Things Will Get Crazy
"Good morning everyone, I trust you all slept well.~" The Earl said in his usual cheerful tone at breakfast. He summoned everyone, including Teal to gather for breakfast.
`I guess this is step one to gaining their trust. However lame it may seem.'
"So there's a few reason why I wanted a family breakfast this morning.~" The Noah that were present were Tyki, Sheryl, Jasdevi, Road and Lulubell.
"Does it have to do with anything starting with an `H'?" Jasdero moaned.
"Jasdero, why must you and Devitto always complain when you're helping with Road's homework?" Sheryl sighed.
"Because it's a stupid chore that we don't want to do and her teacher doesn't accept all 5's in the blanks."
"That's the last mistake I'll ever make, asking you two for help. At least I still got you Lulubell and Teal." Road smiled at them.
"Road, why don't you ever rely on your father?" Sheryl said.
"Sorry, Road. I don't have much of an education so I'm afraid I can't help." Lulubell said.
"And I dibs out too. I didn't get to those subjects before I started living on my own so I can't help." Teal said quickly.
"I wasn't going to say that everyone.~ But I see that none of you can help anymore. So in a week and a half, we will be attending a ball.~"
"Lord Millennium, what happened to `no more' from last time?" Devitto said.
"And the time before that, you said `no more'" Jasdero continued.
"I don't recall saying that. But boys, we need good relationship with nobles for the cause for our side. Need I remind you of your role?"
"No." They said monotonically.
"But this time, we can also interact with nobles with sons as well." Sheryl looked at Teal.
"Eh? Why are you staring at me like that?"
"Well, since you're with us now, we'd like you to attend this ball."
"Eh?!" 'This is really going overboard.'
"Ha ha. You have to suffer like the rest of us." Devitto said.
"Moving on everyone~" The Earl cut off their conversation. "The Order has gained an upper hand. They've recruited exorcists that don't have Innocence but they are able to defeat high leveled akuma. Not much is known about it but I'd advise you all keep your ears sharp."
After breakfast, all of the Noah lingered around for a while in a living room instead of leaving directly for missions. Some akuma servants were bringing in a mountain of mail. Most of it was for the Earl, Sheryl received a hand full of invitation RSVP's and Teal received one but it was already opened because the akuma checked it.
"Huh, you got one? Did you tell someone where you were staying?" Tyki asked suspicously.
"No. I have a part time job. Looks like a delivery bird dropped this off earlier. So I'll see ya later."
"Hold it. I want you to have ediquitte lessons." Sheryl said.
"I just have to make a delivery. I won't be that long."
"Sorry, but we need you at this ball and you can do your job later. Lulubell and I will be your mentors for today." Teal's head sank. She heard Jasdevi snigger behind her. She threw a dagger glare to make them shut up.
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"Alright, first off we will work on your posture." Sheryl and Lulubell were in the library with Teal. Lulubell just sat at a table and wasn't paying any attention to them. Sheryl walked around Teal for a minute then stood in front of her.
"Well... You're posture's not bad but you need to keep it perfect for a long period of time. To do that, you're going to do a balancing exercise."
'Hmm... This kinda sounds familiar.' Teal heard a woman's voice speaking to her. She turned her head to the bookshelves if the woman was right over there because her voice sounded like it was coming from there.
"As the eldest child, ballet is one of the most important things to know in society. First off, you must have perfect posture and balance."
The door to the library opened then slammed shut. It was Devitto and Jasdero.
"Oh, Jasdevi. I don't need you to be her dance partner yet."
"Say what?" Teal snapped out of her vision.
"Dancing is the main part of balls."
"I got that. I was just uh..."
"Somebody wasn't paying attention." Jasdevi said together in a sing-songy voice.
"Yeah. That." 'This is really awkward.'
"Well, if you two aren't gonna be any help, I'd prefer you leave us."
"Get security to make us leave." Devitto pointed at Lulubell. She just gave them a cold icy glare and did nothing.
"Okay. We'll stay here and watch." Devitto grinned. He and Jasdero sat on different ladders.
