Quote of the Week: "If I want to hear the pitter-patter of little feet, I'll get a midget butler." -me ( )
Replies to reviewer-like-peoples!
Azuredragoness: Oh, yes, Helen has much to learn... I think I know what you're talking about for WoT, too. Keyword, I think. ;; And I'm writing – err... typing – as much as I can. ::looks at collection can, and in voice reminiscent of Tiny Tim (from a Christmas Carol)...:: Bless you, ma'am.
Pegacorn: As much as I twist your ideas, Pegacorn-chan, they are still amusing and deserve to be said.
Ciardra: ::takes ten dollars:: whoo! Yusuke won't die – again! Yes, like I mentioned, there will be a cut in plot holes, but unfortnately not in taxes. O o Anywho, Aki glomps everyone... . ::is Aki-glomp victim::
Ryuu no Furui Yami: Nice to see ya! Hm... it would be unusual to post the sequel in the older fic, wouldn't it? Anywho, the house is recovering, slowly but surely. At least the goldfish of DOOM problem is solved. And those three? Heh-heh... I was hoping you'd never ask.
...really, I was.
Embyrflame: Er, yeah, no prob. ;; she looks to be a fairly useful character, and I don't mind taking on another. I would like to see her story – I'd like to see samples of your writing. If Kurama/ fangirl torture is your thing, check chapter twent-something of the first CA until I can get a WoT segment for your request; I try to do a new segment every five or so chapters.
Ebbster: ::stares at youngster:: So young... so deluded... you have done well in using her, Ebbster. ::bows:: And so, the chapter shall begin.
"Now, Hanabi, I know you've met quite a few of my friends..." Holly turned to the boy, her house key still in the door's lock, and tried to smile. "There's some you haven't met yet, so, please, try not to freak out."
"I don't think they could possibly get any stranger than that girl Azure you introduced me to." Hanabi remembered the strange-looking girl from nearly a week ago, and still wondered how such a being could have been born; normal people just didn't have fuzzy wings, donkey-like ears, and tails. He had even noticed that very few of the students had been as peculiar as Azure had been to him, but he'd heard of worse from Yusuke. Apparently, the school nurse was a sight to see as well, although he'd never had the "pleasure".
"You'd be surprised kid." Kyuro poked his head out from Holly's bag, and jerked his head at the house. "You'd think even I'd be bomb-proof when it comes to who looks like what, but there's always something new out there. Koryu is a good example..."
"Who?" Holly sighed at the innocent look in the teen's yellow-orange eyes, and turned the doorknob. "You're sure to meet him later..."
"Oh, Holly! Have you seen Miss Lyra anywhere?"
"Speak of the devil," Kyuro muttered, and Holly tried to block the monster from Hanabi's view as much as possible, or at least until the boy got inside the house. "Don't mind him, Hanabi." The witch called back over her shoulder, "Lyra should be over Suzuki's, Koryu. Don't scare anyone this time."
Hanabi went to move the witch's arm out of his view, trying to look into the kitchen. Whoever this Koryu was, he at least sounded human enough. "I doubt he could scare any- ack!"
Four red eyes gazed into his own, a rainbow-colored fin gleamed down its spine, and a rat-like muzzle of sharp teeth glinted dangerously in the kitchen light. A pair of whiskers moved freely about, each nearly falling to the floor before traveling out the kitchen window with the monster's neck. Hanabi had a feeling that Koryu was easily over ten feet long, if the creature's sinewy neck gave any indication.
And he had thought the monsters in his nightmares were frightening...
"Oh, Holly, is this a new friend of yours?" The monster, Koryu, cocked his head at Hanabi, his smaller pair of eyes squinting, and he waved a whisker over across the kitchen, where it gently brushed against Hanabi's cheek.
It... it was touching him... Hanabi shook his head, and tried to step backwards, but something in his head kept buzzing. This Koryu was a threat... a danger to his health. How hard would it be for the creature to use those teeth to crush his spine and ribs? Not long, surely.
So get rid of it before it kills you...
It felt like he was about to pass out, faint, and the buzzing of voices only stopped when Holly put a hand on his arm and shooed away Koryu's whiskers.
