Well, I think I'm on Chapter 10 now. I'd like to try and get 50 reviews by Chapter 12. Key word TRY. So, if you will kindly tell your buddies about this fanfic, I will be grateful. Every little review counts! Unless it's something like "Hey, isn't Kia the name of a car?" Then I will slap you with my Schoolbag of DOOM (Note the caps, people!)
Please note that I still need that male assistant of Ashita's. Once again, the ONLY people in this chapter that I own personally are Kia and Loki. Ok, well, Loki's not exactly a person...*sweatdrops*Zyoshi, Kelsey, and Mikage are owned by themselves, respectfully.
Jin: ....You're babbling.
Kia: I'll shut up now.
Yusuke: Whoo!
Kia: Shut up, Plunger Head! I'm STILL mad at you!
Yusuke: *sidles away*
^.^ Yes, well...this is a rather long note, gomen! When we last left off, Kia and Kelsey were fit to be tied. Get better locks on that bathroom, girls! Also, two strangers showed up, except one didn't turn out to be that much of a stranger. And let's get back to the story, shall we minna-san?
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"When is it gonna stooop?" Kelsey moaned, looking out the window at the steadily pouring rain. Her head was propped up on her arms, which rested on the windowsill.
"It's summer, Kelsey," Kia said wearily. "We need the rain."
"But we're never going to get to leave." The girl sighed unhappily.
"You must wait one more day," Z told them patiently as she sat cross-legged on the floor, playing patty-cake with Puu, Yusuke's penguin-like Spirit Beast.
Mikage, who was curled up in the armchair that Kurama usually read in, shivered. She made a small gesture with her left hand at the fireplace, and the logs there burst into flame.
"You start fires," Kia said mildly.
"Hai." Mikage nodded. "And I use telepathy."
"That must come in handy," Kelsey remarked.
The fire youkai (as they had found out that Mikage was) grinned. "It does."
Suddenly, Z looked up, glancing at the door. "And here we go...someone answer it?"
"But nobody knocked!" Protested Kelsey. Kia shrugged and went to the front door. She turned the knob and pulled it open-and a bedraggled little boy with three pink stars tattooed under his left eye, and messy brown hair almost fell in. He wore blue jeans and a yellow long-sleeved shirt, with a pink sleeveless vest covering it.
"Chuu...Chuu...Chuu...!" He panted, looking up at the girls desperately.
"Stop imitating a train and tell us already!" Kelsey snapped, her patience thin today.
Kia gave her friend a reproachful look. "Calm down," she told the anxious child. "Now try that again...slowly this time."
"Chuu...stuck in...a tree..."
Mikage suddenly came to life. "Chuu? That drunk fighter?"
The boy nodded.
"Which means you must be Rinku!"
He nodded again.
"More youkai," Kia said quietly. "I should've known...so what's this about a drunk guy in a tree?"
"Portal...to Ningenkai...opened in tree...Chuu got stuck...couldn't untangle him..." Rinku was practically hyperventilating, and Kia finally had to shake him slightly to get him to breathe.
With Kia patiently prompting him, the girls learned that Chuu had been too drunk to free himself and the spectacular thunder and lightning display outside wasn't helping at all.
Drawn by Rinku's voice, everyone else appeared and Z relayed Rinku's story.
Yusuke grimaced. "I'll go get him."
"WE'LL go get him," Kurama interjected. "As he's under the influence of Makai alcohol, I think this shall require everyone's help."
"I'll go too!" Kelsey said eagerly.
"EXCEPT you four."
Four pairs of shock-filled eyes, one brown, one gray, one violet, and one green stared fixedly at the Youko.
"Why not?" Kelsey demanded.
"I can see why Kia and Kelsey wouldn't be allowed to go, but why not us?" Z added, somewhat angrily.
"I don't," muttered Kelsey.
Kia and Mikage didn't say anything, but it was obvious from the looks on their faces that they were unhappy about Kurama's decision.
The slim redhead frowned, regarding them with his emerald gaze. "At this very moment, Netami is searching for the Mirror. Kelsey and Kia, you two are in the most danger and I don't think it is wise for you two to venture outside just yet. We'll be too distracted trying to free Chuu, and you will be vulnerable."
Kelsey muttered something along the lines of "Who said we'd LET ourselves be vulnerable?"
