Chapter Thirty-One: Oomisoka
Author's Note:
Okay, I know it's a loooooong chappie, but you're going to miss a lot if you just skim-read through the whole thing for the sake of time. Enjoy!
When I got home I placed all of the neatly wrapped presents underneath the lower branches of the tree. Christmas was now complete. Now all there was to do was go to sleep and wait for tomorrow.
I awoke early that morning, still anticipating having to go to school. I bounded down the stairs, unable to wait to open presents. When I had jumped off the last stair, I found the whole household sitting on the couch, patiently waiting for me.
"Um, you guys weren't waiting for me, were you?" I asked, my cheeks burning red after expecting to be the first one awake.
"Yes, but not too long." Kiyoshi said patting the seat on the couch next to him; I gladly took the seat. Ryou cleared his throat as he slid down to the tree and started passing out the presents to everyone. It didn't take him long though; there was hardly anything to pass out. Kiyoshi's eyes widened curiously when his present was passed to him, as if he weren't expecting to get anything. I motioned to each of them anxiously.
"Go ahead and open up your presents, guys!" I said cheerfully. The aliens drilled into the one package that had been handed to the three of them, Ryou and Keiichiro tried to take a little more time opening it carefully to preserve the wrapping and ribbon, Kiyoshi caressed the tiny box for a moment before sliding off the ribbon and opening the paper only where the tape held it together, savoring opening it. Kish reached into the box, evilly glaring at me when he removed his hand from the box to present a pair of oven mitts.
That should keep him from having any more run-ins with the kitchen appliances.
Ryou's pupils widened as he gazed upon a small memory stick that could hold three hundred gigabytes; he looked like he was on the verge of crying. Keiichiro smiled warmly as he held a framed portrait of him, Ryou, and the old Mew group (and I must say that it took hours of digging in the grimy attic to find a good picture). Kiyoshi chuckled softly as he peered down at the ceramic bat, looking up at me guiltily.
"I already got what I wanted for Christmas. You didn't have to get me anything." Kiyoshi grumbled, almost angrily. I sighed, exasperated.
"It would be awfully difficult to wrap myself up in a box, you see." I retorted. Kiyoshi snorted a laugh.
"I'm having strange images here." He said rubbing his temples.
Why did God have to punish me like this and send me to school? The limo drove slowly this morning; a sheet of black ice covered the road, foreshadowing a difficult and sluggish ride to school. A few puny slush drops drifted down and quickly melted on the windshield. This royally SUCKS. I should've said I couldn't come to school for religious purposes or something to that effect. Kiyoshi sat close and joined me in observing the slush drops flow through the air. His arm wrapped firmly around my shoulders and pulled me to him. He tousled my hair playfully, his eyes shining with the brightness and energy of a seven-year-old's.
"Hey, now, watch the hair!" I squealed. He shook his head.
"You get more like a girl every day, I swear." Kiyoshi stated, planting a small kiss on my forehead.
"Whatever."
"What? You are!"
"I know that! I don't like being reminded!"
Kiyoshi started a random fit of high pitched giggles, clutching his stomach to control the laughter. Um…
"Kiyoshi! What is your problem?" I demanded. Aliens are so weird…
"Whoo! Huh? Oh, sorry. I just got this image of you…pff- HAHAHAHAHA!" he tried to say, bursting out laughing yet again.
"Of me what?" I was beginning to get scared as the maniacal laughter still continued. We're almost to school and I refuse to walk out of this car with him laughing like this.
"KIYOSHI! GET A GRIP!" I yelled as I grasped his collar and tried to shake some sense into him. He choked down more fits and regained his composure.
"Sorry. It's just this image of you. Hehehehe--."
"Kiyoshi." I warned.
"Heh, it's this image of you in this big frilly… pink dress." He uttered through strained laughter.
"Where the hell did that come from?" I asked, incredulous.
"I really have no idea." Kiyoshi murmured with the traces of laughter on his face disappearing. I just shook my head. Kiyoshi was the weirdest person I had ever met (besides Kish, that is). And I absolutely loved every second of his weirdness.
"Well, at least you got yourself together before we got to school." I muttered. The limo pulled to the curb directly in front of the steps where we usually sat at in the morning. "Let's get this over with…" I growled. Kiyoshi slid out of the car and held the door open for me.
"Oh, it's not so bad Komori." He said blithely as we took our seats on the concrete steps.
"Yeah, for someone who doesn't celebrate Christmas." I grumbled.
