Willow, again! hanks to all who keep reviewing! It's great to have some people who like it, and read it regularly! Enjoy!
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My birthday was finally here. A large cake stood in the middle of the room, along with a large pile of presents. It was a formal, thanks to mum and dad, but it didn't really matter. It was still a party, no matter how you dressed.
Aniela came with Hiroki, the guy who was in the 'Star Pair' with her. My Aunt and Uncle had finally bought and moved into the house next to us. Yukio came, also. I couldn't stop staring. Him in a tux was just to great. "Sayuri?" he asked. "Oh! Um, er... what?" I asked. "You're gawking." he sneered. I glared. "Don't flatter yourself, cat-boy." I retorted. He shrugged tossing his present in the pile.
And those were the only people that came, besides my Aunt and Uncle. But they don't count. We all talked while eating our cake, but I had to be very careful not to spill any on my nice, black, flowy dress. It went all the way to the ground, and had white lace rimming all the edges. I wore black gloves, and black boots that made me taller. My hair was done up in two, elaborate buns.
I was outside on the porch, admiring the fireworks that dad was having so much fun lighting and scaring mum half to death. "Ikuto!" she yelled. "Airon, come on! Let your hair down!" he called back. She laughed, and lit a match, lighting one of the biggest fireworks yet. I could see she had cat ears and tail, and a little red character was floating next to her.
Yukio silently stepped onto the porch. "Boo." he breathed in my ear. "Eep!" I squealed, trying not to turn around and slap him. "Happy birthday." he smiled sarcastically. "Yeah, good one." I said. The fireworks continued to go off in the background, loud booms of sparkling glitter. Yukio put his hand under my chin, turning my head towards him. "Yuki..." I tried to protest. But I didn't want to. He leaned in, and I was, too. I closed my eyes, and I could feel the eyes of Chie and Hitoshi on us. That embarrassed me immensely. Oh, well.
We were inches apart, when I heard the door behind us slide open with a loud, BANG! We both turned to see it, along with Yoko and Ai. Yoko smiled at me. "Izanagi said I could come and wish you a happy birthday." she said. "Oh." was all I said as a reply. "Well, um... happy birthday?" she said awkwardly. "Yeah. Happy birthday to me." I whispered. "Uh... yeah... Izanagi, want some cake?" she asked. "No. It's probably full of poison." he said, sneering over at me. I sighed. Whatever. I'm not arguing with it today.
"So close! It was so sweet!" I heard Chie whisper to Hitoshi. What, we had kissed before, right? I dunno. "I know! They were so close!" whispered Hitoshi back. I sighed, looking up at Yukio. He was frowning. Poor guy. We had been pretty close.
The night finally ended, and everyone went home. I trudged up the stairs, and took a shower, letting my muscles loosen under the hot water. I got out, changed, and brushed my teeth. I got into bed, and closed my eyes. The darkness overtook me. I fell into sleep.
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Five years later...
I shifted warily in my seat. Only two more minutes of class. But I had to meet Aniela at the Crepe store in five minutes. Why did they go so overboard? Well, there was nothing for it. I raised my hand. "Sir? I don't feel so well. May I go?" I asked in a falsely sick voice. "Oh, sure ya can, laddy!" replied the teacher cheerfully. "I'm not a dude." I said back. The class was giggling quietly. "Whatever you say, my lad." he said back. I smacked my forehead. He was so stupid.
I ran out of the classroom, the two long locks of hair I left uncut in the front flowing behind me. The rest of my short hair not bouncing at all. I dashed out of the school, the principal nearly seeing me. I jumped over the gate, and sped off towards the plaza. "Chie, can I change?" I huffed. "Of course!" she replied from within my bag. I grew wolf ears and a tail, hopping easily onto the brick wall. I sped across town. I was nearly there. Then, I sensed some X eggs. Aw, man. I stopped running, and took out my cell phone. I dialed Aniela. "Hello?" came her dignified voice. "Hey, Aniela." I said. "Oh, hey Sayuri, what's up?" she asked. "I came across some X's on my way over. I'll be a few minutes, yeah?" I said quickly. "Oh, sure. I'll wait for you!" she replied. "Kay, bye." I said, hanging up.
