AUTHOR'S NOTE: GAHHHHH! This would have been out 3 days ago...but FF was having issues and I couldn't post my story! Anyway, it's extra long and full of fluff and I hope you and enjoy it and I'm so sorry for the delay!
Chapter 7: Double The Trouble
"Kei, please calm down! You're pouting is starting to annoy me," Sete begged, flopping back onto the bed as Kei continued to pace back and forth.
"But we talked about this! We all agreed, no damn secrets," Kei fumed. "Hayate knows something and he isn't telling us a damn thing! You saw the look on his face!"
"What look, the oh-my-God-my-girlfriend's-being-stalked-by-some-crazy-beyotch look? Or the why-is-this-happening-to-us look?" she drawled, yawning and closing her eyes. She yelped when a pillow smacked her right in the head. "Kei! What the hell is your deal?"
"My deal," he bit out sharply. "Is that I'm Hayate's second. He's made it official to everyone, including the Topaz Prince. But he won't tell me SHIT! BLAISE knows more than I do! That damned British moron!"
Sete rolled her eyes and got out of bed. When Kei ranted, he tended to go on regardless of who was listening or not. And she really wanted to sleep! Only one thing to do here... She went up behind him, rubbing his shoulders. She dug her thumbs in hard enough to press out all the tense knots. Slowly, Kei began to relax, head falling forward so she could massage his neck.
"That's cheating," he muttered.
Smiling, she kissed the back of his neck lightly, breath blowing on the short waves that came free from the ponytail. He let out a small hiss. His neck was one of his sensitive spots. And so was... Sete smiled at the small sound that escaped him when her hands moved lower to his back, pressing right at the base of his spine. "Feeling better?" she teased.
"Evil. Pure evil, that's what you are."
"You like it, admit it!"
Kei arched a brow, giving her a very slight curve of lips. "Maybe," he answered. Turning around, he kissed her lightly, just a press of lips together. "Cinnamon chapstick?"
"Mmm...yep!" Kei was forever saying how much he liked cinnamon anything.
"Oo...how delicious." He went back for seconds, arms circling her waist, pulling her up tight against him. They backed into the bed, Sete pulling him down on top of her.
"So, feeling better yet?" she mocked him.
He smiled against her mouth, still kissing her. "Almost there..."
Blaise pounded back another shot of Jamison whiskey, shaking his head as the burning liquid coursed down his throat. Holy crap...holy friggin' CRAP! He rubbed his eyes with a shakey hand and poured yet another shot. Hayate had said they were dead...no way in hell could it have been real!
But it WAS real! No illusion would have left trace amounts of leafe in the area. Or bloody footprints for that matter. BLOODY FOOTPRINTS! Ghosts with feet! "I'm losin' me bloody mind," he muttered.
"I was not aware you possessed one to start with, mon ami," Feryn said softly as he entered the kitchen. He frowned at the half empty bottle of whiskey and opened the fridge. "That bottle was open already, oui?"
"Nope! S'all my handiwork," Blaise answered. And I'm probably gonna finish the whole damn thing, too, he thought. Granted, getting drunk wouldn't change anything...but it sure as hell would make him feel better!
"Mon Dieu, your liver must be ruined by now," the Frenchman muttered as he pulled out a yougurt container, opening it and grabbing a spoon from a drawer before sitting down at the table. The scars on his face were small but still very fresh and pink. A deep slashing one went across his forehead and down over his right eye. Another split his upper lip in the corner and went down his cheek to just under his chin. And still a third raked down the right side of his face, following close to his hair line.
"Gawd, I hope so," Blaise muttered, ignoring the shot glass now and tipping the whiskey back. After taking a VERY healthy swig, he set the bottle down, putting his elbows on the table to cover his face. This was worse than before! Bringing the dead back to life was impossible! No amount of leafe energy could do that. So...how did Shimura manage it? He sighed, frustrated and too tired (and a little too drunk) to even bother with the puzzle right then and there. Both knights looked up at the loud THUD coming from the ceiling. "What the bloody hell!"
Feryn's hand jumped as an automatic reflex, lightening snapping around him. Blaise yelped when a tiny spark hit him, burning his arm. "I am sorry, mon ami! It is just... that is how the hellhound..."
