GAHHHH; Sorry!! D:
I forgot to update again, sorry!!
Oh well, again, it's going to be a double-update again~! xD
So, read up; no votes since last post, so… heh. You guys really want this to be a Mukuro/Kaia story, hmm?
Oh well, that might change [might!] if you guys vote. The deadline will come sometime, I'm not sure when though.
Just, happy reading!! :D
Oh yeah, and from now on, if I used Ria and Kaia interchangeably, I was referring to Kaia. Now, there is a distinct difference between the two. Read below and see. :D
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"I'm sure I'm at fault too…" sighed Soto. "It's not right to suddenly change her intake of flame; it's probably because of that, too." He shook his head.
"Yeah, in a way." Jasmine relentlessly replied, "Is it like caffeine?"
"I've been training her hard until…" Soto sighed. "Yeah."
"How hard, exactly?"
"Worse than Reborn, even. And I thought she could even do a thing once she woke up…" Soto shook his head. "I must have been mistaking Kaia for Ria now."
"Wha- does she have bipolar…?"
"You'll know the difference. It's really easy to tell, actually."
"Only if we knew what got to Kaia," sighed Jasmine. "Did you say anything particular to her since the time she woke?"
"Nothing that I recall of." Soto shrugged.
They were walking on the street; actually, now they've arrived at Kaia's apartment complex. Jasmine hurried to open the gate as Soto lumbered along, this time being the one to carry Kaia back to her apartment. After Jasmine closed the gate after Soto, she caught up with him.
"Doesn't that Gokudera live in the same building?" she raised an eyebrow. "He's probably going to be suspicious, or at least curious of what's going on."
"No, he's wasting his time trying to figure out what Shamal is talking about," smiled Soto. "He's not here."
Speak of the Devil.
By now, both Soto and Jasmine had arrived at the apartment number, and Soto was fumbling around his pocket for his key. Gokudera had just come around the bend; his apartment had been on the same floor, just on the other side of the building. He was carrying a large cardboard box, and was probably making his way down the staircase to the ground.
He halted in his tracks.
"Speak…of…the…Devil," muttered Jasmine.
"Hey – aren't you…?" started Gokudera.
"Soto," answered the Cloud Guardian. "I'm called Soto."
"Why are you here…again?" Gokudera raised an eyebrow.
"Hmm; you seem interested in the welfare of this frail, little girl?" smirked Soto. "We're just back from a meeting with Dino."
"And who's…that?"
"I'm Jasmine," huffed the eighteen-year-old. She smiled. "Nice to meet you – Gokudera Hayato?"
"Y-Yeah, you creep me out," frowned Gokudera. He abruptly left.
He tripped.
Soto laughed aloud, and Jasmine snickered a little bit. Though he was too low down the stairs to be seen by the two, they knew by the surprised small yell Gokudera gave when he slipped; the box flew into the air, and a multitude of paper airplanes came flying out. Soto ventured closer to the edge of the stairwell to take a look at Gokudera's sorry state.
He sighed and decided to put Kaia to bed first. He once again walked to the door, took out his keys, unlocked the door, opened it, and entered. Jasmine quickly followed, ditching Gokudera to deal with his problem himself.
"Jasmine, start cooking some soup," instructed Soto, "and fast; Kaia loves the smell of food, especially soup." He set Kaia on the couch, and grabbed the blanket on the floor. He spread it wide, and wrapped it snugly around her. In doing so, he frowned, his brow furrowing in concern.
"Jazz?"
"Yeah, what's it?"
"Her temperature…it's dropping." Soto looked up, and their eyes made contact. Jasmine paled, hastily put the water aside to boil, and came in a whirlwind to the living room to check Kaia's temperature. After feeling Kaia's hand, Jasmine checked Kaia's forehead and neck.
"She is…" gasped Jasmine. "This is a bad sign, a bad sign…" She hurried back to the kitchen to fill up some hot water bottles; meanwhile, Soto checked Kaia's heart rate. He paled and sat down on the couch as well. Jasmine hurried back in a flurry of panic as she placed the packets of hot water all around Kaia's body.
"How is her heart rate?"
"Lower…weaker…just, just dead-er." Soto stood up with another sigh and heard a sound coming from the kitchen. "Water's up to a boil."
"Ah! Okay," Jasmine raced back to the kitchen. The Cloud Guardian remained silent, thinking of the past few days.
"Jasmine." Soto sounded dead serious, and Jasmine paused. She stepped away from what she was doing, sticking her head into view.
"What is it?" she raised an eyebrow.
"Have you . . . have you ever thought if Kaia . . . doesn't want to go through all this?"
Jasmine stepped completely out of the kitchen, completely overwhelmed and taken aback by a question so big, so important and so exposed, alone, so full of hidden emotions. She sighed and chuckled to herself.
"What if it so happens that she's asleep? She wouldn't remember a thing." Jasmine blinked. Soto glared at her; Jasmine's expression softened.
"Kaia would just want us to do our best – she'll forgive us if we couldn't make it."
Soto bowed his head in sorrow.
"I've failed Allegra. She is broken, I am broken, Kaia's broken…"
"You haven't mentioned when you're going to fix 'em, haven't you?" Jasmine raised an eyebrow. "I don't wanna go around tending to you, too. Now don't you go emo on me ever again." Soto looked up curiously at Jasmine.
Maybe what they say is right – there's always hope, love, joy, faith, and magic in the new generation.
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Well, yay, they got home. :D
Keep on reading, everyone! Remember, this is going to be a double-update, so go on a read!! xD
