Odd Recollections
17 Years Later

Part One:
Hiroki and Fujiko Yamamoto

“Hurry up, Hiroki!” Fujiko shouted, pushing her way toward the entrance to the airplane. “We don’t wanna miss our flight!”
Fujiko pulled back her long black hair and adjusted her pink and white blouse. The deep brown was back in her eyes because she believed that natural was always the way to go.
“Honey, I can promise you that we are not going to miss this flight,” replied a flustered Hiroki, pushing his way through people to his wife. “Look at all the people around; can’t you see they’re all trying to get on this flight too?”
Hiroki shook his head, trying to get all the stray light brown hair away from his eyes. He pulled a carryon suitcase and a reluctant-looking teenager along with him.
“Ugh,” Riley grumbled. “Why do we even have to be going on this trip? Why do I have to be going on this trip? I don’t even know these people. The last time I saw them was when I was, like, two.”
Riley was nineteen and taller than his father now. He had the same dark black hair his mother had, cropped into short spikes, and his father’s dark brown eyes. The expression he was giving his parents was of malice and scorn.
Hiroki tugged on his son’s sleeve, pulling him closer to his mother. “All the better reason to be going. You’re just lucky we didn’t drag you along the other times. Plus, there will be other teenagers there.”
“Other teenagers who are, like, five years younger than me,” Riley mumbled, along himself to be pulled along. “And why’s Mom so excited?”
“Because,” Hiroki replied, finally letting go of his son’s sleeve, “these people are her dearest friends. Don’t ruin this trip for her.”
Riley crossed his arms. “Yeah, whatever.”
They reached Fujiko finally, standing next to her in line. Hiroki pulled her back from her shoulder as she tried to get farther up in line; the people around them already looked angry enough. She stood on her tiptoes, looking over the crowd of people to the plane.
“Oh, Hiroki, I’m just so excited! It’s been over three years since we’ve seen each other and I miss them terribly!” Fujiko exclaimed, jumping slightly.
Hiroki chuckled. “Yes, yes, I know, love. But you’ll just have to be patient, okay?” He put his arm around her waist. “We’ll get there when we get there.”
Fujiko put the balls of her feet back on the ground and looked at Hiroki sadly. “Oh, all right.” She smiled and pecked him on the lips.
“Oh, ick.” Riley grimaced. “Please don’t do that in front of me.”
Hiroki and Fujiko laughed at Riley’s expression, making their way into the plane.

Part Two:
Izumi and Crème Ronwell

Izumi gave Crème a look of defiance. His hair had been cropped short by the hairstylist he now was ready to murder, and Crème was just laughing at him from the front of the store. He looked at himself in the mirror, trying to get accustomed to the lack of length in the front now. The once brown hair that used to go past his chin in the front of his face was now buzz cut to almost nothing left.
“You look a little bare, there, Izumi!” Crème laughed. “Are you cold?”
Izumi gave her a cold stare before the stylist came back to see how upset he was.
“Is that… uh… not what you wanted, sir?” the stylist asked, backing away a small amount.
“No,” Izumi stated, ripping off the apron he had around him. “Not even close.”
He stormed outside without paying, dragging a hysterical Crème along with him. She had cut her hair short, too, but it looked much better than his. The black hair was covered in layers and went down to her chin.
“Th-that w-was hilarious!” Crème stated, climbing into the car. “I can’t believe how much they screwed up!”
“You did that, didn’t you?” Izumi asked, maliciously looking over at Crème. “You asked them to cut my hair short, didn’t you?”
Crème smiled. “And so what if I did?”
“You haven’t changed at all. You’re fifty and you still act like a twelve-year-old.” Izumi refocused his eyes back on the road; he was driving way too fast.
Crème started laughing again. “Ahh, would you love me if I was any different?”
Izumi didn’t reply, keeping his eyes firmly glued to the road.
“I thought not.” Crème smiled and stared at the road also.
After a while of silence, Izumi asked, “So when does our plane leave?”
“In three hours,” Crème replied. “Eric better have everything ready to go when we get home. It takes an hour to get to the airport.”
“Plus the hour it takes to get through security. Why don’t you call him and make sure he has everything ready?” Izumi suggested.
Crème agreed and punched in their home number into her cell phone. It rang three times before Eric answered with, “Hello?”
“Do you have everything packed and ready to go?” Crème asked sternly. “We’re leaving right when we get home.”
“Yes, Mom,” he replied, exasperated. “Everything’s ready to go. You can stop checking up on me now.”
Crème laughed. “All right, all right. It’s not my fault you’re unreliable.”
“Actually, it is,” he said, hanging up the phone.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Crème mumbled, putting her cell phone back in her jean pocket.
Izumi laughed. “It’s pretty obvious, Crème. You’re not very reliable, to say the least.”
“Hey!” she exclaimed.
“You know, he has a point.” The black and gray watch that Crème was wearing flashed a vibrant green. “I know for a fact how unreliable you can be.”
“Shuttup, Cookie,” Crème grumbled. “This case doesn’t need your help.”
Cookie and Izumi laughed the rest of the way home.

