[Fanfic] The Wicked [Chapter 8]
Title: The Wicked [Chapter 8]
Rating: T
Warnings: AU, slight OOC, and as it's a semi-musical based on a not so very popular broadway musical, it can be confusing.
Summary: The Citizens of Deimon are celebrating the death of a man they deemed Wicked. But is there more to it than what it seems? Could something bigger had happened behind the scenes? Semi-based on the Broadway Musical "Wicked" and is a semi-Musical. HiruMamo and SenaSuzu.
Disclaimers: I do not own the characters and the lyrics used here (despite the modifications). They belong to their respective owners!
Notes: I seemed to have made that grave mistake of getting my best friend, moodylollipop, to read The Wicked despite her not being that huge a HiruMamo fan. Though I am glad that she loves this story, she now can't stop bugging me to finish the next chapter... because she's bored. XD So err... chapters will be up faster than usual thanks to her. Yes, I blame her for everything. 8D
But I still love you, sweetie, for going through this chapter and being my beta. *huggles*
Get ready for a pretty long chapter as well as a tinge of OOC-ness. Song used is "Popular" from Wicked. Check out the song here. Very cute song. XD I love singing along to it. Enjoy!
"..." - Conversation
Italics - Singing
Bold - Singer
(...) - Actions while singing
~*~
As Mamori had expected, the college was abuzz with rumours about the escaped dog. Munakata was furious when he found the cage obviously broken into, and blamed the staff of Deimon for their lack of security. But it went right down to the fact that no one in their right mind would break open a cage that housed an obviously evil creature. And so they decided that the dog must have gained enough power to somehow… override the codes of the cage.
Despite this conclusion, nobody in the college was convinced it was true. To Mamori’s surprise, everyone was sure that a certain someone was surely behind the dog’s escape...
“I’m sure that Hiruma was behind this,” said Sara. “Ako and I saw the dog as we passed by the classroom that day. We couldn’t help but think that the dog looked just like Hiruma!”
“Well…” said Ako hesitantly. “I wouldn’t say the dog looked exactly like Hiruma, but there was that evil aura around that creature, wasn’t it? And it’s so similar to Hiruma’s.”
Mamori stared at the two, with her mouth ajar. “You have got to be joking...” she said. “Are you two even listening to yourselves? How can you even say such things?”
The three of them were walking side by side, but Sara and Ako stopped when they heard Mamori’s reply. “Mamori, don’t you think it’s strange?” said Ako. “First, that boy turning into a gorilla and now, this dog escaping?”
“I don’t see how they’re linked,” said Mamori, who stopped to look at the two.
“Okay, maybe they’re not totally linked,” said Ako. “But they’re strange events... and it’s odd that you’re not up and about searching for clues. I mean, this dog could be around here somewhere and it could actually hurt someone!”
Mamori had to cover her mouth from giggling. It was true that the dog really was around here. In fact, the dog was staying near her dorm. But despite looking mean, the dog was harmless, and preferred terrorizing the animals nearby instead. He often came up to Mamori and Hiruma for food. She often obliged while he would say the Fucking Mutt was too damned ungrateful. They even had an argument about what to name the dog as Hiruma seemed keen to just keep calling him Fucking Mutt. In the end they concluded that Cerberus would be perfect. Hiruma thought it suited his mean exterior, while Mamori believed that Cerberus would be great at protecting them from danger... if he didn’t bite off anyone’s head, Hiruma joked.
Ako noticed Mamori suppressing a smile. “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing,” Mamori quickly said and did her best to look serious for her friends’ sakes. “I just couldn’t help but think it quite impossible. There’s been no news after all.”
Sara frowned. “This isn’t the Mamori I remember.”
“Eh?” said Mamori, surprised by what Sara had just said.
Ako nodded. “Sara’s right. Whenever something weird happens, you would be the first to investigate. But now you just don’t seem to care.”
Mamori was taken aback by this. It wasn’t that she didn’t care... there was just no need to care. She felt bad at first, but realized that the reason why she didn’t really care in the first place was that most of the claims were totally uncalled for... and linked to Hiruma. “I just think a lot of these accusations are completely baseless. And besides the boy, that everyone is doing their best to cure, no one has been completely hurt. And don’t you remember? I said I was going to change, right?”
“We know,” said Sara. “But we weren’t expecting this...”
Mamori smiled sadly. Well, what was she expecting from people who were so used to the old her? She then felt her phone vibrate in her pocket, and found out it was Suzuna calling her. “Yes, Suzuna?”
“Ah, Mamo-nee!”
Mamori sweat-dropped a little. “You don't have to call me that... I'm not your big sister.”
