Book Two Index
She trudges through the rain, on her way home from school. Dripping red streaked hair that was torn from her braid hangs into ice blue eyes as she hunches against the wind. She shivers.
Here I thought New York had bad weather...
She winces as lightening flashes and thunder booms its agreement. Instinctively, she ducks into a store she just happens to be passing by. She shivers again, wrapping her arms tightly around herself., holding her school bag in her right hand.
Man, it's cold for a summer's day...
"May I help you?" a pleasant female voice asks in Japanese.
"Huh?" The girl looks up with a start and smiles sheepishly at the red haired woman behind the jewelry case. "I'm sorry," she answers in fluent but accented Japanese. "You startled me. I'm just taking a little refuge from the storm." She moves gracefully to the woman who greeted her. "You have some lovely pieces, though."
The woman smiles pleasantly. "Thank you, my dear. You look like you could use a little warming up. Why were you out there in the first place?"
"Oh...I missed the bus because I had to stay after school to catch up a little with the rest of the class."
The woman raises a brow as she hands the girl some paper towels to dry off a little bit. "Isn't this the first day of school, though?"
"Thank you," she smiles slightly at the woman. "And, hai, it is the first day of school. It's just that the school I went to before this one didn't cover quite as much as this one. I'm still kind of shaky when it comes to reading and writing Japanese, too."
"Oh? Where did you go to school?"
"In New York City."
"You're from America?"
"Hai."
"What brings you to Japan?"
"Oh, the kids in school were...being really nasty. I was getting into lots of fights, and the neighborhood my mom and I were living in was getting overrun with gangs. Since mom is from here, she figured she'd see how I'd do in school here."
The woman nods slightly. "That's very interesting. Perhaps you know my daughter, Osaka Naru?"
"Um...iie...I don't think so, but maybe I'll run into her. Does she go to Tokyo High school?"
Ms. Osaka blinks. "You're in Tokyo high? You look so young, Miss..."
Indeed, she does look young. Her long black and red hair is coming out of its braid, and she's only about five foot tall with a deceivingly slight build. Her big ice blue eyes add more youth and innocence to her face. The school uniform she wears also makes her look younger with the buckle shoes and pleated skirt.
The young woman bows with a wry grin. "I'm Lee Eloise, Osaka-san. I usually just go by HLM though." She glances out the window.
"It looks like it's clearing up, HLM-san. It was nice meeting you." She bows slightly. "Visit me again sometime."
HLM smiles and bows back. "I will. It was nice meeting you, too. Have a good day!"
"You, too."
HLM heads out the door, blinking when a red Ferrari speeds by. The driver has long, flowing auburn hair. She watches until he turns and she can't see him anymore.
Was that Maxfield...?
Maxfield Stanton drives down the main street of Tokyo, pondering what move to make next in his business and who next to drain energy from. He blinks when he passes by a familiar figure.
The girl from new York? What's she doing in Tokyo?
He looks for a place to turn around.
She's walking again and is a few blocks away from the jewelry store. She ponders that last glimpse of the multi millionaire. So lost in her thoughts is she, the hand reaching out to grab her from the shadows goes unnoticed until the owner is holding her in a strangle hold.
"Such a pretty little thing," a deep, malicious voice whispers into her ear in Japanese, "I've got an offer that I will not let you refuse."
Why do these bastards always follow me?
Seemingly effortlessly, she brakes away from the guy, who's easily twice her size. The pavement meets her surprised her surprised body with a stony blow when the bullet rips into her shoulder. The pain only fuels the anger.
"I'm not letting you get away, little girl," her attacker sneers as he steps over to her and kneels down.
His sneer is cut short when the seemingly weak and innocent girl flips onto her back and grabs his hair, bringing his head down to kiss the pavement with the wet crunch of bone. She gets to her feet, the ping of the partially dissolved bullet hitting the unrelenting cement, punctuating the man's surprised and pained whimpering.
She toes him roughly in the ribs, rolling him over. "Go home, you pitiful excuse for a human being, and maybe I won't kill you."
The punk looks up at her and gasps in surprise and fear. He holds his broken nose with his left hand as he stumbles back, his right hand behind him, supporting his weight, when he sees what this young woman turned into. His white rimmed almond shaped eyes look into ice blue eyes that glow slightly with a soft green in deadly coldness that matches the terrifying tone of her voice. He scrambles to his feet and bolts off, stumbling from the blinding tears in his eyes and the paralyzing pain in his head.
