KUROSHIRO
“A local priest accused of indecent conduct with his younger parishioners has been cleared of charges. Reports say a commission headed by the Bishop of Tokyo cleared Father Osamu Akari of St. Paul Parish, North Minato Ward on all charges stemming from an allegation made in July of last year. ”
“You see, Heiji? That last mission paid off and God gave you the answer.”
“Junichi, that’s completely illogical. It seems suspect that God would reward me for robbing a convenience store. Besides, if we continue this way, I’ll have little to no gain. I have Father Akari back. I know of nothing else.”
“Heiji, we all have things we want. I helped you last time and it went well. Don’t think your getting off so easily. You still have the yakuza to contend with. I know your father let you down and it hurts. What he did will soon be remedied, thanks to Akataka and the others.”
“Fine, but make one thing clear. I’m not an idiot. That robbery wasn’t a serious crime. If anything happens and I’m not totally accepting of it, don’t expect my help.”
“I don’t know how accepting Akataka will be, but I’ll be sure to put in a good word. Now, open the folder and read it. I’ll get the sukiyaki off the stove. You like mirin on it, right?”
黒白
Light crept across the eyes of Kuroshiro as he came to. Once again, he surfed the couch like nobody’s business and ended up in a floating position. Maybe some ghosts like it that way, but not him. He had always slept in the steel cage of the Hibiya train station with his back to the wall. It always did a number on his back during the full moon. Maybe this was a reaction to the freedom he now possessed.
Sitting up, he felt a migraine shoot through his head. He clutched his face with clenched teeth baring his pain. Third time this week and always after a dream from my past. This time, it was during the aftermath of his first mission in the gang. He and Junichi delivered the money to Akataka and went back to the apartment they shared. It was a questionable time and one of the reasons Kuroshiro was still alive on this planet. No use crying about it. Keep going. This will all be over soon.
He yawned a tad and stood up to face another day, his black and white ensemble looking ruffled as ever. Would it kill the spirit world to have an iron or something? He scanned the room for the others only to hear sounds from the kitchen.
He found Griffin and Akira in the kitchen with the others. They seemed tired from last night with Akira’s puppy eyes looking half asleep and Griffin just about drooling on the frying pan. Gee, wonder what they were doing in the woods. I swear those two are getting weirder and weirder by the passing minute. They didn’t look up Kuroshiro, which gave him a idea. Being the sport he was, decided the phase through the wall and give them all a good fright.
Slowly, he charged up a good howl to rattle their exhausted state. Focusing his energy he crept forward to phase. San, ni, ichi-.
“OPPAN GANGNAM STYLE!”
Kuroshiro jumped four feet in the air, phasing right through the ceiling. Sheepishly realizing the tables were turned, he hung there for a bit until he noticed a nasty looking spider and what he swore was a centipede under the floorboards.
Freaking out again, he slowly phased back down to find his tormentor was Violett, iPod in ear and…doing the most ridiculous dance ever.
Akira looked up to see him. Flashdancey Violett had foiled the scare plan. In dredging sorts, the werewolf said “Good morning starshine and Happy Halloween. How did you sleep?”
Kuroshiro, still a bit tired, yawned a bit and half mumbled, “Like a surii-ping person, how else? Woke up a maiyu-gurei-nu, though.”
“You too? Griffin seemed out of sorts and so did I. In fact, pretty much everyone woke up with a weird headache. Except Violett, who is apparently IMMUNE TO MORNINGS.” Her raised voice meant they were probably in for a fantastically sarcastic day.
Kuroshiro slumped into the kitchen and took his place up against a wall. “What the hell happened last night?”
Akira put her furry hand on her chin “You got me. All I know is I went into the woods to feed because of the full moon and when I came to, I was awake. Griffin, do you remember anything else?”
Griffin, just across the table with scaly arms folded, turned his head at Kuroshiro with an I-have-no-idea face, and turned to Akira. “I already told you. I remember going with you, so you could feed. We both came back, everyone was asleep and you wanted a stiff drink…”
Kuroshiro’s face rose at this. “Stop right there, Griff. Since when do we have alcohol in the mansion? Ever since I gave her that dry gin and she hated it, the place has been dry.”
“I had to run out and grab some. Akira said that it helped a bit.”