“But you act pretty much like a big sister so I'm calling you just that!” Mamori heard Suzuna giggle a little. “Anyways, Mamo-nee, I was wondering if you could come over to my place for a while today? There's something I'd really want to talk to you about...” Mamori noticed how Suzuna's voice wavered a little at the end.
“Are you all right, Suzuna? Did someone hurt you?” asked Mamori with concern.
“Eh? Oh no! I'm fine! I'm totally fine!” said Suzuna chirpily. “But I really do want to talk to you... about Sena! Yeah! I'm going on a date with him soon and I'd really like your opinion on something.”
“Sure! I'll be there once I leave my books back at my place. I'll see you then.” Mamori hung up and smiled at Sara and Ako. “Well, looks like I'm needed by a friend today. I'll see you both tomorrow then.”
Sara and Ako nodded. “Do take care of yourself, Mamori,” said Ako.
The concern in Ako's voice somewhat scared Mamori for a while. But she smiled and said, “I know I've changed Ako, but I can still look out for myself.” And with that, she left the college grounds.
Hiruma was in the dorm, typing away on his laptop as he tried to ignore the noise outside of the dorm. Some of the students seem to be having a huge party, and reading wasn't helping him at the moment. But as he typed out all the little data he had learnt and began organizing them, he easily blocked out the noise by concentrating. It has been a while since he had used a computer... but it was good to know he was still good with them.
He heard the door open and noticed Mamori rushing in. “I'll be gone for a few hours,” said Mamori as she rushed into her room. She left the door open and continued to speak. “Suzuna called me and she said she needed some advice. Just thought I'd let you know. We still have some leftovers in the fridge so you should be all right for dinner...”
“Stop squabbling and just get the fuck out already,” said Hiruma grumpily as he seemed to have lost his concentration. “You don't have to fucking worry about me all the time.”
Mamori walked out, wearing form fitting t-shirt and jeans, and her hair loose and wavy. Hiruma saw this and for a moment couldn't help but think that despite looking plain, she was oddly pretty. “I told you, I'm always going to worry about you and everyone I care about.” She then walked out of the door. “Do take care of yourself!”
Hiruma grunted his reply, trying to shake off his thoughts on Mamori. Why was he falling for her? Hadn't he told himself already that there was no way they could ever be together? Though he must admit... ever since she came along, there were less 'accidents' than he remembered. He was surprised that it's been over a month now and there hasn't been one moment where he had caused trouble. Could it be thanks to her?
Hiruma looked at Mamori's room and then realized something. Wait, did she just change with her room door left open?
Suzuna had texted her address to Mamori, and it was quite nearby. She was in the building where the cheerleaders were. As she entered the building, she saw a couple of the cheerleaders in a group talking to each other secretively. The moment Mamori came in, they stopped and offered her little smiles, then walked away. Mamori found that odd and was about to greet them when Suzuna came running towards her.
“Mamo-nee!” cried Suzuna as she hugged Mamori. “I'm so glad you could make it!
“I'm glad to be able to help you, Suzuna,” said Mamori. Suzuna then held Mamori's hand and led her to her room. Mamori noted that the cheerleaders' dorm was a lot less friendly than she had expected. There were a lot of notice boards, scheduling future practice times. And there were pictures of famous sports players, most of them better known for their good looks rather than talents.
But Suzuna's room was, thankfully, a lot warmer and friendlier. There were a lot of cute cheerleader figurines, and there were also pictures of Suzuna in cheerleading action. And to her surprise, there was one of Sena looking quite young. She picked up the picture and smiled. It was Sena as he was playing football. And somewhere in the back, she could see the familiar form of Hiruma who seemed to be threatening their opponent. “You've known them all since then?” asked Mamori.
“Not really known them...” said Suzuna, looking sheepish. “Just watched them from afar. I was a cheerleader for the opposing team. That was when I first noticed them... and especially Sena.” Suzuna sat on her bed and invited Mamori to sit with her. “I was always the smallest among the cheerleaders and often found myself pretty discouraged by it. But when I saw Sena play, and he was as small as me... He just inspired me to keep trying.”
Mamori smiled. “I think Sena feels the same way about you...” She watched as a gentle smile bloomed and a faraway look took form on Suzuna’s face. “Now, what was it you wanted help about?”
Suzuna blinked and then jumped in surprise. “Oh! Yes, yes, well... I was thinking if you could help me plan an outfit for my date with Sena!”
“An... outfit?” Mamori laughed nervously. “I'm not sure if I'm good at giving such advice...” but Suzuna completely ignored her and was already going through her wardrobe.
“Erm... Mamo-nee? Could you look in my dressing drawer for a pink t-shirt I bought recently?” said Suzuna as she continued to look through her wardrobe.
Mamori nodded and proceeded to look through Suzuna's dressing drawer when she suddenly felt something sharp. “Ow!” Mamori cried out in surprise as she pulled back her hand and noticed she pricked one of her fingers.
