AN Here ya go, and thank you guys for not flaming, you're awesome! ^_^
::Chapter Fourteen::
::Five Down, Two To Go::
The eclectic (My new vocab word! Means 'varied'!) group of teens sat down in a small restaurant after the tournament to decide how they were going to find the last two seishi.
"Chiriko and Mitsukake, huh?" Tory said, leaning back and thoughtfully sipping her coffee. She noticed with slight amusement that Kouji and Genrou looked highly uncomfortable in the stiff atmosphere.
"I'm surprised you agreed to do this, Genrou." Tory couldn't help but say.
"And why would that be?" she replied, raising an eyebrow.
"Spending your time with MEN just to save more of 'their kind'? I can't believe you'd do that just out of compassion. What's in it for you?" Tory asked, eyes narrowing as she studied the street wise 'law enforcer'. Old classmate or not, Tory had taken a keen interest in this girl the first time she had heard about her in the police reports, though at the time, the fact that they had once gone to school together had not registered. She knew for a fact that Genrou hated men.
"I want to see if their story's true." Genrou answered, casting a side- glance at the two strange men sitting a few seats down from her. Both face- faulted, and Tasuki rounded on her with fury in his eyes.
"You STILL don't believe us?!" Tasuki exclaimed, grinding his teeth together in frustration as he did before continuing to rant. "We've freakin' found all but two of the seishi, you've seen their marks yourself, and you still got doubts?!"
"Yes." Genrou stated calmly, sipping her coke.
"What's it take to convince you woman?!" he yelled, immediately being shushed by Chichir and Chiri.
"Oh, not much actually. I just don't like, or trust you." Genrou said, casually.
'Was I really this bad before I met the guys?' Tasuki asked himself, wanting to scream and Lekka Shinen something. Which reminded him...
"Hey Chichiri, where's my Tessan?" Genrou and Tasuki asked at the same time.
"I'll give all of your things back once we get to the apartment." Chichiri told them, waving his hands to ward their tempers off.
"Apartment?" Tory asked, looking apprehensive.
"My home." Genrou answered shortly, going back to her coke.
"OUR home." Kouji corrected. "I pay some of the rent too, don't forget."
"What about me?" Chiri asked, clasping her hands together with big watery eyes.
"You're an honorary family member." Kouji told her with a wink and a peace sign, and Genrou gave a half-smile of agreement.
"Oy, what about us?" Tasuki asked, knowing Genrou's was probably where they'd have to stay while they were here.
"Don't push your luck." Genrou and Kouji snorted at the same time.
"You can stay there for a while, but don't forget. It's a GIRLS' pad. So don't get too comfortable. If you're staying for too long, you're getting a job and renting your own house." Genrou said flatly, crossing her arms.
"We only have so much room." Kouji told them apologetically, shrugging.
"Da, hopefully it won't be for too long." Chichiri told them, sweatdropping with a nervous laugh.
"Maybe you can all stay with me." Tory mused. Everyone else turned to stare at her.
"Er, Miss Tory, you DO know this girl's record?" Nuko said lowly, trying to be quiet enough for Genrou not to hear him.
"Well, yes." Tory admitted, rubbing the back of her neck.
"Over a dozen reports of breaking and entering, half a dozen attempted abductions, and she has quick the liking for 'disposing' of rowdy men on the street." Nuko hissed, not quite quietly enough.
"The only kids I tried to 'abduct' as you put it, where the ones who would have died if they had stayed where they were any longer. As I recall, all the children's families were inspected after I did, and were discovered to be abusing them." Genrou stated coldly, Kouji also glaring at Nuko, who blushed and played with a strand of hair.
"Well, yes, but there are still the other matters!" he argued, still pink in the cheeks.
"You call them 'rowdy men', I call them the murderers and rapists your 'law enforcement' is unable to catch because they've stocked up on too many doughnuts." Genrou snorted, making Nuko look even more uncomfortable.
"You have no authority to-" Nuko started to exclaim, but was cut off by Genrou's venomous glare.
"We'll take it into our own hands if we have to. You know we'd never get hired to be agents or anything." Kouji said, throwing her hands in the air, feeling a little miffed that her own, rather impressive in her opinion, record had been overlooked.
