Title: Of Angels and Demons
Chapter: Meeting
Rating: R
Diclaimer: Uhh...right, I don't own any characters in this chapter. 'Cept for Jake, Noriko, and the two thugs.
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The old man walked down the sidewalk, straight past the alley, just as he did everyday. Today, however, the faint, rather annoying moaning coming from inside made him decide to check out the barren man-trap and end this vexation. Peeking his head inside he saw absolutely nothing for about fifteen feet into the alley. When he did see something, it was in the back, where the shadows are darkest, where normal people wouldn't usually be able to see into, even in the day. Now, when the sun had just begun to set, he could barely see back into the shadows of the trashcans and old boxes strewn about back there. He, deciding to sway what he did see of the situation, strolled into the alley and began to speak.
"Well, hello, there." Spoke the classic old-folk's voice that his had grown into.
"What the fuck do you want, old man?" spoke the larger of two assailants gathered around the slightly quivering shape of what appeared to be a girl slumped on the ground.
"Oh, nothing really, I just want to even the seemingly unfair odds that you to gentlemen have established here," The newcomer said.
"Cut it with the idle fuckin' chitchat and get to your point, and quickly," the smaller ruffian ordered.
"If you insist." This time, however, the feeble voice was gone and the old man spoke with a full, steady voice. He was also standing straight up at a good six feet, almost a full foot taller than the four foot ten he had appeared to be when he was hunched over on his cane. The black cloak he had been wearing was now lying discarded on the ground. The afore mentioned cane was now in two pieces, the wooden shaft in his left hand and the handle of the cane, with a two foot bade attached to it, was held in his right. He was wearing a black long-sleeve button-up with white around the edges and his pants were more or less the same. The real eye-catchers, however, were his gloves. On them he bore a star inside of circle on the palm of both of his black leather gloves. The marking, however, was not written or stitched on to the glove, bur burned, as though a hot match had been used to char the surface of the gloves.
"So, which one of you would like to die first," the newcomer queried.
"You talk big, but is it something you can back up" Little Thug snarled.
"Have it your way." the boy said, disappearing. All of a sudden, the air next to Little Thug seemed to split in half. He looked over and Big Thug now lay next to him in two pieces.
"What the hell did you do to him?" Little Thug questioned, clearly terrified.
"You can find out first hand if you so choose." Old-man-turned-young-man stated dryly.
"Shit no!" Little Thug turned tail and fled at this.
The girl's savior walked over to her.
"Get up." The man said curtly.
The girl complied, however reluctantly. She studied his face, noticing the scattered scars, double-hued hair, and his multi-colored eyes. No, that couldn't be right, none of it made sense, but it was right, his hair was a whitish-silver on top and an inky black on the sides. And those eyes... they were bright blue when he entered the alley, burned red when he spoke to the thugs, and had now calmed down to a dull blue, almost as though they reflected his mood. How did he do that?
"...rain soon." The words snapped the girl back into reality.
"What was that?" the girl asked.
"I said you may want to put this on, it's going to rain soon." The man answered, holding up the black cloak he had been wearing when he entered the alley. The girl nodded and put the cloak on despite the fact that the sky was clear and showed no signs of rain whatsoever.
They walked out of the alley as the man re-sheathed the cane sword and used it as a walking stick. Outside it was fairly busy. Even at this time of night, however, it was not unusual for the sidewalks of Tokyo to be bustling with people, as was obvious by the current state of the streets.
"So, where are you taking me? I'll bet your intentions are the same as theirs was."
His response to this remark was, without even turning around, "Don't flatter yourself." By the time she spoke next, it had begun to rain, slowly at first, but at an alarmingly increasing rate.
"So...then...uh...where are we going?" she questioned, slightly embarrassed by her previous outburst.
"We are going where I was going before I found you."
"And where would that be?"
"Here."
She stopped suddenly when she noticed that they had reached a door, and that rain had begun to pour heavily down all around them. Jake lifted his cane and used the handle to knock on the door. The door opened a few minutes later to reveal early- to mid-thirties woman.
"Hello, Shiori, are Suichi and the others here yet, or still?" questioned the mysterious boy with bi-hued hair.
"Why, Jake, I almost didn't recognize you"
"Why not?"
"Well, I haven't seen you with a girl since Sara, God rest her soul."
"Oh, well, we aren't like that. Noriko here is just a friend."
"Well, OK, but why, then, did you bring her?
"Well, she has nowhere to go and I was wondering if she could stay with you."
