The Plot (shortened title)
(originally called The-devious-plot-of-the-evil-sugar-hi-gifted-females-of-the-human-and-demon-worlds,-muahahahaha!)
(Authoress' strange ranting, HELLOIAMSOGLADTHATYOU'VEREACHEDTHESEVENTHCHAPTEROFASSASSINFORHIRE!WOOO!IAMSOHAPPYTHATIWILLFINALLYGETTOCONTINUETHISFREAKINGSTORYBECAUSEMYDAD'SCOMPUTERBROKEDOWNFORAFEWMONTHS!THOUGHATTHEMOMENTIAMUSINGASCHOOLCOMPUTERBECAUSETHELIBRARIANISN'TBREATHINGDOWNMYNECK!IGUESSYOUGUYSAREWONDERINGWHYIMNOTUSINGSPACESANDTHETYPEISALLCAPS!ITISJUSTANOTHERSIDEEFFECTOFTHESUGARINMYSYSTEM!ILOVEMUFFINSPOWDEREDDONUTSCOOKIESANDBROWNIES!THANKISHBALAFORTHESUGAR!ANDALSOTHANKISHBALAFORTHESTUDYTABLESBEFORETHESEMESTEREXAMS!WOOT!---person walks into the room, looking quizzically at the monitor What in Sam-hill are you ranting on about? authoress QUITREADINOVERMYSHOULDERYAOLDCOOT!old coot Sorry, and why am I old? authoress BECAUSEYOUHAVEWRINKLESTHATSWHY!a 'ping' is heard as the authoress reverts to 'sane' mode…. Oh, pardon me….'…..old man has had a heart attack and is twitching on the floor friend of authoress Ok, stop kidding around, now…just get to the point of your ranting so the readers can read what they wanted to read in the first place of choosing to read the story because they have already read the first six chapters of the story….. authoress Yes. You do have a point…AHEM. inhales deeply SO MY CHAPTERS ARE TOO SHORT, HUH! MY OC IS A MARY-SUE, HUH! YOU WANT MY CHAPTERS LONGER, HUH! YOU WANT ME TO WRITE MORE, HUH! WELL YOU GOT IT! THE FREAKIN REASON MY CHAPTERS WERE SO SHORT UNTIL NOW WAS 1.) because I was lazy… 2.) I had no other time to write 3.) I had the chapters all planned out! 4.) If they weren't short, you'd still be on the third chapter because it would have been too long! Well, guess what? This chapter will be long….. llllloooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooonnnnggg! YA HEAR ME NOW?…good…..mutters 'freaking cell phone commercials….' )
"Just come along and enjoy the ride, girl!" Botan said cheerily, and in her usual bubbly manner.
Yukina walked behind them all, smiling brightly. "Onegai, Edana-chan? You won't regret it..." she asked softly. Edana had no choice but to go along with it. She couldn't fight her way out of it, and she couldn't argue when she was severely outnumbered.
Edana sighed in exasperation. "Ok, fine. Do what you will. Just don't annoy me or I'll fight." she warned. "And could you promise me you won't bug me after this?" she asked.
"WE PROMISE!" the girls all replied, smiling, while holding their fingers crossed behind their backs.
Edana muttered savagely, "You had better mean it… and uncross your fingers while you're at it!" She hissed.
Most of the girls jumped, startled that Edana had caught them dead-on. "Wh-whatever do you mean?" they asked innocently, masking their lie. "What crossed fingers?", they asked as they slowly and deliberately uncrossed said fingers.
"You know very well what I mean! You had your fingers crossed! Don't lie to me!" she snarled at them. "Just do whatever you want and then leave me alone for the rest of the day! and if it is going to take the rest of the day, let's go and get it over with!"
"We're not going anywhere until you say please." Botan said softly, but demandingly.
"PLEASE can we get the hell outta here!" Edana said exasperatedly, clearly losing her patience with her friends and these newer acquaintances.
"Why, of course we can depart now that you've used your manners…in a very crude way… and now we can begin our day of fun! "Kiechara grinned enthusiastically. "First off, a trip to the ice cream parlor!"
(after the group had entered said ice cream parlor and ad purchased their treats…) "SO! Where should we head to first?" Keiko asked happily. "Where should we go?"
"I propose a trip to the mall. The wonderful world of cheap items and great discounts! Not to mention the bookstore where they sell manga books on gay guys ...tee hee…" Sakura giggled happily, as she opened a plastic spoon. After she finished her statement, she eyed her ice cream with a devilish look. Her order was a triple-chocolate-topping-chocolate-ice-cream-soaked-in-chocolate-syrup-covered-in-fudge-brownies type of ice cream.
Shadou groaned at their misfortune. A hyper cat demon high on sugar surely was to be the doom of them all… "Please, Sakura, no more sugar after this… You know how you get…"
Edana gave Shadou a quizzical look. "Is sugar the reason she is always crazy and insane beyond all recognition? That's the cause of her scary behavior?"
"SUGAR!" Sakura squealed in delight and began to inhale the ice cream at an inhuman rate. (A/N no duh, she's a demon?) Specks of chocolate and fudge flew onto the tabletop, causing the girls to instinctively pull their ice cream away from the danger zone.
