Disclaimer: I don't own, you don't sue, I don't call my lawyer to defend me
in court.
KKC: Well, since all that schoolwork is outta the way, now I can finally get back to weekly updates! ^-^
Grim: *sighs* How much longer is this story going to take?
KKC: Hm... I'm thinking maybe ten to thirteen more chapters. That's including the end, April vacation, and a few little snippets in between. Oh, and I might do a bloopers chapter at the very end - trust me, my sister and I came up with hundreds.
Grim: At least the end is in sight. Enma, let me survive another three months of this torture...
KKC: Yep! Finally... Oh, and here's the quote of the week:
"Heh, Eddie the Brain surgeon. That's almost as bad as me being a psychologist." -Michealla (we were taking a career evaluative test. The ironic part is Michealla goes to see a shrink every Friday afternoon [her parent's think she's crazy. No idea where they ever got that idea...].)
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Valentine's day. It was slowly looming up, like the leviathan in the middle of a stormy sea, spelling out disaster to all whom unluckily strayed in it's path; to some, it was a time of love, of happiness, of flowers, and of disgustingly cute teddy bears holding boxes of cheaply-made, caramel-filled chocolates.
God, those bears were scary.
But, vile teddy bears put aside, this year's valentines day was not going to be filled with chocolate and flowers. No, this year, our favorite psychokinetic thief was stuck without a date on Valentine's Day. Pathetic? Yes; but don't laugh dear reader, I've been stuck without a valentine's date for well over five years. (Not that I'm bitter, oh no...)
So, despite the fact that the answer would most likely be no, and that the younger Admarant sister would probably drown him for suggesting such a thing, Rogerik went looking for Lark. It wasn't too hard to do, actually; apparently, the fourteen-year-old water manipulator was in the kitchen, and what she was cooking was almost as evil as those goddamn teddy bears.
To Rogerik's luck, no one else was in the kitchen; then again, no one else was on the first floor. Now, call this a wild guess, but it most likely had to do with the noxious smell emanating from the huge iron pot that was simmering on the stovetop. Lark had her black hair tied back in a messy bun on her head, and was dressed in a button-down blouse and a plaid pleated miniskirt; the water manipulator seemed to be looking at something propped up on the counter, and was stirring whatever it was in the black pot. Faintly, Rogerik could hear her talking.
"Alright... a pinch of basil, a clove a garlic, and... a teaspoon of sugar? What is this, Mary Poppins?" Green-gray eyes open wide, Rogerik watched as said items got thrown into the broth, and a cloud of yellowish smoke burst up from the iron pot. Judging by the smell and color of the thickening smoke, it was no doubt some spell or something Lark had read about in a book she had checked out from the school library, and, this Rogerik feverently hoped, wasn't what she was making for breakfast. Taking a deep sigh, the thief adjusted the collar of his button-down shirt, collected his wits, and stepped out from behind the kitchen island, straightening up as he did so.
"Hey, Lark, how're -" There was a startled yelp as the water manipulator whirled around, trying to block whatever had been propped up on the counter from view, and directed a gush of water right from the faucet to the thief's face. In a second or two, the water stopped drenching poor Rogerik, and Lark nervously said, "Oh, it's just you. Um...sorry."
"No problem..." He brushed his soaking wet hair out of his eyes and leaned against the kitchen island, trying not to get too angry about the unplanned bath. Lark nodded and anxiously shifted from foot to foot, hoping that he would just leave, but the thief glanced over at the counter that she was working on, and smirked.
"Isn't that your sister's book?"
"It was a heirloom from our mom, and it was to the both of us."
"Really." Rogerik eyed the large leather book with interest, then shrugged and turned around, tossing all thoughts of Valentine's Day aside; after all, the PS2 was calling him. Before he even got past the kitchen island; however, there was a deafening roar from the stove and the broth exploded as a large, four-eyed, rat-like head burst out of the water. Lark shrieked and slammed the lid down on the creature, turning back to a sweatdropping Rogerik with a shaky smile.
"I think I added a tad too much basil."
"Oh, that explains it."
"Helen, I know you're still upset about last week, but-"
"Upset? UPSET?! Do you have any idea how UPSET I am? I'll tell you; we rightfully kidnapped the hottest guy on the campus, barely had any fun with him, passed out, had said hottest guy on campus kidnapped from US, and woke up with an entire kindergarten's-class of scribbles on our faces in permanent black ink!" The blonde charms specialist smiled and evilly snickered, continuing to stir some vile liquid that was currently being brewed in a large iron cauldron above a bonfire in the backyard. Turning around to one of her roommates, Helen wielded a large stainless steel spoon in her hand, and, brandishing it like a baseball bat, began to kick the crud out of a poor defenseless tree, the white blossoms from the top crown loosening and falling down in a flurry of pale petals all around her.
"You - *whack*- Have -*thwap* - NO - *Fwap* - Idea - *Thwonk* - how -* Whap* - UPSET - *Ker-crack* - I -* Fwonk* - AM!" Helen gave the tree one last parting windmill kick, then turned back to her brew, her temper simmering as much as the liquid she stirred. Her roommate, still puzzled about how a solid tree could produce a hollow "fwonk" sound, decided it was best to leave the star student alone, and quickly left the backyard.
The pot bubbled, and a dark green smoke started to collect in a sickly- looking cloud over Helen's head; maliciously grinning, she picked up one of the fallen flowers, which was amazingly still intact, then dropped it in the broth. The snow-white flower floated for a second, then withered and turned a coal-black color, before sinking to the bottom of the cauldron. "Finally. Kurama might be too nice a guy to blow off his own roommate, but this just might fix that little problem." Helen gleefully scooped a vial of the noxious broth, then corked it and slipped the glass beaker into her pocket.
Kurama was about to meet his Mr. Hyde.
"Come on, Lyra, trust me on this."
"But, Holly, why go to Mueca today?" (A/N: The city finally has a name! Yay! *cuts red ribbon with over-sized scissors*)
"Think of it as your birthday present, Lyra." The wind witch floated above her friend's bedroom balcony, perched upon her broom. Thankfully, Kyuro had left for the time being, and Holly desperately prayed that the familiar was staying out of trouble, wherever he was. For once, the cat had disappeared when he wasn't wanted.
"Holly, but my birthday isn't until the twenty-second, and its only Valentine's Day." Lyra continued to sketch the tiny chipmunk that had perched upon the balcony railing, nibbling on a small seed - its prized possession. Adding a few minute details, such as the light's reflection in its huge black eyes, and a slightly furry texture to the body, the water manipulator sighed and took a second to glance up at the redheaded witch.
"Fine, I'll come. But on one condition," Lyra raised one finger, and Holly's high hopes plummeted. God forbid Lyra screw up the plan Lark had come up with to "nudge" her sister along the right route. "No Birthday Party. Nothing. You are not to even bring out so much as a cupcake with a candle in it when the twenty-second rolls around, do I make myself clear?"
Holly exhaled in relief, and jumped down from her broom, landing on the balcony with a soft thud, which startled the poor chipmunk and set it scurrying away. "Aye, aye, cap'n. No problem at all." She faked a salute, and held out her broom horizontally with both hands, focusing her energy until it levitated on its own. "Hop aboard." The witch pointed towards the broom with a flourish, a flourish that seemed sadly misplaced considering her mode of transportation was in serious need of a good old polish and trim, and then hopped on, putting a hand out for Lyra. The elder sister smiled and took her friend's hand, straddling the broomstick behind Holly, and grabbed onto Holly's shoulder as the broom jerked unsteadily into the air. "Holly, I thought you've been practicing!"
"I have! Now I can make it over the trees without hitting the top branches." Lyra paled, remembering all to well the days when the witch had just learned how to fly on a broomstick, and gripped onto Holly's shoulder until her knuckles turned white, closing her dark blue eyes as the broom zoomed over the trees and towards the bustling city of Mueca.
Relaxing under the branches of the healthily regenerated plum tree, which had sprung back amazingly during the winter (considering it had been uprooted and sloughed in half way back in chapter 3), Jin lazily opened one eye as Holly, with Lyra clinging on for dear life behind her, zoomed by on her broom, giving the wind master a victory sign as she flew to the crowded city. His mouth twisted in a smirk, one fang glinting in the early spring sunlight, Jin yawned and stretched, chasing off the young sparrow he had helped in December off of his horn; getting to his feet, he stretched his arms one last time, cracked his neck, and strode into the house, his tiny companion once again alighting on the horn that protruded from among his blood-red hair.
"Jin! Hey, can you do me a favor?" Lark was clinging onto the shinobi's arm as soon as he stepped in the door, scaring off the little sparrow, who instead found a better perch in Rogerik's shoulder. Jin backed up, unlatching the younger sister from his arm, and was relieved to feel the blood flow back into the constricted limb. "Eh, what is this favor, exactly?"
"I need a ride downtown..." Jin just looked at Lark incredulously, his blue eyes wide. "As if helping you get yer sister and fox-boy together, keeping Helen away from the two, and getting Kurama downtown isn't enough, you want me to give you a ride too?"
"Um...yes? Please?" Lark batted her gray-blue eyes, the same look that had made the audience literally turn into puddles of tears when she played the lead in Annie way back at the age of six, and pouted. The windmaster sighed, scratching the back of his hair and finally replied, "Yeah, okay... but jus' this once. You're getting home on your own."
"Yay! I'm so glad I didn't have to blackmail you with those pictures I took on that spy-cam Holly gave me for Christmas!" Lark clapped and turned back to the stove, then continued to finish up her little "project", completely oblivious to her Irish roommate's reaction as the last sentence finally sunk in while he was climbing the stairs to the second floor.
"WHA-AT?!" He stopped short, almost tripping down the stairs as he spun on the narrow step, and managed to catch himself on the banister. His sigh of relief was short-lived; however, as Kyuro darted between his ankles, hissing as a charging Bones followed. Both Rogerik and the Sparrow cringed as the redhead yelped and slipped, whacking his horned head on the wooden banister and finally landing sprawled out on the first step, his normally blue eyes nothing but swirls. Meanwhile, the cat and skeleton dog charged out of the back door, almost knocking a startled Kurama flat on the floor as the fox came in from pruning the rosebushes that bordered the glass greenhouse.
