Much Ado About Stalking [ DONE ]

[+. I M A]

"Come out, come out, and let me see!"

Aiko just wouldn't shut up. She was soaring around the store, doing aerial acrobatics with the prowess of a fly. They had gone into a...well, a clothing store that Ima would never look at twice. It was a cute enough store, with the only problem being that the clothes were...well...

Ima had tried an outfit on because Aiko had given her the puppy eyes. You just don't say no to a flying bobble head with puppy eyes. Now she was regretting her lack of assertiveness as she hid in the dressing room, wearing the most ridiculous outfit.

"I'm not coming out! I'm...I'm getting changed..."

Too late. Aiko had swooped in and unlocked the door so everyone else in the store could see Ima. She was wearing a black skin tight dress with a Victorian-style skirt; the dress would have looked even better on her if she wasn't frowning so unattractively as she wore it.

"Buy it, buy it, buy it!"

Ima slammed the door to the dressing room and got changed, going back into her baggy light blue shirt and frumpy plaid skirt that went down to her ankles. Aiko frowned and pouted as they left the store, commenting on Ima's lack of cuteness and sense of style. Ima was indeed a mess: her black hair was frizzy, her clothes didn't match well, and instead of contacts today she was wearing large glasses that hid her eyes. With clothes like these, Ima was practically hiding herself from the world.

"Come on, we need to go on patrol any way."

[Kiko/Hotaru]

"Stalker. Stalker. Stalker." Genma repeated, over and over and over again. A vein appeared on Hotaru's head.

"I'm not a stalker. I'm a passionate human researcher!" Hotaru defended, throwing his binoculars at his chara. Genma dodged out the way, smirking all the way. Hotaru sniffed, irritated. "I'm not hunting down targets right now, as you perfectly know, so shut up. Being the Lust of the sins has it's downsides too. It means I have to work." Hotaru said, fully aggrivated.

Hotaru hated all sorts of work, and Genma knew it. So the wolf chara smiled "Don't think of it as work, Taru. Think of it as a favor." Genma encouraged. Hotaru snorted.

"A favor to who, Genma-kun?" Hotaru demanded, picking up the binoculars. Genma's smile disappeared.

"To...Daisuke-san?" Genma said reluctently. Hotaru grinned.

"Sure. To Dai-kun." Hotaru returned to the edge of the building, binoculars raised once again. "Ano, Genma-kun, isn't that one of the knights?" Hotaru asked, raising the binoculars to his floating chara. Genma peered in and confirmed it.

"The frumply dressed one, yes? She's a knight. Hotaru. Shall we?" Genma said smoothly. Hotaru chuckled.

"Approach her with caution. Dog, bite, bark!" Genma proclaimed as Hotaru wolf ears and tail and as his honey-gold eyes turned sapphire blue.

"Let's go." Hotaru said, coolly

[+. I M A]

Ima was unaware of the danger she was in, walking with a slight hunch in her back, her head lowered with her hair in her face. Aiko was laying atop of the girl's head, humming a children's song to herself as she casually looked at all the interesting things there were on the street. All morning she was trying to cheer her human up, mainly because today was a special day. It was the day that Ima's family had been told that her sister had 'eloped' with a fellow employee.

But by now, Ima knew that probably wasn't the first lie Easter Corp. ever told.

Aiko was still humming when she felt them, a human and his chara, approaching. "Huh?" She looked behind her shoulder and blinked, not seeing them. But suddenly Ima had stopped and when Aiko looked back to her front, her eyes widened and she quickly stood up. Hotaru was standing in front of Ima, blocking her way.

"Pardon me, but..."

Ima still hadn't noticed that Hotaru had a chara of his own. It wasn't until Aiko actually pulled on her hair and informed her that he also had a chara. Ima blinked and looked Hotaru over once again - at first, she thought he was some weird cosplayer. She suddenly got wide-eyed and took a few steps back; she certainly wasn't one of the more courageous of the knights.

"Are you one of the sins? What do you want?"

[Kiko/Hotaru]

"Ask me no questions, and I shall tell you no lies, dear Knight." Hotaru said smoothly, running a hand through snow white hair. He pulled off his glasses and put them back in his case, his vision better now that he had done a character change with Genma. Aforementioned chibi appeared, swinging his mallet around.

