Sweetheart and Enemy
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho, but I do own Kuraiya, Hatsune, Riho, Katsuya, Rahvanna, Sakaki and Sasaki.
Summary: Hatsune returns from a foreign exchange program in America and enrolls at Meiou High. She is unaware of the close tabs being kept on her as chaos returns to her home and her mind.
Chapter Fourteen: Change of Plans
We got to the edge of a forest in Spirit World. We sat in a circle as Botan pulled out a two-week calendar. She began to write a few things down before assigning days of training. I didn't really apply to that calendar- I still had to train with the twins and they got word of the advancement of the tournament. Not only do I train all weekend, but I now train two to three times a week extra with them. It's like a second job, freakin' A! I was seriously contemplating quitting the cashier position, just to have some extra time with the training. I sure knew that I was going to desperately need it. As she coordinated who trained on what day with whom, I dozed off a bit. I was pushed in order to wake up.
"You can sleep later," Botan said as she shook me.
"No, she can't," Koenma piped up. "She has training tomorrow."
I didn't like the sound of that. I could have cried at that moment if I wasn't so exhausted. My face expressed the distress, but that was about the extent of it.
"Uh, hey, what's wrong?" questioned Kuwabara.
Honestly, on principle, Kuwabara was a sweet guy, but I wished he just paid more attention to the situation sometimes. It would answer a lot of the questions he voiced aloud.
"I'm so drained I could cry…"
I used the wrong choice of words for another slew of inquiries flooded my ears. I violently shook my head; I didn't want to hear anymore of that. I pointed my index finger in his general direction and a cat popped out of nowhere, well, in his eyes, anyway.
"Oh, kitty! Come here, kitty!" Kuwabara played with the imaginary cat for a while. He was so elated. "You look just like Eikichi!"
I sighed deeply- yet another reprieve.
"Hey, what's goin' on?" asked Yusuke. "I don't see a cat…"
This peaked the interest of Kurama and Hiei.
"Is he hallucinating?" Botan asked me as she turned to look at me in a worried, yet oddly comforting way. It wasn't like she was nervous or anything…
"Yes and no," was all I said.
"So, what's goin' on and how did it happen?" Yusuke asked again.
"What's goin' on is he sees an illusion and how it happened… I'm not too sure about it myself."
Kurama explained parts of the matter that I was a little confused on. All I knew was that Illusionists and specific types of mages could produce illusions that did not have much contrast to a hallucination. Anything after that was a foreign language to me, just like physics.
As Botan finished her last day of training on the schedule, she brightened the area with her smile. "Okay, ladies and gents, we're good to go! We begin tomorrow. And, Hatsune," she said as she looked at me, "Have fun with Sakaki and Sasaki. Don't die, okay?"
"It's number one on my list for the next two weeks."
As I stood up, I saw a trio of squirrels. Just your plain, ol' cute, little, furry woodland creatures… Well, about that. They were cute until they mutated in front of everyone.
"You wanna play with my pets?" she asked everyone. She was in her happy mood now. I think she forgot to take her medication. She walked up to me. "Did you enjoy playtime last time?"
"Hell no."
Rahvanna went from content to insta-bitch in a nanosecond. I had to take a few steps toward her fuzzy freak friends in order to keep my head as she got super pissed. I took a good look at the anomalies and decided I would just sort of slice them, but they were solid and metal like. I didn't feel like blowing things up for the moment, so I passed that idea by. I poked them and indeed they were metal.
"How the hell do you get rid of these metal things?" I asked as I looked at her. She had somewhat calmed down, but she was not in the best mood. I didn't give a damn.
"NO! You don't kill them! It's playtime."
Seriously, what the hell IS she on?
While I was staring down the overgrown rodents, Botan chirped.
"Uh, can you undo that cat illusion? He's still entertained by an Eikichi look-alike."
Whoops. I forgot about that. I just snapped and he was out of it. That was one good thing about a snap. The down side was some animals found it annoying, per se. The squirrel things squirmed around for a little bit before Rahvanna made them disappear.