"Chie, character change!" I said. The background went dark behind me, a howl echoing across the open space. A sound like a drop of water, and Chie bounced into my hand, egg consuming her. She sank into my chest, as I leaped gracefully upwards. I spun around, a grey, jacket-like dress covering my body. The maroon underside showing slightly. Backless, white gloves held on by maroon ribbons appeared on my hands, and black boots covered my feet. Wolf ears popped up on my head with an eerie noise, as did the tail. I spun around, crossing my hands in the air. "Chara Nari: Lone Huntress." Chie and I spoke in unison.(sorry, I just had to do that. Yes, her outfit has changed. It's because her general style has, too.)
The X eggs came flying around the corner. I knew that since school was out, the guardians would be here any minute. "Sonic Netting!" I called. I opened my mouth wide, calling out into the space where the X eggs were. You could faintly see a shimmering net envelope them all. The net came towards me, and I picked up my school bag, taking out a rucksack. I stuffed the X eggs inside, then put it in my bag. I undid my transformation.
And then Izanagi, Yoko and Ai ran around the corner. Izanagi was totally out of breath. I'd heard he'd gained six pounds over the summer. I began to question if it wasn't true. "Yo, it. Yoko. Ai." I said, smiling. "Hand over- huff- the X- huff- eggs, no- huff- now!" said Izanagi, trying to sound assertive. "Sorry, no can do. And, I have a meeting at the Crepe store, so if you don't mind, I do tend to enjoy Crepes very much. I would quite like to have one now. So, I'll just be going." I said. I turned on my heel, Chie bobbing behind me, and left in the southeast direction. I opened the door, and immediately spotted Aniela sitting at the nearest table. I sat down across from her.
"Order yet?' I asked. She shook her head. Perfect timing, a waitress walked up to us. "What will it be?" she asked. "Two cinnamon and sugar Crepes, please."(oh, how I do love Crepes, so.) "I'll be right back with your order." said the woman. "So, Aniela. How's Easter been treating you?" I asked. She shrugged. "Same as usual. They're getting desperate, though. You know how at the beginning, there was only the Crescent Pair, Star Pair, and Rose Pair?" I nodded. "I hear they've added at least six more, and that's saying something. Don't they have enough fighters as it is? And that's not all. I hear that they turned down Amaya to be on the Flame Squad!" she exclaimed, the concept of this new gossip getting to her head.
"Well, it's no surprise." I said back. Our Crepes were put on the table, and I quietly thanked the waitress. I began to munch on a corner of my Crepe. "She is annoying, and immature." I said. Aniela nodded. "And," I continued between bites of sugary sweetness, "The Flame Squad is high-class. Only the elite get on that, and you have to be a certain age." I said. Aniela nodded again, apparently 'lost in the Crepe'. "How's Hiroki these days?" I asked. I knew that Hiroki was around the same age as us, but he didn't attend our school. "Oh, he's doing fine. Our group hasn't been doing well, though. Easter's running low on ideas to get X eggs out, in the first place. I hear they're going to start hiring singers like they did back in our parents' day. Both our mothers were forced into that stupid plan." she said, stopping abruptly to take a large bite of Crepe.
"How 'bout Yuki? 'Ow's 'e doin'?" she asked through a mouthful of sugar, cinnamon, and Crepe. "Actually, I haven't seen him since... a month ago. I think he had to do something special for Easter." I said sadly. "Why didn't you stop him?" Aniela asked, swallowing her Crepe. Only the tip was left now. "It's not my place to, Aniela." I replied sadly, contemplating my half-finished Crepe, as I heard Aniela order a chocolate-banana Crepe from the waitress. Aniela turned back to me, holding her Crepe with sparkly anime-eyes. "Whadaya mean, 'it's not your place to say'. He's your partner." she said, biting into the Crepe, successfully getting creamy milk chocolate on her face. "I don't control what he does, Aniela. Easter does. Besides, why would my opinion matter so much? It's not like I can just say, 'Yuki, don't go', and everything'll be happy and dandy again. He doesn't care about my feelings that much, as he's always teasing me. You know, come to think of it, he pushed me down on a couch just to tease me. I really did think I was in trouble for a second." I said, taking another bite of Crepe thoughtfully.
"He does that because he likes you, Ri." Aniela said, wiping her mouth with a napkin. 'Ri' was the new nickname she had recently come up with.
