Okay! That chapter was mildly depressing! I now present to you the second chapter, which will be MUCH lighter, and will have (a tiny bit) more Ren/Kyoko fluff. :) Thank you to my lovely reviewers, especially those who gave me some lovely T/D ideas. ^^ A thank-you also goes out to a real-world friend of mine, who supplied some as well. :)
I still do not own SB, however much I may wish I did. Enjoy, my darlings!
"Onee-san," Maria asked, a little while later, once things had calmed down, they had eaten lunch, and had returned to Maria's room, "Truth or Dare?"
"Hmm?" Kyoko hummed, looking up from where she lay sprawled on the floor, tangled up in Natsuko the overly friendly snake.
The younger of the two humans felt her laughter intensify at the sight, and grabbed the camera that Lory had given her. "Smile, onee-san!"
Kyoko obliged, as did Natsuko – at least, the snake did the serpentine equivalent of opening her mouth in the general direction of the camera. Once the photo was taken, the elder girl inquired, "What did you say, Maria-chan?"
"I was wondering if you wanted to play a game with me, onee-san," Maria smiled innocently, slipping the camera in her pocket. She was glad that Kyoko was in good spirits once more – after all, she had just bared a rather painful portion of her past to Maria, and the things she had said were enough to bring most people to tears. Kyoko, thankfully, was made of tougher stuff. Maria took a moment to thank the stars that her grandfather had not been in the room when Kyoko poured out the sorrows of her past; he would undoubtedly be a blubbering mess now if he had. (Of course, Lory was such a blubbering mass at the moment; but Maria did not know that, as she was unaware that he had been eavesdropping.)
"Of course!" Kyoko beamed. "What would you like to play?"
"Hmm… have you ever played Truth or Dare?"
"No, but I've heard of it!" Kyoko's eyes began to shine. "It's very popular at sleepovers among close girl friends! Oh, I've always wanted to play!" She then launched into la-la land, her imagination running positively wild.
The younger girl giggled, and wondered if there was a way to view la-la land as Kyoko did. Perhaps there was some sort of mental train, or a special button? She tapped her finger on her lips, observing the young woman before her. The idea seemed ridiculous – but then, Maria lived with Lory Takarada, so ridiculous wasn't really something that registered in her young mind in the ordinary sense of the word. Hence, her next course of action seemed perfectly logical to the young girl.
Maria simply walked over to Kyoko, knelt down by the actress's head, and placed her pointer fingers on Kyoko's temples. When this failed to be effective in any sense of the word, Maria proceeded to touch their foreheads together, and chanted, "Egredimini visiones admirans mysterium tuum nobiscum." (Which, translated, roughly means, "Come forth, visions of wonder, and share with me your mystery.")
The effect was immediate, and slightly unsettling for Maria. She was pitched headfirst into la-la land, in a sequence not unlike a certain Alice Liddell's. As it transpired, la-la land was a beautiful place, filled with fairies of every kind, a wide variety of desserts, and a set of 'best friend' sequences (this last one was where Kyoko was currently residing). None of these, however, caught Maria's attention; she instead focused upon a darkened corner, roped off and decorated with warning signs. The figure standing behind the ropes seemed awfully familiar – perhaps if she could just get a bit closer –
"I'm sorry, Maria-chan. I didn't mean to zone out! Were you saying something?" Kyoko was blinking upside-down at Maria, their foreheads still touching.
"La-la land is beautiful, onee-san!" Maria exclaimed, sitting up. "I was visiting. I hope you don't mind."
"Of course not," Kyoko beamed. "I don't mind sharing la-la land with you."
"Why?"
"Well, you're my beloved little sister, so obviously fantasies should be shared," Kyoko reasoned.
Maria smiled. Onee-san loved her as well – she'd known it, but it was good to know that Kyoko could say it in return. She did tell Kanae that she loved her, but that was friend-love, not family-love. "It's like a fairy tale."
