Disclaimer-- By now, I still don't think I know what I'm doing. I don't own these characters, except for Ben and Kiki (they're figments of my scary sugar-high imagination). I wish I owned Riku though... and Ed... thinks scary fangirl fantasies
Ed: GET ON WITH IT YOU FREAK!
Riku: look of horror
Chapter 4
Tokyo, Japan
Ahiru woke to hear the sound of rushing feet and a dinging bell. He slightly opened up his eyes and looked around at the room. Then all his thoughts rushed back to him and he realized where he was. His stomach felt like a bomb had gone off and stole every particle of food ever left in his stomach. He rolled over and followed a random moogle into the kitchen where everyone was walking around cleaning dishes and washing up for dinner. Ahiru walked into the kitchen and sat down in a chair. He felt a little better after his little nap. Ed came over and sat down across from him.
"So, I'm assuming that you'll be staying with us for some time now?" Ed asked.
Ahiru looked up from his daze at Ed's golden eyes. "I guess so. I was supposed to meet a friend of mine today at the Kisaten Café, but I guess Kiki decided that this was more important. Not like I really had a choice…"
Ed looked at him, with a puzzled face. "What do you mean you didn't have a choice? Couldn't you just simply have said no?"
Ahiru shook his head, watching his white bangs float in and out of view. "No. She came into my house and-"
Ahiru felt a hand come over his mouth and stopped in mid sentence. He looked up into Kiki's eyes, which were basically screaming at him; Don't tell ANYONE about who you really are. "He was just kidding. Riku's been a very good boy, coming along and helping me." She smiled her smile, even though Ahiru could see right through it. What the hell kind of twisted person are you? He thought to himself.
Kiki floated back to the counter and stove. Ahiru smelled the sweet smell of pasta being cooked on the stove. Ben walked over to the table and placed meat buns in front of Ed, who immediately took 4. Ben gave him a look of disapproval, then walked away.
After all the food had been set on the table, Ahiru put his hands together and said, "Ittadekimasu!" then everyone started eating. There was pasta, meat buns, sweet potatoes and shrimp, which Ed obviously disapproved of, because he almost stabbed Ben when he reached for one with his fork.
"What was that for? I'm hungry!" Ben yelled.
Dark laughed, "Little Ed, you could have taken off his hand!"
Ed sat there, turning bright red, trying to act like a mature adult. Kiki giggled a little bit.
Ahiru stat there, finishing up the last of his pasta. He took the last sip of milk and barely caught a glimpse of Ed, standing up and leaving. Ahiru looked at him, puzzled. Then Ben spoke.
"Ed doesn't like milk. And NEVER insult him about his height, even though we all do anyway." He let out a hearty laugh, then finished up his pasta as well. Ahiru jumped down from his chair. He went to take his plates over to the sink, when he tripped on his pants and fell. Luckily, Dark, who had been sitting next to him, reached down and grabbed the plates before they smashed to the floor. But as Ahiru started to stand back up again, he noticed that his hair was a little bit brown on the ends. In a panic, he froze on the spot. Just staring at the floor, and watching his hair swing a little bit as it changed back to brown. Oh God, I'm changing back. What do I do! Ahiru suddenly stood up and ran out of the room as fast as he could, leaving everyone else still sitting at the table, staring at the doorway where Ahiru had just ran out.
"That poor kid," Ben said. "I wonder if he misses his family."
"HA!" Dark laughed. "Are you kidding? Didn't you see what just happened? That boy's a magic user, no doubt about it. I wonder why he ran away though. Could it be that his original form isn't his real form?"
"Nah," Ben said. "Riku looks like an honest enough kid."
Dark leaned back on his chair, putting his knees against the kitchen table. "You can think what you want, Ben, but that boy is fooling us."
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Ahiru ran down the downstairs hallways as fast as he could. He ran down one hallway, then turned down another. It was a labyrinth of hallways and Ahiru didn't know where he was. Everything was white and everything looked the same. He turned one last corner and found a dead end. A room painted all white. No windows, but one door, on the opposite wall. Ahiru looked at it, wondering what a door was doing in the middle of a house. He walked slowly towards it, now fitting back into his clothes. When he reached the door he noticed a symbol of a dragon engraved in the center of it. Did it lead to the underworld? Was this the door that opened to all the other worlds?
Ahiru reached out for the doorknob-
"STOP!"
He whizzed around to see Kiki leaning up against the wall, breathing heavily. "What…the hell… Do you think… You're doing!"
Ahiru backed up against the door and felt a little shock up his spine as though the door was magical. "I was just curious. I mean, this door- What- Why do you have a door in the middle of a building! What point does this serve? And why did your spell wear off? I mean, I'm not complaining, but…I'm so confused, Kiki."
Kiki inhaled a huge breath. "First of all, I cannot tell you what lies beyond that door. Not because I don't want to, because if I could Ahiru, I would tell you everything. But because of who you are and what your father did, I cannot tell you anything about this. What I can tell you is that you must keep your identity to yourself. If they," she gestured back down the hall towards where Ahiru had run from, "found out who you were, we couldn't keep track of who they told."
Ahiru looked at his feet. He was so confused about the whole situation and still didn't know what this door was doing here. "I- I don't think I can trust you Kiki." He looked up from his feet and stared her right in the eyes. "You're not being clear to me! If I really am the Great Savior, don't you think that I have the right to know what is going on!" Ahiru slid his hand over the doorknob and felt the lock click as soon as he'd touched it. "I'm sorry, Kiki. But sometimes, I feel like I have to find out certain things for myself."
Ahiru twisted the knob and felt warm light calling him into the room on the other side. He heard Kiki screaming in the background, but paid no attention to her. He just walked through the door and stepped through to the other side.
------------ END OF CHAPTER 4 ---------------------
EVEN MORE annoying notes from the Author
1) Ben is my own character. So is Kiki. Don't go searching to see what anime Ben is from. He's not from anything
2) Ittadekimasu: Japanese translation is Thank you for the mean ((usually used...actually always used before you eat a meal))