A Change of Sorts
Feeling lazy today so don't be surprised if the plot dwindles down to horrible-writingness. Combine that with homework due the next day…and yeah. Enjoy, "revelations" (thanks Melody of Shadow! I hope I'm using that properly…) await you this chapter, however lazy I may be!
Chapter 9: Happy Birthday!
"…"
--…--
"…Dark…"
--Yes Dai-chan?--
"If we don't find whatever it is we're looking for in the next room, I'm gonna call the demolishers in."
--I'm with you on this one Dai-chan.--
"Ok, so it's settled." With that, Daisuke left the room, turning his back on the giant, slimy snail that was slowly oozing in the middle of the room.
-------------------------
"Please tell me this is what we're looking for." Daisuke held up a small jar of black feathers tinted with white, shaking it a bit. The feathers were pretty tiny, considering, but upon contact with the black pearl hovering in the middle of the jar, they burst into full size for a brief moment, and then returned to their tiny state.
--I believe so.--
Daisuke gave a sigh of relief, before eyeing the jar sceptically. "Dark…do you keep your feathers in here? I thought you had original feathers, not," he gave the jar a shake. "Ones like these."
--Well…yes and no.--
"Huh?"
--Those are my special feathers. They bring me good luck!-- Dark whined, hugging a picture of him hugging a picture of him hugging a picture of…(couple more pictures later…) a picture of him hugging a jar of black feathers.
"…"
--Well, they have special properties as well…--
"Oh…such as?"
Dark's face grew solemn. --They are the feathers that contain the events of my life in past generations.
"…"
--And they allow me to use more magic then normal feathers would.-- he added loftily. --They can cope with the amount of power the stronger spells need than the normal feathers, although I don't use them for that as much anymore. Because they drain the energy of certain people, ahem, ahem.-- Dark finished with a meaningful glare at Daisuke's direction, but seeing as he was inside Daisuke's head, he settled for glaring at the ceiling.
"Does that mean we're finished?" Daisuke asked hopefully. Dark nodded, before pointing out one last thing.
--Dai-chan, although I greatly appreciate you getting that back for me, I would also appreciate it if you got that baby dragon off my jar.-- he ordered, pointing to the general area of the jar.
Daisuke peered at the 'baby dragon' for a minute before giving a small chuckle of amusement.
--What? What's so funny?-- Dark glanced around frantically as if worried that the world would be thrown out of balance by Daisuke's laughing.
"Dark…that's not a dragon. That's a salamander." He laughed again, reaching out to pick up the offending creature.
--Good boy…-- Dark said, ignoring that last comment and watching the process attentively. --Now, drop that creature on the floor…yes that's right…now…DIE YOU STUPID THING!--
"DARK!" Daisuke winced from the loudness of Dark's voice, successfully dropping the salamander, yet nearly dropping the jar as well. "Do you want this jar to drop?"
--PUT THAT JAR DOWN AND JUST STEP ON THAT FREAKIN' BELLY DANCER THING!--
"Dark! It's a salamander, not a belly dancer!"
--DO I LOOK LIKE I GIVE A DAMN? JUST KILL THAT THING AND GIMME MY JAR!--
"…"
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The Next Day...after school, of course.
"Niwa-kun!" Daisuke turned and smiled at the person who was calling and waving to him.
"Honda-san, Yuki, Kyo, hi!" he called back, stopping to wait for them.
Tohru caught up eventually, Yuki and Kyo not far behind (funny how we always refer to Yuki before Kyo…do we like him better or what?).
"Niwa-kun, would you like to come over tomorrow? Momiji-kun is coming too, and you can meet more Sohma's tomorrow, and we'll love it if you would come too!" Tohru beamed welcomingly, waiting for Daisuke's answer.
(Strange, the way I put it, I make it seem like they live really far away, not just next door neighbours…)
"Uh…let's see…tomorrow…" Daisuke thought hard about what was going on tomorrow. Finally, it clicked.
Well, with the help of Dark, of course.
"Sorry Honda-san, but tomorrow my family are coming up from Azumano because tomorrow is my birthday." He told her, somewhat regretfully.