"Did I... miss something?"
"Nah. Nothing out of the ordinary." Rogerik stopped leaning against the kitchen island and slipped out of the back door, anxious to get away from the less sane sister as soon as possible. Said sister had quickly flipped her book to a different page and covered the pot, containing the smell and smog inside. "Um, Kurama, why don't you move Jin upstairs. Yeah, I...uh... I have a project and it's highly flammable. Yep, so you should let him hang out in your room while I clean up down here, 'kay?"
"I guess so..." Kurama flipped Jin over his shoulder, and started up the stairs; but before he got half way up, the fox asked, in a low voice, "You wouldn't happen to be planning anything, would you, Lark?"
There was a quickly silenced "eep" and she nervously ushered him upstairs. "Y'know what? You caught me. Lyra's birthday is in a few days, and she thinks she can escape having a birthday party because she's going out to the spring for a, um... religious blessing thing... yep. Better not bother her; if done wrong she's gonna be cursed."
"Her birthday is coming up in a few days?" The fox balanced Jin on the banister and had a thoughtful look in his green eyes. "Well, she never told me that."
"Yeah, she's not one for huge parties or anything. You better hurry up, though, looks like Jin's gonna have more than a black eye if the swelling isn't stopped." As if in response to his name, the windmaster mumbled something under his breath, and his eyelids fluttered a bit.
"Is it possible for him to hemorrhage from a blow like that?" Lark asked, and Kurama looked down at Jin's bruise before replying, "Erm... Yes." Jin's eyes snapped open and shuddered, the sudden jerk of movement made Kurama loose his grip, sending poor Jin for another tumble down the stairs. Kyuro, apparently having slipped in an open window after leaving Bones locked out in the backyard, trotted past, and, after realizing the floor had a heartbeat, looked down. "You know, Jin, this shirt of yours would make a really nice throw rug. What material is it?"
"Shaddup... just ... shut up, dammit."
* * *
"Wow, I'm surprised there are so many people out today." Lyra and Holly sat by one of the huge fountains, each sipping on a fruit smoothie from one of the many cafes. The witch, with her broom leaned against the back of the bench behind her, nodded, and looked around at the multitude of couples wandering the cobblestone streets. "Yep; but it is Valentine's Day."
"Yeah. Hey, Holly?"
"What?"
"Didn't you have a date or something today? That's what I heard from my sister at least."
Holly choked on her blueberry/mango drink and Lyra had to pat her on the back before she managed to talk. "No... whatever made you think that?"
"You seemed pretty anxious to leave, and I was wondering if it was because you were meeting someone here."
"Nah, I'm staying single. No time for guys with all the schoolwork we got during the week." The witch counted the papers off on her fingers. "First I have that ten-page research paper on the northern birch for Rachel, a latin and greek roots page for Ryo, a report on the Shogun era demon revolt for Suzuka, and a two-page essay on why students shouldn't fly their brooms to class for Ms. Hisagawa."
"You flew your broom to class?"
"I was running late! And a two-page paper is nothing compared to detention with Suzuka; I hate cleaning up his classroom. Who knows what half the stuff in that classroom of his is." Both girls sniggered a bit, and Lyra could clearly picture the cluttered classroom. "Yeah, his desk makes Ryo look like a neat-freak."
"Is it really that messy?" Both girls jumped, and were lost for words. Standing behind them, with a large, over-stuffed bag slung over his shoulder, was the blond inventor; he raised an eyebrow at the two girls, and patiently waited for them to talk.
"Uh, Suzuka, nice to see you... here... Um, what are you doing in Meuca?"
"Am I not allowed to have a life? Never mind; Shishi asked me to drop some mail off at the post-office for him." Both girls looked clueless, and Holly said, "Why couldn't Samurai-boy do it himself?"
At this, Suzuka untied the bag and revealed its contents to his students; inside was a literal mountain of envelopes. "He gets tons of fan mail this time of year, and this is only half of his replies. He'd never make it to the end of the driveway before being attacked by his fan girls." Both girls nodded, stunned, and Suzuka closed the bag and slung it over his shoulder again.
"You two have fun, now. And stay out of trouble while you're at it, why don't you? I don't want to have to fight any immortals today."
The two girls muttered a "yes sir" in unison, and watched as the inventor carried his heavy load to the post office that was located much farther down the cobblestone road. Blinking her blue eyes as if awakening from a lapse of unconsciousness, Lyra muttered, "...Maybe we should move along."
"Good idea. Who knows who else is hanging around." Holly once again shouldered her broom, and the two girls quickly walked in the opposite direction.
* * *
It seemed too good to be true when his feet finally touched the ground. The wind holding Yusuke up in mid-air suddenly died down, and the Japanese youth lost his already precarious balance. "Agh! Crap!" Yusuke grabbed onto the nearest stationary object, a carved stone post, and glared at the wind master floating above his head.
"Next time, warn me."
"Eh? But Urameshi, its more entertaining this way!"
"Okay you two, stop fighting. We've come here for a reason, so let's not waste time." Kurama, as always, landed gracefully on his feet, his equally red-haired roommate, gleefully smiling, landing right beside the fox. "He's right, Yusuke. Remember when Keiko called you because you weren't going home fer Christmas?"
"Jin, don't even remind me." Yusuke released his death grip hold on the stone post, trying his best to ignore the curious stares from the crowd, and brushed some dust off of his shoulder. Jin sighed and nodded in agreement with Kurama's pitying look; The wind master then shrugged and strode down the crowded streets, leaving his companions behind. "Hey, Jin, where do you think you're going?" Yusuke ran after him, but the demon turned around and flashed him a toothy grin.
"I have to meet someone, so I'll see you later."
A group of twelve or so younger, giggling, girls passed, and the wind master had gone; Yusuke just glared at the spot where his friend had been, and sighed. "Come one, Kurama; at least I can still get something for Keiko," the teen said, turning around to where Kurama was. Well, at least where he was supposed to be; the fox was gone.
"Dammit! Hey, this is totally unfair! Kurama! Jin! You bastards!"
* * *
"Lark, tell me you are never going to do that again."
"I dunno. I thought it was a good idea to hitch a ride on that pickup."
"Yeah, until the damn driver found out we were there!"
"It could've been worse, Rogerik."
"Don't say that, you'll jinx us." The two students walked down the wide, cobblestone street, snapping at each other and earning nervous glances from young girls and women alike as they bickered. Lark shrugged, and cheerfully punched Rogerik in the arm. "Aww, c'mon... don't be such a pessimist."
"Shut up." This time, the friendly punch turned into a stinging thwap over the head. Lark, her gray-blue eyes suddenly dark, glared at her thieving companion. "Look, you better behave. Rachel will kill us if we end up coming home in a squad car."
"Again?" The psychokinetic boy smirked, and Lark met him with another death glare that was slightly below Hiei's. "Let's just not talk about Halloween again, okay?"
"Yes'm"
"And while we're at it, we should might as well find out where Kurama is." Lark scanned the crowd, hoping for a glimpse of her roommate, but to no avail. Rogerik leaned against one of the stone posts that littered the street, and grumbled, "Wasn't Jin supposed to give us a ride anyways?"
"Yeah, but I had to tell him to leave without us. I had some cleaning up to do."
"You suck."
"'Suck what?' is the question. By the way, don't answer that." Both roommates glared at each other again, but Lark's eyes were suddenly focused on a spot right above Rogerik's head. "Hey, it's Kurama!" She grabbed Rogerik's arm and dragged him towards the green-eyed student.
"Oh, rapture..."
* * *
'Let's see... nah, too tall. That one's got way too much on top for my liking; what the hell does that girl think she's doing? Piercings? Spare me...'
Shikyo wandered around the streets like many a feral tomcat, his black tail twitching behind him and his feline ears catching up every snippet of conversation. A group of young students, no older than eleven, walked by, no doubt on a group date. From the happily smiling couples to the blatantly single men and women, human and demon alike, and the screaming red decorations all symbolized one thing - this was no day to be single. So, the English teacher scanned the cobblestone streets for someone, preferably female, to spend Valentine's day with.
His dark eyes locked on a gaggle of profusely gorgeous women. Without a thought, the cat demon found himself moving towards them, then, noticing the aura that clung around them like their expensive perfume, drew back. Those were the type of women you paid for, literally; first, they acted all sweet so you would buy them clothes, jewelry, and go on tropical vacations with them, then they would lord it over you, and, once you were flat broke, leave you. The very thought sent a shudder up Shikyo's lean frame.
"Eh, no. Definitely not." He allowed himself one last shudder, then continued his search through downtown, and making private comments to himself along the way.
"Hm..." his attention was drawn to a teenage girl who was staring at him from high up in the top of one of the small trees that were sometimes planted outside the stores and shops. She was fairly petite in size, with her shoulder-length, curly blonde hair tied with a dark blue ribbon, and was dressed in a crème-colored pant suit, with a delicate gold chain necklace hanging around her neck. Altogether, a nice looking girl, but there was something about the look in her eyes... she didn't look sane.
'I'll keep her in mind... if all else fails, that is.'
Shikyo felt a sharp influx of energy, and looked towards one of the shadowy alleyways, where it was emanating. True to his suspicions, a pair of glowing yellow eyes tore through the shadow, freezing him in place. The cat demon felt the hair on the back of his neck bristle, and his tail puffed out to twice its normal size. The glow dimmed down as the figure stepped out into the sunlight, to reveal a wiry young woman. Her brown hair was wild, frizzy and stiff, and she was dressed in a full-length dress that seemed to be Victorian, yellow and accented with a white sash around the waist; the glow was not from her eyes, but rather from the reflection of light on her coke bottle eyeglasses. She held a plush toy in one arm, and had an even more insane gleam in her eyes than the other girl up in the tree. "Hi, there, kitty cat."
"Erk!" Her paralyzing glare never wavered, and Shikyo futilely tried to escape. These were the types of girls that were scary; they were the type that put sugar in your gas tank if you dumped them.
"What do you say to a date with a lady?"
