Pet Shop Of Horrors Fan Fiction ❯ Predator and Prey ❯ Chapter Seven ( Chapter 7 )

Predator and Prey

Disclaimer: Petshop of Horrors not mine. I just wished I lived there. In addition, Lee Sinhg, Coyote, and Entai are the sole property of Akita and Subu-chan, who have graciously allowed me to write a fic that ties in with their PSOH fics. Any other characters from any other series that may pop up also belong only to their respective companies.

Co-authored by: Kita and Subu-chan.

Chapter Seven:

Yawning and stretching after D had come in to wake her so she could be ready when the Detective came to pick her up, Ronan blinked down at her legs and smiled sleepily. As she’d suspected, and Count D had confirmed the day before, curled up on her legs was a pair of small bodies, snoring loudly. Both of them wavered in her vision a moment before settling on the forms of two small girls, white haired and brown skinned. Both wore identical thigh-length tunics in vivid blue and loose black pants, devoid of decoration. She was a little surprised she had slept the night through, considering how early she’d gone to bed. Easing herself out of bed slowly so she wouldn’t wake her companions, the brown-haired girl moved over to the wardrobe to pull out something clean to wear. After a moment of thought she pulled out a pair of light pants in a startling shade of bright indigo, cautiously dyed to look like a deep tropical ocean, and a cheongsam top (she’d only taken it because she could tell it was much too small for the Count) in white embroidered with a tsunami in complementary shades of blue. The sleeves of the garment were of the thinnest, nearly translucent, white silk and flowed into graceful bells, rather then being cuffed at the end. Gathering all of her choices and collecting her bath supplies, she stuck her head out of her door and hurried down the corridor to another door, which she opened silently and slipped inside.

Taking a deep breath of the warm damp air in the “room”, she eagerly pushed through the obscuring foliage to look on her own private hot spring. She had no idea how this place had come to exist, but somehow the shop had heard her silent wish for a … sanctuary like this. Even though her healing injuries prevented her from a real bath, at least she could scrub off here. It was such a peaceful place, and the striking scenery calmed her distressed heart and mind.

During one of their long conversations over dinner, D had tried to explain some of the properties of the shop’s magic. For every inhabitant, he had said, the magic that ran the shop provided whatever he or she needed to survive, within reason. In her case, it had chosen to provide her with a comfortable, if to his taste somewhat extravagantly decorated, room, to make her feel welcome and at home. For Phillip the dolphin it had presented a vast, warm sea for him to play in. When she’d asked about Ten and Tetsu, he had smiled and replied that Ten was comfortable living as a human and Tetsu (who did have his own room) but used it only rarely now that he had the tiger twins to teach.

Briefly, she wondered what T-chan’s room was like, before shrugging the thought away and dipping her washcloth in the hot water. Even though she couldn’t soak herself the way she wanted to, just the ambient heat of this secluded little glade was relaxing her. As she finished her scrubbing, she looked up and back the way she had come when she heard the sound of the door opening and closing. Two high-pitched squeals alerted her to the fact that she was no longer alone.

Quickly pulling her gray sleeping robe around her, she followed the laughter to a small stream on the other side of the forested meadow. Two splashes announced the entry of the two girls who she left sleeping on her bed. Giggles rose from them as they began to splash each other playfully.

“Hey, Kas! Look, breakfast!” Called one, coming up from a dive, a fresh water fish in hand. It was still wriggling. She watched, fighting down a smile, though she was slightly disturbed that it was still alive, when they proceeded to play catch with it, tossing it back and forth between them. They were too cute.

“Hello,” she said. “I don’t think we’ve actually met before. I’m Ronan. You two have been sleepin' with me for the last couple of nights, yes?”

The game ended abruptly when the pair realized they’d been caught. When she finally saw both faces she blinked. They were identical twins and turned matching sheepish grins up at her. The closest one nodded warily. “Count D said it’d be okay. You don’t mind do you?”

She giggled and flapped a dismissive hand at them. “Nah, I don’t mind. But I would like to know your names.”

The girl traded looks with her sister, then shrugged and smiled at Ronan. “I’m Kawa. Giggle-puss over there is Kasumi. We’re otters.”

“ … Okay. Well, it was nice meeting you. Have fun catchin' breakfast. I’d like to stay and play, but I have to finish getting dressed and go get my own breakfast before Detective Orcot arrives. I’ll see you later, ‘kay?”

The twin girls nodded eagerly and dove back into the water. Resurfacing, Kasumi sent Ronan a pleading look. “Hey, can you send Chris to play with us? And Pon-chan, too?”

