Disclaimer: Oh ho HO! I see you, you people coming to read this story. You think you're SO great because you're reading this for FREE, eh? WELL FORGET IT! AH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA -*gets promptly knocked out by men in tight shirts who work for the mysterious yet powerful 'Citrus Lady' and dragged away to 'Author's Who Don't Own Their Characters' land, all the while mumbling about how Soylent Green is people and how Macarthur's park is melting in the dark*
Author's Notes: I would very much like to thank those of you who took the time to review. That helps me greatly. ^_^ Extra kudos goes to Naomi Athena, Silver Sunshine and Silver Vaporeon for being great friends and even better muses. You guys rock! ^_^ (Extra note: all three of those mentioned people are authors on here on fanfiction.net, and they've got great stories. I suggest reading them!) I'd also like to say that, yes, this will be a long fanfic. It's kind of an epic; and in my mind not a bad concept. I hope you guys enjoy reading it!
Just some extra stuff:
'. .' indicates thought
". ." indicates spoken words or phrases
//~*~// indicates the beginning/end of a dream sequence
*=*=* indicates the next scene of the story
Rating: It's still rated R for the same reasons, although if the later chapters shape up to what they could be, the rating may be bumped up to NC-17. It all depends on how well I've fleshed this out. ^^
And so, without further adieu, I present to you the second chapter of. . .
Pandora
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Tatewaki Kuno had been through many things in his life that most of us could only dream of. Being attacked by an elephant and a Chinese prince with a penchant for pickles, rice and chopsticks in one day was old news. Cursed dog men were nothing unfamiliar and easily smote with skill and prowess of the wooden sword. Evil pigtailed martial artists were to be contended seriously with, however openings in their seemingly invincible stances were found and exploited. He could still feel the punches of love indented on his face from Akane Tendo and his Tree-Borne Kettle Girl. There was nothing to fear, nothing to feel pain from.
However, Kuno did not like needles. No, scratch out "did not like" and replace with 'utterly and completely detested'. This was quite a new discovery, seeing that he usually wasn't in a hospital being mercilessly poked and prodded by overweight and under-qualified nurses with something horribly sharp. Being a man, he was expected to take it with dignity and bravery; if Kuno was of any less stature and wealth, the phrase "to hell with it" might have crossed his mind. Squarely looking a rather pudgy and sour woman in the eye, he began to speak, his voice low and deadly.
"Don't do that," he told her, motioning with his head to the needle she was busy hooking up to the vein in his arm. Kuno's voice and facial expressions didn't faze the woman, as she raised one eyebrow and pushed just a little bit harder into his blood vessel. Kuno scarcely bit back a yelp. The fat nurse wheezed out what could've been considered a laugh as she went to help the other nurses do some different yet equally ungodly thing to his body. Tatewaki squeezed his eyes tightly in hopes that they would be finished soon.
"Alright hon, we just need to take a blood sample and we'll let'cha know the results once we get 'em, alright?" another obese nurse told him, her frizzy black hair held back by her nurse's hat. Kuno looked contemptuously up at her chubby face, feeling as if he could burn a hole through her head. She smiled back at him, somehow mistaking his loathing for gratitude that she could suck the very life force from his body. With disdain, he looked away from her face and at the IV beside him, the soft dripping noise beginning to drive him insane. He sighed noisily, looking to the ceiling for some sort of relief, some sort of alleviation from the annoyances surrounding him. Kuno found a fluorescent light whose humming, which began to drown out the IV's dripping, was at least twice as aggravating as one of the nurse's bodily weight, and it was beginning to sting his eyes. The door was shut, so there was no sovereignty to be found in the hallways from the bleak white that permeated the general vicinity of his keep.
Kuno did not like hospitals. Not one bit. Perhaps if one of the nurses were as pretty as the one at Furinkan. . .
He remembered with a start that he indeed was not at Furinkan, and all the corpulent women were gone, replaced by the solitary figure of his sister. Sighing, Tatewaki sat up, realizing that the needle left a rather unpleasant sting in his left arm, which was now bandaged to protect any more blood from leaking out. Kuno shifted his gaze from his sister's dark, imploring eyes to the window, which had a fair view of a nearby park. Although he could feel Kodachi's eyes staring at his back, many years of kendo practice had allowed him to have excellent concentration.
"Where am I?" the boy asked absently, scanning the surrounding outside region. Lush foliage inundated the park, where young children were gleefully playing with friends and siblings. Kuno spotted two kids that looked to be brother and sister, helping each other onto the teeter totter, and enjoying the ride's benefit of going up and down continuously. They seemed to be having the time of their lives, the sister's thick black hair waving up and down behind, the brother's dark chestnut hair flowing in a less dramatic way. The children were laughing; innocence written all over their faces, completely oblivious to the world around them. Tatewaki smiled inwardly despite himself, watching the kids enjoy themselves so. He could see the girl most clearly; he could imagine her laughter and see her clear dark eyes, her long black hair. . .
