A.N.- Sorry for the late upload~ High school life XD
Disclaimer: As usual.
Anrya's P.O.V.
I woke up. Hm? No air horn yet? It's been about three months since the day Ace woke us up for our first day of training. Since then, I've gotten used to the wake-up call of the obnoxious air horn. Grabbing my glasses, I checked the time: 4:45 a.m. That's odd. Usually Ace comes around this time to wake me up… I drowsily pondered if I should wake up or go to sleep, but curiosity got the better of me, and I decided to check things downstairs. Throwing on some clothes, I left my room and headed downstairs.
Crystal's P.O.V.
My eyes cracked open to a sound I heard out in the hall. …Is it time to wake up yet? Seeing how Ace wasn't in my room with the air horn yet, I decided to close my eyes a bit longer till he came…and I drifted off to sleep.
Anrya's P.O.V.
Downstairs in the kitchen, I quickly drank a glass of milk and headed towards the guest room area. Going to where Zero, Ren and Ace were staying, I saw that all their rooms were shut and silent. Maybe I should knock…? Er…but that would be disturbing them… Then again, Ace has been disturbing our sleep for the past three months… Walking towards Ace's door, I lifted my hand to knock when the door next to Ace's room opened and Ren appeared. "Oh hey Ren…um…where's Ace?"
"About that Anrya-chan," Ren said, "Zero and Ace just left a while ago to meet with a guest asking the organization for a favor. I was just about to leave when I sensed you."
"Oh, ok," I replied.
"Then I'll be taking my leave now Anrya-chan," Ren said. "Please be up and ready with the rest of your family by 8 a.m. Zero-san and Ace will be here by then, as well as I. We have a task to give you…well more specifically for your technicians."
"Uh, ok." I was going to ask more about the task he, Zero, and Ace were going to give, but I held my tongue. With Ren leaving the mansion, it was quiet again. Heading for the stairs to sleep once more, I noticed how clean the first floor was. Huh…wasn't it a bit messier before? Someone must've cleaned it up a bit here. Hm, maybe it was Gray? Too tired to think further, I headed back upstairs, set myalarm to 7 a.m., and went to sleep.
-7 a.m.-
Be-be-be-beep, be-be-be-beep My alarm clock rang. 7 a.m. already? Getting out of bed, I quickly ran to everyone's bedroom and woke each person up, telling them to be down by 8. I then returned to my room and cleaned myself up. After doing what I had to, I met everyone downstairs in the living room.
"Hey, how come we don't have training today?" Esa asked. It was the first thing I was asked as I stepped into the room.
"Yeah, I noticed that the air horn didn't go off today…" Selina said.
"Not that we want to hear that air horn," Jasmine added.
"At least we got more sleep," Crystal happily said. Rai nodded in agreement. Darke and Ryo, as usual, had no comment.
"Oh yeah, Anrya, why did we have to meet here?" Esa questioned.
"Well you see…" I began to tell everyone the morning's events.
"So…this 'task' has what to do with us?" Jasmine said.
"I have no idea," I admitted, "But I might as well tell Gris and Gray about it. Oh, you guys can get something to eat from the kitchen or chill out a bit; I'll go tell Gris and Gray the news."
"I'm coming with you," Esa said, "I'm curious about what their rooms look like."
"Well I'm actually going to their lab…"
In the end, somehow, everyone came along.
Walking towards Gris and Gray's lab door marked: Keep Out! I opened the door and entered. There on a wheelie-chair, in front of the computer sat Gray, papers in hand. Her chair was tipped back perilously, but I didn't chastise her about it.
"What," Gray started off.
"Well, good morning, first of all Gray," I started off, "Second, did Zero, Ren or Ace mention something about a 'task' to you guys?"
"Good morning and no."
"I might as well tell you then." I repeated the story I told the others earlier.
"Okay I'll tell Gris then," Gray indifferently said. She returned to her papers and from time to time, she glanced at her computer screen. After a while, Gris sighed and said, "Are you guys going to just stand there the whole time while I work? It's bothering me."
"Can we look around?" Esa asked.
"Fine, but just don't touch anything."
"Can I—" Rai started.
"No," Gray said.
"I didn't ask anything yet!" Rai said.
"Were you going to ask about the door that led downstairs?" Gray questioned without turning her head.
"No."
"Then ask your question again."
"Can I try out that cool looking machine over there by the corner table?" Rai asked eagerly.
"No," Gray answered. "Did you not hear me say 'don't touch anything'?"
Ding dong Upstairs, the doorbell rang from the front entrance.
"It's probably them," I said, glancing back. "I'm gonna get the door." Leaving Gris and Gray's lab, I went upstairs and opened the door.
"Good morning Anrya-chan~" came the voice of none other than Zero.
"Hey, I see you're up and ready! A bummer we can't have training this morning," Ace commented.
"Good morning," Ren said.
"Oh yeah good morning…and yeah…uh…a bummer we can't have training huh." A bummer huh, I can take a break from training any day.
"Hey," said Gray from behind, "So what's your 'task' for me and Gris?" Gray must've left her place at the lab right after I did. She kept expression out of her face as she asked this.
Ace whistled. "Right to the point."
Gray just gave a stare. "Just hurry up and tell me. I have stuff to do."
"It looks like we'll be keeping it brief then," Ace said, looking at Zero and Ren. Then turning back to Gray he said, "We'll explain to you inside."
