I'M SO SORRY!Please don't hate me! I know I've been very slow, even though I promised to try and post more! It's just been really hard to come up with good stuff for the story, and I'm really trying to get them out as soon as I can! I do promise you that things will become a lot more interesting from this chapter on, so please don't go away! Thanks so much, and I'm sorry!
BOOM! BASH! CRASH! WHAM!
(And every other sound in between...)
"Oh my…" Botan muttered, looking down at the tangling mess of people.
Kurama and Jin looked up to see Hiei standing to the side, his foot suspiciously put out.
"Kurama, Jin, as much as I love having you lay on my back…wait…I DON'T!" Yusuke shouted from underneath the two red heads.
Jin and Kurama both got up with pink cheeks and glared at Hiei.
"That was the funniest thing I've ever seen!" Kuwabara shouted and everyone started to laugh.
What happened was that Izumy's cry had Hiei teleport to the doorway, sticking out his foot so that Kurama tripped right on top of Yusuke. And since Kurama was in the lead, he fell, causing Jin to fall over him, making a little Kurama sandwich. Izumy had been able to free her wrists since both boys pulled her just a little too hard.
Izumy laughed also. "Sorry guys." She went over and stepped through the doorway.
"Uh oh Izumy!" Botan exclaimed.
Izumy stopped and blinked. "What?"
Keiko, Yukina and Botan all started to laugh.
"Looks like you're going to have to pucker up kiddo." Shizuru said smiling.
Izumy blinked again and turned. She turned a deep red. "Oh!"
Behind her was…Touya, looking completely lost with some grocery bags in his hands. Botan had asked him to stop at the store as they walked home.
Hiei, Kurama, and Jin all glared as Yusuke and Kuwabara started to laugh hard with the rest of them.
"Come on, just a quick one!" Botan coaxed.
Touya blushed, looking up and realizing what was going on and looked at Izumy, who also happened to be blushing.
"Well…I don't know…"
"Izumy, you can't break Christmas tradition!"
"Yeah, alright…" Izumy replied somewhat moodily and turned to a still blushing Touya. She smiled, taking his chin and turning it so she could kiss him on the cheek.
Botan and the other girls giggled as the three boys who first attempted to have been under the mistletoe pouted…Jin crossed his arms, Kurama put his hands in his pockets, and Hiei turned his head on a "Hn."
"Well, come on, I'm going to make some dinner!" Izumy smiled, grabbing her bags and headed to the kitchen.
"I'll help." Keiko said, following her. Botan, Yukina, and Shizuru also went in to help.
Yusuke waited until the girls were gone, and he threw an arm around Jin's shoulders. "Hey, too bad buddy, you were close too …"
Jin's face turned pink as he whirled on Yusuke. "What? I don't know what the heck you're talking about…"
"Oh, sure you do." Yusuke laughed. "You're all over Izumy lately…"
"What's so wrong with being friends!" The red head wanted to know.
He shrugged. "Nothing, but I sure don't see you talking to me like you do Izumy…"
"He speaks the truth, mate." Chuu said, going over and slapping Jin on the back. "You've been lookin' at that Sheila for a while now…"
Kurama cocked a brow, and Yusuke grinned at him. "Yeah, you too Kurama…we're all over you guys."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Kurama said, walking upstairs.
Yusuke chuckled, and turned to tease Hiei, but the little fire demon was already gone.
He just smiled some. 'They can't hide it for long…'
"Don't worry Yukina, you won't fall." Botan smiled, trying to usher Yukina into getting on the ice.
It was Christmas Eve and the group decided that ice skating in the downtown skating rink would be the perfect way to waste some energy before going back home to wait for Christmas.
Touya chuckled when Jin fell…again…It was lucky Izumy had extra coats, otherwise Jin would be freezing, being belly down on the ice.
"Mate, I don't think this is your kinda sport!" Chuu called from the side-lines. Chuu, Sanura, Shizuru, and Hiei were watching the others skate from the café tables that had been set up by the rink.
"'Ey, at least I'm on the ice at all!" Jin protested, trying to get up again.
"Here." Izumy said, going over and offering a hand. She smiled, looking cute, he thought, in her black tights and rouge skirt. Her cocoa colored coat showed signs of the new snow falling. "Let me help you up there, tough guy…"
Jin smiled wide, his ears wiggling. "Thanks." He took her hand and Izumy hauled him off the ice.
Kurama skated over easily. "You alright Jin?"
Jin grumbled, envying how easy it was for Kurama to skate. "I'm dandy, thanks."
Izumy smiled. "It's okay Jin, not everyone knows how to ice skate. I can help you if you'd like."
That lifted his mood and his ears wiggled again. "I'd be a great help if you would!"
"I can help also…" Kurama suggested, not wanting to leave Jin alone with Izumy.
"That'd be great." Izumy smiled. "Okay Jin, just think gliding while you do this. It'll make everything easier."
"Gotcha." He nodded.
"Alright, now it's right foot…" She glided with her right foot. "Then left…right…left…there you go!"