"They don't like you," she told me.
I can live with that info. I'm okay with it.
With all of this comprehended, we left the edge of the thicket and entered Kurama's backyard. The team disbanded for the rest of the day. It was the only day that we actually had to relax and just chill. I showered and chilled on the couch for a little bit while Kurama was sitting at the computer desk skimming through the information he copied from that chip. I didn't bother to walk over there. Mainly, I was too lazy because of the lack of energy. I sprawled out on the couch and made it my temporary bed until Kurama ruined my moment. He sat on my stomach!
I whined. Flat out. My discontent was growing while my motivation was lessening.
"Why do you hate me?" I asked in a tired, yet playful manner.
"I don't hate you."
"Then why are you sitting on my stomach? You're too heavy, so you need to get off before it collapses."
"Fine." He stretched out on top of me. "The weight is better distributed."
I groaned in protest. "You're still too heavy to be on top of a worn out twig!" I tried to wiggle my way out; however, it didn't work out as well as I thought it could have. "I wanna sleep," I mewled airily. It almost sounded like I was ready to cry.
He gave in to getting off me, but not before he picked me up and carried me upstairs. I objected, I lost. He laid me down on the bed and I rolled straight into it. I barely smiled as I looked up at him. I was so happy to feel blankets and pillows and I think he knew how much I enjoyed it, too.
"Yea, comfy and soft bedding around me," I said in a mildly elated manner. "Thank you." I looked up at him when I said that.
I stirred to some movement that I could hear outside. I got up and stole a glance at the clock. Four in the morning wasn't that bad. I felt really good too. I walked over to the window and I looked out. I couldn't see anyone obvious, so I cracked the window open slightly. I stuck my head out and looked around even more. I could sense someone was around, but I couldn't see a soul.
"Hn."
I stretched out and turned to look up toward the roof. I saw Hiei, barely. "Good morning.I stuck my head back in and walked away. Grabbing my uniform, I threw it on top of my pillows and stretched a little bit. Today was going to be fun.
Hiei flitted into my room and walked straight out. I figured it would be okay to close the window at this point. I did. I quickly changed into my uniform and tried to fix my hair, but I stopped when I noticed it in the mirror. It was longer yet again; no longer at my clavicles, my hair had stretched past my bra strap. And, it wasn't a nice chocolate brown- it was black.
When did this change occur?
I didn't concentrate on it too much. I just brushed through my hair and kept it down. It looked odd against my skin. I was slightly tan, but I was used to something that was colored more toward my skin. I wondered how many people would think I dyed my hair.
I walked down stairs with my bag and shoes in hand. I set them near the door and walked into the kitchen. Stares graced my presence.
"Yeah?" I asked as if I had no clue what they were staring at.
"Onna looks more like Yusuke now," mumbled Hiei in Kurama's general direction.
Kurama nodded.
I just ignored the two of them. I grabbed some bread and just nibbled on it as I half-watched the two guys talk at the table. Most of their conversation was telepathic, so silence had the chance to grace my ears.
I had a few thoughts running through my mind and some of them made me smile. I just chilled and let them run about for as long as they could. I made sure that they didn't run a-muck, but I let them be free.
I felt a gentle thump on my head and looked up. Kurama made a gesture for me to follow him, so I set half a piece of bread on the counter and walked. It led to his backyard. The sun had just risen and it was a beautiful sight to behold. I looked at my hair and it was shining the chocolate brown I was used to seeing. It was just a tint, though, but I enjoyed the familiarity of the color.
I saw him grow a plant and pick one of the buds off. He opened it and pulled out a seed. "Take this," he said as he held it out to me. Without second-thought, I took it and swallowed it. It felt odd, but I didn't think anything of it. I saw my hair get shorter and return to its original color. I was happy. It didn't look like I had done something unrealistically drastic over the weekend.
"Don't throw up in the next two weeks. It's good for that long." He walked inside to change into his uniform.