Blaise checked back any angry response to that. The thud had scared Feryn, even though the Knight of Storms would never admit to it. Forcing a smile, even though his arm hurt like a bitch, he shrugged. "S'all good! So, what's with the yougurt?"
"I cannot sleep, and when I cannot sleep I eat yougurt," he answered, digging his spoon in. "The milk helps to make one sleep better."
"Huh. Never knew that!" Finally, something useful from the Frenchie!
Another thud from over head and a loud, "GODDAMN IT!" Blaise grinned when he realized it had been both Sete and Kei cussing. Well, well, well... that would explain why he couldn't hear the Knight of Light shouting angrily anymore!
"Perhaps we should investigate the noise," Feryn suggested, glancing at the ceiling.
"No good. Couldn't drag me up them stairs sober or drunk! Don't wanna see th' show."
Feryn arched a brow, "Pardon?"
Sighing, Blaise shook his head. "Ya don't wanna know, mate!"
A door opened upstairs and hurried footsteps came down. Hayate entered the kitchen, still in pajamas but looking wide awake. "Blaise?"
Blaise took a deep shuddering breath and practically inhaled his next swig of whiskey. Whoa...the whole bloody room was beginning to spin. Made him a little dizzy..."Well, I've got bad news and freaky-as-hell news. Which you want first, Cap'n?"
Hayate glanced at the alcohol on the table but didn't say anything. He knew it had to be pretty bad for Blaise to drink alone. "Start with freaky and end with bad," he answered, getting some water from the tap and joining the other two.
"Oooo, never woulda pegged ya fer a freak, mate!" Blaise laughed at his own joke and missed the look shared between Feryn and Hayate. Feryn very deftly took the Jamison away and hid it under the table. "Well, s'like this! See, I went outside with Mawata-,"
"Why was she there?" Hayate demanded.
"Hold up, I was gettin' to that lovely bit soon enough! Now, we was outside an' all that and I saw some footprints in the sand by yer window. So I asks her, I asks, 'Oi, ya lovely bit o'-,"
"Blaise, for the love of GOD, just get to the point," Hayate exclaimed. Blaise was a handful sober. Plastered...that was something else!
Scowling, Blaise reached for his bottle...only to find it missing. "Oi, where did Jami wander off to? Bloody stupid git!"
"Perhaps we should discuss this later," Feryn suggested blandly, glaring at the very inebriated Knight of Flowers.
"Sure I had 'im wit me," Blaise continued to mutter, looking all around (even under the table, where it was still hidden) to find it. "Argh, bloody, bloody, smeggin' HELL!"
Hayate sighed, slouching down in his chair, pushing his hair back impatiently. "I'll find your Jamison if you tell me what happened, Blaise," he entreatied.
Feryn shook his head vehemntly. The only thing worse than a drunk Blaise was a Blaise with a hangover from being drunk.
Blaise, meanwhile, had big hopeful eyes. "Really? What a true mate! Y'know, Faerie, me an' Hayate've been mates fer...oh, I dunno. S'been a while though, right?"
"Back to checking the perimeter with Mawata," Hayate encouraged.
"Ah, that lovely woman! That sweet, adorable, sexiest arse I've ever seen woman! Y'know something, Hayate? I think she likes me!" Blaise sniggered at that, swaying in his chair. "And ya wanna know somethin' else?"
"Not particularly," he muttered.
"You are going to here it anyway, it seems," Feryn remarked dryly.
"Sod off, ya prat," Blaise snarled. "I'm talkin' to me mate o'er here, NOT to you!"
Feryn's jaw worked angrily but he remained silent and stirred his yougurt with an almost violent zeal.
Blaise dropped an arm on Hayate, and Hayate had to grab him to keep him from falling out of his chair. "God, Blaise, how much did you drink?"
"Dunno...a few shots...maybe ten? No...pro'ly closer ta twelve. Ish."
Hayate groaned. This was ridiculous! "The one time I ask you to do something very important and you get too shit-faced to be of any use!"
Both Feryn and Blaise blinked in surprise at that little outburst. "Whoa...s'first time I ever heard ya use somethin' stronger than damn," the Englishman commented. "Don't like it too much comin' from yer mouth!"
"You're being an idiot, and it's starting to piss me off! Himeno's life is in danger here, and you're too damn drunk to give me a single piece of USEFUL information!"