Kurama skated beside them, watching. Luckily, Jin really was concentration on the skating, making it a fraction easier to see them holding hands.
"Jin!" Izumy exclaimed, causing Kurama to turn.
Izumy looked up, only to see Jin's face very close to hers, making her blush. He'd apparently fallen right on top of her, which made his whole face turn a deep crimson.
"Good job, mate…" Chuu laughed. His comment made Jin snap out of his trance and hop of her.
"Shut up will you!" Jin exclaimed, his ears wiggling, and color still in his face.
"Yeah, not only did you manage to fall, you took the poor girl with you…" Shizuru smiled.
Sanura watched with a small smile, and Hiei looked over at Izumy, glaring at Jin.
Izumy laughed, moving her gold colored scarf from her nose back to her neck. "Hey, not bad for a first timer…"
"Need a hand?" Kurama skated over quickly, offering her a hand up.
"Thanks." Izumy smiled, taking his hand. He'd pulled her up very quickly and none to gently with that hard jerk of his.
"Sure." He replied on an uneasy smile.
"Man, I'm sick of this!" Yusuke exclaimed. "Can we go now!"
Izumy laughed at his impatience. "Yeah, alright!" She skates over to the exit to put her brown boots back on.
The others did also, but Jin stayed on the ice a minute. 'What's goin' on with me? I don't think I've ever felt this way before…'
"Hey Jin! Are you coming!" Rinku shouted.
"Yeah, I'm comin'!" He called, quickly going over to join the group.
After everyone got off their skates and got their boots and sneakers back on, they started heading home, taking a short cut through the park.
"So, what's the plan when we get home?" Botan asked.
"Well, usually Sanura and I wait until midnight to open presents." Izumy answered. "So, I figured we'd go home and make a house of cards, eat junk food, listen to music, and all that other fun stuff."
"I like that plan!" Kuwabara exclaimed happily.
"Well, I'd love to join you, but I promised my family I'd be there for Christmas." Kurama said.
Izumy looked over. "Oh, well that's good! If you'd like, I can drop your presents off to you tomorrow?"
He smiled. "I'd like that very much."
She blinked and blushed some, smiling. "Okay, then that's what we'll-" She was cut off when a very cold snowball collide with the back of her head. Her eye twitched angrily and she turned. "YUSUKE!"
He laughed evilly, taking in his glorifying shot…Until he got hit dead in between the eyes with a snowball.
Yusuke looked at Izumy, glaring playfully.
She was smirking, tossing a snowball up and down. "You're messing with the pitcher, Yusuke!" She threw it, but he managed to dodge it, and threw back, missing Izumy and hitting Keiko.
"Oh, you're going to get it!" She shouted, starting to throw snow.
Sooner or later, everyone joined in the snowball fight…except one.
Izumy laughed, Yusuke just getting bombarded with snow balls by Keiko and Botan. She looked over and saw Hiei leaning against a tree, watching Yusuke get tortured.
Hiei smirked as Botan shoved a bunch of ice down Yusuke's shirt. Then, he suddenly felt the snow hit him on the side of the face. He glared and turned, ready to beat down whoever had thrown it. Until he saw it was Izumy who was laughing.
She had a hand on her stomach, the other near her mouth as she laughed and laughed.
He blinked for a moment and smirked, throwing one back at her.
Izumy dodged it, but picked more snow up, throwing it at him again and running.
Hiei dodged it also, picking up another and throwing it, then chasing her.
She kept running, weaving in between trees. After a bit, she stopped, going behind a big tree and poking her head out from behind it to see if she'd been followed.
"Having fun on your last days of life?" A deep, male voice said suddenly.
Izumy froze and turned slowly. She saw a very tall figure dressed in all black. His face was hidden from a black mafia style hat, sunglasses, and a scarf. "Who are you?"
"I'm your executioner." He replied, bowing slightly. "At your service."
She frowned and summoned her staff. "What do you want?"
"The death of you and your friends."
"Don't drag them into this!" She demanded. "If you're going to fight with anyone, you'll fight with me."
"Ah, I don't think so. You see, you've dragged them into this, and now it's too late for anything to be done. They know your power, and therefore cannot live."
Izumy growled and twirled her staff, going after him.
The man looked up when she'd jumped and she brought her staff down…but he was gone.
She starred in shock. 'My friends…he wouldn't…'
"Izumy?" Sanura asked, coming into the clearing where Izumy was.
She quickly vanished her staff and turned, smiling. "Hey!"
"There you are, we're going back home now." Sanura said.
"Great! I could use some hot chocolate." She smiled.
Sanura nodded, watching her walk passed. She then looked at the spot where Izumy had been standing and noticed a second set of footprints and a piece of black cloth. She narrowed her eyes in a cat-like manner.
"So…it has begun…"
What's going on? Who does this guy think he is, coming along and saying he's Izumy's executioner...And what's up with Sanura? Does she know something that no one else does? She's right about this though, It has all just begun. But is this guy really so powerful? Or is it all just "Smoke and Mirrors"?