A/N: Well...hm...this is going quite well. Team Ukishima is filled up, except for the alternate fighter (which I doubt we will be needing.) And as soon as I am able to fill up Team Ukishima and another team the King's identity will be revealed, a new contest will begin, and the tournament will start!
Notes:
Magus Black: I am not entirely sure where you got my e-mail from but first off you probably have the wrong one. I have like...five. The blairn1 zoomnet thing doesn't work anymore. Unless you have the serpent one. That one works. But who told you? -confused S-chan- Oh yes and what was that question that Mar-lo wanted to ask Kurama? You never said.
Our progress thus far:
Team Ukishima:
1. Masked Fighter
2. Alianore
3. Kay
4. Mar-lo
5. Ryu Shoku
Alternate: STILL NEEDED.
Team TianLung Feng:
1. Shira Trusea
2. Thomas Maximillian
3.
4.
5.
Alternate: NONE YET.
Team TC:
1. Sabrina Aino (that's me, 'cause basically this is my team)
2. Kayla Dawn (also Rei)
3. J Gensin
4. Plui Gensin
5. Venus Gensin
Alternate: Ne...
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The King picked up his chopsticks, looking first at his food, then at Kurama and his unexpected kitsune friend.
Kurama looked down at the food, which resembled a human head. He poked at it to make sure it wasn't alive--not that he wanted it dead, either. He looked up at the King, saying, "Itadakimasu."
"Itadakimasu," the kitsune onna repeated. The King nodded, asking for the onna's name.
"Alianore," she managed, staring with some disgust at her food.
"There's other food, you know." said the King, absently taking a bite of human-resembled-head. Alianore heaved a sigh of relief, pushing away her plate.
Two ferry girls came in, and with them the other foods served; gyouza, kashiwa-mochi, onigiri, dango, azuki beans, taiyaki, nimono, ramen, sushi, rice (I'm not translating rice), and sake.
The King watched Alianore and Kurama gape at how much food was brought in--a feast had been required for a visit from his old friend. Alianore looked bewildered at what she should eat first. She took a bite of the kashiwa-mochi, then changed her mind and swallowed a dango.
Kurama, the ever elegant one, took a small bite of taiyaki before lifting his eyes to watch the King, who gulped down a glass of sake. He watched both him and Alianore eat hurriedly, like they were rushing to get somewhere. Kurama took his time to eat everything the ferry girls had piled in front of him.
Out of nowhere the King clapped his hands together and declared, "I insist you two stay the night. You will stay in the hanare."
"Oh--we couldn't--" began Alianore, but Kurama cut her off.
"We'd be delighted," he told the King, shooting Alianore a look across the table. The King nodded and motioned for another bottle of sake.
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Botan pressed the buzzer for Kurama's apartment. Nobody was answering. She tried again, getting rather aggravated.
A small middle-school girl tapped her on the shoulder. "E-Excuse me, Miss, are you looking for Minamino-san?" Botan nodded, tilting the rims of her sunglasses to get a look at the girl. "He's not here," the girl continued. "He left a little while ago with Alianore-dono."
Botan arched her eyebrows--Kurama hadn't mentioned going anywhere with their local fox demoness. She shrugged, and headed away from the door and back to the elevator, leaving the smaller girl to wonder what she had wanted with Minamino-san.
It was probably nothing, she told herself. But she couldn't shake the feeling that something more was going on. Ever since the King had sent out the tournament invitation, everyone had been on edge. Especially Keiko-sama.
Once outside the building, she crossed the street without so much as a look at traffic and arrived in front of a marble statue of the founder of this particular city. She scanned the area for any sign of her associates--nothing turned up.
"Greetings," greeted a quiet voice from behind. Botan spun on her heel, instinctively raising a fist to her attacker's face. She relaxed when she realized it was only her newest associate, Ryu Shoku.
Ryu's long black hair fell into her deep blue eyes as she told Botan in her dark, creepy voice, "There are dead people." Botan inched back, suddenly recalling she wasn't so relaxed.
"That's...great, Ryu-chan." she forced a smile. Ryu's eyes drifted up to Botan's and made her shiver.
"Domo arigato, okashira." she said, her face remaining in a still position, expressionless. She pushed her hair out from in front of her face and behind her back, revealing the bleeding heart bitten by a dragon on her black T-shirt. Her wristbands with the skulls and crossbones on them made her equally creepy, and so did her entire black attire.
Tapping wood sounded lightly on the dirt behind her, and Ryu turned in time to see her fellow team mate Mar-lo make a jab at her. She let his friendly punch hit her square in the nose.
"Oh God!" he yelped, looking at Ryu's suddenly bleeding nose. She looked down at it herself without much interest. "I thought you were going to dodge that! You're OK now, though. Yes?"
