1/29/2003

12:32 AM

Logfile from Chase.

 

                               Apartment #504                              

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Sparse living at its finest, or worse. The wood flooring once had a luster to it, but has now faded with time to match the same dull facade that gives eggshell-hued walls its worn appearance. As the home of a student, books are an obvious presence. Threadbare couch, simple table and chairs, a tiny kitchen and an even tinier bathroom, A door that leads to the bedroom is off to one side. But it is the additions that seem to give this places its character. Like the expensive stereo system just over there flanked by a couple of towers of CDs, or the dreamcatcher by the window that overlooks the fire escape and the street below, or even the simple bow propped up near the door, and the clearly old and hand-crafted quiver settled beside it.

Brice(#250) and Anana(idle)(#253) are here.

Exit: Out (to 5th Floor)

Anana swims slowly back to consciousness. Another thing: she's absolutely soaked, her clothing near to freezing stiffly upon her. Not a fun thing, no. "Owwwwww..." comes the near-whine, blue eyes opening just a fraction. Lifting her head a little bit, she peers at the two for a moment, not quite comprehending that they're there. "Cold... water." And, with that, she begins to shiver, teeth chattering.

 

Chase hates to be left behind. Doesn't Brice know that by now? And so, Chase trots along after him, "Anana?" he queries softly, as opposed to Brice's bellowing. He drops to his knees before her, instantly plucking off his jacket so as to wrap about her body. Chase stands back up, flickering a glance around, "I've got a bad feeling around here." He flickers a gaze at the fountain. "Lets get her home."

 

Although he hates to do it, Brice /knows/ he's not thinking rationally and pretty much forces his mind to at least cease its constant repetition of rage. "I'll trust your bad feelings anyday." He quickly pulls off his own jacket, as well as his scarf, and wraps the significantly smaller girl in them as quickly and completely as he can. Then he gently lifts her into his arms, ready to carry her wherever Chase leads them - CHase can defend them, whereas he can't at the moment. "Let's go."

 

And so they arrive back at Chase's apartment, and Anana's more awake by then, though pale and silent still, save for chattering teeth. "Thank you," she says to the pair of them, summoning a wan smile. "My own fault. Wasn't watching what happened, and needed to get to my phone." Ooh, Hiroshi's going to be disappointed by her losing her phone.

Chase locks the door behind them, peering curiously over to Anana. "Let me see if I've some instant hot chocolate or something..." He shoots a glance at Brice, and then continues on into the kitchen.

 

Hmm... what do you do for frostbite or extreme cold? Brice can't remember. He's a bit more worried about the welts on her back. "Do you have any Neosporin or a first aid kit?" It won't be much but it'll probably help, a little. He smiles down at Anana and takes a second to stroke her forehead. "You did wonderfully. Better than I could have done." Gah, he's getting sappy. "Chase, can I put her on your bed? She needs to get warmer."

 

"Find Michael? Or someone who can take care of this faster..." Anana suggests, still bundled up in coats and scarves, and still somewhat cold. "I can't go home... with this on my back, or like this..." Another wan smile. "You're the best brothers ever." She's only a little warmer now, to the point where shivering is only occasional.

 

Chase replies, "Yeah, go right on in there." Don't mind the clothes laying about. "I think I've grandma's old heating pad in one of those boxes in the bedroom as well. Don't rub her or anything, that'll do more damage. Just bundle her up while I fix something to warm her from the inside." Yeah, he knows a thing or two about how to survive in the cold. "I don't know what I've got. You'll have to check the cabinet in the bathroom. Suppose I should stock up now." There is the *ting* of the microwave, and Chase returns with a steaming mug in hand. He frowns at her, "Michael?" So many names. So many people he can't remember.

 

Okay, he doesn't know what to do, but he's got some/thing/ to do. He quickly follows Chase's instructions, pulling back the blankets and setting Anana in the middle of the matress, then packing the insulation in around her - even going so far as to grab clothes that look relatively clean and use them. Better not have much dirty laundry, Chase. "Michael? I don't know any Michael here yet." There's a lotta people they don't know so far - must get out and start building good inter-seishi relationships. Then he remembers something very odd... "Wait... Maybe Cat'll help."

 

"Mitsukake. He doesn't remember..." Anana mutters, then reaches out for the cup that Chase brings, wrapping her hands around it and nearly spilling the drink over the sides. "Um. Cat?" she asks Brice, steadying the cup atop the blankets. "Thank you both. He was /scary/."

 

Chase drops down to sit upon the bed, reaching over to tug up some more of the blankets to bundle about her legs. He reaches under them though to feel her limbs, seeing just how cold they are for himself. "The Suzaku? What is he? Some kind of healer? Cat?" He blinks cluelessly at Brice for a moment, before looking down to Anana, "What the hell happened? Who...?"