This statement, of course, resulted in another fun little excursion into la-la land. (This trip would be recorded here, but it can be a relatively scary place to those not on Kyoko and Maria's peculiar wavelength, and could therefore cause problems for some readers. It is not skipped because the authoress was overly eager to get to Truth or Dare. Really.) Too soon, however, they were drawn out by Natsuko, who desired to be free of Kyoko's limbs – she had not, after all, been drawn into la-la land, so she only knew that her two humans had suddenly gone very still. So, by shifting around, she awakened them and freed herself. Lovely, no?
"Shall we start the game?" Maria asked, at length. Natsuko's bizarre wigglings had resulted in gales of laughter from Kyoko. Maria had then taken advantage of the fact that her beloved onee-san was extremely ticklish; Kyoko had replied in kind, resulting in a very tired pair of girls. They had found it necessary to rest for a few moments before any sort of speech was possible.
"Yes!" Kyoko replied, sitting up and pulling her legs underneath her. "Would you like to start?"
"No, you can ask first, onee-san. You've been wanting to play, right?"
A beam in response. "Truth or Dare, Maria-chan?"
"Truth!"
"Alright… hmm…." She paused, and then asked, "Where were you on the night of September the twenty-fourth?"
Maria stared at her for a moment, attempting to discern any joking twinkle in her onee-san's eyes. Upon seeing that Kyoko was entirely serious, she burst into hysterical laughter. Kyoko was, understandably, confused, and queried as to the source of Maria's laughter (and Lory's, in effect, though she was unaware that Lory was spying on them). Between giggles, Maria explained, "Th-That's not the type of question you ask, onee-san! You ask personal stuff, like secrets and wishes and dreams!"
In his office, watching through the security cameras, Lory was dying of silent laughter. Sebastian's lip twitched slightly, proving that he was equally, if not more, amused.
Kyoko's face was very red, and her voice was very small. "Oh."
"It's okay, onee-san!" Maria assured her, before Kyoko could begin a flood of apologies. "I did the same sort of thing the first time I played! I was trying to explain a Dare, and pointed to a crumb on the tablecloth and said that it was my aunt, and everyone started laughing! I was just trying to help them visualize it!" This ended with a slight pout on Maria's part, and a giggle on Kyoko's. "But, to answer your question, I was in France with Grandfather."
"Oh, how lovely!" Kyoko exclaimed.
"Yes, we were there for a gathering of talents," Maria nodded. "Truth or Dare, onee-san?"
"How about Truth, so I know what I'm supposed to ask?"
"Okay!" A pause; then: "If you could only choose one type of magic to do, what would you choose?"
Kyoko tapped a finger against her lips. "Hmm… probably fairy magic, like Corn, but Hogwarts magic would be wonderful, too…. I really would like to be a fairy, though, so I'd choose fairy magic."
"Wise choice."
"I thought so. Truth or Dare?"
"Dare!"
"I dare you to play balloon Ping-Pong with me!"
"What's that?" blinked the younger girl.
"It's like regular Ping-Pong, but with paper plates on popsicle sticks instead of paddles and a balloon instead of a Ping-Pong ball," Kyoko explained.
Lory smacked his forehead for not thinking of it himself. Balloon Ping-Pong! It was genius!
"Will we keep playing during the game?"
"Sure, it should be simple enough. First to get five points wins – a point to your opponent every time you miss the balloon." Kyoko smiled, and the two went to fetch supplies – only to have Sebastian hand them the supplies in the hallway without a word. The girls shared a mildly surprised look, shrugged, and began their game. As it transpired, balloon Ping-Pong was actually much more difficult than regular Ping-Pong; it required more force, and the balloons were much harder to control than Ping-Pong balls. Thus, the next portion of the day involved quite a bit of panting.
"Truth or Dare, onee –" Maria took a violent swing at the balloon and missed (one point to Kyoko) "—san?"
"Truth!" Kyoko panted, smacking her paper plate 'paddle' against the balloon; said air-filled object spiraled into the air, resulting in Kyoko needing to hit it again for it to float over to Maria.
"What – was –" Maria jumped, and her paddle connected nicely with the balloon, "your last – dream about Ren-sama?"
"What?" Kyoko yelped, missing the balloon; they were now tied one-to-one.
"What was your last dream about Ren-sama?" Maria repeated, catching her breath as Kyoko retrieved the balloon.
"Eh…" Kyoko's cheeks flushed; she fetched the balloon. "A dream? Or a nightmare?"
