[Original] New Beginnings: Chapter Eleven

[sunrises]

Hrm, I guess I'm on another roll. Gotta love Thanksgiving break~~

Title: Chapter Eleven: The Annoying Movie Goer
Fandom: Original [references to Beyblade, Tokyo Mew Mew, and Digimon]
Summary: "So Dai and Minoru finally bond..."
Claimer: All mine again. Except for the girl with the jester hat, and that is actually arisadonna's character, Arisa Shimizu/Plum.

New Beginnings: Chapter Eleven
The Annoying Movie Goer

May was slowly creeping up on everyone. While most kids normally looked forward to May (it meant the end of school!), the Star Six were becoming a fast exception to that rule.

They were pretty much guaranteed the highest grade in their class, sure. Most of their old friends, though, preferred that life went back to the way it used to be before that class got underway.

If anyone was feeling the effects the most, it had to be Daisuke. The teachers were cracking down on him more; people were starting to rely on him more and more for every single little thing.

If anything, he felt like everything was being a general nuisance. Even Hikari’s words couldn’t soothe him anymore.

There he was, sprawled on his bed, staring up at the blank ceiling.

“Dai?”

His mom had been calling him for the past ten minutes. Dai hadn’t really noticed; the clock seemed to make everything slow down, everything speed up… or just lose time in general.

The door felt a knock. Dai turned to face it, calling, “Come in. I haven’t locked it.”

His mother walked in calmly, gently sitting down beside her son. “Are you all right, Dai? You don’t sound like it.”

“I’m just… irritated,” He murmured, looking up at her. “And.. maybe a little afraid that everyone’s gonna find out who I really am.”

“That you’re a Hoshizen?”

He rose from his position. “Yeah,” He admitted. “Can you imagine the fuss that would be made if the entire school found out?”

“It won’t be bad,” His mother soothingly replied. “I mean, your last name is Kinomiya and all.”

He let her stroke his bangs. “I know, I know. I just… don’t want special favors. People like me enough because of what I do, not my parentage.”

“That’s a good thing, isn’t it?”

“Of course it is,” Dai admitted. “I just don’t want people not liking me anymore because of who I’m descended from.”

“I…. see.”

“Mom?”

Kinkou blinked. “What is it?”

Closing his eyes, Dai put his hands on his chest. “…. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Kinkou turned to leave. Her brown eyes looked over Dai, slowly watering as she left the room.

“He doesn’t know,” She murmured to herself. “…It’s probably a good thing. Shintaro, Sakura… I’m sorry.”

Maybe it was a good thing that Dai was oblivious to his mother’s sad mood. Looking down at his phone, he stared at the text message that flashed on it.

“Dai, want to meet us at the movies? The girls wanted to go shopping,” Dai began to read. His face brightened visibly as he realized it came from Shawn – the American who literally knew little to no Japanese.

How could he refuse the efforts of someone who had made so much effort on this SMS? Taking his cell, he hurriedly typed back a yes and grabbed a coat.

As he turned to leave his room, he called, “Hey, mom? I’m gonna be at the movies. Just SMS me if you need anything!”

Kinkou smiled, listening to her son’s heavy footsteps as he dashed out of the house.

“….Well, he seems fine,” She murmured. “That’s a good thing.”

*

The movie theater was one of the few places where mages mingled with norms, where their worlds collided. The end result? Well, it didn’t work out in the mages’ favors, to say the least.

Anything that said ‘I’m magical’ had to be cast with illusion magic. Demonic wings were forced into their backs; elfin ears hidden behind their hair and made smaller with magic. All and any tattoos were erased.

Everyone walking in looked normal, everyone walking out… well, they looked like norms too.

The elves, angels, and demons called this a racial insult. Everyone else insisted that it was to maintain the peace – after all, who the heck would make movies in the magical realm? Their lives weren’t half as interesting as the norms who killed off their wives, only to find out that she wasn’t his wife, but his sister’s cousin’s wife’s sister twice removed’s brother’s best friend from college.

… Needless to say, the movies were one area where every race compromised. They would act like norms, if only for the interesting (if not downright weird) movies.

For humans like Daisuke, this would be an easy task. Just don’t bring the weapons to the theater, and refrain from using magic.

Too bad this was way easier than it sounded.

“Kinomiya-san!”

Daisuke grinned, waving at his friends as he ran to meet them. “Sorry, I came as quickly as I could.”

“Hey, it’s fine,” Shawn insisted. “The movie won’t start for another ten minutes, and we got the tickets.”

Smiling, Daisuke looked at the other two members of his group. Kyr stood awkwardly beside Minoru. Neither of them seemed pretty comfortable being here, Daisuke softly noted to himself.

He could have sworn that they were slowly becoming friends. They did all sorts of things together, like playing board games and hanging out at Sutori. They sung to Bon Jovi songs; they laughed every time Daisuke tried to flirt with Hikari.

Note that flirting never works on Hikari: she’s either pretty oblivious to the whole deal, or she gets it too well and refuses to acknowledge it with anything other than a beet-red face.