"Oh…" Tohru nodded her head slowly, and then seemed to really understand. "OH! That's ok, Niwa-kun! I mean, we understand perfectly fine if you want to spend time with your family, and we wouldn't want to intrude because I mean-" she babbled on and on, while Kyo slapped his forehead in the background and Yuki shook his head.
"--because I know that I would like to have some time with my family and- oh!" Tohru stopped suddenly, as if she had just thought of something. She turned to them all with a bright, cheery smile.
"Yuki-kun, Kyo-kun, is it ok if we go to Niwa-kun's house tomorrow? I would love to meet Niwa-kun's family, and we can call Momiji-kun too!" she beamed happily. "Of course, if that's alright with you Niwa-kun…" she looked to him worriedly, as if afraid that she would be punished for suggesting such an absurd thing.
Daisuke nodded to show that it was fine with him. "Sure, Honda-san. I'm sure okaa-san, otou-san, ji-chan and Towa-chan won't mind." He smiled, seeing as Tohru's face brightened.
"Thankyou Niwa-kun! I'll go tell Momiji-kun!" she waved, running off happily.
"…"
--…--
-Guess that's there's going to be a LOT happening tomorrow, right?-
--I'll say…--
---------------------------------
Later that night…
"Come on Dark! We've got to go steal that next item okaa-san wanted!" Daisuke yelled, apparently to himself. His face in the mirror was flushed and panicked from the thought of being late for the theft. It gradually faded out to be replaced by the image of an indifferent Thief.
"My, my Dai-chan. I've never seen you so enthusiastic about a theft, hmm?" he asked teasingly. Daisuke opened and closed his mouth, lost for words on how to answer this question.
"Hey, Dai-chan. Do you even know what we were supposed to steal?"
"No…okaa-san never said…"
"Exactly. Therefore we can't go." Dark flopped down on the astral couch inside Daisuke's head, examining the astral feathers that belonged to his precious astral jar.
"B-b-but, we're scheduled for it! And With probably took the notice along already!" Daisuke pointed somewhat accusingly at With, who was currently in the process of veging out on the couch and didn't look like he would be going anywhere anytime soon.
"No he didn't. We didn't even have a notice, and plus, he's in no condition to fly." Dark frowned as he held a feather up to his face. "Hmm…this one's missing some memories…" he muttered, waving a hand over it.
"Dark…don't you want to go out tonight? I mean, normally you can't wait to be in control." Daisuke was slightly suspicious of Dark's strange behaviour; wasn't he the one that had to persuade Dark to call it a night and come back home, while Dark would be constantly fighting to stay out?
Dark shrugged his shoulders. "Dunno. I have some business to attend to anyway." he traced the outline of one of his feathers as if remembering moments of time past.
Suddenly intrigued, Daisuke gave up and sat back down at the table; it wasn't like he looked forward to stealing items anyway.
"Soooo…Dark…" he began casually. "What do those feathers do again?"
Dark didn't seem to really notice his curiosity in his feathers, and replied absent-mindedly. "I already told you. They are capable of holding large amounts of powerful things, including events of my existence in different generations which, in case you haven't noticed, are pretty powerful in themselves." Dark paused to take a breath, and then continued.
"They also enable me to perform more powerful spells then normal feathers, because normal feathers would fade away from the amount of power. They can also do things like retrieve forgotten memories to special people, and that's only important forgotten memories, not just 'I can't remember where I left my keys!' type of thing.
"The most powerful spells can be performed with these, including Time."
Daisuke blinked. "Time?"
Dark nodded, his face serious. "Although they can't manipulate time that much, they are capable of bringing the user back to a particular time in the past that they remember clearly, or to the near future. However, there are many consequences and rules about using this type of magic, so it is not used so much. If these were to fall in to the wrong hands, then…" he trailed off, shaking his head.
"What could happen if those rules are broken?" Daisuke asked, although he didn't really want to know.
Dark closed his eyes, fiddling with one of his feathers. "It could result in…"
"What?"
"…death."
(A/N: Ok, now that was weird. My typing went out of control there, so I didn't even get my point across. I doubt that time travel stuff will have anything more to do with the story, unless…)
-------------------------
"Dai-chan! Honey, are you home?"