After Edana had saved her ice cream, she gave it an evil stare. "Having never been a human before, what the hell is this weird-looking stuff?" she asked, poking the chocolate ice cream cone with her finger. "And why does it feel like snow?"
Keiko cleared her throat and inhaled, "Ice cream, a noun, this treat is a smooth, sweet, cold food prepared from a frozen mixture of milk products and flavorings, containing a minimum of 10 percent milk fat and eaten as a snack or dessert. It is also commonly known as frozen yogurt, which is, technically, a whole different variation of ingredients."
Shadou and Kiechara sweat-dropped, "Well, I guess that you being one of the top at your school isn't for nuthin', huh?" they asked. "You're practically a walking dictionary!"
"Well, I was hoping my intelligence would inspire Yusuke to study and come to school more than once every ten days. But it doesn't matter now. He's always off saving the world from some evil demon that wants to take it over. But I can still be proud of him for doing that, can't I? Also, it's a bonus that with my intelligence, I can easily get into a prep school or high school… But if I get into high school, I'll choose a private girls academy. I don't want to risk getting into trouble with Yusuke if a guy starts dating me…"
"And yet another prime example of how intelligence is a double-edged sword…" Kiechara grinned. "Yours could help your future, if Yusuke lets you…"
Keiko laughed, "Yes, that does seem to be the case here, now doesn't it?"
"Oh! And the fact about you getting into school, Koenma says it might be good for us to go to school together!" Shadou piped up. "Maybe we'll go to your school, Keiko! Or we could go to an all-girls school…or maybe Kurama's school-" , she stole a quick glance at Kiechara, "Either way, it could be lots of fun!"
Edana sighed dejectedly, "I guess I'll have to go too, won't I?" she poked her ice cream, which had begun to melt. "Jeez…I can't do anything I normally did….it's like I'm starting all over!" she muttered savagely, throwing down her spoon.
"Well… please don't count us out just yet… We just want to help you…" Shadou mumbled. "And we went to the trouble of asking Koenma to give us money to go out today!"
Edana smiled faintly, "Well, that's an upside. Koenma had to help out? This must be serious!"
"Well, we're here, so just enjoy yourself. Your first step toward ningen-dom is your first lick of your ice cream!" Kiechara smirked.
Edana eyed her ice cream warily. "So, I just have to try it?", the girls nodded in reply. She sighed and picked up the cone and licked it. "So, what do you think?" they asked earnestly. "Humph." she replied, continuing to eat it. "She likes it." they countered in a droning manner. Then, at an instant, they burst into laughter.
Once they had all finished, (Sakura finished first) the group began to plan out their day. Finally, they had decided on a schedule. First, to the mall, second, the amusement park, third to the park (courtesy of Yukina), and last, they would rent movies and watch them all night. After they left the ice cream parlor, they began a short but brisk walk to the mall.
"C'mon! Hurry it up already! I wanna go see the yaoi! " Sakura whined pathetically.
Kiechara groaned in annoyance. "Okay, who wants to go to the bookstore with the baby kitty?" she asked.
"I'll go! Besides, you are the only one who can really keep Edana in line. You need to be with her." Shadou piped up. "AAAAND, I want to see the yaoi too!" and with that said, she and Sakura departed for the bookstore.
"Uuuuh...guys? This mall is huge, and not all of us have cell phones…" Keiko stated nervously.
"Good point." Kiechara said in a rushed voice. "HEY YOU GUYS! WAIT UP FOR US!" she hollered at the two disappearing backs. They both hit the floor and people near them began to stare. "C'mon, we have to stay together!" she yanked on Edana's wrist and the rest of them followed, together, they went to the bookstore.
Edana flushed deep red as Sakura thrust a very graphic picture of M+ yaoi rated material into her face. "OMIGOD! Get that thing away from me! That is so sick! What is wrong with you?" she shrieked, shoving the book away.
"Awww… you no like?" Sakura asked sadly. "This is yaoi…"
"Man… this crap is what you're so obsessed over?" Edana asked, regaining her composure. "I've made some pretty weird friends, haven't I?"
"Yes. It does seem that way…" Botan sniggered.
When the others went off into the bookstore looking for random interesting books, Edana crept up behind Sakura and peeked over her shoulder. "Hey…"
Sakura jumped and turned to face her. "What do you want, yaoi-hater?" she asked venomously.
"Can I see that book?"
"I thought you thought it was sick and gross?"
"Hey, I'm a grown woman, I have a right to a perverted mind… But I gotta keep my image up." she replied, blushing. "So…can I see it?"
Sakura grinned, "Sure! Of course! And you must check out all these other manga books…I guarantee you'll find one that'll interest you."
Edana replied with a slight grin. "Okay…but keep this down? I don't want my reputation ruined because all of a sudden I found a new interest… or that I have a perverted mind…"
"SURE! …But I don't see why having a perverted mind is a bad thing… It's normal."
"Normal for you. But I have an image to keep up. And it doesn't include being perverted in any way. So…"
"Yeah, yeah. I get it. Okay! Now, Shinobu Gotoh, and Shoko Takaku call this one that I showed you Passion. It's a teacher and a student, man and man, the student is a senior in high school, who sparked the passion with his teacher." Sakura grinned, showing the book to Edana. "It's graphic, but not that graphic. They don't show anything."