Suzuna quickly ran up to Mamori. “Are you okay? Oh no, you're bleeding!” Suzuna proceeded to dig under her bed and pulled out a first aid kit. “I have a bandage right here. I'm so sorry, Mamo-nee! I must have left a sewing needle in there...”
“It's not a problem at all,” said Mamori, as she sucked the blood out of her finger for a while, and then proceeded to use a disinfectant she saw in the first aid kit, and then used the bandage Suzuna was holding.
“You're good at that,” Suzuna noted.
“Well, I did get hurt a lot when I used to chase delinquents back in high school,” said Mamori. “This is nothing. You shouldn't look so worried, Suzuna, I'll be fine.”
Suzuna blinked. “O-oh, yes, of course... I just feel bad, that's all...” Suzuna smiled weakly as she looked back into her wardrobe. “A-anyways yes, we still need to pick out an outfit for my date!”
“About that...” said Mamori hesitantly. “To be honest, I really don't think I can be much help.”
“Why?” asked Suzuna, looking surprised.
“Well...” Mamori shrugged. “I just never really did care about fashion much.” She pointed at her own outfit. “I always aim to feel comfortable in case I need to chase someone from causing more trouble. I've never been on a date either...”
“But you're going on a date with Agon right?”
Mamori blinked in surprise. “Eh? How did you know that?”
“All the cheerleaders are talking about it,” Suzuna grinned. “They're so jealous of you, Mamo-nee! Agon's ignoring most of them because he wants to be with you.”
“That's what I don't get,” said Mamori. “I don't see why he's interested in me when he has all these cheerleaders who're dying to be with him. I'm not pretty and I'm not even popular.”
“Well, I can teach you a thing or two about being popular,” Suzuna was grinning even more now.
“You can?”
“Sure!” cried Suzuna as she went to her dresser drawer and pulled out some accessories and a makeup box. “After all, I AM a cheerleader and have had my fair share of popularity myself... back in high school...” she shrugged a little. Then smiled at Mamori.
[Suzuna] (smiling)
Whenever I see someone who's prettier than I,
And let's face it, who isn't more prettier than I?
My little heart seems to feel so pleased
But when someone needs a makeover,
I simply have to take over,
I know I know exactly what they need
And even in your case...
Suzuna made Mamori sit on her bed and went straight behind her, combing Mamori's hair.
[Suzuna]
Though you're the first case that I've yet to face,
Don't worry, I'm determined to succeed!
Follow my lead,
And yes indeed, you will be... (shows Mamori the mirror)
Popular! You're gonna be popular!
I'll teach you the proper ploys,
When you talk to boys,
Little ways to flirt and flounce, ooh!
I'll show you what shoes to wear!
How to fix your hair!
Everything that really counts to be...
Popular! I'll help you be popular!
You'll hang with the right cohorts,
You'll be good at sports,
Know the slang you've got to know.
So let's start,
'Cause we've got a pretty long way to go!
Suzuna proceeded to tie Mamori's hair in a high ponytail.
[Suzuna]
Don't be offended by my frank analysis,
Think of it as personality dialysis,
Now that we've chosen to become good pals, a sister and advisor,
There's nobody wiser!
Not when it comes to...
Suzuna then faced Mamori and proceeded to apply powder on Mamori's face. Mamori coughed when she accidentally breathed it in.
[Suzuna]
Popular! I know about popular
And with an assist from me
To be who you'll be
Instead of simply who you were! Err.. are!
There's nothing that can stop you,
From becoming populer... lar!
“Err, Suzuna...” said Mamori but Suzuna, caught up by the excitement of dress up, proceeded to now apply lipstick on Mamori.
[Suzuna]
La la, la la!
We're gonna make you pop-u-lar!
When we see depressing creatures,
With unprepossessing features,
We remind them on their own behalf
To think of
Celebrated heads of state,
Or specially great communicators!
Did they have brains or knowledge?
Don't make me laugh!
They were popular!
Please! It's all about popular.
It's not about aptitude,
It's the way you're viewed,
So it's very shrewd to be,
Very very popular like me!
“Suzuna,” said Mamori, her eyes closed as Suzuna seemed to be applying mascara now. “I really don't think this is necessary!”
“Aaaaand done!” cried Suzuna, sounding very pleased with herself. She took a step back to look at Mamori, and sighed. “Mamo-nee! Look at you! You're beautiful!”
Mamori looked into the mirror and almost gasped. Suzuna didn't apply a heavy amount of makeup, but for some reason her looks were much better accentuated. And Suzuna had tied her hair with a long black ribbon that flowed down to her back. She had never tied her hair in such a style, and definitely couldn't help but think that she looked... different...