Zero, Ren, and Ace came in.
Going to the living room for a talk, Zero, Ren, Ace, Gray, Gris, Esa, Jasmine, and I sat. The others were either in the kitchen, the lab, or elsewhere.
"I shall be brief in this as Ace has said," Ren said. "To put it simply, a…customer of ours requested a repair and an upgrade of 700 different guns and weapons…"
Woah, I thought.
"…and we need your technicians to do us a favor in lending a hand in the repair."
"Hmph, why do you need our help?" Gray questioned, "I'm quite sure you should have plenty of technicians in your organization, or people to hire."
"Yes, that is true in normal circumstances, but the problem with this request was the time limit."
"What was the time limit Ren?" I curiously asked.
"Three days."
I gaped.
"It's not that shocking to be requested like that, but sometimes it can be rather bothersome. With our organization on new experimentations and works, a job like this hinders us. Plus even if we were to hire other technicians it would take time for them to come to us, and some may question why 700 guns needed repairs and upgrades…"
"So you're saying you want us to do the work?" Gray asked, "Why don't you just hire those people anyways?"
"Time and money are not things to be frivolously used."
"Hmph~" Gray crossed her legs. "Let's say we do decide to help…how many are we required to fix and what do we get from helping you?"
Zero smiled and spoke. "Well Gray-chan, first of all, I think you are required to do this due to our contract. As for how many to fix…we'll give you…100 to fix and upgrade. You can split the job fifty-fifty between your brother and somehow manage time to finish them in three days~ As for what you get for doing the job…a pat on the back for a job well done~"
Gray raised an eyebrow.
"Hmhmhm~ I was just poking fun at you Gray-chan, we'll give you a part of the payment for this task. But do remember that if you don't succeed, there may be consequences…" I opened my mouth to ask about the consequences but was cut off by Zero. "We'll be taking our leave now~" Zero turned to Ace. "Ace-kun, will you hand the box of guns to Gris-kun and Gray-chan~?"
"Sure thing."
"Well," Zero said, "It looks like you better start soon…time's ticking~" Zero walked out of the mansion in a flourish along with Ren and Ace.
"That annoying white-haired bastard…acting all high and mighty…" Gray grumbled under her breath.
We watched from inside as the three entered a car parked in front of our mansion. Ace took out a box and walked towards us, the other two remaining in the car.
"Lead me to your lab," Ace said, "There's more than one box coming."
Grudgingly, Gray led Ace to her own lab.
Rai's P.O.V.
-Fifteen minutes before-
Everyone had left the lab at the sound of the doorbell ringing. I was the only one remaining. Peeking outside, I saw that Zero, Ren, Ace, Gray, Gris, Esa, Jasmine, and Anrya were headed towards the living room while the others either went to the kitchen or upstairs. I took this as a chance to look around the lab less consciously. Poking through the items around, I observed them with curiosity. I wonder what these do… Picking one object up but miscalculating its weight, I dropped it back down right onto my finger. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow…" I placed the object back to its original place and, I took interest to the door that led downstairs. I decided to check it out. Going down the stairs, I turned a corner to see an impressive room. It was enormous. The lab itself was huge, but the downstairs lab was even bigger. The room was filled with many items and machinery, and the place was pretty neat too. "Wow," I mumbled. Looking around at Gris and Gray's work, I was pretty amazed. So this is what they do! These things look so cool! Looking around for a bit longer, I decided I should leave. Leaving the lower lab to the upper lab, I left the room and headed for the kitchen for a snack. Entering the kitchen, I faintly heard Ace's voice: "Lead me to your lab. There's more than one box coming."
Anrya's P.O.V.
After all the boxes were delivered, Ace left with Zero and Ren. I went into the kitchen, ate breakfast, went upstairs, and rested for the rest of the day…
-Night-
Gray stood up from her work to take a break. Letting out a breath of air, she stretched out her limbs and glanced at the clock: 12:35 a.m. "Hey Gris," Gray said, turning to her brother, "I'm gonna go for a quick break. You want anything to eat or drink?" Gris continued working on the guns. Without stopping from his work or turning his head, he said, "I'll just have water." Gray shrugged and left the lower lab. Heading for the kitchen, Gray quickly scanned through her mind of how many guns were repaired, how many were not, and how many were yet to be upgraded. Well so far during the day, Gris and I managed to repair 67 guns. Seeing how the only damage from them were either some missing or broken parts, or it being worn out from long use, I say we should have all of them repaired by the morning. But honestly, couldn't the owner of these guns just order new sets instead of sending their older sets for repair? Hmph, the owner must be a Scrooge. Well, after that, we'll just need to upgrade their guns specially…though Zero never specified what kind of upgrade…I guess we'll decide how to upgrade it. Reaching the kitchen, Gray took out a tray from the lower cabinet and placed it on a table. Oh, it seems like I accidentally brought these prototypes along with me. In her hand, Gray held three silver-gray, oddly-oval-and-capsule-shaped "prototypes". Seeing how it prevented her from using both her hands fully, Gray placed them down by the windowsill and reminded herself to take it back with her. The inconvenience of not having any pockets made her frown for a moment. Quickly stacking some food and drinks on the tray, Gray grabbed some napkins too. Gray was about to bring them to the lab when she decided to quickly check around the house to see that all was secure and no one was creeping in. After a quick inspection and good results, Gray took the tray from the table and went for the lab.
Anrya's P.O.V.
