Demon Rising

Chapter 4: The New Guy

Chapter4 : The New Guy(Warning: It's long)



They were standing in a very roomy coatroom, where Vaugn could see house slippers and coats on the racks that were present. There was a stair way leading up to the second level. In the room was also a phone, and several pictures of the family. There was a hall way leading off to the right of the room that turned left, that must lead to the rest of the house Vaugn thought.

"Come on Vaugn, I’ll show you to your room.", said Mr. Miasoto removing his shoes and putting on a pair of slippers, and starting up the stairs.

"Okay, cool.", replied Vaugn, removing his shoes, but going up in his socks as he had no slippers to wear.

The second floor of the house was simple. Once at the top of the stairs, Vaugn emerged into a hallway. On the right side of the hall, were nothing but windows looking out into the back yard.On the left side, were 3 doors, each of them with a sign on it. One sign read ‘Coonai’s Room’, ‘Uni’s Room’, and ‘Asuke’s Room’. Walking down the hall, and peering out the windows, he saw that the back yard had a small Coi pond in it with several Cherry tree’s and what appeared to be a small meditating garden.

Vaugn follwed Mr. Miasoto to the end of the hall and stopped infront of another room. This room ,too, had a sign on it, and it read ‘Vaugn’s Room’.

Mr. Miasoto pushed the door open to reveal a rather spacious square room. It had a window over looking the street below, front yard and down the road that intersected theirs. There was a comfy looking bed in one corner, a book shelf along one wall, a closet in the corner, a chest of drawers,and a desk under the window.

Mr. Miasoto and Vaugn crossed the room and put his bags on the bed. Resting on the pillow, Vaugn saw, were his own pair of house slippers, bright orange with blue souls.

"You can un-pack later Vaugn, I want to show you the rest of the house.",Mr. Miasoto told Vaugn as Vaugn slipped into his new slippers, "You like them?", added Mr. Miasoto

"Yes I do. Orange is my favorite colour. How’d you know?", replied Vaugn turning his foot to see the slipper from every angle.

"Your father ofcourse. Come on Vaugn, I’ll give you the grand tour.", continued Mr. Miasoto.

"Okay, thank you Mr. Miasoto.", Vaugn replied

And together, they left Vaugn’s room to start the tour.

"Our first room is the Laundry, Shower and Washroom."

He pointed to a darkstained door with a brass doorknob. He grasped the door knowb and pushed it open.

Opening the door revealed a laundry room about three-quarters the size of Vaugns. It had a washing machine and drier, aswell as shelves with clean towels and sheets and blankettes.

"Now through that door,", Mr. Miasoto pointed to another dark stained door, "Is the washroom. You probably know what that looks like. And through those sliding doors at the end of the of the room,", he pointed to a wooden framed door that had thin wooden bars running up and down, and left and right, and in the spaces made my the criss-crossing bars, it was filled with a very thick paper, "is the shower and bathing room."

He crossed the room and slid open the door. Inside was a rather large, square bath tub big enough for atleast 3 men to sit in, and above one side was the shower head. In the room also, was not only a skylight in the roof, but a window looking towards the city and it’s skyline.

Together, they left the room, walked down the hall and down the stairs to the main floor. They walked down the hallway a short distance, and around the corner. There, Mr. Miasoto stopped abruptly and turned to Vaugn. They were standing infront of another sliding door just like the one leading to the bathing room. Mr. Miasoto pushed the door open and both he and Vaugn walked in.

Inside was a very handsome room, with a large wall window on one side that looked out into the backyard, books shelves on the other 2 walls, a warm shag carpet on the floor, a desk with a computer on it,and squashy, brown leather seats to sit in.

"This is the study Vaugn. It has many books in it as you can see, and it’s free for you to use. As you’re in school, this will be quite helpful, as I have a large number of books about the subjects you’ll be taking. All you need to do is to make sure you put back any books you take out.", Mr. Miasoto told Vaugn.

After they left the study, they continued down the hallway, a little way down the hall, was another darkstained door with a brass door knob. Mr. Miasoto stopped again, grasped the door knob, turned and pushed the door open.

