A/N: Wahoo! I got six emails last night, five of which told me they
thought Kurama and Aya should be together, one that said Aya and Shuu. I
guess you people didn't want everyone to know your votes, so I will refrain
from using any names. Thank you to everyone who E-mailed me, though,
because now I know exactly how to finish this story. I've outlined it, and
it's around 30-35 chapters long, so it is far from over. ^_^ Anyhow, I'm
going to stray away from Kurama and Aya romance this chapter, and give fans
of other characters a chapter to enjoy. *Gets pelted in the head with
rotten grapefruit by Kurama fans* Ow... :P
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Jin sighed. He was sooo bored! Touya, Aries, and Istas were all still asleep, Sai was focusing on her school work, and Shishiwakamaru and Suzuki were outside, training. The bird youkai was winning, too, from the look of Suzuki. The blond man was limping more than slightly and seemed to be struggling to catch his breath. Jin shook his head. Everyday, Suzuki and Shishiwakamaru went out to train. Everyday, Suzuki insisted the bird-youkai didn't hold back against him, and everyday Shishi had to help Suzuki inside. Jin was begining to think Suzuki liked being inflicted with pain.
Ten minutes later, Shishiwakamaru was actually carrying Suzuki into the house. Jin hurried off to get bandages. Suzuki opened one pale green eye painfully. "I lost again?", he asked. "Oh, yeah", Shishiwakamaru replied with a slight smile on his face. "Did I even come close?". "Nope. Quit pushing yourself so hard. I don't want to be responsible for the death of my best friend.". "Until I can beat you, I won't be of much use in a fight". "You faired well enough against the youkai in the Makai World Tournament". "They've probably been training the past three years while we wandered the Makai.". A painful sort of look crossed Suzuki's face, and Shishiwakamaru could tell he was recalling his run-in with Toguro Ototo. "Get some rest", he said and left his friend in peace.
"He's gonna be OK?", Jin asked. "Fine if he listens to me and takes it slow for a few days". The redhead laughed. "I don't know about you, but I'm hungry! Wanana go grab something to eat?". Shishiwakamaru considered for a minute. "I don't know, Jin...none of us have ever been to a Ningen resteraunt before...The food could be toxic to Youkai.". Jin laughed. "If it's good enough for Suzuki, I think we'll manage.". "Tell you what. Why don't we wait a little while for Touya and the girls, and we'll all go together.". "Allright", Jin agreed, and hurried off as though he were caught in a whirlwind. Shishiwakamaru shook his head. "That boy has enough enerygy to power a bomb". ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sai growled at her homework. "Stupid Shuu, for having such hard classes. Calculus! What a waste of time!" She was frustrated with all the numbers, equations, and charts. "Screw it! Damn it all to hell! I'm a Youkai!". She threw the book off the table and stood up. "Could you please not make so much noise?", a deep voice asked, sounding a bit raspy from sleep. Sai looked up and saw Touya looking down at her with a disapproving look on his pale face. The ice youkai bent down and picked up her book. "No one ever said you had to do this kind of stuff, you're just to go to school and watch over Shuu...and Kurama wants you to keep an eye on Aya now, as well. No sense waking everyone up over it.". Sai laughed. "Touya, you're such a light sleeper me opening a door could wake you up."
"That may be true, but you're missing my point. And that's to quit killing yourself.". "I suppose you're right", Sai agreed, stuffing the book back into her bag. "So, why does Kurama want me to look after Aya. Is she in danger, too?". "Well, he thinks she could be. She's a former Inuko, and Kurama thinks if the youkai figure that out, she'll be in trouble. I think he fancies her, if you want to know the truth". "That's sweet. Kurama finally found someone he loves.", Sai said smiling. "Yeah...but if Yomi's freaks find out...". Touya made a motion with his finger of a throat being slit open. "I guess you have a point there...", Sai whispered. Then, becoming cheerful again, she said "Don't worry, nothing's gonna happen on my watch".
