"GRAWWAR!!! CRUNCH! BLAM! RATTA-TATTA-TAT!"
Melvin sipped on the prune milkshake he sneaked
into the theater.
For
once he looked quite content. Beside him, Joey
Whitehurst paid nominal
attention to the classically bad giant mantis movie so
he could talk
about
it later. His mind was really on his little buddy,
and current lack of
Dark Kingdom allies. *I know, we have to keep our cover,
but you'd think
someone would noticed me by now,* Joey brooded. He
looked over to
Melvin.
*The best allies are the ones you make yourself,
anyway.*
On screen the mantis monster stomped a M2 Bradley
armored personnel
carrier.
"Gee, this is the TANKS I get!" yelled one guy up
front.
"One weekend a month, two weeks a year, my
rosy-red!" heckled
another.
Both guffawed loudly, and high fived each other.
Joey didn't care one button about that, but Melvin
snapped up at
last.
"Hey! Will you guys shut up?!" he sniped. "You've
been flappin' your
pie
holes the whole movie!"
"*AMEN!*" growled Jakurin, a leg draped over her seat. Here she was, finally scraping up enough cash to watch a half decent movie, and the two hecklers were becoming annoying, even to her. With that she turned to the two guys behind her and regarded the guy who made the loud comment. "You go, boy. I like this movie, too."
Cyra looked over her shoulder at the hecklers who were starting to annoy her as well. "If you didn't come to watch this movie then maybe you should just leave. If you did come to watch the movie then shut up, people have come to see this movie and they don't need you talking through the whole thing, you creeps," she said. She then looked over to the other people. "They make a good point you really should shut up, besides I happen to like this movie a little."
Michiru let a small sigh escape her lips. Her mind was a thousand years away from the movie. "I wish they would just all shut up. They're ruining the romantic setting you took the first thirty minutes to create." she said to Darien.
With that remark two rows down from her, Jakurin cracked a grin. "I'll say," she said a bit loudly, swinging her legs of the seat to the floor. "You guys put a better show than this movie here any day. Maybe I should pay the 8.50 to ya, ne?" she smirked, winking at the couple of black hair and green.
"Will EVERYONE please be quiet?" Joey demanded. "Thank you." The hecklers, fed up, just got up and left the theater. Then he noticed Melvin was making eyes at Jarukin, and a shy smile and wave hello. He nudged his compadre lightly with his elbow. "Careful, Ace," he whispered. "Remember what female mantises do to their mates after they're done with them." Melvin looked at Joey knowingly with concern. Then he looked back to Jarukin with a little worry. Then a man in a vest and bowtie shone a flashlight into their faces. "Excuse me," he said. "I got complaints from two guys. You're making too much noise. Please keep it down so I don't have to kick you out."
"Don't I know it," Darien muttered, rolling his eyes. "People just don't know how to behave in a theater."
Jakurin snorted. "Oh, and I'm sure what you two were doing the last half-hour was enjoying the show, ne?" With that she flipped her last dollar at the couple and stood. "*Buy a box of mints; I shudder to think what you taste like after all that.*" she said sweetly in English before making her way across the aisle.
Joey was about to nod yes, when Melvin spoke up. "Sir, those guys were the loudmouths that started this! We told THEM to keep it down, and this is how they're getting payback!" The theater man looked hard at Melvin's milkshake cup. "At least they don't sneak in non concession food in. You gotta go, buddy, no refund." Melvin was about to launch a protest, but Joey said, "C'mon, bud, not here, not now. We'll send a letter to the supervisor." Overridden, Mel got up with his amigo and hit the aisle. Marching past were the two smugly smirking commentators, who each "accidentally" bumped into Melvin with an elbow.
Zoisite stared at the screen with a concentration
usually only seen
on
the faces of students about to take the SAT. This all
simply went over
his
head as far as the plot line and such. It did bring up
the idea of why
was
Japan such a hotbed for alien invaders and the like.
