Asahikawa High School was hosting the Cherry Blossom Festival this year on Valentine's Day. The days leading up to this bright, Saturday afternoon had been very stressful to both the planning committee and the whole school in their tremendous efforts to impress their two sister schools, Sarayashiki and Meiou. True to the festival's name, hundreds of the blooming trees surrounded the carnival area, creating an intoxicatingly enjoyable atmosphere. Unbeknownst to the visiting schools, many of the trees had been planted two days beforehand.
All three high schools were being joined together to show unity despite the distances all three schools were from each other. Despite their many differences, all the students blended so well that day that not even the teachers could pick out who belonged to what school.
Everyone was so distracted by the various booths set up that it was quite easy for Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kurama to bring Hiei along unnoticed. They were all gathered next to a ring tossing booth with the two humans avidly trying to see who could beat the other. Yusuke and Kuwabara wore almost identical cotton yukatas rather than a male version of a kimono. The only distinction between their yukatas was the colors, green and blue separately. Neither had at all been impressed with joining the costume competition that could conclude later on that night with the crowning of the emperor and empress of the festival. However, at Keiko's insistence, the two did wear party animal masks.
Hiei wore his regular black attire. He hadn't wanted to come at all in the first place, but at Kurama's request he did. Grudgingly, though. The short demon glanced beside him at the fox reincarnate.
Out of the four, Kurama was the best and most enthusiastically dressed. Already, his kimono was drawing many stares from the girls around the ring tossing booth. Over the white undergarments he wore, Kurama had on a long, dark green shirt with blue flame designs burning across his broad chest.
"Perfect, Kurama," Hiei muttered darkly. "Bringing attention everywhere you go."
Kurama smiled. "Not all intended, I assure you, Hiei," he replied. "I'm actually quite glad that you-" There was a sudden cry of awe a few yards away from them, and everyone at the booth turned around to see what the commotion was about.
Kuwabara, being the tallest, stood on his tip-toes to see over the multitude of heads surrounding them. "Wow!" he suddenly exclaimed. "There's some hot chick with that friend of yours, Kurama!"
As soon as those words left his loud mouth, the people ahead of them suddenly parted to admit the couple attracting everyone's attention.
Tenchi turned to his companion with a bright smile. "You're stealing all the attention from me, Mia!" he joked.
There was a measurable amount of distance between them, which the latter preferred that way. It didn't give anyone the kind of impressions she didn't want or need. Mia's dark brown eyes glanced at Tenchi briefly through the thin tendrils of hair she had allowed to fall over her face. Half of her long black hair was tied up in a complicated knot atop her head and laced with artificial cherry blossoms and jeweled butterflies. A small, bamboo fan obscured the majority of her face from view. Mia's lips twitched unpleasantly at his comment. She almost had second thoughts as to why she agreed to come to the festival in the first place.
Hushed whispers erupted from all sides from their Asahikawa classmates as they continued deeper into the fairgrounds. They all slowly began to recognize the girl beside Tenchi Masaki despite the fan in front of her face, and from the snatches he heard, none could have ever imagined both Mia Yakitoshi being persuaded to come with him to the festival and also dressed so beautifully. Tenchi felt very proud at that moment, especially when envious looks were shot at him from the other boys. Every so often, the bravest of their classmates would come up to them. Everyone adored Mia's kimono, although they were prudent enough to still tread carefully when addressing her directly.
"Come next school day, they will all have forgotten what I wore and be the puny, simple-minded teenagers that they are," Mia murmured darkly from behind her fan when more two girls walked away. "Bakas."
Tenchi smiled sheepishly at he looked her over once more. Against every other girl's monochrome kimonos (two, if she was lucky) Mia's kimono was as vibrant as a true geisha. The left half of her silk kimono was red. Little patterns of pink cherry blossoms matched those embroidered on Tenchi's black costume. Mia's other side depicted a snowy day in the mountains. The purple and pink obi wrapped around Mia's waist stuck out from the red and white background.
Tenchi looked ahead and instantly spotted a familiar face among the parting crowd. "Mia, I see Suichi over by that booth!" he excitedly said. Before she could protest, Tenchi grabbed her cold hand and swiftly walked over to the other class president. "Suichi!" he called out.
"Konichiwa, Tenchi!" Kurama greeted his friend. He felt his other three companions turn to face the two newcomers and indicated them. "You remember my friends from the arcade?"
Tenchi nodded towards them genially. He moved a little out of the way and motioned towards Mia. "And you all remember my friend Mia Yakitoshi as well?"
