Ultra Special Note #1!hey, people! This is my first fanfic ever, so I'm hopin' it will turn out good... if it doesn't, please don't hurt me, I'm only thirteen, I'm not ready to die yet... Don't listen to her, this is a really cool story and you have no reason whatsoever to kill her. This is her beta-reader, and please read and review 4 her, 'kay?
Sometimes…I feel helplessly alone. Totally lost, in a world that just doesn't seem to care about me. Trapped in some sort of void, in which I'm stuck forever…
"Morning, Mitsuru! Time to get up!" Akira pulled open the blinds.
"Waah!" Mitsuru whipped the covers off of his head, glaring at the young werewolf, who seemed way too happy, in his opinion. "Ever heard of knocking? It's what you do with your hands when the door's closed."
Akira looked at him with wide eyes. "But your door wasn't closed. Anyway, Misoka wants everyone downstairs to talk to them. Says it's important. So hurry up!" He bounced on the bedcovers.
"Do you mind! Maybe you didn't get my point-GET OUT OF MY ROOM!"
Akira barely escaped with his life, due to large pillows and heavy objects being thrown after him to accompany him on his way out.
Slamming the door closed, Mitsuru sank slowly down to the floor, leaned against the heavy, solid oak door, and sighed. Closing his eyes, he tried to remember his dream… something about being lost, he was sure of that… and water. Yuck. He despised it, loathed it with every ounce of his tengu being. It seemed so harmless, and yet… it could swallow you up in an instant. Make you disappear forever. Suddenly, his brown eyes flashed open, reflecting his clasped hands that were resting between his knees. Yes, that was it…hands. Lots of them, reaching out for him. But there was a form…he could only see the outline; he was sure it was a person…a form… He shut his eyes, trying to recall the facts that were dripping away through the cracks of his memory. Why was it so hard to remember a dream that he had been having since the supposed "Moonlight Bandits" had found the last Teardrop! Thinking furiously, he began to remember…
"Mitsuru? Get down here, or Misoka's gonna blow!"
He yanked open the door, cursing Nozomu with every step he took towards the meeting below.
"This may be a bit of a shock to you all, but…we have a problem with the Teardrops of the Moon."
Akira's mouth dropped open. "Whaaat! Were they stolen!" he turned to Mitsuru. "They were stolen, Mitsuru! Isn't that AWFUL!"
"No, the ones we found were-and still are-in perfect condition," said Misoka, trying his best to ignore the fact that Akira was shaking Mitsuru by the shoulders ("They were STOLEN!" "Get off me, you lunatic!").
Akira stopped his innocent abusing of Mitsuru's private space and stared. "Eh!"
"Then I don't see a problem," said Nozomu, leaning against a wall, looking at Misoka with a confused expression.
"Me, either. Time to go!" Mitsuru started out of the room.
"Stay." Misoka looked at him. "This is serious."
"But you just told us there was a problem, and then you say everything's fine…" Akira tilted his head to the side, his eyes wide and curious.
"Yeah, the only thin that seems to be serious right now is the fact that you're losing your mind," Mitsuru smirked, settling himself comfortably against the wall.
"Just listen to him, will ya!" Nozomu glared dangerously at the tengu. Akira's wolf ears lowered in shame, and he sniffed unhappily.
"It appears that all of the Teardrops that are proven to exist are found, that's true, but… we have received information that there are another set of Teardrops that contain fierce and legendary power." Misoka began to pace the room, being carefully watched by Nozomu.
"What!" Akira and Nozomu stared at him, apparently lost for words.
"…And who told you that load of junk? Why the heck would there be other jewels or whatever if they've never been heard about before? You're crazy, man. If you've been smoking something…"
"Mitsuru!"
The tengu jumped; he had practically forgotten that Mahiru had been called to the meeting as well. Darn it-why couldn't she not interfere for once!
"That was mean, especially after all Misoka's done for finding the first set of Teardrops…besides, he could be right. Just because you haven't heard of it doesn't mean it couldn't exist."
"I-we-you-ahh…!" Mitsuru had been about to speak his mind, decided against it, and turned tail to run before he exploded.
