Chapter 9

-- A Reunion! --

In the morning I awoke with just as much energy as the day before but this time before prancing around shouting good morning, I checked to make sure Roido and Enick were still there and breathing. Enick was on the couch in the same position as when he fell asleep, and when I peeked into Roido’s room I saw he also hadn’t shifted any.

At that moment, I decided to let them sleep. They had endured a tough day the previous day, especially Roido, so it wasn’t fair for me to come in at eight o’clock in the morning and disturb their much-needed sleep. I went to go downstairs, but then I glanced back at Roido whose face showed much discomfort, so after examining him again, I entered the room and sat on his bedside, watching his chest move up and down. I don’t know why, but I felt compelled to check his heart beat, so I laid my head on his chest and listened to the steady beat his heart made. I realized he must’ve been very healthy since I actually had to wait a moment to hear the following beats. I smiled as I drew my head back up, and I played with his hair a moment, still staring at his face as he slept.

Once satisfied and fully reassured he wasn’t going to die soon, I walked down the stairs as quietly as I could, but once I reached the bottom I looked at Enick. Just to make sure, I walked over to him and checked his pulse and breathing.

“I’m not dead yet,” he told me.

I chuckled but then ruffled his hair, “Sorry for waking you up.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ve been awake for a while now.”

“Oh, then want me to make you something to eat?” I asked. “I was thinking about making some eggs.”

He took a deep breath and snuggled against the pillow, still not opening his eyes.

“Sure, that sounds good.”

I finally got down to cooking and made us some breakfast. Enick managed to walk into the kitchen by himself but only laid his head down on the table.

“I didn’t say you had to get up…” I told him.

He shrugged lazily, “Doesn’t mean I can’t.”

I served him his food and started on mine, but then a familiar voice came to my attention.

“Wow! What smells so good?”

I turned around and there was Roido, still a bit weary but sniffing the air with his usual smile.

“It’s breakfast,” Enick answered bluntly.

“Is mine almost done?!” he shouted excitedly.

I raised an eyebrow at him, “Jeez… I’d think you’d be moping around all depressed.”

He tilted his head confused, making his earrings bounce, “Huh? Why’s that?”

“Because of yesterday,” Enick answered.

“What happened yesterday that I’d be depressed about today?”

We stared at him for a moment but then continued doing whatever, so Roido rubbed his head still confused but shrugged it off and sat down next to Enick. Before I knew it, I was sitting down at the table eating, trying my hardest to stay calm while the two idiots argued… loudly.

“This is just like the time you stepped on my tail!” Roido screamed. “You stuck your foot in my food!”

“Your food is on the table you idiot! I can’t stick my foot in something on the table without being noticed!” Enick argued.

“Oh my—! Did you just take my eggs?! Bastard! Give them back!!”

“You ate them you brainless oaf!”

“Then where are they?!”

“Oh my—… You ate them!!”

“No I—!”

I slammed my fist on the table, “Shut up!! Do you think—?!”

Before I could even finish, Roido slapped his hands over his hears closing his eyes tightly and lowering his head slightly.

“Blah! Blah! Blah! I can’t hear you! Blah! Blah! Blah!” he yelled.

My anger melted down quick as I stared at his pained expression confused.

“You don’t know what ‘that’ scent is?”

“Yes, I do… Of course not, you idiot!! Does it look like I know?!”

“Don’t talk to the prince like that! Show some—!”

“Blah! Blah! Blah! I can’t hear you! Blah! Blah! Blah!”

“Is he… quoting me?” I asked myself silently, remembering that incident. “Roido?”

He just tightened up, not even glancing at me, “I can’t… hear you…”

Now Enick was staring at him confused, but ignoring him, I reached over and touched Roido’s shoulder. He loosened up a bit feeling the gentle touch and opened his eyes. Still staring confused, I gently started to pull away his hands away from his ears to talk to him, but as soon as I opened my mouth to speak, he clamped his ears shut and squeezed his eyes closed again.

Enick had lost the baffled look and now just stared emotionlessly. After a minute of watching me try to pry his hands off, he stood up and ruffled his brother’s hair. Roido opened his eyes with puzzlement, but when Enick’s hand dropped to his side, Roido looked up at his older brother, moving his hands away from his ears a tiny bit.

“She won’t say it,” he told him.