Part Three:
Tanuki and Alice Schmidt

Tanuki pushed his rectangular glasses up his face, making sure they were right in front of his brown eyes. He smiled at Alice, placing a piece of his black hair behind his left ear. Alice smiled back, her small features accentuating. She wasn’t very tall and had flowing, long black hair that she layered herself. Her small, green eyes shone brightly through her blunt, black bangs.
The two were standing in front of a large glass window at the airport, watching as planes took off and landed. Tanuki grabbed her hand and led her to the large sign labeled for their flight.
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen all of them,” Alice said quietly. “I hope they don’t mind that I’m coming along… It does seem to be a bit intrusive.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Tanuki replied kindly. “They’re all very nice people and I know they liked you the last time you met them. It’ll be fine.” He smiled.
“Okay.” She returned his smile and followed him into the plane, clutching a very old and tattered flute case.

Part Four:
Ravenna Corvunis

Ravenna was impatiently awaiting the arrival of her flight, pacing back and forth between chairs. She no longer wore he curly, brown hair in a ponytail, but instead had it pulled up in a tight bun. She hadn’t given up her job as a vampire hunter and she never lost the reflexes she had, but there were wrinkles coming up at the side of her dark brown eyes and she looked constantly tired.
“Maybe you should sit down, miss?” the flight attendant suggested. “Pacing back and forth won’t help the plane arrive any sooner.”
“Be quiet,” she stated sternly. “I’m thinking.”
The flight attendant looked taken aback and didn’t say another word.
“We’re arriving in Australia at about one in the morning… it’s three now… We’ll meet each other tomorrow at the Opera House… Izumi bought everyone tickets. Ugh, there are going to be teenagers there.” Ravenna crossed her eyes. “I’ll deal, I’m seeing my friends. They weren’t so bad last time… I think.”
Ding dong.
“Non-stop flight to Australia is now boarding.”
“Aha!” Ravenna exclaimed. “Time to make my way.”
She smiled and gave her ticket to the flight attendant, who didn’t say anything to her as she walked onto the plane.

Part Five:
Kykaro Saito and Shuichi Cullen

“C’mon, Amanda, we’re gonna be late for the flight!” Shuichi yelled, picking up his suitcase and storming over to where Kykaro was waiting.
“All right, all right! I’m coming!” she shouted back, running up to them.
Kykaro looked flustered. “Let’s go!” He shot off in the car once Shuichi and Amanda were seated comfortably. “The plane leaves in an hour.”
“Ugh,” Amanda mumbled. “What if we don’t make it in time?”
“We will make it in time, don’t worry,” Shuichi replied, smiling.
Amanda had been adopted by Shuichi and Kykaro when she was around five. Her parents had abandoned her in an orphanage because they didn’t want her. Of course, because both Kykaro and Shuichi didn’t want to have to deal with a newborn, they had chosen Amanda almost straightaway. She had been happy ever since.
They made their flight just in time, running through every single line to make it to their flight.
“Whew, that was close,” Kykaro said, sinking down in his seat. “Good thing.”
“Told you we’d make it in time.” Shuichi smiled.

