Kojiro woke up with a start early that morning, oh, say, four o'clock AM. At least, that's what his bedside clock said. He groaned, and looked down at Ema-Chan, whom was snuggling this time with a large stuffed animal. He blinked a couple of times. That was his nigh-ancient Pikachu doll; he had received it a few years ago from a cousin whom had abused the old toy. Kojiro rarely acknowledged it, but it stood sentry to his computer for several years, much like the Neko-Arc and Saber/Fuji-nee plushies on his desktop back home.
Needless to say, Kojiro was quite confused with its location here. As a matter of fact, he hadn't even packed it or had it sent to Miyako's house for him. He shrugged. It didn't matter; he was quite fine with passing the beat-up pokemon doll to another. Besides, he preferred the games.
Getting up, Kojiro grabbed his usual toiletries; a razor, shaving cream, toothbrush/paste, deodorant, and his normal medication. Pausing at the medication, he looked at it for a moment. He didn't take it for the past couple of days, and he considered if he needed it. After all, he suffered no ill effects, and it wasn't as if it was medication for a mental illness. He shrugged and brought it along anyways. The world wasn't going to end on a sneeze.
Shinobu woke up at about 5 o'clock, her usual. She had to prepare breakfast and lunch for everyone, she knew as she got ready. As she dressed in her school uniform, she considered what to make. Bento would be the usual for lunch, but not exactly original; maybe she should make some sandwiches. Yes, she decided, steak sandwiches.
As Shinobu walked into the kitchen to prepare food, however, she found that someone had already entered the kitchen before she did, and was making something that involved liberal amounts of oyster sauce. She adopted a nervous stance, and quietly grabbed an iron pan.
Using ninja-like ninja grace that came from the Maehara Cooking Clan, she expertly spun the pan while turning the corner, all while not making a sound. In the main of the kitchen, she saw a lone man working on pouring rice, various cut vegetables, meats, and table pepper into a large, black pot. She stepped forward quietly, and said, "Kojiro-San, what are you doing?" The results were, to say at the least, spectacular.
In a mad fit of surprise, Kojiro turned, grabbing and raising a handful of diced onion at her, while dropping the rest of the assorted things, bowl and food, into the pot.
"Don't move, I have onion scent and I'm not afraid to use it!" There was a moment of silence where Shinobu just stared, and Kojiro took stock of the situation, until he slowly turned and put the onions into the pot. Then, he slowly turned and smiled sheepishly at Shinobu. "I guess that was rather silly of me, wasn't it?" Kojiro sighed. "I was just making breakfast, fried rice."
There was silence. Then, Shinobu spoke. "Uh, Kojiro-San, I wanted to ask again about my proposal last night. Have you given it any thought?" Kojiro chuckled as he grabbed a wooden spoon, and began stirring the fried rice. After a bit, he spoke again.
"I'll be honest, Senorita Shinobu, I've tried to avoid the question, but then again, I knew that you'd be back." He stopped, and placed the wooden spoon on the pot's upper edges. "Now, there are several things to consider in a proposal like yours. For one," Kojiro raised a finger, "there's the possibility of getting, well, pulverized by Naru should we be found out. You DO realize the consequences past this, right?" Shinobu nodded. "Does this include the part where Keitaro completely looks down on you for using underhanded tactics?" Shinobu blinked. She hadn't thought of that.
"I... haven't thought of that." Shinobu echoed her thoughts. Kojiro nodded.
"I figured as much. Did you also consider the difficulty of this? If we're to avoid that failure, you must be prepared to use subterfuge, espionage, and all sorts of nasty little tricks to get what you want." He smiled wanly. "Are you ready for this? Once you commit to a campaign, there's no turning back. You'll have to be able to resort to anything to get what you want, including backstabbing me if I get caught." He looked Shinobu in the eye. "Senorita Shinobu, are you really able to do this?"
Shinobu paused, figuratively stopped in her tracks. Was she REALLY ready to risk the friendship of her companions, the ire of the others, and the dislike of Keitaro, her senpai, for this? Was she willing to destroy her tracks, even if it meant siccing a lynch mob on Kojiro in case it went sour? How far was she willing to go? But even as Kojiro whipped around while the food burned, and started stirring wildly and turning down the heat, Shinobu remembered something Al told her a few days ago...
"All's fair in love and war." Kojiro turned, evidently shaken about his most recent events of the burning pot. He raised a quizzical eyebrow.
"Huh?" He asked, sighing over an apparent Crisis Averted. Shinobu nodded again, her face suddenly serious.
"I'll do it." She said. "Teach me how to be devious, and help me win Keitaro." There was a moment of silence, and Kojiro looked at her evenly. He then spit in his palm and extended his hand. Shinobu paused for a second, but at Kojiro's look did likewise.
As they shook hands, Kojiro smiled. "Good. Now, watch what a master can do." With a wicked grin, he pulled a small vial of something clearly marked "DO NOT INGEST! VERY BAD!" and asked, "So, where does Naru usually sit?"
"No baka, you grip with your toes!" Motoko scolded and emphasized the verbal abuse by swatting Al with her boken.
Al sat on the ground cradling his head in his hands, "Owie, Mo-chan you play too rough!" He moaned.
"You told me you wanted to train, so get up and train." She smirked a bit, he had surprised her by waking up so early and approaching her to help him perfect the technique he had developed in the last few days, but watching him struggle to reach her goal was a bit satisfying. She would always be the stronger of the two, so no matter how annoying and embarrassing he was she would always be the better fighter.
She removed these thoughts from her head as Al backed up across the deck and took position to try once more, her eyes caught every detail of his movement, the sweat shining on his forehead, the way his hair curled when he got warm, his eyes were set quiet seriously. Just then...
There, a hint of movement in his leg, he shifted the muscle tenseness, he was off and running, and within moments laying on the ground once more dispatched by the wooden weapon.
"Aw man." he moaned once more.
Motoko looked as his downtrodden face and held a hand out to help him up, "Better that time Alex, in fact to a normal person that would have hit."
Alex allowed himself to be helped up and blinked confused, "Alex? You actually called me Alex?"
"What of it?"
"N...nothing, I think it's about time we get ready for school." He smiled, even getting his tail kicked around the deck was fun with Motoko.
The two of them left to their separate rooms, Motoko kept running Al's attack over and over, trying to pick out a way to make it most effective. She had after all helped him start it back at the festival, and according to the members of the distraction party he had proved it to be quiet powerful if he could build up enough energy behind it.
She gathered her bath things and slipped silently down the hall, her long legs leading her confidently. This was her habitat, her home, she felt a certain sort of pride in it, like a maiden for her temple, or a martial artist for her dojo. Yes it was both those and more, here she felt safe, confident, no one in the Hinata House could best her, so it was her duty to protect them from whatever dangers would arrive, especially the girls, and especially from perverts.
She slid open the doors to the bath and entered, closing the door and scanning the springs. She dropped her bucket of bath things to the ground with a clatter.
Sitting on a rock shampooing his hair was Al, singing a tune under his breath.
Her hand shot to where her sword normally was, but remembering it wasn't there she hurled her bath bucket at the large American, catching him between the eyes.
"YOWCH!" Who's the wise guy?" Al looked around, a cloud of soapy bubbles sitting plainly on his head as he squinted towards Motoko, "Lance dude if that's you , you are so getting a wedgie!"
Motoko wasn't fully sure what the word wedgie meant, but without her dictionary to help she just let it go, finding her voice she spoke sternly, "Rush-san you have ten seconds to get out of here before I escort you myself." She felt her fist clench as she prepared for him to try something stupid and perverted.
"GAH! M...m...Mo-chan!" Al yelped and began patting the ground around him, "I...I'm sorry...l...Landlord-san's tub is on the fritz, I didn't know you'd be down here!" He continued patting around the rock, gathering his bath things, his towel thankfully hiding his more indecent areas as he crawled around, squinting like a mole.
"Can't you see your things?" Motoko asked daring to venture a few steps towards him.
"I left my contacts in their case to soak while I soaked, I'm blind as a bat without them." He complained finally finding his things. He made a B-line for where he must have assumed the door was before tripping on a rock and falling into the hot springs.
