I'm really sorry this one took so long, I had midterms for a whole week so I didn't have any time to write at least not much. Plus I had to take out two pages worth of a scene out because I didn't like it and had to rewrite pages in its place. This semester should be easier and a little more laid back for me because I have more study halls that I can easily use for writing :D
Do not own SC characters.
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Chapter 4: Children at Play
Taki grumbled as she rolled herself out from underneath the sandy cat's outstretched body that had laid sprawled across Taki's stomach. The woman let herself fall out of her bed carelessly and let her eyes meet Ember's, which held confusion out of Taki's action as she stood up. It was as if the cat's begging eyes held enough emotion to make her owner's roommate drag her feet back into bed to be the feline's cushion for the rest of the day.
Taki chuckled slightly then gave the pleading cat a 'no-no' gesture with her finger. "Oh-no you don't. Don't look at me that way; be happy I let you sleep there the entire night and not clawing at my door to let you in." She stated with a smirk as the sandy cat rolled on her back, playfully exposing her belly. It kept eye contact with Taki and replied with a squeak-like "meow". Taki laughed slightly at how determined the cat appeared to be as she grabbed her clothes from the drawers she placed them in. In ten minutes flat she had long, baggy, midnight-blue jeans and a very dark blue t-shirt on and fit comfortably then brushed her ebony hair and put it up in its usual ponytail with a red tie. "Nice try." She commented with a smile to the posing cat that still lay upon her bed.
She opened the door to go to the kitchen only to nearly bump into Sophitia, who was totally dressed and didn't seem in a bug rush, much to Taki curiosity. "You're up early." Sophitia noted in a slightly surprised tone as she walked around the taller girl towards the kitchen.
Taki's eyes furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean?" She asked as she turned to follow the girl that wore long, regular-colored blue jeans and a well-fit purple t-shirt with a light oceanic v-neck collar. She sat herself in one of the tall wooden chairs behind the kitchen counter while Sophitia went in.
The blonde looked at her strangely as she lifted a small but deep pan off of one of the hooks that held the other differently sized pans over the stove. "It's nearly six-twenty. Don't you get up later than me?" She asked with a raised eyebrow as she poured water from the sink into the pan.
Taki blinked once as she watched the girl boil the water. The older woman leaned to peer around the blonde's form to the stove's digital clock. Her eyes widened slightly in disbelief to finally discover the numbers "6:18". "Uhn… great." She groaned as she rubbed her forehead and eyes with her hand as if the sleeplessness was pouring back into her body. "It must have been your extra-friendly cat." She noted as she looked back to Sophitia, who had already laid a white mug of tea on the counter in front of her.
Sophitia laughed slightly as she sat herself on a stool across Taki with her own grey mug in her hand, "She likes you that much does she?" She asked with an amused smile as Taki continued to stare at the transparent steam cascading out of the cup with a bored expression.
"Mm. And I leap for joy because of that." Taki stated sarcastically complete with a smile as she looked back up to Sophitia, who smirked slightly. The Asian sat herself up in her chair as she rolled her shoulders and neck then laced her fingers together as she leaned her chin on them as she leaned on her elbows onto the marble counter. "So…" The brown-eyed woman started with a yawn. "How did your sister sleep last night? Did she cling to you at all?" She asked with a raised eyebrow of curiosity.
Sophitia kept her eyes on Taki's as she slowly strummed her nails rhythmically against her mug as she held the hot cup in her palms. "She slept like a log. And no, she didn't cling to me much." She answered as she took a small sip. By the way Taki's eyes kept upon her own, she could tell she was eventually going to rub the subject in.
"Oh good." Taki started with a smile and a positive tone. "Well then, could you explain last night's escapade to me? I mean, not to sound con-descending or anything of the sort." Taki leaned on one elbow and ran a finger across the blue and green marble countertop in a seamless fashion as she continued. "And of course not that I really minded the whole 'sneaking into my room then in between my sheets' thing." Taki started speaking in gestures with her hands as she spoke, making the younger girl quirk an eyebrow. "Then pressing and rubbing herself against my back along with her fingers running down it and at my sides. Feeling her cling to me more than static-filled clothing…" Taki stopped as she looked up to Sophitia that, much to the young scholar's nervousness, held worry and slight suspicion as she leaned slightly towards her. "What'd you do to not have her cling to you? Tie her up and leave her on the edge of the bed?" She as if it was a question that she would never find the answer to.
Sophitia pulled back nearly dumbfounded with shock at Taki's ridiculous question. "Of course I didn't!" She defended rather loudly as she leaned forward with semi-furrowed eyebrows, making Taki lean back into her original position. Sophitia sighed then leaned back again as and let her eyes land on her mug before she spoke. "Cassandra's always been that way, ever since she was little." She explained as she traced the cup's rim with her finger. "The room I gave you used to be my old room. I switched only because of floor space." Taki nodded understandinglyas she listened. "She was probably half-asleep when she came into your room and forgot that I'd changed it and was too tired to even notice the difference between you and me." She noted as she brought the mug's rim to her lips and took a sip, followed by Taki as she remembered that she hadn't touched hers yet and enjoyed the soft taste of it, wishing that she had tried it before. "When she was little and I was still living at my parent's house, she would just jump into bed with me at odd times. Either because she claimed she wasn't tired and wanted to play, or when she was little enough that she was afraid of the dark or of thunderstorms, or when she felt lonely and just wanted to sleep with me." Sophitia looked down and smiled slightly as if the memories were coming back to her.
