Is That You? By: OtakuSailorV
Chapter 14: Break Before Battle". . .But when one has the power to help, one should use it, ne?"
The conversation had ended abruptly when they had heard the blaring sirens of the police and fire department coming toward them.
Genki, Holly, and the others quickly dispersed, leaving Hikari behind after a few quick spoken words between them all.
Hikari had told them that she had to stay behind and report to a fellow agent who was infiltrating the police force to make sure that they stayed oblivious to certain facts, and that she would catch up with them later. As to where such a meeting place was, she did not say.
So, Genki lead his friends down the abandoned streets, slowing there pace when they were sure they were far enough away from the police.
"Are you sure we should trust her, Genki?" Hare asked, coming up to his friend's side.
Genki seemed unsure as well. "For now, I think it's ok to trust her, but. . ."
"But?" Hare pressed, wanting to hear the boy's opinion.
"I'm not sure, she seems sort of. . .shrouded. Like she's still hiding something. Must come from being a secret agent."
"I'm sure if there's anything she's hiding, it's not because she wants to." Holly assured them with a smile. "You just said it was her job to be a 'secret' agent. That means she's ordered to keep things undercover, right? So whatever it is she's concealing, it's either because we haven't asked, or she's ordered to keep it to herself."
Genki smiled a little in return. "Yeah, maybe. But I can't help but think there's something weird going on here. . ."
"There is something weird going on." Tiger laughed. "Monsters are appearing in your world, like you appeared in ours."
Genki grinned widely, laughing a little. "Ok, ok, so maybe Hikari really isn't hiding anything. Still, I want to know more about how this is all going on. . ."
"Yes." Hare said with a nod, pressing his finger and thumb to his chin thoughtfully. "I would like to hear more detail given to what her 'Agency' is up to. And what they did wrong that you got transported to our world."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Genki and his group stopped at the outskirts of the city, just out of view of anybody trying to re-enter the city.
After a decent time of waiting, Hikari joined them looking a bit annoyed and stressed.
"Something go wrong?" Genki asked as Hikari sighed.
She made a face, as if she were deciding whether to tell him what was running through her mind or not. "It's nothing to worry about," She assured him finally. "I just don't work well with incompetent morons like him."
Genki and the others sweatdropped. 'So something did go wrong.' The whole group thought as Hikari played with her braid again, something that they began to note as a nervous habit.
Looking up, she studied the sky, as if some message might suddenly appear, giving her new orders. After a moment, she lowered her gaze again, looking more composed and calm now. "I think we should get going. It won't be long before the police are done 'investigating'. And as soon as the fire department 'OKs' everything, the people will be allowed back in to the city."
"Where will we go though?" Genki asked, getting to his feet along with the others.
"To my cabin of course." Hikari replied, a note of confusion in her voice, as if she did not understand why he had asked.
"But that's so far away." Genki said, raising an eyebrow. "I'm not complaining, but that's a lot of ground to cover."
Hikari shrugged. "It may take us an hour or two, but we'll make it. Besides, you were going around the hard way, trying to avoid human eyes. We don't have to bother with that right now."
"You mean you WANT people to see us? Won't that be hard on your job?" Hare asked, speaking up before Genki.
"I just got clearance from my 'partner' back there. We're free to travel as we choose. My Agency is covering our tracks. No worries."
With that, Hikari turned and started down the road that would lead them to the country village.
"Yeah. . .no worries. . ."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Genki was used to walking all day, from when he had been traveling in the Monster World with Holly. So his feet didn't hurt, even after a decent hour and a half of walking, though he was beginning to get hungry.
His monster friend's didn't seem to mind either, and when Holly began to get tired, Golem picked her up and rested her on his shoulder carefully.
Hikari seemed to be fine as well, she gave no sign of being weary of all the walking, something that confused Genki slightly. He had thought that she would start to strain, or at least become a tiny bit tired. But she looked as fit as a fiddle, not one bead of sweat showing on her forehead.
Genki caught up with her, as she was in the lead. "You're not tired?"
Hikari smiled slightly, looking more like a regular, kind person to him again than she had appeared in the last few hours. "No, when I was up in the forest there, I had to hike back and forth from the village all the time to get groceries and my mail."
"Oh." Genki said, shocked at the sudden change in attitude.
The blond seemed to notice that he was acting strangely. "What is it?"
"You just. . ." Genki felt awkward pointing it out to her. "Well, you just seemed to totally change personalities."
Hikari smiled widely, almost laughing. "Oh, that. Sorry. I'm afraid I have a knack for changing my attitude like that rapidly. Especially in situations like this. I think it all started when I was training for this job, handling special affairs for the company I mean. I didn't want any of my friends or family to know, so I would often force myself to change my mood to fit the situation with my friends, and make myself forget about any worries outside of that moment." Hikari chuckled a little nervously. "You'll have to forgive me if I come off as a schizophrenic."
Genki grinned back at her. "No big." He assured her.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Another forty-five minutes got them to the outskirts of the little town. It was pitch black, with only one or two of the street lamps lit, the others started to come on as they entered.
Genki yawned. Still being young, he wasn't used to staying up late, and exerting himself so much in one day.
Stumbling in his steps slightly, he started to lean against Mocchi, who was also starting to fall asleep.
"We're almost there, no falling asleep yet." Hikari said with a wink, though she appeared tired as well.
Genki and Mocchi both jerked themselves back upward. "Mocchi isn't sleepy, chii."
Genki yawned again, stretching one arm. "Me. . .neither. . ."
Holly chuckled slightly from atop Golem. "If you want, you can take my place, and I'll walk until we make it back to Hikari's." She offered.
Genki smiled sleepily at her. "No, you stay up there. Me and Mocchi will be fine."
But when Genki turned back, he saw that his rotund pink friend was missing. As if he had eyes in the back of his head, Genki turned back and saw Mocchi climbing up onto Golem's shoulder, and Holly being placed back down on the ground by the gentle rock giant.
"Mocchi!" Genki groaned as the Monster fell asleep.
Holly giggled, walking up beside him. "It's ok, Genki. Really, I don't mind walking for a while."
Genki shook off his sleepiness immediately and smiled back at her. "As long as your ok with it, Holly."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
They were all desperately tired when they finally reached the cabin's that Hikari owned in the heart of the forest.
Trudging forward almost as if they were zombies, they fell asleep each in their own place, except for Golem, who slept peacefully outside. Mocchi had to be dragged to a bed opposite the one Genki had stayed in, as he would not wake up no matter what they tried.
When she saw that they were all sleeping soundly, Hikari disappeared, into the smaller cabin that was filled with mechanical gadgets. Yawning widely, she took one last look at the cabin opposite hers before going in for the night.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Hikari was awoken early the next morning by the phone ringing. Groaning, she walked over and picked up the receiver. "Talk to me."
"Agent L? We have a situation. Gather the boy and his Monster's immediately."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Yo. I'm trying to update all my stories before I go back to school on the 17th. I'm not entirely sure what school will be like, as I'll be going into high school, a whole new building and experience for me. I'll try to update as soon as possible during the school year, and I'm sorry if they become irregular or spacious intervals again.
Also, I've noticed that I haven't been giving the Monster's a lot of lines. I'm trying to fix that in these later chapters. I don't want any of the characters left out, of course. And, while I'm thinking about it, I hope that none of the characters appear OOC to any of you. If so, I would love it if you would tell me, so I can make a mental note of it. Thanks.
Anyway, thanks for all the reviews. I never thought that this story would be so popular. You've made me very happy.
See ya! Ja!
Review please!!!
