Disclaimer: Again with the disclaimer... Y'know what? I think you guys know
that I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho already. I've only been saying this for well
over four or five months now.
Quote of the week: "Evil is better because good is dumb!" -to tell the truth, I don't know who said this. ^ ^;; How many people have you heard repeating it?
Author's note: Don't worry, Ryuu-chan. Yukimi is around, and is currently looking for an apartment to rent in town (with the help of Touya, which explains why he's not in this chapter). Since she's not a staff member of the academy, she can't live at the dorms, but still wants to hang around to see what happens to Cecilia's egg. She'll show up soon.
Yet another Author's note: Sorry this was late. Schoolwork has been killing me lately, and I got even more during Vacation.
Now, enter the fan club!
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Pale light flooded the front yard, shading the snow a faint robin-egg's blue. The snow was piled in drifts, with a path cut through straight to the black screen door, and icicles hung from the wooden shutters. It was a fairly large house; much larger, Kurama noticed, than his own dorm on the other side of the campus.
Rinku, having been faced with three different projects in the span of less than two hours, had frantically asked the fox to come by and help him. As he rang the doorbell, Kurama patiently waited outside for his ten-year-old friend to answer, taking in the detail of the old Victorian-style house. Complimentary to the dorm's age and style, a large circular turret rose into the sky, and fancily carved borders graced every spare overhang and windowsill. The front door was also beautifully designed; a stained glass mosaic graced its mahogany frame. In fact, the fox was so busy expecting the minutely detailed carvings on the porch railing; he almost didn't hear the door swing open and a familiar fairy envelop him in another rib- crushing embrace.
Well, there went his kidney.
"Kurama-chan! I didn't expect to see you so soon! Did Rinku ask you to help him with his homework?"
When it came to the obvious, Aki was as good as a mind reader. So, why couldn't she tell his diaphragm was going to collapse any second now? Faking a smile as best as he could, Kurama pried Aki's arms from around his ribcage and sidled away, hoping to high heaven that Rinku, Suzuka, anyone who lived in the autumn fairy's dorm would rescue him from this pixie-on- speed. His savior, however was not who he expected.
Standing in the doorway, leaning casually against the sturdy frame, was Chuu. The Aussie demon looked a bit worn down; probably kudos the academy's strict no-alcohol rule. Aki, happily oblivious of Chuu's short patience, grinned and waved to both males before rising into the air with a flutter of her transparent wings. "Er, I better go. I'm going to be late for drama club rehearsal." In less than a minute, she was out of sight, the sinking sun on the horizon blinding anyone who looked up at the sky.
Chuu grumbled something about "stupid, sugar-high, fairies on speed" and left the doorway, allowing Kurama access into the large dorm. In the living room, Lyonell, much to Kurama's surprise, was on the large couch and watching TV, as was Jay Gilbert, Shane Raby, and an older, butterfly-winged girl - no doubt another fairy. Lyonell, green eyes half-closed in a television-induced stupor, lazily waved to his classmate and turned back to the TV.
The young woman stood up, gracefully fluttering up in the air, and landed next to Kurama, her blue-tinged hair settling back over her bright blue green eyes once the breeze that was kicked up from her beautifully detailed wings - which resembled those of a monarch butterfly's, except the main color was white instead of orange, and a slew of slate-gray spots decorated the black edge - died down.
"Oh, you must be Kurama." She nodded her head in a polite hello, and Kurama held out his hand.
"Yes, I am Kurama. Who, may I ask, are you?"
"Clarice; Clarice Dupont." Clarice smiled, her large wings fluttering behind her back every so often, and shook hands with the fox. "I believe Rinku is up in his room - the one he shares with Lyonell and Jay. He also brought another friend with him; I believe you may be familiar with her."
"Really? Well, I hate to be interrupting your exceedingly exciting program." Kurama gestured at the TV, which was now back to its regular programmed episodes of "Ed, Edd, and Eddy", and the elder fairy smiled and giggled.
"Oh, don't worry at all. Just try not to be too loud, there are other students trying to study.
"Of course, thank you." The fox politely bowed and walked from the living room to the all, where a wooden staircase wound up all the way to the third- floor attic. Finding Rinku's room wasn't as hard as he had expected, as the young youkai ran out as soon as Kurama stepped out onto the second floor platform. Rinku yapped "Hello" and ran into one of the bathrooms, apparently to turn off the faucets - which were not only pouring, but water was leaking out from the pipes. The yo-yo expert sighed in relief, and yelled back into the room, "Hey, Lyra, looks like your water summon didn't get too out of hand."
"Well, that's good to know," She replied, wringing water out her black hair, which had been taken out of its traditional braid. She suddenly stopped, noticing her roommate had "suddenly" appeared. "Oh, Kurama, nice of you to come." She smiled, and seemed to nervously block the open door to Rinku's room as she re-braided her hair.
"I heard Rinku had invited a friend of his over, but I never guessed it was you."
"Um, Rinku's science teacher assigned this water-power project to him, and I'm helping him out." She shut the door and whispered, "To tell the truth, it was Suzuka's idea. He wanted to make sure Rinku didn't flood the place." The fox knowingly nodded, and both roommates instantly stopped talking as soon as Rinku walked up to them.
"Well, I'm glad that didn't get too out of hand." The youkai cheerily smiled and opened the door to his shared bedroom, only to have his jaw drop in shock. Floating above Jay's bed was a fairly small cloud; it was dark gray and looked full enough of water to make a small monsoon take place in the large room. "Lyra, what is a cloud doing in my room?" He asked, his left eye twitching and mouth agape.
"It must've, erm... wandered in?" Lyra sweetly chirruped, doing her best to sound innocent. Kurama could only stare at the foreboding cloud that hovered above their heads and he stepped out of the room, still staring alongside Rinku. "Why, don't you move that out of the house, Lyra?"
"I can't," was the simple reply; and both demons stared at the water manipulator in disbelief.
"What? Why can't you?" Rinku had managed to stop staring long enough to blurt out the question, and Lyra sighed, obviously preparing for a long explanation on why she couldn't move the miniscule storm cloud out of the bedroom. A lightning bolt flew from the bottom of the puffy, almost black, mass of water vapor, striking an outlet - causing all the lights in the room to shut off completely.
There were a couple muffled shouts of complaint from downstairs, and, poking his brown-haired head out of the door, Rinku noticed the electricity in the entire house had shorted out. "Well, that settles it. We're good as dead once they find out we did this."
"I'll go see how they're doing downstairs."
The little youkai jumped as Lyra placed her hand on his shoulder, and proceeded to walk down the hall, hand against the wall, until she came to the second floor landing, where something crashed into her and they fell out into the hall.
"S-sorry 'bout that Lyra." It was unmistakably Shane's voice, and the boy seemed to generate a small sphere of light in his hand, and proceeded to help the dazed girl up onto her feet. In his entire one-week stay at the academy, Rinku had never seen the human use spirit energy or any special abilities - now why hadn't Shane created such a light source while he was barreling up the steps? Apparently he couldn't continue to hold onto the light, because it quickly dimmed and then died out.
"Hey, did anything happen up here? Chuu's downstairs checking the electrical circuits right now."
Suddenly, a thought flashed in Rinku's mind - the thought that if anyone possibly saw the rain cloud in his room, he would definitely be sleeping outside from now on. Before Kurama could react, Rinku's bedroom door slammed shut in his face, and the fox could hear the telltale click as it was locked shut from the outside. Quietly, he listened to the conversation between the three students, but a certain feeling kept surfacing from the back of his mind.
It was a mix of uneasiness and dread, and it coiled in his gut until he finally shot a nervous glance at the window. The dark blue curtains rustled in the chilly early February breeze that came in through the open window, and the branches of the tree outside swayed in the wind. With an internal sigh of relief, the fox went back to listening to the conversation. But, wait a minute... hadn't the window been shut last he checked?
Kurama silently berated himself for being so high-strung; all that schoolwork and lack of sleep must've started to get to him. His suspicions doubled, however, when he heard a soft footstep from behind him and saw a faint shadow slide across the wall towards him. It might have been dark, but the moon was still bright enough to faintly light the room and the silvery cloud that took up the ceiling. Trying to ignore the shadow that crept along the wall, he hoped that Shane would leave and Rinku would just open the door to the bedroom.
The shadow was moving faster now, at a running pace. It was fairly shapeless, and, this is what surprised Kurama the most, there wasn't a source that the shadow could have possibly come from.
Kurama could hear the conversation die down a little and he took that moment to scurry from the door to one of the beds (judging from the number of golden hairs on the pillow, it was most likely Lyonell's.); but he couldn't possibly outrun the living darkness as it followed his path from the ceiling. His green eyes widened as the shadow took on a three- dimensional form, fleshing out until a young, curvaceous woman hung from the ceiling in front of him.