I looked at him with a raised eyebrow, asking him what he meant through my expression, but then looked at Roido when his hands fell into his lap.

“So, what won’t I say?” I asked.

Roido stared at me with an emotionless stare—something completely out of his character—confusing me even more.

“I don’t want to say it,” he said leaving.

I followed him out into the living room, but instead of stalking him up the stairs and to his room, I sat down on the couch thinking. Enick happened to be there too and noticed my confusion.

“You want to know, don’t you?”

I raised an eyebrow at him, not entirely sure what he meant.

“Know what?” I asked. “Ya mean what I wasn’t going to say to Roido?”

He nodded.

“Yeah… that made no sense.”

He sighed, “He thought you were going to say something about his father. That’s the only thing he’s over-sensitive about. That’s why he started crying the other day.”

“Because I said his father would be ashamed of him?” I asked.

Enick just stared at me, so I thought about it more.

“Oh… so how’d he get over it?” I asked.

Enick closed his eyes and leaned back on the couch.

“Well, I’ve had to keep cheering him up back home because he’d overhear guards talking about his father or sometimes even comparing them to each other,” he explained. “So I helped him get out some of the sadness. I don’t think it was enough, though.”

“How come? If so, how’d he—?”

“He ran away, remember? And almost being raped can help you get over just about anything.” He said with a hint of anger.

I stared at him, surprised by his sharp snap but then sighed, “You don’t like my questions, do you?”

He didn’t look over at me or anything, just simply said, “No, I don’t.”

“Do you even like talking to me?” I asked.

He stayed silent for a moment but then said, “No.”

I glared at the ground but then closed my eyes, telling myself that he should’ve said something earlier but then something pulled me to the side. When I came to my senses, I was in Enick’s arms with his head against mine.

“I love talking to you.”

I stayed still for a moment, absorbing what he just said to me. After a moment of an unloosening hug, I gave him a half-glare.

“That’s was a really corny line, ya know.” I commented.

He smirked, still not releasing me any, “I know.”

I rolled my eyes, but then after a minute of a tight hug I groaned, getting tired of that fuzzy feeling. He got the message but just hugged tighter, wearing the expression of “I don’t care.”

I sighed but then closed my eyes, figuring I’d have to make the best of it. He let out a sigh then snuggled against my cheek, but instead of staying silent he whispered something in my ear.

“Kiss me.”

I held my breath…

“Kiss me,” he ordered again.

He gently turned my head and stared into my eyes for a moment.

“You’ve got pretty eyes… they’re so rare…” he whispered.

I just stared back, not sure what to make of this. I knew what he wanted… but whether or not I wanted the same thing I still hadn’t decided. I hoped he’d stall until I found my answer.

A knock at the door disturbed us—much to my pleasure—so he let me go so I could answer it.

“I’ll be right back,” I told him before running to the door.

I opened it only to find the town sheriff standing there with a warm smile.

“Hey, Emma. How’s it going?”

I smiled, “Oh hi!” I looked at him unsure. “Did… I do something?”

He laughed, “Nah, not at all. Just there’s a kid in my car saying that he was trying to find you, but I’ve never been told about a blonde kid hanging around you before.

“Blonde kid? It couldn’t be… Um, I do know one…”

“Oh, really? Hold on, I’ll bring him here.”

I waited a bit stiff as the sheriff walked over to the car to get this “kid”. Enick walked up behind me to see what was going on, but we both were awestruck at this next site. As soon as this blonde boy walked out of the car, I covered my mouth and Enick ran into the house to inform Roido.

As soon as the boy noticed me, his eyes got teary.

“Miss Angel!” he shouted running up to me, arms outstretched.

“Sec!”

When he reached me we hugged each other tightly, and Sec cried his heart out.

“We were all really worried…” he told me, but then he perked up and looked me in the eyes. “The others… are waiting! But we don’t know where Roi—!”

“Sec!!” someone shouted from behind.

We looked and there was Roido, staring in complete shock. Sec’s eyes glittered immediately, and he hugged his best friend tightly.

“You’re okay!” the boy shouted.

Roido hugged back also glad to see his cheerful young friend alive and well. The cop chuckled at this sight but turned to me with a confused look.

“Are these men living with you?” he asked.