“Erm... thanks, Suzuna...” Mamori glanced at the clock on Suzuna's bedside table and quickly got up. “Oh, it's late. I have to go... Hiruma might be waiting for me. I'll see you tomorrow...” Mamori quickly opened the door, then stopped for a while to smile at Suzuna. “Thank you...” Then she left.
Suzuna blinked, confused. “You're welcome?” Then she grinned.
[Suzuna]
And though you protest
Your disinterest,
Y'know clandestinely,
You're gonna' grin and bear it!
Your new found popularity!
Ah! (dancing across her room)
La la, la la!
You'll be popular!
Just not quite as popular as me!
There was a sudden hard knock on the door. “Suzuna! Are you in there?” cried a girl's voice.
Suzuna jumped and panicked. She quickly ran to open the door. “Erm... hi...”
“Did you get it?” demanded one of the cheerleaders.
Suzuna nodded and slowly walked up to her dressing drawer, where Mamori had searched in and pulled out a needle.
“Careful! We don't want to ruin that!” the cheerleader cried.
Suzuna nodded again and pulled out a small casing from her pocket, and carefully placed the needle in it. She then passed it to the cheerleader who snatched it away from Suzuna. “Good. At least you can do that right.”
As the cheerleader left, Suzuna closed her room door and began to cry softly.
Hiruma searched online for more data on the use of magic when he suddenly felt the odd desire to search up on Agon. It felt odd, how it suddenly came up. If he was searching just because Mamori would be going out with Agon, then he knew it was worthless. Agon was just superior in many ways... But if it were about football...
Yes, if it were football, it would be fine. So Hiruma searched up on Agon and was surprised by a news piece he turned up. According to the article, Agon had suddenly announced that he had lost interest in football, and was leaving it for good. Which was odd as, if Hiruma remembered correctly, Agon aimed to be the top player because that would give him all the luxuries anyone would want and he knew Agon would have gotten it with his inborn talent. So why...?
“I'm back!” he heard Mamori cry. Hiruma groaned a little. Why is she constantly breaking his concentration today? He turned to tell her off when he noticed she looked... different, and was struggling to remove the ribbon on her hair. “H-Hiruma, I'm sorry but... could you help me take this off?” said Mamori.
Hiruma put his laptop away. “What the fuck did you do to yourself?”
“Well, I told Suzuna how I didn't know anything about fashion and she just... did this to me,” said Mamori, who seemed to have grown tired of trying to look for a way to remove the ribbon. “I've never used these things before so I have no idea how to take it off.”
Hiruma sneered. “Are you sure you're a girl?”
“Stop laughing at me and help me please! I already felt really embarrassed walking in here! The people at that party couldn't stop bothering me and kept asking me to join them. I think they're too drunk to notice that it's me.”
Hiruma cackled a little as he walked behind Mamori, and looked at the ribbon. It did look pretty complicated, but it was just that there were too many knots as well. He proceeded to untie the ribbon and kept his eyes focused on only the ribbon, trying hard not to look at Mamori's slim neck, or how she smelled oddly nice.
He finally managed to untie the ribbon and watched as Mamori's hair fell softly down. He heard Mamori sigh in relief. “Thank you, Hiruma,” she turned to smile at him. “I need to go get rid of the makeup. Don't you think I look like a clown?”
His initial thoughts were no. It actually accentuated Mamori's features perfectly. Like how blue her eyes were, and how soft her lips looked. But he grinned and said, “Yup, just like a fucking clown.”
Mamori shook her head smiling. “Somehow hearing that from you isn't comforting at all.” She then headed to the bathroom.
Hiruma went back to his laptop and placed his face in his hands. Damn these thoughts. Damn it all. It hurt even more to remember that she was probably going to look even prettier when she's with Agon. But he then remembered what had happened to him long ago and sighed. “Don't forget who you are...” he whispered to himself, and closed the information he was reading on Agon.
Yukimitsu had just packed his bags and was about to leave when he overheard Munakata in the other laboratory talking to someone he didn’t recognize. “I’m surprised you’re showing interest in this...”
“Just cut to the chase,” he heard the unknown voice say. “Does she have it or not?”
Yukimitsu carefully looked into a small window and saw Munakata looking into what he initially thought was a normal microscope, but he recognized it and knew it was a specially modified one to detect magical powers in blood. “You were right... she does seem to possess celestial powers,” said Munakata. “But it doesn’t look like she’ll be using it anytime soon. It’s too dormant.”
“That’s fine with me,” said a guy Yukimitsu couldn’t see, but he knew the guy had dreadlocks. He sounded oddly happy with that announcement. “That’s all I needed to know.”
Yukimitsu took a few steps back. A person with celestial powers? Who could that be?