Covering her grin with her bandaged hand, she nodded. “Sure. T-chan will probably come too. Is that okay?” She may not have been there long, but one thing she had learned quickly was that anyone in the shop who wasn’t a predator was afraid of Tetsu. She had figured that it had something to do with what he was, but she had yet to find time to ransack the Library for information on Totetsu, and she sure as hell wasn’t gong to ask D, or Tetsu himself. D had already told her once that if she wanted to know something about one of the inhabitants she should ask the one in question. In T-chan’s case, she opted for caution, not knowing how the Totetsu would react.

The pair traded glances, black eyes bright with humor, and then shrugged. “T-chan follows Chris everywhere. I guess as long as he doesn’t scare the fish it’s alright,” said Kasumi before she dived back under.

Going back to her clothes, she pulled them on, brushed out her hair after deciding to leave it down, and collected her all-natural soap, a gift from D, who’d nearly had a heart attack when he saw her using the bottles of shampoo and conditioner Jill had brought her. The look on his face would have been comical, if he hadn’t been completely serious. Even now, she stifled a giggle at the thought. Dropping her stuff in her room, she followed her nose to the kitchen, where T-chan was making breakfast.

“Waffles? Yum!” she exclaimed, darting in to give the preoccupied creature a peck on his cheek, temporarily making his thoughts short-circuit. “Thanks, T-chan!” she exclaimed as she pulled away from him.

Tetsu blinked a few times, trying to reconnect his mind to what he was doing. Did she really just … he wondered to himself, shooting her an incredulous look.

Ronan paid him no mind as she went about setting the small kitchen table for herself and Chris. Once done, she nudged Tetsu aside and took over the waffle iron, while he went back to scrambling the eggs in the frying pan. She had done so so naturally that it almost seemed choreographed. Frowning for a second as she pulled a waffle out of the iron, she cast a look at her cooking partner and nibbled on her lip in thought.

“Hey, T-chan?” she finally asked, more hesitant than he'd seen her since her first night of full awareness.

“Hmm?”

“I want to make some cookies or something, later. Will you help me?” she asked as she set the plate stacked high with waffles on the table.

He turned an incredulous look on her as she neatly fixed her plate with waffles, eggs and a glass of orange juice. After a moment he shrugged and shook his head, his somewhat shaggy hair flying about his face. “I guess it won’t be much of a problem. Any idea when you’re going to be through with the idiot detective?”

Grimacing, she shook her head negatively. “No idea. I doubt I’ll be back before lunch, so maybe sometime before dinner?”

He watched her, leaning on the edge of the table, as a sleepy Chris joined them. “What do you want to make?” He asked finally while she filled the little boy’s plate.

“I dunno. Something sweet that D would like. Maybe fudge. That sounds good. We could make several batches and have one plain, and add nuts or candied fruits to the others. Oh, before I forget... Chris, Kasumi and Kawa asked if you'd come play with them. Last time I saw them they were three doors down from my room. Ah..." She reprimanded as he all but leapt from his seat. "You finish your breakfast before you go.”

Tetsu half-smiled when he went back to the sink to start cleaning up. Once she finished her meal Ronan thoughtfully gathered up all the dishes on the table for him and left them stacked next to the sink. Brushing herself off, and making sure everything was in place she headed out to what she had termed the “greeting room”, having heard the Detective and D talking, quietly, this time. She had noticed that half their conversations tended to become arguments or at least shouting matches. Ten had just chuckled at her when she had broached the subject of their arguments to him. "Don't worry, kitling," He'd said, a wicked twinkle in his green eyes. "They take a lot of pleasure out of their 'squabbles.' It's as much about having someone to fuss right back at you, as it is about the fighting. It's all a game they play." His answer had left her more baffled, so confused, in fact, that she hadn't taken him to task about calling her 'kitling.'

Leon took one look at her as she entered and turned on D. “Jeeze,” he said in a resigned tone. “Now you have a mini-me. Stop corrupting our youth, damn it!”

D ignored him as he smiled at her. “You look quite lovely, Ronan. It was a wonderful choice. Now, are you quite certain you are ready for this?”

“I … I’m not sure,” she said hesitantly. “I think I am, but … Well, I suppose that sooner is better than later.” She finished, waving away her doubts.

“If you’re ready to go, we should get going.” Leon told her. She was a little surprised at the concern in his blue eyes.

