Chapter 9: The unexpected gathering at Chihiro's home
By the time they were on the corner of the block, Gavin had not been present.
Tiffany stood straight right next Masahiro in blue faded khakis with a pink tee-shirt that had the words written on it, "Daddy's little girl". She had worn a name plate belt that also had letters written, "Tiff" in the center of the buckle that was wrapped around her waist. Her hair tied into two pony tails on one side of the head and a few bangs hung over her eyes. Tiffany wiggled her fingers as each second passed and she started doing a lot of gestures, ones including like her eyes darting up and down, twiddling her thumbs, and tapping her foot. Masahiro was getting annoyed with that somewhat...
"Why did we come here so ea-"
Before she finished, a sound of screeching tires came from behind them. Both of their heads turned to see what it was about and it was Gavin... walking over on top of a car that stopped abruptly as it was about to hit Gavin who crossed on a green light.
The window reeled down and a man stuck out his hand and made a middle finger at Gavin's back when he hopped off the roof just as the car's tires screeched off and away from their view as tire marks had been left in the middle of the road. He acted so casual with his hands in the pocket of his hooded shirt.
"Is that guy even human?"
Tiffany said with a sweat drop on her head and pointed at Gavin.
"I don't know... He's been in a lot of life and death situations and he's gotten out of all of em alive, how does he do it?"
Masahiro responded back as he walked forward Gavin, giving him a high-five.
Gavin approached Masahiro first and returned the high-five. He looked at Masahiro then looked at Tiffany and nodded.
"Let's get going."
~~~~~~~~~Chihiro's Home~~~~~~~~~
They made their way to Chihiro's house on the gray dull day which seemed to take forever. There was no wind at the moment and the neighborhood had been dead empty.
The house was large and it looked to have at least 2 floors. The house was painted a light gentle sky blue and the door was a lighter shade of the blue. A welcome mat that said, "Welcome Home", laid on the doorstep along with a few decorative welcomes had been pinned onto the door.
First thing Tiffany did was approach the front door and lifted her hand up to ring the door bell when...
"Hey hey hey, what the hell do you think your doing?"
Gavin leapt after her with the chain hanging out from his baggy shorts and jingling. He snapped at her and grabbed her by the hand, pulling her away from the door. Masahiro couldn't help but snicker as Tiffany went back to standing beside Masahiro with a confused look.
"You have to watch the mastermind work, Tiff."
He said pointing at Gavin who backed away from the door and let go of Tiffany. She rubbed her fingers around her wrist in pain as she realized the grip of Gavin. She backed away with an intent look. Gavin seemed cocky at this time and he walked to the side of the house in silence, not even sparing an apology to Tiffany even when she gestured that she was in a bit of pain. Tiffany scoffed and placed her hands to her hips, blowing the bangs out from her eyes and her eyes followed Gavin as he moved, step by step. Gavin made his way forward till he reached the fence that lined in front him, which was at least 6 feet tall. Masahiro ran after Gavin who Tiffany followed behind watched as Gavin easily leaped over the fence by backing away from the fence then running it as a quick speed. Gavin jumped then drew his right foot on the side of the house and kicked out away from the wall, as his left foot quickly touched the fence and he made a grab for the top of the fence. At this point, Gavin started to struggle a bit as he pulled his lower body up and hopped down to the other side.
Tiffany gave a weak clap of sarcasm with her head a bit skewed. Masahiro, as usual, commented on how Gavin was skilled such things. Gavin ignored Masahiro's comment as he shook his head from side to side with his index finger on his forehead and had a smirk on his face.
"Is that such a big deal? Geez, Masa! Stop making it seem like he's a pro at everything."
She said in an irritated voice and back away from the fence. She then raced off towards the fence, jumped high enough that her hands already grabbed hold of the top and pulled herself over, landing on her feet right beside Gavin. He gave a smile at her and a thumb up.
"You're on track?"
"2 year champion."
Tiffany responded confidently as to it was a lie; she just picked up a false story for covering reasons.
"Pretty impressive."
Gavin responded then cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted to the other side.
"Get over here, Masa, we don't have all day. If you can't climb over, be ready for lookout like usual!"
Before Masahiro responded, knowing Masahiro couldn't climb over; Gavin took off with Tiffany and walked till he reached the back of the house.
"What do you mean as usual? So you've done it before? You've BROKE into people's homes!? Oh my-"
Gavin squinted his eyes and whispered, "Shut up shut up" quietly. He knew Tiffany wouldn't stop so he turned and cupped his hand over her mouth and pushed her onto the side of the house.
"Could you shut up for just one moment so I can think? God, girls talk so much."
He said in a low serious voice as his eyes shot into eyes. The moment Tiffany looked into his eyes, she cringed a bit and stared back, staring back, she saw melancholy and darkness. Gavin's eyes became fired and when he had looked at Tiffany, his eyes widened, realizing that he saw fear in a return of her eyes. His eyes softened and he jerked his hand back away from her. Rubbing his temples, he turned away from her.