Daisuke peeked out at the door from his position in the living room. He smiled to himself and got up to get it.
"I'm coming, okaa-san!" He opened the door, smiling a greeting, when he was immediately smothered by a certain…over-excited mother.
"Dai-chan, honey, I'm so glad to see you're alright!" she squealed, hugging her son tightly.
"Okaa-san!" Daisuke struggled to take a deep breath of air, trying to not to be suffocated to death.
Finally, Emiko let go, seemingly oblivious to the fact that her son was taking in deep breaths of much need air.
Daisuke looked up and greeted the other members of his family.
"Otou-san, ji-chan, Towa-chan!" he smiled, watching as Towa inspected his home.
Towa turned back to him and smiled. "Happy birthday Daisuke-san!" she cheered, giving him a breath-taking hug. Literally.
"Thanks Towa-chan!" he smiled as he pulled away. The rest of his family wished him happy birthday as well, while Towa went to start preparing the birthday feast (they had brought the supplies, of course…)
"I can't believe it…" Emiko sniffed, wiping away a few tears from the corner of her eyes. "My little Dai-chan is already 17!" she cried, as if being 17 was a horrible crime or something. Daisuke could almost see her imagining him as a full grown man in a few years time. The very thought of it made him shudder.
"It's been 3 years, Daisuke." Daiki spoke up, regarding him thoughtfully. "Dark doesn't normally stay around as long though. Strange…"
--Hey! I have great respect for Daiki, but I can stay around for as long as I want!-- Dark insisted, pouting.
"I guess…" Daisuke rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, watching as his mother and Towa hurried around the house, a delicious feast somehow beginning to form itself in that short time.
Daiki went into the kitchen to stop the girls from being overexcited and overdoing it (as usual), leaving Daisuke and Kosuke in the hallway. Kosuke indicated for Daisuke to go help Daiki, who immediately obeyed. Kosuke looked around one more time, and was about to follow them when the door slid open a tiny gap.
"…" Kosuke slid the door open, looking out.
"Happy birthday Niwa-kun!" A cheering group (well, half cheering group describes it better) awaited him, those of which he assumed were the Sohma's, Daisuke's friend.
Tohru stopped mid-cheer as she noticed that the receiver of their cheers wasn't exactly the person who was meant to receive those cheers.
"Ano…is Niwa-kun in?" she asked, bowing politely.
Kosuke nodded, motioning for them to come in. "I am Kosuke Niwa, Daisuke's father." He said, introducing himself.
Tohru quickly bowed again, as if just remembering her manners. "My name is Tohru Honda! We came to wish Niwa-kun a happy birthday!" she smiled, indicating the rest of the group as 'we'.
Kosuke nodded again, looking over the group. He quietly noted that they all had rather strange hair and eye colours, not that he himself could really talk…but then again, he had thought that same family members tended to have the same eye colour, at the very least.
Once everyone was inside the house, Daisuke gave the formal introductions. "This is my okaa-san, my otou-san, my ji-chan and our…housekeeper, Towa-chan." He said, although he had wondered if housekeeper really was the right word for Towa…
Tohru bowed politely once again. "My name is Tohru Honda, and I'm very pleased to meet you all!"
She introduced Yuki, Kyo, Shigure and Momiji and the other 'new' Sohma's there (Haru didn't come…). "…and this is Hiro-san and Kisa-san!" she finished, indicating the two people who were standing slightly to the side.
"Very nice to meet you all!" piped up Emiko. "My name is Emiko Niwa! And my husband, Kosuke Niwa, and my otou-san, Daiki Niwa! And like Dai-chan said, Toto-chan is our housekeeper!" She beamed, and couldn't resist herself from hugging Kisa, who was peering out at her shyly.
"You are such a cute little girl!" she cried out. She pulled away and regarded Kisa at arm's length. "I bet that you have a wonderful little voice!"
Kisa blushed, and guessed that Emiko wanted to hear her talk. "T-thankyou…"
It seemed to satisfy Emiko, as she restrained herself from hugging Kisa yet again, instead going to continue with the cooking along with Towa.