 

"He's a healer, yes," Anana replies, nodding slightly between sips. She's not going to give in to the dull ache of her back yet, no. "And Dylan... he's one of the Yin seishi, I don't know who... he grabbed me when I was going home. Through the fountain. Didn't mean to get /me/, but I was there. He didn't try to hit me, so I couldn't /do/ anything; he just pushed me underwater, and I can't fight that, and I ran and tried to make him mad-" She managed to do that, by the sudden rather grim smile upon her face. "-so that he would hit me, but it wasn't a hit or a spell... an elemental or something. So I couldn't make it go back at him."

 

"Cat. Catherine. She's one of the Byakko - Subaru. She remembers... a lot more than me, I know." And she can fix this, if what Brice saw in the 'boshi twins' place was any indicator of her power. "She's got some power or other that can..." At "Yin seishi" he falls silent, listening and getting madder at every second. Yeah, the Yin beat up Kai, and Cat definitely did not like that - she'll probably do this. "I'm gonna call her, I'll be right back." He just turns and walks towards the nearest phone.

 

Chase glances after Brice, watching him silently 'til he moves towards the phone. And then he is looking to Anana once more, "He didn't mean to? What the hell was going on?" He scowls, heavily, "Into the fountain? Why?" But then she is shaking his head from side to side, sighing, peering at her back, "What did he do to you?"

 

Anana bites her lower lip as she's moved, stifling a wince. "He pulled me /through/ the fountain," she explains softly. "Through the water to a different place. A room with a pool of water in the middle, and there was a bloody shirt on the floor, and he told me that he didn't like to hurt kids because they didn't last, and dunked me in the pool, then tried to tie me up but I ran." She sighs, then sets the empty cup aside, no longer shivering at the very least. "And when I called you, he hit me with a whip. I didn't see it coming, so I couldn't stop it. And when I fell, he dunked me in the water and I don't remember anything else."

 

Brice hangs up the phone and comes back in Chase's bedroom, his fuming scowl somewhat diminished by the idea that Cat's coming and can fix things - such as Anana. "She's coming. She'll be able to heal you, Kid. Even better than Michael, if my thinking's correct." Hey, if Mike doesn't remember, then he shouldn't have his powers, right? "They'll be here soon, I told them to just come up." He glances down at Anana again. "When this is over, I'm buying you a chocolate chip cookie /cake/. With lots of icing and decoration."

 

Chase continues to look down at Anana, his frown gradually deepening as he listens to her. "He moved through the water? Was it that fountain?" He is plotting to run right over there, see if something can be done, and then probably destroy the thing flashes through his mind. He shakes his head from side to side though as Brice returns, nodding his head, "Good." Yeah, a touch of worry to his voice.

 

Anana is bundled up in both of her fellow Genbu's coats, her face pale and her eyes huge. There aren't any traces of tears, strangely enough, and she seems calm for the moment. She's saving her hysterics for later, when she's not in pain. "You promise?" she asks of Brice, the corners of her lips twitching upwards into a tiny smile.  "Through the water. He works /with/ water. Like you with ice, I guess."

 

Lee knocks on the door, even as parts of him haven't fully materialized yet.  One arm is wrapped tightly around Catherine, and the symbol of 'Stride' is rapidly fading on his cheek.   "Well, we're here...."

 

"Thanks, Lee. A /kid/... twelve, Brice said," Catherine says, staying within Lee's grasp for the moment. "If it's the same as what happened to Kai, it's going to be /bad/. Whip-marks, from what I saw before. But on a /kid/."

 

Hiroshi calls! He's... one worried little seishi.

 

And the knock comes - but how'd they get there that fast? Ahh, who cares, another mystery for another day, and Anana's hurt. "I swear on a stack of pizza bozes, Kid, and you can decorate it yourself. I'll go get the door." He moves fast through the rooms, wanting this to be done and over - except for the part about him and Chase kickin' Yin butt, of course. He quickly opens the door and breaths an audible sigh of relief. "I'm so glad it's you, come in, come in." Brice stands aside to usher them in. "She's in the bedroom, in the back."

 

Chase smirks slightly, looking back over to Anana and then giving her a light rub to her leg. But then then there is knocking at his door, and then the phone is ringing. He pushing up to his feet, reaching for the phone to answer it. My, getting a wee bit busy in here.