Chapter 7 | Chapter 9
Rating: T
Warnings: AU, slight OOC, and as it's a semi-musical based on a not so very popular broadway musical, it can be confusing.
Summary: The Citizens of Deimon are celebrating the death of a man they deemed Wicked. But is there more to it than what it seems? Could something bigger had happened behind the scenes? Semi-based on the Broadway Musical "Wicked" and is a semi-Musical. HiruMamo and SenaSuzu.
Disclaimers: I do not own the characters and the lyrics used here (despite the modifications). They belong to their respective owners!
Notes: I seemed to have made that grave mistake of getting my best friend, moodylollipop, to read The Wicked despite her not being that huge a HiruMamo fan. Though I am glad that she loves this story, she now can't stop bugging me to finish the next chapter... because she's bored. XD So err... chapters will be up faster than usual thanks to her. Yes, I blame her for everything. 8D
But I still love you, sweetie, for going through this chapter and being my beta. *huggles*
Get ready for a pretty long chapter as well as a tinge of OOC-ness. Song used is "Popular" from Wicked. Check out the song here. Very cute song. XD I love singing along to it. Enjoy!
"..." - Conversation
Italics - Singing
Bold - Singer
(...) - Actions while singing
~*~
As Mamori had expected, the college was abuzz with rumours about the escaped dog. Munakata was furious when he found the cage obviously broken into, and blamed the staff of Deimon for their lack of security. But it went right down to the fact that no one in their right mind would break open a cage that housed an obviously evil creature. And so they decided that the dog must have gained enough power to somehow… override the codes of the cage.
Despite this conclusion, nobody in the college was convinced it was true. To Mamori’s surprise, everyone was sure that a certain someone was surely behind the dog’s escape...
“I’m sure that Hiruma was behind this,” said Sara. “Ako and I saw the dog as we passed by the classroom that day. We couldn’t help but think that the dog looked just like Hiruma!”
“Well…” said Ako hesitantly. “I wouldn’t say the dog looked exactly like Hiruma, but there was that evil aura around that creature, wasn’t it? And it’s so similar to Hiruma’s.”
Mamori stared at the two, with her mouth ajar. “You have got to be joking...” she said. “Are you two even listening to yourselves? How can you even say such things?”
The three of them were walking side by side, but Sara and Ako stopped when they heard Mamori’s reply. “Mamori, don’t you think it’s strange?” said Ako. “First, that boy turning into a gorilla and now, this dog escaping?”
“I don’t see how they’re linked,” said Mamori, who stopped to look at the two.
“Okay, maybe they’re not totally linked,” said Ako. “But they’re strange events... and it’s odd that you’re not up and about searching for clues. I mean, this dog could be around here somewhere and it could actually hurt someone!”
Mamori had to cover her mouth from giggling. It was true that the dog really was around here. In fact, the dog was staying near her dorm. But despite looking mean, the dog was harmless, and preferred terrorizing the animals nearby instead. He often came up to Mamori and Hiruma for food. She often obliged while he would say the Fucking Mutt was too damned ungrateful. They even had an argument about what to name the dog as Hiruma seemed keen to just keep calling him Fucking Mutt. In the end they concluded that Cerberus would be perfect. Hiruma thought it suited his mean exterior, while Mamori believed that Cerberus would be great at protecting them from danger... if he didn’t bite off anyone’s head, Hiruma joked.
Ako noticed Mamori suppressing a smile. “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing,” Mamori quickly said and did her best to look serious for her friends’ sakes. “I just couldn’t help but think it quite impossible. There’s been no news after all.”
Sara frowned. “This isn’t the Mamori I remember.”
“Eh?” said Mamori, surprised by what Sara had just said.
Ako nodded. “Sara’s right. Whenever something weird happens, you would be the first to investigate. But now you just don’t seem to care.”
Mamori was taken aback by this. It wasn’t that she didn’t care... there was just no need to care. She felt bad at first, but realized that the reason why she didn’t really care in the first place was that most of the claims were totally uncalled for... and linked to Hiruma. “I just think a lot of these accusations are completely baseless. And besides the boy, that everyone is doing their best to cure, no one has been completely hurt. And don’t you remember? I said I was going to change, right?”
“We know,” said Sara. “But we weren’t expecting this...”
Mamori smiled sadly. Well, what was she expecting from people who were so used to the old her? She then felt her phone vibrate in her pocket, and found out it was Suzuna calling her. “Yes, Suzuna?”
“Ah, Mamo-nee!”
Mamori sweat-dropped a little. “You don't have to call me that... I'm not your big sister.”
“But you act pretty much like a big sister so I'm calling you just that!” Mamori heard Suzuna giggle a little. “Anyways, Mamo-nee, I was wondering if you could come over to my place for a while today? There's something I'd really want to talk to you about...” Mamori noticed how Suzuna's voice wavered a little at the end.