"And yet, you'll let us go looking for Ashita by ourselves," Kia said dryly.
"We have no choice in the matter." Touya's electric-blue eyes were emotionless. "We are not allowed to accompany you."
Kurama nodded in agreement then turned to Z. "You, Zyoshi-san, are the only one of us who knows where Ashita currently resides. Until you choose to depart that information, Netami will be seeking you too. What you know is valuable information that will aid us greatly...to her discomfort."
Z gave an unhappy grumble and picked up Puu, refusing to look at anyone.
"Mikage," Kurama continued.
She looked up at him. Silence reigned for seven minutes, in which they both simply stared at each other.
Kelsey and Kia exchanged puzzled glances. Suzuki merely smiled, Shishiwakamaru scowled, Touya still kept a face void of any feeling, and Jin looked blank. Yusuke, Hiei, and Kuwabara shared knowing smiles.
Mikage abruptly turned red and stared at Kurama as if he had suddenly sprouted purple cabbages from his ears. Then she nodded. "I understand," she said softly.
"Well, let's go then." Shishiwakamaru headed for the still-open door.
Kurama glanced back at the girls as the others followed the samurai. Kelsey had returned to staring out the window, still glaring fiercely at the raindrops. Z was now squeezing Puu so tightly that he let out a garble "Puuuuu!" and struggled to escape her tight hold. Mikage faced the fireplace, focusing on the blazing fire within. Kia was the only one who met his gaze, but then she looked away and down at Rinku, who had fallen asleep in her arms. She was perched next to Kelsey on the window seat.
"Try not to get yourselves killed while we're gone," was Hiei's parting comment.
"I could say the same for you," Z countered. They smirked at each other.
The males left, with the exception of Rinku. The four girls sat for awhile, each lost in her own thoughts.
"What was with that staring contest between you and Kurama, Mikage?" Kelsey asked suddenly, raising herself off of her arms and glancing at the girl.
"You're telepathic!" Kia remembered. "So you didn't have to speak out loud. But I didn't know Kurama was..."
Mikage smiled slightly. "He was the one who taught me."
"So, what'd he say that made your face redder than one of his roses?" Z looked at the girl intently.
"Nothing important..." Mikage mumbled, now engrossed in staring at the white carpet.
The other three glanced at each other. Kia looked at Mikage and something she read in the fire youkai's face made her brown eyes widen. "You LIKE him!"
Instantly, Kelsey and Z stared at Mikage. She started tracing complex patterns into the carpet with her index finger.
"You like Kurama?" Kelsey whispered, just as wide-eyed as her friend.
"Umm..." Mikage coughed, a totally false sound that didn't fool any of them. She met their probing eyes, then sighed. "Yes."
"Finally! There could finally be a matchmaking scheme that DOESN'T have to do with us!" Kia gave a relieved sigh. Rinku sighed in response, and slept on.
"And what about YOU, Z?" Kelsey's head swiveled to fix on the hanyou. "Anybody you're interested in?"
Z returned her stare calmly. "I've only just met everybody. Out of those who aren't claimed..."
Kia looked at her, perplexed. "Meaning...?"
"Touya, Suzuki, and Hiei..."
"You forgot Shishiwakamaru and Jin," Kelsey pointed out.
"And Kurama," added Mikage.
"No I haven't. They've all been claimed. Or, should I say, they've done the claiming."
"No," Kia said flatly. "Z, you'd better not-"
"Jin cares for you, Kia, whether you choose to ignore the signs or not. Someday, you'll realize that." Ignoring Kia's vehement shakes of denial, the purple-haired girl smiled at Kelsey. "And Shishiwakamaru does indeed have feelings for you, Kelsey."
"Like we need proof of THAT," Kia remarked, glancing over at the blonde. She didn't want to think about Jin right now.
"And as for you, Mikage..." Z turned to the fire youkai. "I believe you've known Kurama longer than any of us in this room. And he also cares for you." She smirked. "You can't try to read my mind without exposing some of your own thoughts in return."
Mikage stared at the flames crackling fiercely in front of her and did not reply.
"So you'll just have to-" Z suddenly broke off, wincing. Kelsey and Kia both frowned. They could sense something...something not human at all...in fact, more avian...
