• CHAPTER 76 - TAG

    Nothing like a fun game to bring things back to normal.

    The wind was tugging violently at my hair and the wind was biting my face all over. I gripped onto Takeuchi's hair tightly and crouched down to halfway block the wind from stinging my eyes. Takeuchi was at a nice, gentle-feeling jog, but he was going so fast. Almost faster than Kai ever did. Takeuchi's tongue was hanging out and he was so pumped on adrenaline. He was enjoying being in his Werewolf form again. I looked over to my left and Kai was keeping easy pace with us. He peeked over at me and smiled. I wanted to reach out and grab his hand, see if we could run while linking hands, but I was afraid I'd topple off of Takeuchi.

    You doing okay?     I heard Kai ask me in my head.

    I had to think a little to understand what he said since the wind was lashing at my ear lobes, Yeah, I'm doing great!

    We'll stop in a little bit so we can settle down for a while, Kai peeked over at me again and I nodded at him.

    I held onto Takeuchi tighter as he increased his speed a little and Kai took his own course, away from Takeuchi and I. I felt so pumped with adrenaline, so rushed by the velocity, so alive by the freedom. My heart sped up a little as we entered a large forest. I was freaked out that either Takeuchi or Kai would run into a tree and split themselves in half. Of course, there goes my imagination again, vociferating any pandemonium that comes to mind. I heard twigs snap under Takeuchi's paws and grass and leaves zip by too fast for me to process. I shut my eyes for a second, finally getting light motion sickness. It felt like another three minutes before Takeuchi slowed down dramatically to a light walk. I opened my eyes again and it was an open area we were walking though. I sat up a little and looked around.

    The place we were walking through was breath-taking. The forest was behind us and in front of us were large mountains, mountains I have only seen from a long distance from Matsuda and Orihime's house. There were smaller grass-covered hills that led up to the mountains and enlarged rocks jutted out of the sides of the hills, halfway camoflauged by the young grass. The mixture of both the moonlight and the night sky shifted the grass from a vibrant green to a luminous midnight blue with the brightest reflections from the moon. There were very little clouds in the sky and the constellations were aglow. I looked down at Takeuchi and his hair appeared black in the night with a brownish-blueish-burgundy shine; it was miraculous. I heard rushing through the grass somewhere near us and my heart sped up a little bit again. I calmed down once I noticed Kai stop suddenly next to Takeuchi and I.

    "Kai," I breathed and smiled lightly.

    "Is that enough running for now?"

    I nodded, "Just for a little bit,"

    I was just about to ask what Kira's place was in all of this until I heard more rushing around us and out popped Kira right behind Kai. I jumped a little, impressed by his speed despite him being a half Vampire. Kira smiled widely and Kai turned around and clouted Kira's back with his bare hand.

    "About time you joined us," Kai smiled.

    "You're the one that ordered me to bring Takeuchi's clothes," Kira rolled his eyes. "And I escorted Arisa's blanket, as authoritized."

    My eye twitched at the large vocabulary, "Mind cutting it down a little?"

    "Yes, I do mind," Kira replied sarcastically.

    "What is the blanket for?" I eyed the thick blanket Kira was holding between his arm and his waist.

    "For you, like I said," Kira rolled his eyes. "It's gonna get a little chilly tonight."

    Kai--without warning--reached up and grabbed me gently by the waist again and lifted me up. I didn't argue this time because I pretty much knew that he was just putting me down. He did as I expected and set me down curteously on my feet. He grabbed my hand and led me up part of the hill with Takeuchi and Kira following close behind, Kira saying a bunch of crap to Takeuchi and Takeuchi unable to protest or yell back. All Takeuchi could do is growl and occasionally bark at Kira and Kira would only laugh louder. Kai helped me climb up a particular rock that jutted out of the hill, creating its own little shade on the hill for the sunny days. Kai and I climbed onto the top and to the end of it--no room for Kira or Takeuchi at the very end--and we sat down.

    "Kai, I'm confused," I turned to face him. "I thought you said we'd be staying within the area."

    Kai chuckled, "We are within the premises," he looked around at the hills and even gestured back to the forest in the distance behind us. "You'd be discomfitted at how much land Matsuda and Orihime own."

    "Oh," I looked around, distracted by the scenery.

    There was a long pause and I looked over at Kira and Takeuchi. Takeuchi was once again sitting obediently with his tail wagging lightly and he almost looked as though he were begging, averting his eye from Kai and to Kira and vice versa. Kira was cross-legged on the grass, picking off several blades of grass and tossing them away. He also seemed eager about something in particular, but what would they be so eager about?

    "Fine, guys, you want to go?" Kai broke the midnight silence.

    Takeuchi perked up and his tail waved ferociously and his tongue was hanging out once more. Kira sat up a little straighter and there was a light glow to his eye. Seeing Kira react the way he did made me think he was the little brother, not Kai.

    Kai looked down at me, "Will you be okay companionless for a few minutes?"