"Um, I understand. Let's get going."
She said swallowing and backing away from the house. She looked at Gavin whom was half crouching and coughed.
"Right, we still don't have all day."
Gavin said as he raced off to the back of the house.
~~~~~~~~~~
"Well well well... Who'd knew I'd bump into you again, Tandra."
Two blood red eyes peered down at the two running to the back of the house. Mavis stood on the roof top with her two pairs of steel metal claws worn over her soft and tender human form hands. Mavis stood 5'5'' with long silver metallic hair that was shoulder length and held a deadly expression on her face. She was quite the pale one and quite the demon assassin. Her lips curved her deadly grin as she licked her fangs with her tongue and chuckled to herself.
"And looks like you're guarding my kill, dear. Looks like you're going to have to die too."
Mavis' body slowly became transparent then dark energy emitted from her body as her body slowly turned into a shadow that seeped into the rooftop ground and entered into the home; a shadow that stalked her prey that would die soon.
~~~~~~~~~~
A giant portal flashed open in Chihiro's parent's room that was quite large. The darkness swirled around and around until Nekura leapt out, landing gently on the white carpeted room. June came out after him and Haku as well.
"Take a good luck around."
June whispered in a dry voice, somewhat hating what she was about to do. Nekura stood there, dead silent and indeed, he was irritated the fact he had to see such a sappy moment.
Haku's eyes darted around the room then came to a stop when he had seen family photos of Chihiro with her family. Haku's memory was faint and walked over to the red oak dresser, lifting up the framed photo of Chihiro. He lifted it up to his face and gazed at it. He then stopped and looked up at the ceiling trying to recall who this girl was. Minutes passed and he didn't know who she was. Haku's forehead wrinkled and ran his fingers against the glass that was protecting the photo.
"Sen..."
Images back from the Spirit World came haunting back.
"This is Sen..."
He turned around and looked at June who sat on the velvet colored bed sheets with her hands clasped together on her lap.
"Who is this?"
Haku dared to ask her. June's eyes became passive and she shrugged. June rapidly recalled the first conversation she had face to face with Yubaba that she had not told anyone. Apparently, due to the reason that when Chihiro left, everyone wanted their freedom and soon, once every two days, she found 6 workers that pleaded for freedom and 11 others who abruptly attacked her because of the face she said no, they couldn't leave without knowing their real name and even if they did, she wanted them to stay and serve under her. June understood all that Yubaba told her but what was the point? Finally, Yubaba stated her request, "I want this lump of stupid coal, dead. She's ruined everything I've ever built and made! Kill her, June, kill her and bring back my seal!"
She became silent as her thought finished and she looked at Haku.
"This is the one, you're going to kill, the one who holds what we're looking for."
~~~~~~~~~~
June got off the bed and walked past Nekura who stood in the dark shadows. Nekura's eyes glared at her and he sent a telepathic message.
(You pity him, how nice. You need to stop all of this child's play and do what you're supposed to do without delay, missy. Now please, do it.)
June had nodded and approached Haku from behind. Her eyes flashed a light as she stared blankly and placed her right over from behind over Haku's shoulder. She brought him closer to herself and she could feel the warmth coming from this boy, full of warmth and no darkness.... She pushed her cheek against his and whispered.
"I'm sorry."
June uncurled her fingers in her right hand and cupped it to the side of Haku's shoulder. She closed her eyes tightly as red and black energy flashed brightly in the dimmed room from her hand. A black dot was imprinted into the floor in front of Haku as it made its way around in a circle as it met back where it started. Then it rised up from the floor straight till it was about head level and penetrated into Haku's skin at the forehead. Haku stood motionless, not resisting as his eyes peeled opened wide. For a moment, his eyes flashed blank white as the darkness entered into his mind. June's hand clutched tighter and tighter as blood started to drip from his shoulder. It wasn't normal colored blood, it was black blood. Haku's whole body started to levitated just a few inches off the floor then he was back on his feet as he dropped down to his knees once the light had died down. June drew herself away and clutched her right hand tightly with her other.
"It's done."
June said as she rubbed the burnt mark on top of the scripture written into her flesh. She had her teeth gritted because of the fact Daiki never told her there were any effects on the person who placed on the control so Haku would altar and be fit for the darkness. But none the less, June couldn't help but smile at the fact Daiki chosen her to do the job, perhaps he had taken a liking to her as well, he saw she was powerful or at least had the potential.
Nekura stepped out from the shadows and approached Haku who had been on his knees, gasping for air. Nekura had placed his hand on the kid's shoulder but shockingly, Haku turned around and his eyes screamed with agony and hatred. He thrusted his hand forward onto Nekura's face and pushed him over to the side. Nekura caught himself swiftly back on his feet as Haku leapt up from the ground and backed away with his feet spread out parallel from each other. His back slightly leaning forward and his left hand held at stomach level where his right hand was a few inches above. Haku's eyes were burning with flames and Nekura cackled loudly.
