R&R please!
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho; this disclaimer applies to all of my chapters in this fanfiction.
Chapter One: When a New Mission Arose
"Whoa...that was so weird. Cool! But weird..."
Reijin stood up under the oak tree and looked at the kitten clutched in her arms. It was frightened and clinging to her chest, and she did not blame it! Both of them had just fallen from the tree they were now under and were ten feet from impending doom before that freak incident. She looked back on the past few minutes with wonderment.
Reijin had been walking leisurely through a park to get to (1) Izumichishiki Junior High, where school had already started. She was lucky enough to have first period Study Hall, so she could sleep in and still make it to school without a tardy or blemishing absence. On her way that day, she could have sworn she had heard something, a little "mew". There it had been again and again, so she looked up and saw a little kitten in an oak tree. She had time to stop and climb the tree and get the cat, but slipped on the way down.
She had frantically tried to grab a branch when the wind blew suspiciously HARD and with good timing too. Random people on the sidewalk had fallen over and she was knocked into the trunk of the tree where she plopped onto one of the low-hanging branches. Although it had hurt to hit the tree and climb back down to the ground, what hurt the most was the kitten now clinging to her breast unflinchingly.
She did not have to wonder for too long where the kitten came from, a tall guy with a blue school uniform on ran up to her ranting about how he saw the whole thing from across the street and that it was his kitty, Eikichi.
"So," she began hesitantly," I'm Oriana Reijin, you?"
"Kuwabara Kazuma. Hey, thanks for saving Eikichi! Poor little thing could of never made it down on her own." He started making baby faces at the cat.
"Well, she sure made it up on her own," Reijin said ruefully.
"Yeah...how did you make it down anyway? I saw you slip and fall and then…then there was that ominous wind."
"I don't know, but now my uniform's all beat up," she examined the skirt, which only had a few minor rips and the blouse that was a bit scuffed up and dirty, "hopefully I can make it through the school day without too many questions. Which reminds me, why aren't you in school?" she asked warily.
"Uh, well, I left this morning looking for Eikichi because she's too precious to be left to suffer in the cold, cruel world all day…and that jerk, Urameshi, was supposed to be helping me," he gritted his teeth at the sound of the name.
"You mean Yusuke? I saw him this morning rummaging through my trash. He must've smelled my fish dinner from three nights ago and figured 'Well, to a cat fish is fish.'"
"That bastard! Eikichi would never sink so low as to, wait, you know Urameshi?"
"Yup, that bum ditches all the time and hangs around my house since I can ditch my first period Study Hall in the mornings." She smiled at her fortune.
"Lucky!"
"'Rigged' is more accurate, but I'll be late for second period if I don't head off now, bye."
"Oh, bye then! Thanks again!"
"Well, that was kind of random," Reijin muttered as she continued on her way to school.
Somewhere in Reikai...
"It's started. The power of Air has passed on, Kane has passed on," someone said sadly.
"Don't be this way, Beatrice, we'll soon join him, and knowing Kane he'll savor the sweet peace in the afterlife away from us for as long as possible," another person consoled the one named Beatrice with a slight grin.
A third person giggled, "Yes, he's been stuck with the same three women all his life; his soul will run when we die as well!"
"Thanks, Madeira, you're right Uma, things will most likely be the same as they were once we cross over, and then we'll be able to torture his soul instead of his body!"
These ladies were joking of course, they had been friends with Kane for so long that they would joke that way. Kane had only just died minutes ago, and his power over Air was passed to the next chosen one.
"Ladies, I know this is a tough time, but you knew it would be soon. Now, may I remind you of the order? Kane, Uma, Beatrice, and then Madeira, and as each of you pass on another individual receives your gift of power over one of the four Elements. We're discussing the last issue now, so pay attention!"
"But Koenma! What about Kane? He never mentioned who should train the new girl and now that he's dead..." Beatrice trailed off.
