Chapter 3: Becoming Apprentices
"Is it okay if we stop at our house to change clothes and drop out stuff off?" Fox half whined.
Kurama shrugged, "Sure. We're late already, anyway."
Yuri pursed her lips, "We won't be too long. Our house is actually just across the street."
His eyes widened, "How come you didn't say anything before?"
The twins shrugged and spoke in unison, "Wasn't important."
"Would you like to see our house?" Fox offered with a smile.
Kurama blinked, "Uh, sure."
So they hurried across the street to the twins' house.
Upon entering, Kurama took his shoes off, "I hope I'm not intruding."
The girls giggled and Kurama threw them a questioning look.
"There's no need to be so formal, Kurama." Yuri smiled warmly. Fox was already on her way upstairs.
Kurama shrugged as he looked around from where he stood, "It's just how I am. You'll probably never break me of that habit." He grinned.
Their home was quite ordinary, but very spacious, Kurama observed.
"Where are your parents" He asked.
"Oh, they're dead. We live alone." Yuri said in an I-don't-care tone.
Kurama felt sadness well up inside himself for the sisters, "I'm sorry for your loss."
Yuri shot him a glare, "What loss? They were always away on business, anyway."
Kurama stared at her wide-eyed, speechless.
"Okay, sis! I'm ready!" Fox bounded down the stairs with the spirit of a young kit. Her school uniform had been replaced by denim shorts that reached her mid-thigh and a black tank top that read "Hard Rock Couture" on it and a jeweled guitar design. She'd traded her school shoes for a pair of flip flops. She looked cute, Kurama thought, in a little sister kind of way.
"Then I'm on my way up." Yuri said and took one leisurely step at a time.
Fox watched her go up, and, when Yuri was no longer in view, she smiled sadly at Kurama.
"She really does care, you know. She's actually very sensitive about it, but she becomes bitter because she hates sympathy."
Kurama frowned, "I'm sorry. I didn't know."
Fox laughed lightly, "That's alright. Yuri just forgets that sometimes."
Kurama's eyebrows drew together in light confusion, "That's odd, because you seem like the personality to forget things casually like that."
Fox laughed aloud, "Oh, I am! I forget tons of things. Yuri just forgets things when it comes to people. She's not used to them as much as I am."
Kurama nodded, "Yes, she is quite reserved."
Yuri glided swiftly down the stairs. Kurama thought she looked quite graceful in her movement.
Yuri had put on a pair of white denim capris and a light gray spaghetti strap tank top that read "Put A Cap On It" and a picture of the Bottlecaps candy logo underneath the words. On her feet, she also wore a pair of flip flops.
Kurama blushed. There was something attractive in the clothing on her pale skin. The school uniform had not been flattering at all.
He shook his head. Weird, where was this coming from? He'd never been attracted to girls in his class before.
Of course, none of the other girls knew what he was and accepted him for it. Nor had he seen any of them in anything other than their uniforms.
Kurama frowned. That was no excuse, though. These girls were still inevitably human. There hadn't been a human that he'd met so far that he had found attractive.
Not even Shizuru with her exceptional sixth sense had caught his attention in such a way.
Kurama felt himself freeze just outside their front door as he thought of one of the questions from earlier.
Which one is more attractive? Which one would you date?
Earlier he had said that they were both attractive in their own way, but he would not date either one of them.
Now, he wasn't so sure he'd answered that very honestly.
"Kurama? Are you coming?" Yuri called.
He snapped out of it and felt his face heat in embarrassment. It wasn't like him to zone out like that.
"Sorry. Yusuke's house is this way." He took the lead as Fox and Yuri followed behind him.
Kurama could hear them whispering, but he couldn't tell what they were saying. Odd, since his hearing was superb.
He glanced back and he was shocked to see that they weren't even looking at each other. Let alone their lips even moving.
What was he hearing, then?
Fox caught him looking, "What?"
"Uh, nothing." He said and turned back around. It was a good thing he turned when he did, otherwise he would have face planted into a telephone pole.