"Whichever was most – recent!" Maria replied, smacking the balloon that Kyoko had served to her.
Kyoko's brain whirred, and she was flung back into la-la land's dark corner. "We were… in Corn's clearing. I had butterfly wings, transparent ones; he had white, feathered wings… but they were stained red and black. I was kneeling behind him, trying to get them clean – but I could only fix one feather at a time, by pressing it between my hands and muttering – a spell," she half-whispered, picking up the balloon and twisting its tied-off end between her hands. "The feathers were beautiful, but I could only reach the ones he couldn't see – so he couldn't see any that were clean, only the stained ones – so he thought that they were all stained. When all the ones in the center of his back were clean, I tried to balance myself, to push off and fly high enough to help him with the rest… but his wings enveloped me, and mine tangled with his." Her breath hitched. "Then –" her face was paler, and her voice broke.
Lory stared at the screen in disbelief. How much did this girl refuse to see, if she saw that much subconsciously?
"Then?" Maria prompted, observing Kyoko. Had she pushed too far?
"EE-YAH!" Kyoko abruptly hollered, picking up the balloon and smacking it towards Maria with all of her might. Had it been an ordinary Ping-Pong ball, this would surely have been a point for Kyoko; however, as it was a balloon, and balloons can be jerks, it simply spiraled up into the air and adhered itself to the ceiling with static electricity. "Truth or Dare?" Kyoko demanded, pointing her 'paddle' at Maria and deciding that reliving the rest of the daydream would be deadly to her admittedly weak sanity.
"Ah… Dare?" Maria requested weakly, staring at the balloon. It was steadfastly stuck to the ceiling, and would not fall any time soon. "I think that balloon Ping-Pong is done."
Kyoko nodded her agreement, somewhat calmer now that the daydream had been flung from her mind. "Any time anyone says 'eh,' 'um,' or 'huh' for the rest of the night – including you – you must scream."
"Okay," Maria nodded, relieved that her onee-san was alright. "I Dare you to –"
"Maria-chan, you didn't ask me yet," Kyoko interrupted.
"But you can't pick the same thing three times in a row, so you have to do a Dare," Maria informed her. "It's in the rules!"
"Oh. Alright."
"Follow me. I know a perfect place for your Dare!" This announcement was followed by an ominous giggle, and Kyoko followed Maria with no little amount of trepidation. Natsuko slithered after them, hissing happily. Maria's excitement was a tangible thing to the snake, something that it fed off of in some happy way. It gave another serpentine grin as Maria led Kyoko in Lory's room of frankly creepy quockerwodgers, and explained that the elder girl's task was to sit in the room without making a sound until she was told to come out. Kyoko nodded her comprehension and sat on her knees. Maria hurried out of the room; Natsuko followed, a silent, slippery shadow.
Within two minutes of Maria's vacating the room, something moved in Kyoko's peripheral vision. She whipped her head to the side, only to be met with the sight of an unmoving wooden doll. She blinked. Was her imagination playing tricks on her again? She shook her head, clearing it; she was being silly. Yes, the dolls were creepy; yes, her eyes were tired to the point where it looked like one of them had moved; no, it hadn't actually moved – her head whipped in the other direction, but she refused to make a sound. Maybe… maybe fairies were controlling the dolls to play with her, and were just too shy to say hello? She waved to a nearby doll. It waved back; a grin grew across Kyoko's face.
In the string-control room, Maria bit back a laugh as her camera recorded the scene; the plaster separating them was thin. As was expected from her onee-san, there were no sounds of terror – Kyoko seemed to be enjoying herself, communicating silently with the dolls. Perhaps she'd noticed the fishing line controlling them, or simply thought that they were magic – Maria had been thoroughly convinced of the latter until the former had occurred. After that, she had spent many long hours learning how to manipulate the quockerwodgers; now, her efforts came to fruition. She made the dolls dance around, entertaining her onee-san and nearly drawing forth an exclamation of delight when a princess doll curtsied to her. Kyoko, of course, had remembered her Dare to keep silent just in time, and gave an awkward, seated curtsy in return. This resulted in Maria laughing aloud, and Kyoko's Dare coming to an end. Maria then re-entered the room and explained about the quockerwodgers – much to Kyoko's disappointment, as she had truly believed that a fairy was playing with her. The two of them then walked out into the hall to continue their game, and shut the door on the quockerwodgers.
