April Fools' (2)

The Kisaragi household was no large building, nor was it anything fancy whatsoever. It was, much like the Dan's main hideout, an apartment. Er, condo, morelike, which was probably why there weren't tons of fans screaming for Momo's autograph. Or perhaps, her home was kept a secret? Light thinking was nice, a distraction from the looming threat of Kano.

Kido knocked lightly, rapping her knuckles on the familiar doorframe. To most people, this would be an odd occurrence, to hear sound emerge from nowhere. Still, either way most residents would probably just assume the sound was the fault of a neighbor as opposed to an invisible girl. Most humans in existence didn't know about the heat haze in general, so Kido supposed it would be rather hard for anyone to prove her being there anyway. Security cameras had nothing on her either.

"Who is it?" Momo questioned, opening the door to no one. Kido stared at her without being seen, wondering if the idol would catch on. Thankfully she did, because if anyone competent was watching the video feeds, a girl appearing out of thin air would be pretty suspicious. Then again, were security personnel even required to watch every camera feed simultaneously for anything that could go wrong? Kido didn't know, but she supposed that would be such a mindless and boring job that no one would bother.

"Okay then." Momo grinned, as she stepped aside to leave the doorway open. Wordlessly, Kido stepped inward, abandoning her shoes for a set of slippers carelessly left by the doorway. Momo, maybe confirming that the slippers did indeed move of their own volition and that she wasn't insane to be waiting on thin air, closed the door behind her.

"Danchou!" Momo cried out, and glomped Kido, revealing her to the… blonde? Come to think of it, Kido was never really sure what exactly Momo's hair colour was. Orange? Were there hints of black? Would that be called blonde or did there exist a word to describe someone with orange hair? They were all very good questions, just entirely irrelevant in every way possible. Kido was sure that to ask would be an awkward preposition. Ah well, at least Kano couldn't touch her here.

"I didn't expect you over, so we didn't really have much food." Momo explained, as she led Kido through the condo.

"'Didn't'? I'm here right now, did you go shopping?" Kido inquired, making light conversation. Momo paused in front of her room, glancing to the side to her brother's.

Kido silently considered whether or not Momo had a brother complex, before dismissing it. Its existence didn't really matter, because if word got out at all, Momo's fans would be outraged. To add onto that, incest was illegal, which may be just a little more important. Just a little.

"Kano brought some food over, enough that we don't need to go for another week." Momo went on, tapping on her brother's closed door. Kano was at the Kisaragi household? Did he predict Kido's actions before she even left? Was that where he had gone, to the place he knew she'd run to?

"Kano's here?" Kido said, as she voiced her confusion. Momo giggled, although Kido had no idea why, and tapped again.

"Come in! We're just about done." Takane hollered. With that invitation, Momo wasted no time bursting into the room, taking a few seconds to take in the scenario, and broke out laughing. Kido had to admit, it was… something.

"Get me down!" Shintaro screamed. Kido couldn't blame him really; she'd be pretty ticked off if she were strung up to the ceiling. How Shintaro even managed to get up there, she had no idea. Kano glanced her way and gave the victory pose, while Takane just couldn't stop laughing beside him. Konoha stared at the hanging Shintaro, munching on some peculiar twisted form of bread.

Kido's confusion grew even stronger, pelting her like rocks. Scratch that thought; thoughts didn't hurt as much as rocks did. Still, Kano was here, and he was tormenting Shintaro over tormenting her? Kido had counted her blessings the moment it passed 12:00am, but this was just something else entirely. Luck? That was never on her side, so Kido couldn't expect it now. That little smirk of Kano's made everything uncertain, unraveled all logical thought processes. Kano had planned this, of course.

So at 1:30pm, Kido found herself sitting down with the Kisaragi siblings, two senpais that her sister was fond of, and worst of all, Kano. Actually strike that, Shintaro was still being hung up by a complex set of pulleys somehow arranged in his room. Kido supposed that Takane would have had no problem moving such heavy tools when she could possess them, but it was all a little elaborate. Could this have been her fate had Kano meant to prank her? Was this what was waiting for her?