"Well of course she can"
"Thanks, Shiori."
"No problem, right this way"
They followed Shiori into the house, Jake pausing only to remove his boots. As they walked, Noriko spoke up.
"Um, sir, assuming that I'm correct in thinking that we've never come in contact before, how is it that you know my name, and my current situation?"
"A simple trick of the trade, Noriko, one that, if I'm correct in thinking, you'll become very accustomed to very soon."
As they moved into what was evidently the house's living room, Noriko noticed that the few couches and chairs had been arranged in a circle so that they faced one another, as though discussions were held in here frequently. Sitting on these various couches and chairs were four people who all looked to be about fifteen or sixteen years old. They were all talking about something she couldn't quite understand, however the words "demons" and "spirit-detective" figured prominently. Upon their entrance, one of the people, a black robed figure with a mess of untamed black hair that stood spiked up on the top of his head turned and looked at them, cutting the discussion short and prompting the three other participants to do the same.
"Hah! See, I told you guys I wouldn't be the last one here," shouted an oversized boy in a blue version of what her rescuer was wearing, and sporting a flash of orange hair that made him look like a large, beakless rooster.
"Would someone please silence that brute? He's giving me a headache." This remark came from the one who had first turned around. To Noriko it seemed that his speech was as sharp as his eyes.
"Hiei, relax, we are in the presence of a lady." This was spoken by a boy with long red hair, wearing another one of what looked like a local school uniform; only this one was white with gold trim. He had gentle eyes, and a demeanor to match. When he spoke, everyone's gaze seemed to shift from the one that Shiori had called Jake to the small figure standing next to him.
"Hey, she's cute," said the final person sitting in the room, who added, as somewhat of an after thought, "Please don't tell Kayko I said that." The last remaining speaker was a boy with wild, black hair that stood up at odd ends. He was wearing a green uniform and seemed as though he held some position of authority.
"Everyone, this is Noriko." This voice was incredibly familiar, as it was Jake's introducing her to the rest of the room. "And Noriko, this is everyone. Hiei is the one in black, Kurama, or Suichi, as his mother calls him, is the one with red hair, Kuwabara is the loud and annoying one in the blue uniform, and Yusuke is the loud and annoying one in the green uniform. Oh, and the long eared penguin next to him is his spirit beast, Puu.
"Yeah, thanks for the introduction. Anyway, you said you'd be here before the rain started," it had been Yusuke.
"Sorry, but, as you can see, I got a little tied up," said Jake, excusing his tardiness.
"Oh, Noriko," Kurama decided to interject. "If you feel the need to get cleaned up, there is a bathroom right down the hall."
"Thank you," Noriko said, bowing and then walking towards the bathroom.
After Noriko had left, Jake sat down on one of the remaining empty seats and they began to talk.
"Okay, so, who is she?" Kurama was the first to begin questioning Jake.
"Honestly, I don't know." Jake said, shrugging his shoulders.
"So, let me see if I've got this right, you brought a mortal that you don't know to a meeting of Spirit Detectives, and asked Shiori if she could stay with Kurama?" Hiei sounded furious as he posed his question.
"Uh...yeah, sounds about right," Jake said, as though he did this sort of thing all the time.
"Why?" This time it was Yusuke who spoke up.
"Seemed like a good idea at the time. Plus, I sense something special about her, and I want her to be somewhere safe to see if this thing develops. In the mean time, Noriko may need some new clothes, since the one she came here in are really ripped." Jake said this as he got up to leave.
"Yeah, I wanted to ask you about that, was she getting raped or something when you found her or what. Why were her clothes so ripped, is what I'm trying to say," Yusuke queried.
"Yes, as a matter of fact, she was. But be nice to her, she's sensitive" And with that, Jake got up and left.
"Y'know, it's true what they say, how wonders never cease," commented Yusuke as Jake left.
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"Noriko, Noriko, are you in there?" Shiori's voice floated through the door, barely audible over the running water from the bath. "Well, I just want you to know that you'll be staying with us for awhile. Your room will be behind the third door on the right. You'll find it a little ways down the hall."
With that, Shiori ended her one-sided conversation and began to walk away. Noriko listened for a while before turning the water off and getting out to dry herself off. She wrapped a towel around herself and proceeded towards where Shiori had said her room was.
When she got there, she was amazed by what she saw. It was simply a guest room, and it wasn't extravagant, but it was probably the most welcoming sight she had ever seen. It had nothing extraordinary, just a bed, a closet, and a bureau, but it was most certainly more welcoming than the rat-hole that she had left back home.