Her skin was pale, which contrasted to her dark chestnut hair and blood red lips; her hair was short, the uneven bangs covering one of her golden eyes. She was skimpily dressed, as more skin than clothing showed. Her top barely covered her ample chest, the neckline was extremely plunging, and the shirt tied together behind her back; she was wearing pants, but they were very tight and hugged every single curve of her hips and legs. Bat wings stretched out from her back, and a tight black ribbon choker with spikes on it was wrapped around her neck.
What scared Kurama most of all was that she was holding a whip.
And, while she seductively licked her full, red, lips, the bat-woman seemed very eager to use it.
Before he could yell or even try to defend himself, she flung herself at him; putting him in a full body lock and tying his hands together with the coiled leather whip she carried, stuffing a rag in his face. He faintly recalled the smell of chemicals before he fell unconscious and everything turned black.
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"I never thought that Shane would leave," Rinku sighed, leaning against the locked door for support. Lyra nodded in agreement, and unlocked the door, cringing as it opened with a creak. "Kurama, Are you okay? I'm sorry about what happened back there, we didn't mean to lock you in here." She peeked around the door, only to see an empty room. The window was open, and the cloud was starting to dissipate, but her fox-roommate was nowhere to be seen.
"Hey, where did he go?" Lyra flinched, not expecting Rinku to be standing next to her. She breathed in relief, and answered, "I... don't know."
"He was kidnapped."
Both students jumped a little, and Lyra whirled towards the source of the voice. "Who are you?"
"Lyra, don't be so surprised. I bet I know who it is." Rinku walked over to the window and stuck his head out, peering among the branches of the old oak tree outside his window. His brown eyes caught sight of a black lump and he called out, "Meru, stop playing around!" He had to literally dive from the window, as Meru was amazingly fast in the twisted branches of the old tree.
The demon was fairly short, her brown hair wild from the fierce winds, and she was dressed in a truly gothic garb. Fingering the charm on her choker, from which a pendant of a Celtic knot hung, she informed, "I saw Kurama being dragged out of the window by a member of his fan club - a bat demon. She was flying towards the north."
"Kurama has a fan club?" Rinku stood up, rubbing his sore head, which he had bumped while leaping out of Meru's way.
"Weren't you aware of it? They only stalk him everywhere he goes." Rinku only shook his head and Lyra tried to cover up for her young friend. "He's new here."
"Well that explains it. I suppose he's lucky not to have met Helen," Meru mused, still playing with the charm on her choker necklace. "One of my friends is a member of Kurama's fan club; you have no idea how long they've been planning this."
"So, then what are we going to do? We can't just leave him there with all those girls."
Both female students stared at Rinku, and an uneasy silence hung in the air. Shrugging in defeat, Lyra pulled out her crystal pendulum from her messenger bag over on Rinku's bed and unfolded a map of the campus that was conveniently placed on the only computer desk in the room. She held the chain of the pendulum loosely in her hand, closing her blue eyes as if focusing her energy into asking the crystal which way her friend had been taken. The pendulum twitched once, twice, then began swinging around in a low circle. Both Meru and Rinku curiously watched as the circles became smaller and smaller, until the crystal pointed at a single building on the map - Helen's own dorm.
"Figures." Meru muttered, remembering all too well who ran the girls-only building. The woman in charge looked all too much like the Trunchbull in Rod Dahl's Matilda, and she acted pretty much the same way. It was rumored that small tremors could be felt whenever the earth-controlling teacher was angry, and she was as sturdily built as the element she controlled. Of all the odds, it had to be the one building governed by Ophelia Delacours.
The next hour found the three students standing outside the large, stone building that had served as a girl's dorm for well over a hundred years. The sun had dipped below the horizon a long time ago, and the stars shone brightly in the night sky; such brilliance hardly made a difference though, as it was still pitch black without the moon's light. It was freezing; Lyra and Rinku were standing underneath the bare boughs of a tall slender tree, which, oddly enough, had a multitude of pale white blossoms along the topmost crown.
"Wasn't Meru with us?" Rinku continued shivering, rubbing his arms to keep warm; the cold even cut through his jacket and the two shirts underneath, and stung his ears from underneath his hat and hair. Lyra, shivering alongside Rinku, smiled and shrugged her shoulders. In truth, after Meru had decided to take a shortcut through the trees, neither she nor Rinku had seen the strange demon, and had not heard a word from her.
"I suppose she's around... somewhere." Lyra leaned against the tree, peering up at the strange flowers from amidst the silvery bark that protected the plant from the frigid cold.
"Boo."
Lyra shrieked and jumped back, only to be quickly silenced by Meru, who melded out from the shadows and covered the elder water manipulator's mouth with her gloved hand, the spiked bracelets grazing against Lyra's fairly pale skin. "Be quiet, will you? The last thing we need is for someone to hear us."
Lyra nodded, and took a deep breath once Meru's hand was gone from her mouth. Taking a moment to calm her racing heart, she turned to Rinku, who was carrying a backpack of various junk.
"Rinku, did you get everything?"
"Yeah, but what do you need with some of Aki's perfumes? I mean, I know they're flowery and junk, but I just don't get the point."
Lyra reached into the bag and took out a large glass bottle, upon which a large flower decal graced the soft green surface. "Rinku, just trust me on this. First, we need to start soaking those cloths." Meru nodded and, instead of waiting for Rinku to open the bag and wait patiently, grabbed it from his shoulders and hunched down, triumphantly pulling out a roll of thick, cloth bandages. Next was a wooden bowl, which the noxious perfume was poured into, and the bandages were sliced into strips about two inches wide by six inches long.
By the time the all the cloth had been thoroughly soaked, all three students were covering their noses from the hideous smell and Meru couldn't help but compliment Lyra's ingenuity.
"Oh, really, Meru, it's no big deal; I got the idea from my sister."
"I never would've guessed," Rinku managed to gulp in enough air to say that one comment, but his face instantly wore an expression of disgust from the stench. The girls jumped a little, but Meru quickly dragged the young youkai out from under the tree where they were preparing their revenge.
"Alright, Meru; you think maybe you could sneak in the air vents and manage to find Kurama?"
"Hey, I could do that! She'd get stuck!"
"What did you just say, Rinku?"
"Er... I mean you're way too sophisticated to go crawling around in the dust like that. Why waste the energy; I'll take care of it for you."
"I thought as much..."
"Hey, enough from you two; we need to get Kurama back."
"Alright, I'm going, I'm going..."
"Don't let the rats scare you, Rinku." The yo-yo master merely glared at Meru, who innocently smiled and gave him a leg up, before climbing up the thick ivy vines that covered the west side of the dorm, the backpack of perfume-soaked cloths on his back. Before he managed to haul himself in, he could hear Lyra yell up at him.
"Rinku, be careful, that load is highly flammable! Stay away from the furnace or the heat will make you go up in flames!"
Well, that was lovely to hear before charging off unto one's certain demise, just lovely.
The young youkai clambered inside the ventilation shaft, somewhat cautiously, and proceeded into the inner sanctum of the all-girls dorm. He continued in, until he reached an intersection of four different vents, each wide enough to crawl through; flicking on a small flashlight, Rinku shone it down each passageway, trying to ignore the painful object stabbing him in his side. Whatever it was, it was annoying, and he wasn't anxious to let it stab him any further.
"Erm... Let's see... what to pick..." He glanced down each foreboding passage, his brown eyes narrowed in suspicion, and finally sat down, Indian- style. At least one of those vents had to lead to the furnace, or (God forbid) Ophelia's office. The fierce jabbing continued, and Rinku, finally fed up with the pain while he was trying to think, pulled the offending object out from his pocket. There was a flutter of paper, and the demon suddenly was aware that the object was a folded-up map.
"Yes! No way I'm wandering around like a rat in a maze!" He quickly unfolded it, and shone the flashlight over its faded surface. The map was clear, concise, if a bit old, and scribbled in the bottom was the name "Meru". It seemed the student had slipped the folded map in Rinku's pocket while she was helping him up onto the vines. Remembering the quickest way to Helen's room, Rinku folded it and put it into his back jeans pocket, making a silent note to thank his roommate when, and if, he ever made it out of there.
In ten minutes, Rinku had scaled up a vertical shaft, taken an infinite number of turns, and had finally made it to the fourth floor, where the upperclassmen students had their rooms. Apparently, this was also where Kurama was being held, judging by the pitch of the shrieks that sounded from one of the numerous dorms. Before the youkai had even gotten within a ten-foot radius of the room, he could hear Kurama's own voice, and the fox didn't sound too happy.