Waking up at 7 a.m., the day went on pretty smoothly. In the morning I learned that during the days Gris and Gray were to do their "assignment"; Ace wouldn't torture us with the air horn. I also learned that for the next two days, Ren would be educating us about the important mafia families and mafia culture. In the morning from 10 a.m. to 12 a.m., Ren taught us at the library on the fourth floor. During that lesson, I asked Ren a question I'd been having on my mind since yesterday:
"Um Ren," I asked.
"What is it Anrya-chan?" he asked.
"I've been having a question I've wanted to ask…"
"Is it important or related to this lesson?"
"Uh, yes and no."
"Then ask quickly, I don't want to keep the others waiting."
Glancing at the others at the table with me, I saw that they took advantage of this quick break. Rai took this time to stretch his limbs, Esa and Jasmine chatted amongst themselves, Crystal continued her anime doodling, Darke and Ryo remained silent on the far end of the table, and Selina just waited. I turned back to Ren. "Well my question was, what would the "consequences" be if you failed to carry out another mafia family's task?"
Ren raised an eyebrow. "Well that depends on the task. If the task is big or important, I believe the consequences would be harsher than a task that is small or not important. But then again, the consequences can be based on that person's personality. Some people in the mafia are more aggressive than the others." Looking around and then back at Anrya, Ren said, "I suppose this has to do with the task given to your technicians."
I nodded. "I was just wondering…what if we failed and stuff…" Some of the others glanced at me and then back at Ren.
"I wouldn't worry too much about that. I'm quite sure your technicians will not fail because first of all they are perfectly capable, and second of all, we wouldn't give you an impossible task to do from the start." Ren adjusted his glasses. "But if you would like some examples of consequences these are some: Payment of money, payment of something or some things specific, an angry enemy(s), a fight, being cursed at, owing them a favor, and death or a kill on sight request or assassination. But of course the last one is a bit drastic. In some cases and maybe in your case as well, the client may just let you off with your failure. A bit disappointed and all, but no harsh feelings…"
"Oh." The others around me seemed to have that reaction as well.
"The task will not fail, now back to the lesson then," Ren said. "In the Vongola Family…"
At the end of the lesson, we were all relieved to go to lunch. Learning about different families and details about them is great and all, but sometimes it's not so interesting when you already knew some of the details and it was the summer time. We ate our lunch, which was of great variety, and went our separate ways after. Before everyone could wander off though, I assigned a task for Darke and Crystal.
"Darke, Crystal," I said before Darke could disappear and Crystal could go upstairs, "do you guys mind doing me a favor?"
"What," Crystal said.
"Well can you guys go to the nearest market or store, and do some grocery shopping for me?"
"Why?" Crystal asked.
"We're low on food."
"Can't you just go?"
"No. Anyways Darke will be going with you."
"Can't he just go alone?"
I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Help him out?"
"Why? He'll be fine. Someone will be going with him in the car anyways."
"There is no one to drive him since Gris and Gray need to work."
"So how do you expect us to go there?"
"Well we do have a motorcycle, but since you guys can't ride that, we have bicycles with baskets on the front."
Crystal scowled at me. Sighing, I thought of what I should do about this situation.
"Anyways, we don't know the routes and roads in this area, so how do you expect us to find a store?" Crystal demanded.
I held out a map to them. "Do you have good map reading skills and a sense of direction?"
"No."
I spotted Esa and Jasmine walking away. "Hey Esa, Jasmine, do you guys have good map reading skills or a sense of direction?" They both shook their heads. Giving up on those two, I looked for other candidates. No one else was around. Turning back to Crystal and Darke I said, "Please can you go? We really need food supplies…and plus you can spend the extra money on candy or whatever else you want~"
Crystal considered the offer, but I could tell she already took the bait. The mention of candy must've gotten her. "Fine, I'll go with Darke," Crystal said, "But what do we need to buy?"
I handed Crystal a list of things she needed to buy, and the money for it as well.
"'Kay, I'll buy these stuff…but I'm getting some candy and food with the leftover money~!"
I sighed. "Help yourself, but be sure to buy candy after you buy the things listed on the list I gave you."
"Okay," Crystal said as she started out the door. Darke followed close behind.
"The bikes are in the shed by the pool!" I hollered behind them. Then they were gone. Turning away from the door, I headed towards the kitchen to grab a quick snack. As I went to get something from the refrigerator, I noticed that on the window sill, there were three gray-ish looking…were they pebbles? Unsure if it belonged to someone, I moved them to the kitchen table just in case someone was missing them. Then grabbing my snack, I left to go upstairs to the library and read.
"Oi, Anrya-chan!" I heard Rai say from up the stairs.
"What."
"Can I go out a bit or something?"
"Crystal and Darke just went out to run some errands for me at a town. If you want to go give them a hand you're welcome to."
"Sure!" Rai said. He then rushed past me to escape to the great outdoors.
"There are bikes in the shed by the pool," I said, repeating what I said to Crystal and Darke, "Use that to get to town." Then turning back towards the stairs, I went up.
Rai's P.O.V.
As I went to leave, I passed by the kitchen. There on the table, something caught my eye. Pebbles? That's weird… Frowning for a moment, I went to the kitchen table and lifted one of the pebbles up. After looking it over a bit, I shrugged and put it back down. Then I left for the door.
Outside of the mansion, I walked towards the shed that was by the pool. Opening the doors, I saw a row of bikes in different colors. Picking the green bike, I hopped on and went towards town.
