Disclaimer: I would like to own FB and BtVS, but, unfortunately, I don't.
Chapter 9: Splitting Up Is Always A Bad Idea (Or, Sultry Stories.)
"Alright, everyone, I see you're all intact," Hatori said as everyone approached his car and gathered around it. "That's good. Yuki will be fine with some rest. There is a lot we need to cover, but first we need to make sure we got all the vampires. Tohru, Kyo, how many did you get?"
"Two." Tohru answered.
"I got one. It had just turned." Rin said as Hatori turned his attention to her.
"I also staked one." Haru stated as he grinned approvingly at Rin.
"I got two! Well, okay, one walked outside to her own demise, and the other was thrown on me, but doesn't that count?" Mai chirped cheerfully.
"I'm still really sorry about throwing Mine on you. I really didn't mean to." Tohru was still upset about that.
"Hana and I didn't get any, unfortunately, so I can't wait to go patrolling!" Uo was excited about the prospect.
"And there was Minami, which makes seven. Who got Rika?" Motoko asked.
"No one. She got away. That makes eight. I believe that was all of them." Hana informed them.
Hatori looked around and seemed to notice the neighborhood they were in for the first time and frowned.
"This isn't the best place to talk, and there isn't enough room in the car to bring everyone, the weapons, and Yuki. I have room for Yuki, all the weapons, and one other person besides myself. Everyone else will have to take the bus or find some other way to get back to Shigure's house. We'll discuss everything there."
Everyone stowed their weapons in the trunk and car, careful of Yuki (who had passed out), and then proceeded to play rock, paper, scissors for the right to be in the car.
Motoko won.
Those who had lost said goodbye and started coming up with the fastest way to get home. Haru, Kyo, and Rin had reacted rather badly to the idea of a crowded bus, and had decided that they would walk home while everyone else rode. The rest of the group decided that walking home might not be so bad of an idea when they saw the condition of the bus…and realized they had no money.
…
Motoko and Hatori buckled up as soon as their fellow warriors began their long trek to Shigure's.
"Is he really going to be okay?" Motoko asked Hatori while glancing back at Yuki in the rearview mirror.
Hatori drove to the end of the road and turned on his left turn signal, looking around for approaching traffic. Once he had safely maneuvered the car in the direction of their destination, he replied, "Yes, but I'm going to keep him under observation tomorrow, just in case there's anything we overlooked."
Motoko nodded absently. She had gone from gazing at Yuki to looking between her beloved and his cousin. While Yuki was beautiful, Hatori was handsome, and bore no resemblance to a woman, as Yuki did. Until she had seen the two together, Motoko had not noticed how much Yuki reminded her of the fairer gender. Had he been wearing a dress, he could have passed as a girl.
She barely knew Yuki, Motoko realized to a degree of shock. She could name his favorite color, his class schedules for the past three years, and even what brand of socks he wore, but she had no knowledge of what went on inside his head.
Hatori had been her internet chum for months, and within his message board postings were small clues about himself, which Yuki never gave. Motoko could talk to Hatori.
A groan from the backseat alerted Hatori and Motoko that Yuki was conscious and that Motoko would have to resume her thoughts at a later time.
…
The exhausted group arrived about an hour after Hatori, Motoko, and Yuki. Yuki was awake and coherent, and had been filled in on everything that had transpired between his kidnapping and rescue, and about Slayers, and the three of them were eating take-out. They had had the foresight and kindness to order some for the rest of them. Ayame was still trussed and gagged due to Yuki's wishes and was in the next room out of sight.
The seven arrivals quickly squished themselves around the table and started sorting the take-out. It took a few minutes of eating and resting before they were ready to get down to business.
"We have reason to believe that there is a higher evil entity involved with Yuki's kidnapping, and that there was greater purpose behind it. This individual has access to rather powerful magic and probably has some grudge against the Sohma family." Hatori informed them as they continued to eat. "Yuki, tell them what you told us."
"Those girls were always talking about 'the boss' but would never give a name. Rika would sometimes talk about something called a 'vengeance demon' and something about insanity, but she was never very clear about it."
"Hey, rat boy! Question here: why didn't they kill you?" Kyo asked.
