Chapter 12 – He Thought About It

At one point Cravat managed to tie Stocking up in 'that' way. He was pretty sure he would be careful not to accidentally snag her during a fight. If he did she'd to go down faster than Panty would on a lucky night out. Of course an Angel suddenly letting out sexual gasps and moans while engaging in deadly combat might be enough to disturb the basheezus out of anyone or anything, but he'd rather not test out that theory. Somewhere along the line Stocking began to playfully taunt him and his sexual prowess, which as far back as he could remember, he didn't have until that night yet anyway. She quieted down (rather, was left 'speechless', save for the gasps and the whimpers) about it as soon as he started tightening the grip his Ghost Kiras had on her, along with some other things she'd taught him (after a few minutes of awkward instruction giving). He learned quickly, and as things moved along he got some rep for improvisation. Since they both had crazy endurance, their little session went on through the night. Once it was all over, their bet ended in a tie. Let the imagination determine whatever their bet was, because they didn't really go into specifics. Something about who could do what to who and how many times.

They both laid flat on their backs, staring at the ceiling of Stocking's canopy bed. Cravat noticed that you seem to become aware of the little things when you're tired. Little ruffles on the drapes, little gilded designs along the upholstery, and the not-so-little pair of breasts that were to his right. He looked at his partner. She was trying to get her poise back together, which was slowly and strategically shattered over the past few hours. Taking deep heavy breaths, she managed a slightly-crazed grin. "Pretty good for a virgin."

"Gee, thanks."

He scooted over a little then used her chest as a pillow. Better than any pillow he'd ever slept on by a long shot. He grabbed bunch of her hair started to play with it. She found some entertainment herself in twirling some of his messy brown hair around her finger. "You sleepy yet?"

"A little I guess," after this everything would go back to normal, he thought. He wasn't expecting anything more. This was a one night thing, he thought to himself. One extremely awesome night. "So are you okay now?" he asked. He began tying her hair like shoelaces. He tried making some rope knots with it, but he realized if it got tangled enough she'd kill him.

"… yeah, I'm fine." Stocking twirled his hair some more. She'd let out her steam, all those pent up emotions and sexual desires that accumulated into one, big, cloud of smog in her system. At least one of her theories was right. She really didn't want another relationship as of yet. One night stands. She was just as capable of it as Panty was. "Listen…"

"I know."

"You do?"

"No strings attached, right?"

Cravat was pretty perceptive when he wanted to be. She was half-expecting him to be mushy and awkward about the entire thing, but he didn't, which kind of madeher awkward. Maybe she really underestimated him too much. He started tracing her stomach with his finger, making her stifle a laugh. Getting a hold of herself, Stocking wrapped her arms around Cravat, bringing him in for a hug. His face was right up against her assets, but neither of them complained. "You're one hell of a..." she paused for a second, as if trying to figure out the best way to describe him.

"Here comes the friend-zone." He said jokingly, his voice a little muffled. She flicked his forehead and laughed.

"We've got until morning. I think I can make it 'with benefits' until then. I'm pretty sure you don't have any complaints."

She was referring to that something pressing up against her leg again. Round… what was it? Bleh, didn't matter. Cravat got up and loomed over her. She didn't look like an almighty being, menacing and powerful. She looked like a normal girl, pretty and sweet, but with doubts and issues which were just lifted off her shoulders, if only a little.

She eyed him uneasily. He'd been there just staring at her for a good half-minute. "Cravat?"

He blinked. "Did you just call me by my real name?"

A conceited smile slowly crept onto her features. "Just this once, I think you've relatively earned it," she told him. He pondered for a second, and then he lowered his head to whisper into her ear.

"I'll make sure you'll be saying it a lot more later."

She felt her entire body shudder. He started to caress her, his left hand tracing lines again around her body ever so lightly. The mood was different this time, and so was her reaction. He lowered his face toward hers, and he could feel her breathing become ragged as he continued to be a tease. That's right woman, the student's getting better. His left hand was circling just above her thighs.

