Chapter 7
Okay,
I'll tell you my answers in a minute. I'll tell you this much
though, one of you got it right (I'm glad I seem older, hee
hee)
Disclaimer: You know it, do I have to go through all this
crud again? You already know who I own, Kimihiro and Kai and Serafin
and most of the fanged creatures… so please leave me alone with
everything else. grins evilly
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
He jolted up at the Beast's words, his heart racing almost literally out of his chest. Finding himself with such a stupidly eager expression, Kai pulled his bangs back, carefully eyeing Serafin in case she let out any sign of infidelity (unfaithfulness, I know it's usually used for couples, but he's seeing whether she's screwing with him.) The Beast glared him fully in the eye, before rising on her hind legs.
"Why,
you think I lie?"
"You're a Seraphim's Pet, not a Seraphim
itself, nothing drastic will happen to you if you do. And I have a
feeling you're just toying with me. Really, Serafin, I am used to
that, and I hate it when people… or in your case…things, try to
mess with me about it.
"Listen,
Seraphim. I am ashamed! When people expect so much of you and you
satisfy them, it's like trying to give water to a thousand people
when all you have is half a flask! If you give them a little, they
just want more… and more… and more…! Some people tell me that
I'm just a late bloomer. Some say I'm a disappointment. Some say
all I need is an inspiration—"
Kimihiro grabbed hold of his
jacket as the ground began to quake violently. Serafin took a leap to
avoid the sudden Earth movement, then landed softly, her legs
suddenly extending into slender, pale, human ones, her paws turning
into hands, her dog-like face melting into a humanoid face. The
clothing that covered her was limited and ragged, and her pale brown
her was messily clipped up, enormous fangs stuck from her lips,
apparently her teeth had undergone no transformation. Six long,
streamlined wings extended from her back.
The Earth gave a final rumble as Kai stared at this new creation, in awe.
"S-Serafin?"
The
Angel tossed her head to the side, not wanting to speak to him.
"I'm
getting sick and tired of being called a 'pet!' Seraphim 'Pets'
run around their masters and mistresses like the bunch of skanks they
are, always begging to be ridden, if you know what I mean. And it's
not as though they look like little, cute, dogs. They look normal.
This is what I look like, okay! You think that not being able to use
your stupid powers is bad! What if your entire race were a bunch of
bloody sluts and didn't know right from wrong! What if you were
looked upon as a low, skanky, sleaze just because of how all your
comrades acted? You say that you are ashamed. Yet, not so to the
point where you'd leave the place where the restless rest and food
is a want, not a necessity. So shut up now that you're
satisfied!"
The seemingly stable angel fell to her knees and
punched the ground with such force that she bore a hole into the
ground.
"Serafin…"
Kimihiro walked slowly towards her. "Why didn't you ever tell me
earlier?"
"It was unnecessary to do so. This boy needs to stop
feeling sorry for his pampered butt and get to the point. Besides, it
was like just starting puberty. He needed to have 'the talk.'"
In
a flash, she was her dog-like form again, pale blue tail lashing out.
"Hop on, we don't want you to be late."
Swinging her
injured leg over Seraphim, she carefully examined the two
lacerations. Kai carefully climbed on as well, eyeing her wound
carefully. Without hesitation, he reached out to touch it. Groaning,
she gently caught his hand.
"Are
you all right?"
"Yes."
"Does it hurt?"
"No."
"Are
you lying to me?"
Kimihiro smiled, bringing her eyes to meet his
concerned ones.
"Yea.
I guess."
He brought his hand down again on her thigh, earning
him a couple inquisitive looks from her. Opening her backpack for
her, her pulled out a few alcohol swabs, and, grabbing her hand for
comfort, ran them softly down the wound. She groaned again, resting
her head on his shoulder to support herself.
"Gomen."
"It's
fine."
He ran the alcohol swabs down it again, and she bit her
lip. Again. Her teeth sunk into her lips, and a few drops of blood
rested on them, daring the others to race down to her chins.
