Inside the House
A/N: This is something of a sequel to the House of the Nutcases fic that's posted on my joint page with Ryouko (if you're interested, go under my fave authors and click "Ryouko and Himizu" there's a bunch of fics there that she and I wrote together) and you should really read it first just to get background on the House because I'm not going to bother explaining too much about it. So if you become confused, that's your own fault, go read the other fic. Also drop a review off while you're there, it'll make Ryouko happy.
Chapter 1
Himizu, Risu, and Ryouko were hanging out in Animedom with Kurama and Hiei as they usually did. The girls were going over various papers and bill and things. Finally Himizu shook her head.
"None of this adds up. The House of the Nutcases is hemorrhaging money, and our patients are being shipped to other facilities at a record-breaking rate," Himizu said. "How can this be happening? We should have more business than the building can hold now that we've expanded the House to cater to people obsessed with any anime, not just Yu Yu Hakusho…"
"Probably because we aren't there to personally supervise the place," Risu suggested.
"Yes, but whenever we visit we either get locked up ourselves or we get the syrupy smiles and the sanitized tour. And when we are locked up, we're escorted to our own private rooms and treated quite well, surprisingly. We don't get treated like ordinary patients," Ryouko pointed out.
"This is true… Well, we can at least start our research." Himizu clapped her hands. "WINSTON!"
A very neat and correct Michael Caine look-alike butler-type appeared. "You called, milady?" he asked with a slight bow.
"Hello there Winston. We're having a problem with some of these records for the House, is there anything you can tell us?" Himizu asked.
"I'm afraid not milady. Dr. Mortimer always keeps me away from the general wings, saying that the cases are so severe that he cannot allow any but the most experienced medical professionals near the cases."
"That's odd… the general wings should be relatively mild cases," Ryouko mused.
"He blames the upswing of obsessions," Winston replied calmly.
"Very odd… those can be violent at times but for the most part, they're also fairly peaceable when they've been deprived of their obsession for a while and the withdrawal symptoms are over," Risu said.
"I can't be sure of anything milady. Dr. Mortimer knows that my loyalty lies only with you ladies, so he would be sure to hide any disreputable practices from me," Winston stated.
"Thank you Winston," Himizu said. He bowed to the girls again and vanished when Himizu clapped her hands again. "Well that cans it. Dr. Mortimer is hiding something and we're going to find out what it is!" she declared.
"How? He knows all of us by sight, except maybe Risu," Ryouko said.
"We'll need disguises. And we'll need Kurama and Hiei to help us," Himizu added, glancing at the two demons. Both stood up to leave, but Hiei was tackled to the ground by Risu.
"You're not going anywhere," she told him sternly. He sighed. Risu had jumped up and blocked Kurama even though he was over six inches taller than her, she was too fast and fierce for him to get by.
"What do you need us for?" Kurama protested.
"You need to control Risu," Himizu said. "And Hiei is going to be our ticket inside."
"How's that now?" Hiei exclaimed.
Himizu's grin widened. "Follow me."
They all ran up the stairs to Himizu's bedroom and she threw open the door to her closet. Kurama had never ceased to be amazed that a girl who almost always wore jeans and t-shirts, sweats, or black clothes should need such a giant closet but it had come in handy before and she seemed to think it would come in handy again now. Himizu vanished into the closet for a moment, then came back out with a wig. It was a woman's bob cut in a nice auburn color which she tossed at Risu. Risu sighed and pulled it on. Himizu ran back into her closet and pulled out a nurse's outfit (not one of those super-slutty ones, get your minds out of the gutter!).
"Let me guess… I get to go and apply for a job as a nurse," Risu said grimly.
"Yes, and your name will be Togi. You'll be assisted by your capable partner Kango." Himizu pulled out another wig with very stringy and just a little greasy black hair and plopped it on Kurama's head and shoved a male nurse's uniform at him as well as some contacts. Kurama sighed and went to change. The contacts were blue to hide his brilliant green eyes.