Ryu nodded, making no effort to stop the flow of blood. She seemed quieter than usual today. Botan and Mar-lo had to get a tissue and stuff it up her nose to get her to do something.
Mar-lo nodded, flipping his dark green ponytail over his shoulder. "Of course you're OK," he said. "I would never hurt a girl. Much less my own teammate."
Botan pursed her lips and nodded curtly. "Please. No more harming of Ryu-chan."
Mar-lo nodded, saluting. "Absolutely, okashira-onna." Botan ignored his mock-formal comment and turned back to Ryu.
"Now," Botan began, "If I may say--"
"Hello!" sang out the familiar voice of Kay, one of the late team members. She grinned, her blue-green hair swinging behind her, blue eyes sparkling. As always she was dressed up in all blue and black--a tradition she seemed to have established without knowing.
"As I was saying," Botan continued, clearing her throat loudly enough to redirect the group's attention to her. "We're going to have to--"
"Ryu-chan!" Kay suddenly exclaimed. "You made it! I thought you said you weren't coming!"
Ryu turned to look at her, blue eyes blinking. "Yes." she said. There was a pause after that--then Ryu turned back to listen to Botan. The eerie silence had sobered Kay's mood a bit, she quieted down and let Botan talk.
Botan opened her mouth to speak, but then Mar-lo interrupted. "Hey look over there. It's the lung-fang groupies." he pointed over to two people looking over at them from across the street.
"TianLung Feng." Ryu corrected, turning her head ever so slightly to see the opposing team. They looked away the minute they made eye contact with Ryu. She sighed softly.
Botan frowned; these...these...silly demons would not let her get a word out edgewise. She sighed, giving up. She would simply go unheard for the time being. She could tell the team later, anyway. When Alianore was around.
"Hey groupies!" Mar-lo shouted across the street. "Whatcha doin' over there?" His old-fashioned yellow tunic hung loosely around his body as he leaned over to yell at their enemy team.
Thomas, the only male member of the team present, turned to look over at Mar-lo. His violent red hair gave him killer looks, and even across the street his hazel eyes seemed to glow. Kay, despite already having pledged her life to capturing and marrying Yoko Kurama, nearly melted in her shoes from how hot he looked.
The other member, a female, was Shira Trusea, the captain. She was screaming something at Thomas, not paying any attention whatsoever to the other team. In her human form she had long brown hair and looked fairly ordinary; but her demon form, which she was not in at the moment, was even more captivating, with her red tipped silver hair and red eyes. She had a real problem with Thomas--no one could ever guess why she put him on her team if she hated him so much.
"Of all the gall," said Mar-lo, shading his eyes from the sun, clicking the toe of his wood shoes together. "Hey! Sir Sings-a-lot! I'm talking to you!"
Shira looked up from her shouting, pulling her hair back in a ponytail. "Hey! You! Betty-go Boom! Shut the hell up!"
Mar-lo looked almost shocked. "Yeah...well...I can't think of a comeback, help me out here, Ryu."
"You smell like the underside of a dinikiji." said Ryu, still expressionless. Mar-lo repeated what she said with enthusiasm.
He turned to Ryu, confused. "What the heck is a Dinikiji?"
Ryu turned back to look at him. "It comes from my homeworld."
Kay and Mar-lo took a step back. Botan shook her head. Ryu-chan came off as creepy and dark, if only because she was half wraith. (A/N: I changed that.)
Ryu didn't seem to notice she'd been insulted, and proceeded to take the tissue from her nose. She handed the bloody tissue to Botan, saying, "Here." Botan, too afraid of the wraith to object, nodded and took the disgusting rag from the girl.
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A/N: Well. That was long.
Notes:
pices aquarius: Please send some more info on Alianore. Thanks.
Magus Black: Hm...just one question...why Mar-lo's shoes?
Kay(Not Ana): Please elaborate on your character.
Dragonheart 7: More info on Shira, thank you!
And to my reviewers: CAKE FOR EVERYONE! -proceeds to hand out cake-
Translations:
Itadakimasu- thanks for the food.
Gyouza- dumpling
Kashiwa-Mochi- mochi balls filled with azuki bean paste.
Onigiri- rice balls
Dango- dumplings of mochi
Azuki Beans- sweet red beans used in Asian desserts
Taiyaki- fish shaped pancakes filled with azuki bean paste
Nimono- stewed or boiled foods
Ramen- chinese style noodles
Sushi- raw fish (or some dort of food wrap--depends, I guess)
Sake- an alcoholic beverage
Hanare- guest room
Okashira- boss, leader
Okashira-onna- boss lady
All these translations of food are making me hungry. -goes off to scour kitchen for food-
-S-chan