Togetherness (part 11 of 14)

a Shoujo-Ai Mascots fanfiction by Baka Gaijin30

Back to Part 10
O'Brian sat sourly at the bar as he nursed his Guinness. The regulars in 
the smoke-filled pub knew enough by now to avoid him. As the bartender 
turned the TV to a sports channel, a certain long-haired young man came 
in through the entrance carrying a backpack filled to bulging. He took a 
seat next to Donovan and ordered a beer of his own, casually sipping it 
in seeming ignorance of the acerbic look the Irishman was giving him.

"Where in the bloody hell have you been?" O'Brian demanded, "It's 
bleedin' two in the afternoon!"

"I'm a college student, remember?" MacAulay answered without looking at 
the burly Irishman, "I had work to do on a term paper for European 
Literature and a chemistry final. Also I had to pay visits to the 
offices of Astounding Fantasy and the department of motor vehicles. 
See," he said as he opened up his backpack and showed a large group of 
maps.

"Aye," O'Brian answered, "I see, but why..."

"Because we still don't know where the Shea elf lives. Look, I've done 
my bit; I've set my trap for the fair Miss Lloyd. Now we have to bring 
these maps back to Little Tokyo so the Yamanba can scry the location 
of..." his voice drifted as his gaze fell upon the form of someone 
wearing a dingy-looking tan trench coat with a black wide-rimmed hat who 
was taking the seat next to Donovan. The stranger wore a pair of 
sunglasses, and her long, unkempt white hair fell down her back. She 
gave off an air of menace about her, and as she laid her bony hands on 
the bar the bartender crossed himself unconsciously before going to her.

"Whisky," she ordered in an Asian accent, not bothering to wait for the 
old man tending bar to ask, "A straight double."

O'Brian turned from the gangly Nick MacAulay to the newcomer, and 
frowned, "What are ye doin' here?" he growled, "I didn't think ye ever 
left Little Tokyo."

The Yamanba began to snicker, "I know," she said as she reached a hand 
up to her sunglasses, "But like you O'Brian-san, I got impatient waiting 
for MacAulay-san," she said as she pulled the shades off to reveal her 
cruel bloodshot eyes, "Come," she said as she stood up, putting the 
sunglasses back on as she picked up her drink, "Let's find a private 
booth in the back where I can examine the maps."

They headed towards the back, past the pool tables and the group of 
older men engaged in a dart game. As they sat down, O'Brian looked 
around to make sure there were no eavesdroppers before he spoke up, "I 
don't get this," he finally said, "Why bother to try to divine the elf's 
whereabouts? Why not simply force it out of that blonde girl?"

Nick allowed an exasperated sigh, "Because they're now bonded," he 
explained, "They've been together long enough by now for a link to have 
formed between them. You yourself experienced this when you attacked her 
and the elf came to her rescue. Attack the one, and the other will not 
be far behind. No, our only option is to separate them, and then strike 
both at the same time."

"And the pooka?" the Yamanba asked.

"The pooka will either be with one or the other. Since I'll be dealing 
with the young Miss Lloyd and Donovan here will be taking care of the 
Shea elf, you'll have to figure out which of us to go with."

The witch looked at the young druid silently for a few seconds before 
grabbing one of the maps. She tool out a flat stone with a hole bored 
through it, and then yanked several strands of hair out of her head, 
wincing as she did so. O'Brian then turned to MacAulay, "So, while the 
Yamanba..."

"Yumiko," the Japanese witch muttered as she slid the strands of her 
white hair through the hole in the stone. Donovan raised an eyebrow as 
he turned to her.

"What?" the Irishman asked.

"I have a name, you know," the witch said as she tied the hair strands 
and began to dangle the stone over the first map, "I'm not just called 
‘Yamanba.' My name's Yumiko," she said as the stone seemed to suddenly 
move of its own accord, "Ah... the elf is not in the city, nor is she in 
Long Island. The stone indicates she's in New York State."

