In a remote part of Tokyo, a man with long red hair and wearing a long white overcoat walked slowly down the street. He didn't look very exceptional apart from his unusually long hair, which nearly dragged along the ground. It was dark, going on three AM. Behind the man, strange moving shadows followed in his wake. As he walked under a streetlight, one of the shadows was revealed. It was a large demon that took the form of a reptilian with fur going all the way down its back. It had no legs and slithered along the ground like a serpent. Two powerful arms helped it to crawl alongside the man.
The man seemed to take no heed to the dark creatures that followed him. Indeed, he seemed to welcome the vile beings. One creature, bolder than the rest, crept up to him. "Master," it spoke, "Shall we wreak havoc on these pitiful mortals tonight?" it seemed eager to cause mayhem; the other demons growled or hissed in agreement.
"No." the man said, "Return to your dens and wait for my call."
The demon bowed and quickly slunk away. The other demons grumbled to themselves, but they too moved away.
The man paused to watch their retreat and, as the last one crept away, looked up at the starless sky and smiled, "Soon.
Jade sat on the roof of her apartment building, thinking about the recent turn of events. She knew for a fact that the blond boy was hiding something from everyone; but she wasn't able to pin it to anything more than vague feelings of uneasiness while she was in her human form. She sighed and looked up at the distant stars and full moon. It had been a while since she was able to stargaze like this without being interrupted by a demon. She heard movement in her apartment and a moment later the balcony door slid opened.
"Jade?" Leya called softly into the night. She looked around at the rooftops in front of her. "Are you out here?" there was a thump behind her as Jade jumped off the roof onto the balcony. Leya turned to her, "There you are. Hey, I was wondering if you'd like to go out to a club or something tonight."
Jade raised an eyebrow and half frowned, "It's nearly three in the morning; there's nothing going on right now in Tokyo."
Leya's eyebrows shot up, "Really? I thought all big cities had a night life."
Jade sighed, "Not this one."
"Okay… well, do you want to go clubbing tomorrow?"
"Sure. I'll take you to one of the Karaoke Bars around here. They've got separate booths for private parties so you don't have to sing in front of strangers."
Leya grinned, "That sounds like fun! Say, we'll have to ask those two guys if they want to come."
"Whatever you say."
Leya cocked her head and peered closer at her best friend, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing. I've just got a lot on my mind right now." Jade turned to the door, "Let's go inside and get some sleep. We have a busy day tomorrow."
Leya watched Jade walk slowly inside and disappear into her room. "There's definitely something going on around here and Riist doesn't like it one bit. I hope there's a way for me to help." She walked inside and went into her room.
The next day, Akira was up ealier than usual. He looked over at his clock and noticed that he still had half an hour or so before his alarm went off to get up. He sat up in bed anyways and began contemplating the existence of a creature that was neither human nor demon, nor even a devilman like him. The lycanthropist known as Riist was truly a wild spirit that owed allegiance to no one. He wasn't sure he was ready for such a neutral power to join this fight between Hell and Earth.
Ryo definitely did not believe that she was worthy of their time or cause. But then again, Akira found, if it was female then Ryo had no confidence in its integrity. The most powerful creature in the world could claim their cause and Ryo would scorn it if it was female. He didn't know why Ryo didn't like the opposite sex; he just didn't. He wasn't homosexual either; at least Akira hoped his best friend hadn't become homosexual in the time that they were apart. He wasn't sure of anything anymore.
Akira sighed and looked over at his clock, trying to will the time to go faster so that he could return to the comfort of his school routine. As the clock hit the alarm time, he waited for it to go off. A full minute passed before he realized that it was the weekend and he didn't have to go to school today. He sighed and flopped back into bed to return to sleep.
A knock resounded on the door to his room and he sat up. "Who is it?" he called.
"It's Miki. Let me in."
"One sec." He called to the closed door. He grabbed a muscle shirt off his chair and slipped it on as he walked to his door. He opened it and let Miki in.
"Akira… I wanted to ask you about something…" she began as she sat down on his bed.
He sat down beside her, "What is it?"
"…Um…" she shifted nervously beside him, and then looked up at him, "Why have you been hanging around Ryo so much?" she finally blurted.
Akira blinked in surprise.
"I know he's your best friend from your old school and all; but I'm your girlfriend and you seem to enjoy his company more than mine." She said in a rush.
Akira studied her downcast face a moment, and then chuckled softly, "Is that what's been bothering you?"
She nodded a little and looked at him.
"Ryo and I have been working on… a project lately. That's the only reason that we've been hanging out with each other so much. You needn't worry about it. How about this, we'll go out somewhere today; just you and me."
"A date?" Miki asked timidly.
Akira put his arm around her, "Yeah, a date."
"For the whole day?" Miki asked more enthusiastically.