By 1:45pm, Shintaro had managed to convince Takane to let him down, only to be the victim of a bucket of ice water being sent his way. Conversations sprung up, and Kido felt a bit put out by the lack of pranks. Had Kano really ignored her for the first time on April Fools' Day?

Around 2:00pm, Kido was wondering why she was so tensed up. Kano had yet to make a move, yet she felt awkward around her friends and the closest people she had to family. Shintaro glanced her way every now and then, maybe catching on to Kido's hesitation. Still, he never called her out on it.

At exactly 3:30pm on April 1, or so Kido's phone told her, Momo finally called her out on it. Kido was worried about it happening, just that she didn't expect Momo Kisaragi to be the first to speak up.

"Danchou, are you okay?" Momo inquired, and she sounded genuinely worried, something that only made Kido feel worse. It was one thing to be cautious and careful around others, but to worry her fellow members of the Dan was something else entirely.

"Yes, don't think much of it. Just slept in, that's all." Kido faked a smile, uneasily watching Kano's eyes gravitate her direction.

It took her two hours and thirty minutes or so to snap. By 4:00pm, Kido couldn't take it anymore. Kido had had enough of the loud raucous nothings, the prankless afternoons with Kano present, and the scarily mirthful glances the blonde kept sending her way. That and Shintaro's observation of her got on Kido's nerves, her frayed brain cracking much earlier than she would have hoped for.

"Kido are you sure nothing's wrong?" Momo echoed her previous question.

"What do you mean?" Kido replied tensely.

"You've been a little… what's the word… off today. Are you sick?"

"No! He put you up to this, didn't he. You're all in on this together, aren't you? What a nice prank to pull on me, but I'm just not going to take it." Kido snapped, leaping to her feet and pointing her finger accusingly at Kano, who broke into a fit of laughter.

"What?" Takane asked, face curiously innocent. The raven was acting, Kido knew, the prankster a prankster at heart. Two years of tormenting Shintaro meant that Takane would easily be able to deceive her at a face level. Kido wouldn't take this anymore. It just wasn't a fair investment of time, to stay here. Surely they were all laughing behind her back, in their minds, that Kido had yet to realize anything. Well, they'd laugh no more.

"I'm out. OUT." Kido snarled, going invisible and storming to the door, and slammed it on her way out. Perhaps not the best idea when the camera feed would have picked up on an invisible force closing the door, but did Kido care? Not really at this point.

Kido needed a little alone time. Time without Kano's annoyingly calm face. Kido needed to get away from the Dan, from the monkeys, from all the trouble they caused. So Kido wandered the large city of Mekaku, and diverted her attention from the annoyance that was Kano. Kido explored shops and darted through parks, yet she always ended up returning to one place. It was a playground, the one Ayano had shown the three siblings and where they spent a fair amount of time on off-days. They had all long since outgrown the playground, but it was always a relaxing environment.

A few hours passed by in reminisce, Kido beginning to regret her actions. Had Kido been too rash, too headstrong, too rude? It really was unbecoming of the danchou to be so childish as to let Kano get to her even after a decade of living together. Kido knew she should go back, to apologize to them all, but her stubborn side refused to return only to be smashed in the face by a chicken in a straightjacket or something similarly insane. Kano could've easily booby-trapped the apartment in her absence.

"Kido? I knew you'd be here." An all-too-familiar voice called out, lifting Kido from her reverie. Seto appeared, in all his froggy brilliance, striding up from behind her. It felt weird to look up to her once shorter brother, but Kido supposed she should've gotten used to it by now. Kido glanced expectantly towards her brother.

"You should probably go back and eat." Seto recommended.

"Mm."

"Kano said he'd forgive you with open arms." Seto added. Kano said what?

