(Sorry it's been so long since I updated, but I'd been trying to hold out actually posting this chapter until someone decided to PM me for the little sort-of-contest I'd set up last chapter. Since it doesn't seem that anyone is bothering to give an answer, I'm posting this chapter regardless. It has certainly been quite the turn of events for the recurring characters, ne?~ Heh heh.)
5:25 AM, Rynn's and Alkanet 's place
Alkanet silently made her way downstairs, her book held tightly against her bosom. She was careful not to wake the triplets as she snuck out. Surprisingly, Rynn had actually woken up early on her own and already left for school, wanting to get there early for some odd reason.
She closed the door as quietly as possible with a sigh. Her ears remained alert for the slightest sound and she ran off quickly, heading to Shizuo's place with the kitten she'd found yesterday on her shoulder.
She had every intention of telling Shizuo what she hadn't when they'd had a run in with Izrafel and James. He was a part of this now, no matter how she looked at it. Izrafel and James would assume he knew more than he did simply because he happened to be with Alkanet when the two had found her. She just didn't want to accept that before, but she knew better. It was better if she had the book now in her hands when she told him what she wanted to relay, anyhow, so it was somewhat of a good thing that she'd said as little as possible before.
6:10 AM, Shizuo's place
She bit her lip gently as she knocked and felt somewhat disappointed that it was Kasuka who answered the door.
"Oh, Silvershadow-san, hello again. Are you here to see Shizuo?"
"Hai. Is he awake yet?"
"No. He was still asleep when I went to check on him a few minutes ago."
"D'you mind if I stay here and wait for him?"
"Not at all. You can sit on the couch in the living-room if you want to while waiting."
Alkanet nodded.
"Arigatou, Kasu-kun."
6:19 AM, Shizuo's place/living-room
Alkanet sat on the couch, waiting for Shizuo to wake up. She looked over the book she'd brought with her sitting on her lap, her eyes gazing at the argentite overlaid birchwood cover. She ran the tips of her fingers over the intricate design surrounding the image of a cloaked figure, the only part of which that could be seen uncovered by the cloak being the skeletal hands. The title of the book was written in a language unknown to humans, ancient runes she knew how to read.
"Why're you here?"
Alkanet snapped her head up and smiled brightly when she saw Shizuo standing there. He was wearing the t-shirt and shorts he'd slept in and his hair was dishevelled. She stood up and held the book close to her chest, her smile fading somewhat.
"There's something I need to tell you. It would be best to go somewhere we won't be overheard."
"Ah, okay. Just let me get dressed first."
She nodded and waited for him to come back.
7:13 AM, somewhere in Ikebukuro
Alkanet and Shizuo were in an abandoned parking-lot, and the two of them sat beside a car with a notice on it saying to call a phone number if anyone knew the owner of the vehicle. Shizuo listened without really listening as she explained what she could to him. She sighed when she finished speaking.
"So you're half faerie? D'you...you know...have wings?"
Alkanet laughed.
"Not all fay have wings, Shizu Shizu. No, I don't. But I could use magick to give myself wings if I wished to. I've done it before, and it's nice to fly sometimes."
"What about those two who were after you yesterday?"
"The woman, Izrafel, was half fay as well, but James was a vampyre who'd been changed in medieval times. He can't use any magick. Izrafel may be the same as I am in regards to species, but she despises the side of her that is human because she believes that side of her to be weak. She also despises that side of her because she hated her human mother and her human side is a connection of sorts that ever reminds her of her relation to the woman who had borne her. As for James, he missed being human at first, but grew to loathe humanity as time passed. His own hatred for humans solidified when he met Izrafel. Really, that is all I know of their past. They both are centuries older than I am."
"How d'you know them?"
"I met them when I was around five. Izrafel had always been jealous of me for one reason or another and hates me. I cannot fathom why, merely that she does. And James, he noticed her odd malice towards me from the start and shared it. Despite never really getting along, the two of them really are fond of each other. They'll fight for an eternity, but that fondness shan't fade with time. It almost seems as if they enjoy fighting."
"I don't see why anyone would hate you."
Alkanet's cheeks flushed and she felt the need to look away from Shizuo.
"You don't?"
"No."
His breath was now warm on her neck as he hugged her and her heart beat a little faster. She remained silent as he continued:
"You're strange and I don't really get you, but I don't see you as hateable. And you're one of the few people who aren't scared of me, of my strength."
There were so many things she wished he would say to her in that moment, so much more of her skin she wanted him to breathe over than her neck. She forced these unfamiliar feelings down as best she could and pushed him away with a poignant gasp.
"Oh hell! You realise not how you affect me! I cannot take it, I really can't!"