He surfaced with the bucket on his head laughing, "Woo, what a trip!" He laughed a hearty belly laugh, an infectious sort that Motoko actually smiled at, hiding her mouth with her hand in a polite feminine laugh.
"Err...Mo-chan I know your all for the properness and all that, but I can't really see you anyway...do I really have to leave?" He asked politely, sounding like he actually thought she would agree.
Motoko paused for a long while, walked over to him and tied a washcloths around his face so he was blindfolded, "You tell anyone about this and I will kill you." She said very calmly, feeling suddenly quiet nervous herself. Why had she just agreed to that? What force had calmed her enough to allow such a improper act?
"Thanks Mo-chan, nothing more relaxing then a good soak before school." Al sighed and sank a little deeper into the hot springs, not bothering to remove the bucket from his head.
Motoko was silent and began to wash herself, suddenly feeling jumpy, nervous. Just ten minutes ago she was the most fearless woman in Japan, so sure that no one in the home could defeat her, but in a sudden twist of fate she felt small and frightened. Rush was so open, so unabashed about himself, sure he was wearing a heavy and long towel around his waist but he was so relaxed about the entire situation, and here she was checking over her shoulder every other second to make sure he wasn't looking.
Motoko rinsed and slipped into the hot springs, just as Al was pulling himself out of the water. He adjusted the bucket and peeked out from under the washcloth to seek out an exit, still squinting.
"Straight ahead of you, ten feet away." Motoko spoke from the water, hoping that once he was gone the embarrassment would be gone.
Al nodded "Thanks Mo-chan." And with two steps his heavy wet towel came undone.
It doesn't take a genius to figure out what happened next, nor did it take much of Kitsune's overtaxed hung-over mind to figure out why she watched Al running down the hall moments later hiding himself with his bath bucket.
"Weird kids." she muttered closing the door to her own room.
"Eat up!" Kojiro shouted, wearing an orange apron and a wrinkled McDonald's hat. "It's a... ahem... 'Loco kine grinds, baddah.'"
Everybody stared at him. On the left side of the table, Keitaro had a look of bafflement, while Lance and Sarah just shook their heads. Al apparently didn't notice; he seemed half asleep, and Su and Motoko probably couldn't understand him, though Su probably wouldn't care. On the other side, Shinobu and Kitsune were completely lost, Maho was rolling her eyes, Ema simply continued to smile, the empty chair next to her did nothing, Kyosuke sighed, and finally, at the head of the table, Naru gave him a look of disgust.
Kojiro smiled, and continued. "Dig in. Fried Rice, Portuguese Sausage, an egg for each of you, and two slices of spam each. Shoyu- Soy Sauce for those of you unfamiliar with the term- Tobasco, ketchup, Salt, and Pepper in the middle of the table. There's also a nice little stack of Toast, Butter and Jelly in the middle of the table." And with that, he finally shut up and sat down.
After a second, everyone began to eat.
As Kojiro was mentally congratulating himself on being so awesome that even Kohaku the Meido had nothing on him, Shinobu inspected everyone. Most of them were amusing themselves, while Keitaro and Naru chatted pleasantly for that morning. Shinobu stared at Naru, waiting. Naru turned to her, and Shinobu, with a little squeak, turned away.
"Shinobu-Chan," Naru asked, brushing a bit of her hair aside, "What's wrong?" She asked, and Shinobu blushed. "Come on, Shinobu. What's going on?" Shinobu shook her head.
"Nothing! It's nothing!" Naru gave her a steady look, and then decided to drop it. Shinobu sighed with relief, and then about twenty seconds later began staring again.
Naru prudently decided to ignore her.
About ten minutes later, as people were getting up from the table and piling dishes for Kojiro to do, Naru suddenly halted, and then her eyes glazed over and collapsed.
"Naru!" Keitaro shouted, and knelt by her, as Kojiro put down his dishes and knelt with him. She was unconscious, and very still, though she still breathed. Kojiro checked her pulse, then sniffed her breath.
"Must have been the oyster sauce." He muttered. "If it sets wrong, it'll cause problems. I'll call my mother to send a different care package next time."
Everyone except Shinobu and Al gave their empty plates a look of shock and horror. Al simply shrugged and moved on.
"It seems like Naru's the only one suffering ill effects." Kojiro continued. "Ema and I will keep an eye on her for the rest of the day, and call me if any of you start feeling dizzy. That should take care of Naru, and any of you who get late effects." Everyone generally agreed to this, and then everyone moved on.
Today was a beautiful morning. The sun had just barely risen, embraced by the perfectly clear blue sky. The cherry blossom trees were starting to bloom, some sooner than others, and their pinkish blossoms filtered the morning light into beautiful bright speckles on the sidewalk. There were even some birds here and there, chirping in the cheerful sing-song way that one only hears in the middle of spring. Everything about this hour was touchingly beautiful, and the rest of the day promised to be lovelier still.
Even so, Al was disgustingly cheerful. He had a strong bounce in his step, walking with his eyes closed as he whistled a bright little tune from the cartoon he had watched just fifteen minutes before.
Maho pretended not to know the large, happy foreigner, which was difficult when they were walking the same way to school. Her expression was caught somewhere between a smile and a grimace. "You're very upbeat today, Al."
"Yep!" Al grinned.
"Did something happen?"
"Oh," he replied, opening his eyes and taking a deep breath of fresh air, "I woke up this morning and I just had this feeling, you know? I feel like today's going to be the greatest day in my life!"
She raised an eyebrow. "Must be nice."
"You bet!" Al gave her a thumbs-up for good measure.
"You're just usually not this upbeat, Al. It's..." Maho struggled for an appropriate adjective, finally settling on "... funny." She shrugged.
"Aw, well, can't a guy feel good one day out of ten?" Al blinked, as if noticing something for the first time. "Hey, Ma-chan."
Maho stroked one of her doves, which was perched comfortably on her extended arm. "Yes?"
"How long have you been calling me Al?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, it seems like all this time you've been calling me Lupin-kun, sometimes Al-san." He walked ahead a bit, turning around and strolling backwards to face Maho. His hands went comfortably behind his head. "Suddenly it's just Al. What gives?"
She winked mysteriously. "I bet you'd like to know."
Al smirked. He was getting used to the way she talked. "You didn't even think about it, did you?"
"Humph." Maho crossed her arms, feigning offense. "Well, if it makes you so uncomfortable, maybe I should call you something else. How do you like 'Baka-san'?"
"Not even Baka-kun?"
She laughed. "That's too good for you. Baka-san it is."
"I think I liked Al better."
"Hah! I won't change it back, even if you beg! Watch out for that pole."
"Huh?" Al barely turned around before colliding with a street lamp. "Ow! Why didn't you tell me that was coming?"
"I did." She blew him a raspberry. "Baka Al."
"You..." Al ran to catch up, but just before he was going to put Maho in a friendly headlock, she suddenly stopped in her tracks. "What's wrong, Ma-chan?"
"Look."
Al peered over Maho's head. He whistled in astonishment. "That's a big crowd. I wonder what they're doing in front of the school? Selling curry bread early?"
"I don't think so." Maho pointed. "Look closer."
Al squinted, following the direction of Maho's hand. His eyes immediately widened when he saw. "Mo-chan?" They both set off on a jog toward the school gates.
"Motoko-san!" Maho called. "What's going on?"
Motoko was in full warrior regalia, bokken at her hip. She didn't look very happy, to put the matter lightly. "Rush! Maho-san! Come see this!"
"What's up, Mo-chan?" Al squirmed through the crowd.
Motoko pointed vindictively at a notice posted on the wall next to the gate. "This is what's up!"
Al examined the paper with laser-like focus. "Um..." He smiled sheepishly. "That kanji's kinda hard."
Maho crawled under Al's legs, popping up in front of the sheet. "It says: 'By order of the new administration, the following clubs will be disbanded for lack of activity and redundancy. Members of these clubs are advised to seek membership in related activities.'" She fell silent as she examined the list.
When she gasped dramatically, Al didn't need to be told the rest. "Crap."
Al was splayed out on his desk, his chin planted firmly at the edge. "You know, I knew everything would go wrong today."