Inside was a very large kitchen, larger then Vaugn had ever seen in a house. Pots and pans were hanging from the ceiling, all over a central island that had a large counter on one side, and a stove and oven on the other side. It to had a window , but this was looking out towards the street. Along the back wall, and the right wall was a large counter stretching the whole distance. It had a sink, and dishwasher, aswell as serveral drawers under the counter. Above the counter were servel cubboards, where Vaugn suspected the plates, and glasses were kept(that’s where they were kept in his house in Canada anyway). Standing where the counter stopped was a tall pantry that stretched to the roof and standing beside it was the refridgerator. Along the back wall aswell was a door that lead outside. On the wall opposite the fridge, was another of the wood and paper sliding doors that must lead somewhere thought Vaugn.

Inside the kitchen already, busy at work stirring a pot on the stove, checking something in the oven, and cutting vegetables, was Coonai.

"This is the kitchen, but you probably figured that out already.", said Mr. Miasoto

"Oh hello father. Hello Vaugn. How are you?", Coonai asked when she turned to see who it was, smiling at both of them.

"I’m doing good Coonai, your dad is giving me the grand tour of the house.", said Vaugn, returning the smile.

"Oh good. It’ll keep him busy until your welcoming dinner is ready.", replied Coonai kindly.

Judging by how many pots and pans, cutting boards full of vegetables and the size of the roaster in the oven, it would be a very large dinner.

"Um, Coonai, I hope you’re not going out of your way to make a large meal, you know,just for me?", Vaugn asked her in a very modest voice.

"Oh no Vaugn, I like cooking for my family and our guests.", she replied, turning back to her cooking and humming merrily to herself.

Vaugn looked at Mr. Miasoto with raised eyebrows, and he,Mr. Miasoto, nodded towards the doors. When they were in the hall and the door closed, Mr. Miasoto answered Vaugns un-asked question.

"Don’t worry about Coonai Vaugn. She likes cooking for people and making them happy through her cooking. The more people there are to eat, the happy she is. I know you’re a modest guy, but Coonai will still treat you to a fantastic meal, whether you want her to or not.", he finished, smiling broadly at the somewhat surprised look on Vaugns face.

Continuing their tour, Mr. Miasoto lead Vaugn down the hall that, shortly after the kitchen door, turned to the right. On either side of the hall were 2 sets of wood and paper doors. Walking to the one on the left and slid it open, it emerged into the backyard.

"As you can see Vaugn, this is our backyard. This is where we usually like to relax after a hard day. It’s very peaceful and helps you forget about your troubles.", explained Mr. Miasoto.

"I bet it does. It looks relaxing.", replied Vaugn

"And as for the other side of the hall,", said Mr. Miasoto as he slid the doors closed and turning to the others and opening them, "This is where the dining and TV room is."

Compared to the kitchen and study, it was pretty basic. It had a rather large square table in the center that was clsoe to the ground in classic Japanese tradition. It had what looked like a blankette covering the area from the floor to the table top, which Vaugn thought is probably to keep warm. All around the table were very large square pillows that Vaugn knew where for sitting on. Around the room were green leafy trees in pots, and a few pictures hanging on the wall.There was also another wood and paper door that Vaugn had a good idea where it lead too.And in one corner, a large TV, VCR and DVD player.

"This is ofcourse where we eat and watch TV Vaugn.", said Mr. Miasoto, rather un-neccessarily.

Just then, the wood and paper door slide open, and Coonai stuck her head inside the room.

"Dinner will be ready in 15 minutes father.", she said happily

"Thank you Coonai. I just have one thing left to show Vaugn then we’ll sit down to eat.", Mr. Miasoto replied.

Mr. Miasoto lead Vaugn out of the dining room, and back down the hall, in which he slid yet another door open. In it was a room about the size of the kitchen, and it looked like a small training hall. There were weights and a punching bag. This room, like all the others, with the exception of the dining room, had a window. And over the window, stood 2 candles on either side of a small statue of Budha.

"This is the training hall Vaugn. As you can see, it has weights for you to use when you have spare time. Also, it has the family shrine. That shrine brings us luck, and should it ever break, we’ll be in trouble then. But the chances of it breaking are one in one trillion.", Mr. Miasoto said with a chuckle.

