Resonate
Chapter Three: Hello, Boys
She couldn't breathe, let alone think.
There was a flash of movement and suddenly it was as if a brilliant blue sun was careening toward her. The air crackled loudly with the amount of energy racing for her, her vision flooding with blinding blue. No matter the gravity of the situation, her body would not move. Joints stiff, frozen with terror, she couldn't figure out how to get the hell out of the way.
Between one second and the next, Nora was bodily pulled out of the way. With a sound like a crashing wave, her previous spot was nothing more than a charred smear of land.
Sufficiently disoriented, she looked up from her spot on the ground and saw the golden beast standing over her, its paws the size of hubcaps on either side of her, keeping her from the attack as well as keeping her from scrambling away. She didn't notice the new ache from being so forcibly moved, instead she tried to focus on the figure that only just landed on the ground. He had been spectacularly airborne and seemed to land lightly and easily on the balls of his feet. Heart hammering away, she tried to keep herself focused and pay attention to the features in case she needed to describe her attacker. What the hell did he shoot at her anyway? And why the hell did he shoot at her for that matter?!
The attacker turned out to be a boy (technically, a young adult) with dark hair he wore pushed back and away from his face while his olive completion, while natural, hinted to how often he was outside. He was dressed in higher waist jeans than she was used to seeing (let alone on a guy) and a white t-shirt, the sleeves rolled up so to resemble a tank top.
To be perfectly honest, he looked familiar. Somewhere in the back of her mind was a memory screaming at her to remember but she just couldn't put her finger on it. Where did she know him?
"You're not going anywhere, bitch!" he shouted at her. His stance became solid again as he held his arm out completely straight, hand curled up tight with the exception of his pointer finger and thumb, the universal gesture for a gun. Her mind replayed what he had declared when he jumped from the trees, moving a bit sluggishly from all of the shock.
"You're not getting' away! SPIRIT GUN!"
Spirit Gun.
The longer she stared at the boy the more the chilling realization settled in. Her body still refused to move while her mental state wrestled with itself. That couldn't be right. It was a fictional story, a manga, an anime, a creative piece of work. Her head was continuing to ache as she stared. It was one thing to see something as a 2-D drawing but as she stared, fixated, it couldn't be denied that the picture was modeled after the person before her. The stance, the body type, the freakin' hair, and the way the brown eyes blazed with such fierce and vivacious life and power.
"Yusuke…" She scarcely breathed his name, but he twitched as if he heard her. His eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he stared right back at her, unabashed. Just before he could open his mouth again, two more figures dashed into the small clearing.
"Urameshi, we told you to wait up!" came a low strain of a voice and Nora couldn't tell if her heart was still beating at this point.
Again, the similarities couldn't be denied between the version she knew and the person standing before her. The carrot orange hair was the same, including the pompadour styling, the height and broad body of the fighter, and the voice couldn't be mistaken. She was reeling, trying to comprehend the 3-D realism before her very eyes.
"Leave it to the dimwit to jump in with no plan. He even missed his shot," spoke up the third. She wasn't as drastically short as the manga made her out to be, then again, it was a comic retelling and features were to be exaggerated. She was a small woman, shorter due to age, but she stood up tall, spine perfectly straight, with her hands kept behind her back. Her hair was grayed with age but with the sunlight the color didn't look quite right. The girl would put money down that it was, in fact, pink.
Nora honestly didn't know how much shock her poor heart could take.
"Listen here, grandma! I did not miss my freakin' shot! She just moved!" defended Yusuke adamantly.
"Then you missed."
Kuwabara seemed to be the only concerned about her, switching between staring at her and the beast standing over her.
"Uh, Genkai…what's that?" he finally asked, pointing to the creature. Yusuke stopped arguing to glance back at it as well.
"Yeah, I was wondering that too," he admitted, scratching the back of his head. "I just assumed it was hers."
Genkai, however, didn't appear concerned. "It's a Shisa. A guardian spirit that has taken a liking to my temple and grounds. The spirit energy we sensed must have drawn him here as well."
A Shisa? Nora repeated to herself glancing back up at the creature. She couldn't see much from her position on the ground, only able to see the golden fire like fur it was covered in.
"Identify yourself," instructed Genkai. Her order was crisp and stern, her authority suddenly overwhelming and Nora found herself pressing herself into the ground, as if to sink away from the old woman's stare.
"Nora…" she managed to croak, her throat tight. Her fingers curled around the blades of grass, the sensation registering to her to remind her that she was indeed conscious. There were too many details for it all to be a dream. It was all too bizarre and yet normal all at once. She could feel the wind against her skin and the grass strangled in her sweaty grip. Not to mention that her heart was just beating so damn hard it would have woken her up if it was all a dream.
"What are you doing here, Nora?" continued Genkai. Hearing her name seemed to refocus the girl's attention. She swallowed with difficulty, mouth dry and mind empty as to how to explain anything.
She settled for shaking her head. She didn't trust her body right then, unable to promise that words would come out, she would most likely vomit instead. Her mind was spinning viciously.
