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02 StartIt was quiet out today. Peaceful. Good weather for sleeping. Not that he'd get to do any of that, mind you, but it was still good weather for it. He sighed as he tipped his magazine over his face, listing to the sound of footsteps on the stairs leading to the roof. It was lunchtime, and she was coming to steal his lunch, as she did everyday. He'd been expecting this. It always happened, so it wasn't that it was merely her presence that would keep him awake. It was the fact that she was bringing company. Loud company. She wanted to introduce her new lackey to the others. And wherever Kousuke, Rio, and Ryoko were, peace and quiet were nowhere to be found. Nor was sleep. And if Maylina honestly knew who these "friends" of theirs were…rather what they were, she'd probably hop the first plane back to LA or wherever she was from and never look back. And he wouldn't blame her. It's what he'd wanted to do on more than 1 occasion. But one thing made him stay. Or more truthfully, one person made him stay.
The door flew open with a bang then, Kousuke and Ryoko the first to step foot on the roof, bickering with every step. Another thing he'd come to expect.
" You're such a moron, Kousuke! We have no lunch because of you! Now I've had to spend my hard-earned money just to buy something. I can't believe you fed it to that dog on the way here!! I'd have killed you right there and then if I'd been with you!" Ryoko gripped at him, poking him in the arm with her finger as she scowled in his direction. Someone definitely was not amused today.
" It was hungry! You keep telling me to be more compassionate, and then when I go and do what you told me, I get yelled at for it! And I don't know what the big deal is about buying your lunch. You used to buy it everyday before we began living together. You've become spoiled." He replied as he grinned, Ryoko slapping him on the arm.
" What are you talking about?! I have not!!! You act like you're the best cook in the world or something, Kousuke! I don't even like your cooking. I'd rather eat mud." She announced venomously.
" That's not what you said last night." Kousuke replied as he crossed his arms across his chest, dropping to sit next to Ayumu as Ryoko sat on Ayumu's other side, continuing to snap at him over Ayumu as he laid there, magazine still over his face.
" I know that's not what I said last night! I made dinner yesterday, remember?!"
" They sound like an old married couple." Ayumu muttered into the spine of his magazine, his eyes still closed. Suddenly the magazine was snatched from his face, and he opened one eye to see Ryoko staring down into his face. She looked pretty ticked at the moment…
" What was that?!" She demanded as Ayumu sighed, opening his other eye. " I said there goes my peace and quiet." He replied as he pushed himself up, leaning back on one hand.
" …Really." She replied, sounding skeptical.
" Yes." Ayumu replied, staring her down.
" Oh, stop that. You're as bad as Eyes." Ryoko snapped, rolling her eyes.
Ayumu just stared at her, his face expressionless. No one could be like Eyes. He seemingly had nerves of steel. Outwardly, nothing seemed to ever faze him, even Ka…. Well, even his betrayal hadn't caused Eyes to bat an eyelash. But inwardly…inwardly he was probably screaming. He was all locked up. Just like the rest of them.
" Did you say Eyes? You have a friend named Eyes?" Maylina said as she, Rio, and Hiyono dropped to sit around them. Hiyono grabbed the boxed lunch Ayumu had prepared for her, pulling the lid off. She didn't know, however, that he made them specifically for her every night. If she did, it would take all the fun out of stealing them from him. At least, that was Ayumu's reasoning for keeping it a secret.
" Yeah, Eyes Rutherford. Have you ever heard of him? He's an extremely popular pianist." Hiyono replied with a cheery nod as she grabbed her chopsticks and pulled them apart, ready to dig in. Only Hiyono would call Eyes a friend. Even the other Blade Children never called him that. To them, he seemed to be their enigmatic leader… far beyond mere friendship. They were comrades, yes, but friends?
" …Yes. I believe so. I'm not too big on the classical music scene." Maylina answered with a laugh as she opened her bottle of water. She seemed to be the only one, besides Ayumu himself, who didn't have at least something to eat, and he wondered if perhaps she had some kind of eating disorder. It would explain several things. According to Hiyono, she was very tight-lipped about herself.