 

Chase picks up the phone. Yes, worried seishi? ;)

 

Hiroshi sighs with relief as someone answers, and it's a voice he recognizes. "Chase-san? It's Hiroshi. Have you seen Annana anywhere? She was supposed to be here, but she's not, and her mother hasn't seen her in over four hours, and we're all getting worried."  Yes, all in one breath.  "And, if she's there, is she alright?"

 

Chaos is always fun. Anana perks up at the knock and the phone call, then makes a bit of a face, rolling over onto her stomach carefully. Sitting back against those whip-weals is painful, to say the least. "I'm going to hold you it," she mutters in reference to Brice's promise, shivering as the torn fabric of her shirt -- collarless, as though someone ripped it off while grabbing her -- pulls away from the lashes.

 

Chase hesitates on the line for a moment before speak, the sounds of quite a few voices in the background. "Uhm.... Yeah, she is here..." Again, another hesitation, hand covering over the phone so that things are mumbled, and then he is back, "I think she could use you right now, little buddy. She's been a little roughed up. Come on over." Address is given as well.

 

Lee moves away from Subaru.  "You, go...do your little magic thing."  He turns to Brice.  "Hey.  And sorry it took so long.   Couldn't decide if I wanted to teleport to my apartment or the hallway."   He pauses for a moment, frowning.  "Now....what happened?"

 

"Little magic thing..." Catherine grumbles under her breath. "Thanks again for the lift, Lee." And, with that, she does just what she was told, though it takes her a moment to get to the back, relying on Brice's directions. The others are ignored for the moment, and she takes in Anana's situation with a wince and a sigh. "I'm just going to make your body forget that it ever had these wounds, all right?" she says quietly, already gathering her power do to just that.

 

Hiroshi nearly drops the phone, but gives a quick "we'll be over, I'm bringing a couple of friends who'll want to make sure she's ok before we hunt down whoever did it."  Yes, he's putting himself in that list, too.

 

Chase answers, "More people?" Goodness, his apartment won't be able to hold many more. "We've got a couple of people named... Cat and Lee her now too. I think." He has no clue any more. "Sure. Thank you, Hiroshi." #312

 

"Truthfully, I'm not sure..." Brice says to Lee. "I was just in my apartment earlier when Chase called and said Anana was in trouble. I came over here and he had her on the cell... sort of, it was like the cell was a microphone... and he traced her ki through it and we went to get her and she was propped up against a fountain and nearly knocked out and her shirt was torn and she was freezing and she had whip marks on her back." He takes a breath - he couldn't give Anana a run for her money, but semi-desperation can do a lot. "I think she explained more of it while I called Cat..." He gives Lee a very serious look. "It was a Yin seishi, Lee. A Yin seishi went after a twelve-year-old..."

 

Chase gets off the phone with Hiroshi, blinking for a moment and then rising once more. He returns to where the others are, peering a little oddly at him. "That was Hiroshi. He was worried sick about you, kid. He is coming over in a moment here... with someone apparently."

 

Catherine's arrival is greeted with a nod by Anana, and she turns her head away just in case it might hurt. She's not going to show any weakness now, of all times. The girl is resting on her stomach on Chase's bed, her unform in somewhat tattered shape -- the collar to her shirt is gone, as though ripped off at some point, and there are two whip-lashes upon her back, bloody and staining the white of the material. "Do whatever it is," she says quietly, voice muffled.

 

Hiroshi doesn't even bother to knock. Providing the door is open, he's just going to walk right on in.  "Anana!"  Well, he was a worried kid. He even rushed past the other three to make it to the door, leaving them behind as if they were forgotten or too slow.

 

Kourin is not far behind Hiroshi, looking just as concerned, though she's also taken the time to notice the others in the apartment, and there are quite a few. "Anana-chan, what the hell?!" It's Nuriko's signature statement in times of stress.

 

Nicholas decides it is perhaps wiser to linger in the doorway rather than follow Hiroshi and Kourin into the already-crowded room.  There is no telling what reactions his sudden arrival might provoke.  He does lean in far enough to thoroughly survey the occupants of the chamber, however, before permitting his gaze to linger upon Anana.  "It is good to see you yet live, young one.  Give me a name and I will be certain that whoever did this to you is not so fortunate." His tone is completely devoid of emotion -- neither concern nor anger can be discerned.

 

Lee shakes his head.  "Dammit!"   He shakes his head.  "Well, I'm going to need to ask her then.  Do you know if there were any witnesses?"   And he won't talk about what he and the Yin Miko did.  Besides.  There are much cuter people here now.   Kourin.....Catherine.....Tori...  "Um....wouldn't it be better if there were like....less people in here?"

