Well hello, everyone! I've been writing in spurts the length of which I could not keep track of due to other commitments and although I'm a day late, here's chapter ten. Thank you for always staying tuned to this and for all the lovely reviews and for adding this story to your favorites and alerts list. It makes me so happy. :))))
So, read, enjoy, and review! Let me know how you feel and what you think. :)))
Disclaimer: The Yu Yu Hakusho world does not, in any way, belong to me. It's the great Yoshihiro Togashi's.
Click
by four-eyed 0-0
Chapter Ten
The worry that creased my eyebrows immediately dissipated upon the arrival of the girls. I find myself smiling and being very excited when I hear their unanimous call of, "Emi-chan!" and then I am dashing to meet them at the door of the shrine.
"You're here!" I squeal, engulfing Keiko and Botan in a very warm hug. "I didn't realize how much I wanted to have some other female presence till you came!" I turn to Yukina and Shizuru to incline my head in greeting.
Keiko and Botan smile at me. "Yeah, we thought so too," says Yusuke's girlfriend before she shakes a bag of groceries in front of me.
"Oh, right," I blurt out, taking the bag and turning to the men. "Bring their things to their rooms so we could get started on the cooking."
"Yes, ma'am," says Kuwabara.
The five ladies (of course, I am included) saunter off to the direction of the kitchen and we start chatting happily while dividing labor. Keiko, Shizuru and I agree to having nikujaga and some sushi while Botan and Yukina set up the meeting hall.
I have every intention of declining Yusuke's invitation to actually sitting down with the visitors during the meeting not because I have chickened out of my valiant offer of helping out but because of having many demons share the same room with me. But again of course I have to, since I am directly involved in the case.
As I am slicing pieces of tuna for the sushi, Keiko, who is busy chopping cloves of garlic for the stew, decides to comfort me by saying, "If it appeases your nerves, I guess you should know that as long as you're in the same room with the guys, you won't be harmed."
I smile appreciatively at her and I reply, "Thank you, Keiko-chan. On another note, do the boys do anything else besides training every single day?"
Shizuru suddenly comes to us to take something and answers knowingly in behalf of the addressed, "Boys will be boys. You take exercise away from them and they no longer will be."
I chuckle at this.
"I remember my Kazu picking fights with Yusuke every single day when they were in junior high—something to do with pride and whatnot." Shizuru chortles to a memory I will never get close to imagining accurately. She waves a ladle at me and smilingly recalls aloud, "He always came home in a bad mood since Yusuke always beat the stuffing out of him."
Poor Kuwabara. I am about to voice this out when the door opens to reveal the two best friends. I exchange a meaningful three-way glance with my companions and I turn to the two. Who knew they would be this inseparable?
Kuwabara reaches for a slice of mango I plan to put in the sushi and I swat his hand away. Shooting him a reproachful look, I say, "Wash your hands first."
Promptly he dashes to the sink as Yusuke kisses Keiko on the cheek and whispers something that induces a low giggle from her. The carrot-top boy is dutifully handed a whole mango for him to consume and he gives me a squeeze in thanks. I smile.
©—©
By noon the shrine is buzzing with activity as the visitors come in groups. I am staying in the kitchen to attend to final preparations and more so because I wish to buy my shaking hands some time.
"Emi-chan, are you ready? We have to bring these in," asks Yukina as she moves toward me.
I swallow as I hand a tray of drinks to her. "Please lead the way," I say politely and we head to the meeting hall. Kurama, who is standing by the doorway with someone the name of whom I do not know, nods at us and opens the door. I catch his companion give me a glance, if the slight turn of the neck to my direction is any indication, with his seemingly closed eyes.
I hold my breath as we enter the room filled with the demons. I totter off to where Genkai sits and place a platter filled with sushi for her and those in her immediate vicinity to enjoy. As soon as I do so, her companions grab one and thank me for a delicious meal. I bow at them and head for the next cluster down the table, immediately feeling elated that these bunch are not really vicious as I have previously thought.
When I arrive at the end of the table where Yusuke and Koenma are conversing lightly with a very quiet Hiei beside them busy ignoring another person whose appearance I find revolting and intriguing at the same time, Yusuke turns to me with a grin.
"Hey, Emi-chan, what do we have here?"
His addressing me in the very loud manner that he always does has the desired effect to those next to him and they look at me as though realizing for the first time that I am here. Collecting myself after acknowledging the sudden turn of events that brings unwanted attention to me, I place the plate in front of the detective and tell him lazily, "Something that can shut you up for a while." I turn around as though to exit and then turn back again. "Oh, now that I think of it, it can't shut you up at all. You are too knowledgeable of table manners as it seems."