Ronin's Temporary Lair, 暂时的兽穴
Author's Note:
All that I have to say is: YAY! Evil love! So happy! ((twirls in her computer chair excitedly))
Ronin reclined back in his stone chair, trying to get comfortable. That's almost impossible now. He hadn't done anything much for the past few days: just moping around and wallowing in self pity. Sorrel hadn't made her prescense for a while; Ronin presumed that she'd abandoned him. Fine, let that traitor leave. I don't need her anyways. He fingered a loose strand of his light blonde hair. He knew he was falling to pieces. A high-pitched girlish giggle echoed through the dark hall. Ronin sat up instantly and smelled the air. It smells like…roses. That scent, I know that scent…
"My goodness, you've really let yourself go, pumpkin." The voice called warmly from the shadows. Ronin pushed himself up from his chair.
"Who's there?" he demanded. The giggle came again as a figure came from the shadows at the edge of the room. The woman that stood before him wore short-cut black leather shorts with a diamond studded belt which held a gun. Her shirt was as black as her shorts and it also was embellished with studs; she wore dark boots up to her knees. Ronin grinned so wide he thought his face would crack in two as he ran to the girl and caressed her honey-colored hair. He pressed his lips to her forehead and planted a kiss.
"Haha, I missed you too, sweetie." She cooed.
"Please, Yuri. Terms of endearment don't suit you well." Ronin said.
"Hmph. Like you're the one fit to give criticism! Look at you, Ronin! What happened to you?" Yuri questioned blandly, looking him over. Ronin sighed and pulled Yuri with him to his chair.
"I've lost everything. I'm just not in the mood for planning and plotting like I used to." He groaned. Yuri patted him on the back sympathetically and placed her head on his shoulder.
"Why don't I take it from here? Just for a while; until you feel better. I'll take care of that little brat that did this to you." Yuri whispered in Ronin's ear. He chuckled and pulled Yuri into a tight embrace.
"That would be nice, but I don't think my pride could take it: you doing my work for me. It just seems strange... and very ungentlemanly"
"Aw, come on! I'll take care of it personally." Yuri whispered encouragingly.
"……Fine, fine. But I have to warn you that she's... trickier than you'd think. She's got all sorts of backup. Oh, and she's with--." Ronin started. Yuri put a finger to his lips.
"I said I'll take care of it and that's just what I'll do." She breathed, leaning closer to kiss him. We haven't kissed for… a while. He wrapped his arms around her thin waist and brought her closer.
You'd better watch out now, Komori. Yuri's back.
Six Days Later, at School: 六天以后,在学校
It was the thirtieth; two days before New Year's. And evidently, people here get VERY excited about New Year's (I'm just glad it's the same date as America's). The school was abuzz with news about the annual New Year's Dance. Kiyoshi had asked me as soon as he had caught wind of it; I was thoroughly shocked that he actually wanted to dance with me. After I told him yes he said: "Oh, and be sure not to wear too much black; this is New Year's, not a funeral."
Today Takara and I were going on a dress excursion. I brought her along because I had absolutely no experience with buying dresses. Luckily for me, Ryou had loaded me down with enough cash to buy the dress store. "Get yourself some clothes that aren't black," he had said. It was nice to know that money wasn't an option. We chose a small store located in the shopping area where the 'cursed trinket shop' was located. I had to threaten Takara with death a few times to shut her up about the 'dark curses she sensed emitting from the building'. Takara needs to get a hobby.
The dress shop was well-lit and had a friendly atmosphere. Dresses of all shapes, sizes, and colours covered the entire shop.
"Wow. Where to start?" Takara asked.
"Let's look at the black dresses--!"
"Ah, ah, ah! No black!" Takara scolded.
"Urrrgh." I growled. Takara rolled her eyes, grabbed my hand, and led me to the first long aisle of dresses. I wonder if this is going to end up like the trinket shop. 'Cursed dress shop'…hm, it did have a nice ring to it, and it would certainly make a good conversation piece.
"Don't be such a spoil sport! Ooo, look at this one!" Takara squealed as she held a long flowy tunic dress.
"I fail to see the intense thrill in selecting dresses for a school function." I said blankly, watching Takara go down the aisle ooh-ing and ah-ing.
"Aw, come on. Just be girly this once!" Takara pleaded, pulling me farther down the aisle.