"Well that’s good. Lord knows the last thing I need is more bad luck now that I’m here.", replied Vaugn with an air of reliefe.

"Too right Vaugn. Now come on. Coonai should have dinner ready.", said Mr. Miasoto with a smile, and together, they left the training hall and went and sat down in the dining room, where they enjoyed the wonderful fiest that Coonai had prepared.



***

Vaugn woke up at 8 in the morning, and layed in bed, thinking about yesterday. He had been in japn for little over 12 hours nows, and yet somehow, it seemed like he had been in Japan for longer. He layed spread eagle on the bed staring up at the ceiling.

"This isn’t so bad. Good food, good people. Everyone is friendly. It’s just as beautiful as Canada. I like it.", Vaugn thought to himself, then, unable to stay in bed anylonger, sat up and got out of bed.

As usual, he had slept in his boxers. At home, when ever he got up, he would always pull on a pair of his former track shorts to cover his boxers, and that was it.

Today was no different. He reached into the chest of drawers he had put his clothes in the night before, and pulled out a pair of red track shorts that reached his knees and had a draw string on the front. He slipped into them, and walked downstairs in nothing but that.

He walked down the hall, and to the wash room where he grabbed one of the towels on the shelves, he planned to go for an easy workout before breakfast. He left the laundry room, closing the door quietly, walked silently down the hall and down the stairs, meeting no one else as he went. He slid open the door to the dining room, and walked in. Sitting on the table was a bowl of fruit, and he grabbed a banana, ate it quickly and left again, heading for the training hall.

He probably spent an hour or so in the training hall before he was done. Sweat dripping from his brow, and his body dripping sweat aswell, he headed down to the dining room again, pretty sure that breakfast would be ready, or atleast someone would be up to talk to.

He slid open the door to the dining room, and he was right, there were people up. Coonai, Uni, and Mr. Miasoto were all up watching TV at the table, with cups of tea infront of them. They all looked up as he walked in and sat down.

"Morning.", said Vaugn cheerily as he wiped the sweat away from him. He always felt happy after a good workout.

"Morning Vaugn. Have a good workout?", asked Uni, smiling slyly

"Yep.", replied Vaugn, then looking at her suspicously, "How’d you know?"

"Why else would a 16 year old boy be dripping with sweat, and wearing just his shorts in a house full of women?", said Uni simply

Mr. Miasoto chuckled but then said, "Uni, stop teasing Vaugn.", he then turned to Vaugn and said, "The girls are not used to seeing a guy their age without a shirt in the morning."

"Ah, well then, I better change that.", Vaugn replied, and getting up he left the room

"Oh Vaugn?", Coonai called out after him.

"Yes Coonai?", Vaugn asnwered, popping his head back into the room

"What would you like for breakfast?", she asked him

"I’ll have whatever the family is having. Also, I’ll probably have a bath first, so if I’m not out before it’s done, you can start without me.", Vaugn said, and with that, he withdrew his head and started down the hall.

"Should we tell him that Imari and Kihari are here waiting for Asuke?", asked Uni, looking to Coonai.

"Oh my, that did slip my mind.", putting a hand to her cheek, "Oh well, I’m sure he’ll be fine.", she finished, taking a sip of her tea.

Walking down the hall with the towel thrown over his shoulder he turned the corner into the entrance hall, and stopped dead in his tracks.

Standing in the room by the door were 2 girls. They were both dressed in loose fitting dresses, one of them blue with red flowers, the other dressed in a green dress with a star on the stomach. Both of them were rather pretty.

One of them had hair that was a light cinnamon brown and about as long as Vaugn’s. She had brown eyes, a small nose, and pointed jaw with high cheek bones.

Her friend had long black hair, green eyes, a nose slightly larger then her friend's, and a jaw that was a little more rounded then her friends’s. He ears were pierced with small hoop earings.

For a moment, the 3 people stared at eachother. The girls with a surprised look on their face, the same expression Vaugn was sure he had on his face. Then, slowly, he raised his hands up in front of them, and showing them his palms, saying, quite clearly with out words "Sorry", and he was planning to start backing away slowly, but before he could take even one step, he heard a slightly shocked voice above him.