"Ah,"
Kai said, as he noticed them. "You shouldn't do that, I don't
think it'd be a good idea to ruin such perfect lips as yours."
She
licked the blood softly.
"Shut
up."
Stuffing the medical waste into his pocket, he gently
pulled out some gauze, wrapping it securely around her leg, then
lifted his head.
"Do
you want a bandage instead of this crap?"
She nodded. "I have
a few bigger sizes in there."
He needn't be told that, he
slowly unwrapped her leg and placed the plastic firmly on the
affected area.
"That should do."
"Yea.
Thanks."
He grinned, slowly helping her put her backpack on as
Serafin gained speed, jetting into the sky.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Serafin landed with a bump, unloading her passengers without hesitation. The area before them was barren, but they could see, right in the center of the land, a vast area filled with people, shaped in the shape of a circle, with an empty space in the middle.
"This
is the meeting place. Kimihiro, can you walk?"
With a humph, she
nodded, taking a careful step onto the land, before groaning and
reaching for her leg. Smiling, he turned around.
"I'll
carry you."
She couldn't disagree, for once, she was curious
to see about this 'meeting.' Without hesitation, she boosted
herself up with her good leg, quickly wrapping her arms around his
neck to keep from falling. With a grin, they began walking down.
(MirSan Flashback)
"Houshi-sama. Kirara is tired."
She slipped from the beast's back, who gave a small sound of
approval, and immediately turned back into a kitten. Landing hard on
her rear, she rubbed it softly.
"Hm.But your wounds are not
fully healed, am I right? Especially the one just inflicted on your
rump."
The only cover-up for her obvious blush was the furious expression she placed on her face like a mask.
"No, my wounds are not fully healed. But I should be able to
walk still."
"Ah. No need. Climb on my back."
"But
houshi-sama…"
The monk smiled, putting a hand up to tell her
that he wished to speak.
"My dear Sango, it pains me to hear you address me as
Houshi-sama and not Miroku. I wish to have the satisfaction of the
fact that we are close."
The tajiya smiled, then started again.
"Miroku…"
"That's better."
"Miroku, what
if… what if Kagome or Shippou or Inu see us? What will they
say?"
He smiled, boosting her carefully onto his back.
"Shippou can say what he likes. It doesn't concern me, nor should it you. Kagome can say nothing. She rides on Inu constantly, that is her means of transportation. And for today, I am yours."
She smiled, wrapping her arms his neck, nuzzling into the soft black hair that coated his head, her eyes jetting to the glint of his earring, then that of the staff…
'I like this…' the thought seemed dirty in her mind. 'This is… home.'
0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0o0o0oo0o0o-
It was quite a sight, those thousands of sand-colored kimono-clad people, all looking at the center toward this old, mustached man.
"He
looks like a walrus."
Indeed he did, with his long white
mustache acting as tusks, and his large body as blobby as a walrus
would be. But she earned herself a glare from Kai instead of the
expected laugh.
"Don't
insult the elder. You could easily be killed for that.
Hear?"
Kimihiro nodded, stung by the sudden serious loyalty in
his voice. Resting her head on the small of his back, she sighed. His
seriousness at times could be so annoying…
She felt his muscles loosen up a bit, and he laughed softly.
"I
suppose you have a point," he said, the tone of his voice
suggesting that he had either been reminiscing or just daydreaming.
"His got those long white whiskers. When I was younger, they were
black, and really slick. I liked to play with them. You know, pull on
them and stuff."
She smiled, instantly imagining a baby Kai-sama
giggling and gurgling foolishly while yanking on the poor old man's
facial hair.
"You're
warm."
The words were definitely unexpected, and she jolted,
almost falling off of his back. Propping herself up, she peered down
at him, expecting him to have a wide, perverted smirk on his face,
but instead, she found a face of one in another world, in a distant
dream. His eyes seemed almost clouded, but that may have just been
because of the way the sun was hitting them indirectly. His smile was
slight, and, noticing her silence, he let out a soft sound, close to
a laugh.