"Okay! Fine; I'll look, I'll look! Just stop trying to break off my arm!" I yelled, wrenching my arm back. I guess I'll have to face it. I mean, I've got to get a dress.
"Hey, Komori! I have an idea: Go to the dressing rooms and I'll bring you dresses I think you'll like…that aren't black. It saves you the embarrassment." She said brightly.
"Sure, sounds good." I replied, walking to the dressing rooms in the back to wait for Takara to bring me the dress choices. Five minutes passed before Takara knocked on the door, slightly out of breath.
"Okay, I've got three right here. Oh, and I found one for me, too! It's really pretty!" she called to me as she tossed the dresses over the door to me.
"Hey, watch it!" I yelled after being bombarded with the gigantic dresses.
"Sorry," Takara yelled from the adjoining stall, "Hey, so you're going with Kiyoshi right?"
"Yeah. Who're you going with?" I yelled as I tried to see where the bottom was of the purple dress I was struggling into.
"Um, well…you know Botan, right?"
"Oh my God! He's taking you?"
"Yes. Do you not like him?" she asked worriedly.
"No, no, no. He's really nice. It was just a shock." I replied, slipping the dress over my head. "UGH!" I screeched as the dress' bodice squeezed the life out of me.
"Oh, you're trying on the purple one, aren't you?" she asked, sounding entertained.
"However did you guess?" I pushed the dress up over my head and stared at it menacingly. "This is the dress from hell."
"Hahaha! Sorry, I thought it would fit you." She apologized.
"Next time ask me my dress size."
"I'll try to remember—Hey, try on the big red one; it looked promising!"
"'Kay." I retrieved a particularly fluffy dress from its landing place on the floor. Its sleeves were about three inches wide and delicately rested on my shoulders. Silver studs lined the top of the dress and on the waistline was a big mountain of velvet red cloth piled over itself to create a big pouf. Off of the pouf came down soft red mesh with sparkles sewn into it that nearly went down to the bottom of the dress, which touched the floor. Not bad, not bad…
"How does it fit?" Takara called over the wall.
"Pretty good: I think it's a keeper." I replied.
"Yay! You picked out a dress! I'm so proud of you!"
"Shut up. Let's see how you look in your dress." I said, walking out of the changing stall to stand in front of Takara's stall.
"Okay!" She opened the door in a rush and stood in front of me and gave me a little twirl. Her dress was simple, but still beautiful: It was a rich robin's egg blue and it went down a little farther than her knees. It was sleeveless, but it had come with slide-on arm covers; sort of like gloves without the fingers. Here eyes widened and she looked me over.
"Oh, Komori. You look so beautiful!" she exclaimed.
"You do, too, Takara! You'll have Botan chasing after you." I smiled; Takara blushed slightly at the mention of Botan.
"Kiyoshi's eyes are going to pop out of his head from looking at you too much." Takara giggled.
"Right, so let's pay for these things and then go shoe and accessory hunting." I planned.
"Now you're sounding like a girl." Takara teased.
The dresses hadn't been near as expensive as we thought they'd be, but I guess that's what we should have expected from walking into a place called 'Discount Dresses'. We ran into a store that looked like a Japanese version of Claire's to get some necklaces, earrings, and gloves for me. We both got chokers to go with our outfit and I had managed to grab some silken red gloves that went almost all up my arm.
The shoes were a little more difficult to find, however. Takara needed some blue heels, which you would expect would be fairly commonly found. We found out the hard way that not many people carry blue heels. After finally stalking down a pair after going into about ten different shoe stores, we decided it was time to get home.
"Wait, Komori! Don't you need shoes?" Takara asked as we started walking towards home.
"Nah, my dress goes all the way down to the floor…I think I'll wear sneakers." I said thoughtfully.
"Sneakers? You really are a tomboy at heart." Takara said pleasantly.
"You know it," I smiled, "Here, gimme a high-five for completing our shopping!" We smacked our hands together triumphantly.
"We're really weird." Takara giggled, nearly skipping down the sidewalk. Her lighthearted attitude affected me, so soon I too was skipping down the sidewalk like a maniac next to Takara.
"What're we going to do about our hair?" Takara asked suddenly, out of breath from skipping all the way.
"Let's go to my house later and figure it out. Bring all the hair stuff you have. How does five-ish sound?"
"Um, Komori. It's four-thirty." Takara said pointing to my bat watch.
"Oh. Well, I guess you'll have to run, then." I laughed.
