced Dilandau to stay home, the consequences would be far worse than if he just let him go out and do what he wanted. After all, when Allen had told him that he was grounded until Monday (which was too light of a punishment, but since Dilandau hated being home was suitable at that time), Dilandau had become furious and started breaking things in the house. Not only was that destructive, Allen didn't want to alarm Celena more than she already was.
"He'll probably just be on the phone like he was last time," Allen said as he unlocked the front door and entered the house. He first poked his head into the family room, seeing no sign Dilandau, and then proceeded to the living room. It was empty as well as the kitchen where Allen had found Dilandau the first time. It was doubtful that Dilandau was in the dining room, but Allen went there anyway to discover his brother wasn't there either. Allen wasn't worried by the fact he wasn't in any of the downstairs rooms; it was probably more likely that Dilandau was up in his room.
Allen shook his head as he climbed the stairs, thinking that he should have called like he had wanted to do the first day, but he supposed it comforted him more to actually see Dilandau was well, than to hear his voice and wonder what the white-haired boy was really doing at home. He was perfectly calm as he passed all the other vacant rooms and turned down the hall where Dilandau's room was located on a wall with no other adjacent rooms until he saw that for once Dilandau's door was ajar. Dilandau was adamant about his privacy and always had his door closed whether he was in the room or not. It was especially disturbing to see it open even just the tiniest bit--Allen hadn't even glimpsed into his brother's room for approximately four years.
He gradually came to a stop just three feet away from Dilandau's door, trying to rationally explain why Dilandau's door wasn't closed. It just may have been that since Dilandau knew he would be alone all day that he didn't feel the need to be as cautious. That made sense enough for Allen to continue to Dilandau's room, but didn't shake the bad feeling he had that increased by each step. It was much worse than when he had been at work, simply imagining some of the activities Dilandau could be engaged in at home.
"Dilan...dau...?" Allen said, just looking into the room through the crack the door was open. He gasped at what he viewed in the room. "Dilandau!"
Allen swung open the door and ran over to his brother who appeared to be passed out beside his bed. He was definitely sprawled out as if he had fallen off his feet and his hand was still gripping a glass bottle of liquor that he had no doubt been drinking before he became unconscious. Allen called out for him again as he checked his pulse, found one, and gave a large sigh of relief. He carefully lifted up Dilandau, the bottle rolling out of his limp hand, and began to shake him in an attempt to return his brother to consciousness. Dilandau remained without respond, causing Allen's concern to heighten.
"Dilandau!" Allen said for the tenth time. "Dilandau! Wake up!"
Allen still failed to get his brother to open his eyes, and he finally gave up trying to wake him up and reached for the cell phone in his pocket. Just as he flipped the device open, he heard a faint chuckle. Allen turned his attention back to Dilandau to see his demonic eyes open as he grinned at him. Dilandau's laughter rose to more audible tone as lifted himself from Allen and got to his feet. Allen stared at him in total disbelief and slight horror.
"Na....nani?" Allen said, having only moved his eyes.
"Baka, did you really think I would pass out like that?" Dilandau said, looking down at his brother with a sneer now. "Hmph, you have such little confidence in me, ne?"
Allen continued to stare at Dilandau in astonishment before his anger overcame him. "Dilandau, what the hell are you doing??" he said.
"What are you talking about?" Dilandau said, nearly matching Allen's aggravated expression. "What the hell are you doing? Why are you here checking up on me instead of being at work??"
"Don't change the subject!" Allen said, standing up. He pointed to the bottle resting on the ground. "Why the hell did you pretend to be unconscious with a bottle of liquor in your hand??"
"Liquor?" Dilandau repeated. His grin returned as he bent down to pick up the bottle and held it up to him. "You mean this?"
Allen felt his anger rise as he read the label of the suspicious bottle. "It's apple juice," he said, knowing that Dilandau had intentionally wanted him to think that it was alcohol.
"Hmm," Dilandau said, tapping the bottle's neck next to his chin, "you immediately jumped to the wrong conclusion. What a surprise."
"Don't try to make me look like the bad guy!" Allen said. "Somehow you knew that I was coming and you orchestrated this whole thing! What else I was supposed to think when I found you lying flat on your face with a bottle in your hand??"
"You could have checked the bottle first--" Dilandau started, only to produce another rise out of his brother.
"Fuzakeru na (Cut the crap)! You scared me to death with that stunt!"
Dilandau shrugged and walked out of his room, knowing that his brother would follow. "What do you want you from me?" he said as Allen did indeed exit from his room. "An apology?"
"Don't you have any kind of shame??" Allen said while Dilandau closed his door and regarded Allen coolly.
"Shame?" Dilandau laughed like someone who became giddy at the sight of people being killed. "You came barging into my room and assumed I was drinking when I was clearly not. You should be ashamed of yourself for expecting the worst of me!"
"What the hell is wrong with you??" Allen said. "I'm just worried about you!"