"They would get into fights about who would be my…sire? Was it? And Rika was smart enough to know that if she demanded it the others would tear her apart. So they were going to hold some kind of contest, and the winner would get to be my sire. What did they mean by sire, Hatori?"
"A sire is the vampire that turns another vampire. They were trying to decide who would kill you and turn you. Now, contest you say? That contest might have some clues. Did you know what kind of contest it was?"
"They were going to hold a fashion contest. Some sort of 'walk-off.' I don't know how they were going to score it, but Rika probably had it rigged. They were going to hold it tomorrow, but not any more."
"I should have known. There's quite a bit we need to do: we have to deal with Ayame, investigate the demon in the Sohma Office Building, research this vengeance demon, and Tohru needs to do some sweeps of the graveyards later."
"What about sleep? We've been up all night fighting! We aren't superhuman!" Kyo cried. "Well, most of us aren't," he added.
"Fine, you and the others can sleep, but we really need to get on this." Hatori answered. Kyo, Haru, Rin, and Uo all got to their feet and headed upstairs. Tohru looked at Hatori apologetically and said, "I have work tonight, and I really need to get some sleep, especially if I'm going to do a sweep. I'm really sorry." Tohru stood and followed the others.
Hana glanced up from her food for a second to say, "I don't need sleep," before looking down again to continue eating.
"I've been getting a lot of sleep in lately. I don't need any more." Yuki told them. A sudden thought crossed Yuki's mind. "Where's Shigure?"
"He's at the Main House still. He's fine, don't worry about him." Hatori answered. "Now, how are we going to split up the rest of the work? Mai and Motoko can research this vengeance demon, if you're not going to get some rest, and I'll probably have to deal with Ayame. What will you do, Yuki? Hana?"
"I don't want to see Ayame ever again. If I do, I'll kill him. So, I guess that means I'll help everyone else." Yuki answered.
"I think I'll go help out in the kitchen." Hana rose and walked gracefully towards the aforementioned room.
"We don't need any help in the kitchen," Hatori called out after her. There was no answer.
"That's just Hana, she's probably making snacks or something, I think she'll be back out here and helping us in a while." Yuki told him.
"Come on, Mai; let's get to work on this devilish demon!" Motoko dragged Mai out of the room.
"But I want to get some sleep, too!" she protested.
"You can sleep later." The door slammed shut and Motoko and Mai were gone. Hatori and Yuki looked at each other. Yuki got to his feet and decided that since the take-out was all gone, maybe the kitchen wasn't such a bad idea. Hatori watched as Yuki left the room, sighed, and went to the room were Ayame was being held.
…
"Ha'ri! I don't see the point in all this! And what did you do to those delightful girls?" Ayame said as the gag came off.
"Be quiet for now. We simply went to your shop and…persuaded the girls to leave and give back Yuki. They agreed. And I believe that your assistant Mine got a better job offer in Kyoto. I am going to let you go, but don't come back here for a long, long time if you want to keep your life." Hatori untied Ayame and shoved him towards the door, "Go."
"You shouldn't handle people so roughly, you know! It's very rude. Wait, wait, Mine left? What will I do? Mine left! Mine would never leave!" Ayame wailed.
"Just. Go."
"Going." Ayame walked out into glaring sunlight, noticeably upset.
Hatori sighed and decided that raiding Shigure's hidden wine reserves in the kitchen sounded like a good idea.
When he walked into the kitchen he found Hana eating the last of the desert that Tohru had made earlier and Yuki attempting to heat up some of Tohru's beef soup with Hana offering 'helpful' advice.
Hatori wrinkled his nose at the smell of the badly burned soup. He casually walked to the hidden cache, trying not to be noticed, and opened the cabinet, and blinked when he found that the empty bottles the wine had been hidden in were gone and cleaning supplies were in there place. He opened a few and groaned when they turned out to be actual cleaning supplies.
Shigure must have moved the cache. I guess I'll have to drink whatever's in the fridge.
A quick perusal of the fridge showed that the only beverage he was going to have was either water or orange juice. He opted for water. He sat down next to Hana and watched in growing amusement at the sight of Yuki attempting to cook, and almost smiled at the advice that Hana was giving Yuki, which Yuki actually heeded.
…
It was night now, and Tohru, Uo, Rin, Kyo, and Haru were patrolling, the latter four to get away from any chance of being volunteered for research work.
