InuYasha Fan Fiction / Crossover Fan Fiction / Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ *What* Insertion? ❯ A Cat at Teitan Elementary ( Chapter 6 )

[ A - All Readers ]

*WHAT* INSERTION?
by Curtis Wildcat


Chapter Six --- A Cat at Teitan Elementary

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(Cue theme)

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Time: About an hour after Chapter Five
Place: Kaden residence

Sylvia kept a close eye on dinner, all the while thinking about what her son may have been up to. It was a mystery to her why he looked so tired; all the other times she'd seen him, he still seemed to overflow with youthful energy. She recalled Phibrizzo telling her that he'd went to Nerima to talk to someone, and she frowned. She'd heard the rumors about Nerima, so simply thinking about the place worried her greatly. She supposed that her adopted son had ran into trouble somewhere, and tired himself out getting away. It's funny...he didn't seem to mind going there, and he'd also told her about a few of the places that were there before she'd agreed to turn him loose.

I wonder if he'd be willing to go back there in a few days and bring something home...it's been too long since I've had some decent pizza.

Happy with how her cooking was turning out, Sylvia leaned part-way out of the kitchen and called upstairs: "Phibrizzo, dinner's ready!"

"I'd love to, Mom, but I'm presently occupied at the moment. Um...could you help me?" Phibrizzo's voice whined. "Please?"

Frowning and wondering why he said that, Sylvia set the heater on its lowest setting before pacing up the stairs. What's he gotten himself into?

As soon as she opened the bedroom door, though, she breathed a sigh of relief...and hid her mouth with her hand to surpress an amused smile. Phibrizzo was sprawled out on his back over the bed, glaring at the source of his discomfort: a large, furry cream-and-white cat who was currently settled on his stomach. "Someone get him off me!" the boy complained.

Sylvia reached over and carefully picked up the cat, allowing Phibrizzo to prop himself up. "Come on," she cooed, petting the cat's head. "That's my kitty. What are you doing in here, huh? You know you're not allowed in here."

"Yeah, as if the cat understands," Phibrizzo grumbled, trying to get cat hair off his shirt. "I didn't know you had one."

"That's because you've never seen her," Sylvia explained calmly. "All the times she was around, you either haven't been paying attention or she's been hiding somewhere. I think she's used to you now." She smiled. "Phibrizzo, meet French Vanilla. She was a gift that a friend from Europe gave me about five years ago." She thought back for a moment. "She called her a Norwegian Forest cat...at least, I think so."

"Uh-huh," Phibrizzo said, not really impressed. "And you called her 'French Vanilla', why?"

Sylvia thought back a few years. "While I was thinking of a name for her, I decided to get some ice cream..."

"Maybe I'll just eat something," Phibrizzo answered, sounding a bit disbelieving as he got off the bed.

"Huh." Marcus still finds it amusing, at least, Sylvia thought as she put the cat down outside the bedroom.

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Time: Three days later
Place: Outside Teitan Elementary

"It took you longer than usual," Conan said, greeting a black-clad Phibrizzo as he walked out the school doors. Amy, Mitch, and George were following along behind him. "I know you're the last one out, but still..."

Phibrizzo scowled. "I slipped and fell on a wet floor. The teacher sent me over to the nurse's office just to be on the safe side. Nothing serious."

"Goes to show you should always watch out for those 'Caution: Wet Floor' signs, Phibrizzo..." Mitch reminded him.

"Yeah, yeah," Phibrizzo said, waving him off. "You sound like my mom."

"Speaking of your mother, how is she?" Conan asked.

"A lot better. She went back to work today. One thing's for sure," Phibrizzo declared, "and that's if I have anything to say about it, she's not leaving me alone with that cat!"

"I didn't know you had a cat," Amy said, smiling for a second. "What's wrong with it?"

"It's annoying, that's what." Phibrizzo absently brushed some hair out of his eyes. "The last few days when I get home, I've had to get all this cat hair off the bed. I was doing this yesterday, and I forgot that my door was still open. I stepped back to close it, and...well..." he averted his gaze, clearly unhappy.

"Well, what?" George inquired. "What happened?"

"I'd love to know who came up with the plans for that house," Phibrizzo groused. "The cat tackled my leg from behind, and...do I really have to finish this?"

"Yeah! I'd like to hear what happened, if you don't mind!" Mitch insisted.

Phibrizzo sighed dejectedly. "Whoever decided to place the bedroom door right in front of the stairs must not've been thinking straight. To put it simply: the cat tackled me, I fell backward..." He issued a half-lidded stare at the group. "...and guess where I fell."

Amy gasped. "You didn't!"

"I did."

Conan gaped. "You would've gotten seriously hurt if you did!"

"I did."

Mitch looked worried. "At the least, you'd need to stay home!"

"I wish."

George's eyes widened. "You could've just ignored the door!"

"I object."

As one, the group chorused: "You fell backwards down the stairs!?"

"I'd treat you to ice cream for assuming correctly," Phibrizzo said sarcastically, "except I'm running low on money."

Mitch didn't look too sure. "Hold on. How do we know you're not just making that up? It could just be an excuse for not liking your cat!"

Angrily, Phibrizzo spun around, brushing aside some hair on the back of his head. "Does this look like I'm just making it up, genius?" he snapped irritably, pointing to a large bandage.

"Okay, okay! So you don't like your cat!" George interrupted, quick to defend his friend. "You don't need to throw a hissy fit!"

"Bad pun," Phibrizzo murmured as he dropped his hand and turned to face them again.

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"Don't ask me how that bruise got there, Phibrizzo," Curtis muttered to himself. "The only part of your head that's human-formed are the layers of skin and hair."

"What?" Inuyasha asked from the other chamber. "No brain?"

"And no skull," Curtis said, sipping some water. "So even if he gets hit up there, he's safe. Nothing really there to damage."

Rrrgh...You've been waiting to say that. Admit it!

Inuyasha could be heard sniffing the air. He spoke up, getting their attention. "Guys! I think there's a cat somewhere around here, and this one is no little tabby."

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"Jim! Jimmy!" an annoying, female voice called out. "I'm over here!"

As the group turned to see the voice's source, Phibrizzo thought for sure he saw Conan cringe. Smirking a bit, he filed that away for future reference. That should be fun to watch someday, assuming I'm able to reuse this one ability of mine. Haven't used it in a while.

Phibrizzo recognized the figure who was standing at the entrance to the school grounds, all right. Since he wasn't in charge when the trio first met her, he didn't say anything; he decided instead to feign curiousity.

"I'm here, Aisha," someone else replied.

The person who had answered her was a few inches taller than Phibrizzo, had light brown hair, and a look in his eyes that screamed intelligence. A heavy bag hung from one shoulder, but he didn't seem to mind. He smiled happily as he walked towards the taller person. "Consistent, as always!"

"Hey, who is she?" Phibrizzo asked the others while indicating Aisha, wanting to check if they knew. Meanwhile, she raced forward to meet her friend.

"She's Aisha June," Amy told him. "She always comes here at this time to pick him up. People are always saying mean things about her because of the way she looks."

"Yeah, but she's real popular with the kids in Jim Hawking's grade," Mitch said, picking up the line of thought. "That's why she continues to drop by."

"Oh, for crying out loud."

Something wrong in there, fatso? Phibrizzo asked, hearing Curtis's annoyed remark.

"It's about Jim Hawking and Aisha. Remember those entertainment programs from back home that I showed you?"

Say no more, and show me later.