"What's going on down here?", Istas asked, walking out sleepily in her white nightgown. Her short hair was a rumpled mess. She was followed down by Aries, who was wearing a pale blue bathrobe and a scowl. "Excellent? Is everyone up now!", Jin cried excitedly. Istas rose an eyebrow at him. "What are you so happy about?" "Well...", Jin proceeded to explain his conversation with Shishiwakamaru from the morning. No one seemed too thrilled with that idea. "Tell you what", Aries said. "I'LL cook us all a nice breakfast. And then we can go out and do something that doesn't involve putting harmful waste into our bodies". That's exactly what she did. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
ONE WEEK LATER
Sai found she was starting to relax quite a bit. For starters, there were no signs of any new youkai. She was also begining to spend more time with Touya, who seemed to understand her quite a bit. He was actually quite sweet and friendly in a quiet sort of way. She also found she was happier now that she was taking Touya's advice and not killing herself with school work. If she knew something, she did it, and if she didn't, she put it aside and forgot about it. On this particular saturday, she was working on some Anatomy work. She was busy labeling the parts of the Ningen skeleton when she felt someone wrap their arms around her. She looked up into a pair of pale, icy blue eyes half-hidden behind a few mint green hairs.
"Hey, Touya", she said, feeling her face go red. He grinned down at her. "Jin and I were thinking...", he started. "Jin's capable of thought?", Sai teased, making Touya's face go red, too. "Well, OK, I'll admit it. I thought of it, and he figured it was a good idea. Maybe, if you're not busy tonight, you and Istas would be interested in going out with us?". "Touya, are you asking me to be your date tonight?", she asked, raising her eyebrow. "Basically that's the size of it", Touya admitted. "And Jin wants to go out with Istas, so I thought we could go together...make things less akward". "Where are Jin and Istas?", Sai asked. "Outside watching Shishiwakamaru beat the crap out of Suzuki again.". Touya chuckled softly. "Some people never give up...even when they know it's utterly hopeless".
"Ah, well...some things are worth fighting for...like love...", Sai said in a voice just barely above a whisper. Touya wrapped his arms around her again and held her tightly to him. "Yes...", he agreed and pressed his lips softly over hers. Sai's eyes went wide, but then she relaxed and went along with it, enjoying the kiss. It was over sooner than she would've liked. "Ah, right...", Touya said, suddenly looking embarassed. "I guess we'll go out at around 7". "Wait.", Sai called. "Where are we going?". "Oh, that would help, wouldn't it. Jin wants to go to the beach and then walk along the boardwalk down there!". And with those words, he was gone. Sai watched him go, feeling like she could burst with happiness. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"I can't believe we're so worried about how we look just to go to the beach", Istas said as she and Sai redied themselves. Both she and Sai were wearing their bathing suits underneath sundresses and trying to figure out how to put their hair so they looked a little better then usual. "Hey! Are you girls ready to go yet!?", Jin called up happily from the bottom of the staircase. "Lets go. Our prince charmings are waiting for us", Sai said, pulling the scrunchie from her hair. "You leaving it down?", Istas asked incredulously. "Yeah...for once". Sai turned the doorknob and walked out. Istas quickly pulled her hair back and followed closely behind.
"Woah", Istas thought, her breath catching in her throat. She couldn't help but stare at Jin. She'd always known he was muscular, but there was nothing like seeing him standing there, shirtless, to reveal just *how* muscular he actually was. He caught her stareing at him. "Something wrong?", he asked, his sapphire eyes sparkling. "Ummm...nothing. Nothing at all.", Istas replied, smiling sheepishly. Jin reached for his black tanktop and pulled it on. "Ooopps...almost forgot that", he said, blushing sheepishly. "It's OK", Istas said with a giggle. "I almost wish he had forgotten his shirt", she added in her mind as she, Sai, Jin, and Touya left for the beach.