"You've become… full of yourself, haven't you…?" She asked haughtily, her lips inches away from his. "Time's a wasting, don't you think…?"

He caressed her cheek with his right hand and brushed his lips lightly against hers. "Getting impatient? Maybe I'll make you wait for it…" he said softly. It made her shudder again. She seemed to be doing that a lot. The bastard was good at mind games, she'd give him that much. His left hand was still hovering around the area above her thighs, slowly and, figuratively speaking, painfully travelling down. With a sudden movement, she gasped. His hand had jolted to its mark. Fuck, maybe she taught him a little too well. "Just kidding~"

"You're such an ass," she managed a pleasured smirk.

For the last time in what would probably a long while, if ever, he let his emotions take him, and she did the same. They didn't follow any common logic. He knew she was just using him to relieve herself, but he didn't mind. She felt a little guilty about the entire thing, but didn't say anything about it. So they let it slide, having a weird, unsaid understanding with one another. Whatever it was they felt, whether it was lust, love, either or, neither nor, even if it was just a tiny speck, it was enough. It was something primal, chaotic, and nonsensical.

But it felt pretty damn good.

-0-0-0-0-0-

"Rise and shine my little rabbits~!" Panty, clad in her nightgown, sing-songed. She tried to rip the sheets from the bedding, exposing the two sleepy figures from under the covers. Cravat was lying on his back with his arms over his head, and Stocking was on her side with one arm across his chest and her right leg wrapped around both of his. Cravat groggily managed to grab hold of the sheets at the last second, and was staring at Panty like a hawk.

"At least let me get some clothes on…" he said, yanking the covers back.

"Aw, but I want to see you naked too," the blonde explained, a very disturbing grin was tugging at her features. "C'mon, let me see what you're packing down there~"

Cravat went to grab hold onto one of his Ghost Kiras at the side of the bed and restrained Panty with it. The whip crackled as it wrapped around the blonde, shocking her and making her yelp a little. She tried to find some balance, and fell dejectedly backwards onto one of the walls. The tip rested on her cheek like a snake, which she found unnerving.

"Why Stocking likes this kind of thing, I will never understand," she tried breaking free, actually she could with little effort, but she was too damn lazy. Cravat got a pillow and covered his lower regions as he got his boxers and put them on, then reached for another few pieces of clothing.

"You should've seen her face last night, it was like-" before he managed to finish that sentence, he felt a disturbing presence behind him. A glowing bright blue katana was already at his throat.

"My face was like what now, Otakun?" the Goth said slowly and evilly. Well at least she's back to normal. She was still shamelessly naked, but by now he didn't even try to act like he minded anymore.

"Nothing, ma'am," he said, carefully pushing the tip of her sword and aiming it somewhere else. From her little corner of the room, Panty laughed.

"Don't worry, we've had 'group outings' together before, I know what you're talking about."

Well that was a disturbing thought. Cravat, too lazy to put on a shirt, noticed Panty was still restrained. He retracted his whips slowly, and the tip lightly grazed her ear. Then she let out one sexy moan. Cravat stopped retracting and looked at her with 'Dear god not you too' written on his face. Panty managed to stick her tongue out at him.

"Let's keep that a secret among the three of us shall we? Well, technically, four… or ten… or…"

He just nodded, and retracted his whip again, until she was finally free. She dusted herself off, before launching herself at Cravat, pinning him down on Stocking's bed. Déjà vu.

"Oh hell no," he laughed nervously. No he wasn't laughing, but he really was nervous. Stocking he managed to handle, but someone like Panty… neither his body nor his soul is ready. Why the hell were these women so damn strong? If Stocking could manage to flip him over, Panty could theoretically suplex him into submission.

"Stocking, you mind?" Panty asked mischievously. She had that glint in her eye, one playful, maniacal glint. Her sister was already standing grabbing her towel from her closet. She didn't even glance back.

"I guess not, just don't be too rough on him," she chuckled.

Stocking walked out of the room, stretching and yawning about bath time. As she did, Panty got up off of Cravat and offered him a hand. He accepted it cautiously, and got up on his feet. When he stood up straight, she flicked him on the forehead. More déjà vu. The two of them really are sisters.