"Like hell!" Dilandau said. He opened the bottle and began walking down the hall. "Checking up on me the day before yesterday wasn't enough, so you had to come back today to make sure I hadn't destroyed the house!"
Allen ran in front of Dilandau's stopping his path. "So you thought that was enough reason to pretend to have drunken yourself into unconsciousness??" he demanded. "There is no excuse in the world to scare someone like that!!" He wondered if Dilandau was listening to him since he was drinking the juice at the time.
"It was fun hearing your terrified voice," Dilandau said, finally bringing the bottle down from his lips. He smirked at his brother's incredulous expression. "And it serves you right."
"You have truly become a wicked person," Allen said, experiencing a little fear of how malignant his brother was.
Dilandau took another drink from the bottle. "So what?" he said. Noticing that his brother was too flustered at the moment to give him a response, Dilandau continued down the hall with a smug smile on his face.
Allen put a hand on his forehead. "My God..." he said, "what am I going to do with him?"
********
"Um, let's see..." Miguel said, placing his pen in mouth while he crunched in some numbers in his calculator. He did a couple of calculations, wrote them down, replaced his pen in his mouth, and then crunched in some more numbers. "Hmm?"
Miguel's eyes moved back between his paper and his calculator. He had expected the numbers to be equivalent, but something didn't add up. That bugged him a little, but it was normal for him to have to do his calculations more than once. He tried it again, taking even greater care not to make any mistakes. Sweat was bringing to build up on his forehead as he made the final calculations for the second time and came up with the same result: something was unaccounted for. Miguel's panic rose and he started over for the third and fourth time. When he reached the fifth time, he sat up in his desk and put his hands on his cheeks.
"No!" he said, taking no heed of where he was. "It doesn't add up!!"
"Ahem," his teacher said. "Labariel-san, if you are having problems with an equation, ask for help--do not scream."
"Uh, hai..." Miguel said, sinking back down into his seat. He swallowed and put his pen back in his mouth and began chewing on it. "Damnit..."
It wasn't unusual for Miguel to be assigned to compile the weekly Ryuugekitai financial report; since the time Miguel had been added to the group, Dilandau had given him the responsibility of informing Dilandau of how much money they had made within the week and how the money had been used. A great deal of the money was spent paying for the drugs that Gatty sold, as well as for the construction of the ART cards. Everyone, except Shesta who was the person trusted with actually collecting the money rather than producing it, brought in some kind of money that was reported on the papers Miguel had to hand into Dilandau this afternoon. The others had told him how much money they had spent and made regarding Ryuugekitai business and Shesta had given Miguel the total amount he was going to turn into Dilandau. That was all well and good until Miguel had been figuring out the amount of money taken in and out of their funds. The amount that would be sent to Dilandau was about a thousand less than what Miguel calculated the amount would be. Dilandau always received the money first, and then his report. The last thing he would do would be to not realize that things didn't add up. Since Miguel was given the responsibility to give the report, he would take all the consequences of irregularities, even if it wasn't his fault.
Miguel knew he could attempt to claim in his report that the missing money was taken for some valid-appearing reason, but Dilandau was way too sharp to fall for something like that. Some of Miguel's worst experiences with Dilandau occurred during the time he and his leader were going over the report. So, of course, whenever Miguel did the report, he made sure there were no mistakes (or at least not any that he saw). It was one thing for Dilandau to comment on Miguel's activities that brought in money, but it was another thing for there to be money unaccounted for. Miguel was already sweating with a rapid heartbeat just thinking of how Dilandau would react when he saw the report.
"This is bad..." Miguel said, not caring if he was talking to himself in class. Most people were trying to get a head start on their math homework while Miguel was taking the opportunity to do the calculations for his report. "I'm gonna be in some deep shit if I don't get this worked out..."
Miguel was still absorbed into his work when the bell had rung and several of students had began to leave. It wasn't until he heard his teacher ask him if he needed additional help that he realized that it was time for him to go. He politely told the teacher he didn't, collected his things, and rushed out into the hall. If any of his friends could or would (sometimes his friends purposely gave him wrong information just to make Dilandau angry at him) help him, it would be Shesta. The blonde usually headed straight to class, so it was logical that Miguel headed for Shesta's next class rather than the one he had just came from. He found Shesta standing in the science hall beside Gatty. There was enough time before the next bell that it was likely Shesta would be willing to help.
"Sou ka (Is that right)?" Shesta laughed. "I'm sure Dilandau-san will enjoy that when he gets back."
"Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of..." Gatty sighed. He slid his thick book under his arm. "He'll probably end up burning up the whole school." Gatty was serious, but when Shesta laughed, he laughed with him.
"Oi, Shesta!" Miguel said, running up to the two.
"Nan da (What is it), Miguel?" Gatty said, smiling at his friend. "You look like someone's chasing after you. What, did Dallet finally find out that rumor you started about him?"
"This is much more important than that!" Miguel said. He frowned at Gatty who was wasting his time. "Shesta, I need your help."
"With what?" Shesta wondered.
"My report...it doesn't add up and Dilandau's expecting it today!" Miguel said.