I just stared at my hair for a little while. I wish it would just stay like this, but I would have that long black hair back when the tournament came around. Oh joy. I walked in so I could finish my bread and get my shoes on. I took my time since no one was in the kitchen. I guess Hiei left right as we walked outside.
When Kurama came down the stairs, I grabbed my stuff and we headed out the door to school. Again, we walked in silence, but I was all smiles. I didn't have to come up with some lame-ass explanation for my hair. My smiles soon dissipated as we crossed paths with Motoko and her boyfriend. Oh, I was gonna hear it this morning.
"Shuichi!" she squealed and ran from her boyfriend. I saw him glare at me, and I stayed as close as I could to Kurama. I did not want those energy marks on my face.
We had to stop walking because Motoko stood against Kurama.
"Shuichi, when are we going to have our date?"
"Whore," I scoffed mentally. I rolled my eyes and waited for her to get the hell out of the picture. We had time to spare, but I had little patience for her.
She glared at me. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm walking with him. Problem?" My look was far more intimidating than hers.
"Motoko," Kurama began and it caught her interest quickly, "please, you have someone who already accompanies you. And, we have been over this already."
Motoko took one quick glance at her boyfriend. "Him? Oh, I just dumped him, so I'm available."
She's worse than I thought…
I saw him walk away. He carried himself poorly, but he just got dumped, so I guess you could do that. Wasn't too sure.
"And why are you still here, peasant?"
Oh hell no. First it's bitch then peasant; it's on. "Because he apparently likes peasants to bitchy, royal sluts." I just smirked at her. I could play her game without getting physical.
Unfortunately I had not expected or thought she was capable of physical altercation of the magnitude that she served. She tackled me to the ground and punched me in the face. I felt my heart lurch a little, but that was expected. I threw her off me, but it ended up being a little too hard- she ended up across the street.
"A little more realistic would be nice."
"Hey! Be glad she didn't go any farther than that."
Kurama helped me up while he watched to Motoko to see if she would get up. I saw her twitch a little, but she made no indication that she would make any major movement anytime soon. We left so we wouldn't be questioned if there was someone around.
We were two blocks from her location when we stopped. Well, I stopped which made him stop.
"Something wrong?"
"It feels like my face is swelling, but I can't physically feel that."
"It's the seed. It'll heal you, but it makes it seem like it's inflamed."
I nodded and we resumed our walk to school. We talked briefly, but we were interrupte by Riho who dragged me away from Kurama.
"Hatsune, you have to see this. I have no clue what's going on, but Kuraiya won't tell me!" said Riho in half-frenzy. She led me into the school ground, but forced me into the boys' locker room.
"Riho," I said in a scolding manner, "why are we here?"
Kuraiya walked out, dressed in his uniform, and came up to us. We walked out of the hallway and back onto grass.
"Hey, Riho, could you put my bag in class?" Kuraiya asked very plainly.
"Uh, yeah…" She took it and left.
I saw Kuraiya reach into his pocket and pull out a case. He opened it to reveal glasses. "This is what she was freakin' out about."
I was perplexed, but not hysteric. Kuraiya had hella good vision, so I was wondering why he needed glasses. "Kuraiya, are those yours?" It seemed like a stupid question, but serious, he had no need for those.
He just looked at me in that manner. I knew I would get that look, but I still had to ask.
"But, you have great vision," I said.
"When I'm not pissed."
That brought me back to his eyes being a bit foggy when he was last mad. I still wondered about that. Maybe I would ask Kurama.
I felt a sharp shock to my hand as I pulled it back. My hand was slightly burnt as was Kuraiya's.
"Dude!" he said.
I just stared at my hand. I know I didn't do that, and I was pretty sure he didn't do it on purpose since he was trying to grab my hand.
"Did you do that?"
"No. Why would I want to hurt you or myself?"
I couldn't think of a reason, but that didn't just come out of nowhere. I heard the bell ring, so I got up and headed to class. I just left him behind as I ran into the school. I had a slew of questions and I wanted to know some answers.
I managed to get in and sit as the teacher walked in. She looked sad as she remained standing.