"Alright, let's get started. The sooner we get through this, the sooner you can go to work."
"Well, when you put it that way..." Teal put her arms behind her head. "So what do I have to do?"
"It's easy. Balance this book," Sheryl place a heavy dictionary on her head. "While walking and you must have perfect posture."
'Oh joy. I thought it was hard enough with my Innocence and this is not helping.' She kept on walking backwards and forwards trying to balance the book and trying to stay on her feet.
"You're balancing the book well but try walking in a straight line and don't bend when you balance." Sheryl advised.
'Okay. Think about the five mentors. The one that teaches balance and grace is... The crane. Right.'
Teal stretched her arms out and started to walk forward. The book was starting to wobble and her legs were starting to hurt.
'Ignore the pain. Just breathe through it and focus.' She fixed her eyes on one spot on the wall, she was oblivious to everything and continued to walk forward.
"The book's gonna fall!" Jasdero shouted. Teal stopped in her tracks and the book started to wobble again and it slid off her head. She caught it just before it landed on the floor.
"Not bad. You've made it half way but the point is to have perfect balance, not flexibility. Start again and we will stop when you can walk all the way there and back, with posture of course."
'I'm really not cut out for this.'
Sheryl made her do the same thing until late in the afternoon until she got it right. She kept on losing her balance, Jasdevi kept distracting her and a bunch of other things went wrong. As soon as the session was over, Teal grabbed her bag and armband instead of her entire uniform and headed to town.
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'Thank godness that's over. That was rather embarassing. Why is it so difficult when I've been training for a while?' Teal took out her letter from her client. She had to go to the post office, get a package, then she had to go to her client's house to deliver it.
Problem was: She had no clue where either places were. Last time she was in town, she neither passed the post office or any residencies and she accidently left the map at the manor.
'Crap. They should have a tourist information at least. On the bright side, I will probably get a couple of hours to myself.'
"Teal!" Erin came out of nowhere at full speed and glomped Teal.
"What the hell was that for?! You nearly gave me heart failure!" She shouted as soon as she recovered from being tackled.
"Aw, you're no fun when you go black." Erin whined.
"Sorry. Didn't mean to snap. I've had a really long day and I'm not up for surprises. But I'm glad you're here. Can you help me find the post office and this residency? I don't know this town very well yet." Teal showed him her letter.
"Sure. I'll go with you. The post office is this way and the place you're going is not too far from the dojo,(I think) so we can go see Shishou afterwards."
As they were walking towards the post office, Teal noticed that there was some strange presence behind some of the stands. She couldn't tell exactly where it was coming from but it was pure and calming.
"Hold on Erin. I want to check something out." Teal changed her course, went in between the stands and tried to follow the presence.
"Teal, where are you going?" Erin was following her.
"There's something here. Can't you feel it?"
Erin closed her eyes and tried to sense the presence Teal was talking about. She could feel that calming presence but it was very faint.
"I can't really feel it. It's just an open field on the cliff."
"Then what's that?" Teal pointed to the distance and there was a sakura tree on the highest point of the cliff. The petals on the flowers were still in bloom and the few that fell could be seen blowing in the wind.
"That's weird. Sakura trees aren't really found here. They're found in Eastern China and Japan." They started to walk up the cliff and went by the tree.
"I've heard that this town has been widely used as a sanctuary for immigrants accross Europe and Asia. So it's possible that someone from this tree's motherland planted this tree here. But that doesn't explain why this tree is in full bloom when it's the middle of November."
"Yeah. I've never seen a sakura tree before so I can't say what it's life is like. And the blossoms are so beautiful." She smiled. 'Is this where the presence is coming from? It's stronger than it was before but it still feels weak.' A sakura blossom fell from the tree and landed on Teal's shoe. It was a healthy flower that simply lost its grip. Its bright pink hue and blood red outlining was captivating.
'I'll keep this one with me.'
"Earth to Teal, the sooner you get to work, the sooner we can see Shishou."
"Right." She placed the flower in the smallest pocket in her backpack. She backed up, ran passed Erin and started sliding down the cliff.
"Hey! You cheater!" Erin slid down the cliff after her.
