Warnings: Um, not really any. Oh, wait, self-edited. -___- Is anybody willing to beta for me? I'd really appreciate it. ^^;;; OH! And the timeline is. . . like non-existent. Or you could say it's just a huge overlapping. I think it's more AU and there's no Sailor Moon. The Starlights exist, but not really as Starlights. o_o;; It'll get worse when I introduce the G-Boys. xD
AN: Okay, so this chapter is a little boring. Sorry, but I'm working on laying down the plot. .;; I actually have a lot of stuff written down, but I have no idea how to link them together. Last night, I was going through a ton of ideas. . . -.-;; *bites her lip* I'm wondering if anybody wants to let me use him/her as a brainstorming board-type-thingie. If anyone is interested, drop me an e-mail, please. ^^;; You can do it in a review, but leave your e-mail so I can get back to you. Thanks!!
Disclaimer: It's all been said and done before. *sighs*
Fear Me
Chapter 4
In the morning, Schuldich was waiting in the kitchen, a ring of keys swinging idly around his index finger. He was dressed casually in a sleeveless and fitted black shirt that showed all the fine indentations in the muscles of his arms. I approved.
His back was towards me and since hadn't noticed me yet, I decided to give him a scare. I leapt off the last step and onto his back, tightening my arms around his neck.
"Morning, Schu-kun!" I chirped adoringly. He swayed slightly, but made no move to remove me.
"Morning. You have big breasts for being such a small girl."
I squealed and fell back from him, burning red in the face. "You pervert!" I shouted, stamping my foot in indignation. I crossed her arms over my chest, trying to hide them from his intense leer. "Pervert, pervert, pervert! You shouldn't be saying that to girls my age, you old pervert."
His lewd smirk turned into a pout. "I am not old."
I pointed an accusing finger at him. "Yes, you are! You're old!" And I continued to chant this as I pranced around the kitchen.
Me, a morning person? Never! But today, I was feeling refreshed and volatile. Last night, I had an omen that told me something was going to happen today. Something that involved strawberry topping and fudge-covered sundaes and a pretty dark haired boy.
I finally stopped at the kitchen table to munch on a piece of French toast. Schuldich leaned one hand on the table and slanted down to meet my eyes. I swallowed and peered at him cautiously. Something was going on behind those kitty eyes of his.
"Yes? Can I help you with something, Schu-kun?" I made sure to draw out the 'kun.' It was only fair since he was calling me 'Usa-chan' now. He grinned indulgently at me.
"I need to go into your head." He said it like he was commenting on the weather.
"Ha-ha. In your dreams."
He raised his red-orange eyebrows. "How'd you know?"
I stuck out my tongue at him, making sure to show him the chewed up remains of my toast. He made a face and drew back enough to be satisfying. I composed myself and smiled mildly at him. "Schu-kun, you know that's not the proper way to request a favor from a lady."
He snorted and slid bonelessly into the chair next to me. "Who's a lady?"
I glared at him sharply and continued as if he hadn't spoken. "First, you're supposed to ask, not demand things. And when you ask, you're supposed to sound sincere. You did not sound sincere," I informed him, punctuating each word of my last sentence with little pokes at his chest. It was very hard, as I soon realized, resisting the urge to cradle my bruised finger.
"Well, then, fair lady," he drawled smoothly, taking my hand and kissing my knuckles. His eyes never left my face. My knees turned to jelly and I was very glad I was sitting down. "May I have a look into your splendid mind?"
I nodded my head appreciatively while I said, "no."
"Usa-chan, I need to go into your head so I can keep tabs on you. I can't let you go to school and not know what you're doing."
"I'm here on my own free will. If I really wanted to leave, I would have gone by now."
"There is another group of assassins out for you."
That floored me. "Right now? At this exact moment?" When he nodded, I stared down at my crumb-infested plate. Why the sudden influx of humans on my fuzzy white tail? Up until now, it had been mostly demons and other mystical beings. "What do they want with me?" I ventured to ask, not sure if I wanted to hear his answer. I didn't know how right I was.
He leaned in very close so that his lips were right against my ear. I swallowed. "They want to deflower you."
As his husky words sank in, my mouth popped open. That-that—! I yelped, embarrassed and incensed, jerking out of my chair and falling to the floor in the process. I hit the back of my head with a thump. Ow.
Stars swam before my eyes as dear Schu-kun laughed himself into a coronary. Damn that insufferable male-wench!
"Cute panties."