"Class, I have something I'd like to share with you today," she paused as she took a deep breath in. "I will be transferring schools at the end of the week. Your new teacher will sit in and observe the class. Please allow me to introduce your new teacher, Mr. Daioh."
Heaven forbid, but in walked Koenma. If my heart could stop it would have, trust me. I just stared at him and wondered why he was here. My eyes went from him to the late-comer, which happened to be Kuraiya. His hand was bandaged from the earlier incident. I guess he was in the nurse's station. I looked at my hand, which was fine.
"Uh, sorry, I was at the nurse's," he said as he handed her the slip. He took his seat and had absolutely no idea what was going on.
She was a wreck throughout physics and math. She finally broke down in English and had to leave the room. Koenma stepped up and began the English lesson. I admit, his English was pretty good, but he had a few mistakes when he wrote things down. I laughed in my mind, but I got shot a glare or two. I had to stop or I was going to end up getting into some serious trouble.
When English ended everyone flooded out of the room save Kurama, Kuraiya and I. We approached Koenma.
"What happned to the school going down?" I asked him.
"Well, I could only get permission from dad to do it on the junior high. I'll have avatars of the both of you for as long as we need them."
"Going down? What are you guys talking about?" Kuraiya asked.
Whoops. We sort of forgot that he was there.
"Oh, nothing," I said as I waved it off. He grabbed my hand and looked at it.
"Where's the burn?"
Oh, crap, this was going to be fun to explain. I was coming up short with ways to explain it, so playing dumb came to mind before mentioning there was a plant in my stomach.
"Burn?" I just feigned a wide smile. It was obvious, and it tweaked him a little.
He went to flick me on the forehead, but missed by a mile- he flicked air.
"Put your glasses on, blind bat."
He did and saw that his hand was indeed over my head.
Koenma looked at him oddly then exchanged looks with Kurama and I. He resumed looking at the glasses that Kuraiya had on.
"When did you get those?" he asked him.
"Over the weekend. I couldn't see much."
Koenma leaned over and pulled at his ears. He tugged on them for sometime before letting go. I wasn't too sure what he was doing, but Kurama and I watched as he scrutinized Kuraiya. I could tell he was getting a little annoyed, which was not like him. He was usually calm and hyper.
Koenma grabbed my left hand and Kuraiya's right. When they barely touched, our hands were burnt again. Mine healed fast enough, but his were still in a charcoal-like state. Next, he grabbed Kurama's hand and did the same, but nothing happened between the two guys. He grabbed my right and Kurama's left and the same burning reaction happened.
"Wow, this has progressed fast," Koenma stated flatly. He seemed a little worried.
"What has progressed?" Kurama asked.
"Well, I got another summons from Mukuro, and anyone not her blood, servant, heir, etcetera was not to be touch by someone from another kingdom. I'm not entirely sure why she's doing that, but her previous summons was cancelled." He looked at me when he said that, like he finally had it confirmed for sure.
"So…" I said as a way to break the silence that came forth fast.
"Yes, when does school get out?" Koenma asked.
"Three thirty," Kuraiya asked.
Koenma groaned at that. There was time where he could chill, but there was so much that needed to be tended to back in his office.
During PE, Riho and I played on opposite teams in dodge ball. I did that mainly so she wouldn't try to talk to me about Kuraiya and his glasses. I loved her like a sister, but she was rambling about them and I didn't want to listen to it. Besides, I had Rahvanna 'keeping me company'. She was in her usually blah self today. Nothing hyper or furry to bother me, so it was all good for the moment.
In the locker room, I opened my locker only to find it destroyed. Just my luck, too. My uniform was good, but my deodorant and such had been smeared or sprayed everywhere. As if I couldn't figure out who did this. I would just have to let this one slide by to be perfectly honest.
Civils shocked the hell out of me because I saw Botan there, sitting behind the desk.
"Botan, why are you here?"
"I'm the new teacher,silly," she said happily.
"So… What do I call you?" I asked her. I didn't know her last name.
"Mrs. Daioh."
WOAH!
"You and Koenma are hitched?"