"Get away from me! I swear, if I'm forced to attack you, it's your own fault!"
"Isn't he darling!"
"Attack me, Kurama, attack me!"
"No, attack me! He's mine bitch!"
There was the sound of a sharp slap among the many voices, and then a roar sounded among the fan club. Rinku, his curiosity piqued, quietly crawled down the vent, and peered through the rate that was high up on the wall. Now this, this was too much; it was all Rinku could do to keep from laughing. And at the same time, it made him very sick.
Kurama was bound and on a mass of pillows (think of Arabian knights here, people), an entire horde of young girls surrounded him, each one fighting to get close to their idol. Helen, the leader of them all, had seated herself next to the fox, and was now caressing his leg, with a lovesick look on her face. Kurama was white as a sheet, and obviously very frightened, or stressed. With all those young girls around, just begging him to seduce them, the young youkai was surprised that Youko Kurama hadn't managed to gain control - and that was a miracle in itself.
Before he could even chuckle at the fox's predicament, Rinku scuttled away down the vent. Finally out of range of the young girls, the demon took a deep breath, than started laughing, laughing so hard he to his stomach and banged his fists on the floor. Poor Kurama always seemed to get the worst of it, maybe the fox still had bad karma from when he was a thief in Makai; nevertheless, those girls were in just as much danger as the fox himself. If Youko ever managed to break through Kurama's mental barrier, not only would the thief have the night of his life, but he could seriously ruin the lives of others, mainly the lives of his fan girls.
When his laughter finally died down, Rinku sighed and got to work. The wet cloths were drenched in some of Aki's strongest perfumes, and the young demon had to breathe through his mouth in order to even manage to open the bag that held them. Taking a wet handful, he plopped them down in a pile in the vent, wiped his hands off on the leg of his jeans, and scurried back down the vent, leaving piles of soaked cloths (and puddles of perfume) as he went. Pulling a cell phone out from his pocket (everyone has one these days, don't they?), he called Meru's number and eagerly waited for his roommate to pick up.
Back outside, the two girls patiently waited, eager to hear if Kurama was all right. Meru, perched up on a low tree branch, was nearly asleep when her phone went off, annoyingly loud in the quiet night. Growling under her breath, she angrily took it out of her pocket and flipped the cover.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Meru. It's Rinku."
"Don't need to tell me twice. What is it you want?"
"I placed the cloths, so what next?"
"Burn 'em." There was silence on the end of the phone then, "WHAT?!"
"Burn them, Rinku. That's how the steam will be released and we can sneak in."
"After all that trouble, and you want me to burn them? Why didn't you just toss some stink bombs in the air vents?"
"Because stink bombs won't set off the fire alarm. We need to cause enough commotion to drive out the girls so we won't be noticed." There was a very audible sigh from the other end, then the telltale click of a lighter being fired up (Where Rinku got it, is perhaps best left unsaid). "Who's plan was this anyways?" The youkai asked, shuffling down the vent. Meru looked down at Lyra, who was nearly asleep, and quietly answered, "Lyra's."
"I thought she got it from Lark."
"Then blame both of them. Are you out of there yet?"
"Do I look it?" There was a soft clunk as the lighter was tossed down the vent, another bout of silence from Rinku, then the young student started screaming obscenities.
"Oh Crap! Sweet Mother Lord! The Hell do you have in your head, ROCKS?" There was a hurried scraping and scratching sound, and Meru eagerly turned her head towards the vent exit. Obviously, the little boy was making excellent time while getting out of the vents; when making the plans, Meru hadn't been lying about "lighting a fire under their asses" if Rinku was too slow. Fire was a great motivator.
There was a muffled shout from behind the girls, and Meru watched as Rinku jumped out of the vent, flame licking at his heels. The youkai got up, stumbled a little, and stomped over to his roommate and friend. "Meru, what the hell were you thinking? I almost got burnt to a crisp back there!" Rinku's yell was at a deafening volume, and Lyra instantly awoke, only to find Rinku glaring at her.
"What happened?" The water manipulator's voice was quiet and timid, compared to the younger demon and Meru.
"I almost died, that's what happened!" Seeing Lyra's sympathetic look, he felt a stab of guilt and lowered his voice. "I set those stinking cloths on fire, so what now?"
Meru, arms crossed, leaped down from her bark-covered perch and landed next to her companions, the many chains linked onto her baggy black pants clinking. "We go in and fetch our fox. Hopefully, Helen and those other fan girls passed out by now." The female demon untied a trio of black bandannas, recently tied together and used as a belt, and handed one to each of her companions; tying the third one loosely around her own neck, Meru motioned for Lyra and Rinku to follow her as she darted around a corner of the huge stone building.
"Rinku, can you manage to pick those locks?"
"Was I a pick pocket in that traveling sideshow for nothing? Of course I can!" The young demon scurried over, and instantly got to work on the brass door-knocker; it was strangely calm, considering they were breaking and entering into someone else's home, and Lyra, sitting casually on the huge front steps while deep in thought, thought it probably had to do with the fact that she was becoming quite used to this. In her opinion, after living with Rogerik for almost half a year now, the security system was rather pathetic; Ophelia could have at least of set a few traps, or at least get a guard dog.
The water manipulator instantly jumped up with a startled yelp as a small light burst into a crackling existence right where she had been sitting. Seconds later, a hoarse bark sounded from the other side of the house, and Meru cursed as a large black dog surged forwards, only to be yanked back by a thick iron chain that was firmly secured into the ground by a giant metal stake, which was slowly being pulled out of the packed dirt.
"Rinku, you might wanna hurry up there," Lyra shot over to her young friend, who grumbled something in annoyance and stood back as the door easily swung open.
Both girls ran inside, snatching Rinku up in their arms and slammed the door behind them, just in time to see a flash of light flare up from the glass half-circle that was hung up on the top of the door. The handle was instantly turned red-hot from the giant lightning bolt that had hit the door full-force, and three students jumped away from the front door, realizing the stench that had infiltrated the entire building through the air vents. Tying the bandannas over their noses and mouths, Rinku pulled out the small penlight from his back pocket and shone it over the many objects in the large entrance hall.
"Wow... Look at all this crap." An elegantly carved grandfather clock stood in a corner, and oil-painting portraits covered the wall where a huge wooden staircase curved up towards the second floor. A bluish-gray marble made up the floor, so polished that they could even see their reflections in it, and, hanging from the high ceiling, was a crystal chandelier, still glittering even though the only light came from the stars and Rinku's tiny flashlight. Meru nodded, too taken aback by the formality of the dorm to even speak.
Lyra tapped Rinku on the shoulder and asked, "Rinku, do you have the map that you used to get through the vents? We need to find Kurama quickly."
"Uh...Yeah, it's right here." He handed the crumpled-up piece of paper to Lyra, who instantly took it and stood underneath a huge skylight that took up most of the ceiling; after reading it for a moment, she sighed and called for her friend's attention.
"Hey, um, we better get going. Guys?"
Rinku followed Lyra up the stairs, then noticed something was missing.
"Meru! Come on!"
"Oh, right!" The demon followed them at a run, her long black jacket and brown hair fluttering in the breeze behind her.
The hallway was lushly carpeted, and it reminded Lyra of Cecilia's hotel... before it had gotten demolished during their fight for the dragon's egg. It was a pity really; the giant building had been beautiful, from both the outside and the interior, and it would never be rebuilt - the blueprints had probably been destroyed when Cecilia's office had dislodged itself from the rest of the building and fallen down thirty floors into the sea below.
More portraits hung on the walls here, and their portraits were just as richly carved as the grandfather clock below in the entrance hall; noticing that they subjects of these paintings were some of the deceased teachers of years gone by, she was surprised to see a very familiar elf standing in a rather large portrait, with an equally short woman standing next to him, a young child of about three on her lap. Both adults were smiling, and the whole painting expressed an explicit sense of family; but, ever since Lyra had been to the academy, Ryo had never smiled like that.
"Hey, stop stalling over there! These bandannas can't keep block the stench of this place forever, y'know."
"I dunno, it smells like flowers."
"Rinku, will you shut up?"
"Oh, sorry!" Glancing at the family portrait for a second longer, Lyra hurried over to her two friends, her eyes half-closed in thought. They continued walking for a bit, Meru snapping Lyra out of her daze long enough so the water manipulator wouldn't trip over the occasional student that was passed out in the hallway, until the demon finally stopped Lyra in the hallway.
"What's wrong?" Lyra jumped a little at the sound of Meru's voice, which was unsually gentle, and stared down at the ground. "Nothing, really. We should hurry up, though, before Rinku gets too far ahead." Meru nodded in agreement, with a quiet, "Uh-huh..." escaping from her lips as the two girls walked down the hall, albeit at a slower pace.
