-A Little Girl Time-
As promised, May didn't hurt so much in the morning but her ear stung so she braided all of her hair and let it drape over her right shoulder. She looked at it in the mirror and found Ishi had elongated it to mold over the top corner of her ear. Pulling at it gently sent a shock through her leaving her bent over the sink in the bathroom and gasping for breath. She gritted her teeth and looking into the mirror saw her eyes seemed to hold a haunted look. She forced herself not to cry, tearing her gaze from the mirror and grabbing her suitcase and ticket after slipping her pea coat and scarf on, walked out the door of the dorms.
She made it to the train platform just in time to be hurried into the car and to a seat and discovering she had the spot to herself she sat next to the window and gazed out at the bustling people of the station. Just as her train was pulling out, she saw a shock of white hair and a pair of dark, mysterious eyes. Ishi had followed her to the station and now, locking eyes with her, smiled and waved as the train jerked forward and headed out for Tokyo. She closed her eyes tightly and leaned her head back against the chair willing the image out of her head when she heard his voice in her ear. "Three weeks…" her eyes flew open and she looked to her left but there was no one there. Touching the earring, May discovered it to be warm but the feeling faded and she shivered.
The train ride passed too quickly for May's taste as she had tried to come up with a story to explain her appearance and also the earring if it drew any attention. She felt out her stores of energy as she pulled into Tokyo and was shocked to find that they were all muted and seemed to be out of her range to pull on. Ishi had somehow locked her powers but looking at the people in the car, she found she could still pick out spirit energies and she clung to that fact. A month or so before, she would've given anything for her powers to suddenly be locked away but after being attacked by the unfortunate girl, May felt stripped without access to the one weapon she had aside from her fists.
Walking off the train revealed Shizuru waiting for her. She felt a wash of relief as she carried her suitcase over to her cousin and set it down to allow her to be hugged. She leaned into the hug a little longer than usual suddenly needing the protective arms of her cousin about her.
Shizuru held her out at arms length and looked at her closely. "Hey, you okay, May?" My first lie, May thought as she nodded.
"I just missed you, I guess," she explained and Shizuru, taking the reason, grabbed the suitcase and showed May the way as she made small talk with her little cousin about how things were at the academy. May cringed inwardly at every lie she told to make Shizuru think that nothing out of the ordinary had been happening to her and felt relieved when they got to the car and saw they wouldn't be traveling alone.
"I hope you don't mind, May, but Botan and Keiko wanted to go shopping today as well so I thought we could just all go to the mall together, you know?" Shizuru said, slightly apologetic. Assuring her cousin that it was fine with her, she slipped into the passenger seat, greeting Keiko and the strangely blue-haired Botan. Kazuma had explained that it was Botan's powers that had sealed her wounds and, apart from being Koenma's assistant, she was also the Grim Reaper. May was still skeptical that such a cheery person could be the Grim Reaper but she was ready to believe just about anything nowadays.
"On to the mall!" Botan exclaimed as Keiko cheered. A gentle smile tugged at the corner of May's mouth as she watched the traffic pass by on their right. She drank in the sights and sounds and marveled at how much she had actually missed Tokyo the last few months. Part of her wanted to encourage the thoughts of giving up on the music academy and just getting a job at the local florist's so she could stay close to the city. As her thoughts followed this path, the ring on her ear started to heat up to the point it felt like it was on fire and flinching, May dropped the thought and let her eyes glaze over, not really looking at anything anymore.
Before she realized it, Shizuru was parking the car in a spot close to the entrance of the mall. Botan and Keiko resumed their cheering and Shizuru said something about how the mall must've known they were coming, saving them such a great parking spot and all. May had to consciously tell herself to move and opened the door, stepping out into the wintry air. It had yet to snow in Tokyo but there was still a week until Christmas. Botan linked an arm with May and pulled her along and the smaller girl fought to keep up not able to keep a small smile from her face. 'Botan's so easy to get along with,' she thought, 'and even without knowing each other very well she already treats me like she treats Keiko and Shiz.' The notion warmed her heart gently and she realized one of the things she'd been missing the last few months: the unbeatable companionship of friends. She forced everything that had happened to her in the past few months to the back burners of her mind and smiled fondly at her friends.