It was Mikage who reacted first. "Get down!" she screamed, flinging herself to the floor. The others followed suit, just as the window exploded with a loud CRASH and glass shards showered everywhere.
Kia rolled to one side and caught a glimpse of a beady black eye, just as a giant red-tipped orange beak struck at the place where she had just been. The girl yelped and scrambled to her feet, to come face-to-beak with the creature.
"It...it...it's a SEAGULL!" Mikage whispered, stunned.
"How did a seagull get that BIG?" Kia asked, as she backed up nervously. The damn bird was larger than the bookcase!
"Genetic mutation?" Was Kelsey's contribution.
"Move." Z leapt out of the way as the seagull spread its wings (knocking over several glass vases and the bookcase) and dove for them. Kia realized (with a sinking feeling) that they were about the size of fish or some other edible tidbit that seagulls enjoyed...at least, to the seagull.
"Ok, time to roast the birdie..." Kelsey's palm started to glow green as she summoned her reiki. A flicker of emerald flames appeared.
"NO!" Z swatted at her hand frantically. "Don't use any of your power!"
"Nani?" Kelsey stared at her. "Why not?"
"I just recognized that bird." Z swallowed. "That's Loki...Netami's...pet."
"Why couldn't she have had sea monkeys or something?" Kia cried, frantically trying to dodge the bird's sharp beak. "They're SAFE!"
"Evil people never have sea monkeys," Mikage replied, scooting back as Loki spread his wings again. "It's rule number Twenty-three in their book."
"Someone's well-read!" Kelsey snapped. "So I can't attack?"
"Neither can Kia. Not with your powers, at least. Netami knows that the Mirror resides in two of us in this room, but she doesn't know WHICH two! However, if you use your reiki, she'll sense it!" Z said urgently.
"Okay..." Kia said slowly, as the seagull turned his head slowly, orienting on the girls, who had gathered in a group, Z STILL holding Puu. "But what about PHYSICAL attacks?"
"Well...I think those would be all right..." Z replied slowly.
"Good." The seagull struck a third time. This time, Kia leapt up, and unfurled her right foot in the air, kicking Loki's beak. With a squawk of pain, the bird lunged for her. Kelsey drew her sword and smacked the beak with the flat side. Loki's shriek was louder and more furious this time. He began to beat his wings strongly and the girls were pushed back against the opposite wall. More vases fell and broke and they all ducked as books and candles came flying their way.
"SET IT ON FIRE!" Kelsey screamed to Mikage, trying to make her voice heard over the wind.
The girl nodded grimly and gestured at the seagull. His wings burst into flame. Still, he kept pumping them. The flames grew and then the seagull folded his wings and shot for the four of them. Mikage cried out when the flaming seagull struck and slammed into the bricks above the fireplace. She slumped to the floor, a trickle of blood oozing from a cut over her right eye.
"MIKAGE!" Kia started for her, but Loki wasn't finished. He grabbed Z up in his beak and shook her violently. The hanyou grimaced in pain, fighting to free herself and shield her body from the flames.
"Kia, we've got to." Kelsey's voice was firm.
"But...if we..." Kia trailed off, looking at Mikage, motionless on the carpet, then at Z who was losing the battle to live. Her mouth tightened and she nodded.
"HEY, BIRDIE!"
Loki looked down.
"WE'RE the ones you want!" Kia yelled. "Come and get us, you over-roasted turkey!" The two girls stood side by side, Kelsey with her sword wreathed in green flames, and Kia with her rei arrow set on the string and pointed directly at the seagull. A split second later, Kelsey charged the bird and sank her sword into his breast, just as Kia released her arrow. It struck his eye, lodged itself in, and caught fire.
Howling in fury and trying to brush the flaming arrow from his bleeding eye, Loki dropped Z, who fell heavily on the floor. His uninjured eye glowed red...and then the seagull disappeared.
"Well, that's that..." Kelsey looked up at Puu, who was hovering nervously near the ceiling, squeaking in distress.
"She knows now," Kia agreed, propping up Mikage, who groaned softly. "But if we hadn't done something..." Her voice caught. "Who knows what would've happened."
Kelsey blinked. "Hey, look at Rinku."
Kia looked over at the youkai, then hurried over to him. He was buried under a stack of books dislodged from the shelves. Hauling him out, she looked closely at him...then started to grin.