"He does not like me, El." I replied. As she put down her napkin, I saw the glint of the Humpty Lock on her chest. I had given it to her, since it didn't seem to work very well with me. She could purify tones of eggs with it at once, while I could only do two or three at my best. "Besides, I'm a tenth grader, sixteen, and he's twenty. Twenty, El! Come on!" I said. It's true. Yuki is now twenty. It amazed me when he called me up one night. "Hey, Sayuri. It's my twentieth birthday! Come over and celebrate!" The last five years seem to have flown by.
We stayed at the Crepe shop the rest of the hour, and in that time, Aniela ordered five Crepes. Cinnamon-sugar, chocolate-banana, sugar-chocolate, sugar-banana, and banana-cinnamon. The waitress gratefully shooed Aniela out, while I paid the bill, and handed a large tip to the waitress, who smiled at me, and said "Thank you! I've never had one person order so many Crepes in one go!" she exclaimed, cramming the thirty-dollar bill into her apron. I smiled, thanked her, and walked out.
"Christ, El, why so many Crepes? You have heard the rumor that Izanagi gained, like, six pounds or more? Do you want to head that way, too?" I said sarcastically. "No." she said, puffing out her cheeks. "I was just hungry." she pouted. "Whatever you say." I replied. I got to my house, unlocking the door with my house key. Mum and dad would be home late tonight...
The next morning was a Saturday. I dressed slowly in a grey knitted long-sleeved dress, with a small shawl that went just below my chest, and tied around my neck in a bow. I put on some black gloves and matching boots. Gloves were my thing now. Probably because the first thing Yuki ever gave me was a pair of silk gloves.(and because the author enjoys speaking of gloves!:3)
I picked up my school bag and riffled through it, getting out all that I needed for weekend homework. Unlike when I was young, I no longer ditch school, and work diligently to do well. However, I'm still just as violent and sarcastic as I used to be. I stuffed my school stuff into a leather shoulder bag, and stepped out of the door into the cool morning air. I walked casually to the park, and sat on a bench. I took out my algebra homework, and began to warily solve for x. I had completed half the sheet, when I heard a rustling sound from the tree to my right. I looked up for a moment, then looked back down, only to find my algebra sheet missing.
"What the-" I began. Then I heard a light chuckle from the tree. I got up, and walked under it, only to see my favorite cat-boy. He was looking over my algebra problems. "Yuki!" I called happily. He looked casually over his shoulder, smirking. "You're quite the nerd, now, aren't you?" he teased. "Jealous!" I teased back. He snorted. "Whatever." he replied. "Sense when did your style get so un-punk-ish?" he asked. "Not my fault you haven't been paying attention!" I said, putting my hands up. "I've been in Europe for the past month." he said back. I smirked. "Learn any French?" He looked surprised. "No. You?" he replied jokingly. "Actually, yes. We're learning in school." I retorted, proud of myself. "I'm nearly the top in my class." I said mockingly.
He began to question me about my life. "What else are you doing I'm not aware of?" he joked. "Um... I do dance. And, um... I take fighting lessons, but that's a requirement for people my age from Easter. Um... mum's teaching me to play Cello, and I gave my Humpty Lock to my cousin." I said. "What? Why?" he asked, surprised. I shrugged. "It was meant for her. She's much better at using it than I am. Besides, I think that something... bigger... is coming for me." I said. He raised an eyebrow. "Wow, this is unfolding like a soap opera." he retorted sarcastically. "Ha, ha." "Yuki-chan, dear!" I heard from a distance. Yuki's head perked up happily. Oh, no, was it Amaya? No, his head wouldn't perk up happily. What on Earth was going on?
I saw a black haired girl with green eyes bound forward. A bag swinging from her side, and a black skirt twirling. Her hair was done in an elaborate, curly bun. "Yuki-chan! How are you?!" she exclaimed. She bounded into his open arms, and they kissed. My heart froze in place. All trace of happiness gone from my now horrified expression. The girl looked at me. "Oh, who is this?" she asked curiously. 'This is your worst nightmare.' I thought. "This is my old friend Sayuri Tsukiyomi." he told her. Wait, 'old friend'? I'm not, I dunno, 'good friend', or even just 'friend'? "Sayuri, this is Mitsuki Suihou. My girlfriend." he told me.
That was the day my whole world stopped turning.