Foosha: Hooray! Early update! I'm going to visit Vash this weekend so I figured I'd get this done now. :D The next one won't be done until, not this Sunday, but the following one. Hopefully. I have a paper to write. :/ Anehways I was way motivated to write this chapter because of how awesome all you guys are for reading this! I really appreciate those who alerted the story and of course to my faithful reviewers of awesomeness; Chillybean, riptocs, Yuti-Chan, DeeaE and anyone else who would have otherwise reviewed had this been a regularly scheduled update! I love all of you out there 8D
Nicky: This chapter is exciting.
Vash: Almost too much. Foosha doesn't own Francesca. She owns herself. Foosha also doesn't own Naruto, Chowder, or any other references she forgot to have me mention.
Nicky: Like that SpongeBob one!
Vash: Right. Like that one.
The next morning I woke up with a start. My eyes wildly searched the room, and then I remembered where I was.
"Wow. One second I'm on the back of a killer whale in the Arctic Ocean, and the next I'm in bed. Why are my dreams so weird?"
"Because you're weird." Confused, I peeked over the side of my bed, hair flopping lazily on either side of my face, to see Cal lying awkwardly on the ground in a mass of blankets. Thanks to their stealthy ninjaness, they succeeded in bringing back several more comfortable bedding materials and towels for bathroom use, which we did get figured out. Six of us would use it at night and the other six use it in the morning. I'm more of a night person myself. Back to my confusion.
"Oh… I forgot some of you slept in here last night. How long have ya been awake?" He shrugged a bit, sitting up to a more comfortable position.
"Too long, I'm starving. Where's the raw meat?" I scowled at his remark and stood up next to my bed, careful to avoid the sleeping Foofy on the floor beside my feet.
"You could say please you know. Besides, you're a big boy. Go get it yourself," I retorted, making my bed so it would once again be organized, stuffed animals and all. I don't wanna baby these guys too much. Otherwise we'll end up being their maids. And that's not gonna happen. During my pondering, he stood up in his spot, stepping on his messed blankets while watching me finish arranging my pillows. A devilish smirk made its way onto his face.
"I remember hearing something about your organizational issues in your journal. What would happen if I moved one of these like this?" He grabbed my newly stitched T-rex, (whom I still have to thank Prolay for), and moved it forward in such a way, that it wasn't properly aligned with anything else on my bed, making it stand out obnoxiously. Frowning, I pushed the creature back in its rightful spot, before Cal moved it again, but instead of moving it forward, he turned it slightly askew. My eye twitched.
"Are you serious right now, Cal? You're going to try this with me? I'll kick you in the shin, I swear I will. Both of them for that matter since there are two of you! Twice the shin kicking!" He raised an eyebrow and then was overcome with a devious expression and a hungry smirk.
"If you don't get me food I'll just have to settle for you. Sorry but I'm hungry." My eyes widened.
"Are you a cannibal? Like for reals?" He nodded and that's all the confirmation I needed before I scampered out of the room. I wonder if he made me get him food because he's afraid of the wrath of early morning Vash… but he probably doesn't know about that… so he's probably just lazy. Buuuuut… I don't wanna be eaten so I guess I'll get it. If I do die though, from him or Vash, I hope someone will bury my stuffed animals with me, at least!
I carefully pushed open the door to the living room to see it was still dark. Glancing at the clock on the wall I noted it was only eight in the morning. Why the heck am I up this early? I tip-toed past Marshmallow and Izaya to get to where I could pass by the fold-out bed, when I noticed that, once again, Vash was on the floor. Oooh… this will be fun. Sidling around the couch, I made it to the kitchen and opened the fridge to retrieve the beef shank. My mouth watered a little. Thank goodness he steals this stuff… I could never afford it. Doesn't mean I don't want it though… I closed the refrigerator door and had to hold in a yelp of surprise when I saw Spirit standing there, in all his pajama-y glory. Aww… he's really cute with bed head. Wait never mind. I think his hair is always like that. Isn't it?