There was laughter, but, again, when he turned, there wasn't so much as a smile on their faces.
"Kurama, are you okay?" Yuri looked at him worriedly.
"Uh," he shook his head, "Yeah."
They walked just a little further before Kurama stopped, "This is Yusuke's house." He went to the door and knocked twice.
The whispering he'd heard went away and he decided to pretend that he'd never heard anything to begin with.
Yusuke answered the door, "About damn time! Where the hell-" He spotted Fox and Yuri and a sly grin appeared on his face, "Oh ho. I see."
Kurama frowned and sighed, "You see nothing."
The twins gave each other disapproving looks, "Who would have thought the Detective was a perv?"
Yusuke took a more serious turn, "Aren't they human, Kurama?"
He nodded.
"Why did you bring them here, then?"
Kurama shrugged, "They wanted to meet the Spirit Detective."
Yusuke gaped, "You told them about me? Are you crazy?"
Kurama shook his head, "Can we go inside and then I explain everything? I don't want to repeat myself to everyone."
Yusuke frowned but nodded, "Alright, since it's you, Kurama."
Kurama turned to the girls who were now holding hands, "Come on, you two. Let's meet everyone."
They followed Yusuke into the house's living room where there were two boys, one of which was Hiei in the window sill, and four girls.
Kurama drew the girls up in front of him, "Everyone, I'd like for you to meet Yoko and Yuri. Yoko likes to go by Fox." They both bowed and waved. Fox wore the biggest grin like she had on their first day transferring into school.
One of the girls smiled, "Yoko… that means 'happy' in Japanese, right? It fits you very well."
Fox's smile grew, if that was even possible, "Thank you! That's what everyone says!"
Yuri nudged her sister playfully, "That's because it's true."
Fox giggled.
Kurama smiled, "Fox, Yuri, this is Keiko, Botan, Yukina, Genkai, and Kuwabara. You've already met Hiei." He pointed to each person as he named them.
Yukina had been the one to compliment Fox's name.
"Master Genkai, it's nice to see you again." The twins spoke and bowed in unison.
Genkai merely sipped at her tea as the room went into shock.
You know the old hag?" Yusuke shouted.
Fox and Yuri glared at him.
"How disrespectful," said Yuri.
"What a dimwit," said Fox.
They laughed together and Genkai smirked.
Kurama rubbed his temples. Things were already getting out of hand. Although, he, too, was curious how they knew Genkai, it would have to wait.
"Everyone, please calm down." He shouted over the raucous the girls had caused, "I know they're human, but hear me out." He paused as they all quieted down, "Thank you. Fox and Yuri transferred into my class about a month ago, but they didn't approach me until about a week ago. When they did, I discovered that they had an extraordinarily strong sixth sense. They knew exactly what I was even though I'm always extra careful just in case. Yuri further proved her powerful sixth sense today when Hiei came to tell me about this meeting. She knew what type of demon he is, his class, and could even tell his personality. Hiei thinks their sixth sense is stronger than Kuwabara's and Shizuru's combined."
Kuwabara snorted, "Yeah, right! Not possible. Nobody has a better sixth sense than me!" He crossed his arms stubbornly.
"Moron." Fox and Yuri stared at each other, wide-eyed.
"Hiei had it spot on," said Fox. Yuri nodded her agreement.
"What?" Kuwabara yelled, getting up, "Is that little punk talking crap about me again?"
"Again?" the girls said in unison.
Kuwabara went over to Hiei, "That's it, Hiei! You and me, one on one, right now!"
Hiei chuckled, "Like you would even stand a chance."
Kuwabara lunged for Hiei, but Hiei disappeared and reappeared across the room.
He glared at Kuwabara, "Don't touch me with your filthy hands."
"Oh." Fox gasped quietly, "Wow." She felt her face heat up.
Yuri gave her sister a weird look, "What's with you?"
Fox turned to Yuri dreamily, "That was so cool. He's so amazing."
Yuri scowled, "He's a class-one asshole."
Fox looked hurt, "Meanie."
