Title:

When the Caged Bird Sings

Author:

Shun'u [ff.net ID: 61008]

Genre:

Drama/Supernatural

Series:

Kakutou Komusume Juline/ Juline (US release)

Rating:

PG

Notes:

(House of Kenga) Juline, Seiju/Sai, Ryoku, and Shiga Kio

Disclaimer: Juline and all of the characters used in this fan fiction do not belong to me. They're the creation of and © Kakinouchi Narumi (also creator of Vampire Princess Miyu) and all subsequent parties. "When the Caged Bird Sings" © Hanashiro, Shun'u, 2001-2002.

December 2001

W H E N • T H E • C A G E D • B I R D • S I N G S

A Juline Fan Fiction

By Hanashiro, Shun'u

Part 2: The Dynamics of Schoolgirl Crushes

"Did you hear, Mitsuyo?"

"Yeah, my mom's freaked out about it. She won't let me out of the house after sunset. What about you, Aiko?"

"Same here, except it's my dad. He's talking' about driving me to and from school too. Jeez. You'd think that I'm the next target or something."

"Hey, cool, Aiko." Naoe piped in. "I'd love having a ride to school every day. Almost like having your own limo service, isn't it?" The three girls giggled before leaning in close once more to share the latest gossip in their small town.

Aiko, the one with the overprotective father, said, "It's not as though I look anything like the victims. News said that all the girls look alike. Long hair, pretty, petite, big round eyes." Aiko never had trouble laughing at herself. She stood up and made a sweeping gesture to include all of her chubby glory. "Would anyone think of kidnapping this? Overweight, chocolate-loving, kinky haired, four-eyed bookworms aren't the fashion statement this spring. The only thing I have in common with those girls is being short."

Again the three fell into gales of good-natured laughter. They drew a few irritated glances from those classmates trying to cram in last minute studying, but otherwise their hilarity was ignored as a commonplace occurrence. Amongst those ignoring their noise were Kio and Juline, who had just entered the study hall room together and were, as usual, in deep conversation about something that they would only share with each other.

Mitsuyo said in a hushed tone, "Hey, take a look. Don't you think Juline has all of the things the kidnapper's looking for? She's tiny and has long hair and the biggest eyes I've ever seen."

"And she's the prettiest girl in the whole school," Naoe agreed. "All of the guys are halfway in love with her."

That was news for Aiko. She complained, "You guys! I didn't know that. We're supposed to share info with each other." Curiosity drove her to ask, "How come no one's asked her out yet?"

Naoe and Mitsuyo traded a knowing glance and clued in their clueless friend. "'Cause Kio would pound them into the ground if they came anywhere near her." They shared a longing, gusty sigh and simultaneously said, "He's so cute."

Aiko felt an imaginary bead of sweat, like those drawn in her manga, roll down her head. "Man, have you two got it bad."

Naoe was still staring at Kio's strong, uniform-clad back in starry-eyed fascination. "I think I've been ruined for men. He's everything a girl could ask for: strong and intelligent with a good sense of humor. Juline's so lucky to have him."

"Yeah." Mitsuyo propped her chin in her palm. She added, "He's kind and polite with everyone, yet cocky and sure of himself at the same time. And his eyes! I can just drown in them forever."

Aiko wiggled her fingers in front of their bemused faces. "Hello? Guys, we're talking about Kio, remember? This is the guy we've gone to school with all of our lives – the guy who's attached at the hip to Juline Kenga, practically lives in her house, and would give both of his arms and a kidney if she asked him to." Then she added with insight uncommon for one of her age, "Even if Juline weren't in the picture, he'd be looking for her his entire life. They're like soul mates or something."

Naoe and Mitsuyo thought that was the most romantic thing they had ever heard. When they continued to sigh and showed no signs of recovering from their daydreams, Aiko gave up reasoning with them. Her best friends were such hopeless nutcases when it came to the subject of Kio Shiga. Too bad he had no idea about the affect that he had on the female population.

"And they say I'm clueless."

***

"So what did Ryoku say last night?" Kio asked. Juline opened up her notebook and brought out her gel pen and mechanical pencil.

"He said that I had to go straight home today after gymnastics," Juline said. She didn't know it, but she was pouting. Kio stuffed his hands deep into his pockets so as not to give into the urge to pinch her cheeks and make funny faces just to see what her reaction would be.

"I can't even go to the noodle house and have dinner with you. His words were, 'It's dangerous now with a killer on the loose. I don't want you out any more than you have to be.' This sucks," Juline grouched as she pulled out her English and Trigonometry books. "He can't protect me forever. I'll be fifteen soon, then sixteen, then seventeen and, before anyone knows it, I'll be a grown woman. What'll he do then, lock me up in my room?"