 

Catherine rests a hand a few inches over the wounds, a soothingly white amount of power around her. And, with a murmured phrase and a flare of power, the wounds reverse, healing themselves in an instant, and while the shirt doesn't knit itself back up, the blood vanishes from it. "There." Opening her eyes, she studies Kourin and Hiroshi, then steps back, looking for Lee inamidst the insanity. "I don't think you could shoo them out if you tried, though. It's the same as whatever attacked Kai, though."

 

Anana is no longer cold, no longer in pain, and while tired from the over-extension of her emotional reserves, she sits up as soon as Catherine's done, giving the white-haired seishi a smile. "Thank you," she says. It didn't even hurt! Yay! And then she notices the others, and her eyes widen. "Um. I'm all right now?"

 

Tori slides past Nicholas and into the room, pausing just in front of him, watching Catherine at work. "If it's the same guy who hurt Kai, then he needs to be stopped now. He obviously isn't after just the Seiryuu if he's attacking Anana." She pauses, looking back at Anana and smiles, a hint of relief in her eyes.

 

Chase blinks at the rather large influx of people in his poor little apartment. If he knew he was going to be entertaining so many, he would have bought some cocktail weenies. He pushes past the others, slipping back into his bedroom to drop down onto the bed near Anana. He watches Catherine with a hard glance, and nearly breathes a sigh of relief as the chibi's wounds disappear. "There you go, little one." A sigh of relief is exhaled, hand reaching over to brush Anana's hair -no, not ruffling this time.

 

Hiroshi hurries to Anana's side once he's certain that Catherine is finished, and bends down to inspect the pink haired chibi's back before looking to make sure she's still awake.  "Anana-chan? .. are you alright? What did this?"  He's so relieved that he'd cry, the only thing stopping him is the complete anger at whoever the guilty party is.  "I'm sorry, I didn't realize that you were gone until just a little while ago, and..."  He nearly panicked.

 

And there's /people/! Look, Jim, look, we're not alone in the universe! Okay. The only one Brice thinks he recognizes is Hiroshi, and he can't even be sure of that as the kid was moving pretty dang fast. "I don't know, but I think you can ask her now. Do you know these guys?" He turns and peers at the crowd, a scowl developing on his face. "Come on." And, claiming Big Brother privileges, he makes (read: pushes/shoves/dodges) his way to the bed to sit down on Anana's other side from Chase, peering her over and giving a quick smile to see she's all right. "Anana, I think you have some visitors."

 

Kourin is making her way through the crowd to stand behind Hiroshi, resting a hand on his shoulder as her eyes take in the faces of the others. It's to Catherine she speaks though, "Is she alright then? Her wounds weren't too severe?"

 

Kourin

Velvety tresses of deep black frame the delicate beauty of her face, their length shorn into a wavy mass of seemingly chaotic curls that softly caress the nape of her neck. The heavy hue of her hair is lightened by streaks of glossy purple, the effect tasteful though quite vivid. Slightly slanted eyes of dark brown enhance the gentle sweep of her high cheekbones and creamy skin, while the reflected myriad of emotion within their depths offers a teasing glimpse of the wealth of spirit which underlies her devil-may-care demeanor. Reaching a height of 5'5", her body teeters on the border of being lush, although her natural grace and well-toned muscle hint at more than mere lovely features.

Luscious peach flavors the slinky, silk blouse that tantalizes the curve of her shoulders before dipping low across the swell of her breasts, leaving the teasing line of her collarbone and throat's hollow quite exposed. Semi-puffed sleeves flow loosely to the bend of her elbow before hugging forearm to wrist tightly. From each of her wrists a bracelet dangles, its exterior enameled in white and its interior in red, with a blue-green stone crowning the top. Laces of juicy plum weave across the shirt's front, keeping it pleasantly snug against her frame. The gently fluttering hem brushes the tops of her thighs, their contours clad in tasteful pants of supple leather dyed a delicious blackberry hue. Matching boots adorn her feet, peeking out from beneath each pant leg.

She is awake and looks alert.

 

Lee shrugs.  "Only....."  He shakes his head with a sigh.  "Great.   What...one Genbu gets hurt, and every body shows up?   We have Genbu, Byakko, Seiryuu, and...possibly Suzaku."  Since he never met Nuriko, and he's not entirely sure about Hiroshi.   "And before anyone else gets all gushy all over here..."   He appears suddenly next to her bed.  "Anana, right?  I need to talk to you for a few minutes about what happened."   Cop mode.   Woo!

 

Catherine shakes her head at Kourin, her expression carefully neutral. "Two whip weals and, from what I saw, hypothermia. It's gone now... she's a day younger." She looks at Lee as he disappears, then sees where he reappears. "Anyway. She'll be all right now. She wasn't as badly hurt as Kai was."