"So, what did you do this time?" Taki asked in a soft yet curioustone as she imagined the times Sophitia had with her sister. Sophitia's eyes snapped up to hers for a moment before she blinked and took another sip.
"Well, whenever she'd start to cling to me, I'd just turn around and hold her in return. That generally makes her stop." She answered simply as she leaned on her arms.
Taki'sgrin slowly widened and she looked down then back up again. "Huh. Well then, I'll make sure to keep that in mind, should that ever happen again at least." She took a swig after she spoke to try and hold back her grin. Sophitia raised an eyebrow at her and narrowed her eyes slightly although Taki could see a small smirk in her face as she looked away.
"Anyway…" Sophitia diverted, smiling as she closed her eyes slightly and turned to Taki before she opened her eyes again. "What about your tutoring sessions?"
"Oh Kami..." Taki sighed and hung her head as she brought up the subject.
"Well you have to start sometime!" Sophitia edged with a raised eyebrow as she leaned forward.
"Yes I know, but I hardly got any sleep last night and… can't we start next week?" Taki asked in an almost pleading voice.
Sophitia sighed as she stood up and placed her now-empty mug in the sink. "I need to see how you are now and what you're doing in your classes." She explained as she turned back to Taki but didn't sit down as she leaned her backside against the edge of the sink-bearing counter. "At least let mesee what you're learning now so that I can figure out how to help you with it." She suggested in a low tone.
"I'm not that dense to not pay any attention in class, you know." Taki stated broadly as if she thought the younger girl was mocking her with her suggestion.
"We shall see." Sophitia smirked slightly as she joked. "My school day ends about the same time as yours, I'll come to your school and I'll look through your binders in your locker to see what you're doing." She stated as if she suddenly made up her decision.
"Isn't that kind of an invasion of privacy?" Taki tested as she raised an eyebrow, which Sophitia returned.
"What's so private about something you learn everyday?" She returned as she seemed confident that Taki wouldn't have an answer to that.
Taki's eyebrows furrowed in slight frustration as she stood up from her tall chair. "Alright then, I'll let you search through my stuff." Taki agreed but in a testy tone which Sophitia narrowed her eyes at.
"Well, thank you for your cooperation my new pupil and roommate!" She returned in the same tone.
'SWING-BAM!' "Sister-dearest! In case you haven't noticed, normal people are trying to SLEEP!"
Sophitia and Taki turned to the hallway as they heard Cassandra's scolding. Sophitia's lips tensed into apologetic frown while Taki couldn't help but snigger at her sister's forceful bluntness.
"Sorry Cassie." Sophitia spoke as she came out of the kitchen and looked at her aggravated sister's face. She smiled apologetically. Cassandra rubbed her hand over her face and groaned as she headed back into her sister's room to catch up on her sleep. Sophitia looked down as she remembered something then spoke before her sister could close the door. "Actually sis, it's good that you're up because then I can take you over to our parents' house."
"Aww, c'mon. Do I have to? And so early? Can't I just stay here? I don't have school today; American holiday, remember?" Cassandra asked in a pleading/whining voice that Sophitia had heard many times before and was used to it by now.
Sophitia sighed. "I would, in the case that you don't have school, but you don't have any clothes to wear here. Nor do you have anything to do anyway, besides watch TV or something." She stated to her sister, whose eyes darted as she knew what her elder sister was right.
"Oh, alright. But can I at least come back when you're done? It's so dull over there. I like being with you. I mean, Lucius is okay to be with, but he's always busy with his friends and he's nowhere as fun as you. Take last night for example." Cassandra grinned as Sophitia gave her a glare as she knew what she was referring tobut couldn't help but smile at her sister's sweetness.
"I'll see what I can do." Sophitia laughed slightly as she looked away and gathered her things and put them in her bag. "Get ready though, so that I can be on time for school." She reminded as she looked for anything that she may be missing.
"By the way, I promised my little sister that I would take her to this new place in Midtown by Central Park. It's an arcade place; "The Arena". It's supposed to be a three-story building." Taki noted hesitantly, hoping that Sophitia wouldn't be too put off by this. "If you'd like to go, you can. My brother's will be there as well."
"Oh I'd love to!" Cassandra suddenly spoke up excited, making Sophitia's eyes snap to hers. "C'mon sis, you know I love video games, and as you said, I would have nothing to do today but stick around the apartment. Just take me with you." She suggested excitedly as she clung to her elder sister's waist in a tight hung that nearly left Sophitia with hardly any oxygen in her lungs.
Sophitia looked at her for a moment then sighed with what little air she had.Her face screwed slightly as shewedged her little sister's arms off her. "Alright. Perhaps while our sister's are playing their games I can take a look at your school stuff. Unless it would be too bothersome for you since I know you have a large family." Sophitia considered, making Taki pull back in slight surprise at how she sounded, and so early in the morning.
Taki blinked while in speechlessness. "Uh-err no, I don't mind, and I'm sure my siblings won't either." 'Especially Haitani.' Taki thought with a raised eyebrow as the image of his perverted sense of humor came into her mind; she grimaced the more she saw.
"How old is this 'little' sister of yours?" Cassandra asked both curiously and suspiciously. Taki could tell that she didn't want to be with anyone else that was younger than her.
Taki smiled reassuringly. "Sixteen." She answered simply. Cassandra smiled as if intrigued.
"Oh? Great.A year older than me." Cassandra spoke aloud yet thoughtfully as if she herself didn't realize it.The short-haired girl looked up to Taki with pleading eyes. "You don't mind if I come, do you?"
