I sat there in shock like some of the others as Hiei came and joined us, where did he just come from? Did I just see him jump down from a tree over by where we entered the clearing?
"Welcome Hiei," I greeted, "We saved you a plate of food in case you were hungry."
I pulled the covered plate out of the basket and offered it to him; he took it and set it down in front of him.
"I'm only here for the hunting."
"Oh… well would you like a piece of Castella cake before it's all gone?" I offered him kindly.
Hiei eyed the cake before slowly taking a piece and placing it on top of his covered plate. I hope he likes it.
"Okay well let's get cleaning up and then it should be dark enough, right Faith?" Yusuke asked as he leaned forward and gathered up some empty containers.
I looked over to the west and watched the sun slowly sink below the horizon. It should be dark enough soon.
"Yes, it should just be a little while longer and it'll be dark enough."
Everyone seemed to get excited with the anticipation of playing manhunt once the sun has set. I too began to feel excited; this is going to be my first time playing manhunt also.
While I helped clean and put away the food containers, I remembered something I was going to do. Tucked safely in my back pant pocket was my iPod. I had decided that tonight I would share some of the music I had, whenever I had it out the others would ask about it. Well tonight while we sat around and let our food settle I'll play a few songs for them to hear. Though there were some songs I'm about ninety percent sure they wouldn't like, like my Cradle of Filth songs… ya they don't need to hear those. Maybe I'll play some techno songs for them to hear, it should help get their spirits up even more, and I smiled at the thought.
The blanket had been cleared of plates and containers, well, all except Hiei's plate. While the rest of us were busy cleaning up Hiei had opened his plate of food and quietly nibbled away at it. Though to be honest; from some of the looks he had, I think he was more interested in the cake then anything. Everyone sat around letting their meal settle, they all looked to be satisfied.
"So how did you like everything?" I asked them.
"I'm stuffed!" Kuwabara groaned as he flopped back onto the soft grass.
"Faith everything was wonderful, I haven't had a good meal since I arrived here; it's been nothing but vending machine items." Keiko looked like she could almost take a nap.
"I'm glad you liked it," I looked over to where the basket sat full of empty containers, there wasn't a bit of food left, except for one last slice of Castella cake.
"Would anyone like the last piece of cake?"
There was a flash of black and then the last piece of cake was gone. Where did it go? I looked around and found it in Hiei's hands… well then… how about that?
"Um… never mind." I packed the cake platter away.
"It's official, Faith I'm going to need some of those recipes." Yusuke seemed to be completely satisfied as he leaned back on his elbows.
Botan laughed, "What would you do with the recipes Yusuke, you would never make them."
"I'd get one of you to cook it for me" he said simply.
Everyone made a noise of disagreement. I chuckled at the scene before me of everyone giving Yusuke their opinions on the matter.
While everyone picked on Yusuke for being either lazy or not having much of a talent in the cooking department, I reached into my back pocket and pulled out my iPod. With a small tug at the earbud headphone cord I watched the cord unravel from around the iPod and have it fall gently into my lap. With the corner of my thumbnail I dug into the crease of the waterproof casing; if I wanted to play music through the built in speaker I had to remove the casing, otherwise it wouldn't be very loud.
The case came apart with a 'click' with the case in two I placed them both next to the basket so I wouldn't lose them. With the case removed I unplugged the earbud headphones, raveled it into a ball and tucked them back into my pant pocket.
"What is that you have Faith?" Shiziru asked before she lit her cigarette.
All eyes were now on me, I lifted my red iPod for one and all to see.
"Oh that, Faith told us about it before, it's her… Lip-Pod," Kuwabara stated. No Kuwabara not a Lip-Pod, it's an iPod.
The girls and Koenma looked like they had just taken a bite out of something they didn't like.
"A Lip-Pod, what on earth is that?" Koenma asked as he eyed the device in my hands.
I laughed.
"It plays music." Kurama inputted.