"V-Vaugn? What are you doing down there?"

It was Asuke, and she was coming down the stairs wearing a blue blouse and light green pants with a light blue hat on.

"Morning Asuke!", said Vaugn as cheerily as he could, given the slightly awkward situation.

"Morning yourself!", said Asuke in a slightly shocked voice, with an equally shocked expression on her voice, as she joined Vaugn and the two girls on the ground level.

There was another awkward silence, and then Vaugn was the first to speak.

"So,uh, you were wondering what I was doing down here?Uh, yeah. I just finished a work out, and was planning to go for a shower before breakfast.",he said, again trying to keep is voice as cheery as possible.

Vaugn noticed that the two girls had gone rather red in the face and were grinning.

"If you don’t mind…I’ll just go…and…um", Vaugn, continued, but didn’t finish, and he quickly flung himself up the stairs and out site of the girls.

"Well, that was certainly a lively expeirence.", Vaugn said out loud as he slid into the warm bath water



***

After breakfast, Vaugn’s day passed in a blur of ease. He, Uni, and Coonai watched TV for most of it, but Vaugn did take a stroll through the back yard, which was quite peaceful and relaxing, though he couldn’t find out how relaxing it was as he was quite relaxed to begin with.

Asuke didn’t return until 5 that evening. Uni said she had planned on going shopping with her friends, which turned out to be true. When Asuke returned, she was laidened down with 3 bags full of clothes, shoes, and anything else a girl needed.

And to Vaugn’s slight embarassement, her 2 friends who he had seen earlier were with her too.

Coonai was in the kitchen, getting dinner ready,Uni and Vaugn were busy watching a TV gameshow, that Uni was explaining to Vaugn, when Asuke and her 2 friends walked into the dining room.

"So you see Vaugn, when the red team thinks they can make the shot, they can use one of their steals to try and score, or a pass and leave it up to the blue team to try and score and….Oh hi Asuke, Imari and Kihari.", said Uni happily.

Vaugn had been listening to Uni raptly, but when he heard Asuke’s name and the 2 other’s, he gulped and sat up straighter.

Slowly turning in his seat, he looked behind himself, and saw Asuke, Imari, Kihari.

"Hey Asuke…ladies.Have a good day shopping?", he asked, again slightly embarassed, as the last time they saw eachother, he was in red shorts and nothing more.

"Yes we did Vaugn. And I see you found a shirt to wear.", replied Asuke kindly, and he saw that she was blushing slightly.

"You know sis, you should introduce Vaugn properly to Imari and Kihari. From what I heard the last introduction they had was rather…minimalist, if you catch my drift.", said Uni, resting her chin on her hand, and smiling evily.

"Yeah yeah Uni, we get it,", Asuke said impatiently, "Well Vaugn, these are my 2 best friends, but you probably knew that already."

"You can say a little bird told me.", replied Vaugn, with a side-ways glance at Uni.

"Well, first off, this is Imari.", she said, gesturing towards the girl with light cinnamon brown hair, "And this is Kihari", continued Asuke, gesturing toward her friend with long black hair, "They’ll be in our grade when school starts Vaugn. Imari, Kihari, this is Vaugn. He’ll be living with me and my family until the whole gang war in Canada is done", she finished.

"Nice to meet you Vaugn.", they both said, smiling at him

"Nice to meet both of you.", Vaugn said, smiling at both of them., "Sorry about the whole…you know, earlier.", Vaugn finished looking a tad sheepish.

"Don’t worry about it Vaugn. I have a brother at home, and I don’t think he puts a shirt on before noon during the summer.", the girl named Kihari said, still smiling

"Good to know Kihari.", replied Vaugn, giving her a little bow

Just then, Coonai slid the door open and came into the room from the kitchen.

"Oh hello girls. I didn’t hear you come in. Did you have a good day shopping?", she asked politely

"Yes we did Coonai, thank you.", replied Imari.

"Can we see what you got today? And also, would you like to stay for dinner?", Coonai asked, smiling politely and warmly.