Gatty laughed and pointed at him. "Oh, yeah, that is due today," he said. "Man, I'm glad I'm not you."
"If you're not going to say anything useful, then shut the hell up!" Miguel said. He felt himself slide into an even less pleasant mood when Gatty kept quiet, but held a smirk on his face.
"So what's the problem?" Shesta asked. He smiled, trying to ease Miguel's irritation.
Miguel handed Shesta the papers that he was still holding. Shesta looked them over, while Gatty looked over his shoulder with interest. Gatty didn't realize the immediate problem, but Shesta, having knowledge of what the week's total funds were, understood what Miguel was worried about. Shesta to put a hand to his chin.
"Now I see why you're freaking out," Shesta said. His brows lowered in thought. "There's money unaccounted for."
Gatty looked at Miguel who didn't seem a bit less worried even though Shesta's knew what the problem was. "Dilandau's going to kill you," he said.
"I thought I told you to shut up if you're not going to say anything useful!" Miguel said.
"Hey, don't worry about it too much," Shesta said, trying to pacify Miguel once again. It was more difficult with Gatty laughing at Miguel so much. "I'm sure it's just something we've overlooked. Let's just go over the numbers one more time."
"All right, thanks," Miguel muttered, though still glaring at Gatty.
Gatty snorted and started walking away. "You two have fun then, I'm going to go to class early for once."
"Che (Shit)," Miguel said, watching Gatty go. "He's getting all cocky because Dilandau-san left him in charge."
"Well, be comforted at least that Dilandau-san told me to keep him in check," Shesta said, taking out his organizer and holding the papers in his free hand.
"Hmph," Miguel said, even as grateful as he was for Shesta's help. "So, who's supposed to keep you in check?"
Shesta began to pull up his calculator and entering the numbers from one of the papers. "Everything is based on seniority, you know that," he said, sounding as if he wasn't really concerned about his hint of bitterness.
"Somehow I think it's that..." Miguel said. Shesta didn't respond, which was better for Miguel who ended up simply standing there with his arms folded. Gradually, however, he forgot about the small fact that Gatty and Shesta were in charge. None of the other members of the Ryuugekitai were happy about that, this being the first time where the two were given so much power. Guimel and Viole were the most disgruntled about taking orders from the two, so much to the point that they hadn't done much of anything in the last couple of days. They constantly challenged Gatty and Shesta, making everything seem as if the two were taking advantage of their new power. Miguel didn't care whether the two were or not; he just didn't like someone other than Dilandau telling him what to do. He was glad the school week would be over in a few hours and Dilandau would be back into power on Monday.
"Ah, naru hodo (I see)," Shesta said, ending the silence between the two.
Miguel lost his nasty look. "Did you found out what was wrong?" he said, taking a step forward.
"Aa (Yeah)," Shesta said. He handed Miguel his papers back. "You forgot to figure in those two loans we gave."
"Loans...?"
"Don't you remember? Dilandau-san started a loaning program last year. We loan unusually high amounts to people and make sure they can't ever pay us back so that they're indebted to us. Since that's Dilandau-san's own doing, I guess you didn't think to take note of that."
"Oh..." Miguel said, slowly smiling. "I sort of remember Dilandau-san doing that toward the end of last year for, um...'helping' people who couldn't afford the school trip, I think."
"Sou (Right)," Shesta said. He turned his organizer so that its screen was facing Miguel. "Here's the amounts of the two loans. They should make sure that the amount I give to Dilandau today is the same amount that your report claims it should be."
Miguel took a pen from his pocket and scribbled the two numbers down. "Thanks a lot, Shesta," he said.
"Hmm, I probably should have let you just take the heat from Dilandau," Shesta said, smiling as he nodded. "I'm sure Dilandau-san would just think you took that unaccounted for money."
"O-Oi!"
"Joudan (Joking)." Shesta grinned at him when Miguel looked as if he wasn't amused. "Ja na (Later)."
"Yeah..." Miguel muttered. He sighed after Shesta had went on to class and frowned at the papers in his hands. It may be a joke to you, but Dilandau has a "no-shit" policy when it comes to this report, he thought. It hurts just thinking about that one time...
********
Dilandau was slowly looking over the report, while Miguel stood coolly beside him. At that time, giving Dilandau the report was nothing more than a formality. It wasn't his first time, so he was pretty used to it by now even if his membership in the Ryuugekitai was still relatively new. Dilandau had given him the special task after noticing how much money Miguel was bringing in with the betting money he collected as well as other his other ventures. It made him feel smug for the first time in the group, having to compete with Gatty and Shesta who were indisputably Dilandau's right arms. For once, he was trusted to do something that the other two weren't.
Still Miguel was having many problems adjusting to Ryuugekitai life. He had always been tricking people out of their money for his own profit and gambling on certain things, but it was a great change for all of the money he earned to be going straight to Dilandau and having to be later distributed a lesser amount of that money. Miguel had finally figured out that Dilandau didn't want to waste time counting the money every week so he had decided a report of their funds would be less time-consuming. With this in mind, Miguel had kept a little of the money he had earned, figuring Dilandau wouldn't know the difference.