They set down their towels, bags, and water pails and walked over to the water's edge. Jin stared at the waves lapping against the shoreline, his eyes sparkling. "Too bad the water's so cold", he said wistfully. "Ah, it's not cold", Touya said, pulling off his white tank top and dropping it onto the sand. He ran straight into the water. Istas pulled off her sundress and dashed into the water after Touya. Jin and Sai stood at the shore, watching them but not daring to go in. Istas and Touya put their heads together, discussing something. It made their friends feel nervous. With lightning speed, Istas and Touya ran out of the water. Jin felt Touya's ice-cold hands on his back, while Sai was being dragged into the water by Istas. "Stop! Stop!" Jin cried, laughing. He dug his feet into the ground as Touya shoved him, overbalanced, and fell face-first into the icy water. "So cold!". He jumped up and tackled Touya into the water, laughing his head off.
Sai, who was no where near as good-natured as Jin, was not finding Istas trying to force her into the water amusing in the least bit. She fought with everything she had. Jin and Touya had now taken to playing some kind of game that invloved kicking water all over eachother. "Catch me if you can!", Jin called cheerfully, dashing out of the water. Touya dashed out after his friend, a bucket of water in each hand. "Get back here, Jin!", he hollered. He wasn't paying attention to where he was going. SLAM. He managed to run right into Istas. She fell, taking Sai down with her.
"TOUYA!!", Istas yelled at the top of her lungs. Jin stopped running and spun around to see what was going on, and Sai managed to get up in time to see Istas chasing Touya around, walloping him on the head with an empty bucket. "Do you think she's mad?", Jin whispered to Sai. "Just a little", Sai whispered back, not knowing why she found the site amusing. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
They left the beach an hour later and headed for the boardwalk. Sai was the only completely dry one in the group. They'd barely walked five paces before Istas spotted an icecream stand and said she wanted some. They had ningen money on them, so they all went and bought some icecream. After they finished, they played some games. Touya won a gigantic stuffed tiger for Sai playing the ringtoss, while Jin managed to win a large stuffed panda for Istas by hitting the high score on the strength machine. The girls won smaller toys playing the darts and shooting games.
After they grew bored of the games, they decided to ride the rollar coaster and ferris wheels. The coaster gave them all a fright. "I didn't know the ningens knew how to make such stuff", Touya whispered as they got off. Jin fell asleep on the ferris wheel. "Gosh...he looks so cute", Istas thought, snuggling against him. Even though he was asleep, Jin grabbed onto her, much the way a child would unconsciously grab onto a teddy bear. "Kawaii", Istas thought. She wanted to kiss him, but was afraid she'd wake him up. Their seat stopped at the top. Istas took in the sight in awe, wishing he was awake to enjoy it with her.
After their car had been in the air for a few seconds, she realized that they probably wouldn't be going anywhere. Istas leaned over and planted a kiss on Jin's cheek. His sapphire blue eyes snapped open. "Oh, Istas. *yawn*. Hey. I'm sorry...I didn't realize I fell asleep". He balled one of his hands into a fist and rubbed at his left eye. "It's OK. Look, Jin. Isn't it beautiful?". "The stars in the sky are much more attractive than the lights", Jin said, pointing up. He pointed out several constilations Istas had never heard of before. She felt so content, she was dissappointed when the ride started moving again.
