Whoo! Double-digit chapter, people! Yeah!
Now the fun's really going to begin…
Hiei: ((Wearing her swimsuit)) Grr…
Kurama: Now, Hiei, it isn't that bad. Kohaku Minamoto does not own Yu Yu Hakusho and both Hiei and I will be very grateful if all of you readers would review so that she will release us from this torture soon…
SHE'S THE MAN
By Kohaku Minamoto
Chapter 10. She's Goin' Down
"AND HERE THEY ARE! KASUMI KANAKUMA, KOHARU KINOMOTO, HINA HITAWARI, AND TEAM CAPTAIN YUKIKO IRAZUMI! FROM THIS LOOKS OF THIS, THE LADIES OF 'ETERNAL WINTER' ARE GOING TO HAVE THEIR WORK CUT OUT FOR THEM!"
"Lovely." Yusuke smirked as she walked down the stage, surrounded by flashing lights and catcalls from the audience. She heard more than one yell of 'you're hot!' and 'could I have your number?'
"NOW GIRLS, TAKE A POSE AND SMILE FOR THE CAMERA!"
"How ridiculous," Hiei muttered. The team slowly glided down to center stage, a spotlight following their every move.
"I thought you loved our team pose," Kurama said innocently.
"Hmph. You thought wrong."
The cameraman waved to them and motioned for them to get into position.
Everyone's going to love this, Yusuke thought as they got into position. She could vaguely recall Ren on the day they had made this up.
"Look, you'll have a lot of paparazzi after you, so it's best if you have some kind of pose." Ren held a finger to her lips and thought hard. "Oh! Wait! I've got it! Now just stand here..."
Kurama and Kuwabara, the two tallest, stood back-to-back with their hands held secret-agent style (lock-and-load, people). Hiei folded her arms across her chest and looked away nonchalantly (she had refused to really pose, so Ren had to compromise) as Yusuke hooked one arm around the fire apparition's shoulders and leaned into her, winking one eye at the camera and holding up her free hand as though she was going to shoot her Spirit Gun.
"Bang," was all she said before the camera lights practically blinded them all.
"Well done, all of you!" Ren threw her arms around all of them, capturing an unwilling Hiei in the process. Botan came running over to them, waving a sheet of paper.
"The pictures just came out! I bought one just in case you wanted to see."
The caption read "the Cinderella Rejects arrive with a 'bang,' as team captain Yukiko Irazumi states." Kuwabara thumped Yusuke playfully on the back.
"How come the rest of us don't get any popularity?" she teased.
"Cause you're ugly, and I'm beautiful," Yusuke joked.
"You guys were great, but Koharu…" Ren grabbed the redhead by the wrist and dragged her off to the rooms. "You'd better get ready. The next round's going to start in fifteen minutes."
"Wup their asses, Koharu!"
"Yeah! What she said!"
Kurama gave a little wave before disappearing into the elevator with Ren. Yusuke caught a flicker of movement out of the corner of her eye and turned to look at it.
"Oh, here comes the bitch queen and her servants," she muttered to Hiei, who immediately looked up. Pandora was striding over to them, followed by Racquel and two others whose names Yusuke did not know. Pandora was all smiles as she gave Yusuke a friendly pat on the shoulder.
"Nice job," she said flatly. "You gave a great first impression."
"Thanks, I really think we did," Yusuke mirrored Pandora's fake smile. Unlike you, she thought unkindly to herself.
"Oh, right, I should've introduced the rest of the girls to you." Pandora pointed to a small, mousy-haired girl who was barely taller than Hiei. "This is Amy Guinard, and this," she pointed to a girl with bright pink hair, "is Audrey Fujiwara."
"Hi," Amy said quietly, holding out her hand to Yusuke. "It iz truly a pleazure to meet you." She spoke with a heavy French accent, but seemed nice enough, though slightly cowed by Pandora's overwhelming bossiness. Audrey waved absently while dialing numbers on her cell phone.
"So, are you guys ready for the next event?" Pandora asked. Yusuke nodded.
"Yeah, Koharu's upstairs getting ready."
"Koharu, huh? The redhead from before?"
"Yes…" Yusuke didn't really like the way Pandora said 'redhead.' It was like she thought it was a disease or something.
Strange considering one of her teammates had hair the color of a neon street sign.
"Well, I'm sure that she's real smart and all, but she'll probably have a pretty hard time beating Amy here." She patted Amy's short brown hair affectionately, as though to prove her point. Yusuke resisted the urge to roll her eyes and/or grind her teeth.
"Puh-lease. Koharu's one of the best out there."
"Oh, really?" Pandora kept the smile on her face because of all the people around, but her eyes were burning with a nasty fire. "You just keep thinking that, princess, but I'll have you know that Amy is the best, so you'd better watch your back."
At that moment, Ren came back with Kurama, who was dressed in jeans and a white, shortsleeved polo shirt along with her brown-and-pink Converses. Her hair was tied back in her regular ponytail with a few strands framing her face. She looked slightly surprised to see the Eternal Winter team.
"Oh, hello."
"Hi, Koharu." Pandora reached her arms out and hugged Kurama, completely ignoring Ren. Yusuke couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor guy – er, girl (not Ren, folks, Kurama).
"Hi, Pandora…nice to see you again."
"Good luck on the next round. We'll see you then." Pandora turned to go, but looked back at the last second. "Oh, and by the way…I really do love your name. 'Cinderella Rejects.' Sounds all…punk, rebel-with-a-cause, you know?" She smirked, then walked off.
"Ooh, I'd love to just bitch-slap that girl back to America," Ren seethed. Kuwabara and Botan looked slightly shocked at her choice of words, but Yusuke solemnly laid a hand on the green-haired girl's shoulder.
"I totally agree."
"Actually, so do I." Kurama joined in the conversation.
"Seriously? Goody two-shoes Koharu thinks so too?"
"Yes, I do, and so does Youko, because of what Pandora just did to me." Kurama looked uncharacteristically angry.
"Uh…because she hugged you?"
"No, you fool," Hiei snapped, obviously peeved by Pandora's recent appearance. "Didn't you see? The wench put something on Koharu's back."
"What'd she put on there?" Yusuke asked. "'Pinch me and I'll squeal,' or something like that?"
"No, far worse." Kurama handed her a Post-it, which Yusuke crumpled up after reading.
"All right," she said so calmly that the rest of the team stared. "That girl is officially going down. I don't care what it takes. No one – I repeat, no one, messes with my friends and lives to tell the tale." She threw the paper on the floor, where it stayed, face up, showing the bold, black letters that it sported.
DON'T BE TRICKED BY THIS PRETTY FACE. I'M A COMPLETE WHORE UNDERNEATH IT. I WON'T MIND IF YOU GROPE ME, 'CAUSE I'VE DONE WORSE THINGS AND I'M PROUD OF IT.
Grr…I've made myself mad. Pandora might seem a little…larger than life, but I need something to vent my anger on. Just review, 'kay? I'm sorry this chapter's short, but it's like ten-thirty at night and I'm tired.