Finding Peace

For future readers, Jiro will not be depicted as homosexual nor will Zelman. He has associates who are or friends. This is mainly a heterosexual type of story with thus being the relationships between the characters. I am going to try to stick with some of the main characters and script them fairly close to the original story. Thank you and enjoy reading after all it is fun and mental.

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Jiro Mochizuki was sitting outside with his umbrella and usual red attire waiting patiently for Kotaro and Mimiko to get back from shopping. He would have preferred to stay at home rather than sending off fumes of smoke as he tried to find a shady spot that wasn’t overly crowded with people.

It was hard to believe that a little salt water and sunlight would make one of the strongest vampires, the Silver Blade, wish to run to find a hiding spot during any time of day, but unfortunately this was true.

Mimiko had insisted on shopping for some things that would make them all fit in a bit better. Although Jiro and Kotaro liked their clothing, Mimiko wanted them to try out a few new styles of clothing since they stuck out like a sore thumb. Even Zelman Clock had mentioned that he adjusted to the times so why not try this out for a while so of course Kotaro was thrilled since Zelman had somehow brainwashed his little brother. Jiro had to admit as much as he would respect Zelman up close, from a distance he didn’t trust the guy.

It seemed that every damn shady spot was taken up by a bunch of human families for the summer setting up their picnics while young lovers just were trying to find a place to hide themselves for some quick PDA.

Eventually Jiro just decided that shopping might be what he had to do in order to get out of the sunlight. So he wandered into a bookstore to look around. Barnes and Noble was a rather busy place, but it was much less of a crowd then what he was dealing with outside plus it got him out of the sunlight. Normally Jiro would have followed Kotaro anywhere, but Mimiko and Kotaro wanted to ‘surprise’ him so he was asked to go wander around then find them later.

Cain would be laughing his ass off right now watching the tall dark haired man who was smoking through his clothing trying to blend in with the rest of the crowd in a local popular book store as people were staring especially since his clothing was still putting out steam. Especially since the Silver Blade was finally accepted by Sei, the Dragon of the East and would be considered slightly noticeable, which was something that really wasn’t well accepted even if most humans lived around vampires for years now since the vampires really preferred humans that remained ignorant to them since it caused less chaos to erupt.

A young woman walked past him and sniffed the air.

“Smells like someone is having a barbeque or their dry cleaning is walking around. Could be both.”

Jiro stopped for a moment and smelled himself. He never really noticed such things and of course after thought was always 20/20.

Wandering over to the end of the room where no one was at Jiro found local magazines and started to look at them since he had nothing better to do until 3 pm when he was to meet up with Mimiko and Kotaro at the Starbucks where Mimiko would get her usual coffee fix. Then they would take Kotaro to the noodle shop and figure out what to do from there.

“Sir, can I assist you with finding something?”

Stated a young man who worked for the book store who was eyeing his clothing. His name was Rodger according to the badge on his shirt.

“No thank you, I am just looking.”

The young man laughed.

“No problem with that. If you need any help let me know. By the way is there a cosplay event going on? I love the costume.”

Jiro looked at his clothing.

“Cosplay? No, these are my cloths.”

Rodger sighed placing a hand behind his head rubbing his neck a human sign of discomfort.

“Oh, I see. Well if you need anything just let me know.”

As Roger left he overheard him say something along the lines of anime fruitcake that lives the role. Jiro just shook his head and sat with one of the magazines hoping that whatever clothing Mimiko and Kotaro found for him came with a shirt since it seemed to be full of men with no shirts on. That seemed to be the popular thing to do around the city too during the summer according to the magazine. Of course the cover could have given Jiro a clue to what he was reading since Cosmopolitan was a women’s magazine, but Jiro had always learned that you can’t judge a book by its cover so other then the title he usually ignored the rest of the writing on the front of the magazine. After reading it a bit Jiro became annoyed at how crazy humans were and wanted to go back to his casket where things were normal.

Sitting across from Jiro was a nice coffee shop. Perhaps he would bring Mimiko here to have some coffee rather than go clear across town where he would once again start to have smoke billowing off of him. It was that or hope for rain with an overcast sky so that this wouldn’t be a problem. It didn’t really matter though since he didn’t have a cell phone to call Mimi to meet him there.

Jiro tried to understand the new technology, but unfortunately it was one of those things he still feared a bit since it seemed so damn complex for something that small. After today though he would consider learning about it since it was obvious it was needed. Smelling like a walking steak just wasn’t his cup of tea anymore.

Reading an article about how some idiot got caught with his pants down again with his girlfriend’s parent’s present Jiro just couldn’t take it anymore and was going to talk to Mimiko about paying for this damn magazine. All it would amount to is a lot of trouble and trying to find a decent article about something serious in it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. It would be time consuming and cheaper to buy one that works.