"So, what shopping are we doing today?" she asked mildly as the four of them passed the food court, Botan dropping hints that they would "return".
"Oh, well, mainly just a little window shopping, I think. Christmas is just around the corner, May, or did you forget with all that school work?" Botan teased and, taking it for face value, she smiled with a shrug.
"Well, you know how it is… study, finals, homework. You tend to lose track of time with so much fun cramming the schedule," she joked back as their strides brought them to a cute little boutique. It sold odds and ends and Keiko led the way in, picking up a plush doll from a basket and cooing about how cute it was. The four split up and looked at whatever interested them and, walking further into the boutique, May found a variety of flowers made out of crystal. She gently took hold of the leaf on a tulip as she looked at the snapdragons, snowdrops, daisies and roses. Her fingers traced the flowers as she walked along the row, appreciating the attention to detail.
"You know, miss, they smell like the real deal!" said a gravelly voice from behind her. She looked over at the man startled only because she hadn't expected him to speak with her. He was a rather squat man with a ring of hair and a bald spot, his eyes brown behind an overly-magnifying pair of glasses.
"Do they now?" she asked gently as he picked up a blue colored rose and held it out to her. "Here, take a whiff," he said with a rather craggy but sincere smile. She obligingly took the fragile stem in her fingers and held it to her nose and "oh"-ed softly in surprise. "I told you they smell real. I've perfected it over time, you see," the man said, his chest puffing up proudly.
"You made them yourself?" she asked unable, once again, to conceal her surprise. He nodded proudly which made her smile. He was old but his joy in having such a creation of his own made him seem like a child. "I wish I had money then. I have a friend who would definitely appreciate something like this," she said gently, her thoughts having turned easily to Kurama. Somewhere within her thrummed in surprise for she realized she hadn't had him come to mind without bidding it in quite sometime. She smiled to herself and the man hummed with a smile.
"Friend or lover?" he asked with a sly light in his eye. May looked at him blankly for a moment before catching on and, her jaw dropping slightly, felt her cheeks burn crimson. This sent the old man cackling good-naturedly as she stammered.
"No, no! That's not it. He's a friend, that's all!" she said but she had lost the man and so she stood there with blush on her cheeks as he patted her jovially on the back. "Perhaps you might bring him here next time you're around? That way he can buy one for you!" the man laughed again before nodding to her and walking away to talk with another customer. May sighed, her cheeks returning to normal as she smelled the rose again before putting it back in its display. She shook her head and walked back toward the front to find Shizuru and the girls heading to the opening too, joking about something they had seen.
When they saw she had joined them they walked out and to the next store.
By the time they were heading away from the mall, the clouds had turned ominous and May watched them apprehensively not really desiring rain to fall on her head at the moment. If anyone noticed her sudden mood change, no one remarked on it as Shizuru drove to the Kuwabara residence. True to Botan's description, there had only been window shopping and thus having no bags to carry inside made May's carrying her suitcase in easier than it would have been if encumbered with other packages.
The temperature outside was quickly dropping and walking into the house revealed that it needed heating up. Shizuru flipped the switch on and the house seemed to rumble to life as the heater kicked in. "You really should get that monstrosity replaced, Shizuru," Botan said with a serious expression.
"Why replace something that works, Botan?" Shizuru asked with a smile as she took a seat in one of the lazy chairs. Keiko laughed gently. Apparently the argument was an ongoing thing, May figured. She put her suitcase in Shizuru's room before walking over to and curling up on the couch, Botan at the other end and Keiko in the chair by Shizuru. The room heated up quickly and May mentally agreed with her cousin. Although it was loud like Botan had suggested, it did the job it was made for and did it well.
The four sat and talked about the various things they'd found during the window shopping and when May came to the crystal flowers (while skirting around her conversation with the boutique owner) Botan thumped her fist gently into her palm. "I'm sure Kurama would appreciate something like that." May nodded and gave a small smile. "I'll admit he came briefly to mind," she said softly. Botan looked at her for a moment before a sly smile spread across her face and she was suddenly closer to May than at first. "Oh ho ho! Is there something going on between you and our lovely Kurama?" she asked, nudging her arm.
"No! It's just he was the first one to come to mind because he smells of roses and all," May exclaimed trying to fend the not-so-Grim Reaper off.
