AN: Back with another chapter! Hows life? Good? Good. Mine's been pretty cool. Okay, enough bonding. ON WITH THE STORY!
Chapter 19: The Five Kishins
"Ha! Dead!" Tommi shouts triumphantly as the kishin fades to black and unravels itself. She does a little victory dance as the red soul floats in front of her. I unclip the little flash drive-type-device from my belt and pop the cap off. I press the button on it and the soul is absorbed into it. I put the cap back on.
"One down, four to go." I say, clipping it back to my belt. Mem transforms back and stretches. "My shoulder's so tight..." She complains. I roll my eyes. "What ever. The next one should be near here..." I say, walking out of the alleyway and peeking around the corner. I don't see anything or anyone, so I step out completely. Ugh, it would be so embarrassing for someone I know to see me in this getup...
The 'getup' I mentioned a second ago would be khaki shorts, a white sleeveless button-up shirt, plus chains that connect from the front two belt loops of my shorts to the back two. Seems normal enough, right? Yeah, except the fact that those anklets they mentioned are freaking HUGE. Like, they cover my ankle, sure, but they also cover half of my shin. I look ridiculous.
And I bet your confused as to why someone I know might see me? Well, turns out the town we were assigned to is my, along with Mem and Tommi's, home town. I sigh and wave the others over.
"What's your deal? Can't we just walk around like normal people?" Alex says as I peek around another corner. I turn to him. "No. Freaking. Way. Even though I don't live here anymore I still have a pretty big reputation that I need to uphold!" I tell him. He laughs and pats my head. "You're hilarious, Ginger." He says. I frown.
"Come on, Ginger! I think it'd be fun to meet some of your old friends!" Maka says. I cross my arms and follow her and the others down the empty street. "Umm, I'm not so sure you should..." I say, rushing ahead of everyone to check and see of there's anyone down the street we're supposed to turn down next. Still nothing.
"Ginger's friends aren't exactly the excepting type, from what I know they're pretty judgmental. If they saw us, along with this one-" She points to Soul, who frowns, "-they'd probably be pretty freaked out, especially since Soul has freaky dental issues." She says.
"Hey, I'm probably the coolest person you know, so shut up! If anyone's gonna be judged, I think it would be you, Miss hides-in-the-corner-cutting-herself-all-day!" He retaliates. She sticks her hands in the pockets of her tight khaki pants.
"Nah, they already know me. They'd probably still be scared though..." She says. I turn to them.
"Well, that's not going to be a problem since we're NOT going to-"
"Ginger? Is that you?" A voice says from behind me. I freeze.
"Oh my gosh, Julie!" Tommi squeals. I slowly turn around and see three of my friends fro before we moved. Just great, how are we supposed to get them off our backs? I think to myself frantically.
"What's with the shin guard? You playin' soccer or something, McAllister?" Kyle says, staring at my anklet. I quickly cross my legs so it's behind my calf. "Umm, it's nothing! Stay out of my business, Toleman!" I say. He laughs.
"Who are these weirdos your hanging with?" Julie, the richest person I know, says to me. I smile nervously. "Uh, this is, uh, Alex, Maka, and umm... my boyfriend, Soul..." I tell her. Janette walks up to Soul and pokes his cheeks.
"You have sharp teeth..." She says. Soul swats her hand away. "Yeah, so what?" He says. She blinks. "It's weird. Are you like, some kinda lab rat? I read in a book once that some scientists switch DNAs of animals and people to make them have characteristics of that animal..." She says. He frowns. "I'm a person, and just a person, thankyouverymuch." He says. He turns to me.
"These are your friends, Ginge?" He says. I blush. "Umm, well, some of them at least..." I say.
"This is your BF? Ugh, you could so do better." Julie says.
"Julie, that's not-"
"Ha! Like you even have one!" Soul laughs. I hold my hand out. "Guys, don't-" I start, but Julie's already in Soul's face and once you've got her going, there's no stopping her.
"Maybe you should go brush your hair before you try to offend me, bedhead." She says in a low voice. He looks down at her.
"Maybe you should pay your doctors less. That plastic surgery you got didn't make you any better-looking." He responds. She frowns.
"Maybe you should try some!" She retorts.
"Maybe we should stop?" I suggest, but they ignore me.
"I think that sweatband is killing off your brain cells, because if you think you can even come close to insulting me than you're dead wrong." She says.
"You started it, princess." He says. He looks to me.
"Hey, Ginger! Are there any good tanning salons in this town?" He asks. I'm confused at his question, but I answer it anyway.
"Umm, no I don't think so... but there is that cruddy one right next to the middle school!" I tell him.
"That would explain why your friend looks like an oompa-loompa." He says with a smirk.