“Are you all right, Suzuna? Did someone hurt you?” asked Mamori with concern.
“Eh? Oh no! I'm fine! I'm totally fine!” said Suzuna chirpily. “But I really do want to talk to you... about Sena! Yeah! I'm going on a date with him soon and I'd really like your opinion on something.”
“Sure! I'll be there once I leave my books back at my place. I'll see you then.” Mamori hung up and smiled at Sara and Ako. “Well, looks like I'm needed by a friend today. I'll see you both tomorrow then.”
Sara and Ako nodded. “Do take care of yourself, Mamori,” said Ako.
The concern in Ako's voice somewhat scared Mamori for a while. But she smiled and said, “I know I've changed Ako, but I can still look out for myself.” And with that, she left the college grounds.
Hiruma was in the dorm, typing away on his laptop as he tried to ignore the noise outside of the dorm. Some of the students seem to be having a huge party, and reading wasn't helping him at the moment. But as he typed out all the little data he had learnt and began organizing them, he easily blocked out the noise by concentrating. It has been a while since he had used a computer... but it was good to know he was still good with them.
He heard the door open and noticed Mamori rushing in. “I'll be gone for a few hours,” said Mamori as she rushed into her room. She left the door open and continued to speak. “Suzuna called me and she said she needed some advice. Just thought I'd let you know. We still have some leftovers in the fridge so you should be all right for dinner...”
“Stop squabbling and just get the fuck out already,” said Hiruma grumpily as he seemed to have lost his concentration. “You don't have to fucking worry about me all the time.”
Mamori walked out, wearing form fitting t-shirt and jeans, and her hair loose and wavy. Hiruma saw this and for a moment couldn't help but think that despite looking plain, she was oddly pretty. “I told you, I'm always going to worry about you and everyone I care about.” She then walked out of the door. “Do take care of yourself!”
Hiruma grunted his reply, trying to shake off his thoughts on Mamori. Why was he falling for her? Hadn't he told himself already that there was no way they could ever be together? Though he must admit... ever since she came along, there were less 'accidents' than he remembered. He was surprised that it's been over a month now and there hasn't been one moment where he had caused trouble. Could it be thanks to her?
Hiruma looked at Mamori's room and then realized something. Wait, did she just change with her room door left open?
Suzuna had texted her address to Mamori, and it was quite nearby. She was in the building where the cheerleaders were. As she entered the building, she saw a couple of the cheerleaders in a group talking to each other secretively. The moment Mamori came in, they stopped and offered her little smiles, then walked away. Mamori found that odd and was about to greet them when Suzuna came running towards her.
“Mamo-nee!” cried Suzuna as she hugged Mamori. “I'm so glad you could make it!
“I'm glad to be able to help you, Suzuna,” said Mamori. Suzuna then held Mamori's hand and led her to her room. Mamori noted that the cheerleaders' dorm was a lot less friendly than she had expected. There were a lot of notice boards, scheduling future practice times. And there were pictures of famous sports players, most of them better known for their good looks rather than talents.
But Suzuna's room was, thankfully, a lot warmer and friendlier. There were a lot of cute cheerleader figurines, and there were also pictures of Suzuna in cheerleading action. And to her surprise, there was one of Sena looking quite young. She picked up the picture and smiled. It was Sena as he was playing football. And somewhere in the back, she could see the familiar form of Hiruma who seemed to be threatening their opponent. “You've known them all since then?” asked Mamori.
“Not really known them...” said Suzuna, looking sheepish. “Just watched them from afar. I was a cheerleader for the opposing team. That was when I first noticed them... and especially Sena.” Suzuna sat on her bed and invited Mamori to sit with her. “I was always the smallest among the cheerleaders and often found myself pretty discouraged by it. But when I saw Sena play, and he was as small as me... He just inspired me to keep trying.”
Mamori smiled. “I think Sena feels the same way about you...” She watched as a gentle smile bloomed and a faraway look took form on Suzuna’s face. “Now, what was it you wanted help about?”
Suzuna blinked and then jumped in surprise. “Oh! Yes, yes, well... I was thinking if you could help me plan an outfit for my date with Sena!”
“An... outfit?” Mamori laughed nervously. “I'm not sure if I'm good at giving such advice...” but Suzuna completely ignored her and was already going through her wardrobe.
“Erm... Mamo-nee? Could you look in my dressing drawer for a pink t-shirt I bought recently?” said Suzuna as she continued to look through her wardrobe.
Mamori nodded and proceeded to look through Suzuna's dressing drawer when she suddenly felt something sharp. “Ow!” Mamori cried out in surprise as she pulled back her hand and noticed she pricked one of her fingers.
