Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed Destiny and The Prince of Tennis
Holiday Interlude: Auel Neider
Chapter One: The Girl with Long Braids
Auel Neider snuck out of the hotel room early in the morning. The other people in the room did not stir.
Auel smothered his chuckle when he thought how slow they were. He went down and went out into the streets of Kanagawa.
His so-called family was visiting their so-called relatives who were staying in this area. They were staying at a so-called friend's hotel and he got sick of all the group activity.
He had woken up early and decided to go and explore the city on his own. He saw lots of people in business suits and they were hurrying like ants on a deadline. He did not see a lot of young people though and he wondered why.
He did not remember that Kira had said that it was during the summer holidays and most students would not be up so early during the holidays. But then, he did not really care because it was just nice to be free from Neo's nagging and Sting's complaining about having to take care of him and Mayu.
Well, he did not need to be taken care of and it was certainly not his fault that Mayu had a crush on Sting. He laughed as he imagined Sting's wrath when he found out that Auel had ditched him and ran off by himself.
He ignored the stares from around him. Though he was not very tall, he stood out amongst the dark crowd of people with their dark hair and dark suits and dark briefcases.
He strolled down streets and skipped across zebra-crossings and glanced through shop windows. By the time the sun was high, he was hungry and lost.
He looked around for a place where he could find food. He saw the ice-cream stand and felt a sudden craving for ice-cream.
He dug around in his pockets and found some chance. It was not Japanese currency but he shrugged and thought, "What the heck."
He went up and in perfect Japanese, ordered an ice-cream. The man said the amount for the ice-cream and Auel dropped some coins into the man's palm.
The man looked at them and said, "I don't accept foreign change."
Auel got annoyed because he was hungry and said, "Well, you'll have to because I don't have any yen with me."
The man looked at this rude boy and got annoyed too, "If you can't pay with yen, then you don't get your ice-cream."
Auel frowned, "What's wrong with my money! It's still proper coins, just not yen! I'm hungry, I want my ice-cream!"
The man tried to reason with him but Auel argued back and soon, there was a small crowd around the stand.
The man could not very well be aggressive because he might lose customers that way but he was very frustrated and therefore, he was most grateful when a timid-looking girl spoke up and offered to pay for the boy.
Auel, on the other hand, was annoyed because he was not used to people being nice to him randomly but he was hungry and so grudgingly accepted the ice-cream.
He walked off licking his ice-cream. He was prepared to find his way back to the hotel when he noticed the odd girl following him.
He got annoyed and suspicious immediately. He glared at the girl and snarled, "Hey, I didn't ask for your help and I'm not going to pay you back!"
The girl looked surprised, "Huh? I-I wasn't going to ask you to pay me back…"
Auel did not believe her and the girl continued hesitantly, "I-I thought… eh…"
She spoke so softly and slowly that Auel became irritated. He wanted to get on with his ice-cream and he snapped, "What? Speak up! I can't hear you!"
The girl burst out, "I-I thought that you might need help!" They both blinked at her sudden loud tone and the girl turned to go.
Auel suddenly thought that maybe she really just wanted to help him and he caught at her wrist. It would be nice to have a companion until he returned to Sting and the others.
He announced in his usual cocky way, "I'm hungry!"
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This girl with the long braids took him to a fast-food restaurant and bought him food.
Auel thought that she would not last long in the orphanage where he originated from. She was too malleable and weak. Still, it was not his problem. As long as he had food, he did not care.
He ate quickly and when he was finished, he leaned back and sighed happily. Suddenly the girl giggled and he got annoyed.
He thought that maybe she was laughing at him and he hated being made a fool of. He growled, "What's so funny?"
The girl looked taken aback, "Ah, I-I just thought you looked contented... with the food, I mean."
Auel blinked, "Oh, that, yeah, thanks." He relaxed immediately once he knew that she was not laughing at him.
He had spent so many years being offensive that he did not really know how to be around normal people. Kaasan and Neo did not really count as normal people because they had been in the army before.
Well, that was what Sting told him. Sting had said, "Murrue was in the army and Neo used to be a free-lance mercenary soldier who was very good. That's why they had so much money."
Auel saw that the girl looked relieved now and he was pleased. It would be no fun if his companion was scared of him.
She asked, "Eh… ano… what do you want to do now?" Auel thought a while and answered her, "I don't know. I'm actually lost."
