Darkness

Day Twelve, Part Two

         By the time we reached the café, I had recovered myself suffiecientlyto realize how hungry I was. Already the memory of Rikuho was growing stronger within me. I would mourn him, but not now. When I had the time. I noticed Kurama looking at me in an unreadable manner, but when I raised my eyebrows in a questioning manner, he turned away with the hint of a smile.
         The small café seated the thirteen of us easily, and none of us really believed that stuff about 13 being an unlucky number. One of the main reasons for that was of course, our different heritage. For all that I was sister to Sukina, a half-Japanese, I was about three-quarters Chinese. The Chinese believed that the number 13 was good luck, and that it signified progress. 13 was a special number in that way, I suppose.
         Ordering what to eat was not a problem. The portions were.
         "WHAT?" Shuura complained when he saw the portions of his meal. True, it was the best-tasting food any of us had ever eaten, but for most of us, it is quantity, not quality that matters, particularly if you were as ravenous as I was.
         "Is there any chance for larger portions?" my sister asked the maid.
         "Uh-uh. These are the largest. I'm sorry that we seemed to have disappointed you..." she began to say when Yokoshima interjected smoothly.
         "It's okay. Perhaps we could discuss suitable recompense later..." he looked her up and down suggestively.
         He immediately fell to the floor. While Botan and Sukina apologized for his rude remarks, the guys and I were busy pommelling him nonchantly. None of us doubted that he would recover though. "Well, the train-lady may have some more food on board," Hagrid said. The rest of us looked at him in a strange way. Without a word, we fell to eating while Dangerfield explained how he knew Sapplefuss. Upon closer examintion, I found that Dangerfield was certainly someone Barbara would like. He had long blond hair and to an extent, his whole manner appeared to be one of a rebel. The glasses he wore, as stylish as they were, dispelled that notion, although I had the feeling that he must be one very cultured man to have been able to court Barbara.
         "I knew Sapplefuss several years ago, and we were... seeing each other. I was her first love. I thought that we had something going on, but then Malfoy spied her and took her to be a thing of amusement," he said.
         "Couldn't you have saved her?" Gon asked, innocently naivë.
         "At that time I did not think too. I found them in bed... together and unclothed," his teeth were clenched.
         "Hold your tongues," my sister whispered fiercely in Japanese to the younger ones. For once, they did.
         "Oh," was about the only other thing the others and I could say. That would explain Malfoy's insults, and it was not surprising to find that Dangerfield still carried a torch for Barbara.
         The rest of lunch we ate in silence. As the time went to leave, we bid him farewell, and as we parted, he shook each of our hands warmly. "If any of you should find yourselves threathened by anyone and if Dumbledore cannot help you, look out for me. I'm a member of the Triliate Council. My full name is Daniel Dangerfield. Fare thee well!" he said