Maho sighed. "Sayonara, Detective Club." She joined Al, sitting at the desk next to his.
He turned his head, but only slightly. They appeared almost comical in their malaise, like frogs sharing a pond. "It's kind of bittersweet, don't you think? No climactic 'last case' or anything. Just one slip of paper and it's all over."
"Your last stunt was plenty climactic, believe me." Motoko adjusted the straps on her armor. "Not many clubs can claim that they managed to flood the entire school with toilet water."
Al turned his head the other direction. "Why are you wearing that armor, Mo-chan?"
"I wish to petition for the reestablishment of my kendo club. The fact that they insist on merging us only shows that they do not truly appreciate the art." She made a practice swing with an invisible sword. "I intend to give them a rousing demonstration."
"Wow, scary..." Maho smiled nervously. "At least you want to do something about this. Everyone else seems scared of the new principal."
The intercom chose that moment to flare to life. The voice that emerged was irritatingly calm and feminine, every syllable as deliberate and carefully constructed as the last. "Good morning, students. This is your new Principal Ito. As I'm sure you've all heard by now, your last principal has taken a leave of absence due to his illness. I will be taking his place for the foreseeable future, and I look forward to getting to know all of you. Let's hope for the best, and work hard to make the rest of this year memorable for its spirit and unity."
Al suddenly rose to his feet.
Motoko looked up at him. "Rush?"
He lifted his hands to the sky, as if in supplication. Then without warning, he shouted, "YOU EVIL BITCH!" and slammed his fists into the table.
The room went deathly silent for approximately three seconds. Then the desk fell apart, popping away screw by screw until the whole structure collapsed at Al's feet with a final screech, broken and useless.
At the end of the room, the class representative went pale.
Al stared blankly at the mess. "Um. Oops."
Al trudged through papers with half-lidded eyes. The day was long, and the pile of work wasn't getting any smaller. It appeared to loom ominously over Al's head, a beast of envelopes and fliers that absolutely had to be folded into thirds on fear of certain death. He had it down to an art now, folding with one hand as he prepared an envelope with the other and bringing them together into a perfect stuff. Still, this was nothing short of torture; the fact that Al had to lick every last envelope pushed it into realm of the unbearable.
"This sucks," he said loudly. It was for his own benefit, since no one else was in the room. Everyone else at the office had cleared out for lunch, leaving the poor gaijin with his punishment. He didn't believe that he deserved this, since it was only a desk, and it was an accident anyway. But the new principal was apparently furious, and the student council had to punish Al severely to save face.
Al sighed. Well, he couldn't blame his fellow students. It was just the new administration that was quickly getting on his nerves.
The phone rang, shattering Al's envelope-stuffing Zen. He wondered if he should answer it, but then decided that peeling himself from the chair and walking across the room would be just too much effort. The phone rang once, twice, three times. Al rocked back gently on his chair, waiting for the message machine to turn on as he summoned back his focus.
"Hello? Somebody pick up!" The voice was whispered and panicky, mixed with the sounds of female chatter somewhere in the distance. "Don't tell me you all left for lunch!" he wailed in despair.
"Sorry, pal..." Al rolled his eyes.
"This is your principal, you fools! That Ito woman is keeping me prisoner!"
Al bolted to the phone, slamming the speakerphone button. "Hello? Hello? Sir!"
There was a harsh clicking noise, and then nothing but a dead tone.
"Damn it!" Al cursed.
"Baka-kun!" Maho popped her head into the room, shaking a small package. "We bought you some melon bread! Want it?"
Motoko stepped into the room, dressed in her school uniform. Her mild blush was all but unnoticeable. "I heard you forgot your lunch, Rush. I told Maho-san that the melon bread had no nutritive value, but she says it tastes the best, so..."
Al's eyes were bulging in fear. "Be quiet for a second!"
Maho looked cross. "No need to thank her. What crawled up your—"
"Please, guys, just listen to this!" Al pressed the replay button.
When the message was done, the three of them stared at the answering machine as if it were an alien creature.
"Wow. What do you think?" Maho asked both of them, wringing her hands.
"I wonder..." Motoko rubbed her chin. "I never did hear anything about the principal being sick. But kidnapping? To what end?"
"Who cares?" Al made a determined face. "The Detective Club has a case!"
Maho rolled her eyes. "You mean Al and Maho, the clubless losers, have a case."
He smiled. "It was an order from a fake administration. Therefore, the Detective Club isn't really disbanded at all." Al turned to Motoko. "And your club still exists, too!"
Motoko's eyes widened in hope. She unsheathed her sword. "That is very true."
"All right!" Maho grinned. "This is making me kind of pumped!"
"Yeah, me too!" Al pumped his fist. "Let's do this for the school!"
"Do what, exactly?" A voice from behind them boomed.
Al and Maho flinched guiltily. Motoko, already used to the sound, simply turned and bowed respectfully. "Konnichiwa, Principal Ito."
"Aoyama-kun." The principal, a woman composed of nothing but razor-sharp angles and tailored black clothing, gave a small nod. "I see that you've given up your crusade. That's better for you in the long run."
Motoko narrowed her eyes. "I'm sure."
"Mr. Albert Rush," The principal gave him a bow. "I'm pleased to finally meet you. I only wish our first encounter in the office didn't have to be so..." She smiled politely. "Unpleasant."
"No problem, lady." Al forced a chuckle through his teeth pretending not to notice she had already forgotten his name.
"And..." She raised an eyebrow. "Who are you, now?"
Maho bowed. "Urashima Maho. I'm a classmate of Motoko-san and Al-san."
"I see." The principal raised one sharp, perfectly plucked eyebrow. "And what brings you all to this area of the office, if I may inquire?"
Before anyone else could respond, Maho took Al and Motoko's hands. "We were just bringing Al-san some melon bread for lunch. We were looking for some scissors."
"Ah." The principal smiled, like a hungry cat pretending to be human. "Well, since your friends came along, Mr. Rush, perhaps I shall excuse you of your punishment this time?"
Al blinked. "Really?"
"Yes." The smile became wider. "Enjoy your lunch."
"Thank you, Principal Ito!" Maho dragged both of them out of the office as quickly as possible, talking over any protests they may have had. "You're wonderful! Have a great day!"
As soon as they disappeared around the corner, the principal turned to the desk. She should have known not to trust a lackey with this kind of job. The desk was empty, save for a ring of dust where the answering machine should have been.
So these children would be her opponents.
"Interesting."
Calmly, "Principal" Ito dialed a number on her cell phone.
"Anything, gang?" Al asked the girls hopefully.
"Not since the last time you asked, no." Motoko stared at the answering machine as it replayed the fateful message over and over. The three of them were on the roof after Maho managed to sleight-of-hand the machine, along with the tape, into her coat. But after listening to the same recording several times, they were no closer to figuring out anything about the true principal's location.
"Well, I hear young people in the background, so he must still be at school, at least." Al guessed.
"Hmm." Maho furrowed her eyebrows. "Can you maybe turn up the volume?"
"Sure." They listened to it again, this time at full blast.
"Hello? Somebody pick up!" said the principal.
"... said he liked these blue-spotted panties better, but they make me look like an elementary school student!" The slam of a locker.
"Do you think he likes that?"
"No idea. Hey, let's..."
"Don't tell me you all left for lunch!" he wailed.
Maho turned off the machine and snapped her fingers triumphantly. "The principal is inside the storage closet."
Al and Motoko gaped in astonishment. "How did you figure that out?"
"Elementary, my dear Rush." She raised one finger in the air, tracing as if on a chalkboard. "Only a handful of girls in our school have boyfriends. More importantly, only one of those girls is currently wearing a pair of blue-spotted panties: Kazumi Hikari, whose locker is across from the storage closet!'
Al's jaw dropped. "That's incredible!"
Motoko, for her part, was surprised, but not for the same reason. "But... how did you know that Kazumi-san was wearing those kinds of panties today?"
"Well, let's not waste any time!" Maho stood up, dusting her hands and whistling for her doves. "We need to save our principal!"
Al got up. "Darn skippy! Let's go!"
Motoko coughed as she followed them. It was obvious that some mysteries would have to wait for another day.