"Damn right," Koenma remarks and grabs a sushi.
I excuse myself after throwing Yusuke a you-and-I-have-a-bone-to-pick look and go back to the kitchen to get another serving.
©—©
Koenma clears his throat loudly to call the hall to attention. I straighten more in my seat between Yusuke and Kuwabara as everyone silences and turns to our direction.
"As most of you have been told, there has been a ploy against the demon race and we have come to a conclusion of holding this meeting to further alert everyone of this situation and discuss measures to be taken," says Koenma in a very authoritative tone unbecoming of his toddler appearance. I dismiss this thought as he speaks again. "We have here a person with direct involvement to this case, and her name is Emi Niroyako." He turns to me and everyone else follows suit.
I immediately bow at them to hide my reddening face. "Good day, everyone," I say shakily. I look at Koenma to ask for permission to launch my speech and he nods. "For starters, I was taken from my home to a demon's lair somewhere in the Makai a fortnight ago. This demon goes by the name of Kaede and he has falsely led me to thinking that demons are back to feasting on humans. He has offered me a mission to play hero by taking pictures of demons readily detected by a camera he devised."
Someone whispers a few clusters down and this brings me halting from my narration. Yusuke gives me a nod and I continue with the effects of taking a demon's picture to the victim until the point of my capture.
The person next to Hiei clears her throat. She is Mukuro, former lord of the Makai territory Alaric, as Kurama has whispered to me prior to the commencement of the meeting. "How many?" she asks crisply.
Cryptic is her question but I quickly pick up and reply, "Two, both of which have been restored to being." There is a newfound steadiness in my voice when I spoke this and I surmise its being due to my luck of being caught red-handed to prevent actually killing my first and last victims off.
Yomi, seated right next to Kurama (whom the redhead has informed me the name of and being then the titular leader of Gandara), turns to me with his blind eyes and addresses me in a stiff manner that I grit my teeth to prevent my lower jaw from shaking. "Why did you think you have the right to take down members of our kind?"
Yusuke comes to my rescue and sharply tells Yomi, "I do not want this line of questioning to continue."
As soon as the blind leader raises an eyebrow as if to challenge the tantei, I place a hand on Yusuke's shoulder and give him a look to say, I can do this. I turn to Yomi and everyone else for that matter, and say honestly, "True as it may that I have been unreasonable for deciding to act on the orders of someone I do not know personally, I have to justify my actions by stating that the humanity in me pushed forth my desire to help the members of our kind. And yes, it was as unreasonable as it is stupid to take action without even knowing the truth. But as a fully-grown human able to think and rationalize, I have not submitted to Kaede's wishes without pledging to take it against him should he lie to me. Which is exactly why I am seated here, trying to convey what I am aware of, and giving a hand to everyone."
The corners of Kurama's mouth twitch to a small smile as Hiei releases a puff of indifferent breath. Yomi and Mukuro turn to each other while everyone else whispers among themselves. Kuwabara pats the back of my head gently and gives me the thumbs up.
"Niroyako-san," King Enki addresses me from the other end of the table, "inasmuch as I am appalled by the prospect of having to take a life, I shall take your valiant effort of offering what you can do to help us in this cause. Rest assured that we will not take your one mistake against you. For now, please keep in mind that the three worlds have been in harmony for quite a time, and through laws implemented, we have ensured years of peace for the benefit of every single being in this planet."
I smile and bow low at all of them. "I am very sorry for the inconvenience I have given everyone. And thank you."
"Inconvenience? I do not think so. Kaede has to give someone a post to start the fire and for us to detect the smoke. Let's just say it is a good thing that everything turned out as it did and that we are on our way to eradicating any hindrances to the peace we have been maintaining."
Something about the tone of King Enki's declaration sucks the lead out my system. I smile at him again.
Then starts the planning.
©—©
Genkai's shrine is in chaos. My newly-acquired friends told me it goes like this once in a while but I wasn't expecting it to become like this. And here I am, standing by a corner, a glass of punch in my hand, too dizzy to keep my eyes wandering around the room with blinking and bright disco lights.
There's a party, yes.
Of demons and humans.
And now I'm standing with my dearest camera clutched in one hand and staring at a very pissed off demon whom I took the picture of. I will kill Yusuke for not warning me once I get away—in one piece or otherwise.
"I—" I start, visibly trembling.