"You would not believe what kind of whining that little bitch does. You just saved me another round of 'how annoying and unbearable Otakun is'."

"Er, you're welcome?"

Panty shifted a little, tapping her foot repeatedly with her hands behind her back. "So you're fine with this? Not going for the whole 'together forever and ever amen' thing?"

Cravat felt a little smile coming on. He would if could, well, sort of, he wasn't really sure either, but he knew he couldn't replace Stocking's fiancé. As an honorary bro, even if he'd never talked much to the guy, he would not steal away a woman from her dead fiancé. Did that make sense? It did in his head, so who cares.

"She's back to normal. I'm fine with that. Besides, I don't want things to get awkward if, you know, relationship complications, yadda yadda, might suddenly leave me to die while fighting a Ghost, etcetera…" he managed a laugh.

Panty blinked. Well at least he's not bawling over it like she expected. Maybe she underestimated him a little too much. She wondered if Stocking did the same. "You're a fucking idiot," she said, then stood on her tiptoes before giving him a light peck on the cheek. "But at least you're sweet."

"Er, thanks?" he said. He won't deny it; he felt his face heat up a little. That was the last thing he'd expect from someone like Panty, the almighty sex-goddess. Giving him an innocent kiss without expecting the full-course in return? Someone must have divided by zero. Panty realized she was still in her nightgown and went off to take a bath herself, leaving Cravat to tidy up the room.

(These sheets…) he mused. (I'm either going to burn them or we're going to have to put it on extra-strength swirling… with lots and lots of bleach, ammonia, detergent, and…) he straightened up the pillows and carried the 'dirty' bedding to the laundry room, located on the first floor of the tower where their rooms were situated. Habit was there, who seemed to be doing some laundry of her own.

"Yo," he called out, setting the sheet on one of the washing machines. She turned to him with a shaky smile and big googly eyes. Wow that was freaky.

"S-SO I HEARD YOU HAD SEX!" she shouted, her voice cracking a little. Okay, getting freakier. If there's one thing that'll make you feel awkward about a situation it was a girl in a nun's outfit proclaiming out loud, to the world, no holds barred, just saying, for the first time, you had intimate contact with the opposite gender. She ran up to him and gave him a bear hug. Why the hell do all the women in this house have the strength of a ten mythical creatures? She broke away, her shaky smile turning into a pout.

"Why didn't you a-accept my offer before, now you're no longer pure enough to s-sleep with this holy maiden," she gestured dramatically. He just laughed, and ruffled her hair. There was something about how she was talking though… was she stuttering? Maybe she was nervous. He went up to her and decided to mess with her head a little.

"If you'd like…" Cravat went up to her in one swift motion, cupping her face in his hand and pushing her against the washing machine. Laundry-room sex. Was that a sort of play? "I could take you up on that offer."

Habit frantically pushed Cravat away. Normally that would have been a playful gesture, but she pushed him hard, as in he had to flail a little to regain his balance. Her head dipped, and he couldn't see her expression through her red bangs that covered her face. She was shaking like a leaf.

"Hey, it was just a joke Habit…"

Habit walked up to him, resting her head and her hands on his chest. Something at the back of his mind prompted him to give her a comforting hug. She started to speak slowly.

"You… y-you'd never hurt me, right?" she asked sincerely. It was an odd setting, the laundry machines humming in the background while something this dramatic was going on. He had to wonder though, where did that question spawn from. He'd never seen her like this before. The last time she'd even stuttered was… that time, after they first met, and she even asked the same question.

He gently stroked her hair to try and calm her down. She liked that. He'd done the same thing before. But why was this coming up again after all this time? It seemed so long ago now. She slowly let go, and rubbed her eyes because of what looked like tears almost flowing out. She put on the best smile she could.

"I'm hungry, wanna go eat?"

Cravat smiled. "I'll just finish the laundry."