"Ooh, he got told! Did you see the blush on his face?" Nozomu laughed evilly. Within the next few seconds, he ran for his life as a wine glass went sailing past his face.
"Wanna say that to my face, bat boy!"
"Now, now…I know you were shocked to have your girlfriend disagree with you, but-"
"She's NOT my girlfriend-"
"Come on, we all know that-"
"You're asking for it, punk!"
"Let's go somewhere a bit quieter, hmm?" Misoka stood up, motioned Akira and Mahiru to follow, and headed for the most peaceful area in the house- his bedroom. Even though it was located on the other side of the building, he still had to close his door because of the racket downstairs.
"Now, let's see…" Misoka reached out for a book on his shelf and turned to his expecting audience.
"I got a book from the library about the Teardrops of the Moon, and from my calculations (not to mention information from the great Oboro-san), there are at least seven Teardrops that have never been found."
Akira's ears and tail appeared, along with a confused expression and a sidelong glance at Mahiru. "Then how do we know that they're actually there if they've never been found…?"
Misoka flipped through the book, and rested his finger on a page. "Legend has it that there were separate Teardrops the Princess of the Left gave the Demon as a token of love, and he buried them safely away throughout the earth. So when he died, the legend became what it is today-pure myth."
"But even some fairytales have a bit of truth in them, right?" Mahiru sat up on Misoka's bed, clutching one of his pillows and gazing intently at him.
"Exactly, Princess. Which is why we are going to find the legendary teardrops, and prove the legends true." He looked at both of them, closing the book firmly between his fingertips. "I'll look more of it up later, but that's it for now. I just thought that you all might like to be filled in on the subject…" he stood up to place the book on the shelf again.
"D'ya want me to tell the others?" Akira started for the door.
"No. I'll tell them later, when they aren't acting like idiots."
They left, the meeting finally being adjourned until another day.
"Let me get this straight. Ya mean to tell me that we're going to look for something that may or may not exist, and turn all of Japan over looking for something that we have no clue where the heck it is!" Mitsuru leaned against the refrigerator, his feet beginning to get cold n the hard, linoleum floor.
"Yup!" Akira happily poured milk in his cereal, and pulled his traditionally slightly-gold toast out of the toaster.
"You're insane. He's insane. I'm living with a bunch of lunatics!" He pulled some leftover curried rice from the fridge and heated it up in the microwave.
"I think that the actual problem is that you like things to be pure, solid fact and dislike it when something unusual turns up. Am I right?" Nozomu looked up from the tiny radio he was tinkering with to examine his reaction.
"Hmmph."
Nozomu turned back to his work, taking a swig of tomato juice. Sometimes, Mitsuru was just so predictable.
"What's so funny!"Mitsuru snarled, looking at the grin that was slowly appearing on the vampire's face.
"Hmm? Oh, nothing…"
Mitsuru decided to give it up. You just couldn't pick a fight on an empty stomach…
"Hey, Mitsuru?"
"What, bat boy."
"Sometimes the hardest thing is telling the truth and riskin' everything you've got, ya know?"
Now where the heck did that come from? Mitsuru opened his mouth to tell him so…
"GOOD MORNING!" Mahiru's cheerful face appeared in the doorway, to be accompanied by an equally cheerful pair of pajamas.
Ugh. How can she be so darn cheerful? It must be against the law. Or something. "Morning, loser."
Almost immediately he was hit from behind by Nozomu, causing his face to be magnetically attracted to his rice bowl.
"Owww…"
"Good morning, princess."
"Morning! Let's play a game, Mahiru! Let's play a game!"
"Maybe later, Akira; I have school today…"
Maybe if he just suffocated in his rice bowl and died no one would notice. Heck, who would care? One more of everybody's worries gone…
"Erm, Mitsuru?"
"Woit." (What)
"Why's your face in your rice bowl?"
Man, he couldn't stand happy-go-lucky, carefree werewolves, either. Just the sight of one in a good mood, it could make you do things you never thought possible.
Nozomu seemed t sense unease rising from the face in the bowl. "Let's go set up the kitchen for customers, Akira!"