I shook my head and tried my best not to laugh again, I was failing miserably.
"It's not called a Lip-Pod… you're close though."
"Oh… oh wait a mouth-pod, no, it's a… I can't remember the name of it." Kuwabara admitted in defeat.
"Well since we're guessing the name of the thing, I'm going to guess a Nose… thing," Yusuke tried.
That isn't a very appealing product name, the Nose-Pod. I couldn't help myself and chuckled.
"Yusuke that is the worst product name I've heard for music." I mocked being businesslike, "Come on in folks, and get the Nose-Pod while it's here!" I laughed.
"What is this? Pick on Yusuke night?" he joked.
"If it is, I have a LOT to dish out to you Urameshi," Kuwabara leaned over and lightly hit Yusuke's arm.
"I may have a few words to contribute as well." Genkai asserted before taking a sip of her beverage.
"It's called an iPod, it plays music. There are digital music files stored on the device and you can access them through the menus. To listen to the music, you can either use headphones or use the built in speaker, which is why I took off the waterproof casing." Yusuke looked like he could use a diversion from the teasing.
"So this… iPod is how you listen to music where you're from?" Shiziru asked after she took a puff from her cigarette.
"One of the ways yes, this is the most popular mobile way. Back home you could listen to music on CDs, DVDs, the computer, a cellphone, all kinds of things actually."
"DVD, what's that?" Kurama asked.
Oh boy, what did I just start?
"Digital Versatile Disc, or DVD for short, can hold digital information on it. Where I'm from the DVD actually made the VHS pretty much obsolete, no one really uses a VHS tape anymore."
"Wow your world sounds really high tech. But getting back to your music player, what kind of songs were you thinking of playing?" Yusuke asked.
"It better not be any of that rock crap you listen to dimwit." Genkai shot a look over to Yusuke.
"No I'm not going to, though I do have some on here. I have all kinds of genres on here."
"I'm curious to hear some." Kurama leaned in closer.
Hm, what genre should I play?
"How about we listen to some techno? It has a nice rhythmic beat to it."
"Never heard of it before, I'm down for listening to some." Yusuke agreed.
There was a wave of agreeing nods. Ok then, techno it is.
With everybody in agreement, I opened up my techno playlist and selected the song Take Me Away by Jessie M.
As the song began to play, out of habit I bobbed my head along to the beat. I really do like this song.
I glanced about the group to gauge everyone's reaction to the music, from what I could tell they liked it.
"So this is called techno, is it always so… beat repetitive?" Kuwabara asked as he shifted his shoulders in beat with the music.
"I didn't think you knew the word repetitive" Yusuke teased.
"Shut up dimwit, you probably don't even know what the meaning of that word is." Genkai snapped.
"I know more than he does."
I closed my eyes and counted to three. Ah Yusuke ever so mature.
"To answer your question Kuwabara, yes some of them are," I picked up my iPod and scrolled through the songs, "I think I have a song that's more up your alley though."
I clicked select and turned the volume up a little bit more, the song Another One Bites The Dust by Queen played over the speaker.
I quietly sang along.
"I like this song, it's great. Who is it by?" Kuwabara agrees as he moved his head to the beat of the song.
"It's by Queen."
"What Queen? Not the Queen of England?" Koenma asked shocked at the idea of the Queen singing this.
"No, the band is called Queen."
"How many more songs do you have on that thing?" Shiziru asked before she stretched her arms.
"Umm…" I had to stop and think about it, "About sixteen hundred more, give or take a few songs."
The astonished looks on everyone's faces would have been a Kodak moment.
"What?"
"You have one-thousand-six-hundred songs on that thing?!" Keiko didn't seem to believe me.
"Yeah," I looked through the settings until I found the one where it said the total number of musical files, "See."
I turned the iPod around and showed them the screen. Their looks of shock didn't disappear.
"Man that's a lot of music." Yusuke stated before sitting up and draping his hands between his knees.