"There's something funny about her," Inuyasha growled, watching as the kids said 'hi' to Aisha and began conversing amongst themselves. "And I'm not talking about comedy. The odor of a cat's bothering my nose."

"You sure it's not French Vanilla you're smelling?" Curtis asked.

"I can tell the difference between cats even at a distance," Inuyasha insisted, jumping to his feet. "Trust me; this is no ordinary house cat I'm talking about here."

Would you be quiet for a minute? I'm trying to hear what they're saying.

"---don't know where she came from," Amy was saying.

"Maybe she's from out of the country," Mitch replied. "I heard that there are some pretty strange people from places like the States."

"Guys?" Phibrizzo piped up. "She's from Japan."

The foursome stared at him curiously. "How do you know that?" George asked.

"Someone I know met her at a sporting goods store," Phibrizzo explained. "I found out that both her parents are very much Japanese, and that no one knows why her skin's brown or her hair's gray."

"Why'd you ask us, then?" Conan asked suspiciously.

"Wasn't sure if you knew." Phibrizzo made certain that Conan caught the hint. "She's nice, though. A bit clumsy, but nice."

"Yes, I can tell. My, but she looks strange..."

Even while startled, Phibrizzo was sure he could feel his skin tingling; if he had a heart, he was sure it would be beating a lot faster. He spun around to see who had spoken...and was shocked to see the last person he expected. "Mom, don't scare me like that!"

"Did I scare you? I'm sorry; I didn't mean to."

Phibrizzo sighed, aware that Conan and the others were watching him; their interest in Aisha was momentarily forgotten. "What are you doing here? I thought you were at work!"

"That's just during the morning and early afternoon, Phibrizzo," Sylvia said, most of her attention on Aisha. "I was tired of sitting around the house, so I came to see if school let out yet."

Phibrizzo---and likely Curtis and Inuyasha as well---knew what that was code for. "You were worried about me, were you?" he asked matter-of-factly. I hope she doesn't make a habit of this. Having a worried human on my heels is the last thing I need.

Sylvia focused on her foster child. "Yes, I was. I was afraid that you were some sort of troublemaker, and I worried that you'd somehow gotten hurt as a result." She chuckled lightly behind one hand. "I remember the crash from yesterday. I was surprised to find out that Vanilla tripped you up." Frowning, she murmured: "Although I don't understand how you had nothing more than that bruise..."

"Mom, please!" Phibrizzo whined, not knowing that Aisha and Jim were watching them as well; the conversation had caught their ears and eyes. "Could you at least please close my bedroom door when I forget? That cat's crazy! It attacked my leg from out of nowhere!"

Unseen by everyone, Curtis smiled and nodded. "Cats rule."

"In your dreams, maybe---oh, wait; for you, this is a dream," Inuyasha taunted. "Would it make any difference if you were surrounded by dogs?"

"I am," Curtis said. "They're too noisy, and they bark on general principles."

"What was that!?"

"Just settle down, Inuyasha. I wasn't talking about you."

"Oh."

Meanwhile, the external conversation continued. "Phibrizzo, Vanilla just likes to play," Sylvia explained. "Don't be too hard on her; she must think you're her new playmate or something. Kyle really liked her..."

"Well, I'm not Kyle, I'm not friends with that cat, and I'm sick and tired of cleaning up loose cat hair!" Phibrizzo complained. "If only---"

"I'm sorry," Aisha's voice crooned right next to his ear, "but were you just saying something about cats? I couldn't help but overhear..."

Surprisingly, Phibrizzo didn't jump---even though a cold chill was doing a Road Runner impression on his back. "I'm not sure I like that tone of voice, Miss June," he warned nervously, turning his head.

"Hey---she's still got that hat and headband," Inuyasha noted.

"For that matter, it's the same stuff she had when we met her," Curtis said. "I wonder if that hat's hiding something."

"I happen to like cats, kid," Aisha muttered gruffly in response to Phibrizzo's nervousness. "There's something about them that attracts me to them. What I don't like is other people downgrading them. Understand?"

"You think she's part cat?" asked Inuyasha as Aisha spoke to their host.

Curtis slumped just a little. "Even if she isn't, I'm pretty sure she has the features of one."

"Miss June," Phibrizzo said a trifle warningly, "would you mind getting out of my face? There's a little thing called personal space, and I have a lot of it."

"Not until you answer my question," Aisha growled, edging a bit closer.

"Aisha, could you leave him alone? I don't think he likes that," Jim's voice interrupted.

Aisha stood up and spun around, her long braided hair smacking into Phibrizzo's face as she did so. "But Jim, he..." she protested, ignoring the half-mazoku's startled sneeze.

"He was talking about his own cat, not cats in general," her friend reminded her. "I'm pretty sure you got your point across. Could you leave him alone, please?"

"Spoilsport," Aisha said, pretending to pout a little. "You're no fun sometimes, kiddo."

Phibrizzo's friends appeared amazed. "From dangerous to friendly in seconds," Mitch said in awe. "Talk about your mood swings."

Inuyasha looked on, amused. "I thought you didn't need to breathe, Phibby."

The nose's just there for appearances. I don't actually use it.

Curtis made a note of something elsewhere in his chamber. "You have sinuses without lungs...huh. You learn something every day, I guess."

Phibrizzo mentally scoffed. Yeah, right.

"Excuse me...Miss June, was it?" Sylvia asked. "I'm Sylvia Kaden, Phibrizzo's adoptive mother. I have something I'd like to ask you, if you have a second."

Aisha turned to her. "Sure. What do you wanna know?"

"It's not much...probably a little silly, now that I think about it," Sylvia confessed. "I'm just a little curious why you'd choose to wear both a hat and a headband. It's not like anyone can really tell that the headband's there..."

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"Now this is interesting," Curtis remarked, drinking a glass of ice water. "Never seen a person's entire face turn blue like that. Must be the physics of this place."

"We were right." Curtis couldn't see Inuyasha, but he could tell that he was grinning by his tone. "Something's up with that talking cat."

"Um...well, that is to say...well, I..." Aisha kept stumbling over her words for several seconds, then finally stared at the ground, her teeth chattering.

Curtis and Inuyasha began trading commentary. "Check out her teeth. I doubt she uses chopsticks a whole lot."

"Must make it really hard to eat ramen. I do smell some beef, though."

"Well?" Conan asked Aisha. "How come? Miss Kaden's right, you know."

Aisha seemed to regain her composure. "Don't really want to say. I have my reasons."

"That doesn't answer my question," Sylvia insisted. "No beating around the bush. I want a straight answer. Okay?"

Aisha tried to remain calm. "Look, Miss Kaden, I don't have to tell you if I don't want to!"

"For something as little as one simple question?" George blurted out. "How hard could it be to do that? I'll bet you're hiding something!"

"Out of those three," Inuyasha said, "he was the last one I figured to realize it first."

"Same here. I was expecting Conan to come to that conclusion before anyone else."

"Oh, well. Can't win them all."

Guys, if she's going to keep stammering and coming up with excuses, we'll never see for ourselves if you're right. Inuyasha, give me a hand here.

"What for?"

You know fully well what for, cave canem canine. It's the same thing I always having problems with on my own. You know, that...thing?

"Ohhhh."

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Without warning, Phibrizzo's tear ducts began working overtime. "You're so mean!" he cried. "Why are you being so mean to meeee!?"

Aisha's nervousness heightened tenfold. Oh, great! What's gotten him all worked up? It couldn't have stressed him out that much...could it?