The room wasn't the most amazing thing she saw though. Lying on her new bed were all sorts of new clothes. Okay, so that was an exaggeration, but there was a good amount of them there. The most noticeable garment on her bed was a fabulously tailored silk kimono.
"Do you like it," Jake questioned, watching as Noriko eyed the kimono.
"Oh, Jake, I didn't see you there," murmured a surprised Noriko, who immediately attempted a half-assed bow.
"Don't bow, you are a guest, of mine and Kurama's."
"Oh, well, then, thank you for the clothes. Especially the kimono, its lovely."
"Don't thank me. You'll need new clothes, especially the lovely kimono."
"But it must have cost a fortune."
"Nah, it was nothing. I mean, its not like the Hunters don't pay me to risk my neck in their service."
"The Hunters! You're with them!"
"Huh, well, it looks like we aren't the secret that we used to be, oh so long ago."
"Wait what do you mean, oh so long ago?"
"Never you mind, just get dressed and meet us in the hall." And with that, Jake turned and left.
Noriko realized that she was still clad only in her towel and obliged with Jake's instructions. She wanted to try on the kimono immediately, but thought better of it, as she didn't know where they were going and didn't want to get it dirty after she just got it. So, she instead chose a red button-up t-shirt and a pair of black jeans and proceeded into the hall.
"Ha! Now we're all ready to go," announced Kuwabara.
"Oaf. Yeah, you, shut up," Jake ordered.
"Oh, why should I?"
"Because, if Hiei here doesn't run you through, then I will."
"People, and it would seem that even that is a term that I have to use lightly," Kurama interjected, trying to mediate, "I would like to get to this fair with minimal bloodshed."
"Speak for yourself," Jake added, rudely.
"Wait, we're going to a fair? I've never been to a fair," Noriko said, trying to hold in the excitement.
"Well then, lets try to get to this fair before this kid wets her pants," Yusuke suggested.
"Hey! Don't call me kid! I'm just as old as you are," Noriko fired back.
So, off they went to the fair, Jake trying his hardest to avoid the other five, Noriko trying to keep up with Jake, and the Spirit Detectives walking behind them in relative peace and quiet.
Chapter: Meeting
Rating: R
Diclaimer: Uhh...right, I don't own any characters in this chapter. 'Cept for Jake, Noriko, and the two thugs.
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The old man walked down the sidewalk, straight past the alley, just as he did everyday. Today, however, the faint, rather annoying moaning coming from inside made him decide to check out the barren man-trap and end this vexation. Peeking his head inside he saw absolutely nothing for about fifteen feet into the alley. When he did see something, it was in the back, where the shadows are darkest, where normal people wouldn't usually be able to see into, even in the day. Now, when the sun had just begun to set, he could barely see back into the shadows of the trashcans and old boxes strewn about back there. He, deciding to sway what he did see of the situation, strolled into the alley and began to speak.
"Well, hello, there." Spoke the classic old-folk's voice that his had grown into.
"What the fuck do you want, old man?" spoke the larger of two assailants gathered around the slightly quivering shape of what appeared to be a girl slumped on the ground.
"Oh, nothing really, I just want to even the seemingly unfair odds that you to gentlemen have established here," The newcomer said.
"Cut it with the idle fuckin' chitchat and get to your point, and quickly," the smaller ruffian ordered.
"If you insist." This time, however, the feeble voice was gone and the old man spoke with a full, steady voice. He was also standing straight up at a good six feet, almost a full foot taller than the four foot ten he had appeared to be when he was hunched over on his cane. The black cloak he had been wearing was now lying discarded on the ground. The afore mentioned cane was now in two pieces, the wooden shaft in his left hand and the handle of the cane, with a two foot bade attached to it, was held in his right. He was wearing a black long-sleeve button-up with white around the edges and his pants were more or less the same. The real eye-catchers, however, were his gloves. On them he bore a star inside of circle on the palm of both of his black leather gloves. The marking, however, was not written or stitched on to the glove, bur burned, as though a hot match had been used to char the surface of the gloves.
"So, which one of you would like to die first," the newcomer queried.
"You talk big, but is it something you can back up" Little Thug snarled.
"Have it your way." the boy said, disappearing. All of a sudden, the air next to Little Thug seemed to split in half. He looked over and Big Thug now lay next to him in two pieces.
"What the hell did you do to him?" Little Thug questioned, clearly terrified.
