The Right Things

By saicho_18

May 13, 2003

Fuuko looked at the direction from where the voice came from. She cocked her eyebrow when she saw Joker and Aki making out, leaning on the hood of the limo.

"Gods," she started, walking towards the said vehicle. "Get a room."

Joker and Aki parted lips for a while. Joker flashed Fuuko a coy grin. "We did."

Aki giggled.

Fuuko rolled her eyes. "Ugh. Gross." She opened the door to the back and climbed in. Before closing the door, she added, "Spare me the details. Please."

She sat in silence for a while as the supposed lovers climbed inside the limo. After a few minutes of warming up the car and driving towards home, Aki leaned in from the front seat with a foxy grin.

"Hey Fuuko," she started. "Want to see what we got?"

Fuuko shrugged a yes, clearly not knowing what she had agreed to.

Aki grinned, kneeled on the front seat and bared her arm of her sleeve. On the pale skin was a tattoo, of the tackiest kind. It was the shape of half a heart, colored red, which contrasted her skin, and inside it was the word Joker written in bold black Italics. "Joker got one too, you know," she explained. "Except his has my name on it. Isn't it cool?"

Fuuko sweat dropped and looked at the rear view mirror where she caught Joker's gaze. He rolled his eyes.

"Aki insisted on the whole thing if you want to know," he had said with a smile. "And who am I to deny my princess' wishes, right?"

Aki giggled, squealed actually, and gave Joker a kiss on the cheek. The limousine swerved dangerously on the road.

"Hey, watch it!" Fuuko yelled. "Gods, if you two don't watch it, you'll end up being Recca and Yanagi. Pathetic, actually."

The rest of the drive was made in silence on Fuuko's part, but up front, Aki kept whispering things to Joker's ear that made him grin maliciously. Fuuko decided that she really didn't want to know what they were whispering about, so she stared at the now somewhat familiar view outside the car.

When they entered the large gate, Fuuko was somewhat surprised when they passed over Kurei by the gardens. When Joker pulled over in the garage, he caught Fuuko's gaze once again in the rearview mirror.

"Scared?" he asked. He didn't even wait for an answer as he and Aki stepped out of the limo.

Fuuko hesitantly went out of the said vehicle, looking over her shoulder at where Kurei was standing. He was in the middle of the circle in front of the mansion, talking to some servants and pointing at the garden.

The Right Things

By saicho_18

May 14, 2003

Honestly, how fat was the chance for her to go inside the front door without Kurei seeing her and thus interrogate her? She decided that the answer to that question was way, way, way below zero. She sucked up her fear, heaved up her courage and walked casually towards the front door. Aki and Joker had already gone ahead, and were inside the mansion, up to god knows what.

Fuuko played with her hands while walking on the long bricked path. She was somewhat surprised to find then cold. And clammy. Not to mention sweaty. Well she supposed it was reasonable for her to be a little nervous, after all Kurei had control over the switch of her parent's lives, didn't he? Funnily, a very puny part of her disagreed with her logic.

For the first time though, she realized what exactly Kurei was doing at that moment. He was instructing people about where to put which table on which place and watching the gardeners trim the rose bushes or mow the grass or place ribbons around which spot.

She had already passed the spot where Kurei was standing by this point, his back was towards her and she was fast approaching the front door. Hey, she may even make it without him noticing! Her hand reached for the doorknob, her leg muscles tensing in preparation to break into a run once she gets inside the heavy oaken door's protection.

"Fuuko," Kurei's said, making her involuntary wince and stand rooted to the spot, her arms outstretched for the doorknob. Damn, so close too! And he didn't even turn around for goodness' sake. She sighed and straightened up and made a mental note never to underestimate Kurei Mori ever again. "We'll talk later," he finished.

Fuuko slouched and entered the door. Once inside, she closed it not so noisily and leaned her back on it for support. Boy, that's one conversation she's looking forward to. Not. Fuuko sighed and made for her room.

She noticed what exactly Kurei had been busy with while she was gone. A new chandelier, one that actually shined without any light hitting it, was put up the foyer's ceiling. The marble floor was also scrubbed to perfection. She could have sworn that she saw her reflection while she walked on it.

When she reached her room, she took off her shoes and immediately plopped on her bed. She stared at the ceiling, her arms widespread at her sides.

Gods, it looked like Kurei was spending a fortune for this ball. Maybe she should fake a fever, just to get out of it. Boy, that would be fun. She heaved a sigh. She imagined that once she finished the sentence "I have a fever," top-notch medical people would be at her side, taking her temperature and whatnots.

When exactly did life become so complicated? And while she was asking questions that may never be answered (ever), why not pop one of the biggest questions there is? Why the hell was all of this happening to her? Did she do something wrong in her young life? She's never killed anybody before, so why? If ever there is such a thing as karma, why couldn't she be punished by turning her into a dung beetle in her next life or something?

Fuuko tried to switch gears for a moment and think of some of the possible things that had happened so far since Kurei.

Well Tokiya was there… he seemed to have performed a total one-eighty on her. What was that all about anyways? Well at least things with him would be a little easier. If ever there would be things in her life involving Mi-chan, that is.

Fuuko never entertained it before, but now she did have quite some idle time on her hands so she's entitled to think whatever she wants. Was there a possibility … that Mi-chan could like her? She smiled involuntarily at the thought. But the bubble was soon burst when the beautiful and kind face of Yanagi entered her mind. Nah, it wasn't possible at all. He liked Yanagi, come one who didn't? Maybe all the stuff that she said to him finally went through his thick head so he just… changed.

The Right Things

By saicho_18

May 15, 2003

But no matter what the hell he was up to, Fuuko was grateful to have the new Tokiya. He was much more fun than the old and she felt like she could really relate with this one.

The Right Things

By saicho_18

May 25, 2003

Her thoughts landed to her parents. Fuuko wondered what they were doing at that moment. Skiing in a mountain, jumping over a bridge or fighting off a huge hungry lion. Boy, were they weird or what? But wherever the hell they are, she could rest assured that they would most definitely be safe on account of Raiha's presence. Maybe she could ask Kurei for their phone numbers. You know, just to make sure that they are ok.

A sudden feeling entered her stomach when her thoughts, which traveled faster than the speed of light, went to the party that was gonna be held tomorrow. What would her friends say when they found out? Would Recca and Domon snap? And what would happen when Recca and Kurei see each other eye to eye? That would most certainly be an unwelcome scenario.

Her thoughts were disturbed by a soft knock on the door. Fuuko tilted her head towards the direction of the sound only to see that Kurei had already taken the liberty of coming in. She sat up in surprise, her hands pressing in the matters for support. Fuuko opened her mouth to say something about the whole thing but Kurei beat her to it.

"You're dress is going to be delivered tomorrow," he started. "It seems that one of Francois' assistants ruined the hem of the dress and he feels that the whole thing should be redone."

Fuuko sweat dropped. "You can't possibly be serious. He's buying time, you idiot! You know, cheating you?"

Kurei raised an eyebrow. The small act reminded Fuuko much of how the old Tokiya she knew acted. "I would remind you once again of who you are talking to, but since by experience, I know that the Hokage team members all have thick skulls, I wouldn't bother to waste my time."

The Right Things

By saicho_18

May 28, 2002

And with the last word, the ever so weird Kurei Mori was off.