"What are you doing up so early?" I blinked at him and casually waved the giant cow thigh.
"Cal is hungry and he's threatening to eat me so I had to get food," I whispered back. Just realizing how cold the tile was I started hopping back and forth on the balls of my feet. "Now I gotta get back before he ruins anything else and my feet are cold. Why are you up anyway?" He gave me that look of his that said "pfft like you would understand". Urgh… must not judge quickly. Stupid arrogance!
"I'm a puppet, like I said before. I don't sleep. I have no need for human functions. They only get in the way." I cocked an eyebrow in disbelief.
"You mean that? Your life must be incredibly boring then. All you do is fight and do puppet-y stuff? What kind of a life is that?" Sighing, I stopped my little cold dance and gave him an apologetic smile and scratched the back of my head with my free hand. "Er… sorry. It just seems… suckish, ya know? I mean, there's so much out there, why would you just dedicate your life to something as pointless as fighting? Anyways, I gotta get back. So… continue doing whatever you were doing… I guess." I gave a small wave and practically ran back into the room, closing the door softly behind me. "Awkward… stupid Nicky disease! Saying inappropriate things like that! Sheesh."
"Get me the food?" My heart leapt in surprise and I spun around to be met with Cal. Before I could react to his sudden appearance, he grabbed the meat from my hand and started chewing on it. I cringed in disgust.
"What are you, some sort of carnivorous alien plant creature?" He ignored my question and continued eating. A muffled crash erupted from the living room followed by an angry yell.
"TOBI! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN MY BED?"
"And so it begins…"
After an awkward breakfast and beating up of Tobi…
I sat down on the left side of Izaya and laid my head against the armrest. Sleepy sleepy sleepy… But just before I could be whisked away into the land of dreams, Vash jabbed my forehead.
"Owie… whyyyyy?" I whined. I wasn't really a morning person either, though instead of resorting to violence, I just complained a lot. Ah the flaws of my personality. Too bad I'm too tired to care! Bahahaha…
"We need to get this figured out. I have to leave for work now and you still have a few minutes. But what are they going to do when we're both gone? We don't get back 'til around seven," she explained sternly. When I didn't comment, she looked over to Pein and continued, "Stay the hell inside this house until we get back, understood?" The last part sounded like she was mocking him so I giggled lightly, though it stopped when my eyelids started to droop. Grr too tired to function. I lazily waved her away with my arm.
"Fine fine. I'll make sure they stay so… go to work already lady. You'll be late ya know!" She rolled her eyes at me and said a reluctant "goodbye" before leaving. "So… whaddya guys wanna do?" My eyes lazily swept the room to see some of the members now dressed, just standing around boredly. Izaya tapped my shoulder, his red eyes meeting mine when I turned. Forgot to ask him about that. They're pretty.
"Hn… can I see that book?" I looked at him blankly until the wires connected in my brain, reminding me of the book I told them about yesterday. My eyes lit up slightly.
"Oh… yeah! I remember that. Uh… 'kay. Let me make myself stand up first," I mumbled, pushing myself off the couch and into a heap on the floor. Wow. I'm more tired than I thought. There was a tug on the back of my pajama shirt and I was soon up and on my feet. "Thanks… someone." With one object in mind, I stumbled forward and grabbed onto the wall for support when I got to the bookcase. Scanning the books, I found the appropriate one; "A Short History of Nearly Everything". How lucky of me to have this book. Hopefully they understand it. I snatched it up and brought it to Izaya, placing it in his extended palms. "Here ya go Izzy. Now you guys don't get into trouble while I get ready for work. Just watch TV or somethin'. Just don't let it be a dinosaur thing. I don't want Tobi reenacting it like last night." It was cute to a point, until he started destroying our dishware.
