New Year Tricks

Chapter four

Stuck in China: Part 1- Meeting the Wongs

Mr. Li Yap, one of the many operators of the air tower at the international airport, watched as the servicemen scurried to the airfield, as the Boeing 747 from Tokyo landed. The Chinese man sighed, as he drank deeply from his mug of coffee. Another day, another landing. He checked his watch. Time to meet his father for lunch. The man put away his papers, and made for the exit. The doors quickly closed behind him, letting a small piece of green cloth topple to the floor. It wiggled for a while then remained motionless. From afar, one would have thought it to be a snake.

The doors of the airplane slowly opened, revealing the airport of the bustling city that was Beijing. The time was 11:07:13:25, and it was February 2. The harassed flight attendant made her way through the rows of restless passengers, just waiting to get out. In row C, seat 12, Tommy checked his things, eyes running over the bare essentials, in his overstuffed pack. Bear, check. Journal, check. Hat, check. Camera? His hand strayed to Hannah's digicam. Check. Tommy grinned as he thought of the adventure that lay ahead. Running through crowds, fending off bad guys, finding the shop owner. He was going to enjoy this.

"All passengers, you may now exit the plane." The clear voice of the flight attendant rang over the speakers. The woman elbowed her way into the throng of passengers, standing in the aisle, and checked the back rows of the cabin, to see if there were any passengers left behind. None that she knew of. Satisfied, she proceeded to helping the elderly travelers out.

Kouji tugged at his bandanna. He and Izumi were stuck somewhere in the crowded aisle, and an old woman was prodding his back irritably. After ignoring the first sixty pokes, the frustrated teenager decided to do something about it. He turned around to face the woman.

"Hey, Um.. Miss?"

"Go, get a move on, young man, I can't stay here all day!" the old lady swung her cane, its end nearly coming in contact with Kouji's temple. The boy ducked, then tried to reason with the elderly woman, again.

"Could you please stop…?"

Apparently, she wasn't paying any attention to the complaining Kouji, as the granny began irritating him again.

'prod. Poke. Poke.'

"Ow!"

'Bump.'

"Kouji!"

The force of the cane had caused Kouji to stumble a few steps backward, and bump into Izumi. (I don't like using cliches too much, so, no, they didn't blush.) The girl stumbled to the carpeted floor, causing some other tourists to grumble.

"Sorry, Izumi" said Kouji, extending a hand to help her up.

"Watch your step, that hurt!" Izumi took his arm, and slowly pulled herself up, rubbing her tender backside.

"I said I was sorry."

"Right.. Man, this plane is crowded, I can't move!" Izumi turned her attention to the plane door, which was still shut tight.

"Whatever."

The elderly lady held her wooden cane firmly, as she poked at the unfortunate boy's spinal cord. Kouji held back the urge to kick the granny in the gut, preferring to abide by his honor system. Respect your elders. A high-pitched yelp from behind gave the loner the notion that he wasn't the only one being bothered by the old, but extremely annoying lady.

"Grandma, PLEASE!" an exasperated granddaughter was trying to calm her travelling companion down.

"Get me off this confounded plane right now, AnneMarie, I have an appointment with Doctor Chang..!"

"Grandmama, we'll be out soon, just don't prod other people!" the eighteen-year old girl shot an apologetic glance at Kouji, who ignored it.

The line of passengers was beginning to move. Tommy and Takuya, who were seated near the front, were out first. The younger boy stepped out ahead, his hand sliding along the silver railing. Descending the stairs, Tommy took a deep breath, and smiled at the scene that greeted him. It may have been just an airport, but fresh air was always welcome, even if it was slightly polluted. He was glad that they were out of the tight crowd. The boy was slightly claustrophobic. Takuya was beside him in a matter of seconds. The goggle boy carried only a small backpack with him. The rest if his things were inside a large suitcase, that was yet to be claimed in the airport.

