Chapitre 2: Garden

After making his dinner, which was ramen noodles, he cleaned up his mess and carried a bowl up to the girls' room. He knocked on the door and was greeted by a nervous Kyoki.

"Here. Eat it." He held it out to her.

"T-thank you." She said without looking at his face. She sat down on the edge of her bed.

"Is the kid and the princess working tonight?" Kurogane said, wondering why none of the younger members were there. He was also worried what that white pork bun was up to as well...

"I don't know... I know Syaoran-kun had a late shift at the bookstore tonight." Kyoki said.

Yume, Fai, and Sakura had managed to get a job at a nearby cafe. Kyoki, claiming that she was unable to work at a food-handling place, got a job at a bookstore. Syaoran also worked there with her. Kurogane had also gotten a job, but he wouldn't tell anyone what it was. Which made everyone curious.

He crossed his arms over his chest. "Are you going to eat or not?" He sat down on one of the beds, apparently making the statement that he was not leaving until she was finished eating.

Kyoki nodded and began to eat. She stopped for a few moments to talk. "Do you think Sakura is at the bookstore with Syaoran? Or perhaps she had to work tonight too? I didn't get to talk to her since when I was getting ready for work this morning she was asleep. And when I got home she was already gone."

"I don't know." He told her.

They sat there in silence as Kyoki ate. When she was finished, Kurogane stood.

"I'm going to go check it out though." He informed her.

Kyoki placed the empty bowl on the bed and ran to his side. "Right now? What if the come back? I don't want to be alone when they come back. Can I come too? Please? I wanna tell Yume-chan the truth, but I'm too scared to face her right now."

Kurogane sighed. "Fine. Hurry up and get dressed, I'll be waiting in the living room."

"Get dressed? But I am... Oh! I'm wearing my pajamas right now. I forgot about that..." Kyoki smacked her forehead after looking down at her black shirt and light blue pajama pants.

Kurogane left the room, closing the door behind him.

Kyoki quickly grabbed the clothes she had been wearing earlier that consisted of black baggy shorts, a purple shirt that had a white bunny on the front that had words that read 'Whatever, You Moron' under it. On her feet she put her black shoes with red stitching and laces on. She quickly brushed through her long brown hair. Before leaving the room she grabbed the bowl, her headphones and her portable music player. She placed the bowl in the sink.

"I'm ready." Kyoki said, saluting him.

Kurogane muttered a reply before they left the apartment.

"She was sitting on top of him?" Fai asked after Yume had told him what happened. The two of them were in the park sitting on a bench. He had one arm around her, and her head was resting on his shoulder.

"Yea."

"And his feet were tied up?"

"Yes."

"Maybe she was trying to kill him? Though, Kurogane seems to be the one to be the killing more than her..." Fai teased.

Yume gently elbowed him in the side. "Be serious. I can't believe those two are so... ah... active. Kyoki-chan has always been so nervous around guys she liked... well... males in general, I guess. I'm really sorry for crying. I was just so happy that Kyoki is able to be with Kurogane now."

"It's all right. I'm happy for the two of them as well." Fai smiled down at her.

"I really wanna tell them about the two of us now." Yume said, as she squeezed his hand.

"Me too. I'm sorry we kept our dating a secret from them."

"It's all right. It was my idea too." Yume said, she leaned forward and kissed his cheek. "Wanna go back and tell them now?"

Fai nodded.

Kurogane and Kyoki walked into Palladion Cafe and saw Sakura behind the counter with Mokona on her shoulder.

"Sakura-chan!" Kyoki ran up to the counter and smiled at the younger woman.

"Oh, Kyoki-chan, is something wrong?" She looked at Kyoki and then Kurogane. The two of them had never come to her work together.

"No. We just didn't know if you were at work or not." Kyoki said. "So we were a little worried."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Sakura apologized.

"Mokona left a note." Mokona said, jumping happily.

"And where did you leave this note?" Kurogane snapped. He picked up the rabbit creature and pulled on its ears.

"Ouch. Mokona left it on the couch in the living room." Mokona cried out.

"Who the hell leaves notes on couches, idiot." Kurogane snapped.

"Mokona does." Mokona said.

Kurogane released Mokona who jumped back to Sakura.

"I'm going back. Later." Kurogane said. He turned and began to leave.

"Ah, I better be going too. See ya later, Sakura." Kyoki waved and ran after Kurogane.