The arguing in the front had at least been somewhat
entertaining
and perhaps more useful that him causing chaos. At
least this way, he
wouldn't get another lecture on just how bad it was to
kill people
because
they annoyed him. Lips parting in a yawn, he rose to
his feet,
deciding
what little fun there had been in this movie thing has
been lost for
him.
Slipping past the few patrons and to the aisle, he
paused as one
piped up
from behind him with another of their comments.
Shifting to glance at the two, a smile graced his
too pretty
features.
The possibility of getting that lecture was looming
closer and closer.
"Now why would I need to buy a box of mints?" Darien asked, holding up the bill with a prelexed look. "I've already got some. And it wasn't like we were disturbing the rest of the audience. Were we?"
Michiru smiled devilishly. "And we didn't tell you to look over at us, now if you wanna join in..." she said trying to surpress a giggle. She loved to tease other people, even though she knew she was skating on thin ice doing it.
Just before Melvin reached the door to the lobby, he stopped. "Forgot something," he said. He turned back, picked up a discarded Coke cup with melting ice and water, and zoned in on the Crow and Tom Servo wanna-bes. Unsure, Joey followed. Melvin stepped right in front of the hecklers and said with a smile, "Drinks are on the house." Splat! went ice water and prune shake all over their heads. Their server thus bolted for the emergency exit, stage right. Shrugging to the usher, Joey gave a sly wink to Jakurin and moseyed on out himself.
Jakurin blinked twice, forgetting to give a snappy
comeback. *He
winked
at me...?!* With a small tug on her jacket, she
bounded after the two
guys,
and pushed her way past the other two. "Nice pants,"
she quipped, as
one of
the two tried to mop himself up.
"Hey, hey!!" she called to the two guys, as the
rain began soaking
up the
streets. "They ruined the movie and *y'all* get
thrown out?! It's not
right, y'know," she said, putting her hands in her
pockets
and leaning on one leg, crossing it over the other.
"Ain'tcha gonna
demand
your money back??"
"Not worth the hassle," Joey said. "Besides, like
the sign said out
front, 'no refunds.'" He pulled a newspaper from his
denim jacket and
offered it to Jakurin to cover her hair.
"I'm used to it, anyway. I'm always getting dumped
on," said
Melvin. "I
don't know what made me finally lash back like that,
though. I NEVER
did
that before."
"Maybe you got some self esteem and an improved
self image," said
Joey.
"It happens when you hang around me." They started
jogging to a small
sports car: a gray Datsun 280 ZX.
"Oh, my name's Joey. That's my associate, Ace," he
continued,
thumbing
to Melvin. "Wanna hang with us a while? It'll be a
little cozy in the
back
seat, but there's room."
Jakurin shrugged under her newspaper. "What the heck. I'm game. What would be even better is if you guys could drive me to Tudo's? It's a small restaurant on the skirts of the city," she said, climbing into the offered back seat. "And while we're on our way, I can entertain you."
Cyra was standing outside of the theater waiting for her father to come pick her up. *Where is he, he should've been here five minutes ago. Maybe he forgot and here I am getting soaked waiting for him to come get me.* She then spotted Jakurin getting in the back seat of a car. *Well at least she's not stuck here. I'm never going to trust my father to pick me up again.* Cyra then looked at her watch again. " I'm going to give him a few more minutes, if he's not here by then I'll walk," she said.
With the others gone, Zoisite's gaze drew back to
the ones who had
started the entire commotion. While they were busy
trying to clean
themselves off, shouting a string of curses at Umino's
back, Zoisite
drew
closer. The darkness of the theater helped some with
cloaking his next
activities.
Tossing one of his infamous energy crystals along
the floor he
simply
waited as it began drawing their life force in. With
any luck, the two
would be deadened corpses before anyone discovered.
The word 'extreme'
just
wasn't in Zoisite's dictionary.
Darien shrugged as the girl left and turned to Michiru. "Now, beautiful, where were-- ugg." He pressed his fingers into his skull and made a face. Another headache.
Jeremy leaned against the corner of the movie
theater, letting the
rain
pelt his body. His black, long sleeved shirt and
gloves were soaked,
but it
didn't bother him. No what bothered him was Melvin
and his buddy Joey. He wasn't sure what to do about
them yet, but he
knew
he'd get it done eventually.
