(Crawls in meekly)

Okay, I SWEAR this chapter would have been up sooner. But my computer kept DELETING whatever I'd done, but kept it as it was before I'd saved. A truly infuriating process, I assure you. Needless, to say, this chapter got changed up quite a bit before it reached this stage, but I think it's better for it.

WARNING: Because my compy is irritating, a bit of my fury expresses itself in this chapter through some violet swearing, almost abuse, and a fight scene. Don't try at home, kids!

Our lovely Seven Skulls of Hell give another appearance in this chapter. Descriptions of them all can be found at http/ now that I'm done ranting…


Chapter 9

The Early Bird had it Better / Those Who Wake Late Shall Pay

Uhhhhg, my head….

I sit up in my cot, and quickly lay right back down as my noggin throbs. I clutch at my hair, grinding my teeth until the pain subsides. Something feels different, like I have a really heavy blanket wrapped around my head.

I open my eyes. The room even looks different, as if something that's always been there is missing.

I stand up cautiously. My head doesn't hurt at all, now. I stare at all the things in my little room, the stacks of books, the sheet crumpled at the end of the cot, the miscellaneous clothing strewn about, it's like I'm seeing it all for the first time.

It's quiet, too. A quiet unlike anything I've ever experienced in my life is all around me. I tap the small nightstand next to the bed, listening carefully to the hollow tump sound it makes.

Well, at least I'm not going deaf…

I sense a twinge of apprehension, as if I'm about to be insulted, but nothing happens. I glance around, feeling strangely lonely.

Well, it's not like I miss that stuck-up, bossy little…little… err…

I glance around my room for help with my insult, reading the first title I come to.

Stuck-up bossy little elephant in a pink tutu! Huh! What the…

Frowning I pull the book out from the middle of the stack. The whole thing comes crashing down, tipping over another stack, which bumps another, and sets off a lovely chain reaction, sending lovely hard-backs and sharp corners tumbling down on my poor feet.

Ach! Itai! Itai!

I hop up on my cot to avoid the avalanche of literature. There's a horrible ripping as the canvas splits straight down the middle and dumps me on the floor. Dumbfounded, I gaze up at the underside of my cot. I can almost hear a dim echo of smart one… but that's just me. My other half is nowhere to be heard from. Something's stabbing me in the back. I twist around and pull out Elephants in Pink Tutus.

Now where in the world did I get this?

I roll over, bang my head on the wooden cot frame, and stand up. I give the book one last confused glance and set it on my nightstand. I study my little roman numerals clock; the hands hover over VII and XI.

Holey rusted metal, Batman! I'm late!

I rush around, scrambling into various pieces of my uniform as I find them. The only thing I can't find is my left sock.

When it's not one it's the other, I mutter mentally, trying to ignore how the words seem oddly blank.

Gosh darn it! I'm already late! Oli-oli-oxen-free!

I looked around, expecting to see it or suddenly remember where it is. But nothing happens. I wait.

And wait…

…still waiting…

Dang it! I make a frustrated motion with my arms, only to nudge the last standing stack of books so they tumble in a lovely, arcing cascade that plummets down, down, down to my poor tootsies, vaulting off them as rays of sunshine off a flower. Oh, how beautiful NOT! Dang things hurt!

No time, no time, no time!

Abandoning the sock, I grab my bag and dash into the door… open it…. and run out. I'm too late for breakfast, so it's straight around the corner, out the door and off to school.

Oh, how I wish my life was that simple.

I trip on a beer can, bash into the wall, and tumble the opposite way to collide with the couch. The jolt wakes him.

He grunts and pulls his head up. Stares at me blearily for a second, and begins to scream.

"WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE! WHERE IS IT! WHERE THE HELL IS IT!"

He wrenches himself up from the couch. I scramble backwards; he pursues in heavy, staggering steps.

He's mad. How'd I make him mad? What'd I do? I'm sorry! I'm sorry!