Suzuna quickly ran up to Mamori. “Are you okay? Oh no, you're bleeding!” Suzuna proceeded to dig under her bed and pulled out a first aid kit. “I have a bandage right here. I'm so sorry, Mamo-nee! I must have left a sewing needle in there...”
“It's not a problem at all,” said Mamori, as she sucked the blood out of her finger for a while, and then proceeded to use a disinfectant she saw in the first aid kit, and then used the bandage Suzuna was holding.
“You're good at that,” Suzuna noted.
“Well, I did get hurt a lot when I used to chase delinquents back in high school,” said Mamori. “This is nothing. You shouldn't look so worried, Suzuna, I'll be fine.”
Suzuna blinked. “O-oh, yes, of course... I just feel bad, that's all...” Suzuna smiled weakly as she looked back into her wardrobe. “A-anyways yes, we still need to pick out an outfit for my date!”
“About that...” said Mamori hesitantly. “To be honest, I really don't think I can be much help.”
“Why?” asked Suzuna, looking surprised.
“Well...” Mamori shrugged. “I just never really did care about fashion much.” She pointed at her own outfit. “I always aim to feel comfortable in case I need to chase someone from causing more trouble. I've never been on a date either...”
“But you're going on a date with Agon right?”
Mamori blinked in surprise. “Eh? How did you know that?”
“All the cheerleaders are talking about it,” Suzuna grinned. “They're so jealous of you, Mamo-nee! Agon's ignoring most of them because he wants to be with you.”
“That's what I don't get,” said Mamori. “I don't see why he's interested in me when he has all these cheerleaders who're dying to be with him. I'm not pretty and I'm not even popular.”
“Well, I can teach you a thing or two about being popular,” Suzuna was grinning even more now.
“You can?”
“Sure!” cried Suzuna as she went to her dresser drawer and pulled out some accessories and a makeup box. “After all, I AM a cheerleader and have had my fair share of popularity myself... back in high school...” she shrugged a little. Then smiled at Mamori.
[Suzuna] (smiling)
Whenever I see someone who's prettier than I,
And let's face it, who isn't more prettier than I?
My little heart seems to feel so pleased
But when someone needs a makeover,
I simply have to take over,
I know I know exactly what they need
And even in your case...
Suzuna made Mamori sit on her bed and went straight behind her, combing Mamori's hair.
[Suzuna]
Though you're the first case that I've yet to face,
Don't worry, I'm determined to succeed!
Follow my lead,
And yes indeed, you will be... (shows Mamori the mirror)
Popular! You're gonna be popular!
I'll teach you the proper ploys,
When you talk to boys,
Little ways to flirt and flounce, ooh!
I'll show you what shoes to wear!
How to fix your hair!
Everything that really counts to be...
Popular! I'll help you be popular!
You'll hang with the right cohorts,
You'll be good at sports,
Know the slang you've got to know.
So let's start,
'Cause we've got a pretty long way to go!
Suzuna proceeded to tie Mamori's hair in a high ponytail.
[Suzuna]
Don't be offended by my frank analysis,
Think of it as personality dialysis,
Now that we've chosen to become good pals, a sister and advisor,
There's nobody wiser!
Not when it comes to...
Suzuna then faced Mamori and proceeded to apply powder on Mamori's face. Mamori coughed when she accidentally breathed it in.
[Suzuna]
Popular! I know about popular
And with an assist from me
To be who you'll be
Instead of simply who you were! Err.. are!
There's nothing that can stop you,
From becoming populer... lar!
“Err, Suzuna...” said Mamori but Suzuna, caught up by the excitement of dress up, proceeded to now apply lipstick on Mamori.
[Suzuna]
La la, la la!
We're gonna make you pop-u-lar!
When we see depressing creatures,
With unprepossessing features,
We remind them on their own behalf
To think of
Celebrated heads of state,
Or specially great communicators!
Did they have brains or knowledge?
Don't make me laugh!
They were popular!
Please! It's all about popular.
It's not about aptitude,
It's the way you're viewed,
So it's very shrewd to be,
Very very popular like me!
“Suzuna,” said Mamori, her eyes closed as Suzuna seemed to be applying mascara now. “I really don't think this is necessary!”
“Aaaaand done!” cried Suzuna, sounding very pleased with herself. She took a step back to look at Mamori, and sighed. “Mamo-nee! Look at you! You're beautiful!”
Mamori looked into the mirror and almost gasped. Suzuna didn't apply a heavy amount of makeup, but for some reason her looks were much better accentuated. And Suzuna had tied her hair with a long black ribbon that flowed down to her back. She had never tied her hair in such a style, and definitely couldn't help but think that she looked... different...
