Chapter 2: Shadows in the Alleys

	Alison sat in Latin class again, a month after Damien’s appearance,
dutifully working on the homework for tomorrow.  Shiko was drawing on 
hers, and Damien double-checked his, careful not to look in Angelico’s
direction or acknowledge his existence at all.  If Mr. Watcher noticed 
the studied indifference, he gave no sign of it.
	Alison looked up as a strange man walked into the room; he had 
short, curly hair that was such a dark brown it almost looked black, a 
deep tan, and classical, almost noble Mediterranean features.  He went
straight to the teacher, saying something in yet another unidentifiable
language.  Shiko looked up, too, and her face broke into a wide smile.  
She waved at the stranger, and he smiled back at her.  Mr. Watcher looked 
at them, then answered in the same language and pointed at Shiko.  Shiko 
got up and began chattering a mile a minute in the other language.  The 
man smiled and sweatdropped, then led her out into the hall.  Alison 
glared at her homework, not really seeing it.  What was going on NOW?  
This was getting more bizarre the longer she thought about it.
	Damien leaned over and whispered to her, “Could you please give this 
to - to the teacher?”
	“What’s wrong?” she asked, wondering why he was so determined to 
avoid Mr. Watcher.
	“Nothing,” he said, averting his eyes, “but would you, please?”
	She shrugged, thinking that it couldn’t hurt to indulge him this 
one time.  “Okay, sure.”  He gave her another of his rare, heartbreaking 
real smiles and handed her the classwork; she took it and walked up the
teacher’s desk, trying to keep her heart rate normal and failing.
	Mr. Watcher looked up from the papers he was grading.  “I’m sorry,
Alison, but you can’t turn your homework in early.”
	She blushed and held the paper out, managing to say, “It’s not mine,
it’s Damien’s.”
	“Oh.”  He looked rather disconcerted, but accepted it.  “Well… 
thank you.”  Unable to think of anything else to say, Alison went back to 
her seat, not hearing Damien’s sigh of relief.
	Shiko came back into the room with a grim look on her face.  She 
said something to Angelico in that strange, ancient-sounding language, 
and added a one-word question.  His face darkened momentarily, and his 
reply was curt.  Shiko went to her seat and gathered her things, then 
turned to Alison.  “Alison?”
	“Huh?”
	Dead serious, she said, “Go straight home after school.  Don’t stop 
for anything, stay with Tamisha as long as possible, and DON’T go out 
after the sun’s started to set.”
	“Word of a new murderer, huh?” Alison asked.  “Don’t worry, I know 
what to do.”
	Shiko smiled at her.  “Yes, that’s it exactly.  Just - be careful.”
	“I promise I won’t go looking for trouble,” she said solemnly, unsure 
of why Shiko would be so worried.
	Damien looked troubled, asking something Japanese that sounded like,
“Kage desu ka?”
	Shiko nodded.  “Un.  But you stay in school.  Tim and I will deal 
with things…”
	“Wakatta.”  
	Shiko gave him a smile and left with the stranger.  Alison looked at 
her homework again, but it seemed more meaningless than ever.  Who was 
this guy that Shiko was going off with?  What was Shiko so worried about, 
and why would Damien care about it?  It’s enough to drive me to the loony
bin, she thought with despair.  Won’t I ever get to learn what’s going 
on?  Even a little bit?

	That day Alison walked home with just Tamisha and Damien, which felt 
a little awkward.
	“Where’s Shiko?” Tamisha asked.
	“She left early,” Damien said.
	“With some guy,” Alison felt obliged to add.
	Tamisha made a half-disgusted face.  “Huh.  Wouldn’t have figured 
her for that type…”
	Damien glared at her.  “She ISN’T,” he said loyally.  “It’s not like
that at all…”
	“He was some old guy,” Alison said for clarification, and Damien
suppressed a laugh.  “He seemed nice, though.”
	“Still…  I mean…” Tamisha began, but even she didn’t seem sure what 
she was going to say next.  “Ah, what the hell.  She’s over sixteen.”
	Damien sighed in frustration, and Alison felt like joining him. 