"Sheesh! I thought you could do better than that, Erin." Teal called. She bent her knees and started leaning left to avoid Erin so she wouldn't throw her off balance.
"Not bad. But do you remember about the lesson of the snake?" Erin asked Teal as they were close enough to hear each other.
"The snake is... Speed, right?"
"Yep. And you need to use that lesson if you want to catch me." Erin leaned to the right down the steeper slope and Teal followed her. Teal started to move in an 's' formation to gain more speed. Teal was about to beat Erin to the bottom but she tripped over a rock and rolled down the rest of the way.
"You could've finished it without that. C'mon, let's go." It took them ten minutes to find the post office from where they were. After Teal picked up the package, Erin lead her to where one of the residency areas were and Teal was shocked to find out where she had to deliver the package.
"Erin, the place I'm supposed to drop it off is a noble residence!"
"Why are you so freaked out by it?"
"It's just that... I really feel out of place when I'm around nobles. I mean, I'm practially at the bottom of the social chain or whatever it's called and it makes me uneasy being around them."
"Why are you so worried about social differences now? It shouldn't matter that much."
"I know. Normally, I don't really care about that kind of stuff. But I'm kinda attending a ball and I'm really nervous about it."
"Oh yeah. A ball's coming up in about a week or so." Erin said as they arrived at a huge gate with iron bars.
"I'll be right back." Teal pulled the string that was by the gate.
"Who goes there?!" A loud voice came from above her.
"I'm an odd job worker and I have a delivery to make here." Teal showed her armband to the invisible guard above her.
"Alright. Make it quick." He growled. The gate creaked open and she moved down the path towards the mansion that was beyond the vast garden.
"Who is this filthy urchin?" A woman on the front porch screeched.
"I'm the odd job worker. Here's the package you requested."
"Why didn't you come this morning when you were supposed to?!" She glared at Teal. Teal cringed.
"Mother, that's enough." A gentle voice came from behind her. Teal turned and there was a handsome young man with short swept black hair behind her. His expression was soft and kind. His brown eyes widened slightly for a moment then returned to their kind gaze when he saw Teal.
"Thank you for the trouble. Here's your reward." He gave her some coins and placed them in her hand. Then he took the package in return.
"Have we met? You look familiar." He said.
"Nope. Don't recognize ya at all."
"Oh. Forgive me." He bowed.
"It's no big deal. Pleasure doing business with you." Teal said. As she was halfway down the path, she thought the boy was right behind her and said "Natalie". She stopped and looked back but he was back at the porch, giving the package to his mother.
'Who's Natalie?'
"Alright. Mission accomplished! Time to go to the dojo!" Erin grabbed Teal's arm and they went deeper into the woods that boardered the noble residencies.
"Shishou's friend had this dojo many years ago and Shishou reopened it recently. We have a couple of students every now and then."
"Hey, mind slowing down a little? My legs kinda hurt from that fall."
"Oh. Sorry." Erin chuckled. "Speaking of which, I think it might be smart if I lent you some clothes. Don't think you're friends would like it if you were extremely dirty like this."
"Uh... Well... I don't think it matters to them how dirty my clothes are."
"It does! Were you spending the past year with them?"
"No. I found them again about a month and a half ago. I don't see how that is important." They just arrived at the front of the dojo. Erin and Teal took their shoes off when they were on the deck.
"Wait, again?"
"Oh! Erin, you're back." A student came to the door to greet them. "And who are you?"
"I'm Teal. One of Shishou's apprentaces."
"Oh yes. You're his 'cute daughter' right? You're the only girl to be taught under him and you and Erin are his kids, am I right?"
"Heh, apparently." She laughed. 'He hasn't changed a bit.' Teal dropped her bag off at the door when they were inside.
"I'm Alexander, one of your master's apprentaces as well. He went to town and should be back soon. In the meantime, make yourselves at home."
Erin gave Teal one of her dresses and after she got changed, she followed Erin to a place to sit down.
"The living room's this way." There was a lounging area by them that had small cushions surrounding a table, a couple of book shelves on one side of the wall, and oriental lamps all over the place. On the other side of the room, there was a kitchen and another door that led outside.
