Gommene! I've been late with updates this week (I've recently become obsessed with The Walking Dead, the show, and have been watching it at every possible waking moment :D)
But, new character! Yay for new characters!
Thanks to Reviewers:
Zhane 17
awesome dt
Lolly 1o1
Guest
Enjoy and review!
~Tiruneko ;3
X~24~X
Rin was once told she has a voice like glass.
A smooth and predictable surface, you always know what's behind. But yet cold and sharp when shattered, painful when broken and dangerous if distorted. Having a voice like glass can at times be a viable tool, but when trying to be comforting it seems to lose it's magic effect.
IA struggles and squirms in Rin's arms as the blonde struggles to hold her down and keep her hand cupped over her mouth. The mumbled and panicked, "no, no, no, no!" coming out like a gurgling moan. Her small legs kick furiously back and forth and her small and grubby nails cut into Rin's leg.
Miku moves from her bending position to stand, but Rin stops her movement sharply with a glare. Slowly the frustrated teal haired girl lowers herself against the cold wall yet again. She tips her head downwards, hiding her bitter expression behind her scarf.
IA's tears roll off of Rin's hand and drip onto her lap as she whispers with her glass like voice into her small ears.
"Shh… Len's fine. He's tough. He's fine, he's fine, he's fine… he-he-he's fine." The phrase she chants now becoming something more for herself than for the thrashing girl in her arms.
The small popping of gun shots erupts down the hall and loud, yet far away screams burst forth from the hallway behind the wall the group is slumped against.
"He'll be okay." Rin stands with difficulty, making herself stand up on shaky legs. Seemingly not too long ago she made a promise to a certain someone to never leave him behind. But sometimes promises are meant to be broken, even if it's painful to do so. It was just so soon since they were apart but she's leaving him behind again. Rin whips around on her heel, almost stomping down the hallway of the busy subway station.
"Rin- isn't that the signal?" Miku stops her with her words alone. That's her remarkable quality. What does Rin have? A voice like glass.
"Yeah. It was." She spits out bitterly. When you crack glass, it cuts you.
Miku recoils slightly, burying her face a little further amongst the black fabric of her scarf. The subway train approaches loudly with a screeching on metal tracks. Rin's arms shoot out, grabbing IA under the arms as she kicks and screams hysterically. Rin ushers Miku onto the train, pushing the struggling blonde in front of her. She turns her head behind her, staring down the hallway, where more popping is coming from.
"Don't let him out of your site Rin. I can't always watch him, and we both know he needs you."
"But he needs to be the hero sometimes too." Rin mouths silently under her breath before stepping on the subway and watching the glass doors slide shut with the chirping of the bells. Not too soon after it lurches into movement, sending them gliding over the tracks.
"Rin, when will he meet up with us again?" Miku asks timidly, afraid of getting her head bit off again. She strokes the top of IA's blonde head and the small girl buries her face into Miku's stomach, quieting her violent sobs. But such a severe separation anxiety is to be expected from a girl this young who's only ever been around people for such a short time. Being condemned to darkness can only do damage on one's mind.
"Uh- … soon. We're going to meet him around the beach tomorrow." Their plan is simple. After Miku catching a glimpse of the purple haired man from the hotel following them a little while after the book store, they knew they had to lose them. Or they would find them. The plan was to go down to the subways together, then separate, giving Len one of the guns and sending him wandering through the tunnels by himself while the girl's hid just by the gift shop, waiting for the rest of their "tracking team" to follow Len. That part was the easy one. Once leading them into the crowded central, Len was to fire shots at the ceiling, sending people scrambling and running, at which point in time he would ditch his jacket and slip out in the commotion, leaving the station and getting a car they had previously hid in the same town. He would then drive the car to the farthest away subway exit near the beach, which would take the rest of the already fleeting sunlight of mid day.
"He'll make it you know. Besides, he still has to finish teaching me to write my name." Miku says reassuringly, as if hearing Rin's thoughts.