While Kurama, Yusuke, and Kuwabara merely nodded to the beautifully imposing girl standing silently beside Tenchi Masaki, Hiei felt as if he had been stuck dumb when the fan lowered. He stared into those cold eyes which have been recently haunting his thoughts. Unlike the first time Hiei met her, her eyes didn't look so dead today. Yet, they still held no emotion. No emotion to tell that she was alive. Except hate. Deep within those two, coal-hard eyes were burning hate. But at what? Hiei couldn't help but wonder. At who? Again, his eyes followed the two-inch scar that dipped from underneath her left eye.
Mia's lips curled unpleasantly. "Still believe I am someone else?" she sneered at him. She raised her fan and snapped it over her face again. Her gut was clenched almost painfully in anger. It took her the majority of her will to keep from visibly shaking. She turned her head towards Tenchi. "I'm leaving," she said forcefully in a tone that would not be argued with. Mia needed to leave before any more of her was accidentally revealed to Koenma's lackeys. Besides, she had done what she had needed to do.
The five boys watched in surprise as she glided away. Tenchi, who had been stunned the most by her abrupt show of temper, profusely apologized to Kurama for his friend's behavior before running off to catch up to Mia.
Yusuke scratched his head. "Uh, do any of you know what just happened?" he asked.
"I saw her and the shrimp locking eyes on each other!" exclaimed Kuwabara and pointed to the suspect in question, who still stared at the spot where they had last seen Mia's retreating back.
Hiei looked up at that moment, glaring most particularly at Kuwabara. "What did you just call me, baka?" he almost whispered.
But before a real fight could ensue between the two, Keiko suddenly popped up next to Yusuke, nearly scaring the daylights out of him. "Yusuke Uremeshi, you promised me that we'd go on the Ferris wheel!" his girlfriend shouted accusingly.
"But Keiko, it's not even nig-ow, ow, OW!" he exclaimed when Keiko grabbed hold of his earlobe and proceeded to drag him away without another word under the amused eyes of his three friends.
Kuwabara laughed loudly, his previous argument with Hiei already forgotten. "Hey, that reminds me. I'm gonna go look for my gang now," he told the remaining two.
Kurama waved as Kuwabara turned around. "If you see Yusuke, tell him we're meeting in front of the stage before the costume contest!" he called. An idle wave indicated his words were heard, and then it was only him and Hiei left. With nothing better to do, they began to walk around. It didn't take Kurama long for him to ask about the incident with Mia Yakitoshi. "Did you tell her anything?" he pressed delicately, indicating something more than verbally spoken words that had not been exchanged.
Hiei scowled at a distant cotton candy maker booth. "No. The baka ningen left on her own free will," he responded emotionlessly. There had almost been a twinge of regret at her leaving, but Hiei had effectively disregarded the weak feeling after Kurama's friend had left soon after her.
"I don't really believe anymore that she could be completely human."
Hiei looked up at these words and noticed a calculating look in those emerald eyes.
"You only need to ask me, Hiei," Kurama murmured after he felt a slight push on his mental barrier.
Unabashed, Hiei demanded, "So you also believe she could have demon ancestors?" This argument has continuously prevailed among the four boys since their confrontation with the mysterious girl on the bridge. Although none of them could let go with the sliver of hope that this Mia Yakitoshi could really be Amaya Toshi with amnesia, they couldn't also let go with the fact that this girl had a human-like aura surrounding her – something Amaya never had.
The fox reincarnate sighed contemplatively. "From what I have gathered from Tenchi, Mia lives alone in the city. She came to Asahikawa two years ago, so that means if Mia really is Amaya"-Hiei glared at the unexpected mention of the name-"then what happened to those two years after the fall of Kisei's mansion? There is no logical explanation of how a demon could develop human-like characteristics unless they were reincarnated as Yoko Kurama was. Even then, if she was reincarnated, that would mean Amaya would be a mere four-year-old now."
Hiei conceded to this twisted argument. They briefly stopped at an ice cream booth at Hiei's insistence before the conversation picked up a more difficult subject to Kurama's heart. "Maya Lain is friends with Tenchi." Hiei wisely chose not to include Mia Yakitoshi in the mix, given the strong disdain she projected for other people in general.
Kurama shifted uncomfortably under Hiei's penetrating gaze. "So it seems." His tone had a sense of resignation.
"For our plans to succeed, you must forget about your petty past with her," Hiei insisted. "You gave her the memory-wiping pollen for a reason, or do I have to administer a dose to you as well?" he asked sarcastically.
Kurama nodded slowly in agreement. A sad smile flickered underneath his red bangs. "I think it best that I stay away from her as much as possible."
Hiei rolled his eyes slightly. "Which might be a problem in of itself considering the child's assignment for you and the Detective. My offer still stands."