They still hadn't found anything about the vengeance demon, or about any demonic activity at the office building. The group was planning to go back and search the building when Tohru was done with patrolling.
"So…are there going to be any vampires?" Uo asked, after a fruitless twenty minutes of patrolling. "This is getting so frustrating! I'm the only one in the group so far who hasn't staked a vampire!"
"I don't think Yuki has either, or Motoko, or Hatori," Tohru offered consolingly.
"No, Motoko's staked a few, but Hatori and Yuki haven't," Kyo muttered. "I doubt rat-boy ever will." He turned his ire towards Rin and Haru, who were busy passionately kissing behind a tombstone. "And you two will never stake another vampire if you keep that up! Cut it out and get back to patrolling!"
Haru, without unlocking his lips from Rin's, removed his hands from her hair and hurled a bottle of holy water at Kyo. Kyo snatched it out of the air before it hit him and, in the same movement, lobbed it back. The bottle shattered against the tombstone.
Uo whacked the back of Kyo's head. "Quit messing around, Kyo. You're just jealous."
Even in the dark, Tohru could see Kyo blush furiously. "I am not! And they're the one's who're messing around."
"You know what—" Uo was cut off by a snarl. "Sounds like a vamp! It's mine!"
Uo eagerly looked around for it and was rewarded with the sight of a vampire walking around a nearby tombstone towards them. The vampire growled at them and charged like all good vampires do. Uo ran towards the on-coming vampire with her stake ready, and after a little tussle rammed her stake into its heart. The vamp stiffened and exploded into dust.
"Alright! That was awesome! Let's go find some more! Haru, Rin, stop messing around, we have to go stop the forces of evil! This is a great way to relieve stress. Which way now, Tohru?"
"Oh…um, that way, I think I see something." Tohru pointed, and they could vaguely see a shadowy figure moving about in the dark up ahead.
They all, including Rin and Haru, who had finally stopped kissing, approached the figure cautiously. The figure became increasingly familiar the closer they got, until they were near enough to make out the shape well enough to see that it was… Momiji.
"Momiji! What are you doing out here? It's way to late to be up, and in a graveyard!" Tohru cried.
Momiji turned around and smiled. "Wie gehts? There you guys are. I thought I had lost you! You were acting weird at work, and I went by Shigure's this morning and found Ayame tied up. What was that about? Anyways, I followed you here. I have to say this is a strange to place to hang out at night. It could be dangerous. And besides! If you're all up, it can't be that late…what are you doing out here?"
"None of your damn business! Now come on, we're going home." Kyo growled as he turned and started leading the group back towards Shigure's house.
Tohru caught up with Kyo and asked, "What are we going to do? I don't think we should tell too many more people about the whole vampire thing, and if we go back home then he's going to notice the books and weapons and stuff."
"Now you understand the secret identity. I don't know what we're going to do. I'm just going to let Hatori handle it."
Momiji sat down on the edge of a headstone, grinning. His smile faded, however, when he saw the stake in Uo's hand.
"Was ist das?" he inquired. Instead of an answer, he received blank stares. "What is that?" he asked again, this time in a language they all spoke.
"We were putting up a tent," Haru told him.
The group continued on home, with Momiji tagging along and asking question and generally being a nuisance. Tohru was relieved when they got back with no incidents, even if Uo wasn't.
…
"There's nothing in these stupid books!" Motoko huffed, thoroughly angry. She wasn't adept at researching in a one thousand year book with half the words illegible. But give her a computer with internet access…
"Now, now." Mai attempted to calm her down, but it wasn't really working, since Mai wasn't paying attention to Motoko, but to the book she was reading, which she was finding fascinating.
"That's it! I'm posting a message on my group board." She got up and went to the computer in the room Hatori had said was Shigure's office. He owned the house, but was conspicuously absent.
She booted up the computer, but when the log-in asked for a password she drew a blank. What did Hatori say it was? She tried to think. Last time she didn't even get on to the computer because of Ayame. Hatori had told her the password, nevertheless.
Looking around, she wondered why Hatori knew Shigure's password, when her eyes lighted upon a picture. Ahhh…that was it.
