You Were There Like a Blow Torch Burning

Anna POV

Not fun. Not fun at all. They did as they said, and they got me a ticket, even managing one in the row of sits they are in. Small comfort.

They stuck to their promise. Kuwabara stayed in the room with me each night, and no one tried anything. Not even Kurama. Well, he kept trying to talk to me. I stayed in the place alone during the day, while they got in the last bits of their touristy stuff. That's when I slept. When no one was there. That's the way I like it. Alone.

Not like this. People everywhere. I haven't been around this many people at once in months. Maybe more than a year. I don't really remember.

"Anything I can get you, Miss?" the flight attendant asks. She is a short, blonde woman, slightly chubby, wearing heels that have got to be killing her. They bought me some shoes and new clothes. So I'd look presentable. Like I even give a damn what other people think of me.

I don't answer her question, just glower. If I wanted something, I would have signaled her. Overly-helpful people are idiots. Do they think I can't see through their charade? She doesn't care about me. She just doesn't want me to complain about her once we've landed and I've gotten off the plane.

She stands there awkwardly, still waiting for an answer. Does she not get it? Is she really that dense? Before I can voice these sentiments, from next to me, Kuwabara says, "She doesn't need anything. Sorry about her… attitude. She's not in a good mood today."

Once she walks away, I turn to Kuwabara. "What was that for? I do not need to have my attitude defended. Especially not by lies." Lies. Pretenders. It is one thing to not tell everyone everything. It's acceptable to leave out irrelevant information or to flat out tell someone you're not going to tell them. But hiding what's important or, even worse, lying about it, that is not permissible.

"Anna," he sighs. I've been getting the feeling that my temper is wearing on him. Whatever. Not my problem. If I let it become my problem, it means I've formed an attachment to him. And if you form any kind of bond with another person, you're going to get hurt. "I would like to avoid unnecessary conflict, at least until we get back to Japan." Grunting, he stands. "I need the restroom." Why do I get the feeling that he just wants to get away from me? Oh well. That's the least of my problems now.

Within seconds of Kuwabara leaving, Kurama slides past a dozing Hiei and a snoring Yusuke and slips into Kuwabara's seat. A direct violation of their promise.

Kurama POV

"What is with you?" she asks, anger pervading every syllable. She has turned as best she can in her seat to face me. She doesn't want her back exposed.

"I just want to speak with you. I just want to understand." That is true. Kuwabara has had a few successful conversations with her, but she never completely drops this defensive attitude. Yusuke gave up speaking to her about three days ago.

But I can't seem to leave well enough alone. I know I should. I know that it's far easier to cross the lines she's drawn than the lines normal people find acceptable. I know where the lines should be drawn with a normal person. And I'm still crossing even those. I cannot help myself. She fascinates me. I want to know how someone can have such a fierce, fighting spirit while simultaneously being so pessimistic. Most people need to have some optimism, something to fight for to have that kind of fire. She doesn't seem to have that. She lacks even Hiei's excuse of fighting for the sake of power.

In six days, I haven't seen her smile.

"We've been over this," she replies curtly. I feel certain she would turn away, if not for the fact that she believes I will stab her through the heart if given half the chance. "There is nothing to understand."

"Yes there is. Why are you like this all the time?" The scowl that seems to be permanently fixed on her face doesn't change. There's a surprise. One of the most curious things is that she trusts me least, yet she speaks to me every time I approach her. She just ignores Yusuke and, half the time, Kuwabara.

"Like what?"

"So cold. So… angry. You never smile. It's like you hate the world."

"I do hate the world," she says, no longer whispering in that low, angry hiss she normally uses when speaking to me. "I hate the world. I hate everyone in it."

"Why?" Why can't I just stop talking? How does she draw this behavior out of me? It's rude, and it will only push her away.

"That. Is. None. Of. Your. Business." Each word is separated from the next by a short, terse pause. And with each word she gets a bit louder.

"But couldn't you tell me?" Damn it, Kurama. Why can't I just shut up? Or get up and return to my seat? Where is Kuwabara? He'd make me move, he'd get rid of this weird inability to act as I normally would. To act as I should be acting.

"I could," she snaps. "But I won't." Then she says, quite loudly, "And I've already told you. It's because of all The Pretenders." But she never explained who The Pretenders are.

"No need to shout at me," I mutter, moving to return to my seat. But her response makes me freeze.

She jumps to her feet. "I'll shout all I want!" And she is, too. "What do I care if they know I know they're Pretenders! I don't! I don't give a damn about any of them! And I don't freaking care if I accidentally let slip what you are, either!" What, not who. "Just leave me alone, damn it!"

She has attracted everyone's attention by this point. Thankfully, Kuwabara appears and mutters to me, "Nice going." So this is my fault? Well… yes, I suppose. I should have known she'd react like that. I get up.

But before he can usher Anna back into her seat, the flight attendant has come up and asked her, "Could you please keep it down? You're disturbing the other passengers."

And as Kuwabara grabs her arm to pull her into her seat, she says to the stewardess, not quite shouting but still loudly, "Get the hell away from me."

Then she calmly sits down, and her glare burns into the seat in front of her. It takes a long time for all the stares to turn away from us.

I watch her from four seats away. She rarely blinks and never once gives any indication that she is getting tired. As I fall asleep, I realize something.

She never sleeps when other people are near.

So there we are. We see a bit of Anna's more... belligerent side. Please note: This chapter is a more accurate taste of the kind of language Anna will be using. Just in case anyone is uncomfortable with that. I think it'll be okay, as well as some of the other things that they do later which aren't exactly good ideas, but I don't want anyone to be uncomfortable. So that's what's up. The main thing I'm worried about is that the rating guidelines are very vague. In my opinion, it should still be rated T. But it would be bad if someone disagreed and my story or account was in jeopardy because of it. So if at any point you feel this story should be rated M rather than T please take it upon yourself to consider it as such because, in my opinion, some of the things are debatable. I am aware that I am most likely being paranoid, but I would be very upset if my account was terminated because of an inaccurate rating. So there's your overly-cautious warning.

Now the much more fun part of the author's notes. Reviews!

Feistyfilly14: Glad you like it! It's always nice to see new names pop up in reviews. It means more people are reading my story!

animegrlsteph: Yeah, scary. The second one isn't true, btw. And again with the lack of punctuation! You know it drives me mad!

ShadowFireFox13: Glad you find it amusing. However, they're not as opposite as you might think... they just deal with they're problems in very different ways.