"We’d love to stay. And look what we got.", said Imari, and she, Kihari and Asuke proceeded to show Coonai, Vaugn and Uni, and Mr.Miasoto when he showed up, what they got. Vaugn had a better time then he normally would have seeing all the stuff the girls had baught. He was just happy for any reason to forget about Imari, Kirhari and Asuke seeing him shirtless that morning.

That night was a very enjoyable one. The girls talked about their day, the meal was delicious, and the family had a good time in general.

After dinner, the family TV, and during one of the commercial breaks, a commercial came on advertising the a carnival that was running from the 17th until 24th.

"Oh a carnival. It looks like such fun.", said Coonai merrily as she sipped her tea.

"Oh that reminds me,", said Asuke suddenly, "Vaugn. Imari, Kihari and myself were planning on going tommorow, and we were wondering if you’d like to come?", she asked, looking over the table to see Vaugn, as he was laying down on his pillow, his chin resting in the palm of his hand.

"A carnival huh? Sure. I’d love to come with you 3.",Vaugn repleid, turning his head in his hand abit to look at Asuke.

"Cool. We’ll be leaving around one o’clock. So make sure you’ll be ready Vaugn.", Asuke informed him

"Ready as in…making sure I have a shirt on?", Vaugn asked, and Mr. Miasoto and Uni choked into their tea cups as he they tried to laugh and drink at the same time.

Asuke didn’t answer, but went back to watching TV with a grin on her face.



***



The next morning, Vaugn woke up around ten, because he had stayed up late with the family watching a movie on TV. Even though it was so late in the morning, he was still very groggy.

Putting on his red shorts and a shirt, he made his way downstair, clearing the sleep out of his eyes, and trying to fix his hair, but to no avail.

Walking down the stairs, down the hall and into the dining room, he joined the rest of the family, already up and eating breakfast.

"Morning.", Vaugn yawned as he sat down infront of the plate of food of breakfast that Coonai had prepared for the family.

"Morning Vaugn.", Mr. Miasoto replied from behind his news paper

"Couldn’t find a comb Vaugn?", asked Uni with a smile

"Nope.", Vaugn replied as he yawned, and started on his breakfast

The day of the carnival was a bright sunny day, warm and with a gentle breeze. With the occasional cloud driftng by, it would have been the perfect day just to lay outside on the lawn and sleep the whole day away.

The morning seemed to go by quite quickly, and before Vaugn knew it, he was pulling on his favorite pair of pants with his wallet in his pocket, and his favorite shirt, which he gave a few quick squirts of cologne, and was heading down the stairs to join Asuke, Imari, and Kihari, already waiting for him.

"About time Vaugn. You have everything?", asked Asuke, as Vaugn put his shoes on.

"Yep, I got everything I need to enjoy the carnival.", Vaugn replied standing up and heading to the door and opening it for the girls.

Walking down the sidewalk was quite enjoyable. As it was the closing days of summer, the flowers were in full bloom, the warm hair helping to mix the different smells together, and the gentle breeze blowing it around the neighbourhood. The streets were empty, except for the occasional car driving by. Vaugn suspected that everyone was at the carnival. Even though they had just started walking, Vaugn could hear the distance sounds of music and laughter from the Carnival.

"So what’s this carnival gonna be like? Is it gonna be the kind that has lots of rides and games, or lots of food and attractions and games?", asked Vaugn

"This is gonna be the kind with lots of food and games.", replied Asuke, "Speaking of which,", she continued tunring to Imari and Kirhari, "Are you 2 gonna try for those large stuffed animals this year?"

"You bet I am!", Imari replied excitedly, "There was this huge stuffed tiger that I want."

"I’m going for the giant stuffed panda that I saw.", Kihari also replied excitedly, "What about you Asuke?", she added

"I saw a giant stuffed gorilla that I want to try for It looked so cute.", answered Asuke, just as excited as the others.

"And women say size doesn’t matter.", Vaugn thought with a smile.

Vaugn found the neighbourhood where he lived now to be quite peaceful and rather beautiful. Everywhere he looked, he saw gardens full of flowers, or Coi ponds with shrines next to them. The Cherry trees that were there were already starting to blossom. The small, pink petals that Vaugn had seen before on shows from Japan were now just visible, giving the trees an appearence of having little pink dots on them.