Rinku was still fast asleep. He hadn't woken up at all during the fight with Loki, the giant killer seagull.
Kelsey let out a snort of laughter. Kia tried, but she couldn't hold in the giggles, and soon both girls were laughing like maniacs, both so relieved that they were all alive!
That was how Yusuke and the others found them. Kia was putting some antiseptic on Mikage's cut, and Kelsey was rousing Z. Rinku was snoring away on a chair, and Puu landed on Yusuke's head, relieved that he now was safe from those crazy girls. Indeed, Kia and Kelsey were still laughing.
"Glad to see you had fun," commented Suzuki.
Kia's laughter increased. "FUN? You...have...NO...idea...do you?" She gasped for breath and glared at him. He blinked, taken aback by her quick change of mood.
"Well, you couldn't've been THAT bored," Yusuke said. "WE weren't. We had a hell of a time trying to get THIS bum-" He jerked his thumb at the slumped over figure that Kurama was dragging to the fifth room- "Untangled."
Kia merely pointed to the broken window. Then to the broken bookcase, the stack of books, the broken remains of the vases, and then, finally, to Mikage and Z. She didn't say a word.
Kurama returned, staring at the mess puzzledly. Then his emerald eyes fell on Mikage, and they hardened. "What happened here?" He asked quietly.
Kelsey stared at him just as coldly. "You left us here. A giant seagull attacked. Mikage got knocked out. Z almost got eaten. Netami knows where the Mirror halves are. And Rinku slept THROUGH THE WHOLE THING."
Everyone stared at her incredulously. Then they looked at Kia, who closed the lid on the antiseptic tube and looked at them. She nodded.
"This is bad," Suzuki said.
Hiei snorted. "No kidding?"
Chaos broke out. Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Hiei started arguing about what to do next. Kurama stood still, as if he had become a statue of ice, incapable of movement. Touya, Jin, and Shishiwakamaru discussed plans to keep the girls from Netami's grasp. Rinku finally woke up and rubbed his eyes. "What'd I miss? What'd I miss?"
Mikage opened her eyes and touched her cut cautiously, wincing. Z sat up, checking herself for burns or bite marks. Then she looked at Kelsey and Kia. "You must leave now."
The girls nodded. They couldn't stay here. They had to find Ashita as quickly as possible.
"I can take you as far as the portal that leads to Makai," the hanyou said softly. "Then you are on your own."
"Arigatou," Kia said, just as quietly. The two rose and followed Z towards the door.
"Wait." They turned. Everyone in the room faced them.
Mikage was the first to step forward. She hugged Kia, then Kelsey. "Watch out for that seagull, okay?" She asked, trying to smile.
"We will," they promised in unison.
Suzuki shook both girls' hands. "I know you can handle this," the blonde said, winking at them. "You were destined to."
Touya and Hiei, neither much for sentimental moments, nodded curtly. Then Touya smiled. "I've taught you well, so I have no worries."
Hiei allowed himself a tiny smile, then looked at Z. "Take care of yourself too," he said gruffly. Startled, the girl stared at him, but he had already turned away.
Shishiwakamaru simply stared at Kia, and then moved toward Kelsey. The girl frowned. "If you hug or kiss me, I'll kill you."
"Fair enough." He patted her on the shoulder, but his eyes were worried.
Yusuke and Kuwabara also patted the girls on their shoulders, until Kia yelled that she was not a dog, so stop treating her like one.
Kurama hugged them, and Kelsey allowed it this time. ("HE'S not in love with me," she confided to Kia later.) "You are to let us know if anything happens." They nodded.
Jin shook Kelsey's hand, then paused at Kia. She smiled at him. "We'll be fine, Jin."
"You'd better," the Wind Master informed her, smiling back. "Who else is going to hit me with cookie sheets, and then heal me?" He hugged her tightly for a moment, then released her.
Kia, Kelsey, and Z looked at each other, then back at the group. Then they disappeared into the rainy night. Not a one of them was dry-eyed.
*OOC*
*sniffles* That was kinda sad...will Kia and Kelsey ever return? Provided, of course, they reach Ashita in time? What will await them when they return? Whoa, this was eight pages long...
Next chapter...