Maria blinked, and then reopened the door. She could've sworn that one of the dolls had moved. "Maybe there are fairies…."
In the control-room, Natsuko gave a snaky grin, and then went to find her two human friends.
"Did you say something, Maria-chan?" Kyoko inquired curiously.
"Nope! Shall we get back to the game?"
"Of course! Truth or Dare?"
Maria deliberated; onee-san seemed to be in a good mood… "Dare!"
Kyoko tilted her head to one side, and glanced up and down the hallway in which they stood. Her eyes alit upon a map of the mansion. Maria watched in mildly horrified fascination as a slow grin spread over her onee-san's face as the elder girl's eyes roved over the different labels on the map. Natsuko slithered up behind them, unnoticed. "President Takarada said that we could utilize whatever we wished, within reason, yes?"
"He did," Maria confirmed, with no little apprehension in her voice. "Why?"
"Oh, I've just got an idea, that's all." She beamed, turned from the map, and grabbed Maria's hand. "This way!" She strode off down the hall purposely, Maria hurrying along behind her and Natsuko slipping into their shadows. They had passed the glass-encased fireplace, the indoor pool built specifically for surfing, three or four ballrooms (Kyoko kept making odd turns, so Maria lost count), the fossilized remains of an ancient whale – suspended from the ceiling in one of the larger dining rooms – and the room containing a rather impressive collection of umbrella-toting crustaceans before Kyoko came to an abrupt halt. Maria crashed into her from behind, almost knocking the pair of them to the floor. Maria apologized, and Kyoko waved it away, already absorbed in yet another map – the seventh that they'd seen that day.
Then, without any decent explanation, she started walking again – this time up a set of steps that alternately sloped to the left and right. Natsuko hissed her displeasure, and wrapped herself around the camouflaged handrail, ascending unnoticed. The staircase, understandably, diverted Maria's wandering mind from its musings over her impending Dare, as she needed to focus to climb the stairs without slipping. Honestly, how did Grandfather expect people to climb these stairs in house slippers? She shook her young head. Of course. He'd had these installed during his suction cup craze. They eventually reached the top, and Kyoko turned right into a slightly dim room.
"Why are we here, onee-san?" Maria inquired, her brow furrowed. What Dare could possibly come from this room? Yes, it was large, but it was empty – something extremely unusual in the Takarada mansion. Natsuko flicked her tail from the doorway.
"Don't you know what this room is, Maria-chan?" Kyoko beamed, walking across the room to flick a switch on the wall.
"No, I've never even been in here befo-!" Maria cut herself off with a gasp as Kyoko flipped the switch. The room was suddenly crisscrossed many times over by thousands of laser beams. "Wow…."
"I saw it labeled on the map," Kyoko explained, clasping her hands together in front of her chest. "I just couldn't resist!"
"So my Dare is to get across the room without touching a laser?"
"Yes… but your left knee isn't allowed to touch the floor either!" Kyoko giggled, adding the last bit on a whim.
"No problem!" Maria shot back; she was small and limber – piece of cake, right?
Wrong. As it transpired, the way that the lasers were positioned made knee-to-floor contact necessary. Kyoko was reduced to a fit of giggles as Maria was forced to crab-walk her way between two parallel laser beams. When Maria had achieved the halfway point, Kyoko took pity on her and turned off the laser beams. Maria let out a sigh of relief and rushed to the finish line. Kyoko swept her younger sister up in a hug, and congratulated her on her creativity – a crab walk wouldn't have occurred to her, she told Maria. Natsuko gave a serpentine snicker, and joined them next to the wall.
Maria then slumped to the floor, her legs exhausted. "Onee-san, Truth or Dare?"
"Truth," Kyoko replied; Maria-chan seemed tired, so a Truth would allow the necessary rest.