I counted to make sure everyone was in the living room. I didn't want a repeat of destroyed stuffed animals either. Speaking of that… "Hey Prolay!" He looked up to me from the random newspaper he was looking at. Where'd he get that? "Thanks for fixing my stuffed animals back together. I owe ya." Without a word, he nodded to me and went back to reading. Well I did say thank-you. Now it's showa' time!
Criminal POV
"Those girls didn't keep their word about looking for the portal. They knew they would have to work today. Therefore we are going to look for it ourselves once she leaves. And I still don't trust them enough to not look up more information about us while they're out," Pein mused aloud while he paced back and forth. The rest of the members listened quietly. He stopped and glanced at the group. "Itachi, Kisame and… Tobi. I want you to follow the blonde one to work. Deidara, Sasori and Zetsu, you find the small one. We have her location in that journal, so find it quickly and make sure they don't break their other promise. The rest of you stay here with me and look for that damn portal."
The others nodded before resuming their activities of lazing around. Before long, Nicky exited the bathroom in a completely different wardrobe. She wore a short sleeved white collared shirt (sleeves folded neatly), underneath a red sweater vest, finished with a knee length black skirt, white stockings and red flats. Tobi went bounding up to her, inspecting her closely.
"Tobi thinks Nicky-chan looks cute! Is Nicky-chan wearing make-up too?" Nicky's eyebrow twitched forming an annoyed expression, something unusual for being around Tobi surprisingly, and pushed past him to grab her bag.
"So I don't look cute regularly, hm?" Tobi and a few others froze, picking up on the agitated vibe emitting from her body, and scooting away. She abruptly turned around, slinging her bag onto her shoulder, a light blush on her cheeks, though mostly unnoticed with the large frown on her face.
"You're not ugly, un. You're just plain looking, yeah," Deidara added nonchalantly, from his spot sitting on the couch, legs crossed. Nicky muttered something under her breathe before leaving, slamming the door shut behind her.
"Tobi thinks Deidara-sempai said something mean to the girly. Tobi wonders what Vash will do…," Tobi sing-songed as he danced around the room. The accused sat up instantly, slamming his fists onto the couch cushions.
"I just told her the truth, hm! Nothing wrong with that, yeah."
"You're all dismissed. Make sure you are not seen and report back before they return. Now go," Pein ordered sharply, waving his arm in a sweeping motion. Instantly, the six followers left in a cloud of smoke, while the remaining began looking for the portal. "Look behind, underneath, and between anything that looks suspicious. Konan and I will look outside. You two make sure not to leave evidence of tampering." Kakuzu nodded as Konan and Pein disappeared.
"Fuck let's find this shitty fucking portal already. I need to make fucking sacrifices," Hidan growled crossly, roughly moving the large couch away from its spot in one swift motion. His partner was in a similar mood while he looked around the bookcase and computer area.
"I'm missing so many bounties… and there's no use for the money here. We have to find it."
With Nicky's Stalkers
Once outside, the trio swiftly moved past the neighboring houses towards the direction they watched Nicky's car drive away in, careful to stay in the shadows. Even though they were in regular clothes, it would still be quite suspicious to see normal people moving at such a quick speed, especially when one of which refuses to remove his mask and the other has blue skin.
"Are you sure you shouldn't take off your mask? When we stop people will start wondering," Kisame suggested while they stayed behind some trees near a stoplight. Tobi shook his head fiercely.
"No! Tobi likes his mask! And you have blue skin!" Kisame just shrugged him off and continued to wait. Itachi remained quiet, as usual, until the light turned green, and they once again took off. Though unbeknownst to them, a little someone was, slowly but surely, tagging along behind them.
"I'm not afraid of you anymore… so what are you up to?"
Nicky's POV
Ah work. Something I never wanted to do, but something that has to be done so I can have food and nice smelling soaps. Time to get busy. I hope they don't mess up the house too bad… After clocking in, and saying "hello" to a few of my coworkers, I grabbed the stack of books that needed to be shelved and went to work. Working at a bookstore wasn't so bad compared to other jobs and was relatively easy. I haven't read as many books as most have here, but I'm very good at being organized and keeping things looking presentable. And that's all I have to do really, that or help customers find books since I know where they all are. A simple job, just tedious, and being lazy doesn't help much either.