"Argh!" I jumped up, let out a war-cry, and attempted to kick him as hard as I could where the sun didn't shine—which only managed to make him laugh harder when I missed, slipped, and fell onto my butt. I bristled like a cat. "I'll get you!" I vowed, jerking my pleated blue skirt down as I glared at him.
"Are you two finished?"
Eep! I jumped out of my skin at the frigid voice to Brad's foreboding presence. Nagi was there too, but his wasn't quite so scary.
"Good morning," I squeaked obediently. Bradley Crawford gave me a funny look before he spoke.
"Good morning. Schuldich will be taking you to school, Miss Usagi. Let's go, Nagi." They walked away, but not before I saw Nagi sneak a faint smile my way. Ohh, I just wanted to cuddle him!
When they were out of earshot, Schu-kun snorted. I turned back to him. The teasing laughter had left his face. He had returned to the mocking smirk.
"You like him."
I chortled with glee inside. Whatever gave him that idea? I batted my eyelashes at him. "Jealous?"
Schu-kun stared at me for a moment in a calculating mad scientist sort of way. It seemed like he was weighing some possible retorts in that shaggy orange head of his. I was getting nervous just thinking about it. I mean, what if I had hit a nerve and he did something crazy? What if he decided to torture me? What if he was going to tie me up and gag me and make me watch dubbed Sailor Moon? I cringed, shifted uneasily, and took a tiny step backward.
Finally, he walked over calmly and tilted my chin up with one finger so that my head was craned up to meet his fierce gaze. I saw a very clear reflection of myself looking a lot like my namesake. I gritted my teeth, wanting really badly to pull away, but I couldn't. His golden-lashed eyes studied me meticulously and he obviously liked what he saw because the edge of his sensual mouth drew up. He lowered his head a little closer to mine.
Oh, my God. He was going to kiss me. Kiss me. Me. Kiss. My brain stopped working.
When our mouths were a breath away, he whispered, "Not in the least." He pulled away and strolled languorously towards the door.
I stared wide panicky eyes after him and suddenly remembered to breathe. My heart was beating like a small frightened animal's, so fast and erratic. His breath had been a warm puff of air against my lips and cheeks. The memory of my almost first kiss was permanently ingrained in my disheveled mind.
I finally broke out of my stupor like a raging bull. Stupid conceited jerk! I growled loudly and stalked after him, ready to give him a piece of my fist. I yanked up my sleeves and promptly whacked my face into Schu-kun's wall of chest as he came back in, but not before I proudly stepped on his foot. I stumbled back to glare at him, holding my sore nose. He smirked at me as if nothing had happened.
"Schu—!"
He dropped his arm around my shoulders and ushered me towards the door. "We're going to be late for school, Usa-chan," he interjected with a taunting lilt in his voice at my name.
I stuck out my bottom lip in annoyance and let him guide me towards the door.
I was definitely going to get back at him somehow.
-----
School was boring. There was one perk, though. There was a new kid—Omi Tsukiyono. I remembered it because it was only one syllable away from my own last name. He was another pretty boy, like Nagi-kun sort of, but more open. All the girls went gaga over him. Funny thing, though. . . I had gotten the distinct feeling that he had been watching me. We had all the same classes, too. Other than that, he looked harmless. But, then again. . .
-----
I headed out towards the gate, searching through the throng of students for Nagi-kun. He had said he'd meet me at my school, but the only pretty brown heads I saw were female. I was eager to get going on this little 'date.' I smothered a sly snigger and tromped past a horde of giggling girls. Where was that boy?
"U-Usagi-chan!"
The way the person had said my name sounded like a desperate cry for help. I swiveled around and instantly spotted Nagi-kun being mauled by a flock of fangirls. I cringed. This was going to be tough.
Letting out a determined sigh and praying to every single god that I knew, I rolled up my uniform sleeves and pushed and shoved my way through the fence of females. Really! Some of these girls were over their rockers! Did they think that boys actually liked all this attention? Well, maybe some. One flame-headed telepath came to mind. I glared at the thought and it went scuttling back to the recesses of my mind.
Stupid girls. They pushed and shoved back, shooting me nasty looks, like I was trying to get to their goods or something. One of them even yelled at me. Whore.
I stuck my hand out to Nagi-kun as soon as I was close enough. "Grab my hand!" The moment our fingers touched, I knew, I just knew, that I was going to have a psychic vision.
A forest. A burning house. A boy on his knees, hands clutching at the sides of his head. His face was twisted into an expression of anguish and hate. A slim figure emerging from the woods. Blackness.