"This is uncomfortable…" he grumbled.
"You'll be quite a bit more uncomfortable if the fanatics in the obsession wing see you and try to molest you, so deal with it!" Himizu exclaimed. "Besides, you haven't even seen what I'm going to do to the rest of us."
Hiei turned to leave. Ryouko grabbed him by the collar. "Don't get me wrong, I'm starting to get the same idea that you are, but let's wait it out," she said.
Himizu pulled out a wig with blonde shaggy hair and some hair gel and carefully styled it into a smaller and less tidy version of Hiei's hair. Then she pulled out dark brown contacts, a pair of guy's jeans with a hole in on knee, a raggedy t-shirt, and a pair of smudged worn-looking tennis shoes, as well as one of Hiei's old cloaks which looked faded and worn-out and had a few small rips in it. Hiei glared at her.
"Before I even ask about this ridiculous costume, why do you have one of my old cloaks?" he asked. Himizu grinned.
"Stole it from Ryouko. She'd been wearing it for a while and it was starting to look a little ratty, so she stole another one of your cloaks and I stole this one from her cuz I figured we'd need it at some point."
Hiei glared at Ryouko. "Why do you keep stealing my stuff?" he yelled at her.
"Uh… because?" she said with a sheepish grin.
"Anyways," Himizu said, ignoring them, "Hiei, your name will be Rei and you will be suffering under the most unfortunate delusion that you are Hiei Jaganishi from Yu Yu Hakusho."
"…..But I AM Hiei Jaganshi from Yu Yu Hakusho…"
Himizu turned to Ryouko and smiled. "See, he has the part down already. Now, Hiei, please go change."
Hiei grumbled and walked off to do so. Himizu reached back into her closet and pulled out a wig of bleached blonde hair set in pigtails. Then she pulled out large black nerdy-looking glasses, a jean skirt with hearts printed on it, a bright red t-shirt covered in hearts, a jean jacket with hearts embroidered on it, and red high heels. She tossed the ensemble to Ryouko, who went to change and came back utterly unrecognizable.
"You, my dear, are Kinomi, and you share Rei's delusion that he is Hiei and you are desperately in love of him because of it."
"Oh, fantastic… baka!" Ryouko exclaimed strangling her friend. Himizu gagged and tried to call for help. Kurama finally took pity on her and helped her. Himizu reached back into the closet and pulled out a wig of black hair pulled back into a braid and put it on her own head. The braid, which had a scrunchie with a pink butterfly tied around the end of it, reached all the way down to her waist. She put on her own jean skirt (no hearts) and a pink shirt with flowers on it and pink flats. Then she pulled out makeup and she and Ryouko gave each other makeovers. Kurama had to admit that he was impressed by the disguises.
"And I am Ami, Kinomi's terribly concerned friend who heard of the House from a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend and thought it sounded like the right place for Kinomi and Rei," she said with a smile as she pulled out some red heart-shaped jewelry for Ryouko and some pink jewelry for herself.
"I thought you were practically allergic to pink, where did you find this stuff at?" Kurama asked. "Not to mention these wigs… and the men's clothing…"
"Like I said, you never know what will come in handy," Himizu said with a grin. Kurama thought about the slutty Goth outfit she'd showed them at one time (see BSTV's for that) and realized she might just be right.
Himizu took a deep breath and composed herself. "Okay, let's go. Risu, Kurama… brace yourselves. We'll follow in an hour." They did and she teleported them to the House of the Nutcases. Then she and Ryouko made adjustments to their costumes and Hiei's while they waited.
"So how's this going to work?" Hiei asked.
"Well with the impeccable resumes that I faked for them, Risu and Kurama will get jobs for sure. You and Ryouko will become patients at the House, and I will be your contact outside. Once we figure out what the hell is going on there, we'll shut that shit down!" she explained.
Hiei shook his head. The girls ignored him and Himizu teleported them to the House. The imposing building loomed above them and Hiei sighed. Himizu grabbed both of them by the wrists and dragged them inside the building. She raced up to the reception desk, braid flying around her and skirt trying to flare up and show more of her long legs.