"Ano, okaa-san…you better not open the oven yet…" Daisuke whispered, pointing towards the said object. Emiko blinked, confused.
"Why not, Dai-chan?"
"Because your…things from yesterday haven't deactivated yet. I woke up this morning in the bathtub because of what you did to my bedroom!" he whispered furiously, remembering all too clearly his morning.
She smiled, waving a finger in the air. "Don't worry Dai-chan! I know exactly what to do!"
She grabbed the fire extinguisher and stalked over to the oven. Confidently, she adjusted the extinguisher so that she could use it straight away, and opened the oven door. At once, a bursting of flame leapt out and she sprayed away at it cheerfully, as if she was watering the garden. A few tongues got away onto the bench but she simply used a cloth and smothered it out.
Smiling, Emiko turned to Daisuke. "Anything else, Dai-chan?"
"Uh…no." he mumbled, his face red.
"Then its all set!" she cheered, Towa joining in. "Toto-chan, let's get the birthday cake ingredients!"
Towa nodded enthusiastically, faking a small salute. "Yes ma'am!"
'They're very…hypo, aren't they?'
"Oh, and Dai-chan? Can you come out for a sec?" Emiko called from outside. Puzzled, Daisuke got up and followed her.
Once they were alone outside, Emiko put away the cheerful demeanour and grew serious.
"Dai-chan, I know you and Dark were supposed to go thieving last night but you didn't, because you didn't know what to steal, right?"
Daisuke nodded and she continued.
"So we have prepared these notices for all the artefacts you need to steal!" she smiled, as if proud of herself, and handed them to him. Daisuke took them and riffled through them, noting some of the names and committing them to memory.
"And we're also not too sure, but we heard that Hiwatari might be there on some of the thefts too. I think he may be keeping an eye out for notices here, so be careful, ok?"
"Ok okaa-san."
Emiko smiled, the cheerful mode turned back on. "Ok, now you go back inside, while Toto-chan and I get the feast ready!" she winked, ushering him back inside.
--------------
A delicious lunch by Emiko and Towa later…
Emiko, Kosuke and Daiki were talking to Shigure about books and whatnot, while Towa and Tohru cleaned up the last remnants of the delicious cake and food while chatting animatedly about their similar roles in the household. Momiji was wondering around the house, dragging a very, VERY angry Kyo along. Everyone else was seated in the living room, though not saying very much. Cue, awkward silence.
Finally, Daisuke broke the thick silence and spoke up, albeit rather shakily. "T-thank you all for coming. And it's very nice to meet you two, Kisa-san and Hiro-san." He smiled in a friendly way.
With (who had recovered from his state of stuffed-to-the-fullest-ness) sat perched upon his shoulder, 'kyuu'-ing happily. He hopped off his shoulder and bounded to the small girl who he remembered as 'the one who he had seen on that dark night of his master's first theft' girl.
Kisa smiled, picking up the furry creature. "Look Hiro-chan. It's Mr. Bunny again!" she cuddled him in his lap. Daisuke smiled at this, not noticing Hiro's deep scowl.
"His name is With. His favourite food is strawberries." He didn't know why but he always seemed to tell people about With's favourite foods. Perhaps he was doing it on the behalf of the bunny. Maybe With, upon his arrival in the Niwa family had placed a spell on the family's blood so that every single one of them would tell others about his favourite food upon his introduction. Maybe With was really a magical demon in disguise, and was slowly sucking the world of its gradually reducing supplies of strawberries…
Daisuke blinked; now that was weird. Why would he think that With would, or could, do that? If With had the ability to cast spells so that people would do his bidding, the spell would probably make people feed him strawberries all day long, or make him king of the strawberries, or decree that strawberries be the only food allowed to be produced in the world, and even then only he would have the privilege of eating them.
--…you are strange.--
He could do nothing but agree on this occasion.
(A/N: Whoops got sidetracked there…)
"Daisuke-san!" Towa called, popping her head around the door. "Can you come out for a moment? I need some help here…"
Daisuke obliged, excusing himself from the group to help Towa find the answer to the problem she had obviously come across.