"Looks like we've got us a more powerful and obedient fighter before us, June."
June couldn't help but rub her eyes for the remaining moment when she looked at Haku and she knew now, that he was different. He had no heart, no memory and that he would become one cold blooded killer. The real fun, was about to begin and June, she knew, she must not hold anything back.
~~~~~~~~
"So how do we go about this? The lowest window is... there."
Tiffany said as she pointed upwards to the second floor. Gavin tilted his head back and looked up at the window of Chihiro's bed room. He recognized it because of the fact there was a crack in the glass. He blanked out for a moment without knowing it and he saw something move from the window. Tiffany ran and stopped beside him, looking up.
"I saw something moving in Chihiro's bed room window just now."
Gavin said.
"A shadow?"
"Yeah... It was bigger than usual though, couldn't be Chihiro's killer cat."
"You even made a name for Misuira? Don't you think that's kind of cold? I mean, Killer cat."
Gavin turned away from the view of the window and began to climb the tall tree that was 2 feet behind him.
"Nope and that name fits him. He's a cat that likes to pry on things. I'm sure of what I saw. And don't you dare."
He grunted as he climbed up the tree.
"Think that I would hurt Chihiro. I'd never."
He almost reached the top.
"Ever hurt her."
He grabbed onto the nearest thick branch and swung his legs to another branch under it so he would be able to stand and walk at the same time.
"O-kay, I believe ya..."
Tiffany mumbled as she watched Gavin make his way to the end of the branch. Tiffany paced around the grassy backyard and then came to a pause.
"Are you stuck?"
"Do you have a better way of getting up?"
He retorted back at her.
"The back door."
"The back door?"
"The back door... has an opening at the bottom. Maybe it's opened too..."
"That's where Misuira enters. I'm not a friggin' animal. And what are the chances of that?"
Gavin said pulling himself up to one the one thick branch that he was holding. He sat on it with the branch between his legs and he bent down forward, carefully so he wouldn't slip.
(You always have to take the hard way.)
Tiffany thought in her head and walked towards the backdoor and peaked through the clear glass. Her eyes scanned inside and it looked like it had lead to the kitchen. Her eyes beamed over at Gavin, seeing he was distracted, she gradually grabbed the door knob and begin twisting it clockwise and as predicted, it was locked. She leaned at the door with her hand still on the knob as electricity cackled, slowly forcing the metal lock inside of the home to slide open. Tiffany pushed open the door and smiled.
"Gavin, it's open."
He's jaw dropped opened and he raised a brow, shaking his head from side to side.
"Are you serious?"
"Serious as you could break your neck if you don't come down from there."
~~~~~~~~~~
Once Gavin and Tiffany entered the home, first thing he wanted to do was retrace his steps from few days ago. He darted at the living room, forgetting to tip toe as Tiffany observed the furniture in each room. Gavin started to talk to himself, remembering every exact detail then something hit him. He recalled back that he had seen a moving shadow upstairs in Chihiro's room and the fact he forgot to tip toe. He hit himself on the forehead lightly with the back of his hand and made "pssst" noises towards Tiffany who was observing the china cabinet.
"The shadow, I'm going up stairs to check."
Tiffany, without looking at him, waved her hand up and down in agreement and a signal for him to go on right ahead.
"You're pretty jumpy.... And you might want to stop making such heavy footsteps."
She said making quick eye contact with him.
Gavin held out his thumb and index fingers, pointing at Tiffany and moved turned his hand from left to right.
"Right right... forgot."
(She's right; I am sort of jumpy...)
~~~~~~~~~~
Nekura walked around Chihiro's room, inspecting every thing she had present in her room. He had seen a lot of things... A poster from Yu-Gi-Oh of Marik and a wall scroll next to that of Seto Kaiba, which was quite a popular show. Her dresser had a large mirror and a bunch of photo's taped on the edge of her friends. Perfume bottles, Chap Stick, all the things a regular girl needed. And a pile books had been spread out on the floor. Nekura carefully moved no object as he moved around the room but his senses were peeled open to any strong sense of power that resided near the room or in.
"Nothing.... What is this trash...?"
He picked up one of the text books and flipped through it.
"There are two types of measurement applied to earthquakes: magnitude and intensity scales. Scales of intensity, such as Mercalli scales are based upon the reports of people who experienced the earthquake and observed the amount of destruction... What the hell..."
He flipped the text book to the cover.
"Earth Science Review Book."
He read and threw it back down.
"What boring trash this world has to learn..."
He grumbled. Nekura then turned around glared at the door. He stood their in dead silence and he was right. He heard footsteps of someone behind the door, tip toeing up the very stairs.
~~~~~~~~~~
(Chihiro's room... where's her room?)