Jiro tried to read some of the local news and in the end was just fed up with all the nonsense in trying to read the newspaper which was about as helpful as the magazines. Looking at the clock on the wall he needed to get going. It was just terrific timing too since the sun was shining brightly in the sky with no signs of a single cloud to give him hope of not smelling apparently like cooked meat.

Before leaving Jiro decided he might as well buy a journal since he did like to write and perhaps that way he would remember to tell Mimiko never to buy a Cosmopolitan magazine for him no matter what they said since there was a section for men to read. It was obviously a way for people to gossip about their stupidity and only a few sections were worth his time. Maxim was really no better making the mentality of the male mind seem like they were all Neanderthals even if he did like the swimsuits. Jiro figured he may be cynical, but he was not blind.

After paying for the journal, a nice pen, and a bookmark he had fifteen minutes to meet up with Mimiko and Kotaro. It was rather difficult to speed up when you were melting, but he barely made it on time.

Kotaro came out dressed in a pair of nice tan pants not much different than his other ones except a few more pockets and zippers. He had on what Mimi claimed was a t shirt of dark blue which brought out his eyes with the name Hurly across it. Apparantly this brand was a popular brand name all the kids ages 11 and up were wearing. Kotaro was now 12 years old. He also had on a pair of what they called high tops that matched his shirt. Supposedly they were very expensive brand name shoes from Converse, but Mimi had money left over so according to Jiro they didn’t really spend much to fit in.

“Mimi, can we go inside before Jiro starts to smoke again. I know it has been hard for you to wait for us big brother, but now you can fit in too. I hope you like what we picked out for you to wear.”

Kotaro stated with a big grin on his face.

“Well, I just figured since you really don’t have to fight for a long time since Cassa hasn’t been around, we could relax a little bit sometimes. I know that you prefer your armor over this stuff, but I think we did well. You will still have similar coverage, but it might be more comfortable.”

Jiro shrugged as he was handed clothing and pushed into the bathroom by Kotaro who giggled just like he always did. It was like he was still only 10 years old even if his body had grown a little bit.

Kotaro and Mimiko waited after Jiro went into the male restroom as Kotaro ordered a large bowl of noodles for them both. Whatever Mimi didn’t eat Kotaro would scarf down in seconds.

Jiro came out of the bathroom with everything except the long sleeve t shirt correct and his shoes were unlaced. Mimi came over to help him understand the tag went on the back end of the shirt. It was easy to flip it around and then the shoes were next. After it was done no one would ever know that Jiro was actually a vampire except when he smiled. Mimi even came up with a band to tie his long black hair back. It helped a bit until a few stray strands fell forward, but for some reason that just made him look better.

“You look great big brother! I told you Mimi that the light blue Quicksilver shirt would look great on him!”

It indeed did with the dark blue jeans. He looked relaxed although his red clothing always had looked nice on him too. Mimi would miss that hat until Jiro tried to put it on.

“Oh, don’t do that! You will ruin the look. Here is a cap like Zelman’s except yours matches your shirt and the jacket I got you. It will be easier, plus you can still have your sword on you with the belt I got you although I don’t know why you still need it. I mean Cassa is gone and the Kowloon threat is no longer here. Sei made certain of that.”

Jiro sighed.

“She still lives and even with Sei’s barrier I am unsure of Kotaro’s safety. I have to insure the safety of the Sage above all things. You know this Mimiko. I have to insure the Silver Blade is always ready.”

Jiro hated to go over this again with Mimiko. As much as he cared for the young human woman, he had to repeat himself more times than he wanted to when it came to caring for his responsibilities with Kotaro. Someday his bloodline would go back to the Sage and who knows what would happen to him then? Time was not something that would go on forever for him, but his duty to the Sage was a task he would give up immortality for. He loved Alice and would always love her. No one could take her place even her reincarnation.

Mimi gently folded Jiro’s clothing into the bag and wished there was some way to change things. She wanted Jiro to be happy and alive. No matter how they tried with this vow he had sworn to basically give up his life to someone who was long gone. It wasn’t fair and no matter how much honor a man had it was indeed sad to see them destroy living only to die for what? A woman that was reborn into a child who had a second chance at life? Something many people wish they had? Couldn’t the Sage just live and thrive as he was doing now without destroying Jiro?

“Ok, I won’t argue it anymore.”

Jiro smirked.

“You say that every time Mimiko. I understand your worries, but believe me. I know what I am doing and if you were one of us you would know too. Still I will not place that burden on you. You do enough for us.”

Kotaro just smiled and finished off Mimi’s noodles since she was done eating. No one knew where the kid put all that food, but it went somewhere. Probably into the stockpile of endless energy that Kotaro had.