Turning with a flawless, yet fake smile, Rin replies. "You don't have to tell me Leek-head. He is my brother." A voice like glass. Cold, and void of emotion.
Len makes a sharp left around the street corner, cutting in front of a screaming woman, running from the station. A mass of people stream out, creating a water fall of screaming bodies mingling around chaotically, running each other down, one man even running into a cop car. In retaliation the pink haired woman fired shots back at Len, but they missed. A very large man plows into Len. To avoid getting trampled by the mob that follows, he dives sharply to the right, rolling into the storm drain and nearly into the road. He grunts as his shoulder scrapes painfully against the asphalt and a car screeches to a halt before crushing his body. Un phased by the minimal pain, Len rockets to his feet, running down another sidewalk, and cutting across a road ridden with stand still traffic.
The mall they passed earlier comes into view, and Len's hands make contact with a chain link fence guarding off the alley way where a video rental store used to be located.
"Shit." He hisses, placing his foot in one of the links and tugging himself up on top, coming crashing down onto the pavement.
"Please- wait!" A small and meek female voice cries. Swallowing his better judgment and conscious, Len turns to be faced with a strikingly beautiful girl.
Her beauty causes him to rapidly suck in his breath, and soothing his pounding heart from the rush of adrenaline. The girl is relatively short, almost a foot shorter than Rin, but considering her overall size, she is probably the same age. Her skin is pale, but nothing compared to the degree of pale Miku or IA has. This girl has bright neon blue hair, with two longer strands falling just below her shoulders, the rest kicked out and semi-spiked in the back. Her eyes are a haunting light blue. The plain white T-shirt that hangs around her shoulders, showing her left bra strap, is torn and ripped, even splattered with a small growing blood stain. Her jeans have a torn right knee and she is missing a shoe, dragging the bare foot at an awkward angle on the ground behind her. A school backpack, half open, dangles around her, adding to the hollow appearance of her. Her expression is pleading and desperate and she has a jagged and bleeding cut on her cheek. Fresh, crimson blood.
"Please… I don't know where to go… the-the panic, I got caught in the crowd. Please just help me off the main road. I can't climb the fence on my own. Take me to where you're going. Please." She outstretches a pale hand, the fingers closing gently, almost with no force against the chain links. Also part of her outfit are fingerless grey gloves.
Len approaches the gate cautiously, jumping over again to the same side as the girl. Only about twelve to twenty feet behind them a continuous stream of hysterical people race by, moving like a stampeding herd of frightened animals. And it doesn't seem to end.
"Hand me your bag." Len demands, and the girl wordlessly complies. He throws the brown shoulder bag over the fence, landing it with a soft thud and a clank of buckles on the ground. "When you reach the top, try to land on the bag. Keep your chin to your chest, tuck your knees up and try to land on your side. It'll hurt less."
He bends down on the ground, putting out his hands as a step stool, allowing the injured girl to pull herself to the top where she crashes most ungracefully into the leather bag with a yelp of pain. Len follows, helping her to her foot.
As he turns to help the girl limp off with him, across the street he spots a swish of purple hair amidst the crowd. It turns, running against the crowd and into the road, where it then begins to bolt down back in the direction of the station.
"We need to hurry."
Len drags her off with him wordlessly, until they reach the empty lot with the blue van, still parked and ready to go. Still silent and stoic, Len opens the car, sliding the girl into the passenger's seat and getting in the driver's side.
"Ah-Are you old enough to drive?" She gasps nervously, worrying just who she got into a car with.
"Uh I- uh… yeah, yeah I am. I just look pretty young for my age. I'm sixteen, don't worry I have my permit. Where should I drop you off? Is there somewhere you know you can find someone you know?" Len asks, pulling out of the spot slowly to avoid startling the girl any further than she must be.
"Can I just use a phone? Mine was smashed in the road during the stampede." She says in a melodic voice.
"No I don't have one."
"What do you mean? Shouldn't someone your age have a phone?"
"No, I uh- I mean it's at home. I left it in my house." Len back tracks, scrambling for a reasonable excuse.