* Kelsey and Kia run into a bit of trouble in Makai...and what will happen when they finally meet Ashita, the creator of Densetsu no Kagami?
* Netami sets a plan in action...can Mikage and Z stop her?
Please note that I still need that male assistant of Ashita's. Once again, the ONLY people in this chapter that I own personally are Kia and Loki. Ok, well, Loki's not exactly a person...*sweatdrops*Zyoshi, Kelsey, and Mikage are owned by themselves, respectfully.
Jin: ....You're babbling.
Kia: I'll shut up now.
Yusuke: Whoo!
Kia: Shut up, Plunger Head! I'm STILL mad at you!
Yusuke: *sidles away*
^.^ Yes, well...this is a rather long note, gomen! When we last left off, Kia and Kelsey were fit to be tied. Get better locks on that bathroom, girls! Also, two strangers showed up, except one didn't turn out to be that much of a stranger. And let's get back to the story, shall we minna-san?
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"When is it gonna stooop?" Kelsey moaned, looking out the window at the steadily pouring rain. Her head was propped up on her arms, which rested on the windowsill.
"It's summer, Kelsey," Kia said wearily. "We need the rain."
"But we're never going to get to leave." The girl sighed unhappily.
"You must wait one more day," Z told them patiently as she sat cross-legged on the floor, playing patty-cake with Puu, Yusuke's penguin-like Spirit Beast.
Mikage, who was curled up in the armchair that Kurama usually read in, shivered. She made a small gesture with her left hand at the fireplace, and the logs there burst into flame.
"You start fires," Kia said mildly.
"Hai." Mikage nodded. "And I use telepathy."
"That must come in handy," Kelsey remarked.
The fire youkai (as they had found out that Mikage was) grinned. "It does."
Suddenly, Z looked up, glancing at the door. "And here we go...someone answer it?"
"But nobody knocked!" Protested Kelsey. Kia shrugged and went to the front door. She turned the knob and pulled it open-and a bedraggled little boy with three pink stars tattooed under his left eye, and messy brown hair almost fell in. He wore blue jeans and a yellow long-sleeved shirt, with a pink sleeveless vest covering it.
"Chuu...Chuu...Chuu...!" He panted, looking up at the girls desperately.
"Stop imitating a train and tell us already!" Kelsey snapped, her patience thin today.
Kia gave her friend a reproachful look. "Calm down," she told the anxious child. "Now try that again...slowly this time."
"Chuu...stuck in...a tree..."
Mikage suddenly came to life. "Chuu? That drunk fighter?"
The boy nodded.
"Which means you must be Rinku!"
He nodded again.
"More youkai," Kia said quietly. "I should've known...so what's this about a drunk guy in a tree?"
"Portal...to Ningenkai...opened in tree...Chuu got stuck...couldn't untangle him..." Rinku was practically hyperventilating, and Kia finally had to shake him slightly to get him to breathe.
With Kia patiently prompting him, the girls learned that Chuu had been too drunk to free himself and the spectacular thunder and lightning display outside wasn't helping at all.
Drawn by Rinku's voice, everyone else appeared and Z relayed Rinku's story.
Yusuke grimaced. "I'll go get him."
"WE'LL go get him," Kurama interjected. "As he's under the influence of Makai alcohol, I think this shall require everyone's help."
"I'll go too!" Kelsey said eagerly.
"EXCEPT you four."
Four pairs of shock-filled eyes, one brown, one gray, one violet, and one green stared fixedly at the Youko.
"Why not?" Kelsey demanded.
"I can see why Kia and Kelsey wouldn't be allowed to go, but why not us?" Z added, somewhat angrily.
"I don't," muttered Kelsey.
Kia and Mikage didn't say anything, but it was obvious from the looks on their faces that they were unhappy about Kurama's decision.
The slim redhead frowned, regarding them with his emerald gaze. "At this very moment, Netami is searching for the Mirror. Kelsey and Kia, you two are in the most danger and I don't think it is wise for you two to venture outside just yet. We'll be too distracted trying to free Chuu, and you will be vulnerable."
Kelsey muttered something along the lines of "Who said we'd LET ourselves be vulnerable?"
"And yet, you'll let us go looking for Ashita by ourselves," Kia said dryly.
"We have no choice in the matter." Touya's electric-blue eyes were emotionless. "We are not allowed to accompany you."