"Ouch!" Alex says from behind him. Julie turns a bright shade of red.
"I'm done wasting time on something as juvenile as this! We need to go!" She says, turning around and stomping off, Janette and Kyle following.
"Or you're just out of comebacks!" Soul shouts after her. Alex laughs.
"Nice, man!" He says, holding up his hand. Soul high-fives him with a grin.
"Soul! What the hell was that?!" I say to him. He looks at me. "She started it. And I finished it." He says. I slap my hand to my forehead.
"You could have just ignored it! That was NOT a cool move, man!" I say, walking off. I turn another corner and see, surprise, surprise, the second kishin we were after in the first place.
"MEM!" I yell to her. She rushes around the corner and transforms. The kishin smiles and lunges at me. "Yum!" It rasps. In one swift movement, I grab an arrow and throw it at him. It stabs him in the neck and pins him against the wall behind him. He gasps for breath and squirms. I take another arrow and stab it into his forehead. He dissolves into a black cloud of smoke. I take the small device clipped to my belt loop, claim his soul, and clip it back to my shorts.
"That's two. Let's go." I say, marching out of the alleyway and down the sidewalk.
"Ginger?" Tommi says.
"I said let's go!" I say, tossing Mem in the air as she transforms back.
"Ugh, damnit!" I say, grabbing my left arm. We're on our fifth kishin, and he's definitely a lot more challenging than the first four. He clipped me in the arm with a flying dagger, and it hurts like hell. I stand up and pull back another arrow. It misses.
"Tommi! Let's switch!" Alex says from Tommi's hand. She nods, and in a two flashes of light, Alex transforms back to human form and Tommi into her weapon form.
"Haha, this is fucking awesome!" Alex says, flipping the stainless steel handle around in his hand. He then takes it and slams it on the kishin's head. It falls to the ground.
"HAAA!" Maka shouts, swinging Soul at the kishin. It dodges and scrambles back to a standing position. I shoot an arrow at it. I just misses his legs.
"Damn, why can't i shoot straight?!" I say in frustration. Alex slides underneath the kishin's arm as it comes at him. He brings Tommi down on his head again.
"MUAHAHA! TASTE MY FRYING PAN!" He shouts, a crazed look in his eyes. I shoot another arrow. This time, it hits the kishin in the shoulder. He pulls it out and throws it back at me. I catch it in midair and grip it hard.
I shoot it back at him. Another miss. Maka ducks a dagger and digs Soul into the ground. She swings him upward and hits the kishin dead on. He falls backward.
"DIE, BITCH!" Alex screams, chucking Tommi at the kishin. The impact causes the kishin's head to split. It's soul floats in the air.
"EWEWEWEWEWEWEWEWEEEWW! GROSS! KISHIN GUUUTTZZ!" Tommi cries. She transforms back to human form and shivers. "That was gross, Alex! Did you really have to throw me at it? It looked like Maka had it covered!" She says, wrapping her arms around herself. Soul and Mem transform back as well.
"Let's go, it's starting to get late. We need to-" Soul starts, but he stops mid-sentence when he see what waits for us at the end of the street. Everyone freezes.
Julie's mouth hangs open. Kyle stares with wide eyes, and Janette hides behind her brother, gripping his hand tightly.
"When did you...?" Tommi mutters. Julie blinks.
"Ginger! What the heck?!" Julie exclaims. I gulp.
"Umm, I thought I told you I was going to the DWMA," I say.
"HOW THE HELL WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW IT WAS A SCHOOL FOR VIOLENT, FREAKY WEIRDOS?! SINCE WHEN IS MEM A GOD DAMN BOW AND ARROW?!" She yells. I open my mouth to say something, but Alex interrupts.
"If you don't know what the DWMA is, you're pretty stupid." He says. Maka nods. "Try doing some research before you go pointing fingers." She says. Julie blinks again.
"Kyle, they won't hurt us, right?" Janette whispers to Kyle. He doesn't respond.
"Janette, it's fine! We're still the same people!" Tommi says, walking up to her. Kyle puts his hand out in front of Janette protectively. "Stay back!" He shouts. Tommi stops dead in her tracks.
"YOU'RE FREAKS, ALL OF YOU! VIOLENT, DISGUSTING, WEIRD FREAKS! DON'T EVER COME BACK TO THIS TOWN AGAIN!" Julie screams, turning and sprinting away. Kyle and Janatte follow her. I stare after them.
"Jeez, what a dumb ass. Doesn't even know what the DWMA is." Soul says, turning and walking away. I blink and shake my head. "Yeah. I guess..." I say, following him and the others.
AN: Tada! Hope ya likey! Cuz I'm freaking exhausted! Okey-dokey-lokey, byeee! *Can't think of anything to say*