Gavin glanced around and he had been as quiet as he can be that no normal human would be able to hear him. As he made his way to the top of the stairs, it was utter darkness and hard to see. Gavin squinted and made out least 5 doors. Each door had no lights opened at bottom of the crevice and since Gavin had never been at Chihiro's home much, he never remembered which her room was.
He crouched as he moved.
~~~~~~~~~~
(I smell someone here. He's weak... Let Haku take care of him.)
Nekura sent a telepathic message to June.
(Understood)
June send telepathic a message back. She turned to Haku who was standing so stiff and quiet; it was like he wasn't there. Haku looked the same and he didn't look one bit evil. It was like he didn't let it out or it was just the way that the control worked. Haku however, was obedient and he did all he was told, she knew for a fact, that the control would be effective since it was a power from Yubaba.
June rocked back and forth on the bed with her boots down on white carpet. She gave a heavy sigh. Quietly, she made her way towards the door and kneeled down. Slowly, she pulled it open without making one sound and peered through the crevice of the door and down the corridor where she spotted a moving shadow.
~~~~~~~~~~
Tiffany was still downstairs, looking around when a metal claw touched her shoulder. She jumped, turned around and surprised; she saw two red flashing eyes that caused her to stumble down to the floor.
Looking down at here, the woman walked out from the shadows. Tiffany panted from the scare she had and realized whom she was looking at.
"Hello Tandra."
The voice hissed.
"M-mavis!?"
"Yes, long time no see since our last debut. But that's the past, right now; you should be up stairs... You're friend is in a bit of trouble."
Mavis said in a cold voice as her boy once more became a shadow and slipped away.
~~~~~~~~~~
"Home, sweet home."
Chihiro read from her welcome mat she reached into her bag, struggling to find her keys. She pulled her hand out and shook the bag. She heard the jingling from her keys and finally, she found em.
"Gotcha."
She whispered with a smile. She selected a silver key that lead to the front door and pushed it into the hole, turning to the right once then again and turned the doorknob.
"Hey."
Masahiro said from behind.
"Hiya!"
Chihiro said happily.
"Um, why are you out of the hospital so early?"
"Oh... the injuries weren't that serious... Just minor cuts and I'm a fast healer. The nurse even said it was okay for me to go home today so here I am. I missed everyone so I wanted to get back as soon as possible! So here I am. How is everyone?"
Chihiro asked as she pushed the front door open. Masahiro darted in front of her, blocking her way with a smile.
"Everyone? Oh they're fine and now that you're better, things are definitely well."
"Is Gavin alright? He seemed kind of odd last time he came to visit."
"He's alright, as usual, the usual him."
Masahiro said as he placed his arm over her shoulder and moved her away from the door.
"Um... want to take a walk around the neighborhood since you just got back?"
Chihiro smiled and patted on his hand.
"The weather looks like it going to rain so how bout you come inside and we can talk a bit, eh?"
"Oh uh..."
Chihiro pulled herself away and opened the door where she flicked the light on.
"Come on, you live quite far anyway!"
She said cheerfully. Masahiro walked in her home where he was relived, Gavin and Tiffany were not there.
~~~~~~~~~~
Gavin saw the lights go on at the bottom of the stair case and he hid himself in the shadows. As Masahiro and Chihiro spoke, he heard Chihiro's voice from the shadows and smiled.
~~~~~~~~~~
"We had a lot of fun hanging out."
Masahiro said as he and Chihiro had a brief conversation.
Chihiro stood up from the sofa, stretched and sighed.
"We'll... Now that I'm a bit updated, I'm going to go upstairs. I missed my old room because all I was stuck with was the hospital rooms, blah."
Masahiro nodded his head and had forgotten his duty...
Chihiro quickly ran upstairs in her slippers and when she reached the top, Gavin selected a random a door that happened to be her room and closed the door shut.
(Wow, I'm lucky and looks like no one was here. Maybe I was seeing things...)
Gavin then saw the doorknob turned as he ran and rolled under the bed.
"I miss the smell in my room... I miss everything."
Chihiro said happily as she jumped on her bed and lied down, curling her finger on a strand of hair. She sat back up and grabbed her blanket, hugging it tightly to her chest. She then grabbed her teddy bear and hugged it tightly as well. Suddenly, she felt a breeze from behind her. She turned around to see the window wide open as sudden drizzling came down.
"How'd that get opened..."
She questioned as she closed the window tightly shut then walked over to the dresser as her eyes scanned the photos...
The doorknob suddenly turned.
"Masahiro, you can come in if you want, no use in scaring me like you use too!"
She said without hesitation. The door then swung open as a cold chill of wind ran by Chihiro's cheeks. She had sat on the chair and was going through her photo album of pictures of her friends from school since it had been summer, she forgot what some of the not so closed friends looked like. She shuddered and that's when she turned around to see where the cold air was coming from. And in the door way, Chihiro thought she was seeing into a dream.