The dark-haired girl nodded and looked at D one last time. She pointed a finger at him, schooling her expression to hide her nervousness. “When I get back, you are officially banned from the kitchen. T-chan and I are going to be making something and it’s a surprise.”

He smiled at her, hiding his surprise, and nodded. “Very well,” he said, all the while wondering at how close she’d managed to get to the Totestu in the short span of time she’d been here. Never in all the time he’d known the creature had he ever permitted anyone to cook in his kitchen. In thoughtful silence, he watched as she walked out of the shop right behind Leon.

(*)(*)(*)(*)

“Hey, Boss. She just came out. Want me to grab her?” A heavyset man, hidden in the doorway of another shop grumbled into his headset, his low bass laced with eagerness.

“Who is she with? I doubt she would come out on her own.” Came the response from his cell phone.

“Some tall blond guy." The thug hesitated as Leon held open the car door for the slight girl. "Shit, I think he’s a cop. He’s got one of those portable sirens in his car.”

An angry hiss echoed in his ear. “Leave her, for now. No need to get the damned cops on our case.”

Tucked away in an office on another side of the city, a smallish, forty-something man with a beard hung up his telephone and looked over at his guest. His anger faded quickly into nervousness. “She's left the shop in the company of a motherfucking cop, there's currently no way in hell I can go after her. They’ll have her in protective custody within an hour of hearing what all that little bitch has to say. I need help, or my entire organization is up shit creek.”

“Where is this girl you need back so desperately?” The stranger asked, unconcerned by the half-furious ranting.

“Some weird shop in Chinatown. That’s your territory, so I’m asking for your help.”

The figure sighed, irritation showing through his calm facade at last. “Which shop?”

“I don’t know, dammit! It’s some kind of pet shop, I think.”

The man hissed and sat up straight in his chair. He gave the smaller man a cold glare, his sudden anger a palpable force in the confined room. “We will not assist you in this. Standing against that one would spell destruction for my ikka. The Count does not easily let go of that which he has claimed, you fool. Obviously he has done so, to allow this girl to remain within his shop. No, there is not one single family of the Yakuza that will aid you if you stand against him.” Rising, the unnamed man stood and walked out, leaving a confused American crime boss sputtering curses behind him.

(*)(*)(*)(*)

Leon watched from behind a two-way mirror as Jill gently spoke to Ronan. She'd refused to speak to the guy from Organized Crime and had been nervous and embarrassed when he'd tried to question her. Jill had come in with coffee and soothed the girl, who was hiding her fear behind a wall of anger. He knew all the signs by now, having handled other rape cases. She'd locked away what had happened to her behind a cheery smile and stormy eyes and was now being forced to dredge it up for strangers. Leon felt his hands clench into fists at his sides as he listened to her stuttering recital of what had happened to her since she'd left her home. His anger grew into a smoldering rage as Jill's patience, persistence, and simple kindness broke Ronan's barriers and the first shuddering sobs escaped her. Jill gathered her close and let her cry, stroking her dark hair with one hand. Leon turned away and punched the wall, barely noticing the sting as the skin over his knuckles split from the force of the blow.

Bastards! Goddamned motherfucking bastards. He sucked absently at his injured hand, vowing silently that by the time he got through with them, there wouldn't be enough left for D to feed to his man-eating-pets.

By the time Ronan was done making her statement, Leon was shaking with suppressed rage at what she had endured. She's just a kid, dammint! She's no older than Stephen's girl. She was what … sixteen or seventeen ... her last birthday?

The chief came in the room as she was finishing her statement. He listened to her stumble her way through the last couple of sentences and glanced at Leon's set face and bleeding hand. "Settle down, Orcot."

Leon growled under his breath. "Don't tell me to settle down, sir! There's a girl in that room who's been repeatedly raped, beaten nearly to death and stabbed, and you want me to calm my ass down! Nothing doing! I want this case, sir! I want to pound every fucking one of those motherfuckers."

"Leon," The chief said quietly, urging him into a chair. "I can't give you the case. Look at yourself, man. You're wound tighter than a jack-in-the-box!"

"Dammit!" Leon calmed himself with a supreme amount of effort. "At least let me be in charge of protecting her. I'll keep her at D's. Those fools won't know what hit them if they try to grab her there." Yeah, they’ll be eaten, he thought to himself, a malicious smirk crossing his face at that thought, for once allowing the bloody images to play in his head. Preferably where I can watch.