"Sure." Akira answered with a grin. Ryo is gonna kill me, he thought to himself.
Miki bounced up off the bed and kissed Akira on the cheek, "I feel better now that we've talked. Thank you Akira." She walked out of the room mumbling to herself about what she should wear to wherever they were going to that day.
Akira smiled to himself, Whatever Ryo does to me for this, it'll be worth it.
"Jade! Time to wake up!"
Jade moaned quietly in her bed and stuffed her head under a pillow. Unfortunately, that didn't stop the noise of the pounding door from entering her ears. She growled under her pillow and threw a blanket over it for extra smothering.
"JADE COME OUT NOW OR I'LL GET KILLER TO BREAK DOWN YOUR DOOR!"
Jade threw the blanket and pillow off her face and glared at the door, "I'M NOT COMING OUT UNTIL I HAVE AT LEAST EIGHT HOURS OF SLEEP. SO BUZZ OFF UNTIL ELEVEN O'CLOCK!!" She hollered at the door, throwing a large stuffed bear at it.
It made a soft thump and landed face down on the floor. She heard a small noise behind the door and then a more timid, "But it's already a quarter 'til eleven."
"No buts!" She growled. She flipped onto her side and lay back down on her bed.
Fifteen minutes later, a more respectful knock resounded on her door, "…Riist? It's eleven o'clock. Can we go out for breakfast and see that Karaoke Bar now?"
Jade sighed, the only time Leya used her other name was when she was intimidated. "Let me get dressed and we'll go out for breakfast, okay?"
"… Okay." She heard Leya move away from the door.
She sat up and went to her dresser and pulled out a pair of flared designer jeans, a black spaghetti strap, and a tan flannel with a silver dragon on the back. From her closet, she dug out a cloth belt that hung off her waist like a sash and a pair of tennis shoes. Her senior key from America hung on her mirror and she put it on. As she finished dressing, she looked in the mirror to see what she looked like. She nodded to herself and grabbed up her brush to pull her hair back into a braid. This last touch was finished off with a tan sparkle thread hair tie.
She opened the door and walked into the front room. Leya looked up at her and gave a low whistle, "Looking good, Jade."
Jade grinned, "Thanks." She grabbed her purse off the table and turned to Leya, "Coming?"
"Yeah, one sec." Leya grabbed a small knap sack and slung it over her shoulder, "Ready whenever you are."
"Okay, lets go." They left the apartment and went down to Jade's car.
"Where to first?" Jade asked as she plopped down in the driver's seat and closed the door.
"Hmm…" Leya thought for a moment, "Breakfast." She announced with a decisive nod.
"Alrighty, then on to Karaoke?"
"Yup!"
Jade grinned and started the car. She pulled out of the parking lot and drove down to a small hole in the wall café just across from the college. "So, what do you want for breakfast?"
Leya shrugged, "Dunno, something good that isn't sushi. Sushi isn't exactly breakfast material after all."
"Oh, don't worry; this place has a variety of overseas and traditional Japanese breakfast stuff. You can choose and pick what you want." Jade hopped out of the car, "C'mon, breakfast is only served until noon."
They went in and ordered a light breakfast and chatted about old times while they ate. Half an hour later, they sat back and relaxed.
"That was delish." Leya commented, taking a sip from her iced tea.
"That's why I picked this place; besides the fact that it's just down the street from that Karaoke bar." Jade said. She sat back and watched Leya finish her tea, "Ready to go do some karaoke now?" she asked.
Leya grinned, "You bet!"
Back at the Macaimura's residence…
"Miki, are you ready yet?" Akira called from outside of her room.
"Just a minute!" a muffled voice answered.
Akira sighed, trust a girl to take over an hour to get ready just to go out. He didn't understand why getting dressed and putting one's hair up would take up to two and a half hours. It took him half an hour to do the same things, give or take a few. He was just debating whether or not to go in and drag her out when Miki opened the door.
Akira rolled his eyes and sighed, "Finally. I thought you would never come out." He grinned as Miki puffed up in indignation.
She tossed her hair, "Hmph, I don't take that long. I know some girls that take half a day to get ready for a date; so don't go telling me that I take too long to get ready, Akira Fudo!"
He chuckled, "Well, while you were getting ready, your family was eating breakfast. I haven't eaten yet because I was waiting on you. I don't know if Tarai decided to leave anything besides crumbs for us to eat." He held his hand out to her, "Shall we?"
She smiled mischievously and took his arm, "Let's."
They walked down the hall hand in hand to the kitchen to see what of the meal Miki's little brother was kind enough to leave them.
"Jaade…" Leya whined again for the third time that morning.
Jade sighed heavily and turned to her friend, "Whaat Leya."
"Are the songs in Japanese? I can't sing in Japanese. Hell, I can't even sing in Spanish and it's my second language!" Leya looked at Jade with her pathetic whipped puppy look.