 

Chase is abruptly glaring at Lee at the questions, more than ready to push him right on out of the room, "Why don't you just let her speak to everyone at once, buddy? And who the hell are you?" Wait. He stands abruptly, "Who are all of you?" For all he knows, one of those sneaky Yin types probably snuck in during all of this.

 

Anana peers at Kourin and Hiroshi, then at Tori and Nicholas, then at the others who've come to find her. Chase's attention earns him a smile, settling close to her pseudo-brothers. Lee gets a vaguely surprised look as he abruptly appears, and she curls up closer to Brice. "I'm all right now. Dylan -- one of the yin seishi -- grabbed me when I was walking home, and I stopped by the fountain in Central Park, and pulled me through the water to a room with a pool of water. He didn't seem too happy that he grabbed /me/, though. He said he had more fun with Matt's brother than I could ever provide, 'cos kids aren't strong enough to make any sort of pain last, and things like that, and introduced himself as Dylan, and asked who I was. He dunked me in the pool when I didn't answer, then tried to tie me up, but I ran..." She looks at Chase. "It's okay. They're people I know, mostly, 'cept for you two." She nods at Lee and Catherine. "I guess I did good with making friends?" She's trying to interject some humor into the situation.

 

Nicholas remains just outside the doorway, carefully observing the controlled chaos taking place within the room and taking numerous mental notes.  Little would be gained by saying anything further at the moment.  Anana is safe, so his immediate concern is alleviated.  Now to see what else he can garner from the occasion.

 

"You managed to get us all to work together, Anana. That should make you happy," Tori says from where she stands, smiling in Anana's direction. She steps further away from Nicholas, nodding towards Chase, "We're her friends. You have nothing to worry about from us at the moment. I'm Tori." She gestures to the man just behind her, "and he's Nicholas." She lets Kourin and Hiroshi introduce themselves if they want.

 

"It's all right Anana - and Chase, calm down." Brice himself is returning to normal, once again gaining his think-things-through normal personality. "I know those two." He nods at the Byakko. "Catherine and Lee - although I'm not sure why Lee is here." He gives the older man a sharply inquisitive look, wondering about his appearance and his questions - he still doesn't know what Lee's profession is. "And Chase, you might need a bigger bedroom..."

 

Hiroshi clenches both fists, his eyes narrowing as she mentions the name.  "Right, he's one of them, ne?"  For the moment, he forgets anyone else in the room.  "He did... /WHAT/?!"  Now, it's safe to say that very few people have ever seen Chiriko pissed off, because he's just a cheerful kid. Now, however, he's incredibly pissed.  "Matt's broth.. Who's Matt?"  He hasn't put the pieces together yet, he just knows that Anana said that the twin Seiryuu seishi were in the city.

 

"Lee Pelham...or..Tokaki.  Byakko seishi.   That's Nakago and Soi."  he points to Nicholas and Tori.  "They're Seiryuu.   This is Catherine, she's Subaru.  He gives Chase a calm look.  "This is very important.   She needs to talk about it now, while the details are still fresh."   Does he /really/ need to flash the badge?  And as for why he is here, he's the transportation.  Ne?   "So...this...Dylan person attacked Kai, as well?"   He frowns slightly, rubbing his chin.   "Hmm.  Ok, I'm done then."  He starts to back away from the bed. 

"Hiro-chan, you need to remain calm," Kourin says, kneeling behind Hiroshi, putting her other hand on his shoulder. "Matt... that's Suboshi." She glances over at Tori and Nicholas then back to Anana. "Kai is the brother, the one you met.  Which means there are a few of us who want to find this guy and punish him."

 

"Lee," Catherine says, smiling wryly at him, "gave me a lift here. He's with me, as he said. And I don't think you need to worry about whether you'll get her to talk, so far, Lee. Should we listen?" She looks between the people now, one eyebrow arched. "I don't know all of you either, but the fact that you're here for the same purpose -- to see that this girl-" she nods at Anana now. "-is all right should say something about your motives."

 

Chase shoots Brice a wry grin, sarcasm imbuing his voice, "I wasn't planning on entertaining half the seishi in the city, brother dear." Looks as though Anana has quite a few friends (understatement). Hand reaches up to rub at his forehead, another look is cast to Brice, and then he is shaking his head from side to side, murmuring, "All I know is that after I find the sob, I'll make him regret those cute little water talents of his." He glances back up to the others, "This Dylan, Yin guy... anyone know anything about him?"