A girl walked through town. Just from her appearances alone, one could tell she wasn't from Japan. Her hair was blonde, long and wavy with a golden tint, and her eyes were a lapis-blue. She was tall and slender in figure, and the way in which she walked was regal. This girl looked around her teens.
"Tch," said the girl, "Why are we here Ty?"
"Well Miss Ada, your father wanted you to spend your time sight-seeing Japan while he did his work here—"
"Yeah, I get that part," the girl Ada snapped, "but why did we need to come to an ordinary town when could've just stayed in Tokyo or went to a more interesting place?"
"The mountains of Japan supposedly have great views of their landscapes, and the air at the top is quite—"
"That's great and all, but I'm not in the mood to get all worked up and sweaty by going up a mountain. So I'll pass on any mountain sight-seeing."
"As you wish," Ty said.
"Do you mind if I go around the town a bit before I have to get stuffed into that car again?"
"Of course Miss Ada, I will be accompanying you wherever you chose to go—"
"I'll go around town by myself," Ada cut in, "I don't need a babysitter."
"But Miss, I must keep watch over you at all times. I was hired to watch over you at all times after all."
"You're just a temporary guard. I told my dad that I didn't want any guards, but just because we're in a new country, he sticks me with you."
"I see you aren't quite used to having a guard with you at all times Miss Ada. Though I understand you are feeling uncomfortable, please let me accompany you."
The girl Ada made a face. "Fine, but carry my bags for me."
"Yes Miss." Ty went into the car to retrieve Ada's bags. Collecting her bags, he came out of the car and locked the doors. "Ok Miss Ada let us—" Ty looked at the empty spot that Ada was standing on moments ago. "Ahhh! Miss Ada, where did you go?"
"Hey, are you listening to me!" Crystal gave an irritated glance at Darke. Still riding on their bikes, Crystal asked Darke the question again. "Do you know where we're going and if we're there yet?"
"…Just follow me," Darke said after a moment of silence.
Hoping that they weren't going the wrong way, Crystal gave a scowl and followed after Darke.
After a while, Crystal and Darke entered a town that was nestled not so far from the base of a mountain. Slowing their bikes to a stop, the two took a moment to look around their surroundings. The town that they've come to was an ordinary town, maybe a bit larger than most towns, but an ordinary town nonetheless. The town had a decent neighborhood with houses neatly lined around the streets, and some stores around. On the other end of the town was a school…no…three schools. The three schools were pretty close to each other that from Crystal and Darke's vantage point, it looked almost like a single, big school. This town was called Ichimu Gaiku.
"Huh, Ichimu…Gaiku," Crystal said, reading a sign post, "That's the town's name? Huh, wonder what it means."
"A dreamland," Darke spoke.
"What?"
"Ichimu means dream…gaiku means land…therefore "Dreamland" is the name of this town."
"Cool name, but why would the town be named "Dreamland"? I don't see anything special."
Darke, finished talking and ignoring Crystal's question, went ahead to find the closest store.
Che, he could've at least waited for me Crystal thought with slight irritation Ignoring people…so annoying! I guess I'll just ask someone about the town of "Ichimu Gaiku" later. Crystal then followed behind Darke through the streets.
Not long after they had entered the town of Ichimu Gaiku, Crystal and Darke had spotted a huge grocery shopping store from a block off. The grocery store was, as the townspeople had said, in the general shopping district area of the town, so if they needed anything else specific, they could go around the shopping district. Soon, Crystal and Darke had come to the end of the block.
"Ah! I can see the shopping district from here! We're almost there!" Crystal speed up next to Darke and got ready to turn the corner…and that was when a girl ran out right in front of them from the shopping district area. The girl must've not seen the two bikers as she turned the corner for she cried out in surprise.
"Ah!"
Screeching to a sudden stop, Crystal and Darke stopped in front of the girl.
"Whoa! Hey watch where you're going!" Crystal said to the girl.
The girl, still surprised, just said, "Yeah, ok." After a few moments though, the girl got over the shock and returned to her normal self. The girl straightened out her hair and neatened her clothing. She then looked over at the two people, and saw Darke who calmly sat on bike with a cool air. To the girl, the boy was handsome. He wore dark clothing as if the night itself was his cloak, and his scarf and goggles gave him a stylish yet mysterious look. The girl blushed deeply as she saw Darke. Opening her mouth, the girl spoke to Darke. "Hi, my name is Ada Giovenello, um thanks for stopping and not running me down…um…what's your name?"
Darke's expression could not be seen through his goggles, but with an air of indifference, Darke answered, "Darke."
"Oh, well nice to meet you Darke." Oh my god he looks so hot!
"Hey," Crystal cut in, "Can you be careful where you go? I don't want to hit people on the road."
Ada gave a glance towards Crystal. "And who might you be?" Then with a hint of jealousy in her voice she also asked, "Are you Darke's boyfriend or something?"
Crystal made a face. "Boyfriend? No." Then after a moment she said, "My name is Crystal."
"Oh, well Crystal," Ada started, "Are you Darke's friend then?"
Crystal blinked and thought a moment. Well I can't say I'm that friendly with Darke, but just saying flat-out no is weird…so I guess… "Yeah, he's just a friend." Why are we having this conversation?