"H-haku....!?"
By the time they were on the corner of the block, Gavin had not been present.
Tiffany stood straight right next Masahiro in blue faded khakis with a pink tee-shirt that had the words written on it, "Daddy's little girl". She had worn a name plate belt that also had letters written, "Tiff" in the center of the buckle that was wrapped around her waist. Her hair tied into two pony tails on one side of the head and a few bangs hung over her eyes. Tiffany wiggled her fingers as each second passed and she started doing a lot of gestures, ones including like her eyes darting up and down, twiddling her thumbs, and tapping her foot. Masahiro was getting annoyed with that somewhat...
"Why did we come here so ea-"
Before she finished, a sound of screeching tires came from behind them. Both of their heads turned to see what it was about and it was Gavin... walking over on top of a car that stopped abruptly as it was about to hit Gavin who crossed on a green light.
The window reeled down and a man stuck out his hand and made a middle finger at Gavin's back when he hopped off the roof just as the car's tires screeched off and away from their view as tire marks had been left in the middle of the road. He acted so casual with his hands in the pocket of his hooded shirt.
"Is that guy even human?"
Tiffany said with a sweat drop on her head and pointed at Gavin.
"I don't know... He's been in a lot of life and death situations and he's gotten out of all of em alive, how does he do it?"
Masahiro responded back as he walked forward Gavin, giving him a high-five.
Gavin approached Masahiro first and returned the high-five. He looked at Masahiro then looked at Tiffany and nodded.
"Let's get going."
~~~~~~~~~Chihiro's Home~~~~~~~~~
They made their way to Chihiro's house on the gray dull day which seemed to take forever. There was no wind at the moment and the neighborhood had been dead empty.
The house was large and it looked to have at least 2 floors. The house was painted a light gentle sky blue and the door was a lighter shade of the blue. A welcome mat that said, "Welcome Home", laid on the doorstep along with a few decorative welcomes had been pinned onto the door.
First thing Tiffany did was approach the front door and lifted her hand up to ring the door bell when...
"Hey hey hey, what the hell do you think your doing?"
Gavin leapt after her with the chain hanging out from his baggy shorts and jingling. He snapped at her and grabbed her by the hand, pulling her away from the door. Masahiro couldn't help but snicker as Tiffany went back to standing beside Masahiro with a confused look.
"You have to watch the mastermind work, Tiff."
He said pointing at Gavin who backed away from the door and let go of Tiffany. She rubbed her fingers around her wrist in pain as she realized the grip of Gavin. She backed away with an intent look. Gavin seemed cocky at this time and he walked to the side of the house in silence, not even sparing an apology to Tiffany even when she gestured that she was in a bit of pain. Tiffany scoffed and placed her hands to her hips, blowing the bangs out from her eyes and her eyes followed Gavin as he moved, step by step. Gavin made his way forward till he reached the fence that lined in front him, which was at least 6 feet tall. Masahiro ran after Gavin who Tiffany followed behind watched as Gavin easily leaped over the fence by backing away from the fence then running it as a quick speed. Gavin jumped then drew his right foot on the side of the house and kicked out away from the wall, as his left foot quickly touched the fence and he made a grab for the top of the fence. At this point, Gavin started to struggle a bit as he pulled his lower body up and hopped down to the other side.
Tiffany gave a weak clap of sarcasm with her head a bit skewed. Masahiro, as usual, commented on how Gavin was skilled such things. Gavin ignored Masahiro's comment as he shook his head from side to side with his index finger on his forehead and had a smirk on his face.
"Is that such a big deal? Geez, Masa! Stop making it seem like he's a pro at everything."
She said in an irritated voice and back away from the fence. She then raced off towards the fence, jumped high enough that her hands already grabbed hold of the top and pulled herself over, landing on her feet right beside Gavin. He gave a smile at her and a thumb up.
"You're on track?"
"2 year champion."
Tiffany responded confidently as to it was a lie; she just picked up a false story for covering reasons.
"Pretty impressive."
Gavin responded then cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted to the other side.
"Get over here, Masa, we don't have all day. If you can't climb over, be ready for lookout like usual!"
Before Masahiro responded, knowing Masahiro couldn't climb over; Gavin took off with Tiffany and walked till he reached the back of the house.
"What do you mean as usual? So you've done it before? You've BROKE into people's homes!? Oh my-"
Gavin squinted his eyes and whispered, "Shut up shut up" quietly. He knew Tiffany wouldn't stop so he turned and cupped his hand over her mouth and pushed her onto the side of the house.
"Could you shut up for just one moment so I can think? God, girls talk so much."
He said in a low serious voice as his eyes shot into eyes. The moment Tiffany looked into his eyes, she cringed a bit and stared back, staring back, she saw melancholy and darkness. Gavin's eyes became fired and when he had looked at Tiffany, his eyes widened, realizing that he saw fear in a return of her eyes. His eyes softened and he jerked his hand back away from her. Rubbing his temples, he turned away from her.