0—0—0—0—0

The dark sky loomed above me. It was either late in the evening or some time past midnight, I couldn't really tell. Okay, recall. My name is Cravat. I'm a fallen Angel. I was sent to Little Tokyo to collect Heavens so I could receive absolution and gain access back to Heaven itself. Right? That makes sense. So why does it sound weird when I say it to myself? The first thing I remember after being kicked out of… Heaven is winding up in this alley… what date was it? I can't remember. I got up onto my feet. My clothes were a little ripped up. Does that happen when you get flung back to Earth? Probably. I didn't ponder on it. As I walked down the alley it sort of sent off this weird vibe, like I've been here before. I rounded a corner and found a little church-like hovel. Must be where I'm supposed to head to.

It wasn't anything to write home about, but I guess it looked cozy. There was a kitchen and two bedrooms, a dining room, basically the bare essentials you'd need for living here. I walked into one of the rooms and found weapons all over the place. Knives, hatchets, daggers, anything pointed or sharp, this room had it. I know it isn't very polite to look into other people's stuff, but no one else seemed to be around, so I let my curiosity lead me for the moment. I cautiously opened the drawers beside the bed and found clothes. Okay, no shit, but the clothes looked like they were for a nun. It looked like their uniform, but when I laid it on the bed it seemed a little… more revealing than what a nun usually wears, the skirt anyway. There was a long slit that went all the way from the hem, kind of like a Chinese Qipao, except the top part was an exact replica of a nun's outfit. I went over to inspect the closet, and there were a bunch of leather straps and these weird cylindrical things with switches scattered around, along with a bunch of clothes that looked like it was for lazing around at home all day. That and there were a bunch of silky and frilly lingerie strewn about, so I guessed this room belonged to a woman. Whoever that was, she wasn't here today, or right now anyway.

I know a lot of the basic things on Earth, but I've never really experienced them…

At least, I think.

Yeah, that sounds about right. I walked to another room, and found one of those 'computer' things. Now this is what really had me wondering. Back in Heaven, they said humans used this to communicate with each other and play electronic games on it. However they did it, I didn't know, and I was a little too afraid to find out. I might end up blowing the place sky-high. I decided to leave it alone for now. I probably won't use it much anyway. Now that I got a good look around the room, it felt… familiar, like it belonged to me. I spotted a mirror to the side. I saw my reflection, dark-brown messy hair, auburn eyes. For some reason I imagined myself with white hair and piercing green-ish eyes, like I'd looked like that once before. Didn't ring a bell though. I reached for these two tie-looking things on my neck. I had two of them on, one on top of the other. Odd, I thought. I knew I should've been a little more concerned I found things about myself odd, but I just didn't mind. It was a little unnerving, but I never pursued the feeling. I dismissed it and walked around a bit more.

The living room was modest, but it was pleasant. I sat down on a couch and pointed humans called a remote at the 'television'. I clicked the big red button. It's always the red button isn't it? In a flash the machine hummed to life, and it was on what looked like a news channel.

"Following a string of strange deaths lately, a young man was found dead in this alleyway not too long ago. Signs of death however are different from the previous victims, who were, according to sources, were eaten by some strange animal. Cause of death to this particular individual is still inconclusive-" I flipped the channels. Humans just reek of death. It's like a big beacon that's saying *KILL MEH!*

Animal Planets, National Geography, Playhouse Dizny, it's a freaking multitude of different kinds of shows all in one little box. Even anime, which I thought I might like, but wasn't sure why. There goes that feeling again. I pretty much got bored after flipping through Higgly Town Heroes for the umpteenth time, so I turned the little box of magic off and decided to take a little stroll through the neighborhood. I got off the couch and straightened myself out, then headed straight for the door. As I opened it, I felt my senses go into overdrive. There was something here, watching me. How I knew, I inferred it was my Angel reflexes kicking in. I could just sense a malevolent presence. I waited to see if it would do anything.

…

Nothing. Wherever it was, it's gone now. I looked around cautiously just to be sure, and headed out. As I walked out of the alley that lead to the church, I noticed people on my right. There was a commotion. I noticed a bunch of people with camera equipment, and a newscaster. Wasn't that the guy from T.V.? I walked towards the scene but then something in my gut tugged hard to move away from the scene. It was that murder I saw about ten minutes ago on T.V. I tried to get a good look at the corpse, but my body wouldn't let me.