Kuroshiro turned to Akira, whose black fur bristled at the realization of being found out. He put his pointer and thumb to his bridge and calmly as possible. “So, there was alcohol and no one told me?”
She awkwardly picked up a bit of toast and chewed calmly. “Well, we didn’t want to hurt you feelings. I mean, you missed your full moon chance by a day.” She sucked a bit of her coffee out of its cup as if to add a liquid telegraph stop.
“I’m sorry, but did you forget what day this is. It’s fu-ree-kuen Haro-een! Or, as spirits prefer, Samhain. This is the peak day of spiritual energy. In the realm of the living! All spirits get a free pass for the night and come into physical form. So yeah, I get to be human and you get to tell me where the alcohol is. Though, I could go out to the bar, but that would take money. I guess I’ll just steal some when your-”
“Downstairs, to the left.”
Kuroshiro dashed like an excitable puppy down the creaking staircase. At least, if he was physically capable to make them creak.
The basement wasn’t too much to look at. Storage, wine racks with nothing in them, nothing spectacular. In the relative darkness, he fumbled around, barely having enough time to phase through dangerous obstacles. At last, he reached the alcohol cabinet on the left face of the room. It was lovingly crafted from mahogany, intricate details of printing and all. He scanned the selection and found the drink.
黒白
As Akira and Griffin were listening to Violett sing in butchered Korean for the sixteenth time, they heard, “YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!” from down below. Seconds later, after a frantic run, Kuroshiro was at the top of the stairs, eyes narrowed. “The one day of the year I’m garu-en-tidu humanity, and you have the aodashi-ti to buy a WAINKŪRĀ?”
Akira looked up with confusion. “What’s so terrible about a wine cooler? I told Griffin to buy something that tasted good, not that Damrak gin crap you were peddling.”
“Wainkūrā are barely a drink. I’m a man and can han-deru a stiffer drink!”
Akira raised her eyelids in disapproval. “So what your saying is I can’t handle myself?”
“What I am saying is your alcohol selection is crap!”
Violett decided to dance back into the kitchen to lighten the mood. Her legs kicked in time to the beat of the song “HEEEEEEEYYYY AEBELSKIVERS!!”
He looked at her brother, whom he just noticed. “I don’t know how you do it Locke, but your pretty damn impu-resefu.”
The púca just shrugged. “She’s my sister. What more do you want?”
Kuroshiro looked back at Violett . “What the hell is she doing? It looks painful.”
With a breath confirming Kuroshiro’s blatant obliviousness, Akira muttered, “You never heard of Psy?”
“No, I haven’t. Frankly, I don’t care what you children listen to. From what I hear about American pop music, it’s all the same, with your Gagas and your Ke$has.”
Akira looked at Griffin and chuckled. “He’s thinks it’s American,” and looked back to Kuroshiro. “You think it’s American.”
“I don’t know how people talk these days. It’s all this weird American slang.”
“Man, you really are an old man when it comes down to it. Gangnam Style is Korean.”
Violett popped up next to him. “How do you not know Gangnam Style?”
Akira, in a musing sort of way, responded with, “Because he likes to listen to people that haven’t been relevant since Pokémon first came out.”
“You take that back!”
“Well, then prove me wrong.”
“When I was alive, I used to listen to Sting, Happy End, and Kyu Sakamoto. Do they count?”
Akira shook her head. “You’re making this way too easy.”
Kuroshiro looked at her with shock, “What, you mean Sting isn’t rera-fentu anymore?”
“The 90’s weren’t kind to you, were they?”
“Well, I died in '93, so yeah, pretty bad time if you ask me.”
Griffin placed his elbows on the table in resignation. “You two…”
Kuroshiro stood up and decided he had enough of this. “Fine. I’ll just have to go out to a bar.”
Akira stared him down. “Take my money and you’re a dead man.”
---------------------------------
I thought I’d get this chapter out already. Kind of a segway chapter. So yes, laugh at Kuroshiro’s ineptitude to work into modern times and how everyone is still doing Gangnam Style. Also, terrible Engrish is back in full force! He’s getting better at English so it will probably fade soon. I’ll give something resembling a crap next chapter. Lot of stuff going on right now.
I always though Violett as a spazz. So...yeah.
OPPAN GANGNAM STYLE!!
~Hisaishi