"You
smell like… my mother."
She noticed how his grip on her legs
was increasing in strength, how he was starting to boost her up
often.
He opened his mouth to speak, and she readied herself for another unexpected 'compliment.'
"We're here." The smile on his face widened slightly, and she looked up.
The crowd was enormous, almost like a sea, from every direction there were nothing but people, people shouting, talking, crying, laughing, little kids running around and older boys flirting with the older girls.
"You can let me down now," she said, suddenly realizing that a few people were turning to look at them.
"Can
you walk?"
"Maybe."
"The answer has to be 'yes'
before I let you down."
"All right, yes."
"That wasn't
your first answer, hime."
She frowned at his newest nickname for
her, sticking her tongue out to show that she found it amusing.
"Princess?
Me? You must be joking."
He advanced towards the crowd, when two
men with rifles stopped them.
"Kai-sama,
sir," the first, one dark blue hair and spectacles said, "I am
sorry, we can't allow your little friend in. She has to be from the
village, no outsiders, for the elder's sake."
He gave the man
a glare that had 'death' written all over it, then said with an
almost royal air,
"Sorry,
Fuyu, we have to pass. This girl will do the Elder no harm."
The
other man, obviously not as calm as the first, huffed, "Let me get
this through your thick skull! I don't care who or what you are, so
even if you did have as much power and wisdom as the elder, I
wouldn't give a care what you say! Now let the girl down and leave
her with us!"
Kai's body was tensing up again, she could feel
the ripples of his back muscles now.
"No."
Trying to force his way through, he met Fuyu's arm.
"Gomen, Kai-sama, but we cannot let you through!"
"Sorry
isn't enough! Let me go!"
Kimihiro wrapped her legs tighter
around his torso, watching with fright as the man by the name of
'Winter' (that's what fuyu means) continued to argue with Kai.
Speechlessness overcame her for once in her life.
She shrieked. The other man was tugging on her injured leg, putting pressure on the wound almost deliberately. By instinct, she pulled up the Contour and blasted him in the chest.
The man fell back, and she fell down, her leg stinging and smarting and who knows what else.
Kai pushed against the man's arm again.
"I
swear if you don't let us through I'll cut your arm off!"
He
pulled out the sword-spear to prove it.
"Us? You speak of her
as though you are close. I hope Yoma knows nothing of this."
(By
the way, Yoma means monster, if you didn't already know.)
He
turned around, seeing Kimihiro on the ground, and helped her to her
feet.
"I
don't care if that witch knows. I don't care."
The earth
itself was trembling slightly, but she seemed to be the only one who
noticed.
"I
am sure she would though. I suggest you do not appear anywhere near
her with this girl in sight. She just might decide to put an end to
your newest hoe over there."
Fuyu began to smirk slightly, his
piercing brown eyes gazing down at them through the glasses.
The
ground went into a full-blast tremor. Kimihiro shrieked and looked
up.
"Kai!"
He
had Fuyu by the neck, glaring at him almost maniacally.
"You
speak of Kimihiro like that again, and I will put an end to you."
She
watched as he let him go gently, dropping him to the floor. All eyes
were on them.
"Get
on my back, Kimihiro."
She stared down at the men, one who
looked like he was having a pleasant dream, the other as though he'd
seen a ghost, then up at him.
But she obeyed, and he walked through. The heads turned as they passed, a thousand, maybe more, two, eyes locked on them. He stopped when her reached the inner circle, gently helped Kimihiro to a sitting position on the ground, then bowed before the walrus-man.
"Okaan-san!"
Kimihiro
lifted her eyes to see Midori, who immediately jumped up and ran into
her arms, careful not to touch her legs.
"Midori.
What're you doing here?"
