A/N: Eighth chapter, achtstes Kapittel, chapitre huitième, achtste hoofdstuk, rozdział ósmy! (Fear my mad language skills!) Keiko gets to act like Gibbs, and proper introductions are finally made. I blame this 3 days late update on my exams. Enjoy!

Word count: 1712 words

Yukimura Keiko, top student, class representative and (recently) dimension-hopping girl, was absolutely, positively SEETHING. Minamino Shuuichi might've had a pretty good reason to run away, but that did not mean he was allowed to stay hidden for so long! As it was, the group had been searching for him for three hours already. Still, there was no sign of the red-haired rebel. One thing was certain; Shuuichi was going to be in a lot of trouble with Keiko. The anger seemingly radiating off her in waves was so obvious that even Kuwabara had kept quiet for the last hour or so. Thankfully, the group was spared having to deal with an irate Keiko for very long, because Minamino Shuuichi had just decided to show up again. Yukimura Keiko went into a full-blown tirade for what seemed like an eternity, nearly shattering everyone's eardrums but her own (she'd had a lot of practice with yelling when Yuusuke was still alive).

Half an hour later, they could finally recover from the terrible onslaught; Keiko had thankfully managed to calm down, and Minamino Shuuichi decided to grab this opportunity to tell the others what had happened to him. As expected, they had a hard time believing him at first. "What, a random girl just walked up to you and said she knew everything? That's ridiculous!" said Hatanaka Shuuichi, absolutely convinced that his stepbrother had finally snapped. Well, at least his stepbrother wasn't trying to murder anyone. Yet.

Minamino Shuuichi retaliated with an irritated "If you don't believe me, you can come along; she said she'd meet us at the park at three. If she shows up, that's your proof I've been telling the truth." Kuwabara was not very enthusiastic about meeting the mysterious girl. "It might be a trap! She could be a witch who's trying to win our trust so that she can…" A slap on the back of his head, courtesy of a very annoyed Keiko, quickly made him shut up. The four teenagers looked up to Kumotachi, waiting for him to make a decision. "I don't know how it's possible for anyone from this world to know about us" he said, "but if there is a chance that boss of her can get us back to our own dimension, I think we should take it. There's not much else we can do, anyway." Keiko agreed: "If this Botan knows about us, it wouldn't be too farfetched for her boss to be able to get us back." That said, the group decided to head for the park, since it was nearing three already.

The park was filled with all sorts of people, coming there to relax after an entire week of either work or school. Most of the people there seemed to be students from one of the schools nearby. Saturday morning may have been a time for lessons and assignments, but the afternoon was for relaxing and having fun. Minamino Shuuichi nervously hoped he could find the blue-haired girl with all those other people around. He didn't need to worry much, though, since she found him first.

"Hello there!" Botan chirped in his ear, making him jump in the air. "Don't sneak up on people like that!" Minamino Shuuichi bit back, annoyed that she'd managed to get so close to him without him becoming aware of her. Still, he didn't get a chance to say anything more, because Kuwabara had noticed her and decided she was very pretty… thus trying to ask her out. "Hello there, I'm Kuwabara Kazuma, you're a really pretty girl, would you like to go out with me?" he said, all in one breath, while taking Botan's hands. The girl stared at him with big eyes and nervously started to giggle. "Umm, could you let go of my hands? Thank you… umm, I really can't go out with you…" Once Kuwabara had gotten over the fact that he was rejected (again), Botan turned a surprisingly serious look to the group. "Now, I need everyone of you to tell me exactly how you managed to end up in this reality…" And the group (mostly Keiko, with some comments added by Kumotachi) explained about the machine that had brought them here. Also, they stressed the fact that it was all Minamino's fault, greatly embarrassing him. He'd secretly hoped that they wouldn't tell… Botan listened carefully and made a few notes in a small notebook.

