Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Legend of the Guardian Children ❯ Evil Rumors Afoot, Evil Creatures Afoot! ( Chapter 5 )

Back, after a few days absence. Last week I was really busy. Here we go, time for another chapter.

-Kouji Tamino

-----

Legend of the Guardian Children

Book One: The Light of Destiny

Chapter 5: Evil Rumors Afoot, Evil Creatures Afoot!

It was breakfast time at the Shimohara house. In the days since the incident in which Kiriko didn’t come home until Kyoji brought her back, things had finally simmered back down to normal. The tension was gone and the broken trust was fixed. In fact, the curfew had been bumped up by an hour just the other day, and they only had to be together for an hour before said curfew. Another hint that things had returned to normal was, when Kyoji attempted to grab another sweet roll with his chopsticks, a rather large knife found itself implanted right in the spot where his hand would have been in just a few seconds.

Giggling, an unyielding smile on her face, Chika grabbed the knife and began wielding it a seemingly menacing manner. “Now now, Kyoji dear. You know the rules. Only one sweet roll per person.” Although it didn’t seem like it at the moment, she was very happy that both of her children were home and well. She had been so scared the other day that she didn’t know what she would do if Kyoji ended up missing as well.

“S-sorry mom!” Kyoji stuttered, not wishing to once again unleash her wrath. He had already been put into a Full Nelson hold after repeatedly poking his sister with a fork last night at dinner. She didn’t let go until he started crying out in pain. If he could avoid ending up in a situation like that again, he was going to. Chuckling nervously, he looked at his watch. “Well, well, well! Would you look at the time?” Standing up, he motioned over to his sister. “Kiriko! It’s time to go!”

Pouting, she stared at her breakfast, then back to her brother. “But Onii-chan, I’m not done with my--” Yelping as Kyoji dragged her off by the hand; she quickly grabbed her bag. “Eek! Bye Mom! Bye Dad!”

-----

“…So, Tsukino is getting out the hospital this afternoon?” Kyoji asked as they walked to the subway. He had been worried about ever since they admitted her. She was, after all, a classmate of his sister and the person who had helped him save her. In terms of people that he didn’t know that well, he felt close to her, if that made any sense.

“Yeah!” Kiriko replied excitedly. She couldn’t wait for her new friend to return to school. “I promised her that I’d show up after school and visit her house!” She had visited the other girl almost everyday after school, keeping her company for a few hours. Surprisingly, on one occasion, even Akito came and checked up on her as well.

She had expected it to get ugly between the two enemies, but there seemed to be a sort of averse respects for each other that entire visit, most likely due to the brutal confrontation that took place several nights before. Leaving with only a nod, Akito left without causing any trouble. Maybe he truly wasn’t such a bad guy after all? He even brought a present! Sure it was a half eaten fruit basket, but it was the thought that counted!

-----

As class began, things seemed to be getting off pretty normally. Teachers came, did their lessons, and left. Students talked out of turn and got smart with the teacher and were removed from class. It was just the same old same old. However lunch, as usual these days, was a little chaotic. It all started when a girl named Saori Kumishima approached her suddenly. She had never spoken with this girl before, so why was she showing interest in her out of the blue? Losing her nerve as the shoulder length haired girl sat in Tsukino’s usual spot, sitting in the chair backwards, she waved meekly. “Um hi, Kumishima-san…”

Flicking away the bangs of hair that covered one of her light brown eyes, Saori smiled impishly. “So, are the rumors true? Are you going out with the class rep?”

What had she just asked? Kiriko could not believe what she was hearing. Had she genuinely been asked if she was dating Hoshino-san? Shaking her head, she screamed. “No! No way! It’s not true, it’s not!” She had no idea how someone could draw those conclusions, but she was pretty sure that it was not true.

“Then why did someone say that they saw you visiting Hoshino-san at the hospital like, every day, cutting and feeding her apples?” Saori asked, chuckling deeply. “And didn’t you just the other day admit that you had seen her panties before the rest of us did? Sounds pretty intimate to me!”

“Ooh, how scandalous!” Akaoka of the Teishoku triplets squealed, a red bow in her hair. A complete chatterbox, she just couldn’t help but spread the juiciest gossip she could get in on. Many a secret and rumor had spread all throughout the school thanks to her big mouth. She showed no remorse, and no mercy unless the price was right. She often used the ‘hush money’ to buy all the newest and hip attire. She didn’t care who she brought down, as long as she had s good time. This, of course, made her rather unpopular with everyone in the entire school except those as gossipy as herself.