"The best time to wear a striped sweaterrrr is all the tiiiiiiime, one with a collar, turtleneck! That's the kiiiiiiind! 'Cause when you're weariiiing that one special sweaterrrrr…." I sung to myself a song from SpongeBob while I sat on the floor, filing the books back in order. I wish I was playing Animal Crossing right now. I've neglected it since the kitties turned into badies and I bet I have a ton of weeds! Ughh... I hate the weeds! And I missed the fishing tourney! Grrr…. Trouble-making evil villain babies. I hate them all. "They better not break anything of mine… or I'll be making their dinner. Hehehe…"
Meanwhile…
"Well… now what? We can't keep standing here, people are staring," Kisame mumbled to the other two while he watched the onlookers gaze at them in awe.
"Hn… let's go. Hide yourselves," Itachi muttered and took off to the bookstore's café, calmly sitting at a table with a newspaper hiding his face. And just like that he appeared normal. Kisame looked around for a hiding spot that would work for his height when he spotted Nicky.
"Hey there she is. We should get closer, but make sure to stay…" he looked around to realize he was talking to himself. "Shit! Where did he go?"
Back at Itachi's table, the dark haired male watched as Tobi snuck away to a farther part in the store. Kisame just noticing he was alone discretely left to look for the childish member. Itachi inwardly sighed.
"I finally found you. You guys run too fast." Confused, he moved his newspaper from his face to see an exhausted looking Rin, her hands on her knees and her breaths coming out in short gasps, pigtails swinging limply. "I'm lucky my parents told me where Nicky worked, otherwise I never would have found you."
Itachi raised an eyebrow in question when he realized that's who he'd heard following them earlier, which is how she knew they were following Nicky to work. In the ninja world, he might have been more concerned if someone was following them, but here there was no need. They were already far stronger than any "normal" human being here.
"I've decided even though you're a bad guy, you're still my Izaya, so from now on I'm not leaving your side." And to prove her point she sat directly on the floor, legs and arms crossed in determination. "I'm gonna make you a good guy, so I'll watch and make sure you don't do anything bad. Okay?"She looked to him for confirmation, but he remained neutral, so she continued. "Now why are you stalking Nicky?"
"Orders…" She stood up and placed her hands on her small hips.
"Well I order you not to. That's creepy and weird! You don't want to be a pedophile do you?" Itachi watched her, wondering why such a young girl even understood such words, but then again it made sense because she was an only child and was only ever around adults.
"…she's twenty." Rin stared in surprise.
"Really? Mom said she was fifteen..."
"WAHHH TOBI IS A GOOD BOYYYYY!" Immediately Itachi stood up and looked to Rin.
"Come on…" The small girl followed behind him wordlessly as they made their way through the maze of books.
Nicky's POV (somewhat earlier)
So one minute I'm re-alphabetizing the children's section, and the next I hear someone giggling loudly behind a smaller shelf. Thinking it was a child playing hide-and-seek, I decided to be mean and expose him to whoever the seeker was. I quietly tiptoed over to the shelf, and just when I was about to peek over, two heads popped out, neither of which belonged to a child. I blinked once, and just gazed stupidly. Wha…? Fishy chuckled nervously, getting to his feet with Tobi by his side giggling like a crazy person. And I thought I had inappropriate laughter… I turned to the saner of the two, trying to glare, but only felt my expression become more incredulous.
"What are you guys doing out in public?" I hissed, suddenly recognizing the situation we were in. A tall blue, shark-looking man and a guy in a mask and my Chowder shirt. "Wait, why are you in my shirt?" Tobi just laughed some more, before skipping away to look at children's books. Fishy sighed a put a hand to his forehead.