Seemed like it did; Conan had to back away from him to keep from being doused. "Wow, that's really new!"

Jim looked on, nonplussed; the other three kids who were with Phibrizzo appeared much the same.

Sylvia gazed down at her adoptive son in wonder, then turned towards Aisha angrily. "Now look what you've done. You've made my son cry! I suggest that you remove that hat and apologize to him!"

"But Miss Kaden---"

"Now!"

Quietly groaning, Aisha hesitantly raised one hand towards her head. As soon as it reached the edge of her face, she paused and began quivering. Yelled down by a protective parent...this is not how I wanted my day to go! "You asked for it," she snapped. "I'll do it, and then you're going to despise me just like everyone else!" Without further warning, she yanked the headband and hat off and flung them to the ground.

Silence reigned over the mostly-empty street. Sylvia let her jaw fall open. Conan gasped. Mitch, Amy, and George did both. I knew it, Aisha thought worriedly. Another example of ostracism demonstrated by Aisha June. Wonderful. As that line entered into her head, her eyes turned to Phibrizzo Kaden.

Despite the old tears that now hung on the edges of his eyes, he was smiling. This wasn't the smile that was preceded by teasing and laughter; this was a genuine expression.

A split second later, the entire group---minus Sylvia, whose expression now bordered on curiousity---began clamoring. "Wow, how cool is that?" "I've never seen those before." "Man, I wish I had a camera with me!"

Everyone now knew what Aisha had been hiding: a set of large, triangular cat ears. She didn't care, though; someone finally had a response other than "Freak!" or "Get out of here!" As she rubbed her ears---as usual, they ached a little from being stuck behind the headband---she decided she couldn't be happier. They actually don't care how I look!

"Aisha? Are you okay?"

Taking a moment to gather her nerves, she turned to Jim and nodded. "Aisha is A-OK!" she declared, grinning happily.

"Young lady, are those your real ears?" Sylvia asked curiously, one eyebrow arched in disbelief.

"Why would I put up a big fuss over fake ears?" Aisha's ears twitched a few times. "These are the genuine article---and very sharp, if I do say so myself! In fact---" Her ears twitched again. "Hey, did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Conan---the small kid with the glasses---asked.

"I heard something in the school," Aisha growled, turning towards the school. "I think it sounded like a scream or something." She immediately flipped over the kids and hurried into the school at a fast jog. "You kids stay back! Trust me on this!"

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Everyone turned to watch as Aisha ran into the school. "She heard something?" George said. "I didn't hear anything."

"Neither did I," Amy admitted. "What about you, Conan? Phibrizzo?"

Conan shook his head. "Don't look at me. I didn't hear anything, either." He turned to face Phibrizzo, intending to ask what that was about. One small problem...

"Phibrizzo, come back here!" Sylvia yelled authoritatively, quite obviously upset.

"Huh?" everyone else asked in unison. They followed the woman's angry gaze towards the front doors...just in time to see Phibrizzo's dark form follow Aisha into the building. "Phibrizzo, wait!"

Conan frowned, glaring at the doors as they closed. You'd think that he'd have the common sense to just stay back and listen to them. But then again...I have that bow-tie speaker that Dr. Agasa gave me. If someone's being threatened, maybe I could try to scare away whomever's doing this. He smiled. Besides, I suspect that Phibrizzo's inadvertantly showed me something important.

Conan turned towards Sylvia Kaden. "Excuse me?" he asked. "Aren't we supposed to call the police at this point? Somehow, I don't think it's a science experiment gone wrong."

Phibrizzo's adoptive mother looked down at him, a bit surprised that he'd brought it up. "Well...okay," she said hesitantly. "I don't think it'll be a problem. Can I leave it up to you and your friends to do that when we get in? Tell the principal about it, and have him call."

"Sure!" Conan's friends announced.

Sylvia smiled for a second, then began running towards the doors as fast as she could. "Wait!" George yelled after her. "What are you going to do?"

"What I'm going to do," Sylvia shouted back, "is find my son!"

Everyone waited until she was out of earshot before conversing again. "I know what you're thinking," Conan remarked smugly, glancing out the corner of his eye. "You guys want to know what's going on, don't you?"

"You bet we do!" Mitch said eagerly. Behind him, George and Amy seemed just as excited.

Conan nodded slowly. "Great. George, would you mind telling the principal what's going on?"

"What about you?" George asked. "What are you guys going to do?"

"Simple. We're going through the back door. Follow me, but when we get in, try to keep quiet about it!"

"Yeah!"

With that, the group of friends charged forward.

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Taking advantage of the speed that her unique cellular makeup afforded her, Aisha tore through the hallways of Teitan Elementary. She didn't know who screamed, but she did know where it came from: a classroom on the second floor. She had her suspicions, though...

Ever since she became old enough to understand, deep down she feared for her parents' safety; by extension, she feared for whoever came in contact with her or her family. By the unwritten rule of "guilt by association", even a total stranger who treated Aisha or her parents respectably could be in danger. After all, those who didn't like her weren't as nice.

That paranoia had recently grown to include the children and the protective mother that she'd met merely minutes ago. Therefore, if the worst came to pass, she'd take advantage of the abilities that she somehow possessed. It was likely her fault that this had happened, anyway.

After leaping up a stairwell four steps at a time, she yanked open the 2nd floor doors and resumed her mad dash. Making a sudden 90-degree turn, she aimed for the only open door on the floor...the place where her instincts told her the scream had came from.

Once again, her instincts had proven her correct. A tall, thin woman was backed against one of the desks, glaring nervously at someone. Poking her face around the corner, Aisha found out that her attacker's face was covered with a bright yellow mask, and the person was armed with a wooden baseball bat. I figured this would happen, she thought. Someone's after her!

Without any hesitation, Aisha leapt from her hiding spot and launched herself head-on into the unknown assailant. Caught completely off-guard, the person didn't have any time to react as he slammed into the wall.

Recovering, Aisha stood up and kept her gaze locked on the would-be assailant. The figure's head tilted up, but she couldn't tell whether the person was upset or unconscious. Keeping her eyes focused, she moved backwards until the woman she rescued was within her field of vision. "You alright?"

The woman nodded, smiling wryly. "I'm glad you hadn't left yet," she said. "Although I am wondering why you don't have your hat or headband..."

"Got chewed out by an overprotective mother." Aisha smiled, embarassed. "But she didn't care about my looks. She didn't care! Someone actually likes me! Ha!"

The woman's smile seemed more pleased. "And here I'd thought that young Hawking was the exception to the rule. I guess I was wrong. Come on; we should call the police."

As the two of them slowly walked towards the door while still talking, neither of them noticed the yellow-masked person silently pick himself off the floor and creep after them. If the associate downstairs was all set, they'd be able to carry out their two-objective plan...

"I'm all set," the person heard. "Be ready."

Excellent.

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"What do you mean, you didn't see where she went?" Inuyasha snapped, glaring out the viewport.

I lost track of her after she turned that corner! Phibrizzo complained, keeping his eyes and ears open as he continuously scanned the first-floor hallway. I didn't know she could run that fast!

"If she has the proportionate speed and strength of a cat, then of course she's going to run that fast," Curtis said, not any more pleased than Inuyasha was. He stifled a sneeze. "What was it you were saying? Something about 'wanting to see what that cat-woman could do'?"

Don't use that tone of voice with me, lard boy! I can just--- Phibrizzo suddenly put on the brakes, then ducked into a restroom and stuck his head out the door. Well, hello. What have we here?