A vibration in his pants pocket alerted Takuya, as he took out his cellphone. A message from Hannah. The guy raised a brow, as he skimmed through the bits of information his friend had relayed to him.

"Tommy, according to Hannah, some of Kirschey's relatives are going to pick us up, mainly her uncle, Mr. Wong. He drives a black..Sportscar?" dictated Takuya, punching the keypads. He looked at his younger friend quizzically.

Tommy didn't have much time to react, because Kouji and Izumi were off the plane. The former looked irritated and cranky, but the latter was perfectly all right. In fact, the girl was downright cheerful, which could be inferred from the fact that she was whistling a tune. I think it was 'Oh Happy Day'. In Izumi-translation, that meant 'its great that we're in china and can get the cloth snake off'.

"Right" muttered Takuya, upon seeing his friends.

"Hey, where's Junpei?" wondered Tommy, scanning the vast crowd of tourists, businessmen, and other passengers. A few minutes of impatient waiting revealed the older guy, tagging along behind the flight attendant, who was frantically trying to get him off her back.

"Look, one, I already have a boyfriend. Two, you are too young for me. Three, I'm a flight attendant! Okay?!"

Junpei nodded absentmindedly, gazing at the pretty attendant dreamily. He spotted Takuya making a face at him, which brought the guy back to reality. He winked at the woman, then sauntered towards his friends, who were waiting impatiently.

~15 minutes later~

Upon claiming their luggage, the five friends walked over to the lobby area, and waited for Mr. Wong. Locating the only free bench in the waiting section, they all tried to crowd in with one another. Takuya eventually gave up, and sat down on the floor.

Izumi fingered the yellow tag on her knapsack, anxiously. The minutes were passing by, and still no sign of the black sportscar. Had they been forgotten? Kouji sat on the bench, staring at the big plastic clock that hung on the wall. He had grown tired of listening to the single Linkin Park CD that he had brought along with him. Takuya went to buy some food, from some stalls nearby. One could only imagine the armloads of junk food that he would be carrying back, anytime soon. Tommy was scribbling some notes in his journal. No one bothered to look at what he was writing, because his messy scrawl was almost unintelligible. Junpei was there, too, flipping through a magazine. He had already answered the crossword puzzle, in a few minutes. That was one thing the guy was talented at. General facts.

They sat there for an hour and fifteen minutes. Everyone was bored to death. The magazine had been passed around five times, and Tommy's cards were worn out from playing Uno. All the trash from the now non-existent food lay in a corner, collecting dust and attracting ants. As the minute hand on the clock ticked, passengers walked by briskly. People came and went, but the four teenagers, and the eleven-year old, remained there, on the fourth bench to the left, waiting. Soon, Tommy dozed off, clutching his hat, which had fallen off his head. In the other hand, he held the digicam, and the bear. Izumi was daydreaming about Italy again, and Kouji was trying to build a card tower, out if the Uno cards. Takuya was playing games on his cellphone, and Junpei had also dozed off. They were probably never going to be fetched.

It was almost one in the afternoon, when a black car, with the word 'WONG 1' inscribed on the front plate, pulled up in front of the airport.

Izumi was about to fall asleep, when she saw the man come in. Supposedly, he was Henry Wong, Kirschey's uncle. The Italian girl yawned, and stretched, irritating an already ticked-off Kouji. Apparently, she had toppled his card-tower over. He just frowned at her, picked up the pieces of card, then got up. She stood as well, and walked towards the man, standing nearby the glass doors. He sported an orange vest, over a black shirt. The man had black hair, similar to Kirschey's. A woman wearing all black stood beside him. She had blond hair, and piercing blue eyes.

Izumi approached them smiling. Her cheerful mood was contrasted by Kouji's scowling face.

"Hello. You must be Mr. Wong. I'm Izumi Orimoto, Kirschey's classmate."

The man nodded, smiling back.

"Yes, she did tell me about you. And you must be Kouji. This is my wife Alice." He gestured to his companion.

"Hey" said Alice, and Kouji, in unison.