“Erm... thanks, Suzuna...” Mamori glanced at the clock on Suzuna's bedside table and quickly got up. “Oh, it's late. I have to go... Hiruma might be waiting for me. I'll see you tomorrow...” Mamori quickly opened the door, then stopped for a while to smile at Suzuna. “Thank you...” Then she left.
Suzuna blinked, confused. “You're welcome?” Then she grinned.
[Suzuna]
And though you protest
Your disinterest,
Y'know clandestinely,
You're gonna' grin and bear it!
Your new found popularity!
Ah! (dancing across her room)
La la, la la!
You'll be popular!
Just not quite as popular as me!
There was a sudden hard knock on the door. “Suzuna! Are you in there?” cried a girl's voice.
Suzuna jumped and panicked. She quickly ran to open the door. “Erm... hi...”
“Did you get it?” demanded one of the cheerleaders.
Suzuna nodded and slowly walked up to her dressing drawer, where Mamori had searched in and pulled out a needle.
“Careful! We don't want to ruin that!” the cheerleader cried.
Suzuna nodded again and pulled out a small casing from her pocket, and carefully placed the needle in it. She then passed it to the cheerleader who snatched it away from Suzuna. “Good. At least you can do that right.”
As the cheerleader left, Suzuna closed her room door and began to cry softly.
Hiruma searched online for more data on the use of magic when he suddenly felt the odd desire to search up on Agon. It felt odd, how it suddenly came up. If he was searching just because Mamori would be going out with Agon, then he knew it was worthless. Agon was just superior in many ways... But if it were about football...
Yes, if it were football, it would be fine. So Hiruma searched up on Agon and was surprised by a news piece he turned up. According to the article, Agon had suddenly announced that he had lost interest in football, and was leaving it for good. Which was odd as, if Hiruma remembered correctly, Agon aimed to be the top player because that would give him all the luxuries anyone would want and he knew Agon would have gotten it with his inborn talent. So why...?
“I'm back!” he heard Mamori cry. Hiruma groaned a little. Why is she constantly breaking his concentration today? He turned to tell her off when he noticed she looked... different, and was struggling to remove the ribbon on her hair. “H-Hiruma, I'm sorry but... could you help me take this off?” said Mamori.
Hiruma put his laptop away. “What the fuck did you do to yourself?”
“Well, I told Suzuna how I didn't know anything about fashion and she just... did this to me,” said Mamori, who seemed to have grown tired of trying to look for a way to remove the ribbon. “I've never used these things before so I have no idea how to take it off.”
Hiruma sneered. “Are you sure you're a girl?”
“Stop laughing at me and help me please! I already felt really embarrassed walking in here! The people at that party couldn't stop bothering me and kept asking me to join them. I think they're too drunk to notice that it's me.”
Hiruma cackled a little as he walked behind Mamori, and looked at the ribbon. It did look pretty complicated, but it was just that there were too many knots as well. He proceeded to untie the ribbon and kept his eyes focused on only the ribbon, trying hard not to look at Mamori's slim neck, or how she smelled oddly nice.
He finally managed to untie the ribbon and watched as Mamori's hair fell softly down. He heard Mamori sigh in relief. “Thank you, Hiruma,” she turned to smile at him. “I need to go get rid of the makeup. Don't you think I look like a clown?”
His initial thoughts were no. It actually accentuated Mamori's features perfectly. Like how blue her eyes were, and how soft her lips looked. But he grinned and said, “Yup, just like a fucking clown.”
Mamori shook her head smiling. “Somehow hearing that from you isn't comforting at all.” She then headed to the bathroom.
Hiruma went back to his laptop and placed his face in his hands. Damn these thoughts. Damn it all. It hurt even more to remember that she was probably going to look even prettier when she's with Agon. But he then remembered what had happened to him long ago and sighed. “Don't forget who you are...” he whispered to himself, and closed the information he was reading on Agon.
Yukimitsu had just packed his bags and was about to leave when he overheard Munakata in the other laboratory talking to someone he didn’t recognize. “I’m surprised you’re showing interest in this...”
“Just cut to the chase,” he heard the unknown voice say. “Does she have it or not?”
Yukimitsu carefully looked into a small window and saw Munakata looking into what he initially thought was a normal microscope, but he recognized it and knew it was a specially modified one to detect magical powers in blood. “You were right... she does seem to possess celestial powers,” said Munakata. “But it doesn’t look like she’ll be using it anytime soon. It’s too dormant.”
“That’s fine with me,” said a guy Yukimitsu couldn’t see, but he knew the guy had dreadlocks. He sounded oddly happy with that announcement. “That’s all I needed to know.”
Yukimitsu took a few steps back. A person with celestial powers? Who could that be?
Chapter 7 | Chapter 9