Down the hall, a woman about Aisha's height was throwing on a gray sweatshirt similar to the one Aisha had. She didn't appear to have noticed the half-mazoku; instead, she was facing away from him.

"Who is that?" Curtis asked. "Can you tell?"

No, not really. I don't think it's anyone I know, although I can't be sure until I get a closer look. Out of the teachers I have, three of them are female. Out of those three, two of them have builds similar to Miss June's, and they both have brown hair. The third one's about as fat as you, which is really saying something.

"I'm just surprised that everyone's left already," Inuyasha noted as Curtis pretended to look hurt. "You don't think that you were in that lady's office for very long, do you?"

About ten minutes, plus several minutes dealing with Miss June, Phibrizzo said. Apparently I underestimated how quickly little kids run out of the school. Okay, looks like that lady's putting on some sort of gloves. He shook his head. Inuyasha, are your eyes good enough to see this?

"Yeah, but barely," Inuyasha muttered. He edged close to the front of the chamber. "Some sort of gloves with curved nails stuck in them."

Everyone looked on as the nearby woman opened a cardboard box. She slowly withdrew a long, gray braided wig and placed it over her head, chuckling to herself all the while. Reaching into her purse and taking out a small mirror, she examined her reflection. From what the trio could tell, most of her neck and face had been painted a dark brown; her eyes were blue, as well.

Phibrizzo's eyes narrowed. "Are you guys thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I'm thinking your ears must be pretty sharp," Conan's voice whispered in amazement. "I didn't think you heard us sneak in."

The half-mazoku froze momentarily. Crud...having them around's going to make this harder. "Guys, what are you doing here?" Phibrizzo hissed, turning just a little. As he did so, he noticed that Conan, Jim, Mitch and Amy were crouched next to him. "And stay out of sight!"

Everyone ducked in. In the split second that Phibrizzo did this, he noticed the woman's head turn sharply. After several seconds had passed, Conan looked back out. "She's gone," he said. "What's going on?"

Phibrizzo frowned. "I could ask you the same thing. I ran after Miss June, but I lost her almost immediately. Shortly after that, I see this woman here trying to make herself look like her. I don't like it."

"Neither do I," Jim mused. "Glad I followed everyone back in here, after all. You think it's flattery, or is she just plain crazy?"

"Hmm...doesn't sound like flattery..." Mitch muttered thoughtfully. "What's going on?"

"Must be the question of the day."

No sooner than he uttered that sarcastic comment, Phibrizzo's ears---and Inuyasha's---were assaulted by an overly annoying ringing noise. He covered his ears as the others did the same, wincing at the volume. "Confound it!" he shouted. "What's that stupid noise!?"

"You mean you don't know what a fire alarm is?" Amy asked, a tad curious in spite of the ringing.

"Fire alarm? What?"

Conan shook his head. "Forget about it right now! We need to find those people and get the situation straightened out!"

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Upstairs, the fire alarm had caused a more dire matter. As sharp as Aisha's ears were, the ringing of the fire alarm was unbearable. Her concentration was completely thrown off, and she'd resorted to covering her ears and growling in resentment.

Finally, the fire alarm shut off. Relieved, Aisha lowered her hands and shook her head. "About time," she said, annoyed. "Wonder why it---huh? What!? Hey, where'd you go!?"

The woman whom she'd rescued was gone!

At the other end of the hall, the mysterious yellow-masked figure stared at the frantic woman for a second before pulling out a cell phone.

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Time: Fifteen minutes

Conan folded his arms, trying not to listen to Phibrizzo's angry grumbling. Fifteen minutes of searching, and they'd neither found Aisha nor the lookalike. The only person they did find was the source of his friend's mood; Sylvia had caught up with them and proceeded to lecture Phibrizzo on obedience.

"But Miss Kaden, he's right!" Amy insisted. "There's this woman here who was trying to look like Miss June!"

"Be that as it may, young lady, you shouldn't have run back in without being told to," Sylvia told her sternly. "Next time---"

"Wait a second," Phibrizzo interrupted. "There's some kind of noise outside..."

"And those would be sirens," Mitch said. He probably didn't believe that Phibrizzo didn't know about police sirens and the like. Of course, Conan was having a hard time believing it himself. "The police have finally showed up."

"Good. Maybe they'll find out why that person was screaming," Sylvia suggested. "It would be nice to have this over with."

The sirens cut themselves off, and a stocky man in a trench coat and hat---Inspector Maguire---ran into the school, followed by several officers. "We got the message," he said. "Someone called and told us that someone screamed, like he or she was attacked."

"Yes," Sylvia said, stepping forward. "A friend of ours went back upstairs to check it out, but it's been almost twenty minutes and she hasn't come back yet. I don't think it's a false alarm."

"Alright then." Maguire turned to two of the officers that had escorted him into the school. "You two go upstairs and search for anyone suspicious. The person we're looking for has brown skin, pointed ears, plus long braided gray hair with a ring at the end. Should be easy to find."

"I hope so," Jim stated worriedly. "I'm getting a bit worried about her."

Maguire glanced at him briefly, then turned to the other two officers. "You two are with me. Let's take a look around down here in the meantime."

"Um, Inspector?" Conan asked meekly. "I'm just curious, but how'd you know what Miss June looked like?"

"The kid who called us got his information from the school principal, Mrs. Valen," Maguire answered gruffly. "She claimed to have met her a few times ever since she took the job. Anyway, I think you and the others should stay back and let us do our work. Okay?"

"Okay. Sure!"

As the officers and inspector split up to search the school, Conan turned to the others. "You know, we should probably wait outside."

"Yes, Conan. That would be most prudent at this point," Phibrizzo's adoptive mother agreed. "Let's go."

The group started to follow Sylvia out the door, each one harboring their own thoughts and opinions of the situation. Without giving any indication that he was doing so, though, Conan slowly backed up a few paces; as soon as everyone else went through the door, he darted down the hall.

His thoughts began racing as he did so. Amazing. He somehow managed to slip away from everyone without the others noticing! I guess he's concerned for Aisha and the person she was searching for. Let's see if he can figure out the whys and hows of this problem.

------

"If I didn't know better," Curtis remarked as Phibrizzo strolled down the hall at the opposite end of the school, "I'd say you like riding the ragged edge of disaster. You cut that teleportation pretty close."

It was either letting Conan see it or let everyone else see it, Phibrizzo said, checking each room for stray details. No one else can ever handle what I can do---at least, no one outside of Nerima. His eyes lit upon a framed picture on the hallway wall. Well, this is real nice, he thought as he moved in for a closer look.

Inuyasha examined the picture intently. The color photo was full of various men and women in business clothes, all of them smiling for the camera. "'1995-1996 Teitan Elementary School Faculty'," he read aloud. "They take these things seriously, don't they?"

"A lot of schools do," Curtis said. "Hey, Phibrizzo. Look over that picture. Does anyone in the photo look anything at all like that imposter we saw earlier?"

Phibrizzo took a few seconds to drink in the details, standing on his toes to see the picture better. Hmm...both Miss June and the imposter have blue eyes, the same build and the same facial features (except for the skin color). Out of all of the faculty members shown here, only the two I mentioned earlier have the same build. Out of those two, only one of them has the same color eyes and face...

"Maria Cliffowski," the trio said in unison.

Maria Cliffowski was the third teacher for Phibrizzo and Conan's class. Her areas of expertise were the social sciences, basic art, and Japanese writing. She'd been teaching there for about four years, and had announced recently that she'd be switching to another school once the school year ended. As to why, no one really knew.