Kurama nodded in agreement then turned to Z. "You, Zyoshi-san, are the only one of us who knows where Ashita currently resides. Until you choose to depart that information, Netami will be seeking you too. What you know is valuable information that will aid us greatly...to her discomfort."
Z gave an unhappy grumble and picked up Puu, refusing to look at anyone.
"Mikage," Kurama continued.
She looked up at him. Silence reigned for seven minutes, in which they both simply stared at each other.
Kelsey and Kia exchanged puzzled glances. Suzuki merely smiled, Shishiwakamaru scowled, Touya still kept a face void of any feeling, and Jin looked blank. Yusuke, Hiei, and Kuwabara shared knowing smiles.
Mikage abruptly turned red and stared at Kurama as if he had suddenly sprouted purple cabbages from his ears. Then she nodded. "I understand," she said softly.
"Well, let's go then." Shishiwakamaru headed for the still-open door.
Kurama glanced back at the girls as the others followed the samurai. Kelsey had returned to staring out the window, still glaring fiercely at the raindrops. Z was now squeezing Puu so tightly that he let out a garble "Puuuuu!" and struggled to escape her tight hold. Mikage faced the fireplace, focusing on the blazing fire within. Kia was the only one who met his gaze, but then she looked away and down at Rinku, who had fallen asleep in her arms. She was perched next to Kelsey on the window seat.
"Try not to get yourselves killed while we're gone," was Hiei's parting comment.
"I could say the same for you," Z countered. They smirked at each other.
The males left, with the exception of Rinku. The four girls sat for awhile, each lost in her own thoughts.
"What was with that staring contest between you and Kurama, Mikage?" Kelsey asked suddenly, raising herself off of her arms and glancing at the girl.
"You're telepathic!" Kia remembered. "So you didn't have to speak out loud. But I didn't know Kurama was..."
Mikage smiled slightly. "He was the one who taught me."
"So, what'd he say that made your face redder than one of his roses?" Z looked at the girl intently.
"Nothing important..." Mikage mumbled, now engrossed in staring at the white carpet.
The other three glanced at each other. Kia looked at Mikage and something she read in the fire youkai's face made her brown eyes widen. "You LIKE him!"
Instantly, Kelsey and Z stared at Mikage. She started tracing complex patterns into the carpet with her index finger.
"You like Kurama?" Kelsey whispered, just as wide-eyed as her friend.
"Umm..." Mikage coughed, a totally false sound that didn't fool any of them. She met their probing eyes, then sighed. "Yes."
"Finally! There could finally be a matchmaking scheme that DOESN'T have to do with us!" Kia gave a relieved sigh. Rinku sighed in response, and slept on.
"And what about YOU, Z?" Kelsey's head swiveled to fix on the hanyou. "Anybody you're interested in?"
Z returned her stare calmly. "I've only just met everybody. Out of those who aren't claimed..."
Kia looked at her, perplexed. "Meaning...?"
"Touya, Suzuki, and Hiei..."
"You forgot Shishiwakamaru and Jin," Kelsey pointed out.
"And Kurama," added Mikage.
"No I haven't. They've all been claimed. Or, should I say, they've done the claiming."
"No," Kia said flatly. "Z, you'd better not-"
"Jin cares for you, Kia, whether you choose to ignore the signs or not. Someday, you'll realize that." Ignoring Kia's vehement shakes of denial, the purple-haired girl smiled at Kelsey. "And Shishiwakamaru does indeed have feelings for you, Kelsey."
"Like we need proof of THAT," Kia remarked, glancing over at the blonde. She didn't want to think about Jin right now.
"And as for you, Mikage..." Z turned to the fire youkai. "I believe you've known Kurama longer than any of us in this room. And he also cares for you." She smirked. "You can't try to read my mind without exposing some of your own thoughts in return."
Mikage stared at the flames crackling fiercely in front of her and did not reply.
"So you'll just have to-" Z suddenly broke off, wincing. Kelsey and Kia both frowned. They could sense something...something not human at all...in fact, more avian...
It was Mikage who reacted first. "Get down!" she screamed, flinging herself to the floor. The others followed suit, just as the window exploded with a loud CRASH and glass shards showered everywhere.