"I'm sorry, but there's nothing we can do about that right now. I'll have Botan ask his soul later. But who do you women have in mind?"
4: 00 P.M...
"C'mon Koenma, why are we here? I have a full schedule of couch potato-ing and being lazy today. I don't have time for this!" Yusuke whined impatiently.
There was a nicely sized crowd gathered in Koenma's office: Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei, Kurama, Yukina, Chuu, Rinku, Jin, Touya, Shishiwakamaru, and Suzuki.
"Shut up you bum! I've got two very important people about to die in the next room who won't stop begging for "one last cup of coffee" before they go! Anyway, as you are probably aware of by now there is another demon out there thinking he can take over the world. He and a select few are in hiding in the Makai right now and we need to prepare. We have no idea what their abilities or resources are, but their power readings are off the charts and Ogre is currently looking for their profiles. Now then," he paused, "Jin, Hiei, Touya, and Kurama, you are all about to be assigned vital roles in this mission. We need you to train these four humans..." He dragged off and waited for it.
As the boys received their trainees' profiles, they all noticed one thing in common.
"What's with these high school girls?" Hiei questioned skeptically.
"Ah, now it gets interesting. You see, these are the predicted recipients of the absolute powers over Air, Fire, Water, and Earth," he paused to observe the tension in the room," Air and Fire have already been passed on, Air at some point this morning, and Fire was a few short moments before you all arrived. The thing is, we need to train these girls in their arts before someone tries to harm them and steal their powers. As humans, they aren't that physically adept in comparison to any demons, so we'll need to…acquire…them as quickly as possible.
"So we're kidnapping them?" Touya affirmed.
"That's another way to put it, yes. Kurama, I need you and Botan to take a portal to the United States to capture and bring back one of them. I have a feeling any plant you have that induces sleep will come in handy. Hiei, the same goes for you, only you're going to London, England very briefly."
"Hn, but that still doesn't explain why they're all human teenage girls."
"The last beings to hold these powers smiled when they realized that. It actually has nothing to do with orientation—male, female, human, demon, it doesn't matter. Two of the wielders were friends before they found the others and they perceived it helped strengthen the two Elements' connections. For you see, it's not the holders themselves that we're trying to strengthen; it's the bond between them so that balance will remain in the world! What if volcanoes, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and etcetera all tried to mold the world into their own havens? Chaos! Complete and utter destruction! Since the girls are already close friends, it helps us to ensure balance for the next few centuries."
"But, if they're humans, how will they maintain the balance for so long?" Kurama questioned.
"Having supernatural powers lengthened the lives of this last bunch, funny thing really, we're not quite sure how." Koenma knew this to be a lie. He knew exactly what he was talking about. He could not be certain of future events though, and would be withholding much more information than that petty piece of information. "Moving on! All of you will be training at Genkai's temple and staying there until further notice. Yukina, you're training mainly to further your healing powers, we'll more than likely be needing them, but work at your ice powers too because we won't know if any demons will try attacking the temple."
"I understand," she responded, "I'm just glad to be of help."
During the time Koenma talked, Yusuke and Kuwabara both tried to get good looks at the girls over their teammates' shoulders, but when they saw the Air girl's profile, they both jumped.
"You have to be kidding! Reijin's one of them?" They half laughed, half shouted.
"Well, that does explain that freaky incident with the wind this morning," Kuwabara stated, and went on to explain the event with his kitten, which led to his remembrance of needing to pound on Yusuke, which led to a fight. The others ignored them.
"Well, now that you've seen them it wouldn't be such a bad idea if you all familiarized yourselves with their profiles."
Koenma sighed and pushed a button under his desk. All four profiles were pulled up onto the screen along with their pictures.
Name: Arabelle "Reijin" Oriana
Gender: Female
Birthplace: Tokyo, Japan, Ningenkai
DOB: September 26, (2)1983
Age: 13 years
Race: Human
Ethnicity: ½ Japanese (mother), ½ Scottish-American (father)
Complexion: Very fair
Hair: Bright orange, short and messy
Eyes: Amber
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 107 lbs.
