The Way Things Go
Part I : The Way Things Got Started
The name's Yumiko. People I love call me Yumi, sometimes. I'm just your average 15 year old female, just your average four foot nine, katar wielding, blue eyed, black haired, eared and tailed, half fire, half wolf demon travelling down the road of life with my thirteen year old four foot tall, white haired, blue eyed, master archer, water demon of a sister, Aiko.
Okay, so maybe I'm not average. Maybe my story isn't average, either. But hey, how average can your story be when your mother was an elemental demon and your father a wolf demon? Fun fact of the day, apparently the wolf gene is less dominant than the elemental gene, so weirdly enough besides my father, I'm the only wolf demon in my family- this includes my older, twin brothers, Haru and Raidon.
That's beside the point really. This story isn't about my twin brothers- I mean, they're in it, but it's not about them. This story is about the way I met the love of my life, the sun in my sky, the centre of my universe, my everything, my Hiei.
If you've ever met Hiei, aka Mr. Emotionless Jackass, you'd probably be surprised to hear anyone talk about him like that- let's face it, he's not exactly the lovey dovey type or even the type to allow himself to be called anything other than his name, but then again, neither was I. I'm shocked to even use such vulgar terminology, shocked to have let such an emotion as love ebb its way into my heart; that's just the way things go, I guess.
Curious yet?
Well then, take a step into my shoes and see the story from my eyes.
*****
The heat of the sun pounded down on your back as you ran at full speed, covered in sweat, down a rugged dirt path surrounded by wilderness. It had been some time since you stopped, and your energy was beginning to fade. Reflexes weakened, your foot caught on a rogue rock, tripping you, causing you falling on your face.
The backpack you had been carrying sagged on its side.
"Dammit!" you shouted at the top of your lungs, rolling onto your back.
You laid there for a moment, your long, black hair billowing out underneath you, while staring up at the clear blue sky.
"Yumi, please don't say things like that," Aiko shrieked as she ran to your side, panting, slinging her backpack on the ground. "It's unladylike."
She had been lagging behind as usual, probably gazing around at the scenery and having a jolly good walk. She wasn't nearly as motivated as you were when it came to escaping, though considering who it was you were running from, you thought she would at least try to pick up the pace.
"Dumbass," you thought, rolling your eyes, heaving a heavy sigh, as you sat up. "Sorry," you apologised, taking her soft, little hands as she pulled you to your feet.
"Please, Yumiko, let's stop for a while. You're very tired and it probably be in your best interest to regain your energy," she begged assisting you in brushing the dirt off your front.
"Whatever," you muttered scanning the horizon, agreeing for the sake of sparing confrontation. Faintly, your eyes detected the blurred shape of a small town down the road a ways. "Hey, Ai, look. There's a town up ahead." You pointed in the distance, covering your eyes from the sun.
"Do you think they'll let us stay for the night?" Aiko asked hopefully, her blue eyes narrowing as she glanced up ahead. She wasn't exactly the rugged, woodsy type. For god's sake, she was wearing a dress.
"It's possibly. Though we can't let them know we're demons, now can we? Hmmm, let me see..." Getting on your knees, you bent over to rummage in your backpack, as Aiko did the same. "Aha!" you exclaimed pulling out a hat and sun dress that trailed the ground, your tail wagging with excitement.
Dresses had once been your worst enemy, but now, they were your best friend, considering they covered the black wolf tail that trailed behind you. You pulled the dress on over your jean shorts and t-shirt and pulled the hat over your head and ears, fixing your long, messy hair into a more refined ponytail.
"How do I look?" you asked when your diabolical work was complete.
"Very human. No-one will ever know that we're demons," Aiko said smiling, pushing back her blunt bangs, combing through her shoulder length hair with her fingers. You both had decided that there was something so innocent about dresses, something that made people trust you more.
You both continued on your way until you reached the town. Instinctively, the first place you walked into was the pub.
"Why does it always have to be the pubs we go into?" Aiko hissed, as you entered.
Trough the corner of your mouth you whispered "Because I like drinking."
"You don't even have an I.D! And your only fifteen! They'd never give you any alcohol." She scowled disapprovingly.
"Your point?"
There were a lot of old men sitting around talking and drinking their whiskey, but when you and Aiko walked in they all turned their heads and stared.
"Excuse me, but we're nomads who happened to come across this town. We have no money, but we desperately need a place to stay for the night. Could some one please provide us with food and board?" You asked looking around hopefully.
They all kind of stared at you like you're a monster.
You looked around the room, smiling like a dumb idiot. The smile slowly slid off of your face and your fought back a scowl.
A girl, who was sitting in the back corner of the room, with dark brown hair and an angular face spoke up. "Of course you can stay here!"
She flashed you a very cheesy smile, a smile that seemed to make all the townspeople's eyes widened with fear for a moment, and then join in with her on the overly-cheesy happiness. It was all you could do to keep from gagging.
"My name is Mai," she said with a creepy laugh.
"Umm...hey," you mumbled taking an automatic step backwards. Aiko elbowed you in the ribs, reminding you that you were being rude. "I'm Kiki and this is my companion Lili."