Again, both knights were stunned silent. Outbursts like that weren't typical of Hayate...which meant he was extremely worried for Himeno's safety. Blaise managed to sit himself back in his own chair. "There were two knights outside the window," he mumbled. "Leafes of Sound and Fire. Thought ya said th' blokes were dead."
"They ARE dead. How did Shimura bring them back?"
"Dunno...s'why I've been drinkin'. Can't think o' the answer, and the truth scares the piss outta me."
"If she is bringing the dead back... we are doomed," Feryn whispered.
"No, she can't. It's not one of her powers, and is impossible besides," Hayate said firmly. "Once a leafe is gone, it gets reborn again. If their leafes WERE to be real, they would be infants, not full grown knights."
"Yeah, and the Bitch of Delusions doesn't have th' power raise th' bloody dead," Blaise added, slipping his head down onto the table. He didn't realize that Hayate had just said that. "Trust me, I know!"
"Oh? And how can you be so certain of that?" Feryn asked angrily, still mad over being told to 'sod off'.
"Cuz...wait, not s'posed ta say, am I?" He snickered as if he just said the funniest thing in the world.
Hayate shook his head and grabbed one of Blaise's arms to haul him to his feet to take him upstairs before he said anything stupid. "I'm getting him to his room. He's too drunk to get any more information out of." And when the knight slept off the booze, they were going to have a very long talk!
Feryn watched the two stumble off up the stairs, blue eyes narrowed thoughtfully. Sighing, he cleaned up the mess in the kitchen and went back upstairs to his room. Opening the door, he blinked when he saw the night stand lamp was on and that Yayoi was sitting up in bed, hugging a pillow under the blankets. She had the TV on and was watching Sex And The City reruns intently. "Me fleur, it is far passed the time for you to be sleeping." He pulled back the covers and slid in next to her, adjusting the pillows behind his back so he could sit with an arm around her shoulder.
Yayoi offered a shaky little smile, but it didn't reach her eyes like it usually did. "I wanted to wait up for you," she answered.
"You are an awful liar, Yayoi. But it is a tres romantique thought." Feryn kissed her cheek lightly, then a little lower along her jaw.
She shivered, and this time the smile was the one he loved. It lit her entire face up, making her eyes sparkle. "Oh, stop!"
"Tell me truly, are you afraid?"
Yayoi sighed, the smile disappearing. "I know it's silly. I've got you here, right? But...well, this is different. Feryn...I dreamed about you getting hurt. Almost exactly like that. I distracted you and something hurt you."
Feryn's blood went cold. "You...you dreamt of this?"
She nodded, biting her lower lip.
No... He hugged her closer to him, kissing the top of her head. Not Yayoi. Please, not Yayoi! He'd already lost so many friends and loved ones to the Queen of Nightmares. He would NOT lose her! "Yayoi, this may sound very silly, but if ever you dream of something awful again, you must tell me."
"But, why? What's going on?"
He closed his eyes, swallowing back the pain he was feeling. He understood now why knights were encouraged NOT to falling in love with normal humans. They were so fragile compared to a Pretear or one of the females in Leafenia. The White Ladies were a select group of women, mostly Potentials, who had the ability to create new life. When a knight died, their leafe was absorbed back into the world. The White Ladies could then draw that leafe out and, with the help of an existing knight, use it to create a new Leafe Knight. They were not nearly strong enough to be Pretears, but they were stronger than the average human.
"Feryn, what's wrong?"
Sighing, he kissed her hair again. "Nothing, ma belle fleur. I was simply thinking."
Yayoi wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him. "I love you so much!"
"Je t'adore." He smiled at the little excited squeal she made when he said her favorite French phrase. And it was one he would tell her until the day they died.
Hayate sat on the bed, waiting for Himeno to finish digging through the closet for her other shoe. "Don't you have another pair to wear?" he called, flipping through the magazine that had been sitting on the table.
"Yeah, but they're all heels and I'm not wearing heels," she shouted. She screamed and it was quickly followed by a loud clatter.
"Himeno!" He was out of the chair and at the closet door before she could even push the piles of clothing and luggage off herself.
Himeno sat up, one of his shirts on her head and her suitcase on her lap. "This SUCKS!" She looked almost ready to cry. "All I wanted was a vacation without psycho queens coming after me, friends going crazy and getting engaged, luggage falling on my head..." She wiped her nose angrily, still sitting on the floor.