"Back, boy. You need to find Lyra, remember?"
Koryu backed away from the window, one pair of eyes trained wholly on Hanabi, and growled softly. But, despite the obvious bristling of his jet-black fur, the creature's voice was oddly restrained. "Yes, thank you, Holly. Oh, and Lark was wondering if you had a book for her."
"Oh?"
"Yes - Jekyll and Hyde." With that, Koryu's head disappeared from the window completely, and the barest edge of his fins shimmered as he moved away from the house. Kyuro tilted his head a little to the side, and jumped out of Holly's messenger bag; the kitten trotted towards the kitchen window a few steps, and then turned his vibrant green-eyed gaze on the two students, sizing the white-haired Hanabi up and down. With a sigh, Kyuro trotted past and made himself comfortable on the cushion of Kurama's armchair.
"You two had better get to your homework. I have a nap in mind, so don't bother me, will ya?"
"Oh, that's just fine. Brat." Holly flicked her familiar's ear as she walked by, and trudged up the staircase. Normally, Koryu's judgment was eerily correct, but... as she looked back at Hanabi, who still appeared rather shaken by the experience in the kitchen, a slight chill settled in her chest. He wasn't some monster or anything, based on what she'd gathered from the week or so since she'd met him, so why was she suddenly so uneasy?
The sun was warm, inviting, and he gladly gave in to the lethargic mood of the day. Today had been slow-paced, and classes had let out early; not only that, but he had been given the task of watching over a group of seven-year-olds in the mid-morning, and, although he was fond of children (having numerous younger siblings of his own), this group had been nothing but brats.
Yes... he deserved a rest. And he would be damned if anyone tried to ruin it.
"Lyonell, you lazy bum!"
Lyonell groaned, and turned over onto his side, he tail curling up around him and his ears flattened. He moved his floppy hat over his eyes, and pretended that he simply hadn't heard his name being called. Perhaps if he played dead, she would just go away...
"Lyonell! Hey!" There was a sharp tweak on one of his ears, and he nearly hissed at the pain. "G'way..."
Chrysanthemum tried a softer tone of voice. "Brother-dearest, why, may I ask, are you sleeping when you were supposed to work in the greenhouse with Kurama and me?"
Oh, yeah... he had forgotten, hadn't he?
"We had to replant all those seedlings on our own!"
"Sorry," he mumbled from underneath his hat. Somewhere in his head, he made a note about saving up for a digital organizer - it would make things a lot easier for him. Or maybe a few clones of himself.
The pain from his ear intensified, and he had to sit up to prevent his twin sister from literally ripping his ear off. "Hey! Ow! That huuurts!"
"And you deserve it. To make up for earlier, you can do the dishes tonight."
Erck... water... the thought made him shiver. Hastily, he stood up so his twin wouldn't drag him completely as she stalked towards the Victorian house that served as their dorm. "Couldn't I do something else? I wouldn't mind dusting. Please?"
"We'll see." At the twisted grin Chrysanthemum gave him, Lyonell suddenly wished he had stuck with the dishes.
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Silence...try to empty out your thoughts, get your bearings...
There! A flash of blue to the right!
Rogerik jumped over to his left, turning so that the blast of spirit energy only grazed his side instead of pummeling him straight in the gut. It stung, but he would live, considering.
"Crap! Yusuke, are you trying to kill me?"
Of course, that didn't mean he couldn't gripe about it.
Yusuke stepped out from behind a thick growth of underbrush, shaking his head as he did so. "Look, you're fast, but you have no idea how to even block attacks right. You can't keep running out of the way - it'll wear you down before you get so much of a scratch on your opponent."
"Thanks for your care and concern." Rogerik unbuttoned his shirt, looking at the damage done by the weak Spirit gun attack. The skin was slightly reddened, and was already beginning to take on the purple-blue of a bruise. To tell the truth, he had seen the Spirit detective do worse - much worse. Yusuke had always been more powerful than almost everyone at the academy, even when the teen had just conquered the Dark Tournament (Rogerik had seen the tapes, and he had been plenty wary of any of the Tantei ever since), and now there was no doubt that he had gotten stronger since then.
