Hey everyone...
So, I edited some stuff with this story especially with the pairing. I just realized that I sucked royally in the grammar and I didn't know then that the tense is supposed to be past tense.
I didn't edit everything, mind you. I'm a loyal slacker so I guess you could see that in the story. I think I started in chapter 2 with the major editing...
Anyway, I've written two new chapters after a very long hiatus (sorry i didn't warn any of the guys waiting for almost a year-major problems came up in my family and school). Second year high school was hectic in Phil-Sci. At least in my third year this year, it won't be so hectic.
I'm done with promising you guys for a certain time for my update. I'm done with breaking my promises. I can't even tell you guys how sorry I am.
Since those who had been waiting for this story to update probably got sick of waiting, I'm just going to say sorry and i hope you'll forgive me. To those who had been reading my stories and making Story Alerts and some even gave a few reviews, thanks a lot. I really appreciate it.
P.S. : This note is just going to repeat from the first chap until the 22nd chapter of my story.
Chapter 8 – Dinner Cat-astrophe
4:30 pm, same day
I've been waiting here for 10 minutes already and Hotaru wasn't here yet! Geez, what in the name of tardiness was she doing?
Then, I saw her go out of her house. Her house has walls painted with beige paint, roof was covered with clay-like material, and her mini-lawn has cobblestone rocks that made its path towards her door. She walked casually as if she has nothing else to do until she reached my car and got in the passenger seat. Then, I noticed something.
"Where's your 'many luggage'? I do remember you saying that you have things to bring," I questioned her sarcastically although I already had the answer in my mind.
"First, I did have a lot of things to bring," she answered while she puffed a breath. "Second, it's 'money-luggage'. Everything in my bags is precious."
"That's what I mean," I said. "Where's your luggage?"
"Don't tell me you're getting old," Hotaru muttered in sarcasm. Then it hit me.
"You shrunk your stuff again, didn't you?" I guessed. "And put it your purse for 'safe-keeping'," I added.
She only nodded as I started the engine and drove off towards Yuu's house.
"What took you so long, anyways?" I asked as I kept my eyes on the road and my ears to the music.
"Crab brains are hard to pack. The jars might break," she explained stiffly and looked towards the windows.
With superhuman-effort, I didn't roll my eyes. I already knew that. No need to bring it up.
I picked up Yuu in his 'decoy house' and saw he had no luggage either. He said that he shrunk it like what Hotaru did with hers using Hotaru's invention (he bought it because she doesn't like rentals…nor does she love borrowing stuff from her. The last time I did that, I got a black eye for a week *shudders*). I huffed and drove off to Anna and Nonoko's 'decoy house'. Their house is a mix of blue and white with a little of pink, but still, it looks just like any normal house. Anna and Nonoko brought five bags each since they need a lot of stuff for something only God knows what. Then, I arrived at Sumire's house. Hers was a mix of dirty-white and lavender with streaks of violet. My eyes almost popped out of our sockets when I saw her bring eight bags.
"What's. With. All. This. Stuff?" I managed to choke out, silently thanking that only the Twins and I brought bags.
"Mikan," Permy started. "You should know that fashion and cosmetics must work together to make a woman beautiful. I'm already a woman and not a kid. I don't want to grow old without a man to love and share my life with…"
I managed to make her voice a buzz in the background as I drove with shaky hands. I can't stand another lecture of her "Fashion and cosmetics can help you get your man". I just don't get it.
"…that's why I have so many bags," she finished with a hair flip. "I even put my 3-5 bags that I shrunk in the bags. I need all the supplies I could get."
I stomped on the brakes again. "What?"
"Do you know how addicted you are to those kinds of things?" Yuu asked as I drove again.
"Why, yes. Yes, I am," Permy said, finishing the conversation.
The Room
"Yey! We've arrived!" Anna squealed with glee.
"Announcement!" I suddenly said. They turned their attention to me.
"Tsubasa-nii-sama's back."
"Tsubasa?" Hotaru repeated with a snort. "The punk I almost killed for breaking my invention?"