The Chief chuckled. "I was hoping you'd say that. Tell D the new puppy was most appreciated. My wife adores her." He looked in the window, grimacing. “Poor thing,” he rumbled at last, as Jill wrapped a supportive arm around the girl’s shoulder and handed her a box of Kleenex. “To suffer so much in such a short period of time. I’m given to understand that she came in through New York, so I’ll have to cooperate with them. After you told me about her, I contacted an old Academy friend of mine, Berkeley Rose. He’s a commissioner, now. Apparently he’s got a similar case he’s got his two best working on. They’ll probably be in contact with you sometime soon, to interview her. Their names are Dee Laytner, and his partner Randy McLean. I just want you to be prepared. And before you ask, yes you can have a copy of the file.” The Chief turned away and ran a hand through his hair, sighing. “It’ll take a bit of haggling to get approval for her to stay at the petshop, so for now I’m putting all your other cases on hold. I want you with her every minute she’s anywhere they might try to grab her.” He finally met his subordinate’s eyes, a haunted look in his own. “I … My daughter … disappeared in a similar manner over fifteen years ago. I begin to wonder if the cases are connected,” he said softly.

(*)(*)(*)(*)

It was late afternoon when Ronan returned to the shop, and all could see she had been weeping, but she assured them she was okay while she walked into the kitchen and closed the door behind her. She leaned up against the door and gave a sobbing sigh as she closed her eyes. Finally she opened them and stared a Tetsu for a moment before walking over to the table and leaning on it.

Tetsu looked up from the book he was reading. She softly giggled a little at the cover, finally allowing herself to relax from the tense state she’d wound herself up into. The cover read ‘Shakespeare: Twelfth Night’ “Plays, Tetsu? I didn’t know you liked that sort of thing,” she said as she giggled again at the very thought of the deadly creature reading.

He sniffed. “This would have been one of the few humans I could have liked, he’s got a right wicked sense of humor. And he was positively bloody-minded.” Marking his page with a wooden spoon, he closed the book and looked up at her. “I’ve got all the ingredients for fudge. If that’s still what you want to make.”

She nodded, sobering. “Yes. I thought it should be something the count would like.”

He gave her a piercing glare. “You mean, something difficult enough to distract you from your past.” He paused. “It cannot have been easy to tell strangers what happened to you.”

She waved him off, her eyes going distant. “I … It had to be done. Better that I do it now than stay silent and endanger others.” She picked at the tablecloth. “If any of the information I’ve given them saves even one other from the sort of fate I suffered, it was worth it.” She sighed and looked down on herself. “This really isn’t the sort of thing I should wear for cooking. Let me go change into somethin' a little less nice.”

As she drifted off through the doorway, Tetsu caught himself watching the way she walked. Growling to himself, he commented to himself about his growing attraction to this tiny slip of a human. “You spent way too much time hiding as a human, Totetsu,” he hissed silently.

(*)(*)(*)(*)

Later, after the fudge was made and Ronan had disappeared into the depths of the shop, presumably to play with the tiger twins, Entai entered the kitchen to find Tetsu glaring off into space, his arms crossed over his chest. The look on his face was a combination of dismay, contempt, disgust, and bewilderment. For the first time her heart went out to the dangerous creature.

“What troubles you, Totetsu? If I can help …” she let her voice trail off, leaving the invitation to talk open.

Standing and stalking out of the kitchen, his fists buried in his pockets, T-chan glowered at her over his shoulder. “None of your damn business, bird.”

Confused, the hawk decided to seek out the Count’s advice. She supposed she shouldn’t have tried on her own, but she was unused to seeing the self-confident Totetsu seeming so … distraught.

When she posed her question to the count she was rather surprised to see his lips twitch for a full minute before he gave in and began laughing helplessly, as a piece of the fudge the two had made dangled from his fingers.

“Don’t worry yourself over it, my hawk. It will sort itself out on it own. T-chan is simply finding himself … somewhat more than just affectionate of our newest resident.” Sobering quickly, he turned his gaze inward. “There is something within her that … calls to him. To his basest instincts. Not entirely unexpected. She needs a protector, and that is in part what his kind are built for. It is how many families gained a Totetsu protector in the long ago.” Shaking off the memories, he patted Entai on the shoulder. “Let this be for now. All will be well in the end.”

Not so long after this, D would be rueing his words of reassurance.

(*)(*)(*)(*)

A/N: Hi all. I’m sorry it took so long to update, but my betas were in the process of moving and it didn’t feel right to post anything they hadn’t had a hand in, considering that this is a side fic to their “Wicked” series. But they’re back now and eager to beta more, so hopefully the updates will come more often now. That being said, Please read and REVIEW! I love reviews!

Sesshy81