Satisfied, she put the password in. It didn't log. Frowning, she tried a different variation of it, in lower case. It didn't work. She tried two more times before the fifth one finally logged in.
She immediately blanched when she saw the background. How can Hatori be friends with him?
She quickly clicked on the internet icon. Strangely, it brought up Shigure's e-mail inbox.
That doesn't normally happen.
Motoko meant to exit the inbox and continue to her message board when one of the e-mails caught her eye. It was labeled: Your time is up, Shigure. Now you're going to die.
Huh? Most people don't get e-mails like that.
Motoko scrolled down the long list of e-mails, all of which, she noticed were from someone called Mit-chan. All of them had labels containing something about Shigure's painful demise, and reminders about how his next 500-800 pages were due.
Normal people don't write these kinds of emails. Normal people don't usually receive these kinds of emails.
Curious, Motoko clicked on the latest email, which had been received the day before. She skimmed down the lengthy email, which was full of threats to Shigure's health, reminders about the next 500 pages of his novel, and back again to Shigure's death.
Motoko raised her eye-brows. This Mit-chan either had quite an imagination, or was crazy. It was possible that she was both.
Since she didn't feel very guilty about digging through Shigure's stuff, she looked through a few more emails, and seeing that they were filled with much of the same, moved on to his document folders. She was really curious now as to what a person like Shigure would have saved in it.
Summer-colored Sigh! I remember seeing a book titled that at a bookstore. It was one of those trashy romance novels. Did Shigure write it?
She opened one of the files, "Cherry Blossom Passion." It probably should have clued her in. After skimming through a few pages, Motoko sat back, angry.
What kind of person writes this junk? I don't think I want to meet him.
Motoko went back through the Open Documents window and sighed as she looked at the titles for the documents.
"Jeez, this guy must be some kind of pervert or something," she muttered to herself.
She exited the word processor and turned her attention back to the internet. She went to her message board, looked at the various postings that people had put up, and began writing her question about vengeance demons and replying to other postings.
When she had posted her message she pulled up another window and started visiting several demon databases, occasionally checking to see if anyone had answered her question.
After a couple hours or so she finally made some progress. Not only had someone finally posted an answer to her question, but she had found a quick blurb about vengeance demon in a demon dictionary, which was more then she had found when she had been looking in the books. She read the definition in the dictionary first.
"Vengeance Demon: n. powerful female demons who were originally human. They grant wishes to certain people, depending on what they are the patron of. Has ability to teleport. Ex: A vengeance demon may grant the wishes of scorned women. Also see 'Justice Demon.'"
Well, that's useful.
Motoko turned her attention to the message. It was short and to the point, stating that there had been underground reports of a new vengeance demon surfacing in Japan in recent weeks. This demon was allegedly the patron of insanity, which matched up with what little information Motoko had assembled thus far.
She printed the reply and the dictionary entry, and was about to log off of the desktop when she decided to go through Shigure's files one final time. Motoko opened the file entitled "Soul Devastating Decisions." She figured it might be a piece of autobiographical writing, but was proved wrong when she read the first paragraph.
A romance novel? I…guess I can give this story a chance. She thought, and continued reading.
Poor Hiroko, to be presented with such a choice; Samuru, beautiful, who surpasses all men in ability; Kazuo, who is handsome, righteous, and helps all. Sort of like me, there's Yuki, the Prince, who will never love me as I love him, and who I know virtually nothing about and… Hatori, who I know more about than Yuki, but will also never love me. He seems so cold, distant, and gloomy, and has the whole 'ex-girlfriend' thing going on.
Sighing dramatically Motoko carried on reading until she was at the last chapter.
With his raven hair gleaming in the light of the blood red setting sun, Kazuo radiantly stood on the veranda, staring at the ocean stretching out beyond him. His sapphire eyes glinted with fury when he spotted Samuru striding towards him from the mansion with Hiroko following.
"What are you doing out here, Samuru? You should be inside, away from the wrath I have yet to unleash upon you."
Samuru's silver hair was caught in a cool ocean breeze and floated about his face like a radiant nimbus. He defiantly met Kazuo's azure gaze with his eyes of amethyst. "Your ire is irrelevant, Kazuo. Hiroko will indubitably choose me over someone of your caliber. The wind blows for me; the sun shines for me; the heavens sing my praises by night and by day. You haven't a chance."