"That beautiful blush would say otherwise," Botan said in a sing-song way. May protested again when Shizuru spoke up.
"Ah c'mon, Botan layoff. May hasn't seen the pretty boy since she last saw us. Nothing is going on between them," Shizuru said calmly, waving her hand in the air as May nodded.
"You never know, Shizuru. Kurama has been in and out of touch with us all lately. What if he was making some secret rendezvous' up to May's school?" Botan said which caused May to pause and wonder about his actions but then Keiko spoke up.
"Botan, if that were true, then what about Hiei? He's always MIA these days. Is he, too, sneaking off to visit a girl?" she said as Shizuru agreed.
"Aww, you girls are no fun," Botan pouted returning to her spot on the couch.
"Well, you never know Botan. What if they're being sent out on secret cases that Koenma just hasn't told you about?" Shizuru said, sounding as though she were half-teasing and half-serious. This caused the blue-haired girl to look a little put out so May took the chance to change the subject.
"Hey, Shiz, when do you suppose Kazuma will be home?" she asked out of curiosity. Shizuru looked at her blankly for a moment before dropping a fist into her palm. "Oh yeah, we're supposed to be meeting them for dinner and dancing at 6:15," Shizuru said.
The other three looked over at the clock on the wall which read 5:45. Botan and Keiko blew up while May chuckled on the couch. Typical Shizuru, she thought as she watched her get attacked by the other two who scolded her for giving them only a half hour's notice. Shizuru sat calmly as she shrugged.
"You know, the longer you whine about how little time you have, the less time you'll give yourselves. Although I don't see why you would need more than five minutes to grab your shoes, coats and purses and get in the car," May pointed out. The two froze for a moment before Botan pulled Keiko by the arm to the bathroom, where they made a decent bit of racket. May stood from her spot on the couch and moved over to the seat Keiko had vacated, glancing over at her cousin. "I didn't know you had enough stuff in the bathroom to cause such a ruckus," May said quietly.
"Don't blame me. They stayed the night last night and brought all their stuff from home. They sure travel prepared though," Shizuru laughed softly and looked back at the clock. "I wonder how early they're going to try and force us to get to the club," Shizuru mumbled.
"A club? I've never been to one before," May confessed. Shizuru shrugged her shoulders, claiming it was nothing to fuss over as Botan and Keiko came back into the room. They'd changed their clothes and curled their hair. May gave them a once over before looking at her cousin. "Then what's this?" she asked.
"May!" Botan said, "Do you have anything more… dance party-style than what you're wearing?" May blinked up at the pink-eyed girl before looking down cursorily at her clothes. She wore a rather baggy style of jean compared to what she usually did with a simple red shirt and a simple chain that tipped sideways around her waist. Her mind then wandered to her packed clothes and she thought of the skirt she had packed. She had soft black, ankle boots waiting at the door.
"What would you consider more dance-party-whatever? These pants or a black skirt?" she asked quietly, not sure what Botan had meant. Botan grabbed her by the wrist and into Shizuru's room and, with a sigh, May opened her suitcase and, finding the skirt, pulled it out and handed it to the Ferry Girl. Botan unfolded it and grinned.
"Bingo! This will be perfect, May. It's got a way about it, very flirty," Botan cheered. May lifted a brow and thought to herself, do I want to be flirty? Botan gave it back to her and walked to the door, "Oh! And if you have nylons or something, that would be a nice touch too!" then she closed the door leaving a rather perplexed May in her wake.
I am just mildly sad to see that my already written material for this story is beginning to dwindle but at least that means that I can get my creative juices flowing once more for this story. Also, it gives me more of an opportunity to have my character be romanced, you know?
Anyway, thank you for your very fine support these last few days!
Reviews:
SakiHanajima1- never fear! There will be a way out for our heroine and yes, she will spend more time with the gang. Jest you wait!
Molly Grace 16- All I have in response to this is a smile... :)
Kshepps27- thank you! I am glad you think it excellent.
NinjaOfSilence- and to this... XD You dear goober.
TheChosenOne1889- well it is a good thing that I look forward to writing more!
Followers: Molly Grace 16, TheChosenOne1889, and
Favorites: Kshepps27, Molly Grace 16, SakiHanajima1, and TheChosenOne1889
You all are awesome!
CB
