Love and War
Chapter 3: Lucky Number 17
Kit: New chapter mwaha!
Ed: Your scaring me.
Kit: I'm in a good mood because I'll have three chapters done before school starts! And people like my new story!
Ed: Oh you mean that songfic/one-shots that you made?
Kit: Yeah. I get writer's block a lot so I decided to make a story dedicated to the other ideas I get during that time!
Yusuke: Hey, can I answer the reviews?
Kit: Why? You'll probably say something mean. Or stupid.
Yusuke: Aw, come on.
Kit: -Sigh- Okay. AND ONE IMPORTANT NOTE! I WILL NOT BE ABLE TO UPDATE UNTIL NOVEMBER! AT THE EARLIEST! so please be patient guys! My parents kinda grounded me...TT.TT
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Ani-ono-mious ness: Yusuke: lol here's the next chapter for ya.
OrangeNeko16: Yusuke: heh, glad you think so. But do you really think ol' three eyes will ever NOT be a jerk?
Thunder Ring: Yusuke: here's your update. And like i've said before, Hiei's always a jerk.
Hiei's Shadow Tenshi: Yusuke: Hey Kit, it seems that you have a knack for hooking the readers! (Kit: -blush-)
CrazygirlHaley5555: Yusuke: Yeah, Mandy had to forget. But she'll remember soon!
hajimeten: Yusuke: Yo, neko-chan! Shabby?.? But anyways, here's the chapter for ya.
Rose of Death: Yusuke: lol yeah, alot of people have said that.
4-is-lovely: Yusuke: ...uh, right. here's for you're sanity.
hieislittlewolfdemoness: Yusuke: soon, we can all promise that.
Chibi of many names: Yusuke: Then what can i call you? Anyways, yeah, that's what Kit says. And as long as you review, it doesn't matter where.
lectaelf: Yusuke: Hey, you're back! S'okay about the reviewing thing, sometimes I don't feel like reading these- (BAM!) OW! what the hell was that for!
Ashen Rose Shadow: Yusuke: Yeah, this story will make some more sense if ya read the last one.
Fanruby: Yusuke: Yeah, everone thought the end to the last one was sad. Damn Kit, you better make the ending to this one good or you'll have some hostile reviewers! (Kit: TT.TT)
Wings of Heart: Yusuke: Uh...i guess. Where's Azure anyway? And that dude Kit's obsessed with, Klarth? (Kit: Shut up Yusuke)
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Yusuke: Screw it, there's too many reviews. But hey, i answered all...damn, 14 reviews. A record. So enjoy the next chapter! And Kit says to review for her new work, "The Way the Fortune Cookie Crumbles."
Chapter 3: Lucky Number 17
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Eimi looked at her rather gloomy friend across the booth. "Come on Amanda, you've been like this all day. What's wrong?"
Amanda looked up from her smoothie. "Huh? Like what?" Eimi gave her a look.
"You've been quiet, moody and most of the time you aren't paying attention to anything."
"It's nothing, really." Amanda smiled reassuringly. "Now after this, where to next? You're leaving to Hokkaido for the holidays remember?"
"Amanda." Eimi wouldn't be so easily distracted.
"Seriously, it's nothing." The other girl insisted. "Hey, you said you were thinking about getting your hair cut weren't you?"
Eimi sighed. She knew trying to press the subject was useless so she let it go. "Yeah, do you think I should get it cut to my shoulders…?"
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"Hiei…hello!" Rinae waved a hand in front of the fire apparition's face. He blinked and stared at the fire inu in front of him.
"What?" he snapped.
"At least pay attention when we're fighting, sheesh." She grumbled. "You're going to get yourself killed." Because of the incident the other day, Rinae was Hiei's new partner.
"Hn. I would not allow myself to be taken so off guard in a real fight, puppy." He replied coolly. Rinae rolled her eyes.
"Whatever. But pay attention next time, okay?"
"Hn."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"Hey Mandy, me'n Urameshi were thinking about goin' somewhere tonight. Wanna come?" Kuwabara sat down at the edge of Amanda's bed.
"Where to?" She looked up from her book.
"Eh, a karaoke bar or somethin'." He shrugged.
"…Nah, I'll pass."
"Nuh-uh! Shizuru told me you were moping about that three-eyed prick…ulp!" Kuwabara looked as if he had swallowed a lemon.
"Okay…who?" Amanda asked, an eyebrow raised.
"Uh, um…"
"He's talking about that one boy you keep thinking about, Amanda." Shizuru interrupted from the doorway. Once again, she felt the threatening aura (Kuwabara felt it too) and decided to ignore it. "Kazuma used to know him before he disappeared a while ago. Didn't know him much though." She added, seeing the younger girl's astonished expression.
"…Uh, yeah. But he still ticked me off…" Kuwabara mumbled, catching on. Amanda looked between the two, suspicion growing, but decided to leave it for now.
"Still-" she began, but Kuwabara reached over and linked his arm with hers and dragged her out of the room before any more protests could form. Once they were out of the house, Shizuru gave a small sigh and took a quick drag of her cigarette, knowing that was entirely too close for comfort.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"Hey, Happy Birthday!" that was what Amanda was greeted with when she came down the stairs to the kitchen.