"Of course not. And I'm sure my sister will love your competitiveness, my eighteen-year-old brother, Haitani, especially." Taki's eyes darted over to the side. "Then again, stay away from him." She added in a low tone. Sophitia smirked, knowing what Taki was referring to. Cassandra beamed as she ran into Sophitia's room and shut the door behind her to change as if she thought it would speed up time.
Taki turned to Sophitia with a pleased smile. "Uh, this may sound a bit self-centered and lazy on my behalf, but could you take a look at my things when we get back from the arcade? I have a feeling that we won't be having time to go over anything while we're over there." Taki asked as she spun her revolving chair so that she could stand.
"Very true." Sophitia immediately agreed as she could already see the day before her in her mind as she walked around the room to gather her books and notebooks. They could hear 'thump's and, strangely, 'clang's coming from Sophitia's bedroom.
"I could take her home if you want. Then she can rest a little longer before I have to leave." Taki suggested politely as she went inside the kitchen to place her mug in the sink with Sophitia's.
"Uh, thank you for asking, but you ride a motorcycle. I don't want my little sis to get hurt." Sophitia stated as she zipped up her bag. "No matter how good of a driver you may be." She added before Taki could speak in her defense.
"Okay fine. But one of these days I'm going to take you on a ride on it and with my driving skills, I'll make sure you love it." Taki proclaimed confidently as she watched Sophitia swing her backpack over her shoulder then look back at her with a quirked eyebrow.
"I'm sure you will." She smirked as she heard her bedroom door being opened with her yawning sister coming to her side while wearing the same clothes that she wore the day before. Sophitia looked down to find that she was holding a box the size of four shoeboxes in her arms. "What's that?" She asked as she blinked at the cardboard box.
"What do you think? The Greek god figurines that dad wanted, the reason I came here in the first place." Cassandra answered as if it was a no-brainer while Sophitia gasped slightly and pulled the box higher into Cassandra's arms.
"Be careful with those! If you break them father will maim the both of us." Sophitia warned as she made Cassandra hold the box tighter.
"Yes, I know that quite well, thank you." Cassandra spoke in a sarcastic tone as she followed her sister towards the door around the kitchen.
"Uh." Taki stopped them hesitantly with a hand rubbing her nape nervously. "Since you'll be taking your car to drop your sister off and driving yourself to school this time, could you pick me up from my college? Then I don't have to take my motorcycle and I can show you the way there. My brothers are taking my sister there so it's not like you have to pick them up." Taki reassured before Sophitia could find any reasons to disagree. Sophitia sighed as she was cornered and nodded slowly. "Great! I'll see you in the school lobby of Marymount Manhattan College, I suppose?" Taki double-checked as she made herself a bowl of cereal, seeing as to how she would never have time to eat when she got to her college cafeteria due to the lines full of students.
Sophitia let Cassandra go ahead of her as she looked at Taki as she busied herself with her breakfast. "MMC? Sure. I'll meet you there." She nodded as she grabbed the handle and pulled the door shut behind her sister and herself. 'Marymount Manhattan College? I've heard of that college before, but where…?'
"Hey, sis! Are you coming or what?" Cassandra called as she pushed the "Down" button on the elevator then leaned against the wall.
Sophitia's thoughts snapped to Cassandra as she walked over to her, although her eyes darted as the whole mystery of her remembering the Marymount Manhattan College.
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Taki dropped her back on her desk next to Mitsurugi, who had his feet up on the desk and was half-asleep in his chair until she harshly slammed down the back legs of her chair against the ground when she pulled the chair back to sit in it. She sniggered as Mitsurugi woke up with a start.
"Well, well. Aren't you on the up-and-up today? And so early too, having fifteen minutes before class starts."
Taki looked around to find Professor Mau grinning over her. Her grin slowly faded as she continued to look at her female Japanese pupil then cocked her head to one side. "So, did you and Miss Alexandra set a date for tutoring?" She asked with much interest.
"Yes we did." Taki answered politely with a small nod. "We tried to start yesterday, actually, but we had some… distractions which led to dilemmas which led to a hard night's sleep." Taki stated in a 'step-by-step' fashion.
"Which led to pain I see. What happened to your eye?" Professor Mau asked as she took Taki's chin with her fingers to observe the red area.
Taki looked at her quizzically, then suddenly remembered as she shook her head and tried to explain. "It's kind of a long story and pretty hard to explain. But to summarize, I was accidentally kicked in the face by 'Miss Alexandra'." Taki explained as she sniggered inwardly at the formality of "Miss Alexandra". "She gave me a steak to help heal it so it wasn't like she did it on purpose." She reassured.
Professor Mau looked at her for a second, as if she wasn't buying it. "Well, okay. I'm glad she did that for you. It doesn't seem to be too bad; perhaps it'll be gone in two days." The long, curly-haired professor estimated as she turned to observe the class to see who was here.
Taki fell into her seat and breathed in slowly as she looked toward Mitsurugi. "Doing anything today?" She was rather curious to know what it was like to have a leisurely day with out siblings and roommates.
"I'm going to "The Arena"." He shrugged slightly as he laced his fingers together and laid his hands up on his head lazily. "I've been there for the last couple of days. It has a great bar." He stated as though it wasn't anything important anymore.
Taki raised an eyebrow. "Really? You go there? Hm. Well, great. I'm going to be there today. Perhaps you can meet my new roommate." She suggested.