Kio thought that was precisely what Ryoku would do. He mumbled, "He might."

"What'd you say, Kio?"

"Nothing." Kio freed one of his hands and pulled out his seat. Turning it around, he sat down and crossed his arms over the back of the chair. "Was he mad about what happened?"

Juline frowned and erased a mistake in her homework. "I don't know… he didn't sound mad. But then, with Ryoku, it's hard to tell. He can be so tightlipped about things sometimes, it's worse than pulling teeth to get a straight answer out of him when he thinks he's doing what's best for you."

Kio knew that everything Juline said was right on the mark. Ryoku was a great mentor and arguably the best martial artist of his generation, however, neither of these facts meant that he was infallible. The current heir to the House of Kenga was overbearing in regards to Juline. He took his guardianship of her to heart and treated Juline much like an adored niece or little sister. And just as if she were family, and he "The Older Male Relative", Ryoku was overprotective and had a heavy hand when it came to rules.

Sometimes Kio thought that the only thing preventing Ryoku from treating Kio with suspicion, like he did to other people Juline associated with outside of the dojo, was the fact that Ryoku was his uncle on his paternal side. Family was a wonderful thing. If only Kio could convince his dad of that, maybe his dad would stay home more instead of wandering around and popping up unpredictably.

"…And then he tried to hug me, the creep."

It was like someone had splashed cold water on his face. "What?!" Kio grabbed her right wrist, causing Juline to drop her pencil in surprise. "Who?"

The pencil rolled to a precarious stop at the edge of Juline's desk. She said, "Yamazaki-kun. Weren't you listening to me, Kio?"

Kio asked, "When did this happen?"

"Yesterday…" Juline tugged at her wrist without success. His grip was tight enough to cut off her circulation. She was quickly losing sensation in her fingertips. "Kio, you're hurting me."

He dropped her hand like it was a hot coal. Remorse immediately hit him when he saw the finger shaped bruises that encircled her delicate wrist. Kio touched one of them with his fingertips. He had never hurt her before. Even with all of their sparring, he had never hurt her. Doing so now made him feel sick to his stomach.

"I'm sorry, Juline."

Juline shook her head. "It's okay. You didn't mean to."

Kio was relieved. However, that did not mean he had forgotten the reason for his abrupt actions. He stood and shoved the chair back to its place behind his desk. "Juline, I forgot my homework in my locker. I'll be right back."

Juline nodded absently. Kio always forgot his homework. Speaking of which, hers was in a sad state and in severe need of corrections.

She said, "Meet me in the library before lunch, okay?"

"Sure thing." He disappeared through the doorway at a jog. There wasn't much time before the period would end and he had to meet Juline.

***

Yamazaki Hiro was walking down the hallway before the final bell and chatting with his soccer buddies when a fist slammed into the wall in front of him. Startled, he jerked back and rounded on the boy who dared to challenge him, the school's soccer captain and most popular athlete. He scowled at the black haired martial artist now leaning against the wall where his fist had created a small crater.

"Shiga! What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Kio's smile was tight and forced. "Tell your tagalongs to disappear, Yamazaki. I want a word with you."

Normally Yamazaki wouldn't have stood for being spoken to that way by the Shiga boy. There was an understanding between them: they hated each other's guts. The bad blood had begun in kindergarten days when Juline had had a seat next to Shiga and in front of Yamazaki. He had had a lot of fun picking on her hairstyle because it looked like the little girl had two cinnamon buns on her head and Juline could always be depended on for a reaction. For many weeks he continued to poke and prod at her hair, but never did he touch it until one day when he made the mistake of tugging on Juline's hair in hopes that it would fall out of the buns.

From that moment on it was war between the boys. Shiga had cornered him during recess and made it clear that he did not appreciate anyone having fun at Juline's expense, and he most certainly did not like anyone touching his best friend. Yamazaki had stood his ground. Their fight had lasted until the teachers came out and broke them apart. Years passed and nothing changed between them.

Yamazaki went about paving his way towards popularity. Having a Japanese father and American mother, Yamazaki had the best of his mixed blood heritage. With natural auburn hair that fell in stylish asymmetrical waves to touch the high collar of his shirt, bright green eyes that slanted exotically, combined with the lanky build typical of most Japanese men, Yamazaki had no problems succeeding. The only thorn in his side was Shiga who was equally, if not more, popular simply by existing. The bastard.