I blinked rapidly, shaking out my head because there was no time to mull over it. Nagi-kun's hand was securely in mine; I gave a mighty tug and drew him out. We made for a dead run down the streets of Juuban, angry femmes hot on our tails.
-----
I normally didn't get visions. That ability was supposed to be closed off with all the prescient stuff, but sometimes, they found loopholes.
Don't get me wrong; I can't see the future at all. My clairvoyance was more of a past thing—I saw feelings, memories, more emotional stuff than anything else. Usually, it happened when I had a deep affinity with something or someone. They were abrupt and without any sort of transition. It was just like BAM! And then they'd be gone just like that. Most of the time now, they gave me mild headaches. The first time I had one, I threw up before I fell up into a dead faint. It hadn't been a pretty sight.
Now, as I fled down the block with Nagi-kun next to me, I allowed myself to give consideration to the ambiguous trance. It did nothing to explain Nagi-kun's past to me—in fact, it made it all the more complicated. What had happened to Nagi-kun? I assumed the boy was Nagi, only younger. He looked to be about six or seven in the light of the deadly flames. Had it been his house that burned down? Had he caused it? And who was that figure who had come out of the woods?
I bit my lip and worried it. There was so much I didn't know about the people I was staying with. I was caught between the decision of deeming them good or bad. They certainly weren't bad people—they hadn't tortured me or threatened me in any sort of way—but they weren't exactly good either. Supposedly, they were working for a fearsome boss. . . Or were they?
I let out a disgusted growl of frustration, screeching to a halt. Nagi-kun paused a few feet in front of me.
"Usagi-chan?" he asked hesitantly. "Are you alright?"
I whapped myself over the head and nodded, embarrassed. I was getting carried away again. It happened a lot.
"Yeah, sorry, Nagi-kun." I paused to take a look at our surroundings: bustling shops, traffic jams, and business-suited people rushed past us. To the right of us loomed the sunflower-yellow building of the arcade that I visited every so often. "Hey! We're here!" I grabbed his hand and in we went to Crown Fruit Parlor.
-----
"So, Nagi-kun," I began casually, twirling the narrow spoon around in my massive chocolate fudge explosion of an ice cream sundae. I stuck the spoon in my mouth and sucked it clean, suppressing a moan. I was in Heaven.
"Hmm?" he mumbled between bites of his own sundae. I had persuaded him to get the same since he said he had never tried to before. It looked like he was enjoying his. He was the twenty-sixth person I had converted to this delectable treat.
"You guys seem to know a lot about me, but I don't really know a thing about you guys."
He paused, mouth open, spoon halfway in. A little bit of fudge was smeared on the corner of his soft pink mouth. I had the overwhelming urge to lick it away. I bit my lip and squelched it.
"What do you want to know?" he asked softly, eyes lowered and putting the utensil back down.
I shrugged, trying to remain as indifferent as I could. I didn't need him to suspect anything, but I had the dreaded feeling he already was. "I don't know, like family or anything. I'm supposed to be living with you guys for who knows how long and it makes me more comfortable when I know a little bit about my new friends."
He looked up, startled. I guess it was the term 'friends.' Yes, I considered them friends. Well, Nagi-kun and Schu-kun, at least. I wasn't so sure about Brad and Farfarello, but I was determined to break into their psyches and find out what was going on with them. It might be hard and it might be discouraging, but I'll break through like a hot knife through butter.
He gave me a doubtful look.
I pouted at him. This was going to be harder than I had thought. "I'm just curious. You don't have to tell me if you want," I said at last, remembering to sniffle loudly and piteously. He lowered his eyes in embarrassment.
"I actually don't remember, but what I do was that. . ."
His voice faded away before I could get to the juicy information. My senses had awoken to signal me that something bad and evil was on its way. It's like this niggling sensation at the back of my mind that raises my blood pressure and feeds adrenaline through my entire body. Something like an advanced form of the 'fight-or-flight' response. I think.
I grabbed Nagi-kun and dove out the way just as the window beside us splintered into a rain of stinging glass. He looked okay—stunned—but, okay. Before I even had the chance to say anything, however, the thing—demon, I finally realized—had grabbed me by the back of my neck and tossed me out the window. My arms scraped against the jagged edges of the frame as I fell.
My uniform was torn, I was bloody, and I was not a happy bunny. I had landed on my elbows and hit my funny bone. It tingled like a freaking mofo! I glared, nursing my arms as the humanoid creature in very normal clothes flashed me shiny sharp teeth.
I jumped to my feet, pointing one determined index finger at the demon, and yelled, "You're going down!"