Mitsurugi looked at her then smirked slightly. "Uh-sure." He nodded, and then positioned his head to go straight as he close his eyes to rest them for a moment. "I hope she isn't dull." He added as if it was just a thought.
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Taki sat in the front seat with her arm leaning on the window ledge. Cassandra sat in back with her headphones on with a bass that could be heard when at any part of the car. Sophitia sat in basically the opposite position of Taki with her eyes darting over to her Asian roommate who had been silent apart from telling her where to go.
"I said I was sorry that I was late picking you up!" Sophitia suddenly blurted with the annoyance of silence sinking in. "I told you that I hated driving in the city so late in the afternoon. The traffic is murder! You should know that; you ride a motorcycle!" She continued as if afraid that Taki would never get the point.
"I understand, really. I'm sure my sister will understand as well." Taki stated in a low tone, but never turned to look at the blonde next to her. Of course her words weren't really helping how Sophitia felt. She had been almost forty-five minutes late picking her up. She felt like a parent being scolded by her own child for not picking her up early enough to catch a TV show. "We're nearly there anyway." Taki added, but it only calmed Sophitia's nerves just a little.
"You two overreact too much."
Taki and Sophitia sharply turned to look at the unexpected, small voice that spoke in the back seat. Cassandra was tapping her foot to the beat and had her eyes closed as she listened. She opened one eye at them and grinned. "You have to learn to calm down a bit. Learn Buddhism." She suggested jokingly as now both of her eyes were open. Taki turned to look at the street while Sophitia did the same.
"I already am a Buddhist, or so I'm told." Taki added as if it wasn't anything new to her. Sophitia and Cassandra looked at her with intrigue but didn't have time to ask about it as they pulled into the large underground garage.
Sophitia felt like she was going into a dance club of some sort and suddenly felt uneasy as she saw the wide, thick-hinged doorway and large brick walls with wide windows to look inside. Above the doors was a huge sign that had "The Arena" in neon lights. She sighed as she looked back down as if to ready herself for hours of time-consuming torture as Taki opened the door for the both of them. Cassandra eagerly went in, excited because she was hardly able to go anyplace such as this without her parents or friends with her.
When Sophitia walked into the entertainment complex, she felt a little reassured at the interior architecture. It was creatively constructed with metal-planked, brick-coordinated walls with sheets of clear and frosted class around the room and ceiling. Purple, blue, orange-red, white and yellow lights reflected off of the glass, dimly illuminating different parts of the room. Along with the working screens of the dozens of video game machines that were grouped together as people moved and circled around them. The three could feel the soft vibration of the bass beneath their feet through the carpeted floor from the medium-sized speakers in every corner of the room as they played remixed pop music. Although it hardly drowned out the constant chatter, growls of aggravation from the unsuccessful gamers and sound effects from the games.
"C'mon, c'mon!" Cassandra urged as she took a step forward. "Introduce me to your sister so that I can see what games I can try to master her at." She rubbed her hands together with anticipation.
"You don't have to look very far." Spoke a slightly agitated voice at their side and Taki began to feel tense as she recognized the purposely dulled tone. Taki turned to her purple-streak haired sister who had her hands on her hips and tapped her foot impatiently. Taki smiled briefly and nervously as if she thought it would make her sister's hazelnut stare less penetrating.
She felt something bump against her wrist then felt a light paper object slide into her hand from behind. Looking down, she beamed as she saw a ten dollar bill in her hand. She smiled apologetically as she shot it towards her sister. "Will more quarters for games cover up for my unintentional tardiness?" She asked in a hopeful tone as her sister took it and examined it as if she nearly believed that it might be counterfeit.
Sakura looked up and grinned brightly. "I s'ppose it'll do." She teased before she turned to lead the way to her brothers as she folded and stuffed the bill into her front pant pocket.
Taki continued to smile as she looked back to the Greek scholar, who winked at her as she walked around to Taki's side. Taki soon had a knowing look in her eyes as she folded her arms across her stomach. "Let me guess; I have to pay you back?" She asked in a tone that sounded as if she didn't need to put it in the form of a question.
Sophitia smirked as she looked away and patted the taller woman's shoulder twice. "Maybe for just two or three more subway fares." She stated in a strange tone that sounded as if she was forgiving her for something. 'Th-wack!' She winced as she jumped at the feel of her short-haired sister's palm harshly hit the back of her shoulder. With shocked, questionable eyes she turned to see her sister's bewildered and angered gaze, which she confusedly quirked an eyebrow at. "If this has something to do about the ten dollars, I only did it so that it would be in return for my being late! Don't be mad at Sakura or Taki." She exclaimed as if she figured that Cassandra would never understand. She suddenly felt Taki pull on her arm, telling her to start following her Asian sister, as the sixteen-year-old was almost across the room and staring at them strangely, no doubt wondering what was taking them so long.
"I'm not mad at her, I'm mad at you!" Cassandra stated in a protesting tone as she hurried to Sakura along with Sophitia at her side. "You gave her my spending money!" She added in an even louder and almost appalled tone, which, lucky for Sophitia, didn't attract a whole lot of attention due to the music, noises and voices around the room.
Sophitia blinked at her then sighed almost pitifully at the situation that came into her mind. "You didn't bring your own money?" She asked in an almost nervous tone as she mentally counted how much money she still had in her wallet, as if she could foresee her own bankruptcy.
"Of course I did." Cassandra returned in a tone as if it was obvious she would. "It's just that you never know when extra money may be needed." She added with a simple shrug, as though 'borrowing' money from other people meant nothing to her.