"What are you looking at, Phibrizzo?"

An annoyed Phibrizzo growled to himself as he turned to face George...and the woman next to him. "Why is it that everyone around here has to startle me when I'm focused on something?" he grumbled.

"You looked interested in the photo, so we didn't want to bother you at first," the woman said, smiling. "But there's a criminal somewhere in the building. It's not safe to be here anymore."

"That's nice," Phibrizzo replied, not amused at either the woman's implied suggestion or her choice of attire. She had a bright yellow business suit, had turquoise eyes and blonde hair, was wearing earrings made to resemble lemon slices, and was even carrying a bright umbrella. Needlessly yellow, in his own opinion. "Who are you?"

"My, aren't we a bit grouchy today," the woman huffed. "I'm Mrs. Valen, the school principal. And you are...?"

"Phibrizzo Kaden. And you've already met George."

Mrs. Valen laughed a bit; inside Phibrizzo's mind, Curtis cringed at the noise. "Real nice kid. Knows how to be respectable, too; he let me fill in the details regarding that girl that's been missing."

"So you know about her too." Phibrizzo turned back to stare at the staff photograph. "Talk about a small world."

"Well, like I said, it's not safe to be here anymore. You should join your friends outside, you two."

"She's right, Phibrizzo," George told him. "What'll happen if the criminal finds us?"

Then he's going to regret crossing paths with me. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. I'll leave when I choose to leave." He smirked. "The bad guy won't get me. I can promise that without a doubt in my mind."

"Confident little bugger," Mrs. Valen told herself aloud. "Well, it's your choice, but I still think you should get going. For your own safety." She turned and started to walk away, George trailing behind her. "Take care, now."

"I'll catch up with you later, George," Phibrizzo said, waving half-heartedly. "Unless they ask about me, don't tell the others I'm still in here. I hate causing undue worry."

George turned his head enough to see him. "Um, alright. You sure you know what you're doing?"

"Heh. Of course."

As the others disappeared around the corner, Phibrizzo turned and walked in the opposite direction. Checking to see if anyone was watching, he removed his bracelet and wristband. Inuyasha, do you remember what Mrs. Cliffowski smells like?

"A bit like paint and ink...there's usually a twinge of that perfume stuff, too."

Mind checking to see if you can track her down? I can't afford to show off my abilities to everyone, but that hasn't stopped you yet.

"Sure thing. Whenever you're ready."

Phibrizzo stuffed the two items into subspace, focused his energy, and teleported into the restroom they were hiding in earlier. In doing so they bypassed Inspector Maguire and his two officers, who were still searching for Aisha on the first floor.

-----------

They didn't know this at the time, but they'd also managed to avoid Conan; the kid detective was occupied at the time of the teleportation, talking to Mrs. Valen and George. After the principal suggested that Conan find Phibrizzo and get him out, the duo left him him to his own devices.

They let me off easy...come to think of it, that's the weirdest principal I've ever known. It's not just her fondness for yellow that gets me; but she seems overly confident about life. Maybe...just a bit too confident.

Conan walked around the corner and continued on, not knowing that Phibrizzo had been here earlier. Down at the end of the hall was another classroom, this one used by some of the fifth-grade students. That Jim Hawking person probably used that classroom earlier.

As he got closer, though, he noticed that the door was slightly ajar. Now that's sloppy. Whoever left this class forgot to shut and lock the door! Wonder what kind of idiot the last teacher here was to do that! Hmm...

Letting curiousity overcome him, he peaked into the classroom...and gasped.

Desks were scattered all over the place, and a few were broken. Chairs were upended. Several windows were shattered, with most of the glass probably on the outside. A multitude of colors---probably paint from where the supplies were kept---decorated most of the interior. The desk where the teacher typically sat was overturned, and all the drawers were emptied out. There were scratch marks on everything in the room, which didn't number to anything besides the new floor layout. Lastly, a message was written across the board: "Your nightmare has arrived! Dawn of the tiger!"

Conan overcame his shock at the initial sight, entering to take a closer look at the scene. The desks that were broken didn't look like they were in that state due to brute force. It's more like they were sawed off; a few of the edges are jagged.

A closer look at the windows revealed that most of the glass was indeed on the outside of the building; this meant that they were broken from the inside. The abundant marks on everything didn't look like they were made with any sort of claws. Using claws would leave long and wide scratches, judging by Aisha's fingernails; these marks just looked too narrow. Regular nails or thumbtacks seemed more likely.

After sipping some water from a nearby fountain, he ran off to find Inspector Maguire. This isn't good at all! It doesn't seem that likely for the real Aisha to do it; that imposter had to have been behind this! After I tell Maguire about this, I need to find that lookalike!

------------

While the inspector and the two officers were investigating the rooms at the opposite side of the entrance, Maguire's radio buzzed. The portly man reached into a coat pocket, pulled it out, and switched it on. "Maguire here."

"We've found Aisha June, sir," one of his officers told him over the radio. "She's upstairs, ranting about a yellow-masked crook that kidnapped someone she knew. For someone reason, she wouldn't let anyone else get near her."

"Kidnapped!?" Guess coming here wasn't a waste of time after all!

"Yes, Inspector. Apparently the one who was kidnapped was the source of the scream that was heard."

Before Maguire could comment on this, Conan's shout cut him off. "Inspector Maguire! Come quick! Someone just rampaged through one of the classrooms down the hall!"

"What!? Show me!"

A minute later, Maguire found himself agreeing with Conan's description of the room: someone had indeed "rampaged" through here. Judging from the description of Aisha June, he guessed that perhaps she had done this. The principal did say that her strength was unreal, after all...

"Um, Inspector?" Conan piped up, getting Maguire's attention.

"What is it?"

"Earlier, my friends and I saw this woman putting on these nail-tipped gloves and putting this large gray wig on her head. I don't know why, but I think maybe she could've done this."

Maguire wasn't too sure what to think; here a kid was actually trying to suggest something to him that didn't fall into place with what he had learned about the situation. On the other hand, he'd seen the kid---Conan---with Richard Moore a few times. It was too early to tell how things would work out, but it seemed that he had a good head on his shoulders. He hoped so, anyway; Richard was a real case himself, and dealing with him everyday would probably make things hard.

Finally, Maguire made his decision. After telling the officers over the radio to get the entire group of people indoors, he switched off the radio. "Alright, then. What do you think happened?"

------------

Before the trio had gone to school that day, Curtis had suggested that they stick Phibrizzo's main set of clothes in subspace in case they needed it. At first, the half-mazoku had scoffed at the idea; but he'd had at last agreed to keep it on hand. That decision was starting to pay off.

Immediately after teleporting over to the restroom, Phibrizzo had hurriedly made the change from modern schoolboy to medieval mini-monster. After storing his school clothes and backpack in subspace, he let Inuyasha initiate a Switch. Seconds later, the hanyou's nose caught the scent of paint, ink, and perfume. This set him off down the hall and up the stairs at full tilt, and he blew right past the other police officers without them knowing that he'd done so.

----------

Aisha kept her eyes focused on the two people who stood in front of the library door, growling deep in her throat. Of all the nerve, kidnapping someone on her watch! In addition, they both had managed to sneak around the school without anyone realizing what they were up to!

Her options were limited, though; both people were keeping the other woman locked in the library. The one with the yellow mask and the baseball bat was standing guard on the outside, and the other person---the one who tried to look like her---was on the inside. If she tried taking them on at once, she'd have to risk the health of their hostage; the lookalike was armed with a knife, and the door was jammed from the inside anyway. She couldn't run downstairs for help; that was the same as giving up as far as she was concerned, and it would only cause trouble for others. Besides, enough people knew who she was.

