The saga continues!
... sorry, just always wanted to say that. XD
KS:
Back at the Sohma house, Kaye was having troubles of her own. "Damn dog! Get back here with that!" Kaye shouted at Shigure as he ran around the house with her sketchbook. "Mine, mine, mine, mine!" she shouted, trying to leap and tackle him, but missing and rolling down the stairs.
She growled, leaping towards Shigure, planning his doom. He squealed and jumped to get out of Kaye's way. Using his evasive skills he was able to stay clear from Kaye long enough with her sketchbook to gather a little peek.
But he was not skilled enough, and Kaye being the twin of Kyo was rambunctious and was un-phased by the sudden disappearance of the dog, and took no time in finding him.
"Army skills, they're a bliss!" Kaye said as she found her prey. He jumped about ten feet in the air and tried to run off but Kaye grabbed the back of his robes and held him steady, praying it wouldn't slip off.
"Aww! Kaye! I wasn't trying to steal your stuff! I just wanted to look at it," he said, nursing a large bump on his head as they all sat down for lunch.
It was a Saturday, and unusually calm. Tohru was busily creating lunch for everyone, hastily even so that Kaye would not be late. Kaye looked longingly at her hair a while before eating.
"This, my friends, is our parting meal! Tohru, the ceremonial tea!" Kaye was really getting into this.
"Kaye, you don't have to get your hair done you know, you can just keep it as it is." Kyo said, watching as Kaye did a reenactment of Romeo and Juliet with her hair.
"Well, I'm just saying that it will be really weird!" Kaye retorted, glaring at her brother.
Kyo shrugged and ate his rice in large amounts. Kaye knew he would most likely choke again, so she whapped his head when she stood up as he was chewing.
He coughed and tried not to laugh, knowing what it was Kaye was doing. Tohru stood up and began to clear away what was not being used and the used dishes. She brought everything to the kitchen and began to hum as she did so.
Kaye was pacing nervously at the door, glancing every which way now and then. Kyo had to pat her shoulder until she calmed down.
"Kaye, it was your idea, so just do it! Besides, wouldn't it be cool to look like actual twins again?" Kyo said, trying his hardest to get her to calm down.
She smiled and nodded, knowing that indeed it would be quite cool, not to mention fun. Tohru ran out from the kitchen with her coat on and shoes in hand, dressed in a pair of khaki pants Kaye gave to her and a warm pink sweater she had from somewhere else.
"I'm ready now!" Tohru turned to look at Kaye, dressed in a pair of dark jeans and a zip up hoodie.
Kyo was dressed in his usual khaki pants and black shirt, only this one reached his pants. Kaye had made a comment on Tohru shrinking his shirts on purpose and Kyo instantly went to buy some longer shirts. Some didn't fit anyways.
Kyo and Kaye grabbed their own coats and donned them, smiling brightly. They were prepared for anything. Kaye started out first, waving goodbye to Yuki and Shigure, then she turned awkwardly and started to walk around the corner waiting for Kyo and Tohru to catch up.
"C'mon, you better hurry if you don't want me to run back home with my tail between my legs and not get this done!" Kaye shouted back to the slackers, waving her hands.
"Why's she so freaked about getting her hair re-colored?" Kyo asked, sweat dropping. Tohru laughed lightly and sighed, wondering the same.
Tohru decided that while they were waiting, she would pick up some groceries since the grocery store was right next store to the hair-stylist place. Tohru thought that maybe she could make something special for Kaye to celebrate.
Finally, after about ten minutes of walking, the threesome made it to the strip mall that had exactly what Tohru and Kaye were looking for. Kaye ran across the street to the hair stylists, followed by a grumbling Kyo and happy Tohru. Kaye ran inside, the doors jingling as they were opened.
Kaye walked up to the desk and started to talk to the person there. "My name is Kaye Sohma, I should be on the list," Kaye said, looking at the list with the woman, "I'm scheduled for 2:00 pm with Alice?"
The lady nodded and motioned to the waiting room.
"Kaye, Kyo? I'm going to go and pick up some groceries quickly, ok? Just some stuff for dinner tonight, nothing too much." Tohru said, heading towards the door and stopping only when Kyo offered to help her.
Kaye nodded towards the two as they both looked to her to see what she would do. Kaye laughed when they left and grabbed a random manga lying on the table, reading it while checking her watch, waiting for it to finally be her turn.
"Kaye? Is that you?" came a gleeful voice, "I could hardly recognize you, what with your hair so long!"
"Alice!" Kaye jumped up and ran to her American friend. "How's the band coming?" Kaye asked her friend as Alice led her over to a chair in the haircut room.
"Oh, you know, they usual. Waiting for a gig, an opening act, anything really!" Alice replied, draping a plastic cape around Kaye and searching for the hair dye required.