"Uh huh… Right." Sophitia commented with another sigh as she could definitely see financial dept coming.
After passing people around rows and groups of video games of different genres and almost ending up in the back of the room, Sakura finally stopped in front of a huge-screened game holding two fake sniper rifles at its sides and readied a coin between her fingers. She turned and pointed over to two huge machines that, with the images and logos on its sides and back as they covered the seats and players from view, appeared to be based on truck-racing. "'Harry and Lloyd' are over in those things. They've played almost every racing game since we arrived." She informed as she slipped the coin into one of the slots and took her rifle underneath her arm as she waited for her turn to start.
"Want some company?" Cassandra asked with anxiously raised eyebrows, a hidden grin and a raised coin placed in between her fingers as she stood herself next to the prepared Sakura. The Japanese girl who was hardly any taller than herself replied with a competitive grin which was all that Cassandra needed to drop the quarter into the second slot and ready her sniper rifle beneath her arm.
Taki turned to meet her brothers and Sophitia reluctantly followed, figuring that her sister would be fine on her own as she had claimed many times before. "'Harry and Lloyd'?" Sophitia mentioned in near complete confusion as she caught up to the eldest sibling of the four Japanese gamers.
Taki seemed to snigger as Sophitia brought it back up as they crossed the room to the simulators designed to look like the heads of trucks. "She likes to refer Keiichi and Haitani to the characters of "Dumb and Dumber" because they always act so moronic whenever they're together." She explained with an amused look still on her face as they came up to the two brothers who where clearly focused on their race. Taki stopped in between the two half-cubicle seats, folded her arms over her stomach as she leaned her body against the side of Keiichi's cubicle and darted her eyes to both her brothers' screens to see who was in the lead.
She watched as their arms jerked every which way as they kept their hands on the wheel to dodge obstacles within the game and kept shooting their free hands to their tall, long gear shifts that were placed into the floor in between their legs for the purpose of making it easier for the players. Haitani finally had a free moment to look up to his side when he noticed at the corner of his eye that someone tall was standing in between him and his two-years-older brother. "Oh, hey Taki!" He yelled over the sound effects and fast-paced music. "Finally made it, eh? Me and Keiichi thought you had finally killed yourself on your beloved motorcycle." He added with a strangely amused look on his face as he kept his narrowed eyes locked upon the screen and jerked his wheel again.
Taki swept her eyes (which were narrowed for a completely different reason) to her spiky-haired, eighteen-year-old brother's face and glared so agitatedly at him that it almost looked like a sneer. "I notice your overwhelming concern. Sorry I worried you two." She spoke cockily, although Haitani barely seemed to notice as he made another jerk and shifted his metal, red-handled gear stick. Only Keiichi seemed to chuckle at the tone of her response.
"She's not that easy to get rid of." Sophitia commented simply, making Haitani sharply but briefly turned his head to the opposite side of where Taki stood as he recognized the sound of her voice. He looked at her with surprise and intrigue at the fact that she was here as well as she had her arm placed onto the top corner of his cubicle, leaning on it in a lazy, almost bored fashion as she kept her other hand in her pocket.
As he looked back to the screen, he chuckled almost deviously within his throat. He leaned and turned his head slightly towards his sister as a smiled crept on his face. "You brought her eh?" He asked in a low tone so that Sophitia wouldn't hear, although Taki noticed the glint of excitement beneath his smug, coal-brown eyes.
Taki rolled her eyes at his usual behavior that he always showed around girls. "Her sister wanted to come as well, so she's here too." She spoke dully and absentmindedly just for the purpose of informing him. Haitani immediately whipped around with eagerness as he looked up at Taki as if wondering if it was really true. Taki's eyes narrowed because of his perverted mind surfacing, which she could very well see in his facial expression, wide eyes, and especially his grin. Haitani pulled back in a speck of nervousness that slowly heightened as Taki slowly leaned down towards with a glare of warning complete with an accusingly pointed finger. "Don't even think about it you little lecher!" She warned in a very low voice as she watched her brother quirk an eyebrow at her. "She's three years younger than you and from what I could deduce from the time that I spent with her, I can tell that she's a bit of a man-eater." She gestured up to Sophitia with her thumb. "And I can assure you that she's even worse." She promised with a small smirk as she stood herself straight again.
Haitani blinked as he looked at his sister for a moment then slowly turned back sit back against his seat. He sighed silently as he seemed to have a feeling of indecision. "Alright then, I'll my best and try to resist a kitsune like her." He shrugged slightly as if to try and brush off the thought of his limitations.
"What does that mean anyway?" Sophitia suddenly spoke up with a look of both confusion and curiosity as she looked down at the spiky-haired boy who had called her that once before.
Haitani looked up at her strangely as if he was now under a certain amount of stress. "Eh-ah-what? 'Kitsune'?" He faltered slightly as her blinked at her a few times; he looked as if he was in disbelieve. He watched her nod then slowly turned to his brother and sister with a raised eyebrow as if to ask for help. Both stammered as they cleared their throats slightly as they looked away and onto the floor as if to completely ignore him, although he could see that they were feeling just as embarrassed about saying it as he was. Just suddenly saying things to girls that might be an insult to them was a pretty embarrassing thing to do or at least the embarrassment would occur right after depending upon the reaction. He cleared his throat as he looked back up nervously to Sophitia's bewildered gaze. "Kit-kitsune means… um…"
"'Fox'…?"