"Ok then," said Ada sounding a bit more upbeat. Hmph, I don't know if this girl Crystal is lying or not, but it sounds too good to be true when she said that she was just "a friend" to that hottie over there. "So let me ask you one more thing Crystal," Ada said.
Crystal wasn't in the mood to be playing question and answer, but just complied for the sake of getting the tiring situation over with. "What," Crystal replied, irritated.
"Do you guys live close by here?" Ada's eye scanned them both once over. "I mean I'm guessing you do live close by…and close to each other since you're riding your bikes here…together and all…"
Can't say anything about the base so… "Yeah we live close by."
"And near each other~?"
Crystal scowled. "Yeah, I guess you can say that."
"So you guys shop together here often~?" Or maybe they just go to the movies as "friends" and hang out. If that was the circumstance then one, that would be called "going out" or "dating". Anyways, that scrawny girl there doesn't seem fit for Darke.
Crystal just let out a breath. "We're just here to run an errand for our…parents. They need some items from the grocery." Not completely a lie. Now go away.
Ada smiled sweetly. "Ok." Uh huh. I'm pretty sure what you're saying is BS. Yeah, because your parents need the EXACT same items to live their lives. Right.
"Excuse us, but we've got to go," Crystal said. The irritation was clear in her voice. "If you don't mind can you move?"
Ada smirked. Oh she got the message. But before she left, Ada turned to Darke and said, "Well it was nice meeting you Darke~! Hope we can meet again~" Ada then took out a piece of paper and a writing utensil and wrote something down on the piece of paper. Then strutting over with a slight swing of her waist, she handed Darke the paper and winked. Then she started to walk away with a "call me" hand signal by her ear.
All throughout this Crystal thought the words: Blonde Bitch. Slut. and Annoying. Then without further ado, Crystal put her bike back into motion. "Let's get this over with."
Rai was riding through the town "Ichimu Gaiku" (which he thought was a pretty cool name for a town) as he searched for Crystal and Darke. Hm, where are they? I'm pretty sure I rode fast enough to catch up to them… As Rai continued to ride his bike contemplating whether he should give up his search or not, he rode by a pretty blonde girl who strode by him with a regal air and a smug look on her face. Rai whistled appreciatively as he passed by her. Then he continued his search from Crystal and Dakre. After five more minutes of searching he decided that he would sight-see through the town and if he somehow bumped into Crystal and Darke, it would be great. If not…no problem.
"Stop!" a voice rang out. It was from a man dressed quite promptly, holding multiple handbags and shopping bags, and standing directly in front of Rai's path.
Rai screeched to a stop and blinked. Who is this guy? And why is he carrying…handbags and shopping bags?
"Excuse me young lad…"
Young lad? Who even speaks like that these days?
"…have you happened to see a young beautiful lady with long golden hair and lapis-blue eyes wandering around town? She's in her teens like you."
Rai blinked. "Yeah, I passed by her a moment ago…"
"Where did she go?"
"Uh…that way." Rai pointed at the general direction the pretty girl he had seen walk off to.
"Thank you! Or arigato as your country would say!" And the man sped off.
Rai stood there dumbfounded for a moment, but snapped out of it and continued his ride through the town.
At one point, Rai came across a huge lake near the town. The lake was fairly circular in shape and its water was very clear and blue. It was so clear that you could basically see to the bottom (which showed that the lake wasn't too deep). This lake was called Kesshou Kagami or "Crystal Mirror". A fitting name Rai thought as he read the information board about the lake. Apparently this lake used to be connected to the river that came from the mountains, and another river that came out of the lake itself. This lake sustained water that was very clear, clean and drinkable, which was a good thing for the people of the older days, hence why the lake was named "Crystal Mirror". The town named "Dreamland" was not only called "Dreamland" for its beautiful surroundings, useful resources, and clean air, but for the lake itself as well. Rai turned away from the information board. All around the lake there were people. Some were taking pictures, others were having picnics, some were biking… Wait they have a biking trail here? Rai broke out into a grin. "I'm gonna go for a ride!"
"Miss Ada, you really shouldn't have gone off on your own," Ty chastised lightly. Ty and Ada were in the car driving back to their hotel. After Ty had found Ada and had a talk with her, they had gone into the car and headed home.
Ada remained quiet for a moment. Then with her usual attitude she said, "Whatever." Then they rode in silence for a while until Ada broke the silence with a question. "Can we come back here more often Ty?"
Ty gave a glance at Ada's direction through the front mirror. "I don't know how much longer I will be your guard, but yes, you can visit here anytime Miss Ada."
"Hm, do you think I may be able to stay in Japan longer?"
"I believe so."
"How about going to school here? Specifically this town."
Ty looked surprised. "Why so suddenly Miss Ada? I thought you did not prefer it here."
"Well now I found interest in this place."
"That I do not know. You would have to consult with your father for that matter."
"I guess I will." Convincing dad will be a piece of cake. I can get to his soft spots real easy. Ada smirked. Just a little talk about education and so on, and I'll be a transfer student here no time~
Anrya's P.O.V.
"Pffft…" sighing, I put down the book I was reading and stretched out on the comfy sofa of the library. When are those two coming back? It had been two hours since the two had left. I decided to go downstairs and read in the living room instead. Walking down four flights of stairs, I arrived downstairs and headed for the livingroom. "Huh?" On the table in the living room sat several packages marked: Anrya. Esa. Jasmine. Crystal. Selina. Rai. Darke. Ryo. Gray. Gris. On top of those was a letter. Picking it up, I read it. "No way."