It bothered her, though: how did these two know who she was and how to find them both? Maybe someone held a grudge and decided to act on it. Either way, just sitting on the floor and glaring at everything was getting old fast.

"Pssst."

Aisha's ears twitched.

"Psst! Hey! Back here!"

Grumbling to herself, Aisha got up and turned the corner. As she did so, she heard the yellow-masked person shout: "Hey, freak! You better not be going back down there! Giving yourself up's the only way to save that woman!"

"Put a cork in it," Aisha snarled over her shoulder. "I ain't leaving!"

With that little spat over with for now, Aisha walked about six paces forward...and facing the oddest person she'd ever seen outside herself. "Whoa," she whispered. "You're really out of date."

The boy brushed some of his white hair out of his eyes. "Feh. You want a chance at those people, or don't you?" he asked quietly, annoyed.

Aisha smirked. "Do I! You got any ideas?"

"I have one," the boy said, his eyes gleaming. "Distract that jerk in the mask. I'll circle around the floor and hammer him while he's busy."

"What about the person inside?" Aisha asked worriedly, making sure her voice was kept down. "She'll hear the commotion."

Acting unconcerned, the boy flexed the fingers on his right hand. "That's the idea. Watch me. Got it, cat?"

It's probably me, but there's something about him that reminds me of the neighbor's dog. "Okay, I can do that..."

"Great. Get going so I can."

Aisha slowly nodded and turned away, walking around the corner and into view of Mr. Yellow Mask. As she did this, she heard the boy's footsteps fading fast. Smiling as wide as she could, she leaned against the wall and stared straight into the mask's eyes.

This got the response she was hoping for. "Hey, what are you looking at?" the man asked angrily.

"Your face," Aisha taunted. "It's so ugly! No wonder you needed a mask to hide it!"

"Watch your mouth," the man shot back, stepping forward and brandishing the baseball bat he had earlier. "I can tell my friend in there to attack that woman at any time."

"Why don't you watch yours while you still can?" Aisha retorted. "This is the last chance you're gonna get!"

"What do you mean, last cha---"

The man didn't get a chance to say anything else. Quick as a bullet, the boy that Aisha had just met barrelled into him with a shoulder ram. The man lost his grip on the bat, flying straight into the wall. It wasn't hard enough to cause any cracks, but he would still be unconscious for a bit.

For a second, a stunned Aisha could do nothing more than blink. Man, if I could go as fast as that...

The boy recovered his balance, staring at the doorway. "Stand back," he warned. Not sure what he was going to do, Aisha nodded and hoped for the best. What else could he do?

Flexing his fingers, the boy stepped back a few paces before making his charge. "Iron Reaver!" he shouted, swiping downwards at the library door and breaking it---as well as the two brooms that kept the door jammed---into a dozen seperate pieces. Hurriedly, he turned and snapped: "Alright, cat. It's your turn!"

Delighted at the turn of events, Aisha smiled eerily. Rushing forward, she brushed past the boy and tackled the lookalike before she could react. Taking advantage of her strength, she pried loose the knife and tossed it out the door. After confirming that the boy destroyed that as well, she pinned the lookalike's arms and legs to the floor.

The co-kidnapper glared at Aisha, struggling uselessly against her strength. "I should've known that you'd try to rescue that woman regardless of what happened, freak."

"You're one to talk," the boy growled from the destroyed doorway. There was a sound like metal scraping against metal, followed by a deep hissing. "You go and kidnap someone for whatever reason, and you're calling her a freak? That's awfully twisted of you...Miss Cliffowski."

The woman's eyes widened. Aisha's own eyes did the same as her mouth fell open in shock...not just over the size of the kid's sword, but that he knew what her identity was. "How'd you know?" they both asked.

"Oh, please," the boy said, smirking. Despite the sword's size, it didn't even waver as he stepped farther into the room. "I saw the picture of the school staff, and you're the only one in there that looks a lot like this giant cat. Everyone else is either too skinny, too fat, has different eyes, yada yada yada; and thanks in part to a smartmouth brat, I now know who you are. This attempt may have fooled some people, but it didn't fool me." He frowned. "What I want to know is why you held that other person hostage just to get her. Tell me what's going on."

"Even if I tell you," Maria Cliffowski spat as she tried to break free from Aisha's grip, "there's no way the police'll believe a bizarre kid like you."

"This kid just ripped apart a door with his bare hands and---" Aisha started to protest, but interrupted herself. White hair, medieval clothes, large sword...I thought that was just something that someone at the TV station made up!

"The words of myself, the cat and the captive, and the evidence you're wearing is more than enough to convict you," the boy warned. He waited until Maria settled back before narrowing his eyes. "Now, start talking."

-----

Time: Six minutes later
Location: Outside the school

"...so basically," Conan said to Inspector Maguire, "someone dressed up as Miss June to try to frame her for vandalizing a classroom and kidnapping one of the teachers. That fire alarm that went off was so noisy that ears like those of Aisha's wouldn't be able to handle it, so they used it to distract her while the actual kidnapping took place."

He, Sylvia Kaden, George, Mitch, Amy, Jim Hawking, the principal Mrs. Valen, Inspector Maguire, and his officers were standing just outside the front doors. For the last few minutes, Conan had explained what he saw in the wrecked room, listened to what Inspector Maguire told him, and started connecting facts together.

He was able to determine why the fire alarm was set off and figure out who had actually vandalized the room. Instead of looking at the faculty picture, he instead drew upon his memories of the teachers he'd had or seen since he first arrived not long ago; it hadn't taken long to deduce the one behind the scheme.

Conan's analysis was interrupted by Mrs. Valen. The junior detective noticed that her frown seemed foreign to her. "You know, sweetie...as much as I'm impressed by your intelligence, there are still several questions that haven't been answered yet. Who was that other guy in the mask, for instance?"

"Yeah, and why was there even a kidnapping to begin with?" Jim asked. "Couldn't have been a coincidence."

"The only way we'll be able to know for sure is to rescue the hostage and arrest those two people," Maguire said. "Okay, men---"

"Hey, people! You looking for these guys?" a brash voice cut in.

As everyone looked around for the source of the voice, two bound individuals were lowered to the ground via a rope. They were followed shortly by a large paper sack, which collapsed on the ground and spilled its contents.

Since Conan's three friends were the closest to the sack when it fell, they were the first to investigate what fell out. Mitch pulled out several items. "Hey, there's a paintbrush and a tube of brown paint in here!"

George pulled out a long, gray wig and a few ear plugs. "Yeah, and this wig! It's huge!"

Amy retrieved the remaining items, a pair of nail-tipped gloves and a gray sweatshirt. "And these gloves...they have these nails sticking out the fingers."

Jim and Conan stepped closer to see, as did the others. It was the former who retrieved the last few items from the sack: several photographs. The first was a photo of a gleeful Aisha. The second was a picture of the assumed culprit, Maria Cliffowski; the wig and the gloves had been removed. The third was Aisha crouching near the captured teacher; she was pointing at herself and Maria with a quizzical expression, as if to say: "Do you really think that's me?"

"Glad that Aisha's friend had one of those camera things with her," the same voice mused aloud. "It would've been a bit harder to prove Aisha's innocence without it."

Sylvia finally noticed who was talking. "Everyone," she said, facing upwards with no small amount of trepidation, "you may want to see this..."

