Everyone seemed to be in high spirits as we all walked through the main lobby, not even this place could bring me down. I'm glad to see everyone so happy on the night before the semi-finals, this is better than watching them become crestfallen and somber.
Quietly I watched as Yukina and Kuwabara ran ahead of us and out the lobby doors, the rest of us weren't far behind. Yukina had the picnic blanket draped over her one arm and was pointing over to the left, whatever she had said to Kuwabara made him shake his head in agreement. Were they looking for the best spot to set up the picnic? I had a feeling I was right as they both headed off in the direction Yukina had pointed in.
Out of nowhere there was a hand resting on my shoulder. I jumped and felt my heart race as I looked to see who had startled me out of my train of thoughts. The one who had scared the daylights out of me had been Yusuke. Thanks Yusuke.
I placed my hand over my heart and took a deep breath in an attempt to calm myself.
"Whoa there Hope, it's just me." Yusuke soothed as he removed his hand.
"Sorry about that Yusuke, I wasn't really paying attention to what was going on around me."
"It's fine. I was wondering if you were still okay with carrying the basket, I don't mind carrying it for you if it starts to get too heavy."
Aw, that's nice of him.
Keiko scoffed, "Don't do it Faith, Yusuke will probably eat all the food before we even find a spot to set everything up."
Yusuke faked being hurt, "I'd never."
Now I see what he was planning.
"I think it would be best for everyone if I kept the basket with me, that way at least they know they'll still get some of the food."
"Ah Hope, such little trust," He joked as he wiped away a nonexistent tear, "I'm hurt."
I felt someone lean in close and whisper, "Wise decision."
"I heard that Kurama," Yusuke pointed solely at Kurama, "I would have shared some you traitor."
"I doubt that Yusuke" Botan disagreed as she poked him in the shoulder.
I shifted the basket from one hand to the other before reaching for the door, Kurama beat me to it.
Kurama kindly opened the lobby door for me, "After you Faith."
"Thank you Kurama."
I went to step through the door but found myself hesitating to do so. A faint stinging began where my injuries used to be; gently I rubbed at the one on my torso. The last time I had set foot outside of this hotel I had been viscously attacked, the memory replayed itself before my eyes. Cautiously I stepped back, would it happen again? The odds are very low given the fact that I was now in a large group, but the thought ran across my mind.
"Faith is something wrong?"
"Not really, just kind of taking a very unwanted stroll down memory lane."
"A stroll down memory lane, what do you mean?" Shiziru asked as she came to stand by Koenma at the other door.
"The last time I was outside… what if something happens again?" I scanned the trees for any sign of the blur.
"Let them try, I can't wait until I can get my hands on whoever did that to you." Yusuke punched his palm, such a tough guy.
"Easy for you to say, you can protect yourself."
The stinging in my torso spread over to my arm, I fidgeted as I became uncomfortable with the feeling.
"Don't worry Faith; we won't let anything happen to either you or the other girls. You're safe with us. I know it's not easy but, try to forget about the incident and think about all of the fun we're going to have playing manhunt." Kurama comforted as he continued to hold the door open for me.
I took a deep breath and counted to ten, then exhaled. He's right, I shouldn't let it bother me and ruin the good mood I was in.
Lightly I shook my head to clear away the unpleasant thoughts and focused on what was happening right now.
"You're right, thank you. Like you said, let's just think about tonight." I smiled at Kurama and took a step forward, followed by another and I was now outside.
The faint breeze felt absolutely wonderful against my skin, it wasn't too hot and it wasn't too cold out. It's perfect weather for our picnic.
I felt someone come stand beside me and I looked to see it had been Keiko to join me; she looked like she was at peace, completely serene. I envied her that, even though I told them I wouldn't let it get to me I know that at the back of my mind, I was afraid the blur would come back to finish me off. I have to keep that feeling of being scared and paranoid buried deep, I can't ruin this night for everyone. I just can't.
"It feels nice doesn't it? The soft breeze and the fresh air," I asked her as she looked about the landscape.
"Yes it does. I still can't believe how a place like this can hold anything beautiful on it, not with all of the death and violence it's hosting. Yet here away from the fighting ring, there's luscious greenery and the ocean reflecting the setting sun, it makes me feel like we're on a vacation rather than being forced to fight for our lives."
I kind of agreed with her on that as we continued on our way to a frantically waving Kuwabara. They must have found a spot to set everything up.
"If it makes you feel any better, I keep expecting to wake up and find that all of this had been nothing but a dream. A dream I'm starting to not want to wake from. I like it a whole lot more here than back home." I cringed as I remembered some of the ways people treated me back there. Ya no thank you, I don't want to go back to that now.
"Yeah Yusuke and the others filled us in on some of your history, I'm really sorry for what you've been put through."
I smiled, "Thank you Keiko. I hope no one goes through what I've been through… I still get body aches and pains from past injuries."
"Past injuries?" her eyes were wide in disbelief, "What do you mean?"