Sophitia jumped as she heard a deep, very masculine voice right behind her and instinctively shot her leg backwards towards the source of the voice. She heard him let out a deep, heaving exhale over her shoulder as her foot made a hard impact with him. Sharply turning to see who was behind her, her eyebrows raised as she saw an older man with a broad chest, tied-up long ebony hair that was just about the length of her own blonde, and a small amount of facial hair. His hands were burrowed in between his baggy-panted legs as he hunched over slightly on the floor and breathed out loud shudders. His eyes remained wide and fixed upon the floor that he laid upon.
"Ho-boy…" Taki sighed as she carelessly ran a hand through her bangs before she walked over to her breathless ex. She kneeled down and placed her hands on his shoulders as she tried to help him back to his knees while she kept repeating the word "breathe" to help him in trying to ease his pain.
"Who's this?" Sophitia briefly pointed at his shuddering form as she asked in an almost demanding voice, still a little appalled by what he had called her.
Taki glanced in her direction as she helped heave him up. "Mitsurugi. He's a friend of mine." She explained simply.
"And before you call me a lecher…" Mitsurugi spoke up in a rather shallow voice. "'Kitsune means 'Fox'. I just said it because I was wondering why you two kept mentioning the Japanese translation." He stated as he tried to stand with the help of Taki's arm only to have his legs end up faltering and staggering under his own weight. He looked down as he closed his eyes tightly. "Wow, you have hard heels." He added with loud exhale.
Sophitia's eyes seemed to narrow slightly as she turned to the snickering Haitani as he was trying to hold back his laughter at the fact that Taki's ex-boyfriend, the all-masculine 23-year-old, was just kicked in the crotch. She leaned up close to him as she folded her arms. "You know, as flattering as calling me a 'fox' may seem…" Sophitia stopped as she suddenly shot her foot out at kicked Haitani's gear shift. The shift bent backwards and ran right in between Haitani's legs. The lenses of his eyes seemed to go incredibly dilated before he cringed horribly and let out a loud howl of pain which attracted quite a bit of attention from the people around him that he had startled with his yell. Sophitia quirked an eyebrow as she leaned against the screen of the video game that was now rolling the credits. "I'm one of the many that can't be amused by behavior like yours." She added in a deep and serious yet simple-sounding tone.
"Grrr…yep, argh, I th-think I got your
point!" Haitani grunted in agony as he looked up at her with a look of exasperated pain as his hands shot down towards the gear shift and tried to push it away only to realize that it was jammed.
"What in the world are you guys doing over here?" Sakura ran up to them with Cassandra walking behind, the short-haired blonde seemed to hold a small pout, displaying her 'anguish' of defeat in the sniper game. The both looked around to see Mitsurugi still leaning on Taki with his legs quite bent and her youngest brother as he seemed to be strangely fidgety in his seat. She looked over to find a bent metal bar crushed in between his legs. She tried to hold in her grin. "Must be why they call it a 'joystick'." Sakura commented with a small giggle as Haitani shot a look at her. "What? Need some help? Perhaps a blowtorch could work." She added as she bit her lip as her laughter became harder and harder to contain.
"NO! NO BLOWTORCH!" Haitani covered his lowers with both hands as he protested loudly which made the neighboring racing video gamers to look over at him. They looked at him with a strangely quirked eyebrow until their eyes dropped down to where the long piece of metal was lodged. Their faces cringed immediately at the sight.
Sophitia slowly turned to Mitsurugi, who actually cringed a bit himself at the fact that Haitani's pain wouldn't diminish as long as the shift stayed in place. "Sorry I kicked you." She started as her eyes darted when Mitsurugi looked at her. "It was a reflex and I was actually aiming for your stomach." She added as she rubbed her nape in slight nervousness of what Mitsurugi might say.
"No problem." He shrugged slightly, making Sophitia look at him with a stunned expression on how he was taking this so well. "I've taken more abuse before." He sighed as he gestured towards Taki's direction.
Taki noticed this and narrowed her eyes at him while her lip twitched slightly. "Oh shut up you big wimp." She stated bluntly as she deliberately dropped him back to his knees. She turned as she noticed that a fighting game called 'Marvel' was vacant and so, in her curiosity and intrigue, walked over towards it a short distance away and pulled out a coin. "I hope you're not so touchy in games." She noted with a smirk as she noticed Mitsurugi walk, or mostly waddle, over to the 2-player spot and dropped in a coin.
"Oh we shall see." He stated smugly despite his partial numbness in his thighs that slowly left him. In a matter of seconds after constant jerking and slamming of the round buttons and small joysticks along with small laughs of self-confidence and grunts and twinges of aggression it was Taki left with a wide smile and Mitsurugi with a wide-open mouth, stunned at his own defeat.
"Sure, your Hulk is powerful, but Nightcrawler is so much faster." She stated with a smirk as she turned towards his dark look that was directed at her condescending words. His attention turned as he noticed Sophitia standing next to him and gazing at the screen that showed a tailed, blue-skinned and yellow-eyed creature standing tall and triumphantly while opposite of him showed a scarred, bruised and almost unconscious huge, green-skinned and haired beast with torn purple pants.
"Want to give it a try?" He persuaded with a raised eyebrow.
Sophitia's eyes shot to his and shrugged carelessly as she shook her head. "No thanks, I'm not into games all that much." She stated in a low tone as her eyes drifted across the control panel of the counsel. "The closest I've ever gotten to seriously playing games is playing Tetris on my cell phone whenever I'm bored." She added simply.