MacAulay nodded as he passed her a New York state map. She then began 
the process again, narrowing the search down this time to an area in 
Hudson Valley, a suburb forty-five minutes north of the City. The gangly 
college student quickly pulled out a map of Hudson Valley from his 
backpack and passed it to her. Again she dangled the stone from the 
locks of her hair over the map, and stopped when it moved toward a 
particular suburb. She pulled the stone away and closed her eyes.

She was no longer in a tavern with O'Brian and MacAulay, but standing 
under a cloudy sky on a street in Hudson Valley, New York. Before her 
was a beautiful looking house with a large back yard and a tall line of 
hedges cutting off the property from any neighbors. In the front yard 
were two large oak trees on either side of the path leading from the 
porch out into the street. She quickly looked around her, noting that 
the house was largely isolated away from any other nearby dwellings, and 
that about two blocks down the street was a bus terminal.

She was suddenly at the depot, noting the street sign in front of the 
building. It was Oak Street. A second later, she was once again in front 
of the house, looking for the street number. As she looked on, several 
birds and chipmunks skirted playfully across the front lawn, followed 
very closely by a squirrel. As the other small animals continued on 
their way, the squirrel suddenly stopped, its tail and ears picking up 
as if it suddenly became aware of a nearby presence.

It then turned toward the Yamanba.

The witch abruptly opened her eyes, finding herself once again in the 
smoke-filled pub. Both Donovan and Nick noted that she seemed unusually 
shaken. "Yaman... Yumiko?" MacAulay asked, "Is everything alright?"

"Kuso!" the Yamanbo hissed, "The thing... it... it almost sensed me. The 
pooka, that squirrel must have been the pooka. If I'd stayed any longer, 
it surely would have detected me, I..." her voice drifted when she 
noticed the looks the two men were giving her. She quickly composed 
herself and narrowed her eyes, "I saw it; the elf's house. I didn't get 
the number of it, but it's on Oak Street in Hudson Valley, and I can 
give you a fair description."

Donovan's lips pressed together into a sinister smile at the news. 
MacAulay meanwhile quickly looked at his watch, "Great," he said, "And 
now, within a very few minutes, my part of the plan will be set into 
motion."

------

Mia finished checking to make sure there was enough salt left on her 
porch and was about to go into the kitchen to start on dinner when she 
saw it again; Arine watching her like a hawk. The blonde had followed 
her into practically every room in the house and was obviously trying to 
keep the elf within eyesight. At first Mia had thought she'd done 
something wrong, but she sensed to anger in her beloved, and the 
reporter wasn't scowling at her.

She went into the kitchen and began to prepare a vegetable stew, smiling 
as she began peeling a potato. She would never think of making an issue 
of the fact that she was a strict vegan, or that her beloved wasn't, but 
she was sure Arine would eventually give in to her cooking skills and 
swear off meat as well. As she cut the first potato up into wedges and 
began to peel the second, Arine walked into the kitchen and pulled out a 
seat at the table next to her. Mia cut the second potato into wedges and 
turned to the blonde.

"Arine love," she began, "Are you okay?"

The reporter nodded her head. The physical weariness she'd felt upon 
first waking up soon enough wore off, but she could still remember 
vividly every part of the dream. She and Mia were both in danger, and 
she'd chosen for herself the role of a hero. She didn't know what was 
coming, or exactly how she'd be capable of helping with only a few hours 
of boxing lessons, but she new enough to decide not to let the elf out 
of her sight.

"I'm fine," the blonde answered, "Why?"

"Well," Mia began hesitatingly, "It's just that you seem to be following 
me all over the place today. Is there something you wanted to talk to me 
about, love?"

Arine looked at Mia silently for a bit before reaching over to stroke 
the brunette's cheek, "That crazy Irishman," she said as she began to 
caress the elf behind her pointed ear, "He's still out there Mia. I... I 
don't want to leave you alone. If something should happen, I want to... 
No, need to be there for you. I..."