"Uh, love to, but I gotta go... already taken." The gaze that she held on Shikyo seemed to fade, and the cat scampered away from the insane woman to the safety of a nearby bookstore.
"Well, that could have gone better..."
"Excuse me, sir? Could you please get off of my wing?"
"Eh?" Shikyo looked behind him, and realized that his foot was pinning down a rather beautifully detailed butterfly wing. Faintly realizing that the wing was attached to a person, he nervously apologized. "Oh, I'm sorry, miss..." His dark, almost black, eyes moved up onto the face of the owner of the wing, and his ears perked up. The owner of the voice was a young woman, a rather pretty one at that, and Shikyo was sure he'd seen her around campus before.
"Clarice."
"Um, it's nice to meet you, Clarice."
* * *
"Hey, Lyra, guess who I found!"
"L-Lark, please, you're chafing my wrist." Kurama, tried his best to dig in his heels to prevent the younger student from dragging him forwards, but it only bruised his wrist even more. Lark smiled back at him, but it was more of a smirk, and she had a conniving look to her stormy eyes. The fox's shoulders slumped; he should of given up long ago, it would have saved him from having his arm pulled off by Lark.
The elder Admarant sister, looked up in surprise, just to see her sibling screech to a halt in front of her and thrust a dazed Kurama forwards. "Well, you two have fun now. Bye!" In a blink of an eye, she was gone. Lyra looked around in a daze, well aware of the curious stares Kurama was attracting. "Oh, um, Kurama, are you okay?"
"J-just fine... just a little woozy." The fox supported himself against a store window, trying to calm his queasy stomach. Lyra stood by him, totally unaware that her former companion, Holly, had disappeared along with Lark. "Maybe we should stop and get some tea or something, it might help."
"Thanks." The two walked in silence, each rather apprehensive about the other, always close but never touching.
"Ooh, I am good..."
"Lark, you're full of yourself." Rogerik was once again leaning on a lamppost, this time glaring at the water manipulator as he took a swig from his bottle of Sprite. Lark, having heard this loud and clear, summoned an orb of water in her palm and whipped around to face her roommate. Holly, who had disappeared into the sky on her broom when Lyra had been occupied with helping Kurama, floated down gently, just in time to watch the two start squirting soda and water at each other.
"...I take it you're enjoying yourselves." The comment was wry and spoken in a faint accent, and all three of them looked up to see Jin floating above their heads, smirking. Holly leaned back on her broom, balancing without the use of her hands, and shrugged. "At least they're having fun." Both Rogerik and Lark shared dirty glances at each other, each of them ready to attack again at the slightest notice, but Jin interrupted them.
"Helen's around; last I saw her, she was hiding in an alleyway near where Lyra and Kurama are headin'." Rogerik recapped his Sprite and took on a buisiness-like tone in his voice.
"I thought as much. Who wants to go stop her?"
No one answered, but the wind master, as soon as his back was turned, felt three pairs of eyes staring at the back of his skull. The demon turned around, his eye brow twitching and his blue eyes holding a suspicious glint to them. "No."
"Please? Jin, be a buddy!"
"No."
More pitiful stares.
"I am NOT going after that- that wench! And that's final, too," He added, with an affirmative nod of his head.
Ten minutes later, Jin found himself tracking down the charms specialist. "Crud; you'd think I'd be able to find her from up here. Well, at least Kurama and Lyra are okay." The red headed demon levitated above even the highest spires of The Temple of the Goddess, his blue eyes squinted some because the afternoon sun reflected brightly off of the white plaster and glass windows below him. "Eh, might as well take a break." Sitting Indian- style in the air, he floated down gently to the top spire of the temple, and leaned against the white plaster wall.
"Your water, miss?"
"Oh, thank you sir." Lyra gratefully took the glass from the waiter's hand, and took a sip from it. Kurama, sitting across the table from her, nodded his thanks as the waiter placed a bowl of salad in front of him. Stabbing a cherry tomato with his fork, the fox stared off into space; something didn't quite feel right.
"Kurama? Hey, Kurama, are you feeling okay?"
"Hm? Oh, yes I'm fine, really." He gave a faint smile, and Lyra raised an eyebrow at his obviously faked cheerfulness.
"You're still upset about last week, aren't you? Not that I blame you or anything-"
"No, that's not it; trust me. I just get the feeling that something horrible is about to happen." He hadn't meant to interrupt her, but the dark aura kept coming closer and closer; it was homing in on them. There was an awkward silence that lasted for a minute or two, and Kurama uneasily ate his salad. The aura was coming closer, closer; he could even sense Lyra's normally peaceful aura fade away, lost in the much stronger sense of trouble brewing. She shivered, and looked at the cobblestone path beyond the roped-off outside dining area the café provided. Almost everyone on the street could sense the path of energy, and quickly moved off, albeit in a rather inconspicuous manner. There was a moment of silence from everyone, then the cover of one of the manholes blew completely off, and a dark yellow blast of energy poured out of it like a geyser. It died down as soon as it had started, and the iron manhole cover dropped with a metallic clang on the street, not three feet away from the passage to Meuca's sewer system.
It had happened so quickly, Lyra hadn't the time to react, and she found herself being shielded by a suddenly aggressive Kurama. In less than a minute, conversation between the civilians and other diners continued, leaving the two students stunned.
"Kurama, next time you get a feeling like that, maybe you shouldn't keep it to yourself."
"Yes, I suppose they do end up coming true more often than not, I'm afraid."
'My disguise is perfect! They'll never know it was me!' Helen, dressed in a waitress uniform, stepped cautiously between the crowded tables, hoisting a serving tray high over her head. Her hair had been tied up in a tight bun and she was wearing a pair of wire-frame glasses as she came up to the student's table. Surprisingly, neither Kurama nor Lyra seemed to notice her, perhaps too shaken by what had just happened a mere few minutes ago.
"Ah, sir, miss, the barkeep sent these drinks to you; on the house." She bowed down low, faking a Chinese accent, and placed the two glasses in front of the fox and water manipulator. "Oh, um-" Helen bowed down low again, and, with a rather flashy exit, sprung off to go "serve" another patron. "-Thanks..."
"That waitress seemed oddly familiar..."
"Kurama, stop being so cynical and relax for once. Please?" The fox stopped oring holes in the back of the waitress' skull and sighed. "Sorry; you're right, I do need a break."
* * *
And, high above, happily sleeping through the afternoon on the temple spire, was Jin. The wind master twitched one ear in annoyance at the noise from down below, but refused to wake up; instead, he just grumbled something in Gaelic, and settled in a more comfortable position.
"Jin? Um, Jin, you did take care of Helen, right?"
There was only a soft growl from the snoozing demon, and Holly shook her head in exasperation. "Jin, don't tell me you plan on letting Helen screw things up while you sleep."
"G'way..." Jin gave a half-hearted shooing gesture, and the witch leaned closer and tugged on one of his elven ears. "Up and at 'em, Jin." The demon grumbled again, and a strong gust of wind knocked away the antique broomstick and its youthful rider. "Jin, that is enough! Wake up this instant!" Holly landed on the plaster spire, clutching onto the wooden railing so tightly her knuckles were a pale white, and hefted her broom on her shoulder. Her command was met with another lazy swipe, and she choked up on the handle of her broomstick, holding it as if making a threat. "Jin, wake up now."
There was no reply. Holly, having not much else of a choice, gave her broom a few test swings. "I hate to have to get physical, but if it's the only way to get you up off your ass...
Down below, the passerby could clearly hear a pained yelp coming from the roof of the temple.
"That hurt, lass." Jin was wide awake, and floating above his roommate while rubbing the top of his head. The broom hadn't caused too much damage, and the pain had faded away soon enough, but the witch was in no mood for pity.
"Jin, have you been keeping an eye on Helen?"
"Who?" Holly angrily glared at him, her green eyes dangerously narrowed, and the demon suddenly remembered just why he wasn't on campus grounds. "Oh, right, Helen. She's, um... well..."
"You didn't find her, did you?" There was a bit of nervous chuckling from the usually cheerful youkai, and Jin sweatdropped as he replied, "Uh, no, I didn't."
"Jin..." Holly's voice was barely more than a whisper, and Jin backpedaled as fast as he could. "But, I'm looking for her right now. Yep, I gotta go. See 'ya!" The wind picked up, and the shinobi was out of sight in mere seconds.
* * *
She had to keep moving. Any minute now, those two would piece together her stolen disguise and fake accent, and it would be all over for her. But, it would be well worth it once Kurama managed to get even a sip of that reversal potion. Nearly dancing in the middle of the street, Helen rounded around a corner, only to bump into a rather hard surface.
"Well, what do we have here? A jealous little girl?" The hard surface was a fairly tall demon, with a mess of wild red hair, bright blue eyes, and a small white horn poking out from his bangs. The blonde young woman recoiled from the demon, fear emanating from almost every essence of her being, and the taller demon cringed at her fearful aura.
"Don't you dare come near me, unless you want to suffer serious pain." Helen's fear instantly changed to anger, and Jin backed away from her, but locked her in place with a torrent of air pressure. "Struggle all you want, lass; just stay out of Kurama's way today."
"Let me go, you lowlife! Picking on a young, defenseless girl; the shame!"
"Defenseless? Helen, you might as well stop hiding that holy charm underneath your jacket." The straight-A student glared, but let the purified slip of paper fall to the cobblestone street. Jin smiled, his fangs brilliantly white, and waved to the upset girl as he turned and left. "Be good now, Helen. I might come back later and let you go."
* * *
The drinks had a strange scent to them, this Kurama noticed despite his human body, and the fox refused to take even so much as a sip from the glass. Lyra, her suspicion heightened not only by the explosion of energy, but also the strangely familiar waitress. "We should probably leave before anything worse happens."
"Exactly what I was thinking. I'm sure this café takes credit, hm?" The fox held out a small gold-colored card, and Lyra's eyes widened. "When did you pick up a credit card?"
"It came with my assignment here." Kurama smiled, and waved down a passing waiter. It was only a few minutes before the bill was brought back, and the two students left for the tram station.
"No! You idiots; you're not supposed to just get up and go right home!"
"Will you stop talking to yourself, it's starting to freak me out."