The ménage-a-trois barely made it to the storage room hallway before they saw someone coming out from inside. An enormous, hulking giant of a man emerged through the doorway. He was dressed in a tightly stretched boys' school uniform, and each lumbering step was cushioned by oversize school slippers. His face was positively dripping with battle scars and weathered tissue, to the point where calling this person a "high school student" was not only laughable but insulting to the intelligence.
"Hey, you!" Al shouted impulsively. "Stop where you are!"
Before either Maho or Motoko could silence him, the giant turned his massive head and growled, "What you say?"
Al gulped upon witnessing the face of a monster. "Uh..." He swallowed his fear, broadening his shoulders. "We know what you're doing! Surrender now! The jig is up!"
Maho elbowed him. "Didn't work last time, remember?"
"Well, it doesn't hurt to try."
"I no know what you talking about." The giant smiled, revealing rows of platinum teeth that almost made up for the enormous, wheezing gaps in between. "I just normal high school student."
"I have never seen you before in my life. Don't keep up this charade." Motoko drew her sword and assumed a ready stance, smiling confidently. "Give up this instant, or be prepared to lose your life."
Maho squealed. "Motoko-san, you're so cool!"
Her right eyelid twitched. "Not right now, please."
The giant stared at the three of them dumbly. Then he began to run, moving down the hall and away faster than anyone could have anticipated a man of his size to go.
"After him!" Holding his hat in one hand, Al charged. As he rounded the corner, Al's face connected solidly with an arm the thickness of a Christmas ham. "Ow, god, not again..." He crumpled over in pain.
"Al!" Maho stopped to see if he was hurt.
"You tend to him! I'll keep going!" Motoko cried as she flew forward. She followed the giant with all the swiftness that years of training had granted her, using every possible trick to keep the brute in her sight.
A set of three garbage cans was sent rolling down the hall. Motoko slashed at one, hopping on top of the other two as the first exploded with trash and scrap metal. Making a flying leap, she narrowly avoided a thrown desk, bounding off of one of the lockers before following the giant into the auditorium.
Motoko wasn't going to lose. She would never lose to people like these.
With a loud whirl and an equally deafening clang, Motoko reflexively parried a knife blow from the side. The weapon clattered uselessly to the floor.
"You're good." Principal Ito smiled wickedly, each gloved hand bearing a deadly curved dagger. She was poised on the stage of the auditorium, crouched over, her jet black hair tied even more severely than before. "Let's see if you can block this one!" She threw both daggers at once toward Motoko.
With hardly a motion, Motoko knocked them aside. "Is that the best you can do, 'Principal'?" She frowned.
"I've hardly even begun." The woman dashed off the stage, pulling two more daggers from a belt. "Let's see if the same could be said for you."
Within moments, they made contact. Al and Maho chose that moment to enter.
"Holy crap!" Al stood up on his own. "We need to help Ma-chan!"
The giant stepped in his path. "Me first."
"Kill him, Momo-chan!" Principal Ito cried as she dodged a swipe from Motoko's katana. "Don't hesitate!"
Al sweatdropped. "Momo-chan?"
The giant known as Momo-chan didn't give him much time to reflect, as he backhanded Al to the other side of the room.
Meanwhile, Motoko was in the battle of her life.
"Why are you doing this?" Motoko asked, as she tumbled backwards to avoid a double stab.
"Hostile takeover, pure and simple!" Principal Ito lashed out with one hand, deflecting Motoko's blade and once again moving in for the kill. But Motoko would give her no such pleasure.
Maho's eyes sparkled as she watched the two women locked in fierce battle, the singing of their blades in contact made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up in protest almost as the sparks illuminated the room.
A firm hand decended upon the short haired girls head and fingers thick as sausages gripped her tightly, lifting her into the air, "Momo likes loli girls." Spoke the grunting savage of a henchman.
"Let me go you brute!" Maho threw some flash paper attempting to blind Momo, but the brute held her at arms length and turned away from him so she couldn't aim her throw properly.
"Put down my partner!" Roared Al as he lept onto Momo's back and wrapped his arms around the neck as thick as a slab of beef. Momo was thrown off balance by the sudden amount of weight from behind and released Maho. As the giant flailed his arms to try and steady himself Maho ran forward and delivered a swift kick to his tree trunk of a leg, sending Momo to the floor with a howl, on top of Al no less.
Motoko was gaining no ground on the pseudo principal, and was slowly being backed into a corner of the stage, moving more into defense then offense.
"Such a shame you ally yourself with such brutes Aoyama-chan, you could have been my top student, I might have even taken you under my wing."
Motoko's eyes narrowed, "I already have someone whom I look up to, and she's twice the woman you'll ever be!" Motoko's voice was low and could have sliced wood with it's tone.
"Motoko!" Maho threw her hand forward and a string of colored kerchiefs shot from it wrapping around Ito's sword hand.
"LET GO!" Ito yanked on the string and with strength betraying of her slim and slender figure she pulled Maho roughly from her feet and swung the magician through the air.
"Maho!" Motoko severed the line and caught Maho, putting her at a disadvantage to Ito who attacked with her blade. Motoko ducked and dodged to the side with amazing speed, once more on the defense as she carried Maho.
Momo stood in their path, blocking them from escape to the other side of the room."Throw me!" Maho called and trusting the girl Motoko heaved the petite Urashima into the air.
"Now you see us...now you don't!" Maho hurled a blanket over Momo's head Motoko lept into the air, dealing his head a powerful blow from her leg.
"Head Rush!" Al called and smashed into Momo's back head first, sending the gorilla-like man tumbling head over heels to the floor.
Ito used the moment of her henchmen's defeat to strike at Motoko, catching her off guard, managing to slice the kendo-girls sleeves clean off.
The three stood in front of Ito and took offensive poses, "You can't hope to defeat all three of us." Motoko stated calmly.
"Three? I only see two." Ito smirked as like a beast from the dead Momo Rose and grabbed Al around the neck, hurling him into the air...along with himself?
The girls watched as amazingly Al had grabbed onto Momo's shirt as Momo had released, and the force of Momo's throw was strong enough to carry him along, sending the two of them spinning into the air, defying the laws of gravity and physics as they soared into the darkness above the stage.
"We're still more then a match for you." Maho smiled drawing a long parasol with one hand and a deck of cards with the other.
Ito lept backwards onto a chair that had been left with a set for the drama club's plays, and then lept once more kicking it at the girls, causing them to both leap in different directions to dodge.
With the wind at her back Ito was upon Maho in moments and swinging, causing the nimble magician to leap and dodge comically to stay out of the way of the blade. She opened the parasol in the principals face and Ito sliced into the paper, and Maho spun it, ripping the blade from Ito's hand and sending it clattering to the floor.
"Nice one!" Motoko complimented as she rushed in swinging, trying to move Ito away from her weapon, she ducked, rolled and in seconds was standing again with her blade.
"She's good." Motoko spoke in partial admiration.
Up in the rafters Al clung to a beam whimpering as he felt his knees shaking, this guy could toss him like a doll, and he was apparently quiet adapt at moving in roped and suspended areas.
He moved like the primate he resembled, using his strong arms to propel himself at Al, who was having difficulty standing let alone leaping from hanging beams.
"Momo will crush you!" He swung down and Al barely lept off the beam, grabbing onto another with his fingertips and wrapping his legs around it to keep from falling as the shattered beam went tumbling to the floor.
Motoko saw the beam falling towards her companion and in a blur Motoko was instantly at Maho's side, shoving her out of the way and with a sweeping slice of her blade, neatly splitting the beam and stopping it from harming them.
"W...wha...how did you move that fast?" Maho asked standing up swiftly as to not be caught off guard again.
"Instant movement, moving faster then the eye, much like your hands." Motoko smiled at Maho causing the smaller girl to blush, that was almost a compliment.
Ito brought them back to earth and the two girls continued to defend each other against the skilled woman, fighting for not only themselves, but the entire school.
Up in the rafters Al had finally managed to get steady and was spending his time keeping distance from Momo, trying to formulate a plan, it wasn't until he ran out of beams to leap to that he was inspired.