The group continued to walk down the road for 15 minutes before they found what they had been looking for.

In a a large, fenced in field, was the carnival.

The entrance walked under a large red, gold and silver line, full of lights around the edge, and from what they could see on the road, the whole of the ground had been covered in booths, ready for people to have fun with.

The group walked up the little stone path that connected the road to the fair ground and walked through the arch way.

Everywhere he looked he saw booths where people were buying food, or playing a game, or buying gifts and toys for kids, there were also booths that were drawing pictures of people, or taking photos of them, so has to remember their their day out at the fair.

"So, do you want to get some lunch before we start playing?", asked Imari

The others agreed, and the walked over to the nearest food stand, that was selling something called ‘Takoyaki’.

"Takoyaki?", asked Vaugn, looking to Asuke as Imari placed 4 orders.

"Yeah. Octopus Balls.", Asuke informed Vaugn, "They’re balls of batter that are puffed up and have small pieces of octopus in them for flavour. Watch.", she finished.

Vaugn watched as the man of the booth, mixed up the batter, and poured it onto a griddle which looked like a golfball’s surface magnified. The batter started to cook right away, and after about 30 seconds, the cook stuck each one with a toothpick and Vaugn saw that each Octopus ball puffed up instantly and finished cooking.

When the chef was done, he flipped them into small box that held 10 and gave them to each one.

The Takoyaki was quite good. The batter was kind of sweet, and the octopus gave it the right flavour. After they had eaten, and threw away the boxes, they started to enjoy the site of the carnival.

Every person there running the fair seemed to have on the same attire. They seemed to be light grey and white, lose fitting robes with a head band. And each of them was shouting something different.

"Come and try your luck in the Frog Launch. Land the frog on a lilly pad and win a prize.", one man shouted

"Pop as many balloons as you can in 30 seconds and win a prize.", another one would shout.

But the girls didn’t seem interested in them, well, not yet anyway. Each of them seemed to be looking past the stands at the prizes they had to offer. Each of them was so focused on what they were looking for, that Vaugn jumped a little when Asuke spoke first.

"Look over there!", she said excitedly, pointing to a stand a little way up, "That’s the stand with the gorilla I want!"

Looking to where Asuke was pointing, he saw that behind the man running the booth, was a gorilla of atleast four and half feet in height.

When the group got closer, they heard what the man was shouting, and in all honesty, Vaugn agreed with the man.

"Come one, come all! Try you luck today. You have four shots to hit all 4 targets! If you hit all four of my targets, you get this grotesquely large stuffed gorilla!", the man shouted with authority.

"He has a point there,", Vaugn told Imari, "It is rather grotesque how big it is.", and Imari nodded

Asuke approached the man and said confidently, "I’d like to try sir."

"That’s a good girl!",cried the man exuberently

Vaugn saw that behind the man, were 4 targets, square, and with red paper filling them in, he also noticed that each target was placed about 4 feet apart, and that each one got higher and higher the further it go away from the player, and it also got smaller. The last one seemd to be only 3 inches square

"Here you are young miss.", the man said to Asuke, and he handed her an air rifle the exact replica of a hunting rifle,complete with slide for loading the pellet, and 4 small pellets,"You have 4 shots to hit all four targets young lady! Good luck!", the man finished with a hearty smile.

"This should be easy,", Asuke said confidently, as Vaugn and her friends moved closer

Asuke picked up the first pellet, which was about the size of a large blue berry, slid open the chamber, placed the pellet inside, closed the chamber, and raised the rifle to her shoulder.

Vaugn saw her consentrating as she took aim. She took a deep breath, and pull the trigger.

With a wooshing "fwunk" sound, the pellet was shot out of the barrel, and vaugn heard the paper of the first target rip.

"Good shot young miss! Now for number 2.", the man cried

Again, Asuke loaded the rifle, took aim and fired. Again, she hit the target. A third try yielded a third hit, but Vaugn noticed that her shots were closer and closer to the outside of the target.

"Good shooting young lady! Now for the hardest shot of all! The last target.", the man said excitedly.

Vaugn noticed that the target was quite far from Asuke, about 20 feet or so. From where he was, it looked no bigger then the average post-it note.