She laughed at me and waved it off. "No, silly, it's just for a cover up."
Uh huh… Well, I let it go and walked over to my seat. Kurama walked in shortly after and greeted her. They talked until the rest of the class poured into the room.
"Hello, class. I'm Mrs. Daioh, and I'll be your new teacher. Please, open your books to chapter eight. We'll be going over industrial-organization psychology. Does anyone already know what that is?"
Only five hands were raised. Of course, Kurama's was one of them. Naneya, Megumi, Kokoro, and mine were the others.
I bolted out of the school as soon as the bell rang. I didn't want to start off the day being locked in that hellish chamber. As soon as I got there, I was greeted by Sakaki. She led me into the woods a little before stopping.
"Take this," she said, handing me a purple petal.
I knew better than to question her decision, so I did what she asked. I immediately felt sick and threw up- something I didn't need to do according to Kurama.
"Now, since you're free from that plant we can begin." She walked away and I followed as I felt my features alter. My hair was black and long again.
We saw Sasaki and she just smiled. Both of them led me to an open field.
"You will spar with us at the same time," announced Sasaki. As soon as she ended her statement, I was attacked, and I had to block it until I figured out something to do. I sent my needle-like threads in circles, but I had a plan. I just had to make sure I wasn't knocked off my block before then.
I could hear multiple sets of feet running toward us, but I didn't let that distract me. I had my cage complete, so I could keep them both close. I decided to shield myself and let an explosion occur. It didn't take a lot of energy, but it felt like an earthquake under my feet. The cage was opaque due to the heavy smoke and dust that was created or kicked up.
"Damn," was all I could hear.
I let the strings drop and disappear. Soon the smoke took the same course and I was coughing from the dust.
Sasaki and Sakaki sat on the ground nursing theirs arms. I had managed to get a direct hit, which made me happy. I had been able to do something, but I needed a lot more accuracy or I was going to be toast.
Koenma, Botan, and Kurama walked up.
"Koenma, I thought Hatsune was training here," she said to him.
I turned to face her. "I am."
Apparently the long, black hair had been enough to trick her. "Oh my, you didn't look like that in class."
"Thank the purple petal."
Kurama didn't look to happy. That seed was supposed to last two weeks, and now I have to make up some lame-ass excuse.
"Heeeeeeey!"
We all turned to see two familiar faces coming up the stairs. Both stopped dead in their tracks.
"Uh," Kuwabara began as he looked me then to Yusuke, "Urameshi, she kinda looks like you now."
He jumped and punched him on top of his head. "I can see that, Kuwabara!"
I decided to see how the twins were holding up with their wounds. They were fine, but when I offered to help Sasaki up, I burnt her hand.
"Sorry." I had forgotten about that summons. I backed away from them and walked over to the others.
"Anyway, forget her appearance and listen to what I have to say: we need to be in Spirit World by the end of the day- all of us. We have to go through the tournaments exam to make sure no one is using anything to enhance their ability. Make sure you pack everything."
We were all slightly confused. It wasn't supposed to start in two weeks, but we had to be there already.
"Well," Koenma began, "I got more information after I submitted the energy range." He looked at me, and all I could do was smile. "They want detailed reports and since there are over 150 teams entering, they want a pre-tournament elimination to weed out the weaklings. That starts next week. Exams are first and they are tomorrow morning." He turned to Yusuke and Kuwabara. "Demo of the east wing is scheduled for tomorrow, by the way."
I was a little worried that I hadn't had much practice. I knew well that I had to hold my own and more. I pondered about the subject until I felt two other presences moving fast toward us. Hiei and Rahvanna had raced each other to the top. Hiei beat her to the group, but she wasn't that far behind him, so it was almost evenly matched.
"Hey, shorty found himself a new playmate," Yusuke said.
Hiei shot him a glare and stood. My gosh was he short. Rahvanna walked over to the group, clad in all black.
"I expect all of you in my office no later than ten tonight." Koenma and Botan left for spirit world and the rest of us just stared at each other.