Edana made a weird face. "Okay, I admit it, this isn't nearly as good as the real stuff. I saw two male humans making out before and it was worse than this."
"Well, this is only one of the two books. And of course, it's not the only yaoi manga series. There's also Gravitation, Eerie Queerie, and, uh…a whole lot of other things I can't remember this second. MY favorite is Gravitation."
"And…what's that one?"
"It's the complicated story of an aspiring singer named Shuichi Shindou and a cranky and depressing romance novelist named Eiri Uesugi. Except his pen name is Eiri Yuki, which is what everyone calls him. It's romance, comedy and suspense all rolled into one!"
(Elapse of time) About three hours later… (A/N Come on, if you're reading this, you like YYH, right? Don't tell me you've never wanted to stay in the manga section of a bookstore for three hours before!) The group of girls walked out of the bookstore with their selection of books. Shadou and Sakura bought all the yaoi books they didn't already have, (Sakura bought a few for Edana and hid them among her stash) Kiechara bought a book on how the Y-chromosome won't last, Yukina bought a book on species of birds, Botan a book on different descriptions of the Grim Reaper, hoping to find out more on how others see her job. Keiko had bought study books and one on how to understand men and your boyfriend. Even Edana got some books, keeping up a front that if it was Koenma's, she had to take part in the shopping. She bought a book on swords, and a few manga, saying she was somewhat interested. The titles she had gotten were Fullmetal Alchemist, Rurouni Kenshin, Azumanga Daioh, and Bleach. (Copyright of Hiromu Arakawa, Nobuhiro Watsuki, Kiyohiko Azuma, and Tite Kubo)
The group of girls bought tons of other things. They had even gone into a clothing store to buy, guess what? Clothes! Botan, Keiko, and Sakura went straight for the pink-and-girly section. Kiechara guarded the door so as not to let Edana escape, while pretending to look at clothes. Yukina and Shadou just wandered around, looking at and sizing up anything that caught their eye. Edana, having been abandoned, just stood for a minute, looking stupid. Then, she had a look around. Obviously, she kept away from the pink section where squeals of delight constantly rang out. And, she also stayed away from the lingerie section. She wandered around, occasionally glancing at articles of clothing. Suddenly, she spotted a yukata to her liking. She dashed forward to size it up on herself. The yukata had a unique design. Three colors blended together in a wave pattern, silver, light blue, and dark blue. The most eye-catching part of this yukata was the silver dragon wound from the right foot, around the body, and its head peeked over the left shoulder.
"Ya find something you like?"
Edana visibly jumped and stumbled away from who had spoken. "S-Shadou?"
"You called?" Shadou asked with a smile. Then, she noticed a piece of cloth that Edana held. "Did you find something to your liking?"
Edana snorted and looked away, trying to hide the yukata from view. "Not in particular…"
Shadou turned on her heel and shouted at the top of her lungs, "YOU GUYS! EDANA FOUND SOMETHING SHE LIKES!" In less than five seconds, the rest of their party was crowded around Shadou and Edana.
"Wow, what is it?"
"Such a beautiful yukata!"
"Congratulations on your first human world find of clothing!"
Edana flushed with embarrassment. "Uhm …thanks?" she stammered nervously.
Kiechara, Shadou, and Sakura gasped in shock. "Who are you and what have you done with our friend Edana!" Kiechara demanded, holding Edana's 'imposter' by the collar of her shirt. "Tell us or you'll regret it…"
Edana snapped back at her, "What the #&! Put me down right this instant you jerk! I'm warning you!"
Kiechara grinned and set her down. "Sorry. I thought an imposter had replaced you. You weren't acting like yourself."
"What do you mean I wasn't acting like myself!" Edana spat.
"You were being, shy and withdrawn, not to mention the blushing…" Botan explained in her usual bubbly manner.
"Why you- I do not blush!" Edana protested, as she blushed, despite her claim. "I have never blushed ever in my lifetime!"
"Then, this is the blush of your next lifetime?" Kiechara asked, raising an eyebrow. "You've just blushed twice within three minutes."
"Have not."
"Suit yourself…" Kiechara shrugged. Then she eyed the yukata. "So, are we getting that for you?"
Edana looked at the yukata in her hands. She tossed it at Keiko, and said "Do what you want…"
"Alright…" Keiko pouted sadly, then she turned and cheered, "To the checkout line! Everyone ready your purchases!"
The girls cheered and held up their items. As such, they proceeded to check out. When Edana's yukata was ringed up, the cashier exclaimed. "This is expensive! Oh, well… 11,690 yen, please." (approx. 98.99 dollars in U.S money)
"I'm glad Koenma's paying for all this…" Botan grinned sheepishly, handing over the money.
"Thank you and have a nice day! Be sure to come back for anything else you might need!" the cashier said cheerily.
The girls dragged Edana all throughout the other stores in the mall. She was forced to try on all sorts of pink, feathery, and fluffy things like boas and earrings. She absolutely despised the store Claires. Along with every other girl accessory store. But when they found a chance to stop at Hot Topic, her mood was lifted a bit. She greatly enjoyed the store. But, the others didn't want to hang around that store too long, so before she had a decent chance to look around, they left.