“Gr… everyone’s gunna get the wrong idea… wait a second! Well, the thing is, these three are brothers and their parents don’t have the money to support them so they’re just living here ‘til they can go back home,” I lied.

The three boys looked at me surprised but then grinned, getting the message... except Enick. He gave me a weird look.

The cop nodded, “All right, seeing as you four are all right I’ll get go—”

“Hold on a minute,” I stated. “I have a request, if you wouldn’t mind.”

The man looked at me confused but I grinned slyly.

Some minutes later…

“Hey, Emma? What did you write on that paper you gave the guard?” Roido asked.

“Ya mean that cop? Well, I just gave him some names.”

“Now that’s suspicious.” Enick added.

“Man, that sucked yesterday,” Ken complained. “Not only did we miss getting laid, but got beat up by that slut… again.”

“Rei, was his name right? Well, as much as I normally hate doing it with other men, he’s one of the few I would love to get a piece of. Not a bike,” Leo stated, remembering the painful memory of being nailed with a metal mountain bike.

Ben grumbled, “Shut up. I’m disappointed too.”

“What about that Nick guy?” George asked. “He didn’t look half-bad either.”

“Hm… I think he’s more fit for the ‘dominate’ role,” Leo pointed out. “But that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.”

John groaned and went to leave.

“Where ya goin?” Ken asked.

“Home. Hearing you guys talk about an attempted rape on a guy is disgusting,” he answered, leaving. “When you guys feel like acting like school graduates instead of desperate drop outs then let me know.”

With that, he left. The others shrugged. A couple of cars pulled up to them and out came a group of people with the sheriff in front but dressed in regular clothes.

“Hey, Smitty, what’s up?” Ben asked.

“You’re all under arrest for attempted rape and assault on Rei Amethyst.”

“What?!”

A knock at the door disturbed me while I was at the stove, but since I would end up burning the house down, I couldn’t get it.

“Enick, get the door please!” I shouted.

He grumbled because he was in the middle of an emotionally deep part of the comics but got up anyway and answered the door.

“Hey,” a familiar man greeted.

Enick glared sharply, remembering who this man hung out with, “Hey.”

He leaned on the doorframe with his arms folded, waiting for the guy to state his purpose of being there.

“Is Emma there?” he asked. “I need to tell her something.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s none of your business.”

“I’ll go tell her that,” Enick stated, shutting the door.

The guy just stood outside the door insulted.

“Who was it?” I asked.

Enick shrugged, “No one.”

“… Enick…”

After forcing Enick to tell me who it was, I reopened the door and found John standing there, staring up at the sky, but when he noticed me he turned his attention to me with a smile.

“Hey, Emma.”

“Sorry about Nick. He’s just a bit cranky from yesterday. After all, we find a runaway note from his little brother then he goes through the entire day without food, water or rest looking for him only to find that he was nearly raped… by your friends but—!”

“I-I know already,” John interrupted. “They were talking about it, so I’ve got the picture.”

I raised an eyebrow at him and put a hand on my hip, “And you didn’t completely kill them?”

“No, I saw the cops hanging around.”

“You told the cops…?” Roido asked me.

I turned to him calmly, “Yeah, why?”

He glared at me childishly, “Well, why didn’t you tell me?!”

“‘Cause, you were finally feeling better with Sec’s sudden visit,” I answered. “Which reminds me… I need to ask him something. John, you can come in and Roido, no pranks. I don’t want this to end the way it did with Dan. And try to keep him company. It’s not much of a visit if you’re bored.”

Roido smiled childishly and saluted me, “Ai’aye captain!”

When I was gone, John looked at Roido with a raised eyebrow.

“Do you always act like a two-year-old?” John asked.

Roido laughed, “I dunno! How do two-year-olds act?”

He gave the demon a weird look, “Never mind…”

“Ignore him, he’s O.D’d on sugar twenty-four-seven,” Enick stated.

“How old are you guys?”

“Eighteen!”

“Nineteen.”

“So… a giddy eighteen year old princess and a very creepy nineteen year old bookworm? Strange…”

When I came downstairs, I knew something had happened because both Enick and Roido were throwing death glares at John—who was completely oblivious of their hate because he noticed a white moth had wondered in from the cracked open window.

“Okay, what’d I miss?” I asked.

John looked at me surprised, “Oh, nothing. Is there something I should’ve noticed?”