Once more, Asuke loaded the rifle, but her hand was shaking slightly out of nerves. Looking at the end of the barrel, Vaugn noticed is shaking quite a bit, and Asuke had a drop of sweat coming down her temple.

Finally, she took one last deep breath, took aim and fired.

It seemed like the man was holding for dramatic pause. He looked at Asuke, still holding the rifle to her shoulder, to the target, to the large stuffed gorila, back to Asuke. Finally, the man took a deep breath, then said, "Miss…I’m sorry. You hit 3 out of 4 targets.", he said with a frown, "But you do get this smaller stuffed gorilla. Thanks for trying."

"You tried your best Asuke. That last target was like, 20 feet away, and really tiny. No one could hit it.", said Imari soothingly. Asuke looked a little down trauden that she lost.

"I know, but I really wanted to win.", Asuke replied, pounding her legs with her fists.

Vaugn looked at Asuke, and back to the booth with the large gorilla.

Then, without warning, Vaugn walked over to the booth and told the man, "I’ll give it a shot."

Asuke and her friends looked at Vaugn in a puzzled way.

"Vaugn, what are you doing?", asked Asuke as she and the other two follwed Vaugn.

"That’s a good man! Gonna win that gorilla for her huh?", the man said cheekily.

"I guess you could say that.", Vaugn said in an offhand voice as he loaded the first pellet

"You don’t have to Vaugn, really", said Asuke in a slightly embarassed voice.

"Well good luck sir! Take you…", the man begun before he heard a "fwunk" sound and the sound of ripping paper

"Well…done sir.", the man said in a shocked voice

"It was nothing.", Vaugn replied in an offhand voice, again, reloading the rifle. He raised the rifle up to his shoulder and pulled the trigger, and the pellet was sent right through the center of the target.

Again, Vaugn reloaded the rifle, and pulled the trigger. Just as before, the pellet ripped through the center of the target.

Asuke and her friends had looks of disbeliefe on their faces. None of them had any idea Vaugn was such a good shot.

"Amazing young man! Simply Amazing.", the man said in a very impressed voice.

"It’s actually quite easy.", Vaugn said with a smile on his face, as he reloaded the rifle once more and took aim.

There seemed to be nothing but silence around around Vaugn. He seemed to have zoned out and was concentrating on hitting the target. As he looked at the target, it must be a trick of my mind Vaugn thought, the target seemed to get larger and larger. And finally, when he was ready, he took a deep steady breath, and fired.

Without having to wait for confromation, he heard the sound of the paper ripping, and knew he hit the target.

"We have a winner!", the man shouted, and lights all around the booth started to flash, "And now my good sir! For such fine shooting, your prize!, and the man handed Vaugn the large gorilla Asuke had been talking about.

"Wow Vaugn, good shooting!", Imari complimented him as they walked away from the booth.

"Thanks Imari.", Vaugn replied, giving the gorilla a piggy back ride as they walked.

"You never said you were such a good shot Vaugn", Asuke said in an impressed voice.

"Well you never asked Asuke, did you?", He replied, "By the way, do you know what you’re gonna call this guy."

"What?", asked Asuke, in a confused voice.

"Well he is yours isn’t he? I mean, he’s cute and all, but I don’t want him.", said Vaugn in a casual voice.

"You mean it Vaugn? Thank you so much!.", Asuke said excitedly

"No problem Asuke.", replied Vaugn with one of his trademark smiles

The rest of the carnival passed in a haze of joy. Everywhere the group went, they had fun. Whether it was seeing some of the attractions, playing the games and winning small prizes, or eating the food at the fair, the group had more fun then they had ever had before. Though Vaugn, as he told the girls, didn’t think that carrying 3 grostequely large stuffed animals(Imari and Kihari had won their prizes like they wanted) was much fun. But none the less, he was smiling and having fun.

What Vaugn didn’t know, or was even aware of, was that from the moment that he had set foot on his flight to Japan, that the machines of fate had been put into motion.

Soon Vaugns life-and his friends lives, consequently- would change forever. Never would they be the average 16 year old teenagers again, but would instead, but plunged into a world of monsters full of evil and hatred, and it would be up to them to prevent these creatures from taking over the world.