"Um, I understand. Let's get going."
She said swallowing and backing away from the house. She looked at Gavin whom was half crouching and coughed.
"Right, we still don't have all day."
Gavin said as he raced off to the back of the house.
~~~~~~~~~~
"Well well well... Who'd knew I'd bump into you again, Tandra."
Two blood red eyes peered down at the two running to the back of the house. Mavis stood on the roof top with her two pairs of steel metal claws worn over her soft and tender human form hands. Mavis stood 5'5'' with long silver metallic hair that was shoulder length and held a deadly expression on her face. She was quite the pale one and quite the demon assassin. Her lips curved her deadly grin as she licked her fangs with her tongue and chuckled to herself.
"And looks like you're guarding my kill, dear. Looks like you're going to have to die too."
Mavis' body slowly became transparent then dark energy emitted from her body as her body slowly turned into a shadow that seeped into the rooftop ground and entered into the home; a shadow that stalked her prey that would die soon.
~~~~~~~~~~
A giant portal flashed open in Chihiro's parent's room that was quite large. The darkness swirled around and around until Nekura leapt out, landing gently on the white carpeted room. June came out after him and Haku as well.
"Take a good luck around."
June whispered in a dry voice, somewhat hating what she was about to do. Nekura stood there, dead silent and indeed, he was irritated the fact he had to see such a sappy moment.
Haku's eyes darted around the room then came to a stop when he had seen family photos of Chihiro with her family. Haku's memory was faint and walked over to the red oak dresser, lifting up the framed photo of Chihiro. He lifted it up to his face and gazed at it. He then stopped and looked up at the ceiling trying to recall who this girl was. Minutes passed and he didn't know who she was. Haku's forehead wrinkled and ran his fingers against the glass that was protecting the photo.
"Sen..."
Images back from the Spirit World came haunting back.
"This is Sen..."
He turned around and looked at June who sat on the velvet colored bed sheets with her hands clasped together on her lap.
"Who is this?"
Haku dared to ask her. June's eyes became passive and she shrugged. June rapidly recalled the first conversation she had face to face with Yubaba that she had not told anyone. Apparently, due to the reason that when Chihiro left, everyone wanted their freedom and soon, once every two days, she found 6 workers that pleaded for freedom and 11 others who abruptly attacked her because of the face she said no, they couldn't leave without knowing their real name and even if they did, she wanted them to stay and serve under her. June understood all that Yubaba told her but what was the point? Finally, Yubaba stated her request, "I want this lump of stupid coal, dead. She's ruined everything I've ever built and made! Kill her, June, kill her and bring back my seal!"
She became silent as her thought finished and she looked at Haku.
"This is the one, you're going to kill, the one who holds what we're looking for."
~~~~~~~~~~
June got off the bed and walked past Nekura who stood in the dark shadows. Nekura's eyes glared at her and he sent a telepathic message.
(You pity him, how nice. You need to stop all of this child's play and do what you're supposed to do without delay, missy. Now please, do it.)
June had nodded and approached Haku from behind. Her eyes flashed a light as she stared blankly and placed her right over from behind over Haku's shoulder. She brought him closer to herself and she could feel the warmth coming from this boy, full of warmth and no darkness.... She pushed her cheek against his and whispered.
"I'm sorry."
June uncurled her fingers in her right hand and cupped it to the side of Haku's shoulder. She closed her eyes tightly as red and black energy flashed brightly in the dimmed room from her hand. A black dot was imprinted into the floor in front of Haku as it made its way around in a circle as it met back where it started. Then it rised up from the floor straight till it was about head level and penetrated into Haku's skin at the forehead. Haku stood motionless, not resisting as his eyes peeled opened wide. For a moment, his eyes flashed blank white as the darkness entered into his mind. June's hand clutched tighter and tighter as blood started to drip from his shoulder. It wasn't normal colored blood, it was black blood. Haku's whole body started to levitated just a few inches off the floor then he was back on his feet as he dropped down to his knees once the light had died down. June drew herself away and clutched her right hand tightly with her other.
"It's done."
June said as she rubbed the burnt mark on top of the scripture written into her flesh. She had her teeth gritted because of the fact Daiki never told her there were any effects on the person who placed on the control so Haku would altar and be fit for the darkness. But none the less, June couldn't help but smile at the fact Daiki chosen her to do the job, perhaps he had taken a liking to her as well, he saw she was powerful or at least had the potential.
Nekura stepped out from the shadows and approached Haku who had been on his knees, gasping for air. Nekura had placed his hand on the kid's shoulder but shockingly, Haku turned around and his eyes screamed with agony and hatred. He thrusted his hand forward onto Nekura's face and pushed him over to the side. Nekura caught himself swiftly back on his feet as Haku leapt up from the ground and backed away with his feet spread out parallel from each other. His back slightly leaning forward and his left hand held at stomach level where his right hand was a few inches above. Haku's eyes were burning with flames and Nekura cackled loudly.