He blinked rain from his eye and idly fingered the
car keys in his
jeans,
what he wanted was to just follow them, but with their
passenger he
didn't
dare pick a fight.
Joey arched an eyebrow. "Entertain?" He smiled. "If you drive me to distraction, I'll pay for the gas. Of course, you'll have to show us the way." As Melvin opened the passenger door and flipped the seat forward for Jakurin to hop in.
The two drenched critics hadn't spotted Zoicite or
his crystal.
They
were still too steamed about Melvin. Darting out the
theater after
Joey's
car and his riders, they stopped, feeling woozy.
"I think I'd better sit down for a second," said
one.
"Yeah, me too," said the other.
Both fell into a puddle, exhausted, but alive. A
few movie-goers
walked
up to check.
"Thanks," she said, smiling as she climbed into the
backseat. "So,
did
you hear the one about the man who got sick at the
airport? They say
it was
terminal. But seriously..."
.... a few minutes later, Jakurin was still telling
jokes when she
suddenly said, "There it is!"
Joey endured the groaners as he pulled in and hopped out. *Well, that's an idea,* he mused. *A bad joke youma. I'll have to save him for a good grudge opponent.* Melvin spoke aloud, "So of all the restaurants in town, what made you pick this one?"
Jakurin paused a bit in speech as she climbed out
of the back seat.
"Ano... good okonomiyaki. The best, actually," she
said, putting a big
grin
on her face. It was either that or tell the two men
she was living in
the
basement.
"I do a small show here every so often. Usually on
the three-day
weekends. On really busy days, I help out with the
waitressing. I'm more opt to run my taxi service in
Tokyo instead,"
she said, pulling out a set of keys from her jacket
and unlocking the
double
doors.
"Yup, I'm a regular here... so to speak. *Y'all*
need anything
before I
go?" she said, pausing in front of the doors as the
rain poured down
her
face, her pink bangs mooshed over her right eye.
A girl called to her, "Jakurin-chan?"
"Yah, it's me! Don't be alarmed! Just opening
up!"
"... alright. Goodnight, then..."
Jakurin looked back at the two. "Oh!" she dug in
her pockets and
sheepishly remembered her own antics in the movie
theater. "Gomen, I
haven't any cash for the gas you spent... wanna a
slice instead? I'm
told I
can make okonomiyaki fairly edible..."
"Darien..DARIEN!" Michiru cried out loud. "Are you all right? What's wrong?" she asked. She was worried, she knew he had headaches, but she thought he took medication for them.
"Okonomiyaki?" Joey looked on a little quizzicaly.
"Pancake with meat and veggies on it," Melvin
answered. "I could
use a
slice for an experiment. Gotta take-out box?"
"I guess we could try some here," Joey said. He
smiled. *Hmm, this
Jaku
girl might do very nicely for my next inductee.* Then
he looked to
Melvin.
*First let's polish up my friend Ace, though.*
Jakurin flicked on the lights, illuminating the red, white, and blue decorum of the floor. Flinging off her wet jacket to reveal a dark blue turtlevest (a turtleneck with out the sleeves?), Jakurin launched herself over the counter and reappeared with two sodas. "Here. While you wait," she said, smiling then going into the kitchen.
"I'm... fine," Darien panted as the headache faded to a dull throb. "But I think I'll need to go lay down. The meds aren't working like they should be. Maybe I'd better get the dosage changed." He got unsteadily to his feet, blinking dully at the screen. "Remind me not to judge bug as being harmless."
Melvin sipped on his Pepsi as his mentor casually glanced his over. "Ace, the rain sorta puts a damper on the training session I had in store for you," Joey said. "We'll have to do it later." Mel looked a little disappointed and at the same time relieved. "It's okay. I gotta tend to my school project back home anyhow," he replied. To the kitchen he called Jakurin. "Hey, uh, Jakurin, right? Does this mean you're gonna be tied up working here for the rest of the day?"