"Alright...first step, take out the gorilla." Al spoke to himself and stood on the beam, on foot in front of the other, trying to remember everything Motoko taught him that morning.
"Momo will enjoy playing with the pretty loli and her friend." Momo was drooling as he crawled towards Al, hands gripping the beam, enveloping the wood.
"Alright...deep breath, grip with your toes..." Al felt his feet push off the ground and he vanished from site for a moment, but only that, and then appeared half a foot from Momo's face, "HEAD RUSH!" He roared as his head collided with Momo's teeth.
Al was knocked silly from impact and held onto the beam with one hand, barely managing conciseness, whereas Momo was so stunned from the impact he simply fell from the beams, crashing into the audience seating below.
Ito was being pushed back by the girls, Motoko with her blade and Maho with a seemingly endless supply of toys from her jacket to defend, distract and attack.
"Snap crackle and pop!" She laughed hurling firecrackers at the evil dictator, distracting her further as she struggled to perry Motoko's blows.
Suddenly with a crack the stage lights came on and a voice was heard on the intercom, "Ladies and Gentlemen, I have an announcement to make."
"AL?" the girls froze as the Americans heavy accented Japanese filled the school. "Our new principal is a fake, and has taken the old one hostage, please listen to this recording taken only a few minutes ago..." Al then played the answering machines tape on the intercom, pumping the clip to every classroom in the school. Once it was finished he spoke again, "So that means that all of you who's clubs were shut down may return to your regular club activities. Teachers I now request that you release your students from class so that they may join us in the auditorium and help us dispose of this wolf in educators clothing."
The sounds of feet pounding the halls announced the soon to arrive students from different fighting clubs across campus, Ito took a few steps back in fear, "I...if they're going to take me at least I'll finish you two off!" She drew another knife and charged at the girls, who charged back.
In classic fashion they passed each other, the sounds of blades clashing and then stood, backs to each other, a long pause before Ito fell to her knees, a large lump on her head from Maho's final toy, a large wooden mallet, and her blades sent spinning across the stage by Motoko.
"Class is dismissed." Al called from the balcony where he had spotted the P.A system.
Kojiro was regaling Ema and Naru with another tale of his role-playing exploits. True, Naru was still passed out, but this at least meant a captive audience. Ema was enthralled.
"So, Grant, Michael, Chad, and I were all fighting Damien, the evil monk to the death in a horrible battle. All of us went all out. I was flinging magic everywhere, trying to protect us from his demon and devil hordes while fighting him at the same time, while my friends threw spells and swung swords in a desperate hope. Our struggle got worse and worse, as Damien brought down first Chad, then Michael. Both were unconscious, and Grant and I were the only ones left."
"Soon, even though Grant and I had slain all of the demons, we were no match for the hand-to-hand of Damien. He was nigh unstoppable, no matter how much damage we threw at him; he dodged fireballs and pillars of flame like they were nothing, and he resisted half of my spells."
"With a crushing combo, he completely brought down Grant, and then only Damien and I, exhausted and bruised, remained. I raised my hands and threw a last Glacial Ray as a last ditch effort. He ignored it, and snapped his knee into my jaw. I collapsed, and he looked over me with a smirk."
"'Pathetic,' he said. 'You are a fool to have challenged me, a God amongst men.' And as he rose his foot to finish me off, out of nowhere a man in Mithral Chain appeared, wielding a sword of Fire and Ice and a sword of Night and Day. He and Damien fought intensely, and even now the land where they fought is scarred, nothing ever growing in that place."
"Soon, my mysterious savior slew the evil monk, and I felt completely useless. And as he left, and I stood on the battlefield alone, I realized..."
"Realized what?" Narusegawa asked, yawning as she sat up. Kojiro let out a scream of surprise as Naru woke up, and Ema giggled and clapped. He had been telling Ema stories for the past three hours about his exploits in Dungeons and Dragons. He had no idea that Naru had been listening for the past twenty minutes.
"What happened to me?" Naru asked, rubbing her head. "I feel like I got run over by a train." Kojiro chuckled.
"You got a bit of bad oyster sauce. I gave you an injection and Ema and I sat around telling stories while keeping an eye on you." Naru nodded, and gave a brief smile.
"Thanks, I guess." She yawned, and her stomach growled. Ema suddenly leapt up.
"For one and for all, I shall go get the sammiches!" Ema shouted, a look of victory on her face.
"Sandwiches." Kojiro corrected.
"Sandwiches!" With that, Ema ran off to fetch them. Naru chuckled, and turned to Kojiro with a benevolent smile. Kojiro furrowed his brows in confusion. Normally, from hearsay and rumor, he'd be dead by now. He tilted his head and shrugged it off.
"So, Kojiro, what exactly did you realize?" Naru asked, and Kojiro chuckled uncomfortably.
I realized that no matter how much power I have, it's nothing if I can't use it to help the lesser to go above me.
"Ahh, man!" Al stretched happily, luxuriating in the orange light of sunset. "It's good to be back in business! If Maho were here, I'd suggest we go and get some ramen tonight!"
"You will need to rest for a while, though." Motoko gave him a sidelong glance.
"Are you kidding? I feel great!"
She poked him in the side. Al crumpled into a pain-filled ball on the ground. "You're hopeless, Rush."
Al stood up with some difficulty. "Just a flesh wound." He perked up, remembering something. "Hey." He reached into his coat pocket, pulling out a small, familiar cellophane package. "Whoo-hoo, I still have it!"
Despite herself, Motoko smiled slightly when she saw the melon bread. "Lunch was hours ago."
"Yeah, but I'm starving!" Al tore open the package. "It's still good. Want some?"
"Not really."
"Suit yourself." He bit into the bread with more pleasure than one would expect from a cheap bakery snack. "It's like heaven in my mouth! Thank you, Mo-chan!"
Motoko turned her head away so he wouldn't see the blush. "It was Maho-san's idea."
"But you thought of me. I'm touched."
"Don't get carried away now..." Halfway up the steps to the house, Motoko suddenly stopped.
Al looked up, following her gaze to the top. "What's up? Oh, hey, it's Ma-chan!" He waved. "Hey, where were you when the authorities showed up? We couldn't find you anywhere."
Right away, he could tell that something was amiss. Maho was standing next to her enormous suitcase, and she was holding her birdcage in both hands. He couldn't see her face clearly in the quickly dimming light, but what little he could see was distressed, as if preparing for something unpleasant.
"Ma-chan?" Al stopped when he was only a few steps away. "What's going on?"
Motoko wasted no time in getting to the point. "Where are you going, Maho-san?"
Maho smiled. There was a bittersweet quality to it. "I've decided..." She sighed and tried again. "I think it's time to move on for a while."
Al frowned. "What?"
"I have things to take care of, back in England. It won't take too long, I promise." Maho looked away. "But I will be gone for... some time, at least."
"But it's so sudden." Al took a step closer. "When were you planning to tell us?"
"Right now, which is why I'm here." Maho blinked at something. "I've never been very good at goodbyes."
"Well don't worry, this isn't one." Al nodded resolutely. "It's only an 'until we meet again.'"
"Yeah... I guess so." Maho looked behind him. "Motoko-san?"
Motoko went up. "Yes?"
Maho thrust the birdcage into the other girl's arms. "I left the feed in your room, and a manual. They're not hard to care for, as long as you give them some breathing room."
Motoko stared at the birds. "You're... leaving them?"
"They had enough trouble getting here. I think it would be cruel to make them come back with me." Maho crouched down, waving goodbye to her doves with one finger. "You know, once, I took one with me to a field trip and not the other. When I got back, I discovered that Shuuji was almost dying. He refused to eat or drink anything while Kyoko was away." She looked at Motoko with a smile. "As much as they pretend they can't stand each other, you have to remember that they need each other to live. They love each other, you see."
Motoko nodded. "I will take good care of them in your absence, Maho-san."
"I know." Maho put her hands behind her head. "Okay. That's the end of this show. I won't be happy if I come back and find out that you guys haven't gotten anywhere, you hear me?" Al and Motoko blushed, but before they could stammer any protests Maho giggled.
Al smiled sadly. "We're going to miss you, Ma-chan."
