Pressing Concerns (tags Taki, Jandro, Sebastian)

[Thad Cotton]

"Taxi, Taxi!!!" Thad bleated, shouldering his way through the crowds as best he could. "Taxiiiiiiiii!!!" He tried frantically to get the attention of the Japanese boy across the hall. He greatly admired the older boy, and was determined that if anyone would know how to help Sebastian, Takumi would be it. It wasn't that he didn't trust Sidra and Fallon, but the eldest Cotton little concerned herself with the doings of mere mortals and Fallon had her own troubles to contend with, and while his mothers would surely care they would probably also insist that Sebastian needed something like counseling and doctors, or that he be sent away like they'd sent away Fal, which meant he had to seek help outside of his immediate family.

He grunted as he caught his crutches on someone, "Sorry, Sorry!" He apologized hurriedly to the boy, about his own age and fashion inclinations.

"Nice vest." He complimented with a grin, deciding that he already liked his victim. If he'd known that Jandro was friends with Teddy his opinion of the black-haired boy would have skyrocketed.

He then realized that he was in very real danger of allowing Takumi to escape while he traded pleasantries with someone he'd never met before. "Ah, Taxiiiiiiii, come baaaaaaaaaaaaack." He hollered, "I gotta talk to ya!"

[fryn]

As he wound a path through the countless milling forms and towards his locker Takumi rummaged in his pocket to try and locate his timetable. Ok, so calling the scrap of torn and crumpled paper such a grand name was somewhat misleading as all it contained were a series of Katakana symbols that were Takumi's own version of shorthand for each of his classes that day. It served it's purpose regardless but that was always assuming he'd remembered to shove said scrap into his pocket before bolting for the front door.

"Aha!" he stated in triumph and he flattened the sheet against a handy spot of wall and peered at it closely. At least now he'd know which books he'd need... and wouldn't be forced to track down someone with a similar schedule.

"Taxiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"

Only one person he knew a) used that name and b) had that much energy in their voice as such an ungodly hour.

He smiled as he turned towards the sound.

"Otouto-san!" he replied and he screwed the timetable into its former ball-shape, pushing it back into a pocket. "I haven't seen you for so long," he added. "Have you been avoiding me, little brother?" he asked, mock admonishment in his tone and definitely in his eyes.

[Jandro Juarez]

Jandro had woken amazingly chipper that morning. It took his foggy brain almost five minutes to remember there was a chance he might see Teddy that morning. He rode with Lia, Saint and Coco on the bus for Jonah had to go home the night before. His siblings were quiet which usually meant love troubles. He did his best to cheer them up, but it was hard work getting them to see their glasses half full.

Walking into the school, Jandro's ears were assaulted by a somewhat high-pitched voice calling for a Taxi repeatedly. At first he tried to ignore it, but it was not easy as the voice got more annoying the longer it went on without satisfaction. "Excuse me," he said to the young man calling. "But the nearest taxi stand is down on the corner." Feeling he had done his duty, he heard a somewhat familiar voice addressing the same young man in a foreign language. "Takumi? Long time no see," he said assuming the young man would remember their stand together in the kitchen and cafeteria. "Your young friend seems confused. Does he always catch cabs in the middle of the school?"

Jandro was glad to see Takumi for two reasons, it had been a while and he thought that some of Lia's listlessness was due to the young Japanese boy who had caught her attention during their heroics. He had come to dinner one night, after which Lia had glowed and then after a few days she had began to mope. He thought Lia was perfect and didn't understand why Takumi would reject her.

[Thad Cotton]

"No, no, no, I ain't been avoidin' ya!" Thad shook his head in vigorous denial. "It's hard walkin' around on crutches, doctor's prolly laughin' at me, bet I don't really need 'em." Of course, every single time he attempted to maneuver without them he regretted it, but he liked blaming the doctor because the doctor was an adult, and adults couldn't be trusted.