"Shut up you." There was another blast of water, and the thief was left in the middle of the alleyway, soaked to the bone. Lark stood there, her eyes positively fiery, until a wave of inspiration hit her. "Rogerik, I think I have an idea."
"...Thought I smelled something burning."
"Shut up and listen- this plan is fool proof."
The streets were fairly quiet; an unnerving event considering that it was only three in the afternoon and the downtown area was usually packed at this time of day. No children played by the large marble fountain that graced the square ahead of Lyra and Kurama, and the stone benches that surrounded it were empty; even the mixture of youki and reiki that surrounded the city civilians was subdued.
"Wow... this is weird."
"I don't really think so." The redhead walked a little behind Lyra, his senses always alert in case the dangerous entity from before at the café appeared again. Suddenly, the noise of a small hand bell chimed, causing the high-strung student to jump in surprise. The chime came from a street corner, where a young woman in a salvation army uniform stood, a collection bucket by her feet.
"Excuse me, sir, miss, maybe could you donate to the Meuca branch homeless shelter? We've been through quite a tough spot over the winter." Her dark brown eyes looked up at them hopefully from behind a pair of glasses, and her long chestnut-colored hair was tied up in a complex French braid.
"Oh, um, I don't see why not." Lyra pulled out a few dollar bills from her pocket, and dropped them in nearly empty bucket with a small smile. The woman smiled; Lyra was such a sucker for community service, her kindness was often her own weakness. She politely nodded and smiled, then passed two small wrapped chocolates to the pair.
"Please, have a nice Valentine's Day, and thank you for your donation."
"Yay! With those love-potion-infused chocolates, they're bound to fall for each other." Lark happily grinned as she undid the braid in her hair and rinsed out the dye with a torrent of water. "Well, don't you think it went well?"
"For a half-baked plan, yes." Rogerik sat by a cardboard box that lay half- open on the street, filled with decoratively wrapped chocolates. "If I have to tie another ribbon, don't be surprised to see your diary up on the internet for everyone to see."
"You couldn't; that lock is impossible to break into." She smugly smirked, and a pair of gray-green eyes locked with her own. Rogerik picked up one of the wrapped candies, and glanced over at Lark. "I doubt any lock can beat me."
"I'm going to find one that can, just to spite you."
"You would do that." The thief was about to take a bite out of a chocolate, when a sudden burst of energy wove its way from below the streets. A rattling, clanking racket came from a trembling manhole cover, and, as both Rogerik and Lark watched, the iron lid blasted up twenty feet into the air, propelled by a blast of yellow light and muddy water. A flash of red shone from amid the muck, and there was a shrieking growl as the spout of water and energy died down, only to burst up again twenty feet away at the next manhole cover.
"Um, Lark, when you said cleaning up, you meant..."
"Just forget about it and run." The water manipulator grabbed his wrist and, the thief being dragged along behind her, ran down the cobbled streets away from the surge of energy, carrying a box of the un-tampered chocolates under her arm.
* * *
"Have nice day, sir. Good bye!" The oriental woman bowed to Yusuke, and handed him the bag containing the bracelet the Japanese boy had been suckered into buying for Keiko. He faked a happy, "thanks" and slipped out the front door, the bells on the door chiming behind him. Once outside and out of view of the store owner, the youth flipped the birdie at the bright red door, but a sudden shiver passed through Yusuke's spine. His brown eyes wide, the spirit detective looked down towards the main plaza and muttered, "What was that..?" His question was left dangling in the wind as a body slammed into his, then continued running, leaving Yusuke sprawled out on the stone street, his eyes nothing but swirls.
The tremors continued down the street, and the charge of energy moved at surprising speed through the underground pipes; and the human above followed as fast as she could. Whatever the energy was, it had released her from that damned demon's pressurized shackles, and that meant she still had a chance to ruin Kurama. All it took was the small glass vial that she had in her jacket pocket.
* * *
Lyra could feel it - a violent, troublesome force. It swam towards them, growing faster with every passing second, and she finally knew what Kurama had sensed back at the café. Her blue eyes wide, she stepped away from the huge marble fountain that she and the fox had taken a minute to rest upon; Kurama unconsciously reached for the rose hidden in his long red hair.
"Stop right there, you two!"
Helen ran up to them, with a small glass vial clutched in her hand. Her blue eyes were narrowed, and it looked like she had been stuck in the middle of a tornado. "If I can't have you Kurama, I won't let anyone else, either!" The cork was popped off, and Helen reared her arm back, and whipped the glass container holding the purple liquid at the redhead.
An earth-shattering crack resounded throughout the plaza, echoing off of the stone and plaster buildings, and the marble fountain split open as a long black blur shot from the now shattered pipe. Water burst everywhere, and a row of sharp teeth grazed against the tiny glass bottle before clutching onto it, making the purple liquid splatter all over the black muzzle and long whiskers. The crack was drowned out by a long, shrill, shriek, and the black blur took form as a long, black, furred creature. Sharp spines contrasted from the black fur, the fin contrasting to the glossy black fur in a shimmering rainbow of cerulean, violet, and sea green, complimenting the silver spines.
Four red eyes shone from the dark head, and another set of fins grew from the creature's front legs, which were short and hosted a set of razor-sharp claws. Kurama barely had time to move Lyra out of the way as the long, furred, whip-like tail crushed the worn stones that made up the street, leaving a deep crater in the ground.
"W-what is that thing?!" Helen shrieked and couldn't move a step, the glowing orbs that served as the monster's eyes were too intimidating, and the energy that came from it was overwhelming. A low growl escaped from its throat, and a long tongue licked up the remains of the reversal potion from its fur. As the sewer creature was busy cleaning its fur, Kurama protectively moved Lyra to the side while drawing the rose from his hair. "Stay here, I'll take care of-"
The movement from Kurama's rose caught one of the reflective, glowing eyes, and the monster stopped cleaning his fur, charging at the fox in a rush of glossy fur and translucent, rainbow fins. In a matter of milliseconds, the long tail wrapped around the fox, lifting him high in the air and up to eye level of the monster. The growls deepened in tone, saliva dripping from the jaws, blood red eyes glowing eerily even in the sunlight. Kurama closed his green eyes, preparing himself for a rather gruesome end... but it never came. The jaws halted merely five inches from his face, the tail still holding him tightly, but more like it was to keep him from falling the fifteen feet to the ground rather than to hold him still while his headless body squirmed in the tight coils.
"Er... now what was I doing..?"
Kurama opened his eyes, and stared straight into four dark blood red eyes, but these orbs were filled not with bloodlust, but innocent confusion. Sensing a chance to get away, he calmly stated, "You were letting me down."
"Oh, I'm so sorry. There ya go, chap." Well, now that was strange. It had an English accent. But, the creature gently placed Kurama on the ground, and withdrew its strong, thick tail.
"You stupid ...thing!" The blonde charm specialist ran up, and cursed at the large monster, who merely looked down at her with a twinge of annoyance in its four red eyes. "What an bothersome little creature. Shall I dispose of her, sir?"
"If you wish; please don't injure her though."
"Oh course." The tail once again came down, this time binding around Helen's waist and lifting her high up in the air, then depositing her atop the peak of the marble fountain, or what was left of it. The large head then turned back to the fox and water manipulator, and bowed down before the two. "My pleasure, sir." One of his four eyes fell upon the stunned Lyra, and the monster smiled, his sharp teeth amazingly white. "and, m'lady, please allow me to escort you home. It's impolite to let a young woman like yourself walk alone on such a lovely day."
Lyra blushed, and slowly, if barely, nodded her head. "Um... sure." The monster held out one long spine, and Lyra placed her hand on it. Nodding his large head, the monster scooped up a confused Kurama with his multi- tasking tail and gently led Lyra down the uneven streets.
* * *
"That turned out better than I expected." Lark walked down the wooden pier of the Meuca marina, unwrapping a chocolate as she walked. Rogerik leaned over the railing, watching the many sailboats calmly glide across the bright blue water. "I suppose." He turned around and, leaning against the railing for support, stared straight into his roommate's stormy eyes. "But, don't go messing in someone else's love life again."
He expected a glare or a sharp remark, but Lark joined him on the railing instead. "I just can't help it; watching those two make ga-ga eyes over each other and not even talk, well, it drives me a tad crazy."
"You're already there."
"You're not much better. Why do you even chase after all those girls anyways?" Rogerik glanced over at her, and sighed. "I've stopped lately."
"Yeah, but isn't there a girl or something that you feel like staying with? Someone that you want over every other person out there?" There was an awkward silence, and Rogerik absent-mindedly unwrapped one of the chocolates from his leather pilot's jacket.
"I don't really know... I mean, I guess I'm still looking."
"Right..." Lark broke off a chunk of the chocolate, and tossed it out into the water, watching as a seagull dived down and snatched it up with its large yellow beak. Rogerik just tossed the entire piece of candy on the dock, and the two watched as a flock of greedy gulls squabbled over it. Lark broke off another piece, and continued to feed the gulls while Rogerik watched. Finally getting bored, and straightened up and started to walk down the dock. "Come on, we better get going. Lyra and Kurama will probably get suspicious if we aren't there when the get home."
"Right." Lark followed Rogerik, tossing the gulls the last piece of chocolate as she left the wooden dock. Running so she could catch up with him, she heard the flapping of wings, and looked behind her. What she saw nearly frightened her enough to latch onto the thief.
Behind them was the entire flock of seagulls, each one with literal hearts in their beady black eyes.
"Uh, Rogerik?"
"Yeah?"
"Run."
"Hm?" He glanced over his shoulder, and jumped in surprise. Nodding in agreement, the thief grabbed onto Lark's wrist and broke into a full run.
"CRAP!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
KKC: Well, I'm sorry I didn't update sooner. ^ ^;;
Grimoire: Three weeks... three...
KKC: But, I made up for it with a really long chapter.
Grimoire: ...Rabid lovesick seagulls... what has happened to your head?
KKC: -.- Review. Hopefully, next chapter should come sooner. But, unfortunately, it won't be as long. Twenty pages; I'm surprised that the broadband isn't too much for me to update. ^ ^;; Oh, and happy St. Patrick's day.