School: Izumichishiki Junior High
Grade: 7
Location: (3) Tokyo, Japan, Ningenkai
Likes: Sushi, hanging out
Dislikes: Clubs or gangs, bribes
Basic Personality: Easygoing, sociable, gullible, changeable, witty, self-indulgent
Other: (4) Allergic to cats
Name: Cayenne Teman
Gender: Female
Birthplace: Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.A., Ningenkai
DOB: March 29, 1982
Age: 14 years
Race: Human
Ethnicity: ½ Native American (mother), ½ Native American/Caucasian (father)
Complexion: Tan
Hair: Black-blue, parted on left, shoulder length and somewhat layered, wild bangs, strands in front of ears kept short
Eyes: Dark green
Height: 5'5"
Weight: 115 lbs.
School: South Haywood High
Grade: 9
Location: London, England, Ningenkai
Likes: Being unique, good competition, ramen
Dislikes: Being patient, utter failure at anything, uncreative people
Basic Personality: Adventurous, energetic, spontaneous, confident, quick, temperamental, impulsive, foolhardy
Other: Wears rectangular glasses or contacts
Name: Meriel Nisha
Gender: Female
Birthplace: Tokyo, Japan, Ningenkai
DOB: July 11, 1982
Age: 14 years
Race: Human
Ethnicity: Japanese
Complexion: Olive
Hair: Brunette w/ purple streaks, parted down middle and usually in two ponytails, long
Eyes: Dark Brown
Height: 5'1"
Weight: 112 lbs.
School: Pennon High School
Grade: 8
Location: Los Angeles, California, U.S.A., Ningenkai
Likes: Outdoors, Kendo, Candles
Dislikes: Parties, taking advice
Basic Personality: Loving, intuitive, shrewd, protective, touchy, clingy
Other: Recently moved to the U.S.A. From Tokyo, Japan
Name: Takara Kita
Gender: Female
Birthplace: Yokohama, Japan, Ningenkai
DOB: January 1, 1981
Age: 15 years
Race: Human
Ethnicity: Japanese
Complexion: Pale
Hair: Black, parted on right, left side usually pulled back with a hair clip, short and wavy
Eyes: Blue
Height: 5'2"
Weight: 118 lbs.
School: Sarayashiki Junior High
Grade: 9
Location: Tokyo, Japan, Ningenkai
Likes: Cats, Squeeze-y cheese
Dislikes: Dead-end jobs, crazies, "know-it-alls"
Basic Personality: Practical, ambitious, humorous, reserved, protective, somewhat serious, laid-back
Other: Never steal her Dr. Pepper, things happen
As they read, Yusuke and Kuwabara started cracking up again.
"Yo, her real name's Arabelle! Heh heh, she's never gonna live that down!"
"What about Takara? She goes to our school…isn't she the one who always sits by the window and looks like she'll eat you if you get too close?"
"Yeah, she gives me the creeps, but I've talked to her and it's mostly a big mouth over deadly claws...well, a big mouth with teeth depending on what mood you catch her in..."
Apparently Yusuke was remembering some incident he had before with the last girl. But there was not a whole lot of time before the others in the next room passed into the afterlife and they needed to get all these girls in one place before Makai demons got wind of what was happening. Koenma sent Kurama, Hiei, Botan, and (5)Hisano on their ways, Botan took Kurama to the States and Hisano flew Hiei to England; they would be back in a few hours. Yusuke and Kuwabara were sent after Takara and Reijin, everyone else was hurried off to Genkai's to work out living arrangements.
A few hours later...
Reijin sat in between two beds, in each one lay a friend. One was occupied by Meriel, the other held Cayenne. Altogether the room contained four beds, two vanities, two windows, one bookshelf, a few lamps, and other decorative figures like statues and paintings. The primary color was purple and variations of said hue with white furniture.