"Hey, Meru, you've been going to the academy longer than I have-"
"By about a year."
"Yeah, but has Ryo ever mentioned anything about his family?"
"Well, he did tell the class once how his uncle Tsuyoshi got his lips stuck in a toaster."
"No, I mean like his wife and child."
"Ryo had a wife? Maybe you should get some fresh air, these fumes seem to be getting to you." The conversation was cut short as Rinku opened a door and yelled back to the girls, "Hey, look at this!" Both Lyra and Meru ran up to the laughing demon, and tried to fight down a fit of giggles. Well, at least Lyra tried.
"Oh my..." Those two words summed up the entire scenario; Kurama, fan girls, and all. Helen was draped around the fox's waist, peacefully asleep, and Kurama was tied down the floor, propped up on a small mountain of pillows. Even in his sleep, the star-student had his arms blocking Helen's, trying to keep the girl as far away as possible. A soft mumble escaped his lips, and Lyra cautiously stepped over the sprawled bodies of sleeping teen girls so she could untie his bonds.
"Rinku, Meru? Could you two stop busting your gut and help, please?" The knots were extremely tight, and it seemed someone in the group obviously had a brother who was a boy scout. Meru kneeled down next to Lyra and summoned up a bit of her spirit energy, forming it into the shape of a small pocketknife. With a quick jerk of her wrist, one of the thick leather straps were cut, and she eagerly got to work on the next one.
Rinku, meanwhile was hanging out by the doorway, watching the scene in utmost amusement. As Meru cut the last strap, both girls shouldered Kurama and worked together to carry him out of the room, past Rinku. They dragged him down the hall for a bit, but Meru noticed that Rinku was still back in the room.
"Hey, Rinku! Stop fooling around in there and help us get Kurama down the stairs! I still have to finish up a paper for my algebra class," Meru shouted back, and Rinku trotted up to them, putting what seemed to be a black sharpie in his pocket. They walked in silence for a while, and were halfway down the stairs before Rinku muttered, "You have a sick mind, Meru."
"What?!" Meru lunged out at her younger roommate, putting him in a headlock as she helped Lyra move the redheaded boy down the large staircase. "Ah, Meru! Be careful, you two." The elder Admarant sister stumbled from the shift of weight, and almost tripped down the stairs as Meru and Rinku walked down the stairs, the yo-yo master stuck in a painful headlock. As usual, both of them ignored her, and Lyra struggled to carry Kurama don by herself.
"I'm not the one who has a sick mind! You're the one who thought of it that way!"
"Well, who wouldn't after they've lived in the same room as Justin?"
"Please! That's a lousy excuse; I've been in the same dorm as St.Pierre for five years. Five! He's not nearly as bad as Rogerik."
For a moment, Rinku stopped struggling. "...Yeah, you have a point."
"Uh, help?" Wincing in pain as her braid was pulled by Kurama's dead weight, Lyra pleadingly tried to break up the argument. Meru looked over at the younger girl, and instantly released Rinku from his headlock. "Sorry, let me get that door for you."
"Thanks, Meru; but maybe could you help me out with Kurama here?"
"Alright, just don't get so agitated." The brown-haired girl Took part of the load on her own shoulder, opposite from Lyra, and forcefully kicked the door open. There was a shrill yelp, and they were faced with the same guard dog as before. The large black hound held his snarling head low, his long, drooping ears barely touching the sizeable front steps, and his ebony fur was bristled, static electricity crackling and jumping from each hair.
"Crap."
Meru reached forwards, so as to pull the door shut before the large dog could attack, but a flash of lightning instantly obliterated the door handle. "Definite crap," she muttered, slowly stepping back from the doorway. Blue electricity still flying through its dark coat, the hound slunk in after them, lighting up the entrance hall in all its finely furnished glory.
Rinku instantly went for his yo-yos, but Lyra slowly shook her head. "Rinku, the charge could travel up the strings. It's best to just let me handle this." Lyra held her hand up, and chanted a strange, but short, incantation, causing a whitish-gray glow to surround her palm. The collection of spirit energy traveled up in the air, massing into an undistinguishable cloud, then stopped glowing. There was a loud boom from the small, dark cloud, and it instantly opened up in a torrent of rain.
The rain splattered on the marble floor, soaking the dog, who yelped and ran out the door, tail between its legs, where it was much dryer. To the poor beast's misfortune, the cloud followed him, keeping speed as the black dog ran around a corner of the house and dived into it's large wooden doghouse, the cloud following it inside.
"Poor mutt," Meru sighed. Rinku shrugged, muttering a quiet, "Bettter him than us," before stepping out the door. Lyra readjusted the load on her shoulder, freeing her long, braided hair from under Kurama's arm, and smiled at her two companions. "Don't worry, that cloud will disperse in about ten or so minutes."
"Hey, Lyra, where did you learn how to do that?" Rinku asked, after about a half-hour of steady walking to the purple cottage that was the water manipulator and fox's dorm. Smiling rather innocently, she replied, "Well, it was actually by accident, when I created that cloud in your bedroom."
"You did that?" Rinku stopped walking, waiting for the two girls to catch up.
"Erm... yes, I did. But, that time was a complete mistake; I accidentally poured too much of my spirit energy into it, so it was very difficult to control."
Silence, then...
"You know you're gonna be the one to take the blame, right? I mean, once Lyonell and Justin find out..."
"Don't remind me, please."
Bright sunlight filtered in through the Venetian blinds that covered the many windows in Helen's shared room, and the blond-haired young teen brought up her hand to block it out. Squinting her pale blue eyes, she groggily stood up and stared at the mess in front of her. Not only was the lingering scent of flowers in the air, but the severed straps that once held Kurama in her room were sliced in half, and the entire horde of fan girls that worshipped the fox (alongside with her), was passed out on the floor.
Growling in annoyance, Helen stomped out of the door, not caring if she stepped on someone on her way out, and dully noticed that there was a multitude of scuffmarks on the hardwood staircase. Ophelia was going to have a cow with this. Not like the students were actually going to clean the mess, the teacher was able to summon small gnomes to clean the large dorm, which she usually did instead of expending the time or energy to do it herself, but it was still unnerving.
Strangely enough, the front door was wide open, and the brass door handle had been blown clean off.
"That stupid dog. I wonder why Ophelia even keeps it around; he can't even guard the front yard," Helen growled, and glared at the large black hound that had meekly slunk up to the front door, his tail between his legs and dark fur still wet. Looking up at the dominant student in a pleading manner, the dog's bright yellow eyes instantly shone in amusement.
"What is it, Rufus? What're you looking at, you dumb mutt?"
The electric dog only growled low in his throat, a noise that Helen had come to understand as the hound's way of laughing (to tell the truth, Rufus was on an intelligence level that was almost equal to humans). Glaring at the much-hated mutt, she stomped over to a mirror that hung on a wall near the door to the dining room, and could only stare in shock. Black ink marred her lovely features, and a mustache, as well as swirls and a unibrow, were drawn on her face in clear and steady lines. Helen turned around and marched at the big black dog, who was standing on the front steps, wagging his tail with his tongue lolling out of his grinning jaws.
Helen raised a hand to cuff the mutt, but noticed the quiet splashing sound as she stepped onto the marble floor by the front door. Looking down, she stared at the large puddle of water that spread across most of the polished floor, and also spread onto the front steps. Instantly, everything clicked into place for her. Lyra Admamrant.
Who else would storm into HER house, steal HER bishie, and then ruin HER beautiful face? Ignoring the confused snippets of conversation that came from the second floor, the enraged student, star of Ophelia Delacours' girl's dorm, slammed her fist against the thick wooden door, oblivious to the stinging pain, and screamed for all the world to hear, "DAMN YOU, YOU BITCH! I'M GOING TO RUIN THE REST OF YOU *bleep*ING SCHOOL YEAR FOR THIS, GODDAMMIT!"
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KKC: Censoring and editing is provided by Strict Mothers of Sheltered White Girls INC. (SMSWG INC.)
Grimoire: o.0 ...there's no such company.
KKC: Shaddup... Oh, for such a long wait, this story was reeeaaaally long: about 15 ½ pages. No idea when I'll get the next chapter up, as I still have a ton of work. . Damn school...
Grimoire: Narrator Dude, you're up.
Narrator Dude: *smoking a cigarette while reading World Weekly* Eh? Oh! *stomps out cigarette and clears throat* Now that Kurama has been saved from the clutches of his fan girls, what revenge is Helen planning? And just what happens when Lark tries to give her sister's and Kurama's relationship a "nudge" in the right direction on Valentine's day?
Grimoire: Thanks.