With their arms laden with bags of purchases, they left the mall. "Uhm… we aren't gonna carry all of these with us to the amusement park, are we?" Yukina asked, shyly.
The girls stopped in their tracks. "Oh, great! We forgot about our transportation, too! The amusement park is on the other side of town! We can't carry all of our stuff there!" Shadou complained.
"Ha! I have the instrument to our salvation!" Kiechara smirked widely.
"What? A flying pig?" Edana asked sarcastically.
"I'm glad you asked, my friend! It is perhaps the greatest invention of the twenty-first century! It is, the remarkable, da da-da da! Cell Phone!" she said, whipping out a small, violet cell phone.
"So, who're you gonna call?" asked Sakura.
"Ghost busters?" Keiko asked, hardly repressing a giggle.
Kiechara managed a sneer, "NO. The person I'm going to call is much more reliable than that!" she replied. With that, she dialed a number quite rapidly on the keypad. She waited while their phone rang. Even though the party was listening intently, they didn't hear the 'hello' from the person, they only heard the 'pip' as they answered. Before the person on the other line could greet her politely, she began to talk in an excited manner, much unlike her usual tedious demeanor. "Hello cutie pie! How are you doing! … Oh, me? I'm just peachy! … No, silly I haven't been doing drugs with my friends!… Oh, yeah. But honey, could you please give my friends and I a lift to the amusement park? We have too many things and we can't walk all the way across town! Who knows what kind of perverts could try to pick us up? … Yes, we could defend ourselves, but that's not the point, sugar!… Yah, my friends and I are at the mall, ya can't miss us, we're the cute ones standing out front!" she giggled like a little girl, "Okay, we'll see you later, TTFN baby-cakes!" she hung up.
The rest of the group stood in shock. "What the hell was that all about!" Edana exclaimed. "Since when do you talk like that?"
"Yeah! You're not some kind of valley girl!" Shadou added heatedly.
Yukina asked, "Who was that? Someone we know?"
"You'll find out in a few minutes." Kiechara grinned, her usual expression back to normal.
About ten minutes later, a red pickup truck pulled up in front of the mall. The window rolled down, revealing none other than- "-KURAMA?" the girls screeched. (A/N AWAKF, I know you've read this part a while back, so, just deal with it. Kurama doesn't have a Jaguar for the good of the story. Perhaps in a later chapter I'll have you get one for him for his birthday… Readers! This is somewhat of an inside joke… just ignore it… really…just read the story…)
"Hello." He said pleasantly, with a wave of his hand.
Kiechara bounced up to his window and hugged his neck. "Hello cutie!" she smiled. "Are we gonna sit in the back of the truck?"
"Yes, and stop it with the pet names. They're getting annoying and you aren't acting normal…" he said with a sweat-drop.
"What do you mean I'm not acting normal?" she asked with a strange, pitying face.
"I mean, you're not acting like you normally act." He replied. She smiled and began to caress his face. "Just stop it and get in the back!" he snapped, beginning to lose his composure.
She giggled and hopped in the back where the others were already sitting. "Ha. Easy win." She grinned. "Come on, pay up Shadou!"
"Huh? Oh…right…" she mumbled, and pulled out her purse, took out a wad of money, and gave it to Kiechara.
"What's going on here?" Sakura asked, visibly dumbfounded.
"Shadou and I made a bet that I would never act like that in front of Kurama. She lost." Kiechara said with a smirk, counting the money. "It was an easy 50$…"
Edana smirked. "I may not have known you guys for that many years, but I could have told Shadou that she would lose…"
"I believe we all could." Botan chirped.
"Let's cheer for Kiechara, the greatest of us all!" Sakura squealed. Kiechara stood up and bowed repeatedly. "Kie-cha-ra! Kie-cha-ra! Kie-cha-ra! Kie-cha-ra!" they all chanted.
From the window, Kurama called out as he pulled onto the freeway, "Sit down! You're going to fall off!" he ordered.
Kiechara plopped back down and scooted toward the front of the truck, as close as she could to the cab. She tapped lightly on the glass that separated her and Kurama. He opened the little window. "Do I detect a hint of worry in your voice?" she asked slyly. He slammed the window shut in reply. "I do believe I've hit the nail on the head, haven't I?" she asked, turning to the girls.
Yukina giggled, "I think you have."
"Most definitely." Keiko agreed.
"Be quiet, would you please! It's hard to concentrate on the road with all you chattering back there!" Kurama shouted.
Edana sat back and observed their silly behavior. She had no intention of degrading herself like that. But she could not hide a smirk at the humorous antics of her friends. And, she knew she would have to remember this day, because Kurama had lost his cool over a girl. And she happened to know this particular girl.
Before long, they had reached the amusement park. "Kurama-baby, could you pleeeze take these things over to Keiko's house?" Kiechara asked pathetically. "Pretty pretty please with a cherry on top?"
Kurama was starting to lose his composure again. "Yes. Of course." He said through gritted teeth. "Why wouldn't I?"
"Thanks!" she chirped, and pecked him on the cheek. His eyes widened, he flushed, and sped off to Keiko's house with their stuff in the back.