"Tsubasa?" Nonoko repeated. "The one who doesn't know how to wear a disguise?" She added a giggle.
"Tsubasa-senpai?" Anna repeated in shock. "The one who makes me delicious cookies?"
"Tsubasa?" Yuu repeated. "The one who's a major butt-kicker?"
"Tsubasa?" Permy repeated. "The hottie who's your brother?"
"Yes, Tsubasa," I said as they finished repeating what I said with matching descriptions. I suppressed a sigh knowing that they missed him, too.
"He said that if it's alright if he comes here tomorrow and I said yes," I continued with the announcement. "He'll be here by lunch so he could eat with us."
"Why does he want to come here?" Nonoko asked.
"You're gonna love this," I said as they leaned slightly to listen. "He said he wanted help with his disguise." And I couldn't suppress the snigger I almost slipped up earlier. They laughed in chorus, even Hotaru who was chuckling.
"Remember last time, when he tried to make a disguise of a normal kid?" Nonoko chortled.
"Yeah, he became a clown!" Sumire replied as she laughed.
"Hee hee, that was funny!" Anna said as she doubled back a giggle.
Then, as we calmed down, Hotaru and Sumire sat on the loveseat, Yuu sat on the cushion-chair, and the Twins and I sat down on the couch.
"Oooh, I wanna make dinner!" Anna said as she jumped up.
"Can I help?" Nonoko requested. Anna nodded causing her hair to bounce and skipped with Nonoko towards the kitchen. "Dinner's at 7!" she called out.
"Good luck!" Permy added as she stretched on the loveseat.
"Hey, guys," Yuu said. "Wanna do something? I'm bored."
"Yeah," I replied. "Hey! How about playing X-Box? I miss it."
"No way," Permy said quickly. "I'll always lose."
"I know! How about Taekwondo? It's fun," Yuu said as he grinned.
"And get bruises before the concert?" Hotaru asked sarcastically. "Uh, no."
"No…," Yuu drawled. "I meant the warm-ups and drills. For old time's sake."
"Okay, you're on," I said as I went to the dressing room.
"I agree," Permy chimed in. "I think I'm getting a little fat, don't you think?"
We rolled our eyes as we went in.
5 minutes later
Hotaru, Permy, Yuu, and I changed into a pair of jogging pants, loose shirts, and rubber slippers. I made my hair into a ponytail; Permy had her hair in a bun, while Hotaru just let her hair down since her hair is short. Yuu's hair was messed up in a nice way and he changed his glasses to cool-looking ones with a thin, elastic strap at the back so that his glasses won't fall off. We jogged towards the opposite side of the living room towards the elevator. We got in the elevator and pushed the "R.S." button. The elevator went down slowly as we waited for it to stop. When it stopped, it opened to a darkened room. Yuu got out first and turned on the lights with the switch at the right wall. We got out, too, and the elevator closed.
This room right now is what we call the Recreation Section. This room is about as big as the girls' and boys' dorms. It has a Martial Arts mats (could be used for gymnastics since it has a bar and mirror) that could be located at the far right of the room, a rectangular swimming pool for swimming competitions with a high and low diving board, a door that leads to the Resting room with a couch, cushion-chairs, and flat-screen television inside (it also has a mini-fridge for beverages and food), a billiard table, a table tennis, a tennis/badminton/volleyball court (its lines are holograms so, it could be changed depending on the sport), a basketball court with two hoops, and other recreational materials like a room for painting, a room for inventing things, anything for recreational purposes. It's about 20 feet below the ground and its height from floor to ceiling is about 100 feet… so that makes it 120 feet below ground making it impossible for anyone to hear what we're doing. On the top of the front of the place is a big t.v. screen. It turned on and quickly monitored our energy levels.
"Com, alert us if our energy levels are 30%," Yuu ordered.
"Yes, Yuu-kun," Com replied as she made the room cool enough.
"Alert us also if it's dinner time," I added. "I don't wanna be starving."
"Yes, Mikan," Com replied.
