X~34~X
Oliver growls under his breath. With his hands shoved in his pockets he passes by the busiest street in the city. Each side of the road is lined with shop upon shop upon shop. Every type of restaurant imaginable is filled with smiling and chattering, manicured faces. His black plain back pack dangles lazily from his shoulders. A small female arm is hooked into his. Yuki bounds alongside him, her arm gripping his like couples do at a wedding. Her eyes widen and sparkle with every store they pass. She loves it here.
Suddenly she breaks free of Oliver's grip and dashes forward into the swathes of people.
"Yuki! Yuki!" Oliver yells out for her. "Dammit."
He spots her with her face pressed firmly against the glass of an expensive toy store. She gawks at a little red charm hanging in the window. The small red bunny charm is made out of plastic with little silver button eyes. Its mouth is painted into a chibi-like smile and it's cheeks are painted to blush. It dangles by a hook on its head connected to a light silver chain, like one you would find on a delicate necklace. The right ear is upright while the left ear of the bunny is bent over.
"Don't run off like that, Yuki. You could get lost, then think of what Miki would do to me…" And image of the red head beating him incessantly over the head with a spatula flashes through his mind and he sighs. He takes Yuki's hand. Her eyes fill with sadness as she turns away from the window and the key chain.
Someone bumps into Oliver and he snaps yelling, "Watch it." Back at the startled girl.
"Sorry!" She flounders, turning and continuing the opposite direction of him.
"She was cute." He thinks to himself, turning to catch another glimpse of her neon blue hair.
"Olie-e-e! I'm hungry!" Yuki whines.
"I'll get you something when we get back to Miki's place." As they turn a corner down another street and the busy and bustling swarms of people turn to small clumps of high school girls enjoying their summer vacation, off in the distance the park tree's becomes visible. Miki's house isn't far from there, only about five or ten minutes. Oliver suddenly makes out flashing police lights, and his heart rises into his throat. He gulps. He remembers the hot headed girl explaining to Miki this morning something about where they were going to bring their car through. He overheard them when he came to take Yuki to day care. Then he remembers how the girl's brother said they were going to stop by the park because the little girl loves the swings.
"Come on, Yuki. Close your eyes for a second." Oliver warns, not knowing what she's about to see.
The smoldering skeleton of what used to be a car sits upside down towards the edge of the park. In its wake stand two fire trucks and large patches of dirt where thriving green grass used to be. A few burning fires sputter out slowly with stacks of foam resting around their edges and on top of their flames. A few firefighters stand around talking, some others stand with reporters and a group of four are busy examining the car. Something catches Oliver's eye over by an overturned trashcan. He slowly walks over, his heart pounding and Yuki skipping behind him.
It's a singed pretty badly burned left sneaker. Specifically Miki's old left sneaker. She gave the pair to Miku this morning.
"Oh shit…"
"Ollie said a naughty word! Im'a tell big sister Miki!" Yuki says in a sing song tone.
Oliver's eyes dart back and forth, searching the whole park for any sign that the red eyed kid's got away. He spots one of the park bathroom buildings off in the distance, and takes off running. Yuki struggles to keep up.
"Ollie-e-e!" She shouts after him.
His hands hit the cold metal of the door and he flings it open. An immediate and sharp pain to his stomach sends him stumbling backwards and he tumbles on the floor, coughing. His backpack makes a loud thud as it hits the ground to his side.
"Heard of knocking? Jesus, you scared the crap out of me! I was about to shoot you in the freaking face!" Rin groans, exasperated as she lowers her foot. Yuki finally catches up.
"Hi, Rinny! Where's IA?" She asks, looking past Rin into the dimly lit room.
"Oliver?" Miku asks, raising up her head and trying to see past Rin.
"Rin, honestly, you didn't have to kick him to the ground immediately." Len warns her, walking over.
"It was either that, or I woulda' pulled a gun on him." Rin steps past Len and collapses besides Gumi who watches Len with avid curiosity. Her hands rest on her computer's keys and she clicks her tongue methodically.
"Sheesh, was that explosion you guys?" Oliver asks, standing up and walking in the musty room.
"Our new 'friend' tells us that it was probably a bomb. Which means we got targeted by random gang violence, or they found us. But we don't know if they found us or you guys too. And there's really no way to tell-"
"Yes there is. I see that as a warning bomb. If they really wanted you all gone, they would have put more bombs in more places. 'They' weren't even waiting for you afterwards, their probably waiting to see how you end up, and generating their own plan from there. Could someone tell me who 'they' is?"
