"Ah, shut up," Lenne said irratibly. She sighed. "I guess I should hide you before someone sees?" She only managed to set Momiji's clothing in the classroom before a group of chatting upperclass girls rounded the corner. "Oh, how adorable!" They squealed, rushing over.
Lenne expected them to fawn over Momiji, but was caught unaware when they started fussing over her. "Oh, look at how small she is!" "Oh, that rabbit, it's fur is so soft!" "I know, look at that golden color," "The girl's cute too! Look at her hair, those braids look like an expert did them."
Lenne just stood there laughing nervously, and Momiji tried not to bolt. They stood still, allowing the girls to fuss over them, but thoroughly hoping that they would be able to escape soon. "Oh, she's just like a little doll!"
"Uh, yeah, yay for me. Oh, gee, is it that time already? I need to get over to my friends house, he's expecting me, you know, we need to do our homework and everything. Well, bye!" Lenne took off down the hall, Momiji clutched securely to her chest. "Hold on a minute, I'll sneak in through the window to get our stuff."
Standing under a tree that reached up to the classroom Lenne was going to break in to, she looked down at Momiji. "So, do I leave you down here or take you with me?"
"I might transform back when you go to get our stuff," Momiji pointed out. Lenne jumped a little.
"You can talk in your animal state? Well damn, I didn't know that." Spoj made a little ringing noise, as if to tell her 'Duh, you stupid moron.' "Ah, shut up Spoj. You're lucky I still need you."
Tensing her muscles, she jumped up to a sturdy branch. She continued her way up by looking for branches that would hold her weight until she was just below the window they needed. She said a silent prayer to Artemis for the window already being open, and muttered an apology to Momiji before tossing him up through the open window. She grabbed the window ledge, and flipped herself in. Momiji clapped and held up ten fingers... er, both paws. Lenne held her pose of both arms raised above her head, like a gymnast just dismounted. She bowed elaboratley. "Thank you, thank you. I'll sign autographs later." She put Momiji's things in her bag, and grabbed the rabbit. "Now the fun begins." Instead of jumping to the ground, she branchhopped to the front gate of the school. "Now, where shall we go while we discuss what just happened?"
Looking thouroghly nervous, Momiji reluctantly told her how to get to the main house. There was no room to say anything, due to Lenne's insistance she run as fast as she could using trees and gates, and avoiding the ground. A grinning Lenne and harried looking Momji arrived at the front gate. "Should we wait until you're human?"
"No, that's okay. Could you just take me over the wall, and then I'll point you over to where I'm staying."
Lenne was confused as to why he'd need to point his house out, but as soon as they were over the wall, it was evident. There were about twenty buildings on each side of the tree-lined walkway, and four bigger buildings at the end of the stone walkway. There were flower plots placed seemingly at random, and the air was filled with an almost hypnotic aroma. It looked abandoned; there wasn't even a laundry line hanging out.
The main Sohma household was beautiful, in a cold, haunted, ethereal sort of way.
She cautiously walked in the direction of the house Momiji pointed out. It felt like making any noise here was forbidden, like everything would shatter. She didn't like this place at all.
She set Momiji on the porch of a traditional Eastern home and pulled his clothing out. She expected him to run off and change, but instead he shouted, "Ha'ri!"
Lenne stood nervously. The yell seemed to echo throughout the courtyard, but the silence soon descended again. She felt like she was being smothered. Definately not a good feeling. Then there was also that intense evil radiating about fourty feet away from there current location, that might have something to do with it.
A man in who looked to be in his mid-twenties stepped out of the house. He was handsome, like all the Sohma's, in a dark sort of way. He had black hair covering half of his face, and his eyes seemed to look on her coldly. She shivered involuntarily.
His eyes warmed a bit. "I think we need to step inside."
"Yupyup! This is Aoyama Lenne, my friend from school." She waved nervously.
"I'm Sohma Hatori. Please, come in." Lenne entered cautiously, and settled herself on a cushy zabuton. Hatori and Momiji went into another room, and Lenne could hear low voices. She pulled Spoj out, and tapped the 'emergency' button. She watched it whirr a little, then do nothing. She started punching the offending button repeatedly, and heard an amused chuckle. She froze and looked up. Hatori was standing in the doorway, watching her.