Kia rolled to one side and caught a glimpse of a beady black eye, just as a giant red-tipped orange beak struck at the place where she had just been. The girl yelped and scrambled to her feet, to come face-to-beak with the creature.
"It...it...it's a SEAGULL!" Mikage whispered, stunned.
"How did a seagull get that BIG?" Kia asked, as she backed up nervously. The damn bird was larger than the bookcase!
"Genetic mutation?" Was Kelsey's contribution.
"Move." Z leapt out of the way as the seagull spread its wings (knocking over several glass vases and the bookcase) and dove for them. Kia realized (with a sinking feeling) that they were about the size of fish or some other edible tidbit that seagulls enjoyed...at least, to the seagull.
"Ok, time to roast the birdie..." Kelsey's palm started to glow green as she summoned her reiki. A flicker of emerald flames appeared.
"NO!" Z swatted at her hand frantically. "Don't use any of your power!"
"Nani?" Kelsey stared at her. "Why not?"
"I just recognized that bird." Z swallowed. "That's Loki...Netami's...pet."
"Why couldn't she have had sea monkeys or something?" Kia cried, frantically trying to dodge the bird's sharp beak. "They're SAFE!"
"Evil people never have sea monkeys," Mikage replied, scooting back as Loki spread his wings again. "It's rule number Twenty-three in their book."
"Someone's well-read!" Kelsey snapped. "So I can't attack?"
"Neither can Kia. Not with your powers, at least. Netami knows that the Mirror resides in two of us in this room, but she doesn't know WHICH two! However, if you use your reiki, she'll sense it!" Z said urgently.
"Okay..." Kia said slowly, as the seagull turned his head slowly, orienting on the girls, who had gathered in a group, Z STILL holding Puu. "But what about PHYSICAL attacks?"
"Well...I think those would be all right..." Z replied slowly.
"Good." The seagull struck a third time. This time, Kia leapt up, and unfurled her right foot in the air, kicking Loki's beak. With a squawk of pain, the bird lunged for her. Kelsey drew her sword and smacked the beak with the flat side. Loki's shriek was louder and more furious this time. He began to beat his wings strongly and the girls were pushed back against the opposite wall. More vases fell and broke and they all ducked as books and candles came flying their way.
"SET IT ON FIRE!" Kelsey screamed to Mikage, trying to make her voice heard over the wind.
The girl nodded grimly and gestured at the seagull. His wings burst into flame. Still, he kept pumping them. The flames grew and then the seagull folded his wings and shot for the four of them. Mikage cried out when the flaming seagull struck and slammed into the bricks above the fireplace. She slumped to the floor, a trickle of blood oozing from a cut over her right eye.
"MIKAGE!" Kia started for her, but Loki wasn't finished. He grabbed Z up in his beak and shook her violently. The hanyou grimaced in pain, fighting to free herself and shield her body from the flames.
"Kia, we've got to." Kelsey's voice was firm.
"But...if we..." Kia trailed off, looking at Mikage, motionless on the carpet, then at Z who was losing the battle to live. Her mouth tightened and she nodded.
"HEY, BIRDIE!"
Loki looked down.
"WE'RE the ones you want!" Kia yelled. "Come and get us, you over-roasted turkey!" The two girls stood side by side, Kelsey with her sword wreathed in green flames, and Kia with her rei arrow set on the string and pointed directly at the seagull. A split second later, Kelsey charged the bird and sank her sword into his breast, just as Kia released her arrow. It struck his eye, lodged itself in, and caught fire.
Howling in fury and trying to brush the flaming arrow from his bleeding eye, Loki dropped Z, who fell heavily on the floor. His uninjured eye glowed red...and then the seagull disappeared.
"Well, that's that..." Kelsey looked up at Puu, who was hovering nervously near the ceiling, squeaking in distress.
"She knows now," Kia agreed, propping up Mikage, who groaned softly. "But if we hadn't done something..." Her voice caught. "Who knows what would've happened."
Kelsey blinked. "Hey, look at Rinku."
Kia looked over at the youkai, then hurried over to him. He was buried under a stack of books dislodged from the shelves. Hauling him out, she looked closely at him...then started to grin.
Rinku was still fast asleep. He hadn't woken up at all during the fight with Loki, the giant killer seagull.