"WHAT HAPPENED!" He yells. "WHO WAS IT! TELL ME WHO IT WAS, DAMMIT!"

I find myself cornered between the wall and the bar. I try to stand but hit my head on the over-hanging counter. A massive hand gropes around for me. I press myself into the corner, shaking hard.

"WHO THE HELL PUT THAT ON YOU?" His arm catches on an overhanging nail. It bleeds. "DAMN IT ALL!"

Just go away… go away… a silent sob escapes me. Please! Just leave me alone!

"GET OUT HERE, TOKI! I SAID COME OUT, DAMMIT!"

I crawl out and his massive hands clench around my upper arms. I open my mouth, wincing in pain as he plucks me from the ground and raises me to eye-level.

"WHICH LITTLE TEMEE WAS IT!" He shakes me. "WAS IT ENMA! KOENMA! DAMMIT, TOKI, WHO THE HELL WAS IT!"

Yamero!

Tears roll down my face, wheezing and hissing passes through my useless throat as I sob. His eyes, blazing with hatred, burn into my flesh. I turn my teary gaze to the walls, the ceiling, the floor, anywhere but at him. I catch sight of my wrist below my sleeve; there're four dark bruises on it, one wrapped all the way around. Confused, I bring it closer to my face. He ogles it.

"THEY HURT YOU! HOW DARE THEY TOUCH YOU?"

Snatching my wrist in one hand, the other tightens to hold me up. I struggle limply as he examines my arm.

"These are finger marks," he whispers fiercely, "Did they hurt you anywhere else? That kono yogore… who was it, Toki?" I look him in the face. A raging passion swirls in his eyes, but he is sincere.

I don't know. I think, shaking my head, I don't remember getting that bruise. I don't know how it got there.

"DAMMIT, TOKI! WHY THE HELL WON'T YOU TELL ME!"

He throws me to the floor in a crumpled heap. The air rushes from my lungs. Coughing, I lean back and swipe the tears from my eyes, staring miserably at the underside of the bar.

"I'll get them… no one hurts my baby… I'll kill them." He mutters, storming from the room. He overturning the couch on his way, it crashes to the floorboards. The door slams. I'm left alone.

Shaking still, but only sniffling, I begin to crawl out from under the bar again.

Kwonnk-kwonk-kwonk.

Something's wobbling above me….

Kwonk-kwonk-kwonnnn…

Pain explodes at the top of my head. I hear glass breaking, smell alcohol. Black dots swim in my vision. Why is my head wet? My eyes roll back, close, and I know no more.


I'm sooo seriously tempted to cut it here… but you guys deserve more than that after so long, right?

Uhhhhg, my head….

I sit up, and quickly lay right back down as my noggin throbs. I clutch at my hair, grinding my teeth until the pain subsides. Gee, this seems familiar. My hair is matted and sticky. What happened there? My hand comes away with dark, red ooze on it. It smells awful.

O, ye poor and battered carpet! Please forgive me!

I throw-up.

Uck, I hate blood… I heave a second time, uhhhg…hate puking.

I try to spit into the corner, but it gets stuck on my lip and I end up rubbing my face on the carpet, definitely worse than puking. I look to the left and see a shattered beer bottle. Fresh booze soaks the floor. That must be what smells so bad, but how'd I even get here?

Dumbfounded, I glance around.

Okaaaaaay, I'm on the floor, in my uniform (minus one sock) smelling like alcohol… What happened?

My arms ache. I slip off my shirt, jumping to see swelling bruises on my upper arms. But the darkest bruise is around my wrist.

Ach, he must have come home in a drunken brawl, I think as a slip my shirt back on. As if I don't have enough bruises already. Strange that I don't remember, must have been that beer bottle to the head.

Something goes click-click. I glance to my right. The doorknob is turning slowly, back and forth.