Aiko bowed slightly. "Pleased to meet you."
"And you as well! Bring them something to eat- and put it on my tab." She began hum happily.
You were escorted to a circular table by Mai where an old man, with an equally creepy smile as Mai, brought out trays of food.
"Eat up!" Mai exuberated.
Aiko glanced questioningly at you, waiting for your approval. You nodded, taking a small bite of whatever meat was on the plate. Creepy as they were, you weren't one reject free food; for what it was, it was all right. A little bit too salty for your liking though.
Someone shoved a mug into your hand, and you immediately gulped down half of it to wash away the taste. Aiko did the same, but now, you noticed, she was...panting? It looked like she couldn't breathe. That's when it hit you.
Shit," you whispered, as your vision blackened. "I think we've been...poisoned."
And, with that, you passed out.
When you woke up, you found that you were in what appeared to be a garage against a wall. There was a large truck sitting in front of you. You could feel that your hands and feet were tied up. It was hard to tell much else, because your senses were groggy from whatever drug they had given you.
Finally, when you had recovered enough to be cohesive, you looked to each side of you and on the right you saw Aiko, also awake and tied up.
"Ai, what happened?"
'I'm not sure, but I'm guessing we were drugged."
"What the hell are we doing here?"
"I'll answer that!" Mai cried triumphantly, walking in through a door that was on the left of you.
There was no longer any hint of cheesy joy in her voice and the creepy smile was gone, replaced with a fierce and confident smirk.
"You see, though we are peace loving folk, our town has been prey to several demon attacks. So, I'm going to make sure that you two NEVER COME BACK!" she laughed madly.
"That's it. She's insane. Completely and utterly mad to the brink of being locked away forever," you thought. Aloud, you said, "What are you talking about? Demons don't exist, silly!" You gave her a patronising look.
"I can sense demonic auras, you idiot."
"Oh...well, there goes my brilliant plan," you replied flatly.
"In what way will you be putting us out of our misery?" Aiko asked. Considering the question, Aiko was being pretty level headed. But then again, she usually was- she had to be travelling with you, a hormonal, crotchety fifteen year old whose mouth tended to get the both of you into trouble.
Mai continued laughing maniacally, opening up the door of the car and starting it. It began to hum softly, and she closed the door.
"Well, here's where I say good-bye. Within a few hours, you'll have inhaled enough carbon monoxide to kill you, and it'll all be over. Sure, it lacks craft and thought, but it'll get the job done." She walked towards the door and opened it. "Oh, and by the way, those ropes are fire proof," she added as she exited, closing the door behind her, smirking.
"WHAT! Fire proof! Hmmm...must have had previous fire demons," you mumbled, looking defeated. "Well, no matter. Ai, do you think you could turn around so that your back is to me? Good girl!" you praised her as she wriggled to face the opposite way.
You lowered your face down so that it was level with the ropes and began to chew hers off. They were thick and anyone else might have found themselves mindlessly gnawing at them, but for a wolf demon, the task was fairly easy; the shredded ropes fell to the floor in a matter of seconds.
"Thank you, wolf genetics," you exclaimed proudly, as Aiko moved to untie your ropes.
In about five minutes, you both were untied and rummaging around the garage looking for your weapons and your backpacks.
You finally found them in the back of the truck. "I bet that bitch was gonna sell all of our stuff," you grumbled.
After gathering your things and throwing the sun dress and hat back into your backpack, the two of you snuck out of the garage and into what appeared to be a kitchen, and from there out of a side door into the town.
Grabbing Aiko's arm, you asked solemnly, "You know what we have to do right?"
"Yes," she whispered as tears began to fall down her cheeks. She removed her bow and an arrow from the quiver, both of which were on her back, as you unsheathed the twin-bladed katars hanging from opposing hips.
"Then let's get to it," you snarled.
"If we must."
And you did the most responsible thing a fugitive can do - you destroyed your tracks. You began to wreak havoc on the town, slaughtering all the people, burning down the houses, and causing mayhem. In a matter of minutes, the whole town was on fire, slowly burning to the ground.
"How'd you escape?!" Mai screeched in shock, upon spotting you kill a man who had attacked you with a shovel. "Never-mind that," she spat. "I'll just finish you off the old fashion way."
She unsheathed a katana and charged at you. You smirked at her insolence, and shot a jet of fire at her which hit her dead on. While she was distracted by it, you darted behind her. Since she had pissed you off, you gave her special treatment and crossing your katars into an "x" shape, pulling your arms forcefully in a down ward motion, decapitated her. Her body fell to the ground, and her head rolled away from it, covered in blood, her eyes completely devoid of life
You spotted Aiko skilfully shooting down a couple of middle aged men who had been coming at her.
When she had defeated them, you ran to her, screaming, "Ai, we have to finish this!"
"No! It's bad enough we've destroyed their town! I don't wanna cause anymore pain for these people!"
"Aiko, we have to! If we don't get rid of this town, Jing is going to find us!"
That made her attitude quickly change. "Fine!" she shouted, tears streaming down her cheeks.
