Chapter
One:
"Well they're never gonna' get me.
I'm like a
bullet through a flock of doves."
Fuko
layback
on her floral-printed bed, staring at the bland white ceiling of her
prim dorm room. The lamps were off and the only light came from the
small window lit with the soft white glow of twilight. It wasn't
very bright, but that's how Fuko wanted it. She was in the mood for
brooding. Her headphones hung around her pale neck and resonated with
a song from the emo band "My Chemical Romance". The painted white
door creaked open as her roommate entered. She was a blonde girl a
bit on the short side. Her name was Evelyn Hunter, an exchange
student from the US. She was probably Fuko's only friend in the
hellhole they called school. Neither of them had any desire to be in
their current situation. They were forced to attend the "Osaka
Academy For Young Women"; Basically, it a polishing school to breed
class and borderline competition among already bitchy girls. Well
most of the girls anyway. Eve always wanted to go to Japan, and the
Osaka Academy was the only place offering a free exchange program.
She loved the Japanese atmosphere…but hated the school. Fuko's
situation was a tad less pretty. She was, in short, a bit of a
delinquent, given the choice of either attending a polishing academy
or juvy after a serious offense. Every once and a while, she'd
secretly wish that she had picked juvy. Before the academy, when she
lived at home in Tokyo, she would steal, vandalize, and sometimes get
in fights. People back home always got into heated discussions over
who was worse; she, or her twin brother Yusuke. For twins, they
looked nothing alike. He had pitch-black hair and reddish-brown eyes.
They were quite the contrast to her own brown hair and gray eyes. But
twins they were, nonetheless. Yusuke was back in Tokyo, most likely
living his usual life of lounging around, cutting class, and
harassing the rival punks. Fuko vaguely tried to remember the name of
one.
"..Kuwabara." She muttered, one finally coming to mind.
Eve looked up from the bio book she was carefully flipping through.
"Hmm?" She inquired. Fuko shook her head
"Nothing." She replied. She returned to her earlier train of thought. Ah yes, her brother Yusuke. He was the reason she was so glum at the moment. He had heard of her recent infraction of the school's code of conduct, and was rushing to take her home. Her gray eyes narrowed to slits as they burned with anger and fury like molten silver. Now, because something mystical…something downright strange had happened, he was eager to see her. She had been at the Osaka Academy for three years. She was sent there at the age of fifteen, and for all the time she was there, he hadn't sent her a single letter. No card at Christmas, nor birthday, nor any other event that may constitute a reason for sending a card. Not even a five-second phone call. That wasn't the main reason for her anger though. The main reason was the reason why she was in the prison called Osaka Academy to begin with. She shook her head to block the thought out of her head. She didn't like to think about it. She sighed and returned her thoughts to the reason for her depression.
"Yusuke is coming…to take me home." She said out loud. The words tasted vile in her mouth. Eve looked up.
"Talking to yourself.?" She queried. Fuko laughed bitterly and nodded.
"First
sign of madness." Eve reminded her.
"Second is answering."
Fuko retorted. There was a moment of awkward silence.
"...Why don't…you run away?" Eve suggested for a moment. Fuko blinked. It was so obvious…why didn't she? She most definitely could. Especially now that she knew what she was capable of…
"You'll
cover for me?" Fuko asked. Eve gave her a flat look.
"No, I
intend to run eagerly to the headmistress to snitch you out in hopes
of getting a pat on the head and a cookie." She stated, sarcasm
dripping from every word. Fuko snickered. Eve looked at the clock.
"When did you say your brother was picking you up?"
"Four thirty." Eve blinked.
"Well if you're going to go AWOL, I suggest you do it soon. It's already four." Fuko gave a squeak as she fell off the bed in a rush. She dumped her school books out of her Witch Hunter Robin messenger bag. It was her favorite bag, decorated with patches of random anime characters that were made by Eve. She also had a HIM patch and a rose patch. Why? Well she loved roses, and Ville Valo is indisputably god. She shoved random articles of clothing into it, followed by her sketchbook, poetry notebook, random notebook, CD book, and her GBA. Her CD player was at her side. Eve watched as Fuko rushed around the room as if she were late for school (not an uncommon sight.). She sighed after a while of watching this scurrying.
"Aren't you even going to bring food?!" She exclaimed impatiently. Fuko stopped.
"Oh yeah…" She said, blinking in realization. Eve rubbed her head and tossed her a bag. Fuko looked inside.
"Pocky, Milky Candies, M&M's…" She looked up at Eve.
"What?" Eve asked.
"You
want me
to be fat and have cavities, don't you?" Fuko hissed. Eve rolled
her eyes and tossed some money into the bag as well.
"THERE.
Buy some tofu or soy beans or some other healthy crap like that if
you need it." She stated. Fuko grinned and added the bag to her
assortment of junk. There was another silence. Eve took Fuko's CD
player and switched the track number until it reached the song "You
Know What They Do To Guys Like Us In Prison". Fuko laughed as Eve
grinned.
"I
figured you needed some decent escape music." She said. Fuko looked
into Eve's sapphire eyes and gave her friend a hug.
"Thanks
a million my dear. And if anyone asks I was kidnapped." She said.
Eve laughed.
"Yeah, yeah…just one thing."
"What's that?" A mischievous grin crossed Eve's face.
"Go out with a bang."
†◊†
Yusuke approached the tall picturesque gates of the Osaka Academy For Young Women. Around him were his friends and teammates, Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei.
"Remind me…why are we here?" Hiei asked, obviously bored.