"Mokona thinks those two are being weird."

Sakura nodded. "I wonder if everything is all right with those two."

"You can't hide from those two forever." Kurogane informed her as they left the cafe.

"I-I know. It's just..." She looked at the ground as they walked.

"If you have something to say, just say it." He told her.

"Y-yes. But I can't really say this... It's, um, kinda embarrassing. So-"

"Just say it."

"I can't!" Kyoki said, stopping and stomping her foot.

"Fine. Let's just go home." He said.

Kyoki was surprised, it almost sounded like he was mad about her not telling him. She reconsidered telling him. She decided to.

"K--Kurogane?"

"Hmm?" He stopped and looked over his shoulder at her.

"The thing I wanted to tell you..."

He turned fully around and looked at her, waiting.

"...was that- What the hell?" The ground began to shake violently. The sky let out a huge crack of thunder miles away. And even farther away a cry coming from what may have sounded like a dragon shot to their ears.

Kyoki wobbled, about to lose her balance, but Kurogane reached out and caught her arm. He half expected her to hug on to him. After the way she acted when the door knocked earlier in the day, he half-expected her to be scared enough to hide up in a tree, or something. When it came to Kyoki, you couldn't really expect what she would do.

"I head about these earthquakes and what that thunder means. And that monster cry..." Kyoki looked at her watch then up at the sky at the full moon. "In the bookstore I work at, I have overheard people talking that in the mountains to the north is a powerful Demon Lord named Reo. Once a month a terrible cry is heard from there. Overhead they can hear the beating wings of a dragon. Everyone gets inside when it's a full moon because the dragon is not the only thing that comes out. There are these things called Shadows in this world that the natives here fear. I don't know why, they wouldn't talk about that. I have tried to ask some of the customers, but they would just give me frightened looks and run away from me. It's never been reported that the dragon comes down here where the people are. But some think that the dragon sends the Shadows down to do his business and such. Anywho, the earthquake and thunder are a sign for everyone to get inside away from the Shadows."

"I heard about them too." Kurogane looked around them as they talked. They were alone in the middle of the sidewalk. The fluorescent lights glowed around them. Various houses and stores had their lights on, and it appeared that many people were huddled inside. He had wondered why the streets were getting empty as they walked to the cafe, now he knew why.

"If you knew this was happening, why didn't you say something before?" He asked her.

"I-I'm sorry. I forgot that tonight was a full moon. I really hope Fai-kun and Yume-chan got back to the apartment safely. This things last from eight at night until midnight, so since Sakura-chan and Syaoran-kun have to work until early morning, they should be fine. But, we're out in the open. The Shadows don't, or can't, attack anyone who is inside a building. Shall we find somewhere to go? I don't think we will be able to make it back to the apartment in time." Kyoki said looking at the regular shadows around them, expecting a Shadow to appear at any moment. She didn't know what these Shadows looked like, and she didn't want to either.

"Hmph. I'm not scared of any damned Shadows." Kurogane told her. "If anything attacks us, I'll kill them."

"I'm sure you could, if they were normal, but these things aren't normal. Nothing solid can affect them, thus you can't kill them. No one can. We have to get inside somewhere. Look, over there is a open bookstore, why don't we ask if we can just hang out in there until everything is calm out here."

"Fine." Kurogane said, visibly displeased at having to hide.

"It'll only be until morning. And besides, it's a book store, we can read books to pass the time." Kyoki said as she began to walk toward the building.

Kurogane sighed, but followed.

They walked up to the store and entered. The bookstore looked at Kurogane warily, and looked at Kyoki like a hyena that had not been fed in years and years. It was a look that Kurogane didn't look, and Kyoki didn't understand. He had a nametag that had the name 'Hen' on it.

Kurogane stepped in front of her, blocking her from the book-owners view.

"What do you want?" The grumpy shopkeeper asked.

"Um, may we stay here until the Shadows go away?" Kyoki asked from behind the tall man.

"Hmm... I guess so, but you have to buy some books." He told them.

Kyoki walked out from behind Kurogane and smiled. "Sure."

Hen began to stare at Kyoki as she began to shift through the books, her back was to the two of them, but his gaze was interrupted when Kurogane cracked his knuckles, causing Hen to jump and look away.

"Oh My chaos! Kurogane!" Kyoki cried out, as she waved him over to her.