"Don't forget the scissors." Kaye said nervously, and Alice asked if she really wanted to do it. "Yes."
Kaye laughed insanely as Alice took out the scissors, sterilized and clean. Alice took the scissors to Kaye's hair and began to cut off immeasurable chunks, making it choppy and short.
Kyo and Tohru came back, Kyo carrying two plastic bags full of groceries. "I hope she finishes soon, I don't want the ice cream to melt," Tohru said worriedly, checking the bag to make sure that its contents weren't already melted.
A girl with her blonde hair in a snazzy bun and movie star looks came into the waiting room where Tohru and Kyo were and walked over to the pair.
"Hey there! My name is Alice- it's nice to meet you two! You must be Kaye's twin brother, and you must be Tohru Honda!" Alice shook hands with the both of them and dragged them into the room where Kaye was.
She was spinning in a chair, too fast for them to see any real changes except that, rather than a brown blur it was an orangey one. And instead of long hair flowing out behind her…
"KAYE!" Kyo shouted, stomping over to the chair and stopping it abruptly.
"Yeah?" Kaye said, her eyes swirling because of the spinning.
Before Kyo and Tohru's eyes was a totally transformed Kaye, her hair was a vibrant orange to match Kyo's, and her hair was short and choppy, gelled out and styled. Kaye laughed at their awkward expressions and scratched her head.
"It feels like a ton of bricks were just lifted off my shoulders!" Kaye said laughing.
"I told Kaye that I would cut it only to her shoulders, but when she closed her eyes I couldn't resist, and she's loves it anyways!" Alice smiled and laughed, glad that her experiment had gone perfectly.
IS:
"Kaye, it's such a cute look for you!" Tohru rushed over and her hands became absorbed in the girl's hair. "You did a wonderful job Alice."
Alice smiled and held up her all-mighty scissors, snipping them quickly. "How about it Tohru? Feel like a new look?"
Tohru turned back to face her, eyes wide. Instinctively she ran her fingers through the ends of her own lengthy hair. Kaye was grinning at her, Kyo just staring. "I… I don't know…"
"It's okay dear, don't feel pressured," Alice said awkwardly. "I have to get ready for my next customer, anyway. She'll be arriving shortly." She turned to smile at Kaye. "I'm glad you like it. You're my masterpiece."
"Yes, thank you so much Alice! I feel like a moron for worrying in the first place." Kaye wrapped the girl in a tight hug and went to pay at the front desk. Kyo and Tohru gave polite waves and followed Kaye out of the now crowded salon.
On the way back to Shigure's Kaye twirled in the streets, singing. "I'd forgotten what the concept of short hair was! Sure it's a little colder out here then it was on the way but god, I feel like I've lost 20 pounds!" Kyo and Tohru laughed at her giddiness, walking always a few steps behind her for fear of being impaled. Tohru couldn't help but notice how carefree Kaye was with her brown hair gone.
"Kaye, how long have you had your hair dyed?" Tohru asked curiously.
"Hmm…" Kaye stroked her chin thoughtfully. "Well, since I was seven, so about nine years." She laughed. "That is, if you go by my real age."
Tohru smiled faintly but inside realization struck her. Nine years. She had been raped when she was seven. Her father had left, her mother had died. Maybe she'd let her old hair go with her old self. "And now she's decided to show her true colors again," Tohru whispered into the wind where it was lost and not heard by either of her companions, which was probably for the better.
"Ugh, one thing I hate about dying though; time. It takes hours, god, I'm surprised the color stripper took, like, no time," Kaye was saying. "I was thinking of having Alice bleach my hair and then dye it orange 'cause stripping dye out is murder, but, thanks to these amazing Sohma roots I decided what the hell." As she said it Kaye ruffled Kyo's hair and he pulled away slightly, smirking.
"Yeah, and besides, you wouldn't want to have to go and dye it again and again every time it faded," he said, shifting the grocery bags.
"Mmhmm," Kaye agreed. "You two were gone almost the whole time though. Does it really take that long to go food shopping?" Kyo and Tohru glanced at each other but their gazes only met briefly.
"Long lines," Kyo muttered as an excuse and three kept on walking. Tohru went over a flash back in her head.
"What do you suppose Kaye will want for her special dinner?" Tohru had asked as they entered the supermarket.
"Better go with the lo mein," Kyo had laughed. "It's basically the meal of change ever since Kaye came around." Tohru joined in the laughing with him and he helped her too fill the basket with the needed ingredients. "Should we get chestnuts and go all American for her?"
Tohru giggled. "She'd appreciate that." She reached around Kyo to grab them but as she was setting them in the basket with the other ingredients and various groceries a black smudge in the bustling background caught her eye. Upon getting a closer look she gasped upon realizing Axle was there, leaning against one of the grocer's freezers, staring at her intensely.