"Koku, make it quick. You still have work to do." Genma chided, using Hotaru's other nickname. It was better if this knight didn't find out Hotaru's name. Blue-purple eyes narrowed, as Hotaru's mallet appeared.

"Ja ne, let's find out how strong the knights really are." Hotaru said slyly, raising the huge hammer like weapon. "I have a 95.5 percent chance of hitting my mark. Goodbye." Hotaru bid Ima farewell as he brought the mallet down...

[+. I M A]

There was no doubt that Ima was frightened. She was a scared, measly, slight individual with no backbone. But it was from her desire to be different - her intense willingness to change - that Aiko was now here to protect her. "Ima! Now!"

Ima character changed, a black choker with a silver cross appearing on her neck and the same black hat with a red ribbon tilted on the side of her head. She jumped away and did a backwards flip, and in the middle of doing so removed her red ribbon and let it slide from her fingers to wrap around and bind Hotaru's ankles together. This caused him to fall as he brought the heavy mallet down and lose balance. Just as he fell Ima ran, looking over her shoulder and calling out,

"Looks like I found that point five percent!"

Aiko stayed behind for a moment, zooming over to Hotaru and glaring at him with her hands on her hips. She kicked his cheek with her tiny little foot, the feeling most likely barely felt but she still wanted to do it. "Bully!" Then she quickly zipped away, catching up to Ima and grabbing onto the girls strands of black hair that fluttered as she ran down the street.

[Kiko/Hotaru]

"You think that, ne?" Hotaru whispered, Genma quickly untying Hotaru's ankles. Soon, Hotaru was pounding down the street after her, his long legs working to his boost up his speed.

"She's pretty fast." Hotaru panted, Genma hanging on to Hotaru's ears.

"That's a surprise, coming from you." Genma shouted, his voice barely audiable over the rushing wind. Hotaru chuckled.

"I'm faster though. She'll tire out soon and then we'll show her." Hotaru said slyly, narrowly dodging an old lady. Genma nodded and gripped Hotaru's rabbit ears tighter.

[+. I M A]

Hotaru would follow her for two more blocks, the whole while Ima could feel her heart trying to beat out of her chest. She was losing stamina fast and needed to catch her breath. Even if character change gave her added speed and agility she was still not very strong nor durable.

Meanwhile, Aiko was clinging to her hair, tugging on it and actually causing Ima some dull pain in the process. "What's the plan? What's the plan?!" The lolita chara was getting as frantic as her human, but Ima still had her wits about her.

Mostly.

"We can try to out run the Easter bunnies..."

Aiko looked over her shoulder, seeing that Hotaru and Genma were closing in on them fast. She frantically began to pull on Ima's hair, making the human girl grit her teeth. "New plan, new plan!"

Just as a corner came up, Ima made a sharp turn into a dead-end alley. However, when Hotaru and Genma made the turn, all they saw was the alley, a dumpster, and a brick wall. There were no signs of Ima and Aiko any where, but the dumpster was partially open, which was strange because it should be fully open so the restaurant next door had somewhere to throw out there garbage.

[Kiko/Hotaru]

"How very smart...hiding in a trash can." Hotaru muttered, walking cautiously to the dumpster. Genma was on alert, his CHARA SENSES tingling. Hotaru reached the smelly container, and his mallet appeared.

"Koku...." Genma warned. Hotaru nodded, and he slammed the lid down on the garbage. He banged his mallet, hard on the side of the dumpster, making it ring loudly.

"You're not up to that level of treachery. Come out of your hiding place, coward." Hotaru shouted, prepared for the worst. Genma snorted.

"Really. A noob like her, fighting us, alone. It's not even funny." Genma said seriously. Hotaru grinned and dispatched his character change.

"Then let's put her out of her misery! Come on Genma! Aoi no Yato! Unlock my heart!" Hotaru exclaimed as Genma returned in his egg. A second later, there was Hotaru, fully transformed.