Randomly, Yusuke began to panic and run around. "Oh shit, what am I going to tell Keiko? She's gonna kill me!" We let him have his moment.
Everyone decided that we would meet at Genkai's at nine and leave from there to go to spirit world.
Everyone left to go pack and whatnot. Kurama and I walked back in silence, again. This was beginning to happen a lot. I was in deep thought as we sauntered back to his house. I was in a little too deep, actually; I ran into a pole.
"Ow," I obviously stated.
He reached out a hand, but I didn't take it. I pushed myself off the pole and up. We continued to walk while he poked fun at me for that last stunt. Oh well. When we got to his house, it erupted into an all-out tickle war. After a few shocks and burns, we stopped.
I was still laughing even though it was over and I was on the floor. That did brighten my day until I got shocked. I jumped up and rubbed the side of my face. I stared at Kurama's burnt palm.
"That's not going to work anymore," I said.
"If I wear gloves it might."
"You have fun with that one. I just want the damn summons to be G-O-N-E. Why did she bother with it?"
There was a moments silence before Kurama answered.
"Well, I think you know the answer to that one."
I stared at him confused. If I knew why I was confined to physically stay away from people, then I wouldn't be asking or thinking about the question.
"Well, your son," he began delicately, "is a half-demon, which is split into part of her blood and part of Raizen's as far as property is concerned. He's easier to train and control than you."
I got what he was saying. For the first time, I actually got something, but there was no happy revelation- I was actually a little sad. That body in the tube was him being recreated or something. It disgusted me. He was killed and now he was going to be brought back under her. That's why she didn't want me, but now she doesn't want me near anyone… That was going to perplex me for a while. Maybe she didn't want me to have more offspring… that didn't follow her reign, anyway. Lordy, this was going to be confusing.
"You know, we should pack," I said as I looked at him with a diminishing smile. I got up and headed toward my room. I needed to find my duffel bag. I thoroughly searched the closet before I moved it to under the bed. I found it there. I threw in all of my training clothes and some regular clothes. Hell, I even added a pretty purple dress and some flats, just because. I made sure to pack enough fundamentals and I said fuck make-up at that point. I threw in hygienic products to last months, even though it was only four bottles and a small bag total… Maybe five bottles, who knows. I double checked everything and made sure I had what I felt I needed.
I carried it downstairs and dropped it next to the door. I walked back up to Kurama's room and knocked before I entered it.
"Hey, do you mind if I visit Kuraiya and Riho before we leave?"
"Not at all; just be back in an hour, okay?"
"Can do," I said as I left the residence and ran to their new place.
I didn't even have to knock on the door. I was tackled to the ground by Riho, who was ambivalent toward me. Her anger and happiness drowned me as I tried to greet her. She somewhat reminded me of Rahvanna at the moment.
"Hey, girly! What's up?" she said to me.
I smiled at her. "Nothing much, actually. Do you mind if I stay for an hour?"
"Not at all! Come in!" she yelled as she pushed me in and into Kuraiya. I got instantaneously zapped.
"Owie!" he playfully whined.
"Shut it, goober."
We spent the next forty-five minutes or so talking, eating popcorn, and having food fights before I had to leave. They talked about seeing me tomorrow and such, and it hurt that I couldn't tell them that they were going to see a mere shell of me in a desk. I just smiled at their comments. I nodded and left before they brought up something else to do.
I made it back to Kurama's within the hour promised, but just barely. He was ready to go and even had my stuff in his hand. We walked to the portal in his backyard and we ended up right outside the doors of Koenma's office. We walked in and we were the first there. It was still quite early, to be perfectly honest.
We were greeted by a blue ogre. He seemed nervous, but I didn't pay all that much attention to it.
"Kurama," he said.
"George, nice to see you again. How is everything?"
They had small talk for a while before Koenma came into the room having a major meltdown and hissy-fit.
We walked up to his desk and sat in the two seats in front of it.
"GEORGE!" Koenma screamed out. I thought it was unnecessarily loud.
He came running and bowed to him. "Yes, sir?"
"Get Kurama and Hatsune here right now!"