"Of course you will. I'm Maho, the all..." She rolled her eyes. "Well, you know it by now. But that reminds me." Maho grinned. "Want to see one more magic trick?"
"Sure," he said.
Motoko arched an eyebrow. "One more couldn't hurt."
"It's pretty simple, really. You learn it fairly early at the academy. But it's a nice, simple way to end a good show. And this has been a very good show, you guys." She applauded for them, giving a stage bow as she did so. "Ready? Now you see me..."
With a dramatic flourish, Maho threw something on the ground. It exploded in a cloud of fog and rainbow sparkles.
When the air cleared a few seconds later, the only ones there were Al, Motoko, and the sound of traffic in the distance.
Sticking his head out of his room Al grinned and followed by Dizzy he tip toed down the hall, a large bag of stuff slung over his back containing all of his costuming items. He had agreed to meet Lance and Su at the train station and then the four of them would then change on the train if they had enough privacy.
The two of them reached the stairs and froze looking down and seeing in the doorway three of the people they least wanted to see tonight.
The Motokoites were smiling and passing out slips of paper to all the other dorm dwellers. Sarah looked up at Al and a concerned look passed between them, "What are they up to?" He asked Dizzy as they decended the steps.
"Oh Rush-san, how good to see you!" The leader of the trio smiled like a cat cornering a mouse.
"Err...don't think I caught your name the last few times we've met." Al responded trying to sound polite, "What's going on ladies?"
"Well..." Motoko was blushing and wouldn't meet Al's eyes "It seems my students have won some tickets to a musical performance in Tokyo and they wish for me to attend with them." She was embarrassed the girls were making such a fuss. Concerts weren't really her thing but they had shown up and practically begged her to come in front of all the other girls.
"Might be fun to get out for a night, I mean really Motoko how much time do you spend outside of school or the Hinata house? Kitsune teased reading her ticket, "Hey wait a minute, look who's opening, LADS!"
The color drained from Al, and Sarah's faces in unison, Dizzy's too but his fur hid it well.
"I remember them, they won at the spring festival, wow they must be doing well if their already performing at such a large venue like this!" Keitaro smiled, "And it was so nice of you ladys to offer us tickets!" He smiled warmly.
"Baka we can't go, we have to study!" Naru chided and took the ticket, handing it back to the trio, "Sorry but we've got some term papers comeing up." She apologized and took Keitaro by the hand to lead him away before the other girls convinced him to leave, as she was certain they would try.
"Umm...err...I...I'm kinda sleepy, I think I'll sit this one out." Shinobu bowed and returned the ticket as well, blushing her apologies.
"Count me out, this sort of bubble gum pop doesn't appeal to me tonight." Kojiro nodded and left with Shinobu twords the kitchen.
"Guess it's just us then." Kitsune smiled and took Al and Motoko by the hands, "let's go kick up our heels in Tokyo!" The thin eye'd girl cleary planned on getting drunk.
"Err..." Al spoke up and the three girls pounced, "What was that Rush-san, your not going to drop out too? Didn't you say this morning how much you loved LADS?"
"Err I...perhaps..."
"Oh yes, you were going on and on about them, that's why we thought you'd like to come!"
"Oh please don't make our gifts go to waste!"
Al smiled weakly, "H...how could I say no?"
Motoko was torn between wishing he had turned them down so she could without guilt, and a bit of pleasure at the idea of spending some more time with him in a social setting. They had been spending quiet a bit of time together lately and with Maho gone, perhaps they could have a bit of a tribute night to her.
The party set out ten minutes later and Al prayed he would think of something.
Lance was pacing back and forth, the train was late, Al was late, Su was hanging from a lamppost and pretending to be a bat...things were not going well.
"Su! Why is everyone so late?" Lance moaned pretty sure she wouldn't have an answer.
"Oh, I set your watch ahead by thirty minutes so that you wouldn't be late." She fell from the lamp post and landed like a cat on the ground below, charging him and pouncing, tackling him to the ground.
"You really shouldn't do such indecent things." a voice called and Lance lifted his head from the ground to see who it was.
Al, fallowed closely by Motoko, Dizzy, Tama, Sarah, Kitsune the Motoko-kites and a pair of white doves who were flying circles around them lazily. Lance felt is heart fall into his feet.
Standing up and throwing off Su swiftly Lance smiled feebly, "H...hey gang, what's going on?"
"We're going to see LADS, you should join us!" Al leapt in snatching the spare tickets from the trio of Motoko-kites and shoved them into Lance and Su's hands, the look in Al's eyes clearly read, "We're screwed, we're screwed, we're so screwed you couldn't screw someone more with every screw in a hardware store!"
Motoko came up to the two and looked disapprovingly at Lance who still had Su wrapped around his midsection, "Hello Waymeire-san." She said politely.
"Err...hello Motoko-san." Lance was puzzled before seeing she was standing closer to Al then usual, could she perhaps be counting this as a date?
The party got onto the train and as the doors closed Lance managed to see the Motokites grinning wickedly at him, "Why did you do this?" He whispered in a low dangerous tone.
"You didn't think it'd be that easy? Your gonna confess in front of everyone tonight, or else we'll show these girls what you've been doing, and when they tell your landlord you'll be out of a home." There was a fire in her voice and Lance saw her look past him to Al who was smiling and talking with Motoko, who politely laughed at a joke. Clearly it was Al who she wanted to see homeless, Lance was just an unfortunate bystander.
"L...look I don't know why this is such a big deal to you, we can give you the money we made, we can even get you on stage with us, you can be the stars, I just wanted a little time in the spotlight, but..." He paused, "I think I'd prefer to wait until I can do it fair and square.
"This is about more then fame or money you fool, this is about honor, about pride, and about the most powerful force on earth.
"The power of melted cheese, ground beef, and all the Mexican fixing's you can pile on a plate of tasty tortia chips?" Lance joked hoping to make the situation less tense.
"Love." She snarled and the three of them moved up front.
"Ya know I don't know if I like those girls, they seem to be more like a alien plague, the three of them moving together, all thinking the same, do you suppose there's only one brain between them?" Kitsune asked sitting down on the seat next to Lance.
"Yeah..." Lance laughed, though he knew if there was just one brain, it was a devious one.
The Arena was packed, tonight's concert promised to be the major event of the season, the local band was opening for the current rising young teen idol was a local band that had been making a big impression lately, the future looked bright for not only the star of the show, but her opening act.
The seats were pretty close to the stage, though naturally no one would be using the seats as the show commenced.
Al, Lance, Su and Dizzy sat in a row, feeling more like criminals set for execution then teenagers at a concert should.
"What do we do?" Lance whispered to Al as the party chatted among the roaring crowd.
"I'm fresh out of ideas." Al confessed, his eyes half open as he surveyed the scene, the moto-kites were clearly not planning on helping them get to the stage, so it would be up to the four of them to come up with a decent excuse.
"Hey wait a minute, I know you!" A high pitched voice squealed.
The four of them all jerked and stared up at none other then Alexis, the harmonica player from LADS.
No one could think of anything to say. She was wearing a hat and sunglasses to hide her identity from the fans who would attack her given the option.
"A...eh...huh?" Was all Lance could manage, he looked rather like a fish.
"Yeah, you're the two road hands who went on break when their supposed to be working, and your that tech girl, come on you loafers you've gotta finish so we can get started!" And before anyone could say anything the blond took the boys by the arms and led them away.
"What was that all about?" Kitsune asked confused.
The Motokites glared in unison.
"That was close." Alexis said in a whisper as she led them backstage and they ducked into a dressing room.
"Who the...how the..." Lance stammered.
"CLONE!" Al roared and launched himself at Alexis who sidestepped him neatly and he went crashing to the floor. Alexis walked over to Lance and put a hand on his chest as they drew close enough to inspire blush on the Californian, "So big brother, would you like me more if I looked like this?" the high pitched voice fell as she undid the choker.
"Sarah!" Lance gasped, so surprised he actually fell over backwards.
"I thought you went to the bathroom." Al laughed standing up, he began laughing a deep overjoyed belly laugh that she had been so sneaky.
"Grr." Dizzy growled sullenly.
"Ah dude, your right, doesn't matter if we can perform or not, the Motokites will expose us anyway." Al groaned.