"You are mistaken, young one. I may not be endowed with the beauty the goddesses bestowed upon you, but I, with my enchanted Sword of Truth, shall eradicate all malevolence from our realm. Hiroko will choose me."
Hiroko was torn asunder with sorrow at the decision she had to make, like a hummingbird presented with two flowers, each filled with the succulent nectar of life.
Motoko eye's widened. Oh, how tragic! Motoko read on.
"No, it is you who are mistaken, for I, too, carry a magical sword: the Sword of Deceit! With it, I shall rid the realm of you."
Kazuo's eyes narrowed. "Like a tiger of India, I shall evade your every attempt, with stealth and agility you will never be privy to." He moved closer to Samuru, and Hiroko could see that Kazuo towered over the other man. "I am the healer of my clan, and that alone has granted me the knowledge of human physiology. With it, I swear upon the Sword of Truth that I shall strike you in both patella, your clavicle, and, finally, cut out your pancreas and sew it into your small intestine."
Samuru glared maliciously. "With my splendor, I shall steal Hiroko's heart, make passionate love to her, and she shall bear my child, who will be the celestial ruler of all the land!"
"Nay! You will not use her in such a way!"
"I love her like a small rodent cares for the cache of seeds that will sustain him throughout the frigid winter! You merely wish to be the sire of the Hiroko's divine child!"
Motoko realized how extraordinarily familiar this story was. Hiroko could be me! Kazuo would be Hatori! And that would mean that Samuru is Yuki!
Motoko went back through the story and change all the names to their real life contemporaries. She continued reading the story changing names as she went.
Hatori grabbed Motoko's wrist and pulled her against him. "I love her like the seahorse loves the plankton of the briny sea, Yuki! Evil such as you cannot know love!"
"Do not touch her, for she is pure! She must choose now, for the time of the divine child's conception draws near. Who shall be the one, Motoko? Who will you choose?"
Motoko gasped. "I know not. Yuki, your beauty is unparalleled, as is your grace, nobility, and charm, and Hatori is tall, dark, handsome, brooding, and righteous. To choose would be to die!"
Shigure must be a gifted writer, to be able to write such heartrending stories! Motoko thought about the story more and how it related to her life and came to the decision that whoever Hiroko chose would be the man she chose, Hatori or Yuki.
Motoko eagerly looked for the ending that would tell her who to choose and found, to her great disappointment, that Shigure had not yet finished the story. This cannot be! How can I choose if he has not finished? I'll make him write the last hundred pages.
To make sure Shigure wouldn't find out she had gone through his private, albeit trashy, files, she used the writing program's replace function to return the names to normal, though she wished she didn't have to.
She smiled at her decision, retrieved the pages she had printed, and discovered Mai fast asleep, using her book as a pillow.
"Oh, Mai. Don't you know that that's a terribly uncomfortable way to sleep? You'll get a crick in your neck." Sighing, Motoko moved Mai so she wouldn't be sore when she woke up. "Sweet dreams."
Motoko walked down to the dining room to find it empty and the table missing. Frowning as she looked around she tried to think of where everyone could be. She moved on to the kitchen, and smiled when she saw Hana, Hatori, and Yuki sitting around the table and eating. Motoko caught her breath as she watched Hatori and Yuki move.
They're both so beautiful and graceful. How can I be expected to choose between them? It's so unfair!
Hatori looked up, noticed Motoko and nodded his acknowledgment of her presence. "Hello, Motoko, have you found anything?"
"Oh! Um… um… Yes! I have. Take a look at this!" Smiling triumphantly she laid the two papers on the table.
"Patron of Insanity? Hmm… I know one woman who could use a wish from her," Hatori said thoughtfully.
"Really? Who's that?"
"Mit-chan, Shigure's editor."
…OHHH!
"Really? How interesting. By the way, when is Shigure due back?"
"Why are you asking?"
"Oh, no reason really. It just seems like he's been gone an awfully long time."
"Yes. He's been gone longer than usual, but he'll be fine. Why don't you join us while we wait for everyone else to arrive? You and Mai have been working half the night."
"Okay!" Motoko sat down in the empty space between Hana and Hatori.
They didn't have to wait very long, and soon Tohru and the others came back…with Momiji in tow.
