This has to be one of the longest chapters I've written… Anyone notice that there is a reason I call this story Tsukamaru Kai Tenshi… The Scarlet Ibis? Welcome to the Halloween special! I meant to post this earlier but I ran out of time!
PLEASE REVIEW!!!
Chapter 33
'Two left, just two.' Kat opened the lid to the mahogany box she kept her wish orbs in. The glowing golden orange orbs rolled a bit as Kat shifted the box on her lap. 'Just two left.' Kat shifted positions again and the orbs rolled across the red velvet that coated the insides of the box. Her fingers traced the outline along the sides of the miniature chest absently as she thought over what she should do with the last two. 'One to bring Vash here…One to heal his scars…One to bring Kenshin back…Two left.' Kat thought over the possibilities before wrapping an orb in cloth and heading towards Kenshin's room.
^_^
Kenshin was once again sitting on the porch when Kat found him. "Kat! I've been meaning to talk to you!" he greeted.
Kat smiled, "I wanted to speak to you too. But you first."
Kenshin nodded then listened a moment and sniffed the air, "Tanya just checkmated Jasmine in a game of chests, Inuyasha is asking how the game works, Vix is attempting to make ramen and Vash is getting in her way."
Kat blinked, "…And?"
Kenshin frowned, "What do you mean and? I haven't been inside for the last two hours but I can still tell what's going on. Tanya and Jasmine are sitting on the other side of the house in the game room with the stereo cranked up but I can still hear and analyze the different sounds of chests pieces by the sounds they make. You don't find that weird?"
Kat shook her head, "Why is that so amazing? I can hear and count just how many times Inuyasha's heart beats from here. I can sense that Tanya's overjoyed at winning her first game of chests even though she's only played once and I can almost feel the way Jasmine laughs silently to herself about how she let Tanya win…." Kenshin stared at her in shock. "What?" Kat asked, "I'm sure you can hear even more than I can. Don't you remember? I learned everything I know from you."
Kenshin hung his head, "But that's just it. I don't remember."
Kat mentally slapped herself, "I forgot. I'm sorry."
He feigned happiness, "So what was it you wanted to talk to me about?"
^_^
Kat entered the kitchen, "Hey Vix…you're ramen's burning and it boiled over about thirty minutes ago."
Vix jumped and tore her eyes off Dev (who was talking to Kurama) to look down at her ramen, "Shinnike!" (A/N: this is Tanya's word; she really does use it in the place of shit.)
Vash was playing chests with Inuyasha and all they were left with was their kings.
"Uh…guys, it's a stalemate if all you have left is your kings," Kat pointed out.
"I can still win!" Inuyasha growled.
Kenshin appeared in the doorway behind her and Kurama was the first one to look up at him. Dev, confused as to why Kurama had abruptly stopped, turned his gaze to look at Kenshin. One by one everyone in the room turned their gazes to look at Kenshin.
"YOU CAN WALK!!! And without leg braces!" Vix yelled and ran over to hug him. Dev pouted as Vix hugged Kenshin.
"But how?" Tanya asked.
"I used a wish orb," Kat whispered to her.
Tanya frowned, "And what did Kenshin say about this?"
Kat punched Tanya lightly, "Dork, of course I asked him first."
Vash frowned when he overheard what Kat had said. 'Could Inuyasha be right? Does she really try to mold us into what we used to be?'
^_^
*back in normal times*
"Would you hurry up?" Kat asked Tanya.
"Would you slow down?" Tanya growled.
Kat unraveled more of the fake spider web. She made sure Dev had tacked more of the web over the porch before unraveling more.
"Slow down!" Tanya said as she tried to untangle some of the knots in the web. Jasmine accidentally bumped the ladder Dev was on and it swayed a bit. Kat quickly dropped her half of the web and caught the ladder.
"Thanks!" Dev yelled from above her.
"No prob!" Kat yelled back as she picked up her half of the web again.
"Sorry!" Jasmine apologized, "It's just so hard to get this set up right."
She was referring to the plastic bats she was hanging from the ceiling of the porch.
"I'll do it," Vash offered.
He was much taller and Jasmine agreed instantly. Kenshin was putting together the candy bags with Mayonaka since his legs still couldn't handle much stress. They sat there saying nothing. It was a major shock to Mayonaka that his dad was up and walking again but it disappointed him that he had no memory. Kat wondered if she should have Mayonaka do another task to ease the tension.
Vix was changing the outside lights to either strobe or backlight and Inuyasha was hanging dummies in the liquid amber trees. The jack-o-lanterns had been set outside and the candles occupying them waited to be lit.