Honestly, Tamisha could be so cynical and suspicious sometimes…  
	They reached Tamisha’s house.  “Well, see you guys tomorrow,” she 
said, and Damien bowed to her.  “Bye.”
	“See you,” Alison said, and Tamisha went into her house.  Damien
continued walking with Alison, keeping a wary eye out.
	A little nervous, Damien began, “About Shiko-san…  You know she 
wouldn’t really do that, right?”
	“Of course I do,” she reassured him, mentally threatening Tamisha 
with a painful death.  “Shiko isn’t that kind of person.”
	Damien semi-smiled with relief.  “That’s good…  I don’t wish to
criticize Miss Tamisha, but she can be very cynical, can’t she?”
	“Yeah.”  Alison sighed.  “She’s just like that sometimes…”  They 
walked on in a comfortable silence until reaching Alison’s house.  He 
stopped in front of it, turning to face her.
	“You will be careful, won’t you?” he asked, looking worried and 
somehow even more adorable than normal.  “And listen to what Shiko-san 
said?”
	She had to smile at him.  “Yes - I promised her, didn’t I?”
	He smiled back, a real smile.  “That’s good.  It would be awful if
anything happened to you, Miss Alison.”
	Inside, she was melting all over the place.  He was such a little
sweetheart…  She kept smiling.  “I happen to agree with you along those 
lines.  Well, see you.”
	He looked embarrassed suddenly.  “Anou - well, I’ll see you 
tomorrow!”  She went into her house, and he walked away, breathing a soft
sigh of relief.
	Alison fixed herself a quick snack, then went into the living room 
and flopped in front of their small TV, turning it on to the news 
channel.  The announcer had on her “uh-oh, bad news” expression.
	“The breaking story tonight: two prisoners have escaped from the 
local prison and are currently at large.  They are being pursued by the
police, but have not yet been captured.  There is no immediate danger, 
but authorities suggest remaining at home if possible, and above all do 
not go anywhere alone.  Take sensible and safe precautions, and there 
should be no danger to you.”  She continued on, giving descriptions of 
the criminals and what they had done; Alison ignored that part.  How did
Shiko know? she thought.  That guy must have told her… but why?  And why
would she have to leave school because of it?  I mean, it’s not like 
she’s a policeman or something, it shouldn’t have anything to do with 
her.
	Her mother walked in.  “Oh, I see you’ve heard about those 
criminals…” she began.
	“Yeah.”
	“Perhaps I should drive you to school tomorrow.  I know that the 
walk isn’t great at the best of times, but with these people on the 
loose… well, I just worry, dear.”
	“It’s okay, mom,” Alison said.  “If you’re really worried, I’ll call 
and ask one of my friends to walk with me.”
	Her mother seemed uncertain.  “Well - if you’re sure…  And if it
wouldn’t be too much trouble for them…”
	Alison smiled at her.  “I don’t think so, mom.”  She got up to call
Tamisha.
	“I suppose it’s all right, then,” her mother said, still unsure.

	Next morning Tamisha and Alison were walking to school, when Damien 
and Shiko ran to catch up.
	“Morning, Alison, Tamisha!” Shiko said cheerfully; she looked more 
tired than normal, but as happy as ever.
	“Good morning,” Alison said, and Tamisha added her own laconic
“Morning.”
	Damien bowed.  “Good morning, Miss Tamisha, Miss Alison.”
	“Well, everything’s okay now!” Shiko announced.  “The criminals are 
back in custody!”  She grinned and flashed a victory sign.
	“They caught them already?” Alison asked, not quite believing her.
	“I believe there were special forces sent out…” Damien clarified, 
giving Shiko a pointed look for some reason.
	“Yep!” Shiko beamed, ignoring him.  “Isn’t that great?!”
	Tamisha yawned.  “Sure.  Remind me to rejoice once I’m actually 
awake.”
	Alison rolled her eyes at her and said, “That’s good news.”  It was 
nice to know that the police force was doing something right for once, 
but something didn’t ring quite true.
	Shiko only smiled.  “Yep!  Now everything’s okay!”
	“Why’d  you have to leave early yesterday?” Tamisha wanted to know.  