"Hmmm, looks like we are all getting along well, then." said Henry, looking at the others. Tommy was fast asleep, while Junpei was fixing his things. Takuya walked over to them, and introduced himself.

"Oh, Mr. Wong..Right? I'm Takuya Kanabara"

"Oh, so you're Takuya!" said Alice.

"Huh?"

"Kirschey wrote to us the other day, and she mentioned her new friends. But I was especially interested in the way she mentioned you…" explained the woman, watching amusedly as Takuya turned a light shade of pink.

"Ah..er…well, I'm sure we're all good friends, right?"

Henry nodded.

"well, get your other friends. The house is only fifteen minutes away, but we won't want to keep the rest of the family waiting, would we?"

Izumi and Takuya nodded, while kouji just raised a brow. They all walked back to awaken their friends…

Henry Wong's car

"sooo, how was the plane ride?" questioned Henry, noting the varying expressions on each of their faces.

They were all loaded into the car, which was Honda Civic. Alice and Henry took the two front seats, while the five crammed into the back, which was meant for only three people. They were in the same situation a few hours ago, on the way to the airport. Kouji grimaced at the thought of a long bumpy ride, squished against the window, with Izumi right next to him. Not a pretty thought. Thankfully, the destination was only a few minutes away.

"Oh, um, it was uh, fun. And sorta strange, and-- enlightening." Said Izumi, forcing a smile.

"Yeah, it was okay, nothing great though." Added Takuya, remembering all those boring in-flight TV shows he had watched. Stupid garden show host (not movies, TV shows. I ended up watching some too.)

"What? It was absolutely FUN! I played cards with Takuya and my bear, took pictures of Takuya sleeping, and had a wrestling match with my bear!' interjected Tommy, waving Hannah's digicam around.

"I don't know. It was just—a plane ride." Said Kouji flatly. He really did not want to talk about the trip right now. A bad headache, an embarrassing situation, a long way from the comfort of his room—these factors could do strange things to a person

The rubber tires skidded to a stop on the asphalt road; they had arrived at the Wong residence. Henry's sister, Suzy, was Kirschey's mother. Black hair, agile limbs, she had gotten them from the Chinese side of her family. The teenagers got out of the car, and helped Henry unload some of the luggage.

The house was old, very old. Although, from the loud rock music escaping through the crack of one bedroom door, you could tell that it's insides were not old at all. Carrying several bags, Henry led them into a small courtyard (think Mulan's house, okay?) where several vehicles were parked. An old lady greeted the new arrivals at the front of the house. She had grey hair, with the slightest hint of white, tied up into a bun. Circular gold-rimmed glasses perched on the bridge of her nose, while thin lips formed a smile. This was Wong Mei-li, matriarch of the Wong family, and Henry's grandmother.

"Ah, our guests from Japan. Welcome, welcome. I trust you had a good trip?" The woman looked at the teenagers, with a knowing grin.

Takuya nodded, and extended an arm.

"Yes, lad, I know who you are. Kanabara Takuya, is it?"

The boy's head shot back up at the response.

"How did you know?"

The lady shook her head.

"I just do. How? That, my boy, is for me to know, and for you to wonder. Now, come in."

She gestured to the open door, leading into an orderly living room. The five absorbed their surroundings for a while. An Oriental rug lay on the floor, with a worn out couch and some intricately designed pots on top of it. And, of course, the living room would not be complete without a home entertainment system. The air inside was slightly stuffy, with the slightest hint of the scent of tealeaves. Izumi breathed deeply. She was going to like it here.

Henry cleared his throat, setting the bags down.

"The guest room is over there, if anyone wants to sleep in it." He gestured towards a door, beside the kitchen entrance.

"No thanks, Mr. Wong." Piped up Tommy, inspecting the Oriental rug.

"What? Then where will you guys sleep?" asked Alice, giving the guests a quizzical look.

Junpei looked down at the rug.