She had arrived there first after Kuwabara came over and said that there was this cool place he wanted to show her, though riding on an oar to get there had seemed unconventional, it was fun. She was somewhat jumpy after the flight but otherwise in her right mind. The strange people she ran into were nice also so she just figured she would wait around to see what would happen, and after all, they went through the trouble to provide her with a nice room and said her friends would be joining her shortly.
She had been a little shocked when they brought the other two in though. A redhead and spiky black-haired guy carried them in, Meriel was in a deep sleep, but Cayenne was unconscious and in her pajamas which made Reijin wonder just what the hell happened. The shorter of the two answered her question vaguely and said force was necessary, there was an incident with some dancing game and a Playstation2. Reijin did not even want to think of what might have happened if Cayenne had been interrupted during a game of Dance Dance Revolution.
Meriel seemed to be waking up now, she responded to her name more and twitched kind of. Suddenly, the door was kicked open and in came Yusuke carrying a kicking and screaming Takara. Meriel's eyes snapped open and she fell out of bed and landed in a heap of covers on the floor.
"Put me down you rude sonuvafuck!"
"Stop kicking and hold still!"
They wrestled with each other for a while, there was more screaming, and finally Yusuke became so frustrated that he threw her clear across the room where she bounced off of one of the beds and hit the floor on the other side. Before she had the chance to run back and take a swing at him, he ran out of the room and locked the door behind him. As Takara repeatedly pounded on the door, Cayenne eventually regained consciousness and Meriel fought her way out of the pile of purple-ness that had consumed her.
"Whoa, what hit me?" Cayenne questioned.
"A hot guy with no patience for the DDR lovers of England," Reijin responded rather monotone.
Sure, this was a serious issue, kidnapping, a seriously boring one! Then again, she had been there for a while now. While the others freaked out, she jumped on her bed until she was high enough to hit the canopy and then flopped on her butt. She kept it up until the other girls calmed down and joined in. So, there they were, all jumping on their temporary beds while talking about random stuff, what was going on, who had brought them there, what they were up to. Then the conversation switched to what went on at school that day, who was doing what before being abducted, and et al.
Takara was talking about a bitch she was about to backhand just before Yusuke had grabbed and brought her there. A quick air punch, though, threw her off balance as the door was reopened and she went sprawling across the floor in front of said door opener.
It was the redhead from earlier who had abducted Meriel. He helped her up but she kept her head down as a blush of embarrassment slid across her face. He then said that the one who had ordered their capture, Koenma, wished to see them now. They followed him down a few hallways and through some work spaces occupied by strange creatures known as ogres. There were also some people flying around on oars carrying souls to and from places. All the time they walked they kept close together and whispered about who this Koenma guy could be. They were not expecting what they got.
"Hey...who's the kid?" Takara asked.
"I'm not a kid! I'm older than your great grandparents so you'd better show some respect!"
"Ah! It talks!"
"Tch, you'd better believe I talk, and I have a lot to talk to you girls about so listen up!"
"Ooh, Takara got told by a baby, I bet she's afraid," Reijin jested.
"Yeah, like Arabelle's a very threatening name," Yusuke joked.
She stiffened at her real name and turned to him with an evil look in her eyes.
"How did you find out?" she whispered sinisterly.
"Heh heh, we've got your profile right here," he said and waved it tauntingly in front of her.
"Hold very still," she spoke unwavering, "I'm going to murder you."
She grabbed an attractive vase off of its stand, dumped the red and white flowers and water onto the floor and began unceasingly attacking Yusuke with it. At one point, when he should have dodged left and he ducked instead, she cracked it over his head. She grabbed one of the shards off of the floor and was about to cut him with it when he yelled out that he was sorry and that he would never tell. It seemed to trigger some forgiving power in her so she dropped the shard and skipped back over to the safety of her friends before smiling and mouthing the word "pansy" as Koenma began speaking to them. He shuddered but quickly shook it off and stood.