"Ah! It's moving!", Jin shouted, sounding scared. He grabbed onto her without realizing it. Istas smiled. "No, Jin, it's OK. It's supposed to move. That's the only way for us to get down". Jin blushed and quickly let go of Istas. "Sorry", he appologized again, rubbing the back of his head. "No, it's OK", Istas said, pulling him back to her. In the moonlight, her lips found his. Jin's face went as red as his hair. "Aww, you're blushing", Istas teased. The ride haulted and they got out to meet up with Touya and Sai. As Jin helped her out of the car, Istas knew this was a night she would never forget. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: Well, that's all for chapter 9, folks. I hope you enjoyed it. I'm rather proud of how this turned out. ^_^ Did you like it, hate it, think I should give up fiction writing forever? There's 2 ways you can let me know. 1). You can push that happy little review button on the bottom of the page and submit a review. 2). You can E-mail me. I've actually have been recieveing alot of E-mails, but no new reviews these past few days. Either way is find. It's the feedback I enjoy getting. ^_^
Jin sighed. He was sooo bored! Touya, Aries, and Istas were all still asleep, Sai was focusing on her school work, and Shishiwakamaru and Suzuki were outside, training. The bird youkai was winning, too, from the look of Suzuki. The blond man was limping more than slightly and seemed to be struggling to catch his breath. Jin shook his head. Everyday, Suzuki and Shishiwakamaru went out to train. Everyday, Suzuki insisted the bird-youkai didn't hold back against him, and everyday Shishi had to help Suzuki inside. Jin was begining to think Suzuki liked being inflicted with pain.
Ten minutes later, Shishiwakamaru was actually carrying Suzuki into the house. Jin hurried off to get bandages. Suzuki opened one pale green eye painfully. "I lost again?", he asked. "Oh, yeah", Shishiwakamaru replied with a slight smile on his face. "Did I even come close?". "Nope. Quit pushing yourself so hard. I don't want to be responsible for the death of my best friend.". "Until I can beat you, I won't be of much use in a fight". "You faired well enough against the youkai in the Makai World Tournament". "They've probably been training the past three years while we wandered the Makai.". A painful sort of look crossed Suzuki's face, and Shishiwakamaru could tell he was recalling his run-in with Toguro Ototo. "Get some rest", he said and left his friend in peace.
"He's gonna be OK?", Jin asked. "Fine if he listens to me and takes it slow for a few days". The redhead laughed. "I don't know about you, but I'm hungry! Wanana go grab something to eat?". Shishiwakamaru considered for a minute. "I don't know, Jin...none of us have ever been to a Ningen resteraunt before...The food could be toxic to Youkai.". Jin laughed. "If it's good enough for Suzuki, I think we'll manage.". "Tell you what. Why don't we wait a little while for Touya and the girls, and we'll all go together.". "Allright", Jin agreed, and hurried off as though he were caught in a whirlwind. Shishiwakamaru shook his head. "That boy has enough enerygy to power a bomb". ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sai growled at her homework. "Stupid Shuu, for having such hard classes. Calculus! What a waste of time!" She was frustrated with all the numbers, equations, and charts. "Screw it! Damn it all to hell! I'm a Youkai!". She threw the book off the table and stood up. "Could you please not make so much noise?", a deep voice asked, sounding a bit raspy from sleep. Sai looked up and saw Touya looking down at her with a disapproving look on his pale face. The ice youkai bent down and picked up her book. "No one ever said you had to do this kind of stuff, you're just to go to school and watch over Shuu...and Kurama wants you to keep an eye on Aya now, as well. No sense waking everyone up over it.". Sai laughed. "Touya, you're such a light sleeper me opening a door could wake you up."
"That may be true, but you're missing my point. And that's to quit killing yourself.". "I suppose you're right", Sai agreed, stuffing the book back into her bag. "So, why does Kurama want me to look after Aya. Is she in danger, too?". "Well, he thinks she could be. She's a former Inuko, and Kurama thinks if the youkai figure that out, she'll be in trouble. I think he fancies her, if you want to know the truth". "That's sweet. Kurama finally found someone he loves.", Sai said smiling. "Yeah...but if Yomi's freaks find out...". Touya made a motion with his finger of a throat being slit open. "I guess you have a point there...", Sai whispered. Then, becoming cheerful again, she said "Don't worry, nothing's gonna happen on my watch".