Crystal's P.O.V.
I could really use a bed now. I glumly thought. I was walking my bike alongside Darke as we rode up the mountain to the base. So far my day wasn't as great as I would've liked it to be. First thing that ticked me off was the fact I had to run this shopping errand with Darke when I could've stayed in and watched some anime. The second thing that ticked me off was that blonde girl named Ada who just had to delay our schedule. The last thing that ticked me off was the incident from before. This is how it went: Darke and I were lugging the grocery items on our bike baskets. I was actually in a decent mood then since I had a lollipop, that I bought with the spare money, in my mouth.
"The uphill is getting steep, walk your bike," Darke had said.
I don't like being commanded by anyone to do something, Darke was no exception. He could've asked more nicely. Though he didn't talk much, that didn't give him the excuse to command me. Also, I was more comfortable riding on the bike than walking since it was a bit faster and easier. Well I guess I should've listened to him even though I didn't want to because when the slope got steeper momentarily, I had to swerve my bike a bit and the eggs in my bike fell out…Yeah whoopdie-doo. That really improved my mood. The fact that Darke just glanced in my direction as if to say "I told you so" made it worse. So we turned back around, bought the eggs again, and went back uphill. And here I am now, walking my bike up alongside Darke. The mansion was just up ahead (thank God) so I hurried along. Can't wait until I'm in.
Anrya's P.O.V.
I saw Crystal and Darke enter the mansion. Greeting them and thanking them for the errand, I quickly put away the grocery. Crystal didn't seem too upbeat, but I later found out why. Before their arrival, Rai had arrived home earlier and excitedly mention something about a huge, clear lake and a bike trail.
"Hey guys," I said to everyone, "I, uh, we got a package this morning from an unknown sender which I guess is Zero and his crew, saying we're going to school."
There was a moment of silence. I almost laughed aloud. When I first got the package and read the letter, I was shocked too, but then it hit me that this was a normal thing to do. Kids were supposed to go to school. The fact that it surprised me made me laugh.
"Well it's normal to go to school you know," I said to the others. "Ren wrote us a letter. This is what it says:
Dear Anrya and the members of the Pericoloso Family,
I have sent a package for every member of the family who are required to go to school by law. Don't be too shocked by this (though you shouldn't be since any normal person goes to school) because every family should be knowledgeable in every field of life possible, studies being one of them. Therefore you have been signed up to attend Ichimu Elementary School, Ichimu Middle School, or Ichimu High School. You have all been assigned to your classes and your schedule and uniform are in the package sent. The beginning of the semester has already begun a while ago, but it shouldn't be too hard to catch up. As transfer students, you will be helped and guided if necessary by the instructors and fellow peers. If you wish to change one of your electives in your schedule you may speak with the school counselor. Other than that, your schedules should be quite satisfactory and fitting to your level of knowledge. You have all been put into as many of the same classes as possible (of course that also depends on your grade), and we will still hold to our contract and supervise you until the contract terminates. You will begin school starting from next Monday, October 15. School time and period sessions vary slightly depending on the school. Please be there on time, ready, and properly dressed.
-Ren
And that's it." Finishing the letter, I closed it and put it away again. "Ok, let's take a look at our uniforms and schedules." I grinned. It was my first time going to a school that required a specific uniform and to be honest, it was quite exciting. Each of us then opened our packages and checked out the stuff. In each package there was a school uniform, a schedule, and a set of gym clothes. My school uniform consisted of a white blouse, a red skirt that stopped mid-thigh, and a cape that indicated what grade you were in. Ninth graders, in this school, got a red cape lined with gold on the edges. As for my gym clothes, they were red and white as well: Red shorts, White T-shirt. I guessed that the school we were going to wasn't too strict on the uniform wear seeing how you could wear any type of shoes, jackets, or hats if it was appropriate at that time or place. Selina had the same uniform as me.
"Hey," said Crystal, "Our school uniform isn't too bad. It's cute in a way." Crystal lifted up an identical uniform to mine except that her cape was red with a green lining. Crystal, Esa, and Jasmine all had identical uniforms since they were all in the same grade.
"Hey Anrya, Selina, you have—well sort of—the same school uniform as us," Esa said, "You're in our school!"
"Did they make a mistake?" Crystal questioned, "Aren't you guys high school?"
"Yeah," I replied, "But no, they didn't mess up. In Japan, the school system for middle school goes from seventh grade to ninth grade."
"Oh ok."
"Hey our uniforms are different," Rai said, holding up his uniform. His uniform consisted of a white collared shirt, navy blue slacks, a navy blue tie, and a navy blue coat with an emblem on it indicating the grade he was in.
"Must be because you're in high school," I pointed out.
Rai nodded.
Darke took out an identical uniform.
The only one who wasn't in the same school building with another person was Ryo. Ryo was attending Ichimu Elementary School. As for him, his school didn't have much of a uniform. They had a yellow school T-shirt with the words: Ichimu Elementary School written in green on the shirt, but other than that, they could basically wear anything.
"Looks like Ichimu's Elementary School's color are yellow and green, the middle school is red and white, and high school is navy blue and white," Selina said in observation.
"Yeah, and the grade we're in is indicated by either our capes or the emblem," I said.
We buzzed with conversation.
"Hey there's a package for Gris and Gray too!" Rai called out. We all sort of stared, but Gris and Gray were in twelfth grade after all. "Should I tell them about it?" Rai asked.