"Oh. Just drop me off down the road. There's a gas station with a pay phone there I can use to call my dad." After moments of awkward silence as Len struggles to drive carefully she pipes up again. "Lapis."
"Huh?"
"Oh, I uh, it's my name. Lapis Aoki. Yours?"
"Le- Lee Megurine." He sputters out, remembering how one of his trackers called one of the women "Megurine."
"Ah, I see. It's a nice name."
"Yours too. I don't think I've ever heard the last name Aoki before."
"Oh, it's my mother's. I took her last name instead of my dad's; frankly he has a boring name!" She says with a giggle. Len laughs back, but not because of what she said, because of the way she says it. Her laugh is infectious.
The car pulls into a convenient store and a gas station a couple minutes later, it's even towards the direction Len was heading anyways. He slowly helps the girl out of the car, she is still limping.
Lapis picks up the pay phone, covering the receiver with her palm.
"I never thanked you. For helping me out back there. You didn't have to do that, and not many people would have. So, thank you Lee. I owe you one." She digs in her bag, eventually pulling out a pen and stick note, then hurriedly scribbling down numbers on it. Lapis hands it over and places it in Len's hand, closing his fingers around it with her own. "Call me and I'll buy you a snack or drink or something after school or sometime in the afternoon. Because of my dad's job I'll be in this town for a while still I think, so, give me a call if you're bored or whatever." She says uncomfortably, blushing all the while.
"You don't need to do that, I-"
"No, I do. It's my code." With a smile she continues, spelling out the last phrase emphatically. "I owe you."
With a smile Len replies to her, almost feeling bad about lying about his name to a scared girl who he basically got run over. "Yeah. I will. Are you sure you'll be okay waiting here by yourself?"
"I'm fine." Lapis assures him with a smile.
"Bye then." Len says, tucking his hands in his pockets, still clutching her number. As he steps in the car he catches a glimpse of her pressing the phone against her cheek and waving goodbye.
"Hi Daddy." Lapis greets a little sadly into the receiver.
"Oh thank goodness, my baby girl is okay! Where are you calling from? Are you okay?" A male voice responds from the other end with a fake concerned tone.
"I'm at the gas station you took me too for a snack yesterday, yeah I'm fine, just a little banged up. Did you find it? What you were looking for at the station?"
With a sigh the voice picks up again. "I wish. I'll be there soon, I'm leaving now."
"Are your colleges coming to the hotel with us again, or are we going to stay in the office building like last night?" Lapis asks a little disappointed.
"I'll get you your own room, how does that sound?"
"Good. Bye Daddy." She hands up, leaning against the bench and sighing. Suddenly, as if the fact was blocked from her before, the memory of Lee's face returns. His eyes were red. It's so strange. She thinks to herself, pressing her hand against her cheek like she always does when deep in thought.
Minutes later a car speeds into the parking lot, and a tall man steps out. He is wearing a white button down shirt and black pants. He walks over to Lapis and bends down, hugging her awkwardly, like he always does.
"What happened to you?" He gapes, worried.
"Just fell and got a little banged up, that's all." Lapis stands and looks up at her blue haired father.
"Good." Kaito replies, taking his daughter's school bag and putting it in his white car. "What about your phone? Why'd you call me from here?"
"Mine got smashed and I- walked here." She corrects herself, remembering how panicked her father would get if he found out she was picked up by a stranger.
"I'll buy you a new one, don't worry. No fourteen year old girl should go without a phone."
Kaito puts the keys in the ignition, pulling away from the gas station, the failure of the attempt to capture the demon children a freshly burned wound to his pride. Lily will be at their throats soon.
I knew it was a terrible call to bring Lapis along. I should'a left her at the hotel room where she belongs. He thinks bitterly to himself as he drives down the road, dreading the scolding he's about to receive from Luka.
And now things are getting interesting ne?
Author Question: What do you think Lapis' role is going to be in the story? I have a VERY specific job picked out for her so far, but I'd love to hear how I set it up to seem like~!
~Tiruneko ;3