KKC: Well, since all that schoolwork is outta the way, now I can finally get back to weekly updates! ^-^
Grim: *sighs* How much longer is this story going to take?
KKC: Hm... I'm thinking maybe ten to thirteen more chapters. That's including the end, April vacation, and a few little snippets in between. Oh, and I might do a bloopers chapter at the very end - trust me, my sister and I came up with hundreds.
Grim: At least the end is in sight. Enma, let me survive another three months of this torture...
KKC: Yep! Finally... Oh, and here's the quote of the week:
"Heh, Eddie the Brain surgeon. That's almost as bad as me being a psychologist." -Michealla (we were taking a career evaluative test. The ironic part is Michealla goes to see a shrink every Friday afternoon [her parent's think she's crazy. No idea where they ever got that idea...].)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Valentine's day. It was slowly looming up, like the leviathan in the middle of a stormy sea, spelling out disaster to all whom unluckily strayed in it's path; to some, it was a time of love, of happiness, of flowers, and of disgustingly cute teddy bears holding boxes of cheaply-made, caramel-filled chocolates.
God, those bears were scary.
But, vile teddy bears put aside, this year's valentines day was not going to be filled with chocolate and flowers. No, this year, our favorite psychokinetic thief was stuck without a date on Valentine's Day. Pathetic? Yes; but don't laugh dear reader, I've been stuck without a valentine's date for well over five years. (Not that I'm bitter, oh no...)
So, despite the fact that the answer would most likely be no, and that the younger Admarant sister would probably drown him for suggesting such a thing, Rogerik went looking for Lark. It wasn't too hard to do, actually; apparently, the fourteen-year-old water manipulator was in the kitchen, and what she was cooking was almost as evil as those goddamn teddy bears.
To Rogerik's luck, no one else was in the kitchen; then again, no one else was on the first floor. Now, call this a wild guess, but it most likely had to do with the noxious smell emanating from the huge iron pot that was simmering on the stovetop. Lark had her black hair tied back in a messy bun on her head, and was dressed in a button-down blouse and a plaid pleated miniskirt; the water manipulator seemed to be looking at something propped up on the counter, and was stirring whatever it was in the black pot. Faintly, Rogerik could hear her talking.
"Alright... a pinch of basil, a clove a garlic, and... a teaspoon of sugar? What is this, Mary Poppins?" Green-gray eyes open wide, Rogerik watched as said items got thrown into the broth, and a cloud of yellowish smoke burst up from the iron pot. Judging by the smell and color of the thickening smoke, it was no doubt some spell or something Lark had read about in a book she had checked out from the school library, and, this Rogerik feverently hoped, wasn't what she was making for breakfast. Taking a deep sigh, the thief adjusted the collar of his button-down shirt, collected his wits, and stepped out from behind the kitchen island, straightening up as he did so.
"Hey, Lark, how're -" There was a startled yelp as the water manipulator whirled around, trying to block whatever had been propped up on the counter from view, and directed a gush of water right from the faucet to the thief's face. In a second or two, the water stopped drenching poor Rogerik, and Lark nervously said, "Oh, it's just you. Um...sorry."
"No problem..." He brushed his soaking wet hair out of his eyes and leaned against the kitchen island, trying not to get too angry about the unplanned bath. Lark nodded and anxiously shifted from foot to foot, hoping that he would just leave, but the thief glanced over at the counter that she was working on, and smirked.
"Isn't that your sister's book?"
"It was a heirloom from our mom, and it was to the both of us."
"Really." Rogerik eyed the large leather book with interest, then shrugged and turned around, tossing all thoughts of Valentine's Day aside; after all, the PS2 was calling him. Before he even got past the kitchen island; however, there was a deafening roar from the stove and the broth exploded as a large, four-eyed, rat-like head burst out of the water. Lark shrieked and slammed the lid down on the creature, turning back to a sweatdropping Rogerik with a shaky smile.
"I think I added a tad too much basil."
"Oh, that explains it."
"Helen, I know you're still upset about last week, but-"
"Upset? UPSET?! Do you have any idea how UPSET I am? I'll tell you; we rightfully kidnapped the hottest guy on the campus, barely had any fun with him, passed out, had said hottest guy on campus kidnapped from US, and woke up with an entire kindergarten's-class of scribbles on our faces in permanent black ink!" The blonde charms specialist smiled and evilly snickered, continuing to stir some vile liquid that was currently being brewed in a large iron cauldron above a bonfire in the backyard. Turning around to one of her roommates, Helen wielded a large stainless steel spoon in her hand, and, brandishing it like a baseball bat, began to kick the crud out of a poor defenseless tree, the white blossoms from the top crown loosening and falling down in a flurry of pale petals all around her.
"You - *whack*- Have -*thwap* - NO - *Fwap* - Idea - *Thwonk* - how -* Whap* - UPSET - *Ker-crack* - I -* Fwonk* - AM!" Helen gave the tree one last parting windmill kick, then turned back to her brew, her temper simmering as much as the liquid she stirred. Her roommate, still puzzled about how a solid tree could produce a hollow "fwonk" sound, decided it was best to leave the star student alone, and quickly left the backyard.
The pot bubbled, and a dark green smoke started to collect in a sickly- looking cloud over Helen's head; maliciously grinning, she picked up one of the fallen flowers, which was amazingly still intact, then dropped it in the broth. The snow-white flower floated for a second, then withered and turned a coal-black color, before sinking to the bottom of the cauldron. "Finally. Kurama might be too nice a guy to blow off his own roommate, but this just might fix that little problem." Helen gleefully scooped a vial of the noxious broth, then corked it and slipped the glass beaker into her pocket.
Kurama was about to meet his Mr. Hyde.
"Come on, Lyra, trust me on this."
"But, Holly, why go to Mueca today?" (A/N: The city finally has a name! Yay! *cuts red ribbon with over-sized scissors*)
"Think of it as your birthday present, Lyra." The wind witch floated above her friend's bedroom balcony, perched upon her broom. Thankfully, Kyuro had left for the time being, and Holly desperately prayed that the familiar was staying out of trouble, wherever he was. For once, the cat had disappeared when he wasn't wanted.
"Holly, but my birthday isn't until the twenty-second, and its only Valentine's Day." Lyra continued to sketch the tiny chipmunk that had perched upon the balcony railing, nibbling on a small seed - its prized possession. Adding a few minute details, such as the light's reflection in its huge black eyes, and a slightly furry texture to the body, the water manipulator sighed and took a second to glance up at the redheaded witch.
"Fine, I'll come. But on one condition," Lyra raised one finger, and Holly's high hopes plummeted. God forbid Lyra screw up the plan Lark had come up with to "nudge" her sister along the right route. "No Birthday Party. Nothing. You are not to even bring out so much as a cupcake with a candle in it when the twenty-second rolls around, do I make myself clear?"
Holly exhaled in relief, and jumped down from her broom, landing on the balcony with a soft thud, which startled the poor chipmunk and set it scurrying away. "Aye, aye, cap'n. No problem at all." She faked a salute, and held out her broom horizontally with both hands, focusing her energy until it levitated on its own. "Hop aboard." The witch pointed towards the broom with a flourish, a flourish that seemed sadly misplaced considering her mode of transportation was in serious need of a good old polish and trim, and then hopped on, putting a hand out for Lyra. The elder sister smiled and took her friend's hand, straddling the broomstick behind Holly, and grabbed onto Holly's shoulder as the broom jerked unsteadily into the air. "Holly, I thought you've been practicing!"
"I have! Now I can make it over the trees without hitting the top branches." Lyra paled, remembering all to well the days when the witch had just learned how to fly on a broomstick, and gripped onto Holly's shoulder until her knuckles turned white, closing her dark blue eyes as the broom zoomed over the trees and towards the bustling city of Mueca.
Relaxing under the branches of the healthily regenerated plum tree, which had sprung back amazingly during the winter (considering it had been uprooted and sloughed in half way back in chapter 3), Jin lazily opened one eye as Holly, with Lyra clinging on for dear life behind her, zoomed by on her broom, giving the wind master a victory sign as she flew to the crowded city. His mouth twisted in a smirk, one fang glinting in the early spring sunlight, Jin yawned and stretched, chasing off the young sparrow he had helped in December off of his horn; getting to his feet, he stretched his arms one last time, cracked his neck, and strode into the house, his tiny companion once again alighting on the horn that protruded from among his blood-red hair.
"Jin! Hey, can you do me a favor?" Lark was clinging onto the shinobi's arm as soon as he stepped in the door, scaring off the little sparrow, who instead found a better perch in Rogerik's shoulder. Jin backed up, unlatching the younger sister from his arm, and was relieved to feel the blood flow back into the constricted limb. "Eh, what is this favor, exactly?"
"I need a ride downtown..." Jin just looked at Lark incredulously, his blue eyes wide. "As if helping you get yer sister and fox-boy together, keeping Helen away from the two, and getting Kurama downtown isn't enough, you want me to give you a ride too?"
"Um...yes? Please?" Lark batted her gray-blue eyes, the same look that had made the audience literally turn into puddles of tears when she played the lead in Annie way back at the age of six, and pouted. The windmaster sighed, scratching the back of his hair and finally replied, "Yeah, okay... but jus' this once. You're getting home on your own."
"Yay! I'm so glad I didn't have to blackmail you with those pictures I took on that spy-cam Holly gave me for Christmas!" Lark clapped and turned back to the stove, then continued to finish up her little "project", completely oblivious to her Irish roommate's reaction as the last sentence finally sunk in while he was climbing the stairs to the second floor.
"WHA-AT?!" He stopped short, almost tripping down the stairs as he spun on the narrow step, and managed to catch himself on the banister. His sigh of relief was short-lived; however, as Kyuro darted between his ankles, hissing as a charging Bones followed. Both Rogerik and the Sparrow cringed as the redhead yelped and slipped, whacking his horned head on the wooden banister and finally landing sprawled out on the first step, his normally blue eyes nothing but swirls. Meanwhile, the cat and skeleton dog charged out of the back door, almost knocking a startled Kurama flat on the floor as the fox came in from pruning the rosebushes that bordered the glass greenhouse.