On the bright side, though, at least the thief hadn't broken any bones this time. None of Erika's physick for tonight, and no Green Death-flavored herbal teas from Kurama or Rachel. By now, he was about to drop dead from sheer exhaustion - Yusuke hadn't been lying about the whole run and scurry approach Rogerik had been taking - but the adrenaline that came from having a ball of raw energy hurled at you prevented any type of sleep.
A week straight of this, and he still hadn't been able to land a hit on Yusuke. If he didn't know better, he would say this was a session for Yusuke to work out his frustration by beating the crap out of the thief.
"You want to quit for tonight and work on you blocking early tomorrow morning?" Yusuke cracked his neck, and Rogerik had to wonder for a moment what day of the week it was; right, Friday. Tomorrow was Saturday, and...
"Yeah, sure." The blond checked his watch, the digital readout a neon-teal nine-thirty, and his eyes widened. "Crap! I was, uh, supposed to talk with a bud of mine in a chat room. Homework and all that."
"Uh-huh... well, it is too dark out to keep going, anyways."
Yeah, he hadn't been paying attention before, either. Just a half-hour ago he had wondered why it was suddenly so much harder to see - and which way for him to dodge. Rogerik nodded, then looked over towards the dorm. The windows of the purple house were a bright gold, and illuminated the front yard softly. Gulls wheeled overhead, and the far-off waves of the beach downhill crashed against the cliff steps; somehow, a soft tune played on a violin (most likely Lark practicing) floated above it all.
The house was quiet, considering nearly eleven people, not to mention numerous pets, lived under its roof. From the floor in front of the fireplace, two firefly-eyes lit up as the upper skull of Bones looked up from the skeleton's disassembled spot on the floor. The whip-like tail wagged several times, but the canine eventually drooped back to sleep as Yusuke went upstairs and Rogerik retreated to his basement bedroom.
Jin wasn't downstairs, like the thief had guessed, and the room seemed oddly empty without the cheerful windmaster. Rogerik knelt down, pulling out his bag from under his bed, and started tearing through. Out came a slim case, not much more than six inches long by a half-inch thick, and he flipped the top cover over to reveal the flat touch-screen and monitor. He took a small glass tube with a spiraled wire inside, and popped it into an equally small indentation below the monitor, then pressed the power button, watching as the tiny machine hummed to life and the spiral wire glowed a soft amber.
A black bit of fuzz drifted onto the monitor, and Rogerik was about to brush it away when the fuzz grew four spindly legs and opened it's beady little eyes. A positively cute squeak came from the little soot spider, and soon the thief found himself the perch of at least thirty of the little creatures.
The monitor at last flickered to life, and remained a light ivory until the dark blue letters filled the screen.
Too many people were awake, Yusuke was already suspicious from the summer, and the cops were still looking for the scroll from his last job for his employer. He couldn't afford to make it for the appointment, but he knew someone who could...
His employer would have to understand.
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If anything, Jin wished that today wouldn't be so bright. Only quarter past six in the morning, and already he was close to being blinded by the sunlight. Perhaps he should stop blocking the small window in his cellar-turned-bedroom so that his eyes could adjust; besides, the sunlight in his room fell right on Rogerik's bed, not his own.
Then again, it was a Saturday... why had he even bothered to trudge upstairs this early? Even Kurama was still sleeping, and Lyra was absent from the kitchen. The water manipulator usually spent her Saturday mornings cooking breakfast for the entire household. Rachel wasn't around, either, and the demon found a small note pasted to the TV remote that stated there was a teacher's meeting being held sometime around eight.
That was right... Rachel was headmistress now... ugh.
Peeling off the post-it note, Jin plopped down on the couch and turned on the TV. Flipping through the channels, he found a news station and turned the volume on low. Nothing much had happened, according to the reporter's chipper attitude. There was a scandal where some woman had been robbed of a few pieces of jewelry, and the items had been hidden in the dough of a nearby bakery; how dull it all seemed, when one compared it to the paper articles of last school year.