Saku sat leisurely on the porch wall watching them work. She had planned out and mapped the different places to lay traps to scare anyone who had just happened to walk by. Kageunsei was rechecking the traps as Saku watched him waiting for him to forget where one was and set it off. Trip wires lay strewn about the ground almost invisible.
"Want to hear about Halloween?" Kat asked.
"Sure," Tanya answered for everyone.
"It was said that once someone died their soul would enter purgatory. Halloween is the only time a soul can escape from purgatory to enter heaven so families used to pray for the souls. Kids would dress up to scare off evil spirits. They would also go from door to door asking 'Trick-or treat' and if someone didn't have a treat for the kid who was asking, they would get a prank pulled on them. Halloween is also known as Allhallows Eve because it was the day before Hallows. Hallows was the original day that families prayed for their loved one's souls to enter heaven. So start praying," Kat said.
Kageunsei let out a yelp of surprise when his tail triggered a trap. He ducked to avoid a dummy dressed as a vampire.
"So what are you going to be for Halloween?" Jasmine asked everyone.
"Vamp," Vix said.
"Headless horseman," Dev replied.
"Dead clown," Tanya said.
"Kenshin," Inuyasha replied.
"Inuyasha," Vash said.
"Vash!" Kenshin yelled from the couch.
"Ghost!" Mayonaka said. There was a pause. Everyone turned to look at Kat.
"What? Oh! Hehe…my turn. Uh…" she paused to think.
"Come on!" Vix said, "You have to have chosen by now!"
"I'll go around carrying a cereal box holding a knife! And whenever someone asks what I am I'll reply, 'I'm a serial killer!'" she laughed hard.
Everyone sweat dropped. "Is there anything less odd?"
"Well I was thinking of going around with a computer monitor over my head so every time someone answers the door they'll freak out and yell, 'AH! It's the blue screen of death! It's Y2K all over again! The end is near!'" Kat cracked up as everyone stared at her.
"She has some major issues," Tanya muttered.
"What was that dork?!" Kat asked Tanya.
"Come say that to my face!" Tanya yelled.
"I just did!" Kat yelled back as they both laughed.
Everyone else just sweat dropped, "And Tanya said Kat had issues."
^_^
"Vash are you absolutely sure you want to be there?" Kat asked from her position.
"What?" came his muffled question. Kat caught the sound of footsteps and whispered, "Never mind. Hey Tanya?"
"What?" she asked a little irritated.
"What happens if no one reaches the door?"
Tanya shifted to find a better position, "Never thought of that."
Kat sighed and laughed when she caught the first scream. Everyone that heard Kat's muffled laughter either glared at her in warning or ignored her. A kid neared Vix and he caught sight of some of the dummies. He did a double take when he spotted Vix but it was too late for him. Before he could even scream Vix shifted and grabbed him. The kid just hung there in Vix's arms unable to move from being scared so badly. Vix laughed a bit before going limp again.
Kat smiled at Vix's idea. She had dressed up to match the surrounding dummies and it was her job to grab people as the walked by. They had thrown their ideas of dressing up out the window when Mayonaka had suggested making their front yard into a haunted lawn.
Kat shifted again as more footsteps were heard. Inuyasha jumped down in front of another unsuspecting kid dressed as a rotting corpse. He placed his hand over the mouth to muffle the kid's screams so as not to alert the other kids. Kat heard him mutter something like, 'Little whelp bit me.' Before he jumped back into the tree with the kid. Two more kids came by and Tanya nodded to Jasmine.
They rose from their fake graves, pushing off the dirt and coffin lids. The kids looked around for their other group members while Tanya and Jasmine sneaked up behind them. The two girls soundlessly dumped a bucket of slime over the kids before grabbing them and muffling their screams. Kat gave them a 'thumbs up'. They ducked out of sight just as another kid came around the tree Inuyasha was hiding in.
Kat waited for just the right moment. She dropped from the roof and hissed menacingly. Kageunsei and Saku dropped down behind her, eyes glowing red, covered in 'blood', fur standing on end, growling and snapping. The kid froze as Kat, dressed as a vampire, 'blood' dripping from her mouth neared. She almost felt sorry for the kid when he wet his pants. Saku neared him and snapped at his heals. He tried to run away but Kageunsei had snuck up behind him.
Kat appeared next to the kid and pretended to bite his neck while in truth she whispered, "If you want to scare your friends…" The kid calmed down and nodded. His friends came around the corner and saw Kat still 'biting' him. 'Blood' from Kat's mouth ran down the kid's neck making it look like she was feasting on his life giving fluids.