Narrator Dude: No prob. Call me if 'ya need me. *tucks his World Weekly under his arm and walks off*
KKC: Oh, review please.
Quote of the week: "Evil is better because good is dumb!" -to tell the truth, I don't know who said this. ^ ^;; How many people have you heard repeating it?
Author's note: Don't worry, Ryuu-chan. Yukimi is around, and is currently looking for an apartment to rent in town (with the help of Touya, which explains why he's not in this chapter). Since she's not a staff member of the academy, she can't live at the dorms, but still wants to hang around to see what happens to Cecilia's egg. She'll show up soon.
Yet another Author's note: Sorry this was late. Schoolwork has been killing me lately, and I got even more during Vacation.
Now, enter the fan club!
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Pale light flooded the front yard, shading the snow a faint robin-egg's blue. The snow was piled in drifts, with a path cut through straight to the black screen door, and icicles hung from the wooden shutters. It was a fairly large house; much larger, Kurama noticed, than his own dorm on the other side of the campus.
Rinku, having been faced with three different projects in the span of less than two hours, had frantically asked the fox to come by and help him. As he rang the doorbell, Kurama patiently waited outside for his ten-year-old friend to answer, taking in the detail of the old Victorian-style house. Complimentary to the dorm's age and style, a large circular turret rose into the sky, and fancily carved borders graced every spare overhang and windowsill. The front door was also beautifully designed; a stained glass mosaic graced its mahogany frame. In fact, the fox was so busy expecting the minutely detailed carvings on the porch railing; he almost didn't hear the door swing open and a familiar fairy envelop him in another rib- crushing embrace.
Well, there went his kidney.
"Kurama-chan! I didn't expect to see you so soon! Did Rinku ask you to help him with his homework?"
When it came to the obvious, Aki was as good as a mind reader. So, why couldn't she tell his diaphragm was going to collapse any second now? Faking a smile as best as he could, Kurama pried Aki's arms from around his ribcage and sidled away, hoping to high heaven that Rinku, Suzuka, anyone who lived in the autumn fairy's dorm would rescue him from this pixie-on- speed. His savior, however was not who he expected.
Standing in the doorway, leaning casually against the sturdy frame, was Chuu. The Aussie demon looked a bit worn down; probably kudos the academy's strict no-alcohol rule. Aki, happily oblivious of Chuu's short patience, grinned and waved to both males before rising into the air with a flutter of her transparent wings. "Er, I better go. I'm going to be late for drama club rehearsal." In less than a minute, she was out of sight, the sinking sun on the horizon blinding anyone who looked up at the sky.
Chuu grumbled something about "stupid, sugar-high, fairies on speed" and left the doorway, allowing Kurama access into the large dorm. In the living room, Lyonell, much to Kurama's surprise, was on the large couch and watching TV, as was Jay Gilbert, Shane Raby, and an older, butterfly-winged girl - no doubt another fairy. Lyonell, green eyes half-closed in a television-induced stupor, lazily waved to his classmate and turned back to the TV.
The young woman stood up, gracefully fluttering up in the air, and landed next to Kurama, her blue-tinged hair settling back over her bright blue green eyes once the breeze that was kicked up from her beautifully detailed wings - which resembled those of a monarch butterfly's, except the main color was white instead of orange, and a slew of slate-gray spots decorated the black edge - died down.
"Oh, you must be Kurama." She nodded her head in a polite hello, and Kurama held out his hand.
"Yes, I am Kurama. Who, may I ask, are you?"
"Clarice; Clarice Dupont." Clarice smiled, her large wings fluttering behind her back every so often, and shook hands with the fox. "I believe Rinku is up in his room - the one he shares with Lyonell and Jay. He also brought another friend with him; I believe you may be familiar with her."
"Really? Well, I hate to be interrupting your exceedingly exciting program." Kurama gestured at the TV, which was now back to its regular programmed episodes of "Ed, Edd, and Eddy", and the elder fairy smiled and giggled.
"Oh, don't worry at all. Just try not to be too loud, there are other students trying to study.
"Of course, thank you." The fox politely bowed and walked from the living room to the all, where a wooden staircase wound up all the way to the third- floor attic. Finding Rinku's room wasn't as hard as he had expected, as the young youkai ran out as soon as Kurama stepped out onto the second floor platform. Rinku yapped "Hello" and ran into one of the bathrooms, apparently to turn off the faucets - which were not only pouring, but water was leaking out from the pipes. The yo-yo expert sighed in relief, and yelled back into the room, "Hey, Lyra, looks like your water summon didn't get too out of hand."
"Well, that's good to know," She replied, wringing water out her black hair, which had been taken out of its traditional braid. She suddenly stopped, noticing her roommate had "suddenly" appeared. "Oh, Kurama, nice of you to come." She smiled, and seemed to nervously block the open door to Rinku's room as she re-braided her hair.
"I heard Rinku had invited a friend of his over, but I never guessed it was you."
"Um, Rinku's science teacher assigned this water-power project to him, and I'm helping him out." She shut the door and whispered, "To tell the truth, it was Suzuka's idea. He wanted to make sure Rinku didn't flood the place." The fox knowingly nodded, and both roommates instantly stopped talking as soon as Rinku walked up to them.
"Well, I'm glad that didn't get too out of hand." The youkai cheerily smiled and opened the door to his shared bedroom, only to have his jaw drop in shock. Floating above Jay's bed was a fairly small cloud; it was dark gray and looked full enough of water to make a small monsoon take place in the large room. "Lyra, what is a cloud doing in my room?" He asked, his left eye twitching and mouth agape.
"It must've, erm... wandered in?" Lyra sweetly chirruped, doing her best to sound innocent. Kurama could only stare at the foreboding cloud that hovered above their heads and he stepped out of the room, still staring alongside Rinku. "Why, don't you move that out of the house, Lyra?"
"I can't," was the simple reply; and both demons stared at the water manipulator in disbelief.
"What? Why can't you?" Rinku had managed to stop staring long enough to blurt out the question, and Lyra sighed, obviously preparing for a long explanation on why she couldn't move the miniscule storm cloud out of the bedroom. A lightning bolt flew from the bottom of the puffy, almost black, mass of water vapor, striking an outlet - causing all the lights in the room to shut off completely.
There were a couple muffled shouts of complaint from downstairs, and, poking his brown-haired head out of the door, Rinku noticed the electricity in the entire house had shorted out. "Well, that settles it. We're good as dead once they find out we did this."
"I'll go see how they're doing downstairs."
The little youkai jumped as Lyra placed her hand on his shoulder, and proceeded to walk down the hall, hand against the wall, until she came to the second floor landing, where something crashed into her and they fell out into the hall.
"S-sorry 'bout that Lyra." It was unmistakably Shane's voice, and the boy seemed to generate a small sphere of light in his hand, and proceeded to help the dazed girl up onto her feet. In his entire one-week stay at the academy, Rinku had never seen the human use spirit energy or any special abilities - now why hadn't Shane created such a light source while he was barreling up the steps? Apparently he couldn't continue to hold onto the light, because it quickly dimmed and then died out.
"Hey, did anything happen up here? Chuu's downstairs checking the electrical circuits right now."
Suddenly, a thought flashed in Rinku's mind - the thought that if anyone possibly saw the rain cloud in his room, he would definitely be sleeping outside from now on. Before Kurama could react, Rinku's bedroom door slammed shut in his face, and the fox could hear the telltale click as it was locked shut from the outside. Quietly, he listened to the conversation between the three students, but a certain feeling kept surfacing from the back of his mind.
It was a mix of uneasiness and dread, and it coiled in his gut until he finally shot a nervous glance at the window. The dark blue curtains rustled in the chilly early February breeze that came in through the open window, and the branches of the tree outside swayed in the wind. With an internal sigh of relief, the fox went back to listening to the conversation. But, wait a minute... hadn't the window been shut last he checked?
Kurama silently berated himself for being so high-strung; all that schoolwork and lack of sleep must've started to get to him. His suspicions doubled, however, when he heard a soft footstep from behind him and saw a faint shadow slide across the wall towards him. It might have been dark, but the moon was still bright enough to faintly light the room and the silvery cloud that took up the ceiling. Trying to ignore the shadow that crept along the wall, he hoped that Shane would leave and Rinku would just open the door to the bedroom.
The shadow was moving faster now, at a running pace. It was fairly shapeless, and, this is what surprised Kurama the most, there wasn't a source that the shadow could have possibly come from.
Kurama could hear the conversation die down a little and he took that moment to scurry from the door to one of the beds (judging from the number of golden hairs on the pillow, it was most likely Lyonell's.); but he couldn't possibly outrun the living darkness as it followed his path from the ceiling. His green eyes widened as the shadow took on a three- dimensional form, fleshing out until a young, curvaceous woman hung from the ceiling in front of him.