 

Tori narrows her eyes at Lee, then Catherine, at last recognizing them both. Chase's words bring a dangerous little smile to her lips and she mentions, casually, "I'm rather good with water myself actually.  Not to mention it conducts electricity quite nicely.  I'd be more than happy to assist you."

 

Tori

Shimmering amethyst shadows the lids of her intensely dark sapphire-hued eyes, the vibrant color a noticeable contrast to her smooth, pale complexion. A dusting of gold powder brings warmth to skin's natural pallor as it sparkles against her delicate cheekbones and along her slender throat, haphazard in its enticing patterns. Deep ruby, flawless in its application, stains the contours of her soft sensual lips. Fiery copper hair has been expertly hacked by scissors and razor, giving her a fashionably wild style kept tame by a liberal amount of gel. Tall and provocative, her figure possesses a wealth of alluring curves she seems quite adept at showcasing.

An unbearably short, black leather mini that barely covers her hips is paired with a crushed velvet blouse, dyed a deep indigo that clings to her upper body. Stockings of the same hue as the velvet caress her legs from just above the curve of her knee all the way down, disappearing into black shoes, accented in silver. More often than not, a waist-length jacket of black leather is settled over the dark blue of the shirt.

She is awake and looks alert.

 

"Hiroshi, breathe. 'm all right, honest," Anana says, smiling at him as she curls up close to Brice and, with her other hand, tugs at Chase's shirt. "I'm sorry, Chase, they're all just worried about me, I guess. Even Nicholas and Tori." That, apparently, is a surprise to the girl. "But Dylan, right. He works with water elementals or something that's not just plain water, because I couldn't get it to go right back at him, but anyway... I got ahold of my bag and my phone, and called Chase, 'cos I programmed my phone with buttons that way, and while I had my back turned, he got me with the whip twice, then dunked me in the water again, and that's all I remember until Chase and Brice found me." She peers around at all the people, then grins weakly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare everyone -- Ack!" Her eyes widen. "I left my homework in my backpack and he still /has/ it! That's not /faaaair/!"

 

Brice is trying to keep names straight, carefully matching each face with what he assumes is the right moniker, until something clicks in his mind. "Nicholas? /You're/ my professor!" Great time for that realization, Kent. But eh, what a time for a first student-teacher meeting. And he once again curses his lack of powers, wondering when they'll show again - hopefully in time for him to beat the hell out of Dylan. "Chase, I say we go freeze the ba- We go freeze him. You can come if you want," he says, nodding to Tori. And then nearly falls over at the wailing over homework. "Anana..."

 

"Homework is the least of your concerns at the moment, Anana.  Rest well in safety.  And start listening to the advice I give you about /not/ wandering the city on your own."  Nicholas thus delivers an 'I-told-you-so.'  He then adds, "I shall be sure to return the lashings to this Dylan for you, my dear young lady.  With plenty of interest."  Nick's attention suddenly snaps towards Brice and he barks a laugh.  "A seishi in my class, as well as one of the 'others' in my class.  Ah, the joys of equal-opportunity education."

 

Hiroshi relaxes a bit, though it's fairly clear that he's let emotion gain control over his normally focused mind. "He whipped you? As in with a whip?"  Kourin's words finally register and he just shakes his head.  "I don't think we have to worry about this person getting what he deserves. If he's hurt Suboshi's brother, he's dead and just doesn't know it yet."  He does remember the Seiryuu's need for vengeance from his own past.  "Anana-chan, I'll help you with your homework, ne? Don't worry about that right now. The important thing is that you're safe. You're safe."  The last was, apparently, to assure himself. The boy does relax, however, nearly reaching out for Kourin to keep himself steady. 

 

Chase's green-irised gaze lifts so that he is looking over to Tori as she speaks, watching her for a long moment. He blinks for a moment, trying to make the connections that are still a little fuzzy in his head. "Might be fun," he answers slowly. But at Brice's words, he is glancing askance to him with a wry grin. A nod of his head in agreement, and then he is blinking at Anana. "Ohhhhh, shortie... Here." And so, a bag is pulled from his pocket. Skittles, M&Ms, Reeses pieces. Who knows? It is sugar and something to make Anana happy.

 

Kourin wraps an arm around Hiroshi, indeed keeping him steady against her whether or not he needed it in the end. "You're right, Hiro-chan. I still might have to offer to hold him down for Suboshi. But at least she's safe now and healed, thanks to Catherine." The other woman gets both a grateful smile and nod from Kourin. "You know, Anana-chan, you're almost as big a danger magnet as Hiro-chan here. Look at all the people you worried."