Tohru, having finished what tasks she had set for herself, and evidently finding no more that Towa would allow her to do, joined the group, managing to convince a hyperactive bunny (the cake had too much sugar) to join them as well, which meant dragging along a very, very, very, VERY enraged Kyo.
"STOP DRAGGING ME YOU STUPID BUNNY!" he yelled, trying once again to drag himself out of the grip of the (still) hypo boy. "CAN'T YOU DRAG THAT DAMN RAT INSTEAD!"
Momiji smiled and promptly let go, causing Kyo to crash into the wall from the sudden movement.
"There you go Kyo-kun! All you had to do was ask!" he beamed, pulling out a lollipop and sucking it.
"WHY YOU LITTLE-!" Kyo sat up angrily, shaking a fist at Momiji. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?"
Momiji blinked innocently a couple of times, still sucking the lollipop (can't you just imagine how cute?). "But Kyo-kun…you asked me to let go."
"DAMNIT! I DIDN'T MEAN LIKE THAT! WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO GET SOME COMMON SENSE YOU DAMN RABBIT?"
Apparently, this little conversation was rather disturbing to some other…guests as Hiro spoke up before Momiji replied.
"You know, stupid cat. There are some other people here who would rather not be listening to your loud voice and want to be able to have some quiet. Not that I'll really expect you to understand, with a brain like yours." He scoffed in that calm, annoyingly knowing , smug, rude, insulting, offensive to the other person and 'I'm-always-right-so-that-makes-you-wrong-and-you-can't-tell-me-any-better' way (don't get me wrong, I like him, but sometimes…).
"And as for you, bunny boy, can't you see that I don't want to see you hyperactive? I'd much rather have a quiet afternoon."
"Um…" Daisuke walked back in, looking from side to side while scratching his head. "Am I interrupting something?"
Kyo snorted but did not say anything. Daisuke looked confused as he sat back down.
Instantly, Hiro turned on him.
"You could be a little more considerate as the host and not try to pry into other people's conversations. We have every right to stay silent about what we said when you weren't here, so you shouldn't go around trying to look into what everyone else is doing." He scowled, being as disagreeable as ever.
Daisuke's face went red at this, and he instantly stuttered and stumbled to clear his name. "I-I-I-I wasn't meaning to p-pry on anything. I was just asking if I was uh, interrupting anything…" he trailed off, embarrassed under the boy's hard glare. What was it about this boy that made him so unnerved?
"And that cake. Next time, don't put so much sugar in it. Just because some of us are young, doesn't mean that we all like to eat sugar. You could give us holes in our teeth, and then who would be blamed? You're just being stereotypical and inconsiderate, thinking that all kids love sugar. And look what it did to bunny boy!" he jerked his head at the obviously on sugar high boy, who was beaming happily.
"Can't you just shut up for one moment?" glared Kyo from his position against the wall. Hiro turned his eyes to the older boy, smirking slightly.
"You can't tell me to shut up, stupid cat. You're the one that's yelling and making such a racket in here. Don't you know that you're supposed to be leaving an example to the younger kids, and right now you're corrupting all of us here with your foul language?" He said in that calm, annoyingly knowing…(must I go on?)…way, raising an eyebrow.
"Why you little…" Kyo growled, stepping forward angrily, when Tohru broke in.
"Please don't fight you two. Kyo-kun, Hiro-san, please?" she begged, looking from the two of them pleadingly. An eyebrow twitched on Kyo's forehead, but nevertheless, he sat down.
"Stupid cat, no wonder you are such a sissy now." Hiro snorted, flicking his head. "You and the stupid bunny and everyone else are all softies because of her."
"Hiro-chan…" Kisa touched the other boy's hand softly, brown eyes asking him to stop. "Please don't be mean to nee-chan."
He softened at her touch, yet he couldn't resist a last smirk before turning his attention elsewhere.
"Ano…can I ask one thing?" Daisuke spoke up. It had been tugging at the edges of his mind for a bit, but now it was going into overdrive. "Why do you always seem to call each other by animal names?"
Now, if Daisuke had been watching properly, or if he had been properly prepared to anticipate what the reaction to his question would be, he would have noticed that just about everybody in the room had tensed, giving them a slightly…frozen look.