He sniffed at Jandro in annoyance, "Ain't callin' a cab. I'm callin' for Taxi." He pointed at Takumi, with a petulant look that said clearly that he thought it ought to have been quite obvious whom he was addressing. The blue-eyed boy knew how to dress, but apparently that was all he knew! As if he were really stupid enough to call a cab in the middle of the school hallways! He wasn't delusional!

He returned his attention to the boy whose attention he'd been seeking, "I got summin' important to talk to ya 'bout." He announced, scooting closer to the older boy and looking up at him plaintively. Takumi was his best hope for formulating a plan; once he'd discussed with the Japanese boy, then he'd rally Roxy and Ezzy and Teddy, but he was convinced that Takumi was the best person when it came to actually coming up with a course of action. "You got a minute? It's real important." He stressed, in case the other boy had missed his sense of urgency.

[fryn]

"Jandro! Hai!" Takumi replied with a bright smile. "I Haven't seen you much either. You look well. How is your brother? But no... he calls me Taxi," he clarified on a laugh as he ruffled Thad's hair. "I am glad you haven't been avoiding me, otouto-san," he added to Thad with a sincere and serious expression that was completely marred by the amused glint in his dark eyes.

"You have something to discuss?" he asked and Thad nodded enthusiastically. "Then yes, I have a minute. Is it about Sidra? I have seen many leaflets about werewolves and vampires. A fight between the two?" He lifted his shoulders slightly. "I may have misunderstood but tell me what it is that is so important. You can talk in front of Jandro. He is my friend," he added with a nod. "I am meeting Lia on Saturday," he said to Jandro. "I hope she hasn't forgotten. I will send her a text I think to make sure it's still happening."

"So speak, otouto-san... Tell me what caused you to shout my name so loudly all the way across school." He was finding it hard to keep the excitement from his voice as Thad's adventures were only rivalled by his own.

[Thad Cotton]

Thad glanced uncertainly at Jandro. Normally he wouldn't have objected to anyone else's presence, but he wasn't entirely certain he should let just everyone know he'd read Sebastian's journal. But maybe Jandro didn't know Sebastian, so if he didn't say who he needed help for, then it would be okay. Right?

"Umm. 'S not 'bout Si," He began, licking his lips nervously. He was never very comfortable bringing up such serious issues, and he wasn't entirely sure how to proceed now that he'd gotten Takumi's attention. "More importan'n' that."

He took a fortifying breath, "So I kinda accident'ly found out that this guy I know, I jus' met 'im, he's new, well, he's really Silver, but he's new there anyway, and I was kinda maybe tryin' to find out 'bout his demon summonin' an' I found this ancient lookin' book but basically I maybe shouldn't'a read it, cause it said he was uhhh he was uhhh he had umm people who was s'pposed to be helpin' 'im, they did....real.....real bad stuff." He couldn't bring himself to actually voice what any of that had been; it was too awful to contemplate. "So uhh I wanna help but I dunno how. I'd ask Si, but she only cares 'bout dead people, an' you're smart so I figgered you'd know what to do." He finished, looking up at the Senior expectantly.

[Jandro Juarez]

Jandro felt a bit uncomfortable since he obviously wasn't meant to hear whatever Thad wanted to tell Taki. Most of what the other freshman had to say was incomprehensible anyway, stuff about demons and dead people. Lia would do better with this sort of thing than he would.

The meat of the matter, he understood better despite Thad's gabble. It made him feel a bit ill. "The best thing you can do is just be there, be his friend," he said, getting the impression the abuse had happened in the past so it wasn't a case of rescue rather than support.

[fryn]

Takumi had understood about one word in ten. No, make that twenty. Thad always spoke rapidly but his accent made it close to impossible for the Japanese boy to grasp the majority of what was said.

"Motto yukkuri hanashite kudasai," he uttered and completely without thinking. "I mean... speak more slowly, otouto-san," Takumi translated. "You said, I think, you have met someone who is a demon? Hai? And this friend means to hurt someone else?" Thad shook his head and grabbed Takumi's sleeve, repeating his story in far slower sentences. At the parts he still didn't comprehend Takumi turned to Jandro for clarification.