 

Tori's cell phone decides now is a good time to ring, causing the woman's hand to fly to her jacket pocket as she backs up closer to Nicholas, answering the call with her other hand pressed against her ear to block out all the extra noise. The conversation is quick with a lot of nodding from Tori and a fair bit of frowning. Ending the class, she looks at Nicholas, "That was the club on the phone. They need me there to handle some things tonight. I hadn't realized the time. Do you mind coming down there with me or would you rather stay here?"

 

"But I'd just finished the report," Anana grumbles quietly, almost pouting. "And I had to type it up. Oh well. Maybe it'll bore him to death." She looks up at Nicholas' laugh, then glances at Brice with a touch of concern. "The others?" she echoes curiously. "One of the yin? Ergh. But..." All this attention is making her easily distracted, for she smiles at Hiroshi, nodding. "Thank you. I'm all right, and I Don't think he'll want to kidnap me again, but..." She blinks. "He said he had another friend. I don't know if it's another person who doesn't follow what his miko says, but... I would've been more useful to him, or something." Which, to her, indicates someone who's a sorceror; or at least, someone who can manipulate power flows. Chase's gift distracts her quickly, though. "Thank you! Skittles!" Sugar. Fear. "And Kourin, I didn't /mean/ to worry anyone, honest, but I couldn't get away on my own..." Another realization. "I missed the supper, didn't I?"

 

Brice eyes narrow dangerously at Nick's words, sensing someone he'd very much like to pound. "One of the others? Who? Who is it?" They better get far away from there, because when he catches them they are so dead they won't even know what was coming. "What's his name?" Yeah, he's getting pissed again - thoughts of revenge keep running through his head. The fact that he's powerless has completely left his mind.

 

Catherine listens to the explanation, then glances at Lee, moving to his side. "I think we need to talk to Lexie about this one," she murmurs to him, falling into old patterns of working together. "If she's not already aware of it. And I need to talk to you anyway?"

 

Nicholas speaks quietly to Tori, "It seems everything is well under control here, for the moment.  I shall accompany you, and leave Anana in the capable hands of her various friends."  To Brice he states, "It is a she, not a he.  And thus far she has done nothing overtly hostile that I can discern.  I would enjoy discussing this further, but Tori is needed elsewhere, and given the present situation, I do not wish her to travel alone."  A business card is removed from his coat and a cell number is quickly penned onto the bottom.  This he tosses to Brice.  "If you find this Dylan, or need the aid or Tori or I for anything related to the situation, call."  He then takes the half-step necessary to remove himself from view.

 

Hiroshi shakes his head.  "Ie, I'll type it up for you, if you want. In fact, once you've recovered, we'll spend a day finishing everything that you need done, ne?"  In fact, he'd offer to do the homework for her at this point, but really isn't going to say that just now. He's given away more information than he'd counted on.  "Look, I should probably go and let you fill your friends in on what happened, ne? You'll probably want to get sleep, too."  And he's going to need a Valume or something.

 

Lee nods.  "So we should go then?"  he murmurs softly, leaning towards her.   "I need to talk to you myself."

 

Tori leaves for 5th Floor.

Nicholas leaves for 5th Floor.

 

Kourin nods, "That's not a bad idea, Hiro-chan. Anana-chan is safe now and we should leave her to rest.  You could use with some of that sleep thing too, after last night. C'mon, let's head home. We'll come back to visit her tomorrow."

 

Catherine nods to Lee's suggestion, then chuckles softly. "Fast way, or walk?" she asks, grey eyes holding wry humor. In a louder tone, she addresses the departing group. "Have a nice night. We're heading off."

 

As soon as they come, they are all leaving again. Whoa. Chase leaves the bedroom to make sure all of his guests find their way out. Never mind it isn't all that big to begin with. "Sure, come again," he mutters, a little bit of tenseness still about his lips. He blinks at Kourin though, and then frowns. A glance is cast back at Anana, "Is she the one you mentioned having that poker game with?"

 

Lee waves, and then slips his arm around Catherine's shoulders.  "Walk.  Actually easier than doing it my way.  Besides.  It's...what, 2 doors down?"

 

Catherine doesn't protest the arm, or the suggestion, merely grinning at Chase's confusion as she heads out the door. It was quite an invasion, indeed.

 

"Bye!" Anana calls to everyone leaving, seeming quite happy to pop skittles one by one into her mouth and crunch on them contentedly. "Hmm? Poker ga... right! Yeah, that's Kourin. She's really nice. And Trevor, too, but he probably didn't find out about me being kidnapped or he'd've come, too." Cough. "I'm sorry, Chase, I didn't mean to have all these people come in and stuff. And both of you... thank you."

 

Hiroshi leaves for 5th Floor.