" Eyes isn't your typical Classical Pianist, though." Rio replied as she opened the wrapper on her pork bun, Kousuke and Ryoko exchanging a glance. The Blade Children must have begun to feel safer than they actually were. They were becoming careless at times.
"Oh. How did you get to know him? He's orginally from England, isn't he?" She asked, crinkling her nose in what Ayumu was beginning to notice as her normal look of confusion. For someone who didn't "follow the classical music scene", she seemed to be better informed than he'd have thought. And he'd love to hear how the Blade children were going to answer Maylina's latest question.
" We…Kousuke and I…used to live overseas for a while. We got to, um, know him then." Rio replied, glancing at Kousuke, who nodded in the affirmative.
" Really? Where'd you live?" Maylina asked, looking interested.
" They should be ditch-diggers." Ryoko muttered to Ayumu, as Kousuke looked ready to kill Rio.
" Well, England of course. Um, France. I've also lived in Austria." Rio replied.
" Interesting. I've just lived in America. Until now, anyway." Maylina said, laughing slightly.
" Yeah, that's right. Tell us about your life in America." Kousuke quickly said, before she had a chance to ask them anything else. She may have been secretive, but so were the Blade Children. And it was amazing. She'd managed, in the course of several minutes, to find out something about the Blade Children that Ayumu doubted even Hiyono herself knew. Assuming it was all true. She was good. He'd give her that.
" Oh, I wouldn't want to bore anyone." Maylina replied with a chuckle as she shrugged.
" You wouldn't bore us. You're our friend. We want to know what you like to do and stuff!" Hiyono said with a smile as Rio and Ryoko echoed her sentiments.
" Um, well, ok. There really isn't much to tell. I'm from LA. I like to surf and snowboard, shop, watch TV and movies, and just stuff like that. Normal stuff. Oh! And I like to play games too." She replied, taking a sip from her bottle of water as she glanced at them all in turn, her eyes falling on Ayumu last. There was a tiny little smile on her face, and he wondered what she was thinking as she looked away.
" There's not many places around here to Ski or anything, but over Winter break, we should all go up to Sapparo! They have some of the best places around Japan for winter sports." Hiyono replied as she stuck the chopsticks back in Ayumu's boxed lunch, evidently finished.
" Sure. Sounds fun. If you guys like to do things like that." She said with a smile, again glancing at Ayumu.
" Ski? Heck yeah! And I'd be glad to take ya all on! Show you what real skiing is!" Kousuke replied with a smug grin as Ryoko rolled her eyes.
" I've seen your version of skiing, Kousuke. The skiing I'm familiar with doesn't involve sliding down the slope on your butt." Ryoko told him, smirking. The 2 began to argue then, not that that was anything new, though Rio joined Ryoko in ribbing him as well, much to Hiyono's chagrin.
" Do you know how to ski?" Maylina suddenly asked Ayumu, catching him off-guard.
" Huh?" He asked, glancing away from the others to look at her.
" I asked if you knew how to ski." Maylina replied, her face blank as she stared at him. She was usually smiling, and seeing her without one unnerved Ayumu even further, as he grew flustered. Which didn't happen to him much, if at all.
" Who, me? I know how, but I haven't done it in a while." He said, shaking his head slightly. Geez. He sounded like a moron.
" Oh. I haven't done much skiing myself. More snowboarding than anything. It's similar to surfing. At least I think so. Then again, all of my friends at home think I'm a jock, too." She replied with a laugh as Ayumu watched her. Perhaps he was being just a bit over-suspicious of her. She hadn't really done anything obvious to be suspicious about.
" Ryoko's an athlete. She's on the track team. You should try to catch her next meet." Ayumu replied as he leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees.
" I'll have to do that! Does this school have a lot of different athletic teams?" She asked, as she stared at him. She seemed to have forgotten about the others.
" I don't know. I guess." He replied, shrugging. Why'd she want to know. She'd already joined the Newspaper Club. Did the girl have unlimited free time after school? Now that he thought about it, he wondered whom she was staying with.
" Why? Are you thinking about joining another club? What would your host family think about that? You've already joined the paper." He added as she took a drink of her water.
