Hello Everyone!
Welcome to "Walking the Straight Line" I hope you enjoy your stay! I have a lot of great ideas for this fic so I can't wait to share them.
Starting off, some small facts: The start of the fic will take place during the two months prior to the Dark Tournament.
So without further wait, chapter one!
Chapter 1: You're Kidding Me Right?
The Dark Tournament wasn't some game that you could just win or lose, no. The only option was to win. You lose, you die… simple as that. Greedy humans band together and wager on which team of fighters will prevail and rake in the money. Demons participate for the thrill and pleasure of the kill, everyone's a winner…until you're dead of course.
The boys were sitting in Genkai's temple going over a plan of action. They had just received their invitations the night before, no one on the team was pleased to be forced to participate, especially not with the load against them. Team Urameshi was to be the underdog team, the one most anticipated to lose. They knew this, but had no choice but to participate. The tournament was only two months away and they were nowhere near ready for it. The boys had to continue on with their normal lives, go to school(optional in some cases), train, do a mission here and there. Koenma did try to limit their missions for more time to train, but this last mission wasn't something that could be left to rookies. This item was important and it was essential that Spirit World got it back.
Rose walked through the crowded room, twisting and dodging around people and objects that poked out from the many booths. She had gotten separated from her friends when an interesting piece of jewelry. They were at Ani-con, the anime convention that Rose and her friends always went to once a year.
Clover green eyes scanned the dealers room in front of her. The room was filled with what seemed like unlimited amounts of merchandise begging to be brought home. Rose wrinkled her nose as she passed by a man and noted that summer and a crowded room did not make the room smell fresh at all. A glimmer of light caught her eye and she stopped walking. It was a weapons booth, hardly unnoticeable, with all the glow sticks and whatnot lighting it up. She was already separated from her group, so taking a little time to check out the sharp and shiny deadly objects shouldn't make any difference.
The owner of the stand smiled. "Looking for anything in particular?" he asked. His goofy grin was contagious and Rose found herself grinning back.
"Katanas!" she shouted enthusiastically. Katanas were her favorite, her friends had banded together and gotten her a good one for her birthday a few years ago and it went right up on her wall to display in all its glory.
The man turned around and waved his hand to have her come behind the glass where she could get a better view of the Katanas. Immediately she spotted an azure blue and black katana. The sheath was full black, the bottom capped in a silver plate. The guard was silver as well; she traced her finger across the two dragons that were engraved on the hilt. The hilt itself was black and azure with a silver cap. She had to have it.
Rose grinned and waved down the owner. "How much?" she asked as she pointed to the katana.
The man's eyes widened for a brief moment. "How does fifty-five sound?" he replied smiling.
Rose laughed. "Seriously?" she asked. Fifty-five for a katana? That's practically free! Or it was a cheaply made katana. Not like she cared, it was beautiful.
The man nodded and she quickly fished out the cash. The owner bowed with a grin "Thank you!" Rose couldn't help but grin as well. "No, thank you!" The owner boxed up the katana and handed it over. Rose hugged the katana childishly and took off to find her friends.
With a huff, Rose collapsed onto her bed. The convention was awesome as usual and she was able to snag most of what she was hunting for. She unsheathed her new katana and smiled, ready to test it out. Her smile did not last long as something heavy latched onto her. Rose tried pulling at it, but there was nothing there to pull. An invisible force, suffocating, like a heavy black tidal wave pulling her under. Rose fell off her bed, twisting and gasping, trying to find an ounce of air. There was a faint crash beside her and for a brief moment she realized she had knocked over her lamp. The weight loosened and she quickly took a long breath.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to grab hold of ya so tightly, are you alright?" a man's voice floated out.
Shakily, Rose stood up, thankful to be able to breathe again. Her eyes darted around the room, looking for the source of the voice, but couldn't find it. "Wh- who are you?"
"Sanosuke, you can call me Sano for short" Rose could tell he was grinning by the sound of his voice. There was a pause. "I'm in the sword, in case you were wondering"
Rose took a glance at the katana in her hand, slightly surprised that she hadn't let it go yet. Instead of her own reflection, she saw a man's face, or more specifically, his ice blue eyes.
"…Holy shit." She said in awe. "There's a man in my sword." She had to be dreaming, or—or something because this sure as hell was not real.
Sano seemed to glare at her. "I told you my name! It's Sano! I'm not 'a man' "Rose just stared on in disbelief.
Sano sighed. Way to go, he broke the girl. "If you give me a chance, I can explain why I'm in the sword. Though you might want to get comfortable, it might take a while to explain." He suggested lightly. Rose shook her head to snap her out of her disbelief, as if that would work. She maneuvered herself to sit down on her bed, watching out for the broken pieces of her lamp. 'Maybe I should prick myself with one of those, wake me up' as quickly as the thought came, it was gone. Pricking herself would actually hurt.
"Good, um, can you lift me up here…I'd like to see who I'm talking to, if ya don't mind." Sano said sheepishly.
"Oh, yeah sure" she replied, tilting the katana up. Ice blue eyes peered into green. "Ah, there we go, your pretty for a human"
"Rose" She corrected him. She wasn't sure if it was wise to give a stranger-thing her name, in fear that he would come out of her katana and kill her. "Beautiful face, beautiful name, it suits you" Before Rose could retort, he started up again.
"Anyway, I know this a lot and all that, but you wouldn't happen to believe in demons?"
Rose stared down at the Sano possessed katana. "Demons, like…half horse Satan like monsters?" Sano snorted and Rose jumped at the sound. "Yeah, sure, that works, but I'm much more handsome, don't you think?" Rose watched his eyes sparkle and assumed he was grinning again. "I guess…"she spoke slowly. "Can only see your eyes though."
"Ah, well that's the problem with this katana, limited reflection space" he seemed to be talking more to himself than Rose, but she didn't interrupt.
"Anyway, I'm a demon, got myself trapped in this sword while trying to stop a thief from stealin' something, so now my soul's bound to this katana and I can't get out on my own."
Rose ran her hand through her hair. She could feel a headache coming on. "Okay, so say you're real and you're really trapped in my Katana…what was the purpose of almost killing me!" she demanded.
"Well, the thing is, I had to-"he stopped mid-sentence, eyes narrowed. Rose tapped the katana. "You alive in there?"
"Run." His voice was hard and cold. Rose jolted in suprise.
"RUN!" he shouted "Hurry, get out of here! He's back!" When he saw she didn't move he growled. "Do you wanna get yourself killed? Move it!" The growl made her jump up. "Who's coming?" quickly she flung open her door and ran out. Rose had no idea why she was listening to a voice from her katana, but she had a nagging feeling that if she didn't, she'd be dead.
'Where the hell is there to go anyway?'
Alright, intro chapter out! Please tell me what you think. Any kind of criticism is appreciated. Thanks ^^
Note: The Italics when Rose first hears Sanos voice is on purpose, it's supposed to be a disembodied voice kind of thing.
Your reviews, my motivation!