"This, Madame, will be just fine." He grinned widely at Kouji. The response was a dark glare.

~~

Izumi put her bag down, with a thud. Yes, they were going to sleep on the floor, but she needed somewhere to put her clothes. Namely, the guestroom's closet. Her pale hands rested on the ivory knobs of the closet. Very carefully she inspected each pile of neatly folded clothes, noticing every bump and fold.

A noise beside her told her that she was not alone. Izumi frowned. Yeah, she was never alone. There was Kouji. The boy sighed, unzipping his grey duffel bag. His clothes were cramped inside, along with some stuff to save him from boredom. Particularly his Discman and a few Justice league comic books. After dumping the contents of his bag into another separate closet, Kouji stood up, pulling Izumi with him.

"Shall we leave?" he asked, in a mock-gentleman tone.

Rolling her eyes, Izumi nodded, and they went back to the living room, where Takuya, Tommy, and Junpei were. The sight that greeted them was a strange one. Totally unexpected. Astonishing. Astounding. Surprising. Weird, and totally nuts.

A half surprised; half-disbelieving look crossed Izumi's features. Kouji was also taken aback, but was not as upset. The living room had turned into a warzone.

The victims?

The older guys, Namely Takuya and Junpei. The offenders? Tommy and a bunch of little Chinese kids, that were later identified as Kirschey's cousins. Weird.

"Yaaaaaaaaaaaa!" a little girl, of about four, with black hair tied into pigtails, ran at Junpei, smothering him in a barrage of pillow hits. The older boy tried to evade her offence, but was unsuccessful so far.

"Takuya…help!" choked the fat one, trying to get the little girl off.

Unfortunately, the goggle-head had his own problems to deal with. Like a pair of twins armed with pillows and stuffed toys….on a sugar high.

"Please get off me…I'll give you chocolate," said Takuya, shoving a toy panda bear out of his face.

The young boy tackling him just grinned.

"No need. We are just checking out if Kirschey's friends are worthy."

A confused look crossed his features.

"Worthy? What do you mean worthy?"

"Of her. 'Specially you."

Takuya grinned. He was not going to let a bunch of little kids beat him up. They would regret it.

Meanwhile, Tommy was chasing a crawling baby, who was bound to get himself hurt. Having a little brother was harder than he had thought.

Izumi tried to keep herself from laughing, in vain. First, it was a smile. Then a slight giggle. Then it came. The torrent of laughter, caused by the ridiculous sight in front of her. She threw her head back from laughter, startling Kouji, who had been intent on watching Takuya's torture. Sweet Revenge, at last.

But she was laughing. Not smiling, laughing. Izumi was laughing so much, that tears welled up in her eyes. Her sides were aching from mirth. Kouji raised a brow. In all his years of knowing Izumi Orimoto, he'd never seen her laugh this hard. Too caught up at the sight of the laughing girl, Kouji didn't notice the pillow sailing through the air, until it was too late. White linen and cotton came in contact with his face, as the impact knocked him to the floor, the soft rug cushioning his fall.

Unseen, Tommy had deliberately aimed the pillow at Kouji. He looked so astonished, and off-guard, that the younger boy couldn't resist battering the usually serious loner with a nice, soft, and strong pillow hit.

Kouji's fall dragged Izumi along, and she was on the rug, still in a fit of laughter. You'd think that someone would actually stop by now. Kouji's eyes darted to all sides of the living room, searching for the culprit. It was most likely Takuya, but he was chasing the twins around, after getting off the floor. Junpei? He was struggling with the little girl. So there was only one left. It was either Tommy, or the little baby he was trying to follow. The culprit's identity had been revealed.

Kouji's midnight blue eyes flashed wickedly, and he was about to throw a perfectly – aimed, well stuffed pillow at Tommy, when a high, shrill voice cut like a sharp knife through the warlike atmosphere.

"Deling! Yun! Zhou! Leave our guests alone, and come here!"