"How did you come up with that if you don't know who they-" Len starts to ask but Gumi abruptly cuts him off.
"Please sweetheart, I'm a genius. Oh and it's not the first time I've been hunted before." Gumi stands with a swishing motion and walks over to Len. She is nearly a foot shorter than him.
"Look, if it was up to me, I would leave you all here. But it's up to Miki, and I know Miki." Oliver groans, leaning in the doorway.
"So…?" Rin pushes him, with a smirk.
"So…" Oliver says bitterly. "So… you can- come… back."
"Aw, aren't you a dear." Rin says sarcastically, flicking Oliver in the nose as she walks by. Oliver looks as if he's about to rip Rin's poor fingers off and eat them, but his face is a bright shade of red.
Gumi starts to stand, but Len stops her. "Stay here for a while, leave after we've gone, in case they actually do come by. Thank you, for the help." Len, the last one in the room, starts to walk out before Gumi stops him by gripping his right shoulder with force Len didn't think the small girl had.
"Oh" She chuckles. "You're not getting rid of me that easily." She tries to follow him out, but he stops her again.
"You can't come with us. I'm sorry, but you can't. Please just stay here." Len states a little forcefully.
"No, you are not ruining this for me."
"Ruin-"
"I have finally found a group of people that are completely safe from me! Completely safe! I have never gotten close to anyone in my life without them dying because of me. Because I said something that made them walk into the road, because I asked them to get something for me that was at the bottom of the stairs, because I was the one who did something terrible and blamed it on them. Do you know what I felt when that car exploded? I was miserable. I thought I killed three innocent people and a child for shit's sake! But you… you guys can't die! There is no way I could ever kill you. I gave up being around people a long time ago because I was sick of all the funerals that I caused, and now I have a chance. You don't get to take that away from me. Nobody, does. This is my chance." Len reluctantly moves to the side. "Thanks, sweetheart." She reaches up and kisses Len on the cheek, and she walks out.
Len stands in the quickly darkening room, his hand pressed up to his cheek. His face is a ghastly shade of pale, and not just because of his recent death. He gulps slowly, and in the light of the setting sun, smiles, just a little, before leaving the bathroom after the psychopath crowbar girl.
~ ~ ~X~ ~ ~X~ ~ ~
"By blowing up their vehicle we believe to have succeeded in herding them in the direction we wished. We know that they live in their transportation, and thus by terminating their transportation we have attempted to herd them in the direction of a gas station with no security cameras where we have placed several bait cars." Kaito explains over the conference table in Lilly's office. The office is perfect in every way. Even the stacks of paper seem to be lined up with a ruler. Many lush and flowering green plants sit in plain white pots hanging from the window. Storm clouds roll in overhead.
"How do you know for sure this will lead them to our bait cars, Mr. Shion?" Lilly questions, clasping her hands together and leaning on them over the table.
"Based on their previous patterns of behavior-" Kaito begins again, visibly nervous.
"The only real pattern they have exhibited, Shion, is being completely unpredictable. How can you possibly be so pompous to think you, of all people, have been able to predict their behavior without fail? Are you really this arrogant, or are you just a fool?" Her voice hisses and grains on Kaito's ears like a snake. Merciless, poisonous, and terrifying. And relentless when it comes to devouring prey.
"I uh-" Kaito flounders desperately for a response.
"Meeting Dismissed." Lilly barks. The people in the room immediately begin to scatter off leaving Kaito and Lilly together in her oddly bright office. "Kaito, Kaito, Kaito. What am I to do with you? The board won't be pleased you know, and I'm afraid I must report back to them…" She raps her painted black nails on the conference table, glaring down Kaito with a smile on her face as she takes pleasure in his discomfort.
Lilly is a woman of power. Certain people thrive in certain situations, like certain flowers requiring certain care. Desert flowers cannot survive in standing water, while roses cannot survive in dry and barren soil. But all in all if you throw one into the fires of hell, it will burn all the same.
Lilly is a person that desires, thrives, needs power. Even in the lowest points of her existence she still managed to draw power from those even further below her, and she adapted and changed yet again to survive her fire. She manipulates her way into a safe position littered with the remains of pawns willing, or without any other option, than to break her fall.
Kaito is so much alike. They are one of the same person, but Lilly is actually successful in her endeavors of power. Manipulation is first nature to her while it is sought after by Kaito. They are always in a power struggle, and Lilly always maintains the upper hand.