"Then we can play a game!"
"Sure. Time for school, Mahiru! It starts in twenty minutes!"
"Thanks, Nozomu! Have a good day, everyone!"
Don't you need to chang-"
"Already did! Gotta go, or I'll miss the train!"
"Okay…you do that."
Within the next few seconds, the kitchen was evacuated.
Oh, thank goodness for silence. Mitsuru had always thought it was a useful thing to have around…
Mahiru rushed into school just before the bell rang, and took her seat at the toll of the last bell.
"Hey, Duckie!"
She turned around to come face to face with her best friend Junko.
"Hi! It feels like I haven't been in school for days!"
"I know, but it was only Sunday yesterday. A bit late this morning, huh?" Junko raised her eyebrows.
"Yeah, sorry…I left a bit late…" Mahiru fished her homework out from her bag.
"Were you with your boyfriend again?"
"Huh?" She stared at her. Boyfriend? She didn't…
"Yeah… that guy we met on the school fieldtrip with that cool green hair and those brown, serious eyes?" Junko looked like she was laughing.
"I've told you before! He's not my boyfriend, we're just friends!"
"Uh huh. So what's that blush on you cheeks for, eh?" She tried not to smirk triumphantly, but was having a bit of a hard time.
Mahiru sighed and leaned against the back of her chair. She had tried to explain her relationship to the tengu boy many times now, but…all she seemed to do was brush off her explanations like they were nothing.
"Miss Shirashi?" The teacher peered out from behind his immense role book.
"Yes, sir?" Mahiru looked up, suddenly aware of all the eyes on her.
"Good. You're alive. Maybe next time you'll have the courtesy to grace us with a simple 'here!' when your name is called on the first time, not on the fourth."
"Y-yes, sir." Sinking back in her chair with embarrassment, she tried to fight the red rising in her cheeks.
"Next time, it will be a detention slip for drifting off in class. Do you understand?"
She sighed inwardly. "I understand, senpai."
As he continued down the list, Junko whispered in her ear, "Sorry, Duckie. Didn't mean to get you in trouble."
"It's all right…" she gazed out the window, far away in a world that did not include geometry, English, science, or teachers calling your name. Thank goodness.
"Psst-Nozomu!"
"What, Akira?"
"Do you think Mitsuru is upset right now?" he was low to the countertop, automatically the suspect of guilt.
"Hmm. I don't know what about…besides the ridiculing, object-throwing, yelling, and the face-smashing, there's nothing to be upset about." Nozomu continued to dry the plate Akira had handed him moments before.
"Yeah…it's probably nothing. Just seems like he's sorta-"
"-Down?"
"Yeah! Exactly! Could he be mad at Misoka?"
"But what about?" They looked at each other.
"Nah!"
Geez, Misoka made him so made. Furious. Completely enraged. Totally incensed. But…he didn't know why. Mitsuru absent-mindedly wrote down the orders of his customers and trailed off to the kitchens when they finished babbling their nonsense. The fox never jumped headfirst into something when they couldn't see where the bottom was. So…why now? He passed the list off to Akira, and went back to his private corner to think things over. He remembered Misoka saying he was ill…but that was cured when they found the Teardrops wasn't it? Nothing made sense right now. And man, did that make him confused and irritable. He watched Misoka from behind a table, polishing the glass so well, he polished the label right off. Something wasn't right. He didn't know how it wasn't, but he could feel it. This wasn't going to be an easy mission. Heck, they didn't even know where to start!
"God, this is stupid,"Mitsuru muttered.
"Did you say something?" Akira tilted his head to look at him while gracefully keeping the fish that was in the pan he was holding…well, inside.
"No…"
"Are you sure you don't want to talk? Are you upset?"
"I'm fine. Leave me alone."
"Sorry!"Akira frowned, and turned back to his fish.
There are times when I wish I had never been born, and yet…I also wish I had the choice to be someone else. Anyone else. If only that was possible. But it's not. Not for me. If it was, everyone would leave me alone.
Continuation of #1:) Hope you liked it! Please review!