(BGM --- Dr. Wily's Fortress #1, from "Megaman 7")

Everyone followed her gaze, looking up towards several second story windows. At one open window stood Aisha alongside an ebony-haired older woman; from Conan's viewpoint, neither of them seemed any the worse for wear. Both of them were smiling happily.

Conan's attention, though, became drawn to the figure at the next window. His mind drifted back to the newscast he saw that night, and he reminded himself that words didn't do the person justice. There's no doubt who that is. A kid with white hair, ancient clothes and a sword...

"Hey, kid! What are you doing up there?" Maguire shouted at him.

"What's it look like?" the kid shouted back, smiling confidently. "I'm delivering you some criminals in person!"

"No way," Jim gasped, shocked. "It's that guy from the news! That's Inuyasha!"

"Wait a second! I thought he only showed up at night!" George exclaimed in wonder.

Mrs. Valen agreed. "He must be pulling some mean hours. Does he even go to school, or does someone home-school him?"

To the shock of everyone there, Inuyasha unsheathed his sword (Great. Now he's starting to defy the laws of physics too, Conan thought in disbelief) and pointed the massive blade at the two captured criminals. "The brat down there's right, people. The woman with the wig and fake claws was responsible for this whole thing. I think the school principal there recognizes the jerk without the mask."

Mrs. Valen turned from Inuyasha to see the first of the captives. He had a somewhat-rounded face, although his nose and eyes were narrow. The principal's grin returned with reinforcements. "Ha-ha-ha! Who'd have thought the school librarian had it in him? Serves him right!"

Conan's eye twitched. How'd a lady like her get to be principal, anyway?

"That Cliffowski lady and the librarian have something in common: they seriously dislike the cat and her family," Inuyasha explained, lowering the sword but not sheathing it. "While Cliffowski was rummaging around in the library recently, this other guy overheard her talking about them. They decided to come up with a plan to do away with the cat's mother and turn Aisha loose on society at the same time."

"So that woman next to Miss June is her mother?" Maguire asked.

"You got it," Inuyasha said, smirking a bit. "Mrs. Robin June. She teaches at the schools sometimes to earn some extra money."

The woman waved. "Pleasure to meet you," she said good-naturedly, an odd American Western accent in her voice. "Sorry to be the cause of so much trouble."

"Aisha! Mrs. June!" Jim shouted. "Are you both okay?"

"What do you think?" Aisha said. "Of course we're okay, kiddo!"

Jim seemed satisfied with this, although Conan was sure he heard him mumble: "I just wish she wouldn't call me a kid..." He shrugged, waiting for the rest of Inuyasha's explanation.

He didn't have to wait long. "This is how the plan was supposed to work. Mrs. June had come in today to teach a few classes in place of someone else, who was probably sick or something. While she was on her lunch break, Maria Cliffowski snuck off to her car and brought in the components for their disguises. She'd made the yellow mask for the librarian yesterday, and had brought the paint, wig, gloves, and sweater from home.

"After most of the kids---with the exception of you guys---had gone, Cliffowski put on the disguise and sent a signal to the librarian saying she was all set. Following that, she applied some ear plugs and set off the fire alarm on her way to Hawking's classroom; she switched it back off when she was told of the successful kidnapping.

"Over the course of about ten minutes, she did all the damage to the room and emptied the desk drawers to boot. She broke the windows and escaped to put the stuff in her car, then jumped back in and went upstairs to help guard Mrs. June."

"What about the kidnapping?" Sylvia asked. "Why did that take place?"

Inuyasha stopped smiling. "They wanted Aisha to lie, saying that she had done all that damage and stolen those things from the classroom. They knew how much Mrs. June cared about her, so they figured that if Aisha was arrested and put in jail for whatever reason, it would make her sad to no end. The kidnapping was done as incentive. Amazing...they went through this just because they thought of them as freaks." He shook his head.

Everyone on the ground glared angrily at the two kidnappers, who had been fully conscious the whole time. "If you have anything to say, don't say it at all," Maguire declared. "Cuff 'em!"

Before Maguire's officers could make a move, though, Cliffowski and the librarian burst free. They brandished the knives that they'd used to cut the ropes, glaring threateningly at Conan and the other kids. "Stay back, all of you!" Cliffowski snapped. "You people aren't safe yet, not with her around!"

Out the corner of his eye, Conan saw Inuyasha jumping out the window and landing safely on the ground. Whatever he does, I hope he does quickly!

"Ha, ha, ha, ha!"

Conan's head jerked towards Mrs. Valen; the woman was laughing again. She opened up her umbrella and sheltered her head with it. "You people sure are funny. What was that supposed to be, a warning?"

"Mrs. Valen---!" everyone except Robin June shouted, each having varying degrees of worry. The substitute teacher, though, just looked on with a knowing smile.

"Oh, calm down," Valen reassured them. "If these losers think they can get away with being discriminatory and attacking one of us, they've got another think coming." She closed her umbrella and lowered it. "In fact, I've got their think right here!"

Several heads sprouted sweatdrops. The two would-be kidnappers glared at her. "Why, you---!" the librarian shouted. “That’s it!” Without further warning, he broke into a dash aimed straight at Valen.

He never got there. The principal quickly ducked down low and swung the umbrella at his ankles, knocking him off his feet. Before Cliffowski could attempt an attack in response, Inuyasha exploded from where he was standing and purposely collided into her, sending her tumbling straight into the fallen librarian. In less than seven seconds, both would-be criminals were piled on the walkway, dazed.

Conan stared in wonder at Inuyasha, who stood up and stretched a bit. That speed's unreal! How did he manage to get that fast?

The rest of the crowd looked on, amazed. "Well," Mitch uttered in a stunned deadpan, "at least now we know how he catches the bad guys."

"Yeah," Amy added, sounding just as surprised, "but I don't think he's anything like the Masked Yaiba."

Maguire recovered from his surprise quickly. "That'll make things easier," he told his officers as they did the same. "Come on. Let's take those two downtown."

There was a thumping noise from a few meters away. As Conan and Jim looked over, Aisha stood up from her landing and allowed her mother to climb off. "Well, that always helps," Aisha remarked, "but I think you can close your mouths now."

For a moment, the grounds were silent as Maguire and his officers 'cuffed Cliffowski and the librarian and stowed them away in their cars. Finally, Conan and the other kids began clamoring. "That was terrific!" "Man, talk about reflexes!" "Inuyasha, or Mrs. Valen?" "Both of 'em!"

---------

Sylvia let her eyes settle on Inuyasha as the others were chattering. "Excuse me, Inuyasha?" she asked. "Have you seen my son anywhere? About your height, has black hair and a multi-piece bracelet?"

Inuyasha nodded. "Yeah. The kid's got quite a mouth, but if it weren't for him I wouldn't have known what I was getting into. Thanks to him, I discovered what I had to know if I wanted to capture those losers." He looked thoughtful for a bit, although Sylvia was suspicious that he was just pretending. "He should be somewhere on the school grounds."

Never hurts to make sure. "Okay. Thank you for everything you've done," Sylvia said, smiling.

"Eh, no big deal," Inuyasha said, looking a twinge embarassed. "I'm just doing what I like doing. I have stuff to do and places to see, though, so I'm gonna have to get going."

The kids stopped conversing amongst themselves. "Aw, man. Do you have to?" George asked, sounding eager to learn more about him.

"Yeah. Afraid so. Got things to do, like I said. You guys were a bit of a help, so I guess I owe you guys one too."