Shizuo stared at her, but not because of what she'd said. His eyes were transfixed on the slender, three-foot-long tail behind her. It looked like Rin's tail from Ao no Exorcist, except the same silvery-white as her hair instead of black. Alkanet seemed to notice where he looked and turned her head. She let out a soft, exasperated groan.
"At least I lasted this long before letting my tail slip out."
Shizuo ignored her comment and hesitantly reached out to touch her tail. She gave a sharp gasp and shivered a little, wrapping her tail around his wrist unintentionally. She knew there was no way he could know how sensitive her tail was, how erratically it made her emotions swirl. She wished he did, but she couldn't bring herself to form the words and tell him.
The kitten watched at Alkanet's feet and twitched his tiny ears in curiosity. He pawed at Shizuo's sock with a tiny mew, wanting to be petted. Shizuo pulled his hand away from Alkanet's tail and looked down at the kitten in confusion. He'd actually forgotten about the little furball some time ago. Alkanet blinked and looked down at the little kitten, then giggled.
"He wants you to pet him."
"Tch. Stupid cat."
Despite his harsh words, he picked up the kitten and petted him. He purred in Shizuo's arms, closing his yellow eyes in contentment.
"Ōkasshoku likes you."
"Eh?"
"The kitten."
"You named him Ōkkasshoku?"
"Hai. He seems to like the name."
"Huh. Well, I guess he's your cat."
"He gets along well with Nyra. She doesn't usually like other felines, but she acts motherly towards him."
"Nyra?"
"A feline I've known since I was four. She hates Rynn, so she usually stays away from the house when Rynn's around or stays hidden. She always runs off on me at the oddest times and reappears at random."
"You like cats."
"I'm an animal person. I actually prefer canines, though, believe it or not."
Shizuo suddenly turned his head away, blushing.
"Ah...you're tail......lifting your skirt."
She giggled at his reaction as she pulled her skirt down and tried to keep better control of her tail.
"Why are you blushing like that, Shizu Shizu?"
"Sh-shaddup."
He looked back at her and stared hard at her face. She was about to say something else when he suddenly took a step forward and kissed her. Ōkkasshoku, still in his arms, mewed as Alkanet froze in surprise. She was just about to kiss back when Shizuo pulled away.
"Let's go walk around."
She just nodded, not even questioning him about the kiss. Her book in her hands and her mind in a daze, she walked around Ikebukuro with him.
7:13 AM, Sunshine Cinéma
Rynn and Izaya sat in the far back of the theatre seats, having snuck in. They'd skipped school for the day, neither worried about the trouble they could get into. They'd skipped plenty of times before, both with and without the other. Now was no different.
Rynn was whispering things in Izaya's ear with a teasing smile, her hand on his thigh and both his hands in his jacket pockets. A light blush suddenly dusted across his cheeks at something Rynn had said and she chuckled softly, noticing.
"Rynn-chan, you shouldn't say such things at your age."
"I shouldn't be reading certain genre of manga at my age either, Iza-ki.~ Admit it, you like that idea."
Izaya sighed, lightly shoving her back.
"It doesn't matter whether I like that idea or not, Rynn-chan. I'm not interested in that nor any of your sick fantasies."
A frown formed on Rynn's lips.
"You're no fun. Someone else would have tried taking advantage of that idea or freak out and stutter with every word."
"It would amuse you for someone to start stuttering. And if someone were to take advantage of your idea, you would have stabbed them with your kunai and laughed at them. You have to admit you are no more interested than I am in such a thing. It's nothing more than a game for you, something for you to mess with people's heads."
Her mouth twitched upwards in a smirk. She leaned forward again.
"D@mn you for making me love you."
Izaya smirked back.
"You hate how easily I figured you out, yet you're saying that you love me? You really are something else, Rynn-chan."
"I happen to hate you so much that I love you.~ It's one of those little oddities in life that has no real answer."
"You always have something to say and answer with, Rynn-chan, don't you?~"
"Yup.~"
"Then say something to this."
He put his hand under her chin and kissed her. She was too shocked to do anything other than blush. Rynn lost her usual careless demeanour, let her guard down. Just as she was about to kiss back, Izaya pulled away with a triumphant smirk as if the kiss had meant nothing to him and she felt disappointed by that. She knew he was messing with her, but she couldn't keep her guard up as easily around him.
"Nothing to say, Rynn-chan?"
He'd said it so casually as if he hadn't just kissed her, that smirk in place. Rynn actually felt tears pricking her eyes, feeling hurt that he didn't care. She hated how it'd meant something to her, how she still wanted to kiss him despite his seeming apathy towards her. She gritted her teeth and slapped him, hoping his cheek would bruise and swell badly.