Her sister, Aoika, with blue ribbons tying her pigtails, giggled at her comment before making her own opinion on the subject known. “Oh sis, you are sooo mean… I think it’s cute.” The oldest of the triplets, she was very prim and proper. Never one to raise her voice or start a confrontation, she had tried and failed to get her sisters to follow her example. Normally, she wouldn’t be getting involved in such matters such as the ones going on now, but for some reason, she found this all very intriguing. Considered the prettiest of the three sisters due to the time and effort she spent on herself each morning, she had an assortment of would be suitors. Unfortunately for them, she was saving herself for what she considered to be ‘true love’, whatever that meant.

“You’re both being snobby again…” Midorika, a green headband around her head, her hair cut into a boyish bowl cut. “Whether it’s true or not, so what? It’s none of our business. Leave ‘em alone.” Unlike her preppy, materialistic sister Aoika, she wasn’t one for gossip. She wasn’t anywhere near as elegant as Midorika either. Also, unlike any of the other girls, she was wearing the boys uniform due to the fact that she outright refused to wear the girls one. It had taken many frustrating weeks of arguing and negotiating back in the first year to finally reach some sort of compromise: she would be allowed to wear the boys uniform on the condition that twice a month, she wear the girls uniform. If she missed her quota even once, she would be forced to wear the proper uniform for the rest of her days in high school.

As the class began to mumble and murmur amongst themselves, blowing up the rumors more and more, Kiriko began to moan pitiably. “Please, you guys… It’s not true.” Regrettably, it was no use. The school had a salacious, exciting new rumor to chat and converse over. Nothing less than a cold glare and tongue lashing from the class rep herself would get them to stop. Or at least, that’s what they would have liked to think.

Akito slammed a book hard on the desk, a mammoth thump resounding through the room. “Quit giving her a hard time, will ya?!” As the class silenced, he grinned brashly. He still felt that he owed his life to Kiriko, so he was not about to let her face this all by herself. “That’s more like it! Now listen up! No more talking about Shimohara! It’s making her feel bad!”

“Th-that’s right!” Kiriko stuttered, shying away slightly. She was so relieved that Akito seemed to be coming to her aid. He was really shaping up to be a good person. He had changed so much in the past couple of days, and she liked it. Maybe they could even be friends…

“If you’re gonna talk about her, do it when she’s not around!” he continued, not realizing that he was just aggravating things. Lost on why everyone started laughing, he growled, cracking his knuckles. “Hey, stop that!”

“Heh, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say that Tonomaru-san was sweet on Shimohara-san,” Ukichi joked, adjusting his glasses. He was finding this entire situation extremely amusing, and while watching was very entertaining, he wanted to join in on the ‘merriment’. “If you aren’t careful, Hoshino-san might beat your ass for eyeing her girl.” The entire class, save him and the subjects of their teasing, began bursting out loud in laughter. Even Atsuko, who up until this point had been watching silently, couldn’t help but giggle at the use of the class representative’s usual threat towards the bully.

Kiriko began to quiver furiously. Now even her best friend was making fun of her? She hadn’t even tried to defend her! Tears running down her face, she screamed in torment. “I… I’ve had enough!” Grabbing her things, she stuffed them in her bag, not looking at anyone as she walked out the doorway. “I’m going home!” Eyes filled with tears, she burst through the hallway and down the stairs, her cries attracting the attention of Kyoji, who was currently in a study session.

As the boy open the door and stuck his head out of his classroom, he stared at her fleeing form in mild concern. “Oi, Kiri-bozu… You okay?” His concern would soon dissipated as the teacher shrieked his name frantically. “Ahh! Sorry, Ishida-sensei!” He was worried about her, but he didn’t think it was too serious. He had things to do right now; he’d have to check up on her later. Closing the door, he sighed regrettably.

-----

Meanwhile, back in class 2-A, the students were now ashamed at the way they had let their little game go. Kiriko was one of the sweetest, not to mention vulnerable, girls in the entire class. They had gone as far as made her cry, and she didn’t deserve one bit of what they had said. At this point, no one really believed the rumor anymore. For all they knew, Kiriko was simply making those visits out of the kindness of her heart. Atsuko had already left to try and apologize, but the others felt too guilty to even face her.

A fuming Akito’s eyes wandered, looking for the two students who had really fueled the fire. Growing more and more frustrated as he failed to find them no matter how many times he checked, he stood up, more pumped up than he had been in quite some time. “Where the hell are Kumishima and Tenya?!”