"We were supposed to spy on you and make sure you didn't look up any information on us. And Leader is mad that you guys didn't look for the portal so… expect to be scolded." I slumped over and puffed out my cheeks. Great just great. Good job memory! Letting me forget something that important. Maybe next time you'll remember these things!
"Excuse me, miss?" I heard someone call from behind the bookcase to my right. Not thinking, I shoved Fishy back behind his small hiding spot and turned to face the customer, with a strained smile on my face.
"Oh yes? How can I help you?" The older man nodded to her and held out a piece of paper with some writing scrawled on it.
"Can you help me find this book? My daughter has wanted it for a while and it's her birthday tomorrow." I took the list from his hands and read it. Twilight? Really? Still?
"All right sir, let me just look it up on one of our computers and see if we have any copies. One moment please." I walked over to one of the computers behind the children's section counter and looked up Twilight to see that we had just sold out and were due for a shipment next week. "Okay looks like we just sold out, but we should get another shipment next week sometime if that's okay."
"But I need it for tomorrow! It's her birthday!"
"Yes, I know I'm sorry but, I could check another store for you if-"
"No! I'm here and I want to be treated like a customer! I need this book right now! Have someone send it from another store and I'll wait."
"Well… that's not how it works exactly. I can get a manager to talk to you if you'd like."
"Oh yes that's exactly what I need! So I can complain about the incompetence of his workers! Get me a manager now!"
Before I could break down in front of the whole store, I watched the manager walk up to us. He looked to the angry parent and then to me.
"Is there something wrong here, sir?"
"Yes there is! Your employee says that this book won't be in until next week but I need it by tomorrow!"
"I'll see what I can do." The manager walked over to the same computer I had been using and looked up some information. Ugh I hate unreasonable people. And I hate how the managers just deal with them! They need to tell them off! Hey wait… is that…?
"WAHHH TOBI IS A GOOD BOYYYYY!" And there in front of me was Tobi, being carried by a random security guard. I think that guy is from the store next door… He had Tobi by the collar of my shirt, stretching out the fabric. Nooo I love that shirt!
"I found this suspicious looking guy trying to hide some books under his shirt. Thought I should let you know," the security man said gruffly, dropping Tobi onto his backside. Stupid Tobi! Now you'll get in trouble! My manager glared at him.
"I'm going to have to ask you to leave sir. I'll let you off this time so leave now or you'll face more serious charges. And take off that mask so we can see your face." Think think Nicky! Use your word vomit to your advantage! It's not lying, just telling a story about someone else that's unrelated! I sauntered over to stand in front of Tobi and looked at the manager, trying not to look guilty.
"Excuse me sir, but he's actually mentally handicapped. He still thinks he's five. He's my neighbor's cousin's half-uncle and I guess he got out. Would it be okay if I took him home? My neighbor's never answer their phone." As I explained, I helped Tobi up to his feet. The manager looked in deep thought for a moment, before nodding.
"Please take care of that, I'll help this gentleman here find his book." I nodded a thank-you to him and skittered away with Tobi in tow. On my way to the door I saw Fishy looking through some magazines so I grabbed the sleeve of his shirt and dragged them both outside and around the corner of the building so we were alone. Then I exploded.
"What were you guys thinking! Going into public! What a stupid idea! Are we missing anyone else?" There was a cough behind me and I turned around to see Izaya with… "Rin? What are you doing here?" She latched onto Izaya's sleeve, still looking at me.
"I'm helping him become good."
"Okayy… well let's get you guys home. I've had enough excitement for the day. At least you got me out of work." I stalked off to my car with the rest of the group following close behind. And I can pull my weeds now…
More Meanwhile…
"Are you sure we're going to right way, yeah? It's so dark underground, hm."
"Of course I'm sure, even though there's no chakra to sense, I can at least tell simple directions."
"This is taking too long…"
The trio stopped arguing for a moment when they finally emerged from the ground, after quite a bit of difficulty, into a brightly lit room with tiled walls and floors, and a large amount of sinks and stalls. Deidara was the first to speak.