A few moments of careful thought from Maria followed this answer. Her onee-san had already told her an awful lot about her past, and she didn't want to cause her any further pain by asking more. There was also the fact that onee-san was afraid of loving again – that put many questions out of the running. Natsuko flicked her tongue at Maria's hand, as if to jump-start her brain; oddly, this worked. She could ask onee-san about Ren-sama! If she got definite evidence that onee-san loved Ren-sama, then she could tell Ren-sama and stop the ridiculous game of sempai-kohai! "Onee-san…" she paused, silencing a stray demon in her mind. She was far too young for Ren-sama, she reminded the demon. A four-year age difference was acceptable, probable; any difference of over ten years was controversial, improbable. Also, these two were obviously in love – she had a childhood crush, even if it stung to realize that it would go unfulfilled. This was for onee-san, she reminded herself. She loved onee-san even more than she loved Ren-sama. This was worth it. Onee-san needed Ren-sama's love more that she did.
Besides, it's not like she can't still love them both, and they her.
"Onee-san, what…" Natsuko interrupted her with a flick of her tongue, alerting her to Grandfather's presence in the doorway. He was watching them fondly, as if they were both his granddaughters by blood. She changed tack, to avoid embarrassment for her onee-san. "What is your favorite type of rice dish?" She saw Grandfather slump visibly in disappointment.
Kyoko thought this over for a moment. "I can't say that I really have a favorite; the only rice dish that I've had and disliked was Maui Omurice."
"I've never heard of that dish," Lory commented, walking into the room clad in wizard's robes, a pointed hat, half-moon spectacles, and a fabulous silver beard long enough to tuck into his belt. "Greetings, my lovelies."
"Ah! Good afternoon, President Takarada. Thank you for allowing me to spend the night." Kyoko bowed in greeting.
"It's our pleasure, Mogami-kun – though I do believe that it can be justifiably be called evening, or at least pre-evening, by now." He smiled, and, something he'd heard in passing tickling his memory asked, "How is Maui Omurice made?"
"By brute force, mostly," Kyoko sighed, remembering that confusing night. "It's an omurice with chicken, shrimp, vegetables, and whatever else you have on hand – all charred almost beyond recognition. I think that it's used as a good-luck charm before a particularly rough challenge."
"Oh? Did someone make it for you?"
"Not exactly… I think that I was more there to put ketchup on it…" her brow furrowed. "…And maybe for moral support. He never really said why I was there."
"Eh? 'He' –?" Lory began to say, but was cut off by a shrill screech from Maria. He instantly turned to his granddaughter, worried and startled. "What's the matter?"
"Nothing," Maria giggled. "It's one of my Dares. Every time someone says one of three sounds, I have to scream."
"That was more of a screech, though," Kyoko noted. Maria concurred, and Lory bit back a laugh. Natsuko nudged his hand with her head, and he patted her.
"Would you like to join us, Grandfather?" Maria inquired, standing and smoothing down the skirt of her dress robes.
"Surely you wouldn't want an old man playing," Lory beamed, eyes indicating that he truly wished to join them.
"Grandfather, you always say that you're only as old as you feel!" Maria scolded, taking his hand. "Besides, we're running out of Truths and Dares. Right, onee-san?"
Kyoko nodded. "I've never played before, so I'm not very good with the questions. If you're not too busy, we would enjoy it if you joined us."
The responding grin from Lory sent a wave of foreboding crashing over Kyoko. "I'm not busy in the slightest! Come! It's dark in here – I know the perfect place to play!" He draped Natsuko over his shoulders, took Maria by the hand, and offered his arm to Kyoko, who took it gingerly. "Now we can add Joint Dare to the options!" He led them out of the room and down a hall.
"Joint Dare?" Maria blinked. "What's that?"
"It's when two people do a Dare together! With this added, you can't do the same thing twice in a row. Plus, the Darer gets to choose which two people do the Dare – or which two beings," he added, smiling at his favorite snake.
"So we could do a Dare with Natsuko?" Maria giggled.
"Of course!" Lory beamed. "The Darer could even be the other person in the Joint Dare, if they so wish. Anything can happen!"
At which point Maria saw the particular type of sparkle in her grandfather's eyes and wondered if it had been a mistake to invite him to join Truth or Dare. This thought was confirmed when Lory threw open the doors to his largest costuming room – the one complete with music, runway, make-up stations, wigs, and (of course) dressing rooms.