"Um, well, you see…" Yuki started, for once lost for words. "We, uh…"
"Don't pry into other people's business." Hiro cut in sharply, actually sounding genuinely annoyed and frustrated. "What did I just tell you about that? And you just continue to attempt to meddle with our family matters?"
"Just asking…" Daisuke mumbled, feeling sure that there was something going on here.
"Well next time watch what you ask."
"Uh, yes…"
Kyo glared at the younger boy but said nothing. Hiro ignored him, instead finding yet another thing to complain about.
"Ugh, I can still taste all that horrible sugar in my mouth." Hiro glared, making a disgusting face. Unfortunately for him, Emiko was just around the corner to hear that…
"So you don't like so much sugar?" she inquired curiously, like a cat seeing a ball of wool for the first time.
Hiro scowled. He didn't really like this lady (no real reason why). "No, didn't you hear what I just said lady? Or are you so deaf that you can't hear what's going on around you?"
Daisuke held his breath, knowing just how, err, extreme Emiko could be at times. And for a minute it seemed like he was right, as Emiko had an expression on that could either be a deep in thought expression, or a frown. He was guessing it was the latter, although he hoped otherwise. He almost pitied Hiro.
And then, Emiko's face softened into a huge, happy smile, much like that of when Daisuke successfully clears his training course without dying or being near dying.
"You are so cute!" she practically squealed, grabbing him into a bone-crushing hug. Little did she know that the other family was also expecting it to be a secret-revealing hug.
Hiro braced himself for the transformation that never game, face twisting into a scowl that showed itself clearly.
"Let go of me!" he shouted, muffled. Strange, normally by now the poof of smoke would have already arrived…
"Oh no oh no oh no oh no…" Tohru half covered her face with her hands in anticipation of what was to come. Everyone else was wide eyed, images of yet more innocent people's memories to be erased (innocent. HA).
Emiko finally obliged and let go of the poor boy, although she was still beaming happily. "You are so adorable!" she squealed again, although Hiro was quickly moving away to avoid another hug. His eyes were wide open in surprise and shock, and he was looking at his hands as if expecting them to transform into sheep feet any moment now.
Emiko happily left the room, as if proud of herself for successfully hugging yet another person in one day. She left a room of wide eyed people, contrary to one very confused boy.
"B-but…she hugged Kisa earlier…" Momiji whispered, forgetting for a minute that he was supposed to be hypo.
Daisuke gave them all confused glances, wondering why they were so surprised. After all, his okaa-san had only just hugged Hiro.
--There's something going on here…--
Daisuke nodded his head in agreement. -Yeah. What could it be?-
Dark shook his head to say 'I don't know', although he looked pretty curious himself. --Strange vibes, remember? Strange vibes.--
-I get the point Dark…- Daisuke sweatdropped, before quickly returning serious. -Should we ask?-
Dark thought for a minute, before shaking his head again. --Nah. One, because that Hiro kid will just have a go at you again.--
-And two?-
--Two, it's more fun when you find it out yourself.-- Dark grinned slyly, and Daisuke could already picture Dark sneaking up to the Sohma's.
-Well, whatever it is, Honda-san seems to know about it too.-
--Yeah…--
":humming:…di da di da…" sang Emiko cheerfully, going to rejoin the conversation with Shigure. She beamed happily, as if she had just succeeded in achieving a life time goal.
"Your little cousin is so adorable!"
Shigure laughed. "Heheheh, which cousin are you talking about? I got so many little cousins, I lose count some time!"
"Hiro-chan! He's so cute, even though he does have a fast tongue, but that makes him even cuter! I couldn't resist hugging him!" her beam grew wider (or brighter, however you interpret it) and she walked off again, humming still.
"Wait…a minute…" Shigure said quietly, mainly to himself. "She hugged Hiro-kun? B-but…she hugged Kisa-chan earlier…" he quickly hurried to the living room, expecting the worst.
Strangely enough, everything still looked normal. Well, normal if you counted a group of shocked, and evidently surprised people and one puzzled boy.
"W-w-what happened?" Shigure asked, looking around almost wildly for a little woolly sheep. But all he saw was Hiro looking big and wool-less.