Part Six:
Everyone

Australia was very big, very dry, and very hot. From the airport, everyone could see lizards, snakes, spiders, large mammals, and any other type of dangerous creature that lived on the earth today. The water surrounding was a deep, penetrating blue that looked perfect to swim in, but there were signs all around signaling to beware of jellyfish and strange poisonous rock animals that lurked on the bottom of the ocean.
“Well, this place looks… inviting,” Crème murmured to Izumi, grabbing her suitcase and carryon. “Dangerous things on land and in the water! Good thing grim reapers can’t die…”
Izumi looked around nervously. “We don’t actually have to spend time outside do we?”
“Well, that’s kinda why you go to Australia, Dad,” Eric replied, lifting his own suitcase off the revolving rack. “I mean, you can’t go to Australia and say you didn’t spend time gazing at the scenery.”
“And don’t worry,” Cookie’s voice said, emanating from Crème’s right arm, “Crème will keep you from much harm. She does control death, you know.”
“It is most certainly not death I’m afraid of…” Izumi trailed off, looking out the windows again.
“Hmm…?” Crème gazed at Izumi hazily.
“Crème! Izumi!”
A very winded and excited Fujiko ran up to Crème, lifted her off the ground, and gave her a giant bear hug. Hiroki and Riley followed slowly behind, lifting both their luggage and Fujiko’s three carryon items and rather large suitcase. Hiroki huffed as he set down the luggage right next to Izumi, Crème, and Eric’s.
“Hello, Izumi,” Hiroki said, in greeting. “It’s been a while.” He lifted up a hand to shake Izumi’s.
Izumi looked down at his hand in confusion, grabbed it, and pulled him into a hug. “We’ve been friends for too long for handshakes.”
“Ugh,” Riley grunted, setting down his stuff. “Parents are so weird.”
“Tell me about it,” Eric replied, walking up to Riley. “They’re so excited over something so ridiculously small.”
Riley nodded in reply and held out a hand. “Riley. We might’ve met before, but I sure as heck don’t remember it.”
Eric grabbed his hand and shook it stiffly. “Eric. And don’t worry, I don’t remember you either.”
The two boys watched as their parents exchanged hugs and greetings, then started talking about themselves and their accomplishments in the last three or four years. Eric and Riley spoke a minimal amount, neither really interested in the other. They were there for their parent’s amusement only and chose to keep relatively quiet the entire trip.
“Oh look, look!” a high-pitched voice exclaimed over the crowds. “I see them, I see them!”
Shuichi ran up to the group, his bleach-blond hair strikingly outlandish in appearance. Kykaro and Amanda followed closely behind, running up to the group in excitement. Amanda had never met any of Shuichi or Kykaro’s old friends before; this was an exciting experience for her.
“Hello!” she said to the others cheerfully. “My name’s Amanda. I was adopted by Shuichi and Kykaro a while ago… but you probably already know that, huh?” She smiled. “It’s so nice to meet you all!”
Crème, Izumi, Fujiko, and Hiroki all introduced themselves politely, then engulfed themselves in a deep conversation with Kykaro and Shuichi, leaving Amanda to join Eric and Riley in a corner.
“Hey,” she said, walking up to them. “I’m Amanda. And you are?” She held out a hand.
“Eric,” Eric replied, shaking her hand.
She swiveled around to Riley.
“Riley,” he mumbled, shaking her hand loosely.
Amanda stood between them awkwardly, trying to start light conversation and failing. She soon gave up and decided to listen to what the parents were saying together in their group.
Tanuki and Alice joined their group not long after, and Ravenna rushed up to them disheveled, annoyed that the plane seemed to have had a massive delay in time. They got introduced to Amanda, Riley, and Eric, and then talked in a small, huddled circle for about half an hour.
“Maybe we should go get our rental cars now…” Tanuki suggested, pointing toward the clock. “We’ve been standing in this circle for quite a while now.”
“Aha,” laughed Shuichi. “That’s probably a good idea.”
The group made their way down two sets of escalators and into a parking garage, and then into a CarMax store. It took about an hour to receive their four rental cars, each of a different color, and another half an hour before they actually left the airport.
Riley, Amanda, and Eric were all seated in the back of Tanuki and Alice’s car, awkwardly staring out the window. They tried not to make eye contact as they traveled down the deserted highway to their hotel and destination.
“So…” Tanuki said, attempting light conversation. “How old are all of you now?”
“Fifteen,” Eric replied.
“Fifteen,” Amanda replied.
“Nineteen,” Riley said, shifting uncomfortably. The two other children were, as he had predicted, younger than he was by a large amount.
Amanda and Eric looked at Riley, confused. They hadn’t guessed he was that old.
The car got silent again and Tanuki decided that making conversation wasn’t the best way to go. He spoke to Alice quietly in the front seat all the way to the hotel.

