Chapter One - I stared at the four figures in amazement. They had to be some kind of aliens or something. There was this mystical glowing all around their bodies and they were using strange words, (Spirit World, Demons, Spirit Power, etc). What exactly does all that mean? As I was in my little stoop of questions, a large gust of wind flew over my head, practically knocking me off my knees and into the next bush. What the... What was that? When I gazed up, I saw a blue-haired girl whipping by. She was flying. But not just flying. She was on a broom, like a witch... She was heading over to the other four.
"Yusuke," she yelled. As she landed a couple feet away from the group, a young man turned around and I recognized him immediately. Yusuke Urameshi was his name and he was the troublemaker at school, well when he decided to show up that was. I've seen him there a few times before but he never bothered me.
"So, did Koenma tell you what's up," Yusuke said. The girl nodded her head.
"Yes. I'm afraid all four of you must attend the Dark Tournament. Kuwabara and Yusuke," the young girl pointed to both of them. "You two must start training immediately back in Spirit World with Genkai. And as for the two of you," she averted her attention to a tall, red-head and a midget. "Koenma asked me if you guys knew anyone with great power and strength. We're down one person. We need five fighters in order to qualify for the tournament."
I stared at the kid named Kuwabara. He went to the same school as well. The teachers would call him Kazuma though. Also, this kid was not very popular with people, especially with the ladies. He lacked good-looks, big time. Occasionally, I would see him in a brawl with some other kids from a different school. Any who... The blue-haired chick kept going on about this Dark Tournament thing and how they needed a fifth fighter.
"What is all this crap they're talking about," I mumbled to myself quietly. Apparently I didn't say it quiet enough because all of them turned around instantly. With last reaction, I dove on the ground into a neighboring bush. What the hell! You try to be sneaky and you mess that up too! You cursed at yourself inwardly. This is stupid... Why am I hiding? I haven't done anything wrong. After a couple of minutes of lying there and feeling a bit stupid, I poked my head out and looked where the group once was. They had left. I then stood up, brushing the debris off my skirt, and continued walking home.
The night pushed slowly. Every five minutes I would turn and look at the clock, hoping that maybe it would be later. It was only eight p.m. I sighed and glanced down at my unfinished homework. I had hardly written anything on it. Just my name and a couple of numbers, oh, and the little doodles on the sides of the page. I couldn't quite concentrate on math. My mind was boggled about earlier. Those people had me wondering. They definitely didn't seem normal. They just had to be up to something or so I thought. I had a couple of theories. One, they all were just nerds talking about some upcoming convention or playing some nerdy card game. My other theory was maybe they all just took too many drugs and had no idea what they were talking about. But neither of those theories would explain the lady on the flying broom and the fading aura around their bodies. That confused my mind the most. I turned the desk lamp off and stuffed the incomplete math homework into a binder. Getting up, I plopped myself immediately onto my bed, my face buried into the pillow. I still wore my school uniform. I was too lazy to change. My head still streamed with unanswered questions. I couldn't help but think about those five. I kept running my two theories over and over again in my mind, hoping to come up with an explanation. Eventually, sleep crept upon my eyes very slowly. I drifted off into a light sleep, still wearing my school uniform and my bedroom light still on.
The sun inched gently through my window. I woke instantly as the rays of the sun penetrated through my eyelids. The digital clock on the nightstand read six-thirty exactly. The alarm wouldn't ring until quarter of but I decided to get up anyways. I was still tired from a sleepless night. I got two maybe three hours of sleep. I eventually made my way downstairs and fixed myself a bowl of cereal. The house was quiet, meaning that Akira must have left for work already.
Akira was supposedly my guardian, supposedly. When my mother passed away, Akira was the closest relative to look after me. I was a single child and my father bailed on my mother when he found out she was pregnant with me. To tell you the truth, I don't even know how Akira and I are related. Anyways... It has been about sixteen months since my mother's passed. There isn't one day I go without thinking about her. I loved my mother dearly, she was my best friend. Akira, on the other hand, was totally opposite. Neither of us knew squat about each other. We never talked or ate dinner together. He was usually out working or out with his girlfriend or buddies. And when we did talk, it was only when he wanted me to clean his mess or to run to the store for him. It's like we were two complete strangers living in the same house.
As I finished my cereal, I still had some time to kill before school. I did all my bathroom needs and finished the math homework I never got to last night. School didn't start until five of eight. It was seven-twenty now. The walk to the school was only five minutes away. Since I had nothing else to do, I decided to start walking. When I stepped outside on the rickety, wooden porch, the cool autumn air rushed over my body. It felt extremely relaxing. Inside the house was always so hot and muggy. Akira was a chain smoker too so it always smelt of smoke and tobacco. I walked at a considerably slow pace. I was trying not to rush. I always hated arriving to school early. Sitting in class waiting for the first bell to ring didn't excite me too much. If I had friends or a friend I would chill with them before class but that's not the case. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't a loser or anything, just new. I've only attended this school for a month now. One day, Akira just decided to move to the city without even confronting me. So now, here I am, friendless... and unhappy.
When I finally reached the school grounds, many students were already there. The clock that was perched on top of the front entrance read seven-thirty-five. There was twenty minutes before school officially started. I took my time going to my locker and then to class. Of course I was the only one who was there. I just sat there with my arms folded across the table while my head rested upon them. My eyes were heavy with sleep. I was so exhausted. I closed my eyes, immediately thinking about my theories.
Finally, the first bell rang and in came the students and up came my head. A girl named Kali always sat to the left of me. We never talked to each other unless we were lab partners or it related school work. The late bell then rang. Professor Konner rushed in with today's lesson. The class seemed to last forever. Biology was a boring subject for me. It didn't interest me at all. As the bell rang for class to end, I was the first out the door.
The whole day past unbearably slow, maybe because I was tired? Thank goodness that it was Friday. Actually, it didn't really matter to me. The weekend was just as boring as the weekdays. I would just stay home all day and bore myself to death. Akira was never home on weekends. And if he was, he was drunk with his buds.
The last bell rang for the day to end. I exited the building and started off in the direction towards home. As I'm walking, my thoughts wandered back to yesterday. I wonder if those people are going to be there again today. I tiptoed behind the bushes, looking around, curious to see if I could eavesdrop by mistake... Nobody was there today. I shrugged my shoulders and stepped over the bush to continue on home but couldn't move. All of a sudden, I feel a hard, quick blow to my head behind my left ear. I fell unconscious before I could remember anything else. The insides of my eyelids colored everything black. Hey, look on the bright side; at least I was catching up on my sleep...