"So what do you mean you met them again?" Erin sat down on one of the cushions around the table.
"Well..." Teal sat beside Erin and hesitated. "Remember the boys I was talking about when I was finally in my right mind? Devitto and Jasdero are those boys."
"So how come you had to separate? And what are they like?"
"That's not for me to say. But when I saw them again, we weren't exactly thrilled to see each other. When I came here a month ago, I couldn't stand them at first. But they're not bad once you get to know them. They're definately not the same boys that I rememeber, that's for sure." Teal smiled.
"I guess that's a good thing, right?"
"In most ways, yes. Although they may seem a little rough around the edges, they have some really good qualities about them that I admire."
"Ooh, you like them, eh?" Erin smiled mischieviously.
"Um... It's not like that..." 'It is a bit...' Teal blushed a little.
"I understand." Erin smiled.
Somebody opened the sliding door and it was Erin and Teal's master.
"Welcome back, Shishou." Erin said.
"Yes, welcome back. It's great to see you again, Shishou." Teal smiled. Last time she saw her master, he had a short beige ponytail and it was past his shoulders now.
"Do my eyes deceive me? Is that my cute daughter?"
"Shishou..." Teal was a little annoyed.
"Why won't you call me 'father'?" He looked like he was about to cry. He used to do this all the time to Teal just to tease her.
"Shishou, I have a few reasons why I don't. Oh! I just remembered! Shishou, I recently found out that my parents might be alive."
"Oh, really?" He was no longer in his fake depressed state.
"Yeah. I was taken to live with my brother for safety sake, I think. Also, can I ask you something?"
"Sure." He smiled.
"If I do find them, can I come back here?"
"Of course. You're always welcome here."
"Speaking of finding people, guess who Teal found recently." Erin said.
"I heard. Congratulations on finding your friends. Maybe you could ask them if they'd like to come with you next time you come here. I'd like to meet them."
"Um... Alright." 'Is this really necessary? The father meeting the daughter's guy friend(s)?'
"So Teal, where are you staying?" Shishou asked.
"I'm staying in the countryside with some people, including my friends. I'm not too happy right now 'cause they're making me go to a ball. Like one of the people I'm staying with is a noble and he's making everyone go."
"What's so bad about that?" Erin asked blankly. Teal rose from her seat.
"I'm freaking out about the social standings, I think they have to wear fancy stuff and I can't afford that kind of dress, I feel kind of uneasy with the social dance, should I go on?"
"Well, we can help you with some of that. If you want, I'll be your first dance partner at the ball. Would that make you feel a little better?" Erin stood beside her.
"Yeah, I guess. Thanks."
"I could buy a dress for you if you're having money problems." Shishou said.
"No, I can pay for it if I get enough offers. I don't want to make you go to all that trouble."
"Well if you didn't want us to help, why did you complain?" Erin was really annoyed.
"I just had to get it off my chest." She sighed.
"Teal, will you be staying with us tonight? Your clothes are clean but they won't be dry until tommorrow." Alexander poked his head in the door.
'Shoot, what time is it?' Teal looked at the clock and it was 10:30.
"Ah! No, I'm sorry I can't. Erin, I'll give you your dress back later." She bowed to everyone and took her clothes from Alexander.
"You can keep that dress. It looks good on you." Erin said. Teal slipped on her shoes, waved goodbye and dashed out the door.
'Crap, I'm gonna be in BIG trouble.' She made it to the market but she had problems which way to go afterwards. 'Double crap. I'm lost, and it's really dark out. Then again, this isn't too bad. I used to stay up all night sometimes.'
The calming presence that she felt before was filling up the marketplace. She knew it was coming from the tree. She didn't have time to stop so she kept moving on.
'Okay... There's the notice board, the blacksmith, and the park should be up ahead. Hold on...' There were some envelopes attached to the notice board and she went up to see if there was any weird jobs.
'Let's see... An investigation job, a chimney sweeping job, and hello, what the heck?' There was an envelope saying 'Please help me! I'm not myself!' In huge smudged letters on the envelope.