Don't.

Going on my gut feeling, I turned away after I'd glimpsed. Was it just me or…?

…

Of course not, that would be stupid.

So here I am, patrolling the streets, waiting for anything to happen. Anything at all. Random explosion here or there maybe, some freaked out civilians, and a Ghost or two. I didn't know when, but at some point I'd be able to kill my first Ghost. It made me feel tingly inside from anticipation. I wandered off around the city. Almost all the buildings were ashen gray, like an old-timey movie, where everything was had a monochrome shade. None of them even seemed to have varying height or width, like the architect got bored and decided to copy and paste each and every building to save time and space. People walked up and down the streets with an expression that read 'Yeah, you'll be here for the rest of your life'. Almost all of the buildings were for business too. No malls, no arcades, no nothing. Sheezus it's boring here. I put my hand in my pocket and felt a metallic object against my skin. A pocket watch. Huh, didn't know I had one. It was almost midnight.

"I think I should get some shut eye…" I spoke to no one in particular. I started to back track along the rectangular streets and alleys of Little Tokyo back to the alleyway from whence I came. I stopped, feeling a presence behind me. I turned around and grabbed onto whatever part of my assailant I could. My hands landed on what felt like shoulders… that belonged to a petite girl in a nun's outfit.

"Can I… help you?" I asked. She wasn't responding, she was just staring blankly at me, like a deer that saw the headlights of an oncoming car. I tried tapping her shoulders a little. Still nothing. She just put one of hands on mine. Okay, well this is awkward. "Hello…?"

I had this weird feeling of attraction. It was weird. Not like love at first sight, but more of… I've felt her touch before. Somewhere in an obscure corner of my mind, something felt like it stabbed itself into me. Quick as it came, it left, and pieces of information flooded into my head. This was Habit, the higher ups, they…

I was told to meet her when I came to Earth. She is my guardian. She will be the one to help me hunt Ghosts.

Right… that was it… silly of me to forget…

"Habit?" I called out. I looked into her eyes as she muttered something under her breath.

… worked.

I just caught the last word, but I wasn't too sure even with that; I was still occupied with looking at those crimson red orbs. I noticed her body was trembling, either from the cold night air or something else. Then she just rested her head on my chest and her hood fell back, revealing her orange, neck-length hair. A timid redhead was delicately resting herself on me. I reacted quite calmly, which was heating up like a kettle on a stove and tensing up like I had a full body cramp.

"W-what are you doing, um, Ms. Habit?" I tried to sound calm. I heard myself. That wasn't calm. That just screamed 'virgin'. She looked up at me, with a questioning glance, before looking like she'd remembered that I was a complete stranger. Or acting like I was one anyway.

"C-call me Habit…" she said in a squeaky tone. Well that was adorable. "I-I'll be your g-guardian from now on. Please treat…" she hesitated before she continued. "… treat me gently."

There was something about how she said it that made it very awkward, but I just dismissed it. She rested her head on my chest again and spoke into it, her voice getting muffled. I was pretty sure my face right now was slowly mutating into a twitching tomato. She spoke again, snapping me out of my trance.

"You… you'd never hurt me, right?"

It was an odd question to ask. "Huh?"

"Promise me, you'll n-never hurt me…!" her voice was hushed, but it cracked a little.

Normally someone would question whatever the hell she was talking about. But it didn't seem unnatural. It felt like I even had a debt to her, something that would take a lifetime to repay. All these weird impromptu feelings… where the hell did they come from?

"Okay, okay, I promise," I said. For some reason, one could call it instinct, I began stroking her hair. She seemed to be calming down a little.

"I-I like being stroked there…" she said.

Innuendoes. Wonderful. I don't know how long we stayed there, under the streetlamp which seemed a little romantic dramedy cliché to me.

Oh well.