"Alright," Permy said as we jogged towards the Martial Arts mat. "Let's get this party starting!"
"Warm-up," Hotaru corrected. Permy just shrugged.
1 hour and 30 minutes later (6 pm)
"Come on! Move those legs!" Yuu ordered strictly as he kicked the kicking bag with a bullet. "I won't say stop unless I see some of you are doing it right."
I kicked harder and faster making Permy and Hotaru join me.
"And… stop!" Yuu said as he yelled at the last kick. We also yelled "HA!" as we did the last kick.
"Okay, inhale," Yuu said softly as he stepped forward with his arms obliquely raised backwards. Then he relaxed as he stood properly.
"Exhale." Then, he raised his hands upward while standing on his toes. Again, he relaxed into a standing position. We imitated what he did. After a few more breathing exercises, we sat on the mats Indian-style.
"Yuu—" I started.
"—you're a—" Permy continued as she panted slightly.
"—masochist," Hotaru finished in a huff.
He just chuckled. "What can I say? I learned from the best."
"Yeah, but before, you were still a gentle person," I said as I rolled my eyes. "Never even hurt a fly unless it hurts you. Of course, you agreed to his offer of training you Martial Arts."
And we lapsed into silence as we remembered the incident…
Flashback, Yuu in 3rd grade
Yuu was walking with Anna, Nonoko, and I towards the homeroom to fetch Hotaru and Permy for lunch. Then, a group of 5th graders blocked our way with an evil smile.
"Well, whaddya know? Some idiots came across the Princes' territory," one of them said.
"Hey! Idiot's a bad word!" I retorted as I huddled up with Anna, keeping her from crying since she was sensitive.
"Heh! As if!" the other one said. I counted them in my mind and there were 4 of them. We are equal but we're weaker.
"Now… who do we bully first…?" their leader, I think, asked as he mock-thought. "Oh, I know… how about pinky here?"
Then he grabbed Anna which made her cry. Nonoko and I were grabbed by the others while Yuu evaded capture and tried to get the leader let go of Anna. He was then pushed hardly away and slid on the floor. He glared at the guy but it was futile.
Suddenly, as we struggled to help Anna, a shadow formed behind the leader and did a karate-chop, hitting his neck.
"You shouldn't bully kids," the shadow said. "Or you'll get what you throw." The shadow stepped forward and I gasped in relief.
"Nii-sama!" I shrieked. The guys who held us then let go us and cowered backwards as Tsubasa-nii-sama stepped forward towards Anna, Nonoko, Yuu, and I.
"You guys alright?" he asked.
"We are now," Nonoko said as she hugged the sobbing Anna. Anna smiled thanks to him.
"You guys stay here for awhile," he murmured as he hid us behind his back.
"You should remember that when the principal or any teacher heard about you guys bullying, you'll be expelled immediately," he said matter-of-factly. "In fact, trying to hurt kids is in my list of hurting. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Shadow!" they said and kneeled for forgiveness.
"If you hurt my sister, her friends, or any kid in this school…" he said as he turned back to us. "Pack up your things… and leave this institution."
Then, he took our hands as we walked towards homeroom.
"Hey, Yuu," he said. "You were pretty brave out there."
"Thanks…" Yuu said but he frowned sadly. "But I wasn't strong enough to protect anyone."
I looked at his sad face and looked at Aniki as he thought it over.
"Hmm… how about I teach you guys Martial Arts?" he asked as Yuu's eyes widened in surprise.
"That way, you won't need me around to get those numbskulls," he continued as he grinned and ruffled our hairs. "I have to train Yuu first, though."
"But, Aniki!" I protested. "What happened to ladies first?" I pouted.
"In these kinds of situations, men come in first," he explained as he smiled apologetically. "I promise I'll teach you."
I was already grinning but my mouth then turned to an "O" when he added, "If you get your parents' consent."
We reached homeroom but stayed at the door.
"But-but-but aniki!" I protested in a loud voice. "You know Mom and Dad won't allow it!"