Her skin was pale, which contrasted to her dark chestnut hair and blood red lips; her hair was short, the uneven bangs covering one of her golden eyes. She was skimpily dressed, as more skin than clothing showed. Her top barely covered her ample chest, the neckline was extremely plunging, and the shirt tied together behind her back; she was wearing pants, but they were very tight and hugged every single curve of her hips and legs. Bat wings stretched out from her back, and a tight black ribbon choker with spikes on it was wrapped around her neck.
What scared Kurama most of all was that she was holding a whip.
And, while she seductively licked her full, red, lips, the bat-woman seemed very eager to use it.
Before he could yell or even try to defend himself, she flung herself at him; putting him in a full body lock and tying his hands together with the coiled leather whip she carried, stuffing a rag in his face. He faintly recalled the smell of chemicals before he fell unconscious and everything turned black.
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"I never thought that Shane would leave," Rinku sighed, leaning against the locked door for support. Lyra nodded in agreement, and unlocked the door, cringing as it opened with a creak. "Kurama, Are you okay? I'm sorry about what happened back there, we didn't mean to lock you in here." She peeked around the door, only to see an empty room. The window was open, and the cloud was starting to dissipate, but her fox-roommate was nowhere to be seen.
"Hey, where did he go?" Lyra flinched, not expecting Rinku to be standing next to her. She breathed in relief, and answered, "I... don't know."
"He was kidnapped."
Both students jumped a little, and Lyra whirled towards the source of the voice. "Who are you?"
"Lyra, don't be so surprised. I bet I know who it is." Rinku walked over to the window and stuck his head out, peering among the branches of the old oak tree outside his window. His brown eyes caught sight of a black lump and he called out, "Meru, stop playing around!" He had to literally dive from the window, as Meru was amazingly fast in the twisted branches of the old tree.
The demon was fairly short, her brown hair wild from the fierce winds, and she was dressed in a truly gothic garb. Fingering the charm on her choker, from which a pendant of a Celtic knot hung, she informed, "I saw Kurama being dragged out of the window by a member of his fan club - a bat demon. She was flying towards the north."
"Kurama has a fan club?" Rinku stood up, rubbing his sore head, which he had bumped while leaping out of Meru's way.
"Weren't you aware of it? They only stalk him everywhere he goes." Rinku only shook his head and Lyra tried to cover up for her young friend. "He's new here."
"Well that explains it. I suppose he's lucky not to have met Helen," Meru mused, still playing with the charm on her choker necklace. "One of my friends is a member of Kurama's fan club; you have no idea how long they've been planning this."
"So, then what are we going to do? We can't just leave him there with all those girls."
Both female students stared at Rinku, and an uneasy silence hung in the air. Shrugging in defeat, Lyra pulled out her crystal pendulum from her messenger bag over on Rinku's bed and unfolded a map of the campus that was conveniently placed on the only computer desk in the room. She held the chain of the pendulum loosely in her hand, closing her blue eyes as if focusing her energy into asking the crystal which way her friend had been taken. The pendulum twitched once, twice, then began swinging around in a low circle. Both Meru and Rinku curiously watched as the circles became smaller and smaller, until the crystal pointed at a single building on the map - Helen's own dorm.
"Figures." Meru muttered, remembering all too well who ran the girls-only building. The woman in charge looked all too much like the Trunchbull in Rod Dahl's Matilda, and she acted pretty much the same way. It was rumored that small tremors could be felt whenever the earth-controlling teacher was angry, and she was as sturdily built as the element she controlled. Of all the odds, it had to be the one building governed by Ophelia Delacours.
The next hour found the three students standing outside the large, stone building that had served as a girl's dorm for well over a hundred years. The sun had dipped below the horizon a long time ago, and the stars shone brightly in the night sky; such brilliance hardly made a difference though, as it was still pitch black without the moon's light. It was freezing; Lyra and Rinku were standing underneath the bare boughs of a tall slender tree, which, oddly enough, had a multitude of pale white blossoms along the topmost crown.
"Wasn't Meru with us?" Rinku continued shivering, rubbing his arms to keep warm; the cold even cut through his jacket and the two shirts underneath, and stung his ears from underneath his hat and hair. Lyra, shivering alongside Rinku, smiled and shrugged her shoulders. In truth, after Meru had decided to take a shortcut through the trees, neither she nor Rinku had seen the strange demon, and had not heard a word from her.
"I suppose she's around... somewhere." Lyra leaned against the tree, peering up at the strange flowers from amidst the silvery bark that protected the plant from the frigid cold.
"Boo."
Lyra shrieked and jumped back, only to be quickly silenced by Meru, who melded out from the shadows and covered the elder water manipulator's mouth with her gloved hand, the spiked bracelets grazing against Lyra's fairly pale skin. "Be quiet, will you? The last thing we need is for someone to hear us."
Lyra nodded, and took a deep breath once Meru's hand was gone from her mouth. Taking a moment to calm her racing heart, she turned to Rinku, who was carrying a backpack of various junk.
"Rinku, did you get everything?"
"Yeah, but what do you need with some of Aki's perfumes? I mean, I know they're flowery and junk, but I just don't get the point."
Lyra reached into the bag and took out a large glass bottle, upon which a large flower decal graced the soft green surface. "Rinku, just trust me on this. First, we need to start soaking those cloths." Meru nodded and, instead of waiting for Rinku to open the bag and wait patiently, grabbed it from his shoulders and hunched down, triumphantly pulling out a roll of thick, cloth bandages. Next was a wooden bowl, which the noxious perfume was poured into, and the bandages were sliced into strips about two inches wide by six inches long.
By the time the all the cloth had been thoroughly soaked, all three students were covering their noses from the hideous smell and Meru couldn't help but compliment Lyra's ingenuity.
"Oh, really, Meru, it's no big deal; I got the idea from my sister."
"I never would've guessed," Rinku managed to gulp in enough air to say that one comment, but his face instantly wore an expression of disgust from the stench. The girls jumped a little, but Meru quickly dragged the young youkai out from under the tree where they were preparing their revenge.
"Alright, Meru; you think maybe you could sneak in the air vents and manage to find Kurama?"
"Hey, I could do that! She'd get stuck!"
"What did you just say, Rinku?"
"Er... I mean you're way too sophisticated to go crawling around in the dust like that. Why waste the energy; I'll take care of it for you."
"I thought as much..."
"Hey, enough from you two; we need to get Kurama back."
"Alright, I'm going, I'm going..."
"Don't let the rats scare you, Rinku." The yo-yo master merely glared at Meru, who innocently smiled and gave him a leg up, before climbing up the thick ivy vines that covered the west side of the dorm, the backpack of perfume-soaked cloths on his back. Before he managed to haul himself in, he could hear Lyra yell up at him.
"Rinku, be careful, that load is highly flammable! Stay away from the furnace or the heat will make you go up in flames!"
Well, that was lovely to hear before charging off unto one's certain demise, just lovely.
The young youkai clambered inside the ventilation shaft, somewhat cautiously, and proceeded into the inner sanctum of the all-girls dorm. He continued in, until he reached an intersection of four different vents, each wide enough to crawl through; flicking on a small flashlight, Rinku shone it down each passageway, trying to ignore the painful object stabbing him in his side. Whatever it was, it was annoying, and he wasn't anxious to let it stab him any further.
"Erm... Let's see... what to pick..." He glanced down each foreboding passage, his brown eyes narrowed in suspicion, and finally sat down, Indian- style. At least one of those vents had to lead to the furnace, or (God forbid) Ophelia's office. The fierce jabbing continued, and Rinku, finally fed up with the pain while he was trying to think, pulled the offending object out from his pocket. There was a flutter of paper, and the demon suddenly was aware that the object was a folded-up map.
"Yes! No way I'm wandering around like a rat in a maze!" He quickly unfolded it, and shone the flashlight over its faded surface. The map was clear, concise, if a bit old, and scribbled in the bottom was the name "Meru". It seemed the student had slipped the folded map in Rinku's pocket while she was helping him up onto the vines. Remembering the quickest way to Helen's room, Rinku folded it and put it into his back jeans pocket, making a silent note to thank his roommate when, and if, he ever made it out of there.
In ten minutes, Rinku had scaled up a vertical shaft, taken an infinite number of turns, and had finally made it to the fourth floor, where the upperclassmen students had their rooms. Apparently, this was also where Kurama was being held, judging by the pitch of the shrieks that sounded from one of the numerous dorms. Before the youkai had even gotten within a ten-foot radius of the room, he could hear Kurama's own voice, and the fox didn't sound too happy.
"Get away from me! I swear, if I'm forced to attack you, it's your own fault!"