"It's okay, Nuko. They're 'seishi', remember? I'm sure they have honor." Tory assured her bodyguard before he gave himself reason to take the girls into house arrest.
"But- but-!" Nuko stuttered, exasperated.
"Then it's settled! We'll take you home, introduce you to Daddy, and look for the seishi from there!" Tory interrupted, clapping her hands happily and signaling a waiter over for their check.
"You know, this's going to be interesting. Hanging out with you guys and all." Chiri said with a laugh.
"If it gets TOO interesting, I say we hire bodyguards." Kouji chuckled.
"Yeah, I mean, aren't WE the ones who're supposed to be kept alive here?" Tory asked, looking at Chichir and Tasuki in confusion.
"Yes, no da." Chichir nodded seriously.
"Then why are we having to go look for the others? Shouldn't we be sending someone to find them and just hiding out?" Tory asked, putting a finger to her chin.
"I don't know if that's a good idea, no da." Chichir said, looking worried.
"Yeah, what if who we send isn't on the level? What then?" Kouji put in, resting her chin in her palm.
"Then we chase them down and-" Genrou started to say, all too cheerfully, but Chiri and Kouji both cut her off with hands clapped over her mouth.
"Eh, heh heh heh. Let's go see your pad, Tory!" Kouji said, shooting Genrou a stern look. Tory giggled and nodded, ignoring Nuko's protests.
"Hai. Let's all go home." she said happily, walking out the door with the others close behind.
~At Tory's House~
"Good grief, and this is just where you're staying while you're in town?!" Genrou yelped, seeing the elaborately furnished pent house Tory led them to.
"Of course, where else would a gorgeous being such as myself stay?" Tory asked, patting her hair as she walked by a mirror.
"Beats our apartment into the dirt." Kouji muttered, looking around with a grimace.
"Hey, it was home." Genrou said with a half-glare, but was looking around in surprise as well. Tory rang a little bell, and a man in a nicely pressed suit came and helped her out of her coat, putting it into a small closet.
"We'll keep ours on, thanks." Kouji told him, her and Genrou both standing close together, looking about as uncomfortable as a human being can get.
"You two need to relax!" Nuko snorted, handing his coat to the man calmly, looking a little smug about how nervous the girls were.
"You could be a little more sympathetic, you know." Chiri scolded him, planting her hands on her hips and glaring. As soon as she said it, both Genrou and Kouji ripped off their coats and threw them to the servant.
"We don't need ANYONE'S pity." Genrou growled, crossing her arms.
"Don't worry we're not mad at you." Kouji said quickly, seeing Chiri's slightly hurt expression.
"You're GIRLS, of course you need pity." Tasuki muttered, immediately being rounded on by three ticked off girls with glowing symbols.
"WHAT!!!???" Kouji exclaimed, taking a swing at his mid section, Tory aiming for his legs.
"AIIIIII!!!!!! WATCH IT!!!" Tasuki yelled, dodging around them, only to come face-to-face with a silent and furious Genrou. Everything in the room went quiet at the sight of Genrou's narrowed eyes and white-knuckled clenched fists.
"Chichiri, give me my tessan." Genrou ordered the paralyzed monk softly.
"T-that may not b-be such a g-good idea, no da." Chichiri stuttered, backing slightly away.
"Chichiri..." Genrou said dangerously, turning her glare to the frightened man.
As if in a trance Chichiri pulled the weapon out of his kasa, and held out his hand towards the girl.
"Are you CRAZY!!!???" Kouji yelled, diving for him, but it too late. The tessan was already in Genrou's hands.
And Tasuki was on the floor with several large bumps on his head.
"PITY iTHISi YOU EGO-BLOATED, *WHACK* IDIOTIC, *POW* TESTOSERONE INDUCED iCREEPi!!!!!!!! *CRASH BANG SMACK*" Genrou screamed, chasing a pitifully wailing chibi Tasuki around the room with the closed diamond hard fan raised high above her head.
"CALL 'ER OFF! CALL 'ER OFF! I TAKE IT BACK!" Tasuki yelled, dodging another lethal blow to his head with anime tears flying from his eyes.
Genrou just continued chasing him with a vengeance as the others watched and sweatdropped from the sidelines.
Kouji shook her head with a small smile. "She must like him. She didn't fry 'im like a hamburger on a barbeque."