"You're such an @$$."
She got up and left, not looking behind her. Izaya had effectively ruined Rynn's mood. She wasn't going to head back to school. That would be pointless to bother with doing. She would get in trouble for it if she got caught regardless, so she'd might as well skip for the whole day and make the most of it.
7:31 AM, somewhere on 60 Story Street
She walked down 60 Story Street, hoping for something to distract her. She grabbed for her kunai only to find that it wasn't on her. It was gone, missing.
"$#*+!"
She spun around to head back and froze in place, seeing Izaya right there smirking and holding her kunai. At least she had the satisfaction of seeing she'd left a dark bruise.
"That kiss must have been really distracting if you didn't even notice when your kunai was taken.~"
"Give it back, you little ß@$+@rd."
She made a fervent grab for it, but Izaya kept it just out of reach from her. He made her chase him around and into a vacant alleyway. He stopped and leaned casually against the wall of the dead end.
"So determined, Rynn-chan.~"
She growled and grabbed for her kunai again. He dodged around her and shoved her against the wall where he'd been a moment before.
"Give it back!"
He just smirked and dropped her kunai down the front of his pants tauntingly.
"How badly do you want it back?~"
"God, you must really love p*$$*ng me off. I can't function normally without my kunai! My life revolves around it! Come on, just give it back!"
His annoying little smirk grew a bit.
"What are you willing to do to get your kunai back, Rynn-chan?~"
Rynn was desperate and she knew that showed clearly enough on her face. It was pointless for her to even attempt to regain her composure.
"Almost anything, and I know you know that."
"You're such an amusing human being, Rynn-chan. It's fun to play with you.~"
An idea suddenly struck her. That was right, she wasn't human. Her usual smirk returned, but darker and more cruel. A soft chuckle escaped her lips as she looked down so that her fringe hid her eyes, her bosom moving gently with her laughter.
"What's so funny, Rynn-chan?"
"Human is so very far from what I am, dear Iza-ki. Mai Tsuki-chan you might be able to call human, she's half so. But me, I'm not even close. Thanks for reminding me I still have the upper-hand without my kunai. Amusing perhaps, but like hell would I ever even want to be a weak little human, dear Iza-ki."
Izaya listened to what she said with an eyebrow raised, seemingly unfazed. Even if it was true that she wasn't human, he wasn't afraid of her. He didn't see any reason to be. She had admitted earlier that she loved him, and in his mind that was enough for him to believe he was safe.
"If you're not human, then what are you?"
When she looked up, her eyes were more animalistic and her incisors, top and bottom, were sharper and more canine than human as she gave a toothy grin. Her "human" ears were gone as they were replaced by a pair of fox ears atop her hair with fur of the same glossy black and tipped with orangey fur. A fox tail swished behind her, the same colour pattern as her ears. Her nails hadn't changed much as they were already black and claw-like before her shift, merely growing an inch longer. She hadn't shifted entirely, only halfway. The whole transformation had taken a mere second, the time it had taken for her to lift her head.
"Kitsune. Hadn't you ever wondered why mai Tsuki-chan always called me by the nickname of Kitsune-chan, called me Vixen whenever I annoyed her?"
Rynn had gotten Izaya back against the wall with her blocking the only passage in or out, one hand lying on his chest with her fingers lightly coiled around the collar of his shirt. Izaya remained unfazed by all of this.
"Nicknames are nicknames, they needn't have any meaning to them, Rynn-chan. I thought nothing of what Netta-chan calls you by. Speaking of Netta-chan, you mentioned her being only half human. What exactly is she?"
Rynn leaned in even closer, her nose almost touching his.
"I won't betray mai Tsuki-chan's secrets. If she wants you to know, she'll tell you. If she doesn't tell you, you'll just have to find out on your own. If she wishes to play her little facade of feigning humanity, I'll allow her that. I'll even fake being human myself to stay near her if I have to. The difference is that I'm outright lying about it when I play pretend. Tsuki-chan is still half human, so she has that excuse as to not be lying when she says she is human, that's her reasoning as to keep to her weird almost obsession with only telling the truth. I'm a liar, it makes things more fun for me."
Izaya suddenly had a hand on the small of her back, his smirk returned.
"As much as I like hearing your voice, Rynn-chan, you really do talk too much."
She stared at him with half lidded eyes as her dark smirk softened somewhat.
"You talk at least as much as I do, Iza-ki. Don't be such a smart@$$ about it."
With the hand not on her back, Izaya slipped her kunai into her pants pocket.