She then looked distressed which confused Auel a bit. He did not remember if he had been distressed before and was not familiar with it. This girl really was strange.
She was speaking again, "Oh no, where's your family? Do you have their phone number? I can lend you my phone if you want? Oh dear, they must be very worried about you!"
Auel was incredulous at her words. He did not know that people were supposed to be worried about him. He was well capable of looking after himself and he said so.
He added, "If it was Stellar who was lost, then they would be worried. She spaces out so much that she fell from a cliff once when we were by the ocean. It scared the hell out of everyone, especially Shinn."
He thought back on that day they were having an outing.
Neo had called it a family outing and Kaasan had made a lot of food and Shinn and Mayu had also come along. Shinn was smitten with Stellar and Mayu liked to follow Sting around.
He thought that it was rather boring until Stellar fell off the cliff. Then he thought it was really funny how everyone had started panicking. Shinn had jumped off the cliff after Stellar and Sting was cursing fluently.
He had laughed so much. Well, he laughed until he realized that Kaasan was worried but he did think that it was funny as hell.
The girl listened to him talk about that incident and looked confused.
She asked him again, "A-re? Someone fell from a cliff and another person jumped after her and you found it funny? Are these people your friends or family? Shouldn't you be worried too?"
Auel did not understand her thing about being worried, "Why should I be worried? Shinn jumped after Stellar, didn't he? He takes care of her all the time, so I didn't have to worry about her.
Besides, she's capable of looking out for herself. She's an idiot sometimes but she fights real well! Especially with knives."
The girl looked really confused now.
Auel had thought that Stellar was strange but now he thought that maybe Stellar was the normal one and this girl was the really strange one. She seemed to become confused so easily.
She was quiet for a little while and then she said, "Eh… so… S-stellar was alright because someone… ano… Shinn… took care of her?"
Auel thought that she missed a lot of details but since she got something right, he decided maybe he should praise her a little, like Kaasan did when he did something right.
He clapped his hands, "You got it! Well, you're not as stupid as I thought."
The girl blushed and looked very happy to be praised.
Hehe, Auel knew that he had done the right thing. He always knew that he was a clever lad.
He said, "You know, I used to think that Stellar was strange. I mean, when we were small, Sting and I had to always look out for her because she would space out and wander around.
Since we are companions, Sting told me that we ought to look out for her because Stellar couldn't take care of herself. He's probably right but it was so much of a nuisance because Stellar can be really quiet when she wanted to and sometimes, we had to run around calling her name before she would answer.
She's sometimes very slow too. Boy, was I glad when Shinn came along and started to watch out for Stellar. I mean, I don't like Shinn much but since he's doing Sting's and my job, I don't really care.
Shinn's really annoying sometimes. He acts like this know-it-all. Mayu's alright though. She likes to play games and she very nice to Sting and me so I like her. She would bring candy and cookies and we would eat them together."
Auel looked out the window of the restaurant as he talked and saw that it was quite a nice day. He could never stay still for long and he got up.
He said, "Let's go to the game centre!"
The two young people went outside and they started off in one direction. Suddenly, Auel realized that he did not know where the game centre was.
He thought that the girl should know but since she seemed rather stupid, maybe he had better make sure before they got lost.
He asked her, "Say, where's the game centre?"
The girl answered, rather stupidly in Auel's opinion, "Eh… I don't know. I've never been there."
He could not believe that she had never been to the game centre before and said so with annoyance. The girl seemed to be insulted and turned to leave.
While Auel did not know what it was that he had said, he did not want to be alone just yet and did what Neo had once taught him.
He smiled sweetly and apologized. Neo had said that most girls like people smiling at them and hearing people saying sorry.
Auel did not understand this logic because it did not seem to work on Stellar. However, it worked on Kaasan, Mayu and Cagalli so it might work on this girl too.
The girl turned back and said, "Then you won't be nasty and say that I'm odd again?" Auel wondered if that was what made her angry.
He answered anyway, "I promise, ne? Let's go!" The girl nodded and he was happy.
He still did not know where the game centre and he was growing restless.
He looked around for someone to ask and saw some men with familiar clothes and hair-styles. He used to see a lot of those spiky hair and tattoos and leather when he was smaller and was still at the orphanage with Sting and Stellar.
Before they were taken away from it, their area was filled with people like these. They made him feel at home and he went up to ask them.