"This may come as a shock to you girls, but I think it could be better explained with any incidents that have happened today. Well? Have there been any in particular?" the toddler questioned.
They stopped to think of any extraordinary past experiences.
"Well, there was that thing with the wind," she glanced about at the different stares, "all of a sudden this morning, I've never felt it blow that hard before so suddenly," Reijin started.
"Yeah! There was this girl at the mall, she pissed me off so bad, but then, like when I was glaring her in the face and she was just smirking and lighting a cig, the lighter went haywire and burned really high and scarred her face for life!" Cayenne told.
"What about us? Meriel and I haven't had anything suspicious happen lately, have we?" Takara added and Meriel nodded in agreement.
"That's to be expected," Koenma said, "you haven't received your powers yet because the other two have yet to die."
"Other two? Wait, you mean Reijin and Cayenne!?" Meriel exclaimed.
"No, no, no, I meant the two in the next room! I guess I should explain in depth."
"Yeah, thanks, that would be very nice," Takara piped irritably.
"You see, every couple of centuries four people inherit the supreme abilities over the four elements of Air, Fire, Water, and Earth. You never know who it'll be until the current holders are near death, which they are now; the remaining two will die before dawn. We usually use a powerful psychic to predict who the recipients will be, and in this case it's you four. Seeing as you're unskillful humans," he paused as Reijin coughed and directed his gaze towards the broken vase, "well, untrained humans, and many demons will want your powers," he stopped again as Cayenne interrupted.
"Demons? Like the monsters from fairy tales or something?"
"No, much worse than those I'm afraid, and different, for instance, Kurama and Hiei over there," he referred to the redhead and black-robed short guy, "are demons, powerful and deadly demons that are luckily enough on our side. There are those on the opposition, though, who will use their powers to kill and eat you to consume your powers."
"...Kill...and eat?" Takara said somewhat shaken.
"Don't worry; we'll prevent that at all costs. And that's why you're here in the first place, we've arranged so that you'll be trained in your crafts until you can fend for yourselves."
"But what about school, and our parents, what will we do about them?" Meriel questioned nervously, "I'm an ocean away from my house, how will you explain that to them?"
"Like I've said before, don't worry about it," he stressed "for school we'll draw up some fake scholarships and send someone to explain it to your parents. For actual schoolwork we'll provide time for home schooling at Genkai's temple which, by the way, is where you'll be staying. Any more concerns?"
It remained quiet, either no one could think of anything that was really important, or they were keeping individual worries to themselves, probably a little bit of both.
"Very well, Botan, Hisano, take them to Genkai's, have her accommodate them appropriately and we'll get down to business in the morning."
"Yes sir, Koenma!"
The girls sat on the oars rather awkwardly, one in front of and one behind the controller. Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei stayed behind, they still had a few more things to talk about with Koenma, more than likely the details of their mission with the girls. As they took off into the sky and soared past the river Styx and back to Ningenkai, they remained silent, each thought of their own anxieties about the burdens that lay ahead.
Author's Notes:
(1)Izumichishiki Junior High - I made this up for Arabelle's school, but I don't know if it's right. I combined izumi--spring; fountain--with chishiki--knowledge--to get the effect "fountain of knowledge" but is that right? If it isn't I'd appreciate it if someone could correct me.
(2)1983 - I used this date because the YYH series ended in 1995, and I want the year now to be 1996, although I haven't see the last series I hope I don't write anything too improbable to the plot after the series is over, if I do, I won't change it, just bear with me.
(3)Tokyo, Japan - Is that where Yusuke and such live? Or is it somewhere else? Correct me if I'm wrong.
(4)Allergic to cats - I realize that Arabelle rescued Eikichi earlier and nothing was wrong, but she isn't extremely allergic and she washed her hands when she got to school. She just had to be careful not to touch her shirt the whole day
(5)Hisano – a ferry girl of my own creation, don't worry, you have not overlooked an important character or anything, I just made her up for circumstances
Tell me what you think!