Chapter Thirty-Five: Cold Knives and Telephones, 冷的刀子和电话

You know what I just realized? The story's coming to a close! So, yeah, it should be wrapped up before it hits forty chapters (hopefully). And then it's on to try to find another fanfiction to write…Which is really gonna suck.

AXM.

Downstairs, 楼下

Keiichiro sat in the red armchair with his nose pressed anxiously inside a thick novel. Oh no! What if Tiffany is lying about her affair with Miles? And what about Trisha's baby? Who's the father? I knew Roberto was lying to her!

Keiichiro's nose sunk deeper into the pages. A shrill ring came from the phone and Keiichiro nearly jumped out of his skin. He huffed angrily and shut his book while going to retrieve the shrieking phone. He picked it up hastily.

"WHAT?" he called into the phone. A small, tentative voice spoke.

"Um, hi. Is Ryou there? This is his aunt, Mabel."

"Oh…Uh, yeah. Sorry about that. I'll go get him…"

Roof, 屋顶

A miniscule clap of thunder sounded in the distance from the purple bruised clouds. A cold breeze picked up and drove the clouds over the sun. I shivered, but not for the chill. I wonder if Kiyoshi is bipolar…Oh, come on, Komori; this is serious! Another voice popped up.

He said to do it on your own, why don't you do it? Beat Ronin and then rub Kiyoshi's nose in it.

No, I couldn't. I couldn't beat him last time. I'll just sit here and wait for Kiyoshi to--

Go on! You're stronger now, you can beat him easily!

Well, I don't know…

Just do it!

I…guess I might be able to land a few more punches, but…

Come on! Yuri said he's injured! It'll be SO easy!

Well…okay. Yeah! I'll beat Ronin!

I was mildly concerned that I had just had a conversation with myself.

Downstairs, 楼下

Keiichiro handed Ryou the phone. "It's Mabel."

Ryou nodded and put the phone to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Ryou. You sound so much older than the last time I spoke to you."

Ryou chuckled. "Yes, I suppose I do."

"How have things been going around the house? Has Komori been doing well in school?" She sounded unsure of what to say.

"Well, things have been a little hectic, but it's nothing that I can't handle." Ryou grinned.

"Is she enjoying herself?" her voice cracked midsentence.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"Oh, I'm just so worried about her. I mean, she's thousands of miles away from home, I haven't seen her in months and…and…" Mabel sniffled.

"And…?" Ryou asked expectantly. She wasn't really one to start crying without provocation. Missing Komori wasn't a big enough reason to make her cry.

"…Yesterday I got a call from Kin."

"Who?" Ryou asked dumbly. Her sobs came harder; she tried to lessen them by taking a breath.

"K-Komori's……father." she sobbed.

Uh-oh.

Somewhere in the Tokyo Skies, 某地在天空

Up here in the clouds the rain had started to come down hard and fast. Damn, it's cold.

No, wait, it wasn't rain, it was hail. Hail coming down on me and striking me so fast it felt like thousands of blunt knives cutting into me. I've gotta get out of these stupid clouds. Hark, the reason airplane pilots don't like flying into clouds. I gotta get lower or I'll be turned into a Mew-icicle.

I flapped my frost-coated wings and took Kiyoshi's patented Divebomb of Death into practice. The fast-flowing wind carried the hail faster into my face, and bombarded my entire body with its cold knives. As soon as I saw that I was out of the cloud I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Now to find the lair…" I muttered to myself.

Back at the House, 回在议院

Ryou's mind was a complete blank. Komori's father, his uncle, had just appeared from nowhere. The one Komori refused to speak of. He was back.

"Do you want me to get her so you can talk to her?" Ryou offered. What else was there to say?

"Please." She said weakly.

"Okay, hold on for a while." Ryou sat the phone down and ran upstairs to get Komori.

A tiny snicker came from behind the couch. Kish was crawling toward the phone on his hands and knees, as if hunting it like an animal. He picked it up and looked it over.

"Shiny…" Kish breathed. Her voice came from the other end of the line.

"Hello? Komori?"

Kish sniffed the phone suspiciously.

"THIS-IS-KISH! IS THIS SOME SORT OF PRIMITIVE HUMAN COMMUNICATION DEVICE? CAN YOU HEAR ME? HELLO?" Kish screamed into the phone.