    "Um," I blinked a couple of times. "Are there any Vampires or Werewolves around?"

    "Well," Kai pondered and jutted his tumb towards Kira and Takekuchi, "exluding those numnuts, there is nobody else."

    I laughed at what Kai called them, "What are you guys going to do?"

    Kai smiled at me slowly, excitement growing in his forest green eyes, "Tag,"

    "Tag?" I interrogated as Kai got up on his feet and turned to Kira and Takeuchi.

    "Yep," Kira smiled. "Just watch us."

    "If you can keep up," Kai smiled back at me.

    Kira, Takeuchi, and Kai gathered in a small two-man-one-wolf circle and faster than I could hardly process, they all shouted out in unison, "Not it!!"

    "You're it, Kira," Kai laughed.

    "Ah, s**t," Kira sighed.

    "What?" I stared at them, dumbfounded. "You all said it at the same time."

    "I don't think she'll be able to emulate with us ever," Kira chuckled at me.

    I beamed at Kira and the three companions split up. Kai backed up towards me and looked down at me, "Just try to watch us,"

    It shouldn't be too incredibly hard, with the moon fifteen times brighter than normal on such a clear night. After a split second or two, they all took off before I could blink. I searched around curiously, trying to track them down. I turned around and exposed my vision to the open space leading to the forest at the bottom of the hill. A black streak streamed across the field, much larger than Kai or Kira; it was Takeuchi. There was a smaller streak chasing after him but I couldn't tell whether it was Kai or Kira. In another second, the chasing turned around so Takeuchi was chasing either Kai or Kira. Every now and then, I would heard loud cracking noises which only indicated that one tagged another and I could hear their swift movements with the wind. I was filled with enticement, adrenaline, I never wanted this night to end. I was so relieved everybody was having so much fun.

    But...I didn't know Vampires and Werewolves played tag.

    ~*~*~*~*~*~

    The three companions finished their game, crouched over and catching their breath for the first time in forever. Kai and Kira laughed every now and then and Takeuchi walked around with his tongue all out and panting like crazy. Kai caught his breath and sat himself down next to me; I hadn't moved an inch since they were off on their fourty-minute non-stop game. I huddled up while laughing with them, mostly laughing at the sound their hands made when crashing onto each others' backs.

    "Kira, toss me the bag," Kai calmed down his laugher.

    Kira tossed Kai the large tote bag and Kai caught it swiftly. Kira leaned back and lay down on his back in the tall grass and managed to relax. Takeuchi rubbed his head into the ground and then flopped over and started rolling around once more. Takeuchi got a little too into it and rolled right over Kira. Kira shoved Takeuchi off and said a few colorful words in a humorous manner and Takeuchi continued his rolling around a few meters away from Kira. Kai reached into the tote bag Kira tossed to him and he pulled out the large blanket they stuffed into the bag before their game. Kai draped the blanket around me and kept his arm around my shoulder and held me close to his side.

    "You're freezing," Kai smiled at me. I had never ever seen him so exuberant until now.

    "Yeah," I sighed, smiling back at him.

    I saw Kira peek over at me and smile lightly, "You're exhausted too,"

    I leaned my head against Kai's broad shoulder and nodded, "Yeah," I sighed again. I got tired out the most, even though I didn't even do anything but watch them.

    Kai scooped me up off of the ground and carried me to under the rock we were just sitting on. He reposed me on the grass and I sat up. He walked around me to my right side and sat down right next to me. Takeuchi and Kira followed us down and sat back down near us. Kai wrapped an arm around my shoulders again and lay down, pulling me down lightly with him. I rested on my back and allowed him to coiled his whole arm all the way around my shoulders. I reached one hand up and grabbed onto his hand and held it near my heart.

    "This was fun," I smiled distantly, looking up at the sky.

    "Yeah," Kai agreed lightly.

    "When will we head back home?" I asked, turning my head towards him.

    "In the morning," he responded. "We're staying the night right here."

    My heart jumped in fear, "But--"

    "There is nobody coming," Kai reassured. "If anybody does come, we'll be awake to notice them."

    I nodded and looked up at the sky again. A giant Werewolf figure--no other than Takeuch--hovered near me and he lowered himself next to me. He rested his giant head on my stomach and turned his head so he was looking at me. I smiled and stroked his enlarged head. He sighed and relaxed a little. I was warming up much faster with Takeuchi's head on me than with the blanket. Kira moved so that he could lean his back against Takeuchi's side for back support and he sighed. Kai turned his head and kissed my head.

    "Get to sleep,"

    I nodded, not possessing any feeling of protesting against him, "Okay,"

    I was drifting to sleep, the night sky dimming with my heavy eyelids. What a perfect night for quality time with three of the guys I love most. Nothing went wrong, nobody was hurt, nobody interfered, everybody had fun. I was so happy to see Kai and Kira's relationship back to how it used to be.

    I was relieved to finally have something distract Kai and I from the incoming nightglares in the near future...for now.