"This is nothing; I have WAY more on my computer back home. I'm pretty sure I'm close to the three thousand mark."
"Dude, if I'm ever on a game show that has to do with music I'm having you as my lifeline." Yusuke just shook his head in disbelief.
"That is a lot of music; do you have anything else on there that you'd be willing to share with us?" Kurama kindly asked as he moved in a bit closer to examine the iPod.
"Sure, but for now I think I'll go for something quieter; that way when we're talking about manhunt we're not shouting over each other."
Again I quickly scrolled through and found the title Wedding Song by an unknown artist and selected it.
"Oh, that sounds beautiful." Keiko gushed as she listened to the song play on.
"Okay, the girlie music has now come out, which means it's game time." Yusuke stood up and looked like he was pumped up.
"You like it and you know it." I teased before I too stood up and stretched.
"Uh, hell-to-the-no I do."
"I don't see you getting out of earshot or plugging your ears tough guy."
"I could shoot the iRing with my spirit gun and be done with it," he challenged.
I glared at him, "Do it and I'll never cook you another meal ever again."
Yusuke laughed in an almost mocking manner.
"Yusuke leave Faith alone, she'd be crushed if you destroyed one of the only possessions she has from her home." Koenma shot at Yusuke while he tried to stand up without stepping on his cape.
"I'd cry if you broke my iPod. I would have to wait years just to hear some of the songs again, it would be devastating." I quickly turned off my iPod and tucked it away.
"Okay, back to the subject of manhunt… how do we play?" Botan snapped her fingers in an attempt to break up the stare down we were having.
Yusuke's posture relaxed, he glanced over to where Keiko was standing and looked back at me. What? He flipped his middle finger at me with a teasing smile. Ah! That little bugger. Childishly I stuck my tongue out at him. Oh good job Faith, cause you know that really showed him a thing or two.
"YUSUKE!" Keiko hollered.
"Ha ha, Busted." I laughed.
Movement to my left caught my attention; I took a glimpse over to my left and found Kurama shaking his head with a slight smile on his face. What was so amusing?
"Faith, don't be an instigator."
I couldn't help myself.
"He started it."
Yusuke laughed.
"Well I think we found our two team captains." Kuwabara said aloud from his sitting spot on the picnic blanket.
"With the great words of some person I don't know the name of … you're going down." I shot a cocky look over to my lead opponent.
"Bring it on Tinkerbelle; I'll take you and your team on." He shot me his best 'bring it on' look.
The air around us became alive with friendly competition static; ooh this is going to be so much fun. But maybe just for good measure I should taunt him some more.
"Maybe I should invest in a name tag; you can't seem to get my name right. Maybe when my team wins you'll be able to remember it."
"Just pick your first team member little girl."
I heard chuckles come from some of the others; I looked over to where they stood and found them all standing in a spread out group. They waited to see whose team they would be selected for.
Momentarily I stood there in a speechless state, never before had I been assigned team captain, never before had I been able to choose who would be on my team. Every time teams had to be selected I was always, ALWAYS picked last or told to sit out. No one ever wanted me on a team, but now I was around people who didn't mind being on my team, or around me for that matter. After all the days spent here with these individuals, I'm finally starting to feel like an actual human being.
I took a minute to silently memorize this feeling, who knows if today will be my last or not. After taking my minute to myself, I looked about the participants and spotted the first person I wanted on my team.
"Hiei… I choose you!" I mimicked the action of throwing a pokéball and followed through to end up pointing at Hiei.
That weird little skit had the others looking at me as if I'd perhaps gone crazy. What, have they never seen Pokémon?
"What?" I asked while Hiei quietly walked over and stood beside me. He looked like he was ready to either make a run for it or smack me, one of the two.
"What was that?" Kuwabara asked while he attempted to mimic my earlier movements.
"Oh come on, everyone knows Pokémon."
"What's Pokémon?" Koenma asked.