-----

As the final bell of the day rang, Kyoji began his walk to the subway with a lot on his mind. Why had Kiriko been crying earlier? As a matter of fact, why hadn’t he done anything to help her? He had brushed her off, as if she mattered less to him than a lousy math grade. There was also the fact that his mother might just give him a proverbial ass whipping if she found out that he hadn’t been there to help his hurt little sister. He was jarred out of his thoughts by an abrupt tap on the shoulder. “Gyah!” Jumping up, he quickly regained his composure as he realized that it was his sister’s best friend who was addressing him. “Oh! Atsuko! Listen, do you know what was eating my sister earlier tod--” He paused as the girl began bawling her eyes out. “Um, why are you crying now?” he asked, less than tactfully.

“Oh Kyoji-san!” Atsuko whined, her face red from earlier outbursts. “It’s terrible, just terrible!” She went on to explicate every detail about what happened at lunch that day, including the part about Akito of all people being the only person to stick up for her. Noting his astonishment, she nodded. “Yeah, it surprised me too”, she continued, explaining that she had tried to chase Kiriko down and make an apology for not being there for her, but she had already left the school grounds. Heavy hearted, she went back to class and couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened all day. The UFO fetishist told her best friend’s older brother how much of a relief it was to finally let that all out, panting heavily after the long winded explanation. “So yeah… when you get home, please be nice to her, Kyoji-san… She’s had a really tough day.”

Nodding in understanding, he smiled slightly. “Don’t worry, I will.” Thinking for a moment, he shook his head in disbelief. “Hey wait, what does that mean?! I’m nice to her!” Watching as Atsuko ran off frantically, he scowled, then laughed. She was an odd girl, but she cared about Kiriko. That made her okay in his book. Slinging his bag over his shoulder, he continued on his way home.

-----

About an hour later, at the hospital that Tsukino had been staying at, she was patiently waiting for Kiriko. On any normal day, the girl would have been here ages ago. Why she wasn’t today was a mystery to the often hardhearted girl. Checking her watch, she heaved a sigh in irritation. If she wasn’t going to come, she could have at least called to confirm things. Now she had just wasted an hour waiting up for her. Perhaps befriending her had been a mistake. Having already signed herself out, she picked all of her things and left for home.

As she walked towards the subway station, every step filled with resentment, she paused, a shiver running down her spine. Something was not right, and it made her stomach churn. Looking around for the threat, and for any police officers should she be spotted, her hand edged towards the arrows in her quiver. She would have to take care not to accidentally hit any innocent people, but whatever the hell she was sensing in the area, it had her completely rattled. She was prepared to defend herself and the people around her at any cost. After several moments with seemingly no assaults on the part of whatever was out there, Tsukino began to let down her guard.

No sooner had she done that, did she hear a piercing scream. It was quickly followed by several more, and the sounds of things being smashed. Pushing her way through the rush hour crowd, she turned a corner and gasped in horror. In only a few short moments, a car had been tipped over, a telephone pole had been pushed over, and someone had been injured. Standing in the middle of the chaos was a creature that she had never set her eyes on before.

With a lean, cut physique and a thin, glossy coat of brown fur, the immense behemoth stood over the frantic mob with a mad gleam in its pitch black and glossy eyes. Swinging its massive arms, it made contact with a thankfully empty car and sent it airborne. The vehicle crashed several yards away, landing dangerously close to a group of kids who until this point had been staring at the scene before them, frozen with fright. The sudden threat against their lives sent the youngest into a crying fit, the others whimpering and shaking. Sniffing the air with its dark and wet nose, it seemed to smell the children’s fear, stepping towards them ominously.

Crying out in panic, Tsukino snatched an arrow from her quiver and readied her bow, aiming the projectile straight for the monster’s head. She had one shot. If she missed, she would alert the beast of her presence and it would make her its new target. It looked agile, so she most likely would not be able to outrun it, and once it got to her there would be no stopping it from continuing its rampage through the area. “Not today, you son of a bitch… I won’t let you hurt those kids.” As she whispered under breath, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Opening them soon after, she pulled the string back and fired.

To Be Continued…

-----

“Iincho-san! I’m on my way!”

“Wait, what the hell? You’re already done?!”

“Well, now that that’s over, why don’t you both come over to my house?”

“That would be ni-ai-yai! Iincho-san, you… you’re--”

“The next episode of ‘Legend of the Guardian Children’ is titled: Cry of a Beast; A Visit to Tsukino’s! It will most definitely be informational.”

“RWAAAR!!”

“Oh. You’re not dead yet?”