"Heh, but I'm still older than you." Kuwabara (who was surprisingly up; it was only 8) told her with a grin.
"Shut up." Amanda grumbled, still not awake.
"Still, your seventeen now huh?" Kazuki (Kuwa's dad remember?) asked, looking up from the newspaper. "Anything special in mind for tonight?"
"Hm…lots of sushi." She grinned.
"Okay, sushi for dinner it is!" he announced, earning a joyous whoop from Kuwabara.
"Okay…back to sleep." Amanda turned back around-Kuwabara had told her to wake up early today-and began to shuffle back up the stairs.
"Hey, we were gonna take you out today." Kuwabara protested.
"I was out all day with Eimi yesterday and then you dragged me to that karaoke bar until eleven last night. I'm sleepy." Amanda continued her journey up the steps.
"It's your birthday!"
"So it is."
"Amanda, you know Kazuma won't let up until you agree. Besides he actually has a good point for once." Shizuru spoke up, leaning on the banister at the top of the stairs. You could tell she just woke up, for her hair was tied back and she was in some pajamas.
"…Was that a compliment or not, sis?" Kuwabara grumbled questioningly.
"Take it any way you like." She shrugged.
"Oh…fine. Let me get changed." Amanda sighed.
-.-
"I mean, how can I say no to free food?" Yusuke said that night as they all sat down for food. Along with him Rinae, Kurama, Botan, Keiko, and Eimi had also been invited to a sushi restaurant in town.
"You couldn't say no to anything that's free." Keiko retorted.
"Well, it depends." He shrugged with a grin before wolfing down another couple of rolls.
"You better watch it, you're gonna choke…" Kuwabara's father advised with a smirk, but the warning came too late: Yusuke had breathed in a few pieces of sushi and was slowly turning purple.
"Wow. Nice intuition." Eimi commented.
"Geez Urameshi." Kuwabara looked slightly disgusted but made no move to help.
"Geez, Kuwabara!" Amanda mocked sarcastically as she and Botan began thumping Yusuke on the back.
Rinae smirked. "Well Urameshi, have we learned something new today?"
"Shut…up." He managed between coughs, his color slowly returning to normal.
"It's not even a school day either!" she continued, completely ignoring the fact that she was irking him.
"Rinae…" Kurama sighed.
Well, let's just say that the rest of the night was basically trying to prevent arguments from breaking out. Mainly between Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Rinae.
-.-.-.-.-
Once again she is enveloped in darkness. She looks around, frantically searching for the boy…and she spots him. His back is turned as always but when she runs toward him, he doesn't move. It's only when she gets within a few feet does he look back.
"Please…" she's surprised that her voice works. "Who are you?"
The boy doesn't reply, he merely turns and walks away once more. She tries to follow but this time it's her body, not voice, that's frozen.
"Please…" she begs. The boy stops and turns to face her.
"You don't need to know…"he murmurs. Her eyes widen as images and scenes flash through her mind…
She was talking with the boy in a forest…he seemed rather agitated.
There they were again, this time in a cave and he pulled her close to keep her warm…she remembered her surprise at his kind actions…
Her and other people she knew…two she didn't…all at a temple surprising her for her birthday…
Something she said to him…"Fine then, be that way volcano-head."
A man…a frightening man…in front of her face and a dark dagger in her abdomen…she also saw the boy's horrified face…something she never wanted to see again.
The last vision: …Him…Hiei…kissing her for the first time…
She woke up. This dream didn't leave her restless and frantic as they usually did, but more curious and empty. She knew something was wrong. The memories of her 15th birthday were fuzzy…what had happened two years ago? She tried to dig into her memory, but to no avail.
Heaving a sigh, Amanda pulled out her gem from under her nightshirt. Rolling it between her forefinger and thumb, she pulled back her curtains a crack and looked out the window and at the crescent moon. But a shadow moving across the lawn caught her attention.
To her surprise, it was Shizuru. At first it seemed as if the older girl was merely going outside for a smoke, but the appearance of another figure soon ruled that out. She saw her approach the tree in the front yard and the other figure emerged from the shadows. Amanda's eyes widened and her breath caught in her chest when she saw who she was talking with.
Hiei.
(End chapter 3)
Kit: Well? You like? I know it was sort of a filler chapter…but hey, time does pass in the story.
Yusuke: It was okay. -smirks- not a lot of Hiei though. Your reviewers aren't gonna be happy.
Kit: He'll have a bigger part in the next chapter.Yusuke: there was too much Kuwabara.Hiei: I'll say.Kit: Shut up you two. Everybody tends to bash on Kuwabara a lot, so I refuse to do that. Mostly.
Kurama: Well, you have three chapters done before school starts on Monday. (8/29)
Kit: Yup! And everyone please review, you know I love them! And try to read my other fic, "The Way the Fortune Cookie Crumbles." I'd really appreciate the reviews there too! And if you want to message me, then go to my myspace, type in the URL then slash then hieinokoishi! n.n