Five o'clock came and found the group sitting in the middle of the park, enjoying the ice-cream that Kumotachi had bought for the rest of them. "Well, now that you know everything" he said, "Do you think your boss can help us? We don't have much money, so a hotel is not an option; and we obviously can't stay out on the street. The only thing we have really left is to go home today." Botan was looking at her notes and mumbling a bit to herself. She sighed and looked up at the scientist and students, who looked back with hope shining in their eyes (except for Minamino Shuuichi, who was depressed again and didn't care much about anything). "I'm not too sure if it's even possible to send you back at all. Even in the best of circumstances, it might take weeks or months to set up a portal to your world…" She noticed how the looks of the others fell and gave them a reassuring smile. "But either way, you won't have to worry about having a place to stay! I have just the place for you; there's a temple in the forest where you can take up lodging. I'm sure Genkai will take you in!" she said, hoping that the aforementioned wouldn't be too angry at the ferry-girl for making such a promise without having her consent first. Old age or not, the woman was scary.

The five misplaced travellers looked at each other. They didn't really have a choice, did they…? They didn't had enough money to pay for a hotel once more, and they couldn't sleep on the street… that only left them one chance. "Lead the way to the temple, then" said Kumotachi. Botan brightened and hopped from the bench, practically skipping her way to the park's entrance.

Hatanaka Shuuichi stared. And stared. And for good measure, he decided to stare some more. "We have to walk ALL THOSE STAIRS TO THE TOP???" he yelled. The rest of the group didn't say anything, but he was absolutely sure they were thinking the same. There was no way they would be able to climb so many stairs. Scratch that, no one in the entire worldwould be able to climb so many stairs. What kind of a crazy person was this Genkai anyway?

Alas, they didn't have much of a choice… Botan was already walking up the stairs. Sighing, the group followed her, hoping none of them would keel over and die from exhaustion before they reached the end. Unfortunately, the stairs looked as if they stretched on forever… and none of them was convinced that they would be entirely alright after climbing them. "These are the stairs of doom…" muttered Kuwabara. The others couldn't help but agree. Stairs of doom, indeed.

The unexpected sight that greeted them when they had (finally) reached the top of the stairs was as follows: Urameshi Yuusuke was running away from this world's Yukimura Keiko, who was throwing random things at his head while insulting him. Yuusuke himself was yelling back at her, demanding to know what he did wrong this time. An old woman with fading pink hair (Genkai, perhaps?) was watching the chase while drinking a cup of tea, apparently not at all disturbed by the violence. In fact, a smile could occasionally be seen; the woman was clearly enjoying the spectacle as if she were at a theatre. Hatanaka Shuuichi turned to Botan: "Say, is it really a good idea to show up here? I don't think our doubles could handle seeing themselves… they wouldn't be able to understand that we're really from another reality, and not just a bunch of people who are playing a prank on them…" Botan giggled at the boy. "Oh, I wouldn't worry about that. They've had weirder things happen to them, really… I think you'll get along just fine!"

The five looked at each other apprehensively. Weirder things than this? Couldn't be possible. And would it really be alright to reveal themselves to their counterparts? Until now they had constantly decided to avoid all contact with anyone, in case of accidentally causing trouble. They did not get a chance to think about it, though, because Yuusuke (rubbing his head after he'd been hit with a particularly heavy book) had just spotted them. And obviously, he said the first thing that came to his mind. "Oh wonderful! Now I get to deal with TWO Keikos! What is it, 'Everyone-Pick-on-Yuusuke-Day' or something?" The two Shuuichis, Kuwabara, Keiko and Kumotachi gaped at him, not entirely sure what to say or how to react. The Keiko that had been chasing Yuusuke around, on the other hand, practically growled at him and smacked him on the head. "OW! What did you do that for, Keiko!" was the immediate response. Keiko ignored him and approached the group still staring at them. "I apologize for Yuusuke, he's not very good at manners… I'm Yukimura Keiko, pleased to meet you." She smiled at the group. "I must say I'm very curious how someone who looks exactly like me can stand here… perhaps you could explain?"

Her reassuring smile put everyone a bit more at ease. The Keiko from this world had calmly accepted the fact there seemed to be a doppelganger of her, and Yuusuke did not seemed to be bothered that much either (rather, he was still rubbing his head and muttering things like 'unfair' and 'it's just not right' under his breath). The pink-haired woman (who they found out was indeed Genkai, when she introduced herself to them) was only vaguely amused, as if things like this happened every other day. Sleeping arrangements were made, Genkai put on some tea, and they started to get to know each other. Everyone knew it would become a very interesting time from now on…

Wot, no footnotes?

Posted: November 18, 2007
Next chapter: Ice and Fire