"Excuse me!" she exclaimed to catch the attention of the receptionist.
"Yes dear?" the woman asked, glancing over her glasses at the eager-looking girl in front of her.
"This is the House of the Nutcases right? The hospital for those obsessed with anime to an extent that it destroys their lives?"
"Yes. Why?" the woman asked, leaning forward slightly.
"Well my name is Ami and I have two just awful cases here. Rei thinks he's Hiei Jaganshi from Yu Yu Hakusho and Kinomi, she's my bestest friend in the whole wide world, she's just in love with Hiei and she's deluded herself that Rei IS Hiei…" She turned around and she and the receptionist stared as Ryouko nuzzled up to Hiei, rubbing one of her legs against his and nuzzling at his neck. He had his arms gently wrapped around her, holding her steady, and his face was calm and didn't betray how freaked out he was by her.
"Hm, it does seem severe…" the woman murmured. "Would you please bring them to room 143?"
"Yes ma'am!" the girl in front of her exclaimed as she took to her heels and ran back to her friends and dragged them down the hall. As they walked, they spotted Kurama and Risu being escorted around the hospital by another nurse who was plainly showing them around. Inside the examining room, Himizu sat on a chair and Ryouko and Hiei jumped up onto the table. Himizu looked at them.
"Sit on his lap," she said.
"WHAT?" Both people yelped at her.
"You heard me," Himizu said flatly.
They looked at each other and Ryouko sighed and hesitantly sat on Hiei's lap. He held her gingerly, not really enjoying any of this. No sooner had they gotten settled when a young doctor walked in.
"Hi, I'm Dr. Ika. Kinomi and Rei?" he asked.
"That's them, I'm Ami, the friend that brought them here!" Himizu said brightly. The doctor let his eyes race over her, from the braid that innocently flopped over her shoulder and curled around her body, to the exact spot where her skirt stopped covering her legs. Himizu felt uncomfortable and tugged at her skirt nervously. The doctor smiled at her, then stuck his head out the door.
"Dr. Mortimer, sir? We have a couple potential patients in here!"
An older man poked his head in and looked over Rei and Kinomi, who were still cuddling on the examining table, and Ami who was now playing with the butterfly clip at the end of her braid.
"Send them all to Ward B. Some beds have… recently opened up," he said, and he turned to leave. The younger doctor followed him out the door and Himizu saw to her shock that Dr. Mortimer was carrying some bloody knives and a chainsaw.
"Last time I checked there was absolutely nothing that went on here that required those," she said. At that moment the Dr. Ika stepped back in with half a dozen burly ward attendants.
"The doctor said Ward B," he said, and the burly attendants grabbed Hiei, Ryouko, and Himizu.
"Hey, what are you doing? I'm not the one with the problems, I brought these two to you so you could help them!" Himizu cried. The young doctor smiled.
"Standard procedure, we want to give you an evaluation as well just in case."
"Just in case what? They're mental problems, not contagious pathogens!" she yelled at him.
"Hm, hostility… could by a symptom."
"You're making things sound bad when they're just normal!"
"Irrational logic, and perhaps some paranoia."
"You're not listening to me!"
"Delusions."
"You're only locking me up to fill beds!"
"More delusions, and definitely some paranoia."
"Go fuck yourself."
"Aggression."
Himizu's jaw dropped open and she stared at him. "You're full of shit. Who hired you?"
"Dr. Mortimer said I showed great promise in this facility."
"I'll just bet he did, you're nothing but his lackey."
Dr. Ika's face clouded with rage. "Get them to Ward B and step on it. I'll decide later if they should be restrained too."
The three new patients were dragged to Ward B and given three cots next to each other. Risu and Kurama saw this and exchanged quick glances.
"I thought Himizu was going to stay outside the House," Kurama said.
"Well… no matter, we can work with this. Let's go get assigned to Ward B," Risu said.