“Hey, Takaishi,” Daisuke greeted Kyr with a smile. “I hear you picked the movie out. Is it any good?”

Kyr nodded rapidly. “I loved--- err, I think it’ll be really good. Hear it’s one of those that’ll end up being classics.”

“Are you sure,” Minoru interrupted. “Usually, not many Japanese films end up being classics…”

“I’m sure,” Kyr murmured, his eyes glancing off at the flowers growing nearby. “It’ll be good.”

Minoru didn’t say anything else to that. Instead, he faced Daisuke with one of those smiles that Dai disliked so much. “Yo, Kinomiya, we should probably get our seats.”

“True,” Dai admitted. “Come on. We’ll let Beaumont and Takaishi get the snacks.”

The four walked into the theater, handing over their ticket stubs to one of those cashiers. By one of those cashiers, they meant a cashier who looked so ordinary that it wouldn’t be hard to forget him. Even right after you first saw him.

Kyr and Shawn stood in line to grab popcorn and the various drinks.

Daisuke laughed as Minoru and he split off; he could vaguely make out Shawn worrying over money (“Are you sure you have enough, Takaishi? I think I only have yen with me…”).

“Theater Five, right?”

Minoru nodded. “Yeah, should be it—“

BAM.

What had just happened? Dai could feel his body tensing by only mere sound alone; his eyes had closed by mere instinct.

His hands instinctively went to his sheath. Dai blinked, glancing down to see that nothing was there – just a normal link chain.

That’s right, Daisuke mused to himself. This is a norm theater. I would’ve gotten kicked out for having it in my possession.

“Oy, you should watch it!”

Both of them groaned, looking at the speaker. Her black hair flared out uncontrollably, though Dai could sense it that it had originally been quite tame and wavy. (Maybe it was his gut instinct? But it couldn’t be: Dai was never one to talk when it came to fashion and hair)

She pushed her tall jester’s hat (really, she needed to throw it in the dumpster before it exploded) further down her head. “You could’ve really hurt me, ya know,” She murmured, shaking her head.

Minoru rose from his position. “Um…sorry?”

The girl flicked his forehead. “It’s okay for now~ But don’t do it again, okay?” With those words, she skipped off.

Daisuke groaned.

“Cheer up, Kinomiya,” Minoru said. “At least she’s not gonna be with us.”

“Are you blind? She just walked STRAIGHT into Theater Five—“

“You know, I thought it was more like a skip, hop, then a walk…”

“Oh, shut up already.”

Minoru pouted, yet he kept to Dai’s word: he didn’t speak until they got inside the theater and saved their seats.

“You know, I’m pleased,” Daisuke finally said to Minoru, his voice sounding slightly worried at Minoru’s uncharacteristic silence. “We got good seats in the middle.”

Minoru nodded.

Okay, so that topic didn’t work…. What would?

Daisuke could make out that tall jester hat again. Groaning, he turned his attention to Minoru.

“You wanna bet how quickly she gets kicked out of the theater?”

At those words, Minoru’s face brightened visibly. “Sure,” He responded eagerly. “I’m gonna say… half an hour.”

“Half an hour sounds good.”

“True, but do you think it’ll happen earlier? I mean, she is using her cell phone right now.”

Daisuke paused. Yeah, she was definitely using her cell (“Oy, Mr. Plumber, today’s my day off! Please don’t tell me I hafta go somewhere today on work, because I said that I wanted a break…”) – and she was definitely loud.

The entire row shushed her. The girl put her hand on top of the phone, then turning back to the glaring sea of people.

“Oy, can’t you see that I’m on the phone?”

Everyone in the theater groaned.

“What’s all the groaning for,” Shawn asked, sitting down next to Minoru, giant bowl of popcorn in hand. “I thought the movie wasn’t starting for another three minutes?”

“That,” Minoru pointed to the black-haired girl (who, unfortunately, still had that jester hat). “Is being a general annoyance.”

“Too bad she isn’t one of us,” Kyr murmured. “Otherwise we could’ve used spells or something to keep her quiet.”

The others nodded in agreement.

The theater dimmed slowly; nearly everyone’s voices became hushed as the commercials started. Of course, everyone in this context didn’t include the girl with the ridiculously large jester hat. She kept jabbering away on that clamshell phone of hers; oblivious to the piercing glares and constant shushing that she received.

When the phone finally slammed shut and was turned off, the movie-goers all let huge sighs of relief escape their lips.

“Talk about an annoying movie-goer,” Minoru murmured, rubbing his temples.

Daisuke nodded in agreement, whispering back, “I know. Her jester hat is huge.”

“Do you think it matches her?”

“If by matches, that it makes up for her enormously small brain, then… yes.”

Both of them burst out laughing.

“Shush,” Kyr whispered, his eyes never leaving the movie screen. “The movie’s starting.”

Daisuke exchanged a bemused glance with Noru; they laughed softly to themselves again.

Shawn frowned. “Seriously you guys, keep it down.”