" No, I was just asking. Besides, it wouldn't matter. I'm renting an apartment near here. I'm not staying with anyone. " She replied with a shrug. He nodded, not surprised. She seemed like the independent type.
" What are you 2 talking about?" Kousuke suddenly asked. Evidently the 4 of them must have finished their own conversation.
" Academics." Maylina replied, sounding somewhat cryptic.
" You were talking about 'academics' with Ayumu?!" He exclaimed, looking amused. " With Tsukiomi's resident slacker?"
" The bell's about to ring. Wouldn't want you scholars to be late for class." Ayumu replied as he got to his feet, walking off without a backward glance. Man he was tired. Oh well. Math was next. He'd be able to sleep through that class just fine.
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She was late. He told her to meet him here at 5:30, and it was already a quarter to 6. Where was she? Did she get lost?! If she had, that was just pathetic. She came here at least once a day. He knew. He was normally in here himself or he was with her. One could only watch the Home Shopping Network so long. They didn't sell kitchen utensils all day long.
" Sorry I'm late, Ayumu! I had to show Maylina where the Archery club met. She's doing an article on them for the paper." Hiyono announced as she blew through the door, dropping into the chair by the computer.
" Huh. Well, you're here now." He mumbled as he leaned against the desk next to her, his arms folded across his chest. She titled her head as she glanced at him, her gaze inquisitive.
" You know, I'm not quite sure why you're so interested in Maylina. She seems like just your average girl to me." Hiyono replied, shrugging slightly.
" I know. That's what's so suspicious. I don't know if it was necessarily the truth or not, but did you see how effortlessly she found out Rio and Kousuke lived overseas? Even you didn't know that. And after all this time, too." He replied as he closed his eyes briefly, fiddling with a strand of his hair.
" What are you talking about? We knew they've lived in other places besides Japan." Hiyono stated, looking confused as she turned toward her computer, booting it up.
" Yeah. But they never told us where. And it was never in any of the information you could dig up either. We just assumed they'd been to places like England. But she knew within few short minutes of meeting them. It was either pure coincidence, or she's an extremely capable manipulator."
" …Do you think she could be a Hunter? It wouldn't be the first time they've sent someone in so covertly. Then again, she'd so young. Most of their operatives are older than that." Hiyono replied with a thoughtful frown as she glanced at him, opening the school's web server.
" I don't know. We may be concerned about nothing. But it's better to find out now than to be sorry later. So, let's see what you can find out about Miss Maylina Clark, from Los Angeles, California." Ayumu replied as he pushed away from the desk than turned to stare at the computer screen over her shoulder, one hand planted on his hip, the other resting beside the mouse on the computer desk.
" You know, I'm good at this, but it may still take a couple of days. Unless she lives on her own, it will take a while to track her down. I doubt her family's the only Clark's in a city the size of Los Angeles." Hiyono replied, glancing up at him.
" Not an issue. We've survived 2 days without knowing who she is. We can last 2 more." He replied as he stepped away and crossed his arms over his chest. Hiyono nodded as she selected several other search specifics before she hit enter.
" Ok. Now we wait." She replied as she hit another button, putting the computer into Secure Mode before she swiveled around to face him, a slight smile on her face. He nodded, his face void of expression. He glanced at the clock on the wall, than at her, his eyes softening slightly.
" Come on, it's getting late. I'll make us dinner, than walk you back to your place."
" You're…you're going to make me dinner?! I get to eat your wonderful cooking twice in one day?! Thank you God for this wonderful blessing!" Hiyono replied cheerfully, bouncing from her seat as she clasped her hands in front of her chest, glancing up at the ceiling.
" Yeah, yeah, Hiyono. Now, come on." Ayumu said, a faint grin flickering across his face as he rolled his eyes, grabbing her bag off the table before he turned to leave, Hiyono still standing there.
" Huh? Oh! Wait up, Ayumu!" She protested as she hurried after him, pulling the door shut behind her as she chased him down the hall, shouting loudly. None of the other students milling around paid them any mind, however. To them, this behavior just so happened to be a typical, daily occurrence.