::Chapter Fourteen::
::Five Down, Two To Go::
The eclectic (My new vocab word! Means 'varied'!) group of teens sat down in a small restaurant after the tournament to decide how they were going to find the last two seishi.
"Chiriko and Mitsukake, huh?" Tory said, leaning back and thoughtfully sipping her coffee. She noticed with slight amusement that Kouji and Genrou looked highly uncomfortable in the stiff atmosphere.
"I'm surprised you agreed to do this, Genrou." Tory couldn't help but say.
"And why would that be?" she replied, raising an eyebrow.
"Spending your time with MEN just to save more of 'their kind'? I can't believe you'd do that just out of compassion. What's in it for you?" Tory asked, eyes narrowing as she studied the street wise 'law enforcer'. Old classmate or not, Tory had taken a keen interest in this girl the first time she had heard about her in the police reports, though at the time, the fact that they had once gone to school together had not registered. She knew for a fact that Genrou hated men.
"I want to see if their story's true." Genrou answered, casting a side- glance at the two strange men sitting a few seats down from her. Both face- faulted, and Tasuki rounded on her with fury in his eyes.
"You STILL don't believe us?!" Tasuki exclaimed, grinding his teeth together in frustration as he did before continuing to rant. "We've freakin' found all but two of the seishi, you've seen their marks yourself, and you still got doubts?!"
"Yes." Genrou stated calmly, sipping her coke.
"What's it take to convince you woman?!" he yelled, immediately being shushed by Chichir and Chiri.
"Oh, not much actually. I just don't like, or trust you." Genrou said, casually.
'Was I really this bad before I met the guys?' Tasuki asked himself, wanting to scream and Lekka Shinen something. Which reminded him...
"Hey Chichiri, where's my Tessan?" Genrou and Tasuki asked at the same time.
"I'll give all of your things back once we get to the apartment." Chichiri told them, waving his hands to ward their tempers off.
"Apartment?" Tory asked, looking apprehensive.
"My home." Genrou answered shortly, going back to her coke.
"OUR home." Kouji corrected. "I pay some of the rent too, don't forget."
"What about me?" Chiri asked, clasping her hands together with big watery eyes.
"You're an honorary family member." Kouji told her with a wink and a peace sign, and Genrou gave a half-smile of agreement.
"Oy, what about us?" Tasuki asked, knowing Genrou's was probably where they'd have to stay while they were here.
"Don't push your luck." Genrou and Kouji snorted at the same time.
"You can stay there for a while, but don't forget. It's a GIRLS' pad. So don't get too comfortable. If you're staying for too long, you're getting a job and renting your own house." Genrou said flatly, crossing her arms.
"We only have so much room." Kouji told them apologetically, shrugging.
"Da, hopefully it won't be for too long." Chichiri told them, sweatdropping with a nervous laugh.
"Maybe you can all stay with me." Tory mused. Everyone else turned to stare at her.
"Er, Miss Tory, you DO know this girl's record?" Nuko said lowly, trying to be quiet enough for Genrou not to hear him.
"Well, yes." Tory admitted, rubbing the back of her neck.
"Over a dozen reports of breaking and entering, half a dozen attempted abductions, and she has quick the liking for 'disposing' of rowdy men on the street." Nuko hissed, not quite quietly enough.
"The only kids I tried to 'abduct' as you put it, where the ones who would have died if they had stayed where they were any longer. As I recall, all the children's families were inspected after I did, and were discovered to be abusing them." Genrou stated coldly, Kouji also glaring at Nuko, who blushed and played with a strand of hair.
"Well, yes, but there are still the other matters!" he argued, still pink in the cheeks.
"You call them 'rowdy men', I call them the murderers and rapists your 'law enforcement' is unable to catch because they've stocked up on too many doughnuts." Genrou snorted, making Nuko look even more uncomfortable.
"You have no authority to-" Nuko started to exclaim, but was cut off by Genrou's venomous glare.
"We'll take it into our own hands if we have to. You know we'd never get hired to be agents or anything." Kouji said, throwing her hands in the air, feeling a little miffed that her own, rather impressive in her opinion, record had been overlooked.