Lenne laughed nervously. "These darn compacts! Really, sometimes you just need to push the hinge a little for them to stop freezing up," Lenne told him, matter-of-factly. She smiled brightly, knowing he didn't believe her excuse at all.
"You've discovered the Sohma family secret. Congratulations."
"Oh, it's a family secret? I just thought Momiji was speci--"
"You know very well it's a family secret. Momiji overheard your... compact?" he said with raised eyebrows.
Lenne sighed. Damn it all, explanations were definately in order.
The blonde man sat lounged in his chair, looking for all the world a bored teenager. An older woman stood behind him, smiling indulgently.
The two fighters down in the pit continued there desperate fight, each hoping to live just another day longer if possible.
The man clapped slowly as the fighter in black finally beheaded the fighter in orange. The survivor bowed nervously, the blonde man chuckling at him. That was the last sound her heard as the pit filled with fire.
The womans smile disappeared when a disheveled low-class demon stumbled up to the man's chair and hastily kneeled.
"Show more respect to your lord, pig. Your appearance is offensive, and your manners leave much to be desired."
"Now, now, Hikari. He doesn't have the same upbringing as us. He was raised in that miserable waste land they call the mild part of the Makai. Forgive him for not knowing any better." He looked down on the demon with a mixture of coldness and curiosity. "Well, what is it?"
Resisting the desire to run up and strangle the man, the demon held out one hand. Perched on it was a mechanical bug, whirring away. "I have caught something that might be of interest to you, lord. It seems it was on it's way back to Aki, that dirty pig."
"Really. I didn't ask you're opinion on anything. Well, bring it up here." The demon shuffled his way up to the dais, avoiding the woman's looks. The man picked it up and examined it like it was simply a trinket hardly worth mentioning. Not stopping his scrutiny, he put his hand through the demons chest. Flinging the body away, he motioned the woman to clean it up.
He carefully turned the bug over and pressed a miniscule button. From the jewel on the bugs back, life-like hologram of a black-haired girl in a school uniform sitting on something popped up, and seemed to be talking to a mirror. The man grinned. Lord Aki would definetly find this of interest.
Hatori watched the Lenne girl as she finished her story and gave him an affirmative nod. He stirred his tea, keeping his face emotionless. "You almost died three and a half months ago."
She nodded. "Yup."
"The goddess Artemis is now your employer, and you now have these 'emotional cases' and also apprehend demons."
She nodded. "Yup."
"You have a miniature computer that tells you information about any person you want, and you learned the Sohma's have a secret that way."
She nodded. "Yup."
"Artemis told you it was vital for you to learn our secret."
She nodded. "Yup."
"Do you realize how moronic this sounds?"
She nodded. "Yu--" She froze, then nodded her head. "Yup."
"Oh come on. People who hear your story would say the same thing," said a woman's voice from the corner. They looked over to see a green-haired woman lounging in a chair that wasn't there before.
"Artemis," Lenne said tersly. "Don't be rude. If any other person heard this, they'd be running around screaming that I need to be sent to a loony bin. At least they're nice enough to keep their thoughts to themselves, and keep nodding."
"Oh, you're no fun." The goddess stood up, and with a snap of her fingers, the chair disappeared.
"Now you're just showing off." Lenne shook her head as Artemis laughed. "Sometimes I could swear you were on drugs."
Hatori's mouth was slightly open as he watched this exchange. He didn't hear anybody enter, and armchairs just don't disappear when someone snaps on coincidence. "I take it you're Artemis?"
"Yes, it is I, Artemis, goddess of the moon and the hunt, also known as Diana, and other various names throughout history. Bow before my excellence."
"You really don't have to," Lenne interjected. "She says that to everybody, and they all think she needs psychological help. And sometimes I think she does too."
"Like you're one to talk. You think your alarm clock is possessed by an evil radio spirit."
"You're really pretty!" Momiji told Artemis. She smiled fondly at the little rabbit.
"The reason I'm here is to warn you, you better not erase my assistant's memory."
"What?" Lenne screamed. "They were going to erase my memory! Now that's really not fair. They'd know my secret and I'd forget theirs, and I would probably be going around acting like a two year old because my memory was erased!"