Kat dropped the boy making it look like she had killed him and then ran after the other kids. They screamed and took off but the wolves cornered them. Kat pulled a trip wire and the ground underneath the kids caved in. The roof of the trap set itself back into place and Kat helped the kid she had 'bitten' back to his feet, "You ok?" He nodded while trying hard not to cry since he was laughing so hard.
Kat dragged him behind a tree and hid with him. The last of the kids approached the porch and Kat waited for Vash to make his move. The last boy bent down when he spotted the fake blood. He picked up some then rubbed it between his fingers, "Carrot juice." Kat sighed knowing that Vash wasn't going to be enough to scare this one. Kat whistled to Kurama as his queue and he appeared in fox form next to the boy. The kid looked shocked and Kurama danced around a bit before heading to Vash's hiding place.
The kid followed Kurama as if in a trance. Kurama neared Vash's spot and jumped into a trashcan. Kat whistled for Vash to come out and the lid one of the cans rattled. The boy looked questioningly at the can before coming nearer.
"I'm stuck!" Vash hissed to Kurama, who was in the can by him.
He shoved harder on the lid before it gave way. But knowing Vash, his plan backfired and the lid he was wearing hit the edge of the windowsill. This caused him to tip. Vash sifted his weight to stop him from rolling and the can rocked back and forth a moment. He sighed with relief before letting out a startled yelp. The can tipped at the last second and began to roll. Kat watched as the can rolled towards the pit she had caught some kids in earlier. She closed her eyes and flinched when she heard the roof of the pit give way. There was a few screams as Vash must have landed on a few kids and a metal crunch as one of the sides of the can hit the floor.
"What a horrible way to go," the unscareable kid muttered.
Kat ran over to the mouth of the pit and jumped in. The kids in the pit quickly scrambled out of her way as she neared the trashcan. Inuyasha jumped into the pit next to Kat and started to help them out. Whispers of, 'I've never been so scared in my life,' and, 'I want my mommy!' could be heard.
Kat sat the trashcan upright with some difficulty and helped the squashed kid back onto his feet. She then lifted the lid of the can and was surprised to see Vash unconscious. Kat wondered if he was faking but didn't have time to check since Inuyasha grabbed her by the waist and hoisted her up out of the pit, "We're ready for the next batch of kids."
Kat nodded, "Just a few minutes longer. I need to make sure Vash is ok. I think I might stop for tonight."
"But you're our best performer!" Inuyasha complained.
"The 'show' can wait," Kat said, "I just need to make sure everyone's ok."
"The kid Vash landed on is fine. He may have a few bruises but he'll be ok. Everyone else is either crying or laughing their heads off. I'm going to help Tanya and Jasmine get six feet under again," Inuyasha said.
"Wait! Before you go, do you think you could drag needle-noggin back into the house?" Kat asked.
"Keh," Inuyasha muttered as he hoisted the trashcan over his shoulder.
Kat jumped out of the pit and spoke to Kageunsei and Saku, "Take over for me till I get back ok?" They nodded and jumped back onto the roof. "Kurama, will you take over my place? Tell Inuyasha you'll be doing it since I told him to take over my place. You seem to be better qualified to do the job," Kat said to the fox. "Hang in there Vix!" Kat joked as she passed her friend who hung next to the other dummies. Inuyasha turned the can over on the floor of the living room and dumped Vash out. "Thanks," Kat said as she passed him in the doorway.
He nodded and closed the door behind him. Kat sat down next to Vash and patted his cheek to get him to wake up. He didn't wake but he stirred a bit. Kat rolled her eyes and stood up. She walked to the laundry room and snagged a few blankets from a closet. When she returned Vash was still laying there but Kat had her doubts that he was really out cold. She muttered to herself as she unzipped his costume and wrapped the blankets around him. She smiled and laughed to herself when she heard more screams. She finally got Vash to stand up and guided him back to their room. Kat sat Vash down on her bed since there wasn't an extra room and made sure he had no bruises.
"You ok?" she asked. He nodded sleepily. "You sure?"
He nodded again and asked, "Where are you going to sleep?"
Kat shrugged, "The couch."
Vash scooted over, "Kenshin's taking the couch remember? Mayonaka's got the spare bed too."
Kat sighed, "You don't mind?"
He shook his head, "Nope."
Kat went to change out of her costume. She wiped the layers of white and red makeup off and took off the fake teeth. Her slippers squeaked slightly on the wood floor. She walked back into her room and climbed into bed. 'Sometimes you make me wonder if you get into trouble on purpose Vash.'
(A/N: Well that was the Halloween chapter (I wrote it on Halloween). The next chapter will blow your pants off! (Don't worry! No one dies!) PLEASE REVIEW!!!)