Yamazaki waved his friends away and waited until they were gone before facing off with his archrival. In this instance he knew what Shiga was seeking him out for. He had anticipated a confrontation since yesterday, when he had acted on impulse and asked Juline for a date. Shiga probably thought that he was picking on the girl again, but he wasn't. Yamazaki couldn't remember a day in his life when he didn't dream about Juline Kenga…

That was why Shiga was so intent on keeping him away from Juline.

"What do you want, Shiga. I don't have time for the likes of you."

Kio dropped the pretense of semi-friendliness once they were alone. "You have three seconds to start explaining."

***

Someone was staring at her; she could feel eyes digging into her back.

Juline stopped writing, put her pencil down, and pushed her chair away from the desk just far enough so that she could easily rise without tripping or knocking it over. Whoever was doing the staring was not friendly. She could tell that much by the weight of the person's presence, a heaviness that implied malice and caused her sixth sense to go haywire.

Shivers ran up and down Juline's spine and she briefly thought, If only Kio was back from whatever he's doing. She would have felt better if he were there because they could then stand back to back and have all four-corners of the classroom covered. Since he wasn't, she made do with keeping her eyes and ears open, as well as her nose. A lot of people made the mistake of not using that particular sense in a fight, but Juline had learned a long time ago that her sense of smell was also important. It had saved her from ambush on a number of occasions when she was able to smell her assailant's cologne before actually seeing him or her in the shadows.

This person smelled like incense and water. The fresh smell of springtime lakes dampened by the clinging smoke of burnt herbs. Juline didn't know of anyone who used incense so much that they reeked of its perfume. And this person wasn't even close… Juline released a breath when she felt him leave.

He?

Somehow Juline was certain that it had been a man. What she didn't know was how she could have known in the first place. Juline shivered and sat back down, not out of want but necessity; her legs were trembling so much that she couldn't have stood for much longer. The mysterious stranger had shaken her up more than she wanted to admit.

***

It was a while before either Aiko or Mitsuyo noticed that their friend had not returned from her trip to the restroom. Ten minutes had passed since they left study hall to sit down for lunch beneath a large maple tree just on the school's perimeter. Naoe had said that she would join them shortly, yet there was still no sign of Naoe's sprite-like form. Normally Mitsuyo and Aiko weren't ones to fret, but in light of their recent conversation, they were uneasy.

"Say, Mitsuyo, shouldn't Naoe be back by now?"

Mitsuyo scanned the yard for any sign of long curly hair and waifish features. Usually the curls made it easy to spot Naoe in a crowd, that being uncommon in Japan, but today not one girl in sight had a curl or wave to her head. She thought that she had found Naoe at last when she caught a flash of movement but it was Juline rushing by with enough speed that her hair streamed out behind her in a golden brown banner.

She gave up looking when it was obvious that Naoe was nowhere in sight, "Let's go check the restroom, Aiko. Maybe she's not feeling well."

The two girls left their unopened bento boxes beneath the tree to find their friend. It turned out that no one had seen her since lunch began. Most of the students they questioned simply assumed that the thin, quiet girl had been with Aiko and Mitsuyo as usual; the three of them were known to be inseparable in school.

At last it was Aiko who voiced their shared fears, "Remember how we were talking about that killer last period?"

"Don't joke about that, Aiko-chan!" Mitsuyo almost shouted.

Aiko wasn't finished. "But don't you think that-"

"Aiko!" Mitsuyo was no longer in a good mood. She was honestly afraid of where Aiko was going with her speculation. She knew that Naoe fit all of the characteristics of the killer's victims. She knew only too well. Hadn't Naoe complained to them just a week ago that she was still trying to put some meat on her bones without success? Hadn't she said something about her hair getting in the way of playing tennis because it kept whipping into her face? Mitsuyo closed her eyes.

"I'm sorry," she said. "We can't think like that, Aiko-chan. Naoe probably just got sidetracked by something. You know how she loses focus whenever someone catches her attention. Someone probably called her over and she's talking to them right now."

Aiko wasn't convinced. However, she also knew that she was upsetting her friend so she let the matter drop. "Okay, we'll give her a couple of more minutes, then we'll go looking again."

***

"Listen you little punk," Yamazaki hissed into Kio's face. He was grateful that he was taller, seeing as how the other boy had more muscle mass despite his deceptively lean build. "I don't know what's gotten into you, but don't take that tone with me unless you're able to back it up with your fists."