The two of you clasped hands holding them above your head, and facing each other, chanting an ancient incantation passed down by your mother's clan for generations. As your voices rose and fell, creating perfect harmony, the grounds began to tremble and the sky opened up. Molten lava spilled forth from the earth, as huge pointed chunks of ice began to rain from the sky. A purple circle of energy surrounded the two of you, protecting you from the chaos you were creating. As you chanted the final word, the fire and the ice had mixed together, creating an explosion. The two of you let go of each other's hands as the purple circle vanished.
You looked around you at what was once a town, now nothing more than a wasteland of dust, ash, and streams of water. As expected, there were no survivors.
The sound of Aiko's sobs brought you back to reality.
"Ai, don't cry. It had to be done," you murmured, pulling her into an embrace.
"I know," she said, wiping her tears away. "I just hate destroying innocent people."
"Well, what we did is nicer than what Haru and Raidon would have done, though it is a pity Haru isn't here to get rid of all this debri."
""That's true," she agreed with a nod. "Raidon would have probably been a lot more violent." Her ice blue eyes gazed off into space as she fell silent, probably remembering the barbaric tendencies of your older brother.
"Come, let's get away from here and get some rest," you coaxed in the most gentle voice you could mange as you took her hand and led her away.
The two of you made camp in the forest, far away enough from the road to not be bothered by wandering travellers.
"Yumiko, can't you build a fire?" Aiko begged, laying on the ground next to you, using her backpack for a pillow.
"No," you mumble drowsily, "someone might see it."
"Please?"
"Just huddle next to me. I'm a fire demon, for Christ's sake."
You felt her roll next to you as you heard her breathe a happy sigh. "That's much better. Thank you, dear sister." She rested her head next to yours and the two of you succumbed to sleep.
****
"Are they dead?" you heard a deep, male voice inquire.
The voice pulled you away from sleep, but you kept your eyes closed, hoping they'd go away if they thought you were dead.
"No, you idiot! They're asleep!"
"But, they look dead."
Annoying. Whoever these people were, they were fucking annoying.
Your eyes snapped open, unable to control yourself any longer, and your eyes redden as your ears pinned back, glaring in the direction of your intruders. "Who the hell are you?" you shouted, groggily.
"Whoa!" a big, ugly, red haired human yelped, jumping back. "They're alive!"
You sat up, rubbing your eyes, clearly pissed at being woken up. "Of course we're alive, you idiot."
Folding your arms over your chest you observed your assailants.
There was four guys all looking down at you and Aiko, who was still sleeping peacefully.
There was the stupid, ugly ginger, a black haired human boy who had put in enough hair gel to sink the titanic, a very feminine red-haired guy who you sensed wasn't all he appeared to be, and a really short demon with red eyes and black spiky hair.
"We're Team Urameshi," the human with too much hair gel said, proudly.
"I wouldn't brag too much about being leashed to Koenma. I've heard about you," you replied sardonically, snickering. " So, is there a particular reason you interrupted our slumber or do you have some kind of death wish?"
"Koenma wanted us to find those who destroyed the town not too far from here, and, judging by your scent, we've deduced its the two of you," the red headed she-man said, a small smile playing on his lips. "There is no point in lying."
"Well, fine then. You found us. Get lost," you scowled rolling over to get more sleep.
"Hey, don't go back to sleep!" the human with too much hair gel whined, getting on his knees and poking your shoulder repeatedly. "We aren't finished with you yet. Koenma wants to see you."
You raised your head up, pinning your ears back, while looking scathingly at him. "Well that's too bad, isn't it? Because I most certainly don't want to see that bas-"
"Yumiko, what's going on?- Aiko interrupted, sitting up abruptly and raising her arms above her head in a stretch. "Your shouting woke me up."
"Excellent, now the other one's up. Let's go!" the hair gel guy said, smirking.
His cocky attitude was starting to grate on yours nerves.
"Hell no!" you spat, snarling at him.
"Yumiko!" Aiko elbowed you in the side.
"Sorry," you mumbled.
Looking up at the boys she added, "Really, what's the meaning of all of this?"
"I'll tell you what, these ugly wankers wanna take us to see Koenma, but I told them, I was like, 'hell gnaw, we ain't going no where,'" you explained, with huge elaborate hand gestures while she listened intently, one hand stroking her chin. "And then they were all like 'well that's too effing bad' and I was like-"
"Enough of this nonsense," the spikey-haired midget man interrupted, sharply. "Either you can come peacefully, or we can take you by force."
"Firstly, interrupting people is rude. Secondly, you'd have to drag me there."
"Fine" he snapped.
Before you realised what he was doing, he was at your side, picking you up and slinging you over his shoulder.
"Hey! Put me down you little punk!" you screamed pounding your fists on his back. "Put me down this instant, or else!"
"Hn." He just ignored you, rolling his eyes at your antics.
"Yumiko, you were asking for that," Aiko chided, trying to hide her smile. To team Urameshi, she added "I will come peacefully."
She picked up both of your backpacks and weapons and walked behind the midget guy, making faces at you all the way back to Spirit World.
End of Part 1