I raised an eyebrow at him and pointed down at the two demons, “And two strange teenagers sending you death glares isn’t conspicuous?”

John shrugged, “I’m used to it.”

I shook my head, “You’re used to too many bad things.”

Enick gasped quietly hearing this.

“Sorry about calling you creepy.”

“I’m used to it.”

“You’re used to too many bad things.”

“Well,” I continued. “ What are you here for? You always have some sort of an excuse.”

He shrugged, “Guess I just wanted to say sorry to you three about what my so-called-friends tried to do to Rei.”

Roido’s glare vanished instantly, and he cocked his head, replacing the hate with curiosity.

“Really?” he asked.

John rubbed his head with an unsure look but then said, “Well, yeah. I’m embarrassed to be seen with them now.”

Roido smiled childishly and chuckled, “Then I forgive you for calling me a princess! But don’t do it again. I’ll get mad.”

John gave him a weird look but then looked back at me, “Well, that’s really all I came to say, so, I’ll see you around?”

I nodded so he left, but then I took a moment to examine Roido and Enick who both seemed to have forgotten about the insult. Enick had continued the comic, but Roido had immediately begun fumbling around with the X box. I discovered something about Roido at this moment. He was completely compatible with modern technology. I found this out when he turned on the X box and TV without a problem and selected a game to play. It took him a second to figure out how to hold the controller, but then he started to play Halo 2… and he was doing really good.

I watched him sit on the floor cross-legged just staring at the TV with a fixed look on his face as he pressed several buttons in a minute. After a couple minutes, I noticed Enick had started to watch also, but then getting tired of seeing him blow his opponents’ brains out over and over again, he decided to try and play against him. It ended up with Enick having five kills and Roido having twenty. Enick might’ve won more if he had tried hiding at all when Roido was sniping him out.

Either way, he was getting really irritated.

“Er, stupid game… I don’t understand this stupid contraption!” he shouted, pointing at the controller.

Roido looked at him confused, “It’s easy…” He leaned over and pointed at several buttons. “This is reload, this is shoot, this is throw a grenade, this is—.”

“Roido!” Enick shouted, “I-don’t-care!”

Roido raised an eyebrow at him, “Then why are you getting upset about it?”

“I’m not! Just restart!”

Roido looked back at the TV and shrugged, smiling half-amused, “Okay.”

Another round was quickly finished, but at this moment Enick gave up on the game so Roido started to play in one-player. That’s when I decided to tell them.

“Sec just told me where to find everyone else,” I said.

Roido paused the game, and Enick looked up from the comic he had been reading.

“Then what are we waiting for?!” Roido shouted excitedly. “Let’s go get them!”

I smiled both glad he was so enthusiastic about seeing everyone again and that his brain hadn’t been completely melted by the TV’s hypnosis, but since Enick didn’t react as happily to it I decided to tease him.

“Enick, smile and at least pretend you’re happy to know they’re okay,” I ordered.

He rolled his eyes, “I am glad they’re okay. Just I don’t get excited that easily.”

“I don’t believe you.” I told him. “Be excited or else I’m leaving you here to baby-sit Sec.”

Roido watched him with a curious look as we waited for Enick to act excited.

“I’m… happy… they’re okay…” he said, forcing a smile out.

“More enthusiasm.”

His cheeks turned red, and he looked away, “I’d rather baby-sit…”

Well, I didn’t make him baby-sit Sec. Instead I had him baby-sit Roido, who seemed insulted when I said that. I brought Sec along with me in place of them, but I was very surprised, though, when Sec lead me to the stone in the middle of the woods.

Turns out, Enick and I both overlooked all of them laying on the ground unconscious. They weren’t very happy about that, but when I got there I was given plenty of smiles and hugs. I walked them to my house and talked to them about what’s happened so far—no one liked the “When Roido ran away” story—but when they all reached my house, they took no time in making themselves at home. Gini and Sec soon joined Roido on the X box, Kes joined Enick with reading the comics, and Tai and Tendra watched the game players play several games. (From eaves dropping I found out that the reason we had been arrested in Lutibrist when heir hunting was because Julan convinced his father that not only did we cheat in winning the duel but also because he persuaded his father into thinking I assaulted him when he threatened to spill the beans about the cheating.)

Nothing else fascinating took place throughout the day, but at night, something of more interest happened…