Hayate stepped over the shoe pile by the door (it had surprised him no end to learn Himeno had a shoe fetish) and took a seat on an overturned hat box that had been stored on one of the top shelves. It was a little dusty and had obviously not been pulled down in years. "Himeno..."
"I mean, really, is it too much to ask for one lousy vacation with my boyfriend?" she continued to rant, tears dripping off her chin to splash onto her Cookie Monster t-shirt. "I can't sleep cuz the Queen of Crazies is invading my head, I can't talk to my best friend anymore cuz all she talks about is her stupid wedding. I can't even spend five minutes with you cuz someone's always interupting with bad news! As if we NEED anymore bad news right now! God, I just...why...I don't know..."
He closed his eyes, swallowing heavily. It was killing him to hear her talk like that! She sounded so...defeated. Taking a deep breath, he brushed her tears away gently with his thumbs, cupping her face. "Look at me, Himeno," he ordered softly.
She looked up, eyes still very teary looking.
"I don't know why all of this is happening now, to you. But we're going to get through this. We WILL get through this! And we're going to do it together, okay? We've been together for three years. We've fought off everything that's come our way. And we'll keep on fighting until they get the idea that nothing they do is going to break us."
"How do you know we'll win this time?" she sniffled.
He smiled, knowing what he was going to say next would irritate her. "Because some Tulip-headed girl keeps reminding me we can't give up, not ever."
Himeno laughed, sniffling again and punched his arm. "You jerk! That was the worst feel-better speach of all times!"
"Worse than the Star Wars one?" he joked.
"Way worse! 'Oh, Anakin, I love you so much'," she mocked in a high-pitched voice. Then, making her voice as deep as possible, she said, " 'No, Padme, my love for you is so much greater!' 'And it's because you love me that I love you more.' "
"Did you memorize that or something?" Hayate asked, laughing as he helped her to her feet. His eyes drifted up a shelf or two and he pulled down the missing shoe.
"Hey! Where'd you find it?" she exclaimed.
"It was up there. You were just too short to see it." He made a little 'oof' as she elbowed his stomach.
"Asshole!" She used his arm for balance as she shoved her foot into the black and magenta skate boarding shoe without untying it. "Okay, I'm ready to go."
They picked their way out of the closet, Hayate whipping the shirt still on her head off. "I may let you wear my sweater, but not my Franz Ferdinand shirt!"
"You only let me wear the sweater because I love you so much," Himeno teased, carrying on with the whole Star Wars thing. She opened the door and stepped out into the hall.
"Yes, but it's the knowledge of your love for me that gives me the strength to part with the sweater I love so much" he shot back.
Blaise was coming out of his room at just that time and arched a brow. "Is this code for somethin' I don't really wanna know about?" he asked, giving them a suspicious look.
"Yep! It's code for, 'God, your ass looks hot in those jeans'," Himeno answered.
Blaise made a great show of leaning back and making an approving face. "Completely spankable, that is."
"What? Hey, quite staring at my ass," Hayate shouted, putting his back to the wall quickly.
" 'Course, the front ain't too shabby either," the Englishman continued, grinning at how red Hayate's cheeks got.
"Ew...pervert! Stay away from my boyfriend," Himeno shouted, shoving Blaise playfully.
"Oi! You practically begged me to stare at his arse!"
Kei looked up from below where he and Sete were waiting by the front door for the others to join them. Tonight had been Himeno and Hayate's turn to pick a date, and they'd decided the B-rated movie festival would be interesting, if only for the purpose of mocking the movies. Blaise and Mawata were staying home with the other three, but it wasn't without much complaining from Blaise. He'd been dying to go, and this was the last night it was showing.
"Well... Hayate, is there something you'd like to share?" Kei asked, arching a brow. Sete snickered next to him, hiding her smile behind a hand. They were dressed completely opposite each other. Kei wore dark jeans, a white t-shirt with bright blue print that said 'Like The View?' with a jean jacket. Sete wore dark jeans as well, but she had a tight fitting black tank top on under a black jacket with lots of zippers. Her dark hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail, the ends trailing down to almost her hips.
"Yes, we have an announcement," Blaise continued, managing to get an arm around Hayate's shoulders. "I'm pregnant with his child!"
"WHAT?"