"Isn't he darling!"
"Attack me, Kurama, attack me!"
"No, attack me! He's mine bitch!"
There was the sound of a sharp slap among the many voices, and then a roar sounded among the fan club. Rinku, his curiosity piqued, quietly crawled down the vent, and peered through the rate that was high up on the wall. Now this, this was too much; it was all Rinku could do to keep from laughing. And at the same time, it made him very sick.
Kurama was bound and on a mass of pillows (think of Arabian knights here, people), an entire horde of young girls surrounded him, each one fighting to get close to their idol. Helen, the leader of them all, had seated herself next to the fox, and was now caressing his leg, with a lovesick look on her face. Kurama was white as a sheet, and obviously very frightened, or stressed. With all those young girls around, just begging him to seduce them, the young youkai was surprised that Youko Kurama hadn't managed to gain control - and that was a miracle in itself.
Before he could even chuckle at the fox's predicament, Rinku scuttled away down the vent. Finally out of range of the young girls, the demon took a deep breath, than started laughing, laughing so hard he to his stomach and banged his fists on the floor. Poor Kurama always seemed to get the worst of it, maybe the fox still had bad karma from when he was a thief in Makai; nevertheless, those girls were in just as much danger as the fox himself. If Youko ever managed to break through Kurama's mental barrier, not only would the thief have the night of his life, but he could seriously ruin the lives of others, mainly the lives of his fan girls.
When his laughter finally died down, Rinku sighed and got to work. The wet cloths were drenched in some of Aki's strongest perfumes, and the young demon had to breathe through his mouth in order to even manage to open the bag that held them. Taking a wet handful, he plopped them down in a pile in the vent, wiped his hands off on the leg of his jeans, and scurried back down the vent, leaving piles of soaked cloths (and puddles of perfume) as he went. Pulling a cell phone out from his pocket (everyone has one these days, don't they?), he called Meru's number and eagerly waited for his roommate to pick up.
Back outside, the two girls patiently waited, eager to hear if Kurama was all right. Meru, perched up on a low tree branch, was nearly asleep when her phone went off, annoyingly loud in the quiet night. Growling under her breath, she angrily took it out of her pocket and flipped the cover.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Meru. It's Rinku."
"Don't need to tell me twice. What is it you want?"
"I placed the cloths, so what next?"
"Burn 'em." There was silence on the end of the phone then, "WHAT?!"
"Burn them, Rinku. That's how the steam will be released and we can sneak in."
"After all that trouble, and you want me to burn them? Why didn't you just toss some stink bombs in the air vents?"
"Because stink bombs won't set off the fire alarm. We need to cause enough commotion to drive out the girls so we won't be noticed." There was a very audible sigh from the other end, then the telltale click of a lighter being fired up (Where Rinku got it, is perhaps best left unsaid). "Who's plan was this anyways?" The youkai asked, shuffling down the vent. Meru looked down at Lyra, who was nearly asleep, and quietly answered, "Lyra's."
"I thought she got it from Lark."
"Then blame both of them. Are you out of there yet?"
"Do I look it?" There was a soft clunk as the lighter was tossed down the vent, another bout of silence from Rinku, then the young student started screaming obscenities.
"Oh Crap! Sweet Mother Lord! The Hell do you have in your head, ROCKS?" There was a hurried scraping and scratching sound, and Meru eagerly turned her head towards the vent exit. Obviously, the little boy was making excellent time while getting out of the vents; when making the plans, Meru hadn't been lying about "lighting a fire under their asses" if Rinku was too slow. Fire was a great motivator.
There was a muffled shout from behind the girls, and Meru watched as Rinku jumped out of the vent, flame licking at his heels. The youkai got up, stumbled a little, and stomped over to his roommate and friend. "Meru, what the hell were you thinking? I almost got burnt to a crisp back there!" Rinku's yell was at a deafening volume, and Lyra instantly awoke, only to find Rinku glaring at her.
"What happened?" The water manipulator's voice was quiet and timid, compared to the younger demon and Meru.
"I almost died, that's what happened!" Seeing Lyra's sympathetic look, he felt a stab of guilt and lowered his voice. "I set those stinking cloths on fire, so what now?"
Meru, arms crossed, leaped down from her bark-covered perch and landed next to her companions, the many chains linked onto her baggy black pants clinking. "We go in and fetch our fox. Hopefully, Helen and those other fan girls passed out by now." The female demon untied a trio of black bandannas, recently tied together and used as a belt, and handed one to each of her companions; tying the third one loosely around her own neck, Meru motioned for Lyra and Rinku to follow her as she darted around a corner of the huge stone building.
"Rinku, can you manage to pick those locks?"
"Was I a pick pocket in that traveling sideshow for nothing? Of course I can!" The young demon scurried over, and instantly got to work on the brass door-knocker; it was strangely calm, considering they were breaking and entering into someone else's home, and Lyra, sitting casually on the huge front steps while deep in thought, thought it probably had to do with the fact that she was becoming quite used to this. In her opinion, after living with Rogerik for almost half a year now, the security system was rather pathetic; Ophelia could have at least of set a few traps, or at least get a guard dog.
The water manipulator instantly jumped up with a startled yelp as a small light burst into a crackling existence right where she had been sitting. Seconds later, a hoarse bark sounded from the other side of the house, and Meru cursed as a large black dog surged forwards, only to be yanked back by a thick iron chain that was firmly secured into the ground by a giant metal stake, which was slowly being pulled out of the packed dirt.
"Rinku, you might wanna hurry up there," Lyra shot over to her young friend, who grumbled something in annoyance and stood back as the door easily swung open.
Both girls ran inside, snatching Rinku up in their arms and slammed the door behind them, just in time to see a flash of light flare up from the glass half-circle that was hung up on the top of the door. The handle was instantly turned red-hot from the giant lightning bolt that had hit the door full-force, and three students jumped away from the front door, realizing the stench that had infiltrated the entire building through the air vents. Tying the bandannas over their noses and mouths, Rinku pulled out the small penlight from his back pocket and shone it over the many objects in the large entrance hall.
"Wow... Look at all this crap." An elegantly carved grandfather clock stood in a corner, and oil-painting portraits covered the wall where a huge wooden staircase curved up towards the second floor. A bluish-gray marble made up the floor, so polished that they could even see their reflections in it, and, hanging from the high ceiling, was a crystal chandelier, still glittering even though the only light came from the stars and Rinku's tiny flashlight. Meru nodded, too taken aback by the formality of the dorm to even speak.
Lyra tapped Rinku on the shoulder and asked, "Rinku, do you have the map that you used to get through the vents? We need to find Kurama quickly."
"Uh...Yeah, it's right here." He handed the crumpled-up piece of paper to Lyra, who instantly took it and stood underneath a huge skylight that took up most of the ceiling; after reading it for a moment, she sighed and called for her friend's attention.
"Hey, um, we better get going. Guys?"
Rinku followed Lyra up the stairs, then noticed something was missing.
"Meru! Come on!"
"Oh, right!" The demon followed them at a run, her long black jacket and brown hair fluttering in the breeze behind her.
The hallway was lushly carpeted, and it reminded Lyra of Cecilia's hotel... before it had gotten demolished during their fight for the dragon's egg. It was a pity really; the giant building had been beautiful, from both the outside and the interior, and it would never be rebuilt - the blueprints had probably been destroyed when Cecilia's office had dislodged itself from the rest of the building and fallen down thirty floors into the sea below.
More portraits hung on the walls here, and their portraits were just as richly carved as the grandfather clock below in the entrance hall; noticing that they subjects of these paintings were some of the deceased teachers of years gone by, she was surprised to see a very familiar elf standing in a rather large portrait, with an equally short woman standing next to him, a young child of about three on her lap. Both adults were smiling, and the whole painting expressed an explicit sense of family; but, ever since Lyra had been to the academy, Ryo had never smiled like that.
"Hey, stop stalling over there! These bandannas can't keep block the stench of this place forever, y'know."
"I dunno, it smells like flowers."
"Rinku, will you shut up?"
"Oh, sorry!" Glancing at the family portrait for a second longer, Lyra hurried over to her two friends, her eyes half-closed in thought. They continued walking for a bit, Meru snapping Lyra out of her daze long enough so the water manipulator wouldn't trip over the occasional student that was passed out in the hallway, until the demon finally stopped Lyra in the hallway.
"What's wrong?" Lyra jumped a little at the sound of Meru's voice, which was unsually gentle, and stared down at the ground. "Nothing, really. We should hurry up, though, before Rinku gets too far ahead." Meru nodded in agreement, with a quiet, "Uh-huh..." escaping from her lips as the two girls walked down the hall, albeit at a slower pace.
