• Story 5: A New Home
    After the exhausting night Jiro and Kataro had. Maddie offered her limo to them so that they could get home to sleep. “But how are you going to get home?” Jiro asked.
    “Oh it’s no big deal I’m in great shape and I can walk home. Just tell the driver to go ahead and take the rest today off so he can rest.” Jiro really didn’t want to leave Maddie without a ride, but she kept insisting that they just go home and get some sleep. Jiro finally agreed to go after Maddie told him she had some errands to run in town anyway. Kataro slept the whole way home while Jiro sat up thinking. There was something about Maddie that seemed familiar to him, but he couldn’t put his finger on who she reminded him of. When they got home Jiro carried Kataro to his bed and then immediately collapsed onto his. They both slept for hours. Jiro woke up to the sound of humming. He looked around and saw Maddie sitting on Kataro’s bed with Kataro on her lap. She was humming something. Jiro wasn’t feeling sleepy, so he assumed it wasn’t the White Rose song. “Good evening sleepy head,” Maddie said as she noticed Jiro was up. “Here take two of these,” Maddie said as she tossed Jiro a container of pills.
    “What are these?” Jiro asked.
    “They’re vitamins for vampires. I fund a lot of projects that I like the cause for, and when the product is developed I get as much of it as I want. These are vitamins designed to keep vampires from growing too dependent on human blood. It has all the nutrients that human blood has. Now it won’t be a substitute for blood in an emergency situation, but as long as you take 2 every morning… or I guess I should say evening, and then you’ll keep healthy and strong without human blood.” Jiro looked hesitant to try them. “Don’t worry Jiro they’ve been tested and none of the vampires they tried it on had any negative side effects.” Jiro still wasn’t sure. “Look it’s a vitamin. What do you expect to happen?” Jiro finally gave in and took 2. After about 5 minutes Jiro did start to feel like he had more energy than before.
    “Wow these things really work,” Jiro said.
    “I told you. Hey how would you guys like to help me with something?”
    “What do you need help with?”
    “Well, Mimiko told me that you guys are trying to find a place of your own. Well I just happen to have a guest house that you guys could have. I’ll charge you a little for rent, but it has 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, a living room, and a kitchen. It’s small, but it’s comfortable for two people to live in. So what do you say?” Jiro couldn’t speak he was so surprised.
    “Does this mean that we’d be able to visit you and Mimi any time?” Kataro asked.
    “Of course you can Kataro.” Kataro’s face lit up when he heard this.
    “How about it brother? Can we move in?” Jiro looked at Kataro’s face. He could tell that Kataro really wanted to move there.
    “All right, I guess we can.” Kataro began to cheer and dance around in celebration.
    “Jiro the only thing is you guys won’t be able to move in right away. You see it hasn’t been decorated at all, but I was going to call in some favors and have it decorated so now you can just call the shots on what you want.” Jiro was starting to get excited too. He and Kataro would finally have a place to call their own. A place where they could see Mimiko as much as they want and where they can see their new friend Maddie. Even though they’d only known her a short time she really had become a good friend. Jiro and Kataro packed up their things while Maddie called Mimiko to tell her that they agreed to move in. Kataro stuffed the last of his stuff into a bag and they set off for their new home. They rode in a different car this time. Maddie had driven some kind of sports car that Jiro didn’t know the name of. As they pulled up to Maddie’s mansion Jiro and Kataro looked around for the guest house. At first they couldn’t see it, but as they reached to top of the hill they spotted it just behind the mansion. It was off to the side and it was small as she told them and it was plain, but it looked cozy. Maddie dropped them off near the house so that she could park her car. Jiro and Kataro went to see what their new house looked like on the inside. Jiro opened the door and saw that everything was white. There was no furniture in the house at all. There weren’t any cabinets in the kitchen or anything.
    “So this is what she meant by it hasn’t been decorated at all,” Jiro said.
    “What are we going to do brother?” Kataro asked.
    “I don’t know Kataro.”
    “It’s a good thing I do know then,” Maddie said as she came in.
    “Here let me get your preferences.” Maddie had what looked like a screen in her hand. “Kataro what do you want your bedroom to look like?”
    “I kind of want to feel like I’m outside. I want it to look like a forest.”
    “All right one forest room coming up. And how about you Jiro, what do you want your bedroom to look like?” Jiro didn’t really know how he wanted his room decorated. Maddie could tell he wasn’t sure so she said, “All right Jiro just tell me two colors you want and if you want a certain object or shape to be the focus.” Jiro thought a minute.
    “Ok, Black, Red and a circle.”
    “Ok Jiro I will have that done. Now for the bathroom. What do you want that to look like?”
    “How about under the sea themed?” Kataro asked.