Sete made a pained face. "Oo...I hope it's a C-section."
Kei winced at what she'd suggested, shifting from one foot to the other. "As I said, you're pure, unadulterate evil!"
She smirked, green eyes flashing at some private joke between the two.
Feryn and Yayoi finally emerged from their room as well, a little more dressed up than everyone else (except for possibly Sete). yayoi wore a cute pink jean skirt with a floral print shirt that had frilly bits at the neck and a casual jean jacket. Feryn had blue jeans, dress shoes, a neatly tucked red t-shirt with a faded design on the front under a black dress jacket.
"Damn...he's so pretty," Blaise remarked as the couple walked down stairs. He was still in his grey sweatpants and tight black shirt that he slept in. "Sorry, Hayate, but I'm divorcin' you for the Frenchie."
"Fine," Hayate said quickly, putting his arm around Himeno's waist and walking down the stairs with her. he had his favorite light blue t-shirt on under a dark brown zip-up hoody with blue stripes down the arms. Himeno had an ivory sweater jacket on over her Cookie Monster t-shirt. She didn't match in the least, but he loved it. It was very Himeno-esque.
"Aww...not even a tear shed at the loss?" Blaise continued, mock sobbing as Kei opened the door.
"I could always make those tears real," Sete threatened as Kei took her hand and pulled her from the house.
"God, you're so hot when you threaten me," he hollered as the door shut behind Feryn and Yayoi.
Feryn shook his head, kissing Yayoi's cheek as he put his arm around her shoulders. "That man loves the sound of his own voice!" Yayoi giggled, hugging him.
"That he does," Kei agreed, stopping as they came to the gate separating the front lawn from the boardwalk. He unlocked the gate and held it open for everyone else before shutting and locking it again. "Right, so where is the Snooze Fest anyway?"
Himeno rolled her eyes before taking a flying leap onto Hayate's back. He'd been half expecting it and bent down a little so he could pick her up. "It's not a snooze fest, Kei! It's called WWTT Fest!"
"Huh?"
"WWTT stands for What Were They Thinking," Hayate explained, smiling when Himeno looped her arms around his neck. He adjusted his hold under her thighs a little to keep from dropping her.
:"Oh...how appropriate for this date," was the sarcastic reply.
"You could always stay home with Mannen and the others," Feryn suggested with a cruel smile.
Kei's response was a silent one that involved only four muscles in his finger being used. Sete gave her little smirk of a smile.
Feryn grinned at that, the scar cutting across his lip pulling tight and making an odd little crease in his otherwise flawless face. No one saw the quick flash of sadness in Yayoi's eyes at that. "It was only a suggestion, though I do agree that watching bad movies does not sound as fun as they are making it out to be."
"You're only saying that cuz you've never been to WWTT Fest," Himeno replied from Hayate's back. His hair was blowing back a little in her face, but she didn't mind. She loved his hair...and had proved it by kicking his ass when he'd suggested maybe cutting it off! "You don't go to watch them seriously. You go to make fun of them!"
"No throwing Laffy Taffy this time," Hayate warned.
Himeno grinned, leaning forward to kiss his cheek. "You ran pretty fast that time!"
"And I don't feel like doing it again!" The very first time they'd gone, Himeno had decided to throw Laffy Taffy at the screen...and ended up missing and throwing it down some girl's shirt. The girl very obviously had implants and was wearing a shirt that did little to cover her lingerie bra, and the boyfriend had thought it was Hayate who had thrown it. The guy was HUGE and, seeing as he was human, Hayate couldn't really fight him...so they'd booked it out of the theater as fast as they could with the guy threatening all kinds of painful things.
They got to the theater complex hosting the event and saw there was quite a crowd outside the theater. Hayate let Himeno go so they could study the playlist. "Okay," she said, pointing to a movie. "If we hurry, we can catch 'Android Cats From Hell' and then when that gets out, jump righ in here at 'Turkey Season'-,"
"-Or 'Sandworms'," Hayate interupted. "That one is probably the worst movie in the world!"
"Oooh, yeah, let's do that one! And that would put us out in time for 'Tambourine Of Death'! Perfect!"
" 'Tambourine Of Death'? Is that really the name of a movie?" Kei demanded.
Himeno nodded happily. "See, Kei, you're a natural! You've already started mocking it and you haven't even seen it yet!"