Kurama chuckled. He readily welcomed Hiei's biting humor – something that came by very rarely nowadays. "No, Hiei. That won't be necessary. I'd rather be the one to keep those bittersweet memories of something that couldn't be. It was to protect Maya then, and I shall continue to protect her from me now."
The large stage lights blared brightly on Tenchi Masaki, the chosen class president who had been overwhelmingly elected to give the honor of crowning the emperor and empress of the Cherry Blossom Festival. A slight sheen of sweat had developed on Tenchi's forehead from the heated glare, but neither it nor the heat prevented the wide smile on his ecstatic face as he announced Suichi Minamino as the nearly unanimous-pledged emperor.
Despite being embarrassed with the both cheers and catcall whistles from his fellow classmates and friends, Kurama walked graciously onto the erected stage at the far side of the fairgrounds, just across the giant Ferris wheel. The tall, red-haired boy shook Tenchi's proffered hand before the latter stepped off the stage from the side. To Kurama's surprise and discomfort, Maya Lane stepped out from the other side of the stage with a plastic gold crown in her hands. She herself was the one to place it on his head, to Kurama's further awkwardness. In the back of his mind, Kurama could feel Hiei trying to insistently penetrate his mental barrier. He wouldn't meet Maya's glittering brown eyes after he straightened and waved loftily to the enthusiastic audience.
However, Kurama was distracted by a commotion happening out of the corner of his eye on the side of the stage Tenchi had stepped into.
Beside Tenchi Masaki was Mia Yakitoshi, and they appeared to be arguing. Tenchi was pointing towards Kurama in earnest with Mia responding by shaking her head vigorously in furious protest. Because of the high level of noise coming from all around him, Kurama could not hear a word of what they were saying. It was difficult to read Mia's lips because most of her face was obscured by her hair, but he could read Tenchi's lips. From what Kurama could gather in the space of a few seconds, Tenchi was trying to convince Mia to go onto the stage. They voted for you! Tenchi kept repeatedly saying. Then, to Kurama's utter amazement, Tenchi grabbed Mia's shoulders, spun her around to face the stage, and gave her one mighty push from behind.
Mia took hold of the skirts of her kimono to keep from stumbling, but her concentration did not stop her from realizing that the crowd surrounding the stage had gone very quiet when she was forced into the spotlight. Mia shot Tenchi a nasty glare before she coolly straightened up and surveyed the audience coldly.
Tenchi took that moment to step onto the stage after her. He wrapped an arm around her waist and presented her to the crowd. "After careful consideration by our panel of judges based on popular opinion throughout the day, they have concluded that this year's empress is none other than Asahikawa's Mia Yakitoshi!" Tenchi announced over a microphone. He stepped away from his seething friend and began to clap. Slowly, as the shock began to wear off, people, especially those from the two other high schools who didn't know Mia's reputation, began to enthusiastically join him until thundering applause and cheers were all that were heard.
Maya, grinning brightly like the lights above them, came onto the stage again, but this time, with a silver crown for Mia.
Kurama could feel the burning embarrassment and resentment coming from the newly crowned empress and couldn't help but smile. He extended his hand towards Mia, who, after a long moment of silently staring at his open palm, stiffly stretched forth her own cold hand and placed it in his. This really got the crowd going.
"Kiss! Kiss!" one particularly loud boy in the back shouted, and this started a growing chant.
Then, out of nowhere, another boy Tenchi recognized immediately as Toguro rushed out from the side of the stage. Like in slow motion, Tenchi and everyone else watched as Mia was flung headlong into Suichi Minamino, whose emerald eyes widened. He quickly stooped down with his arms open to catch her, and in the process, their heads collided. As the crowd screamed its approval the moment the emperor and empress' lips accidentally touched, Tenchi, Maya, and surprisingly, even Hiei felt the swift fire of jealously had been unwittingly kindled.
The moment was gone in the blink of an eye, however, when Mia immediately pulled away from her savior's arms. She reared her hand back. Kurama fell hard on his backside. He watched with almost a dazed expression on his face as Mia glared daggers at him. "Baka yaro," she hissed before spinning around. Amidst the crowd's catcalls and general noise, she angrily stomped off the stage without so much as a glare at Tenchi's shocked figure.
As Mia rushed off the stage, she could feel a familiar pair of scarlet eyes burning holes into the back of her head. Despite her anger, despite her embarrassment, a small smirk appeared across her lips.
No one, not even Mia, realized there were dark clouds hovering in the skies.
Thanks to those who reviewed and demanded that I take up this story again. I'd really love more reviews!
Yes, so as of this summer, I will be going back and forth between this story and my original one!