Dilandau had finally finished reading and lowered the sheet of paper down from his face. "Miguel?" he said, staring at his inattentive cohort.
Miguel calmly met eyes with his new leader, not yet familiar enough with Dilandau to read what his various expressions meant. "Hai?" he said.
Miguel had never been slapped by a guy before and he had never expected to, especially at that moment. The impact of Dilandau's hand smacking his face felt equivalent to getting smacked with a thick college-edition textbook. Even before Miguel was knocked off his feet by the blow, he knew that he would be tasting blood soon. The pain inflicted upon his mouth was so great that he didn't bother to worry about how much it hurt when he fell down to the floor. He unconsciously held his throbbing face as he sat up, but his attention was mainly on Dilandau. Miguel didn't dare get up or focus on the blood he felt gathering at the side of his mouth; he was afraid if he moved too much Dilandau would hit him again. This was his first time being hit by Dilandau and he had no desire to experience the second any time soon.
"Wha...what did I do?" Miguel asked, recognizing the ire in Dilandau's eyes now.
"Who the hell do you think you're dealing with?" Dilandau demanded. His expression became even less affable (if possible at that moment). "This report clearly tells me that you've been keeping some of your gambling money for yourself!"
"Na (Wha)--" Miguel said before he cut off as Dilandau bent down and grabbed him by his collar.
"Listen very carefully, Labariel-san," Dilandau said, holding Miguel in a manner that was choking him but not taking any notice. "You're not in your little gang anymore, you're in mine. I make the rules and if you break them, I break you. Any money you make comes to me before you get your cut, you got that??"
"Wa...wakatta (I...I gotcha)..." Miguel said, having more trouble breathing with Dilandau gripping his collar so tightly because his heart was beating so fast.
"Let it happen again and I won't just slap you," Dilandau promised. He glared at Miguel while he nodded and finally let him go, dropping Miguel back against the floor.
Miguel drew in deep breaths, holding onto his neck with one hand and his cheek with the other. Dilandau stood impatiently waiting for him to compose himself and get back to his feet. When Miguel noticed this, he rose even though he was still winded and in a lot of pain.
"I hate people who take me for a fool," Dilandau said. "Remember that in the future."
"Ha...hai..." Miguel said.
Dilandau looked at the report and showed a smile for the first time since he had received it. "I don't think I'll ever see a mistake in this report again, deshou (am I right)?" he said.
"Ne...never..." Miguel said, wiping the line of blood leaking from his mouth to his chin. Unfortunately, Miguel still had many things to learn about avoiding slaps from his new leader...
********
"And I had thought that was the scariest Dilandau could be," Miguel said, forcing the incident out of his recollection again. He smiled as headed for his next to last class, even though he was going to late because of the time he had taken to stroll down memory lane. Dilandau's grounding had left the whole Ryuugekitai's afternoon schedules completely free. With his report not longer a problem to complete, Miguel wrote off the rest of his day as smooth sailing.
********
"Does it still hurt, Van?" Hitomi asked but the smile on her face suggested she was partially ridiculing him.
"No, but his punch left an ugly bruise on my face," Van said, placing his hand over the gauze bandaged over his cheek. "I still don't have a clue why the hell he did that."
"Hmm," Hitomi said, leaning back against the lockers.
Van raised a brow at her. "You know something, don't you?" he asked.
"Iie," Hitomi said, shaking her head. She laughed when Van gave her a doubtful look. "I'm serious. If I knew everything about everything, then life wouldn't be any fun."
"I guess so..." Van said, frowning. He lowered his hand and sighed. "Che, and I thought that Dilandau's suspension would make his lackeys cool down, but they're still doing the same stuff as before!"
"Of course," Hitomi said. She watched a couple of people pass them in the hall. "Dilandau-kun is only suspended, not expelled."
"Yeah, that yarou (jerk) is coming back Monday," Van muttered. Then he noted more upon what Hitomi had said. "Hey, why is it that you call Dilandau 'Dilandau-kun?'"
A blush lightly appeared on Hitomi's face, causing Van's eyes to widen. "Well...I just feel more comfortable calling him that..." she explained.
For the years Van had known Hitomi, this was one of the few times he had seen her blush. She hardly ever became embarrassed or caught off-guard; she always seemed to be expecting most things that would normally faze someone who would be oblivious of things to come. Now Hitomi was blushing while she was explaining her reasons for addressing Dilandau so casually?
"Hitomi," Van said, slowly realizing something he hadn't since he discovered that Hitomi knew Dilandau a long time ago, "do you remember when you told me that you didn't want to go out with me because you didn't want to date anyone at the time?"
"Of...of course..." Hitomi said, looking at Van and seeing the serious expression on his face. She knew where he was going, but she had no desire to prevent him from going on.
"The reason you don't..." Van said, feeling his anger increasing by each word he spoke, "is because of Dilandau, isn't it??"