Michiru steadied Darien. "Want me to drive you home, sweeite. I can give you a nice long back rub too?" she suggested.
"Today? Naaah. I'll catch me my forty winks, then get up later and do my taxi service to the good citizens of Tokyo," she joked, coming around the corner with three steaming slices of 'pancake'. "Had to make do with the microwave; the ovens take FOREVER to heat up," she said, placing a mushroom oko' in front of herself, a three-cheese oko' in front of Ace, and an anchoviy oko' in front of Joey. "*Bon appeite*!" she said with a grin, and began digging into her food.
Picking up his half filled crystal, Zoisite sighed. Oh well, it was better than nothing, and at least it would save him a lecture on doing nothing with his time from his mentor. Pausing to glance at the couple sitting together, his gaze remained uninterested. They were little more than just a couple in the gloom of the theater. Dipping a hand into his pocket, he dug out his bottle of black asprin with the narcotic additive. One caress toss landed them into Michiru's lap. "They might help," he murmured as he stepped out. It wouldn't do to lose patron's of Kunzite's club. That thought on his mind, he stepped out into the rain, never noticing Jeremy against the wall as he strolled down the sidewalk, lost in his own thoughts. Tossing the energy crystal in his left hand, he deftly leapt over a few puddles, not seeming to mind the chilling rain that fell across his hair, scattering like diamonds among the ruby and gold tinted locks.
"Sure," Darien blinked, swaying a little more. "That sounds fine." He took out his keys and held them out to her, smiling a little sickly.
Some people may not notice things, but Jeremy did. The glint of
the
energy crystal being tossed reflected easily in the rain, and centuries
of
experience had taught him to be ever alert. Like a shadow he slipped
into
the ally, after assurring himself no one was around he whispered,
"Imperium
Power."
As the black cape, cowl, and body suit materialized around him he
took
off to the rooftops, keeping low, and keeping the boy in sight.
Engrossed in actually getting to play instead of being forced into
work
by Nephrite, Zoisite continued on his trail, never glancing upwards to
Guardian. Splashing through the puddles like a happy child, he paused
to
examine his reflection in one of the undisturbed ones. Taking a few
moments
to preen, he nodded to himself, considering if Kunzite would like to
have a
soaking wet Zoisite tackle him in a hug. Knowing the ice king, he
probably
wouldn't be all that appreciative.
Lifting his head to sniff the winds, he grinned. Pizza! Target
locked. Taking a moment to actually examine where he'd wandered to, he
was
caught in indecision over the pizza parlour, some sort of little cafe,
and
the usual resturant. *Italian... definately* he decided as he jumped
into
one last puddle, spraying the water about him in a prismatic show, and
then
heading for the doors.
Michiru looked at the bottle of drugs and quickly put them in her purse. She took the keys and helped Darien up and drove him home. Once there she helped him to his room. "I'll fix you some tea." she said with a smile.
Joey chewed away at his anchovy slice. If it was bad, he didn't
show it.
Melvin trimmed a sliver of his three-cheese and placed it in a
zip-lock
bag. Then he popped the rest in his mouth and stretched away a bite.
"Mmmm. Good stuff! Thanks, Jaku, I'm gonna recommend this place to
my
buddies!" Then he explained the bag: "I'm running a major insect
project
for school. I wanna test different foodstuffs with bees, ants,
flies...
I've been doing it since the fall. I think I'll throw in an oko' just
to
see the reaction." He grinned. "If this goes right, I may be able to
get
in the college of my choice!"
Jakurin nearly choked on her slice as a gorgeous guy walked through the doors, thoroughly drenched. Coughing a few guys, she wiped a piece of drool of her chin and sputtered, "C-Can I help you?"
A pair of emerald eyes blinked at the girl for a moment, rather unused to getting such fast service anywhere... well, except for Kunzite's club, but that was a different story. Dropping into a chair, he ran a slender hand through his wet locks of crimson and gold hair, staring thoughtfully up at the menu board. "Pizza?" he asked hopefully, not sure if his nose had led him in the right direction or not.