I shrugged and said, "Why not?"
So Rai went to the lab where Gris and Gray were. Then he came back. "…Uh I think they were kind of busy so they weren't quite paying attention…but I did leave their packages there."
"Huh? What do you mean they weren't paying attention?" I asked, "I'm sure they're busy and all but you could've easily told them."
"I don't think so…" Rai started. "I told them the news and all they ever answered was: Yeah, ok. They I asked them if they heard me and they answered the same thing…so…I said "my hair is a blue teddy bear" and they answered: Yeah, ok…so I'm pretty sure they didn't hear me."
I laughed. "They'll eventually see it, so I wouldn't worry about it." After that we all dispersed and continued our day.
Esa's P.O.V.
So I woke up to a nice and beautiful morning…with a gunshot. Don't worry, it wasn't in my room thank God, but I heard it outside. "What's going on now," I muttered. Throwing on some clothes, I headed downstairs. At the ground floor I saw Anrya. "Hey Anrya, what's going on? I heard a gunshot."
"Gray and Gris are just testing out their final prototype," Anrya answered.
"They finished fixing and upgrading all those guns?"
"Yeah. They like to finish their work quickly and efficiently and then test them just in case they've missed something or they need a touch-up."
"Wow. They must've worked hard. They were holed up in that lab for almost three days straight…"
"I know right. If that was me, I would've gone crazy."
Hungry, I went into the kitchen. I grabbed a quick breakfast and headed back out.
"Esa," Anrya called me, "can you help me clean up the house a bit? The client is coming today to pick up his materials and I don't want the house to be a mess."
"What about the others?"
"Well, Jasmine, Crystal, and Selina went out to town to go to the hair salon, Rai is out biking and, for some reason, skipping stones and stuff, and Gris and Gray are out shooting, Darke is…actually I don't know where he is. I only have you left."
"Wait, why are Jasmine, Crystal, and Selina at the hair salon and why is Rai out biking?"
"Well, Jasmine and Crystal had money from their parents to do stuff they wanted with it (cause no way am I giving them money for that reason. Hair salon prices are mad high) so they decided to color and dye their hair, and Selina's there so that they don't get lost or wander too much. As for Rai, I would've held him back and asked for help, but he grabbed some pebble-things on kitchen table and left pretty early saying that he'll be back as soon as possible to help."
"So I'm gonna be the only one helping you out?" I said with a slight grumble.
"Well kind of yeah. But don't worry, Ryo is helping out too.
Whoops, I almost completely forgot about Ryo. He's kind of like a ghost sometimes, not leaving much of an impression on anyone. Well at least I won't be working completely alone. "I'll help out a bit I guess."
"Thanks," Anrya said with a sigh of relief, "The house is mostly clean, but if you can neaten out the living room and the bedrooms that would be great."
"Sure." I got to work.
Gray's P.O.V.
BAM. BAM. BAM. The hand pistol in my hand fired three shots into the tree. Hm, not bad for an upgrade, but I'll have to tune it up a bit more. Beside me, my twin brother Gris tested out the snipers.
"Hey Gris, how are the silencers on the snipers doing?"
"It's good. I wonder if we can find a way to make it quieter though." My brother concentrated again and shot at the tree. SNIP. SNIP. The bullets flew and hit the target fairly quietly. On impact they made a muffled sound.
"I'm gonna go in and give this a tune up ok?" I told Gris. "Test out the rest of the guns for me alright?"
"Got it."
Heading back in, I saw Anrya, Esa, and Ryo cleaning the house.
"—Geez, baka-Rai and the others get to take it easy. Lucky. But what does baka-Rai possibly have to go skipping stones for? He could always find another time to skip his little pebble-things." Esa grumbled in a low mutter as she neatened out the pillows on the couch.
I snickered. "Enjoy cleaning Hime-chan~!"
Esa whipped her head towards my direction. "Huh, what? Why are you calling me "princess"?"
"Well seeing you grumble about something as simple as cleaning made me think of a princess who didn't like to get her hands dirty~ Cute."
Esa glared at me. "I don't have a problem with cleaning. I was just annoyed a bit how the others could go around and play while I cleaned up."
I waved my hand. "Yeah, yeah. Just keep cleaning Hime-chan~" I walked away from Esa and headed towards the lab. Behind me I could hear Esa muttering as she fluffed out the pillows a bit more strongly than needed. Then I heard Anrya coming in. They murmured a bit. The last thing I heard was:
"Don't feel bad about being called princess Esa, I'm pretty sure Gray was joking around. She probably has her own way in showing that she likes you."
I smirked and smiled.
Anrya's P.O.V.
The client came around one in the afternoon. I had to go through all the formalities and yada-yada. Basically it was pretty boring. Man, I could be spending my day more usefully. This is stupid. So we chatted, talked, ate, acted all formal and stuff, and Gris and Gray demonstrated the weapons… In my opinion, the demonstrations of the guns were the only fun part. Finally the client left and left us in peace.
"God that was boring," Jasmine commented. She tugged at her hair as she said this. She and Crystal had returned from the hair salon a while before the client had arrived. Crystal dyed her hair brown and Jasmine highlighted her hair red. Unfortunately, Jasmine's hair coloring had gotten damaged due to some circumstances…
"Ugh, these fading red highlights are bothering me," Jasmine muttered.