Mia put her knife down. She reached up and gently grabbed Arine's wrist. 
She turned and kissed the palm of the blonde's hand, then looked into 
her love's worried blue eyes, "Arine," she said tenderly, "The fact that 
you want to protect me means a great deal, but you don't have to worry. 
I have the sidhe, as well as my trusty bata if it comes down to it."

"I know," Arine said as Mia held her hand, "But I..." a phone call 
interrupted the conversation. The blonde let go of the elf's hand as she 
reached into her pants' pocket to answer her cell phone, "Hello? Oh, 
hello Mr. Stevens," she said as she recognized the voice of her editor, 
"What? Interview who? Wait, hold on," she said as she quickly looked 
around the kitchen, "Mia, I need a pen and something to write on."

The writer quickly went to a shelf and retrieved a pen. She then 
hurriedly passed a small notepad on top of the refrigerator to the 
blonde. The reporter brought the phone back up to her ear as she held 
the pen in her hand, "Sorry about that Mr. Stevens. Okay, go ahead," she 
said. The editor of Amazing Fantasy then began telling her all about a 
hot new prodigy in the realm of fantasy fiction who was really making a 
splash in the overseas markets and who would soon be allowing for his 
works to be published in America for the first time. Since she had done 
such an outstanding job on the Mia Shea interview, Stevens was giving 
her the plumb assignment of interviewing him.

Arine smiled, blushing a bit at the praise the editor gave her for her 
interview with Mia. The editor went on to explain that the author would 
only be in New York City for a short time, so she'd have to interview 
him at the apartment he was staying at today. Suddenly her face fell. 
She looked over into Mia's beautiful brown eyes and thought of declining 
the assignment. She couldn't leave her, not now. What if something were 
to happen to her?

The elf, whose sensitive hearing was able to pick up on most of the 
phone conversation, seemed to be able to tell what was going on inside 
of the reporter. "Go," she whispered, "I'll be fine, I promise."

Arine sighed defeatedly as she nodded her head to her love. She then 
turned her attention back to the phone conversation, "Alright, so what's 
the author's name?" she asked as she brought her pen back to the 
notepad, "Nicholas MacAulay? And how do I reach him?" she asked. The 
editor gave her the author's cell phone number, and she quickly wrote it 
down, "Okay, I've got it. Yes, thank you. Bye," she said as she closed 
the cell phone. As she put it back in her pocket, she felt the elf put 
her hand on her shoulder.

"Arine," she asked, "Do you... Do you still have the walnut? The one 
Mamma De Luca's great granddaughter gave you?"

Arine reached her hand into her other pants pocket and felt, "Yes, I 
do," she answered.

"Good," Mia said, "Look, I'll be fine because O'Brian doesn't know where 
I live, but you... Please be careful," she said as she now became a bit 
overprotective herself, "No matter what, don't lose the walnut. Promise 
me."

"I promise," Arine said as she pulled the elf into a hug. Both were 
worried for the other, and neither wanted to let the other go. Finally 
though, Arine kissed Mia on the cheek as she pulled back. She reached 
into her pocket again for her cell phone to call the writer she would be 
interviewing.

------

"Yes," Yumiko answered irritably, "I'm sure the pooka didn't get a fix 
on me. I wasn't there long enough for it to have felt anything more than 
a quick shadow or a rustling of the brush."

"Let's hope not." O'Brian said, "After all this planning, t' say nothin' 
of the money this whole thing is costing me..."

"I tell you the yousai never got a bead on me!" the old crone 
practically yelled. MacAulay quickly interjected himself into the 
conversation before the two got out of hand.

"Look," he interrupted, "Let's not worry about all of that right now. 
When I get the phone call and give the reporter the false address, you 
two..." he was cut off as a ring tone playing Beethoven's Fifth rang 
out. He fished his phone out of his jacket pocket, putting his finger up 
to his lips as he answered to silence the other two in the booth, 
"Hello? Yes, this is Nicholas MacAulay speaking; may I ask who this is? 
Arine Lloyd?" he asked with a wide grin, "Interview? Why yes, I'd love 
to meet with you..."

-End Notes-

Bata is simply another word for shillelagh.

Onwards to Part 12


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