"That was awesome!" Sakura exclaimed, jumping up and down excitedly. "You made Kurama blush!"
"Yeah, I never thought that would happen!" Botan added.
"All I can say is, wow…" Yukina commented, with a nod of her head.
"Well, that moment of excitement is over. Let's all go and get those annoying all-day wristbands for unlimited rides!" Keiko cheered. All of them followed her to the ticket stand. "Seven all-day passes, please."
"All right." The ticket lady said with a smile. "Your total comes to… 20,603.65 yen, please."
The girls' eyes widened. "Holy cow that's expensive…"
"Once again, still glad Koenma is paying…" Botan grinned weakly with a sweatdrop as she handed over the money. "This is getting… expensive…wow…"
"Oh well, he'll have to pay for it, so why should we care?" Yukina asked with a smile.
Botan and Keiko blinked in confusion. "Are you getting… bolder, Yukina?" they asked quietly.
"Well, I guess I must be, and I am having fun with you all. This is also my first time going out with friends, so I am still new at acting human…" she replied with a smile.
"You may be new, but you sure do a good job at it." Kiechara complimented with a nod. "You've never really lived in the human world before, like Edana, but you're doing a better job of it than she is."
Edana snarled, but otherwise remained quiet as she put on her annoying paper bracelet. "This damn thing is gonna bug me all day…" she complained.
"Deal with it. You'll be having so much fun today that you'll barely even notice it's there." Shadou assured her. "All you'll have to do is show this to the ticket man and he'll let you on the rides." she explained.
"Why are we doing this again?" Edana asked defiantly. "We've been doing so many pointless things, I've forgotten what our initial purpose was!"
"We're doing this so you don't get depressed and do something you might regret. And, to get you used to human world life."
"That's right!"
"Come on! I wanna go on the roller-coaster!" Sakura whined. (A/N Yeah, JBVII, I know you wouldn't go on roller-coasters, but just go with it, okay?)
"All right, let's go…" Edana muttered, and followed Sakura to the roller coaster entitled 'Demon's Cave of Hell'. (A/N Yeah, I was originally gonna call it Demon's door cave, but that would be taken from the anime of Yu Yu Hakusho… besides, it's not a really good name for a roller coaster…)
After the entire twenty minutes of waiting in line, and the 180 seconds of roller-coaster riding, the group got off their car. Botan teetered over to the nearest garbage pail and hurled. "Ugh…remind me never to get on another roller coaster for as long as I live…" she muttered sickly.
"You're not really living, you're the Grim Reaper, remember?" Keiko pointed out to her. "You fly on an oar and carry dead souls across the river Styx, of course you're not alive!"
"Fine, then in the rest of my afterlife." she replied, wiping her mouth on a napkin. She paused and the others started to laugh.
"Afterlife! That's a good one! Classic!" Sakura chuckled. After everyone had calmed down, she began to bounce up and down. "Can we go again?"
Botan became blue in the face. "I do believe I'll pass on that one…" she murmured, holding the napkin to her mouth again.
"Okay, FINE! We'll go on a less dangerous ride, then!" Sakura said, clearly annoyed. She was probably trying to give Botan the guilt trip, but it wasn't working.
"We'll go on the Scrambler, then!" Keiko offered. "We could also go on the Zipper, Tilt-A-Whirl, and…uhm… more roller coasters, Ferris wheel, and… uuh… "
"We'll go on them as we see them." Botan said, and gave the roller coaster an evil look. It was easy to see she wished it was human so when it died she could laugh in its face.
As they said, they went on rides. Edana enjoyed the roller coasters, so she went on again… and again… and again… She was frightened about her newfound interest in the recreational activities of the humans whom she had so despised. She couldn't believe that she was actually, barely, enjoying herself! Edana couldn't understand it, but she was having fun. And she had thought that the only joy and fun in life could be killing demons for a handsome sum. Then again, that was how she had made a living. She didn't know there was fun that didn't involve the pain, suffering, and deaths of others. This was a first for her, so she decided to wait it out and find other things to do with her friends.
After they had ridden on practically all the rides at least twice, they began to play games and eat tons of junk food. Keiko was on a diet, but other than that, the others (being supernatural) had a higher metabolism. Edana didn't know what would happen, but she stays in shape pretty well, so she joined the demons in the consummation of junk foods.
About three hours later, they had left the amusement park. Edana was beginning to wonder if her having fun would ruin her reputation as an assassin for hire. Then again, would she ever be able to take another job? Did word already get out about her becoming human? Was her reputation for being cold and murderous tarnished forever? Or would she just fade away in the memories of the demon world occupants? She continued to ponder all her questions as they walked down a street. She wasn't very aware of her surroundings. Finally, she decided it would be okay to tell her friends what she had felt.
"Uhm… hey, you guys…"
"Yes?" they all asked in unison.
"… You know something…?"
Sakura grinned and replied in a deep and stupid voice, "No, I don't know anything! Who am I?"
"OOO! OOO! I know this one!" Yukina bounced up and down. "You're Kuwabara!" (A/N Ha-ha! Even when he's not present, it's still so amusing to be making fun of him…!)
The girls stared at Yukina in wonder. "You really are getting bolder." Botan commented.