"Touché, Rynn-chan. Do you like pretending to be human, or is it just something convenient for you to do while following around your half human companion?"
"Maybe a little of both. It is really convenient, but it's also pretty fun. My parents and little sisters find convenience in it, but my sisters are probably so used to it that they'll keep up the masquerade for their own reasons that have nothing to do with convenience or fun. Especially Mata-chan. She loves video games. I think she's the most human out of my family, probably'll end up marrying a human gamer when she grows up if she ever leaves Kazu-chan's side. Ni-chan'll probably seclude herself from humans and nonhumans alike, though. She's so antisocial."
"You don't really say much about your family, Rynn-chan."
"My family hates me just like the rest of the world, but my little sisters a bit less so. Not much to say about them."
"Netta-chan doesn't seem to hate you despite how much you annoy her."
"She doesn't. I don't think she can hate, to tell the truth."
"She gets mad easily, but doesn't hate. Interesting."
Rynn frowned for a moment, feeling a bit jealous Izaya found her best friend interesting.
"Don't wanna talk anymore."
Izaya raised an eyebrow.
"Then what do you want to do, Rynn-chan?"
"You already know what, you @$$."
She pressed her lips to his and wrapped her arms loosely round his shoulders, forgetting herself as she kissed him. Izaya was surprised, but kept composed. He pulled her closer for a moment, then pushed her away.
"You seem to change how you act around me every few seconds. Why is that?"
"Dunno why." She nuzzled Izaya's neck, breathing in his scent. "God, you smell good!"
"You're acting as if drunk, Rynn-chan. Why are you smelling me?"
"'Cause I wanna." Rynn kissed where she'd nuzzled him. "Tell me what to do, command me. I'm your little plaything, yours to manipulate and take advantage of."
Izaya pushed her away again.
"You really are out of it, Rynn-chan. Under normal circumstances, you take orders from no one."
Rynn pressed her lips to his ear and whispered a few things. Izaya just pushed her away once again, wearing a mask of indifference.
"Iza-ki..."
"Even if I was interested, why would I be interested in someone who isn't even human? You're nothing more than someone who I can make use of for my schemes. I think you should lose the ears and tail. You've been acting strangely since you 'shifted'."
Rynn suddenly came back to her senses and her cheeks turned scarlet. Her ears twitched twice before disappearing along with her tail, and her ears were now human again. She held back the shiver that wanted to run down her spine.
"Why do you affect me so d@mn much? You know what, just stay the hell away from me for a while. I'm going to completely lose it eventually if you don't."
She started to walk off, feeling her kunai in her pocket and making to take it out and hold it.
"You might want to wash that kunai, considering.~"
Rynn froze, taking a second to get what he ment. She shivered, suppressing a gag.
"Worst day of my f---ing existence!"
She ran off, ignoring Izaya's laughter. She slowed down a while later and looked down at her kunai. She decided not to wash it. Washing it would just remind her of the worst moments of this day. She wondered what Alkanet was up to and went look for her.
8:15, somewhere in Ikebukuro
"I want to be more than just friends."
Shizuo froze in place and Alkanet stopped walking, nearly passing him up. His face was beet red.
"Wh-what?"
"I want to be more than friends...with you. I can't stop thinking about earlier when you kissed me."
"I shouldn't have done that. Sorry."
"I really liked it. I want you to kiss me again."
"Y-you do?"
"Don't you?"
"I..."
Shizuo was about to get the words out, but before he could answer, another voice interrupted them.
"Tsuki-chan! Shizu-chan! What's up?"
Alkanet pouted a little. Her best friend had ruined the moment, though not really surprising.
"Kitsune-chan, you seem mad. Did something happen?"
Rynn's smiling facade faltered and a prominent frown crossed her lips.
"Always could see right through me, Tsuki-chan. D@mn Izaya's a total f---ing @$$. Don't ask. I don't wanna remember."
"Tch. Serves you right associating with that flea."
"Yup. Karma's a ß*+€#, Shizu-chan. Take this as a sign Iza-ki's gonna get his due sooner or later. His @$$ is worse than dead for p*$$*ng me off."
"Kitsune-chan, don't even think of trying anything."
"Fine. I won't try."
"And no loophole abuse either."
"D@mn it. So close."
"I know you too well, Kitsune-chan."
"Got that right. Aaaaanywaaaaay, laters, lovebirds.~"
Rynn laughed as she ran off and Alkanet and Shizuo blushed madly at being called lovebirds. They both just stood there a while, not knowing what to do.
(Rynn obviously has issues, doesn't she?~ The perfect cause for random drama and a whole lot of crazy. Who wants to bet she'll go against her word and plan some psychotic revenge to get back at Izaya?)