"You can find out first hand if you so choose." Old-man-turned-young-man stated dryly.
"Shit no!" Little Thug turned tail and fled at this.
The girl's savior walked over to her.
"Get up." The man said curtly.
The girl complied, however reluctantly. She studied his face, noticing the scattered scars, double-hued hair, and his multi-colored eyes. No, that couldn't be right, none of it made sense, but it was right, his hair was a whitish-silver on top and an inky black on the sides. And those eyes... they were bright blue when he entered the alley, burned red when he spoke to the thugs, and had now calmed down to a dull blue, almost as though they reflected his mood. How did he do that?
"...rain soon." The words snapped the girl back into reality.
"What was that?" the girl asked.
"I said you may want to put this on, it's going to rain soon." The man answered, holding up the black cloak he had been wearing when he entered the alley. The girl nodded and put the cloak on despite the fact that the sky was clear and showed no signs of rain whatsoever.
They walked out of the alley as the man re-sheathed the cane sword and used it as a walking stick. Outside it was fairly busy. Even at this time of night, however, it was not unusual for the sidewalks of Tokyo to be bustling with people, as was obvious by the current state of the streets.
"So, where are you taking me? I'll bet your intentions are the same as theirs was."
His response to this remark was, without even turning around, "Don't flatter yourself." By the time she spoke next, it had begun to rain, slowly at first, but at an alarmingly increasing rate.
"So...then...uh...where are we going?" she questioned, slightly embarrassed by her previous outburst.
"We are going where I was going before I found you."
"And where would that be?"
"Here."
She stopped suddenly when she noticed that they had reached a door, and that rain had begun to pour heavily down all around them. Jake lifted his cane and used the handle to knock on the door. The door opened a few minutes later to reveal early- to mid-thirties woman.
"Hello, Shiori, are Suichi and the others here yet, or still?" questioned the mysterious boy with bi-hued hair.
"Why, Jake, I almost didn't recognize you"
"Why not?"
"Well, I haven't seen you with a girl since Sara, God rest her soul."
"Oh, well, we aren't like that. Noriko here is just a friend."
"Well, OK, but why, then, did you bring her?
"Well, she has nowhere to go and I was wondering if she could stay with you."
"Well of course she can"
"Thanks, Shiori."
"No problem, right this way"
They followed Shiori into the house, Jake pausing only to remove his boots. As they walked, Noriko spoke up.
"Um, sir, assuming that I'm correct in thinking that we've never come in contact before, how is it that you know my name, and my current situation?"
"A simple trick of the trade, Noriko, one that, if I'm correct in thinking, you'll become very accustomed to very soon."
As they moved into what was evidently the house's living room, Noriko noticed that the few couches and chairs had been arranged in a circle so that they faced one another, as though discussions were held in here frequently. Sitting on these various couches and chairs were four people who all looked to be about fifteen or sixteen years old. They were all talking about something she couldn't quite understand, however the words "demons" and "spirit-detective" figured prominently. Upon their entrance, one of the people, a black robed figure with a mess of untamed black hair that stood spiked up on the top of his head turned and looked at them, cutting the discussion short and prompting the three other participants to do the same.
"Hah! See, I told you guys I wouldn't be the last one here," shouted an oversized boy in a blue version of what her rescuer was wearing, and sporting a flash of orange hair that made him look like a large, beakless rooster.
"Would someone please silence that brute? He's giving me a headache." This remark came from the one who had first turned around. To Noriko it seemed that his speech was as sharp as his eyes.
"Hiei, relax, we are in the presence of a lady." This was spoken by a boy with long red hair, wearing another one of what looked like a local school uniform; only this one was white with gold trim. He had gentle eyes, and a demeanor to match. When he spoke, everyone's gaze seemed to shift from the one that Shiori had called Jake to the small figure standing next to him.
"Hey, she's cute," said the final person sitting in the room, who added, as somewhat of an after thought, "Please don't tell Kayko I said that." The last remaining speaker was a boy with wild, black hair that stood up at odd ends. He was wearing a green uniform and seemed as though he held some position of authority.
"Everyone, this is Noriko." This voice was incredibly familiar, as it was Jake's introducing her to the rest of the room. "And Noriko, this is everyone. Hiei is the one in black, Kurama, or Suichi, as his mother calls him, is the one with red hair, Kuwabara is the loud and annoying one in the blue uniform, and Yusuke is the loud and annoying one in the green uniform. Oh, and the long eared penguin next to him is his spirit beast, Puu.