The girl tried to stop him, saying that they were scary people but he knew that they were only pretending to be scary.
They did not have that coldness around them that said they had killed before. He could tell.
As he skipped up to these people, he suddenly thought that he should get them to give him some money as well. The girl had paid for his food earlier but she did not look to him as if she had a lot of money.
What if they went to the game centre and they had no money? Then it would be all for nothing.
Therefore he said, "Hey, you there! Tell me where the game centre is! Oh, by the way, I need some money!"
He smiled up at them, hoping that they would quickly give him the directions and the money and he could go and have fun.
They did not cooperate, which annoyed him a bit but there were always stupid people around the place who looked down on him just because he was short. He hated being short sometimes because he hated being mistaken for a child.
He sighed because when they came, Kaasan had said that they should be good children and not make a scene because it would cause difficulties. He did not really care but since he had promised Kaasan, he would keep his promise.
He said, "I was under orders not to cause a scene but don't push me. Tell me where the game centre is and hand over your money."
To his annoyance, they ignored him and one of them said, "He's a cracker. Let's go ov'r to the alley. Show 'im his place."
When he looked over to where the guy was pointing, he brightened.
It was a dark alley and if it was in the dark alley, he would not be causing a scene and he could have some extra fun! This day was turning out to be better than he thought.
They started off to the alley but suddenly, the girl he was with rushed up and stammered, "W-where are you taking him? P-please let him go!"
One of the guys pushed her off and Auel saw red. No one touched his companions!
He flicked his arm free of another guy's hold and went to the girl's side to make sure she was alright and that she would stay put.
He lifted her up and said, "I'll be fine, just stay here and wait. I'll be really quick, ne?"
The girl tried to stop him and he said firmly, "Listen to me! Stay here and wait for me!" She nodded and he could finally go off and have fun!
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Once they were in the shadows in the alley, Auel showed his dangerous side.
His wild side that came from the early years of fighting for survival in the orphanage where there was never enough food and where they were beaten regularly.
It was a place where they learned to be animals if they wanted to survive.
His wild side that was honed when he was taken out of the orphanage along with Sting and Stellar. They were taken out by some dangerous people to be trained to kill or be killed.
It was all in the past now but he did not forget how to be dangerous.
His expression changed from a youth's to an assassin's. He could feel the air around him change.
He said, "You should've just told me what I wanted to know and handed over the money. Now, you've made me angry."
He smiled cruelly and the guys in front of him were chilled. He could feel their fear and he was happy.
He could play again with no Neo to stop him and no Kaasan to look upset.
He was just a bit disappointed that he did have any guns because those were his preferred weapons but it did not really matter. These were just small fish for him to fry.
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He leapt into the air like flash of lightning and before they knew it, he had taken down three of the guys.
It was just a light kick at the neck. It did not even kill but they were down so easily.
Auel landed on the ground and ducked into another's guard and with a tight punch, hit into his stomach hard enough that he coughed up blood.
Then he disappeared from their eyes and by the time, he appeared, a man's face was disfigured with punches and the air was splattered with saliva and blood and broken teeth.
Auel was so much into the joy of fighting that he almost forgot that if he took down them all, there would no one for him to ask directions from.
Therefore he regretfully kicked the last guy a few more times and then said coldly, "Ne, where's the game centre? Oh, and money, I need money. Hurry up, I don't like waiting."
One of the guys was not as injured as his friends and he quickly handed over his purse with trembling hands and in a broken voice, gave Auel the directions to the game centre.
Auel took the money out of the purse and stuffed it into his pockets, not even bothering to count it. He had never been very good with numbers anyway.
He noticed that his fists had a bit of blood on them and knelt down and used one of the guys' shirts to wipe it off.
He remembered that Neo had said that normal people easily freak with the sight of blood and probably the girl would too.
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He walked from the alley and saw her waiting there.
He smiled happily and was really surprised when she ran to him, crying with relief, "You're alright! A-are you hurt? What did they do?"
He felt a bit of the same warmth that he usually felt when Kaasan petted him on the head and he grinned, "I'm fine. They told me where the game centre is! Let's go!"
He grabbed the girl's wrist and marched off, dragging her after him.
They were marching along when she called out, "Ne, my name's Sakuno, Ryuzaki Sakuno! What's yours?"
Auel looked back at her and grinned, "Auel, Auel Neider, Sakuno!"
Hehe, this day was definitely more fun than he had anticipated!