***

Once the group had settled in rooms and gotten everything situated, they met up in the lobby to talk about what they should do while they were together. It had been a peaceful thirty years, which was why they only got together every so often. Of course, it had been thirty years since Yuki had passed on and about thirty-five since Kyouya had passed, so those were subjects they chose not to bring up. They tried to keep to doing things that wouldn’t bring back random memories of times long lost.
“We could go swimming,” Kykaro suggested.
“There are… things in the water,” Izumi replied, disgusted.
“There are things everywhere,” Hiroki replied, laughing. “That’s just something you’re gonna have to get over while we’re here.”
Izumi glowered at Hiroki. “What if I don’t want to?”
“Then we won’t be able to do anything,” he replied.
The group stood in awkward silence for a while, lost of ideas. It was too hot outside for any of them to be interested in physical activity and driving anywhere after the long plane ride sounded awful.
“Maybe we should just relax here?” Fujiko suggested. “I mean, this is a large hotel… There’s a buffet and an arcade and casino. There’s a pool outside, also, if we decide to go swimming. It’s our first day here; we’re allowed to do nothing.”
The group agreed to this, and the three children split off on their own. None of them preferred to stay with their parents. Shuichi and Kykaro went off with Izumi and Ravenna, while Fujiko dragged Tanuki, Alice, Crème and Hiroki into the casino.
“You know…” Shuichi started as they headed toward the buffet.
Ravenna and Izumi looked at him questioningly.
“What is it, Shuichi?” Kykaro asked.
Shuichi cleared his throat. “I should probably tell you a little about Amanda…”
“Ah…” Kykaro murmured, becoming quiet.
“What about her?” Izumi asked, staring at Shuichi.
Ravenna looked curious. “Is there anything wrong?”
“Ah, well, no, not really. Not in that sense,” he replied. “It’s just… well, she’s unique.”
“Aren’t all kids?” Izumi asked. “I mean, Eric’s a handful. He’s a bit crazy.”
“Well…” Shuichi trailed off.
“I think,” Kykaro cut in, “what Shuichi’s trying to say is that Amanda’s special. There’s a reason her parents didn’t want her in the first place… A pretty legit reason.”
“And what would that be?” Ravenna questioned.
Kykaro looked uncomfortable. “Have we told you who she really reminds us of?”
Izumi and Ravenna both shook their heads.
“Well… she’s quite a bit like… Yuki, actually,” Kykaro muttered, looking away.
Izumi had an intake of breath, but Ravenna seemed unfazed.
“Ah, of course… so that’s why…” she mumbled to herself.
Kykaro nodded. “I figured you probably felt it, Ravenna. You haven’t changed much in tracking vampires, have you?”
Ravenna shook her head. “Half-breed?”
Shuichi and Kykaro both nodded; Amanda was a half-breed vampire, just like Yuki had been.
“She resembles her quite a bit,” Shuichi added. “It’s… hard to take sometimes.”
“But it’s nice in a way,” Kykaro said. “It’s kind of like having her back sometimes, too.”
Izumi and Ravenna both nodded, looking uncomfortable. They didn’t know what else to say or do.
Shuichi giggled. “No mind reading, though. That’s a plus.”
The three others chuckled awkwardly.