"Come on, Van!" Hitomi said, waving her hands. Her blush was much more noticeable this time and she turned his back to him. "That was a year ago I told you that. I didn't know at that time I was going to meet Dilandau-kun again."
"Oh, yeah right!" Van said, rolling his eyes. "This explains why you didn't tell me about you knowing him!"
"Van," Hitomi said, facing him again, "I may have the gift of seeing in the future from time to time, but I don't always know what's going to happen, especially when it concerns me. I usually get visions of what will happen to others, not myself."
"I still think Dilandau has something to do with you rejecting me," Van insisted. He clenched a fist. "If you didn't like him like that, you would have told me about him sooner or at least not defend him so much after he attacked me for no reason."
"I'm sure Dilandau-kun had a reason that we just don't know--"
"See! You're defending him!" Van pointed at her as if accusing her of a crime. "You have a thing for him, don't you??"
Hitomi sighed and lowered her glance to the floor. "Even if I did, he makes me uncomfortable to be around him," she said, deciding to neither deny his statement or confirm it. "Every time I talk to him I manage to speak casually, but the first chance I get, I run off. Not only does it not help me become more comfortable around him, it really seems to be making him mad."
"So even you are afraid of him," Van said. He folded his arms over his chest. He knew by her reply that she wasn't going to give him a straight answer, at least at the moment.
"Iie, it's not like that," Hitomi said. "It's...it's..."
"I can't wait until Dilandau-sama comes back!" a girl said as she passed with six other girls.
"Me either!" another one screeched. "I missed seeing his beautiful face around campus!"
Van glanced at the girls as they passed, disgusted at their open attraction to Dilandau. "Geez, don't those girls even realize what a monster he is??" he said.
"That's one of the problems," Hitomi said, after the girls had passed. "Dilandau-kun is almost as popular as he is feared. It kind of makes it intimidating to be in his presence. He probably doesn't realize I'm a bit nervous around him, but I'm hoping to change that soon."
Van let out a frustrated sigh. "I can't believe this!" he said. He started off. "First I get punched out on the second day of school and now this!"
Hitomi smiled, though she knew that it was going to take a lot of talking to pacify Van once again. "I wish I could have foreseen this was coming..." she said. That was the curse of her gift; sometimes it failed to help her when she needed help the most.
********
"Oh, come on, Cel," Liliana said. She sat down beside Celena on the bench. "What's the point of spending all weekend with Dilandau? I mean, you told us that even though he's been grounded you've still barely seen him."
"I know, but I want to talk to him about being the leader of the Ryuugekitai," Celena said. Her eyes were set forward, watching the buses that pulled up in front of the courtyard. "This weekend might be a good chance, so if I just stay home eventually we'll see each other."
"What are you going to say to him, exactly?" Terry asked on her other side. "'Hey, Dilandau, I heard you're the leader of the Ryuugekitai. Do you mind not terrorizing everyone at school?'" Celena frowned a little at her negative comment, but didn't respond.
"Seriously, Celena," Ferra said next to Terry, "judging by what you've said about Dilandau, he's not going to want you to get into his business. We're not saying that you should just ignore the fact you're brother's a hor…unpleasant person. We're saying that you need to hang out with us this weekend and have some fun--you know, take your mind off your problems with Dilandau."
"How's that going to help?" Celena said. She looked at each of them in turn. "You guys, I couldn't sleep for the past two days, thinking about how much Dilandau has really changed! I mean, he purposely tries to make people miserable! He's like those teenage thugs you hear about on talk shows!"
"Yeah, but what if he decides to do something to you since you're sticking your nose where it doesn't belong?" Terry asked. "Don't you think it would be better relaxing than worrying yourself sick about Dilandau?"
"Well--"
"I don't think you outta confront Dilandau unless you have a plan," Liliana said. She began tapping her fingers on her lap. "From what I've seen of him, only his friends, other thugs like him, and pretty girls are the people he'll talk to without getting annoyed."
"Well…" Celena said again as she took in consideration what her friends had said, "I have thought about talking to his friends about him. Maybe they'll tell me how I should approach Dilandau." She looked at her friends again as they all made sounds of discord. "What?"
"That is a stupid--" Liliana began.
"What Lily means is," Ferra interrupted, giving her blonde friend a look, "that will never work. Dilandau's friends are like his puppets. They don't move, think, or breathe without Dilandau's command."
"Plus, you can't trust them," Terry added. "I mean, take Miguel Labariel. I don't know how many people I know that have been cheated by that jerk. He'll start up bets like who'll win football games and no matter what, those who betted on the most likely team to win will always lose."
"They can't all be bad," Celena said. "I thought Shesta seemed very nice--"
"If you're a member of the Ryuugekitai, you're bad," Liliana said. "They're all rotten kids. If they weren't, they wouldn't be with Dilandau."
Celena sighed and looked ahead again, noticing her bus had arrived. "I guess you three would know better than I would," she said. She picked up her book bag resting next to her feet and put it on her back. "I'll get back to you guys later on whether or not I want to hang out this weekend."