The little girl grinned wolfishly,
her dark hair somehow brighter in the sun.
"They
wanna see if I'm a kitsune, Kimihiro! They said I got fang-things
and now my feet are getting too small for my shoes! I wanna be a
kitsune! They're cool! And elder says that there was this one that
went around with Miroku-sama hundreds of years ago and he was super
duper cute!"
"Was he?"
"Yea! Just like me, huh? Don't
you think so, mommy?"
Putting a hand to her head and laughing
softly, she received a glare from the walrus-man.
Gently releasing Midori, she beckoned for her to leave, then attempted to stand. Mission unsuccessful. She fell to her knees, the wound on her leg squashing against the rocky ground.
"Aita! Ow! Geesh!" she brought her leg from underneath her, finally sitting up.
"Kimihiro
Hinoshiba. I am sincerely sorry for the trouble I caused back there,
wal—I mean, sir… I'll leave the village if I must…"
Kai
gave her a look that said, 'Oh no you won't' all over it.
The walrus man smiled, revealing strong white teeth as opposed to the few, decaying ones she was expecting.
"But
you musn't dear, oh no, you are Kai-sama's guest, and you are
injured, therefore, you will stay until you are well, eh?"
She
bowed her head, and nodded. "You are too kind, sir." A thought
erupted in the back of her head though. 'Sama? Why is this man, who
is of such high importance, calling Kai master? Is the Kaiwaichi
Chosen that powerful?'
A scream erupted in the crowd.
"KAIKO! There you are!" (By the way, I know you're tired of the notes, but adding 'ko' to a name is like a romantically friendly way to address a person. What you would call your boo.)
The smile on Kai's face dissolved as he turned to see who had yelled out.
Of course, it was a female who had yelled out. And she was working her way through the crowd, her dark, long hair swimming about her, her jacket and an especially large T-shirt the only thing she was wearing. Her dark-brown eyes flashed to Kimihiro, and a look she could not imagine on that innocent figure on her face. It was of pure hatred, her lips virtually spelling the words, 'stay away, you sleaze,' and her eyes narrowing. She rolled her eyes and flipped her hair, then walked up to Kai, latching her arms around his. He tugged on it, trying to pull away, but she was grabbing on like a vice.
"Oh, Kaiko, I was wondering where you were… I've been missing you, didn't Renai tell you you had to visit me every Friday? I waited for you for ages, I even got dressed specially for you…"
Both Kai and Kimihiro felt their faces wrench in disgust.
"You got dressed especially for him? In that T-shirt? You skank!" The words erupted from her lips without warning, and she brought her hands to her mouth, flushing red as all eyes fastened upon her. The girl gave her a glare that would have killed a werewolf. Slowly releasing Kai, she walked towards Kimihiro, flipping her hair once more.
"Excuse
me," she said, looking Kimihiro up and down with this preppy look
on her face, her lips forming a sneer, "But nobody asked you about
what you thought about it. You needn't consider me your
equal."
The words stung her. Her clothes were relatively decent,
her shorts were even covered up by a long tie-up (or buckle-up)
skirt, and her shirt was not baggy, but it had sleeves, therefore
covering her up nicely.
"Your
equal? I am most definitely not your equal! In fact, I'm higher
than you could ever imagine!"
"Educate me, kohai."
(Means
teacher, but as though the teacher is of less class than you)
Growling, she attempted to get to her feet, but found that impossible, her leg slipping from under her. She didn't care anymore, she didn't care that everyone was watching, she didn't even care that she was creating a horrible first expression to the Elder.
"Ha!
Can't even stand, you cripple!"
Kai moved forward, clutching
his fists.
The Elder lifted his arm to stop him.
"Leave
the women to bicker over you. If you come between and stand by one of
them, the other will prove to be more trouble than you could ever
imagine. You know Yoma."
Launching a foot towards her, Yoma
kicked Kimihiro hard, in the stomach, and she doubled over, spitting
up a small amount of blood. The ground was trembling gently.