He shouldn't be back until at least tomorrow, I think, perplexed, remembering the last time he went into a drunken rage. And he's never this quiet coming in…

There's another slow, shuffling click as the dead-bolt turns. A muffled "Got it," is whispered. The knob turns again. I gasp, staring in horror at our door, as it swings open.

What the heck!

I stand quickly, dashing across the living room to shut it. As I meet the open doorway, I come face to face with a man. No shirt, lots of tattoos, and an inverted Mohawk. My eyes go wide, his narrow.

I slam the door shut just as an aluminum bat darts between it and the frame. I scream mentally and body slam the door, pushing against it with all my weight, praying it will shut.

The bat changes angle. It shoves hard against the door, knocking me down and crashing against the wall behind it. A bottle breaks under my back.

"Well, well, well…" The figure poses in the doorway, bat over the shoulder, hand on hip, and feet spread wide. "If it ain't our little ko musume from the back allies."

Bat smirks. Rex and Chains sneer from one side, Lard, Hentai, and Bones from the other. They all file inside in the same order, and Skull takes up the center. He smiles in a way that might be charming—at least it would be if I weren't terrified out of my wits.

Once again, I find myself on the floor in front of the gang, but this time, there's no Mr. Sunglasses in the back to save me.

"Ko musume! We all missed cha! What with you running away with that other guy so quick, one might assume you didn't like us or something!"

They laugh. I shake on the floor.

Tasukete Kure!

"I know!" Exclaims Skull, "You never wanted to go with that mean old man. You wanted to come with us all along!" The gang nods sagely. "Don't worry your pretty little head. We'll help you!" Skull grins like it's his birthday. "Bones, you keep watch. Rex, go ahead and toss ko musume in a spare bag. She'll fit. Everybody else, you know the routine! Everything goes in the sacks!"

Guess it's more like Christmas…

They start to move. I back away from Godzilla hair. He wags his split tongue at me.

"Excuse me" declares a female voice.

The gang freezes. Skull frowns suddenly.

"Hel-lo! Are you deaf?" Demands the voice from behind them.

Skull turns slowly. They gang pulls back to either side of him and I catch sight of golden-haired, sapphire-eyed Ami with her most hostile glare. Suddenly, I think I know what angels look like.

"Okay" she says, "Who wants to be beaten into a bloody pulp first?"

Then again, maybe she's more like a demon….

Skull smiles again. "Oi, bijin! You had us spooked there. Why don't you come join our little tea-party?"

"I think you should still be afraid," Ami spies me on the floor behind them. "Satu! Daiouka!"

I nod my bloody, booze covered, puke-lipped head. Ami gives me the narrow eyed "I'm-so-gunna-kill-you-right-after-I-beat-these-guys-to-a-bloody-pulp" look.

"I don't think you understand," Skull says, unsheathing his kodachi and flipping it around a finger in lazy circles. "I think you should come in."

Ami glares, and swiftly kicks his elbow. Making the naked blade fly though the air and everyone duck. It lodges itself in the couch. Skull makes a sound halfway between a gasp and a squeak, running to retrieve it.

"Heh, heh, heh," Bones laughs cheekily, crossing his stick arms across his ribcage. "Yeah, come on in little bijin. Unless you wanna fight."

Not a smart thing to say to Ami.

Ami's eyes snap to Bones. Sparks fly. "You wanna go? Okay, let's go, baby! Momma's gonna get you a can of butt-whup!" Bones's eyes go wide. He backs into Lard. Ami pummels him with her fists, then whacks him with a double karate-chop to either side of his neck.

"Whose your Momma!" Ami shouts as Bones cries out and drops to the floor and scoots to one side, rubbing his neck vigorously. She eyes Lard. "Woo, boy, your Momma feed you too many jelly-rolls!"

I ogle Ami. Wow, she's ticked, I muse to myself, I haven't heard her gansta voice in quite a while.