Her friends gave Celena an usual farewell as left, but as soon as she boarded the yellow vehicle, their expressions turned serious again. "Cel is so going to try to talk to Dilandau's friends!" Liliana said her eyes wide with disbelief.
"Yep, you can see it in her eyes," Terry agreed. "She's totally determined."
"That's just perfect--perfect!" Liliana said. She stood and began walking around in mild amazement. "We've managed to keep her from bumping into those guys as little as possible this week, but if she goes out of her way to talk to them, we won't be able to stop her."
"And that's why Celena's got to get out this weekend," Ferra said. "Knowing her, even if she has a bad encounter with Dilandau by confronting him with what she knows, that'll only make her want to get involved with the Ryuugekitai even more. We've gotta convince her that those guys, even the 'sweet' Shesta, are not kids she or anyone else should mess with. If we don't convince her, who knows what that scum will do to her."
"I'm totally with that plan," Liliana said as Terry nodded. "Cel's going out with us this weekend whether she wants to or not."
********
Miguel didn't know about the others, but he decided to use his free time to do some of the things he hadn't had the luxury to do since the day he joined the Ryuugekitai. Dallet had tried to coax him into clubbing with him (after coaxing Shesta to take advantage of having the use of Dilandau's car), but Miguel resisted his attempts and was now sitting in his den watching television. Granted his choice of activity for the afternoon would be less entertaining, Miguel felt it was going to be much more relaxing to stay at home for once. In public he was supposed to be a Ryuu--a representation of Dilandau. Most of the time that wasn't much to be concerned about because Miguel generally liked everything about being a Ryuu. Acting as if one was one of the most powerful people in the world was like a wonderful drug that never lost the high it gave you. Still, it was better that Miguel take a breather before his head became too inflated. There were times when he was conscious of how cocky he was with his position, which was only dangerous if that smugness became a problem for Dilandau.
"Hmph, Gatty…" Miguel muttered, changing the channel every three seconds. "Who does he think he is making a meeting on Saturday like he has the right? I'm sure Dilandau didn't give him permission to do that. Che, and Shesta and him said I was the one most likely to take advantage of a situation where Dilandau was out of action for some reason. I think Gatty's the one who's having the most fun with Dilandau out of the picture for a few days."
Miguel had finally decided on a channel that was showing a movie about a casino and made himself more comfortable on the couch. He had turned the volume up relatively high, so he didn't notice when someone shuffled into the room. Of course, since he was trying to relax, he didn't care much who was moving about either.
"I'm surprised you're at home today," a voice said, easily recognized above the sound of the television.
"I don't have plans tonight," Miguel said absently, though not missing the sneer in the words he had just heard. His eyes remained glued on the television.
"You spend some much time with that Ryuugekitai." Miguel didn't respond, his attention still fully on the television. "Why you have an obsession with gangs, I'll never know. Your mother and I didn't raise you to be a thug. First it was the Dragons [1], and now the Ryuugekitai. You don't ever learn your lesson, do you?"
Upon the mention of the Dragons, Miguel's absorption with the movie was lost and his anger was ignited. "Oi, baba (old woman)!" he snapped, taking his first glance at the short aged woman standing on the other side of the room. "I didn't choose to sit in here so I could be criticized by you all day!"
"Don't call me by that name, you inconsiderate brat!" Labariel Baba [2] (as Miguel thought of her) said.
"Warui (My bad)," Miguel said, rolling his eyes, "I meant abuela. He laughed afterwards as if that word was a joke.
"It sickens me that you're going to be the one to carry on the Labariel name," Labariel Baba said as she sat down on the opposite side of the couch. "You come from generations and generations of highly reputable people. Your father was not only a chief of police in this city, but he also respected our culture and remained bilingual. Unlike you who refuses to learn more than what you pick up off television [3]."
Hmph, what good is being bilingual? Miguel thought, remembering why he spent little time with his grandmother. It didn't keep him from being shot…
"Now with my son gone, I'm left with this wretched grandson," Labariel Baba went on, "who if he doesn't end up in jail for the rest of his life, will shame our family for generations to come."
"Urusai (Shut up)!" Miguel said, tempted to turn up the volume further so that he couldn't hear her anymore. "You sit there and criticize me, especially for speaking the language that is spoken here, and say that I'm going to disgrace the family for eternity or something. I hardly see you speaking anything other than Japanese, so why are you on my case??"
"I speak my native language every day of my life," Labariel Baba argued. "I have plenty of friends to whom I can speak it with. Even your mother and I have conversation in Spanish from time to time, and she's lived here all her life!"
"So what?" Miguel said, sucking his teeth. "She's told me before that she only learned it so she could impress tousan (father) and since tousan spoke it often, she remained relatively fluent. I bet she doesn't even like to speak it that much."
"Dios mío!" Labariel Baba said, shaking her head. "Your father would be disgusted at how you've turned out. Hanging around with that despicable Dilandau… At least in the Dragons you were the leader; now you're just that horrible boy's lackey."