Yusuke stepped forward to challenge her negative response.
"You heard the old bag, what're you doing here?" repeated Yusuke, louder. As if his volume would make a difference. She was in shock, not deaf. The blatantly forward, and somewhat rude and accusatory, tone seemed to get under her skin, pushing her other emotions to the side temporarily.
She gingerly pushed herself onto all fours before managing to get back on her own two feet, swaying. The Shisa remained right by her side and she placed a hand on it to keep herself balanced. The warmth was as comforting as it was confusing. It was still bizarre that it was solid yet intangible all at once.
"I heard you the first time," she heard herself say out loud. Her voice still shook somewhat but the urge to throw up was abating.
"Yeah, well you didn't exactly answer," Yusuke shot back.
"I don't know," she answered truthfully. Her swaying stopped and she could feel some of her own will power returning. Normally she was all for making a good first impression, and people typically thought she was shy until they got to know her more. Then there were times, and people, that cut straight to the point and she couldn't force pleasantries even if she wanted to and she was more than willing to go head-to-head.
This seemed to be one of those times and Yusuke was more than willing to push back.
"Yeah right. What? So you just happened to just appear here without the slightest idea how you got here? Likely story," he scoffed, crossing his arms across his chest.
Nora could feel her face burn as the sarcastic remark hit home. Her own temper was flaring, washing away the previous shock and fear. "Listen here, genius, that's exactly what happened! Sorry if it doesn't sound exciting enough for you!"
"Ha! Couldn't even think of a good enough cover story, could ya?"
"Why would I need a cover story? Just how often are people popping up in your backyard, weirdo?"
"Weirdo? You're the one who—"
They went silent as there was another surge in energy. Looking around, Nora could tell that it wasn't coming from any of them, not to mention that they were all looking back the way they came. It was the strangest sensation, as if the temperature suddenly dropped ten degrees, her mind starting to tingle as if she was having a brain freeze from eating ice cream too fast.
Kuwabara had gone pale and took off immediately, out of sight in an instant. Genkai took off next and Nora was becoming worried again, looking around the area, trying to understand what caused the two to run. In the mere breath of a moment it took for her to look forward again, Yusuke was already standing directly in front of her.
"Looks like you're with me," was all he said before giving a big trouble making grin.
She barely managed to yelp before he flipped her onto his shoulder and took off after his friends. The Shisa was left behind in the distance, looking after them as a gold glimmer in the dense forest.
Nora couldn't help but notice just how uncomfortable it was to be carried by another person, especially when she was being carried like she was a sack of potatoes. His shoulder was digging right into her soft stomach with every step, which was just as uncomfortable as it sounded and it stole the breath from her.
Not soon enough, they came to a stop and she was unceremoniously moved from the detective's shoulder and onto the ground. She didn't even try to land with any shred of grace, rolling onto her back so that her diaphragm could expand fully again.
"Y'know what…? Next time-just leave me behind…" she wheezed. As she pushed herself to her feet, she saw that he was giving that strange look again. She returned the expression.
"What? I, personally, still need to use my diaphragm…" She gave a soft groan as she pushed herself upright.
"You sound weird," Yusuke commented. "Now stay put."
She gave a thumbs up. "No problem."
Smirking to himself, Yusuke strode into the building, leaving the sliding door open behind him. Breathing properly reinstated, Nora finally noticed where she was sitting and was nearly breathless again from the sight. She was up on the main level of the temple, giving an elevated view of the forest. Getting to her feet, she stepped closer to the edge. It was stunning to see the mass of forestry, a full spread of greenery around the entire building and leading out to the mountains on the horizon.
A shine of gold caught her eye and she looked down to see the beast, the Shisa, standing at the edge of the grounds, peering out from trees, looking right up at her. Raising her hand, she gave a small wave. The gold flickered as it moved so that it was sitting on the ground, resting it's head on its front legs. She couldn't help but give a smile at the sight.
Yusuke's voice rose sharply from inside the temple.
"What's up, baby face? We kinda got our own stuff to deal with here, so make it quick!"
"I don't have time for your attitude, Yusuke—this is serious!" came a strangely familiar squeak.
Nora's ears perked up at the voice and she turned to tiptoe toward the open doorway. The three were gathered at a table, now joined by a young woman with teal colored hair. Instantly, her mind drew up a name: Yukina. Well, if everyone else was a character from a manga, why not? Their backs were facing her as she inched closer. She could see what looked like a laptop and a screen flickering in and out of focus for a quick moment before it settled. Moving ever so slightly to the right, she caught view of a young child's face and she had to cover her mouth quickly before any surprised sound could escape, her blue eyes wide.
Koenma. It was one thing to have the Spirit-prince depicted as a child in the manga, but to see it in person was as uncanny as it was comical. It was a toddler talking with a group of adults, expecting them to listen to his every word.
"I need you all on high alert! There's just been a massive break-in at the Spirit World Vault!" Koenma quickly explained. "I've already notified the others and they should be arriving shortly—we need you to recover the items immediately!"
