Amy Blankenship - Black Winged Angel стр 8.

“The only one who’s going to see Kyoko naked is me,” Kotaro exclaimed good-naturedly from somewhere within the five city blocks that had been roped off for the Halloween parties. “I’m the one she truly loves.”

“HA!” Kamui exclaimed. “Kyoko goes more for the quiet types, which puts me in the lead at the moment.”

“You just yelled in her fucking ear with your testing… how the hell does that make you the quiet type?” Toya argued.

“Will all of you stop joking around?” Tasuki demanded. “We’re here looking for demons, not discussing Kyoko’s sex life.”

“How about lack of sex life?” Yohji asked, causing another round of chuckles.

“How about all of you shut up?” Kyoko ordered, suddenly angry that she was blushing ten shades of red. “Just because I don’t have a boyfriend, doesn’t mean you can make fun of me.”

Toya’s expression softened and he pulled Kyoko into a hug. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“OH MY GOD, CALL THE MEDIA QUICK… TOYA JUST APOLOGIZED!” Kamui yelled into the com-link.

“You know,” Toya stated. “I’m half tempted to go back and kick his ass.”

Kyoko giggled, “Don’t worry about that right now. I’ll let you have fun later.”

She smiled shyly, realizing that had sounded a little more X rated than she had meant it to sound. As their eyes locked, she noticed his hair had fallen down around his face, which was soft and tender in the dim light. Tucking a lock of his hair behind his ears, she kissed him on the cheek.

It was all Toya could do to breathe as he blushed at the double-edged comment and the feel of her soft lips against his skin. He smiled wickedly up at the hidden camera and stuck his tongue out at it before taking Kyoko’s hand and slowly leading her through the throng of people surrounding them. At least her last few words had shut everyone up.

The block party was in full swing, with music bands performing on every street corner and in every club. The partial moon hung high above, casting twisted shadows around them. They’d parked on the other side of the square because Kyoko wanted to walk through everything and get a lay of the area before they reached the children’s block.

She pulled Toya to a stop as she pointed to a drain near the sidewalk.

Toya nodded as he let go of her hand and stepped closer to it. “Hey Kamui, we got a grate removed from the drain near…” he looked around for the closest landmark which happened to be right in front of the drain.

He arched a dark eyebrow, “House of Screams… damn that’s cheesy. You want us to check it out?”

“Yohji and Kotaro can check it out if they will stop pawing Kyoko long enough.” Kamui answered in an irritated voice.

Toya growled as he turned and sure enough, Kotaro had his arm around Kyoko’s shoulders while Yohji’s was around her waist, his hand riding dangerously low on her hip. Toya rubbed his hand over his forehead as if he were in pain before he took long, determined strides toward them.

They immediately jumped back, both clasping their hands behind their backs and looking as innocent as possible. Kotaro even had the audacity to start whistling while looking up at the buildings around them like they were the most fascinating things on earth.

“Kotaro,” Toya growled, “keep your hands off of Kyoko.”

Kotaro pouted and Toya turned his glare on Yohji, who was actually stupid enough to return it.

“Don’t even think about it,” Toya stated. “Now are you two gonna check out that drain or do I have to throw you down in it?”

Kotaro threw up his hands in surrender, “Fine, fine… we’re on it. But I’m sending you my dry cleaning bill.” He quickly pulled Yohji out of harm's way when he noticed the idiot was trying to kiss Kyoko on the cheek. “Come on dummy, before demons aren’t the only thing you have to worry about fighting tonight.”

Kotaro touched his earpiece, “Hey computer nerd, where does this drain lead?”

“Hold on, I’m searching,” Kamui said slowly. “I think… yeah, got it! It leads right under the haunted house directly in front of you. Let’s see, it’s a pretty old place… give me a minute.”

“Just tell us if there’s a way into the drains from the house,” Yohji demanded.

“What the hell do you think I’m looking for?” Kamui yelled back. “I swear, you all seem to think that this stuff is always easy to find. It takes research damn it!”

Yohji gave Kotaro a deadpan expression, “This coming from the guy who can break into the CIA database in his sleep.”

“Whatever, we’ll leave you three to argue about it,” Toya stated. “I’m taking Kyoko over to the children’s section of the festival, so we can do our part.”

Toya put his arm around Kyoko’s shoulders and steered her away from them. They froze however when Kamui’s voice came back over the earpieces.

“Um, people… we got a problem.”

“What is it pipsqueak?” Toya asked, his voice changing tone at the seriousness Kamui was emitting.

“That drain leads into the house alright… through the basement. It also leads to the local cemetery about five blocks away. Apparently, the tunnels were dug during some kind of revolution. Local legends say it was an underground ‘highway’ for demon activity.”

“Damn, I’m glad I’m not you guys. Totally sucks to be you right now,” Toya said with a smirk. “Hey, Shinbe, Tasuki, think you can come over and help these ladies out?”

“I do humbly apologize Toya,” Shinbe said over the radio. “But Tasuki and I are on the other end of the square and unfortunately, we are currently preoccupied with our own work.”

“Yeah,” Tasuki stated then screamed.

“Tasuki?” Kyoko asked. “Are you okay?”

“He’s fine,” Shinbe said trying not to laugh. “He just got the life scared out of him by an old man and a teenage zombie wanna-be. Hey Tama, love the costume.”

“We changed our minds, we’re coming,” Tasuki growled. “Damn old man, always scares the crap out of me.”

Kyoko giggled along with Suki. It seemed Grandpa Hogo had found Tasuki.

“Tell Grandpa hello for me and I’ll call him tomorrow,” Kyoko said.

“I’m not telling that old geezer shit!” Tasuki exclaimed sullenly.

“Tell him or else,” Kyoko warned, as her emerald eyes grew stormy.

Kotaro, Yohji and Toya took two big steps back from the auburn-haired woman. When Kyoko got that expression on her face, there was only one alternative… run.

“Um, we’re gonna go ahead and check out the inside.” Kotaro said hesitantly. “We’ll keep you posted at what’s going on.”

Yohji didn’t even need prompting. They took a couple more steps back as though Kyoko might attack them once their backs were turned before hastily making their way to the house.

“Kyoko,” Toya said wonderingly. “You’re scary, you know that?”

Kyoko smirked, “It runs in the family.”

“Tell me about it.” Tasuki mumbled in her earpiece.

Suki could be heard laughing again, “And you guys all wonder why I love working with you.”