((Information so I don't confuse you. The members of the deadly sins can transfom no matter what level they're on. XD))

[+. I M A]

Careful what you wish for, bunny boy. You may just get more then you could chew.

Like now.

Ima jumped from the fire escape, landing on the opposite side of the dumpster, the sound of her heels echoing down the alleyway as it slammed against the metal top. Before Hotaru could raise his mallet the ribbon was back, since she had summoned it back to her when she went onto the fire escape. It snaked around his body and clung to him, keeping his arms at his sides.

She then took Genma, squeezing him gently but firmly, opened the lid to a trash can next to the dumpster, put him inside, and closed the lid. Then she turned around and winked at Hotaru who was struggling to get free.

"Pwned by a NOOB!"

Then she ran again, turning the corner and running and turning more corners, getting herself lost but hoping that he would lose her trail. But she was already out of breath and tired, and entered a public bathroom to hide out in where she could wipe the sweat off her face and rest for a moment.

Aiko wasn't happy that they were stopping, as she was worried that they would be able to find them. Ima dispersed her character change and took off her glasses, putting them by the sink. She wet a paper towel meant for drying her hands and instead used it to pat her face.

"When they find us...I have an idea."

Ima didn't answer. She was too busy looking at her plain self in the mirror, what fuzzy little of it she could make out without the aid of her glasses.

[Kiko/Hotaru]

"This embarrasing on so many levels. Oh god, I hope none of the other sins see this." Hotaru whined, trying to free his arms. From inside his trash can, Genma snorted.

"Taru. I'm in a trash can. I don't even know how that happened!" Genma retorted. Hotaru shrugged. Genma had a point. He squinted at something on the ground, wondering why everything was so blurry. Hotaru snarled as he remembered his glasses were in his pocket.

"I'm blind. HOW WONDERFUL, I'M EFFING BLIND! RAWR! THE NEXT TIME I SEE THAT FRUMPY LOSER SHE IS SO GOING TO GET IT!" Hotaru yelled, trying to escape like a madman. He even started chewing his shoulder, trying to dismember his own limb. But he stopped when Genma got out of his trash can.

"...Were you trying to chew your arm off?" Genma asked slowly. Hotaru blinked innocently at the place where he thought Genma was.

"No...?" He said, trying to put as much innocence and naitivity in his voice.

5 minutes later

"Now that you're free, what are we going to do now?" Genma asked stoicly. Hotaru smirked.

"We're going to get revenge! We're going to find out her strengths, weaknesses, favorites, hates, and loves and EXPOSE THEM TO THE WORLD!!! KUKUKUKU! USING STALKER POWER!!!" Hotaru yelled evilly, putting in the evil-orochimaru-laugh in for balance. Genma sweatdropped.

"Geez." He muttered, watching his human continue laughing evilly.

[+. I M A]

"You're abusing the situation."

Ima glared at Aiko in the mirror, and in effect, glared at herself. The lolita chara only giggled as she observed Ima in the mirror; she was wearing a cute, frilly white skirt with a hemline that cut just above the knee and a plain blue t-shirt. Her ugly scuffed shoes were replaced by cheap sandals. She had brought her contacts with her and had put them on in the bathroom, her brown eyes now a soft but unnatural blue. Her black hair had been brushed back into a pony tail.

Basically, the girl who in front of the mirror looked completely different from the one who had been fighting the boy and his chara from Easter Corp. So long as Aiko kept her distance then there was a high chance their pursuers wouldn't realize that this was now Ima.

"What if it doesn't work?"

She shuffled her feet, watching as Aiko fixed her hair in the mirror and smiled an winked at herself. Aiko giggled and then looked up at Ima, giggling light-heartedly.

"If it doesn't, then at least you got a cute look out of it. Just be sure you look confident when you walk out of here!"

After paying for the new clothes with a credit card, dumping the old ones (on Aiko's orders and to Ima's chagrin), and quickly trying on a perfume sample to confuse her scent, Aiko's plan was put into motion. She even had to buy a new hand bag (which Aiko picked out, of course) because the old one would have given her away. Luckily it was cheap and ugly, like Ima's taste, though Ima had been oddly attached to it.

"Operation Ima Cute Knight Undercover is a go!"

