Short brown hair curled around her plump cheeks, her eyes shielded under a pair of dark shades, her posture mature and lady-like… But unfortunately she was only a shorty with a body of a thirteen-year old.
"Oi! Hibi-chan! Watch –" Yuri tried to caution the immortal who was walking ahead of her. But it was too late; Hibiemi Hoshizora already had tripped and was flat on her face in the middle of the airport, "out."
---
Three months have passed since the little rendezvous in the hotel. Fortunately for Sanzo and Hakkai, they treasured the little surprise but on the other hand, Toki and Quietus had become more or less a bit distant. Things in the manor hadn't changed a bit since that night. Except for the little disappointment Quietus carried in his voice every time he talked to his brother.
"Hey, what are we going to perform tonight?" Quietus asked, his voice without the calmness his brother possessed.
"Hm… I think it'll be excerpts from Les Miserables…" Hakkai replied.
"Chotto!!" Sanzo stopped the discussion, "How in heck are we going to do LesMis with only me as a singer?!"
"I'll shape shift…" Quietus sighed.
"But first, let's head over to the Classico." Hakkai smiled, "Wait. Where's Toki?"
No answer came from the other two.
"Let's just look for him later," Quietus sighed, "We have more important things to attend to."
Sanzo shrugged his shoulders and made his way out of the manor. Quietus sighed and began to follow, but he was stopped by Hakkai's hand on his shoulder.
"I understand how you feel, Qui." Hakkai smiled, "Maybe he's hiding from the fact that he really does love you…"
"Maybe. Or maybe he hates me," Qui sighed, "I don't think I can perform tonight…"
"Daijoubu! Don't worry, you've got me on your side!" Hakkai laughed, patting his brother's shoulder, "Well then, let's go now."
Meanwhile, Toki stayed in his room pondering on why all his wanting seemed to evaporate.
"Why in the fuck am I living like this…?"
---
Sanzo pushed open the doors of the Classico and was greeted by the melody of the piano playing "I Dreamed A Dream" from Les Miserables. To him and the twins, it only meant one thing.
"The Hebi Onna's back."
The music of the piano stopped. The three of them looked at the stage to find the thirteen-year old in her long-sleeved European clothes grinning at them.
"Tadaima!" She chirped.
"Hibi-chan!" Quietus smiled as he greeted his sister, "Okaeri!"
"Well, I guess Qui's gotten over the little depression, eh?" Hakkai smiled at Sanzo as the two watched the little brother-sister reunion.
"Naa, minna! I've got souvenirs!" Hibiemi cheerfully announced to the rest, "They're back in the manor if you'd like to see them…"
"Lemme guess… French bread, Italian wine, Spanish sardines and German franks?" Sanzo grumbled.
"That's just ¼ of the package…" The immortal girl smiled, "Well then, what's the performance tonight?"
"LesMis," Hakkai smiled, "Are you performing?"
"Performing? Hah! You must be jesting if you'd say I wouldn't perform! I love the stage!"
"Yoshi!! I don't have to sing tonight!" Sanzo cheered behind everyone else's back.
"What in heck are you cheering about, Sanzo-san?"
Sanzo turned around to see Hibiemi glaring at him menacingly.
"You're performing tonight and that gives me a day-off…" Sanzo drew out his gun and pointed it at the younger immortal.
"Tch. Have you forgotten who owns this bar!?!" The enraged immortal drew out her naginata from thin air and managed to threaten Sanzo.
"Hibi-chan wa totemo kowaii desu…" Quietus passed his brother a nervous smile. Hakkai only laughed and drew the little girl back with telekinesis.
"Ja… Shall we go back to the manor now, minna?" Hakkai asked. Sanzo took out his harisen and bopped Hibiemi on the head before wrapping his arm around Hakkai's shoulders and drawing him close before leaving for the manor. Hibiemi sighed and teleported away. Quietus stayed behind and decided not to go to the manor. He got up onstage and took a seat in front of the piano and played 'I Dreamed A Dream' with almost the same emotion that was taking over him.
The emotion of loneliness and disappointment.
---
I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hope was high and life worth living
I dreamed that love would never die
I dreamed that God would be forgiving…
The whole Classico was silent as the young immortal's strangely innocent voice played on the wind like a fine-tuned woodwind instrument. Being young, Hibiemi's voice didn't possess the strength most singers at her real age had. Instead she retained the innocent-sounding child's voice. Strangely, her voice became immersed into the background as if her voice was just another instrument but this didn't bother her. But after a while, she heard the sound of Quietus' violin falter slightly. But she continued to sing.
He slept a childhood by my side
And filled my days with endless wonder
He took my childhood in his stride
But he was gone when autumn came
Her eyes scanned the audience to find Toki sitting in the back of the crowd, his eyes downcast and not bothering to look at anyone onstage. She prepared to break into the most powerful part of the song but as the first note hit, she heard something she never expected to hear: Quietus was singing the song instead of her. The sound of the violin was gone and so, in order to keep the song's tune even, she focused her concentration on the piano.
And still I dream he'll come to me
And we will live the years together
But there are dreams that cannot be
There are some storms we cannot weather
And smiling, she joined her brother in a duet.
I had a dream my life would be
So diff'rent from this hell I'm living
So diff'rent now from what it seems
Now life has killed the dream I dreamed…
Now the violin resumed playing and as the song came to an end, the three brunettes took a bow. Sanzo got onstage and took Hibiemi's place as the singer. Hakkai smiled at his lover as he turned his notes over to the song Sanzo was about to sing. He looked over to Quietus and saw him regaining his concentration on the violin. They began to play the music. While the song was being sung, Quietus took a little peek to see if Toki was still sitting there. But to his dismay, he was gone.
After the whole performance ended, Hibiemi walked over to the bar where Gojyo was busy serving drinks to the customers to check how the bar was doing during her leave.
"Well then, boss," Gojyo replied, "We've been overspending a bit, but luckily Sanzo and Hakkai were able to recover almost all we've lost."
"And how much is that?"
"Hm… 10,000 per act?"
"WHAT!?!" Hibiemi shrieked at the top of her lungs, "Calm down, calm down… At least Sanzo and Hakkai were able to recover almost all the losses… Be calm, be calm, be calm…" Hibiemi took a deep breath and ordered a glass of wine.
"Sanzo… Is it me or did Hibi-chan just freak out after knowing that we've been doing a little overspending?" Hakkai asked his blonde lover as they watched the bar where Hibiemi drank wine like a fish.
"She did."
"Boys…" The two jumped in their seats as they felt a hands clasp over their shoulders.
"H-Hebi Onna!!" Sanzo growled.
"We have a lot of money to recover… And you two will be working overtime, ne?" Hibiemi smiled, "Sorry if I've spoiled any nighttime pleasures for you…"
"Aww… There goes the plan of making out in the pool tonight…" Hakkai sighed.
"You two were planning that?!?" The younger immortal shrieked back, "If I find your little remains in that pool… You two are soooo dead."
"Remains? What remains?" Sanzo said sarcastically.
"What comes out?" Hibiemi's eyebrow went up mockingly.
"Oh…" Hakkai laughed nervously and leaned over to Sanzo to whisper in his ear, "Are you sure you cleaned the pool after every make-out session?"
"I did," Sanzo whispered back, "I'm sure Hibiemi wouldn't notice…"
Hakkai went back into a calm sitting position, "Ja… Will we be having a staff meeting?"
"Hai…" Hibiemi smiled, "You better arm yourselves with tight leather pants for tonight's suggestion…"
"Whatever does she mean by that?" Hakkai asked as he watched the younger brunette walk off into the direction of the exit.