"Did I... miss something?"
"Nah. Nothing out of the ordinary." Rogerik stopped leaning against the kitchen island and slipped out of the back door, anxious to get away from the less sane sister as soon as possible. Said sister had quickly flipped her book to a different page and covered the pot, containing the smell and smog inside. "Um, Kurama, why don't you move Jin upstairs. Yeah, I...uh... I have a project and it's highly flammable. Yep, so you should let him hang out in your room while I clean up down here, 'kay?"
"I guess so..." Kurama flipped Jin over his shoulder, and started up the stairs; but before he got half way up, the fox asked, in a low voice, "You wouldn't happen to be planning anything, would you, Lark?"
There was a quickly silenced "eep" and she nervously ushered him upstairs. "Y'know what? You caught me. Lyra's birthday is in a few days, and she thinks she can escape having a birthday party because she's going out to the spring for a, um... religious blessing thing... yep. Better not bother her; if done wrong she's gonna be cursed."
"Her birthday is coming up in a few days?" The fox balanced Jin on the banister and had a thoughtful look in his green eyes. "Well, she never told me that."
"Yeah, she's not one for huge parties or anything. You better hurry up, though, looks like Jin's gonna have more than a black eye if the swelling isn't stopped." As if in response to his name, the windmaster mumbled something under his breath, and his eyelids fluttered a bit.
"Is it possible for him to hemorrhage from a blow like that?" Lark asked, and Kurama looked down at Jin's bruise before replying, "Erm... Yes." Jin's eyes snapped open and shuddered, the sudden jerk of movement made Kurama loose his grip, sending poor Jin for another tumble down the stairs. Kyuro, apparently having slipped in an open window after leaving Bones locked out in the backyard, trotted past, and, after realizing the floor had a heartbeat, looked down. "You know, Jin, this shirt of yours would make a really nice throw rug. What material is it?"
"Shaddup... just ... shut up, dammit."
* * *
"Wow, I'm surprised there are so many people out today." Lyra and Holly sat by one of the huge fountains, each sipping on a fruit smoothie from one of the many cafes. The witch, with her broom leaned against the back of the bench behind her, nodded, and looked around at the multitude of couples wandering the cobblestone streets. "Yep; but it is Valentine's Day."
"Yeah. Hey, Holly?"
"What?"
"Didn't you have a date or something today? That's what I heard from my sister at least."
Holly choked on her blueberry/mango drink and Lyra had to pat her on the back before she managed to talk. "No... whatever made you think that?"
"You seemed pretty anxious to leave, and I was wondering if it was because you were meeting someone here."
"Nah, I'm staying single. No time for guys with all the schoolwork we got during the week." The witch counted the papers off on her fingers. "First I have that ten-page research paper on the northern birch for Rachel, a latin and greek roots page for Ryo, a report on the Shogun era demon revolt for Suzuka, and a two-page essay on why students shouldn't fly their brooms to class for Ms. Hisagawa."
"You flew your broom to class?"
"I was running late! And a two-page paper is nothing compared to detention with Suzuka; I hate cleaning up his classroom. Who knows what half the stuff in that classroom of his is." Both girls sniggered a bit, and Lyra could clearly picture the cluttered classroom. "Yeah, his desk makes Ryo look like a neat-freak."
"Is it really that messy?" Both girls jumped, and were lost for words. Standing behind them, with a large, over-stuffed bag slung over his shoulder, was the blond inventor; he raised an eyebrow at the two girls, and patiently waited for them to talk.
"Uh, Suzuka, nice to see you... here... Um, what are you doing in Meuca?"
"Am I not allowed to have a life? Never mind; Shishi asked me to drop some mail off at the post-office for him." Both girls looked clueless, and Holly said, "Why couldn't Samurai-boy do it himself?"
At this, Suzuka untied the bag and revealed its contents to his students; inside was a literal mountain of envelopes. "He gets tons of fan mail this time of year, and this is only half of his replies. He'd never make it to the end of the driveway before being attacked by his fan girls." Both girls nodded, stunned, and Suzuka closed the bag and slung it over his shoulder again.
"You two have fun, now. And stay out of trouble while you're at it, why don't you? I don't want to have to fight any immortals today."
The two girls muttered a "yes sir" in unison, and watched as the inventor carried his heavy load to the post office that was located much farther down the cobblestone road. Blinking her blue eyes as if awakening from a lapse of unconsciousness, Lyra muttered, "...Maybe we should move along."
"Good idea. Who knows who else is hanging around." Holly once again shouldered her broom, and the two girls quickly walked in the opposite direction.
* * *
It seemed too good to be true when his feet finally touched the ground. The wind holding Yusuke up in mid-air suddenly died down, and the Japanese youth lost his already precarious balance. "Agh! Crap!" Yusuke grabbed onto the nearest stationary object, a carved stone post, and glared at the wind master floating above his head.
"Next time, warn me."
"Eh? But Urameshi, its more entertaining this way!"
"Okay you two, stop fighting. We've come here for a reason, so let's not waste time." Kurama, as always, landed gracefully on his feet, his equally red-haired roommate, gleefully smiling, landing right beside the fox. "He's right, Yusuke. Remember when Keiko called you because you weren't going home fer Christmas?"
"Jin, don't even remind me." Yusuke released his death grip hold on the stone post, trying his best to ignore the curious stares from the crowd, and brushed some dust off of his shoulder. Jin sighed and nodded in agreement with Kurama's pitying look; The wind master then shrugged and strode down the crowded streets, leaving his companions behind. "Hey, Jin, where do you think you're going?" Yusuke ran after him, but the demon turned around and flashed him a toothy grin.
"I have to meet someone, so I'll see you later."
A group of twelve or so younger, giggling, girls passed, and the wind master had gone; Yusuke just glared at the spot where his friend had been, and sighed. "Come one, Kurama; at least I can still get something for Keiko," the teen said, turning around to where Kurama was. Well, at least where he was supposed to be; the fox was gone.
"Dammit! Hey, this is totally unfair! Kurama! Jin! You bastards!"
* * *
"Lark, tell me you are never going to do that again."
"I dunno. I thought it was a good idea to hitch a ride on that pickup."
"Yeah, until the damn driver found out we were there!"
"It could've been worse, Rogerik."
"Don't say that, you'll jinx us." The two students walked down the wide, cobblestone street, snapping at each other and earning nervous glances from young girls and women alike as they bickered. Lark shrugged, and cheerfully punched Rogerik in the arm. "Aww, c'mon... don't be such a pessimist."
"Shut up." This time, the friendly punch turned into a stinging thwap over the head. Lark, her gray-blue eyes suddenly dark, glared at her thieving companion. "Look, you better behave. Rachel will kill us if we end up coming home in a squad car."
"Again?" The psychokinetic boy smirked, and Lark met him with another death glare that was slightly below Hiei's. "Let's just not talk about Halloween again, okay?"
"Yes'm"
"And while we're at it, we should might as well find out where Kurama is." Lark scanned the crowd, hoping for a glimpse of her roommate, but to no avail. Rogerik leaned against one of the stone posts that littered the street, and grumbled, "Wasn't Jin supposed to give us a ride anyways?"
"Yeah, but I had to tell him to leave without us. I had some cleaning up to do."
"You suck."
"'Suck what?' is the question. By the way, don't answer that." Both roommates glared at each other again, but Lark's eyes were suddenly focused on a spot right above Rogerik's head. "Hey, it's Kurama!" She grabbed Rogerik's arm and dragged him towards the green-eyed student.
"Oh, rapture..."
* * *
'Let's see... nah, too tall. That one's got way too much on top for my liking; what the hell does that girl think she's doing? Piercings? Spare me...'
Shikyo wandered around the streets like many a feral tomcat, his black tail twitching behind him and his feline ears catching up every snippet of conversation. A group of young students, no older than eleven, walked by, no doubt on a group date. From the happily smiling couples to the blatantly single men and women, human and demon alike, and the screaming red decorations all symbolized one thing - this was no day to be single. So, the English teacher scanned the cobblestone streets for someone, preferably female, to spend Valentine's day with.
His dark eyes locked on a gaggle of profusely gorgeous women. Without a thought, the cat demon found himself moving towards them, then, noticing the aura that clung around them like their expensive perfume, drew back. Those were the type of women you paid for, literally; first, they acted all sweet so you would buy them clothes, jewelry, and go on tropical vacations with them, then they would lord it over you, and, once you were flat broke, leave you. The very thought sent a shudder up Shikyo's lean frame.
"Eh, no. Definitely not." He allowed himself one last shudder, then continued his search through downtown, and making private comments to himself along the way.
"Hm..." his attention was drawn to a teenage girl who was staring at him from high up in the top of one of the small trees that were sometimes planted outside the stores and shops. She was fairly petite in size, with her shoulder-length, curly blonde hair tied with a dark blue ribbon, and was dressed in a crème-colored pant suit, with a delicate gold chain necklace hanging around her neck. Altogether, a nice looking girl, but there was something about the look in her eyes... she didn't look sane.
'I'll keep her in mind... if all else fails, that is.'
Shikyo felt a sharp influx of energy, and looked towards one of the shadowy alleyways, where it was emanating. True to his suspicions, a pair of glowing yellow eyes tore through the shadow, freezing him in place. The cat demon felt the hair on the back of his neck bristle, and his tail puffed out to twice its normal size. The glow dimmed down as the figure stepped out into the sunlight, to reveal a wiry young woman. Her brown hair was wild, frizzy and stiff, and she was dressed in a full-length dress that seemed to be Victorian, yellow and accented with a white sash around the waist; the glow was not from her eyes, but rather from the reflection of light on her coke bottle eyeglasses. She held a plush toy in one arm, and had an even more insane gleam in her eyes than the other girl up in the tree. "Hi, there, kitty cat."
"Erk!" Her paralyzing glare never wavered, and Shikyo futilely tried to escape. These were the types of girls that were scary; they were the type that put sugar in your gas tank if you dumped them.
"What do you say to a date with a lady?"
"Uh, love to, but I gotta go... already taken." The gaze that she held on Shikyo seemed to fade, and the cat scampered away from the insane woman to the safety of a nearby bookstore.