All eyes were now turned to the source of the voice, namely Pai Wong, Kirschey's grandmother. There she stood, regal, respectable, and deadly. She wore a green silk Chinese blouse, adorned with intricate designs, and plain black pants. An arched eyebrow stood, high above her eyes, and her lips moved quickly and rapidly, in the Chinese tongue. The children got up very fast, and in a flash, the living room was restored to its old, but homey finery. They exited quickly. Too quickly. One would have thought that they were afraid of their own grandmother.

Izumi, her laughter now subsided, stood up to greet the woman, bowing deeply. Kouji was dragged down with her once again. No one noticed the amused gleam that had appeared for a brief moment, in Pai's eyes, after seeing the two, bound together.. After the introductions were over, Mrs. Wong's ice-cold gaze softened at the visitors, and Henry gave a sigh of relief. His mother once was, in one age or another, a kind and loving woman. Years of hard work and motherhood had turned her into a strict and firm, but still caring person. It was her good side that was coming out now. Those little nephews of his and his daughter were going to receive a lengthy lecture later, as soon as this was over.

The guests were called to the dining room, for some tea. Being seated, Mrs. Wong asked them about their stay in China.

"So." She said, putting down her cup, "why again have you come?"

Kouji was tempted to raise his wrist again, as he had did in previous situations, but something told him that this woman wasn't going to settle for a single action. So the boy just sat back in his seat, as the goggle-head babbled on and on about how this crazy adventure all started. The gods be merciful and forbid a flashback, he thought.

The fat dimsum man waddled down the crowded street, stopping by some people, to ask if they wanted to buy some dimsum. Upon receiving a positive answer, he nodded, and turned back to his cart, to fetch the food. Five minutes later, without the good man knowing, there had been quite a commotion caused at the table, apparently having something to do with a certain cloth snake. The dimsum man chuckled lightly to himself. It was probably the doing of old Mr. Yap, the wise and sometimes mischievous merchant. Tsk tsk. Kids these days. They ought to be more careful.

In his seat, Tommy discreetly took out the digital camera, and browsed through the pictures that he had taken. There was Izumi, laughing her guts out, and Kouji, looking like a fish out of water. Hannah was bound to like that. Then, Junpei, being beaten up by a four year old. Takuya seemed to yell at him for help from the screen, as the twins were chasing him. Glancing at Mrs. Wong, who was nodding, while listening to Takuya, then at Kouji, who had a bored look on his face, and at Junpei, who was swallowing butchi balls by the whole, Tommy laughed to himself.

He could get used to this.

~!!!!!~

Artemis: [sighs] well, I'm very sorry for the loong wait on chapter four, considering the fact that my evil teachers have been bombarding me with requirements lately. Ahh…humans. Anyway, I had to cut this chappie in half, since I couldn't finish it on time. [awwwwwwwwwww -__-] it may be short, and uneventful..But that's what you get from cramming this in between project deadlines. Sooo…I'm enjoying writing this story so far, and I hope you enjoy reading it as well. I'm pondering on whether I should make a sequel or not… :) I included Henry Wong, and Alice McCoy of Digimon Tamers, as Kirschey's aunt and uncle…hehe.

This story most likely will not be completed by the deadline of February 14…sorry, again. By the way, Skadi, the goddess of winter might be taking over the author's notes for a while, and might be writing some of the story for a while. I will try to write chapter five as soon as I can. This might not come so soon, because I have been called to train in the desert, taming wolves. Please bear with me. Having the Ring of Fire isn't an easy job ^__^

Thank you again, to those who reviewed the last chapter.

[Whoosh of cold, cold wind]

Artemis: [shivers, and puts on a coat]

Skadi: hello, Artemis. When do I take over?

Artemis: oh, h-hi s-sk-sk-k-ka-skadi. Umm, ma-maybe n-n-next ch-chapter. O-ka-kay?

Skadi: right.

[Mutters something about fire mages, and disappears in a snowstorm]

Artemis: whew! Well, that is it for the author's note! Please review! ;)