"All right, then," Kimihiro said, heaving, panting, "I didn't want to resort to desperate measures, but…"
Pulling out the Contour, she lashed it out and blasted the girl with it. She fell backwards, exposing to the village her lacy undergarments.
Panting and falling over, Kimihiro wiped her lips, shrugging off the red that came with it, ignoring the pain in her stomach.
"Kimihiro… you all right?" Kai asked, peering over her, slowly picking her up, bridal style this time.
"Do I look it?" those were her last words for the time being, the pain in her leg and her gut combining and destroying her conciousness.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
"Kimihiro? Kimihiro-chan? Are you awake?" She opened her eyes to meet Midori's happy-go-lucky ones.
She sat up, hand on her head, almost ramming into Midori's.
"The
meeting? What happened?"
Midori smiled sadly, carefully looking
down at her bare feet, with the little toes and the long toenails
wiggling.
"It was canceled. Yesterday. And you blacked out. Yesterday. Kai-sama ordered it. I've never seen him so angry. He tore a hole in the ground, but everyone's partying now, basically because he's got his powers now."
Kimihiro
sighed. "But that means you don't get to find out if you're a
kitsune!"
Midori nodded sadly.
"There's
always next year. Don't be sad for me, okaan-san. Worry about
yourself. Like I said. You blacked out. Yesterday."
The smile
that was threatening to reveal itself exploded across her face. She
could care less how long she'd blacked out for, she could only
remember that Midori had missed a once a year opportunity to find out
what… who… she truly was. Midori was so… cute. So innocently
adorable. It made her smile every time she mentioned the words
'okaan-san.'
"Oh…
Midori…"
She gave her a huge hug, then reached down to check
on her leg. The bandage was still there, but she felt no pain, from
neither the limb nor her stomach. Carefully lowering herself, she let
her feet touch the floor, waiting for the pain to return.
But it didn't. Happily, she danced from foot to foot, and looked around the room. Grabbing her backpack, and carefully strapping the Contour to her arm, she winked at the want-to-be-fox, then headed for the door.
As soon as she opened it, her ears were greeted with music, her eyes with people dancing and eating and drinking and conking out. It was like a rebellious teenager's party, with make-out sessions here and there, a couple men having contests to see how long they could hold their liquor, and such.
It was funny to watch them fall over, flat on their faces, laughing their heads off as though they'd never seen a girl before as she passed by, her eyes searching around the room for Kai.
"Oi!
Kimihiro! Over here!"
Koji split the crowd slightly as he moved
swiftly through, bumping into a few people.
She grinned grimly, he was not the person she wanted to see at the time.
"So… are you better?"
The question was unexpected from someone of his nature, she was expecting a, 'hey babe,' or 'wanna drink?' from him.
"Y-yeah, I guess."
He
smiled. "Little brother is really worried about you, you know."
At
the mention of Kai, her body tensed up.
"Who
was that girl? Yoma? Yoma! Yes, the monster, and quite the skank too,
if you ask me."
"Ah, yes, you elaborated on her sleaziness
yesterday in the inner circle."
"Who is she to Kai-sama?"
Kimihiro surprised herself with her sudden protective tone, her
involuntarily clenching and unclenching fists, the redness of her
face.
"Oh…
his bride-to-be. That is, if he doesn't find someone else by the
time he turns eighteen."
She fumed. "That slut doesn't
deserve him."
Once again, the words found their way to her mouth
without passing through her brain.
"Does
anyone?" Koji's grin was weak. "He doesn't seem to mind, if
you ask me. He gets all the attention he wants, and all the girls he
wants. It's tough being…"
"Second best," she finished
for him, sighing. Ah yes, the famous second best speech. She had used
it herself a couple times, when she was younger and insecure. Her
heart wrenched for him, it seemed that he was right. It must heart to
see your sibling, your younger one, at that, worshipped, and then you
treated like just another villager. Then with his parents too… it
was probably harder on him, seeing that he was two years older than
Kai.