"Why isn't anyone telling me anything? It's so unfair! Oh, hey there! What's your name?" Momiji asked Motoko with a grin.
"Motoko. What's yours?"
"His name is Momiji and he's an annoying little brat!" Kyo griped as he walked to the fridge to scavenge what was left in there.
"Kyo's being mean again!" Momiji whined, and then ran out of the room.
"Every single damn time!" Kyo growled.
Hatori cleared his throat. "What exactly is Momiji doing here?"
"He followed us and we found him in the cemetery when we were…putting up tents. We brought him back here for you to deal with," Haru answered.
Hatori gave a long-suffering sigh. "I see. What exactly do you want me to do about it?"
" I dunno. Tell him some lie that he'll believe?" Kyo suggested helpfully.
"Wouldn't Tohru be a better choice?"
"Probably, but— oh! Look at the time! We should get going if we want to make it to the office building to check out demonic presences!" Uo jumped in, and then grabbed Tohru's hand, turned around and headed back towards the door. Haru, Rin, and Kyo started to follow.
"Don't you want to know about vengeance demons and what we've uncovered? It would be wise to know in case you come across her." Hana's calm voice stopped them short.
"That's smart. What've you got?" Uo asked, curious.
Hana slid the papers towards the office building-bound group, who then crowded next to the table to read them, the male Zodiac members avoiding contact with the non-Zodiac females.
After a few minutes they had all finished and ready to get going again.
"We're going to be gone for awhile, so have fun with Momiji," Rin said as they started towards the door once again.
"Wait." Hana tilted her head to where she could sense Momiji's waves. "I think I'll go with you."
"That's great! The more the merrier!" Uo cried as she led Hana away.
The remaining three looked at each other and sighed as Momiji bounded into the room again.
"This is going to be a long night," Yuki said. The other two nodded.
…
The six stood in the lobby of Tohru's building.
"It's pretty big. How are we going to search this place? What do we do when we find this demon thingy?" Uo asked.
"Mai and Motoko told me that beheading it would work just fine," Tohru said.
"And what exactly are we going to behead it with?" Kyo inquired. The other five looked at their weapons and noticed a trend in the definite lack of beheading material.
"I'm guessing we probably should've planned this out better," Uo commented, eliciting nods, shrugs, and noncommittal grunts from her comrades. "No matter! We can always improvise with what we've got."
"How are we going to improvise with stakes, crosses, garlic, and holy water?" Kyo asked. "Next time we go patrolling we're bringing an ax or sword or something in case this happens again."
Tohru had been staring into space while this conversation had been going on. She then snapped out of it and smiled at them. "I just remembered! Mai said something about really bad smelling stuff might incapacitate the demon, but she wasn't too clear about it." Tohru frowned. "Do we have really bad smelling stuff?"
Uo looked at the garlic Tohru was carrying, and smiled. "I think we're good to go."
They turned their attention back again to the lobby. Rin spoke up. "It might have been a good idea to bring Momiji along. He knows this place like the back of his hand."
Kyo offered his tactical expertise. "We could always split up."
"What!"
"Are you crazy?"
"Haven't you watched any horror films?"
"Well, we could split up into two groups. It will get the searching done faster." Tohru put forward, "And I don't think it was that bad of an idea."
The four glanced at each other for before teaming up. Hana, Uo, and Tohru grouped up without a word and Haru, Rin, and Kyo were left in the other group.
"Hey! That's not fair— a psychic, a Yankee, and a Slayer in one group. You have all those superpowers and stuff and we'll just be stuck with martial arts!" Kyo cried.
"Don't whine Kyo-Kyo. Now, how are we going to do this? We could take the top floors and work out way down and you guys can start here and work you're way up. How's that sound?" Uo was nearly jumping up and down with excitement.
The others nodded their agreement, split up Tohru's garlic, stole the walkie-talkies a security guard had so thoughtfully left behind the security desk, and started searching.
(End Chapter 9)
ULTRA SPECIAL NOTE: I'm going on vacation tomorrow to California to visit relatives for the next two weeks, so this will be the last update for that time. All reviews, questions, and the like will be left untouched and unread for that period. Sorry. . But I get to go on vacation! Yay!
And thanks all reviewers! You guys are the best. hugs