She was a spitting image of a younger Kodachi, he realized suddenly. The boy, stopping the ride slowly, looked behind him as he dismounted the ride so as not to hit anybody. He had short, dark brown hair, and grey eyes; much like his own. Kuno drew his breath in sharply, yet silently, as the boy turned back around to slowly help his sister off the teeter totter. Lowering the bar slowly to the ground, he walked around and helped the girl up, both of them smiling. The children ran over to a woman who was walking towards them; obviously their mother. She had beautiful, long, raven black hair and deep brown eyes. The mother scooped up both kids, hugging them tightly as they nestled into her protective arms. Even from a distance, Tatewaki could see the looks of utter contentment on both the children's faces. The young boy looked his mother in the eye as she tenderly gave him a kiss on his cheek. The little boy smiled, and turned his face in the direction of Kuno's hospital window.
Their eyes seemed to lock for a second; the boy's innocent ones with Tatewaki's surprised stare. It was almost as if Kuno was looking back through time at a younger, more naive version of himself. A happy self. . .
Kuno quickly tore his gaze from the window, a sense of loneliness flooding his body. He clenched his white bed sheets in an iron grip, willing his heart to slow down. The dream had seemed all too real; and now this?
'Why?' he asked silently, staring down at the sheets which had suddenly become more interesting. Kodachi, impatient with her brother's odd behaviour, cleared her throat loudly in hopes of getting his attention. Kuno's head snapped up to see his sister tapping her foot on the floor, one hand resting on her hip.
"Kodachi," he breathed, not quite sure of what else to say, "why are you here?" Although they still carried a look of annoyance and self-righteousness, Kodachi's eyes softened into a more concerned gaze at her brother's question, albeit barely. Her red lips curved into a lopsided smile.
"I received a telephone call at noon hour telling me that my brother was in the hospital. What was I to do?" Kodachi said, mock helplessness trickling through into her voice. Chuckling under her breath, she walked towards Tatewaki's bed and pulled up a chair.
"Would the intentions of missing your next class fueled your visit, or have your feelings towards me taken an abrupt turn so that you may actually worry about my health?" Kuno implored, looking at Kodachi wryly with his tone carrying a sharp edge of disbelief and sarcasm. She gave a slight 'hmpf'.
"Why brother dear, do you truly think so little of me?" Kodachi asked with a smile, dramatically acting as of an arrow had been shot through her heart, "I was concerned for your well-being, brother dear. Missing mathematics was simply an added bonus." There was a beat of silence, and soon both of the Kuno siblings began to laugh, quietly at first, but soon grew louder. Kodachi's laughter was not the insane cackling that she was notorious for, but rather light and airy, surprisingly normal and easy to listen to. Tatewaki laughed as well, but not with the same jovial enthusiasm as his sister had. Tugging at the back of his mind were the images of the children in the park who, rectified with a quick glance out the window on Kuno's part, had left, and his haunting and startlingly real dreams. The boy grew more sullen, however his reverie and quick analysis of the day thus far were put to halt by his sister's dying laughter. Tatewaki looked at the smiling Kodachi, who was now smoothing out the wrinkles in her tan St. Herbereke's school uniform.
Kodachi would never act this way in public; they had to uphold the image that they hated each other. Why? It didn't really have an explanation as to why, but it was expected that the two were incompatible. The truth was that Kuno did love his sister; they have had to depend on each other for most of their lives, so of course a strong bond was developed. Tatewaki was acutely aware that, yes, there were times that his sibling grated his nerves immensely, especially when it came to her poor taste in men. However, blood indeed ran thicker in her case, and Kuno was glad that Kodachi was by his side during his hospital stay.
'Although why I am in this hospital is still a mystery' Kuno thought, noticing that now Kodachi was looking at him, her head tilted somewhat, and attempting to read his expression.
"Why was I brought to this medical centre, dear sister?" Tatewaki asked. Kodachi sighed quietly, accepting the fact that today was one of her brother's denser days. He seemed to be having a fair number of them recently.
"When the doctors contacted me, they relayed to me the information that you had an extremely high fever," she began, looking into her brother's eyes, "however a few minutes after my arrival, I find you turning ice cold."
Tatewaki was surprised. He knew that he was feeling very hot in the school infirmary and naturally attributed it to having a fever, although he couldn't figure out for the life of him why he was sick. His skin turning icy was news to him.
"What do you mean I was ice cold?" he asked, the surprise showing in his voice. Kodachi bit her lip.
"As I stated, I touched your skin and it was icy beneath my fingertips. Surely strange symptoms for one with such a high fever, I thought," the black haired gymnast concurred, looking worryingly at her sibling. Kuno's face screwed up in thought, a trying experience for the boy indeed. There was a nagging feeling at the back of his mind, telling him something, like he should be connecting with his dreams and his bodily actions. First, Kuno thought, he had the strange dream about fire and Saotome, and he found himself with a fever. Next, he sees his beautiful mother where he is surrounded by cold, and his sister informs him of his icy skin.
'Could my body be reacting to the dreams I'm having? Why?' His condition left him with more questions than answers. This was very strange indeed; it would require more thought.