"But
I'm boring you. He only has one thing that I'm sincerely jealous
of."
She was starting to get comfortable, and leaned against the
walls.
"What?"
He
grinned slyly. "You."
"You're
kidding. He doesn't have me."
"Prove
it."
"What?"
"Prove that you didn't go out there and
beat Yoma down for his sake."
She paced, thinking. There was no
way she was going to let anyone say that she belonged to anyone, let
alone Kai. She was only concerned, not attached, to him. I mean, who
would want to spend the rest of their life with a witch like
Yoma?
She turned to look at him, her eyes making contact with
Koji's. Placing her arms around his neck, she boosted herself up a
couple inches with her toes, and mashed her lips against his.
Koji froze, his eyes wide open as he tried to put two and two together and figure out what was going on.
He closed them, probing her bottom lip with his tongue for entrance. She gave it immediately, one thought going through her head.
'I'm kissing Kai. Yes. This is Kai I'm kissing. Yes! He's the one rubbing my back right now… he's the one kissing me, holding me…'
And then she heard his voice, Kai's.
"Kimihiro! You're o—"
There was the sound of a glass shattering onto the floor, followed by a few others. The ground was jerking, violently.
She immediately released Koji, bringing her hands from his hair as she stared up at him, terrified.
"So… I see how it is. Koji, take care of Kimihiro." The tears were stinging his eyes, but the words were constantly repeating themselves in his head, telling him to be a man, telling him not to cry.
But how could he not? The girl he was actually starting to like was not with him, but his brother.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
You were not expecting that, were you? I probably scared the heck out of you… First with Kai and his powers, then Serafin's little fit, then with Koji and Kimi's make-out session. Ha! I bet you thought it was more likely to be Kai and kimi, huh? Hee hee, I'm so evil, but just so you know, Koji doesn't get with Kimi, so don't get scared.
I'm angry with you, mylovemiroku. You guessed right. On your first try. Damn.
I am thirteen (do I really seem older? Thanks!).
Nice try, DEB, but the cookie goes to mlm. I'm so glad you guys think I'm older… I was thinking you'd give me some lousy guesses like eleven, or some far out ones like eighteen…
(yea. I'm tall for my age, so when I went to a Fool the Guesser game at Magic Springs (water/amusement park), she guessed eighteen and I was like heck no! But I won a blow-up Spongebob hammer so I guess it was worth it. )
Thank
you, my dear faithful reviewers. I used to think that it was the
amount that I got. I don't need a hundred reviews (but I expect
that to my 13 and ½ birthday gift, 'kay?) I just need you
guys.
Though I would like more reviewers.
I swear, if you've been just reading through for fun and not reviewing, I'll saw your head off. I worked hard on this chappie.
Thanx,
Tetsuna.
P.S. No, seriously. You'd better review me. I expect at least 12 reviews (total, I won't ask for much more). Cuz if I don't get an ample amount, I might just decide to discontinue the fic and send the rest of the story to my best reviewers (mlm and DEB) if they ask for it. So I'm warning ya, peeps.
P.S.S
My
cousin came to visit from Ghana! (yes, I am from Africa, no I do not
speak the language, please do not bore me with questions because I
sincerely hate it when people go on and on. And no, in Africa we do
not dig in trash cans for food, we just go by the nearest Mini-mart,
and no, we do not paint ourselves and run around naked. Please, I
don't want any questions about my origin, I almost was not going to
tell you but, hey! There's something interesting about everyone,
huh? I'm asking for no questions because I've been asked them my
entire life and it get on my nerves. A LOT! (A LOT A LOT A LOT A LOT!
Worse than my little brother when he's having a good day!) I
haven't seen her in years, and know she's like, 17, and my
brother bugs her cuz she's still way shorter than me. Ha! Fancy
that!
Smell ya later!
Officially!