There was a clack and clatter as Jin felt a smooth surface bump into his clawed hand. Looking down, he met the firefly-eyes of Bones, and gave the animated skeleton a pat on the head. "At least someone's awake, here."
"Yes, it does seem strange with no one downstairs this early." Kyuro hopped up onto the couch's headrest behind Jin, his little black paws kneading at the fabric almost mechanically.
"And suddenly, a perfectly good morning is spoiled..." Sarcasm wasn't really the wind master's thing, but after spending a summer with Holly's somewhat "unusual" family, the familiar was beginning to rub off on him. Kyuro gave a small smile, his sharp little fangs gleaming in the bright sunlight, and stated, "Well, I guess you haven't met Holly's new acquaintance if I'm the most of you troubles."
"Uh-huh..." Jin focused his blue eyes on the TV, Kyuro's voice distant and hollow to his ears.
"He's become quite attached to her, this Hanabi."
His couldn't affect him in the least, per say. Not only was he hesitant to change the relationship between himself and the witch, but Holly's older brother Victoria had staunchly supported the idea that if anyone touched his "darling sister", one would suffer the wrath of God – and excruciating pain wouldn't be far along behind.
And for a cross dresser, Victoria could be scarier than anything even King Enma could come up with. Let this new "Hanabi" take the blame, and things would work out from there.
But he knew he had heard the name before, fairly recent, too. Perhaps if that damned cat would stop talking he could concentrate better.
A bright day, where the earthbound were packed into the academy parking lot by the sheer number of bodies. His own roommates were below him, trying to find a calmer way out of the throng, and Holly floated just over to his right, skillfully balancing her bag and familiar on her broomstick. Happy exclamations and salutations were exchanged, and most of the voices were fairly young – many he had never had the pleasure of attaching to a face. However, one quiet sort of argument was picked up by his long ears, and he recognized one of the speakers instantly.
Low-keyed and smooth, yet the cat's usual flattering way of speech was strained and snappish. In curiosity, he had flown closer, peeking from among the treetops as Shikyo stood in a tense conversation with another young man not much younger than the cat himself. This newcomer had brilliant white hair, and Jin felt the orange eyes lock onto his hiding place – sending a chill down his spine. Whoever this person was, there was something seriously wrong with them...
"Hanabi, I know you have been informed of this, but try to keep yourself contained. The last thing this school needs is more trouble, and I'm sure you'll run into quite a bit if things turn out to be like last time."
The orange spitfire eyes left his, and Jin felt a knot in betwixt his shoulders relax and loosen. The white-haired boy's voice, though, wasn't any less unnerving.
"Yeah, I know. Keep myself out of stressful situations – which you aren't helping, "sensei"."
Shikyo's tail twitched, the nails on his hands almost sharpening themselves into the claws the cat teacher was so adept with. Still, he kept his composure, and his voice remained level. "If that's all you have to say for now, then leave for the headmistress' office." The neko stepped back, one hand towards the door, as if he wanted to distance himself from the unnerving glare and twisted smirk that Hanabi naturally wore, yet not willing to leave himself the least bit unguarded.
Hanabi looked up towards the sky, shielding his eyes from the sunlight, and muttered very plainly, "Perhaps this facility should do something about eavesdroppers. Something might happen to them, if the problem is not taken care of." Again, the sudden, unsettling chill, and the white-haired boy gave a flashing smile towards Shikyo – one that was the equivalent of the charming look Shikyo used on appealing young females.
"I'll see you later, Sensei."
The thought of those same cold, yet burning eyes almost made the windmaster shudder.
There was no way Holly would even dare come close to such a disquieting young man... or would she? Even her own familiar, as loyal as he had proved to be in the past, seemed to harbor some ill – and not because of the black cat superstition. What was it he had heard about Kyuro? That the cat had once been tricked into servitude?
Either way, it all led to one hell of a headache this early in the morning, and Jin groaned as the twangs of pain wormed its way into his skull. Letting his head hit the couch cushions with a soft thud, he didn't even acknowledge the worried pacing of Bones. Kyuro, who was still upon his headrest seat, merely smiled and nodded.
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