"Looks like we've got us a more powerful and obedient fighter before us, June."
June couldn't help but rub her eyes for the remaining moment when she looked at Haku and she knew now, that he was different. He had no heart, no memory and that he would become one cold blooded killer. The real fun, was about to begin and June, she knew, she must not hold anything back.
~~~~~~~~
"So how do we go about this? The lowest window is... there."
Tiffany said as she pointed upwards to the second floor. Gavin tilted his head back and looked up at the window of Chihiro's bed room. He recognized it because of the fact there was a crack in the glass. He blanked out for a moment without knowing it and he saw something move from the window. Tiffany ran and stopped beside him, looking up.
"I saw something moving in Chihiro's bed room window just now."
Gavin said.
"A shadow?"
"Yeah... It was bigger than usual though, couldn't be Chihiro's killer cat."
"You even made a name for Misuira? Don't you think that's kind of cold? I mean, Killer cat."
Gavin turned away from the view of the window and began to climb the tall tree that was 2 feet behind him.
"Nope and that name fits him. He's a cat that likes to pry on things. I'm sure of what I saw. And don't you dare."
He grunted as he climbed up the tree.
"Think that I would hurt Chihiro. I'd never."
He almost reached the top.
"Ever hurt her."
He grabbed onto the nearest thick branch and swung his legs to another branch under it so he would be able to stand and walk at the same time.
"O-kay, I believe ya..."
Tiffany mumbled as she watched Gavin make his way to the end of the branch. Tiffany paced around the grassy backyard and then came to a pause.
"Are you stuck?"
"Do you have a better way of getting up?"
He retorted back at her.
"The back door."
"The back door?"
"The back door... has an opening at the bottom. Maybe it's opened too..."
"That's where Misuira enters. I'm not a friggin' animal. And what are the chances of that?"
Gavin said pulling himself up to one the one thick branch that he was holding. He sat on it with the branch between his legs and he bent down forward, carefully so he wouldn't slip.
(You always have to take the hard way.)
Tiffany thought in her head and walked towards the backdoor and peaked through the clear glass. Her eyes scanned inside and it looked like it had lead to the kitchen. Her eyes beamed over at Gavin, seeing he was distracted, she gradually grabbed the door knob and begin twisting it clockwise and as predicted, it was locked. She leaned at the door with her hand still on the knob as electricity cackled, slowly forcing the metal lock inside of the home to slide open. Tiffany pushed open the door and smiled.
"Gavin, it's open."
He's jaw dropped opened and he raised a brow, shaking his head from side to side.
"Are you serious?"
"Serious as you could break your neck if you don't come down from there."
~~~~~~~~~~
Once Gavin and Tiffany entered the home, first thing he wanted to do was retrace his steps from few days ago. He darted at the living room, forgetting to tip toe as Tiffany observed the furniture in each room. Gavin started to talk to himself, remembering every exact detail then something hit him. He recalled back that he had seen a moving shadow upstairs in Chihiro's room and the fact he forgot to tip toe. He hit himself on the forehead lightly with the back of his hand and made "pssst" noises towards Tiffany who was observing the china cabinet.
"The shadow, I'm going up stairs to check."
Tiffany, without looking at him, waved her hand up and down in agreement and a signal for him to go on right ahead.
"You're pretty jumpy.... And you might want to stop making such heavy footsteps."
She said making quick eye contact with him.
Gavin held out his thumb and index fingers, pointing at Tiffany and moved turned his hand from left to right.
"Right right... forgot."
(She's right; I am sort of jumpy...)
~~~~~~~~~~
Nekura walked around Chihiro's room, inspecting every thing she had present in her room. He had seen a lot of things... A poster from Yu-Gi-Oh of Marik and a wall scroll next to that of Seto Kaiba, which was quite a popular show. Her dresser had a large mirror and a bunch of photo's taped on the edge of her friends. Perfume bottles, Chap Stick, all the things a regular girl needed. And a pile books had been spread out on the floor. Nekura carefully moved no object as he moved around the room but his senses were peeled open to any strong sense of power that resided near the room or in.
"Nothing.... What is this trash...?"
He picked up one of the text books and flipped through it.
"There are two types of measurement applied to earthquakes: magnitude and intensity scales. Scales of intensity, such as Mercalli scales are based upon the reports of people who experienced the earthquake and observed the amount of destruction... What the hell..."
He flipped the text book to the cover.
"Earth Science Review Book."
He read and threw it back down.
"What boring trash this world has to learn..."
He grumbled. Nekura then turned around glared at the door. He stood their in dead silence and he was right. He heard footsteps of someone behind the door, tip toeing up the very stairs.
~~~~~~~~~~
(Chihiro's room... where's her room?)
