Haruka's Fanfiction

This story is not canon. It is based in one of my wife’s and my RPG worlds, this one being set in a family neighborhood. The households are usually large, and are made up of some of our favorite fandoms.

Info/warnings here: http://asylums.insanejournal.com/sakuracourt/profile
Earlier chapters here: http://canadian-haruka.insanejournal.com/tag/sakura+court


Sakura Court – Part 8

By Haruka (haruka@ymail.com)

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“Hi Rei!”

“Hey girls!” I greeted the employees behind the counter of my favorite doughnut shop. I go there to refuel when I’m closing Gates, but today I was there for lunch break from school. Students aren’t technically supposed to leave campus during lunch hour, but everyone does it.

Mitsu watched in admiration as I placed my order and the girls all flirted with me. When we got to a table, he shook his head. “How do you do it, man? These girls see a zillion people all day long, but for you, they all gather around and compete for your attention!”

I grinned at him. “When I come here on days I’m closing Gates, I look a lot more impressive in all my leather rather than this dorky uniform.”

“I don’t think it’s just that. It’s part of your magic that makes everyone love you, I guess.” Mitsu slurped some of the soup he’d ordered while I dug into my sandwich. “Hey,” he said, “did you hear about Kazuma getting sent to the Principal’s office?”

“About his hair and make-up, you mean? Yeah, what else is new?” I chuckled. “I’m not sure how he’s managed to avoid getting paddled for it yet, but he’s careful that way.”

“Or lucky. If it were me, I’d have been nailed as soon as I got in the door.”

I cocked my head and studied him, then shook my head. “Nope, can’t see you in make-up.”

“And you WON’T, either!” He laughed, taking a swipe at my head. “So stop trying to picture it!”

My cell phone rang and I chewed quickly and swallowed before answering. “Hello?”

“Rei,” it was my father, “your Uncle Kimeru just called – Hiroki is missing.”

“What?!” I gasped. “Oh no! When was he last seen?”

“Last night, but he never came home from his photo session.”

That was bad. My Uncle Kimeru was a famous Jpop idol, and his sons, Yuuta and Hiroki, were both beautiful, talented actors/singers/dancers. They could easily be prey to kidnappers for either their mother’s position in the entertainment world or their own. I thought of my sweet, goofy cousin in the hands of some freak and shuddered.

“I’ll keep my eye out, Tousan, and if he gets in touch with me, I’ll bring him to our house.”

“What happened?” Mitsu asked worriedly.

“Hiroki’s gone,” I answered, frowning at my sandwich. My appetite had disappeared.

Mitsu sighed. “That’s awful. He wasn’t … kidnapped, was he?”

“Tousan didn’t mention ransom demand, so we can’t say that yet. He’s been gone since last night, though.”

“Well,” Mitsu said thoughtfully, “if he wasn’t kidnapped, then he left on his own, right?”

“Yes, but he and my uncle and Yuuta have always had a good relationship,” I told him. “I mean, he and Yuuta fight like normal siblings, but they love each other.”

Mitsu glanced over at me significantly. “Something might have happened at home that you don’t know about yet.”

He was right, of course, but I really hoped that wasn’t the case. On the other hand, I sure didn’t want to hope Hiroki had been kidnapped, either.

The shop had gotten busier while we’d been there, but I hadn’t taken any notice of it until I heard a burst of raucous laughter from up near the counter. We looked over to see three guys a little older than ourselves, dressed in torn, frayed jeans and matching leather jackets with some kind of gang name on the back.

“Hey, baby, I’ll have that doughnut there. No wait, the one next to it. How many calories is in that, huh?”

“Hey, I’m buying this, how much is it?”

“How much is this pastry puff thing here?”

“What’s in that doughnut there with the sprinkles?”

“I gave you a twenty, not a ten! You trying to rip me off?!”

I took a last sip of my coffee and stood up. “Rei, where are you going?” Mitsu asked.

“Where do you think?” I grinned at him and headed for the counter.

“Always the hero.” I heard him chuckle behind me.

What the punks were doing was such a predictable tactic and I had seen it before. Several teenagers crowd a counter, start talking over each other and getting the servers confused, then pull a fast one with the payment, expecting the server to cough up extra change just to get rid of them. Guys like these make all teenagers look bad. I sidled up to the counter and smiled at them. “Hey there, guys, I think if you all slow down and speak one at a time, you’d stand a better chance of getting answers.”

The servers looked at me gratefully, as did the people in line behind the gang members, but they also backed away a little as the three of them turned to face me, sneering.

“Mind your own business if you don’t want to get hurt,” said the one who was pulling the cash scam. He assumed he could ignore me after his threat and turned back to the cashier. “Look, bitch, give me the rest of my money NOW!”

Then he didn’t care so much about money anymore, because my fist had connected with his foul mouth.

The girls screamed and jumped back and the waiting customers scattered whle Foulmouth’s two friends tried to jump me. Silly gang members. I fought Horrors on a nightly basis – taking out a couple of punks like these wouldn’t break me a sweat. I grabbed the first one that reached me, spun him around and cracked his head into the skull of his charging friend, taking them both out at once. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the glint of a knife as the one I’d punched came back for more. I caught his wrist and squeezed so he’d drop the weapon, then jerked him forward, and kneed him in the stomach three times in succession, finishing with another punch. That left all three of them on the floor, and the customers clapped and cheered.

“Thank you, Rei!” the servers were all smiling gratefully. One of them handed over a box of free doughnuts, for which I warmly thanked her.

“The police are here,” Mitsu pointed out, coming up behind me. “We’ll be late for school if we stay.”

“You can go through here.” One of the girls opened the rear door. “Everyone here saw what happened and the security cameras caught it all, too. We’ll tell the police it was all their fault.”

Knowing that the other guy pulling a knife would seal his fate, anyway, I took them up on their offer. I quickly scribbled my number on a paper bag. “If they have any questions, they can reach me here.”

“Thanks again!” the girls all waved while Mitsu and I escaped through the back of the store.

“One thing’s for sure, Rei,” Mitsu said as he accepted the doughnut I offered him. “Life is never boring with you around!”

“Maybe, but I’d like for it to be boring enough that my cousin is found safely,” I replied, refocusing back on my original concerns as I chewed my own doughnut and we headed back to school.


Rei

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End of Part 8

(2008)

No characters here are mine. Celebrities here are for fictional purposes only and none of the events within ever happened.

This fic is not to be re-posted.