"Well then…" Taki started as she pulled the blonde-haired girl into Mitsurugi's place. "We've got to change that now don't we?" She smirked as she handed two quarters to the green-eyed girl whose eyebrow was quirked slightly. Sophitia opened her mouth to protest only to watch Taki eagerly drop her quarter in and press 'Start'. Sophitia sighed in defeat as she lazily dropped her coin in and watched as the character screen came up.
Sophitia's eyes ran across all the characters that she hardly knew until she found two female characters that she liked; a fire-enveloped Jean Grey and a long white-haired black woman named Storm. Noticing that she was running out of time, she quickly chose Storm, having a love for lightning herself although she couldn't explain why. Taki chose the character she used against Mitsurugi, adoring his light-footed speed.
Both characters pulled off a ready pose before they entered the 'arena', which appeared to be in the middle of a four-way intersection in city traffic during a night-like ambience. The second after the battle started, Taki eagerly and relentlessly came at Sophitia's character. The more game-experienced girl repeatedly and randomly pressed the four commands tirelessly. Sophitia was surprisingly calm as she tried to fight back with the same method that Taki used. As Sophitia's health points fell, Taki inwardly smirked as she was about to count her next victory.
"Ah, I see what you're doing." Sophitia suddenly noted in her calm voice as if she just realized it. Taki raised a questionable eyebrow at her only to end up watching her own character get thrown, beaten, and struck by harsh flashes of her lightning bolts coming from high off-screen. Her eyes slowly widened with each passing second as she tried desperately to fight back to no avail; Sophitia kept ducking, blocking, striking, and leg-sweeping her which was always followed by a hard kick as her character was down.
Taki kept glancing at her in her aggravation as she watched the tables turn between them. "What? Did you just realize that the idea of the game is to bring down your opponents' life points?" She asked in a mocking voice that she didn't meant to bring out but was forced to as her surprise increased with every chunk of points that was taken from her. She began to panic as her character's life points was beginning to near its end.
Sophitia glanced at her with an expression that still seemed to hold indifference at the events. "No body's that dense." She stated with a small chuckle at the idea of someone not knowing simple rules to such things. "It's just that that little blue creature of yours can't seem can't seem to take long-ranged attacks as he himself is apparently a close-range fighter. He, or you like to pull off high-horizontal attacks as well as speedy moves." She explained as if she was giving a simple overall conclusion in a presentation of some sort. Taki glanced at her after she heard her scholar-like assertion.
However, her action proved to be her final as well as fatal mistake as she heard her character let out a deeply-pitched cry of agony and then a loud "K.O.!" from the narrator as the letters seemed to slam against the screen. Storm whirled around in the air once before she faced her fallen opponent with her arms crossed over her stomach and displayed smugly triumphant eyes and a smirk. Nightcrawler seemed to be wallowing in his defeat with his hands behind his head as he bent it downward towards his kneeled knees on the ground.
Taki's eyes narrowed slightly as she noticed that a huge "Congratulations!" sprung onto Sophitia's side of the screen. Sophitia slowly turned towards her with a look of complete indifference as if her victory meant nothing to her. Her expression looked as though she mentally questioned "Are we done now?" in a dulled sort of way. Taki blinked through her now-competitive gaze that was directed at the blonde-haired girl then suddenly whipped out two coins for the both of them and bent down to slip it into her coin slot. "Two out of three!" Taki declared quickly and broadly.
Sophitia groaned in aggravation as she rolled her neck and eyes slightly. "Oh come on!" She protested in an almost whine-like tone. "I'm not into games, remember?" She reasserted with a quirked eyebrow.
Taki brought herself up from her position of bending over to reach the coin slot and matched Sophitia's quirked eyebrow as she placed a hand on her hip. "Why don't you ever play games? I mean your obviously good at it so why not give it a try once and a while. It won't kill you y'know." The taller girl stated as if it all was obvious to anyone.
Sophitia looked away slightly as she switched the weight on her legs. She let her eyes travel over the control panel of the video game. "I don't have the time. Once you get hooked on it it drains your life away because of your addiction to it. There isn't a real point in playing them, and getting better at your schoolwork and grades is better than getting better at your scores in video games because your scores in games won't help you at all later in life so its just a big waste of time." Sophitia stated as if they were all simple yet powerful notations as she looked back up to Taki's whose furrowed gaze slowly relaxed as she had listened; they were all true points.
Taki looked down in a rather speechless fashion as she turned to lean her backside against the control panel. "Alright, good points." Taki looked back up to Sophitia's green gaze. "I'm hoping to get into the university you're into, so maybe we can make a deal of you showing me the school and I won't make you play any games, fair?"
Sophitia blinked as she thought about the proposition then slowly nodded, believing it'll be good for Taki to know what to be prepared for if she does make it into NYU. "Maybe if you lay off the games a bit yourself." She noted as she pointed at the ebony-haired woman.
Taki smiled as she shook her head and raised her hands as if to show her innocence. "Heh-hey, I'm not as bad as those game-junkies." She motioned to her two bothers with her thumb. She turned as she heard an excited-sounding laugh from Sakura. They both looked over to see Keiichi trying to pull back the shift that was still jammed, but his strength didn't seem to be enough although Sakura held a small mallet that she found from a corner of the room in her hand. She pulled the mallet high over her head with an insanely excited grin.
"Here, let your loving-sister help ya!" She yelled jokingly then laughed as her troubled and pained brother let out a shriek of terror as he noticed the mallet over him.