"I have more control over my power than to completely erase someone's memory by accident," Hatori said, more than a little annoyed.
"You act like a two year old anyway, so there wouldn't be any difference." The goddess turned her back on the fuming girl. "Like I told Lenne earlier, she was meant to figure out your secret, and you were meant to know hers. I just forgot to tell her that part." She scratched her head sheepishly before turning serious.
"Of course, now you mustn't tell anybody her secret. She won't tell anyone yours, she has more honor than to do that." Lenne threw herbag at Artemis, and pouted when she dodged. "You can't even tell the head of the family Lenne knows your secret. Then you would undoubtedly be ordered to erase her memory, and that can't happen. The war between Aki and Lenne is beginning, and she need all the helpshe can get."
Lenne stared at her. " You're being insulting!And cryptic too! Haru's also a cryptic bastard! Why's everyone gotta be cryptic bastards?"
Artemis put a mock hurt look on her face. "I'm not a bastard, my father's on Olympus, we still see each other. I just don't have a mother. What do you call that?..."
"I don't know. Both my parents are gone, so I'm an orphan. Are you an orphan? Being an orphan isn't so bad. When people ask what's wrong with you, you can say you're an orphan and your mommy doesn't love you, and then they feel bad." She started laughing hysterically. "Those morons, they believe it every time!"
"Aren't we getting a little of subject?" Hatori asked. His question fell on deaf ears, as Lenne Momiji, and Artemis kept acting stupid, bringing up random subjects. "I need more tea."
"Shut up, you stupid cat."
"What! Don't call me stupid, you damn rat! I'll make you say you're sorry!"
"I'm sorry to be seen in public with you, so if you would kindly go away, people wouldn't be staring at us."
Yes, another shopping day. Kyo and Yuki always went to help carry the bags, and yet they could never get along, and sometimes ended up dropping a bag or two.
"Uhm, no, I'm sorry, but I really have to get going..." The two quarelling boys turned around when they heard Tohru. She was backed against a wall, her hands tied up with grocery bags, being leered at by an older guy.
"Ah, come on honey, you look tense. Just go out with me. I know several ways to relieve that tension, and I guarentee you'll enjoy them."
"I think she told you no," Yuki told him, placing himself between the two.
"Yuki-kun!" Tohru whispered, glad someone came to her rescue.
"Oh, you're pretty too. How about you and your friend come out with me and my friends. A pretty thing like you needs a man in her life." Yuki's eyebrow twitched.
"HEY! They told you to piss off." Kyo stood behind the guy, ready to punch his face in.
"Yeah? Who the hell are you?"
"Her older brother," Kyo said casually, punching the older man hard enough to launch him across the lot. "Scum."
They walked home in relative silence after Tohru stopped thanking them. As Tohru set the bags down, she halted the boys. "Did you really mean that about the brother thing?"
Kyo, who had been angrily steaming at the perverted guy quietly, softened his expression. "Of course," he said gruffly, not looking at her. He ruffled her hair, and left to go to the roof. Tohru smiled happily.
"Miss Honda, remember you always have family in this house," Yuki told her smiling gently. Tohru almost started crying. 'I have a family... Mom would be really happy!' "Oh, thank you so much, Yuki!" she cried. But of course, she accidently tripped, and Yuki caught her.
POOF
"I'm sorry!" Tohru cried. "I really shouldn't keep landing on my family, or else you're going to hate me!"
"We could never hate you," Yuki consoled her, sweatdropping. She really did overreact sometimes. But it was just one of her endearing qualities.
Lenne and Momiji were happily cheering as they walked to school the next day.
"I get to keep my memories! And I can finally share my secret with someone! I feel like I could fly! Geez, that's a cheesy line, isn't it?"
"Yup, you are the queen of cheesy!"
Lenne stopped and held a pose. "Yes, I am queen. And all my loyal subjects shall wear cheese hats, and make sculptures out of grass!" Momiji applauded her, and all pedestrians gave them a wide berth as if insanity was contagious.
When they finally reached school, of course, they were acting as normal as possible. They waved happily to the principal and decided to bug Higurashi-sensei before class started.