"Yeah, thanks for the introduction. Anyway, you said you'd be here before the rain started," it had been Yusuke.
"Sorry, but, as you can see, I got a little tied up," said Jake, excusing his tardiness.
"Oh, Noriko," Kurama decided to interject. "If you feel the need to get cleaned up, there is a bathroom right down the hall."
"Thank you," Noriko said, bowing and then walking towards the bathroom.
After Noriko had left, Jake sat down on one of the remaining empty seats and they began to talk.
"Okay, so, who is she?" Kurama was the first to begin questioning Jake.
"Honestly, I don't know." Jake said, shrugging his shoulders.
"So, let me see if I've got this right, you brought a mortal that you don't know to a meeting of Spirit Detectives, and asked Shiori if she could stay with Kurama?" Hiei sounded furious as he posed his question.
"Uh...yeah, sounds about right," Jake said, as though he did this sort of thing all the time.
"Why?" This time it was Yusuke who spoke up.
"Seemed like a good idea at the time. Plus, I sense something special about her, and I want her to be somewhere safe to see if this thing develops. In the mean time, Noriko may need some new clothes, since the one she came here in are really ripped." Jake said this as he got up to leave.
"Yeah, I wanted to ask you about that, was she getting raped or something when you found her or what. Why were her clothes so ripped, is what I'm trying to say," Yusuke queried.
"Yes, as a matter of fact, she was. But be nice to her, she's sensitive" And with that, Jake got up and left.
"Y'know, it's true what they say, how wonders never cease," commented Yusuke as Jake left.
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"Noriko, Noriko, are you in there?" Shiori's voice floated through the door, barely audible over the running water from the bath. "Well, I just want you to know that you'll be staying with us for awhile. Your room will be behind the third door on the right. You'll find it a little ways down the hall."
With that, Shiori ended her one-sided conversation and began to walk away. Noriko listened for a while before turning the water off and getting out to dry herself off. She wrapped a towel around herself and proceeded towards where Shiori had said her room was.
When she got there, she was amazed by what she saw. It was simply a guest room, and it wasn't extravagant, but it was probably the most welcoming sight she had ever seen. It had nothing extraordinary, just a bed, a closet, and a bureau, but it was most certainly more welcoming than the rat-hole that she had left back home.
The room wasn't the most amazing thing she saw though. Lying on her new bed were all sorts of new clothes. Okay, so that was an exaggeration, but there was a good amount of them there. The most noticeable garment on her bed was a fabulously tailored silk kimono.
"Do you like it," Jake questioned, watching as Noriko eyed the kimono.
"Oh, Jake, I didn't see you there," murmured a surprised Noriko, who immediately attempted a half-assed bow.
"Don't bow, you are a guest, of mine and Kurama's."
"Oh, well, then, thank you for the clothes. Especially the kimono, its lovely."
"Don't thank me. You'll need new clothes, especially the lovely kimono."
"But it must have cost a fortune."
"Nah, it was nothing. I mean, its not like the Hunters don't pay me to risk my neck in their service."
"The Hunters! You're with them!"
"Huh, well, it looks like we aren't the secret that we used to be, oh so long ago."
"Wait what do you mean, oh so long ago?"
"Never you mind, just get dressed and meet us in the hall." And with that, Jake turned and left.
Noriko realized that she was still clad only in her towel and obliged with Jake's instructions. She wanted to try on the kimono immediately, but thought better of it, as she didn't know where they were going and didn't want to get it dirty after she just got it. So, she instead chose a red button-up t-shirt and a pair of black jeans and proceeded into the hall.
"Ha! Now we're all ready to go," announced Kuwabara.
"Oaf. Yeah, you, shut up," Jake ordered.
"Oh, why should I?"
"Because, if Hiei here doesn't run you through, then I will."
"People, and it would seem that even that is a term that I have to use lightly," Kurama interjected, trying to mediate, "I would like to get to this fair with minimal bloodshed."
"Speak for yourself," Jake added, rudely.
"Wait, we're going to a fair? I've never been to a fair," Noriko said, trying to hold in the excitement.
"Well then, lets try to get to this fair before this kid wets her pants," Yusuke suggested.
"Hey! Don't call me kid! I'm just as old as you are," Noriko fired back.
So, off they went to the fair, Jake trying his hardest to avoid the other five, Noriko trying to keep up with Jake, and the Spirit Detectives walking behind them in relative peace and quiet.