"What's going on down here?", Istas asked, walking out sleepily in her white nightgown. Her short hair was a rumpled mess. She was followed down by Aries, who was wearing a pale blue bathrobe and a scowl. "Excellent? Is everyone up now!", Jin cried excitedly. Istas rose an eyebrow at him. "What are you so happy about?" "Well...", Jin proceeded to explain his conversation with Shishiwakamaru from the morning. No one seemed too thrilled with that idea. "Tell you what", Aries said. "I'LL cook us all a nice breakfast. And then we can go out and do something that doesn't involve putting harmful waste into our bodies". That's exactly what she did. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
ONE WEEK LATER
Sai found she was starting to relax quite a bit. For starters, there were no signs of any new youkai. She was also begining to spend more time with Touya, who seemed to understand her quite a bit. He was actually quite sweet and friendly in a quiet sort of way. She also found she was happier now that she was taking Touya's advice and not killing herself with school work. If she knew something, she did it, and if she didn't, she put it aside and forgot about it. On this particular saturday, she was working on some Anatomy work. She was busy labeling the parts of the Ningen skeleton when she felt someone wrap their arms around her. She looked up into a pair of pale, icy blue eyes half-hidden behind a few mint green hairs.
"Hey, Touya", she said, feeling her face go red. He grinned down at her. "Jin and I were thinking...", he started. "Jin's capable of thought?", Sai teased, making Touya's face go red, too. "Well, OK, I'll admit it. I thought of it, and he figured it was a good idea. Maybe, if you're not busy tonight, you and Istas would be interested in going out with us?". "Touya, are you asking me to be your date tonight?", she asked, raising her eyebrow. "Basically that's the size of it", Touya admitted. "And Jin wants to go out with Istas, so I thought we could go together...make things less akward". "Where are Jin and Istas?", Sai asked. "Outside watching Shishiwakamaru beat the crap out of Suzuki again.". Touya chuckled softly. "Some people never give up...even when they know it's utterly hopeless".
"Ah, well...some things are worth fighting for...like love...", Sai said in a voice just barely above a whisper. Touya wrapped his arms around her again and held her tightly to him. "Yes...", he agreed and pressed his lips softly over hers. Sai's eyes went wide, but then she relaxed and went along with it, enjoying the kiss. It was over sooner than she would've liked. "Ah, right...", Touya said, suddenly looking embarassed. "I guess we'll go out at around 7". "Wait.", Sai called. "Where are we going?". "Oh, that would help, wouldn't it. Jin wants to go to the beach and then walk along the boardwalk down there!". And with those words, he was gone. Sai watched him go, feeling like she could burst with happiness. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"I can't believe we're so worried about how we look just to go to the beach", Istas said as she and Sai redied themselves. Both she and Sai were wearing their bathing suits underneath sundresses and trying to figure out how to put their hair so they looked a little better then usual. "Hey! Are you girls ready to go yet!?", Jin called up happily from the bottom of the staircase. "Lets go. Our prince charmings are waiting for us", Sai said, pulling the scrunchie from her hair. "You leaving it down?", Istas asked incredulously. "Yeah...for once". Sai turned the doorknob and walked out. Istas quickly pulled her hair back and followed closely behind.
"Woah", Istas thought, her breath catching in her throat. She couldn't help but stare at Jin. She'd always known he was muscular, but there was nothing like seeing him standing there, shirtless, to reveal just *how* muscular he actually was. He caught her stareing at him. "Something wrong?", he asked, his sapphire eyes sparkling. "Ummm...nothing. Nothing at all.", Istas replied, smiling sheepishly. Jin reached for his black tanktop and pulled it on. "Ooopps...almost forgot that", he said, blushing sheepishly. "It's OK", Istas said with a giggle. "I almost wish he had forgotten his shirt", she added in her mind as she, Sai, Jin, and Touya left for the beach.