***

Crème looked around nonchalantly, and then ducked her way into the woman’s restroom. She hid in a stall and removed her watch from her wrist.
“What is it now, Cookie?” Crème asked, annoyed.
Cookie morphed into a scythe right when Crème removed her. “I have to tell you something important.”
“Must be super important to drag me away from my friends…” Crème shuffled her feet awkwardly.
Cookie tilted forward slightly. “I waited until the last minute to tell you… It’s hard to say, actually…”
“Oh, just spit it out, Cookie,” Crème said. “Something coming from a scythe can’t be that deeply meaningful.”
Cookie flashed a vibrant green, obviously annoyed. “Excuse me? Have I not been your companion for these past forty years and now you’re giving me crap?”
“All right, all right. I’m sorry, gosh. You’re amazing, okay? Love you. Best friends. Yadda yadda.” Crème waved her hands around. “And now, to what you were saying.”
Cookie cleared its throat softly. “Well… you’ve been the grim reaper for how long now?”
“About forty years, as you said,” Crème replied. “And?”
“Well, Crème, it’s been an awesome forty years…”
“Of course it has! And we probably have another long forty years to go, too. I’m not planning on dying anytime soon, you know.”
“Well, see, that’s the thing…” Cookie trailed off.
Crème gave it a quizzical look. “Cookie, what exactly are you trying to tell me?”
“Crème, friend, your time… your time is coming to a close.”
Crème’s face went shallow; her features darkened. “What… do you mean?”
Cookie sighed. “You’ve had forty long years. You’re probably the youngest grim reaper ever. But, you’ve settled down and have a husband now… and you have a kid. This is the first time it’s ever happened, that someone who becomes the grim reaper starts a family, but I talked to the boss… Well, I guess in your family it’s becoming hereditary.”
“Cookie, please just say what you’re trying to say in English?”
“Your time is up, Crème,” Cookie replied. “This job of yours… it’s being passed down to your son. You were about his age when you started. It’s his time now.”
Crème looked flabbergasted. “B-but… but, I thought… I thought this job lasted until I died!”
“They’ve changed some things in your exception,” Cookie said. “You have a husband and a child… You can’t leave them to be this anymore.”
“Cookie, you can’t take this away from me! I don’t know what I’ll do!” Crème pleaded, grabbing hold of Cookie. “You just can’t…”
“It’s going to your son, Crème,” Cookie answered. “This decision is final.”
“Will I…?”
Cookie bowed its head again. “No, not anymore.”
Tears appeared at the edges of Crème’s eyes. “How long until the change?”
“You have the rest of this vacation. And then I will be transferred to Eric.”
“Then, damnit Cookie, we’ll make this the best vacation ever.” Crème stood her ground, wiping the tears from her eyes. “And I know you’ll be in good hands with my son. I know it.”
“What am I going to do without bickering at you?” Cookie said, morphing back into a watch. “I’m going to miss our conversations.”
“Me too, Cookie… Me too…”

***

Riley went off on his own, stealing away into a dark corner of the museum. He pulled out a shabby-looking book from the inside pocket of his coat and laid it open on a small coffee table. He pulled out a mahogany stick from his pocket, also, and gave it a slight tap on the table. The table illuminated itself instantly, allowing him to see the contents of the book.
Each spell that he looked at looked even more complex than the one before it. He couldn’t learn what he needed to on his own…
He sighed and flipped to the front cover of the book. On the left hand side, next to the copyright, a faded scribble could be seen. It read:
Kyouya, I hope you find this as useful as I did back in my Hogwarts days. It has every type of spell you’ll need. Use it wisely.
Riley sighed again and closed the book. If only he could find out how to get to Hogwarts… man, that would make things so much easier…
A slight tap came from the window next to him; he quickly put away the book, making it smaller and putting it in his coat pocket along with his wand. He looked out the window to see a snowy white owl, flying in circles around the window with a note attached to its leg…

***

The trip to Australia was the last trip that the entire group had together. They were splitting apart and breaking up, but not because they weren’t friends anymore. They all kept in deep contact with each other and wouldn’t let the others go without talking too long. But they were getting too old to travel anymore, and things were getting too expensive… They all made the best of the Australia trip, and when they parted, it was as if they were going to see each other again only the very next day.