Robin smiled at him. "And thank you for helping Aisha and I. We won't forget this."

"It's not like you were in any trouble though, mom," Aisha said. "You were just restricted to the library, that's all."

"In any case, I learned more about life in Europe during the Dark Ages," Robin could be heard saying. "The next time I teach world history somewhere, that should come in handy."

Aisha sweatdropped. "Yeah, in more ways than one," she mumbled.

-----------

Time: Ten minutes later
Place: Mrs. Valen's office, Teitan Elementary

After things calmed down, everyone had slowly dispersed. Maguire and his officers took Cliffowski and the librarian to the police station. The Junes and Conan went with them so that the inspector could file a report. George, Mitch, and Amy had gone home, and Jim had departed for the auto repair shop he worked at. That left only Sylvia and Inuyasha, who were asked by Mrs. Valen to follow them to her office.

"Thank you for staying for a few moments," the principal was saying. "There was something I wanted to ask the two of you."

"Sure," Inuyasha said. "I guess I have a few moments to spare."

Mrs. Valen nodded, smiling ("Again with the smile!" Inuyasha heard Phibrizzo mutter). "Mrs. Kaden, I overheard you muttering about your adopted son a few minutes ago. I just thought I'd suggest that you not be so hard on young Phibrizzo."

Sylvia tapped her fingers together. "I'm just worried about him, Mrs. Valen. I know I see him with good friends, but his behavior still concerns me."

"Mrs. Kaden, I know I only saw him for a minute, but what I saw was a tough-as-nails kid with a chance to do a lot of good...not just in school, but in life too." The principal clasped her hands under her chin. "I'm just saying to care about him all you want. Just be careful not to smother him, or you'll be smothering his own strengths."

"Sage advice," Phibrizzo intoned at the back of Inuyasha's burrowed mind.

Sylvia thought about this for a few seconds. "I'll...try to remember that."

Mrs. Valen then turned to Inuyasha. "If I heard you right, you said you had places to go," she said. "Does this mean that you're a traveler?"

Inuyasha had to think of a quick answer. "Sort of. My patrols are limited to Tokyo as a whole, not counting Ueno. I haven't been there yet."

"Hopefully, that shouldn't be a problem." The principal opened up a desk drawer and took out an envelope. The envelope was partially open, but not enough for Inuyasha to see its contents. "My nephew's a traveling martial artist, and he picks up some souvenirs now and again. Recently he sent me a pamphlet describing a city he came to, but I'm not really interested in going there until summer rolls around."

"So, is there something you want me to do?" Inuyasha asked.

"It's a bit of a favor, I'll admit. Could you try to return this pamphlet to him? If you aren't able to by the start of next week, you can either keep it or give it to someone else."

"Okay." Inuyasha accepted the envelope and stuck it in the small shawl wrapped around his waist. "What's his name?"

"He has dark hair, wears a bandanna, and carries an umbrella around like I do. Name's Ryoga Hibiki...um, why are you giving me that owl-eyed stare?"

"Ryoga Hibiki?" Inuyasha asked in a deadpan. "Easily depressed, is nearly always lost? Are we talking about the same guy?"

Mrs. Valen let loose a laugh. "Sounds like you've met him! Great. That'll make it easier."

Yeah, right, Inuyasha, Curtis, and Phibrizzo thought in unison. "I'll do what I can," the former said, "but I can't promise anything." He stood up, followed a second later by Sylvia. "That everything?"

Valen nodded. "Yes. And thanks for everything you've done here today."

----------

As soon as the two of them exited the building, Inuyasha turned to Sylvia. "See ya around," he said amiably. "And stick around for a minute. Your son should be coming out shortly."

"Okay, then," Sylvia answered after a second's thought. "You take care."

Nodding, Inuyasha started a mad dash that took him off the grounds and down the block. As soon as he felt he'd gone far enough, he ducked into an alley and made a Switch.

--------

As soon as Phibrizzo regained control, he teleported back to the restroom inside the school and changed back to his newer clothes. True to Inuyasha's word, Phibrizzo rejoined his adoptive mother a minute later and walked with her home. When asked where he'd been, he said that he'd decided to lay low; this was true, actually.

As per his usual habits, Phibrizzo went straight to his room after he got home and shut the door behind him. Discarding his schoolbag, he stretched out on his bed and took out the pamphlet that he'd stashed inside subspace seconds after regaining control. Opening it up, he read it to himself silently.

Curtis and Inuyasha read the pamphlet to themselves, too. They each had their own thoughts about what they saw in there, but Phibrizzo could tell that they'd silently decided to keep their statements to themselves.

Meanwhile, his thoughts were going at it again; he kept them quiet so that his two "parasites" wouldn't hear him. Life around here refuses to stay calm, and information is pouring in faster than I can hope to understand it. New questions arise to replace the ones that are answered. Why am I beginning to lose my hatred for the human race? Is friendship really all its cracked up to be? Can I keep myself in control without redefining what my own life means to me? He emitted a quiet sigh. One way or another, I suspect I'll be finding the answers to my questions sooner than I want to think. That's what I'm afraid of.

His thoughts were interrupted as something warm settled onto his back. Looking back over his shoulder, Phibrizzo saw that French Vanilla had appeared and was sitting on his back (Must've been hiding in here, he thought). The cat repeatedly pressed her front paws against his back before settling in, purring.

Phibrizzo stared at her irritably for a moment before slipping the pamphlet and envelope back in subspace. Smiling just a bit, he laid his chin on his hands and relaxed. Okay, so maybe cats aren't that bad.

"I wouldn't know," Inuyasha remarked. "I haven't had too many good experiences with cats."

I was talking to myself, not to you.

"Then why'd you let us hear it?"

Don't ruin my mood, ramen breath.

--------

As the two bickered, Curtis went over in his mind what city the pamphlet had explained. It seemed like a typical city with typical tourist attractions...to most people. However, when he woke up in his real home shortly afterward, it reminded him that he wasn't from the world that Phibrizzo and Inuyasha currently resided in; it was merely a continuous dream. He figured that's how it always would be...hopefully.

Tiredly, he forced his body---which was still dealing with a flu, heavy loss of appetite, and an unwanted disease---to get up and get ready for school. As he did so, he tried to remember exactly what he had seen.

Before he left an hour later, two things were etched in his memory. The first was a caricature of a turtle with cannons sticking out of it's shell. The second was the final sentence printed inside the pamphlet:

"We promise you won't be disappointed with Cerulean City!"

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Chapter Six concluded. Chapter Seven soon to commence

Author's Notes

You can probably tell, but I can't write mysteries very well. I'll only write them if they'll be important in some way to the plot, if it means anything.

Phibrizzo's half-human, but he's also half-mazoku. He'll be able to take heavy damage and recover fairly quickly, so falling down the stairs isn't really dangerous to him...just irritating.

This chapter showed us who Aisha's friend from the auto repair shop was: Jim Hawking, from Outlaw Star. Need I say more?

Robin June (Nico Robin, a la One Piece) and Mrs. Valen (Miss Valentine, also from One Piece) also debut. I don't know if I overexaggerated the latter's annoying qualities or not (she was really annoying, FYI), but for the time being I'll just leave her be. Both of these will be, for the most part, minor characters for now.

What is that thing Phibrizzo wears around his waist in Slayers Next? That's been bothering me for a while.

Ah, yes...you can probably tell by the chapter's conclusion what I'm planning to do soon. As to exactly what, well...it's a Xellos quote. That's all I can say. Heh, heh.