"Where the hell are we, un?"
"You're in the girl's bathroom you idiots! What the hell are you doing here?"
The three turned their heads to see a fuming Vash standing near the entrance. Zetsu turned to the group.
"See, I told you I knew where we were going. Damn idiots for doubting me."
"You're all stupid! Get out of here now! I don't care why you're here right now. All I want is you to go home before someone sees you!"
"No. We were ordered to stay and make sure you don't look up additional information on us," Sasori added firmly. Vash was about to retort when the bathroom door swung open, revealing a young girl with long, curly deep brown hair and glasses. She looked up from the floor to Vash and then to the men. Her face turned deep red. She aimed her brown eyes to Vash, avoiding looking at the guys, and played with the hem of her purple scrubs.
"Um… why are there guys in the bathroom, Vash?" Vash was frozen, but she eventually found her voice.
"Well… it's an interesting story…" There was a weight on Vash's left shoulder and she tilted her head to see Deidara's hand on her.
"Sorry, but we have to get going. Vash has an important appointment to get to." Vash shrugged off his hand and opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by a squeal. Confused, she glanced at the girl, whose name she forgot, to see her swooning over Deidara.
"Oh wow! Aren't you cute! I'm Francesca, what's your name?" Deidara was taken aback and didn't know what to say while Vash just stood confused to why any girl would like a guy who looks more like a lady. At this time Zetsu decided to push his way through the group, nearly giving the poor girl a heart attack.
"Ahhh! What is that?"Thinking fast, Vash said the only thing she could think of.
"It's that zombie plant disease they were talking about in class today! Hurry! Go get the head teacher guy!" The girl nodded her head and bolted. Vash sighed, happy that the girl didn't question why she stayed or exploit the fact that they never discussed such a disease. Vash whirled around to see the guys looking bored. "Well you already ruined my day. I have no choice but to leave now, so use your ninja powers and get us out of here."
"Very well. At least say please." The group huddled back together, pulling Vash with them as they sunk back into the ground.
Nicky's POV At Home
After I finally got home, and finished dropping off Rin (who promised to come over tomorrow), I found out Vash also got "kidnapped" and brought back home. For an hour we were lectured by Orangey (who was in a bad mood from not finding a single clue about the portal), and eventually we had to promise (again) that when we weren't working, we'd help them look for the portal, or else we'd be killed. Once he finished his ranting, he allowed us to scold the rest of the members for getting caught (or in our case, for following us in the first place, and in my case for Tobi ruining my shirt), which was followed by a quiet but comfortable dinner. Probably because everyone got out their anger. Even Hidan was calmer than usual, though I think that's because he found a dog that was dying and decided to put it out of its misery and use it as a sacrifice. What a weirdo. Creeps me out.
"Hey Nicky." I glimpsed at Vash who sat next to me in her pajamas on the couch. We turned on the movie Princess Mononoke and some of the guys actually got into it. I think even Konan liked it and she rarely seemed interested in anything. Curling up under my blanket I nodded my head to her to say I was listening. "Is it weird that I'm starting to get used to these strangers in our home? I don't know if that's a good thing." I shrugged and turned my head back to the screen. Some of the members were asleep, while the rest were either watching or doing their own thing. Izaya had been reading that book I gave him the whole time I'd been home. I'll have to ask him what he thinks later.
"I dunno, but I do like being relaxed like I am now. Even though I'll have to talk to my manager about this later, at least it seemed like a valid excuse, so I'm not too worried. And… I kinda like the company. Not that I don't enjoy yours! It's just… you know… nice I guess." A ghost of a smile made its way to her lips.
"Yeah. I think I know what you mean."
Foosha: I seriously have that book! My dad gave it to me but… I'm wayyyyy too lazy to read it. And I own a Chowder shirt. :D Yayyy Chowder! And also, what's up with all the random newspaper? I dunno. Just because I guess.