Kei rolled his eyes, "I'm all a-quiver with anticipation," he muttered. Sete laughed, slipping her hands into the pockets of his jeans.
"Are these movies...scary?" Yayoi asked nervously, hugging Feryn.
"Haha...yeah, right! They suck!" Himeno answered.
"Why can we not go and see a date movie?" Feryn asked. "Le theatre du filme across the street is showing Sense And Sensability. Perhaps that would..." His voice trailed off at the disgusted look Himeno was giving him.
She made a barfing motion and said, "Uh, no! When it's your turn to pick a date, we can do that. But it's our turn, and this is what we want."
Sighing, Feryn whispered to Yayoi, "I tried." She nodded, shivering a little. He rubbed her back soothingly. It didn't matter if the movies were awful. After the dream she'd had of him getting hurt, all it took was just a little spook to scare her.
Hayate watched them for a second before saying, "Of course...there's also 'The Clowning'. That one was almost as bad as 'Sandworms'."
"I didn't see that one! Yeah, and we can see that right after 'Sandworms'!"
Hayate and Feryn shared a look and Feryn mouthed a silent "thank you". They bought tickets for all three movies, the grand total coming to thirty dollars. And they got free popcorn for doing a triple feature. So far, the date was pretty cheap.
After getting their popcorn, drinks (Kei took minutes explaining to Himeno that spending four dollars on a bottle of water was actually pretty good) and enough candy to satisfy even Hajime's sweet tooth, they found the theater for their first movie. Himeno led the way up the stairs to the back of the theater. "Come on, we have to get the best seats in the house!"
"These are the best seats?" Sete asked skeptically. A guy whistled at her as she passed and she turned on him with such a fierce scowl that he sunk down his his seat, gulping. "Unless you want me to tear your balls off with my bare hand, apologize now!"
"S-s-sorry!" he gasped out.
Kei smiled, kissing the spot right under her ear. "God, that was sexy!"
"You masochist," she answered back before sitting down next to Yayoi and Feryn. "Oh, great..."
"Five bucks says they start making out just as the opening credits end," Kei muttered.
"Ten says before they end," Sete answered back.
The theater darkened and the film started with loud, horrible string music that was a little tinny and off-key. Feryn leaned over and kissed Yayoi a little more than was necessary.
"Damn it!" Kei fished out ten dollars from his pocket, slapping it into Sete's outstretched hand. Smiling, she put it into her coat pocket before leaning closer to him, head on his shoulder, bother her hands covering his.
The minute the first android cat (a very poorly disguised tabby cat with tin foil on its head) came on, Himeno and Hayate started cracking up, Hayate choking on his popcorn. "Look, he's not microwave safe!" Himeno declared.
"Of course, a cat shouldn't be put in the microwave anyway," Hayate continued.
Kei and Sete exchanged glances. Well, mocking people and things was their forte... "Where's PETA when you need them?" Kei added.
"Yeah, pyschological trauma, and not just to the poor cat," Sete said.
Himeno leaned forward, smiling over at them. "See, I told you this was fun!"
Hayate nudging her and pointing at the screen got her attention back just in time for one of the cats to lose its tin foil as it tried to hump another cat. The camera had been placed on the floor and the cats were practically blocking the shot of a woman screaming and pretending to be afraid of the android cats. "GET A ROOM!" they both shouted. There were a couple of angry looks, but for the most part the theater was laughing quietly.
"Are you talking to us?" Feryn demanded, pulling his lips away from Yayoi's long enough to ask that.
"Not yet," Kei answered. Sete was practically dying in his arms.
"This is...so bad...so very bad," she got out.
"My God, if I wanted porn I could have stayed home," someone else in the audience shouted as the cats continued humping on the screen.
The image flashed away in a very poorly done fading sequence to two men talking. Except... "Hey, this is like watching a dubbed film," Sete said. The voices and the mouth movements didn't match at all. Both she and Kei laughed as a cardboard flying saucer crashed into the 'window', losing a piece of it's siding as it did.
"Bring back the oven safe kitties," Hayate called out.
"Shut up back there!" a woman hissed.
Himeno laughed louder and grabbed a handful of popcorn. Hayate was holding his sides, unable to reply to the request to stay quiet.