"Following Dilandau is a million times better than my old gang or when I wasn't in any gang," Miguel said. He let out a breath, trying to calm himself again. "I rarely worry about him messing up or his plans failing. Despite everything we do is wrong, he's a good leader."
Labariel Baba snorted. "That boy's name shouldn't be Dilandau--it should be 'El Diablo.'"
Miguel let out a breath, truly sick of listening to her and finally turned up the television. He turned his glance back to the movie and tried to ignore the fact that his grandmother was still in the room. However, Labariel Baba wasn't going to be so easily ignored.
"How does it feel to be the servant of the devil??" she demanded, her voice just barely being heard over some gunshots from the television.
"How does it feel to be old enough to recall when fire was discovered?" he muttered, though he knew with the television's noise and her bad hearing, she wouldn't hear what he said.
"Miguel!"
Miguel turned down the television when he heard his name called from another room for the second time. "Hai?" he said, turning in the direction of the voice.
"Could you come here for a second?"
"Yeah, I'm coming." Miguel gave his grandmother a look that suggested he was grateful to get away from her before he left his family room and traveled to the kitchen. "Yes, mama?"
Mrs. Labariel finished cutting the vegetables in front of her before turning to her son. "I need you to do me a favor," she said. "The washer is broken again, so I need you to go to the laundromat and do some laundry for me. You know how late I work, so I won't have any time to do this before tomorrow. We've barely any clothes to wear."
"That washer's broken again??" Miguel groaned. "Why do we keep fixing that piece of junk?? I could easily buy you a new one."
"No, thank you," Mrs. Labariel said. She turned back to her cutting board and began cutting up some chicken breasts. "I want to pay for as little things with your dirty money as possible. You just keep that for yourself. Besides, I'm capable of paying for another repair until I can afford to get another washer."
Miguel stuffed his hands into his pockets, staring angrily at his mother's back. "I thought I was supposed to be the man of the house now," he said. "Why won't you let me buy things for the house??"
"I don't want to use your money unless it's an emergency," Mrs. Labariel said. Though she couldn't see her son's expression, her tone softened as if she was aware of his frown. "You are the man of the house in the sense that if we ever get into real financial trouble, you'll be able to help out."
"Yeah…" Miguel said. He took out his hand from his pockets and placed it on his head, nodding several times even though his mother couldn't see.
"I don't even have to give you any money for the machines," Mrs. Labariel added. "The clothes are in the two baskets in the guest room. Make sure you don't wash the reds with the whites again."
Miguel made a sound indicating he understood and then shook his head. "I can't believe I'm gonna spend my Friday night like this…" he muttered to himself.
"Maybe you need to get an honest job and quit all this Ryuugekitai business," Mrs. Labariel said, her back still turned away from him.
"I wish I could, but it's too dangerous to get out, and it's way too profitable," Miguel said, finally showing a smile.
Mrs. Labariel turned to him, shaking the knife at him as to scold him. "You can't keep this stuff up forever," she said.
"I'll enjoy the ride while it lasts," Miguel said, shrugging.
Mrs. Labariel sighed and walked over to the sink, beginning to wash off the knife. "I'm glad your father isn't alive to see how I raised you," she said. "Dinner will be ready in a few minutes, but you can eat whenever you like since I have to leave soon."
"Hai," Miguel said. His frown had came back easily, but he left the room without another word. "Am I going to have to live in my father's shadow for the rest of my life??" It wasn't that Miguel hated his father; it was just that he didn't like to be constantly looked down upon because he didn't measure up to someone he barely knew who had been dead for several years now. Usually he avoided such unpleasant conversation with his family, but with the recent lack of afternoon Ryuugekitai business, he had been encountering it a lot. It was always the same thing, and Miguel was really getting sick of it.
So I'm not some big-shot like tousan was--big whoop, he thought, heading to his room. He had no desire to return to the family room where his grandmother was most likely still lurking around. Being Dilandau's "lackey" is far better than being a chief of police or a gang leader, in my opinion.
********
"That's really…really…" Celena said, forcing herself not to say the word she was thinking.
"It's cruel," Allen said. He began cutting his steak and then ate one of the pieces he had cut.
"Well, I suppose…" Celena said. She sighed and only looked at her plate. I know that this sort of thing isn't beneath this new Dilandau, but it's hard to condemn him, she thought. No matter what or who he has become, it's wrong of him to do something like this to Allen. I mean, Allen has taken care of us so well ever since tousan and kaasan died…
"At least he's not harming himself or the house," Allen said after finishing chewing. "For the moment, that's the best I can wish for."
"How did Dilandau know you were coming?" Celena asked.
"Saa (Who knows)? He must have a sixth sense for these sort of things."
"Do you think he'll come down for dinner?"
"He hasn't in a long time," Allen said. He paused to drink some water. "I don't know why we would expect him to simply because he has been cooped up in this house for a few days."