"I'm really sorry about that Jasmine," I said, meaning it. "I really hadn't meant to damage your hair but…"
"Whatever," Jasmine said, "it's fine, but you owe me."
"Uh, ok." So I guess you're wondering what happened right? Well this is how the story of how Jasmine's hair getting damaged went. As Esa, Ryo and I were cleaning, we were abruptly interrupted by a frantic Gray. She went babbling and swearing about how she just remembered that she left three prototype explosives unattended by the kitchen window sill and how they were missing now. Then I remembered about how I saw those three pebble-shaped things. I told her that I thought they were rocks or something and left them on the kitchen table for anyone to take back (just in case someone wanted it or it was somebody's). She said that they weren't there anymore and I was like "Of course they're not, they were taken by…" then I froze. We all realized that by then, Rai had already taken those stones to go "skipping stones" but of course in this case it would be "skipping explosives, causing mass destruction and also getting arrested" and yeah…So we did what was natural. Freak out. After we had calmed down though, Gray made us both go out and retrieve Rai before he threw those stones into the water and caused destruction.
"But he couldn't possibly cause that much destruction seeing how those small explosives would be thrown into the water," I said. "I mean if it was at something else, it would be a different story, but he's just throwing it into the water. The worst he'll get is a water explosion and an arrest. And also, it's been some time since he left. What if he already threw them?" I'm pretty sure that if he already threw it, he wouldn't be too stupid enough to repeat the same action two more times.
"Are you saying it's ok to let one of your guardians go to the police?" Gray demanded.
"Of course not! I wouldn't let him get send to jail and be all alone without—"
"What it they interrogate him? He won't have an explanation for where or how he got those explosives or why he threw them! He'll probably be so freaked out that he might let his tongue go loose and tell those policemen everything! Eventually the evidence would lead up to here and this place would be raided, my lab would be messed up and all my precious study would go to waste! He better not get caught by the police! If my research ever gets harmed I'll rip him to shreds!"
So that was the reason… "Ok then…" Glancing at Esa, I knew I wasn't the only one getting the scary vibe from Gray.
"Both of you, go and retrieve Rai!" Gray said. "Hopefully he hasn't thrown one of those explosives yet or dropped them or hurt anyone or gotten captured by the police."
"But he's been gone for so long that I think he already threw those stones…" I mumbled.
"I don't care! Drag him back here so I can dispose of those explosives correctly. He better not have gotten caught by the police."
"Geez, do I have to go too?" Esa asked.
"Do you have a choice?" Gray started to get that evil vibe again.
Esa must've sensed that too. I'm pretty sure she also remembered how well Gray shot a gun. "Fine. I guess it'll be more effective splitting up and covering more ground. But I'm warning you, I don't have the greatest sense of direction so don't blame me."
"Let's go Esa," I said. And that how we ended up looking for Rai all around the town of Ichimu Gaiku, and ended up going around all the bike trails there. Then we finally found him by the lake later on.
"Oh my God, I'm gonna strangle that baka!" Esa huffed. Both she and I were worn out from the long and rough bike trails and searches.
"I think I'm going to strangle him too," I gasped, out of breath.
Rai was walking around the lake when he saw us. Lifting up his arm he waved at us. "Hey Anrya-chan, Esa-chan, wanna join me in rock skipping?"
We pedaled over to his location as fast as possible.
"HELL NO!" Esa growled. "I'm not in the mood to get arrested. Next time you take something; look at what you're taking and take things that are only yours baka-Rai!"
Rai looked confused so I filled him in. "Oh…" Rai had said after I told him the situation, "I guess it's a good thing I didn't throw the pebbl—I mean explosives yet."
"Yeah," I said in agreement. "Well let's head back to the base, we still have to get ready for the client's arrival." So we all headed back to hand Gray the explosives.
"Finally," Gray said, "that took you forever." She then carried the explosive off into the forest.
"Hey it was pretty hard finding Rai," Esa said.
"What are you doing anyways?" I questioned.
"Disposing the explosives correctly," Gray answered.
BOOM…BOOM
The explosives detonated on the far side of the forest. After our ears stopped ringing and our eyes adjusted to the flash, I yelled out to Gray, "Are you sure this is the correct way to dispose them!"
"Yeah," Gray yelled back, "It's one of the correct ways anyways. I could make it a dud in the lab by carefully taking it apart but that'll take too long so I'm safely disposing them outside. It's much faster."
"Aren't you destroying the forest though?" Rai questioned. Gray shrugged in reply.
"Wouldn't the people hear/see this explosion?" Esa questioned.
"Most likely not," Gray answered to Esa's question.
"Bad question but can I throw the last explosive?" I asked.
Gray just looked at me. I was sure that by then she would reject such an idea but I was surprised to hear her say "why not." So I threw the explosive. Not as far as I hoped it would, but far enough.
BOOM
"AH!"
"OH MY GOD JASMINE YOUR HAIR IS PARTLY ON FIRE!"
"HELP ME!"
I swore. We ran over to the voices of Jasmine, Crystal, and Selina. When we arrived on the scene, the fire on Jasmine's hair was out and instead there was dirt, rocks, smoke, and some other elements of nature on her head. Of course this all equaled to a very pissed off Jamine. After a long argument and yelling, we all went in. Inside, Jasmine took a shower (which further damaged her hair and further pissed her off) and the rest of us prepared for the client.
So yeah, story of my life.
^^ Review for mwah~