He just laughed as he walked towards someplace I don't know. "Convince them yourself!" he yelled back.
We entered the room and saw Hotaru arranging her things in her locker while Permy put her books in her bags. When they saw our faces, especially Anna's, Hotaru took out her Idiot Gun 3000 and Permy demanded what happened. We told them the story and Hotaru withdrew the gun with a calculating look while Sumire had a sour face on. We then walked hand-in-hand towards the school cafeteria.
End of flashback
"Boy, when the school bulletin came up the next day," Yuu said as he chuckled softly.
"The guys who bullied us got major injuries like broken bones, hatched eggs, bleeding mouths and noses, and multiple lacerations," I said as I sniggered.
"All because of two some ones," we both said together and looked at Permy who made a scratching gesture before making a peace sign with her tongue stuck out while Hotaru just shrugged with a snort.
"Too bad Tsubasa graduated the next year for middle school," Permy said as she hugged her knees to her chest. "He would have so much fun 'bullying' those who tried to hurt us."
"But it was much more fun when we did it," Hotaru chimed in an unenthusiastic way.
"Yeah…" I trailed off, remembering the times when we tried on the "Live Punching bags". Oh yeah, it was fun 'til it lasted.
I then looked at the screen and saw that both Hotaru and I had 50% left of our energy, Permy had 45% of energy, and Yuu had 70% left. No wonder I felt so tired while he's still breathing normally.
"Dinner will be ready in an hour," Com announced and we stood up and walked towards the showers.
"Com, bring us some clothes in the showers," Hotaru ordered as we paused.
"What clothes?" Com asked.
"My green tank top and cycling shorts," Permy replied quickly.
"My violet shirt and white sweatpants," Hotaru muttered.
"My white tank top, my jersey, and my black sweatpants," I replied as Permy looked at me. "What?"
"What are you wearing tonight…?" she asked rhetorically giving me a disbelieving look.
"You're forgetting that I'm a punky kid," I reminded her as she murmured an "ah".
"I want my plain blue t-shirt, and shorts, thank you," Yuu replied.
"Understood," Com replied and we got in the showers.
The showers were only beside the Lounge making it easier for us to shower and rest. The showers have approximately 10 cubicles (even though they are cubicles, they are big, clean, and kept well… unlike those in the school showers. They even have rats with shampoos! Yuck!), 5 for men, and 5 for women. Each cubicle has a shower, a bathtub (you could switch the two or join them with just a button or two near the door. Really classy), hair products (depending on what gender), soap, clean towels, a sink with a round mirror, tiled floors, a carpet to wipe your feet, and (in addition) a body warmer in case you're in a hurry to dry off.
We each entered our own cubicle and left our slippers outside. My clothes were already in the cubicle (complete with bra and underwear) and I pushed the shower button. An advanced shower came out from the wall. I stripped off my clothes and stepped in when I closed the shower curtain. I changed my ponytail into a bun and started washing off the sweat and dirt on my body.
After having that refreshing half-bath, I dried myself with a towel and took my clothes. I put them on and went out of my cubicle, wearing my slippers. I heard the door on my right open and saw Hotaru drying her hair with a towel. She saw me and looked at me. She looked over my shoulder and looked back at me. I just shrugged since I knew she was gesturing to the fact that Sumire loves fashion things.
We waited for a good 10 minutes and saw Sumire in her clothes while having a band of white cloth over her forehead.
"New look?" I asked.
"No, silly," she replied as she moved it a bit. "It's for keeping my hair in a fluff. You know, you flip your hair on your forehead and it returns like a fluff?"
Even though I didn't understand her but knew what she meant, I rolled my eyes and followed Hotaru out of the door. We saw Yuu waiting outside while leaning on the wall. He wore his shorts and shirt and his hair was still wet. His glasses were placed back on his eyes but I could see a faint mist on it. He cocked an eyebrow at us, especially at Permy's hair.
"What is that?" he politely asked, probably trying not to anger Permy with her obsession of these things since it would be a very, very bad idea.