"Yeah, since when would she help make fun of Kuwabara? Or make fun of anyone for that matter?" Keiko asked, awed.
"I've noticed lately how I've always been too easily pushed over. If I had been a bit stronger or something, I might not have been captured by that jerk, Tarukane." Yukina replied bitterly. "So, I've gradually become more strong. I actually like it being like this. Besides, you've only commented on how I'm bolder. You haven't criticized me about it, so I take it as a good thing."
"Yeah, we're not used to it, but you are who you are…" Shadou shrugged.
"Man, that sounded corny, Shadou!" Sakura commented. "Even though it's true, we don't need to hear all of this other than in our classes at school! MAN that gets annoying!"
"Tell me about it! If I've had a nickel for every time I've heard that…" Keiko complained. The girls stared at her intently. "What? I can hate school, too! I'm just better at it than some people!" she protested. (A/N coughkuwabaracough)
Edana stopped in front of a store. "Uhm, guys?" she spoke up.
Kiechara turned around and said calmly but firmly. "We aren't male, we're female. And, yes? Please speak."
"You said we were going to rent movies, right?"
"Yes. Why?"
"Is this the right place?" she asked, pointing her thumb over her shoulder at a store entitled 'blockbuster'.
The girls were shocked that Edana, who didn't know the first thing about being human, had actually pointed out where they were initially headed before they did. But they went in anyway. The mob of girls rented the movies Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and the two movies that followed this one. They also got to rent the complete set of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
After renting all of the movies, they walked to the park. "Do you think Kurama really brought our things to Keiko's house?" Sakura asked doubtfully.
Kiechara's temple began to pulse rapidly. She turned on Sakura, and said heatedly "How dare you think he wouldn't keep his word! I think he did! And you would be wise to do the same…" she added threateningly.
Sakura grinned nervously and sweat-dropped. "O-Okay…Whatever you say… aha ha ha…"
Kiechara noticed, she had taken off her mask, and immediately resumed her normal expression. Then, Edana spoke up. "Can we have a race? I want to test the limits of my human boundaries… Especially since I can't use any demon techniques anymore…"
"Alright." Sakura grinned eagerly.
Edana recognized Sakura's smug look. "But you can't use your demon powers! That'd be cheating!" she protested.
Botan, Keiko, and Yukina all nodded their heads in agreement. They didn't have any special demon powers that physically enhanced their bodies, so they would be at a disadvantage. And Botan didn't want to use her oar.
After deciding it would be a hundred meter dash from a large Sakura tree (decided by Sakura), they readied themselves for a quick sprint. "On your mark…" began Yukina, as everyone crouched to the ground, eyes set toward the finish line they drew in the dirt.
"…Get set…" Sakura added, signaling for them to prepare to take off.
"GO!" Kiechara cried out, and they were off! At first, Kiechara, Shadou and Keiko were in the lead, then Yukina and Botan caught up. Sakura and Edana, realizing they were falling behind, began to put the pedal to the metal. They shot ahead of the others, and remained there till the finish line was nearly directly in front of them. Sakura was a foot in front of Edana, and the finish was about three yards ahead.
"I win!" Sakura cheered.
"Wanna bet!" Edana replied angrily, as she shot past Sakura and over the finish line. Sakura turned into an old cartoon version of a whirlwind/tornado.
"Yaaay! She won!" the girls cheered happily. They never slowed down as they approached Edana, who had come to a complete, and sudden, stop. The girls all tackled her to the ground.
"Hey! It still hurts when you do that, you guys!" she laughed.
They all got up and helped each other to their feet. "So, I take it you're having some fun, now?" Keiko asked with a smile.
Edana turned around so that her back was facing them. "What's it to you?" she asked coldly, while crossing her arms. The girls all sighed and looked at the ground. So they hadn't succeeded after all… "Well… I wouldn't like to admit it, but…" she trailed off and turned her head slightly to the side, so they could see her smile.
Everyone cheered happily. Their mission was a success! Edana finally saw that she could turn to her friends for support and she also learned that being a human isn't as bad as everyone thought it was. "YES! Now let's go to my house and celebrate! We'll have a party and lots of fun!" Keiko said cheerfully.
Kiechara grinned and said, "How about we get some popcorn, and drinks to go along with the movies? Then we can prank call all the guys using my cell phone!" This caused every girl to burst into laughter.
After all their planning, they all went to Keiko's house to get ready to party. They dropped off the movies in the living room when Mrs. Yukimura poked her head in the room. "That cute boy friend of yours dropped off all those things you bought at the mall. They're in your room, Keiko… But where did you get all the money to buy so many things? All the price tags added up to over 91,876.58 yen!"
"Uhm… Shadou's grandfather is filthy rich…" Keiko lied.
"Oh, all right then." Mrs. Yukimura smiled, and retreated to the kitchen to finish washing the dishes.
Kiechara turned to Sakura and stuck her tongue out. "I told you so!"
"Hey, I was just wondering if it slipped his mind because of the kiss you gave him…" Sakura shrugged.
"Hey, the reason I kissed him would be a dead-ringer of what he had to do, wouldn't it?" Kiechara replied.
Yukina looked around the room. "Where did Botan go?" she asked, showing clear confusion.