"How about this: let's stop by my house, pick up the stuff, then go over to your house to figure out whatever it is that we're going to do. I'll bring make-up, too." Takara said. We started to run to Takara's house, slowed by our giant sacks that held our dresses. When we reached her house, Takara told me to wait outside. Ten minutes later Takara came outside loaded down with a wicker basket that I presumed contained the make-up and hair stuff; she also carried a bag of cookies.
"What's with the cookies?" I asked curiously, taking the wicker basket from her.
"Mom thought we could do with a snack." She rolled her eyes.
"Yum."
We tried to take it slow to the house with our oversized loads. When we arrived I banged on the door with my free hand.
"Let us in!" I screamed to the door. The door clicked and swiftly swung open. Kiyoshi, who had opened the door, stood back from us in fear.
"Woah, what did you guys go shopping for? Elephants?" he asked, closing the door behind us.
"Ha ha. Look, tell Ryou we're going to be up in my room… Oh, and there's a strict 'No Boys' rule." I instructed.
"Yes, master! Whatever you say Master!" Kiyoshi said in a quite convincing Igor voice.
"Wait, where is Ryou?" I asked.
"Down in his la—um, office." Kiyoshi replied with a shifty glance at Takara.
"Right. And where's the Family Nuisances?"
"Up in their room doing God knows what," Kiyoshi said walking out, "You two have fun playing dress-up." I shook my head and motioned for Takara to follow me upstairs.
"What's Kiyoshi doing here?" Takara asked, baffled.
"Oh, he's ….um, helping Ryou with something." I said off the top of my head.
"Interesting." Takara muttered.
Poor Takara; I had forgotten to tell her how long it took to get to my room. She was huffing and puffing as bad as the Big Bad Wolf by the time we came to my door.
"You must get a good workout from going to your room and back, huh?" she sighed.
"You have no idea."
Takara froze when she walked into my room and just stood in the middle of the room, staring in disbelief.
"Just so you know, I didn't pick the décor. It was like this when I came here." I explained.
"BAHAHAHAHAHAAA!" Takara burst out laughing so hard I expected her to start rolling around on the floor. I grabbed her arm and roughly pulled her to sit on the giant heart rug in the centre of the room. Takara wiped the tears from her face.
"Sorry, but it's just so different from what I imagined." She said.
"Okay, you've had your laughs, now it's time to get to work."
"Right," Takara said, suddenly serious, "First we need to decide whether we want an up-do or a down-do."
"A what?" I asked blankly. Takara sighed impatiently.
"If you want your hair up or down."
"Why not just wear it down and not do anything with it?" I asked, not understanding.
"Komori, the purpose of all of this is to look pretty," Takara explained, "Well, I think your hair would look good in an up-do. Hm, maybe a loose bun. Oh! I have this pretty orange flower clip that would look great in it!"
"Let's concentrate on your hair." I said. The last thing I wanted was to have Takara picking around in the tangled mess of hair that I never bothered to take care of.
"Oh, I've already decided that I'm going to swear it down in a thin blue headband. Maybe I'll straighten it…not that I would really need to, I guess." Dangit.
"Um, yeah, so a bun sounds great, I guess." I conceded.
"Let's see if it'll work in your hair!" Takara said excitedly, grabbing a pile of bobby pins and the flower clip.
I must say that having my hair done wasn't as bad as I thought. It ended up looking pretty good, too: Takara piled up all my hair on top of my head loosely and let a few strands hang down on my face. As the finishing touch she had clipped in the red-orange flower clip.
"Not bad at all." I complimented her as I stared at her work in a hand mirror. Takara sighed and stretched.
"We can do the make-up tomorrow before we go to the dance.." She yawned.
"Yeah, I'm bushed." I sighed.
The New Year's Dance, 新年的舞会
Takara came over around seven to prepare for the dance. We were up in my room, already in our dresses, trying to get my hair up and apply make-up.
"Um, Takara…what's this 'pencil' for?" I asked nervously fingering an eyeliner pencil. Takara laughed and took it from my hand.
"It's eyeliner. I thought you'd know what it was, at least." She said, going at my eyes with the eyeliner.
"Ouch! Why would anyone want to wear this crap? It's painful to put on!" I squealed as Takara smeared on the eyeliner.
"Wow, it makes your eyes stand out really well." Takara breathed, standing back.
"Yeah, yeah. Are you ready to go?" I asked hastily.
"Yup. Ooh, I'm so nervous!" Takara said.
"Well, ready or not, here we go…"