"Who the devil--?"

"Oh, wow! It really works!" Kish exclaimed.

"Who is this?" A voice demanded.

"THIS IS KISH."

"Where is Komori?"

"HOW SHOULD I KNOW?"

"Who are you?" the voice asked again, incredulously.

"THIS IS KISH."

"Are you one of Ryou's friends?"

"HUH? OH, NO, I HATE RYOU. THIS IS KISH."

Upstairs, 楼下

"Komori! Komori! Hey, Komori!" Ryou called all over the upstairs area. Where is she?

Ryou came into her room and noticed that the balcony doors where flapping around in the fierce wind and letting in tons of water onto the pink carpet.

Ryou realized with horror that Komori was nowhere near home.

Tokyo's Abandoned Alleys, 被放弃小巷

After seeing the snow in the alleys, I had thought that they could get much dirtier. I was wrong: the cold rain soaked into the filth and spread it farther down the alley. The stench didn't help much to improve my opinion either: the mixture of all the degrading material in the roads mixed with the scent of rain was almost too much.

"Where to start?"

Ronin's Temporary Lair, 暂时的兽穴

Ronin rubbed his head. "How…Why did you leave without a fight? You should've been more adamant that you were a normal girl, at the very least." Ronin growled at Yuri. She sighed and leaned back in her chair.

"I didn't think that watching her would do me any good. How she acts around her friends won't reveal a thing about her planning strategy." Yuri yawned.

"I don't care! I want to know as much as I can about that stupid girl!" Ronin bellowed.

"Don't pop a vein. Calm down."

Ronin sat down and silently fumed. "Don't worry, she's not smart enough to figure out how to find us, anyways. I told you, the portal's in a different spot this time." Yuri grinned. She liked it when Ronin got flustered like this.

"Right. And what if she does manage to find us? We're completely unprepared…" Ronin worried.

"God, you're so paranoid," Yuri giggled, "You now, I think you might need to start lifting weights again. You're getting puny."

He glared at Yuri. "I hate you."

Tokyo's Abandoned Alleys, 被放弃小巷

Damn, it's cold.

That was my only thought for the two hours I searched the network of darkened alleys, unable to find any traces of Ronin and Yuri. My bravado was wearing off as the cold seeped into me (give me a break, I'm wearing a skirt). This is so stupid. I should have known they would have changed where they're staying. Damn, it's cold. I guess I'll just leave. Maybe I'll go over to the lighthouse and see if Kiyoshi's there. Damn, it's cold.

I flapped my wings a few times to get the feeling back in them. God, this was such a stupid waste of time! Stupid, stupid, stupid! Damn, it's cold! I stomped my foot on the dirty puddle that was the alley. "ARGH!" I stomped harder to get out all my frustration. A series of small clicks sounded from under my foot; I stopped stomping and stared at the ground in amazement.

You have got to be kidding me…Damn, it's cold.

Back at the House, 回在议院

Ryou was in a panic. Where was Komori? How long had she been there? Was she in trouble? …What was he going to tell her mother?

Ryou trotted back down the stairs nearly hyperventilating. Kish stood with the phone on his shoulder, casually talking to whoever was listening, probably Mabel.

"AND THEN I DEFEATED THE MONSTER WITH A SINGLE SWIPE OF MY MIGHTY SWORD. WE FEASTED THAT NIGHT!"

Ryou bonked Kish on the head and wrestled the phone out of his hands. "Give me that! Hello?"

"Ryou?" Mabel sounded tired.

"Yes, I'm back. Sorry, that was Kish--."

"Yeah, I think I got that part."

"He's not right in the head, you see. I'm keeping a log on his behavior for an article I'm writing. Did he keep you too long?"

"Oh no, he was telling me lovely stories about his 'home planet'."

"Ah, yes. Well, Komori's off…you know…goofing around at the mall. Sorry, I forgot." Ryou laughed nervously. He seriously doubted that Mabel was going to fall for it. She took a minute to think it over.

"…Right. Well, when she gets back tell her to call me; it's really important." Mabel sighed. It was good to see that Kish had worn her out so much that she didn't even have enough energy to cry.

"I will."