"Well like I've said before, people didn't really treat me the best back home. I was unwanted, an outcast, a lot of people just ignored me… but… there were some who got unnerved whenever I drew too near to them."
I switched the basket to my other hand and pointed to a scar on my arm up by my left shoulder, "This is a scar from a knife wound I received back when I was thirteen."
"A knife wound!" Koenma exclaimed from behind me.
I nodded my head, "I have another one on my right leg too. It was a school day back in the early spring, I had been walking home and on the way I passed by a group of students that went to my school. I guess I walked too close to their liking because one boy pulled out a knife and took a swing of it at me. The first swipe got me there on my shoulder, the next one landed on my leg."
I paused and gave the scar on my shoulder a rub at the memory of getting it.
"I remember yelling out in pain and falling back onto the road, a car slowed down just long enough to curse me out for being on the road and drove off. After I ran away I went to the police station to report the assault, but when the police went to confront the other students they all claimed I was trying to cast a spell on them, and said they did what they did in self-defense. They walked away with only a warning while I walked away with stitches and my arm in a sling."
"That's horrible!" Keiko looked completely horrified by my story.
"What about your father?" Genkai asked
"He didn't seem to care, I hardly ever saw him when we were both home."
"Were those the only injuries you sustained?"
"No there were others, but that was the biggest. I've been pushed; had rocks thrown at me, locked in a broom closet… the list goes on."
"How did you handle it all by yourself?" Botan asked with unshed tears in her eyes.
"Visions, television, music, drawing; the drawings and music helped the most, sometimes it felt like I could escape into my own little fantasy world where everything was different."
"Aw Faith, don't cry. You're here with us now; if anyone mistreats you come get me and I'll deal with them personally." Yusuke offered
I was crying? When did that start? Quickly I wiped the tears away. Stupid body and it's ever changing emotions.
"Thanks Yusuke, I appreciate it."
I had just finished wiping away the tears when we met up with Kuwabara, I had guessed right at them finding a spot for our picnic. Kuwabara led the way through a small group of trees and shrubs, on the other side was an almost circular clearing that stretched all the way to the sharp drop off of cliffs. We had the most amazing view of the setting sun; the whole scenery felt like it should be on a masterpiece painting.
It was simply gorgeous.
"Oh wow, Kazuma this place is perfect!" I gushed as I headed over to where Yukina had laid out the blanket.
"Yukina found it while we were looking, I ran right by the place."
"That doesn't surprise me." Yusuke joked as he strode past Kuwabara
"That's enough Yusuke, why do you always have to pick on Kuwabara?" Keiko stepped in between the two.
"Because he's an idiot"
"Yusuke" I shot him a warning look
Yusuke threw his hands up in defeat, "Okay I'll behave. Nothing says you girls are serious like a verbal tag team."
"What do you mean by verbal tag team?" Keiko asked as I laughed.
Keiko went on over to Yusuke to pursue the meaning of what he meant by verbal tag team and I began the task of unloading the food from the basket. Taking the food out was about as effective as ringing a dinner bell, everyone who wasn't already sitting sat down and patiently waited.
"Would you like some help Faith? How would you prefer to do this?" Kurama asked from his sitting spot beside me.
"Well, I was kind of thinking of just laying it out and have everyone dish it out themselves. If you'd like, you can hand out the dishes for me while I pour the drinks."
"Sure thing Faith," Kurama smiled and took the plates from me.
I heard the clink of plates as I continued to pull out the containers of food and remove the lids. I'm still kind of amazed that the hotel supplied so many food containers and… well just food in general. All of the food was thankfully still warm and ready to eat; I placed the last opened container of food in the center of the blanket and received a plate from Kurama.
"Thank you."
"Oh wow Faith, this all looks so delicious! I can't believe you made all of this!" Botan looked like she had died and gone to heaven; I think I even saw stars in her eyes.
"If you don't mind me asking, what all did you make Faith?" Koenma asked from beside Shiziru, who seemed to be eyeing all of the food.
"I've made Onigiri, sautéed shishito peppers, sesame noodles, inarizushi, soba salad, Tamagoyaki, grilled seasoned fish, sandwiches, some sushi, and a Castella cake with blueberry sauce. Today is the first time I've ever made some of these dishes, so let me know how they are."
"Where did you find the time to make all of that?"
"I've been cooking all afternoon, Kuwabara helped with the Onigiri. Oh and I also made the lemonade everyone seems to like and a new blueberry juice to try."
"Faith you are the cooking queen." Yusuke complimented as he looked over all of the food.
"I can't wait to try some; my mouth is watering in anticipation." Botan looked like she was just itching to dig in.
I smiled, "Thank you, well go ahead and dig in."
No one needed to be told twice; quietly I sat back and poured myself a glass of the new blueberry juice I had made. From my spot on the blanket I watched as everyone served themselves some food and happily begin to eat; there were smiles on a bunch of faces as they sampled the food. It made me very happy to see them enjoying my cooking; I breathed a sigh of relief. I was kind of worried that there might be something wrong with some of the food, like maybe there being too much seasoning or too little but from how things are looking, my worries were for nothing.