Suddenly and without knocking, the fat nurse with the frizzled black hair entered Kuno's room carrying a clipboard. She smiled warmly and made Kuno about ready to puke.
"Well Mr. Kuno, since you're fever's gone and your tests proved nothin' out of the ordinary, the doctor said that you're free to leave," she informed the boy. Kuno couldn't help but feel the obese woman's eyes running up and down his body; he still wore his hakima and the front of it was nearly completely open. Shuddering in revulsion and plastering a horribly fake smile on his face, he nodded and said his thanks to the nurse, who smiled and walked out of the room.
Tatewaki felt very unclean right about then. He swore he could still feel that fat woman's eyes on his body, and it was extremely unsettling. Pushing all thoughts of that disgusting moment from his mind, he lifted his sheets off his bed and swung his feet and legs around and off the mattress, his bare feet touching the cool tile and sending an odd sensation up his spine. Kodachi stood as well, walking around the side of the bed to meet with her brother, who was now standing. With Kodachi leading the way, the Kuno siblings left the hospital room together, shutting the door behind them and making their way to the front entrance.
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Silently she watched from the trees as the two teenagers left the tall hospital building. A cool breeze blew by, rustling the twigs and leaves of the tree she was crouching in, however she still managed to stay completely still and silent. Brown hair flying all around her, the girl in the tree cursed wordlessly at the misfortune of the man having the girl with him. Physically she wasn't a threat, but having unwanted attention drawn to the situation at hand was a bad idea. The girl knew much better than that. Her eyes trailed the two teens, realizing that they were soon going to be out of eyesight. She nimbly jumped from the branch she was crouching on, using it much to the effect of a springboard, and leaping gracefully into the protective foliage of another nearby tree. The girl tried not to disturb the leaves as much as possible; even the slightest hiss or rustle and she would be seen, her chances with the boy would be completely lost.
Like a snake she slithered among the branches, not once disturbing the delicate leaves that shrouded her in emerald green. She peered out of tree and at the boy and girl who were walking down the sidewalk, talking about something, although the woman in tree couldn't tell what. They stopped before an intersection, cars zooming by on the busy roads, churning up asphalt and gravel with their grinding tires. It looked like the pair were waiting for the light to change so they could cross.
This presented a bit of a problem for the woman in the tree. It wasn't impossible to cross the street at a high speed without being seen or heard; but that was if you were a regular person walking down the sidewalk, your mind distracted by some stupid care or worry in your mundane existence. According the information she had gathered, the boy she was watching was not exactly ordinary. He wasn't a martial artist by linear terminology, but he knew a great deal of them, and he was adept at kendo which no doubt helped to heighten his sense of awareness. If she wished to get across the street, she would have to time her jumps perfectly. . .
The light turned red, and the cars stopped, allowing for pedestrians to cross. The woman readied herself, shifting her position for the best possible jump. The black haired girl walked across, waving to the boy she was walking with. He didn't look like he was going to join the girl in getting to the other side.
'Well. That makes things easier on me' the woman thought as she watched the boy travel down the street opposite of where the pony-tailed girl had walked. Unconsciously she ran her hand over her forehead, which was covered by a green headband. She felt the familiar lump on her forehead that had been her blessing and curse for the last few years. The brown haired woman smiled a smile that carried both a sense of irony and bemusement as she leapt from tree to tree, watching the boy and waiting for when he was on a quieter street to strike.
He walked down the paved path, obviously lost in his thoughts, not really paying attention to those around him. Passing bystanders briefly wondered why there was a man wearing samurai clothing wandering down the streets aimlessly, however they soon continued on their business, although glancing at him out of the corner of their eyes. Nerima certainly had their share of oddities; no matter how many times the locals saw them they still never quite got used to them, although many of the citizens were thankful that this particular member of the unofficially dubbed "Nerima Gang" wasn't destroying public property or bringing with him panty thieves, demons, or more strange martial artists.
Kuno didn't care about what the other people thought at this point though; he could sense their eyes on him, their questioning, leering eyes studying him. It bothered him somewhat, but he managed to ignore them without getting out his bokken and showing them why it was a bad idea to get on The Blue Thunder's nerves. Instead, he continued to walk towards the general direction of Furinkan High, stopping at a crossroads to allow cars to pass. Looking in the distance he could see his high school and the giant clock, telling him it was 2:30 in the afternoon. Briefly he wondered if it was worth going back to school just for an extra hour or so; his house wasn't very far away, and the teachers and students probably thought he was still in the hospital. Although he felt rejuvenated, Kuno wasn't in the mood to teach Saotome any more lessons in punishment for locking up the beauteous Akane Tendo and Pigtailed Girl. His feet turned and led his body on the sidewalk to his mansion, leaving Furinkan High in the distance.
The woman, following in the trees, smiled devilishly. The streets he were walking were becoming progressively less populated, and the boy was obviously not aware of his surroundings to his full extent.
The gods smiled upon her today.
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I'm evil. ^^ I'm sorry, it's 2:30 a.m., and this is as much as I can think right now. I hope you enjoy this in the mean time; I know it's not great, but nyeh. R/R, please and thank ya!