"Wait, did Kano send you? Did he make you find me?" Kido immediately went on the defensive,

"No, he only said that he-"

"I'll stay out for a bit longer, thanks. I'll come home by myself, eat dinner without me." Kido interrupted. She knew it was in bad taste, when Seto would be the one who for sure genuinely worried. Kido knew it was childish, that it was foolish and dumb and impatient. Kido knew that very well about herself, and that it was a naïve thing to do. Still, Seto listened and left her to her devices, making her feel all the worse.

Kido laughed to herself, walking away from the playground of memories long since passed. It was ironic that in the place where they forged their friendship she was ignoring her brothers. Kido would apologize, for sure, but for now she'd leave it to settle. Maybe let her temper even out, and get some fresher air. That park was looking great.

A few hours of roaming wouldn't hurt. Maybe Kido would visit Ayano's grave again, she hadn't done that since well… since Shintaro had gone, a rather unsettling memory. The older boy's tears were fresh on Kido's memory, the impact of her sister's self-sacrifice all too clear. Ah, what life would've been like with Ayano was a mystery. Better, for sure. But that recollection could only bring back tears, so Kido shook off the train of thought, and wandered once more through the city of Mekaku.

At 12:00am, the beginning of April 2, Kido realized that the day was finally over. Kido had gone unpranked, something virtually unthinkable on April Fools' Day. Kido's hunger went unnoticed, ignored, but the relief she felt was unthinkable. Kido rushed home to the apartment, to the Dan, and thought up apologies galore, excuses, explanations, anything and everything.

At 12:25am on April 2, Kido finally gave in and decided to go to bed. Anything still there couldn't be sanctioned under an 'April Fools' prank'. It was probably safe to return to her room. Emphasis on probably. Kido swung open the door, ducking to the side to avoid any projectiles. Nothing, just nothing. Thank the gods if they existed, or whatever other entities or greater powers existed.

Kido stripped herself of her outer garments, crawling into a strangely warm bed. Still, April Fools' was over, so this couldn't be a prank. Then Kido felt it. A strangely flesh-like texture, warm, heated, alive. Kido saw the yellow eyes as they stared at her in the dark, like orbs of light. Kano. Kano was in her bed. Kido opened her mouth to scream, but found a finger on her lips. Any thoughts of apologies were forgotten, and Kido's mind went blank.

"Shh." Kano whispered, his smirk forming nonetheless.

"What are you doing here?" Kido scrambled to the side of the bed, stealing away the bedsheets to cover herself fully. To her chagrin, Kano was half nude, upper body abnormally lean and muscular for a delinquent like him. When was the last time Kido had seen Kano's upper body unmasked? Then again, there was no guarantee as to whether or not he was using his abilities to fluster her. Kido couldn't give into the provocations, that would be letting Kano win.

"Happy April Fools' Day." Kano said, voice as soft as the wind. Kido immediately put her arms up on instinct, but nothing came. There was just one thing, one very very important thing she had to confirm.

"April Fools' Day was yesterday." Kido hissed. Her phone couldn't be wrong, as an electronic device, but Kano, being a human being, could make errors. Even ones as big as forgetting his favourite holiday seemed to be plausible now. Kano only smiled his irritating smile, as if he knew something Kido didn't.

"No, it's not. April Fools' Day is today." Kano reasserted himself.

"Stop with the lies." Kido reprimanded him. Kano was too old to not understand the day of the month. Either it was on purpose, or Kano really didn't deserve his test scores.

"I'm not lying. I changed every clock in the apartment and your cell phone timer." Kano explained in a hushed whisper. Kido froze. What? How did he even? When did Kano get the time to do that? How had she not noticed? Was Kano still speaking a load of bull even at this moment? As if reading her mind, Kano opened up his phone, the bright display burning into her eyes. "12:29 – April 1", it said.

"Happy April Fools' Day."

I am so sorry about how out of character these characters are. The narrative may or may not be mixed with my own thought trains, and the characters may be a little lacking on the character part. Or at least that's what my impression of it is. Not really sure.

I wasn't really fond of the character interactions, but hopefully the ending made up for it.

I also finished this with two minutes to spare before the day finished. Whops.