Ami moves her fury to Lard. She throws punch after punch into his belly. Lard puts his hands on his hips, laughing like Santa Claus while his fat does its best impression of a headbanger. Whack! Ami delivers a kick to his gut that makes him stumble backwards. She means business now. Without putting her foot down, she hops forward and catches him in the chin with her heel. In the midst of a bang I'm sure will break the floor he goes down.

"Satu! Call 911!" She shouts to me as she goes after Chains.

I sit there, stunned, thinking, But we don't have a phone!

Meanwhile, Ami starts up trying to intimidate chains while the rest look on. She bounces up and down like a boxer, letting her head sway back and forth.

"You wanna go punk, huh? Huh? Well let's go then! Let's go to Taco Bell! Let's get a crunchy DEAD-MEAT wrap!" She punches right at his chest, cursing and drawing back as her hand hits the chains. Chains takes a swipe at her, her ducks easily. But while her head is low, he brings his knee up and elbow down.

Ami hits the floor, coughing cursing explosively. The gang laughs. Bones and Lard are staggering to their feet. Wait, where's Rex go?

Ami picks herself off the floor, glaring at Chain's armor. "Hiretsukan…" she mutters, eyeing the chains and wiping the blood from her chin.

Suddenly, I notice something. The gang has formed a circle around Ami and Chains, blocking all escape. But where is Rex?

Ami must have realized this, too. She picks up a foot and strikes out while pivoting quickly. This little trick manages to catch most of the in the jaw, but sweeps right over Bones's head. They back off a little. Chains catches her foot. "Shitsukoi," he sneers.

Between Bat and Skull, Ami spots me. Her eyes widen. "Satu," she shouts, "Nigero!" And my world goes dark. I'm lifted off the ground and my head whacks against the floor. I glimpse daylight, just as the bag is tied close.

"Aha!" I hear Rex shout. "Gotcha, ko musume!" He swings the bag over his shoulder; at least I think that's what he did, since I'm clashing against something that feels like his back.

Ami yells. Several flesh-hitting-flesh sounds ensue. Ami grunts. The gang is laughing. I can scarcely hear her say "Forgive me, Obaa-chan…"

A buzz fills the room. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Heck, all my hair is standing up! I watch the hair on my head lift to touch the confines of the bag. It's a low crackling sound, like static on the radio, emanating from where I last heard Ami speak.

"What the hell!" Rex whispers.

I hear Ami articulate in clearly defined tones over the hum, "Inazuma genkotsu."

Now how can I best describe this? You know that kind of sound that a bomb, or thunder say, makes? Imagine that, about five feet away from you while the tech manager plays hopscotch across the light controls and everybody else is screaming, cursing and running around like beheaded poultry. Now imagine that you are an object in a sack, such as a young girl. Do you think anybody's gonna care which end you land on when your would-be-kidnapper flings you through the air like last month's garbage?

Nope . . . .

Well, that's where we'd both be wrong, because somebody did catch me, but falling on the floor might have been better than acting as a conductor for kazillion volts of electricity.

O kami, I think as the electricity peters out and spots swim in my vision, This is really going to hurt in the morning. And, once again, I know no more.


Woot! Okay… I'm proud. But I won't babble on this time. Just please review and tell me that I haven't lost my touch for writing. I'll try to update early next month.

Thanks!

Wow, Glossary's a doozy this time!

Glossary:

Bijin—Babe

Daiouka—Are you all right?

HiretsukanEvil stupid thing

Ikazuchi—Thunder

InazumagenkotsuLightning fist

ItaiOwch!

KamiGod

Ko musumeGirlie, little b!tch is probably closer in terms of offense

Kono YogorePiece of filth

Nigero—Run/Get away!

OiHey

Shitsukoi—Persistent, relentless, tenacious-at the very least a constant pain in the butt.

Tasukete kure Help me/Save me!

Temeereally rude thing to call someone, usually translated as b#st#rd

Elephants in Pink Tutusan actual book! (remember this)

YameroStop it! Can also be translated as "Enough!"