We froze. So did the ogre. Koenma looked up to see us.
"Wow, that was fast!
We didn't reply to that. I saw Koenma hold out two glowing balls that shown brightly and felt warm even though they were a little distance from me.
"What are those?" I asked me.
"Your official summons as confirmed by my father, King Yama, and agreed upon through many meetings in the stronghold of Alaric."
Yeah, I totally knew what he was talking about.
"So, how does it work?" I asked him.
"Throw it against the wall. Be gentle, though; I don't want any holes in my wall."
I took the first one he gave me and gently, like he asked, threw it. It hit the wall and liquid-like substance came out of it. It formed a person who I didn't recognize. I wasn't sure if it was a he or she. The masked being began to talk.
"Hello, child. I am Mukuro, ruler of Alaric. While a child by both standards, I cannot impose my summons onto you, thus being null and void as of the creation of this message. However, do not assume that I am not out to challenge you. I will have a team in the upcoming Black Book Tournament, and your son will be a member of my team. I will not be a fighter- just the sponsor. I will be watching all matches, especially the one between your team and mine, assuming you make it that far. That will determine my answer to a question that has been plaguing my mind for quite some time now. I look forward to seeing you fight…"
The image faded and the remaining materials disappeared.
"Okay, then," I said, "I'm being fought over, I see." I was not happy, but there was another I had to sit through. Hopefully, it would be short. I grabbed it and threw it in the same manner.
A man with no hair appeared. He looked fairly human-like, anyway.
"Hello, Hatsune-san. I am Hokushin, the current second in command for Lord Raizen in Tourin. Currently he is unavailable, which is why you see me instead of my lord. The purpose of this message is solely to support you in the upcoming tournament. We will be watching with anticipation as we know your team will progress well. Also, we extend an invitation to you: please, visit Tourin if you wish. We would be pleased to meet you. Until we meet again…"
I sighed as I turned around to face Koenma. "He seems sure of himself."
The door was kicked open and walked in the loud-mouthed Spirit Detective.
"Hey, toddler, did I hear Hokushin?" asked Yusuke as he ran in and looked around.
"Hey, Yusuke, but it was a message." Koenma had a disgruntled look on his face. He sighed as he saw Kuwabara right behind him.
"Well, I know it's still two hours early, but where are Hiei and Rahvanna?" Koenma asked as he began to pull a few things out of his drawer.
I saw six red bands and some papers in a folder. It read Team Koenma, Captain Yusuke Urameshi. He gave the four of us the red band and instructed us to put it on our left wrist. We did without too much of a problem.
Not much after that order, Hiei walked in with an incredibly small throw bag. He set it down next to Kurama and stood away from us as Koenma floated over to him to give him the band. He took it, but he didn't look enthused about it.
With only one member left to be counted for, Koenma began to explain the simple things. He began with room arrangements.
"There are six of you in one room, so behave. I don't want to have to keep moving you guys around because you blew something up. Unfortunately, the tournament is in the same place as the Dark Tournament, so the majority of you know what the room is going to be like."
"Uh, Koenma," Kuwabara began, "there's only four beds and six of us. How's that going to work?"
"Four to beds, one to the couch and one unfortunate soul on the floor," I said.
"Well, not quite," Koenma interjected before the argument even began. "You see, they had to remodel, if you forgot what happened. Hatsune, you wouldn't know, but that's not something to worry about. There are three hotels: one for judges and other honorables, one for contestants, and one for team sponsors. You six will be in the middle lodging on the third floor in room 381. There are five beds, but one of them is a full size while the other four are regular twins. That's among you to decide."
As if on cue, Rahvanna walked in and hugged me from behind. "We can be roommates, friend!" She was clad in her usual black, but she was uncomfortably happy.
"No, we can't!" I protested.
She let go and quickly grabbed my collar to fling me around to face her.
"Why not?" she yelled as she asked her question.
"Because I'll kill myself."
I wasn't serious, but she took it seriously.
"No! You can't do that. What would I do without you?"