They set down their towels, bags, and water pails and walked over to the water's edge. Jin stared at the waves lapping against the shoreline, his eyes sparkling. "Too bad the water's so cold", he said wistfully. "Ah, it's not cold", Touya said, pulling off his white tank top and dropping it onto the sand. He ran straight into the water. Istas pulled off her sundress and dashed into the water after Touya. Jin and Sai stood at the shore, watching them but not daring to go in. Istas and Touya put their heads together, discussing something. It made their friends feel nervous. With lightning speed, Istas and Touya ran out of the water. Jin felt Touya's ice-cold hands on his back, while Sai was being dragged into the water by Istas. "Stop! Stop!" Jin cried, laughing. He dug his feet into the ground as Touya shoved him, overbalanced, and fell face-first into the icy water. "So cold!". He jumped up and tackled Touya into the water, laughing his head off.
Sai, who was no where near as good-natured as Jin, was not finding Istas trying to force her into the water amusing in the least bit. She fought with everything she had. Jin and Touya had now taken to playing some kind of game that invloved kicking water all over eachother. "Catch me if you can!", Jin called cheerfully, dashing out of the water. Touya dashed out after his friend, a bucket of water in each hand. "Get back here, Jin!", he hollered. He wasn't paying attention to where he was going. SLAM. He managed to run right into Istas. She fell, taking Sai down with her.
"TOUYA!!", Istas yelled at the top of her lungs. Jin stopped running and spun around to see what was going on, and Sai managed to get up in time to see Istas chasing Touya around, walloping him on the head with an empty bucket. "Do you think she's mad?", Jin whispered to Sai. "Just a little", Sai whispered back, not knowing why she found the site amusing. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
They left the beach an hour later and headed for the boardwalk. Sai was the only completely dry one in the group. They'd barely walked five paces before Istas spotted an icecream stand and said she wanted some. They had ningen money on them, so they all went and bought some icecream. After they finished, they played some games. Touya won a gigantic stuffed tiger for Sai playing the ringtoss, while Jin managed to win a large stuffed panda for Istas by hitting the high score on the strength machine. The girls won smaller toys playing the darts and shooting games.
After they grew bored of the games, they decided to ride the rollar coaster and ferris wheels. The coaster gave them all a fright. "I didn't know the ningens knew how to make such stuff", Touya whispered as they got off. Jin fell asleep on the ferris wheel. "Gosh...he looks so cute", Istas thought, snuggling against him. Even though he was asleep, Jin grabbed onto her, much the way a child would unconsciously grab onto a teddy bear. "Kawaii", Istas thought. She wanted to kiss him, but was afraid she'd wake him up. Their seat stopped at the top. Istas took in the sight in awe, wishing he was awake to enjoy it with her.
After their car had been in the air for a few seconds, she realized that they probably wouldn't be going anywhere. Istas leaned over and planted a kiss on Jin's cheek. His sapphire blue eyes snapped open. "Oh, Istas. *yawn*. Hey. I'm sorry...I didn't realize I fell asleep". He balled one of his hands into a fist and rubbed at his left eye. "It's OK. Look, Jin. Isn't it beautiful?". "The stars in the sky are much more attractive than the lights", Jin said, pointing up. He pointed out several constilations Istas had never heard of before. She felt so content, she was dissappointed when the ride started moving again.
"Ah! It's moving!", Jin shouted, sounding scared. He grabbed onto her without realizing it. Istas smiled. "No, Jin, it's OK. It's supposed to move. That's the only way for us to get down". Jin blushed and quickly let go of Istas. "Sorry", he appologized again, rubbing the back of his head. "No, it's OK", Istas said, pulling him back to her. In the moonlight, her lips found his. Jin's face went as red as his hair. "Aww, you're blushing", Istas teased. The ride haulted and they got out to meet up with Touya and Sai. As Jin helped her out of the car, Istas knew this was a night she would never forget. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: Well, that's all for chapter 9, folks. I hope you enjoyed it. I'm rather proud of how this turned out. ^_^ Did you like it, hate it, think I should give up fiction writing forever? There's 2 ways you can let me know. 1). You can push that happy little review button on the bottom of the page and submit a review. 2). You can E-mail me. I've actually have been recieveing alot of E-mails, but no new reviews these past few days. Either way is find. It's the feedback I enjoy getting. ^_^