    “That’s fine with me,” Jiro said.
    “Ok then now the kitchen and Living room. They’re connected so they need to be the same theme,” Maddie said. Jiro and Kataro thought a minute and then Jiro thought of something.
    “How about life in the city? Like there could be a cityscape and it’d be like we’re actually in the city.”
    “That’s actually a really good idea Jiro.” Maddie started pressing stuff on her screen and then when she was done she told them that they were more than welcome to stay with her until the decorating is done. Jiro and Kataro agreed and took their stuff up to the house. Maddie showed them to the rooms that they would be staying in. Kataro was unpacking in his room and Jiro and Maddie were in Jiro’s room talking.
    “So why did you offer your guest house to us?” Jiro asked.
    “Well I just know what it’s like to want a place of your own. To not have to rely on someone to provide for you. I know what that’s like so I wanted to help you. You don’t have to stay there forever. It’s just a way to help you get out on your own. You can buy everything yourself there. If you ever need help of course I’ll help you, but it’ll still be a step toward being completely self-sufficient.” Jiro was starting to understand Maddie. She was a very kind and compassionate person. Even when she’s only known someone for a couple days she is willing to help them with whatever they need. The more Jiro got to know Maddie, the more he liked her. Jiro wasn’t sure why, but he felt like they had a connection that nothing and no one could explain.
    Story 6: A Growing Friendship
    Jiro and Kataro had a great first week in the Mansion. Maddie had landed an entire gallery of her artwork at the local art museum. She was planning the gallery opening for the end of the month, so they got to watch as shipments of amazing things come in and got to see even more of the house. Maddie was pretty busy, but at night she didn’t have work to do. She got to hang out with Kataro and Jiro from 8 until midnight when she had to go to sleep. Mimiko visited them every day. While they missed living with Mimiko, they were glad that they could stay really close when they weren’t sharing an apartment. All of them had really started to grow into one big family. One evening Jiro was having trouble finding Maddie. It was about the time for her to be done with all the Gallery opening business. He finally decided to look in the backyard and sure enough she was there lying on the ground.
    “What are you doing?” Jiro asked.
    Maddie had her eyes closed when he asked that question so she opened them in alarm and answered, “Oh nothing. I was just thinking about what I was going to do with the yard. The Gallery opening is a big deal, and I was going to have an after party here. The house is too big to have a party in though. People could get lost, so I decided to have the after party out here instead. Now I just have to do some landscaping.”
    “Do you mind if Kataro and I help?”
    “That would be great actually, but you can’t come outside in the sun Jiro.”
    “Then Kataro and I will take the night shift. You just tell us what to do.”
    “Ok. I’ll hire professionals to do the hard stuff. Let me tell you what I had in mind. I was thinking about a stone path leading from the door to the center of the yard where there will be one big stone patio area with a big fountain in the middle. Tables and chairs and some benches would be along the edge of the patio. Then there would be flowers of every size and color from all over the world around the patio. There would be other paths leading off to different areas of the yard. Then those paths would be connected at the edge so that when looked at from the sky, the paths would look like a big flower. In each section I want there to be a different fountain. There would be cherry trees all over the yard. Then there would be lights in all of the trees and bushes. Then over everything would be a canopy of stringed lights. Then when they’re all turned on at night the lights will make the fountains sparkle.”
    “That sounds great Maddie,” Jiro said in awe.
    “You really think so?” she asked.
    “Yes I do. That party will be one to talk about for years.”
    “Really?”
    “Yes it will,” Jiro said with deep sincerity. They both looked into each other’s eyes and for a couple seconds their hearts stopped beating.
    “Big Brother did you find her yet?” Kataro called from the house and snapped both Jiro and Maddie out of their trance.
    “Yea she’s in the back yard Kataro,” Jiro yelled back. “Well shall we get started?” Jiro said “We’ve got a lot to do over the next few weeks.”
    “Jiro one more thing. Will you be my date to the Gallery opening? There will be a lot of people there and it can get pretty awkward for someone who doesn’t have a date.”
    “Maddie I would be honored to escort you to the gallery opening.” Jiro bowed and offered her his hand.
    “Wow Jiro you sure know how to make a girl feel important.”
    “Well what other way should you feel. The gallery is going to hold nothing but your pieces.”
    “I guess you’re right.” Jiro let Maddie take his arm and they walked together back inside the house.
    Everyone had a lot to do over the next few weeks. Maddie had to get accustomed to sleeping most of the day and staying awake most of the night. The guys that worked during the day mainly just worked on the pathways and the fountains. At night Jiro, Kataro, and Maddie worked on where they were going to plant everything and then actually planting it once the fountains were done. They all couldn’t wait to see how the yard would turn out.