 

Brice glances at the card and the number, mentally swearing to himself to /get a cell soon/, and nods vaguely to the departing-people-who-are-leaving, a bit too busy thinking. A Yin, in his class... a female Yin at that... He only knows one of his classmates period and it can't be her... "What?" Momentarily startled by Anana's tanks. "You don't need to thank us, we'd kill ourselves if we let anything happen to you." Yeah, he's speaking for Chase too, but he doesn't think Chase'll contradict him.

 

Chase blinks as the last of the people leave. He shuts the door firmly, peers at the mess left behind by the rather large group of people and then sighs, loudly. "Next time you get hurt, shorty... remind me not to pick up the phone. You've got a lot of friends."

 

"Sorry?" Anana says meekly, then crunches on another skittle, looking as meek as she possibly can. "I was trying to make sure that everyone wouldn't fight, and I guess they decided that they'd like to protect me as well, so... but /you/ two were the ones who found me, and that's the most important thing." She seems back to normal, babbling on as ever. "And Brice? I hope that's not true."

 

"Better you than me, bro, you've seen the hole I live in." And Brice has to laugh at Anana's return to normalness. "I'm not quite sure what we'd do. Definitely hunt down those guys and take revenge. But we can't have the kid getting hurt." He reaches out and strokes her hair, smiling again, glad she's in one piece. "But managing to keep that guy away... He sounded nasty. You either have the best luck in the world or a devious quick mind."

 

Chase shoots a glance askance to Brice, slowly shaking his head from side to side in the rather silent motion to keep his mouth shut. Don't scare the poor girl with admission of death, even if it is true. He drops a step back to lean against the wall, grinning over to Anana, "She scared him with her cuteness. It is obvious."

 

Anana grins suddenly. "I told him to go bugger himself," she repeats with the same relish she said it with in the first place. "And that made him mad. He tried to get one of his water-things to hit me, and I made it stop. He was hard to make mad, though. Frustrating." Given that the only way she can fight /is/ if the other party gets mad or tries to strike at her with something that she can rebound, it was the only plan she could think of. "Yeah, being dunked in ice water is being cute. Uh-huh."

 

"Well, the cuteness is wearing off with the clothes..." Brice frowns, getting a good clear taken-in look at her uniform for the first time. "We need to get you something to wear instead of that; you can't walk around in that or someone will think something... very different happened." He wonders if Ash is at home so he can go borrow a shirt from her or something. That's all. Really. Swear.

 

Chase is pretty sure that nothing he has will fit Anana. Sure, he isn't exactly the largest seishi around, but still... "Uhm... yeah, if she is even home." He is rather impressed that she didn't come over, after all of the noise here." But, the mess is scowled at. Damned Seiryuu, tracking in mud. Suzaku and their trash. And he won't even go into whatever the tigers left behind. Grrr. "I'm gonna tidy up.

 

"I'm all right. I need to go home, though, and I'm going to be grounded for sure," Anana says, making a face. "Unless someone gave me an excuse. 'Cos Mom's understanding, but not /this/ much."

 

"I hate lying, but a bully tried to get you in the park? So you came here because Chase lived close by and could chase him off?" Gee, a pun. Who'd've thought. Brice sighs. "I can't think of any other way to explain what happened to your uniform... Or why you haven't gone home."

 

Anana sighs quietly, then twists around to try to look at the ruined portions of her shirt. "I guess it is pretty bad," she muses quietly. "And I don't want to bother Chase any more'n I have to. Dad's been busy at work lately, something important coming up, but..." A sigh, and she pops another skittle into her mouth, rolling the sweet treat around before tucking it in her cheek. "I guess that'll work." She smiles slightly. "I love you two lots and lots."

 

"Yeah, we love you too. Come on, Kid, let's get you home. I can take you. CHASE!" Brice yells. "I'M TAKING HER HOME!" Who knows where the delinquent middle child is?

 

Chase isn't a delinquent, he is cleaning the floor. Ewww, Suzaku germs. "BYE! KEEP AN EYE ON HER!"

 

Cleaning, most likely. Poor Chase. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Anana says meekly, seeing the floor-cleaning. "I didn't really think they'd all freak out like that and..." And she's being shown home. Well, at the moment, she's not going to protest that. She'd lose that argument.

 

Well, Brice isn't gonna stick around and help - he's horrible at it. "Call me when you're done? We can work something out." Like plans for the evening, or... something. And of course she'd lose that argument, he's ten years older and probably two feet taller than her. "They just wanted to make sure you were okay, Anana. Just like I'm gonna make sure you're okay on the way home. See ya Chase." And with a wave at his bro, Brice is heading for the door, Anana's hand gripped in his other, and his jacket still on her.