"Keiko's gone, now, too." Shadou pointed out. "Where'd they go? Did they get lost, or something?"
After coming to this conclusion, they went outside. But, this only resulted in them getting sprayed down with a hose by Botan. Keiko walked out into the yard carrying a large basket full of water balloons. "WATER FIGHT!" Sakura cheered and grabbed three. She threw them all up into the air, and they all fell pathetically to the ground centimeters from where she stood.
Keiko set the basket down and grabbed two to throw at the hose-laden Botan. Botan was shocked at the ammunition thrown that she dropped the hose and was hit with them both. Soon, a full-scale water fight had been initiated. Edana watched in confusion at the strange antics of her friends. She began to understand the concept, and grabbed a balloon. Then, a wicked idea entered her mind. "Kiechara!" Kiechara turned instinctively at the call of her name, and was hit in the face with Edana's water balloon of doom. Edana was awestruck. "I…hit her…" she mumbled. Then, she repeated more enthusiastically, "I hit her!"
"And now I've got you!" Kiechara grinned evilly, picking up the hose and spraying it at Edana, who hit the deck, and the stream of water, instead, hit both Shadou and Sakura. Both of which, unfortunately for Kiechara, were fully loaded with water balloons.
The water war waged for about ten to twenty more minutes. But, after awhile, Keiko's mom told them to come in because it was getting cold out. The girls had been having too much fun to notice the drop in temperature. However, after they slowed down from the activity, they realized they had been shivering.
As they were about to go inside, Edana threw one last water balloon at Botan. "HEY!" Who did that?" she protested. Everyone exchanged glances and shrugged. No one could tell that Edana was guilty. She played the cute innocent bit quite well. Then, they went into the house, dried off, changed into some of their new clothes, and cleared out the living room area. Keiko wore jean shorts, and a t-shirt that said '51 bad 49 good'. Botan had a blue mini-skirt, and a pink shirt that said 'all my black shirts were dirty'. Yukina had a sparkly light blue, long sleeve sweater, and a pair of sweatpants. Shadou wore a black shirt that had the words '100 Otaku', and a pair of dark blue sweats. Sakura had worn a gold and yellow pair of clothes that flattered her hair and eyes. Kiechara wore a pretty-and-sparkly angel-sleeve purple-and-lavender shirt with bell-bottom matching pants. And last, Edana wore a pair of jeans and a shirt that said 'Hi, how are you? That's nice. Now get outta my way before I kill you.' (A/N I have a key chain that says this. It's my favorite, next to my Hiei one…)
"Caffeine?" Keiko suggested.
"YEAH!" the girls cheered. "Sugar and junk food, too!"
"What kinds of soda?" she asked.
"Sierra Mist!" Edana replied automatically, which resulted in everybody bursting into laughter, remembering what Shadou had done to bribe Edana into coming out of her room.
"Root Beer! Root Beer! Root Beer!" Sakura chanted.
Shadou gave Sakura a look. "I swear, sometimes you act more like a monkey than a cat…"
"What? Do I act like Son Goku or something?" Sakura asked, giving Shadou puppy eyes, which had no effect.
"If you do, I'm Sanzo." Shadou rolled her eyes.
"No you aren't, you pacifist!" Kiechara protested.
"You're right. I'm more like Hakkai. You can be the twisted freaky monk." Shadou laughed.
"Why you little……Wait… that would make Edana, Gojyo!" Kiechara gasped.
"Yeah. I doubt she's a perverted, boy-chasing kappa…" Sakura said, stifling her laughter. But, her mind told her she could be. 'If she said she had a right to a perverted mind…'
"Hello? I'm putting in the movie…" Keiko piped up.
"OOH! Which one?" Sakura bounced on the couch.
"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone." she replied, pressing play on the DVD menu. "Yukina! Are you ready?" she called to the kitchen.
"Yeah!" Yukina replied, walking into the living room with a cooler of sodas and a huge bowl of popcorn on top. "Sorry, I couldn't find the hot chocolate, caramel corn, or the cookies…"
"That's okay. I'll get them." Keiko replied, and went into the kitchen.
"When did you guys get the stuff ready?" Sakura questioned, confusion written all over her face.
"While you all were in a heated discussion about Gensoumaden Saiyuki." Keiko replied, coming back into the room with her arms laden with the rest of the snacks.
Botan hopped into the middle cushion on the couch, but slid off and settled on the floor. Keiko sat beside her, and Shadou sat on her other side. Sakura turned off the lights and dove to the ground in front of the TV. Kiechara sat calmly on the side of the couch that allowed her to rest her arm on the armrest. Yukina sat in front of Kiechara, and Edana laid on the rest of the couch that Kiechara didn't use up. They settled down and watched the movie, which had started on Privet Drive…
They had started watching movies at around 5:00 at night, but they, sadly, couldn't finish all the movies within the rest of the day. They had to stop at the end of Harry Potter and the Goblet of fire, because it was 3:17 in the morning. "Will you join us again for tomorrow to watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy?" Shadou asked Edana, while rubbing her eyes sleepily.