"Lilly-"
"I was a fool to give you a second chance, Shion. A fool. I should have fired you the day they escaped. I will make you pay for wronging me. The board will see how I so graciously, from the kindness of my heart offered you a second go, another chance. And they will see how you failed miserably, and how you went down snarling and groveling like the wretched dog you are. You see I consider you a stray dog. A dog a child couldn't help but get attached to, but truly the dog is rabid, disease ridden, and it must be put down before any harm is done. And let's face it Shion, a lot of harm has been done." Lilly is up now, pacing the room with her yellow hair gleaming under the sharp glare of the florescent bulbs.
"Please, Lilly-"
"Doctor, Lilly to you, Shion. I have a tittle that I expect you to use. I am far your superior."
"You're one position up from me Lilly. We were in the same class as children, and may I remind you I was the top of the class and you-"
The white coffee mug in Lilly's hand comes flying down into the conference table, smashing into four large pieces and many, many more smaller fragments. Kaito flinches slightly and recoils instinctively into his chair. He half expects Lilly to start spewing steam out of her ears and her face to turn as red as the demon glare. In a mere blink of an eye Lilly's face relaxes, her muscles ease and she falls with a whoosh of air back into the cushioned office chair behind her large oak wood desk. The ticking of the clock above the door begins to grain on Kaito, his skin crawling with every little second that goes by. Lilly smiles devilishly.
"Oh I'm sorry dear, you see you must forgive me, for something has gone and slipped my mind. My tittle is no longer Dr. Lilly, you see, as of today my tittle is, Master Lilly." Kaito visibly cringes. The words he thought he would never have to hear. Master Lilly. "Oh yes, Shion. I'm terribly sorry I hadn't informed you sooner. I have been appointed a member of the board by the Servant himself."
The board, the masters, and The Servant, otherwise known as the religious hierarchy of Demon's Crow. Crows are known as the birds of the evil, the damned. In every classical horror movie, or setting or graveyard or wherever people have believed the accursed and evil lie, there is always the black and dirty old crow sitting high on a tree, cawing its shrill laugh. But what if these birds were not the bringer or the cause of the evil, but the protectors of it, the watchers that hide in the shadows, prowling the demons away. So why wouldn't the root of the religion, dedicated to stopping the demon's from bringing the apocalypse upon their world, be the same as those guardian birds? Therefore Demon's Crow was created by the first Servant. The Servant is the head, the ruler over every member. The principle force of power, The Servant to God, or to the Universe, or to the one and all, or to life. Bellow him he appoints three Masters, who make up the board. The Masters are in charge of the three groups or better known as companies who actively work to stopping the apocalypse. And now Lilly has been appointed a Master.
"Oh, Shion. Poor little Shion, you've fallen suddenly quiet haven't you now? Don't worry, I feel an obligation to you." She sighs. "You are one of my men, after all, and if there's one thing I hate, is seeing my men fail. Because when someone you've been put directly in charge of doesn't succeed at their job or appointed task, it reflects on the teacher, and I consider myself a damn good teacher. So, as one of my men I will treat you as such. When I mean that this is your last chance you better believe it. You have a daughter don't you, Shion? Lapis is it?" Instead of reacting how most people would, with outrage and disgust that a woman as vile as Lilly even spoke the name of their child, Kaito does not even seem to acknowledge that she had just entered the conversation at all. "You wouldn't want to disappoint her would you?"
"Lapis is of no concern to me, Lilly. What I am concerned for is my profession. If you are willing to negotiate allowing me to keep on track with my work I would rather we get to that instead of measly small talk."
"Ah… Kaito Shion… always a man of business weren't you? You will find me the four escaped demon children and bring them all back by the end of the week or it will be your head. If you would like I could potentially even bring another Master in with the case, to personally work with you."
"That will not be necessary measures, Master Lilly." Kaito visibly shakes with each word he utters.
"Good. I expect my task to be do-able then. End of the week, Shion. Better get to it." Kaito stands and opens the door, clenching his teeth together as he hears the chair whirling in a circle. Lilly's celebrating.
Kaito shakes with a new emotion. Rage and terror. Not only has his largest enemy beaten him at his own game, but he is now striped of power, and left to do the impossible in a week.
And he is utterly powerless to do anything, but fight to the last tooth and nail until the demon children are his once again.
Thanks to reviewers:
'IcelandicPuffinCat
`Crazed King
`Awesome dt
`zhane 17
`Alice In MadLand
`Manga-Cats-Anime
`thestrangedoor9
Character Pole:
IA- 2
Kaito- 1
Lapis- 2
Len- 4
Miku- 5
Rin- 7
Oliver- 2
Luka- 1
Gumi- 3
~Tiruneko ;3