'I'll take this with me.'
There was a new moon tonight and it was too cloudy to see enough stars to navigate back to the woods.
'If I remember correctly, the shoreline here should connect with the shoreline to the lake. I can take the forest path from there when there's not much room to walk on the shore.'
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It took her half an hour to get back to the manor. When she arrived at the lakeside, she threw her cold clothes on the ledge so she could put her stockings back on since she walked on the shore bare foot.
"Hey! Freeze or I'll kill you!" Devitto's voice came from behind her.
"I'm already freezing so you don't need to make any threats." Teal said calmly. Devitto appeared out of the shadows.
"So you're back after that one delivery that should've taken you ten minutes. So who was the bum that gave you the dress as payment?"
"Shut it. You know I don't know the town very well and Erin was the one who gave me this dress."
"All right. I hope you're not wearing that to the ball. It's too short."
"You just had to remind me..." She grumbled.
"Would it kill you to relax?" He placed his hand on her head.
"It might..."
"Okay... How am I gonna put this in a language you'll understand? Put it this way: you know the lesson of yin and bang?"
"Actually, it's yang." Teal corrected him. "But yeah, I know it pretty well."
"Well, you're too much yang and that's not really good. You need a little more yin and that way, your stress level should be down."
"Okay. Despite of trying to make a speech about something you don't know much about, I think I see your point." She gave a small smile. She stood up and faced the lake. "After what's happened recently, that's easier said than done. And to top it off, I'm trying to recover my memories from when I was younger."
"I think you already did that part when you were messing with our heads."
"No, memories that were from before I met you. I didn't exactly live the life with my brother as I told you. I might've stayed with him a little less than a year and I don't remember much from it except being in a room all the time and the day he died."
"Well," He leaned against the high ledge beside Teal. "Just do what you did before with me and Jasdero. Remember what you did?"
"No, not exactly. What helped restore our memories was that I had something to hang on to. This time, I have nothing. However, they're coming back a little. Like when Sheryl made me do that stupid exercise, I kind of did the same thing because of a dance lesson or something."
"Well in that case," Devitto offered his hand. "May I have this dance, Princess? No one's watching."
"I don't know how to dance, I only saw the memory when I was doing that stupid exercise. And don't call me that!" She clenched her fists.
"Then allow me to be your mentor, Shorty."
"Alright." She blushed a little and accepted his hand. He put his left hand on her waist and took her left hand in his.
"Before you start complaining, this is how people start the waltz. Place your left hand either on my shoulder or my arm, whichever works." Teal moved her right arm and Devitto stopped her.
"Other left." She shifted the her left arm on his arm. "Alright, it's simple. You follow my lead. Just try not to step on my foot." He took back a step and she followed. Everytime he took a step back, he swayed for a moment then took another step to the side and repeated the same motion.
"See you're dancing." They were swaying in synch to the movement of the soft waves behind them.
"Uh... Yeah. It is a little weird."
"Heh, well believe it or not, I wanted to spare you the dance lesson from hell from you know who."
"Well, either way, I'm playing hooky tommorrow." Teal went back to her bag.
"Oh? And what is the occasion?"
"On the way back, I picked up a job letter and it is... huge." Teal paused as she was searching through her bag.
"What?" She turned to Devitto and she was holding a red tulip. "WHAT THE HELL?!"
"Keep your voice down!" She hissed while covering his mouth.
"Look, it's no big deal. If anyone should freak out, it should be me. I hate tulips!"
"You really don't know what this means?" He scoffed.
"Despite of being raised by wolves, no I don't." She said blankly.
"Flowers are a way to tell someone they love you. That was so hard to figure out." He said sarcastically.
"Eh? Really?" Devitto nodded. "Well, If I ever choose to be in a relationship, I prefer someone I know." She lit a match and burned the flower.
"If you can find someone who has just as many or more brains as you, I'm sure it'll be a perfect match." He smirked.
"Oh ha ha. Aren't you a riot?" She used a spell to create a cricket and it went 'chirp chirp Quack MOOOOO' then turned into sand. Devitto snorted and started laughing.