Suddenly the demon bursts into a laughing fit. "I'm jus' jokin', missy!" he says, actually swinging his arms about my shoulders and rattling my bones with his too enthusiastic shake. All of the spectators laugh along and I do my best to look comfortable. This demon reeks too much of alcohol.
"You better be, Chu," says Kuwabara who gives me a look.
"Yeah, or else you might be done in by 'Emi's Demon'," supplies Yusuke, quoting the last two words with his fingers.
The demon holding me hiccups and his breath makes me sick. "Who's't, eh?" he slurs.
I give the two best friends a warning look. They don't seem to notice with all the alcohol fogging their brain and their eyes, though.
"Hiei."
The crowd bursts to another roar of laughter and I swear I will never forget this night. I know I'm dead once Hiei corners me. In my irritation, I storm toward my two friends and give them both a beating before stalking away. I thank the heavens that the shrimp is nowhere to be found or else, I might be dead by now.
Just then Botan and Shizuru hold me off from exiting the room and drag me to the table at a corner where a group of demons huddle and drink while singing aloud (and off-key) lyrics displayed by a karaoke machine.
"Up, gentlemen, let us take over," says Shizuru and the demons oblige without batting an eyelid. She sits and Botan follows suit. I hesitate and she says, "Come on, we can't miss out on the fun."
I stare around me and seeing that no one seems interested in anyone else's business, I sit across from my friends. "But we can't be monopolizing the karaoke machine."
"Of course we are!" Botan declares energetically. I sigh as she downs half a glass of beer.
Shizuru shoves a glass filled with the liquor under my nose and I pout before receiving it. "Down it already, girl. Loosen yourself a bit."
I shrug and drink from the glass. "So who sings first?"
"You," they answer, Botan handing me the microphone.
Just so to get this over with, I choose a song. The music starts.
It takes two songs from me and one from Shizuru and Botan before Yusuke and his demon friends decide to squeeze in the table to join us. I am beside myself when one red-haired demon who goes by the name Jin starts floating and dancing in the air as another named Touya sings a jazzy song. Clearly drunk they were.
I finish two bottles of beer before I excuse myself from the table and make my way to the kitchen for some drink of water. There I find Kurama and Hiei, each with a bottle in hand. That's nice, the best friends seem to enjoy drinking in each other's company.
"Hello, Emi," greets Kurama, ever friendly.
After grinning at him, I open the fridge and search for a water bottle that I drink from. "Why are you here? The party's in full swing," I tell Kurama.
"I thought I'd make Hiei drink some. He wouldn't if I don't join him." He gives his best friend a sidelong glance. "Alone, of course," he adds, chuckling, and throws the now glaring Hiei a cheeky grin.
I tilt my head to the side in solemn interest. "Those guys will be out in a matter of minutes. I think I'll go and retire for the night. Will all of you be all right?"
"You don't have to worry about that."
Remembering the left over sushi from lunch, I open the fridge and take the lone platter out. I walk toward their table and place it in front of them. "Finish them for me, will you? I do not want you to down more bottles than your tum-tum can hold. Besides, they're best when still fresh." I take one and nod at them. "Goodnight."
Kurama smiles. "Goodnight, Emi."
I blame it on the alcohol in my system when I say, "Goodnight, Hiei."
So how was the meeting? I did not want it to be too intense. I wanted things to take up a steady pace before hurtling the characters into the climax. And of course, romance will bud up in time. :)))
Review Responses:
LadyBlue104: Thank you for the lovely review. As for the bomb that is Emi's proclamation of Hiei being her demon, I'll drop it later. Haha. If you know what I mean. :)))) *grins*
CeresMaria: I seriously considered your suggestion but somehow it is too premature a scenario for Hiei to drink with Emi being around (and a whole bunch of demons at that). He's a real pain in the arse and I thought he would only drink with Kurama... at least for now. :))) Thank you for the review!
Just 2 Dream of You: Why, thank you for reading and reviewing! You never let me down! I hope you enjoyed this chapter since I got back on track, finally! :)
PiNkBuN17: Thank you for the review! :) Hiei and Kuwabara don't interact that much in the published chapters so I did not see the point of Hiei ever calling Kuwabara that derogatory name except for that one time in front of Emi who was yet a stranger. :))))
Kagome141414: Thank you for staying with me! :) I'm so happy to see you still read this. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. :)))
toolazytologin: As much as I am curious to know who you are (*laughs*), I want to thank you for the review! And of course, for empathizing with me. I hope to hear more from you. Tell me what you think, please? :)))
And so that's it. I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading! Please leave a review. :)))
~four-eyed 0-0