Cowboy Bebop Fan Fiction ❯ Tenshi Trail: Shin Heart ❯ Vol. One, Chapter Ten: Thorn Bara ( Chapter 10 )

Thorn Bara

“Have you gotten your report in yet?” Daisuke asked Bemmer.

“No,” his friend admitted.

“Darn it!” the boy said.

“Guys!” Mandy cried out. “I just had a great idea for our project!” The boys didn't even look up.

“Any idea when it's due?” Bemmer asked the stalker boy.

“When what is due?” Daisuke asked. *Sweat drop his friend's head as he shakes his head and sighs* Bemmer looked over at his friend.

“Sometimes I wonder how you manage to get through life!” he said to him. Daisuke shrugged at him with a goofy grin.

“Simple!” he called. “I have you guys!”

“And what if we aren't here?” Bemmer challenged. The dullard that about that for a moment. He still had that same goofy grin on his face.

“I guess I'm screwed then!” Daisuke called out. *Bemmer falls straight to the ground* “He's hopeless!” the other intern thought in misery.

“That's nice!” Mandy called again. “Now, I have a great idea for our class project!” The boys still didn't look up.

“Have you got anything for our class project?” Daisuke asked Bemmer.

“Nope, nothing,” the boy replied. “You?” The other boy thought about that for a moment and then shook his head.

“No!” Daisuke replied. Bemmer hung his head and sighed again.

“We're screwed,” he said. Both boys sighed.

“No we've not!” Mandy yelled again. “Because I have an idea to save us all!” Then, the door in the apartment flung open wide. The other three interns looked up right away. Soot stood in the doorway with bags in his arms.

“Great!” Bemmer called. “You've brought the food!”

“Yeah!” Soot sighed out loud as he shut the door behind him. “The lines were a nightmare!” He came in with the crew and set the food down on the table. The boys all began to get out their meals. Mandy rolled her eyes annoyed. They had just done it again. Bemmer, Soot, and Daisuke had ignored her with school/work. They never really listened to her at all. Easy to see why they usually got C's on their projects and everything ended done at the last minute. If they let her take control, she would deliver an A+ worthy project for all of the class to see. Mandy sighed aloud again as she flopped back onto the stable green couch.

“This is bullshit!” she mumbled to herself. Then, she got up and quietly stormed off. She slammed the door behind her loudly. The boys looked up when they heard it.

“She's gone,” Daisuke pointed out.

“What's her problem?” Bemmer asked. Soot shrugged.

“She'll be back,” he replied.

“True,” Bemmer said. “True.”

“So what do we do now?” Daisuke asked.

“Whatever,” Soot answered. Outside, Mandy stormed off into the night. She had grown sick of being ignored. When could they ever learn to appreciate her? Even T.J. ignored her work at times by accident. The boys always got all of the attention. The girl walked for a long while before looking all around her. Night had fallen upon the city. The stars were the only to provide any source of light. Mandy looked around a bit nervous. “Okay,” she thought. “When did it get dark all of a sudden?” She began looking around for a street light to stand under.

In a few minutes, Mandy found more light to stand under near the park. She sat on the bench and breathed out some. “Oh, that was close!” the girl thought. So now what? Mandy looked around a bit. She pulled out her project plot. The girl read over the contents of the paper. This took her days to come up with it. Mandy felt proud all over again. That's why T.J. hired her. The girl had a very gifted mind along with some of his co-workers. *Sigh* Too bad her fellow co-workers didn't see that. Life would be much better for her if they did…

Suddenly, a medium gust of wind came and blew her papers right out of her hand. Mandy looked on in worry.

“Oh no!” she cried out. “My hard work!” She got up right away and ran after the paper. The poor girl chased it down for what felt like miles. She hoped that all of her hard work would end up in a ditch somewhere. Lucky for her, it didn't. Mandy stopped in both relief and horror at the paper's whereabouts. A stranger had them in his hands. He began to read them to himself quietly. Mandy watched on with her heart racing. “Oh no!” she thought. “I haven't finished them yet. He's going to laugh at my work!” Mandy waited on as she bit her lip. This didn't look good at all.

Finally, the stranger looked up in her direction. Mandy froze up harder. Here came the judgment moment. This strange boy began walking over to her. The intern girl got a really good look at him. She felt herself blushing at the mere sight of him. Such a lovely boy he turned out to be. Fair pale skin, cold black eyes, tall stature to him, and a strange cat-like grace to him. The boy had a school uniform similar to her boys at home. Mandy didn't know whether to be scared or attracted to him. The boy smiled at her wickedly. Mandy noticed his teeth right away. Her eyes grew wide in shock. “He's a… vampire!” she thought in shock. The boy smirked at her reaction. Humans always were a pretty toy to him. This girl fell under that category perfectly. The boy held up the paper.

“Did you write this?” he asked. Mandy swallowed hard.

“Yes!” she yelped out. “Yes I did!” The boy stepped within inches in front of her. He handed the paper back to her.

“Good,” he replied. “But needs more work.” Mandy looked at him in surprise. She had been expecting worse. But this… came as a nice surprise to her.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“You have many holes in your logic,” the boy went on. “Plus, it's all a huge mess on paper.” Mandy raised an eyebrow at him.

“What are you talking about?” she asked. “That's my best work on that paper!”

“Yeah,” the boy replied. “For a third grader!” Mandy looked at him crossly.

“And who the hell do you think you are?!?” she barked. The boy leaned in closer to her face. She could feel his hot breath on her face. The girl thought that she would faint. The vampire smiled at her wickedly again.

“Quent!” he announced boldly. “Daigo Quent!” Mandy looked at him mesmerized. “He's Japanese American!” she thought in more surprise.

“Yes I am,” Quent spoke back. “And you are?”

“M-M-Mandy Simpson!” she blurted out. Quent smirked at her.

“Cute name,” he replied. Mandy blushed at him wildly. Quent smiled at her reaction. The two spent the whole night talking. Mandy got to know the charming vampire pretty well. Quent had been turned into a vampire ten years ago. The person that took him in turned him that way. He had been orphaned at a young age. Quent took night class at her school. He lived alone as well. The vamp even loved poetry and classical music. Mandy ended up impressed by him. She thought that she had him figured out in the end. But yet, Quent still managed to surprise her.

Out of the blue, the vampire leaned in and kissed her on the lips. Mandy's eyes grew wide in shock again. She didn't know what to think at first. A cute stranger flirted with her *and* kissed her as well. Crazy as it sounded. Then, the girl relaxed into it and kissed him back. “Wow!” she thought. “His lips are so soft and warm!” When pulled away, Mandy looked around. Quent had disappeared. Her heart sank.

“Aw!” she called out. “Where did you go?” Mandy decided not to look after him for feeling that the results would be futile. With not much else to do, the intern decided to head home. Each step filled the walk with great joy. Mandy could barely contain herself. “Wait `til I tell the boys I met a hot vampire boy!!!” she thought in bliss. But then, the intern stopped dead in her tracks. What if they didn't believe her? And what would T.J. think? Thinking about all that slowly killed Mandy's joy. So what can she do about Quent? Then, the answer came to her right to her out of the blue.

“I won't tell them!” she thought. “I'll just keep it a secret for the time being.” Then, the intern headed right home. When she got back, the boys looked up at her.

“Where've you been?” Bemmer asked her. Mandy just gave him a shrug.

“Here and there,” she replied.

“You got anything for the project?” Soot asked her. Mandy gave him a little smile.

“Right here,” she replied. Then, the intern walked over to her co-workers and shared with them her ideas.

See You in Space, Lover