Meh, I'm so friggen tired its not even funny...but i got the motivation to finish it so now i can pass out in a good mood :)
Red Rose
Chapter 8
Takuya and Kouichi fused their eyes shut, knowing that they had no time to get out of the way as the tree was only inches above them.
"Noooo!" Zoe cried out and felt a sudden burst of energy as she ran towards them.
Two of her vectors shot out and shoved her friends out of the path of the falling tree. She herself was about to be crushed, but she managed to jump back before it could land on her. However, one of the branches came swinging down and slammed into the side of her head, causing her to fall to her knees.
Takuya and Kouichi opened their eyes, surprised to find themselves on the ground, unharmed. The men who had cut the tree down were rushing over, concerned that someone may have been hurt.
"What the hell just happened?" Kouichi asked, his eyes wide.
"Zoe must've pushed us away," Takuya said, scrambling to get up. "Shit, where is she?"
Kouichi turned pale. "You don't think she was crushed, do you?"
"I don't know," Takuya replied, circling around to the other side of the tree.
To his relief, Zoe was not lying under the thick trunk, but was on her knees, panting. One of the workers was gently knudging her shoulder.
"Miss? Are you alright?" He asked, then looked at Takuya. "Is this your friend?"
"Yeah, is she okay?" Takuya knelt beside her and began to shake her. "Zoe? Are you okay?"
Zoe didn't repy, and stared straight at the ground, her long blond hair falling into her face.
The man gave him a stern look. "I'm sorry if any of you were hurt, but next time, please pay more attention to your surroundings. We can't stop a falling tree and I find it hard to believe that you didn't see us."
"We're sorry," Takuya apologized, taking Zoe into his arms. "We'll try to be more careful."
"Good, I don't want to see any kids hurt, okay?" The man stood up and made his way back over to his co-workers, who were in the process of moving the tree.
Kouichi fell to his knees beside Takuya. "Is she alright?"
"I don't see any blood or anything on her, but she's not responding," Takuya said worriedly. "Zoe? Can you hear me?"
Finally, Zoe began to look up at him. After a brief second, she blinked and smiled.
"Takuya!" She excitedly wrapped her arms around his neck, almost knocking him over. "Takuya!"
"Whoa!" Takuya regained his balance, then scratched his head. "Uh, are you okay?"
Zoe only continued to smile, gently snuggling against him. "Takuya...."
Kouichi chuckled. "I think I know what happened..."
"Yeah, me too." Takuya stood up, pulling the girl up with him. "She must've gotten hit in the head and reverted back to that child-like personality she had when I first met her."
"She hasn't been like that in almost two weeks," Kouichi speculated.
Takuya brushed his clothes off, as well as Zoe's. "Well, she hasn't gotten hurt since coming back."
"I'm sure it'll wear off within a few hours," Kouichi told him. "Just be patient. And don't be surprised if she acts like a little kid in the store."
Minutes later, they were inside the grocery store and Takuya grabbed a cart. "I hate using these things..."
"Eh, quit complaining." Kouichi picked up a basket. "I'll catch up with you in a little while, okay? I'll just grab the shit that I came for and I'll meet up with you when I'm done. Have fun with Zoe."
Takuya smirked and turned around to see Zoe staring at one of the fruit stands. Her emerald eyes were wide with fascination as she studied the apples.
"See anything you like?" Takuya asked with amusement.
Zoe tilted her head, then gathered up an armful of apples. Before Takuya could say anything, she dropped them all into the cart, then looked up at him proudly.
"Well, we don't need this many," the brunette said with a laugh. "But you can have a few."
He began to put them back on the stand, then noticed as Zoe walked away. Quickly stuffing three apples into a plastic bag, he hurried after her, hoping that she wouldn't wreck anything. To his relief, Zoe was only gazing at a selection of vegetables.
"C'mon, let's go." He gently took her hand, then led her away. "Don't even remember the last time I ate a vegetable. Unless you count pizza sauce...or potato skins...."
Takuya led her up and down the aisles, picking out the food he desired, which consisted of mainly junk food.
"Hey, Zoe. Do you want-" He turned around to see that Zoe had opened a package of cookies and was currently eating one of the treats. "Ah, found the cookies I see."
Zoe nodded happily, then proceeded to cram one into Takuya's mouth. "Cookie."
He coughed, then chewed up and swallowed the cookie. "Eh, thanks. If you see anything you want, just put it in the cart, okay?"
The blond gathered up ten more packages and put them into the shopping carriage, stuffing another cookie into her mouth. "Cookie!"
"I don't think we need ten packages...but good thinking," Takuya said, putting back five of them. "These cookies are pretty good..."
He took another one, then led her into the next aisle. At that moment, Kouichi walked over to them, holding up his basket.
"Got what I wanted," he said cheerfully.
Takuya raised an eyebrow. "Pizza rolls....frozen pizza....french fries....so pretty much anything that can be cooked by either a microwave or an oven, huh?"
"Hey, I never claimed to be a good cook," Kouichi replied. "Besides, even if I was, I'm too lazy. And I know for a fact that you'll be heading to the frozen foods section for the same exact crap."
"True," Takuya said after a moment's thought. "I can't cook either."
Kouichi noticed that Zoe was happily munching on the cookies and smirked. "I see that you discovered the cookie section. Can I have one?"
Zoe handed him half a dozen before popping another one into her mouth. "Cookie!"
Meanwhile
"Uh, where the hell is she?" Kanae complained. "This is taking forever!"
Masaki rolled his eyes. "We've only been looking for an hour. Be patient."
"How can I be patient when we don't even know where to look?" She demanded. "Sense other Dicloniuses, my ass...I can't sense her at all."