Aiko then disappeared but promised to stay close, knowing that her scent would be the first Genma would notice. Ima was scared to be by herself and she repeated the phrase 'have confidence' over and over as a mantra to calm her nerves.

She had no idea Hotaru just entered the same street as she did.

[Kiko/Hotaru]

Hotaru was still angry and seething and plotting his revenge when he spotted the pretty girl. He stopped walking and contemplated his answers.

1) He could flirt uselessly with this girl, forgetting his revenge to persue a pretty face. Aforementioned pretty face would probably banter off his flirting techniques, but, hey, that's why there's second chances. And binoculars.

2) He could completely choose to ignore this girl(and her pretty face) to complete his stalker-revenge plan.

Hotaru snorted. He was the LUST of the sins not the freaky-revenge obsessed LOSER of the sins. His teammates didn't call him Hoe for nothing.

And with his newly found ephiphany in his mind, he planted himself in front of Ima's path, determined to woo the girl that beat him up.

...unknowingly of course.

"Hello, are you tired? Because you've been running all through my dreams. My name is Kokushi Hotaru, but you can call me Taru-kun." Hotaru said smoothly, bowing. Genma blanched.

"Taru, what the hell?! That had to be your worst pick up line ever! And she's not even all that pretty!" Genma protested, hitting the back of Hotaru's head with his mallet. Hotaru flicked his forehead and sent him a look that clearly said SHUT UP!

[+. I M A]

When Hotaru approached her, Ima thought for sure the plan had failed. She knew it was stupid, she knew it was a ploy for Aiko to dress her up like her own personal barbie, and still she had gone through with it. She watched Hotaru near her with wide eyes; she was like a deer caught in the head lights. Her shoulders flinched defensively and her voice froze, she couldn't make a sound. Ima's now blue eyes lowered to the ground, unable to look Hotaru in the eye. And then...

A miracle happened. Or, if you were Ima, you wouldn't exactly call it a miracle. She just stared at him in disbelief, blinking twice, wondering if he had hit his head against the pavement when he fell before. Or maybe...maybe Aiko's plan was actually working?!

No, I'm tired because you keep chasing me around town, you freakin' Duracel bunny reject![/color]

She didn't say this out loud. She was afraid to say anything out loud, because there was a chance he'd recognize her voice. Ima heard what Genma had said but refrained from looking his way in fear of being realized.

When she finally did talk she looked away from him, blushing, and kept her voice as soft as possible without him asking to hear her again. "H-himeko. My name is...Himeko."

He may have heard her name or had knew it from past dealings with the knights. The name of her missing sister seemed much more comfortable to her.

[Kiko/Hotaru]

"Himeko. That's a pretty name. But it sounds familiar..." Hotaru mumbled, thinking of where he might of heard the name. Genma stared at the side of her face, because she wouldn't turn his way.

"Ano, Taru, she LOOKS familiar..." Genma mumbled also, trying to place where he might have seen 'Himeko'...

"I'VE GOT IT! YOU'RE THAT ONE MODEL, AREN'T YOU?!" Hotaru shouted, smacking his fist into the palm of his other hand. Genma frowned.

"Aa, Taru, I don't think she's that Himeko..." Genma scolded. Hotaru waved him away.

"Wow, I'm flirting with a model. The others are so not going to believe this!" Hotaru said estatically, Genma shaking his head behind him.

[+. I M A]

'Himeko' stared at Hotaru with wide eyes and a slightly parted mouth. There was no way anyone could be this stupid! There was absolutely no way, unless Easter Corp. didn't check the IQ scores of their prospective employees.

"N-no...I get that a lot."

She didn't, even though the person who Hotaru thought she was happened to be her older sister. They had similar features, the same shy smile, but her sister had a fire in her while something inside of Ima had died while following the shadow of her perfect older sister. At least, she thought it had, until she that something inside introduced itself to her as Aiko.

Ima put up both hands and took a few steps back, distancing herself from Hotaru. "I should go now, bye!"

She turned around quickly and ran in the opposite direction, glancing up at the sky to see where Aiko was. She had a feeling she was going to need her soon.

[ - FINISHED - ]