Jade pursed her lips, "Why don't you put a song you know in and find out. I'm not going to tell you anything that you can find out for yourself."
Leya pouted, "Are you in a bad mood? I'm sorry…"
Jade sighed and smiled at Leya's mock sad puppy eyes. She shook her head, "I'm not in a bad mood; I'm just a little off today. Don't worry, I'll get better as the day progresses."
Leya instantly brightened, "Good." She grabbed the music book and began to rummage around in it for a song that she could sing. "Here we go!" she sang out, punching in the numbers for the song on the machine. She looked mischievously over at Jade, "Grab a mic, kitty cat; you're singing this one with me."
Jade grabbed the other mic, "I'm almost afraid to hear what you put in." she began as the intro for the song began. She listened for a moment and laughed, "I should have known you would put this in first."
Leya grinned and began to sing.
One minute I'm in
Central Park
Then I'm down on Delancey Street
From the Bow'ry to St Marks
There's a syncopated beat
Whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo
I'm streetwise
I can improvise
Whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo, whoo
I'm streetsmart
I've got New York City heart
Why should I worry?
Why should I care?
I may not have a dime
But I got street savoire faire
Why should I worry?
Why should I care?
It's just bebopulation
And I got street saviore faire
The rhythm of the city
But once you get it down
Then you can own this town
You can wear the crown
Why should I worry?
Why should I care?
I may not have a dime
But I got street savoire faire
Why should I worry?
Why should I care?
It's just bebopulation
And I got street saviore faire
Ev'rything goes
Ev'rything fits
They love me at the Chelsea
They adore me at the Ritz
Why should I worry?
Why should I care?
And even when I cross that line
I got street savoire faire
Jade and Leya began to laugh as the song ended. Jade looked appreciatively over at her best friend, "Thanks, I needed that."
Leya pretended to polish her nails on her shirt, "I know." She pushed the songbook towards Jade, "Your turn to pick a song now!"
"Alright… hm, let's see… how about this one?" Jade said as she punched in some numbers.
Leya looked at the title, "Good choice."
"Thanks." Jade said as she began to sing One More Addiction.
"Are you sure you want to go there today? It's a weekend and they're probably going to be really busy with all of the tourists." Akira explained to Miki, trying to talk her out of her decision.
"Yes I'm sure I want to go there. I haven't gone to sing in a long time. It'll be fun." She giggled and pulled him down the street towards the Karaoke bar.
"Hey Leya. I'll be back, 'kay?"
Leya paused in her singing, "Where're you going?"
Jade got up and grabbed her purse, "Break time." Was all she said. Leya nodded and went back to singing her song.
Jade opened the door of their booth and made her way to the restrooms. As she was passing the front desk, she noticed a familiar messy-haired teen standing beside a pretty young lady. She changed direction and made a beeline for the couple.
"Hey Akira! How are you?"
The young man looked behind him quickly in surprise, "Riist…? What are you doing here?" he asked as he turned to face her.
Jade rubbed the back of her head and sighed, "Leya wanted to go out on the town today so I steered her towards the Karaoke bar in order to keep her from offending anyone or causing a ruckus." She grinned and nodded at the girl, "So out on a date with your ladylove?"
Akira blushed and looked over at Miki, "Um, something like that… Riist, this is Miki Macaimura. Miki, meet Riist…" Akira looked apologetically at Jade. "I'm sorry, all the times we've spoken to each other and I never even got your full name."
"Jade Riist." She smiled and bowed to Miki, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Macaimura."
"A pleasure meeting you as well Miss Riist." Miki said with a return bow.
"Well, I was just coming over here to say hi and to see if you two wanted to join us in our booth. It's booth number 12. You can't miss it; it'll have the weird American girl dancing around with the microphone." Jade grinned.
Miki smiled in return, "That would be great. Thank you for the offer."
Jade waved it off, "Don't mention it. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some pressing business to do in the restrooms." Jade replied as she walked off.
Miki turned to Akira after Jade disappeared into the restrooms. "So where did you two meet?"
Akira looked down at his girlfriend, "We met over by the college. She's a student there I believe. Don't worry, we only just met."
Miki began to walk towards the booth Jade pointed to, "Who said that I was worried? She's way too old for you anyway."
Akira sighed mournfully, "Why me?" he muttered under his breath as he followed her into the booth.
Author's notes: Phew… this chapter took a while. Sorry it took so long…
Oh! In case you're wondering, the first song that the girls sing is Why should I worry from the Disney movie Oliver and Company and the song One More Addiction is actually sung by Natalie Imbruglia, one of my favorite singers ^_^.
Hopefully, things will get rolling in Chapter 5… but that also depends on what my muse has to say about this. ^_^;