"Hmmm." A look of inspiration played across Lances features, "Or will they?" He asked with a sly grin, "Alright guys as band leader I have a few changes to tonight's number."
Motoko grumbled sullen as the crowd screamed in high pitched siren like unison, "Baka Rush getting hauled away to move speakers." She grumbled.
"Ayoma-san?" A deep voice spoke up from somewhere behind her. Motoko turned and was surprised to see none other then Izumo. "I...Izumo-san, what are you doing here?" She asked, embarrassed that a fellow warrior would see her at such a silly thing.
"Um...I was invited by some girls...oh there they are." Izumo pointed to the Motokites who giggled and waved.
"To be fair I was only doing it to be nice, but at least now I can thank you for your valor this afternoon in saving our principal." He bowed before her.
"I...it was nothing." Motoko flushed and looked away, wondering if Al would be coming back soon.
"No, my club and I owe you so much, such beauty, such power, I am amazed by you."
"I...Izumo-san..." Motoko's comment was cut off by the roar of the crowd as the show began.
LADS trotted out onstage after the announcer called them on, each dressed as a member of a LARP troop, Alexis the Thief, Lizzy the druid, Didi the sorceress and Su the barbarian.
"We wanna open tonight with a number dedicated to all the dice rolling miniature painting map drawing Role-playing nerds out there who are our favorite kind of guys!
The music started and Lance met the eyes of everyone in the band, each nodding, "We're ready." The were thinking.
8 o'clock Monday night and I'm wait' in,
to roleplay with a boy a little nerdier then me,
His name is Toby he's a Dark Elf with a magic ring,
His Charismas 18 but I'm not quiet sure what that means.
And when he rolls, all the Trolls and monsters scream,
He never misses it seems!
He's watching his HP,
Drooling over elf thighs.
His shirts made of chain mail
Gold coins in his eyes,
We play like it's a movie,
He is looking through me,
If you were me you'd be sayin someone shoot me,
As I fail miserably trying to get the guy who only nerdy girls want.
The guy only nerdy girls want!
The crowd was on their feet, screaming and trying to force their way closer to the stage despite the best efforts of the security team. Lance signaled to Two of the guards and one of them took the moto-kites and invited her on stage. The girls looked unsure, ready to struggle but the crowd cheered and they felt the flush of encouragement. The climbed up onto the stage and began dancing.
He likes Wizards and I like thieves and half-lings,
His parties full of heroes who are just plain mad.
He says he's in it for the gold and the EXP,
Will he ever notice I'm the one paying the party's bar tab?
He's watching his HP,
Drooling over elf thighs.
His shirts made of chain mail
Gold coins in his eyes,
He likes them with pointy ears,
The ones who multi-class,
Eaten cheese and baked ham,
By level 3 he's a true man.
We play like it's a movie,
He is looking through me,
If you were me you'd be sayin someone shoot me,
As I fail miserably trying to get the guy who only nerdy girls want.
The guy only nerdy girls want!
The guy only nerdy girls want!
The guy only nerdy girls want!
The guy only nerdy girls want!
The crowds pushing forward was weighing thin on Motoko who was being pushed from behind, suddenly she felt a hand brush her chest and then things got messy.
Nerds flew left and right as she swung her boken like a avenging angel. The security team stood and watched as the nerds rushed her, not to be denied their nerd girl trophies and she was mobbed.
"Ayoma!" Izumo charged into battle and helped free her from the horde, the two of them returning to the front of the crowd.
Al had been the only one to see from his birds eye view of the stage, Izumo had been the one to touch her and send her into the fight, only to be the same one to save her, that bastard! The moment Al had been away the long haired warrior had moved in.
Clenching his jaw Al joined the group in dressing the moto-kites in fantasy clothes to match their own, the crowd was loving every outfit.
There he goes again with plate mail on and a helmet on his hair,
He broke my heart I want to be sedated,
All he wants is elf girls who are naked!
I'm rolling for HP,
Wish I had Elvin eyes.
Saving up for mithril,
Multi-classing into a spy,
Following the missions tasks,
Fight the Gnolls at the mountain pass,
Sending crossbow bolts into his head
We play like it's a movie,
He is looking through me,
If you were me you'd be sayin someone shoot me,
As I fail miserably trying to get the guy who only nerdy girls want.
The guy only nerdy girls want!
The guy only nerdy girls want!
The guy only nerdy girls want!
The guy only nerdy girls want!
As the group played a final few riffs, Al grinned devilishly and pulled Izumo onstage handing him Lance's guitar and encouraging him to play.
The warrior cursed but started to strum it lackluster, the crowd roared to encourage him and he started to get into it.
LADS slipped offstage as the Moto-kites and Izumo entertained the crowd, the girls too star struck to remember what the original plan had been, they had gotten their goal of stardom!
As the original members of Lads congratulated each other Al stormed back into the main arena to locate Izumo, his normally carefree mood was sharply contrasted by his sudden jealousy.
"Al...hold on, Al...dang it he's gonna get in trouble." Lance tried not to worry, Al could handle himself, and they had just narrowly avoided getting in deep trouble themselves.
Izumo had barely gotten off stage and was looking for Motoko, at least it was clear that he wasn't really one of the members the moto-kites, who had just been signed to do the rest of LADS tour, due to LADS having vanished without a trace.
"Oi!" A booming voice cut across the crowd and Al crowd surfed over the heads of the fans, Dizzy clinging onto his shirt as he leapt from the surfboard they had been passing him on and landed in front of Izumo. "What was that about?" He glared.
"Whatever are you talking about Rush, as a matter of fact where have you been? Ayoma-san told me you were supposed to be with her party and you vanished." Izumo's eyes thinned suspiciously.
"I...got lost, but I started crowd surfing and saw you feeling up Mo-Chan, how do you explain yourself?" He demanded, steam was practically shooting out his ears.
"Do you have proof of this?" Izumo asked in his annoyingly calm manner.
"W...well no, but I saw it and I will not stand for you doing such things!" Al tried to make himself bigger but Izumo was not to be intimidated.
"These are heavy accusations Rush, I will not have my honor tarnished by the rantings of a fool." The long haired kendoist drew his blade, "Either apologize or I will be forced to make you pay in flesh."
"Bring it on you hentai." Al balled his fists and felt the ground under his sneakers, about to Head Rush.
"There you are!" A voice pierced through the heavy air and Izumo stashed his blade swiftly.
Motoko arrived on the scene, having just beaten each male who had touched her till they begged for forgiveness, she looked displeased, "Where were you missed the entire opening act!" Motoko grabbed Al's ear and drug him away, "The others are already leaving, Kitsune got drunk, Su blew up a speaker, Sarah and Lance have gotten in trouble at the snack bar for something involving cheese, and I am very tired of this noise."
Al glared at Izumo while he whined "Owie owie, Mo-chan not so hard!" His eyes clearly sent the message to Izumo, "This isn't over."
It was late night as Kojiro lay on his back on his bed. Ema was practicing her English, murmuring conspiracy ideas as she read one of Al's old comic books. Kojiro, on the other hand, was considering Shinobu's predicament. She had managed to take Keitaro out for some alone time after the concert, which he supposed was a good thing for her plan, but the problem was that there was even a plan.
Kojiro wasn't stupid; he realized entirely that Shinobu was complete, 100 grade-A, prime choice jailbait. That wasn't too big of a deal normally, but it ran into the problem that Shinobu simply wasn't willing to let Naru win in both long and short term, and unfortunately, that was the only field that she was looking in.
He considered all possibilities, and then decided that this entire mess was beyond his control, and that he was an idiot for even agreeing to this. Sighing, he got off of the bed and turned to Ema.
"Ema, stay here, OK?"
"OK!" Ema replied. Kojiro noticed that she was quite adept at following the "Children should be seen, not heard" rule, and made plans to break her of the habit as he grabbed his denim jacket and left.
Hinata train station. Kojiro sighed as he stood at the stations lone arcade game, Time Crisis 3, waiting for someone he knew would come.