“I heard you went off with some guy.”
	“That was my uncle Tim,” Shiko said, looking a little embarrassed.  
“My aunt got sick and we had to go visit her…”
	“As she says,” Damien said in support, though he didn’t seem to 
believe the excuse.
	“I’m sorry,” Alison said sincerely.  “I hope she gets better soon.”
	“Well, things look good right now,” Shiko replied with her ever-
present grin, “so I’m sure she’ll be fine!”
	“Riiiiiiiiight,” Tamisha said, but even after being pressured she
wouldn’t say what she meant by that.

	In Latin that day, Shiko was half-asleep, with her head resting on 
her arms and her eyes closed, though she didn’t stoop to snoring.  
Alison just sighed, deciding that it wasn’t worth the bother to wonder 
why Shiko would be so tired, and copied down the day’s exercises.  Mr.
Watcher sat at his desk, correcting papers.
	Damien poked Shiko in the back, whispering, “Shiko-san… wake up…”  
She meowed at him and went back to dozing; Alison hushed him, and he went
back to pushing his homework around his desk.  She looked at him, 
wondering why he was always so reserved in this class, and he gave her 
an embarrassed smile.
	Abruptly Mr. Watcher straightened up, announcing, “All right, 
whoever has their homework, please come up here and give it to me.”
	Hoping to avoid her previous embarrassment, Alison went up to the 
desk before Damien could ask her to take up his homework, too.  With a
despairing expression, he poked at Shiko, but she only muttered 
something unintelligible in any language and continued to nap.
	Mr. Watcher smiled at Alison, perfectly friendly, and she tried not 
to fall over where she stood.  “Thank you.”
	Searching desperately for something to say, she managed to come up 
with, “May I go get a drink of water?”
	“Of course,” he said, and she left gratefully.
	Damien pushed his homework around his desk again as Shiko slept. 
Angelico looked around the classroom, seeing that several students were 
still trying to finish their homework, and said loudly, “Any homework I 
don’t get in the next five minutes will be given an F, whether it’s done 
or not.”  Damien’s eyes widened to the size of saucers; finally realizing
that there were no other options, he picked up his homework as well as
Shiko’s and walked up to the desk, his eyes riveted to the floor.  He 
held the papers out stiffly, not daring to speak.
	Angelico looked at the papers, then reached out to take them.  By
accident, their hands brushed.  Damien jumped back, swallowing hard and
beginning to blush.  Angelico blinked, blushing as well and looking down 
at his desk.  “S- sorry…” he mumbled, strangely shy.
	One student whispered to another, “Hey, I think the little fag has 
a crush on the teacher!”  The other student snickered and whispered back,
“Yeah, no kidding!”  Damien’s face turned bright red, and he fled back to 
his desk.
	Angelico heard the comment, and his face turned to stone.  He stood 
up, glaring knives at both the students; fire was almost visible burning
along his line of sight.  “Young men, you are NOT permitted to speak in 
my class.  Furthermore, name-calling is STRICTLY against the rules!  
Report to detention immediately, and stay there for the rest of the day! 
Dismissed!”
	The students grumbled and made faces, but left without open 
rebellion; they had never seen Mr. Watcher so angry.  Damien put his 
face down on his desk, trying to hide the fact that he was still blushing
furiously.  Angelico sat down, also red and hiding it behind the homework
papers.  At the commotion, Shiko woke up and looked around sleepily.
	Alison returned and sat at her desk, wondering what she’d missed.  
She gave Shiko a questioning look; Shiko looked at Angelico and Damien, 
then shrugged.  “Don’ ask me - I was asleep, I think…”  She grinned, still
not looking fully awake.  “Thanks for taking up my homework, Daemon…”
	Still hiding his face, Damien muttered, “Welcome, Shiko-san…”  Mr.
Watcher finally managed to regain control of the temperature of his face 
and sat up, beginning to correct papers again.  Alison sighed, more 
confused than ever.  Why is my life turning into a soap opera? she asked
herself, and shot a sidelong glance at Shiko.  Everything was perfectly
normal until she came - and Mr. Watcher - and Damien…  What was going on?