"Well, that could have gone better..."
"Excuse me, sir? Could you please get off of my wing?"
"Eh?" Shikyo looked behind him, and realized that his foot was pinning down a rather beautifully detailed butterfly wing. Faintly realizing that the wing was attached to a person, he nervously apologized. "Oh, I'm sorry, miss..." His dark, almost black, eyes moved up onto the face of the owner of the wing, and his ears perked up. The owner of the voice was a young woman, a rather pretty one at that, and Shikyo was sure he'd seen her around campus before.
"Clarice."
"Um, it's nice to meet you, Clarice."
* * *
"Hey, Lyra, guess who I found!"
"L-Lark, please, you're chafing my wrist." Kurama, tried his best to dig in his heels to prevent the younger student from dragging him forwards, but it only bruised his wrist even more. Lark smiled back at him, but it was more of a smirk, and she had a conniving look to her stormy eyes. The fox's shoulders slumped; he should of given up long ago, it would have saved him from having his arm pulled off by Lark.
The elder Admarant sister, looked up in surprise, just to see her sibling screech to a halt in front of her and thrust a dazed Kurama forwards. "Well, you two have fun now. Bye!" In a blink of an eye, she was gone. Lyra looked around in a daze, well aware of the curious stares Kurama was attracting. "Oh, um, Kurama, are you okay?"
"J-just fine... just a little woozy." The fox supported himself against a store window, trying to calm his queasy stomach. Lyra stood by him, totally unaware that her former companion, Holly, had disappeared along with Lark. "Maybe we should stop and get some tea or something, it might help."
"Thanks." The two walked in silence, each rather apprehensive about the other, always close but never touching.
"Ooh, I am good..."
"Lark, you're full of yourself." Rogerik was once again leaning on a lamppost, this time glaring at the water manipulator as he took a swig from his bottle of Sprite. Lark, having heard this loud and clear, summoned an orb of water in her palm and whipped around to face her roommate. Holly, who had disappeared into the sky on her broom when Lyra had been occupied with helping Kurama, floated down gently, just in time to watch the two start squirting soda and water at each other.
"...I take it you're enjoying yourselves." The comment was wry and spoken in a faint accent, and all three of them looked up to see Jin floating above their heads, smirking. Holly leaned back on her broom, balancing without the use of her hands, and shrugged. "At least they're having fun." Both Rogerik and Lark shared dirty glances at each other, each of them ready to attack again at the slightest notice, but Jin interrupted them.
"Helen's around; last I saw her, she was hiding in an alleyway near where Lyra and Kurama are headin'." Rogerik recapped his Sprite and took on a buisiness-like tone in his voice.
"I thought as much. Who wants to go stop her?"
No one answered, but the wind master, as soon as his back was turned, felt three pairs of eyes staring at the back of his skull. The demon turned around, his eye brow twitching and his blue eyes holding a suspicious glint to them. "No."
"Please? Jin, be a buddy!"
"No."
More pitiful stares.
"I am NOT going after that- that wench! And that's final, too," He added, with an affirmative nod of his head.
Ten minutes later, Jin found himself tracking down the charms specialist. "Crud; you'd think I'd be able to find her from up here. Well, at least Kurama and Lyra are okay." The red headed demon levitated above even the highest spires of The Temple of the Goddess, his blue eyes squinted some because the afternoon sun reflected brightly off of the white plaster and glass windows below him. "Eh, might as well take a break." Sitting Indian- style in the air, he floated down gently to the top spire of the temple, and leaned against the white plaster wall.
"Your water, miss?"
"Oh, thank you sir." Lyra gratefully took the glass from the waiter's hand, and took a sip from it. Kurama, sitting across the table from her, nodded his thanks as the waiter placed a bowl of salad in front of him. Stabbing a cherry tomato with his fork, the fox stared off into space; something didn't quite feel right.
"Kurama? Hey, Kurama, are you feeling okay?"
"Hm? Oh, yes I'm fine, really." He gave a faint smile, and Lyra raised an eyebrow at his obviously faked cheerfulness.
"You're still upset about last week, aren't you? Not that I blame you or anything-"
"No, that's not it; trust me. I just get the feeling that something horrible is about to happen." He hadn't meant to interrupt her, but the dark aura kept coming closer and closer; it was homing in on them. There was an awkward silence that lasted for a minute or two, and Kurama uneasily ate his salad. The aura was coming closer, closer; he could even sense Lyra's normally peaceful aura fade away, lost in the much stronger sense of trouble brewing. She shivered, and looked at the cobblestone path beyond the roped-off outside dining area the café provided. Almost everyone on the street could sense the path of energy, and quickly moved off, albeit in a rather inconspicuous manner. There was a moment of silence from everyone, then the cover of one of the manholes blew completely off, and a dark yellow blast of energy poured out of it like a geyser. It died down as soon as it had started, and the iron manhole cover dropped with a metallic clang on the street, not three feet away from the passage to Meuca's sewer system.
It had happened so quickly, Lyra hadn't the time to react, and she found herself being shielded by a suddenly aggressive Kurama. In less than a minute, conversation between the civilians and other diners continued, leaving the two students stunned.
"Kurama, next time you get a feeling like that, maybe you shouldn't keep it to yourself."
"Yes, I suppose they do end up coming true more often than not, I'm afraid."
'My disguise is perfect! They'll never know it was me!' Helen, dressed in a waitress uniform, stepped cautiously between the crowded tables, hoisting a serving tray high over her head. Her hair had been tied up in a tight bun and she was wearing a pair of wire-frame glasses as she came up to the student's table. Surprisingly, neither Kurama nor Lyra seemed to notice her, perhaps too shaken by what had just happened a mere few minutes ago.
"Ah, sir, miss, the barkeep sent these drinks to you; on the house." She bowed down low, faking a Chinese accent, and placed the two glasses in front of the fox and water manipulator. "Oh, um-" Helen bowed down low again, and, with a rather flashy exit, sprung off to go "serve" another patron. "-Thanks..."
"That waitress seemed oddly familiar..."
"Kurama, stop being so cynical and relax for once. Please?" The fox stopped oring holes in the back of the waitress' skull and sighed. "Sorry; you're right, I do need a break."
* * *
And, high above, happily sleeping through the afternoon on the temple spire, was Jin. The wind master twitched one ear in annoyance at the noise from down below, but refused to wake up; instead, he just grumbled something in Gaelic, and settled in a more comfortable position.
"Jin? Um, Jin, you did take care of Helen, right?"
There was only a soft growl from the snoozing demon, and Holly shook her head in exasperation. "Jin, don't tell me you plan on letting Helen screw things up while you sleep."
"G'way..." Jin gave a half-hearted shooing gesture, and the witch leaned closer and tugged on one of his elven ears. "Up and at 'em, Jin." The demon grumbled again, and a strong gust of wind knocked away the antique broomstick and its youthful rider. "Jin, that is enough! Wake up this instant!" Holly landed on the plaster spire, clutching onto the wooden railing so tightly her knuckles were a pale white, and hefted her broom on her shoulder. Her command was met with another lazy swipe, and she choked up on the handle of her broomstick, holding it as if making a threat. "Jin, wake up now."
There was no reply. Holly, having not much else of a choice, gave her broom a few test swings. "I hate to have to get physical, but if it's the only way to get you up off your ass...
Down below, the passerby could clearly hear a pained yelp coming from the roof of the temple.
"That hurt, lass." Jin was wide awake, and floating above his roommate while rubbing the top of his head. The broom hadn't caused too much damage, and the pain had faded away soon enough, but the witch was in no mood for pity.
"Jin, have you been keeping an eye on Helen?"
"Who?" Holly angrily glared at him, her green eyes dangerously narrowed, and the demon suddenly remembered just why he wasn't on campus grounds. "Oh, right, Helen. She's, um... well..."
"You didn't find her, did you?" There was a bit of nervous chuckling from the usually cheerful youkai, and Jin sweatdropped as he replied, "Uh, no, I didn't."
"Jin..." Holly's voice was barely more than a whisper, and Jin backpedaled as fast as he could. "But, I'm looking for her right now. Yep, I gotta go. See 'ya!" The wind picked up, and the shinobi was out of sight in mere seconds.
* * *
She had to keep moving. Any minute now, those two would piece together her stolen disguise and fake accent, and it would be all over for her. But, it would be well worth it once Kurama managed to get even a sip of that reversal potion. Nearly dancing in the middle of the street, Helen rounded around a corner, only to bump into a rather hard surface.
"Well, what do we have here? A jealous little girl?" The hard surface was a fairly tall demon, with a mess of wild red hair, bright blue eyes, and a small white horn poking out from his bangs. The blonde young woman recoiled from the demon, fear emanating from almost every essence of her being, and the taller demon cringed at her fearful aura.
"Don't you dare come near me, unless you want to suffer serious pain." Helen's fear instantly changed to anger, and Jin backed away from her, but locked her in place with a torrent of air pressure. "Struggle all you want, lass; just stay out of Kurama's way today."
"Let me go, you lowlife! Picking on a young, defenseless girl; the shame!"
"Defenseless? Helen, you might as well stop hiding that holy charm underneath your jacket." The straight-A student glared, but let the purified slip of paper fall to the cobblestone street. Jin smiled, his fangs brilliantly white, and waved to the upset girl as he turned and left. "Be good now, Helen. I might come back later and let you go."
* * *
The drinks had a strange scent to them, this Kurama noticed despite his human body, and the fox refused to take even so much as a sip from the glass. Lyra, her suspicion heightened not only by the explosion of energy, but also the strangely familiar waitress. "We should probably leave before anything worse happens."
"Exactly what I was thinking. I'm sure this café takes credit, hm?" The fox held out a small gold-colored card, and Lyra's eyes widened. "When did you pick up a credit card?"
"It came with my assignment here." Kurama smiled, and waved down a passing waiter. It was only a few minutes before the bill was brought back, and the two students left for the tram station.
"No! You idiots; you're not supposed to just get up and go right home!"
"Will you stop talking to yourself, it's starting to freak me out."