"Faith, are you not going to have any? We don't want to eat it all on you, not after you put the time into making all of this." Keiko asked as she placed the Tamagoyaki container back onto the center of the blanket.
Eat it all? Were they really all that hungry? Maybe I should cook bigger meals. The thought came out of the blue so suddenly, I let out a short 'oh!' before looking around the blanket for the extra plate. I had almost forgotten to save a plate of food for Hiei.
"Wait please; if I were to pass around this plate could you put some of everything on it? I forgot to set aside a plate for Hiei." I kindly asked as I found the plate I had been looking for.
I picked up the spare plate from beside Kurama and the now empty basket and passed it over to Kurama. He took the plate from me and placed a helping of soba salad onto the plate before he passed it on to the left.
"Why are we saving him food? I say if he's not here then he should go without." Kuwabara disregarded as he went back to eating what was on his plate.
"Don't be an ass baby brother and put some food on the plate like Faith asked you to." Shiziru snapped before reaching over and hitting her brother on the back of the head.
"I'm not about to feed all of you and leave Hiei out, I'm not like that. I'll save him a plate of food for when I see him next and if he decides he doesn't want it then that's fine, at least I thought about him and saved him some." I defended.
I really wasn't about to have Hiei go without just because he wasn't here.
"Kazuma, would you really not leave any food for Hiei?" Yukina asked as she placed some food on the plate and passed it on.
The look on Kuwabara's face let everyone know that he was struggling with answering her. I'm kind of thinking he really would.
When the plate made its way back to me, I had a piece of saran wrap ready. There now I'll just set this in the basket so it'll be ready to go whenever we leave or if he shows up.
After making sure Hiei's plate was safely tucked away, I turned to start filling my plate to find it had disappeared from my lap. Huh?
"Here Faith, you should eat up before it's all gone." Kurama offered me my plate which had been filled with food.
"Oh, thank you Kurama. You didn't have to serve me; I could have gotten it myself."
"It's okay, I wanted to."
I thanked Kurama again and continued on to trying some of the new dishes I had made.
Off in the distance near the cluster of trees which surrounded the semi-clearing sat a dark figure. Hiei sat on a thick tree branch while he leaned up against the trunk. That bastard Kuwabara had tried to convince everyone not to leave him any food; Hiei folded his arms in agitation and glared in Kuwabara's direction. Why should he care if they saved him a plate of food or not, it's not like he's ever depended on anyone for sustenance before, why should he start now?
Quietly Hiei continued to watch from afar, they do look to be having fun, and the food did look rather tasty. Irritable with conflict Hiei sat up, should he go and join them? No, he shook his head, it wasn't in his character to give in and conform to the ways of humans. He was solitude, he was free to live as he chose… but then he remembered how Faith's meals had tasted.
"Damn that human and her cooking abilities." Hiei grumbled angrily.
Hiei continued to watch everyone eat and chat amongst themselves; they all looked to be enjoying the food. He was kind of incredulous that the human Faith had set aside a plate solely for him. The temptation to head over there and snatch up his plate; rose with each passing minute, and watching while serving after serving of food went onto peoples plates made his eyes twitch. He was getting hungry, and Hiei never let that get the best of him. Damn them all. If only something were to happen that would lead everyone to believe he was there for that rather than the food.
He let out a 'humph' and leaned back against the tree trunk, they can eat all the food they wanted to, Hiei wasn't going to budge from this spot.
"Would any of you like some of the Castella cake now?" Hiei heard Faith ask.
They had cake, how much food did the human make? Again Hiei leaned forward, cake was a sweet wasn't it? He did like sweets. Quietly he watched in slight anticipation as Faith brought out from somewhere beside her, a long platter with what looked to be sliced up cake with some blue sauce. Hiei's mouth tingled at the thought of eating something sweet. He liked his sweets. If there was ever one thing Hiei liked about the humans, it would be their ability to make all kinds of sweet goodies. Why, why did they have to have cake? Hiei angrily muttered incoherently as he watched the others pass the cake around. Hiei rose to his knees and was about to get away from this place and its temptations when he heard someone say something about a game.
"I think after we're done with the cake we'll clean up, rest for a little bit and then play manhunt. How does that sound Faith, it should be dark enough by then right?" Yusuke asked.
Hiei almost smirked, oh yes perfect! He could use playing manhunt as an excuse to show up and eat his plate of food. The idea of hunting someone in the dark didn't sound too bad to him either.
Without so much as a second though, Hiei leapt from the tree branch he had been resting on and landed effortlessly on the ground below. His cloak settled noiselessly around him before he began making his way over to the area everyone had gathered in.
When Hiei drew in close to the group, heads had turned to see who had joined them. Kuwabara looked like he had just been slapped, good let the fool keep thinking he knew Hiei's habits; it was worth proving the moron wrong just to see that look. Not a word had been spoken as he flung back his cloak from his legs and sat down in the empty spot between Kurama and Faith.