Kuwabara was red in the face, "Well, I refuse to believe two helpless little human girls could have a better sixth sense than me!"
"Helpless?" The twins turned to him in anger, "Little?"
Genkai cleared her throat, "As I recall, Kuwabara, you and your sister are human, too. Or am I mistaken?"
"Don't forget helpless, too," Hiei added with a smirk.
Fox and Yuri laughed, "Good one!"
Kuwabara growled in irritation, "Would you stop saying the same thing at the same time?"
Fox blinked at him innocently, "We can't help it."
"We're twins," Yuri finished.
Kuwabara relaxed a bit, "Oh, well, it's still annoying."
"Far less annoying than you." Hiei said as sat back in the windowsill.
Fox giggled as Kuwabara became riled up again.
Genkai was annoyed, "Enough. We're here for a reason."
Everyone became silent and turned their attention to Genkai, even though it had been Yusuke to call them there.
She cleared her throat, "Fox, Yuri, you two are here for something, am I correct?"
Yuri nodded and gave her a short bow, "As Kurama said before, we came to meet the Spirit Detective." Genkai's eyes narrowed as she thought this over, "Yusuke was my apprentice. I do not think he can help you anymore than I could."
Fox took her turn in bowing, "Everyone has their own methods. You helped us more than anyone even though it was only something small."
The others were confused. Even Kurama. He knew they had to be talking about more than just learning to use their spirit energy. Weren't they?
Genkai nodded, "Very well, although he has no experience in this, you may ask him."
Yuri smirked, "Then we shall give him a run for his money if he accepts."
Yusuke's face scrunched in total confusion, "Huh?"
Fox approached him and took one of his hands in hers, "Yusuke, my sister and I would like to propose."
Yusuke's face turned bright red, "Whoa. Hey, now-"
"We would like to propose that you teach us." Yuri cut in.
The blush disappeared from his face as he stared at Fox's grinning face, "Oh, so, you want to be my apprentices or something?"
"Yes." They said in unison.
"We've heard many stories about you, Yusuke." Yuri said.
"None from Genkai, either. She only ever told us how big a dimwit you were and how we were the best students she'd ever had." Fox laughed, "She said it was because we weren't reckless young boys who didn't think before we acted."
Genkai smirked at Yusuke's appalled face.
Keiko giggled, "You have to admit, women have better heads on their shoulders."
Botan stifled a laugh, "Don't forget our wonderful ability to multitask, too!"
The two girls fell into a fit of giggles.
Yusuke felt his face heat in anger. Yanking his had free of Fox's, he spat, "Fine! I'll take you on!"
Yuri grinned almost maliciously, "We thought you'd say that."
Kurama walked the twins home after the meeting.
"I didn't know that you two had trained with Genkai." He said.
They looked at each other before answering.
"We've gone to many Masters seeking their help." Yuri said.
"Genkai was the only one who had been able to help us, but it was just the smallest bit." Fox added.
"It wasn't enough," they said together.
Kurama frowned. He knew they wanted to learn to use their energy, but, "Why do you need help so desperately?"
They turned and stared at him.
It was silent until they reached Fox and Yuri's home.
"I'm sorry," Kurama apologized, "I shouldn't have pried. It's none of my business."
They smiled wistfully at him before sharing a look.
Yuri looked away first and turned to Kurama, "Ask us again tomorrow."
"We will have decided by then if we are ready to tell you." Said Fox.
Then they disappeared inside.
Kurama shook his head.
What had he gotten himself into?
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A/N:
I am perfectly aware of how long it's been since I've posted anything, and for that, I am sorry.
However, might I remind you that this story is also a Q&A. I can't answer questions if they're not asked… and it would defeat the purpose of this story if there aren't any questions. The story part is just an added bonus (not to mention the only way around the rules of not allowing the traditional form of a Q&A).
So, please send in the questions. I haven't had any for the last chapter or so…
For any information on my other stories, please refer to my profile. Thank you.
Don't forget the cookies, too! Bai bai for now! ^^-