"L-O-V-E Lovely lovely Yuki! Y-y-y-y-yuki! Y-y-y-y-yuki!" The prince Yuki fanclub was once again doing there insane little cheer/clapping thingy, which meant one thing. Either Prince Yuki was around, or they were going to yell at someone for daring to breathe around him. Wait, that's two things. (Remember, there are three kinds of people in the world: People who can count, and people who can't)
Lenne and Momiji just walked past and ignored them. "Weirdos..."
"Excuse me, Aoyama Lenne, just who do you think you are?" Asked the annoying twerp with pigtails.
"You are a stupid one, aren't you? You just said I was Aoyama Lenne."
"Don't mock us!" said Twerpette 2.
"I wasn't, I was mocking your friend. There's a difference between one person and a group. Shouldn't you of learned that a long time ago? Are you sure you're older than me?"
"You've been hanging around with Prince Yuki!" said Twerpette 3.
"Why, I believe I have. My your observant, but I suppose stalkers must be."
"And you even dare to hang out with his relatives!" they cried, pointing their fingers at her.
"Well, if you look to my side, you'd see Momiji staring at you like you're lunatics, so I guess he doesn't really care."
They walked off, leaving the three twerpettes squawking with indignation.
"Can you believe that girl?" "I know, she acts like she owns the place most of the time!" "She's just like that Honda girl!" "She hangs out with her too, and the yankee, and the witch! She's going to taint our dear Prince Yuki!"
They froze as the usual bad feeling started creeping up there spine. Ice gripped their joints. "You wouldn't be talking about Tohru-kun, would you?" A quiet voice from behind murmured.
"IT'S THE WITCH!" they shrieked, running off as fast as they could, not noticing Yuki staring after them.
"Huh, you're fanclub gets weirder every day," Arisa remarked.
Ryoko waved goodbye to Kisa, and entered the apartment. She was happy Kisa's house was on the way to hers, so they could walk to and from school together everyday.
"I'm home!" she called, knowing Lenne was already headed for work. She picked up some scattered take-out boxes. Their apartment was slightly nicer than what they'd be able to afford without Artemis' help. It was only three rooms with a kitchenette, but was still bigger than others. Their bedroom was big enough for them to cram two beds in with enough room to walk. They really should get futons, but the beds came with the apartment.
Sighing, she tossed her bag on her bed. She eyed Lenne's side warily. The black ominous feeling she always got when she looked over there came back. The sheets were a tangled mess, after Lenne fell out of her mini cocoon this morning, and she had clothes piled to one side. Papers were strewn across the floor, and her extra uniforms for school and work were in a pile Lenne claimed was the stuff that needed to be washed, even though it was at least half of her wardrobe. 'Why is my sister such a slob?'
She decided to do her homework. Digging through her bag, she frowned when she discovered she was missing a book. She reached up toward the shelf they kept books on, growling when she could hardly reach any of the spines. She jumped up and down lightly, not wanting to disturb their neighbors. She let out a meep when the shelf collapsed and all the books rained down on her. Nursing her injured head, Ryoko let our a triumphant cry when she noticed her book. She would make Lenne fix the shelf when she came home.
Picking up her book, she noticed an open photo album beneath it. It was Lenne at two and a half years old, waving happily as Mom lounged exhaustedly on the couch behind her. Ryoko didn't remember her mom much; she left when Ryoko was barely one.
She flipped through the album, smiling slightly. There was herself when she was just born; Lenne cuddling with her, showing off their total combination of 21 teeth; their mother pregnant with Lenne. A sign in the background caught her eye. She knew Mom met Dad after highschool, Lenne told her. But in the background their was a sign that read 'Congratulations Graduating Class of 1990', and their mother was already slightly swollen.
Their mother said she didn't meet their father until after highschool. But here she was pregnant, and barely graduating. Did that mean...?
Did you guys havea heart attack yet? I posted so soon, didn't I? I already have the outline for up to chapter ten, I just need to type them up.
The stupid counting thing in the middle, ...one of my friends actually didn't get that until we explained it to her...
So, thanks to all my reviewers, you guys are so nice! And if you're reading this and not reviewing, review or else I'll hunt you down, rip your heart out, force feed it to you, partially disembowel you,then dump your body in the river where no one will find it until it washes on shore and they find a suicide note lodged firmly in your ribcage. smiles nicely