"Yeah I've never heard of it." Botan glanced around at everyone to see if they agreed with her. They did.
"Man this place is depressing. It's a show from back home, there are these little creatures called Pokémon that people would catch, train and fight with. And they were kept in these little red, black, and white balls; whenever the trainer needed one they'd throw the ball and yell… 'Jolteon, I choose you'-I picked my favorite Pokémon to use as an example- and they'd appear." I tried my best to explain while Yusuke laughed, "Shut up Yusuke."
"That's cute Tinkerbelle," Yusuke snickered, "I'll take Kurama."
Yusuke shot me a smug look, what? What was that smug look for? So he picked Kurama, big deal. Kurama went and stood over by Yusuke.
"Kuwabara, would you like to be on my team?"
"Hell ya, let's beat Urameshi!" he happily accepted, on his way over he gave me a high-five.
"… Keiko," Yusuke kicked at a small stone as he said her name.
Aw isn't that cute.
"Genkai, would you care to join us? It means you can take down Yusuke whenever you see him run for home base."
"I think I'm going to like this game." Genkai said with her signature smile.
"Ah crap." He breathed.
"Your turn Yusuke." I smiled at him.
"Shiziru, want to beat up Kuwabara?"
"I'd love to." Shiziru went over to Yusuke's team.
In the end Koenma joined my team, Botan went with Yusuke and Yukina was appointed referee. Before we started I went over the rules again just so everyone understood.
"Okay, one team seeks and defends while the other tries to make it to the safe zone. If the team captain is caught –I pointed to Yusuke and I- the round is over. If the opposing team captain gets to the safe zone without being captured and yells 'Ollie-Ollie-Oxen-Free' their team wins. If another member makes it to the safe zone just call out 'Home-Free' so we know the round is still going. For the seekers, there is a rule I'm going to add, no camping." I made eye contact with everyone while I explained the rules real quick.
"What do you mean by no camping?" Koenma asked.
"Camping is when a player picks a spot near the safe zone and doesn't move unless an opponent is making a move for it. It wouldn't be really fun if everyone camped out and just waited, so I think it's fair if we make it a rule where the seekers have to keep moving. Does everyone agree?"
"I think that's fair, wouldn't be very fun if there wasn't a chance for the other team to make it." Yusuke agreed before continuing, "Are there any other rules?"
"Well seeing how some of us are… lacking in the special abilities department, I think it's fair to say no speed running, spirit guns or any other spirit weapon, and no nature manipulation." I looked at each specific one in turn, "And if you're going to tackle, do it to someone you know can handle it."
"Oh I can't wait to get started, but which team is going to seek first and what area will be the safe zone?" Keiko asked as she looked around to each player.
"We can always play rock-paper-scissors." Kuwabara offered, with a mischievous grin.
"No that isn't fair with your sixth sense… hmm, how about we flip a coin? Winner decides what they want to do first. And how about the picnic blanket is the safe zone?"
Everyone nodded in agreement.
"I have a coin, here Yukina you're the referee you handle the flip." Shiziru tossed Yukina a coin and watched her fumble to catch it.
"O-okay, Call your choice up in the air and we'll see who wins." Yukina quietly spoke as she looked the coin over.
"Ready?"
Yusuke and I nodded. She flipped the coin.
"Heads!" I called out as Yusuke called out Tails.
Yukina caught the coin and revealed to all of us the outcome.
"Ha I won!" I blurted excitedly and grew more and more amped for the game.
"Yeah, yeah, good call Tinkerbelle. Pick what your team is going to do first."
"We'll hide." I turned to my teammates, "And don't be afraid to get down and dirty either, the object is to try and camouflage yourself until you think it's safe enough to try for the safe zone."
My teammates nodded before dashing off into the surrounding forest, as they ran I did my best to see if everyone had worn dark clothing. They had, well, all except Koenma and his red cape, and once they drew closer to the tree line it was harder for me to see them.