"We have to get my sister." Yusuke told him.
"Right…..why?" Hiei eyed the tall gates, not liking the prim polished look they had.
"Because Koenma told us to pipsqueak! And that's reason enough." Kuwabara told him. Hiei twitched and whirled around to Kuwabara.
"What did you just call me, you…" Hiei's surely violent statement was interrupted by Kurama pressing the intercom button.
"Yes?" A snobby sounding voice crackled from the intercom box.
"We're here to pick up Fuko Urameshi." Kurama responded.
"One moment, we'll buzz you in." The voice replied. But if they were buzzed in or not, they could not tell. For the next noise they heard was a loud explosion from across the campus.
◊†◊
Fuko ran, My Chemical Romance blaring and practically narrating her moves. She moved in time to the lyrics and the beat.
"…In the middle of a gunfight…"
She
ran out the hole she had just recently blasted.
"…In
the center of a restaurant…"
She leapt over a log. Her gaze snapped upward as figures approached her, moving at a mind-boggling speed through the trees. They landed in front of her in time with the music also, rather ironically on the line;
"They
say…'Come with your arms raised high'."
She
didn't wait to see who it was; she had a horrible feeling that she
already knew. She fled;
"Well
they're never gonna' get me…I'm like a bullet through a flock
of doves. To wage this war against your faith…in me."
Something
ran by her and knocked down her CD player. She looked up, now
thoroughly pissed off. They could break her legs, rip off her arm,
but to deprive her of music….they would pay.
"I don't suppose you're going to come quietly, are you?" Asked the person who had taken away her CD player. He had fiery red hair, with clever green eyes, arranged around a rather attractive face. He wore an almost Chinese garb and Fuko noticed a pouch at his side. She blinked at first, a little confused. She figured it would have been Yusuke. But she still smirked.
"No, I don't suppose I am." She retorted. The boy sighed, as though he was thinking that he had better things to do than beat up a girl. The boy walked forward. Fuko spun around and stopped with a palm at his chest. At once, a huge gust of wind sent him flying backward. The wind surrounded her, increasing her speed as she ran off. The forest sped by; a blur of browns and greens. She laughed. No way they would capture her now. No one could match her speed…or so she assumed. She looked to her left and nearly had a heart attack as she saw a short spiky-haired guy dressed in black running beside her with no difficulty at all. Fuko twitched. The guy looked at her, almost bored.
"Tired
yet?" He commented. Fuko stuck her tongue out at him.
"You
wish munchkin." She stated. These words seemed to set something
off. He lashed out with a flash of silver she just barely made out as
a katana. She caught it in her side and fell onto her back on the
grass near a fallen tree. He walked forward, a smug grin on his face.
Fuko wracked her brain for a plan of escape as he continued to
approach her. She grinned as a thought came to mind. She covered her
face with her hands and began to sob. Her shoulders shook and heaved
with each cry out. She peeked through a small opening between fingers
to see the boy in black looking very distraught and confused. She
grinned and waited for him to get closer. It was too easy really…boys
just get so utterly stupid
when girls cry.
"Um…are you okay?" He asked, obviously
uncomfortable, drawing closer. When he was close enough, Fuko grabbed
a branch from the fallen tree and wrenched it off. Then, continuing
the fluid motion, slammed it straight into the guy's head. A direct
hit. He staggered backward, clutching his head and cursing at the top
of his lungs. Fuko took this moment to continue running. She ran
right by a confused-looking youth with orange hair.
"Hey! Wait a second!" He shouted to Fuko. She blinked. Was that Kuwabara…? She shook her head. Couldn't be. No way that human's eyes could detect her movements. When she reached a clearing, right in front of her was the number one person she didn't want to run into. Her brother Yusuke stood before her. He took a step forward. Fuko stepped back, eyes smoldering with hate.
"Fuko…don't make this difficult." He said, advancing once more.
"Oh, I intend to make it VERY difficult Yusuke." Fuko said, a bitter laugh in her voice.
"Fuko, I…" Yusuke began. Fuko cut him off by rushing forward and swinging for his head with a wind-enforced punch. He dodged, jumping back. He landed neatly. Fuko blinked. How could he avoid that? Yusuke was always a great fighter…but her speed was inhuman. Hell, how were any of Yusuke's friends keeping up with her? But while she was pondering this, she was swept off her feet and onto someone's shoulder. She looked down to see a black cloak. It was her friend from earlier…the one she hit with a stick. She struggled, kicking her feet wildly.
"PUT
ME DOWN!" She shouted at him. She struggled, but to no avail. He
held fast.
"Can we go now?" The boy in black asked, now just
as agitated as Fuko. The other people Fuko had spotted walked
forward, silently asking the same question. She heard Yusuke say yes
and talk to a person named Botan about going to Spirit World. She
blinked. Who the hell was Botan? Was he the guy holding her as
carelessly as a potato sack? And what the hell was a 'Spirit
World'? Some sort of code?? These thoughts ceased as Fuko craned
her neck to the right and saw the rim of a swirling blue portal. Her
eyes widened.
"What the…" She muttered. Yusuke stepped through, followed by the red-haired boy, then the guy who actually was Kuwabara. The boy in black walked to the portal as well. He stepped through. The world spun about uncontrollably as Fuko and the boy were jerked this way and that. Her head reeled as she shut her eyes, and passed out, a verse from the My Chemical Romance song still circling her head;
"Will they give me the chair? Or lethal injection? Or swing from a rope, if you dare! Oh, nobody knows of the troubles I've seen…".
†◊†