I bolted.
-----
Of course I knew what I was doing! I was running for my life. I couldn't kill the thing on my own, not without a weapon or facing the consequences later at least. I could try wrenching a pole off a street corner, flattening it into a blade and slice it through the creature behind me, but I was a little too busy running for my life. Telekinesis did need a little concentration, especially when you're only surrounded by huge things and civilians.
I raced down the street, the demon still thundering after me. I hoped that Nagi-kun was okay.
'Uncle Kenshin!' I called out frantically as I neared his cozy two-story house. I saw his mop of auburn hair dash down the steps towards the gates in his business attire, toting his reverse blade sword. He spared me a smile and unsheathed his weapon, flipping it so the blade would actually do some damage.
Uncle Kenshin charged towards me, which was my cue to leap straight up.
"Wings!" I cried out as ghostly muscles and feathers punctured painlessly through my skin and burst out from my shoulder blades. They flapped powerfully and lifted me off the ground, just out of the way as Uncle Kenshin ripped his blade across the demon's middle. The two parts laid twitching on the ground, opaque blue insides gleaming dully in the afternoon sun. I lifted my eyes away and landed in front of Aunt Kaoru. She enveloped me in a big hug, full of distressed sputters.
"Usagi-chan, thank GOD you're okay. I was so scared. Don't you ever dare do that again, young lady! I'm so glad you're not dead. Damn that Schuldich!" Aunt Kaoru continued to curse loudly and proudly. I smiled fondly. She's a mercurial woman—screaming profanities one moment and spouting tears the next.
"I missed you, too, Auntie."
She eyed me. "That damn Schuldich didn't do anything to you, did he?"
"Other than embarrassing me, no." I huffed, recalling the hectic events of this morning. I needed to get him back, get him back GOOD. But, now was not the time to do it.
I turned back to Uncle Kenshin. He was scattering thin gold dust over the demon remains. The gleaming layer coated the body (bodies) like a blanket. It always amazed me that something so small could be so powerful. The two parts sank into the cement. Not a mark was left.
My phantom wings vanished as soon as Uncle Kenshin turned around. He smiled his infamous optimistic smile at me, the cross-shaped scar on his cheek crinkling a little. I didn't know the whole story behind the scar. Supposedly, it was a reminder of an old mistake, which was surprising to me because Uncle Kenshin was and is not the type of person to make mistakes.
"Usagi-dono," he said worriedly, making movements towards me, "you're hurt."
"It's okay, Uncle Kenshin," I replied flashing a victory sign. "It's just a scratch. Thanks for taking care of him, by the way."
He nodded, soft violet eyes growing serious. "You know you can come to us if you ever need any help."
"I know, Uncle Kenshin."
He turned around and we noticed Nagi progressing towards us. He always had a knack for sensing people and things.
Nagi watched me intently as he came to a stop a few feet away. I smiled encouragingly at him. He stepped closer.
"Nagi-kun! Nagi Naoe, meet my uncle, Kenshin Himura and aunt, Kaoru Kamiya Himura," I introduced quickly. I stood back to watch their reactions.
"Hello. It's nice to meet you," Nagi-kun cordially murmured.
"Nice to meet you, too, Nagi-san. You're much more polite than that barbarian Schuldich," Kaoru replied, grumbling out the last sentence. Heh heh.
Uncle Kenshin nodded respectfully, laughing a little at his wife's response. I think he was embarrassed by her. . .frankness. "Usagi-dono is a good judge in character, and since she places her trust in you, I will trust you as well."
Mystified, Nagi-kun only nodded. "Thank you," he said at length. "If I may ask, what was that thing?"
Uncle Kenshin, Aunt Kaoru, and I shared a look before I spoke. "A demon."
"A demon?"
We nodded solemnly.
"I've never heard about them before."
I flashed my teeth in a deliberately frightful smile. I was pleased with this little bit of information he had naively leaked out. Seemed like Schwartz didn't know a lot about me and where I had come from. If they hadn't heard about the demons, then they obviously didn't know the story behind them. "You're in luck. You'll be seeing a lot more of those with me around."
Nagi-kun gazed at me with what I could only call a troubled look. I guess Schwartz bit off a little bit more than they could chew. It was going to be the start of a wonderful relationship.More AN: Thanks to all the reviewers!! I love you all ^^ As for pairings. . . Eh heh heh, sorry, I'm not taking votes ___ 'Cause I got an interesting ending in mind. ;D I noticed a lot of people mentioning how cute Nagi is :D!! He's so adorable. *sighs*