"Hey, Meru, you've been going to the academy longer than I have-"
"By about a year."
"Yeah, but has Ryo ever mentioned anything about his family?"
"Well, he did tell the class once how his uncle Tsuyoshi got his lips stuck in a toaster."
"No, I mean like his wife and child."
"Ryo had a wife? Maybe you should get some fresh air, these fumes seem to be getting to you." The conversation was cut short as Rinku opened a door and yelled back to the girls, "Hey, look at this!" Both Lyra and Meru ran up to the laughing demon, and tried to fight down a fit of giggles. Well, at least Lyra tried.
"Oh my..." Those two words summed up the entire scenario; Kurama, fan girls, and all. Helen was draped around the fox's waist, peacefully asleep, and Kurama was tied down the floor, propped up on a small mountain of pillows. Even in his sleep, the star-student had his arms blocking Helen's, trying to keep the girl as far away as possible. A soft mumble escaped his lips, and Lyra cautiously stepped over the sprawled bodies of sleeping teen girls so she could untie his bonds.
"Rinku, Meru? Could you two stop busting your gut and help, please?" The knots were extremely tight, and it seemed someone in the group obviously had a brother who was a boy scout. Meru kneeled down next to Lyra and summoned up a bit of her spirit energy, forming it into the shape of a small pocketknife. With a quick jerk of her wrist, one of the thick leather straps were cut, and she eagerly got to work on the next one.
Rinku, meanwhile was hanging out by the doorway, watching the scene in utmost amusement. As Meru cut the last strap, both girls shouldered Kurama and worked together to carry him out of the room, past Rinku. They dragged him down the hall for a bit, but Meru noticed that Rinku was still back in the room.
"Hey, Rinku! Stop fooling around in there and help us get Kurama down the stairs! I still have to finish up a paper for my algebra class," Meru shouted back, and Rinku trotted up to them, putting what seemed to be a black sharpie in his pocket. They walked in silence for a while, and were halfway down the stairs before Rinku muttered, "You have a sick mind, Meru."
"What?!" Meru lunged out at her younger roommate, putting him in a headlock as she helped Lyra move the redheaded boy down the large staircase. "Ah, Meru! Be careful, you two." The elder Admarant sister stumbled from the shift of weight, and almost tripped down the stairs as Meru and Rinku walked down the stairs, the yo-yo master stuck in a painful headlock. As usual, both of them ignored her, and Lyra struggled to carry Kurama don by herself.
"I'm not the one who has a sick mind! You're the one who thought of it that way!"
"Well, who wouldn't after they've lived in the same room as Justin?"
"Please! That's a lousy excuse; I've been in the same dorm as St.Pierre for five years. Five! He's not nearly as bad as Rogerik."
For a moment, Rinku stopped struggling. "...Yeah, you have a point."
"Uh, help?" Wincing in pain as her braid was pulled by Kurama's dead weight, Lyra pleadingly tried to break up the argument. Meru looked over at the younger girl, and instantly released Rinku from his headlock. "Sorry, let me get that door for you."
"Thanks, Meru; but maybe could you help me out with Kurama here?"
"Alright, just don't get so agitated." The brown-haired girl Took part of the load on her own shoulder, opposite from Lyra, and forcefully kicked the door open. There was a shrill yelp, and they were faced with the same guard dog as before. The large black hound held his snarling head low, his long, drooping ears barely touching the sizeable front steps, and his ebony fur was bristled, static electricity crackling and jumping from each hair.
"Crap."
Meru reached forwards, so as to pull the door shut before the large dog could attack, but a flash of lightning instantly obliterated the door handle. "Definite crap," she muttered, slowly stepping back from the doorway. Blue electricity still flying through its dark coat, the hound slunk in after them, lighting up the entrance hall in all its finely furnished glory.
Rinku instantly went for his yo-yos, but Lyra slowly shook her head. "Rinku, the charge could travel up the strings. It's best to just let me handle this." Lyra held her hand up, and chanted a strange, but short, incantation, causing a whitish-gray glow to surround her palm. The collection of spirit energy traveled up in the air, massing into an undistinguishable cloud, then stopped glowing. There was a loud boom from the small, dark cloud, and it instantly opened up in a torrent of rain.
The rain splattered on the marble floor, soaking the dog, who yelped and ran out the door, tail between its legs, where it was much dryer. To the poor beast's misfortune, the cloud followed him, keeping speed as the black dog ran around a corner of the house and dived into it's large wooden doghouse, the cloud following it inside.
"Poor mutt," Meru sighed. Rinku shrugged, muttering a quiet, "Bettter him than us," before stepping out the door. Lyra readjusted the load on her shoulder, freeing her long, braided hair from under Kurama's arm, and smiled at her two companions. "Don't worry, that cloud will disperse in about ten or so minutes."
"Hey, Lyra, where did you learn how to do that?" Rinku asked, after about a half-hour of steady walking to the purple cottage that was the water manipulator and fox's dorm. Smiling rather innocently, she replied, "Well, it was actually by accident, when I created that cloud in your bedroom."
"You did that?" Rinku stopped walking, waiting for the two girls to catch up.
"Erm... yes, I did. But, that time was a complete mistake; I accidentally poured too much of my spirit energy into it, so it was very difficult to control."
Silence, then...
"You know you're gonna be the one to take the blame, right? I mean, once Lyonell and Justin find out..."
"Don't remind me, please."
Bright sunlight filtered in through the Venetian blinds that covered the many windows in Helen's shared room, and the blond-haired young teen brought up her hand to block it out. Squinting her pale blue eyes, she groggily stood up and stared at the mess in front of her. Not only was the lingering scent of flowers in the air, but the severed straps that once held Kurama in her room were sliced in half, and the entire horde of fan girls that worshipped the fox (alongside with her), was passed out on the floor.
Growling in annoyance, Helen stomped out of the door, not caring if she stepped on someone on her way out, and dully noticed that there was a multitude of scuffmarks on the hardwood staircase. Ophelia was going to have a cow with this. Not like the students were actually going to clean the mess, the teacher was able to summon small gnomes to clean the large dorm, which she usually did instead of expending the time or energy to do it herself, but it was still unnerving.
Strangely enough, the front door was wide open, and the brass door handle had been blown clean off.
"That stupid dog. I wonder why Ophelia even keeps it around; he can't even guard the front yard," Helen growled, and glared at the large black hound that had meekly slunk up to the front door, his tail between his legs and dark fur still wet. Looking up at the dominant student in a pleading manner, the dog's bright yellow eyes instantly shone in amusement.
"What is it, Rufus? What're you looking at, you dumb mutt?"
The electric dog only growled low in his throat, a noise that Helen had come to understand as the hound's way of laughing (to tell the truth, Rufus was on an intelligence level that was almost equal to humans). Glaring at the much-hated mutt, she stomped over to a mirror that hung on a wall near the door to the dining room, and could only stare in shock. Black ink marred her lovely features, and a mustache, as well as swirls and a unibrow, were drawn on her face in clear and steady lines. Helen turned around and marched at the big black dog, who was standing on the front steps, wagging his tail with his tongue lolling out of his grinning jaws.
Helen raised a hand to cuff the mutt, but noticed the quiet splashing sound as she stepped onto the marble floor by the front door. Looking down, she stared at the large puddle of water that spread across most of the polished floor, and also spread onto the front steps. Instantly, everything clicked into place for her. Lyra Admamrant.
Who else would storm into HER house, steal HER bishie, and then ruin HER beautiful face? Ignoring the confused snippets of conversation that came from the second floor, the enraged student, star of Ophelia Delacours' girl's dorm, slammed her fist against the thick wooden door, oblivious to the stinging pain, and screamed for all the world to hear, "DAMN YOU, YOU BITCH! I'M GOING TO RUIN THE REST OF YOU *bleep*ING SCHOOL YEAR FOR THIS, GODDAMMIT!"
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KKC: Censoring and editing is provided by Strict Mothers of Sheltered White Girls INC. (SMSWG INC.)
Grimoire: o.0 ...there's no such company.
KKC: Shaddup... Oh, for such a long wait, this story was reeeaaaally long: about 15 ½ pages. No idea when I'll get the next chapter up, as I still have a ton of work. . Damn school...
Grimoire: Narrator Dude, you're up.
Narrator Dude: *smoking a cigarette while reading World Weekly* Eh? Oh! *stomps out cigarette and clears throat* Now that Kurama has been saved from the clutches of his fan girls, what revenge is Helen planning? And just what happens when Lark tries to give her sister's and Kurama's relationship a "nudge" in the right direction on Valentine's day?
Grimoire: Thanks.
Narrator Dude: No prob. Call me if 'ya need me. *tucks his World Weekly under his arm and walks off*
KKC: Oh, review please.