0—0—0—0—0

"Now that I think about it…" Cravat whispered to himself. The group had finished eating breakfast already and were about to go on patrol around the city. "What did Habit mean by that back then…?" A sharp pain ran through his skull. He knew the drill. The moment he closed his eyes he was in his little dark space again. This time he remembered it. The space was starting to shed some light on its surroundings. It looked like… a room? No, it seemed to constantly shift. One moment it was a room, the next, a field of some sort, an entranceway, a yard. It continued to cycle as he saw his 'other' move toward him.

"You were horrible with women back then," Cravat(?) said. He crossed his arms and began to lean on a wall, which flickered in and out into a tree, a lamppost… you get the idea.

"What's up with this place?"

"To satisfy your obviously inadequate intelligence," Cravat(?) started as-a-matter-of-factly. "You're losing grip on the reality that you made for yourself. Now this world is going haywire with memories of both your new life and your old life. Just saying."

Cravat stayed there, just trying to look at the glimpses that passed him. A school, a house, a condo... Sometimes there were people, but their faces were always obscured. Then there were the clearer pictures, the memories of Stocking, Panty, Kneesocks… and then the ones with Habit. But some of them didn't seem right. Some of them he could remember from their time in Little Tokyo, but some… seemed off. She looked scared. There were glimpses of her naked figure sometimes, just curled up on a bed, motionless… Cravat(?) began to speak.

"Oh, sorry about that, those are mine. They're getting mixed up in yours."

Uh huh, Cravat thought. He started to not care anymore. He didn't care he was living a life that wasn't his. If he really did die and become a Ghost, then maybe he wanted something. Maybe, in those last, few throes of life he had in him, he thought about not appreciating his old life, and he wanted it back. It might've been that. Maybe it was something else entirely. What kind of regret did he have that he managed to posses the body of an Angel? Whatever it was, if he wanted to keep things like this, he couldn't let his last regret be rectified. If it did, he would disappear. This life that he's found, it would all vanish.

"Some things…" Cravat started. Cravat(?) raised his eyebrows, wondering what his other was about to say. "Some things can be left forgotten, right?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Cravat shifted. He faced his other self's piercing emerald eyes with his own. He's seen those eyes before, that stark white hair. It was in that mirror in the room. His room. "The past is the past. I'm here right now. I don't need my past. I can throw it away for all I care."

Cravat(?) sighed. "Whatever. The past is the past, sure. But it's always going to catch up to you. One way or another. All this hostile take-over shit is getting me beat anyway. I'll bide my time. Your time'll be over soon enough." He turned around, walking away. He called out one last time. "When it is, I'll take back what's mine."

The world slowly crumbled again. Cravat felt like he was letting go of a piece of information that was extremely important, but he didn't care. He's letting the past go. He doesn't want to know anything about it anymore. Just before everything collapsed, he saw himself, not his other self, but himself. He was wearing the uniform of a high-school in Little Tokyo. He was walking with several people… a lot of people was more like it. It looked like there was a ceremony going on. For some reason, he caught his breath. Another shift, he was standing in the middle of the street. There were people walking away from him. Then one more shift, with him simply leaning back on a wall looking up at the sky.

He reached out to the illusion. The entire scene turned into a ball that fit in his left palm. He hesitated slightly, before crushing the 'illusion' in his hand. Then he started to fall. This world was gone now.

He hoped he'd never have to see it again.

Cravat snapped back to reality just a few moments after he'd blacked out. He found himself staring at his left hand. It seemed to be clenched tight around something. It looked like… a fragment. That was all he could call it. As quick as he saw it, it dissolved silently, without a trace. He was still staring at him hand when Habit went up to him, startling him slightly.

"You alright big guy?"

He turned around and looked at Habit intently. She seemed so different now. Why was she like that in the first place, he wondered. He pinched her cheeks, which she groaned against.

"Ahl tehk that aff a yeff…"

Author's Notes: OH LOOKIE, IT'S ONLY ONE MONTH LATE NOW UNLIKE TWO MONTHS LATE LIKE BEFORE! YAY! Happy Holidays guys o3o