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It was getting dark by the time the Archery Club was finished with their practice, and Maylina practically ran across campus, heading for the Newspaper Office. She had her own computer at home, but the article didn't need to be that long, so it shouldn't take too long to type…if she got over there to do it, anyway. It would be one thing less she'd have to do once she got home tonight. And she had enough to do as it was. That monster of a Calculus teacher liked to assign 5-page assignments, and though she had no problems with Calc., it still took up some time. Not to mention the essay paper she had to write for Language Class.
The building seemed to be deserted and they'd already turned the day-lights off as she walked down the hall, her shoes making faint tapping noises as she walked. She hadn't bothered to take her outside shoes off and put her indoor ones on, but since she figured she'd see no one while she was here on her little errand, it didn't matter. What they didn't know wouldn't hurt them. Finally stopping before the door marked Newspaper Club, she opened the door, flicking on the lights as she pushed the door shut with her foot, striding purposely across the room after she'd done so. She threw her bag on the table, the 2 sheets of notebook paper clutched in her left hand as she sat before the computer, pushing the power switch to turn it on. The screen flickered as it fired up, a blue screen with a little pop-up box appearing before her.
" Please input password?!" she read, her voice displaying her confusion as she wrinkled her nose. " What?!" She demanded, feeling her eye begin to twitch. Hiyono must have put it into Secure Mode before she'd left, but why? What purpose would it serve?
" Wonder what she's hiding" Maylina muttered as she turned it off with a sigh and got to her feet. Guess she'd have to do it at home after all.
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If she could see herself, she knew she'd look terrifying. The green glow from the monitor tended to do that to her features. It was dark outside again, and she hadn't bothered to turn any lights on, one of her frequent habits. Of course, if anyone ever had the notion to spy on her, they'd soon give up. As it seemed she was never home. It was a very convenient habit, actually.
One would think the poor lighting would bother her eyes. Were it anyone else, it would. But she was unaffected by it. He'd always said she was like a cat. Could see in the dark. She didn't know about that, but she did have better eyesight than the vast majority of humanity. And it served her wonderfully.
" Well, let's see what our little friends were up to today." She said aloud, her voice thin and rather cold as she typed rapidly on her keyboard, pulling up an A/V file. She listened to it for a minute before she hit a single key on her keyboard, zooming in on 2 of her subjects.
" Huh. I wonder what they're discussing." She mused aloud, pausing the recording. She fiddled with several of the controls, than rewound the recording several seconds, picking up the whispered conversation.
" Well, well. What do you know about that." She stated, beginning to grin as the doorbell rang. She didn't bother turning the recording off as she got up to answer the door, grabbing several bills off the desk. She knew how to cook. Actually, she could cook quite well. But she rarely made the effort most days, instead preferring to live off of take-out and prepared meals. It wasn't too bad. Though definitely not the healthiest route to follow.
She paid the take-out boy than closed the door in his face, carrying the bag with her Shrimp and Egg Okonomiyaki into the kitchen as she listened to the recording, though her mind wasn't entirely focused on it. Okonomiyaki did that to her.
Half an hour later, she sat down before her computer again and closed the recording, figuring she'd gleaned all she was going to from it and opened another log, her eyes lighting up.
" Ah. So it seems I wasn't the only one on my computer today. Let's see what dear little Hiyono was doing." She said with a pleased grin, hitting several other buttons. Suddenly a blue screen popped up, a prompt for a security password in the middle of the screen.
" Well. She's not as naive as I would have thought. But no matter. This is easily fixed." She mused, typing rapidly. It took a little effort, but she'd overridden the command in a mere matter of minutes, a series of 5 windows popping up on the screen.
" What's this? Interesting little extra-curricular activity she has going on here. But we just can't have this. How untrusting they are." Eva muttered as she pursed her lips. Now the real effort would begin.
02 End.
Author Notes: I never specified in Chapter 1 when this story takes place, but it's after the end of the Anime. I'm trying hard to keep everyone in character, but I have difficulties with the various Blade Children, so please keep this in mind when you are reading and someone seems to be out of character.