The last train was coming in about five minutes, and as Kojiro gunned down random soldiers mercilessly, he felt a presence. Without bothering to turn, he said, "Planning on leaving without saying goodbye to anyone, Ms. Urashima?" He turned, tossing the plastic gun to the side callously, and saw Maho Urashima, dressed in full raincoat.
Maho chuckled. "OK, Mr. Chavez, since you're so eager to see me off, I suppose that we can talk, at least until my train arrives." She sat down at a bench, and Kojiro sat next to her. The place was abandoned, and only the sound of the electric track offered a noise to break the silence.
Kojiro broke it first. "I don't suppose I could impose upon you one favor?" He asked. Maho said nothing. "It's about Shinobu." This time, Maho actually turned to him.
"Shinobu-Chan? What's wrong?" She asked, and Kojiro sighed, and then spilled his guts about their little arraignment, and how he had qualms about the morals of the situation, and how he couldn't figure out how 42 was how many streets a man had to walk down.
"..." Maho looked at him for a moment, and then spoke. "Well, I don't know how to tell you about your weird number problem, but I suppose I could talk to Shinobu for you." Kojiro smiled, and then Maho gave him a look. "You owe me cab fare for this, dang-nabit. I'm going to miss my train." Kojiro chuckled.
"Worry not." Kojiro grabbed his wallet, and counted off about 25,000 yen before handing the money to her. "Oh, and I almost forgot. A friend gave me this artifact, but I have no use for it." He reached into his jacket and pulled out a strange, three-pronged weapon about a foot long.
"This is a jitte. It's used for catching weapons and disarming. It's said to be wielded by a guy named Umezawa, and supposedly grants wishes." Kojiro grinned. "Consider it a going away gift." Maho took the weapon and swung it. The blade swished heavily.
"Thanks." Maho said, and put it away. There was an uncomfortable moment of silence, and then she smiled. "Goodbye, Kojiro." And with that, she disappeared into the night.
The world had just finished turning into night. The events of the day considered, Shinobu found the change in ambience most fitting. From where she sat in her room, if she focused, she could hear the low electric hum of the street lights. It was a soothing rhythm. Compared to the noise of people, which seemed ever-present in the house as long as there was a speck of daylight, the dark allowed only the most sacred of silences, where a person could at last be alone with their thoughts.
In Shinobu's case, she discovered to her dismay that her thoughts only betrayed the worst sort of guilt. But for the life of her, she couldn't understand why this was the case. Naru was out of the picture, at least for a little while. Shinobu had won the battle, which seemed to be as good a reason to celebrate as any. And yet the young girl was aware of a sort of hollowness, somewhere. She supposed it was where her heart was.
She stared into her compact mirror and sighed.
"You should smile more," a voice said playfully. A pair of hands emerged from the darkness and pulled Shinobu's cheeks. "See? Like this."
Shinobu turned around to find a floating torso. More accurately, Maho was standing behind Shinobu's bed, and for all intents and purposes appeared to have no legs but was hovering perfectly in mid-air.
Maho tipped her hat. "Boo."
"AH," Shinobu began, in what was sure to be a fine scream of terror if Maho didn't clamp a hand over the girl's mouth.
Maho hushed her in a whisper. "It's just a trick!"
Shinobu looked again. Indeed, Maho seemed to have her legs the whole time. "Maho-sempai!"
"What can I say?" The magician smiled. The gesture was harsh despite her best intentions. "After what you did, I thought you deserved a little scare."
Shinobu became quiet immediately. A car came and passed in the distance before Maho continued.
"I'm the All-Powerful and All-Knowing. Did you really think this would get past me?"
Shinobu blinked.
"Actually, Chavez-san told me."
Shinobu's eyes widened in panic. "But he said he wouldn't—" One look from Maho silenced her completely. The tone in the room underwent a dramatic change, and no matter what she did Shinobu couldn't stop her heart from beating like a jackhammer.
"You hurt Naru-chan." Maho crossed her arms. "You could have killed her."
"No, I..." Shinobu fought to control her breathing. "That wasn't..."
"She's my best friend. I care about her. Kei-chan and Haruka-onee-chan care about her." She glared. "Naru-chan looked after you like a sister, and this is what you do to her." When Shinobu remained silent, Maho finally asked: "Why did you do it?"
"I couldn't think of anything else!" Shinobu said at last. "I cook, and I clean, and I do everything to make Sempai's life comfortable, but Naru-sempai takes his attention! I didn't want to hurt her, really! But I thought that if I could have her away for a little while, Sempai would... Keitaro-sempai..."
Maho gave her a withering stare. "If he finds out that you poisoned her, Kei-chan will hate you forever."
That did it. Shinobu could scarcely let out one sound before bursting into tears at the thought. At this, Maho finally softened. She sat down on the bed and wrapped her arms gently around Shinobu's quivering shoulders.
"Please, don't tell him!" The young girl managed to get out between wet hiccups. "Don't tell him!"
"Why didn't you think, you silly girl?" Maho stroked her hair. "Okay, look. Let's just talk for now. Talk to your big sister Maho and tell her everything." She pulled away to look Shinobu in the eyes. "Okay?"
Shinobu nodded quietly. A hiccup was her only audible reply.
Maho wandered down the step from the Hinata house towards the tea-house.
Just as she thought, the teahouse was still lit from the inside, even as the "closed" sign hung forlornly on the door. Quietly, Maho stepped inside.
Haruka was sitting at one of many impeccably clean tables. The ashtray in front of her was growing a small collection of cigarette butts, and the older woman was in the middle of lighting another.
"Haruka-onee-chan?"
Maho's sister smiled, a crack in her otherwise tough demeanor. "Maho-chan. What're you doing still up? You should be in bed now."
"I know, but I wanted to tell you something..." Maho gasped. "Onee-chan, you're drenched! What happened?"
"Hm?" Haruka looked at herself. Indeed, she was still pretty much covered in sweat. "Well, you try running down a sports car one of these days. It's not easy when you get to my age, I'll tell you that much."
Maho smiled warmly, taking a seat. "You're still young, onee-chan."
"Well, I certainly was." She took a drag of her cigarette. "I guess youth is all in the mind, when you get down to it."
"So philosophical." Maho winked. "Does this have to do with Ken-kun?"
Haruka's cheeks went only the slightest shade of pink. "Don't worry about that. We resolved our differences."
"What? That doesn't tell me anything at all!"
"It's simple... Too simple to bother explaining." She finally exhaled—Haruka's talent for holding in smoke bordered on the supernatural. "So, anyway, you needed to say something?"
Maho nodded, and told her.
"Hm" Haruka rubbed her chin. "So soon?"
"Yes."
She raised an eyebrow. "You know, there are some people who are going to be bothered by that."
Maho nodded. "I know. But it won't be for very long. I think I can use the time to tidy things up, anyway. I hear that I left quite a mess back in England."
She was silent, brooding for what seemed like a while. Finally, Haruka sighed. "Well, I'm not Mom. You do whatever you want." She crushed her new cigarette. "Ugh. All of a sudden it tastes terrible."
"I guess that's that." Maho stood up and started to go. "I'm going to go get my things ready now."
"Maho-chan."
She turned around. "Yes?"
Haruka stood up and gave her younger sister a hug.
"Ew." Maho frowned. "You smell like sweat and cigarettes."
"Mm."
"Seriously, bathe before you sleep tonight."
"Mm."
"I love you, onee-chan."
She paused. "Mm."
Without another word, Maho reciprocated the hug.
Kojiro met Maho at the foot of the stairs leading up to the Hinata house.
"Thank you," he said.
"You're welcome," she replied with a tired smile. "I think all she needed was someone to set her straight."
"So what is she going to do now?"
"Oh, Mr. Chavez," Maho winked demurely. "That, I'm afraid, is a secret between girls." She then utterly ruined the effect by yawning and stretching loudly.
Kojiro raised an eyebrow. "Well, if you insist. As long as things get to slow down a little around here." He bowed in a gentlemanly fashion. "I will never forget this favor."
"Buy me a drink sometime. We'll call it even."
"Hm. Perhaps." He smiled. "Goodbye, senorita."
Maho, for her part, couldn't help smiling back. "Goodbye, Kojiro."
She stepped into the waiting cab, and it sped away, disappearing around a corner where Kojiro could no longer see.