"Hair-fluffer," Hotaru replied quickly before Permy could open her mouth about her speech in fluff-hair. Yuu just shrugged with a half-smile and led the way towards the elevator.
With a final ding of the elevator, we've arrived in the Room. I could smell something tasty coming out of the kitchen but instead of going in there, I went to my room because one, I have to check my stuff, and two, I want to let Anna and Nonoko surprise me with their cooking.
"Hey, Mikan," Hotaru called. "I've got the things you needed in my room. I brought a lot because I knew you'd break them at first try," she added slyly.
"Oh, yeah," I replied as I made a dumbfounded face. "I get that from my best friend who can't even float on water."
She narrowed her eyes at me while I showed her my triumphant smile. She just snorted. "I'm denser than you. That made me unable to float properly."
"Uh huh," I muttered.
"Eh, I also got you the stuff you needed, Mikan," Yuu interjected, sensing that Hotaru's ready to blast off. "Uh, I took more than what you requested in case you need more."
"Thanks, Yuu," I said as I smiled at him. "So good of you to think that."
They walked towards the kitchen while I went to my room. I opened my room to see the sky blue paint of the walls, my queen-sized bed, my study table with my desktop and laptop with mouse, my walk-in closet, my mini-restroom, my flat-screen television and cushion-chair, my mini-fridge, and, as I opened my closet, my clothes (either casual, formal, disguise, gig-clothes, and others).
I walked in and pulled out a remote. I pushed the button labeled "Transform" and my closet with my clothes disappeared into the walls behind them and came out my working area from the floor. My W.A. is made up of a table filled with tools and other stuff. The table was huge with large drawers labeled to the type of device or tool. I readied the screw driver, soldering iron and lead, the long-nose and short-nose pliers, and other things needed. Just as I put these on the table, Com spoke.
"Mikan, dinner's ready," Com said. "They're waiting for you."
"Tell them I'll be there in a minute," I replied as I combed my hair and tied it again into a low ponytail.
I jogged towards the kitchen and stopped immediately at the door when a laser-scanner scanned my body.
"Good enough," Com said and opened the sliding door.
They sat around a circular table and saved me a seat between Hotaru and Yuu. I noticed that Anna and Nonoko grinned like little elves as I sat and put my napkin on my lap. I looked at the table seeing only spoons, forks, knives, plates, bowls, mini-bowls, glasses, and chopsticks. No food. Just then, Anna cleared her throat.
"Everyone," she started. "Tonight, Noko and I have decided to have the food Filipino-style. Since the chefs at the restaurant we ate at our world tour in the Philippines were kind enough to give us recipes and other whatnot, we gave it a try."
Nonoko clapped her hands and the circular metal above the table descended and lifted up to return to its original place. The table was filled with food that I was sure I only saw once and the others were weird.
"This is what Visayans call ginata," Anna pointed to a vegetable soup with whitish soup and other veggies. "Its soup is from coconut extracts and then, diced veggies are added."
"I'm sure you recognize the other foods," Nonoko said. "Boiled crabs, grilled beef and fish, beef soup, chicken soup," she enumerated, giving us a chance to recognize the food.
I sneaked a glance at Hotaru and almost let out a snigger. Her eyes were on the crabs. Oh, not just crabs, BIG, JUICY, RED crabs. Oh, yeah, it's delicious.
"Uh, what's that yellowy food?" Sumire asked, pointing at the bowl with yellowy goo all over it.
"Oh, that's what the Filipinos call kare-kare, what most people call a Philippine stew," Anna explained. "It's made up of beef and… Nonoko, what's the name of the yellowy thing?"
"That's peanut sauce," Nonoko replied. "Not only beef, you could also put goat meat, chicken, or oxtail as meat variants."
"Oh yeah, this is spiced with chili, and is sprinkled with acid orange or calamondin," Anna said as she delicately put a finger in it and put that finger in her mouth. "Tastes about right."
Both of them sat down between Sumire and Yuu (Anna sat beside Yuu. Hmm…) and took their spoons and forks.
"Itadakimasu!" we chorused and tried whatever we touched and savored it.