Kelsey let out a snort of laughter. Kia tried, but she couldn't hold in the giggles, and soon both girls were laughing like maniacs, both so relieved that they were all alive!
That was how Yusuke and the others found them. Kia was putting some antiseptic on Mikage's cut, and Kelsey was rousing Z. Rinku was snoring away on a chair, and Puu landed on Yusuke's head, relieved that he now was safe from those crazy girls. Indeed, Kia and Kelsey were still laughing.
"Glad to see you had fun," commented Suzuki.
Kia's laughter increased. "FUN? You...have...NO...idea...do you?" She gasped for breath and glared at him. He blinked, taken aback by her quick change of mood.
"Well, you couldn't've been THAT bored," Yusuke said. "WE weren't. We had a hell of a time trying to get THIS bum-" He jerked his thumb at the slumped over figure that Kurama was dragging to the fifth room- "Untangled."
Kia merely pointed to the broken window. Then to the broken bookcase, the stack of books, the broken remains of the vases, and then, finally, to Mikage and Z. She didn't say a word.
Kurama returned, staring at the mess puzzledly. Then his emerald eyes fell on Mikage, and they hardened. "What happened here?" He asked quietly.
Kelsey stared at him just as coldly. "You left us here. A giant seagull attacked. Mikage got knocked out. Z almost got eaten. Netami knows where the Mirror halves are. And Rinku slept THROUGH THE WHOLE THING."
Everyone stared at her incredulously. Then they looked at Kia, who closed the lid on the antiseptic tube and looked at them. She nodded.
"This is bad," Suzuki said.
Hiei snorted. "No kidding?"
Chaos broke out. Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Hiei started arguing about what to do next. Kurama stood still, as if he had become a statue of ice, incapable of movement. Touya, Jin, and Shishiwakamaru discussed plans to keep the girls from Netami's grasp. Rinku finally woke up and rubbed his eyes. "What'd I miss? What'd I miss?"
Mikage opened her eyes and touched her cut cautiously, wincing. Z sat up, checking herself for burns or bite marks. Then she looked at Kelsey and Kia. "You must leave now."
The girls nodded. They couldn't stay here. They had to find Ashita as quickly as possible.
"I can take you as far as the portal that leads to Makai," the hanyou said softly. "Then you are on your own."
"Arigatou," Kia said, just as quietly. The two rose and followed Z towards the door.
"Wait." They turned. Everyone in the room faced them.
Mikage was the first to step forward. She hugged Kia, then Kelsey. "Watch out for that seagull, okay?" She asked, trying to smile.
"We will," they promised in unison.
Suzuki shook both girls' hands. "I know you can handle this," the blonde said, winking at them. "You were destined to."
Touya and Hiei, neither much for sentimental moments, nodded curtly. Then Touya smiled. "I've taught you well, so I have no worries."
Hiei allowed himself a tiny smile, then looked at Z. "Take care of yourself too," he said gruffly. Startled, the girl stared at him, but he had already turned away.
Shishiwakamaru simply stared at Kia, and then moved toward Kelsey. The girl frowned. "If you hug or kiss me, I'll kill you."
"Fair enough." He patted her on the shoulder, but his eyes were worried.
Yusuke and Kuwabara also patted the girls on their shoulders, until Kia yelled that she was not a dog, so stop treating her like one.
Kurama hugged them, and Kelsey allowed it this time. ("HE'S not in love with me," she confided to Kia later.) "You are to let us know if anything happens." They nodded.
Jin shook Kelsey's hand, then paused at Kia. She smiled at him. "We'll be fine, Jin."
"You'd better," the Wind Master informed her, smiling back. "Who else is going to hit me with cookie sheets, and then heal me?" He hugged her tightly for a moment, then released her.
Kia, Kelsey, and Z looked at each other, then back at the group. Then they disappeared into the rainy night. Not a one of them was dry-eyed.
*OOC*
*sniffles* That was kinda sad...will Kia and Kelsey ever return? Provided, of course, they reach Ashita in time? What will await them when they return? Whoa, this was eight pages long...
Next chapter...
* Kelsey and Kia run into a bit of trouble in Makai...and what will happen when they finally meet Ashita, the creator of Densetsu no Kagami?
* Netami sets a plan in action...can Mikage and Z stop her?