So, it was said then that Daisuke and Minoru attempted to watch the movie. Attempted being the keyword. Every time the good part was coming, the black-haired girl just had to jump up and squeal at some weird star, her hat blocking any chances of the guys missing the scene.

“It’s just like I remembered,” Kyr murmured, his face softening as the time passed.

Shawn blinked. How could have Kyr seen this movie? This was the first showing of it in Tokyo: no one could’ve seen it, unless they had access to the studios where the movie was being made.

And Shawn highly doubted that Kyr was related to movie producers. Maybe…. Nah. Kyr couldn’t be one of those elusive time-travelers he’s heard about in stories, the people who traveled through time and space to learn about the past. They were the people who kept the stories alive, who still believed that anything was possible.

Heck, Shawn would’ve too if he was a time-traveler.

… Kyr looked nothing like the time-travelers he imagined. For one thing, the ones from the stories were older, more flowly-feeling. They seemed to just make time stop when they were in your presence, or make it not important at all (well, okay, so Kyr had that feeling).

“Shawn?”

He blinked. So Kyr had seen him…? His face looking a pale red, Shawn grinned weakly. “I… was just thinking, Kyr. Sorry to worry you.”

“Nah,” Kyr slowly whispered. “It’s fine… I can always come and see this movie again.”

Silence crept in again. Shawn sighed softly, returning his gaze back to the movie screen. You’d think there was more to Kyr than that, Shawn mused to himself. I guess... if there was, it’s not meant to be known now.

Sadly, the silence wouldn’t stick for long. Daisuke groaned. “I’m sick and tired of having to move every time I wanna see something,” He murmured, rising so that he was sitting on his knees.

“Hey, jester girl!”

The row shushed him. Minoru shrugged it off; he changed his tactics by asking people around him to talk to that… girl.

She glanced back over in Minoru’s direction, her hat *still* blocking the way. “What do you want?”

“Uh, for you to take that stupid hat off so that we can see?”

Some movie-goers actually agreed to this, chiming in their words of agreement (which, ironically, were quite loud).

The girl sniffled. “But… but… this hat was a memento from my mom! Are you people really that mean?”

Now the argument wavered against Minoru. People turned to face him, berating him for his poor choice in words.

Minoru shrunk back. “Man, these people are fickle…”

A flashlight shone in the blond’s face. Wincing, he put his arms over his eyes. “…Huh?”

“Have you been making trouble, young man,” The ordinary cashier asked monotonously, his flashlight still shining in Minoru’s direction.

Daisuke frowned. “Of course he hasn’t! That… jester—“

The data mage’s face paled. “….The jester hat’s gone.”

“Uh-huh,” The cashier retorted. “And I’m the king of Sheba.”

Minoru and Daisuke exchanged confused glances.

“…. Really?”

“No. Now get out!”

For a surprisingly monotone guy, he sure had great emotion when it came to kicking two teenage boys out of the theater. Minoru groaned, not daring to look up as he and a (confused) Daisuke were literally pushed out of the movies.
“Why’d you get kicked out too?”

Daisuke shrugged. “Probably for being loud earlier – and for standing up for you.”

“Meh… sorry about that, Kinomiya.”

“But, really, you did absolutely nothing wrong,” Dai murmured, looking over at Minoru. “I mean… you were just trying to see the movie.”

“Hey, it’s okay. That movie didn’t look too cool anyways—“

“Don’t give me that. I know you liked it,” Dai retorted, staring at the suddenly guilty Minoru. “If it weren’t for that stupid jester girl, we would’ve been able to see it.”

Minoru laughed nervously.

“…..Mizuhara?”

Minoru blinked. “What is it, Kinomiya?”

“You think she did this on purpose to spite us?”

“Probably,” Minoru admitted, laughing. “But you have to admit, that jester hat was waaay too big for any sane person’s liking.”

“…So you still think it makes up for her small brain?”

Minoru shook Dai’s hand, grinning. “Oh, heck yes.”

Daisuke paused, staring down. “Mizuhara…. Does that mean…?”

“I’m not sure. Are we friends now, Kinomiya?”

Closing his eyes, Dai slowly nodded. “I think… despite the fact that the idiot kicked us out, we… still managed to bond over her, in this eerie fashion.”

Minoru grinned. “So… what now?”

“I don’t know, Minoru-san… if it’s fine for me to call you that.”

“I-it’s fine,” Minoru replied, his cheeks flushing slightly. “But! I have to call you Daisuke-san in exchange, okay?’

“That’s just what I wanted to hear,” Dai responded, returning the grin. “Hrm… you wanna hang out at Sutori til they get back?”

“Sure. They’ve got our numbers anyhow.”

They walked towards Sutori together. Even if their friendship had started off rocky, Dai think he learned what was going on: no matter how rocky one bond is, it can always be repaired in some odd way. In this case, it had been the case of making fun of some weird girl at the movies.

But hey, it had worked, hadn’t it? And to Dai and Minoru, that was pretty much all that mattered.