Cassandra came up between the two elder sisters and smirked. "And I though my family was insane when together." She noted aloud, making Taki and Sophitia chuckle.
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Again, sorry this was so late, I noticed that I hadn't posted anything in about 22 days which was a real surprise for me and forced me to write more after dealing with my laziness that occurred for a few days after my midterm week. I don't know how long the next update will take to finish and post, I haven't even started on it because I've been so focused on this one. I only have some of the scenes of the next ANE chapter worked out (but not on print) while the rest I'm still thinking about for the chronology of it all so that it's equal and understandable. It may take a few weeks, even with my extra study halls due to all the planning but I'll try to work on it in and out of classes.
I hope you liked this chapter though, it was kind of an extra fun episode (much like the others, I know). I actually had another fun scene planned out that I didn't think was as questionable as the other one that I mentioned in the AN at the top of the page, but I moved idea of that scene to another fanfic that I plan to write after I finish this fanfic (to forward you, it won't be a SC based fanfic, it's a manga. I know, quite a change on my part, but I've been having flashes of ideas for scenes for a while).
To Witch-Hunter 51: I'm really glad you like my fanfic thus far, I'm really hoping that it'll be funny but not go too far (so far by which the fanfic become crude and misunderstanding, not by what I wrote in this one with the pain I put Mitsurugi and Haitani through ;P). As I said to the rest of my readers, sorry for the delay and keeping you waiting, after the midterms my laziness caught up to me. I hope the update was good enough to make up for that though )
To Lokiador: Really sorry for the delay, I didn't mean for it to run this far, glad to know that you're so eager ;) As per your previous review I'm glad you feel that way about it as well as the way I characterized Cassandra. I tried to get as close to the game-character's persona as I could as well as showing some possible hidden features about them. When you mentioned the Dragonmistress and Sacredemblem recognition, I slapped my hand to my forehead; I completely forgot. Didn't really have as space to put a scene in either but I'm planning to pit one in at the near-beginning of the next chapter ) I know this one wasn't really as 'sweet' but I hope you liked it nonetheless ;)
To cocoacashu: Wow: ) Thank you so much for your last review, all you said meant a lot to me. I'm really happy you liked Cassandra's character, I tried to show as much of the game-character as possible with showing her strong attitude. I figured people would like the scene with Cassandra showing up in Taki's bed because it would be just a great comedy to put in and the scene that I got the idea from in a manga/anime I always loved and always cracked me up every time I saw it ;P In the last scene with the cat I just thought what it would be like and what I would say if I was in her shoes ;P And hey, I could never think that anyone was a loser no matter what they do (besides people into crime or drugs etc. because it shows how they give up on life so easily) and I'm glad that you felt honored by what I said and I really mean it : ) I know Yunsung isn't in and I was planning to put him into this chapter but it got too long to fit him anywhere and the idea of Mina and Yunsung being there at the same time would be a bit too large of a coincidence, but I'm planning to put him in soon (believe me, he's definitely going to be in this fanfic )) I hope you liked this chapter as much as the others, the next one should be just as good, or at least I'm hoping ; )
To reika45: I hope you liked this chapter, I know there wasn't any of the 'suggestive' positions in this chapter but I'm trying to put another one in in the next chapter, the next one should be a real laugh for the readers or so I hope ) I figured that everyone would like the kotatsu scene because it seems to show (what I like to call) 'pleasurable anguish' between Sophitia and Taki ;P I'll try to get to the next chapter of this fanfic as soon as I can after I write the next chapter of ANE.
To El Loco: I'm sorry you were never informed of my new fanfic, I figured you'd find out eventually and I actually wanted you to find out on your own so that you could read it for yourself ;) LOL, Astaroth? Heh-heh, I'll see what I can do, I had an idea after you thought of him being in the fic where he would participate in school as the gym teacher. But I actually figured that Rock would fit that roll better, sorry though, I'm still thinkin' of where I could possibly put him if I could find a funny yet respectable place for him. LoL, easy on those tacos by the way ;)
To Rain54: Yeah, I figured it would be cool to have two people from completely different backgrounds and upbringings live together. Cass is quite the important character in this fic and for a number of reasons, the main one being that I can use her to tweak humor into the fic. There will be a little more denial from Sophitia in another scene of the next chapter, it won't be much but it'll certainly be funny although Sophitia isn't attracted to Taki "just yet" but affections will certainly show between one of the two main characters later in the fic ;)
To Chibi Fizz: Wow, did you just find me or have you been reading my work for a while now? Because your automatic decision on putting me on your fav list is both stunningly surprising and flattering : ) I really appreciate your liking my chapters thus far : )
To mentalretard: Wow, the kotatsu was obviously popular, I'm glad you liked it, sorry for my delay, by the way : )
To Weaselbeast: You can criticize (at least around the way that you did it in your last review) all you want; it's your opinion and I'm happy to explain them for you : ) The reasons the accidents have to have a sexual slant is because it adds more humor into it and it can be an interesting field to write. And you really don't have to be so hard on yourself, you're a better writer than you believe. And I realize why you do so, I do it to myself as well sometimes, but don't break yourself up for something you believe not to be true : )
To ChaiSeeker200: I kind of had to give Cassandra multiple personalities to make her likable for the reader so I'm glad you like her so far. I hope you liked how I put her in this time, and I'm trying to think up new ideas of having her in the fic in the next few chapters. With mastering characters, I pretty well-mastered with Sophitia yet Cassandra is harder because her moves are different, Xianghua I'm pretty good at as well but I'm best at Nightmare.