"Ah... so. I understand now. Your friend wants to summon a demon to take revenge on someone who did bad things to him."

This time Thad nodded. "Jandro is right in that you should be there to support your friend but someone also needs to talk to him. Summoning demons is dangerous as it can go wrong and the demon can turn on the person who woke them. Your friend is playing with flames..." Taki frowned slightly. "No. Not flames. He is playing with fire." At least he thought that was the correct phrase. "In my culture we have many Yôkai... demon spirits like the evil oni to the playful kitsune... fox... or snow woman Yuki-onna. Some possess part animal and part human features. Yôkai nearly always have a sort of spiritual or supernatural powers. Your friend could summon any one of these forms of demon and none of them are known for loyalty to their would-be master." Takumi shook his head. "No, he needs to be shown how dangerous is the path he is seeking. He could unleash all kinds of hell hounds and end up right in the centre of the entire pack."

Takumi frowned slightly as he peered closely at Thad. "Please tell me, little brother, this 'friend'... It isn't you... is it?" People often asked for advice for a non-existent friend when they really in truth wanted it for themselves.

[Thad Cotton]

Thad recoiled in horror when Takumi suggested that he and Sebastian were the same people. "That's crazy talk!" He declared, "We ain't the same person, I don' even know how that'd work, not unless we was clones an' he don't look that much like me. 'Sides, not even my mom would be crazy 'nough to do that."

He was comforted to know that Takumi was so well-versed in demonology; the Japanese boy was clearly a good ally to have. "So, demon's're out, then." He grimaced; he would have thoroughly approved had Sebastian's Father been eaten alive by creatures horned and hoofed. "So what 'bout goats? Or mooses? That don't sound right. What's the plural of 'moose'? Ugh, ne'er mind, c'mon, I'll take you to 'im, but don' let on I said nothin', cause Si hits me when I read her diary and she don't have nothin' that bad in there," Except possibly about murder and death, but that was just Si, and he didn't think her obsessions were anything to be worried about, "he prolly won't talk to me no more if you say."

He struggled through the hallway, searching for the boy he was trying to 'rescue' from something he only partially understood without much of a real plan, except that apparently Takumi thought they should warn him against summoning demons. So it was that when they found Sebastian finally, the first thing that Thad said to him was, "Hey, so 'pparently summonin' demons is bad and you shouldn't do it. Oh, an' this is Taxi. An', ummmm....ummmm....." He floundered for a moment, realizing he'd forgotten to get Jandro's name, "Some guy I tripped." He finished. "Taxi is smart, he knows all 'bout demons, an' ghosts, an' that kinda thing, but he thinks we's clones, which is kinda silly, cause we ain't."

He peered at Sebastian, analyzing the other boy's features. Nope, not clones.

[fryn]

Takumi nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, demons are very much out," he stated. "The plural of moose? What is a moose?" He frowned. An animal of some kind oerhaps as Thad had also mentioned goats. Taki had heard of goats. "Mice? Perhaps the plural is mice but mice is already a word so...." His sleeve was once more in Thad's grasp and Takumi snaged Jandro's arm as they went.

"If I am to face this demon-summoner you will do so also, my friend," he murmured to his kitchen accomplice.

Takumi blinked when the first words out of Thad's mouth were painfully blunt and to the point. If nothing else the demon-summoner now knew how the trio felt about his antics. "It is good to meet you," he said when Thad made his introductions although the younger boy omitted telling them the new one's name. Takumi was already making up temporary ones for him. Ones that ranged from Demonist - in Japanese, of course - right through to 'baka'... After all, only a true idiot would mess with the Underworld... right?

"Jandro. This is Jando," he supplied. "Otouto-san has told us you wish to summon a demon." Takumi shook his head. "There is always another way to handle a situation. You must not do this... You will only stir up troublke for yourself... and," he added in an ominously low voice, "... for those around you. Once the portals to hell have been unlocked no one can know for sure what evils will be unleashed."

A dire warning indeed but it was one Takumi believed in whole-heartedly.