Maria knew it had been a mistake to invite him to join Truth or Dare.
Oh, well. Nothing could be done about it now. Besides, onee-san's eyes were sparkling in the la-la land fashion again; if onee-san was happy, it couldn't be all bad, right?
Exactly fifteen minutes and one alien-devil costume later (as Dared by Kyoko of all people, and something that had been removed as soon as possible), Maria's opinion had changed. It could be very bad indeed. Nonetheless, the game went on, just as show biz does….
"Mogami-kun! Truth, Dare, or Joint Dare?"
Kyoko weighed her options. The president knew about her forbidden feeling, and therefore would use a Truth as an opportunity to wheedle more information. A Joint Dare was a wildcard; she knew nothing about them, so it might be best to wait for an example. A Dare could actually be used for drastic measures – but she'd promised not to tell Tsuruga Ren that she was in love with him (of course, there was the loophole matter of Tsuruga Ren being fictional and Hizuri Kuon being real, but Kyoko was, as of yet, unaware of this), so she deemed it safe enough. Besides, the president was unlikely to be able to resist the call of the costumes. "Dare, please."
Lory grinned evilly, a plot hatching in his mind. If he did that, and then Maria chose that… Oh, how wonderful. He clapped his hands once sharply, and a flurry of assistants appeared from seemingly nowhere. "Ladies, kindly take Mogami-kun to dressing room W and give her the proper clothes and make-up – and do not disregard the wig! Mogami-kun," he continued, turning to Kyoko, "your Dare is to act out a character for the outfit you are given. Her name will be… Annabel Cooper. Her first name means 'adorable'; she is a fun-loving, carefree, casual girl, but one who works hard so she can play hard. She loves horses." His lips quirked slightly, wondering if Ren owned a cowboy hat. Save a horse, ride a cowboy, after all. "Good luck!"
"Yes, sir!" Kyoko exclaimed, leaping to her feet in excitement and rushing over to where the assistants waited. She got to act for a game! She wouldn't let the president be disappointed! Plus, she got to have her makeup done!
"Grandfather, it was onee-san's turn to ask me," Maria stated as Kyoko was whisked into one of a multitude of dressing rooms.
"I'll ask in her place, unless you prefer to wait."
"No, go ahead, please."
"Alright, my adorable granddaughter – Truth, Dare, or Joint Dare?"
"Truth."
"What were you planning to ask Mogami-kun right before you noticed me in the doorway?"
"Well… that's… sensitive…" she flushed; Grandfather probably knew, but she shouldn't take chances.
"If it's anything concerning Ren, then I already am aware of their mutual – yet frustratingly un-acted-upon – feelings of love," Lory assured her.
"Oh."
"Well?" Lory prompted gently. "I know this can't be easy for you, but –"
"Oh, I've already decided to help them together. I love onee-san a bit more than I love Ren-sama, as she's my sister, so I want her to be happy." This abrupt and incredibly mature statement struck Lory speechless for several seconds, so Maria continued. "I was try to figure out how to ask what onee-san would do if, theoretically speaking, Ren-sama kissed her like her fairy prince did. It seemed to be the most direct approach."
"Do you not understand how delicate this balance is?"
"Yes. That's why onee-san needs a confidant like me, as Moko might love her too, but I'm easier to talk to about this stuff. Plus, people – even onee-san – are more likely to believe something if a child says it." She paused and smiled. "Truth, Dare, or Joint Dare?"
He laughed. "Truth, my amazing granddaughter."
Her eyes glinted. "What is your favorite costume?"
Lory was then set to many minutes of silent pondering. This was a difficult question – so difficult, actually, that he was still pondering when 'Annabel' came back to their circle.
"Howdy! I'm Annabel Cooper, but you can just call me Annabel," she beamed, tipping her cowboy hat up so that they could better see her face and her long, brunette, braided pigtails. She wore a tied-off plaid farmer's shirt, cut-off jeans, and cowboy boots with spurs in addition to her fabulously ridiculous hat. A rope was looped onto her thick leather belt, and she had one of her thumbs tucked casually into the waist of her hip-riding jeans. Annabel Cooper was, every inch, a cowgirl – a subject Kyoko was familiar with, as the taisho at Darumaya was surprisingly interested in westerns. Kyoko had seen him almost-smile at one once, so she knew that he must like them quite a bit. "What're y'all playin'?"