"Bug the hell out of someone else until he killed himself."
Well, there went her happy mood. She was seriously pissed and unknown to me, my collar was frozen.
"Woah! She can create ice!" yelled Kuwabara.
I heard a 'hn' and I figured Hiei smirked. He seemed to do that a lot.
I stared her down until she let me go, but instead of dropping me, she threw me into the nearest wall. I got up and tried to heat up my shirt collar enough, but it still stayed frozen. I took it off (I had another shirt under it) and I tried it that way. My neck was getting a little warm. It slowly melted and I put it back on. I resumed my earlier place on the chair as Rahvanna put her band on.
"Well, since we're here, why don't we try to beat the crowd and get registered, checked-in, and pass examination?" Koenma opened a portal and changed into his more appealing teenage form.
We grabbed our stuff and walked through the portal. At the other end was a cliff, the ocean, a forest, and the new erected living arrangement. The larger building behind the three hotel-like structures was the main building we needed to be in.
As a group we walked over and registered. We got the rest of our information and a key for each person. He got name tags, but they were only for this process. After this, we could discard them. Check-in was quick. They took our stuff to our room and stamped our hand so we could move onto the exam. This was going to suck.
There were six separate stalls, so to speak. One of the guards motioned for us to each walk into one and the examiner came into the room.
"This will be a simple process, so don't worry."
We were scanned to make sure there wasn't anything wrong or nothing extra there. We passed the 'cheating exam' as I have deemed it. Or failed… Anyway, we were cleared.
"One more to go, and you're through," he said as he pressed a button.
We were all zapped and the stall we were in measured our energy flare, if there was one. Unfortunately, this took me by surprise, and I let a little slip.
"Mm… Mm… Uh huh," he said as he wrote the numbers down.
"Thank you. You may go to your assigned room. The orientation will be tomorrow."
We walked out a little irritated. Though some may not have showed it, it was apparent by the silence and roughness of out group harmony. The third floor was very nice. It was carpeted and had a very nice atmosphere, for the moment. We walked in and saw our stuff in the living area.
"So, room arrangements?" asked Yusuke.
"How about we draw that way it's fair," suggested Kuwabara. I think he secretly wanted to be away from Yusuke or room with him that way they could goof around all night.
Rahvanna hugged me, then grabbed my collar again. "Room with me!"
"No," I said flatly and plainly.
The scene was quite amusing. She was taller than me, but the heeled boots were to her advantage only. I had to look up as I rejected her demand.
"Hey, does this remind you of anything?" Yusuke said as he snickered.
"Hn."
Kuwabara looked at Hiei. "You're right, but it's in reverse. The shrimp is in all black, but Rahvanna is taller."
"She has heels on, moron," I said. "I'm taller in reality."
She let go and pointed at her shoes. "You like them?"
"No."
"But whyyyyyyyy not?"
"Because I don't."
"Okay, so those two don't room together," said Yusuke as he tore a small piece of paper into three parts. He wrote Rahvanna's name on one and Kuwabara's on another. "Who else wants to be pulled?"
"Might be best to put my name on the last one," I noted. "That way there's no chance of me picking her."
He nodded as he wrote it down. "These are permanent, so suck it up." He held out his hand to Kurama, then Hiei. He had to take the last one. He opened his when the other two opened theirs.
"Hn." Hiei grabbed his stuff and walked to one of the rooms on the right.
"Hey, who did the shrimp get?" Kuwabara asked in a slightly nervous manner.
"Not you, Kuwabara," Kurama said as he showed him his piece of paper. It had his name much to Kuwabara's relief.
I didn't personally care if I ended up with either Yusuke or Hiei, but I think Yusuke and I would but heads more or other things, so that might present a problem.
"Okay, I get the sane one," said Yusuke. He looked into the hall to only see the two bedrooms separated by the bathroom in the middle. I wandered off to the other side and saw a separate door.
Split bedroom plan? Damn, I think I know what's coming next.
I set my stuff down as I opened the door to look in. I flipped the switch on and saw the full sized bed.
"Damn it!"