Gavin glanced around and he had been as quiet as he can be that no normal human would be able to hear him. As he made his way to the top of the stairs, it was utter darkness and hard to see. Gavin squinted and made out least 5 doors. Each door had no lights opened at bottom of the crevice and since Gavin had never been at Chihiro's home much, he never remembered which her room was.
He crouched as he moved.
~~~~~~~~~~
(I smell someone here. He's weak... Let Haku take care of him.)
Nekura sent a telepathic message to June.
(Understood)
June send telepathic a message back. She turned to Haku who was standing so stiff and quiet; it was like he wasn't there. Haku looked the same and he didn't look one bit evil. It was like he didn't let it out or it was just the way that the control worked. Haku however, was obedient and he did all he was told, she knew for a fact, that the control would be effective since it was a power from Yubaba.
June rocked back and forth on the bed with her boots down on white carpet. She gave a heavy sigh. Quietly, she made her way towards the door and kneeled down. Slowly, she pulled it open without making one sound and peered through the crevice of the door and down the corridor where she spotted a moving shadow.
~~~~~~~~~~
Tiffany was still downstairs, looking around when a metal claw touched her shoulder. She jumped, turned around and surprised; she saw two red flashing eyes that caused her to stumble down to the floor.
Looking down at here, the woman walked out from the shadows. Tiffany panted from the scare she had and realized whom she was looking at.
"Hello Tandra."
The voice hissed.
"M-mavis!?"
"Yes, long time no see since our last debut. But that's the past, right now; you should be up stairs... You're friend is in a bit of trouble."
Mavis said in a cold voice as her boy once more became a shadow and slipped away.
~~~~~~~~~~
"Home, sweet home."
Chihiro read from her welcome mat she reached into her bag, struggling to find her keys. She pulled her hand out and shook the bag. She heard the jingling from her keys and finally, she found em.
"Gotcha."
She whispered with a smile. She selected a silver key that lead to the front door and pushed it into the hole, turning to the right once then again and turned the doorknob.
"Hey."
Masahiro said from behind.
"Hiya!"
Chihiro said happily.
"Um, why are you out of the hospital so early?"
"Oh... the injuries weren't that serious... Just minor cuts and I'm a fast healer. The nurse even said it was okay for me to go home today so here I am. I missed everyone so I wanted to get back as soon as possible! So here I am. How is everyone?"
Chihiro asked as she pushed the front door open. Masahiro darted in front of her, blocking her way with a smile.
"Everyone? Oh they're fine and now that you're better, things are definitely well."
"Is Gavin alright? He seemed kind of odd last time he came to visit."
"He's alright, as usual, the usual him."
Masahiro said as he placed his arm over her shoulder and moved her away from the door.
"Um... want to take a walk around the neighborhood since you just got back?"
Chihiro smiled and patted on his hand.
"The weather looks like it going to rain so how bout you come inside and we can talk a bit, eh?"
"Oh uh..."
Chihiro pulled herself away and opened the door where she flicked the light on.
"Come on, you live quite far anyway!"
She said cheerfully. Masahiro walked in her home where he was relived, Gavin and Tiffany were not there.
~~~~~~~~~~
Gavin saw the lights go on at the bottom of the stair case and he hid himself in the shadows. As Masahiro and Chihiro spoke, he heard Chihiro's voice from the shadows and smiled.
~~~~~~~~~~
"We had a lot of fun hanging out."
Masahiro said as he and Chihiro had a brief conversation.
Chihiro stood up from the sofa, stretched and sighed.
"We'll... Now that I'm a bit updated, I'm going to go upstairs. I missed my old room because all I was stuck with was the hospital rooms, blah."
Masahiro nodded his head and had forgotten his duty...
Chihiro quickly ran upstairs in her slippers and when she reached the top, Gavin selected a random a door that happened to be her room and closed the door shut.
(Wow, I'm lucky and looks like no one was here. Maybe I was seeing things...)
Gavin then saw the doorknob turned as he ran and rolled under the bed.
"I miss the smell in my room... I miss everything."
Chihiro said happily as she jumped on her bed and lied down, curling her finger on a strand of hair. She sat back up and grabbed her blanket, hugging it tightly to her chest. She then grabbed her teddy bear and hugged it tightly as well. Suddenly, she felt a breeze from behind her. She turned around to see the window wide open as sudden drizzling came down.
"How'd that get opened..."
She questioned as she closed the window tightly shut then walked over to the dresser as her eyes scanned the photos...
The doorknob suddenly turned.
"Masahiro, you can come in if you want, no use in scaring me like you use too!"
She said without hesitation. The door then swung open as a cold chill of wind ran by Chihiro's cheeks. She had sat on the chair and was going through her photo album of pictures of her friends from school since it had been summer, she forgot what some of the not so closed friends looked like. She shuddered and that's when she turned around to see where the cold air was coming from. And in the door way, Chihiro thought she was seeing into a dream.
"H-haku....!?"