"Whoa, whoa, wait, you're telling me your vault's been broken into again? What kind of security do you guys have up there?" asked Yusuke. "This is the second freakin' time!"
"This time was different!" argued Koenma, cheeks turning red. "Our security has been increased ever since the original theft, but there's was a dramatic spike in spirit energy at the time of the intrusion, corrupting the protocols we had in place!"
Three of the four people at the table seemed to tense at the Prince's information. Genkai was the only one who kept her shoulders relaxed as she spoke.
"How strange. We also experienced a spike in spirit energy-"
"What?" yelped Koenma. "Contain it-immediately!"
"Keep your pants on. She's been compliant so far," drawled Genkai. "This isn't the first time a demon has appeared in my forest, you know."
Nora immediately went rigid at the old woman's words. Demon? Oh that was very, very wrong and she needed to set the record straight as soon as possible. She stepped into the room, everyone turning to watch her and she held her hands up in what she hoped was a non-threatening gesture.
"Now hold on just one second—!"
There was the sound of another door opening and footsteps followed, the shoes hitting the floor in quick hard strikes as the new figure moved into the main room with unnatural speed. Nora's throat went dry as she saw the flash of red hair as the person came to an abrupt standstill, her eyes locked on him. Glinting green eyes found her and she was stunned that she could tell the color from across the room, but they were just so sharp.
…His long silver hair…gold eyes that seemed to pierce even darkness…
Before she could figure out why her body was locking up from seeing him, why her pulse seemed to race and slow while her chest grew tight since she seemed to forget to breathe, there was a weird flare of heat that crawled over her skin, breaking out from her back and quickly over taking her. Panic bloomed a split second later and she couldn't help but gasp sharply in realization.
"Hiei-!"
She only barely started to lunge to the side to get out of the doorway, but it was too late. Metal scraping could be heard as the sword was pulled and she was forced onto the ground, back hitting the floor hard enough to make the abandoned tea cups on the table rattle and she couldn't help but cry out. As soon as she opened her eyes her voice was lost again. The blade was pressed so tight against her neck she certainly didn't want to dare cry out again, so scared that even breathing would cause the edge to break skin. It wasn't just the weapon that caused her fear to sky rocket, it was his eyes.
More than she cared to admit, she had read, and written, fanfictions that would describe a character's eyes in relation to a gem. For example, Hiei's eyes were notoriously written as "ruby" or maybe "garnet" was a better choice, but either way they were both wrong, just plain wrong. The words weren't nearly strong enough.
Looking into his eyes was like looking into hellfire and she couldn't tear her gaze away. It was all fire and hot coals, the demonic heat smothering her. She knew it was stupid to keep the direct eye contact but she couldn't even bring herself to blink, let alone look away. They were just blazing…
The intensity of looming death suddenly vanished as the darkly dressed demon was forced away, her throat stinging in his wake. Gasping, taking in the cool air, Nora shakily pushed herself upright and saw the back of the person who had forcibly stopped the fire demon from cutting her throat wide open. The red hair glimmered in the afternoon light.
"That's hardly polite, Hiei," he said calmly. As if his friend had committed an etiquette faux pas of putting his elbows on the table at dinner, instead of nearly killing a complete stranger. From the edge of her vision she could see that the others had moved toward them, but she didn't dare look away from the red head, oblivious to the warm blood trickling down her neck.
Those green eyes found her as he turned to face her and she couldn't understand why he was looking at her so intensely. She couldn't remember if that was how he was depicted in the manga or if the artwork wasn't enough to properly convey the magnetism at least. She didn't move a single muscle as he took one more step toward her, bending down slightly and offering his hand to her.
She hadn't even realize she had moved at all until his hand closed around hers firmly and she was smoothly lifted to her feet. He didn't let go of her hand when she was properly standing and his grip tightened, although not painfully so. Impossibly green eyes looked back at her, his eyelids slightly lowered as he watched her and she couldn't help but notice that his eyelashes were deep red as well. Nora had to blink a few times because she could have sworn that his eyes changed to gold but that couldn't be right.
"Now…what is your name?" he asked. His voice was even, almost as calm as when he was speaking to Hiei but there was a cold edge to it that she didn't like. He didn't let go of her hand either and she managed to glance down and see thin tendrils of some type of root creep from his hand and surround her own.
"M-my name's Nora…" she answered, voice shaking. "And I'm not-I'm not a demon or anything-! I'm nothing-I'm just Nora…!"
There was the spike in heat and a sharp bloom of pain from the back of her head and everything quickly faded to black.
I'm just Nora…
REVIEW! Sorry for the wait, but you know how it is, life gets in the way and writer's block has been kicking my butt lately so here's to hoping this will help me fight it off! Your thoughts would be loved as always! So Nora's officially encountered the Spirit Team and they've reacted with about as much warmth as a nuclear attack (sorry Nora, attack first, ask questions later is the YYH way). On top of her obvious confusion and disorientation there's the drama from Spirit World that so happened to take place the moment Nora arrived in the YYH-verse. Coincidence?
I hope you enjoyed!