Feryn and Yayoi were talking softly, something about a shade of pink. Between Sete, Kei, Hayate and Himeno, as well as a couple other people in the audience, everyone either hated them or loved them. The lights came on at the end and everyone began to file out. The woman who had shouted at them was talking to a manager and pointing at them. The manager listened, nodded, and then laughed at her before walking away.
"Whew! I thought for a second we were gonna be kicked out," Himeno said. She and Hayate led the way to the second film that had already started. This time, the seats in the back were all taken so they were forced to sit wherever there was room in the crowded theater. It ended up being Kei and Sete sitting somewhere in the middle, Feryn and Yayoi a little further forward and across the way from them, and Hayate and Himeno at the very front closest to the screen. No one else was sitting anywhere near them. And this time the entire theater was busy shouting stuff at the screen.
Himeno frowned, slouching down in her seat. "Damn it...why did everyone have to take our idea?" she demanded. One of the sandworms (an earthworm someone had tried to make larger by zooming in super close on it) was trying to crawl through a cardboard city that was entirely too fake.
Hayate hesitated a second before he leaned over and kissed her neck. "It's because we're geniuses," he answered, touching her cheek to turn her toward him so he could kiss her.
She shifted positions a little so that her shoulder was turned in and she was sort of facing him. "Hayate..." Her arm went around his neck, pulling him down again.
"Just step on the damn thing already!" Himeno and Hayate stopped kissing to smile at Kei's shouted comment.
"Or get the android cats to beat the shit out of them!" That was said by Sete.
"We created a monster," Hayate joked, hand moving from her face to around her waist, slipping down her hip a little.
"Huh, you think?" Himeno replied before kissing him again. Finally, some time to themselves! She sighed a little as the kiss deepened and became a little less playful than before. Feryn and Yayoi would have been proud if they'd seen it! But...God, he was good at kissing!
Hayate glanced up a the screen and drew back. "Wait...the best part. Ready? One...two..."
Himeno grinned and together they shouted the next line from the incredibly bad actor, "GOD SAVE US FROM THESE SANDWORMS!" They fell back in the seat, laughing hysterically.
"Did he really just say that?" a woman asked incredulously.
"God save us from this movie," Kei hollered. "Seriously...what the hell were they SMOKING when they came up with this trash?"
The rest of the movie was spent cracking jokes, saying quotes and, finally, throwing popcorn at the screen. Himeno and Hayate looked at each other and smiled before he kissed her hand. This was exactly what she'd wanted the entire trip!
"Right hand blue," Shin called from the couch, staring at the spinner.
"Whose idea was this again?" Blaise muttered. Twister...of all the games for the kid to pick it had to be Twister! After the comment on the bus... He was having a hard time not thinking about it. Especially since he was playing with Mawata. Hajime and Mannen were playing Crash Bandicoot on TV, which left Shin to be their spinner. And he was having a blast making them into human origami!
"Uh...yours...I think," Mawata said, staring at him from between her legs. One foot was on a yellow dot, the other on a red which left her legs apart. She already had her hands crossed over themselves to accomodate the new order.
And the only way for Blaise to follow suit was to put himself in a very compromising position. While he didn't mind in the least, he though Mawata might. "Hey, poppet, can we get a respin?"
"Right hand, blue! Right hand, blue!" Shin chanted, smiling happily and bouncing up and down on the couch.
"Oi...Mawata, love, forgive me..." He bent his knees a little, ducked down under her legs and put his hand on the only blue spot he could reach without falling. This was awkward...
Mawata blushed dark red but managed a smile. "What's the next spin, Shin?"
Shin spun and waited for the needle to stop. "Left hand, red!"
"Uh...okay," Blaise said. And he thought the last move had been awkward! Carefully, he moved his left hand off the green spot and moved it to a red one...which put him stretched out completely under Mawata. "Oh, boy... Just don't go fallin', okay?"
Mawata laughed, then had to quickly get a good grip in her socks so that she didn't fall. "I'll try, but...no promises, okay?" Slowly, she lifted her hand, uncrossed it, and reached for the dot that was in the back corner...and did exactly what Blaise told her not to do.
Blaise quickly dropped down and flipped over, catching her. "Didn't I just warn you about all this?" he asked, laughing.
Laughing as well, Mawata pushed herself up...which put her lips mere inches from his. She blushed, licking her lips. Not a good idea when he really wanted to kiss her. "Oh...sorry," she said softly.