"Truth or Dare," Maria giggled.
"Sounds like fun!" Annabel beamed, plopping down next to Maria. "I'll join ya."
"Okay! Truth, Dare, or Joint Dare?" Maria inquired.
Kyoko may have been cautious, but Annabel didn't know the meaning of the word. "Joint Dare!"
Maria smirked; inside of Annabel's head, the boss Kyoko shuddered. "I Dare you to join me in persuading someone special to join us for dinner!"
"Awesome! Can I cook? I'm pretty good, and I bet I could whip up something phenomenal if I had a little help." Having said this, she tipped Maria a wink and pulled out Kyoko's cell phone. "Would ya mind telling me the number?"
Maria nodded an affirmative, and smiled, "It's in the contacts." Natsuko licked Lory's hand to jump-start his brain, and then slithered over to investigate Kyoko's new alter ego. Maria reached for the phone. "I'll dial."
Annabel surrendered the phone and turned her attention to Natsuko. The two spent the next thirty seconds or so wrestling, until Maria passed the phone back. "Who's coming?"
"Ren-sama, if this works."
Annabel grinned, setting it to speakerphone. "Don't worry, it will. The Boss Kyoko just told me that some Yashiro guy told her that our target's schedule is clear tonight."
"Hello again, my fairies," Ren answered, his genuine smile and humor obvious in his voice.
"Hello, Ren-sama!"
"Howdy, Ren." Annabel grinned at the moment of shocked silence that followed this familiar address, and took advantage of it. "Wanna come have dinner with us tonight? I'm cooking. Well, I will have an excellent assistant." Again, she winked at Maria. Had Lory been paying attention, he would have noted that she'd picked this trait from her 'father' to give to Annabel. As it was, he would still find out – only later, when he reviewed the tapes of that night.
"I couldn't impose on your night," Ren said graciously, albeit with a slightly shocked, strangled tone.
"Don't you like my cooking?" Annabel asked, with something that could only be described as a verbal pout.
This, of course, wreaked lovely havoc with Ren's imagination. "Of course I do. However –"
The rest of his words were lost as Annabel interrupted him. "Great! Then we'll see you 'round seven!"
"Yashiro-san told onee-san that you have tonight free," Maria piped up, wanting to do her part of the Joint Dare, "so we'd think that you don't want to spend time with us if you continue to refuse."
"When you put it like that, I must accept your offer," Ren half-smiled, half-sighed, well aware that he'd been played like bongo drums. "I'll see you both at seven fifteen."
"Yee-ha!" Annabel whooped, once the phone call had ended. "I told you there'd be no problem! That was a piece of cake!" She gave Maria a high-five.
Maria giggled along enthusiastically. "Ren-sama is powerless against us!"
"My wedding tuxedo," Lory announced, finally snapping out of his musings. "My favorite costume was the peacock-patterned tux I wore to finally marry the love of my life." He then noted the frozen poses of celebration. "What did I miss?"
"Oh, we talked Ren-sama into joining us for dinner! Annabel and I are cooking!"
"Poor kid never had a chance," laughed the cowgirl, hand going to her lasso, "not against two tough gals like us. We've got him wrapped around our little fingers."
Lory smirked widely. Oh, this was going to be wonderful fun.
…The reader may note that Kyoko's initial misunderstanding of Truths in Truth or Dare, along with Maria's crumb explanation, were both actual occurrences – in fact, they occurred on the same evening. In her defense, the authoress was approximately seven years old and had never heard of the game before in her life.
Or the reader may not note that. It is up to the reader.
The reader may also review. That is highly requested by the authoress, who only ever intended for this to be a one-shot… and then Lory got involved. The authoress sighs, and begs for reviews.
The authoress expresses her sincere wishes that the reader enjoyed this chapter, and that the characterizations weren't too flawed.
Thank you for reading! Bonus points if you guess what spell Kyoko had to whisper to clean Corn's feathers!