Kyo had watched as she took a step back from where she'd originally stood and turned to glance back at what she'd seen. When he saw Axle he glared and, just to spite him, muttered "C'mon Tohru," and put an arm around her waist and led her away. He kept distance between their bodies so he wouldn't transform and Tohru blushed a little bit, but it was worth it to piss Axle off.
They didn't dally long after that, but the lines in there really had been long. Kaye didn't have to know about the Axle thing Tohru and Kyo decided with a nod to each other. They continued to Shigure's house with mutual conversation.
Shigure hurt himself laughing when he saw Kaye's hair. When he finally calmed down he claimed he needed to lay down for the rest of the night, but they all knew he wouldn't miss dinner. "Such a lazy ass…" Kyo muttered as he watched Kaye beat him up further.
"It's a bit of a shock at first going back to your natural color. It's been many years since we've seen the real you Kaye," Yuki said, grinning. "But it does indeed look good short." Kaye returned the smile and excused herself, heading upstairs for a few minutes in front of the mirror.
Kaye smiled back at herself in the mirror, thinking about the shocked faces she would meet in the hall the next day. She ran a brush through the tuft of hair and found no knots. She would have to get used to this concept.
She remembered another thing that made her smile; when Alice had asked Tohru about her hair. She giggled slightly and sat down with her arms crossed, reaching for her guitar. Tohru was such a good sport.
'Never mentions the word 'addiction'
In certain companies
She'll tell you she's an orphan
After you meet her family
Paints her eyes as black as night now
Pulls those shades down tight
She gives a smile when the pain comes
The pain's gonna make everything all right
Since she talks to angels
They call her out by her name
Oh yeah she talks to angels
Since they call her out by her name
She keeps a lock of hair in her pocket
She wears a cross around her neck
The hair is from a little boy
And the cross is someone she has not met
Not yet
Since she talks to angels
Since they all know her name
Oh yeah she talks to angels
Since they call her name
She don't know no lover
No man I've ever seen
Yeah to her it ain't nothing
It don't mean any… it means everything
Paints her eyes as black as night now
She pulls those down tight
Oh yeah there's a smile when the pain comes
The pain gonna make it all right
She talks to angels
Since they call out by her name
Oh yeah, yeah angels
They call her out by her name
Oh angels
They call her out by her name
Oh she talks to angels
They call her out
They call her out
Don't you know that they call her out by her name'
(PAGE 100! WOOOOO!) Kaye rested her head against the wall behind her and closed her eyes. A fun song about a special person, just like Tohru. Kaye smiled at the ceiling and made it a mission to write a song about Tohru. She began to scheme, thinking of similar songs like Meet Virginia and Drop of Jupiter by Train when she was summoned down to the dinner table.
Kaye could smell it before she even reached the top of the stairs. "Lo mein?" she said questioningly. "What's the occasion?" Everyone raised their glasses and shouted, "To your new identity!" and drank to her. Everyone laughed and Kaye sat down and fought with Shigure over who got to serve themselves first.
As Kaye dug into her own plate she exclaimed, "Chestnuts! Chestnuts!"
Kyo gave her the queer eye. "You still high on those hair fumes?"
Kaye narrowed her eyes slightly. "I was never high. And I didn't infume many hales." She kept on eating as though not realizing her grammatical mistake. Everyone else held in their laughs with great difficulties.
After the lo mein had disappeared from everyone's plates Kaye and Tohru cleared and disappeared into the kitchen for a while. "I thought we'd make some homemade oatmeal raisin cookies together," Tohru explained. "I thought it might be more fun then if I had made them while preparing dinner." Kaye quickly jumped at the chance and the girls went around gathering the ingredients.
Tohru promised to let Kaye do all the measuring and pouring as long as she could do the stirring. It was quite easily a deal. When Tohru began pouring some of it onto a cookie tray and preheating the oven Kaye stopped her. "Can't we just eat the dough?" she asked, eyeing the gooey yumminess with eagerness.
Tohru smiled and shook her head. "You can't Kaye, it has raw eggs in it. You'll get sick." Kaye tried the puppy dog pout but it didn't faze Tohru. She did, however, let her lick the spoon to Kaye's delight.
"It's like having a second birthday," she said between licks.
After everyone in the house had feasted on cookies Kaye retreated to her room with a pad of paper stolen from Shigure's office. She began work on her Tohru project.
'There'll always be somewhere for her
With me
You see
It's only instinct to want to
Shield her
From you
Because everyone can see you want her too
It's only instinct for you' (lyrics are original and copyrighted to Ivy Callier of the Rakki-Bakkas - rippers will be smited by my almighty M+M aviators)
It was a little Greenday-ish. She figured it would make a good chorus, but, she couldn't think of anything decent for the verses. She decided she would work on it more the next night or quite possibly in school.