Jakurin picked her eyes up off the floor and grinned, "SURE!"
Although
after first meeting Zachary, she had thought him to be a little...
perverted, now she considered him to be one of the best looking males
in all
of Juuban. She almost hated leaving the high school after her month
was up;
all the good-looking males made the difference. And so did
Michiru-chan.
She was fun, if not a little dirty on the side--
Jakurin groaned in the kitchen as she pulled out a whole pie from
the refrigerator. That's where she recognized that voice from in the
theater; it was Michiru.
A small super-deformed version of her was instantly smited by a box
of
mints as she held her head high and walked out with a slice of pizza
covered
with green peppers and black olives. "H-here you go!" she said
brightly,
before walking quickly back to Ace and Joey and rounding the counter.
"He is GOOD-LOOKING," she hissed, "but he always blows me off... I
can't
figure out why!" she said to the two.
The door opened and several tough looking individuals filed in and
spread
out, hands in pockets and that vague but alert expression on their
faces.
Slightly taller than the rest was a man with a dark tan, green-tinted
locks
of shoulder length hair, and silver, almost glowing eyes. He looked
about,
then laughed before slouching over towards the counter. At his laugh,
the
others relaxed and found seats.
"You're opened, right? Right. We'll like some pop and some snacks.
Hey
what does everyone want?" he said, turning to look at the others, his
eye
briefly flickering over towards Zoisite.
Darien murmured his gratitude and crawled partly out of his clothes and onto the bed.
A massive eyebrow twitch was coming on; Jakurin could feel it. "*I knew I should have locked it behind me,*" she mumbled to the two at the counter. "Excuse me, seems I need to grab another pie... hey, about your bug thing, if it's food you need, like spices or things, we have a whole jar of bay leaves back here. Interested, Ace?" she asked.
Zoisite paid little attention to the newcomers, more interested in the food that was being brought to him. It was once said that the fastest way to a man's heart was through his stomach. Zoisite would have claimed that it was the ribcage, but this was close enough. Purring out his thanks to Jakurin, he began to pickishly eat the treat, an almost obsessively clean manner about it. Licking one fingertip, his gaze finally flickered up to the man and his companions. Trying not to snicker at the overheard Jakurin's comment, he shook his head slowly, smoothing back his soaked hair again. For now, he kept his distance from the new ones. The last thing he needed was a public spat, and these ones looked as if they could be trouble in the making. Most street types either wanted to talk him into weird sex games or beat him to death. Neither sounded appealing at present. Focusing his attention back on Jakurin, he blinked. "Bugs? Isn't that... against health regulations?" he asked as his gaze dropped to the floor, the pizza in his stomach doing an unhealthy roll.
Michiru brought in a warm cup of tea and two of the black pills
Zoisite
had dropped in her lap. "You alright sweetie?" she asked rubbing his
back
gently.
She was a bit worried for him, but tried not to show it in her
voice.
"Oh, no no no!!" called Jakurin, a few sweatdrops pummeling down her face as she waved her hands. "Bay leaves! Spices!! For his bugs!" she thumbed in Ace's direction, as she filled two pitchers with soda and quickly walked them over to the hoods that sat down. "Ano... here you go," she said cautiously, flashing a bright smile.
Zoisite gulped again as he felt the pizza trying to once more
reemerge
and see the outside world. "You feed the bugs that live here? And
they
belong to him... as pets? Just how big are these
creatures?"
The sakura had images of six foot tall cockroaches in the back
fixing the
food for their masters, crunching up some of the smaller ones to use as
spices. That lunch was getting harder and harder to
keep down. At least it kept his mind off of the hoods.
Joey smiled a little as he kept chewing on the anchovy oko. *This
flitting tinkerbell's discomfort's a lot more fun to watch than the
movie,*
he mused. He glanced over to his protogé. *The gross-out factor...
maybe
Ace is onto something here.*
Seeing Zoisite's displeasure, Melvin shook his head. "No, no, no,
the
bugs are NOT here. They're back at my house. Just generic house
insects, a
few arachnids, that's it. My mom wouldn't let me have the real cool
stuff."