Celena sighed and picked up her fork. "I just hope he eat something eventually," she said.
"Starvation is the last thing I imagine Dilandau would suffer from," Allen muttered.
Celena did begin to eat at that moment, but she stared at her older brother with a faint frown. His comments concerning Dilandau were often very nonchalant and cynical. Of course, they weren't always like that, or Celena would really be worried, but from time to time, Allen said something that suggested that he simply washed his hands of Dilandau. Celena knew for a fact that he wasn't so calm about Dilandau's situation; the day Dilandau had been suspended, they ferociously argued in the morning and afterwards when Dilandau came home early from suspension. But even if Celena was aware of those times, Allen would rarely express his discontent of Dilandau openly in front of her. Obviously their dispute that morning had meant to be a short one in private while Celena was still sleeping that had turned into something less quiet and ended up waking her as if an earthquake had occurred. When Celena though of it, she understood why Allen chose to keep his cool in front of her. She really couldn't stand hearing them fight, and it didn't solve anything. Whatever drove Dilandau to do what he did, a thorough discussion wasn't going to get rid of that drive.
Celena was so absorbed in her thoughts as she ate that she didn't realize the phone was ringing. It wasn't until she saw Allen beginning to get up that she was aware of the ringing sound, which was on its third ring by that time. She quickly offered to get it herself, allowing Allen to continue his meal, and walked from the table to the doorway between the kitchen and the dining room. Celena supposed it was one of her friends who were determined to convince her to go out with her this weekend.
"Hello?" Celena said.
"Sorry to disturb your dinner, Celena-san," came the voice from the receiver.
"Hitomi-san?" Celena blinked, not even realizing that she had her number.
"I looked up your number in the phone book. Luckily you're the only Schezar family in this city."
"Sou ka (I see)." Celena smiled and leaned against the doorway. "What can I do for you?"
"Well, I was just wondering if it was possible I could come over to your house tomorrow--you know, hang out with you for a little while. I'm embarrassed to say, but I haven't made many new friends yet, and I'd like to get to know you better."
"Over my house?" Celena repeated. She had to twist her friends' arms to get them to come over to her house (which she hadn't understood before but now knew the reason why).
"If I'm imposing by inviting myself over--" Hitomi began.
"Iie," Celena said, the surprise on her face replaced with delight. "I think that's a great idea. I mean, we don't get to talk much in class, and I think there's some things I'd like to talk to you about."
"All right, I'll see you tomorrow afternoon then," Hitomi said. "Well, I'll let you get back to your dinner. Oh, and don't worry about Dilandau-kun. He ordered out some food while you were at school, so it will be a while before he's hungry again."
"Ee (Huh)? How did you know that?"
Celena was sure Hitomi was smiling as she heard her say, "Ja ne!" Celena didn't get a chance to give Hitomi a farewell because Hitomi promptly hung up after that. Celena remained puzzled even after she hung up the phone before she remembered about Hitomi's gift. She smiled and headed back to the table with Allen.
"Was it telemarketers?" Allen asked as she started eating her baked potato.
"No, it was a new friend I made," Celena said. "She's this really interesting girl from Mystic Moon."
"Mystic Moon?" Allen repeated.
"Why are you making such a strange face?"
"Iie, betsu ni (No, it's nothing)," Allen said, smiling. "It's just that tousan once told me about this girl he met from Mystic Moon. He said she was the strangest person he had ever met. She was always seemed to know what he was going to do and often what he was going to say."
"Wow," Celena said, wondering if all Mystic Moon people were like that. "My friend's a lot like that too. I wonder why more people don't travel to Mystic Moon if so many people have that ability. I'm surprised that at least Americans, who are constantly fascinated by psychics, don't storm the place [4]."
"Apparently, it's not tourist friendly…" Allen said. "It's definitely not anywhere I'm planning a trip to anytime soon."
I guess that's something else I'll ask Hitomi-san about, Celena thought. But my first priority is to find out more about what she may know about Dilandau. Since I know for a fact that she believes Dilandau has good qualities, it's possible that she and I can work together on this! As they say, two heads are better than one!
Although Allen was clueless to why Celena was smiling for the rest of the meal and while she was cleaning the dishes, he didn't bother to question it. Whatever was making her so content was of little concern. It was merely comforting to see her smiling like she usually did.
--Some Footnotes:
[1]- I thought I ought to make the name of his other gang ironic (even though it does seem a bit uncreative ^_^)
[2]- I decided that would be the best name for his grandmother since that's what Miguel calls her most of the time.
[3]- Just a note if anyone hasn't guessed already. The main language spoken in Gaea is Japanese, though some of the other prevalent languages in the country are English and Spanish.
[4]- Just a little bashing at Americans' repeated infomercials featuring "psychics." My favorite, of course, is Ms. Cleo (*sweat-drop*)
--Next Part: Miguel does some laundry, Dilandau meets up with Celena, the Ryuugekita has a brief meeting, and Dilandau comes back to school to stir up some trouble with his principal. Well, read on if you desire to do so!