Edana grinned, and replied, "Sure. If it's okay with you…"
Botan had long since fallen asleep against the wall. She snored, and fell to the ground. Kiechara, being one of the only nice ones still willing to help out so late, cleaned up and put the room back to how it was before the girls arrived. Edana even pitched in to help out. Sakura just wandered around like a zombie. After Keiko's living room was clean again, Kiechara dialed up Kurama's number again. A 'pip' was heard and Kurama's voice said, 'hello?'.
"Hey, Kurama. Can you give us all a ride to Genkai's? We don't want to walk all the way over there…" she murmured, trying to keep Sakura in line, because it was as if she was sleepwalking, which she probably was.
"Sure… Why do you sound like your old self, again?"
"I made a bet with Shadou, and she lost." Kiechara sniggered.
Kurama laughed, "Anyone could have told Shadou she would lose a bet with you! Sure, I'll be right over."
"Thanks for this. And thanks, also, for staying up so late."
"Yeah. See you in a little bit." Kurama finished, before he hung up his phone.
About fifteen minutes later, Kurama arrived. Sakura, now awake, nudged Botan to wake her up. "NNG… Izzit morning already? Where's my coffee?" she mumbled sleepily.
"It's 3:40 in the morning. Kurama's gonna bring us home to sleep... you shouldn't drink coffee, it stunts your growth." Sakura replied.
"Ogay…" Botan grinned goofily, and tried to get to her feet, and stumbled. But Edana stood beside her and helped to steady the drowsy ferrywoman.
The sleepy group climbed into Kurama's truck and readied themselves for the ride home. Before long, only Edana, and Kurama were still awake. (Kurama had to drive) She thought of all the things she had gotten to do with her newfound friends and all the new experiences. And, for the first time since before she could remember, she smiled. Not an evil, spacey, or forced smile, but a true, genuine one. Luckily for her reputation and her ego, no one noticed her sudden revelation of emotion.
Less than ten minutes later, everyone was sleepily climbing out of the truck to sleep in Genkai's temple. (Because of all the extra room, everyone has their own) Edana was about to climb into bed, already dressed in her white robe. Her door creaked open and the girls filed into her room. "What's going on?" she asked quizzically.
"We're gonna sleep in here, tonight." Kiechara stated. But, anyone knowing Kiechara, would translate that as, "Can we sleep in here, tonight?"
Edana grinned at her friends. "Yeah. Okay."
The girls were absolutely ecstatic that the day wasn't a waste. They quickly fetched their pillows and blankets. (all their rooms were 8 tatami mats, just so I can fit them all into the same room) Edana, in the meantime, put all of her sleeping gear on the floor, so as not to be rude. After everyone was settled, they all cuddled closer together. (not in a sick way for all of you perverts out there)
Later on that night, Edana became restless. After she had woken up for the fifth time in a half hour, she decided to take a walk out on the grounds. Maybe even train up her new, weak little human body. She quietly tiptoed out of the room and made for the training area. It had a great view of the night sky, and was surrounded by tall trees. And in her new state of mind, it was rather peaceful.
She began to wander around and finally decided to lay on the cool grass and stare at the sky. After a moment or two, she thought aloud, "It's actually pretty easy to be a human. Do I even want to be a demon again? … Be an assassin for hire and kill people to make a living? Well, it was the way I've lived all my life since before I can remember ... But this new life seems pretty nice… Then again … what will I do about my reputation in Makai? Can I really just throw away my life's work? …" She paused in her thoughts, and debated in her mind. After about a minute or two of arguing with herself, she spoke aloud again. " I've decided. Yes, yes I can give up my demon life. I will even have friends to support me. Plus, even if I do become a demon again, if that could even happen, it will matter none. I'm sure they will still support me. " She smiled again after coming to this conclusion. She was no longer depressed or confused. Then, she began to ponder what her new life could, and probably will, be like.
After awhile, the bushes closest to her that separated the woods from the clearing began to rustle. She hopped to her feet. There was no wind, so it could merely be an animal. But in the worst case, it could be a demon and she was completely vulnerable. A moment or two passed and she relaxed. If it were a demon, he or she would have attacked by now. And the animal idea was already banished as a possibility… But what if that was the plan?
A large, broad hand clamped over her mouth, and another restrained her movement. She was frozen for a moment before her brain processed that she had been apprehended. After she had come to her senses, she began to struggle. And for the first time since she became human, she was truly afraid. Her captor, to stop her from struggling, hit her hard in the stomach so as to knock the wind out of her and placed a cloth over her mouth and nose. When she could breathe again, she inhaled the chemical soaked into the cloth. She realized with horror that it was chloroform. As her limbs began to get heavy, she couldn't fight back anymore, but her captor was naïve. He released her, and she kicked him where it hurts with all the strength she could summon. Then, she blacked out.
(A/N HA! Was that long or what? Used a lot of study halls to do this, I did! Well, it's not that long, but it's longer than my others, right? Okay, back to the story. I know, I'm evil for leaving you with a cliffhanger. So what? Come on, you're DYING to know what happens next, right? Don't lie to yourself. Well…maybe if you review I'll post the next one… heh heh heh… I also know what's gonna happen… and from now for the next… uuh… I wonder how many chapters that part will be… hmmm… ANYWAY review and I'll post my next chapter. SO, HA!)
Fire Demoness Jaganshi