Just as he's disappearing around the corner, a heavy hand lands on her shoulder. Instinctively, she turns with almost impossible speed. She lashes out with her right fist, connecting solidly with the dark haired stranger's jaw, following with a vicious left hook to the nose. She blinks and steps back when a rose imbeds itself in her shoulder.
Ow! What the fuck?! A rose...?
She reaches up to pull the thorny flower out of her shoulder with a wince, and looks at the newcomer. He's holding his face, glaring at her with flashing eyes through an absurd mask that seems to stay on his face all on its own. Behind him lies a top hat, having fallen off at her first blow. Crimson blood drips onto the white lapel of the tuxedo the man wears, and the cape falls over his shoulders in a manner that reminds her strangely of Batman. The man glares at her through tousled black hair.
"I was only trying to help," he mutters sullenly, rubbing his jaw a little.
He was passing by when he heard the gunshot and a body hitting the ground. He decided to investigate, and when he saw this girl, he was shocked at the feeling of familiarity she gave him. The last thing she expected was for her to haul off and slug him like that.
She packs one hell of a punch...
Ice blue eyes blink and slowly begin to clear of the slight insanity as the rose in her hand falls to the pavement.
"Oh...oh! You must be Tuxedo Mask! Gods...I'm sorry!"
She goes over, picks up his hat, brushes it off and hands it to him. The skin showing through the tears of her school uniform is smooth and unscarred, already healed. Tux looks at her in shock, noticing this.
"What are you...?" he whispers.
She looks at him, eyes sad. "Just another freak," she answers softly, trying to pull the holes in her shirt shut.
"I see," he answers, standing a little straighter. He closes his eyes in pain, and when he opens them again, the strange girl is gone.
She fumbles with the lock to the apartment she and her mother share. Her hands shake with weakness from the healing, shock from the violent interaction and the pounding headache that suddenly sprang up. She gaps as friendly arms reach around her to steady her hands and help with the lock. Looking up, she sees Maxfield Stanton standing there behind her, looking dashing in khakis and a blue silk shirt, beautiful hair falling perfectly over his shoulders. She blinks.
It's just not fair. Why can't my hair be that gorgeous?
"Thank you, Maxfield," she pauses, brow raised slightly. "What are you doing here?"
"Why, helping a friend out who I haven't seen in a while. I could ask you the same question, HLM-san," he responds with that charming smile of his.
She chuckles softly, pushing open the door to let them both in. Glancing at the clock, she knows her mom wouldn't be home for another hour or two.
"Ah...well, it's sort of a long story. To put it in a nutshell, New York was getting pretty bad, and my mom just thought we'd fare a little better here." She smiles at him. "Would you like to stay for dinner? I bet mom would love to see you again."
"Well, I have a previous engagement this evening, perhaps some other time."
She grins a little. "I'll have to take you up on that rain check. You don't know what you're missing, though. We're having stir-fry tonight."
He chuckles softly and nods. "May I ask you a question?"
Her eyes meet his when she looks up from putting a few things away. They're starting to get strange, feint tints of black and green in them. "Go right ahead."
"What happened? You're a mess." He places his hands calmingly on her shoulders, seeing she's still trembling and the blood on her shirt is drying into a hard, red residue on the cloth.
She smiles a little. "Got shot, broke that guy's nose and got pierced by a rose when I accidentally slugged Tuxedo Mask."
Maxfield blinks in surprise and worry, eyeing her up and down. "Maybe you should rest, HLM-san. It's a wonder you're on your feet at all! How...?"
She smiles a little, not ready to reveal her secrets just yet. "Oh...I just got lucky is all."
The look he gives her says he's not buying that one. She grins slightly at him, her eyes hold mystery, pain and fear in their depths; the very same emotions he struggles to hide from the world every day, for as long as he can remember.
"I'm sorry, Maxfield, there are a lot of things about me you're probably better off not knowing." She gives him a strange and sorrowful smile, the longing within it only adding to her odd mystique.
He nods slightly, watching her curiously. "I understand." The time on the clock tells him he should be going. "Ah, M-chan, I must be going. I have a meeting I must attend soon. "He takes out a business card and blinks when HLM places a slip of paper with her number on it in his palm, once he gives her the card.
She smiles a little at him, surprised at how easily her mom's pet name for her slid off of his tongue. "Give us a call sometime, Maxfield. We can set a dinner up."
He smiles charmingly as she escorts him to the door. "Take care of yourself, he tells her.
"Ill do my best. That goes both ways. You have a good day."
"You, too."
With one last smile, he disappears down the hallway.