"S'okay," he answered. She wasn't getting up and he didn't care. Her eyes closed, her lips parted. He began to lean forward...
"Did you guys get hurt?" Shin asked from somewhere very close by.
Both jumped and looked up to find Shin staring down at them worriedly. "No...not a bloody scratch to see," Blaise said quickly, helping Mawata to her feet. She still couldn't look him in the eye. "Hey, maybe we should just watch a movie for now? you know, don't wanna have too much of a good thing."
"Okay!" Shin agreed quickly. He helped pack up Twister and turned on one of the other TVs. "Can we watch 'Alladin'? I like that movie!"
'Sure thing, poppet! Put it in." He and Mawata sat on the couch together, Blaise very casually putting his arm on the back of the couch behind her shoulders. She blushed an even darker red.
Hajime and Mannen were still playing their game. Shin grabbed a bean bag and dragged it in front of Blaise and Mawata before flopping onto it and wiggling around until a perfect Shin-sized depression formed. The movie started and the three watched it quietly.
At the part where they're going on the magic carpet ride, Mawata put her head on Blaise's shoulder. Blaise, a little surprised, quickly recovered and settled his arm around her shoulder for real, rubbing her upper arm. That was unexpected...unexpected but very nice. Hmm...maybe he should... Using his other hand, he tilted her chin up. And kissed her. Just very quick and very light to see her reaction.
It was worth it. She shuddered, letting out a long breath, her eyes staying closed. "Blaise, I..."
"Yeah, I know. You think I'm a sexy beast!"
Mawata laughed, hiding her face against his chest. "That's not at all what I was going to say!"
"Hey, just speakin' the truth, love! Me manly nature is infectious."
She laughed again, the blush spreading down her neck. Which he kissed. "Blaise...Shin's here."
"Yeah, and Genie's got his full attention," he answered, but he sat back all the same, still keeping her pressed close to him.
By the end of the movie, Hajime and Mannen had saved their game and gone to bed. Shin had fallen asleep in his bean bag chair and Mawata and Blaise were stretched out on the couch, arms wrapped around each other and asleep as well.
"I never would have thought it from the start...but that was great!" Kei exclaimed, reaching for Sete's hand as they all left the theater. "Those had to be some of the shittiest movies I have ever had to subject myself to in my entire life!"
"Like I said, you're a masochist," Sete teased, wrapping her other arm around his and resting her chin on his shoulder as they began to walk home.
"See, it's great fun, isn't it?" Himeno joked. She and Hayate had gotten thrown out of the last movie because the same woman complained about them again. They'd gone to the beach for a bit to just walk around until the others were done.
"I had a good time," Yayoi added, both arms wrapped around Feryn's waist.
"Yeah, I'd say so," Kei muttered. Sete elbowed him sharply, giving him a glare that shut him up very quickly.
"What is the time, Hayate?" Feryn asked.
Hayate shook his watch free from the sleeve of his hoody and read it. "It is... about two in the morning. I don't know about you guys, but I'm too tired for anything else!"
"Oh...such a shame," a man's voice drawled from just ahead of them. A silver light flashed and eliminated two men. Both were identical in appearance, only one had silver hair and the other had gold. The silver haired one was dressed in leather pants and a nearly sheer black top. He looked liked he'd just come from a Goth club. The one with gold hair was wearing a soft grey duster coat over grey slacks and a white button up shirt.
"And we were so hoping you would be more fun to play with," the silver haired one pouted, his voice just slightly deeper than the first one.
Feryn pushed Yayoi behind him defensively. The others spread out a little, Hayate keeping within reaching distance of Himeno, in case they needed to pret. "And you two are?" he demanded.
"Ginshima and Kinshima," the silver haired one said, pointing to himself first and then his brother. "We are the Dark Knights of Silver and Gold."
"And let me guess, you've come to kill us," Himeno said sarcastically. "Well, get in line!"
The twins exchanged identical looks and smiles. "Sorry," Kinshima (the one with golden hair) said slowly. "But we just cut to the front." The two surged forward at the same time, matching swords in silver and gold appearing out of thin air. They were aiming not at Himeno but at Kei.
"KEI!" Sete screamed, shoving him aside.
Twin blades went whistling through the air, plunging toward her back.