"It's okay, Nuko. They're 'seishi', remember? I'm sure they have honor." Tory assured her bodyguard before he gave himself reason to take the girls into house arrest.
"But- but-!" Nuko stuttered, exasperated.
"Then it's settled! We'll take you home, introduce you to Daddy, and look for the seishi from there!" Tory interrupted, clapping her hands happily and signaling a waiter over for their check.
"You know, this's going to be interesting. Hanging out with you guys and all." Chiri said with a laugh.
"If it gets TOO interesting, I say we hire bodyguards." Kouji chuckled.
"Yeah, I mean, aren't WE the ones who're supposed to be kept alive here?" Tory asked, looking at Chichir and Tasuki in confusion.
"Yes, no da." Chichir nodded seriously.
"Then why are we having to go look for the others? Shouldn't we be sending someone to find them and just hiding out?" Tory asked, putting a finger to her chin.
"I don't know if that's a good idea, no da." Chichir said, looking worried.
"Yeah, what if who we send isn't on the level? What then?" Kouji put in, resting her chin in her palm.
"Then we chase them down and-" Genrou started to say, all too cheerfully, but Chiri and Kouji both cut her off with hands clapped over her mouth.
"Eh, heh heh heh. Let's go see your pad, Tory!" Kouji said, shooting Genrou a stern look. Tory giggled and nodded, ignoring Nuko's protests.
"Hai. Let's all go home." she said happily, walking out the door with the others close behind.
~At Tory's House~
"Good grief, and this is just where you're staying while you're in town?!" Genrou yelped, seeing the elaborately furnished pent house Tory led them to.
"Of course, where else would a gorgeous being such as myself stay?" Tory asked, patting her hair as she walked by a mirror.
"Beats our apartment into the dirt." Kouji muttered, looking around with a grimace.
"Hey, it was home." Genrou said with a half-glare, but was looking around in surprise as well. Tory rang a little bell, and a man in a nicely pressed suit came and helped her out of her coat, putting it into a small closet.
"We'll keep ours on, thanks." Kouji told him, her and Genrou both standing close together, looking about as uncomfortable as a human being can get.
"You two need to relax!" Nuko snorted, handing his coat to the man calmly, looking a little smug about how nervous the girls were.
"You could be a little more sympathetic, you know." Chiri scolded him, planting her hands on her hips and glaring. As soon as she said it, both Genrou and Kouji ripped off their coats and threw them to the servant.
"We don't need ANYONE'S pity." Genrou growled, crossing her arms.
"Don't worry we're not mad at you." Kouji said quickly, seeing Chiri's slightly hurt expression.
"You're GIRLS, of course you need pity." Tasuki muttered, immediately being rounded on by three ticked off girls with glowing symbols.
"WHAT!!!???" Kouji exclaimed, taking a swing at his mid section, Tory aiming for his legs.
"AIIIIII!!!!!! WATCH IT!!!" Tasuki yelled, dodging around them, only to come face-to-face with a silent and furious Genrou. Everything in the room went quiet at the sight of Genrou's narrowed eyes and white-knuckled clenched fists.
"Chichiri, give me my tessan." Genrou ordered the paralyzed monk softly.
"T-that may not b-be such a g-good idea, no da." Chichiri stuttered, backing slightly away.
"Chichiri..." Genrou said dangerously, turning her glare to the frightened man.
As if in a trance Chichiri pulled the weapon out of his kasa, and held out his hand towards the girl.
"Are you CRAZY!!!???" Kouji yelled, diving for him, but it too late. The tessan was already in Genrou's hands.
And Tasuki was on the floor with several large bumps on his head.
"PITY iTHISi YOU EGO-BLOATED, *WHACK* IDIOTIC, *POW* TESTOSERONE INDUCED iCREEPi!!!!!!!! *CRASH BANG SMACK*" Genrou screamed, chasing a pitifully wailing chibi Tasuki around the room with the closed diamond hard fan raised high above her head.
"CALL 'ER OFF! CALL 'ER OFF! I TAKE IT BACK!" Tasuki yelled, dodging another lethal blow to his head with anime tears flying from his eyes.
Genrou just continued chasing him with a vengeance as the others watched and sweatdropped from the sidelines.
Kouji shook her head with a small smile. "She must like him. She didn't fry 'im like a hamburger on a barbeque."