"Um…" Daisuke looked from side to side nervously, thinking that this might be one of those 'family moments' Hiro was talking about. "Please excuse me." He bowed and quietly left the room, although he remained near enough to the door to listen.
-I feel like that I'm doing something wrong…-
--Hey, it's perfectly legal. They're keeping something and it's our every right to find out.--
-Are you sure?-
--…yes…--
-…-
He quickly jumped away as Shigure slid the door open and looked around to see if anyone was still there. He hid behind a tall vase, struggling to keep his breath quiet. He didn't quite know why he was hiding from Shigure. Instinct probably.
Shigure looked around suspiciously one more time, but eventually withdrew back into the room. The door slid closed, but he remained standing behind it to see if he could detect any kind of sound or movement from outside.
Nothing. Well, nothing that he could hear. He didn't exactly know it but he was listening for the Tamer of a professional (if not slightly old…) Phantom Thief of many centuries.
"Ok, no one there." Shigure quietly whispered, sitting down. He looked around inquisitively, his expression asking its own question.
"Well…" Tohru started nervously. "Um…Emiko-san hugged Hiro-san just before, but nothing happened. But she hugged Kisa-san earlier too. So how-?"
"Do you think she's like us too?" Momiji asked, brown eyes wide with curiosity. "Maybe that's why!" one would think that he was almost excited at this new prospect.
"I don't think so. It is unlikely to expect there be another family like us too." Yuki said thoughtfully.
Shigure chuckled dryly at the thought of the Niwa's being cursed like them. "Their attitude is very different from ours too, don't you think?"
"Don't joke. It's not funny." Yuki said quietly. "Are you going to tell Akito?"
"Do you want me to?" Shigure asked jokingly. "Or should I just pretend nothing happened until we figure it out?"
"…and that, of course, is a rhetorical question." Shigure answered his own question, waving a finger in the air. "Of course everyone wants option on-err I mean, option 2…heheheh…" he snuck off for the time being, not wanting to be decked on the head by certain grumpy boys.
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The door slid open, and a chuckling Shigure came out, hiding his confusion and own unsure thoughts about the whole situation.
He paused in the middle of closing the door behind him; for a second there, he thought he saw a flash of colour.
Shigure looked around him; no-one that he could see. Now, to decide if he wanted to check behind that tall pot plant standing there oh so innocently…
-
Daisuke held his breath as footsteps came his way. Normally, he wouldn't hide from someone like that, but with the current, confusing situation, he decided it was better that he wasn't found eavesdropping. It seemed that the Sohma's seemed pretty defensive about things like that.
An idea struck him as Shigure prepared to look behind the vase.
Maybe…
-
"Anybody there?" Shigure peeked over expecting to find someone crouched behind it. He blinked a couple of times; empty?
"Eh…?"
Unbeknownst to the puzzled author, Daisuke slid out and quietly crept over to another room as quickly as he could. He held his breath completely until he sidled into the room, before letting it out as a sigh.
-What is going on here?-
--Yeah, what were they going on about before?--
-I dunno.-
--Well.-- Dark faked a loud yawn, stretching his arms above his head. --You can dwell on that for as long as you want, but I've got better stuff to do. Later.-- and with that he, as was becoming usual of late, blinked off without a word.
Daisuke shook his head, but decided not to think about the topic too much for the moment. Maybe he'd go over it with his family later…maybe…
Quietly listening to Daisuke's thoughts in the shadowy corners of his mind, Dark frowned. There was something about the Sohma's that he couldn't quite place his finger on. Something…
--Hmm…-- he cocked his head in thought, a strange expression creeping onto his face. --I wonder…--
'After all this time, could things still not have changed?'
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Ok, that was a weird way to end it…:stretches: ah, that took a loooooooooooooooong time! Sorry for the wait, I had a few, err, unpleasant visits from writer's block while writing this, and I've got a lot on my mind…such as homework…and many other stressful stuffs. Oh, and I've been neglecting my other stories so much. . Sorry if it was a bad chapter, but don't blame it on me:points at writer's block: XD
Please R&R!
Oh, and who thinks I'm dragging my chapters out too much? E.g. one chapter has too many events crammed in at once .