He finished off his 3-cheese. "And as far as pets... well, that's
not too
far off. I've actually pasted very tiny number labels on bees' backs
for ID
purposes. I've even petted them very gently with my index finger once.
It
can be done, if you don't move too fast and let them feed on sugar
water."
Admittedly, the girlish-looking pretty guy creeped Mel out for some
mysterious reason, but he didn't want him feeling sick. Then he
finally
noted the toughs who'd come in last. He turned right back to his Pepsi
and
recalled the prime rule of dealing with stronger thugs: no eye
contact.
Zoisite's emerald eyes showed visible relief at being assured that
what he'd eaten hadn't contained maggots or something else of the like
that
would squirm or wriggle. Poking one fingertip at the remains of his
food in
a delicate manner that continued to speak of his obsesive cleanliness,
he
lifted the glass to his lips, taking a hesitant sip. As his gaze
travelled
from Jakurin to Joey and Melvin, his head tilted like that of a curious
puppy. Like calls to like, even if it is unknowingly.
Dismissing it for now, he leaned forward slightly to fix Jakurin
with the
full depth of his attention and eyes. "You couldn't possibly... have
another piece?" Well, as long as he was out of sight of the other
kings, he
might as well indulge his craving for Italian foods.
Jakurin grinned as she swiftly turned. "Hai!" she said, accidently
upsetting a thugs' drink. The cold soda cascaded into his lap as with
a
shout he jumped up, standing a good foot or two taller than her.
Jakurin
gulped. "Errr, gomen... Napkin-chan?" she offered, producing a whole
roll
of paper towels from behind her back.
The goon's hand clenched, for one moment giving the impression that
he'd
like to squeeze her neck, but after shooting a glance at the
leader, he grabbed the paper towels and wiped up the spill, muttering a
'thank you' under his breath. The leader pretended not to notice the
look
as he poked a finger at his slice, sniffed it before taking a
careful bite. Looking faintly surprised he finished it off with less
caution, then looked over his glass at Zoisite. A cheerful voice
stoled into the little saurka's mind.
~Splashing in water puddles again, Neko-chan? Want me to dry you
off.. once I send the trainees back home.>~ Kunzite asked. ~ Joey, noting Zoicite's glance, was about to speak, when he noted the
gang
leader's wordless look-over. Not wanting to continue the game of
gaze-tag,
he polished off his anchovy oko, which he deemed pretty good, if very
salty.
Zoisite blinked at the leader of the gang in complete surprise.
The green hair... it had to be that. Snapping his mouth shut with a
click of his teeth, a blush rushed over his whitened flesh. A
seductive smile overtook his lips until he realized that a few of the
gang members were staring oddly at him in that manner that spoke of a
wish to destroy his girlishly pretty face for staring at their leader
as if he were a self serve sushi bar. Feeling the flush darken his
skin, he quickly turned back to his food. They didn't worry him
overly, they were just mortals after all, and he doubted that Kunzite
would let them do serious damage even if they were stupid enough to
attempt something. Then again, Kunzite didn't seem to overly mind when
Nephrite tossed him about like a rag doll. Flashing Jakurin another
one of
his angelic smiles, he concentrated more on eating that speaking or
staring.
~Kunzite-sama! Since when did you join the Yakuza? I hope you have
a
short chain on your pets... this could turn ugly for the mortal faction
at
least. As for drying off... depends on if you mind me using your bed
for
the night again.~
"Well, that was very nice of you, Jaku," Joey said with a smile. "I
hope
to be seeing you later on. Thanks for the pizza, and the support back
in
the theater." He got up, ready to go, but Melvin stayed seated. Joey
glanced down at his compatriot, who piped up, "Could I get another
Pepsi,
please?"
Then Mel quietly pulled out a pen, did some aimless doodling, along
with
a discreet note: "We can't leave her all by herself with those four
guys!"
Joey sighed, but knew the kid was right. She WAS rather pretty. He
sat
back down and stood by.