"I know I suck at transforming things but you don't have to laugh..." Her head sank.
"You would laugh too if you saw your face." Teal blushed and turned her head.
"Well, we should be going inside now." Teal said impatiently.
"You're kinda cute when you act like this." She stopped in her tracks and slightly turned to Devitto. The shadows hid her emotions and she saw he was actually smiling. Not his famous 'up to no good' smile but a true genuine smile.
"Eh?" That was all Teal could say.
"It's nothing. Night, Teal."
"Night, Devitto." She said casually. She heard him gasp and he looked like he was about to collapse.
"Devitto?" She ran over to him and he was on his knees. He looked like he was about to pass out. "Devitto! Hey!" She shouted as loud as she could. "Any akuma on guard or something?"
"No, I'm alright." Devitto sat himself up.
"But you're..."
"Really, I'm fine, don't worry about it." He was slightly irritated.
"Sorry, I just... um... It's just that you and Jasdero have done a lot for me and I'm trying to... y'know... return the favor? As a way of saying thank you." She dug her foot into the damp sand.
"Actually, I think there is something you can do to thank me. Hold still." Before Teal knew it, Devitto gently pulled her closer to him and their lips were pressed against each other.
Devitto wasn't even thinking about what he was doing. Something was drawing him to Teal and it just happened. Once Devitto embraced her, Teal knew that she was over stepping her boundaries. She knew this was wrong yet she didn't protest. His touch was warm compared to her cold body. It was a sort of warmth she never experienced before and it was drawing her closer to him. Everything about him was alluring, she was now the prey and if she didn't do something now, the trap would shut.
After about a few seconds, Devitto pulled away and he had a smirk on his face. Teal looked at him with slight shock to hide what she was really feeling.
"So how's that for romantic?" He asked slyly.
"Perverted is more like it! I didn't even ask for it!" She was turning red and tried to act as angry as possible.
"I know you liked it."
"Did not." She said monotonically.
"Did too. You're so easy to read. You act like you don't care but you do."
"Y'know what? Arguing with you makes me reach my limit faster so I'm ending it here. Night." When she was a few steps away, she gave a sigh and smiled.
"Right on the mark." She muttered.
When Teal returned to her room, she leaned against her door and let herself fall.
'Omigod! Devitto is so daring!' She giggled. 'I feel a little angry about it but still... That was... amazing.' She closed her eyes and tilted her head up.
'I don't know how many laws I'm breaking but... I'm starting to think it's worth it.'
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"Miss... Miss!" Something hit Teal on her head.
"Ow... Geez, what's with you, stupid akuma?" She snapped. 'For once I have a normal dream and somebody has to wake me up.'
"Master Sheryl is expecting you. You should hurry."
'I really REALLY don't want to get up. For once in a very long time, I have a normal dream. Well, despite me having perverted thoughts, I call any dream that isn't a vision normal.'
Teal changed into a long sleeve shirt, long pants and a bandana she bought the other day. She moved her hand on the dresser looking for her letter. Her blossom was on her letter and it closed its petals but it was still perfectly healthy.
'That's weird. Why would it close like that?'
"What 'cha got there?" Jasdero came out of nowhere. Teal let out a yelp.
"Damn it, don't sneak up on people like that!" She gasped. "So what can I do for you?"
"It's Devi!"
"What about him?"
"He's not... himself."
"One of his famous mood swings?" Teal suggested.
"No, it's worse. You think he's PMS-ing?" Jasdero asked.
"Mmm... No. Prob'ly not." 'I drew the line at female anatomy so I don't know.'
Jasdero slapped himself on the forehead and knocked off his antenna.
"Hee! I don't know what to do anymore! This is driving me nuts!" Teal slapped Jasdero on the cheek to snap him out of it.
"Dero, snap out of it! Pull yourself together!" Jasdero calmed down.
"Okay, I'll see what I can do to help." Teal said.
When Jasdero led Teal to the living room by the main hall, Teal noticed Devitto was sitting on the couch and reading a book. That was not the part that creeped her out the most, it was just the start.