I took a piece of grilled beef, a crab (and got a glare from a certain someone), a bowl of the ginata, and 2 cups of rice. When I tasted the soup, I felt my eyes widen as the taste enveloped me.
"Are you alright Mikan?" Permy asked curiously as she took a bite of kare-kare even though she was reluctant at first.
"Yeah," I managed to choke out.
"Really? You look kinda green," Yuu said as he took a bite of grilled fish using his chopsticks.
"I'm fine," I said.
Ugh! This is why I hate vegetables!
"Drink the soup only, Mikan. I think the veggies are defective," Anna said as Nonoko's brows furrowed in a calculating way.
I threw her a grateful glance and sipped the soup. Sure enough, it was delicious. So delicious that it took out the disgusting taste in my mouth.
I was sipping my soup when I felt a soft, furry thing rubbing on my leg. It rounded between my legs making me widen my eyes.
"YEOW!" I yelled almost spewing my soup to my front (which was Nonoko) and toppled my chair over. I landed on my butt and crawled backward like a terrified lunatic. All of them stood up to see what happened with shocked looks.
Just then, a white furball appeared and walked towards me. It rubbed my legs while purring softly.
"A cat?" Permy screeched. We didn't know why but Permy had an aversion to cats.
"What the heck is it doing here?" Hotaru demanded angrily. One thing about her is that she doesn't like animals that much, too.
"It must have slipped through the door when we entered," Yuu concluded while rubbing his glasses.
"But we didn't notice it when we got in!" Nonoko said in a frantic-like way.
"Neither did we!" Anna retorted back.
"I didn't notice it come in here," Hotaru said darkly while looking at me suspiciously.
I then looked back. I did remember holding the door up when I entered here in the morning to check things out. That must be the time when this cat came in!
"It… must be me," I managed to say even though I was breathing rapidly.
"It's cute, though," Anna said softly before giggling and returned to her food.
"You're right," Nonoko agreed and returned to her food.
"How about we eat first and then we take care of this… problem," Hotaru said as she sat down and ravaged her crabs.
I pulled my chair back and ate in peace. Sometimes, I gave the little furball some fish and beef and it took it politely with a purr.
We finished dinner and we put the dishes on the sink. The sink then automatically cleaned the dishes with mechanical hands. I walked towards my room as the others wanted to watch a movie with salted popcorn. I then stopped at the door and looked back. The cat was still following me and stopped when I stopped. I sighed and went in my room (the cat followed in suit).
I was then surprised because it didn't run around the room like a kid who got a chance to ride the rollercoaster but it sat on my bending chair and looked at me with curious eyes.
"Do you have a name, furball?" I asked it, not expecting an answer. I wasn't also expecting it to answer me by meowing and lifted its neck up.
I closed our distance and took a look at its tag.
Snowbelle
"You're a girl then?" I asked it again and it purred in response. The name was very nostalgic. It reminded me of a cat I once met.
I then felt an engraving at the back and turned the tag over to see some information.
Female
Born: July 7, 2005
The information was the same with the Snowbelle I knew.
If found please call ***-**** and look for –
And what I saw shocked the heck outta me. I left the cat sitting and ran towards my door, opening it immediately.
"You guys! Get in here!" I yelled as I ran back in my room and snatched Snowbelle. She gave a surprised sound and then relaxed.
"What is it, Mikan?" Yuu asked as he came in through the door. He was followed by Sumire, Hotaru, Nonoko, and Anna. All of them have confused looks.
"I just found out something about this cat," I said. I then carefully removed the tag and gave it to them. They looked at the name and looked at me.
"It says her name is Snowbelle," Nonoko said. "Kind of like the name of the cat we once met a long time ago."
"You're not far from the mark," I said as I blinked a couple of times.
"Huh?" Anna said.
"Look at the back," I muttered as I petted Snowbelle.
They did I told them so and gasped in shock.
If found please call ***-**** and look for:
Ruka Nogi or any of the Dark Sky members
We're in deep, deep poo.