"Shut up you." There was another blast of water, and the thief was left in the middle of the alleyway, soaked to the bone. Lark stood there, her eyes positively fiery, until a wave of inspiration hit her. "Rogerik, I think I have an idea."
"...Thought I smelled something burning."
"Shut up and listen- this plan is fool proof."
The streets were fairly quiet; an unnerving event considering that it was only three in the afternoon and the downtown area was usually packed at this time of day. No children played by the large marble fountain that graced the square ahead of Lyra and Kurama, and the stone benches that surrounded it were empty; even the mixture of youki and reiki that surrounded the city civilians was subdued.
"Wow... this is weird."
"I don't really think so." The redhead walked a little behind Lyra, his senses always alert in case the dangerous entity from before at the café appeared again. Suddenly, the noise of a small hand bell chimed, causing the high-strung student to jump in surprise. The chime came from a street corner, where a young woman in a salvation army uniform stood, a collection bucket by her feet.
"Excuse me, sir, miss, maybe could you donate to the Meuca branch homeless shelter? We've been through quite a tough spot over the winter." Her dark brown eyes looked up at them hopefully from behind a pair of glasses, and her long chestnut-colored hair was tied up in a complex French braid.
"Oh, um, I don't see why not." Lyra pulled out a few dollar bills from her pocket, and dropped them in nearly empty bucket with a small smile. The woman smiled; Lyra was such a sucker for community service, her kindness was often her own weakness. She politely nodded and smiled, then passed two small wrapped chocolates to the pair.
"Please, have a nice Valentine's Day, and thank you for your donation."
"Yay! With those love-potion-infused chocolates, they're bound to fall for each other." Lark happily grinned as she undid the braid in her hair and rinsed out the dye with a torrent of water. "Well, don't you think it went well?"
"For a half-baked plan, yes." Rogerik sat by a cardboard box that lay half- open on the street, filled with decoratively wrapped chocolates. "If I have to tie another ribbon, don't be surprised to see your diary up on the internet for everyone to see."
"You couldn't; that lock is impossible to break into." She smugly smirked, and a pair of gray-green eyes locked with her own. Rogerik picked up one of the wrapped candies, and glanced over at Lark. "I doubt any lock can beat me."
"I'm going to find one that can, just to spite you."
"You would do that." The thief was about to take a bite out of a chocolate, when a sudden burst of energy wove its way from below the streets. A rattling, clanking racket came from a trembling manhole cover, and, as both Rogerik and Lark watched, the iron lid blasted up twenty feet into the air, propelled by a blast of yellow light and muddy water. A flash of red shone from amid the muck, and there was a shrieking growl as the spout of water and energy died down, only to burst up again twenty feet away at the next manhole cover.
"Um, Lark, when you said cleaning up, you meant..."
"Just forget about it and run." The water manipulator grabbed his wrist and, the thief being dragged along behind her, ran down the cobbled streets away from the surge of energy, carrying a box of the un-tampered chocolates under her arm.
* * *
"Have nice day, sir. Good bye!" The oriental woman bowed to Yusuke, and handed him the bag containing the bracelet the Japanese boy had been suckered into buying for Keiko. He faked a happy, "thanks" and slipped out the front door, the bells on the door chiming behind him. Once outside and out of view of the store owner, the youth flipped the birdie at the bright red door, but a sudden shiver passed through Yusuke's spine. His brown eyes wide, the spirit detective looked down towards the main plaza and muttered, "What was that..?" His question was left dangling in the wind as a body slammed into his, then continued running, leaving Yusuke sprawled out on the stone street, his eyes nothing but swirls.
The tremors continued down the street, and the charge of energy moved at surprising speed through the underground pipes; and the human above followed as fast as she could. Whatever the energy was, it had released her from that damned demon's pressurized shackles, and that meant she still had a chance to ruin Kurama. All it took was the small glass vial that she had in her jacket pocket.
* * *
Lyra could feel it - a violent, troublesome force. It swam towards them, growing faster with every passing second, and she finally knew what Kurama had sensed back at the café. Her blue eyes wide, she stepped away from the huge marble fountain that she and the fox had taken a minute to rest upon; Kurama unconsciously reached for the rose hidden in his long red hair.
"Stop right there, you two!"
Helen ran up to them, with a small glass vial clutched in her hand. Her blue eyes were narrowed, and it looked like she had been stuck in the middle of a tornado. "If I can't have you Kurama, I won't let anyone else, either!" The cork was popped off, and Helen reared her arm back, and whipped the glass container holding the purple liquid at the redhead.
An earth-shattering crack resounded throughout the plaza, echoing off of the stone and plaster buildings, and the marble fountain split open as a long black blur shot from the now shattered pipe. Water burst everywhere, and a row of sharp teeth grazed against the tiny glass bottle before clutching onto it, making the purple liquid splatter all over the black muzzle and long whiskers. The crack was drowned out by a long, shrill, shriek, and the black blur took form as a long, black, furred creature. Sharp spines contrasted from the black fur, the fin contrasting to the glossy black fur in a shimmering rainbow of cerulean, violet, and sea green, complimenting the silver spines.
Four red eyes shone from the dark head, and another set of fins grew from the creature's front legs, which were short and hosted a set of razor-sharp claws. Kurama barely had time to move Lyra out of the way as the long, furred, whip-like tail crushed the worn stones that made up the street, leaving a deep crater in the ground.
"W-what is that thing?!" Helen shrieked and couldn't move a step, the glowing orbs that served as the monster's eyes were too intimidating, and the energy that came from it was overwhelming. A low growl escaped from its throat, and a long tongue licked up the remains of the reversal potion from its fur. As the sewer creature was busy cleaning its fur, Kurama protectively moved Lyra to the side while drawing the rose from his hair. "Stay here, I'll take care of-"
The movement from Kurama's rose caught one of the reflective, glowing eyes, and the monster stopped cleaning his fur, charging at the fox in a rush of glossy fur and translucent, rainbow fins. In a matter of milliseconds, the long tail wrapped around the fox, lifting him high in the air and up to eye level of the monster. The growls deepened in tone, saliva dripping from the jaws, blood red eyes glowing eerily even in the sunlight. Kurama closed his green eyes, preparing himself for a rather gruesome end... but it never came. The jaws halted merely five inches from his face, the tail still holding him tightly, but more like it was to keep him from falling the fifteen feet to the ground rather than to hold him still while his headless body squirmed in the tight coils.
"Er... now what was I doing..?"
Kurama opened his eyes, and stared straight into four dark blood red eyes, but these orbs were filled not with bloodlust, but innocent confusion. Sensing a chance to get away, he calmly stated, "You were letting me down."
"Oh, I'm so sorry. There ya go, chap." Well, now that was strange. It had an English accent. But, the creature gently placed Kurama on the ground, and withdrew its strong, thick tail.
"You stupid ...thing!" The blonde charm specialist ran up, and cursed at the large monster, who merely looked down at her with a twinge of annoyance in its four red eyes. "What an bothersome little creature. Shall I dispose of her, sir?"
"If you wish; please don't injure her though."
"Oh course." The tail once again came down, this time binding around Helen's waist and lifting her high up in the air, then depositing her atop the peak of the marble fountain, or what was left of it. The large head then turned back to the fox and water manipulator, and bowed down before the two. "My pleasure, sir." One of his four eyes fell upon the stunned Lyra, and the monster smiled, his sharp teeth amazingly white. "and, m'lady, please allow me to escort you home. It's impolite to let a young woman like yourself walk alone on such a lovely day."
Lyra blushed, and slowly, if barely, nodded her head. "Um... sure." The monster held out one long spine, and Lyra placed her hand on it. Nodding his large head, the monster scooped up a confused Kurama with his multi- tasking tail and gently led Lyra down the uneven streets.
* * *
"That turned out better than I expected." Lark walked down the wooden pier of the Meuca marina, unwrapping a chocolate as she walked. Rogerik leaned over the railing, watching the many sailboats calmly glide across the bright blue water. "I suppose." He turned around and, leaning against the railing for support, stared straight into his roommate's stormy eyes. "But, don't go messing in someone else's love life again."
He expected a glare or a sharp remark, but Lark joined him on the railing instead. "I just can't help it; watching those two make ga-ga eyes over each other and not even talk, well, it drives me a tad crazy."
"You're already there."
"You're not much better. Why do you even chase after all those girls anyways?" Rogerik glanced over at her, and sighed. "I've stopped lately."
"Yeah, but isn't there a girl or something that you feel like staying with? Someone that you want over every other person out there?" There was an awkward silence, and Rogerik absent-mindedly unwrapped one of the chocolates from his leather pilot's jacket.
"I don't really know... I mean, I guess I'm still looking."
"Right..." Lark broke off a chunk of the chocolate, and tossed it out into the water, watching as a seagull dived down and snatched it up with its large yellow beak. Rogerik just tossed the entire piece of candy on the dock, and the two watched as a flock of greedy gulls squabbled over it. Lark broke off another piece, and continued to feed the gulls while Rogerik watched. Finally getting bored, and straightened up and started to walk down the dock. "Come on, we better get going. Lyra and Kurama will probably get suspicious if we aren't there when the get home."
"Right." Lark followed Rogerik, tossing the gulls the last piece of chocolate as she left the wooden dock. Running so she could catch up with him, she heard the flapping of wings, and looked behind her. What she saw nearly frightened her enough to latch onto the thief.
Behind them was the entire flock of seagulls, each one with literal hearts in their beady black eyes.
"Uh, Rogerik?"
"Yeah?"
"Run."
"Hm?" He glanced over his shoulder, and jumped in surprise. Nodding in agreement, the thief grabbed onto Lark's wrist and broke into a full run.
"CRAP!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
KKC: Well, I'm sorry I didn't update sooner. ^ ^;;
Grimoire: Three weeks... three...
KKC: But, I made up for it with a really long chapter.
Grimoire: ...Rabid lovesick seagulls... what has happened to your head?
KKC: -.- Review. Hopefully, next chapter should come sooner. But, unfortunately, it won't be as long. Twenty pages; I'm surprised that the broadband isn't too much for me to update. ^ ^;; Oh, and happy St. Patrick's day.