Devitto was in human form, he was wearing a high collared white shirt with a tie and a vest, his untidy hair was more neat, and he wasn't wearing makeup.
"I think it's an improvement." Teal chuckled.
"Are you serious?! This is not my brother! He's... He's someone totally different! Insult him for crying out loud, that shouldn't be too hard." He tried to keep his voice down so Devitto wouldn't hear them.
"Well, don't judge it until you try it." Devitto was suddenly behind them and he was using a cheerful polite tone.
"See? Waaayy different." Jasdero pointed his thumb at Devitto.
"Morning Devitto. What's with the makeover?" Teal asked.
"I just wanted to try something different, no big deal. Why? You like it?"
"The tie I can live with. Turning into mini Tyki clone: you're in way over your head." She narrowed her eyes. 'Polite speech, fancy clothes, neat hair, no mischeiviousness = Tyki clone.'
"Is that the best you can come up with?" Jasdero whispered.
"I'm not that awake so yes."
"A... Tyki clone?" He had a hint of confusion in his voice as if he didn't know who Tyki was.
"Yeah, Stupid Tyki. The guy who's always annoying and dresses up fancy and blah blah blah. We don't need you to turn into him. It's just too freaky."
"Hey, Devitto, are you sure you're alright?" Teal asked. "Why'd you hesitate when you were saying Tyki's name?"
"Well..." Devitto hesitated. "I'm projecting on how to libel him." Teal and Jasdero blinked and looked at each other.
"Uh... Translation?" They asked at the same time.
"I'm trying to find a way to insult him, idiots. I mean, honestly, brother dearest, you should catch up on your studies. I propose that you'd catch up on your studies too, Teal. I admit that you're cute but I like girls who have some bit intelligence as well. You're much too wild and I for one, should think that studies should make you more tame and you might actually have a chance of finishing everything you've failed." Devitto folded his arms and gave a smug look.
"That's it, you just crossed the line, Smart Ass. I tried to do it the easy way but it looks like I'm gonna have to set you straight."
She rolled up her sleeves and was about to beat him up. She walked over to him and surprisingly picked him up by the collar a few inches off the ground and pinned him against the wall.
"You can make fun of my stupidity all you want but nobody, and I mean NOBODY tells me how to live my life and who they want me to be. What's more, don't you ever say that everything I've done was a failure. Got that?" She tightened her grip. Her expression was no longer mildly irritated but it turned into pure fury. Her eyes were a dark cold blue and were like a hunter about to kill.
"Teal, stop it! He's not in his right mind!" Jasdero held her from under her arms and tried to hold her back. Just before he pulled her away, she used her head to hit Devitto hard on the forehead which knocked him out. Then she managed to free herself from Jasdero's grip and slapped him on the cheek.
"Don't touch me!" She snarled. "You don't know... Huh?" Her tone dropped and she calmed down almost instantly. She had a confused and fearful expression as if she just came back from a nightmare. She backed away from Jasdero.
"I went black, didn't I?" She turned and Devitto was just recovering from her hit. 'No way... That vision... It made me go black. I thought it was finally going away.' Blood started to stain the walls and the furniture. Shadows consumed Devitto and Jasdero. She was terrified and ran down the hall as fast as she could without looking back. Jasdero looked in her direction and couldn't do anything.
"Uh... Jasdero?" Devitto was finally concious. "Mind explaining why the hell I'm wearing Tyki's old clothes? And what's with her?"
"Devi! You're back!" Jasdero gave him a tight hug.
"What do you mean 'back'?" He was extremely dizzy and was still trying to grasp the situation.
"Well... You were acting really strange and well... you said something to make her cry."
"Huh? I didn't do anything like that! Last night I remember being with her and she was pretending to be angry because I groped her..." Devitto muttered the last part.
"You did what?"
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I decided to add on to this chapter 'cause I didn't really like it leaving where I left it before and I didn't like the scene where Devitto gave Teal a small kiss so I'm thinking 'Screw it, just be a man and kiss her already!'
I hope you guys like this chapter and Merry X-Mas if I don't get the next one up before then!