Instead of cowing like any good underclassman would do, Kio smiled and punched Yamazaki in the face before the other boy could read his intentions. Yamazaki flew into the opposite wall with a satisfying crack and clutched at his blood spurting nose as he rolled into a pain filled ball. Kio crouched down to look Yamazaki in the eye.

"Do you need any more proof that I can back up my words, Yamazaki?"

Down the hallway a passing student froze at the tableau laid out before him. Yamazaki knew that by the end of the day word would have spread like wildfire and his hard earned reputation as a tough-as-nails freshman would be ruined. All because of the dark boy who had just let fly with the best straight punch Yamazaki had ever seen. If only he had witnessed it from a spectator's point of view instead of first hand experience. He winced when he felt nasal bones shift beneath his touch.

"Shit," Yamazaki said. He was blotting his nose with a tissue but the bleeding wouldn't stop. His hands were wet from blood and his head throbbed from where it impacted with the wall. It wouldn't have surprised him to find out he had a concussion. "Did you have to hit me so hard, Shiga?"

Kio was getting impatient. He had come with the intention of finding out the details of what had happened between Yamazaki and Juline. He hadn't meant to lose his temper. At first. Then Yamazaki had antagonized him with his superior attitude. That combined with the thought of the redhead touching Juline… well, Kio thought that the punch was well deserved.

Just when Kio would have answered, a scream pierced the stagnant air that permeated the school's poorly ventilated halls. Fast on its heels came the sound of running feet and then more screams and cries from students and teachers alike. Kio and Yamazaki shared a bewildered glance before they both ran towards the commotion. What they found was a lot more than either could possibly have imagined in their nightmares.

The remains of what had once been a girl's school uniform were shredded and scattered throughout the library. Each strip of cloth, if not saturated, was at least spotted in red. Some hung from the ceiling lights, others dangled over books and desks. The girl that the uniform must have belonged to was spread out in the middle of the macabre scene. Atop the long table normally used for new book displays, she was naked except for her headband and equally soaked in her own life fluid.

Yamazaki took all of this in at the same time as Kio. Both were frozen in the same horror and shock that the rest of those present experienced. The girl had been a classmate of theirs; they had known her all of their lives. Teachers began ushering everyone out, helping those who simply couldn't get going on their own with a gentle push and words of comfort that failed miserably in their task.

"Everyone, stay calm." One teacher was saying. "We need to clear this room for the police, so please exit-"

"NO!"

A girl shoved through the crowd and stood gasping with her hair in disarray. Tears were running down her cheeks and she was almost hyperventilating with the rapid force of her breaths.

"Kimura-san." The teacher's voice was strained from holding in his own emotion. "Please-"

"Naoe!" Mitsuyo sobbed.

"Mitsuyo-chan…"

Aiko was shaken but she forced herself to move towards Mitsuyo. Coagulating blood made her oxfords stick to the ground and make disgusting squelching noises. The coppery stench made her gag. Switching to breathing through her mouth proved to have very little improvement. She had to remember to burn her shoes when she got home.

"Come on Mitsuyo-chan." Aiko looked at the corpse of her friend and saw the sightless, staring eyes. The killer hadn't even bothered to close her eyes. There was still horror written on Naoe's pixie face. "There's nothing you can do for her now."

Mitsuyo sobbed into her shoulder, allowing Aiko to take her away. Together their feet dragged blood into the hallway. Everyone else followed suit. Kio and Yamazaki were no exception. Last to leave, they closed the door behind them. Kio wished that he had never been around to see such a gruesome sight. Then he remembered whom he was supposed to meet in the library.

"Juline!"

Yamazaki shook his head and asked, "What'd you say, Shiga?"

By the time he was fully turned, Kio was gone.

[End part 2]

Author's Notes:

This is a short chapter… ^^; But at least it's posted, right? Let me know what you think of it so far. Don't worry about the original characters. They're just going to serve their purpose and disappear. ^_~

Definitions:

Just some basic suffixes. I just can't help myself. Using these on a regular basis over here… it's odd to hear someone say Mister or Miss nowadays.

-san: Generic suffix. Appropriate for all occasions. In English would translate into Mr./Mrs./Ms.

-chan: Usually used for children, between children, between women, or between siblings. "-chan" shows affection and can carry the connotations of "little" or "cute". Anyone remember how Ukyô always called Ranma, Ranma-chan? Viz chose to translate that "chan" as Ranma-honey. Yuck…

-kun: Usually used between people of equal status: peers. This is not to be used towards someone who is your superior. That's why it's okay to use this between fellow classmates in the same grade. You don't use this with an upperclassman; use "senpai" (sometimes spelled as "sempai") for an upperclassman.