"Shut up," he hissed, giving her a warning look. "Stop being so loud or you'll blow it."
Kanae snorted as they walked down the street. "Why the hell should I care? I already have Cock-Uzawa on my ass, and I don't need you adding to it either."
Masaki sighed and rolled his eyes. "You know what, let's just split up. That way we'll be able to locate her more quickly."
"How would that help?" She asked.
"Instead of the two of us looking in the same exact area, we'll be in different areas, therefore speeding up the process," he explained slowly as if she were a young child.
Kanae gave him a rude gesture. "Don't treat me like a fucking kid."
"Then stop acting like one," he replied in an icy voice. "I'll go this way and you can go wherever you want. I'm not your keeper so make sure you get back to the facility by six."
"Yes, sir," she said in a mocking tone. "I'll be sure to write that one done so that I don't forget."
Masaki shrugged and took off, leaving her alone. Kanae sighed, scanning her surroundings in the busy town.
"How the hell am I supposed to find this girl if this place is so damn crowded?" She complained. "This is so stupid...."
The male Diclonius made his way down one of the side streets, which led him towards a small plaza. He walked up to the stores, intending to check each and every one of them.
Just as he was about to step inside the first store, a book shop, he heard a soft voice behind him.
"Hey, there."
Masaki slowly turned around, his invisible vectors out and ready to strike if needed. Behind him stood an attractive girl around eighteen years old. She was wearing a short pink skirt, a tight pink halter top, and pink sandals. Her chestnut hair was tied into a ponytail, and she gave him a flirtatious smile.
"I haven't seen you here before," she told him, eyeing him up and down.
"I'm new around here," he replied, uninterested.
"I'm Christie by the way," the girl blurted out. "What's your name?"
Masaki inwardly groaned but gave her a half-smile. "Masaki."
"Oh, I like that name," Christie told him. "So, I see that you're going into the book store. Do you like books?"
"Yes, but I'm actually here to find my sister," he told her. "So if you don't mind, I must be going."
Christie waved her hand dismissively. "Eh, I'll help you find her. What's she look like?"
"No, really. I'm all set," he insisted, not wanting her to follow him.
Christie seemed more intent on staring into his handsome face as oppose to listening to him. "I insist. Really...."
Although he was seething on the inside, his smile did not falter. "If you want to tag along, you can. But I should be able to find my sister on my own."
"Okay," she replied happily, following him into the store. "I don't normally go into book stores because I don't like to read. Unless of course you count magazines and stuff like that. I also like to go online and read stuff about celebrities and see what's going on with them. I think the last place I actually had to go into a place with a lot of books was a library but that was only for a school project. And that was a long time ago."
Masaki rolled his eyes, his blood boiling from her nonstop babbling. Can this girl keep quiet for ten seconds?
"Interesting," he mused, uncaring.
Christie only followed him like a smitten schoolgirl, unaware that he was uninterested. "So how old is your sister? Is she like a little kid or is she my age, or is she older than you, or is she-"
"She's eighteen," he told her, trying his best to speak in a calm voice.
"Oh, so she's my age. I just turned eighteen so I had this big party and everything. It was awesome and I got so drunk that I woke up inside my car with ten empty bottles of alcohol. But I don't think I drank that much because I'm a lightweight and can't hold that much down. I hope you don't think that I'm an alcoholic because trust me, I'm not," she continued to ramble.
Masaki tuned out her voice, scanning the store. After a minute, he turned to leave, as Zoe was nowhere to be seen.
"Oh, where are you going?" Christie asked, following him out of the store. "I thought you were looking for your sister."
"She's not there," he told her, making his way to the next shop.
Christie entered the store behind him, looking around the small cafe. "Doesn't she have a cell phone you can call her on? Oh, and speaking of cell phones, do you have one? I can give you my number if you want."
"My sister and I don't have cell phones," he replied monotonely.
"Then how do you get in contact with each other?" She asked.
"Telepathy."
Christie chuckled, then reached out to give his butt a light slap. "You're funny."
Masaki's lips twitched in annoyance and he half contemplated on decapitating the girl right then and there. However, he controlled his rage and simply scanned the cafe. Zoe was not there either.
"But seriously, how do you get in contact with her?" Christie asked as they went to the next shop, a small hardware store.
"Ever heard of a land phone?" Masaki asked.
"Yeah, but no one really uses those anymore," she replied.
Masaki walked up and down the aisles, tugging his hood slightly to keep it up. "Some people can't afford them."
"My father bought this one for me," Christie said, pulling one out of her purse. "He got me unlimited calling and texting so I can call whoever I want whenever I want."
"Does your father pay for everything?" He asked, glancing at her with his dark eyes.
"Yup, whatever I want," she told him. "I told him that I would get a job so that he wouldn't have to pay for as much, but I've been too lazy to look for one."
Masaki finished searching the hardware store and began to walk to the exit. "I see...."
"Hey, I was wondering...would you like to come back to my apartment with me? You know, grab something to eat," she offered.
"I'm sorry, but I really need to find my sister," he told her. "Maybe some other time."
"I'm sure she'll turn up soon," she said, trying to convince him.
Masaki thought for a moment, then smiled. "You know, maybe that's not such a bad idea. I can find her later."
Christie clapped excitedly. "Oh, good. C'mon, my car's this way."
The two of them got into her red convertable, where she proceeded to speed off to her apartment.
"Do you have any roomates?" He asked her.
"Yeah, but they're gone for the day," she replied.
Masaki smiled. "So then it'll be just the two of us then?"
"Exactly, so no one can come in and bug us." Christie accelerated a bit, speeding to avoid a red light. "Just you and me."
"Good to know...."
Okay, thats the end of the chapter and the next one will be out within two days.